iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Kingsport, Tennessee, is staking a claim on the Long Island iced tea. The city of Kingsport claims the popular cocktail was created in 1920s Prohibition-era Long Island, an island in the Holston River in Kingsport, by the likes of a man named Charlie Old Man Bishop, an illegal liquor distiller. In a video from Visit Kingsport, a man acting as Ransom Bishop, Charlies son, describes Charlie making one of his special batches with rum, vodka, tequila, whiskey, gin and a little bit of maple syrup. The video adds that Ransom tweaked the recipe in the 1940s, adding lemon, lime juice, and cola or soda water. It concludes with Ransom saying, And remember, dont mess with the original! But New York isn't going down with a fight. Maggie Lacasse, director of communications at New York's Discover Long Island, told ABC News that Robert "Rosebud" Butt invented the Long Island iced tea on Long Island, New York in the '70s. Lacasse said he created the cocktail as part of a contest while working at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island. Lacasse didn't dispute the story of Charlie Bishops cocktail but insisted it's a different drink from New York's Long Island iced tea, which contains triple sec. Bishops concoction excludes this ingredient and adds whiskey and maple syrup. Visit Kingsport Marketing Manager Amy Margaret McColl disagrees. Our claim is that Charlie Bishop developed the Long Island iced tea in 1920, nearly 50 years before Mr. Butt claimed that he was the inventor of the beverage, McColl told ABC News. And while she isnt sure if Bishop himself coined the name "Long Island iced tea," McColl added with a laugh, Weve been doing this for 50 years before you all even thought about it. But, McColl said, Kingsport has a plan in place to respond to the New York Long Islanders. She said she's heard a that a bartender in Long Island, New York, will challenge bartenders from Kingsport in a competition for the best Long Island iced tea. We plan on accepting the challenge, she said. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Iran Friday has slammed the international communitys silence on Israels repeated air strikes in Syrian arguing the Jewish state uses the air strikes to support rebels and terrorists losing ground to President Bashar al-Assad. Israel early Thursday conducted what it called Operation House of Cards against allegedly Iranian military infrastructures in Syria. Dozen missiles were launched on around 50 military positions linked to Irans Revolution Guards. Israel claimed it acted in reprisal to a barrage of missiles launched a little after midnight on the Golan Heights by Iranian forces propping up Syrian forces. Iranian foreign ministrys spokesperson Bahram Qasemi said on the official Press TV on Friday Israel is seeking to undo President Assads gains against rebels and terrorists. The Zionist regime cannot stand peace and stability in the region and sees its own safety in making the region all the more unstable, he said. Today, the main supporters of these groups are directly attacking and invading Syrian territories in an attempt to avenge the many failures of their self-created terrorists and tip the scales in their favor, he added. The Iranian official also argued that the Syrian regime has the right to defend itself. Israel has increased sorties on the Syrian territory that it claimed is being used by Iran as pad-launch to attack it. On April 29, tel Aviv launched F-15 missile attacks against a Syrian military base, killing seven Iranian military operatives. Another air strike was conducted Tuesday before the Thursday operation, which Tel Aviv claimed destroyed the majority of Irans military capability in Syria. Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market Report for Period 2018 till 2024 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company., Solvay SA, Kemira Oyj, The Dow Chemical Company, Evonik Industries AG, Arkema SA and Others. Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market https://bit.ly/2IAMKQY http://marketreportscompany.com/report.php?report=chemicals-and-materials/global-industrial-hydrogen-peroxide-market-data-survey-report-2025/39259 https://bit.ly/2IAMKQY Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide market report emphasizes on detailed analysis of companies and manufacturers like Ecolab Inc., Kemira Oyj, The Dow Chemical Company, Merck Group, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company., Solvay SA, Evonik Industries AG, Arkema SA, AkzoNobel N.V., BASF SE and Others.This market study includes data about global market statistics, market share, company performances, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc. The Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide market report provides detailed segmentation of Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market based on product type, application, end user and regional segmentation. The regional segment is further bifurcated on country level.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market 2017 @Top Manufactures of Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide market:Solvay SAEvonik Industries AGArkema SAAkzoNobel N.V.BASF SEEcolab Inc.Kemira OyjThe Dow Chemical CompanyMerck GroupMitsubishi Gas Chemical Company.Others(Note: We can profile additional players without extra charges)Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Key Product Type:Type 1Type 2Type 3OthersKey Application Types for Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market:Pulp & PaperTextileChemical SynthesisFood ProcessingHealthcare & Personal CareothersKey Regions for Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market:North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)(Note: We can provide specific country or region specific report on request)The Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market. The value chain helps to analyze major upstream in raw materials, major equipments, manufacturing process, downstream customer analysis and major distributor analysis.The report also covers in-depth description, competitive scenario, wide product portfolio of prime players active in this market and business strategies adopted by competitors along with their SWOT analysis. The report also provides Porter analysis, PESTEL analysis and market attractiveness which helps to better understand the market scenario. Side by side, it also explicitly provides information about mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and all the other important activities occurred in current and past few years. The Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market report explores manufacturers competitive scenario and provides market share for all major players of this market based on production capacity, sales, revenue, geographical presence and other major factors. The report also covers import/export data across all major regions covered in this report. Moreover, import/export data across any particular country as per requirement.The report finally provides detailed research report conclusion, which provides summary of entire report and vital suggestions from analysts particular to Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market which will help existing as well as new players who wish to enter this market.Enquire before Buying @ put actual website like for exampleTable of Contents:1 Global Market Overview1.1 Scope of Statistics1.1.1 Scope of Products1.1.2 Scope of Manufacturers1.1.3 Scope of Application1.1.4 Scope of Regions/Countries1.2 Global Market Size2 Regional Market2.1 Regional Production2.2 Regional Demand2.3 Regional Trade3 Key Manufacturers3.1 Solvay SA........................Continue (Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.About Market Reports Company:Market Reports Company delivers high quality precise research studies which include data about top manufacturers and market survey of various industries. We also work as a consulting company and publisher of market research reports. We are specialized in providing customized reports according to clients needs and requirements which ultimately help them grow in industry and beat their competition.What We Offer:Customized Reports: We provide customized research reports on your demand.Region Specific Study: We have resources all over the world so, if you are Interested in region specific study please contact us.How we work: Perfect blend of primary and secondary research to provide best result.Expertise: Team of Industry experienced research associates and experts, primary and secondary sources, 24*7 customer care service and post-sale support.Contact UsJason Smith,Sales Manager, Global Business Development,Website: marketreportscompany.comEmail: jasonsmith@marketreportscompany.comContact us: +1-888-220-3424Address: 20 N State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602 United States Isobutyl Stearate Market Report for Period 2018 till 2024 Pacific Texchem Pvt. Ltd., Emery Oleochemicals, ndustrial Quimica Lasem S.A., Oleon NV Hangzhou Dayangchem Company Ltd., and Others. Isobutyl Stearate Market https://bit.ly/2KcAeEc http://marketreportscompany.com/report.php?report=chemicals-and-materials/global-isobutyl-stearate-market-data-survey-report-2025/39394 https://bit.ly/2KcAeEc Global Isobutyl Stearate market report emphasizes on detailed analysis of companies and manufacturers like Industrial Quimica Lasem S.A., Hangzhou Dayangchem Company Ltd., Mosselman S.A., Pacific Texchem Pvt. Ltd., Emery Oleochemicals, Oleon NV, FACI SPA, A&A Fratelli Parodi SPA and Others.This market study includes data about global market statistics, market share, company performances, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc. The Global Isobutyl Stearate market report provides detailed segmentation of Global Isobutyl Stearate Market based on product type, application, end user and regional segmentation. The regional segment is further bifurcated on country level.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Isobutyl Stearate Market 2017 @Top Manufactures of Global Isobutyl Stearate market:Emery OleochemicalsOleon NVFACI SPAA&A Fratelli Parodi SPAIndustrial Quimica Lasem S.A.Hangzhou Dayangchem Company Ltd.Mosselman S.A.Pacific Texchem Pvt. Ltd.Others(Note: We can profile additional players without extra charges)Global Isobutyl Stearate Market: Key Product Type:Type 1Type 2Type 3OthersKey Application Types for Global Isobutyl Stearate Market:MetalworkingPersonal CareIndustrialothersKey Regions for Global Isobutyl Stearate Market:North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)(Note: We can provide specific country or region specific report on request)The Global Isobutyl Stearate Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Isobutyl Stearate Market. The value chain helps to analyze major upstream in raw materials, major equipments, manufacturing process, downstream customer analysis and major distributor analysis.The report also covers in-depth description, competitive scenario, wide product portfolio of prime players active in this market and business strategies adopted by competitors along with their SWOT analysis. The report also provides Porter analysis, PESTEL analysis and market attractiveness which helps to better understand the market scenario. Side by side, it also explicitly provides information about mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and all the other important activities occurred in current and past few years. The Global Isobutyl Stearate Market report explores manufacturers competitive scenario and provides market share for all major players of this market based on production capacity, sales, revenue, geographical presence and other major factors. The report also covers import/export data across all major regions covered in this report. Moreover, import/export data across any particular country as per requirement.The report finally provides detailed research report conclusion, which provides summary of entire report and vital suggestions from analysts particular to Isobutyl Stearate Market which will help existing as well as new players who wish to enter this market.Enquire before Buying @ put actual website like for exampleTable of Contents:1 Global Market Overview1.1 Scope of Statistics1.1.1 Scope of Products1.1.2 Scope of Manufacturers1.1.3 Scope of Application1.1.4 Scope of Regions/Countries1.2 Global Market Size2 Regional Market2.1 Regional Production2.2 Regional Demand2.3 Regional Trade3 Key Manufacturers3.1 Emery Oleochemicals3.1.2 Company Information3.1.2 Product Specifications........................Continue (Global Isobutyl Stearate Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.About Market Reports Company:Market Reports Company delivers high quality precise research studies which include data about top manufacturers and market survey of various industries. We also work as a consulting company and publisher of market research reports. We are specialized in providing customized reports according to clients needs and requirements which ultimately help them grow in industry and beat their competition.What We Offer:Customized Reports: We provide customized research reports on your demand.Region Specific Study: We have resources all over the world so, if you are Interested in region specific study please contact us.How we work: Perfect blend of primary and secondary research to provide best result.Expertise: Team of Industry experienced research associates and experts, primary and secondary sources, 24*7 customer care service and post-sale support.Contact UsJason Smith,Sales Manager, Global Business Development,Website: marketreportscompany.comEmail: jasonsmith@marketreportscompany.comContact us: +1-888-220-3424Address: 20 N State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602 United States Data Center Construction Market in Nordic -Denmark to Dominate the Market in Terms of Revenue Share by 2023 | Arizton https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/data-center-construction-market-nordic https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/data-center-construction-market-nordic According to a research report by Arizton the data center construction market in Nordic will reach values of approximately $6 billion by 2023 in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of more than 8% during 2018-2023. On the other hand the market revenues in Sweden alone will cross $1.5 billion.It is very much clear that data center construction market in Sweden is going to witness huge growth in the next five years.However the data center construction market in Denmark will remain dominant in the Nordic Regions constituting of more than half of the market share. Still the market in Sweden is going to gain huge traction and going to emerge as the fastest growing market in Nordic.View the latest report:The analysis of data center construction market both in Denmark and Sweden and their contribution to the Nordic data center construction market are as followings:Data Center Construction Market in DenmarkDenmark dominated over half of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period.The increasing investment by hyperscale operators such as Facebook, Bulk Infrastructure, and Google on the Havfrue/AEC-2 submarine fiber cable will fuel the growth of this region in the Nordic market. Furthermore, the presence of multiple colocation providers such as Colt Technology Services, Interxion, TeliaSonera, and CenturyLink, will boost revenues in Denmark during the forecast period. The increasing adoption of cloud-based services across the country and Denmarks close proximity to other European countries will help vendors expand their businesses in the Nordic market. Furthermore, Denmarks reduce electricity tax rates will propel the development in the Nordic data center construction market during the forecast period.Data Center Construction Market in SwedenSweden occupied a significant market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 13% during the forecast period.The increasing investments by Equinix, Interxion, Hydro66, Multigrid, Boderlight, H&M, Fortlax, Amazon Web Service, ArticSite, EcoDataCenter, The Future of Mining, and GothNet is one of the major factors attributing to the growth of the Sweden region in the data center construction market in Nordic.The Swedish government has reduced the electricity tax rate by 97% enabling local and global providers to construct new facilities in this country. The adoption of cloud-based application for the business operational purpose by several established companies will create new opportunities for colocation providers in the data center construction market in Nordic. The abundance of renewable energy sources, low-cost electricity, and initiatives to encourage district heating will transform the market in Sweden during the forecast period. For instance, Sweden Data Parks enables cheaper OPEX by reducing the cooling cost of data center development to almost zero in exchange for supplying waste heat to nearby households.More information available in the latest Market Research Report - Nordic Data Center Construction Market - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2018-2023About Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceArizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864 Hearing Protection Devices Market is Estimated to be Valued at US$ 1.9 Bn by 2021 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3036 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/multiple-chapter/3036 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/3036 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research titled Global Market Study on Hearing Protection Devices: Stringent Safety Regulations and Increasing Demand for Reusable Earplugs to Drive the Market, the hearing protection devices market is estimated to be valued at US$ 951.3 Mn by the end of 2015, and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 12.4% during the forecast period (20152021) to account for US$ 1,943.8 Mn by 2021.Global demand for hearing protection devices is increasing mainly driven by rapid growth of the construction, manufacturing and military weapons industries. An increasing number of regulations to reduce noise-induced hearing loss across various industries along with a rise in employment in manufacturing and construction sectors is expected to further drive overall growth of the hearing protection devices market over the forecast period. Moreover, some other factors that help to drive the growth of the market are increasing demand for next-generation HPD in military sectors, increasing urbanization and development activities, low-cost earplugs to boost demand in developing regions. However, lack of awareness and improper hearing attenuation are some of the major factors that restrict the growth of the market.Request to View Sample of Research Report @Request to View Sample of Research Report @Rising emphasis on custom-tailored hearing protection devices, mergers, and acquisitions, technology shift towards ear plugs with acoustic filters, increasing demand for uniform attenuation earplugs, growing market share of regional players and increasing investment in North America HPD market are some of the trends observed in the global HPD market.By region, North America is estimated to dominate the hearing protection devices market with over 34.4% share by 2015 end and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. Earplug is the largest segment in global hearing protection devices market. The global earplug segment is expected to increase at a CAGR of 13.6% in terms of value during the forecast period. Earmuffs is the second-largest segment in the global hearing protection devices market and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 10.2% in terms of value during the forecast period.Asia-Pacific represents the most lucrative market, followed by Europe for hearing protection devices. This is primarily due to rise demand for hearing protection devices in India, China, Bangladesh, Philippines and Indonesia. Asia-Pacific is expected to account for 20.4% market share in the global hearing protection devices market by 2015 end, which is expected to increase to 20.9% market share by 2021.Reques Report for Multiple Chapter @Reques Report for Multiple Chapter @Key market players covered in this report are 3M, Honeywell International Inc., Amplifon, Hellberg Safety AB, Dynamic Ear Company, Centurion Safety Products Ltd, Sonomax Technologies Inc, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, ADCO Hearing Products Inc., Elvex Corporation and Moldex-Metric Inc. These players have been profiled on the basis of various attributes such as company overview, recent developments, growth strategies, SWOT analysis and sustainability.The hearing protection devices market is segmented as follows:By Product Type:EarplugsDisposable Foam EarplugsReusable EarplugsSilicon/TPE EarplugsCustom EarplugsEarmuffsUniform Attenuation EarplugsCustom Attenuation EarplugsConventional Attenuation EarplugsHearing BandsBy Protector Type:Aural InsertsEnclosuresCircumoralSuperaural ProtectorsBy End User:ConstructionForestryMilitaryMiningManufacturingHealthcareOthersBy Region:North AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGet Full Report Now @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Birmingham extends ahead with PowerFolder www.powerfolder.com Although the University of Birmingham (UoB) contract for the File Sync & Share solution PowerFolder of Dusseldorfer dal33t GmbH expires at the end of 2018, the British university decided to extend it early.Dusseldorf/Birmingham 11.05.2018 - One cannot express their satisfaction with a product better: The University of Birmingham has already extended the contract with dal33t GmbH for the use of PowerFolder, which was previously due to expire at the end of the year 2018, well before the end of its term. Aslam Ghumra of the University's Research Data Management said, "The developers at PowerFolder have listened to us and helped us with our concerns and ideas, even after our commissioning of PowerFolder at our high-performance data centre." Christian Sprajc, CEO of dal33t GmbH, the company behind PowerFolder, added, "In the University of Birmingham, I am pleased to have such a long-established university as a customer and I am delighted that we will continue our productive and innovative cooperation well into the future."In the summer of 2016, PowerFolder was chosen because it guarantees a tailor-made, competitive solution that integrated easily with the university's own system. The secure and uncomplicated, flexible collaboration of researchers within the university and with their national and international colleagues is of immense importance for the research-intensive university. In addition, UOB also maintains scientific collaborative partnerships with major commercial companies to help them develop high-tech products, as well as collaborating with state health authorities.In the coming years, PowerFolder will continue to ensure that the sharing of the Universitys highly sensitive data will continue to function smoothly and securely.About the University of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham emerged in 1900 by a charter of Queen Victoria from the Mason Science College, founded in 1875 and is today one of the largest universities in England with a total of 33,000 students. It is a member of the Russell Group, which represents the interests of the UK's top universities vis-a-vis the government and is a founding member of the worldwide university network Universitas 21. It is also a cooperation partner of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Famous alumni include actor Tim Curry, musicians Spencer Davis and Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), zoologist and behavioral scientist Desmond Morris, and eleven Nobel Prize winners. For example, Francis William Ashton (Chemistry, 1922), John Robert Vane (Medicine, 1982), Paul Nurse (Medicine, 2001), Mike Kosterlitz and David Thouless (Physics, 2016) oder Sir J. Fraser Stoddart (Chemistry, 2016).About PowerFolderThe German company dal33t GmbH, based in Dusseldorf, Germany, has been successfully developing and marketing file sync and share solutions under the brand name PowerFolder since 2007. Its offer includes both public and integrated private cloud solutions (EFSS) as individualised, on-premises services. More than three and a half million users worldwide, most of the German universities and thousands of companies use PowerFolder. With the PowerFolder app, users can access and share their files from anywhere in the world, even on the go. Security takes absolute priority: the data is always encrypted and stored on servers in Germany in compliance with the European Data Protection Ordinance (EU-GDPR). PowerFolder has the backing of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and carries the seal "IT Security Made in Germany".Presscontact:Matthias Steinwachs+49 2132 9792298steinwachs(at)powerfolder.comdal33t GmbH / PowerFolderEmanuel-Leutze-Str.1140547 Dusseldorf Global Femtocells Market Survey 2018 | Airvana LP, Aricent, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei and Others Femtocells Market https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1721129 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-femtocells-market-professional-survey-report-2018-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Femtocells Market Professional Survey Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Femtocells in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAirvana LPAlcatel-LucentAntenovaAricentBerkeley-Varitronics SystemsCDGCiscoEricssonFujitsuGlobal Mobile Suppliers AssociationHuaweiTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPicocellFemtocellBy Application, the market can be split intoEnterpriseResidentialOtherBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTable of ContentsGlobal Femtocells Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Femtocells1.1 Definition and Specifications of Femtocells1.1.1 Definition of Femtocells1.1.2 Specifications of Femtocells1.2 Classification of Femtocells1.2.1 Picocell1.2.2 Femtocell1.3 Applications of Femtocells1.3.1 Enterprise1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Other1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Femtocells2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Femtocells2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Femtocells2.4 Industry Chain Structure of FemtocellsGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Femtocells3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Femtocells Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Femtocells Major Manufacturers in 20173.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Femtocells Major Manufacturers in 20173.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Femtocells Major Manufacturers in 20174 Global Femtocells Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Femtocells Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Femtocells Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2013-2018E Global Femtocells Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2017 Femtocells Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2013-2018E Global Femtocells Sales Price4.4.2 2017 Femtocells Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Femtocells Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Femtocells Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Femtocells Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis5.2 China Femtocells Market Analysis5.2.1 China Femtocells Market Overview5.2.2 China 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Femtocells Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Femtocells Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Femtocells Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Femtocells Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Femtocells Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Femtocells Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis5.6 India Femtocells Market Analysis5.6.1 India Femtocells Market Overview5.6.2 India 2013-2018E Femtocells Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2017 Femtocells Market Share Analysis6 Global 2013-2018E Femtocells Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2013-2018E Femtocells Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Femtocells Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Femtocells Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 Picocell of Femtocells Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 Femtocell of Femtocells Growth Driving Factor AnalysisContinue...About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Disposable Plastic Blood Bags Market is Projected to Record a Robust CAGR of 9.1%. 2020 End https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3173 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/multiple-chapter/3173 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/3173 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research Global Market Study on Disposable Plastic Blood Bags: Single Blood Bags to Witness Highest Growth by 2020 the global Disposable Plastic Blood Bags market was valued at USD 2,44,286.8 thousand in 2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of USD 4,13,084.8 thousand in 2020.A disposable blood bag refers to a bio-medical device that is used for collection, storage, processing, transfusion, separation and transportation of human blood and blood components. There are different types of disposable plastic blood bags based on the need of blood infusion; single blood bag, double blood bag, triple blood bag, quadruple blood bag and transfer blood bag.Request to View Sample of Research Report @Globally, the disposable plastic blood bags market is witnessing significant growth due to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, rising aging population and advanced features of disposable plastic blood bags. In addition, increasing initiatives undertaken by various government associations spreading awareness about importance of blood donations are driving the disposable plastic blood bags market. However, factors such as risks associated with blood transfusion and lack of awareness and poor blood collection and storage infrastructure in various parts of the world restrain the global market for disposable plastic blood bags market. In addition, lack of primary healthcare infrastructure in developing countries negatively impacts the growth of the disposable plastic blood bags market. The global disposable plastic blood bags market is estimated at USD 2,44,286.8 thousand in 2014 and expected to reach USD 4,13,084.8 thousand in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.1%.North America has the largest market for the global disposable plastic blood bags market. This is due to increased prevalence of blood disorders in the region. North American market for disposable plastic blood bags is estimated at USD 83,670.7 thousand in 2014 and is expected to reach USD 1,42,983.2 thousand in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.3%. Asia is the fastest growing region; this is due to large population base in the region. In terms of type of blood bags, single blood bags are the fastest growing segment. In terms of end users, blood banks are the fastest growing.Reques Report for Multiple Chapter @Some of the latest trends that have been observed in the global disposable plastic blood bags market include increasing use of RFID technology in blood bags and increasing number of mergers and acquisitions by companies.Terumo Corporation is a leading player in the global market for disposable plastic blood bags market. Some of the other major players in disposable plastic blood bags market are Grifols, S.A., Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, Haemonetics Corporation and MacoPharma SA.The disposable plastic blood bags market is segmented as follows:Disposable Plastic Blood Bags Market, By TypeSingle Blood BagsDouble Blood BagsTriple Blood BagsQuadruple Blood BagsDisposable Plastic Blood Bags Market, By End UsersHospital and Healthcare InstitutesBlood BanksHome HealthcareDisposable Plastic Blood Bags Market, by GeographyU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.ItalyAsiaChinaIndiaJapanGet Full Report Now @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Nail Care : 5.8% CAGR by 2017-24 Retail Market Nail Care https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1404991 https://www.researchmoz.us/nail-care-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2022-report.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Nail Care Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' '~ Global Nail Care Market: OverviewThe importance of nail care is rising, with increasing interest of consumers in nail treatment. Various brands are also developing new products for nail care. New treatment concepts are also being developed by nail brands. For instance, overnight nail care products like night creams. Nail color users are also becoming aware of chemicals, hence, manufacturers are using natural ingredients such as turmeric, milk, carrots, almonds, etc., in their products. The trend of anti-pollution cosmetic and personal care products is also rising. Anti-ageing products are also gaining popularity in the nail care products. Manufacturers are focusing on offering hydrating, smoothing, and strengthening products for nails.. . Get Sample Report_' 'Along with the new type of nail polish, manufacturers are also focusing on developing new nail polish removals that dont damage nails. There has been an increasing focus on the use of oil, soy-based formula and water-based formula as an ingredient in nail polish removers. The use of gel and long-wear nail polish is also rising, hence, the use of organic ingredients is also increasing to ensure the protection of nails.~ Global Nail Care Market: Scope of StudyThe report includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of the global nail care market. The report consists of various factors defining the market dynamics such as trends, drivers, opportunities, and restraints. The report also includes Porters five force analysis SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis of the global nail care market.The report also offers in-depth analysis and market opportunity analysis of the key developments in the industry, products, sales channels, etc. Key industry developments provide details on the factors that are likely to have an impact on market dynamics. These factors consist of the events that took place in the past and various events that are likely to take place in the future. The report also offers detail on various regulations affecting the global nail care market. An estimated market size on the basis of CAGR and US$ Mn has also been provided in the report.~ Global Nail Care Market: Market SegmentationThe global nail care market is segmented on the basis of product, sales channel, and price. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into nail polish, nail wraps/other extensions, nail art, nail polish remover, manicure products, pedicure products, and other product types. On the basis of sales channel, the market is segmented into pharmacies, hypermarket, supermarket, e-commerce, health & beauty retailer, and other sales channels. In terms of the price, the market is segmented into economic and premium.Region-wise the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The report provides forecast and market size including both volume and value for each region and other segments. The CAGR for the forecast period 2017-2022 has also been provided for each segment.~ Global Nail Care Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report provides detailed profile of some of the leading market players in the global nail care market such as LOreal SA, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Shiseido Company, Limited, Avon Products, Inc., Revlon, Inc., Chanel, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.E., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Colorbar Cosmetics Private Limited. Leading market players are following various strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, developing and offering new products, using various pricing strategies. The market players are also using different mediums to promote their products and attract customers.. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' 'Chapter 1 Global OutlookChapter 2 Global Nail Care Market - Executive SummaryChapter 3 Global Nail Care Market Overview3.1 Introduction3.1.1 Global Nail Care Market Taxonomy3.1.2 Global Nail Care Market Definition3.2 Global Nail Care Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast, 2012-20223.2.1 Global Nail Care Market Y-o-Y Growth3.3 Global Nail Care Market Dynamics3.4 Supply Chain3.5 Cost Structure3.6 Product Life Cycle3.7 Product Innovations3.8 List of Distributors3.9 Key Participants in the MarketChapter 4 Global Nail Care Market Analysis and Forecast- 2012-20224.1 Global Nail Care Market Size and Forecast By Product Type, 2012-20224.1.1 Nail Polish Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.1.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.1.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.1.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.2 Nail Wraps/other Extensions Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.2.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.2.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.2.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.3 Nail Art Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.3.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.3.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.3.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.4 Nail Polish Remover Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.4.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.4.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.4.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.5 Manicure Products Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.5.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.5.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.5.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.6 Pedicure Products Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.6.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.6.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.6.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.1.7 Other Product Types Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.1.7.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.7.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.7.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.2 Global Nail Care Market Size and Forecast By Sales Channel, 2012-20224.2.1 Supermarket Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.2.1.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.2.1.2 Market Share Comparison, By Region4.2.1.3 Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region4.2.2 Hypermarket Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20224.2.2.1 Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By RegionContinue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) IT : CAGR of 9.9% by 2017-24 ICT Market Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) IT https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1404992 https://www.researchmoz.us/quick-service-restaurant-qsr-it-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) IT Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' '~ Quick Service Restaurant IT Market OverviewQuick Service Restaurants (QSR) IT consist of hardware, software and service. These components are often used for automating various processes in quick service restaurants. QSR IT market report provides analysis for the period 2015 2025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast and 2016 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and recent developments playing influential role in the QSR IT markets growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to impact markets growth during the said period. Some of the factors supporting the growth of the market globally include supportive government policies, acts and regulations associated with QSR IT adopted by various industries in various regions around the world.. . Get Sample Report_' 'With increasing demand for automation and advanced technology in quick service restaurants, the market is expected to experience high growth in coming decade. The impact of these and other macro-micro economic factors has been analyzed while developing the market growth models. The study provides a complete perspective on global QSR IT markets evolution throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue (in US$ Mn).~ Quick Service Restaurant IT Market: Market DynamicsThe market overview section of the report establishes the market dynamics such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. Using these factors, the study identifies various trends prominent in the industry and are expected to influence the market growth during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. An attractiveness analysis has also been provided for every segment in the report, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the overall scenario in the QSR IT market. In addition to this, the report provides an overview of various strategies adopted by the key players engaged in global market. Key market indicators included in the report provide significance of the factors which are capable of changing the market scenario. These indicators are expected to define the market position during the forecast period.~ Quick Service Restaurant IT Market: Market SegmentationThe report segments the market on the basis of component and region. On the basis of component the QSR IT market is segmented as hardware, software and service. In terms of hardware the QSR IT market is segmented as Digital Signage, Kiosks, Drive Thru Terminals, Point of Sales, Handheld Devices, Digital Menu Cards. The software segment is further classified into Front of House, Inventory Management, Reconcillation, Labor Management, HR Software, Data Analytics, Marketing, Restaurant Operation, Support Operation and Franchise Management. The global QSR IT market is segmented on the basis of region into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. North America is expected to hold the largest market share in the global QSR IT market.~ Quick Service Restaurant IT Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also highlights the competitive landscape of the global QSR IT market. Abcom Pty Ltd., CAKE Corporation, Cognizant, Delphi Display Systems, Inc. GoFrugal Technologies Pvt. Ltd., HM Electronics, Inc., Imagine! Print Solutions, LG Display Co. Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, NCR Corporation, NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc., Oracle Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, PAR Technology Corporation, Restaurant Service Solutions, Revel Systems, Inc. and Verifone Systems, Inc. are some of the major players operating within the QSR IT market profiled in this study.Details such as financials, SWOT analysis, business strategies, recent developments, and other such strategic information pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of company profiling. The report also provides a detailed competitive analysis of the key players in the market and identifies various business strategies adopted by them. Leading players are currently focusing on providing cost competitive and customized products to the customers. Moreover, as part of this strategy, the companies are engaging in various strategic partnerships, acquisitions, focusing on expanding their business through new service additions and geographical presence.Global QSR IT Market~ Global Quick Service Restaurants IT Market, By ComponentHardwareDigital SignageKiosksDrive through terminalsPoint of SalesHandheld devicesDigital menu cardsSoftwareFront of HouseInventory ManagementReconciliationLabor ManagementHR SoftwareData AnalyticsMarketingRestaurant OperationSupport OperationFranchise ManagementService~ In addition, the report provides analysis of the global Quick Service Restaurants IT market with respect to the following geographical segments:North AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificMiddle East and AfricaSouth America. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' '1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary : Global Quick Service Restaurant IT Market4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Key Industry Evolution/Development4.2. Key Market Indicators4.2.1. Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Overview4.3. Market Dynamics4.3.1. Drivers4.3.2. Restraints4.3.3. Opportunities4.4. Global Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast, 2015 - 20254.4.1. Market Revenue Projections (US$ Mn)4.5. Porters Five Forces Analysis4.6. Ecosystem analysis4.7. Market Outlook5. Global Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast , By Component5.1. Definitions5.2. Key Findings5.3. Key Trends5.4. Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast By Component , 2015 - 20255.4.1. By Hardware5.4.1.1. Digital Signage5.4.1.2. Kiosks5.4.1.3. Drive through terminals5.4.1.4. Point of Sales5.4.1.5. Handheld devices5.4.1.6. Digital menu cards5.4.2. By Software5.4.2.1. Front of House5.4.2.2. Inventory Management5.4.2.3. Reconciliation5.4.2.4. Labor Management5.4.2.5. HR Software5.4.2.6. Data Analytics5.4.2.7. Marketing5.4.2.8. Restaurant Operation5.4.2.9. Support Operation5.4.2.10. Franchise Management5.4.3. By Service5.5. Components Comparison Matrix5.6. Market Attractiveness By Component6. Global Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast , By Region6.1. Key Findings6.2. Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast By Region, 2015 - 20256.2.1. North America6.2.2. Europe6.2.3. Asia Pacific6.2.4. Middle East and Africa6.2.5. South America6.3. Market Attractiveness By Country/Region7. North America Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast7.1. Key Findings7.2. Key Trends7.3. Quick Service Restaurant IT Market Analysis (US$ Mn) and Forecast By Component , 2015 - 20257.3.1. By Hardware7.3.1.1. Digital Signage7.3.1.2. Kiosks7.3.1.3. Drive through terminals7.3.1.4. Point of Sales7.3.1.5. Handheld devices7.3.1.6. Digital menu cards7.3.2. By Software7.3.2.1. Front of House7.3.2.2. Inventory Management7.3.2.3. Reconciliation7.3.2.4. Labor Management7.3.2.5. HR Software7.3.2.6. Data Analytics7.3.2.7. Marketing7.3.2.8. Restaurant OperationContinue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 DCIM Segment To Grow at a CAGR more Than 15% Nordic Data Center Construction Market Report | Arizton https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/data-center-construction-market-nordic https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/data-center-construction-market-nordic Arizton market research report analysis states that the Nordic data center construction market is estimated to reach revenues of approximately $6 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of more than 8% during 2017-2023.The data center construction market in Nordic by general construction is segmented into building development, installation and commissioning, services, building design, physical security, and DCIM.DCIM to dominate a significant market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 15% during the forecast period. The extensive use of DCIM solutions for asset management through the inventory of assets and lifecycles and maintenance requirement is propelling the growth of the data center construction market in Nordic. These solutions provide control power consumption, improve efficiency, and increase operational capabilities. The facilities operators also prefer solutions that monitor critical elements of the facility, including power, cooling, and IT infrastructure. The integration of DCIM solutions with IT service management solution (ITSM) such as BMC and ServiceNow will revolutionize the data center construction market in Nordic.Request a sample now:The market research report on the data center construction market in Nordic provides detailed analysis of market segmentation by electrical construction (UPS systems, generators, transfer switch and switchgear, rack PDU, and other electrical infrastructure), by mechanical construction (cooling systems, rack, and other infrastructure), by general construction (building development, installation and commissioning, services, building design, physical security, and DCIM), and by country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden).The market size of this region is also provided by square ft. area and power capacity in MW.Further, the report considers the present scenario of the Nordic data center construction market and its market dynamics for the period 20182023. It covers a detailed overview of various market growth enablers, restraints, and trends.Key Trends Driving the Nordic Data Center Construction Market - Analysis by AriztonThe study covers both the demand and supply sides of the market. It also profiles and analyzes the leading companies and various other prominent companies operating in the Nordic data center construction market.Major Vendors in the Nordic Data Center Construction MarketBy Infrastructure ProviderABBEatonRittalSchneider ElectricSTULZVertivBy Construction ContractorAECOMDPR ConstructionHDR ArchitectureMACE GroupMercury EngineeringNCCSkanskaProminent Players in the Nordic Data Center Construction MarketBy Infrastructure ProviderAiredale Air ConditioningAlfa LavalCaterpillarCondair GroupCumminsGEHPEHuaweiMTU On Site EnergySocomec GroupSystemairSwegonBy Construction ContractorArup GroupAFEC InternationalBravidaCOWIDornanENACOEtix EverywhereFlexenclosureFortis ConstructionGranlundMTH GROUPRambollRoyal HaskoningDHVSRV GroupSwecoMarket Segmentation by Electrical ConstructionUPS systemsGeneratorsTransfer Switch and SwitchgearRack PDUOther Electrical InfrastructureMarket Segmentation by Mechanical ConstructionCooling SystemsRackOther InfrastructureMarket Segmentation by Cooling SystemsCRAC & CRAH SystemsChillersCooling Towers & Dry CoolersEconomizer & Evaporative CoolersOther Cooling UnitsMarket Segmentation by Cooling TechniqueAir-based Cooling TechniqueLiquid-based Cooling TechniqueMarket Segmentation by General ConstructionBuilding DevelopmentInstallation & CommissioningBuilding DesignPhysical SecurityDCIMMarket Segmentation by GeographyDenmarkFinlandIcelandNorwaySwedenSweden to grow at the fastest CAGR in the data center construction market in Nordic during forecast periodSweden occupied a significant market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 13% during the forecast period.The increasing investments by Equinix, Interxion, Hydro66, Multigrid, Boderlight, H&M, Fortlax, Amazon Web Service, ArticSite, EcoDataCenter, The Future of Mining, and GothNet is one of the major factors attributing to the growth of the Sweden region in the data center construction market in Nordic. The Swedish government has reduced the electricity tax rate by 97% enabling local and global providers to construct new facilities in this country. The adoption of cloud-based application for the business operational purpose by several established companies will create new opportunities for colocation providers in the data center construction market in Nordic. The abundance of renewable energy sources, low-cost electricity, and initiatives to encourage district heating will transform the market in Sweden during the forecast period. For instance, Sweden Data Parks enables cheaper OPEX by reducing the cooling cost of data center development to almost zero in exchange for supplying waste heat to nearby households.For more information Request a Sample here:About Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceArizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864 The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights condemned the arbitrary measures that the Algerian authorities are taking against migrants through widespread arrest campaigns, violence and deportations. In a statement released on Wednesday in Nouakchott, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), which reports to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, deplored mass expulsions of sub-Saharan migrants by Algeria, and the proliferation of political violence that violates human rights in several countries of the continent. The concerns of the ACHPR are justified by the mass deportations of Sub-Saharans to Algerias borders of Mali and Niger, under extremely difficult conditions. Several thousand migrants from many Sub-Saharan countries were deported between 2016 and 2018. Since 2016, Algeria has been sending home thousands of Sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers even those who had lived and worked in the North African country for years. Algerian Interior Minister told MPs earlier this year that the country deported 25,000 Sub-Saharans since 2015 and that deportations are still undergoing. Migrants, African workers and their families are collected in trucks based on their skin color, and then police deport them to unsafe border areas with limited government presence. According to Amnesty International, the Algerian authorities have forcibly expelled over 20,000 migrants from a range of neighboring African countries last year. Algeria is a state party to the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which prohibits the mass expulsion of migrant workers regardless of the legal status or legal organization of their work. Global Satellite Communication Equipments : 2018 Leading Market Players - General Dynamics, L3 Technologies, Harris Satellite Communication Equipments https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1715229 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-satellite-communication-equipments-sales-market-report-2018-report.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Global Satellite Communication Equipments Sales Market Report 2018" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' '~ This report studies the global Satellite Communication Equipments market status and forecast, categorizes the global Satellite Communication Equipments market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia India and Other regions (Middle East & Africa, Central & South America).~ In 2017, the global Satellite Communication Equipments market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.~ The major players covered in this reportGeneral DynamicsL3 TechnologiesHarrisCobham. . Get Sample Report_' 'ViasatIridiumGilat Satellite NetworksAselsanIntellian TechnologiesHughes Network SystemsNewtecCampbell ScientificNd SatcomSatcom GlobalHolkirk CommunicationsNetwork InnovationsAvl Technologies~ Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndia~ The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & Africa~ On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBy ProductSATCOM ReceiverSATCOM Transmitter/TransponderSATCOM TransceiverSATCOM AntennaSATCOM Modem/RouterOthersBy TechnologySATCOM VSATSATCOM TelemetrySATCOM AISSATCOM-on-the-MoveSATCOM-on-the-Pause~ On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingGovernment & DefenseCommercial~ The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Satellite Communication Equipments sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);To analyze the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, to study the sales, value and market share of top players in these regions.Focuses on the key Satellite Communication Equipments players, to study the sales, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.~ In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Satellite Communication Equipments are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025~ For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.~ Key StakeholdersSatellite Communication Equipments ManufacturersSatellite Communication Equipments Distributors/Traders/WholesalersSatellite Communication Equipments Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream Vendors~ Available CustomizationsWith the given market data, QYResearch offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Satellite Communication Equipments market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' 'Global Satellite Communication Equipments Sales Market Report 20181 Satellite Communication Equipments Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Satellite Communication Equipments1.2 Classification of Satellite Communication Equipments by Product Category1.2.1 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 SATCOM Receiver1.2.4 SATCOM Transmitter/Transponder1.2.5 SATCOM Transceiver1.2.6 SATCOM Antenna1.2.7 SATCOM Modem/Router1.2.8 Others1.3 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Government & Defense1.3.3 Commercial1.4 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Market by Region1.4.1 Global Satellite Communication Equipments Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 United States Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Satellite Communication Equipments Status and Prospect (2013-2025)Continue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Global Seafood Processing Machine : 2018 Leading Market Players - GRANDBELL, Marel, GEA Group Seafood Processing Machine https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1715339 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-seafood-processing-machine-market-professional-survey-report-2018-report.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Global Seafood Processing Machine Market Professional Survey Report 2018" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' '~ This report studies Seafood Processing Machine in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.~ This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringGRANDBELLMarelGEA GroupManitowoc Company. . Get Sample Report_' 'YANAGIYABaaderOptimar FodemaUnited Food & BeverageBettcherNeofoodGuangdong Peninsula Group~ On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFish Processing MachineryShrimp Processing MachineryShellfish and Algae Processing MachineryOthers~ By Application, the market can be split intoFood & BeveragesPharma & HealthcareFeedOthers~ By Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndia. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' 'Global Seafood Processing Machine Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Seafood Processing Machine1.1 Definition and Specifications of Seafood Processing Machine1.1.1 Definition of Seafood Processing Machine1.1.2 Specifications of Seafood Processing Machine1.2 Classification of Seafood Processing Machine1.2.1 Fish Processing Machinery1.2.2 Shrimp Processing Machinery1.2.3 Shellfish and Algae Processing Machinery1.2.4 Others1.3 Applications of Seafood Processing Machine1.3.1 Food & Beverages1.3.2 Pharma & Healthcare1.3.3 Feed1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Seafood Processing Machine2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Seafood Processing Machine2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Seafood Processing Machine2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Seafood Processing Machine3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Seafood Processing Machine3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Seafood Processing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Seafood Processing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Seafood Processing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Seafood Processing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20174 Global Seafood Processing Machine Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Seafood Processing Machine Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2013-2018E Global Seafood Processing Machine Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2013-2018E Global Seafood Processing Machine Sales Price4.4.2 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Seafood Processing Machine Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Seafood Processing Machine Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Seafood Processing Machine Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Market Share Analysis5.2 China Seafood Processing Machine Market Analysis5.2.1 China Seafood Processing Machine Market Overview5.2.2 China 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Seafood Processing Machine Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Seafood Processing Machine Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2017 Seafood Processing Machine Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Seafood Processing Machine Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Seafood Processing Machine Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2013-2018E Seafood Processing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption AnalysisContinue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Global Self Powered Relays : 2018 Leading Market Players - EKOSinerji, Fanox, Texas Instruments Self Powered Relays https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1715230 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-self-powered-relays-sales-market-report-2018-report.html/toc www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Global Self Powered Relays Sales Market Report 2018" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' '~ This report studies the global Self Powered Relays market status and forecast, categorizes the global Self Powered Relays market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia India and Other regions (Middle East & Africa, Central & South America).~ In 2017, the global Self Powered Relays market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.~ The major players covered in this reportSiemensEKOSinerjiFanoxTexas InstrumentsSchneider ElectricABBC&S Electric. . Get Sample Report_' 'Basler ElectricKries-EnergietechnikWoodwardERLAshida~ Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndia~ The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & Africa~ On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoInverse Time Over Current RelaysDefinite Time Over Current RelaysInstantaneous Current Relays~ On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingCommercialIndustrialResidentialOther~ The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Self Powered Relays sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);To analyze the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, to study the sales, value and market share of top players in these regions.Focuses on the key Self Powered Relays players, to study the sales, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.~ In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Self Powered Relays are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025~ For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' 'Key StakeholdersSelf Powered Relays ManufacturersSelf Powered Relays Distributors/Traders/WholesalersSelf Powered Relays Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAvailable CustomizationsWith the given market data, QYResearch offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Self Powered Relays market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.Continue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Global Proximity Sensors Market To Rise At A CAGR Of 5.1% For The Forecast Period Between 2017 And 2025 To Be Valued At US$3,754.8 Mn Proximity Sensors Market https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1364005 https://www.researchmoz.us/proximity-sensors-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2022-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1364005 https://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Proximity Sensors Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.The global proximity sensors market report provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing key role in proximity sensors market growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence markets growth during the forecast period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the proximity sensors markets growth throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue (in US$ Mn), across different geographies, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA) and South America.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market overview section of the report demonstrates the market dynamics and market trends, such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of the market. An attractiveness analysis have also been provided for every geographic region in the report, in order to provide a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the proximity sensors market, globally. Moreover, the report provides an overview of the various strategies of key players present in the market. Introduction and market definition chapter helps in understanding different technologies of proximity sensors along with their applications which are included in the report.The report provides all the essential information required to understand the proximity sensors and its components. Furthermore, Porters Five Forces analysis explains the factors which are currently affecting the market. This report also provides the value chain analysis for the proximity sensors market which explains the participants of the value chain. The report also provides the current market trend impact analysis across each region.Global Proximity Sensors Market: Market SegmentationThe report segments the global proximity sensors market on the basis of various technology into Single Capacitive, Magnetic, Infrared (IR), Force Sensor and Others (Inductive, Photoelectric, etc.). Furthermore, the market is segmented on the basis of product type into fixed distance and adjustable distance. On the basis of chip type, the market is segmented into single chip and multi-chip. The market is segmented on the basis of its uses in various end-use industry into Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Building Automation, Consumer Electronics, Food & Beverage, Industrial and others segment. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the proximity sensors market and classifies it into various levels, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.On the basis of country, North American market is segmented into The U.S., Canada and Rest of North America. Similarly, Europe market is segmented into The U.K., Germany, France, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific have been segmented into China, Japan, India, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East and Africa covers the GCC countries, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Similarly, South American region includes Brazil, and Rest of South America.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Global Proximity Sensors Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also highlights the competitive landscape of the proximity sensors market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence and recent key developments. The comprehensive proximity sensors market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the proximity sensors markets growth.Some of the key players engaged in proximity sensors market include various manufacturers such as Pepperl + Fuchs GmbH, Sick AG, Omron Corporation, IFM Electronic GmbH, Schneider Electric SE, Panasonic Corporation, Rockwell Automation, Inc., Semtech Corporation, Vishay Semiconductors, STMicroelectronics NV, Qualcomm Technologies, Futek Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc., NXP Semiconductor, Sensata Technologies, and Infineon Technologies AG. Details such as financials, and products/service offerings pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of company profiling.Market SegmentationGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Technology- Capacitive- Magnetic- Infrared (IR)- Force Sensor- OthersGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Product Type- Fixed Distance- Adjustable DistanceGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Chip Type- Single Chip- Single Channel- Multi-Channel- Multi-ChipGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Industry Vertical- Aerospace & Defense- Automotive- Building Automation- Consumer Electronics- Smart Phones- Tablet- Others- Food & Beverage- Industrial- OthersMake an Enquiry of this report @In addition, the report provides analysis of the global proximity sensors market with respect to the following regions:North America- U.S.- Canada- Rest of North AmericaEurope- The U.K.- Germany- France- Rest of EuropeAsia Pacific- China- Japan- India- Rest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)- GCC Countries- South Africa- Rest of MEASouth America- Brazil- Rest of South AmericaAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Earbuds Market Analysis & Research Report 2023 by Arizton https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/earbuds-market https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/earbuds-market Arizton announces the publication of its exclusive report on Global Earbuds Market. This market research report offers analysis on market size & forecast, market share, industry trends, growth drivers, and vendor analysis. The market study also includes insights on segmentation by features (smart and non-smart), by price range (low range, medium range, and high range), and by geography (North America, APAC, Europe, and ROW).Global Earbuds Market - OverviewThe launch of smart wireless in-ear headphones by Bragi back in 2015 introduced and propelled the development of the global earbuds market. These products are designed and launched in as wireless smart headphones with sensors, chargeable carry case, capable of controlling the playback, and activating voice assistants like Siri, Google Now, Cortana, and Alexa. In 2017, Apple launched their flagship product - AirPods which eventually became the highest selling earbuds in the US and Canadian market. The increasing penetration of smartphones and growing demand for smart tech in emerging countries of China and India will boost the demand for medium range products in the global market. Leading vendors are introducing products with assisted hearing technology that offer a wide range of functionalities that include enhanced music and listening experience, control over external sounds, and real-time language translation. These technologically enhanced products are designed to meet consumer expectations thereby, boosting revenues in the global market. The integration of hearing aids to help people with hearing disorders, extended battery life, and active noise cancellation are some of the features offered by top players in the global market. The launch of new product portfolios that offer touch and tap interface to control various functions, sensors to recognize when to pause or play music, and gesture recognition to answer/end call will transform the global earbuds market.The introduction of wireless earbuds will offer better hearing levels, and sound qualities will create lucrative opportunities for leading players in the global market. These products seamlessly perform functions of smart wireless headphones, hearing aids, fitness tracker wearables, and speech modulation devices. The global earbuds market is anticipated to reach values of approximately $10 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of around 30% during 2017-2023.Order a report now for more information:The report considers the present scenario of the global earbuds market and its market dynamics for the period 20182023. It covers a detailed overview of various market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The study covers both the demand and supply sides of the market. It also profiles and analyzes the leading companies and various other prominent companies operating in the market.Major Vendors in the Global Earbuds MarketAppleAlphabetBragiSamsungNuhearaSonyJabraBoseProminent Players in the Global Earbuds MarketJaybirdAlpha AudiotronicsRowkinHuaweiAvancaBang & OlufsonCrazybabyEarinMeizuMotorolaWaverly LabsMymanuMarket Segmentation by FeaturesSmartNon-SmartMarket Segmentation by Price RangeLow Range (up to $49.99)Medium Range ($50 and $99.99)Premium Range ($100 and More)Market Segmentation by GeographyNorth AmericaUSCanadaEuropeUKGermanyAPACChinaGermanyROWView report details:About Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceArizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864 Global Marine Big Data Market Is Expected To Expand At A CAGR Of 21.5% During 2017 To 2025 To Reach US$ 3,240.5 Mn Marine Big Data Market https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1448030 https://www.researchmoz.us/marine-big-data-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1448030 https://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Marine Big Data Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.This report aims to provide a comprehensive strategic analysis of the global marine big data market along with revenue and growth forecasts for the period from 2017 to 2025. With fast changing technology, use in various applications and rising adoption of this technology in marine sector, the marine big data market is expected to experience high growth in the coming years. Some of the factors supporting the growth of the market worldwide include the potential for new insights, increased technological investments in developing regions such as Asia Pacific, high demand for marine big data solutions from oil & gas industry and advent of customized solutions in developed regions such as North America and Europe. The impact of these and other macro-micro economic factors has been analyzed while developing the market growth models.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Marine Big Data Market: Scope of the StudyThis report on the global marine big data market provides a detailed analysis of big data solutions used for different applications by end-users depending upon their needs. The report offers an in-depth analysis of the market drivers, restraints, and growth opportunities. Using these factors, the study identifies various trends prominent in the industry which are expected to influence the market growth during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. It includes a comprehensive coverage of the underlying economic and technological factors influencing the marine big data market growth. It provides the competitive landscape of key players in the marine big data market in order to highlight the competition scenario. The report also provides a detailed competitive analysis of the key players in the market and identifies various business strategies adopted by them. The study explains the penetration within each market segment across various geographies, and how these segments have accelerated the growth of the market as a whole.Global Marine Big Data Market: Key SegmentsThe global marine big data market is analyzed by segmenting it on the basis of component, application, data source and geography. Based on component, the market is classified into software and service. The software segment is further segmented into data analytics, data collection, data discovery & visualization and data management. Services segment is further classified into consulting, system integration and operation & maintenance. Based on data source, the market is categorized into environmental, oceanographic, geological data, economic and others. On the basis of application, the marine big data market can be segmented into renewable energy, oil & gas, fishery, whale watching, marine protected area, marine traffic, dredging, harbor, offshore construction and others. Geographically, the global market for marine big data has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. The market size and forecast for each region has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025 along with the CAGR (%) for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. The study also includes market estimates for major countries/regions such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, and India. The analysis by component, end-user and regions helps in evaluating the present scenario and growth prospects of the marine big data market over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the market and classifies it into various industries, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report concludes company profiles of major players in the marine big data market on the basis of various attributes, such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis and segment presence. Some of the major players in the global marine big data market with the significant developments are Teradata, Splunk, Inc., AIMS-Sinay, Oceanwise, Intertrust Technologies Corporation, MarineFIND, BigOceanData, Avenca Limited, BMT Group Ltd., Datameer Inc. Databricks Inc., Nautical Control Solutions, LP, Ocean Networks Canada, Smart Ocean and Open Ocean among others.Market Segmentation:Marine Big Data Market Analysis, by Component- Software- Data Analytics- Data Collection- Data Discovery and Visualization- Data Management- Services- Consulting- System Integration- Operation and MaintenanceMarine Big Data Market Analysis, by Application- Renewable Energy- Oil and Gas- Fishery- Whale Watching- Marine Protected Area- Marine Traffic- Dredging- Harbor- Offshore Construction- OthersMarine Big Data Market Analysis, by Data Source- Environmental- Oceanographic- Geological Data- Economic- OthersMake an Enquiry of this report @Marine Big Data Market Analysis, by RegionNorth America- The U.S.- Canada- Rest of North AmericaEurope- Germany- France- The U.K.- Rest of EuropeAsia-Pacific- Japan- China- India- Australia- Rest of Asia PacificMiddle-East & Africa- GCC Countries- South Africa- Rest of MEASouth America- Brazil- Rest of South AmericaAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Data Broker Market: Future Forecast Assessed on the basis of how the Market is Predicted to Grow https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/data-brokers-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13037 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13037 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Transparency Market Research (TMR) in one of its latest market study reveals the global data broker market to be intensely competitive. Savvy players are actively focusing on to offer customized solutions in order to best serve the requirements of their clients.Key names in the global data broker market include Experian plc., Oracle Corporation, TowerData Inc., Fair Isaac Corporation, Thomson Reuters Corporation, IBM Corporation, Acxiom Corporation, TransUnion LLC, PeekYou LLC, Datasift Inc., Nielson Holdings Plc, HG Data Company, CoreLogic Inc., H.I.G Capital LLC, Bloomberg L.P., Moodys Corporation, Ignite Technologies Inc., Qlik Technologies Inc., Equifax Inc., Lifelock Inc., Alibaba Group Holdings Limited, RELX Group plc, Wolters Kluver N.V., and HIS Markit Morningstar Inc.Get Report DetailsAccording to estimates presented by the TMR report, the global data brokers market will clock an impressive 11.5% CAGR for the forecast period between 2017 and 2026. In terms of data category, the demand for consumer data is estimated to contribute more than one-third revenue share of the overall market by the end of 2026. In terms of end-use sector, the BFSI segment holds the leading revenue share and is anticipated to register an above-average growth in the upcoming years. Geography-wise, North America is anticipated to dominate the data broker market over the 2017-2026 forecast period.Advantages of Insights into Customer Purchasing Behavior a Boon for MarketToday, the incessant use of mobile devices have led to generation of vast amount of consumer data that can be used for business advantage. Enterprises are striving to scrutinize the bulk data that is generated from digital and non-digital peripherals for devising new marketing strategies. In particular, customer-facing businesses are leveraging data analytics to understand trends, consumer behavior, growth opportunities, and purchasing patterns. The task, however, is quite complicated and requires external assistance to be carried out. Data broker products are increasingly being adopted to carry out complex analysis of massive volume of data.Get Brochure For More Technical InsightsMoreover, moderate regulations that oversee data protection stipulations allow a freehand collection, thus, enable easy buying, selling, and exchange of vital customer data. The scrutiny of this data enables organizations to better formulate marketing strategies and identify potential customers. This is leading to a strong demand for data broker product and services.Data brokers perform the arduous task of data collection from an array of sources, which is later scrutinized to deduce useful analytics. Businesses are purchasing consumer data to obtain information pertaining to customers interest areas that reveals his/her purchasing behavior. The data collected by data brokers is not only used to obtain vital customer data but also for tracking potential customers and operation management. This, in turn, will positively influence the global data broker market.PDF Sample For Future AdvancementsRisk of Compromising Vital Consumer Data Restrains GrowthAlthough the information fetched by data brokers are typically used for business innovation and for improved customer experience, it draws criticism for intruding into customer privacy. Consumer data may include customers email id, contact details and monitoring customers online and offline Internet activity. Policy makers and consumer groups remain highly critical of data collection using data brokers and services. Data broker practices have been under the radar lately as they are associated with surging spamming activities and spread of unsolicited promotional messages.The review presented is based on the findings of a TMR report, titled Data Broker Market (Data Category-Consumer, Credit, Government, Technical, Real Estate, Education & Training, Product & Services, Risk Management, Other; Data Types-Unstructured Data, Structured, Custom Structure Data; Pricing Model-Subscription Paid, Pay per Use Paid, Hybrid Paid Models; End Use Sector-BFSI, Retail and FMCG, Manufacturing, Media, Government Sector, Other Sectors) Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2026.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Connected Retail Market: Industry Analysis, Opportunity Assessment and Forecast upto 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/connected-retail-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=10418 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=10418 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A recent business and commerce publication by Transparency Market Research (TMR) has observed that the demand in the market for connected retail is expanding leaps and bounds and a number of players are connecting to the value chain. There are widespread possibilities with the growing field of the Internet of Things (IoT), paving a reliable mode of interaction between a company and its customers.The analysts of the report have evaluated that the global connected retail market was worth merely US$16.30 billion in 2016 and US$19.46 billion in 2017, but the future prospects are enormous with the valuation of the market estimated reach US$82.31 billion by the end of 2025. During the forecast period of 2017 to 2025, the demand in the global connected retail market is projected to increment at a phenomenal CAGR of 19.8%.Get Report DetailsProduct Innovation Paramount for Major Players to Maintain LeadershipFor the market leaders to stay ahead of the curve, product innovation is paramount, suggests the lead analyst of the report. Nearly every major player of the global connected retail market are International vendors of technology and investment on the research and development of innovative products is their primary focus. However, there are strong possibilities of new entrants making a mark in this market too via niche approaches and hence, activities of mergers and acquisitions are highly anticipated in the near future.The TMR report identifies Amazon Web Services Inc. (Seattle, U.S.), Google Inc. (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (Washington, U.S.), Cisco Systems (San Jose, California), International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) (U.S.), Verizon (New York, United States), Belatrix Software (Redwood City, U.S), Softweb Solutions Inc. (Chicago, U.S), ARM Holdings PLC (Softbank Group) (Cambridge,U.K), SAP SE (Germany), Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Inc.) (California, U.S), Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, U.S), Zebra Technologies Corp. (U.S), Fujitsu Limited (Tokyo, Japan), NXP Semiconductors NV (Netherlands), and PTC Inc. (Massachusetts, U.S) as some of the key companies in the global connected retail market.Obtain brochure for latest advancement and technologyBased on connectivity, the TMR business publication segments the connected retail market into Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth, NFC, and others. On the basis of component, the market has been bifurcated into hardware and software. The market has been further categorized on the basis of end users into electronics and appliances, beauty, home and personal care, food and beverage, apparel footwear & accessories, home goods, sporting goods and toys, and others. Region-wise, North America is highlighted as the one that will provide the maximum demand throughout the forecast period, although the demand from Asia Pacific is primed to expand at most robust growth rate among all rgions.Rapid Growth of Online Shopping Escalating DemandThe global connected retail market is mainly driven by the increasing adoption of the IoT across retail industries. Additionally, rapid growth in online shopping is another major driver of the market. The Internet of things (IoT) are focused upon innovation and are generating new opportunities by bringing consumers and every object into the digital realm. Application of the IoT in the retail industry will provide real-time insights from connected stores, combined with cognitive computing and rich data, which will transform the in-store experience and streamline the operations. The increasing penetration of smartphones has become the hub of interaction between customers and retailers.Get sample PDFNowadays, retailers are focused upon exploring ways to connect with the customers in order to enhance the in-store experience. For instance, with location based beacon technology, retailers can connect with the customers when they enter the store. Departmental stores such as Hudsons Bay and Lord and Taylor use Apples iBeacon technology and a mobile networking platform, which is called Swirl where they can send personalized promotions to the customers who download the app of that particular brand. However, the lack of IoT standards and issues regarding safety and privacy are expected to restrain the global connected retail market in the near future.Key Takeaways:Expanding possibilities with the IoT driving demand in the connected retail market.Competitive landscape largely fragmented, although there are enough opportunities in product innovation that will lure even more technology players.Privacy issues remain the primary restraint.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Connected Retail Market (Connectivity - Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC; Component - Hardware and Software; End User Industries - Electronics and Appliance, Beauty, Home and Personal Care, Food and Beverage, Apparel, Footwear and Accessories, Home Goods, and Sporting Goods and Toys) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Food-grade Alcohol Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 Food-grade Alcohol https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1448604 https://www.researchmoz.us/foodgrade-alcohol-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html#table-of-content www.researchmoz.us Press Release - 11 May2018Global Research and Development News --. ."Food-grade Alcohol Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" with coming years Industries Trends, projections of Global Growth, Major key player and Case study, Review, Share, Size, Effect.' 'Alcohol, also known as ethanol, is a versatile product with applications ranging from food and pharmaceutical to industrial solvents. The food industry is a key user of alcohol. Alcohol is employed in the manufacturing of vinegar, flavours & extracts, candy glazes, food dyes, yeast, animal-feed supplements, and various food sprays. Commonly, a major difference between productions of fuel-grade ethanol and food-grade ethanol is the addition of a small amount of solvent or gasoline to the fuel-grade ethanol in order to make it undrinkable. The process of alcohol production does not necessarily employ food-grade equipment.The remaining process for alcohol production is mostly similar. There are three types of food grade alcohol: Industrial-grade ethanol, either fermentation or synthetic origin, which has most of the impurities removed, FCC (food chemical codex)-grade ethanol, which includes heavy metal specification limits and GNS (grain neutral spirits, highly pure-grade ethanol, which is used in beverages).. . Get Sample Report_' '~ Food-grade Alcohol Market: Drivers and RestraintsRising population and rapid urbanization facilitated the need for quality food products. Moreover, food grade alcohol is utilized for food preservation. These factors are estimated to drive the food grade alcohol market during the forecast period. However, stringent government regulations regarding the quality of food grade alcohol are anticipated to restrain the market to some extent in the near future. Alcohol-flavored food products are likely to provide lucrative opportunities for food grade alcohol in the near future.~ Food-grade Alcohol Market: Segmentation ~~ In terms of source, the food grade alcohol market can be segmented into:Grain-basedMolasses-basedOthers (synthetic, etc.)Food grade alcohol is often molasses-based with a minimum of 94% to 99.99% volume/volume ratio. Food grade ethanol is commonly manufactured by using traditional methods, which include milling, fermentation, and distillation. In dry milling process, grains such as corn are crushed, mixed with enzymes and water, and heated. The liquid starch mash is further enzymatically treated in order to produce sugar. The produced sugars are fermented with the usage of yeast to yield carbon dioxide and ethanol. After the complete fermentation of the mash, it is distilled and further concentrated to produce ethanol. However, in wet milling, a similar process is employed, excluding the step where the grain is first immersed in dilute acid and water to enable separation of the grain into its components. Ethanol is required as a separating agent, cleaning agent, and also as a direct raw material in numerous food applications. Food grade alcohol serves as a natural preservative, not only in the production of food products but also in food packaging due to its unique characteristics.. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents_' '~ Food-grade Alcohol Market: Region-wise outlookIn the U.S., nearly 92% of alcohol consumed in a year is utilized for fuel applications, approximately 4% is consumed by food and beverage applications, with the remaining 4% as industrial chemicals and solvents. Asia Pacific held a majority share of the global food grade alcohol market in 2016 due to increasing demand from the food & beverage industry in the region. China and India are anticipated to considerably contribute to the development of the Asia Pacific food grade alcohol market. The food-grade alcohol markets in Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa are estimated to expand at a sluggish rate during the forecast period.Food-grade Alcohol Market: Key Players~ Key players operating in the global food grade alcohol market include:Archer Daniels MidlandWilmar InternationalMGP IngredientsCargillThe report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.~ The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysis~ The regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.~ Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketContinue.....ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Ghanas Cocoa Board (Cocobod) is currently in talks with Exim Bank China to secure a $1.5 billion loan to improve farms and install irrigation systems and other projects. The loan will mainly help to replant diseased and aged trees, build warehouses and cocoa roads to improve farmers income, and to provide irrigation in the face of changing climate conditions, the regulator said. According to Cocobods chief executive Joseph Aidoo, China will also grant $35 million to help build a 40,000-ton state-run cocoa-processing plant. The new processing plant, estimated to cost $60 million, will be built in the western region of Sefwi-Wiawso. Aidoo said the proposed factory would run through from production of butter, liquor down to the tertiary level, which is the production of chocolate. Cocobod has started a meeting with a Chinese technical team in the capital Accra, according to the CEO. Ghana currently has 450,000 metric tons installed capacity but only about 250,000 metric tons are being processed. Ghana and Cote dIvoire, the two countries producing 60% of the worlds cocoa output, have agreed earlier this year to intensify collaboration, in the field of scientific research for the production of cocoa plants and the improvement of plant varieties. The two countries also agreed to adopt and implement a regional program to fight the swollen shoot disease. Global Natto Gum Market 2018 Key Players: Hindustan Gums & Chemicals Ltd., Vikas WSP Limited, India Glycols Limited, Rama Gum Industries, Dabur India Ltd. Natto Gum Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3112959-global-natto-gum-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3112959-global-natto-gum-market-research-report-2018 Natto Gum Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Natto Gum Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2025reports to its database.Executive SummaryGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Natto Gum in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Natto Gum market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingHindustan Gums & Chemicals Ltd.Vikas WSP LimitedIndia Glycols LimitedRama Gum IndustriesDabur India Ltd.Jai Bharat Gums & Chemicals Ltd.Neelkanth PolymersGuangrao Liuhe Chemicals Co. Ltd.Lucid GroupGlobal Gums & Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.Ashland Specialty IngredientsIngredion Inc.Altrafine GumsRuchi Soya Industries Ltd.Supreme Gums Pvt. Ltd.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFood GradeIndustrial GradePharmaceutical GradeOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingFood & BeveragesOil & GasPaper ManufacturingMining & ExplosivesPharmaceuticals & CosmeticsIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Request Sample Report @Table of Content:Global Natto Gum Market Research Report 20181 Natto Gum Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Natto Gum1.2 Natto Gum Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Natto Gum Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Natto Gum Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Food Grade1.2.4 Industrial Grade1.2.5 Pharmaceutical Grade1.3 Global Natto Gum Segment by Application1.3.1 Natto Gum Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Food & Beverages1.3.3 Oil & Gas1.3.4 Paper Manufacturing1.3.5 Mining & Explosives1.3.6 Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics1.4 Global Natto Gum Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Natto Gum Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Natto Gum (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Natto Gum Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Natto Gum Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Natto Gum Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Natto Gum Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Natto Gum Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Natto Gum Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Natto Gum Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Natto Gum Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Natto Gum Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Natto Gum Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Natto Gum Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Natto Gum Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)3.1 Global Natto Gum Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.2 Global Natto Gum Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.3 Global Natto Gum Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.4 Global Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.5 North America Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.6 Europe Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.7 China Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.8 Japan Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.9 Southeast Asia Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.10 India Natto Gum Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)4 Global Natto Gum Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)4.1 Global Natto Gum Consumption by Region (2013-2018)4.2 North America Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.3 Europe Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.4 China Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.5 Japan Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.6 Southeast Asia Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.7 India Natto Gum Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)5 Global Natto Gum Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Natto Gum Production and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.2 Global Natto Gum Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.3 Global Natto Gum Price by Type (2013-2018)5.4 Global Natto Gum Production Growth by Type (2013-2018)6 Global Natto Gum Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Natto Gum Consumption and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)6.2 Global Natto Gum Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2013-2018)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Contact Us:Norah Trentsales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US); +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042 Precise Study on Global Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics Market Valuable Growth Prospects and Insights on Future Scenario Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3179 https://www.mrrse.com/iot-analytics-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3179 https://www.mrrse.com/ An up-to-date research report 2018 has been disclosed by Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) highlighting the title Global Market Study on Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics: North America Projected to Register High Y-o-Y Growth Rates During 2017-2025 which provides an outlook for current market value as well as the expected forecast including Rate on Investment (ROI) together with the growing CAGR near 16.2% during 2017-2025. The report studies the Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics Market worldwide, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, size, growth, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions.Ask Sample PDF of Report at:IoT connected devices collect large amounts of data and these devices are equal in value to the critical information that they gather. The number of such devices is rising on account of the steady demand for IoT services in different sectors for various applications. Therefore, the IoT analytics market is enabling companies to create services and platforms that allow them to efficiently analyze and manage real-time information streams from diverse data sources. This allows companies to better manage, optimize, and predict business operations and processes, improve profitability and efficiency, and neutralize threats. Thus, data analytics is vital for the growth of IoT and companies are focusing their efforts on the IoT analytics market and its entire ecosystem. Companies are devising appropriate strategies to deploy and procure relevant tools that should allow the successful adoption of IoT and operation analysis in real time.Healthcare a major vertical of the North America IoT analytics marketThe IoT analytics market plays a key role in improving the efficiency of the healthcare industry. The volume of data processed by the healthcare industry is growing by leaps and bounds. The IoT analytics market provides crucial insights related to health from large amounts of data that helps in critical decision making. Digitization in the healthcare industry along with adoption of IoT technology permits seamless collection of information for patient records and databases such as population health data.Software complexity and lack of skilled professionals a huge challengeOne of the major restraints in the IoT analytics market is the complex software that requires highly skilled resources. Developing hardware, software, and system integration necessitate trained and specialized resources to handle data preparation, create predictive models, and integrate these into applications. The resources are either unavailable or too expensive to hire, which stifles the growth of the IoT analytics market.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at:Collaborations a major component of the North America IoT analytics marketTo cater to the unending demand for IoT among business organizations and offer them cutting-edge technology, key players in the IoT analytics market have entered into joint ventures and partnerships with other players. Several connected device manufacturers such as Cisco Systems, telecommunication giant AT&T and tech conglomerates such as IBM Corporation have decided to offer smart solutions for the purpose of advanced data analytics. This is typically by way of IoT platforms. For e.g. In March 2017, IBM Corp. partnered with AT&T to provide enterprise customers with industrial IoT data insights. AT&T uses IBM products such as IBM Machine learning, IBM Watson Data Platform, and Watson IoT Platform to manage devices and apps and offer insights from different sources of data. IBM Corp. also collaborated with Cisco Systems in June 2016 to provide instantaneous IoT insights at the network edge. Customers at remote, far-flung locations could be immensely benefited with these combined solutions of IBM Watson and Ciscos edge analytics that help in the better understanding of network edge critical data.North America alone is worth almost 2/3rds of the global IoT analytics marketNorth America accounts for a lions share of the global IoT analytics market and is poised to continue its dominance throughout the forecast period. Within North America, the U.S. is far larger than Canada and it was valued at slightly above US$ 8.8 Bn in 2016. Canada, on the other hand, is poised to record high Y-o-Y growth rates along with a substantial CAGR of 21.2% from 2017 2025. As a result of its well-developed medical infrastructure coupled with an ageing population, healthcare is predicted to be the most attractive vertical in the North America IoT analytics market and it was worth just under US$ 4.3 Bn in 2016. Healthcare is anticipated to show steady revenue growth throughout the forecast period, painting a bright future for key stakeholders in this industry.Any Query, Ask Our Expert at:About Market Research Reports Search EngineMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Automotive NVH Materials Market Projected to Gain Significant Value by 2026 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/automotive-nvh-materials-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=42716 www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Automotive NVH materials are called as automotive Noise, Vibration and harshness (NVH) materials which are used to reduced or control the sound and vibration of the vehicles particularly cars and trucks. Interior NVH is the noise and vibration experienced by occupants whereas exterior NVH is concerned with the noise radiated by vehicle. The increase in demand to reduce the noise and vibration in order provide comfort to user and government initiative to make safer and quieter vehicles followed by rise in sales of automotive vehicles drives the demand for automotive NVH materials market.View Report Preview:Automotive NVH Materials Market: SegmentationBased on materials type, automotive NVH materials can be segmented into rubbers, engineering resins, molded foam and others. Rubbers type accounted for major share of the NVH market and is likely to remain the dominant material type during the forecast period. Rubber based materials are easy to manufacturer and easily replaceable. Also they provide ideal noise insulation and vibration damping. Rubbers have high density due to which they are widely accepted as sound absorbing material in automotive industry.Based on vehicle type, automotive NVH materials are segmented into passenger cars, Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV).Passenger cars accounted for prominent share in the NVH materials market and likely to remain the dominant market during the forecast period. Change in lifestyle and increase in middle class income coupled with supporting financial schemes for purchasing cars have contributed the increase in sales of passenger cars especially in developing countries. All these factors has fueled the demand for automotive NVH materials. Also increase in use of electric and hybrid cars in near future due to environmental regulations is also anticipated to drive the demand for automotive NVH materials during the forecast period.Based on application, automotive NVH materials can be segmented into absorption and insulation. Demand for absorption segment contributed major market for automotive NVH materials in 2016 and likely to remain the dominant market during the forecast period. Absorption in automotive is related to sound and vibration absorption. Automotive manufacturers are designing vehicles in order to give customer comfort and smooth ride. Hence, they are increasing the use of sound and vibration absorption materials in the passenger cars and also in LCV and HCV.Automotive NVH Materials Market: Region-wise OutlookBased on region, the automotive NVH materials market can be segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In terms of consumption, Asia Pacific held major share of the automotive NVH materials market in 2016. It is likely to remain the dominant region during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is largest producing and consuming region in automotive. Countries such as China, India and Japan are considered as global automotive hub with presence of large number of automotive and auto component manufacturers. All these are major factors which are anticipated to drive the demand for automotive NVH materials during forecast period. After Asia Pacific, North America is anticipated to held major share during the forecast period. Reviving automotive industry in U.S. and increase in preference towards hybrid cars and electric cars are the major factors which are contributed to drive the NVH materials market in North America. Europe region is also anticipated to grow at moderate rate compared to other regions, whereas Middle East & Africa and Latin America are expected sluggish growth rate owing to political instability in some of the leading countries in these regionsAutomotive NVH Materials Market: Key PlayersThe automotive NVH materials market is fragmented with presence of a large number of manufacturers. Prominent manufacturers of NVH materials includes 3M Company, BASF SE, Borgers AG, The Dow Chemical Company, Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and many others at regional level.Request to view Sample Report:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Barcoding Software Market Segments Research Report Till 2025 By Illuminated Insights https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1145008-global-barcoding-software-market-2 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1145008-global-barcoding-software-market-2 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1145008 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1145008-global-barcoding-software-market-2 HTF MI recently introduced new title on Global Barcoding Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 from its database. The report provides study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2025. The Report gives you competition analysis of top manufacturer with sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share, the top players including Jolly Technologies, Seagull Scientific, ASAP Systems, Cristallight Software, iWinSoft, TEKLYNX, Optima Warehouse Solutions, NiceLabel, Almyta Systems, Assetware Technology, Barcode Software, Aulux Technologies & TharoGet the inside scoop of the Sample report @:This report studies the global Barcoding Software market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Barcoding Software market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.In this report Global Barcoding Software market classified on the basis of product, end-user, and geographical regions. The report includes in-depth data related to revenue generation region wise and major market players in the Barcoding Software market.In order to get a deeper view of Global Barcoding Software market is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @Prominent top manufacturers Included In Global Barcoding Software Market with sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including Jolly Technologies, Seagull Scientific, ASAP Systems, Cristallight Software, iWinSoft, TEKLYNX, Optima Warehouse Solutions, NiceLabel, Almyta Systems, Assetware Technology, Barcode Software, Aulux Technologies & TharoThe Global Barcoding Software Market Is Classified On The Basis Of User/Application: Commodity Circulation, Library Management, Post Management, Banking System & OthersThe Global Barcoding Software Market Is Classified On The Basis Of Product Type: One-dimensional Barcoding, Two-dimensional Barcoding & 3D BarcodingThe Global Barcoding Software is classified on The basis Of Region such as: United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia & IndiaEarly buyers will receive 10% customization on reports. Enquire for customization or Global version of this report with geographical classification such as North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain and Benelux) Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Australia) Latin America (Brazil, Argentina and Colombia) Middle East and AfricaKey questions answered in this comprehensive study Global Barcoding Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving Global Barcoding Software Market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in Barcoding Software Market space? What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Barcoding Software Market? What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Barcoding Software Market? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Barcoding Software market? Get in-depth details about factors influencing the market?Acquire Single User PDF license of this research report @Table of Contents Introduction of Global Barcoding Software Product Overview and Scope of Barcoding Software Classification of Barcoding Software by Product Category Global Barcoding Software Market by Application/End Users Global Barcoding Software Market by Region Global Barcoding Software Market Competition by Players/Suppliers Global Barcoding Software Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018) Global Barcoding Software Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type [One-dimensional Barcoding, Two-dimensional Barcoding & 3D Barcoding] (Product Category) (2013-2018) Global Barcoding Software Sales (Volume) by Application i.e. Commodity Circulation, Library Management, Post Management, Banking System & Others (2013-2018) Global Barcoding Software Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data Barcoding Software Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders Market Effect Factors Analysis Market Size (Value and Volume) Forecast (2018-2025) Research Findings and Conclusion AppendixComplete report on Barcoding Software market report spread across 100+ pages, list of tables & figures, profiling 10+ companies. Enquire more @Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market A comprehensive study by Key Players: Astellas Pharma, Roche, Novartis, Wyeth Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market comprehensive study to 2023 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1145478-global-organ-transplant-immunosuppreant-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1145478-global-organ-transplant-immunosuppreant-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1145478-global-organ-transplant-immunosuppreant-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1145478 Latest research study from HTF MI with title Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the market and contains Future trend, Current Growth Factors, attentive opinions, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry validated market data. The study is segmented by products type, application/end-users. The research study provides estimates for Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Forecast till 2023.If you are involved in the Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. Its vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications Kidney Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Heart Transplantation, Lung Transplantation & Pancreas Transplantation, Product Types such as [Selective Inhibitor of Cytokine Production And Function, Immunosuppressive Antimetabolites, Immunosuppressive Antibodies & Immunosuppressive Adrenocorticosteroids] and some major players in the industry. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.Request Sample of Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 @:Key Companies/players: Astellas Pharma, Roche, Novartis, Wyeth(Pfizer), GlaxoSmithKline, Genzyme (Sanofi), Huadong Pharmaceutical, North China Pharmaceutical Huasheng Co., Hisun, SL PHARM, Nanjing Hicin, Hongsheng, CINKATE CORPORATION, Huitian & Sinopharm ChuanKang Pharmaceutical.Application: Kidney Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Heart Transplantation, Lung Transplantation & Pancreas Transplantation, Product Type: Selective Inhibitor of Cytokine Production And Function, Immunosuppressive Antimetabolites, Immunosuppressive Antibodies & Immunosuppressive Adrenocorticosteroids.The research covers the current & Future market size of the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data. It also covers various types of segmentation such as by geography [United States, EU, Japan, China, India & Southeast Asia]. The market competition is constantly growing higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the industry. Moreover, many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. On the basis of attributes such as company overview, recent developments, strategies adopted by the market leaders to ensure growth, sustainability, financial overview and recent developments.Stay up-to-date with Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant market research offered by HTF MI. Check how key trends and emerging drivers are shaping this industry growth as the study avails you with market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional breakdowns, competitive landscape, shares, trend and strategies for this market. In the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market Analysis & Forecast 2018-2023, the revenue is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2018 and 2023. The production is estimated at XX million in 2017 and is forecasted to reach XX million by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2018 and 2023.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @Key questions answered in this report - Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate beWhat are the key market trendsWhat is driving Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market space?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market ?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Market?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant market? Get in-depth details about factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA?Enquire for customization in Report @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant, Applications of Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant, Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of , Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, Export & Import, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes United States, EU, Japan, China, India & Southeast Asia, Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Segment Market Analysis (by Application [Kidney Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Heart Transplantation, Lung Transplantation & Pancreas Transplantation]) Major Manufacturers Analysis;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [Selective Inhibitor of Cytokine Production And Function, Immunosuppressive Antimetabolites, Immunosuppressive Antibodies & Immunosuppressive Adrenocorticosteroids], Market Trend by Application [Kidney Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Heart Transplantation, Lung Transplantation & Pancreas Transplantation];Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant by region, type and application ;Chapter 12, to describe Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Organ Transplant Immunosuppreant sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Buy this research report @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 5-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 segmentsThanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Fleet Management System Industry Market Growing Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2023 Fleet Management System Industry Market Analysis & Forecast to 2023 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1005598-global-fleet-management-system-industry-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1005598-global-fleet-management-system-industry-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1005598-global-fleet-management-system-industry-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1005598 Latest research study from HTF MI with title Global Fleet Management System by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the market and contains Future trend, Current Growth Factors, attentive opinions, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry validated market data. The study is segmented by products type, application/end-users. The research study provides estimates for Global Fleet Management SystemForecast till 2023.If you are involved in the Fleet Management System industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. Its vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications Application 1, Application 2 & Application 3, Product Types such as [Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3] and some major players in the industry. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.Request Sample of Global Fleet Management System Industry Market Analysis & Forecast 2018-2023 @:Key Companies/players: company 1, company 2, company 3, company 4, company 5, company 6, company 7, company 8 & company 9.Application: Application 1, Application 2 & Application 3, Product Type: Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3.The research covers the current & Future market size of the Global Fleet Management System market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data. It also covers various types of segmentation such as by geography [North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc]. The market competition is constantly growing higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the industry. Moreover, many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. On the basis of attributes such as company overview, recent developments, strategies adopted by the market leaders to ensure growth, sustainability, financial overview and recent developments.Stay up-to-date with Fleet Management System market research offered by HTF MI. Check how key trends and emerging drivers are shaping this industry growth as the study avails you with market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional breakdowns, competitive landscape, shares, trend and strategies for this market. In the Global Fleet Management System Market Analysis & Forecast 2018-2023, the revenue is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2018 and 2023. The production is estimated at XX million in 2017 and is forecasted to reach XX million by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2018 and 2023.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @Key questions answered in this report - Global Fleet Management System Industry Market Analysis & Forecast 2018-2023What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate beWhat are the key market trendsWhat is driving Global Fleet Management System Market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in Fleet Management System Market space?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Fleet Management System Market ?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Global Fleet Management System Market?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Fleet Management System market? Get in-depth details about factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA?Enquire for customization in Report @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global Fleet Management System market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Global Fleet Management System, Applications of Fleet Management System, Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of , Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, Export & Import, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc, Fleet Management System Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Fleet Management System Segment Market Analysis (by Application [Application 1, Application 2 & Application 3]) Major Manufacturers Analysis;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3], Market Trend by Application [Application 1, Application 2 & Application 3];Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Global Fleet Management System by region, type and application ;Chapter 12, to describe Fleet Management System Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Fleet Management System sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Buy this research report @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 5-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 segmentsThanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road, Edison, NJ USA - 08837sales@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218 Implantable Medical Devices Market: Global Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013 to 2017 and Forecast 2018 to 2024 Implantable Medical Devices Market https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/implantable-medical-devices-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/implantable-medical-devices-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/implantable-medical-devices-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/implantable-medical-devices-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Global Implantable Medical Devices Market: Type (Cardiovascular Implants, Orthopedic Implants, Gyneac Implants, Cochlear Implants, Ophthalmic Implants, Facial Implants, Breast Implants, Others),Material (Metal, Biological, Polymer, Ceramic), End user (Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers) and Geography Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global Implantable Medical Devices market was valued at US $ XX Mn and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the 2018 to 2024.Market Outline: Implantable Medical Devices MarketImplantable medical devices are used as replace or act as a fraction of or the whole biological structure. Currently, these devices are being used in many different parts of the body for various applications such as orthopedics, pacemakers, cardiovascular stents, defibrillators, neural prosthetics or drug delivery systems etc.Market Dynamics: Implantable Medical Devices MarketAn increase in the number of keratoplasty cases and corneal surgeries will boost Implantable medical devices market growth over the forecast period. The market for Implantable medical devices driven by technological advances in implants like multifocal intraocular lens technology and rising awareness about aesthetics among young patient population expected to fuel the market for Implantable medical devices over a period of forecast. Rising awareness about facial implants, increase in beauty consciousness, unhealthy lifestyles, and inclination towards body fitness, growing technological advancements, and growing adoption of aesthetic surgeries are the few other factors which are propelling the growth of the global Implantable medical devices. Furthermore, market players launched new advanced products, with the light of the advancements Implantable medical devices market is expected to grow at significant rate over the forecast period. However, potential side effects or damage associated with the use implants, the dearth of a skilled workforce to perform the implantation procedures, high cost associated with the treatment are the few factors hamper the growth of Implantable medical devices market.A sample of this report is available upon request @#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnxMarket Scope: Implantable Medical Devices MarketImplantable Medical Devices market is segmented based on the type, material, end user and geographical regionsBased on the type, the market is segmented into the following: Cardiovascular Implants Orthopeadic Implants Gyneac Implants Cochlear Implants Ophthalmic Implants Facial Implants Breast Implants OthersBased on the material, the market is segmented into the following: Metal Biological Polymer CeramicBased on the end user, the market is segmented into the following: Hospitals Specialty Clinics Ambulatory Surgical CentersBased on the geographical regions, the market is segmented into the following: North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America The Middle East and AfricaTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhuMarket Summary: Implantable Medical Devices MarketGlobal Implantable Medical Devices market is highly fragmented with several local and international players offering different implantable products in the marketplace. Players or service providers in the Implantable Medical Devices market are coming up with a customized solution that addresses the patient requirements. Players in Implantable Medical Devices market are developing newer designs which are influenced by viscoelastic technology and others to gain larger market revenue share in the Implantable Medical Devices market. Moreover, end users in the market continuously working towards educating the patients regarding implantation surgeries and post-surgery precautions.Regional Analysis: Implantable Medical Devices MarketGeographically, global Implantable Medical Devices market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. North America and Europe is expected to have major market share in Implantable Medical Devices market due to the presence of a large number companies manufacturing implantable devices, technological advancements, growing elder population and increase in the adaptation of advanced implant systems and well-established infrastructure. Asia Pacific represents a vast population with an unmet need in the various diseases treatment of aging people, demographic and lifestyle changes coupled with the highest number of aging population is anticipated to bolster the implantable medical devices market in Asia Pacific during the forecast period.Competition Assessment: Implantable Medical Devices MarketSome of the players in the global Implantable Medical Devices market include: Abbott Laboratories (U.S.) Medtronic plc (Ireland) Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.) LivaNova PLC (U.K.) BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG (Germany) Cochlear Limited (Australia) Sonova Holding AG (Switzerland) MED-EL (Austria) Nurotron Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (China) William Demant Holding A/S (Denmark)Need more information about this report @#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3Notable market developments: Implantable Medical Devices Market In September 2017, DePuy Synthes launched TRUMATCH Titanium 3D Printed implants for facial reconstruction in US. In April 2015, the U.S. FDA approved the Kamra Corneal Inlay, the first small aperture corneal implantable device for correction of near vision in patients who have not had cataract surgery.Key Features of the Report: The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2024) The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are actively working in the market The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario The report analyses the impact of the socio-political environment through PESTLE Analysis and competition through Porters Five Force Analysis in addition to recent technology advancements and innovations in the marketGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.comToll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553Website @ Molybdenum Disulfide Extreme Pressure Lithium Grease Market Research Analysis and Forecast, 2017 2024. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1766 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/molybdenum-disulfide-extreme-pressure-lithium-grease-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1766 Prominent formulators in molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market are JX Groups, Molyslip, Whitmore, Chevron, Castrol, Total, Shell, Texano, Dow corning and Exxon Mobil. Chevron merged with Texano in 2000, the merger was planned to become a leading company in total stockholder return among the competitors. The move created the fourth largest oil company of the world with 25000 retail stores in over 6 continents. The companies have one of the biggest oil and gas equivalent in reserves and will focus on worldwide marketing business, significant growth platform for natural gas and power and industry leading skills in technology innovation.Molybdenum Disulfide Extreme Pressure Lithium Grease Market size will depict a significant growth in next seven years. The product is smooth textured with high melting point, it is water resistant and is used to reduce wear by maintaining lubrications under high friction and shock load conditions. The compound has a characteristic to provide lubrication after grease has been displaced. It is highly suitable in chassis lubrication for trucks and construction vehicles working in heavy duty services. The product is extensively used in automotive and industrial sector for smooth functioning of the equipment.Growing automotive industry is preliminary driver for molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market. The product is used widely for lubrication in steering linkages, pedal shafts, wheel bearing, ball joints and control arms. It is commonly consumed as fifth wheel lubricants in trucks as it maintains protection after grease has be displaced. High performance, extreme pressure load capacity and high oxidation capacity of the compound is boosting molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Rise in construction sector by over 3% annually from past five years is propelling molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market. The product is recommended for lubrication of heavily loaded journal bearings used in rock crushing and industrial plants. It provides excellent oxidation stability, corrosion protection and water resistance to the heavy load plants. Further, non-adverse effects on human health is complementing the product penetration.Supply chain of molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market initiates from its manufacturing. It is formulated by base oils, thickener and additives. Post manufacturing, the compound is packed in varied size and shape containers to ease its transportation. The product is distributed to strategic locations for its usage, it is even made available for the customers in the retailer and dealers.Challenges that can restrict molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market growth is limitations of the product. They can pose harm to slow speed gear application, such as it can cause high wear rates known as polishing. Additionally, product is not suitable for low temperature applications as it does not charge fully with the agent, that can affect working of the machinery.Browse complete summary of this report @Asia Pacific, led by China, India and Japan will register decent CAGR in molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market. Growth in the construction industry is boosting heavy duty vehicle demand, that consumes the product majorly. It is anticipated that India will be the fastest growing country in the construction industry by 2021 with the global share of over 6%. Indonesia will witness growth of over 5% in construction output per year. North America, especially the U.S. is one of the largest commercial vehicles producers such as trucks, minibuses and heavy construction vehicle. The product is extensively used in heavy vehicles for lubrication. Germany will provide a positive outlook of the molybdenum disulfide extreme pressure lithium grease market. The country hosts giants in automotive manufacturing and engineering companies such as Volkswagen, BASF and Daimler. The product is extensively used in automotive and industrial equipment.Make an Inquiry before buying @About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnologyContact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.com Microbiology Testing Market by Global Top Vendors - Alere (US), BD (US), Beckman Coulter, Inc. (US), Biomerieux SA (France), Cepheid (US), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US) Microbiology Testing Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/697 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/697 The Microbiology Testing Market, this market is one of the fastest growing market and expected to continue its growth near future. The total market for Microbiology testing was US$ 2706.1 million in 2016 and expected to reach US$ 5409.1 million by 2023. While considering the segments, Chemicals & Reagents was holding largest market share that was about 42.1% in 2016.Microbiology testing has emerged as one of the rapidly changing segment of healthcare over the past few years. Microbiology testing deals with the study of microbial germs and their clinical applications for the improvement of health. Increasing prevalence of various infectious diseases are driving the growth for global microbiology testing market.Get Exclusive Sample Copy @Key Players for Global Microbiology Testing Market:Alere (US), BD (US), Beckman Coulter, Inc. (US), Biomerieux SA (France), Cepheid (US), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US).Microbiology Testing Market Segments:Global Microbiology testing Market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprise Instruments, Chemicals & Reagents, Consumables & Accessories, and others. On the basis of application, it is segmented into, Gastrointestinal Infections, Respiratory Infections, Urinary tract Infections, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Others. On the basis of end user, it is segmented into, Hospital based laboratory, Independent laboratory, and Academics & Research Institutes.Regional Analysis of Global Microbiology testing Market:Considering the global scenario of the market, North America was holding largest market share of 37.9% in global Microbiology testing market in 2016. Asia-Pacific is second largest and fastest growing market in global Microbiology testing market. APAC is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.1% during 2018-2023. Europe was second largest microbiology testing market and is expected to grow at a significantly during the forecast period. On the other hand. Middle East and Africa (ME&A) microbiology testing market was growing lower than global average and expected to grow at steady pace.Ask to Expert @Major TOC of Global Microbiology Testing Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023:1 Report Prologue2 Introduction2.1 Scope of Study2.2 Research Objective2.3 Assumptions & Limitations2.3.1 Assumptions2.3.2 Limitations3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary ResearchTOC Continued!About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com 8 Ways to Reduce Noise in Your Workplace Reducing noise in the workplace https://formaspace.com/articles/office-furniture/8-ways-to-reduce-noise-in-the-workplace/?utm_source=openpr&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=article-120517 Many employees find that a lively, open-office workplace brimming with the sounds of enthusiastic colleagues working together makes for a positive, invigorating place to collaborate on work projects. Yet others strenuously disagree; they find that unwanted office noise interferes with their ability to get productive work done. What to do? We offer eight practical tips on how to establish an office noise reduction program at your workplace that will help make your employees happier and more productive.For many, today's dream office has the look-and-feel of a converted warehouse loft with an industrial look that features natural brick walls, expanses of poured concrete, open fixture lighting systems, as well as exposed pipes and ductwork. Indeed, this office look, which originated with media and tech companies, has become an established trend, as we've written about quite a few times. This style of workplace conveys a confident, modern (if not retro) design language that's especially attractive to Millennials who have unique ideas about how work environments should look (hint: like a hipster coffeehouse). Managers and space planners also like the overall efficiency that these spaces provide: they hold out the promise of flexibility and collaboration-driven innovation. But there can be significant downsides if you are not careful: unless there is proper planning for acoustic comfort, these open office designs, with their hard, noise reflecting surfaces, can wreak havoc on employee satisfaction among those who find extraneous noise to be a productivity deal-breaker.The issue of unwanted office noise hasn't gone down quietly. More and more office acoustic "fails" are making the news.For example, a year after the 935 million-dollar Francis Crick Institute opened in King's Cross, London, it's been widely reported that many of the institute's 1,200 plus scientific researchers and office staff complain that the workplace is simply too noisy for them to concentrate effectively on their research and writing tasks.Some of the programming developers at Apple have also recently expressed their dissatisfaction with a recent transition into open office spaces at Apple Park a move that many employees feel favors a push toward noisy collaboration that comes at the expense of intense, quiet concentration.Whether the unwanted noise situation is brought about by overhearing loud co-worker telephone calls, overly enthusiastic clickety-clack keyboarding, the incessant sounds of office equipment (especially large printers and copiers), or simply the repeated noise of doors opening and closing, it's having an effect on many of today's employees.Research indicates that the most distracting type of noises in the workplace are the unwanted/unrelated conversations that you can't help but overhear. The mind can't help but want to tune in and make sense of conversations we can hear, even if it's as banal as hearing about re-scheduling a babysitter for your colleague's 10th-anniversary dinner on the evening of the second Tuesday of next monthSo it's not surprising that a recent Oxford Economics Study found that, given a choice of perks, employees' first choice was a quiet office environment where they could focus on work. This ranked higher than any other benefit including some fairly expensive ones, such as free meals at the office or onsite daycare.The bottom line? Managers need to get on top of this issue by implementing noisy office solutions before they face long-term issues, such as poor worker productivity, lower job satisfaction, and decreased retention rates.How to Keep the Workplace Noise Levels in CheckLet's look at eight practical ways you can make positive strides in office noise reduction.1. Office Noise Reduction Starts with Careful Site Selection and Construction DetailsIt may be obvious, but a compromised site selection, such as one located near a busy freeway, airport, or industrial facility does not work in your favor. If noisy neighbors can't be avoided, innovations such as modern window glazing solutions can control how much outside noise enters the building. If you are looking at leasing new office space, you'll also want to investigate the building's mechanical systems (such as elevators and HVAC systems) for acoustic pathways, which could introduce unwanted noise into your office space.If you are building a new facility from scratch, you can start your office noise control program during the design and planning phase. For example, to isolate the sound of conversations between different rooms or floors, acoustic design experts can specify construction materials with enough 'mass' to absorb this type of noise. Low vibration noises, such as those emanating from nearby construction sites or street traffic, can be addressed by damping techniques that attenuate sound vibrations; this can be accomplished by using custom materials or applying special glue-like dampening compounds between stiff surfaces, such as drywall or plywood, to make a noise absorbing 'sandwich.' Because sound vibrations can travel long distances through the structure of a building, acoustic experts can also specify de-coupling 'gaps' in the structure that prevent sound vibrations from moving from one part of the building to another. Finally, absorption materials can be introduced in the interior, such as acoustical ceiling tiles, baffles, carpets, and engineered floors, which we'll talk about in detail below.2. Establishing Dedicated Loud and Quiet Zones Can Help with Office Noise ControlRead more ...Formaspace advances the spirit of discovery and creation through the design and manufacture of custom business furniture. Our furniture marries form to function with flexible solutions for clients in the laboratory, industrial, and office environments.Formaspace serves over 80% of the Fortune 500, as well as universities, governments, small businesses, and individuals.Formaspace1100 East Howard Ln Suite 400 Austin Tx 78753800-251-1505 Gambian government is selling several planes and a fleet of luxury cars bought by former President Yahya Jammeh as the West African nation seeks to reduce crippling debt contracted by the former leader. Yahya Jammeh, The Gambias former leader who fled the country a year ago after losing his latest re-election bid, acquired vast wealth, much of which he packed into planes and carried with him into exile. Since taking office a year ago, President Adama Barrow has tried to repair damage done to Gambias reputation by Mr Jammehs 23-year rule, which was marked by human rights abuses and debts. A commission of enquiry set up by President Barrow has heard that Jammeh looted state funds and mismanaged the economy with unilateral decisions to technocrats. Jammehs spending hinted at his riches. He had a fleet of black Rolls Royce limousines whose headrests carry his name embroidered in dark thread, and a house in Maryland, according to Reuters. According to local media, the ex-ruler controls all public resources and directly involved in all types of business, small, medium, and large scale. He does not pay tax and that compels other competing businesses to close down or relocate. Exscudo rolling out: global update https://test.exscudo.com/#/signin www.exscudo.com Our team is proudly presenting you the results of our work on Exscudo beta exchange. We are launching a big update, including a new interface and more advanced features. You can test beta version of Exscudo exchange HERE:The following features were added on the exchange: New quotations interface. Now you can see more information in quotation field: last price for a currency pair, 24-hour trading volume and 24-hour price change. Now you can change your account password. Two-factor authorization was added to protect your account. Once you sign into your account, you will need to verify your identity with Google 2FA on your mobile phone. Now you can test currency deposit/withdrawal system. Transaction history widget was added. New orders interface. Now you can see the best price for currency you want to buy, the maximum amount of currency that you can purchase and the balance in this currency.Exscudo exchange is going to be released soon. Exscudo exchange is a finance marketplace for beginners and professional traders, financial institutions and institutional investors. We have combined the best features of centralized and decentralized exchanges: high performance of the central core, secure architecture, proof of liquidity and security of funds by means of the blockchain, creation of any assets through tokenization, a powerful system for technical analysis. The Exscudo exchange core is centralized, but the access to it is gained through the decentralized EON network.Exscudo exchange is not involved in deposit storage, deposits are stored in users wallets based on EON blockchain. Until the users are ready to exchange Exscudo exchange cannot withdraw anything from their wallets and does not take responsibility for their funds: it plays a role of an escrow agent who signes the transaction and guarantees the swap. as a storage option, Exscudo deposit system has maximum safety, maximum convenience and maximum effectiveness. Indeed, it is a revolutionary solution.About ExscudoExscudo is the nextgen financial ecosystem that unites the traditional financial system and the cybercurrency market. The main goal of the project is to create a single gate to cybercurrency market for simple users, professional traders, investors and financial institutions. Exscudos ecosystem consists of a Stock exchange, as well as a merchant, wallets, trading terminals, cards and a protected communication channel.Exscudo OUMerirahu 58, Tallinn 13516, EstoniaContactMarina Juszczyk, mjuszczyk@exscudo.com, Mobile number: +48 603495995, Twitter: @MarinaJuszczyk Widefield Imaging Devices Market: Global Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013 to 2017 and Forecast 2018 to 2024 Widefield Imaging Devices Market https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/widefield-imaging-devices-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/widefield-imaging-devices-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/widefield-imaging-devices-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3 https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/widefield-imaging-devices-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Global Widefield Imaging Devices Market By Component (Software (Data Analysis and Interpretation, Image viewing), Instruments), By Device Type (Tabletop, Handheld, Portable ), By Application (Glaucoma, Diabetic retinopathy, Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Central Serous Retinopathy, Vitreous Traction, Pediatric, Point of Care, Others), By End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, Diagnostic Centres, Research Institutes), Geography Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global Widefield Imaging Devices market was valued at US $ XX Mn and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the 2018 to 2024.Market Outline: Wide field Imaging Devices MarketPeripheral retina is frequently affected by various diseases and Wide field Imaging Devices has become an essential tool for evaluation of peripheral retinal pathology. The wide angle and high resolution of this technology was recently developed and updated along with multimodal capabilities.Market Dynamics: Wide field Imaging Devices MarketGrowing geriatric population around the world is the major factor that drives the growth of Wide field Imaging Devices market globally. As per to WHO statistics, population above 65 years were 13% of the whole population in 2010 and it is expected to reach 53% by 2020. Furthermore, increase in the prevalence of chronic eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, etc. boosts the market growth of Wide field Imaging Devices market. Moreover, presence of favorable reimbursements, advancements in the technology, and increase in R&D investments also propels the Wide field Imaging Devices market growth globally. On the other hand, lack of awareness, high installation costs, high cost of testing, and dearth of skilled professionals restrains the growth of Wide field Imaging Devices market globally.A sample of this report is available upon request @Market Scope: Wide-field Imaging Devices MarketWide field Imaging Devices Market is segmented on the basis of Component, Type, Application, End user and Geographical regionsBased on the Component, Widefield Imaging Devices Market is segmented as: Software Data Analysis and Interpretation Image viewing InstrumentsBased on the Type, Widefield Imaging Devices Market is segmented into the following: Portable Table top Hand heldBased on the Application, Widefield Imaging Devices Market is segmented into the following: Glaucoma Diabetic retinopathy Age Related Macular Degeneration Central Serous Retinopathy Vitreous Traction Pediatric Point of Care OthersBased on the End User, Widefield Imaging Devices Market is segmented into the following: Hospitals Ambulatory Surgical Centres Diagnostic Centres Research InstitutesTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Market Summary: Widefield Imaging Devices MarketWidefeild imaging systems market is highly fragmented and is based on new product launches and clinical results of products. Major arket players were focusing on various strategies such as new product developments and launches, clinical trials, market initiatives, high investments on research and development, joint ventures, acquisitions and partnerships with the competitors to enhance their footprints in Widefeild imaging systems market.Regional Analysis: Widefield Imaging Devices MarketGeographically, widefield imaging systems Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa regions. North America is the largest market for widefield imaging systems followed by Europe due to the high adoption of advancements in the technologies, increase in the complications such as diabetic retinopathy, skin cancers etc., well established healthcare infrastructure, favorable reimbursement policies, and rapid increase in the geriatric population. Asia Pacific and Latin American regions are also anticipated to show the significant growth rate in widefield imaging systems market during the forecast period owing to the increase in awareness among the people, huge population pool, rise in number of geriatric patients, presence of emerging economies such as Brazil, India, China, Japan etc., increase in chronic complications related to ophthalmologic disorders.Competition Assessment: Widefield Imaging Devices MarketSome of the players in the global Widefield Imaging Devices market include: Carl Zeiss AG (Germany) Leica Microsystems (Germany) SpectraScience Inc. (U.S.) Cytoviva Inc. (Aetos Technologies Inc.) (U.S.) Optical Imaging Ltd. (Israel) Michelson Diagnostics Ltd. (U.K.) PerkinElmer Inc. (U.S.) Nikon Corporation (Japan) Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies (The Raytheon Company) (U.S.) Jude Medical Inc. (U.S.) Somanetics Corporation (U.S.) Volcano Corporation (Volcano Corporation) (Netherlands) Topcon Medical Systems Inc. (Topcon Corporation) (Japan)Need more information about this report @Key Features of the Report: The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2024) The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are actively working in the market The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario The report analyses the impact of the socio-political environment through PESTLE Analysis and competition through Porters Five Force Analysis in addition to recent technology advancements and innovations in the marketGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.comToll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553Website @ Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics Market: Global Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013 to 2017 and Forecast 2018 to 2024 Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics Market https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/triple-negative-breast-cancer-diagnostics-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/triple-negative-breast-cancer-diagnostics-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/triple-negative-breast-cancer-diagnostics-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3 https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/triple-negative-breast-cancer-diagnostics-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Global Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics Market: Type of Test ((Imaging Techniques (Mammography, Molecular Breast Imaging, MRI Scan, CT-Scan, Ultrasound, Others), (Assays (Immunochemistry (IHC), FISH Test, Blood Based Assay), Breast Biopsy)), End user (Diagnostic Centers, Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers) and Geography Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market was valued at US $ XX Mn and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over 2017 to 2023.Market Outline: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketBreast cancer is characterized by the abnormal multiplication of the breast cells that will form lumps that may be nonmalignant or malignant in nature. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease disease that can be sub divided into clinical, histo pathological and molecular subtypes. TNBC accounts almost 15% of all breast cancer cases and is characterized by tumors that do not express estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) or over express human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). TNBC is associated with a poor prognosis and a high risk of distant recurrence and death with in first 3-5 years of follow up.Market Dynamics: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketThe advent of the novel technologies in breast cancer diagnosis and prevalence of the breast cancer worldwide are driving the breast lesion localization methods market. According to TNBC foundation TNBC occurs in about 10-20% of diagnosed breast cancers and is more likely to affect younger people, African Americans, Hispanics and the people with BRCA 1gene mutation. In 2012, 1.7 Mn women were diagnosed with breast cancer and among them 521900 women died because of it globally. In addition, increase in awareness about the early detection of breast cancer due to the different awareness campaigns and initiatives were taken by respective government and nonprofit organizations such as Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society, and World Health Organization (WHO) expected to boost the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market growth further. Moreover, favorable reimbursement policies in developed countries coupled with the rising demand for the better healthcare infrastructure globally projected to bolster the market growth over the forecast period. However, stringent regulatory approvals and high cost of the diagnosis, lack of awareness regarding TNBC anticipated to hamper the global Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market over the coming years.A sample of this report is available upon request @Market Scope: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketTriple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market is segmented based on the type of test, end user, and geographical regionsBased on the type of test, the market is segmented into the following: Imaging Techniqueso Mammographyo Molecular Breast Imagingo MRI Scano CT-Scano Ultrasoundo Others Assayso Immunochemistry (IHC)o FISH Testo Blood Based Assay Breast BiopsyBased on the end user, the market is segmented into the following: Diagnostic Centers Hospitals Ambulatory Surgical CentersBased on the geographical regions, the market is segmented into the following: North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America The Middle East and AfricaTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Market Summary: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketTNBC diagnostics market is growing at significant rates owing to the rise in prevalence of the breast cancer According to GLOBOCAN 2012 data, breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide, accounting 11.9% cancer cases globally. An estimated, 1.7 million new cases were diagnosed in 2012. Companies operating in the global TNBC diagnostics market are focusing on the development of the new technologies to increase their market share. Furthermore, companies also adopting the acquisitions and mergers to strengthen their product portfolio and market position.Regional Analysis: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketGeographically, global Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. North America Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics is expected to grow at significant rates owing to lifestyle changes and the rise in the prevalence rates of breast cancer. Furthermore, established healthcare infrastructure and growing awareness related to the early detection of cancer are expected to boost the market growth in North America region. Europe Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market is projected to grow t high rates owing to the increase in incident rates of breast cancer and advancements in technology of diagnosis. According to the GLOBCON 2008 report by WHO, the incident rates of breast cancer is 89.7 per 100,000 women in Western Europe, which is highest incident rate in the world. Asia Pacific Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market is expected to have lucrative growth opportunity due to developing healthcare infrastructure and rise in breast cancer cases. Furthermore, rise in disposable income, growing awareness regarding early detection of breast cancer.Competition Assessment: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics MarketSome of the players in the global Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnostics market include: Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland) Abbott Laboratories (U.S) Siemens Healthcare Inc. (Germany) Thermo Fischer Scientific, Inc. (U.S.) Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S) Biocept, Inc (U.S.) Illumina, Inc., (U.S) AstraZeneca plc, (U.K) Epigenomics AG (Germany) Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (U.S.) Myriad Genetics, Inc.(U.S.)Need more information about this report @Key Features of the Report: The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2024) The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are actively working in the market The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario The report analyses the impact of the socio-political environment through PESTLE Analysis and competition through Porters Five Force Analysis in addition to recent technology advancements and innovations in the marketGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.comToll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553Website @ Radioactive Waste Management Market - Expected to Offer Lucrative Opportunities to the Industry https://www.xpodenceresearch.com/Request-Sample/105845 https://www.xpodenceresearch.com/Reports/Radioactive-Waste-Management-Market Radioactive wastes are unavoidable residues generated via radioactive materials emitted from various hospitals, universities, non-nuclear industries, research & medicines and from nuclear power plant for generating electricity. The disposal and management of such wastes is an issue prevalent in all the countries. Various strategies and techniques for safe management of radioactive waste arising from the applications are well established and extensive experience has been obtained in different regions. However, radioactive waste remains an important element for many countries owing to the increasing concerns occurred by radioactive material.International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an authority providing a regulatory framework for safety standards and offers an extensive range of services such as an operational safety, integrated nuclear infrastructure, and integrated regulatory services for protecting the environment and people from the dangerous effects of radioactive activities. IAEA organizes various conferences such as International Conference on Issues and Trends in Radioactive Waste Management. The objective behind the conferences is to foster the information exchange on current issues in the area of waste management and to promote strategies for the resolution. As per French Environmental Code (Art. L 542.1-1), radioactive waste is the final waste which cannot be treated under the existing economic & technical conditions. Treatment mostly involves extraction of any part of the waste which can recycle any hazardous substances. The radionuclides enclosed in radioactive waste that may be found in nature (radium-226) or manmade (caesium-137).PDF Sample of the ReportThere are two sources of nuclear wastes which include wastes from nuclear power plant as a by-product and from other miscellaneous applications such as research & medicine containing radioactive material. Nuclear waste is unsafe and is regulated by the government organizations. Most of the fuel utilized in nuclear power plants contains small uranium pellets stacked inside an alloy fuel and is stored in airtight containers filled with water. Nuclear wastes remains radioactive for long duration and it is difficult to locate a dumping facility for radioactive wastes.Rising demand of nuclear plants for generating electricity, increasing environmental prevention standards, strict regulatory framework on radioactive waste management for protecting people and environment from hazardous effects are few factors expected to offer lucrative opportunities to the industry. Additionally, increasing stringent government regulations especially for long-term waste management solution and mandatory high investment in nuclear power projects for waste management generates vast opportunities for the market growth over the forecast period. However, transportation of waste poses an unacceptable risk to environment and people, complex regulatory structure and high cost involvement in waste treatment may hinder the market growth. In addition, lack of high level radioactive waste storage capacity and proper site selection are few of the challenges faced by the radioactive waste market.Radioactive waste management market has been segmented by waste type, by reactor type and by applications. Based on waste type, the market has been segmented as high level waste, intermediate level waste, and low level waste. On the basis of reactor type, pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, gas-cooled reactors, and pressurized heavy water reactor are few sub-segments of the industry. Based on application, major market has been divided as industrial and utility.North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America are the key regional segments in the global market. Europe region has been anticipated to hold largest market share followed by Asia Pacific region. Rising awareness regarding nuclear power application and massive investments in nuclear power projects are the major drivers for the nuclear waste management market growth in Europe region.The key players operating in the industry include Holtec International, Nuclear Research and Consulting Group, SA Radiation Pty. Ltd., SA Radiation Pty. Ltd., Veolia Environmental Services, Ecology Services Inc., Bartlett Nuclear Inc., Areva Inc., Pangea Resources, WM Symposia, Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, Chesapeake Nuclear Services Inc., American Waste Management Services Inc., Radiation Decontamination Solutions LLC, Mid-Counties Waste Management Services Ltd., and Cabrera Services Inc.Obtain Report Details atAbout Us:Xpodence Research have the most extensive collection of market research reports of many categories. Xpodence Research provides the best market research solution for every industry by publishing the best possible results of great market research firms worldwide. For every particular problem, theres a particular solution, so according to the customer needs, we provide the best possible results to them from different market research organization, whether its a Custom Research or Syndicated Research reports because the product that wins is the one that bridges customers to the future, not the one that requires a giant leap.Every organization, whether it is related to Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Eatables, Consumable Goods and many more demands a market research results so that they can take important decisions for more productivity and better output in this swift world. Xpodence Research gives the best possible outcome, perfect forecast, analysis and insights of market research in the form of report which is beneficial for various organisations and also to the manufacturing companies in taking the best decisions for quality production.Contact Us:Xpodence Research244, Madison AvenueNew York City, NY - 10016United StatesToll Free +1- 844-445-2861Email: sales@xpodenceresearch.com RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET SIZE ,SHARE AND GLOBAL TOP MANUFACTURERS| GET INSIGHT REPORT FORECAST 2018 - 2027. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1515 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/renewable-energy-market-1515 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1515 Pune, India, May, 2018/MRFR Press Release/- Research Report on Global Renewable energy Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027 .Vestas Wind Systems, Calpine Corporation, Enel Green Power, Suzlon Energy Ltd., GE Energy, Siemens, Enercon., Pelamis Wave Power and Yingli Solar are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the global renewable energy market.Get Sample Report @Renewable Energy Global Market OverviewThe global renewable energy market is regionally divided into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. At present, the global market for renewable energy is dominated by Asia Pacific owing to the mandates issued by governments of many nations for minimizing the emissions of greenhouse gas. Europe is predicted to be the second largest market for renewable energy owing to the advancement in the technology and the availability of new forms of energy across the region. Ocean energy and offshore wind energy are two of the forms of renewable energy sources in Europe.Most new renewable energy capacity is installed in developing countries, and largely in China, the single largest developer of renewable power and heat over the past eight years. In 2016, renewable energy spread to a growing number of developing and emerging economies, some of which have become important markets. The renewable energy sector employed 9.8 million people in 2016, an increase of 1.1% over 2015. By technology, solar PV and biofuels provided the largest numbers of jobs. Employment shifted further towards Asia, which accounted for 62% of all renewable energy jobs (not including large-scale hydropower), led by China. In 2016, World Energy Council quoted that, hydropower accounted for about 30% of the total global installed power generating capacity and about 23% of total global electricity produced. The tremendous yearly addition in capacity of renewable energy is certainly boosting the renewable energy globally. The development of community renewable energy projects continued in 2016, but the pace of growth in some countries is in decline. In a new trend, such projects have begun to expand into energy retailing (supply), storage and demand-side management. Government policy at all levels remained important for renewable energy developments. The 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) formally entered into force at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) in November 2016. However, renewable energy markets were affected only indirectly during the year. A number of governments implemented new renewable energy targets, and several cities established new commitments to 100% renewable energy. Despite the importance of the heat and transport sectors to energy demand and global emissions, policy makers focused predominantly on the power sector.Industry NewsIn November, 2017 GE Renewable Energy announced that it has now installed more than 60 gigawatts worth of onshore wind energy capacity across the globe, made up of over 35,000 wind turbines in 36 countries. GE Renewable Energy has now installed enough onshore wind energy capacity to power the equivalent of more than 15 million residential homes.In November, 2017 Enel Green Power North America completed construction of the 300 MW Rock Creek Wind Farm in Atchison County, Missouri. Rock Creek will produce enough energy to power approximately 100,000 Missouri homes and marks EGP-NAs first project in the state.In June, 2017 Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: YGE), one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers, announced that, Tempress Systems B.V., part of the Amtech Group celebrated the opening of Europe's largest bifacial PV solar plant of close to 400 kilowatt-peak (kWp) capacity in the Netherlands, using n-type PANDA Bifacial modules manufactured by Yingli Solar. The plant is located next to the headquarters of Tempress in Vaassen, The Netherlands.In January, 2016 Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN) announced acquisition of Noble Americas Energy Solutions, LLC (Noble Solutions), the nations largest independent supplier of power to commercial and industrial retail customers.Browse Complete Report @Renewable Energy Global Market SegmentationThe scope of global renewable energy market is segmented into two major segments which are explained below:By TypeSolar EnergyWind EnergyGeothermal EnergyBio EnergyHydropower EnergyOthersBy ApplicationAutomotiveConstructionTransportationChemical & Petrol-ChemicalBy End-UserResidentialCommercialIndustrialRenewable Energy Global Market - Competitive AnalysisThe global market for renewable energy seems to be highly competitive. To maintain the market position and to drive the market growth, various dynamic and diversified international organizations, domestic organizations and as well as new entrants form a competitive landscape. Market leaders are innovating continuously and increasingly seeking market expansion through various strategic mergers and acquisitions, product launch, innovation, increasing investments in research and development and cost-effective product portfolio. Major players are investing on internal R&D, collaborating with EPC contractors and, most of all, in acquiring other firms.Enquiry for the Report @MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.ContactMarket Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Colombian cement demand to surpass 15 million tons by 2023 https://www.cwgrp.com/research/research-products/product/275-cement-market-report-colombia-forecast-through-2023 www.cwgrp.com Over the next five years, cement demand in Colombia is expected to reach 15.3 million tons, according to CW Researchs 2018 Colombia Cement Market Report. This improvement will be more noticeable from 2019 to 2021, when CW Research anticipates large-scale projects to be in their most cement-intensive stages.In the upcoming years, the cement sector in Colombia will be shaped by the 4G infrastructure projects. In one hand, that project will be one of the main consumption hubs for Colombian cement, while on the other, it will allow transportation to become less dangerous and costly. This is expected to spark up an increasingly competitive environment, as producers become more susceptible to pricing competition both internally and from imports, notes Filipe Gouveia, CW Groups Associate Analyst.4G HIGHWAY PROJECT BOOSTING CEMENT CONSUMPTIONDomestic cement demand has risen at an annual average rate of over two percent over the previous five years. Colombia is currently undergoing large-scale infrastructure projects in order to boost the countrys productivity, often hindered by high transportation costs. As a result, the 4G highways project, aimed at constructing or upgrading 11,000 kilometers of highway, has been developed since 2014.The government is currently focusing on attracting investors for this project under PPP agreements, with 18 out of the 30 highway projects having started construction.AN EXPANDING CEMENT MARKETThe Colombian cement sector is dominated by three major players: Cementos Argos, Cemex, and LafargeHolcim, which together control 87.7 percent of the cement production capacity in the country. There is currently a total of 21 operational plants, eight of which are grinding units, and the remaining integrated.Domestic cement prices in Colombia have remained stable over the years, as transport costs keep regional markets segmented and competition localized.****For more information, placing an order, or interview inquiries, please contact Liviu Dinu, Market Services & Marketing Consultant, CW Group, by phone at +40-744-67-44-11, or e-mail at ld@cwgrp.com.ABOUT THE REPORTThe Colombia Cement Market Report, part of CW Researchs Cement Industry Country Report series, meets the country-level cement market research needs of small and large businesses, analysts and governments. The reports cover cement volume trends in detail, analyzing trade flows, cement demand and production (historical and a five-year outlook), per capita consumption, and the competitive landscape, including company profiles, cement production facility details, including past and announced brownfield production increases and greenfield projects. Cement Industry Country Reports also cover demand drivers, including macro-economic and construction sector dynamics, for the specific country. Industry reports are presented in an objective, easy-to-understand format, providing hard-to-find answers to top market research questions.More information about the report can be found here:ABOUT CW GROUPThe Greenwich (Conn.), USA-headquartered CW Group is a leading advisory, research and business intelligence boutique with a global presence and a multi-industry orientation. CW Group is particularly recognized for its sector expertise in heavy-side building materials (cement), light-side building materials, traditional and renewable power & energy, petrochemicals, metals & mining, industrial minerals, industrial manufacturing, bulk cargo & shipping, among others. We have a strong functional capability, grounded in our methodical and quantitative philosophy, including due diligence, sourcing intelligence, feasibility studies and commodity forecasting.CW GroupPO Box 5263, Greenwich, CT 06831, USALiviu Dinu (inquiries@cwgrp.com) Automotive Embedded Systems Market: Industry Analysis And Detailed Profiles Of Top Industry Players https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=34646 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=34646 www.transparencymarketresearch.com The automotive industry is one of the largest economy in the world producing millions of cars every year. As for other industries, significant improvements in functionalities, performance, safety, etc. are provided by electronic and software technologies. An automotive embedded system is a computer system that is embedded into a car to control various functionalities. It is a computer system for electronic devices, built with the intent to control the mechanism of data and services. Software is an important aspect of the automotive embedded system. Most of the automotive embedded systems are deployed for energy saving and low emission in vehicles, high reliability and safety requirements. Automotive embedded systems assures the end user requirements in terms of safety, comfort and even costs. Changes in system architecture, modifications in software development and enhancement of integrated services would bring new opportunities in the market.Increasing focus on vehicle safety features, increasing demand of automation, consumers increasing demand towards electric vehicles, rising trend of vehicle electrification in automobile industry as well as government regulations as to the emissions and increased fuel efficiency are some of the primary factors driving the growth of global automotive embedded system market.Get PDF Sample of This Report @One of the technological reasons for the increase of automotive embedded system is the fact that the new hardware and software technologies that are deployed facilitate the introduction of functions whose development can be costly or even not feasible if it was used with only mechanical or hydraulic technology. However, the life span of electronic systems is usually low, power requirements are high and the system design is very complicated. The making of an electronic system requires complex level of software algorithms, which indirectly results in high battery utilization .Such factors are hindering the market growth. Automotive embedded systems make todays vehicles more productive, safe and convenient. However, such systems greatly increase the complexity of a vehicle, and the vehicle makers struggle to handle the resulting safety and reliability issue.Get ToC of This Report @The market is segmented on the basis of type, component, application, vehicle type, electric vehicle type and region. On the basis of type, the automotive embedded system market is subdivided into embedded hardware and embedded software. By application type, the automotive embedded system market is segmented into multimedia, HMI & telematics, body electronics, safety & security and powertrain & chassis control. The safety & security application is estimated to be the largest segment of the automotive embedded system market due to the growing need for advanced safety features in vehicles. The chassis domain is composed of systems whose aim is to control the interaction of the vehicle with the road. HMI systems support the interaction between the driver and the passengers with numerous functions embedded in the car.On the basis of vehicle type, the automotive embedded system market is subdivided into passenger cars and commercial vehicles. By electric vehicle type, this market is subdivided into Battery Electric Vehicle, Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Electric Vehicle. By component type, the market is segmented into sensor, microcontroller (MCU), memory device, and transceiver. The sensor is predicted to be the largest segment of automotive embedded system market. The growing demand of electric vehicles is likely to drive this market. On the basis of geographical region, the automotive embedded system market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. The rise in the income levels of customers, increased vehicle production in China, and increase in the number of electric vehicles in Japan have led to the growth of automotive embedded system market in the Asia-Pacific region.Some of the key players operating in the global automotive embedded system market with most significant development are Delphi Automotive PLC, Johnson Electric, Robert Bosch GmbH, Harman International Industries, Toshiba Corporation, NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, Denso Corporation, Continental AG, Texas Instruments, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Panasonic Corporation among others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Market: Industry Overview, Trends and Growth Opportunities Forecasted till 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28526 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=28526 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=28526 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Market: OverviewThe process of combining medical and psychotherapeutic treatment to address the dependence on alcohol and drugs such as prescription drugs and street drugs is called rehabilitation. Addiction to alcohol and drugs is considered a chronic disease. If the addiction is untreated, it can have serious life threatening effects. Drug and alcohol addiction is treated with several steps such as detoxification, counselling, medication, and long term follow ups to avoid relapse. Withdrawal symptoms are serious such as sweat, nausea, and vomiting. Hence, addiction is considered treatable, but a complex process.Download PDF Brochure of Report:The global drug and alcohol rehabilitation market is expected to expand at a significant growth rate during the forecast period. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 26.9% of people aged 18 and above were engaged in binge drinking in a month in 2015. Rising prevalence of alcoholism is likely to be a key factor driving the global market from 2017 to 2025. Increased usage of illegal drugs is another factor anticipated to propel the global market during the forecast period. Furthermore, rise in major depression disorders, surge in trend among youngsters toward drugs and alcohols, underage drinking, peer pressure, and self-medication are some of the factors projected to fuel the growth of the global drugs and alcohol rehabilitation market during the forecast period. Serious withdrawal symptoms of the treatment is a major factor anticipated to restrain the global market from 2017 to 2025.The global drugs and alcohol rehabilitation market can be segmented based on treatment, screening, end-user, and region. In terms of treatment, the global market can be segmented into counselling, medication, and behavioral treatment. The medication segment can be sub-segmented into opioid addiction, tobacco, alcohol, and others. The medication segment is expected to account for a significant share of the global market during the forecast due to increase in usage of illicit drugs, alcoholism, and self-medication. Based on screening, the global market can be divided into oral fluid drug screening, urine drug screening, breathe alcohol screening, hair analysis, and others. In terms of end-user, the global drugs and alcohol rehabilitation market can be segmented into rehabilitation centers and clinics, hospitals, and home care settings. The rehabilitation centers and clinics segment is anticipated to hold the largest share of the global market during forecast period due to factors such as increasing federal funding.Request to View TOC of Report The global drug and alcohol rehabilitation market is projected to expand at a significant growth rate across regions. Geographically, the global drug and alcohol rehabilitation market can be divided into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global market in terms of value. Factors attributed to the growth of the market in North America are increase in patients suffering from major depression, prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle, surge in drug trafficking, and peer pressure. Europe is anticipated to account for the second largest share of the global market due to highest number of alcoholism-related disorders in the region. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to experience high growth due to increase in alcohol usage.To maintain a significant position in the global drug and alcohol rehabilitation market, the key players are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, robust research and development, and geographical expansion. Major players operating in the global drug and rehabilitation market are Indivior, Inc., West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp., and Pfizer, Inc., among others.Request to View Discount About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Hyperbilirubinemia Treatment Market: Report 2017 and Future Opportunity Assessment 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=30386 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=30386 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=30386 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Hyperbilirubinemia Treatment Market: OverviewHyperbilirubinemia, also referred to as neonatal jaundice is a very common problem in newborns. It is a disorder in which level of bilirubin in the blood become high. Bilirubin is a substance, which is formed in the blood when the red blood cells breakdown. Treatment of the bilirubin is not easy in newborns. Moreover, it can increase fluids and other tissues of the baby's body. It is curable and revocable, if appropriately treated. However, its aggravation could cause sequela into the central nervous system, which could lead to the patients death. According to statistics published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, nearly 60% to 80% of healthy newborns are prone to develop hyperbilirubinemia. Therefore, the demand for hyperbilirubinemia treatment is expected to rise along with the growing prevalence of neonatal jaundice.Download PDF Brochure of Report:On the basis of the treatment, the global hyperbilirubinemia treatment market can be segmented intoPhototherapyFiberoptic blanketExchange transfusionOthersIncreasing incidence of newborn jaundice and technological advancements across developed and developing countries in order to treat hyperbilirubinemia is expected to drive the growth of the hyperbilirubinemia treatment market over the forecast period. Furthermore, efficient treatment systems and high-cost treatments in low and middle-income countries could challenge the growth of the market. Phototherapy treatment is a preferred treatment for newborns. It is considered to be an effective treatment for hyperbilirubinemia. This treatment involves emission of blue light over the patients skin, which converts high-risk bilirubin molecules into less toxic isomeric forms in the blood, by using photoisomerization and photo-oxidation. High power LEDs devices are used for highly efficient treatment and negligible emission of UV/ IR radiation. The LED lights cost less as compared to the conventional phototherapy equipment. These lights have been proven to be very effective in the treatment of neonatal jaundice having a long-lasting effect. Therefore, development in this technology can impact the growth of the market. Rising adoption of these LED-based phototherapy equipment can further accelerated the growth of hyperbilirubinemia treatment market. However, significant use of alternative methods of treatments and strict regulatory policies for the approval of new treatment equipment and therapeutics are limiting the growth of the market.Request to View TOC of Report Depending upon the regions, the global hyperbilirubinemia treatment market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America accounts for the most of the market, followed by Europe owing to penetration of advanced technology in the field of hyperbilirubinemia treatment and increased awareness among the people towards the use of new technologies. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to experience a high growth rate over the forecast period. Strategic expansion by key market players in the emerging economies, growing acceptance of the low-cost phototherapy equipment in China and India, and the rising number of patients suffering from hyperbilirubinemia are key factors impelling for the growth of the hyperbilirubinemia treatment market in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, rapidly evolving healthcare infrastructure in this region is expected to provide a robust growth of the global hyperbilirubinemia treatment market.Major players operating in the global hyperbilirubinemia treatment market include Favero Health Projects Spa, Koninklijke Philips, N.V., GE Healthcare, Natus Medical Incorporated, Honle UV America, Inc., Nice Neotech Medical Systems Private, Ltd., Phoenix Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd., Herbert Waldmann GmbH & Co. KG, Arjo Huntlleigh, and Solarc Systems, Inc.Request to View Discount About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Future Scope of Hydroxytyrosol Market | Estimated to Grow CAGR Rapidly |Foreseen till 2023 Hydroxytyrosol Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/4451 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/4451/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/4451 BusinessIndustryReports.com has new research report on the global Hydroxytyrosol Market. The global Hydroxytyrosol market is growing continuously and expected to grow healthy CAGR by Forecast year 2023Hydroxytyrosol Market is a phenylethanoid, a type of phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant properties in vitro. In nature, hydroxytyrosol is found in olive leaf and olive oil, in the form of its elenolic acid ester oleuropein and, especially after degradation, in its plain form.Hydroxytyrosol Market itself in pure form is a colorless, odorless liquid. The olives, leaves and olive pulp contain large amounts of hydroxytyrosol (compared to olive oil), most of which can be recovered to produce hydroxytyrosol extracts. However, it was found that black olives, such as common canned variety, containing iron(II) gluconate contained little hydroxytyrosol, as iron salts are catalysts for its oxidation.Hydroxytyrosol Market is mentioned by the scientific committee of the European Food Safety Authority as one of several olive oil polyphenols under preliminary research for the potential to affect blood lipid levels, although there is no evidence from high-quality clinical research to indicate that this effect exists.Premium Sample Report Available atThe 'Global and Chinese Hydroxytyrosol Industry, 2013-2023 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Hydroxytyrosol industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Hydroxytyrosol manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2013-2018 market shares for each company.The regional scope of the study is as follows:- North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe, Central & South America, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Middle East & Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Rest of Middle East & Africa.The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Hydroxytyrosol capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2023);Focuses on the key Hydroxytyrosol manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Key StakeholdersHydroxytyrosol ManufacturersHydroxytyrosol Distributors/Traders/WholesalersHydroxytyrosol Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsComplete report on Global Hydroxytyrosol Market Size, Status and Forecast 2023 is spread across 150 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and landscape details in this niche sector. Get Direct Copy of this Research Report @Major Table of Content1 Global Hydroxytyrosol Market Research Report 20182 Global Hydroxytyrosol Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Hydroxytyrosol Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)4 Global Hydroxytyrosol Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)5 Global Hydroxytyrosol Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Hydroxytyrosol Market Analysis by Application7 Global Hydroxytyrosol Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Hydroxytyrosol Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Hydroxytyrosol Market Forecast (2018-2023 )13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixKey questions answered in the report:What will the market growth rate of Hydroxytyrosol market in 2023 ?What are the key factors driving the global Hydroxytyrosol market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis of top manufacturers of Hydroxytyrosol market?Who are the distributors, traders and dealers of Hydroxytyrosol market?Who are the key manufacturers in Hydroxytyrosol market space?What are the Hydroxytyrosol market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Hydroxytyrosol market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of Hydroxytyrosol market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by regions of Hydroxytyrosol market?What are the market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Hydroxytyrosol market?Get a Corporate Discount atAbout usBusinessIndustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined - we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Market ReportsPune Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 Morocco received the 2018 sustainability award of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for its project to protect the irrigated plain of Saiss. The project, funded by the EBRD, stood out amid 55 competing submissions vying for the prize. The prize was awarded at EBRDs general assembly to secretary general of the agriculture ministry Mohammed Sadiki in Amman. The projects covers a surface area of 30,000 hectares benefiting 7000 farmers for a total cost of 5.8 billion dirhams. Moroccos contribution to the project amounted to 15 million. Saudi Arabia contributed 80 million, while EBRD extended Morocco a 120 million loan. The European bank also funded the project with a 3.45 million donation combined with a 32 million gift from the Green Fund. The project was sustainably designed to deliver irrigation water from the Mdez dam in the highlands of Sefrou. Human Embryo Culture Mediums Market Estimated to Flourish by 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=37205 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/human-embryo-culture-mediums-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The human embryo culture medium provides environment and nutrition to an embryo, mimicking the natural environment of the uterus. Recent developments in medical technologies, especially in assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs), have led to evolution of new culture mediums for the human embryo. In ART, the egg and the sperms are conjoined in a petri dish or other specific container containing culture medium. The culture medium provides nutrition to the growing embryo in the form of carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, growth factors, and electrolytes. The culture medium has ingredients such as antibiotics and stabilizers to maintain the pH. Culture medium preparation is the most crucial process in ART. A majority of failures of ART are attributable to imbalance or wrong composition of the culture medium. There exist more than 20 different ingredients with which the human embryo culture medium is composed.Rise in public awareness about in vitro fertilization techniques has led to increasing demand for assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). According to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology of the U.S., in 2012, around 61,000 babies were born by the IVF technique in the country. Similarly, the European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryologys (ESHRE) 2014 report states that there are around five million IVF-born babies worldwide. Increasing number of people opting for ART is likely to drive the global Human Embryo Culture Mediums Market from 2017 to 2025. Several public and private sector health care providers and payers are supporting IVF procedures through funding and re-imbursements, which is estimated to propel the market during the forecast period. However, development of in-house culture mediums and increase in the number of new market entrants are estimated to hamper the market for human embryo culture mediums in the next few years.Request to View Brochure of Report -The global human embryo culture mediums market has been segmented based on product, end-user, and region. In terms of product, the market has been divided into single-step culture mediums and sequential-step culture mediums. In case of single-step culture mediums, the medium is not changed during procedures such as fertilization check or cryopreservation, while in case of sequential-step culture mediums, the medium is changed at every step of the ART process. Both mediums have their own advantages and disadvantages, which have led to significant adoption of both mediums in the IVF industry. Based on end-user, the market has been segmented into hospitals, IVF clinics, and others. The IVF clinics segment is likely to account for a significant share of the market, as several hospitals outsource their IVF procedures to IVF clinics owing to their developed infrastructure and high expertise.Geographically, the global human embryo culture mediums market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is estimated to hold a leading share of the global market during the forecast period, due to high adoption of ARTs and high expenditure on IVF by public and private sectors. Europe is estimated to account for a significant share of the global market for human embryo culture mediums during the forecast period. Increasing awareness about IVF and developing health care infrastructure in emerging markets such as China and India are projected to be responsible for significant growth of the market in Asia Pacific. Declining fertility rate and increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related disorders across developed and developing regions are factors likely to fuel the IVF industry. This, in turn, is estimated to surge uptake of human embryo culture mediums.Major players operating in the global human embryo culture mediums market are CooperSurgical Fertility Company, Vitrolife AB, Cook Medical, Irvine Scientific, Genea Biomedx, and Surelife Pte. Ltd.View Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: BY SHANE DIXON KAVANAUGH The Oregonian/OregonLive The Wobblies emerged more than a century ago, a revolutionary, anti-capitalist union that shook up the nations industrialists, including Oregons timber barons. Their political descendants no longer toil in logging camps on the American frontier. Now theyre behind the counters of a beloved fast-food chain in Portland, up to their elbows in burger grease, marionberries and Walla Walla onion rings. Workers are pissed, and they want to change things, said Mark Medina, who seized on the notion of organizing Burgerville workers while pulling shifts at the companys Southeast 92nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard restaurant. "A lot of us are poor, hungry and even homeless." Their union drive has already won a historic victory, when workers at Medina's shop voted in April to form a federally recognized union the first in more than 40 years among fast-food employees nationwide. Don't Edit Burgerville employee Mark Medina (bottom right) strikes a pose with his co-workers at the chain's Southeast 92nd Avenue and Southeast Powell Boulevard location. Credit: Burgerville Workers Union Now the Wobblies dream of organizing the entire Burgerville chain, which stretches from Corvallis to Centralia, Washington. A second store will vote Saturday and Sunday. The budding campaign has sought to vilify a homegrown company that has long basked in its reputation for locally grown food and comparatively high perks that have helped retain workers longer than its fast-food rivals. It's also restored the union, formally known as the Industrial Workers of the World, to regional prominence after a century of apparent obsolescence. And it's created a test case for the labor movement and whether it has a reinvigorated place in Americas service industry. Can a labor group from early in the past century find resonance in a radically different Oregon economy, when jobs are plentiful but wages are tight and housing is scarce? WHATS ON THE TABLE Their quest is quixotic, the vision more than ambitious. Yet its elevated the possibility of organizing an industry traditionally plagued by low wages and high turnover. Its a drop in the bucket by itself, said Ruth Milkman, a labor sociologist at the City University of New Yorks Graduate Center. But it could lead to something much bigger. Publicly, Burgerville has thus far remained cautiously open-minded. For us, its an opportunity to explore a new way of working together, said Beth Brewer, its director of operations. Don't Edit In this 2001 photo, Burgerville Chairman Tom Mears stands outside the fast-food chain's original restaurant on Mill Plain Boulevard in Vancouver. Credit: Dana E. Olsen/The Oregonian Heres what the union wants from the company: a $5 an hour raise, health care for all workers and schedules set two weeks in advance. Theyre also asking for paid holidays, family care and for the chain to stop checking employees immigration status. Thats radical, for the fast-food industry. Many workers earn barely above minimum wage. Most leave or lose their jobs within a year. Theyre on the fringes of the American work force and there, at least, the Wobblies find some resonance with their heritage. A WOBBLY HISTORY Since its 1905 founding in Chicago, the IWW has carved an uncommon path within the American labor movement. It envisioned workers seizing control of their industries, and, unlike other unions, trained a relentless focus on those cast into low-wage professions. Immigrants. Women. Itinerant and unskilled workers. They intentionally went after the constituency who were least desirable to more established and mainstream unions, said Adam Hodges, a history professor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. They wanted to organize the poor and the powerless and give them strength in numbers. Don't Edit An article published March 5, 1907 in The Morning Oregonian. Credit: The Morning Oregonian The unions presence in Oregon and Washington throughout the early 1900s left an indelible mark. With Portland a center of its organizing, the Wobblies waged strikes in the citys sawmills and shut down logging camps. Laborers subsisting on seasonal work flocked to the union. The union had a penchant for mobilizing thousands of these itinerant workers for demonstrations and displays of solidarity. Throngs of raucous men clashed with police in the streets from Spokane to Sheridan. Every city in the Pacific Northwest was afraid of them, Hodges said. But their notoriety lasted little more than a decade. Government crackdowns and communism, which emerged as a political alternative to worker rabble-rousing, nearly snuffed the Wobblies after World War I. Their ranks steadily dwindled to a fraction of the 100,000 members the union boasted at its peak. Don't Edit Members of the Industrial Workers of the World lead a strike at Portland's North Pacific Lumber Company in 1907. Credit: The Morning Oregonian Decades later, young radicals amid the upheaval of the 1960s rekindled the revolutionary spirit of the union and staved off its extinction. Protests against the World Trade Organization in the late 1990s injected a fresh new wave of support nationwide, said Ryan Gaughan, a Portland delegate of the union. We have a belief that workers have the ability to radically transform their workplace and by doing so radically change society, said Gaughan, who joined the union in 2001. Polls and studies show public support for unions is the highest since 2003, with millennials embracing the idea more than any other demographic. News reports and TV images of teacher-led walkouts and strikes for higher wages have served as a recent and vivid reminder of the power of worker-led movements. Don't Edit Don't Edit In this file photo, a Burgerville employee prepares to clean and stock the napkin holders at the company's Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard location.Credit: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian Meanwhile, a five-year national effort to increase the fast-food minimum wage to $15 an hour, separate from the Burgerville union drive, has led states to adopt pay increase laws and cast a spotlight on the millions of people who struggle to make ends meet. FOOD FIGHT Years before the "Fight for 15" became a national wages rallying cry, the Wobblies set their sights on food-service workers. Union members at Starbucks in New York City began organizing their fellow baristas in 2003, eventually growing into a national campaign against the coffee giant. Later, workers at Minneapolis-area Jimmy Johns attempted to organize a union drive. Both campaigns drew national headlines but had limited success. In Portland, where the unions membership hovers in the low hundreds, the Wobblies in 2015 began to look for opportunities at a handful of local restaurants and companies, which also included New Seasons, Grand Central Bakery and Papa Murphys, Gaughan said. Don't Edit Burgerville, which now has 42 locations in the Pacific Northwest, has long basked in its reputation as a sustainable and environmentally friendly company. Credit: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian The conditions were ripe: A progressive city with people partial to unionized workers. A metro area where wages hadnt kept pace with meteoric cost-of-living increases. Ultimately, the union's efforts coalesced around Burgerville. The Vancouver-based chain, which employs 1,500, has deep ties in the region. Its parent company, The Holland Inc., began as a creamery founded by Dutch immigrants in 1926. The first Burgerville opened on Mill Plain Boulevard in 1961. Over the years, the company has cultivated an image aligned with the regions values. It recycles cooking oil into biodiesel and purchases wind energy credits equivalent to the power used in its corporate offices and restaurants. It sources food from local farms and dishes seasonal items such as asparagus spears and chocolate hazelnut milkshakes. The Burgerville credo: Serve with love. But some of those paid an average hourly wage of $11.70 to sling Tillamook cheeseburgers or to wipe down the plush booths and red barstools werent feeling it. Those values were not reflected in workers paychecks, Medina said. ONE SERVING OF NEGOTIATIONS, PLEASE After months of quiet planning, the Burgerville Workers Union officially launched in April 2016. Emmett Schlenz, a union spokesman, said six of the company's 42 locations now have publicly active unions. They've held picket lines and led walkouts. A Burgerville boycott campaign has garnered the backing of multiple labor unions as well as some progressive civic leaders and elected officials. Don't Edit Supporters of the Burgerville Workers Union picket outside the fast-food chain's Lloyd Center restaurant. Credit: Burgerville Workers Union Last months election victory, overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, legally requires Burgerville to negotiate a contract with workers at the 92nd and Powell shop something the company had refused to do voluntarily. The campaign has tried to cast the company as a peddler of poverty wages and hostile to pro-union workers. Some employees have criticized wretched working conditions and erratic hours. The company tells a different story. Burgervilles turnover in 2017 was 71 percent, half the industry average of 140 percent, according to figures it provided. The average worker lasts 29 months, which the company says is a quarter longer than its competitors. Burgerville also offers family health care plans for employees who work at least 30 hours a week, paid sick time and educational stipends. That exceeds benefits provided by other fast-food chains, according to industry analysts. We are proud of our relationship with our co-workers, and we will continue to provide a fair, positive work environment for all, said Brewer, the operations director. Both sides will soon be at the bargaining table, though a date has not been finalized. The company declined to comment on the Wobblies wish list but said it would bargain in good faith. Don't Edit Members of the Burgerville Workers Union gather outside the company's 92nd and Powell location. Credit: Burgerville Workers Union Companywide sales reached $79.1 million last year, or more than $1.8 million per store, according to data from researcher Technomic. Thats up 6.2 percent from the previous year and higher than the regions Wendys and Taco Bell franchises and about the same as Chipotle. All indicators point to favorable sales and profit-related conditions, said John Gordon, a restaurant industry analyst with Pacific Management Consultant Group. Based on those figures, Gordon said the company would have some wiggle room to negotiate with the union without blowing a hole through its bottom line. But he added that an immediate $5 hour raise for workers seemed impossible. Meanwhile, the Burgerville Workers Union is plotting its next steps. Employees at the companys Gladstone store will hold a union vote Saturday and Sunday. It remains unclear how many stores the Wobblies can successfully unionize. But the momentum building locally may galvanize those organizing in other parts of the country, said Wilma Liebman, a former chair of the labor relations board under President Barack Obama and now a law professor at New York University. I think it shows the value of acting collectively, she said. You can make your voices heard through coming together. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh skavanaugh@oregonian.com 503-294-7632 || @shanedkavanaugh Friday 11 May 2018 10:17am Professor Ewan Fordyce and the 34 million-year-old whale fossil he discovered from Antarctica. Credit: University of Otago. Life-like reconstruction of Llanocetus denticrenatus. Credit: Carl Buell. A University of Otago palaeontologists discovery of an ancient fossil whale that swam the Antarctica seas 34 million years ago has paved the way for new knowledge about the evolution of baleen whales. Professor Ewan Fordyce, from the Universitys Department of Geology, discovered part of the skull of what is believed to be the second-oldest baleen whale ever found while on an expedition in Antarctica in 1987. Based on detailed analysis of the ancient fossil, he and colleague Dr Felix Marx, a former University of Otago PhD student now based at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, have pieced together evidence suggesting that early whales did not have baleen at all. Their mouths were equipped instead with well-developed gums and teeth, which they apparently used to bite large prey. It was this very fossil tooth which Professor Ewan Fordyce stumbled across in Antarctica years ago which led him to the discovery of an ancient fossil whale. Credit: University of Otago. A research paper based on their findings has been published today in the journal Current Biology. Llanocetus denticrenatus is an ancient relative of our modern giants, like humpback and blue whales; unlike them however, it had well-developed teeth used to slice prey, Dr Marx says. Professor Fordyce explains that until recently, it was thought that filter feeding first emerged when whales still had functioning teeth, but Llanocetus shows this was not the case. Like modern whales, Llanocetus had distinctive grooves on the roof of its mouth, the researchers explain, which usually contain blood vessels that supply the baleen. In Llanocetus however, those grooves cluster around tooth sockets, where baleen would have been useless and at risk of being crushed. Instead of a filter, it seems that Llanocetus simply had large gums and, judging from the way its teeth are worn, mainly fed by biting large prey, Dr Marx says. The findings suggest that large gums in whales like Llanocetus gradually became more complex over evolutionary time and, ultimately, gave rise to baleen. That transition probably happened as the teeth were becoming lost and whales had switched from biting to sucking in small prey as many whales and dolphins do now. From studying other specimens, we suspected the idea that early whales had both teeth and baleen was probably wrong. Only Llanocetus however, really illustrates this point, and it was both surprising and lucky to find such clear evidence in such an ancient specimen, Dr Marx says. Professor Fordyce was indeed very lucky to stumble across the fossil after bad weather on an expedition in the Antarctica in 1987 resulted in him taking a short cut back to camp up a small gully and literally stumbling across the fossil. I realised that it was something big a major find of a large whale, he recalls. The find was indeed momentous as the skull he eventually recovered proved to match an earlier discovery by American researchers in the Antarctica in the mid 1970s, of part of a jaw with teeth that was in fact part of the skull of the very same individual whale. But Professor Fordyce says his find would never have been discovered had it not been for the researchers from the United States who invited him on the expedition and later assisted in providing funding for the preparatory work. Relying on different pockets of funding, he estimates it took three years of full-time work spread over decades to prepare the fossil as the job is technically difficult. Imagine that you have an eggshell to extract from a block of concrete and youre trying not to damage the eggshell by getting rid of the concrete. While the giants of our modern ocean may seem gentle, they are active predators like their ancestors. Professor Fordyce says Llanocetus was large at about eight metres long and a ferocious predator. We suspect that climate was quite influential on the history of whales, especially the shift from tropical to cooler temperatures and when it was cooler there was a change in nutrition cycles and food that may have been some sort of trigger for the evolution of the big whales. The original specimen will be transferred from the University of Otagos Department of Geology to the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) in the United States. It will go alongside the original fossil piece of jaw found by the United States researchers. This research was supported by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral fellowship, the US NSF, the Kellogg fund of the National Museum of Natural History and the University of Otago. For further information, please contact: Professor Ewan Fordyce Department of Geology Tel 03 479 7510 Email ewan.fordyce@otago.ac.nz Liane Topham-Kindley Senior Communications Adviser Tel 03 479 9065 Mob 021 279 9065 Email liane.topham-kindley@otago.ac.nz Friday 11 May 2018 1:47pm Pupils are helping to discover whether manuka's leaf chemistry could provide a natural weed killer. Photos: Supplied by Unlocking Curious Minds. Schools and pupils from all over New Zealand are working with the University of Otago and Plant & Food Research to discover what secrets are locked within the wide variety of manuka around the country including whether the native plants leaf chemistry could provide a natural weed killer. Manuka is highly valued for its nectar which gives the unique manuka honey, the basis of a boom in bee-keeping around natural manuka stands and extensive new plantings. The leaf chemistry could provide an additional valuable product, and may be important for the growth of this native plant. The effects of a chemical called grandiflorone are being discovered by primary and intermediate school students investigating the specific traits of their local manuka plants. Scientists Elaine Burgess from Plant & Food Research and Dr Dave Warren from the Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, are leading the project which has been supported by the New Zealand government Unlocking Curious Minds fund. Dr David Warren joins students undertaking research into their local manuka plants at Musselburgh School in Dunedin. Pupils collect foliage from their local manuka, they then prepare a sample voucher, and extracts are made to test for herbicidal (weed killer) activity in a lettuce seedling assay. They then send us sample extracts to analyse in our Plant & Food Research labs in Dunedin, Ms Burgess says. Results are being uploaded to the database NatureWatchNZ so that schools can compare the variations within manuka in their own region, plus the differences around wider New Zealand. The project is already providing new scientific knowledge. Students at Musselburgh School in Dunedin have helped us discover quite big chemical differences in varieties of manuka in the local area, so its a surprise to learn manuka from a particular region will not necessarily have the same levels of grandiflorone, explains Dr Warren. A crucial aspect of the research is testing whether extracts from various manuka plants stop lettuce seeds from growing. Initial results show New Zealand manuka are generally less potent than a related Australian species. Students at Musselburgh School in Dunedin undertaking research. The focus now is to spread the hands-on testing kits around New Zealand to see if there is a manuka variation here equal to, if not better than, the Australian plant. Weve been very excited by the research so far, and look forward to the kits being circulated to places like the East Cape where we know there are significant amounts of manuka, Ms Burgess says. So far around thirty schools have been sent the kits, which include all the equipment and instructions necessary for the students to conduct the scientific investigations themselves. Testing is spread over approximately two weeks, including collecting local manuka, drying and pressing botanical voucher specimens, and extracting and testing on lettuce seeds. This is citizen science in action. We want students to not only gain new skills from conducting the experiments themselves, but also to learn about the nature of science, of testing, of researching and of coming to robust scientific conclusions, Dr Warren says. Results from the first wave of testing are being collated at Plant & Food Research in Dunedin, meanwhile the next bundle of kits are being distributed to more schools all around New Zealand. The project is expected to be underway for several more years, dependent on further funding for this community science initiative. For more information please contact: Elaine Burgess Plant & Food Research University of Otago Tel 03 479 5257 Email elaine.burgess@plantandfood.co.nz Dr David Warren Department of Chemistry University of Otago Tel 03 479 4102 Email dwarren@chemistry.otago.ac.nz Mark Hathaway Senior Communications Adviser University of Otago Mob 021 279 5016 Email mark.hathaway@otago.ac.nz Thursday 10 May 2018 10:03pm Otago academics say the University's Maori consultation processes are designed to help researchers consider the specific cultural implications of any proposed study. Several Otago academics have stepped forward in strong opposition to suggestions that the Treaty of Waitangi has no place in scientific endeavour, and that the University of Otagos Maori consultation processes are flawed. The debate was sparked by a recent opinion piece in Stuff - The Treaty has no place in scientific endeavour in which Science Columnist Bob Brockie criticised the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi for placing the Treaty of Waitangi centrally within its activities and integrating humanities into its portfolio. The piece also claimed that the University of Otago must consult Ngai Tahu about "all areas of research" before scholars undertake their work. Professor Margreet Vissers. In response to this, Professor Margreet Vissers, the Associate Dean (Research) at Otagos Christchurch campus, wrote her own opinion piece: In defence of science and our Treaty: a reply to Bob Brockie. In this piece she rejects Dr Brockies concerns. Consideration of the Treaty of Waitangi has added depth and breadth to our scientific endeavours, she writes. The research institutes in New Zealand, including the Universities and Government Crown Research Institutes, have made considerable progress in adapting their processes to ensure more inclusive representation for Maori as Treaty partners, and to recognise the voices of other minority groups. In contrast with Dr Brockie's view that Ngai Tahu somehow has vetting rights or imposes "heavy-armed rules on scientists", or that science researchers are somehow compelled by the University to take part in an "inquisition", the process of Maori consultation is a supportive discussion between researchers and a Maori Research Advisor to consider the specific cultural implications of any proposed study. Over the past decade or so, this process has been extremely helpful for staff. Consultation has expanded the scope of many research projects, including studies in education, mental health, cancer and cardiovascular disease. She writes that as an academic at Otago she is proud of the progress made in recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi and very happy for the University to continue to promote and advance the interests of Maori. This is not being undertaken for political expediency, but to make a real difference to the experience of Maori students, staff and the New Zealand people. I note with pleasure and admiration the increasing number of confident and highly competent Maori graduates, and look forward to welcoming them into our research workforce. Professor Vicky Cameron. Another Christchurch academic, the Deputy Dean Universitys Christchurch campus Professor Vicky Cameron, added her defence of Otagos Iwi research consultation in a radio interview on NewstalkZB. In this interview she said most universities and crown research institutes are expected to talk to Maori representatives about opportunities they could have to improve their research by being more inclusive of Maori. She described Otagos Maori consultation processes, which involve researchers completing an online form with a short, lay summary of their intended work. If there it is considered there is not particular relevance to Maori in that research they dont have to consult. However, she said, for many research health research in particular topics are highly relative to Maori. Rather than being a negative, she says this is positive. Its a consultation, there is no requirement to action anything that comes from that consultation, its often ways to perhaps improve the inclusiveness of your research which is helpful rather than actually mandating that you need to do X,Y and Z. All this consultation is doing, is its expanding peoples views of how they could perform their research. For example, if you re-worded your letter to participants, you might get more engagement from Maori in your research study, which would actually improve your study. She said Dr Brockies opinion piece is based on a lack of information. The Treaty of Waitangi is a partnership between Maori and the crown, which means we should be doing research in partnership with Maori. Professor Richard Blaikie. Finally, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor Richard Blaikie submitted his own opinion piece to the Royal Society Te Aparangi - On science and stamp collecting. In this piece he shared his perspectives on what social science and the humanities can bring to the physical sciences and the role of te ao Maori in research in Aotearoa. He said he feels a strong sense of historical deja vu about this whole debate. We have always had the urge within the sciences and between disciplines, mostly healthy and good humoured, to try and determine hierarchies of knowledge, principles, methodologies and values upon which the traditions of our different areas of enquiry are based, he writes. As a physicist, it might be very easy for me to fall back on the erstwhile and much-quoted assessment from our most famous scientist, Ernest Rutherford, that physics was the only true science, with everything else being merely stamp collecting. But to what point and what end? Perhaps if I felt insecure in myself or the role of physics in society, I might like to elevate my importance by degrading the hard and careful work of botanists, geologists, zoologists, chemists or psychologists to routine data collection and cataloguing activities. Or I might identify the role of mathematics to one of making the tools to allow me to expound my wonderful theories. Or that engineering was merely a handle-cranking exercise of turning my brilliance into products and technologies that people find useful. Rather, experience and evidence shows me that we are much better working together in research and its application than being fragmented and hierarchical. Smarter people than I am know this, and have known this for a very long time. He said the opportunity is here now, through the broad-minded and inclusive approaches of our academies, communities and universities to embrace the multiple cultures of our time and our place in Aotearoa to advance knowledge and understanding in all areas. As a physicist I fully endorse this approach and implore others to do the same scientists, stamp collectors, Buddhist monks, rangatahi, kuia, kaumatua, artists, builders, accountants, teachers we all have a critical role to play in exploring, discovering and sharing the knowledge that we need to survive and thrive in a challenging world. Office of Maori Development Director Tuari Potiki says the Universitys rebuttal was heartening. Its great to see such a swift and strong response to these sorts of outdated comments, Mr Potiki says. We want to ensure the University continues to work towards incorporating the Maori Strategic Framework and responses like these show there is a firm commitment to helping mana whenua, researchers and students all benefit from this partnership. The Mid Michigan Community College Charles A. Amble Library in collaboration with the Chippewa Valley Audubon Club and Mount Pleasant Citizen's Climate Lobby presents 2018 Year of the Bird: Threats Old and New. The exhibit is on display in the libraries located on the Mount Pleasant and Harrison campuses Monday, May 14 through Friday, May 25. Libraries on each campus are open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. As Judge Sarah Soules Lincoln shared with Midland County's top honor students, her definition of success definitely wouldn't be found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. "In my experience the thing in life that will make you the most successful is failure," she said. Lincoln was in town this week as the keynote speaker for the 61st Annual Scholarship Honors Banquet. Sponsored by the Midland Kiwanis Club, the banquet includes the top honors students from Bullock Creek, Coleman, Dow, Meridian, Midland Christian and Midland high schools along with Calvary Baptist and Midland academies. "I am here to give all of you permission to fail. Not only am I going to give you permission to fail, I am even going to encourage you to fail. Everyone of you needs a little failure in your life," Lincoln said. Before a record crowd of 330 parents and honor students, Lincoln emphasized that each one of the students should appreciate their parents. "You should thank the people sitting at the table with you. Because as a parent, I know that I am working my butt off to get a 9-year-old and a 4-year-old learning. I can only imagine the effort your parents put in to get you to this point," she said. Before election to the bench in 2014, Lincoln served as a Calhoun County assistant prosecutor. Currently, she is the presiding judge of the criminal and civil division of the 37th Circuit Court in Calhoun County. "If I had been afraid of failure, I wouldn't have taken a risk and run for judge. If I had lost, not only would I know that I failed, but everybody that lived in the county would know that I failed because it would be the headline of the Battle Creek Enquirer, 'Lincoln goes down in flames,'" Lincoln said with a laugh. Her path to the bench didn't start out as one of the best and brightest. The Midland High School 1991 graduate wasn't a top honor student as a Chemic. "I was not in the top 10 percent of my class at Midland High School, which means that if I can become a judge, the sky's the limit for you folks," said Lincoln, the daughter of Midland residents Earl and Marilyn Soules. However, it was extracurricular activities of theater where she found her initial aptitude for being a prosecutor. "They may be the things that we enjoy the most, but don't seem to have much value," she said. "But you end up relying upon them in your future. It turns out that being involved with theater was a pretty good start for a trial attorney. Being a trial attorney is a pretty good start for being a judge." She said failure is a major basis for a life of growth. "Failure is the best learning experience in the world," she said. "If you can fail and rise above that, you are building character. You're overcoming adversity and you will know that you can set higher and higher goals for yourself." As each one fails, it motivates people to seek help from others. "When you fail, you learn you have to look to a lot of other sources for a hand-up. When you need a hand-up, you start to appreciate other people's talents. And that's the key to being a leader," she said. Just as Lincoln thought out-of-the-box with her definition of success, she also encouraged those in attendance to be creative when looking for leadership abilities in others. "Look outside the box when you look at who you should rely on. It might not be whom you expect," she said. Failure also helps one learn. "It helps you to think creatively, who to rely on and it helps you build a team. ... True leadership is learning to take those around you, rely on them and using your failures to understand and learn lessons that you need to move forward in your life." The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame. Wednesday, May 9 2:15 a.m. -- Police were sent to a report of an unwanted guest in the 3900 block of Bay City Road. Tuesday, May 8 1:10 a.m. -- Police were sent to a domestic assault at Haley and East Indian streets. 8:28 a.m. -- A wallet was reported stolen out of a vehicle in Midland Township. The case is being investigated. 12:06 p.m. -- Animal control checked a report of two dogs in a kennel without proper shelter at a Midland home. The dog owner was contacted. 1:07 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a report of a 19-year-old man walking alongside U.S. 10 in Warren Township. The man's family said he was autistic and had wandered away from home. 3:37 p.m. -- Police took a report of a missing person in the 5300 block of Jefferson Avenue. 7:05 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to Mount Haley Township for a domestic assault involving two sisters, ages 28 and 28. A report is being sent to the prosecutor's office. 7:10 p.m. -- Police investigated a conditional bond violation at a Ronan Street address. 7:30 p.m. -- Police were sent to the 6800 block of Eastman Avenue for a retail fraud. 7:32 p.m. -- No one was hurt when a 53-year-old man used his vehicle to ram another vehicle, containing two people, in Mount Haley Township. A report is being sent to the prosecutor's office for review. 7:33 p.m. -- A deputy assisted Lee Township firefighters with an illegal burn during a burn ban. There was no one around the fire, and it was extinguished. There are no suspects. 8:44 p.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Greendale Township gas station for a report of people who might have drug paraphernalia in a vehicle. The vehicle was not found. 10:39 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to Jerome Township to assist Child Protective Services with a child abuse investigation. 11:54 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to West Mier and West River roads for a report of a single shot fired. Nothing was found. Unknown Drug Attacks Tbilisi By Vladimer Napetvaridze Over the past week, more than 10 drug-related deaths have been reported in Tbilisi. The symptoms in all cases were the same. All the victims died asleep. As relatives of the deceased stated, after return from the nightclub, they did not feel bad, but they didnt not wake up.The recent deaths have caused concern of the society. Different governmental and non-governmental organizations made special announcements calling on everyone to refrain from using club drugs.The organization "White Noise Movement", which is actively fighting for lightening the drug policy in Georgia, responded to these facts in the social network and noted that it could be a deliberate diversion against drug users:We have an alarming situation in the country. The government stays silent and avoids responsibility. On the black market, there are drugs that kill our citizens. We have reasonable suspicions that it was planned deliberately. Two more young people have died after drug consumption. The government is responsible for each death, because it does nothing to change the situation, doesn't even react to this alarming situation. We urge all drug users to stop using any kind of drugs. We assume that all other narcotic drugs are contaminated by unknown substances, read the statement of the White Noise Movement.The MP and member of the Georgian Dream Eka Beselia commented on the drug overdose facts, stated that the situation is really alarming: "We should ring the alarm- in the last days we hear tragic stories. This must be signal for all those people who use drugs. Moreover, there is an information about spreading unknown substances that have never been used before. In any case, it is very dangerous for life. Naturally, in this regard, it is necessary to tighten the control. We are working intensively to develop drug policies because, on the other hand, we see such dangerous manifestations that require immediate reaction and prevention, Beselia stated.According to Georgian legislation, using any type of drugs is illegal and a person can be sentenced from 8 to 20 years of prison for possession of drugs. Georgian drug policy is one of the strictest in comparison with European countries. Different NGOs and public groups demand liberalization of the legislation.A large part of the society has a negative attitude towards mitigating drug policy, and consequently, the reform of state drug policy can cost the government losing political points. On the other hand, the state cannot punish all the drug-users. Current policy of the Government is useless since it refuses to change strict legislation and uses a weak control mechanism against club drugs". To the editor: It has been some weeks now since the ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in London. Here is what I have learned (from news sources). 1. Skripal was a Russian convicted of spying for England. During a prisoner exchange, he was released and sent to London, where he has been quietly living in retirement. His location and identity were not secret. He was openly and freely living as a retired person. 2. The Russian poison reportedly used was very potent. One drop on your skin and you would drop dead within 10 paces. 3. The poison was placed on the door knob of his London apartment. 4. After leaving his apartment, Skripal and his daughter Yulia walked several blocks to a local shopping center. They then had lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, they sat at bench where they became sick from the poison. 5. All subsequent laboratory tests failed to confirm that the poison used was made in Russia. The Skripals eventually recovered their health. So for England, France, Canada and the U.S. to have pounced on Russia the way that they did over this incident is truly amazing. And frightening. How many diplomats have been sent home as a result of this non-event? How much hatred toward Russia has been created? I hate unfairness. It drives me bonkers! So this incident has made me defensive for Russia. Why were they treated so unfairly? Why cannot I depend on the media to tell me truthfully what is going on in the world? And once again, I find myself asking the ancient question that the Romans used to ask: Who benefits? Does someone want us to go to war with Russia? MIKE MILLER Midland Auckland Airport has opened applications for its sixth annual tourism development grants. The NZ$100,000 (US$70,000) grant is open to New Zealand-based tourism operators and organizations with strategies to stimulate year-round visitation to the country. Every year, Auckland Airport brings travel and tourism leaders from throughout New Zealand together for an international travel summit, operating as a chance to contribute to a forum of topics that are important to the tourism sector. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> In 2017, Auckland Airport awarded two grants of NZ$50,000 to Eat NZ and Haka Tours. This year, one grant of NZ$100,000 will be awarded to support the development of a strategy that uses out of the ordinary thinking to promote New Zealand as a year-round visitor destination. Scott Tasker, general manager aeronautical commercial at Auckland Airport, said, Six years into our tourism development grants program, we are pleased with the success of our past recipients and how each year the industry continues to respond eagerly to these grants. The ability of New Zealand operators to offer outstanding, year-round, country-wide travel experiences is key to the support, ongoing development and profitability of the New Zealand tourism industry, as well as the sustainability of airline operations that serve New Zealand. With tourism being New Zealands top export earner, were excited to support what is a growing, dynamic and important industry for our country. Encouraging travelers to explore more of New Zealand across the year brings economic benefits to communities around the country and we look forward to seeing what this years applicants have to offer to keep the momentum and build on the industrys success. Applications are open until June 30 at www.travelsummit.co.nz Because the news cycle flies by at roughly 100,000 miles per hour these days, let me catch you up on how we got here. As it happens, a whole lot of really important developments have taken place in just the last few days. The tl;dr of the second half of this week is that Stormy Daniels, emoluments and Russia are now all basically the same scandal. On Tuesday, Stormy Daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted out an incredibly serious allegation. After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trumps atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment. Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 8, 2018 Avenatti then posted this Executive Summary (that has since been taken down after some portions were proven to be mistaken with another Michael Cohen) with a litany of allegations all centering around the charge that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, was essentially running a slush fund out of the bank account that he paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels from. There was no sourcing in the document, but the subtext was that Avenatti had made this determination based off banking records, and the Treasury inspector general has launched an investigation into how Avenatti may have procured these documents that he's hinting he has. At the time, it was difficult to make heads or tails of what Avenatti alleged, until the companies on his slideshow began to not just confirm, but correct Avenatti so that the situation actually looked worse for them. AT&T was the first to legitimize this story by confirming that they did indeed pay Cohen for insights into the Trump administrationhowever, it wasn't for $200,000 like Avenatti claimed, but $600,000 for advice on the TimeWarner acquisition. This morning, AT&T's CEO took the extraordinary step of apologizing for AT&T's big mistake in a memo to the company. The Washington Post then obtained a copy of the actual agreement between AT&T and Michael Cohen's Essential Consultants LLC, and it describes the scope of Cohen's work on behalf of AT&T as such: Essential Consultants principal will provide advisory services to the E&LA leadership team. They will work alongside a team of strategic advisors to creatively address political and communications issues facing AT&T. The broader strategic team will be expected to regularly advise on corporate interests at the Legislative and Executive (with focus on the FCC) branches of government as well as broader issues facing the AT&T brand and the telecom/tech industry in the media. They will advise on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issues of corporate tax reform and the acquisition, corporate interests at the Legislative and Executive (with focus on the FCC) branches of government as well as broader issues facing the AT&T brand and the telecom/tech industry in the media. The position requires focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner. So, what does all that jargon mean? Basically, AT&T very clearly has two (I will argue three in a moment) vitally important initiatives that all necessitate the government's approval, and they wanted Michael Cohen's help in navigating that process from a legislative and regulatory standpoint. AT&T wanted Cohen's advisory services on the GOP tax plan and their $85 billion acquisition of TimeWarner that the Department of Justice slammed as one that would raise costs on consumers by more than half a billion dollars per year in additional cable costs. AT&T is asking us to believe that they paid $600,000 for Michael Cohen's services on two specific matters that the president can influence. You know, Michael Cohen, that guy who has never worked in government but has this specific president's ear. AT&T picked him over the avalanche of white shoe lobbying firms also fighting to push through tax reform, and apparently it had nothing to do with Cohen's proximity to President Trump. I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about, since AT&T assured us that We didn't ask him to set up any meetings for us with anyone in the Administration and he didn't offer to do so. So if that is truly the case, we're supposed to believe that not only did AT&T hire the president's lawyer to not provide access to the president, but their CEO took at least one meeting at Trump Tower without talking to anyone affiliated with the Trump administration (not to mention that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is the man to Trump's left in the title photo of this article, taken on June 22 of last year). A January 12, 2017 pool report from Trump Tower shows Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson entering 8 minutes apart. AT&T would go on to hire Cohen "to provide insights into understanding the new administration." pic.twitter.com/6MZ3diWcmn Gregory Korte (@gregorykorte) May 9, 2018 Something righteously stinks. AT&T responded to Michael Avenatti's allegations by essentially saying no no, it's actually worse than you thought. If they're getting out ahead of the story this quickly, what actually took place? I have a theory, so let's shift the tone of this column from a definite this did happen and end with a this might have happened proposal. AT&T's contract with Essential Consultants clearly states that they wanted Cohen to aid them as it pertained to their TimeWarner acquisition and tax reform, but there's a third issue that's still hanging out there, and I believe that the (with focus on the FCC) clarifications in the contract reveal what else AT&T wanted: a net neutrality repeal, which was completed by Ajit Pai's FCC this past December and will take effect on June 11th. By repealing net neutrality, the FCC allowed internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T to mess with internet speeds (laws now require them to provide the same level of access to all websites), and the Trump administration paved the way for ISP's to sell you the internet in packages like they do with cable. Portugal does not have net neutrality, and this is how they pay for the internet. In Portugal, with no net neutrality, internet providers are starting to split the net into packages. pic.twitter.com/TlLYGezmv6 Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 27, 2017 The near-daily Michael Cohen revelations are inching all the Trump scandals into one big pot. Stormy Daniels was paid out of the same slush fund that Cohen used to accept payments from AT&T, Novartis and a company owned by a Russian oligarch close to Putin (In 2014, FBI Special Agent Lucia Ziboro wrote an extraordinary op-ed in Boston Business Journal warning venture capital firms about Viktor Veselbergs business, saying The foundation may be a means for the Russian government to access our nations sensitive or classified research, development facilities and dual-use technologies with military and commercial applications. This analysis is supported by reports coming out of Russia itself.). Pay to play is how politics works in America (and around the world, were not special), and the most powerful among us have a near-unlimited amount of resources to weaponize towards our nations capital in order to aggregate more for them and less for the rest of us. This is the story of America, and Trumps downright comical and hilariously inept corruption has begun to reveal the true nature of How Things Work in America (seriously, what kind of lawyer pays off hush agreements from the same bank account that he uses to collect shady payments from companies ranging from AT&T to one backed by a Russian oligarch. We have two options: Michael Cohen is the dumbest person alive not named Donald Trump, or Essential Consultants LLC is far from the only slush fund operated by Trumps longtime lawyer.) AT&T wants us to believe that they hired the presidents lawyer to help them with issues directly pertaining to the presidencybut didnt get any access to the presidency. The drug company Novartis has an even more farcical explanation for their checks being found in Cohens bank account, basically saying that they agreed to pay the presidents lawyer $1.2 million for one unfruitful meeting that they got nothing out ofyet they couldnt break the contract for cause (and somehow throughout all this, Trump has not followed through on his campaign promise to lower drug prices. *thinking face emoji*). All Trump scandals begin and end at the same premise: hes a crook and has been for quite some time (Trump Taj Mahal paid what was at the time, the largest anti-money laundering violation any casino has ever been hit with by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the Treasury). Unfortunately, thats just how America works. Paul Ryan just flew across the country so he could step out of the room for a moment while Sheldon Adelson cut a $30 million check in return for the GOPs tax reform gaining his company an extra $670 million in just the first quarter of 2018. AT&T trying to get out ahead of this story is a big, big deal, because if theres one truth about corporate America, its that whenever a massive conglomerate like AT&T admits to blatant legal and/or ethical violations, the truth is far worse. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. Imagine being a top-flight EWS racer and having the series come to your hometown. Unreal, right? Well, that's exactly what Theo Galy's upcoming weekend is looking like. The French enduro competitor is a new addition to Sunn's team for 2018, and he's hoping that his skill and 160mm-travel Kern LT will take him to a podium at home. Galy is on a medium-sized Kern LT, and while some racers will bump their fork travel up to 170mm for rocky tracks, he's kept his Formula Selva at 160mm to match the rear of the bike. Also, have a look at the rare Fast Suspension 'Holy Grail' shock. The French racer didn't have his suspension settings on hand to share, but this is one bike that I'd like to take for a spin. It's no surprise to see the big meat up front, with a 2.5'' wide Hutchinson Toro at 1.6 bar (23.2 psi) and a 2.35'' Squale out back at 1.7 bar (24.6 psi). Better safe than sorry, Galy says. He also has Look's new X-Track En-Rage trail pedals on his Sunn. Commencal's Cecile Ravanel has spent the last two years utterly dominating the Enduro World Series by taking the win in fourteen of the sixteen events that she competed in during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, a record that's also netted her the EWS crown. You don't have that kind of performance without knowing how to choose the right type of gear for the terrain and conditions, and her bike for the race in Olargues is fitted with a coil-sprung RockShox unit with a remote lockout. The stages are long and rough, but every second spent on the punchy, short climbs and flat sprints are just as important. And speaking of champions and dominating, Sam Hill and his rather sharp-looking Nukeproof Mega are undefeated in 2018. A lot can happen in racing, and there are plenty of events left, but I know who my money is on this year. Flat pedals, big rotors, and big tires for a rowdy track that surely suits the quiet Aussie. There are plenty of Assegais to be found in France, with the new rubber looking to be quite popular with racers sponsored by Maxxis. All the colors. On May 9, the Russian-language service of RT published a story featuring comments made by U.S. State Department Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. on May 7, Volker said: "We will say one thing, they (the Russians) will say otherwise (regarding the prospects for returning Crimea), but then we'll see what happens over time. The Baltic States were occupied by the Soviet Union for 40 years, and eventually that changed. RT apparently took this to be a direct comparison between the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula and Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the three Baltic states that became independent with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Insisting this wasnt a valid comparison, RT cited a professor of international law at Moscows National Research University Higher School of Economics, Alexander Domrin. Domrin claimed that the two situations were different, because according to the Soviet constitution, union republics like the three Baltic states officially had the right to secede from the union. By contrast, he claimed Crimea is seen as part of Russia, from which it thus cannot legally secede. There are several problems with this claim. The biggest is that the overwhelming majority of U.N. member states do not recognize the validity or legality of Russias 2014 referendum, which was organized with the help of its military forces. In 2016, the U.N. passed a resolution calling Russia an occupying power in Crimea, with 73 votes in favor, 23 against with many abstaining. The International Criminal Court has ruled that the Crimean annexation was an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and that Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula. Domrins claims about the referendums results are also highly dubious. According to official Russian sources, 96.77% of the Crimean population voted in favor of separating from Ukraine, with a voter turnout of 83.1%. However, the vote was not observed by recognized international election monitors like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Other estimates, including one by the Russian Presidential Council on Human Rights, put both the referendums results and turnout much lower. It is entirely possible that less than one-third of the peninsulas population actually voted in favor of the annexation. Lastly, Domrin actually undermines his own argument when he talks about Crimea not having a legal right to secede from Russia, because the referendum was also illegal under Ukrainian law. Domrin is correct to state that the right of secession existed in the Soviet constitution and that union republics like the Baltic states invoked this right to gain independence starting in 1991. However, no such right exists in the Ukrainian constitution. Therefore, Domrin is saying that the constitutions of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation are valid, but Ukraines is not. In addition, the drive for independence in the three Baltic states was the result of mass movements, whereas the Crimean annexation was a military operation, beginning with the seizure of the Crimean parliament building by armed men on February 27, 2014. Volker told Polygraph that the U.S. refused to recognize the "forcible incorporation" of the Baltics into the Soviet Union and more than 40 years later they regained their independence. "Similiarily, we will not recognize Russia's claimed annexation of Crimea, and we indeed hope that it will be restored as part of Ukraine," he wrote in an e-mail. The vote in Crimea, Volker added, "took place under conditions of Russian occupation...and so this vote cannot be regarded as a legitimate expression of the people of Crime Juliet Simms talks about her experience working as an artist as a young girl, learning the "business" behind the music, and finding her voice. May, 8th 2018 | Juliet and her team arrive at our office around 2:30 in the afternoon and I am frantic... It isn't difficult to recognize her textured, uplifting tone from across the room. Just a few hours earlier, my boss asked me if I would interview an artist with a huge social following, for our daytime interview series of Popdust Presents. I agreed to lead the interview all while internally screaming "NO NO NO" - I'd never interviewed anyone before. First, I checked out Juilet's soon-to-be released music video, "Take Me." Immediately, it was clear - Juliet is so much more than a huge social following. Her voice has a complex, delicate power reminiscent of Janis Joplin. The song had an air of 70's era rock mixed with sultry modern pop. i.ytimg.com Juliet is a California native who fell in love with performing as a child and didn't let anything keep her from turning her dream into a reality. She accelerated her high school education graduating at 16, and moved to Los Angeles at 17. By chance, on her way, an A&R Rep saw her perform in a coffee shop and made a lasting impression. Not long after, she was signed to the Independent Label, where she released her first EP. Juliet stressed the importance of understanding the "business" behind the music industry, explaining that letting others take care of business was one of the biggest mistakes she made early on in her career. Even after all the challenge that came with that, her fans are the ones that have kept her going, the machine behind her resilience. Through years touring and learning tough lessons, her fans have remained her source of energy and inspiration. In 2012, she was a finalist in the popular TV series, "The Voice," which led her to sign with producer CeeLo Green. Today, Juliet continues to tour and collaborate with her husband Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides. Her relationship and love with Andy is what inspired her song "Take Me." WATCH "Take Me" (Official Video) by Juliet Simms: Follow Juliet on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Megan Oots is Popdust writer based in New York City. She loves the sun, cooking, and playing with dogs. POPDUST | Read More Pop Culture Stories Space Travel For Your Dinner Yeezus Take The Wheel Dancing with the Stars All-Athlete Cast is Announced Charleston, SC (29403) Today A few showers this morning. Isolated thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 78F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms more numerous this evening. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. LANCASTER State Rep. James Smith, a Columbia Democrat running for South Carolina governor, picked fellow state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell as his choice for lieutenant governor, filling out the field of Democratic candidates with a month to go until the party primary. A Lancaster native, Norrell was first elected to the S.C. House in 2012. The bankruptcy lawyer has gone unchallenged in subsequent races, even though presidential election results suggest the district leans Republican. Smith is hoping her crossover appeal to moderate Republican voters will help him stage an upset in November and become the first Democrat to win a governor's race in South Carolina since 1998. Norrell, 44, graduated from Furman University and received her law degree from the University of South Carolina. Both Smith and Norrell serve on the House Judiciary Committee, and Norrell had already emerged as a vocal supporter of Smith's campaign. I have found a woman who has the experience and strength of character that we need, a woman who shares our core values as South Carolinians, a woman who is ready now to serve and to lead South Carolina, Smith said Friday. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who endorsed Smith at the state party convention last month, and former U.S. Rep. John Spratt also attended the announcement in Lancaster. All three Democrats in the race have picked running mates of the opposite gender. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Florence antitrust attorney Marguerite Willis named state Sen. John Scott, D-Columbia, as her lieutenant governor pick in March. Charleston businessman Phil Noble tapped Georgetown economist Gloria Bromell Tinubu to join him on his ticket this week. Noble and Willis have framed their candidacies as bringing an outside perspective, labeling Smith as an establishment insider. Norrell contended that their tickets 28 years of collective experience in the Statehouse is one of their most valuable assets. The arguments that we shouldnt have people with experience in government leading in government makes absolutely no sense to me, she said. Its like saying, 'Well, I need my car worked on, let me go get somebody whos never worked on a car and see if they can do a good job because I want fresh ideas.' Thats nuts." Only one of the five Republicans seeking the GOP nomination have chosen a running mate at this stage in the race. Gov. Henry McMaster selected Travelers Rest businesswoman Pamela Evette, a political newcomer, as his choice for lieutenant governor. Candidates are not required to name a running mate until closer to the general election. The 2018 election will mark the first time that the governor and lieutenant governor candidates will run on a joint ticket together, a change that South Carolina voters approved in a 2012 referendum. Global Basmati Rice Market - Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024 Basmati rice market PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 08:12:04 Press Information Precision Business Insights Kemp House, 152 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX Satya Marketing Lead +1-866-598-1553 email https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com # 661 Words Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXMarketing Lead+1-866-598-1553 Global Basmati Rice Market: By Species (Brown and White), By Product Type (Raw, Steamed, and Parboiled), By Application (Food Industry, Cosmetic Industry, and Personal Care), By Distribution Channel (Traditional Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, Online Stores, and Others), and Geography - Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global Basmati rice market was valued at US $ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at 10.5% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over 2018 to 2024Market Outline: Basmati Rice MarketBasmati rice is a slender-grained rice with aroma caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. It naturally contains an aromatic chemical compound, which is 12 times more than that of the non-basmati rice variants. Its aroma gives a distinctive flavor and fragrance to the rice.Soaring demand of the basmati rice is the key factor anticipating the growth of the basmati rice market. The urge of the staple food and rise in the production of the local basmati rice is adding a scope for the growth of the market. The affordability of the consumers and availability of the rice at various price range is enhancing the growth of the basmati rice market. Owing to its superior taste and aroma, basmati rice is gaining popularity all across the globe which is boosting the growth of the market. However, the stringent government regulations are hampering the growth of the basmati rice market.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/basmati-rice-market/ #ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnxMarket Scope: Basmati Rice MarketBasmati rice market is segmented based on the species, product type, application, and distribution channelBased on the species, the market is segmented into the following: Brown WhiteBased on the product type, the market is segmented into the following: Raw Steamed ParboiledBased on the application, the market is segmented into the following: Food Industry Cosmetic Industry Personal CareBased on the distribution channel, the market is segmented into the following: Traditional Grocery Stores Convenience Store Online Store OthersTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Regional Analysis: Basmati Rice MarketGeographically, global basmati rice market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific basmati rice market to keep the top spot in global basmati rice market owing to the higher agriculture practice. Because of the origin of basmati rice from the Indian subcontinent, Asia is centered for the higher consumption. India holds a prime position in the exports of basmati rice overseas. Europe falls in the next position in the basmati rice market. The demand for basmati rice accounted more in the regions of Germany and the Netherlands. Iran was the leading importer of basmati rice from India until it has imposed a ban on the import. The ban on the import of the basmati rice is providing opportunity in European countries.Need more information about this report @Competition Assessment: Basmati Rice MarketSome of the players in the global basmati rice market include: McCormick & Co. (U.S) Hain Celestial (U.S) REI Agro (India) LT Foods (India) East End Foods (UK) Amira Nature Foods (UAE)Notable Market Developments: Basmati Rice Market In May 2016, ASBAH launched platinum basmati riceGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@ precisionbusinessinsights.com Toll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553Website @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 08:20:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 389 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (TSX Venture:XOP). has issued a press release with the following headline:Canadian Overseas Petroleum Files Q1 2018 ResultsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Canadian Overseas Petroleum LimitedSource: Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (TSX Venture: XOP, LSE: COPL, WKN: A1C29E, ISIN: CA13643D1078)Date: May 11, 2018Time: 2:20 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 01:59:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 394 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for First Energy Metals Limited--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - First Energy Metals Limited (TSX Venture:FE). has issued a press release with the following headline:First Energy Metals Engages Market-Making ServicesTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on First Energy Metals Limited, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/First Energy Metals LimitedSource: First Energy Metals Limited (TSX Venture: FE, OTC Pink: ASKDF, FWB: DFLA, WKN: A2DJLL, ISIN: CA32016U1084)Date: May 10, 2018Time: 7:59 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of First Energy Metals Limited and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Global instant beverage premix market was valued at US$ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over 2018 to 2024 Global instant beverage premix market PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 11:34:16 Press Information precision Business Insights Kemp House, 152 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX satya Lead-Market +1-866-598-1553 email https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com # 541 Words Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXLead-Market+1-866-598-1553 Global Instant Beverage Premix Market: By Product Type (Instant Coffee, Instant Tea, Soups, Instant Health Drinks, Instant Milk, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Department stores, Online Stores, and Others), and Geography - Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global instant beverage premix market was valued at US$ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over 2018 to 2024Market Outline: Instant Beverage Premix MarketInstant beverage premix is the ready-to-use premixes available in the market, they ease the process of preparation. It helps in enhancing the functionality and boosts the metabolism, providing healthy hydration. Increase in the preference for the convenience food and ease of preparation using these premixes is adding fuel for the growth of the market. The fast-paced lifestyle is compelling people to adopt instant beverage premix. The availability of the products in various tastes and flavors and continuous launch of the new product variants are attributed for the growth of the market. Increase in the research and development activities are providing opportunity for the manufacturers in expansion of their product portfolio, which is adding scope for the growth of the market. However, the stringent government regulations regarding the food and safety are likely to hamper the growth of the instant beverage premix marketA sample of this report is available upon request @Market Scope: Instant Beverage Premix MarketInstant beverage premix market is segmented based on the product type, technology, disease indication, and distribution channelBased on the product type, the market is segmented into the following: Instant Coffee Instant Tea Soups Instant Health Drinks Instant Milk OthersBased on the distribution channel, the market is segmented into the following: Supermarkets/Hypermarkets Department stores Online Stores OthersTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Regional Analysis: Instant Beverage Premix MarketGeographically, global instant beverage premix market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The Asia Pacific instant beverage premix market is growing due to increase in urbanization along with rising in disposable income. The soaring demand for instant premixes is adding a scope for the growth of the market. China, Singapore, India, Japan, and Australia contribute the largest share in the region of Asia Pacific. Europe instant beverage premix market holds the second largest share owing to its developing consumer-base. North America follows Europe. North America instant beverage premix market is expected to grow in the forecast period.Need more information about this report @Competition Assessment: Instant Beverage Premix MarketSome of the players in the global instant beverage premix market include: Monster Beverage Co. (U.S) The Republic of Tea Inc. (U.S) Ajinomoto General Foods Inc. (Japan) PepsiCo Inc. (U.S) Monster Beverage Co. (U.S) Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (U.S) Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (U.S) Starbucks Corp (U.S)Notable Market Developments: Instant Beverage Premix Market In March 2017, Nescafe has launched a new instant coffee product for the Vietnamese market.Get access to full summary @ PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 12:03:01 Tampa, FL, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cancer informatics and digital pathology workflow solution provider Inspirata, Inc. announced today that it has provided 12-month notice officially ending support of the Omnyx VL4 and VL120 whole slide image scanners. The "End-of-Support" notice provided to customers is effective May 4, 2019. Production of these scanners began in 2013 and ended in 2016. "The VL4 and VL120 scanners are outdated technology," says Inspirata CEO Satish Sanan, "so we are working with existing Omnyx customers on a case-by-case basis to move them to our state-of-the-art digital pathology software and workflow solutions and assist them in selecting the most appropriate next-generation scanners based on their specific use cases. "We are a scanner-agnostic digital pathology software and workflow solutions company, and are wholly focused on digital pathology adoption by developing, implementing and supporting innovative software that enhances the pathology workflow," continues Sanan. "Our software development teams in Tampa, Pittsburgh and Bangalore, India are busy working on combining the best features of our Digital Pathology Cockpit and the Omnyx Dynamyx(TM) software platform so that we can offer customers a converged state-of-the-art technology stack and best-in-class digital pathology workflow solution within a year." Omnyx originally introduced the Integrated Digital Pathology (IDP) System VL4 and VL120 Scanners in 2013 but did not refresh the technology thereafter, instead focusing on bringing digital pathology software to pathology departments around the world. The company's flagship digital software product, Dynamyx(TM), enhances the pathology workflow through collaboration and other tools that boost pathologists' efficiency. The software is CE-marked in Europe and licensed by Health Canada for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) use. About Inspirata, Inc. Inspirata, Inc. offers the most comprehensive cancer diagnostics workflow solution available for precision diagnosis today. The solution, which employs a unique "solution-as-a-service" business and delivery model, accelerates anatomic and molecular pathology workflows and facilitates whole slide imaging and image analytics, prognostic and predictive assays, remote consultations and tumor boards. This comprehensive solution includes an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to help to solve interoperability issues and a Natural Language Processing Engine (NLP) for structuring data. Inspirata amalgamates this structured data into a central multi-institutional and multi-modal big data cancer repository for clinical, research and educational purposes. Its use will extend to physicians, patients, researchers and pharma among others. This comprehensive solution facilitates a modern precision diagnosis to build a strong foundation for precision medicine. For more information, please visit www.inspirata.com or contact info@inspirata.com. Marjorie Bulone Inspirata, Inc. 813-570-8905 mbulone@inspirata.com PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 13:30:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 382 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for SolGold plc--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Bishopsgate, London (FSCWire) - SolGold plc (TSX:SOLG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Quarterly MD and A Filed in CanadaTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on SolGold plc, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/SolGold plcSource: SolGold plc (TSX: SOLG, AIM: SOLG, OTC Pink: SLGGF)Date: May 11, 2018Time: 7:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of SolGold plc and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) The News in Brief By Mariam Chanishvili Police Release Statistics on Killed in Car Accidents The Georgian Interior Ministry says 107 people were killed in car accidents in the first quarter of 2018. The statistics have shown that 1, 428 car accidents were registered in the country during the first quarter of the year. 54 cases involved drink-driving. The Ministry says that 107 people were killed and 1, 986 were injured in car accidents. The same statistics from 2017 showed the total of 6, 079 car accidents, including 160 drink-driving cases. 517 people were killed and 8,461 injured last year. PM says safe learning environment is priority for the govt The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated that the creation of a safe learning environment in the countrys education institutions is among the governments top priorities. The statement came after the presentation of the Action Plan for Education on Monday. The PM said that certain steps forward have already been taken for a better education system. "As a result of a joint work of various agencies, the draft of legislative amendments has been created. The amendments envisage encouragement of involvement of psychologists and parents in school processes, as well as ensuring intensive communication with students, Kvirikashvili said. The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Mikheil Chkhenkeli presented the Action Plan, which focuses on improvement of the quality of education on different levels. PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-11 08:36:30 Press Information Thunder Energies Corporation 150 Rainville Road Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 Brian Buckley Operations Manager (727) 940 - 3944 email http://www.thunder-energies.com Published by Brian Buckley 7279403944 e-mail http://thunder-energies.com # 479 Words 150 Rainville RoadTarpon Springs, FL 34689Operations Manager(727) 940 - 3944Brian Buckley7279403944 Dr. Ruggero M. Santilli, CEO and Chief Scientist of Thunder Energies Corporation, a publicly traded company with stock symbol (OTC:TNRG), announces new advances for the model of Directional Neutron Source developed in the U.S.A. and tested in nuclear facilities in Europe for the detection in airports of nuclear material that may be concealed in suitcases, the detection and concentration of precious metals in mining operations, various military uses, and other applications ( http://thunder-energies.com/docs/TEC-DNS-3Z.pdf) Dr. Santilli states: "I am pleased to report that the development in collaboration with our European partners of a basically new Directional Neutron Source, namely, an equipment capable of producing on demand a flux of low energy neutrons synthesized from a hydrogen gas predominantly in a selected direction. This new model signals a major advancement for the preceding model http://thunder-energies.com/TEC-DNS-3-BROCHURE.pdf with particular reference to its continuous use, and controls of the neutron directionality, energy and flux. This achievement was possible thanks to our excellent team comprising of: a highly-qualified design engineer, recently retired from the US Air Force; a senior production manager with experience in manufacturing of all proceeding models; a senior assembly and test engineer; a senior procurement officer; and consultation with engineers of the various supplier companies. Dr. Santilli continues, "Thanks to their fully equipped nuclear laboratory that is not available at our company, our European partners are now assisting us to complete our latest Directional Neutron Source into a Nuclear Weapon Detection Station usable in airports and other facilities under the verification of all governmental regulations, including an all-encompassing shield, remote monitoring and control, automatic separation of suspected suitcases from their carousel, and others. It has been rewarding to see that our efforts to improve the security of our Country and of our allies have been met with great interest and support from both the investment and corporate communities." Forward Looking StatementsCertain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.Dr. Ruggero M. SantilliCEO and Chief ScientistThunder Energies Corporationinfo@ thunder-energies.com Members of the Central Bank of Nigerias Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, have expressed worry over the rising status of non-performing loans in Nigerian banks. The officials expressed their concerns in their personal statements contained in the communique of the last CBN MPC meeting held in April. The communique, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, was released by the apex bank earlier in the week. Some of the members attributed the development to governments failure to pay contractors debts. Edward Adamu, a deputy governor of the CBN, in his submission noted that there is work to be done to fully contain banking system fragilities which increased in the wake of the stagflation in 2015 through 2016. The NPLs ratio continues to be in excess of the Banks desired level, he explained. Among other challenges, banks have had difficulty with their foreign currency denominated liabilities (loans) as the exchange rate moved against borrowers as from 2015. Therefore, from a financial stability standpoint, any threat to the naira exchange rate stability must be viewed seriously and promptly addressed to forestall another exchange rate shock. Another CBN deputy governor (Operations Directorate), Adebayo Adelabu, lamented the situation, describing it as one assuming worrisome dimension. Mr Adelabu noted that the NPLs turned northwards in the aftermath of the slump in price of crude oil in 2015 as most of the banks are heavily exposed to the upstream segment of the sector. He explained that the situation was complicated by the recession, which pushed many businesses particularly small and medium scale enterprises out of viable zone. Although most of the soundness indicators are still within the prudential requirement, it is a matter of utmost concern that these indicators are almost at the threshold of the requirement, he said. This, invariably, has implication on the capacity of the banks to support the fledging recovery. Adeola Adenikiju, a professor at the University of Ibadan, in his submission warned that banks would need to reduce their maximum lending rates and provide more credits to the economy. He also suggested payment of government contractors debts as a means of reducing the banks NPLs. Another member, Dahiru Balami, noted that the rising NPLs is, among others, one of the greatest challenges of growth the nation currently faces. Mr Balami, who said the liquidity ratio improved slightly from 45.66 per cent in December 2017 to 46.40 per cent in February 2018 said there was a decline in NPLs from 14.80 to 16.21 per cent within the same period. This clearly shows that a lot of efforts and strategies need to be put in place to improve the banking sector performance, he noted, adding that however, the poor indices have partly been low due to negative contribution of some outlier banks. In his final submission, he suggested that commercial banks should be closely monitored against vulnerability and appropriately guided in their operations. The NPLs can partly be reduced by the three layer of government by redeeming their contractor debts, he noted. Media personality turned politician, Dayo Adeneye, popularly known as D1, shared his grace-to-grace tale at an event held in Lagos. The video of the event was sent to PREMIUM TIMES by the organisers last week, but the event held last year November. At the gathering, the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy addressed several issues. He opened up about his rise from practically nothing to becoming a household name in Nigerias showbiz terrain and now politics. D1, 58, has contributed in no small measure to changing the face of Nigerias thriving music industry. In 1998, he started the AIT Jamz music show alongside his close friend Kenny Ogungbe, and their platform went on to discover music superstars including 2Baba, Tony Tetuila, Paul Play Dairo, Eedris Abdulkareem and many others. In 2015, he ventured into politics. He is currently the spokesman for the Ogun State Government. Here are excerpts from Mr. Adeneyes session at the event as transcribed from the video. My Time At Ray Power My father was upset that I returned from America and chose to do music at the time music was regarded as a job fit for dropouts alone. When Kenny Ogungbe and I started working at Raypower and I was paid N17, 000 a month. We were doing what we enjoyed doing and at some point Kenny and I didnt even know we were being owed 7months. My wife left me and took the kids to America. We were charging N60, 000 for anyone to book 2face we thought we had arrived. At the time we started, the late Afrobeat legend, Fela was being paid N25, 000 per show; he was the highest paid Nigerian artiste. These days some Nigerian artistes even charge N15 million per show. Leaving Raypower One day I woke up and realised that my salary is 17,000 a month. The seven years I worked at Ray Power were my happiest moments but I was so broke. I sold all my four cars and was left with 1 car at the end of the day. I even moved from a 3 bedroom to a one bedroom in Ebute Metta. My first wife left me because I was broke. I didnt even realise that I was broke until my dad came a certain day and said he needed money. I told him I have not been paid. I told him I was being owed seven months salary; he asked me to go resign. I told him it was difficult because I was the director of marketing. I felt I was already a star I didnt know my blessings was just around the corner. Ben Bruce called Kenny and I three months after and them gave us primetime belt- 8pm to host our show. We made so much money that in three months we bought a Hummer and Range Rover landed shortly after. I worked for Raypower for seven years and I didnt have a day off. I didnt know until I quit. And when I did, I slept for three months. But we enjoyed working there. We were just two young men having fun and setting foundation for Kennis Music and Primetime Africa. If, I never left America with Kenny I wont have been here today. If I werent kicked out of Raypower I wouldnt have founded Kennis Music and Primetime Africa. EDITORS NOTE: This story has been edited to reflect the actual source of the story and correct the date of the event. As the world mark 37 years of Bob Marley death, Nollywood veteran, Segun Arinze, has called on reggae musicians in Nigeria to continue to use the genre to spread conscious and positive messages to correct the ills in the society. Marley is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century and one whose impact endures across generations of music fans around the world. The reggae legend with 42 official releases, countless photos and videos of him captured both on and off the stage is the most celebrated reggae artist in the world. Arinze, a.k.a Black Arrow said this in a telephone with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja. The Onitsha born actor and graduate of Dramatic Art from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife also said that reggae had become a culture. Today is Marley Day; I called on Reggae musicians in Nigeria to continue to use the genre to send conscious and positive messages to correct the ills in the society like Bob Marley, Mandators, Andy Showman, Ras Kimono and others. However, the music industry is dynamic and changing; there are new styles and beat to reggae, so you need to adopt it but maintain the messages that are philosophical and endearing to the heart. Even though Marley is gone, his music lives on; Reggae artists across the country should continue to spread the message, Arinze said. The talented actor with several endorsements also said that Marleys legacies remained relevant in the 21st century, 37 years after his death. According to Arinze, Marleys songs are prevalent today adding that everything he sang about is still happening today. He is like a prophet; his songs inspire people up till today. I even listened to his songs yesterday. I just prayed and hope that his family carry on with the legacy he left behind and continue to impact on the people and society. But unfortunately, he died at a very young age; he did not make it up to 40 years. I pray his soul continue to rest in peace and wish the world Happy Marley Day, Arinze said. His lyrics of timeless protest songs such as Redemption Song War Get Up, Stand Up and Crazy Baldhead, have fired up social and political movements. Marley was born on February 6, 1945 to a British Naval Captain, Norman and Cedella Marley. Marley was posted to the Western Indies during the second War World when he met Cedella. She gave birth to young Marley when she was 18. The reggae legend early life was spent in rural mountainous terrain of the Parish of St. Ann community of Nine Miles in Jamaica. The residents of the community have preserved many customs derived from their African ancestry especially the art of storytelling as a means of sharing the past and time-tested traditions. In the late 1950, he left St. Ann and returned to Kingston, the Jamaicas capital. The `One Love crooner had little Western education, but dropped out of school at 14 to learn welding. After meeting and teaming up with a Reggae artist, Peter Touch, he quit welding and they jointly released a single titled, `Simmer Down which enjoyed airplay on the local radio. Based on the success of the single, their relationship blossomed and in 1964, Marley and Tosh formed the `Wailing Wailers together with Bunny Livingstone Wailer, Junior Braithwaite, and Beverly Kelso. Other members of the group were Rita Anderson (who later became Rita Marley in 1966), Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffith. The musical group was popular in Jamaica as it performed in many shows across the country. The group gained wider acceptance and in 1972 it was signed on by Chris Blackwells Island Records. In 1973, they released their debut album titled Catch A Fire which launched them into super stardom. With a successful music album, the group embarked on musical tour in Britain which was successful but turned out to be the turning point of the Jamaican based Reggae group. After a successful tour, they came back to Jamaica and the group split with Peter Tosh and Bonny Walter opting out after alleging Marleys domineering role while on tour. Not perturbed by the split, Marley went ahead and got married to Alpharita Constantia Rita Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 10, 1966. Marley had many children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from her previous relationships, and several others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children. (NAN) Voters in Kaduna State are set to make history as the first electors in Nigeria to use electronic voting. Elections to elect chairmen and councillors for the 23 local government councils in the state are scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, May 12, 2018. At least 10 countries currently use electronic voting, and Kaduna State seems poised to be the first sub-national entity to adopt it. Tomorrows election would make Kaduna State the second in Africa to use electronic voting, after Namibia. When voters in the state arrive their polling units, they will not see any ballot paper. After accreditation, they will instead find an electronic voting machine displaying the logos of the political parties participating in the election. By pressing the logo of his or her preferred political party, the voter registers a choice that is recorded and acknowledged by the machine. The process is conducive to fast counting of results and it shuts the door to ballot-stuffing. Governor Nasir El-Rufai has explained that the Kaduna State Government opted for electronic voting to promote transparency and electoral integrity. He said democracy benefits when election results reflect the actual choices made by voters. Dr. Saratu Binta Dikko-Audu, the chairman of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM), and her commissioners proposed that electronic voting machines be procured to guarantee voting integrity, the Mr El-Rufai government obliged. The leadership of SIECOM also undertook a study visit to Brazil to see how electronic voting works in that country. Following that study trip, SIECOM made a formal presentation to the Kaduna State Executive Council which made a commitment to fund the procurement of the electronic voting machines. Then appropriate legislation was enacted to support the new system. The Kaduna State Independent Election Commission Law No.2 of 2018, which governs the conduct of local elections, makes provisions for electronic voting. About 6000 units of the electronic voting machine were bought. Public enlightenment on the machines was done, using public demonstrations and an online video. SIECOM lost 140 of the EVMs to the recent fire in its offices. But the remaining machines are more than sufficient for the 5,101 polling units in the state. Only voters with Permanent Voters Card are eligible to vote. Key Features of the Electronic Voting Machine The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is lightweight and easy to transport, as no unit weighs more than 10kg. With a battery life of 10-16 hours depending on conditions, it facilitates an automated process that cuts out blank and void votes and ensures quick counting of results. KASIEC Each EVM has transparent windows, a touch screen on which political party logos are displayed, and green and red buttons for voters to press to affirm their choice or to cancel. An in-built thermal printer gives each voter a slip to indicate that they have voted. The Electronic Voting Process 1. Voter presents PVC to Election Officer 2. Voter credentials verified from register 3. Election Officer activates Electronic Voting Machine 4. Voter selects logo of candidates political party by pressing touch screen 5. Voter verifies or cancels selected party logo 6. Voter presses OK button to confirm choice. 7. EVM prints ballot receipt for voter, containing SIECOM logo and other details, including logo and name of party chosen, date and time of vote cast and the serial number of the EVM. Countries that use Electronic Voting Kaduna State is joining a select group of polities that practice electronic voting. In fact, Kaduna State is the first sub-national entity in the world to adopt the system. Countries that use Electronic Voting include: the United States of America Belgium Brazil Bolivia Mexico Namibia Philippines Personnel 13,000 ad-hoc staff have been trained by SIECOM as Presiding and Assistant Presiding Officers Another 13,000 ad-hoc staff would work as poll clerks South Africas elite police unit has taken over the investigation of a mosque attack near Durban which killed one person because extremism is suspected as a possible motive, an official said on Friday. Africas most industrialised country is racked by violent crime and social strife rooted in poverty and glaring income disparities but is seldom associated with the Islamist militancy seen in other parts of the continent. No suspects have been arrested yet over Thursdays attack by three men armed with guns and knives in which two worshippers were also injured. Witnesses said the suspects, who set the mosque alight, were Egyptian. Upon assessing the crime scene it was found that there was an element of extremism to it, said Simphiwe Mhlongo, a spokesman for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known popularly as the Hawks. The victim who died had his throat cut. Local media reported on Friday that the victim was the mosques imam and that he was from Canada but Mhlongo could not confirm those details.(Reuters/NAN) Two British nationals were kidnapped in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a park ranger travelling with them was killed, media reported on Friday. The Telegraph newspaper reported that the tourists were heading to the city of Goma when the vehicle was attacked by an armed group and the two tourists, as well as the driver were abducted. Joel Wengamulay, Spokesperson for the park, confirmed the attack on the convoy, but did not comment on the kidnapping. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was in contact with DRC authorities on the incident and was providing support to families of the victims. Political instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had caused rising violence in the province of North Kivu, where the park, famous for its mountain gorillas population, is located. The park reportedly witnessed multiple kidnappings over the past two months, attributed to Mai-Mai militia. (Sputnik/NAN) The ongoing Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) strike, would not hinder the Ebola screening of travellers coming into the country as health workers in the port would not be joining the strike, Isaac Adewole, the minister of health, has said. The minister disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday. Speaking on the effort the government is making to reduce the risk of the disease being imported into the country, Mr Adewole said mechanism has been put in place at the ports and borders to screen travellers coming in and going out of the country. There will be screening at the airport and borders. We have also put in place a screening form to help track where people are coming from and go, as this will help improve surveillance, he said. The screening form will be particularly for people coming from the west Africa and central Africa region. An emergency surveillance activities at all land and airport borders has been set up so that we can keep Nigerians safe, he added. Currently, there is an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo leading to some deaths. Part of the new measures to be taken include screening passengers coming into the country. Not only that, we will be screening incoming passengers, particularly passengers from DRC and neigbouring countries. We will also ensure we step up all activities screening people coming in so that we will not be caught unaware, he said. Ebola, like other infectious diseases has a tendency of spreading across border through human migration, if not well monitored. In 2014, the disease was imported to Nigeria through a Liberian Diplomat who flew to Nigeria in an attempt to get to the U.S. after contacting the disease in Liberia. As a result of this, eight Nigerians died from the disease and many others were infected. Majority were health workers. The minister said to minimise the risk of importing the disease, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is currently coordinating a national working group that is assessing and managing the risk to Nigeria. While alienating the fears of Nigerians on the likely import of the disease into Nigeria, the minister advised Nigerians to cultivate the habit of personal hygiene and not just depend on hand sanitizers as prevention from the disease. He said hand sanitizers though good should not be solely relied upon as preventive mechanism for contacting the disease as hand sanitizer is not a means of preventing Ebola. Mr Adewole explained that Nigeria is in close communication with development partners, including the World Health Organisation, who are in Congo to monitor and respond to the situation. The port health services unit has been placed on red-alert and will heighten screening measures at ports of entry. Letters of alert have also been sent to all states to enhance surveillance activities and an advisory note for the general public, he said. Mr Adewole said Nigeria has the capacity to tackle the disease because the country has learnt a lot from the 2014 outbreak which claimed eight people in the country. He said over the last few years,we have strengthened our health security infrastructure to effectively prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases including Ebola. The Federal Ministry of Health says it remains committed to ensuring the health and safety of all Nigerians. The World Bank, through the regional disease surveillance systems enhancement (REDISSE) also released $90 million to help tackle surveillance and response of disease in the country and other African countries, the minister said. The Chief Executive Officer, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said Nigeria would not be having problem tackling the disease because there are health experts in who assisted Liberia to tackle the disease in 2014. He said REDISSE is focused on strengthening the disease preparedness and response architecture in West African countries, including Nigeria. He said the main priority for NCDC is to develop a robust public health emergency preparedness and response system in other to tackle any disease outbreak in the country. Patients in federal health institutions are currently passing through untold pain even as their relatives have been grumbling for the past 22 days as a result of the ongoing strike by health workers, an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has shown. Three weeks ago, JOHESU, an association of health workers except doctors, began an indefinite strike over the failure of the federal government to honour the agreement it had with the union last September. While this is on, the Nigerian government seems to be in a dilemma on how to resolve the protracted issue. Chief among what the union is asking for is salary adjustments, a demand Nigerian doctors have vehemently opposed, warning the government that acceding to such a demand would precipitate a crisis that may lead to the collapse of the health sector of the country. Meanwhile, as the strike continues unabated, the situation is worsening for patients in critical condition, pregnant women and nursing mothers and even ordinary Nigerians in dire need of healthcare. This is because essential staff, nurses and midwives some of the most influential members of JOHESU have all gone on strike. There are no official reports of fatalities yet. But checks by this newspaper across federal health institutions in the six geopolitical zones in the country have shown that some patients have died while others suffer as essential services and healthcare delivery significantly nosedive as a result of the strike. South-East Ebonyi State In Ebonyi there has not been any official report of deaths at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, the state capital but some officials alleged some deaths have occured. A personnel manager at the facility said the strike has caused deaths of patients who were rushed to the hospital on emergency but were not taken care of but were referred to other hospitals. In the process of taking them to the hospital they were referred to, they died even before getting there. Also the condition of many others worsened due to delays in getting them treatment because of shortage of staff occasioned by the strike, the official who pleaded anonymity for fear of victimisation said. A patient, who only gave her name as Mrs Nwode recounted the challenges patients face in the hospital. According to her, in most cases after drugs were prescribed to them and bought from pharmacies outside the hospital, there will be no nurse to inject the patients. Imo State The strike did not only paralyse activities at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owerri, Imo State capital, but caused commotion. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that some members of the striking union penultimate week allegedly attacked some medical personnel and destroyed some vital hospital equipment leading to the death of a stillborn baby. It was learnt that the attacked officials are the hospitals Public Relation Officer, Jacinta Achonu, and Christiana Emeto, Secretary to the Medical Director. They were rushed to the hospital. The state police spokesperson, Andrew Enwerem (DSP) who confirmed the attack, said a member of the force on duty, Omini Ebiri, was also assaulted in the process. He said some members of JOHESU complicit in the attacks have been arrested and have made useful statements. But the leadership of union in the facility debunked the allegation describing it as malicious. Enugu State The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, is a shadow of itself as most patients have relocated to private facilities. Sources said at least one person has died since the strike commenced. A relative of a patient said those who cannot afford private hospitals have resorted to acting as emergency staff for their relatives. We dress our sick relatives wounds because there is no nurse to attend to them and doctors will only come, write drugs and go. The worst is that you cannot get the drugs in the hospital because of the strike also. You have to go to Enugu town to buy drugs. I am planning to relocate my brother from here. A similar situation was noticed at Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, and the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, where only the doctors and security officials were on duty. It was so bad that even patients who have been discharged could not be allowed to leave because there was no one to check their records to know how much balance they have to pay before they could be allowed to go. North Central Plateau State The impact of the strike on patients seeking medical attention at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUHT), the only federal government teaching hospital in the state capital extended to even private facilities due to mass referrals which has resulted to fatalities, this newspaper learnt. On Saturday, two patients who were rushed to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, a Missionary owned facility died at the Intensive Care Unit ICU, officials say. A source said facilities at the hospital are being overstretched following mass referrals from JUHT. One of the victims brought in from Bauchi was involved in a fatal auto crash and needed urgent medical attention. He reportedly died as he was brought into the missionary teaching hospital. The corpse of the victim was transported back to Bauchi for burial, according to sources. The second patient, who was referred to the missionary facility died at the ICU, this paper was told by an official at the hospital who asked not to be named. She was an aged woman and her relations said she had complications from high blood pressure and stroke, he said. Checks revealed that many patients have deserted JUTH. North West Kaduna The National Eye Care Centre in Kaduna was locked to patients when PREMIUM TIMES visited. Only security guards were seen at the entrance and inside the premises. It was gathered that since the strike started, patients on admission were asked to return home while those who visited to see doctors were turned back because there was nobody to attend to them. Emergency cases were referred to Barau Dikko General Hospital, a state owned facility. The Federal Neuro-Phychiatric Hospital Kaduna is another health facility crippled by the mass action. It was learnt that skeletal services are provided to patients at both hospitals. South West Lagos There are no patients here, a specialist at the accident and emergency ward of Lagos University Teaching Hospital replied when asked why the facility looked deserted. Most of them have being transferred. Every other staff: nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists and others are on strike apart from few doctors still on duty, there is little we can do for the patient. If an accident victim comes, we transfer them to the private emergency unit (a public private partnership establishment) and there is a limit to the patients they can attend to. That is why JOHESU strike is very effective, it denies the establishment more than 70 per cent of its work force, he noted. This newspaper also observed that deliveries have stopped at the facility. Ogun State PREMIUM TIMES observed a drama during a visit at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital as seven patients refused to leave the wards after being referred to another hospital. The patients, who spoke with our correspondent but did not want their names mentioned said they resolved to stay because they cannot afford to go home in view of their present health predicament. I cant go when I was still bleeding from my amputated leg and doctors advised me to stay, one of them whose leg was recently severed said. It was also observed that all other departments and wards in the facility remained locked except the surgical and orthopaedic wards where a few patients could be seen. A few doctors were however seen doing skeletal services. FCT Abuja Federal Health Institutions in the countrys capital, Abuja were not left out of the impasse. PREMIUM TIMES reported how patients and businesses within the National Hospital Abuja and FMC Jabi were deeply hit by the crisis. This newspaper on Wednesday also reported that the states and local governments health workers had been directed to join the strike by Wednesday, midnight. State leaders of the union said they agreed to join the ongoing strike so as to mount maximum pressure on government to meet their demands. No common ground has been reached in the series of meetings between the government and the striking union in a bid to resolve the crisis. Despite nullifying the Senates decision to suspend Delta State senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, the courts judgement agrees with the upper chambers powers to discipline its members. An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday set aside the April 13 suspension of Mr Omo-Agege after declaring his suspension for 90 legislative days as a violation of constitutional provisions empowering the Senate to punish its members. Mr Omo-Agege was suspended following comments he made at the floor of the Senate accusing the upper legislative chamber of conspiring against President Muhammadu Buhari. Reacting to the Senates decision to amend section 25 of the electoral act, Mr Omo-Agege said the proposed amendment was a plan to hinder the chances of Mr Buhari in the 2019 general election. The altered section would have placed the election of the president after those of the legislators and governors respectively. In a response to Mr Omo-Ageges allegation, a Kogi state senator, Dino Melaye suggested that the matter be referred to the Senates ethics and privileges committee for investigation. The committee has since investigated and submitted its report where it recommended the suspension of Mr Omo-Agege for 181 days. The Senate, however, reduced the suspension to 90 days. Ahead of the suspension and shortly after the committee began investigating Mr Omo-Agege, the senator approached the court with a motion seeking a suspension of his investigation. Mr Omo-Agege also asked the court to determine whether the said investigation did not amount to an abuse of his fundamental rights to freedom of expression. Mr Omo-Agege asked the court to determine whether in the light of his motion, the privileges committee still had the legal authority to proceed with the said investigation. He prayed the court to determine whether the outcome of such an investigation could be made binding upon him. In all, Mr Omo Agege brought seven issues to be determined by the court. After making his seven prayers, Mr Omo-Agege also asked the court to include other orders as may be considered necessary by the court. On their part, the first and second defendants, namely the Senate and its President, Bukola Saraki, questioned the jurisdiction of the court in entertaining the matter. They asked the court to determine whether it could entertain the matter, having regards to the legislative immunity enjoyed by the Senate. The defendants also asked the court to determine whether Mr Omo-Agege had fulfilled the necessary pre-conditions for filing the case. The issues raised by the first and second defendants were, however, resolved against them. The court, presided by Nnamdi Dimgba, found no merit in the submissions of the defendants that their legislative powers rendered it impossible for the substantive issue to be brought before a court of law. The judge also said it was injurious for the defendants to submit that the plaintiff did not comply with the necessary provisions for the presentation of his motion. The seven prayers sought by Mr Omo-Agege which centered on questioning the Senates powers to discipline the plaintiff were also rejected. Delivering the judgement; the judge ruled that he is of the view that the legislature can discipline its members and that the Senate is empowered to regulate the activities of its members. It is well within its powers to caution the plaintiff, the judge ruled. The judge said the decision of the defendant to suspend a senator found guilty of misconduct is akin to a lawyer being disrobed by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, for allegations of judicial misconduct. The judge also ruled that that the submissions of the plaintiff regarding the ethics and privileges committee were erroneous. According to him, the fact that a criminal proceedings had already been filed before a court of law, does not stop the committee from proceeding with its own duty and reaching a decision. The judge ruled that although Mr Omo-Agege had a right to freedom of speech, his right to freedom is not absolute. The judge also said Mr Omo-Agege should have known that as a senator, he is bound by the ethics of the house and his right to freedom of expression should be expressed on the floor of the legislature, not on the pages of newspapers. In a nutshell, the judge ruled that since all the seven prayers sought by Mr Omo-Agege were premised on the submission that the Senate cannot proceed with the disciplining of its member, if such a members case is before a court of law, all the reliefs sought would be refused. However, considering the omnibus prayer; wherein Mr Omo-Agege had asked the court to issue such other orders as it may consider necessary; the court then ruled that the Senates method of exercising its powers amounted to a violation of those powers. Reading through a part of the report where the suspension of Mr Omo-Agege was partly hinged on his decision to file a court case, the judge said the house should not have punished its member for exercising his right to seek redress in court. Access to court is a constitutional right; it cannot be taken away, he ruled. The judge regarded the action of the Senate as an affront on the judiciary. He ruled that according to section 4 (8) of the constitution, the exercise of legislative powers shall be subject to the decisions of a court of law and that where the Senate is found to be acting in violation of its constituted authority, that section shall be fully invoked. Considering the number of days in which Mr Omo-Agege was suspended, Mr Dimgba said the law only allows for the Senate to suspend its member for 14 days. The judge therefore regarded Mr Omo-Ageges suspension as an illegality, describing it as a deprivation of the rights of Mr Omo-Ageges constituency members. Subsequently, the judge nullified the suspension of Mr Omo-Agege and ordered the refund of his salaries. The Senate has since filed for a stay of execution of the judgement, indicating it has no plan to reinstate Mr Omo-Agege. Suspected loyalists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday stormed the Rivers State High Court in Port-Harcourt, killing at least two persons and destroying court property estimated in millions of naira, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The attackers breached the court security around 11 a.m. in violent bid to stop a judge from sitting on an interlocutory motion brought by a faction of the party in the state, witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES. The injunction was sought by the faction said to be loyal to Magnus Abe, a serving APC senator from the state. Mr Abes faction has been sparring with the faction believed loyal to Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transport and immediate-past governor of the state, for the control of the partys political structure. Mr Amaechis faction is said to be in favour of allowing the party congresses proceed as scheduled for Saturday. But Mr Abes group was against this arrangement and sought a court order to overturn it. Preliminary hearing on the injunction was slated for Friday morning, and Mr Amaechis loyalists reportedly got wind of the proceeding and decided to take a protest to the court. Properties worth millions were believed to have been destroyed in a fracas that ensued after hoodlums from both sides clashed at the courts premises. Pictures circulated in the aftermath of the attack showed damaged vehicles and buildings. The violence, however, failed to stop Chiwendu Nworgu, the presiding judge, from granting the injunction forbidding the congress from holding tomorrow. Blame games Chris Finebone, a spokesperson for the APC in the state, blamed Mr Abes faction for the violence and said the injunction would not stand. It is legal untenable for anyone to stop an action that is ongoing, Mr Finebone told PREMIUM TIMES Friday evening about the scheduled exercise. On that basis, principally, that injunction cannot stand. Were going ahead with the local government congresses tomorrow, he emphasised. Mr Finebone said Mr Abes loyalists were supported by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to maximise the damage inflicted on the court and its officials. The members loyal to Mr Amaechi were at the court to register their displeasure at the way and manner the case was being handled, the spokesperson said. Someone who has been suspended from the state working committee went to employ lawyers for the party and took a matter to court without the consent of the party chairman. Damaged Areas of State High Court Complex on Friday. Our men later got wind of the plan and went the to court to protest the travesty of justice that happened. It was when our members were protesting that the loyalists of Magnus Abe and some PDP thugs went to cause fracas, he said. Mr Abe could not be immediately reached for comments Friday night. Rivers police spokesperson, Omoni Nnamdi, told PREMIUM TIMES the attack was largely curbed by the police, and some of those responsible have been identified. Our men were alerted and the commissioner immediately send officers out to restore normalcy, Mr Nnamdi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said. Some persons have been identified in connection to the attack. He, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that no arrest has been made as at 6 p.m. Friday. A complete coup Governor Nyesom Wike quickly categorised the incident as an attempt to subvert existing democratic system in the state when he visited the court premises Friday afternoon, saying the police were involved in the violence. This is very unfortunate, the governor said in a statement his office sent to PREMIUM TIMES. Do not trivialise this invasion by saying it is just an attack by the APC on the judiciary.' This is a complete coup by the Nigerian Police and the APC to overthrow the Rivers State Government, he said. We have said it before and we have been vindicated by this callous joint invasion of the Rivers State Judiciary. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (m), Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyayi-Laminkara (2nd R), Attorney General of Rivers State, Emmanuel Aguma (SAN) (2nd L) during his inspection of State High Court Complex destroyed by APC and Police on Friday. We cannot continue to rely on the police to defend us. We must all stand up to defend democracy. What has happened is a sign of what APC and Police have planned, he added. Unfounded, unrealistic Police Mr Nnamdi dismissed the governors comments as baseless and spurious when asked to respond to them by PREMIUM TIMES Friday evening. That is unfounded, unrealistic and not verifiable as a matter of fact, Mr Nnamdi said. He explained that the police were reluctant to use live ammunition against the hoodlums when they first stormed the court, but that the reinforcement took charge of the situation and brought it under control. Not that we were overwhelmed, but there are ways to handle this kind of situation instead of shooting to kill, he said. Use of firearms was a last resort and we were tactical in our response to the crisis. The spokesperson said many of the officers who responded to the attack would remain stationed at the court premises for the next few days until all threats have been neutralised. The Federal Government on Friday strongly condemned the assassination of a Nigerian immigration attache, Habibu Almu, at the Nigerian Mission in Khartoum, Sudan. According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Tope Elias-Fatile, on Friday, the federal government described the killing as unfortunate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received an official report from our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan on the death of the Immigration Attache I in the Mission, Mr Habibu Almu. He was killed in his official quarters on Thursday. This, indeed, sad news. The untimely death of the officer is certainly a great loss to our country. The Federal Government sympathises with the family members of the deceased on this unfortunate incident, he said. He said the mission was working very closely with host authorities in their investigations over the incident. He assured that the government would do everything possible to ensure that those behind the act are made to face the full wrath of the law.(NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja from London, United Kingdom. His plane landed at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 7 pm. Mr Buhari was in london to for medical reasons on the request of his doctor, the presidency said. A tweet from the handle of the Presidency; @NGRPresident said President @MBuhari this evening returned to Abuja. Mr Buhari left Abuja on Tuesday on a four-day medical trip to the UK. He had stayed in London for two days last week while returning from Washington, United States, where he met with President Donald Trump. A statement by a presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Monday said, In the course of the technical stop-over for aircraft maintenance in London on his way back from Washington last week, the president had a meeting with his doctor. Mr Shehu said the doctor requested the president to return for a meeting which he agreed to do. The spokesperson said the president was expected to return to Nigeria on Saturday. He returned a day earlier. Health workers in Yobe have put on hold the nationwide strike action directed by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU). Abdul-Azeez Usman, state chairman of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Damaturu that the union had however placed its members on alert. There are on going negotiations between government and the union on peculiar issues that affect the state branch as well as issues raised by the national body. With the ongoing negotiations, we have placed our members on red alert to join the strike if we fail to reach agreements, he said. Meanwhile, patients have pleaded with the health workers not to join the strike. Abubakar Aliyu, a patient at the Damaturu Specialists hospital said Yobe government has done so much in the health sector, they should not go on strike just for solidarity. Yobe government should be appreciated and the patients should be sympathised with, he said. Also, Kaka Musa, a relative to a patient, contended that health workers in the state have no reason to join the strike because it is the sector that had received more attention in terms of working environment, tools, and condition than any other sector from government. (NAN) The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has endorsed his political adviser, Uba Sani, to contest for the senatorial position of Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 2019 elections. Shehu Sani is the current senator representing the zone. Mr El-Rufai is currently having a running battle with the current three senators from Kaduna and is expected to try to replace them. The governor announced support for his adviser during a state wide APC campaign rally at the local governments that make up the Kaduna Central Senatorial District. At the local government, the governor called on the people and party members to vote Mr Sani in place of the incumbent senator. The governors support for Mr Sani, is coming months after the chairpersons of the APC in six of the seven local government areas making up the senatorial district, also endorsed him to contest for the senatorial seat. Mr El-Rufai also called on the people of the state to conduct themselves with humility and decorum during the local government election coming up on Saturday. It has been my privilege this week to lead the APC team as we campaigned across Kaduna State. We have been thrilled by the enthusiastic reception we have received everywhere we have been, from the rolling hills of Sanga to the plains of Soba, from Zaria to Zango-Kataf. I wish to thank the people of Kaduna State for giving us a warm welcome. The APC looks forward to you expressing the same vigorous support by electing our candidates to lead the 23 local government councils that our reforms have turned into better instruments of government. As we campaigned, we have engaged with our people and shown what we are doing to make life better across the state. There is no zone without at least 300 projects. Within our limited resources, this government has invested in Education, Health, Roads and Water. I urge every resident of Kaduna State to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner and respect the integrity of the voting process. Let us all ensure that our local government elections of 12 May 2018 set an example of orderliness and respect for democratic processes, the governor said. The Kano State government has announced the renaming of a paediatric hospital after late billionaire, Isyaku Rabiu, who passed on Tuesday. Mr Rabiu, who died at 93, was a foremost Kano businessman and Islamic cleric. He died in London after a brief illness. He was buried Friday in Kano after a funeral that was attended by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. A statement issued by the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Muhammed Garba, confirmed the renaming of Kano Paediatric Hospital to Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu Paediatric Hospital. Mr Garba said the state executive council decided to immortalise the late businessman for his immense contribution to the development of the state. Kano State Executive Council under the leadership of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has approved the renaming of Paediatric Hospital Zoo Road to Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu Paediatric Hospital, the statement read. The resolution reached by the Council during its last meeting on Thursday was aimed at immortalising late Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu in recognition of his examplary life especially his immense contributions to the development of Quranic and Islamic education, philanthropic activities and general development of the state and beyond. While praying for the repose of the soul of the deceased, the Council has also pledged to continue to appreciate and honour deserving indigenes who offered selfless service to the development of the state and humanity in general in their respective fields of endeavour. The state government had on Wednesday declared a public holiday to honor the deceased. The military operation tagged: Operation Idan Raini killed three bandits in Zamfara State on Friday, according to Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Clement Abiade. Mr Abiade, a major, said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau, the state capital that the army troops encountered the bandits in the notorious Dansadau bush on Friday. He said many of the bandits had been overpowered by the soldiers and therefore escaped with gunshot wounds. He said three motorcycles were recovered from the fleeing hoodlums, and that the troops had continued with their manhunt for them. The army spokesman also disclosed that the troops supported by local vigilance groups had arrested a notorious cattle rustler, Usman Ikkuwa, at Teke village in Maru Local Government Area of the state. He said Ikkuwa was part of Buba Banmes gang who had terrorised many communities in the state and rustled many cows especially in Sabon-birni. He said the gang terrorised the people until the leader, Buba Banme, was arrested in 2017 when he mentioned Ikkuwa as a member of the seven-man group, and was accordingly declared wanted by security personnel. Mr Abiade said the army was working in synergy with other security agencies to rid the state of all criminal elements. (NAN) The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for the July 14 Ekiti governorship election, Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, has picked 39-year-old Kazeem Deji-Ogunsakin as his running mate. Mr Ogunsakin, a native of Ado Ekiti, is the immediate past Chairman of Ado Ekiti Local Government. He is currently the Head of Due Process unit at the governors office. The PDP Chairman in the state, Gboyega Oguntuase, told journalists in Ado Ekiti, the state capital on Friday that the decision to pick Mr Ogunsakin, a young banker, was reached after consultations with stakeholders. He added that the choice of the 39-year-old economist and banker was informed by the need to involve the younger generation in governance of the state in line with global trend. It is also our belief that Ado Ekiti, being the state capital with the largest voting population, deserves consideration for deputy governorship position. It was also to give the Muslim community in the state a sense of belonging. Mr Ogunsakin is a graduate of Economics from Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, and holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from University of Lagos. (NAN) A prosecution witness, Abubakar Madaki, on Thursday told a Federal High Court in Lagos that former Governor Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo State admitted taking part of proceeds of the sale of the state shares. Mr Madaki, an Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) operative, gave evidence in the trial of Ladoja and a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Waheed Akanbi, for N4.7 billion fraud. The accused were brought before Justice Mohammed Idris on December 14, 2016, but they pleaded not guilty to the eight-count charge preferred against them by the EFCC. The judge granted them bail. At the resumed trial of the case on Thursday, the prosecution counsel, Oluwafemi Olabisi, continued examination of the witness. Mr Madaki said Mr Ladoja confirmed in his statement before the EFCC that he used part of the proceeds from the sale of Oyo State shares to purchase four cars. The counsel had asked the witness what happened to N400 million out of the N1 billion difference of the proceeds which he was to investigate. Mr Olabisi noted that the witness had identified N600 million out of the N100 billion. Part of the proceeds was used to purchase four cars by Ladoja; he promised to return them but he has failed to do so. The cars are a jeep, a bus and two other cars supplied to members of the House of Representatives loyal to him, Madaki said. He added that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) conducted a discrete investigation into the alleged fraud and issued a report to the EFCC to that effect. Mr Olabisi applied to tender the report from the NSE as an exhibit. The counsel also sought to tender as exhibit, the search warrant for the residence of the Managing Director of McLean Securities. Bolaji Onilenla and Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, counsel to Messrs Ladoja and Akanbi, respectively, did not object to Mr Olabisis request. Consequently the documents were admitted and marked Exhibit H3 and Exhibit H4 respectively. Mr Madaki also testified that Ladoja approved the reduction of the sale of the shares without any state executive resolution. The witness identified a correspondence between the commission and Oyo State Government with accompanying documents, which the state obliged the EFCC. When Mr Olabisi sought to tender the documents, Mr Onilenla objected to that, arguing that the documents were certified only by the commission. Mr Olabisi then withdrew the documents and prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to do the needful. Justice Mohammed adjourned continuation of the trial until May 30. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused were charged with conspiring to siphon and launder N4.7 billion from the coffers of Oyo State Government. The EFCC also accused them of converting N1.9 billion belonging to the state for their personal use through the account of a company known as Heritage Apartments Ltd. The anti-graft agency claimed that the accused retained the money sometime in 2007 in spite of their knowledge that it was proceeds from a criminal activity. Mr Ladoja was accused of removing 600,000 pounds from the state coffers in 2007 and sent to his daughter, Bimpe, in London. In addition, the ex-governor was accused of converting N42 million belonging to the state for his personal use and subsequently used same to purchase an armoured Land Cruiser. The EFCC added that Mr Ladoja converted N728 million and N77 million at different times in 2007 for his personal use and transferred same to Bistrum Investments for the purchase of a property in Ibadan. The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 14, 16, 17 (a) and 18 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, according to the EFCC. (NAN) Georgia Files Lawsuit against Russia in European Court By Levan Khutsishvili Georgian government is working on the Archil Tatunashvili case to address Strasbourg Court.According to State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the severity of the occupied territories was most tragically revealed in the case of Archil Tatunashvili and showed that the situation is not static but creates everyday challenges for people."We are investigating Tatunashvilis case today. The suit will soon be made. We have already made a statement that the Georgian government will use all the peaceful tools at hand - diplomatic, legal, political, etc. This preparation was going on earlier and of course the Georgian government is working on the case, "said Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.Georgian political establishment supports the governments initiative. However, MPs from the opposition parties think that launching a case is not enough, but Georgian Government should use all tools to make Russia take all responsibilities.Russia should be responsible for violation of Archil Tutunashvili's right to life. The Strasbourg Human Rights Court is an opportunity that Georgian government should use, and it is good that the NGO sector is active in this direction, the main purpose of this suit is to underscore Russia's responsibility for vandalism. I mean that Russia is responsible for Archil Tutunashvils death. It will be good the Ministry of Justice will be active,although we remember cases,even Russia-Georgia assemblies, when the Ministry of Justice was not putting enough effort to make Russia pay compensation to Georgia, said Giorgi Tugushi from European Georgia.Eka Beselia, the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Issues in Parliament, thinks that the case will be so important that it can go out of Georgias legal and political possibilities. She thinks that using European Court of Justice is an important tool and the suit that Georgian Government wants to bring will have not only legal, but also important political importance.Member of the National Movement party Salome Samadashvili has more skeptical position than members of the ruling team."Unfortunately, we are still facing a trend that the current leadership is not using efficiently international pressure, including international courts. The Government was not using international courts to put the pressure on Russia to take responsibility for its various crimes against the Georgian citizens. Accordingly, it will be important to bring a suit but its even more important how Georgia will defend its interests in court. We see that government in fact formally suits Russia in various instances, but it does not actually have any results. If this case is an exception, we will just welcome it, said Samadashvili. 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. The 'comfortable, beautiful and unparalleled' aspects of Jiangxi tourism sites gained praise The Lushan Mountain, Jinggang Mountain, Mount Longhu, and Mount Sanqing in Jiangxi have tremendous popularity in China. Lushan Mountain is considered the most comfortable mountain in China, Mount Sanqing is considered the most beautiful mountain in China and Mount Longhu is considered the most unparalleled mountain in China. In history, there were many poems praising the beautiful sceneries of Jiangxi, and these poems are the best advertisement for Jiangxi tourism. The high-quality resources of Jiangxi were shown in visual, auditory, and tactile ways "The path on Mount Lu - Jingdezhen will provide you with a trip including the magnificent landscape and colorful culture. On this path, visitors will also learn about the stunning and age-old history of porcelain in the city of porcelain, Jingdezhen, and create the wonders from fire and clay with the ceramists all over the world. On another path, Wuyuan - Mount Sanqing - Mount Longhu, visitors can enjoy the charm of China's most beautiful village, Wuyuan, surrounded by green mountains and clear streams and decorated by snow-white walls and dark cyan tiles and see the wonders of rocks and stones with grotesque shapes in the World Natural Heritage Site, Mount Sanqing. They will also discover the 'footprints' of the splendid culture of the mountain, such as the cliff tombs built in the Spring and Autumn periods of the Warring States in ancient China. As for another excursion, village - temple - kiln - round house - tower, visitors will learn about the history and culture from the ancient villages and counties, the traditional kilns like Hongzhou and Jizhou kilns, the Hakka round house and ancient academies. They can further explore the ancestral places of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in China", said Wu Zhongqiong, vice-governor of Jiangxi. A video clip about Jiangxi tourism was played when Wu was giving the speech at the conference. The four colors, green, red, gold and blue in the video clip represented the revolutionary history, porcelain culture, natural landscape and humanistic characteristics of Jiangxi, and caught the eyes of all the international representatives. The performances with regional characteristics introduced Jiangxi in visual, auditory and tactile ways during the conference. Those attending the conference recorded what they saw and experienced via various social media platforms. Ouyang Quanhua, the director of the Jiangxi Tourism Development Committee said, "In 2018, Jiangxi will start promoting its tourism mainly to the customer markets of surrounding countries and regions of China, and the markets of countries and regions along the routes of Belt and Road, in order to improve the international reputation of Jiangxi, and expand the international customer market for Jiangxi tourism industry." SOURCE CRI Achain has created an evolving, user-friendly, low-cost, and customizable blockchain network. The optimization of block interval, block volume and consensus algorithm also helps Achain reach a performance rate of up to 1000TPS. "We started looking at forked cryptocurrencies in the market and realized that we could leverage the idea of forking to create a better method that would open up blockchain to more developers," says Tony Cui, CEO and founder of Achain. "We focused on creating a platform that would democratize the blockchain in a way that any developer could issue tokens and create smart contracts. We want to make the blockchain accessible to all." Achain serves as a public Blockchain platform that enables developers of all levels to issue tokens, smart contracts, create applications and Blockchain systems. It is growing internationally since Spring 2017, developing branches and projects in the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Mexico, Indonesia, and more. Achain currently hosts 100 DAPPS, making it the largest Blockchain. Next week, Achain will be attending and sponsoring several events during the first ever Blockchain Week in New York including Blockchain Technology Forum: Killer DApps and the Future of a 'Blockchained' World (May 13), Consensus 2018 (May 14-16), Achain Consensus Meetup (May 15), Crypto Influence Summit (May 17), SOURCE Achain Related Links http://www.achain.com DENVER, May 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Home-based chefs can finally sell their best recipes directly to customers online. Chefs can create their Air Berri menu for free and begin selling food right from their homes, without having to start or maintain a restaurant. Interested chefs can sign up for updates at AirBerri.com. Air Berri is raising money on Kickstarter to complete the project, which will involve contracting work with designers, web security consultants and a support staff. The goal is to raise $12,000 on top of the $4,000 committed by the creators. Fundraising begins in June 2018. "I always had jobs in restaurants when I was a kid, and it's amazing how many people are involved in bringing a dish to the table," says creator Ryan Rose. "With an increasing number of at-home businesses and freelancers, I believe home-based food service is poised to become a massive industry in the next five years. "One thing I'm excited about is having authentic foreign cuisine made by international residents who don't want to compromise their national recipes for mass appeal, which happens in many foreign-cuisine restaurants. With direct-to-customer sales, chefs can offer truly authentic meals from their home countries." Ultimately, Air Berri is about making life better for both chefs and their customers. "We're cutting out all the waste involved in running a restaurant, like hiring waitstaff and busboys, so chefs can keep more of the money they cook up. Plus, customers will get more value for every dollar they spend because they aren't covering the costs of maintaining an entire restaurant." About Air Berri: AirBerri.com is a marketplace that connects chefs without restaurants to hungry customers. Chefs can join for free, create a menu and sell their food directly to customers from their home kitchen. Customers can order food for delivery or pickup online. Contact: Ryan Rose [email protected] Related Links Sign Up at AirBerri.com SOURCE Air Berri Related Links http://airberri.com IRVINE, Calif., May 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner will offer special train service for concertgoers traveling to and from the FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine during the 2018 concert season between May 11 and September 30, 2018. Discounted Pacific Surfliner fares will be offered for travel to and from Irvine on select concert dates. Concertgoers who present a valid Pacific Surfliner ticket at the gate will receive complimentary Fast Lane access, which allows expedited entry to FivePoint Amphitheatre. Concertgoers can travel on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to and from Orange County's newest outdoor venue, FivePoint Amphitheatre, during the 2018 summer concert series in Irvine starting May 11, 2018. The Pacific Surfliner directly serves the new FivePoint Amphitheatre, located adjacent to the Irvine Station. "The venue's front gate is less than a five-minute walk from the train station, which makes taking the Pacific Surfliner a safe and convenient option for fans traveling from Orange County as well as San Diego and Los Angeles," said Matt Prieshoff, Live Nation Chief Operating Officer California. "We are proud to support access to live music and are excited to provide a special concert train service in partnership with Live Nation and FivePoint Amphitheatre," said Bryan MacDonald, chairman of the Los Angeles San Diego San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, which oversees the Pacific Surfliner service. "This service will enhance the experience for concertgoers while also improving quality of life for local residents." The Pacific Surfliner will provide late-night service from Irvine towards Los Angeles and San Diego with trains departing 20 minutes after concerts, including Slayer (May 11), Dirty Heads (June 30), Lady Antebellum & Darius Rucker (August 24), Jason Mraz (September 14), and more. Concert attendees can take any Pacific Surfliner train to the FivePoint Amphitheatre with service from San Diego, Oceanside, Anaheim, Los Angeles and intermediate stops. For more information, including full list of concerts, promotional fares and detailed train schedules, please visit www.pacificsurfliner.com/livenation. About the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal rail route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. To learn more, visit http://www.pacificsurfliner.com/. About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency The Los Angeles San Diego San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency manages the Pacific Surfliner service in close coordination with its member agencies, Amtrak and Caltrans. SOURCE Amtrak Pacific Surfliner As the AUA's Holtgrewe Fellow, Dr. Koo will complete a four-week fellowship with a legislative office in Washington, DC, participate in major AUA advocacy initiatives, including the Annual Urology Advocacy Summit and meetings of the AUA's Public Policy Council and Legislative Affairs Committee. He also will attend the Brandeis University Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy & Management. "Dr. Koo brings to this fellowship extensive experience in the field of health care policy and we are honored that he will serve as our next Holtgrewe Fellow," said AUA Public Policy Council Chair Dr. Christopher Gonzalez. "His work with the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is quite impressive, as are his numerous fellowships in the areas of leadership and policy. "It will be exciting to watch him in the coming year." Dr. Koo is a urology chief resident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, and will be a fellow in endourology and minimally-invasive urological surgery at the Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, during the Holtgrewe Fellowship. He holds a Doctor of Medicine from the Yale School of Medicine, a Master of Public Health from Harvard, and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge (UK). The Holtgrewe Fellowship program was established in recognition of Dr. H. Logan Holtgrewe, former AUA president and past chairman of the AUA's Health Policy Council. The Holtgrewe Fellowship is open to all AUA residents in their research year, fellows, and first year post-graduates. Applications are available on the AUA website starting in January of each year. Learn more about the program. About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 21,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. Contact: Wendy Isett, AUA 410-689-3789, [email protected] SOURCE American Urological Association Related Links http://www.AUAnet.org OSCEOLA, Ark., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy invited government officials, technical experts in academia, heads of industrial research labs and business leaders to attend the "Artificial Intelligence for American Industry" summit. Big River Steel's chief executive officer Dave Stickler was in attendance as part of the discussions on how industries are adopting AI technologies to benefit their customers, workers and shareholders. A common theme throughout the summit was how AI and related technologies are creating new types of jobs and demand for new technical skills across industries, a point that particularly resonated with Stickler as he reflected on the team at Big River. "Steel production used to be 80% brawn and 20% brains. At Big River, steel production is 90% brains and 10% brawn," said Stickler. "Our Flex Mill learns from every ton of steel we produce via the data that is collected throughout the production process. Our team has developed the skills needed to work alongside that technology to show the world that the highest quality steels are produced most efficiently in the United States." Big River has partnered with Noodle.ai and EFT Analytics to introduce machine learning throughout it's steel mill in Osceola, Arkansas. Big River's steelmaking technology was primarily supplied by SMS group and was designed to produce niche steels including advanced high strength steels (AHSS) for the automotive and transportation industries as well as electrical steels. Predicting energy consumption and optimizing scheduling are two areas where machine learning models are positively impacting Big River. Real-world examples such as Big River's were common throughout the meetings, proving AI and machine learning are transforming every industry. The ability to share and learn from others who are in the forefront of these technologies was a key takeaway for Stickler. "Sitting at the table alongside of Boeing, Facebook, Ford, Pfizer, Walmart and other companies that are leading the way in terms of fully embracing industry 4.0 was an honor," said Stickler. "I was extremely proud to present how we drive machine learning and the use of artificial intelligence throughout our company and learn how others are doing the same. It is a great testament to Big River Steel's employees who work every day to embrace these technologies to produce steel like never before." More information on the Artificial Intelligence for American Industry Summit can be found here. About Big River Steel Big River Steel has built the world's first Flex Mill, a steel mini mill focused on the production of a wide product spectrum, including advanced automotive steels and electrical steels. Since operations began in 2016, Big River has provided steel products to over 180 customers in the automotive, energy, construction and agricultural industries. And that's just the beginning. At Big River, there's no talk of the status quo. True innovation is rebellious. SOURCE Big River Steel Related Links https://bigriversteel.com SAN CARLOS, Calif., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCardia, Inc. [OTC: BCDA], a leader in the development of comprehensive solutions for cardiovascular regenerative therapies, filed its 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2018 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Quarter 2018 Financial Results: BioCardia reported a net loss of $3.6 million for the first quarter of 2018, which compares to a net loss of $2.9 million for the first quarter of 2017. for the first quarter of 2018, which compares to a net loss of for the first quarter of 2017. Research and development expenses were $2.0 million in the first quarter of 2018 compared to $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2017, primarily due to expenses incurred while conducting the pivotal CardiAMP Heart Failure Trial. in the first quarter of 2018 compared to in the first quarter of 2017, primarily due to expenses incurred while conducting the pivotal CardiAMP Heart Failure Trial. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2018 totaled $1.7 million , a 5.4% decrease compared to $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2017. , a 5.4% decrease compared to in the first quarter of 2017. Net cash used in operations in the first quarter of 2018 was $3.0 million , an increase of $758,000 , from $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. 2018 Corporate Highlights: The CardiAMP Heart Failure Trial is currently enrolling patients at 13 world class centers in the United States with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) National Reimbursement. The trial design was published in the American Heart Journal in April. with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) National Reimbursement. The trial design was published in the American Heart Journal in April. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a second pivotal Investigational Device Exemption trial for the CardiAMP Cell Therapy System for the treatment of chronic myocardial ischemia with refractory angina. CMS has approved this CardiAMP Chronic Myocardial Ischemia Trial for national reimbursement coverage. The Company received a new US Patent related to its CardiAMP cell potency assay, providing further protection to its autologous cell therapy programs in both heart failure and chronic myocardial ischemia indications. About BioCardia BioCardia, Inc., headquartered in San Carlos, California, is developing regenerative biologic therapies to treat cardiovascular disease. CardiAMP and CardiALLO cell therapies are the Company's biotherapeutic product candidates in clinical development. The Company's current products include the Helix transendocardial delivery system and the Morph steerable guide and sheath catheter portfolio. BioCardia also partners with other biotherapeutic companies to provide its Helix systems and clinical support to their programs studying therapies for the treatment of heart failure, chronic myocardial ischemia and acute myocardial infarction. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to many risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, references to the enrollment of our clinical trials, the efficacy and safety of our products and therapies, statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, regulatory approvals, unexpected expenditures, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue BioCardia's business and product development plans and overall market conditions. We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical trials, which could delay or prevent development of our therapeutic candidates. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and BioCardia assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements. We may use terms such as "believes," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should," "approximately" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained herein, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Additional factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in BioCardia's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2018, including under the caption titled "Risk Factors." BioCardia expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investor Contact: David McClung, Chief Financial Officer Email: [email protected] Phone: 650-226-0120 Media Contact: David Schull | Alex Xenakis Email: [email protected] | [email protected] Phone: 212-845-4271 | 212-845-4226 BIOCARDIA, INC. Condensed Statements of Operations (Unaudited In thousands, except share and per share amounts) Three Months ended March 31, 2018 2017 Revenue: Net product revenue $ 82 $ 109 Collaboration agreement revenue 117 28 Total revenue 199 137 Costs and expenses: Cost of goods sold 157 175 Research and development 1,955 1,033 Selling, general and administrative 1,707 1,804 Total costs and expenses 3,819 3,012 Operating loss (3,620) (2,875) Other income (expense): Interest income 36 Other expense, net (1) Total other income (expense), net 36 (1) Net loss $ (3,584) $ (2,876) Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.09) $ (0.08) Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted 38,236,056 38,137,881 BIOCARDIA, INC. Selected Balance Sheet Data (amounts in thousands) March 31, December 31, 2018 (1) 2017 (1) Assets: Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 9,653 $ 12,689 Other current assets 552 626 Property, plant and equipment and other noncurrent assets 206 223 Total assets $ 10,411 $ 13,538 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities $ 2,121 $ 2,332 Noncurrent liabilities 83 81 Total stockholders' equity 8,207 11,125 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 10,411 $ 13,538 (1) March 31, 2018 amounts are unaudited. December 31, 2017 amounts were derived from the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2018. SOURCE BioCardia, Inc. Related Links http://www.biocardia.com NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Birst, an Infor company and a leader in Cloud Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics for the Enterprise, today announced that it received among the five highest scores in all five of the use cases assessed among 22 total vendors in the 2018 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report, published May 7. Birst scored highest in the OEM or Embedded BI (4.41 out of 5) and Extranet Deployment (4.21 out of 5) use cases. The company received the second-highest scores in the Agile Centralized, BI Provisioning (4.04 out of 5) and Governed Data Discovery (3.91 out of 5) use cases. And it received the fifth-highest score in the Decentralized Analytics (3.8 out of 5) use case. This marks the second consecutive year that Birst has received the highest score for the OEM or Embedded BI use case and the third consecutive year that it has received the highest score for the Extranet Deployment use case.* To download a complimentary copy of the 2018 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report, click here. "We're thrilled to be recognized once again by Gartner," said Brad Peters, SVP and General Manager of Birst, an Infor company. "We think our scores, across all five use cases that Gartner evaluated in the report, reflect the fact that Birst's modern analytics platform is well suited to help enterprises understand and optimize their most complex business processes." The 2018 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report evaluated products from 22 vendors. Gartner's Critical Capabilities report is the companion report to the Gartner Magic Quadrant, which evaluates vendors on 15 total criteria for ability to execute and completeness of vision. "Birst brings together centralized and decentralized applications and teams, dramatically accelerating the laborious and time-consuming process of delivering analytics capabilities across the enterprise," Peters said. "Our platform is built using 'smart' machine learning and automation technology that reduces human intervention. We believe these augmented analytics capabilities are the next wave of disruption in the BI and analytics space. Together with a modern cloud architecture that eliminates traditional on-premises tasks, metadata reusability that makes development more efficient and more productive, and a superior user experience with industry-leading mobile capabilities, Birst can deliver more value to businesses in far less time than traditional solutions." According to the Gartner report, "A&BI platforms are evolving beyond data visualization and dashboards to encompass augmented and advanced analytics. Data and analytics leaders should enable a broader set of users with new expanded capabilities to increase the business impact of their investments." In addition, the report stated, "Analytic and business intelligence (A&BI) platforms still show substantial differences in functional capabilities, particularly in their support for complexity of analysis and data models, as well as in scalability." Birst is a true software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution built on a next-generation multi-tenant cloud architecture that delivers the ability to deploy virtual BI tenants, virtualize data and metadata, federate semantic models across virtual tenants, and automate manual tasks. Birst's unique Networked Analytics approach delivers the speed, self-service and agility that front-line business professionals demand along with the scale, security and governance to meet rigorous corporate standards. Tweet This: Birst @BirstBI receives among 5 highest scores in all 5 use cases: @Gartner_inc May 2018 Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms https://bit.ly/2K4vz7l Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, James Laurence Richardson, Joao Tapadinhas, 7 May 2018.*The report was previously titled Critical Capabilities for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Birst, an Infor Company Birst is an advanced networked business analytics platform. Organizations can achieve a new level of trusted insight and decision making by connecting their data and people via a network of analytics services. Birst scales from individuals to the enterprise in a manner that is smart, connected, and scalable. Learn more at www.birst.com. About Infor Infor builds business software for specific industries in the cloud. With 16,500 employees and more than 90,000 customers in over 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com. Media contact: Steve Bauer Birst, an Infor company (628) 444-5101 (650) 670-7135 (mobile) [email protected] SOURCE Infor Related Links http://infor.com SEATTLE, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world's leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, announced today that Bob Gourley, CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency and former Director of Intelligence (J2) at the Department of Defense's cyber defense organization, JTF-CND, has been confirmed as a speaker for the fifth annual CSA Federal Summit (Washington, DC, May 15), where he will provide the closing keynote address. His presentation"Learn the Threat to Beat the Threat: An updated threat brief by a pioneer in cyber threat intelligence"will cover how the most resourced threat actors include nation states that want to penetrate systems to prepare for or support conflict or to extract valuable data. Attendees will learn how to reduce their risk of becoming collateral damage in cyberwar and improve their chances of protecting their data by staying up to date on threat tactics, techniques and methods. "With nation states in the news for various rogue activities, Bob's in-depth experience and real-world insight on this topic will provide our audience with valuable and usefully perspective on this timely subject," said Jim Reavis, CEO, Cloud Security Alliance. "Bob will be joining a stellar line-up of speakers, each bringing their deep and varied insight into how federal agencies can shift mission-critical systems to a secure cloud." Gourley is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Crucial Point LLC, a technology research and advisory firm, where he provides CTO services and due diligence consulting. He is the publisher of CTOvision.com and ThreatBrief.com and is the author of The Cyber Threat. He started his career as a naval intelligence officer, which included operational tours in Europe and Asia. He went on to become the first Director of Intelligence (J2) at the Department of Defense's cyber defense organization, JTF-CND, where he pioneered concepts of cyber-threat intelligence. Following retirement from the Navy, he was an executive with TRW and Northrop Grumman, before returning to government service as the CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was named one of the top 25 most influential CTOs in the globe by Infoworld. Additionally, he was selected for AFCEAs award for meritorious service to the intelligence community, and was named by the Washingtonian as one of DC's "Tech Titans." The blog he founded and publishes, CTOvision, is now ranked among the top 50 federal technology blogs. The event is expected to draw more than 250 information security professionals from civilian and defense agencies, as well as innovators in cloud security, to share case studies, lessons learned, and new technologies that support secure implementation of cloud computing to support agency missions. WHAT: CSA Federal Summit 2018 WHEN: May 15, 2018 9:00 am 5:00 pm WHERE: Marriott Metro Center 775 12th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20005 ATTENDEE REGISTRATION: https://csacongress.org/event/csa-federal-summit-2018/#registration About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, certification, events and products. CSA's activities, knowledge and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud from providers and customers, to governments, entrepreneurs and the assurance industry and provide a forum through which diverse parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa . SOURCE Cloud Security Alliance Related Links http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org SEOUL, South Korea, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BOScoin (www.boscoin.io, CEO Yezune Choi, Corporate Name: BlockchainOS), the first blockchain project from the Republic of Korea, released its "Whitepaper 2.0", with an upgraded post-ICO vision and strategy. Furthermore, it announced a strategic alliance with Energy7 (http://www.energy7.kr, CEO Jaehyang Kim), an innovative Fintech company in petroleum distribution, to be the first public financing project. The Whitepaper 2.0 focuses on defining BOScoin as a Public Financing project, which combines three alternative solutions -credit creation through participation, democratic impact investments, and commonization of certain assets- to traditional Project Financing for a better capitalism. It further expands on how BOScoin will realize a global currency on mainnet and credit creation methodologies. BOScoin has successfully developed an electronic voting solution that secures both anonymity (secret ballot) and equality (one person, one vote) based on fully homomorphic encryption. Partnering with petroleum distribution platform Energy7, BOScoin moves to fund its first Public Financing project using blockchain based Trust Contract to replace fee-seeking financial middleman. A fintech platform company in the energy industry, Energy7 combined financial technology and the sharing economy to create the first ever app-based petrol station management platform. The platform manages every aspect of running a petrol station, including orders, payments, distributions, operations, customer management, and finances. The partnership with BOScoin focuses on the financial services. Whereas traditional financial institutions took fees in return for advance petroleum payments, Energy7 will integrate Trust Contract based BOScoin to its services. Both companies seek to launch the first Public Financing project in November, and will apply it to BOScoin mainnet in 2019. The partners will start in the Korean market, and expand to China, Indonesia, and other Asian markets together. Yezhune Choi, CEO of BOScoin, said that "since the ICO, BOScoin has been working on fine-tuning our vision and strategy to real businesses, and that is what we brought to the Whitepaper 2.0." He also mentioned that "the partnership with Energy7 is a great opportunity for BOScoin to showcase what positive effects Public Financing projects can have on corporations and society." Jaehyang Kim, CEO of Energy7, said that he identifies with "BOScoin's technological prowess as a blockchain platform and future vision in the Whitepaper 2.0." He further mentioned that "as a fintech platform company that powers global energy distribution and transportation, we can create synergy by working between the traditional banking system and BOScoin." SOURCE BOSCoin PETALUMA, Calif., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- There are many ways to get information, but the most direct is to ask questions. It's important to ask good questions to get helpful answers. This is true in a variety of situations, from hiring job candidates or deciding whether to take a job to improving one's own life and making big decisions. Brandon Frere, CEO and entrepreneur, recommends taking the time to figure out the root of the matter and catering questions to uncover that. "The answers you get are only as good as the questions you ask," said Frere. "A lot of questions only result in surface level answers, but digging deeper may lead to more meaningful answers." Potential business owners looking to start a company might need to ask themselves some good questions to build a foundation. The first question might even be, "Why do I want to start a business?" Then they must consider questions to ask others. When hiring employees, for example, they must ask appropriate interview questions to get a better idea about whether they would be a good fit. Such questions often examine skills and previous achievements, but they should also get at the candidate's personality and their core values. Consumers often ask questions when they have a problem that needs a solution. Many products and services answer those questions, making them a helpful place to start if an aspiring business owner is looking for business ideas. Good questions get at the core of the issue, so thoughtful answers and by extension, valuable products or services should address that core and not just the surface or symptoms if possible. "Knowing what questions will draw the most helpful responses can be difficult, but it's something you learn over time," said Brandon Frere. "It's valuable to have people around you who can ask those questions and get useful answers. That way you can brainstorm and get on the same page about the answers you are looking for. The responses that you get have the potential to improve your company or hold it back, so the more eyes are on the questions, the better they might be." About Frere Enterprises Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur and businessman who lives in Sonoma County, California. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers alike. His company website, www.FrereEnterprises.com, is used as a means to communicate many of the lessons, fundamentals, and information he has learned throughout his extensive business and personal endeavors, most recently in advocating on behalf of student loan borrowers nationwide. As experienced during his own student loan repayment, Mr. Frere found out how difficult it can be to work with federally contracted student loan servicers and the repayment programs designed to help borrowers. Through those efforts, he gained an insider's look into the repayment process and the motivations behind the inflating student loan debt bubble. His knowledge of the confusing landscape of student loan repayment became a vital theme in his future endeavors, and he now uses those experiences to help guide others through the daunting process of applying for available federal repayment and loan forgiveness programs. FrereEnterprises.com Related Images asking-the-right-questions.jpg Asking the Right Questions PedroNevesDesign/Bigstock.com image2.png Related Links Frere Enterprises website SOURCE Frere Enterprises Related Links http://frereenterprises.com DUBLIN, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Research Report on Electrolytic Aluminum Industry of China, 2018-2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. China is the world's largest producer of electrolytic aluminum, making up over half of the global output. Its production has kept growing in recent years. In 2017, the production volume of electrolytic aluminum reached 32.27 million tons, with the CAGR of 10.1% from 2007 to 2017. During the same period, the output of electrolytic aluminum declined in other regions of the world. The terminal consumption of electrolytic aluminum in China is mainly concentrated in three areas: real estate, electronic power and transportation. Other important sectors in the downstream include machinery manufacturing and packaging materials. As the Chinese government imposes a 15% tariff on the export of electrolytic aluminum, the export volume is in a small quantity. However, that of aluminum products is large. In 2017, the export volume of aluminum products reached 4.24 million tons. Considering that some export enterprises may misreport product types, the actual number may be even larger. The exported aluminum products of China are faced with a great number of international trade disputes. The U.S, Canada, Australia have all initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations on China-made aluminum products. On Mar. 8, 2018, U.S. president Donald J. Trump signed a joint statement on steel and aluminum at the White House, announcing that since Mar. 23, a 25% tariff would be imposed on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum products. In 2017, the export value of aluminum and its products to the U.S. was about USD 3.7 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of the total exports. Accordingly, this move of the U.S. is expected to have a detrimental effect on China's exports of aluminum products in 2018. The report shows that the production costs of electrolytic aluminum mainly include raw materials, energy and manpower. The most important two are aluminum oxide and electricity, which account for 60 to 70% of the aggregate costs. China holds less than 5% of bauxite reserves in the world, while its production capacity of electrolytic aluminum reaches more than 50% of the globe. Therefore, China needs to import a large amount of bauxite each year. In 2017, it imported 68.55 million tons, with an increase of 32.6% YOY. China's largest exporter was Guinea in the year when it imported a total of 27.63 million tons of bauxite. The fluctuation of bauxite prices will seriously affect the production cost of electrolytic aluminum. Another cost source is electricity, taking up more than 30% of the total to produce electrolytic aluminum. In order to reduce costs, many electrolytic aluminum companies have built their own power plants, mainly fueled by coal. Consequently, environmental pollution follows. By the beginning of May 2018, the annual production capacity of electrolytic aluminum in China was approximately 47 million tons. In 2017, in order to control the new capacity, China Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Environmental Protection jointly launched a special campaign to rectify illegal activities in the electrolytic aluminum industry. All new illegal production capacity was shut down and the blind expansion was curbed, to reduce the risk of serious overcapacity. On Jan. 18, 2018, MIIT issued Notice on Capacity Displacement of Electrolytic Aluminum Enterprises through Merger, Acquisition and Reorganization, in which it set specific requirements in this regard. Subsequently, MIIT released an interpretation document for the Notice, which explains in detail the displacement of electrolytic aluminum and also states that it should be completed by the end of 2018. The report concludes that the industrial concentration is high in China. Electrolytic aluminum enterprises that possess annual capacity of over 1 million tons include Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, China Hongqiao Group, Xinfa Group Co., Ltd. , SPIC Aluminum & Power Investment Co., Ltd. , Xinjiang East Hope Non-ferrous Metal Co., Ltd. , Xinjiang East Hope Non-ferrous Metal Co., Ltd. , Gansu Dongxing Aluminum Co., Ltd. , Henan Shenhuo Group Co., Ltd. , Hunan Zengshi Aluminum Group, Yunnan Aluminum Limited Liability Company, Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Qiya Aluminum Group. By the end of 2017, the aggregate capacity of above enterprises accounted for over 70% in the country. The report estimates that from 2018 to 2022, the development of the electrolytic aluminum industry will be enhanced considering that China's economy will maintain an annual growth rate of above 6% and that the urbanization will keep rising. Besides, the constant development of the real estate and the steady growth of electric power, transportation, packaging, electronics and daily consumer goods will also give a boost to the electrolytic aluminum industry. Selling points: Policies of Chinese Government on Electrolytic Aluminum Industry Analysis on Supply and Demand of Electrolytic Aluminum in China Imported Bauxite Price Trend of Electrolytic Aluminum Analysis on Competition of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry in China Analysis on Electrolytic Aluminum Manufacturers in China Export of China's Aluminum Products Aluminum Products Anti-dumping Investigation into China's Exported Aluminum Products Exported Aluminum Products Market Opportunities and Driving Forces of China Electrolytic Aluminum Industry, 2018-2022 Threats and Challenges of China Electrolytic Aluminum Industry, 2018-2022 Analysis on Supply and Demand of China Electrolytic Aluminum Industry, 2018-2022 Key Topics Covered: 1 Concepts Related to Electrolytic Aluminum Industry 1.1 Definition of Electrolytic Aluminum 1.2 Methodology 1.2.1 Parameters and Assumptions 1.2.2 Data Sources 2 Analysis on Electrolytic Aluminum Industry of China, 2016-2018 2.1 Development Environment of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry 2.1.1 Economic Environment 2.1.2 Policy Environment 2.2 Analysis on Supply of Electrolytic Aluminum 2.2.1 Analysis on Capacity 2.2.2 Analysis on Production Volume 2.3 Analysis on Market Demands for Electrolytic Aluminum 2.3.1 Downstream Analysis 2.3.2 Analysis on Demands 2.4 Analysis on Bauxite Imports of China, 2013-2017 2.4.1 Overview of Bauxite Imports 2.4.2 Import Sources 2.5 Analysis on Bauxite Exports of China, 2013-2017 2.5.1 Overview of Bauxite Exports 2.5.2 Export Destinations 3 Competition in Electrolytic Aluminum Industry of China, 2016-2018 3.1 Barriers to Entry 3.1.1 Policy Barriers 3.1.2 Capital Barriers 3.1.3 Barriers of Scale Economy 3.2 Competition Structure of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry 3.2.1 Bargaining Power of Raw Material Suppliers 3.2.2 Bargaining Power of Consumers 3.2.3 Internal Competition 3.2.4 Potential Entrants 3.2.5 Substitutes 4 Analysis on Electrolytic Aluminum Manufacturers in China, 2015-2018 4.1 Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHINALCO) 4.1.1 Enterprise Profile 4.1.2 Operation Status 4.2 China Hongqiao Group 4.3 Xinfa Group Co., Ltd. 4.4 SPIC Aluminum & Power Investment Co., Ltd. 4.5 Xinjiang East Hope Non-ferrous Metal Co., Ltd. 4.6 Gansu Dongxing Aluminum Co., Ltd. 4.7 Henan Shenhuo Group Co., Ltd. 4.8 Hunan Zengshi Aluminum Group 4.9 Yunnan Aluminum Limited Liability Company (YNLY) 4.10 Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Co., Ltd. 4.11 Sichuan Qiya Aluminum Group 5 Analysis on Costs and Prices in Electrolytic Aluminum Industry of China, 2015-2018 5.1 Analysis on Costs 5.1.1 Price Trend of Raw Materials 5.1.2 Price Trend of Electricity 5.2 Analysis on Prices of Electrolytic Aluminum 6 Forecast on Development of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry of China, 2018-2022 6.1 Factors Influencing Development of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry, 2018-2022 6.1.1 Driving Forces and Market Opportunities, 2018-2022 6.1.2 Threats and Challenges 6.2 Forecast on Supply of Electrolytic Aluminum Industry, 2018-2022 6.2.1 Forecast on Capacity and Output Volume, 2018-2022 6.2.2 Forecast on Product Structure 6.3 Prediction on Demands in Electrolytic Aluminum Industry For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rtrnjj/_china?w=5 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com WASHINGTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) released the following statement regarding President Donald Trump's recently announced blueprint to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. COA strongly supports President Trump and the Administration's work to put patients first and lower the price of prescription drugs. Ensuring patients can afford and access life-saving drugs to fight cancer is a top concern for oncologists, nurses, practice administrators, and other cancer care professionals across the country. As the providers of care for the majority of American's battling cancer, community oncologists are faced with the grim reality that the escalating costs of prescription drugs in the United States has to be contained. COA believes that every stakeholder in our unbelievably complex health care system must come together and collaborate to reduce medical costs. If we are all willing to selflessly work together for the good of patients, the challenge of high drug prices can be addressed. COA looks forward to providing the Administration with detailed input from community oncology practices and professionals on the blueprint put forth by the President today. "As a practicing oncologist, I see the impact of high drug costs firsthand every day," said Jeffrey Vacirca, MD, FACP, CEO of NY Cancer Specialists and president of COA. "Patients are financially burdened by high drug prices, sometimes even refusing or stopping treatment because they cannot afford it, and I am powerless to change that. Oncologists welcome efforts that learn from past mistakes, strengthen the critically important community cancer care delivery system, and ensure patients can afford and access the life-saving care they need close to home." COA commends President Trump, Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex Azar, Administrator of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Seema Verma, and Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration Scott Gottlieb, MD, for putting patients first by already moving forward with policies to reduce drug prices. These include ongoing work to reign in abusive fees and misappropriated rebates by middlemen Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs); fix the runaway 340B drug program that is enriching hospitals and not helping patients; and increasing competition through record-setting approval of new generic drugs. The Administration's efforts are already resulting in billions of dollars in savings for seniors and taxpayers. While COA applauds the Administration's efforts and new blueprint, we urge caution. History has shown that even well-intended policymaking can backfire resulting in the unintended consequences of harming patients, increasing costs, and limiting access to care. This has been particularly true in cancer care, where Americans today are facing the financial impact of previous policymaking. Ongoing public policies behind efforts such as the sequester cut to Medicare drug reimbursement, growing negative presence of PBMs, and the out of control 340B drug pricing program in hospitals were all introduced to reduce health care costs but have, ironically, resulted in increased spending and bureaucracy that is adverse to patients, especially those with cancer. COA is particularly dismayed that the Administration's blueprint does not include a stop to the ongoing sequester cut to Medicare drug payment. The previous administration began illegally applying the 2% sequester cut to Medicare reimbursement for cancer drugs and other critical specialty therapies beginning in 2013. Many oncology practices have not survived or are struggling to survive under the sequester cut that often places Medicare drug reimbursements below acquisition costs. This has fueled consolidation of the nation's cancer care system, closing community treatment sites, and forcing cancer care into the much more expensive hospital setting, thereby increasing costs to seniors, Medicare, and taxpayers. According to the 2018 Community Oncology Alliance Practice Impact Report, in the six years since the Medicare sequester cut went into effect, 135 cancer treatment have clinics closed, and 189 practices (often with multiple clinic locations) have been bought by hospitals. Most of these practices have been acquired by 340B hospitals that realize incredible profits from prescribing more or more expensive cancer drugs purchased at discounts without the need to pass savings on to patients in need. "Today, President Trump has proposed several important initiatives to lower drug prices that align perfectly with COA's ongoing work to advance meaningful, patient-centered solutions aimed at making cancer care less costly and more effective," said Ted Okon, executive director of COA. "However, it is really disturbing that the blueprint released today does not address the Medicare sequester cut to drug payments that is fueling higher costs and cancer drug prices. All the sequester cut to Medicare drug payments for cancer drugs has produced is less access to cancer treatment, higher costs for patients and Medicare, and increased drug prices. It has to be stopped now." Community oncology providers are at the forefront of payment reform and are dedicated to lowering the cost of cancer care. COA stands ready to work with policymakers on reforms that will have a meaningful impact on reducing the cost of drugs and cancer care. Community oncology has been pioneering oncology payment reform for years, including private payer programs based on the Oncology Medical Home, the Medicare Oncology Care Model (OCM), and working on the next-generation, improved OCM 2.0 model that includes payment for cancer drugs based on value. About the Community Oncology Alliance: COA is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for community oncology practices and, most importantly, the patients they serve. COA is the only organization dedicated solely to independent community oncology where the majority of Americans with cancer are treated. The mission of COA is to ensure that cancer patients receive quality, affordable, and accessible cancer care in their own communities. For more than 15 years, COA has built a national grassroots network of community oncology practices to advocate for public policies that benefit cancer patients. Learn more about COA at www.CommunityOncology.org. SOURCE Community Oncology Alliance Related Links http://www.communityoncology.org ST. LOUIS, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Truck Rental continues its North American expansion with the opening of a fourth location in the state of Colorado. The new truck rental branch in Fort Collins is situated on a three-acre lot at 3321 East Mulberry Street and co-located with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office. Enterprise Truck Rental (PRNewsfoto/Enterprise Truck Rental) The facility offers a one-stop shop for vehicle rentals to customers in the Fort Collins area, which includes parts of northern Colorado, as well as southern Wyoming. The Fort Collins Enterprise Truck Rental branch is poised to support the success of area businesses, including the numerous agriculture, construction and oil and gas operations across the region. "Many successful businesses in the Fort Collins area need high-quality trucks to serve their customers properly," said Alex Coveney, Enterprise Group Truck Rental Manager for Colorado. "By offering a convenient solution for companies that need reliable vehicles in a pinch or during peak seasons, we enable them to avoid the expense of buying and maintaining trucks that would go unused much of the year. And we're just as prepared to meet the needs of consumers when they need a truck for personal use, too." The Fort Collins Enterprise Truck Rental location provides access to a wide range of cargo vans, box trucks and tow-capable pickup trucks for both business and personal use. Enterprise is working with local service shops and other area vendors to purchase and maintain the vehicles. The new location also includes a drive-through wash and prep facility to maintain the fleet. The branch is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Opportunities for Local Employees In addition to offering customers more convenient truck rental locations, Enterprise Truck Rental's expansion is creating new career opportunities throughout North America. The Enterprise Truck Rental employees in Fort Collins exemplify the career advancement opportunities available at Enterprise. For the past three years, Coveney has served as the Group Truck Rental Manager for Colorado. His Fort Collins team includes three employees who were recently promoted from local Enterprise Rent-A-Car branch offices. Coveney expects to hire eight to ten additional employees to support the Fort Collins Truck Rental operation within the next 12 months. Like Coveney, the Fort Collins Truck Rental team all started in the renowned Enterprise Rent-A-Car Management Training Program, which teaches Management Trainees how to run a business, empower teams and provide excellent face-to-face customer service. Enterprise's promote-from-within culture encourages success among employees, allowing them to move up quickly based on their performance and work ethic. And with a breadth of job opportunities and business functions, Enterprise offers employees the opportunity to change careers without changing companies. Growth Fueled by Customer Service Enterprise Truck Rental is a service of Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand, which has delivered local transportation solutions to customers for more than 60 years and is an integral part of North America's transportation infrastructure. Enterprise first began renting commercial trucks in 1999 and, a decade later, started offering truck rentals for personal use in response to customer demand. Today, personal use accounts for 20 percent of Enterprise Truck Rental's business. As part of its ongoing expansion to provide transportation solutions when and where customers need them, Enterprise Truck Rental opened a total of 40 new U.S. locations in 2017 alone. The business is on track to open an additional 40 new locations across the U.S. this year. So far, these include new offices in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The new location openings are part of a broader growth strategy to increase Enterprise Truck Rental's North American presence, particularly in highly visible areas. Over the past decade, Enterprise Truck Rental has tripled its number of locations from 100 in 2007 to more than 300 today throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. "Our Fort Collins branch is the latest in our growing network of truck rental locations," said Mike Pugh, newly appointed Corporate Vice President for Enterprise Truck Rental. "And we are continuing to aggressively pursue additional expansion opportunities throughout the country." Enterprise Truck Rental's growth is built upon the Enterprise legacy of superior customer service. All Enterprise Truck Rental customers receive the Enterprise brand's renowned high level of service, including free pickup and 24-hour roadside assistance. Enterprise Truck Rental is achieving record levels of customer satisfaction thanks in large part to its commitment to listening to customers and responding to their needs. For more information about Enterprise Truck Rental, visit www.enterprisetrucks.com or call toll free 1-888-RENT-A-TRUCK. About Enterprise Truck Rental Enterprise Truck Rental has achieved exceptional growth over the past few years, specifically in the commercial segment. The business also rents its commercial-grade trucks to consumers for personal use. The division offers a range of trucks, cargo vans and tow-capable pickup trucks. In addition, Enterprise sells well-maintained and low mileage used medium-duty commercial trucks. This press release and car rental industry news are available in the Enterprise Holdings Press Room. SOURCE Enterprise Truck Rental Related Links http://www.enterprisetrucks.com LAS VEGAS, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As Fusion Bank continues its steady rise as an emerging cannabis banking solution and cash and treasury management service, each week brings with it the announcement of fresh faces within the organization's structure. This week, Fusion Bank has appointed experienced banking and loans veteran Beth McCoy as Regional Sales Manager in Michigan and Illinois. "I am thrilled to be on the ground-floor of such an awesome banking solution for the cannabis industry. With the structured business model in place, I feel we can make a major impact, helping this industry to grow," says Ms. McCoy. Beth McCoy, who lives in Clarkton Michigan, has over 25 years' experience in mortgage banking in both sales and operations, taking care of tasks such as pipeline management, monitoring loans from disclosure to close, and facilitating loans closing smoothly and on-time, all the while adhering to compliance regulations and applicable guidelines. Ms. McCoy began her career as a closer, back in 1983 in San Diego, CA. From there, she's worked for FNMA as a quality control auditor in Houston TX, at Countrywide Home Loans as a processor, and then an underwriter assistant in Novi, MI. She became a loan originator for Direct Mortgage Lending (Holly, MI) and Golden Mortgage Corp (Bloomfield Hills, MI). Thereafter and until most recently, Ms. McCoy was a team leader in sales and then transferred to loan manager at Summit Funding Inc., the Nashville branch. She currently lives in Michigan where she will be spearheading sales for Fusion Bank in her home state and its neighbor, Illinois. When asked about her daily responsibilities, which have already begun, Beth McCoy reported: "I have been calling on licensed dispensaries and laboratories, as well as grow operations in the Michigan and Illinois area, while also helping to manage Fusion Bank's existing list of customers." She is also heavily involved in ironing out the day-to-day operational kinks as they arise and as the company launches in states where cannabis has been legalized. About Fusion Bank Fusion Bank is an innovative cash and treasury management solution that operates in compliance with the required government and central bank regulations. This members-only financial institution is licensed under the Bahamas-based Sovereign Friendly Society and provides safe, legal, and ethical financial, cash, and treasury management services to licensed cannabis operators, ancillary service providers, and qualified cannabis friendly members around the globe, including cultivators, grower industry supporters, patients, healthcare providers, lobbyists, and more. Contact: For information, please email [email protected] call +1-866-347-3321 or visit Fusion Bank to Register for a Bank Account. SOURCE Fusion Bank VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "Future Farm") (CSE: FFT) (OTCQX: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that on May 8th, it closed on its previously announced cash investment of $500,000 for a 10% interest in YLK Partners NV, LLC, an Arizona-based company which has in place a management services agreement to provide turn-key services for the management, administration and operation of a licensed medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility being developed in Arizona (the "Arizona Facility"). Future Farm is also pleased to announce that on May 10th, it sold that 10% interest to Solis Tek, Inc. ("Solis Tek") (OTCQB: SLTK ), a vertically integrated cannabis technology innovator, manufacturer and distributor. Solis Tek has acquired all of the outstanding interest in YLK Partners NV, LLC and plans to develop the 70,000 square foot Arizona Facility into one of the most technologically advanced cultivation and processing facilities in Arizona. Solis Tek has issued 500,000 warrants exercisable at $0.01 per share to Future Farm as consideration for the interest. Yorkville Advisors Global, LP ("Yorkville") and its affiliates, who have provided significant financing support to Future Farm, are also providing the financing to Solis Tek for the Arizona project. For more information on that financing and on Solis Tek, please visit their website at https://solis-tek.com/. "We are thrilled to have this investment in Arizona quickly become an opportunity to obtain a significant ownership position in Solis Tek," says Bill Gildea, Future Farm's Chairman and CEO. "We have come to know Alan Lien and his team at Solis Tek well over the past months. They are impressive developers and operators of cannabis cultivation and production facilities. We look forward to working with them in Arizona and on other opportunities in the future." On behalf of the Board, Future Farm Technologies Inc. William Gildea, Chairman and CEO About Future Farm Technologies Inc. Future Farm is a Canadian company with holdings throughout North America including California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, Puerto Rico and Newfoundland. The Company's mission is to advance sustainable agriculture through production of wholesale and retail cannabis products, including hemp. As a leader in its field, Future Farm is committed to using only the highest quality processes and products. Towards this goal, the Company acquires or partners with licensed cannabis operators, and acquires or develops leading technologies in cannabis production, breeding, genetics, and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Future Farm's scalable, indoor CEA systems utilize minimal land, water and energy resources. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. For further information contact: William Gildea Director +1(888)387-3761 SOURCE Future Farm Technologies Inc. TORONTO, May 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Granite Real Estate Investment Trust ("Granite") (TSX: GRT.UN) (NYSE: GRP.U) announced today that it has agreed to acquire a portfolio of four Class A, single tenanted buildings totaling approximately 3.8 million square feet on 78 acres of land near Columbus, Ohio (the "Acquisition") at a purchase price of US$232.5 million, representing an in-going stabilized yield of approximately 6.0%. The properties are located in West Jefferson which is approximately 20 miles west of Columbus. Key highlights of the Acquisition include: Located in the greater Columbus industrial market, which has emerged as a major distribution corridor in the United States due to its central location, excellent interstate highway system and strong labour base; industrial market, which has emerged as a major distribution corridor in due to its central location, excellent interstate highway system and strong labour base; A diverse tenant base comprised of large public and global private entities; The buildings are modern e-commerce distribution facilities with an average age of approximately 7 years; Tenants in two of the buildings have expansion options of at least 200,000 square feet; The buildings are single tenanted and are currently 100% occupied; and While one of the tenants is currently in liquidation and may vacate the building 743,600 square foot building, Granite believes the re-leasing prospects for this building are strong. The Acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and closing is anticipated to take place later in May 2018. Granite expects to fund the purchase through a combination of cash on hand, largely from the proceeds of the dispositions that occurred in January 2018, and a drawdown of its unsecured credit facility. Summary of property details: Address GLA Lease Term Tenant Industry 15 Commerce Parkway 1,305,000 4.0 Pet Food Distribution 10 Enterprise Parkway 534,040 6.4 Hardware Distribution 100 Enterprise Parkway 1,223,780 10.4 Home Furnishing Distribution 115 Enterprise Parkway 743,600 7.3 Consumer Retail Distribution WALT (1) Total 3,806,420 7.0 (1) Weighted average lease term (WALT) includes the lease term of the tenant in liquidation Michael Forsayeth, Granite's CEO, commented that "This acquisition will be immediately accretive to funds from operations and adjusted funds from operations and is another strategic milestone in Granite's transformation from a largely single tenanted REIT to a broadly tenanted, globally diversified industrial real estate business. As a result of this acquisition and initiatives announced earlier in the year, significant progress has been made towards Granite's strategic priorities including a reduction in Magna concentration from 61% at the beginning of the year to 52% as measured by gross leasable area. Also, on a run rate basis, Granite will have made substantial progress towards replacing the cash flow from the 10 properties sold earlier in the year." ABOUT GRANITE Granite is a Canadian-based REIT engaged in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of predominantly industrial, warehouse and logistics properties in North America and Europe. Granite owns over 85 rental income properties representing approximately 30 million square feet of leasable area. Through the thoughtful deployment of its balance sheet and selective dispositions, Granite is continuing to build a high quality, globally diversified industrial real estate business. OTHER INFORMATION Copies of financial data and other publicly filed documents about Granite are available through the internet on the Canadian Securities Administrators' Systems for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) which can be accessed at www.sedar.com and on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (EDGAR) which can be accessed at www.sec.gov. For further information, please see our website at www.granitereit.com or contact Michael Forsayeth, Chief Executive Officer, at 647-925-7600 or Ilias Konstantopoulos, Chief Financial Officer, at 647-925-7540. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information may include, among others, statements regarding the intention of Granite and the vendors to complete the Acquisition on the terms and conditions described herein, the date on which closing of the Acquisition is expected to occur, the impact of the Acquisition on Granite's funds from operations, adjusted funds from operations and cash flow, the potential vacating by one of the tenants and Granite's ability to re-lease the property on satisfactory terms or at all and Granite's plans, goals, strategies, intentions, beliefs, estimates, costs, objectives, economic performance, expectations, or foresight or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "seek", "objective" and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information should not be read as guarantees of future events, performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or the times at or by which such events, performance or results will be achieved. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are based on information available at the time and/or management's good faith assumptions and analyses made in light of its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances, and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Granite's control, that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks set forth in the annual information form of Granite REIT and Granite GP dated March 1, 2018 (the "Annual Information Form"). The "Risk Factors" section of the Annual Information Form also contains information about the material factors or assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information speak only as of the date the statements and information were made and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Granite expressly disclaims any intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise. SOURCE Granite Real Estate Investment Trust HILLSDALE, Mich., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College congratulates graduate student Sarah Onken on being honored with the Judith Finn Memorial Exemplary Master's Graduate Award. "Sarah's done extraordinary work in pursuit of her master's degree here at Hillsdale," said Ronald Pestritto, the graduate school's dean. "We're proud to see the graduate school recognize that commitment to excellence by awarding Sarah this prestigious honor." The Judith Finn Memorial Award was established by Finn's husband Michael Finn and family following her passing in 2015. Finn earned a master's degree in political science from Michigan State University, but, as noted by her family, "would have much preferred a degree from Hillsdale College had its graduate school been established 50 years earlier." In honor of Finn's legacy of civic engagement and scholarly work, the award is presented each Spring convocation to one Hillsdale graduate selected by a committee from Hillsdale's Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship based on quality of thesis, exam performance and overall graduate program performance. "In addition to her consistent excellence in classroom performancewhich will be of no surprise to anyone at Hillsdale since we had Sarah here as an undergraduateSarah has already shown remarkable potential as a scholar in her short time in the program," said Pestritto. "I have seen her interact impressively at academic conferences with established scholars, who are surprised to learn that she is a graduate student." Onken completed her bachelor's degree in politics and math at Hillsdale College in 2016 before beginning graduate coursework in the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship, where she is continuing on toward a doctoral degree in politics. Click here to see photos of Sarah. About Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 3.7 million. For more information visit hillsdale.edu. SOURCE Hillsdale College Related Links http://www.hillsdale.edu The News in Brief Tbilisi City Hall Vows Anti-Fire Systems in Kindergartens Tbilisi City Hall says that public kindergartens in the capital will be equipped in order to ensure efficient fire safety system. Tbilisi City Hall reported on Tuesday that a comprehensive list of the equipment has already been created as a result of the monitoring carried out in 43 public kindergartens. The office added that monitoring is underway in 71 kindergartens. The equipment includes smoke, carbon monoxide and methane detectors, fire powder, power blocks, fire alarms, fire prevention systems, etc. The Call Hall admits that for now safety norms are low in Tbilisi kindergartens. Govt Renames Streets in Tbilisi Fifteen streets will be renamed in Tbilisi by the end of May, marking the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Georgia, the government says. The head of the Heraldic and Naming Commission, Tinatin Niblovashvili stated that the changes are about the streets which still have the names of people associated with the Soviet Occupation. She says that public discussions will be held before the streets receive the names of the people who played their roles for Georgias independence. "These streets are located in various districts of Tbilisi. In central Krtsanisi district we have "Mir Vazirov Street", who was an Azerbaijani revolutionary figure. There is also a street named after the revolutionary Sergo Surguladze. These streets will be renamed, stated Niblovashvili. Tbilisi City Assembly named several streets with existing and future names: "Mir Vizirov Street" will be named after Nikoloz Chkheidze, who was the Chairman of the Independent Parliament of Georgia in 1918. (By Mariam Chanishvili) To deliver on these, the plan identifies 21 activities to be carried out over the next three years, including a comprehensive review of the country's NDC, development of a national climate change investment plan, data collection and monitoring, capacity building and public awareness. The Hoja de Ruta is a living document that will be reviewed on a yearly basis to ensure that arising priorities are included and progress made is clearly reflected. The Honduras presidential delegate for climate change, Dr. Marlon Escoto, reinforced the importance of this Hoja de Ruta for the future of the country: "With the presence of the president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez at the Paris COP, the concept of climate change becomes internalized into the development model of the country. The President subsequently created the Climate Change Office with the objective of coordinating the institutional framework of the country, to ensure that all key stakeholders responsible for NDC implementation are participating," he said. Honduras was one of the first countries in Latin America to join the NDC Partnership, and formalized its request for technical assistance in May 2017. Honduras had already developed a national climate change strategy that built on its national development plan and complemented a broader environmental policy known as "Agua, Bosque y Suelo" (Water, Forest and Soil). To align its climate and sustainable development agendas, as well as access appropriate financing and support, Honduras is developing national legislation to codify its climate change ambitions, and will continue existing projects with several NDC Partnership members who support the government in ambitious climate and development action, including the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), UN Environment, the United Nations Development Programme, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the World Bank, the European Commission, among others. NDC Partnership co-chair Dr Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, congratulated Honduras on its Partnership Plan, saying: "Honduras is showing real commitment in implementing the Paris Agreement and in aligning its climate goals to the 2030 Agenda. Germany is pleased to support these efforts jointly with other development partners committed to decisive climate and development action." Nezha El Ouafi, NDC Partnership co-chair and Secretary of State to Morocco's Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development, added: "Honduras is demonstrating its dedication to achieving its climate and development goals through its NDC Partnership Plan. Through this process, Honduras is able to coordinate with international partners to identify support and make resources go further, faster." The newly-approved NDC Partnership Plan will serve as the basis for planning, coordination, resource mobilization and transparency on NDC implementation between the government and partners to work together to achieve Honduras' climate and development goals. The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions committed to advancing ambitious climate and development action. The Partnership has grown to include 72 Member Countries, 15 Institutional Members and three Associate Members since its launch at COP22 in Marrakesh in November 2016. NDC Partnership members are jointly engaging to support 30 developing countries enhance and implement their NDCs through technical assistance and capacity building. Members give specific support to strengthen policy frameworks, mainstream climate actions into national, sectoral and sub-national plans, develop budgeting and investment plans, share knowledge and resources and build more robust monitoring and reporting systems in line with country-driven requests. For more information on the NDC Partnership, visit ndcpartnership.org. SOURCE NDC Partnership Related Links http://www.ndcpartnership.org DETROIT, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital today announced its aftermarket car accessories and restoration parts platform Drake Automotive Group ("Drake") has acquired Boulder, Colorado-based Proforged, a designer and distributor of chassis parts. The deal marks the fourth add-on acquisition for the Drake platform investment in less than two and a half years. Since 2016, Drake has also acquired Fender Gripper, Carroll Shelby Wheel Company and OG Innovations. Proforged has a strong presence in the wear-and-tear replacement market with more than 2,000 steering and suspension products across all major vehicle platforms and brands sold online to auto parts retailers. Proforged was founded by Zack Kanter in 2010 and is currently led by operations manager Tony Ou. "Drake and Proforged share common core values a commitment to making aftermarket parts that help car owners keep their muscle cars, off-road vehicles and classic cars going fast making this transaction a natural fit," Drake CEO Keith Belair said. "And like our prior acquisitions, we believe the combination of Drake and Proforged will better position both companies for growth and provide a better experience for our customers." "Huron Capital has a history of providing companies with the support and guidance needed to achieve growth through acquisition," Kanter said. "We are excited to be part of Drake and look forward to seeing continued success as we bring our comprehensive mix of steering and suspension products into Drake's expansive portfolio of aftermarket accessories." "With this transaction, Drake adds a steering and suspension parts supplier," Huron Capital Vice President Michael Zukas said. "We believe the expertise and capabilities Proforged offers will complement and strengthen Drake's position within the automotive aftermarket parts industry." About Huron Capital Based in Detroit, Huron Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm with a long history of growing lower middle-market companies through our proprietary ExecFactor buy-and-build investment model. We prefer complex situations where we can help companies reach their full potential by combining our operational approach, substantial capital base, and transaction experience with seasoned operating executives. Founded in 1999, Huron Capital has raised over $1.8 billion in capital through six committed private equity funds and invested in over 150 companies, and our portfolio companies have employed over 11,000 people throughout North America. The Huron Capital buy-and-build investment model includes equity recapitalizations, family succession transactions, market-entry strategies, corporate carve-outs, and management buyouts of companies having revenues up to $200 million. Huron Capital targets both control and non-control equity stakes in fundamentally-sound companies that can benefit from the firm's operational approach to creating value. Huron Capital's sector focus includes business services, consumer products & services and specialty industrials. For more information, please visit www.huroncapital.com. SOURCE Huron Capital Related Links http://www.huroncapital.com DALLAS, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today announced executive leadership changes to sharpen its focus on executing its global business plan. Kim Underhill, President of Kimberly-Clark Professional, has been named Group President Kimberly-Clark North America. In her new role, Underhill will lead Kimberly-Clark's nearly $8 billion North American consumer business, with trusted brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, Cottonelle, and Depend. Underhill is succeeding Larry Allgaier who has announced his intent to pursue opportunities outside of the company. Aaron Powell, President, Kimberly-Clark Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has been named President of K-C Professional. A successor to Powell in EMEA will be named in the near future. Both Underhill and Powell will report to Mike Hsu, President and Chief Operating Officer of Kimberly-Clark. The moves are effective immediately. "We have a deep bench of talented leaders to drive our global business plan," said Hsu. "Kim and Aaron are both seasoned executives with proven strategic, operational and innovation experience. These changes will help us further build our already strong consumer and professional businesses." Underhill has led K-C Professional since 2014. From 2011 to 2014, Ms. Underhill served as President of Kimberly-Clark's consumer business in Europe. She joined Kimberly-Clark in 1988 and has held positions with increasing responsibilities within research and engineering, supply chain and marketing. She also held leadership positions in Consumer Tissue and Personal Care in the North American consumer business. In addition to her role at Kimberly-Clark, Ms. Underhill serves on the board of directors for Foot Locker, Inc. She earned her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University and her master's degree in engineering management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Powell returns to K-C Professional from Kimberly-Clark's consumer business in EMEA. Powell previously served as President for Kimberly-Clark Professional in North America, where he led a multibillion dollar business focused on creating exceptional workplaces for business customers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since joining the company in 2007, he has held a series of roles with increasing responsibility including Vice President and Managing Director of Kimberly-Clark's consumer business in Central and Eastern Europe. He earned a bachelor's degree from Washington University, and his MBA with honors from the Wharton School of Business. About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 146-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. [KMB-F] SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation Related Links http://www.kimberly-clark.com LONDON and NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With a focus on access, security, intelligence and collaboration among the health, wellness and lifestyle ecosystem, lifesdna, an artificial intelligence (AI) search engine and decentralized marketplace, is launching during Blockchain Week NYC. The world's first holistic blockchain, AI search engine will offer a wealth of wellness, healthcare and lifestyle information, data and content. lifesdna was also designed to offer a secure, decentralized marketplace for users, scientists, researchers, industry players and global influencers through a trusted PaaS (Platform as a Service). "Currently, data on wellness, lifestyle and healthcare is not easily accessible, exchangeable or understandable," said Dinis Guarda, CEO and co-founder of lifesdna. "We hope to transform this paradigm and ultimately solve this challenge with our cutting edge encrypted search engine and holistic marketplace." By using big data in an AI-powered search engine and joining key industry players together, lifesdna intends to enhance data access and integrity, while offering secure solutions to improve access to information in the wellness, healthcare and lifestyle sectors. The global wellness and lifestyle economy has reached $3.7 trillion, according to the Global Wellness Institute, but lacks cohesion, presenting an incredible market opportunity. Consumers, patients, researchers, influencers and healthcare organizations often suffer because they lack the information and resources needed to tackle their issues. lifesdna enables users to safely access this information while solving daily challenges in finding relevant content and data. The model is permission-based, anonymized and customizable for all audiences; and it uses advanced reward tokenomics and game theory. "By enabling secure storage, encryption and exchange of wellness, healthcare and lifestyle information and data, we are creating an unparalleled distributed holistic solution. The possibilities for integrating research, intelligence and connections are limitless," Guarda added. "We look forward to debuting lifesdna to the world at Blockchain (R)evolution event at the Blockchain Week NYC." lifesdna will launch May 13 at a special event featuring Alex Tapscott, co-author of "Blockchain Revolution," John Edge, cofounder and chair of ID2020, Richard Titus, founder and CEO of Ark Advisors, Darren Camas, advisor at Emurgo, and Sally Eaves, co-founder of Shivom.io and member of the Forbes Technology Council, among other industry leaders. The event leads up to Consensus 2018 blockchain technology summit that will reflect on emerging challenges, opportunities and the social impact that blockchain and cryptocurrencies present. About lifesdna lifesdna is the world's first blockchain search engine and marketplace for secure collection, storage and exchange of healthcare, wellness and lifestyle data, powered by DLT and artificial intelligence. The company is led by an experienced team of blockchain, AI, big data, business and health experts, partnering with leading universities, clinics and health organizations. Dinis Guarda, co-founder and CEO of lifesdna, has created several companies, consulted for Fortune 500 companies, lectured at Groupe INSEEC/Monaco University, and Copenhagen Business School, among others, and advised governments and regulators across the world. He has two upcoming books "Blockchain, AI and Crypto Economics - The Next Tsunami" and "Tokenomics and ICOs - How to be good at the new digital world of finance/Crypto." The lifesdna team includes: Jonny Fry, financial entrepreneur, DLT investor and influencer, who has previously created and listed a UK-based asset management company and has collaborated with regulators and corporations on tokenomics strategies;Vitorino Ramos, leading AI scientist and researcher, who has collaborated with the European Space Agency and is a sought-after academic in swarm intelligence, AI and technology projects; and Ekaterina Gloersen, an experienced executive with a career spanning work for Cisco, Saxo Bank and Oanda. Connect with Lifesdna Twitter: @lifesdna Facebook.com/lifesdna lifesdna.com SOURCE lifesdna Related Links http://www.lifesdna.com VANCOUVER, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS), (OTCQX: LDSYF), (Frankfurt: LD6, WKN: A14XHT) ("LDS" or the "Company") announces that the City Council of Adelanto at May 9, 2018, meeting voted to modify the Adelanto Cannabis Ordinances to include adult use provisions in all of its cannabis ordinances. The May 9, 2018 vote to include adult use in all the Adelanto Cannabis Ordinances was the first step in the process of modifying the current cannabis regulations in Adelanto. Currently, the only cannabis-related operations permitted in Adelanto must be for medical cannabis, to be used only by those individuals with a physician's recommendation. The addition of adult use provisions would allow the licensees in Adelanto to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, transport, dispense and test cannabis and cannabis related products for adult or recreational use in addition to current medical cannabis uses. The second vote to ratify the May 9th decision by the City Council is scheduled for May 23, 2018. If on May 23rd the City Council again votes to modify its existing ordinances to include adult use, that modification would take effect in thirty days on June 22, 2018. Brad Eckenweiler, the CEO of LDS, stated, "These modifications, if adopted by the City of Adelanto, will significantly increase the possible market audience for all cannabis licensees in Adelanto as well as bring additional tax revenue to the City. Current estimates suggest that the adult use market is growing and that the medical use market is stable or possibly decreasing. This ordinance modification would allow the LDS licensees and its affiliates to participate in the largest and fastest growing segment of the California Cannabis Market." The Company supports the City Council of Adelanto and its efforts to modify its current cannabis ordinances to include adult use operations in the city. The Company will continue to update its shareholders on this issue as information becomes available. About Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. is a licensed, state-compliant, vertically integrated cannabis-related company. From our isogenic pollination nursery to our cutting edge, state-of-the-art production facility located in Southern California, LDS has become one of the most diverse, innovative and scientifically based cannabis companies throughout North America. The Company's technology produces infused strips (similar to breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to smoking but also a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of the product. From start to finish, the production process tests for quality and composition of all the ingredients used in each and every strip, resulting in a delivery system that is safe, consistent and effective. On behalf of the board of directors of Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Brad Eckenweiler CEO & Director FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: [email protected] 1-866-347-5058 Cautionary Disclaimer Statement: The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Related Links http://www.lifestyledeliverysystem.com "We are thrilled to welcome Dierk Herbermann and Steven Kirby to the LIV Sotheby's International Realty leadership team," said LIV Sotheby's International Realty president, Scott Webber. "Herbermann comes to us with an esteemed background in general management and legal counsel for one of the top producing real estate firms, Paragon Real Estate Group, in Northern California, while Kirby brings over two decades of proven experience in real estate finance, private equity, and capital markets, coming from Wells Fargo Private Bank." The pair will serve under the umbrella of Majestic Realty, owner/operator of three Sotheby's International Realty affiliates serving the western United States including LIV Sotheby's International Realty, in Colorado and California, Sierra Sotheby's International Realty, in Lake Tahoe, California and Reno, Nevada, and Summit Sotheby's International Realty, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. The combined companies now include 30 offices, and over 700 broker and support staff associates; and closed $6.3 billion in sales volume in 2017. Herbermann was instrumental in helping a well-known real estate group become the No. 1 brokerage in San Francisco in 2017. Prior to his management roles, he was a top agent earning multiple sales awards. This experience allowed him to develop successful offices and sales teams from an agent-focused perspective. Kirby's robust track record includes aggregate real estate transactions closed of more than $10 billion. Spanning organizations and economic cycles, he has cultivated a reputation for efficient growth as an accountable, effective, and authentic leader. "Bringing high caliber executives like Herbermann and Kirby on board represents our continued commitment to providing the highest level of service, resources and expertise to our valued brokers and clientele," adds Webber. Together the pair will assist the existing management team in spearheading Majestic's next phase of growth. LIV Sotheby's International Realty has established an office in Ventura, CA, further expanding Sotheby's International Realty's presence in the California residential real estate market. Agents and support staff associates at GP Real Estate Co. in Ventura have joined LIV Sotheby's International Realty and will now operate under the LIV Sotheby's International Realty name. LIV Sotheby's International Realty's mission, to help clients 'LIV the life they love', is similarly aligned with the lifestyle-oriented Ventura real estate market. LIV Sotheby's International Realty will serve Ventura County with plans to open office locations in Oxnard, Camarillo and Ojai, California. For more information, contact LIV Sotheby's International Realty senior vice president, marketing and communications, Kristen Muller, at 303-629-8102. Majestic Realty, based in Denver, Colorado, is the owner/operator of three Sotheby's International Realty affiliates serving the western United States, including LIV Sotheby's International Realty in Colorado and California, Sierra Sotheby's International Realty in Lake Tahoe, California and Reno, Nevada, and Summit Sotheby's International Realty in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. The combined companies include 30 office locations and over 700 real estate associates; and closed $6.3 billion in sales volume in 2017. For more information, contact LIV Sotheby's International Realty senior vice president, marketing and communications, Kristen Muller, at 303-629-8102. Media Contact: Kristen Muller LIV Sotheby's International Direct +1 303.629.8102 [email protected] SOURCE LIV Sotheby's International Realty Related Links http://www.livsothebysrealty.com "One of a new generation of actresses rewriting the script when it comes to having a voice in the world, the energy Amber Heard brings to her philanthropy, to her advocacy and to her performances make her a powerful ambassador for L'Oreal Paris as we take 'Because I'm Worth It' beauty into 2018," says Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, L'Oreal Paris Global President. A Texas native who grew up breaking horses, Heard is the first to admit that she never really imagined herself in the world of beauty, though she did dream of beauty pageants as a young girl. From her breakout role in "Friday Night Lights," the actress has brought her radiant on-screen dynamism to romantic comedies, thrillers and more recently in superhero blockbusters: as Mera in Justice League, reprising the role of underwater Queen for 2018's much-anticipated Aquaman. At 32, she's a campaigner for equality in Hollywood, calling for female characters and stories to be written and made by women and has philanthropic commitments at home and abroad. Amber is an outspoken advocate for women's, children's and LGBTQ rights. A believer in the healing power of art, Heard is also a member of The Art of Elysium, an organization empowering artists and needy communities to thrive through art. She recently returned from a humanitarian trip to Jordan to visit Syrian refugees with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) an organization doing lifesaving work. In 2018, on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Amber will be joining forces with the UN Human Rights Office. Next up, Heard will share the screen with Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell, and then be seen in the romantic thriller Run Away With Me. Making her first appearance for L'Oreal Paris at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, the actress will star in the "Worth It Show," a talk show to honor women in cinema, beauty and beyond and inspired by the most-recognized brand slogan in the world. "Over the years I've always thought to not just be an actor, but to use my voice as a platform for good to make the world a slightly, slightly better place and empower women the best that I can," says Heard. About L'Oreal Paris: The L'Oreal Paris division of L'Oreal USA, Inc. is a total beauty care brand dedicated to empowering women by offering luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. The brand's signature tagline, "Because I'm Worth It," was born in the United States in 1971 to celebrate the beauty and intrinsic self-worth of women, and for more than 100 years, L'Oreal Paris has been providing women around the world with products in four major beauty categories: hair color, haircare, skincare and cosmetics. With L'Oreal's invention of hair color in 1909, the brand continues to serve as a leading innovator of hair products across color, care, and styling with brands such as Superior Preference, Feria, Excellence Creme, Elvive, the Ever Collection, Advanced Hairstyle, and Elnett Satin Hairspray. L'Oreal Paris provides scientifically-advanced skincare products that are tested to address individual skin concerns through its renowned brands Revitalift, Hydra Genius, Age Perfect, and Sublime Bronze. L'Oreal Paris' iconic cosmetics collections include Infallible, True Match, Colour Riche, Voluminous, and Visible Lift. For more information about L'Oreal Paris and to receive personalized advice, expert tips, and exclusive content, please visit www.lorealparisusa.com or follow on Instagram (@LOrealMakeup, @LOrealHair, @LOrealSkin, @LOrealMen, Snapchat (@LOrealMakeup), Twitter (@LOrealParisUSA), Facebook (@LOrealParisUSA), and Pinterest (@LOrealParisUSA). CONTACT: Jacqueline Glasner at Alison Brod Marketing + Communications (212) 230-1800, [email protected] SOURCE L'Oreal Paris Related Links http://www.lorealparisusa.com PORTLAND, Maine, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Maine Magazine announced today that they are a proud sponsor of Party with a Purposea fundraiser presented by the Portland Sunrise Rotary Club to benefit the Maine Children's Cancer Program, being held on Wednesday, May 16. Event guests will enjoy complimentary beer, wine, and light hors d'oeuvres at DiMillo's Restaurant in Portland. A silent and live auction will take place over the course of the evening and will feature items such as a getaway for four to Ogunquit, Maine, a cocktail or dinner cruise for 20 aboard a private yacht in Casco Bay, and a week's stay for two to three couples at a private 17th century home in Italy. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Maine Children's Cancer Program, and will support its three primary areas of focus: to provide children in our region with access to the best pediatric cancer treatments currently available, to support the entire family through their journey with childhood cancer, and to participate in clinical research which is improving survival rates and moving toward a cure. "We feel fortunate to be able to sponsor events like this," said Shelbi Wassick, Director of Events & Visibility. "Giving back wherever we can is part of our mission, and we're proud to be able to sponsor this and so many other events like it that do so much for so many." Maine Media Collective supports over 110 non-profit organizations throughout the state. ABOUT MAINE MEDIA COLLECTIVE Maine Media Collective publishes Maine, Maine Home+Design, Ageless Maine and Old Port magazines, produces Love Maine Radio, the Boothbay Harbor Food and Wine Festival, and is home to Art Collector Maine and the Brand Company. SOURCE The Brand Company Related Links https://www.thebrandcompany.me KELOWNA, BC, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Marapharm Ventures Inc. (CSE: MDM) (OTCQX: MRPHF) (FSE: 2M0) ("Marapharm" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Ryan George and Mr. Justin Hunter as Lead Cultivators for the Company's EcoNevada and PhenoFarm Cultivation and Production licences in Las Vegas, Nevada. A seasoned agriculturist, Mr. George has managed multiple large scale indoor, outdoor and off-grid cannabis cultivation facilities using a variety of techniques (hydroponics, soil and soilless mixtures) during his nine-year tenure in the cannabis industry. Mr. George's comprehensive cannabis career has taken him around-the-world where he has attended numerous conferences and seminars to advance his knowledge of biology, genetics, and genotypes. More specifically, the effects of atmosphere, light cycles and nutrients in Desert, High Altitude and Northern climates. Additionally, he is an advocate of non-chemical pest management, and incorporates countermeasures such as employing companion plants and beneficial insects to prevent pests specific to cannabis. For the past several years, Mr. George has provided the highest quality medicinal cannabis to the medical community of Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Hunter, brings extensive experience in both commercial scale cannabis cultivation and management of facility operations. He has served as Director of Cultivation overseeing all aspects of facility management including the development of SOP's (the "Standard Operating Procedures") which are instrumental in providing elevated standards for all aspects of a heavily-regulated commercial production. Mr. Hunter trained and managed teams of employees in effective commercialized methods of task completion, including overseeing crop management by strategizing perpetual harvest schedules, while monitoring the progress of crops for optimal quality, health and yield. A principal focus of Mr. Hunter's career has been perfecting his "Pheno-hunting", a selective cannabis breeding technique used to ensure that "cream of the crop" genetics are passed along to future generations by breeding clone only strains to purebred males "hunted" for their vigor and potency. Mr. Hunter used his expertise in this field to champion our first genetics which will be transferred to their permanent location once all inspection approvals are granted. As a team, they share a dedication to an organic living soil methodology which creates a higher quality, pure cannabis while reducing the cost of production. They are committed to the development of a triple organic certified product safe for consumption. "Ryan and Justin have continually demonstrated their competency and passion for cannabis cultivation over the last decade. Their combined experience in commercial cannabis cultivation, including the selection of commercially viable varietals will bring an immediate impact to our bottom line. We look forward to having both Ryan and Justin lead the EcoNevada and PhenoFarm Cultivation programs." Kurt Keating, Director of Operations. ABOUT MARAPHARM VENTURES INC. www.marapharm.com Marapharm is a publicly traded company investing in the medical and recreational cannabis space, since 2014. Marapharm has rapidly expanded to include having cultivation, production and dispensary locations in the key North American states of Washington, Nevada, and California, and are seeking expansion opportunities worldwide. SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: facebook.com/marapharm Twitter: twitter.com/marapharm Web Program: marapharm.tv STOCK EXCHANGES: Marapharm trades in Canada, ticker symbol MDM on the CSE, in the United States, ticker symbol MRPHF on the OTCQX, and in Europe, ticker symbol 2M0 on the FSE. Marapharm also trades on other recognized platforms in Europe including Stuttgart, Tradegate, L & S, Quotnx, Dusseldorf, Munich, and Berlin. Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQX has approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. MARIJUANA INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT: Canadian listings (CSE) will remain in good standing as long as they provide the disclosure that is rightly required by regulators and complying with applicable licensing requirements and the regulatory framework enacted by the applicable state in which they operate. Marapharm owns marijuana licenses in California and Nevada. Marijuana is legal in each state however marijuana remains illegal under US federal law and the approach to enforcement of US federal law against marijuana is subject to change. Shareholders and investors need to be aware that adverse enforcement actions could affect their investments and that Marapharm's ability to access private and public capital could be affected and or could not be available to support continuing operations. Marapharm's business is conducted in a manner consistent with state law and is in compliance with licensing requirements. Copies of licenses are posted on Marapharm's website. Marapharm has internal compliance procedures in place and has compliance focused attorneys engaged in jurisdictions to monitor changes in laws for compliance with US federal and state law on an ongoing basis. These law firms inform any necessary changes to our policies and procedures for compliance in Canada and the US. FORWARD - LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", 'may", "will", "project", "should", 'believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward- looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward- looking statements are based on reasonable assumption but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and the forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. SOURCE Marapharm Ventures Inc. Related Links www.marapharm.com DOWNEY, Calif., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark D. Schneider, D.O. is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Professional of The Year in the field of Medicine in recognition of his role as a Family Physician at Community Medical Group. Located in Downey, California, Community Medical Group is a distinguished medical facility dedicated to offering their patients the quality healthcare services that they deserve. Well-regarded for their work in the medical field, the facility specializes in facets of medicine. With over forty two years of experience in the field of medicine, Dr. Mark D. Schneider is revered for his outstanding contributions to the medical industry. A prominent professional, Dr. Schneider has served in his current position since 1993. Dr. Schneider serves as the Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at PIH Health Downey Hospital a position he has held from 1993-2000, 2006-2013, and 2015 to the present. Dr. Schneider has also served as Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2002 and holds academic positions with Western University College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in California and Nevada. In his previous years, Dr. Schneider has also served as Associate and Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine. Inspired by his uncle, Dr. Arthur Greenfield and his father-in-law, Dr. Irving Jacks, throughout his career, Dr. Schneider has attained extensive experience within the areas of Asthma, Bronchitis, Diabetes, Allergies, Dermatitis, Abdominal Pain, Obesity, and High Blood Pressure. When asked his advice to newcomers in the industry, Dr. Schneider states that it is best to "work for someone else for a few years so you know how it feels to be an attending physician, but be open to new opportunities that will surely arise." Board certified in Family Practice by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians, in his prior years, Dr. Schneider attained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from UCLA in 1971. Later, Dr. Schneider attained his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri. Thereafter, Dr. Schneider did his post-doctoral training at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. In looking to the future, Dr. Schneider hopes to stay in good health while establishing financial security for his retirement. In recognition of his professional achievements, Dr. Schneider was chosen as an elected Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians in 2008. In 2017, Dr. Schneider was named Top Doctor in the field. When he is not working, Dr. Schneider enjoys sports, sailing, staying in shape and spending quality time with his family. Married with one daughter, Dr. Schneider dedicates this recognition to his wife Linda, of 43 years and his daughter Carly, for all their love and support. Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634 [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com CANTON, Mass., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses and health professionals in the Commonwealth, has endorsed Rep. Michael Capuano in his re-election campaign to represent Massachusetts Seventh Congressional District. "The MNA, representing 23,000 members, supports Rep. Capuano based on his record of fighting for universal health care, supporting working families and standing with nurses, patients and their families," said MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams, an RN at Cambridge Hospital. "The Congressman has always been a strong advocate for the Seventh Congressional District and we are thrilled to have his support as we move forward with our effort to bring safe patient limits to all Massachusetts hospital units." Rep. Capuano has pledged his support for The Patient Safety Act, a November 2018 ballot initiative that will improve patient safety in Massachusetts hospitals by setting a safe maximum limit on the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one time. The law will help reduce errors, injuries, re-admissions and patient deaths while providing flexibility to hospitals to adjust nurses' patient assignments based on specific patient needs. A recent survey of Massachusetts nurses shows that 86 percent support safe patient limits. Last July, Rep. Capuano joined the more than 1,000 registered nurses on strike from Tufts Medical Center at a rally and called on the hospital to reach a fair and equitable agreement. The nurses and the hospital settled a contract last fall that benefits patients, nurses, Tufts and the public. "We are proud to endorse Congressman Capuano in his re-election bid," Kelly-Williams said. "We know from experience that the Congressman supports and has fought to preserve the rights we have as workers to join together to improve our working conditions and thereby strengthen our communities." "Nurses are on the front lines taking care of working families every day, and I'm proud to receive the MNA's endorsement," said Rep. Capuano. "President Trump's dangerous policies are rolling back the achievements we've accomplished on protecting families, supporting nurses, and bringing health care to all. I'll continue to fight against these policies, and will keep ensuring our communities receive the care they need. Nurses and families deserve our full support, and I'll keep working until health care in America is a universal right, not a privilege." Rep. Capuano strongly supports universal health care coverage and is a proud sponsor of H.R. 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. Rep. Capuano co-founded the bipartisan House Caucus on Community Health Centers; over the last decade, enrollment in community health centers has more than doubled. He also successfully restored funding for the Boston Steps program, which provides resources for chronic disease management and prevention, and led congressional efforts to increase funding for the Ryan White program, an initiative dedicated to caring for those living with HIV and AIDS. Rep. Capuano also recognizes the need for equity in health care: he is a champion of the Boston Public Health Commission's REACH initiative, which uses federal seed money to mobilize community health education and empowerment and increase diagnostic screenings in underserved neighborhoods. Rep. Capuano successfully restored funding for the Boston Steps program, which provides resources for chronic disease management and prevention, particularly in areas where significant health disparities persist. Rep. Capuano is in his ninth term and has represented the Seventh Congressional District since 1998. MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association Related Links http://www.massnurses.org DALLAS, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The members of Dallas-based Girl Scout Troop 2838 have completed their gender awareness project designed to shine a light on the substantial good work being performed by members of the Girl Scouts organization. The troop has published morethanjustcookies.org, an online handbook featuring service project ideas collected from Girl Scout troops around the world. The book includes research related to why gender equality is such a relevant and important issue and includes words of wisdom from prominent women, representing many sectors of society. "First, we wanted to provide an easy handbook to read through many of the great projects Girl Scouts have done," says Lillie Stanford, member of Troop 2838. "Second, we realized that boys doing similar community projects seem to get consistently more awareness for their work. As an example, after a quick poll we found that many grown-ups had seen 'Eagle Scout' listed more frequently and prominently on resumes than their female counterparts, and even had bumper stickers on their cars." Troop members Haley Coleman, Alexandra Androvett, Lillie Stanford and Mara Sandberg developed the online and social media campaign under the guidance of troop leader Kimberly Coleman. "Our girls believe that by highlighting the causes and consequences of gender inequality, and by showcasing significant hundreds of Girl Scout service projects, while also sharing wisdom garnered from women who continue to make a difference, they can help foster appreciation for all the great public service and charitable work being performed by young women across the globe," says troop leader Coleman. "They developed the website, employed social media, spoke to members of the news media, including journalists at local radio and TV, then designed and put the book together, available for free on their website. They hope this book can serve as inspiration and testimony to others." "Our handbook also includes words from prominent, inspiring women all around the world working toward a goal of greater equality," says Haley Coleman, member of Troop 2838. For more information or to learn more about Troop 2838, contact Kimberly Haley-Coleman at [email protected] or Sophia Reza at [email protected] or 214-420-6016. About Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Girl Scouts is the premier leadership development organization for girls. Girl Scouts builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas serves more than 26,000 girls and 12,500 adults in 32 northeast Texas counties. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas recently received the Center for Nonprofit Management nonprofit of the year award in 2016. The board is chaired by Kit Addleman, partner at Haynes and Boone, who was recognized by both the Dallas Business Journal and Center for Nonprofit Management nonprofit board chair of the year awards in 2016. For information on how to join, volunteer, donate or reconnect, call (800) 442-2260 or visit www.gsnetx.org. SOURCE Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Related Links http://morethanjustcookies.org WASHINGTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media are invited to cover the prelaunch briefing and launch of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO), NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite mission. The briefing on Thursday, May 17, and launch on Saturday, May 19, will air on NASA Television and the agency's website. A joint mission with the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), GRACE-FO will provide critical measurements that will be used together with other data to monitor the movement of water masses across the planet and mass changes within Earth itself. Monitoring changes in ice sheets and glaciers, underground water storage, and sea level provides a unique view of Earth's climate and has far-reaching benefits. The mission is planned to fly at least five years. The prelaunch news briefing will be held at 2 p.m. EDT May 17 at Vandenberg. Media who wish to participate by phone must contact Elena Mejia at [email protected] or 818-354-1712, no later than 12:30 p.m. May 17. Media and the public also may ask questions during the event via social media using the hashtag #askNASA. Briefing participants will be: David Jarrett , GRACE-FO program executive in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters , GRACE-FO program executive in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters Frank Webb , GRACE-FO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) , GRACE-FO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Frank Flechtner , GRACE-FO project manager at GFZ , GRACE-FO project manager at GFZ Phil Morton , NASA GRACE-FO project manager at JPL , NASA GRACE-FO project manager at JPL Capt. Jennifer Haden , weather officer for the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg The satellites are scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 4:04 p.m. EDT May 19 from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. GRACE-FO will share its ride to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial rideshare agreement. Launch coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency's website. JPL manages the GRACE-FO mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. GFZ contracted GRACE-FO launch services from Iridium, and SpaceX is providing the Falcon 9 launch service. More information on public launch viewing, as well as media coverage opportunities and logistics, is available at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2018-095 Join the conversation online and follow GRACE-FO on Twitter and Facebook at: https://www.twitter.com/NASAEarth and https://www.facebook.com/NASAEarth SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov LONDON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Prospect Co., Ltd. (the "Company") will be hosting the Annual Investor Day in London from 9:00 AM on Wednesday 13th June 2018. We will be presenting the annual results of the Company. For shareholders who are interested in attending, please contact us at the e-mail addresses provided below. Note 1. Agenda Annual results briefing for fiscal year ending 31st March 2018 2. Time From 9:00 AM on Wednesday 13th June 2018 3. Venue London, meeting location to be determined 4. Attending personnel from Prospect Co., Ltd. Dominic Henderson - Director Hamilton Smith - Advisor Xin Zhang - Investor Relations Manager 5. RSVP Contact: [email protected] Telephone: +81-3-(3470)-8411 (Main) For seat reservation, please contact no later than 17:00 on 1st June 2018 London time. SOURCE Prospect Co., Ltd EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Gilenya (fingolimod) for the treatment of children and adolescents 10 to less than 18 years of age with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, making it the first disease-modifying therapy indicated for these patients2. This approval expands the age range for Gilenya, which was previously approved for patients aged 18 years and older with RMS. Gilenya was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA in December of 2017 for this pediatric indication. "We now finally have an FDA-approved treatment for children and adolescents with relapsing MS," said Dr. Brenda Banwell, Chief of the Division of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who served as co-Principal investigator of the pivotal study that supported the pediatric approval. "Repeated relapses are more common in young people with MS than in adults, so this is heartening news for patients and their families." While MS is mostly diagnosed in adults, children and adolescents with the chronic disease often experience more frequent relapses and brain lesions than adults with MS1. "We have eagerly anticipated a proven treatment option for younger people living with MS," said Elin Phillips, President, Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Alliance. "Until now, there have been no large clinical trials to assess treatment efficacy of disease-modifying therapies in children and adolescents. On behalf of the pediatric community, we would also like to thank the families and the clinical trial patients who made this progress possible." The approval of Gilenya for the younger patient population was supported by PARADIGMS, a double-blind, randomized, multi-center Phase III safety and efficacy study of fingolimod vs. interferon beta-1a, designed specifically for children and adolescents with RMS4. The primary endpoint demonstrated that fingolimod reduced the rate of relapses (annualized relapse rate) by approximately 82% (p <0.001) over a period of up to two years compared to interferon beta-1a intramuscular injections in children and adolescents (ages 10 and older) with relapsing MS2. The safety profile of Gilenya in this study was overall consistent with that seen in previous clinical trials in adults2. In this study, while more adverse events (AEs) were reported in the interferon beta-1a group, severe AEs were reported at a higher frequency in fingolimod-treated patients2. "After becoming the first approved oral MS therapy in the US in 2010, we're proud this new approval represents another first for Gilenya," said Fabrice Chouraqui, US President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. "It is the latest achievement in our ongoing commitment to drive innovation in MS and bring additional treatment options to more patients, including young people with MS." About the Phase III PARADIGMS Study The Phase III PARADIGMS study (NCT01892722) is a flexible duration (up to two years), double-blind, randomized, multi-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral fingolimod compared to interferon beta-1a in children and adolescents with a confirmed diagnosis of MS, followed by a five-year open label extension phase5. The study enrolled 215 children and adolescents with MS, 10 to less than 18 years of age with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score between 0 and 5.55. Patients were randomized to receive once-daily oral fingolimod (n=107, 0.5 mg or 0.25 mg, dependent on patients' body weight) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a (n=108) once weekly5. The primary endpoint of the study was the frequency of relapses in patients treated up to 24 months (annualized relapse rate)5. Secondary endpoints include the number of new or newly enlarged T2 lesions, Gadolinium enhancing T1 lesions, safety and the pharmacokinetic properties of fingolimod, all measured throughout the treatment period5. The Phase III PARADIGMS study was conducted in 87 sites over 26 countries, and was designed in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. About Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord through inflammation and tissue loss6. In adults, there are three types of MS: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS)7. Approximately 85 percent of people with MS have relapsing-remitting MS, where the immune system attacks healthy tissue8. In children, RRMS accounts for nearly all cases (approximately 98 percent)9. In the US, MS affects around 400,000 people10. About Gilenya (fingolimod) in Adults Gilenya was the first once-a-day pill approved to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Approved for first-line use, Gilenya is a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that offers freedom from injections, which may fit many patients' lifestyles. Gilenya decreases the frequency of MS flare-ups (relapses) and helps slow down the physical problems caused by RRMS. Gilenya is the most prescribed oral once-daily DMT in the US, with approximately 79,800 patients having been exposed to Gilenya. Worldwide, Gilenya has been used to treat approximately 231,000 patients in both clinical trials and the post-marketing setting, with approximately 536,000 years of patient experience3. Indication GILENYA is a prescription medicine used to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults and children 10 years of age and older. Important Safety Information You should not take GILENYA if in the last 6 months you experienced heart attack, unstable angina, stroke or mini-stroke (transient ischemic attack or TIA), or certain types of heart failure. Do not take GILENYA if you have an irregular or abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia), including a heart finding called prolonged QT as seen on an ECG, or if you take medicines that change your heart rhythm. Do not take GILENYA if you are allergic to fingolimod or any of the other ingredients. GILENYA may cause serious side effects such as: Slow heart rate, especially after first dose. Adults and children will be monitored by a health care professional for at least 6 hours after the first dose or after a child takes the first dose of 0.5mg of GILENYA when switching from 0.25mg daily dose. Your pulse and blood pressure will be checked hourly. You'll get an ECG before and 6 hours after your first dose. If any heart problems arise or your heart rate is still low, you'll continue to be monitored. If you have any serious side effects, especially those that require treatment with other medicines, or if you have certain types of heart problems, or if you're taking medicines that can affect your heart, you'll be watched overnight. If you experience slow heart rate, it will usually return to normal within 1 month. Call your doctor, or seek immediate medical attention if you have any symptoms of slow heart rate, such as dizziness, tiredness, feeling like your heart is beating slowly or skipping beats, or chest pain. Symptoms can happen up to 24 hours after the first dose. Do not stop taking GILENYA without consulting with your doctor. Call your doctor if you miss 1 or more doses of GILENYAyou may need to repeat the 6-hour monitoring. Increased risk of serious infections, some of which could be life threatening and cause death. You should not receive live vaccines during treatment with GILENYA and for 2 months after you stop taking GILENYA. Vaccines may not work as well when given during treatment with GILENYA. GILENYA lowers the number of white blood cells (lymphocytes) in your blood. This will usually go back to normal within 2 months of stopping GILENYA. Your doctor may do a blood test to check your white blood cells before you start GILENYA. Call your doctor right away if, while taking GILENYA or for 2 months after your last dose, you have fever, tiredness, body aches, chills, nausea, vomiting, or headache accompanied by fever, neck stiffness, sensitivity to light, nausea, and/or confusion. These may be symptoms of meningitis. Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). PML is a rare brain infection that usually leads to death or severe disability. If PML happens, it usually happens in people with weakened immune systems but has happened in people who do not have weakened immune systems. Call your doctor right away if you have any new or worsening symptoms of PML that have lasted several days, including changes in your thinking or memory, changes in your vision, decreased strength, problems with balance, weakness on 1 side of your body, loss of coordination in your arms and legs, confusion or changes in your personality. Macular edema, a vision problem that can cause some of the same vision symptoms as an MS attack (optic neuritis), or no symptoms. If it happens, macular edema usually starts in the first 3 to 4 months after starting GILENYA. Your doctor should test your vision before you start GILENYA; 3 to 4 months after you start GILENYA; and any time you notice vision changes. Vision problems may continue after macular edema has gone away. Your risk of macular edema is higher if you have diabetes or have had an inflammation of your eye (uveitis). Call your doctor right away if you have blurriness, shadows, or a blind spot in the center of your vision; sensitivity to light; or unusually colored vision. Swelling and narrowing of the blood vessels in your brain. A condition called PRES (posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome) has happened rarely in adults taking GILENYA. Symptoms of PRES usually get better when you stop taking GILENYA. However, if left untreated, it may lead to a stroke. Call your doctor right away if you experience any symptoms, such as sudden severe headache, sudden confusion, seizures, or sudden loss of vision. Breathing problems. Some patients have shortness of breath. Call your doctor right away if you have trouble breathing. Liver problems. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver before you start GILENYA. Call your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, tiredness, dark urine, or if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow. Increases in blood pressure (BP). BP should be monitored during treatment. Skin cancers including basal and Merkel cell carcinoma and melanoma. Tell your doctor if you have any changes in the appearance of your skin, including changes in a mole, new darkened area in your skin, a sore that does not heal, or growths on your skin such as a bump that may be shiny, pearly white, skin colored, or pink. While taking GILENYA, limit the amount of time you spend in sunlight and ultraviolet (UV) light as well as use sunscreen with a high sun protection factor and wear protective clothing. GILENYA may harm your unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Women who can become pregnant should use effective birth control while on GILENYA, and for at least 2 months after stopping. If you become pregnant while taking GILENYA, or within 2 months after stopping, tell your doctor right away. It is not known if GILENYA passes into breast milk. Talk to your doctor about the best way to feed your baby if you take GILENYA. A pregnancy registry is available for women who become pregnant during GILENYA treatment. For more information, contact the GILENYA Pregnancy Registry by calling Quintiles at 1-877-598-7237, by e-mailing [email protected], or by going to www.gilenyapregnancyregistry.com. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you had or now have an irregular or abnormal heartbeat; stroke or mini-stroke; heart problems; a history of repeated fainting; a fever or infection, or if you are unable to fight infections due to a disease or are taking medicines that lower your immune system, including corticosteroids, or have taken them in the past; eye problems; diabetes; breathing or liver problems; or uncontrolled high blood pressure. Also tell your doctor if you have had chicken pox or have received the chicken pox vaccine. Your doctor may test for the chicken pox virus, and you may need to get the full course of the chicken pox vaccine and wait 1 month before starting GILENYA. Children 10 years and older should complete their vaccination schedule before starting GILENYA. If you take too much GILENYA, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take or have recently taken, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. The most common side effects with GILENYA were headache, abnormal liver tests, diarrhea, cough, flu, sinusitis, back pain, abdominal pain, and pain in arms or legs. In the pediatric study: The safety in children 10 years and older receiving GILENYA was similar to that seen in adults. The rate of seizures was higher in GILENYA-treated patients compared to that of a leading injectable. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Please see full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide, at: https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/gilenya.pdf Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected] References National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Pediatric MS. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS/Who-Gets-MS/Pediatric-MS. Accessed April 2018 . Gilenya (fingolimod) Full Prescribing Information. East Hanover, New Jersey , USA: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; May 11, 2018 Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Data on file. Chitnis T et al. PARADIGMS: A Randomised Double-blind Study of Fingolimod Versus Interferon -1a in Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract no. 276. Oral presentation at 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting, Paris, France , October 25-28, 2017 . Clinical Trials. Safety and efficacy of fingolimod in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01892722. Accessed April 2018 . PubMed Health. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024311/. Accessed April 2018 . Multiple Sclerosis Society. Types of MS. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is-ms/types-of-ms. Accessed April 2018 . Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. Atlas of MS 2013. https://www.msif.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Atlas-of-MS.pdf. Accessed April 2018 . Waldman A et al. Pediatric multiple sclerosis: Clinical features and outcome. Neurology 2016;87 (Suppl 2):S74-S81. Tullman M. Overview of the epidemiology, diagnosis and disease progression associated with multiple sclerosis. Am J Managed Care. 2013 Feb;19(2 Suppl):S15-20. SOURCE Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Related Links http://www.novartis.com BOSTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FundCount, LLC, a global provider of integrated accounting and investment analysis software, today announced that Cayman Island based Paget-Brown Trust Company Ltd. has implemented FundCount software to support its expanding fund administration business. Paget-Brown is using FundCount for accounting and reporting of its investment fund clients. Automated processes for calculation of net asset value (NAV), general ledger reporting, fees and other financial data enable Paget-Brown to manage investments with greater speed, accuracy and efficiency. Paget-Brown Trust Company FundCount replaced a time-consuming manual operation that was a hindrance to growth. By integrating all accounting, general ledger functionality and reporting on a single platform, Paget-Brown has realized significant improvements in workflow allowing the team to shorten delivery timelines for clients and freeing resources to take on new business. "Efficiency and customer service are critical for success in our industry," said Toni Pinkerton, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Paget-Brown. "FundCount has delivered on both fronts. It provides a flexible solution that will scale for growth and offers full control over reporting so we can pivot quickly to customize reports for each client." In addition to robust functionality and expansive fund administration reporting, Paget-Brown selected FundCount software for the ease of implementation and the company's expert customer support. "The collaborative effort between our firms resulted in a successful implementation that met Paget-Brown's aggressive one-month go-live timeframe and tight budget," said Alex Ivanov, CEO and founder of FundCount. "Now that Paget-Brown is fully operational on FundCount, they have the accounting and reporting foundation needed to support current and future business." Editor's Notes About FundCount Founded in 1999, FundCount provides integrated accounting and investment analysis software that improves operational efficiency and delivers immediate, actionable intelligence to clients around the globe. Today, over 120 hedge funds, single and multi-family offices, fund administrators and private equity firms worldwide with assets totaling more than U.S. $125 billion rely on FundCount for accurate, timely information and flexible reporting. FundCount supports its growing client base from the company's U.S. headquarters and three additional international locations. For more information, visit www.fundcount.com. About Paget-Brown Trust Company Ltd. Paget-Brown has provided governance, company management and fund administration solutions to structures for a wide variety of clients since 1981. Paget-Brown is regulated and licensed by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team offers extensive experience in the offshore financial industry. We specialize in tailored solutions that fit specific client needs, partnering with our clients to provide valued services as an extension of their own operations. Our commitment to each relationship and understanding your business needs in the context of the regulatory environment in which you operate, allows our team to provide the highest level of client service. Contact: Abby Friedman, 908 904-1926, [email protected] SOURCE FundCount, LLC Related Links https://www.fundcount.com NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pareteum Corporation (NYSE American: TEUM), ("Pareteum" or the "Company"), the rapidly growing mobile Cloud Communications Platform company, announced today the deployment of its cloud services for a U.K. based provider of smart home and office automation systems. These services enable this established provider to integrate their Smart Control Hubs with Pareteum's Cloud Platform, moving from a complex legacy system to a very dynamic, flexible and cost-efficient cloud solution, granting simpler access and management when it comes to their customers' connectivity. The 3-year sales contract was first announced on February 14, 2018, valued at $1.5 million. The customer will use Pareteum's Global Cloud Services Platform (GCSP) to connect over 250,000 U.K. residences and businesses and receive revenue from subscriber monthly fees along with usage-related fees such as wireless airtime and transaction fees. Vic Bozzo, CEO of Pareteum commented, "Pareteum's GCSP solution allows this service provider to create service plans specific to their customers' needs. As the demand for smart home technology grows, Pareteum will continue to develop and deliver new technologies to address the needs of our customers as well as addressing the needs of their end-customers." Hal Turner, Founder and Executive Chairman of Pareteum stated, "Pareteum is in a trajectory of relentless forward motion. We aim to disrupt traditional industry models by creating a single seamless solution that addresses the complexity of customer needs. From Sales, to Delivery, to Operations, our TEUM is on fire." About Pareteum: The mission of Pareteum Corporation (NYSE American: TEUM) is to connect "every person and everything." Organizations use Pareteum to energize their growth and profitability through cloud communication services and complete turnkey solutions featuring relevant content, applications, and connectivity worldwide. Our platform services partners (technologies integrated into our cloud) include: HPE, IBM, Ribbon Communications (Sonus+GenBand), NetNumber, Oracle, Microsoft, and other world class technology providers). All of the relevant customer acquired value is derived from Pareteum's award winning software, developed and enhanced for many years. By harnessing the value of communications, Pareteum serves retail, enterprise and IoT customers. Pareteum currently has offices in New York, Sao Paulo, Madrid, Barcelona, Bahrain and the Netherlands. For more information please visit: www.pareteum.com. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to Pareteum's plans and objectives, projections, expectations and intentions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Pareteum's industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Because such statements involve risks and uncertainties, the actual results and performance of Pareteum may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by law, Pareteum also disclaims any obligation to update its view of any such risks or uncertainties or to announce publicly the result of any revisions to the forward-looking statements made here. Additional information concerning certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in Pareteum's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available from the SEC or may be obtained upon request from Pareteum Corporation. Pareteum Investor Relations Contacts: Ted O'Donnell Chief Financial Officer (212) 984-1096 [email protected] Stephen Hart Hayden IR 917-658-7878 Carrie Howes Rayleigh Capital Dubai- London T UAE: +971 (0) 55 997 0427 | T UK: +44 (0) 870 490 5443 | T CAN: +1 416 900 3634 SOURCE Pareteum Corporation Related Links http://www.pareteum.com BELLEVUE, Wash., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Gauguin Cruises (www.pgcruises.com), operator of the highest-rated and longest continually sailing luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, the m/s Paul Gauguin, received the award for "Best Small-Ship Cruise Line" for the third consecutive year during Global Traveler's 6th Annual Leisure Lifestyle Awards ceremony on May 10, 2018, at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Paul Gauguin Cruises was also recognized in another awards categoryin the top five "Best Luxury Cruise Lines." Global Traveler is a monthly magazine for business and leisure luxury travelers and conducted a survey of its readers for "the best" in categories across leisure, luxury, and lifestyle travel. Awards were given to the best leisure destinations, airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and tour operators voted by Global Traveler's readers. "We are thrilled to be voted 'Best Small-Ship Cruise Line' again this year," remarked Diane Moore, President of Paul Gauguin Cruises, who accepted the award at the ceremony. "Thank you to Global Traveler and its readers for this prestigious honor. It's a testament to our dedicated staff, who delivers extraordinary service aboard our voyages in Tahiti, French Polynesia, Fiji, and the South Pacific." The winners are listed in the Leisure Lifestyle Edition of Global Traveler, available on newsstands May 15, 2018, and online at www.globaltravelerusa.com. For more information about Paul Gauguin Cruises, please contact a Travel Professional, call 800-848-6172, or visit www.pgcruises.com. About Paul Gauguin Cruises Owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., French Polynesia's leading luxury hotel and cruise operator, Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the 5+-star cruise ship, the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin, providing a deluxe cruise experience tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific. Paul Gauguin Cruises has been recognized by notable publications in travel and lifestyle and was voted "#1 Midsize-Ship Ocean Cruise Line" by readers in the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2017. The line was also recognized as one of the "Top Small Cruise Lines" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2017 Readers' Choice Awards and is honored on the publication's 2018 "Gold List." Paul Gauguin Cruises was also selected as "Best Small-Ship Cruise Line" in Global Traveler's Leisure Lifestyle Awards in 2016 and 2017, and received top honors as the "#1 Cruise Line for Honeymooners" in BRIDES Magazine's 2017 Honeymoon Awards and listed in the publication's "Top All-Inclusives" in the 2018 Honeymoon Awards. Media Contact: Vanessa Bloy Paul Gauguin Cruises Director of Public Relations (425) 440-6255 [email protected] From Travel + Leisure Magazine, August 2017 Time Inc. Affluent Media Group. Used under license. Travel + Leisure and Time Inc. Affluent Media Group are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, Paul Gauguin Cruises. SOURCE Paul Gauguin Cruises Related Links http://www.pgcruises.com BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG), an international transportation services company, today announced that Wolfgang Durheimer has been elected to its Board of Directors at its annual Shareholders Meeting, along with twelve incumbent directors. "We welcome Mr. Durheimer to the Penske Automotive Group Board of Directors and look forward to his guidance as we continue to grow our company," said Penske Automotive Group Chairman Roger S. Penske. "As the auto industry continues to expand and evolve, his extensive experience in the premium/luxury auto sector will provide valuable insight to Penske Automotive Group." Most recently, Mr. Durheimer served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bentley Motors Ltd., from April 2014 to January 2018 as well as President of Bugatti Automobiles S.S.A. and Bugatti International S.A. Prior to that Mr. Durheimer held various positions within Volkswagen AG and its subsidiaries. From 1999 until 2011, Mr. Durheimer worked for Porsche AG, where he was a member of the Board of Management responsible for research and development. Prior to joining Porsche in 1999, he worked fourteen years with BMW where he held various managerial roles. About Penske Automotive Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (NYSE: PAG) headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is an international transportation services company that operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships principally in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, and distributes commercial vehicles, diesel engines, gas engines, power systems and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. PAG employs more than 26,000 people worldwide, is a member of the Fortune 500, Russell 2000, and was named as one of the World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune. For additional information visit the company's website at www.penskeautomotive.com. Find a vehicle: http://www.penskecars.com Engage Penske Automotive: http://www.penskesocial.com Like Penske Automotive on Facebook: https://facebook.com/penskecars Follow Penske Automotive on Twitter: https://twitter.com/penskecars Follow Penske Automotive on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/penskecars Visit Penske Automotive on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/penskecars Inquiries should contact: Contacts: J.D. Carlson Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 248-648-2810 [email protected] Anthony R. Pordon Executive Vice President Investor Relations and Corporate Development 248-648-2540 [email protected] SOURCE Penske Automotive Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.penskeautomotive.com Ambassador of Belarus V.Goshin visits Cambodia On May 8 11, 2018 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (concurrently to the Kingdom of Cambodia), Vladimir Goshin, paid a working visit to Cambodia. During the visit, the head of the Belarusian diplomatic mission held negotiations with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia (Co-Chairwoman of the Joint Belarusian-Cambodian Committee for Trade and Economic Cooperation), Tekreth Kamrang, and the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, Ouch Borith. The sides discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral Belarusian-Cambodian cooperation, including cooperation in the international arena, expansion of the bilateral legal framework, measures for strengthening trade, economic, scientific, and humanitarian cooperation. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the agreements reached during the Second Session of the Joint Belarusian-Cambodian Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation, held in Minsk on June 28 29, 2017, and the preparation of high-level visits. print version "This partnership is enabling a crucial shift in the delivery of care, impacting clinical outcomes, where technology supports clinicians to deliver more proactive and timely care to patients across the globe," said Caroline Clarke, CEO ASEAN Pacific, Philips. "Access to highly experienced intensivists and critical care nurses is an ongoing challenge for hospitals internationally, and virtual care solutions, like the eICU program, can help deliver much needed expertise to areas where this is lacking. At Philips, we are proud to play our part in creating connected health solutions that break down barriers within healthcare, to impact both providers and patients." The eICU program allows for near real-time remote patient monitoring and early intervention via advanced audio-visual technology. Smart algorithms can predict deteriorations in health, giving clinicians the ability to communicate with local caregivers via live video link, to continuously monitor patient health, and advise on the best course of treatment from wherever they are located. "The eICU represents the future of globalized critical care, transforming the delivery of care from the bedside in partnership with the Informatics Center to any site where the advanced technology can be implemented, extending beyond the barriers of location and time," said Tim Buchman, Director of the Critical Care Center, Emory Healthcare. "Overnight, when adverse events are most likely to occur for ICU patients, the eICU program allows clinicians to support the Atlanta-based bedside team by recognizing adverse physiology, making critical diagnosis, and intervening as a patient begins to veer off trajectory. We are turning night into day to make the lives of our caregivers as positive as possible while improving care quality and patient outcomes." "The partnership of eRNs and eMDs in the Emory eICU is a primary component of the success of the program," added Cheryl Hiddleson, Director Emory eICU Center. "This is why Emory decided to send one physician and one nurse to Perth, so that collaborative effort is maintained. The goal of the program and its clinicians to ensure quality patient care is also preserved by continuing this model." "As part of our commitment to continually improve patient and carers' experiences within the health care system, we are excited to welcome Dr. Buchman and his Emory Healthcare critical care team located on site," said Liz MacLeod, Chief Executive, East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS). "We both share the same goals and objectives to provide the best patient care possible. Hosting this program at RPH allows us to see first hand how remote ICU monitoring could possibly change the face of acute medicine in the future, by bringing together geographically dispersed teams in different parts of the world." The Philips eICU program has delivered proven success for Emory Healthcare since its implementation four years ago. The program demonstrated that remote ICU monitoring can help to save lives, increase provider satisfaction and drive cost savings through length of stay reduction and inpatient readmission decrease*. The solution is part of a connected, patient-centered care and analytics suite that supports advanced care delivery models both in the hospital and to the home. * Emory achieved over 15 months across its 136 beds at five hospital sites the following: Discharged more patients to home healthcare (+4.9%) rather than nursing homes or long-term care hospitals (-6.9%) Saved an estimated US $4.6M over 15 months (a US $1,486 reduction in average US Medicare spending per patient) Decreased 60-day inpatient readmission (-2.1%) A recently published whitepaper calculating the value of remote ICU monitoring (tele-ICU) can be found here. For further information, please contact: Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group Communications Tel: +1 978-221-8919 Email: [email protected] Janet Christenbury Emory Healthcare Tel: +1-404-727-8599 E-mail: [email protected] Valma Ozich East Metropolitan Health Service Tel: +61 404 894 087 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 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 74,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at https://www.philips.com/newscenter. About Emory Healthcare U.S. based-Emory Healthcare, with more than 17,000 employees and seven hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. Emory Healthcare has $3.3 billion in annual net revenue and provides $73.5 million in charity care. System-wide, it has 2,046 licensed patient beds, over 2,000 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties and serves metro Atlanta with 200 locations. Emory Healthcare is the only health system in Georgia with three Magnet-designated hospitals, Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital, Emory University Hospital and Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital, for nursing excellence. Emory Healthcare's core purpose: "To serve humanity by improving health through integration of education, discovery and health care." For more information, visit www.emoryhealthcare.org. About East Metropolitan Health Service EMHS provides a comprehensive range of health services to more than 680 000 people living within Perth's eastern corridor. This includes the provision of both hospital and community based services within the EMHS catchment area, in addition to state-wide services such as the adult major trauma unit, based at RPH. EMHS consists of: Royal Perth Hospital Armadale Hospital Bentley Hospital Kalamunda Hospital St John of God Midland Public Hospital EMHS population and community health programs www.eastmetropolitan.health.wa.gov.au SOURCE Royal Philips Related Links http://www.philips.com NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free. Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform EXPERT ALERTS Top Trends to Watch out for in 2018 2018 MRI Safety Security Protocols at Mental Health Clinics The Threat of Unauthorized Access to Confidential Data Moms Need Mindfulness Mental Health Month: Healing Loneliness MEDIA JOBS Editor CMO Today (NY) Manager, Datacap Dow Jones Newswires (MA) Freelancers The Nob Hill Gazette (CA) OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES Artificial Intelligence: Raising New Ethics Questions in Media and Journalism Looking for a Little Inspiration? Follow These Photographers on Instagram Blog Profiles: Poetry Blogs ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERT ALERTS: Top Trends to Watch out for in 2018 Dr. Mark Keene Chief Technology Officer Metrasens Dr. Keene shares his prediction for the top trends to watch out for in 2018: "There seems to be a huge upsurge in imaging implanted patients. This will no doubt increase indefinitely. Data and advice for imaging assets to enable this is increasing and will take big leaps forward next year. Implant-present scanning will be conducted by increasing numbers of non-specialist facilities." Dr. Keene is one of the co-founders and the main inventor of the core technology and patents for Metrasens, the world's leading provider of advanced magnetic detection technologies. He is also a magnetic sensing expert with over 30 years' experience. Dr. Keene is an elected fellow of the Institute of Physics for his contributions to science in the area of magnetics sensing, and his innovations have led to international awards from the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Institute of Physics. Website: https://www.metrasens.com Contact: Yvonne Gonzalez, [email protected] 2018 MRI Safety John Posh Director of Education and MRI Safety Officer Metrasens Posh can share his predictions for 2018 MRI safety: "The ACR has re-formed the MRI safety committee and we will likely see an updated 2018 version of the ACR Guidance Document as a result. I believe that the new version will be amendment heavy with stronger language for screening, including the recommendation for increased use of ferromagnetic detection, staffing (maintaining two trained staff at all times), and overall recommendations for MRI safety." Posh is director of education and MRI safety officer at Metrasens, a provider of advanced magnetic detection technologies. He has more than 25 years of clinical and research experience and more than 20 years of MRI safety teaching experience. He also has experience in teaching MRI theory, MRI physics and MRI clinical procedures. His areas of expertise include clinical and research MRI, MRI education, MRI safety consulting, staff assessment and development, imaging facility design and improvement, forensics, paleoforensics, paleopathology, and veterinary imaging. He was also the owner of MRI Safety Specialists, a specialized consulting firm dealing with unique safety aspects of MRI facilities. They helped new sites plan for safe operations, and existing sites improve their safety training and processes. Website: https://www.metrasens.com Contact: Yvonne Gonzalez, [email protected] Security Protocols at Mental Health Clinics Dan Kuzniewski Director of Marketing, Global Security Metrasens "Security protocols at mental health clinics have always been a tightrope walk. Patients should never be made to feel as though they are being imprisoned or have done something wrong, but the clinic should also be able to ensure the safety of everyone inside: Patients, staffers and doctors. A lot of the concerns are, 'How do we address security and safety without having a negative effect on the patient and care for patients?'" Kuzniewski is the director of marketing, global security at Metrasens, a leading provider of advanced magnetic detection technologies. He has 18 years of experience developing marketing strategies for growth-minded organizations in industrial manufacturing, complex electronics and security systems. Prior to joining Metrasens, Kuzniewski held marketing leadership role within Sparton Corporation, growing the organization by 300% through organic growth and acquisitions. Prior to that, he was in marketing leadership for a $2.5 billion division of Tyco International (now Atkore International). Kuzniewski holds a Master's in Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business. Website: https://www.metrasens.com Contact: Yvonne Gonzalez, [email protected] The Threat of Unauthorized Access to Confidential Data Dr. Simon Goodyear Chief Executive Officer Metrasens "The threat of unauthorized physical access to highly secure and confidential data remains high. At the same time, data recording devices are evolving in attempt to circumvent current security measures. It's important to continue to improve physical security systems that are applicable to homeland security, event safety, corrections and mental health facilities. Another key goal is to find ways to continue to improve MRI safety practices in hospitals with the new technologies available to the industry. It begins with educating others on the tools that are accessible and what are the best practices in using them." Dr. Goodyear is one of the co-founders of Metrasens, a provider of advanced magnetic detection technologies. Previously, he had spent 13 years as a senior research scientist at Europe's leading military research agency, QinetiQ. During his five years as the business manager for the Magnetics and Metal Detection team, he pioneered commercialization of military developed technologies. Dr. Goodyear has a number of patents and over 50 scientific papers to his name after working in the fields of superconducting electronics and magnetic detection. Website: https://www.metrasens.com Contact: Yvonne Gonzalez, [email protected] Moms Need Mindfulness Julie Potiker Mindfulness Teacher Mindful Methods for Life "Drop into mindfulness throughout your day, and do it every day. Even the busiest moms can carve out one minute! The more mindfulness you create in your life, the more you will rewire your brain to easily tap into that sense of calm. For example: 1) Brush your teeth mindfully; 2) Drink your morning coffee or tea mindfully; 3) Walk to/from your car mindfully." Potiker, attorney, author and mindfulness expert, began her serious study and investigation of mindfulness after graduating from the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program at the University of California, San Diego. She went on to study with Brene Brown (the Living Brave Semester) and become a graduate of Rick Hanson's Positive Neuroplasticity Training (Professional Course) as well as the Mindful Self-Compassion program created by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. Now, she shares these and other mindfulness techniques with the world through her Mindful Methods for Life trainings and her new book, "Life Falls Apart, but You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos." She holds a B.G.S. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from George Washington University. Book: https://mindfulmethodsforlife.com/mindfulness-book/ Online Press Kit: www.JuliePotiker.OnlinePressKit247.com Website: www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com Contact: Jennifer Thomas, [email protected] Mental Health Month: Healing Loneliness Dr. Bradley Nelson Holistic Physician and Author "1) Make a gratitude list: People suffering from depression tend to focus on the negative things in their lives rather than count their blessings. One of the most important things you can do is to make a list every day of the things in your life that are actually good. It may seem like everything is bad in your life and you don't have any good things going on, but if you think about it, you may. 2) Choose emotions: Most people have this mistaken belief that our emotions choose us, that we are at the mercy of whatever emotions we tend to start feeling. But the reality of it is, no matter what the circumstance, we always choose our own emotions. We choose our own feelings. 3) Learn to release emotional baggage: It's important to realize how dangerous our emotional baggage is. It is the elephant in the living room of Western medicine; the underlying cause of every disease process we suffer from as human beings. 4) Reach out: One of the best ways to overcome loneliness and isolation is to move outside yourself and take action to help others. That takes the focus away from you and enables you to turn that lens around so it is not pointed at you and all your troubles; instead your focus is pointed at somebody else who needs you." Dr. Nelson is a holistic chiropractic physician, a medical intuitive, and one of the world's foremost experts in the emerging fields of bioenergetic medicine and energy psychology. His bestselling book, "The Emotion Code," is helping people all over the world to improve their lives easily and quickly. Users of "The Emotion Code" have found freedom from emotional problems such as depression and anxiety, as well as physical problems including fatigue, pain and disease. A key element of "The Emotion Code" is removing emotional energies that have clustered around the heart, interfering with one's ability to find love and success. Dr. Nelson has coined this cluster of emotions the "Heart-Wall," and it has been called "the most important discovery in the history of energy medicine." He has trained thousands of practitioners worldwide to help people overcome unresolved anger, depression, anxiety, loneliness and other negative emotions and the physical symptoms associated with them. Online Press Kit: http://drbradleynelson.onlinepresskit247.com Websites: www.DrBradleyNelson.com and www.EmotionCodeGift.com Contact: Jennifer Thomas, [email protected] **************** MEDIA JOBS: Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/ Editor CMO Today (NY) Manager, Datacap Dow Jones Newswires (MA) Freelancers The Nob Hill Gazette (CA) ***************** OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES: Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected] ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: RAISING NEW ETHICS QUESTIONS IN MEDIA AND JOURNALISM. The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in our daily use of artificial intelligence, with AI systems being used in leading newsrooms around the world. But with new possibilities come questions regarding ethical use of AI in newsrooms and the factors that should be considered when judging the moral application of AI in today's news. We recently examined the emerging ethics surrounding AI use in journalism as media professionals face new challenges never before met in the modern newsroom: https://prn.to/2rzsm8K LOOKING FOR A LITTLE INSPIRATION? FOLLOW THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS ON INSTAGRAM. Scrolling through Instagram has become routine for many people. You wake up, brush your teeth, and check out the fun photos your friends have posted. The app also serves as a great platform for journalists, particularly photojournalists. Photographers can use Instagram to help get their name out there and follow other photographers and artists. Here are some of the ones we dug into that make it look so easy: https://prn.to/2jIzHhW BLOG PROFILES: POETRY BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few poetry blogs: https://prn.to/2I1bd2j **************** PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1 SOURCE ProfNet Related Links http://www.profnet.com Saje Natural Wellness has been a pioneer in the natural healing landscape for over 25 years, offering plant-based essential oil blends, body care, home environment and aromatherapy products to wellness seekers across North America. Saje Baby is the latest addition to their line of over 500 natural products, all free from harmful synthetics and artificial fragrances. "Our skin absorbs everything we put on it the good and the bad," shares Saje Natural Wellness CEO, Kate Ross LeBlanc and mother herself. "With baby's sensitive systems absorbing ingredients even more quickly than adults, we believe it's never too early to start your little ones on a path to wellness. Saje celebrates the opportunity to combine scientific facts with product solutions that support 100% natural starting with our youngest community members." The journey to motherhood is filled with questions about what's safe and effective, so Saje made it simple. The Baby line offers six, safe and natural products to support wellness throughout the pregnancy journey. Like all Saje Natural Wellness products, the Saje Baby line is: 100% natural Non-Toxic and Hypoallergenic Eco-friendly Saje's baby and maternity care product line will be available at www.saje.com and Saje Natural Wellness locations beginning May 11, 2018. About Saje Natural Wellness Saje Natural Wellness connects people with the healing power of plants. Saje's 100% natural essential oil blends, body care, and home environment products are sustainably sourced from nature's most beneficial plants. Since 1992, Saje has passionately helped people navigate common health challenges and supported their well-being with products free of parabens, petrochemicals, synthetic colors, and fragrances. Saje was founded in Vancouver, BC by husband and wife team, Jean-Pierre LeBlanc and Kate Ross LeBlanc, and has grown to more than 70 experience-based locations across North America. Connect with their growing community at saje.com, @SajeWellness and @SpreadWellness. Media Contact Lauren DePaso, Nike Communications [email protected] | 646-654-3472 SOURCE Saje Natural Wellness Related Links https://www.saje.com CLEVELAND, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) will webcast its Financial Community Presentation from The Langham hotel in Boston on May 22, 2018. This year's meeting will focus on growth opportunities, progress on integrating the Valspar acquisition, multi-year financial outlook and projections, debt structure and leverage targets and more. Scheduled presenters include Chairman, President and CEO John Morikis, Chief Financial Officer, Allen Mistysyn and additional senior leadership. Presentations are scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. EDT. The audio portion of the presentations will be webcast simultaneously with accompanying slides at https://investors.sherwin-williams.com/press/. To access the webcast, open the Sherwin-Williams Press Releases page and click on the webcast icon referencing this May 11 release. An archived replay will be available on the Sherwin-Williams Press Releases page until June 22, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Copies of the Financial Community Presentation slides will be available on May 22 at Sherwin-Williams.com on the Sherwin-Williams 2018 Financial Community Presentation link. Investor Relations Contact: Bob Wells Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.566.2244 [email protected] Media Contact: Mike Conway Director, Corporate Communications Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.515.4393 Pager: 216.422.3751 [email protected] SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company Related Links http://www.sherwin.com MANCHESTER, England, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Readers can download the free, printable, party planner's pack and raise money for the royal charities Size-inclusive fashion brand Simply Be have created a free, printable party pack to unite people across the USA and beyond. It has everything needed to celebrate the upcoming royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in true British style, while raising money for the royal charities. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690345/simply_be_Logo.jpg ) Readers can download the free party pack with no log in required. It includes: Royal invitations for guests Poster Recipes for a royal lemon and elderflower cake and traditional English breakfast Royal party planner checklist Royal wedding viewing bingo Royal quiz Flags and decorative discs The downloads and party tips are here https://simplyme-blog.com/2018/04/30/host-a-royal-wedding-viewing-party-and-raise-money-for-charity-simplyberoyal/ Royal wedding party planners can raise money for the seven charities the happy couple are supporting or any charity close to their hearts. Simply Be hopes to get everyone celebrating together and sharing their events on social media using the hashtag #SimplyBeRoyal. This party follows the rebrand of British brand Simply Be for the USA market, and the launch of the new bridal range from Simply Be, modelled by Meghan Markle look-a-like Erica Lauren. About Simply Be Simply Be was founded in 1999 and caters to an audience of women aged 18-35 in a size range spanning U.S. size 6-32. Simply Be recently rebranded for the U.S. market. The brand ships to the U.K., Ireland, U.S. and will be opening in Australia and South Africa later to 2018. It is stocked by ASOS and Zalando. Media Contact Natalie Wright Digital PR Specialist [email protected] SOURCE Simply Be SINGAPORE, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singapore Media Festival (SMF) returns for its fifth edition from 29 November to 9 December 2018. This year's festival will not only continue to celebrate the best in Asian storytelling, but also nurture the region's media talent in their journeys to achieve global creative excellence. Industry players from around the world can look forward to a more vibrant marketplace and bigger celebration of the region's best content and media talent. Hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), the SMF is Southeast Asia's leading international media event, and comprises established constituent events including the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), ScreenSingapore and IMDA-led SMF Ignite. Robert Gilby, Chairman of the SMF Advisory Board said, "The SMF has experienced year-on-year growth alongside the region's media industry, offering different experiences and perspectives from a diverse pool of storytellers. Over its past four editions, the festival has crossed the US$1 billion mark in deals and partnerships, proving SMF's importance in facilitating collaborations." He added, "This year's festival continues its celebration of Asian storytelling, but with a stronger focus on digitalisation, being the key connector for regional talent and the rest of the world, as well as building and transferring of capabilities from industry thought leaders to new talent. Bringing the industry together at SMF provides an abundance of creative and commercial opportunities powered by innovative stories that embrace new technologies." In 2017, the fourth edition of the SMF concluded with a gathering of over 20,000 media and creative professionals. The SGIFF wrapped up a successful 28th edition with a record-breaking attendance of more than 14,000 festival-goers from Singapore and across the region, and showcased a total of 112 feature and short films from 42 countries, with 31 sold-out screenings of local and international films -- the highest since SGIFF returned in 2014. 2017's ATF and ScreenSingapore saw a record-breaking performance over the three-day market, from show attendance to sales transactions on the market floor. The market was attended by over 5,400 delegates from 54 countries, and US$289 million worth of deals and partnerships were estimated to have been facilitated during the market. Spotlight on The Philippines as SMF's Country of Focus for 2018 The SMF introduced its first Country-of-Focus in 2017 -- Indonesia, as a way to showcase the quality and variety of creativity originating from that country, and to explore more collaborations between Indonesia, Singapore and the region. This year, the Philippines has been chosen as the Country-of-Focus, highlighting the country's rich stories, talents and achievements across the SMF's various constituent events. Liza Dino, Chairperson and CEO, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) shared, "It is an incredible honour for us to be the Country of Focus at this year's SMF, as it allows us to strengthen our partnership with Singapore and the IMDA to build a bridge between Philippine and Singapore Cinema and foster more productive collaborations between the two countries. It is also a special milestone for us as we are celebrating the One Hundred Years of Philippine Cinema. We believe that the next big thing for our Cinema is to go global and SMF is certainly a great platform where we may be able to connect more of our Filipino filmmakers with partners and supporters in the further development of quality stories and content that we can share with the world." Premiere of a Singapore Film Commission (SFC) documentary at SMF This year's SMF will also see the premiere of a documentary commissioned by the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), detailing its milestones and vision in celebration of its 20th year anniversary. Established on 15 April 1998, the SFC has played a pivotal role in the production of Singapore films and the development of a film industry in Singapore through nurturing, supporting and promoting local talent in filmmaking. Over the years, SFC supported more than 600 short films, scripts, feature films, as well as film-related events in Singapore that showcase home-grown talent and works, which have also gained recognition with international audiences and garnered awards. The SFC will also hold a series of outdoor screenings of iconic local films in the second half of the year as part of its 20th Anniversary celebrations. Director, Singapore Film Commission (SFC), Joachim Ng, said: "As the SFC celebrates its 20th anniversary and reflects on its accomplishments, we are also charting the future direction for the film commission. We will enhance our support for Singapore film talents and companies to strengthen their storytelling capabilities, harness distribution of their content onto new digital platforms, and facilitate regional opportunities for filmmakers." Representatives from the Singapore Film Commission will be present at the Cannes Film Market. To speak to a representative from the Singapore Film Commission or learn more about Singapore films, visit the Singapore booth at Village International 115. www.sgmediafestival.com | #SGMediaFest About Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore's digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore's ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore's data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission. For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook and Twitter @IMDAsg. About the Singapore Media Festival (SMF) The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority, is set to become one of Asia's leading international media events, where the industry meets to discover the latest trends, talents and content in Asia for Film, TV and digital media. Taking place from 29 November to 9 December 2018, the Singapore Media Festival brings together established media events such as the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore and SMF Ignite. For more information about the Singapore Media Festival, please visit www.sgmediafestival.com. SMF Ignite A keystone digital event of the Singapore Media Festival, SMF Ignite gathers emerging media content creators in Singapore and around the region to learn, network, create and collaborate. Organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in collaboration with partners from the digital and media industries, the annual event spotlights digital trends and new opportunities for the Asian storyteller. Through interactive workshops and conferences, SMF Ignite sparks a vibrant ecosystem of creators and businesses who can stand at the forefront of innovative storytelling. SOURCE Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) Related Links http://www.sgmediafestival.com DALLAS, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co.'s (NYSE: LUV) frequent flyer program, Rapid Rewards, held onto its title of Best Customer Service for the sixth consecutive year at InsideFlyer Magazine's Freddie Awards. Rapid Rewards was also named Program of the Year for the third in a row. "Once again, we're honored to see the appeal of Rapid Rewards reflected in our Members' Freddie Awards votes," said Jonathan Clarkson, Southwest's Senior Director of Loyalty, Partnerships, & Products. "The satisfaction of our Customers is a key consideration for any decision we make here at Southwest. Our Loyalty program is designed to provide Members with flexibility, plenty of award seat availability and places to travel to, and the best overall service to fit their travel needs. Those are the elements that our Members value most, and that is what we'll continue to deliver." The Rapid Rewards program gives Members the chance to use points to book revenue flights. Through the More Rewards online portal, Members can use their points for a number of purchases such as hotel stays, gift cards and car rentals. This year, Rapid Rewards received six Freddie awards, including Program of the Year, Best Customer Service, Best Loyalty Credit Card, Best Airline Redemption Ability, Best Elite Program, and Best Promotion. Introduced in 1988, the Freddie Awards give voice to the frequent flyer and honors the most respected travel loyalty programs in the world. This year's voting opened on February 15, 2018, and ended March 31, 2018. InsideFlyer Magazine's 30th annual Freddie Awards were held April 26, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. Visit Rapid Rewards for information on the program and the latest offers. ABOUT RAPID REWARDS Originally launched in 1987, Rapid Rewards Members who once earned credits now earn points through qualifying purchases with Southwest Partners. Members can redeem their points for every seat, every day, on every flight with absolutely no blackout dates or seat restrictions, and points won't expire as long as Members have flight-earning or partner-earning activity at least once every 24 months. Points are earned for every dollar spent on Southwest flights, and the amount of points earned is based on the fare and fare product purchased. The number of Rapid Rewards Points that are needed to redeem for flights varies based on factors such as destination, time, day of travel, and availability. Rapid Rewards Points are also earned through spending on the Rapid Reward Chase Visa Card. Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers can redeem their points for expanded international travel, gift cards, hotels, car rentals, merchandise, and more. Learn more about the program by visiting the Rapid Rewards web site. ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. In its 47th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 57,000 Employees to a Customer base topping 120 million passengers annually, in recent years. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. During peak travel seasons, Southwest operates more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 100 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. Southwest has announced its intention to sell tickets in 2018 for service to Hawaii, subject to requisite governmental approvals. Southwest coined Transfarency to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. As launch customer of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 in North America, the Company operates the largest fleet in the world of Boeing aircraft, all of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi. Customers who connect to the WiFi network may use their personal devices to view on-demand movies and television shows, as well as nearly 20 channels of free, live TV. With a bold new look first unveiled in 2014, Southwest is progressing through a multi-year refresh of its fleet to showcase the carrier's Heart: a new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring new seats, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience, all of which showcase a dedication of Southwest Employees to connect Customers with what's important in their lives. From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic wherever the carrier serves. With 45 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest Airlines or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA. SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links https://www.southwest.com SAN RAMON, Calif., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As summer approaches, a lot of people are beginning the yearly cycle of worrying over a beach body and being summer ready. But health and fitness are year-round issues to keep in mind. Physical health does not always mean having the best-looking abs or having slender and toned legs. Each person has a different meaning of what it means to be healthy for them and their body, and that's a good thing. Financial Education Benefits Center (FEBC), a membership benefits company, that offers health and financial resources, greatly encourages people to take the time to figure out what is best for them and their body. But being healthy in different ways doesn't mean people have to go about exercising by themselves. Sometimes, having an exercise buddy can relieve some of the pressure of having to go to the gym. When there is someone to enjoy the company of most tasks seem more enjoyable, or people can get motivated with accountability by telling themselves if they don't go, their gym buddy probably won't go either. Whatever individuals and their buddies do to get to the gym, they'll be glad to have someone to share the experience with. "I think most people have had days where the last thing on their mind was going out to exercise, but if their friend had been looking forward to going, it can make people step up into action," said Jennifer Martinez, manager at FEBC. Another option is to skip the gym entirely, and go outside and do simpler exercises together. Hiking some local nature trails, going swimming at the neighborhood pool or even just taking a walk around the neighborhood are all fantastic options to stay fit and healthy. However, there are a lot of benefits to going to a gym that the great outdoors doesn't have; plus gyms have different types of workouts available. Some people prefer the gym because it can have the luxury of air conditioning, but many gyms also have personal trainers at the ready to show gym-goers how to properly and safely use their machines. Whatever is the right way to exercise for someone though, having a buddy really can help lessen some of the boredom that is associated with trying to get physically in shape. FEBC fully supports a healthy lifestyle, whatever that is to the individual, and even offers fitness discounts to make it just that more tempting to go out and live the best life, all year round. "A New Year's fitness resolution can happen in May, there's no shame in it. As long as you're taking care of yourself, that is what is the most important," said Martinez. About Financial Education Benefits Center Financial Education Benefits Center is located in San Ramon, California. The membership company has already helped thousands save money and obtain the necessary education required to live a financially healthy life. Financial Education Benefits Center has partnered with several name brand third-party companies to expand the financial and educational products and services available to its members and to provide a variety of wellness services as well. Financial Education Benefits Center Newsroom Contact To learn more about Financial Education Benefits Center, please contact: Financial Education Benefits Center 2010 Crow Canyon Place Ste. 100 San Ramon, CA 94583 1-800-953-1388 [email protected] Related Images exercise-and-fitness.jpg Exercise and Fitness Bigstock.com image2.png Related Links FEBC homepage SOURCE Financial Education Benefits Center Related Links http://febcp.com JERUSALEM, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 14th, 2018, the United States will officially open their new Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Since President Donald J. Trump historically recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, supporters of Israel started planning celebratory events. The Friends of Zion Museum has launched an extensive campaign commemorating President Trump and the State of Israel with 150 Billboards buses. Its previous campaigns have included welcoming President Trump and Vice President Pence when they each visited the State of Israel, with similar extensive initiatives. Friends of Zion around the world, celebrate the dedication of US Embassy in Jerusalem The Friends of Zion Museum and Heritage Center will be holding a gala dinner celebrating the historic move. The event will feature Secretary Steven Mnuchin, United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Special Representative for International Negotiations, and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. The Friends of Zion has previously presented the Friends of Zion Award, which is given to world leaders whom have gone "above and beyond" for the State of Israel. Previous FOZ Award recipients have included: 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump, 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush, and most recently, 50th President of Guatemala Jimmy Morales. Friends of Zion is giving its award to all world leaders who move their embassies to Jerusalem. The Friends of Zion Heritage Center has 40 million members globally. It is building Israel's first Christians Zionist Communication center, research institute, think tank and Ambassador Institute to educate Christian Zionists supports worldwide. Dr. Mike Evans is the Founder of the Friends of Zion Museum and a #1 New York Times bestseller with 83 published books. Friends of Zion Museum, 20 Yosef Rivlin Street, Jerusalem. A reservation is recommended for museum visits. Website: www.fozmuseum.com, email: [email protected] , or phone: +972-2-532-9400. SOURCE Friends of Zion Museum Related Links http://www.fozmuseum.com/ BOSTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TimeTrade, the leader in omni-channel intelligent appointment scheduling, today pointed to the recently unveiled Google Duplex as the "advent of an appointment-driven economy" an entirely new way to let customers discover and book personalized appointments and classes with leading businesses. In his keynote at the Google I/O 2018 Conference in Mountain View on Tuesday, CEO Sundar Pichai ran a demo of Google Assistant that stunned the audience by making an actual phone call and booking a hair appointment with a human receptionist using a digital voice powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The demo featured a new Google Assistant feature called Google Duplex that the company will launch on a limited basis this summer. Google's newest technology represents the latest perhaps most ambitious push to take AI to the next level of scheduling. Over the past year, TimeTrade has been working with Google as it launched the "Reserve with Google" program to let consumers make appointments with businesses right in the Google Maps search window. Gary Ambrosino, CEO of TimeTrade, issued the following statement in response to intelligent appointment scheduling serving as the use case for Sundar Pichai's demo of the new Google Duplex feature: "This is a crossing-the-Rubicon moment. Incorporating Duplex within Google Assistant means self-service scheduling is going to the next level, bringing appointment booking into the mainstream. The idea that you can schedule an appointment and book something is fast becoming an indigenous part of the search process. Duplex reinforces the new reality that intelligent appointment scheduling is like Google itself about more than just search. It is a seminal part of conducting commerce in today's economy. Make no mistake: Intelligent appointment scheduling is a hot category: that's the business we're in. Google has now shown us a very powerful on-ramp, more than search alone, to get the appointments we need to run our lives efficiently. This is a new era the era of intelligent appointment scheduling." To learn more about TimeTrade's intelligent appointment scheduling solution, please click here. To learn more about the TimeTrade Voice capabilities, please click here. About TimeTrade TimeTrade helps leading brands optimize engagement through all phases of the customer relationship. TimeTrade's intelligent appointment scheduling platform harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to improve meeting scheduling strategies through real-time customer insights and actions, producing better meetings and higher growth businesses, with TimeTrade customers outpacing their peers by nearly 3X. Tens of thousands of businesses including leading global banks, retailers, and software companies use TimeTrade's Appointments-as-a-Service platform to deliver the personalized attention expected by today's on-demand consumers. CONTACT: Jay Staunton | [email protected] | Voice 781-790-6023 SOURCE TimeTrade Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko visits Italy 11-05-2018 On May 9-11, 2018 the Belarusian delegation headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Oleg Kravchenko, paid a visit to the Italian Republic. The delegation participated in the international conference The Reverse Flow of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs): Challenges for the OSCE Area and Beyond. The representative expert forum promoted by the current Italy's Chairmanship of the OSCE was focused on questions of returning of foreign terrorist fighters in countries of origin or their relocation within the OSCE region, strengthening border security and information sharing, rehabilitation and reintegration of former FTFs into civil society, countering radicalization and extremism ideology. The Belarusian delegation consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Committee for State Security and the Embassy of Belarus in Italy. The Head of the delegation and the experts delivered speeches at the opening and the plenary session of the conference, as well as at thematic sections, including the special event Countering terrorist ideology in the context of threats posed by FTFs organized by the Russian Federation. On the margins of the conference, the Deputy Foreign Minister held meetings and exchanged views with a number of Heads of national delegations, as well as with the Director of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General, Paul Bekkers. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko meets the President of the Italian Society for International Organizations F.Frattini During the visit, O.Kravchenko also held meetings with the President of the Italian Export Credit Agency SACE, Beniamino Quintieri, the President of the Italian Society for International Organizations and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Franco Frattini, the Fraction Leader of Lega party in the Italian Senate, Gian Marco Centinaio, the Member of the Italian Parliament (Movimento 5 Stelle party) and the Deputy President of the Interparliamentary Group Italy-Belarus of the previous convocation, Vito Rosario Petrocelli. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko meets the Fraction Leader of Lega party in the Italian Senate G.M. Centinaio Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko meets the Deputy President of the Interparliamentary Group Italy-Belarus of the previous convocation V.R. Petrocelli On the same day, Rome hosted consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Italy at the level of Heads of territorial departments (Andrei Bushilo and Guido De Sanctis). During the meetings, the sides discussed issues of political dialogue, development of bilateral economic relations and investment cooperation, prospects for expanding inter-parliamentary contacts, including the coordination of joint plans for the future. print version DUBLIN, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "An Introduction to Pharmaceutical Packaging" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Gain a Comprehensive Overview of This Specialised Area This course provides a good basic grounding and appreciation of what is required for the packaging of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. It is ideal for newcomers and a good refresher for those with more experience Introduction NEW for 2017 Pharmaceutical packaging is a very specialised area with its own unique issues and problems. This course will provide delegates with a good basic grounding and appreciation of what is required for the packaging of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. Whether you are new to the industry, have a basic understanding or are familiar with the area, this course will provide you with useful knowledge and insights from an expert who has worked in the industry for over 25 years. Benefits of attending: Gain a solid overview of packaging component and material selection Learn key properties of various packaging materials/systems Appreciate pack testing and evaluation Better understand packaging component specifications Hear about printing processes and controls Gain knowledge on artwork generation and control Comply with the regulatory requirements Learn about transit packaging Consider trade/supply chain requirements Who Should Attend: Account managers Artwork producers Auditors Business developers Clinical trial suppliers Logistics personnel Packaging design/Labelling personnel Project managers Purchasers Quality assurance and control personnel Regulatory personnel Suppliers to the industry Technical writers Agenda: New Product Development (NPD) and role of packaging Definition of packaging in a pharmaceutical context Packaging in the pharmaceutical NPD process Main packaging formats and materials - Quick overview Key product requirements and characteristics Consumer Shelf life Regulatory considerations Marketing expectations Regulatory and GMP requirements Key packaging data for the MA/ Dossier Common Technical Document Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) Pack testing and evaluation Proving compatibility and ICH testing Extractables and leachables Extraction, migration and sorption studies Key properties of various packaging materials/systems Primary packaging: Glass, plastics, metal - bottles, closures, blisters, manufacture, benefits, potential issues and testing Laminates, tubes, aerosols - manufacture, benefits, potential issues and testing *Key properties of various packaging materials/systems (continued) Secondary packaging: Pharmaceutical labelling - labels, leaflets (PILs), cartons Tertiary /Trade/ Transit Packaging: Top-line overview - corrugated and retail packaging Materials, printing and supply chain issues Main barriers and benefits of various packaging materials Key drivers for the pack performance Supply chain implications on the packs Specifications Environment Considerations of risk Artwork generation and control Establishing processes suitable to your business needs: Wording Templates Creation Workflow Version control and authorisation Some special requirements for packaging Medical devices - Briefly: Categories CE Marking Requirements Child Resistant Closures Tamper-Evidence Braille Readability Patient compliance Barcoding Security and combating counterfeiting Emerging requirements (e.g. 2D Data Matrix barcodes and serialisation) Trade/supply chain requirements Understanding the various markets and their particular requirements Understanding trade requirements - e.g. Barcodes, Tamper Evidence etc. Emerging pharmaceutical legislation DQSA - Drug Quality and Security Act Falsified Medicines Directive Other markets For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/knxjgp/two_day?w=5 Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Univar Inc. (NYSE: UNVR) ("Univar"), a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services announced today the expansion of their agreement with BASF to include the Care Chemicals business for the U.S. Home, Industrial & Institutional, as well as Vehicle Care product lines. As a leading supplier in North America, and with dedicated technical experts to help customers overcome their formulation and application challenges, Univar serves as a trusted advisor to customers in the Household & Industrial Cleaning (HIC) segment. BASF's Care Chemicals business offers a broad portfolio of products for the hygiene, personal care, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, as well as technical applications. Additionally, BASF's leading position in the HIC market coupled with Univar's breadth of technical services, global network reach, and industry leading digital commerce platform, provides unmatched support for customer formulation needs. "This expanded agreement means Univar customers will enjoy access to the complete range of HIC products within BASF's portfolio, while also enjoying the support of our dedicated HIC labs across the country and technical experts with excellent formulation competency. We continue to assess market needs so that we can offer our customers products and services designed to help them overcome challenges," said Aaron Lee, Univar's director of surfactants, chelants and HIC. "Customers will also continue to benefit from our digital market leadership through the MyUnivar.com platform with its 24/7 access from any device, document downloads, two-click reordering, and Univar's entire catalog at their fingertips. By serving this market with these product lines, we will help customers stay ahead of industry trends like "Safer Choice," which will continue to gain popularity as millennials' buying power increases, and as regulations like REACH continue to expand," said Brian Jurcak, Univar's vice president of product management. Leading home care brands will benefit from an extensive list of Univar product lines including: Pluronic T-Maz Glucopon Trilon Lutensol Texapon Plurafac Disponil About Univar Founded in 1924, Univar (NYSE: UNVR) is a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, working with leading suppliers worldwide. Supported by a comprehensive team of sales and technical professionals with deep specialty and market expertise, Univar operates hundreds of distribution facilities throughout North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Univar delivers tailored customer solutions through a broad product and services portfolio sustained by one of the most extensive industry distribution networks in the world. For more information, visit www.univar.com. About BASF Corporation BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 18,200 employees in North America, and had sales of $17.9 billion in 2017. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit www.basf.com. For more information about BASF's Care Chemicals Division visit www.care-chemicals.basf.com. About BASF At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of 64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com. SOURCE Univar Inc. Related Links http://www.univar.com WASHINGTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan sent a powerful message in defense of Latin America's democratic order and condemned the government of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, during the 48th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, co-organized Tuesday, May 8 by the Council of the Americas and the U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Haley warned about the increased risks that stem from the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. "As long as Maduro keeps the stores empty, the streets dangerous, and the government unaccountable, Venezuelans will not return home. And instability in the region will grow," she said, calling for a continued regional effort to isolate the Maduro regime. "For the safety and security of all the peoples of Latin America, it is time for Maduro to go," said the ambassador. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan emphasized the need for Venezuela to return to the democratic order. "We join the democratic nations of the world in standing by the Venezuelan people as they seek the stable and prosperous democracy they deserve," he said and announced the approval of $18.5 million in assistance for Colombia's efforts to address the influx of Venezuelan refugees. Deputy Secretary Sullivan also remarked on the threat that corruption poses to the stability of democratic institutions. Prominent U.S. and hemispheric officials and congressional leaders spoke at the conference. "Collectively, we can build the most open and transparent commercial environment in the world," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. "From a hemispheric perspective, we must work together to build economies based on high value-added goods and services. These higher value-added products provide better-paying jobs, and are more beneficial to local economies." U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry stressed that there should not have to be a tradeoff between environmental protection and economic development: "When nations embrace innovation over regulation, they can do both economic growth and environmental protection." Senator Bob Menendez cautioned about the consequences of weak governance systems and announced the introduction of comprehensive legislation expanding the U.S. response to the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis: "Good democratic governance fosters economic growth by encouraging a positive business climateone that respects property rights, enforces contracts, curbs government malfeasance, prevents corruption and promotes citizen security. Simply put: good governance is good for business." Senator Marco Rubio applauded the unprecedented regional response on Venezuela and described what further steps might be helpful. "We should, number one, be focused on humanitarian assistance, and not just to those who fled Venezuela but we should also try to open channels in Venezuela," he said. "We need to begin thinking about helping rebuild Venezuela. I called it a sort-of Marshall Plan for Venezuela." Other speakers included U.S. Senator Benjamin Sasse; U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass; U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney; U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Francisco Palmieri; Brazilian Ministry of Finance Secretary for International Affairs Marcello Estevao; International Finance Corporation CEO Philippe Le Houerou; AS/COA Chairman Emeritus John Negroponte; AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal; and AS/COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth. Press: [email protected] | 1-212-277-8384 | 1-212-277-8333. More information: www.as-coa.org/2018wca. Council of the Americas is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation. SOURCE Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) EXPERT OBSERVATION The fall in housing finance in March is not surprising, given that we already knew that March was a weak month for the housing market. We will continue to watch developments in the availability of credit very closely. Any further tightening in credit conditions could imply further weakness in the housing market, and would challenge our current view of mild house price growth by the end of the year. Click here to enlarge. The value of Australian housing finance commitments fell heavily in March, with the investor segment driving the decline at -9% m/m. This is the weakest monthly result for investor borrowing since September 2015, when APRAs macroprudential policy limiting lending to investors was in full effect. Click here to enlarge. On the previous occasion, the owner-occupier segment offset much of the investor weakness, but that was not the case in March. Click here to enlarge. The drop in investor borrowing means that investors only accounted for 42% of transactions nationwide the lowest level since 2012. While this result predates APRAs recent decision to remove the 10% speed limit on investor borrowing, it is hard to see a re-acceleration in the investor segment with sentiment clearly subdued. Having said that, recent announcements from several banks have seen some cuts to investor mortgage rates, which could help ensure such a sharp drop in borrowing is not repeated. Click here to enlarge. Elsewhere, the finance for new dwellings has started to trend lower, which suggests that the recent rise in building approvals will soon run out of steam. This wont affect our construction outlook though, as a large backlog of work will still support activity this year. Finally, it looks like the flood of first home buyers, driven by New South Wales and Victorian stamp duty discounts, is past the peak. Daniel Gradwell is a senior economist at ANZ. Victorian developments have done well at a national property awards ceremony. The 2018 Property Council of Australia / Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation & Excellence Awards bestowed honours upon the refurbishment of the former Caulfield Rifle Range and the Caribbean Park business park. The Hill PDA Award for Government Leadership was presented to VicTrack for its redevelopment of the Bang Bang Rifle Club at 294 Glenhuntly Road in Elsternwick (pictured above). The former rifle range building, which had laid vacant for 15 years, presented a range of development challenges including legacy contamination and heritage protections, says the Property Councils Chief Executive, Ken Morrison. In association with Glen Eira City Council, VicTrack integrated the restored building into Elsternwick Station plaza and the club is now a Indochine-inspired cafe and bar. By collaborating with the private sector and local government, VicTrack has transformed an underused heritage asset into a high-quality retail offering with broader community benefits, Morrison says. Caribbean Park (pictured below), owned by the Caribbean Group, took home the LJ Hooker Commercial Award for Best Business or Industrial Park. In Melbournes south-east, the site encompasses industrial, logistics and commercial spaces overlooking a 15-hectare lake. Caribbean Group has held the land since 1942. The open spaces and water vistas overlooking Lake Caribbean create a unique setting for business, says RLBs Managing Director NSW, Matthew Harris. Under a comprehensive masterplan, 40 three-to-five storey office towers are in the pipeline, which will ultimately provide more than 230,000 square metrs of office space. Incorporating a fresh produce market, Wi-Fi enabled parkland and transport connectivity, the latest phase of Caribbean Park is innovative, adaptable and sustainable, Harris says. EXPERT OBSERVATION After holding relatively steady through most of 2017 and early 2018, Australian housing finance approvals showed a notable pull back in the March month. The total number of owner occupier approvals declined 2.2% to be down 3.5%yr below market expectations of a 1.5% fall but a touch better than industry figures that had pointed to a 3% decline. The real weakness was around the value of investor approvals which dropped 9%mth to be down 16.1%yr. Estimates of investor approvals ex refi are down over 26%yr and just over 30% vs their 2016 peak. That puts the 2017-18 slowdown on a par with that seen in response to the macro-prudential tightening in 2015-16. Combined, the total value of approvals ex refi fell 4.6%mth to be down 6%yr. The detail on owner-occupiers showed a broad based decline. The number of owner occupier construction approvals fell 4.4%mth to be down 4.3% on a year ago and 11% over the last two months alone. The number of owner occupier approvals for the purchase of newly built dwellings declined 1.4%mth but is still up over 5% on a year ago. The number of approvals to first home buyers (FHBs) fell 4.6%mth but is still up 25%yr due to strong demand in NSW and Vic where state governments have increased assistance for first time buyers. The decline suggests the peak of this boost is starting to cycle through. The state data showed owner occupier approvals ex refi down in most major states, the biggest fall in SA (9%mth) with more modest declines in NSW (2.6%), Vic (1.6%) and Qld (1.1%). WA (1.2%) and Tas (+1.5%) recorded slight gains. Owner occupier finance approvals ex refi are down on a year ago basis for every major state except Vic (2.8%). Other, more recent, housing data suggests there has been a slight further softening in auction markets in April-May with price growth continuing to slow, in Melbourne in particular. Overall, the March update points to a renewed weakening in demand. More slippage looks likely near term as lenders tighten loan criteria and borrowing capacity assessments with more stringent assessments also potentially slowing loan processing times. Notably, the average value of owner occupier loans rose in the month and over the year to March, suggesting the softening in approvals to date does not reflect a tightening in borrowing capacity (although this may have been a factor in the investor loan decline). To read the full report, click here. Matthew Hassan is senior economist with Westpac. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. Ambassador of Belarus A.Grinkevich meets the State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Romania 11-05-2018 On May 10, 2018 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Romania, Andrei Grinkevich, met with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Danut Neculaescu. During the meeting, the parties discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation including preparation of the next round of consultations between the foreign ministries of Belarus and Romania, as well as further development of the political dialogue. Special attention was paid to the interaction on the international arena in context of the upcoming Romanias presidency in the Council of the European Union and the countrys intention to become one of the next non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. print version Carrie Arcos vividly depicts the horrors of the 1990s Bosnian conflict in her new novel, We Are All Thats Left, which parallels the harrowing ordeal of 17-year-old Nadja with a trauma her daughter experiences 25 years later. PW spoke with Arcos about her inspiration for the novel, the process of writing it, and her impressions of Bosnia today. In the 1990s, you worked with Bosnian refugees in America. Can you talk about your experience and how it influenced the creation of your book? In the fall of 1995 until the fall of 1996, I was with AmeriCorps, a program that was basically a domestic peace program under Clinton. I was placed with Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Services in Somerville, Mass. I had all kinds of duties there, but one of my main ones was helping immigrants get resettled. I worked with a team finding apartments, getting furniture, enrolling kids in school and doing follow-up visits at the schools. I also taught classes in English as a second language and citizenship. There were immigrants from all over, but at the time we had a large influx of Bosnians. Working with the Bosnians had a huge effect on me. Id been really naive, having spent the last four years at a small New England college kind of tucked away from the world. Id heard about the Bosnian conflict but I hadnt known about the genocide. When I started meeting the families and hearing their stories, I just couldnt believe it. There were quite a few refugees my age, and I kept thinking, Theyre no different from me, and I kept wondering what it would be like if something like that happened to me. Did you know right then you wanted to write a book about the Bosnian conflict? I didnt know right then because I wasnt pursuing writing yet. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It wasnt until years later when I began writing seriously, that the idea for the book started percolating. I kept circling around it. Then, in the summer of 2014 I was offered a writing residency at Hedgebrook [a retreat for women writers near Seattle], and it was there that the story began germinating. At dinner one night, the other writers and I were talking about the difficulty in relationships between mothers and daughters. Fortunately, I have a very good relationship with my own mother, but many people I know dont. I started thinking about my book as a mother-daughter story, making a connection between what happens to each of them during their 17th year. Aha! Thats my structure. I thought. Are the main characters of your book based on people you have met or did they spring solely from your imagination? Id say its kind of a combination. Nadja [the mother] is loosely based on a woman I knew, at least in terms of her appearance. Was this woman, like the mother in your story, reluctant to talk about the horrors of her past? She told me some things, but not much. At the time it was still so raw. It was difficult for people to talk about specifics. They would talk about the general situation in Bosnia but werent very forthcoming about personal things. I had to learn the personal stories through my research. What kind of research did you do? I saw a lot of movies. I read books, especially journalistic accounts and first-person accounts. I got a lot of information from YouTube, too. There are so many clips of the war there. For example, I could see what it was actually like in hospitals back then. The Bosnian settings of the book are very vividly painted. Have you visited these places? If so, what impressions did they leave? After doing my research I went to Bosnia with my husband. The plane flew into Sarajevo, and the first thing we noticed going from the airport into the city was how fresh the war still was. There were bullet holes in buildings. There were these big craters in the streets left from bombs and shrapnel, which people had painted red to memorialize. They were called Sarajevo roses. The people in Bosnia were exactly as I thought theyd be, hospitable and warm. While we were in Sarajevo, we met this amazing couple through our Airbnb. When I was talking to the husband about my book, he said, Youve got to talk to my wife! Shes from the same town [Visegrad] where your story starts. As it turned out, this woman became an amazing contact for me. I even sent her a copy of my book before it was published to make sure I got facts right. Did you go on to visit Visegrad during your trip? Yes, and while we were there we got to go through the underground tunnelsnow open to the publicwhich were used as escape routes during the war. Visegrad had a different feel to it than Sarajevo did, though. There were barely any Muslims there. Theyd all been driven out. I kept feeling like people were looking at us, wondering what we were doing there. It was a smaller town that didnt get a lot of outsiders. While I was in Bosnia, I did notice that there was still some tension there, like there had been a Band-Aid put over the war. There was a man who was tried and convicted for a war crime, and it was like one side of the street was happy he was convicted and the other side was defending him. Theres still some segregation present there, too. Muslims, Croats, and Russian Orthodox students go to school at different times, and there are three presidents representing the three ethnic and religious groups. It was supposed to be a short-term solution after the war, but the model is still being used today. How was the process of writing the novel different from writing your other books? It was the same in some senses, but I felt more pressure. I was nervous writing this book; I was taking more of a risk since its historic. There was that aspect of wanting to get it right. I felt it was a love letter to people Id met only briefly and I wanted to honor them. I had to dig deeper artistically. What impact do you hope the book has on readers? I hope they take away a greater empathy and more openness for people outside their experience. What happens in the book isnt that different from whats happening today in Syria and other parts of the world. What are you working on now? I just sold another novel, tentatively called Sky Watchers, to Philomel. Its set in the 1950s and is about a group of high school kids who see a light in the sky and follow it into the woods. Only one of them comes back.... Dum, dum, dum.... Its my UFO novel, a whole new direction for me. We Are All Thats Left by Carrie Arcos. Philomel, $17.99 May ISBN 978-0-399-17554-1 Peter Mayer, whose legendary publishing career spanned both sides of the Atlantic, has died. He was 82. Once one of the most charismatic publishers, known for his penchant for smoking wherever he was, Mayer had suffered a number of injuries and illnesses in recent years. Born in London and raised in New York, Mayer began his publishing career as an editorial assistant at Orion Press in 1961, then quickly moved to Avon Books, where, over the course of 14 years, he rose to the position of publisher. After serving as publisher of Pocket Books from 1976 to 1978, Pearson chose Mayer to run its troubled Penguin Books division. When he left in 1996, the company had become one of the worlds largest, and most profitable, publishers. In an interview with PW discussing his departure from Penguin, Mayer said Pearson had wanted him to take a seat on the company board and to oversee some of the conglomerates other businesses. I didnt want to retire as a corporate executive, but as a book publisher, said Mayer, who was 60 at the time, to PWs John Baker. Upon Mayers exit, Lord Blakenham, Pearson chairman, said the company owed Mayer an enormous debt of gratitude for turning what had been largely a money-losing British publisher into a worldwide publishing powerhouse. After leaving Penguin, Mayer returned to the Overlook Press, which he and his father founded in 1971. While at Overlook, Mayer bought the U.K. publisher Duckworth in 2003 to create another transatlantic publisher, albeit on a much smaller scale than Penguin. He was still running Overlook at the time of his death. In that same interview with PW, Mayer said he was looking forward to focusing on expanding Overlook. I want to play the old game for as long as I can, and thats what Overlook is there for, he noted. Mayer was well versed in both the financial and creative sides of the publishing business, and he received numerous honors from across the publishing world during the course of his career. In 1996 he was awarded the title chevalier and officier of the ordre des arts et des lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, and at the 2008 London Book Fair, Mayer was given a lifetime achievement award. As word of Mayers death spread Friday morning, Penguin Random House issued the following statement: We are deeply saddened by the passing of our forever colleague Peter Mayer, one of the towering giants of trade publishing, whose long and brilliant leadership of Penguin will always be part of the DNA of Penguin Random House. Aja Gabel. Riverhead, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7352-1476-7 Gabels wonderful debut centers on the talented members of the Van Ness String Quartet over the course of the 18 event-filled years following 1994. Theres Jana, violin 1, the natural leader; Henry, viola, the prodigy; Daniel, cello, the charming one who brings intensity to the group; and Brit, violin 2, the unknown quantity. Theyve slept with one another (Jana and Henry, Daniel and Brit) and are battered and bruised by the competition circuit. But, over the years, they stay together in the face of professional temptations (Henry is encouraged to make a solo recital debut), dueling egos (Jana incurs Henrys jealousy when she sleeps with another violinist), rivalries (Daniel is intimidated by the members of a younger quartet), injuries, and bad judgment. Along the way, they also manage to become husbands, wives, and parents. But despite all these distractions, the love of making music is what keeps Jana and the others imperfectly bound to one another. Seldom has a novel managed to better dramatize the particular pressures that make up the life of a professional musician, from the physical pain of contorting limbs over a long period of time to the emotional stress of constantly making adjustments to the changing temperaments of partners. Readers will come away with a renewed appreciation for things people usually take for granted when listening to music. The four characters are individually memorable, but as a quartet theyre unforgettable. AI companies riding even higher as waves of investment continue to grow Internet quarterly funding up 155% and healthcare funding up 66% Toronto funding increased by 165%, with a 73% increase in deals TORONTO, April 25, 2018 Reaching a six-year quarterly high, investment funding (all figures in USD) and number of deals to venture-backed Canadian companies increased significantly during the first quarter of 2018, according to the MoneyTree Report from PwC Canada and CB Insights. More than $1B, was invested across 105 deals. This represents a 52% increase in investments from the previous quarter and a 30% increase in the number of deals. With a record $1 billion in VC financing, Q1 sets a high bar and shows that 2018 is off to a great start. Canada continues to be an innovative and attractive market when it comes to financing and it is set to continue, said Chris Dulny, National Technology Industry Leader, PwC Canada. Investment in Canadian companies reached record highs this quarter, in both deals and dollars. Unlike financing to venture-backed companies in the US market, private investment increased in Canada, stated Anand Sanwal, co-founder and CEO of CB Insights. Canadian AI and digital health companies keep drawing attention as they received significant investment, helping contribute to this record quarter. Itll be interesting to see if this quarters momentum in those noteworthy sectors continues. Total quarterly investments to Canadian AI companies increased 88% to $83M across 8 deals in Q1 18. The majority of the deals are in the seed and early stages and compared to previous quarters, they are attracting larger investments. Digital health companies also witnessed an upward trend as deal activity and funding increased to $22M across 6 deals, up from just one deal in Q417. The types of projects that receive funding are split evenly between B2B and B2C all of which provide access to health information more efficiently. Canadian Internet companies experienced the largest increase with 155% increase in funding to $355M across 41 deals, a 52% increase from the previous quarter, representing a return to a historical range recorded in Q217 and Q317. The report shows a notable increase in consumer retail, with 11 deals further delivering on the promise of omnichannel retail. Funding to Canadian healthcare companies increased 66% with a total of $126M invested, while deals to the sector declined to 10 deals for the second straight quarter, down one from Q417. Despite a successful Q417, investments to Fintech companies declined by 60% from the previous quarter as only $88M was invested across 8 deals in Q118. Funding to Canadian Mobile & Telecom companies declined by 66% with $70M invested across 12 deals. Key highlights for Q118: Corporate participation declined, with 28% of all deals to Canadian companies featuring at least one participation by corporate venture capital investor compared to 30% in Q417. Seed-stage activity remained flat as a percentage of overall deal activity, accounting for 28% of deals for the second quarter. Early stage deal share increased 25% this quarter, up from 19% in Q417. In terms of regional activity, Toronto saw a 165% increase in funding and 73% increase in deal activity as $321M was invested across 38 deals. Deal activity in Vancouver hit an eight-quarter high as total quarterly funding declined 31% compared to Q417. Montreal was up 96% in investments despite two fewer deals in Q118 as $399M was invested across 16 deals. Ottawas total quarterly funding increased to $14M as 5 deals were completed, up from three in Q417. Waterloo deal activity remained low, while funding increased 68%. Most active investors included BDC, MaRS, iNovia Capital and Fonds de Solidarite FTQ. The MoneyTree Report can be accessed here. About PwC Canada At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 6,700 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 236,235 people in 158 countries. Find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca. 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see http://www.pwc.com/structure for further details. About CB Insights At CB Insights, we believe the most complex strategic business questions are best answered with facts. We are a machine intelligence company that synthesizes, analyzes and visualizes millions of documents to give our clients fast, fact-based insights. Serving the majority of the Fortune 100, we give companies the power to make better decisions, take control of their own futureand capitalize on change. Published on: 11 May 2018 Queen Mary extends its scholarships offering with COLFUTURO Queen Mary extends its scholarships offering with COLFUTURO Diversifying the scholarships offering Queen Mary has held an agreement with COLFUTURO since 2015, but this funding was only available to students in the faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Engineering. The addendum now includes Queen Marys School of Medicine and Dentistry, and offers a 20 per cent discount at postgraduate taught level. Applications for the COLFUTURO scholarships are open until 28 February 2019. The signing ceremony took place at Queen Marys Mile End campus on 10 April between Professor Colin Grant, Vice-Principal (International) at Queen Mary, Jeronimo Castro Jaramillo, Executive Director of COLFUTURO, and Cecilia Salgado de Huertas, Financial and Administrative Director of the Foundation for the future of Colombia-COLFUTURO. Commenting on the agreement, Professor Grant said: We are thrilled to be signing this addendum with COLFUTURO, and look forward to diversifying our offering to Colombian postgraduate students. Through working with COLFUTURO, we will be able to develop next generation leaders who will translate academic research into real world solutions. Strong partnerships such as this will be a vital part of our Americas Strategy. The Latin American Geographies in the UK network The ceremony highlighted Queen Marys multilateral approach to research impact and its research links in Latin America. Dr Sam Halvorsen, who joined Queen Marys School of Geography in January 2018, discussed his research in Buenos Aires and his establishment of a Latin American Geographies in the UK network, which he hopes will include Colombian PhD students. Catherine Fung, from Queen Marys Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, introduced the NIHR Global Health Research Group, which is focused on developing psycho-social interventions for mental health. Funded by the National Institute of Health Research, the research will involve field work in the Colombian cities of Cali, Bogota and Medellin. Queen Mary met with COLFUTURO at its offices in Bogota in April, as part of a broader visit to Latin America. COLFUTURO funded 1280 scholars in 2017, 280 of whom came to the UK. Other UK partners include Kings College London, the London School of Economics (LSE) and University College London (UCL). There are currently 28 Colombian students enrolled at Queen Mary, the majority of whom are undertaking Postgraduate Taught courses. The majority of Queen Marys students on a COLFUTURO scholarship are studying the Master of Laws (LLM) in the universitys Centre for Commercial Law Studies. Applications for the COLFUTURO scholarships are open until 28 February 2019. COLFUTURO offer a 2 year loan-scholarship of up to US$50,000 towards postgraduate tuition fees and living expenses. COLFUTURO scholars can use this for either Masters or PhD study at Queen Mary. For more information on the Latin American Geographies in the UK network, please email Dr Sam Halvorsen: s.halvorsen@qmul.ac.uk More information: London-based premium animation content distribution company Media IM has sold the second season of Digital Light Studios Sunny Bunnies to Disney US. The Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight. In each episode, the creatures go to a different location embarking on adventures. The new deal is the second of its kind in two months for the pre-school animation non-dialogue comedy for three- to six-year-olds which is now airs in more than 160 territories across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. In the US, season two will be available on the Disney Channel feed on Disney Junior and Disney Channel.Sunny Bunnies has had an amazing journey since 2016 when we have first launched it internationally, remarked Media IM co-founder Maria Ufland. Disneys belief and support for the series has been unwavering and is a huge endorsement to the brand. We are extremely excited that the show will soon be available to even broader kids audiences in the Middle East, Brazil and Estonia, which is a huge credit to the international appeal of this show and proves that it is developing to become a truly global brand.The Disney deal comes on the heels of Sky Kids picking up the rights to season two for its app in the UK and Ireland. In Scandinavia, MTG-owned Nordic streaming service Viapla y has acquired seasons one and two which launched earlier this month in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The FTA rights for both seasons have also been picked up by Middle East and North Africa pay-TV firm MBC Group. The Popular Mobilization Forces comprised of Sunni and Shia tribal militias that have been accepted for registration, salaries, equipping, and supplies by the Iraqi government and trained by the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve. Political allegiances, tribal influence, and sectarian identity of the PMFs have become heavily politicized and Shia groups dominate resources and favor with the Government of Iraq. The Popular Mobilization Committee, which oversees the PMFs, exists as a ministerial-level coordinating body, outside the Iraqi Security Force structure. Mobilization of the tribes have reflected and increased the political imbalance in Iraqi politics, but their demobilization could destabilize a government weakened by constant warfare. Arguments over the fate of the PMFs reflect sectarian tensions, political rivalry, and differing ideas on the sectarian future of Iraq. Shia PMFs are generally military arms of Shia political parties in Iraq. For the most part, these Shia groups enjoy the Iraqi government's largess in equipping and political cover. However, the recruitment and resourcing of Sunni PMFs have been feeble attempts to bring Anbari and Ninawan tribal militias to the Government of Iraq's cause. These Sunni PMFs can be compared, historically, to the firqat of the Dhofar War. During the Dhofar Rebellion, 1963-1976, in Oman, the Sultan of Oman granted amnesty and recruited rebelling tribes into firqat battalions to serve as scouts, and soldiers in his war against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG). Accompanied by economic investment and political sensitivity, these firqats were a huge part of winning the peace in Dhofar and, interestingly, the firqat still serve 40 years since their creation in protecting the Omani border with Yemen. The treatment of Sunni PMFs could indicate the political future of Iraq's Sunni minority. In March 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq, and in June 2004, it tendered sovereignty of the country back to the Iraqis. Iraqs first elections took place in January 2005 with images of purple fingertips marking the milestone, but elections alone do not make a democracy. The record of the U.S. in fostering Iraqi democracy has been mixed, but despite the errors and setbacks, the U.S. still has an important opportunity to support something unusual: a stable, Arab democracy. One of the early U.S. errors was the 2003 decision to order de-Baathification. This meant that nearly anyone that was part of the government during the Saddam Hussein regime lost their jobs. Those in favor of de-Baathification argued it was the only way to remove the Hussein-tainted operatives from the levers of power. Hindsight shows that critics of this decision had the better argument. With de-Baathification, the security situation in Iraq worsened, and since Baathists were largely Sunni, ethnic tensions amongst Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds were exacerbated. At the same time, that de-Baathification was enforced, first by the U.S. and then by the Iraqis, the size of U.S. military forces in Iraq diminished. The years 2004-2006 saw some former Baathists joining forces or providing support to al Qaeda operatives. In reaction to this Sunni threat, the Shia responded in kind. Moqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shia cleric, created a militia known as the Mahdi Army that attacked the U.S. military and ran death squads that murdered Sunni civilians. Cycles of ethnic cleansing led to an ethnic civil war. In response to this spiral of violence and insecurity, in 2007, President Bush ordered an increase of U.S. military personnel in Iraq. At the same time, Sunni tribes of the Anbar province, referred to as the Anbar Awakening, came together to fight against al Qaeda. These two factors diminished al Qaedas ability to sew unrest and provided the security necessary for Iraqi governance. In 2011, the U.S. made the strategic blunder of withdrawing its military from Iraq throwing the victory of the 2007 surge away. The departure of the U.S. military removed an important buffer between the Kurdish, Shia, and Sunni factions. These divisions were exacerbated by the venal leadership of then Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He refused to integrate into the military the Sunni tribal militias that contributed to defeat al Qaeda, and he degraded the Iraqi militarys fighting capacity and professionalism by treating it as a spoils system for Shia cronies. Maliki also used this approach for key government positions. He also allowed Iran to increase its influence in Iraq, which widened the Sunni-Shia divide. Al-Malikis refusal to govern Iraq for the benefit of all Iraqis created the opening for ISIS to invade and take control of vast swaths of Iraqi territory. The barbarism of ISIS and the Iraqi militarys inability to defend Mosul prompted President Obama to order the return of U.S. military forces in 2014. This was the beginning of the end of ISIS in Iraq. The second change of 2014 was the arrival of al-Malikis successor as Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi. From the beginning of his tenure, Al-Abadi, like Al-Maliki a Shia, has followed a more inclusive approach to governing. Two recent Wall Street Journal articles give reason for guarded optimism. Last week, al-Abadi visited Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, as part of his campaign efforts, and he was welcomed by Kurdish leadership. The article noted that this was unprecedented. Up to now, Iraqi election campaigning has been strictly divided along sectarian lines. The second article described a growing level of engagement between Sunnis and Shias, and the pragmatic recognition that the key to the countrys future is working together. Muqtada al-Sadr and his associates have crossed the sectarian divide to work with secular leftists to fight corruption. Moving beyond local, ethnic, or religious affiliations in the context of political parties and governance to address common societal problems such as corruption, education, or the economy is a critical step towards a healthy democracy. This does not mean that Iraqs continued progress is guaranteed. A culture of democratic norms will take time, and it will require continued diplomatic and military support from the U.S. A contingent U.S. military presence, even at numbers reduced from the peak of the fight against ISIS, is crucial because it maintains stability and encourages the political moderation that leads to more inclusive Iraqi governance. We have seen the bloody consequences of U.S. withdrawal. This presence also serves U.S. national interests because a stable and moderate Iraq can be an important hedge against Iran. A stable and moderate Iraq can be an important ally for the U.S. in the Middle East. And, a stable and moderate Iraq can be an important example of Arab democracy in the region. The U.S. has had military forces in Germany, Japan, and Korea since the ends of World War II and the Korean War, and each country enjoys a robust, inclusive, and stable democracy as valued U.S. allies. We should give the Iraqis the same chance. Mr. Heiman is a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School. Previously, he was a lawyer with the National Security Division of the Department of Justice and the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. @joeflech A joke likening a Japanese-American a commissioner's appearance to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sparked anger and accusations of racism in the halls of power in Miami, a town where politicians love to heave comparisons to foreign dictators at rivals like spears. Commissioner Joe Carollo made the joke about Commissioner Ken Russell's recent haircut at the end of an 11-hour commission meeting late Thursday night. "I've been meaning to say this, but I wanted to wait til the end. Through the day, the more I look at you, I'm becoming fond of the 'Kim Jong-un,'" Carollo said, referencing Russell's haircut. "I was just wondering if that's in favor of the nuclear negotiations with Trump or showing your protest against Trump and his negotiations with Kim." Russell later decried the joke as racist on Twitter, which Carollo denied Friday morning in an interview with the Miami Herald. "If it was racist, I don't think anybody there would have been laughing," he said. Read more. There has been widespread condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, including from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who expressed regret. Besides having ramifications for U.S. relations with European powers, Russia and China, who all supported the agreement, as well as for the Middle East, Trumps decision also comes weeks before a planned summit with North Koreas Kim Jong-un. Fairfaxs Peter Hartcher argues that unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran deal makes Trump appear confused and inconsistent: at the very time he is seeking a deal to constrain North Koreas nuclear weapons program, he has exuberantly rejected one that is constraining Irans. The White Houses decision may well impact on the planned TrumpKim summit. Yet rather than the commonly held view that Trumps decision is ill-conceived and badly timed, there may be reason and logic behind his approach. It is difficult for the U.S. to enter into a negotiation with North Korea calling for complete, verifiable and total denuclearisation while Iran has not been held to this standard. North Korea too would be expected to demand it retain a uranium enrichment and reprocessing capability, to keep its nuclear weapons options open as an insurance policy should relations between the two countries deteriorate. Similarly, U.S. leverage in the North Korea negotiations would be considerably weakened by the fact that Irans ballistic missile program is untouched by the nuclear deal. With Americas primary concern being to demand that Pyongyang denuclearise before the latter achieves the ability to credibly and reliably deliver nuclear weapons to U.S. cities, Washington will seek to curb both North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In these circumstances, Trump would not want to give Kim another reason to point out that a double-standard is being applied. For North Korea, the Iran nuclear deal as it stands represents the ideal result of any negotiation it has with the U.S.: a partial but not complete rollback of its nuclear program, which can then be restarted at a later date with its delivery systems relatively untouched. If another rogue state has been able to achieve this outcome, then an already nuclear-capable North Korea would be in a stronger position to achieve the same, if not a better, outcome. It may be one reason why Trump killed the Iranian nuclear deal when he did. Finally, there will be some who argue that the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement critically undermines the credibility of U.S. promises in any negotiation with North Korea. Pyongyang will now have good grounds to believe that any promises made by the U.S. on security of the regime, for example cannot be relied upon in the longer term. Yet, on the flip side, both Pyongyang and Tehran now face a U.S. president determined and willing to use all elements of U.S. power, including military, to achieve denuclearisation. Trumps maximum pressure campaign is unprecedented and has certainly hit North Koreas economy hard. The administrations apparent willingness to use force has actually increased the credibility of the U.S. as a security guarantor, and has undoubtedly changed North Koreas (and Chinas and Russias) cost-benefit calculations on Pyongyang keeping its nuclear program. Incidentally, it is likely that Trump will advocate for a similar maximum pressure campaign on Iran, including the full use of secondary sanctions and a return to oil sanctions that caused significant economic turmoil. While the outcome is still uncertain, Iran too may well be forced to the negotiation table after an adjustment of its own cost-benefit calculations. Trump might well be playing the role of a madman, but he is not mad. Dr. Lavina Lee is a senior lecturer in the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. Her first book was on US hegemony in the context of the two Iraq Wars and she has published numerous articles, book chapters and opinion pieces on nuclear proliferation, and foreign and security policy in the Indo-Pacific. This article appeared originally at Lowy Institute's the interpreter. Adolf Eichmann was born in 1906 in Solingen, a small industrial city in the Rhineland. His father was an accountant with a local power company, but was assigned to a superior posting in Linz, Austria, in 1913. Eichmann and his five siblings followed. In 1916 his mother died and his father quickly remarried. Eichmann senior was an active member of the Evangelical Church and his son remained in the faith until 1937, long after most SS men broke with religion. Eichmann was adept at learning practical skills on the job, under the tutelage of seniors he respected. Eichmann was very much under his father's influence, and older male authority figures would continue to mould his life. Nevertheless, he did not work hard or do well at school and left without any qualifications. His father, who had meanwhile started an oil-extraction business, gave him a job. Eichmann worked on the surface and in underground oil-shale tunnels before moving to an apprenticeship with an electrical engineering firm. In 1927 his father used family contacts to get him a job with another oil company. When Emperor Hirohito made his first ever broadcast to the Japanese people on 15 August 1945, and enjoined his subjects 'to endure the unendurable and bear the unbearable', he brought to an end a state of war - both declared and undeclared - that had wracked his country for 14 years. He never spoke explicitly about 'surrender' or 'defeat', but simply remarked that the war 'did not turn in Japan's favour'. It was a classic piece of understatement. Nearly three million Japanese were dead, many more wounded or seriously ill, and the country lay in ruins. To most Japanese - not to mention those who had suffered at their hands during the war - the end of hostilities came as blessed relief. Yet not everybody was to lay down their arms. Tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers remained in China, either caught in no-man's land between the Communists and Nationalists or fighting for one side or the other. Other, smaller groups continued fighting on Guadalcanal, Peleliu and in various parts of the Philippines right up to 1948. But the most extraordinary story belongs to Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who continued fighting on the Philippine island of Lubang until 9 March 1974 - nearly 29 years after the end of the war. Lieutenant Onoda... doggedly refused to lay down his arms... Two years earlier, another Japanese soldier, Corporal Shoichi Yokoi, had been found fishing in the Talofofo River on Guam. Yokoi still had his Imperial Army issue rifle, but he had stopped fighting many years before. When questioned by the local police, he admitted he knew the war had been over for 20 years. He had simply been too frightened to give himself up. The Dutch are curt and outspoken. I can think of no better introduction to their empire than this: Here are 10 things you didnt know about the Dutch Empire. Enjoy! 10. The Dutch Empire is considered to be, by many historians, the precursor to the British, and then American, empires of the 19th and 20th centuries due to the fact that the Dutch had a toehold on four continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America) by 1630 (!). The global empire that the Dutch established was commercial-based (the worlds oldest stock exchange was established in Amsterdam in 1602), and had a democratic political order on the home front. A good way to remember this point is to group the United Provinces (the official name of the Netherlands during its global empire) with the United Kingdom and United States. See what I did there? 9. The Dutch Empire started out as a small republic struggling to secede from the powerful Empire of Spain. Once the Dutch earned their freedom, 80 years after first initiating a war against Spain, they set up a republic that influenced the American framers immensely, though in an almost entirely negative way (James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, was especially harsh on the Dutch constitution). The republic of the United Provinces was constantly struggling between centralized factions (the Orangists), which wanted a more powerful executive branch, and decentralized factions (the Republicans), which wanted more sovereignty for the states that composed the Dutch republic. 8. One of the Dutch Republics stadtholders, William of Orange, ruled the United Kingdom as monarch for 17 years. William of Orange (known as William III in England and William II in Scotland) was responsible for initiating the Glorious Revolution (1688-89) in the United Kingdom, which kicked off, among other things, the political thought of John Locke. Williams father-in-law was a Catholic and ruled the U.K. unpopularly before William, along with his English wife, Mary, decided to launch an invasion from the Netherlands and overthrow his father-in-law in order to reestablish a Protestant-friendly regime. The combined power of the British and Dutch led to end of Irish rebellion and injected renewed vigor into the conflict with Catholic France. Ironically, Williams reign over both countries led to more republicanism in each of them, with the British Parliament gaining power at the expense of the crown, and the Dutch Republicans gaining leverage over the Orangists and their stadtholders. 7. The Netherlands was, truly, a bastion of religious freedom throughout much of its history, including its overseas colonies. The Empire fought wars against numerous Catholic kings, but it had no qualms about fighting Protestants if such a fight had clear benefits for the Republics geopolitical goals. This is sometimes made a point of contention because the early modern period was obviously less tolerant of religious difference than today (Mark Koyama, an economic historian, is doing excellent work on religious toleration in the early modern era), but by the time periods standards, the Netherlands was the most religiously tolerant place on the planet. This religious toleration contributed, of course, to the Dutch Golden Age of art, literature, and science , which ran roughly through the 16th and 17th centuries. 6. The Dutch Empire vied for supremacy with the Portuguese empire, which, beginning in 1580 with the Iberian Union of Spain and Portugal, was a rival Catholic state attempting to establish a global hegemony of its own. The Portuguese were actually the first Europeans to establish trading forts throughout the world, but the aforementioned Iberian Union severely weakened Lisbons plans for global hegemony due to the fact that the union made Portugal the junior partner. The Dutch conquered and then established colonial rule at Portuguese colonies on four different continents, and unlike the Portuguese, focused on commercial interests rather than converting the natives to Catholicism and creating a politically connected empire. Because of the commercial nature of the Dutch project, many of the indigenous factions were happy to switch from Portugal to the Netherlands as business partners. And partners they were. Both the Portuguese and the Dutch (as well as the British and French later on) paid rent to local political units on the trading forts they built throughout the world. Such was the nature of power on the world scene before the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. 5. The Dutch presence in Africa led to two major developments: the Xhosa Wars in southern Africa and the Dutch Gold Coast. The Xhosa Wars were a series of six wars that began in 1779 and lasted until 1879. The first Dutch fort was built in 1652 at present-day Cape Town as a stopping point for the Dutchs supply route to the East Indies. The Dutch, who took a Portuguese fort from the area before building their own, traded with the locals and paid rent as was customary for about 125 years. The catalyst for the wars was a combination of European settlers encroaching on territories defined as Xhosa by various treaties the Dutch had signed with local polities and increased British activity in the area. The British were all too happy to contribute to Dutch-Xhosa tensions, and the Xhosa were all too happy to have a competitor to the Dutch in the region (so as to keep the Dutch a bit more honest in commercial affairs). The Dutch fought the first three (of six) Xhosa Wars, with the result being an uneasy peace between both sides. When the British arrived on the scene and replaced Dutch power, the Xhosa were eventually expelled from the fertile regions of conflict and forced to sign treaties acknowledging subservience to London. The Dutch Gold Coast played out in much the same way. The gold coast, located in west Africa, was peppered by Portuguese forts that the Dutch burned down and rebuilt in their own image. A period of 260 years of peace and commercial activity between the Dutch and their local business partners (the Fante confederacy) followed, before the British arrived on the scene and caused chaos by allying with a rival of the Fante. Today, that same gold coast is known as Ghana and almost all of its inhabitants are fluent in English. 4. The American Revolution was a global affair, perhaps best illustrated by the fact that it served as a catalyst for a fourth war between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces. In the process, the Dutch Empire lost its relatively large colony of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) to the British Empire, which, although it lost its most lucrative colonies in North America, was able to acquire some territorial gains elsewhere in the world. The Dutch had conquered a Portuguese fort at Ceylon and came to lord over almost the entire island thanks to local political intrigue. Many non-European polities viewed European power as an avenue to enhance their own standing in their part of the world by using the Europeans against their enemies. Thus the Dutch (and later the British and French) found themselves allying with a local polity only to find themselves dragged into their ostensible allys wars. This is how Europe came to claim - claim, not govern - much of the world and why some ethnic groups govern over others in multi-ethnic, post-colonial states today. 3. The Dutch Empire in North America was a little different than its presence elsewhere in the world, as the Dutch found themselves in immediate competition with the British, French, and Swedish. This competition meant that the Dutch couldnt buy their love from indigenous factions the way they could in Asia and Africa, and as a result Dutch claims in the region went unacknowledged unless the Dutch might could back them up. The Dutch managed to found, and defend, New Netherlands beginning in 1625, but by the 1660s the Dutch North American project had to be abandoned and all of its territory was seized by the British after the Second Anglo-Dutch War (fought in 1665-67). If youll remember, the Glorious Revolution, which put a Dutch aristocrat on the throne of the United Kingdom, didnt occur until 1688, so tension between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces was so bad that wars were fought, making William of Oranges invasion and subsequent, largely successful reign, all that more amazing. 2. Dutch Brazil ended up looking more like Dutch North America than Dutch efforts in Asia and Africa. Brazil was a Portuguese colony rather than a patchwork of forts spreading across the East Indies trade routes, so when the Dutch seized Portuguese possessions during its secessionist war with Spain, they found it difficult to govern their newly acquired Brazilian territories because there were Portuguese-speaking inhabitants living in them. The Dutch were loathe to cede their Brazilian territory back to Portugal, but the difficulties of governing a hostile populace made this cession to Portugal less bitter. Dutch Brazil is sometimes attributed by Brazilian historians as the seed of Brazilian nationalism. Because the Portuguese in Brazil resisted Dutch governance by rallying around their cultural differences with the Dutch, the logic of these historians leads to a distinct Brazilian sense of identity beginning to take root and eventually flower. 1. Though wars with the United Kingdom weakened the Dutch Empire significantly, it wasnt until the French conquests of the Napoleonic Wars that brought an official end to the Dutch Empire. The Netherlands was one of the first targets of Napoleons radically-minded military, and the French killed the Dutch Empire in 1795 with the establishment of the puppet government of the Batavian Republic. The Dutch Empire lived on in the form of the Dutch East Indies until 1945, when Indonesia declared its independence, and it was never able to achieve the form it had in the 17th and 18th centuries. Further thoughts My favorite contemporary Dutch thinker is Edwin van de Haar. Here is his website. A political theorist by trade, Dr. van de Haar does an excellent job of using history to inform his theories on contemporary international relations. Do yourself a favor and add him to your reading lists. President Trumps brave decision to gut the terrible Iran deal puts the United States in an even stronger negotiation position when he sits down with North Koreas Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. While much of the hard work is still ahead, President Trump has already secured Pyongyangs commitment to halt its nuclear program and just as importantly release three American citizens who had been imprisoned in brutal North Korean labor camps. President Trump was there on the tarmac in the middle of the night at Joint Base Andrews to be the first face they saw when their flight to freedom brought them home. Thats leadership. But despite remarkable developments in foreign policy over the past few weeks, Americas global leadership role, cemented in the wake of the Allied victory in World War II, continues to strain at the edges. America has, over the past few decades, too often decided to take a seat on the global stage shoulder to shoulder with other nations, friend and foe, instead of at the head of the table. Taking different forms and driven by varied political ideals, we have been loath to play our role as first among equals, that Jeffersonian ideal that America can be an Empire of Liberty. Thats not putting America First. When pursuing shared or self-interest abroad, recent administrations have first sought to find consensus and build coalitions with nations around the world, rather than pursue what is best. That approach finds us at the least common denominator, the watered down, vanilla shadow of what we aim to secure. That posture spells opportunity for those with the ambition and means to fill the void. Few examples are more painful than President Obamas shameful rejection of American exceptionalism in 2013. His doctrine was on full display when he backed down from Americas red line, one he himself drew, in the wake of Syrias use of chemical weapons against its own people. Our adversaries took notice, with China out front by most measures. We cant say we were not warned. President Obamas own National Intelligence Council published a report in 2012, warning that "with the rapid rise of other countries, the 'unipolar moment' is over, and 'Pax Americana' -- the era of American ascendancy in international politics that began in 1945 -- is fast winding down." The report predicted Chinas rise in global influence as Americas and Europes economic roles declined. The dots all connect not in the Middle East, but in Africa, where the intelligence community authors of Global Trends 2030 noted that urbanization on the continent and a rapid population growth in cities would strain Africas often frail infrastructure. Who was there to offer a solution? China. Long neglected by American foreign policy priorities, Africa is positioned to fuel the engine of innovation and technological expansion around the world via the continents vast natural resources. Beyond the familiar reserves of gold, platinum, and diamonds are minerals that are just as valuable if not more so to industrial, defense, and consumer applications. One of those lesser-known resources is cobalt, a blue mineral thats used to strengthen metals for jet engines and other military applications, and can be found in the batteries that power our cellphones and laptops, and store energy on our electrical grid. Given its uses, cobalt is considered one of the most vital strategic resources to support innovation over the decades ahead. China knows this. Beijing has been on the African continent for years, filling the void with easy money and know-how while claiming stake to billions of dollars in resource rights and revenues across the continent, from South Africa to Nigeria, while establishing Beijings first military base in Djibouti last year. The move is meant to establish Chinas own supply chain of raw materials that can feed Beijings appetite for economic growth and innovation. A Chinese monopoly a real threat would not only blunt the commercial dominance of the U.S. and our and European allies, but limit or even eliminate Americas ability to source these defense and industrial assets. While America doesnt need to match Chinas estimated million citizens in Africa, we do need to ensure that our own access to the resources of tomorrow is secured through proactive and decisive engagement. Thats taking our seat at the head of the table. Thats putting America First. Last fall, President Trump traveled to Indiana and made a promise: If the states Democratic senator, Joe Donnelly, didnt vote for Republicans tax bill, Trump would return to the Hoosier State to campaign against him like you wouldnt believe. On Thursday, he made good on that promise. Two days after Republicans selected Mike Braun, a businessman and former state legislator, as the partys nominee to face the incumbent this fall, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence held a rally in Elkhart, Ind., meant to unify the party after a bloody primary and refocus attention on Donnelly, using a new nickname: Sleepin Joe. This November Indiana will face an important choice: You can send a really incredible swamp person back to the Senate like Joe Donnelly, or you can send us Republicans, like Mike Braun, to drain the swamp," Trump said. It is likely to become a familiar sight as the midterms approach: Trump in a state that overwhelmingly supported him in 2016, bashing the Democratic senator he and his party are trying to defeat. For Republicans, it represents a central part of their plan to increase their majority in the upper chamber. Air Force One makes a lot of noise when it lands, said Cam Savage, a veteran strategist in Indiana. Republicans hold a slim 51-49 advantage in the Senate, but Democrats are defending 25 seats to Republicans nine, and 10 of those incumbent Democrats are running in states Trump won in 2016. Five of those states -- Indiana, West Virginia, North Dakota, Missouri and Montana -- voted overwhelmingly for the president. Trump has already made campaigning in those states a priority. Last year, along with Indiana, he traveled to North Dakota and Missouri to threaten Democratic senators on the tax bill, which ultimately passed with only Republican support. Earlier this year, he held rallies to boost GOP Senate candidates in West Virginia and Ohio ahead of their primaries, and has held a fundraiser for Josh Hawley in Missouri. Marc Short, the presidents legislative affairs director, promised Trump would visit Montana after attacking Sen. Jon Tester for his role in tarnishing Trumps nominee to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, who ultimately withdrew. Patrick Morrisey, the West Virginia attorney general who won the Tuesday primary to face Joe Manchin this fall, welcomed Trumps intervention in the coming race. Youve been to this state now four times. Id like you to come back as many times as you can between now and November, Morrisey said during his victory speech. Braun won the Indiana primary by more successfully appealing to Trumps supporters, using his business background to compare himself to Trump, while his rivals, both members of Congress, fought their campaigns over support for the president. Braun said repeatedly during the primary that Trumps victory in 2016 was his inspiration to run for office, a line he repeated Thursday. Im a businessman and outsider just like our president, and you can count on me to be a true reinforcement and the guy that is going to retire Joe Donnelly, Braun said. Still, Democrats arent convinced. A spokesman for the state Democratic Party pointed out that Rep. Luke Messer, one of the candidates who lost the primary Tuesday, wasnt in attendance at the rally. The biggest takeaway from last night not even President Trump can heal the wounds of the nastiest race in politics, said Michael Feldman. Democrats expect plenty of Trump rallies throughout the election cycle, and in many ways those events reinforce the central deciding factor of the midterms: Democrats are relying on strong personal brands in their states to win crossover support from Independents and moderate Republicans, while Republicans hope Trumps popularity will extend down the ballot and rally his base for their candidates. Donnelly showcased exactly how theyre likely to do that. His campaign released its second ad of the cycle ahead of the presidents visit, showing the Democrat standing on a bridge to emphasize his centrism and willingness to reach across the aisle. Donnelly said he represents the Hoosier common-sense middle, a phrase he used in ads during his first successful run for Senate in 2012. It's okay that the President and Vice President are here today for politics, but problems only get solved when you roll up your sleeves and put in the hard work, Donnelly said in a statement after the presidents rally. I'm Indiana's hired help in the Senate because I don't work for any president or any political party -- I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change." Its a strategy thats likely to be repeated every time Trump visits a state with a Democratic incumbent: acknowledge the visit, but dont engage with the president. It doesnt matter who comes to town, voters just want someone who puts their interests first. Thats what these Senate Democrats have done and what they should keep focusing on, said one Senate campaign aide. And even as Republicans work hard to align themselves to Trump in the primaries, Democrats hope that his popularity in these states wont trickle down come November. Trumpy-ness is not transferable, Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper said to a local newspaper following that states primary Tuesday. Democratic campaign operatives have acknowledged that running against Donald Trump and the White House controversy du jour -- at the expense of more substantive policy issues -- could weaken their advantages heading into Novembers midterms. And complicating their case further are signs of economic improvement, including recent labor statistics showing national unemployment at a near-20-year low of 3.9 percent. Democrats point to polling and other data to argue that -- despite voters feeling better about the economy -- there is still anxiety about the future and that Democratic policies would provide more financial security in the long run. Party congressional campaigns are pushing, for example, the message that the GOP tax bill gave away more to corporations than to average Americans. But efforts to explain the partys plan to revisit the tax law if elected to the House majority underscore the difficult question Democrats are trying to answer: How do you talk about the economy when the economy is good? Every time [Democrats] deny the economy is starting to turn or get better for certain parts of the population, they also hurt themselves, says party strategist Hank Sheinkopf. They appear to be cheering on bad news. And Democrats could face a similar challenge on recent news about Trumps plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, seen as entirely separate issue but nevertheless one that relates to overall feelings of security. While success on that front is hypothetical at this point, opponents of the president are already trying to balance skepticism and applauding signs of progress. A CNN poll released this week, for example, found that 77 percent of Americans approve of the meeting. That same survey found that 52 percent of voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy, up from 48 percent in March. And 57 percent of voters said things overall are going well, up from 49 percent registered in the last poll on that question in February. Notably, 84 percent cited the economy an either extremely or very important factor in how they will vote in November, up from 74 percent in February. And the survey found the Democrats' advantage on the generic ballot to be just three percentage points, down from six in March and 16 in February. (The RealClearPolitics average shows Democrats with a generic ballot lead of six points.) The fundamentals still favor Democrats. Midterms are typically a referendum on the party in power, and Democrats this cycle have the added benefit of a president who remains unpopular beyond his base even as voters view the state of the economy positively. Several special and off-year elections have demonstrated Democratic enthusiasm and over-performance. The same CNN survey found that 53 percent of voters who identify as very enthusiastic say they are voting for the Democrat in their district, while 41 percent say they are backing the Republican. However, enthusiasm among Republicans has also ticked up to 44 percent, compared to 36 percent in March. Parties out of power typically face a dilemma in campaigning against the party controlling the levers of government when the economy is improving. Republicans encountered the same dynamic in 2016, and tried to thread the needle between welcoming good economic news while also arguing it wasn't good enough. Trump apparently made that case, but he often threatens to imperil the GOPs economic messaging with unrelated, and self-generated, controversies. While Trump's behavior has certainly fueled energy among the opposition party, Democrats at the strategic and candidate level have stressed the importance of policy issues. "I wouldnt be talking about Trump almost at all," says Florida-based Democratic strategist Bob Doyle. "I'd run against Washington generically, arguing that politicians in Washington in both parties have let us down." Doyle asserts that economic data doesn't tell the whole story, as it can overlook under-employment and lagging wages, which creates room for Democrats to score points. "When youre a middle-class or working-class family, you not only talk about the economy in terms of your job, but youre also talking about the cost of health care, or the cost of higher education. ... There's a lot of anxiety out there still." Data compiled from Democratic pollsters Global Strategy Group for the Navigator Research project bears that out. The group's survey found that 67 percent of voters agreed with the liberal argument that "the economy may be growing but wealthy people at the top are getting so much more of the benefit than middle class and working people" while 33 percent agreed with the conservative argument that "things are generally going well economically the national economy is booming, the stock market is hitting record highs, and businesses are creating new jobs all the time." The survey also found that 51 percent of voters say they worry about their financial future, while 25 percent say they worry about their current situation, like making ends meet. "Just because people talk about the current moment being OK, theres still a lot of uncertainty about the future," says GSGs Nick Gourevitch. "The [economic] collapse isnt too far in the rear view, and they dont feel like they have retirement figured out or would be able to handle a big medical event." Still, whether that longer-term concern compels voters to want to change course now remains an open question. "The struggle is Democrats are not in power, were not in a position to be laying out this huge economic agenda" in the midterm the way they can in 2020, says Gourevitch. In reacting to last week's jobs report, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi incorporated the sentiments reflected in the GSG polling into her messaging. "Corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent continue to hoard the benefits of the U.S. economy," she said in a statement. "Corporations are cheering their huge new tax breaks by enriching their executives and investors, while hard-working men and women see little help and rising health costs." Republicans have tried to use those comments to their benefit. Last week they released a digital ad claiming Pelosi wants to raise taxes, referencing an interview in which she said Democrats would roll back the tax bill. But the GOP also has its own messaging challenges on the economy. Last week, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came under fire for saying, in an interview with the Economist, that "there's no evidence whatsoever that money from the corporate tax cut has been massively poured back into the American worker." (He later walked the statement back.) And Republicans are still working on selling the benefits of the new tax law to voters, and plan to spend millions on the effort. Republican pollster David Winston has argued that while the tax changes will benefit GOP candidates, how each party addresses specifics related to the economy, particularly cost-of-living issues, will have a more significant impact on the outcome of November's elections. In a Roll Call editorial this week, Winston cited polling from earlier this year that found half of voters named the cost of health care as either a first or second concern, while 29 percent named taxes. On this date 138 years ago, an angry group of American farmers protesting inequity and injustice gathered at the California railroad village of Hanford in the Central Valley. You could say the men were part of the Resistance (and, interestingly, that they were protesting an obscene presence in their lives that would soon operate a commercial venture known as Stormy). But I dont want to make light of this episode: By the time the May 11, 1880 confrontation was over, seven men were dead or mortally wounded and 13 children were fatherless. And the Hanford gunfight, known as the Mussel Slough Tragedy, altered American politics in ways that are still being felt. * * * Southern Pacific Railroad opened its train service from New Orleans to California on February 5, 1883. The railroad dubbed the service the Sunset Route, but passengers took to calling it Stormy for the summer thunderstorm that often occurred along the way. Weather was the least of the issues when it came to Southern Pacific, however. With a monopoly not just on passenger trains but, more importantly, on all the freight moving by land in and out the state, SP had come to dominate Californias economic and political life in a way difficult to comprehend today. The railroads tentacles reached into wheat farmers' pockets in the Imperial Valley and politicians' war chests in Sacramento. The title of Frank Norris influential 1901 historical novel explaining Californias turn-of-the century politics was called The Octopus. That influential book documents how Southern Pacifics rise to power was made possible by its relentless push to acquire land and railroad easements in the 1880s. The Octopus includes a dramatized account of the bloody confrontation between settlers and railroad men that took place on May 11, 1880 at a homestead belonging to Henry D. Brewer, who lived outside Hanford. Although Southern Pacific came out ahead in the Mussel Slough Tragedy -- government allowed the railroad to continue to use its land grants to gouge homesteaders whod settled the land -- the events of that day galvanized muckraking journalists, reform-minded politicians, and voters. Foremost among the reformers was Hiram Johnson, who won Californias governorship in 1910 as a liberal Republican crusading against Southern Pacifics influence. Two years later, Johnson helped launch the Progressive Party, and he was Theodore Roosevelts running mate in the three-way presidential race of 1912, in which a divided GOP handed the presidency to Woodrow Wilson. Johnson ran for governor again in 1914, winning in a landslide. Two years later he left Sacramento for Washington, D.C., where he served as a U.S. senator for decades. Looking back today, Johnsons first campaign proved a harbinger of Californias future. The state began its long inexorable evolution toward progressivism and innovation. Partly to show that he was a man who embraced science and technology -- and partly because he was running against the railroads -- Johnson often eschewed rail travel in 1910, preferring to campaign in a new-fangled mode of transport. It was, of course, the automobile. That line was my original kicker in 2013, when I first wrote about these events. But historical paradoxes have a way of looping back on themselves. Whats that famous William Faulkner line in Requiem for a Nun? Oh, yes: The past is never dead. Its not even past. Jerry Brown, the California Democrat currently winding up his second stint of two-term governorships, knows that feeling. In Californias current political climate, Brown is no longer the flighty futurist once derided by columnist Mike Royko as Gov. Moonbeam. These days Brown is a relentlessly pragmatic liberal who likes to get things done. One of the things Brown wants to make happen is a high-speed train service between San Francisco and Los Angeles. As it happens, a 119-mile section of that railway is slated to go through the San Joaquin Valley. In community meetings about the project, residents of Hanford and other Central Valley towns have often invoked a battle cry unfamiliar to California High-Speed Rail Authority officials: Remember Mussel Slough. Democrats have long claimed to be the party of women -- a political party that wants women to have a "seat at the table" in boardrooms across industries, including access to top government jobs, and equal pay. They wear pussy hats at women's marches and carry signs touting various incarnations of inclusivity and "female empowerment." There's only one problem: Freethinking women need not apply -- as the left only supports those who subscribe to its narrowly defined political ideology. Take the left's unbridled attacks against women picked to serve in the Trump administration, including such respected professionals as Gina Haspel, a 33-year career veteran nominated to lead the CIA. Instead of applauding the president for empowering her by offering her a top job and top pay in government -- and the unique opportunity to break a glass ceiling and become the first woman in history to lead the venerable spy agency -- Democrats are obstructing her ascent. Sen. Kamala Harris said she'll vote against Haspel because the highly qualified intelligence expert didn't condemn the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques used long ago as strongly as the California liberal would've liked during her Senate confirmation hearing this week. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio blasted Democrats' hypocrisy, tweeting, "Enhanced interrogation is banned by law. Treatment of Haspel example of egregious double standard. (John) Brennan was (No.) 4 official at CIA during interrogation program. He knew far more about it than Haspel did & most of dems still voted for him." In addition to blocking Haspel's nomination, the left has been nothing short of venomous toward Education Secretary Betsy DeVos -- a champion of school choice, school vouchers and charter schools -- not to mention Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, an attorney who was berated and belittled by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey during her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Booker characterized the national security expert as having "sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Not surprisingly, anti-Trump CNN praised Booker for his "impassioned remarks." Then there were the extreme put-downs of conservative women at the recent White House Correspondents' Association dinner, whose liberal host ridiculed press secretary Sarah Sanders' appearance, intelligence and integrity to her face on live TV. The so-called comedian also went after White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and Ivanka Trump, whom she said is "as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons." So much for empowering women. That notion is simply farcical, as progressives have proved throughout Trump's term that they only care about the advancement of women who vote Democratic -- to fuel their agenda and retain power. Nothing more, nothing less. COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COM President Donald Trump's call last June to revitalize America's deteriorating civil nuclear program has taken on new importance. A few weeks ago, Russian legislators in the State Duma, in retaliation for U.S. sanctions, introduced a bill that would cut off trade with the U.S. nuclear power industry, which produces roughly 20 percent of U.S. electricity. Russia provided about 20 percent of the fuel needed to power those reactors. Miami Beach could potentially host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The DNC sent the city a request for proposal April 26, city spokeswoman Melissa Berthier confirmed Thursday. Seven other cities received the same request, according to NBCNews. We were short-listed, Berthier said. We havent submitted anything just yet. IThe city hosted both the 1972 Democratic and Republican conventions, but hasnt hosted the event for either party since. The city is in the middle of a $615 million upgrade of its convention center expected to be completed later this year. Currently Reading 50 things to do this weekend in Connecticut, May 11-13 @joeflech Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has so far funneled $100,000 of leftover cash from last year's mayoral campaign into his strong-mayor ballot initiative this year. Through a petition, Suarez wants to get a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters if they want to transform Miami's municipal government and make him the city's top administrator, a strong mayor who would run the city's day-to-day operations, making recommendations on the awarding of city contracts and overseeing public projects and employees. Campaign finance reports for March and April show Suarez's mayoral political committee, Miami's Future, gave the strong-mayor committee, Miamians for an Independent and Accountable Mayor's Initiative (MIAMI), $50,000 each month. Miami's Future still has about $1 million in the bank. The strong-mayor committee's total haul through April is $125,183. The next biggest contributor is notable name in the realm of strong mayors auto magnate and philanthropist Norman Braman. Braman cut a $25,000 check to the committee in April. Braman told the Miami Herald he isn't supporting Suarez specifically so much as he is supporting the concept of a strong mayor. He said the city's top executive should be elected because it means that person will be directly accountable to the voters. "I think voters vote for a mayor as an executive, but he doesn't have any power," he said, adding that he didn't see the change as a "grab for power." "It's important to have accountability," he said. Braman's no stranger to the ultimate act of accountability in electoral politics. He spearheaded the recall campaign against former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, whom voters ousted in 2011. Alvarez was the county's first strong mayor after he convinced voters to move the county's vast bureaucracy under his direct control in 2007. The former president of Cambodias now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has suggested that his party will replicate the success of Malaysias opposition, which assumed power this week after voters rejected a ruling party that had governed the country since its independence. Former CNRP President Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid convictions seen as politically motivated, told a group of supporters in Virginia late on Thursday that he had been inspired by the oppositions victory in Malaysia and expects similar success for his party in removing the government of Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP). The ruling party in Malaysia, which administered the country for more than 60 years, has lost the election to the opposition, he said, adding that the political situation in Malaysia is very much similar to that of Cambodia. The strong people power and solidarity around the opposition have brought [Malaysias] opposition to this victory. That gives us hope. We have to continue our fight. We are certain that we will succeed because we are committed to being very honest to our people and nation. In a historic election on Wednesday, voters in Malaysia threw their support behind an opposition bloc led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 92, giving it a majority in parliament and throwing out the ruling party led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds. The stunning upset marked the first victory by the opposition since Malaysia gained its independence from Britain in 1957. On Thursday, Sam Rainsy said that the CNRP will replicate the success of Malaysias opposition, despite a political crackdown which saw CNRP President Kem Sokha arrested on charges of treason in September and the opposition party banned by the Supreme Court in November for its alleged role in a plot to topple the government, because it enjoys popular support in Cambodia. The number of our supporters has increased very significantly and Cambodians support us because we remain loyal to them, he said, adding that the CNRPs leadership is united and strong. He urged Cambodians to boycott elections planned for July 29 in order to deprive the ruling party of its legitimacy if the CNRP is denied the right to take part in the ballot, and said that by doing so they would send a clear signal to Hun Sen that we cannot tolerate the abuse of human rights and democracy. The CNRP received more than 3 million votesaccounting for nearly half of the countrys registered votersin Cambodias 2013 general election, and enjoyed similar success in last years commune ballot, making it the only legitimate challenger to the CPP ahead of July. On Friday, CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan told RFAs Khmer Service that the political situation in Malaysia is nothing like that of Cambodia. The opposition party in Cambodia is deadit has no ability to compete in the election, like the opposition in Malaysia did, Sok Eysan said. Sam Rainsy was just excited about an opposition party winning the elections. Whenever an opposition party in a foreign country wins, he always says his party will win as well, he said. But Sam Rainsy should know that winning an election is not based on talking, its based on doing. Sam Rainsy does nothing but incite more trouble. Florida Congressman Ted Yoho speaks with RFA in Washington, May 8, 2018. Credit: RFA Democracy Act Hun Sens recent crackdown on the opposition, as well as on NGOs and the independent media, is widely seen as part of a bid to ensure that the CPP remains in power for another term following Julys election and extends his 33-year rule of the country. Both the U.S. and EU have withdrawn donor support for Cambodias elections, citing government actions seen as limiting democracy in the country, including the banning of the CNRP and the arrest of Kem Sokha. Late on Thursday, Florida Congressman Ted Yoho, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, introduced the Cambodia Democracy Act of 2018, which aims to punish Cambodia over the governments recent restrictions on the countrys democratic process. In a statement, Yoho said the legislation would push back against the Hun Sen regimes undermining of democracy and related human rights abuses by applying financial sanctions to the figures who carry out this despicable agenda and codifying the [U.S. President Donald Trump] Administrations existing visa restrictions for these individuals. This bill will help the people of Cambodia in their pursuit of democracy by imposing costs on Hun Sens consolidation of power, the lawmaker said. Earlier this week, Yoho acknowledged to RFA that the proposed legislation may come too late to force Hun Sen to reinstate the CNRP before the July ballot, and said the fairness of the election will ultimately rely on the Cambodian people demanding that they have opposition parties to Hun Sen. Absent the CNRP, a boycott of the July election is a great strategy, he said at the time. On Friday, Sok Eysan suggested that Yohos Cambodia Democracy Act was a violation of Cambodias sovereignty. A law in a country is made for the people of that country to implement, he said, referring to Cambodias Supreme Court decision to ban the CNRP. Now, it is being called into question when an act is aimed at pressuring Cambodia into doing certain things. This kind of move is against democratic principles. Meach Sovannara, a former senior official of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, arrives at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, May 10, 2018. Credit: AP Photo Ruling condemned Also on Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed disappointment over a decision a day earlier by Cambodias Appeal Court to uphold the insurrection convictions of 11 CNRP members and supporters, saying the ruling highlighted concerns about fair trial rights and the perception of government interference at the time of the trial. The 11 were originally sentenced in July 2015 to between seven and 20 years in prison for allegedly inciting violence during a demonstration at Freedom Park in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh a year earlier. The CNRP 11who have already spent nearly three years in detentionappear to have been convicted for their political opinion, and for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement. The U.N. noted that during their initial trial, the accused were unable to cross-examine complainants and were not given adequate time and opportunity to present their defense, while at the appeal hearing the original complainantsparamilitary police officersadmitted that they had merely signed on to complaints drafted by others. No evidence was produced during the trial or appeal that linked any of the 11 accused with the violence at the 2014 demonstration, or the charges of insurrection they were convicted of, the statement said. New York-based Human Rights Watch had called on Cambodia Tuesday to quash the politically motivated insurrection convictions against the 11 CNRP members ahead of the court decision on their appeal. Human Rights Watchs Asia director Brad Adams called their 2015 conviction one of the first of many bogus cases brought against the opposition after the party nearly won the disputed 2013 elections and suggested that incarcerating them was part of a bid by Hun Sen and the CPP to stave off defeat at the ballot-box. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. As Beijing and the Vatican reportedly struggle to reach an accord over the appointment of Chinese bishops, a delegation of Catholic bishops from Taiwan is in Rome this week, preparing for a possible audience with the pope on Monday. "We will likely meet with the pope on Monday," a secretary surnamed Liao traveling with the delegation told RFA. "We don't have details [of what is to be discussed], just a rough idea of the arrangements." "They have mostly been meeting with ministers, cardinals, and bishops this week," he said, adding that he won't hear about the content of any meeting with the pope until after his return to Taiwan. Repeated attempts to reach the Rev. Chen Ko, who is also accompanying the delegation, were unsuccessful on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that negotiations between the Vatican and Beijing may have stalled following a new set of restrictions on religious activities implemented by the Chinese government since February. Liao said the Vatican now appears to be distancing itself from talks with Beijing. "There are issues such as the fact that there is no religious freedom in China," Liao said. "There won't be any progress unless both sides are able to make concessions and reach a consensus." "Otherwise, it's not going to be easy; it's hard to get past these problems." Sources told RFA that the newly amended Religious Affairs Regulations had sparked a fresh round of persecution of religious believers, throwing the future of any deal into doubt. An employee who answered the phone at the Bureau of Religious Affairs under China's cabinet, the State Council, declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Thursday. "I can't answer your questions," the employee said. "This is the duty room, not the main office, and I can't give you their number." Calls to the foreign ministry press office in Beijing rang unanswered during office hours on Thursday. Hope for meeting The seven bishops from Taiwan are hoping to meet the pope next week on their first visit to the Holy See since December 2008, after a farewell dinner hosted by Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen and her devoutly Catholic vice-president Chen Chien-jen. The Vatican is one of a handful of states to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, still officially governed by the last remnant of the Republic of China formed by Sun Yat-sen's 1911 revolution that toppled imperial rule. There had been concerns in Taiwan that any rapprochement between the Vatican and the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing could lead to the Vatican switching its recognition to the People's Republic of China, which refuses to accept dual recognition under its "One China" policy. Mainland Chinese bishop Han Yingjin, one of the few Catholic bishops to have been recognized by both the government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association and the Vatican, said the Taiwan bishops' meeting with the pope could affect the outcome. "I think that this will definitely have an effect, with so many bishops going; it's bound to affect the question of diplomatic ties," Han told RFA. "I think the Vatican will take them and their opinions into account ... and reflect on them, as well as some of the views of the Taiwan government." But he said that the eventual switching of diplomatic recognition is inevitable. According to the Catholic news website Crux, Taiwan has fewer than 300,000 Catholicsjust two percent of the democratic island's populationand seven dioceses. A number of bishops are retired or soon to retire, it said. 'Fake news' Taiwan's ambassador to the Holy See, Lee Shih-ming, was quoted in official news reports as saying that the Taiwan bishops are grateful for the love and concern shown them by the pope. "They are of the opinion that there is a lot of fake news in the rumors circulating about relations between Taiwan and the Vatican," Lee said. "In fact, the pope has sent out a number of high-level envoys to Taiwan in the past year or so, and has organized a number of events aimed at promoting international exchanges in Taiwan," he said. "The Holy Father also prayed for Taiwan when it was hit by natural disasters." Lee said the delegation of bishops has the full backing and encouragement of President Tsai. However, repeated requests for interviews with members of Taiwan's diplomatic mission to the Holy See received no response on Thursday. Previous reports had indicated that China and the Vatican were on track to sign a deal in March, but a worldwide outcry from Catholics opposed to China's regime of religious controls may have changed that. The Vatican had been hoping to eliminate the division between bishops and churches recognized by the government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association and those appointed by Rome, which would result in an expansion of the Catholic Church in China. But a group of leading Catholics in Hong Kong and the U.S. said in an open letter that they were "deeply shocked and disappointed" by the moves, citing church articles as saying that the right to nominate and appoint bishops belongs only to the Church, not to any secular body such as the atheist Chinese Communist Party. The letter said that religious persecution continues unabated under the administration of President Xi Jinping amid heavy-handed controls by religious affairs officials, and that any deal could affect the Church's "holiness and moral integrity." Deal unlikely Taiwan archbishop John Hung told RFA in April that a deal was unlikely because Beijing would never recognize the Vatican's authority over Catholics. "The Chinese mainland doesn't recognize papal authority," Hung said. "Xi Jinping is the leader of the country, so how is he going to give up his power? And the Catholic Church won't abdicate its own authority, so they will never sign." "There is only one pope in the Catholic Church," he said. Hung also cited a recent white paper on religious affairs issued by Beijing that asserts that all religions are subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party within China's borders. Religious believers must "be subordinate to and serve the overall interests of the nation and the Chinese people ... and support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party," the white paper said. "Is [China] going to open itself up to religious freedom and allow the Vatican in? To send in foreign missionaries? No way!" Hung said. Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The recent removal by a Beijing-backed language school embedded on a university campus in the United States of a reference to the democratic island of Taiwan has sparked concern that Chinese political censorship is compromising freedom of speech far beyond its borders. Journalism award winner Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, who gave a keynote address at Savannah State Universitys Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, found that an entry on her biography saying she had worked in Taiwan had been removed. "Id listed the self-governing island as one of the places where Id reported," Allen-Ebrahimian wrote in Foreign Policy magazine after the event. "But in the printed materials for the event, the reference to Taiwan had been removed." She said the award she won was underwritten by the local Confucius Institute, whose Beijing-funded staff are trained in China and instilled with Communist Party teachings before being posted overseas. On the day Allen-Ebrahimian accepted her award, Luo Qijuan, co-director of the on-campus institute at Savannah State, came over to criticize her for making China look bad when she spoke about Beijing's crackdown on freedom of expression and persecution of ethnic minority groups during her keynote speech. Allen-Ebrahimian later learned that Luo was also behind the editing of her biography. Sulaiman Gu, a Chinese rights activist currently studying chemistry at the University of Georgia, said that while Confucius Institutes should be free to promote the Chinese government's point of view, they shouldn't do so to the exclusion of all other views. "There is a certain degree of logic to the Confucius Institute wanting to put forward its own understanding of the situation, because it is in a campus where there is freedom of speech," Gu told RFA. "But precisely because there is freedom of speech, it can't force others to accept that version." "It shouldn't seek to silence all other opinions." Nondisclosure clauses, unacceptable concessions Once lauded as the jewel in the crown of China's "soft power" cultural diplomacy, Confucius Institutes have sprung up at hundreds of colleges and teaching institutions around the world. Partnering with local academic centers, their stated aim is to teach people to speak Chinese, as well as broadening people's experience of Chinese culture in general. But academics say that Confucius Institutes, which are effectively an arm of the Chinese state, also have a hidden agenda: to promote Beijing's political views overseas. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has warned that cooperation agreements underpinning Confucius Institutes feature nondisclosure clauses and unacceptable concessions to the political aims and practices of the government of China. It said such political agendas are typically allowed to flourish in U.S. colleges and universities, even when curriculum choices and academic debate are restricted as a result. In February, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida hit out at the continuing presence of Confucius Institutes in the state, prompting at least one college not to renew its agreement with the Hanban, the Chinese government body that oversees and funds them. The University of West Florida later announced it would not be renewing its contract with the Confucius Institute, citing lack of student interest in its exchange programs. Rubio, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, wrote: "I remain deeply concerned by the proliferation of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in the United States." "Given Chinas aggressive campaign to infiltrate American classrooms, stifle free inquiry, and subvert free expression both at home and abroad, I respectfully urge you to consider terminating your Confucius Institute agreement." Rubio said Confucius Institutes hold "decidedly illiberal views of education and academic freedom." We know from multiple reports that topics, such as the status of Tibet and Taiwan, the fourth of at Tiananmen Square, Falun Gong, and universal human rights, are off-limits at these institutes, he wrote. Growing sensitivity on Taiwan The University of Chicago, Texas A&M University, Pennsylvania State University and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario have already shut down their Confucius Institutes. Gu said Rubio's warning was entirely reasonable. "Through such practices [as censoring references to Taiwan], Confucius Institutes can largely control perceptions of China among young people in the West who have just begun to learn Chinese," Gu said. "When they finish their studies, they [could go on to] play a pivotal role in determining those countries' policies towards China." China has recently shown growing sensitivity to the use of the word "Taiwan," especially where its usage implies a territory that is distinct and separate from the rest of China. Last month, Beijing's Civil Aviation Administration requested that foreign airlines to take "Taiwan," "Hong Kong" and "Macao" out of their lists of countries, or standalone destinations. The request, which came as President Xi Jinping begins an indefinite term in office with the aim of making China a global superpower, was rejected by the U.S. government as "Orwellian nonsense." "China is more powerful nowadays, so it is bolder about wanting its say in world affairs," Gu said. "Xi Jinping has been saying for a long time that he wants China to take part in global governance. He wants to govern, and to spread his views and Beijing's views all round the world. Taiwan has been ruled separately from mainland China since the nationalist government of the 1911 Republic of China fled to the island after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists in 1949. The majority of its 23 million residents are happy with self-rule, and the island has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Liang Yunxiang, international relations professor at Peking University, said that Beijing has been stepping up the pressure on the island's government since President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016. "Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, they have been unwilling to recognize the one China principle," Liang said, referring to a 1992 consensus that both the mainland and Taiwan are parts of a single territory currently under different governments. "China is very angry about this, and is therefore constantly putting pressure on [Taiwan]." Reported by Wang Yun for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Foreign ministers and diplomats from the Organization of Islamic Conference attend a meeting Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 6, 2018. Myanmar on Thursday rebutted a declaration by the worlds top Islamic intergovernmental body condemning the Southeast Asian nations army for targeting Rohingya Muslims in systematic ethnic cleansing and calling on member states to collectively pressure Naypyidaw over the issue. The Council of Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a Dhaka Declaration on Sunday at the conclusion of the 57-member organizations two-day meeting in Bangladesh, that Myanmars treatment of Muslims in northern Rakhine state amounted to ethnic cleansing and is a serious and blatant violation of international law. OIC members adopted a resolution on the situation of the Rohingya community in Myanmar, agreeing to form an ad hoc ministerial committee to handle allegations of human rights violations carried out by Myanmar security forces against the long-persecuted and stateless minority group. The group also said it will continue to work with the United Nations and other relevant international organizations to address human rights violations of the Rohingya Muslims taking into account recent developments. The military began a crackdown on Rohingya communities in northern Rakhine state in late August 2017 following deadly attacks by a militant Muslim group on police outposts. Thousands of Rohingya died during the brutal campaign, which included acts of rape, torture, and arson, and nearly 700,000 others fled to safety in neighboring Bangladesh, according to the U.N. and rights groups. The declaration lacks balance and fairness, and fails to denounce the brutal attacks of the terrorist group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which triggered the humanitarian situation unfolding today, said Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement issued on Thursday. The government also rejected what it called the irresponsible labeling of ethnic cleansing or state-backed violence to describe the crackdown in Rakhine, asserting that more than half of the Muslim community, which represents a majority in the Maungdaw region, did not flee and have remained in their villages. It also restated a pledge that allegations of human rights abuses backed by evidence will be investigated and action taken against the perpetrators in accordance with the law. Expediting repatriations Headed by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the Foreign Ministry also called for cooperation from Bangladesh to start repatriating Rohingya refugees who live in makeshift shelters in sprawling displacement camps and will be vulnerable to flooding and disease during the upcoming monsoon season. Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement November 2017 to repatriate Rohingya refugees who want to return to Rakhine, as long as Myanmar officials verify that they resided in the region prior to a smaller-scale crackdown in October 2016. The program, which Myanmar expected to start in late January, has been beset by delays, however. It is highly regrettable that the Dhaka Declaration did not even mention the immediate need for the repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine in accordance with the bilateral agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the ministrys statement said. As the monsoons are approaching, Myanmar is now focusing on expediting the repatriation process, it said. To that end, Myanmar urges Bangladesh to take all necessary steps to help the process in accordance with the said agreement. Myanmar stands ready to facilitate the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the displaced persons from Rakhine. Reactions inside Myanmar to the OICs comments on the crisis in Rakhine state and the Myanmar governments response were mixed. The Myanmar government is too weak to give assurances for the repatriation process, and what is the guarantee that the refugees will get back property they lost during the problematic times, said Rohingya activist Abul Tarhal, referring to the crackdown by security forces. The Myanmar government also needs to do a lot to make sure the same problem does not recur in the future in Rakhine state, he said. Nyan Win, a member of the ruling National League for Democracy's Central Executive Committee who serves as a party spokesman, said it was one-sided for the OIC to blame Myanmar for problems with the repatriation process getting under way. Both countries [Myanmar and Bangladesh] have agreed on refugee repatriation and are working on it, but the international community, especially the OIC countries, dont talk about what we are doing, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. The only thing they do is pressure us and blame us. We cant accept it. They need to listen to both sides if there is a problem, he said. If people listen only to one side, the problem becomes more difficult to resolve and moves in a wrong direction. Nyo Nyo Thinn, a Myanmar politician and former lawmaker of Yangons regional parliament, said the OIC should steer clear of getting involved in Myanmars internal matters. The U.N. Secretary Council is working on resolving the Rakhine problem, so there is no reason for the OIC to interfere in it at this time, she said. The Security Council on Wednesday issued a statement urging Myanmar to step up its efforts to create conditions conducive to the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes in Rakhine state and to address the root causes of the crisis. The statement came after 15 Security Council diplomats conducted a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh and Myanmar in late April, where they visited refugee camps and assessed the situation on the ground in northern Rakhine state. To build trust with the international community, the Myanmar government has to work with more transparency, reduce centralized control, and work with local ethnic groups and the state government, Nyo Nyo Thinn said. Rohingya refugees from Myanmar walk to refugee camps in Palang Khali near Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, Oct. 19, 2017. Credit: Reuters Concrete evidence needed Yu Lwin Aung, a member of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MHRC), said the OIC must provide evidence for its assertions. We dont deny the OICs accusation that the military committed human right violations, though we didnt see any of this while we were in Rakhine state on MHRCs trips to investigate human rights violations after the violence, he told RFA. But the OIC needs to provide concrete evidence, he added. If so, government authorities will take action against anybody who violated human rights, I believe. On Tuesday, Kyaw Tin, Myanmars minister for international cooperation, summoned Ambassador Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury of Bangladesh to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Naypyidaw to discuss border security issues and challenges that are preventing the repatriation of refugees, the official Myanmar News Agency reported. During the meeting, Kyaw Tin called for the removal of bunkers and other structures built by the Bangladeshi side near the border along a non-construction zone and asked that Bangladeshi authorities stop assisting with the construction of sheds and shelters on the Myanmar side of zone, the report said. He also requested that Bangladesh facilitate the return of the displaced persons residing illegally inside the zone. Also on Tuesday, four human rights groups Fortify Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Global Center for Responsibility to Protect called on the U.N. Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court over the crackdown, saying the violence amounted to crimes against humanity. The Myanmar government and military have said that the crackdown was a counterinsurgency operation against ARSA militants and have denied most of the allegations of abuse by soldiers. Reported by Thinn Thiri for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Myanmar police escort detained Reuters journalist Thet Oo Maung, also known as Wa Lone, to a court hearing in Yangon, May 9, 2018. An international media watchdog group on Friday reiterated its call for the immediate release of two Myanmar journalists from Reuters news agency detained for the past five months on charges of obtaining state secrets, despite recent court testimony by a policeman who said authorities set them up in a sting operation. Thet Oo Maung, also known as Wa Lone, and Kyaw Soe Oo were taken into custody on Dec. 12 on the outskirts of Yangon shortly after they had dinner with two police officers who gave them documents related to a brutal military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. They were formally charged on Jan. 10 and face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty. In April, a police officer called as a witness for the prosecution gave sworn testimony that a police brigadier general had ordered subordinates to set up the reporters and arrest them for possessing state secrets for their work investigating violence against the Rohingya. The evidence of the innocence and professionalism of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo is overwhelming, so it is incomprehensible and unacceptable that these two Reuters journalists are still being held five months after their arrest, said Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in a statement. It is time to end this judicial farce, he said. Continuing to hold them despite inconsistencies in the testimony, fabrication of evidence, and procedural violations constitutes judicial persecution and points to a crude manipulation of the judicial system by the security agencies with the aim of deterring further investigative reporting on the armys actions in Rakhine state. We call on Aung San Suu Kyis government to free these two journalists at once and to guarantee press freedom throughout the country, Deloire said. At the time of their arrest, the two reporters were working on a story about the murders of 10 Rohingya civilians from Inn Din village in northern Rakhine state, and the news agency later produced a gripping account of the killings by soldiers and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist neighbors. Following an investigation of the incident, the Myanmar military sentenced seven officers and soldiers of other ranks involved in the extrajudicial killings of the 10 Rohingya men to 10 years in prison. RSF, which has issued a petition for the journalists release, has previously blasted the Myanmar government for press freedom violations resulting from the army crackdown in northern Rakhine during which thousands of Rohingya died and nearly 700,000 others fled to safety in neighboring Bangladesh. The organization, along with domestic and international press groups, has called on the government and army to allow independent media to report in Rakhine where the United Nations and United States have said ethnic cleansing has occurred. Myanmar dropped six places in RSFs 2018 World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 137th out of 180 countries, not only because of the crackdown on journalists trying to investigate the Rohingya crisis but also because of the roughly 20 journalists prosecuted last year, many of them under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act which criminalizes online defamation. In recent years, local and international rights groups have called on Myanmar to amend or rescind repressive media laws and allow journalists to cover conflict areas, not only in Rakhine, but also in Shan and Kachin states. Repeal of Section 66(d)? On Friday, Aung Hla Htun, deputy minister of Myanmars Ministry of Information, said the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government is considering repealing Section 66(d) and other laws widely seen as repressive. We have some legislation that is unfriendly to the media, he told a press conference in the capital Naypyidaw during which he discussed the NLDs accomplishments during its second year in power. Some are newly written laws, and some have existed since the colonial era. We will amend and abolish those that we should, he said, adding that the government is considering whether it should amend Section 17(1) of Unlawful Associations Act, the 1908 law that prohibits involvement with an unlawful organization. It was routinely used during Myanmars decades of military junta rule to detain those linked to rebel groups. Section 17(1), which sets out prison terms of two to three years and a possible fine for being a member of an unlawful association, making contributions to one, or assisting its operations, is one of the countrys vague laws that has been used arrest and detain journalists. In June 2017, two reporters from the independent online news outfit Democratic Voice of Burma and one from the online journal The Irrawaddy were charged and detained for violating Section17(1) by covering a drug-burning ceremony held by the Taang National Liberation Army, an ethnic militia engaged in hostilities with the Myanmar army. 'No access to information or rights' Also on Friday, the Myanmar Journalists Union (MJU) pledged to try to amend the countrys Media Law, the groups newly elected chairman Zaw Thet Htway told RFAs Myanmar Service at MJUs annual meeting in Yangon. The 2014 statute enacted under former president Thein Seins administration lays out the professional responsibilities and codes of conduct for all media professionals and fines for those found guilty of violating them. We formed the MJU in 2012 with two objectives, which are to protect freedom of expression and to protect journalists, Zaw Thet Htay said. The MJU has tried as much as we can to encourage and support journalists while they are being charged and sent to jail. The MJU will continue working on our major objectives because [as journalists] we still dont have access to information or rights, he said. We could go to parliament and to the Ministry of Information and discuss media freedom with members of parliament and other officials during President Thein Seins term, but we have less of a chance of discussing this now with current lawmakers and Ministry of Information officials. Though the MJU was formed with 15 board members six years ago, it has not yet officially registered with authorities and does not have a central executive committee. The group, which also elected a secretary and finance officer at its meeting, will register in two months, Zaw Thet Htway said. We now have to submit the names of two representatives from the MJU to the Myanmar Press Council in August, he said, referring to the independent media adjudication body that investigates and settles press disputes, promotes journalism ethics, and protects journalists. Reported by Htet Arkar and Win Ko Ko Latt for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Chinese authorities in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have detained 15 individuals accused of spreading extremist and illegal content online following tips handed in by informers, Chinese state media said on Thursday. Suspects taken into custody include both ethnic Uyghur and Han Chinese, the Global Times newspaper said in a May 10 report, citing an article published on the WeChat account of Xinjiangs Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center, with arrests said only to have been made recently. The 15, including six Uyghurs, seven Han Chinese, and two of unidentified ethnicity, were detained in 11 separate cases, a government website said. One of those detained, a 46-year-old Uyghur resident of Karamay city identified only by the initial A, was picked up after storing content described as terrorist-related on audio files, while an ethnic Han Chinese surnamed Chen was detained for carrying similar content on his cell phone, the Times said in its report. A third suspect, also a Han, was punished for spreading rumors in April that a riot was under way in Xinjiangs Hotan City and that the city was in a state of siege, the paper said, adding that other internet users had alerted police to the postings, prompting investigations that had led to the arrests. Cell phone content and postings on social media are now frequently checked in Xinjiang, with Uyghurs forced to install surveillance applications on their mobile devices to track their online activity, sources say. 'The main target' Speaking to RFAs Uyghur Service, Omer Kanatdirector of the Washington, D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Projectnoted that the Global Times points to the arrests of both Uyghurs and Han Chinese, calling the Times report interesting. It is possible that the Chinese authorities wish to appear as though they are not singling out Uyghurs for punishment for terrorism offenses, but in reality Uyghurs are the main target for counter-terrorism legislation, Kanat said. It is disturbing that citizens are now being encouraged to monitor and inform on each other to the police, Kanat said, adding, It is easy to imagine an unscrupulous person inventing a crime committed by another in order to get a reward. Though China says it seeks political and social stability in the volatile Xinjiang region, the effect of such a strategy by the government will be to further distance people from one another in the region, Munich-based World Uyghur Congress president Dolkun Isa said. This will only stoke suspicion and distrust in the process, Isa said. Repression, purges Following his appointment to his post in August 2016, Xinjiang party chief Chen Quanguo has initiated unprecedented repressive measures against the Uyghur people and ideological purges against so-called two-faced Uyghur officialsa term applied by the government to Uyghurs who do not willingly follow directives and exhibit signs of disloyalty. China regularly conducts strike hard campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Reported and translated by Alim Seytoff for RFA's Uyghur Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. Catholic nuns protesting the building of a house on disputed land in Hanoi were attacked and beaten this week by guards hired by the construction firm, with at least one nun left unconscious in the assault, Vietnamese sources said. The May 8 attack began when building crews attempted to bring construction materials onto the site, which nuns belonging to the St. Paul de Chartres convent say has belonged to their order since 1949. While we were praying in front of the property, many plainclothes policemen and thugs arrived to use violence against us so that they could bring in their materials, Teresa Tu, one of the nuns of the St. Paul order, told RFAs Vietnamese Service. Phuong, a Catholic parishioner who came to the site to support the nuns in their protest, said she had been kicked during the assault. I now have a huge bruise on my thigh, Phuong said, adding, One of the sisters was dragged across the ground, and her clothes were torn. She bled a lot. In a May 10 report, the Asian Catholic news service ucanews said that police who were present at the site did nothing to restrain the attackers, who had insulted and attacked the nuns with batons. One nun was beaten unconscious during the assault, ucanews said, citing witnesses at the scene. Following the attack, local officials arrived to discuss the situation, and a large machine was brought in, Teresa Tu said. I thought they were going to use it to spray gas on us, she said. 'They stopped paying rent' The property, located at 5a-5b Quang Trung Street in Hanois Hoan Kiem district, has belonged to the St. Paul order since 1949, Tu said, adding that the government began to rent the land in 1954 for use by an institute. Later, they stopped paying rent but never returned the land, and we have been asking for it back ever since, she said. Though local authorities issued a decision in August 2016 to halt future construction on the land, an investor was later granted permission to build on the property, Tu said. On May 8 and 9, the St. Paul sisters protested in front of district offices to demand that the building permit be revoked, sources said. But district authorities ruled on May 9 that the permit was in order, allowing construction to proceed. Authorities in Vietnam have long repressed the Catholic Church in the one-party communist state and subjected it to forced evictions, land grabs, and attacks on priests and their followers, sources say. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Richard Finney. Members of a far-right Ukrainian group disrupted an LGBT event in Kyiv on May 10 without Ukrainian police intervening to stop their actions, Amnesty International said in a May 11 statement. The open public event was scheduled at a privately hired venue -- Underhub -- with representatives from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch due to address the gathering. The event could not begin because of the arrival of some 20 far-right activists, who threatened the participants with violence unless they left. They were joined by one of the owners of the venue who ordered the organizers to cancel the event and leave the premises. Five police officers were present but refused to intervene, Amnesty said in a May 11 statement. "Only after the arrival of a group of City Patrol Police more than an hour later were the participants able to safely leave the venue, without the meeting taking place or any arrests being made," Amnesty said. The statement did not identify the far right group to which the perpetrators belonged. "Given the polices repeated inaction over such attacks, it is no surprise that members of Ukrainian far-right groups take full advantage of their impunity -- repeatedly attacking individuals and groups whose views or identity they dislike," said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director of Amnesty Internationals Eastern Europe and Central Asia regional office. Amnesty said that at least 30 such attacks orchestrated by members of far-right groups on women's rights defenders, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), and left-wing activists and Romany families have occurred in recent months in Ukraine. The perpetrators act with almost complete impunity in most cases and are often bragging online about their deeds. "In just one case, an attack on the Festival of Equality in the city of Zaporizhia in September 2017, the perpetrators were arrested and put on trial," the statement said. For the authorities in Ukraine to tolerate such incidents -- many of which have been violent and resulted in injuries -- and fail to prosecute the perpetrators shows a shameful disregard for the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. via @AP The Associated Press reports Florida Rep. Brian Mast, R-Treasure Coast, is under consideration to lead the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Read their report below: President Donald Trump is considering an Army veteran who is a Republican member of Congress for the position of Veterans Affairs secretary, part of a lengthening search for a nominee following the abrupt firing of David Shulkin in March. A White House official on Thursday said Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, who was elected to the House in 2016, was among the list of candidates for the job heading an agency of 360,000 employees serving 9 million veterans. The White House official would not say whether Mast is the leading candidate for the VA position. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mast is the first member of Congress to open a lawmaker satellite office in a VA facility, setting up shop in the West Palm Beach VA to meet with veterans. He was wounded when serving in Afghanistan in 2010, which resulted in the amputation of both of his legs. Trump is seeking a nominee to lead the VA after White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrew his nomination for the post last month. Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness, and Samuel Spagnolo, the president of the National Association of Veterans Affairs Physicians and Dentists, are also under consideration for the post. VA officials have told some veterans groups they are preparing for the possibility that the agency won't have a permanent VA secretary in place for another three months, as Trump mulls over replacement candidates. The VA faces problems demanding immediate attention, including a multi-billion dollar revamp of electronic medical records now in limbo that members of Congress fear will prove too costly and wasteful, and a budget shortfall in the coming weeks in its private-sector Veterans Choice program. The House is slated to vote on a wide-ranging bill next week that would give veterans more freedom to see doctors outside the VA health system and fill the budget shortfall, a major step toward fulfilling Trump's promise to expand private care for veterans. If Mast leaves his seat to run a Cabinet agency it could be a boon for Florida Democrats as the Treasure Coast district he represents is one of the state's competitive congressional districts. Mast broke with the majority of Republicans to announce his support for an assault weapons ban after the Parkland school shooting on Valentine's Day. Trump won Mast's district by nine percentage points in 2016 but national Democrats plan to invest heavily in the district, which was recently represented by Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, before he left the seat to unsuccessfully challenge Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. There are two Republicans in addition to Mast who are seeking the GOP nomination, and Democrats Lauren Baer and Pam Keith are currently engaged in a competitive primary for the Democratic nomination. A court in Moscow has ordered the man accused of a stabbing an Ekho Moskvy radio journalist last year to undergo psychiatric treatment. The court ruled on May 10 that Boris Grits, whose trial started on April 18, cannot be held responsible for the act, as he is mentally unfit. Grits has said he did not intend to kill Tatyana Felgengauer but admitted that he stabbed her three times -- in the neck, the head, and hand. Felgengauer, a program host and deputy editor in chief at Ekho Moskvy, survived the October 23 knife attack. Grits was accused of entering the radio station's headquarters in a Moscow office building, blinding a security guard with a spray, and attacking Felgengauer. He was detained by security guards at the building and later arrested by police. Investigators said Grits had told police that he had been in "telepathic contact" with Felgengauer for five years. Russia's Investigative Committee has said evaluations have shown Grits suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Based on reporting by Dozhd and Mediazona The chief inspector of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has resigned from the agency that conducts inspections in Iran to verify compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made the announcement on May 11, but gave no reason for Tero Varjoranta's unexpected departure. The move comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal between Iran and world powers that provided Tehran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. It is not known whether the U.S. move played any role in Varjorantas decision. Varjoranta, a Finn, had since 2013 been a deputy director-general of the IAEA and head of its Department of Safeguards, which verifies countries' compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The IAEA said he will be replaced in an acting capacity by Massimo Aparo, head of the department's Iran team. Trump on May 8 pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal, signed under his predecessor, Barack Obama. The president has called the accord a terrible deal for the United States and accused Tehran of violating the "spirit" of the pact by continuing to test ballistic missiles and by supporting militant activity in the region. Tehran has said its nuclear program is strictly for civilian use and denies supporting extremists in the Middle East. Co-signees Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China had urged Washington to remain a part of the deal, saying it was the best way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The IAEA has also repeatedly defended the agreement, saying it is a step forward in the global system of nuclear verification. Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters Abubakar Siddique, editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Gandhara website, is author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan. This article first appeared in The Washington Post. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not of RFE/RL. A new movement demanding security for Pakistans ethnic Pashtun minority is calling for the countrys leaders to roll back destructive policies that have fomented domestic volatility, ruined neighboring Afghanistan and fueled the longest war in U.S. history. Since February, tens of thousands of young grass-roots activists of the PTM -- the Urdu initials for the Pashtun Protection Movement -- have been campaigning to compel Pakistans powerful generals to undo the destructive policies of the past four decades. The PTM essentially wants Islamabad to recognize the fundamental human rights of more than 30 million Pashtuns, who are the second-largest group among Pakistans population of more than 207 million. The movement is pushing Islamabad to provide justice for thousands of alleged victims of forced disappearances through the court system and probe tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings in the Pashtuns insurgency-plagued northwestern homeland and across the country. Military leaders have accommodated the PTM's lesser demands for relaxation of curfews, for demining programs in remote mountainous regions and for an end to aggressive searches at checkpoints. But the generals are unwilling to make a paradigm shift by relaxing their grip on power and honoring the countrys laws and constitution by addressing disappearances and illegal killings. Crucially, they are especially reluctant to end their country's participation in the war in Afghanistan. They are trying to discredit the PTMs rise by calling it a "hybrid war." They have questioned the patriotism of the movements young leaders, arrested and harassed its activists, and attempted to sabotage its protests. Their fingerprints are all over the unspoken ban on media coverage of the movement, and they have unleashed an army of trolls on social media to malign it as an anti-state conspiracy sponsored by hostile foreign powers. The Pakistani militarys mighty machine has worked overtime to link the movement to Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are a majority and elites have historically harbored irredentist claims. To their annoyance, Kabul has welcomed the Pashtun awakening in Pakistan, hoping the long-suffering masses will ultimately arm-twist Rawalpindi, a garrison city next to Islamabad where the army is headquartered, into abandoning hopes for dominating Afghanistan through hard-line Islamist proxies such as the Taliban. In Pakistans 70-year history, the PTM is perhaps the most vocal grass-roots movement that has directly challenged the men in uniform. Given that four army generals have ruled for nearly 35 years, or half of Pakistans history, their power even under anemic civilian administrations has remained unchallenged as they have defined the nuclear-armed nations foreign and defense policies. To the detriment of democracy and against the wishes of most Pakistanis, they have led their country into deepening domestic radicalization, international isolation, authoritarianism and poverty. Their power is buttressed by monetary incentives after generations of generals turned the military into the countrys largest financial and industrial conglomerate. Their latest venture is a meatpacking plant, while real estate also remains a favorite. Given these vested interests, it is not hard to see why the PTMs sudden rise has rattled Pakistans generals. Most of its criticism targets the military, epitomized by the slogan "The uniform is behind this terrorism." Yet the generals' tactical and strategic maneuvers have run their course. Since the 1970s, Islamabad has invested heavily in hard-line Islamist factions to compete against and even fight secular Pashtun movements and regimes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, military planners in Rawalpindi became obsessed with Pashtun dissent out of the fear that such movements could break up Pakistan with Kabuls help. More than 40 million Pashtuns in the two countries are tied by language, lineage, historic memories and a shared interest in peace. Beginning in the 1970s, Pakistani leaders chose the wrong path to counter this imagined threat by bankrolling Islamists and discriminating against Pashtun citizens by stereotyping them as warlike while denying them rights, modernity and prosperity. After four decades and the deaths and displacement of millions of Pashtuns, Pakistan has gained little. The PTM, a manifestation of Pashtun social awareness, is likely to remain a major political player. Pakistan has lost its friends in Afghanistan as most Afghans see Islamabad as the primary source of their misery. The generals in Rawalpindi still have an opportunity to address historic wrongs and choose the right course. Honest answers to the PTMs demands -- through the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission that the movement has called for would be a good beginning. A strategic shift, leading to a focus on Pakistanis welfare rather than endless war, is needed. Trying to suppress dissent through threats is likely to result only in instability and greater alienation of the Pashtuns and other minorities. Its time for the Pakistani generals to embrace the best course for their country rather than their interests. They must accept the supremacy of the Pakistani Constitution and heed the rule of law. The European Union has warned Montenegro that its efforts to join the bloc will suffer a setback unless it does more to protect journalists and media freedom. EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn made the statement on May 11 after meeting with Olivera Lakic, a crime and corruption reporter for the Vijesti daily. Lakic was shot and wounded outside her home in the capital, Podgorica, on May 9. The shooting was "clearly an attack on media freedom, on freedom of expression, one of the core values of the European Union," Hahn said. "This is a negative track record; I am looking for a positive track record," Hahn told journalists after the meeting. "This has an impact on the standing and reputation of the country...[It] is on our radar screen and we expect a proper investigation," Hahn told reporters. "If there is no progress on all this, sustainable progress on which we can rely, this will definitely hamper the European perspective of Montenegro." Montenegro, a small ex-Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic Sea, joined NATO last year and is seeking EU membership. It is considered one of the most likely aspirant EU members in the region,but it must root out widespread corruption and organized crime. In a separate recent attack, a bomb exploded outside the home of another investigative journalist in northern Montenegro. Many similar attacks and threats remain unresolved. Critics have accused the long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of failures in curbing organized crime, corruption and hobbling democratic reforms. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP Iran has strongly condemned Israels missile strikes on Iranian targets inside Syria. In its first official reaction to the incident, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on May 11 that Syria has the right to defend itself against aggression from Israel. Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria on May 10 after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time. The confrontation came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 multinational agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program. "Iran strongly condemns...[Israel's] attacks on Syria. The international community's silence encourages Israel's aggression. Syria has every right to defend itself," Ghasemi was quoted as saying by official Iranian media. The escalation of tensions between the two longtime adversaries has sparked international concerns. The leader of the U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel, said Iran's attempts to strike Israeli targets were "highly dangerous." During a visit to Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, on May 11, Votel said Iran was raising the stakes "for miscalculation and conflict" in the Middle East. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged an immediate halt to "all hostile acts" to avoid "a new conflagration" in the Middle East. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters The leader of the U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel, said Iran's attempts to strike Israeli targets were "highly dangerous." During a visit to Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, on May 11, Votel said Iran was raising the stakes "for miscalculation and conflict" in the Middle East. Israel said Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, and that it had retaliated with attacks on Iran's military infrastructure in Syria on May 10. Votel also discussed the presence of Afghan Taliban militants near the border with Tajikistan. He said the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan would keep up military pressure on the Taliban in order to force them to join peace talks. Iraqi forces in coordination with U.S.-backed Syrian forces have captured five senior Islamic State (IS) leaders, the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS said on May 10. The arrests were a "significant blow to Daesh," said coalition spokesman Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, using another name for IS. He did not name the militants. Iraqi state TV identified the prisoners as Saddam al-Jammel, Mohamed al-Qadeer, Ismail al-Eithawi, Omar al-Karbouli, and Essam al-Zawbai, and showed them in yellow prisoner uniforms. IS fighters no longer control significant pockets of territory inside Iraq but do maintain a grip inside Syria along Iraq's border. Iraqi forces retook the northern city of Mosul from IS last summer while the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on the other side of the border claimed a series of swift victories, including the recapture of IS's self-declared capital of Raqqa. U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet applauded the capture of what he called the "five most-wanted leaders" of the extremist group in the joint Iraqi-Syrian operation. Despite Trump's tweet, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -- the coalition's top target, who is believed to be still alive -- was not among those captured. Iraqi officials said one of the prisoners, Ismail al-Eithawi, is a top Baghdadi aide. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters PAVLODAR, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan's northern city of Pavlodar has ordered a top labor leader whose conviction was condemned by human rights activists to be released from prison on parole. Nurbek Qushaqbaev, a union leader at the Oil Construction Company (OCC), was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in April 2017 after a court in Astana convicted him on charges of instigating an illegal strike by oil workers. Under the courts May 10 ruling, Qushaqbaev will be released on May 28 unless prosecutors successfully appeal the decision, the court's spokeswoman, Gulsim Aqtaeva, told RFE/RL. Qushaqbaev, along with another labor union leader, Amin Eleusinov, was arrested in January 2017 after hundreds of OCC workers went on a hunger strike to protest the closure of a trade union alliance. The strike was stopped after a court in Astana declared it illegal. Eleusinov was sentenced to two years in prison in May 2017 on embezzlement charges and for publicly insulting, assaulting, and refusing to obey a representative of state authority. Human rights activists in Kazakhstan and abroad have condemned the convictions, calling them politically motivated. The court's decision to grant Qushaqbaev parole comes a week after the same court ruled to release Eleusinov on parole. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on May 11 that the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal undermines confidence in the global order. Merkel said the deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions was far from perfect, but stressed it should not be "unilaterally terminated" since it had been approved by the UN Security Council. Speaking at a Catholic religious gathering dedicated to peace in the German city of Muenster, Merkel said, "the extent to which we can keep this deal alive ...is something we need to discuss with Iran." Merkel also spoke by telephone on May 11 with Russian President Vladimir Putin and efforts to preserve the deal were the main topic of discussion, according to both Berlin and Moscow. Merkel will travel to Russia on May 18 for talks with Putin set to include the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said. Ushakov said that Putin will also meet Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on May 14. Ushakov added that Moscow was working closely with Iran to convince it not to walk away from the deal. "We really hope this won't happen. Honestly, we are working with Iran in favor of it not leaving," Ushakov told journalists in Moscow on May 11. U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the 2015 accord, announced on May 8 that the United States was pulling out, citing what he said were major flaws. The deal was brokered after nearly 20 months of negotiation between Iran and the United States, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and France, as well as the European Union. On May 10, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, agreed during talks in Moscow that the deal should remain in force. Meanwhile, the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, is due to host a meeting of the German, French, and British foreign ministers on May 15 in Brussels to discuss the accord. Germany and France have important trade interests in Iran. "Our determination is to keep this agreement in place. Obviously we need the only country that can unilaterally destroy this agreement to stay committed, which is Iran," Mogherini said. In a statement on May 11, the EU said Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was also due to join the talks. Zarif will leave Iran late on May 12 to visit Beijing, Moscow, and Brussels to hold talks with all of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, a spokesman said on May 11 in Tehran. With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, and AFP RFE/RL correspondent Soltan Achilova was forcibly detained and threatened by security forces in Turkmenistan. The incident occurred on May 9, when Achilova, 68, went to take photos of the flower-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame near the memorial complex to the victims of World War II, located in the suburbs of the capital, Ashgabat. On her way to the memorial, Achilova was stopped by several men in black suits. When she explained she was a journalist and was taking photos for a Victory Day report, the men insulted and threatened her. Three uniformed police officers then appeared and demanded that she accompany them to a police station. She refused. The plainclothes police officers demanded that she delete the photos, grabbed her by the arms, and dragged her into a waiting car. Achilova said she was again threatened with detention on drug charges if she refused to delete the photos. When she again refused, the men took her camera by force and deleted the pictures. Achilova was detained for two hours, a period of time during which she was told to renounce working for RFE/RL. She was eventually released. Achilova has worked for RFE/RL for years, reporting the experiences of ordinary Turkmen residents with her photographs. She has faced an onslaught of physical assaults by police, thugs, and other unidentified assailants. The May 9 attack against her came two days after Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Hadjiyev said at a hearing of the UN Human Rights Council on Turkmenistan in Geneva on May 7 that "the fact that Radio Liberty correspondents work freely in the country" proves that there is media freedom in Turkmenistan. RFE/RL President Thomas Kent condemned Hadjiyev's statement on May 10, citing the violent attack on Achilova and calling the ministers statement outrageous and offensive. The phrase "bomb Voronezh" has become a staple of the Russian political lexicon, a reference to what Kremlin critics call Russia's penchant for responding to Western sanctions with punitive measures that end up harming its own citizens. But after Russian lawmakers last month proposed banning numerous U.S. goods and services in response to fresh U.S. sanctions, even Russian state conglomerate Rostec invoked the figurative shelling of the stand-in for Anytown, Russia, 500 kilometers south of Moscow. "You can't respond to sanctions by bombing Voronezh. Retaliatory measures must be implemented very prudently so as not to harm the interests of Russian industry," Rostec executive Viktor Kladov was quoted by the Russian newspaper RBK as saying. After that and other criticism, Russian lawmakers have now stripped the bill almost entirely of proposed restrictions on specific goods and services, including U.S. pharmaceutical and agricultural products, alcohol and tobacco. They also removed a proposal to restrict the employment of U.S. citizens in Russia. 'Unfriendly Foreign Governments' On Facebook, Yekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, posted scans of the new draft she obtained at a discussion of the bill held on May 11 at the lower house of parliament, the State Duma. The new version of the legislation states broadly that the government can decide which "goods and raw materials" from "unfriendly foreign governments" -- or producers from those countries -- to slap restrictions on. It also would empower the government to restrict goods and raw materials taken out of the country by citizens and entities from "unfriendly foreign governments." The bill left in potential restrictions on the participation of citizens of "unfriendly foreign governments" -- and entities in which companies from those nations have a more than 25-percent stake -- in the privatization of state assets. "The powers given to the government and the president should be more broad and be of a universal character rather than impact specific businesses or manufacturing" Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, a key political ally of President Vladimir Putin, was quoted by the Duma's press service as saying ahead of the May 11 discussion of the bill. The original proposed bill came after Washington hit Russian officials and businessmen on April 6 with asset freezes and financial restrictions due to what the U.S. Treasury Department called Russia's "malign activity around the globe." Russia denounced the sanctions as "unacceptable" and said it has the right to retaliate. After Russian lawmakers drafted the original proposed countermeasures a week later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's response would not harm Russia's interests. Russia has previously responded to Western sanctions with a range of measures criticized by Kremlin opponents as damaging, including a ban on the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens and restrictions on U.S. and EU food imports. 'Practically Harmless' The proposed restrictions on U.S. pharmaceutical products drew criticism from Putin's top human-rights official, Tatyana Moskalkova, who urged all sides involved in the "sanctions standoff" to refrain from targeting "medical supplies, medications, and healthcare technology," Russian media reported. Aleksandr Kalinin, the head of a prominent Kremlin-loyal small business lobby group, told the Russian state-funded RT network that the product- and industry-specific references were removed so as to "not make investors nervous." The new version states that the changes were made "with the goal of excluding mentions of certain sectors, products, and services" and to "expand the powers of the Russian president and government in implementing sanctions." Schulmann said that Putin and the government could implement the type of proposed sanctions contained in the current version of the bill even without the legislation, which senior Duma lawmaker Aleksandr Zhukov said could be passed in its final version by the end of the month. She said that, with its initial version of the bill targeting a range of U.S. products and industries, the Duma was attempting to "establish itself as a power body on the most popular front of Russian politics: the external policy." The lawmakers latest version of the bill "is so vague as to be practically harmless," Schulmann told RFE/RL in a telephone interview from Moscow. "They were told that it's not their business to bomb Voronezh," she added. Draft legislation in the Russian parliament calls for the jailing of any person or representative of an organization in the country who goes along with sanctions imposed by foreign entities, Russian news agencies report. The reports on May 11 said Russian lawmakers are seeking to make it a criminal offense punishable by up to four years in jail or by a fine of $9,300 to observe foreign sanctions or to aid other countries by providing information leading to sanctions. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament -- dominated by the United Russia party that backs President Vladimir Putin -- is expected to debate the measure on May 14 or 15, although the date could change. If it passes, the upper house, the Federation Council, would likely consider the bill on May 30, the state-run TASS news agency reported. On April 6., the United States imposed new sanctions to fight what the U.S. Treasury called Russia's "malign" activities around the world and its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The United States and the European Union had previously imposed other sanctions and diplomatic restrictions against Russia related to the election and to its aggression against Ukraine. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in April that he backed the idea of making it a criminal offense to observe U.S. sanctions and said the government should support Russian companies hit by sanctions to protect related jobs. It is not clear if the bill, in its current form, has enough support, as some people have expressed concerns that the action could provoke Washington or others to enact further sanctions against Russia. Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, TASS, and Bloomberg The Turkish prime minister has said his country is willing to consider an offer by new Armenian leader Nikol Pashinian to establish diplomatic relations and ease tensions between the longtime bitter rivals. "If Armenia gives up its hostile attitude which it has had for several years, its attitude toward Turkey's territorial integrity and borders, if it is giving up all its wrong attitudes...and it wants to open a new page, we will give the response looking at the details relating to this," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara on May 11. "Let's see first," he added. "We are going to increase the number of our friends and reduce the number of our enemies. We do not desire to be hostile with anyone, especially our neighbors." Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations and the tense border between the two countries is closed, with Russian troops based in Armenia guarding the frontier. Former opposition lawmaker Pashinian was elected by parliament on May 8 as prime minister in Armenia after leading several weeks of antigovernment protests on the streets of Yerevan and throughout the country. On taking office, Pashinian said that "we are keeping with our position, and we are ready to establish relations [with Turkey] without conditions." "Along with this, we are set to push for recognition of the Armenian genocide at the global level," he added. The major issue facing Ankara and Yerevan is Armenias insistence on Turkey's recognition of the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during the World War I era as "genocide." At least 28 countries and the majority of U.S. states have joined Armenia in formally considering the killings to be genocide. But Turkey rejects the term, claiming the death toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest rather than a systematic plan to exterminate the Armenian population in Ottoman Turkey. Another source of tension between Ankara and Yerevan rests in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan -- a Turkish ally -- that is under the control of ethnic Armenian forces. Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over the mountainous region for years. Armenia-backed separatists seized control of the mainly ethnic-Armenian populated region during the early 1990s in a war that started in the late 1980s and killed some 30,000 people. The region declared independence, but it has not been recognized internationally. Intermittent fighting has continued since a 1994 cease-fire, and diplomatic efforts to resolve the territorial dispute have brought little progress. On his first full day in office, Pashinian visited Nagorno-Karabakh, a traditional stop for Armenian leaders on May 9, the date on which many ex-Soviet countries mark the defeat of Nazi Germany. Pashinian, in a speech to parliament before his election on May 8, said his revolution would lead to the "recognition of realizing the right of Karabakh to self-determination." He later said he was prepared for talks but only if the separatists were involved. Azerbaijani officials insist they will only negotiate with officials in Armenia and not with leaders of the breakaway region. Pashinian said Turkey was imposing "illogical" conditions ahead of talks on restoring diplomatic ties. "It is illogical to make conditions referring to a third country [Azerbaijan] when you want to establish relations," he said during his visit to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara and Yerevan signed a deal in 2009 to establish diplomatic ties and open their common borders. However, the agreement collapsed before being implemented over Turkey and Azerbaijan's insistence that Armenia withdraw from disputed Nagorno-Karabakh regions. With reporting by RFE/RLs Armenian Service, AFP, AP, YeniSafak, and TASS The leader of the U.S. Central Command says the Taliban in Afghanistan cannot win militarily despite an uptick in attacks launched by the militants. General Joseph Votel made the remark during a visit to Tajikistans capital, Dushanbe, on May 11. "The message I would send to the Taliban is that they cannot win militarily. The international coalition, led by the United States, is focused on providing the military pressure, in conjunction with social pressure and diplomatic pressure, that will force them to come to the table, Votel said. Votel also urged the Taliban to take advantage of the very generous offer put forward by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani has offered the Taliban unconditional peace talks accompanied by a cease-fire, recognition of them as a political party, and the release of some prisoners, among other incentives. NATO is also open to talks between Kabul and the Taliban on the future role of the international community in the country. The Taliban has insisted that international troops must leave. Votels comments come amid fresh reports of a Taliban attack on a security post in Farah Province. Violence has spiked in Afghanistan since the Taliban announced last month the start of its annual spring offensive. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack took place on May 10 in Bala Buluk district. The gunbattle lasted several hours and at least seven security forces were killed, he said. Another local official, however, gave a much higher death toll. A member of the provincial council, Abdul Samad Salehi, said the attack was massive and killed 22 and wounded two. He said the Taliban "arrested" three security forces. There was no immediate response from the Taliban. Farah Province has been a key battleground for the Taliban for months. With reporting by AP and Reuters The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Ukrainian nationalists broke through a police cordon to enter the house of opposition lawmaker Serhiy Lyovochkin, a co-owner of Inter TV. The radical activists were angered after a statement against the renaming of streets for World War II-era Ukrainian nationalists was included in a broadcast. KOZYN, Ukraine -- Ukrainian nationalists broke through a police cordon to enter the house of opposition lawmaker Serhiy Lyovochkin, who is a co-owner of Inter TV. The radical activists were angered after a statement against the renaming of streets for World War II-era Ukrainian nationalists was included during a broadcast. Ukrainian police said one officer was hurt in the clashes at Lyovochkin's house on May 10 in an outlying district of Kyiv, as was a journalist covering the incident. Inter TV has often been accused of pro-separatist or pro-Russia leanings. On May 9, nationalists gathered outside of Inter TVs Kyiv headquarters to protest. There were violent protests at the station's Kyiv headquarters in 2016, which included an arson attack. The White House wants UN inspections of Iran's nuclear sites to continue, despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 agreement that authorized those inspections, U.S. officials have said. Days after Trump walked away from the deal and its mandate for rigorous scrutiny of Iranian facilities, senior administration officials said on May 10 that he wants monitoring to continue and will provide the UN nuclear watchdog agency with the money needed to maintain its team of inspectors in Iran. "The United States will continue to support robust implementation of IAEA inspections in Iran to the full extent of the IAEA's authority," an official at the U.S. mission to the International Atomic Energy Association in Vienna told the German news agency dpa. Known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal between Tehran and major world powers forced Iran to open any site to inspectors within 24 days. The pact also instituted 24-hour remote surveillance at some Iranian sites, among other first-ever inspection regimes. European countries that support the agreement, in seeking to persuade Trump not to abandon the deal, often argued that it provides "the world's most robust" nuclear-monitoring regimen. But Trump and his deputies repeatedly insisted that the inspections authorized in the agreement were not tough enough. They noted, for example, that top Iranian officials have insisted that UN inspectors will never be allowed access to their most sensitive military sites. "The Americans will take their dream of visiting our military and sensitive sites to their graves.... It will never happen," Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in September. Trump repeated the U.S. demand for tougher inspections on May 10. "We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating," Trump said at a rally in Indiana. In deciding to withdraw from the deal, Trump spurned repeated assurances from the UN watchdog that it has received access from Iran to all the facilities it has sought to inspect, and found those sights free of the uranium enrichment and other kinds of nuclear activity prohibited under the agreement in exchange for sanctions relief. Despite maintaining that the inspection regime is too weak, AFP reported that U.S. officials nevertheless expect the UN inspections to continue even as the United States moves to reinstitute tough sanctions on Iran. The U.S. expectation that the inspections will continue appears to be based on pledges from Iran and the five other world powers that signed the accord that they will continue to honor it despite the U.S. withdrawal. Iranian President Hassan Rohani and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and China have all said they will keep following the agreement regardless of what the United States does. The White House also has bluntly warned Iran of unspecified consequences should it resume nuclear activities prohibited under the agreement. "If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before," Trump said on May 9. The expectation by U.S. officials that Iran will continue to follow the agreement may be feeding suspicions among hard-liners in Iran who argue against continuing to honor the nuclear deal or making any more agreements with the United States and its allies. Khamenei on May 9 said that U.S. actions show it cannot be trusted to honor agreements, and he also questioned whether U.S. allies in Europe can be trusted either. A top Iranian general on May 10 echoed Khamenei's skepticism, questioning whether European powers France, Germany, and Britain can accomplish their goal of preserving the agreement even after the U.S. withdrawal. Those countries "cannot act independently" from the United States, despite their promises to do so, Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was quoted as saying by Iranian news services on May 10. "Today, we are in an economic war," he said. "Resistance is the only way to confront these enemies, not diplomacy." With reporting by AFP, dpa, Reuters, and Mehr The Uzbek government has issued a decree aimed at completely ending the practice of forced labor in the Central Asian country. Uzbekistan, one of the worlds leading cotton exporters, for years has mobilized students as well as staff at schools and medical clinics and hospitals to pick cotton. It reportedly stopped using minors in 2015 under international pressure that included boycott campaigns. Issued on May 10, the decree says that state employees, including teachers and doctors, as well as students at state-run schools, cannot be ordered to perform tasks such as cleaning streets or picking cotton, a common practice in Uzbekistan. The decree also orders state agencies, including the Prosecutor-General's Office and Labor Ministry, to take all necessary measures to prevent the practice. Shavkat Mirziyoev has promised reform following more than two decades of repressive rule under Islam Karimov, whose death was reported on September 2, 2016. Mirziyoev used his UN General Assembly speech in September 2017 to address the problem of forced labor in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the fifth-largest cotton producer in the world. It exports about 60 percent of its raw cotton to China, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Iran. Uzbekistans cotton industry generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue, or about one-quarter of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP). Cancun sets sights on Asia as tourism increases by double digits Cancun, Q.R. The tourism council says they intend to begin efforts to attract the Asian market into Cancun and Riviera Maya after the confirmation of United Arab Emirates into Mexico City. Dario Flota Ocampo, director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo, says the state will begin a promotion campaign to attract part of the new Asian market that will begin arriving into Mexico in November with the new United Emirates route. Promotional efforts will be between the Ambassador of Mexico in the United Arab Emirates, Francisca Elizabeth Mendez Escobar, the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico and the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo after the airline begins its operations in November with a daily flight to Mexico City. According to Xinhua news agency, tourists from Asia to Mexico are increasing at a rapid pace with double digits since the country has made efforts to improve air connectivity. The regional director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico for Asia, Guillermo Eguiarte, said that Asian tourism fits perfectly into the current diversification policy of the country, traditionally focused on North America, Europe and South America. Asia is the area of the world with the most economic dynamism, with the most dynamism in what growing airlines are looking for in new destinations, Eguiarte said in an interview with Xinhua. Flota Ocampo explained that Recent air connectivity has put Mexico on the radar and is positioning it in a way that we were not before. He added that in that in recent years, tourism from Asia has grown on average between 15 and 20 percent annually, with Japan, China and the Republic of Korea as the leaders. In the case of China, the rate of expansion has been between 40 and 60 percent in some months. He explained that the Emirates line would operate with a Boeing 777 aircraft and an Air Bus 380, the worlds largest commercial aircraft. It is an airline whose main market is business travelers with high purchasing power, which will first assess the capital of the country, and later explore other destinations such as Cancun. Mexicos president, Enrique Pena Nieto said that in 2017, the country went from the eighth to the sixth largest tourist destination worldwide with 39.3 million international tourists. Judge, public prosecutor arrested for false charges Cancun, Q.R. A judge and public prosecutor agent from the state of Quintana Roo have been arrested for initiating irregular criminal proceedings. The two were taken into custody Thursday after the Attorney General found they had a journalist jailed without evidence. Agent Tila Patricia Leon and judge Javier Ruiz Ortega were arrested for initiating an irregular criminal proceeding against journalist Pedro Canche who was detained for nine months. In a public statement, the Attorney General of the Republic said the reporter was charged with the crime of sabotage to the detriment of society in general but the public ministry agent did not have any evidence to prove the responsibility of the journalist nor did the judge have probative elements against him. Journalist Pedro Canche was covering a demonstration in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and had published critical notes about authorities. According to the prosecution, his detention was in reprisal to his journalistic activity. Canche celebrated the arrests of agent Tila Patricia Leon and judge Javier Ruiz Ortega, noting the case against him was based on false evidence. It is very rare in Mexico for a journalist to have justice, he said. He highlighted that the responsibility must reach whomever ordered them to act against him and, according to Canche, former governor Roberto Borge was one of the regional leaders at the time. Judge Ruiz Ortega himself confirmed it to me and told me to seek good defense, said Canche. No one is going to give me back nine months in jail, but when a judge uses false evidence to incriminate a journalist, when a public prosecutor forces justice to imprison a journalist, that has debt to be paid. Pedro Canche was imprisoned from August 2014 to May 2015. State police station inaugurated in Tulum Tulum, Q.R. A new state police station has been inaugurated in the town of Tulum that will enhance security in the region. Governor Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez was on hand in the town of Tulum Thursday for the opening of a new Command Center of the Secretariat of Public Security. During his speech, Joaquin Gonzalez explained that Currently, there is a base in Cancun that serves the northern zone. The center is in Playa del Carmen and Tulum is part of it. In Bacalar, a station for serving the southern municipalities will be built. He added that the cost of the Tulum police station was an investment of nearly 15 million peso which includes salaries, utilities, patrol car fuel as well as maintenance and equipment. Today there is base of operations of state police in Cancun, Playa del Carmen and now Tulum, adding that the insecurity that exists in many states of the country has to do not only with the lack of police attention, but the growth of Quintana Roo in tourism, economy and employment. Joaquin Gonzalez said that where Quintana Roo is number one in growth among the Mexican states, it also attracts other types of activities. The social fabric has been broken. Society is growing at strong rates. Solidarity at 31 percent in demography, but it has not seen the growth of the resources that a municipality has to offer public services. Tulum grows in double digits like Benito Juarez. Growths that are very strong and that unfortunately cannot be fully supported by those public services that generate opportunities, said Carlos Joaquin. He says the state must continue investing in not only security issues, but also in restoring the social fabric. We are investing in tough projects without getting into debt. Sometimes we forget that until two years ago, the state had a debt of more than 20 billion peso that takes 60 or 70 percent of the resources, and that today, without getting into debt, we have carried out programs, projects, strategies and direction, he said. The three billion peso has been invested in video cameras, security arches and control centers with the highest technology. We are also working in coordination with the Mexican Army to install a military police base in Quintana Roo, which is also a part of the strategy project, he explained. Francisco Arana, president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism Tulum, thanked the governor for the security actions that are being placed in Tulum on behalf of the business community. Survey reveals Mexicos presidential leader after televised debate Mexico City, Mexico A new survey reveals Mexicos presidential candidacy leaders after the countrys first ever televised political debate. All five of Mexicos presidential candidates participated in a live debate Sunday that was televised throughout the country. The results of that debate shows a shift in some presidential leaders by several points. According to a survey of the GEA / ISA firms, candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador narrowed his advantage slightly against his closest rival, putting him in first position with 29 percent approval. PANs Ricardo Anaya is now five percentage points behind Lopez Obrador. Lopez Obrador of the Morena party, is running for president for the third time. After the televised debate, the Morena party leader came away with a 29 percent approval rate compared to 28 percent after a mid-March survey. After the televised debate, Ricardo Anaya, candidate of the front formed by the PAN and the PRD, obtained 24 percent of the public surveyed votes, up from 22 percent. The ex-secretary of Finance of the current government, Jose Antonio Meade, candidate for an alliance led by the ruling PRI, held third place with 20 percent support. Independents Margarita Zavala and Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, El Bronco, came away with 4 and 2 percent of public support, respectively. APPEARING on a top TV talent show on Saturday night was an awesome experience for a singing teacher - and she is hopeful that the success will carry on. Alexandra Hans (31), pictured, was one of the D-Day Darlings who wowed judges and the audience on ITVs Britains Got Talent with their rendition of wartime classic Well Meet Again. The nine-member ensemble dressed in military outfits and performed in front of images from the war years. Alexandra, of Rawmarsh Hill, Parkgate, has been a member of the decade-old group for four years. She said she had been overwhelmed by the positive response to their performance and had been told the group were the bookmakers joint favourite to take the top prize in the contest. Alexandra, who runs The Voice Academy in Parkgate, said: It was about honouring our heroes and keeping their memories alive. The audience response was very very positive. The judges comments were really good as well. We got four yeses. We didnt expect it to have the impact it did. Its all been a bit of a whirlwind. The D-Day Darlings are based in the Midlands and were set up by Katie Ashby a decade ago. The group are supported by Dame Vera Lynn and the Royal British Legion, for whom they have raised funds. They make regular appearances at wartime-themed events and veterans parties. Alexandra said the group wants to go as far in the Britains Got Talent competition as possible - hopefully reaching the final. She said: It would be great to perform at the Royal Variety Performance before the Queen. But the experience so far has been amazing. Alexandra said that she hoped her Britains Got Talent story would inspire youngsters at The Voice Academy to strive for their own success. CSE SURVIVOR Sammy Woodhouse has criticised national tabloids including ones she appeared in as a teen glamour model for degrading women. Sammy (32, pictured), who is now a public speaker and campaigner, also called for an end to lap dancing clubs an industry in which she worked for nine years. She said: From my experience and with the support of a lot of other women, I believe they should be prohibited, as its degrading towards women. It is important that we send the right messages to the next generation and currently we are not. Sammy, who released a book, Just A Child, last month about her teenage grooming experiences, has written to business minister Andrew Griffiths, calling for a meeting about the depiction of women in some publications. She said: Newspapers such as the Daily Star, Daily Sport, The Sun, are showing indecent images of exposed women. Currently, these papers are available and advertising these images on newsstands in shops all over the UK. I find it greatly concerning that images of naked women, posing sexually, are so readily available for a child of any age to see. As a previous ex-glamour model, I myself have featured in some of those newspapers when I was just 18 years old. I feel I understand, more than most, how a young person can turn to work such as glamour modelling in their most vulnerable times and how they can be exploited in these situations. TRANSPORT police are hunting for arsonists who caused 42,000 worth of damage to railway cables Officers were called to reports of cable theft at Denaby Main level crossing between 7pm and 7.30pm on Monday, April 16. When they arrived, they found that the cables were on fire the blaze is believed to have been started deliberately. Damage to the cables valued at 42,000 caused severe delays to the rail network, said a British Transport Police (BTP) spokeswoman. Witnesses or anyone with information can call BTP on 0800 405040, or text 61016 quoting reference 531 of April 16. MOSQUES in Rotherham are being urged to be on their guard following a new wave of extreme right wing hate mail. Letters threatening violence have been sent out across the UK in the style of the so-called Punish a Muslim Day intimidation in recent months. Tell MAMA, a group which monitors anti-Muslim hate crimes, is urging mosques to watch out for the letters and to report them if they land on the doormat. The group has received reports about the new set of letters which have been linked to the perpetrator of the Punish a Muslim Day messages which sparked alarm across the country earlier this year. The letters contain similar symbolism, postmarks and references to far-right individuals as the previous hate mail. Tell MAMA has reported the latest letters to police forces and is concerned that the messages are far more aggressive than on previous occasions. A spokesman said: To date the group, we aware of five letters across the country but more may have been sent out. No letters are believed to have been received in Rotherham to date but Tell MAMA is urging mosques to report any to it or the police on 101. Iman Atta, director of Tell MAMA, said: It is essential that mosques report in hate and threatening letters and materials. Tell MAMA is aware of a campaign that is in play and where material is being sent to mosques. Hate material needs to be reported to the police and/or to Tell MAMA so that we can send it on to law enforcement. We want to reassure mosques that the risk is very low and that a calm and a focussed approached to tackling this hate is needed. We are working closely with police forces on this. Last year, the Advertiser reported that Tell MAMA had received reports of at least 19 crimes against Muslim people in Rotherham more than one a month, with the majority being assaults. The spokesman said it had not picked up any cases in the Rotherham area as of yet. The hate mail is being investigated by the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU). A CTU North East spokeswoman said: We are not aware of any reports in the Rotherham area. The scene of the worst mass shooting in more than 20 years in the country was the home of Cynda and Peter Miles in Osmington, a village near the tourist town of Margaret River, 170 miles south of Perth. Police was alerted to the shooting by a phone call from a male person. Crime-scene and homicide detectives traveled from Perth to investigate. The loss of any life is tragic, but the loss of four children and three adults this is a significant tragedy, Chris Dawson, commissioner of the Western Australia Police, said at a news conference. Experts typically define a mass shooting as the deaths of four people, excluding the gunman, in a single event. Cynda Miles worked for a local community group. All the children were autists. They died with their mother and grandparents. Police are now trying to make contact with the relatives of the deceased. Osmington has a population of just 135 and mostly consists of farming properties and vineyards. This will be a very large-scale and detailed investigation, authorities informed media. Australias gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success. Automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Actor Arjun Kapoor Actor Arjun Kapoor believes pay disparity in the film industry is a sensitive issue but finds it "crass and rude" to talk about how much one gets paid. On the pay disparity in Bollywood, he says it is "not about actors topping actresses", but for several years it has been the heroes who have generated business at the ticket windows for a film. "We are not saying that if you give them (actress) more money, we will not work. I have never asked how much my co-star is paid," Arjun told reporters at 'Bend the Gender' event here last evening. "For many years, there has been a certain growth of business because the main lead is a hero, an actor is a protagonist. The audience is used to seeing certain kind of films," he said. He, however, believes that in the last few years things have changed for women in the industry as the commercial success of a film has led to female actors getting more remuneration. "I hate calling it a woman-centric film, but, for example, if 'Raazi' does well, Alia Bhatt will be paid a lot of money for her next film," he said. Anushka Sharma in NH-10 Advertisement "Like 'NH 10' works, Anushka Sharma's salary will change. It is a sensitive thing to discuss, people's prices, I find it very crass and rude. I feel this conversation leads nowhere as no one knows the truth except the bank manager and those who make the contract," he said. The actor said the situation is not perfect but nowadays there are a lot of ways to compensate an actor like if a film does well, they are paid after the release. "With every passing film, you are not seeing just a certain kind of cinema. The way cinema changes, similarly this conversation will decrease," he said. Asked about the #MeToo campaign and female stars' standing in Bollywood, he said actors like Kareena Kapoor Khan are the best example of women having a great career even after marriage and child. "I am talking to you after the wedding of my sister Sonam Kapoor, she will continue working. Anushka Sharma has been working after her wedding. Kareena is a prime example, she has been back on set after Taimur (her son) was born," he said. What is more important, according to Arjun, is to make a safer and comfortable environment for female actors to grow and harness their skills. Alia Bhatt in Raazi "A story like 'Raazi' seven or ten years back could be hero-driven but today it is content-driven. It is based on a true story and they have not changed it and made it with a guy. Evolution is there. "India is a very big country so I am trying to change the thinking with 'Bend the gender'. The film industry will not change or evolve overnight. We are making efforts, so we give credit to the film industry as we are way more secular and open," he said. Arjun felicitated those who stood for women's rights under the banner 'Bend- The Gender Heroes' at the event. "I felt we need to present those men who have made a difference in the lives of their partner, sister, daughters, and are supportive and encouraging, one can support just by standing by their side," he said. "We say behind every successful man there is a woman as she sacrifices a lot, so same way, men need to be there for women. Women are not given the opportunity," he said. In real life, he thinks his sister Anshula Kapoor is more talented than him. "...she inspires me, she is so educated, she is correct and sorted. I want women in our country to do whatever they want to do," he added. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Amid charges that most police encounters in Uttar Pradesh were "fake", Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav today accused the BJP government of misusing the police. "The BJP is misusing the Uttar Pradesh police, which is inflicting torture on the people of the state and creating fear among them. The Samajwadi Party is not only raising questions, but also telling other opposition parties that the government is continuously engaged in fake encounters," the SP chief told reporters here. He demanded that the government should at least provide a list of criminals carrying reward on their head to substantiate its claim that those killed by the police were highly notorious, he said. Yadav demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation to the next of kin of Narendra Gujjar, against whom, he said, a "fake cow slaughter case" was registered, and claimed that Gujjar was tortured to death in custody by the police in Meerut. "It is the duty of the government to see that everyone gets justice. Has the situation worsened to that extent where no one can plead for justice? Will the BJP now deprive the people of the state of justice?" he posed. As many as 50 dreaded criminals have been killed in over 1,400 encounters in the past over one year in the state, while 3,435 history-sheeters were put behind bars following encounters. Aligarh Muslim University Advertisement Yadav also referred to the death of the father of Unnao rape survivor in police custody. "The BJP says that we used to give Rs 50 lakh compensation when a Muslim died. Today, when a Hindu has died, why are you (the BJP) is not helping the Hindu. We do not believe in taking advantage by creating the rift between Hindus and Muslims. This is just a diversionary tactic," the SP leader said. He also blamed the UP police for the unrest in Aligarh Muslim University. "If the government had wanted, then the situation would not have worsened," Akhilesh said. On reports of CBI probe into a sale of sugar mills during Mayawati regime, he said the investigation was being done keeping the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in mind. Attacking the BJP in the context of Kairana and Noorpur bypolls, he said, "These people have been saying that if other parties win the bypolls, then Diwali will be celebrated in Pakistan. I never went to Pakistan, nor do I have a Pakistani visa. The BJP should tell who went to Pakistan discreetly." Yadav contested the government's claim that it was taking care of sugarcane growers in the state. He also demanded that the government should provide Rs 10 lakh assistance to families of Sitapur dog-bite victims. A total of 12 children have fallen prey to dog attacks so far. Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh Referring to the investors' summit in UP and the follow-up visit to the US by senior UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh, the former chief minister said, "The companies with which the UP government has inked MoUs, do not have any balance sheet. The proposed defense corridor is a work to divert the attention of the people. This government will never be able to build the Jewar airport or the defense corridor." He attacked Singh, who is UP health minister, saying that people in the US know about the health scenario of the state. The ambulances must be repaired first, he said. Yadav also accused the UP government of stalling the proposed mango wholesale market in Malihabad and perfumery park and museum in Kannauj. "We want to know the quantum of investment in UP during the four years of Narendra Modi government," he said. Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he said, "The UP CM is not bothered about improving the law and order in UP. He is more bothered about the law and order of Karnataka (where he was campaigning for the Assembly elections)." When his attention was drawn to reports on Congress president Rahul Gandhi's ambition to become the prime minister, Yadav said, "These are post-poll matters. I have good relation with the Congress chief." The SP had forged an electoral alliance with the Congress during the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Mumbai top cop Himanshu Roy commits suicide Former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself here today, police said. The 1988-batch IPS officer allegedly shot himself at his residence with his service revolver, he said. Roy, who also served as Additional Director General of Police (Establishment), was rushed to Bombay Hospital, where he was declared dead. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. Considering the precarious traffic situation in our country and rising number of road accidents, a Mumbai based start-up is planning to launch a scooter that will reduce the road accidents and deaths. New M9 electric scooter, announced by Artem Energy Future Limited, could be a sure lifesaver. This electric scooter is claimed to be the safest two wheeler in the world and considering its long list of safety features, there is little doubt about this claim. Artem M9 electric scooter will sport ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems). It will have a driving range of 100 km with acceleration from 0 to 50 kmph in 6 seconds and a top speed of 90 kmph. It can be charged by an onboard fast charger with battery swapping technology. With most two wheeler accidents caused by rider error and lack of attention, the new Artem M9 will get special onboard technologies offering the rider timely updates and alerts. The electric scooter will get cameras and radars allowing for 360 degree awareness over a 100m radius. Proximity warnings will be relayed to the rider via smart helmet and vibration feedback from handlebars. It will also get EDB Electro Dynamic Braking technology that reverses traction force for better stopping power while onboard Artificial Intelligence will ensure that tailgaters keep a safe distance. Blind spot warning system will warn the rider of someone close behind or an impending danger. Apart from all these onboard safety features, which to date were only seen on top end cars, the Artem M9 electric scooter will also automatically send text messages to 5 predetermined numbers in the event of an emergency besides notify a centralized call center as local emergency response authority. Over the last few years, there have been more than a few start-ups who have announced some exciting products but they are yet to be available to general public. For example, there has been Torq T6X electric bike, Ather S340, Emflux One superbike, etc. Lets hope Artem M9 is not such a product. Following our earlier report of Rajasthan High Court issuing orders to the local RTO to cancel driving licenses of those found talking on mobile phones while driving or riding, the Kerala RTO has now launched a campaign against Royal Enfield motorcycles with modified exhausts. Even as the Kerala Traffic Police have claimed that there are over 1,000 bikes sporting loud exhausts in Ernakulam, the local RTO has promised stringent action against them. Many of these bikers own Royal Enfield and have been repeatedly receiving fines for this illegal act. The local RTO has now initiated suspension of RC Registration Certificate for a period of 3 months during which time the bikers will not be allowed to ride their vehicles. Following the 3 month suspension period, offenders will have to take their bikes to the RTO for inspection. Once it is ascertained that this noise emitting exhausts have been replaced with a stock unit, then only will the RC be reissued. This new campaign will be officially launched on 1st June 2018 and suspension of RC will be under Section 53 of Motor Vehicle Act, where in it clearly states that it is illegal to modify any part of a car or a motorcycle without permission from RTO. These modified silencers cause noise of around 95 dB to 100dB which is louder than a bus horn. These aftermarket exhaust systems are on offer through dealers across Kerala but these dealers cannot be held liable for sale of these exhaust system as they clearly indicate that these exhausts are exclusively for off road or competition use only. It is hence upto the bike owners to abide by the law or face severe punishment. Although an official recall has not been announced, the EPC fix is being provided free of cost to customers Efforts to tackle snakebite a recent addition to the WHOs list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) will take a step forward this month with a resolution set to be approved at the World Health Assembly. Campaigners hope this will be a milestone in unlocking finances for expensive anti-venoms, providing impetus for research and enabling more coordinated interventions. Poisonous snake bites kill about 90,000 people a year, thousands more than other deadly NTDs, and leave a further 400,000 with lost limbs, blindness and trauma. They particularly affect the very poor, such as barefoot farmers in low- and middle-income countries. Tackling the problem is tricky for various reasons: for example, victims are often in remote areas and need treatment fast; health workers cannot easily identify the culprit with certainty; and anti-venom treatments are expensive. Its a visionary proposal but are we prepared to do all this in the field? [In India] we have a snakebite protocol that was published ten years back but how many hospitals follow this protocol? Jose Louies The WHO resolution is sponsored by Costa Rica and Colombia and co-sponsored by 25 other countries. It urges countries to assess impacts, share antivenom technology, support research on new medical tools, and educate health workers about how to respond. We are really glad to see that quite a large number of countries are supporting it, says Julien Potet of the medical charity Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres-MSF). But its a first step the next step is to really translate this resolution into a concrete plan at country level as well as an ambitious roadmap. Rafael Ruiz de Castaneda, of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva, agrees: We feel that things are moving in a good direction but its only the beginning. As part of the resolutions call to accelerate global efforts, in August the WHO will publish an eagerly awaited roadmap prioritising five action areas to encourage funding from donors. Jose Louies, a wildlife expert from the Indian Snakebite Initiative, questions who will implement the roadmap on the ground. Its a visionary proposal but are we prepared to do all this in the field? [In India] we have a snakebite protocol that was published ten years back but how many hospitals follow this protocol? One key issue, which MSF has been campaigning on, is the need to manufacture more anti-venoms. Production is expensive and the products biological agents generated by manipulating the immune system of horses have a short shelf-life. The drug company Sanofi produced the last batch of its effective anti-venom in 2014. This means people affected by snake bites turn to poor-quality, cheaper anti-venoms. MSF wants countries to band together to leverage better purchasing power with manufacturers, says its NTD adviser Julien Potet, drawing parallels with GAVI, a public-private alliance that has improved access to vaccines with this approach. Another key issue is the dearth of basic information about the incidence of snakebite. This is not only a humanitarian crisis its a data crisis, Castaneda tells SciDev.Net. A few countries are trying to gather data. In India, where an estimated 50,000 people die of snakebite each year, the Big 4 Mapping Project has just completed its first year of real-time mapping to help build a picture of snake activity across the country. It involved enlisting around a thousand screened volunteers including snake-rescuers, naturalists and forestry workers to upload photograph sightings of Indias four most medically important snakes, along with information such as location, time of day and weather. Louies, who runs the project, hopes to add mapping of actual snake bites and anti-venom stockists over the next few years. Another project that began in March in Nepal and Cameroon, Snake-Byte, is looking to understand the epidemiology and impact of snakebite. And an app developed by the same team at the Institute of Global Health, dubbed SNAPP, will use machine learning to help health workers by identifying a snake from a photo supplied by them, a victim or a bystander. MSF has recently signed up to collaborate with SNAPP, to contribute images and later test clinical applications of the tool. Access to flexible work arrangements reduces the wage gap for mothers compared to women who don't have children, new UBC research suggests. The study, published recently in the journal Work and Occupations, is the first to look at how the use of a range of flexible work arrangements affects the wage gap between mothers and childless women, and how this varies depending on a women's education. The researchers found that access to flexible work arrangements -- such as being able to work from home and to choose work hours -- improves wages for mothers, especially for those with a university education. Workplace flexibility benefitted mothers primarily by reducing barriers to employment in higher-paying firms, the researchers found. Sylvia Fuller, the study's lead author and associate professor in the UBC department of sociology, said the findings offer an important lesson for hiring managers. "Our findings suggest that, when companies allow work to be organized in a flexible way, they're less worried about hiring mothers," said Fuller. "Not only does flexibility make it easier for mothers to do well in their jobs, but it also alleviates concern from the employer that they'll be able to." For the study, the researchers used data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee survey gathered from 1999 to 2005. The sample included 20,879 women, of which 58 per cent were mothers, between the ages of 24 and 44. advertisement The researchers found flexible work hours reduced the motherhood wage gap by 68 per cent, while the ability to work from home reduced the wage gap by 58 per cent. They also looked at the effect of education level, whether mothers had a high school diploma, non-university post-secondary education, a bachelor's degree, or a post-graduate degree. For women with postgraduate degrees, flexible hours made the biggest difference. Without flexible hours, such mothers earned seven per cent less than childless women. Among those working flexible hours, however, mothers earned 12 per cent more compared to childless women who also had flexible hours. The findings build on earlier research from Fuller that found mothers overall tend to earn less than childless women because they're not being hired by the highest paying firms. She said the findings highlight a need for employers to look at their hiring practices to ensure they are not discriminating against mothers, as well as to consider allowing flexible work arrangements. "Flexibility might not be possible for all jobs, but it is appreciated by workers generally and makes good business sense in terms of attracting and retaining highly qualified employees," she said. So-called purple voting districts that change hands between Republicans and Democrats -- rather than reliably conservative and liberal districts -- are an underappreciated source of rising political polarization in state legislatures, according to a study led by a Princeton University researcher. As judged by the views of the median voter, such districts may appear to be politically moderate, but that isn't true, the researchers found. Instead, voters in these districts tend to be highly polarized themselves, with relatively few moderate voters in the middle, explained Nolan McCarty, chair of Princeton's Department of Politics and lead author of the study, which appears in the journal Political Science Research and Methods. Rather than hew to the center, Republicans and Democrats who represent purple districts tend to take more extreme positions, as measured by their roll-call votes, than do their counterparts in reliably red and blue districts. "Our finding calls into question the notion that reformers can reverse legislative polarization by replacing politically homogeneous districts with more competitive, ideologically diverse districts," said McCarty, Princeton's Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs. Most research on partisan polarization has focused on the U.S. Congress. That body has grown dramatically more polarized in recent decades, but the electorate has remained decidedly more centrist, creating a puzzle for researchers: If voters' preferences aren't driving legislative polarization, then what is? Scholars have generally seen the answer in institutional factors, like primaries and redistricting, McCarty said. Rather than look at the U.S. Congress, he and his colleagues analyzed state legislatures, which also have grown more polarized. The research team included Jonathan Rodden of Stanford University, Boris Shor of the University of Houston, Chris Tausanovitch of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Christopher Warshaw of George Washington University. advertisement The team examined voter preferences and legislators' roll-call votes in state senate districts. The focus on state senates allowed them to trace the roll-call voting patterns of thousands of state senators, rather than just 435 U.S. representatives or 100 senators. At the same time, compared to smaller districts for state House seats, state senate districts are large enough to produce reliable samples of voter preferences. It turns out that Republicans and Democrats represent purple districts very differently, taking more extreme positions in the legislature, on average, than their party colleagues from more ideologically homogeneous districts. And states with the highest proportion of polarized purple districts, like California, Colorado and Washington, also have the highest levels of legislative polarization. To study voters, the researchers were aided by a large-scale national data set, created by Tausanovitch and Warshaw, that combines and synthesizes many smaller-scale surveys to group voters ideologically according to their views on various policy questions, rather than by their self-declared placement on an ideological scale. Using this data, the researchers were not only able to calculate the median ideological position in each district, they also were able to zero in on how citizens' ideological preferences were distributed geographically. They found that, because of recent demographic changes, so-called "moderate" purple districts often contain distinct geographic clusters of liberal and conservative voters, with no large cohort of centrists. For example, many suburban districts that were once largely white and conservative have seen large influxes of liberal Hispanic voters. Similarly, sprawling, sparsely populated, otherwise conservative rural districts often contain concentrated pockets of progressive voters, many of them recent arrivals, in and around college towns or resort communities. The researchers "have identified a class of districts that are moderate on average without containing large densities of moderates," McCarty said. "When candidates compete in these internally polarized districts in heterogeneous suburbs and spatially diverse non-metropolitan areas, they face weak incentives to adopt moderate platforms or build up moderate roll-call voting records," McCarty said. "Rather, they can cater to primary constituents, donors, activists or other forces that pull the parties away from the ideological center." Reformers often believe polarization has grown because districts have become too homogeneous, McCarty said, and they argue the solution to polarization lies in creating more ideologically diverse, politically competitive districts. This study, he said, "turns this conventional wisdom on its head. When control of the legislature hinges on fierce competition within internally polarized winner-take-all districts, candidates and parties do not necessarily face incentives for moderation." The study, "Geography, Uncertainty, and Polarization," was published online March 21 in the journal Political Science Research and Methods. Like watchmakers choosing superior materials to build a fine timepiece, physicists at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore have singled out an atom that could allow us to build better atomic clocks. The CQT team report in Nature Communications that a previously neglected element -- lutetium -- could improve on today's best clocks. Lutetium (Lu) is a rare earth element with atomic number 71. "The ultimate performance of a clock comes down to the properties of the atom -- how insensitive the atom is to its environment. I would call lutetium top in its class," says Murray Barrett, who led the research. Barrett is so confident because data in the team's paper, published 25 April, show Lu to have lower sensitivity to temperature than atoms used in clocks today. These measurements add to earlier results showing lutetium could make a high-performance clock. Atomic clocks have set the global standard for measuring time for over half a century. But since the second was defined with reference to caesium atoms in the 1960s, there has been world-wide competition to improve the accuracy and stability of atomic clocks. Time signals from caesium clocks still support the Global Positioning System and help to synchronise transport and communication networks, but atoms of many other species, such as ytterbium, aluminium and strontium, now vie to make the most precise measurements of time. advertisement These new generation clocks, with uncertainties around one part in a billion billion, are proving their mettle in testing fundamental physics -- from measurements of gravity to looking for drifts in fundamental constants. The 'tick' of an atomic clock comes not directly from the atom, but from the oscillation of a light wave. The oscillation frequency is fixed by locking it to resonant frequency of the atom. In practice, this means a laser is tuned to make one of atom's electrons leap from a low energy level to a higher energy level. How much energy this jump takes is a fixed property of the atom. The laser's frequency is matched to deliver just the right amount of energy in a single light particle (a photon). Once this sweet spot is found, the clock counts time by measuring the oscillations of the light wave. Caesium clocks run at microwave frequency -- or exactly 9,192,631,770 ticks per second. The most recent generation of atomic clocks run at optical frequencies, which tick some ten thousand times faster. Counting time in smaller increments allows for more precise measurement. advertisement Lutetium will also run at optical frequencies, but there's more to making good clocks than a quick tick: that tick also needs to be stable over time. This is where lutetium may shine. One source of inaccuracy in the clock frequency is sensitivity to the temperature of the environment surrounding the atom. Barrett and his colleagues have just measured the strength of this 'blackbody radiation shift' for clock transitions in lutetium. The six-month effort, involving a high-power laser like those used for industrial cutting, gave a result for the blackbody radiation shift for one energy level transition that is closer to zero than for any established optical atomic clock. "We have definitively shown that Lu is the least sensitive to temperature of all established atomic clocks," says first author Kyle Arnold. That will not only help to make a lab-based clock more accurate, but also make clocks that come out of the labs more practical, allowing them to operate in a wider range of environments. In earlier papers, the team have reported other properties of lutetium relevant to building clocks, finding they can compete with today's best clock atoms. "If you can build a good really ytterbium clock, you will inevitably build a better lutetium clock, or at least it will be an easier job for you to build a lutetium clock that's just as good," says Barrett. For now, the researchers are working towards building clocks with single ions, but ultimately they'd like to make clocks based on lattices or networks of many ions. They begin with lutetium in bulk form -- as a silvery-white metal foil -- before boiling a few atoms off into their apparatus. The team don't know of any other groups working with lutetium. One reason lutetium was untried is that it needed a new technique, discovered by Barrett and his collaborators, to cancel certain sources of inaccuracy in the clock. This 'hyperfine averaging technique' is described in earlier papers. "I don't see it as anyway being an overly technical, difficult thing to do, but I think people are waiting to see how this works out," says Barrett. This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore and the Ministry of Education, Singapore under the Research Centres of Excellence programme. It is also supported by A*STAR SERC 2015 Public Sector Research Funding (PSF) Grant (SERC Project No: 1521200080). Tan Ting Rei acknowledges support from the Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship. Public "report cards" on outcomes for patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI or coronary angiography) were originally developed to increase transparency and improve care, but studies have shown that these reports may inadvertently discourage physicians from offering this lifesaving treatment to patients at high risk for poor outcomes. Researchers from the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) now provide a closer look at physicians' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about PCI public reporting. In a study published online today in JAMA Cardiology, the researchers describe the results of a comprehensive survey of interventional cardiologists in two states that mandate public reporting. Their overall results show that risk-averse attitudes and practice patterns remain widespread when clinical results are publicly reported. "Our primary results showed that among the interventional cardiologists who responded, almost two-thirds reported avoiding performing an indicated coronary intervention on at least two occasions due to a concern that an adverse event might negatively affect their publicly reported outcomes," said senior author Robert W. Yeh, MD, MBA, Director of the Smith Center and an interventional cardiologist at BIDMC. "A similar number reported that they had been pressured by colleagues to avoid performing PCIs -- even if it was the preferred procedure for the patient's condition -- if there was a risk of a bad outcome." The online survey was sent to 456 interventional cardiologists in Massachusetts and New York (where public reporting is mandated). The survey was developed and distributed by the Smith Center in collaboration with the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American College of Cardiology's Interventional Council. The results showed that: 65 percent of respondents had avoided performing a medically indicated PCI at least twice due to concerns about public reporting; 59 percent reported "sometimes" or "often" being pressured by colleagues to avoid PCI due to concern about a patient's mortality risk; 95 percent believed that other cardiologists in their state sometimes or often avoid PCI due to concerns about public reporting. "Despite reforms intended to limit reporting of outcomes for the highest-risk patients undergoing PCI, current programs continue to engender risk-averse clinical practice," said the study's first author Daniel Blumenthal, MD, MBA, an investigator in the Smith Center at BIDMC, a cardiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "This is the first time we asked interventional cardiologists in multiple states in-depth questions about how these public reports influence their clinical decisions. Their answers revealed that unintended consequences of public reporting continue to undermine the policy." "I think that when developing policies intended to improve quality of care and transparency, policy makers have to talk to the physicians to find out how these policies might change their behavior," added Yeh, who is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "We need more engagement and input from the people who are actually caring for the patients. While I believe there is an important place for public reporting, we always need to take into account the human factor, which may arise in unexpected ways." In addition to Yeh and Blumenthal, coauthors include Linda R. Valsdottir, MS, Yuansong Zhao, MA, Duane Pinto, MD and Changyu Shen, PhD, of the Smith Center, BIDMC; Jason H. Wasfy, MD, MPhil, and Ken Rosenfield, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital; Ajay J. Kirtane, MD, SM, of Columbia University Medical Center; Fred S. Resnic, MD, MSc, of Lahey Clinic; Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH of Washington University School of Medicine; and Roxana Mehran, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study was a collaborative endeavor of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the American College of Cardiology's Interventional Council, and the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology, BIDMC, and was funded through an investigator-initiated research grant from Abiomed, Inc. In an unexpected finding, chemist Sankaran "Thai" Thayumanavan and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst show for the first time how movement of a single chemical bond can compromise a membrane made up of more than 500 chemical bonds. Their system uses light as a switch to create a reversible, on-demand molecular control mechanism. Thayumanavan explains, "There are many applications that one can imagine developing from these fundamental findings, especially ones that need controlled release. For example, we have shown that two compounds that would readily react with each other can be in the same solution but are separated by a very thin membrane made of a few nanometers and therefore do not react with each other." "But upon exposure to light, the membrane gets compromised to allow the two components to react with each other," he adds. "The interesting thing is that the membrane is not permanently compromised upon exposure to light, but only when the light is on." His postdoctoral associate Mijanur Rahaman Molla and doctoral student Poornima Rangadurai conducted most of the experimental work. The UMass Amherst group also collaborated with theoretical chemists Lucas Antony and Juan de Pablo at the University of Chicago, who modeled the system in order to more deeply understand it, Thayumanavan notes. Details are online now in Nature Chemistry. Such reversible molecular controls that respond only when there is a source of energy are quite rare in artificial systems, he says. Usually in artificial, human-made systems, "materials are in an equilibrium state, so if you have a particle that responds to pH change and you put it into an environment that triggers a change, it stays changed. You can't put the genie back into the bottle." By contrast, nature has engineered some "exquisitely responsive systems," the authors point out, where molecular-scale information is transferred across a membrane that can return to its original, resting state. An example Thayumanavan likes to use refers to ATP, a cellular energy molecule that switches on and off on demand, like their new system. "I tell my students that they may have the impression that a professor never stops talking. But that is demonstrably false, if you just track ATP. When I'm talking, ATP is turned on and being used, but when the ATP is not being used, the professor goes to the resting state, i.e. shuts up. The genie does go back in the bottle." Technically speaking, he and colleagues demonstrate that in their system, light induces actuation of a thin bi-layer of molecules made of a hydrophilic-azobenzene-hydrophobic diblock copolymer. When light is turned on, Thayumanavan says, "the azobenzene bond rotates, and this motion sends a frontal wave across about 500 bonds to compromise the membrane barrier. This allows the entire membrane to allow molecules to travel across. When we turn the light off, it closes again and no molecules can get across the membrane." The researchers show that "the out-of-equilibrium actuation is caused by the photochemical trans-cis isomerization of the azo group, a single chemical functionality, in the middle of the interfacial layer." This work was supported by a Department of Defense Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) award to a group at UMass Amherst in 2016. The world's cutting-edge particle accelerators are pushing the extremes in high-brightness beams and ultrashort pulses to explore matter in new ways. To optimize their performance -- and to prepare for next-generation facilities that will push these extremes further -- scientists have devised a new tool that can measure how bright these beams are, even for pulses that last only femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second) or attoseconds (quintillionths of a second). Comparing 1 attosecond to 1 second is like comparing 1 second to 31.7 billion years. This tool can also measure beam sizes to within a few tens of nanometers (billionths of a meter) -- without disrupting experiments that rely on these beams. The new tool, dubbed a "charge density monitor," could also provide more precise measures of fundamental physics in high-energy and high-field beam experiments, and help guide R&D efforts that seek to shrink the size and cost of particle collider and accelerator facilities while ramping up their capabilities. The research using this proposed diagnostic could also impact disciplines ranging from plasma science to atomic physics, and could lead to new applications and reveal new physics. At the U.S. Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center, researchers hope to test this tool by measuring particle properties in the aftermath of an intense laser beam drilling through a jet of gas. In doing so, they hope to learn about the electron beam pulse emerging from this interaction. advertisement "BELLA provides an ideal test bed for evaluating the potential of the beam-measuring method at a state-of-the-art advanced accelerator, since we aim at producing the brightest possible ultrashort bursts of electrons with our compact accelerator technology," said Wim Leemans, director of the BELLA Center and the Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). "It would provide a powerful tool for measuring and improving BELLA's beams." Leemans led the Berkeley Lab team of contributors as part of an international team in a technical study detailing the new method, published in the May 10 issue of the journal Physical Review X. Roxana Tarkeshian, a researcher at the University of Bern and previously at the Paul Scherrer Institute, served as the lead author of the study and has pursued the new diagnostic method since 2015, with support from Thomas Feurer, a professor at the University of Bern and an expert in laser-based technology and space physics. "Its ultrasensitive measurements at high resolution, and its low cost and compactness are among its assets," Tarkeshian said. advertisement The study details how intense particle beams can barrel through a low-density neutral gas, stripping away electrons from gas atoms through the strong electric fields associated with intense particle beams. An ionized (charged) cloud of matter known as a plasma -- containing ions and electrons -- forms in the process. The technique's "unprecedented" resolution for the duration and size of individual pulses for both electron beams and positron beams relates to an effect in which small changes in beam brightness of just a few percent to tens of percent can result in tens to hundreds of times more ions generated in the presence of an electric field, Tarkeshian noted. The process is similar to what happens when a very intense, focused laser beam or X-ray pulse interacts with a gas and ionizes the atoms. But there are important differences in the physics of this ionization process for beams of light (photons) vs. other types of particle beams. With beams of light, electrons and ions (charged particles) are produced throughout the beam's footprint, and the plasma-associated electrons have a relatively low velocity and tend to hang around the column of ions until they are pulled away by an external electric field. Ions with positive charges then drift in the opposite direction and can be measured. For electron (negatively charged) or positron (positively charged) particle beams, the shape of the electric field resembles a doughnut and produces a ring-shaped plasma column, with no ions initially left in the beam path -- the hole of the doughnut. These particle beams can supply a powerful kick to electrons, which can leave a ring-shaped column of ions behind. And those ions can be guided away by an electric field to a detector that measures the number of ions, their speed, and their charged state. The latest study shows that the new measurement tool can also glean more information about the beam itself from this "ion doughnut" under the right operating conditions -- with the right density and mix of gases, for example. The team carried out sophisticated simulations using a Berkeley Lab-refined computer code known as WARP and another code known as VSim. Researchers modeled the interaction of particle and photon beams with gases and the ensuing plasma-related dynamics. "The simulations allowed us to zoom in space and time -- from the centimeter scale down to the submicron size of the beam, and to follow the dynamics and distributions of electrons and ions at different timescales," said Jean-Luc Vay, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab who contributed to the WARP code and leads the Accelerator Modeling Program in the Lab's ATAP Division. Vay noted that aspects of the code proved key in the accurate modeling and understanding of differences between the effects of particle beams versus photon beams, and in finding the best way to tune and operate the system. Once the full diagnostic system is implemented at accelerator systems, simulations will help to reality-check the actual measurements in experiments and help to develop a path for optimizing beam performance. "Small changes could be resolved very precisely," she said, based on measurements of individual beam pulses. The proposed technique also opens up the possibility to study charge-induced dynamics in matter, and may provide more insight into timescales of fundamental atomic or molecular processes being studied with attosecond photon pulses, she said, including a property known as quantum tunneling in which a particle can appear to spontaneously "tunnel" through the potential barrier of the atom in defiance of classical physics. And Tarkeshian points out that the proposed diagnostic could prove useful for existing X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray FEL at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the FLASH facility at DESY in Germany, the SwissFEL at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, among others, and facilities under construction like the LCLS-II at SLAC. For example, a prototype has been installed at LCLS with the support and contributions of SLAC scientist Patrick Krejcik and a team at PSI to diagnose the ultrashort, high-energy electron bunches produced by its accelerator. Tarkeshian noted that other tools have been developed to provide measurements of accelerator and XFEL beam properties, but as the beams' pulses pack more and more intensity and energy into shorter and shorter pulses, new tools will be needed to keep pace with these extreme beams. She credited some decades-old work on a proposed diagnostic for a test accelerator project at SLAC known as the Final Focus Test Beam, or FFTB, in paving the way for this new design concept. "In our latest work, we have studied not only the concepts but also have addressed the challenges that this technique may face experimentally," Tarkeshian said. "It's great to revive this unfinished concept from decades ago with new ideas, and with continued support we can realize its potential," she added. "This is a very open path, and we are just beginning." Leemans said, "We think that the practical realization of this innovative technique will ultimately be of broad interest to the international high-energy physics and the general accelerator-driven science communities." The work was supported by the DOE Office of Science's Office of High Energy Physics, the European Union's Seventh Framework Program, and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Being repulsive can have its advantages. In the case of an experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory's linear accelerator, a repulsive magnetic field and a clever detector system are allowing ultracold neutrons to be levitated so their actual lifetimes can be more accurately measured. For the first time, the measurements are considered accurate enough that potential corrections are not larger than the uncertainties. "Neutrons, when safely at home inside an atom, are not at risk for blinking out of existence. But on their own, their average lifespan is about 15 minutes," said Los Alamos physicist Steven Clayton, one of the authors of a new paper out today in the journal Science. "This matters in the larger science context because the average lifespan depends on fundamental parameters in the Standard Model of particle physics." A number of methods of containing the particles and measuring their lifespan have been tried over many years -- oiled copper bottles, beams of neutrons surrounded by traps, all sorts of clever ways of determining exactly how long before the neutron decays into a proton. But there were always gaps in the timing from each method, which gave scientists doubts about both the Standard Model physics at playand the variations shown in the measurement methods. Now, by levitating polarized, ultracold neutrons above the surface of an asymmetric storage trap, they have been able to prevent the trapped neutrons from interacting with the trap walls, measure the neutrons with increased accuracy, and determine their lifespan without needing such large room for error. Using an 800 MeV proton beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) to liberate the bound neutrons and then injecting them into a magnetic trap (closed with fields on the bottom and sides and by gravity on the top,) the team was able to capture a population of neutrons and hold them in place for up to an hour, until a detector was lowered into place. Neutrons whose kinetic energy was too great for the experiment were diverted out of the trap, and the neutrons that had not yet decayed struck the detector paddle's boron layer, where they were reabsorbed into matter and thus detected. Comparing the number of survivors after different storage times yielded the average neutron lifetime. The team working on this, for some 10 years now, included scientists from Los Alamos, Indiana University, Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, West Point Military Academy, California Institute of Technology, Tennessee Technological University, DePauw University, and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia. This work was supported by the Los Alamos Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) office, the LDRD Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Science Foundation, NIST Precision Measurement Grant, IU Center for Space Time Symmetries, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics. Scientists have discovered bees linger on a flower, emptying it of nectar, because they have sugar-sensing taste neurons which work together to prolong the pleasure of the sweetness. Newcastle University researchers report that the bees' taste neurons found on their proboscis -- their mouthparts -- fire intense signals for up to 10 seconds -- much longer than the taste neurons found in other insects. Bees visit flowers to obtain nectar, a sugary solution, which they eat to feed their colony and to fuel their flight. Bees can taste sugars on their proboscis and when in contact with food, taste neurons on the proboscis are activated signalling the presence of food. Publishing in Current Biology, the researchers report that the neurons that specifically respond to sugar exhibit a very intense activation, which persists up to 10 seconds. While these neurons exhibit intense activity, the bee will remain feeding at the same sugar source. Only when this activity declines does the bee remove its proboscis to enable it to try a further feeding point. Author Geraldine Wright, Professor of Insect Neuroethology from the Institute of Neuroscience, explains: "We demonstrate in bees that, like in humans, the first taste of something sweet such as a lollipop is incredibly intense but then becomes less interesting. This is so our sensory neurons don't get overloaded and burn out. advertisement "What we've found in bees is that the initial intense sweetness of sugar can last up to 10 seconds -- so they will stay on the same sugar source. "This makes sense if you think a worker bee is not just collecting for its own use but is storing it for others in the hive. It also means the bee will find a flower and drink all the nectar before other bees can intervene and take it." Discovery of two neurons The team found that the bee has two taste neurons within each 'taste bud' which interact to enable this persistent, intense sugar neuron activity. Lead author, Newcastle University PhD student Ashwin Miriyala said: "Other insects have one type of taste neuron that is activated by sugars. We have discovered however, that bees have two different types of sugar-activated neurons. "The first neuron exhibits intense activity when in contact with sugar. The second neuron intermittently inhibits the activity of the first neuron for short durations of time. This inhibition allows the first neuron a sort of 'resting period', so it can recover and maintain its intense activity for longer periods of time. "Our data show that the interaction between these two sugar neurons is a result of electrical connections between them. This is the first evidence for this kind of connection in any insect taste neuron." The work was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the BBSRC and following these findings, the Newcastle University team intend to carry out further research investigating how the bee's sense of sweet taste might be interrupted by pesticides. New research by an international team including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the University of Tubingen, EPFL Lausanne and the University of Zurich has revealed that there was much more diversity in the leprosy strains circulating in Medieval Europe than previously thought. This finding, based on the sequencing of 10 new ancient genomes from the leprosy-causing bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, complicates prior assumptions about the origin and spread of the disease, and also includes the oldest M. leprae genome sequenced to date, from about 400 AD in the United Kingdom. Leprosy is one of the oldest recorded and most stigmatized diseases in human history. The disease was prevalent in Europe until the 16th century and is still endemic in many countries, with over 200,000 new cases reported annually. The bacterium Mycobacterium leprae is the main cause of leprosy. Previous research on the bacterium suggested that it clusters into several strains, only two of which were present in Medieval Europe. The present study, published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, aimed to further investigate the history and origin of M. leprae by looking for genetic evidence from a large number of ancient samples from throughout Europe. 10 new ancient genomes of M. leprae dating from approximately 400-1400 AD The current study examined approximately 90 individuals with skeletal deformations that were characteristic of leprosy, from across Europe and from time periods ranging from approximately 400 AD to 1400 AD. From these samples, 10 new medieval M. leprae genomes were fully reconstructed. These genomes represent all known strains, including strains that are today associated with different locations around the globe, including Asia, Africa and the Americas. Additionally, in this study multiple strains were often found in the same cemetery, illustrating the diversity of the leprosy strains circulating throughout the continent at the time. "We found much more genetic diversity in ancient Europe than expected," explains Johannes Krause, senior author of the study and a director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. "Additionally, we found that all known strains of leprosy are present in Medieval Europe, suggesting that leprosy may already have been widespread throughout Asia and Europe in antiquity or that it might have originated western Eurasia." Oldest leprosy genome to date One M. leprae genome reconstructed by the team was from Great Chesterford, England, and dates to between 415-545 AD. This is the oldest M. leprae genome sequenced to date and comes from one of the oldest known cases of leprosy in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, this strain is the same found in modern-day red squirrels and supports the hypothesis that squirrels and the squirrel fur trade were a factor in the spread of leprosy among humans in Europe during the medieval period. "The dynamics of M. leprae transmission throughout human history are not fully resolved. Characterization and geographic association of the most ancestral strains are crucial for deciphering leprosy's exact origin" states lead author Verena Schuenemann of the University of Zurich. "While we have some written records of leprosy cases that predate the Common Era, none of these have yet been confirmed on a molecular level." The abundance of ancient genomes in the current study has resulted in a new and older estimate for the age of M. leprae than previous studies, placing its age at least a few thousand years old. "Having more ancient genomes in a dating analysis will result in more accurate estimates," explains Krause. "The next step is to search for even older osteological cases of leprosy than currently available, using well-established methods for identification of potential cases." For those planning to become parents, advances in sequencing technologies could make preconception carrier screening more useful by looking at a much broader set of genes. And in a recent clinical study published May 10 in The American Journal of Humans Genetics, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University found that parents-to-be do want access to the information this kind of screening makes possible. The study uncovered genetic variants that more targeted panels might have missed, but the researchers believe interpretation challenges remain before this technology becomes more broadly available. Carrier screening has, in the past, focused on looking for genetic variants associated with common disorders, especially those known to be more prevalent in specific ethnic populations. But the development of accurate sequencing technologies that can process data on many genes in parallel has made it feasible and affordable to expand this screening to include much more of the genome. "By using whole-genome sequencing, we're casting a very large net over a lot of different clinical conditions. We're looking at hundreds of genes, not just a handful of genes or targeted panels, which means this method provides much more information," says senior researcher Sue Richards, a geneticist at Oregon Health and Science University. Part of the study, which included 131 women who were not yet pregnant and -- if those women were found to be carriers -- their male partners, looked at how much of that information participants wanted. If they were carriers for a life-threatening disorder, they were automatically informed. But they were also asked to decide what other information they wanted to receive. Richards and her colleagues found that 93% of participants wanted to know if they were carriers for any kind of disorder, whether mild, severe, adult-onset, or unpredictable, and 99% of participants wanted to know about medically actionable findings that might affect their own health. "This tells us that people like to make choices. They wanted information," she says. The researchers found that 78% of participants were carriers of at least one of the more than 700 disorders for which they were tested. "We found well-known variants in genes that are on other panels. We found ones associated with ultra-rare disorders that aren't on any other panel. We found novel variants, too," she says. The researchers only informed participants about results for variants that were known to cause a disorder or likely to cause a disorder, which left a large number of what are called variants of uncertain significance. "Those are variants we currently can't interpret at all. And that's the one thing that clinicians hate to see on a clinical lab report. Because it says, 'We can't tell you if this is pathogenic or benign. We don't have enough information,'" she says. The challenge is even greater in carrier screening because there's no phenotype to associate with the genetic variant. Carriers are healthy and don't show symptoms, so interpreting a variant that no one knows anything about is much more difficult than doing so in affected individuals. Although there are many groups working on classifying novel variants, Richards still thinks the challenges of interpreting them is one of the biggest roadblocks to making this kind of screening available to everyone. "I think we're pretty close to being there technologically right now. But the other challenges, I think, take a little more time to overcome," she says. Another challenge, she believes, is helping people understand their results: all participants in her study were provided with extensive genetic counseling, but if this type of screening becomes more widely offered, a more streamlined counseling process might be necessary. "Our mission in genetics, and in any medical field, is really to do no harm. This is about empowering people. It's about giving individuals and couples the knowledge that they need to make their own informed decisions and reproductive choices." A solid can serve as a medium for heat and sound wave interactions just like a fluid does for thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators -- resulting in leak-free machines that can stay operating longer. Leaky systems have limited how engineers design thermoacoustic devices that rely on the interplay between temperature oscillations and sound waves. Researchers at Purdue and the University of Notre Dame have demonstrated for the first time that thermoacoustics could theoretically occur in solids as well as fluids, recently presenting their findings at the 175th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. "Although still in its infancy, this technology could be particularly effective in harsh environments, such as outer space, where strong temperature variations are freely available and when system failures would endanger the overall mission," said Fabio Semperlotti, Purdue assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Thermoacoustics has been an established and well-studied phenomenon in fluids -- whether as a gas or liquid -- for centuries. "Applying heat to a fluid enclosed in a duct or cavity will cause the spontaneous generation of sound waves propagating in the fluid itself," said Carlo Scalo, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue. "This results in so-called singing pipes, or thermoacoustics machines." While fluids have been historically used for these systems, the extra step of building something to contain the fluids and prevent leaks is cumbersome. This led the researchers to consider solids as a replacement. "Properties of solids are more controllable, which could make them potentially better suited to these applications than fluids. We needed to first verify that this phenomenon could theoretically exist in solid media," said Haitian Hao, Purdue graduate research assistant in mechanical engineering. advertisement Thermoacoustics enables either waste heat or mechanical vibrations to be converted into other useful forms of energy. For refrigerators, sound waves generate a temperature gradient of hot and cold. The vibrating motion makes cold areas colder and hot areas hotter. Engines use an opposite process: a temperature gradient provided by waste heat leads to mechanical vibrations. Solid state thermoacoustics initially seemed unlikely, since solids are somewhat more "stable" than fluids and tend to dissipate mechanical energy more readily, making it harder for heat to generate sound waves. The researchers developed a theoretical model demonstrating that a thin metal rod can exhibit self-sustained mechanical vibrations if a temperature gradient is periodically applied to segments of the rod. This balanced unwanted mechanical energy dissipation and showed that, like fluids, solids contract when they cool down and expand when they heat up. If the solid contracts less when cooled and expands more when heated, the resulting motion will increase over time. Solids can also be engineered to achieve the needed properties for achieving high thermoacoustics performance. "Fluids do not allow us to do this," Semperlotti said. Extreme temperature differences in space would be perfect for generating mechanical vibrations that are then converted to electrical energy on spacecraft. "A solid state device would use the sun as its heat source and radiation towards deep space as its cold source," Semperlotti said. "These systems could operate indefinitely, given that they do not have any part in motion or fluid that could leak out." Researchers still need to complete an experimental setup to validate this design idea and better understand the thermoacoustics of solids as discovered through mathematical calculations and modeling. "Possible applications and performance of these devices are still in the realm of pure speculation at this point," Semperlotti said. "But the phenomenon exists and it has the potential to open some remarkable directions for the design of thermoacoustic devices." A decay of brain function is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, or DLB. Specifically, cognitive dysfunction defines DLB, and nearly eight of every 10 Parkinson's patients develop dementia. In both of these neuro-degenerative diseases, aggregates of misfolded alpha-synuclein protein develop in brain neurons, including the hippocampus, the region of the brain that plays a vital role in the formation of memories. These aggregates eventually lead to cell death. However, knowledge of how the abnormal aggregates affect hippocampal neuron structure and function in Parkinson's and DLB before cell death is lacking. Laura Volpicelli-Daley, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, and colleagues have now described changes in hippocampal neurons early after the pathogenic alpha-synuclein aggregates begin to appear. This understanding, combined with further exploration of the mechanisms underlying the neuronal changes, could point to novel therapeutic treatments to prevent or reverse neuronal defects and halt development of dementia. "In Parkinson's disease, you can give levodopa to improve motor function; but there is nothing to stop the non-motor symptoms," Volpicelli-Daley said. About 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease, and DLB is the second-most-common form of dementia in the elderly after Alzheimer's. advertisement Volpicelli-Daley's study took advantage of a novel experimental model of alpha-synuclein aggregates in neurons developed by Volpicelli-Daley and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania eight years ago. Fibrils resembling those found in PD and DLB brains can be made by putting synthetic alpha-synuclein in a test tube and shaking the solution for several days to allow alpha-synuclein to take on a fibrillary, pathologic conformation. These fibrils can be broken up and added to neurons that are grown in culture. The nerve cells take up some of the fibrils. Inside the cells, the fibrils attract the soluble alpha-synuclein that naturally is present in the cells to form the pathological, insoluble aggregates of alpha-synuclein. These grow to form the typical inclusions emblematic of Parkinson's and DLB. As the pathologic alpha-synuclein inclusions continue to form, they increasingly impair neuronal excitability and connectivity, and eventually lead to neuron death. In the present study, UAB researchers and a Yale University colleague looked at changes in mouse excitatory hippocampal neuronal function seven days after exposure to the fibrils, a time point before any of the neurons die. At seven days, alpha-synuclein inclusions are abundant in axons of the cells -- the part of the nerve cell that sends a chemical signal to another nerve cell as part of nerve circuit functioning across the synapses between neurons. These neuronal circuits throughout the brain give rise to perception, action, thought, learning and memories. The researchers found several significant changes in the hippocampal neurons. Formation of the pathological alpha-synuclein inclusions created multiple defects in both pre-synaptic and post-synaptic functions before neurodegeneration had begun. "Something is clearly going on with the neurons before they die," Volpicelli-Daley said. "There is increased activity at the presynaptic terminal, the site of the neuron that releases chemicals called neurotransmitters. On the other hand, there is decreased activity post-synaptically, the site of the neighboring neuron where these released chemicals activate messenger systems. This may suggest that there is plasticity in the neurons, that is, the neurons are adapting to the increased activity." "Over time, this abnormal activity may eventually lead to neuron death," she said. "The next step will be looking at how alpha-synuclein increases presynaptic activity and whether this is a loss of alpha-synuclein function in this neuron compartment or it is caused by formation of toxic alpha-synuclein aggregates." advertisement "This is a groundbreaking study and one of the first to address critical and previously elusive questions regarding how toxic alpha-synuclein affects the structure and physiology of memory neurons," said Jeremy Herskowitz, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAB Department of Neurology and the Patsy W. and Charles A. Collat Scholar of Neuroscience. "Our team was able to move the field forward by applying a truly multidisciplinary approach," said Linda Overstreet-Wadiche, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Neurobiology. "We combined anatomical, biochemical and functional assays to understand how inclusions alter neuronal function prior to cell death, and this approach yielded the unexpected finding that loss of postsynaptic structure was accompanied by enhanced presynaptic function." Volpicelli-Daley, Herskowitz and Overstreet-Wadiche are co-senior authors of the study. In detail, they found that synaptic activity in the absence of action potentials -- specifically, miniature excitatory post-synaptic potentials -- increased, even though there was a major reduction in spine density on the dendrites of the neurons. Electron microscopy also showed an increased number of docked presynaptic vesicles. Spontaneous synaptic activity driven by action potentials remained normal, but there was a major impairment in spontaneous influxes of calcium ions downstream of the synapse. Say goodbye to the slogan "diamonds are forever." For industries that use dry lubricant, the up-and-coming phrase is more likely to be "broken nanodiamonds are forever." Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are combining nanodiamonds with two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide layers and breaking them to create a self-generating, very-low-friction dry lubricant that lasts so long it could almost be confused with forever. The substance could have hundreds of industrial applications and can be used virtually wherever two pieces of metal rub together in dry conditions. The most commonly used solid lubricants on the market today take the form of graphite paste. We use these lubricants to grease doorknobs and bike chains, among other things. In 2015, Anirudha Sumant of the Nanoscience and Technology division and his colleagues achieved a breakthrough in solid lubrication technology by demonstrating superlubricity (near-zero friction) at engineering scale for the first time by using graphene combined with nanodiamonds. This approach was revolutionary, and since then his group has continued to further develop the technology. Most recently, Sumant replaced the graphene in the process with molybdenum disulfide, to see how other 2-D materials would behave. He was expecting the process to resemble the one observed with graphene-nanodiamond lubricant. However, the team was surprised when Diana Berman, the lead author and Argonne post-doctoral fellow, couldn't see nanodiamonds in the material. Instead, she found balls of onion-like carbon. What was happening? The molybdenum disulfide was breaking up into molybdenum and sulfur and reacting with the nanodiamonds to convert them into onion-like carbon. advertisement "We knew that the culprit must be sulfur damaging the nanodiamonds, but for us it actually helps," Sumant said. The Argonne team, which included Sumant, Diana Berman, Subramanian Sankaranarayanan, Badri Narayanan, Mathew Cherukara, Ali Erdemir and Alexander Zinovev, realized that sulfur diffusion was increasing the strain in the nanodiamonds, subsequently breaking them and converting them into onion-like carbon. This was a blessing in disguise, said Sankaranarayanan, since their efforts also unlocked another secret of how other 2-D materials will interact with nanodiamonds with the same result. The friction in this new combination is 10 times lower than that of some nonstick coatings including fluoropolymers, which means less heat and less wear and tear on parts and equipment. John Harvey, business development executive at Argonne, said he's already had a significant amount of industry interest in the technology, even though Sumant's paper was only recently published in Nature Communications. The study is titled "Operando tribochemical formation of onion-like-carbon leads to macroscale superlubricity." "The material the lubricant is used on is going to last longer, and I don't have to worry about liquid residue and throwing out oily rags as part of the clean-up process," Harvey said. "We also can use it to make parts that we can't make today, especially with metal stamping." advertisement Onion-like carbon, when formed, consists of several layers of spherical graphitic shells that can be used as a dry lubricant. And the process of sprinkling molybdenum disulfide and nanodiamonds together creates this form of carbon automatically, without any additional chemical application. "It's interesting to see that these carbon balls can sustain high contact pressure and, due to their unique nanostructure, can glide easily, creating the superlubricity," said Ali Erdemir, Argonne Distinguished Fellow and collaborator in this study. "We have now figured out how to generate lubricants during sliding that can last much longer than any other solid lubricants," Sumant said. While molybdenum disulfide is a bit more expensive than graphene, less is needed in this process. "The amount is so small -- a few drops for kilometers of sliding -- that cost is not an issue," Sumant said. The dry lubrication method is also much cleaner for use because there are no hazardous chemicals getting thrown away in this process, he added. Dry lubricants are already common in several industries. However, they are mostly used for thin-film coatings and are prone to catastrophic failure modes. The Argonne-developed superlubricant works very differently from traditional thin-film coatings. The self-generating lubricant readjusts itself continuously, so it lasts longer. "This really represents the next generation of solid lubricant," Sumant said. The potential applications include bearings and mechanical pump seals in dry applications as well as in wind turbines. The technology could also be used in the computer industry; specifically, in magnetic disc drives. Argonne already has three patents on the superlubricity technology, with a patent pending on this breakthrough, which will soon be available for licensing. Boy or girl? For those who want to influence their baby's sex, superstition and folk wisdom offer no shortage of advice whose effectiveness is questionable at best -- from what to eat to when to make love. But some animals have a technique backed by scientific proof: In turtles and other reptiles, whether an egg hatches male or female depends on the temperature of its nest. The phenomenon was first discovered in reptiles more than 50 years ago, but until now the molecular details were a mystery. In a study published May 11 in the journal Science, researchers say they have finally identified a critical part of the biological "thermometer" that turns a developing turtle male or female. According to a team at Duke University and Zhejiang Wanli University in China, the explanation lies not in the DNA sequence itself -- the A's, T's, C's and G's -- but in a molecule that affects how genes are expressed without altering the underlying genetic code. "Temperature-dependent sex determination has been a puzzle for a really long time," said Blanche Capel, a cell biology professor at Duke who led the research. "This is the first functional evidence of a molecular link that connects temperature with sexual development." Unlike humans and most other mammals, the sex of many turtles, lizards and alligators isn't determined by the chromosomes they inherit, but by ambient temperatures during a sensitive stage of development. advertisement For a common pond and pet turtle called the red-eared slider, for example, eggs incubated at 32 degrees Celsius (nearly 88 Fahrenheit) produce all female hatchlings, while those kept at 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) hatch as males. In the study, the researchers show that cooler egg incubation temperatures turn up a key gene called Kdm6b in the turtle's immature sex organs, or gonads. This in turn acts as a biological "on" switch, activating other genes that allow testes to develop. To home in on the critical Kdm6b gene, the researchers took a group of freshly laid turtle eggs, incubated them at either 26 or 32 degrees Celsius, and looked for differences in the way genes were turned on in the turtles' gonads early in development -- before their fate as ovaries or testes has been decided. In a previous study, researchers examined all the gene readouts, or transcripts, produced in the turtles' gonads over this critical time window. They found several genes that were turned up or down at one temperature but not the other. But one of the first genes to shift was one called Kdm6b, which became much more active at the cooler incubation temperatures that produce males, and was almost silent at warmer, female-producing temperatures. advertisement In the new study, the team used a technique developed by collaborators at Zhejiang Wanli University to suppress the Kdm6b gene in turtle gonads and see how it affects their sexual development. Silencing the Kdm6b gene, they found, transforms a growing turtle embryo kept at temperatures that would otherwise produce a male with testes into a baby female with ovaries instead. Further experiments showed that the protein encoded by the Kdm6b gene in turn interacts with a region of the genome called Dmrt1, which acts as a master switch to turn on testis development. They found that Kdm6b activates the Dmrt1 master switch by modifying histones, the ball-like proteins that DNA is wrapped around inside the cell nucleus, like thread wound around a spool. In many species, the tail of histone proteins is decorated with special chemical markers, or methyl tags, that keep genes along the DNA molecule inactive. Kdm6b gene activity turns on the Dmrt1 master switch by removing these repressive tags and "loosening" the histone tails, which makes the DNA wound around the histones easier to access and read. "It's like removing the brakes off the male pathway," said co-author Ceri Weber, a PhD candidate in the Capel lab at Duke. Researchers have found temperature-related shifts in Kdm6b gene activity in other species whose sex depends on incubation temperature, such as alligators and bearded dragons. "This suggests that similar molecular mechanisms may be at work in other reptiles too," Capel said. The researchers think that Kdm6b and the protein it encodes don't sense heat or changes in temperature inherently, since cooler incubation temperatures increased gene activity in the turtle's future testes but not in other developing organs such as the heart or the liver. "The next step is to find the temperature-sensing trigger," Weber said. "We're trying to narrow down the possibilities." This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. A year after the Ghost Ship fire, people are still living in unlawfully converted artist warehouses throughout Oakland, and city officials have yet to fully correct deficiencies in their inspection programs to prevent another disaster. The city still has a backlog of roughly 1,000 commercial properties it has not inspected as required by state law. And 21 of 32 buildings brought to the citys attention after the Ghost Ship fire for possibly holding unauthorized events or residents remain out of compliance with building and fire codes. Some are used as dwellings. The city acknowledges it probably does not have a full tally on illegally converted buildings or the hazards they may hold. City officials have defended their response to shortcomings that drew scrutiny after the fire, saying they have taken steps to make Oakland safer than it was a year ago. They point to an array of new policies, better technology systems to improve communications and the recent hiring of inspectors. And they say the fire that killed 36 people on Dec. 2, 2016, was a unique event at an outlier warehouse, and the dangers in Oakland are no worse than those anywhere else. We didnt do what many other cities did right after the Ghost Ship, said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. We did not launch a reactive crackdown to make people feel better and then go back to business as usual. And, believe me, there was plenty of pressure to do that. Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle Schaaf said she takes pride in her administrations resolve to work with landlords to fix code violations. Avoiding tenant displacement and evictions, she said, was her top priority a year ago and remains one today. Still, only one landlord of the 32 buildings chose to work with the city to bring his building to code. At least five of the owners evicted their tenants. In a report to the City Council and interviews with The Chronicle, Schaaf and other city officials stressed the progress Oakland has made around inspections, staffing and technology. But critics and others say the city is failing to keep buildings and people safe. Robert Thompson, an attorney representing a dozen families whose children died in the fire, criticized the citys report as patting itself on the back on the eve of the one-year anniversary. Whats the point of creating new rules when youre not going to follow the ones you already have? he said. I understand the city wants a vibrant arts and cultural community, and I understand theres a housing crisis. ... But that doesnt mean you get to turn a blind eye to fire and safety issues just because your mayor is worried about displacing people from a building they shouldnt have been in in the first place. David Gregory, whose daughter, Michela, was among the victims of the Ghost Ship fire, said Oakland has not done enough to reduce the chances of another tragedy. Indeed, just three months after the warehouse burned, a fire in a halfway house on the other side of the city killed four people, displaced more than 80 tenants, and exposed further dysfunction in the Fire Department and its internal-communication systems. Photo provided by Dan Vega There were so many things that could have prevented this, Gregory said of his 20-year-old daughters death. The city knows what it needs to do. Just enforce the city codes and the laws that already exist and hire the inspectors they have a budget for. Had the Ghost Ship gotten a legally mandated inspection, authorities would have found about 25 people living in the elaborate art collective, even though the building was zoned only for industrial use. There were no sprinklers, automatic fire-detection systems or fire exits. The interior of the 10,000-square-foot building was a maze of salvaged materials, pianos, organs and wood benches stacked together to form twisted hallways and makeshift live-work areas. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Thirty-one of the families whose children died in the fire have filed a wrongful death suit against the city, county, property owner and a host of others. Their lawyers say the warehouse was a death trap. The citys lawyers, meanwhile, argued at a recent court hearing that there was no legal basis for a number of claims in the suit. But an Alameda County Superior Court judge last month allowed many allegations in the lawsuit to stand. Judge Brad Seligman said the city had a mandatory duty to fix the hazardous conditions in a building like the Ghost Ship. By its own ordinances, the city was required to repair, rehabilitate or demolish structures deemed to be a public nuisance or danger to health and safety, Seligman said. There is no question of the authority and obligation of the city to act when faced with an unsafe and substandard building, he said in the ruling. The Chronicle examined where Oakland stands today on key areas of concern exposed by the Ghost Ship fire. Illegal residences Problem: Oakland still has people living in illegally converted industrial buildings. The city created a list of 21 properties with fire- and building-code violations many of which are unconventional, collective-style warehouses that have long underpinned the citys art scene championed by Schaaf and other politicians. The citys initial efforts to shut down problem buildings were met with opposition from vocal artists, musicians and others in the community. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Citys solution: For the first six months after the fire, city inspectors sent out two dozen notices telling property owners to revert their buildings to the original, permitted use and cease residential occupancy. Some landlords began evicting tenants. But after complaints from residents, Darin Ranelletti interim director of the Planning and Building Department told the inspectors they have to give landlords the option to legalize converted properties, in line with an executive order from Schaaf to allow residents to remain in non-conforming spaces with certain safety upgrades. Of the 32 buildings under city scrutiny, just one had a property owner who worked with the city to draft a so-called compliance plan, designed to abate hazards. But the plan, tenant advocates point out, requires the residents to leave while corrections are made. Since the fire, at least five of the 32 landlords have evicted tenants, according to the city. Problem: The city is probably undercounting potential hazardous buildings in Oakland. The list of 32 was based on complaints from neighbors, landlords and others. A building that no one complains about, even one in which people are residing without permission, might not have made the tally. David Keenan, who created the group Safer DIY Spaces after the Ghost Ship fire, said there are nearly twice as many such buildings in Oakland as the citys estimate. In the past year, his group has conducted about 70 confidential inspections with licensed contractors at Bay Area properties, most in Oakland, for tenants seeking safety but hoping to avoid eviction. Citys solution: Because of the difficulties in identifying problem buildings, Fire Department brass asked firefighters to survey their own districts for potential hazards. In all, they noted such conditions as blight, hoarding and debris at 135 properties. Inspection lapses Problem: Though state law requires annual inspections of businesses, apartments, hotels, schools and other structures, a 2014 report by the Alameda County civil grand jury said the Oakland Fire Department wasnt even trying to inspect one-third of the 12,000 buildings it was supposed to be checking. And of the 8,000 the department did attempt to inspect, one-quarter couldnt be accessed. Citys solution: Oaklands inspection backlog has been cut to 1,000 commercial properties. City officials said they are going to hire a contractor to reduce it further. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Communication breakdowns Problem: Communication breakdowns within and between city departments happened before both the Ghost Ship and halfway house fires. In some cases, police officers and firefighters thought they were kicking warnings up the chain of command, only to have them go nowhere. Citys solution: The Oakland Police Department now requires its officers to report parties and events they come across that do not have permits a policy initially delayed by city officials when the department sent out the directive. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The officers are instructed to email their observations to the departments special-events unit and the city administrators office. Since the rule was implemented in February, seven parties have been reported through the new process. Assistant Police Chief John Lois said that the system ensures that the right authorities get notified and can follow up in a timely manner. The Fire Department, meanwhile, uses phone calls and emails to communicate dangers that firefighters come across, said Fire Chief Darin White. The department has also drafted a new fire watch policy in which firefighters are required to remain at the scene of a building if theres a major hazard, like a broken sprinkler or alarm system, which happened in the West Oakland halfway house. Crews must wait at the building, providing continuous surveillance in case a fire breaks out, until inspectors arrive or a property owner brings in a security company to relieve them. Problem: Oakland uses two separate software systems for inspections one for the Fire Department, which checks for compliance with the fire code, and one for the Planning and Building Department, which reviews compliance with the building code. The separate programs, city workers say, have hindered interdepartmental communication, particularly when a property has both fire- and building-code issues. Firefighters had long complained about their technology, saying it was out of date, required triplicate paperwork prior to data entry and was missing many properties. The database was and remains incomplete because it was created using the existence of commercial business licenses. In the case of the Ghost Ship warehouse, for instance, there was never a license on file, which meant the property was not on the Fire Departments inspection list. Citys solution: Although firefighters continue to use the reviled software, city officials say the department will soon have full access to the better one used by the Planning and Building Department called Accela, which was created using county parcel data a more complete picture of properties in the city. We all would like to have Accela yesterday, said Joe DeVries, an assistant city administrator. But we really took the time over the past several months to build it properly. The city said creating the fire module of the program is a complex process, but that it will be ready sometime in the next several months. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Leadership and staffing Problem: Many inside and outside the Fire Department blamed dysfunction on then-Chief Teresa Deloach Reed. From 2013 to 2015, she acted as both fire chief and fire marshal. And in the eight years leading up to the Ghost Ship fire, largely due to budget cuts, no one held the permanent position of sworn assistant fire marshal. The roles are critical to fire prevention and inspection efforts in the city. Deloach Reed, who went on and off leave in the months after the fire, retired in May, when she was eligible to be vested in the citys pension system. Citys solution: The national search Schaaf and City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said they would conduct to find a new fire chief ended with the appointment of White, a 20-year veteran of the department. Problem: The Fire Prevention Bureau and code enforcement unit of the Planning and Building Department each were operating with eight inspectors at the time of the fire and for much of this year. Citys solution: The city is just now beginning to expand their ranks. By the end of next year, the city plans to have 14 code inspectors and 20 fire inspectors. Oakland in recent weeks has hired several of them, who are going through training. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov Oakland officials halted an inspection program that sends firefighters to multifamily apartments, restaurants and other commercial buildings to check for safety and fire hazards because of a change in computer software. In a department-wide email two weeks ago, Fire Chief Darin White said there would be a temporary suspension of the commercial inspection program, one of three inspection programs overseen by the Fire Department. He told his staff that they might lose access to the computer software program that helped firefighters track inspections of commercial buildings starting May 1. The software was blamed following the Ghost Ship fire for not flagging the warehouse for inspection. Officials are in the process of replacing the database with a more reliable tracking system. But the new system isnt yet ready. City Councilman Noel Gallo, who sits on the Public Safety Committee and represents the Fruitvale neighborhood, was frustrated to hear that commercial inspections were suspended. When it comes to public safety, he said, software or managerial excuses dont cut it. Deputy Fire Chief Melinda Drayton said she does not know when the inspections will resume, but she and other officials emphasized they are a small part of all fire inspections and not legally mandated. The department does three types of inspections. Fire-code inspections are required by law on a yearly basis for buildings like jails, high-rises, new construction sites and churches. Vegetation inspections happen during wildfire season in the Oakland hills, where firefighters check houses and vacant lots for overgrowth and other hazards. Commercial inspections the ones that have been suspended are for smaller businesses and certain apartment building. The citys website says, These inspections are conducted by the members of the OFD Operations Division, on a block-by-block basis, with the intent to inspect commercial & residential properties as it pertains to the code and ordinance; provide fire and other life safety hazards education to business owners/occupants; and conduct pre-fire planning for future emergency response. ... It is our goal to provide you excellent service by identifying those activities, processes, or construction flaws which can lead to unwanted fires, and other types of accidents or emergencies. On Thursday, city spokeswoman Karen Boyd described the inspections as supplemental and said, Life-safety inspections have not been impacted by the effort to improve our data collection and data sharing systems. In his memo to fire staff, White cautioned that suspending the program should not affect efforts to prevent fires. This does not and should not preclude companies from continuing to conduct building walk-throughs, pre-fire planning and making referrals as necessary to the Fire Prevention Bureau and other compliance agencies and divisions, White said in the April 27 notice. The Fire Departments inspection programs came under scrutiny in recent years after deadly blazes at the Ghost Ship warehouse and a halfway house on San Pablo Avenue. In 2014, an Alameda County civil grand jury investigation revealed that the Fire Department was not trying to check one-third of the citys 12,000 commercial buildings for fire hazards. And for one-quarter of inspections that were attempted, the buildings couldnt be accessed. Drayton said the inspections that have been suspended which are conducted across the city by individual fire crews are a small portion of the total inspections the department carries out. She said inspections mandated by law for high-rise buildings, construction sites, special events and the like will continue. Those are handled by civilian inspectors in the Fire Prevention Bureau. For years, the department used a software program called One Step to record what firefighters saw while inspecting buildings. But the database, which has been described as clumsy and difficult to navigate, was missing property records. The system was originally designed based on business licenses. That meant there could be outdated records for buildings, duplicate records a hair salon with multiple stylists or no records at all. The Ghost Ship, for instance, just a block away from a fire station, was never inspected in the years it was used as an art collective and event space because there was no license associated with its operations. In response to the warehouse disaster, which killed 36 guests at an electronic music show, the city paid $2.7 million to expand a different data management system used by the citys Planning and Building Department. Oakland officials said that system, called Accela, was more thorough and would prevent inspection lapses because properties were inputted based on county parcel information. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. But migrating the data and building out the fire module of the new system is not complete yet. Dan Robertson, president of the firefighters union, said problems arising while moving to a new system were to be expected. But a lack of resources and staffing in the department is hurting the safety of firefighters and citizens, he added. We wouldve liked to have seen better planning and coordination, maybe with a bigger commitment of staff resources, to make the transition more seamless for us in the firehouse, Robertson said. By not empowering us to continue to vigorously perform effective fire inspections, it sends a message, especially considering the lack of direction to us on dealing with (homeless) encampments. Drayton said the department has purchased a cloud-based version of the One Step program to retain the old data while the system is transitioned, but its licensed on fewer computers now. Firefighters need to be trained on that version before the commercial inspection program can be fully restored, she said. Drayton said she didnt know when that would be. Right now, Drayton said, the department is training everyone on how to use Accela for vegetation-management inspections different than commercial inspections as wildfire season in the hills nears. That part of the new database will be rolled out next week. Also next week, the City Council will vote on a $150,000 contract that will extend One Step up to two more years in order to keep the old inspection records while transitioning between systems. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov Facebook is on the verge of signing a lease at the 43-story Park Tower at 250 Howard St., nearly tripling its San Francisco office space. The company is expected to take up 750,000 square feet the entire tower, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak about the deal publicly. Once signed, it will be the biggest lease of the year in San Francisco, slightly larger than Dropboxs 736,000-square-foot deal earlier this year at 1800 Owens St. in the Mission Bay development. Facebook has its headquarters in Menlo Park, where most of its employees work. But in recent years it has expanded to offices in Fremont, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and San Francisco. Last year, the company confirmed it would move some Instagram staffers to 181 Fremont St., where it leased 432,000 square feet, according to CoStar Group, a firm that tracks real estate data. Many younger tech employees enjoy living in San Francisco for its nightlife and culture, hopping on company shuttle buses for long slogs on the freeway to work. Some have opted to work for San Francisco companies including Salesforce, Twitter and Uber to cut down on their commutes. So Cisco, Facebook, LinkedIn and others that once stuck to the South Bay have been opening offices in San Francisco to better compete for employees. Our whole city is turning into a tech central magnet, said Jesse Gundersheim, a CoStar market economist. It is unclear when Facebook will formally sign the Park Tower lease. Chris Roeder, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, the buildings leasing agent, said in an email Friday that no lease has been completed yet. Facebook spokesman Jamil Walker declined to comment. The Fremont Street and Howard Street towers, taken together, represent a dramatic shift in Facebooks real estate strategy. During its first decade in the Bay Area, Facebook tried to house its engineers under one roof. In 2015, in the most literal manifestation of that vision, it moved thousands of employees into a Frank Gehry-designed building in Menlo Park, which it billed as having the largest open floor plan in the world. Meanwhile, Google, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Uber, Lyft and Salesforce gobbled up San Francisco buildings from Mission Bay to Mid-Market to the Financial District. Rents have soared accordingly. Though a late entrant into the real estate rush, Facebook comes with a sizable wallet. At the end of March, it had nearly $44 billion in cash and equivalents. With 1.2 million square feet of space in the heart of the citys Transbay district, Facebook will have enough space to accommodate more than 8,000 people. Salesforce, the citys largest tech employer, has 7,500 local workers; CEO Marc Benioff has said that the company plans to increase its San Francisco workforce to about 10,000. The two companies engineers, designers and marketers will knock elbows on the sidewalks around Salesforce Tower. As Facebooks staff continues to grow, the company has sought offices outside Menlo Park, where it already owns or leases 39 percent of the space, CoStar said. (The figures include flex space, which can be used for offices or other purposes.) As traffic increases and housing costs continue to rise, Bay Area tech giants have sought to spread offices around the region. But the movement isnt just in one direction. San Franciscos Lyft, for example, opened a center for self-driving car research in Palo Alto last year. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Its a reflection of all the companies wanting to have their employees be able to spend less time commuting, said Adhi Nagraj, San Francisco director for SPUR, a civic planning organization. And given their needs for space, tech companies no longer favor the low-slung offices in San Franciscos South of Market area. As skyscrapers rise in the new Transbay neighborhood, companies are flocking there, Gundersheim said. On its website, Park Tower emphasizes its views and access to outdoor and open space. The building is a five-minute walk from Salesforce Tower and seven minutes from LinkedIns Second Street tower. Those amenities and the location dont come cheap. The average asking rent in the south Financial District is just under $70 per square foot a year, Gundersheim said. The companies that are willing to (have offices) there are going to pay some premium rates, he said. Wendy Lee and J.K. Dineen are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com; jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee; @sfjkdineen Just before 7 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2013, Jennie Zhu was driving a Mercedes-Benz that rear-ended a minivan on the intersection of Pine and Gough streets, killing one of the minivans passengers 16-year-old high school student Kevin San and severely injuring his mother and sister. Before the collision, Zhus SUV was traveling well beyond Pine Streets speed limit. In the vehicular manslaughter trial against Zhu, 63, this much is certain. Whats unclear, though, according to her attorney, is why her car was going that fast. On the first day of Zhus trial Thursday morning in San Franciscos Hall of Justice, defense attorney Alfredo Vea Jr. attempted to cast doubt on the prosecutions case. Vea told jurors that Zhu heard a loud noise just before the crash. He said her vehicle ran away from her. Vea urged jurors in his opening statements to focus not just on the who and the what of the testimony, but also the why. People assume she isnt the fourth victim in this case, Vea said of his client. Prosecutor Rani Singh, of the San Francisco district attorneys office, rejected these arguments, calling Zhus actions reckless and negligent. The collision shouldnt be described as an accident, Singh said, adding that the difference between an accident and a case like this was Zhus actions directly caused severe injuries and the death of a teenager. Kevin was reportedly an avid bicyclist and a member of the Lincoln High School Junior ROTC, playing in the drum corps. The evidence in this case will show Ms. Zhu is responsible for this collision, Singh said. While the minivan was totaled, Singh said, investigators and technicians were able to analyze evidence from the Mercedes-Benz. Officials in 2013 said the Mercedes had exceeded 70 mph, and experts from Mercedes-Benz and the California Highway Patrol found no evidence of a mechanical failure in Zhus SUV. Zhu is charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter and two counts of reckless driving for the injuries of Kevins mother and sister. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The boys mother, Htwe Kiu Chew, suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken arm, fractured vertebrae and a laceration to the liver, according to court records. Kevins sister, Ileen San, suffered a fractured right scapula, right hand and left wrist. The trials first witnesses were Kevins mother and father, who both dabbed their eyes with a tissue as they testified about the morning their son died. Another witness, Martha Noel, said she noticed Zhus SUV going extremely fast just before the collision. Noel estimated that it was traveling at least 60 mph in a 25-mph zone. Zhu had not yet testified by Thursday afternoon. She wore a navy-blue sweater and sat silently as the proceedings were translated to her. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com A San Francisco police officer opened fire on a suspect in an auto burglary investigation early Friday morning, and a vehicle pursuit that included multiple collisions ended in Civic Center Plaza, authorities said. The incident reportedly began at about 1 a.m. near Steiner Street and Geary Boulevard, where one suspect was detained but another fled on foot before getting into a white Hyundai sedan. Police said a series of events then occurred on the 1500 block of OFarrell Street, including collisions between the suspect vehicle and two marked SFPD radio cars and an officer-involved shooting. No one was struck by gunfire in this incident, police said in a statement. The second suspect continued to flee in the vehicle to Civic Center Plaza, where the vehicle stopped and the person was taken into custody, police said. Officer Robert Rueca, a department spokesman, declined to say whether the suspect was armed. An officer was injured and treated on the scene before being released, while the suspects were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The injured officer was not the one who fired his gun, Rueca said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Per department policy, the officer who fired shots has been placed on administrative leave for a minimum of 10 days. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Fridays incident marked San Franciscos fourth officer-involved shooting in 2018. Two of the previous shootings were fatal. There were six officer-involved shootings in 2017, three of which were fatal. Sophie Haigney and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney @MeganRCassidy Cathay House, hailed by The Chronicle when it opened in 1939 as the fanciest restaurant in Chinatown, quietly closed this spring. Now the Yeo family, which owns Straits Restaurant and Sino in San Jose, is taking over three of the buildings four floors and reopening as two separate restaurants, Cathay House and 601 Dupont. Within a month of the original Cathay Houses opening, Dr. Margaret Chung hosted a soiree with international opera star Lily Pons, who was the first of many celebrities to appear at the restaurant. Cathay Houses opening manager, Johnny Kan, eventually became one of the citys most storied restaurateurs. Despite its stellar views and scenic bar, Cathay House at the age of 79 had been receiving two-star Yelp reviews from tourists. When restaurateur Peter Wong decided to retire, building owner Betty Louie who also recruited Brandon Jew to take over the Four Seas and transform it into Mister Jius went hunting for someone who could continue her vision of bringing Johnny Kan-era glamour back to the neighborhood. Chris Yeo and his parents opened Straits Cafe in the Outer Richmond neighborhood in 1988, serving Singaporean dishes. Over the decades, the restaurant expanded culinarily as well as geographically into Burlingame, San Jose and Houston, and Chris Yeo became a bit of a celebrity chef. Its last San Francisco location, in Westfield San Francisco Centre, closed in 2014. According to Julian Yeo, Chris and Kelly Yeos 32-year-old son and culinary director of the Chris Yeo Group, taking on the new site represents more than a business venture for him and his parents. This project is really important to us, the fourth-generation San Franciscan said. Its our way of coming back home. Mister Important Design Charles Doell of Oaklands Mister Important Design, which designed Gibson and Gitane in San Francisco, is remodeling all three floors. It was one of the first buildings to integrate Chinese pagodas, and were going to carry that inside but bring it up to modern day, while keeping with that retro 1940s Chinatown style, the younger Yeo said. First to open will be the 2,000-square-foot ground floor, which opens onto 601 Grant St. Formerly the site of a McDonalds, 601 Dupont (Dupont was the streets original name) will be a fast-casual place specializing in Cantonese roast pork, Chinese-style rotisserie chicken, and chicken rice. Following the now-standard format, diners will pick a meat, a starch and a vegetable, ordering at the counter and being served at the table. Yeo says 601 Dupont will also offer craft beer and wine cocktails, though a liquor license has not yet been issued for the property. Yeo estimates that 601 Dupont will open in July a fast turnaround for a new restaurant. The upper two floors will take until autumn at the earliest. There, the Yeos will reopen Cathay House. The middle floor, with its large dining room and circular bar, will offer what Yeo calls contemporary Cantonese (in the manner of Hakkasan rather than the Yeos Chinese-Californian Sino), with dim sum cart service during the day, a full bar and high-end tea service. Dim sum will also be sold through the fast-casual outlet downstairs after Cathay House opens. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Mister Important Design The highest floor will be designed for weddings and large parties. With Mister Jius new Moon Gate Lounge set to open in the next few months, these two new banquet spaces may help mitigate the problem of Chinatowns disappearing banquet halls. Were really creating it as a destination restaurant for dining and nightlife, Yeo said, adding that he hopes young San Franciscans will rediscover Cathay Houses spectacular views of the bridge and Transamerica Pyramid the way their parents and grandparents appreciated. Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter and Instagram: @jonkauffman Norm Mineta isnt one of those film festival guests of honor who sneak out to explore neighborhood bars during the screening of their film. He sat through all of An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy at the Thursday, May 10, opening of the two-week CAAMFest at the Castro Theatre. This was the first chance for the former San Jose mayor, congressman and Cabinet member to see the completed documentary, and he and his wife, Danealia, were an attentive audience. Its such an honor, she whispered afterward. His life in politics, skillfully captured by director Dianne Fukami, stands in stark contrast to the current White House occupant. As a 10-term U.S. representative from Silicon Valley, Mineta kept his ego in check while passing seminal legislation, notably a bill granting reparations to Japanese Americans like his family who were incarcerated during World War II. His motto was If you dont care who gets the credit, you can do many things. Minetas one piece of advice for President Trump: He would be better off if he had bigger ears and a smaller mouth. He recalled a time when Congress members on both sides of the aisle put in long hours at productive committee meetings. We would fight but then slap each other on the back and say, Come on, lets go have a drink, he said earlier in the day. D. Ross Cameron / Special to The Chronicle The same cordiality was present when Mineta served as secretary of transportation, the only Democrat in President George W. Bushs Cabinet. I was afraid of being marginalized, but that never happened, Mineta said. I would regularly have dinner with the other secretaries, and we got to be good friends. He believes this goodwill was possible because we didnt have a president second-guessing our every decision. President Bush let us do our job, not like that big bag of ego now in the White House. I am so glad Im not in politics now. At a Q&A after the screening, producer Debra Nakatomi said that when she and Fukami began working on their documentary in 2014, President Barack Obama was in office, and it appeared that the first female president would follow him. But when things shifted so dramatically we realized the story of Norman Mineta was more important than ever, she said. At a festive party afterward at the Asian Art Museum, several people in their 20s admitted they were familiar with Mineta mostly from the San Jose airport named for him. I feel like I should know more about him. He definitely was not taught in the schools I went to, said Thuy Tran, a 29-year-old associate producer at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. Another partygoer, Alexander Bocchieri, learned about Mineta from researching his own film, Go for Broke, (playing at CAAM Sunday-Monday, May 13-14). It tells the rousing story of the 442nd military unit, consisting entirely of young Japanese American men, which became the most highly decorated unit in U.S. history. Secretary Mineta was so inspired by these men who fought despite the discrimination they faced that he named his reparations bill HR442 for them, Bocchieri said. Filmmaker Ellen Spiro arrived at the party with Jessica Jin, the University of Texas student who is the subject of Spiros short film Come and Take It (playing Sunday, May 13). After learning of a Texas law allowing students to openly carry loaded guns into classrooms, Jin, upon checking, found that it was, however, illegal to openly brandish a dildo. Jin created a huge media sensation when she pointed out the absurdity of the two laws on Facebook, Spiro said. What started out as sort of a joke became much more when San Francisco sex toy companies sent thousands of dildos to be displayed during a protest. Our film shows how Jin went from being a prankster to becoming politically involved, Spiro said. Undoubtedly Mineta, whose work now consists of inspiring young people to be politically active, would approve. Ruthe Stein is The San Francisco Chronicles senior movie correspondent. CAAMFest36 What: Formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, it is an Asian-themed film, music and food festival. When: Through May 24. Where: 17 venues in San Francisco and Oakland. Spotlight award: Actress Pei-Pei Cheng, who will be interviewed onstage at China Live at 7 p.m. Monday, May 14, and will present three films at AMC Kabuki: Come Drink With Me (1966), 9 p.m. Monday, May 14; Meditation Park (2017), 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 15; Golden Swallow (1968), 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 15. Centerpieces: Bitter Melon, feature film directed by H.P. Mendoza, 6:50 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at AMC Kabuki; 7:30 p.m. next Saturday, May 19, Roxie Theater; 6:30 p.m. May 23. Origin Story, documentary directed by Kulap Vilaysack, 6 p.m. Sunday, May 13, AMC Kabuki; 2:10 p.m. next Saturday, May 19, Roxie Theater. Closing night: Aunt Lilys Flower Book: One Hundred Years of Legalized Racism, live performance by Brenda Wong Aoki. 6:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 24, Herbst Theatre. Tickets/information: www.caamedia.org U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled that he may invoke a rarely used power of his office to rewrite the rules for cases of political asylum, and eliminate it for victims of domestic violence. Since January, Sessions has set aside four rulings of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest court in the immigration system, and said he would use one of them to decide whether anyone fleeing private criminal conduct in their homeland could be considered a victim of persecution entitled to asylum. The case on private criminal conduct involves a woman who was repeatedly battered and raped by her husband in El Salvador and fled northward after the police there did nothing to protect her. The immigration board found her eligible for asylum based on its 2014 ruling in the case of an abused woman from Guatemala, a decision that many women have since relied on to avoid deportation. Sessions has yet to decide any of the cases, and his decisions could then be challenged in federal appeals courts. But in view of the attorney generals hard-line stance on immigration, advocates are fearful of far-reaching decisions that could shut the doors to thousands who have no government protection from criminal violence by gangs, bigots or abusive spouses in their home countries. The attorney generals intervention represents a combination of anti-immigrant and misogynist (policies) from this administration, said Karen Musalo, a law professor and director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and an attorney for the woman from El Salvador. Everything that hes trying to do would cut back on the procedural and substantive rights of asylum-seekers. Archi Pyati of the Tahirih Justice Center, which aids women and girls fleeing abuse in their homelands, said Sessions is threatening to turn back the clock and strip asylum protection from survivors of domestic violence. Sessions has the authority to set aside decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the Justice Department, and establish new legal standards for immigration courts to follow, using a power of his office that has not been invoked often in the past. His decisions, like those of the immigration courts, can be challenged in a federal appeals court, whose judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Before issuing any decisions, he is considering written arguments from advocacy groups as well as the government. One filing on behalf of 10 religious organizations came from San Francisco attorney Bevan Dowd, who said a decision to limit asylum protection solely to victims of governmental abuse could prevent victims of religious persecution from seeking safe haven on our shores. The American Bar Association told Sessions that eliminating asylum protection for victims of nongovernmental abuse would further victimize those most in need of protection, including victims of female genital mutilation and targets of attempted honor killings in male-dominated cultures. And the National Immigrant Justice Center said long-standing federal law makes victims of privately inflicted harm eligible for asylum if their government cannot or will not protect them. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. Sessions, meanwhile, has accused cities like San Francisco of shielding dangerous criminals with their sanctuary laws, and sued California over laws limiting police cooperation with immigration agents. Last week, he declared that anyone entering the U.S. without authorization would be prosecuted in criminal court, and that parents would be separated from children they had smuggled across the border. The Board of Immigration Appeals, which reviews decisions by immigration judges, issued the 2014 ruling in the case of a woman from Guatemala who fled to the U.S. with her three children after suffering weekly beatings by her husband, who had also burned her with paint thinner and raped her. Guatemalan police refused to intervene, telling her they would not interfere in a marital relationship. Observing that Guatemala has a culture of machismo and family violence, the board said a married woman who flees an abusive relationship in such a country could meet the legal qualifications for political asylum as a member of a particular social group and a victim of persecution whose government would not protect her. That womans case is no longer before the immigration courts. She and others whose cases are now final would not be affected by Sessions upcoming decisions, which if left intact by federal courts would govern current and future cases. Other cases Sessions has plucked from the immigration courts this year include rulings that have given all applicants for asylum the right to a hearing before being deported, and have allowed immigration judges to postpone or shut down their deportation proceedings, a widely used procedure that has enabled immigrants without criminal records to apply for visas or work permits. Although Sessions has not decided any of those cases, Musalo of UC Hastings said some immigration judges, apparently anticipating a rollback, are now dismissing asylum cases without a hearing unless applicants first present evidence that they have a winnable case. Sessions is moving at the same pace as his predecessors under the last Republican president, George W. Bush, who took over 16 immigration cases in eight years, said Jeffrey Chase, a New York attorney and former immigration judge. He noted that Bushs attorneys general also changed the immigration courts hiring practices to steer them in a more conservative direction. By contrast, Chase said, attorneys general under Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama intervened in seven immigration cases in 16 years. In the case of the Salvadoran woman, Musalo said, government lawyers, representing the Department of Homeland Security, have not contended in their written arguments that victims of private domestic violence should be categorically ineligible for asylum. But she said they want the victims to provide extensive information they may not have such as details about their abusers and other family members still in their homeland or may not want to disclose, like their current intimate relationships, to be considered for protection from deportation. The evidence requirements Homeland Security is proposing would effectively exclude most women who have escaped domestic violence from securing protection, said another lawyer in the case, Blaine Bookey, Musalos colleague at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. If Sessions rules against the woman, her lawyers plan to appeal to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., which has jurisdiction because of where the case arose. Chase, part of a group of former immigration judges who have filed arguments in support of the woman, said they face a difficult challenge courts are normally required to defer to reasonable interpretations of the law by the head of a government agency. But if hes going to reverse case law, the circuit may say its not going to defer, Chase said. I think theres a good chance he will be reversed. But I always worry. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko At first, I thought I had inadvertently entered an active war zone. I was on a lonely two-lane road in southern New Mexico heading for El Paso, Texas. Off to the side of the road, hardly concealed behind some desert shrubs, I suddenly noticed what seemed to be a tank. When I stopped to take a picture, a soldier wearing a camouflage helmet emerged from the top of the Stryker, a 19-ton, eight-wheeled combat vehicle that was regularly used in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. With high-tech binoculars, he began to monitor the mountainous desert that stretched toward Mexico, 20 miles away, as if the enemy might appear at any moment. That was in 2012, and though I had been reporting on the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border for years, I had never seen anything like it. Operation Nimbus II, a mission that involved 500 soldiers from Forts Bliss and Hood, however, was just another typical Joint Task Force North operation. In these, a Department of Defense command force regularly pairs military units with Border Patrol agents. Barack Obama was still president at the time. It would be an additional six years before Donald Trump announced, with much fanfare and as if for the first time that he was essentially declaring war at the border and sending in 2,000 to 4,000 National Guard troops. In reality, there has been a continuous military presence on the U.S.-Mexican frontier since 1989. Indeed, the war against immigrants had been declared long before. Only when Trump began to pound out tweets on Easter Sunday did Americans get a vivid glimpse of this border battlefield more than 30 years in the making. The president described the border as getting more dangerous because 1,000 Central Americans, including significant numbers of children, were in flight from violence in their home countries in a caravan in Mexico, slowly heading north on a Holy Week pilgrimage. Then on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a news conference at Border Field State Park, 15 miles south of San Diego. He came to talk about the Trump administrations border enforcement actions and announced a zero tolerance policy. He said: If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. Its that simple. Such prosecutions will include separating children from their parents. Fox & Friends had labeled that caravan a small migrant army and perfectly set the battlefield scenario for the shows No. 1 fan. The result those state militia members heading south (including from California) might have been as ludicrous a response to the situation as a tank in an empty desert pointed at Mexico, but it did capture a certain reality. The border has become a place where the worlds most powerful military faces off against the worlds most vulnerable people. People fleeing persecution, political violence, economic hardship and increasing ecological distress, much of it blowback from long-standing Washington policies that have favored economic oligarchies and military dictatorships in Central America. Although it was initially thought that Gov. Jerry Brown would scoff at Trumps announcement to send state militia members to the border, in April he agreed to deploy 200 National Guard troops with restrictions: They will not do immigration enforcement nor assist in the construction of any of the Trump border-wall expansion. The California soldiers were deployed in El Centro (Imperial County) and San Diego and will provide counter-drug surveillance, gather intelligence, monitor cameras and install and operate equipment, according to the Los Angeles Times. As the memo, signed by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, put it, the National Guard (regardless of state affiliation) will not perform law enforcement duties or interact with migrants or other persons detained by U.S. personnel. In fact, the militarys duties will be much like the surveillance mission of the Stryker I saw that day in New Mexico: The soldier could not make arrests. As I drove away that day, I did wonder what the soldier was seeing through his high-tech binoculars. Its a question that remains no less pertinent six years later. The National Guard isnt likely to see a 1,000-person caravan. Only (possibly) much smaller groups of crossers moving through the U.S. borderlands to look for work, reunite with family, or escape serious harm. Even less likely: anyone carrying drugs into the United States. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the majority of illicit narcotics that cross the border into the worlds largest market arrive through legal ports of entry. And least likely of all: A person designated as a terrorist by the U.S. government, even though thats become the priority mission of Customs and Border Protection. A flood of money has, in these years, poured into border budgets for just such a counterterrorism mission, yet no such person not a single one has been reported crossing the southern border since 1984 (and even that incident seems dubious). What these soldiers will most likely see along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican divide is the multibillion-dollar spectacle border enforcement has become over the past 30 years: fleets of green-striped Border Patrol vehicles, surveillance balloons that came to the border straight from missions in Afghanistan, 650 miles of walls and barriers built with bipartisan support, an immense surveillance apparatus constructed, in many areas, by large corporations under contract such as Boeing and Elbit Systems. Since the early 1990s, border and immigration enforcement annual budgets have jumped from $1.5 billion to $24.3 billion (the combined budget of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018), a figure that has climbed $4 billion in a year. During the 2006 George W. Bush administrations deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops, Washington hired 6,000 new Border Patrol agents, part of a gargantuan hiring surge that quintupled the paramilitary agencys ranks from the mid-1990s to 2012 (4,000 to 21,000). The Border Patrol often receives training in military tactics and uses military equipment and surveillance technology, and operates in 100-mile border jurisdictions with powers above and beyond normal law enforcement. We are exempt from the Fourth Amendment, one Customs and Border Protection agent told me, referring to the part of the U.S. Constitution that protects people from being searched and having their belongings seized by the state. As one analyst put it, the Border Patrol is like a standing army on American soil. Indeed, the soldier in that New Mexico desert that I saw was also viewing what sociologist Timothy Dunn calls the fetishization of the border. That Stryker the Cadillac of combat vehicles made by General Dynamics fit the bill perfectly. The slick, armored beast, which can travel at speeds up to 60 mph, could track down just about anything except the real political, economic, social and ecological forces that lay behind why people continually arrive at the border in the first place. This commentary was adapted from an article first published at TomDispatch. Todd Miller is the author of Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters. The country is straining to reach a low bar indeed when a would-be Cabinet-level official has to rule out resuming torture especially given that Gina Haspel, President Trumps nominee for CIA director, could not muster any more high-minded condemnation of brutal post-9/11 interrogation methods. Were not getting back in that business, Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday, as if torture were simply a trendy investment that had lost its luster, like subprime mortgages or premium vodka. Granted, Haspel at the time was a lieutenant in the administration that devised enhanced interrogation techniques and made torture a matter of government policy. But now that the CIA deputy director aspires to lead the agency, what her testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week conspicuously lacked was any acknowledgment that she participated in a grave legal and moral error. Nor was Haspels involvement peripheral. For a time, she ran a secret CIA prison in Thailand where terrorism suspects were waterboarded, hurled against walls, deprived of sleep, kept naked, and confined to spaces approximating a coffin. Under questioning by Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., she refused to describe such tactics as immoral or even ineffective. Thats more troubling given that the president who nominated her has repeatedly expressed unabashed enthusiasm for torture. Haspel also communicated and still supports the order that led to the destruction of recordings of those methods being employed at the Thailand black site. Meanwhile, the CIAs continued and disputed classification of most of her history further obscures the facts from the public and most lawmakers. In sharp contrast to many Trump nominees, Haspels history is relevant to the job, and admirable in large part. She has more than 30 years of decorated service as an undercover officer, much of which no doubt deserves the nations gratitude. She would also be the first female CIA director and only the second to have spent a career in the clandestine service. She has been praised by top intelligence officials from Republican and Democratic administrations alike. But prominent lawmakers from both parties have justified reservations about her, among them Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., both national security hawks who have criticized enhanced interrogations. President Barack Obama correctly called those measures torture, but ruled out the possibility of prosecuting intelligence officers who carried them out under his predecessor, George W. Bush. The very different decision before the Senate is whether to reward one of them with the CIAs top job. That would signal a renewed national embrace of a dark and not very distant chapter of our history. 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. If you like me, vote for me and the other candidate, too. Thats the message being beamed out by candidates Mark Leno and Jane Kim in the San Francisco mayoral race. The two are gaming the citys ranked-choice election rules in an unprecedented way. Instead of a runoff between the top two finishers, San Francisco has a system that allows voters up to three choices. As the votes are counted, weaker candidates are eliminated and their second- and third-place votes are distributed to remaining candidates to produce a winner. Thats what Leno and Kim are trying to do by joining arms and urging their supporters to vote for both of them. The two progressives are hoping their unusual alliance will effectively block the more centrist London Breed, the leader in the polls and the candidate we have endorsed. Their ploy is reminiscent of the Anybody but Don Perata tactic in which second-tier contenders in the 2010 Oakland mayors race asked their voters to choose one another as second choice. The scheme allowed Jean Quan to leapfrog Perata, who had a double-digit lead in first-place votes. It also led to complaints from voters who were confused by the ranked-choice system. Leno and Kim each is backed by some of the citys savviest political strategists who are convinced that second-place votes will determine this election if, as expected, none of the candidates achieves a majority in the first round. More on SF Mayor's Race Jane Kim, Mark Leno team up against London Breed in SF mayor's race The Kim-Leno collaboration shows the continuing determination of the progressive factions to keep Breed out of the mayors office. It also projects an element of desperation by Kim and Leno. Their new stand up to the billionaires 30-second video shows that no dose of demagoguery or disingenuousness will be spared in trying to stop Breed, who grew up in poverty and has repeatedly demonstrated both her independence and ability to build coalitions as president of the Board of Supervisors. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. SACRAMENTO The young man had posted his revenge fantasies online, writing about how he wanted to shoot classmates at his community college. The 21-year-old had recently bought a gun, his brother told police. But UC Davis psychiatrist Amy Barnhorst said there was little she could do when police, fearing that the man posed a danger to the community, brought him to the Sacramento-area hospital where she works. He wasnt mentally ill, she concluded, so he couldnt be held involuntarily. And without such a diagnosis, and no evidence hed committed a crime, police couldnt take his gun away. When the man walked out the door, Barnhorst wondered whether she was watching the next school shooter go free. Theres a gap between the criminal justice and mental health systems, Barnhorst says: Too many people who are unstable have access to guns, but that instability doesnt rise to the level where they can be committed. I see patients like this all the time, she said. Rich Pedroncelli / AP In those moments, Barnhorst says, she points frantic parents and concerned police to a 2-year-old law that allows them to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from someone if they pose a danger to themselves or others. Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, wrote the law after a 22-year-old man killed six people in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara in 2014. The killers mother had expressed concerns about his mental health after seeing his online postings. She knew that he was at risk to commit violence against others, Skinner said. She called law enforcement. Law enforcement did what they could, and they were unable to do more than just a welfare check on him. The California law allows immediate family members, current roommates and law enforcement officers to petition a court to remove guns from a person for up to a year. The process is similar to obtaining a domestic violence restraining order. People who are subject to whats called a gun violence restraining order are also barred from buying firearms or ammunition. Five other states have similar laws Florida, Oregon, Washington, Indiana and Connecticut. Floridas law was signed this year in response to the shooting deaths of 17 students and staff members at a high school in Parkland. Acquaintances of the shooter reported warning signs and said they were worried about his access to guns. Experts said a firearm restraining order could have kept the gunman from buying weapons. Californias law has seldom been used in its first two years. Advocates say it just needs time to catch on. In the meantime, efforts are under way in the Legislature to expand the number of people who could go to court to try to take someones guns away to include co-workers and teachers. That angers gun rights advocates, who say the law goes too far already. When a judge grants a restraining order, a gun owner has to surrender his or her weapon for 21 days while awaiting a hearing on whether the order will be extended for a full year. Thats not how due process works, said Craig DeLuz of the Firearms Policy Coalition, which advocates for gun owners. Due process that occurs after ones rights have been taken away is in fact not due process, DeLuz said. Statewide, 189 petitions for gun violence restraining orders were granted in 2016 and 2017, state Justice Department figures show. Family members accounted for just 12 of those the rest of the requests came from law enforcement. Twenty-nine of the orders were issued in the nine Bay Area counties, all at the request of police. Santa Clara County had the highest total, 11. San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma and Napa counties had none. Its unclear how many petitions for restraining orders were denied. I think (restraining orders) will eventually be much more common, said Garen Wintemute, an emergency room doctor at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and director of the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center. Before the laws passage, officers could confiscate guns only from people who were felons, had a record of mental instability or had domestic violence restraining orders against them. There are efforts to increase awareness and use, Wintemute said. But they havent been as large-scale or successful as anyone would want. Still, he said, each time a gun violence restraining order is granted amounts to a victory. Its designed to work one case at a time, Wintemute said. The Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department has been one of the most aggressive agencies in pursuing restraining orders. In January 2016, shortly after the law took effect, sheriffs officials went to court to confiscate guns from a 34-year-old Goleta woman who had threatened suicide. Three months later, they used the law to take guns away from a 59-year-old woman who had threatened to shoot a co-worker after being fired. In all, law enforcement in Santa Barbara County obtained 21 gun restraining orders in 2016-17, second in the state to Los Angeles County, which took guns away from 28 people. Santa Barbara County sheriffs Lt. Eddie Hsueh said the department has been proactive in using firearm restraining orders because authorities there know too well what can happen without them. Michael A. Mariant / Associated Press 2006 In our county, weve had unfortunately more than our fair share of instances involving gun violence, he said, referring to the Isla Vista killings and a 2006 shooting at a mail facility in Goleta by a former postal worker who believed her colleagues were conspiring against her. San Diego County used the law only three times in 2016, then 12 times last year. One of the subjects was an ex-Marine who was convinced that people were trying to harm him and he walked into an auto parts store with a loaded gun. Another was an 81-year-old man in the early stages of dementia who threatened to shoot his 75-year-old wife and a neighbor because he thought they were having an affair. San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott developed an aggressive strategy last year to create a system for obtaining the protective orders, with city attorneys filing the petitions on behalf of officers. She said it took some time to train officers, court staff and others on the new law. We think the law is working very well, Elliott said. It fills a hole. We used to have to wait for something awful to happen, a tragedy to happen. Now, we can act before the tragedy happens. Thats the power of this tool. There are efforts under way to expand the law. Skinner, the Berkeley senator who wrote the original bill, wants to eliminate court fees for immediate family members who apply for orders. Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would expand the list of people who can seek the orders to include co-workers, employers, and public and private schoolteachers and other school workers. The Legislature passed a bill similar to Tings AB2888 in 2016, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it was too soon to expand a law that had just taken effect. Gun violence restraining orders have proven to be a tool that can be used to get guns out of the hands of the wrong people, Ting said at a Capitol hearing last month. Weve seen, unfortunately, the devastating effects of mass shootings when guns are in the hands of the wrong people. This just merely expands it to the people who are around individuals the most, people you go to school with, its people who you work with. Michael A. Mariant / Associated Press 2006 The bill is opposed by both the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association an unlikely pairing in the state Capitol. Lizzie Buchen, a legislative advocate for the ACLU of California, said expanding the law to include co-workers, employers and school employees would make it prone to abuse. Given the climate that were in, I think we can still imagine a person holding an irrational fear or bias against a co-worker because of their race, because of their religion, because of their nation of origin, Buchen said. Tings bill would allow a person who knows little about a colleague to seek a gun restraining order, she said. The current law is narrow enough that only people familiar with a gun owner a close relative, current roommate or a law enforcement investigator can bring a case, which is why the ACLU didnt oppose it, Buchen said. We are not opposed to removing guns from people who are a risk to themselves or others, provided there are nondiscriminatory criteria and that theres sufficient due process, Buchen said. In March, reacting to pressure after the Florida killings, the NRA signaled support for limited uses of gun violence restraining orders. The organization had long opposed such efforts. At a hearing last month in Sacramento, Dan Reid, an NRA lobbyist, said he agreed with the ACLUs concerns about expanding the law. He added that the NRA is open to discussing ways to improve the process for obtaining a gun restraining order, but due process needs to be there. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter@MelodyGutierrez SACRAMENTO Gov. Jerry Brown took one last opportunity Friday to tell Democrats who dominate the Legislature that the states boom times will end someday, so save those billions of dollars that are unexpectedly rolling in now. In releasing his final budget proposal, the termed-out Brown called for holding onto most of the extra $8.8 billion in unexpected revenue in his spending plan unveiled Friday. Were nearing the longest recovery in modern history, and as Isaac Newton observed: What goes up must come down, Brown said. This is a time to save for our future, not to make pricey promises we cant keep. I said it before and Ill say it again: Lets not blow it now. The surplus will be fiercely fought over in the Legislature during the next month of budget negotiations for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Brown is proposing to stash $7.6 billion, with $3.2 billion going toward the states budget reserve for unexpected expenses like wildfires and floods, and $4.4 billion into a rainy-day fund that would be used during a recession. With the money added to the rainy-day fund, California would max out that reserve pot at $13.8 billion by the end of the next fiscal year. By law, the fund can hold no more than 10 percent of general fund revenue. Browns revised $138 billion general fund budget calls for the state to spend $2 billion on university and court buildings upkeep, $359 million to help local governments combat homelessness, and $312 million to boost mental health programs. That comes up short of the spending that many Democrats were looking for. Mayors of the 10 largest cities in the state met with Brown last month to press him to support a bill by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, that would put $1.5 billion toward housing more homeless people. Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said Browns budget fails to address another pressing issue, the shortage and soaring cost of housing. If we are going to have a lasting impact on the lives of all Californians, we must invest more in increasing the supply of affordable homes for our rent-burdened, low-income families, Chiu said. Democrats in the Assembly want $1 billion for a major expansion of Medi-Cal, which would include extending coverage to undocumented immigrant adults under the age of 26 and creating a tax credit for health insurance premiums. This would be a down payment toward universal coverage, said Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California. It helps individual Californians get covered and get care, and it stabilizes the system against the premium spikes being caused by the Trump administration. University of California and California State University leaders said Browns funding proposal fell short of what they need. Brown held steady to his January proposal for a 3 percent funding increase, but added $100 million to each university system for building maintenance. CSU Chancellor Timothy White said he is grateful for the one-time funding to help with a backlog of deferred repairs, but that campuses need more money to create the classes students must take to graduate in four years. With state revenue continuing to exceed projections and California facing a large need for more educated citizens over the next decade there is both a need and an opportunity to reinvest in the operating budgets of public higher education and the CSU specifically, White said in a statement. Brown said theres merit to many such requests, but we are already overextended. Thats hard to believe when you have so much money in the bank, but Im telling you we are overextended. Much of the states surplus is driven by taxes on capital gains and other income from high-wage earners, a pile of money that Brown has long cautioned is prone to shrinking abruptly when the economy turns sour. Republicans, whose support isnt needed for Democrats to pass a budget, signaled their approval of the governors plan to steer money into the states reserves. But even some GOP lawmakers have budget requests they think are deserving of some of the surplus. We know the economy will go down, and we should increase our rainy-day fund even more, said Assembly Republican leader Brian Dahle of Bieber (Lassen County). But we want to see more water infrastructure created. Wed like to see some resources spent on opioid addiction, which is one of the reasons we have homelessness. Brown included $96 million in his revised budget for projects aimed at reducing the risk of fires in the state, such as doubling the acres of land managed by controlled burns. That money is in addition to $160 million in cap-and-trade revenue that the governor previously proposed for fire protection next year. Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, called Browns budget a strong starting point. The Senate budget committee chairwoman said its good to look to the future, but that there are immediate needs as well. We also have to lift up the families that are struggling now, Mitchell said. The Legislature must pass a budget by June 15, and Brown has until June 30 to sign it. The governor said he was open to talking about spending priorities with lawmakers, but that his priority is ensuring the state is on solid fiscal ground. I am trying to leave the most responsible budget I can to the next governor, Brown said. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez With 280 state park units, Californias state park system contains the largest and most diverse recreational, natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the United States. Though California parks like Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Emerald Bay State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park deserve all the attention they get, there are also lesser-known park properties that are calling out for a visit. Duck the crowds and get to know the states extraordinary natural diversity by making room in your travel itinerary for something different. Jill K. Robinson, travel@sfchronicle.com Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park One of the largest freshwater springs in the country, Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park is only accessible by boat. Where the waters come together is a translation of the word Ahjumawi, used by the band of Pit River American Indians who have inhabited this area. The waters which come together here among tree-studded islets are Big Lake, Tule River, Ja-She Creek, Lava Creek, and Fall River and more than two-thirds of the region is covered by recent lava flows (3,000 to 5,000 years), including jagged black basalt. Vitals: (530) 335-2777, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=464 Border Field State Park Here, in the very southwestern corner of the United States, located within the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, is an important wildlife habitat of sand dunes and salt marshes. This border that separates the United States and Mexico was established after the end of the U.S./Mexico war in 1848. Border Monument number 258 can be viewed from Monument Mesa in Border Field State Park, however you cant get close to it because its behind two border fences. Vitals: (619) 575-3613, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=664 Caswell Memorial State Park This small wildlife refuge on the Stanislaus River in the midst of Californias Central Valley park protects whats considered one of Californias finest examples of a mature oak riparian forest. The Central Valleys riverbanks and floodplains were once covered by forests like this, and what you see in Caswell Memorial State Park is just a remnant. The park is popular with fishing folk, its extensive nature trails lure hikers, and the cool river water refreshes visitors in summer. Vitals: (209) 599-3810, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=557 Harmony Headlands State Park Watch the ocean breeze ruffle the coastal prairie grasses and wildflower meadows of Harmony Headlands State Park, a swath of rare, untouched Central Coast landscape. Once part of a Spanish land grant, the property has belonged to ranchers and dairy families over the years, and became a state park in 2003. Wander along the 1.5-mile Headlands Trail from the parking lot through fields of San Luis Obispo morning glory, California buttercups, and owls clover to the coastal marine terrace grassland overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Vitals: (805) 772-7434, www.parks.ca.gov?page_id=25735 Humboldt Lagoons State Park Formed by the clash of two tectonic plates, Humboldt Lagoons State Park is part of the largest lagoon system in the United States. Lagoons are shallow, enclosed bodies of water along the coast that are separated from the ocean by coastal strands or spits of land. The four separate areas in the park Big Lagoon, Dry Lagoon, Stone Lagoon, and Freshwater Lagoon sprawl along the coastline, with rich opportunities for fishing, kayaking, camping, and picnicking. Vitals: (707) 677-3570, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=416 California State Parks, 2018 Great Valley Grasslands State Park Californias Great Central Valley once supported a diverse array of perennial bunchgrass ecosystems including prairies, oak-grass savannas, and desert grasslands, among other habitats. Great Valley Grasslands State Park, part of the larger Grasslands Ecological Area, preserves one of the few intact examples of native grasslands on the floor of the Central Valley. Several rare and endangered plant and animal species are found here, including the Delta button celery and California Tiger Salamander. Vitals: (209) 826-1197, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=559 Placerita Canyon State Park Think you know California gold history? This site, 35 miles north of the Pueblo de Los Angeles, is where gold was first discovered in California, in 1842, sparking the states first gold rush, though it was nowhere on the scale of James Marshalls discovery at John Sutters sawmill in 1848. Placerita Canyon State Park, between the San Gabriel Mountains and the Mojave Desert, is filled with sandstone formations, riparian oak woodlands, and stand of cottonwood and sycamore trees. Vitals: (818) 880-0350, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=622 Tolowa Dunes State Park Part of an ancient sand dune complex that has since evolved into distinct ecological communities (open beach, river, wetlands, sand dunes, and wooded ridges), Tolowa Dunes State Park is considered some of the finest wetlands habitat on the states northern coast. The 4,000 acres of dune, forest, and freshwater pond complex provide habitat for thousands of migratory and resident birds, as well as more than 27 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails. Vitals: (707) 465-7335, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=430 Red Rock Canyon State Park This spectacular gash of land in layers of pink, orange, and red at the western edge of the El Paso Mountain range was once on an ancient Native American trade route. Red Rock Canyon State Park features scenic desert cliffs, buttes, and spectacular rock formations that serves as a classroom for the study of geology, paleontology, and photography as well as a place of wonder. Each tributary canyon is unique, with dramatic shapes, and vivid colors. Night skies here are free of light pollution, a perfect spot for astronomy buffs. Vitals: (661) 839-6553, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=631 Grover Hot Springs State Park Tucked into a spot in the Sierra Nevada Mountains southeast of Lake Tahoe, the pools of Grover Hot Springs State Park are fed from six different mineral springs containing low amounts of sulfur. The scalding water is cooled down before being piped in to the parks two concrete pools. One, at 103 degrees Fahrenheit, is ideal for soaking. The other is perfect for swimming and playing during bouts of warm mountain weather. Hiking trails include short jaunts and the longer Burnside Lake Trail. Vitals: (530) 694-2248, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=508 Former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimis dog attacked a womans small Chihuahua-mix named Buddy at a Potrero Hill dog park earlier this year, and San Francisco officials now must decide what steps to take with the aggressive animal. Marty Cobb testified about the March 29 episode at a hearing Thursday before the San Francisco Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit at City Hall, describing the bloody ordeal that she said nearly killed her 4-year-old pet. I saw my baby getting ripped up, Cobb said. I saw his face flap open, and I just cried. The incident began around 7 p.m. that evening as Cobb, a retired city resident, and Buddy visited the dog park at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center at 801 Arkansas St. Buddy was at her feet, and Mirkarimis dog, a brindled boxer named Kira, ran toward them and began biting her pet, she said. She described the chaotic moments during which she said she fought, kicked and wrestled with the larger dog as it repeatedly bit Buddy. Mirkarimi then came over and got his dog away from Buddy, she said, but rather than offering any help Mirkarimi told her the dogs were just playing and that she should put some peroxide on it. Cobb instead took Buddy to a pet hospital, where veterinarians cleaned and stitched wounds on his face, back and leg. Cobb didnt know Mirkarimi is a former sheriff and gave him her phone number. He called her four days after the incident and reimbursed her for the $800 she spent on her dogs medical care, she said. Mirkarimi was not present at Thursdays hearing and did not immediately return phone calls. His wife, Eliana Lopez, who was not present during the attack, spoke on behalf of the family. I really dont want this to happen again, she said. Im been working with (Kira). Shes smart, and she learns very well. Nobody wants to go though this. Im very, very sorry this happened. Cobb was miffed that Mirkarimi was a no-show Thursday. I dont know why hes not here today, she said. That really bothers me. Hes the one that was there and saw everything. Im really pissed. The Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit will make a decision on what to do with Mirkarimis dog within 10 days. The consequences range from ordering training and a mandatory muzzle when the dog is in public to having it euthanized. The March episode returns the spotlight to Mirkarimi now a private citizen after years as a city official that were occasionally marked by controversy. He was famously involved in a political firestorm in 2012, when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment after being charged with abusing his wife on their way to get pizza on Dec. 31, 2011. Mayor Ed Lee suspended him and demanded he be fired, but Mirkarimi was reinstated as sheriff after getting support from his political allies on the Board of Supervisors, including current mayoral candidate Jane Kim and former Supervisors John Avalos, David Campos and Christina Olague. Lopez, who defended her husband during the ordeal, wrote and performed a one-woman show influenced by the saga. Mirkarimi was again embroiled in controversy after the July 2015 killing of Kate Steinle by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on Pier 14. Before the shooting, Mirkarimis Sheriffs Department had asked that Garcia Zarate be brought to San Francisco to face a decades-old marijuana charge, instead of allowing him to be deported after he was released from federal prison. The drug charge was immediately dropped, and the department released Garcia Zarate onto the streets of San Francisco while ignoring a request by federal immigration authorities to notify them upon his release. When Garcia Zarate fired the shot that killed Steinle weeks later, the case and San Franciscos sanctuary city policy catapulted into the national spotlight. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump used the episode as a talking point in his campaign while calling for stricter immigration enforcement. In November of that year, Mirkarimi lost his bid for re-election in a landslide to current Sheriff Vicki Hennessy. Garcia Zarate was acquitted on the homicide charges last year after his defense successfully argued the shooting was an accident. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission voted unanimously Thursday to name whats long been known as Sharon Meadow a wide, grassy lawn on the east end of Golden Gate Park after the late comedian and actor Robin Williams. The widely popular effort to rechristen the space had been led by Debi Durst and her husband, Will. They have put on Comedy Day, an annual showcase for local comedians, at Golden Gate Park for the past 37 years. For the past 25 years, the event has been held at Sharon Meadow. Williams, who had a home in Marin County, performed at the first Comedy Day and returned to perform whenever he could, Debi Durst told the commission. He also served as the events chief and anonymous patron in years when money was tight. If it werent for Robin giving us some money, there would be no Comedy Day for a few years, she said. He kept it going for five or six years, Will Durst said. I felt compelled to do something for this man who was part of Comedy Day and the city of San Francisco in a way that would honor his memory and his comic spirit for all time, Debi Durst said. Sharon Meadow was named after William Sharon, a banker and later a U.S. senator from Nevada who made donations to Golden Gate Park. Sharon Meadow, the park department said, was given its name because of its proximity to the Sharon Building, which hosts a number of arts and crafts courses at the park. But the area had never been officially named by the commission. Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the park department, threw his support behind the name change in September, but the matter had to be voted on by the commission. Former mayors Willie Brown and the late Ed Lee had also endorsed naming the space after Williams. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa SEATTLE A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated a challenge to Seattles first-in-the-nation law allowing drivers of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize. The citys 2015 measure requires companies that hire or contract with drivers of taxis, for-hire transportation companies and app-based services to bargain with them on issues such as pay and working conditions if a majority show they want to be represented. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously said the measure is subject to challenge under federal antitrust law, and it sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle to determine whether the measure is, in fact, impermissible. The law has been seen as a test case for regulating the app-based 21st century workforce, where companies often hire short-term contractors for flexible, temporary jobs lacking the benefits traditionally associated with union work. The city said letting drivers bargain over their working conditions would protect them and make the industry safer, but critics said permitting them to do so would have dire consequences for the popular services in Seattle, raising prices and stifling competition. Two lawsuits one by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the companies, and one by the National Right to Work Foundation on behalf of 11 drivers challenged the law. Fridays ruling came in the Chamber of Commerce case. Caleb Weaver, an Uber spokesman, called it a win for rideshare drivers, riders and the entire Seattle community. The Seattle City Attorneys Office was reviewing the decision and had no immediate comment, said spokesman Dan Nolte. We are relieved that this ruling means that independent drivers who pick up rides through ride-sharing apps are no longer under imminent threat of being forced under a union monopoly and compelled to pay union fees just to pick up passengers within Seattle city limits, Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said in a written statement. Under the federal Sherman Antitrust Act the 1890 law designed to prevent monopolies from artificially inflating prices or undermining competitors collusion between independent actors to set prices is illegal. But the Supreme Court has held that states can still act to regulate their own economies, and even private businesses or lesser government entities can act in anticompetitive ways if doing so supports clear state policy and is supervised by the state. Lasnik ruled that Seattle should benefit from that exemption. The appeals court judges Milan Smith, Mary Murguia and Eduardo Robreno disagreed. In September, they blocked the law from taking effect, and Friday they found Washington state had articulated no such policy and is not regulating the ride-hailing economy. Digital platforms like Uber and Lyft have become highly interconnected with modern economic and social life, and present novel challenges and contexts for regulation, they wrote. Nevertheless, it is not our role to make policy judgments properly left to the Washington state legislature. The appeals court judges affirmed another part of Lasniks decision, saying Seattles measure did not violate federal labor law. With the appeals court deciding that Seattle is not immune from the antitrust law, the case returns to U.S. District Court, where the sides are expected to fight over another point: whether the law is impermissible under the Sherman Act. Even some business actions that might otherwise be barred can be allowed if a court finds that, given the broader context of the actions, they actually promote rather than curb competition. Gene Johnson is an Associated Press writer. Walmart has settled a long-running battle with labor activists over the punishment of workers who claimed they were mistreated by managers for supporting efforts to organize by wearing union insignia. The agreement, obtained by Bloomberg News, forces Walmart to acknowledge in some California stores that it violated federal labor law and to stop threatening workers who support union efforts. The settlement reached by the retailer, the National Labor Relations Board and advocacy group Our Walmart will also wipe out disciplinary actions taken against six employees in its Richmond store who staged a peaceful protest in 2012. Walmart must additionally drop a dress code that bans union insignia. Walmart, the nations largest private employer with a staff of 1.5 million, has worked for years to fend off unions efforts to organize its workers. The settlement may indicate the chain is more interested in reaching deals brokered by President Trumps NLRB than it was when a majority of the board was appointed by Barack Obama. We are very pleased to put this lengthy case behind us, Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg said. NLRB officials declined to comment on the deal. Walmart broke the law when it punished its workers for exercising their federally protected right to peaceful protest, said Randy Parraz, director of Making Change at Walmart, an advocacy group backed by the United Food & Commercial Workers International union. Its been six years of Walmart ignoring these facts and delaying justice for these workers. In the California case, the NLRB concluded in 2016 Walmart took illegal action against the employees who stopped work. While the case was on appeal, the parties worked out a settlement, according to a copy of the deal. The agreement was signed last month and acknowledges that an administrative law judge found the 2010 dress code restricting union apparel violated U.S. law. Walmart must post notices in about 40 California locations about the discarded clothing restrictions. Last month, the chain eased its company-wide dress code to allow employees in some stores to wear jeans. The notices posted in the stores, as well as one published on the chains employee intranet, state that the retailer will stop threatening to shutter stores if workers join Our Walmart. Employees were wrongfully punished for a relatively small, brief, peaceful and confined work stoppage protesting alleged mistreatment by a supervisor and intimidation from management over their organizing efforts, the NLRB found. Managers suggested stores would be closed if employees moved to organize and threatened to shoot the union, according to a copy of the settlement. They also told employees who participated in the walkout that they would be looking for new jobs. Although Walmart maintains its belief that it acted lawfully, Walmart acknowledges the board found it violated the act and has agreed to take remedial action as stated in this agreement, the settlement said. Matthew Boyle and Jef Feeley are Bloomberg writers. Email: mboyle20@bloomberg.net, jfeeley@bloomberg.net It's no secret that hotel companies around the world are expanding with a multitude of new brands. While the plethora of brands might feel confusing, it's working. These distinct new brands are attractive to distinct market segments, and they help build customer curiosity and eventually, loyalty. Sponsored by Best Western Hotels & Resorts See More Collapse You may only be familiar with the singular Best Western brand that you grew up with - likely a roadside motel out West somewhere. But it's now so much more than that. (Flip through the the before/after photos at the top of this post to see what we mean) Today's Best Western Hotels & Resorts now have 4,200 properties in more than 100 countries and its hotels have spent $2 billion in recent years on renovations and upgrades. What's more, Best Western is no longer a single lodging product: Its properties today are divided into 11 distinct brandseight of them created in the past three years. The point of that effort is to ensure the brand is evolving to meet the needs of today's traveler and to provide guests with a well-defined lodging experience that meets specific preferences and budgets. The ongoing improvements to Best Western-branded hotels and the diversification of its brands have been a hit with customers. The company's guest satisfaction ratings have doubled over the past decade. For example, in 2017, almost half (1,956) of Best Western's properties earned Certificate of Excellence recognition from TripAdvisor the highest number ever. Part of this improvement has to do with the $2 billion that Best Western has invested in updating its properties. Take a look at the slideshow above to see some of the dramatic makeovers that have come about in recent years. The 72-year-old Best Western group is still growing, too. In North America, it has almost 300 new hotels in the works, and more overseas locations are coming as well. Last year, nine new Best Western-branded properties opened in Asia, with locations in Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines. Six properties in India and three in Bangladesh are due to open in 2018, and Best Western was recognized as the best debut hotel chain at the India Hospitality Awards last year. Just this month, a brand new BW Premier Collection hotel broke ground in a popular beach resort town in Vietnam. Over the last decade, Best Western divided its core brand into three tiers you are likely familiar with: Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier, reflecting varied levels of services and amenities for its core product. More recently, as part of its ongoing evolution, it has added new brands including SureStay Hotel by Best Western, SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western and SureStay Collection by Best Western, with hotels in the upper economy/midscale segment; BW Signature Collection for the upper midscale market; and BW Premier Collection, targeting the upscale and upper-upscale market. Executive Residency by Best Western hotels are designed to meet the needs of longer-staying guests, offering accommodations that have fully equipped kitchenettes and separate areas for sleeping, dining, working and relaxing. (See links to all Best Western brands here.) Best Western Hotels & Resorts But there's more: For newly built hotels, Best Western offers a pair of new midscale brands aimed at younger travelers. The Vib brand is for boutique properties with a focus on technology and guest service innovations (like grab-and-go food and beverage, "Zen Zones" and gaming pods). The first new Vib hotel in the U.S. is slated to open in Springfield, Missouri this summer with another coming in New York City. GLo hotels, the first of which is slated for DeSoto, Texas this year, are similar but are located in secondary markets and have sleek design and big social lobbies that appeal to younger travelers. You can learn more about the specific of each brand here. Best Western's brand transformation would not be complete without a growing emphasis on innovation and technology. The company has also overhauled its guest loyalty program, increasing rewards and recognition for elite-level members and increasing the cadence of special promotions. Best Western Rewards (BWR) has grown accordingly, with 33 million participants worldwide. It was listed among the top five in U.S. News & World Report's recent ranking of Best Hotel Rewards Programs for the fifth consecutive year. Besides providing points that don't expire, BWR now offers members the chance to redeem points for one-of-a-kind experiences as well as free room nights. And on the technology side, the new Best Western Mobile Guest Engagement Platform, introduced last year, lets customers stay in touch with the company via their phones, tablets or laptops before arrival, while at the property, and at checkout. So if you're planning a summer trip, keep in mind that today's Best Western has more destinations, brands, and award possibilities than you may have realized - and there's likely one that's perfect for you. Disclosure: This post is sponsored Best Western Hotels & Resorts. We will periodically publish posts like this one from commercial partners about topics relevant to frequent travel. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. To fight worsening traffic congestion on its roadways, San Francisco International Airport is poised to hike fees for Uber and Lyft rides that either begin or end at the curb in front of terminals. It's not clear whether the higher fees would be passed on to customers or to drivers by the ride share companies. SFO / Peter Biaggi Airport spokesperson Doug Yakel tells TravelSkills that exactly how much the hike will be is being negotiated by SFO and the companies. He said the new fees would go into effect in July. Back in the pioneering days of ridesharing, SFO led the way in working out permitting agreements with Uber, Lyft and others that helped mainstream the service. So you can expect other airports to consider similar measures to combat roadway congestion. Currently, a $3.80 airport fee is tacked onto each Uber, Lyft and Wingz airport ride. Ride share companies are allowed to pick-up and drop-off riders in the upper-level terminal roadways and they make up a substantial amount of car traffic on SFO's roadways. Regular travelers to the airport have frequently complained about the worsening road congestion, particularly during mid-morning and late-evening, some of the busiest travel times at SFO. The curbside is also getting very crowded with passengers waiting for rides at peak periods. The proposal, first reported in the San Francisco Business Times, calls for converting part of the top level of the central garage (the big one that connects all the domestic terminals seen above) into a ride share pick-up and drop-off space. Rides that start or end there would not be subject to the higher fee, which might offer travelers who are not pressed for time a cheaper option. "The main objective here is to reduce traffic congestion around the terminals," Yakel said. An Uber spokesperson told us, "We value our partnership with SFO and support their industry leading efforts to create a great experience for travelers. However, the proposed fee increase goes against their consumer friendly approach and will not help to reduce congestion at the airport." - Uber spokesperson. TravelSkills with Chris McGinnis sponsored by See More Collapse Lyft is taking a softer stance. Its statement to us: "We are continuously working with SFO to both reduce congestion and provide customers with the best possible experience." A similar program is now in place at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International- to reduce roadway congestion during canopy construction, ridesharing companies make pick ups in the far reaches of on-airport economy parking lots. Passengers must make the 10-15 minute schlep through the lots to get to their rides-- and they complain loudly about it. At ATL, rideshare companies can still drop off rides at the curbside with no fee. SFO tested the concept during the busy 2017 holiday travel period when it reconfigured the top level to include a dedicated drop-off/ pick-up lane and waived charges for short-term parking garage stays of 30 minutes or less. The program ended January 8. The airport hopes to introduce the higher fee on July 1, pending approval from the airport commission. Roadway congestion at SFO does seem to be getting out of hand, so this might help. But...would you pay a premium for curbside service? Or would you join the zoo that would likely be the free pick up and drop off area on top of the central parking deck. Please leave your thoughts in the comments on on our Facebook page. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. A San Francisco police officer opened fire on a suspect in an auto burglary investigation early Friday morning, and a vehicle pursuit that included multiple collisions ended in Civic Center Plaza, authorities said. The incident reportedly began at about 1 a.m. near Steiner Street and Geary Boulevard, where one suspect was detained but another fled on foot before getting into a white Hyundai sedan. Police said a series of events then occurred on the 1500 block of OFarrell Street, including collisions between the suspect vehicle and two marked SFPD radio cars and an officer-involved shooting. No one was struck by gunfire in this incident, police said in a statement. The second suspect continued to flee in the vehicle to Civic Center Plaza, where the vehicle stopped and the person was taken into custody, police said. Officer Robert Rueca, a department spokesman, declined to say whether the suspect was armed. An officer was injured and treated on the scene before being released, while the suspects were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The injured officer was not the one who fired his gun, Rueca said. Per department policy, the officer who fired shots has been placed on administrative leave for a minimum of 10 days. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Fridays incident marked San Franciscos fourth officer-involved shooting in 2018. Two of the previous shootings were fatal. There were six officer-involved shootings in 2017, three of which were fatal. Sophie Haigney and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney @MeganRCassidy A San Francisco police officer who accused the department of anti-Muslim harassment and racism is no longer with the department, a police spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. In April, the officer, who is Muslim and emigrated from Afghanistan, accused his colleagues and superiors of referring to him as a terrorist and subjecting him to offensive jokes, slurs and other blatant racism in his first two years with the department. He began working for the San Francisco Police Department in June 2016 after graduating from San Franciscos Police Academy. A year later, he completed field training and was assigned to the Central Station. But in an unusual twist, the officers own conduct has come under scrutiny after it was learned that prior to joining the force he previously came to the attention of Napa law enforcement for allegedly impersonating a CIA agent while on a date with a woman, a source confirmed. Mission Local first reported the Napa police bulletin on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why or when the officer left the San Francisco Police Department. The Napa incident reportedly occurred in 2013, when the officer met a woman through a dating website using the name Danny Costello. He told her he was a high level CIA Agent, according to a bulletin issued by the Napa Police Department. The officer reportedly said he was involved in killing Osama Bin Laden in 2011 and the investigation of General David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling confidential materials after giving his biographer and mistress access to classified information. Investigators determined that the man had previously applied to the Sacramento, Santa Cruz and San Francisco police departments. Last month, at a news conference arranged by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, the officer said he witnessed officers engaging in sexual and racist misconduct toward citizens, such as one colleague calling a black motorist a monkey. The officer additionally alleged that a fellow officer asked him, Do you know any towel heads? and another asked if his police earpiece wire was connected to a bomb. In August, the officer said, someone wrote tick tick on his police locker. Adachi showed a picture of the officers Central Station locker, on which someone allegedly wrote the words, ISIS go back. The officer also reported misconduct against citizens including an incident during patrol when an officer told him, I want to get guns, and the only people who have guns are blacks and Hispanics. The department doesnt like us to make judgments like that, but if I see a black person behind the wheel of the vehicle, Ill pull the car over and figure out my probable cause later. The San Francisco Police Department issued a statement in April saying they were made aware of the allegations in November 2017 and initiated investigations. There are currently three ongoing investigations by SFPD and the Citys Department of Human Resources, officials said. SFPD will thoroughly investigate all alleged misconduct uncovered during these investigations which implicates any member of this department. Despite his allegations, the officer said at the April press conference that he hoped to continue working for the department for the next 30 years. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani A young hacker was arrested after he used a teachers credentials to log into a school system and change the grades of multiple students, Concord police said. On April 25, the Mount Diablo School District notified Concord police about a possible network intrusion. The district found that a phishing email had been sent to a teacher, who provided her log-in credentials in the process. The hacker then logged in and changed the grades of multiple students, officials said. A footnote in the casting history's of one of the biggest film series in cinematic history reveals a funny little fact: actor and comedian Robin Williams really wanted to play the role of Hagrid, the bumbling half-giant wizard that whisks Harry Potter away to Hogwarts to begin his magical training. As a new Huffington Post interview with casting director Janet Hirshenson reveals, Williams phoned director Chris Columbus (who also directed "Mrs. Doubtfire") to enquire about the role, but as it turned out, he didn't even have a shot. The series had a strict "British only" casting rule, and Columbus and creator J.K. Rowling already favored Robbie Coltrane for the role anyway. When San Francisco is not enveloped in fog, Sutro Tower can be seen from all over the city and that's what makes it an ideal location for fog collection. "On an average day last summer, we'd collect around 17 gallons," says Chris Fogliatti (ironically, the g is silent), a volunteer for FogQuest Sustainable Water Solutions, a Canadian not-for-profit company. In an unusual, yet mutually beneficial partnership, FogQuest collects scientific data on fog patterns and collection efficiencies while Alameda's Hangar 1 Vodka collects the resulting water to make, well, vodka. At the base of the nearly 977-foot television and radio antenna sits a pair of mesh screens stretched over a metal framework, and below that, a bucket. It's all very low-tech: Tiny fibers between the two layers of the mesh collect water as fog passes through, much like the diminutive leaves of a redwood tree pull moisture from the air. Gravity does the rest of the work. "There's a lot of synergy with these broadcasting towers and fog collecting, they both have similar requirements," says Fogliatti, noting that being "on a coast hilltop, close to the marine layer, or the fog bank, and in a windy area," is ideal for both the antenna and the fog collection operation. Hangar 1 supports FogQuest's research and development, as a portion of the proceeds from their limited production of Fog Point Vodka ($134, retail) is used to set up and maintain fog collection points. In 2016, all profits from the sale of the vodka, which amounted to nearly $250,000 during the 2016 run, were donated to local water conservation organizations and to fund more fog collectors. For 2018, a portion of the profits will be donated, and production has increased to 5,000 bottles. Six years ago, the United States Geological Survey created the Pacific Coast Fog Project which brings together researchers to collaborate and study fog's impact on our environment. Data from FogQuest supports such research, which Fogliatti says is important in fog's impact on ecology. "The hours of fog has decreased by three hours per day over the past century" in coastal areas, says Fogliatti, citing a 2010 paper by two University of California researchers. "That has a pretty broad impact because that coastal ecosystem depends on that fog," he adds. The distillery first launched Fog Point in 2016, when the company started experimenting with FogQuest to collect fog from the Presidio in San Francisco and Tilden Park in the East Bay. Head distiller Caley Shoemaker says Mount Sutro produced a more prolific yield, so they continued there, but shifted the other collection points to Half Moon Bay. "It actually turned out that Sutro Tower collected still more fog," Shoemaker said, reinforcing perhaps an obvious observation to anyone who has looked across at San Francisco on a foggy morning and seen only the radio antenna, and now Salesforce Tower, piercing the marine layer. The San Francisco fog is just one part of the process, however. Also new for 2018, Hangar 1 chose a new wine to distill into vodka, Napa's Pine Ridge Vineyard's Chenin Blanc + Viognier blend. Unlike Hangar 1's other vodkas, Fog Point is distilled entirely from wine no grains are used. "We really wanted to explore distilling a brighter, more light tasting wine to see how the vodka would change," Shoemaker says, explaining that the vodka is distilled to 190-proof, which is then cut with the fog water to half of that, resulting in an 80-proof bottle. The end result is something of an ethereal experience, says Shoemaker: "I find that when you taste the fog water, it has a little bit of salinity and minerality, which is very interesting because when you look at the lab results of the water, it's very low in actual minerals and much cleaner of any additives than tap water." Shoemaker likens it to the characteristics winemakers say terroir imparts on their vintages. FogQuest's Bay Area operations are part of the larger work in 10 other countries, including Guatemala, where the company has their largest array of fog collectors in a small village in that country's western highlands. There, dozens of collectors supply water stored in several 1,000-liter tanks for use by local residents. "People are interested in studying alternative water resources, so that's one reason FogQuest can help a little bit," says Fogliatti. In California, a realistic application would be "to provide some water on the coastal hilltops for reforestation or for drip irrigation," he says. Or you can mix a cocktail. Chris Preovolos is a national editor for Hearst Newspaper websites. More: Listen to Caley Shoemaker and Chris Fogliatti give at talk about the process at Google in 2017 UPDATE: This story was updated at 5:24 p.m. on May 10 after Nosh received a correction from The Bird. A representative from the restaurant said there was an "internal miscommunication" about the restaurant's first week of service. The Bird will not be giving away sandwiches, rather selling 200 sandwiches per day to the first 200 people in line, until they sell out. Nosh just got new details about The Bird, the fried chicken sandwich spot that we reported was opening its second location in the former The Melt location on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. How horrible is the Bay Area housing market for millennials? Quite bad. But as a study by Zillow reveals, it's not as dire for locals aged 24-36 as it might be for those of the same age in other American metro areas. Slightly more than one in five San Francisco millennials 21.1 percent were found to be living with their parents in 2016. To the south, in San Jose, that number is a little bit worse; a total of 21.3 percent of those millennials live with mom and dad. And yet, Sacramento millennials seem to have it the worst, with 22.4 percent of them living at home. But don't equate those statistics with laziness. Of those living at home, only 10 percent or less are unemployed, according to Zillow. Maybe they just can't (or don't want to) spend more than a reported third of their income on monthly rent. RELATED: Is America's rental market crushing Millennials? Across the country, those figures actually paint a relatively rosy picture of the financial situation for millennials. More millennials nationwide 22.5 percent live at home than millennials in the Bay Area. As Zillow notes, that's not necessarily because those in the Bay Area are more industrious, but rather because their families aren't local. "In booming Western markets, relatively few young adults live with parents," said Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas, "not because rents are cheap but because family is far away." RELATED: The 10 US cities where millennials can't wait to move In other American cities, like New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, the number of millennials living at home shoots up to almost one in three. In Los Angeles, where the average rent tends to outpace New York City, young Americans are spending an average of 47.3 percent of their take home income on rent. The median rent in the United States is $1,447 per month, but in San Francisco, that number is as high as $3,420. Although all these statistics sound depressing for millennials in the workforce now, it doesn't sound like much will improve for the subsequent Generation Z. As RENTCafe reported last month, "Gen Z-ers are expected to pay something in the vicinity of $102,000 while in their 20s just to put a rented roof over their head." Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. WASHINGTON Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Trump berated her Wednesday in front of the entire Cabinet for what he said was her failure to adequately secure the nations borders, according to several current and former officials familiar with the incident. Nielsen, who is a protegee of John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, according to two of the people. As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Nielsen is in charge of the 20,000 border agents who work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trumps anger toward Nielsen at the Cabinet meeting was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his entire Cabinet about what he said was their lack of progress toward sealing the countrys borders against unauthorized immigrants, according to one person who was present at the meeting. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that the president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws and the president and his administration will enforce them. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment Thursday evening. The presidents anger about immigration has grown in recent weeks, according to several officials. Trump repeatedly claimed credit for the fact that during his first year in office illegal border crossings dropped to their lowest levels in decades. But this year, they have risen again, robbing the president of one of his favorite talking points. One person familiar with the presidents blowup at the meeting said it was triggered by a discussion about why Mexico was not doing more to prevent illegal border crossings into the United States. Another person said the president was primarily focused on the Homeland Security Department because he views Nielsen as primarily responsible for keeping unauthorized immigrants out of the country. During the meeting, Trump yelled about the fact that the United States has a porous border and said that more needs to be done to fix that. When members of his Cabinet pointed out that the country relies on day laborers who cross the border each day, Trump said that is fine, but continued to complain, one person said. Nielsen viewed the presidents rant as directed mostly at her and told associates after the meeting that she should not continue in the job if the president did not view her as effective. One person close to Nielsen said she is miserable in her job. Trump has clashed with Nielsen for weeks about his belief that more should be done to secure the border. Michael D. Shear and Nicole Perlroth are New York Times writers. NEW YORK President Trump and his lawyers probably wont decide whether to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller until after the presidents summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, according to the presidents legal team. Rudy Giuliani, the presidents new attorney, said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday that any preparation with Trump for a possible interview with investigators would likely be delayed until after the June 12 summit in Singapore because I wouldnt want to take his concentration off something far, far more important. Trumps lawyers havent decided whether it would be in the presidents best interests anyway to speak with Mueller. Giuliani said that he had hoped to resolve that question by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Muellers appointment, but that was no longer feasible. Several things delayed us, with the primary one being the whole situation with North Korea, Giuliani said. The president has been very busy. It really would be pretty close to impossible to spend the amount of time on it we would need. Though Giuliani would not provide an exact date as to when a determination would be made about the interview, he said it probably would be silly to make a decision much before the highly anticipated summit. He said that the demands on Trumps time meant that his legal team had not done a lot in terms of preparing the president for a possible in-person interview. A number of Trump allies, including Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, have recently stepped up calls for Muellers investigation to wrap up, suggesting it was interfering in the presidents ability to do the countrys business. Muellers team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsels office has charged 19 people including four Trump campaign advisers and three Russian companies. Both Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. A number of other former White House and campaign staffers, like Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, as well as Inauguration Day committee chairman Tom Barrack, have been interviewed. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, demurred when asked if Trump would consider it a red line for his children to be interviewed. His daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both worked on the campaign and are senior advisers at the White House, while Trumps adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also leading figures on the campaign. Giuliani said he did not expect those interviews with Mueller to take place. The special counsel had floated the idea of issuing a grand jury subpoena for Trump, his former attorney John Dowd has previously said. Even if Muellers team decided to subpoena Trump as part of the investigation, he could still fight it in court or refuse to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. Jonathan Lemire is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON Addressing a key concern for manufacturers, President Trump instructed his administration to explore negotiations with California on achieving a single fuel economy standard for the nation during a meeting with auto industry executives Friday. The president met with top auto executives to discuss the standards and tasked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to handle the talks with California officials, according to two people briefed on the meeting. The people spoke on condition of anonymity. The auto industry wants to relax the federal fuel economy standards, but not so much that they provoke a legal fight with California, which has power to impose its own stricter tailpipe pollution limits. Such a fight could create two different mileage standards in the U.S., forcing automakers to engineer and produce two versions of each of their vehicle models and driving up costs. Two auto industry trade groups confirmed in a statement that Trump was willing to talk with California, but they provided no specifics. The Alliance for Automotive Manufacturers and Global Automakers said they appreciated Trumps openness to a discussion with California on an expedited basis. During the meeting, one executive brought up how it would be better for the industry to have one standard instead of two, and Trump instructed Pruitt and Chao to go to California for talks, the people said. The EPA under Trump has proposed freezing the standards at 2020 levels for the next five years, according to a draft of the proposal obtained by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. The fleet of new vehicles would have to average roughly 30 miles per gallon, and that wouldnt change through at least 2025. The EPA under Obama proposed standards that gradually would become tougher, rising to 36 mpg in 2025, 10 mpg higher than the current requirement. California and automakers agreed to the rules in 2012, setting a single national fuel economy standard. If California splits from the federal rule under review by the Trump administration, it likely would be joined by 12 states that follow its standards. And any big change by Trump certainly would bring lawsuits from environmental groups as well as California. Tom Krisher and Ken Thomas are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON Starbucks has adopted an open-bathroom policy following the arrest last month of two African American men at a coffee shop in Philadelphia. Chairman Howard Schultz says he doesnt want the company to become a public bathroom, but feels employees can make the right decision a hundred percent of the time. One of the men arrested on April 12 was denied use of a bathroom. He and his partner sat down to await a business meeting they had scheduled at the store, but were arrested minutes later by police. The incident was captured by people using cell phones and it went viral. The arrest of Rashon Nelson, along with his childhood friend and business partner, Donte Robinson, set off a firestorm for the company, which will shut down more than 8,000 of its U.S. stores on the afternoon of May 29 to instruct 175,000 employees how to better recognize unconscious bias. Access to store bathrooms, for which Schultz said Starbucks had maintained a loose policy, came into even sharper focus after another video, taken in January, emerged. The video shows a black man claiming he was denied access to a bathroom at a Starbucks in California while a white man was allowed entry. Neither man had made a purchase, according to the video shot by Brandon Ward, which is posted on his Facebook page. Schultz, speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Thursday, said previous policy required a purchase, but that the decision was ultimately left with store managers. The arrests in Philadelphia were a major embarrassment for Starbucks, which has long projected itself as a socially conscious company. A 14-year-old student was taken into custody on Friday morning after police responded to reports of a gunman at Highland High School in Palmdale (Los Angeles County). The Sheriffs Department said another 14-year-old student was shot in the arm and taken to a hospital in stable condition. The department did not identify either of the teenagers, but said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident. The male suspect was detained after reports of gunfire and calls saying an armed man had been spotted on campus around 7 a.m., an hour before the start of classes. Several hours later, the school remained on lockdown and the principal told students to stay away from campus as deputies continued to search the area. A rifle was recovered off campus. A sheriffs deputy reached by telephone said he did not have immediate information about how many shots were fired and the relationship between the victim and the suspect. Students at the school, which is northeast of Los Angeles, said the sound of gunfire rang out near the library on the first floor. Jayden Madise, a junior, said he was sitting with friends in an open area on the first floor when he heard a loud noise. It was followed by a succession of bangs. Then I realized it was a gun, said Jayden, 17. I heard a whole bunch going off. Everyone immediately ran, he said. He exited through a side door and sprinted five minutes to his home. Deputies also responded to reports of gunfire near Manzanita Elementary School, about seven miles from the high school. Authorities later said the scene had been cleared. Christine Hauser and Matthew Haag are New York Times writers. President Trumps closest backers are reveling in the downfall of former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman even retweeting Trumps own 2013 prediction that lightweight Schneiderman would be next to go. Gotcha, tweeted Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway on Monday evening, just hours after the New Yorker posted an expose that detailed four womens allegations of sexual abuse by Schneiderman. The Democrat resigned later that evening. Donald Trump Jr. also took a shot at how Schneiderman defended his behavior in allegedly abusive relationships as role-playing. Hey Eric, its not role play if only one of you is in on it, Trump Jr. tweeted. In addition to the sweeping ramifications for the future of his office, Schneidermans abrupt exit removes a major Trump legal nemesis from the field of combat. Schneiderman was investigating Trump-connected individuals, such as former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who are also in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and related matters. Any effort by Trump to fire Mueller or offer presidential pardons to people like Manafort would have had little effect on potential parallel investigations by Schneidermans office. But at a more political level, Trumps circle and perhaps the president himself appear to be hoping Schneidermans alleged misdeeds take the heat off Trump in the #MeToo era. At least 11 women have said Trump forcibly kissed, fondled or groped them against their will. Trump also famously bragged on an open microphone during a Access Hollywood taping in 2005 that such conduct is acceptable because when youre a star, they let you do it. And while the focus of the Stormy Daniels case is the $130,000 payoff to keep the porn actress quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, the imbroglio only reinforces the image of Trump as a predatory libertine. Seeing Schneiderman go down for the count does create a sense of distancing from their own troubles, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Poll. It may provide them a little relief but its temporary, Miringoff said. I suspect whoever ends up (running the attorney generals office) will continue to go down the same legal routes as Schneiderman. Political leaders of both parties have condemned sexual abuse and harassment. But they have frequently differed in their reactions to accusations against their opponents as opposed to members of their own political tribe. This is a male-power problem, so you cant draw lines between Republicans and Democrats, said Donna Young, a professor at Albany Law School who specializes in gender issues. However, I do think Democrats take it much more seriously. Dan Freedman is a Hearst Newspapers writer. WASHINGTON Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Donald Trump berated her Wednesday in front of the entire Cabinet for what he said was her failure to adequately secure the nations borders, according to several current and former officials familiar with the episode. Nielsen, who is a protegee of John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, according to two of the people. As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Nielsen is in charge of the 20,000 employees who work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trumps anger toward Nielsen, who was sitting several seats to his left at the meeting, was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his entire Cabinet about what he said was its lack of progress toward sealing the countrys borders against unauthorized immigrants, according to one person who was present at the meeting. Asked about the heated exchange at the meeting, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that the president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws, and the president and his administration will enforce them, she said. In a statement, Nielsen said she intended to continue to direct the department to do all we can to implement the presidents security-focused agenda. She said that Trump was rightly frustrated that existing loopholes and the lack of congressional action have prevented this administration from fully securing the border. Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, disputed that Nielsen had drafted a resignation letter and was close to resigning, calling those assertions false. Trumps anger about immigration has grown in recent weeks, according to several officials. He repeatedly claimed credit for the fact that during his first year in office, illegal border crossings dropped to their lowest levels in decades. But this year, they have risen again, robbing him of one of his favorite talking points. In remarks to reporters before Wednesdays meeting, Trump hinted at the anger that would cause him to erupt once TV cameras were led out of the room. Weve very much toughened up the border, but the laws are horrible, Trump said. The laws in this country for immigration and illegal immigration are absolutely horrible. And we have to do something about it not only the wall, which were building sections of wall right now. One person familiar with Trumps blowup at the meeting said it was prompted by a discussion about why Mexico was not doing more to prevent illegal border crossings into the United States. Another person said the president was primarily focused on the Homeland Security Department because he viewed Nielsen as primarily responsible for keeping unauthorized immigrants out of the country. During the meeting, Trump yelled about the fact the United States has a porous border and said more needed to be done to fix it. When members of his Cabinet pointed out that the country relies on day laborers who cross the border each day, Trump said that was fine, but continued to complain, one person said. The president also complained about the continued failure of his administration to find a way to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico, two people familiar with the episode said. Nielsen viewed the presidents rant as directed mostly at her, and she told associates after the meeting that she should not continue in the job if he did not view her as effective. One person close to Nielsen said she is miserable in her job. Trump has clashed with Nielsen for weeks about his belief that more should be done to secure the border. In early April, the president repeatedly expressed frustration with Nielsen that her department was not doing enough to close loopholes that were allowing immigrants to flood into the country illegally, according to one official familiar with those discussions. During those discussions, officials had presented Trump with a list of proposals that would help border agents crack down on those trying to cross the border illegally and send them back more quickly. The president urged Nielsen to be more aggressive, the official said. One persistent issue has been Trumps belief that Nielsen and other officials in the department were resisting his direction that parents should be separated from their children when families cross illegally into the United States, several officials said. The president and his aides in the White House had been pushing a family separation policy for weeks as a way of deterring families from trying to cross the border illegally. On Monday, Justice Department officials announced that border agents will refer 100 percent of illegal crossings for prosecution, a decision that will most likely result in more family separations. But one official said the family separation issue is just one part of the presidents broader frustration with the pace of progress on an immigration crackdown, which was a central promise that he made to voters during his 2016 presidential campaign. Since taking office, Trumps efforts to impose a travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries were held up for months in the courts. The courts have also interfered with his push to end an Obama-era program to help people brought to the United States illegally as young children. In recent weeks, Trump has been increasingly focused on the obstacles to immigration changes, even in public speeches where he had planned to talk about other topics. We dont have laws. We have laws that were written by people that truly could not love our country, the president told members of the National Rifle Association last week in Dallas during lengthy remarks about immigration. Were going to start defending our country. Were going to start defending our borders, he said with the same enthusiasm that he demonstrated when he talked about immigration during his campaign. The episode at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday is the latest evidence of staff turmoil at the White House, where many of Trumps top advisers have either been fired or have resigned in recent weeks. The president fired Rex W. Tillerson, his secretary of state, and pushed out Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, his second national security adviser, replacing him with John R. Bolton, who in turn fired several top aides at the National Security Council. Those staff changes followed the announced departures of Gary Cohn, the presidents top economic adviser in the White House, and Hope Hicks, who was Trumps communications director and close confidante. Thomas P. Bossert, the presidents homeland security adviser, also quit. Trumps relationship with Kelly, who was the presidents first secretary of homeland security, has also soured in recent months as the president has grown weary of Kellys attempts to impose order on his White House operations. Nielsen was Kellys chief of staff at the Homeland Security Department, and followed Kelly to the White House when he became chief of staff. She frequently clashed with other members of the presidents staff as she and Kelly sought to end the chaotic access to Trump in the Oval Office. Trump later nominated Nielsen to be the new homeland security secretary on Kellys recommendation. Even so, people close to Trump said he viewed her with suspicion because she had spent years working for President George W. Bush as a homeland security aide and later as a top official for the Transportation Security Administration in the Homeland Security Department. This article originally appeared in The New York Times Whats the worst thing that can happen if you buy weak leads from a questionable source? New York City real estate broker Nathan Horne almost found out. Like the thousands of professionals in his industry who collectively spent $10.5 billion on advertising in 2017, his employer, The Corcoran Group, focused on branding instead of strategic lead generation. So, when Horne called someone he thought was a hot lead, he got the surprise of his life. Instead of a potential buyer, the police detective who answered the phone made a veiled threat about having a gun and being willing to use it. Related: When You're Hungry for Sales, Consider These Lead-Gen Tools Fortunately, Horne received only a verbal scolding and not something more dangerous. It turns out theres a whole underground world of companies that specialize in lead generation, but those in the broker business -- like Horne -- have discovered that these businesses not only provide poor leads, but they also occasionally flirt with illegal activity (like lead dilution, acquiring leads by dubious means or, in Horne's case, providing fake leads that can lead to irritated recipients). En route, Horne learned a big lesson: If your company doesn't have successful lead generation, youre putting your businesss future at risk -- not to mention leaving your team hesitant to pick up the phone and call an untested lead. Planning a business is easy; growing it takes lead generation. Why do so many companies fall into a trap that keeps them from focusing on their lead gen? Call it the spiderweb effect. When founders begin their organizations, they work their own networks first. Eventually, they tap out these personal spiderwebs and neglect to move beyond them. Instead, they delve into the everyday operations and forget to keep bringing new prospects in the door. And if someone brings up the notion of organized lead gen? A succinct We arent ready for that yet usually stops the conversation. To outsiders, this may seem shocking. Yet its common, particularly among lifestyle businesses large enough to allow their owners to prosper just enough. Those types of organizations werent created to scale; they were created to provide an income for the entrepreneurial C-suite folks. Is it any wonder that so many of those commercial establishments close down after the founders retire? Our own company started similarly 35 years ago. For 25 years, lead generation was a passing fancy. Customers came but werent wooed. And while we enjoyed growth in that time, little of it came through a solid lead gen strategy (because, to be frank, we didnt have one). Thus, a decade ago, we decided to align our lead-generation and marketing tactics. And weve grown phenomenally ever since, like the 90 percent of other businesses that have made similar decisions, according to CSO Insights. Of course, some companies ardently say they want to get bigger, but theyre not necessarily following a wise map, either. Far too many bring in outside salespeople to make cold calls. That's not a lead-generation tactic; its a cold-calling one. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesnt, but its always a tough way to scale. The best strategy? Hire amazing salespeople and supplement what they naturally do with a content-driven lead-generation protocol. Without this kind of commitment, even the most exciting organization with the highest potential can run the risk of not hitting revenue goals, frustrating the heck out of amazing sales professionals and not closing deals due to lack of appointments. Congratulations! Your new lead-generation policy begins tomorrow. Unless you like the idea of falling behind the competition, you owe it to your company to make lead gen a priority by developing a thorough content-marketing campaign. Constant content creation and dissemination ensures you wont be scrambling for prospective buyers. The more consistent you are, the better your returns: Orbit Media says that nearly half of bloggers who put time and effort into blogging make money. HubSpot concurs, noting that busy blogs offering at least 16 posts every month can expect traffic to triple, as opposed to their barely there blogging counterparts. Ready to begin? Here are the rules: 1. Go to your customers. Start at your heart by surveying your clients about what they want to know, what they read, how they think and where they hang out when theyre not buying your merchandise or services. Their answers will help drive content. At the same time, ask your salespeople and customer service personnel what theyre constantly being asked. They'll happily share everything they've heard, and you can turn their responses into content topics later. The more research you do up-front, the better your lead-gen plan will be. Although this should be an ongoing task, plan on about 30 days to get a head start. Evaluate the feedback to use the information innovatively. Ironically, thats what SurveyMonkey did: It sent out surveys to users to make its brand more attractive. As a SurveyMonkey enthusiast, Im pleased to see the company utilizing its own offerings to improve. 2. Devise your plan of attack. Open a Google Doc or grab a piece of paper. Then, clearly write down what you plan to do in terms of content creation. Just as you wouldnt start a business without a proposal or route, dont jump into speaking engagements, blogging, ebooks, webinars or any other content production without forethought. Related: A Comprehensive Guide to Building a Better Content Marketing Strategy What will your plan look like? Thats up to what you discover. Mine included a mission to produce only educational content, not promotional pieces. As the one spearheading everything, I worked during off hours on fulfillment to get traction. Now, our team is all on board because were able to track how effective our content is month over month. 3. Share your trade secrets. Dont gasp at the thought of sharing your expertise. Its not your grandmothers famous cookie dough recipe, after all. If you dont offer anything valuable through your content, youre just sending out sales pitches. Instead of treating readers, viewers and listeners like droids, craft intriguing items that provide insider knowledge. Through this approach, you'll humanize your efforts. In the eyes of the public, you'll be seen as a partner. This will lower readers' defenses and promote honest engagement. In addition, you'll set up your content creators to be thought leaders. For example, at Influence & Co., a content marketing agency we work with, CEO John Hall has made being honest his mantra with significant reputation-boosting and profit-generating results. 4. Create accountability for maximum results. Obviously, youll want to measure your success, to determine how well your lead generation is working. Why not start by developing a service-level agreement (SLA) between the sales and marketing departments? An SLA defines each teams role in sharing and ensures important information wont be lost in translation. In addition, have key performance indicators in place. The KPIs can be tracked by spreadsheets and monitored routinely. At our company, we consistently investigate which content is bringing in the most leads. That's an actionable approach and puts everyone on the same page. Related: The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Track Your Company's Performance Wondering whether the time is right to strike on this type of lead gen venture? It is, hands down. As the old adage says, "A good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow." The faster you get a process in place, the faster you'll see those golden returns. Related: If You Forget About Lead Gen, You Can Forget About Growth Top 5 Sales Tactics to Boost Your Sales Disney's Better Mousetrap Captures Customers of All Ages Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Its now a violation of legal ethics in California for a lawyer to have sex with a client, unless their intimate relationship preceded their professional relationship. The state Supreme Court approved the new rule Thursday, bringing California in line with American Bar Association standards already in effect in most other states. State Bar trustees proposed the change last year as part of an overhaul of ethical regulations for Californias 250,000 lawyers, of whom 190,000 are licensed to practice law. Lawyers who violate ethical rules can be reprimanded, suspended or disbarred after hearings in the State Bar Court. The previous rules allowed a lawyer in California to have consensual sex with a client as long as the lawyer did not demand sex before providing legal representation. The new rule prohibits lawyer-client sex, whether consensual or not, unless the couple were already spouses or domestic partners or had been in a sexual relationship before becoming lawyer and client. At last years State Bar hearing, some lawyers told the trustees that the stricter rule would be an invasion of privacy. But the bars Office of General Counsel said the record of enforcement under the existing rule had been dismal: Out of 205 complaints filed with the counsels office involving lawyer-client sex since the rule took effect in 1992, only one had resulted in disciplinary action. Lawyers have bargaining power over their clients, James Fox, the former San Mateo County district attorney who was then the State Bar president, said after the hearing. A client may feel subtle pressure, or perhaps not-so-subtle pressure, to acquiesce in sexual conduct. The new rules also broaden the State Bars power to discipline a lawyer for harassing or discriminating against an employee or anyone else in the legal profession. The former rule allowed discipline only after a government agency or a court had found that the lawyer acted wrongfully. The new rule allows the bar to act on its own. The states high court, which oversees the bars actions, adopted the new rules unanimously. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has also urged the state Judicial Council, which she chairs, to approve a new rule requiring public identification of judges who settle claims of sexual harassment or discrimination. The council reported recently that it had paid more than $500,000 in state funds since 2011 to settle five harassment claims against judges and court employees, none of them publicly identified. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twiter: @BobEgelko SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco officials today recognized the city's need for more protected bicycle lanes on the 24th annual Bike To Work Day. After biking throughout San Francisco this morning, invigorated city officials congregated on the front steps of City Hall, where they emphatically encouraged others to make biking a part of their lives. "As a city we're moving forward. We had a goal that Mayor Ed Lee talked about for years about having 50 percent of our trips being sustainable by 2020 and we have exceeded that already. We are at 54 percent this year, which is awesome," Mayor Mark Farrell said. "We're going to move that goal to 80 percent of trips being sustainable." "So let's make sure that we redouble our commitment to not only be part of days of like this, but really to be part of the advocacy that makes sure that the rest of San Francisco understands how awesome today is and that every day can be like this in the city," Farrell said. According to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Farrell's bicycle trip this morning began with a ride down Market Street, where the city's Better Market Street Project is set to include a 2.2-mile stretch of protected bike lane from the Embarcadero to Octavia Street. Afterward, Farrell, along with the bike coalition's executive director Brian Wiedenmeier rode on one of the city's newest protected bike lanes on Turk Street, stretching from Polk Street to Market Street. The Turk Street protected bike lane is the first in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood. "Turk Street is an example of the kind of infrastructure that we can build quickly when city leaders, community members and people who bike come together and focus on solutions," Wiedenmeier said. "I am so proud of the work that we have been able to do with members of the Bicycle Coalition to fight for the most protected bike lanes here in San Francisco in the downtown area. We're currently working on Polk Street, Second Street and we have much more to do," Supervisor Jane Kim said. "To get people out of their cars and onto alternate modes of transit, we need to build more protected bike lanes, support bike share and other modes of transit. And also to support bike parking, so that you know that your bike is secure when you get to the location that you want to go to," she said. As many people were expected to bike to work today, the bicycle coalition set up 26 "Energizer Stations" throughout the city, where commuters can get a free reusable bag, refreshments, participate in giveaways and learn more about biking. "This is the biggest day of the year to celebrate biking and San Francisco has the biggest Bike to Work Day in the country," Wiedenmeier said. "You're going to see tens of thousands of people out today and some of them biking for the first time and we're going to be out there encouraging them and make sure they know that they're supported." For more information about Bike to Work Day and to see a map of Energizer Stations set up throughout the city, bikers can visit http://www.sfbike.org/event/bike-to-work-day-3/. The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury released a report Wednesday on police and mental health with recommendations that can help law enforcement become more prepared for crisis situations. According to the Grand Jury, nearly one-third of police shootings in Santa Clara County arise from encounters with someone in a mental health crisis. After studying data from the past five years, the jury concluded that nine of the 31 fatal shootings by law enforcement officers were situations in which mental illness was a primary factor. The Grand Jury said that of the 31 shootings, the Santa Clara County District Attorney had determined 28 of them were justifiable under California law. The three other shootings were still being reviewed at the time of the report. San Jose police said that 15 percent of all calls for law enforcement involve an element of behavioral health, according to the report. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office reports two to three mental illness calls a day and five to 10 arrests per month involving individuals with mental illness. "Law enforcement officials say these types of calls have become more frequent," the report said. The jury recognized that "major efforts had been undertaken" in the county to train law enforcement on realizing and dealing with those in crisis and to engage mental health professionals in the response. However, they feel it isn't enough. "There is room for improvement in the depth of training, the number of officers trained, current Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) class protocols and deployment of 'in the field' mental health professional teams," the jury said in their report. The Grand Jury analyzed crisis intervention training offered by every law enforcement agency in the county, they said, in order to offer suggestions in strengthening responses to interactions with those who have mental health issues. In the report, the Grand Jury states that while all law enforcement agencies in the county mandate crisis intervention training, the level and type of that training is not consistent across all agencies. All agencies reported that at least some of their officers receive crisis training past the basic police academy, but those hours ranged from four in Palo Alto and Santa Clara to 40 in Campbell, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill and other jurisdictions. The jury recommended that all law enforcement officers receive additional crisis intervention and de-escalation training in order to deal with people who are behaving irrationally. The jury suggested that the training include role-playing video simulations. Lastly, the Grand Jury recommended that the county deploy additional mobile crisis intervention teams staffed by professional experts in mental health. Deploying additional teams means that the county should immediately work on attracting, recruiting and training more professionals to staff future teams, according to the jury. Vous etes confrontes a une infestation par la puce, la punaise de lit ? Voici plusieurs actions qui sont a mettre en uvre pour faire [] A 21-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for firing a gun into the air and assaulting a Caltrans worker near the Caldecott Tunnel on state Highway 24. The altercation happened at 2:15 a.m. after a driver in a Toyota Camry pulled over to the center median just west of the tunnel while waiting for assistance for a flat tire. A Toyota Yaris pulled in behind the Camry, according to the California Highway Patrol, and a Caltrans tow truck driver pulled in behind the two vehicles to assist the Toyota Camry with the flat tire. CHP officials said the Caltrans worker asked the Toyota Camry driver to move the vehicle from the center median to the right-hand shoulder. A verbal and physical altercation then broke out at some point during their interaction, CHP officials said. The driver, later identified as Tomes Torres of Concord, allegedly produced a handgun, pointed it at the Caltrans worker then fired two shots into the air. The Caltrans worker fled the area in his work truck and Torres entered the Toyota Yaris and fled in an unknown location, according to the CHP. CHP officials responded to the scene and found two 40-caliber shell casings behind the abandoned Toyota Camry. At 11:05 a.m. the same day, the CHP arrested Torres at his home for assault with a deadly weapon and booked him into Santa Rita Jail. The Caltrans worker was not injured during the altercation, according to the CHP. DUBLIN (BCN) In an unusual move, a Modesto man pleaded guilty this afternoon to a murder charge for the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old Tracy woman in unincorporated Livermore in February, prosecutors said. Daniel Gross, 19, entered his surprising plea at a routine pretrial hearing in Alameda County Superior Court in Dublin in connection with the Feb. 12 death of Lizette Cuesta. Co-defendant Melissa Leonardo, 25, of Modesto, pleaded not guilty today and is scheduled to return to court on July 19 for a pretrial hearing. The question of whether Gross' plea will be to first-degree murder or second-degree murder will be determined at his sentencing hearing, which will be scheduled when he returns to court on June 11. The state prison term for a first-degree conviction is 25 years to life and the term for a second-degree conviction is 15 years to life. A motorist found Cuesta stabbed near Tesla Road, roughly 2 miles west of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area, at 2:06 a.m. on Feb. 12, according to Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly. Cuesta was airlifted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley but was pronounced dead later that morning. Investigators believe Cuesta was dumped from a vehicle and left for dead. She crawled on her stomach for about 100 yards before being found, Kelly said. Cuesta made a "very compelling dying declaration" that led investigators to Gross and Leonardo, according to Kelly. Authorities haven't disclosed a motive for Cuesta's stabbing death. The charging document filed by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office alleges that Gross was the person who fatally stabbed Cuesta. Gross' attorney, Alameda County Assistant Public Defender Eric Mirzaian, said in a statement, "From the very beginning of this case, Daniel has demonstrated that he is committed to accepting responsibility for his friend's death." Mirzaian said, "He proved that when he confessed to the police, he proved it when he confessed to the media and he has proven it today by entering a guilty plea to these charges." Mirzaian said, "It is Daniel's hope that his decision today to accept responsibility and not drag out the court proceedings for years, will bring some measure of peace and closure to Ms. Cuesta's family and loved ones." The District Attorney's Office didn't respond to multiple requests for comment on the case today. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco prosecutors announced Wednesday that a man convicted of molesting his friend's 9-year-old daughter repeatedly over the course several years was sentenced to eight years in state prison. Willie Rodriguez, 72, of San Francisco was sentenced after a jury found him guilty of committing lewd acts on a minor and child molestation, prosecutors said. The ongoing abuse first came to light when the victim and her mother called police on May 24, 2014 to report the crimes, which according to prosecutors, occurred when she was in third and fourth grades. On one occasion, Rodriguez took the girl into a bathroom and began touching his genitals while simultaneously fondling her. On another occasion, Rodriguez exposed himself to the victim as she watched TV in her room, prosecutors said. Although Rodriguez and the victim are not related by blood, he referred to her as his granddaughter and spent many nights at the home, under the guise of providing support to the girl and her family, prosecutors said. "The actions of this individual violate our basic notions of family and trust," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "Children are meant to be protected by their loved ones, not violated by those entrusted with their well-being." "I am in awe of the courage and resolve that the young girl in this case showed by describing the details of what happened to her," Assistant District Attorney Adam Maldonado said in a statement. "She deserves all the credit for the outcome in this case." SUNNYVALE (BCN) A man was transported to a hospital Thursday night with a gunshot wound to his face that was not thought to be life-threatening, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. Officers responded to the vicinity of Spinosa and Torrington drives around 10:30 p.m. and found the victim at a convenience store. The suspect or suspects had already left the scene before their arrival, but investigators believe a vehicle connected to the crime may have been observed leaving the area, public safety officials said. Descriptions of any suspects or the suspect vehicle were not immediately available. Officers are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Department of Public Safety at (408) 730-7100. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco police shot at a suspect while investigating an auto burglary early this morning in the Fillmore District. Police were investigating the burglary at 12:59 a.m. near Steiner Street and Geary Boulevard and detained one suspect when a second suspect fled on foot to the area of O'Farrell and Webster streets, police said. The male suspect allegedly entered a parked white Hyundai sedan and fled in the vehicle. Police said a "series of events occurred" in the 1500 block of O'Farrell Street, including a collision between the suspect's vehicle and two police radio cars. Police said an officer-involved shooting also happened at this location. No one was struck by gunfire, according to police. The suspect fled the scene in the vehicle and police pursued him to the area of Polk and McAllister streets where the suspect stopped the car inside Civic Center Plaza, police said. He was then taken into custody. Police said the suspect was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. An officer who was injured in the 1500 block of O'Farrell Street was treated and released at the scene, according to police. Officials did not specify how either person sustained the injuries. An investigation is ongoing and several departments are involved, including the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the Department of Police Accountability. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A yachtsman who illegally anchored his trimaran in Aquatic Park Cove in San Francisco was ordered during his sentencing in federal court today not to sail any boat of any kind into the cove in the next five years. Bryan Pennington, 52, was convicted by U.S. Magistrate Laurel Beeler in San Francisco in a one-day trial last month of three misdemeanor counts of anchoring his boat without a permit for a total of 83 nights between September and April. Beeler sentenced him to five years of probation and made the order to keep out of the cove a condition of probation. She also ordered him not to violate any federal or state laws during the five years. The cove on the city's northern waterfront is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service system. Federal regulations for the cove require a permit for overnight anchoring and limits of five nights at a time and 30 nights per year. The misdemeanors carried a possible sentence of up to six months in jail, but federal prosecutors told Beeler their main concern was keeping Pennington out of the cove in the future for reasons of public safety. They said in a sentencing brief that Pennington endangered swimmers and historic vessels managed by the maritime park, threatened National Park Service employees and probably fouled the waters of the cove because the trimaran lacked operable plumbing. In one of the illegal stays for which Pennington was convicted, his boat remained continuously in the cove for more than eight weeks between Dec. 4 and Feb. 9 before it broke loose from its anchor. In other developments, Pennington has been charged in San Francisco Superior Court with a misdemeanor of threatening National Park Service employees. A Superior Court judge ordered him to stay away from the lands and waters of Aquatic Park until his trial on May 21. Federal prosecutors said Pennington was arrested on May 3 on suspicion of violating that order by appearing on the shoreline bleachers of the park and is now additionally charged with contempt of court. In addition, after Pennington's boat broke loose from its anchor in the cove again on April 14, it drifted into waters in the city's jurisdiction and was towed by San Francisco police marine officers to the Hyde Street Pier, federal prosecutors said in their brief. It is now chained to a dock at the Hyde Street Harbor. Pennington owes more than $5,000 in fees to the Port of San Francisco and proceedings for a lien sale of the trimaran have begun, according to the U.S. prosecutors. SAN JOSE (BCN) A 55-year-old San Jose man who owns a security company has been arrested on suspicion of cheating his insurer out of $3.2 million, officials with the California Department of Insurance said today. Troy Carson of Security Code 3, Inc., listed at 1735 N. First St. in San Jose, allegedly underreported his payroll expenses by more than $12 million in an attempt to lower his worker's compensation costs. Detectives began to investigate the company after allegedly finding irregularities in how employee injuries were reported. Security Code 3 allegedly discouraged their workers from reporting on-the-job injuries. Investigators allege Carson created a new company and fabricated the number of employees and how much he was paying them to reduce his insurance premiums under false pretenses. On paper there were two companies, but investigators allege they functioned as one. San Jose residents Victoria Cruz and Lanette Wiegand, both 46 years old, as well as Jaime Lugo, a 60-year-old resident of La Crescenta, are also suspects in the case. Department of Insurance officials said that together, the four are facing a total of 18 felony counts of workers' compensation insurance premium fraud. Five teenagers are in custody after a high-speed chase through Contra Costa County and into Alameda County that ended with a crash but no injuries early this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers in two separate cars patrolling on westbound state Highway 4 east of Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg around 3:30 a.m. saw a Corvette and an Audi SUV racing at speeds of 120 mph, according to the CHP. ON BCN27) OAKLAND (BCN) Goodwill Industries of the East Bay Area and an affiliate have agreed to pay $850,000 to eight former and current employees to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said today. According to the suit the EEOC filed in federal court in Oakland against Goodwill and affiliate Calidad Industries, Inc., six female janitors assigned to work the night shift at the federal building in Oakland faced routine sexual harassment by a man who was their direct supervisor. The plaintiffs in the case included young women with developmental disabilities who were relatively new to the workforce and were employed by Goodwill and Calidad's janitorial operations under a federal government contract. The EEOC also charged that two managers were unfairly criticized and disciplined in retaliation for supporting the women's sexual harassment claims and one manager was forced to resign. Goodwill East Bay chief executive Jim Caponigro said, "Employee safety is our highest priority and we've worked with the EEOC since this suit was filed in 2012 to develop better practices that make us a better company." Caponigro said employees first made allegations against the male supervisor in 2010 and the EEOC filed suit in 2012 because many of those employees were upset about the way Goodwill handled their complaints, which was to transfer the supervisor to another location. Caponigro, who joined Goodwill East Bay as its chief executive in 2016, said the company has started a hotline run by a third party so that employees who are uncomfortable reporting harassment or other issues to their immediate supervisors can call the hotline. Former Goodwill employee Crystal Edwards said in a statement, "I was only 19 years old when I worked at Calidad. It was my first job and I enjoyed being able to earn my own money." Edwards said, "But after my boss put his arms around me, I did not feel safe at work and my complaints were ignored. I am glad the EEOC filed this lawsuit to stop the harassment and to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else." Former employee Phyllis Sloan said, "I reported the harassment as soon as it started but nothing changed. So I went to the EEOC and they were able to help me." Former manager Lisa Short said, "Within weeks of my start date, my employees trusted me enough to describe the harassment they faced on the nightshift. I knew my job could be on the line but I needed to make sure my workers were safe." The EEOC said Short was concerned when higher management failed to take effective action so she sought help from the Federal Protective Service and ultimately helped the women in filing discrimination complaints with the EEOC. According to the consent decree signed by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers, Goodwill and Calidad will pay $850,000 to the plaintiffs in the case. The decree also calls for the employers to revise their equal employment opportunity policies and complaint and investigation procedures, institute supervisor accountability policies concerning discrimination issues, train their workforce and hire a consultant to monitor any responses to future complaints. In addition, the companies are required to make reports to the EEOC about adhering to the terms of the settlement. EEOC San Francisco District Director William Tamayo said, "The #MeToo movement illustrates that sexual harassment impacts people across industries, from white collar to blue collar work, across class, race, age, gender and abilities." Tamayo said, "In this case, there were many factors that contributed to the vulnerability of these janitors: all were African-American and many were young females new to the workplace who had disabilities and were working the isolated night shift." Caponigro said Calidad Industries is a nonprofit affiliate created in 1989 by Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay to provide employment and life skills training to people living with medically-certified physical, mental or psychological impairments. Caponigro said Calidad focuses on providing its employees living with severe and long-term disabilities paid on-the-job skills training and stable employment. Forensic pathologists have unearthed human bones at the home of a GSU officer who is accused of killing his girlfriend and their son. The human remains were exhumed from a shallow grave in Njarane village, Embu County on Wednesday. Dr Amritpal Kalsi said the bones were exhumed about three metres from a toilet in the compound of the police officer. Kalsi, who conducted the exhumation with assistance from police officers, could not confirm whether the remains were those of Ms Pauline Kagendo, 19, and her son Johnson Muriithi. Also present during the exhumation was Kagendos father, Mr Stanley Mugendi, who said the recovery of the bones gave them hope of establishing the truth. The deceaseds family had claimed they had information that the officer, Mr Edwin Mwenda, killed the two and dumped their bodies inside a pit latrine in his home. Mbeere North police boss Jane Sang said the discovery had breathed life into their case and they are only waiting for a report to see if to charge the policeman with murder. Ms Kagendo and her son disappeared after they were allegedly lured by the police officer on June 10, last year. On the said day, Kagendo is said to have left with her son for the officers home after the boy fell sick but they were never seen again. Kagendos mother, Ms Onorata Kanini, said the police officer had openly expressed irritation over her daughters calls every time their son was unwell. These articles and photo collections on SFGate.com and the premium SFChronicle.com got the most visits in the week ended Thursday at 10 a.m. SFChronicle.com 1. Pioneering San Francisco bartender Daniel Hyatt dies 2. Neo-Nazi running second to Feinstein in Senate poll in California 3. As Jed Lowrie gets warning for non-standard cleats color 4. If people are fleeing the Bay Area for cheaper housing, why is it still so costly? 5. Zodiac Killer case: DNA may offer hope of solving the mystery SFGate.com 1. Dramatic new video of Air Canada near miss at SFO 2. Man tries to take selfie with bear, gets mauled to death as friends watch 3. Kilauea update: Explosion sends massive plume of ash into the sky 4. Woman cited after urine explodes in 7-Eleven microwave 5. Forget tech, this might be the best profession in the San Francisco Bay Area Most popular searches 1. Golden State Killer 2. Hunters Point (toxic soil went to state landfills) 3. Ruby Rippey-Tourk (former city employee says affair with Newsom wasnt #MeToo movement) 4. Jolly Roger Telephone Co. (program lets customers patch telemarketing calls to robot) By Jessica Mullins, SFGate Senior Homepage Editor Nyali lawmaker Mohammed Ali has left Kenyans online somewhat confused and disappointed following his handshake with Deputy President William Ruto. According to Moha, the two leaders met this week and discussed a wide range of issues touching on the people of Nyali. The DP pledged to support my agenda of service to the people. I equally promised him my unequivocal support in backing the Governments Big Four Agenda and his efforts to bring forth a united Kenya, wrote Moha on Facebook. Mohas declaration stunned Kenyans as they could not believe that the once vocal government critic is now in support of the Jubilee government. Chisano Joaquim wrote: Huyu ni yule Moha who vehemently condemned grabbing of a school playground of Langata Primary school? Can you jog your memory on what you said at Jeff Koinanges show JKL live at then KTN about Ruto? Whats your say Moha about 700 % increment of MPs pension? Power can change a person. John Kamau stated: Karithi Evans commented, Odengo Evans said: This is a journo who hit them hard & called them names & unearthed their dirty deeds. Now he is busy dining with them. Infact he is them. Alfred Bemuloka Karisa commented, MohaaKumbuka nyani haoni kundulebali mpaka walioongozana huona la mwenzakepevuka kama jicho pevu mheshimiwa, ila ukivaa nguo zao wanyali watakuonyesha lako. Trevor Marc blasted, An incident involving a woman attempting to fly from Atlanta to Las Vegas caused an entire flight to deplane after she refused official requests leave the plane after causing a disturbance. In a now-viral Facebook Live video posted last week, Safira Allen claims she showed up to her flight's gate after the boarding time and the airline required her to pay a fee to board the plane late. Allen also claims the gate closed 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. "How you gonna close your airline early, make me miss my flight and tell me I gotta pay again?" Allen says in the video. "Once I pay, I get on the flight and they say, 'You caused a disturbance.'" The woman stated that she was asked to leave the plane after "cussing," to which she states, "I don't even cuss. I'm orthodox. So what are you saying?" RELATED: Passenger rejected for 'pungent' odor In the Facebook video, Allen can be heard dropping multiple expletives seconds before professing that she doesn't cuss. (WARNING: Graphic language) The May 1 video has amassed over 3.7 million views on Facebook, and Spirit Airlines has not commented publicly on the incident. RELATED: Plane passenger allegedly strangled people, called baby a 'slut' in mid-flight rampage During the video, Allen goes on a tirade against the airline, stating, "Y'all going to use Jesus' name, the Holy Spirit? That's got to change, y'all need to be called something else. Y'all need to change y'all name because nothing Holy Spirit about this airline." Later in the video, a uniformed officer confronts Allen, and Allen calls him a "terrorist." "I'm not getting off this plane to negotiate with no terrorists," Allen says. "Cause clearly, they're the terrorists. They're terrorizing me in my own country." After a while, a crew member can be heard telling the other passengers over the loudspeakers that all of them will have to deplane, because they need to "start the boarding process again." A few passengers can be heard yelling in protest after the announcement. As passengers exit, Allen continued to record and shouts "If I can't go to Las Vegas, Nevada, neither can y'all!" MORE: United pays passenger $10,000 to get off plane In the video, Allen yelled racial profanities at some of the passengers as they passed her. A passenger wearing an Oakland Raiders hat walked by, to whom Allen says "F- the Raiders, they ain't s-." ALSO: Plane passenger allegedly threw coffee at people, 'jumped on' air marshal's back The video ends with multiple security and police officers escorting Allen out of the plane. Allen later wrote a Facebook post apologizing to the other passengers, and stated that the Atlanta Police Department arrested her for trespassing. SFGATE has reached out to Allen for comment. This article will be updated when she replies. Spencer Platt / Getty Images GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas Friday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinian protesters threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached. One protester was killed and 146 were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. It was the seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old border blockade of Gaza, and a preview of what is expected to be a much larger border rally on Monday. On that day, protests are timed to coincide with the planned move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to establish a future capital. KINSHASA, Congo Ebola vaccines will be shipped as quickly as possible to Congo as the number of suspected cases in the latest outbreak grows, the head of the World Health Organization said Friday as the agency prepared for a worst-case scenario. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus in a Twitter post said the agreement was made in a phone call with Congos health minister on Thursday. PARIS Over the next two years, terrorism convicts will walk free from European prisons by the dozens more than 200 inmates who largely formed the first wave of jihadists streaming to Syria and Iraq, dreaming of an Islamic caliphate not yet established. In all, about 12,000 Europeans left to fight with the Islamic State and al Qaeda beginning in 2011; about a third of those are now believed to be back home, mostly living freely. Some are awaiting trial, but most never even faced serious charges due to insufficient evidence. And many more were thwarted from traveling to the war zone entirely, left to stew and, sometimes, plot at home. How much of a threat do these avowed extremists living throughout Europe pose, and how equipped are authorities to deal with them? The tactics thus far have been, at best, improvised. The impending releases of jihadist veterans could be considered a fourth wave of returnees, according to Rik Coolsaet, a scholar at Belgiums Egmont Institute who has done extensive researches on violent extremism. There are a number of personal frustrations and motivations that have pushed the kids in their journey to ISIS that we now have to address, Coolsaet said. If we dont address it now, the environment will remain as conducive for this kind of jihadist violence. France will be freeing 57 inmates about half its current population of terrorism convicts. In Britain, where nearly half of terrorism sentences are four years or less, 25 inmates are due for release fully three-quarters of those convicted under one of the countrys main terrorism statute as of mid-2017. In Belgium, 80 acknowledged foreign fighters already are free and as many as 44 others will be joining them. In Spain, 21 of 34 returning extremists already were free as of late last year. And in Bosnia and Kosovo, every single jailed foreign fighter will go free. And Europes actual number is undoubtedly higher because not every country releases its data most notably Germany, which had nearly 1,000 residents make jihadist trips but has not released any comprehensive figures on convictions or releases. Lori Hinnant is an Associated Press writer. PARIS Frances finance minister says European countries should push back harder against the Trump administration over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as vassals to the U.S. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran accord isnt a reason to dump decades of trans-Atlantic ties altogether. The back and forth Friday came as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in cities across the country to protest President Trumps decision this week to re-impose sanctions, arguing the 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions wasnt tough enough on Iran. The Iranian government said it will take whatever reciprocal measures it deems expedient if it is not fully compensated for the U.S. withdrawal as provided for in the accord. A lengthy Iran government statement issued Friday said the other parties to the agreement especially Britain, France and Germany must safeguard the accord, implement their commitments, and proceed from giving pledges to taking practical action without any preconditions. Indeed, European governments are scrambling for ways to save billions of dollars in trade that could collapse because of Trumps decision. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the worlds economic policeman. Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers? Le Maire asked. Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran? Merkel took a more measured tone. This is a serious event, we have to say that, but it is not a reason to call into question the entire trans-Atlantic partnership, she said Friday in the western German city of Muenster. She acknowledged that it is uncertain to what extent we can keep this (nuclear) agreement alive if a giant economic power doesnt join in. The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet early next week to discuss their next steps. As a result of the new U.S. sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk U.S. fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar U.S. companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt foreign companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran. JERUSALEM Israels defense minister Friday called on President Bashar Assad to get rid of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble. Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Israels attacks came under fabricated and baseless excuses. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the countrys sovereignty. Hard-line Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who has echoed comments by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who says Israel will not exist in 25 years, said the Jewish state could face destruction by challenging Iran. He threatened two Israeli cities Tel Aviv and Haifa with destruction if the country acts foolishly and retaliates against Iran again. Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes this week that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East. Guterres comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Irans attack on its positions in the Golan Heights, occupied and annexed by Israel. Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the occupied Golan Heights, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here, he said. Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assads forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages, Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. Ian Deitch and Sarah El Deeb are Associated Press writers. JAKARTA, Indonesia Dozens of Islamic militant prisoners who took over a police detention center near Indonesias capital and killed five officers surrendered to police Thursday, the countrys top security minister said. The riot erupted late Tuesday at the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade police in Depok, on Jakartas southern outskirts, where four days earlier authorities arrested three militants they accuse of planning to attack police. Most of the prisoners surrendered before dawn Thursday following an ultimatum from security personnel, said Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Wiranto, who goes by one name. About 10 inmates refused to give up but shortly were subdued when police fired smoke bombs and tear gas. He said those involved were detained terrorists. They committed cruelty by seizing weapons, holding hostages, torturing and even killing the officers in cruel and vile manners, beyond the limits of humanity, Wiranto said at a news conference. He said inmates had controlled about 30 guns and weapons they took from officers and a store room. Earlier, Deputy National Police Chief Muhammad Syafruddin said all 155 inmates were involved in the riot. He said they took nine officers hostage and killed five of them, while four others were tortured. The last hostage, a chief sergeant, was released just after midnight in exchange for food. One inmate was killed, police said. Syafruddin said the inmates would be moved to other penitentiaries, including the prison island of Nusa Kambangan off the southern coast of Java. Those provoking the riot were about 30 to 40 inmates from Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a network of Indonesian extremist groups that pledges allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 1 Militant leaders captured: The U.S.-led coalition says Iraqi forces in coordination with U.S.-backed Syrian forces have captured five senior Islamic State leaders. In a statement Thursday, coalition spokesman Army Col. Ryan Dillon called the arrest a significant blow to Daesh, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group. Islamic State fighters no longer control significant pockets of territory inside Iraq, but do maintain a grip inside Syria along Iraqs border. President Trump tweeted about the raid, saying those arrested were the five most wanted Islamic State leaders. None of the statements from the president or the coalition named the individuals. 2 Mass shooting: Seven people were found dead with gunshot wounds near the tourist town of Margaret River in Australias southwest on Friday in what could be the countrys worst mass shooting in 22 years, police said. The bodies of three adults and four children were found at a property at the village of Osmington, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. This could be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australias gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters saying Australia has not had a mass shooting since they were implemented. A matatu tout who was allegedly beaten to death for overcharging passengers in Mwiki did not succumb to injuries as earlier reported. Julius Kamau was allegedly beaten for charging passengers plying the Nairobi-Mwiki route Ksh.100 instead of the standard Ksh.80 fare on April 23. He was treated at the Kiambu Level Five hospital before his health deteriorated leading to his death. After a public outcry and a protest by his colleagues, two officials of the Mwiki Sacco Limited (MSL) were arrested in connection with the assault on Kamau and his subsequent death. John Kibe Nyagah and Geoffrey Ngamau were arrested when they presented themselves at the Central Police Station, Nairobi on Monday. The suspects were detained for two more days to enable the police to conclude investigations, and most importantly establish what caused Kamaus death. Yesterday, the Court was told that an autopsy report from the hospital showed that the deceased died of pneumonia and not due to assault by the accused. We pray that the suspects be released because we dont find anything incriminating them to the murder of the deceased, the court was told. The suspects were subsequently set free by the Judge. The Court, however, noted that police will continue with investigations into the incident and if found culpable, the two will be rearrested. MANILA The Philippines highest court Friday forced out its chief justice, removing a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal war against drugs, which has left thousands dead. Voting 8-6, the Supreme Court justices removed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, approving a petition filed by the governments lawyer that questioned the validity of her appointment on the ground that she had failed to fully disclose her wealth. Sereno has been a constant irritant to the increasingly autocratic rule of Duterte, questioning the validity of his list of public officials deemed to be drug suspects and opposing his declaration of martial law in the southern Philippines. Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a supporter of Sereno, said the court had surrendered its judicial independence and integrity by removing the chief justice. This is a black day for justice and the rule of law, Hontiveros said, accusing Duterte of subverting the constitution. The Supreme Court has fallen, and fallen hard, in the eyes of the public. Thousands of supporters gathered on the streets to protest what they called a blatant ploy by Duterte to wrest power from the judiciary and undermine the independence of the courts. We are now a heartbeat away from the death of our democracy, said Gio Tingson, a spokesman for the left-leaning group Akbayan, who joined the protest. The decision came before a planned impeachment vote against Sereno by the Duterte-controlled 292-member House of Representatives, which was expected to impeach the chief justice on corruption allegations that she has denied. Last month, Duterte called her an enemy and urged Congress to expedite her removal. I am putting you on notice that I am now your enemy, and you have to be out of the Supreme Court, Duterte said. Felipe Villamor is a New York Times writer. WASHINGTON The United States aspires to have North Korea as a close partner and not an enemy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, noting that the U.S. has often in history become good friends with former adversaries. Pompeo said he had told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of that hope during his brief visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, during which he finalized details of the upcoming June 12 summit between Kim and President Trump and secured the release of three Americans imprisoned in the country. He said his talks with Kim on Wednesday had been warm, constructive, and good and that he made clear that if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the U.S. is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living standards to levels like those in prosperous South Korea. We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that we have had between us, Pompeo told reporters at a news conference with South Koreas visiting foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea. He did not mention other adversaries by name, but Pompeo and others have often noted that the U.S. played a major role in rebuilding Japan and the European axis powers in the wake of the Second World War. With U.S. help, those countries recovered from the devastation of conflict. If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends, he said. Kang praised the upcoming meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore as an historic opportunity, but added a few notes of skepticism as well. Amid concerns that North Korea will demand the U.S. withdraw its troops from neighboring South Korea, Kang emphasized that the U.S. military presence there must be a matter for the U.S.-ROK alliance first and foremost, using an acronym for South Koreas official name, the Republic of Korea. She said the U.S. troop presence in the South for the past 65 years has played a crucial role for deterrence, peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Therefore, she said, any change in the size of the U.S. forces in the South Korea should not be on the table. John Lederman and Matthew Lee are Associated Press writers. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! An American private intelligence firm has identified an Australian company as being part of a network of businesses that could be used to break sanctions placed on North Korea to slow its nuclear weapons program. In March it was reported that a UN panel believed that the Sydney-based company Brigt Australia had brokered a $770,000 coal shipment from North Korea to Vietnam, falsely declaring the cargo had originated in Russia. But now a Washington, DC, private intelligence firm named Sayari Analytics has found ties between Brigt Australia and a network of companies that includes eight businesses based in China with ties to Chinese state-owned enterprises, and another based in Sydney, named Hartley Global Consulting. A spokesperson for the companies told Fairfax Media that neither Brigt Australia nor Hartley Global Consulting had any dealings with North Korea. The spokesperson said Brigt started as a real estate firm but has expanded into thoroughbred horse trading, while Hartley is only engaged in the horse trading business. According to the Sarayi Analytics report, commercial trade records further indicate that this corporate group has imported over $US450 million worth of agricultural products (specifically soybeans) from the United States since 2013. A few years ago when Canadas prime minister Justin Trudeau introduced his new gender-balanced Cabinet, he offered a simple explanation: "Because its 2015". How, then, could we explain Australia to him in 2018? Where we are apparently questioning whether having more gender balance in our boardrooms and businesses is even a desirable objective? Despite suggestions from some to the contrary, the advocacy of gender diversity is not the problem when it comes to good corporate governance in Australia. Of course, our business leaders and directors must be held accountable for the standards they set and the conduct of those they manage. Their shareholders and stakeholders should expect nothing less. Conservative governments and public broadcasters rarely get on well and Guthrie would have to be a miracle worker to please all MPs. However, breakdowns in communication about funding and lingering resentment over the ABCs political coverage have led some observers to question her approach to government relations one of the key competencies for any ABC boss. Loading In order to limit further damage, Guthrie must work quickly and quietly to restore favour with Canberra. The question is, how did it get to this point? When Guthrie joined ABC from Google, Malcolm Turnbull had been prime minister for eight months. A former communications minister from the moderate side of the Liberal Party, Turnbull should have been a relatively good fit for the ABC compared with his more conservative counterparts such as his predecessor Tony Abbott. Guthrie took over at the national broadcaster from former Fairfax Media editor Mark Scott who had a difficult time with Abbott who did not hold back when it came to his disdain for the ABC. He once described the public broadcasters asylum-seeker coverage and articles on Edward Snowden's leaks as unpatriotic and on everyones side but Australias. He later banned his frontbench from going on the panel show Q&A, describing it as a "leftie lynch mob". Former ABC managing director Mark Scott. Credit:Glenn Hunt Scott earned a good reputation for handling politicians during his 10 years at the ABC. When Labor was in power he employed staffers from the office of communications minister Stephen Conroy such as Sophie Mitchell in his corporate affairs department. When the Coalition took over he nabbed Sally Cray, a long-time Liberal staffer who now works as Turnbulls principle private secretary. Scott is regarded as something of a political animal and assiduously courted members of the economic review committee senior government ministers who sign off on spending decisions. Nevertheless, Scott did not emerge from the Abbott years unscathed. Even though he worked closely with Turnbull who was communications minister at the time on a spending review headed by former Seven executive Peter Lewis, he suffered a $254 million funding cut. About 400 employees lost their jobs. By 2015, Scott was defending the ABCs role as a public broadcaster, not a state broadcaster. How things had changed. Just a few years earlier, with Kevin Rudd as PM, Scott had secured a record funding boost to increase Australian content and develop a digital childrens channel. Turnbull adopted a different attitude to Abbott during this period, publicly describing the broadcaster as having a more important role than ever before. This was taken as a sign by many that the former journalist was an ABC supporter. Abbott in particular wanted big cuts and Malcolm [as communications minister] tried quite hard to protect the ABC in 2014, or limit the cuts, even though the final cut was a good deal more than he wanted, a source said. Turnbulls performance under Abbott made the ABC optimistic he would be more supportive as PM. These hopes were bolstered in 2017, when former Telstra executive Justin Milne became chairman of the public broadcaster. A long-term friend of Turnbull, Milne was expected to help although he said at the time his friendship would have zero impact. The events of recent months suggest this optimism was misplaced. Guthries reputation in conservative circles is very different to that of Scott. One associate says she is more commercial than editorial and lacks Scotts political instincts. Indeed, Guthrie irritated some senators during her first senate estimates in Canberra after she booked a flight back to Sydney an hour and a half after the hearing began. Government sources say a bigger problem than any suspicion of bias is a lack of transparency about overall strategy and expenditure. Even though she employed Josh Faulks former government deputy chief of staff for attorney-general George Brandis in her corporate affairs team, conservatives complain she is not in regular contact with senior members of cabinet. ABC sources disagree with this characterisation, saying she has spent plenty of time there and has weekly calls with the government. Sources close to the government say frustration over the ABC has nothing to do with feelings within conservatives ranks that the broadcasters coverage favours the left of politics. They argue decisions over the budgets cuts which represents around 2.5 per cent of the ABCs annual budget are in line with cost efficiencies that other media outlets and the public service have endured. Government sources say a bigger problem than any suspicion of left-wing bias is a concern about the lack of transparency from the ABC about the overall strategy and expenditure. ABC insiders have very different perspective. They believe the broadcaster has been used as a bargaining chip with Turnbull hoping to keep the right-wing happy with an election looming. Indeed, a Senate inquiry into ABC, which recommended the parliament pass a bill enshrining fair and balanced coverage, was done partly at the behest of One Nations Pauline Hanson, a vocal critic of the ABC who controls critical votes in the upper house. Loading There were early signs of tension in 2016, when Turnbull criticised the ABCs coverage of the National Broadband Network as lacking balance. But he ramped up his critique another notch in February when ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici wrote an analysis heavily criticising the governments plan to cut the corporate tax rate. Turnbulls office complained directly to the ABC and the PM slammed the piece in parliament as one of the most confused and poorly researched articles Ive seen on this topic on the ABCs website. The article was removed, and an internal check of the article found several errors. Internally, ABC employees were appalled by Turnbulls intervention and see the government as more likely to pursue editorial issues more aggressively. More recently, a complaint about a segment on Abbott by ABC political editor Andrew Probyn was deemed judgmental and declarative by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for calling the former PM "the most destructive politician of his generation". There is no doubt conservatives have an emotional reaction to ABC coverage. But even some insiders think the Aunty has created a rod for its own back. Guthrie has done a lot on diversity, says one former staffer who accused the newsroom of suffering from group-think. There are lots of people from different backgrounds. But thats ethnic diversity there is not intellectual diversity. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield. Credit:AAP For his part, Fifield is seen by some staff as anti-ABC. Particularly because he is a member of the Institute of Public Affairs, a think tank that has recommended the public broadcaster be broken up and privatised comments Fifield has distanced himself from. Theres no suggestion he agrees with this perspective. Because publicity stunts are vital for a Kenyan artiste to thrive in the industry, musician Otile Brown and socialite Vera Sidika have teamed up to sell everyone a fake relationship for their benefit. Their brilliant PR stunt is working as evidenced by a ton of tabloid coverage and lots of social media chatter. Just months into their relationship, Otiles financial muscle has been questioned owing to Veras extravagant lifestyle. However, Otile is not one bit worried and says Vera is in love with him and not what he can offer financially. Speaking during an interview with a local TV station, the Kistaarabu hitmaker revealed that Vera is rich enough to provide for herself. According to Bad Man Shivo, Vera could be richer than some politicians. Vera Sidika is a rich woman. She is, probably, doing much better (financially) than some of the politicians that I know. She has her money. I have my money. I am one of the most sought after artistes in Kenya currently. Despite that, Ms Sidika knows that she is getting into a relationship with a hustler. She also hustled hard to be where she is today. So, she knows that our relationship wont be founded on luxury and such like things, said Otile on Thursday. On matters getting married, Otile was non-committal saying that they are still young. She is my lover. Of wedding plans? Not soon. Were still young, and I believe we should enjoy life to the fullest before choosing to settle down. Currently, we are working on building a solid foundation in our relationship, said Otile. On his song Chaguo La Moyo- with Sanaipei Tande being deleted from YouTube, Otile said: I think she is not happy with my breakthrough in music. That malicious person has used that name (Janet Kipsang) to hoodwink my fans. I think she is engaging in a meaningless ploy because the song has already served its purpose, anyway; it is so big that when I take the stage, fans effortlessly sing along to it. I dont think that she will succeed in bringing me down. He hopes the song will be back on YouTube next week. My legal team has reached out to the said Janet Kipsang and asked her to provide original work of the disputed video. They have also written a protest note to YouTube, he said, adding: My video should be restored to YouTube between ten and 12 days from May 9, should the said Janet fail to give proof that I illegally uploaded her content to the videos platform. Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne asked why Akopiantz had not departed at the same time as Brenner - a move that he suggested may have saved the other two women, and staved off "having this whole debate about gender". Indeed, corporate leaders and gender diversity advocates, some of whom have been steadily slogging away on the issue for more than a decade, are questioning why the failings of one specific board, heading a company facing very specific circumstances, have - in the words former Macquarie Bank and Origin Energy chairman Kevin McCann - sparked an "avalanche" of negativity about "the quality of women on boards". Former Macquarie chairman Kevin McCann. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Elizabeth Proust, the chairman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, noted that AMP has had a series of headline-grabbing issues and personnel changes over the years (the departures of chief Paul Batchelor and chair Stan Wallis in 2002 and 2003 spring to mind). "[They weren't] seen through a gender lens," she says. At the AMP AGM, acting chairman Mike Wilkins played the "gender versus ability" question with the straightest of bats. "The good news is I think you can have both," he said. "We want the best contributors we can get, however I think that gender fits with that. It is important to recognise gender diversity also promotes that difference of thinking as well." AMP executive chairman Mike Wilkins at the company's AGM Credit:Eddie Jim Brenner factor In the leadup to her departure, Brenner - a former director of finance for ABN AMRO - was criticised by some as lacking the senior corporate experience required to run the board of a major and complex financial institution like AMP. Fair cop - though there are plenty of male directors who never served as ASX200 chief executives, their backgrounds instead in law, accounting, the public service or elsewhere. Not to mention the many male "rising stars" whose questioningly rapid ascensions were not blamed on gender bias. Loading But then came reporting that touched on how much time Brenner spent with her children. And there were the suggestions - in the media, on social media, and in what several people described as "mutterings" about town - that the cascade of female board departures at AMP somehow reflected on corporate diversity and the female director population more generally - that some, many or all of the 285 female directors on ASX200 boards had been gifted their gigs undeservedly. One column even appeared to blame the Commonwealth Bank's Storm Financial imbroglio, dating back to 2009, on the "female leadership" of its current chairman Catherine Livingstone, despite noting that she only joined the board in 2016. Lost in the debate was the outperforming companies with a high proportion of women on their boards - the likes of Medibank Private, with a female chair and five of nine of its directors female, Mirvac Group, with four of eight directors female, and Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, which has a majority of female directors on its nine-person board. Medibank's board has a majority of women. Credit:Arsineh Houspian The list of male-helmed corporate failures and scandals is also skated over despite a long and diverse rollcall. Such a list would include the likes of HIH Insurance and GFC-era debacles like Timbercorp, Great Southern, MFS Financial and Allco Finance, whose boards and upper executive ranks were exclusively or greatly dominated by men. One could reach further back into history, to the golden age of boardroom blokiness - to Bond Corporation or Qintex. More recently, the genders of the chief executives and chairmen of Myer Holdings and Fletcher Building - both of which have posted downgrades and suffered shareprice dives - have passed unremarked, as were the genders of the chairman and managing director of Wesfarmers when it announced write-downs of more than a billion dollars of its UK retail asset Homebase. Myer's new CEO, John King with executive chairman Garry Hounsell Nobody asked whether the genders of the male chief executive and male chairman of handbags and accessories retailer Oroton Group played a part in that company's plunge into administration late last year. Likewise the male chief executive and chairman at electronics retailer Dick Smith Holdings, which fell over in 2016. Management ranks Central to the debate is the issue of gender targets in corporate Australia. As Akopiantz sat on the stage on Thursday, alone among the men, it almost seemed like 2009 all over again - a year in which the proportion of women on ASX200 boards sat at a paltry 8.7 per cent. Back then, the lone woman was the exception - because most ASX200 boards had none at all. But 2009 ended up being the year that the concept of voluntary gender targets went mainstream, as the intractable nature of the lack of diversity on boards became clear. That year, both the ASX's Corporate Governance Council and the AICD called on companies to set voluntary gender targets. Things ramped up in 2015, when both the AICD and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors set a target of 30 per cent of ASX200 board seats by 2018. That number sat at 27.1 per cent at the end of March. In the first three months of the year, 29 women were appointed to ASX200 boards - more women than men for the first time. When I employ someone it's got to be someone I trust. That's why I employ men. Blokes trust blokes. Quote from an academic study Last week, the Australian Securities Exchange released its planned update of its influential corporate governance principles, which included a 30 per cent gender target proposal for directors on ASX300 boards. Pre-2009, targets (let alone quotas) had been long dismissed as a tokenistic and even insulting gesture, rejected by corporate men and women alike. Surely, the argument went, if women were good enough, they will eventually get into these positions? It's all about merit, after all. The problem was that they didn't - not because they lacked merit, but due to other factors, research showed. One academic paper from the late noughties surveyed male leaders and contained some enlightening anonymous quotes, such as: ''When I employ someone it's got to be someone I trust. That's why I employ men. Blokes trust blokes.'' A report by consultant Egon Zehnder International that same year uncovered what it described as systemic bias against female directors. Gender targets - as opposed to legislated quotas - were designed to overcome that systemic and often unconscious bias; to actually reinforce the idea of merit-based appointments. Deloitte Australia chairman Tom Imbesi says that - rather than resulting in short-sighted or inappropriate hirings - targets had prompted boards to more carefully think about appointments. It had also contributed to a rethink of workplace policies more broadly - in areas such as flexibility, childcare, maternity leave and return-to-work arrangements - to improve retention of female talent. "That's where we have lost sight of the benefits these targets have provided to organisations - that broader thinking," Imbesi says. Reserve Bank board member Kathryn Fagg, also a Boral and Incitec Pivot director who has held senior roles in banking, resources and logistics, points out that in corporate life pretty much everything has a target against it. "Having been in business a long time, if we ever want to bring about change and achieve results, we always set targets," says Fagg, president of Chief Executive Women. "Tracking targets is what you do - it doesn't matter what you are looking at. It's one of the key tools in the kit." ACSI, which has been pushing the issue of gender diversity for many years, interacts closely with boards and directors - its representatives held 226 meetings with 156 listed companies last year, placing it in prime position to judge the quality of directors - male and female - in corporate Australia. More is needed, says ACSI's Louise Davidson. Credit:Josh Robenstone "I would dispute that there are not women qualified to be on boards, and I would dispute that they are being promoted too fast to boards," says its chief executive, Louise Davidson. Former Macquarie chairman Kevin McCann, who is, like Imbesi, a member of the Male Champions of Change group that backs gender diversity, says he has heard complaints from men that they are finding it harder to get board seats now - and blaming "unqualified women" for taking the jobs. But, crucially, he argues that any board that appointed an inappropriate candidate risked breaching their legally-imposed duties as directors, which require them to act in good faith and in the best interests of the company. "I would rebut the argument that that unqualified women are being appointed to boards - to do that would be a breach of your fiduciary duties." Case for change Proust, among others, has long pushed the business case for diversity, ahead of arguments about fairness. Oft-cited McKinsey research has found that companies with more gender diversity in executive ranks are more likely to post above-average profitability than the least diverse. The numbers step up again when cultural diversity is added to the list. But a paper last year from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which examined a series of academic studies, concluded that companies did not actually perform better with women on their boards. Nor, however, did they perform worse. Recruiter Sara Molander was one of many Sydneysiders rudely awoken on Friday morning by the sudden cold snap. The city's run of record warmth has kept her from buying a heater, but as temperatures are expected to hit lows of 12 and 13 degrees over the weekend, she'll be rushing in to get her hands on one. Sara Molander regrets putting off buying a heater. Credit:Facebook "It was difficult to get out of bed this morning, I can tell you that much. I ran into a hot shower," the 35-year-old from Bondi said. "I was offered to buy a heater off a friend of a friend who was moving back in March, but at that time it was so warm, I said no. I was stupid: I should have bought it." Although the concept is little known, businesses in this niche say its only going to get busier. From organising Pinterest-worthy baby showers to researching the best value prams, maternity concierges aim to take the load off time-poor pregnant women and mums. Maternity concierges have emerged as the latest new mum must-have as outsourcing businesses for busy parents continue to flourish. Were seeing large growth, explains Natalie Kilburn, founder of Sydneys Belle Vie Concierge. Last year turnover was just under the $160,000 mark and we're projected this year to be just under $200,000. It's a real booming industry at the moment. Kilburn started her concierge business in 2015 and a year later, added maternity concierge services to her offering. It started when she began helping a friend whose husband was in the military and often away from home. They had a newborn and she was from the UK, and she didn't have a support network around her, Kilburn explains. I ended up gifting her my time to help with things at home. There are a lot of mums and women in the same position. And that's where the idea came from. Business surged once Kilburn began advertising at a private maternity hospital. She estimates 40 per cent of her work is performed for her clients before they have their babies and 60 per cent after babies arrive. The work includes decluttering, preparing nurseries and researching baby products. When facilitating a leadership workshop recently, one of the participants shared that hed emailed his employees with a new process they were required to follow. After a couple of weeks, he was shocked to discover they were still doing it the old way. So what did he do? He sent them another email. And was very quickly surprised, yet again, to find they were still following the old process. (Perhaps the use of email was the problem.) How do you get staff to do what you want? Its a prime example of managers struggling to get their staff to comply with simple instructions. Often they blame their employees: They dont read emails, they dont listen, they dont care that kind of thing. But according to research conducted by the University of Western Australia, due to be published next month, it looks like its not the employees fault but the managers. Before we get to that, its easy to understand why people sometimes disobey procedures intentionally. Occasionally, its because theyre pressured to cut corners. At other times, they may disagree with the spirit of the procedure the effort demanded, the time consumed, the lack of potential effectiveness. And every now and again, they just dont want to, maybe out of stubbornness or spite. Locked away on Tuesday in Canberra's Parliament House, studying dry piles of budget papers, I sought escape in thoughts of how modern taxation and the ruination of war are so locked together. This is not quite as bizarre as it might sound. Visitors at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux last month. Credit:AAP I had returned only two days previously from wandering Flanders in Belgium and the Somme Valley in northern France, where Australian taxes are being used to splice together a 150-kilometre Australian Remembrance Trail for walkers and cyclists visiting old battlefields on the Western Front, as it was known 100 years ago. The most hideous place on Earth then, its now a silent, often lovely landscape of waving green fields interspersed with crops of golden canola, freshly ploughed chocolate soil and cemeteries. The price of Brent crude oil could jump as high as $US100 a barrel next year as sanctions on Iran shrink inventories, analysts warn. Bank of America Merril Lynch analysts said the Brent crude price was likely to reach $US90 by mid-2019. If OPEC and Russia kept in place their existing oil production cuts for 2018 and beyond, the price could even rise to $US100 before the end of next year, they said. President Donald Trump shows a signed memorandum confirming the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Credit:AP "We introduce a second-quarter $US90 a barrel Brent price target for 2019 and see a risk of $US100 a barrel oil next year, although we are concerned that these market dynamics could unfold over a shorter timeframe," BoA strategist Franciso Blanch said. It follows a decision by US President Donald Trump to dump a nuclear agreement with Iran and reinstate the highest level of economic sanctions on Iranian oil, potentially pulling almost 1 million barrels of oil a day from the global market. Colleen McCullough's widower is accused of manipulating his ill wife to secure her fortune, according to court documents filed in the NSW Supreme Court. A will, effectively revoking an earlier bequest to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, was signed by McCullough at her home 12 days before she died in a Norfolk Island hospital from a series of strokes. But the late author's friend and executor, Selwa Anthony, the plaintiff in a legal battle to be heard over five days by the court from May 22, has challenged the will's validity claiming it was signed by McCullough in "suspicious circumstances". McCullough was "substantially bedridden", unable to make or receive phone calls, had advanced macular degeneration, which caused "severe vision impairment" and was "not capable of reading the document" she allegedly signed, Ms Anthony said in pleadings filed to the court. In them, Ms Anthony accuses Mr Robinson of taking advantage of his late wife's "poor health, isolation, fatigue and dependence of the deceased, so as to dominate, overbear and overburden her". DZ Deathrays Metro Theatre, May 9 Brisbane's DZ Deathrays - if you hadn't figured it out from the name - are not the kind of band you put on in the background as you do the washing-up or indeed listen to while curled up on the couch with a book. DZ Deathrays' Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley. Credit:Matt Warrell In fact, listening to any of their three albums on speakers or headphones is to miss the point. The best nay, only way to capture the full essence of the band is with crushed beer cans underfoot and a headbanging stranger's hair whipping you in the face while the forceful music massages your internal organs via a towering PA system. Before the trio of Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar), Simon Ridley (drums) and newest member Lachlan Ewbank (guitar) even take to the stage at a heaving, body-heated Metro Theatre, the rowdy crowd are practically moshing in anticipation of DZ's brand of party-punk-rock. The European Broadcasting Union has torn up its contract with a leading Chinese broadcaster which held the rights to air this year's Eurovision Song Contest. The dramatic move by the EBU followed the Chinese broadcaster's decision to censor two performances in the competition's first semi-final earlier this week. The first was Mall, performed by Albania's Eugent Bushpepa, which featured performers with tattoos. Chinese television has restrictions over the display and prominence of tattoos. The second was Together, performed by Ireland's Ryan O'Shaughnessy, which is a love song about a same-sex relationship; the stage performance also features two male dancers. This week's federal budget offers an unsurprising leg-up to wealthy Australians, arriving just days after Finance Minister Mathias Cormann argued that in order to ensure that Australians are incentivised and encouraged to work hard ... there's got to be an appropriate reward for effort. This means that by 2024 those earning $41,000 a year will be paying the same tax rate as someone earning $200,000. What's currently being sold to the public as a flattening of the tax system has business groups excited, and social-service groups dismayed at what's to come for Australias most marginalised. Homelessness rose by 14 per cent between 2011 and 2016. Credit:Stocksy With homelessness rising to alarming levels by 14 per cent between 2011 and 2016 the government's apparent abandonment of those most in need for the benefit of the wealthy is disheartening. In response to federal budget revelations in which homelessness and housing funding slides to just $1.54 million, the lowest it's been in 10 years, Homelessness Australia described the federal spending decline as short-sighted and heartless. President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday talked strongly against corruption saying the vice has the potential to both undermine his Big Four agenda and completely destroy the country. He said time was up for those engaging in the vice and warned they will face justice. The President spoke at the 8th Presidential Round Table Forum today at State House, which brought together both government and partners from the private alliance under the umbrella of KEPSA (Kenya Private Sector Alliance) We must address the real elephant in the room. We must say enough is enough for the country to move forward, said President Kenyatta while making his remarks at the forum. He called for a multi-sectoral approach to deal with corruption incorporating the private and public sectors as well as the judiciary and the legislature. Time for politicking is behind us. We must clean and move the country forward, he said. He added: I have had an opportunity to work with wonderful and dedicated men and women full of integrity. But some are not prepared to change. He said it was time for Kenyans to be blunt and honest with one another especially when things go wrong. We are all to blame. But we must now say enough is enough and move forward, said the President. He also appointed Deputy Head of Public Service Wanyama Musiambu to lead efforts towards the eradication of corruption and illicit trade, counterfeits, fake business stickers, dumping and entry of fake goods through all ports of entry mainly through the port of Mombasa. Currently illicit trade results to loss of KSH 200 billion revenue annually. The President said the amount lost can finance some projects under the Big Four. Additionally, the President said the private sector and the government need to join hands to come up with practical solutions geared at increasing the countrys manufacturing base so as to create jobs for the youth. During the meeting, the President was briefed on what measures have been taken by the private sector under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to create opportunities for economic growth. The meeting extensively discussed concerted efforts by both government and the private sector in achieving the key milestones and targets of the Big Four pillars of manufacturing, food security, affordable housing and universal healthcare. London: Politicians spend their waking moments trying to please people; rarely do they succeed but London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has Jamie Oliver elated. "It's a big day for all the sort of stuff you've heard me rant about for fifteen years," says the childhood obesity campaigner speaking to Fairfax Media from Jamie Oliver headquarters in north London. Jamie Oliver thinks Australia should follow London's junk food ad ban. Credit:Simon Schluter On Friday, Khan announced a policy aimed at easing the pressure parents face from their children to buy them junk food. "In the future, you won't be be able to advertise foods high in fat, high in sugar and high in salt on the tubes, on the trams, on the buses and on the London overground," the Labour Mayor said. Experiencing nature makes you feel good no big surprises there. Poets have been rhapsodising about the pleasures of getting outside since forever, from Rumi to Wordsworth and his daffodils. Modern medicine emphasises the benefits of exercise for both mind and body: not only does a walk in the park make you feel good, but a walk in the park is also good for you. But the benefits of spending time outside extend beyond fitness and fresh air. Recent research has started to untangle the way it works. A little nature goes a long way Time spent in nature reduces inflammation, and improves mental health: it is not only good for your soul, it's good for your microbes. Whats more, you dont even have to step outside. One study found lower levels of stress hormones in people who looked at a forest scene than in those who spent the time looking at a blank wall (bad paint job?), while another showed students calmed down faster when they listened to a recording of birds singing and splashing fountains. Some of the worst carnage was inflicted on the night of May 28 during the second assault on Fire Support and Patrol Base Balmoral (FSPB) by thousands of North Vietnamese troops advancing in human waves. The attacks were repulsed by the men of 3 RAR who had aerial, artillery and armoured unit support. On the morning after the attack on Balmoral on May 28 there were 42 enemy dead on the wire in front of 2nd Lieutenant Mark Johnss platoon, General Phillips said. We rounded them up and buried them in a bomb crater. In subsequent days patrols went out and they found a lot of other wounded and damaged Vietnamese soldiers. I couldnt get over the fact these were youngsters who had been thrown into battle with very little experience. Major Geoff F. Cohen and Corporal D. F. Butler, both members of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), dress the wounds of a North Vietnamese soldier. Credit:AWM We saw them wasted on a political exercise just to give some strength to the North Vietnamese hand at the Paris peace talks. Over almost four weeks of fighting the Australians had come to respect their enemies who, far from being faceless, were not afraid to stand and fight. We didnt hate the guys; it wasnt like the war against the Japs. These were an honorable enemy even if they were a bit politically misguided, Major Phillips said. My abiding memory is of our fellows picking the maggots out of the wounds of these guys that we found and binding them up. National Service platoon commander, 2nd Lieutenant Norm Peatling, was present when one of the wounded NVA soldiers was found. We did a sweep the morning after the attack, he said. We were with either a Centurion or the Armoured Recovery Vehicle when we found an NVA guy sitting in a pit. His heel had been blown off (sometime before) and the maggots were into his flesh. The young North Vietnamese conscript did not display either pain or fear. He didnt whimper; he didnt say anything, Mr Peatling said. We put him on the vehicle and he was taken back to the base for treatment while we pressed on with the patrol. All the wounded that I saw (after the battle) received the appropriate level of respect and care. Major General Peter Phillips (Ret) was the commander of D Company, 3 RAR, during the battle of Coral Balmoral. He is pictured with an iconic image of a digger in New Guinea by Ivor Hele. Credit:Elese Kurtz While the NVA troops had no air support or armour they were very well armed by the standards of the day. Have no doubt that the NVA were very well equipped, courageous and professional soldiers, Mr Peatling said. They used RPG 2s, RPG 7s (rocket propelled grenade launchers), 60mm and 80mm mortars, grenades, Bangalore torpedoes, heavy and light machine guns as well as the usual AK47s and a variety of other small arms. The RPGs and the 57mm recoilless rifles used by some of the soldiers could pose a serious threat to the Centurions. General Phillips was not the only Australian moved by the waste of young lives. One of our National Servicemen, a fellow called Brian Cleaver, I think he was in Mark Johns platoon, gave up his retirement to try and find the 42 enemy dead we buried in the bloody bomb crater, he said. He never successfully found them. That was hardly surprising given the fire power the Australians had assembled. At the time of the second assault on Balmoral on May 28, 1968, 3 RAR could call down fire from the heavens from Spooky Douglas C-47 aircraft equipped with rapid-firing General Electric miniguns and F-4 Phantom fighter bombers. The well dug in infantry were directly supported by 105mm howitzers, 155mm howitzers from a U.S. Artillery battery, heavy machine guns and a troop of four of the 10 Centurion tanks called up to FSB Coral at the request of acting task force commander and future South Australian Governor, Donald Beaumont Dunstan. The tanks and the howitzers engaged the assaulting waves of NVA with deadly splintex anti-personnel rounds at point-blank range. The effects of the aerial and artillery bombardment on the advancing Vietnamese was devastating. A memory that will never leave me is that of taking a clearing patrol the morning after the last attack at Balmoral (May 29) and witnessing the twisted and grotesque bodies of the enemy dead, with ample evidence of human body parts everywhere, an unforgettable and horrific scene, Mr Peatling said. It was little wonder that when Brian Cleaver returned many years later only one complete set of remains could be found in the burial crater. Coral and Balmoral were the names of two Australian Fire Support and Patrol Bases (FSPBs) set up in a zone referred to by the Americans as the catchers mitt. They, along with FSPB Coogee, had been established as part of Operation Toan Thang, the US-led response to the communist Second General Offensive or Mini Tet. The Americans lost 652 killed and 2225 wounded during just one week of repelling the attack on Saigon; their worst seven days of the war. The North Vietnamese are believed to have lost about 7600 killed during the campaign and its aftermath. Twenty-six Australians were killed and 99 were wounded during the operations around Coral and Balmoral. While the known North Vietnamese and Viet Cong losses were 276 killed, nine wounded and 11 captured, Australian War Memorial Military History head, Ashley Ekins, believes they would have been higher. The Vietnamese used to carry the bodies of their dead off the battlefield to conceal their losses. Many men went into action with straps around their legs so they could be dragged away. The Vietnamese rarely acknowledged the scale of their own losses and vastly exaggerated ours in their propaganda, Mr Ekins said. Their records are often unreliable in that they are still trapped by the propaganda statements they made at the time. You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh in a warning to French colonialists in 1946. The Australians, drawn from 1 Battalion and 3 Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment; A Squadron, 3 Cavalry Regiment; C Squadron, 1 Armoured Regiment and 12 Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery were part of a joint Australian-New Zealand force. The New Zealanders were the gunners of 161 Field Battery of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. The catchers mitt was the principal infiltration route used by North Vietnamese Army forces en route to Saigon. Vietnamese forces had entered the southern capital in strength as part of Mini Tet only a week before the Australians established FSPB Coral on May 12, shelling the city and threatening to launch 100 rockets a day for 100 days. Today you would call it 'terror warfare, Mr Ekins said. The attacks were intended to strengthen their hand at the Paris peace talks that had formally commenced on May 12, 1968. In the perverse dialectic that now bound Hanoi and Washington, 'peace meant ratcheting up the slaughter the few old men in Hanoi had to show they meant what they said, journalist and historian Peter Ham wrote in Vietnam: The Australian War. They were quite prepared to toss a generation of Vietnamese boys and girls at southern cities in order to entrench their psychological advantage at Paris. General Phillips remembers the first 24 hours at FSB Coral as a confused shambles that almost saw the Australian position overrun during the attack that began at about 3.30am on May 13. Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam: Blindfolded North Vietnamese soldiers captured on May 28, 1968, await helicopters to take them from the battle area. Credit:AWM In an ideal world a fire support patrol base was, according to The Nashos War author, Mark Dapin, a fortress without walls, an artillery battery in a circle pocked with gun pits and ringed with barbed wire and Claymore mines. Coral fell far short of this mark initially. The Australians, handicapped by poor preliminary reconnaissance, a lack of intelligence on the scale of the enemy presence, and a late arrival at the site, did not have time to set up their full defensive perimeter before the enemy attacked in battalion strength. Lieutenant Tony Jensen, the second in command of 1 RARs Mortar Platoon, found his small force was facing almost certain annihilation when he made the desperate decision to call fire from the anti-tank platoons 90mm recoilless rifles down onto his own position. Stay down, Splintex coming in, he ordered as thousands of deadly anti-personnel flechettes swept above the Australian firing pits and shell scrapes before wreaking havoc on the advancing NVA troops. A howitzer belonging to 102 Field battery was briefly captured by the enemy and then reclaimed during fierce hand-to-hand fighting and by 4.30am the main NVA attack was beginning to falter. The aerial cavalry, in the form of helicopter gunships, a circling C-47 Spooky aircraft which lit up the field of battle with flares before raking the enemy positions with devastating fire from its deadly mini-guns and F-4 Phantoms, had made all the difference. In his official history account, the Australian War Memorials Ashley Ekins records the last enemy soldier was found and killed in the Number 6 gun emplacement shortly after 6.10am. A welcome sight to infantry and gunners in the fire support bases at "Coral" and "Balmoral", in north-west Bien Hoa Province was the arrival of Australian Centurion tanks. Credit:Australian War Memorial Image The Australians had lost 11 men. Another 28 were wounded. Six of the dead were Regular Army and five were National Servicemen, a distinction General Phillips said made no difference in the heat of battle or even during ordinary service. Operations continued in the area for almost four weeks as the Australians fought some of their largest and most sustained battles of the Vietnam War, Mr Ekins said. In further actions around Coral, and the nearby Fire Support Base Balmoral, they accounted for over 300 enemy soldiers killed. 26 Australians died and over 100 were wounded. The outcome could have been very different. Every indication was that the Australians would be overrun that first night, Mr Ekins said. I believe it was an attempt by the NVA at an annihilation ambush. Their own losses didnt matter to them. They wanted to overrun and destroy the base at any cost. There is no public opinion in a totalitarian state. It was only the Australian soldiers training, their bravery - the men did not buckle under the most extreme circumstances, some very determined leadership and a degree of luck that saved Coral and the Australians on May 12 and 13. While that first night was, as Wellington said of Waterloo, the nearest run thing you ever saw, once the Australians were established in the catcher's mitt the end was inevitable given their superior training, equipment and sheer firepower. While Coral-Balmoral was a complete success for the Australians who had been sent into harms way to draw out NVA troops returning from Saigon and reinforcements heading south, winning the battle was a far cry from winning the war. Through their willingness to sacrifice thousands of lives in human wave attacks during Tet and Mini Tet the North Vietnamese were able to inflict a level of casualties that made American and Australian voters sit up and take notice and brought grief to families on the home front. Its just a pity mine isnt thick enough to soak up my sweat as we continue to trudge up Gulaga. Somewhat ironically, the more you walk in silence, the more you actually hear. Each footstep as it hits the ground combined with the sound of your own breathing creates a mediative rhythm. You are also much more in tune with the environment and notice small changes in your surroundings, whether it be a change of temperature in a wet gully or a breath of wind kissing your cheek. Much to the relief of my girls (and their puffing dad), after five kilometres the track eventually reaches a small plateau. Most bushwalkers use this as a resting spot before tackling the last steep section to the summit. But not us. Incredibly, in almost 200 times walking on Gulaga, Harrison reveals he has never been to the summit, adding Ive never had any reason to be there. We are going that way, points Harrison in completely the opposite direction where a non-descript path leads into thick scrub. Through there is the sacred part of Gulaga, thats why we are here, he announces, almost in a hushed tone. Its rare, often taboo, for an indigenous person to share a sacred spot with non-indigenous people so its not surprising there was much debate among Yuin elders before Harrison was given permission to take people here on his tours. Our motto is give it away to keep it, explains Harrison. By sharing our culture and generational knowledge, we want to show that traditional Aboriginal culture is well and truly alive on the south coast of Australia. So, after once last sip from our water bottles (no drinking or eating allowed in the sacred area) and with a strong sense of privilege, we follow Harrison down the secret track. Not far along the track, the bush opens up to reveal a ridgeline spectacularly punctuated with a series of prominent tors that form a straight line for several hundred metres. Wow. The scene is breathtaking. Harrison says each tor is a different chapter in the creation story for the people of the Yuin Nation. We first stop at a creation rock where Harrison reveals,Daramah, the Great Spirit, created the heavens and the earth and all nature, including two people, first a woman, Ngardi, and a man, Tunku. Sure enough, either side of the creation rock are two distinct boulders, one masculine and one of feminine appearance. According to Yuin elders, Daramah then gave Ngardi and Tunku two gifts a rock and a tree which symbolise everything needed for survival. And yes, just a stones throw away is an ancient tree and a distinctive boulder supporting each other. The Rainbow Serpent, one of several sacred rocks on Gulaga Mountain. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man Every few steps reveals yet another chapter of the Yuin Nation Creation story, each illustrated by more and more rocks resembling the central characters; from pregnant women, children, to totem figures such as a shark, dugong and breaching whale. Poignantly, theres also a rock resembling a rainbow serpent, a central figure in the creation story for all Aboriginal tribes. Here it went underground and created all the rivers, coming back up to look at his work, explains Harrison, pointing in the direction of a serpent-shaped tor. About half-way along the ridgeline are three different sized rocks stacked on top of the other. According to Harrison, the small one on the bottom represents the past, the top one pointing to the heavens is the future, but the biggest rock is in the middle and represents the present.Think about it, many of us dwell in the past or worry about the future, here we learn that nothing is more important than living the present, says Harrison. Sage advice indeed. This rocky outcrop is also a special spot for Harrisons grandfather and teacher, Yuin elder Max Dulumunmun Harrison or Uncle Max as he is widely known. In his book, My Peoples Dreaming: An Aboriginal Elder speaks on life, land, spirit and forgiveness (2013, HarperCollins), Uncle Max states, These rocks are one of the most valuable things about Gulaga to me. When I am in trouble in my mind, body or spirit, my mind goes straight to these rocks. They show me where I come from, where I am now and where I am going to in the spirit world. Near the end of the long line of rocks, we clamber up a boulder big enough for us all to sit on. Thats exactly where the 14th Dalai Lama sat when Uncle Max brought him here a few years back, reveals Harrison, pointing exactly to where I am seated. Talk about spiritual enlightenment. Walking back down the Gulaga Mountain summit track. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man Despite three hours of intense and engaging (the kids never waned once) interpretation, its clear that Harrison never tires of bringing people here. He reveres this mountain and understandably so, for Harrison and his people this is sacred text laid out on a sacred ridge. While the walk of discovery on Gulaga is the centrepiece of Harrisons tour, this two-day experience also includes traditional dance, yarning circles, platters of traditional food (you have to try the wallaby tail) and a few surprises, including on our last morning an invitation to participate in a Gurawill (whale) Dreaming Ceremony at nearby Nangudga Inlet. Our tour group forms a circle before the Whale Dreaming Ceremony at Nangudga Inlet. Credit:Jim Klapsogiannis Harrison first carefully carves the outline of a whale in the sand with his ceremonial spear. He then lights a fire (yes, the kids get to help by rubbing sticks together), and together with his 10-year-old son, Kayen, and adult nephew, Trey, we all summons the whale spirit, to ensure a safe journey migrating along the coast. Wow, what a way to end the tour. In our creation stories the whales are elders of the sea that once walked from the land into the ocean, explains Harrison. Whale dreaming ceremonies sing the safe passage of the whale migration and ensures this connection and respect continues on. For the yowie clan, its our second immersive indigenous experience in as many months. Regular readers will recall earlier this year we joined Richard Swain for an overnight paddle down the songlines of the legendary Snowy River. The Gulaga Creation Tour is another unforgettable journey of discovery and one which provides each of us with a much deeper understanding of the creation stories of the traditional custodians of our land. Its a common misconception that you need to travel to the outback or to the Top End to truly appreciate traditional indigenous culture, however these two enlightening experiences prove that we dont have to leave our own region. Oh, and Harrisons tour has also provided me with yet another reason (on top of my poor fitness) to convince my bushwalking companions that you dont always have to beat a path to the summit. Sometimes you can find enlightenment in the most surprising places. Fact File Gulaga Creation Tour: Discover the dreamtime stories of the Yuin Nation of the south coast of NSW. From $605pp (big discounts for children). Includes all meals and two nights shared accommodation at Island View Beach Resort near Narooma. Private accommodation is available at an additional cost. Regular tours OctoberMay. Last tour for this season is May 25. The tours regularly sell out, so book early for next season to avoid disappointment. Details: www.ngaranaboriginalculture.com SPOTTED Canberra isnt the only city where bush cubbies are popping up. During a recent trip to Adelaide, Eleanor Kosters, 8, of Theodore enjoyed making a bush cubby with her cousins at the Morialta Nature Play Park. Jasmine Crisp, 10, Amelia Crisp, 6, and Eleanor Kosters, 8, building fully sanctioned bush cubbies. Credit:Therese Kosters The play park consists of unique sculptural pieces that are huge works of art, made from natural products, using salvaged and seasoned native Australian timbers.The main structure of the cubbies are already assembled but there are lots of sticks around so the kids can keep on adding to it, explains Therese Kosters, Eleanors mum. Canberra could do with a playground or two like this. Itd be much better than the plethora of unimaginative plastic modular equipment which plagues many of our suburbs. Where in Canberra? Do you recognise this week's landmark? Credit:Matthew Higgins Clue: Precursor to Ned Degree of difficulty: Medium- Hard Last week: Congratulations to Alan Eeles of Lyneham, who was the first reader to correctly identify last weeks photo, sent in by Jack Palmer of Watson, as a tree located on a bend in the fire trail on North Lyneham Ridge. Where in Canberra last week. Credit:Jack Palmer According to Eeles, who just beat Linda Carr and Richard Williams of Belconnen to the prize, children in the North Lyneham area know it as The Faraway Tree, adding Some of Enid Blytons Folk of the Faraway Tree have been seen there, as has the Cadbury Bunny (on the BMX bike). The tree must have a doppelganger, for several readers, including Pamela Collett of Narrabundah (who even supplied photographic evidence to support her claim), thought the tree was in fact in the Callum Brae Nature Reserve, in Symonston. A Canberran with high needs and deteriorating health was evicted from their home because the National Disability Insurance Scheme would not fund an extra carer for them. A client found themselves $8000 in debt due to poor management and others were left languishing in hospital for more than a year without accessible housing. These are some of the stories detailed by advocacy groups, carers and service providers in submissions to an ACT parliamentary inquiry into the NDIS, starting on Friday. Some clients and providers reported long delays in accessing mobility equipment such as wheelchairs. While almost all submissions stated their support for the reform, which aims to improve choices and services for people living with disability, most also described soul-crushing delays in an increasingly opaque bureaucracy. Others alleged incompetence, even "intimidation" at the hands of the National Disability Insurance Agency, which manages the scheme. Congratulations to the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in Narrabundah which is celebrating its 30th anniversary on Saturday. There is a big community celebration on from 10.30am to 2.30pm at its headquarters in Boolimba Crescent, with music and activities for the kids including a petting zoo. Winnunga was established in 1988 by local Aboriginal people inspired by the national mobilisation of people around the opening of the new Parliament House in May and the visit by the Queen The late Olive Brown, a particularly inspirational figure who worked tirelessly for the health of Aboriginal people, saw the need to set up a temporary medical service at the Tent Embassy site in Canberra and this proved to be the beginning of Winnunga. The service provides health care to people living in the ACT and across the border. Its services also mums and bubs, elders swimming and healthy cooking groups. You don't have to look far to find countries that have done better. A short trip to the east, for instance. New Zealand was hit hard in the global financial crisis, suffered a recession, yet managed to return to surplus years ago - without the benefit of a mining boom. Morrison's is not a dreadfully irresponsible budget. It does hasten the planned return to surplus by a year compared with last year's plan. But, while Morrison exuberantly claims that "we've turned the corner on debt!", the budget didn't move the dial for Australia's sovereign credit rating. None of the big three ratings agencies upgraded their outlook for Australia's rating. Like the jaded Australian voter, the ratings agencies will believe it when they see it. Everyone remembers that the Liberals took power in 2013 sounding the alarm about Australia's "budget emergency". And everyone knows what happened next. Federal net debt in 2013 was the equivalent of 13.1 per cent of GDP. And now? Morrison's budget predicts it to be 18.4 per cent in the new fiscal year. Those numbers may look small, a blowout equal to a tad over 5 per cent of GDP. But that blow-out is equal in size to the total annual output of one of the world's mid-sized economies, Myanmar or Luxembourg, for example. With an election due next year, there's a good chance that this week was Morrison's last opportunity to deliver a surplus. History will record that the first postwar treasurer to deliver a surplus was Keating and the last was Peter Costello. Why didn't Morrison take the opportunity? Because he and his Prime Minister decided that it was more important to try to curry favour - by promising tax cuts, and by giving up the fight to properly fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme through an increase in the Medicare levy. Net result? "Australia Budget: Politics 1 Economics 0" was the verdict of Canadian-based brokerage TD Securities. Or so it seemed. But within two days, this verdict was as outmoded as the budget itself. By passing up his opportunity to make history, Morrison handed it to Chris Bowen and his leader, Bill Shorten. Labor spent the last couple of years in preparation for the moment. When it presented, it didn't miss. Labor's budget reply outwitted the government on the politics and outmanoeuvred the government on the economics. By the time Bill Shorten had finished delivering the response in the House on Thursday night, the verdict on Morrison's budget was "Politics 0 Economics 0". Chris Bowen has an autographed copy of Paul Keating's speeches on his desk. Credit:AAP How so? Labor managed to find the money to do three things. First, it has promised a tax cut almost twice as big as the government's for lower and middle income earners, $928 a year against the government's $530. Second, Labor has promised more spending than the government on hospitals and schools and other outlays. Third, it has promised to return the budget to a bigger surplus than the government's planned $2.2 billion for 2019-20, although Labor didn't specify just how much bigger. Labor would be "paying-back more of Australias national debt, faster", in Shorten's word. How could it possibly afford to pull off what Shorten called this "winning trifecta"? According to the Labor leader, it's "because were not giving $80 billion away to multinationals and the big four banks". Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Which is not strictly true. It is true, of course, that Labor is opposed to the remaining unlegislated elements of the government's corporate tax cut plan. That will save a future Labor government some $35 billion, but not in the next few years, the four years covered by the forward estimates. Those savings would only come into play later. Shorten gave another reason, and this is the real reason Labor can afford the "trifecta" - "because weve made the tough decisions to reform our taxation system". Labor's policy to tax family trusts, for instance, would save the Treasury $4 billion over the forward estimates, and its policy to cancel cash refunds for excess dividend imputation credits would save another $10.5 billion. These are just two of Labor's proposed budget savings, but they're two of the biggest. Rather than slink around as a "small target" opposition just waiting for the government to fall, Labor did the homework, took the bold decisions and prepared itself. When this week's opportunity arose, it was ready. That's why Shorten was able to stand in the House and promise to grant $5.8 billion more in tax cuts than the government, and still have money left over for more spending and deficit reduction as well. The government immediately claimed that "Labor's numbers just don't add up". It's possible that this will be proved true by election day. But there is no way that the government can yet know. Labor has not provided enough policy detail on costings and timings to be able to assess accurately. It will need to provide a full and detailed reconciliation before the election. Treasurer Scott Morrison at the Press Club. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But you can be sure that Chris Bowen will not repeat the biggest mistake of his brief and inglorious three months as treasurer under Rudd - he had to go to an election conceding that Labor had a budget shortfall - a funding "black hole" - of $16 billion. That's an election-losing blunder all by itself. If repeated, it would be career-ending for Bowen, too. The father of confessed terrorist David Hicks says he still wants to know what evidence led to his son's five-year detention at Guantanamo Bay. The 31-year-old Adelaide-born father of two is expected back in Australia by late next month to finish his sentence, after pleading guilty to supporting terrorism before a military tribunal on March 31. Hicks, who was held by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay for five years after he was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, was sentenced to seven years, with all but nine months suspended. In Melbourne to speak at a rally, Mr Hicks told reporters his son's case was still not resolved even though he would return to Australia by May 29. "We still need to know what this so-called evidence (is) that they had against David," Mr Hicks said. When Con Vaitsas of Ashbury's sons heard he was thinking of going to the Northern Territory, they advised he get 'crocodile attack insurance' from the Territorys insurance office. You may scoff, but as always, truth is stranger than any work of fiction. According to Con: "It is a ridgy didge policy that covers for death resulting from a croc attack while holidaying up there." Remembrances of signs for Griffiths Brothers Tea (C8) filled the Column 8 mailbox. There were so many to choose from but Ian Butchart of St Ives captured it nicely. "Griffith Bros Teas were located in Wentworth Avenue, quite close to Central Station. Their signboards were posted along train lines coming from country stations with the mileage dropping every 5 miles as the train got closer to Central." Ian also adds an anecdote from his father Norman Butchart who, while serving as a member of the 19th Infantry Battalion AIF in World War I, saw a sign on the Somme battlefield that read: "12,000 Miles to Griffith Bros Tea." Not everyone shared the general enthusiasm for Griffiths tea nostalgia (C8). Judith Campbell of Drummoyne considers it a great laziness that anyone would write in about such a thing when all the information is readily available on the company's website. "Please preserve your treasured column for more arcane matters relying on curiosity, imagination and brain power." We, much like Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice, are gratified by your condescension. Further to 'genuine imitation leather' (C8), while on a trip to Ephesus in Turkey in 2013 Allan George of Tuross Head noticed "one of the stalls in the tourist shopping strip proudly displaying a very large sign selling 'Genuine Fake Watches'." Closer to home, Charles Davies-Scourfield of Moss Vale was in a Berrima antique shop many years ago and saw "a shiny metal Sellotape dispenser with a sign stating it was 'Genuine Louis XIV silver'." The ability of doctors to put a positive spin on bad news (C8) puts the advertising industry to shame. Michael Dredge, from Chongqing in China, writes that he had a dermatologist tell him that "some of my age-related skin changes were 'signs of maturity', while another told me that the skin things appeared because of my 'unplanned choice of ancestors'." The defeat of Najib Razak, though a surprise, is easily understood. Najib was the quintessential establishment candidate descended from an aristocratic family, the son of Malaysias second prime minister and the nephew of its third. shows democracy, which is supposed to be in decline around the world, retains its strength in our region. Its a welcome sign. The sudden, astonishing loss of office for the Barisan Nasional coalition of Najib Razak and the victory of an opposition coalition led by the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad Sixty years after independence, Malaysia is starting to see its own democracy emerge from the shadow of one-party rule. Any political establishment that holds power for many decades will become complacent and run the risk of corruption. Najib has been accused, particularly by Dr Mahathir, of corrupt involvement in the 1MDB scandal and that taint, allied with the patchy performance of Malaysias economy and a highly unpopular goods and services tax, has brought him undone. Malaysian politics is tough indeed. Najib has been defeated despite what appears to be a concerted attempt to rig the election in his partys favour. Electorates are gerrymandered; votes have been tampered with; the mainstream media is relentlessly pro-government; Dr Mahathirs Pakatan Harapan alliance of four opposition parties was banned at one point; Malaysias electoral commission is suspected of bias. Dr Mahathir in claiming victory hinted at this when he referred to hanky panky in delays over the declaration of the result. The Delphic tone of Najibs not-quite-concession speech, leaving the choice of prime minister up to Malaysias king, suggests new hitches may yet emerge. Dr Mahathir knows all about this kind of thing. His own Barisan Nasional government was responsible for one of the gravest injustices, the jailing on trumped-up sodomy charges of the opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim. Perhaps the most astonishing event in this altogether astonishing election has been the reconciliation of these two men. Dr Mahathir, now 92, has promised to arrange a pardon for Anwar and to resign halfway through his term in his favour. Let us hope this actually comes to pass. It would be fitting if this belated recognition that political opponents may have something to contribute to national wellbeing softened a little of Malaysias brutal, winner-takes-all political style. The U.S. Navy is expected to announce the winner of its Over-The-Horizon Weapon System (OTH WS) competition by the end of June. The information comes from Norwegian business newspaper Finansavisen, quoting Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy. Kennedy was visiting the Kongsberg headquarters in Norway on Monday. The U.S. Navy is expected to announce the winner of its Over-The-Horizon Weapon System (OTH WS) competition by the end of June. The information comes from Norwegian business newspaper Finansavisen, quoting Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy. Kennedy was visiting the Kongsberg headquarters in Norway on Monday. Kongsberg picture showing an NSM being launched. The U.S. Navy OTH WS programme calls for the procurement of a new anti-ship missile for both classes of Littoral Combat Ships. The competition has been ongoing for a couple of years even-tough both Boeing (with its Harpoon ER) and Lockheed Martin (with its LRASM) have pulled out of the competition last year, deeming that the competition was unfair. This leaves Raytheon (and its partner Kongsberg) as the only contender for OTH WS. They are pitching the Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The two companies entered in teaming agreement in 2016 and Raytheon received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility in Tucson, Arizona in August 2016. Another Norwegian magazine, Teknisk Ukeblad, quoted Raytheon's CEO as explaining that the new anti-ship missile is set to replace Harpoon II, of which over seven thousand units have been produced. "I think there may be a need for seven thousand NSM missiles too" Thomas Kenedy said. OTH WS will be fitted aboard the future frigate of the U.S. Navy as well (FFG(X) programme). Our video interview with Raytheon and Kongsberg at SNA 2018 Meanwhile, NSM will be test fired from a U.S. Army HEMTT truck during RIMPAC 2018 exercise this summer. Navy Recognition learned this information from from Raytheon and Kongsberg during the Surface Navy Association's (SNA) 2018 National Symposium held in January. The U.S. Army will demonstrate the "cross domain fires / cross domain integration" concept by firing an NSM against a ship target at sea during the joint exercise taking place in (and off) the island of Hawaii. A contract was awarded to Raytheon for this. Kongsberg poster on display at SNA showing possible NSM launcher placement on both classes of LCS About NSM The NSM is a fifth generation anti-sip missile, developed by KONGSBERG for the Norwegian Navy. NSM reached Initial Operational Capability on the new Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Class frigates and the new Norwegian Skjold Class corvettes in 2012. It is also fielded by the Polish Navy (coastal defense batteries) and has been selected by the navies of Malaysia and Germany. NSM was also tested by the US Navy on LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) #4 USS Coronado in 2014. Hans Kongelf, Vice President of Missile Systems at Kongsberg previously told Navy Recognition that the main strength of the NSM are: - Defense penetration capabilities thanks to its stealth, extremely low sea-skimming flight profile and high G maneuvers. - Target recognition: Each NSM is fitted with a library of ship profiles to recognize each ship classes. - NSM is available today, it is in production, fielded by the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Polish Navy and selected by the Royal Malaysian Navy and German Navy A 14-year-old boy has been charged after two women were assaulted in separate incidents in a western Sydney suburb this week. Police arrested the teenage boy on Friday at a Bonnyrigg property and charged him with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Earlier in the day, police appealed to the public for information following two "frightening" attacks - one on Tuesday evening and one on Thursday afternoon - on young women in Bonnyrigg. The attacks occurred just 500 metres apart. Felicia Fuimaono, 25, was metres from her home on Harah Close on Tuesday when a man grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground and covered her mouth with his hand. Victoria was first out of the blocks in 1991, when it amended its Crimes Act to require judges to direct juries in rape cases that the fact a person did not say or do anything to indicate free agreement to a sexual act was "normally enough" to show they did not consent. Tasmania had the Victorian developments in mind in 2004 when it went even further and became the first state to legislate that a person does not freely agree to a sex act if they do not "say or do anything to communicate consent". It was guided by the 1998 report of a Tasmanian task force on sexual assault and rape, which concluded "the unrealistic expectations of the courts for women and girls to attempt to fight off their attacker ... distorts the intention of the law and is a major barrier to reform". Victoria subsequently scrapped its 1991 jury direction and introduced a new definition of sexual consent in 2016, which mirrors the Tasmanian provision. At a press conference with the Attorney-General on Tuesday, Goward said she endorsed the Tasmanian law and was "hopeful that the Law Reform Commission will come to a similar conclusion". "You must explicitly ask for permission to have sex. If it's not an enthusiastic yes, then it's a no," Goward said. "I feel that this is where the law in NSW needs to go. That is certainly the case in Tasmania." Speakman was quick to hose down that language. He said the government was not committing to any particular outcome and it wanted to get the balance right. The Tasmanian law does not embrace a model of "enthusiastic consent", which would set a high bar and criminalise a range of conduct otherwise regarded as legal. But the active model of consent embodied in its Criminal Code has attracted criticism in some quarters. Criminal barrister and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns, who is based in Hobart, said the Tasmanian law was "unworkable because it fails to recognise the reality of how things happen" in sexual encounters. In his view, the language of the Tasmanian Criminal Code is "nebulous" and in reality there is not "a great deal of difference between the Tasmanian law and NSW law". Jurors in NSW are already directed, in accordance with the language of the state's Crimes Act, that consent involves a "conscious and voluntary agreement", which can be given verbally or expressed by actions. They are also told "absence of consent does not have to be in words" and a person who does not physically resist "is not, by reason only of that fact, to be regarded as consenting". Luke Lazarus, son of prominent nightclub owner Andrew Lazarus, was acquitted of sexual assault last year. Credit:Facebook Commentators have questioned whether the Tasmanian law would have brought about a different result in the Lazarus case, or if the same factual inquires would be conducted in either case but through a different lens. The parties accepted that Mullins, then an 18-year-old virgin, had not consented to anal sex with the then 21-year-old Lazarus. The case turned on whether he had knowledge that she did not consent, which is a crucial element of the offence. Knowledge includes not only actual knowledge of a lack of consent but recklessness or having "no reasonable grounds" for believing there is consent. After a retrial in 2017, the NSW District Court found Lazarus had a genuine and honest belief, based on reasonable grounds, that Mullins was consenting even though "in her own mind" she was not. He was acquitted of the crime. Judge Robyn Tupman found Mullins had not asked Lazarus to stop - a fact hotly contested during the trial - and "did not take any physical action to move away". Barns says it is "far from clear" there would have been a different outcome in the Lazarus case if NSW had adopted the Tasmanian provision and the laws were "very similar". Dr Helen Cockburn, an expert in sexual consent laws and a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Tasmania, takes a different view. She believes the trial would have been conducted differently under Tasmanian law - but nobody can predict whether the outcome would be different. In Tasmania the court "would not be able to take into account absence of manifest dissent" in assessing whether there were reasonable grounds for a mistaken belief in consent. The fact that a complainant had not said no or moved away "certainly wouldn't support a claim of mistaken belief in consent", Cockburn says. Former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nick Cowdery was in the top job when NSW last amended its sexual consent provisions, in 2007. The changes were considerable and included expanding the range of circumstances in which an offender will have knowledge of a lack of consent to those in which they have "no reasonable grounds" for believing there was consent. "I remember the long and detailed process that was undertaken. It was a highly controversial outcome," Cowdery says. "Maybe it focused too much on the offender's guilty mind and not enough on the mind of the 'victim,' but there had been then - and sometimes are still - cases of false allegations of non-consensual activity that are hard to defend. "A balance had to be struck - maybe the Law Reform Commission will find that the balance needs to be reset." Cowdery says it would be "a bad mistake to take the Lazarus case as the archetype from which laws of general application must be framed" and the government had taken the sensible approach in referring the state's sexual consent provisions for review. "The wording of provisions of this kind will always be crucial," he says. "I don't see a problem with requiring that all parties to sexual relations indicate in some way to the other parties that they are consenting to the activity - but does that mean that in every situation all parties should stop, take stock, cogitate and signify overtly their consent? There are problems of principle and practice here." Tasmanian barrister Kim Baumeler, a former prosecutor who now appears regularly as defence counsel, says she has seen cases on both sides of the ledger: those in which the jury had convicted the accused where the evidence arguably might have produced a different result, as well as those in which she thought a jury might "happily convict and they've acquitted". Will there be a new nuclear arms race in the Middle East now? Both critics and supporters are claiming the others approach will ultimately let Iran acquire nuclear weapons. We know that the plans diplomatic approach did slow Irans nuclear program, though it may not have stopped it completely. We are about to find out how confrontation compares. It is not a happy prospect. Mr Trump appears to believe that his mad-dog approach to diplomacy has already worked on North Koreas Kim Jong-un, making him more amenable to negotiation. That conclusion itself premature has perhaps led him to hope he can unsettle the Iranians the same way, so that they will renegotiate the JCPOA into something closer to what the United States and Israel want. While anything is possible, there are several reasons why this seems unlikely. Mr Rouhani shows no sign of being rattled by Mr Trumps move. Even if he wanted to pull back, as a moderate within an Iranian revolutionary apparatus filled with hardliners, his position is not so strong that he could carry it off. All that the uncompromising US approach appears likely to achieve within Iran is to undermine Mr Rouhani, who is probably the most pro-western leader that countrys politics is capable of producing. Mr Trump has promised all along to do just as he has now done; to that extent he has been true to his word. But international diplomacy doesnt work like that. Countries, not individuals within them, are expected to be true to their word. The word of the United States in negotiations is now worth a good deal less than it was before Mr Trump became president. Treasurer Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen We dont know when the election is but after this federal budget week everyone knows what it will be about: tax, tax and tax. Tax one is income tax. The government wants to set up a three-stage cut to income tax, the first returning $530 to low- and middle-income earners in a lump sum. But it says for this to happen, further tax cuts must be legislated now, to be delivered years hence, for high-income earners. This looks like a rickety old wheeze to keep the Coalitions base happy, which Labor and the minor parties are unlikely to accept. Nor, we suspect, are voters. There is nothing about a first tax cut now which requires second or third cuts later on. In his budget reply on Thursday night, Bill Shorten promised those same lower-income earners a much bigger tax cut, and plenty more besides, with no add-ons later. A worker has been killed in a forklift accident at a warehouse in Sydney's south-west. Emergency services were called about 10.35am on Friday to reports of an accident at the premises in Condell Park. Five paramedic units rushed to the warehouse but the male worker died at the scene. His name and age have not been released. Police from Bankstown Police Area Command established a crime scene and have begun investigating. The toll increases for trucks and other heavy vehicles using three Brisbane roads, to cover the cost of the $60 million Inner City Bypass upgrade, have finally been revealed. Lord mayor Graham Quirk spared a furore last year when he announced trucking companies would bear the cost of the upgrade. The toll for trucks using the Go Between Bridge will increase from $8.52 to $9.64. Credit:Glenn Hunt The toll for trucks on the Go Between Bridge will increase from $8.52 to $9.64, the Clem7 from $13.64 to $15.44 and Legacy Way from $14.35 to $17.50. Those increased tolls on the Go Between Bridge and the Clem7 will increase for heavy commercial vehicles from mid-2018, while Legacy Way tolls will increase from July 2020. A senior child protection worker who had to work a 19-hour shift "ferrying" a distressed child to an emergency placement and stay in a motel room overnight with another child when no accommodation could be found is suing the Victorian government. Eileen Canfor alleges her managers at the Department of Health and Human Services failed to respond to her repeated complaints about her team's unmanageable caseload and excessively long shifts, and instead launched an internal investigation into her behaviour. Senior child protection worker Eileen Canfor is suing the Victorian government for failing to respond to her repeated complaints of overwork. Credit:Eddie Jim On one occasion Ms Canfor could not find emergency accommodation for a child in need of protection and had to book into a motel at 2:30am and stay with the child herself, her lawyer Josh Bornstein told The Age. On another, she and fellow staff allegedly had to work a 19-hour shift that included ferrying a distressed child to a late-night emergency placement and finishing at 2am. A mysterious spate of bed sores and pressure injuries affecting dozens of patients at Box Hill Hospital will see hundreds of beds replaced at a cost of up to $3 million. Multiple investigations are yet to find the cause of about 53 cases of pressure injuries that occurred at the hospital from October 2014 to the end of February, Eastern Health announced late on Friday. The cause of the spate of pressure injuries is yet to be established, despite multiple investigations. As a precaution, they will throw away and replace more than 80 per cent of the hospitals beds a total of 383. Bed-bound people are often prone to skin injury because of the prolonged pressure on their bodies, with sores developing on their heels, ankles, hips and tailbones. 8/12 "There was something about these objects that struck me as particularly American," Cornwall says. "If we can buy it and sell it, then on some level we're OK with it. So it made perfect sense to me to find the gift shop." Credit:Debi Cornwall Theres been a lot of talk about who has been involved ... family is still to be informed. Families need to have talks with their kids tonight and explain whats going on. She said the Osmington community was made up of farmers and people who had moved into the area for the rural lifestyle. The community was awash with offers of help and support, from counselling to shopping trips and school runs. Were hardy people and we come together pretty well. We've met with bushfires, shark attacks, so many things, and its heartening to see that when something like this happens its all what can we do how can we help," she said. At this stage there are no details on what led to the shooting. Neighbour Felicity Haynes told Radio 2GB gunshots had been heard, but no one realised what had happened until police began to arrive. "All the neighbours are in shock... everyone along Osmington Road. I mean, this is a very quiet peaceful community, mostly rural blocks. We all know each other, all support each other in fact, the whole Osmington community was very much united against this coal mine that was going to be erected right opposite the place where this tragedy occurred," she said. "Despite all different political persuasions, and differences in wealth and culture were all united here along Osmington Road in being a supportive, caring community. So for something to happen like this is quite horrifying. Police have closed Osmington Road and are expected to remain there throughout the day and into the evening. Neighbour Rob Broun lives in the house across the road from the property where the shooting took place. He said detectives came to speak to him at 9.30am Friday morning but he hadn't heard loud noises or any unusual sounds coming from the property overnight. "There was nothing much I could tell them," said the semi-retired farmer. Police have blocked the road in Osmington. Credit:Nicolette Lefebvre. Mr Broun said he came down to the farm on weekends from Perth so he didn't know the residents of the property very well. "I'd seen who I assume was the father out in a paddock one day, on a tractor. But I didn't have the opportunity to say hello." Forensic vans, police and detectives are still arriving at the property, which is 100 yards from his farm. Loading "It's just a bit surreal, isn't it? I worked in the media for 30 years and you report on these things from time to time, but you don't expect them to happen just across the road," he said. The local newspaper reporter said Margaret River was currently in "protection mode". The Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov has arrived in Severomorsk in northwest Russia to continue its state trials, the FlotProm online media organization reported. The Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov has arrived in Severomorsk in northwest Russia to continue its state trials, the FlotProm online media organization reported. Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov frigate "The Project 22350 lead frigate Admiral Gorshkov built by the Northern Shipyard [in St. Petersburg in northwest Russia] arrived in Severomorsk on May 5 to continue its state trials. The ship had left the shipyard on April 27," the media organization quoted the shipyards press office as saying. The shipbuilders are preparing the frigate for going to sea. Between April 22 and April 25, the frigates 10D49 propulsion diesel engine manufactured by the Kolomna Plant was checked in the Baltic Sea. President of Russias United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) Alexei Rakhmanov said in March that the frigates air defense missile system would be tested at a testing range within 1.5 months and then its trials onboard the warship would be resumed. According to Rakhmanov, the Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov is planned to be delivered to the Russian Navy in August 2018. Copyright 2018 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The bodies of two adults were found outside the property, while five bodies were found inside a building, WA police chief commissioner Chris Dawson told reporters. Friends say Katrina, the children and Cynda have been killed, but it is unclear who the other victim is. Police have blocked the road in Osmington. Credit:Nicolette Lefebvre. Cynda and Peter Miles bought the 30-acre hobby farm in late 2014. Cynda Miles is well known in the Margaret River area where she is a a stalwart in the sustainability community, volunteering with the local Transition Network and leading recycling initiatives including Cynda's Soft Salvage. The shooting happened at a rural property near Margaret River. Her husband, Peter, is a farmer and teacher, formerly the manager of the Margaret River High School farm, and ran a handyman business. In a website about the family-owned farm, Ms Miles said it had always been her dream to own a self-sustainable property in the countryside that her grandchildren could grow up on. "Forever Dreaming is our forever farm," she wrote. "It is here that we will grow as much of our food as we can, sit on the veranda and watch the birds, and watch the grandchildren immerse themselves in the animals and everything else that happens on a daily basis. "It is from here that Peter will run his farm maintenance and repair business. When we have too much we will share it if we can - it is in the giving that community is built!" Neighbour Richard Dosser said he had spoken to someone who lived in the house who worked as a farm maintenance worker on Thursday. "He was meant to come meet me tomorrow because he was going to look after my property for me while I was away," he said. "When I think back he sounded strange on the phone... a bit vague about the whole thing I remember thinking it was odd." Mr Dosser said he'd received a frantic call from a friend on Friday morning who knew the family and was searching for confirmation of who the victims of the shooting were. "She was very upset, she was devastated as she was quite close with the family," he said. "It is a tragedy, it is appalling, it really is. Most of my neighbours are retired and it's a really quiet area. It's beggars belief that something like this could happen here. We're just shocked and devastated." Neighbour Felicity Haynes told Radio 2GB gunshots had been heard, but no one realised what had happened until police began to arrive. "All the neighbours are in shock... this is a very quiet, peaceful community, mostly rural blocks," she said. "We all know each other, all support each other... for something to happen like this is quite horrifying. Police are not looking for any suspects at this time. "This is a horrific incident," WA police chief commissioner Chris Dawson said. "The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy. The rural property near Margaret River where the shooting is believed to have occurred. "It appears that gunshot wounds are there but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene." The shooting is the worst mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Specialist units from Perth, including the Homicide Squad and Forensic Crime Scene Unit, have been sent to the scene. The commissioner would not speculate on a motive but said that, at this point, police had no concerns about wider public safety. Police at the property on Friday morning. Credit:Nicolette Lefebvre. He could not reveal any more about the identity of the people either, as police were still trying to locate next of kin, but he said police believed all seven appeared to be residents of that property. "We are trying to locate other members of the family, and friends," he said. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and in particular the local communities in our south-west, he said. Police at the rural property where seven people were found dead. Credit:ABC The commissioner said the police chaplain had been called to attend the scene of the tragedy to support the emergency services. Neighbour Rob Broun lives in the house across the road from the property where the shooting took place. He said detectives came to speak to him about 9.30am Friday but he hadn't heard loud noises or any unusual sounds coming from the property overnight. The rural property. Credit:CoreLogic. "There was nothing much I could tell them," said the semi-retired farmer. Mr Broun said he came down to the farm on weekends from Perth so he didn't know the residents of the property very well. Loading "I'd seen who I assume was the father out in a paddock one day, on a tractor. But I didn't have the opportunity to say hello." Forensic vans, police and detectives are still arriving at the property, which is about 90 metres from his farm. "It's just a bit surreal, isn't it? I worked in the media for 30 years and you report on these things from time to time, but you don't expect them to happen just across the road," he said. The president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River said the tragic deaths at a property south-west of Perth have impacted upon everyone in the community. "It's sending shockwaves through the whole community were all linked in one way or another, every family," Pamela Townshend said. The Turnbull government has savaged Labor's income tax plan, branding Opposition Leader Bill Shorten a liar and arguing "his numbers don't add up". In his budget-in-reply speech on Thursday night, Mr Shorten announced a Labor government would offer low and middle-income earners a tax cut of up to $928, almost doubling the relief offered by Treasurer Scott Morrison in Tuesday's budget. The Opposition Leader also promised to pay down debt faster than the Coalition and boost funding for healthcare and TAFE by using money Labor banks as a saving by opposing the Coalition's tax cuts for large companies. We can afford to cut your taxes, without cutting services, because unlike the Liberals, were not wasting $80 billion on a discredited giveaway to the top end of town," Mr Shorten said on Thursday. Labor MP Anne Aly has released a letter from Egyptian authorities to prove she is eligible to sit in Parliament after Opposition Leader Bill Shorten earlier ordered her to obtain and publicly release the evidence. Fresh concerns over Dr Aly's eligibility were aired days after a High Court ruling forced the departure of another five MPs over citizenship doubts, triggering a string of byelections across the country. According to documentation published on the parliamentary citizenship register, Dr Aly submitted a request with the Egyptian embassy to renounce any citizenship on May 4, 2016. To have been eligible for Parliament under the High Court's interpretation of section 44, candidates at the 2016 election must have completely renounced any dual citizenship by the June 9 nomination deadline. The foreign affairs department has been told to improve training and punish rule-breakers after being scolded for providing its overseas embassies with inconsistent and poorly coordinated security. A parliamentary inquiry has told the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to protect its diplomats better following a report from the national auditor finding flaws in its security and staff training. Security audits were conducted at four Foreign Affairs posts in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. Pictured is the Australian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The committee investigating the problems said findings the department had not kept records and risk assessments consistently had undermined confidence that security measures were "being appropriately deployed and monitored across posts". "A recurring theme of this inquiry was the lack of consistency and coordination in DFATs management of overseas security," it said. Barack Obamas former top envoy in Australia has backed Donald Trumps tough approach to China, vowing the days of Beijing pursuing unfair, unbalanced, unprincipled rules of the road are over. John Berry, the former US Ambassador in Canberra, told Fairfax Media that China could expect straightforward competition from the US on trade and strategic affairs. John Berry, the former US Ambassador in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He was speaking after giving an address in Canberra on Thursday night in which he warned that the dreams are now over that as China grows richer it will become freer, more democratic and fairer in its trade deals and sovereignty disputes. Instead, Communist Party rule under strongman Xi Jinping was more powerfully ensconced than ever, he told the Australian Naval Institute. Solai, Kenya: The death toll from a commercial flower farm dam that collapsed in Kenya's Rift Valley late on Wednesday, local time, has risen to at least 47. The dam burst after weeks of torrential rain, unleashing a "sea of water" that careered down a hillside and smashed into two villages. A man walks past a house damaged by the dam flooding, near Solai, in Kenya's Rift Valley. Credit:AP The walls of the reservoir, on top of a hill in Nakuru county, 190 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, gave way late on Wednesday as nearby residents were sitting down to evening meals. Kenya is one of the largest suppliers of cut flowers to Europe, and roses from the 1400-hectare Solai farm are exported to the Netherlands and Germany, according to Optimal Connection, its Netherlands-based handling agent. The new-old leader of this nation of 31 million people set about reassuring Malaysians his government would be pro-business, pursue billions of dollars siphoned off by Najib and his cronies in the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal, and get rid of repressive laws. At a time when democracy has been in decline throughout the region and the world, the majority-Muslim nation of ethnic Malays (60 per cent), Chinese (20 per cent) and Indians (8 per cent) has defied expectations and finally, fully embraced change. According to Professor Clive Kessler of the University of NSW, who has studied Malaysian elections since 1967, the fact Mahathir could joke about being a dictator says a lot. Mahathir Mohamad, now 92, is sworn in by Malaysia's constitutional monarch, Muhammad V. Credit:Bernama via AP "This is someone concerned about his place in history, who is aware of the criticism people have made of him, and he will see this as his opportunity for redemption and to secure his place in history. "The problems facing this new government are great, they are inexperienced and while they presented a united front to defeat Najib, they aren't really united. It's also unclear how much institutional resistance, from the public service, police and the judiciary, there will be to change." But according to the ANU's Malaysian politics expert Amrita Malhi, so far the signs are quite promising. "The royal families, police, and military all seem to be keen to show the public that yes, the transition will happen. There will be plenty of challenges, but the oppositions campaign did not give the sense that they would launch a full-frontal assault on institutions and structures that many Malay Muslims, in particular, hold dear," she says. She also disagrees with suggestions that the incoming government is inexperienced. "Many in their ranks have been around since 1998, when Mahathir first sacked Anwar [Ibrahim, his then deputy prime minister], and theyve worked for two decades to have the chance to implement democratic reforms." The Mahathir-Anwar relationship is one of the most fascinating aspects of this election. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of Anwar Ibrahim and now Malaysia's deputy PM. Credit:AP Years before Mahathir mentored Najib, he mentored Anwar. The pair fell out, spectacularly, over Anwar's desire for reform and at the turn of the last century, he was jailed on trumped-up sodomy charges. That Anwar and Mahathir could reunite to take down Najib Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is now Mahathir's deputy prime minister speaks volumes about the desire for change. Wan Azizah, incidentally, is one of the greatest heroes of this moment after taking over the opposition leadership more than a decade ago, after Anwar was jailed. Anwar is due to complete his second stint in prison on a second set of trumped-up sodomy charges, brought during Najib's rule, on June 8. Amnesty Internationals Malaysia researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said the new government should immediately release Anwar and abolish a raft of repressive laws, such as Najib's "fake news laws", which were designed to stifle debate online. Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, left, with senator Nick Xenophon in Jakarta in 2014. Credit:Michael Bachelard This may actually happen. Mahathir said Thursday night "we want to abolish laws that are oppressive and unfair", referring to the fake news law. And he has promised repeatedly in recent days that he will seek a royal pardon for Anwar, so he can re-enter politics, and then hand over the prime ministership to him (though on Thursday night he would not put a date on when exactly this will happen). As Kessler puts it: "Mahathir wont live forever, and while it wont be easy to get a royal pardon, my sense is that the intention is to hand over. I think he is genuine." Among the key promises the new government has made are scrapping the very unpopular GST, stabilising Malaysia's currency, the ringgit, and reviewing major infrastructure projects such as the China-funded East Coast Rail Link (which is part of the Belt and Road initiative). This won't be easy, either. The heads of some government agencies and departments, cosy with the government, are in Mahathir's sights for "aiding and abetting a prime minister who the world condemned as a kleptocrat". Protesters with an effigy of the luxury yacht Equanimity, which belongs to businessman Jho Low, one of the figures at the centre of the 1MDB sovereign wealth scandal. Credit:AP Jakarta: Indonesia's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, has erupted, sending a column of volcanic materials as high as 5500 meters into the sky, forcing evacuations and the closure of an airport. Mount Merapi spews volcanic materials from its crater as seen from Klaten, Central Java, on Friday. Credit:AP Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the eruption on Friday morning happened suddenly and was accompanied by a rumbling sound with medium to strong pressure. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and local authorities have asked people living within 5 kilometers of the crater to evacuate. He said that 120 people who had been hiking up Merapi were safe. A British oil worker and a Dutch security manager kidnapped in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta have been released, officials and industry sources said on Wednesday. The Briton was abducted on March 31 by gunmen in two speedboats during a predawn raid on the Bulford Dolphin oil drilling rig, 40 miles (65 km) offshore. "I can confirm that he has been released. He is in good health as far as we know. He is due to see a doctor and I believe he will be on his way to Lagos," said a spokesman for the British High Commission in Abuja. The Dutch security manager working for German building contractor Bilfinger & Berger was seized on March 23 after a three hour gunfight when men in three speedboats stormed a construction yard in Port Harcourt. Two security experts working for Western oil majors said the Dutchman had now been released. One source said the Briton and the Dutchman were freed at the same time. Iranian society is now in such a state of ruin that it will take decades of freedom to heal. It's not just the grossly mismanaged economy that is in the doldrums. The real crisis is social: suicides, extraordinary levels of drug addiction, a mental illness epidemic, an unhealthy obsession with plastic surgery, and youth in the grip of an extreme alienation from everything bar materialism. Barack Obama's nuclear deal in 2015 merely gave the regime a spring in its step, freeing up vast amounts of cash to ramp up its destructive meddling in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen without improving ordinary Iranians' lives. The result was the furious anti-regime demonstrations earlier this year - and they, too, were savagely put down. They were quick to share anecdotes from a relative "back home" about why democratic pressure was building, or to relay dubiously upbeat claims made by pundits on US-based Farsi-language satellite TV. Yet, slowly but surely, even the most Panglossian were forced to admit that real change wasn't on the horizon. The Green movement and the 2009-2012 protests achieved nothing. The victory of the so-called reformist Hassan Rouhani was a non-event for minorities and dissidents, who continue to be persecuted. It was about five years ago that Iran's expatriates finally gave up hope. Far from a transient aberration, they realised that the evil, vicious regime they loathed so much was here to stay. Until then, many members of the large Iranian communities in London or Los Angeles remained surprisingly upbeat. It was as if they were clinging to the hope that it would all be over by Christmas, or rather Naw-Ruz, the Persian new year. But none of this matters to the regime, whose sole purpose is to survive for as long as possible and to export its ideology. Until recently, it had been playing a blinder, leveraging the West's willingness to appease its enemies to its advantage, and using the nuclear deal to fill the post-Iraq void in the Middle East. Its actions in Syria, where it supports Assad, are tantamount to aiding and abetting war crimes; its funding of Hizbollah and Hamas, and its decision to locate tens of thousands of missiles in Syria and Lebanon, mean that it is now the world's number one terror state. It is therefore absurd that so many "experts" in the West continue to support the nuclear deal. It probably worked on its own narrow terms, but made Iran more dangerous in every other respect. It gave up building nuclear bombs but could focus on overseas adventures and developing missiles. It is unfashionable to say so, but Donald Trump was right to tear up the deal. Appeasing expansionist, rogue states rarely works. The fundamental problem was that the West negotiated from a position of weakness. We continue to suffer from post-Iraq and Afghanistan fatigue: those wars proved culturally and politically ruinous, disproving the conceit that it is easy to impose democracy on dictatorships with no relevant history or institutions. There was (and remains) a huge appetite for almost any kind of deal that kicked the Iranian can down the road. All of this happened in parallel with the rise of a technocratic, post-national and post-democratic ideology among Western elites, including the US State Department and the British Foreign Office. A treaty, however ineffective and useless, is the perfect diplomatic tool to signal one's virtue; a deal is always deemed better than no deal. Such people also distrust Israel, that most traditional of nation states; they felt able to disregard its objections, certain of their own superior wisdom. Then there were the attempts by the EU to forge a common foreign and defence policy. The French and Germans were desperate for the commercial opportunities in Iran. The British wanted to be good Europeans. For Tehran's canny negotiators, it was akin to shooting fish in a barrel. A Z-18 helicopter (in VIP configuration) landed and took off from China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier for the first time on Saturday morning, reported Global Times. A Z-18 helicopter (in VIP configuration) landed and took off from China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier for the first time on Saturday morning, reported Global Times. A Z-18 VIP helicopter on the deck of China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier in Dalian, in northeast China's Liaoning Province, May 5 2018. The Z-18 helicopter took less than five minutes to land and take off from the deck of the as-yet unnamed Type 002 carrier, which was launched in April last year. An analyst from news portal Sina.com.cn noted that China's first carrier, Liaoning, began sea trials five days after the completion of its first helicopter landing test in 2011. A Z-18 VIP helicopter takes off from Type 001 aircraft carrier in Dalian, in northeast China's Liaoning Province, May 5 2018. (Photo/Global Times Photo) About Type 002 The Type 002 was launched in Dalian on April 26 2017, three days after the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Navy Day, and the outfitting work only took about one year. The speed with which the Type 001A was built was the fastest in the history of aircraft carrier construction, as it only took two years from keel laying to its launch. For the time being, no delivery date has been officially communicated by the PLAN, but commissioning could happen during the second half of 2019. About Z-18 The Z-18 is a new generation military transport helicopter from China. It was developed by Changhe Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG) and is reportedly based on the civilian Avicopter AC313 (Harbin Z-8) itself based on the 1960ies Aerospatiale SA321 Super Frelon. The maritime variant is designated Z-18F "Sea Eagle" and will be capable of ASW missions (with Yu-7K lightweight torpedoes) as well as anti-surface warfare (ASuW) missions with YJ-9 anti-ship missiles. Note that half of the helicopter wing aboard the PLAN aircraft carrier Liaoning is composed of Z-18F. The typical airwing of the Liaoning being 4x Z-18Js early warning helicopters, 6x Z-18Fs anti-submarine helicopters, 2x Z-9Cs search and rescue helicopters and 24 J-15s carrier-based fighter jets. In January of 2017, at a town hall meeting broadcast live across the United States on CNN, Republican congressman Paul Ryan made a heartfelt promise to an anxious "Dreamer" mum: He and incoming President Donald Trump would do everything in their power to make sure she could remain in the US. "What we have to do is find a way to make sure that you can get right with the law," Ryan said. "That's the way we feel. And that is exactly what our new, incoming President has stated he wants to do." Ryan added that he was "sure" that the young mother is a "great contributor" to her "community". Nearly 18 months later, the monstrous reality of this broken promise is perfectly captured in two new episodes: Trump's raging tirade against his Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen over the allegedly insecure border; and Ryan's craven effort to stop an effort by Republicans in the House to force a vote on bills that would protect the dreamers. Pahoa: Hawaii residents have been alerted to rising levels of toxic gas from volcanic fissures and geologists have warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk to lava bursting from the ground. Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents in the southeast corner of the Big Island that a wind change would bring rising levels of sulphur dioxide gas, which is fatal if inhaled in large quantities. Hawaii's governor has warned that mass evacuations may be needed as more fissures open and spew lava and gas in semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of the volcano. As the eruption progresses, "other areas of the lower East Rift Zone may also be at risk," the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its latest briefing. Further update to the tragic seismic incident at Sibanye-Stillwater\-\-s Driefontein operations Posted by Publisher Internet Further to the announcement on 7 May 2018, regarding the tragic seismic incident at the Masakhane mine, Driefontein operations, Sibanye-Stillwater (Tickers JSE: SGL and NYSE: SBGL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F3Fgg9xMOY&t=4s ) is pleased to report that one of the six employees who was hospitalised due the incident, has been discharged and is in good health. The other five rescued employees remain in a stable condition and are making good progress. The Company will continue to ensure that these employees receive appropriate medical attention and ongoing support and counselling. Sibanye-Stillwater management has been focused over the course of the past week on ensuring the wellbeing and providing support to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased and injured employees. A well-attended memorial service involving the Minister of Mineral Resources, the Sibanye-Stillwater Board, management and union leaders was held at Driefontein yesterday, with funeral and remembrance services for the deceased employees, scheduled for the coming weekend. Sibanye-Stillwater management will be conducting a thorough investigation across the entire Masakhane mine, in order to assess the impact on the operations, of the numerous seismic events that occurred during the last week. The underground inspection is expected to take approximately one week, and operations at the Masakhane mine will remain suspended during this period. Production from the rest of the mines making up the Driefontein operations will continue as normal. Planned gold production from the Driefontein operations is approximately 50kg of gold per day, with the Masakhane mine comprising approximately 20% or 11kg (354oz) per day. Since the incident occurred on Thursday 3 May 2018, approximately 230kg (7,395oz) of planned gold production is estimated to have been lost. In 2017 Sibanye-Stillwater?s SA Gold operations produced 43,634kg (1.4 million oz) of gold. Background on the incident: A seismic event (recording a local magnitude of 2.5) occurred on the western side of the Driefontein operations at approximately 12:15 on Thursday, 3 May 2018. Immediately after the location (epicentre) of this seismic event was identified by Sibanye-Stillwater?s extensive underground seismic monitoring systems, the teams working in the western side were contacted to ascertain if there had been any related safety concerns. One of the teams did not respond on the first call, and a rescue process was immediately triggered.? An emergency control room was established and paramedics and mine rescue teams deployed to the mine. The unaccounted for team subsequently responded and it was established that the installed support and other safety systems in the area had prevented significant damage, and as a result, there were no injuries or safety issues resulting from the seismic event.? A mine rescue team had already been deployed and was making its way underground, when an unrelated second seismic event (recording a local magnitude of 2.2) occurred at about 13:20, on the eastern side of the Masakhane mine approximately 2.5km away from the first event. Although of a lower magnitude than the first event, the second seismic event caused a working stope (40 level,-27 East, 7 West panel), which was close to the epicentre of the seismic event to be inundated with loose rocks, trapping 13 employees working in the stope. No other stopes in the mine were affected and all remaining employees at Driefontein were safely evacuated from the underground operations. Shortly after the incident, rescue efforts began in earnest.? All relevant stakeholders including the DMR and unions were alerted about the incident and once the missing employees had been identified, efforts to contact their families were made. The families were offered transport to the mine, where they received regular updates on the rescue mission, and support, trauma counselling and medical care. Specially trained rescue teams from Mine Rescue Services, supported by Sibanye-Stillwater employees and guided by management in the emergency control room, worked relentlessly in extremely challenging conditions, for more than 40 hours to rescue and recover the missing employees, with the last employee being recovered at about 07:30 on Saturday 5 May 2018. The fact that there were no further injuries despite the trying conditions, is testament to the training and commitment of these teams. We would like to thank all of the Mine Rescue Services brigadesmen from across the SA Mining industry, who volunteered for this essential service. A special note of appreciation goes to our own employees who volunteered and worked non-stop through the entire rescue period alongside the Mine Rescue Services brigadesmen. You are all true heroes.? Blasting operations were suspended across the Driefontein operations following the seismic event. Blasting operations subsequently resumed at the unaffected Driefontein mines on Saturday, 5 May 2018. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This announcement includes ?forward-looking statements? within the meaning of the ?safe harbour? provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as ?target?, ?will?, ?forecast?, ?expect?, ?potential?, ?intend?, ?estimate?, ?anticipate?, ?can? and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements set out in this announcement involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sibanye-Stillwater, that could cause Sibanye-Stillwater?s actual results and outcomes to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Sibanye-Stillwater undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, save as required by applicable law. The first in her family to attend college, Jalyn Radziminski has excelled academically while devoting countless hours to advocating for the needs of first-generation, African American and multiracial college students. Emory Photo/Video Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jalyn Radziminski did not experience everyday dialogues about the structural impacts revolving around race and difference. In the Midwest, race is not as amplified and, in my personal experience, people were quick to shut down challenging conversations about race, says Radziminski, who is of African American, Japanese, Polish and Native American descent. At Emory, those conversations came to the forefront, which she at first found difficult, but soon embraced. Now, as the 2018 undergraduate recipient of the Marion Luther Brittain Award, Radziminski becomes the first black woman, the first Japanese woman, as well as the first first-generation college student to receive the award. The Brittain Award is presented each year to two graduating students, one graduate and one undergraduate, under provisions of a gift by the late Dr. M. L. Brittain, former president of the Georgia Institute of Technology and alumnus of Emory. Every group Ive been in, everything I have learned and experienced at Emory, has helped shape me as a human being. It all felt natural to me, says Radziminski. The list of her experiences is long: student athlete; Emory Jazz and Wind Ensemble musician; student activist; 1915 Scholar; founder and outreach chair for the Black Mental Health Ambassador Program; council member of the Mental Health American Collegiate Innovation Council; Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar; 2017 Humanity in Action Fellow; and president of the Alpha Nu chapter of the Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority. All of this while excelling academically as a linguistics and interdisciplinary studies major with a focus on human and civil rights. Radziminski is a trailblazer and social justice pioneer who continuously strives to do more, try more and be more, notes Krystyna Jordan, program coordinator in the Office of Student Success Programs and Services, who nominated her for the Brittain Award. During her time at Emory, Jalyn has inspired everyone around her to see the world as beautiful, yet desperately in need of all of our gifts, talents and strengths, Jordan wrote in her nomination letter. She encourages others to offer these gifts as true contributions to humanity through her words and actions. During her first year at Emory, Radziminski pursued what felt familiar to her, running track and cross country. But seeing a performance of the Issues Troupe, a social justice improv group, changed the course of her college experience. It really opened the door for me to do social justice work. I latched onto the organization and really embraced the opportunity to support social justice and human rights through different forms of expression, she says. Supporting student-activists In her sophomore year, Radziminski took the opportunity to advocate for social justice through the Emory Black Student Demands, a movement of students striving for greater recognition of the unique experiences of black students on campus. While embracing her role as a student activist, Radziminski was acutely aware of the psychological toll that accompanies striving both to excel in the classroom and devote personal time to lead student organizations and advocate for student causes. I felt myself getting very drained and I started getting depressed. I recognized that many other colleagues were experiencing the same thing. I didnt grow up knowing about mental health or activism fatigue, she says. To counter the negative feelings she was observing and experiencing, Radziminski created the Black Wall of Love, an art installation that displayed messages of love and affirmation for her fellow students, and brought together staff, faculty and students to engage in dialogue about change. That project evolved into the Black Mental Health Ambassadors Program, a program that advocates for black undergraduate and graduate students in relation to mental health she helped found in partnership with the Office of Counseling and Psychological Services in Campus Life. I wanted to create something tangible that would be responsive to the needs of students and preventive in keeping them mentally healthy, she says. The most impactful moment for me has been, as a senior, talking to students who are first-years and sophomores who say Thank you for creating this and to see how it is being carried on. First-generation college student Another group that was influential to Radziminski is the 1915 Scholars Program, which is designed to provide a support network for first-generation, low-income college students who otherwise might struggle with the transition to college. Part of the first cohort of 1915 Scholars, Radziminski says she benefitted both from the mentorship of faculty and staff and from the experience of mentoring students who came after her. There are things that some students might think of as common sense on how to deal with pressures when they get to college, but its not common sense if you dont have someone to tell you about something you dont know, she says. Radziminski also helped start the Multi-ethnic Racial Group at Emory (MERGE), an organization designed to support students of multiracial identity and promote unity. In college, identity is amplified racially, financially, economically, culturally and students dont have their old networks to turn to, Radziminski says. You have to start all over and having groups that can support you in ways that are important. In Theta Nu Xi, Radziminski found an organization that celebrated and supported multiculturalism without negating individual communities. Theta Nu Xi recognizes intersectional identities and serves as a space where people can have conversations around difference. It also supports the causes of identity-specific spaces and initiatives, she says. Through the groups involvement in and service to the campus and community, I see the multicultural mission as a unifying way to bring people together to address issues that should be important to everyone. In 2018, Theta Nu Xi hosted the 2018 Girl Up Leadership Summit at Emory, a program of the United Nations Foundations Girl Up campaign that engages adolescent girls around the world to take action in their communities and advocate for themselves and for girls in need. The summit brought young women of color from all over the nation to Emory, and Radziminski led tours of Emorys campus for participants. When I came here, I had the feeling that I didnt belong anywhere. Creating spaces for myself and other students like me felt so important, she explains. But, after you build them, you have to let people know they exist so they can make a bigger impact. Radziminski says the Brittain Award will allow her to pursue an advanced degree, but she is taking a gap year to work and decide what academic path she will take. Ive seen and learned so much that has transformed how I look at the world, at education, and at society, she says. I want to be able to do purposeful work, but I need to process all that I have learned to see where to go moving forward. Showers of high energy particles occur when energetic cosmic rays strike the top of the Earth's atmosphere. Most cosmic rays are atomic nuclei: most are hydrogen nuclei, some are helium nuclei, and the rest heavier elements. Although many of the low energy cosmic rays come from our Sun, the origins of the highest energy cosmic rays remains unknown and a topic of much research. This drawing illustrates air showers from very high energy cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are atom fragments that rain down on the Earth from outside of the solar system. They blaze at the speed of light and have been blamed for electronics problems in satellites and other machinery. Discovered in 1912, many things about cosmic rays remain a mystery more than a century later. One prime example is exactly where they are coming from. Most scientists suspect their origins are related to supernovas (star explosions), but the challenge is that for many years cosmic ray origins appeared uniform to observatories examining the entire sky. A large leap forward in cosmic ray science came in 2017, when the Pierre Auger Observatory (which is spread over 3,000 square kilometers, or 1,160 square miles, in western Argentina) studied the arrival trajectories of 30,000 cosmic particles. It concluded that there is a difference in how frequently these cosmic rays arrive, depending on where you look. While their origins are still nebulous, knowing where to look is the first step in learning where they came from, the researchers said. The results were published in Science. Cosmic rays can even be used for applications outside of astronomy. In November 2017, a research team discovered a possible void in the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was built around 2560 B.C., using cosmic rays. The researchers found this cavity using muon tomography, which examines cosmic rays and their penetrations through solid objects. History While cosmic rays were only discovered in the 1900s, scientists knew something mysterious was going on as early as the 1780s. That's when French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb best known for having a unit of electrical charge named after him observed an electrically charged sphere suddenly and mysteriously not being charged any more. At the time, air was thought to be an insulator and not an electric conductor. With more work, however, scientists discovered that air can conduct electricity if its molecules are charged or ionized. This would most commonly happen when the molecules interact with charged particles or X-rays. But where these charged particles came from was a mystery; even attempts to block the charge with large amounts of lead were coming up empty. On Aug. 7, 1912, physicist Victor Hess flew a high-altitude balloon to 17,400 feet (5,300 meters). He discovered three times more ionizing radiation there than on the ground, which meant the radiation had to be coming from outer space. But tracing cosmic ray "origin stories" took more than a century. In 2013, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope released results from observing two supernova remnants in the Milky Way: IC 433 and W44. Among the products of these star explosions are gamma-ray photons, which (unlike cosmic rays) are not affected by magnetic fields. The gamma-rays studied had the same energy signature as subatomic particles called neutral pions. Pions are produced when protons get stuck in a magnetic field inside the shockwave of the supernova and crash into each other. In other words, the matching energy signatures showed that protons could move at fast enough speeds within supernovas to create cosmic rays. Current science We know today that galactic cosmic rays are atom fragments such as protons (positively charged particles), electrons (negatively charged particles) and atomic nuclei. While we know now they can be created in supernovas, there may be other sources available for cosmic ray creation. It also isn't clear exactly how supernovas are able to make these cosmic rays so fast. Cosmic rays constantly rain down on Earth, and while the high-energy "primary" rays collide with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere and rarely make it through to the ground, "secondary" particles are ejected from this collision and do reach us on the ground. But by the time these cosmic rays get to Earth, it's impossible to trace where they came from. That's because their path has been changed as they travelled through multiple magnetic fields (the galaxy's, the solar system's and Earth's itself.) Scientists are trying to trace back cosmic ray origins by looking at what the cosmic rays are made of. Scientists can figure this out by looking at the spectroscopic signature each nucleus gives off in radiation, and also by weighing the different isotopes (types) of elements that hit cosmic ray detectors. The result, NASA adds, shows very common elements in the universe. Roughly 90 percent of cosmic ray nuclei are hydrogen (protons) and 9 percent are helium (alpha particles). Hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in the universe and the origin point for stars, galaxies and other large structures. The remaining 1 percent are all elements, and it's from that 1 percent that scientists can best search for rare elements to make comparisons between different types of cosmic rays. The Pierre Auger Observatory collaboration found some variations in the arrival trajectories of cosmic rays in 2017, providing some hints about where the rays could have originated. Scientists can also date the cosmic rays by looking at radioactive nuclei that decrease over time. Measuring the half-life of each nuclei gives an estimate of how long the cosmic ray has been out there in space. In 2016, a NASA spacecraft found most cosmic rays likely come from (relatively) nearby clusters of massive stars. The agency's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft detected cosmic rays with a radioactive form of iron known as iron-60. Since this form of cosmic ray degrades over time, scientists estimate it must have originated no more than 3,000 light-years from Earth the equivalent distance of the width of the local spiral arm in the Milky Way. An experiment called ISS-CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass) launched to the International Space Station in 2017. It is expected to operate for three years, answering questions such as whether supernovas generate most cosmic ray particles, when cosmic ray particles originated, and if all the energy spectra seen for cosmic rays can be explained by a single mechanism. The ISS also hosts the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), which searches for the highest-energy types of cosmic rays. CALET launched there in 2015. Cosmic rays can also be detected by balloon, such as through the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) experiment that includes participation from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several universities. It has flown several times, including a record 55-day flight over Antarctica between December 2012 and January 2013. "With the data from this flight we are studying the origin of cosmic rays. Specifically, testing the emerging model of cosmic-ray origins in OB associations, as well as models for determining which particles will be accelerated," the SuperTIGER website said. Citizen scientists can also participate in the search for cosmic rays by registering at the website crayfis.io. There, they will join the CRAYFIS experiment run by the Laboratory of Methods for Big Data Analysis (LAMBDA) at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Russia. Researchers there are examining ultra-high energy cosmic rays using mobile phones. Space radiation concerns Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere shields the planet from 99.9 percent of the radiation from space. However, for people outside the protection of Earth's magnetic field, space radiation becomes a serious hazard. An instrument aboard the Curiosity Mars rover during its 253-day cruise to Mars revealed that the radiation dose received by an astronaut on even the shortest Earth-Mars round trip would be about 0.66 sievert. This amount is like receiving a whole-body CT scan every five or six days. A dose of 1 sievert is associated with a 5.5 percent increase in the risk of fatal cancers. The normal daily radiation dose received by the average person living on Earth is 10 microsieverts (0.00001 sievert). The moon has no atmosphere and a very weak magnetic field. Astronauts living there would have to provide their own protection, for example by burying their habitat underground. Mars has no global magnetic field. Particles from the sun have stripped away most of Mars' atmosphere, resulting in very poor protection against radiation at the surface. The highest air pressure on Mars is equal to an altitude of 22 miles (35 kilometers) above the Earth's surface. At low altitudes, Mars' atmosphere provides slightly better protection from space radiation. In 2017, NASA made some upgrades to its Space Radiation Laboratory (located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York) to do more studies into how cosmic rays may affect astronauts on long voyages, including to Mars. These upgrades allow researchers to alter types of ions, and the intensity of energy, more easily due to software control. NASA's Terra satellite captured this view of the ash plume wafting from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on May 6, 2018, using its Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument. The right-hand frame shows the height of the plume. A NASA Earth-observing satellite has given us another view of the volcanic outburst underway on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Terra spacecraft spotted a plume of ash wafting from a new fissure on Kilauea volcano, whose current flare-up began last week after a powerful earthquake shook the Big Island. ("Flare-up" or "outburst" are better terms for the ongoing event than "eruption," because Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world, has been erupting more or less continuously since 1983.) Terra imaged the plume Sunday (May 6) with its nine-camera Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument, or MISR. [Photos: Fiery Lava from Kilauea Volcano Erupts on Hawaii's Big Island] "The top of the plume near the fissure is at approximately 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) altitude, and the height of the plume decreases as it travels south and west," NASA officials wrote yesterday (May 9) in a description of the newly released MISR image. See the Latest Updates on Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Eruption "These relatively low altitudes mean that the ash and sulfur dioxide remained near the ground, which can cause health issues for people on the island downwind of the eruption," they added. Terra also got a good look at that sulfur dioxide, imaging big clouds of it on Sunday using a different instrument called the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The ASTER data also revealed "hotspots" on Kilauea fresh lava flows, as well as a dozen newly formed fissures in the volcano. The current Kilauea outburst has destroyed several dozen structures and impelled Hawaiian authorities to order the evacuation of more than 1,500 people to date. There have been no reports of death or serious injury related to the eruption so far. Terra launched to Earth orbit in December 1999. It keeps tabs on the planet's climate cycle and other large-scale processes, as well as humanity's impact on ecosystems, using ASTER, MISR and three other science instruments. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Saturn, its rings and the moons Mimas, Janus and Tethys on March 13, 2006. Tethys is below the ring plane, Mimas is above it and tiny Janus appears to sit right on the rings in this view. NASA and the Cassini team have given us another gorgeous blast from Saturn's past. The Cassini spacecraft orbited Saturn from the summer of 2004 until Sept. 15, 2017, when the low-on-fuel probe performed an intentional death dive into the ringed planet's cloud tops. NASA has continued to release Cassini photos after the spacecraft's demise, and the latest offering, published on Monday (May 7), is a doozy. The view, taken on March 13, 2006, shows Saturn's arcing limb, its razor-thin rings (seen edge on) and three of Saturn's many moons. [In Photos: Cassini's Epic Saturn Mission Ends with Awesomeness] The satellite Tethys is below the rings, Mimas is above them and tiny Janus appears to sit right on top of the ring plane in the photo, which Cassini took at a distance of 1.7 million miles (2.7 million kilometers) from Saturn. "'Above' and 'below' the rings is mostly a matter of perspective here. All three moons and the rings orbit Saturn in roughly the same plane," NASA officials wrote in an image description. "The night side of Mimas is gently illuminated by 'Saturnshine,' sunlight reflected from the planets cloud tops." Tethys is the largest of the three moons in the photo, with a diameter of 662 miles (1,066 km). It has a crater, called Odysseus, thats about as large as Mimas, which is 246 miles (396 km) across. Janus is considerably smaller, with a diameter of about 112 miles (180 km). Mimas, by the way, is often called the Death Star moon, because one of its big craters gives the icy, battered satellite a striking resemblance to the superweapon in the "Star Wars" films. The $3.2 billion Cassini-Huygens mission a collaboration involving NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency launched in October 1997 and arrived in orbit around Saturn on June 30, 2004. Huygens was a European lander that rode piggyback with Cassini and eventually touched down on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in January 2005. This was the first soft landing ever achieved on a body in the outer solar system. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of Pluto during the probe's flyby of the dwarf planet in July 2015. The long-simmering argument about Pluto's planethood has just flared up again. For more than 75 years after its 1930 discovery, Pluto was regarded as our solar system's ninth planet a distant and frigid oddball, to be sure, but a member of Earth's immediate family nonetheless. Then, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet," a newly created category that the organization explicitly stressed made Pluto distinct from the eight "true" planets. A true planet, according to the IAU's newly devised definition, must meet three criteria: It must circle the sun and no other object (so, moons are out); it must be big enough to be rounded into a sphere or spheroid by its own gravity, but not so large that its innards host the fusion reactions that power stars; and it must have "cleared its neighborhood" of other orbiting bodies. [Photos of Pluto and Its Moons] Pluto failed at this last hurdle, because its neighborhood the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt is far from cleared. Many scientists and Plutophilic members of the public objected strongly to the IAU's decision, on various grounds. For starters, some folks pointed out, the new planet definition rules out anything not orbiting the sun meaning that the hundreds of billions of exoplanets in our Milky Way galaxy aren't planets at all, at least according to the IAU. And the "clear your neighborhood" requirement seemed ridiculous to many researchers, including Alan Stern, the principal investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission, which famously flew by Pluto in July 2015. Stern has been a vocal proponent of Pluto's planethood and has argued that the IAU's decision stemmed at least partly from a very nonscientific desire to keep the solar system's planetary stable down to a "manageable" number. Which brings us to the most recent flare-up. Stern and planetary scientist David Grinspoon have just published a book about the Pluto flyby, called "Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto" (Picador, 2018). On Monday (May 7), The Washington Post published a "Perspectives" piece the two scientists wrote titled, "Yes, Pluto Is a Planet." In the piece, Grinspoon and Stern took aim at the IAU's "hastily drawn" and "flawed" planet definition, reserving special ire for the "clearing your neighborhood" requirement. "This criterion is imprecise and leaves many borderline cases, but what's worse is that they chose a definition that discounts the actual physical properties of a potential planet, electing instead to define 'planet' in terms of the other objects that are or are not orbiting nearby," the scientists wrote. "This leads to many bizarre and absurd conclusions. For example, it would mean that Earth was not a planet for its first 500 million years of history, because it orbited among a swarm of debris until that time, and also that if you took Earth today and moved it somewhere else, say out to the asteroid belt, it would cease being a planet." [Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures] The duo pushed instead for a much simpler "geophysical planet definition," which was presented last spring at a planetary science conference in Texas. And this definition is indeed simple; boiled down, it holds that planets are "round objects in space that are smaller than stars." Under this definition, Pluto and other dwarf planets, such as Ceres and Eris, are considered planets, as are large moons like Jupiter's Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto and Saturn's huge satellite Titan (as well as Earth's own moon). Indeed, the solar system's planet count would easily top 100 if everyone agreed to use the geophysical definition. But getting such widespread agreement about this, and about Pluto's "official" classification, will be a hard row to hoe. For example, astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel argued in a piece for Forbes on Tuesday (May 8) that a cosmic object's environmental context is important to understanding the object's nature. "The simple fact is that Pluto was misclassified when it was first discovered; it was never on the same footing as the other eight worlds. The 2006 move by the IAU was an incomplete attempt to repair that mistake," Siegel wrote. The geophysical definition, he added, "is a step in the opposite direction: It's a step towards making a larger, more confusing mistake that will render a definition meaningless to the majority of people who use it." And then there's the pithy take by California Institute of Technology astronomer Mike Brown, whose discovery of outer-solar-system objects helped spark the rethink of Pluto's place in the solar system. "So, hey, Pluto is still not a planet. Actually, never was. We just misunderstood it for 50 years. Now, we know better. Nostalgia for Pluto is really not a very good planet argument, but that's basically all there is. Now, let's get on with reality," Brown wrote via Twitter, where his handle is @plutokiller. Will the geophysical planet definition catch on? Will the IAU welcome Pluto back into the "true planet" fold, along with Ceres, Europa, Titan, Earth's moon and many other objects? Who knows? But it seems clear that people will be fighting about this stuff for a long time to come. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Protein and virus crystals, many of which were grown on the U.S. space shuttle or Russian Mir space station. The crystals range in size from a few hundred microns along their edge to more than a millimeter. Crystals grown in microgravity environments can grow larger and purer than crystals on Earth, making it easier for scientists to analyze their underlying components. Space is a dangerous place for humans: Microgravity sets our fluids wandering and weakens muscles, radiation tears through DNA and the harsh vacuum outside is an ever-present threat. But for materials that show incredible strength, transmit information with barely any loss, form enormous crystals or even grow into organs, the harshness of space can be the perfect construction zone. As the cost of spaceflight goes down, more of these materials may become cost-effective to make or study in space. And soon, more and more people might be carrying around objects built off the planet. [Top 10 Strangest Things in Space] "We generally make things by subjecting them to a different environment," said Andrew Rush, president and CEO of Made In Space, an in-space manufacturing company. "We make food by cooking it in fire, heating it up and causing chemical reactions. We make steel by heating things up at high temperature and maybe, depending on the steel, [in a] high-pressure environment. We can quench things; we can make things cold to make different materials or improve on those materials. "Really, space-enabled materials are just another version of that, but instead of throwing something in a furnace and heating it to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit [540 degrees Celsius] or something, we take it to space," he told Space.com. In space, microgravity lets materials grow without encountering walls, and it allows them to mix evenly and hold together without traditional supports. And a nearby ultrahigh vacuum helps things form without impurities. ZBLAN fibers processed on the ground have a tree-bark-like structure on the outside, whereas ZBLAN made in space doesn't show crystallization. (Image credit: NASA) Free fall The International Space Station is falling at a constant rate around the Earth, which everyone on board experiences as a lack of gravity; on the station, you're always in free fall. That environment, called microgravity, comes in handy for growing things that need to expand evenly in every direction or avoid the contamination of touching an enclosure's walls. Microgravity is of particular interest to people who create materials for miniaturized devices and computers, researchers told Space.com. "Demand for high-tech solutions requiring higher resolutions, faster processors, more bandwidth, greater precision, novel materials, unique alloys, innovative processes, higher energy efficiency, more processes in a smaller volume and more sophisticated tools in general are pushing materials and processes for manufacturing to the point that defects at the atomic- and molecular-level matter," said Lynn Harper, the lead of integrative studies for the Space Portal partnerships office at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. Building in microgravity can reduce those defects. The first major candidate for making money on something made in space today, a special type of fiber-optic cable called ZBLAN, is a good example: When manufactured in microgravity, the thin cable is less likely to develop tiny crystals that increase signal loss. When built without those flaws, the cable can be orders of magnitude better at transmitting light over long distances, such as for telecommunications, lasers and high-speed internet. The fiber is light enough and can demand a high enough price that sending the materials to manufacture it in space may be able to pay off commercially. Made In Space sent a microwave-size machine to the space station in December to test making at least 300 feet (100 meters) of the cable, and another company is also developing a space station test payload. (Researchers mentioned a third with technology on the way, too.) "One of the challenges for making money from space manufacturing is, it's still quite expensive to launch things to space," Alex MacDonald, senior economic adviser within NASA Headquarters' Office of the Administrator, told Space.com. "You're still dealing with thousands of dollars per kilogram. So, whatever you are going to be making in space that you're going to be sending down to Earth has to be incredibly valuable but also available per unit of mass." "The reason they're doing this is the huge payout, which would be in billions of dollars if you can actually draw the fiber at least an order of magnitude better than silica," Dennis Tucker, a materials scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama who has researched ZBLAN glass for decades, told Space.com. "There's a lot of potential applications if we can do this. Fiber amplifiers, there's lasers for cutting, drilling and surgery infrared imaging, remote IR." "I'd just like it to turn into the first real space-based industry," he added. As the cost of sending things to space continues to decrease, experimenters can envision a number of other scenarios in which the space station environment could be key to manufacturing. For instance, a substance called gallium nitride, used to make LEDs, is difficult to solidify in large amounts at a time because its two constituent molecules don't always bind perfectly in order, leading to defects. Reducing the movement of the melted fluid as hotter and less-dense fluid rises, which occurs because of gravity, can decrease those defects as can preventing the highly reactive substance from touching the sides of its container, according to Randy Giles, chief scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. Someday, substances like that could benefit from in-space creation. The Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a device that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency operates on the space station, is an example of the kind of setup that could avoid a container altogether, Giles said. The furnace can melt and solidify materials while levitating them in place using electrodes. Experiments performed years ago using NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiters also have provided reasons for optimism. Researchers pulled a stainless-steel disk called the Wake Shield Facility behind the shuttle, creating a vacuum in its wake that's 1,000 to 10,000 times emptier than what is possible on Earth. Experimenters used this cleaner vacuum of outer space to make thinner, purer samples of materials like semiconductors. (A large proportion of semiconductor components made on the ground end up being rejected because of impurities interrupting the matrix of atoms.) As Rush put it, "If you have a piece of lint in your computer chip, it's not going to work very well." A stable spot Microgravity offers a promising environment for manufacturing, as it's free from the stirring of convection that sinks heavier material down through a solution. In microgravity, crystals can grow larger; in one experiment, crystals made from proteins grew to be 6 cubic millimeters, on average, compared with 0.5 cubic millimeters here on Earth. Once grown, those crystals can be analyzed to determine the proteins' 3D structures, which can help inform new strategies for drug discovery. Growing other crystals, like those used to manufacture drugs or those that can detect gamma-rays and neutrons, in space so that they're bigger and purer can make the resulting material higher-quality. The same holds true for metals. While metals made from a single element, like iron, can be useful, they can gain strength, flexibility or other special features when they incorporate other elements. For example, integrating carbon, and small amounts of other metals, with iron creates the much stronger and harder steel. Metals that are a combination of elements are called alloys, and some can form only in a low-gravity environment. "Because you don't have stratification as a result of density differences heavy stuff doesn't sink to the bottom, and light stuff [doesn't] go up to the top you can create alloys that are a homogenous blend of metals or minerals that would not ordinarily be able to be manufactured in as large a size on the ground," Harper said. "And, in fact, you may have some unique ones that wouldn't produce an alloy under any conditions on the ground." Metallic glasses don't get brittle in extreme cold, and so could make good materials for the gears of robots operating on icy planets or in space. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Because materials in microgravity don't crystallize as quickly such as the ZBLAN cable you can even coax substances such as metal into amorphous, glass-like forms. Those metallic glasses can be molded at lower temperatures than ordinary metals can, and their noncrystallized structure makes them extra strong and resistant to corrosion. (A metallic glass called Liquidmetal developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Institute of Technology mixes three or more metals to gain twice the strength of titanium.) While some metal alloys and glasses can be made on Earth, others can be developed in large quantities, at least only in the embrace of microgravity. Such alloys and metallic glasses could someday form strong, easily molded spacecraft debris shields, paneling, mirrors and more, as well as contribute to manufacturing on Earth, experts say. Space provides this strange, double-edged construction zone: It lets researchers test out materials to see how they withstand a harsh environment with powerful radiation and extreme temperature changes, but it also provides a particularly calm locale, gravity-wise, compared with Earth. "Space as we know it is focused on being a resource; it gives us GPS communications and Earth observation, the valuable commodity that comes back in digital form: data," Giles told Space.com. "Whereas the materials experiments that are done in the microgravity environment [are] bringing data back that allows and informs people of the materials' behaviors and properties as it may be important for space applications, it also is kind of like a severe shake-and-bake test that can be done on materials that will have Earth applications. "Also, by removing the convection, buoyancy and sedimentation, materials that you bring back can be like your gold standard to which you compare and determine how feasible it is to get a certain desired property," he added. Organ growth Humans don't fare well in space over time, but it might be an ideal place to grow parts of them organs, that is. Cells can grow into larger networks without gravity pulling them down into their container as would happen on Earth. "The idea of how microgravity can help cells grow has been around for a long time; in fact, one of the dominant tools that medical pharmaceutical research uses today, the rotating wall vessel, was actually developed as part of an '80s space shuttle effort at NASA," MacDonald said. That vessel was developed to simulate an aspect of microgravity on Earth by continuously rotating at just the right speed to counter a substance's slow sedimentation down through a nutrient solution. "The cells aren't smart, but they're adaptable," Harper said. "And if they touch a side or a surface, it gives them a message that's biologically misleading." Tumor cells growing on microcarrier beads in a NASA bioreactor on Earth were able to grow in three dimensions over the course of 56 days because of their container's rotating walls. Growing cells in space offers a similar benefit. (Image credit: Jearne Becker/University of South Florida) But the larger a sample gets, the more energy you need to spend keeping its cells from hitting the bottom a perturbation that can break up burgeoning colonies. In free fall in space, such cells can form much larger tissues. Some current work on growing tissue in space focuses on making sure engineered tissues have an adequate blood supply; otherwise, they'll die from the inside out. NASA is currently hosting a vascular tissue challenge which offers $500,000 in prizes for teams of researchers to grow vascularized heart, lung, kidney, liver and muscle tissues more than 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) thick in which most of the tissue can survive for 30 days a feat currently impossible on Earth. (You can read more specifics about the challenge here.) While it's certainly more speculative, this is actually another plausible reason for private companies to get into the space industry, MacDonald said. "Organs, of course, are incredibly high-value, both in their ability to save life, but also their cost in terms of the medical economy," MacDonald said. "You've started to see companies start to experiment so far, not on the space station, but on parabolic flights." It's hard to imagine routinely growing organs in space, but that's one of many possible money-making avenues as it becomes less expensive to put things in orbit. "We know that we don't know all the applications of the space environment for product development, material processing, product finishing," Rush said. "And we haven't explored it; we haven't plumbed the depths of the possibilities there, because of lack of access and high cost. But now we're kind of turning the corner on that. I think it's a very, very exciting time to be really exploring that." The company Alpha Space recently sent the MISSE-FF platform to the International Space Station to test different materials' durability when faced with the harshness of space. (Image credit: Alpha Space) Building for space Another source of excitement for in-space manufacturing is building things for space that will never be constrained by the pull of Earth's gravity or the crushing push of a rocket launch. The International Space Station already harbors 3D printers, which Made In Space has used to produce tools right on the space station. But the company's vision is much grander: Large-scale structures, like space telescopes or solar panels, could be printed in space instead of being folded up to launch into orbit. And visitors to other worlds could someday use the resources locally available to print shelters and other components, traveling only with the digital blueprints. Building in space will require a sound understanding of how materials react in space and how to get raw materials, as well as a rethinking of what can be used in a 3D printer or as the basis for space-made materials, researchers told Space.com. "To me, the exciting part is looking at everything around me as potential feedstock to make new stuff, and that mindset and that paradigm shift has huge implications," Niki Werkheiser, NASA's in-space manufacturing manager, told Space.com. "Whether it be in situ resources, our food, foam, plastic bags, whatever's around us, I'll look at that as, how can I reuse or recycle? And it does require combining and understanding not only the machine's capabilities, but the materials' qualities and properties for what you need to make." But whether microgravity-based materials research looks into building for Earth or for space, this area of investigation is making strange and wonderful things that have never been seen on the ground at those quantities or of that quality. "There's so much potential to do things in this area now that we weren't able to do before, and it's not just dreams and ideas now it's happening," MacDonald said. "There are facilities on orbit that you can use and you can think about improving, and you can think about developing your own facilities. It's a little like small satellites were 10 years ago. People could see that it was very exciting, and we were beginning to do experiments, but I think the really exciting stuff is still to come." Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. An artist's concept of how on-demand aircraft could be integrated into daily life in different communities. Flying cars may not be unique to science fiction for much longer. Uber Technologies Inc., the company behind the popular car service app, is once again partnering with NASA, and this time, it's supplying information to the agency so that it can simulate the flight of a small passenger-carrying aircraft within the airspace of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to two recent statements by NASA. The Urban Air Mobility (UAM) project hopes to develop "a safe and efficient air transportation system where everything from small package delivery drones to passenger-carrying air taxis operate over populated areas, from small towns to the largest cities," according to a statement by the agency on May 7. [NASA Engineer Hired to Work on Uber's Flying-Car Project] Jaiwon Shin, the associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, highlighted the merits of UAM in a May 8 statement, comparing it to the smartphone revolution. An artist's concept of an Urban Air Mobility environment, where air vehicles with a variety of missions can interact safely and efficiently. (Image credit: Lillian Gipson/NASA) NASA officials say their research will help identify any safety issues that air transportation projects of the future might have. This comes after the space agency signed an agreement with Uber to create an air-traffic-control system for a future flying car service called Uber Elevate, also known as UberAir. NASA has signed its second space act agreement with Uber, and according to agency officials, this is the first to focus specifically on simulating and modeling UAM operations. Under the agreement, Uber will share its plans for an urban aviation rideshare network with NASA, and with that information in mind, the space agency will develop models of how aircraft might move or takeoff. Research will also look into preventing these vehicles from creating too much noise, in addition to ensuring they don't overburden the national air-traffic-control system. To accomplish those goals, UAM researchers are pulling in information from related areas of aeronautics. For example, developments in all-electric or hybrid-electric aircraft could allow for relatively quiet flying-vehicle operations, as well as low emissions. And according to the May 7 statement, UAM researchers are also partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop rules and procedures that can manage low-altitude flying. Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Michelle Lampl, director of Emorys Center for the Study of Human Health, draws praise for her dedication as an educator, her concern for students and colleagues, and her outstanding scholarly contributions. Emory Photo/Video Many students can point to one class, one moment, one teacher that was truly transformative in their lives. For Meriah Schoen 14C, an Emory PhD student in nutrition and health sciences at the Rollins School for Public Health, that person is Michelle Lampl, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Anthropology and founder and director of the Center for the Study of Human Health. Like hundreds of other Emory students, Schoen first met Lampl while taking an undergraduate class in predictive health coursework that the physician-scientist designed while creating Emorys human health major, which has drawn national distinction for its innovative interdisciplinary approach. Her teaching style was really unique, recalls Schoen, who earned undergraduate degrees in anthropology and human biology, with a minor in predictive health. Every time you left her class and I know this was also true of my peers you absolutely continued to think about the conversations that youd just had. So the material became relevant not only inside the classroom, but outside of it, useful in so many ways, she says. Nick Leonard, a senior majoring in business administration and human health, found that studying with Lampl absolutely opened the door to my fascination with science and health, ultimately influencing his decision to apply to medical school. When looking at research, she would always challenge us to look closely at the nature of the evidence, he recalls. It almost became a buzz-phrase, but it helped us think about where information actually comes from. For her exceptional talents as an educator, her concern for students and colleagues, and her outstanding scholarly contributions, Lampl has earned the 2018 Exemplary Teacher Award, which is supported by the United Methodist Church's General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Among the universitys top honors, the award (formerly known as the Scholar/Teacher Award) will be presented during Emory Commencement exercises on Monday, May 14. Understanding human growth From an early age, Lampl instinctively viewed the world as a scientist. An avid reader, she devoured biographies of Louis Pasteur and Madame Marie Curie, eager to understand how everything around her worked, from the discovery of vaccines to why seasons change. Growing up in Colorado with a mother who was a classically trained pianist, Lampls childhood interests engulfed both the arts and sciences. By the age of 12, she decided what I really loved was science, discovery and research, she recalls. In that pursuit, Lampl was eventually drawn to the anthropology department at the University of Pennsylvania, noted for exploring challenging questions through a strong, interdisciplinary lens. After completing her undergraduate work there, she would go on to earn both a PhD in anthropology and an MD. Underlying everything was an essential question: What does it mean to be human? At the time, biomedical anthropology was an emerging field, and it would help develop her interest in the growth and behavioral development of infants and children. Her first research subject was her landlords newborn baby. Carefully measuring the infant over a long weekend, Lampl was stunned to discover that between Friday and Monday the child had grown an entire centimeter. She chalked it up to methodological error. But nine days later, it happened again, inspiring Lampl to scientifically investigate what parents have long suspected: human growth doesnt happen in steady, measured sequence, but in spurts. Her landmark findings would initiate the new science of growth spurt biology, and represent a fundamental paradigm shift in the scientific study of human growth. Creating a new major Lampl arrived at Emorys Department of Anthropology in 1994, drawn by an academic community that ardently supported interdisciplinary scholarship. Inspired by work on Emorys 2005 strategic plan and Predictive Health Initiative, Lampl began to envision the possibilities of an entirely new major that explored the wide-reaching impact of human health through an array of academic perspectives an interdisciplinary degree intended to capture the imagination surrounding the emerging science of health. In 2013, the new human health degree became a reality. What began as a major with four students has exploded in popularity. Over the past five years, some 500 Emory students have pursued human health majors or minors. Once you understand health, its all around us, says Lampl, sitting in her office in Emorys Center for the Study of Human Health, which brings together campus initiatives, programs and projects for the interdisciplinary study of health. There is no question that its important, she says. What pleases me is how much people have embraced it. What excites me is how much more we can do. To date, some 100 educators from across the university have taught in Emorys undergraduate human health program, including faculty from the schools of medicine, nursing, public health, law, theology and business. Her contributions to Emorys Department of Anthropology and her leadership of the Center for the Study of Human Health have been integral to the strength of those two signature programs at Emory, says Michael A. Elliott, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences, adding that it represents service of the highest order. But equally important is how Lampl has impacted the lives and scholarship of Emory students. In addition to her groundbreaking research, Professor Lampl is a top-notch teacher, says Elliott. Her ability to engage and inspire students has been a model for many others on this campus. For Emory junior Lamar Greene, recently named a 2018 Harry S. Truman Scholar, taking a predictive health class with Lampl was transformative, directly influencing his decision to major in human health with a concentration in health innovation offered collaboratively through Human Health and Goizueta Business School. His goal? Working nationally to reduce health care disparities. He credits Lampl with inspiring him to seek ways to improve the national health care system, perhaps through health philanthropy, maybe political action committees. If you want to change the system, you have to understand how to talk about it, Greene says. Dr. Lampl works with you, pushing you on the ideas you bring forth, always focusing on how little details can add to the bigger picture. Shes a true visionary, he adds. The Owens Valley Radio Observatory looks like it exists on another world, though the telescopes are grounded here on Earth in California, where they scour the heavens for radio signals, some of which could come from extraterrestrial intelligence. A climate denier from Texas may be the reason the S-word is back in vogue in Congress. Oh yeah, not that S-word, the other one: SETI. That's right, Congress is talking about spending a bunch of money on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (or SETI) for the first time in 25 years. The U.S. House of Representatives has proposed a bill that includes $10 million in NASA funding for the next two years "to search for technosignatures, such as radio transmissions, in order to meet the NASA objective to search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe." Such technosignatures would come in the form of radio waves that have the telltale features of being produced by TV- or radio-type technologies. An intelligent civilization could also produce those signals intentionally to communicate with other civilizations like ours. "If it passes, it would definitely be a sea-change in Congressional attitude since Sen. [Richard] Bryan terminated NASA's SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, in 1993," renowned astronomer Jill Tarter, former diretor of the SETI Institute, told Live Science in an email. Here's what Tarter is referring to: In 1992, a huge NASA SETI initiative was launched in order to build instrumentation so that observatories could comb the cosmos for signals from alien civilizations. For instance, the high resolution microwave survey was hooked up to the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico for just that. A year later, however, Nevada Sen. Bryan shut it down, and "SETI" became an unmentionable. [Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us] "[Bryan] made it clear to the administration that if they came back with SETI in their budget again, it wouldn't be good for the NASA budget," Tarter told Marina Koren of The Atlantic. "So, we instantly became the four-letter S-word that you couldn't say at headquarters anymore, and that has stuck for quite a while." She added that the funding proposal seems to be an extension of the efforts of Rep. Lamar Smith, RTexas, to bring attention to the search for life beyond Earth when he was the chairman of the House Science Committee. (Smith, who announced that he will retire at the end of his term this year, is a known denier of human-caused climate change.) If the legislation clears the House and passes the Senate, the result would be huge. "It allows for new instrumentation to be built, and data collected and analyzed at scale, by a global community," Tarter said of the $10 million. Of course, the hunt for intelligence beyond Earth has not stopped, as private companies and other organizations have funded it, but a buy-in from the federal government is a big deal. [7 Huge Misconceptions about Aliens] "You need to remember that this is an authorization bill, not an appropriations bill. Even if it passes, the appropriators may not provide any SETI funding in their bill. But if they do, that would be a very big deal," said Tarter, who was the basis for the heroine Ellie Arroway in Carl Sagan's novel "Contact" and in the adapted movie by the same name. Tarter is admittedly ecstatic about the possibility of such a federal focus on SETI. But you don't become the director of the SETI Institute by keeping your feet on the ground. "Bring it on! But don't stop there," Tarter said about the potential funding. "Earthlings everywhere are fascinated with this search and care about the answer. So, we should create an international endowment for searching for intelligent life beyond Earth. The backers should be private individuals, enlightened corporations, U.S. federal agencies and agencies from other governments around the world." She added, "By smoothing out the funding roller coaster that has characterized this research field from the beginning, it will be possible to attract the best and brightest minds with the best ideas from everywhere, and commit to the long-term search efforts that might be required for success." Are alien greetings just around the corner? Tarter said we have the technology now to search for more distant and fainter signals in ways we haven't tried before. "But that doesn't guarantee success in the 'near future.' The cosmos is vast, and we may not yet be looking in the right way, although we are doing the best job possible with what we now know." The "correct perspective on timing," Tarter said, is summed up in a line from a paper published in 1959 in the journal Nature by Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison: "'The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but if we never search, the chance of success is zero,'" Tarter said. Original article on Live Science. A groundbreaking quantum experiment recently confirmed the reality of "spooky action-at-a-distance" the bizarre phenomenon that Einstein hated in which linked particles seemingly communicate faster than the speed of light. And all it took was 12 teams of physicists in 10 countries, more than 100,000 volunteer gamers and over 97 million data units all of which were randomly generated by hand. The volunteers operated from locations around the world, playing an online video game on Nov. 30, 2016, that produced millions of bits, or "binary digits" the smallest unit of computer data. Physicists then used those random bits in so-called Bell tests, designed to show that entangled particles, or particles whose states are mysteriously linked, can somehow transfer information faster than light can travel, and that these particles seem to "choose" their states at the moment they are measured. [What Is Quantum Mechanics?] Their findings, recently reported in a new study, contradicted Einstein's description of a state known as "local realism," study co-author Morgan Mitchell, a professor of quantum optics at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, told Live Science in an email. "We showed that Einsteins world-view of local realism, in which things have properties whether or not you observe them, and no influence travels faster than light, cannot be true at least one of those things must be false," Mitchell said. This introduces the likelihood of two mind-bending scenarios: Either our observations of the world actually change it, or particles are communicating with each other in some manner that we can't see or influence. "Or possibly both," Mitchell added. Einstein's worldview Is it true? Since the 1970s, physicists have tested the plausibility of local realism by using experiments called Bell tests, first proposed in the 1960s by Irish physicist John Bell. To conduct these Bell tests, physicists compare randomly chosen measurements, such as the polarization of two entangled particles, like photons, that exist in different locations. If one photon is polarized in one direction (say, up), the other will be going sideways only a certain percentage of the time. If the number of times that the particle measurements mirror each other goes above that threshold regardless of what the particles are or the order in which the measurements are selected that suggests the separated particles "choose" their state only at the moment they are measured. And it implies that the particles can instantly communicate with each other the so-called spooky action at a distance that bothered Einstein so much. These synched responses thereby contradict the notion of genuinely independent existence, a view that forms the foundation of the principle of local realism upon which the rules of classical mechanics are based. But, time after time, tests have shown that entangled particles do demonstrate correlated states that exceed the threshold; that the world is, indeed, spooky; and that Einstein was wrong. [The 18 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics] Volunteers in 190 countries played a game that provided researchers with more than 97,000 random bits, which the scientists applied to measurements for entangled particles. (Image credit: ICFO) However, Bell tests require that the choice of what to measure should be truly random. And that's hard to show, since unseen factors can influence researchers' selections, and even computers' random data generation isn't truly random. This creates a flaw in Bell tests known as the freedom-of-choice loophole the possibility that "hidden variables" could influence the settings used in the experiments, the scientists reported. If the measurements aren't truly random, the Bell tests can't definitively rule out local realism. During the Big Bell Test initiative on Nov. 30, 2016, over 100,000 people used an online game to generate data for a global physics experiment. (Image credit: ICFO) Each of the laboratories performed different experiments, using different particles single atoms, groups of atoms, photons and superconducting devices and their results showed "strong disagreement with local realism" in a variety of tests, according to the study, which was published online today (May 9) in the journal Nature. The experiments also demonstrated an intriguing similarity between humans and quantum particles, related to randomness and free will. If the Bell tests' human-influenced measurements were truly random not influenced by the entangled particles themselves then the behaviors of both humans and particles were random, Mitchell explained. "If we are free, so are they," he said. Original article on Live Science. SpaceX's first "Block 5" Falcon 9 rocket and its payload, the Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite, stand poised to launch on May 10, 2018. An automatic abort was triggered 58 seconds before liftoff, pushing the launch back at least a day. SpaceX will try again today (May 11) to launch its first-ever "Block 5" Falcon 9 rocket, and you can watch the action live. The Block 5 the latest and final version of the workhorse Falcon 9 was scheduled to launch the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 yesterday (May 10) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. But an as-yet-undisclosed issue triggered an automatic abort just 58 seconds from liftoff, pushing the attempt back a day. Launch is now targeted for 4:14 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT) today from KSC's historic Pad 39A, which once hosted liftoffs for NASA's space shuttle and Apollo programs. You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via SpaceX's website, beginning about 20 minutes before liftoff. The action will include a landing attempt by the two-stage rocket's first stage on a ship at sea. [See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures] The Block 5 was upgraded to meet NASA's crew-carrying requirements; SpaceX will use the rocket to launch agency astronauts toward the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX holds a multibillion-dollar deal with NASA to perform such taxi services, as does aerospace giant Boeing. The Block 5 also features a series of improvements that should significantly boost its reusability. Whereas the first stages of previous Falcon 9 iterations have launched a maximum of two times, the Block 5 first stage will be capable of 10 orbital flights with just inspections between liftoff and landing, and perhaps 100 or more with some refurbishment involved, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said during a teleconference with reporters yesterday. Musk said that the Block 5 is designed to be the most reliable rocket ever built, and that he's confident in the vehicle's long-term prospects. But the vehicle's maiden flight is causing him some anxiety, he added. "You know, it could be a thousand things that go right on this rocket, and one that goes wrong, and a passing grade for rockets the reason that it's so hard to make an orbital rocket work is that your passing grade is 100 percent," Musk said during yesterday's telecon. "And you can't fully and properly test an orbital rocket until it launches, because you can't recreate those exact conditions on Earth. Everything's sort of a proxy for traveling hypersonically through a vacuum. Yeah. Man. Anyway, I'm stressed." He added this last bit with a chuckle, then told the reporters that "any good wishes would be appreciated." Bangabandhu-1 will be Bangladesh's first satellite. The spacecraft was built by French company Thales Alenia Space, and the government of Bangladesh will use it to provide a variety of communications services to its citizens. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook orGoogle+. Originally published on Space.com. GRAND HOTELEva Longoria executive produces this bold, provocative drama set at the last family-owned hotel in multicultural Miami Beach. Charismatic Santiago Mendoza owns the hotel, while his glamorous second wife, Gigi, and their adult children enjoy the spoils of success. The hotels loyal staff round out a contemporary, fresh take on an upstairs/downstairs story. Wealthy and beautiful guests bask in luxury, but scandals, escalating debt and explosive secrets hide beneath the picture-perfect exterior. The show is based on the Spanish series.The series stars Demian Bichir as Santiago Mendoza, Roselyn Sanchez as Gigi Mendoza, Denyse Tontz as Alicia Mendoza, Bryan Craig as Javi Mendoza, Wendy Raquel Robinson as Mrs. P, Lincoln Younes as Danny, Shalim Ortiz as Mateo, Anne Winters as Ingrid, Chris Warren as Jason, Feliz Ramirez as Carolina and Justina Adorno as Yoli.Brian Tanen is the writer and executive producer; Eva Longoria and Ben Spector (UnbeliEVAble), Ramon Campos and Teresa Fernandez-Valdes (Beta) are executive producers of the series. Ken Olin directed the pilot. Series produced by ABC Studios.WHISKEY CAVALIERWhiskey Cavalier is a high-octane, hour-long action dramedy that follows the adventures of tough but tender FBI super-agent Will Chase (codename: Whiskey Cavalier), played by Scott Foley. Following an emotional break-up, Chase is assigned to work with badass CIA operative Francesca Frankie Trowbridge (codename: Fiery Tribune), played by Lauren Cohan. Together, they lead an inter-agency team of flawed, funny and heroic spies who periodically save the world (and each other) while navigating the rocky roads of friendship, romance and office politics. The series is from writer/executive producer Dave Hemingson and executive producer Bill Lawrence with Warner Bros. Television.The series stars Scott Foley as Will Chase, Lauren Cohan as Francesca Frankie Trowbridge, Ana Ortiz as Susan Sampson, Tyler James Williams as Edgar Standish and Vir Das as Jai Datta.Dave Hemingson is writer and executive producer; Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold (Doozer Productions) are executive producers; Peter Atencio is director and executive producer (pilot), and Scott Foley is producer of the series from Warner Bros. Television. Attorney and author Marcia Clark co-writes and executive produces a new legal drama about Maya Travis, an L.A. district attorney who suffers a devastating defeat when prosecuting an A-list actor for double murder. With her high-profile career derailed, she flees for a quieter life in Washington. Eight years later when this same celebrity is under suspicion for another murder, Maya Travis is lured back to the DA's office for another chance at justice. This legal thriller is executive produced/co-written by Clark, Liz Craft and Sarah Fain, and is from Mandeville TV and ABC Studios.The Fix stars Robin Tunney as Maya Travis, Adam Rayner as Matthew Collier, Merrin Dungey as CJ, Breckin Meyer as Alan Wiest, Marc Blucas as Riv, Mouzam Makkar as LoniKampoor, Alex Saxon as Gabriel Johnson, with Scott Cohen as Ezra Wolf and Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje as Sevvy Johnson.Elizabeth Craft & Sarah Fain and Marcia Clark are writers and executive producers, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks are executive producers (Mandeville). Larysa Kondracki directed the pilot. Bir Lehlou (liberated territories) , May 10,2018 (SPS)- President of the republic, Secretary General of the POLISARIO Front, Brahim Ghali, has sent a reply letter to the president of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, as a response to the letter he received from his Tanzanian counterpart following the tragic death of 30 Saharawi citizens in the Algerian plane crash on the 11th of April 2018. This is the full text of the letter: H.E. Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli President of the United Republic of Tanzania Dar es Salaam Bir Lehlou, 09 May 2018 Excellency and Dear Brother, I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your very kind letter, dated 13th April 2018, conveying me and to the Saharawi people your sincere condolences following the tragic death of 30 Saharawi citizens in the Algerian plane crash on the 11th of April 2018. Your sincere sentiments were a great consolation for us in those days of deep sorrow, it comforts us to know and feel that our friends share our grief. I wish to express my profound gratitude to your Excellency and, through you, to the Government and the Brotherly people of the United Republic of Tanzania for your unwavering support and firm solidarity with our people on behalf of the Saharawi people, the bereaved families and, indeed, on my own behalf. Please accept, Excellency and Dear Brother, the assurances of my highest consideration. Brahim Ghali President of Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic Secretary General of the POLISARIO Front. (SPS) 090/110 A trio of Stamford companies recorded rising returns in the past quarter, according to earnings reports released this week. For the first quarter of this year, chemicals and minerals maker Tronox reported revenues of $442 million, up 17 percent from a year ago. Its loss of $44 million reflected transactional and impairment losses totaling $45 million tied to the sale of its electrolytic operations and proposed $1.7 billion acquisition of the titanium dioxide business of Saudi Arabia-based chemicals and minerals firm Cristal. Tronox sued the Federal Trade Commission last January, arguing that the agency was resorting to improper tactics to block the acquisition, which was originally announced in February 2017. The company said this week it had filed a motion with the FTC that would allow for settlement discussions. Insurer Navigators Group recorded quarterly revenues of about $344 million, up about 12 percent from a year ago. Profits came to approximately $31 million. Navigators President and CEO Stan Galanski cited the companys GlobalRe reinsurance business as a stand-out, driven by its accident and health and Latin American operations. He also noted the return to profitability of the companys international insurance segment, a trend that he said reflected Navigators focus on repositioning its portfolio by leaving non-performing product lines and reducing its cost structure. Navigators recorded a combined ratio of 94 percent in the quarter. The ratio measures the percentage of premiums used to cover losses and underwriting expenses. Any ratio less than 100 indicates an underwriting profit. IT consulting and research group Information Services Group produced record quarterly returns of about $69 million, increasing 3 percent from a year ago. Its profits came to $164,000. The firms Digital Services business, which includes Robotic Process Automation services, generated more than 40 percent of revenues. On Wednesday, ISG marked the relocation of its headquarters within the city, to 2187 Atlantic St., in the citys South End. With the move, ISG doubled its office footprint, compared with its previous home at 281 Tresser Blvd. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott Whether it's considered a night of fun with friends or an event at which to strut your stuff, high school students across the country and around southwestern Connecticut are in the height of prom season. But before teens can hit the dance floor, they have to pick out the perfect outfit for the occasion. More Living 2018 prom trends in SW Connecticut After analyzing local and national online fashion search data, global fashion search platform Lyst has compiled some of the most dominant trends in Connecticut and beyond this prom season. While teens in Connecticut spend an average of $300 for their prom dress, the inspirations for their looks are wide ranging: from Disney princesses to Kylie Jenner, Lyst found that the biggest trends this year for prom are as diverse as they are interesting. STAMFORD Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Steven Weiss remembers when scheduling court cases went digital. It was 20 years ago when the criminal clerks office at the Stamford courthouse began using computers to schedule cases and giving them a placeholder trial date of Nov. 11, 2019. Cases were previously marked as ready, but the computer system required a placeholder date. But now as that date nears, the computer is no longer accepting it because its Veterans Day a court holiday. I remember thinking here we go, computers are beginning to run our lives. They are telling us we need to pick a date, so we are picking a date, Weiss said, shaking his head. Its like the future catching up to us. Its like 1984 is not science fiction to us any more. 2001 A Space Odyssey is not science fiction anymore. Ryan Flanagan, the coutrhouses caseflow coordinator, is now using Nov. 11, 2025 as a dummy date. The court clerks will have to reschedule the about 320 criminal and traffic cases assigned to Nov. 11, 2019, according to statistics provided by Larry DOrsi, deputy director of criminal operations for the Connecticut Judicial Branch. Defense attorney Victor Biancardi said it could only take two or three criminal jury cases happening at the same time to completely jam up the courthouse. Of the 185 criminal cases disposed of in Stamford during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2017, only one case went to trial. Statewide during the same time, 2,537 criminal cases were disposed of and only 137 went to trial, according to statistics from the state Judicial Branch. Cases go on the trial list for a variety of reasons, defense attorney Lindy Urso said. If you dont come to a meeting of the minds with a prosecutor, if you dont come to an agreement of what you think is a fair disposition, you put the case on the trial list. Other reasons would be if your client is innocent, Urso said. Over the years, Stamford has become known for sweating the small stuff and that contributes to a logjam on a trial list. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com STAMFORD Melanie Jones spirit of helping others started during her childhood, when her love of animals inspired her to walk dogs as a favor to her Glenbrook neighbors. Since then Jones, 22, has become more altruistic, spending about 30 hours a semester volunteering with her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, and taking on projects around her campus at Western Connecticut State University and in her hometown of Stamford. Jones, who is graduating from WCSU this month with a bachelors in music education, was recently honored with the Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award for outstanding academic achievement and dedication to community and on-campus involvement. She is one of 12 seniors from the four regional collegesto receive the honor, which comes with a $500 scholarship for post-educational experiences. A student teacher at Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich and Darien High School for her final-semester requirements, Jones was initially hesitant when she received a letter urging her to apply for the award. With her moms encouragement, she went ahead, and is still a bit surprised that she won. I thought: this is going to be one of these Thank you for applying (emails), she said. When I found out I got it, I was so happy...Ever since then Ive been feeling so great. Its a good way to end my senior year. Jones volunteer work included selling nail polish to benefit Jewish Women International, one of her sorority philanthropies, and cleaning up parks around Danbury. Through Sigma Delta Taus community service programs, she also spent time raising awareness about mental health on campus and worked with special-needs students. Jones said her tendency toward volunteering began as a student at graduate of the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, where students are required to perform 40 hours of community service to graduate. Its just something that became normal to me, she said. It became a fun thing to give back to the community and hang out with my friends and do something nice. Jones work extends to Stamford as well. Since she was 13, shes spent summers volunteering at the Ferguson Librarys summer reading club and the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County on Glenbrook Road. An alumna of the Stamford High School band, she also helps out with the band there and at Westhill High School, teaching percussion groups and volunteering for the bands annual Christmas tree sale. I go over there all the time, Jones said. Thats what I love to do. Jones will move this summer to Australia, where she will gain more experience teaching while working toward a masters in instrumental conducting or general education. erin.kayata@stamfordadvocate.com; (203) 964-2265; @erin_kayata Story Highlights 70% of Americans age 18 to 34 worry about global warming This compares with 62% of those 35 to 54 and 56% who are 55 or older WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public concern about global warming is evident across all age groups in the U.S., with majorities of younger and older Americans saying they worry about the problem a great deal or fair amount. However, the extent to which Americans take global warming seriously and worry about it differs markedly by age, with adults under age 35 typically much more engaged with the problem than those 55 and older. Americans' Attitudes About Global Warming, by Age 18 to 34 35 to 54 55 and older Age gap (18 to 34 minus 55+) % % % pct. pts. Think global warming will pose a serious threat in your lifetime 51 47 29 22 Think global warming is caused by human activities 75 62 55 20 Think problem of global warming is underestimated in the news 48 38 31 17 Think most scientists believe global warming is occurring 73 69 58 15 Worry a great deal/fair amount about global warming 70 63 56 14 Think effects of global warming already begun 62 63 54 8 Understand global warming issue very/fairly well 82 80 76 6 Gallup The biggest generational gap is visible in the belief that global warming will pose a serious threat in one's own lifetime. This clearly reflects the different timeframes involved for each age group; the older one gets, the less time in one's lifetime for global warming's effects to be realized. The second-largest age gap comes with the belief that global warming is caused by human activities. Younger adults are also significantly more likely to think news reports on global warming underestimate the problem. They are more likely to worry about the problem and to believe there is a scientific consensus that global warming is occurring. Younger and older Americans come closest in agreement in their views that the effects of global warming have already begun, and in self-reports of understanding global warming. These figures are based on combined data from Gallup's annual Environment polls from 2015 to 2018. Several Factors Most Likely Drive the Age Gap There are several potential reasons for these generational differences surrounding climate change. One, as is evident in particular on the question about global warming's effects in one's lifetime, results from the fact that older Americans may perceive that they will no longer be living when global warming changes the world more dramatically. Another reason results from the relationship between age and party identification. Gallup has previously found a significant partisan divide on Americans' attitudes concerning global warming. This partisan gap may be reflected in the trend by age group, with younger Americans tending to tilt toward the Democratic Party, and thus being more likely to adopt the Democratic position on global warming. Finally, younger people may have been exposed to more discussion about climate change and the environment in their more recent education experiences, while the issue was not on the educational agenda for many Americans who were in school decades ago. ##SPEEDBUMP## MASHANTUCKET Matthew M. Corey, the owner of a Hartford pub and a window-washing service, on Friday won a come-from-behind effort to win the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. Corey, 54, a Navy veteran and former truck driver from Enfield who twice lost congressional races to 1st District U.S. Rep. John Larson, won four of five congressional districts during the hour-long balloting among more than 800 delegates. He took 53 percent of the vote This election is bigger than we are, Corey said. Sen. Murphy does not represent the state of Connecticut. Sen. Murphy is only out for himself. Dominc Rapini, a national accounts manager for computer giant Apple, won enough support to force a primary. He too 35 percent of the vote. But both Corey and Rapini are nearly broke, according to records on file with the Federal Election Commission. According to the Federal Election Commission, Corey has $13,336 on hand for the race, with a debt of $3,000. Rapini, 57, was a star athlete at Hamden High School and Trinity College and is in his first political campaign. While he is the best-funded of the three GOP hopefuls with $47,500 on hand, still faces a steep uphill climb to challenge Murphy, with $7.7 million on hand for his first re-election. We need a true voice for us in Washington, said state Sen. George Logan of Ansonia, who made the nomination for Rapiniat about 6 p.m. Dom is someone that we need in the U.S. Senate. We need someone who can compete with Chris Murphy and keep his money on the sidelines. This is our opportunity. It is time for Connecticut to start winning again. Rapini also reported debts of $34,953 to the Federal Election Commission Perennial statewide candidate Joe Visconti, 61, who shifted a previous gubernatorial bid to the Senate, received 3 percent of the vote and did not qualify to primary. He touted the endorsement this week of Corey Lewandowski, President Trumps former campaign manager who is now a conservative political pundit. Visconti, a West Hartford construction manager and gun-rights activist, ran for governor as an unaffiliated candidate in 2014, then dropped out just a few days before Gov. Dan Malloy won re-election over Tom Foley of Greenwich. Despite dropping out, Visconti still took more than 11,450 votes. P ERHAPS the most significant aspect of last weeks launch of Aroras alternative plan for Heathrow expansion was the welcome it received from the industry [Hotel moguls 14bn half-price plan for Heathrow expansion, May 3]. Coming just a week after Heathrow announced its hunt for investors to defray the risk of its expansion plans, it appears that the airports confidence in its ability to finance expansion is on the wane just as the industry is losing confidence in its ability to execute it. Yet these developments remain peripheral to the insurmountable challenge, which no scheme to expand the airport could ever circumnavigate. For there is no scheme that will not deleteriously have an impact, in terms of both noise and emissions, on the airports surroundings which just so happens to be the countrys most densely populated residential region. With opposition to a third runway gathering momentum, particularly after such strong opposition to expansion from political parties in boroughs around Heathrow in the local elections and the industry (and perhaps even Heathrow) identifying frailties in the project, is it not time for the Government to remove its blinkers and change course? Paul McGuinness Chair, No 3rd Runway Coalition EDITOR'S REPLY Dear Paul Thanks for your letter I understand your fears, although I dont share them. Heathrow needs a new runway, weve been waiting for it for years and its time to press on. Why? First, because its where people want to fly. Only Heathrow is close to London, linked to good rail and road transport and in reach of other parts of Britain. Second, because Heathrow can manage the impact on residents. Theres no evidence houses prices are reduced by flights to Heathrow, as multi-million pound properties under the flight path in places like Kew show. Many in west London work there and want it to grow. Planes are getting quieter too. Third, project costs are being brought down. When whats called the National Policy Statement comes to the Commons next month only timidity from ministers and an Opposition leadership which dislikes Heathrow stand in the way. You are right that its not yet a done deal but it should be. Julian Glover, Comment Editor We should be wary of Google Home FURTHER to your article [Googles new smart home tech will power the neighbourhood watch of the future May 4], technologies aimed at improving peoples security could be beneficial. However, as we have seen with the recent Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal, big companies dominate the data ecosystem. They gather our personal data and exploit it in ways we dont understand to profile and judge us in secret. Systems such as a Google-powered neighbourhood watch will monitor us to make judgments about how we choose to live our lives. Do we want a system powered by an opaque corporation to monitor us, our children and our families? We must be able to understand how major companies use our data to profile and make decisions about us. Christopher Weatherhead Privacy International Victorian buskers I was amused to read Edward Smiths comment [Spare us buskers on Elizabeth line, May 9]. With time on our hands and a desperate need for escapism, podcasts have really come into their own during lockdown. Not least because mercifully they dont require any time spent scaring at a screen. And in recent years the fashion industry has embraced the medium with gusto. From exploring the realities of working in the industry, or the urgency of addressing the colossal environmental damage it causes, through to frothy red carpet dissections and celebrity banter, a podcast is relaxing way to immerse yourself in some of fashions most fascinating stories. Read on for the best fashion podcasts to listen to now. Chanel Connects Chanel Metiers dart 2020/21 People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} 2020 was a year of seismic change that created an existential moment for culture, with artists forced to consider how, why and where they tell stories and connect with audiences. To interrogate this shift, Chanel has launched a seven-episode podcast, bringing together talents from film, art, architecture, dance, music, and fashion to imagine the new cultural frontiers of 2021. Conversations span topics from technology in creative working, to culture as an agent for social change, and the guestlist includes the likes of actresses Tilda Swinton and Keira Knightley, musician Pharell Williams, designer ES Devlin and curator Andrew Bolton. Chanel Connects sees cultural gamechangers delve deep into their imaginations to share ideas across disciplines, projects and institutions," says Yana Peel, the brands Global Head of Arts and Culture. As well as fascinating insight into the minds of todays most creative innovators, its a prescient reminder to continue supporting the arts, championing whats next and celebrating work that has the power to transform lives and wider society. Business of Fashion Heralded as the fashion bible, this podcast from Business of Fashion will appeal to an industry audience. Meticulously detailed in content, listen to BOF journalists and CEO Imran Ahmed interview the industrys biggest innovators. Covering topics from biofabrications to conversational commerce, it's not for the faint-hearted, nevertheless it offers a fascinating examination into how the industry is rapidly evolving. Listen to episode 40: The Great Fur Debate. The name says it all. Fashion No Filter Influencer Camille Charriere and journalist pal Monica De La Villadiere break the superficial taboo associated with fashion, with intimate cafe-style interviews with interesting industry figures. From the Instagram generation for the Instagram generation, the duo give a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how the fashion industry operates, while still being an accessible pleasure to listen to. An archive with timeless relevance, look to episodes What Men Really Think of Fashion, and Eco Warriors. The Wardrobe Crisis Illustration by Juliet If youre on a mission to educate yourself on fashions devastating impact on the environment, this award-winning podcast is the perfect place to start. Lunched by Vogue Australias first ever sustainability editor Clare Press in 2017 and now on its 133rd episode, The Wardrobe Crisis profiles the industry innovators setting about to make a change from within, much like Press herself. Ted Talks While not strictly reserved to fashion, sifting through the Ted Talks archive conjures up a select number of fashion-related episodes. Averaging on quick 15-minute insights into some forward-thinking ideas, consider it a fashion-quickie - no doubt you'll learn something. Noteworthy episodes include a celebration of natural hair with Cheyenne Cochrane, and 3 Creative Ways to Fix Fashion's Waste Problem with Amit Kalra. Fashion hags From obsessive red carpet dissections to criticisms over relevant industry issues, Vancouver trio Abby, Evan and Katie's down-to-earth commentary will guarantee a few laughs. Occasional swearing, strong opinions and shade-throwing make for an entertaining hour. As self-confessed non-industry experts, their obvious passion for fashion fuels far more accessible conversations - ideal if you enjoy tuning into a podcast cocktail in hand. Check out episodes 56: The Demise of the Fashion Magazine, and 37: How Dat T-Shirt Get Made? Sheerluxe Those wanting an up-to-date summary on the latest happenings in fashion, beauty and culture will find the SheerLuxe Highlights a handy companion each fortnight. Although with a very newsy focus, their Success Stories series has a more timeless archive featuring interviews with some of Britain's most inspiring female entrepreneurs. The Vogue Podcast Joan Smalls Vogue cover If the sassy demeanour of Andre Leon Talley doesn't sell it to you, maybe the fact that it's Vogue will. From a position of undoubted authority in fashion, a scroll through their archive offers interesting interviews with some of the top names in the business. The recently added In Vogue: The 1990s series is a must for nostalgia enthusiasts, featuring episodes on everything from Tom Fords Gucci to the rise of the supermodel and grunge. You Must Remember This While it's not strictly related to fashion, all fashion lovers will be captivated by this podcast. Mini-series portraits shed light on some of the famous scandals and behind-the-scenes gossip surrounding Hollywood's biggest 20th century stars. Anyone who romanticises in pop-culture of the past will indulge in the intimate revelations of Hollywood's Golden Age elite. Particularly controversial series look at Madonna: From Guy Pierce to Warren Beatty, and Dead Blondes including conspiracies surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death. Articles of Interest Whoever thought fashion and philosophy made an unlikely match, Avery Trufelman begs to differ on her new podcast Articles of Interest. A spin-off series from the design podcast hit 99% Invisible, Trufelman takes us on a thought-provoking fashion quest examining the real meaning behind certain trends and how they inform what we wear. If youve ever wondered why womens clothes have tiny pockets or how your denim collection is impacting the environment, this podcast should be on your radar. Fashion Fix BBC The late womenswear designer Azzedine Alaia has been honoured with a large-scale retrospective at London's Design Museum. Opened on Thursday and entitled Azzedine Alaia: The Couturier, the exhibition was co-curated by Alaia himself alongside Mark Wilson, chief curator of the Groninger Museum. The exhibition took a year to develop, and went ahead as planned despite the designers untimely passing on November 18, 2017. "The museum felt an Alaia exhibition would be the most amazing first fashion exhibition for the new Design Museum," says the museum's co-director Alice Black. "His sense of form, of the shape of the feminine body, his ability to make it beautiful and powerful, his unmatched mastery in creating and making, his freedom of being who he wanted to be, his independence of thinking, resonated so well with the ethos of the museum." More than 60 of Alaias incredible couture creations - personally selected by Alaia from the archives - are on display alongside specially commissioned pieces of design and sculpture by Konstantin Grcic, Marc Newson and Kris Ruhs, with whom Alaia collaborated in 2015. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Alaia is also said to have spent time documenting his creative process for the exhibition, making it a must-see for fashion students. Recognised throughout his life as a master couturier, Alaia was famed for his ability to sculpt the female form using innovative fits, fabrics and tailoring. He was an incredibly talented craftsman and one of the few couturiers to still painstakingly cut all his own patterns. He designed garments by draping material directly around the human frame, and his sensual, form-fitting creations were loved by everyone from Lady Gaga, Tina Turner and Rihanna to Madonna, Michelle Obama and Victoria Beckham. In July 2017, the Tunisian-born designer returned to the couture calendar after a six-year hiatus and was ready to open a long-awaited London flagship early this year. Upon his death, an outpouring of tributes flooded social media, with countless celebrities acknowledging his talents as a designer and his warmth and brilliance as a person. The most notable eulogy was delivered by Naomi Campbell, who took to the stage at the 2017 Fashion Awards, to pay homage her close friend. Azzedine was able to transform a womans body into something special; make you look great and still like a woman. He captured the essence of femininity. She goes on to note he was the most generous, kind, compassionate and humble man I have ever known, with a mischievous sense of humour in the glint of his eye he filled my life with light and joy. Alaia had a broad and loyal fanbase, and a large celebrity following. As one of the final projects from one of the most important fashion figures of the past century, the exhibition at the Design Museum offers an amazing and unique opportunity to see Alaias work as he intended it to be seen. Book your tickets now. O ur Arry likes to party. These days he's a married man and a father-to-be, after the Duchess of Sussex announce news of her pregnancy, but he used to be a regular on Londons club scene. Hes more likely to be found with the Chipping Norton set in Soho farmhouse now, but there are still a few places around town that have the Royal connection to thank for their glamour. While he might often cut his Ciroc with Red Bull, Harrys been known to sip pints in his friends pubs. Theres Chelseas oldest boozer, the Cross Keys, where Harry and Meghan drank while it was owned by Mark Dyer, Charles former equerry. Given Dyers no longer involved, Harrys less likely to swing by these days but the pubs roll call of illustrious punters means its still worth a visit: Bob Marley, Dylan Thomas, The Rolling Stones and Agatha Christie were all regulars, as were Turner, Whistler and Sargent. Prince Harry in 60 seconds Exclusive offers and competitions weekly Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Dyer was also involved in Fulhams Brown Cow and the Sands End, which Harry used to swing by with his brother. Both are gastropubs and both do the same job as the Cross Keys; come for steaks, pork belly, duck leg and wash them down with something from a very long wine list. Cocktails are pretty good, too. The key to drinking like a Royal, it seems, is to always know the owner. Harry is lucky that Charlie Gilkes is an old chum from Eton; Gilkes is behind the Inception group, who own Thatcher-themed club Maggie's, secret bar Barts, Tube-themed den Cahoots and the Mr Foggs set. Harry was most often seen at Bunga Bunga in Battersea, though; he might have had the pizza, but probably was really there for cabaret and karaoke. Loading.... The Prince also has a friend in Markus Anderson, the man who introduced him to Meghan. Anderson looks after membership for Soho House; its probably not coincidence that the pairs first date was at the groups Dean Street Townhouse. The pair also are said to occasionally knock back a Negroni at the Chiltern Firehouse. Surprise, surprise, owner Andre Balazs daughter is dating Arthur Landon, one of Hazzas long term mates. Prince Harry and Prince William - In pictures 1 /27 Prince Harry and Prince William - In pictures PA REUTERS POOL/AFP via Getty Images The Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry take part in a relay race, during a training event to promote the charity Heads Together, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge try out light sabres during a tour of the Star Wars sets at Pinewood studios IN 2016 Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry in Policemen outfits. PA A three year old Prince Harry receives a helping hand from his older brother Prince William on his first day at kindergarten in Chepstow Villas in 1987 PA Prince William, (at 9 years old) with his younger brother, Prince Harry (at 7 years old) wear baseball-style caps given to them by the crew of the Canadian frigate HMCS Ottowa in 1991 PA AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Prince Harry has asked Prince William to be his best man at his wedding to Meghan Markle PA Prince Harry and Prince William hold an African rock python during a visit to Mokolodi Education Centre on 15TH June 2010 in Gaborone, Botswana Getty Images Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales watching the athletics at Lee Valley Track during the Invictus Games in 2014 Chris Jackson/Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry pose in front of a Griffin helicopter at RAF Shawbury in 2009 Getty Images Prince William arrives with his brother Prince Harry at Westminster Abbey, London before his marriage to Kate Middleton in 2018 PA Prince William arrives with his brother Prince Harry at Westminster Abbey, London before his marriage to Kate Middleton in 2018 Getty Images Prince William arrives with his brother Prince Harry for the wedding of Pippa Middleton Philip Ide HRH Prince Harry and HRH William , Duke of Cambridge sing the National Anthem during the 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry speak on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in 2007 Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry wait to receive their prizes at the end of the Calcot Manor Hotel Polo Cup at Tetbury, Gloucestershire in 2003 Getty Images PA PA PA Prince Charles with Prince Harry and Prince William follow the hearse in a Limousine as the coffin of Princess of Wales, makes its way from Saint James's Palace to Kensington Palace AFP/Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry in their school uniform with Princess Diana Daily Mail Prince William helps Prince Harry take his first steps Getty Images Harrys party days seem to be subsiding; while once he was a regular at Mahiki and Whisky Mist, since his friend Guy Pelly moved on, he hasnt been seen. Instead, hes said to stop in at Geisha in Ramusake on old Brompton Road, or Sloane Squares Tonteria. No longer falling out of Boujis, Harrys gone upscale to Alberts in Kensington. It might help that its named for his great-great-great-great-grandfather. For those doing the whole private members club malarkey, theres also LouLous or the newly refurbished Annabels. Loading.... N ext Saturday, May 19, Meghan Markle will wed Prince Harry in a ceremony at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. The highly-anticipated wedding will be watched by millions across the world as the American actress marries her British prince. And while Markle will gain a new title, something she wont automatically gain is a British citizenship. When the engagement was announced in November 2017, Kensington Palace representatives revealed Markle will have to go through the same process as every other person that wishes to gain residency in the United Kingdom. But what exactly is this process and how long will it take Markle to become a UK citizen? 1. She must meet all requirements As Markles soon-to-be spouse Prince Harry is a British Citizen, Markle will have to meet a set of requirements specific to her status. These are: Over the age of 18 Of sound mind, able to think and make decisions for herself Have no serious criminal record Have lived in the UK for at least three years before submitting the application Before the three years, she would have to been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK or have a permanent residence card or document Spend no more than 270 days outside of the UK in those three years Spend no more than 90 days outside the UK in the year prior to submitting the application Not broken any immigration laws while in the UK 2. She must get married quickly As Markle will be applying for a citizenship on the basis of her spouse nationality she will need to get married asap (obviously not an issue). This is because non-EU citizens who entered the country as the fiancee of a current British citizen are required to marry within six months of entry. TODO: define component type apester When Markle arrived in the UK, she would have had to come on a family visa which states that UK citizens have to meet a minimum income threshold of 18,600 a year, or have cash savings above 16,000 to bring a partner into the country. As Harry has access to a sizeable trust fund left by his late mother Princess Diana and income from his father, were sure that was not an issue. Family visa applications cost 1,464 and non-EU partners of British Citizens also have to pass an English speaking test unless they come from a country where English is an official language like Markle does. 3. She will have to take the Life in the UK test After three years in the UK, Markle will be able to take the Life in the UK test, which costs 50. The Life in the UK test is based on the Life in the United Kingdom handbook and Markle will be asked 24 questions which she has 45 minutes to complete. Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures 1 /19 Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures The Savoy Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Cafe de Paris Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Drake & Morgan Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Bethnal Green Working Men's Club Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures The Cinnamon Club Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Rules Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Manetta's Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Greenwood Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Bluebird Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Aster Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Fortnum and Mason Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures The Arch Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures The Book Club Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Queen of Hoxton Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Pomona's Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Bokan ABACApress/Didier Delmas Where to celebrate the Royal Wedding in London - In pictures Radio Rooftop To pass the quiz she will need to get 75 per cent of the answers right, or 18 out of 24. Once she has passed the test, only then can she submit her application for British citizenship which costs 1,282. T wo thugs threw a noxious substance in a man's face before stealing his mobile phone in a suspected acid attack, police say. Officers were called to the scene of the alleged "acid attack" on High Road, Whetstone, in Barnet, north London, at 10.30am on Friday. The victim, said to be in his 40s, was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police say he was approached by two suspects who threw a noxious substance at him before stealing his mobile phone. They then made-off from the scene. The man is said to have ran into a nearby Kwik Fit store, where staff performed first aid and helped him wash his face. Binesh Karia, a supervisor at the shop, told This is Local London: We poured water on his face and he kept saying call an ambulance I have been attacked with acid. We took him into the washroom area and stripped his top off and washed him down with water while police were on their way. My area manager was the one who called the police while the man never stopped washing his face. He had to keep rinsing before the acid settled into his skin. The attack comes days after another "acid attack" in Brixton. A woman in her 20s was sprayed with a noxious substance on Brixton Road, near the underground station, on Wednesday. S tephen Lawrence suspect Jamie Acourt was reportedly using the alias Simon Alfonzo while he was on the run in Spain before his capture, it was claimed today. Police seized a false passport from the alleged drugs trafficker bearing the Mediterranean-sounding name, according to a report in a Spanish newspaper. The nationality Acourt, 41, was allegedly using was not immediately clear, though when he was arrested he reportedly protested that he was an innocent Italian tourist. The father-of-two was living in Barcelonas fashionable and expensive Diagonal Mar district. Acourt has been on Scotland Yards most wanted list over alleged involvement in the large-scale supply of cannabis. He is a former suspect in the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, 18, in 1993, though has always denied being involved in the killing in Eltham. El Mundo reported that he was ar-rested last Friday by undercover Spanish police at the Metropolitan Sagrada Familia gym, which has a rooftop terrace offering stunning views of the famous cathedral. They posed as gym users in a surveillance operation and pounced as he finished a session. Senior Spanish police sources said he kept on protesting they had the wrong man even after his fingerprints were matched against those on file before falling silent. He appeared in court and agreed to be extradited to the UK. He is in custody near the city. On the run for nearly two years, he is thought to have been based mostly in Barcelona as well going to the Costa del Sol. Spanish sources said he used several false identities and spent time in places where a tourist could disappear. He had been sought by the Met and the National Crime Agency. A Muslim convert accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired van attack in Oxford Street plotted to target shoppers outside the Disney Store, a court heard today. Lewis Ludlow, 26, allegedly drew up a list of targets including the busy shopping street and tourist hotspot Madame Tussauds for his terrorist strike, aiming to kill more than 100 people. He is said to have hatched the plot in March and April this year, after he was thwarted from joining ISIS extremists in the Philippines. Ludlow, from Rochester in Kent, appeared at the Old Bailey this morning via videolink from HMP Belmarsh for a preliminary hearing, as Mr Justice Haddon-Cave set a trial down for October 22 this year. Prosecutor Mark Dawson told the court one of the charges Ludlow faces is a plot to cause mass casualties using a vehicle in Oxford Street, targeting among other places the Disney Store or pedestrians in and around Oxford Street at its busiest times. He added that Ludlow is accused of wanting to cause upwards of 100 fatalities. Ludlow had initially planned to fly to the Philippines in February this year to join ISIS, after communicating with a fellow extremist online, it is said. After being stopped from flying, he is accused of setting up a Facebook page called antique collections to raise funds for the extremist group in the Philippines. Ludlow, sporting a patchy ginger beard and wearing a green skull cap, spoke only to confirm his identity in todays hearing. He was remanded in custody until his trial which is due to be heard at the Old Bailey. T errifying footage captured the moment Tube passengers were forced to watch on in horror as two men lunged at each other with knives on an early-morning Victoria Line train. The two had become embroiled in an argument before they both pulled out huge knives and began trying to attack the other. In the CCTV footage they can be seen attempting to plunge the knives into each other before the fight spills out onto the platform. Shocked passengers are seen sat in the carriage, watching on as the violence unfolds. Violence: One of the men is seen holiding a knife aloft as he lunges at the other According to the British Transport Police the fight broke out just after 5.30am on August 5 after one of the men, 46-year-old Joseph Dunkley, came across a group of young males on a northbound service from Brixton station. Dunkley approached 17-year-old Samuel Gbo, who he had confused with someone else he knew and became violence and aggressive. Fight: The violence broke out when the train left Brixton station in the early hours of the morning He pulled out a knife, threatening the group, before stabbing Gbo. The teenager responded by also pulling out a knife and stabbing Dunkley twice on the arm. The violence continued until the train reached Stockwell and the group spilled onto platform, at which point police and paramedics intervened. Jailed: Joseph Dunkley was sentenced to 8 years / BTP Investigating officer PC Neil Lane said the men had unleashed a shocking display of violence in the company of unsuspecting passengers. Passengers using this early morning service were unsurprisingly frightened by this aggressive and atrocious violence, he said. Both men were arrested and convicted at Soutwark Crown Court. Dunkley, of Florence Road, Plaistow, was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of affray, violent disorder, unlawful malicious wounding and GBH with intent. He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of an offensive weapon. Police launch murder probe after man killed and another injured in double shooting outside Queensbury tube station Gbo, Wood Green, who is now aged 18, had pleaded guilty to charges of violent disorder, possession of an offensive weapon and unlawful malicious wounding. He was handed a 16 month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months and ordered to pay a 20 victim surcharge. A fashion designer who slashed her husband across the face with scissors after discovering he was having an affair with an older woman has been spared jail. Charlotte Laudat, 31, attacked her partner Simon, 40, just hours after finding naked photos of a woman in her 70s on his phone. She pulled a pair of scissors from her robe and inflicted eight wounds to her husband's face, telling him: "You are going to die tonight", Blackfriars crown court heard. Fearing for his life, Mr Laudat jumped out of a first-floor window to escape for his irate wife. Laudat, who designs children's clothes under the brand Little Lott London, pleaded guilty to the attack on her husband, but claimed he had come at her with the scissors first. Injured: Simon Laudat confessed to an affair. He damaged his ankles fleeing his wife / Alex Lentati However, Judge Jane Sullivan rejected her story, finding that Laudat had flown into a rage over the naked photos of another woman. At court today, Laudat was given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to pay 5,000 in compensation to her husband. Laudat, who is now pregnant by a new partner, broke down in tears at her last court appearance after being told she could face a spell behind bars. She and Mr Laudat, who were married in April 2016, had been on a property management course in Milton Keynes on October 26 last year when she found naked photos a woman she believed was in her 70s on his phone. Laudat said she initially believed it was a "joke" but her husband admitted to the affair, coming to her flat in Finsbury Park later that evening to try to talk. Prosecutor Gino Connor said after a phone call to the woman in the pictures, Laudat flew into a rage and pulled out the scissors. "She was shouting and screaming abuse at him, saying 'I can't believe you have done this to me'", he said. "At this point she attacked her husband with a pair of scissors. "She held the scissors in her fist with the blade open and started to slash at his face, saying 'I will cut your eye open'." Mr Laudat, who gave evidence to the court in March from a wheelchair, described the attack: "At first she held them in her hand. After she hit me the first time with the scissors I backed away because I was in shock at what she had done. "She then put the scissors inside the knuckles and basically she punched me." He said he "pleaded" with his wife to stop the attack, and grabbed her hair in a bid to wrestle free the scissors. After Laudat told him "You're suffering tonight, you are going to die tonight", he believed he had no choice but to jump out of the kitchen window and seek help from neighbours. "I had to get out of there, she threatened my life", he said. Describing the discovery of the affair, Laudat told the court: "I saw various pictures of a lady in her late 70s, naked. I never want to see them again." Mr Laudat shattered his ankle in the fall from the first floor flat, and now needs a wheelchair to get around and as well as a Zimmer frame at home. Judge Sullivan ordered Laudat to also pay 1,800 in costs as well as the compensation, and she must undergo 30 days of rehabilitation and a 14-day activity course with probation as part of the suspended sentence. She is also banned from contacting Mr Laudat under a restraining order. E xtra grammar school places must help children from deprived backgrounds rather than largely going to pupils from middle-class families, a senior Tory MP warned today. Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons education committee, stressed that the Government had to ensure that tackling social injustice was its spending priority. He issued the warning after Education Secretary Damian Hinds announced 50 million to allow existing grammar schools to expand. Significantly, the funding will not be for new selective schools, effectively burying the Conservative 2017 general election pledge to lift the ban on new grammars. Mr Halfon told The Standard: Im not against grammar schools. But the priority of spending should be addressing social injustice. We need to be very clear that this grammar school announcement is going to benefit the most disadvantaged students in some of the poorest areas of the country. Grammars that want to take on more pupils will have to submit plans setting out what action they will take to boost the numbers of disadvantaged pupils they admit, similar to the access agreements signed by universities that want to charge 9,250 tuition fees. Mr Hinds defended the grammar school move but it swiftly came under fire from teachers leaders. He said: Children only get one chance at an education and they deserve the best, wherever they live and whatever their background. Standards are rising in our schools and weve created hundreds of thousands of new places since 2010 but we want to make sure every family can access a good school. Schools which select pupils based on academic ability will also have to show proof of a need for extra places in their area. However, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner criticised the extra funding for grammar schools. She said: Tory ministers have continued to rip up their own manifesto, page by page. Having lost their majority, they know they cant persuade MPs to back new grammar schools so they have resorted to a back door bung, with the Commons not allowed a say. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: We are disappointed that the Government has decided to spend scarce funding on expanding grammar schools. While there are many good selective schools, just as there are many good non-selective schools, the evidence is clear that expanding the number of selective places is likely to be damaging to social mobility. L ondon businesses have opened their offices to children with nowhere to do their homework after staff spotted them working in reception areas. A group of companies in the Kings Cross area joined together to set up a homework club to provide a quiet place for local A-level students who cannot concentrate at home. It launched after catering staff at Kings Place, an arts and conference centre, noticed schoolchildren sitting in the foyer and cafes there doing homework and using the wi-fi. They flagged the issue up to Urban Partners, a group of businesses in the Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras area which includes Ted Baker, Google and publisher Springer Nature. The club was launched in Eurostars headquarters in Kings Cross for sixth formers from nearby Maria Fidelis secondary school. Staff volunteer as tutors for the 35 children, with Eurostar workers teaching French, Spanish and Portuguese, Google staff teaching digital skills, and staff from Springer Nature, which publishes Nature magazine, teaching maths, chemistry and biology. Students can ask tutors for help with specific subjects, or work on their own in a quiet room using the office wi-fi. Lesley Retallack, head of corporate social responsibility at Eurostar, said: It became obvious that students were coming into the main reception areas of the conference centre facilities to work. We thought we could do something about it. We had space at a certain time of day when meetings started finishing, which we could use as a quiet homework space in a professional environment. She added: We wanted to make sure that rather than going home and being sucked into a family situation, the students could come here and find a quiet space with wi-fi. Its not rocket science. Georgie Speller, head of sixth form at Maria Fidelis school, said: Going out of school and into these offices is very good for the students because it gives them a taste of something different. It adds a huge amount of value. Their confidence and ability to speak French has been transformed. The chance to practise is invaluable and makes a great difference. "I have seen my grades shoot up" A-level student Shah Ayesha Uddin goes to the homework club every Thursday after school. The 17-year-old has four younger sisters and is studying biology, chemistry and maths and wants to get a place at University College London. She said: My youngest sister is four years old. There is a lot going on around me and we share a room. I do have my own desk in the room but my sisters are in there too. I used to do my homework in there and if I told my sisters to be quiet they would, but this is better. Chantelle Onyegbu, 17, who shares a room with her sister at home in Tottenham Hale, said: I am studying French and speaking to native speakers who teach us tricks and about how to be confident is really useful. I have already seen my grades shoot up. Shabnam Talukdar, 17, shares a bedroom with her mother and baby brother. She wants to go to university to study medicine and become a doctor. She said: I dont have a desk but would do my homework on the bed. Without the homework club I would still do my work but it wouldnt be to the best standard that I could make it. A bba superstar Bjorn has pulled the plug on plans to build a restaurant dedicated to the band in Waterloo after locals responded with outrage. The proposals for Mamma Mia! The Party, an immersive theatre and restaurant experience from the Swedish superstar were strongly opposed by local residents. Last November, angry residents staged a protest on the vacant land ahead of a key planning meeting. The local authority's planning committee ruled in favour of granting conditional planning permission for the Stamford Street site near to the South Bank - but Bjorn Ulvaeus today revealed the development will not go ahead on the site. Waterloo residents protest against the opening of a new ABBA themed bar He said: "I have reached the conclusion that the party should not open on the South Bank near Waterloo. "Despite being granted planning permission in November 2017, Ive taken seriously the concerns expressed by some local residents living around Stamford Street and so have decided not to go ahead with our plans on this site. Stop Mamma Mia Party: Signs posted around the area opposing the venture (Waterloo Residents' Alliance) / Waterloo Resident's Alliance We have been looking at some equally exciting alternatives in London and expect to announce a new location shortly. Mr Ulvaeus had previously called Waterloo "the perfect place" for the newest branch of his restaurant, which already operates in Stockholm. A summary of the decision supported the plans for a new arts venue in principle due to its position on South Bank where local policy supports the promotion of arts and cultural activities. A former Scotland Yard poster girl has lost a 144,000 race claim after a tribunal heard she complained of victimisation whenever she was unhappy at work. Ex-firearms officer Carol Howard, 39, took legal action against the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) accusing the watchdog of discrimination and harassment. But a tribunal concluded she would complain of victimisation if she does not like what is happening or is prevented from doing the work she chooses. Dismissing all 33 of her allegations, Judge Joanna Wade said her claims to be the victim of a witch hunt were unfounded. The tribunal also raised concerns about a number of discrepancies in her time sheets. Judge Joanna Wade said in her decision that Ms Howard had shown "very poor" judgment and there was "clearly a case to answer" regarding the time sheet issue. Payout: PC Carol Howard previously won 37,000 from the Metropolitan Police She added: "We are left with the uncomfortable conclusion that the claimant has an unshakeable but incorrect belief that if she does not like what is happening or is prevented from doing the work she chooses, this is discrimination, victimisation, harassment or protected disclosure detriment." The judge described the former officer as "misguided" and said that her "lack of perspective is astonishing". IN a damning ruling the judge suggested a 37,000 payout in a previous legal action against the Metropolitan Police four years ago lay behind her claim against the IPCC. The Central London Employment Tribunal was told Howard, of Coulsdon, Surrey, lost her temporary job with the IPCC after concerns around falsifying timesheets and for poor performance. She took the job with the IPCC after leaving the Met but failed to inform them of an ongoing complaint against the force. Howard, who rose to prominence after appearing in an official Scotland Yard poster to promote the 2012 London Olympic security operation holding a firearm, had claimed the watchdog was institutionally racist and corrupt. But the judge said the former firearms officer suffered from an astonishing lack of perspective and very poor judgment. She is now under investigation by the Information Commissioner for allegedly downloading sensitive data from the IPCCs computers after she had left the organisation. T he collective artistic orgasm over the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle has left some wondering where modern boundaries lie when it comes to taste. At The Londoner we welcome kitsch tributes. This week the dustsheets were ceremoniously ripped off the royal couples Madame Tussauds waxworks, while ITV screened serious documentaries devoted to the wedding, The Royal Wives of Windsor, and Prince Harrys Story: Four Royal Weddings. Now we learn that the controversial artist Annie Zamero has made her own panegyric offering. Two years ago Zameros painting of the Queen and Prince Charles in an airborne chariot had to be removed from an exhibition at the Black and White Building in Shoreditch after complaints. The chariot is a leitmotif in Zameros work: the new painting, pictured, features Harry in military uniform and Markle in a bath towel riding in one. A clapperboard in the corner references Markles acting career in the American TV series Suits. Zamero insists the work is not in poor taste. I am a great fan of the royal family, and Harry and Meghan in particular. This is a celebration of him as an Adonis and her as a nymph, she says. My friends wanted me to show her naked as in Suits, but I thought it better to leave something to the imagination. The painting is scheduled to be shown at the Euroart Open Studios gallery during the first weekend in June. After that, Zamero will offer it as a wedding gift to the couple. The royal household were said to be seriously worried last week by a fictionalised American TV film about the couple that includes sex scenes. Why Tulip Siddiq decided to stand Tulip Siddiq: (Photo by Nicola Tree/Getty Images) / Getty Images Tulip Siddiq credits Angela Eagle with encouraging her to become an MP during a mysterious dinner in Soho. She was a feminist before it became fashionable, the Hampstead and Kilburn MP tells me. She said to me 12 years ago in a dark restaurant that I must stand. She mentored me as a councillor. Other guests at the dinner were Pathfinder CEO Lois Quam and TUC General Secetary Frances OGrady. I am assured it was not at Granita, the restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made their leadership pact in 1994. --- Echo and the Bunnymen announced to fans they were postponing their May 26 gig because it clashed with the Champions League final. Both our fans and Liverpool FC are very close to our hearts, they said. We asked UEFA to change the date of the match but they denied our request. We sincerely hope you understand. Uproar led to the Scouse indie band reversing their decision this morning. --- Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes, who host the chart-topping podcast The High Low, have received a unique plaudit. Two cows born on Manor Farm in Sedgebrook have been named after the pair. Udderly wonderful. Ruth Rogers dines out on two food and drinks awards in a fortnight Best pals: Claudia Winkleman and Mary Berry (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Fortnum & Mason) / Dave Benett/Getty Images for For You wait years for a lifetime achievement award, then two come along at once. Two weeks ago River Cafe founder Ruth Rogers won a gong at GQs annual Food and Drink Awards in recognition of her career. And last night she won big again, picking up the same plaudit at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. She was thrilled, but almost left her actual award in The Londoners lap when she put it down for a moment while seeking her handbag. Host Claudia Winkleman was pleased to see former Bake Off judge Mary Berry and Fortnums CEO Ewan Venters. With two of my favourites tonight, she wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the three of them. They welcomed the comedian Jimmy Carr, the chef Lorraine Pascale and the Bake Off winner and presenter Nadiya Hussain. She won big, receiving the Programme Award and the Personality of the Year Award. SW1A Heidi Allen MP, pictured below, is not a fan of Brexiting colleagues. The Conservative rebel was talking of her vehement opposition to fox hunting on the Matt Forde podcast but asked about Liam Fox hunting, Allen quipped: Now that I would put my red jacket on for. --- Sir Nicholas Soames MP was at Wiltons on Jermyn Street yesterday with Louise Hyams, his Westminster councillor colleague, to unveil a green heritage plaque. The Tory bolthole, a favourite of Soames grandfather Winston Churchill, has been serving for 275 years. History relates that when a bomb fell on nearby St Jamess Church in 1940, the owner folded her tea towel and declared the place for sale. Banker Olaf Hambro, sitting at the bar, told her to add it to his bill. James Hambro, the restaurants current chairman, says: A wonderful story. Completely untrue. Quote of the day The stewardess on the airplane walked past me watching myself Actress Carey Mulligan rarely views her own films for fear of being caught Star of Star Trek forgets the plot What is it about Tories and Star Trek? As Culture Secretary, Sajid Javid quoted Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Our culture is based on freedom and self-determination (Next Generation, season three, episode 26). Chris Grayling says hes watched every episode. Now Kemi Badenoch reveals shes a fan. Even an encounter with Patrick Stewart, the Captain of the USS Enterprise, hasnt dampened her enthusiasm. Oh no, Stewart sighed on introduction. Please dont talk about it. All these Trekkies keep asking me about it and I cant remember it. Anna Dello Russo: (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for NGA NGUYEN) / Dave Benett/Getty Images for NGA C abinet ministers fear the max fac plan pushed by Brexiteers could lead to violence on the border with Ireland. Sources say cameras placed along the 300-mile border would probably be vandalised by political saboteurs, forcing the Government to deploy guards who would then become the next target. The high-tech infrastructure might only amount to cameras at first, but what if it was destroyed? asked a minister. You could then see it escalating until we have full border posts. I dont have any theological opposition to max fac but these are serious potential problems. In a concession to Brexiteers, Theresa May has formed a Cabinet working group to work on the max fac (maximum facilitation) idea that technology such as cameras and GPS can make customs checks invisible. A second working group aims to improve the rival proposal of a customs partnership. But former prime minister Sir John Major has also warned that even light-touch border checks could trigger a downward spiral towards violence. He argued they could divide communities that are now united and become a focus for protests from fringe groups. I dont wish to overplay this but, at the very least, it increases the potential for conflict, he told an audience in London. Sir John mocked the limp promise that either max fac or the new customs partnership could be adapted to work. Mrs May failed to get backing at the Brexit war cabinet last week for the customs partnership idea, being outnumbered six to five. Boris Johnson has hinted he would resign if she did not give way. The two working groups were set up in a bid to break the impasse with fresh ideas. The max fac group comprises two Remainers, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, plus Brexit Secretary David Davis. Studying the customs partnership are two Brexiteers, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Environment Secretary Michael Gove, plus Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington, a Remainer. J amie Oliver today attacked Theresa Mays record on childhood obesity as Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a ban on junk food adverts on the Tube, buses and trams across London. TV chef and food campaigner Oliver said the Prime Minister needed to deliver a strategy to significantly reduce the number of overweight youngsters in Britain, and urged her to take politics out of tackling childrens health. Todays announcement by the Mayor comes after Oliver called for a ban on junk food adverts on the Tube in an interview in the Standard this month. London will become the second city in Europe to introduce such a measure on public transport, after Amsterdam, which has since seen a drop in obesity rates among children. Oliver said Mrs May could order a nationwide ban on junk food adverts on transport, extend the sugar tax to milkshakes and unhealthy smoothies, and outlaw junk food TV adverts before the 9pm watershed. He blasted the Governments 13-page obesity strategy, released in 2016, as a piece of shit and said it would be a disservice to British kids if a more detailed plan is not delivered later this summer. The Government is due to release chapter two of its obesity strategy soon. Chapter one was criticised for watering down David Camerons plans to curb TV adverts for junk food. Ive been through five Prime Ministers now, Oliver said. I worked with Mr Blair on creating standards for kids school food when there was no standards, when there was standards for dog food. Its all about ego, not wanting to have too many fights. This is the time for [Mrs May] to break the habit and mantra. He said a joint letter from Labours Jeremy Corbyn, Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable and Green Party leaders asking the PM to ban TV adverts for unhealthy food before 9pm showed there was unity and that political jibber-jabber had been mopped out the way. He added: What I tried to do in the opposition letter is absolutely f***ing take politics out of looking after British kids and their future, their educational attainment at school. She needs to be clear and bold and if we get it right it can seed a real cultural change. Announcing the ban today, Mr Khan said: It cant be right that in a city as prosperous as London, that where you live and the income you have can have a massive impact on whether you have access to healthy, nutritious food and your exposure to junk food advertising. London has one of the highest child overweight and obesity rates in Europe. Children from poorer areas are disproportionately affected, with those in Barking and Dagenham almost twice as likely to be overweight as children from Richmond. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: There is no-where in the world setting more stringent sugar reformulation targets than this Government has set. As well as cutting sugar and calories in food, we are taxing sugary drinks, helping children to exercise more, funding research on junk food advertising and cutting sugar and calories in food before it hits shelves and plates. N igel Farage has quashed speculation that he was considering joining the DUP. The former Ukip leader is due at an event hosted by the pro-Brexit Northern Ireland unionists in Ballymena in Co Antrim on Friday evening. DUP MP Ian Paisley has dismissed "media fever" over the issue and said he would be discussing the EU withdrawal and its aftermath with the MEP. Mr Farage said: "I will be remaining Ukip MEP. "I have shared platforms with Labour MP Kate Hoey, Tory minister Liam Fox and other people like George Galloway. "I am happy to support those who supported the Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum. "My visit is nothing more than that." The Democratic Unionists' 10 MPs are supporting Theresa May's minority Government at Westminster. A series of senior Conservatives have already visited Northern Ireland at the DUP's invitation. Mr Paisley tweeted: "Looking forward to welcoming my great friend @Nigel-Farage to my North Antrim constituency tonight to talk about Brexit and Beyond. "I notice the media fever over this already. I welcome many guests from many parties to North Antrim and Nigel will love the place and it's people." A DUP spokesman said: "Nigel Farage will be the guest speaker at a local DUP event in County Antrim. "Mr Farage has already indicated this trip is not about joining the DUP." In any event, under DUP rules you cannot be a member of the party unless you live in Northern Ireland, the spokesman added. Earlier, Arron Banks, who bankrolled Ukip, was asked during an interview on Sky News if Mr Farage would use the DUP to run for Parliament. He said all things were possible in politics. Mr Farage visited Northern Ireland several times when he was leader of Ukip. A branch of Ukip in Northern Ireland was set up under former Ulster Unionist David McNarry but it has failed to establish itself as a one of the main parties. Mr Farage encouraged the Republic of Ireland to "Irexit" from the EU during a speech in Dublin recently. The president sent shockwaves around the world when he announced US withdrawal from the Obama-era agreement. A spokesman for Mrs May said the telephone talks covered a range of international issues, saying: "The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. "The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran. They agreed for talks to take place between our teams. Donald Trump grapples with umbrella 1 /9 Donald Trump grapples with umbrella President Donald Trump grappled with his umbrella as he stepped off Air Force One AFP/Getty Images As he disembarked the plane, he put his umbrella up to shield himself from the rain. AFP/Getty Images But he got into difficulty due to the adverse weather conditions. AFP/Getty Images The President, who had touched down after attending a rally in Michigan, struggled to contain the umbrella. REUTERS He pulled a series of faces as he attempted to put it down AFP/Getty Images But nothing appeared to work, despite his efforts. AP Eventually, the President gave up. AFP/Getty Images He descended the steps of the plane, holding the upside-down umbrella aloft. AFP/Getty Images The airman greeting him saluted his arrival - neither of them cracking a smile. AFP/Getty Images "The Prime Minister began by congratulating the President on the safe return of three US citizens who had been held in prison in North Korea. "The two leaders looked forward to the summit which will take place between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore. Trump reveals time and place for meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un "The PM said the UK would continue to work with the US to keep up the pressure on North Korea to denuclearise. "The Prime Minister and the President condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces earlier this week and strongly supported Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. "They agreed on the need for calm on all sides and on the importance of tackling Iran's destabilising activity in the region. "The Prime Minister and the President looked forward to [his] visit to the UK in July." Mr Trump had described the agreement as decaying and rotting and said he will reinstate the highest level of sanctions on the country as he revealed his decision on Tuesday. said the US "will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail" and will not allow "a regime that chants 'Death to America"' to get access to nuclear weapons. Donald Trump: US will withdraw from Iran deal State leaders around the world reacted with shock and disappointment at the announcement, with Mrs May expressing regret and concern. Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear programme in a 2015 deal struck with the US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany. Trump abandons Iran nuclear deal: World leaders react Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) Tehran agreed to significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water, all key components for nuclear weapons. G rammar schools are to be handed tens of millions of pounds to allow them to expand under new Government plans. Under controversial new proposals, 50 million is to be pumped into creating more places at selective state schools in a move that ministers said will give parents more choice. But school leaders criticised the decision, saying they were "disappointed" that the Government was spending "scarce funding" on expanding grammars. Grammars that want to take on more pupils will have to submit plans setting out what action they will take to boost the numbers of disadvantaged pupils they admit - similar to the access agreements signed by universities that want to charge 9,250 tuition fees. Schools - which select pupils based on academic ability - will also have to show proof of a need for extra places in their area. There are 163 grammar schools in England and, if all were given an equal share of the 50 million pot (which will be available in the 2018/19 academic year), they would receive just over 300,000 each. As well as individual agreements, there will be a memorandum of understanding with the Grammar School Heads' Association (GSHA), which represents the majority of selective school leaders, which will set out the types of action schools will need to take in order to expand. It is understood that there will be sanctions if grammar schools do not meet the terms of their action plans. Education Secretary Damian Hinds said hundreds of thousands of new places have been created since 2010, but the Government wants to "make sure every family can access a good school". "By creating new schools where they are needed most and helping all great schools to grow, we can give parents greater choice in looking at schools that are right for their family - and give children of all backgrounds access to a world-class education," he said. But Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We are disappointed that the government has decided to spend scarce funding on expanding grammar schools. "While there are many good selective schools, just as there are many good non-selective schools, the evidence is clear that expanding the number of selective places is likely to be damaging to social mobility." He added: "High-ability students do just as well in good non-selective schools as they do in good grammar schools, and funding is therefore better spent on creating places in the former rather than the latter. This is important at any time but particularly so when funding is very tight as a result of government under-investment in the education system." GSHA chief executive Jim Skinner, said: "We are very pleased that, like other good and outstanding schools, selective schools now have access to a fund to allow them to expand their premises. This is particularly important at a time when there are increasing numbers of pupils reaching secondary age and such high demand from parents for selective school places. The confirmation of cash for grammar schools is likely to be seen as a revival of Theresa May's pledge to expand selective education. Controversial proposals to lift the ban on creating new grammar schools were a key part of the Conservative manifesto in last year's snap general election, but the plans were dropped in the wake of the election result, which saw the Tories lose their overall majority. But grammars can still take on more pupils under existing rules that allow good state schools to expand. Critics of selective education argue that these schools do not help improve social mobility. Figures show that as of March 2017, around 2.6 per cent of grammar school pupils are on free school meals, compared to 14.1 per cent across all school types. Under the latest proposals, the 50 per cent cap on the proportion of pupils that faith schools can admit based on religion will remain, but funding will be given to create new voluntary aided schools - which are run with local council involvement - if there is local demand. These schools can have up to 100 per cent admission based on faith. Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: "The Government cannot point to a single piece of evidence that shows strong educational benefit of this misguided policy. While it may benefit a small minority, it will not close the gap between rich and poor pupils and if anything will increase the divide. "School budgets are at breaking point. The state-funded school system is rapidly heading towards insolvency. To pursue such an elitist policy as expanding grammars at a time of crisis is a distraction at best. This money should be spent for the benefit of all children, not just the tiny number who attend grammar schools." Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: "The grammar school corpse has climbed out of its coffin once again despite evidence of the damage that selective education causes. Once prior attainment and pupil background is taken into account, research shows there is no overall attainment impact of grammar schools, either positive or negative." Councillor Richard Watts, chair of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, said: "It is good the Department for Education wants to work with councils to create new faith schools where they are needed, but we are clear that the current limit of 50 per cent selection by faith criteria should remain in place. "Government should also not just focus exclusively on selective, faith schools and free schools. The most effective way to set up new schools and meet the demand for school places would be to give councils the powers and funding to open new council-maintained schools where there is a need for additional places." For Labour, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: "Once again, the Government is pursuing its own vanity projects rather than following the evidence on what is best for pupils. They promised 'schools that work for everyone', but this policy just doesn't live up to the label. "The continued obsession with grammar schools will do nothing for the vast majority of children, and it is absurd for ministers to push ahead with plans to expand them when the evidence is clear that they do nothing to improve social mobility." T his is the moment an escaped monkey was spotted scaling scaffolding at a block of flats in Tower Hamlets. The female Geoffroys marmoset monkey was rescued after it was found climbing the scaffolding on May 6. Concerned residents called a specialist from Monkey World in Dorset to the scene. Footage showed the monkey being fed a banana after it was rescued. Freya the monkey was rescued by Monkey world Dr Alison Cronin who led to the rescue operation said she suspected the monkey had escaped from monkey traders or from an "inadequate environment." She has since been named Freya and has been taken to Monkey World and introduced to other monkeys of the same breed. Marmoset monkeys are native to Brazil but can be legally kept as pets in Britain. But, Monkey World has been campaigning against this law as it claims it can be harmful for the animals. A spokesman for the organisation said: Many of the Marmosets that we rescue are under a year old and are too young to be removed from their parents. T he Prince of Wales was in his element today, without a carbuncle in sight, as he visited the ancient ruins of Knossos on the final day of his Greek tour. Prince Charles, a lifelong advocate for classical architecture, enjoyed the historic surroundings as he went round Europes oldest city accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall. The couple were welcomed in bright sunshine by Professor John Bennet, director of the British School at Athens, who led them through a neolithic palace. As they arrived Camilla received a gift of a brooch while Charles was given an inscribed stone. A member of the public shouted, Hello your highness, how are you?, to which Charles replied: Still alive. The couple were due to meet staff and refugees at Cretes Heraklion Development Agency before flying back to Britain after the week-long trip, seen as a successful Brexit charm offensive. Welcome: the Duchess of Cornwall gets a hug from a child on her Knossos visit / REUTERS They will then join the rest of the royal family in final preparations for Prince Harrys wedding to Meghan Markle on May 19. A reporter asked him: Are you ready for the wedding?, to which the prince said: Are you ever ready? Spectators planning to travel by train from the North to the Windsor wedding are being urged to start journeys as early as 4am. Great Western Railway told passengers to travel early and travel light and said trains due to arrive in Slough at 8am or 9am, to connect for Windsor, would leave Preston at 4.15am and Stafford at 5.25am. Later on Friday, the Duchess of Cornwall raised a glass and toasted the Greeks saying, I never had Greek wine before, but it is delicious. In glorious sunshine on the last day of the royal visit she toured Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and enjoyed a wine tasting. I will certainly have it again, she said, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Preparations 1 /54 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Preparations Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in Hackney, east London, puts finishing touches to the cake for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the kitchens at Buckingham Palace PA A Jaguar convertible with a Union Flag paint scheme and life size cardboard cut outs of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is parked in Windsor Reuters Royal fans wave flags from the window of a Marks and Spencer store above a banner referring to the wedding Reuters Indian painter Jagjot Singh Rubal touches up his painting of Prince Harry (L) and Meghan Markle ahead of their royal wedding AFP/Getty Images A cardboard cut out of Britain's Queen Elizabeth stands behind Union flags on the crowd control barriers near Windsor Castle Reuters Royal fans camp out on the streets of Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images Kensington Palace update with the news that the Prince of Wales will accompany Meghan Markle down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry. PA 4 year old George high fives an armed police officer in Windsor a Jeremy Selwyn Philip Barnard-Brown, Senior Coachman at the Buckingham Palace Mews, leads a Windsor Grey, one of the four horses that will pull the carriage at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, past the Ascot Landau carriage, at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace PA School children in uniform wave Union Flags outside Windsor Castle Reuters James Vivian, Director of Music at St George's Chapel in Windsor directs the St. George's Chapel Choir during a rehearsal before evensong and ahead of the wedding PA Police officers prepare road closures outside Windsor Castle AP The royal kitchen at Windsor Castle where preparations are underway for the reception banquet after the wedding PA Alice Laughton, Project Manager at Mission Invertebrate, inspects plants at the Royal Parks Nursery in Hyde Park, where flowers are being grown for the wedding AFP/Getty Images Members of the Household Calvary ready for inspection in the Regimental Square during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks PA A general view of Windsor Castle Getty Images The reverse of the new coin design that will commemorate the next occasion for the British royal family, the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Harry and Meghan Markle taking place at St. Georgeas Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor EPA State trumpeters play in the Regimental Square during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barrack PA Two Windsor Greys, which will pull the carriage at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are groomed at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace PA A royal fan sleeps outside Windsor Castle AP A media stand is erected half way along The Long Walk at Windsor Castle as it prepares for the royal wedding Getty Images Armed police officers in Windsor speak with members of the public ahead of the wedding Getty Images Street art of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle by Pegasus on the wall of hair & beauty salon The N7 Collective Getty Images Britain's Prince Harry's name is painted on the exterior of a building in Windsor AFP/Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images Union Jack bunting hangs in front of Windsor Castle Getty Images The Ascot Landau open carriage, which will be used in the case of dry weather, for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, stands ready in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in London AP Life size photographs of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a gift shop in Windsor Getty Images A member of the Household Calvary works in the Tailors Shop during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks PA A member of the Household Calvary re-shoes a horse in the forge during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Union Flags hang above Regent Street, as part of the preparations for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images A photograph of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is displayed in the window of the Two Brewers Pub in Windsor Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images A media stand is erected half way along The Long Walk at Windsor Castle as it prepares for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images The Ascot Landau (left) which will be used in the case of dry weather at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and the Scottish State Carriage, to be used in the case of rain, at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, London PA Detail of State trumpeters uniforms in the Regimental Square during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Work continues along The Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle ahead of the wedding Getty Images Cardboard cut-outs of Prince Harry and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle sit among Royal memorabilia in a gift shop widow ahead of the couple's wedding in Windsor Getty Images Uniforms in the Full Dress store during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images A window display commemorates the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle in Windsor Getty Images Members of the Household Calvary works in the Tailors Shop during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Craftsman Deakin of the Royal Electrical Engineer stands near an Apache attack helicopter during a photocall to display the involvement of 3 Regiment Army Air Corp in ceremonial duties during the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megham Markle, at Wattisham airfield Getty Images 3 Regiment Army Air Corps practice marching at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk as they prepare for the forthcoming royal wedding o Getty Images Work continues along The Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle Getty Images 3 Regiment Army Air Corps led by Lieutenant Colonel N English at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk as they prepare for the forthcoming royal wedding Getty Images People gather outside a pub decorated to mark the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images The changing of the guard ceremony takes place through the streets of Windsor ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images Royal fans awake at first light having spent the night outside of Windsor Castle Reuters Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Windsor Castle through the morning mist Jeremy Selwyn Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn The Duchess met the three owners of Lyrarakis winery before undertaking a tour, viewing the vineyard and wine cellar. Established in 1966, Domaine Lyrarakis is located in the mountainous commune of Alagni, south of the city of Heraklion. It is a small family-run winery established in 1966, and exports its wine to many foreign markets, including the UK, where it sells to Marks and Spencer, Majestic and Berry Brothers. The winery employs 40 people and the current family members are the second generation to operate the winery. They cooperate with other local producers under the auspices of the Wine Routes initiative, the regional promotion body with a strong focus on linking local production with tourism. M ortimer Sackler lived with his English-born third wife in a Belgravia square where violinist Yehudi Menuhin, impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber and Margaret Thatcher were his neighbours. Once dubbed the most expensive address in the country for homes that sold for more than 30 million, this square is where he and Dame Theresa (nee Rowling), 68, brought up their three children, now in their thirties, before his death in 2010 at the age of 93. Mortimer and Theresa were feted philanthropists as we revealed earlier this year, they have given more than 80 million to London arts institutions, often receiving naming rights for their largesse. But the broader context of this giving, namely Mortimers tax arrangements and that of his heirs, have not been publicly known until now. A former senior Sackler company employee told the Evening Standard how he recalled visiting Mortimer at his house many times and being ushered into his private greeting room decorated with photographs of him and his illustrious neighbours, including Lady Thatcher and Lord Lloyd-Webber. The truth behind the fabulous Sackler wealth The source also recalled blazing rows between Mortimer and his younger brother Raymond at board meetings with more than 20 executives present. Family fortune: the square in Belgravia that was home to Mortimer Sackler and his children Marissa and Sophie, who grew up in London The source said: I spent a lot of time with Mortimer. He was an extremely generous man and treated me well, but the one person he couldnt abide was his younger brother Raymond. "Board meetings would inevitably descend into swearing and chaos with Mortimer calling Raymond a f**king bastard, Raymond returning the compliment and each telling the other to f**k off. Things would get so heated they would have to clear the room of the advisers. The source said he never understood the reason for the bitter enmity between the billionaire brothers, but others have told the Standard they believe it related, at least in part, to unease over their respective tax arrangements. Mortimer Sackler's son Michael, who grew up in London The Sackler family fortune is split equally between the heirs of Mortimer, many of whom live in London, and the heirs of Raymond, based in America. Whereas Raymond was a US citizen required to pay tax on his worldwide income, Mortimer claimed non-domiciled status in the UK. It meant that Mortimers share of profits in tax havens like Bermuda would go untaxed unless they were remitted to him in the UK. This gave him a considerable advantage over Raymond. This is what we know: Mortimers tax status In his last will, dated two years before his death in 2010 and lodged at the public records office, he claims to be resident in the United Kingdom but not domiciled in any part of the UK. Instead he claims to be a citizen of Austria and domiciled in Austria. This was despite renouncing his US citizenship, coming to live in London in 1974, being resident in the UK for the last 36 years of his life, taking an English wife and raising their British-born children in London. How could he claim to be non-dom? The tax expert we spoke to said: The domicile of a person is not the same as his residence you can be here 365 days of the year and still be non-domiciled provided (if you have a foreign domicile of origin) your intention is to leave the UK. In general, domicile is the country where a person permanently resides or has the intention of remaining permanently. It is where his heart lies. In Mortimers case, his domicile of origin was the US, but he renounced his US citizenship, which is at least indicative that he may have acquired a UK domicile of choice. More obviously in his case, given that he died aged 93, it would be hard to argue that he eventually intended to permanently leave the UK. His length of UK residence alone as well as his substantial family connections with the UK might indicate to HMRC that he intended to remain here. Apart from the fact his wife and some children lived here, making charitable gifts to UK institutions is another indicator of attachment. Recent case law has demonstrated it would be highly unlikely Mortimer would have been able to maintain foreign domicile if this had been challenged by HMRC in court. On the facts presented, it is rather odd for someone in their nineties to be claiming foreign dom status after 36 years. In what circumstances will they ever leave? The essence of claiming foreign dom status for someone like Mortimer is that he had a real intention to leave the UK not just a vague hope or aspiration. In any event none of this would be possible now under new rules introduced in 2017. What is the tax significance of being non-domiciled? The tax expert said: If Mortimer was domiciled in the UK, he would be taxed on his worldwide income, including Bermuda. Any income and gains arising in trusts he set up would generally be taxable on him on an arising basis and such trusts would be subject to inheritance tax every 10 years and most likely on his death. But if he is not domiciled here, he can claim the remittance basis, which means that his foreign income, including income earned in Bermuda, would not be taxed here unless it was remitted (sent) here. Also, trust foreign income and all trust gains wherever realised can be realised and retained abroad tax free. Furthermore the trust is free of inheritance tax both for Mortimer and future generations. So there was a huge tax advantage to him being non-domiciled. How does his tax position affect his heirs? The tax expert said: Mortimers tax status does affect the next generation. His British heirs which include his wife Theresa and their three children, Marissa, Sophia and Michael only pay tax on what is distributed to them out of the trust. Trust income and gains can for the most part accumulate in the trust tax free. It is like having a company which rolls up investments and pays no tax. They will only pay tax on income actually paid out to them and even in this instance, there are legal ways, using loans, of reducing the taxes paid to a small amount. Moreover there are continuing inheritance tax advantages as the heirs will generally never pay inheritance tax on the funds retained in trust. Is this arrangement fair? The tax expert said: Non-dom provisions were set up to help people who genuinely intend to leave the UK after a period of living and working here. Most countries have similar arrangements to encourage wealthy people to live there for a finite period without paying tax on worldwide income and gains that accrued prior to the persons arrival. However, in this case these arrangements have continued for an exceptionally long period, so the man in the street might find Mortimers continued claiming of foreign dom status pretty hard to swallow. It might seem an abuse of the system and one reason why the rules were changed in 2017 so foreign dom status could not be claimed indefinitely. While they are certainly not the only family to have done this, recent case law confirms it highly unlikely to be correct to go on claiming foreign dom status on these facts. Does this put his philanthropic donations in a different light? The Standard revealed earlier this year that the London-based Sackler family gave 110 million worldwide over the last five years, most of it to fund Londons arts bodies for which they have often received naming rights. One of our sources said that when Theresa Sackler became a dame in 2011 for being a great philanthropist, some company insiders found it nauseating because of the familys tax arrangements. The expert added: They get tax breaks on their charitable donations, too, so these donations will further cut their UK tax bill. What do the Sacklers say? F or over 25 years a small, nondescript office block in Bermuda Mundipharma House has played a critical role in building the 10 billion Sackler fortune. You will find no mention of it in the company accounts, yet it has been deployed by the Sackler family to allegedly divert over a billion pounds of profit to the island tax haven so as to avoid paying tax running into hundreds of millions that would otherwise be due in the UK or Europe. The Sackler empire comprises Purdue in America, Napp in Britain and Mundipharma in Europe and Australasia. Todays revelations relate to the arrangements between Napp, Mundipharma and their Bermuda operation. Napp and Mundipharma are leaders in the UK and European oxycodone markets: Sackler drugs make up 68 per cent of the volume of the oxycodone market in England, and 29 per cent of the value of the entire 263 million opioid market, according to NHS Digital. In our investigation we have been assisted by former high-ranking Sackler company staff. Mundipharma House in Bermuda and its nameplate How did the scheme work? Drugs are manufactured at Napps headquarters in Cambridge known, due to their distinctive shape, as the toast racks. When the drugs are sold to the NHS, one source said, it is done transparently and correctly and UK taxes are paid in full. But when drugs were sold to Sackler-controlled Mundipharma companies worldwide, sales were allegedly routed via Bermuda. This would have allowed profit to be taken on the island nation, where no tax is payable. According to our sources, Mundipharma in Bermuda bought the drugs from the UK at one price, and sold them to Mundipharma entities for a lot more keeping the profit made in Bermuda. However, the products were shipped direct from the UK to the country where they were sold, and did not go anywhere near Bermuda. We cannot find any commercial reason to show what, if any value, use of companies on the island added. Sackler drugs make up 68 per cent of the volume of the oxycodone market in England, and 29 per cent of the value of the entire 263 million opioid market, according to NHS Digital / Matt Writtle How much profit was diverted? Lets take 2015 as a test case. Alleged profit diverted to Bermuda from Mundipharma Europe amounted to about 150 million in the year to December. This is the difference between turnover (285 million) and cost of sales (135 million), less expenses of running the Bermuda office, with just a handful of staff. Turnover of 285 million: Acc-ording to a source, Bermuda turnover was set by and large, at 50 per cent gross margin of Mundipharma turnover, which in 2015 was about 800 million. We independently confirmed the figure from the Mundipharma website and Mundipharma financial statements. This made Bermudas turnover around 400 million. Applying the average pound-euro exchange rate that year of 1.4, this equated to 285 million. Tycoon: Mortimer Sackler pictured with his wife Dame Theresa at Chelsea Physic Garden in 2004 / Rex Cost of sales of 135 million: This was sourced from the consolidated financial statements of Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings, which publishes turnover figures for the Napp group split between UK and rest of the world the latter being code for sales to Bermuda, according to a source. Napps rest of the world turnover in 2015 amounted to 135 million. This therefore would be the cost of sales for Mundipharma Bermuda. Over 25 years, our sources said, the amount of profits diverted to Bermuda from Mundipharma Europe and Australasia was well over 1 billion. How much corporation tax was avoided? If the 2015 profit had been taxed in the UK, where the drugs are manufactured, it would have attracted corporation tax of 20 per cent, which equates to 30 million. Over the 25 years the scheme has operated, this may add up to the avoidance of hundreds of millions of pounds in corporation tax. Where do Bermuda profits go? The Bermuda companies are owned by Sackler trusts and the profits are split between Mortimer Sacklers side of the family and his brother Raymonds side. Payments to the two sides, sources said, were simply known as distributions. Around 120 million to 150 million was distributed annually from Bermuda in recent years, according to a source, with each side of the family getting half. According to our sources, the Bermuda operation was mainly set up to benefit Mortimer who, claiming to be non-domiciled in the UK, only paid tax on money remitted to the UK. Raymond and his family, who are all US citizens, pay tax on their worldwide income. How long has this been going on? Over 25 years, from the early Nineties until today, according to our sources, although the company accounts make clear that the system changed in 2016. The Bermuda operation was in place before the Sacklers blockbuster drug OxyContin became a big seller in the late Nineties. The Bermuda operation was initially run by Brian Leslie, with Douglas Docherty, a Scottish former Bermuda police officer, as his deputy. Docherty took the reins in 2000 and continues as general manager and head of the Bermuda Mundipharma group of companies today. What changed in 2016? According to a source, European tax authorities, notably in Germany, got increasingly agitated at the lack of tax being paid by Mundipharma companies in their jurisdictions. This probably coupled with a change in UK law in 2015 tightening up the diversion of profits offshore meant Napp changed its system, so that profits would be repatriated to the UK. According to our sources, this change did not eliminate Bermuda but reduced its significance. Audited financial statements for Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited show rest of the world (Bermuda) turnover in 2016 was 12 million, down from 135 million in 2015. Notes to the accounts explain the change: From 1 January 2016, sales previously made to related parties in the rest of the world were routed to related parties in the United Kingdom. How complex is the Bermuda group? There is a network of Sackler-controlled companies registered in and operating out of Bermuda. These include Mundipharma Medical Company, Mundipharma Pharmaceutical Company, Mundipharma International, Mundipharma International Holdings, Mundipharma International Corporation, Mundipharma Laboratories, Mundipharma Research Company, Mundipharma Company, Rooksnest Estate and Merganser. Most of these companies are located at Mundipharma House, Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton, Bermuda. Is this scheme legal? A tax expert said: None of this is illegal or tax evasion, provided the transfer pricing arrangements with Bermuda could be commercially justified. The basic tax rule is that profits are taxed where they are earned. As the Sackler drugs are made here and sold here or in Europe, profit should be taxed here and/or in Europe. For profits to be diverted to Bermuda, what happens in Bermuda needs to genuinely add value. One way to add value is for the offshore company to hold the intellectual property (IP) and charge a fee for this, but in this case it appears the IP for OxyContin is held by Napp in the UK, and their larger trademark portfolio is held by Mundipharma AG in Switzerland. So it is hard to see, at least on the facts supplied, what activity in Bermuda added the value to justify the higher pricing. It is possible the taxpayer and HMRC entered into advance pricing agreements relating to transfer pricing. Be-fore 2015 this was relatively easy, as such arrangements were often difficult for HMRC to challenge successfully. The introduction of diverted profits tax in 2015 made it harder for multinationals and this may be why the arrangements changed so radically in 2016. What do Napp and Mundipharma say? In a joint statement they said: The Napp and the Mundipharma companies based in the UK have a long history of paying UK taxes. From 2013 to 2016, they paid 66.5 million of UK tax at the full UK corporation tax rate on taxable profits of 317 million. Since the Sixties, they have invested significantly in the UK. Today, they employ more than 1,000 employees, many based at our site in Cambridge. B rits are bracing themselves for a weekend washout as heavy rain and thunderstorms move across large swathes of the country. Dry and bright conditions will start to give way to wet weather from Saturday with the south of England expected to be the worst affected. Forecasters have warned that hours of heavy rain are expected to fall in London and the south east on Saturday afternoon. The deteriorating conditions come after days of unusually hot and sunny weather for May. Britain basks in the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record 1 /10 Britain basks in the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record A woman takes a photo of the wildlife in Regent's Park, London PA A jogger on Brighton seafront as the Bank Holiday Monday PA Sunbathers in Regent's Park PA An elderly couple eating ice cream in the hot weather, in Regent's Park, London PA People enjoying the hot weather in a pedalo in Regent's Park, London PA A woman working on her laptop in the hot weather on a Bank Holiday, in Regent's Park, London PA Paddle boarders enjoy the weather in the sea at Hastings, Britain REUTERS People enjoying the hot weather in a pedalo in Regent's Park, London PA Women reading books in the hot weather in Regent's Park, London PA Paddle boarders enjoy the weather in the sea at Hastings, Britain REUTERS This week's early May Bank Holiday was the hottest on record as temperatures soared 28.7C in west London. Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson told the Standard: It is a mixed weekend to come. For many areas it will be a dry, bright start but through the day you are going to see rain moving in. There will be heavy rain in the afternoon in London and the south east and East Anglia. London will see heavy rain for at least a few hours and there is a low risk of thunder storms. There will be showers across south west England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and thunder storms in those areas are more likely. Northern cities including Manchester will experience drier and brighter conditions with a lower chance of showers. On Saturday, the mercury is expected to peak more than 10C lower than earlier in week, with maximum temperatures of around 16 or 17C. On Sunday, southern parts of England will continue to experience damp conditions, while other parts of the country will avoid the washout. Mr Wilson added: On Sunday we are looking at a similar picture. There will be heavy showers in eastern parts of Scotland and southern England, with the areas in between seeing drier, brighter weather. Temperatures will be much cooler than what we have seen of late, again around 16 or 17C. F our children and three adults have been killed in Australias worst mass shooting in more than 20 years. Their bodies were found this morning after a suspected murder-suicide at a rural property near Margaret River, in Western Australias premier wine-growing region. Police were called to the house at Osmington, 150 miles south of Perth, just before dawn after receiving a message from a man connected to the property. The bodies of two adults were found outside the home and the others were inside. Katrina Miles and her children were named as victims of the shooting / Facebook Two firearms were discovered nearby. Neighbours said they heard gun shots at around 4am but thought they came from people shooting kangaroos. The victims were named locally as Katrina Miles and her four children, aged eight to 13, who were reported to be home-schooled and have autism. Four children and three adults were found shot dead / EPA Ms Miles was described by friends as a devoted mother who worked tirelessly to provide them with everything they needed. I always admired her for her strength. The kids were kind, gentle, smart and beautiful children, a friend told The Australian. Ms Miles had reportedly claimed on Facebook last month: My ex does not stop stalking me. The property was home to Ms Miless parents Cynda Miles, well-known for her work on community projects, and her husband Peter, a farm maintenance worker. Police described the scene as a devastating tragedy. Police near to the scene of a shooting at a house in Western Australia in which seven people have died / ABC News The states chief police commissioner, Chris Dawson, told reporters: The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy. He said it was not appropriate to speculate on details but added that there were no wider public safety issues at this point in time. He added: This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and in particular the local communities in our south-west. Police Commissioner Chris Dawson addresses the media in Perth following the shooting (REUTERS) / Reuters Community leaders expressed their shock at the killings and Western Australias premier Mark McGowan sent condolences. The killings were the worst in Australia since a massacre in 1996 in Port Arthur, Tasmania, when 35 men, women and children were killed and 23 wounded by a man with an automatic rifle. Loading.... This prompted Australia to introduce tough gun controls. Farmers are allowed to own guns to shoot pests or injured livestock, but members of the public are banned from having automatic rifles and shotguns. J K Rowling has taken another swipe at Donald Trump by focusing on his huge handwriting and what it says about his personality. Publishing a link to a graphology guide which studies meanings behind handwriting styles, the Harry Potter author suggested that the US presidents oversized signature could be a sign that he "over-values" himself. A man called Russ on Twitter initially drew attention to Mr Trumps signature. Posting a photo of the President holding up a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement after signing it, Russ asked: Why? Why is his signature so big? Why, god, why? Ms Rowling replied with a link to a study on handwriting. I didn't believe in graphology until about three minutes ago, she wrote. The guide details what handwriting can reveal about a person. According to the website Handwriting Graphology, large handwriting could indicate someone who over-values himself, may compensate inferiority complexes showing the opposite. It said a person with a large scrawl could also have tendencies of vanity, pride and excessive self-esteem that may become megalomania. J.K Rowling suggested that President Donald Trump's handwriting could be a reflection of his personality (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images) / Getty Images Large handwriting also indicates a person with a great global vision, expansive, who has difficulties interiorising experiences and concentrating on specific details. Ms Rowlings tweet quickly went viral with many people weighing in on the subject. Erica McDermott wrote: Thank You for presenting a hearty laugh to me free of charge. Another person said: I love graphology! Such an interesting science! But some people pointed out that Ms Rowling has a large signature herself, posting photos of signed Harry Potter books. One person wrote: Yeah? You are definitely onto something...here's another rather huge signature from someone who overvalues themself with an inferiority complex ... Others pointed out that Mr Trump is not the first president to have a large signature, sharing photos of former President Barack Obamas writing. Leaders around the world reacted with shock and disappointment as Mr Trump announced the US's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this week. Former president Barack Obama said the decision was a "serious mistake" that could leave the US facing "a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East". In a joint statement, Theresa May May, German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron said the decision was a matter of "regret and concern". Trump abandons Iran nuclear deal: World leaders react Mr Trump said the move was a sign that the US "no longer makes empty threats". "When I make promises, I keep them," he said. In a joint statement, Mrs May, Mrs Merkel and Mr Macron said they remained committed to the deal. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by the US, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain with Iran in 2015. T he oldest person in the United States has died at the age of 114. Delphine Gibson died on Wednesday, according to the Robert D Heath Funeral Home in Ohio. Ms Gibson became the oldest person in the United States in 2017 and attributed her long life to good food and her faith in god. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said he was "saddened to hear of the passing of Delphine Gibson, America's oldest citizen." He wrote on Twitter: "Born in 1903, she lived in PA for more than 90 years. She was an incredible Pennsylvanian and she will be missed." Miranda Glover, the unit manager at her nursing home in 2017 said she didn't take any medication aside from a vitamin a day. Ms Gibson was born Delphine Tucker in 1903 and married Taylor Gibson in 1928. They originally lived in South Carolina before moving to Pennsylvania. The pair had three children together. Her husband died in 1980. Leslie Brown from Ohio has now become the oldest American at the age of 113. The current world's oldest living person is Chiyo Miyako from Japan. Born on 2 May 1901, she is 117-years-old. T he Prince of Wales showed he was Lord of the Dance today as he joined in with traditional Greek dancers in a village square. Camilla too gamely linked arms with the group of traditionally dressed dancers on the last leg of their tour to Greece. Charles, who said Greece was in his blood when he first arrived in Athens, got the hang of it straight away, smiling as he danced around the circle. Camilla, a few dancers along in the circle, seemed a little less sure. The dancing took place in Archanes a typical Cretan village. After a short walk around the area to meet members of the public. The Prince of Wales tries his hand at Greek dancing as he tours stalls showcasing Cretan produce, crafts, local initiatives and entrepreneurs, during a walkabout in Archanes / PA Arriving at Church Square, Their Royal Highnesses will be met by Father Kassavetakis, Priest of the Church, who gave an introduction of the Square where a Cretan celebration was underway. They toured stalls showcasing Cretan produce, crafts, local initiatives and entrepreneurs and tasted local wine. At the end of the dance - around three minutes long - Charles said: Great fun. The village is home to 2,500 people and situated in the prefecture of Heraklion. Greek dancing is a very old tradition, being referred to by authors such as Plato and Aristotle. There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas. Each region formed its own choreography and style to fit in with their own ways. I srael has released footage of the moment one of its missiles destroyed an Iranian air defence battery in Syria as part of its retaliation over strikes on Golan Heights. Video from a camera mounted on one of the missiles showed how it hurtled towards the SA22 aerial interception system at incredible speed in the early hours of Thursday. It was released as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran had crossed a red line by firing a barrage of 20 rockets across the border overnight. Israeli forces bombed Damascus in retaliation for the rocket attack by the Iranian military on its positions in the Golan Heights. The Israeli military had said it attacked "dozens" of Iranian targets in neighbouring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on the Israeli military positions. Missiles rise into the sky as they strike targets in Damascus, Syria / AP It is the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date and has sparked fears of an all-out war. Israel strikes 'dozens' of Iranian targets in Syria Israel said the targets included weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centres used by elite Iranian forces in Syria. It also said it destroyed several Syrian air-defence systems after coming under heavy fire and that none of its warplanes was hit. The blistering Israeli assault was by far the most intensive Israeli action in neighbouring Syria since the civil war broke out there in 2011. Israel has largely tried to stay on the sidelines, but has previously acknowledged carrying out over 100 airstrikes over the past seven years, most believed to be aimed at Iranian weapons shipments bound for the Hezbollah militant group. But with the civil war appearing to wind down, and Iranian forces looking to establish a foothold on Israel's doorstep, Israel has stepped up its response. A long exposure picture shows Israeli artillery deployed missiles toward Syrian military targets, on the Golan Heights, next to the Israeli-Syrian border / EPA The dramatic escalation of tensions in the early hours of Thursday is said to be the first time Iranian troops have directly attacked Israeli forces rather than using proxies. T he Canary Islands' Volcanological Institute has hit back at claims a volcano could erupt saying "Tenerife is safe." It comes after 270 mini-earthquakes were recorded across the Canary Islands since April 29. A number of the mini-earthquakes were recorded at Tenerife's Mount Teide, which last erupted in 1909. Several reports claimed that the volcano could be close to erupting. However experts from the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands refuted the claims, reminding people that the current volcano alert is green. A green level alert means that "people can be confident to carry out their activities 'normally'". According to Spain's National Geographic Institute, the largest of the recent quakes was a magnitude of 3.2 on the Richter scale. The area of the reported quakes is focused on underwater fault lines between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, both popular holiday destinations. Mount Teide itself is visited by three million tourists a year. The institute reminded tourists: "The Canary Islands are considered an active volcanic region, and also an attractive tourist destination, partly because of the volcanism which has built them. "There is no increase in the level of volcanic alert level at Tenerife due to the recent seismic swarm between Tenerife and Gran Canaria. New reports that suggest otherwise have no basis in fact and are to be dismissed." In February, La Palma, another Canary Island, was hit by small earthquakes sparking fears that the Cumbre Veija volcano could erupt. However Spain's National Geographic Institute downplayed any concerns adding that it's common to experience anything between 100 and 600 earthquakes in the area. T wo Brits have been kidnapped while on a visit to a gorilla sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pair are understood to have been snatched during a trip to the Virunga National Park in the east of the African country, on Friday. A female park ranger travelling with them was killed, according to local media reports. The Foreign Office confirmed it is in touch with authorities in the country following an "incident" but did not reveal any further details. Loading.... The park has seen rising violence in recent months as armed groups stage raids to steal resources, particularly charcoal. Last month five young rangers and a driver were killed in a militia ambush, the park said. It was the deadliest attack in recent years and took the total number of rangers killed to 175. Virunga is a Unesco world heritage site, covering 3,000 square miles on the Democratic Republic of Congo's border with Uganda and Rwanda. Founded in 1925, it is home to to around a quarter of the world's critically endangered mountain gorillas and other endangered species as well as lions, elephants, hippos and a host of rare bird species. T he family of former US presidential candidate John McCain today hit back at a White House official who allegedly mocked his battle with brain cancer. After Senator McCain, 81, announced that he disagreed with President Trumps nominee for CIA chief, Gina Haspel, special assistant Kelly Sadler remarked yesterday: It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, according to US political news website The Hill. Mr McCains wife, Cindy, 63, tweeted to the aide today: May I remind you my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren. TV presenter Meghan McCain, 33, reportedly retweeted her mothers message and shared a photo of herself as a girl, sitting on her fathers lap. #TBT Ive always wanted in on the action. Love you so much Dad, she added. Kelly Sadler said: It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, according to US political news website The Hill. / Twitter Senator McCain, who lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 election, was diagnosed with brain cancer last July following an operation to remove a blood clot, and recently had surgery after contracting an intestinal infection. Mrs McCain also reacted angrily to an interview on Fox News in which Thomas McInerney a retired US Air force Lieutenant General questioned the senators opposition to Ms Haskel, which is based partly on her belief that torture can be an effective interrogation method. The fact is, is John McCain it worked on John, McInerney said, in reference to Mr McCains time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Thats why they call him Songbird John. Fox interviewer Charles Payne later apologised, saying he regretted not confronting his guest about his very false and derogatory comment. Mrs McCain tweeted: Please choose your guest more wisely. S upermodel turned photographer Helena Christensen says she is enjoying seeing a new generation of stars evolve from behind the lens. The 49-year-old has snapped stars including Elizabeth Jagger and Liv Tyler and is also close to Gigi Hadid, 23, who was in tears on first meeting her. She told A List: I love having them as friends and being able to shoot them and capture their spirit and see them evolve thats beautiful. Christensen met Hadid after taking part in a tribute show to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Gianni Versace last September. Recalling their encounter she said: I remember I was the first one to get off stage and Gigi Hadid was standing there and I fell into her arms and she gave me a huge hug and had tears in her eyes and since then we became friends. In front of the lens: Danish model Helena Christensen (Jeff Spicer/PA) / PA The show saw Christensen reunited with Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Carla Bruni, who together with Christy Turlington and Elle Macpherson, became known as supermodel power group, the Magnificent Seven, in the 1990s. But despite finding the show super fun, Christensen, whose 18-year-old son Mingus made his catwalk debut last year, said she has no desire to return to the runway. No, no that was a lot of catwalk walked, she said. It was very intense and the least favourite part of my job. It was really, really hard work. I dont think anyone will understand how much pressure was on us girls, travelling every day, sleeping four hours, doing maybe 10 sometimes 12 fittings and shows a day. Next generation: US supermodel Gigi Hadid has struck up a friendship with Helena Christensen / Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images But I had beautiful memories too, working with those incredible design houses. You were part of history having the original designers fit you in couture dresses. Back then I was like this is taking so long but now I realise how grateful I should be to have been a part of that. The Danish model has shot, as well as been featured on, covers for Marie Claire, ELLE and Vogue. She has also held several exhibitions for her work including one which documented the impact of climate change in Peru, where her mother was born. Versace SS18 at Milan Fashion Week 1 /43 Versace SS18 at Milan Fashion Week Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen REUTERS Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen REUTERS Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen REUTERS Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Gigi Hadid walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Doutzen Kroes walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Kaia Gerber walks the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AFP/Getty Images Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 finale REUTERS Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway REUTERS Versace at MFW Bella Hadid walks the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW Gigi Hadid walks the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway REUTERS Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway REUTERS Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW Models walk the SS18 runway REUTERS Versace at MFW A model walks the SS18 runway AP Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Shiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen AP Versace at MFW Claudia Shiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen AP Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen REUTERS Versace at MFW Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen REUTERS Versace at MFW Lewis Hamilton poses with Kris Jenner ahead of the show AP Christensen, who recently teamed up with Chinese tech company Huawei to celebrate the launch of its new P20 smartphone, said photography also has its challenges as she cant let go of everything and zone out in the way that she can in front of a camera. She said: When Im photographing I have the responsibility of everyone around me and Ive got to get something out of the model, create a mood and a story so I concentrate in a completely different way. I get a little tense and Im holding my breath because there is so much going on and I have to have it all worked out. Christensen said she is still critical of her work, but that if I take two or three pics a year where I feel something is unique they will be worth all the s*** I take that year. K im Kardashian has said she blames her first grey hair on husband Kanye West. The beauty guru, who is set to appear on Fridays Live with Kelly and Ryan, appeared in a teaser promo for the upcoming episode this week. Speaking to the duo, the 27-year-old said: [Kanye] gave me my first grey hair this week and I am blaming that on him. Kardashian appeared to reference the string of controversial statements her other half has made on social media over the past week. The slew of controversial messages included West praising US president Donald Trump, hailing him his brother. During her appearance, she added that West is doing really good and is at present pre-occupied on working on his upcoming album. She said: He's doing really good. He's in Wyoming recording, he has a couple of albums coming out so he's just focused on that. Among the controversial comments, West came under mass fire for saying slavery was a choice. Fans of the rapper took to social media to vent their outrage following the stars controversial outburst during a television interview last week. During the TMZ broadcast, the celebrity said: When you hear about slavery for 400 years for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. Like, you were there for 400 years and it's all of y'all ... It's like we're mentally in prison. T he Bridge is back for a final series in its brand new home on BBC Two. The Danish-Swedish thriller has taken the country by storm with Nordic Noir has becoming increasingly popular all over Europe. But now its time to bid a tearful goodbye to policewoman Saga Noren after years on screen. Weve laughed, weve cried and weve been left bereft by the crime drama but, like all good Sagas, its time to countdown to the end. Ahead of the fourth series opener, here is everything you need to know about The Bridge The Bridge: The final series has moved to BBC Two after being BBC Four's highest rating drama / BBC/SVT/Karl Nordlund What is The Bridge? The cross-country crime drama first hit screens in 2011 when Saga Noren played by Sofia Helin and Martin Rohde Kim Bodnia were united in a case after finding a severed body at the halfway point of the resund Bridge. The crimes crossing the border have been key throughout the series but the programme, created by Hans Rosenfeldt with lead writer Camilla Ahlgren, prides itself on exploring issues prevalent in society such as gender divisions, terrorism and immigration. It is filmed in Malmo, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. Who is in the cast? Sofia Helin has played Saga Noren since the very beginning, with her character who is believed to have Aspergers Syndrome becoming an unlikely heroin for all. Sagas professional partner for the first two series, Martin, bowed out of the cast at the end of the second series with his character ending up behind bars and Bodnia citing numerous reasons for moving on, one being rising anti-Semitism in Sweden. In the third series we met Henrik Sabroe played by Thure Lindhardt who, as well as being a good copper, held a secret of his own he was searching for his missing children. Him and Saga grew close, professionally and romantically, and the two will work together for one final time during the last series. Lead: Sofia Helin stars as Saga Noren / BBC / Filmlance International AB, Nimbus Film / Jens Juncker What is series four about? Series four begins with a government official who has been stoned to death between the two countries, falling under both jurisdictions. The detectives will be forced to work together for one final case, all while dealing with their own personal issues and events. Saga begins the series in jail, having been imprisoned following her mothers death at the end of the third run of episodes. Of this, Helin told the Standard that her characters identity is taken away which leads her to a more unstable place than we may be used to finding Saga. The 46-year-old actress said she is most proud of this series, adding: The viewer follows her through a process where shes getting more aware of who she is and her choices in life. Shes going to develop quite a lot in that sense through the series. Helin also revealed that the series is a lot about personal stories and that the viewer will learn more about their favourite Swedish police officer. When is The Bridge on? Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Friday had a private audience with Pope Francis, whom she thanked for his generous attention he has always given to relations with Romania, and expressed hope that the Pope will come on a pastoral visit to Romania. "During the audience, we also discussed the desire to increase the Romanian presence in the Vatican through a series of high cultural, academic and religious events, given that this year is a special one, celebrating the centennial of the modern Romanian state. The high-ranking official thanked for Pope's making available the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo for mounting the exhibition 'Treasures of Romania at the Vatican,' according to a press statement released by the Romanian Government. Dancila also stressed the importance of Romania and the Vatican deepening the their relationship, including in the special context of Romania's tenure at the head of the EU Council "which will offer the possibility of conveying a message to the whole of Europe, given the ecumenical vocation of Romania.""The conversation highlighted the similarity of Romania and the Vatican's positions on the consolidation of the European design and the centrality of reporting to the design's Christian roots."According to the government, the audience also revealed the congruent views held Romania and the Holy See on a number of world affairs, especially in the field of human rights protection and freedom of religion. The misconduct the President is accused of in the case of his refusal to remove from office the chief-prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) is not a matter of constitutionality, but one of legality, the solving of which rests with the courts, reads the opinion sent by President Klaus Iohannis to the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR). "The mentioned aspects (...) that were proclaimed by the author of the notification as a legal conflict of a constitutional nature do not meet the requirements for such a classification, for they do not refer to: the constitutional authorities that can be subject to it, with respect to the Minister of Justice; they do not refer to a conflict of competencies (either positive or negative) between the public constitutional authorities or a conflictual situation that arises directly from the Constitution; there is no institutional blockage; the accused misconduct is not a matter of constitutionality, in itself, but one of legality, which should be referred to the courts," says the document. According to the same source, the notification did not show clearly what public institution was allegedly part in the conflict with the Romanian President, what was, in more details, the institutional blockage that was mentioned and the reason behind filing this notification, given that the manner of interpretation and implementation of the legal dispositions represents an act of justice, for which reason the President requested that the notification be rejected as inadmissible.The President's written opinion also mentioned, among other things, that there is a consistent jurisprudence with respect to the President's attribute of removing officials, and in both cases of appointment and removal, the President must carry out an assessment of legality and another one of opportunity."The only limitation existing in terms of both the legality and opportunity of measures the President may take in this field is related to the actual legal norms, which establish his competence in making the assessment of legality and opportunity. The Romanian President must apply these norms every time when such a proposal of appointment or removal is submitted to him, with no other limitation being possible," reads the same document.Based on these arguments, President Iohannis asked the CCR to rule there was no such conflict of a constitutional nature in this case.The CCR head, Valer Dorneanu, announced that the debate on the conflict between powers, in the case of the rejection by the President of the dismissal of the DNA chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi, was postponed until May 20.At CCR's Thursday meeting, both parties supported their point of view. On behalf of the Government pleading was the Minister of Justice, Tudorel Toader, while the Presidency was represented by presidential adviser Simina Tanasescu, who asked for the request to be rejected as inadmissible. Holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union will be a "maturity test" for Romania, head of the European Commission Representation in Romania Angela Cristea said on Thursday, voicing confidence that Romania will pass it with flying colours. "This year we also celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage; there are cities in Romania that are heritage cities, and Alba Iulia, is one of the cities where history is written. Another such city where history is written is Sibiu. While in Alba Iulia a page in the past history was written, in Sibiu we will write a page in the future history, a European page in over a year, on Europe Day, when heads of state or government will meet in Sibiu during the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in order to renew their pledge, their trust in the European design. All this happens during the Romanian Presidency, a maturity test for Romania, but I totally trust Romania will pass it with flying colours," Cristea said in a speech to a Europe Day reception. The European Commission Representation in Romania organised a Europe Day reception party at the Alba Carolina castle, an event attended by Romania's Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu, representatives of the embassies of Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland , Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, MEPs, county and local officials. 7 things we learned about royal weddings from the UF Libraries As Prince Harry and Meghan Markles May 19 wedding approaches, UF News turned to the more than six million books, 1.5 million e-books and millions of pages of online resources at the University of Florida Libraries for some fascinating facts about royal weddings. 1. Queen Elizabeth IIs wedding gifts included an ostrich-feather cape from South Africa, a necklace of 96 rubies from Burma and a thousand blankets from Uruguay for Londons poor. Mahatma Gandhi even sent her a shawl he had knitted himself. 2. Queen Victorias wedding cake weighed 300 pounds and measured 9 feet around. 3. The popularity of watching royal weddings on TV isn't new: More than 500 million people worldwide watched the wedding of Queen Elizabeths daughter, Princess Anne, in 1973. 4. When King Henry IIIs sister Isabella married the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235, the emperor gave the king three leopards from his private zoo. The cats went to live at the Tower of London, giving rise to the royal menagerie that persisted there for 600 years. 5. Broadcaster Audrey Russell covered Princess Margarets 1960 wedding from a flying coffin her designated spot in Westminster Abbey was an open-sided scaffold teetering hundreds of feet above the crowd. She covered another royal wedding three years later from the same spot. 6. More than 70 countries from Barbados to Vanuatu issued postage stamps to commemorate the the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. 7. Already binged "The Crown" and want more young Elizabeth? UF students, faculty and staff can see clips from the original 1947 TV coverage of Queen Elizabeth IIs wedding and plenty more royal-wedding content through the UF Libraries access to the streaming service Kanopy. Sources: Two Centuries of Royal Weddings, Invitation to a Royal Wedding, The Tower Menagerie, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: A Diamond Celebration French ambassador to Romania Michele Ramis has welcomed the launch in Romania of an online citizens' consultation on the future of the European Union. "The online French ambassador to Romania Michele Ramis has welcomed the launch in Romania of an online citizens' consultation on the future of the European Union. "The online citizens' consultation on the future of the European Union was launched by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of Europe Day by Mr Victor Negrescu, minister-delegate for European affairs. France and Romania have a joint project to consolidate and strengthen the European Union. At the proposal of France, these citizens' consultation will be organised in 27 countries of the European Union and will target 430 million European citizens and. I will also have the pleasure of participating in other celebrations of the European spirit in Alba Iulia, May 10, and in Alexandria on May 12," Ramis is quoted a saying in an official press statement released on Thursday.According to the statement, France is "committed to Europe's reestablishment and has great ambitions for the European Union: a reinvented sovereignty, a united union around our values, a living democracy."French President Emmanuel Macron is quoted as having proposed to all EU member states to launch citizens' consultations at the level of the European Union.By the end of October, citizens' consultations on Europe are taking place in all European Union countries. They are designed for all citizens to discuss the significance of Europe and for them to express their expectations, hopes, regrets and proposals.On 9 May, the European Commission launched the online consultation, calling on all Europeans to express their views via a questionnaire available in 24 languages, Romanian including.The whole process will be interrupted at the end of October not to interfere with the European election campaign. Later on, the results of the consultations will be unveiled, which European leaders will take into account when drafting a new European Union project. on the future of the European Union was launched by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of Europe Day by Mr Victor Negrescu, minister-delegate for European affairs. France and Romania have a joint project to consolidate and strengthen the European Union. At the proposal of France, these citizens' consultation will be organised in 27 countries of the European Union and will target 430 million European citizens and. I will also have the pleasure of participating in other celebrations of the European spirit in Alba Iulia, May 10, and in Alexandria on May 12," Ramis is quoted a saying in an official press statement released on Thursday.According to the statement, France is "committed to Europe's reestablishment and has great ambitions for the European Union: a reinvented sovereignty, a united union around our values, a living democracy."French President Emmanuel Macron is quoted as having proposed to all EU member states to launch citizens' consultations at the level of the European Union.By the end of October, citizens' consultations on Europe are taking place in all European Union countries. They are designed for all citizens to discuss the significance of Europe and for them to express their expectations, hopes, regrets and proposals.On 9 May, the European Commission launched the online consultation, calling on all Europeans to express their views via a questionnaire available in 24 languages, Romanian including.The whole process will be interrupted at the end of October not to interfere with the European election campaign. Later on, the results of the consultations will be unveiled, which European leaders will take into account when drafting a new European Union project. Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu said on Thursday in Alba Iulia that Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) will put the citizen at the forefront and the need for Europe to meet the expectations of everyday life, to think about policies which can be felt by citizens in their daily lives. "Here (in Alba Iulia - ed. n.), more than anywhere, we can talk about what Romania's message to Europe is about, especially in the perspective of the forthcoming EU Council Presidency. I refer here to cohesion, to the need for unity, to the need of working together, respecting each other, working on this idea of bringing prosperity, welfare for all Europeans. In fact, today I came with a message, a message from the Prime Minister, who asked me, first of all, to convey to you her greetings and especially to give you assurances that the Romanian Government assumes all the commitments our country has taken at European level and, above all, the commitments that support both the future Presidency at the EU Council, and what our actions are all about, for the celebration of the Centennial Year," said the Minister -delegate for European Affairs in his speech delivered in Alba Iulia, at the reception on the occasion of "Europe Day"," organized by the European Commission Representation in Romania. Victor Negrescu said that Romania has the opportunity this year, and especially in 2019, to mark its role at European level, stating that "the forthcoming EU Council Presidency will put the citizen at the forefront and the need for Europe to respond to the expectations of everyday life, in fact to think about policies that citizens can feel in their everyday life. "He added that the projects that have been implemented in Alba Iulia demonstrate that useful things can be done with European funds and that the cohesion policy helps local development and brings welfare.Victor Negrescu added that next year, for six months, Romania will be able to say that it will be the capital of Europe, when it will also host the summit in Sibiu.Negrescu also announced that there are plans to hold several important meetings in Alba Iulia next year during Romania's Presidency of the EU Council. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has invited Pope Francis to pay a visit to Romania, with the Sovereign Pontiff answering that he will come to our country "early next year." "I have invited Pope Francis to come to Romania and he said he will come early next year," Viorica Dancila told Antena 3 private television broadcaster. PM Viorica Dancila on Friday was received by Pope Francis in a private audience.The head of the Executive in Bucharest said that, during the discussions with the Sovereign Pontiff, the latter asked her if she felt strong enough to continue her mandate as a Prime Minister till the end."My answer was definitely "yes", because I want this," said Viorica Dancila. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met on Friday with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, with both officials showing their intention to continue the negotiations regarding the signing of an Agreement on collaboration and mutual recognition of diplomas of the university education area. According to a Government release sent to AGERPRES, Viorica Dancila and Pietro Parolin "expressed their satisfaction for the excellent level of the bilateral relations between Romania and the Holy See, highlighted both at political and cultural, educational level." "Also reiterated was the recognition that the Catholic Church enjoys in Romania, as a partner for the common welfare of the entire society and a contributor to the Romanian spiritual, historic and cultural legacy. In this regard, a series of concrete aspects of interest for the activity of the Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches in Romania have been discussed," the release mentions.Furthermore, the PM voiced appreciation for the Catholic Church support of the Romanian communities in the Diaspora, including by hosting many Romanian religious communities, Orthodox or Catholic, of the Western Europe."Moreover, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed their intention to continue the negotiation on signing an Agreement regarding the collaboration and mutual recognition of diplomas of the university education," the release mentions.According to the Executive, an important aspect of discussion tackled the international agenda, with highlights on the similarities of approaching topical files."There were mainly tackled the topics regarding the future of Europe (including in the context of Romanian taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019), the migrants and refugees issue, as well as the situation of the Peace Process in the Middle East," the release points out.The meeting took place within a visit that the Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is paying to Vatican, where she had a private audience on Friday with Pope Francis. Countries such as Botswana, Costa Rica or Georgia represent an anti-corruption model by which Romania could be inspired, political scientist Alina Mungiu-Pippidi said at the presentation of her recently published book, called "In search of a good governing", in which she analyzed 200 contemporary countries, a large number of historical case studies and seven countries that have evolved towards a better governing in the last 35-40 years. According to the renowned writer, who is a doctor in social psychology, historical models are no longer as interesting today in establishing a successful democratic model because the conditions in which they managed to reach this state cannot be easily repeated. "The United States, for example, is an old case. We have successful historical cases, which are not as interesting, due to the fact that those circumstances are a lot more difficult for us to duplicate today. You can't just go and tell someone: "Denmark [another historical model, ed.n.] needs to lose the war with its neighbors, catastrophically, so that the monarch can reach the conclusion that his aristocrats lost the war because they were not educated based on merit and have no military knowledge, and then you must finally introduce a contest based on merit in the army. So this is not something that we can copy. It's been too long. The seven countries that made this happen, during modern times, are Latin America - Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica, and in Africa - Botswana, Asia - South Korea and Taiwan and in Europe - Estonia and Georgia. In the book there is the story of how they made it happen", Alina Mungiu Pippidi said during the event regarding her work, organized on Thursday by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration.The Romanian political scientist, who is an expert in public policies, said that the idea of this book has its roots in a long period of time and that her life intertwined with her research for this book."The Revolution came and I realized that we are not ready for this new reality. The only people that were ready for this area of public policies were the ones that had been to the party's [the Communist party,. ed.n.] school," explained Mungiu-Pippidi.Later on she noticed that people are not actually progressing towards good governing and that parties that reached power were blighted by corruption.The book is trying to answer questions such as "why do some societies manage to control corruption in a way that they become and exception, while other societies remain systematically corrupt?". Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu considers that Romanians do not have to "take light from anybody", but must understand what Romania's "legitimate interest" is and how to pursue it with courage and dignity. "Dacian Ciolos was rhetorically asking me: 'Where do you suggest we take light from?', proving that unfortunately, he still hasn't overcome the mentality of those who were talking about 'sparklers'...big and small. The answer is easy: from nobody, but we must understand which is Romania's legitimate interest and how we can follow it with dignity and courage. Imagine what would have happened had President Emmanuel Macron or Chancellor Angela Merkel thought in similar terms of 'who to take light from'. They didn't and that is why France or Germany have recently backtracked on their concerns regarding the decision announced by President Trump in relation to Iran's issue," Tariceanu said on Friday in a post on his social media page. The founder chairman of the 'Romania Together Movement' / 'Miscarea Romania Impreuna', former European Commissioner for Agriculture and former Prime minister Dacian Ciolos stated on Wednesday that Romania should choose the European values, the rule of law, democracy and not 'authoritarianism, propaganda and the little green people' and demanded that Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu propose 'where we should take the light from' if it is not mandatory to take it from Brussels."Irked by the proposal forwarded by the European Commission which wants to condition the grant of European funds on the observance of the rule of law, Mr. Tariceanu, second person in the state, says it is not mandatory to take the light from Brussels. In 1945, freshly returned from Moscow in an impetus of political opportunism, [writer, ed. n.] Mihail Sadoveanu was organizing at Bucharest downtown Dalles Hall a conference titled 'Light is coming from the East'. And you, Mr. Tariceanu, where do you propose that we take the light from? Are you bothered by the preoccupation for the observance of the rule of law?" Dacian Ciolos wrote on Wednesday night on his Facebook page.Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu says that the European Commission's proposal to 'restrict access to European funds' for the member states that violate the rule of law is controversial within the Union, because 'there is no connection to be made' between the funds and the rule of law, Romania never having been charged 'officially' by the EU with not observing rule of law regulations. He maintained that the "European Commission is a tool meant to help us to harmonise our viewpoints, but not the one from which we should take light in any regard." AGERPRES special correspondent Oana Ghita reports: The Humans, the band which represented Romania at Eurovision 2018 states on the Facebook official page that it will not stop after the second semi-final of the European song and is launching an appeal to support for Romanian artists "under any circumstances." Romania missed the qualification in the Eurovision 2018 finals, after the second semi-final's show that took place Thursday night, at Altice Arena in Lisbon. "We deeply thank all those who supported us! We also thank those who contested us but motivated us to become better and better! We have felt you close to us throughout the entire competition and we are proud we had the chance to be encouraged by a nation with beautiful people!" the band's members appreciated in the message released on the social media page.They express their gratitude for the messages of encouragement and launch an appeal for the support of autochthonous artists."It is wonderful that even as we speak we are receiving messages so beautiful that make us keep our heads high! We are not stopping here! You shouldn't stop here, either and keep supporting Romanian artists under any circumstances," The Humans say in their message. On May 8, President Trump did what he had promised to do before taking office. The US is no longer a party to the Iran nuclear deal. It will immediately reinstate the sanctions that had been waived under that agreement and add new penalties drawn up by the Treasury Department. The restrictive measures limit Irans oil sales, which impacts a broad swath of the Iranian economy, as well as many large firms in the United States and Europe. He made this move despite the fact that the IAEA, the UN agency that monitors nuclear compliance, claims Tehran has so far complied with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). President Trump believes that agreement has fundamental flaws: it does not address Irans ballistic missile program or its regional expansion policy and does not prevent its acquisition of nuclear capability at some point down the road (some provisions expire in 2025). We do not yet know whether Tehran will withdraw or stay in the deal, trying to salvage whats left of it and cooperating with Russia, China, and the EU the other parties to the JCPOA, whose opinion Washington ignored in favor of boosting its own ties to Israel and the Persian Gulf monarchies: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain. Tehran had previously warned it could go back to enriching uranium the way it did before the agreement was signed, if Washington pulled out. Great Britain, Germany, and France regret the US decision. They claim the deal is the best way to keep tabs on Tehrans nuclear ambitions, but they were all snubbed by the US, which turned its back on its closest allies. The EU declared that it would remain a party to the JCPOA, but National Security Adviser John Bolton warned the Europeans that any of their companies that are doing business in Iran have just six months to wind down their operations before they face US sanctions. For some reason, the US wants German businesses to cease their activities in Iran immediately. Clearly Washington feels it is in a position to dictate its own terms and speak in the language of ultimatums. It has no time to waste on civilities. The government of Iran is under attack from the right for having trusted America, the Great Satan, and the Iranian people are expected to unite in support of the regime the US so badly wants to see toppled. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned, along with Americas closest allies, such as Australia and Japan. Turkey disapproves of the move. Moscow has expressed its disappointment at the US decision, noting that this unilateral action constitutes a breach of international law. China has joined Russia in reaffirming its own commitment to the JCPOA. Overall there is an absence of international support for Americas flagrant violation of the agreement. The decision to withdraw is damaging US credibility and putting the country at odds with the major world powers. It took the six parties and Iran 10 years of hard work to reach the accord. Now all those efforts have gone down the drain another indictment of the America First policy. Washington has already made unilateral decisions to leave the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without any deference to the opinions of anyone else, including its best friends. NAFTA and the trade agreements with China are to be either renegotiated on Americas terms or canceled. Pacta sunt servanda is viewed as a basic principle of behavior for everyone but the US. The question arises should North Korea trust any agreements it might reach with the United States? So the US does not believe that it is possible for any agreement, be it an amended JCPOA or something else, to prevent Iran from going nuclear or working on long-range ballistic missiles. Then what can? The alternative is military action. There are signs indicating were in for a big war. The troops in Syria and Iraq, as well as the USS Harry Truman carrier strike group, are in stand-by mode. US commandos are already fighting pro-Iranian forces in Yemen. On May 6, pro-Iranian Hezbollah made a strong showing in the Lebanese elections. Lebanon is a powder keg that can kindle a wider conflict. The pro-Iranian forces look strong heading into Iraqs May 12 elections. The US is not the only NATO member keeping its forces in the region on high alert. The preparations are underway. The US-led SDF is ramping up its operations in Syria. Officially the enemy is whatever is left of ISIS, but the SDF has already clashed with the Syria army and its pro-Iranian supporters. By honoring its JCPOA commitments, the US along with Iran was preventing a war. With the deal torn up, conflict becomes very likely. In general terms, the scenario and consequences of that conflict can be predicted and described. A short victorious war is exactly what is required to boost the US presidents approval ratings and improve the Republicans chances before the November mid-term elections. Photo: AFP Canada is a very pleasant country, if you dont mind being cold for long periods, and in The Economists 2017 Democracy Index is described approvingly as ranking sixth of the 167 countries examined. It scores highly in the electoral process and the functioning of government categories, and also for civil liberties. Freedom of expression and religious and cultural tolerance are championed Regrettably, there has been recent movement towards disapproval of freedom of expression, largely because of a campaign against Russia, which seems strange, because Russia poses no threat whatever to Canada. Certainly there is a Canadian battle group deployed in Latvia in accordance with the Pentagon-NATO policy of Enhanced Forward Presence which involves stationing warships, combat aircraft and troops to confront Russia as close as possible to its borders, but this is just one of the public relations fandangos aimed at justifying NATOs continuing existence. On May 2 Reuters reported the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes findings that while global military spending rose one percent to $1,739 billion last year, Russias fell 20 percent in real terms to $66.3 billion. Reuters also noted that President Vladimir Putin has also called for higher living standards and higher spending on social infrastructure, such as healthcare and education, which is hardly the leitmotif of a someone intent on military expansion and domination. But Canadas anti-Russia crusade is perversely individual rather than objectively logical, which brings us to the countrys foreign minister Ms Chrystia Freeland, who appears to have a personal axe to grind in regard to Russia and Eastern Europe. It is intriguing that Canadas Prime Minister, Mr Justin Trudeau, has chosen to vilify Russia on the grounds of allegedly supporting the media in revealing that Ms Freelands grandfather, a Ukrainian, worked for Nazi occupation forces in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. In 1941-44 Mr Mykhailo Chomiak, the Ukrainian relative in question, was editor of the newspaper Krakivski Visti in Poland, and it is recorded that at least one editorial referred to the country being infected by Jews. The journal Foreign Policy recorded in 2015 that this sentiment was enthusiastically endorsed by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) which engaged in the mass ethnic cleansing of Ukrainian Jews, starting with a pogrom in Lviv that killed 5,000 Jews in the summer of 1941. It is regrettable that in 2015 the Ukrainian Parliament, the Rada, passed a law stating that The state acknowledges that the fighters for Ukraines independence played an important role in reinstating the countrys statehood declared on August 24, 1991. In compliance with the law, the government will provide social guarantees and bestow honours on OUN-UPA fighters. As pointed out in the New York Times in April last year The OUN and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, are now being glorified as freedom fighters. What is not mentioned is the OUNs xenophobic, anti-Semitic ideology, which described Jews as a predominantly hostile body within our national organism, or that the OUN-UPA militia collaborated in the Holocaust and also massacred between 70,000 and 100,000 Polish civilians in order to create an ethnically pure Ukraine. It is all shown to have been very nasty, when you look back; but Prime Minister Trudeau tends to look forward, with only an occasional backward glance. When the British spy and former Russian national Sergei Skripal was poisoned in as yet unclear circumstances in England a month ago, the US and much of the West seized on Britains totally unproven allegation that Russia was responsible, and expelled many of Moscows diplomats from their capitals, which achieved nothing other than an increase in the level of anti-Russia confrontation adopted by the US-UK and their followers. But Canadas stance in the affair was intriguing, because, as reported by CBC News, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has linked the recent expulsion of four Russian diplomats to last year's alleged smear campaign directed against Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. It is apparent that the Canadian governments reflex embrace of the Wests expulsion pantomime was aimed not so much in solidarity with the United Kingdom, as announced by Minister Freeland, as to punish Russian diplomats for allegedly facilitating media revelations about her Ukrainian grandfathers unsavoury past. In her official statement she referred to expelling four intelligence officers or individuals who have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada's security or interfere in our democracy, but in spite of many media questions, Both Treasury Board President Scott Brison and Defence [Minister] Harjit Sajjan were vague last week when asked to describe the acts that led to the diplomats' expulsion. At a media conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on April 4, Mr Trudeau announced that We all can remember efforts by Russian propagandists to discredit our Minister of Foreign Affairs in various ways through social media and by sharing scurrilous stories about her . . . Russia should not be getting involved in Canadian public opinion. The scurrilous stories concern reports such as in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland knew for more than two decades that her maternal Ukrainian grandfather was the chief editor of a Nazi newspaper in occupied Poland that vilified Jews during the Second World War. In her autobiography Ms Freeland avers that My maternal grandparents fled western Ukraine after Hitler and Stalin signed their non-aggression pact in 1939. They never dared to go back, but they stayed in close touch with their brothers and sisters and their families, who remained behind. She wrote that her grandfather was a lawyer and journalist before the Second World War, but [he and his wife] knew the Soviets would invade western Ukraine [and] fled. The Bibles Ezekiel 18:19-20 states that The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father . . . The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself, which is eminently sensible but when a prominent son (or granddaughter) in a most sensitive government post denies vehemently that a forebear was complicit in repression of Jews in a country occupied by Nazis during the Second World War, and then undeniable evidence is revealed to the contrary, there is justification for further examination by the media. On World Press Freedom Day in 2017 Prime Minister Trudeau stated that journalists shine light on stories that would otherwise not be told, and give Canadians the facts they need to engage in public debate and shape events around them. A free and open press is crucial to an informed and engaged citizenry, which is at the heart of a healthy democracy . . . Yet he displayed deep disapproval when there was media reportage that his foreign ministers grandfather supported Nazi repression of Jews in occupied Europe, which is undoubtedly a story that but for attentive journalists would not otherwise be told. In March 2017, Paul Grod, president of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress, declared that It is the continued Russian modus operandi that they have. Fake news, disinformation and targeting different individuals. It is just so outlandish when you hear some of these allegations whether they are directed at minister Freeland or others. Now, let us reflect on how the West, and especially the Western media would react to a story claiming that the grandfather of Ms Freemans opposite number in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, had been a Nazi collaborator who supported the murder of Jews. Like Ms Freeland, Mr Lavrov is a highly intelligent person from a mixed origin family. His mother was born in Georgia and his father was Armenian. He had a conventional upbringing, excelling academically, and Western media have not reported that there was anything dodgy, seamy or sleazy in his past, which means that Western intelligence agencies have failed to find anything they could pass on to their associates in such fraternal outlets as the Washington Post, the UKs Daily Telegraph and the New York Times. So far as the West is concerned he is annoyingly Clean. But if there was a revelation that a forebear of Mr Lavrov had collaborated with Nazi occupation forces, nobody could imagine for a moment that the Western media would not have gone berserk with artificial indignation about how dreadful it is to have had a grandparent (or whatever) who supported the Nazis in their pogroms. They would have excoriated the Russian government, and especially President Putin, for placing a person with such dreadful antecedents in a position in which he could influence or even direct foreign policy. On the other hand, Canadas Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland does indeed have a very nasty anti-Semitic forebear and has tried to deny the fact of his involvement in supporting a fascist regime during its occupation of her homeland. This is hardly fake news or false history, and her stance gives rise to doubt as to whether Ms Freeland is a proper person to represent her country. Her claims, backed by the prime minister, that the expelled Russian diplomats were intelligence officers or individuals who have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada's security or interfere in our democracy, are demonstrably misleading, because the real reason for the expulsion of the diplomats, and for the surge in anti-Russian propaganda in Canada, is that Minister Chrystia Freeland tried unsuccessfully to conceal the fact that her Ukrainian grandfather was a Nazi collaborator and attempted to deflect the medias shining light from this unsavoury fact by blaming Russia for undermining Canadas democracy. It is loyal of the prime minister to support her, but he should remember his approval of journalists who shine light on stories that would otherwise not be told. The influence of Ukrainian zealots on Canadas foreign policy is disturbing, and Canada would benefit from examination of this by its admirably free and open press. US President Donald Trumps decision to walk away from the international nuclear deal with Iran was intended to isolate Tehran. In one fell swoop he has done the opposite. The United States is seen as a global power that cannot be trusted, cannot be tolerated any longer. Indeed, a destabilizing tyranny setting the world to war. In short, a global thug. Ironically, Trumps withdrawal from the accord is making the US an isolated and diminished authority. A fraud whose pretensions of global leadership are nothing but a scam to delay the inevitable emergence of a multipolar world. The sooner that a more democratic world order emerges from US hegemonic tyranny the sooner for world peace. There was near-unanimous repudiation of Trumps decision to blow up the 2015 internationally negotiated accord. Iran, the European Union, Russia, China and the United Nations all called for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to be honored. Trumps caricature of the JCPOA as a failure stands in stark contrast to the rest of the world. The Iran nuclear accord is seen as an achievement of multilateralism and diplomacy. In exchange for curbs on its nuclear weapons program, the world agreed to lift decades of sanctions imposed on Iran. All reports from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, indicate that Iran is fully complying with its side of the bargain to restrict nuclear weaponization. Trumps bombastic and ridiculous assertions that Iran is secretly violating the JCPOA do not stand up to scrutiny. Only Israel, which is a nuclear weapons rogue state, and Saudi Arabia, seem to agree with the Trump administration. All other parties to the accord flatly dispute that assertion. The JCPOA was working perfectly well in terms of Iran adhering to restrictions on nuclear weapons development. The part of the JCPOA that was not working was due to the US continuing to impose sanctions on Iran, and, by dint of tacit threats, hampering the other world powers from implementing sanctions relief for Iran. Russia and China have extended trade relations with Iran since the JCPOA was signed in July 2015, but the European Unions intended commercial ties with Iran have been hampered so far by the US ambiguous and perfidious relations with Tehran. The net result is that the international accord has so far failed to bring the full normalization of relations with Iran, due to Americas latent threats to reimpose sanctions on Tehran and any other nation doing business with the country. Trump has now brought those latent threats to the surface. This weeks withdrawal from the nuclear accord has been accompanied by warnings from Washington that secondary sanctions on European nations and others will be imposed if they continue to pursue legitimate investment deals with Iran. The Trump administrations intimidatory signals have shaken supposed European allies in particular. Warnings from Washington that European companies must wind down investment plans with Iran are seen as unacceptable bullying. The repercussions from Trump unilaterally violating an internationally agreed treaty are highly dangerous on the short term. Already, the decision to pull out of the accord has seen a surge in Israeli air strikes on Syria and allied Iranian forces in that country. Trump is pushing the volatile Middle East to an all-out war. But one positive indirect outcome is that European powers are being faced with a momentous choice. Do they follow the impetuous US president and his irrational, reckless antagonism towards Iran, or do they decide enough is enough? Trumps so-called America First policy has shown that European allies and their interests are, frankly, non-entities in his calculations. Whether it is decisions on trade, the Paris climate accord or Middle East policy, the American president only shows disdain towards multilateralism. The European leaders are saying that the Iran nuclear accord must be abided by. Of course, they have huge vested commercial interests in seeing the accord being adhered to. Trump is not isolating Iran. Through his reckless and ignorant disregard for multilateralism, Trump is undermining American standing in the world. The irony is Trump ripping up a working nuclear accord with Iran while also appearing to pursue a denuclearization deal with North Korea. No-one can take the word of Washington as having any value after Trumps irrational vandalism of the Iran accord. Washingtons arrogant dismissal of European partners with regard to the JCPOA may have one unintended benefit. It is time for the European Union to question the whole so-called trans-Atlantic partnership with the US. That relationship has brought nothing but economic and security trouble to Europe over US-led wars in the Middle East and hostility towards Europes natural partner in Russia. The world is fundamentally shifting from the US-led order that pertained since the Second World War. The shift to a multipolar world is well underway with the rise of China, Russia and Eurasia and alternative sources of economic, political and cultural power. The reckless, reprehensible behavior of the US towards international law, multilateralism and diplomacy all of which it falsely projects onto Russia, China and others is, or should be, a watershed moment for all of the world to recognize that such rogue conduct is intolerable and unacceptable. Either there is multilateral accord or there is not. Either there is a multipolar world as envisaged by a democracy of nations, or there is brutish hegemony of unipolar ambitions. The latter is not law-abiding. It is predicated on the brutish principle of might is right. The world cannot afford such a hegemon for the sake of peace and survival. Trumps thuggish behavior towards the multilateral nuclear accord, as with many other international accords, is a moment of truth for other nations. Do they indulge this ultimately warmongering attitude, or do they stand up to it to embrace the multipolar world that beckons and which is the only rightful way for the world to evolve? The European powers in particular face a moment of truth. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said on Friday he took suo motu notice of Hazara killings in Quetta as it is akin to ethnic cleansing. We do not have words to condemn the incidents of Hazara killings, a two-member bench headed by the chief justice and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan said during a hearing of the suo motu notice at Supreme Courts Quetta Registry. The CJP had taken suo motu notice of Hazara killings on May 2 and had summoned a report from the Balochistan government, Levies, police and Interior Ministry. For me the targeted killings of the Hazara community in Quetta is ethnic cleansing and thus I had to take suo motu, the CJP explained. Apprising the court, the counsel of the Hazara community, Advocate Iftikhar Ali, said, "We are facing a personal and financial loss." "Members of the Hazara community are not given admission in universities and people have sold their businesses," the counsel added. Ali further said, "Some members of the community were forced to migrate to Australia." The Hazara community counsel further told the court, "Security from 15 of our leaders has been withdrawn." However, DIG Quetta denied taking back the security. To this, Justice Nisar remarked that a committee has been formed to look into the matter. Advocate Iftikhar Ali further told the court, "Hazaras are being killed for the last 20 years." To this, the CJP asked IG Balochistan Moazzam Jah Ansari and agencies to submit the measures that can be taken to protect the Hazara community. 'Nine Hazaras killed in four months' Responding to the statement, the chief justice asked the Balochistan IG if a report has been prepared on the targeted killings. Ansari then presented a report to the two-member bench. The Balochistan IG told the court, "124 people of both sects and 106 security personnel have been killed since 2012 in targeted killings in the province." Further sharing details, the Balochistan IG said, "19 people from minority communities have been killed since 2012 and 20 settlers have been killed in the same period." "The security situation in the province has improved now," the IG Balochistan said. Ansari added, "Nine members of Hazara community have been targeted in Balochistan in the last four months." "Twenty-eight personnel have been martyred so far in various incidents across the province this year," the IG said. A string of successive incidents of targeted killings spread a wave of terror among citizens of Quetta last month. As a result, members of the Hazara community began protesting against the continued spate of killings against the minority community. Apart from the sit-in outside the assembly, a social activist Advocate Jalila Haider-led hunger strike was also being staged by Hazara community women outside the Quetta Press Club. The protesters demanded an immediate end to targeted killings of Hazara community members and arrest of every culprit involved. The Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry has said that sending billions of rupees to India is an allegation of treason; therefore, the issue is not about Nawaz Sharif but Pakistan. Talking to media persons in Islamabad, Talal Chaudhry said that the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal didnt only make a mistake but he did a blunder. If it was a mistake, an apology should have been sought, the state minister said. Talal Chaudhry said that in Pakistan corruption is always done in the name of accountability. He said that earlier Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) was formed in the name of accountability and now Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is being made in the same way. The state minster said that in the name of accountability, democracy lovers were always targeted in the Country and the leaders as per their aspirations were brought in. In reply to a question, he said that i hope that doctors at Services Hospital Lahore will discharge the Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal by this weekend. Mahathir Mohamad has been sworn in once more as the new prime minister of Malaysia, resuming the post after a 15-year interval. At the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, the 92-year-old politician became the world's oldest elected leader. His supporters cheered joyfully outside as the inauguration ceremony took place inside the Istana Negara palace in Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir had stood at the helm of the Malaysian government for more than two decades before his retirement in 2003. In order to make his remarkable return he needed to defeat the scandal-hit Najib Razak. Mahathir formed an opposition alliance to achieve the task and as the leader of the Pakatan Harapan (PH), he ousted the powerful Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. BN had been in power ever since the nation gained independence from the British Empire seven decades ago. None of the parties within the coalition government managed to win a majority, so it fell to Malaysia's king Sultan Muhammad V to form the next federal government. One of the most remarkable aspects of Mahathir's comeback has been his reconciliation with jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, his former nemesis. Their relationship has loomed large over the Malaysian political landscape for decades. Anwar was Mahathir's heir-apparent until the premier sacked him in 1998 over political differences, and he was subsequently jailed on charges of sodomy and abuse of power. Anwar was jailed again during Najib's rule but is due out in June -- and Mahathir has pledged to help him get a royal pardon, allowing him to run for political office again and potentially become prime minister. Najib's ouster from the government could be just the start of the problems of Mahathir's former protege. Mahathir has vowed to bring Najib to justice over allegations that billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which the scandal-hit leader set up and oversaw. In Mahathir, the opposition found the perfect person to take on Najib. He is a staunch Malay nationalist who could appeal to the country's biggest ethnic group, and whose years in power were remembered as a prosperous period in the country's history. Angie Warren-Clark Labour MP During my time as manager of Tauranga Women's Refuge, I worked with and heard from many women and their children who were homeless in our city. Many of these families had fled violence with a resulting poverty attached. Commonly, they had nowhere to go and, even if they did find somewhere to live, they couldn't afford to pay all of their bills due to high-cost rent. Social housing was oversubscribed, and couch surfing or living in garages, cars, tents or temporary motel rooms became the norm. I'm genuinely pleased that our government has a plan to transform the economy and rebuild the foundations of health, education and housing to improve the living standards of all New Zealanders. Were pulling out all the stops to support people in need and urgently increase housing supply this winter. Homelessness is the sharp end of the national housing crisis which was created over the past decade. New Zealand needs more houses and were working on this. I was thrilled to hear that Housing Minister Phil Twyford has listened to our concerns around housing issues in Tauranga and has delivered. Tauranga is earmarked to receive our share of the governments $100 million housing investment, particularly around the Housing First Initiative, which sees those suffering from chronic homelessness housed and wraparound services put in place to address other needs. We will not sit idle and let the situation get worse, No-one should be sleeping in their car this winter. The weather forecast today is for morning showers then rain from the afternoon. Also northerlies. Its a two-clothing layer day today with a high of 20 and an overnight low of 16 degrees. Humidity is 97 per cent. Click the image above to watch the video Low tide is at 9.20am and high tide is at 3.30pm. Theres a sea swell of .3m with a sea temperature of 18 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 5.16pm. If youre going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 8 and 10pm. In NZ history on this day in 1945 Charles Upham was presented with New Zealands first Victoria Cross. New Zealands most-decorated soldier, Charles Upham, received the first of his two VCs for outstanding gallantry and leadership during the Battle of Crete in 1941 from King George VI at Buckingham Palace. In world history on this day in 912 Alexander III became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. In 1573 Henry of Anjou became the first elected king of Poland, and in 1812 British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons. Today is the birthday of composer Irving Berlin. Born in 1888, he wrote over 1,500 songs. He once said "I got lost but look what I found." Its also the birthday of surrealist painter, Salvador Dali, who was born in 1904. To get involved in some of the many activities happening around the Bay, please check out our Whats on page. Have a great day! We may not like Mondays and we may be a bit distracted on Fridays, but in fact statistics show Bay of Plenty people are more likely to go to hospital with a workplace injury in the middle of the week. Of the workplace injuries that required hospitalisation in the past five years in the Midland health region (covering five district health boards - Waikato, Lakes, Tairawhiti, Taranaki and Bay of Plenty) just over half were on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. In the Bay of Plenty alone there have been 670 workplace injuries that required hospitalisation over the past five years; an average of 134 a year. The top causes of injury were machinery, fall, struck, and crushed. Most injuries happened in the industrial setting (311 over five years) followed closely by the farm (139 over five years). Males are over-represented in workplace injury statistics, with 86 per cent of those requiring hospitalisation being men and just 14 per cent women. The statistics are produced by the Midland Trauma System (MTS), a network of specialised, clinical personnel committed to the application of best practice in trauma care. The MTS collects and manages the regional trauma database, using the information to identify causes, trends, the impact of trauma injuries, and where prevention strategies might focus. The ultimate aim is to ensure best possible outcomes for patients and their families across the Midland health region. The Midland Trauma System (MTS) has recorded 2912 work place injuries requiring a hospital admission in the last five years in the Midland Health Region at a cost of $23 million. Thats nearly 600 events at a cost of $4.7 million per year. The true cost of course to patients in pain, suffering, time off work and financial loss is much greater. For more information on avoiding workplace accidents go to: www.worksafe.govt.nz. Two people on surf boards attempting to swim with the dolphin pod near the Turret Road bridge this morning have been intercepted by DOC rangers. The pod the rangers estimate to be about 20 in number, were there at daybreak today. It is a rare visit by the endangered species. We have chased away a couple of people on surfboards so far this morning, says Tracy Mezger at DOC Tauranga. These mammals are in confined waters at the moment. They have come into the harbour for a rest and a feed, and its not appropriate for people to interact with them. DOC staff are not concerned about the dolphins stranding. Low tide was at 9.20am, and the pool above the bridge has sufficient depth for the pod at all states of the tide. There are DOC staff monitoring the situation, says Tracy. Its a very unusual visit. The pod is thought to be feeding on kahawai and mullet. There are only about 450 bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand waters between the Bay of Islands and Whakatane, and are less common that Maui dolphins. There are fewer than 1200 that range the New Zealand coastline altogether. A SunLive reporter says mid-morning Welcome Bay traffic is backed up around Welcome Bay, and there are a lot of cars pulled up along the causeway. People driving across the causeway into town are slowing down for a look. For the earlier story and video click here. Bringing back free school buses is being proposed as a short-term solution for Welcome Bays traffic congestion. In submissions to the Tauranga City Council Long Term Plan yesterday Maleta Knight, speaking for the Welcome Bay Transport Forum, said traffic congestion really stepped up after the Ministry of Education stopped free school buses in 2015. The Ministry of Educations removal of bus funding in 2015 had a dramatic effect on Welcome Bay morning traffic volumes, says Maleta. And the BOP Regional Council proposal to reduce direct school bus services in 2019 will make the traffic volumes even worse says Maleta. The impact of the school traffic on congestion is noticeable during school holidays when there is very little congestion leaving Welcome Bay. The transport forum also wants a halt to more houses being built in Welcome Bay until the traffic infrastructure has been improved. The residents also want the four-laning of the Hairini Bridge brought forward to the next two to five years and a dedicated bus lane along Welcome Bay Road, plus a separated cycleway. The suggestions are being made in order to reduce the severe morning traffic congestion that has resulted in a morning 7.30am commute from central Welcome Bay to the CBD now taking an hour, when only six months ago it took 20-30 minutes. Riding a school bus from Oteki Park bus stop via Osprey Drive down Victory Street and up to the Welcome Bay lights took about 13 minutes in 2015, says Maleta. Now it takes 45 minutes before the bus even leaves Welcome Bay. The school bus provider put morning pick up times forward by 30 minutes to 7.15am, which has reduced the commute time but it results in students arriving at schools half an hour before there are any teachers present, says Maleta. It also puts strain on families as they adjust morning routines in order to get children on the bus on time. Contributing factors include a lack of schools in Welcome Bay, and forcing all students over the age of 11 to commute to intermediate or high school. There is no supermarket, so residents have to travel for anything more than daily staples. There are few employment opportunities and a significant number of commuters are obliged to use work or trade vehicles, or they travel to destinations not served by buses. Anna Larsen form the Welcome Bay Community Centre says the forum is also taking its concerns to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council public transport committee at its meeting on Friday. The Welcome Bay Transport Forum is seeking short-term solutions such as free school buses and free commuter buses to reduce the volume of traffic, and traffic light-controlled tidal flow measures for the Hairini Bridge/Fifteenth Avenue/Turret Road, both of which can be implemented within the next few months, says Anna. Free buses for school students could start almost immediately. The question we would like to ask the community is Do you think there would be less traffic congestion if school buses were made free again?" Across the city there are about 25,000 school students attending Tauranga primary and secondary schools - 15,000 primary and about 10,000 secondary students. According to figures provided by the regional council, patronage on Tauranga SchoolHopper services has dropped since fares were introduced in 2015. The 2015/16 year recorded approximately 539,000 trips, and the 2016/17 financial year recorded approximately 503,000 trips. A number of school students have always used the BayHopper service, however this number is also dropping. There were a total of 431,000 trips in the 2015/16 year, and 361,000 trips in the 2016/17 year. Current Tauranga student bus fares are $2 cash and $1.60 with a smartcard. In Rotorua the cost is currently $2.70 and $1.89 respectively, but will drop in July to $1.70 and $1.34. A survey of price perceptions has found the acceptable price for a single trip is within a range of $1.40 to $1.50. Bay of Plenty Film hosted the Te Ata Bay of Plenty Film Forum recently at the Otamarakau Marae, near Pikowai. The forum included workshops, panels, and keynote messages from film industry leaders, attracting over 70 attendees. There were mostly directors, producers, writers and technical people present from across New Zealand, as well as digital content creators and tech developers from the Digital Basecamp in Rotorua, and international film directors. Lori Balton, Dow Griffithand Kent Matsuoka, all international location scouts from the USA, ran a panel discussion on what their role entails. They had spent the days prior to the conference visiting locations around the Bay of Plenty with Anton Steel, CEO of BOP Film. This film forum is a time for the regional screen media industry to come together, says Anton. To look at the growth potential of the local industry, to explore its strengths as a community, create shared pathways forward and to be inspired and learn from others. Te Ata means the dawn and the inaugural film forum focused on the dawn of a fulfilling and sustainable screen media industry in the Bay. After a welcoming powhiri, Kylie Dellabarca Steel led the forum in a mihi, with everyone introducing themselves, and outlining the type of work they do. As well as the three locations scouts, the guest speakers included Heperi Mita, Simon Raby, Jude McLaren and Phillippa Mossman. Heperi has grown up in a Hollywood environment after his parents moved there. His mother is Merata Mita, a pioneering Maori film-maker who was born in Maketu and has become a significant and key figure in the growth of the Maori screen industry. Heperi, who works at Nga Taonga Sound & Vision, New Zealands audiovisual archive, spoke of his own journey in creating a documentary of his mothers life. Simon Rabys topic was Framing the Landscape as Character. He has recently shot Peter Jacksons Mortal Engines, and gave encouraging advice to the gathered film makers, both new and experienced. Rounding off the keynote speakers was Jude McLaren from the New Zealand Film Commission. As the talent pathways manager, she spoke of the range of roles involved in bringing stories forward, and focusing on making the transition from short form to long form drama. Break-out groups discussed aspects of the film industry momentum in the Bay of Plenty There was plenty of time for networking, with the sunny weather allowing for an outdoor lunch from El Mono Loco staff who served food from their food truck. Dinner was a hangi put down by caterers at the marae. The evening was opened to the public, with the screening of locally produced short films highlighting the Bay of Plentys locations and local talent. It was fantastic to connect so many key Bay of Plenty, national and international film industry players in one place, says Kristy Robinson, coordinator for BOP Film. Weve had some amazing feedback from the weekend. Its been really inspiring for the participants and for us. Together we achieve more is one of the things that came out of the weekend, and we look forward to driving the industry forward. The forum presentations were mostly held in the whirinui at Otamarakau Marae Lunch from a food truck outdoors overlooking the beach at Otamarakau Marae Barbados Rejects UK Push For Public Beneficial Ownership Register by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington 11 May 2018 Barbados's Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce, and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, has told a Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) conference there is no support on the island for a public register of beneficial ownership. His remarks follow amendments to the UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill passed by the House of Commons last week that would require the UK's 14 Overseas Territories to introduce public ownership registers by the end of 2020 or face having the requirement legally imposed by the UK Government. Innis said the UK Parliament's requirement would place the lives and well-being of private citizens at great risk and encourage an underground market in secretive corporate structures. Noting that many Caribbean countries have been erroneously placed on various kinds of tax blacklists, he said the region has become victim to overzealous regulators who have made life a "living hell" for the best-governed corporations and for many legitimate high-net-worth individuals. He also said these regulators had precipitated bank "deriskng" in which international banks have withdrawn from the region rather than have to comply with onerous and therefore costly regulatory requirements. Innis emphasized that Barbados continues to engage with the OECD and European Union and said that requiring transparency from the region must be matched by efforts to ensure transparency worldwide. HK Government Studying Vacant Property Tax by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London 11 May 2018 Hong Kong's Government says it is studying the feasibility of introducing a tax on vacant "first-hand" private residential properties. Chief Executive Carrie Lam made the statement last week during a Legislative Council question and answer session saying the vacancy tax could help release new residential units to the market, which are currently being purchased and then left vacant or not being released by developers. Lam said the Government will consider the rationale, feasibility, and the public response to the proposal before deciding on the matter. She added there is no plan to introduce a capital gains tax on residential properties owned by non-Hong Kong residents, and emphasized the importance of maintaining the special administrative region's simple and low tax regime to remain competitive. Macau To Sign OECD Multilateral Information Exchange Treaty by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong 11 May 2018 Macau's Chief Executive has issued an order authorizing signature of the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information. The Multilateral Agreement provides a standardized mechanism to facilitate the automatic exchange of information in accordance with the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters. It avoids the need for separate bilateral agreements to be concluded. When Macau signs the Multilateral Agreement it will join over 100 countries and jurisdiction who have committed to tackle tax evasion and avoidance through cooperation and exchange of information. South Africa Invites Comment On VAT Zero-Rate Review by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus 11 May 2018 South Africa's National Treasury is inviting the public to contribute to a review of the list of items zero-rated for value-added tax purposes. In a May 10 press release, the National Treasury invited interested stakeholders to make written submissions to the Independent Panel of Experts undertaking the review of zero-rated items, the terms of reference for which were published by the Minister of Finance last month. As well as evaluating whether the list achieves its original objectives, the panel's remit includes considering ways to mitigate the impact of the recent VAT rate increase on poor and low-income households. Following an announcement in the 2018 Budget, the rate of VAT increased from 14 percent to 15 percent on April 1, 2018. Written submissions to the review must be submitted by the close of business on May 24, 2018. Switzerland To Implement Philippines Trade Deal by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 11 May 2018 The Swiss Federal Council has announced that the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Philippines will enter into force for Switzerland on June 1. The agreement was signed by the Philippines and the EFTA states (Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) on April 28, 2016. The Swiss Parliament adopted the agreement last March. The Federal Council approved the necessary measures for implementing the tariff concessions on May 9. Upon the agreement's entry into force, nearly 92 percent of Swiss industrial products will benefit from duty-free access to the Philippine market. Such products account for 96 percent of all Swiss exports to the Philippines. Duties on the remaining industrial products will be eliminated gradually over the next three to 10 years, with some exceptions. The duties currently imposed by the Philippines on Swiss agricultural products will be eliminated either immediately in the case of energy drinks, sugar confectionary, chocolate, cheese, and powered milk or following a transition period of up to six years for products including biscuits, muesli, jams, dried beef, and tobacco products. Switzerland will eliminate all duties on industrial products from the Philippines. It will grant preferential market access for certain agricultural products, such as muscovado sugar, certain cut flowers, and exotic fruits and fruit juices. In 2017, the Philippines was Switzerland's sixth-largest trade partner in Southeast Asia. Recently released admissions statistics covering the 2016-2017 admissions cycle show an increase in the number of overall applications made to the university, as well as an increase in the number of state school acceptances to 64.1% of the intake. Despite criticism being angled at the university for its lack of significant expansion following the student cap being lifted in 2012, last year the university made 4,485 offers, up 4.1% from last year when only 4,307 were made. Last year, the now-defunct Office for Fair Access challenged the University of Cambridge to accept 62.7% of its 2017 cohort from state schools, and 11.5% from POLAR3 quintiles 1 and 2. With 40.3% of initial applications being successful across those two quintiles, the university confidently beat both targets. Only 96.7% of those accepted achieved A*AA or higher in their top three A-levels, down from 97% the previous year, meaning more students were accepted despite missing out on their initial offer (0.2% in the Arts and Social Sciences, and 2.1% in the Sciences). Similarly, 64.1% of first-year undergraduates are from state schools, whilst 35.9% are from maintained schools. However, the success rate for maintained schools is still eclipsed by that of independent schools. Students at independent schools have a nearly 6% greater chance of getting in to Cambridge than their state educated peers. Natural Sciences was shown to have the greatest number of state school students in the 2017 cohort, as over 300 home maintained school students took up their place at Cambridge. Meanwhile, Wolfson far outranked the other colleges in terms of number of state school admissions, taking 92.3% of its cohort from state maintained schools. Of the undergraduate colleges, Churchill made 76.5% of its offers to state-school students, but St Johns found itself at the opposite end of the scale, as only 48.6% of its students did not come from independent schools. A spokeswoman for St Johns College said: We are committed to widening participation and continually review the effectiveness of our extensive outreach initiatives, but there is still work to do to show that St Johns is open to talented young people regardless of their background." The university also saw a significant increase in the proportion of students whose home postcode was listed as being in a flagged subgroup, with characteristics associated with relative disadvantage, according to the Output Area Classification, or OAC. This rose from 7.8% last year to 10.4%. However, there was a smaller reported increase in the number of acceptances for students from black or minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Whilst 21.8% were accepted last year, this rose by only 0.3% to 22.1%. Six successful students described themselves as coming from black or black British-Caribbean backgrounds with fifty more from black or black British-African backgrounds. 2,014 were white. Meanwhile, there was a 20.8% success rate across students applying from POLAR3 quintile 1, designated as postcode area with the lowest percentage of young people in higher education participation. Furthermore, this year Northern Ireland had the largest overall success rate per area, with 29.2% of all acceptances going to its students, whilst Greater London and the South East received 23.6% and 25.7% of all acceptances respectively, despite submitting the second- and third-greatest number of applications over the 2016 UCAS admissions cycle. The University still has work to do in Scotland and the West Midlands, however, as the two regions had the lowest number of acceptances across the UK: 16.3% of Scottish candidates were accepted, whilst the figure was 19.7% for the West Midlands. Maths and science-oriented subjects such as Economics, Computer Science and Engineering saw a significant number of applications from male candidates, often outweighing their female counterparts by more than 4:1 in the case of Computer Science, event at the acceptances stage. However, the male to female ratio becomes more balanced in the case of Medicine, whilst acceptances by female candidates outweigh those of their male peers in the case of Veterinary Medicine and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, where 12 male candidates were accepted to 47 female candidates. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Paxful CEO Ray Youssef stands in front of a nursery school in Rwanda that his company helped build by donating $50,000 in bitcoin. Most people in the tech industry will tell you that artificial intelligence is the future. As more experts in this area become necessary, Carnegie Mellon University has announced it will offer an undergraduate degree in AIsomething the college says will be a first for the US. New advancements in AI, machine learning, and neural networks are being made all the time. At this weeks Google I/O developer conference, the company demonstrated its new Duplex technology, which enabled Google Assistant to call and book appointments by mimicking a human voice. It even used speech disfluencies such as umm and ah to make it sound more like a real person. A recent study of the top schools to offer graduate-level AI programs placed Carnegie Mellon in the number one spot, beating the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. Professor Reid Simmons, director of the new program, says the university currently offers almost a dozen AI-related programs. Specialists in artificial intelligence have never been more important, in shorter supply or in greater demand by employers, Andrew Moore, dean of CMU's School of Computer Science, said in a statement. Carnegie Mellon has an unmatched depth of expertise in AI, making us uniquely qualified to address this need for graduates who understand how the power of AI can be leveraged to help people. With many concerned about the impact of AI on jobs, and its use in so-called Killer Robots, part of the degree will examine the ethics around artificial intelligence and how it can be used for the greater social good, including its application toward transportation, health care, and education. A blog post from Carnegie Mellons School of Computer Science explains that the course will begin this fall. It will be limited to no more than 100 second-, third- and fourth-year students, or about 30 to 35 new students each year. With all of its various agencies, entities, and departments, the average government has access to a truly impressive amount of data on its own performance. Such a massive amount of data holds significant potential for driving innovation in the public sector.To unlock this potential, governments are increasingly embracing open data policies to better analyze and utilize their data. California is on the leading edge of the open data frontier and is leveraging data transparency to drive innovation at a local and statewide level.Data transparency drives government innovation by fostering greater collaboration between government departments and between the public sector and its private-sector allies. By opening up their data, governments and their partners can analyze previously siloed data sets to improve services, streamline processes and optimize internal resources. As California Assemblymember Brian Maienschein put it , Open data is critically important to increasing transparency and making operations more effective and accountable to the public.Before exploring how California is pioneering data-driven innovation in government, lets take a brief look at the history of data transparency in the public sector.Public-sector utilization of data transparency and analytics is evolving at a rapid pace on the state, local and federal levels to catalyze innovation and create a more citizen-centric way of operating.The movement for increased data transparency in government is still in its early stages. In 2013, the White House issued the very first Open Data Policy , designed to make many forms of government data open and readable to those outside specific agencies and departments. At the same time, an initiative called Project Open Data was launched as a toolkit to help governments increase the transparency of their existing data. Policies and initiatives like the Open Data Policy were designed not just to facilitate collaboration, but also to meet accountability demands from the public in areas like financial disclosures Fast-forward to 2018, and Project Open Data is still fostering greater transparency, as are new entities and policy initiatives like the Data Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA). This years second annual State of the Union of Open Data report (conducted by Grant Thornton) surveyed a variety of leaders in both government and IT, finding that most rated the state of open data in 2018 as strong. Nearly 82 percent said that data standardization has improved their fields in recent years, and 79 percent said they expect advancements in transparency to continue in 2018 and beyond.Another example came this year with the introduction of the bipartisan Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act in the House of Representatives. The purpose of the bill is to leverage open data to streamline the federal grant reporting process by replacing outdated processes and paperwork.As the nation as a whole increasingly embraces data transparency as an innovation catalyst, California continues to pave the way by pioneering new use cases for data transparency in government.Californias embrace of data transparency has manifested itself in a variety of ways in recent years. Just two years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed the states first Chief Data Officer , Zachary Townsend, to serve as the primary steward of the data portal for the states public data. Since then, a host of online data portals hosted by cities, state agencies and private-sector partners have brought data transparency in California to a whole new level.Take, for example, the city of Los Angeles Web analytics dashboard , which publishes real-time data on traffic and usage patterns for the citys various websites, pages and portals. Before we partnered with them to create this dashboard, Los Angeles city officials had no analytics or insight into how or at what volume their digital services were being utilized. They can now adjust and optimize specific digital services around insights gleaned from these analytics dashboards.For example, by analyzing website usage by device type, Los Angeles officials can learn that 38.9 percent of their traffic comes from mobile or tablet users, and they can confidently allocate resources to making city websites and digital tools mobile-responsive. Or they can see that more than 75 percent of their traffic comes from Chrome and Safari, indicating that all online services and forms need to be compatible with these browsers.Several open data projects are also driving innovation at the statewide level. The California Open Data Portal , for example, was built to improve collaboration, expand transparency and lead to innovation and increased effectiveness of government services. The portal is being used to develop applications that help Californias Department of General Services track the sustainability of state-purchased supplies and to evaluate the sustainability of Californias vehicle fleet. OpenJustice is another promising open data project. Spearheaded by Californias Department of Justice, this platform transparently publishes criminal justice data such as arrests, deaths in custody, hate crimes and citizens complaints so that law enforcement agencies and policymakers can work together to improve the criminal justice system at every level.The push toward open data will lead to more innovation, collaboration and transparency in the public sector. Previously unimagined services like a community peer-to-peer tool-sharing app or a crowdfunding platform to improve public parks might become realities as governments find newer and better ways to share and analyze existing data.Though were only just beginning to realize the potential of data-driven innovation in the public sector, California has already positioned itself as an example for other governments to emulate. On Nov. 21, the Bolivarian nation will choose 23 governors, 335 mayors, 253 legislators, and 2,471 councilors. | Read More When New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declined Yvette Coppersmith's request to paint her for the Archibald Prize, Coppersmith thought she could interrogate the issues of women's representation through her own image. It was only after finishing up that Coppersmith realised her self-portrait also channelled George Lambert's 1924 portrait of Sydney socialite Hera Roberts. Lambert is one of her favourite artists and Roberts and painter Thea Proctor were self-possessed style-makers at a time of burgeoning female empowerment. Coppersmith asserted her own place in the tradition of Australian portraiture when she was named on Friday the winner of Australia's best-known portrait prize that was established in 1921 and is worth $100,000. Georgina Chapman has broken her silence on Harvey Weinstein, her estranged husband who was accused of decades of sexual harassment and assault in bombshell reports from The New York Times and The New Yorker in October. The fashion designer, who has kept a low profile since the news broke, opened up in an interview with Vogue, saying she was never suspicious of his behaviour. "Absolutely not. Never," she said. "That's what makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life." More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of inappropriate or potentially criminal behavior ranging from requests for massages to intimidating sexual advances to rape. Weinstein has denied the allegations of nonconsensual sex. Mayim Bialik has advised those living with mental health issues to never give up on treatment. The 42-year-old actor, best known for playing Dr Amy Fowler in the hit comedy Big Bang Theory, has filmed a short video opening up about her battle with depression. The video was filmed for the Child Mind Institute and aims to break-down the stigma surrounding anxiety and bipolar disorder. "What I would like to tell my younger self about mental health is that there are answers," Bialik said. "For me, some of those answers I had to wait years to find and I needed to get different help, which ended up being the right kind of help. Alan Jones has been sued by a NSW government scientist of almost four decades' service after the broadcaster accused him of doctoring a noise report on a wind farm planned for Mudgee. Jeff Parnell, a noise specialist who is also chair of the NSW division of the Australian Acoustical Society, took the defamation action after Jones said on his 2GB radio program in May 2016 that he had altered an independent noise-monitoring report for the Crudine wind farm. Broadcaster Alan Jones outside the Brisbane Supreme Court last month where he was facing a separate lawsuit. "He has edited the document. I would have thought that involves a few ethical and integrity issues," Jones said on his radio program while interviewing Penny Hundy, a resident near the proposed wind farm. "ICAC, have you made any submissions to ICAC?" Jones asked, referring to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. Old Havana with its crumbling rickety buildings, all colour-washed-out and flaky, like a papier-mache city that someone had left out in the rain. Classic, colourful 1950s Chevys zipping up and down streets, like gigantic Pez candies on wheels, in delicious carbon monoxide exhaust pipe flavours. Salsa-sexy Latino-bands playing in every corner bar, each musician talented enough to win armloads of Grammys, but here they had to work for peso tips from mojito-sloshed tourists, all trying to sing along to Guantanamera but only knowing the word Guantanamera. But it was worth that whole 23-hour nightmare of airport transfers and seat claustrophobia and inflight bean and rice meals and post-inflight meal flatulence and runway landing communal-prayer chanting, because Cuba was an impossibly excellent place. Getting to Cuba was a little tricky. I had to catch a plane to San Francisco, then a smaller plane to Mexico City, then an even smaller plane to Havana, flying on an obscure Central American airline where everyone applauded when the plane landed, including the cabin crew. Something was different about this place, something about the people: they were passionate, engaged, musical, chilled and absurdly good-looking it was unnatural. And pretty soon I realised why everyone looked so relaxed and friendly and alive: the internet there is crap. Cuba has very limited broadband and mobile phone access, which is what youd expect from any poor, insular, developing, communist country, or regions of Australia with laggy NBN. So I had to acclimatise technologically: I couldnt get out my phone and use online maps to find my way around I had to use an actual map made of paper that fluttered in my face like a tent flap. There was no moving dot to locate my position, no marked route to tell me where to go, and I had no idea how to fold the map up at the end of the day I couldnt watch a YouTube map-folding tutorial by Japanese folding-guru Marie Kondo. Another thing: I couldnt access an online translator to communicate with the local Cubans. I had to make a huge effort and actually learn a few Spanish words like hola for hello and adios for goodbye and gracias for thank you learn them AND memorise them, loco! And whenever I tried talking to someone in Spanish, sometimes they answered in Spanish, and Id have to explain that I couldnt speak Spanish, then theyd have to say the whole thing again in English, giving me a look like, idiota gringo, why did you even bother in the first place? It was muchos humiliatingo. Loading Oh, and also I had no way of checking the internet for historical or cultural facts: if I stumbled upon a 16th-century cathedral or a famous old plaza, I had to read tourist signs to get information, or tag along on the back of tour groups, hiding behind a family, pretending I was the weird uncle that they invited along and now they wished they hadn't. Mr Rizk now constantly wears his dressing gown to keep warm. Credit:Eddie Jim Mr Rizk's neighbour Farhiya Jama has been helping him make sense of the process but said she has had her own issues with the situation. "We got one replacement heater but I have two kids and it's still a struggle to heat and move the heater between rooms," she said. "We are not sure what is actually happening, when they plan to replace things properly or how long it will be." Sami Abdullahi, who lives in the same public housing estate, said he didn't realise he was eligible for a temporary heater so he and his wife had bought two portable heaters immediately after receiving the letter to make sure their two-year-old son didn't feel the cold. Mr Abdullahi said he had heard nothing further from the department in the two months since he received his warning letter. "It's getting cold so I hope our check is soon," he said. Sami Abdullahi purchased a new heater once he was told to stop using his potentially-dangerous Vulcan gas heater. Credit:Eddie Jim Many residents said they were growing more concerned as the weather worsened about the time it was taking to conduct the safety checks. This week an icy snap gripped the state, with Thursday the coldest day since last September and Friday Melbourne's wettest May day in six years. Friends of Public Housing Victoria spokeswoman Fiona Ross said it was "a very serious problem". "We've got people who have turned their heaters off and are just waiting," she said. Ms Ross said she feared many residents may not have understood the letters, which were printed in English with translation advice on the back. "With the cold weather suddenly upon us, we are concerned that many public tenants, especially from migrant backgrounds, might unwittingly use these heaters, unaware of the dangers," she said. Some residents who have have already received temporary heaters said they were more expensive to run and did an inferior job. "The heater they supplied was rubbish," tenant Pamela Judd said. "It would have been OK if my lounge was as big as my bathroom." A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the process was "not a small task". "Given the number of heaters, (it) will take some time to address." "The department is taking action and our priority is in testing and servicing all the 6525 Vulcan/Pyrox heaters that are known to be in public housing properties." The department said it had hired additional gas plumbers and its contractors were working at full capacity testing an average of 36 heaters a day. So far, nearly 20 per cent of heaters have been tested and serviced. "Where a heater fails the carbon monoxide test, it is disconnected and the tenant is provided with temporary heating," the spokesperson said. "Eventually all the heaters will be replaced but the priority is for those that fail the test." The department said it had purchased 1500 temporary heaters and ordered a further 2500. A process to assist residents with the increase in electricity bills was being developed, it said. Several hours after being contacted by The Age about Mr Rizks case, a department spokesperson said a temporary heater would be delivered to him on Friday evening. He has been advised and confirmed he will be at home. Our priority is about the safety of our tenants and we apologise if Mr Rizk has had problems navigating this process. A Victorian Public Tenants Association spokeswoman said the organisation had "been given assurances by the housing department that they are trying to roll this out as fast as possible". The issue is not just affecting public housing as the once-popular heaters are installed in many private properties. Collins calmly walked back into the house to kill Dorothy Abbey, who was shot twice in the head and had her throat cut. The couples three young children were in the bedroom next door. When asked why he had killed her, Collins replied: "Dead men tell no tales." And there it would have remained but for the remarkably similar murders of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine, who were shot dead in their Kew home in May 2004. Terence and Christine Hodson (right) and the man suspected of killing them, Rodney Charles Collins (insert). It was part of that investigation that led police to reopen the Abbey file. When Collins was arrested in June 2008 for the 1987 double murder, police found a loaded handgun, a balaclava, burglary kit and surveillance equipment in his Northcote home. They also found a 58-page confidential police report on a major drug dealer. The similarities between the Abbey killings and the murders of the Hodsons were striking. Again the male was the target, again the wife was killed because she could identify the killer and again the gunman was Collins. Now who paid him and why has never been tested in court because the star witness for the prosecution, Carl Williams, is not alive to testify. Carl Williams Credit:John Woudstra Williams, who was serving a minimum of 35 years for four murders and other offences, was desperate to cut a deal with police and made a series of statements over the Hodson killings, finally claiming he was the middle man who handed over $150,000 to Collins from former policeman Paul Dale to kill Hodson. Williams said in his statement: "Rod Collins was always asking for work and I thought he might do it. Rod was in the back of my mind as someone I could use on a job like this." As a result of "Carls Confessions", Collins and Dale were charged but when Williams was bashed to death in Barwon Prison in April 2010 the case against the two collapsed. Meanwhile, Collins remained on the shortest of shortlists as a suspect in the murders of Mike "Lucky" Schievella, and de facto wife Heather McDonald, who were murdered in their St Andrews home on September 16, 1990. The couple was tortured and their throats slashed in what appeared to be a drug rip off. The killers have never been found. A sketch of Rodney Collins as he appeared in court for an interview application in relation to a 1987 armed robbery. Credit:Anne Spudvilas At a February 1983 party in a Reservoir home, Collins turned on a young Irishman too drunk to sense danger. He shot and killed Patrick Brendon Coghlan before shooting the partys host, Ronald Longmuir, in the leg. It was enough to arrest the suspect. The Special Operations Group later smashed through a window in his Broadmeadows house to arrest him. The window had been covered with a plastic film, which delayed the arrest team for several seconds. Later police found a loaded revolver near the window with bullets in the cylinder dented by the firing pin. Tests showed the gun was faulty and that the suspect had tried to fire rounds at the police through the window before throwing the weapon to the other side of the room and giving up. When asked by homicide squad detectives if he had fired at police, all he would say was, "I didnt know it was you". Collins was committed for trial but the case collapsed after Longmuir died from complications from his gunshot wound. When the charges were formally dropped in court Collins chose not to reflect on his good fortune but tried to attack a homicide investigator nearby. It suggested he had no intention of considering a change of occupation. Collins was also under investigation over the murder of Melbourne standover man Brian Kane, who was shot dead in the Quarry Hotel in Brunswick in 1982. Police say Collins and his partner Russell "Mad Dog" Cox, burst in and fired .38 snub-nosed revolvers in the ambush. Certainly the gunman and Cox were seen chatting over coffee in Hawthorn just months before the Kane hit. There is one more murder linked to "The Duke". Mario Condello, a member of the Carlton Crew and an enemy of Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel, was shot dead by a lone gunman as he returned to his Brighton home in February 2006. A woman's "rage, provocation and torment" surfaced in the most dramatic fashion when she drove at her violent partner, slamming into a sign which came crashing down like an axe to his head. Jessie Donker, 31, will serve two years behind bars for the manslaughter of her partner, 32-year-old Richard Powell, who was killed on January 8 last year after her car hit a pole in a Sunbury carpark, causing a sign to fall and fatally split his head open. Jessie Donker has been jailed for the manslaughter of her partner Richard Powell. The unusual case, Justice Michael Croucher told the Supreme Court in Melbourne, shows domestic violence remains a shameful scourge in our country. Sometimes, it is all just too much to bear for the victim of domestic violence. Sometimes, the response to the umpteenth assault is not just another excuse for the inexcusable, such as a cover story about walking into doors. Instead, sometimes, it is all but inevitable that years of abuse will produce an outburst of rage and violence by the victim, Justice Croucher said. The Melbourne City Council has forked out at least $660,000 for its investigation into alleged misconduct by former lord mayor Robert Doyle, a Town Hall report shows. The council has banned alcohol in the offices of the lord mayor and deputy lord mayor amid the fallout over the investigation, the report to council also reveals. Former lord mayor Robert Doyle Credit:Eddie Jim It is also planning to introduce an independent respectful conduct advisor to deal with any future allegations of sexual harassment and other disrespectful behaviour, the report says. The councils investigation by barrister Ian Freckleton, QC, found that Mr Doyle repeatedly placed his hand on fellow councillor Cathy Okes thigh and that he embraced and tried to kiss her on the mouth on another occasion. The people of East Timor are heading to the polls this week for the second time in 10 months. On May 12, a fresh round of parliamentary elections will attempt to overcome the legislative impasse in the current minority government. The new government promised more stability and democratic progress. But this has been cast in doubt by fractious relations among the major parties, ultimately resulting in the government being unable to pass its mandate and the dissolution of Parliament. East Timor goes to the polls this week. Credit:Alamy In the process, there is a risk that important issues such as addressing poverty and unemployment (particularly among young people), and improving basic services such as water supplies, are relegated to the background. Last Julys parliamentary elections were a tight contest between East Timor's two biggest parties. The leftist Fretilin, (with which President Francisco Guterres is aligned) won 23 seats, and the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (led by former independence leader and the nations first prime minister Xanana Gusmao), won 22 seats. But tensions have since eased greatly, starting around the time of the North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. As part of the extraordinary rapprochement now going on, North Korea has vowed to dismantle the test site, where all six of its nuclear detonations have taken place, this month. But as with so many things about North Korea, it's difficult to tell how much of this is wheat and how much is chaff. Punggye-ri (red mark), a North Korean nuclear test site in Kilju, North Hamkyong Province. Credit:Yonhap/AP Kim made the pledge during a historic summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which laid the groundwork for the Kim-Trump meeting. Kim said he would invite security experts and journalists to the North to observe the closure of the site, the South's presidential Blue House said. All six of North Korea's nuclear tests have taken place deep under the mountain at Punggye-ri, with five of them occurring in the tunnel complex accessed through an entrance known as the north portal. There are two other entrances to the site, the west and south portals. The last test, in September last year, was so huge that some experts wondered if Mount Mantap was suffering from "tired mountain syndrome" and had become unusable. But numerous nuclear experts have cast doubt on that theory, noting that even if the tunnels leading to the north portal were unusable, the other two entrances could still be operational. Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un are due to meet. Credit:AP Tunnelling and activity at the west portal had been visible as recently as April 20, a week before the inter-Korean summit, according to an analysis for 38 North, a website devoted to North Korea. There are clusters of buildings at the portals, including administration buildings and a command center, as well as smaller buildings. The big, main buildings are still there but the smaller, more peripheral ones at the north and south portals, the entrances to the main tunnels, have come down, Lewis said. This could be part of the preparations for inviting journalists and experts to watch the closure of the site, which, Lewis said, could be as simple - and as reversible - as blocking the portals. Loading "Shutting down the test site is something they can easily do. It's just tunnels so they can seal the entrances - but they can also unseal them," he said. "And the tunnels are always going to be there," he added, unless North Korea blows up the whole site. Still, analysts wanting to be optimistic about the diplomatic process say that declaring the site finished and taking some steps towards closing it would support their theory that Kim is making an effort, just like this week's release of three Americans who had been held in North Korea. But sceptics say that closing a test site that might well be spent is just cosmetic. A group of Chinese scientists last month said they believed the test site had collapsed after September's huge test, which caused an earthquake so big that satellites caught images of the mountain above the site actually moving. North Korea claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb, which would be exponentially more powerful than the atomic devices previously tested, and experts said the size of the earthquake suggested that it had indeed been a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, explosion. Adding to theory that the site has outlived its utility is new research from scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technical University, who claim to have found evidence that the damage at Mount Mantap was more substantial than other research shows. In their study, to be published in the journal Science on Thursday, they argued that by using satellite radar imagery to supplement ground-based seismological readings they were able to gain a more accurate picture of the September 3 test. Sylvain Barbot, a researcher with the Earth Observatory of Singapore, wrote in an email that the nuclear test last year was so large that "we could 'feel' it from space". The amount of shaking that accompanied the explosion was so severe that traditional radar measurements were inaccurate, Barbot said, and his team had to use unusual techniques to compensate for significant changes in the landscape. By using these techniques, the researchers were able to estimate a depth for the nuclear detonation: Around 450 metres, beneath the summit of Mount Mantap. Researchers then combined this information with seismological readings to come up with an estimated yield for the weapon of between 120 kilotons to 304 kilotons. A Hanover couple wants to create a brand new spa business on their rural property, but the municipality has decided they still need more time before they can give the couple their blessing for the proposal. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 11/5/2018 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Hanover couple wants to create a brand new spa business on their rural property, but the municipality has decided they still need more time before they can give the couple their blessing for the proposal. Nelia and Viktor Holstein own a property in Hanover at 34160 Road 32E, and are proposing moving forward with a project that would see them build a spa business on the five acre property which is currently zoned rural residential. A public hearing was held in Hanover on Wednesday morning for the rezoning of the property that would be needed to build the spa, which council heard would include spas, hot tubs and saunas. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The couple spoke at the hearing on Wednesday and said their plans would be to have a brand new 6,000 sq.-ft. indoor building, as well as an outside portion of the spa business and surround it all with tall fencing. Council also heard on Wednesday that the proposal does raise concerns with Hanovers planning department. Hanover manager of planning Jeremy Neufeld told council the proposal is a "dramatic deviation from the intent of a home occupation," and he said administration believes the business would be more suited to a commercial lot. Neufeld said the planning department is strongly encouraging council to reject the application, and direct it towards a commercially zoned lot. The couple spoke during Wednesdays hearing and told council they want to build their business on a rural property because that kind of area is more suited to a spa business where clients would be coming to relax and get away from the kinds of noise that can be heard on commercial lots or more developed areas. Council did not come to a decision on the application on Wednesday, as they instead chose to send the proposal back to the municipalitys planning department for further review. Joseph James DeAngelo. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP/REX/Shutterstock The man suspected of being the Golden State Killer was just charged with four more murders, bringing the total number of murder charges hes facing up to 12. NBC News reports that retired police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, has now been charged in Santa Barbara County with the December 1979 murders of Robert Offerman and Alexandria Manning and the July 1981 murders of Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez. The Golden State Killer also known as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker is accused of committing at least 12 murders, 45 rapes, and over 100 burglaries across the state of California between the years of 1976 and 1986. Part of his MO involved tying up husbands before raping their wives, and calling victims and taunting them after the fact. There was recent renewed interest in the case thanks to late crime writer Michelle McNamara. DeAngelo was arrested on April 24 at his home near Sacramento; police were able to find him, in part, because of DNA a distant relative submitted to genealogy websites. If convicted of any of the murders, he faces the death penalty. Above: Lil Miquela. Over lunch this spring, Nikola Burnett, a 15-year-old who always carries two cameras one film and one digital sat staring at an Instagram selfie, perplexed. The subject was Miquela Sousa, better known as Lil Miquela, a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model, musical artist, and influencer with over a million Instagram followers, who is computer-generated. Shes not real, right? Nikola asked me shyly. She knew the answer, but something about Miquela made her question what her eyes were telling her. At first glance, or swipe, Miquela could understandably be mistaken for a living, breathing person. She wears real-life clothes by streetwear brands like Supreme and luxury labels like Chanel. She hangs out with real-life musicians, artists, and influencers in real-life trendy restaurants in New York and Los Angeles, where she lives. When Miquela holds her phone to a mirror, her reflection stares back. When she is photographed in the daylight, her body casts a shadow. She even complains about allergies and often references the temperature with tweets like 39 degrees out im still getting this iced matcha. Lil Miquela on [her] way to see Black Panther. Photo: Courtesy of Brud In selfies, you can see the freckles on Miquelas face; her gap-toothed smile. But up close, her brown hair, often pulled into Princess Leiaesque buns, looks airbrushed (Twitter users have noted that her flyaway frizz always falls in the same pattern). Her skin reads as smooth as the glass screen that separates us. And when you peer into Miquelas big brown eyes, she fails the ultimate test of humanity. No, Miquela isnt real at least not like you and me. She is an avatar puppeteered by Brud, a mysterious L.A.-based start-up of engineers, storytellers, and dreamers who claim to specialize in artificial intelligence and robotics. How We Hijacked Lil Miquela (and Created our Own CGI Influencer) Until my conversation with Nikola, it seemed like an indisputable fact that Miquela wasnt real. But then I remembered something similar had happened to me in February as I watched the Instagram livestream of Guccis fall 2018 show. Inspired by Donna Haraways 1984 A Cyborg Manifesto, the collection was a hybrid of actual and fantastical references. Two models carried replicas of their own heads down the runway, while another cradled a dragon puppy that looked like it had come straight from Game of Thrones. Maybe it was the jet lag I was in Milan for Fashion Week or maybe it was the dizzying effect of good art, but something moved me to text my editor, seated in the front row: Those dragons werent real Right? We humans have been tripping over the differences between real and fake ever since our forebears saw shadows on cave walls. But it used to be that real-looking fake humans were confined to Disney parks, movies, music videos, or video games. We could turn them off, or leave them behind. Now they occupy spaces once reserved for real-life people experiencing real-life things. Bermuda, the right-wing troll who hacked Miquelas account. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Like having your Instagram account hacked. Miquela is positioned as a social-justice warrior of sorts, and on April 18, a pro-Trump, self-proclaimed robot supremacist CGI character named Bermuda wiped her account clean, posting photos of herself, instead. She proceeded to accuse Miquela of being a fake ass person who was duping her followers (the irony being that Bermuda isnt real either). Then she issued an ultimatum: Miquela couldnt have her account back until she promised to tell people the truth. Naturally, this got Miquelas followers, or Miquelites, all worked up. Bring back the real Miquela! they cried. Conspiracy-driven corners of the internet linked the hack to a theory that the world was going to end on April 18, coincidentally via a robot takeover. For the average Instagram user, though, it was like watching a soap opera unfold on their phones. Why is robot drama more dramatic than my life, wrote one. In the end, Miquelas big reveal was shocking only in its obviousness: Im not a human being, she said when Bermuda relinquished her account. Im a robot. Miquela blamed Brud for leading her (and consequently her fans) to believe otherwise. But, of course, that was also her creators talking. If this is starting to sound like the plot of Westworld, thats the point. Miquelas hack seems to be an elaborate PR stunt orchestrated by Brud (though as is its Oz-like wont, Brud insists that another AI company called Cain Intelligence begat Bermuda). To what end, though? Was this just a way to vault Miquela into the influencer stratosphere, so beauty and fashion brands would pay her handsomely to peddle their wares? (The buzz generated by Bermudas attack did push her to over a million followers, a benchmark that opens up new partnership opportunities.) Or was this a Kanye Weststyle press junket to stir controversy before an album drop? Brud co-founder Trevor McFedries has a past life as a DJ and music producer, working with Katy Perry, Kesha, and Azealia Banks under the moniker Yung Skeeter. And Miquela has two delicately Auto-Tuned pop singles on Spotify, which have amassed a combined 1.5 million streams. I listened to one of them for a month before realizing it was sung by a robot that I happened to follow on Instagram. The plot thickens when you know that McFedries, according to his LinkedIn account, used to work at Bad Robot, the production company of famed sci-fi director J. J. Abrams. Maybe all of this is an extended trailer for Abramss next film, in which Miquela could potentially star. Or could Brud be pursuing something more ambitious with Bad Robots help? The start-up reportedly raised as much as $6 million from big-ticket investment firms like Sequoia Capital in a recent funding round. Its not a huge number, but enough to suggest that the faux hack isnt just some elaborate joke. One tantalizing theory proffered by L.A. techies has it that Bruds plan is to move Miquela from Instagram to a Brud-built social network where anyone with an iPhone can create, dress, and promote his or her own personal CGI model. Maybe its more of a Bitmoji-style product, speculates Kyle Russell, a former deal partner at a Silicon Valley firm. That said, we dont know enough about their tech to really say if they would be great at that. Also, I dont know if that would have been an appealing pitch to VCs. Theres far more value in the distribution of a celebrity on these platforms without the cost of having to pay a [real-life] celebrity. Lil Miquela learning how to skateboard with her real-life friends. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Miquela poses for Paper magazine in a spread inspired by David LaChapelles shoot with Lil Kim. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Were forced (or allowed) to indulge in all this mad speculation because the company that puts words into Miquelas Kylie Jenner full-lipped mouth mostly refuses to talk specs. In whats either a brilliant strategy to heighten the suspense or an annoying affectation probably both Brud only preaches grandiose ideas about fighting fake news with fake news, and using influencers to make the world a better place. Even if there isnt a hidden endgame for Lil Miquela, she holds up a mirror to the ways in which technology has morphed our own constructions of self. We dont yet live in a world where realistic-looking fake humans roam the streets, but in the meantime, technology has transformed us into fake-looking real humans. Social-media personalities like the Kardashians alter their bodies and edit images of themselves so heavily that CGI characters somehow blend naturally into our feeds. Influencers, who were once a novelty in the industry for their unfiltered content, have also become burnished personal brands. Meanwhile, the average Instagram, Snapchat, or Weibo user has access to apps and filters that eliminate the need for makeup or plastic surgery altogether. During a rare phone interview with YouTube conspiracy theorist Shane Dawson last year, Miquela deflected the question of whether her images are edited: Can you name one person on Instagram who doesnt edit their photos? When Miquela first appeared on Instagram two years ago, her features were less idealized. Her skin was pale, her hair less styled. Now she looks like every other Instagram influencer. Shell rest her unsmiling face in her hands to convey nonchalance, or look away from the camera as though shes been caught in the act. The effect is twisted: Miquela seems more real by mimicking the body language that renders models less so. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Miquelas outfits and poses arent especially racy, yet she attracts the same fetishized gaze as anyone else selling her own image. So beautiful, one guy wrote on a post where a bit of cleavage can be detected, adding drooling emoji. @LilMiquela Ur so pretty, wrote a young woman on Twitter. I wish I was that pretty. Others have even asked for her skin-care routine. In this way, Miquela represents perhaps the pinnacle of unrealistic beauty standards. How can we compete with someone who never ages or gets hungry and who can be in ten different places at once? Could the result be that real-life models and influencers become obsolete, or will their likenesses be frozen in time and replicated ad infinitum? Theres conjecture that Miquela is a mix of animation and photographs, of a female human. But the techniques used to create her are heavily guarded by Brud, and at least one influencer who posed chummily with Miquela told me she couldnt share details because was bound by an NDA. Whatever Lil Miquelas secret sauce, similar technology is being used to make others like her. The most prominent is Shudu, created by the British former photographer Cameron-James Wilson. After a decade working in fashion, Wilson says he became disenchanted by the industry. Nothing really represents reality, he laments. Hes wearing heavy makeup, some of which has rubbed off on his black hoodie. Shudu wearing a shirt given to her by Soulsky. Photo: Courtesy of Cameron-James Wilson His experience Photoshopping real people to look fake informed how he makes his fake people look real, Wilson explains. I always saw that peach fuzz was very distracting in a photo. So, the very first thing I thought when I was designing my character was that I needed to add peach fuzz. Wilson freely reveals that he uses 3-D-animation tools called Daz3D and Clo3D to make his muses, adding that hed never mess with photography. Thats archaic, he says. Peach fuzz notwithstanding, Shudu presents as a stunning black woman with flawless dark-brown skin. Her eyes, Wilson says, were inspired by the supermodel Iman and her overall look by Princess of South Africa Barbie, who favors gold choker necklaces that resemble those of the Ndebele people. Thanks in part to a Fenty Beauty repost, Shudu has more than 100,000 followers. But because Wilson is a 28-year-old white man, his work has sparked as much controversy as admiration. A white photographer figured out a way to profit off black women without ever having to pay one, wrote one Twitter user, picking up 52,000-plus likes. Black models, specifically dark-skin black models are not a trend, wrote another. In a piece for The New Yorker, writer Lauren Michele Jackson said Wilsons work made her think of blackface minstrels. I just wanted a beautiful muse to come home to, Wilson protests. Yet now that hes in the thick of it, he believes Shudu has sparked an important conversation about representation, even if he has been misunderstood. Shudu is a platform to showcase fashion designs from brands I feel share similar views to me in terms of top-down diversity, he says, adding that his work is about art and collaboration, not monetization. So far, he says, hes turned down paid partnership offers, and every brand hes promoted has a person of color or woman in a position of power. Brud, too, has expressed altruistic goals, arguing that promoting diversity among robots will change the way humans treat each other. Miquela urges her followers to donate to Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ causes, and she sold a line of Uncanny Valley Girl merch to raise funds for victims of the California fires. McFedries, who is black his co-founder Sara DeCou is Latina has said that, like Wilson, Brud only accepted venture capital from firms with a woman or person of color in a position to write them a check. The pair also issued a statement this spring comparing the impact they hope to have to Will & Grace: a seemingly frivolous media confection that had real-life impact on marriage equality. As with all things Brud, its hard to tell if theyre trolling us with this reference or if theyve been sipping too much of the Silicon Valley Kool-Aid. The Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to disclose when theyre paid to tout a product, and so far Lil Miquela hasnt done that. (Fashion-law expert Julie Zerbo says theres no reason that a CGI characters creators would be exempt from the FTC rules.) And in another of her interviews, Miquela told the Business of Fashion in February that she hadnt earned a dime from any of her collaborations. She borrows or gets free swag from designers, she says, though that was before she promoted a series of gifs inspired by the Prada collection during Milan Fashion Week. (Prada declined to comment on whether Brud was paid.) Miquela wearing Prada during Fashion Week Fall 2018, in Milan. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Which brings us back to the nagging question of what Bruds up to. One of the oddest strands of the whole story is why they chose a right-wing troll to out Miquela, ultimately painting themselves as the bad guys. Thinking hard about it okay, maybe too hard it occurs to me that the hack could have been a clever bit of jujitsu to build fans trust in Lil Miquela. Because Brud lied to her about her origins, she could come clean about being computer-generated while seeming ever more sincere about her woke consciousness. Im not sure I can comfortably identify as a woman of color, a recent Instagram post from Miquela said. Brown was a choice made by a corporation. Woman was an option on a computer screen. Post-hack, Miquela declared herself a free agent whod no longer work with Brud. Support for her choice poured in, with Riley Keough, the actress and granddaughter of Elvis Presley, sending her a heart emoji and gossip blogger Perez Hilton calling her a shero. Meanwhile, thousands of others didnt seem to care that she wasnt real. I know this is crazy but I believe you, wrote one commenter. Even though you are a robot physically, everything else is human. Blawko, Lil Miquelas male counterpart, wears Fear of God. Photo: Courtesy of Brud One of Lil Miquelas early posts, June 2016. Photo: Courtesy of Brud Presumably, Miquela is still operated by Brud, even if the company is now focusing its promotional efforts on Blawko, her male equivalent with significantly fewer followers. The freedom she gained by admitting she wasnt real, though, is something a lot of us real-lifers wish for ourselves. We spend so much time pretending that hip parties and cool people are an organic part of our lives that we arent curating the narratives we put out in the world. What a perverse relief it would be to confess that everything is fake! It brings to mind the Buddhist doctrine of no-self, of how liberating it might be to recognize that there is no real you that must be clung to, that has to be propped up and defended. Existential philosophizing aside, we continue to follow Lil Miquela and her cohorts even if we know theyre not real because were suckers for a good story. (Youve made it this far.) Its possible that what you see is what you get with Brud. But maybe we hope that there will be a way one day to fully upload ourselves online, and let go. There is no grand plan; theyre just a bunch of righteous millennials with a good idea and a genuine love of Will & Grace. When I asked Nikola if shed ever Miquela-ify herself, at first she said why not? It would be fun to wear clothes she couldnt afford; it wasnt so different from building a character of herself in the Sims. But then Nikola second-guessed her original answer. You can get lost in that world so easily, she said. It would be hard to stop. *This article appears in the May 14, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now! My beauties. Photo: Madeleine Aggeler Over Easy is a weekly food column by a 20-something woman who can barely cook an egg and just wants to learn how to throw together an elegant three-course meal for her friends. Ever since the weather has warmed up, Ive found myself consumed by lust. Not for my fellow New Yorkers, who have finally begun to emerge from the quilted cocoons of their winter jackets (though it is, in fact, the Horny Time), but for high-end picnic baskets. For weeks, Ive been scrolling through pages and pages of them wicker baskets lined with lush fabrics and filled with delicate serveware strapped down by butter-soft leather straps heart rate elevating and cheeks becoming flushed as I picture long, languorous afternoons spent in the park, reclining in my sundress on a plaid blanket, stationed next to my unnecessarily expensive, kind of cumbersome, and utterly beloved picnic basket. I imagine myself sipping on frosty gin and tonics, serving my guests a selection of light snacks on porcelain plates. My hair is never frizzy, my arms never sunburned. My Instagram pics all get one million likes. As this fantasy became all-consuming, I decided I had to do something about it. A fancy picnic basket was out of my budget at this point, and also I would have nowhere to store it, so instead, I invited my friends on a regular old picnic basketless picnic. The two times I hosted picnics before, the menu consisted of cheese, salami, and beer I bought at the cramped grocery store by my house. That was fine, but to better emulate my luxurious picnic fantasy, I needed to up my game. For ease of transport and consumption, I decided some sort of fancy sandwich would be my best option, and as I researched the best picnic sandwiches, one name kept coming up: Pan Bagnat. Bon Appetit, Womans Day, Epicurious, and Food & Wine all praised this traditional Provencal sandwich which is like the sophisticated child of a salade nicoise and a tuna salad sandwich as a great picnic sandwich, because the longer all of the juices and ingredients soak together, the better it tastes. A French sandwich with capers and a hard-to-pronounce name? This seemed perfect for my chic picnic. There are a lot of riffs on the recipe, but I chose this Bon Appetit one for Pan Bagnat with fennel, mostly because I only recently discovered what fennel is and how much I like it, and am trying to make up for all the wasted years I spent not eating it. Another great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare most of it beforehand. The night before my picnic, I chopped up the capers and olives, sliced the fennel, and mixed it all in a bowl with olive oil, white vinegar, salt, pepper, and lots of red pepper flakes (maybe too many, but I like to live life on the edge). It was easy and only took about 15 minutes; plus, having some components done beforehand made me feel like I was making something slightly more sophisticated than a ham and cheese sandwich slapped together at the last minute. The next morning, I tossed my fennel-olive mixture with thinly sliced cucumber (the recipe calls for Persian cucumbers, which are shorter and denser than other varieties, but I couldnt find any at the stores by my apartment, so I settled for English cucumbers, which are also short, but slightly less flavorful) and canned tuna. I cant open a can of tuna without thinking about the time on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica when Jessica Simpson asked her new husband Nick Lachey if Chicken of the Sea tuna was chicken or fish, so I meditated on that while hard-boiling some eggs, and cutting my bread. The night I went shopping for ingredients, most of the bread I found was way too stale to eat, but definitely hard enough to break someones ribs if you decided to use it as a weapon. I couldnt find ciabatta, like the recipe calls for, but at the fourth store I checked, I found a large baguette that seemed like it had been baked within the last decade. Luckily, older bread wont ruin the recipe. In fact, Pan Bagnat which translates to bathed bread was historically made with day-old bread, because the juices of the ingredients soak into it, softening it, and giving it flavor. It is hard to take a good picture of a sandwich. Photo: Madeleine Aggeler By the time the eggs were done, I was running late. I hurriedly scooped out the top halves of my bread, filled it with the fennel-olive-tuna mixture, followed by messily sliced hard-boiled eggs, and then topped it all off with as much arugula as I could fit on each sandwich. Though the recipe calls for pressing your sandwiches under a heavy skillet or a pot, I figured wrapping them in plastic wrap and packing them tightly in my bag would have to do for now. Since I dont own a high-end picnic basket (yet), I threw my sandwiches, some blankets, and a bottle of Vinho Verde into an IKEA bag, and rushed out the door. Unfortunately, that afternoon proved that, no matter how much I may yearn for it, I am not yet ready for the world of chic, luxurious picnics. Come to find out, a bottle of wine per person, plus many cans of cider, consumed under the hot sun and without water, lends your picnic more of the basement of a frat house at 2 a.m. vibe than Room with a View. But before the day took us each our separate ways (one of us ended up with a dog that didnt belong to them, another found herself in a basement in Bed-Stuy listening to the Carpenters on vinyl, and someone else ended up hunched over the toilet), we thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches. They were salty, juicy without being messy, and the acid of the vinegar and capers brightened up the fishiness of the tuna. Plus our picnic pics did well on Instagram. The next time I make Pan Bagnat, I would manage my time better so I could press them and let them sit, and the flavors would have time to mingle a little a more. Who knows, maybe by then Ill be able to have a sophisticated, sensual picnic where everyone discusses philosophy and art, and no one gets lost on the way to the bathroom. Maybe Ill finally have earned my high-end picnic basket. My report card Preparation: B Taste: A Picnicking like an Edwardian lady of leisure: D My Overall Performance: B Tammie Jo Shults. Photo: Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images On April 17, Southwest pilot Tammie Jo Shults made an emergency landing after her plane blew an engine, which lead to one womans death after she was partially sucked out of the aircraft. The Navy Veteran, with her nerves of steel, was quickly lauded as a hero, but had her day gone as planned before the tragic incident, that is she wouldve have even been on the plane. In her first public comments since the flight, Shults revealed to ABC Newss 20/20 that her husband, Dean Shults, was supposed to pilot the Southwest plane. Tammie ended up taking the shift, though, after he asked her to swap so he could go to their sons track meet. Im not trading with him anymore, she joked. She also opened up about her thoughts during the actual flight, which she experienced sitting next to first officer Darren Ellisor. When the cabin and the cockpit rapidly decompressed, they knew something extraordinary had happened pretty quickly. It was around this time that Jennifer Riordan, a PR specialist for Wells Fargo who lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was partially sucked out of the plane. Given the extremely terrifying and tragic circumstances, Shults said, Darren handled it beautifully. Just 20 minutes after the explosion, the two landed the plane, after which Shults reportedly thanked all the passengers on the plane for their bravery. 3-Year-Old Boy Shot; Father Arrested Police say that a 3-year-old boy was wounded after shooting himself in Detroit, and that his father was charged. The parents of the boy rushed him to a hospital on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported, adding that hes being treated for stomach wounds. Police spokeswoman Holly Lowe told AP that the father of the child was arrested. Prosecutors are reviewing charges against both parents. The boy, Lowe said, was apparently playing with the gun when it discharged. Parents told officials that the shot came from outside the home, but investigators determined that the boy shot himself. WDIV-TV reported that the boy was listed in critical condition earlier this week. Hes currently at Childrens Hospital fighting for his life, a police commander, Charles Mahone, told the station. We would like our community to pray for this young man. Other details about the case were not revealed in media reports. My nephew he came over I was asleep, Loretta Ester, a relative, told Fox2 Detroit. He woke me up and he needed to use the truck to take the baby to the emergency. Ester said the nephew ran through a field to get to her home with the 3-year-old in his arms. It was chaotic, I couldnt function, she said. I didnt get a chance to ask him questions because he was in a hurry to get the baby to the hospital. After I heard the tragedy of what happened, I prayed and that calms you down a little bit, Ester added. Im hoping that everything turns out fine, she said. Its not clear if the gun was stored before the shooting. Recommended Video: Why is Falun Gong persecuted? Grace Jo and her mother are North Korean refugees who have resettled in the United States. (Courtesy of Grace Jo) Eating Mice To Survive: A North Korean Refugee Tells Her Story Walking through the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., Grace Jo remembers a pivotal point in her childhood in North Korea, what she calls the almost dying moment. On the brink of starvation, she and her brother burned so hot with fever that they could only find relief on the cold concrete floor of their home in rural North Korea. Dealing with hunger was a way of life, one in which six newborn mice were seen as the best medicine to stave off malnutrition. Memories like these keep Jo from having faith in North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns push for peace after years of threatening his neighbors and the United States with his nuclear arsenal. He will meet with president Donald Trump on June 12 in Singapore in the first ever summit of a sitting U.S. president with a North Korean leader. Even though they say its peaceful and even though they say they will work more in both countries for developing their good relationship with each other, I dont think it will benefit to North Korean people directly unless the current regime get completely changed and there is no Kims regime more exist in North Korea, she said. According to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the population of North Korea is 24 million. As of 2016, only approximately 200 North Korean refugees had been resettled in the U.S. Now 26 and an American citizen, Jo arrived in the U.S. in 2008 as a refugee, having finally escaped the Kim regime, known for human rights violations deemed morally reprehensible by the State Department. Severe famine in North Korea in the 1990s took its toll on Jos family. Her two younger brothers died of starvation, as did her grandmother, whose dying wish for a potato went unfulfilled. Jos older sister disappeared. Her father escaped to China to find food. Caught, he was returned to North Korea. He was tortured and starved to death in a North Korean jail. With her fathers death in 1997, finding food in North Korea became even more difficult. When Jo was six, her mother decided the only hope for her and her two remaining daughters was to forge a new life in China. Over the course of 10 years, they lived a secretive and transient existence trying to avoid the authorities, but again and again, the family was caught and repatriated to North Korea, where they were tortured. Their luck turned when a Korean-American pastor raised money to bribe North Korean officials for their release. In 2008, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) rescued the family from China and settled them as refugees in the U.S. Jo is now a student at Montgomery College in Maryland and works as an assistant in a dentists office. She also helps run NKinUSA, an organization her sister founded to help rescue North Koreans from their country and establish new lives. Dressed in an elegant black suit and matching shoes, Jo seems a world away from her childhood home. But the plight of North Koreans remains close to her heart. With the meeting between Kim and Trump on the horizon, she said she hopes the struggles of North Koreans are not buried amid perceived progress towards denuclearization and peace. The current regime and current system will not give freedom to North Korean people. And because of that, North Korean people still suffer, will die and the history will keep repeat again and again. Recommended video: Now Free, Americans Detained By North Korea Greeted by Trump Western Australia Shooting: Four Children, Three Adults Found Dead Australian police found seven dead people on Friday, including four children, in a rural town in the Margaret River wine-growing region, and said guns were involved in the killings. The bodies of four children and three adults were found at or near a property in Osmington near the southwestern tip of Australia, Western Australias Commissioner of Police Chris Dawson told a news conference on May 11. Dawson said two firearms were found at the scene. He said there appeared to be gunshot wounds. The ABC reported that the deaths are being investigated as a murder-suicide. However Dawson was unable to confirm this when asked at the press conference. I can only describe it as a horrific situation, Dawson said. It was a significant tragedy. We have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues at this point in time. Police said they went to the property just after 5am after getting an emergency call from a male person connected to the property, the ABC reported. The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which weve recorded, said Dawson, who would not comment on the identity of the caller. He said homicide detectives were helping police and could not provide further details as the investigation is ongoing. Australias last mass shooting was in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania. Australia has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and has a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. Recommended video: I Was a Communist Slave The Google logo is seen at the "Station F" start up campus in Paris, France, Feb. 15, 2018. (Reuters/Benoit Tessier/File Photo) Google Bans Ads Related to Irish Abortion Referendum Google has announced it is suspending adverts related to Irelands upcoming referendum on abortion, amid concerns about the influence online platforms are having on elections. The temporary ban comes into force on Thursday, May 10 and will affect adverts on both Google and YouTube, Google confirmed in an email. It will remain in place until after the referendum. A spokesperson said in an emailed statement, Following our update around election integrity efforts globally, we have decided to pause all ads related to the Irish referendum on the Eighth Amendment. The move follows Facebooks announcement on Tuesday that it would no longer accept ads from outside the country that seek to influence the referendum. Irish people will vote on May 25 on whether to repeal the eighth amendment to the Irish constitution, which ensures the right to life of the unborn, making abortion illegal in the Republic. Anti-abortion campaign groups Save the 8th, the Pro Life Campaign, and the Iona Institute said in a joint statement that Googles decision was an attempt to silence them out of fear that the No side might win the referendum. It is very clear that the government, much of the establishment media, and corporate Ireland have determined that anything to secure a Yes vote must be done, their statement read. It continued, Online was the only platform available to the No campaign to speak to voters directly. That platform is now being undermined in order to prevent the public from hearing the message of one side. Recent polls show a narrow lead for the Yes side, but a significant number of people have yet to decide. Many technology companies, including Facebook and Google, have offices in Dublin, leading them to closely scrutinise how their platforms are being used over the election period. The Irish government has said social media should be regulated so that it is clear who pays for adverts, and that they could make it an offence to use multiple fake social media accounts, The Times reported. In April, Irish Data Protection Commissioner warned that it was possible foreign companies could target voters in the referendum by using online advertising. She did, however, tell Independent.ie at the time that such concerns were largely theoretical. Reuters contributed to this report. Israel Attacks Irans Military in SyriaIts the Heaviest Attack Since 2011 JERUSALEM/BEIRUTIsrael said it attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday, May 10, after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time. It was the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its civil war, in which Iranians, allied Shiite militias, and Russian soldiers have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad. A war monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the Israeli strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Iranian rockets either fell short of their targets, military bases in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, or were intercepted. The Golan attack was just further demonstration that the Iranian regime cannot be trusted and another good reminder that the president made the right decision to get out of the Iran deal, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News. Israel said 20 Iranian Grad and Fajr rockets were shot down by its Iron Dome air defense system or did not reach targets in the Golan, territory Israel captured from Syria in a 1967 war. The Quds Force, an external arm of Irans Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch, Israel said. Syrian state media said dozens of Israeli missiles struck a radar station, Syrian air defense positions and an ammunition dump, underscoring the risks of a wider escalation involving Iran and its regional allies. Russias defense ministry said Syria had shot down more than half of the missiles fired by Israel, RIA news agency reported. We hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, Lieberman said, in a question and answer session at the annual Herzliya security conference in Tel Aviv. I hope we finished this chapter and everyone got the message. Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters the Iranian attack was commanded and ordered by (Quds Force chief General) Qassem Soleimani and it has not achieved its purpose. Conricus said Israel responded by destroying dozens of Iranian military sites in Syria, as well as Syrian anti-aircraft units that tried unsuccessfully to shoot down Israeli planes. We do not know yet the [Iranian] casualty count, he said. But I can say that in terms of our purpose, we focused less on personnel and more on capabilities and hardware to inflict long-term damage on the Iranian military establishment in Syria. We assess it will take substantial time to replenish. There was no immediate comment from Iran. In the Golan Heights, Israeli schools opened as usual on Thursday morning, after sirens sent residents to shelters during the night. Lieberman said Israel was not seeking escalation on the Syrian front. But Tzachi Hanegbi, a cabinet minister close to Netanyahu, cautioned that more confrontation could come. I dont think I can tell you that one blow, as effective and crushing as the one they (the Iranians) received last night, is enough to convince a regime that is usually very fanatical and determined, he said on Israel Radio. New Front The Israelis fear that Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are turning Syria into a new front against them. Israel says its occasional strikes in Syria aim to foil that. Iran vowed retaliation after a suspected Israeli air strike last month killed seven of its military personnel in a Syrian airbase. Israel regards Iran as its biggest threat and has repeatedly targeted Iranian forces and allied militia in Syria. On Tuesday, Israeli rockets targeted a military base in Kisweh, a commander in the pro-Syrian government regional alliance said. That attack killed 15 people, including eight Iranians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, though the commander said there were no casualties. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Thursdays conflagration came hours after Netanyahu returned from a visit to Moscow, where he discussed concerns about Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia, like Iran, fights in Syria on the side of the Assad government. Netanyahu said after the discussions that Russia was unlikely to limit Israels armed actions in Syria. The Israeli military said Israel had forewarned Russia of its strikes on Thursday. There should be work to de-escalate the tensions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted as saying on Thursday by the Tass news agency. He called the situation very alarming. French President Emmanuel Macron also appealed for calm. By Dan Williams and Angus McDowall Recommended Video: President Trump Says Change Must Come From Within For Peace In Middle East Israeli Organization Mints Trump Coin to Thank President for Embassy Move An Israeli organization minted 1,000 coins with the image of President Donald Trump along with an ancient King. The nonprofit organization announced that it will release the coins to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Israels independence. The coins will feature a profile of Trump together with King Cyrus, the ancient Persian ruler who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem 2,500 years ago. Last year, Trump became the first world leader to announce that the United States will relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, Israels official capital. The embassy is set to open on May 14. The coin expresses our joy and gratitude that the American Embassy will be transferred to Jerusalem in honor of Israels Independence Day, the Mikdash Educational Center said on its website. It is the fulfillment of the Trump declaration recognizing the centrality of Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel. The front of the coin features the seals of the United States and Israel, biblical verses in Hebrew and English, and a menorah. The back of the coin features a dove holding an olive branch above a temple. The nonprofit minted 1,000 of these Trump coins. They can be purchased with a minimum donation of $50, according to KOBI5. Each coin is two inches in diameter and is made of pewter and about one-third of an ounce of silver. A limited batch of the coins is plated with gold and cost $70. The coins cannot be used as a currency. The Mikdash Educational Center describes itself as a non-profit educational and religious organization. We are very happy to announce that the Mikdash Educational Center just produced a new Cyrus-Trump Temple coin. This special coin was produced and minted for the 70 years of the independence of the State of Israel and to honor and praise President Donald Trump who promised, but not only promised, also fulfilled his promise and next week will move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, said Rabbi Mordechai Persoff. President Trump is starting a prophetic process by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Just like King Cyrus 2,500 years ago said: he charged me to build a house in Jerusalem, here again, President Trump is building a house in Jerusalem, Persoff added. Israelis have already honored Trump with a public square near the embassy to be named in his honor. Signs directing people to the embassy have already been erected in the vicinity of the embassy. The embassy will begin operating with 50-60 staff immediately after opening next week, according to a senior American administration official. The White House announced the delegation traveling to the opening ceremony last week. Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both advisors to the president, will be in attendance along with a number of senior government officials. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will lead the delegation. Israel cheered when Trump announced his intention to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Israel considers the city its capital, yet countries all over the world choose to locate their embassies in Tel Aviv in order to assuage Palestinians, who believe East Jerusalem can become the capital of their desired future state. Since Trumps announcement, at least 10 other countries announced their intention to move embassies to Jerusalem, according to The Times of Israel. Recommended Video: President Trump Says Change Must Come From Within For Peace In Middle East Massive Dam Just Broke: 47 Dead, More Casualties The death toll from flooding caused by a burst dam wall in Kenyas Rift Valley rose to 47 on Thursday, May 10, and may go higher as more bodies are being pulled from the mud, a local police chief said. So far it is 47 dead. We are still on the ground, Japheth Kioko, the police chief for Rongai division, told Reuters. Locals on the ground described the devastation following the break of the Patel Dam, which also left dozens of people injured. We took our children and rushed to higher ground, farmer Joseph Maina told The Associated Press. He said his familys home was submerged and their crops were washed away. At least 20 people have died and 39 have been injured after a dam burst in the town of Solai, near the Rift Valley city of Nakuru in northern Kenya, according to the Red Cross https://t.co/HgVcF0gJG3 CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 10, 2018 Some residents told local newspaper The Nation that they heard an explosion before water poured out of the stricken structure. We found 11 of the bodies covered with mud at a coffee plantation and these are people who may have been escaping but could not make it due to the force and speed of the water from the flooded dam, a local official, who was not named, told the paper. Most of them are women and children who could not have been able to run fast, and the elderly. Fred Matiangi, a local official, also warned that the death toll could be much greater. We are handling this matter with an open mind to find out whether the accident would have been prevented. For now, it is an ordinary accident where a dam broke its banks and water flew sweeping families along the path, he said, according to the Kenya Star.As much as it is a tragedy it has however provided an opportunity to examine the type of works conducted on our dams especially those privately owned. A dam collapse in central Kenya has left at least 42 people dead and about 450 homes destroyed, officials say. https://t.co/LtO8DZ1Dq0 NPR (@NPR) May 10, 2018 He added, Let us not speculate and point out fingers as to whether the owner of the dam is to blame or government. Everything will be investigated and reviewed for sensible conclusions after which we shall come up with suggestions and remedial actions. Recommended Video: Why is Falun Gong persecuted? New York-based Shen Yun brings classical Chinese dance and music to Barcelona in an effort to revitalize the divinely inspired Chinese civilization. Its a marvelous performance, its a combination of colors, of harmony, of dance, of music, with such techniques. Its a performance to recommend, said Josep Antoni Duran Lleida, lawyer and former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of Spain. He thinks it is important to preserve traditional Chinese culture. For me, the added value of this performance is the connection with the culture, and then the technological innovations that the performance includes. If you forget your originsspecially today, in a globalized worldyou stop being what you were, what you are, therefore, its strange that the Chinese people is not allowed to know some of the cultural fundamentals of their origins, of their traditions. To lose your tradition is to lose your identity. In 1949, the communist party seized power and sought to destroy traditional culture through a campaign that targeted the four olds: old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas. The spiritual element is part of Chinese culturewhether you like it or notthats a fact. Therefore, you cant separate the Chinese identity from that aspect, one that shapes its own history and its own mindset. Its a shame that this show can be seen outside of China but not in China itself, because after all, its about refreshing some traditions, some culture of the Chinese people. I think its essential for any nation to not forget its own origins. A New York Fire Department firefighter salutes during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner at one of the entrances of 9/11 Memorial Plaza during the tenth anniversary ceremonies of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center site, Sept. 11, 2011 in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Never Forget Americas Fallen Officers On Saturday, May 5, I visited the stunning 9/11 Memorial Plaza at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey. This memorial plaza, with a majestic view of the New York City skyline, honors all who lost their lives on 9/11, and all who served. The names of all who perished at the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and on the planes are engraved here. It is a sacred place that inspires the soul to reverently pause, reflect, and remember a day that changed America. A Gathering Place The plaza has a special meaning for thousands who made their way here on Sept. 11, 2001 to witness the shocking events unfolding at the World Trade Center. Read More Americas Fallen Police Deserve Eternal Honor From this vantage point in Essex County, the fiery towers and their collapse were clearly viewed. Since 9/11 the plaza has become a gathering place to grieve, reflect, and honor the fallen. It is also a place to remember the countless acts of heroism by those who responded to the tragedy. Memorial Elements The Wall of Remembrance, with 3,000 engraved names of those who perished, is the largest element of the plaza. Yet, there are also other elements including the Book of Remembrance monument. This monument honors the 58 people from Essex County who lost their lives. There is also an 8-foot bronze freedom eagle, and a bronze sculpture of a young child called Gabriella. This sculpture of Gabriella holding her teddy-bear represents more than 1,000 children who lost a parent or family member. There is also a bronzed firefighter helmet honoring 343 fallen New York City firefighters. In addition, a bronze plaque pays tribute to the emergency medical services personnel who responded to the tragedy. The plaza also has a simple granite pedestal with a bronzed pilot hat listing the names of the 33 flight crew members from the four planes who perished. 9/11 NYPD Cap Along with these various memorial elements, there is a bronzed NYPD cap. This bronze cap on a granite pedestal honors the 37 NYPD officers, 37 Port Authority Police Department officers, and emergency services personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty on 9/11. Read More Fallen Police Officers: Honoring American Sentinels The NYPD cap caught my attention since I was aware of the upcoming National Police Week. During National Police Week fallen police officers are honored and this year would be the 30th Annual Candlelight Vigil. The event will take place on May 13 at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall (NLEOMW) in Washington, DC. 25,541 Fallen Officers This year, the names of 360 officers will be added to the NLEOMW. This includes 129 who made the ultimate sacrifice in 2017, in addition to 231 law enforcement personnel who died earlier, but whose sacrifices were not previously documented. With the additional engraved names, there are now 25,541 names on the memorial. These represent the fallen from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, federal law enforcement, and military agencies. The NLEOMW features two curving 304-foot-long marble walls with names dating back to the first known death in 1791. Yet, unlike many other Washington DC memorials, this one is constantly changing. The names of additional fallen officers are engraved each spring, prior to National Police Week. At the pathway entrance to the memorial are bronze statues of adult lions protecting their cubs. The lions symbolize strength, courage, and valor. These are hallmarks of those who take the solemn oath to protect and serve their communities. Recently Fallen Officers Each and every fallen officer deserves eternal honor. To remind us of the dangers of their vocation, here are some of the most recent as memorialized by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Deputy Sheriff William J. Gentry, Jr., Highlands County (FL) Sheriffs Office End of Watch: May 7, 2018 Deputy Sheriff Gentry was shot on May 6, 2018, as he responded to an animal abuse case. As Deputy Gentry stood at the front door, the suspect opened fire and Deputy Gentry succumbed to his injuries the following day. Agent Joel Alexis Pantojas-Fuente, San Juan (PR) Police Department End of Watch: May 6, 2018 Agent Joel Alexis Pantojas-Fuente was struck and killed as he assisted a disabled motorist. Police Officer Rob Pitts, Terre Haute (IN) Police Department End of Watch: May 4, 2018 Police Officer Rob Pitts was shot and killed while conducting a homicide investigation. Officer Pitts and several other officers were fired upon when they approached an apartment complex to confront a suspect believed to be involved in the homicide. Police Officer Jesus Cordova, Nogales (AZ) Police Department End of Watch: April 27, 2018 Police Officer Jesus Cordova was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a carjacking suspect. Corporal Eugene Cole, Somerset County (ME) Sheriffs Office End of Watch: April 25, 2018 Corporal Eugene Cole was shot and killed while in Norridgewock, Maine. The suspect stole Corporal Coles marked police cruiser and committed a robbery at a Maine convenience store. Police Officer Rogelio Santander, Dallas (TX) Police Department End of Watch: April 25, 2018 Police Officer Rogelio Santander and Police Officer Crystal Almeida, along with a civilian Home Depot employee, were shot at a local Home Depot store in Dallas, Texas. Police Officer Sean Gannon, Yarmouth (MA) Police Department End of Watch: April 12, 2018 Police Officer Sean Gannon was shot and killed while assisting with serving a warrant. Officer Gannon and his canine partner were searching the home and located the suspect when he was struck by gunfire. Police Officer Keith Earle, Huntsville (AL) Police Department End of Watch: April 9, 2018 Veteran Officer Keith Earle died as a result of injuries sustained in an on-duty crash that occurred on March 26, 2018. Police Officer Greggory Casillas, Pomona (CA) Police Department End of Watch: March 9, 2018 Police Officer Greggory Casillas was shot and killed as he attempted to arrest a man following a vehicle pursuit. Final Reflection All of our fallen officers who made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our communities deserve perpetual respect, honor, and dignity. Yet, their memory must be engraved not only on stone. Each of these brave souls must have their names eternally engraved in our hearts as they represent the courage, character, and decency of America. Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America. Bove is a recipient of the FBI Directors Community Leadership Award for combating crime and violence and is a former confidant of the New York Yankees. His newest book is Listen to Their Cries. For more information, see www.vincentbove.com Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. North Koreas Future Brimming With Peace and Prosperity If Kim Gives Up Nukes, Pompeo Says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the United States is ready to help North Korea achieve prosperity if the communist regime permanently and verifiably gives up nuclear weapons. If Chairman Kim chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for North Korea and the North Korean people, Pompeo said. Americas track record of support for the Korean people is second to none. Pompeo traveled to North Korea for the second time this week and returned early on Thursday morning with three American citizens freed from prison in North Korea. The leaders of South Korea and North Korea met last month and agreed on the goals of peace and complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. The president said this week that achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be his proudest achievement to date, if all goes according to plan. If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends, Pompeo said. During a speech in South Korea last year, Trump placed a spotlight on the stark difference between the economic well-being of the neighboring nations. The vast majority of North Koreans are destitute, while most South Koreans enjoy the comforts and prosperity of a thriving economy and culture. The Korean miracle extends exactly as far as the armies of free nations advanced in 195324 miles to the north, Trump said, referring to the border between the two nations. There, it stops; it all comes to an end. Dead stop. The flourishing ends and the prison state of North Korea sadly begins. Workers in North Korea labor grueling hours in unbearable conditions for almost no pay, Trump added. Recently, the entire working population was ordered to work for 70 days straight, or else pay for a day of rest. Pompeo first met with Kim when he was still the director of the CIA and days before his confirmation as Secretary of State. While Pompeos was away on his second visit to Pyongyang this week, Trump announced Americas withdrawal from the Iran deal. The New York Times published an article critical of Pompeos absence at the Iran announcement. Trump later slammed the newspaper after Pompeos trip to North Korea and the recovery of the American detainees became public. Recommended Video: President Trumps First State of the Union Address Proposed Federal Jobs Guarantee Too Big to Exist The unintended consequences of a program of this magnitude would be devastating Prominent Democrats have begun signing on to a plan for a federal jobs guarantee. The scope of the plan is enormous: The government would provide a job at $15 per hour with health care and other benefits to any American who wanted one. The proposal is apparently popular among voters across the political spectrum. Early media coverage has focused on how the plan could be a political asset for Democrats in 2020, as well as the plans undoubtedly high cost. Economists on both sides of the issue will tweak assumptions in theoretical models to show estimated costs and benefits to the economy that fit their pre-existing views. And they will entirely miss the point. The federal jobs guarantee, as discussed in Democratic policy circles, would arguably be the largest public intervention in American economic history. The Levy Institute, one of the chief proponents of the plan, estimates that 12 million to 17 million Americans would participate if the program were offered today. Thats about 8 to 10 percent of the American labor force. Some perspective is in order. Were talking about a new government organization that is projected to employ more people than the current federal government (2 million), the entire U.S. military (1.3 million), Walmart (2.3 million), and the rest of the top 10 private sector employers in the country combined. I respectfully ask anyone on the left who supports the jobs guarantee to think about why they would be concerned if a private corporation came along and hired nearly 10 percent of our available workers. No Precedent We dont actually know the full scope of impacts it would have on the economy, because weve never seen anything quite like it. The Works Progress Administration, the centerpiece of the New Deal, employed 8.5 million people over an eight-year period (not all at once) and is the closest comparison. My concerns that follow are less about the standard partisan debate on big government programs and more about the profound implications of dropping an organization of this size on the U.S. labor market. No matter ones political leanings, these concerns should not be dismissed. The first major concern is how the federal jobs guarantee would be implemented. Imagine youre the first program director. You and your crack team of economists, human resources professionals, and labor attorneys will need to think of something for 12 million to 17 million Americans, mostly with lower skills, to do on a full-time basis. Then youll need to do your best to match each worker with a job that fits his or her skills. We usually have individual choice and market prices to sort this out. No attempt in history to solve an economic problem of this magnitude, namely Soviet-style planned economics, in any other way has come close to succeeding. The Levy Institute has the right instinct when it says it prefers a highly decentralized program, where jobs are created and given out at a community level. But theres a limit to how decentralized something can be when its being funded by a multihundred-billion-dollar federal program that is at the whim of national politicians and, ultimately, the electorate. Heavy Impact The second concern is the programs impact on the economy. Im not talking about stimulus models and tax projections here. What would happen if anyone, whether in the private or public sector, prescribed from the top down what 10 percent of our workforce was going to do? If everyone just dug holes, as the old saying goes, the shovel industry would be revolutionized overnight. Both Austrian economists and complexity scientists have known for a long time that even small interventions in a complex system such as our economy can have cascading and unpredictable effects. Its the quintessential butterfly flapping its wings in Tokyo and changing the weather in the United States. And 10 percent of the U.S. workforce is one big butterfly. The impacts of large interventions and the knowledge problem in matching workers described above are two reasons often cited for bread lines and even famines in communist countries. Another concern is whether we want the government to have control of this many peoples jobs. Rent-seeking, the propensity of large private firms to influence public sector programs and regulations for their benefit, would be an immediate result. Some jobs-guarantee proponents envision people planting flowers in front of the local courthouse, but with more than 10 million people, big corporations are going to find a way to get involved. Think about defense contractors, farm subsidies, and the Wall Street revolving door, and multiply them to get a sense of the potential for cronyism. Putting that many jobs under the control of elected officials and unelected bureaucrats creates countless more problems, from obvious corruption, to the ability of politicians to run on promises to dole out ever more high-paying jobs. Even those who favor much more government involvement in the economy should take a hard look at whats being proposed. The idea of paying unemployed people a living wage to help out around their communities may sound laudable, but doing it by designing a federal program for more than 10 million people is uncharted territory. Max Gulker is a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Gulker holds a doctorate in economics from Stanford University and a bachelors in economics from the University of Michigan. This article was first published by AIER. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The New Grand Inquisitor Beware the sanctimonious who know they have God on their side, or in this case, the Law on their side, for they will wield their authority as they see fit. Believing in the righteousness of their cause, they will not let quaint, antiquated respect for fair play and individual rights stand in their way. So it was with Tomas de Torquemada, and so it is with special counsel Robert Mueller. If cases need to be manufactured in order to arrive at the just result, then so be it. As the inquisitors of old relied on the rack to reach the truth, so will the New Inquisitorthe special counselrely on the 21st-century equivalent. That the U.S. criminal justice system is being abused in such a manner is the conclusion of an appalled federal judge. As reported by CNN on May 4, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis, who is presiding in Alexandria, Va., over the federal criminal case brought against former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, accused Muellers team of having no genuine interest in prosecuting Manafort, but rather seeking an avenue from which to launch a prosecutorial attack on Trump. You dont really care about Mr. Manaforts bank fraud, Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben, as reported by CNN. Ellis then said the prosecutors were pursuing the case against Manafort because of its potential to provide material that would lead to Trumps prosecution or impeachment, according to the network. After ordering the prosecutors to transmit the document defining the scope of their authoritya demand they sought to refuse, arguing that it was not relevantEllis reminded them that it was for him to decide. Confronting their hubris, Ellis said the American people abhor unfettered power. Interviews by the special counsels prosecutors of former Trump presidential campaign aides, for instance of Michael Caputo, appear calculatednot to garner evidence, but rather to create a pool of reluctant but bound witnesses. Caputo, as quoted in Paste, said that the Mueller investigation really wasnt trying to find something. Every question they asked, they already have the answer to. These special prosecutors are not asking questions in order to learn from the answers. Rather, they only ask questions whose answers they are certain of, in the hope that these interviewees will generate what Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz refers to as technical crimes. A string of such crimes can mean decades in jail for those who do not choose to play ball and turn on their former boss. Today, it is Trumps people who face the rack; in some future political alignment, it might be the staff of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Joe Biden. The New York Times, in an April 30 article, enumerated what it said would be Muellers probable questions for Trump. They demonstrate that the same perjury traps are being set for the president himself. Following months of investigation and research, there can be little doubt that the prosecutors already know the answers to all or most of the presumed questions. Were Trump to submit to the inquisitors questions, he would have as much likelihood of improving his situation as did Torquemadas subjects of clearing themselves of charges of heresy. What, in fact, is the scope of the special counsels mandate? More importantly, what is the rationale for the obstinacy with which its limits are hidden from the public? In an age when transparency is continuously affirmed as essential to the functioning of a true democracy, what is the justification for the opaque treatment accorded this vital document? Why wont the Justice Department (specifically Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein) release it? What is being hidden, and why? If this servant of you, the American people, chooses, unilaterally and without oversight and review, to not reveal the parameters of the mandate he has granted Mueller, then at the very least he should state a reasonable basis for this refusal. Perhaps, after years of free rein, the Rod Rosensteins and Robert Muellers have come to believe that they do, indeed, have what Ellis has referred to as unfettered power. Marc Ruskin, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, is a regular contributor and the author of The Pretender: My Life Undercover for the FBI. He served on the legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. President Donald Trump walks with son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner while departing the White House on March 15, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) Trumps First Major Bipartisan Deal in Congress: $50 Million Prison Reform Clears First Vote President Donald Trump scored his first major bipartisan win in Congress when a House prison reform bill passed through the judiciary committee with a 255 vote on May 9. The vote marks a major success for Trumps senior White House adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who negotiated it. While both Democrats and Republicans are interested in reforming federal prisons, Republicans usually want tough-on-crime measures, while Democrats tend to agree on reducing or removing mandatory minimum sentences. Kushner worked to find common ground, striking a deal that doesnt quite fit either template. Instead, it focuses on reducing recidivism while adding some measures to increase prison workers safety. Passing the committee with a lopsided vote bodes well for the bill, called the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, or FIRST STEP Act. White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said: This is a bipartisan issue with bipartisan support, because studies show this bill will reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars. We are encouraged by the committees passage of the bill and look forward to a vote in the full House. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who sponsored the bill, said in a statement: The bipartisan support that is sending the FIRST STEP Act to the House floor reflects the resolve that Ive seen among my colleagues to make positive strides toward restorative justice today and to use that progress to build a bridge toward additional reforms in the days ahead. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who also sponsored the bill, called it a significant step in the right direction. The mass incarceration epidemic is 50 years in the making. Fixing our broken criminal justice system will take an all-hands-on-deck effort from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, he said. More than 2.1 million people are incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons, down from 2.3 million a decade ago but still making for the highest incarceration rate in the world. The bill only deals with federal prisons, where some 184,000 are incarcerated. The bill proposes $50 million to provide all prisoners with recidivism reduction programs or productive activities aimed at teaching them life skills and otherwise preparing them for a crime-free life. It also sets up a system of ranking prisoners based on their risk of recidivism. Moderate- and high-risk prisoners get priority for the recidivism reduction programs, while low- and minimum-risk ones get the productive activities, which include helping their higher-risk fellow inmates. The programs may include life skills courses, mentoring, classes on morals or ethics, academic classes, drug addiction treatment, community services, religious classes, and prison jobs. The mass incarceration epidemic is 50 years in the making. Fixing our broken criminal justice system will take an all-hands-ondeck effort from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) The warden of each federal prison would form partnerships with nonprofits, religious organizations, colleges, and companies, which would be hired or invited as volunteers to help deliver the programs. Prisoners could earn various privileges for participating in the programs, notably, for every 30 days in such programs, prisoners would earn 10 credits. Extra credit would go to those maintaining low-risk status. A prisoner who maintains low-risk status for a certain time could turn the credits into days spent in prerelease detentionsuch as home confinement, halfway houses, and community supervisionat the end of the prison term. Certain prisoners would be excluded from the credit scheme, like those sentenced for murders and other serious felonies such as terrorism offenses, sex offenses, and other crimes resulting in death. The bill would also provide corrections officers secure areas to store firearms outside of the secure perimeter of a prison, allow officers to store firearms in a lockbox inside their cars, and allow officers to carry concealed firearms outside of the secure area of a prison. The bill also proposes more restrictions on when its permitted to put restraints on pregnant prisoners. There are two pilot programs enshrined in the bill. One is mentorship for prisoners who committed crimes at age 21 or younger. The other would teach prisoners to train and give therapy to abandoned, rescued, or otherwise vulnerable animals. Dog training programs already exist in some state prisons, and with promising results. Both pilots would run for two years in at least 10 facilities. The vast majority of federal prisoners will someday be released from prison and it is important to give them tools to become more productive citizens so that they dont return to a life of crime, said House judiciary committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). The First Step Act provides inmates the help they need to successfully reenter society, which will, in turn, enhance the safety of our communities. Recommended video: Trump: My Proudest Achievement Would be Denuclearizing Korean Peninsula Senator Marco Rubio (C) R-FL inside the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 25, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) US Senator Introduces Bill Targeting Chinese Tech Industry WASHINGTONU.S. Senator Marco Rubio announced legislation on May 10 that would bar the sale of sensitive technology to China and hike some duties and taxes, in the latest move by U.S. lawmakers to clamp down on what they regard as Beijings efforts to steal U.S. intellectual property. Rubio, a Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee, unveiled the Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act, which among other things would bar the sale of national-security-sensitive technology and intellectual property, and increase taxes on multinational corporations income from China. It would also cap Chinese investor shareholding in U.S. companies that produce goods targeted by Chinas Made in China 2025 industrial policydevised in 2015 as a plan for the Chinese regime to catch up with rivals like the United States and Germany in industries such as robotics, aerospace, and clean-energy cars. How America responds to the growing threats posed by China is the single most important geopolitical issue of our time, and will define the 21st century, Rubio said in a statement introducing the bill. The legislation would bar the U.S. government or contractors from purchasing telecommunications equipment or services from Huawei and ZTE, Chinas top two telecoms firms, and also among the worlds largest. Members of the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trumps administration have pressured U.S. companies to not sell Huawei or ZTE products, saying they could be used to spy on Americans. By Patricia Zengerle United States Seeks Harsher Conditions to Ensure North Korean Nuclear Dismantlement United States wants North Korea to relocate nuclear engineers, destroy data to prevent future development In negotiations prior to U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns summit to be held in Singapore on June 12, disagreements have arose over the extent that North Korea should denuclearize, according to a May 10 report by Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. North Korea has agreed to dismantling its arsenal of nuclear bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, concerned about the possibility of North Korea resuming nuclear weapons development in the future, the United States has requested that North Korea relocate its nuclear engineers to other countries, while demanding that the regime discard all data from its nuclear program, sources related to North Korea told Asahi Shimbun. But North Korea has resisted the idea of relocating its thousands of nuclear engineers, while taking a vague stance on the abandonment of data on its six nuclear experiments and nuclear-related facilities in Yongbyon, according to Asahi Shimbun. The two sides also disagree on the timing for dismantlement. The United States wishes for complete dismantlement to happen within months or up to two years, while the North Korean regime wants to carry out denuclearization step by step over a longer period of time. North Korea also seeks to be rewarded each time it has completed a step toward denuclearization, while the United States prefers to provide rewards after all steps have been completed. Previously, the United States has committed to the policy of complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has recently publicly announced that the United States seeks permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement (PVID). South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo analyzed that the latter enables the United States to prevent the North Korean regime from reneging on its promises and restarting nuclear development in the futureperhaps after initially destroying its current arsenal and receiving economic benefits from the international community. Shin Beomchul, senior fellow at the South Korean think tank, Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told JoongAng Ilbo: PVID could mean not only destroying nuclear materials and nuclear facilities, but discarding previous research data and personnel. New Tang Dynasty Television contributed to this report. L: Then FBI Director Robert Mueller at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D,C., on Feb. 23, 2009 (TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images); R: Vice President Mike Pence at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., on Nov. 11, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Vice President Pence to Mueller Investigation: Very Respectfully, Its Time to Wrap It Up Vice President Mike Pence had a message for Special Counsel Robert Mueller: Its time to wrap it up. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017, to investigate the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump. While Mueller brought forth several indictments, none of the charges concerned the actions of the Trump campaign. First, on Oct. 3, Mueller indicted George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser. Papadopoulos was approached, in March 2016, by Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor and member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Mifsud promised a foreign policy meeting with Russian officials, who had dirt on Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos consulted the campaign and was told to go to the meeting himself. The meeting, however, never took place. When the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos on Jan. 27, 2017, he tried to downplay his communications with Mifsud, lying to the agents in the process. On Oct. 5, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI. On Oct. 30, Mueller filed charges against political consultants and lobbyists Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, saying they hid from authorities millions paid for their work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, dodging taxes in the process. They also allegedly lied to banks about their income to get better loans. Manafort worked for the Trump campaign for several months, starting in March 2016 and becoming the campaign manager from June to August 2016. Gates was his deputy. Gates pleaded guilty to greatly reduced charges, agreeing to work with Mueller. But when the Manafort case reached trial, federal Judge T.S. Ellis, III, said that the charges have nothing to do with Russia, agreeing with Manaforts defense team, who argued that the charges against their client are outside of Muellers investigative scope. Paraphrasing the logic of the Mueller team, Ellis simplified its intention as he saw it: We said this is what our investigation is about, but were not bound by it, and we were lying, Ellis said of the probe. Cmon man! Mueller also charged Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, with intentionally lying to FBI agents during an interview, though the agents didnt see any sign that the inaccuracies in Flynns answers were given with the intention of lying, top FBI officials told Congress investigators. Still, Flynn pleaded guilty. On Feb. 16, Mueller indicted 13 people and three companies that ran a campaign, mainly through social media, intending to spread distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general. The indictment stated that the operation opposed Hillary Clinton and other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and supported Bernie Sanders and Trump. But there was no allegation that any American knowingly participated in the effort. On Feb. 20, Mueller charged Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan with lying to investigators about his contacts with Gates and Manafort. Mueller also reportedly referred to the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan a case against Trumps lawyer Michael Cohen. Meanwhile, a separate year-long House Intelligence Committee investigation has found no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Now, Pence thinks its time Mueller calls it quits. Its been about a year since this investigation began. Our administrations provided over a million documents. Weve fully cooperated in it. And in the interest of the country, I think its time to wrap it up, Pence told NBC on Thursday, May 10. I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion. The Epoch Times Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this story. Update: The article was updated to include charges against George Papadopoulos. Recommended video: Trump: My Proudest Achievement Would be Denuclearizing Korean Peninsula This handout image supplied by the IIPA (Iran International Photo Agency) shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as the first fuel is loaded, on August 21, 2010 in Bushehr, southern Iran. (Photo by IIPA via Getty Images) Why the US Pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal In 2015, sanctions on Iran were crippling the ruling regime, and the International Atomic Energy Agency certified that Iran had restricted its sensitive nuclear activities. When Iran was forced to the negotiating table, the United States had the high ground and Congress was pushing for deeper sanctions. Then-President Barack Obama met with the Iranian regime to strike a deal. Rather than leverage Irans failing situation, however, Obama negotiated a deal that would allow Iran to continue to develop most of its nuclear program, with the exception of the weaponized core. The deal did not cover Irans development of ballistic missiles, and it allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium. Key restrictions expired after 10 years. The deal provided Iran with an estimated $50 billion to $150 billion in sanctions relief, including a controversial cash payment of hundreds of millions of dollars. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for very weak limits on the regimes nuclear activity, and no limits at all on its other malign behavior, including its sinister activities in Syria, Yemen, and other places all around the world, said President Donald Trump, on May 8. In other words, at the point when the United States had maximum leverage, this disastrous deal gave this regimeand its a regime of great terrormany billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash, a great embarrassment to me as a citizen and to all citizens of the United States. Barack Obama Obama made several false and misleading statements about the nuclear deal. Leading up to the deal, Obama said he would block any new congressional sanctions on Iran and echoed statements from Irans leaders, which have now been proven false, that Irans nuclear programs are solely for energy production and medical research. After claiming the deal was the strongest non-proliferation agreement ever negotiated in an Aug. 5, 2015, speech, Obama stated, The prohibition on Iran having a nuclear weapon is permanent. Under the deals sunset clauses, however, Iran would be able by 2025 to use advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, which elicited criticism even from fellow Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stated on Aug. 6, 2015, that the agreement would allow Iran, after 10 to 15 years, to be a nuclear threshold state with the blessing of the world community. Iran would have a green light to be as close, if not closer, to possessing a nuclear weapon than it is today. Although some Democrats opposed the deal, Obama blamed opposition to it as knee-jerk partisanship. He stated the deal cuts off all of Irans pathways to a bomb, despite allowing the country to develop dual-use technologies, and despite lifting key restrictions in 2025. He claimed it contains the most comprehensive inspection and verification regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program, which Iran inevitably violated. Schumer stated, If Irans true intent is to get a nuclear weapon, under this agreement, it must simply exercise patience. Lifting of Sanctions, Cash Payment Estimates on the exact amount of sanctions relief for Iran as part of the nuclear deal range between $50 billion and $150 billion. Part of this money was used by the regime for its advanced missile technology. Lawmakers have also raised concerns that the money has been used to fund terrorism in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Iran continues to be officially designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department. One of the most controversial payments connected to the Iran nuclear deal, was the transfer of $1.8 billion. The initial $400 million installment, paid in cash, was shrouded in mystery. The funds were transferred to the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland; converted into euros, Swiss francs, and other currencies; then sent to Iran in an unmarked cargo plane. The payment was hidden from Congress, and although the Obama administration denied it at first, the payment was later revealed to have been a ransom payment in exchange for four American hostages held in Irangoing against a longstanding U.S. policy not to pay ransom for hostages. Because the payment was made in cash, tracking the money to ensure that it is not used for Irans nuclear program or terror activities is virtually impossible. Ballistic Missile Technology The Iran nuclear deal did not include any prohibitions on Irans development of advanced missile technology, including ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Instead, Irans nuclear missile program was covered by a separate U.N. resolution. This means that Irans ongoing development of its ballistic missile technology had no bearing on whether it was in compliance with the nuclear deal. As recently as February this year, Iran showed off its Qadr ballistic missile, which has an estimated range of 1,250 miles, putting Israel within its reach. Under the current Iran nuclear deal, Iran would be able to continue to develop and perfect its ballistic missile technology, making it potentially able to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States by 2026, when it will be allowed to use advanced uranium centrifuges. You can call it non-nuclear all you wantmissile technology cannot be separated from pursuit of a nuclear weapon, said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, in September last year. The result is that Irans military continues its march toward acquiring the missile technology to deliver a nuclear warhead. And the world is becoming a more dangerous place. Sunset Clauses As part of the nuclear agreement, key restrictions on Irans nuclear program will begin to ease after 10 years, by 2026. A confidential diplomatic document linked to the Iran nuclear deal, obtained by the AP in 2015, revealed that the United States had agreed that Iran would begin installing thousands of advanced centrifuges by 2027. Experts estimate that at that point in time, Iran will be able to enrich enough uranium for a nuclear bomb within six months. Because Iran has been allowed to develop its ballistic missile technology unimpeded, the regime could have a fully operational nuclear weapon at that time. Continued Uranium Enrichment The Iran nuclear deal kept much of its uranium enrichment capacity in place. Iran was allowed to keep 5,060 centrifuges operational, with more than 10,000 additional centrifuges being put in storage. In addition, Iran was allowed to continue to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent. While this is short of the at least 20 percent enrichment needed for weapons-grade uranium, the stock of low-enriched uranium is the raw material for producing highly enriched uranium. By leaving much of the infrastructure in place, the deal allows Iran to increase its enrichment at a later point. A secret diplomatic document connected to the Iran nuclear deal showed that the United States had agreed that Iran would begin installing thousands of advanced centrifuges by 2027. Peaceful Nature The Iranian nuclear deal stresses that Iran would ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Irans nuclear program. However, secret documents obtained by Israel showed that Iran had been working on a nuclear weapon under the name Project Amad. It also revealed that Iran had maintained all its nuclear know-how by storing it in vaults in an undisclosed location. Flawed Monitoring In announcing the nuclear deal in July 2015, Obama said the International Atomic Energy Agency would have access where necessary, when necessary to any suspicious locations. Iran, however, has prohibited inspections of its military sites, despite that they were previously used for the countrys nuclear program. Under the agreement, it could also take up to 24 days to get permission to visit a site, allowing Iran to make preparations and move or hide nuclear equipment it would not want found. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Councilthe United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and Francewith Germany in addition are known as the P5+1. They are signatories to the Iran nuclear deal. In recent months, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have attempted to pressure Trump to stay in the deal. Western countries in Europe are pushing the U.S. to stay in the Iran deal, because they have huge investments in Iran, said a defense contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity. Rosatom Russias atomic agency, Rosatom, built and managed Irans Bushehr nuclear power plant, supplied the facility with enriched-uranium rods, and trained Irans nuclear scientists. The first part of the project has been operational since May 2011, and additional reactors that are part of Phase 2 are currently under construction. The nuclear deal had no impact on Russias ability to build nuclear reactors in Iran. Uranium One In 2010, shortly after the Russia reset, the Obama administration approved a deal for Rosatom to acquire a majority stake in the Canadian mining company Uranium One, which controlled 20 percent of uranium mining capacity in the United States. The deal was controversial on many levels. Rosatom was involved in the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran, and the United States had intelligence on Russian bribery operations around the deal. The deal was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which included the State Department, then headed by Hillary Clinton. As the deal went through, at least $31.3 million was paid to the Clinton Foundation. After Uranium One was obtained by Russias atomic agency Rosatom with the Obama administrations approval, uranium mined in the United States was exported to Canada and Europe, with the final destination unknown. This violated terms of the Uranium One deal and promises made to U.S. Congress by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the nuclear material could not be exported from the United States. Four members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs warned of the deal in a joint letter in 2010, stating, We remain concerned that Iran could receive uranium supplies through direct or secondary proliferation. Project Amad Iran was in the process of developing nuclear weapons, but following the Gulf War, in 2003, Iran was forced to shelve its nuclear program known as Project Amad. It did not abandon the programs, however, and instead moved to a new strategy of developing nuclear technology under a peaceful facade, while continuing the nefarious parts covertly. The plan came from top leadership of Iran to include a public element used to obtain dual-use technologies and a covert program to secretly advance its nuclear agenda. Secret Program Vault When Iran shelved Project Amad, it moved its files to a secret location. In 2017, Iran moved these files to another secret location, this time in the Shorabad District of Tehran, disguised on the outside as an old warehouse. Israel obtained 55,000 pages and an additional 55,000 files on 183 CDs from the vault, and exposed the program. The Israeli operation exposed incriminating evidence against Iran including documents, charts, presentations, blueprints, photos, and videos. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in an expose on the program that Israel can also prove that Iran is secretly storing Project Amad material to use at a time of its choice to develop nuclear weapons. He noted the mission statement of Project Amad was to design, produce, and test nuclear weapons, which documents show included five warheads, each with 10-kiloton TNT yield, for integration on a missile. Irans Repeated Lies Project Amad revealed that Iranian leaders had repeatedly lied about their nuclear weapons ambitions. Among these lies was Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khameneis statement that the Islamic Republic has never been after nuclear weapons. Another was from Iran President Hassan Rouhani, when he said, Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Irans security and defense doctrine and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions. Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also stated: We didnt have any program to develop nuclear weapons. Anyway, we consider nuclear weapons both irrational as well as immoral. Tonight, Im here to tell you one thing: Iran lied, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while exposing Project Amad. After signing the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret nuclear files. Operation Merlin In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton signed off on an operation that passed designs for nuclear weapons to Iran. Under the operation, known as Operation Merlin, a Russian nuclear engineer who had defected to the United States was paid by the CIA to provide flawed nuclear weapons blueprints to Iranian representatives to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The problem, however, was that the Iranian representatives quickly noticed the flawed parts of the blueprints, and the information may have inevitably assisted Iran in its programs to develop nuclear weapons. According to an article published by The Guardian, Iran had obtained separate and functional blueprints from a network tied to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, which allowed them to cross-examine the CIA blueprint. The article states, Nuclear experts say that they would thus be able to extract valuable information from the blueprints while ignoring the flaws. Former CIA case officer Jeffrey A. Sterling was convicted under the Obama administration for leaking classified information on the program to New York Times reporter James Risen, who published the information in his 2006 book State of War. The book was criticized for revealing the program to Iran. Operation Merlin was launched a year after Iran started Project Amad to develop nuclear weapons in 1999 and may have played a key role in its nuclear weapons program. Terrorism and Anti-American Hostilities The Iran deal was signed with full awareness of the anti-American sentiments of Irans leaders, and of Irans programs to sponsor terrorism and destabilization operations around the world. In 2013, Rouhani stated, Saying death to America is easy. We need to express death to America with action. National security adviser John Bolton said in a statement on May 8: Lifting the sanctions, as happened in 2015 as a result of the [Iran] deal, helps fuel the activity that Iran is undertaking now in Syria, its support for terrorist groups all around the region and the world, like Hezbollah and Hamas. To really deal with this threat and try to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and to relieve the world of the nuclear threat, you have to go after the whole thing. Terrorism Iran is the world leader in state-sponsored terrorism, and its main tool in these operations is its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF). A 2015 report from the State Departments Bureau of Counterterrorism stated that in 2014, Irans state sponsorship of terrorism worldwide remained undiminished, and that it was using the IRGC-QF, its Ministry of Intelligence, and Hezbollah. In addition, Iran provides military support to the terrorist group Hamas for its operations in the West Bank and Gaza. It states, Israeli experts believe that Iran is trying to arm Hizballah with advanced weapons systems such as anti-air and anti-ship cruise missile systems, as well as continuing to transfer long-range rockets into Lebanon. According to a March 2018 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the State Department says Iran remains the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2016, and the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said in 2017 that Iran continues to be the foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Hezbollah Drug Trafficking Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist organization, is heavily involved in drug trafficking through the Middle East, West Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the United States. The money from its drug operations is used to finance its activities of terrorism and subversion. The United States had a law enforcement campaign to go after the Hezbollah drug operations, yet, according to a 2017 article from Politico, the law enforcement campaign was derailed by the Obama administration. It notes that the campaign, known as Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that Hezbollah had become not only a militant and political organization, but also an international drug syndicate with an estimated $1 billion in revenue each year from weapons trafficking, drugs, money laundering, and other forms of crime. Politico states that as the DEA operation reached the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran, however, that the Obama administration threw an increasingly insurmountable series of roadblocks in its way. When U.S. law enforcement agents sought approval for some significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests and financial sanctions, officials at the Justice and Treasury departments delayed, hindered or rejected their requests. From age 4 to 6, a child can grow into a new shoe size about every six months as it so happens, about the amount of time it takes Ingrid Sarver to order inventory for her Talaria Flats line of footwear. With the debut of her offspring line of Talaria Littles for tykes, suffice it to say Sarver is expecting a growth spurt for the business she runs from her Darien home and the Serendipity Labs offices in Stamford. Sarver founded Talaria Flats four years ago with a design for comfortable footwear that could be folded into a handbag or clutch, and slipped on as needed in place of high heels at weddings and other events. She chose the name for the winged sandals worn by the Greek god Hermes. As opposed to the durable, rubber-soled adult flats she has been selling for a few years, the childrens line of Talaria Flats features soft soles to conform to guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics for how best to encourage growth and development in childrens feet. It was her own feet, aching after a night of dancing at a bachelorette party in Chicago, that gave Sarver the inspiration for Talaria. She developed the idea in her second year of MBA studies at New York Universitys Stern School of Business where she focused on entrepreneurship and marketing. I thought, we shouldnt be barefoot in a bar theres got to be something that we can all slip into, Sarver recalled. Literally the day after I started Googling. The existing options she found at the time ranged from throwaway, $10 flats to luxury Italian versions priced at $200 or more, but says there appeared to be a void in the market for a mid-range option that could withstand repeated use and fold into a pocketbook without blowing a hole in the purse at the point of purchase. Starting with that target price point Talaria Flats sell for $38 and Talaria Littles $34 Sarver reverse engineered the initial design, using Photoshop to stitch together a rough outline of what she was seeking then reaching out to several overseas factories to get estimates for costs and production windows. Talaria Flats was off and running, with Sarver initially selling Talaria Flats online and then seeking out boutiques; and this year amping up a presence on Amazon for the childrens line. She said the company is already profitable, thanks in part to visibility from Kleinfeld Bridal, the famed New York City wedding salon featured regularly on the TLC show Say Yes to the Dress. After a fellow NYU alum helped Sarver get a meeting with Kleinfeld, a series of meetings led to the salon stocking Talaria Flats. Sarver says Talaria Flats should last two years with regular use she wears hers daily with four colors available and more in the pipeline for later this year and next. Information and pricing is online at www.talariaflats.com or by calling 917-979-2331. The fact that I could have a family and have a business was really important to me, Sarver said. I want to do this for as long as I can and add more styles, add more colors. We get a lot of requests. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman I recently wrote an article titled "Franchise Organization Joins Forces to Help Hurricane Victims" that featured the power of the collaborative effort of a franchise network to help others. Franchise organizations are very different from any other company structure due to the individual owners serving their respective communities under one common brand. This unique structure puts boots on the ground like no other business model. These networks of entrepreneurial business owners create many benefits that make sense for business, such as pooled marketing dollars, shared technology platforms, buying power, support and training as well as best practices and strategies to fast-track business growth for the franchise owners. These networks also have tremendous power to make a difference by using their collective efforts and resources to help others. Most brands encourage their franchise owners to participate in their communities and to give back whenever possible and practical. Some franchise brands have initiated formal programs to streamline the participation efforts of their franchise operators. I interviewed franchise operators and franchisors to get a snapshot of the types of initiatives that are taking place in our current marketplace. Ann Windell is a Chem-Dry Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning franchise owner in Southern Indiana. She has been with Chem-Dry for 25 years and reported that she loves the tremendous support that she receives from their corporate office. She also enjoys the relationships that she has forged over the years with other franchise owners and always looks forward to their annual convention. Best Friends Animal Society Ann mentioned that Chem-Dry has aligned with the Best Friends Animal Society to create the Cleaning for the Paws program. This program encourages the adoption of rescue pets from animal shelters and promotes healthier homes for families and their pets. Ann and her three employees participate in local events and fundraisers and by doing so join forces with their network of over 2,000 U.S. locations to make a real difference. Chem-Dry exceeded its 2017 fundraising goals, donating over $28,000 to Best Friends, and have its sights set on breaking that record for 2018. Bio-One Backs the Blue Bio-One is a crime and trauma-scene cleaning franchise based out of Denver. It has been growing steadily over the last few years and have recently been ranked #344 in the Entrepreneur magazines Franchisee 500. Their motto is Help First, Business Second. Director of Operations Sandi Edds told me about their brand-new initiative to reward law enforcement officers, called Bio-One Backs the Blue. Bio-One is awarding at least four franchises to officers that have been wounded in the line of duty but still want to serve their communities and work side-by-side with their brothers and sisters in blue. Business as Mission LIME Painting is a new franchise opportunity that delivers coatings and contracting services for new construction, repaints and complete restoration projects for high-end custom homes and commercial buildings. LIME founder and CEO Nick Lopez pointed out that LIME is all about doing "Business As Mission." This philosophy known as BAM is to give back and to help others. Nick started a nonprofit called LIME Light Outreach, Inc. that focuses on LIME Lights Four Pillars of Knowledge: Faith, Family, Patriotism and Prosperity. These initiatives bring resources to their communities tailored to the youth. LIME Light is leveraged by the franchise model as each franchisee partners with LIME Light within their local communities to empower the youth through knowledge. A current campaign at the LIME Painting-Denver location is geared toward building a church in Ethiopia. How franchises can give back to their communities Franchise organizations are having a huge impact on communities around the world by collaborating and working together to bring muc- needed resources to people (and pets) in need. The strength of these innovative companies and the people that make them up is tremendous. As a member of a franchise organization, you have the opportunity to create or participate in initiatives and programs to help others in your community. You can begin by finding a cause that is near and dear to your heart and then identify resources, systems and people to get the ball rolling. Related: Franchise Organizations Giving Back to Their Communities How a 17-Year-Old With $1,000 Started Subway and Became a Billionaire 6 Things You Didn't Know About UFC Gym Franchises Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved By simply using Facebook Messenger, I was able to friend request and go deep with the owner of a fast-growing company. With just a few Messenger chats, our talks turned into multiple sales where I helped the company with its podcast, website and digital marketing strategy. Related: Multiply Your Marketing Using Facebook Live Since then I've gone on to cut multiple five-figure deals with a few simple methods that anyone can use to make money with their personal Facebook profile. Since it's likely you're spending at least 50 minutes a day on Facebook, why not use some of that time to help your business grow? What I'm going to show you may seem novel, but I'll tell you now -- there are plenty of business owners who use Facebook organically to generate millions in sales. If you're not using your personal profile for business, you're leaving money on the table, and you're missing out on a method that is very simple. No ads needed, no funnel or complicated techniques -- just my personal Facebook profile, posts and regular, old-school conversations. This is the way sales used to be made -- people meeting at networking events, conversing and talking shop. Now that we have Facebook, we don't have to leave our home; we can tap into a network that has over 2 billion users every single month. In fact, Hubspot found over 74 percent of people say they use Facebook for professional purposes. In other words, a large group of users are on Facebook for business-related reasons. Related: Facebook Might Be Shrinking Your Audience But There's Lots You Can Do About It The methods outlined below are not about having more than the average of a few hundred friends on Facebook, going viral or even spending more time online. Instead, these strategies are about being more strategic with what you already have. Facebook moneymaking tip No. 1: Delete your unprofessional photos. Setting up your profile to make money is all about creating an appearance. It's about being the kind of person your clients and ideal customers would look at and think, I'd like to work with him. If you have any conflicting feelings about sanitizing your profile and making it look appealing to your ideal client, remember this -- people do judge a book by its cover (and people will judge you by your photos). Now, I am not telling you to doctor up your profile so it's fake; just clean it up so it reflects the sides of you that will help. In a world where people Google you, research you and scroll through your private profiles -- your Facebook page is another part of your digital resume. Keep some silly pictures and family shots, and delete the distasteful photos you may have posted when your personal Facebook profile was just for your fraternity friends, bros and amigas. Related: Why You Need to Stop Worrying About Facebook 'Likes' in 2018 Facebook moneymaking tip No. 2: Write posts that appeal to your ideal clientele. When your viewers read your posts, they're creating opinions and judgments about you. Some of the people reading your wall are people who found you via Google, and some people who are connected with you are looking for exactly what you offer. Since social media is about being social, you don't have to "sell." Instead, mix it up and focus more on engagement. By sharing personal stories, wins of your clients and vulnerable posts about losses and wins in life, you will endear yourself to your Facebook readers and win their trust -- which will lead to increased sales. One post that I wrote attracted the attention of copywriting legend Bob Bly -- and he shared it to his 60,000 readers, which added several hundred new leads to my email list. Another post drew the attention of an editor from a major publication, and I was invited to become a writer for the magazine -- all because I wrote an intriguing post. A third post was a direct sales pitch, but because of the early work to build trust and create engagement, it earned me lots of organic sales. My point here is, share a variety of posts, and sprinkle into your content information about your business, services and offers. Related: If You Use Facebook for Business, Don't Make These 3 Mistakes Facebook moneymaking tip No. 3: Land clients with Messenger. When approaching an influencer or a potential client, it's best to avoid going in like a hungry hyena. Instead, smooth and slow is the best approach. Send a friend request, and engage the person via their posts. Make some comments, interact with light touches and after a few quality touch points, start a chat with the person. Don't focus on the sale -- just be personable. Later, you can ask the person about her business, and in turn, she'll ask you about your expertise. And quite often that alone can lead to business. Given that most people now use Facebook, it's likely that many of your potential clients are looking you up on Facebook, scrolling through your profile and deciding whether to hire you. Make these changes and help yourself be more attractive to your ideal clients. Related: How to Use Facebook to Bring in an Extra $10,000 a Month Without Running Ads How to Growth Hack the Facebook Algorithm to Reach Your Most Engaged Fans How You Can Use the New Facebook Update to Your Advantage Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved They want to change the world, but they're afraid they may not be able to earn a living. They believe in entrepreneurship, but are concerned about the economy. They believe that technology has made it easier to get a job and that it creates opportunities for everyone, but they also believe it has widened the gap between rich and poor. And that's something many of them want to do something about. I'm talking, of course, about millennials. A study by Telefonica, one of the most comprehensive to date, shows a generation in flux, one determined to bring about change, but also concerned about where it will be when it grows up. Do good and do well. Bringing about change is important for many of them; the study shows that 62 percent of millennials believe that they can make a difference in their local communities, while 40 percent believe their efforts can change things on a global level. Almost everywhere in the world (except in the Middle East and Africa), social inequality is rated as the most pressing issue, right behind the economy. But, millennials also have more personal concerns. Overall, 63 percent believe they will have a hard time finding a job when they leave school, and 39 percent believe they will have to keep working well beyond retirement age. Related: Here's How Much a Millennial Needs to Save Each Month to Retire With $5 Million As a result, you can expect millennials to work hard to make sure that they don't fall behind. But what about those ideals? If they are working hard to make sure that they can afford the lifestyles they want, when will they have time to help others? Will they be able to help people and strive for success? I believe the answer is yes -- and in fact, their assistance will not only help others; it will help them get better at their job, enhance their career, and improve their skills. Good deeds create pride. Recognizing the trend, more companies than ever sponsor community volunteer programs. According to Cone Research, two thirds of millennials won't even consider taking a job if the organization does not have strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) values; nearly 90 percent say they do a better job in CSR-friendly environments. For many companies, that means incentivizing employees to help out -- by paying them for the hours they spend volunteering. At Deloitte, for example, volunteers are paid for all hours they participate in the company's volunteer programs -- with no limit. Related: Corporate Social Responsibility Can Actually Be a Competitive Advantage, So Where's Your CSR Program? Indeed, numerous studies show that the higher a company's CSR score (the more it is committed to volunteerism), the more pride employees have in their organization -- and in their job -- and the happier and more satisfied they are with their job and company. According to a study by the Center for Creative Leadership, for example, the 'good deeds' of an organization might make an employee more eager to discuss their company with outsiders, as well as feeling more committed to their organization which is doing these good things. Happier employees make for more productive employees -- and that's good for business, the report says. Business volunteerism. Another strategy -- one that not only helps employees work better, but can also help them develop their leadership skills -- is one I call business volunteerism. In this endeavor, individuals use their professional skills to help a small business or non-profit in their community. They might work to increase the firm's customer base, reach more donors, or cut costs -- the work that a more successful business or larger non-profit might hire a consultant for. How does business volunteerism work? A foundering local deli, a beauty parlor that's not bringing in customers, a local food bank that has more requests for food than it has in its pantries -- all these are opportunities to assist the community, yes, but they are also chances for skilled individuals to actually use and improve their skills. Related: 10 Ways Small Businesses Can Give Back Without Breaking the Bank Thrust into the position having to save that deli, bring in more customers for that beauty parlor, or stock the shelves of that food pantry with more donated food, skilled millennials can let their pent-up managerial, entrepreneurial and executive-level skills loose. Along the way they will learn what works and what doesn't, how to apply specific skills to solve specific problems, and where their own strengths and weaknesses lie. Meanwhile, the business or organization they help out brings in more income, which is good for the local community. Instead of one more empty downtown storefront, a business prospers, creating income for its owners and jobs for residents. The tax base goes up, and community role models emerge, providing a positive example for youth -- and for others who are trying desperately to make ends meet. It's not a fantasy; I've seen it happen, and I urge any millennial who wants to make a difference -- and make it in the business world -- to give this a try. Related: The Business of Volunteering Is Business for Millennials Leading Your Company Forward in These Tumultuous Times 4 Ways to Make Millennials Into Valuable, Long-Time Employees Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved NEW HAVEN A high-level Yale University administrator promised this week to commit the school to addressing the racial divide on campus after a black graduate student was reported to campus police for sleeping in a common room. Kimberly Goff-Crews, university secretary and dean for student life, said in a campus-wide email that she was deeply troubled by the incident in the Hall of Graduate Studies, in which philosophy major Sarah Braasch, who is white, called police to report Lolade Siyonbola, an African studies major. One graduate student called the police to report another student in the common area, who had every right to be there, Goff-Crews wrote. The Yale police officers who responded spoke with both parties and subsequently admonished the complaining student that the other student had every right to be present. Siyonbola, 34, recorded a nearly 17-minute Facebook Live video of the early Tuesday morning encounter with police, which as of Thursday had recorded more than 1 million views. Most of the time, the officers were waiting for confirmation that Siyonbola was a legitimate resident of the dorm and that her identification had not expired. Yale spokesman Thomas Conroy said Thursday that Siyonbolas legal name and her preferred name, which Yale students may use in various records, were different, making the incident longer than it would have been otherwise. Siyonbola opened her apartment to prove her right to be in the York Street building, which houses 168 graduate students. During the interview with police, she asserted that the entire incident was the result of an inappropriate call by Braasch, who Siyonbola said had called police before about a black friend she had found in a stairwell. When police asked her about her ID, Siyonbola challenged the officer as to why she was being questioned. I dont want to talk about it. I deserve to be here, she said. I pay my tuition like everybody else. Im not going to justify my existence here. Later, a sergeant and a fourth officer arrive and the sergeant asks Siyonbola whether shes a Yale student and explains that he is following protocol and that its going to be OK. I know its going to be OK, Siyonbola says. I know Im not in trouble. My ancestors built this university. I know Im not in trouble. She says the incident amounts to harassment. In another video Siyonbola took of Braasch taking her picture, Braasch says, I have every right to call the police. You cannot sleep in that room. In her email, Goff-Crews wrote, As Vice President for Student Life, I have worked with administrators, faculty and students to strengthen the resources available to address incidents of racial bias, discrimination and harassment. This incident and others recently reported to me underscore that we have work to do to make Yale not only excellent but also inclusive. I strongly believe we must strive to create an environment that values equity and justice and in which all students are empowered to pursue their personal and professional goals an environment that is diverse, intellectually challenging, and broadly welcoming. She said she had discussed the incident with Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley, Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins and others and said, We still have so much more to do. She promised listening sessions with students and said initiatives would be continued, including the appointment and training of deans designees in each school to address student concerns about equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion, and discrimination and harassment. The belief that blacks and other students of color live in a racially divisive and discriminatory atmosphere is not rare among Yale students. According to the Yale Daily News, the student Siyonbola referred to was Reneson Jean-Louis, a Yale Divinity School student. On his Facebook page, Jean-Louis recounts how he got lost in the graduate hall on his way to a meeting with Siyonbola and was stopped and interrogated by Braasch, even after she had let him onto the elevator. In sharing the video Siyonbola posted Tuesday, Jean-Louis wrote, This has been hard to share because I believe that as a Yalie, Im blessed to have such an institution support my academic and professional ambitions. However, I cannot overlook the blatant racist experiences I have had while at Yale. Cooley wrote her own response to the incident this week. The Daily News quoted her email as saying, Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place. Siyonbola told the student newspaper: The response from Dean Cooley has been terrible. I dont remember receiving any sort of apology or anything from her the first time, and this time the email that she sent was very vague, just not decisive, it just wasnt direct with what the actual issues are, Siyonbola said. Do you want black students at Yale or do you not want black students at Yale? If you do, then be very clear about taking decisive action so incidents do not continue to happen. We dont want to wait for a fatality, we dont want to wait for what happened at Harvard before actual action is taken on this. On April 13, Cambridge, Massachusetts, police pinned down and repeatedly punched a black Harvard student, who was standing naked in the street. Harvard President Drew Faust called the incident profoundly disturbing and upsetting, according to the Boston Globe. At Yale, student anger about treatment of minorities came to a head in November 2015, with a march and rally numbering 1,000 or more students. The outpouring of student solidarity and call for more inclusiveness at Yale was triggered by an incident at a fraternity Halloween party, in which a black woman was denied entry and by emails and comments from the then-head and associate head of Silliman College, Nicholas and Erika Christakis, who were seen to be challenging a call by the Intercultural Affairs Council that students be sensitive to racial and ethnic identities in their choice of Halloween costumes. Racism was also at the heart of the controversy over renaming Calhoun College, originally named for the avowedly racist slaveholder John C. Calhoun. After refusing to consider changing the residential colleges name, Yale President Peter Salovey appointed a committee to come up with guidelines for considering name changes. He then approved renaming the college after a mathematician and admiral, Grace Hopper. In the midst of the renaming controversy, a dining hall employee at Calhoun, Corey Menafee, broke a window pane depicting slaves in a cotton field, one of a number of windows showing Calhoun and scenes from the antebellum era. He was arrested but the university declined to press charges and Menafee, who had resigned, was rehired. All of the windows, as well as three portraits of Calhoun, were removed from the college. The Calhoun controversy, which simmered for decades, flared up after the June 17, 2015, shooting deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, which highlighted issues of racism and led to the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the state Capitol. More recently, a sculpture over a Sterling Memorial Library doorway showing a Puritan with a musket and an Indian was removed after the musket had been covered over with cement. Another incident with racial overtones occurred in January 2015, when the son of New York Times columnist Charles Blow, who is black, was stopped by Yale police at gunpoint as they were looking for an intruder into Trumbull College who had been reported by students. Racism appears to be behind incidents at other universities and in society at large. In September at Cornell University, a black student was beaten and a racial slur was used. And in April, two African Americans were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks when they were sitting at a table without having purchased anything. Starbucks apologized and will hold an afternoon of racial sensitivity training later this month. Colorado State University President Tony Frank wrote an apology and outlined several steps the school will take after two Native American teenagers were pulled from a campus tour by police after a 911 call from a mother. according the Associated Press reports. The school has called the incident shameful on so many levels and says that the teens did nothing wrong. The brothers had traveled from their home in New Mexico to Fort Collins for the tour, AP reported. This story has been edited to correct Reneson Jean-Louis name. Contact Ed Stannard at edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com or 203-680-9382. Currently Reading Predicting who will survive the GOP convention On Thursday afternoon, Fox axed comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" after five seasons. Less than an hour later, the show was trending worldwide on Twitter with two different spellings. Soon, even celebrities were tweeting their grief, and an outpouring of "B99" GIFs and photos started making their way around the internet. So, why the freakout for a show that was averaging fewer than 2 million viewers this season? For those unaware of the show and its impact, allow us to explain: - It's hilarious. Of course humor is subjective, and the series - about the adventures of detectives in a Brooklyn police precinct - is filled with inside jokes that only viewers can appreciate. But just watch last month's cold open that involved crime, the Backstreet Boys and singing from Andy Samberg, who starred as the always goofy detective Jake Peralta. - Ratings don't tell the whole story. In an interview with TVGuide, co-creator Dan Goor admitted that the live ratings aren't great - but Fox executives consider more than just traditional TV numbers, particularly in this era of on-demand and streaming. "Their official statement to us is they don't look at that kind of ratings data, and I hope to God that is true," Goor said. "But also, our show does very well in the Live+7 setting, and we're one of the most-watched live-action shows on Hulu." The Live+7 rating means all the people who watched the show a week after it first aired; that, combined with the Hulu numbers and its TBS syndication deal, proves that the show actually had quite a loyal fan base. - It has one of the most diverse casts on broadcast television. When the show was first picked up in 2013, Melissa Fumero - who plays detective Amy Santiago - marveled that there were two Latina women in the main cast. That was very rare, even five years ago. "When we first did the pilot, and we first got picked up and did the first season, it was something a lot of people were talking about," Fumero told Us Weekly. "It was something that my (co-star) Stephanie (Beatriz) and I couldn't believe - that they hired two Latinas. At the time, that never happened. We thought one of us was going to get fired, for sure." Beatriz's character, detective Rosa Diaz, came out as bisexual in the fifth season. And Andre Braugher starred as Capt. Raymond Holt, who frequently spoke of the challenges of being a gay, African-American cop in the New York Police Department. - It explores tough issues. This past Sunday's episode dealt with the precinct's reaction to an active shooter; last season, an entire episode talked about racial profiling when Sgt. Terry Jeffords (played by Terry Crews) was stopped on the street in front of his own home by another officer. - The characters were actually nice. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" comes from co-creators Goor and Mike Schur, who were also behind NBC's "Parks and Recreation," which was known for being one of the kinder, happier shows on television. And while the "Brooklyn" characters never hesitated to make fun of each other, or play pranks, there was an underlying sweetness to it all, a theme that struck a chord for viewers. --- Jake Makes The Criminals Sing | Season 5 Ep. 17 | BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffyKY3Dj5ZE EDWARDSVILLE The City of Edwardsville has received a state grant to help develop more shared-use paths. Gov. Bruce Rauner recently announced a $37 million investment into the Illinois Department of Transportation's Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program. Of the money, Edwardsville will receive $943,200 for a bike/pedestrian trail along Route 157. The proposed shared-use path will be 10-feet wide and will run along Route 157 from Lewis Road to the MCT Goshen Trail. Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton said the path will provide safe travel along that stretch of Route 157. "This path is part of our push to develop wider and safer shared-use paths," Patton said. "It provides a safe path for youths in the area to get to and from the schools (Lincoln Middle School and Woodland Elementary School) and also provide access along Route 157 to the commercial developments that are taking place in that area." The approximately 3,000 foot-long trail will connect the Timberlake and Lincoln Knolls neighborhoods to the bikeways system. It will also create access to the development in the area like the Whispering Heights project. Edwardsville Alderman SJ Morrison said there is no better way to celebrate National Bike Month, than with the announcement of a new shared use path to benefit the residents of Edwardsville. "This paves the way for safer bike and pedestrian access to Woodland Elementary and Lincoln Middle School and represents an important first step in a comprehensive pedestrian improvement program for the Illinois 157 corridor," Morrison said. Morrison said the city's Public Works Department deserves the credit for putting the grant together. The grant, made possible by federal funds administered by IDOT, is focused on improving bike and pedestrian travel as well as other surface transportation improvements and streetscape beautification work. IDOT received a total of 218 grant applications. Municipalities in IDOT District 7, which includes Madison and St. Clair County, received a total of $3,422,780 in funding. The City of Wood River ($412,030) and Highland ($1,221,680) received funding for streetscape improvements and beautification. Grant recipients are required to match at least 20 percent of the project total and demonstrate a plan to have the project completed within five years. In recognition of National Historic Preservation Month, Edwardsville's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) will showcase some of Edwardsville's historic buildings in a series of articles during the month of May. . 226-248 Hickory Street The Overbeck Homes . The home at 248 Hickory Street was one of the earliest built in the Chapman Addition and the first of four homes on adjoining lots built by the Overbeck family on Hickory Street. In October 1884, Frederich W. Overbeck purchased lots 12-16 of the Joseph Chapman Subdivision. The first report of construction came in an article in the Intelligencer on April 18, 1885, that said, "F. W. Overbeck, the painter, has broken ground for a neat two-story frame dwelling on a lot adjoining the northwest corner of the Chapman property." The Queen Anne Victorian house was solidly built of oak timbers held together with square nails and, thanks to the purchase of multiple lots, for many years the house was set in a country-like setting. Frederich was born in Germany in 1844 and immigrated to America with his widowed mother and younger brother in 1858. (Other sibling arrived after the Civil War.) Like most German immigrants to this area, they entered the United States through the Port of New Orleans with St. Louis as their destination. Upon arrival in St. Louis, Frederich was apprenticed to a Kirkwood, Missouri decorator and painter. A year later, when his mother married a Madison County farmer, the family moved to Marine, Illinois, where he continued in the painting business. On April 18, 1861, Frederich enlisted with the Illinois 9th Infantry. According to his obituary, although he entered as a drummer boy, within a few months he was given a rifle and remained with the 9th for three years. After his Civil War service he returned to Marine where he resumed his trade and, in 1871, married Miss Emma Varwig. In 1882, the Overbeck family that by now included five children, moved to Edwardsville. Frederich continued to support the family with his work of decorating and painting local homes and businesses, with his sons joining the firm as they became old enough to participate. The family business would remain active in Edwardsville for 118 years. The Overbecks had a total of eight children between 1872 and 1891, and although all survived to adulthood, four died at relatively young ages, before their parents. Their only daughters, Ella and Martha, died in 1901 and 1903 respectively. Their oldest son, William, was married and had two children when he died in 1913 at the age of 41. Another son, Benjamin, born in 1881, died in 1912. His widow, Florence, and two children, Murray and Mabelle, moved into the house at 248 Hickory Street, so that three generations of the Overbeck family were under one roof until Florence remarried in 1920. Frederich Overbeck was a shrewd businessman and made numerous real estate investments. In addition to his own home, he built a tenant house at 226 Hickory that provided rental income. Since a mortagage was taken out on these lots in 1897, the small Victorian cottage was probably built at that time. He also invested in storefronts on Main Street. (A history of the Main Street property and the Overbeck painting business is the next article in this series.) After the death of Emma Overbeck in 1919 and her husband Frederich in 1926, the big house on the hill was occupied by just one person, Edwin Overbeck, a partner and painter at Overbeck Brothers. In 1930, at the age of 56-years-old, Edwin married Ella Brase who at 35-years-old, would have been considered a spinster in those days. The Overbeck Brothers by then consisted of Edwin, John, Henry and Samuel. All lived on Hickory Street for many years except Samuel who had a house a short distance away on Hillsboro Avenue. Henry, and his wife, the former Florence Dippold, were away from Edwardsville for a number of years but returned in 1931 and built the most elegant of the Overbeck houses at 230 Hickory Street. The architecture of the house is Greek Revival with a low-pitched gable roof, cornice lines emphasized with wide, divided bands of trim, and a full-elliptical fanlight transom surround on the front door. Elaborate leaded glass windows across the front complete the delicate elegance of this home. Henry and Florence's home also had a large screened-in sunporch at the back of the house where Florence spent much of her time. She had tuberculosis in the 1940s and the fresh air was said to be helpful. According to relatives and friends, she eventually recovered. In 1946, Edwin and Ella Overbeck purchased the lot at 242 Hickory to build a new home. The original family home at 248 Hickory Street wasn't sold by the Overbeck heirs until 1967. The last Overbeck on Hickory Street was Florence, the widow of Henry Overbeck who died in 1980. These four houses, all in a row on Hickory Street, represent the legacy of one of Edwardsville's early families. Hickory Street is one of numerous neighborhoods that will be explored this year where families were also neighbors. . Information for this article was obtained from resources at the Madison County Archival Library, the Madison County Recorder's Office, and the Edwardsville Public Library. Architectural information is provided by Casey Weeks. If you have questions about this article, contact Cindy Reinhardt at 618-656-1294 or cynreinhardt@yahoo.com. EDWARDSVILLE Third graders from throughout Edwardsville District 7 enjoyed beautiful weather recently as they attended Illinois Day at Township Park. The smell of sunscreen was in the air as students spent the morning moving from speaker to speaker to learn more about Illinois. Speakers included two farmers. One talked about crops and the other talked about animals. He also brought a horse, goats, and chickens which the students were allowed to pet. Representatives from the Illinois Natural History Survey spoke to students from a boat. They discussed the fish in Illinois. They had live examples of several of the fish, including the blue gill, which is the state fish of Illinois. Professor Longhairs, a magician, asked the students what one of Illinois' greatest resources is. He answered "dirt." He then talked about the crops grown in the state, and how it is sometimes called the world's breadbasket. He asked for volunteers to plant seeds in a pot. Shortly after, he opened the pot to reveal plants. A re-enactor from the Lewis and Clark State Historic Society in Hartford portrayed one of the soldiers on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was a hit with students with the wooden nickels he handed out. He also let students try on his hat and jacket. Speakers also talked about the biking and hiking trails in the state. Some EHS students were on hand to help the third graders weave lanyards. The students clipped the lanyard to their shoelaces to start, and the EHS students helped them start braiding. EDWARDSVILLE When Tress Kurzym moved to Edwardsville from Texas about five years ago, she saw a niche in the community that fit her background perfectly. With over 15 years of theater education background, she opened StagePlay Learning. Her three-pronged business offers drama classes for kids ages pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, provides in-school performances and workshops to area schools and offers staff development and training for businesses. Kurzym, a graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. As a directing student, Kurzym was chosen to study abroad in London, England, where she assisted directors on London's famed West End and studied a variety of theatrical techniques. After earning her degree, she was selected to work as an assistant director at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and at First Stage Theatre Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kurzym was then hired as a development associate for Houston's Alley Theatre and worked with the education and community outreach program for the Tony Award-winning theatre. During this period of her career, she found herself working a lot as a teaching artist. "Even though this was an amazing time and I was working for some really amazing theaters, to subsidize my income after-school programs would hire me to come in and do theater education," she recalled. "I started to realize how much I really loved that and so I moved back to Texas and got my teaching certificate for secondary schools," Kurzym added. "I taught high school for close to 15 years and then had my second child, and I started to teach junior high theater." About five years ago, Kurzym moved to Edwardsville following her husband's career. She quickly realized that schools in the Edwardsville area were missing a piece of education that she specialized in. "I realized that they don't have creative dramatics for kids in rotation the way that they do with art and music at the elementary level," she said. "So I saw an opportunity for a business." She started StagePlay Learning and began teaching theater classes to students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. She offers a variety of classes as well as specialized events. For example, the next "Parents Night Out," a monthly event, takes place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on May 19. Details about this event and the full line of classes available can be found at www.stageplaylearning.com Kurzym pointed out that her business is not about creating full productions. "There are so many capable, wonderful community theaters that are already doing that kind of work," she said. "What I'm much more interested in and what my tag line for my business is that I teach life skills through theater skills. "A lot of students that I have are kids who need work on social skills or they are extremely introverted, but I also have kids who are super-Broadway bound. They want to be on stage for sure. They are just learning the skills that are already there for them," she added. For those kids who are Broadway-bound or interested in auditioning for commercials, Kurzym's classes enhance their skill set through improvisation and theater games. Stage Play Production is a second arm of Kurzym's business where she and her creative partner, Emily Klinginsmith, work together to bring the stage to area classrooms. "Emily and I conceive and write scripts that we perform for different events and sketch comedies," Kurzym said. "It's predominantly kid shows for libraries and schools and assemblies." The third arm of Kurzym's business is Stage Play Solutions where she utilizes theater skills and games to help small businesses and corporations work on team building and interpersonal communication. StagePlay Learning has grown tremendously since opening two years ago. Kurzym initially operated out of a local church, but she's about to celebrate her one year anniversary of opening her studio that's located at 113 Plaza Court in Edwardsville (in the basement of the old Metcalf building). "I've grown astronomically so that's been great, but I want to continue to grow," she said. "The more kids that become advocates of the theater and better citizens of the world I think is a good thing. Because I think that theater teaches all of the skills that you need in the 21st century co-creation and collaboration, listening skills, and empathy is huge - that is what they gain from theater skills." Her plans for the future are to add more teachers and classes, grow her client base and expand into the not-for-profit arena. "My plan is not to get rich but to enrich," Kurzym said. "So I would like to see there maybe be a not-for-profit side of StagePlay Learning where I get to go into communities and work with kids that don't have the opportunity to take classes like this." Kurzym couldn't have been more appreciative of the support she has received from the Edwardsville community. "Edwardsville and the area has been a really amazing move for my family because it's afforded me these opportunities," she said. "This community loves and appreciates the arts. They understand what the arts mean for a community and so everyone has been very warm and welcoming." For additional information about upcoming events and class times, visit StagePlay Learning on Facebook or call 832-693-6745. In recognition of National Historic Preservation Month, Edwardsville's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) will showcase some of Edwardsville's historic buildings in a series of articles during the month of May. . 118 N. Main St. . The building at 118 N. Main St. was one of four buildings constructed for Frederich W. Overbeck on Edwardsville's Main Street between 1897 and 1914. Unfortunately, the others were destroyed by fire, but despite a location adjoining those buildings, this one survived. The long, narrow, brick building is simple from an architectural viewpoint, but makes up for that with charm. Overbeck was a German immigrant who started in the painting trade as a young apprentice in Kirkwood, Missouri. He went into the painting and decorating business for himself at Marine, Illinois, before moving to Edwardsville 1882 . In Edwardsville he founded a business that would continue for more than a century. Four generations of the Overbeck family owned or worked for Overbeck Wallpaper and Paint Store until it closed in 2000. He bought his first commercial building in 1896 at what is now 120-122 N. Main St. It was called the Arcade Building and was a well-known landmark in Edwardsville. The Arcade Building was a frame structure that served as the first Methodist Church in Edwardsville. It was moved a number of times before finding a home at 120-122 N. Main St. in the late 1850s. At this new location it was given a brick front and opened as a public hall called "The Arcade." Newspaper accounts said it was the place where men gathered before marching off to war during the Civil War. On the north side of the Arcade Building was an alley and on the south side was a small empty lot. South of that was a short frame building that housed a harness shop. All of these commercial spaces belonged to Overbeck. The landscape surrounding Overbeck's property was much different than today also. On the south side, the Giese Building and Bohm Building had yet to be built. On the north side, Dr. Barnsback wouldn't build his two-story brick building until 1909. Behind Overbeck's property, there were wooded areas, a small creek and a view of the back of homes that still lined that block of Kansas St. In 1897 Overbeck began making the first of many improvements to his property by building a frame storefront on the small lot on the south side of the Arcade building that was leased immediately as a grocery. The following year, in 1898, the Arcade was destroyed by fire. The front face of brick remained but the back of the building was gone. The two small frame buildings, the harness and grocery businesses, both survived the fire. Undaunted (and fortunately insured) Frederich had a new two-story brick commercial building constructed to replace the Arcade. Shortly after the new building was completed, a narrow two-story brick addition was added to the north side in what was previously the alley. This narrow building, perhaps only 10 feet wide, was the storefront for Overbeck's Wallpaper and Paint Store for many years. And, perhaps as a precaution after the fire, there was a separate frame building for mixing paints constructed some distance behind the store. In 1914, Overbeck made another improvement to his property. He tore down the small frame building on the south side of his property and replaced it with a long brick building, the storefront that today is 118 North Main St. It began as a grocery, then was a variety store for a number of years before being rented as a shoe store. The Bootery (or Fashion Bootery) occupied the location for decades. Frederich died in 1926 but his surviving sons continued the business as Overbeck Brothers. The company provided supplies, advice and labor for all types of home decorating and specialty painting. A 1937 advertisement reminded homeowners that "Serene Beauty is Never Haphazard" and "Shabby Homes Don't Breed Cheer." In 1938 there was another fire in the building at 120-122 N. Main St. Losses this time were primarily to merchandise in Silverbloom's dress shop. Damages were estimated at $25,000. Again, the Overbeck family was insured, the building was repaired and within a few months both stores reopened. The frame building Overbeck built as his first improvement in 1897 was torn down in 1949 and replaced with a brick addition to his two-story brick building, allowing Silverbloom to expand. But in 1956 a devastating fire destroyed the two-story building and both additions which included the Overbeck store and businesses on the second floor of the building. Most long-time residents remember this as the Silverbloom fire since it was the major tenant in the building. Thanks to a thick fire wall, the business at 118 N. Main St. had only minor smoke damage. Although Frederich was long-deceased by 1956, the building was still owned by the "F. W. Overbeck heirs." After the fire, they sold the building to P. N. Hirsch, the parent company of Silverbloom. When P. N. Hirsch rebuilt after the fire, the two-story Overbeck building and its additions were replaced with a one story building. But a clue to the old building remains. A mark from its roof line can be seen on the side of the building at 124 N. Main St. By the time the building was sold, only one of the Overbeck brothers was still in the business, Samuel, who had been joined by his son, Sam. Later, Sam's son, Reed Overbeck, would join the business. Although the building at 120-122 N. Main St. was sold, Overbeck's obtained a lease for ten years to remain in the building. At the end of ten years, in 1967, Overbeck's moved to 130 N. Main St., replacing Hotz Hardware when it closed. That building is gone now too, replaced with Hepler Broom's headquarters. The P. N. Hirsch Store is also long gone, and their 1950s storefront has been renovated for office space. Only the little building at 118 N. Main St. that survived two fires, remains a legacy to one of Edwardsville's most successful entrepreneurs, Frederich W. Overbeck. The storefront has been recently renovated as a home for Bin 51 Wine and Spirits whose shelves of wine add to the old-world charm of this historic building. . Information for this article was obtained from resources at the Madison County Archival Library, the Madison County Recorder's Office, the Edwardsville Public Library and from members and friends of the Overbeck family. If you have questions about this article, contact Cindy Reinhardt at 618-656-1294 or cynreinhardt@yahoo.com. 1 hour ago 2 Downgrades In Healthcare You Might Want To Buy When Opportunity Knocks In The Healthcare Industry Today were focusing on two stocks in the real of healthcare that just received some notable analyst activity. The activity is notable because it is bearish in light of recent market expectations and opens up what we see as potentially high-return entry opportunities. Read Article LOS ANGELESLittle noticed amid the trade war discussion, tariffs levied by the Trump administration on the Canadian paper used to make newsprint are starting to take a toll on U.S. newspapers and printers. In the past few months, the U.S. Commerce Department has put in place two sets of duties on producers and exporters of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada. The first, in January, ranged from 4.42 per cent to 9.93 per cent of the wholesale price after a preliminary determination that suppliers had received financial assistance from the Canadian government. Then, in March, a separate preliminary finding by the Commerce Department resulted in anti-dumping duties of 22.16 per cent for some Canadian paper producers and exporters. Together, the two sets of duties have raised the price of newsprint by about 30 per cent. Final results for both investigations are expected in August. Some U.S. newspapers and third-party printers say theyve already seen the effect of the tariffs in industries that are already facing declining revenues. The Tampa Bay Times said it will eliminate about 50 jobs by June to try to manage the estimated $3.5-million (U.S.) additional cost the paper will pay per year as a result of the tariffs. Its really going to have a devastating effect on the newspaper industry, and it will ripple through the rest of the printing industry, said Frank Romano, professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology and an expert in printing. Youre almost taxing some newspapers out of business. The petitions that led to the tariffs were filed in August by North Pacific Paper Co., a Longview, Wash., producer of uncoated groundwood paper, the material on which most newspapers are printed. Two decades ago, there were about 15 newsprint mills in the U.S., said Paul Boyle, senior vice-president of public policy at the News Media Alliance, a trade group representing almost 2,000 news organizations. But as the newspaper industry fell on difficult times and demand for newsprint steadily decreased, the mills began to disappear. Today, there are only a handful left in the United States, Boyle said. The U.S. demand for newsprint is 2.2 million tonnes, he said; Canadian paper mills provide about 60 per cent of that. At the Tampa Bay Times, about 80 per cent of its newsprint supply was Canadian, said Paul Tash, chair and chief executive of the Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing Co. America does not produce enough newsprint to meet the needs of American customers, he said. Theres not a lot of spare capacity in the market. During an earnings call Wednesday, Terry Jimenez, chief financial officer of Tronc Inc., parent company of several large metro dailies, said newsprint was at historically extraordinarily high prices, mostly because of the tariffs. A government-supported policy that makes the production of newspapers costlier at an inflection point in the industry is unwise and unwarranted, Tronc chair and chief executive Justin Dearborn said on the call. We strongly oppose the tariffs and believe they are counterproductive to public policy and to free markets broadly. North Pacific Paper, which is owned by private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, said it understands the concerns voiced by newspaper publishers. But a company spokesperson, David Richey, said the firm strongly disagreed with the notion that their industry requires low-priced, subsidized newsprint from Canada to sustain their own business model. The company closed one of its three paper machines last fall, a move a company spokesman attributed to the prior trade environment. We are not asking for anything but a level playing field with the Canadian producers, Richey said. Boyle, of the News Media Alliance, said the new tariffs would be unlikely to spur a paper mill rebirth. His organization is part of a coalition of dozens of newspaper publisher groups, printers and paper producers that are protesting the tariffs and plan to make their case to the U.S. International Trade Commission this summer. I think its foolish to believe someones going to start a newsprint mill and spend $200 million to $300 million to build a mill when you see a decline in newsprint, Boyle said. Other representatives of printing companies that produce items such as magazines, catalogs and retail advertising inserts say theyre also preparing for a major financial hit. Canadian newsprint makes up about 20 per cent of the volume moving through the presses at printer Quad/Graphics, a Sussex, Wis., company that has 20,000 employees in 25 states. Quad buys about 270,000 tonnes of Canadian uncoated groundwood paper each year and expects to see an annual cost increase of about $15 million, said Pat Henderson, director of government affairs. This comes as Quads top-line revenues have been falling about 5 per cent a year. The company has made 15 acquisitions since 2010, but print volume is still on the decline, Henderson said. The supply will not meet the demand, he said. Irish whiskey might be about to get caught in the Brexit wars. For 400 years, Bushmills, distilled close to the banks of the River Bush in Northern Ireland has viewed itself as Irish whiskey. Now, some people across the border in Ireland say it risks losing that tag after Britain leaves the European Union. I cant imagine that theyd wish to describe themselves as British whiskey or Ulster whiskey or anything else of the sort, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in parliament last week. That of course is a matter for negotiation. The whiskey question is a microcosm of the complexities facing Britain and the EU, as they seek to forge a new post-Brexit trade relationship. The EU protects Irish whiskey made on both sides of the border as it does champagne in France or parma ham in Italy. The worry is whether that will continue after the U.K. exits the bloc. In the final EU-U.K. agreement, its vital that protected spirits produced in Northern Ireland continue to be labelled product of Ireland, according to the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland, which represents drinks companies. If a product is branded Irish whiskey but then is labelled as Product of U.K. that can cause huge confusion and undermine its value, especially in foreign markets, said Patricia Callan, director of the industry group. That needs to be resolved. The EU closely guards its geographical indicator system, whereby names capture the origin and reputation of a product. So for example, a Slovakian distiller cant sell its product as Irish whiskey just as a Spanish wine maker cant make champagne. Name checked in James Joyces Ulysses, Bushmills is viewed as a quintessentially Irish brand, despite being owned by Mexican Tequila maker Jose Cuervo. Thats allowed Bushmills to benefit from renewed demand for Irish whiskey. Sales in the U.S. surged 13 per cent to just less than $900 million (U.S.) last year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Most of that growth flowed from the so-called superpremium sector, where a nine-litre case costs more than $200. Irish whiskey branding adds premium value, Callan said. That has to be protected. Yet Bushmillss Irish designation could be threatened by Brexit, Martin Kenny, a lawmaker with Irelands opposition party Sinn Fein, told parliament last week. Every whiskey that is produced on the island of Ireland is designated as Irish whiskey, Kenny said. After Brexit, it will no longer be possible to call Bushmills Irish whiskey. Bushmills disputes this. Bushmills will continue to be described as an Irish whiskey as it is has been for over 400 years, Colum Egan, master distiller at the whiskey maker, said in response to questions. Bushmills declined to comment further. The issue may be solved by the EU and U.K. agreeing to respect each others protected food and drink products after Brexit. Alternatively, it could emerge as a sticking point if the U.K. decides that not protecting various EU products could help it do trade deals with other nations, according to Mujtaba Rahman, managing director at Eurasia Group in London if one those countries wanted to sell the U.K. a drink called champagne, for example. There will also be tough discussions over the question of whether the U.K recognizes the existing stock of geographical indications, such as parma ham, feta cheese, champagne, which are a key offensive trade interest of the EU, said Rahman. Doing so, though, would in the future, risk constraining U.K. trade policy toward new world countries. Aimee Morrison doesnt look forward to the not-too-distant future when she might have to constantly doubt whether shes speaking on the phone with robots powered by artificial intelligence, or reading emails composed by algorithms. Earlier this week, Google unveiled demos of new AI services that had the web abuzz, including Duplex, which would allow users to outsource the drudgery of booking appointments with businesses by phone to a virtual personal assistant. Google released recordings of calls it says were placed to businesses including booking a restaurant reservation and a hair salon appointment in which the employees answering the phone seemed to have no clue they were interacting with a robot. Read more: Study shows artificial intelligence can help environmentalists combat invasive species Canadian airlines get on board with artificial intelligence quest Google employees urge CEO to drop out of Pentagon artificial intelligence program In calling about the restaurant reservation, Googles AI was able to seamlessly handle a series of questions in a nearly minute-long conversation and was not flummoxed when told a booking wasnt necessary since the eatery wouldnt be busy. In both calls, the computerized voices occasionally dropped some umms and mm-hmms in the script to appear more lifelike. The Google Duplex technology is built to sound natural, to make the conversation experience comfortable. Its important to us that users and businesses have a good experience with this service, and transparency is a key part of that. We want to be clear about the intent of the call so businesses understand the context. Well be experimenting with the right approach over the coming months, Google wrote in a blog post about the technology, adding it cannot carry out general conversations. I live in fear of a Google Duplex world where I have to make a hair appointment and the person on the other end treats me like a robot and is awful to me and how am I going to prove that Im a human? said Morrison, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo who studies technologys impact on culture. Is it going to make all of our conversations with each other deeply suspicious and mistrustful? Is it going to encourage rampant disrespect and awfulness as we learn that some human voices are not really human? University of Toronto Prof. Gerald Penn called the execution of the Google demos brilliant but said thats partly because the AI targeted an unsuspecting target. Someone who knew they could be talking to Googles software would likely be able to outsmart it, added Penn, who studies natural language processing. There are going to be some rigid boundaries as to what Duplex can do, and if youre interested in tricking the system and determining if its a human on the line or not, you could certainly do that, he said. The technology could eventually have a significant impact on the customer service industry, which would have to begin catering to robot callers, he added. Whats going to happen to small retailers when a significant part of the phone calls theyre receiving are not from people? Because that could turn into a kind of negative spiral where theyre disincentivized to provide any kind of decent phone support, because theyre just talking to robots anyway. Google also unveiled a feature for its Gmail service called Smart Compose, which provides users with suggested strings of text for emails. Beyond simply predicting the word the user is typing, the software tries to anticipate their whole thought and attempts to offer complete suggested sentences. Because theyre running Gmail they get all the data, all the emails that people compose, and they can probably train a system to provide replies that would mimic how others have composed their emails before and provide that to users who can simply select some potential replies, said Prof. Pascal Poupart of the University of Waterloo, who studies artificial intelligence and machine learning. And the beauty of this system is whenever people are going to select something that provides a feedback that Google can then use to further improve (the service) because it will know which types of replies are effective. He found Smart Compose less controversial than Duplex, noting its common already that very, very busy people will often have an assistant who replies to emails on their behalf. Theres already this kind of delegation happening and now the only difference is were delegating that to a machine, he said. But Morrison is disturbed by the potential outcomes of the feature becoming popular. Duplex is trying to make machines pass as humans and what the email assistant is trying to do is make humans sound more like machines. So theyre taking the human out of the conversation at both ends, she said. What those things have a tendency to do is really collapse the variety and joy of human conversation into a serious of stock phrases ... and literally erase other ways of expressing yourself. Read more about: EDMONTONWith the possibility of a strike looming large, some WestJet travellers have to decide whether theyre going to sit tight or cut their potential losses. The Air Line Pilots Association reported 91 per cent of its members voted in favour of strike action, which could happen as early as May 18. Since then, WestJet has been responding to a slew of concerned customers on Twitter, and has promised refunds to travellers whose flights are affected by a labour dispute. The pilots have agreed to keep flying over the May long weekend in good faith, but travellers whove booked flights that fall after that still feel like their plans are up in the air. Read more: WestJet pilots vote for strike action, but promise not to disrupt May long weekend travel WestJet shares plummet after airline reports dip in first-quarter profit WestJet promises to refund cancelled flights Lesley Paull, owner and manager of Paull Travel in Edmonton, said that it all boils down to how desperate upcoming travellers are to get to where they need to go. If you absolutely have to, and its somebodys wedding and its your daughter then you might want to cancel now and rebook, Paull said. If youre just going for a weekend in Vancouver for holidays, you might want to wait. Since the vote results were announced, Paull said shes received a lot of calls from customers asking about their options, which are to change or cancel their flights and incur a penalty, or to wait and see if a strike is announced, get the refund, and then rebook. As it stands, Charmaine Lowe is still mulling over her own options. A 31-year-old project manager at Focus Communications in Edmonton, she and a friend have a trip to New York planned for June, well after the goodwill period offered by the pilots union. Its all well and good that WestJet says theyre going to refund anyone affected, Lowe said. But what about your hotel, your Airbnb, or your travel insurance or car rental? According to her calculations, Lowe stands to lose $800 if her plans are cancelled by any labour action, including tickets to see one of her favourite bands, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Its sort of a waiting game, she added. Theres a lot of uncertainty about it, which sucks. For Lowe and her friend, the trip, which the two planned back in March, is too important to miss. She would rather risk a penalty and rebook early than wait to see what happens with negotiations. I dont think either of us want to make a knee-jerk reaction, especially if they do come to a resolution, but I think our backup plan isnt to wait it out, she said. Our plan is to take a cancellation fee and look for a different flight. In the meantime, shes planning to book any subsequent flights on Air Canada, which announced Thursday that it was adding capacity on key transcontinental routes in response to the strike vote mandate from WestJet pilots. Paull, who has worked through strikes like this in the past, sympathizes with travellers who appear to be stuck between a financial rock and a hard place. It always comes down to the last minute, she said. With files from The Canadian Press Read more about: In the opening pages of Full Disclosure, former Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlins new legal thriller, there is a cheeky reference to its author. Vancouver criminal defense attorney Jilly Truitt is walking through the courthouse when she observes a portrait of the Chief Justice when she was young and looked good. McLachlin delights at the fact that her publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, didnt edit out her little inside joke. Im glad they allowed that little vanity to stay because it gives me great pleasure. At 74, McLachlin may be new to the writing world, but after 37 years on the bench, she is no stranger to the inner workings of the courtroom. Her expertise provides atmospheric accuracy in a debut novel that sees 30-something Jilly defend a high-profile business mogul accused of murdering his philanthropic wife. There are professional and personal twists as the deceased is related to Jillys recent ex-boyfriend, and she must face a fierce Crown attorney who is also her beloved former mentor. McLachlin first conceived of tough-minded Jilly Truitt back in the late 1970s, after she left law and was employed as a professor at the University of British Columbia. She shared her early writing with her friend, the formidable Anna Porter, who became an encouraging early mentor. Porter had recently launched the now-defunct Key Porter Books, publishing Canadian luminaries such as Dennis Lee, Margaret Atwood, and the late Farley Mowat. She told McLachlin that, while the story needed work, she saw something promising in the writing and in her lawyer protagonist. But McLachlin was waylaid from her creative plans when in 1980 she was appointed as judge to the County Court of Vancouver. Im sure I made the right decision, McLachlin says. Of course thats not only a full-time job, its something of a calling and I had to set aside my aspirations to write fiction. McLachlin rose steadily through the ranks and in January 2000 was named Chief Justice of Canada by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, becoming the first woman to hold the position. For 18 years, McLachlin devoted herself to her judicial career. But a year ago, facing mandatory retirement, she decided it was time to resurrect Jilly. Every morning, McLachlin would write before sunrise, inspired by an article about British mystery author P.D. James who juggled a writing career and a full-time job. I thought if she can do it maybe I can try, McLachlin says. It was amazing. I would write from 5 to 7, then get up and walk the dog. Id go to court and do my thing all day. Few details from the original story made it into Full Disclosure, other than Jillys ambitions. As McLachlin was writing, she didnt know how the story would end (with a shocker), but pushed through the panic and let herself be driven by her protagonists journey. Id always yearned to do a book with a strong, feminine main character, McLachlin says. Often women are beset with problems and a man comes along and fixes them all. I was getting so tired of that kind of drama. I know through my work and my life so many strong, able women who are out there pursuing their careers. But I know also the conflicts and challenges they face, and I wanted to try to picture that kind of a person. Full Disclosure contains other glimpses into McLachlins world. Those who are familiar with Vancouver landmarks and eating establishments may delight in specific references to her old home city, which she refers to as a character in the book. The Canadian art scene also makes an appearance, in particular the work of the late painter Joe Plaskett. As Chief Justice, McLachlin will be remembered for her controversial rulings on hot-button topics such as safe-injection sites and Indigenous land rights both of which appear in the background throughout her novel. McLachlin says her hardscrabble upbringing in Pincher Creek, a small Alberta town located beside a reserve, fuelled her early passion for improving relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. At a press conference marking her last day leading the Supreme Court of Canada, McLachlin gave a speech in which she said she was most proud of her work in constitutionalizing Indigenous rights. This is something that is very important to me, she says, and I suppose forms part of my conscious and subconscious way of being, so I guess its not surprising it comes out in the book. The obvious final question for a thriller writer is whether there is a series planned. McLachlin is not discounting more titles, but she recently took up a new post on Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal. She also has her sights on a memoir that would document some of the issues that have been important throughout her life. Id love to do another Jilly story, say McLachlin. I had so much fun writing it. So while I havent got the time right now, I would love to plunge into another one. In the future, if Air Canada ever charges me for soggy chicken alfredo, loses my Samsonite, bumps me from a flight, kills my cat, runs out of Grey Goose, damages my MacBook, sits me next to a screaming baby or does anything even mildly annoying, Im going to invoke the name of C.J. Poirier and raise bloody hell. Excuse me? You gave that lovestruck teen from Michigan a free flight and now youre charging me 30 bucks to rent a filthy tablet so I can watch an Avengers movie in which the audio is garbled as I lose circulation in my legs because Im jammed into a middle-row seat smaller than my daughters first highchair while I nibble on $10 peanuts that taste like gravel? Are you kidding? Im telling you, Air Canada does not realize what it has just done. It has given every customer another reason to grumble about Air Canada. On Friday, in what may be the most useless and idiotic PR stunt in airline history, Air Canada awarded a free flight to Poirier. Why? So the 19-year-old American can travel to Newfoundland and meet his girlfriend, Becca. This is a feel-good story that feels utterly ridiculous. Whats next, Air Canada? Are you going to hold a contest and hand out a boarding pass to someone who doesnt live near a Taco Bell but is really jonesing for a Nacho Crunch Double Layer Taco? How about a free ride to NYC for someone who wants to loiter inside Rihannas new pop-up lingerie store? Id love a ticket to Winnipeg so I can cheer on the Jets in the next round of the playoffs what say you? What say you? This foolish tale of teen love and corporate marketing started earlier this month when Poirier reached out to Air Canada on Twitter. How many retweets would it take, he asked, for a round-trip ticket from Detroit to Deer Lake? Air Canadas response: 530,000 (population of Newfoundland and Labrador). So Poirier kicked off his #530KforBecca campaign. And he failed miserably. By the deadline earlier this week, he was stalled at about 30,000 retweets. He didnt even hit 10 per cent of the target. Imagine if Nike said it would give you a free pair of Air Max 270s every year for life if you could jog from Toronto to Montreal and then quickly altered the route to from the CN Tower to the Eaton Centre. That is exactly what Air Canada did. The fix was in from the start. So it kept changing the rules to ensure Poirier earned his free flight and, more crucially, it earned some free publicity. After Air Canada tried and failed to lure Justin Trudeau and Drake into its little stunt you know a social media campaign is DOA if you cant rouse those two publicity hounds the carrier invented new ways to nudge Poirier past the 530,000 figure it made up, even though hes still not past 32,000. If Poirier was an Uber driver and Air Canada was the passenger, it would give him a 5-star rating after he crashed into a tree. Im afraid this free flight just proves Air Canada doesnt care about rules, something to keep in mind next time youre rudely informed your carry-on bag is too big. If the airline was so keen to give a free flight to someone for the sake of publicity, shouldnt it have at least found a more worthy cause? Surely there is a Canadian out there who cant afford to attend a funeral for a distant loved one. Surely there is a Canadian out there who has a rare disease and doesnt live within driving distance of a specialist. In fact, if you start a list of Good Reasons For Free Flights unemployed single parent with a job interview in a different city, charity outreach, reunion with a long lost twin young love doesnt crack the Top 100. No offense to Poirier: he is just 19! Hes never met Becca in real life! Teenage love can be emotionally intense. But its also wildly fickle. This relationship could be over before Poirier boards the return flight to Michigan. He dropped out of college and is a Starbucks barista. If anything, Air Canada should have offered him free tuition if he goes back to school so theres less of a chance hell eventually sneak into Canada and end up on social assistance. I understand the airlines must be desperate for good news. From passengers getting beaten and dragged off flights to mysterious deaths of giant rabbits to lost vintage guitars to horror stories at every stage of the air travel experience, when the industry makes news these days, it tends to be bad. So you cant blame Air Canada for trying to rustle up some positive vibes. Unfortunately, this free flight only makes the rest of us remember all the things we never get while flying. This is one sweet gesture that feels like a slap in the face. Read more about: HALIFAXA recently released poll gauging Nova Scotias political climate indicates a decline in support for the provinces governing Liberal party. MQO Research spoke with 600 Nova Scotia residents for the May edition of its quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters. The market research firms latest polling numbers released Friday show that among decided and leaning voters, Liberal support dropped by seven percentage points to 40 per cent. Ratings for Premier Stephen McNeils leadership marginally decreased this quarter, with a mean score of 4.8 on a 10-point scale. Support for the Progressive Conservative party was relatively unchanged at 31 per cent, while NDP support increased by six percentage points to 23 per cent. Support for the Green Party was virtually unchanged at four per cent, while the group considering themselves undecided or no vote remained steady at 42 per cent. When asked about their economic outlook for the province, 36 per cent of Nova Scotians reported it had gotten worse over the past three months. Thats up 10 percentage points since January. Looking at federal politics, party support held relatively steady compared to October 2017. Among decided and leaning voters, Liberal support held at 53 per cent. However, ratings of government performance under Prime Minster Justin Trudeau continued to trend down in May. The mean rate dipped to 5.2, down from 5.6 in October and 5.9 in April of last year. Conservative support was also more or less unchanged at 27 per cent, while NDP support held steady at 14 per cent. Support for the federal Green Party stood firm at five per cent. The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from April 17 to May 5 and included 600 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the total sample is 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20. Read more about: Terrazzo is back. The speckled floor material is having something of a renaissance, but with a fresh, modern spin that pairs perfectly with clean and simple decor. The flecked material, as we know it, is centuries old, developed over 500 years ago by Venetian workers as a way to use up discarded marble remnants, making it one of the first recycled products. Terrazzo is made of chips of marble, stone, glass, granite or other hard substances, set in cement or epoxy to bind it together and then polished to give it a smooth finish. Its known to be durable, low-maintenance and easily customizable. According to Pinterest, saves for terrazzo are up 316 per cent, and companies such as Marble Trend, a Toronto-based importer of natural stone and engineered products, say they have seen an increase in demand. The design industry is heavily leaning towards selecting eco-conscious green materials including anything recyclable and recycled. With traditional terrazzo being comprised of leftover stone fragments, and newer engineered terrazzo-style products being comprised of 100-per-cent recycled content, people have now associated sourcing green materials with terrazzo, says Gabriella Luchetta, marketing manager of Marble Trend. What was once only found on floors of mid-century era schools, hospitals and government buildings has been reborn in brighter colours and often with bigger chips of stone for a fresher look. Its been spotted adorning everything from bedding to wallpaper, making it easy to add the cool, Italian vibe to your home. Take a look at some of our favourite terrazzo-inspired finds for your home. Terrazzo Duvet Set $129.95 La Maison Simons Brighten up the boudoir with colourful, speckled cotton bedding. Its fresh, playful design is an easy way to incorporate the confetti-like design. P.S. If you love the look, the on-trend Quebec-based retailer also stocks terrazzo prints on tablecloths, shower curtains, bathroom accessories and paper napkins. Terrazzo Wallpaper by Ferm Living $161.00 The Modern Shop Terrazzo makes the jump from the floors to the walls with bold but affordable wallpaper from Ottawa-based retailer the Modern Shop, which stocks an assortment of terrazzo-inspired products from companies such as Danish brand Ferm living, Italian designer Alberto Bellamoli, Normann Copenhagen and Hay Denmark. Terrazzo Jewelry Dish $31.91 Nightshift Ceramics Robyn Molnar makes pottery inspired by bright colours and graphic patterns from her Toronto-based studio, such as her petite jewelry dish, which is as versatile as the terrazzo tiles it was inspired by. Use it to hold loose change, as a plant holder, ring dish or soap dish. Materialism Terrazzo candles by Tom Dixon $130.00 The Modern Shop Even mega-designer Tom Dixon is in on the terrazzo trend. These weighty terrazzo vessels are filled with Mediterranean scented wax that include notes of green fig and lemon. Hay Terrazzo Table $660 KLAUS Swedish designer Daniel Enoksso designed a terrazzo table for Hay, a contemporary Danish furniture design company. The table is designed for indoor and outdoor use and features a sturdy, galvanized and powder coated steel table top with a terrazzo base. Available in a variety of shapes and finishes. Its perfect for a terrace or a breakfast nook. AZZO terrazzo board $19.00 Structube Add a touch of terrazzo to your kitchen with a board. Whether you use it as a decorative accessory or as the base for charcuterie, it will add a splash of chic speckled style to your space. Freckled colour round coasters 9.00 ($15.67 Canadian) Katie Gillies Surface Design Surface designer Katie Gillies, uses a material called Jesmonite (an acrylic- and resin-based substance) that has been pigmented with added colourful flecks to create her terrazzo style coasters, trivets and other bespoke surfaces she creates for clients. Her studio based in Nottingham, U.K. Catalan throw pillow, 18 Eco canvas cover includes insert $60.19 Roostery One of the easiest ways to freshen up a space is with a new throw pillow. Toss a terrazzo print cushion onto your sofa or bed for look that is spot on. Handmade pillows with fabric from designer Holli Zollingers collection are available in a variety of fabric materials. Vetrazzo Terrazzo Custom order, price varies Marble Trend For those who arent commitment shy and want to make a statement, go bold with a terrazzo backsplash, counter, flooring or perhaps a custom table top. Marble Trend, a Toronto-based importer of natural stone and engineered products carries a wide variety of terrazzo brands including Vetrazzo a recycled glass surface created with 100 per cent recycled components such as beer, wine and vodka bottles, condiment jars, oyster shells, mother of pearl, traffic lights, windshields and more. Scofflaw corporations owe taxpayers $72 million in unpaid fines, some dating back more than 20 years. They remain elusive to city debt collectors but that needs to change, says Torontos auditor general. In her latest audit report, delving into city court services poor track record in collecting fines, Beverly Romeo-Beehler describes corporations as difficult to collect accounts. The city refused to name the corporate deadbeats Friday. Senior communications adviser Deborah Blackstone told the Star it would need to file a freedom of information request, and city staff would need to create a report. One unnamed company and its owners defaulted in September 2016 on $575,000 in fines related to violating an industry regulation, the report said. The company is still in operation and the city has taken no action to collect the money. Another company owes close to $41,000 for a fire prevention-related offence in March 2013, said the report. A restaurant fined for public health violations in July 2013 still owes $36,000. A business has yet to pay $55,000 for a bylaw infraction in July 2015. The only action the city took before the audit was to assign the three cases to a collection agency, which hasnt been successful in recovering the money, Romeo-Beehler found. Deadbeat residents and corporations owe a staggering $577 million in unpaid fines stemming from more than two million offences, says the report discussed at audit committee Friday. Of that total, $421 million is to go to the city, $63 million is to be collected by Toronto on behalf of the province, and $93 million is to pay for collection agencies if the city needs to use them. Fine evasion is indicative of a lack of respect to the law, a lack of respect to the city theyre in and their civic obligations, said Councillor Stephen Holyday, committee chair, at the meeting Friday. So good on us for chasing them down. Corporations are tough to crack because the city cant impose the same measures as it can for individuals such as denying a licence plate or suspending a drivers licence, the report said. Corporations can also declare bankruptcy, or change ownership, making it more difficult to collect the fine. If the fines are large, the court can give the defendant up to a year to pay, which means a year to try to arrange their affairs to avoid collection, said city litigator Rodney Gill to the committee. The city needs to act swiftly to identify property and assets and fulfil legal requirements to ensure that if the corporation doesnt pay its fine on time, it can still recoup the amount through other channels, Romeo-Beehler recommended. Repeat offenders are also a problem. More than 10,000 individuals have 25 unpaid fines or more and are not facing the consequences of their actions, the report said. One person has 38 offences totalling nearly $130,000. Some of these charges relate to driving without insurance, and Highway Traffic Act violations including careless driving. Another person also faces 38 offences, including speeding, and $125,000 worth of unpaid fines. Both of their drivers licences were suspended, but the city does not know if they are still driving a vehicle. The auditor has made 31 recommendations to council including that the city devise collection strategies specifically to address difficult accounts and assign cases to collection agencies quickly. The committee also reviewed a separate report from the auditor general that recommended Toronto get out of the child-care business by transferring 52 city-run centres to the non-profit sector. Councillors amended the item, requesting the city manager conduct an analysis of all the benefits of city-run centres with a view of getting the most out of public funding, while maintaining required staffing and programs. The auditor general had originally recommended the city manager examine alternatives to city-run child care centres, according to the report. Both reports will be considered by city council near the end of May. It was supposed to be a really big year for Chul Min Eddie Kang and his wife, So Min Kim. We promised each other we were going to open a restaurant and we were planning to have a baby, maybe, Kim said. Everything was there. But their plans, years in the making, were derailed permanently when a white van mounted the sidewalks of Yonge St., killing Kang and leaving his wife of 14 years a widow. Read more: The day Yonge St. became a war zone: How the van rampage unfolded moment by moment Van rampage suspect Alek Minassian faces three new counts of attempted murder He will answer to me, says Yonge St. van rampage victim from her hospital bed Ten people died and 16 were injured when driver mowed down pedestrians on Yonge St. between Finch and Shepphard Aves. last month. Alek Minassian, who appeared in court Thursday morning, is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. In the weeks since the rampage, Kim has had to cover immediate expenses flights for family members living abroad and a funeral while coping with the loss of her husband, who had brought in the bulk of the family income. Sandra Train, an associate at Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP in Toronto, has been retained to help Kim navigate the aftermath of the van rampage. Train set up a GoFundMe on Thursday to help Kim offset costs that have accumulated since her husbands death. Shes having issues now, like Where am I going to get money for anything? Train said. Kim was hesitant to set up a fundraiser, but Train told her that it was a more immediate solution to her financial woes than waiting for other funds to be fully disbursed. Train said the couple did not have insurance. The distribution details of the first $500,000 of the $2.8 million raised by the Toronto Strong fund were announced last week. Victims will receive up to $15,000 for each of the 10 funerals, up to $10,000 for travel and accommodation for each family, up to $200 a week for food, parking and taxis, $500 for clothing and $200 for cellphone costs for international families. Kim says she has received $5,000 toward Kangs funeral and $800 toward food and cell phone service. Right now, everything is kind of pending, Kim said. Andrea Martinelli, a city of Toronto spokesperson said, We recognize the extreme hardships faced by Mrs. Kang and all the families of those killed and injured on April 23. Our hearts go out to all those affected. We are committed to working in partnership with Victim Services Toronto to ensure that these families receive the philanthropic support available through the #TorontoStrong Fund as quickly as possible. The $5,000 commitment toward Kangs funeral may be associated with the Attorney Generals Victim Quick Response Program, which is one of the established supports in place for individuals and families impacted by events of this nature, Martinelli said. Each family has been assigned a case worker who is working with them to manage the distribution of these funds, Martinelli said. That case worker is available to provide Mr. Kang's family and all affected families with assistance and clarification on fund distribution. Train said her client has been in touch with a victim services case worker. While there are a number of individual fundraisers for victims and their families, Martinelli said the city and Toronto Foundation have no role in how those accounts are created or distributed. Victim Services Toronto was unable to comment about individual clients due to our obligations to maintain confidentiality, executive director Bonnie Levine said in an email. Victim Services Toronto is expending the first portion of the money from The Toronto Foundation #TorontoStrong Fund to pay for direct costs of funerals or repatriation up to a maximum of $15,000 per funeral or repatriation for the deceased, Levine said. The exact cost of the funeral is being paid directly to the funeral home. Kim was in South Korea when she learned of the incident that took her husbands life. My friend, she linked a Toronto Star article, Kim recalled. And she said, you call me now. Immediate details of Kangs condition were unclear because he had no next of kin in Toronto. We were not sure whether he was injured or seriously injured or dead. For me, death was not an option. So I said, Okay, Im going to fly back and (check) whether hes okay or not. I was so devastated. Kim took the first flight possible back to Canada, arriving in Toronto on the Thursday after the Monday attack. I thought that this is my tragedy, it has nothing to do with society, because everybody has a death, of course its a big deal. But amazingly, everybody tried to help me out. Kangs funeral last Friday was attended by 80 people. It cost $16,000.Some family members living in Korea could not attend because of finances, Train said. I felt very warm, because everybody shared memories together, Kim said. One memory that stands out in Kims mind was her snowy, January birthday. Kang put on his jacket and boots to go outside in the wind and snow, and Kim protested Where are you going? Its my birthday I was ready to fight, she said with a laugh. Kang returned with a huge cake, a rainbow cake. It was a 45-minute walk to the store since streetcars were down in the inclement weather. It was his plan, Kim said with a smile. He wanted to surprise me. Xiaolong An and Ji-Hoon Kim were meeting on Yonge St. to work on a presentation together. The pair of Seneca College students wandered into a local Starbucks, but couldnt find seats to work. So they went to cross the road to find somewhere else to stay. Thats when a white van came barrelling down the street, knocking them both to the ground. Kim wouldnt survive the crash and, on Thursday, Ans name was added to the list of attempted murder victims in the charges against alleged driver Alek Minassian. The attempted murders of Dina Risin and Hyeon Moon were also added Thursday to the charges Minassian faces in court, bringing the total charges to 16 counts of attempted murder and 10 counts of first-degree murder. An injured his arm in the fall, but the damage was minor. For Kim, it was a different story. An stood up to find her lying on the ground in front of him. I called 911, he told the Star. It took about 10 minutes for the first police car to arrive, he estimated. Then more police cars arrived, followed by paramedics, and they began rushing victims to hospital. They started doing CPR on Kim, trying to save her life. But it was useless, he said. She died. Seneca sent cars to take its students to campus after the attack. An said that when they arrived, he went in to talk to the colleges president, who called Kims father overseas. Three days later, he made his formal statement to the police. Since the tragedy, An feels anxiety bubbling up seeing cars behind him on the streets. He found it troubling to watch the crash scenes in the newest Avengers film. Despite the charge against Minassian of Ans attempted murder, An says he doesnt plan to attend any of the accuseds court appearances. It isnt necessary for me, he said. Minassian, 25, appeared in 1000 Finch West court Thursday via video link, represented by lawyers Boris Bytensky and Breese Davies. This isnt a time to discuss Mr. Minassian, Bytensky told a pack of reporters outside court. This is still a grieving period for the city. We have many victims of this offence. There are many families that are grieving for those lives lost. Our thoughts, and the Minassian familys thoughts, are with them and wed like to keep the focus on making sure the focus is in the right place. Bytensky said the charges have been devastating for his clients family, but they stand behind their son. Theyre very respectful of the court process. Those who died in last months attack ranged in age from 22 to 94, and included a student from South Korea and a man from Jordan. Eight people injured in the attack remain either in hospital or a rehabilitative facility, Bott said Thursday. Saron Gebressellassi, a lawyer helping out many of those injured, was at Minassians court appearance. The families want to know whats going on here, Gebressellassi said. But their priorities are elsewhere, so Im going to let them know. She went to Sunnybrook Hospital on the day of the attack to help the victims, and said questions from them and their families go far beyond medical concerns. I would be getting so many questions from people about how to pay the mortgage, how do we pay the rent, she said. Thats what people dont see come the first of the month, the rent is due. Gebressellassi said shes gotten close to Amaresh Tesfamariam, an Eritrean-Canadian who has no immediate family in Toronto, but whose family is travelling in and out of the United States to be by her bedside. Shes still in the ICU, Gebressellassi said. The family is praying for the best. Its very, very serious. Like dogs chasing their tails, politicians make a futile game of transit planning in Toronto. Its not an exaggeration. Doug Fords transit policy announcement this week takes us back to the future a kind of merry-go-round in which we lose time, money, and have the sense of optimism spun out of us by a succession of politically-motivated decisions. Fords transit policy will cost us the same: time, money and our sense of optimism. Ford promises that, as Premier, he would take over responsibility for subway construction and maintenance in Toronto. Commuters should be rejoicing. Queens Park should be paying for this. Its the rest of his transit policy that raises concern. In isolation, Fords pronouncements and claims have resonance with many transit users. As often is the case with his ideas, holes appear after scrutiny. Ford would: Complete the Sheppard Subway as originally planned, from Don Mills out to the Scarborough Town Centre. This would abort current plans to construct an LRT line from the Don Mills subway terminus, eastward, as far as the Toronto zoo area. A reasonable analysis of this might conclude that todays Sheppard Subway is under-performing. For it to have any chance of breaking even, it has to connect to the Scarborough City Centre, as originally designed. But the numbers also suggest that, even with a full extension, the original plan, ridership numbers will never justify a subway along Sheppard in our kids lifetime. Instead of killing Sheppard as a subway, former Conservative Premier Mike Harris mortally wounded it by approving what is now known as the Sheppard Stub-way. Ford plans to beat the dead horse. Extend the Bloor-Danforth subway line from Kennedy, both using three stops, to link with the Sheppard subway somewhere around McCowan Rd., and also closing the loop. The current plan, amended and gerrymandered and manipulated to appear feasible, is a one-stop extension from Kennedy to the Town Centre at 401 and McCowan. Even that is an over-build. Ford would widen the pit and pour in more tax dollars, money he plans to cut from valuable services. Analysis suggest this is Exhibit A in the dictionary of how not to plan and deliver transit. Every step taken so far is demonstrably wrong. The gap between Kennedy and the Scarborough City Center is now served by the Scarborough RT, an intermediate-capacity system thats been allowed to atrophy to the point of rendering it unlovable. All the TTC had to do was retrofit and update the RT (it opened in 1985) and we would have a modern, functional line similar to the ones in Vancouver, which use the same system. Instead, city council opted for a LRT system, under Mayor David Miller, fully funded by the province. Millers successor Rob Ford bellowed that LRT is the worst thing on the planet. Before you know it, city council passed a 30-year property tax to pay for something that was already paid for by the province. Subway was now cemented in the peoples mind. But that wasnt all. Enter John Tory and his own plans for transit, plans hatched during a mayoralty campaign. Lets use existing GO tracks and put in Smart Track, faster and cheaper than the TTC can provide. City planners observed the obvious: placing Smart Track right beside a subway is an overbuild on top of an overbuild. Both lines would cannibalize each other. In a decision worthy of Solomon, chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat found a political solution: reduce the number of Smart Track stations and reduce the number of subway stops. The one-stop subway was born, with a pricetag now pushing north of $4 billion. Unfazed, Doug Ford, is looking to deliver what his brother wanted. The three-stop subway is back. And what that means for Smart Track stop at Lawrence is a question Tory wants to avoid. Exhausted? There is more. Bury the Eglinton Crosstown LRT underground, where feasible. Current plans would see phase 2 of the Crosstown operate on the surface for 11 kilometres west of Black Creek Dr. and 12 kilometres east of Kennedy. Putting the LRT underground would respect drivers and respect neighbourhoods, says Ford. Huh? Support Yonge subway extension up to Richmond Hill, and the construction of the downtown relief line, a project the TTC and the city says is a prerequisite for the northerly extension of the Yonge subway. Hip hip hooray! Who doesnt want any of those? But consider this: Ford is setting aside an extra $5 billion, when, as Councillor Josh Matlow has calculated, the projects total more than $30 billion and have funding for $9 billion. Ford is short $16 billion. Also, Ford has been silent about the surface LRT planned along Finch Ave. West, heading out to his riding. Its already burning up provincial money: more than $200 million and counting. Surely, not even a subway-mad politico would put a subway on Finch where a Bus Rapid Transit would suffice for another 30 years. Ford seemed to be speaking truth to himself when he said: Too many special interests are making even the simplest investments outrageously expensive. Read more about: Seven minutes. Its the time it takes to grab a coffee and find a park bench, or pause to catch up with a neighbour, or pay a lunch tab and head out into a sunny day. In seven minutes on April 23, a man driving a rented cargo van struck more than two dozen pedestrians on a north Toronto sidewalk, and left everyone asking why. That one broken human could destroy so many lives is a difficult thing to accept. As Toronto struggles to make sense of what happened, the killers motive has been the subject of much speculation. In the weeks since the Toronto van attack, Alek Minassian, the 25-year-old man now facing 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder, has been cast as a symbol of toxic masculinity, a disturbed individual attempting to exorcize private demons and a random loon. Read more: Van rampage suspect Alek Minassian faces three new counts of attempted murder Were not a violent group of people: Ex-classmate of Alek Minassian speaks out about autism He will answer to me, says Yonge St. van rampage victim from her hospital bed Was Minassian a true believer in the misogynist incel movement referenced in a screed posted to his Facebook account shortly before the van attack, or a vulnerable mind who fell under the influence of hateful online message boards? Or was he something else entirely? Minassian appeared in a north Toronto court by video link Thursday, wearing an orange jumpsuit. Tall and wan with buzzed hair and dark stubble, he stood blinking at the camera, arms at his sides. He said nothing. The charges against him have not been proven in court. His lawyer, Boris Bytensky, told reporters that it is too early to discuss a plea. This is an evolving portrait of Alek Minassian, a socially awkward software developer and failed military recruit who appeared to have health challenges, a knack for computer programming and few close friends. A man who, weeks ago, was finishing up a semester at college, and is now charged in Torontos worst mass murder in history an attack no one seemed to believe him capable of. The Minassian family lives in a two-storey red brick house on a tree-lined street in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, near sprawling green parks, well-ranked public schools and the David Dunlap Observatory. Vahe Minassian and Sona Minassian purchased the home on Elmsley Dr. two decades ago for $330,000, according to property records. Born on Nov. 3, 1992, Minassian grew up in the home with his parents and a brother, neighbours said. His father is a senior manager of software development at Rogers and an alumnus of the University of Toronto, according to his LinkedIn profile. Sona Minassian is on leave from her job at Compugen, an IT service provider, for obvious reasons, a company spokesperson told Metroland Media. Neighbours said the Minassians kept to themselves, but that their private nature wasnt unusual in a suburban middle-class neighbourhood of busy families. We are a very quiet, self-contained community, said Wesley Mack, 77, who lives nearby. People are busy with their lives. We see each other come and go, but we are not a block party kind of community. Though he doesnt know the family well, Mack observed that Minassian seemed to have trouble making eye contact on his solitary neighbourhood walks, and that he appeared to require extra care and attention from his parents. Mack said it was clear that Minassian had special needs. Its a family that has struggled with this situation for a long time, he said. I feel compassion for them, as I do for all who have suffered through this thing, Mack said. Im not isolating them and saying theyre hurting more than anyone else. Obviously theres tremendous hurt and suffering on the part of many people who were affected by this. As a parent, if I try to put myself in their shoes, thered be an immediate feeling of isolation, I would feel that people were condemning me as a parent for not being able to take care of this situation, to monitor this situation, if my child were involved in it, Mack said. The parents appeared to run into challenges trying to address their childs health issues. In 2009, the Richmond Hill Liberal quoted Sona Minassian speaking of a son who was living with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism that has since been reclassified as autism spectrum disorder. The mother said her son relied on Helpmate, a social service community program whose lack of funding at the time threatened to shutter it. My son would spend afternoons working with Helpmate, she said. They were sensitive to his needs. As a child, Minassian attended Sixteenth Avenue Public School, a few blocks from his home. Shannon Goel, 25, told the Star after the van attack that she remembered Minassian from her Grade 5 class as a child who was prone to tantrums and acting out. At Thornlea Secondary School, housed in a squat brick building south of Highway 407 in Thornhill, Minassian was in a special education class called learning strategies, according to students who knew him. High school classmates described Minassian as an awkward young man with notable physical tics who appeared to have special needs stemming from a disability. Some former classmates expressed surprise at the idea that Minassian could even operate a vehicle, let alone allegedly steer one that caused so much destruction. Will Cornish, 25, who attended Thornlea during Minassians time there, said he was shocked by what police were alleging. I was stunned, he said. I was like, how the f--- did he get a van? A, who would rent it to him? B, can he even drive? Based on what I knew about him, I didnt think he could drive. I assumed that he stole it. In high school, Minassian would fidget and twitch, tap his head, hug his arms around his body, meow like a cat, sometimes spit on himself and repeat the phrase, Im afraid of girls, Cornish and other classmates said. Hearing news reports describing his behaviour, some people with first-hand knowledge about autism said the tics sounded like self-regulating actions typical of the disorder. We call it stimming, said Kyle Echakowitz, 20, who was diagnosed with Aspergers but uses the term autistic. They are self-stimulating, self-regulatory behaviours that we do to basically manage internal noise, being overwhelmed by your own thoughts, sensory issues, touch, Echakowitz said. Echakowitz attended Thornlea at the same time as Minassian. He was in Grade 9 when Minassian was in Grade 12, but does not remember him. Echakowitz is worried about the negative image the van attack has cast on people with autism. Experts have stressed that people on the autism spectrum are no more likely to be violent than the general population. Toronto autism agencies were so concerned that the disorder would be unfairly connected to the van attack that they released a joint statement on April 27, cautioning against making the link without acknowledging that this is a rare and specific circumstance and that there are most likely multiple factors that led to such a heinous action. Individuals with autism are not violent, but there are rare exceptions, Dr. Kevin Stoddart, director of the Redpath Centre, said in the statement, which stressed that his clinical practice with people on the autism spectrum who become involved with the law reveals a lack of appropriate supports and failure to recognize an impending mental health crisis. Our mental health system is woefully inadequate to address the burgeoning needs of Canadians living with autism and mental illness, he said. The experts said this is especially true for people transitioning from high school or postsecondary education to the workforce. While some who knew Minassian in high school believed he had a severe social or mental disability, college classmates described him as a nervous yet bright student and a fast learner who had a knack for computer programming. Minassian graduated from Thornlea and began studying at Seneca College in North York, where he was a student for seven years, from 2011 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. Joseph Pham, a 25-year-old computer programming and analysis student at Seneca, sat beside Minassian in a course called parallel programming fundamentals, from January to April this year. The course curriculum includes a project that requires a group presentation. While initially working with a group, Minassian ended up presenting his project alone not due to group dynamics, as far as Pham was aware, but because some students ended up dropping the class. His speech was articulate, he presented at a good pace, he spoke really slow but he was articulate in what he was saying, Pham said. He didnt have any cue cards or anything. He knew what he was talking about. Pham got the impression that Minassian was comfortable with the material, but not with being the focus of attention. He said Minassian stared at the back of the room and didnt make eye contact. A recruiter who interviewed Minassian for a job in 2016 later described him as the best hire we never hired, Metroland Media reported after the attack. The recruiter was impressed with Minassians technical knowledge and skills. Metroland obtained a 2017 copy of Minassians resume, which said he studied software development at Seneca. Minassian listed volunteer work that included tree planting, food bank and sorting and filing client applications at Helpmate. Minassian held several jobs as a quality assurance developer, a software developer working on a wine shopping application and a co-op student employed in the IT department at the Ontario municipal employees pension plan, the resume said. In 2016, he worked for five months at Toogood Financial Systems in Thornhill, but was let go, the companys chief operating officer told Metroland. Soon after, Minassian signed up for the military. The Department of National Defence confirmed he was a Canadian Armed Forces recruit between August and October last year. To become a recruit, he would have had to successfully complete online applications, aptitude testing, a medical examination and an interview. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said after the attack that no red flags were raised during his recruitment. Minassian struggled during basic training at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and quit after 16 days. He wasnt very good at taking direction, fellow recruit Andrew Summerfield told CBC News. There was a lot of disciplinary action put towards Alek because he wouldnt understand something and theyd want him to do it, and then he wouldnt do it right. Summerfield said it appeared Minassian had some sort of condition, but never shared what it was with members of their platoon. In military training, you have to adapt to a different way of being and for good reason, a defence department source told the Star. It wasnt for him. Minassian returned to college. One of the students who worked briefly on the group presentation with Minassian last semester before dropping the class said Minassian was super-nervous all the time, but extremely bright. Working with him was very cordial and businesslike, the student said. He understood how to be a responsible group member. The student, who did not want their name associated with Minassian, said that on April 19, a few days before the attack, Minassian sent a message to former group members on a chat app. The student shared a screen capture of the message attributed to Minassian. The Star could not independently verify that he sent it. Finally finished college, the message said. F--- you all and good riddance. When the seven-minute attack on Yonge St. was over, the man who exited the white van said he wanted to die. Kill me, he shouted to Toronto police Const. Ken Lam, their encounter captured in a video recorded by a witness. The suspects behaviour would feed speculation about his health. He held his arms out as if he had a weapon, but Lam did not shoot. The suspect brought his hand to his hip pocket, then snapped his arm back out like he was pulling a gun. Get down, Lam said. I have a gun in my pocket, the suspect shouted. Shoot me in the head. The cop called his bluff and the suspect surrendered. Police later said a cellphone was seized after the arrest. As news of the attack spread and Minassian was publicly identified as the suspect, reporters unearthed a disturbing message posted to his Facebook page around the time of the attack: Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger! Incels are an online subculture of men who are involuntarily celibate and frustrated by their inability to find romantic relationships or sex. In their world, Chads and Stacys are people who have no issues finding sexual partners. Some incels idolize Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old California man who killed six people and himself in 2014 after recording a YouTube video vowing revenge against humanity, especially the women who rejected him. Eight women and two men were killed in the van attack. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 94. Police said they are reviewing video footage to determine whether the van was steered intentionally toward women. Investigators have not released information about an alleged motive. Many questions remain unanswered. A Facebook spokesperson verified the post as authentic. Toronto police could not confirm whether Minassian wrote it, but a military source told the Star that the number cited C23249161 was his military service number. Police said they are investigating all aspects of his online activity. People who call themselves incels feel despair, depression, frustration and a loss of confidence when they fail to have successful sexual relationships, researchers from Georgia State University concluded in a 2001 study of members of an online incel community the majority of whom were young, white and male. Since the study, which looked at an early and somewhat more innocent community of incels, the movement has grown with internet availability and the popularity of social media, and has become increasingly extreme and hateful. After the attack, a user on one forum popular with incels Incels.me changed his avatar to a picture of Minassian and wrote: The incel revolution has begun. A forum administrator later wrote a message saying that Minassian has never posted on Incels.me and as far as we are concerned, no one on the forum heard of him before these latest news. The administrator said being an incel has no relation to violence or misogyny, but the dark corners of the internet where incels gather are full of hateful messages and threats of violence toward women. Dr. Jessica Jones, a professor of psychiatry at Queens University who specializes in autism spectrum disorders, said that while people on the spectrum are no more likely to commit violent crimes than anyone else, they are, generally, more vulnerable to influence. They tend to have trouble interpreting the intent of others in conversation, along with a black-and-white thinking style that leads them to struggle with the conflicting messages we receive in day-to-day life, Jones said. This difficulty with social navigation and reading others especially when we tend to say one thing, do another and mean something else can influence individuals with ASD to seek out others who are less ambiguous in their social communication, either positive or negative, she said. Susceptible to isolation and social withdrawal, people with autism sometimes gravitate to the internet for a way of connecting to others without the confusion of our social puzzle in the real world, Jones said. Unfortunately, they can also be exploited for their vulnerability in not reading the true motivation of their audience. Dr. Michael Seto, director of forensic mental health research at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, said that in the aftermath of devastating and high-profile acts of violence he is often asked to comment on what might be going on inside the mind of a killer. Seto did not want to speculate on Minassian, but spoke generally about why he believes the public turns to mental illness in the wake of unfathomable acts of violence. My sense is that mental illness kind of quickly becomes on the plate as a possible explanation because the behaviour seems so bizarre or irrational that people think there cant be any rational explanation for it, Seto said. A rational explanation would be anger, jealousy money those are explanations people can get their heads around. When people with serious mental illness do commit violent crimes, they tend to make the news, Seto said. People remember those stories, Seto said, and so they think there is a strong link between mental illness and serious violence, which is not true. The Royal Ottawas research with the National Trajectory Project on mentally disordered offenders has found that serious violence is rare, Seto said. But it makes the news because its so horrifying its hard to turn your attention away from it. Even if someone does have a mental illness, it doesnt automatically mean the mental illness explains the violence. Its fair to wonder about an accused persons mental state, he said, but not to jump to conclusions. Outside the north Toronto courthouse where Minassian appeared by video link Thursday, his lawyer spoke to reporters but would not discuss his clients state of mind. Theres been speculation about all sorts of things in the media and I dont wish to either lend credence or dispute or refute any of those things, Bytensky said. It will come out in the courtroom. Bytensky, who is representing Minassian with co-counsel Breese Davies, would not discuss Minassians feelings toward women, or whether he will have a mental health fitness assessment. Asked about how Minassian and his parents are holding up, Bytensky said this is not the time to talk about them. This is still a grieving period for the city, he said. We have many victims of this offence, there are many families that are grieving for those lives lost. Our thoughts, and the Minassian familys thoughts, are with them, and wed like to keep the focus in the right place. Minassians parents have not spoken publicly. The morning after the attack, his father sat among a throng of reporters in court, wearing a black sweater and a pained expression. He sat in silence during the proceedings, and went largely unnoticed by the 50 or more local and international journalists whod come to see his son. He watched his son enter the courtroom wearing a white jumpsuit, hands cuffed behind his back. Alek Minassian spoke to give his name, delivering it quickly, as if in a military training exercise. Asked if he understood the court order barring him from having contact with the injured victims, he replied with a sharp yes. Afterward, four Toronto police officers escorted the grey-haired father out of the courthouse, creating a circle around him as a pack of TV cameras and reporters pressed close, the questions coming from all sides. Do you have anything to say to the people of Toronto? one reporter asked. Sir, do you have anything to say to the people of Toronto about your son? The father inched toward his car, the cameras following during his slow march through the parking lot. His every breath and movement seemed to take great effort. An ABC News reporter from New York peppered him with questions, Is your son sick, sir? Is your son mentally ill? Is there anything you would like to say to the victims? You were crying in court, sir. Can you at least tell us what youre feeling right now please? Another reporter asked, Why do you think this happened? The father got in his car and drove away, looking utterly destroyed. While it is impossible to know what Minassians parents are feeling, Peter Rodger, the father of 22-year-old California mass killer Elliot Rodger, has described his experience as a reverse nightmare situation. When you go to sleep normally, you have a nightmare and you wake up and oh, everything is OK, Peter Rodger said in a 2014 interview with Barbara Walters. Now I go to sleep, I might have a nice dream, and then I wake up and slowly the truth of what happened dawns on me. And that is that my son was a mass murderer. Rodger said he had no idea his son was capable of murder. This is the American horror story, or the worlds horror story ... when you have somebody who on the outside is one thing and on the inside is something completely different, and you dont see it. When the Supreme Court said trial judges should do their part to reduce delay in the justice system, it wasnt suggesting what Justice Richard Blouin did in a 2017 criminal case, an appeal court has ruled. Blouin, a provincial court judge in Toronto, cut the case short and acquitted the accused after hearing from the Crowns only witness, but before the defence was able to call its evidence, and before either side could make closing submissions. There is a provision in there talking about preventing delay, Blouin said in his October 2017 ruling, referring to a Supreme Court decision in R v. Cody. And I just wanted to speak to that because Im not going to ask the defence to call any evidence because in my view the Crown is not anywhere near proving his case beyond a reasonable doubt ... The Crown appealed the acquittal, and Superior Court Justice Suhail Akhtar ordered a new trial in a decision released this month. Whatever the ramifications of Cody and its comments encouraging judges to control and manage a trial, the Supreme Court of Canada did not sanction the elimination of one of the fundamental tenets of a criminal trial: the right of a party to make submissions on the guilt or innocence of an accused person, Akhtar said. What happened here was a serious violation of natural justice and the appeal must be allowed on this ground alone. The case involved a Toronto man, Brian Sibbert, who was charged with failure to comply with a probation order for allegedly contacting his neighbour, whom he had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting. The woman was the Crowns sole witness. Even the accused, who is now facing a second trial, agrees that Blouin made a mistake. The judge erred, therefore the Crown appeal should stand and I agree with that ruling, Sibbert told the Star. It wasnt a murder case. Its a monumental waste of time and money for the court, and a waste of my time and my money. After the Crown had filed its final exhibit, and after the defence confirmed that it intended to call Sibbert as a witness, Blouin spoke about the new approach in these courts. And we are asked to do things a little differently and expedite the process and try to come to some decisions without full-blown hearings, he said. He cited the Cody decision, which reiterates much of what the Supreme Court said in its landmark R v. Jordan decision in 2016. That ruling set strict timelines to complete criminal cases 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in Superior Court and said trial judges should make reasonable efforts to control and manage the conduct of trials. Blouin then dismissed the case against Sibbert over concerns with the Crown witnesss reliability, but without hearing submissions from either side. And again we could have gone through this charade and it would have been, in my view the defendant would have testified, and (the Crown) would have cross-examined based on a number of issues that would come up, and we could have spent another hour dealing with this matter, Blouin said. He ended by saying: And we need to be spending our time doing things that really matter ... Akhtar, the appeal court judge, took issue with much of what Blouin said in acquitting Sibbert, finding the judge had a reasonable apprehension of bias as his comments strongly suggest that he had prejudged the matter. He said Blouins comments also reflect a serious misunderstanding of the principles enunciated in the Cody decision. By commenting on trial judges managing trials, the Supreme Court was referring to the streamlining of motions and applications before and during the trial to avoid delay, Akhtar said. The paragraph relied upon by the trial judge and the sentence he emphasized hardly signalled a system by which a trial judge could short circuit a trial even though there was further evidence to be called, and submissions to be made, simply because he or she thought they had heard enough, Akhtar wrote. Toronto lawyer Megan Savard, who represented the Criminal Lawyers Association as an intervener in the Cody case before the Supreme Court, said there are many things judges can do to reduce delays, including imposing deadlines on themselves to make decisions, appointing lawyers to act for unrepresented accused persons, and setting timelines and working with the parties to narrow the issues. It is tempting to try to solve the delay problem by taking procedural fairness guarantees away from defendants. This case is a cautionary tale, Savard said. It illustrates the problem that arises when the courts pursue speedy justice at the expense of defendants rights. Here, the trial judges intervention made the trial more efficient but at an unacceptable cost: it undermined the defendants right to be heard. KAPUSKASING, ONT.The heart of la francophonie in small town northern Ontario is beating a little faster these days as a newly minted riding gets set to elect its first representative to the legislature. The creation of MushkegowukJames Bay has opened another door to the halls of power for Franco-Ontarians, one of the provinces oldest, largest and proudest minorities, while long-simmering resentment over the priorities of a distant Liberal government in the south has given Progressive Conservatives a new sense of mission in an otherwise heavily NDP region. At a hair salon in Kapuskasing, Kimberly Kostecky, 58, launches into a full-throated tirade against the cost of electricity she blames on the Liberals. Its astronomical what we pay for hydro. We live in an area that gets extremely cold, and when were struggling to pay our hydro bill and we hear that the CEO (of Hydro One) is making $6.2 million on our backs, thats ludicrous, Kostecky said. So when I hear (Tory Leader) Doug Ford say hell get rid of him and his other cronies, thats a point. Im not a real Ford fan, but that did catch my ear. Next door at the barber shop, not far from the working paper mill thats testament to the importance of forestry to the region, Claude Joncas, 70, makes it clear hes fed up with the status quo although hes not sure how that might translate come election day on June 7. Were all NDPs here. Me, Im not too much in favour of that anymore because we need a change. (But) it never changes, nothing happens, nobody cares about us anyway, Joncas said. All we hear is Toronto, Toronto. People are fed up with that. In his floor and carpet store in the centre of Kapuskasing, Gilles Aubertin, 53, says its high time the riding had a politician who sits on the government benches. The main problem weve had in the north is that weve never matched the government (and) were not getting as much as we should, Aubertin said. If we were to elect a Conservative, Im thinking that we would be a lot better off. That kind of talk is music to the ears of Andre Robichaud, 35, the Tory candidate hoping to capitalize on the winds of change polls suggest are blowing across much of the province. The new riding, he says, is a great opportunity. It gives northern Ontario another seat at Queens Park, said Robichaud, whose background is in economic development. It also gives us francophones another voice at Queens Park. Although carved from a bigger riding, the new MushkegowukJames Bay is still vast, about twice the area of the Maritimes, stretching 600 kilometres north to Hudson Bay. Its population numbers 30,000, roughly 60 per cent francophone and 27 per cent Indigenous. Therein lies a conundrum. Several hundred kilometres northeast of Kapuskasing on James Bay, smaller but politically vocal Indigenous communities such as Attawapiskat, Fort Albany and Moosonee had counted on the riding strengthening their voices. Instead, to their chagrin, the political centre of gravity shifted from the urban, southern end of the old riding to a point slightly less south. Its a missed opportunity for our people, for our region, Jonathan Solomon, grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, said when the new riding was announced in October. What chances are there for a First Nation to be at the legislature when First Nations people (are) a minority? An hour west of Kapuskasing, Gaetan Baillargeon, a neophyte politician, is hoping to answer that question in a positive way. Originally from Constance Lake First Nation in the ridings southwest, Baillargeon also counts himself as a proud Franco-Ontarian despite being raised anglophone. The new riding created a lot of buzz, spurring the business manager of a forestry operation to run for the Liberals a party long shut out of the region but which has been good for Indigenous people and francophones, he says. The big issue is understanding each other, Baillargeon said over coffee in a motel diner in Hearst, where he now lives. If we try to come together we can both help each other. Read more: Here are the four candidates wanting to be Ontarios next premier, and what theyre promising Is Doug Ford giving the media enough access? Wynne touts hiring of 3,500 new nurses and warns electing Ford means health-care cuts But Baillargeon is running in a riding where anti-Liberal sentiment is often visceral and perhaps surprisingly from a southern viewpoint where Conservative and New Democrat thinking converge on key issues. Both parties, for example, rail at what they see as misguided environmental policies from the south that put industry in the resource-dependent area at risk. We are environmentalists. Its our own backyard and we take care of our forests. Its our survival up here, NDP candidate Guy Bourgouin said as he leaned forward in his office chair. A mill closes: It doesnt affect just the workers, it affects the whole community. Some of these communities are single-industry towns. A Metis from northern Ontario, the old-school union leader says the region is ticking along economically just fine. Still, he hopes the added voice of the new riding will lead to improved roads, a re-established Northlander train system, and better availability of services especially educational in French. Even though Canada is supposed to be a bilingual country, were still fighting for our rights as francophones to maintain our language and hopefully our culture, Bourgouin said. Where New Democrats and Conservatives part ways, however, is over the larger ideological issues related to size of government, taxes and deficits. We definitely want more services. Theyre looking at cutting in social services. Theyre looking at cutting in education, Bourgouin said. Their solution to everything is no different from what (U.S. President Donald) Trump is doing in the U.S: Give big tax cuts, and were saying, No, this is not the way to go. In Kapuskasing, Mayor Alan Spacek says antipathy over Liberal policies and their treatment of northern Ontario has reached a boiling point. Like Bourgouin, he cites environmental plans, including an attempt at protecting woodland caribou that would have devastated the regional economy. Today its caribou. Tomorrow it could be a bird or a fly or some other mammal, Spacek said. We have become very insulted at the implication or suggestion that we arent stewards of our own backyard. Spacek cites other evergreen issues: the price of electricity and gasoline, the red tape that makes mine development in the potentially bonanza-ripe region a long and iffy proposition. While the New Democrats pose no threat to northern livelihoods and lifestyle, Spacek said, the Conservatives under Ford have a good crack in a region that has long forgotten the party. He is not sympathetic to the environmental bias. He is very much in favour of the working person. We are mostly blue-collar people. Hes talking about lowering energy costs, Spacek said. Hes very easy to speak with. He genuinely listens. In her daughters Kapuskasing store that sells yoga clothes and New Age paraphernalia, Lise Lallier, 60, a retired nurse and longtime Liberal, says none of the parties inspire her. They havent carried out their promises, she said, adding shes almost tempted to vote Green just to make a point. Lallier, however, says she does understand Indigenous disappointment at how the new riding shaped up. It reminds me of what francophones had to go through. We had to fight for our rights. Now were seeing the same thing happening with Indigenous people, Lallier said. I dont blame them for not trusting the government. David Tabachnick, a political science professor at Nipissing University, pours water on all the talk of stronger northern voices francophone or Indigenous resulting from the creation of MushkegowukJames Bay and the First Nation-dominated Kiiwetinoong to its west. The (Toronto area) got 15 new ridings, Tabachnick said. The relative power of the north has declined all the more. Theres something disingenuous maybe about it. In an earlier version of this story, The Canadian Press carried an incorrect spelling for the last name of David Tabachnick, a political science professor at Nipissing University. It also erroneously reported that NDP candidate Guy Bourgouin was originally from Quebec, when in fact he is from northern Ontario. Read more about: PC Leader Doug Ford has shifted his aim to the New Democrats in the June 7 election campaign, raising the bogeyman of an Ontario NDP government voted out of power 23 years ago and charging todays party is home to anti-business radical activists. The blistering attack came at a news conference Friday an hour before Ford, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath took the stage in Parry Sound for a debate on northern Ontario issues. Everyone remembers the dreaded NDP years, destroyed the province, raised taxes, literally destroyed the economy. We dont want that to happen again, Ford said of the government led by Bob Rae from 1990-95. Read more: Here are the four candidates wanting to be Ontarios next premier, and what theyre promising New northern Ontario riding buoys francophones who are still fighting for their rights Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Why this Ontario election campaign matters and is so maddening The New Democrats took power as a debilitating recession took hold, and were defeated by the PCs under Mike Harris on a campaign that promised tax cuts, welfare cuts and less government spending. Ford, who is hoping to improve his partys fortunes in the north where the Liberals and NDP hold the majority of seats, accused Horwath of leading a party dominated by special interests that want to curb mining and other resource-based industries to protect the environment, hurting job prospects. It is clear there are two different NDPs, he insisted, singling out NDP candidate Ramsey Hart in the eastern Ontario riding of Lanark-Frontenac and Kingston as an anti-mining activist. Hes an extremist environmentalist, said Ford, who spent the first week of the campaign attacking the Liberal record. As the debate began, Horwath said Hart is now a food bank director and dismissed Fords assertions that the New Democrats would be bad for the resource sector and much-needed jobs. She accused Ford of taking an outdated approach in which industries do not have to be environmentally sustainable. Thats where the industry is....and rightfully so, Horwath shot back. Earlier, at a news conference in Toronto, Liberal MPP Steven Del Duca said Fords Conservatives have been making up alternative facts to denigrate Ontarios economic performance under Wynnes government, saying the provincial unemployment rate is at is lowest level in many years. Read more about: PARRY SOUND, ONT.Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford says the province should be taking care of our own first before bringing more immigrants to sparsely populated northern Ontario. In the second leaders debate of the June 7 election campaign, Ford said Friday he had concerns about replicating a federal pilot project under way in Atlantic Canada to attract newcomers to remote parts of Ontario. Id be more than happy to sit down and talk to the folks and look at a pilot project. But number one Im a pretty generous guy Im taking care of our own first, he told delegates to the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference here. Read more: Opinion | Rosie DiManno: A grieving mothers letter to Doug Ford Opinion | Shree Paradkar: Among Doug Fords PCs, yet another candidate with bigoted views emerges Anybody-but-Ford movement is percolating as June 7 election nears: poll Once we take care of our own and we exhaust, we exhaust, every single avenue and we dont have anyone that can fulfill the job then Id be open to that, he said. Both Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath expressed astonishment afterward. I have to say I took a pretty sharp intake of breath at that point, I have to admit, said Wynne. That was a pretty shocking comment to hear from the leader of a major provincial party. We live in one Ontario, she said, adding she was prepared to discuss with Ottawa such a program to bring people to the north. To have Doug Ford say that theres one province thats for one kind of Ontarian and theres another province for another kind of Ontarian that just is the opposite of how I see this strong, vibrant, diverse society that we have built here. Horwath, who also backs such an initiative, told reporters it seemed that Ford missed the point of the question. The point of the question was that these northern municipalities need more population, said the NDP leader. Theyre opening their communities to immigration and they want the provincial government to step up to the plate and negotiate these kinds of agreements with the federal government to get those kinds of skills and newcomers to come north. Ford, who had held a press conference earlier in the day, skipped the post-debate scrums done by the other leaders. The debate marked a tactical change from the Tory, who leads in every public-opinion poll, but has focused his attacks on the Liberals, ignoring the New Democrats. On Friday, he dismissed Horwath and Wynne as the same, then escalated the populist rhetoric. In Muskoka, Ford took aim at downtown Toronto elites and extremists, the environmentalists that support his two rivals. The scion of a wealthy family and a former Toronto councillor whose late brother was the citys mayor said he alone will fight for the little guy. Both of them think they are smarter than everyone else and the people in downtown Toronto dictate to the rest of the province, the Tory leader said. Ill tell you one thing Im not going to have a bunch of extremists in downtown Toronto deciding what people in the north are going to do, he said, referring to those who oppose mining projects, including Kingston-area NDP candidate Ramsey Hart, who has protested mines. Wynne countered that its important to strike a balance to promote mining that is good for the economy while working with Indigenous communities and those concerned about environmental impacts. Horwath said it was clear Ford is a little out of touch with the mining industry these days. She also bristled at his suggestion that Hart was a radical. Well first and foremost, the candidate hes referring to actually is the executive director of a food bank and I hardly find that a radical activity, said Horwath. When pressed on Hart, she stressed the party vets candidates, not her. Theres no doubt that people get passionate about issues like mining and the impact on the environment, she said. And its because of those folks, frankly, that we now have a mining sector thats much more aware of the impact it has on our environment ... they operate in a much more sustainable fashion. Horwath, daughter of an autoworker, scoffed at the notion she was an elite. Im a Hamilton elite, come on, everybody knows that. At the end of the debate there was a moment Horwath dubbed as awkward. Ford said to Wynne as he was shaking her hand that I still like that smile, reprising his comment about her from Mondays CityNews debate. I just turned away because Im not sure what my smile has to got do with making good policy for the north or anywhere else in the province, she said later. The third and final leaders' debate is May 27 at the CBC Broadcasting Centre. Read more about: HUNTINGDON, PA.A 114-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was the oldest person in the United States has died, according to a funeral home. The Robert D Heath Funeral Home in Mount Union said that Delphine Gibson died Wednesday. Lessie Brown, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 113, is now believed to be the oldest American, according to the Gerontology Research Group in Sandy Springs, Ga. Read more: Worlds oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117 Gibson, who had been living at a Huntingdon nursing home since 2004, when she was 100, attributed her long life to good food, her faith in God and her church. Frances and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Delphine Gibson, Americas oldest citizen, said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. She was an incredible Pennsylvanian and she will be missed. Although she was blind and deaf near the end of her life, she still enjoyed singing and humming songs like Amazing Grace, nursing home unit manager Miranda Glover told WJAC-TV in February 2017. She took no medication except for a single vitamin a day, Glover said. She has an amazing spirit, Glover said. She always singing to us or sharing the gospel. She is a treasure to the nation. On her 112th birthday, Huntingdon Mayor Dee Dee Brown declared it Delphine Gibson Week in the borough. Kammi Plummer, admissions director at AristaCare at Huntingdon Park, where Gibson lived most recently, told the Altoona Mirror she informed Gibson when she became the oldest living American. She just kind of acted surprised and said, You dont say? Plummer said. We also told her she was she prettiest. She just said, I know that. Born Delphine Tucker on Aug. 17, 1903, in Ridgeway, S.C., she helped on her familys farm until she married Taylor Gibson in 1928. The couple lived for a time in North Carolina then moved to Mount Union to join a growing community of African-Americans who came up from the South to work in the areas now-historic brickyards. The couple had three children. Her husband worked at Harbison Walker Refractories for 20 years before retiring in 1962, according to his obituary. He died in 1980. She became the countrys oldest person following the February 2017 death of 114-year-old Adele Dunlap, of Flemington, N.J. Gibsons funeral will be Saturday at Mount Hope Baptist Church in Mount Union. AACHEN, GERMANY French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe on Thursday to unite and exert a self-confident European sovereignty in the face of an increasingly complex world and unilateral American moves on issues such as the Iran nuclear deal and climate change. Macron spoke after receiving the International Charlemagne Prize, an annual award for contributions to European unity given by the German city of Aachen. German Chancellor Angela Merkel honoured him in a speech praising Macrons efforts to reform France and his ambitions to reform the European Union. Addressing an audience that also included leaders from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Ukraine, Macron urged Europe to defend the global multilateral order, for the sake of the continents sovereignty. He said that Europe must make its own choices, rather than go along with those made by others. Read more: Irans top leader, lawmakers lash out at U.S. after Trump pulls out of nuclear deal Frances Macron calls Australian PM Turnbulls wife delicious Macron takes aim at Trump on climate change in speech to U.S. Congress: There is no Planet B We made the choice to build peace and stability in the Middle East, he said in an allusion to the involvement of France, Germany and Britain in the Iran deal, from which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. on Tuesday. Other powers, just as sovereign as us, have decided not to respect their own word, Macron added. Should we renounce our own choice? We must choose, speak with everybody to succeed in building our own sovereignty which, in this region, will be a guarantee of stability. Merkel acknowledged that Europe is still in its infancy when it comes to having a common foreign policy, which will be existentially necessary. It is no longer the case that the United States of America will simply protect us Europe must take its fate in its own hands, she said. France and Germany aim to agree on proposals for reforms of the EU by next month. Macrons ideas for deeper integration of the 19-nation eurozone have met with some suspicion in Germany, where many are wary of large-scale financial transfers to weaker members. Some in Germany say of France, those people arent serious, they havent carried out their reforms, acknowledged Macron, who was elected a year ago. But wake up: France has changed, it is no longer the same, and that is the choice of the French people. He said he wasnt afraid of saying that its right to change EU treaties and carry out reforms to reduce public spending, but in Germany, there cannot be a perpetual fetish for budget and trade surpluses, because they are always achieved at the expense of others. Let us not be afraid now of getting over our own taboos, our own habits, he said. Previous winners of the Charlemagne prize include former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Popes Francis and John Paul II, and Merkel herself. The Holy Roman emperor Charlemagne once ruled a swath of western Europe from Aachen. Read more about: SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.A man who prosecutors say was one of Californias most elusive serial killers was charged Thursday with four additional counts of murder, leaving him now facing a dozen murder charges across the state. Joseph James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer, was charged in connection with four slayings in 1979 and 1981 in Santa Barbara County, District Attorney Joyce Dudley said at a news conference Thursday. Authorities suspect DeAngelo killed Greg Sanchez and his girlfriend, Cheri Domingo, on July 27, 1981, inside a home near Goleta where Domingo had been house-sitting. Investigators said DNA from that crime scene was linked to other crimes they believe were committed by the so-called Golden State Killer. DeAngelo has also been charged with killing Robert Offerman, an orthopedic surgeon and Alexandria Manning, a psychologist, in their condominium in December 1979. DeAngelo now faces four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances in Santa Barbara, though it was unclear when he might appear in court there. He already has been charged with eight other murder counts in Sacramento, Ventura and Orange counties. Violent cold cases never grow cold for victims or their loved ones, Dudley said. In fact, most of them spend their lives feverishly seeking answers and desperately hoping for justice. Investigators suspect DeAngelo committed at least a dozen murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 80s. Prosecutors said they used DNA and a genealogical website to identify DeAngelo. He was arrested last month and remains jailed in Sacramento County. His attorney, Diane Howard, did not immediately respond Thursday to an email seeking comment. WASHINGTONThree days after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the telecom giant AT&T turned to his personal attorney Michael Cohen for help on a wide portfolio of issues pending before the federal government, including the companys proposed merger with Time Warner, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post. The internal documents reveal for the first time that Cohens $600,000 (U.S.) deal with AT&T specified that he would provide advice on the $85-billion merger, which required the approval of federal antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the merger during the campaign and his administration ultimately sided against AT&T. The Department of Justice filed suit in November to block the deal, a case that is still pending. Cohens deals with AT&T and other corporate clients were first revealed this week by an attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, but the new documents obtained by the Post offered greater detail about his arrangement with telecom company and the type of work he had been hired to perform. It is unclear what insight Cohen, a longtime real estate attorney and former taxi cab operator, could have provided AT&T on complex telecom matters. At the same time he was collecting $50,000 a month from AT&T, Cohen was being paid large sums to advise other companies on a broad variety of issues, including the Affordable Care Act, accounting practices and real estate. In the wake of Trumps election, corporate clients paid Cohen at least $2.95 million through a company called Essential Consultants, according to figures confirmed by the companies. Essential Consultants was the same company Cohen used in October 2016 to route money to Daniels in exchange for her agreement not to disclose an alleged affair with Trump. The corporate payments he received demonstrate how Cohen was able to turn his ties with the new president into money-making opportunities, despite Trumps campaign pledges to drain the swamp. AT&T and the pharmaceutical company Novartis, another Cohen client, said this week that they provided information about their dealings with Trumps lawyer to special counsel Robert Mueller last year. Cohen is also under investigation by prosecutors in New York for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. The $600,000 that flowed to Cohen from AT&T was the equivalent of 3.5 per cent of the $16.8 million the company spent on lobbying in 2017, according to disclosure forms. A scope of work describing Cohens contract in an internal AT&T document shows that he was hired to focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner. He was also directed to creatively address political and communications issues facing the company and advise the company on matters before the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T declined to comment on the documents, which were provided to the Post anonymously, but did not challenge their authenticity. Cohens lawyer, Stephen Ryan, declined to comment. Cohen did not respond to requests for comment. The internal AT&T documents show that Cohen was supposed to spend half of his time on legislative policy development and the other half on regulatory policy development. Payments to Cohen were approved by two executives in AT&Ts public affairs office in Washington. The documents specified that Cohen, who was not a registered lobbyist, was to spend none of his time engaged in lobbying. They described his work as advising the company, not contacting federal officials. Under federal rules, individuals must register as lobbyists if they spend 20 per cent of their time working for a client on legislative and executive branch issues and if they have had contact with at least two government officials related to that client, according to Larry Noble, a former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission and an expert on lobbying law. Cohens work for AT&T did not appear to meet that definition, Noble said. However, he noted that hiring the presidents lawyer could trigger ethical questions. It is an ethical concern if you have a lawyer who appears to be selling access to a current client, who is president, Noble said. Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Trump, said Wednesday that the president was unaware of Cohens consulting agreements. AT&T has declined to comment on the specific amount it paid to Essential Consultants. Under the one-year contract, the company has said, Cohen was hired to provide insights into understanding the new administration. In an internal email to employees obtained by the Post, AT&T said Cohen was among several consultants the company hired in early 2017 to help us understand how the president and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement. At the time the contract was signed, AT&T was trying to build ties to the new administration. Months earlier, Trump had come out strongly against the proposed merger with Time Warner, which owns CNN, a network he often berates as fake news. As an example of the power structure Im fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because its too much concentration of power in the hands of too few, Trump said during a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in October 2016. On Jan. 12, 2017, Cohen and AT&Ts chief executive, Randall Stephenson, were both seen visiting Trump Tower in New York, days before the contract with Essential Consultants was signed. But although the two men arrived within minutes of each other, they did not meet that day and have never met, AT&T said this week. At the time, AT&T said Stephenson had a very good meeting with Trump but that the Time Warner merger was not a topic of discussion. The conversation focused on how AT&T can work with the Trump administration to increase investment in the U.S., stimulate job creation in America, and make American companies more competitive globally, the company said. AT&T said in an internal email to employees on Wednesday that Cohen was one of several consultants it hired to get advice on the administrations approach on antitrust enforcement as well as a corporate tax overhaul and regulatory reform before the Federal Communications Commission. The commission chairman, Ajit Pai, said Thursday that the commission never heard from Cohen. No, Pai replied when asked at a news conference about any inquiries arranged by Cohen on possible changes to the commissions Obama administration requirements that internet services treat all web content equally. AT&T said in the internal email that it had cut ties in December with Cohens firm, Essential Consultants. Thats the same vehicle Cohen used to pay Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, $130,000 just before the election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter that she said she had with Trump a decade ago. In the wake of the revelation of Cohens link to AT&T, ranking Democrats on antitrust subcommittees in both the House and Senate sent a joint letter to the Justice Departments top competition enforcer, Makan Delrahim, asking whether he knew of the companys payments to Cohen during his agencys independent review of the Time Warner merger. The Justice Department declined to comment. According to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to describe ongoing litigation, Delrahim was not aware of AT&Ts payments to Cohen. Meanwhile, Novartis chief executive Vasant Narasimhan sent an email to employees Thursday calling the companys $1.2-million contract with Cohen a mistake and acknowledging that the revelation was not a good day for Novartis. We made a mistake in entering into this engagement and, as a consequence, are being criticized by a world that expects more from us, Narasimhan wrote. Narasimhan joined the company in 2005, but did not take the helm of the global drug giant until this February. I was not involved with any aspect of this situation, Narasimhan wrote to employees, adding that it had been a difficult day for himself and his family. With files from Bloomberg Read more about: JUNEAU, ALASKAAn Alaska jury on Friday convicted a former Arizona lawmaker of first-degree murder in the death of a man on a hunting and fishing trip in 2016. The jury in Juneau found Mark Desimone guilty in the death of Duilio Antonio Tony Rosales at a remote cabin site in southeast Alaska. Desimone sat stone-faced as the verdict was read following jury deliberations that started Thursday. Friends and family of Rosales held hands, hugged and cried. Rosales widow, Maria Gonzalez, left the room after the verdict was read. Her piercing wails could be heard inside the courtroom. The verdict came nearly two years to the day of the shooting. She told reporters the trial had been painful and forced her to relive the experience of losing Rosales. He didnt deserve to die like that, she said. A judge ordered Desimone held without bail pending sentencing. There is no death penalty in Alaska. Desimone resigned from the Arizona House in 2008, during his first term, after being arrested in a domestic dispute with his then-wife. That case was dropped when he agreed to counselling. Desimone had lived in Juneau in the 1980s and returned shortly before the shooting. Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige said Desimone was doing day labour at a local jewelry store where Rosales worked. The store was owned by Bill Young, whom Desimone knew from his earlier period in Alaska. Young invited Desimone, Rosales and other friends on the trip to Excursion Inlet, about 64 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Juneau. Paige noted that one member of the trip, Sam Bradshaw, said Desimones demeanour changed from happy to moody when he learned Rosales was going to be on the trip. Another member of the trip, Seth Bradshaw, said he heard gunfire and initially thought someone was target shooting. He ran into Desimone who said, I shot him, I shot him. Its all my fault, I shot him, Paige told jurors. Rosales suffered two shots to the back of his head as he was sitting down and removing his boots. The gun used in the shooting had been borrowed from Young by another member of the group. After the shooting, Desimone was calm and smoked cigarettes, Paige said. Desimones attorney, Deborah Macaulay, did not dispute that Desimone fatally shot Rosales. But she argued it was an accident and said the lack of an apparent motive was a big hole in the prosecutions case. She suggested Desimones reaction to the shooting could be described as shock. Macaulay also suggested that Desimone would not have shot Rosales on the deck of the cabin with another member of the group nearby if Desimone had really wanted to hurt Rosales. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has promised to bring auto manufacturing back to the United States from Mexico. The success of NAFTA negotiations could be determined by how willing the Mexican government is to let him try. As top officials from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico scramble to come to some sort of deal on the continental free trade pact by next Friday, the overwhelming focus of their discussions is the complicated issue of auto rules. Canada is heavily involved. But the biggest dispute appears to be a clash between the U.S. and Mexico over a U.S. proposal designed in part to wrest some manufacturing away from Mexico. Youve got a traffic jam of significant proportions in the negotiations, and the key issue holding things up is this, said Harley Shaiken, a University of California, Berkeley professor who specializes in labour in the global economy. Under the current NAFTA, a car being exported to the U.S. is not subjected to any tariff if at least 62.5 per cent of its content comes from North America. The U.S. wants to raise that content minimum to 75 per cent. And then it wants to introduce an entirely new rule about the wages paid to autoworkers. Specifically, it wants to require a certain minimum percentage of a car 40 per cent, according to several U.S. news reports to be made by workers earning at least $16 (U.S.) per hour. Thats a problem for Mexico. The average wage for Mexican workers in car assembly plants is under $8 per hour, and under $4 per hour for workers in parts plants. Some of the vehicles Mexico exports to the U.S. may already meet or come close to the proposed 40 per cent minimum for high-wage content. But other vehicles dont: right now, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan, vehicles exported from Mexico to the U.S. generally contain about 20 per cent to 30 per cent U.S. content. For these vehicles, the new rule would force automakers operating in Mexico into tough choices they dont want to face. They could pony up big raises to some Mexican workers; move a portion of their Mexican manufacturing to high-wage countries like the U.S. and Canada; change nothing about their Mexican manufacturing and simply pay the 2.5 per cent tariff on each car rather than paying the higher labour costs; or move their manufacturing to a low-wage country outside North America, paying the tariff while avoiding the newly rising wages in Mexico. The Mexican auto industry has boomed in the NAFTA era attracting more than $24 billion (U.S.) in investment since 2010 in significant part because its inexpensive labour is so attractive to the big automakers. Though the idea of higher wages may prove popular with ordinary Mexicans, the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto is worried about the erosion of the countrys competitive edge. It really makes no sense to negotiate a NAFTA if the outcome is going to be less investment in the country, said Hugo Perezcano, deputy director of economic law at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, who was an official at Mexicos economy ministry for 20 years. Perezcano said the Mexican government might well be willing to budge on the issue anyway. But he said it is also likely concerned about the precedent that high NAFTA-mandated wages in the auto industry would set for other sectors of an economy that cannot naturally support such wages. And the Mexican government, which warned Friday that it will not be rushed into a bad deal, is under heavy pressure from big automakers who have benefited from the low labour costs. These companies are very powerful because theyve poured billions of dollars into Mexico and this government in particular is very reluctant to do anything that will impact investment in Mexico, said Shaiken. Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, a union representing Canadian auto workers, argued that Mexican negotiators are doing the bidding of these auto companies rather than Mexican citizens being victimized by low wages. Dias said it is nonsensical that auto companies have to have an exploited partner to be competitive. Companies that pay their chief executives $20 million per year, Dias said, can afford to pay workers $16 per hour. The Mexican government and many outside analysts have argued that, at very least, it is unreasonable for the U.S. to maintain its demand that the new wage rules come into effect in four years. Horacio A. Lopez-Portillo, a trade lawyer at Vazquez Tercero & Zepeda in Mexico, noted auto companies establish their supply chains and business plans five, eight, 10 years in advance. If they have set up shop in Mexico and in Mexico line autoworkers are paid somewhere between $3 an $5 an hour, you cant expect those people who currently earn $3 or $5 to suddenly earn $16, which is what the U.S. is asking for, he said. Many companies would simply take their work outside the continent, Don Walker, chief executive of auto parts giant Magna International, told shareholders Thursday. If we drove the labour for everything in Mexico up, even doubled it, then that means youre not competitive anymore in a lot of the products and it all goes back to China, he said. In a concession to U.S. automakers, the Wall Street Journal reported, Trump administration is willing to let companies count the wages of white-collar North American professionals, like the people involved in research and engineering, toward a portion of the proposed 40 per cent high-wage threshold. But that concession would disadvantage the European and Asian automakers, such as Nissan and Volkswagen, that have been responsible for more than half of the $24 billion recent investment in Mexico, according to the Center for Automotive Research: those companies do much of their white-collar work outside of North America. The international automakers also have plants in the U.S. Hurting their Mexico operations, they argue, would end up hurting American workers, too. Read more about: ELKHART, IND. Embracing his role as party leader, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stern warning at a rally Thursday that Democrats would disrupt the economic progress of his administration, imploring Republicans to mobilize during the 2018 midterm elections. Trump used one of his signature rallies in northern Indiana to paint a rosy picture of his presidency, pointing to low unemployment, booming job growth and optimism under his watch. Two days after Indiana wrapped up a divisive Republican Senate primary, the president praised a lengthy ticket of House and Senate candidates by name and predicted Democrats would dismantle his agenda if they regained control of Congress. You have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue to make America great again, Trump said, referencing his 2016 campaign slogan. The president, who was joined at the Elkhart rally by home-state Vice-President Mike Pence, said Democrats would raise taxes, destroy your jobs and knock the hell out of your border. Chief among his targets: Indianas Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, who faces Republican businessman Mike Braun in what is expected to be one of the nations most competitive Senate races. Trump branded Donnelly as Sleepin Joe. He assailed him for opposing the presidents signature tax cuts and his attempt to end the Affordable Care Act. And he criticized Donnelly for supporting the Iran nuclear deal forged by president Barack Obama and withdrawn from by Trump this week. Trump said Donnelly would do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do and claimed the senator would say one thing in Elkhart, and then support the radical, liberal agenda. After the rally, Donnelly said in a statement it was OK that Trump and Pence were here today for politics, but problems only get solved when you roll up your sleeves and put in the hard work. Im Indianas hired help in the Senate because I dont work for any president or any political party I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change, he said. Donnellys campaign said he had voted with Trump 62 per cent of the time. Basking in the cheers of thousands of supporters wearing his red campaign hats, Trump hailed his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and his tough stance on trade deals, appealing to the regions manufacturing base. He reissued his campaign pledge to build a border wall with Mexico, telling the crowd the work had started despite opposition from Democrats. And he celebrated the return of three Americans who had been held captive in North Korea, saying: We welcomed them back home the proper way. But for a onetime political novice who ran as an outsider, Trump played the role of party champion ahead of midterm elections that typically haunt the party that holds the White House. Trump is expected to ramp up his political travel in the coming months, and his advisers viewed the event as a way to project party unity following a rough primary that pitted Braun, a former state legislator, against two Republican congressmen. Imploring Braun to join him on stage, Trump turned the podium over to the Senate nominee, who credited the president for providing an inspiration to his candidacy. Im a businessman and an outsider, just like our president, Braun said to cheers. Read more: U.S.-North Korea summit is set: Trump, Kim Jong Un to meet June 12 in Singapore Trump says hes withdrawing U.S. from Iran nuclear deal Trump says hed love to speak to Mueller in Russia probe The president, who helped raise $132 million (U.S.) for the Republican National Committee in 2016, won 10 states where Democratic senators are on the ballot this year. Hes expected to campaign heavily to help Republicans maintain Senate and House majorities and elect GOP governors. In his remarks, Trump painted a glowing picture of his presidency. We are all making America proud. We are rockin, he said. The great news keeps rolling in. Missing was any reference to the clouds cast by the special counsels ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and near-daily revelations about Trumps personal attorney Michael Cohens payments to a porn actress who alleges an affair with Trump. Cohen appears to have used his relationship with Trump to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a practice at odds with Trumps Drain the swamp campaign message. But Trump instead lobbed the swamp person charge at Donnelly, prompting the audience to break into a Drain the swamp chant. The Indiana rally was Trumps fourth political-style event in the past two weeks. Trump skipped the White House Correspondents Dinner late last month to rally supporters in Macomb County, Michigan. He spoke last week to the National Rifle Association in Dallas. And last Saturday, Trump was in Ohio, long the key electoral piece for any GOP presidential hopeful. As he travels the country, Trump will face the question of whether his appeal is transferable to down-ballot candidates, much in the way that Obama struggled to rally core Democrats when he wasnt running himself. Obama suffered broad losses in Congress and in statehouses during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, an outcome Trump hopes to avoid. Read more about: A few years ago I started casually referring to women as my people. As in, Wheres Sara? I havent seen her in forever. Yeah, she had a baby and is stuck at home in the suburbs as often happens to my people. I felt weird about it at first partially because the term has biblical overtones, but mostly because it seemed a bit presumptuous to claim kinship with over half the worlds population, most of whom have struggles I cant begin to comprehend. But after a little while I realized that what I was trying to convey was an awareness of women as a type of historical community one that, no matter our other differences, has been tied together by similar threats and barriers. The common thread of the ties that bind us through our divergent lives and experiences is one of violence, fear, and silence a thread of enforced and embodied vulnerability. The racialized and queer and poor among us must deal with an intensified version of it, of course. Sexism and misogyny are much more severe and threatening for women of colour, trans and queer women, and the economically disadvantaged. But all women face a type of oppression that is entwined with our sexuality and threatens our physical safety. We have all been patronized at work, harassed on the street, undervalued at home. Most of us have been followed, threatened, groped; a whole lot of us have been assaulted and abused. We are not quite sisters. Our experiences and lives are too various for the sibling metaphor a real flaw of the sisterhood concept. As a straight, white cis woman, for example, what do I know of the immediate realities of being a trans woman of colour? No, our kinship ties are much broader and more various than that of immediate family. In anthropological terms, we are more analogous to a clan the worlds largest. Sisterhood, woman-clan, a people why on Earth does it matter? In one sense of course it doesnt really. But if Ive learned one thing from studying language its that thinking about words can help us think about bigger problems. Proposing new words or ways to use existing words differently can open up new perspectives on a tricky issue. In the aftermath of the Toronto van attack and the killers associations with the misogynistic incel community, we as a society have begun to have conversations about one of those tricky issues: how hatred of women is often seen as less serious and threatening than racial, ethnic, or religious hate like misogyny is somehow Hate-Lite. There are many things we can and should do to grapple with why our society tends to minimize misogyny. Keeping that conversation alive and productive even while the immediacy of the Yonge St. horror fades in the face of more recent news is a task we all must shoulder. But for me there is also another task, a more personal one: remembering that we are not isolated or alone. Women, girls, ladies of all experiences and bodies, no matter how different our lives, and for whatever its worth, I see you as my people. I hope that you might see me as yours. For the more privileged, myself included, there is also remembering our duty to raise the voices of the most persecuted among us to learn the stories of trans women and fight to break down the barriers faced by women of colour, accepting that at times we will certainly fail and will need to be called to account. Because, even though our big cultural stories tend to involve men protecting women, we know that it is usually women protecting other women from the anger, violence, and domination of men who feel entitled to power. That is something I hope we can own and take as strength going forward not just #TorontoStrong but #WomenStrong enduringly strong, working to do better to fight for the safety of one another, working through our embodied vulnerability to make the world increasingly safe for our powerful bodies and bold minds and unique voices that have been kept down for too long, so that one day perhaps our daughters can be truly free of hate. This is one of a series of editorials on issues facing Ontario voters: In a first for Ontario, child care has become one of the top issues in a provincial election campaign. Its easy to see why. Parents put their children on daycare waiting lists even before theyre born, and its not uncommon for women to use their entire paycheque just to cover the cost. Child care also clearly separates the three parties and their leaders capacity to address an important public policy issue. Kathleen Wynnes Liberals have proposed an achievable plan that does much, but not everything. Andrea Horwaths NDP vastly over-promises what it can deliver. And Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives offer shiny trinkets instead of the services that are actually needed. Theres a good debate to be had between the Liberal and NDP plans. But Ford has taken himself entirely out of the running on an issue crucial for women and the future of Ontarios economy. He proposes a tax rebate that would cover the cost of some welcome babysitting but falls far short of the kind of child care that lets mothers fully participate in the workforce. The Liberal plan calls for free child care, regardless of family income, for kids from the age of 2 to kindergarten. This would provide an immediate benefit for the greatest number of families and has the most potential as a long-term plan that can be expanded to all children. Universal programs are the gold standard when it comes to providing licensed daycare. Nobody falls through the cracks. And because everyone benefits from them and is therefore invested, they are more durable and less vulnerable to political lurches. By making daycare free for preschoolers the most common age group in daycare the $2.2-billion Liberal plan gets the most bang for the buck and, just as crucially, the necessary new spaces can realistically be rolled out within the three-year time-frame. The obvious criticism of the plan is that by starting at age 2 the Liberals leave out infants and toddlers whose care is the most expensive for families topping $2,000 a month in Toronto. Thats what the NDP tries, but ultimately fails, to tackle. Its daycare plan covers all kids under 4 and offers free care for low-income families and fees of $12 a day, on average, for everyone else. The New Democrats rightly see the need for affordable infant and toddler care. But they drastically overestimate how quickly government could provide for that, given how few spaces exist right now and how expensive they are to provide. Ontario has daycare spaces for just 7 per cent of infants and 32 per cent of toddlers, and dropping the cost to parents will open the floodgates of pent-up demand. That makes the NDP plan, which is projected to rise to an annual cost of $5.4 billion, a recipe for frustrated parents on lengthy wait-lists, not affordable, quality care. Thats a lesson Quebec learned the hard way. There, the government rolled out $5-a-day child care in the late 1990s before it had a way to meet the demand. It resorted to home daycares, untrained staff and lower-quality for-profit centres to get spaces open quickly. To this day it has a two-tier system, where some child care is higher quality than the rest. Ontario should learn from Quebecs mistakes, not repeat them. When Ford weighed into the daycare debate, weeks after the other parties, it was with his familiar more money in your pocket soundbite. His proposed rebate, which purports to cover up to 75 per cent of the costs of everything from licensed child care and nannies to after school programs and paying the babysitter for children up to 15, is certain to be popular with some. Money? Sure, why not? But Fords plan does not, as it claims, offer parents choices. Thats because the maximum rebates allowed under Fords plan are well below the costs of the quality care parents want. It wont help create new daycare spaces or make them more affordable. As usual, his math just does not add up. The $389 million that Ford has announced for his plan would stretch to provide just $175 a year for the 2.2 million Ontario children under 14. That makes Fords plan a soundbite, not the beginnings of a robust child-care system. And sadly, weve seen this before. In 2005, Paul Martins Liberal government promised to kick-start a universal system, only to have the plan scuttled by the Harper government and replaced with $100-a-month benefits. That did nothing to create accessible, affordable child care and Fords proposal is more of the same. Its the wrong answer to the problem. Ontarios economy cant afford to have mothers of young children who want to work full-time unable to do so because affordable, high-quality, child care isnt available. The Liberal plan offers the most benefits to working mothers now. Just as crucially, it would lay a strong foundation for a universal system that can develop affordable care for all ages. Read more about: Carbon pricing, the national divider, Harper, May 9 Tim Harper is right, the biggest cloud of emissions hangs over the House of Commons and is obfuscating everyones judgment. I always thought our elected MPs and MPPs were there to bring in legislation for the good of everyone in every part of the country to work together to solve whatever crises arise, like the world did for the Ozone problem and the two world wars. Canada signed on to the Paris agreement. It is long past time for the provinces and territories to ensure that they work with the federal government to meet our international commitments, or we are no longer a country. We have a climate crisis and it is up to our representatives to represent their constituents who want a credible climate plan enacted. Canadas Ecofiscal Commission studies show carbon pricing is the most effective way to change behaviour, at the least cost. And the most effective carbon pricing is revenue-neutral, with the money going back to the people to let them decide how to cut their carbon footprint. True market forces at work. A carbon fee and dividend will do just that. Or, put another way, cash back in everyones pocket. Who does not want that? The time for debating/wrangling/arguing is over. It is time for action. Where are our leaders? Lights, camera ... and fiction, Editorial, May 7 Im not sure why anyone is surprised that a political party is accused of hiring supporters to cheer at one of its rallies. Almost everything in politics these days is carefully staged and orchestrated by all parties for maximum effect from photo ops at daycare centres to weeping at memorials for those lost to tragedy. All one has to do is watch a short clip from Parliaments question period to see a well-choreographed performance. When party leaders rise to address the Speaker, you will notice they usually read their question from a piece of paper. Ive often thought we should have the people who write the questions running our country instead of the talking heads we elected. Mike Benson, Brampton Read more about: We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. The question raised this week by writer Caroline Kitchener in The Atlantic, is one I have long wondered about: Why do so few women write letters to the editor? Why indeed? Conventions of journalistic writing suggest that if a writer poses a question in a piece of writing, she should answer that question for the reader. I wish I had a clear answer to this question for you. Maybe you have an answer for me. If so, please send me an email with your views. For reasons that I hope will become apparent, this is a call out to women only please. I ask because, seemingly, there are no clear answers but rather, depressing theories that speak to both facts and opinions about gender and the confidence to speak ones mind in a public forum. First fact: It is true that women do submit fewer letters to the editor than men and consequently news organizations publish fewer voices of women. My rough count of the Stars letters page from May 1 to 10 indicates that of 60 letters published in the newspaper, 36 came from men and 14 from women. Another 10 came from individuals whose gender could not be identified by their initials or name. In writing on this issue, the The Atlantic journalist approached me earlier this month seeking data on how many women versus how many men submit letters to the Star. I told her that while the Star does not compile data on the gender breakdown of those who submit letters to the editor for publication consideration, I believe that significantly more men opt to offer their views on public affairs than do women. Having edited the letters page part-time at the Globe and Mail more than a decade ago, I have first-hand experience of striving to create gender-balanced letters pages and discovering a dearth of womens voices in the submissions emails. Kitcheners reporting attributed this phenomenon in large part to what has been called, the confidence gap. Women are less likely to think that theyre, one, skilled enough to write something worthwhile, and, two, able to offer insight other people should care about, Kitchener wrote in the Atlantic piece, citing the words of Joyce Ehrlinger, assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University. Most startling: Ehrlinger told Kitchener that there are hardly any subjects that women approach with more confidence than men, except are you ready for this: cooking. Kitchener also sought out University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, sociology professor Andrew Perrin analyzed the characteristics of those who write letters to the editor. His 2016 paper concluded that Letters to the editor mostly display inequalities similar to other forms of political participation. Writers are more likely to be white, older, more politically active and less likely to be politically moderate than the local population. With readership for print publications falling, one might attribute this to a view that the printed letters page is a somewhat outmoded form of speaking ones mind these days. But research indicates the same lack of womens voices in online comments too hardly surprising, given the extent of online harassment for many women who speak out. Perrins research indicates women are most likely to speak out on Facebook within their own community of friends. For further insight, I sought out Shari Graydon, founder of Informed Opinions, a national organization committed to amplifying the voices of women in media. The organization also trains women to write op-ed articles based on their expertise and holds media to account for the diversity of voices as sources in op-ed articles. (Full disclosure: I serve on the advisory board of this organization). I don't believe women's failure to write letters reflects a lack of confidence so much as the absence of certainty that their views are sufficiently necessary to the conversation to warrant the investment of their time, which is generally a scarce resource, Graydon said. Weighing the time necessary to write a letter to the editor (or an op-ed) would seem to be a concern for many women. Certainly that was a view expressed by some women on Twitter who responded when I posted a link to Kitcheners Atlantic article. Women are too busy working to write letters, said one woman. Added another: Cause were all too busy doing every damn thing. So, why dont more women write letters to the editor? You tell me. Should a woman suffer for the crimes of her man? If that woman is fashion designer Georgina Chapman and that man is alleged sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, the answer to this question is another one: how much did she know? In other words, did Chapman know Weinstein was an alleged serial abuser and did she know he allegedly blackmailed actresses into wearing her fashion label, Marchesa, on the red carpet? In a story with a clear villain and a clear cast of victims, public opinion is wildly uneven when it comes to the disgraced producers estranged wife. Is she an innocent bystander or a co-conspirator? The Good Wife or Lady Macbeth? Probably neither, but I hope for her sake more people arrive at the former conclusion. Unfortunately, it doesnt look that way. According to the internet, a.k.a. thousands of unkind, judgmental voices on Twitter, Of course Chapman knew! How could she not know? What an idiot! And yet, according to Chapman herself, she knew nothing. In a brand new, fawning profile of the 42-year-old designer in Vogue Magazine, Chapman claims that contrary to popular tabloid opinion, until the awful news broke last year, she was completely in the dark about her husbands alleged penchant for serial sexual abuse. There was a part of me that was terribly naive clearly, so naive, Chapman tells Vogue. I have moments of rage, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief! And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? The story is classic Vogue. There are bits of raw truth that make us feel for the interview subject. And then theres this: One of the few working ateliers left in Manhattan, Marchesa is a surprisingly big operation, with about 80 employees, and sewing machines whirring away. Chapman is wearing black leather pants leggings, really with zippers at the backs of the ankles, an untucked white tuxedo shirt, and a pair of bedroom slippers studded with fake pearls. Her hair is pulled off her face with a band, and shes absent-mindedly eating from the bag of popcorn thats sitting on her desk next to an achingly beautiful arrangement of pale-pink and white roses. Its not that I expect strictly sober analysis in a celebrity profile, but the article, by Jonathan Van Meter, reads like a piece of PR meticulously orchestrated to redeem not only Chapman herself, but also, her fashion line. In fact, the piece is arguably more about Marchesa its origin story, its flowery gowns than it is about Chapman reckoning with her situation. (The issue in which it runs also features a letter of support for Chapman by Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour.) This is in part why so many of those unkind, judgmental voices on Twitter are having a hard time mustering sympathy for the fashion designer. They believe its too soon for her to be promoting her label and its certainly too soon for other celebrities to embrace her brand the way they did before the Weinstein story exploded. A chief example? At this months Met Gala, A-lister Scarlett Johansson didnt don an elaborate headdress or a cape like so many of the other stars around her, but something far louder: she wore a dress by Marchesa. And in doing so, she became the first big celeb to resurrect the brand on the red carpet. She told Variety: I wore Marchesa because their clothes make women feel confident and beautiful, and it is my pleasure to support a brand created by two incredibly talented and important female designers. (Chapman co-founded the label with designer Karen Craig.) Reactions to Scar Jos sartorial choice fall into two distinct camps. One camp argues that Chapman probably knew more than she lets on about her husbands alleged coercing of actresses to wear the brand on the red carpet, and as a result, stars should continue to boycott the designer. But Im sympathetic to the other camp that asserts the following: If Chapman knew nothing or very little about the allegations against Weinstein, why should her lifes work be diminished on account of her husbands behaviour? Yes, he allegedly hurt women, and feminism demands women stick up for one another. But Chapman is a woman too and there is no definitive proof that she colluded with Weinstein or covered up for him. I say that until we learn otherwise, if youre a celebrity or anybody for that matter who can afford a $13,000 dress go ahead and wear Marchesa. If a man is known by the company he keeps, in politics and especially before an election, said company has been known to make or break the mans chances. But in the past 18 months, thanks to the outsized influence of our southern neighbour, politicians have slid from contrition to shamelessness in their associations. Where mere months ago, a Canadian conservative could be damned for trying to divide the country by blowing the dog whistle of Canadian values, today a Canadian conservative can court far more overt divisiveness without fear of consequence. And so Doug Ford, pitching himself as worthy of leading Ontario and careful not to say anything openly discriminatory himself, appears to feel no compunction being surrounded by those who do. Read more: Opinion | Rosie DiManno: A grieving mothers letter to Doug Ford Ford spars over immigration with Wynne and Horwath at northern debate Anybody-but-Ford movement is percolating as June 7 election nears: poll The latest in the list of dubious people who want to be part of Fords team is Merrilee Fullerton, the PC candidate for Kanata-Carleton. According to her website, Fullerton is a doctor who stands for values of responsibility, compassion, integrity and accountability. A look at her past writings provides some guidance regarding these values. A tweet in November 2015 pulled out a quote from a story on Islamic radicalism: Usually it is not the first generation (of refugees or immigrants) that is the most dangerous, its the second. Before that was a tweet referencing Breitbart News exhorting people to watch a march by thousands of supporters of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA in Dresden, Germany. Another tweet reads: the ghetto. And it goes on to define that as home to almost 20,000 immigrants, overwhelmingly Muslim, almost half of them jobless. This tweet, which appears to refer to the Rosengard housing scheme in Sweden, is taken out of context from a story in the Guardian five years prior about a Swedish backlash against immigration. In others tweets, she rails against a wear-a-hijab day in Ottawa in 2016. But well before all this, an obscure little blog on Squarespace from 2007 offers a gem of insight into her thinking. Doctors as terrorists, reads the title, written soon after two bungled car bombings in the U.K. after which eight people said to be linked to Al Qaeda, seven of whom were physicians, were arrested. In Canada, she writes, we may want to be looking at how much surveillance of foreign medical graduates will cost and if the potential benefit outweighs the potential harm because the potential for harm now seems to be very real. Heres a more apt title for the blog: 7 Muslim doctors (at one point in time) = all foreign doctors (forever). Kanata-Carleton, the riding Fullerton is running in, has about 5,000 Muslim residents. This whole community has a great deal of respect for Merrilee. We appreciate her running, Ford said on Wednesday at a campaign stop. A newly formed group named the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Committee is asking Ford to denounce Fullertons apparent bigotry. Another PC candidate in London West, Andrew Lawton, a former Rebel Media host hand-picked by Ford, had social media posts that ranged from Apparently women at the department store dont appreciate unsolicited bra recommendations to I left the Anglican church when they made the decision to allow gay marriage. He mocked burkas as Halloween costumes. In another tweet, he wrote: Covered in wires from a portable heart monitor. The Muslim gents nearby seem to think Im one of them. Last week, Lawton released a statement saying he doesnt support those views he stated between 2005 and 2013 and blamed those posts (which have now been deleted) on you guessed it mental illness. Ford was recently forced to oust Tanya Granic Allen as a PC candidate after the Liberal party released a video of her making inflammatory statements on same-sex marriage. Its not just the openly stated views of his supporters, such as Kevin Johnston of Mississauga, charged with a hate crime last year, that suggest the racial indifference of the Progressive Conservative party. Ford himself has said he would overturn police oversight rules by reining in parts of Bill 175, including bits that focus on de-escalation, which is critical in the context of racial profiling, institutional racism and race-based police violence. Last month, Ford declined to participate in a provincial leaders debate organized by the Black community. The most optimistic assessment of his comments during Fridays northern debate about taking care of our own first would suggest a misinformed suspicion of outsiders, especially given declining populations in Ontarios rural north. None of this will deter Fords base, of course. But those who sneeringly distance themselves from that base, the ones who are done with Liberals but wont consider NDP, dont get to claim racial innocence. Not after all this. If he wins, this will be on them. Shree Paradkar writes about discrimination and identity. You can follow her@shreeparadkar Read more about: That was certainly a buoyant and beaming Donald Trump in the early hours of Thursday morning as he greeted three happy American prisoners newly freed from North Korea. It was a perfect TV moment in the Trump Age. So, will wonders never cease? Could this week prove to be pivotal in the history of the Trump presidency? Just the day before, when a reporter asked him whether he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his handling of North Korea, Trump replied with a smile: Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it. Actually, few people think so but thats beside the point. However, Trump is right in believing this may be remembered as a significant week in his presidency but not for the reasons he thinks. Sadly, we are not on the brink of an era of global peace. And Trump will not get his Nobel. After all, this was also the week that Trump defied the worlds other major powers and pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal. It had the dangerous effect of increasing tensions in the Middle East and, as if in response, Israel and Iran suddenly found themselves engaged in direct military conflict for the first time ever. Even on North Korea, with the high stakes summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un now planned for June 12 in Singapore, there is virtually no possibility the two men will agree on what denuclearization means on the Korean Peninsula unless the U.S. president softens his stance. And if the summit fails, which is likely, who knows what a humiliated Trump will do? No, this week wont be remembered for advancing the cause of world peace in any way. But, through a series of dramatic new disclosures in The New York Times and The Washington Post, it may be remembered as the week when the breathtaking corruption that made the Trump presidency possible became clearer. At the heart of it, unsurprisingly, were Russians oligarchs, mobsters and shady business types with close ties to the Putin government. For several years, they are said to have kept the near-bankrupt Trump business empire afloat and then, once Trumps route to the presidency became clear, they gained in power and influence. We learned this week that a company linked to a Russian oligarch gave more than $1 million to a shell company effectively a slush fund set up by Michael Cohen, Trumps personal lawyer, who previously had dealings with Russian mob figures. But even more revealing, Cohens shell company was selling access to the Trump administration, receiving millions of dollars from companies doing business with the government. It has been described as a form of protection racket. These disclosures raised suspicions that this money was, in fact, flowing through Cohen directly to the Trump organization and to Trump himself. We also learned that Trump, who always called himself the King of Debt, dramatically stopped borrowing in the decade before the election. His business empire seemed awash in cash all of a sudden. Although Trump has consistently denied any investment from Russian sources, his son Donald Jr. was quoted in 2008 as saying: We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. These latest reports help explain why Trumps advisers believe the investigation into Michael Cohen and the recent FBI raids on his office and home pose a greater danger to the president than charges of collusion with the Russians in the presidential campaign. Buried in Cohens papers may be evidence about what many have long suspected. Americans in the 2016 election may have unwittingly swept into power what amounts to be an organized crime syndicate with Donald Trump more as its Godfather than as a leader of a healthy democracy. Tony Burman is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com Read more about: This may have been a week of serious cognitive dissonance for Justin Trudeau. He apologized emotionally at a Jewish fundraiser, over Canada turning away a boatload of 907 refugees from Hitler in 1939. They had to return to Germany and many died in the Holocaust. It is our hope that this long overdue apology will bring awareness to our failings, he said, as we vow to never let history repeat itself. Thats when the clanging might have started. The day before, public safety minister Ralph Goodale warned asylum seekers that crossing the border from the U.S. furtively was no free ticket to status. Immigration minister Ahmed Hussen said hed go to Nigeria to discourage people from coming here. It was a slide in tone from Justins apology, and from his 2017 tweet: To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you. Sure, contradictions are normal, but whats galling here is that Canada may bear more responsibility for the plight of todays refugees, than it did in 1939. Nigeria, for instance, has been roiled by attacks from ISIS and Boko Haram, which worsened when Libya collapsed into chaos after Western bombing. Nigerians tried escaping through Libya but Europe rejected them and theyve turned toward Canada. A Canadian general commanded that pointless NATO assault on Libya in which our forces had an unmatched, multi-dimensional role. Other refugees come from the Caribbean and Central America. Canada played a central role in co-ordinating the coup that overthrew Haitis elected government in 2004 and the UN occupation that followed. Our activity in Honduras is more recent but as foul. Canada supported the 2009 military coup. We failed to protest the farcical vote counting process in last Decembers election and backed the dubious result. Honduras has run up a horrible record of murder, assassination and terror, leading to mass attempts to flee. We have nothing like this record of complicity regarding Nazi Germany. Let me pause to say that coming to Canada isnt the lifelong yearning of most immigrants and refugees, as if their first moment out of the womb, they ask: Which way is Canada? Moving countries is miserable. You go to a freezing place where you dont speak the language and are othered to hell and back. People do it for their kids, for whom it can also be hell. A friend came in the 1970s, which she calls The Paki Years (cf. The Wonder Years) when they were taunted at recess and beaten up going to and from school. People do it from desperation. All in all theyd rather be in Djibouti. I also get the political problem. If youre in politics, youre about governing and making change, not unflinching moral displays. Im sympathetic to these dilemmas. Its far less ambiguous when youre not in power and arent aiming at it. Martin Luther King was a moral leader (though he too had to calculate alliances). Nelson Mandela was never so much a moral leader as when in prison. After he became president, the compromises set in, including some still playing out. The most conspicuous act of moral leadership in Canadian politics mayve been NDP leader Tommy Douglass vote against imposition of martial law by Justins dad. But the NDP was a third place party with no prospect of power and moral leadership looked good on them, aside from being their only real option. The refugee issue is similar to the pipeline issue. Your heart may be with fighting climate change but your heart also goes out to those who need jobs and in the middle of all that you have to weigh your chances of staying in power in order to do whatever your heart eventually settles on. The heroic model in this nexus turns out, surprisingly, to be Angela Merkel. Germany took in 1 million refugees from the mess that resulted from the stupid, delusional U.S. attack on Iraq, which Germany had no connection to. Thats 17 times more than Canada took in, proportionately, and Germany already had problematic ethnic conflicts plus strong anti-immigrant, neo-fascist parties. Merkel paid the price in the last election, and shes rowed back since. But shes never complained. She chose the right thing, and did it. Rick Salutin appears Fridays. Bloody Gina! Bloody Gina! Bloody Gina! You are a torturer! shouted protesters as they were removed from the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on CIA director-hopeful Gina Haspel. As a nickname, it will stick, which I suspect gives the Republican Party great happiness. They do take pride in things that would harrow up the blood and freeze the young soul. Speaking of Dick Cheney, he says the U.S. should start torturing again and Haspel has done a great job in terms of the career shes built, which will flower as the public face of modern American torture if she is confirmed by the committee and approved by the Senate, both likely. For the rest of us, Haspel isnt just damaged goods, shes very much in send-it-straight-back-to-the-shop condition. Sen. John McCain says her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. This is the dying man ridiculed on Fox News on Thursday for having been tortured as a PoW in North Vietnam: It worked on John [McCain]. Thats why they call him Songbird John. McCain, himself the public face of a vanishing American political civility, knows pain. Its not clear if his torture was as severe as the CIAs agonies at global CIA black sites, as only the victims can judge that. I, with no physical courage whatsoever, only know how the torture that Haspel defends she fudged on every answer was described by its victims. But heres how it has been described by one of the torturers: He struggled to breathe and opened his mouth to inhale air. They poured water into his mouth. I saw his stomach swelling up ... I took him by the broken wrist and felt the pulse. With the prisoner screaming and crying, Mother! Mother! I muttered to myself, Mother, do you know what is happening to your son now? Another torturer described the prisoner as completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth. The first quote refers to British soldier Eric Lomax being waterboarded by the Japanese in 1943, the second to prisoner Abu Zubaydah being waterboarded by the CIA in 2002. Lomax was tormented by a man named Takashi Nagase. The two met again in old age, their faces burned into each others memory and both their lives ruined. They talked. The Japanese were famous for their water torture of PoWs, as famous as the Americans are for water torture at Haspels Thailand posting, and years from now, well hear more stories of how Americans were tortured thanks to Haspel. Every mention of her name will inspire an enemy. If President Trump follows through with at least one of the wars he has giddily threatened North Korea or Iran the enemy will once more pour water into a U.S. grunts open mouth. Haspel wont suffer. She never has. But American prisoners will recall her mouth twitching, her little sniffs, and her smile that seems hideous in retrospect. Several on the team profoundly affected, one CIA employee wrote of the scenes, some to the point of tears and choking up. Will they seek out Zubaydah in old age and talk quietly, holding hands, as Lomax and Nagase did? (The scene is described in Lomaxs extraordinary 1995 memoir The Railway Man.) There were many copies of the Thailand torture tapes and one former CIA official doubts they would all have been destroyed, as Haspel claims they were to protect CIA staff. It isnt in the nature of the beast. When asked during the hearing why the videotapes werent just transferred digitally and the enhanced-interrogators faces obscured, Haspel got all girlish and said shes not a technical person. I mentioned Republican glee. Most Republicans, whether standard or Trump brand, detest women, always have. It would have been a smarter move to nominate a faceless male bureaucrat to run the CIA but Haspel, said to have been backing out, was encouraged to go ahead with the hearing. Her nomination is interesting because she is female. Women dont get far in Trump world unless theres a personal link. Elaine Chao is married to power, Ivanka Trump is a daughter, Betsy DeVoss family is a Republican profit centre, etc. Haspel breaks the pattern. She is one of the few powerful woman in the Trump administration to have got to the top on merit, and her merit in modern Republican eyes is that she repels those who oppose Trump and even many of those who dont. What a dilemma the Men of Trump have offered feminists. You want a woman? Heres a woman. And for once, theyre right. Women are precisely like men in that custom does not stale their infinite variety. Were not better than men, absolutely not. Our best feature is that we tend to be less physically violent. And then theres Bloody Gina. It is perhaps a triumph that a woman has outdone men in the ugliest arena of human life, and yes, it is only humans who torture. Animals dont torture other animals. What a waste of energy that could profitably be spent eating the carcass, would be their thinking. If and when she is confirmed, it will be as a human being. She is one of us. VANCOUVERFollowing the release of an economic ranking report Thursday by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the board is sounding the alarm on dangerously high tax rates. The 2018 scorecard, produced with the Conference Board of Canada economic report, ranked Greater Vancouver as seventh among 20 regions worldwide up two places since its original release in 2016. The ranking is based on 22 economic indicators such as employment growth and labour productivity, and 16 social measurements analyzing air quality and commuting time. In Canada, Calgary placed second and Toronto is ahead of Greater Vancouver in sixth. Other metropolitan regions analyzed in the report include Singapore in first place, Seattle in third, followed by San Francisco in fourth and Copenhagen in fifth. Iain Black, president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said the two challenge areas that are especially concerning are housing unaffordability something that the original 2016 scorecard report highlighted and the high tax rates straining businesses. Black said the board is not advocating for aggressive tax cuts but wants tax relief for businesses to ensure they keep investing. The report ranks regions based on the marginal effective tax rate (METR), which measures the rate of return from a new investment that requires investors to pay capital-related taxes. A lower METR means a higher return on investments. The new report incorporates the impact of the 2018 U.S. tax reform, which puts Greater Vancouver at a significant competitive disadvantage, according to the report. I dont think its reasonable to chase the American tax cuts that are being proposed by President Trump, Black said. Its not realistic because we dont want our governments to be in massive deficits either. Black added that capital write offs for large equipment, for instance, would make it more attractive for businesses to make those investments. Theyre using this report as a way to pressure the government for lowering taxes, said Steve Mongrain, economics professor at Simon Fraser University. B.C.s tax rate is better than regions like Montreal and Halifax, Mongrain said, but compared to the U.S. it could potentially do better. Changing the tax system, he added, by shifting taxes away from businesses, could put more of the burden on individuals such as taxes on personal income since governments will have less revenue. Black points to Alberta, which doesnt have a provincial sales tax, and Ontarios harmonized sales tax as noteworthy examples for B.C. Read more about: Note - May 25, 2018: See correction note appended on bottom. WHITEHORSE, YUKON A disgruntled former Yukon Government bureaucrat, who was let go after catching colleagues on tape making disparaging comments about Indigenous education in a government staff meeting, is fighting in court to get his job back. Andrew Schaer claims he secretly recorded two co-workers, both of them senior business development advisers in the Yukon Governments department of economic development, during a staff meeting in September. On the recording, a male voice can be heard laughing. He seems to call the Yukon Colleges Institute for Indigenous Self-Determination "b------t." Minutes later, while discussing a program aimed at improving post-secondary outcomes for First Nations students, the same man asks, "Shouldnt they get them out of high school first? Its a 50 per cent grad rate." "Yeah, minor technicality," a female voice replies, laughing. According to the Yukon Governments statistics, the high school graduation rate for First Nations students last year was 62 per cent, not 50. The territorial average was 75 per cent. The female voice is then heard suggesting it would be better to "just mail them their certificates" rather than fund programs to improve Indigenous students college and university performances. "That would be way cheaper," she said. Two sources The Star spoke to confirmed the meeting took place and the recording is real. A transcript of the recording, filed in court by the Yukon Government, also matches the tape. A government spokesperson confirmed the recording but would not identify the employees in question. The government said in a statement it would not confirm whether the employees in question faced any disciplinary action because of privacy legislation barring it from disclosing employees work history. Schaer claims the voices on the tape belong to Ian Young and Erin Deacon. Reached by phone, both Young and Deacon refused to comment. Emails to both people were not returned. Schaer was let go five days after coming forward with the tape in November. He has now filed an Application for Judicial Review of his November 2017 release from probation on grounds that it was actually a disciplinary termination. "They messed with the wrong marine," Schaer told the Star. "They didnt count on me being 12 steps ahead of them." Government documents filed in court, however, claim Schaer's abrasive and confrontational attitude with colleagues and clients as reasons for his termination. Schaer forwarded the recordings to Yukon College president Karen Barnes in February, who was concerned enough to send them on to the government herself. "I feel disappointed, but Im not surprised," Barnes said. "I mean, wow, as a society, have we not gone further?" Barnes said language like that on the recording is still far too common in the Yukon. She said countering those outdated perceptions is a big part of what the college does, in part by ensuring all staff and students take a course called First Nations 101. So how and why did Schaer start making secret recordings in the first place? Schaer started working for the Yukon Government on May 10, 2017, under a standard six-month probationary period. Almost immediately, he began feeling harassed and bullied, he said. "Andy, you wont be here very long at (the Yukon Government) if you become a liability," Schaer claims one colleague told him early in his tenure. He claims other employees belittled his triple-honours masters degree, saying "You can get a degree anywhere these days. You can buy them online." Fearing for his job, Schaer said he didnt file any official complaints, but instead began using his phone to secretly record every interaction he had at work over a six-month period. Meanwhile, his co-workers were growing uncomfortable. While they were not aware of his secret recording, affidavits later sworn by deputy minister of economic development Justin Ferbey and Schaers co-worker Denise Monkman include multiple references to Schaers allegedly "aggressive" communication style. An affidavit sworn by Monkman said she never witnessed any bullying or harassment of Mr. Schaer. Instead, when she tried to explain to Schaer that his behaviour was making her and others uncomfortable, Schaer insisted that "pretty much everyone else in the office was trying to sabotage him with false complaints." Monkmans affidavit says Schaers behaviour became so difficult to bear that she had to take time off work. As his relationships with colleagues continued to deteriorate, Schaer said he kept the recorder rolling the whole time. In late September, that tape picked up the meeting where the two bureaucrats, who Schaer claims are Deacon and Young, allegedly made the disparaging comments. Schaer said the comments were especially hurtful not only because of his Metis heritage, but because his partner is Tsalagi (North Carolina Cherokee) and their children share her Indigenous heritage. "When they were deriding First Nations youth, calling them stupid, saying it would be cheaper to mail them their certificates rather than (having) them go to school, the only thing I thought of was my daughter," Schaer said. Still, he said he kept his mouth shut and recorder running. But by mid-October, things reached another boiling point. Schaer, who said he is also Francophone, claims he was speaking in French on the phone with an employee at the federal government. During the call, according to an affidavit sworn by Schaer, Young told him to "Take that f------g French s--t someplace, else!" And still Schaer did not report the abuse, and, he said, kept recording. At the end of October, Ferbey, who is a citizen of the Carcross Tagish First Nation, gave Schaer a letter saying his six-month probationary period was being extended for another six months "to see if these issues could be addressed successfully," according to Ferbeys affidavit. By this point, Schaer said, he couldnt wait any longer. On Nov. 3 he met privately with assistant deputy minister Stephen Rose and disclosed what he said was six months worth of detailed, documented instances of harassment and abuse. He also emailed a detailed list of his allegations to his bosses, and their bosses. Five days later the government ended Schaers employment. Schaer claims the decision to extend his probation in the first place was an attempt to buy time while his bosses figured out a legal way to fire him, which he claims they ultimately did. The Yukon Government denies this, and is opposing Schaers attempt in court to be reinstated. It was also granted an injunction barring Schaer from publishing any more of his recordings, and a restraining order preventing him from contacting Denise Monkman. Emails between numerous senior Yukon Government staff spanning the five days in question shed some light on the situation. "Obviously some pretty concerning allegations from the employee as well as some alarming behaviour from the same employee," wrote executive council office deputy minister Jim Connell on Saturday, Nov. 4, the day after Schaers "whistleblowing" email. On Nov. 8, Thomas Ullyett, the acting public service commissioner, emailed Connell to tell him Schaer had been dismissed. "He was rude and demanding to the end," Ullyett writes. Ullyett then emailed Justin Ferbey. "Id recommend that you have a conversation with Cheryl about how the (Respectful Workplace Office) would help the branch in question. If theres any truth to Schaers recordings, it appears to be a dysfunctional workplace." On Nov. 8, the day Schaer was let go, he said he and Ferbey got into a confrontation. Schaer was told to leave the building immediately. He refused, arguing with Ferbey about why he was being let go. And, as he had done for months, Schaer was recording. During a recording of this confrontation, a male voice can be heard saying, "Andrew, you need to read the letter. You are being terminated because you are taping people." Schaer asks to return to his desk to collect his belongings. The male voice at first refuses, then agrees to escort Schaer to his desk. When Schaer tries to leave with a backpack, the male voice insists the backpack must be searched to ensure Schaer isnt leaving with sensitive government information. Schaer refuses and the stand-off continues. On the recording Schaer can be heard picking up his desk phone and calling the RCMP. He claims he is being held against his will, and asks the police to come and investigate. With the police on their way, Schaer is allowed to leave with his bag unsearched before police arrive. While the case goes to court this month, it wont be the first time Schaers picked a legal fight following his removal from an organization. In the early 2000s, Schaer was a member of the Barrie, Ont. yacht club. After a similar falling out where club members accused him of being impossible to work with, and he accused the clubs executive of orchestrating an illegal ouster Schaer sued the club and several of its executives. Court documents show he served each member with his statements of claim himself, in person. During several of those interactions, the police were called. One of those members was Ian White. On July 12, 2001, White returned home from a late dinner with his wife to find Schaers statement of claim shoved under his front door. "He also saw a liquid puddle on the front stoop which he identified by smell as urine," wrote Justice Ernest Loukidelis, who authored the decision. Schaer admitted to leaving the documents but denied peeing on Whites porch. Two days later Schaer appeared at Whites door at 9:15 p.m. White armed himself with a 40-centimetre fibreglass baton, opened the door, "and in no uncertain terms told (Schaer) to "Get the f--k off my property," Loukidelis wrote. What happened next is a matter of some dispute. Schaer claimed White attacked him with the club, striking a smashing blow to his head and leaving him to collapse in a neighbours driveway. A hospital report showed only minor swelling and a superficial cut to his left temple, according to Justice Loukideliss decision. White claimed that after he opened the door, Schaer jumped back, "struck a karate-style pose" and continued to taunt White with claims that they would see each other in court. White was found not guilty in a separate criminal trial. Loukidelis dismissed Schaers civil claim. Schaer also lost his broader suit against the yacht club over his removal from its membership, though not before he appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which declined to hear the case. "In hindsight, the battle that I picked with the Barrie Yacht Club probably wasnt the right battle to pick," Schaer said. "This battle Im picking (with the Yukon Government) is the battle I was born to pick," he said. "I believe that I was chosen for this," Schaer said. "I think that God knew I would have the conviction, at my own peril, to stand up and speak truth to power, to shine a light and blow the whistle because what they are doing is wrong." Correction - May 15, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name of the Ontario Superior Court Justice who authored the 2004 decision. The judgment was authored by Justice Ernest Loukidelis. Correction- May 25, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Andrew Schaer is suing the Yukon government and his former bosses in the department of economic development for wrongful dismissal. In fact, Schaer has not filed a wrongful dismissal claim. He has filed an Application for Judicial Review of his November 2017 release from probation on grounds that it was actually a disciplinary termination. As well, the article was edited to make clear that a hospital report referenced in regard to an incident in Barrie in 2001 represented the findings of a court decision by Justice Ernest Loukides. Read more about: JERSEYVILLE Next Friday, the Jersey County Business Association will celebrate the students in Jersey Community Unit District 100 who have a perfect attendance record for the 2017-2018 school year. As part of the Panthers be Present program, all kindergarten through fifth-grade students could earn a new bicycle for perfect attendance. The names of those who have earned a bicycle will be announced on May 18. Parties will be held at Grafton, East, and West Elementary and Illini Middle School on Friday for all the students who have earned a new bicycle. Students will enjoy refreshments and receive a new helmet from Walmart. They will also be awarded a certificate, which they can redeem for a new bicycle at either Wm Nobbe & Co. or Medfords Bicycle Shop. The program has been a great success currently, there are three times more perfect attendees than there were last year. Education is so important to success, said Stephanie Ash, chair of the JCBA. Research findings show that entrepreneurs who are better educated are more likely to succeed. The business community wanted to help to stress the importance of a childs education and we are thrilled that so many students rose to this challenge. Wed like to thank J.F. Electric, Jersey Community Hospital, Medfords Bike Shop, Scheffel Boyle Employees, Walmart, Wm Nobbe & Co., 1st Mid America, Tri County FS, Inc., Marshall Chevrolet, CNB Bank & Trust, Heneghan & Associates, Scheffel Boyle, Edward Jones - Steve Medford, Wittman & Lorton, Jersey State Bank, Country Financial - Nathan Wittman & Miles Accounting for their generous support that made this program happen. One of the reasons I chose to come to work here in Jerseyville was the clear and unwavering support that this community has for its children and their schools, Superintendent Brad Tuttle said. Our local business community gives generously to Community Unit School District 100, and we are very grateful for their ever-present backing. Fittingly, two of the donors to the Panthers Be Present program were attendance record-holders themselves. Both Danny Phipps from Scheffel Boyle and Steve Medford from Edward Jones never missed a day of school throughout their education in Jerseyville. Both were present for each day of school from kindergarten until they graduated from high school. I love this story, Ash said. These are two successful individuals in our community who clearly embody the values of the Panthers be Present program. It is wonderful and right that they would choose to be a part of it. EDWARDSVILLE A Second Circuit judge appointed to hear suits relating to search warrants served on Madison County Administration offices said he would probably have a ruling on several motions in approximately 30 days. Judge Jerry Crisel of the Second Circuit listened to arguments by Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons and lawyers representing several county officials at a hearing Thursday. The hearing dealt with motions by Gibbons to toss out the lawsuit and/or stop the discovery process in the suits. The suits ask the court to clarify whether Gibbons should represent three present county officials and one former county official involved in the investigation and whether he should prosecute the case. The original suit was filed by attorney Ed Moorman on behalf of County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler, County Administrator Doug Hulme and IT Director Rob Dorman. A second suit was filed by attorney Amy Sholar on behalf of former Administrative Director Steve Adler, now executive director of the Metro East Sanitary District. The suits stem from a series of search warrants served on the offices of several Madison County officials in January by the newly-formed Madison County Public Corruption Task Force and a subsequent grand jury investigation. The task force was formed at the request of Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons after evidence surfaced of possible illegal conduct by county officials. Most of the hearing focused on the motion to strike the case. Gibbons maintained that many of the questions raised by the lawsuits are premature. He noted that, according to state law, prosecution does not start until charges are filed, and no charges have been filed yet. Gibbons also said that although he had asked for the formation of the task force after receiving evidence of possible illegal activity, he had nothing to do with the searches or subsequent grand jury subpoenas. Moorman argued there are a large number of factual issues that need to be resolved, and Sholar argued that there were both civil and criminal issues in the cases that could create potential conflict of interest. There are a million and one hypotheticals where a conflict could present itself, she said. There is great harm in not appointing a special prosecutor. She also said Gibbons held a press conference after the initial raids. Gibbons disputed that, saying he did not hold a press conference, but his office did release a statement in order to clarify several issues. A major point was that there were some reports alluding to a Democratic sheriff going after the Republican administration. Gibbons noted that although the Madison County Sheriffs Department had personnel involved in the investigation, other agencies included the Illinois State Police, Alton Police Department, Granite City Police Department and Collinsville Police Department. He also noted that if there were charges filed that might make a difference and he would call for a special prosecutor. Crisel asked one question; What would be the harm if a special prosecutor is appointed? Gibbons said at this point there would be nothing for them to do. At this point there is no prosecution occurring, he said. Crisel said he would not make an immediate ruling, but would try to have one finished within about 30 days. Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447. For the Telegraph EDWARDSVILLE More than 50 Brownies, Juniors, and parents from the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois learned about the benefits of biofuels, fermentation, and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) during the Fueling Fun biofuels workshop at the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. From fermentation in Amish Friendship Bread to a tour of the Centers 24,000-square-foot pilot plant and a Shark Tank-style badging session, all of the workshops had a common theme: women and science. JERSEYVILLE Two people were critically injured when a motorcycle struck a Jerseyville woman as she was crossing U.S. 67. According to Illinois State Police, 36-year-old Anna Townsend of Jerseyville was crossing U.S. 67 at Hillside Lane about 8:30 p.m. Thursday as Randal Giberson, 60, of Jerseyville was riding his motorcycle on the highway. Police said Giberson was unable to avoid hitting Townsend. BRIGHTON Two Godfrey women were injured Thursday in a crash north of Brighton. Patricia Bracht, 80, and Patricia Goreman, 80, both of Godfrey, were taken to hospitals in the area after the 2014 Cadillac they were in, driven by Bracht, according to Illinois State Police District 18 Trooper Heath Bryan, attempted a U-turn on Illinois Route 111/Illinois Route 267 at Gun Club Road north of Brighton in Macoupin County and were hit by a tractor trailer. Bracht was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis by ARCH Air Medical Service; Goreman was transported to Alton Memorial Hospital by Alton Memorial Ambulance. Neither injury was considered life-threatening, according to Bryan. The crash occurred at approximately 12:39 p.m. Thursday when the Cadillac pulled off the roadway to the right and tried to make a U-turn. The tractor trailer, going in the same direction, was unable to avoid the Cadillac. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured. Other agencies on scene were Brighton Fire Department and Brighton Police Department. State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, remains cautious on lending to the gems and jewellery sector in the wake of recent fraud that rocked a state-owned rival. Billionaire diamantaire Nirav Modi is alleged to have defrauded the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore in connivance of a few officials of the bank's branch in Mumbai. In that backdrop, jewellers have said that the banks, already burdened with huge non-performing assets, have tightened lending to the sector. SBI, which currently has an exposure of around Rs 7,400 crore to the gems and jewellery sector, says it remains watchful. "We have a comfort in terms of the portfolio, then of course we have been very careful in lending to the sector for quite some time," said Dinesh Kumar Khara, managing director of SBI. While financing opportunity in the sector remains large, Khara says in the backdrop of the fraud, the current ecosystem does not give confidence and therefore the cautious approach. "We are very mindful of the fact that there is a whole lot of opportunity when it comes to financing, but then whatever happened in the past, that has led to a situation where we have to be mindful in terms of what is the underlying risk and the ecosystem does not offer all the confidence," he said. The gems and jewellery industry, which contributes to around 7 per cent to India's GDP, was also rattled by the fraud as companies and exporters are facing difficulties in getting credit and banks demanding more collateral. The cost of credit had also gone up. The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is now rolling out its own know your customer initiative, which it hopes will help in better information facilitation for the banks and ensure more transparency in the sector. A White Paper was released by the GJEPC on Friday on mitigating risks effectively in the wake of the recent fraud. The council's recommendations to its members and banks include formation of an informal arbitration body to find fair resolution for management of non-performing assets, and that the council will provide critical data analysis on key observations of the trade at regular intervals, facilitating banks to assess industry scenario. GJEPC also wants the quantum of collateral security sought by banks to be based on credit rating, performance, account operations and industry scenario, among other external factors. It will also insist all members to register under My KYC Bank. Through the initiative, companies can update their KYC once, there will be a back-end compliance team for checking the information and each legal entity will get a unique identification number. This is being done so that it is easier for banks to assess and access all the relevant KYC information they need with respect to a company. Khara says, it is a good initiative, but the industry members will have to not just preach but actually practice it, for banks to be convinced of the long-term prospects of lending to the sector. "The KYC bank that they are creating, it will go a long way. But, there has to be a total commitment on the part of members because it is in the interest of all," he said. Khara says there is a need to test the KYC system proposed by GJEPC and if it works as it has been intended, it will certainly lower the risks and banks will be in a position to lend to the sector at lower rates. Indian actors Kangana Ranaut and Deepika Padukone won the hearts of many at the French Riviera as they walked down the red carpet at the Cannes film festival. Deepika, who is coming to the famed festival for the second time, wore a white gown with a flowy cape and intricate work by designer Zuhair Murad. With side swept hair, Deepika Padukone opted for minimalistic make-up. "Ready to rock and roll... #Cannes2018 @zuhairmuradofficial," she wrote on her Instagram page. The actor walked the red carpet for the cosmetic brand she endorses. During the day, Deepika Padukone opted for three different looks. Kangana Ranaut, who made her Cannes red carpet debut, also opted for a pastel gown from the Lebanese designer. Kangana Ranaut lived upto her reputation of a fashionista as she descended on the red carpet in a dull grey sheer embroidered and backless gown. She also opted for minimalistic make-up coupled with hair bun and accessories. Earlier, Kangana Ranaut also made an appearance at the Indian Pavilion in a sultry, sequinned black saree from designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee with white pearl jewellery. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will walk the Cannes red carpet on May 12 and 13, while newly-married actress Sonam Kapoor will descend on the red carpet on May 14 to May 15. Actress Huma Qureshi is also attending festival and made her red carpet appearance in a beige pantsuit from designer by Nikhil Thampi. Qureshi met Hollywood star Lupita Nyong'o at the festival and also posted a photo with the Black Panther star on Instagram. "It's always great to bump into strong inspiring women.. So nice to meet the beautiful and uber talented Lupita Nyong'o," she wrote. As the nation still mourns the untimely death of Bollywood actress Sridevi in February, the incident is back in the news again. On Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking an independent probe into her death. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the plea filed by Sunil Singh, a filmmaker, who sought an independent investigation into Sridevi's death. He moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court had on March 9 refused to entertain his PIL to probe her death, saying authorities in India and Dubai had already looked into the incident. According to reports, in his petition, Sunil Singh mentioned that he was in Dubai on a family vacation from February 20 to February 26. He also claimed that he spoke to hotel staff, officials at the hospital where the actor was taken and others associated with the case. He received information that was contrary to what was initially reported, and had therefore filed a plea. Singh also claimed that Sridevi had Rs 240 crore life insurance cover on her name and was killed so that it could be fraudulently claimed. Bollywood's lady superstar Sridevi died on February 24 was found dead in her hotel in Dubai, where she had gone to attend Mohit Marwah's wedding. Her husband Boney Kapoor, who had attended the wedding, had flown back from Mumbai to Dubai to ' surprise her'. Boney flew back from Mumbai and went to her room at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel at around 5.30 pm, to "surprise" her with the dinner, a source close to the family told the Khaleej Times. He woke her up and the couple chatted for about 15 minutes before he invited her for dinner. Sridevi then went to the washroom. After 15 minutes had passed and Sridevi did not come out, Boney knocked on the door to check on her. When he got no response, he forced open the door to find the legendary actor lying motionless in the bathtub full of water, the source said. Sridevi's death had led to may speculations and rumours. Her body was released only after the Dubai Prosecution completed investigation and issued a clearance letter. The 54-year-old, whose sudden death sent shock waves throughout India, was given a state funeral on February 28 with her body wrapped in the tricolour and a gun salute by the Mumbai Police. Sridevi was posthumously awarded the national award for best actress for her role in Mom. -with inputs from agencies Actress Zaira Wasim, 17, who courted fame with Dangal and Secret Superstar, says she has been suffering from depression for over four years, but was pushed into a "bubble of denial" The National Award winner opened up about her struggle via a lengthy post shared on Instagram on Thursday night. "I'm writing this to (finally) admit and confess that I, for a very long time have been suffering from depression," Zaira Wasim wrote. Zaira Wasim said she has been "embarrassed and scared" to admit it not only because of the stigma that goes around with the word depression, but most importantly because of always being told that 'You're too young to be depressed' or 'It's just a phase'". The young and talented girl from Srinagar said she has sometimes popped five anti-depressants everyday, faced anxiety attacks, was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, felt empty, restless, anxious and hallucinated, apart from having sore limbs from sleeping too much or not being able to sleep for weeks. "From overeating to starving myself, unexplained fatigue, body ache, self loathing, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, were all parts of this phase," said Zaira Wasim, who made her debut with Aamir Khan's 2016 drama Dangal. A post shared by Zaira Wasim (@zairawasim_) on May 10, 2018 at 2:28pm PDT Zaira Wasim said she knew something wasn't right for her, however, people and doctors around her told her, "It's nothing, you're too young to be depressed". Her first panic attack was at the age of 12, and another one at 14. Zaira Wasim was in the news earlier this year after she spoke up about being molested by a co-passenger in a Delhi-Mumbai flight. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better. Because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it, she had said in a video posted on her Instagram page. The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck. The video went viral, prompting the Mumbai Police to record Wasim's statement and lodge an FIR. Zaira Wasim's family, however, was initially reluctant to file a complaint. The accused, Vikas Sachdeva, 39, was arrested and charged under sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Indian Penal Code. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday tweeted that she was happy RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had gotten bail. Lalu was granted provisional bail of six weeks on Friday on health grounds. He had obtained parole for a period of three days for the wedding of his son, Tej Pratap Yadav, on Saturday. Heartiest congratulations @laluprasadrjd Lalu Ji on the happy occasion of the marriage of your son. Also happy too that you got bail. Best wishes to your family Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 11, 2018 Lalu has been in prison since December when he was convicted in a Fodder Scam case. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra are expected to attend the wedding of Lalu's son. Gandhi had met Lalu when he was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, triggering criticism by the BJP. The wishes from Banerjee and the attendance of Congress leaders for his son's wedding point to the fact that Lalu is still being wooed by opposition leaders as his party is the main opposition group in Bihar. Last week, a controversy erupted at AIIMS after Lalu alleged he was discharged from the premier hospital under 'political pressure'. Interestingly, yoga guru Baba Ramdev also congratulated Lalu on his obtaining bail when he visited the latter's home in Patna and reportedly advised him to do yoga for good health. (With agency inputs) Mumbai top cop Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in Mumbai on Friday. Roy, who had worked as Mumbai crime branch chief and ATS chief, was found dead at his residence around 1:45 pm. According to initial reports, the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer was suffering from cancer and was on long leave. However, the exact reason for his suicide is yet to be known. Roy, who would have been 55 next month, allegedly shot himself with his service revolver. He was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Himanshu Roy had held many responsible positions including that of Additional Director General of Police of Maharashtra and ATS Maharashtra chief. Roy is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey, fringe Bollywood actor Laila Khan and law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta in Mumbai. He also played major role in probing IPL spot-fixing and betting. Last week, a Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court convicted and sentenced dreaded gangster Chhota Rajan and eight others to life imprisonment for the murder of J Dey. Roy was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. It was during his tenure as the ATF chief that software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. "He was suffering from cancer but he was fighting it. It is very unfortunate that he had to end his life like this," said Mumbai police commissioner M.N. Singh. Reports said Roy was also a fitness enthusiast. I had spoken to him two months ago and it did not seem to me that he was low. He was always such a strong officer, eminent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam was quoted by a news portal. With inputs from PTI Taking lessons from the past accidents, Indian Navy has adopted a new deployment policy for its warships. Now, the warships and submarines undergoing refit or repairs will be deployed only after multiple trials. Earlier, these ships were immediately sent on operational duty, which resulted in mishaps. There were several incidents of a warship involved in accident soon after joining the fleet. In February 2014, Russian origin Kilo class submarine INS Sindhuratna met with an accident soon after joining the fleet after refit. Two officers died and seven sailors were injured in the accident, which eventually led to resignation of the then Navy chief Admiral D.K. Joshi. According to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, submitted in July last year, the Indian Navy's ships and submarines were involved in 38 accidents between 2007-08 and 2015-16, adversely affecting the operational preparedness of the force. The new policy is termed as the 'transition cycle' for its warships and submarines. This carefully monitors the transition from maintenance periods to operational deployments. Top naval commanders discussed this issue in the four-day long Naval Commanders Conference which concluded in Delhi on Friday evening. "This (transition cycle) has resulted in considerable improvement in combat efficiency and crew proficiency of ships undergoing the new transition cycle. The new methodology has also resulted in the overall improvement of operational logistics, spares management and forecasting, refit planning and expenditure management," Navy said in its statement. Naval commanders conference also undertook a review of the Navys mission-based deployments with an aim at maximising benefits accrued from the deployment of Indian Navy ships and aircraft to critical areas within the Indian Ocean Region. At a given point of time, more than two dozen ships of Indian Navy are on mission-based deployment in the Indian Ocean Region for carrying out anti-piracy patrol and aiding humanitarian assistance. "Measures such as information sharing with other navies as well as combining defence diplomacy initiatives such as bi-lateral exercises and port visits into these deployments are planned to be undertaken,"Captain D.K. Sharma, spokesperson for Indian Navy said. Naval commanders conference is held in every six months to review the operational preparedness of Navy along with a host of other administrative and logistics issues. During the conference, a new digital library available pan-Navy for knowledge management and retrieval including archiving of critical date and information was also launched. It was complemented by deliberations on the security and hardening of naval data networks in keeping with contemporary cyber security practices. In keeping with the Navys ethos of harnessing niche technologies, concrete plans to incorporate big data analytics and artificial intelligence into the Navys operational functioning have also been formulated, according to a Navy official. The Biannual Naval Commanders Conference, which began on Monday, had intense deliberations on a wide ranging issues of Indian Navy. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her inaugural day speech, had assured naval commanders that endeavours to bridge critical capability gaps in ship-borne helicopters, fleet support ships and submarines would be progressed by the government. While extended support to the long-term capability acquisition plans of the Navy that have been formulated with a strategic view of the Indo-Pacific region, the defence minister also emphasised the imperative need for approval of the second indigenous aircraft carrier. This project, along with the other shipbuilding projects, are already underway or in the pipeline. Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs), Landing Platform Dock (LPD), Anti-Submarine Shallow Water Craft, Diving Support Vessels and Survey Vessels are expected to provide a major thrust to the Make-in-India initiative of the government. The fifteen-year Naval Indigenisation Plan, promulgated in 2015 by the Navy, has set the tone for the domestic industry to create infrastructure, skilling and jobs. Both were in blue. But the colour didn't reflect the mood when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met Myanmar's State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi with an all women delegation in her office on Friday. Swaraj is on a two-day trip to Myanmar in a bid to strengthen bilateral relationships. The visit is part of the on-going high level interaction'' between the two countries. Swaraj, who has been on a whirlwind travel schedulethis is her third trip abroad in the past one monthmet newly sworn in President U Win Myint. He was sworn in March, after the earlier President Htin Kyaw resigned from his duty citing health reasons. During the bilateral meetings, boundary and border related issues, peace and security matters, developments in the Rakhine State, including return of displaced persons, Indias development assistance to Myanmar, ongoing projects, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed,'' according to a press release issued by the ministry of external affairs. The displacement of the Rohingyas might be a matter of concern for India especially as it has the potential of being a humanitarian crisis, a sort of Syrian refugee problem for these parts. But it is a touchy issue, too. We have to walk the tight-rope skillfully, which we have done till now,'' says Vivek Katju, former ambassador to Myanmar. Both are our good neighbours and we need to balance our ties. Hence, India has approached this hot potato in the best way possible, through the promise of help in a tangible form. The minister noted'' that the various projects that India had signed focussed on socio-economic development and livelihood. The first such project was the construction of pre-fabricated housing in this troubled statean MoU was signed last year by the former secretary S. Jaishankar to meet the needs of those coming back. Instead of using the politically-loaded R word, India, instead, has reiterated its readiness and commitment to helping..the issues of the Rakhine State,'' a press release issued by the ministry of external affairs stated. The minister, however, underlined the need for safe and speedy sustainable return of displaced persons to Rakhine State,'' the press release said. In a way, refusing to use the Rohingya gives India the ability to tackle the issue taking on a confrontational stance. Seven MoUs were also signed. They include an agreement on the land border crossingthat has been long pendingand an agreement to restore and preserve the pagodas that were damaged by the earthquake in Bagan. India will train foreign service officers and set up two industrial training centres. The Unnao rape victim and her relatives on Friday demanded the death penalty for accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, after the CBI allegedly confirmed his role in the crime. The victim said, "I demand the death penalty for Sengar for raping me and for the murder of my father." The victim's uncle said, "We demand protection for our family, so that we can give our statement before the court fearlessly. We demand death penalty for Kuldeep Sengar." According to reports, the CBI has already recorded the victim's statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), in which she reiterated that Sengar raped her at his home in Uttar Pradesh's Makhi village on June 4 last year. On May 8, Sengar, main accused in the Unnao rape case, was shifted from the Unnao Jail to Sitapur Jail after an appeal was filed in the Allahabad High Court by the victim's family. The MLA from Bangarmau in Unnao district, who till recently enjoyed 'Y' category security, has three cases registered against him. The Uttar Pradesh Police had charged him under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction of woman), 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and handed over the case to the CBI. A member of the Save Farm Land and Save Environment Committee in Bhangar was gunned down on Friday allegedly by a gang of Trinamool Congress workers. It is alleged that the accused were sent by TMC leader Arabul Islam. Hafijul Mollah, 42, a member of the committee, was a candidate in the Panchyat election to be held on Monday. He was campaigning outside the liberated zone in Natunhat of the Bhangar block of South 24 Parganas, just 30 km from Kolkata, when he was shot at. This is the first death of a committee member since they freed the zone in January 2017. THE WEEK, in its latest issue, has published a detailed cover story on the liberated zones in West Bengal The incident has taken place on the day THE WEEK published a detailed cover story on the liberated zones in West Bengal. The issue has hit the market all over India on Friday. The incident took Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by surprise as she was desperate to find a solution to the power grid project for which around 14 acres of land were allegedly acquired by force by the government of West Bengal in 2013. It was Arabul who led the local administration to acquire land from unwilling farmers at gun point. Sources have confirmed to THE WEEK that Mamata has asked police to arrest Arabul immediately. The chief minister was very angry and ordered South 24 Parganas and Kolkata police to arrest Arabul Islam. We are trying to nab him, said a senior officer of the West Bengal police. The road that leads to Bhangar from Kolkta has been blocked and Section 144 has been imposed around the liberated zone. Hafijul was to contest the Panchayat election as an independent candidate with the support of the Save Farm Land Committee. According to Moshraf Hussein, joint secretary of the committee, a big team led by the Hafijul was campaigning at Natunhat North, just outside the liberated zone. The Trinamool Congress team was heavily armed and Sheikh Khude, the right hand man of Arabul, fired at him (Hafijul) from a close range. The bullet pierced his chest, said Mosharaf. Hafijul was then brought back to Machibhanga profusely bleeding. He could have been saved had he been allowed to reach the hospitals in the New Town area of Rajharhat in Kolkata, just 10 km from the place where he was attacked. But villagers said they faced obstruction when they tried to take him out of their zone. Hasibuls heartbeat stopped around 6.30 pm, just half an hour after he was shot. His body was later allowed to be taken to the government hospital where he was declared brought dead. A heavy police contingent reached Bhangar after the incident fearing retaliation as state government believed that Maoists have infested the free zone of Bhangar. A top source of the CPI (ML) Red Star has claimed that the chief minister has asked the police to arrest Arabul to rescue him. Otherwise he would be killed by irate mob, said the leader. All these years, women prisoners of Gujarat's biggest jailSabarmatiin Ahmedabad were jobless. But now they have work on handa work that would give them and women inmates of other jails across the state a freedom of sort. Karma Foundation, an NGO, is helping women in Sabarmati Jail make sanitary napkins. Priyanshi Patel of the foundation said on Friday that the sanitary pads would be given free of cost to the women inmates in all jails in the state. Patel said that the whole idea is that the women become independent and take this up as a business opportunity, if they wish, once they are free. The foundation was doing a few activities, including creating awareness about right to cleanliness, in the jail when Navjivan Trust, set up by Mahatma Gandhi, came up with an idea about women making sanitary napkins. Managing Trustee of the Navjivan Trust Vivek Desai said that the Trust's role would be to coordinate between the foundation and the jail authorities. Having procured a machine from National Innovation Foundation and set it up in the jail, the foundation has plan to reach out to women in 14,000 out of the 18,000 villages in the state. Patel, however, said that this would happen over a period of five to six years. Funded by the foundation, the not for profit project would take about two years to reach the break-even point. In the villages, the idea is to explain them about the necessity of using a sanitary napkin and make them use it rather than only focussing on its marketing. Patel said that the pads, in five different sizes, are biodegradable and made up of corn starch. The material is procured by them and training is also being imparted. Initially, the women are making a few hundred pads. The actual capacity is to make 4,000 pads per day. The women inmates of the jails in Gujarat would get pads free of cost whereas in the villages, at a later stage, they plan to sell them at a subsidzed rate of Rs 17 per packet as against the regular market price of around Rs 30 per packet. Each packet contains eight pads, said Patel. Whatever money earned will be reinvested in training and buying more machines. A representative of the Karma Foundation said that the machine installed at the Sabarmati Jail costs Rs 5.5 lakh. There is a similar machine in Nagpur jail, he said. Jail superintendent in-charge V.H. Dindor said that the foundation would pay the women inmates as per the rules of the prison. Dindor said that women inmates often demanded that they be given work. There has been work for the male prisoners but not for women, who did odd work. Appreciating the gesture, he said that in the past an attempt to train them in beauty parlour classes had failed. Dindor said that now that the women would start earning, they would be able to buy something from the canteen in the jail, if they wished. Earlier, they could not, he remarked. Currently, on one machine, the foundation has been able to employ about 10 to 15 out of the 150-odd women inmates. Israel said it attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time in the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries. It was the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the 2011 start of the civil war in which Iranians, allied Shiite Muslim militias and Russian troops have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad. The confrontation came two days after the United States announced its withdrawal, with Israels urging, from a nuclear accord with Iran. Israel destroyed dozens of Iranian military sites in Syria, as well as Syrian anti-aircraft units that tried unsuccessfully to shoot down Israeli planes, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said. Syrian state media said Israel launched dozens of missiles and hit a radar station, Syrian air defense positions and an ammunition dump, underscoring the risks of a wider escalation involving Iran and its regional allies. The Syrian Army Command said Israels attack killed three people and injured two others. A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians. The White House, in a statement, condemned Irans provocative rocket attacks from Syria and said it supported Israels right to defend itself. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israels air strikes were appropriate because Iran had crossed a red line. We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria, Netanyahu said in a brief video address. Expectations of a regional flare-up, amid warnings from Israel that it was determined to prevent any Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, were stoked by U.S. President Donald Trumps announcement on Tuesday about the withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The United States portrayed its rejection of that agreement as a response, in part, to Irans military interventions in the Middle East, underpinning Netanyahus tough line towards Tehran. Israel said 20 Iranian Grad and Fajr rockets were shot down by its Iron Dome air defense system or did not reach targets in the occupied Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria in a 1967 war. The Quds Force, an external arm of Irans Revolutionary Guards, carried out the rocket salvo, Israel said. There was no immediate comment from Iran. Iran and Israel were already drawing deeper into confrontation before Trump pulled the United States out of the deal, but his move has shaken up the region. Within Iran, it could empower hardliners while weakening the moderate camp that has sought better relations with the West. EVERYONE GOT THE MESSAGE Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Iranian rockets either fell short of their targets - military bases in the Golan - or were intercepted. We hit ... almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, Lieberman said at the annual Herzliya security conference near Tel Aviv. I hope we finished this chapter and everyone got the message. The White House said, The Iranian regimes deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East. The Syrian foreign ministry said the Israeli attack indicated the start of a new phase of aggression against Syria. Thursdays exchange followed a suspected Israeli rocket strike in Syria on Tuesday on a military base in Kisweh, hours after Trumps announcement on the nuclear deal. The Syrian Observatory for Human rights said 15 people, including eight Iranians, were killed in that attack. A commander in the pro-Syrian government regional alliance said there were no casualties. Israel, as it has typically done in similar incidents, neither confirmed nor denied a role. France urged Iran on Thursday to refrain from all military provocation and cautioned it against all temptations for regional hegemony. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the overnight attacks by Iranian forces and called on Iran to contribute to de-escalation of tensions in the region. Russia, generally friendly to Israel but fighting in Syrias civil war on the same side as Iran, called on both to show restraint and resolve differences through diplomatic means. Russias defense ministry said Syria had shot down more than half of the missiles fired by Israel, RIA news agency reported. Conricus, the Israeli military spokesman, said the military focused on inflicting long-term damage on the Iranian military establishment in Syria and assessed it will take a substantial time to replenish. The Israelis fear that Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are turning Syria into a new front against them. Israel says its occasional strikes in Syria aim to prevent such an outcome. Israel regards Iran as its biggest threat and has repeatedly targeted Iranian forces and allied militia in Syria. - Reuters All concerns that may have led to Raazia film based around the India-Pakistan war of 1971not getting a release in Pakistan probably because they expected a portrayal of hatred, can be abolished completely. Yes, it is a sensitive subject and treads a thin line. However, a tale that could have easily ended up as another jingoistic offering from Bollywood, has being dealt sensibly, thanks to the refined purview of director Meghna Gulzar. She looks at the story not just objectively, but balances it so well that you forget that in the current times there is so much tension brewing between the two countries. Based on retired Navy officer Harinder Sikkas 2008 book, Calling Sehmat, Raazi is the story of Sehmat Khan (Alia Bhatt) who gets married to Iqbal Syed (Vicky Kaushal)the youngest son in a family of army officers in Pakistan. Originally from Kashmir, belonging to a family of Muslim-Sikh patronage and studying in Delhi University, she follows in her fathers (Rajit Kapur as Hidayat Khan) footsteps who works for the Intelligence Bureau. Raazi is set in a time when it is no longer about the shadows of partitionpeople are not talking about their fathers and grandfathers having grown up in this or that side of the divided country. They, in fact, have their own deeply moving stories which follow them. Sehmats father is a college friend of her father-in-law, Brigadier Syed (Shishir Sharma). Syed may be a staunch Pakistani army officer, protective about his country, but that doesnt stop him from embracing his Indian daughter-in-law. In his trust, the audience can see the trust that still prevailed between the two countriesrelations were being built, and efforts were on to keep the affection for each-other intact. Then there is the Syed family's household help Abdul (Arif Zakaria)an Indian who has ended up in Pakistan after the partition. A range of emotions are covered through Abduls reactions to certain situations. It is through the many people in the film, even in small roles, that Raazi explores how partition hadnt really touched humanity adversely, at least during that period. This remains true even as the tensions between India and Pakistan are running high in the midst of the liberation war. For instance, in one scene, Iqbal tells his father that Sehmats actions are a result of her love for her country. That is what makes Raazi a tale of human emotions more than just an espionage drama, which also it convincingly becomes. Meghna Gulzar, like she did with her earlier film Talvar, leaves it entirely on the audience to interpret the story as they want. But even while doing that, she covers all grounds, leaving no room for ambiguities that is often the case with a spy film. Alia Bhatt's acting prowess is on full display in Raazishe portrays a dutiful daughter-in-law as convincingly as she essays an undercover agent. The book Calling Sehmat is based on the true life story of a woman who married a Pakistani army officer to spy for her country. If reports are to be believed, the real Sehmat Khan passed away recently. We can safely say that Alia Bhatts performance is as close to real as it can getright from her being trained to be a spy to her really executing it, barring a few occasions when her dialect seems out of the place. And so is the the understated performance of Vicky Kaushal. Also, Jaideep Ahlawat as Khalid Mir, Sehmats trainer, shines in Raazi with a fine performance that requires him to have restrained emotions on his face. The songs, lyrics of which are penned by the legendary Gulzar, have a patriotic fervour, especially Ae Watan. Like the film itself, the songs, too, never force you to take side of either of the countries. Rather, what it does is move you deeply to introspect a bit about the situation, which has turned uglier since the period during which the film is set. Ae Watan will move you even after leaving the theatre, not as a patriotic song just for India but a love song that would suit well for any country. It is too aspirational to expect people to be as objective as we saw in the filmnot judgemental but practical. But there is no harm in at least hoping it becomes a reality. Film: Raazi Director: Meghna Gulzar Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat Rating: 3.5/5 Featured Event The 28th Annual Marketing Partner Forum In August 2021, Marketing Partner Forum returns to The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, CA for three days of rigorous education and professional networking at one of the nation's $895 USD (All Access Pass) The US has severely criticized Algerias protectionism as detrimental to trade and to the development of Algerian enterprises and US exporters alike. The US rebuke was expressed by Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who was speaking to the press in Algiers. The US chamber of trade does not encourage raising custom duties and restricting imports, he said. These are measures that do not encourage foreign investments, hinder innovation and the expansion of new technologies. The US official also called on Algeria to rethink its unfriendly investment policy, which limits foreign investors capital in a company to 49% with the remaining 51% going to an Algerian party. He said that such a restrictive policy thwarts FDIs thus blocking Algeria from diversifying its economy away from heavy dependence on hydrocarbons. LONDON Consumers are increasingly interested in content that reflects their personality type and is delivered in their preferred tone and style, according to new research published today by Reuters Plus - the branded content studio of the world's largest international multimedia news provider. The Content Connect II report, based on a new global survey of Reuters.com users, reveals that 77% of global consumers expect to see more personalised content in the future. It shows that branded content campaigns are more effective if they include personalised elements, with 63% of consumers agreeing that personally relevant content improves how they feel about the brand associated with it, and 58% see brands in a more positive light if they provide them with content that matches their interests. The survey, conducted by Synergy Research and Consulting, highlights the importance of style and tone in branded content, finding specific content topics appeal to different personalities. It finds, for example, that the top personality type for business and finance content is ambitious, whereas arts and culture is creative, politics is outspoken and travel is spontaneous. It also identifies the attributes consumers consider most appealing in branded content. It reveals that global consumers consider sponsored content more appealing if it is thought provoking (64%), imaginative (58%), humorous (55%) and innovative (51%). The Content Connect II research finds that consumers are open to new and innovative ways to engage with content, revealing a mix of appealing formats for consumers with short articles (64%), in-depth analysis (60%), video (55%) and infographics (45%) being the top choices. In terms of formats, 71% of consumers interested in branded content would prefer to see their favourite brands sponsoring websites, site sections or pages, whereas 57% would prefer to see brands sponsoring articles on websites, webpages or apps. Overall, consumers increasingly think brands can benefit from sponsoring quality content - 68% agreeing, compared to 60% last year and audiences are still receptive to branded content if the subject matter interests them, with 75% agreeing - equal to last year. Munira Ibrahim, Reuters SVP for Sales and Content Solutions, said; Whilst content marketing and branded content continue to grow, consumers are increasingly demanding more relevant and personalised content. This research shows that content marketers need to fully understand audiences preferences and personalities in order to maximise consumer interest and engagement. This is a priority for Reuters Plus in delivering effective solutions for our clients. Based on the findings, the Content Connect II report identifies seven steps for content marketers to consider when building successful branded content campaigns. The steps can be found here. The global online survey was conducted among 752 Reuters.com users between February 15 and March 6, 2018. The full Content Connect II report can be found here. Reuters Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Follow news about Reuters at @ReutersPR. Reuters Plus Reuters Plus is the branded content studio of the world's largest international multimedia news provider. For more information, visit plus.reuters.com. CONTACT Pete Biggs PR Manager, Reuters pete.biggs@tr.com +44 (0) 207 7542 4214 New York/London Neill Penney, co-head of Trading at Thomson Reuters, will serve as the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committees (FXJSC) private sector representative on the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC). The FX Global Code (Code) was launched in May 2017 to promote integrity, fairness, transparency, and effective functioning of the global foreign exchange markets. Alongside the launch of the Code, the GFXC was established to promote and maintain the Code and to facilitate communication between local foreign exchange committees (LFXCs) around the world. Each LFXC appoints two members to the GFXC, one from the private sector and one from the public sector. The Code is gaining rapid adoption within the FX industry with well over 100 market participants now having signed public statements of commitment The Code is a breakthrough in conduct reform across the FX industry, aiming to set a universally high bar for behaviour that is applicable in all countries and for all types and sizes of market participant. In light of the importance of the Code, the invitation to join the GFXC is an honour for me personally and, I believe, recognition of Thomson Reuters strong and long-standing commitment to facilitating an FX market that is open, fair, and efficient for all of its participants, said Mr Penney. I look forward to serving on the committee and working with other members to uphold and promote the principles of the Code. Thomson Reuters has played an active role in the development of the Code through its membership of the Market Participants Group and through participation in regional committees, including: the FXJSC, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Foreign Exchange Committee, the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market Committee, the Canadian Foreign Exchange Committee, and the Australian Foreign Exchange Committee. Thomson Reuters signed a statement of formal commitment to the Code in November, 2017. Rohan Churm, acting Chair of the FXJSC said: I am delighted that Neill has agreed to represent the FXJSC on the committee. The FXJSC is committed to assisting the GFXC in achieving its aim to promote a robust, liquid, open, and appropriately transparent FX market and to fulfil its vital role in maintaining the Code. The success of the GFXC and the Code is due in part to the unique public/private sector partnership the GFXC creates and I look forward to continuing that strong relationship going forward. Mr. Penney joined Thomson Reuters in May 2013 and was named co-head of Trading alongside Michael Chin in October 2016. Thomson Reuters is the largest trading venue in the FX market, facilitating an average of more than $400 billion per day in FX trading across all major currencies for market participants in over 120 countries. More than 20,000 traders from asset managers, banks, corporate treasurers and hedge funds use Thomson Reuters award-winning transactions platforms to trade in the FX market. More on Thomson Reuters FX trading capabilities can be found here. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is the worlds leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com. CONTACT Brian Bertsch +1-646-223-5985 brian.bertsch@thomsonreuters.com Archive ALBANY It will take many years and billions of dollars to fix aging municipal sewer systems that spill sewage into waterways after it rains, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli warned Thursday. Each year, so-called combined sewer systems (CSOs), which contain both storm water and municipal sewage, are overwhelmed by heavy rains, which causes billions of gallons of untreated sewage and rainwater to spill directly into rivers and streams. WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps closest backers are reveling in the downfall of former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman even retweeting Trumps own 2013 prediction that lightweight Schneiderman would be next to go. Gotcha, tweeted Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway on Monday evening, just hours after the New Yorker's posted an explosive expose that detailed four women's allegations of sexual abuse by Schneiderman. The Democrat resigned later that evening. Donald Trump Jr. also took a shot at how Schneiderman defended his behavior in allegedly abusive relationships as role-playing. Hey Eric, its not role play if only one of you is in on it, Trump Jr. tweeted. In addition to the sweeping ramifications for the future of his office, Schneidermans abrupt exit removes a major Trump legal nemesis from the field of combat. Schneiderman was investigating Trump-connected individuals, such as former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who are also in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and related matters. Any effort by Trump to fire Mueller or offer presidential pardons to people like Manafort would have had little effect on potential parallel investigations by Schneiderman's office. In addition, Schneiderman was conducting an investigation of the nonprofit Trump Foundation, and had won a $25 million settlement for former students of the presidents now-defunct "Trump University" success program. But at a more overtly political level, Trumps inner circle and perhaps the president himself appear to be hoping Schneiderman's alleged misdeeds takes the heat off Trump in the #MeToo era. At least 11 women have said Trump forcibly kissed, fondled or groped them against their will. Trump also famously bragged on an open microphone during a Access Hollywood taping in 2005 that such conduct is acceptable because when youre a star, they let you do it. And while the focus of the Stormy Daniels case is the $130,000 payoff to keep the porn star quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, the imbroglio only reinforces the image of Trump as a predatory libertine. Seeing Schneiderman go down for the count does create a sense of distancing from their own troubles, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Poughkeepsie-based Marist Poll. It may provide them a little relief but its temporary, Miringoff said. I suspect whoever ends up (running the attorney general's office) will continue to go down same legal routes as Schneiderman. Political leaders of both parties have condemned sexual abuse and harassment. But they have frequently differed in their reactions to accusations against their opponents as opposed to members of their own political tribe. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. This is a male-power problem, so you cant draw lines between Republicans and Democrats, said Donna Young, a professor at Albany Law School who specializes in gender issues. However, I do think Democrats take it much more seriously they denounce it relatively quickly. Republicans make excuses for it. Young cited the Democrats calls for the exits of U.S. Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Rep. John Conyers after revelations of sexual indiscretions, either alleged or admitted. By contrast, Young said, many Republicans including Trump did little or nothing to distance themselves from Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama in the wake of last fall's revelations he engaged in improper relationships with teen-age girls. Trump endorsed Moore, justifying his action by saying that the candidate had denied all the claims against him. Moore's defeat in a special election handed Democrats a rare victory in the deep-red state. New York Republican Chairman Edward Cox sidestepped the question of each partys relative moral culpability in the wake of Schneidermans departure. Schneiderman, Cox said, was a central figure in the culture of corruption that has grown out of Democratic control of the governors mansion as well as the positions of attorney general and comptroller. What it shows here is that Schneiderman was using #MeToo for his own purposes, said Cox, referring to Schneidermans robust support of women's issues. But what about Trump? Does the Schneiderman case do anything to let him off the hook? Im not talking about the president, Cox replied. This is about Andrew Cuomo. He is responsible for the culture of corruption in Albany. The Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahdha has flatly rejected reports that its leader Rached Ghannouchi had proposed his mediation in the diplomatic row opposing Morocco and Algeria, both tangled in a showdown over Algierss support for the Polisario separatist Front. London-based Middle East Eye (MEE) in a May 8 article, citing an anonymous Algerian diplomatic source, pointed out that Ghannouchi approached Rabat and Algiers to help iron out their differences. The Islamist leader contacted to this end Moroccan Premier Saad Eddine el-Othmani and the Algerian counterpart Ahmed Ouyahia, according to the media, which said that Ahmed Ouyahia told Ghannouchi there was no need for such a mediation and that Morocco should stop the propaganda against Algiers. Speaking to HuffPost Tunisie, the Head of the office of the Tunisian Islamist movement Presidency, Fawzi Kammoun lambasted MEEs article noting that the party does not interfere in other countries internal affairs. We reject it categorically, Kammoun said. Tensions have recently flared up between Morocco and Algiers over what Rabat called violation of ceasefire agreement by the Algeria-backed Polisario, which illegally intruded in the buffer zone town of Al Mahbes. Rabat referred the April violation to the UN and called on Algiers to rein in its protege. Rabat also announced on May 1 it was cutting off ties with Tehran over its support for the separatist group via its Lebanon-based Shia proxy movement Hezbollah. Moroccan authorities said they have undisputable evidence that Hezbollah delivered, through the Iranian embassy in Algiers, weapons to the Polisario and dispatched its military experts to Tindouf to train the Fronts militia to urban warfare. Several countries, including the members of the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) backed Moroccos decision, leaving Algeria isolated. Malta There is a question that is often on the minds of people when they think of GlobalFoundries, the computer chip maker that employs 3,500 people in the town of Malta at its Fab 8 factory. Is it profitable? The answer, it turns out, is both yes and no. It just matters how you define profitable. GlobalFoundries is privately held and one of many companies owned by Mubadala Investment Co., a private equity fund owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. Because of that, GlobalFoundries' financials aren't broken down like they would be by a public company that trades on U.S. stock market, like chip giant Intel, which had $9.6 billion in bottom-line net income during 2017 on $62.8 billion in revenue. IC Insights, a company that tracks semiconductor data, estimates that GlobalFoundries had $6 billion in revenue in 2017, although it does not break that down in terms of profit. Mubadala does release financial data on the various sectors that it invests in twice a year, and on paper it would appear that GlobalFoundries does not yet make a profit. But in an interview this week with Bloomberg TV, GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield said profitability in the bottom line sense isn't what GlobalFoundries is after right now. Caulfield, a New Yorker who was general manager of Fab 8 before becoming CEO of the entire company earlier this year, said that GlobalFoundries measures itself by its EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A lot of companies do release EBITDA because it is a useful way to look at a company's future profitability, especially if it is investing heavily in research and development and capital spending. And GlobalFoundries does, having acquired chip making facilities from IBM and Chartered Semiconductor and spending $15 billion on Fab 8. In the Bloomberg TV interview recorded Monday when Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak visited Fab 8, Caulfield said that GlobalFoundries is "EBITDA positive," meaning the company is profitable before paying for things like taxes and interest and factoring in depreciation costs. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. In fact, Caulfield wants to double GlobalFoundries EBITDA under his watch, meaning there is plenty of room to grow. Bloomberg TV host Erik Schatzker asked if GlobalFoundries was "net income" positive, which is the bottom line number that companies have on their balance sheet that includes all costs and accounting subtractions. "Different story," Caulfield said. "That's an investment depreciation story." In order for GlobalFoundries to achieve the scale it needs to compete with the biggest chip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung, it needs to build more capacity, which means expanding its factories like Fab 8 and adding new factories, which could also happen at Fab 8. It also means upgrading clean room equipment so that its factories are making the most sophisticated chips possible and command the highest return on investment. That takes a lot of capital and research spending, which lowers net income. "You have to decide where do you want to win this game, and for us it's all about generating cash to continue to invest and fund ourselves," Caulfield said. "So it's an EBITDA business until further instructed." Brunswick The developers of two proposed solar farms in the Town of Brunswick expect to begin work on their projects this summer, officials said Friday. The larger of the two solar farms, which is being developed by San Diego-based Borrego Solar Systems, would generate 5.6 megawatts of power, with panels covering about 21 acres of land at 138 Brick Church Road in Brunswick. Borrego also is proposing a 5.3-megawatt solar farm in Clifton Park. The town's planning board will review the proposal at its May 23 meeting. Dean Smith, senior civil engineer in Borrego's Lowell, Mass., office, said work on the Brunswick project likely will start in late August or early September and take four to five months to construct. More time may elapse before it is connected to the electric grid. Borrego is the largest solar develop in New York and Massachusetts, and ranks either third or fourth nationwide, Smith said. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. A second solar farm is also proposed in the Town of Brunswick by High Peaks Solar. That project will be located at 566 Brunswick Road, behind the Hope United Methodist Church, in the hamlet of Eagle Mills. Kevin Bailey, owner of High Peaks Solar, said he hopes to have final approvals in place within four to six weeks, and that construction should start this summer. His project, Hope Solar Farm, also will need to be connected to the electric grid. The 2.4-megawatt project's panels will cover about 10.5 acres. More details on the project may be found at hopesolarfarm.com. TROY Embattled but confident, Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove has begun his re-election campaign for a second term with the first goal of securing the county Republican Committee endorsement on May 19. Abelove, 48, of Rensselaer, has begun his push as his nemesis, former state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman resigned in disgrace this week over allegations of sexual abuse. He was the most politicized attorney general ever, Abelove said describing Schneiderman as unethical and immoral. Scheiderman, a Democrat, signed the indictment of Abelove, a Republican, that a special grand jury handed up in December. Abelove is charged with felony perjury and official misconduct, a misdemeanor, for his handling of a fatal Troy police-involved shooting of a driver in April of 2016. These charges are very, very defensible, Abelove said. The district attorney said he expects to see them either dismissed after the judge reviews motions filed by his attorney William Dreyer or to be acquitted if his case goes to trial. It is scheduled to start June 20 in County Court. We feel pretty good on that, County Republican Chairman John Rustin of Schaghticoke said about Abelove being cleared. Abelove has written the 224 Republican committee members asking for their support and will appear before the town and city committees next week to seek their endorsements as he heads to the full county committee meeting Im very, very excited to be running again. I love the job. Im very dedicated to it, Abelove said. Abelove has an active campaign Facebook page. His most recent posting was Monday, the day the New Yorker Magazine reported accusations of Scheneiderman's physical abuse of four women. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman must resign in the face of these horrific allegations. Domestic violence is inexcusable. Period. I join in the growing call for his resignation, and for an independent investigation by the appropriate District Attorney's office into the criminal allegations raised by these brave women, Abelove posted. Abelove supporters posted comments supporting the district attorney with some saying that Schneiderman was receiving payback for prosecuting him. Abeloves legal problems began when he held the grand jury investigation of Sgt. Randall French fatally shooting Edson Thevenin. Abelove did not have French waive immunity when he testified before the grand jury, which didn't indict French. The grand jury hearing went ahead even though Schneidermans office had been directed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to investigate fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians. Troy police said Thevenins car was a weapon and French was justified to fire his weapon. Abelove is viewed by Republicans as standing up to the Democrats in Albany. Joel's a good DA. Hes done a good job, said Tom Casey, the Troy City Republican chair. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Committee members, who asked not to be identified, said Abelove is widely supported in the county committee. They said there is scattered opposition, but not enough to derail his bid for a second term. While potential candidates for the Republican nomination were mentioned early in the year, none of them has made a public effort to secure party support. Abelove said he will campaign on his record and experience as a prosecutor pointing to murder convictions of Johnny Oquendo and Joseph Vandenburgh and long sentences his office has secured. He said he's taken steps to reduce staff churn by increasing salaries for assistant district attorneys. The county Democrats have endorsed Mary Pat Donnelly of East Greenbush to run for district attorney. Donnelly recently resigned as an East Greenbush town justice to begin fundraising and campaigning. As a town justice, she could not actively campaign to be district attorney. She works in the Albany city courts as a staff attorney. The petitioning period begins June 5 with a July 12 deadline for filing the petitions with the county Board of Elections. If the court date stands, Abelove will be on trial while he and Donnelly are circulating nominating petitions. Abelove said he will aggressively pursue the minor party lines as he did four years ago. Those ballot positions are crucial for Republicans who have to overcome the Democrats enrollment edge. Abeloves campaign committee, Friends of Joel Abelove, reported in its January disclosure filing that it had on hand $4,495. The committee also owed Abelove $40,000 in loans from his successful 2014 election campaign to win his current four-year term. Donnelly for District Attorney is newly formed, the committee has not yet had to file a disclosure statement. The county GOP committee meeting will be at 2 p.m. May 19 at the Lakeview on Crystal Lake Restaurant in Averill Park. In addition to the endorsement for district attorney, the committee is expected to back a candidate to run for the seat of retiring state Sen. Kathy Marchione of Halfmoon, who is not seeking a fourth two-year term. SCHODACK - An Athens man is accused of attacking a Schodack police officer when police tried to seize heroin and hypodermic needles from a passenger during a traffic stop Thursday. Michael Dauphin, 24, was charged with felony assault along with possession of a controlled substance, obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, Schodack Police said Friday. ALBANY - Two Capital Region Democrats are hoping to take on state Sen. Jim Tedisco in November. Sergia Coffey, of Milton, and Michelle Ostrelich,of Niskayuna, have formed campaign committees to challenge the Glenville Republican and could face off in a Democratic primary in September. The 49th Senate District, which has been represented by Tedisco since 2017, stretches into the Adirondacks and includes parts of Saratoga and Schenectady counties. Coffey is an economics professor with Empire State College and has lived in Milton for 20 years. She helped run her family's small business when she was younger and has a long history of political activism, including a losing bid for the Milton Town Board in 2017. Ostrelich is a stay-at-home parent, who previously practiced law in Philadelphia, and has lived in the region since 2005. She serves on the Niskayuna Zoning Board of Appeals and is a board member with the Niskayuna Community Foundation. After the presidential election in 2016, Ostrelich said she became involved in direct political advocacy and also has touted her community involvement and ability to find bipartisan solutions. Coffey and Ostrelich both support the NYS Health Act, which would create a single-payer health care model in New York and is championed by the state Assembly. "We're living in a society where people are going to GoFundMe pages to finance their health care," Coffey said. She is worried that her 22-year-old son, who had a heart transplant when he was 13, will need to hold fundraisers to pay for treatments when he leaves her health insurance at age 26. Coffey wants to legalize recreational marijuana use in New York and commute the sentences of New Yorkers incarcerated for marijuana convictions. Ostrelich doesn't have a position on legalization of marijuana. Ostrelich wants to increase state education aid by billions of dollars to the levels mandated by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. The petitioning process to get on the ballot begins in June and both Democrats say they're prepared for a primary. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Tedisco said he'll begin his campaign after the legislative session ends in June, but stressed the importance of Republicans retaining control of the chamber. "It's critically important to Upstate New York and our representative democracy that we maintain a balance of two voices in state government and hold our Senate Majority so we don't fall back to one-party downstate total domination that will be very bad for taxpayers and upstate residents," he said in a statement. Coffey said Tedisco hasn't done enough for working families, but credited his legislation on school bullying and Buster's Law. The 49th Senate District is conservative leaning and there are about 13,000 more Republicans than Democrats. In 2016, when it was an open seat, Tedisco won by about 50,000 votes. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 SCHENECTADY A jury on Thursday returned guilty verdicts against Joevany "Moon" Luna and Kyshaaan Moore for their roles in the 2016 contract killing of Charles Dembrosky outside his home on Campbell Avenue. Luna, 43, was convicted of first-degree murder, which carries the possibility of life without parole. Moore, 27, was acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted of second-degree murder, which brings a sentence of 25 years to life. The Wilmington, Del., men were both convicted of conspiracy and weapons charges. Tarchand Lall, the man who allegedly paid them $10,000 to kill Dembrosky, faces an upcoming first-degree murder trial as well. Assistant District Attorneys Peter Willis and Jennifer Assini alleged Lall wanted Dembrosky dead to collect on an insurance policy on Dembrosky's life that Lall took out in May 2016. After the verdict, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney alleged that Lall, who was recently charged with criminal solicitation while he remains in custody at the county jail, tried to arrange a second murder on the same blueprint. "The allegation is that he was trying to repeat the scheme with another victim ... trying to get somebody else murdered for life insurance proceeds," Carney said. Dembrosky was found shot once in the neck during the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 19, 2016. In the 10 days preceding the murder, Luna a Panamanian native who had no ties to upstate New York exchanged 67 phone calls or text messages with Lall. Prosecutors introduced what they described as overwhelming evidence against Luna and Moore. They noted Luna's cell phone number called the victim's cell phone in the hours before Dembrosky was killed. Cellphone data showed that on the night of the murder, the cell phones of Luna and Moore pinged off cell phone towers from Wilmington to Schenectady. Carney said the ability to map out the killers' digital trail was key to breaking the case. "It's not something that would have been possible at the beginning of my tenure. We didn't even have cell phones," said Carney, who has been in office since 1990. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Camera footage on the Thruway captured a license plate of a red Mazda 6 sedan matching the one owned by Moore's girlfriend traveling north on the night of the murder. Street camera footage captured the car outside the Schenectady home of Lall on the night of the murder. Prosecutors said it showed Luna and Moore, neither of whom had ties to Schenectady, were there to collect the money and get directions to Dembrosky's home. Meanwhile, Luna's ex-girlfriend, Brandi Moore (no relation to Kyshaan Moore) testified against Luna. She had received some of the money from Lall at a Wal-Mart in the Wilmington area. Luna attorney Mark Juda tried to pin the murder on Brandi Moore. Kyshaan Moore's lawyer, Michael Mansion, argued that his client had no involvement with Lall and the evidence against him was lacking. The verdicts were returned after less than a day of deliberations. ALBANY President Donald Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen knew of sexual misconduct allegations against former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2013, according to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday by a Putnam County attorney. The attorney, Peter Gleason of Mahopac, claims that two women had approached him independently of one another and about a year apart claiming that Schneiderman had been "sexually inappropriate" with them. Gleason says in the letter that he discouraged the women from reporting the incidents, but discussed the matter with Steve Dunleavy, a retired journalist, who offered to relay the information to Trump. Gleason wrote that he later received a phone call from Cohen whose dealings with Trump are being investigated by federal authorities and that he disclosed some details of the alleged incidents. Dunleavy, in a Friday interview with CNBC, acknowledged that he had a relationship with Trump but denied that he spoke to him about the alleged incidents involving the two women. "I may have spoken to Trump once since I retired" in 2008, Dunleavy told CNBC. He added, "I've never spoken to Cohen, ever, ever in my life." A cryptic 2013 tweet from Trump, who at the time was being sued by Schneiderman's office for his role in the "Trump University" success program, signaled that he was aware of the allegations. In it, he compared Schneiderman to two disgraced politicians who resigned following their own sex scandals, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former U.S. Rep. Anthony D. Weiner. "Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner," Trump tweeted in September 2013, a month after Schneiderman's office filed its suit against Trump University. Gleason is asking U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood to grant an order preventing public disclosure of any records concerning conversations he had with Cohen related to the two women. He said the women's identifies should remain confidential. Gleason said he was motivated to file the request following recent "reckless behavior" by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels who on Tuesday released a seven-page dossier detailing payments made to Cohen by various companies, including one owned by a Russian oligarch. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Schneiderman resigned Monday night just hours after the New Yorker's publication of a story detailing allegations by four women that Schneiderman physically and psychologically abused them. Gleason told the New York Times that he did not believe the two women who approached him were the same women whose stories are told in the New Yorker article. Michelle Manning Barish began dating Schneiderman in July 2013, according to the New Yorker story, while Tanya Selvaratnam began dating him in August 2016; a woman who remains unnamed in the story recounts an abusive encounter with Schneiderman that same summer, while a fourth alleged victim's account given to Selvaratnam is not dated in the story. Gleason's letter prompted New Yorker reporters Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow to counter theories that they had obtained any information from sources connected to the Trump campaign, noting that all the women cited in the story were Democrats. "Just to be clear: not one source for our story on Schneiderman has any ties to Trump or Michael Cohen," Mayer wrote on Twitter. "Our sources all are deeply opposed to Trump and deeply disappointed that Schneiderman let them and their cause down." Attempts to reach Gleason, Dunleavy, and Cohen were unsuccessful. BALLSTON SPA A judge sentenced auto repair businessman John W. Cole on Friday to seven years in prison the maximum for causing an alcohol-fueled car crash that left a backseat passenger a quadriplegic. Cole, 53, heard emotional impact statements from the victim as well as her husband and son, all longtime friends, as well as harsh words from Judge James A. Murphy III in Saratoga County Court. Cole will remain free pending appeal, according to the decision of an appellate judge something the victim touched upon to the court. "Unlike John, I wasn't afforded the opportunity of a jury trial or an appeals process that allows me to return home regardless of what happens today," said Deanna "Dee" Shapiro, a married mother of two. "Rather, John gave me a life sentence confined to this wheelchair, forever dependent on others for my basic needs," she said. Cole has "not once, not ever, apologized to me for what he did to me or my family. All because of a single senseless act that was 100 percent avoidable and completely unnecessary," Shapiro said. "John, and John alone, is responsible for what happened that night." In March, a jury convicted Cole, the owner of the Cole's Collision chain, of felony assault and alcohol-impaired driving for the March 11, 2017, crash. Citing a presentencing report compiled by a probation officer, Murphy told Cole it was "unbelievable" he blamed the Shapiros for not wearing seat belts. "You were impaired by alcohol," Murphy said. "You were speeding. You were reckless. You were showing off. You don't get it." The victim's husband, Scott Shapiro, told the judge that Cole "ended my family's life as we knew it in a matter of seconds " and refuses to accept responsibility. "All I can say is, John, drop the appeal acknowledge your actions," he said. "Take responsibility for what you and you alone did. Accept your sentence so we can all return to our lives. Most of all, give Dee the apology that any decent human being would have given her 426 days ago. And remember: You can lie to yourself about what happened, you can continue to lie to your friends, but you can't lie to God." Zachary Shapiro, 15, said Cole "was once a man I looked up to like a father, but a father wouldn't put my mother in a wheelchair. A father wouldn't put my parents' life at risk just to show off his car. ... A father wouldn't refuse to accept responsibility for his actions." The teenager's speech appeared to deeply affect Cole. When his own turn to speak arrived, he burst into tears. "I am deeply sorry and saddened for the pain that this brought so many people," Cole said. "It's been very difficult for me and my family, and I can't even begin to imagine the nightmare it must be for the Shapiros." Cole, who was acquitted of vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated, faced a sentence of two to seven years on the assault conviction. Assistant District Attorney Katherine DeMartino asked the court to impose the maximum penalty, and noted that this is Cole's sixth felony conviction. He served time in state prison after he was convicted in January 1991 of weapon possession, and then in October 1991 of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and possession of stolen property in Rensselaer County, and promoting prison contraband. Cole was released from prison on March 6, 1995. Cole's attorney, Cheryl Coleman, was successful in her efforts to keep Cole's previous convictions from being introduced at his trial. On Friday, she fiercely disputed the prosecution's claim that Cole lacked remorse and had not taken responsibility for his part in the crash. The incident occurred after Cole, his wife, Regina, and the Shapiros went out to join other couples for a night out at the Rusty Nail bar and restaurant and Trick Shot, where they went to see a band play. Cole drove with his wife in the front seat of the 2015 twin-turbocharged BMW coupe, with the Shapiros in the backseat. Just after midnight, Cole crashed the car into a tree on Sitterly Road. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The presentencing report said Deanna Shapiro believes Regina Cole committed perjury on the witness stand while testifying on his behalf. Regina Cole claimed that her husband lost control after swerving to avoid an unknown object, and that he did not seem intoxicated that evening. A blood test allegedly showed the defendant's blood alcohol level as 0.10 percent two points above the legal blood alcohol threshold for driving while intoxicated but it was ruled inadmissible for trial due to an administrative error. After Cole's conviction, Murphy ordered that he should be held in the county jail. Appellate Justice Eugene "Gus" Devine allowed the businessman to remain free on $50,000 bond while he appeals his case. The trial included the judge's repeated complaint that Cole's camp was attempting to influence jurors through a public relations campaign. Coleman, the defense attorney, relayed to Murphy a request from her client to have video and audio media coverage ceased because Cole feared it could wrongly influence the jury. Murphy then learned Cole had enlisted the Albany-based Baker Public Relations firm, headed by former local television reporter Megan Baker, to promote his company's philanthropic efforts with some of the area's best-known charities. The media blitz showed the leaders of several charities expressing their thanks to Cole's company. Included were leaders of the regional branch of the American Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House of Albany, Hannah's Hope Fund, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Rensselaer County, Lifesong Inc., Make-a-Wish Northeast New York and Capital District Youth for Christ. Leaders of some of the local charities told the Times Union they would never have wanted to take part had they known Cole was about to go on trial. The media outreach also included a March 4 Daily Gazette profile that didn't mention Cole's criminal case and a statement he issued through Baker in which he expressed regret for the crash. Murphy called it an "orchestrated, conspiratorial, PR-firm-manipulated, shopped-out method," admonished Cole and reminded him of his request to curtail media coverage. Baker has so far refused to respond to questions about her role in the effort. On Friday, Murphy said Baker had sent a letter to the court about her work for Cole. Murphy, however, said Baker's account was "directly in conflict" with information he had collected, and a letter he received from one of the charitable organizations. "The court will give it no moment," Murphy said of Baker's letter. 3 1 of 3 State Police Show More Show Less 2 of 3 State Police Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A mother and son are suspected of stealing more than $400,000 from a Guilderland business, State Police said. Randi Smith, 53, of Amsterdam and Dakota Smith, 23, of Saratoga Springs were charged on Tuesday with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies. ALBANY One of the suspects believed to have broken into a Glenville gun shop and stolen more than 40 firearms last fall was indicted and charged Thursday, authorities said. Christian Roman, 24, of Schenectady, is accused of stealing pistols, shotguns and rifles from Target Sports, a federally licensed firearms dealer, on Oct. 22, 2017, according to the indictment. Additionally, he is accused of possessing, concealing and storing the stolen guns through Nov. 1. Wonk for hire. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images On November 7, 2016, Michael Cohen was a former personal injury lawyer turned taxi medallion speculator, nondisclosure-agreement drafter, and brand-licensing negotiator. Three months later, he had become a policy wonk with such penetrating insight into antitrust law, the American health-care system, corporate taxation, accounting standards on production costs, and legislative policy development, multinational companies were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to lease his expertise. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, attorney of Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels), released financial information about the limited liability corporation that Michael Cohen used to distribute hush money to Donald Trumps alleged paramours during the 2016 campaign and then, to collect consulting fees from major corporations following the moguls inauguration. But the exact details of Essential Consultants LLCs business practices are only now coming into view. On Thursday night, the Washington Post revealed that AT&Ts $600,000 contract with Cohen stipulated that he would provide advice on the telecom companys proposed merger with Time Warner, which was awaiting the Trump administrations approval. Under the terms of the deal, Cohen was to divide his time between regulatory policy development and legislative policy development. In other words: AT&T gave over half-a-million dollars to Cohens company which had, on occasion, made payments to porn stars on the presidents behalf because the telecom company believed that doing so would increase the odds of the president approving their $85 billion merger, and signing a corporate tax cut bill that was maximally deferential to its interests. On Friday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson called his companys decision to hire Cohen a big mistake that was, nonetheless, done according to the law and entirely legitimate and then announced that one of the executives who worked on the deal with Cohen, Bob Quinn, would be retiring. Around the same time Cohen struck a deal with the telecom, the Swiss drugmaker Novartis inked a $1.2 million contract with Cohen to advise it on American health-care policy (i.e., help ensure that the GOPs health-care bill didnt threaten its interests), while the aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace paid the presidents personal attorney $150,000 for legal consulting concerning accounting standards on production costs (exactly what that meant is unclear, but the companys former chief executive was charged with account fraud last September, and amid the scandal, one of its senior officers committed suicide). Its possible that Essential Consultants LLC was among Michael Cohens most legally legitimate business ventures. Well-connected people selling access to and/or influence over the American government isnt just legal in the U.S. its one of our nations growth industries. Unless some of the funds paid to Essential Consultants made their way back to Trump (a not wholly implausible scenario), Cohens lobbying career was likely aboveboard. But it is, of course, an ethical monstrosity. The Trump teams handling of the AT&T-Time Warner merger looked fundamentally corrupt, even before these revelations. Last July, a senior White House official told the New York Times that administration advisers had discussed using Time Warners desired merger as a point of leverage over CNN (its subsidiary), in an attempt to coerce the news network into giving Trump more positive coverage. Before that, presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner had (reportedly) complained to Time Warner executive Gary Ginsberg about CNNs unfair coverage of the president. These actions cast a cloud of impropriety over the Justice Departments subsequent decision to block the merger, which would have otherwise been quite defensible. Now, it appears that Trumps inner circle not only tried to use the pending merger as a tool for extracting more favorable coverage from CNN but also, at least in Cohens case, as one for extracting hundreds of thousands of dollars from AT&T. If any of that money did get back to the president or else, to someone that Trump had an interest in shutting up it might well represent the slimiest pay-to-play scandal in the history of the American presidency. And yet, the president who campaigned against D.C.s swamp of corruption and the politics of personal profit has felt no need to feign concern over the revelation that his personal lawyer was selling access to his White House (via the same LLC that made payments on the presidents behalf), or publicly address the matter in any way. More remarkably, few appear to be treating this silence as a scandal in itself. One has to wonder: Might the news that president Hillary Clintons lawyer had collected nearly $3 million from multinational corporations looking to influence her White House, including one whose merger shed threaten to veto because their subsidiarys news coverage wasnt liberal enough and did so, specifically by making a consulting firm out of the limited liability corporation that he had used in October 2016 to buy Ron Jeremys silence about his history with Hillary be covered somewhat differently? ALBANY - State Senate Republicans proposed legislation on Thursday that would compensate victims of child sex abuse with public money in lieu of payoffs from perpetrators or institutions where the crimes may have occurred. The bill from Sen. Catharine M. Young, R-Cattaraugus County, would end the statute of limitations for the criminal prosecution of certain sexual offenses and provide restitution for child victims using a $300 million asset forfeiture fund controlled by the Manhattan district attorney's office, according to a press release. Gary Greenberg, an outspoken child sex abuse survivor who helped craft the legislation, described the proposal as a positive first step. "It's the first time that the Republicans have put anything on the table that will actually compensate victims ... it's progress," he said. The Democratic-controlled state Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have offered their own, similar versions of a Child Victims Act, as it's been called, but their proposals were left behind in the recent state budget negotiations with the Senate Republicans. For years, the breakdown has centered on the desire by advocates for a one-year look back window for victims to bring civil claims in cases where New York's statute of limitations has expired. The measure unveiled Thursday by Senate Republicans, who have long opposed the look-back provision, is the first time they have offered a compromise. Under their plan, civil claims that would be paid from the dedicated fund could be made without any time restrictions but undergo a review process that would include hearing officers with investigative powers and experience in sexual abuse cases. A claims administrator would make awards based on economic conditions, such as medical expenses and lost income, and non-economic factors, including physical impairment or the loss of life enjoyment, according to the bill. The claims administrator would also consider the type of abuse and age of the victims. The bill doesn't allow for punitive damages and a victim would have no recourse to appeal a ruling to an outside court. The limitations include not allowing individuals to file a claim if they were already compensated for their abuse or qualify for traditional legal recourse. Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat, said the legislation would misuse the Manhattan district attorney's asset forfeiture fund. "Those settlement funds are specified to be used for criminal justice investment and public safety, not for civil settlements," he said, adding that the money in the forfeiture fund had already been directed to other projects. Young defended the use of the money, saying there is a long history of the state using funds in this fashion and that the use could be characterized as a criminal justice initiative. The Manhattan district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Hoylman supports legislation that lets victims sue their abusers or institutions even if the current statute of limitations has expired. But under the Senate Republican's plan, there would be no litigation and therefore no potential public accounting of the past abuses. "This is taxpayer-funded hush money they're proposing," Hoylman said. Young disagreed with that characterization of the proposal and urged Hoylman to work toward a bipartisan solution for victims. Greenberg said the new fund would be beneficial for victims abused by individuals who may not have the assets to pay an appropriate financial penalty. "This fund would give those victims an opportunity," he said, while acknowledging it would allow institutions and wealthy individuals to avoid making additional payouts. The legislation calls for the fund to be replenished on an annual basis. The bill also makes a "member of the clergy" a required reporter of sex abuse. Asked about the legislation before the text was available, Cuomo voiced his support for the Child Victims Act legislation advanced in his budget. Heading into November, Greenberg, who created a political action committee to support candidates advancing the CVA, said he will hold politicians from both parties accountable if a version of the law isn't enacted before the legislative session ends in six weeks. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 ALBANY Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas has accepted her appointment to lead the criminal investigation of ex-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for domestic abuse, effectively ending a squabble between Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Singas, joined at a press conference in Manhattan Thursday by Cuomo, Vance and Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, vowed to thoroughly investigate allegations that the former attorney general hit, spit on, and threatened four women, and to leave "no stone unturned." Singas praised Vance and cited her own extensive expertise in prosecuting domestic violence cases. In the Queens district attorney's office, she was a founding member of the domestic violence unit, which she says pioneered evidence-based investigative strategies. Later, she was invited to start the first special victims bureau in Nassau County. "I have overseen, in my career as a prosecutor, thousands of cases involving domestic abuse, involving assault, involving sexual abuses. I am very well-versed in this area of law, and I intend to bring integrity to this case, as I do in all cases," Singas said. Singas will also be investigating whether Schneiderman used his government position to intimidate or threaten his accusers. "If at any time, he used his office or the office's resources in furtherance of the alleged crimes, then that's something we would look at," Singas said. Schneiderman announced his resignation Monday evening, just three hours after The New Yorker published a bombshell article detailing the abuse allegations and naming two of his accusers. Cuomo's announcement Tuesday that he had appointed Singas to oversee a criminal investigation of Schneiderman sparked a war of words between Vance and the governor's office about Cuomo's decision. District attorneys also privately debated Cuomo's use of his executive power to override prosecutorial jurisdiction and appoint a special prosecutor for the Schneiderman case after Vance and Sini had already announced they would begin probes into the former attorney general's alleged abused, which involved incidents in Manhattan and Suffolk County. Cuomo said he removed Vance from the Schneiderman case because the attorney general's office is currently investigating the Manhattan district attorney's handling of a 2015 sexual misconduct case involving movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Vance, in a letter to Cuomo, maintained that the governor should have never injected the attorney general's office into the Weinstein case, calling it an "unwarranted intrusion by an elected executive into a charging decision by an independent prosecutor." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. On Thursday, Vance walked back his criticism. "After having the opportunity to talk with the governor, and after talking with Madaline Singas, I thought the better course was to not slow things down or cloud the issues by making legal arguments," Vance said. At the press conference, Cuomo praised Vance, calling his office "one of the most respected district attorney's offices in the country," but said that he was concerned about a "perception" of a conflict of interest given the Weinstein matter. "In some ways, it doesn't matter what I think, and it doesn't matter what District Attorney Cy Vance thinks. There are two sides to the equation and it's important that the public has total confidence in our justice system," Cuomo said. Sini, who was sworn in to his Suffolk post in January, will investigate alleged incidents of abuse that occurred in Suffolk County and will coordinate his efforts with Singas' office, Cuomo said. Vance said his agency will turn over to Singas' office any evidence or information obtained from subpoenas they issued within a day of The New Yorker's report. Bethlehem A student was arrested Friday in the Bethlehem High School parking lot after an administrator allegedly saw the individual showing off an illegal stun gun to other students. The arrest came at 11:40 a.m. after the administrator heard the crackling sound of the device and called police. Its illegal for non-law-enforcement officers to possess stun devices in New York, said Bethlehem Police Commander Adam Hornick. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The student was arrested on a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and released on an appearance ticket. The student is due back town court June 5. Police are withholding the identity of the student a juvenile. There was no indication that the student threatened anyone with the device, or that the device was brought into the building at any time. AUSTIN - Former gymnasts who were sexually abused by disgraced doctor Larry Nassar asked the Texas attorney general's office Thursday to direct an investigation into crimes that may have taken place in Texas, arguing that investigators in Texas have not moved as aggressively as those on other states to investigate the Nassar case. Among the subjects that should be investigated, the former gymnasts and their attorneys said, is the possibility that former national team coordinator Martha Karolyi learned in June 2015 of Nassar's criminal behavior, a year before he was arrested in Michigan, but failed to follow state law by reporting it to authorities. Researchers at England's University of Manchester might have inadvertently found a cure for one of nature's most common cosmetic maladies: baldness. According to the BBC, scientists had been working on creating a drug meant to treat osteoporosis, when they realized it had a curious side effect. It stimulated hair follicles, prompting hair to grow, because it contains a compound that combats a hair growth-stunting protein called SFRP1. Four days after Kentucky Derby winner Justify was limping around in front of a horde of media members the day after he won the Run for the Roses, he returned to the track. And, from all indications, he is just fine as he prepares for the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore a week from Saturday. Justify galloped about a mile and a half at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning, the first time he has been back to the track since winning the first leg of the Triple Crown. It appears that a bruised left hind foot, and a bit of a cracked heel, has responded to treatment. "It's all behind us," trainer Bob Baffert said on a national teleconference Thursday afternoon. "And we are on to Baltimore." Justify went to the track at 7:30 a.m. with exercise rider Humberto Gomez on his back. Baffert was not in Louisville for the gallop; he is in California and expected to arrive in Kentucky on Sunday. Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's assistant, accompanied Justify to the track while riding a pony. "Very happy," Barnes said after the exercise. "The horse came onto the track perfect, galloped perfect, and came back very good. I couldn't be happier. He was ready to go back to the track. He was getting a little pushy in the stall and you could tell it was time for him to get back out there." The plan is for Justify to gallop up to the Preakness. He is scheduled to depart Louisville for Baltimore on Wednesday. Justify's only exercise the previous four days was walking the shedrow. That's normal practice for Baffert's horses after a big race. Social media blew up when videos of Baffert bringing Justify out of his stall on Sunday showed the horse favoring his left hind leg. Baffert said Thursday he was annoyed with himself for not noticing something was amiss with the horse before he paraded him around the media. "We went through him and he looked great," Baffert said. "There was new gravel (outside the barn) but it was almost like rocks. He was a little touchy. When he turned (and did not want to put weight on his left hind), Jimmy (Barnes) and Elliott (Walden, president, CEO and racing manager of WinStar Farm, the majority owner of the horse) saw it, they said I better bring him in." Justify immediately got treatment for the bruise and he has gotten better every day. According to those who were there to watch the gallop Thursday, the horse was at 100 percent. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Kentucky trainer Tom Amoss, who saddled Lone Sailor to an eighth-place finish in the Derby, tweeted: "Justify looked exactly the same (Thursday) as he looked training before the Kentucky Derby." Walden raved about his horse, saying "he looked super on the track." Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, based in Louisville and whose Bravazo was sixth in the Derby, gave his blessing. "He looked excellent," Lukas said. "I watched him every step of the way. He was perfect. I know everyone was watching, looking for a crack in the armor. It wasn't there. It was a good day for him. He had a wonderful day." twilkin@timesunion.com 518-454-5415 @tjwilkin The bet: people are starved for competence. Photo: Jay LaPrete/AP/REX/Shutterstock For months, Ohios Democratic gubernatorial primary was framed both nationally and in the state as a closer-than-expected matchup between a famous lefty firebrand scrapper, Dennis Kucinich, and the staid Establishment choice, Richard Cordray. So when Cordray crushed Kucinich by 40 points on Tuesday night, it was a clear loss for the theory that Donald Trumpera politics has been completely overtaken by showmanship. And it was a significant win for Democrats hoping to steer their party far in the opposite direction come November. Cordray, after all, makes a show of not being a showman. Heres a man whos been physically compared to 30 Rocks wide-eyed Kenneth the Page for years, who was referred to in a recent Toledo Blade editorial (Boring may prevail in Ohio gubernatorial race) as plodding [but] rational, and whose central campaign bet was depicted by the New York Times as a hope that voters will not mistake boring for moderate. Cordray is, indeed, not aiming to invigorate the furious Democratic base with the anti-Establishment fire of Elizabeth Warren, his highest-profile surrogate and political ally. Instead, his game is to remind voters that as a onetime Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director under Barack Obama, an Ohio attorney general, state treasurer, and state solicitor general, he has the experience to protect everyday voters and ensure them quality health care and economic security. If that sounds nothing like Trumps fire and fury or if it sounds, to borrow from the Blade and the Times, boring thats partially the point of Cordrays style of campaigning. Cordray is well on his way to becoming the highest-profile test case for the handful of national Democratic leaders now betting that at a time when voters cant turn on their televisions or open a newspaper without hearing about Trump, a pitch centered on competence may be enough to win in 2018, and maybe in 2020 even in a state where Trump easily beat Hillary Clinton. His brand fits very well at a time when people are seeing showbiz-type politics out of Washington. Having someone say, Im not here to run a show, Im here to run the state effectively, its a strong brand, predicted Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper. Its the kind of brand that some Democrats are betting could put the party back on the path to winning in Trump-friendly destinations in a brutal midterm season. A big part of that bets origin story begins in late December 2017 and early January of this year, when a pair of veteran Democratic strategists made the rounds in Washington to sell their partys leaders and operatives on the idea that there were some big if unglamorous lessons from Doug Joness victory over Roy Moore in Alabama that they would be wise to apply in Novembers elections. Joe Trippi, whod worked as Joness media strategist, spoke with officials at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Paul Maslin, Joness pollster, presented his findings to a meeting of Democratic senators chiefs of staff. The pair teamed up to sit down with the liberal Center for American Progress think tank. Sure, they acknowledged both in behind-closed-doors sessions and in public, Moore was obviously a fundamentally flawed candidate. But, went a central piece of their pitch, Jones was successful in part because of his message of stability and, well, basic competence. The argument wasnt quite that boring is beautiful. Yet, at a time of nonstop Trump-driven shock and awe back in Washington, they found that the candidates calm, understated mien and focus on his experience won over exhausted voters. Following this line of messaging certainly wouldnt mean running a soft-on-Trump or cynically centrist campaign just look at Ralph Northams huge win last November in Virginias gubernatorial race: the then-lieutenant governor called the president a narcissistic maniac during his run but in most cases voters can draw the contrast with the Oval Office for themselves. Given the presidents historically low approval ratings, the energy among Democrats and the real exhaustion we saw in Alabama in elements of the GOP they are tired of the chaos and the feeling they have of constantly being on edge, all created by Trump Democrats with the right message will win a larger majority than people are expecting, Trippi urged in the Times in January. That includes less stridency and more common-sense policies and solutions. Their argument wasnt exactly welcomed by fed-up progressives who wanted bolder anger from their candidates, but it gained steam in March after Conor Lambs win in a congressional special election in Pennsylvania. Cordray himself is no direct product of this push he announced his candidacy a week before the Alabama election, and had been plotting his run for months but he fits the style. And his early success suggests its working. Though the contest ended up being defined largely by Kucinichs ties to Bashar al-Assad and Cordrays record on guns, the primary was read by many voters as an at-times neck-and-neck insurgent-versus-party-man showdown. (There were vanishingly few public polls.) That was an overly simplistic framing, but the choice was clear to primary voters. While Cordray had the support of many state Democratic leaders and labor groups, and he featured Barack Obama in his ads, his most prominent surrogate by far was the liberal hero Warren, who created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that he ran. The potential 2020 presidential candidate endorsed the progressive Cordray as soon as he announced his candidacy and marshaled her large email list to raise money and organize for him early, before dropping into Cincinnati to talk about the opioid epidemic alongside him last month. She then hosted a fundraiser for him in person, and rallied a crowd at Ohio State University in Columbus. Yet while Cordray agitates for change in the state capital, the core of his stump is a nerdy policy-heavy appeal. His buttoned-up stick-to-the-script speeches couldnt be further from Trumps MAGA rallies. I just think that could be a relief for voters when the daily chaos in Washington is stressing everybody out, said Pepper. Theres something soothing about a candidate who says, Im not here to entertain you, Im here to get the job done. A Templederry man who was found in his car with the engine running pleaded not guilty to being drunk in charge of a vehicle at Nenagh Court. Eoin Madden, Chalkhill, Templederry, denied the charge that he was drunk in charge at Sarsfield Street, Nenagh, on November 12, 2017. The court that the Gardai were alerted to the car and driver by passers-by who thought the driver appeared to be unwell. Garda Ronan Kenny told the court that he tapped on the car window and initially he was afraid the driver was unwell, but once the driver was roused he could smell alcohol. It appeared the driver was nodding on and off and he was incoherent. Garda Kenny said that his colleague took the keys from the ignition and made the car secure. A subsequent breath test showed Mr Madden had 97mgs of alcohol per 100mls of breath. Kenny Kerins, BL, for Mr Madden, submitted that because the keys had been removed from the ignition by the Gardai before they formed an opinion Mr Madden was over the drink driving limit, his client was no longer in charge of the vehicle and could not have had the intention of driving. However, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath ruled against the submission. Mr Madden said in evidence that he had his engine switched on because he had been charging his phone and engrossed in social media and that was why he was leaning to one side in the car. I was looking down at my phone, he said. Mr Madden said he had booked a room in a nearby bed and breakfast for the night and had gone for a few drinks. He had no intention of driving. Convicting, Judge MacGrath fined Mr Madden 200 and disqualified him from driving for three years. She set recognizance in the event of an appeal in Mr Madden's own bond of 250. Members of the RNLI were called into action last night when a 23ft speed boat broke down on the eastern shore of Lough Derg. At 6.10pm on Thursday May 10, Lough Derg RNLI launched following a request by Valentia Coast Guard to assist a person on a 23ft speed boat broken down by The Goat Road on the eastern shore of Lough Derg. The Lifeboat, with helm Dom Sharkey, Eleanor Hooker and Ger Egan on board, arrived on scene at 6.28pm. The Shannon Princess passenger vessel remained on scene until the lifeboat arrived. The skipper of the speed boat had dropped anchor, but it was dragging and bringing the vessel close to rocks on the Clare shore. An RNLI volunteer was transferred across to the casualty vessel, where the person on board were found to be safe and unharmed and wearing their lifejacket. The RNLI crew member made a thorough check of the cruiser and found that the issue was most likely an electrical failure. The lifeboat volunteer got the casualty vessel ready for tow, he weighed anchor and the lifeboat took the motor boat under tow to Portumna Harbour, where, at 6.50pm, it was safely tied alongside. The lifeboat returned to station and was ready for service again at 20.32pm Dom Sharkey, volunteer helm on the Lifeboat, says the 'skipper did the correct thing to drop anchor and to call for help immediately' He thanked the skipper of the Shannon Princess for 'standing by in safe water until we arrived on scene'. A Tipperary teacher will receive the 2018 ASTI Honorary Life Membership Award in recognition of his exceptional service to the union at a reception in Dublin tonight. Joe Moran, a former teacher at Presentation Secondary School, Ballingary, has been active in the ASTI since 1978. Joe became ASTI School Steward in 1994. He took on the role of ASTI Tipperary Branch Secretary in 1996 and was later elected as Chair of the Branch and CEC representative. He was elected to Standing Committee in 2004 and served on numerous national committees including Education Committee and the ASTIR Editorial Board. He was elected ASTI Vice President in 2008 and became President in 2009. Joe has worked tirelessly on behalf of young teachers. During his presidency he held a conference for young teachers and sought to improve working conditions so that recently qualified teachers had better access to secure jobs. Honorary Life Membership is the most prestigious award that can be bestowed on an ASTI member. It is given in recognition of singular and exceptional service to the ASTI involving substantial and commendable personal input. Joe will be presented with his award by ASTI President Ger Curtin. The Source Arts Centre is the venue for two forthcoming workshops which aim to provide families and carers of people with dementia with practical advice and skills on how best to provide support. Facilitated by Ursula Paine, a specialist dementia nurse, and Jennifer Manning, a clinical nurse manager from the Community Hospital of the Assumption in Thurles, the workshops will take place on Friday May 18 and Friday May 25, from 2.30-4.30pm. Attendance is free and members of the public can choose which ever date works best for them to come along with no need to register in advance. The workshops are supported by the Dementia: Understand Together campaign, which is led by the HSE in partnership with the Alzheimers Society of Ireland and Genio. The campaign aims to create an Ireland that embraces and includes people with dementia, and which displays solidarity with them and their families. Dementia is caused by a number of diseases that damage the nerve cells in the brain. Common symptoms may include difficulties with thinking and language, problem-solving and carrying out everyday tasks, as well as issues with memory loss and changes in mood and behaviour. Dementia specialist nurse, Ursula Paine, comments: Over 180,000 people in Ireland are currently, or have been, carers for a family member or partner with dementia. Many more provide support and care in other ways. We also know that the number of people with dementia is predicted to more than double by 2036. Caring for someone is hugely rewarding, but it can also be challenging. These workshops are about supporting family members in their caring role by providing advice around the practical things that they can do to help cope with the stresses of caring, as well as offering information on services and supports that can help. These workshops will cover a range of really useful topics for people. We look at what dementia is for example, many people dont know that there are more than 400 types of dementia and that each persons experience of dementia is different. We look at emotions and how to better understand and deal with them, how to go about supporting a persons daily activities, and how to best maintain relationships with the person with dementia, as well as with family and friends. Of course, a key focus for us is the carer and the importance of self-care. This is vital not only for the carers own health and well-being but will also support them to be better able to care for their family member. The Dementia: Understand Together campaign is funded by the HSE and The Atlantic Philanthropies and began in 2015. The campaign website offers a comprehensive information resource on dementia, including a service-finder detailing county-by-county the dementia supports and services available. Posters, leaflets and badges are available to order from www.healthpromotion.ie. For information and support, visit www.understandtogether.ie or Freephone 1800 341 341. For more information on the workshops, contact Ursula Paine on 086 838 1818. The Source will become Comedy Central over the coming weeks as two of the funniest acts touring Ireland pitch their tents in Thurles. First up the not so nippy former corner forward Kevin McAleer returns to Thurles this time bringing his show titled Guru. This will be a journey of the mind and coming to the understanding that all those that are so willing to offer solutions may not be all theyre cracked up to be. All this is delivered with Kevins most unique dead pan style that inspired a generation of Irish comedians and made him one of Irelands best. Kevin is as Irish as spuds, wind and rain on a sunny day. We spoke with him about his show and tackled some big issues. Currently residing in the home he grew up in having lived in various parts of the world, we asked him what we could expect when he comes to Thurles: The show is called 'Guru.' My comedy character is a highly advanced new-age spiritual master, who travels around the world giving talks and running courses on mindfulness and personal awareness. However it soon becomes obvious that his character is not quite as spiritual as it sounds, and his deep philosophy soon descends into gobbledygook, his mindfulness turns into mindless fun. That said his fun is not at the expense of people who practise alternative therapies- indeed he would have no friends left if that was the case. It's more poking fun at false gurus with big egos and big bank accounts, I suppose. The soul to Kevins character comes from a love of playing around with language, and all the fake philosophy stuff gives him a chance to do that. The inspiration comes from the hundreds and hundreds of YouTube videos of so-called gurus, all with their own version of the meaning of life. Kevins favourite online guru is Jiddu Krishnamurti: I have no idea what he is talking about, but I believe he understood it himself and had genuine spiritual experiences. He could hold people's attention for an hour just by talking, even though nobody had a clue what he was trying to get across- quite an achievement. I suppose he is a kind of inspiration for my show. I've also read quite a few self-help books, and I have a general interest in personal psychology, so all that feeds into the show. Kevin McAleer has been one of Irelands top comedians for almost thirty years living as he does in Omagh we asked him if he ever used politics in his show, I throw in an odd line here and there, but the main point of the act is to make people laugh as long and loud as I can, by whatever means necessary. Very few comedians manage to combine politics and genuine hilarity, with some spectacular exceptions such as Stewart Lee or George Carlin. Kevin is a man with many experiences Feile-Trip 2 Tipp wasnt one, No, I'm slightly allergic to camping as well, and late night noise, and people going to the toilet too near to my head. Once the small talk was out of the way we got on to the big issues and yes should we need someone to take a solo trip to Mars Kevin is the man provided he gets the local papers, I'm an expert in Martian arts myself, I have a black belt in fashion design. I've never been to Mars, but I did spend three months on the moon learning the language in the Gealachtacht. My local papers of choice would be the Tipperary Vindicator and the Impartial Reporter. There was just one last thing that needed addressing the whole island thing and would we not be better off if we were stuck to mainland Europe? We tried that millions of years ago, but it didn't work out and we gradually drifted apart. If we did go to the bother of moving the entire country, I think it would be better to go further south, say off the coast of Italy, where it would be warmer. Of course the Mediterranean Sea might have other ideas, it mightn't let us in. So there you have it not that hes political or on facebook Kevin McAleer wants a warm Guru free future for us all. Failing all that he will be in The Source on May 18th to bring you a show you will be glad you didnt miss. Tipperary artists and creatives are being called to apply for the D.I.V.A. Artists in Residence programme at this year's Electric Picnic. Now in its third year, the Diverse Individual Visual Artist programme will provide an opportunity for professional Irish Visual Artists to exhibit an existing work to the 55,000 strong festival audience within the festivals unique environment. Electric Picnic is calling on artists to submit a work they have already conceived and to re-imagine it for this exhibition in this unique festival environment. We are throwing the net wide, looking for works that are thought provoking or works that are simply beautiful; works from all mediums, styles and philosophies are welcomed. A bursary of 5,000 will be offered to be shared among the successful artists, of which there will be a maximum of four, who through the exhibition of their work will help create an amazing backdrop to the festival experience. In many ways Electric Picnic Music & Arts Festival is one large-scale collaborative art project - a transient work of immersive and experiential escapism. It attracts a wonderfully open audience, who are eager to absorb the world that has been created for their enjoyment. They are energetic, adventurous and curious people. They want to explore and experience, and they expect to be challenged. The artists awarded the D.I.V.A. bursary will live and work onsite for a duration during the "build phase" of the festival and will use this time to adapt their chosen work to this very unique environment. Works must be installed and completed by the 24th of August 2018. The process will involve dialogue with event organisers to ensure that the artworks created suit the festival environment, both visually and practically. Artists are responsible for providing the structures and materials required for the installation of their work and adaptation to the environment in question. Certain resources can be made available to the artists subject to availability and advance arrangement. To apply, email the below to: sorcha@eventdesignstudio.ie Application: You do not need to develop a lengthy proposal in order to apply to the D.I.V.A. programme. As the work will already be in existence, the process will simply involve an email in which you will include photographs of the work, together with a description of the work and a short biography of the artists background and experience. A short description of how you might adapt the work to the festival environment would be advantageous. Application deadline: May 30th at 12 noon James Kilbane will bring his very personal Country Gospel evening to Ballinahinch, Birdhill, and St. Josephs Church on Thursday 17th May at 8pm. The event is in support of the Irish Hospice Association and the fundraising efforts of sisters Bernie McCullough and Theresa King towards walking the Camino Way later this year. The sisters will be part of the Irish Hospice Association walk on the Camino. Bernie and Theresa have previously completed the Portuguese Way for Hospice and were part of the 55 people who combined helped raise 90,000 for the charity. This time the sisters are aiming to walk the Camino by raising a target of 5,000 or more on their part for Hospice. The evening with James Kilbane is part of their many fundraising events and activities taking place in their community and all support would be appreciated from far and wide for this event. This very enjoyable event of country song and music with James Kilbane will be a very personal intimate evening and somewhat different to his concert events. As James has a new album The Family Collection for the World Meeting of Families, he will sing many of his country songs that have strong emphasis on everyday Christian family life with all its joys and struggles. James is married with 28 years to Christina and has two adult children. James is very happy to be involved in supporting Hospice and the efforts of Bernie and Theresa. James lost his father Michael to cancer in 2008 and he has seen first hand the care, help and support given by the Hospice team at the time for his Dads final two weeks of life. Since 2004 James Kilbane continues to work in Christian and country music, working closely with communities and groups all over Ireland and even America. Today his music is growing far and wide in such countries as Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South America as well as America, the United Kingdom and Canada. Kilbanes home grown approach attracts many from every walk of life, traditions and all are very welcome to Ballinahinch on the 17th May. Currently Kilbane presents his own weekly Sunday gospel show on SKY television. The Ballinahinch evening will include stories of life, family and faith as well as songs including There is a place, Mamas Roses, Because He Lives, The Richest Man, The Nazarene Song and so many more. To attend and help support Hospice and the work of Bernie and Theresa then event donation tickets are 10 and are available from The Treats Coffee Shop, Main Street Newport, An Bonnan Bui Pub, Birdhill or direct from Theresa or Bernie at 087 2950411. Doors 7.30pm and the event starting at 8pm. All support will be greatly appreciated. [May 11, 2018] TUV Rheinland certifies over 60 Data Protection Officers Global leader in independent testing, inspection and certification services signs cooperation agreement with National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines MAKATI, Philippines, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland has become the first independent testing, inspection and certification services organization to offer Personnel Certification for Data Protection Officers (DPO) in the Philippines. The move follows the signing of a cooperation agreement with the National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines (NADPOP). The Data Protection Officer Training and Certification Program, a 5-day intensive training for appointed DPOs probes into the Data Privacy Act of 2012, its IRR, the duties and responsibilities of a DPO, and an introduction to international standards. After the training, participants will take an exam that will qualify them as a TUV Rheinland Certified Data Protection Officer to which after, they earn a certificate and a signet that is valid for 3 years. Although appointing a Data Protection Officer (DPO) is a legal requirement in the Philippines, certification isn't, which means that the standard of protection can vary significantly from individual-to-individual and company-to-company. "Our new DPO Personnel Certification Scheme can provide companies, and the Philippine Government, with the confidence that businesses are well prepared and has the needed competence to comply with the data privacy regulations by having on board trained and certified DPOs. Offering a comprehensive grounding in local conditions, it also corresponds to international laws, such as APEC-CPBR and GDPR, and technical applications using relevant ISO guidelines," said TUV Rheinland Philippines Managing Director, Tristan Arwen overes. To date, over 60 Data Protection Officers from various industries have been certified. "Companies in the Philippines must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to serve as the focal person that will ensure the protection of an organization's data collection and processing. The Personnel Certification for Data Protection Officer (DPO) service offered by TUV Rheinland, with Titus Manuel, Founding Chairman of the National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines. The Philippines' DPA is aimed at protecting the fundamental human right of privacy of communication while ensuring the free flow of information to promote innovation and growth. Borrowing heavily from some of the advanced data protection concepts found in Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the finalized rules came into force in September 2016, mandating all companies in the Philippines employing 250 or more employees and possessing more than 1,000 personal data to comply with the requirements. "Personnel Certification is the proof of verified competence of experts in an organization. After completing a course recognized by TUV Rheinland and passing exams set by the TUV Rheinland personnel certification body, successful candidates receive a certificate that is either valid for a defined period or valid indefinitely. The certification scheme will reassure companies the DPOs they assign are not just competent, but also fully qualified," said Loveres. Full details of the DPO Personnel Certification Scheme are available on Certipedia TUV Rheinland's state-of-the-art certificate database. Specifically articulately designed to be a user-friendly online reference source, Certipedia is QR code capable and IoT-enabled, which saves time and eliminates the need to search through an entire site. Certipedia can be accessed 24x7 anywhere in the world by anyone with an Internet connection. Resources: Certipedia -- https://www.certipedia.com/ DPO Personnel Certification Scheme -- https://www.certipedia.com/quality_marks/0000059242?locale=en About TUV Rheinland TUV Rheinland is a global leader in independent inspection services, founded 145 years ago. The group maintains a worldwide presence of more than 20,000 people; annual turnover is nearly EUR 2 billion. The independent experts stand for quality and safety for people, technology and the environment in nearly all aspects of life. TUV Rheinland inspects technical equipment, products and services, oversees projects, and helps to shape processes and information security for companies. Its experts train people in a wide range of careers and industries. To this end, TUV Rheinland employs a global network of approved labs, testing and education centers. Since 2006, TUV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption. Website: www.tuv.com SOURCE TUV Rheinland [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] CONTENT TOKYO concluded with another success TOKYO, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Organized by Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd., CONTENT TOKYO 2018, Japan's Largest* trade show for content production, creation and distribution took place from Apr 4th to 6th ,2018 at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan. The show saw another great year with record numbers of 1,236** exhibitors and 42,594** trade visitors from 39 countries/regions during the 3 day show period. CONTENT TOKYO is the ideal place for exhibitors to work toward getting their content out into the world. The venue was filled with excitement and meetings among participants. Seminars by industry leaders attracted 11,267 attendees As the opportunity to learn the latest technology and know-how, the Conference attracted 11,267** attendees in total. Mr. Jeff Gordon, Director, Television Animation, The Walt Disney Company, shared some practical ways that writers, directors, and designers can use to keep costs down and quality up. Mr. Marc Sondheimer, Pixar Animation Studios, the Producer ofCocoVR, discussed key learnings from this project and finished with a conversation about the future of promotional VR content. 27 sessions were held during the show period with enthusiastic atmosphere in total. * "Largest" in reference to the exhibitor number and the net exhibit space of trade shows with the same concept. ** The numbers of exhibitors (including co-exhibitors) and visitors are subject to change after further confirmation Expectation growing toward the next edition: Dates: April 3 (Wed) 5 (Fri), 2019 Venue: Tokyo Big Sight, Japan Organised by: Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd. Shows held within CONTENT EXPO TOKYO 2019: 7th Production/Studio Expo 3rd Graphic Design Expo 8th Creators' Expo 7th Content Distribution & Management Expo 5th Advanced Digital Technology Expo 9th LICENSING JAPAN 5th Content Marketing Expo Concurrent show of CONTENT EXPO TOKYO 2019: 3rd AI EXPO Artificial Intelligence Exhibition & Conference Based upon the positive feedback from exhibitors, most of the exhibitors have already booked their spaces for the next edition during the show period. For those who are considering exhibiting at the next show, immediate booth reservation is highly encouraged to secure the limited spaces in time, as the entire CONTENT EXPO TOKYO is expected to be sold out at an early stage. If you are interested in exhibiting, please contact Show Management. Contact: Exhibiting Inquiries: http://www.content-tokyo.jp/en/ex/ Visiting Inquiries: http://www.content-tokyo.jp/en/inv/ Tokyo 163-0570, Japan Tel: +81-3-3349-8507 Fax: +81-3344-2400 Email: pr-eng.content-tokyo@reedexpo.co.jp Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180510/2129873-1-a Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180510/2129873-1-b SOURCE Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Israeli Cyber Security Startup PCYSYS Launches Penetration-Testing AI in North America Toronto VC Fund Awz HLS Leading Business Development Roadshow TORONTO, May 11, 2018 /CNW/ - Awz HLS Fund I, a pioneering Canadian venture capital cyber technology fund, today announced a North American tour by its investee company PCYSYS. Executives from PCYSYS will be in North America from May 14 17 to launch their innovative technology in the United States and Canada. Founded by veterans of Israel's elite intelligence units and managed by cyber experts with backgrounds in the security and private sectors, PCYSYS has built the world's most sophisticated and advanced "virtual hacker" software. This machine-learning AI technology allows for automated and continuous penetration testing. The reason this Israeli designed technology is such a game changer is because it addresses a critical gap facing the cyber security of organizations today static defences are unable to keep up with networks and cyber conditions that constantly evolve. By leveraging machine-learning AI technology that adapts to the ever-changing landscape of global threats, PCYSYS enables large and medium-sized organizations (banks, insurance companies, critical infrastructure, high-tech companies, retail chains and government) to protect their core systems with their own cyber security watchdog looking out for them 24/7, 65 days a year. Yaron Ashkenazi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Awz HLS Fund I commented: "We invest in Israeli start-up companies that create innovative technology solutions which address current and future challenges in the field of security and intelligence. We consider our Fund to be investing 'Smart Money'. As such, we are very active and involved with our portfolio companies' business development strategies and their implementation in North America and globally. PCYSYS is scheduled to meet financial services, utilities and telecom corporations, and we are privileged to bring this revolutionary technology to North America to help address the ever-evolving cyber threats in a cost-efficient and effective way". Amitai Ratzon, CEO of PCYSYS commented: "PCYSYS has developed a solution for automated penetration testing that mimics the way hackers think and act. PCYSYS has effectively modeled the hacker's practices into machine language, creating a virtual hacker that challenges an organization's systems in new yet harmless ways to expose existing vulnerabilities. We are proud of Awz HLS Fund's decision to invest in our company and their confidence in our technology, management and skilled development team." Dates for the tour are: Montreal : May 14 : Toronto : May 15-16 : New York : May 17 About Awz HLS Investment Fund I LP: Awz HLS Fund I is a ground-breaking Canadian cyber security and intelligence venture capital fund, founded by attorney Yaron Ashkenazi, a former Israel Security Agency (ISA) officer living in Toronto, Canada. The fund's executive team and advisory committee include former senior executives from Canadian and Israeli security and intelligence agencies, and global business and financial experts. The team includes Hon. Stockwell Day, former Canadian Public Safety Minister; Richard Fadden, former Canadian National Security Advisor to the PM and Director of CSIS; Lt. Gen. (Ret) Michael Day, former CAF Special Operations Forces Commander; Erez Kreiner, former Director of the National Information (Cyber) Security Authority under the ISA; Haim Tomer, former Head of the Mossad Intelligence Division; and Gary Barnea, the former Director of the ISA Protection and Security Division. Awz HLS Fund I has invested over US $30 million in Israeli companies that have developed cutting-edge cyber security, intelligence and physical security technologies. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/israeli-cyber-security-startup-pcysys-launches-penetration-testing-ai-in-north-america-300646851.html SOURCE AWZ HLS Investment Fund [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is under fire for not being a vocal Trump supporter in 2016. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images Back in 2016, the term Never Trump (or Never Trumper) had a pretty clear meaning. It referred to Republicans, usually conservative Republicans, who were so horrified by the prospect of Donald Trump becoming a GOP President that they vowed to fight him up to, and perhaps beyond, the nomination contest. It included very prominent people like Ted Cruz (until he finally capitulated late in the general election season), the two Bush presidents, and whole institutions like National Review magazine. Since Trumps election, the ranks of Never Trump have dramatically shrunk as Republicans, and especially conservatives, have made their peace with the once-terrifying chieftain, or simply kept their mouths shut. Some especially loud disparagers of the 45th president before he took office crept towards him via the intermediate position of an anti-anti-Trump focus, celebrating whenever possible the chagrin and reversals experienced by the common liberal foe while largely ignoring the supposedly intolerable man responsible for these happy moments of schadenfreude. And a lot of genuine 2016-vintage Never Trump folk whose only problem with the man was his presumed hopelessness as a presidential nominee obviously had no problem embracing the vanquisher of Hillary Clinton. But perhaps because the Never Trump herd has been culled, all but hunted to extinction, the term is now being used by true believers in the president to disparage people who have not yet proved their absolute loyalty. This is happening right now to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to Politico: President Donald Trumps frustration with Kirstjen Nielsen, which boiled over Wednesday in a Cabinet meeting tirade, has been growing for weeks stoked by associates who have privately made the case that shes a closeted never Trumper who still doesnt fully back his agenda. Trumps advisers have been increasingly criticizing the Homeland Security chief in private conversations with the president, arguing that she isnt doing enough to improve border security and noting that she wasnt a vocal Trump supporter during the campaign, three people familiar with the internal discussions told POLITICO. Thats interesting. Wasnt a vocal Trump supporter now means Never Trump? So it seems. Nielsen doesnt appear to have publicly criticized Trump during the campaign or since. She served on the White House Homeland Security Council under George W. Bush, worked as a consultant advising private companies and government officials on infrastructure and cybersecurity before joining the Trump administration as chief of staff to Kelly at DHS. She followed Kelly to the White House as his deputy in July 2017. Its unclear whether this background has anything to do with the 30-minute Cabinet meeting tirade the president indulged himself in earlier this week, much of it reportedly aimed at Nielsen. Perhaps the tirade was the motive for underlings to typecast her as some sort of mole for the dwindling ranks of the presidents Republican enemies. You certainly get the sense that Nielsen doesnt have many friends in her agency or in the White House ([S]he is actively being undermined by Trump appointees, and career folks simply do not like her says one of Politicos sources). But if she does have any friendsother than Kelly, whose own star is not exactly rising these daysthey should help her turn around fast. Give her a MAGA hat, get her lunch with Hannity, find her some allies in The Family. Its never to late to become a Trump sycophant. And that may be what it takes for Nielsen to keep her job. [May 11, 2018] Philips, Emory Healthcare and Royal Perth Hospital in Australia partner to launch remote intensive care monitoring program AMSTERDAM, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, and US-based Emory Healthcare have today announced the launch of a new remote Intensive Care Unit (eICU) monitoring program, based at the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia, focused on improving the outcomes of high risk patients and advancing the globalization of critical care. Based on the successes of a pilot program Emory Healthcare ran out of Sydney in 2016, this partnership is a next phase for Emory Healthcare. Their critical care physician (intensivists) and critical care nurse experts will provide medical care to patients in the US from their base at Royal Perth Hospital using Philips' remote intensive care unit monitoring technology. This virtual care model enables the Perth-based US clinicians to provide remote night-time critical care support to patients in Atlanta, Georgia during daytime hours in Perth. This model helps to reduce the burden of traditional night shift work. "This partnership is enabling a crucial shift in the delivery of care, impacting clinical outcomes, where technology supports clinicians to deliver more proactive and timely care to patients across the globe," said Caroline Clarke, CEO ASEAN Pacific, Philips. "Access to highly experienced intensivists and critical care nurses is an ongoing challenge for hospitals internationally, and virtual care solutions, like the eICU program, can help deliver much needed expertise to areas where this is lacking. At Philips, we are proud to play our part in creating connected health solutions that break down barriers within healthcare, to impact both providers and patients." The eICU program allows for near real-time remote patient monitoring and early intervention via advanced audio-visual technology. Smart algorithms can predict deteriorations in health, giving clinicians the ability to communicate with local caregivers via live video link, to continuously monitor patient health, and advise on the best course of treatment from wherever they are located. "The eICU represents the future of globalized critical care, transforming the delivery of care from the bedside in partnership with the Informatics Center to any site where the advanced technology can be implemented, extending beyond the barriers of location and time," said Tim Buchman, Director of the Critical Care Center, Emory Healthcare. "Overnight, when adverse events are most likely to occur for ICU patients, the eICU program allows clinicians to support the Atlanta-based bedside team by recognizing adverse physiology, making critical diagnosis, and intervening as a patient begins to veer off trajectory. We are turning night into day to make the lives of our caregivers as positive as possible while improving care quality and patient outcomes." "The partnership of eRNs and eMDs in the EmoryeICU is a primary component of the success of the program," added Cheryl Hiddleson, Director Emory eICU Center. "This is why Emory decided to send one physician and one nurse to Perth, so that collaborative effort is maintained. The goal of the program and its clinicians to ensure quality patient care is also preserved by continuing this model." "As part of our commitment to continually improve patient and carers' experiences within the health care system, we are excited to welcome Dr. Buchman and his Emory Healthcare critical care team located on site," said Liz MacLeod, Chief Executive, East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS). "We both share the same goals and objectives to provide the best patient care possible. Hosting this program at RPH allows us to see first hand how remote ICU monitoring could possibly change the face of acute medicine in the future, by bringing together geographically dispersed teams in different parts of the world." The Philips eICU program has delivered proven success for Emory Healthcare since its implementation four years ago. The program demonstrated that remote ICU monitoring can help to save lives, increase provider satisfaction and drive cost savings through length of stay reduction and inpatient readmission decrease*. The solution is part of a connected, patient-centered care and analytics suite that supports advanced care delivery models both in the hospital and to the home. * Emory achieved over 15 months across its 136 beds at five hospital sites the following: Discharged more patients to home healthcare (+4.9%) rather than nursing homes or long-term care hospitals (-6.9%) Saved an estimated US $4.6M over 15 months (a US $1,486 reduction in average US Medicare spending per patient) Decreased 60-day inpatient readmission (-2.1%) A recently published whitepaper calculating the value of remote ICU monitoring (tele-ICU) can be found here. For further information, please contact: Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group Communications Tel: +1 978-221-8919 Email: Kathy.oreilly@philips.com Janet Christenbury Emory Healthcare Tel: +1-404-727-8599 E-mail: jmchris@emory.edu Valma Ozich East Metropolitan Health Service Tel: +61 404 894 087 E-mail: valma.ozich@health.wa.gov.au 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 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 74,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at https://www.philips.com/newscenter. About Emory Healthcare U.S. based-Emory Healthcare, with more than 17,000 employees and seven hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. Emory Healthcare has $3.3 billion in annual net revenue and provides $73.5 million in charity care. System-wide, it has 2,046 licensed patient beds, over 2,000 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties and serves metro Atlanta with 200 locations. Emory Healthcare is the only health system in Georgia with three Magnet-designated hospitals, Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital, Emory University Hospital and Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital, for nursing excellence. Emory Healthcare's core purpose: "To serve humanity by improving health through integration of education, discovery and health care." For more information, visit www.emoryhealthcare.org. About East Metropolitan Health Service EMHS provides a comprehensive range of health services to more than 680 000 people living within Perth's eastern corridor. This includes the provision of both hospital and community based services within the EMHS catchment area, in addition to state-wide services such as the adult major trauma unit, based at RPH. EMHS consists of: Royal Perth Hospital Armadale Hospital Bentley Hospital Kalamunda Hospital St John of God Midland Public Hospital EMHS population and community health programs www.eastmetropolitan.health.wa.gov.au View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philips-emory-healthcare-and-royal-perth-hospital-in-australia-partner-to-launch-remote-intensive-care-monitoring-program-300646916.html SOURCE Royal Philips [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Canadian Cloud Leader AURO Announces $100 in Cloud Credits for All New Customers in Honour of OpenStack Summit VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With OpenStack Summit Vancouver taking place from May 21 - 24, 2018, AURO Cloud Computing, the first Canadian enterprise public cloud, is offering $100 in credits to new customers interested in cloud computing. AURO is a 100% Canada-based public cloud that offers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) services powered by OpenStack Ocata. Using code: AURO100 at checkout, customers will receive $100 in credits to be used on the AURO platform. This discretionary limited-time discount is applicable to new sign ups to AURO only. Credits are subject to account verifiability. Interested customers shouldn't delay in signing up as credits are subject to resource availability. AURO Enterprise Cloud is a true OpenStack deployment, featuring load balancing servers, scalable compute, VPN as a Service (VPNaaS), Containers as a Service (CaaS), a robust storage backend for compute nodes/volumes, and Swift object storage. Data is stored in clusters and kept safe through replication. This flexible service is optimal for many use cases, from experimnting with new technologies to DevOps running infrastructure. With AURO, there are no limitations and you pay only for what you use. "Our AURO Openstack deployment gives you the power and flexibility to expand your application, and move to a virtual, scalable and secure environment. We want new customers to experience this world-class stability," said AURO Cloud Engineer Matthew Czajka. To learn more, contact AURO via email at sales@auro.io or by phone at 1-855-226-4678 About AURO Cloud Computing AURO was built using OpenStack to give Canada its first true enterprise public cloud that can support a wide range of cloud computing requirements. With a free account, open APIs, and Canadian cloud storage, customers get a platform that can deliver highly scalable public, private, and hybrid cloud services, including operational and architectural compatibility with AWS. AURO delivers a portfolio of services that include IT Infrastructure and cloud hosting, while giving users the benefit of Canada's unique regulatory environment and data security. Media Contact: Adelina Wong 194946@email4pr.com 1-888-821-7888 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-cloud-leader-auro-announces-100-in-cloud-credits-for-all-new-customers-in-honour-of-openstack-summit-300646959.html SOURCE AURO Cloud Computing [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Cambium Networks to Speak at Internet of Things World Conference ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambium Networks, a leading global provider of wireless broadband solutions, will be attending and speaking at the Internet of Things World Conference. The conference will take place from May 14-17, 2018, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Scott Imhoff, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Cambium Networks, has been selected to speak at the conference in the Smart Cities Track. Imhoff's speaking session, "Wireless Communications Creating Potential for IoT to Empower Smart Cities," will take place on Thursday, May 17, at 2:00 p.m. in the second-floor meeting rooms 203/204. In this session, Imhoff will explore current and emerging options to transport data from sensors to the dashboard where value can be derived through reporting, alerts and analytics with emphasis on simplification of provisioning, installation and management of infrastructure and end devices. Imhoff will present case studies of actual deployments to bring these operational benefits to life. "At IoT World, attendees can experience first-hand how Cambium Networks' connectivity solutions create a 'wireless fabric' in locations around the world that is put to use every day in intelligent traffic systems, public Wi-Fi access, with utilities' supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, emergency communications, and rural communications, environmental monitoring and other applications relevant to today's communities," said Imhoff. "These solutions offer powerful, resilient communications infrastructure that interconnects sensors and controls across large-scale field area networks harnessing the potential of the IIoT to transform accumulated and real-time data into insightful knowledge and critical actions. By deploying Cambium Networks' wireless connectivity, users can leverage information, communication technology and IoT technology to create and manage safe, efficient communities." Cambium Networks will be at booth #801 on the show floor and showcasing cpabilities for the following products: cnReach IIoT connectivity: N500 radios provide affordable narrowband wireless connectivity supporting distribution automation, substation switch and circuit control, and SCADA telemetry in the 220, 450, 700 and 900 MHz licensed and unlicensed bands. The N500 supports IP and Serial interfaces, as well as general I/O; providing for flexible deployment models and migration of legacy serial based networks. cnPilot enterprise outdoor e500: e500 APs feature two Gigabit Ethernet ports and an AUX port capability, enabling outdoor deployment anywhere with additional power available for another backhaul radio, security camera or other additional equipment. PMP 450i: The Cambium Networks 450 leads the wireless access network platform industry. Available in Point-to-Multipoint and Point-to-Point options, the 450 platform is optimized for rate, reach, reliability and throughput. The 450i product platform is the most scalable industrial-grade wireless broadband solution available. PTP 670: Cambium Networks combines best-in-class spectral efficiency and reliability with high-capacity multipoint (HCMP) deployment flexibility. With up to 450 Mbps aggregate throughput, PTP 670 systems let you flexibly, reliably and securely handle today's needs. PTP 820: PTP 820 is a point-to-point licensed microwave backhaul platform that integrates leading networking functionality with the industry's most advanced microwave technologies, creating a superior transport solution. IoT World Internet of Things World is the world's largest IoT event, featuring the top technologies and case studies for every industry IoT impacts. More than 12,000 leaders and innovators from across the IoT ecosystem will converge in one place, creating the ultimate opportunity for networking and building partnerships. The comprehensive agenda includes 150+ speaking sessions, covering Industrial IoT, Smart Homes, Smart Cities, Security, Edge Computing, Smart Buildings & Construction, AI, Healthcare, Energy & Utilities, and Transportation. Thursday, May 17 , at 2:00 p.m. PDT , at "Wireless Communications Creating Potential for IoT to Empower Smart Cities" Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA Convention Center, Visit Cambium Networks at booth #801 About Cambium Networks Cambium Networks is a leading global provider of wireless connectivity solutions that strengthen connections between people, places and things. Specializing in providing an end-to-end wireless fabric of reliable, scalable, secure, cloud-managed platforms that perform under demanding conditions, Cambium Networks empowers service providers and enterprise, industrial and government network operators to build intelligent edge connectivity. Cambium Networks' commitment to continuous innovation in wireless access is demonstrated in the millions of radios deployed in thousands of networks that benefit communities around the world. Team members also contribute to social responsibility activities to serve the communities in which they live. Headquartered outside Chicago and with R&D centers in the U.S., U.K. and India, Cambium Networks sells through a range of trusted global distributors. www.cambiumnetworks.com Media Contact: Sara Black Bospar 213.618.1501 sara@bospar.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cambium-networks-to-speak-at-internet-of-things-world-conference-300646892.html SOURCE Cambium Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Achain Presents Hard Forking At Events During New York's Inaugural Blockchain Week PALO ALTO, Calif., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Achain, first discussed its Hard Fork theory in November 2017. Hard Forking enables you to fork the main chain (instead of creating tokens and services on the main chain), which creates its own blockchain increasing speed, scalability, security and flexibility. Achain uses forking to meet different business appeals such as insurance, document preservation, cryptocurrency, tracing, personal credit, and more. This leads to an evolving, easy-to-use, low-cost, well-tailored blockchain network. Achain has created an evolving, user-friendly, low-cost, and customizable blockchain network. The optimization of block interval, block volume and consensus algorithm also helps Achain reach a performance rate of up to 1000TPS. "We started looking at forked cryptocurrencies in the market and realized that we could leverage the idea of forking to create a better method that would open up blockchain to more develpers," says Tony Cui, CEO and founder of Achain. "We focused on creating a platform that would democratize the blockchain in a way that any developer could issue tokens and create smart contracts. We want to make the blockchain accessible to all." Achain serves as a public Blockchain platform that enables developers of all levels to issue tokens, smart contracts, create applications and Blockchain systems. It is growing internationally since Spring 2017, developing branches and projects in the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Mexico, Indonesia, and more. Achain currently hosts 100 DAPPS, making it the largest Blockchain. Next week, Achain will be attending and sponsoring several events during the first ever Blockchain Week in New York including Blockchain Technology Forum: Killer DApps and the Future of a 'Blockchained' World (May 13), Consensus 2018 (May 14-16), Achain Consensus Meetup (May 15), Crypto Influence Summit (May 17), View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/achain-presents-hard-forking-at-events-during-new-yorks-inaugural-blockchain-week-300647044.html SOURCE Achain [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Oklahoma, Illinois Students to Link Up with NASA Astronauts on Space Station WASHINGTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Edwardsville, Illinois, will have the opportunity to talk with astronauts on the International Space Station next week as part of NASA's Year of Education on Station. The two 20-minute, Earth-to-space calls will air live on NASA TV and the agency's website. NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will answer questions about life aboard the space station, NASA's deep space exploration plans and conducting science in space during both opportunities. The first event will connect Oklahoma students from several schools in grades 5 through 12 with the two Expedition 55 astronauts at 10:35 a.m. EDT Monday, May 14, from the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. The students submitted essays describing what they wouldask an astronaut and how that question relates to their own lives on Earth as part of the selection process. Media interested in attending should contact Kevin Meeks at kmeeks@tulsamuseum.org or 918-834-9900. The event will take place at the museum, 3624 North 74th East Ave., Tulsa. The second event will allow eighth grade students from Liberty and Lincoln Middle Schools in Edwardsville to speak with Feustel and Arnold at 10:10 a.m. Friday, May 18. Media interested in attending should contact Beth Jacobs at ejacobs@ecusd7.org or 618-655-6055. The event will take place at Liberty Middle School, #1 District Dr., Edwardsville. Linking teachers directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These in-flight education downlinks are an integral component of NASA's Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with the Mission Control Center on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). In addition to the educational events, Feustel and fellow NASA astronaut Scott Tingle will be interviewed by the USA Today Network, and the "Off Track with Hinch and Rossi" podcast from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 9:35 a.m. Thursday, May 17. Feustel and Arnold will participate a downlink opportunity and will answer pre-submitted questions in a Tumblr "Answer Time" at 1 p.m. on May 18. These questions will be posted on the NASA Tumblr account at a later date. Follow the astronauts on social media at: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts/ See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation/ View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oklahoma-illinois-students-to-link-up-with-nasa-astronauts-on-space-station-300647117.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] DreamHost Calls on Americans to Support Congressional Push to Save Net Neutrality DreamHost (News - Alert) , a global leader in web hosting and Managed WordPress services, is rallying Americans to support the Senate's continuing fight to preserve net neutrality. DreamHost has long been a proponent of net neutrality, educating customers, co-signing letters to the FCC (News - Alert) , and participating in the Net Neutrality Day of Action. Net neutrality is essential to creating a startup-friendly environment, leveling the playing field and ensuring new companies can compete with establishe ones. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are nearly 30 million small businesses in the United States, representing 99.9 percent of all American businesses. Without the protections of net neutrality, these businesses could be forced to pay premium rates for internet access or be hidden from search engines, threatening their growth and survival. "Our customers have big dreams and their websites, apps, and businesses deserve fair and equal access to all internet users," said Brett Dunst (News - Alert) , DreamHost vice president of corporate communications. "We're taking a stand for them, and for everyone who believes in the democratizing power of the internet. We thank the Senate for their leadership in continuing the fight and we call on all Americans to contact their Senators to express support for a free and open internet." DreamHost is a member of the Battle for the Net coalition, where the public can find tools and resources to contact their congressional representatives and urge them to action. About DreamHost DreamHost is a premier Managed WordPress hosting provider, giving over 400,000 businesses, developers and content creators worldwide the tools they need to own their digital presence. Powered by a strong team of industry experts with nearly two decades of advanced web experience, DreamHost is a leader in Managed WordPress hosting. Supporting the open source community with dedicated resources and top-tier talent, DreamHost believes in the power of the Open Web and the people that make it happen. Founded in 1997, DreamHost has offices in Los Angeles and Orange (News - Alert) County, California and in Portland, Oregon. Learn more at DreamHost.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005656/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Minister MacAulay heads to China to pursue trade opportunities and expand market access for Canadian agricultural sector OTTAWA, May 11, 2018 /CNW/ - Canada and China are working to build a stronger relationship to create good, middle-class jobs and more opportunities for citizens in both countries. The two countries have agreed to increase collaboration on agriculture, including expanding market access, which is vital to achieving the Government of Canada's trade target of growing global agriculture and food exports to $75 billion by 2025. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, heads to China for a week-long mission to showcase Canada's agri-food and seafood, help grow exports for Canadian products and strengthen the trading relationship between the two countries. Minister MacAulay will take part in a number of events from May 14 to 18, including meetings with leading Chinese companies such s e-commerce giant Alibaba, HeMa, and GFresh to discuss in-market opportunities for Canadian food products. The Minister will also participate in roundtable discussions with representatives of Canadian and Chinese companies to discuss market opportunities in China. In addition, Minister MacAulay will attend SIAL China, where he will have the opportunity to interact with the Canadian exhibitors. The Minister will also meet with the Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Mr. Han Changfu, to discuss continued co-operation between the two countries and advocate for expanded market access for Canada's safe, high-quality products including pork, beef and canola. Quote "With a population of 1.4 billion people, and a growing appetite for high-quality Canadian food products, the Chinese market offers significant opportunities for Canadian agricultural producers and processors. I look forward to taking part in agri-business events in China to promote Canada's top quality agricultural and food products, and to meeting with my Chinese counterpart to build on our shared history of collaboration and strengthen our mutually beneficial trade relationship." - The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Sylogist Ltd. Announces Intention to Make a Normal Course Issuer Bid /THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./ CALGARY, May 11, 2018 /CNW/ - Sylogist Ltd. ("Sylogist" or the "Company") - (TSX-V:SYZ), a provider of enterprise information management solutions, announced today that it intends to give the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. ("TSXV") its Notice of Intention to have a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") in place effective May 21, 2018. The NCIB will commence only on acceptance and approval of the TSXV. Sylogist believes that from time to time the market price of the Sylogist Common Shares may not reflect their underlying or intrinsic value and that, at such times, the purchase of Common Shares for cancellation will increase the proportionate interest of, and be advantageous to, all remaining holders of Common Shares. As of the date hereof, there are 22,261,094 Common Shares issued and outstanding, 20,254,316 of which shares constitute the public float. Under the NCIB, Sylogist is seeking approval to purchase up to 2,025,432 Common Shares, which is 10% of the public float. Sylogist, through its broker at BMO Nesbitt Burns, will purchase the Common Shares on the open market through the facilities of the TSXV. The price which Sylogist will pay for any Common Shares purchased will be the prevailing market price of such Common Shares on the TSXV at the time of purchase. Decisions regarding purchases of Common Shares pursuant to the NCIB will be made by Sylogist. The NCIB, if approved, will terminate on the earlier of: (i) one year from inception; or (ii) when permitted purchases thereunder are completed. Sylogist may otherwise elect to terminate the NCIB at any time. About Sylogist Sylogist is a technology innovation company that, through strategic acquisitions, investments and operations management, provides intellectual property solutions to a wide range of Public Sector customers. We are an industry-leading publisher of mission-criticl software products that satisfy the unique and sophisticated functionality requirements of Public Sector entities, including nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and government agencies, as well as public compliance driven and funded businesses. Our Company delivers highly scalable, multi-language, multi-currency software solutions, which serve the needs of an international clientele. Full financial statements together with Management's Discussion and Analysis are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company's stock is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SYZ. Information about Sylogist can be found at http://www.sylogist.com. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. These statements typically use words such as expect, believe, estimate, project, anticipate, plan, may, should, could and would, or the negative of these terms, variations thereof or similar terminology. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements with respect to Sylogist's purchase of Common Shares for cancellation increasing the proportionate interest of, and be advantageous to, all remaining holders of Common Shares. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature. It is therefore possible that the beliefs and plans and other forward-looking expectations expressed herein will not be achieved or will prove inaccurate. Although Sylogist believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it provides no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Additional information regarding some of these risks, uncertainties and other factors may be found under in the management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 and other documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Material assumptions and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include Sylogist's ability to attract and retain customers and to realize on its investments. Although Sylogist believes that the material assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur. Sylogist disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Certain information set out herein may be considered as "financial outlook" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The purpose of this financial outlook is to provide readers with disclosure regarding Sylogist's reasonable expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities for the periods indicated. Readers are cautioned that the financial outlook may not be appropriate for other purposes. - Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release- SOURCE Sylogist Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Yellow Pages Limited Appoints New Chair of the Board of Directors MONTREAL, May 11, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Yellow Pages Limited (TSX: Y) ("YP" or the "Company") announced today that its Board of Directors ("Board") has appointed Ms. Susan Kudzman as its new Chair of the Board. Ms. Kudzman joined the Company's Board as a member in October 2014 and has served as Chair of its Human Resources and Compensation Committee since May 2015. "I am delighted to accept this appointment, and I look forward to working closely with other members of the Board and Management to ensur the Company is successful in its turnaround" said Ms. Kudzman. Ms. Kudzman brings a wealth of experience to her new role. Ms. Kudzman is located in Montreal and currently holds the position of Executive Vice-President, Chief Risk Officer and Corporate Affairs at Laurentian Bank. Ms. Kudzman holds a Bachelor's degree in Actuarial Science and the titles of Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA), Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and Certified Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA). "Susan Kudzman's history with the Company combined with her extensive leadership experience and superb judgment makes her the ideal candidate for Chair of our Board during this critical time in our Company's history. I am looking forward to continuing our good working relationship in this even more important role," said David A. Eckert, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. SOURCE Yellow Pages Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 11, 2018] Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA's Next Red Planet Rover Mission WASHINGTON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars. The Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, will travel with the agency's Mars 2020 rover mission, currently scheduled to launch in July 2020, to demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet. "NASA has a proud history of firsts," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "The idea of a helicopter flying the skies of another planet is thrilling. The Mars Helicopter holds much promise for our future science, discovery, and exploration missions to Mars." U.S. Rep. John Culberson of Texas echoed Bridenstine's appreciation of the impact of American firsts on the future of exploration and discovery. "It's fitting that the United States of America is the first nation in history to fly the first heavier-than-air craft on another world," Culberson said. "This exciting and visionary achievement will inspire young people all over the United States to become scientists and engineers, paving the way for even greater discoveries in the future." Started in August 2013 as a technology development project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Mars Helicopter had to prove that big things could come in small packages. The result of the team's four years of design, testing and redesign weighs in at little under four pounds (1.8 kilograms). Its fuselage is about the size of a softball, and its twin, counter-rotating blades will bite into the thin Martian atmosphere at almost 3,000 rpm about 10 times the rate of a helicopter on Earth. "Exploring the Red Planet with NASA's Mars Helicopter exemplifies a successful marriage of science and technology innovation and is a unique opportunity to advance Mars exploration for the future," said Thomas Zurbuchen The helicopter also contains built-in capabilities needed for operation at Mars, including solar cells to charge its lithium-ion batteries, and a heating mechanism to keep it warm through the cold Martian nights. But before the helicopter can fly at Mars it has to get there. It will do so attached to the belly pan of the Mars 2020 rover. "The altitude record for a helicopter flying here on Earth is about 40,000 feet. The atmosphere of Mars is only one percent that of Earth, so when our helicopter is on the Martian surface, it's already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up," said Mimi Aung, Mars Helicopter project manager at JPL. "To make it fly at that low atmospheric density, we had to scrutinize everything, make it as light as possible while being as strong and as powerful as it can possibly be." Once the rover is on the planet's surface, a suitable location will be found to deploy the helicopter down from the vehicle and place it onto the ground. The rover then will be driven away from the helicopter to a safe distance from which it will relay commands. After its batteries are charged and a myriad of tests are performed, controllers on Earth will command the Mars Helicopter to take its first autonomous flight into history. "We don't have a pilot and Earth will be several light minutes away, so there is no way to joystick this mission in real time," said Aung. "Instead, we have an autonomous capability that will be able to receive and interpret commands from the ground, and then fly the mission on its own." The full 30-day flight test campaign will include up to five flights of incrementally farther flight distances, up to a few hundred meters, and longer durations as long as 90 seconds, over a period. On its first flight, the helicopter will make a short vertical climb to 10 feet (3 meters), where it will hover for about 30 seconds. As a technology demonstration, the Mars Helicopter is considered a high-risk, high-reward project. If it does not work, the Mars 2020 mission will not be impacted. If it does work, helicopters may have a real future as low-flying scouts and aerial vehicles to access locations not reachable by ground travel. "The ability to see clearly what lies beyond the next hill is crucial for future explorers," said Zurbuchen. "We already have great views of Mars from the surface as well as from orbit. With the added dimension of a bird's-eye view from a 'marscopter,' we can only imagine what future missions will achieve." Mars 2020 will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. The rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers. Scientists will use the instruments aboard the rover to identify and collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in sealed tubes, and leave them on the planet's surface for potential return to Earth on a future Mars mission. The Mars 2020 Project at JPL in Pasadena, California, manages rover development for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management. For more information about NASA's Mars missions, go to: https://www.nasa.gov/mars View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mars-helicopter-to-fly-on-nasas-next-red-planet-rover-mission-300647226.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Protesters demonstrate at the 2016 RNC in Cleveland. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images With the Republican National Convention a little more than two years away, the GOP is having a hell of a time finding a city to host the extravaganza, which will see Donald Trump nominated for a second term unless something unexpected happens between now and then. At least four cities have declined to pursue the event after showing some initial interest, The Hill reports. Like most urban areas equipped to handle the convention, those waving away the GOP are largely Democratic, making the proposed influx of MAGA hats less than ideal. Their leaders do not want to suffer blowback with their residents for hosting Trump and neither do they want to have local business owners angry because protesters smashed their store windows, Republican strategist Evan Siegfried told The Hill. Among the cities to back away from the RNC are Philadelphia, Nashville, and San Antonio, where the mayor explained in a recent op-ed that national political conventions arent the great deal for cities that the parties and their advocates want us to believe. But it wasnt just a financial decision. In a statement, Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said that inviting the RNC to San Antonio would be at odds with the citys dedication to cultural inclusion. Las Vegas was in the running for the convention, but local Republican officials, who were pushing the bid, appear to have been overruled by the citys Convention and Visitors Authority. That leaves Charlotte, which hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention, as the only city publicly pursuing the convention. I would say that Charlottes bid is really strong, Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, said last month. I think our strength is that we have done it before. But there are detractors. Earlier this week, the Charlotte Observer editorial board weighed in with an op-ed titled RNC 2020: The risks arent worth it for Charlotte. Those risks, the paper said, include the cost of the event, the nebulous benefits granted by it, and the man who will likely be accepting the GOPs nomination. Meanwhile, NBC News reported this week that eight cities are enthusiastically courting the 2020 Democratic convention. How to use Gmail essential tips and tricks Not everything about Gmail is so easy to use. Here's how to get through the tough parts and get more out of Gmail. Dedicated Session of the African Continental Free Trade Area Negotiating Forum (AfCFTA-NF) underway The Department of Trade and Industry is organizing the Dedicated Session of the African Continental Free Trade Area Negotiating Forum and Legal Experts from 30 April to 12 May 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The objective of the Meeting is to undertake Legal Scrubbing of the Annexes to the Protocol on Trade in Goods, and the Annexes to the Protocol on the Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes. Participants are also required to consider and recommend for adoption by the African Union Ministers of Trade, the list of Priority Sectors on Trade in Services. They are further required to consider outstanding issues on Modalities for Tariff Liberalization, including Criteria for Designating Sensitive Products and Exclusion Lists. The Meeting is being attended by members of the AfCFTA Negotiating Forum and Legal Experts from Member States. Trade experts from the eight RECs recognised by the African Union (CEN-SAD, COMESA, EAC, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, SADC and UMA), experts from AfDB, UNECA and UNCTAD are also in attendance. In a statement sent to participants and read by Mr. Karidio Hamadou, Director of Foreign Trade and Economic Partnership and Chief Negotiator of Niger, H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger and Champion of the AfCFTA process, commended Chief Negotiators for their availability and determination. He indicated that March 21, 2018 will remain engraved in the annals of history as the starting point of the conquest for the economic independence of Africa. By making available to the African peoples the Agreement on the AfCFTA and its protocols, you have offered Africa the opportunity to show that it will henceforth speak with one voice in the concert of nations. He urged participants to keep the momentum and called on them to see the overall benefit of creating an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, the Africa we want as stated in Agenda 2063. In the same vein, the Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union, H.E. Amb. Albert M. Muchanga, congratulated Chief Negotiators for the historic achievement. He pointed out that the Kigali Extraordinary Summit is marked as a landmark in African economic history. We are welcoming the concrete beginning of the journey to create one African market. We are saying goodbye to the era of small, isolated and fragmented small markets. We are clearly signaling that Africa is not for isolationism or nationalism. Our message to ourselves and to the rest of the world is that we pool our independence and sovereignty to create a higher value of inter-dependency anchored on creating one African Market, he underscored. The Commissioner recalled the objectives of the Meeting and called on Member States to deliver the minimum 22 ratifications within 9-12 months from March this year so that the legal instruments establishing African Continental Free Trade Area come into force. He indicated that Rwanda, Ghana and Kenya have led the way for the AfCFTAs ratification and urged other Member States to deposit instruments of ratification so that the African Union Commission can have an official record of ratifications. The Dedicated Session of the African Continental Free Trade Area Negotiating Forum will be followed by Senior Trade Officials and African Union Ministers of Trade (AMOT) meetings planned to take place from 25th May to 2nd June 2018, in Dakar, Senegal. There is power in a union. Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for MoveOn.org The Democratic Partys official mission is to win elections for its candidates and a better deal for American workers. Strengthening Americas labor unions would advance both of those goals, simultaneously. Over the past four decades, Americas private-sector unionization rate has collapsed along with labors share of productivity gains. A large and growing body of economic research has demonstrated that this is no coincidence: Unions dont just grow paychecks for their members, but also put upward pressure on wages throughout their industries. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that weekly wages for private-sector male workers would be 5 percent higher today, were Americas unionization rate still as high as it was in 1979 (changes in the prevalence of gender wage discrimination and female participation in the workforce complicate the comparison for working women). Back then, 34 percent of private-sector workers belonged to a union; today, just 10.7 percent do. If Democrats want to give workers a better deal, there are few better things they can do than promote unions (i.e., organizations that were invented to do just that). Alternatively, if Democrats decide that they dont actually care about helping workers and their sole policy goal is to pass laws that make it easier for them to win elections there are few better things they can do than promote unions. In recent years, a number of Republican-controlled states have passed right-to-work laws measures that undermine organized labor by allowing workers who join a unionized workplace to enjoy the benefits of a collective bargaining agreement without paying dues to the union that negotiated it. This encourages other workers to skirt their dues, which can then drain a union of the funds it needs to survive. And that has the effect of draining the Democratic Party of the funds and grassroots organizing that it needs to thrive: A recent study from researchers at Boston University, Columbia, and the Brookings Institution found that when a state passes a right-to-work law, the Democratic Partys share of its presidential vote drops by an average of 3.5 percent. For Democrats, promoting unionization isnt just the progressive thing to do; its also the pragmatic one. This week, 14 Senate Democrats signaled that they understand this. On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders introduced the Workplace Democracy Act, a bill that aims to increase Americas unionization rate by: Allowing workers to form unions simply by collecting signatures in favor of unionization from a majority of their colleagues, instead of holding elections, which provide employers with the opportunity to lobby against the union before ballots are cast. Requiring companies to bargain with a new union within ten days of receiving a request. Nullifying right-to-work laws, by requiring workers to pay some amount of dues to unions that bargain on their behalf, regardless of the state they live in. Drastically increasing penalties on employers that illegally fire workers during union drives. And expanding the definition of employee so that Americas growing population of contract laborers like the gig economy workers who power Uber and Lyft can access the wide array of mandatory benefits that only employees can currently claim (including the right to collective bargaining). Specifically, the bill stipulates that a companys workers are employees, unless the services they provide are outside the usual course of the employers business (so, a hardware store can hire a plumber to fix its toilets on contract, but a plumbing service would need to employ said plumber, if it wishes to avail itself of his or her services). Thirteen of Sanderss Democratic colleagues have signed onto this legislation including virtually every suspected 2020 hopeful in the upper chamber (Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris are all represented). And yet, a wide array of (self-identified) progressive senators including ones from states with strong labor presences have not signed onto the bill. Its possible that these legislators simply havent gotten around to it there is a lot going on right now, and this bill isnt gonna come up for a vote any time soon. Its also possible that they object to some little detail in this proposal but are hard at work at their own labor bills. But if 35 Senate Democrats have no intention of supporting comprehensive labor-law reform of any kind, then 35 Senate Democrats are so deeply committed to protecting the ability of employers to exploit their workers, theyre willing to put their party at an electoral disadvantage for the sake of abetting such exploitation. Theres little reason to believe that this actually the case. But those who havent signed onto Sanderss bill would do well to clarify that it isnt, posthaste. Treehugger and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Treehugger.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors) 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. An Israeli flag on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on May 10, 2018. Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images Those of us who hoped against hope that President Donald Trump would somehow not end up scuttling the nuclear agreement with Iran, as he did earlier this week, held out that hope for fear of what this would mean for the stability of the Middle East and the world, for both national and global security. If the U.S. were to hastily pull out of the deal, ripping its foundation from under it, we warned that this would lead, intentionally or unintentionally, to a cascading series of events that would gradually culminate in yet another catastrophic war. We were wrong: Those events are not happening gradually at all. Within 48 hours of Trumps announcement that he was pulling the U.S. out of the deal, undoing years of diplomatic legwork and effectively setting fire to the entire agreement, Iran and Israel have come closer than ever before to a direct military confrontation. On Wednesday night, a barrage of missiles from Syria struck the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel quickly attributed to the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This attack was provocative, assuming the Israeli military was right to attribute it to Iran, as it marked the first direct attack by Iranian forces in Syria on what Israel considers its own territory (the Golan Heights are considered occupied Syrian land under international law and in the view of most other countries, which do not recognize Israels unilateral decision to annex the territory in 1981). The barrage killed nobody and damaged nothing, as the missiles either missed their targets or were intercepted by Israels Iron Dome missile-defense system. Nonetheless, Israel responded to this provocation typically, with overwhelming force, launching an overnight series of air strikes on some 70 targets in Syria, which Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed had damaged or destroyed nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria. This exchange of fire represents a dangerous escalation of the low-grade war Israel and Iran have been fighting in Syria for some time now. The specter of an all-out war between Israel and Iran is frightening, as it would undoubtedly affect not only Syria but also Lebanon, as well as the belligerent countries themselves. Hezbollah, the militant Shiite party in Lebanon backed by Iran, and its allies increased their number of seats in the Lebanese parliament to a slim majority last Sunday, though that hardly means the party has a firm grip on power. Fearing that an emboldened Hezbollah might drag the country deeper into the Syrian conflict and the unfolding Iranian-Israeli crisis, world powers are now urging Lebanon to uphold its policy of disassociation from regional conflicts. Making Lebanon a full participant in another regional conflict would be extremely destructive to the country and a losing political strategy for Hezbollah, but the country could get embroiled in this conflict whether or not Hezbollah necessarily wills it. Needless to say, a reignition of the Syrian war with an expanded proxy dimension, coupled with the spillover of that war into Lebanon, would represent a major destabilization of a region that can ill afford to become any less stable than it already is. Irans rivals among the Gulf Arab states are clearly gunning for Israel to turn its considerable military might against Tehran, as indicated by the Bahraini foreign ministers unusual expression of support for Israels right to defend itself against Iran. Bahrain has no relations with Israel and, like most Arab countries, does not formally recognize its existence. That statement might also imply the blessing of Saudi Arabia, which exerts considerable influence over its tiny neighbor Bahrain and which has also been warming up to Israel of late with both eyes on their common enemy, Iran. So what does this rapidly spiraling situation have to do with Donald Trump and the Iran deal? Neither the Iranian strike on the Golan nor Israels response were necessarily direct consequences of the deals untimely demise, although the former may have been one way in which Iran lashed out in response to Trumps decision. Israels response had undoubtedly been in the works for some time; it could not have assembled the intelligence and firepower for such an attack overnight, but was clearly waiting for an Iranian escalation to trigger a preplanned reaction. Canceling the deal, however, has removed a key obstacle blocking these countries from engaging in a costly and risky war. With the return of sanctions and no reason to ever trust the United States again, Tehran now has a strong incentive to resume its atomic-weapons activities, as a nuclear deterrent may be its only hope of averting an invasion by the U.S. and/or its regional proxies. The minute Israel has plausible evidence that Iran has restarted its nuclear program, it will take steps to stamp out what it considers an existential threat to itself. The prospect of sabotaging relations with the U.S. had been the leash holding Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu back from doing so preemptively. Now, he may not even wait for the evidence to come in. One quality Netanyahu has in common with Trumps national-security adviser John Bolton is a fervent desire for war with Iran, with the explicit goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic. Neither man believes that Iran can be trusted, reasoned with, or welcomed into the international community under any circumstances as long as it remains under clerical rule, and both openly thought the Obama administration was stupid to think otherwise. Netanyahu has been threatening war with Iran continually for nearly a decade; Bolton has been advocating war for at least as long. Both men have egged Trump on to cancel the deal. Critics of the Trump administrations approach to Iran like to complain that it offers no alternative to the deal. This is, strictly speaking, incorrect. High-ranking officials within this administration have been crystal clear for some time about the alternative they have in mind: namely, war and regime change. Now, the neoconservative Washington Free Beacon reports that the administration is working on plans to foment revolution in Iran after it reimposes crippling sanctions, suggesting that it is looking for ways to achieve regime change without violating Trumps isolationist campaign promises by starting another foreign military adventure. For armchair generals like Bolton who dream of Tehran in flames, an Israel-Iran war might have some appeal as another way to achieve their objective without the pesky need of selling the American people on yet another open-ended war. In that case, however, the question the administration must answer is this: Whats their plan for if and when Netanyahu gets in over his head and says he needs our help? Roatan - went there a couple of times - was the best off shore snorkeling in our travels. [Stay away from Fantasy Island resort and check carefully if whatever other place you choose can get inundated with hords of cruise passengers, completely taking over the beach, property, and restaurants of the resort for a full day at a time, multiple days a week, different cruise ships, at the expense of the hotel's own guests. ] Contadora Island in Panama had great snorkeling, but we were there quite a few yrs ago, so check on the current situation/reviews. A tiny island a short domestic flight away from Panama City. We spent a week there, snorkeling. Wknds were quite busy, but during the week it was great. Lots of tiny public beaches, most empty. The 3rd for snorkeling for us (and diving for others in our hotel) was Jibacoa - between Holguin and Varadero in Cuba. There are only 2 resorts there. We found snorkeling on the Pacific side of CR, Papagayo, disappointing, in comparison, or, on other trips to the Pacific side, impossible due to waves. For our return trip to S. Caribbean side of CR we chose to leave our snorkeling equipment at home. It had not left our luggage once in the first 2 wks, due to waves, rip tides and poor water visibility, incl. in Cahuita NP. The water was so murky when we swam there - we could not see our hands under water, there was no point to try with a mask. So the next time we just left our snorkeling items at home. If you are thinking white sugary beaches of some other destinations like Punta Cana, Varadeto, etc, etc, CR beaches are different. Does not mean not beautiful, but not the same. The ones called white on some travel sites are more light grey, and some ppl prefer to call them golden. This site will give you a good idea about S. Caribbean weather/average monthly rainfall, etc.: . We enjoyed our trips to that coast. But it is hard to know if you would. You did not say what else you were looking for - do you like touristy, developed areas, with shops, restaurants, etc? Then Pacific side might be better. We were on the Pacific side mid March once. It was hot. The dark sand on the beach got so hot - too hot to walk barefoot from the beach chair to the water for a swim... See for weather in March in CR in general. Probability and averages are not guarantees, of course, but might be useful to know for your decision. Also, I would spend more time in Arenal, especially since you have 2 wks. In 2 wks, you can do more than Arenal and 1 beach destination. Yes, you can have drinks both before the performance and during the intermission(s) at the Met. As best as I can recall, there are bars at orchestra level (which is slightly down from ground floor level), at the Grand Tier level (slightly up), and at the Balcony/Family Circle level. There may be more, but this is the minimum. I'm not sure about the Met, but at the David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center (where NY City Ballet performs) you can now "pre-order" intermission drinks -- I just recently noticed that sign. But am not sure about the Met. One thing you cannot do at the Met (or at any other Lincoln Center venue as far as I know) is take your drink in to your seat. If you try to do that they will stop you. So you either have to stay outside with your drink or dump the drink and go inside. In case you are thinking about booking an Airbnb.... Like Paris, Berlin, London, Barcelona, Reykjavik, San Francisco, and other cities that do not have sufficient housing for their locals, New York City has heavily regulated vacation apartment rentals. They are legal here only if they are in a 1- or two-family house with one or two units. All other places are either straight out illegal, or the person "hosting" is breaking their lease, co-op or condo agreement. For that reason, if they are reported either to the landlord/board or City, they can cancel your reservation at the last minute ("Due to circumstances beyond our control....") Some of these adverts/reviews are completely false and there is no rental at all. The real estate in Manhattan is some of the most expensive in the world, and people who own property there simply do not need to rent out space to visitors for cheap prices. Have a look at these stories, as well as the second Top Question on the right-hand side of the board ("Vacation Apartment Rentals Violate NYC Laws"): For a couple of years now it has been illegal to even advertise (italics) an illegal rental, and if caught, the advertiser faces fines starting at $1500 for the first offense, $5000 for the second, and $7500 for the third. Per unit, on up. If you post your exact dates, number of people, budget per night, bedding needs the hotel experts here can help. Are you looking for the best private school for your children? It should not be too stressful to find a qualitative school to educate your children. Here is the list of the best private schools in Kenya which will help you to find the best one for your children. Source: commdiginews List of top 10 private schools in Kenya. Kenya is increasing the number of private schools in order to improve the quality of education. This, in turn, improves the country's development rate. Private schools are independent schools and they give more importance to the career of students. Every parent wants to enroll their children in the best schools in order to educate them. They get worried when it comes to choosing the best schools for the fear of a dark future for the children if the choice is poorly made. For such parents, there's no need to worry. Here is the list of private schools in Kenya and relevant information that will provide you with more knowledge to choose the best one for your child. READ ALSO: Top Schools in KCSE 2016-2018 1. Moi High School, Kabarak This school is ranked as the top performing secondary schools in Kenya. It is located at Kabarak and started in 1979 by the retired president, Daniel Arap Moi, with a goal of educating Kenyan students at an affordable price. This school is stated as the top mixed school in Kenya. 2. Strathmore School Strathmore School is a private boys school in Kenya and its establishment year is March 1961. This school insists on the importance of academic excellence and moral integrity, which results in excellent rankings in national examinations. This is the best school in Kenya and it is ranked as the top 2nd private school in Kenya. 3. Anestar Precious Girls Secondary School This private girls school ranked as top 10 private schools in Kenya. It is located in Lanet, in Nakuru country. This school offers the 8.4.4 curriculum and produces consistently excellent results in KCSE examinations. 4. Pioneer High School The study environment at the Pioneer High School is awesome. This school gives more importance to studies as well as extracurricular activities to make students all-rounded. This school also provides aviation training to interested students. 5. Mary Mother of Grace Boys Secondary School This institute was founded in 1990, and it is located in Rumuruti, in Laikipia Country. This school gives an opportunity to the local community boys to pursue secondary education. Culture-wise, it is unique. In addition,the schools physics teacher, Mr. Paul Mbatia, is a famous physics teacher countrywide. Students are recording excellent results in the KCSE examination. 6. Wamy High School Wamy high school is now ranked as one of the best Islamic schools in Kenya. This schools teaching style is excellent and it provides knowledge to students to achieve academic excellence in national examinations. This school gives importance to students personal quality and to how their students will be knowledgeable and talented. 7. Sunshine Secondary school This is one of the top boys boarding schools in Nairobi country, it was established in 1995. Sunrise secondary school gives importance to students value, how their students will prosper and produce a good result in examination. 8. Light Academy This is one of the private secondary schools in Kenya. Light Academy always strives to educate their students at an international level. The academy has several branches in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Malindi. Students who get the opportunity to pass through Light Academy, have values like integrity, leadership, and honor instilled in them. 9. Kianda School Kianda is the best girl's private school in Nairobi offering the 8.4.4 education system to the students. It was established in 1977 and has been producing excellent, hardworking, and multitasking young women since then. This institution gives an all-round education to girls. 10. Chemelil Sugar Academy Chemelil Sugar Academy is one of the mixed secondary schools in Kenya that offers high-level knowledge and principles to its students. High qualified teachers are there to teach the students. This academy is ranked among the top 10 academies in Kenya. READ ALSO: List of aviation schools in Kenya Education in Kenya The government of Kenya has established a free primary education and secondary education for all sorts of programs. The free primary education was established in 2003 and the free secondary education established in 2008. In primary school, nearly three million more students were enrolled in 2012 as compared to 2003. From 2003 to 2012, the percentage of students enrolled in primary school had increased immensively. Between 2003 and 2012, the enrollment ratio of secondary school increased from 43 to 67 percent. Kenyas education level Currently, Kenyas education level is somewhat similar to the U.S education system. The education system before this provided four years of secondary education, eight years of primary education and four years of university. The levels of education in Kenya were- Pre-primary education: The basic education provided to the level of pre-primary education is for one or two years. Three to six years aged children have to join pre-primary school before joining a primary school. At pre-primary education level, more focus goes on the development of a child, including the physical, social, spiritual, and mental growth. The areas where pre-primary schools have been concentrated on are health, nutrition, care, and basic education. Primary education: Primary education is the first phase of 8-4-4 education system. The student ages between 6 and 14 years join the primary education. The main objective of primary education level is to prepare them to be global citizens and also prepare students to contribute in the political, social, and economic well being of the geographical region.The students from class one to class eight are in primary school. The students have to be seat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) at the end of their eight years in primary school. The results are then used to determine their placement at secondary school. Secondary education: After completing primary school, the students had to join secondary school. Secondary education level takes four years to complete the course. Due to an increase in the enrollment in primary schools, the demand for secondary school has also increased. Tertiary education: This level is post-secondary school, also called college. READ ALSO: Early childhood education in Kenya (ECDE) - Are the goals adequate? New education system in Kenya The old education system in Kenya was replaced by new education system. The new education system offers six years of lower and upper primary school, two years of pre-primary school, three years of senior secondary school, three years of junior secondary school, and three years of higher education to the students. Levels of the new education system in Kenya Source: Kenyayote The level of the new education system in Kenya is briefly explained below: Pre-primary years of education: Here, the children are between the ages of 4 and 5 years are going to join the pre-primary school. Two levels are included in pre-primary education, which are pre-primary one and pre-primary two. Lower primary education: Total duration of lower primary education will be 3 years. The age criteria for children in this education level will be between 6 and 8 years. Upper primary education: The students who are joining the upper primary school are aged between 9 and 11 years. Junior secondary education: To complete junior secondary education, it will take 3 years. Grade 8 and grade 9 will be covered in this level. Senior secondary education: The student who comes under senior secondary education level, their age will be in between 15 and 17 years. Higher education: The duration of higher education level will be three years. The students join higher education after completing secondary education level. Goals of education in Kenya: In educational planning, Kenya uses objectives, aims, and goals. In Kenya, the national goals of education are given below: Promote patriotism, foster nationalism, and national unity. Promote economic, social, industrial, and technological needs for national development. Promote self-fulfillment and individual development. Promote religious values and sound morals. Promote responsibility and social equality. Foster positive attitudes and international consciousness towards other nations. Source: Tuko Newspaper Ramadan is a season of prayer, fasting, and charity. Muslims view the period as a way of getting closer to Allah physically and spiritually. But what is the importance of Ramadan in Islam? A Muslim reading the Quran. Photo: @quranandhadith Source: UGC Ramadan is one of the most crucial months in the calendar of Muslims in the world. This annual observance is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is said to be the commemoration of the first revelation of Prophet Muhammad by Allah. What should Muslims do during Ramadan? Muslims engage in several activities during Ramadan to honour Allah and take their empathy to other people. They engage in: Praying Fasting Feeding the less privileged Doing good deed to the poor Abstaining from immoral acts Reading the Quran When is Ramadan 2021? Ramadan dates are prone to change on the Gregorian calendar since it is part of the lunar calendar. This means that no specific date is set aside for the celebration as it varies depending on the lunar calendar. Before announcing the date, the Muslims wait for the new month's moon to appear. In 2021, Ramadan is set to begin on Tuesday, 13th April. The end of Ramadan is marked through the Eid al-Fitr celebration. The Muslim come together to celebrate successful fasting and worshipping period. The last day of Ramadan in 2021 will be on Wednesday, 12nd May, for most Muslim countries in the Middle East. Five benefits of fasting in Islam Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. The other four are faith, prayer, alma-giving and pilgrimage. During Ramadan, all Muslims are expected to fast with the exemption of only a few. Those who are exempted from fasting are: The elderly The sick Pregnant women Those who are menstruating Breastfeeding mothers People who are travelling The five benefits of fasting in Islam are: Learning patience and breaking bad habits Getting closer to God through worship Becoming more compassionate to the less privileged It helps to reduce weight and rejuvenate the body Improving blood circulation and getting rid of any harmful toxins in the body A group of Muslims sharing a meal. Photo: @muslimfoodies Source: Twitter What is the importance of Ramadan in Islam? The importance of Ramadan ranges from physical, mental to spiritual nourishment. Here is what you achieve after the holy month of fasting: 1. Forgiveness of sins Forgiveness is the essential spiritual significance of Ramadan. During this period, Allah's mercy is always in abundance, thus forgiving those who repent. 2. Protection Fasting is a shield for Muslims. It helps Muslims to get rid of the evils and immoralities among them. It also prevents them from following the path of the evil one. 3. Steadfastness One of the main relevancies of Ramadan is attaining piety. Muslims are expected to brace themselves with great deeds. During Ramadan, Muslims increase their goodness throughout the month and beyond. It is a chance for them to heighten their righteousness. 4. Reflection Another great benefit of Ramadan is reflection. Muslims are allowed to re-think and re-form their ways. It offers them a moment to take a look at their wrong-doings. Muslims get an opportunity to express their gratitude to Allah. They also commit to becoming better individuals in life. 5. Detoxification During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking. This enhances the metabolic systems of their bodies. As they fast, their bodies naturally expel toxins as the rate of food consumption is reduced. The body learns to persevere and stay in good shape. 6. Accountability Ramadan is one of the best periods to help you stay on track. You are conscious of what and when you eat, how you talk, what you wear, among other things. With the keenness, the Muslims have the opportunity to desert their wicked ways as a way of reformation. 7. Emancipation A group of Muslims praying in the mosque. Photo: @Ramadanprayers Source: Twitter This is one of the great benefits of Ramadan to Muslims as they are ransomed from hell and admitted to paradise. This is evident in the message given through Abu Huraira, stating: On the first night of the month of Ramadan, the devils are chained, the jinn are restrained, and the gates of hellfire are closed. On the other hand, the gates of paradise are opened, and none of its gates are closed. A caller announces: O seeker of good, come near! O seeker of evil, stop short! Allah will save them from the Hellfire, and that is during every night of Ramadan. 8. Humility and empathy During Ramadan, Muslims observe fasting as one of the pillars of their religion. By doing so, they submit to the commands of Allah. They express humility through submission to the Quran. It also serves as an acknowledgement of his blessings. 9. A time to bond with the Qur'an The Quran was revealed to the Muslims during Ramadan. Angel Jibril used this month to revise it with Allah's apostle. During this holy month, Muslims get time to bond with the Quran by reciting, memorizing, listening and learning the verses. At the end of it all, they receive the greatest reward. 10. Growth Growth is one of the benefits of Ramadan. Muslims evolve from a previous self to a brand new being. They undergo a spiritual rebirth that propels them through the rest of the year. What is the importance of Ramadan in Islam? Ramadan brings physical, emotional and spiritual connection among Muslims. This steers them to be even better individuals. Tuko.co.ke shared Ramadan rules for fasting, relationships, and food. Ramadan brings numerous blessings from Allah. It allows Muslims to better connect with their creator by observing Ramadan rules for fasting, relationships, and food. Ramadan rules for fasting, relationships, and food help the Muslim to avoid breaking the fast. There are penalties to some of these rules, while there are exemptions to others. Source: Tuko.co.ke In Kenya, it is both mandatory and very important that all companies have a KRA pin.Companies in Kenya require a KRA pin for various activities such as: applying for a bank account, filing of KRA monthly returns, applying for a Tax Compliance Certificate(TCC), applying for government tenders, and in the case where the company wishes to purchase land or property. As such, KRA pin registration for a company in Kenya is a seminal activity to be done. This article gives a detailed guide for those interested in KRA company pin registration. Source:KRA Source: UGC READ ALSO:How to KRA pin search using ID number in Kenya? KRA pin registration requirements for company pin registration To begin with, before you embark on KRA pin certificate registration for your company, you need to understand that the following are very crucial to your registration process. As such, before beginning anything, ensure that you have the following for the registration for pin KRA Kenya: A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation for your company. The Memorandum of Association and Article of Association for your company.(This one is not mandatory). KRA pin for one of the companys directors. Company details such as the companys physical address, the companys email address, and the companys phone number. If you have these, you may now begin your KRA online PIN registration for your company. KRA pin registration for a limited company The process for registration for KRA pin in Kenya for your company begins by visiting the KRA Itax online portal. You can easily do this by clicking here. Once you get to the Itax online service area, you will see a prompt asking you if you would like to apply for a new pin. Follow the link provided. Here is the link. You have now entered the e-registration portal. Follow the following steps to learn how to complete your KRA pin registration online. This is how to fill KRA pin registration form for KRA pin registration Kenya. READ ALSO: KRA pin application procedure Step 1: This is the beginning of your registration for KRA pin for your company. Here, you shall be required to select taxpayer type. Choose Non Individual as this applies to KRA pin certificate registration for companies. Next, you shall be required to choose your mode of registration. You are required to pick between the online mode or the upload mode. Pick the online mode as you shall be completing your KRA Kenya pin registration online. You may then click Next to move to the next page, or Back to go back to the main page. Source: KRA Step 2: Filling in Section A(Basic Information) This is the first sub-section that involves entering business income details. First, select your business type from the dropdown list. This list provides the following choices under Business Type: Company, Non Government Organization, International Organization, Diplomatic Organization, Government Institution and Others; in case your business does not fall under the former categories. Next, select your business sub-type, also from the drop down list provided. Enter the business registration certificate number. Enter the business commencement date. If the business is a company, select accounting period end month. If the business name is different from the registered name, you are now required to enter the trading or business name. In case the business sub-type is EPZ company, input the EPZ effective date. Next, select Yes or No for the question Does your business have any branches? If you wish to declare a legal representative, pick Yes. Now enter the legal representatives pin. This is the end of the business income details sub-section. We now enter the principal physical address sub-section. In this sub-section, you are required to enter details such as L.R number, building, street or road, city or town, county, district, tax area or locality, and the descriptive address. All of these should be related to your company or business. Fill in all the mandatory fields in this sub-section. The mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk. Next is the principal postal address sub-section. This sub-section requires you to fill in details concerning your postal code, town, and P.O.Box. . Remember to fill all fields marked with an asterisk. Next is the principal contact details sub-section. Here, you shall enter details such as telephone number of the company, mobile numbers of the company, the companys main email address and the companys secondary email address. If you have alternative addresses and contact details, you may add these too. Next, you need to enter details of the companys ownership structure. This is a new sub-section. This specific sub-section requires that you enter details such as: answer if the company you are registering is a subsidiary company, if the principal holding company resident is in Kenya, enter the holding company pin, the name of the holding company, and the country in which the holding company is situated. Next, you enter the bank account details sub-section. If you would like to declare your bank accounts for tax refunds, this sub-section allows you to do that by selecting Yes. You shall then need to enter information such as the bank name, branch, city, the account holders name, and the account number. Next, you enter the economy activity details sub-section. In this subsection, you shall be required to enter details such as the sector of the economy in which you are involved in, the division, group, class, sub-class, and type of the same. Add these details and move to the next subsection. You may also select Clear to reset economic activity details. The next sub-section deals with the details of acquisition or amalgamation. You are required to select Yes or No when answering the question whether your business was formed as a result of acquisition or amalgamation. If yes, enter the type of bond from the drop down list. Enter the pin for the selected bond, the taxpayer name, email address, and the date. Fill all fields marked with an asterisk. Add these details by clicking on Add, or reset them by clicking on Clear. You are now done with Section A(Basic Information). You may now click Next to navigate to the next page. Alternatively, you may click Cancel to go back to the main page. Source: KRA Step 3: Filling in Section B(Obligation Details) The first sub-section here is the Taxpayer Obligation sub-section. This subsection includes details of: Income Tax Company, Income Tax Partnership, and Income Tax PAYE(Pay As You Earn-for employer only). If, in the first step of Section A, you selected Company under Business Type, Income Tax Company is enabled. If, under business type you picked Partnership, Income Tax Non Partnership is enabled. This step is only valid if you selected Value Added Tax(VAT). You will be required fill in the following details dealing with turnover details: amount in taxable supplies in Kenya, amount in exempt supplies in Kenya, and amount in exports. Click Next to proceed to the next page. You may also click Cancel to go back to the main page, or Previous to go to the previous page. Source: KRA Step 4: Fill Section C(Branch Details) First, enter the branch name. Next, input information regarding the physical full address such as the L.R number, building, street or road, city or town, county, district, tax area or locality, and the descriptive address. Enter the mandatory details. Enter the mandatory information under postal address such as the postal code, town, and P.O.Box. Input all the required information in the principal contact details such as the telephone number, mobile number, main email address, secondary email address, and website. Select the tax obligations for which the branch is expected to file the seperate return. Add the registration date. Click 'Add' to add these details or 'Clear' to get ride of the details. Click 'Next' to move on to the next page; 'Back' to go back to the previous page, and 'Cancel' to go back to the main page. Source: KRA Step 5: Fill Section D(Director Associates) Section D requires you to enter details of persons associated with the business such as a director, partner, or business associate. First, enter the nature of the association, the pin of the person, the profit or loss sharing ratio. These are mandatory. Additionally, you may enter the following details regarding the person: First name, middle name, and last name, date of birth, and gender. Enter details of the person's principal physical address. Enter details of the person's postal address. Click on 'Add' to add this information, or 'Clear' to clear these details. Click 'Next' to go to the next page, 'Previous' to move back to the previous page, and 'Cancel' to go to the main page. Source: KRA Step 6: Fill in Section E(Agent Details) Fill sub-section E-I with the following details regarding the tax agent authorized to submit any application on behalf of the taxpayer: PIN, agent name, telephone number, mobile number, email address, authorization date since, and authorization date upto. Click 'Add' to add this information and 'Clear' to reset authorized agent details. Fill subsection E-II with the following details regarding the intermediary agent to submit tax returns on behalf of the taxpayer: Type of authorization(All taxes or Partial), PIN, first name, middle name, last name, tax obligation(Income tax company or Value Added Tax-VAT), telephone number, mobile number, email address, authorization date since, and authorization date upto. Click Add to add details regarding the intermediary agent or Clear to clear these details. You may now click Next to go to the main page, Previous to go to the previous page, and Cancel to go to the main page. Source: KRA Step 7: Fill Section F(Estate Trust Details) If in section A, under business sub-type you selected Estate or Trusts, then this section of the KRA new pin registration form is for you. Enter information related to the beneficiary in case of estate or trusts. This includes: age of the beneficiary, PIN, profit and loss sharing ratio, individual information (first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, and gender), principal physical address (L.R number, building, street or road, city or town, county, district, tax area or locality, and the descriptive address), and the principal postal address (postal code, town, and P.O.Box). Click 'Add' to add the estate trust details. Click 'Clear' to clear estate trust details. Compute the arithmetic operation and enter the correct result. Next, click 'Submit' to submit the data. Source: KRA Step 8: Download the acknowledgement receipt Click on 'Click here to download acknowledgement receipt'. Source: KRA The e-registration acknowledgement receipt looks something like this: Source: KRA This completes your KRA Kenya pin registration for your company. All in all, it is safe to say that KRA pin registration for new taxpayer, even that for companies, has been made easy and accessible through the online Itax system. The Itax KRA pin registration has ensured that all you need for KRA pin registration is a stable internet connection and the required information and details. READ ALSO: How to get a lost KRA pin number Source: Tuko.co.ke - The officer is reported to have shot dead his victim at a bar in Mamboleo market, Kisumu - He had differed with the university student before he shot him on the head killing him instantly - The police officer was later arrested and his gun confiscated for ballistic examination A senior police officer attached to Kuria West shot dead a 24-year old man in Kisumu following a quarrel on Thursday, May 10. Information gathered by TUKO.co.ke indicated Chief Inspector Sebastian Ambani was at a bar in Mamboleo market, Kisumu when he differed with Brian Chacha Duncan. Ambani drew his official Ceska pistol and shot the man on the head, killing the KCA University, Kisumu campus student on the spot. READ ALSO: Mwanamke wa miaka 24 mashakani kwa kushiriki ngono na mwanafunzi wa darasa la 7, Kisumu READ ALSO: Swahili becomes first African language to be recognised by Twitter Detectives from the Kondele Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) visited the scene and recovered a 9mm caliber spent cartridge and a bullet head. The senior officer who had escaped from the scene was later arrested at Osiepe. His firearm, serial number F5963, was confiscated and kept as an exhibit. Further information indicate the deceased is the son to Migori county's Kehancha Sub-County Administrator Danstan Makabwa. READ ALSO: DStv, Gotv whet Kenyans appetite with promise to air highly anticipated Royal British wedding The killer police is a senior officer in charge Administration at Kuria West police division Kisumu County police commander said the firearm will be taken for ballistic examination. In Nairobi, police have launched investigations into the death of an Administration Police (AP) officer who collapsed and died in his house in Kabwagi, Karen, in unclear circumstances. Constable Lewis Owino Mbwire was attached to the Security of Government Buildings (SGB). Story by Lucky Omenda, Nairobi County. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Top 5 Facts About Uhuru Kenyatta - Raila Odinga Pact - On Tuko TV Source: Breaking News - Shimoli Junior was shot and killed after a botched robbery in Jericho estate - Two of his accomplices escaped with gunshot wounds - A gun loaded with bullets was recovered from him - Shimoli's father, also a wanted criminal, was shot dead in 2017 One of Nairobi's most wanted robbers, Shimoli Junior, was on Friday, May 11, killed in Jericho after a botched robbery. Detectives from Buruburu Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) got information that a gang of three young men was robbing members of the public at around 9.40am at the Kanu stage within Jericho Estate. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens Police acted swiftly and killed Shimoli Junior, while two of his accomplices escaped to Kiambiu slums with gunshot wounds. READ ALSO: Senior police officer shoots dead Mt Kenya University student in bar fight A combination of photos showing the slain gangster. Photos: Lucky Omenda/Tuko. A revolver loaded with two bullets was found on Shimoli and kept as exhibit. He was son of one Kenyas most dreaded robber who was shot dead in 2007. His father, Edward Shimoli alias Shaban Mohammed, was killed shortly after he was released from Kamiti Maximum prison after serving his eight-year jail term. He was killed together with five others on Kangundo road but police later explained they did not know he was among those shot. READ ALSO: Pasta awashangaza wengi akiwaamuru waumini kuvua chupi kanisani (video) Before his death, he had expressed fears over his life as there was a trend where ex-convicts were shot dead shortly after their release from jail. True to his fears, Shimoli Senior was eliminated just months after he left Kamiti. He had started a taxi business with his salon car. The dreaded gangster had in 1999 confessed to having killed over 14 people and admitted to have committed 88 sexual assaults. The senior Shimoli who was killed in 2007. His son was shot dead by police on May, 11, 2018 after a failed robbery. Photo: Kenya Talk. READ ALSO: Solai Dam that killed 44 in Nakuru illegal - government The senior Shimoli shocked the country when he mysteriously vanished from Kamiti Maximum Prison just as he was about to be taken to the hangmans noose to face justice. He was nicknamed Carlos the Jackal, in comparison to the Venezuelan gangster who evaded police for about 20 years as he terrorised Europe and the Middle East in the 70s and 80s. Shimoli Junior's body was taken to City Mortuary as a manhunt for his injured accomplices was launched. Story by Lucky Omenda, TUKO Correspondent. Additional reporting by Obed Simiyu. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Universities' crisis - Lecturer's strike continues! - on Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke Be Best, Kelly Sadler. Photo: REX/Shutterstock/REX/Shutterstock One of the very first Trump campaign scandals involved the candidate mocking Senator John McCains military service, saying: Hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Therefore its unsurprising, yet still appalling, that President Trump and his allies are not handling McCains battle with terminal brain cancer with much grace. McCain has been home in Arizona since the end of last year, but in response to Gina Haspels confirmation hearing on Wednesday, he issued a statement urging his colleagues to vote against her for CIA director. McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said that while he believes Haspel is a patriot, he believes her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. A source told The Hill that when McCains statement came up during a closed-door meeting of about two dozen White House communications staffers on Thursday morning, special assistant Kelly Sadler mocked the senator. It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, Sadler said, according to the source. The remark was reportedly met with discomfort in the room. The White House did not deny the story, saying only: We respect Senator McCains service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. Sadler has yet to publicly respond, but a source said she called the senators daughter, Meghan McCain, to apologize. Theres been no public confirmation that Sadler apologized, and on Thursday night it did not seem like the McCains had moved past the remark. Cindy McCain, the senators wife, tweeted: @kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren. Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018 Meghan McCain didnt address the comment herself, but she retweeted her mothers response, and other messages defending her family: In 5.5 yrs as POW, McCain lost 50 lbs, was bound and beaten as often as every 2 hours, yet still refused early release. Lifelong injuries. That doesn't put his political decisions above reproach, but it damn sure entitles him to respect from his countrymen as he battles cancer. James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) May 11, 2018 It should be noted, @cindymccain is a quiet pillar of strength and ultimately the unintended bearer of all of this awfulness. https://t.co/sb4TDUAImG S.E. Cupp (@secupp) May 11, 2018 Sadlers reported remark was the third controversial dig related to McCains health or military service this week. First Senator Orrin Hatch said its ridiculous that McCain doesnt want Trump at his funeral. Then on Fox Business Network retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney said we know torture is effective because it worked on McCain, referencing the nickname Songbird John. (There is no evidence that McCain gave up useful information, and the name was pulled from a false 2008 campaign flyer.) Hatch and Fox Business Network host Charles Payne apologized for the remarks. - Raila met businessmen from GEMA community who scantily voted for him in the 2017 elections - Since shaking hands with Uhuru, Raila has been receiving unusual good reception from Central Kenya - The former prime minister said the meeting was solely hinged on Building Bridges initiative - Raila's warm reception from unlikely areas has kept Ruto's supporters worried The effects of President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga's handshake continued to manifest, further tilting the political situation in the country. The latest of the surprises, is the Friday, May 11, meeting between Raila and members of the GEMA business community. As earlier reported by TUKO.co.ke, Raila and Uhuru met on Friday, March 9, at Harambee House and agreed to end their bitter rivalry which had culminated after the Tuesday, August 8. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens Since the move, which caught some of the two leaders' and Deputy President William Ruto's perceived confidants unawares, many other surprises and handshakes have happened setting the country in a political mood barely seven months after the 2017 elections. READ ALSO: Pasta awashangaza wengi akiwaamuru waumini kuvua chupi kanisani (video) Raila Odinga made a rare meeting with business community members from Mt Kenya to discuss building bridges initiative they agreed on with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Photo: Raila Odinga/Facebook. READ ALSO: Tell Uhuru to bring me back if you are all about mending bridges Miguna tells Raila In a Facebook post of Friday, May 11, seen by TUKO.co.ke, Raila said he had met the community's opinion leaders and businessmen who pledged to support his unity agenda with Uhuru. "I attended a breakfast meeting hosted by the GEMA business community. They have pledged their support for the building bridges initiative and expressed their willingness to play any role they may be requested of them in the days ahead," read the post by Raila. Prior to the handshake, the GEMA community who are dominant inhabitants of the Mount Kenya region were among ferocious opponents of Raila and dearest supporters of Uhuru. The former Prime Minister has been receiving unusual warm reception from communities residing in Mt Kenya. Photo: Raila Odinga/Facebook. Ordinarily with the past state of affairs, the GEMA community members would not have offered the former prime minister an audience owing to their political leanings but the tide seems to have changed very fast after the peace pact. READ ALSO: MP TJ Kajwang to administer oath of office to Raila Odinga Raila was accompanied by Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang and National Super Alliance (NASA) strategist David Ndii in the photos taken in the meeting held at a Nairobi hotel. Despite Raila insisting he has no interest in the 2022 politics and claiming he only wants to ensure the Building Bridges initiative is successful, individual's from Ruto's camp are reading mischief in his closeness with Uhuru. The former prime minister was accompanied by Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang and NASA strategist David Ndii. Photo: Raila Odinga/Facebook. READ ALSO: Uhuru-Raila pact is hostile to Ruto Jubilee legislators Already, MPs close to the DP have complained that Raila is using his new found friendship with Uhuru to completely scuttle Ruto's plans of vying for presidency in 2022. Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and his National Assembly counterpart Aden Duale have severally said Raila has plans to wreck the Jubilee house since he perceives Ruto as his strongest rival in the 2022 general elections. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Willy Paul Interview for Tuko Buzz: Willy Paul Reveals it All | Tuko TV Source: Kenyan Breaking News - The management of Olive restaurant condemned the planned demos -The restaurant also dismissed the woman's claims saying she was only requested to cover up while breastfeeding - The establishment also clarified that it's yet to receive any formal complaint from the woman - A woman complained on social media that she was forced to breastfeed in the toilet by Olive waiters A controversial hotel which recently ruffled Kenyans after asking a mother to breastfeed her baby in the toilet has emerged to clarify the embarrassing incident. As reported earlier by TUKO.co.ke, a humiliated Betty Kim shared her unfortunate encounter with the waiters at Olive restaurant along Accra Road in Nairobi, She claimed on social media that she was on the evening of Monday, May 7, forced to breastfeed her baby in the toilet by the restaurant's employees. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens The hotel management, in a statement seen by TUKO.co.ke on Friday, May 11, however refuted the claims in a Facebook group Buyer Beware (Kenya) and alleged Kim was only requested to cover up her baby. READ ALSO: Senior police officer shoots dead Mt Kenya University student in bar fight An embarrassed Betty Kim shared her unfortunate encounter with the waiters at Olive restaurant along Accra Road in Nairobi. Photo: Betty Kim/ Facebook "Management has established the occurrence involved a lady who was breastfeeding in the restaurant and was allegedly requested to cover herself with a shawl by a waitress," read a section of the statement. The administration divulged it was yet to receive any formal complaint from the victim, adding it only found out about the incidence through social media. READ ALSO: Money man: All the fine ladies Uhuru Kenyattas nephew, Jomo Gecaga has slept with The management went on to dismiss planned demonstrations against it by the Facebook group, arguing the hotel had not been given opportunity to be heard or even conduct investigations. "We are aware the said lobby is organising demonstration against our establishment without having raised formally a complaint with us, sought our side of the story, or even giving us a chance to investigate and respond," They accused the organisers of the said demo of being hellbent on tarnishing the restaurant's reputation claiming there would be consequences for such action. READ ALSO: Zione picha zilizojaa ucheshi za Ruto akimualika Uhuru kwa sherehe ya kukata na shoka As reported earlier by TUKO.co.ke, the Nairobi restaurant stoked mixed reactions from the online community with majority users condemning it t for mistreating a breast feeding mother. Some netizens even went as far as urging friends to boycott the place. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram. Nairobi floods: Heavy rains rock Nairobi city (Kenya News) - on TUKO TV Source: Tuko.co.ke - The first ever satellite ventured to space by Kenya was successful - Nano Satellite was launched with the help of Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency - Education CS Amina Mohamed was expected to witness deployment of the satellite in Japan - The satellite will be utilised in various sectors including disaster management Kenya has a knack for breaking records in whatever it is they choose to tackle. It joined the list of African nations with space ambitions after it successfully launched its home-designed satellite on Friday, May 11. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens The cube satellite was designed by scientist from the University of Nairobi in collaboration with Japanese Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA), and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa) READ ALSO: Governor has used county money to hire, entertain light-skinned girls - Nandi senator says Nano Satellite was developed by the University of Nairobi in collaboration with Spienza University in Italy and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA).Photo:The East African. READ ALSO: Senior police officer shoots dead Mt Kenya University student in bar fight It was successfully launched from the Japanese module of the International Space Station and expected to last in the orbit for about 18 months. Dubbed Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight (1KUNS-PF) it weighs about 1.2kgs and will be utilized in various sectors. This will include weather forecasting, food security mapping, livestock and wildlife monitoring, besides disaster management. READ ALSO: Zione picha zilizojaa ucheshi za Ruto akimualika Uhuru kwa sherehe ya kukata na shoka University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor Peter Mbithi hailed the achievement saying it shows the strides the country is making in space technology. The successful deployment of 1KUNS- PF heralds the next phase for UoN/Kenyan scientists and engineers to develop bigger high resolution satellites with serious scientific and technological value for the country, he said. The launch comes even as the country is in advanced stages of establishing a space centre, the equivalent of Americas National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) agency. READ ALSO: Communication Authority warns Kenyans against receiving calls from these numbers For Kenya, the deployment of the satellite heralds a historic moment especially as it competes with neighboring nations like Ethiopia which aim to become a scientific hub. Ethiopia had already funded a multimillion-dollar space observatory and research center. Kenyan government has now promised to undertake the step of allocating more money for research and development activities and stopping advanced expertise from leaving the country. READ ALSO: M-pesa agents will soon be required to enter customer ID number during transaction Prior report by TUKO.co.ke indicated Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Amina Mohamed would lead a delegation of state officials to Japan to witness the historic event. A team from the University of Nairobi handing over to JAXA the Satellite it had developed known as First Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight. Photo: KBC. The UoN is one of the beneficiaries of KiboCube, a join project between JAXA and the United Nations (UN) that seeks to help education institutions across Africa to develop their own satellites. The Kenyan project was initiated in 2015 and funded by Japan to the tune of over KSh 100 million (about US$ 1 million). TUKO.co.ke also understands Japan also provided the platform where the Nano Satellite was constructed. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Join TUKO TV - subscribe right now! - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko - Khalwale hinted the ANC-FORD Kenya merger will be open to work with other coalitions - The former senator said it is not funny for the Western region to continue being out of leadership - Wetangula and Mudavadi fell off with Raila after missing his swearing in ceremony - The three leaders have vowed to produce a president in 2022 Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has said Amani National Congress (ANC) and FORD Kenya parties, which have committed to a merger will produce the next president of Kenya. The vocal senator who doubles up as FORD Kenya party deputy leader expressed determination that a candidate borne out of the two parties' marriage will be the determining factor of who becomes the country's next president. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens In his tweet of Friday, May 11, seen by TUKO.co.ke, Khalwale said it was painful for the Luhya community who were the largest supporters of the two parties and have a huge vote base to continue being left out of the top leadership of the country. READ ALSO: ANC, Ford Kenya parties finalise unity pact plan FORD Kenya deputy party leader Boni Khalwale says their merger with ANC will be unbeatable in the 2022 general elections. Photo: Boni Khalwale/Facebook. The ANC Secretary General Barack Muluka had on Wednesday, May 2, announced the party under the leadership of Musalia Mudavadi was finalising on a merger with Moses Wetangula's FORD Kenya. Mudavadi and Wetangula have recently acted in a manner suggesting they were not committed to the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition in which they are co-principals. The two have been giving dissenting views to that of opposition leader Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) following the latter's handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta, and their recent moves indicate they could be well out of NASA. READ ALSO: Kenya shall only rest when Mudavadi or Wetangula is elected president - Khalwale NASA co-principals Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula are committed to the Luhya unity pact. Photo: Musalia Mudavadi/ Facebook. Source: Facebook "Moving into the FORD Kenya/ANC merger, we have resolved that we shall form the next government with others or others will form the next government with us, " read part of Khalwale's tweet. The senator expressed his bitterness over the Western region's failure to play a key role in voting in presidents since the 2002 General Election in which the late Wamalwa Kijana supported former President Mwai Kibaki and became his vice president. READ ALSO: Mudavadi, Wetangula party officials clash over proposed merger "Being outside government is not funny, our merger will work with the winning team in 2022," said Khalwale. Mudavadi, Wetangula and Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who together with Raila form the NASA coalition have recently been distancing themselves from the former prime minister. The trio was seen together in Trans Nzoia county in the absence of Raila during the homecoming party of Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa on Saturday, May 5. A frosty relationship between the four leaders who held firmly together towards the Tuesday, August 8, 2017 General Election began to manifest after the Tuesday, January 30, swearing in of Raila at Uhuru Park. READ ALSO: Zione picha zilizojaa ucheshi za Ruto akimualika Uhuru kwa sherehe ya kukata na shoka TUKO.co.ke understands Khalwale tweeted of the development after attending a FORD Kenya Women League gender strategy meeting held in Elementaita on Friday, May 11 where the ANC and FORD Kenya party leaders were present. The meeting brought together women Members of County Assembly in a bid to develop structures to ensure gender balance in all party activities. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Willy Paul Interview for Tuko Buzz: Willy Paul Reveals it All | Tuko TV Source: Tuko News - The protesters were demanding Chief Justice Maraga to quit his position claiming he allowed dubious judgment by his judges - This was after the High Court dismissed pastor Ng'ang'a's case of death through reckless driving - The judge claimed the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove its case - The televangelist was charged in 2015 but his case was postponed eight times The move by the High Court to acquit televangelist James Maina Ng'ang'a in a case in which he was charged with killing through dangerous driving angered many who took to the streets to protest over the collapse of the case. The demonstrators staged a walk to the Supreme Court in Nairobi demanding justice for the late Mercy Njeri who died in the road accident involving the televangelist. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens According to a tweet by Sir Ezer and seen by TUKO.co.ke, they first made a stop at Ng'ang'a's Neno Evangelism church on Haile Selassie Avenue before heading to the Supreme Court. READ ALSO: Pasta awashangaza wengi akiwaamuru waumini kuvua chupi kanisani (video) The demonstrators staged a walk to Neno Evangelism church in Haille Selassie Avenue before heading to the Supreme Court. Photo: Sir Ezer/ Twitter. READ ALSO: Sonko savagely rips apart lawyer Ahmednasir as their spat gets messy and noisy Holding placards written "Justice for Mercy Njeri", the protesters accused the judiciary of failing to deliver justice for the deceased. "We want to tell Chief Justice David Maraga, we don't have confidence in him... we are tired of all these stories, We only here Maraga when he is defending and protecting his judges after they have done shoddy jobs or have taken money to rule in favour of some rich guys in this country. Now we want Maraga to quit that position," said one of the demonstrators. The demonstrators staged a walk to the Supreme Court in Nairobi demanding justice for the late Mercy Njeri who died in the road accident involving the televangelist. Photo: Sir Ezer/ Twitter. Ng'ang'a was charged in 2015 but his case was postponed for a record eight times until May 4, when the courts pronounced him, Simon Maina, Police Inspector Christopher Nzioka and Police Inspector Patrick Baya free men. Police Inspector Nzioka had been charged with giving false information while Inspector Baya was charged with neglecting official duty. Protest held in Nairobi against collapse of pastor Ngangas case of death through dangerous driving The pastor firmly insisted the Range Rover which caused the accident did not belong to him and managed to convince the court that he wasn't the one behind the wheel of the vehicle that claimed Njeri's life. As TUKO.co.ke had formerly reported, prosecution said it had presented over 30 witnesses in the case. The demonstrators staged a walk to the Supreme Court in Nairobi demanding Chief Justice David Maraga to quit from his position. Photo: Sir Ezer/ Twitter. Ng'ang'a is extremely affluent and influential with evidence suggesting that he could have pocketed police officers and even judicial officers in his quest to obstruct justice. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Top 5 Facts About Uhuru Kenyatta - Raila Odinga Pact - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke - Angry journalists invited to cover Maragas event protested a five-hour delay - The journalists walked out following the delay without proper communication being made - The function kicked off later after the journalists had left Chief Justice David Maraga received a rude shock on Friday, May 11, when journalists walked out on him after he arrived for a function four hours late. The journalists drawn from various media outlets had camped at the Supreme Court building since 11am until 3.45pm without any communication. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens They were invited to cover two separate functions both scheduled to be addressed by the CJ. READ ALSO: Uhuru briefly unfollows DP Ruto on Twitter and Kenyans cant keep calm TUKO.co.ke understands the CJ was first to preside over the swearing in of Power of Mercy Committee at 11.45am but the function was pushed to 12.30pm and later 2.15 pm. Shortly after 12.30pm, the newly appointed committee members, who had gathered to be sworn in left the venue presumably for lunch. Chief Justice David Maraga who kept journalists waiting for over five hours at a function he was to address. Photo: Daily Nation. The reporters were left seated with some snoozing on sofa sets while others engaged in conversations in small groups as they waited for Maragas arrival. At around 2pm, a judicial official came to brief them on the swearing in procedure. READ ALSO: Protest held in Nairobi against collapse of pastor Ngangas case of death through dangerous driving However, the female official got a rude shock when journalists bombarded her with questions demanding to know why they had been kept waiting since morning without communication. You people kept us here all these hours without telling us whether the function is still on or not, said a journalist. The official apologised to the scribes who had not taken their lunch and even sent two of her colleagues to bring some bottled drinking water for them but they could hear none of it. But in her pleadings, the official rubbed salt into the journalists wound when she urged them to continue being patient until the arrival of the CJ. The matter worsened when Judiciary Registrar Anne Amadi was overheard dismissing the concerns of the Fourth Estate members. READ ALSO: Nurses boss Seth Panyako accused of selling union van through second wife as union war escalate They are not alone waiting for the swearing in ceremony. I have also been around since morning, Amadi told two junior officers when briefed of the protest. The journalists were told to wait further until 3.30pm, a time that had been slotted for Maraga and his fellow East Africa region Chief Justices to issue a joint communique. The regional countries Chief Justices are in the country for a consultative forum on enhancing regional collaboration in the administration of justice. READ ALSO: Zione picha zilizojaa ucheshi za Ruto akimualika Uhuru kwa sherehe ya kukata na shoka However, the angry scribes parked their tools of trade and left the venue to the surprise of the judiciary staff. Maraga made his speech in the absence of journalists who had long left. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Kenyans call on government to end Kenya Power's monopoly - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko - The terror suspect is believed to have sneaked into the country from Somalia - Police said he is highly trained, armed and dangerous deployed to Kenya by al-Shabaab - It comes days after a warning over an impending terror attack during the holy month of Ramadan Police are looking for an al-Shabaab terror suspect,Anthony Mbele Munyasya alias Abdalla, from Kitui county suspected to have sneaked into the country from Somalia. According to the police, Abdalla is a highly trained operative who is armed and dangerous. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens In a press release by the National Police Service on Friday, May 11, and seen by TUKO.co.ke, the terrorist has been fighting alongside the al-Shabaab in Somalia since 2014. READ ALSO: Pasta awashangaza wengi akiwaamuru waumini kuvua chupi kanisani (video) According to the police, Abdalla is a highly trained operative who is armed and dangerous. Photo: National Police Service/ Facebook. READ ALSO: Uhuru briefly unfollows DP Ruto on Twitter and Kenyans cant keep calm "We are appealing to anyone with information that may lead to his arrest to report to the Police immediately or via the toll free emergency numbers 999 and 112. All information passed to the Police shall be treated with confidentiality, " read the police statement. He was recently deployed into the country as part of the operatives' who were to carry out an attack in Nairobi in February 2018. He is closely associated with Abdimajit Hassan, another terror suspect currently facing terror charges for planning to conduct attacks in Nairobi using a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED). READ ALSO: Raila Odinga shared breakfast with Mungiki - Miguna The VBIED was recovered by Police in Merti, Isiolo County on January 5, 2018. Since the arrest of Abdimajit, police have been pursuing Abdalla whom they suspect to be hiding in the country to carry out terror attacks especially during the Holy month of Ramadhan. Police have thus circulated a photo of Abadalla appealing to members of the public to offer information on his whereabouts and activities. READ ALSO Journalists stage walk out on David Maragas function The police statement follow an alert by both the police and the U.S embassy over impending terror attack over the Ramadhan period. Photo: National Police Service/ Facebook. Prior to joining al-Shabaab, Abdalla was a habitual offender who together with several other youths, burnt down the Living Water Church in Kitui. They were arrested and charged with arson but Abdalla jumped bail and sneaked to Somalia. The police statement follow an alert by both the police and the U.S embassy over impending terror attack over the Ramadhan period. Kenyans have been urged to be vigilant and provide any information that may help stop such plans. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Kenyans call on government to end Kenya Power's monopoly - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke Rakem Balogun. Photo: Rakem Balogun via Facebook Three years ago, a gun-loving Texan attended a protest against public employees who violate their constituents constitutional rights. He then made multiple politically incorrect Facebook posts. In response to these actions, the FBI raided his house in the middle of the night and jailed him for five months (without giving him the opportunity to post bail), while they tried to prosecute him on terrorism charges. The terrorism case fell apart. Eventually, the Feds resigned themselves to busting the man for illegally owning a firearm; a judge found that charge to be bogus. He was freed; but while the government had kept him locked up for the crime of expressing an affection for guns and opinions the deep state didnt like he lost his car, job, home, and the opportunity to witness the first year of his newborns life. While all this was happening, the National Rifle Association did not raise a peep of protest in fact, it spent copious time and money rallying public support for the administrations approach to combating crime and terrorism. And the Texans case was rarely cited by Americas most prominent advocates for free speech, who focused their fire on decrying the threat that anti-racist protesters posed to the freedom of AEI fellows to deliver well-remunerated speeches on college campuses (without being heckled). You will be shocked to learn that said Texan had dark skin, and that the public employees he took issue with were cops. Photo: Rakem Balogun via Facebook As the Guardians Sam Levin reports: Rakem Balogun thought he was dreaming when armed agents in tactical gear stormed his apartment. Startled awake by a large crash and officers screaming commands, he soon realized his nightmare was real, and he and his 15-year-old son were forced outside of their Dallas home, wearing only underwear. Handcuffed and shaking in the cold wind, Balogun thought a misunderstanding must have led the FBI to his door on 12 December 2017. Investigators began monitoring Balogun, whose legal name is Christopher Daniels, after he participated in an Austin, Texas, rally in March 2015 protesting against law enforcement, special agent Aaron Keighley testified in court. The FBI, Keighley said, learned of the protest from a video on Infowars, a far-right site run by the commentator Alex Jones, known for spreading false news and conspiracy theories The agent also mentioned Baloguns Facebook posts calling a murder suspect in a police officers death a hero and expressing solidarity with the man who killed officers in Texas when he posted: They deserve what they got. Keighley, however, later admitted the FBI had no evidence of Balogun making any specific threats about harming police. The argument that a police officer deserved to be murdered simply because he was a police officer would surely strike the vast majority of Americans as hateful and offensive. But it is not illegal to express hateful and offensive sentiments in the U.S. as so many conservative commentators have observed when decrying the lefts attempts to no-platform alt-right figures. Further, in his interview with the Guardian, Balogun suggests that his intention was at least partially satirical: At the time of his Facebook posts, Balogun said he was angry and venting about the high-profile cases of police killing innocent black men and women in America, including Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. He was particularly disgusted with the way the media and law enforcement officials portrayed the killings as justified and said that when he wrote those posts I just mimicked their reactions to our killings. Balogun appears to be the first American prosecuted as part of the Justice Departments program to counter violence from black identity extremists (BIE). When word of that program leaked last August, many progressives and civil libertarians warned that it sounded like an excuse for the FBI to criminalize African-American dissent (as has been its wont, historically speaking). After all, there is little evidence that black nationalists assassinating police officers is a leading threat to public safety in the United States, let alone one that justifies the government subjecting African-American activists to surveillance en masse. While there have been lamentable, high-profile instances of such killings in recent years, said killings were national news stories precisely because they are unusual. Overall, police deaths in the U.S. are in decline, and white identity extremists commit orders of magnitude more terroristic violence in the United States than black ones do. Needless to say, nothing about Baloguns case dispels the fear that the BIE program is doing less to promote public safety than it is to stifle left-wing dissent. And BIE might not be the only vehicle through which the Trump administration is doing the latter. Immigration-rights groups are currently suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly targeting outspoken immigration advocates for surveillance and deportation, so as to discourage such political speech. Meanwhile, the Justice Department spent most of last year trying to prosecute 200 people who were apprehended in the vicinity of Inauguration Day protests in January 2017 a group that included journalists who were on the scene to cover the demonstration, not to participate in it, let alone to participate in the property destruction that was committed by a small group of protesters. In December, a jury acquitted six of these defendants, but nearly 200 others are still facing prosecution. One can make reasonable critiques of the campus lefts views on free speech. There are plenty of reasons to object to a mode of progressive politics that emphasizes suppressing reactionary views rather than rebutting them. But it is still difficult to defend the amount of space that American media outlets have devoted to the threat posed by left-wing activists trying to exercise the hecklers veto against Charles Murray relative to the amount of space theyve allocated to the U.S. government trying to prosecute protesters and journalists for dissent. And its more than a bit ironic that, while leading free-speech advocates were decrying the excesses of those who insist that systemic racism pervades American life, president Trumps FBI was prosecuting a black man for acts of dissent that would have made him a conservative hero, were his skin a lighter shade. Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is holding talks with five Ukrainian cities about opening new flights. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said this in an interview with the Ukrainian Travel Gazette. "We are currently negotiating with five other Ukrainian cities. Maybe we will open our flights there next summer. I think that we will develop in Ukraine very aggressively and quickly increase the pace of our presence in the market," O'Leary said. At the same time, he said, there are still a lot of issues that "we will need to discuss along with the Ukrainian infrastructure minister." According to O'Leary, due to low airline prices, passengers will save about 100 million euros on travel. He also said that the opening of flights to Ukraine would create up to 600 new jobs in local affiliated enterprises, including 410 in Kyiv and 190 in Lviv. A trade volume between Ukraine and Slovenia increased by 31% in 2017. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this during a joint press conference with President of Slovenia Borut Pahor in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "In 20107, the trade turnover between Ukraine and Slovenia increased by 31%," the head of state said. According to him, the growth became possible due to a deep and comprehensive free trade zone. Poroshenko also says that Slovenian business actively invests in Ukraine, participates in tenders and wins them, in particular those announced by municipalities. The head of state stresses that the intensity of bilateral contacts between Ukraine and Slovenia is "unprecedentedly high" now. The president also thanks Slovenia for supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence. ish Head of Ukraine's State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection Volodymyr Lapa and the leadership of Syngenta, a global agribusiness company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, have discussed the process of bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with EU standards in seed production and plant protection, the service's press office has reported. The participants in the meeting discussed the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU standards in the areas of seed production, plant protection, biotechnologies, etc., as well as practical aspects of implementation and challenges to agriculture in the European Union in connection with the adoption of certain sections of the EU legislation in the agricultural sector. The parties said that taking into account the deepening of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the field of agriculture, as well as challenges faced by Ukrainian producers in today's conditions, there is a need for constant dialogue between representatives of the authorities and the business community. The meeting was initiated by Syngenta representatives to discuss the prospects of the Ukrainian agricultural sector in modern conditions. op Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to discuss bilateral cooperation and invited him to visit Ukraine, the press service of the head of state has reported. "As part of his visit to Germany, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. The sides discussed issues put on the bilateral agenda The head of the Ukrainian state invited the Bulgarian prime minister to visit Ukraine," the statement reads. In addition, the sides agreed on preparations for the EU-Ukraine Summit. Ukraine's Presidential Administration recalled that Bulgaria had presided over the European Union since January 1, 2018. Poroshenko was on a working visit to Germany on May 9-10. This was the third visit by the head of state to Germany over the past four months. Trilateral talks between the Ukrainian president, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron were held during the visit. Ukraines Foreign Ministry has expressed its protest over illegal searches and detentions of two Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea. Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa wrote this on Twitter. "Again illegal searches in Crimea. Relatives of political prisoner Nuri Primov were detained. We voice our protest. We will hand over the facts of crimes of the Russian Federation to international courts," she wrote. As Ukrinform reported, on Thursday, May 10, two Crimean Tatars, the cousins of political prisoner Nuri Primov, were detained in the occupied Crimea after searches. ish An official meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor, has taken place in Kyiv. The meeting ceremony was held on the square outside the building of Ukraine's Presidential Administration, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. Earlier, the Presidential Administration noted that the presidents would discuss joint efforts to counter Russian aggression and exchange views on a wide range of topical issues of bilateral and international cooperation, including in the context of further support by Slovenia of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. The sides intend to sign a number of bilateral documents after the meeting. The leaders of the states will meet with the media after the talks. Pahor's visit is his first visit to Ukraine after his reelection as Slovenian president in November 2017. op Slovenian President Borut Pahor believes that sending a UN peacekeeping force to Donbas could contribute to a peaceful settlement of the situation. He said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "The adoption of such a resolution and then the sending of respective peacekeeping forces would help resolve this dispute. Similarly, the international community would see that such very difficult and complicated issues can be resolved peacefully, so that nobody perishes anymore and that everybody is alive," Pahor said. At the same time, he noted that the conflict in eastern Ukraine "can be resolved by wisdom and peaceful means" if the parties adhere to their commitments. Pahor also emphasized support for Ukraine on its path to European integration. "Slovenia absolutely supports Ukraine on its road to European integration, because Ukraine is a big sovereign and independent state and has the right to decide where to go and what to do. And we, being an EU and NATO country, absolutely support that. On the other hand, we must understand that we must fulfill all obligations and all the rules that operate within this union," he said. As reported, Poroshenko said at a briefing after a meeting with the German and French leaders in Aachen on May 10 that Ukraine backs the position that the security component of the Minsk agreements could not be implemented without the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force. op Slovenia will support international sanctions against the Russian Federation if Russians do not comply with the Minsk agreements. President of Slovenia Borut Pahor said this during a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "Slovenia will certainly support all sanctions if Russia does not adhere to the implementation of the Minsk agreements. In my opinion, this is the only tool so far that we can use to achieve the desired goal," he assured. According to him, taking into account the current situation, sanctions against Russia are needed. At the same time, Pahor expects that the future meetings of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron with Vladimir Putin will be effective, and the Russian president will agree to implement the Minsk agreements. He also says that Slovenia has "quite good relations" with Russia, although he notes that everything is held within the framework of the EU and NATO, stressing that such relations make it possible "to learn firsthand about plans of the Russian Federation and to find a "key" to redirect them [Russians], and so that they begin to implement the Minsk agreements." At the same time, the Slovenian president notes that the conflict in Donbas should be resolved peacefully within the shortest possible time. ish The CMS programs helps measure the effects of deforestation. Photo: Jonathan Alcorn/AFP/Getty Images For eight years, NASAs Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) program has spent its annual $10 million budget on efforts to monitor greenhouse gases in Earths atmosphere and analyze data related to global pollution. The Trump administration is bringing that to an end, Science reported this week. NASA spokesperson Steve Cole told Science that the program, which will see through existing grants before ending, was the victim of budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget. Those priorities are wrong, experts say. Killing CMS is a grave mistake, Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts Universitys Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, tells Science. Well soon be less capable of tracking changes in carbon, adds Stephen Hagen, a scientist whos used laser-mapping to track tropical deforestation. Tracking those changes matters because its one of the primary ways to know if policy measures taken to reduce greenhouse gases are working, climate scientist Rachel Licker told the BBC. In the long term, dismantling the Carbon Monitoring System will adversely affect our ability to track flows of carbon through our land, oceans, and atmosphere, she said. Being able to better track carbon is critical to evaluating efforts and policies aimed at limiting global warming and its impacts. Over the years, CMS has funded research to better measure the carbon trapped in forests and the effects of cow flatulence on global methane levels, among other things. Its helped cities work on efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and funded improvements to space-based greenhouse gas monitoring systems. Scuttling CMS fits in with a broader Trump administration push to deemphasize efforts to fight climate change, which includes rolling back regulations and rejecting the Paris climate accord. And its little surprise given NASAs new leader. Confirmed by the Senate less than a month ago, former Oklahoma representative Jim Bridenstine is a climate change denier who in 2013 claimed on the House floor that global temperatures had stopped rising a decade prior. Desir said violence is never acceptable. Harlem Desir, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, has condemned an attempted arson attack on the Ukrainian Inter TV channel, which took place in Kyiv on Victory Day on May 9. "I condemn [the] attempted arson of InterTvUa channel in Kyiv. Damage and injuries were prevented by swift action of police. Violence is never acceptable. I encourage Ukraine authorities to investigate the attack & provide safe working environment for journos," Desir wrote on Twitter on May 10, 2018. Read alsoNationalists visit Inter TV co-owner's house over pro-Russian propaganda, clashes with police reported (Video) As UNIAN reported earlier, members of the National Corps nationalist organization staged a rally outside the building of the Inter TV channel in Kyiv on May 9. An episode of the May 9 show, which was to be broadcast on the Inter TV Channel, appeared on social media showing a host, Andriy Domansky giving a speech in the style of Russian propaganda. "Today, we cannot allow that the streets of our cities to be named in honor of fascist criminals, and their portraits [referring to Stepan Bandera] to be carried with impunity during a torchlight march in our capital, where every meter saw our compatriots' bloodshed," the host said, accompanied by applause behind the scenes. Ukraine's National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council responded to the incident, urging not to split society. The Ukrainian chief prosecutor knows their family names, ranks, noms de guerre. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko says he knows the names of colonels of the Russian armed forces who gave Ukrainian Member of Parliament Nadiia Savchenko weapons for a terrorist attack in the center of Kyiv, which was prevented by the Ukrainian special services. "The Ukrainian people are now engaged in 'three wars.' The entire world knows about the first war it's a war with the Russian occupying army and Russian-led forces in Donbas. We're fighting not only with 40,000 armed separatists and terrorists, not only with thousands of officers of the Russian army that control them, and I say this officially," he said at National University "Ostroh Academy" in Rivne region, an UNIAN correspondent has reported. He also gave an example of a terrorist act planned by Nadiia Savchenko when "we have proved that certain colonels of the armed forces of the Russian Federation gave her weapons for the terrorist attack [due to be committed] in the center of the Ukrainian capital." "We know these colonels by their names, noms de guerre, their ranks," Lutsenko said. Read alsoRFE/RL: Jailed Ukrainian lawmaker Savchenko resumes hunger strike As UNIAN reported, the Verkhovna Rada on March 22 green-lighted the arrest of MP Nadiia Savchenko, a former Ukrainian pilot released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange. Ukraine's prosecutors charged Savchenko with plotting a coup and an act of terror in Ukraine, following an elaborate sting operation by SBU Security Service agents, who initially targeted former hostage swap negotiator Volodymyr Ruban. The latter is believed to have conspired with Savchenko. Savchenko is suspected of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at the forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power); Part 1 of Article 14 (preparations for a crime), Part 2 of Article 28 (committing a crime by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior agreement, an organized group or a criminal organization), Article 112 (an attempted attack on the life of a public figure), Part 3 of Article 258 (an act of terror); Part 1 of Article 258-3 (creation of a terrorist group or organization) and Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal possession of weapons, ammunition or explosives) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On March 23, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court ruled that Savchenko be remanded in custody for 59 days without bail. She announced in the courtroom she would go on hunger strike, denying plans to flee Ukraine. On March 29, Kyiv's Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the first instance court to keep Savchenko behind bars for a period of 59 days until May 20. Preliminary arrangements for the meeting are to be confirmed by May 23-24. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said all Normandy four leaders the presidents of Ukraine, France, Russia and the German Chancellor may meet in early June. "For example, I believe that it [meeting] can and should take place in early June," he said at a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in Kyiv, an UNIAN correspondent has reported. Read alsoCrimea de-occupation, new sanctions: Poroshenko reveals details of talks with Merkel, Macron "If my hopes are realistic, we'll learn it as soon as May 23-24, after preliminary arrangements are confirmed," Poroshenko said. As UNIAN reported earlier, after a recent meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, Poroshenko on May 10 announced they were coordinating steps to hold a meeting in the Normandy Four format in the near future. Paris, France, was named as a most probable venue. "We know that there will be meetings of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron with Putin on [May] 18 and 23, and we have clearly agreed and coordinated those steps, the agenda that must be prepared for the Normandy Four meeting," Poroshenko said. The sister of Ukrainian MP Nadiia Savchenko, Vira, constantly interferes in the advocacy process of the defense. Lawyers of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Nadiia Savchenko, who is being suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, have refused to cooperate with their client. "I and my colleague Dmytro Bugay are no longer cooperating with Nadiia Savchenko in connection with the constant interference of her sister Vira [Savchenko] in the advocacy process of the defense. Through her activities, she hinders the attorneys and Nadiia herself," Savchenko's lawyer Oleh Solovey told an UNIAN correspondent. Solovey also noted that he and Bugay would no longer represent Savchenko's interests in court on May 14 to extend the preventive measure for Nadiia. Read alsoLutsenko claims he knows names of Russian colonels who armed Savchenko for terror act "We will not attend the hearing," the lawyer said. According to him, Savchenko has no defenders for the time being. "Maybe they will appear in the evening, or Monday morning," the lawyer added. In early April, Savchenko's lawyer Viktor Chevguz left her as well. He said they had different views on conduct of her defense. As UNIAN reported, the Verkhovna Rada on March 22 green-lighted the arrest of MP Nadiia Savchenko, a former Ukrainian pilot released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange. Ukraine's prosecutors charged Savchenko with plotting a coup and an act of terror in Ukraine, following an elaborate sting operation by SBU Security Service agents, who initially targeted former hostage swap negotiator Volodymyr Ruban. The latter is believed to have conspired with Savchenko. Savchenko is suspected of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at the forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power); Part 1 of Article 14 (preparations for a crime), Part 2 of Article 28 (committing a crime by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior agreement, an organized group or a criminal organization), Article 112 (an attempted attack on the life of a public figure), Part 3 of Article 258 (an act of terror); Part 1 of Article 258-3 (creation of a terrorist group or organization) and Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal possession of weapons, ammunition or explosives) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On March 23, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court ruled that Savchenko be remanded in custody for 59 days without bail. She announced in the courtroom she would go on hunger strike, denying plans to flee Ukraine. On March 29, Kyiv's Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the first instance court to keep Savchenko behind bars for a period of 59 days until May 20. The Ukrainian side is concerned about the mechanism for the preservation of visa-free travel. Head of the Department of Consular and Legal Issues, Deputy Head of Directorate at the Department of Consular Services of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Serhiy Minyailo says the European Union has named main threats to the visa-free regime for Ukraine. Read alsoSome 490,000 Ukrainians enter EU without visa since June 2017 "The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, earlier this year issued a report for last year. In particular, it specified the main threats for a visa-free regime... First, it is the security of documents. This refers to the passports that some Ukrainian citizens use in a fake form... Secondly, this concerns the possibility of use of weapons that we have in the east [Donbas], that is, there is a danger of their illegal movement to Europe," he said at the roundtable titled "European Choice of Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity: Opportunities and Problems," RBC-Ukraine media outlet reported. "In addition, as both sides point out (Europe and Ukraine) there is another threat to the visa-free regime, namely a large number of citizens who use it for non-target purposes. They declare tourist as the purpose of their trip, but being abroad they often use the opportunity to seek job," the official added. Moreover, he noted that the Ukrainian side is also concerned about the mechanism for the preservation of visa-free travel in the future. "It is important for us that the visa-free regime, which exists in our relations with the EU, has been preserved even further. Many, if not all of Ukrainian society, realize that the visa-free regime is an indicator of Ukraine's independent movement towards the European Union. Therefore, when there is a risk of returning the visa regime in our relations with Europe, we begin to worry," Minyailo added. He earlier said that Ukrainian citizens could enjoy visa-free travel to 85 countries. A 61-year-old man repeatedly stabbed his son, who died from injuries. A former veteran of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, has been stabbed to death in the city of Korosten in Zhytomyr region. Head of Public Relations Office at the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region Alla Vashchenko says that the police was information about the tragedy in the evening on May 9. Read alsoFather of female attacker on Donbas war veteran works for Ukraine's Defense Ministry media It became known that as a result of conflict, a 61-year-old man, repeatedly stabbed his son, which died from injuries in Korosten on May 9. The father of the victim was not detained, as he pleaded guilty and did not run away. As reported, the veteran was heavily abusing alcohol after returning from the ATO area. The law enforcers began criminal proceedings under Art. 115 (deliberate murder) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation in under way. As UNIAN reported earlier, a group of three young men and two young women wearing masks attempted to stab Dmytro Verbych, a Donbas war veteran and an ex-'Cyborg,' a nickname given to Ukrainian soldiers who defended Donetsk airport. The incident happened in Kyiv's Podil area on May 2. Criminal proceedings were opened under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The persons involved in the attack face up to seven years of imprisonment. On May 6, the SBU detained the young people in Kharkiv. One of them had a Russian passport issued to the name of Viacheslav Lukichev, born in 1994. On May 7, the SBU established that the organizer of the crime was a Russian citizen. The Embassy of Ukraine in Senegal was tasked "to send a consular officer to the scene, to find out the current status of the investigation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has instructed Ukrainian diplomats working in Senegal, Turkey, the United Kingdom and China to take urgent measures to repatriate bodies of two Ukrainian sailors died at the Atlantic Harmony vessel. Read alsoRussia's coast guards stop foreign vessels heading to Ukraine Head of Department of Consular Support at the Department of Consular Services of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Vasyl Kyrylych says the measures envisage addressing the issue in cooperation with the shipowner Digital Epoch LTD, the operator of the vessel Istambul Denizcilik Ve deniz, and the Embassy of Ukraine in Senegal, to provide urgent repatriation of the bodies, ensuring the safety and further transfer of the seamen's belongings to their families. In addition, the Embassy of Ukraine in Senegal was instructed "to send a consular officer to the scene, to find out the current status of the investigation and its results. It was earlier reported in social media that two Ukrainian sailors died at the Atlantic Harmony ship off the coast of Cape Verde. The man tried to get into the government-controlled territory to obtain a pension. Members of the Ukrainian SBU Security Service, who are involved in Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, have detained the so-called "deputy" of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR"). Read alsoBelarus court sentences former "LPR" militant to prison term "A representative of the fake 'authorities' planned to arrive at the government-controlled territory to receive a Ukrainian pension. SBU officers detained the perpetrator at one of the checkpoints along the contact line," the SBU wrote on Facebook. He has already been informed of suspicion. A preventive measure in the form of detention was taken against them. According to the law enforcers, in 2014, a resident of the village of Khrustalny in Luhansk region "joined the militants, where he was 'elected a deputy' of the so-called 'People's Council'." "The perpetrator supported Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and contributed to the terrorist activities of illegal armed formations. In particular, he participated in financing of some groups," the SBU reported. As UNIAN reported earlier, a Mogilev regional court in Belarus sentenced to two years in prison a Belarusian national who had fought against Ukrainian government forces in Donbas in the ranks of "LPR" militant units Poltorak praises highly motivated and well trained military personnel. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has said no new wave of mobilization is planned in Ukraine, although the threat that Russia may attack is still big. Read alsoMore than 3,330 Ukrainian soldiers die amid Donbas war Poltorak "I do not see such a need now, despite the threats Russia poses. At first, we have already done serious work we've formed the reserves, the primary reserve numbers 150,000 servicemen. Secondly, we have reserves of weapons and equipment," Poltorak said in an interview with the Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel. "The level of motivation and training of personnel is much higher. We have records of those mobilized the recruitment offices are now able to quickly get in and work at full capacity," he said. The U.S. Senate is set to vote as early as next week. Landmark U.S. "net neutrality" rules will expire on June 11, and new regulations handing providers broad new power over how consumers can access the internet will take effect, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday in setting the date. The FCC in December repealed the Obama-era open-internet rules set in 2015, which bars providers from blocking or slowing down access to content or charging consumers more for certain content, as reported by Reuters. Read alsoTwitter urges all users to change passwords after glitch The prior rules were intended to ensure a free and open internet, give consumers equal access to web content and bar broadband service providers from favoring their own material or others. The new rules require internet providers to tell consumers whether they will block or slow content or offer paid "fast lanes." Comcast Corp, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc have all pledged to not block or discriminate against legal content after the net neutrality rules expire. The U.S. Senate is set to vote as early as next week on whether to reject the FCC repeal of the net neutrality rules, but that effort faces an uphill battle. Photo: Joshua Lott/Bloomberg via Getty Images One of Donald Trumps most well-received and attention-grabbing campaign promises was that he would allow the federal government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs it covers through Medicare. If we negotiated the price of drugs, Joe, wed save $300 billion a year, he rather optimistically asserted. The reason this money-saving method had not been used, he told audiences, was the influence of the industry. We dont do it. Why? Because of the drug companies. Liberals actually support the idea, which would allow the government to use its bargaining power to hold down prices, and which fed into Trumps image as a populist outsider breaking with party orthodoxy. Trump claimed that other candidates were too compromised by their donors, but he had the financial independence to do the right thing. Were going to negotiate like crazy, he said. The crazy part of that promise has held up, but the negotiate part has not. Trump is announcing his Medicare prescription drug plan today, and Robert Pear reports it will not include the promised negotiations. We are not calling for Medicare negotiation in the way that Democrats have called for, an official says. Donald Trump ran for president as an economic populist. This fact has been largely forgotten, buried by the flurry of bizarre and outrageous actions, and activists on both sides have had little reason to bring it up. Conservatives have pushed the administration to forget its unorthodox gestures and follow Paul Ryans lead. Progressives have emphasized the racist and sexist nature of Trumps appeal. But Trumps ability to distance himself from his partys economic brand formed a decisive element of his appeal. Voters actually saw Trump as more moderate than any Republican presidential candidate since 1972. And he has violated every one of his promises. This week, the administration announced very quietly there would be no infrastructure bill this year. Trump had forcefully positioned himself to Hillary Clintons left on this issue, promising to spend twice as much as she would, and painting lavish pictures of hard-hat jobs modernizing roads and airports across the country. Instead, he used all his fiscal running room on a large, regressive tax cut, which predictably has forced the deficit to a level where he no longer has political support for a deficit-financed infrastructure bill. Trump promised over and over to pull out of Nafta and renegotiate a much better deal. Trump insisted Nafta was at the center of the catastrophe of declining blue-collar wages. He quoted Bernie Sanderss attacks on Hillary Clinton as a free trader, and promised either to abrogate the treaty or to negotiate a much better deal as one of his first acts as president I dont mean just a little bit better, I mean a lot better. Unlike some of his other promises, this one was never terribly realistic there is no easy better trade deal to be negotiated. Trump has instead tried to hide the ball by burying his policy in low-profile negotiations where he is requesting minor tweaks and hoping nobody notices. Trump also repeatedly promised universal health care. Republicans as a whole had insisted since 2009 that they would replace Obamacare with something better, that did not deny anybody anything, but rather than fuzzing up this promise, like most of his party, Trump leaned heavily and explicitly into the benefits. Everybodys gotta be covered. This is an un-Republican thing for me to say I am going to take care of everybody, I dont care if it costs me votes or not. Everybodys going to be taken care of, much better than theyre taken care of now The governments going to pay for it. Instead, he never proposed an alternative to Obamacare, never compromised with Democrats on the issue, and instead sabotaged the existing program. After falling for several years, the uninsured rate is climbing again. Draining the swamp has become a catchall-Republican slogan, like lock her up, that basically means doing anything to lash out at Trumps opponents. During the campaign, though, it had a different and more specific definition. Trump promised to enact reforms to reduce the power of lobbyists and business. He specifically endorsed: A constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress A ban on federal employees lobbying the government for five years A ban on members of Congress lobbying for five years Tighter rules about what constitutes a lobbyist, instead of letting people call themselves consultants Campaign finance reform limiting what foreign companies can raise for American political candidates A ban on senior government officials lobbying for foreign governments Trump has not merely forgotten these promises, his administration has embraced Washington sleaze with unprecedented gusto. Not only has he failed to prevent former administration officials from lobbying for foreign governments, he has had current administration officials lobbying for foreign governments. There has never been an American presidency so easily manipulated by domestic and foreign business interests. The most benign explanation for Michael Cohens secret payments to his hastily constructed Delaware shell company is that he was a conduit for business interests to buy their way into Trumps good graces. [Update] Trump also promised, over and over and over again, to raise taxes on the rich, including on himself. Its going to cost me a fortune, which is actually true, he said. It was not actually true at all. Trump promised to do a lot of un-Republican things to give resources and influence to blue-collar Americans, which would have threatened his partys power brokers. Many of these promises were feasible if Trump actually wanted to follow through on them. Instead, the only promises he has kept are the ones that put money in the pockets of Trump and his cronies. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) held a conference in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on the theme 'KP Islamabad, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018) : The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) held a conference in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on the theme 'KP: A key pillar for an emerging Pakistan'. The conference was aimed at creating awareness about KP's enhanced strategic role in Pakistan's economic success. Provincial Minister for Law, Mr. Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, who was the chief guest of the ceremony highlighted, 'One of the most important tasks for leaders is looking into the future at different scenarios and developing realistic strategies. He said that Pakistan's future has always been a rollercoaster ride to predict but the nation is now faced with some certainties in the shape of CPEC. Deals have been signed and work is being executed. Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project presents a great opportunity for Pakistan's young population and the organizations employing them. The country needs strategic forward thinking professional accountants to benefit from and sustain these important developments, he added. Specialist UNDP Federica Dispenza, Programme shared his perspective for an 'Emerging Pakistan' and key strategic interventions which UNDP is undertaking. During the conference panelists, Muhammad Asif, CEO RUBA Group of Companies, Dr. Razia Sultana, Vice Chancellor Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Muhammad Atif Hanif, Executive Vice President and Group Head, The Bank of Khyber, Razziudin Razi, CEO KPOGCL shared their views on 'Steering a Sustainable and Inclusive Development Ecosystem'. The session was moderated by Henna Karamat, Assistant Professor, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University. The panel discussion was followed by speaking sessions where our key note speakers engaged with the audience. Hassan Daud Butt, Project Director CPEC shared his thoughts on maximizing the Global Impact of CPEC; Nuzhat Rauf, Ex-President Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries Khyber Pakhtunkwa highlighted the need of Diversity and Inclusion; Khwaja Awais Bilal, Principal Professionals academy of Commerce, Peshawar gave us a compelling discussion on KP: Key Pillar of an Emerging Pakistan and lastly Rashid Aman, Senior Manager Operations SMEDA gave us his views on the Role of SMEs in creating growth opportunities. Head of ACCA Pakistan, Sajjeed Aslam said, 'ACCA has drawn a roadmap with key deliverables essential to setting the country in motion towards achieving economic prosperity. One of the big ticket items that everyone is discussing these days is the Belt and Road initiative. ACCA is playing its part by leveraging its global reach with belt and road countries. Sessions like these reflect ACCA's commitment to Pakistan's economic success.' (@ChaudhryMAli88) Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pink Ribbon Friday held the 3rd Annual Youth Awards ceremony to announce the award winners under the "PINKtober Youth Awareness Programme 2017 ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pink Ribbon Friday held the 3rd Annual Youth Awards ceremony to announce the award winners under the "PINKtober Youth Awareness Programme 2017." The awards for PINKtober Youth Awareness Programme are a sign of recognition to all the universities which have shown their best performance in creating awareness about the hazards of breast cancer. Mrs Shaheen Khan, Adviser, Learning Innovation (LI) Division, HEC was chief guest of the ceremony, while Fida Hussain, Director General, LI, HEC, Omer Aftab, CEO, Pink Ribbon and other notables attended the event. Fatima Jinnah Dental College Karachi secured 1st position in the category of universities, followed by Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore and the University of Lahore with 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Government Postgraduate College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi secured 1st position, while College for women DG Khan clinched 2nd position and Government Postgraduate College for Women, Shad Bagh, got 3rd position in the category of colleges. In his message on this occasion, Dr Arshad Ali said HEC hoped that this programme would keep benefiting the society by saving thousands of lives. He said that HEC would continue to serve as a bridge between Pink Ribbon and higher education institutions to increase awareness about breast cancer among the youth of the country. Addressing the ceremony, Shaheen Khan admired the efforts of HEC and Pink Ribbon for creating awareness among the youth of Pakistan. She urged women to never ignore breast cancer symptoms and approach healthcare facilities as soon as possible. She said the HEC-Pink Ribbon efforts had helped sensitise the masses about the significance of early diagnosis of the disease. In his opening remarks earlier, Omer Aftab appreciated the support of HEC in reaching out to hundreds of universities across the country to create awareness about breast cancer. "The incidence of breast cancer is increasing in young girls of Pakistan and awareness is the only key to survival," he asserted, adding that, "we need to prepare our generation to be health- conscious so they can have a better future." He said Pink Ribbon had successfully started the construction of Pakistan's first dedicated breast cancer hospital. The construction was expected to be completed within two years, he informed. He said owing to the joint efforts of HEC, one million youth had been reached so far to create awareness about the fatal disease among them. The ceremony culminated with distribution of awards among the position holders, volunteers and digital campaigners. (@mahnoorsheikh03) Says a political bustle will be seen in the coming days Karachi (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News 11th May, 2018) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and tv scholar Dr Aamir Liaquat has said that a political hustle and bustle will be seen in the coming days. According to details, the PTI leader signaled to a deal by a political party. Liaquat while talking on a TV program claimed that something big is going to happen in Pakistani politics. He said that a bustle will be seen in politics in Pakistan. The PTI leader said that mark my words that something special is going to happen in the coming few days. Signaling towards a deal, he said that deals will be made but some people need to act smart in these deals. He said that people criticize me by saying that I spread rumors but I had already predicted that Islamabad United will reach Pakistan Super League 2018 finals. Other than that, I had predicted that either PTI will hold a meeting in Hakeem Saeed Ground in Karachi or no other party will. The same happened as none of the parties held a public meeting in the ground. Liaquat further said that they were told in 2004 that there were no Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif but an NRO was signed by them. This confused everything. Thats why I think something can happen now too. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family are facing corruption cases in National Accountability Bureau. There are media reports that Sharif family is trying to do a deal and get away with the cases. However, Nawaz Sharif said in a press conference yesterday that he would not file an appeal for mercy in case he is sentenced. Egypt says archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a temple dating back to the second century. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :Egypt says archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a temple dating back to the second century. According to a private news channel , the Antiquities Ministry said on Thursday that the temple, which dates back to the reign of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, was found near the Siwa Oasis in the western desert. It includes the foundations of a large limestone building, . Abdel-Aziz al-Dimeiry, head of the archaeological mission, said they found a five-meter long limestone painting bearing Greek inscriptions and decorated with the sun disc surrounded by cobras. He says the painting, which is believed to be part of the temple's entrance, was found in good condition and will undergo restoration. (@ChaudhryMAli88) QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2018 ) :An improvised explosive device (IED) damaged a part of railway track near Saryab road Tera Mill area in Quetta on Thursday, no loss of life was reported in the blast. According to sources, the incident occurred near Saryab road Tera Mill area, in Quetta. The train service was suspended after the blast damaged a two-foot long railway track in Tera Mill. No loss of life was reported in the explosion but trains that were scheduled to leave were halted. Jaffar Express was scheduled to leave for Peshawar, Bugti Express for Lahore and Bolan Mail for Karachi. Railway track damaged in the explosion was later repaired and Jaffar Express left for its destination, railway officials said, adding that the other two trains would depart soon. APP/arj/azm PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :The Khyber Medical University (KMU), Peshawar has embarked upon two smokeless tobacco research projects "Smokeless Tobacco control in Pakistan - STOP" and "Addressing Smokeless Tobacco use and building Research capacity in South Asia- ASTRA". The STOP project is being carried out in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology-BIPS, Germany and is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service- DAAD, said KMU spokesman here Friday. The STOP study will predominantly focus on the smokeless tobacco supply chain actors such as sellers, farmers, and raw tobacco dealers. The study aims to assess the extent to which the articles of the WHO's Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, are being implemented on the smokeless tobacco supply chains, and come up with policy solutions for better implementation of the framework. Apart from doing policy research, the ASTRA study will look into the prevention of uptake of smokeless tobacco among the youth as well as the cessation of the habit among adults. The ASTRA project comprises a global health research consortium of 11 universities from the UK, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and is being funded by the National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom. The Aga Khan University from Pakistan is also a collaborating partner in the ASTRA study. Prof. Hajo Zeeb from the University of Bremen is the Principal Investigator for the STOP study, while Prof. Kamran Siddiqi from the University of York is the Director of the ASTRA consortium. Dr. Zohaib Khan, the Director of Research at Khyber Medical University is leading the overall STOP study in Pakistan and will also be leading the multi-country "Supply Chain" research component" of the ASTRA study. Other researchers involved in the two studies include the Vice Chancellor of KMU, Prof. Arshad Javaid, Prof. Zia ul Haq, Dr. Naseem Khan, Dr. Fayaz Ahmed and Dr. Zeeshan Kibria. Additionally, ASTRA will test behavioral and medical interventions that can aid in the cessation of smokeless tobacco. It is envisioned that eventually the STOP project will become embedded in the ASTRA, a possibility to which all stakeholders are very open. A key feature of both the projects is that they will focus on enhancing the research capacity in Pakistan and South Asian countries. Three Ph.D. studentships and one Post-Doc position at KMU are already being supported under the umbrella of these two projects. It is worth mentioning that according to the World Health Organization products like Naswar, Paan with tobacco and Gutkha contain more than 30 cancer-causing agents. The use of these smokeless tobacco products has become a social norm in Pakistan and other parts of South Asia, partly due to a lack of stringent smokeless tobacco control legislation. These products largely go unregulated and in some cases evade the tax net, resulting in cheap and easily accessible products to the masses. It is estimated that more than 13 per cent of the Pakistani population uses smokeless tobacco in some form and that more than 300 million smokeless tobacco users belong to the Indian sub-continent. This alarming situation has prompted researchers from KMU being the sole medical university of the province to address the problem of smokeless tobacco use in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the broader region. Mean while the VC KMU, Prof. Dr. Arshad Javaid while briefing the media about the said projects told that KMU is focusing on research that will address the locally pertinent public health problems. He said that Naswar and other forms of smokeless tobacco have become a socially and culturally acceptable habit and that the masses are unaware of the ill health effects of these habits. The tobacco control policies by large have neglected smokeless tobacco and have only emphasized on smoking tobacco. Given the cultural acceptability, the lack of awareness and the soaring prices of cigarettes, there is a possibility that more people would take up smokeless tobacco products and we as a major medical university of the country have to look into preventing this from happening. (@rukhshanmir) LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :A three day workshop titled "Talent Grooming and Career Counseling" was held at the auditoriums of Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (IBB) and Centre for High Energy Physics Punjab University, here on Thursday. The workshop was held by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Punjab University Planning & Development for the personality grooming of USAID scholarship holder students. As many as 195 scholarship holder students attended the workshop. Punjab University Vice Chacnellor Prof Dr Nasira Jabeen was the chief guest at the certificate distribution ceremony while HEC Regional Director Nazir Hussain, PU Director Planning and Development Shabbir Sarwar, trainers from HEC and USAID were also present. The VC said education was getting very expensive and public sector universities were beacon of hope for the talented students from poor and lower middle class. She said Punjab University was the mini Pakistan as students from all cultures, all provinces and all languages were studying under one roof in one class projecting the national solidarity. She said PU was a representative university of the country because students from elite class and extremely poor class were studying in the same discipline which was a true example of equality. HEC Regional Director Nazir Hussain congratulated the participant students, PU and USAID for organizing such a workshop which focused on personality grooming, CV writing, communication skills developments, entrepreneurship ideas and presentation skills in 12 different sessions of the three day learning activities. APP/nkn/zqr (@FahadShabbir) Authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are combating a rat plague by using various methods, according to the regional department of agriculture and animal husbandry Friday. HOHHOT, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) ::Authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are combating a rat plague by using various methods, according to the regional department of agriculture and animal husbandry Friday. The rat plague has threatened around 4 million hectares of grasslands in the region since March, affecting the work and life of farmers and herdsmen as well as the sustainable development of animal husbandry. In some areas, rats have ravaged the grasslands, eating grassroots and damaging prairies with underground digging. The central government has allocated a 12 million Yuan (1.9 million US Dollars) subsidy for local rat plague control. More than 40,000 people have participated in the fight against rats, using methods such as poison sprays, hunting and biological control, which involves using natural predators to reduce the rat population. The recent persistent drought is to blame for the rat plague, as rats are more adaptable to dry weather. Tehran, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :Iran does not want "new tensions" in the middle East, President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, after Israel carried out strikes against what it called Iranian targets in Syria. "Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability," Rouhani told Merkel in a telephone call, according to a statement on the website of Iran's presidency. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes early on Thursday in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, also on Thursday. Israel has said its strikes in Syria were in response to the attacks against the Golan Heights, which it blamed on Iran. But the chairman of Iran's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs condemned Israel for carrying out the strikes in Syria. "Israel has entered a dangerous game," Allaeddine Boroujerdi said during a visit to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. "The main purpose of these attacks, supported by the United States, is to divert public opinion from the behaviour of the American president (and) his decision to leave the agreement," added Boroujerdi, referring to President Donald Trump's decision this week to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. During an encounter with Pope Francis in the Vatican, the Church leaders say they discussed the positive impact of the papal trip to their country and the need for an international solution to the plight of the Rohingya refugees. By Philippa Hitchen The Catholic bishops of Myanmar have asked the Holy See to organize an international conference on the plight of the stateless Rohingya people. The bishops have been in Rome this week, meeting with Pope Francis and top Vatican officials, discussing the ethnic conflicts that continue to plague their country. The Pope made a three-day visit to Myanmar in November last year, urging Catholics, Buddhists and all member of society to work for peace and reconciliation in the Southeast Asian nation. A key concern during the papal visit to Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh was the fate of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, who have fled from the conflict between government troops and independence fighters in northern Rakhine state. Following a private meeting between the Pope and the bishops in the Vatican on Tuesday, the head of the bishops conference, Cardinal Charles Bo talked to us about the impact of the papal visit to his country. Listen and download the interview with Cardinal Bo The Cardinal says that in the wake of the visit, the whole nation at large begins to understand the message and even to respect the person of the Pope as well as the Catholic Church. He says one of the benefits is that the bishops have easier access to government, including the regional generals and top military leader. Cardinal Bo says he personally requested that Pope Francis send a message to Aung San Suu Kyi and to General Min Aung Hlaing appealing for peace in the country. He notes that the Pope said he definitely would do that. Speaking of the plight of the Rohingya refugees, the cardinal says he requested whether the Vatican Secretary of State could organise an international meeting because none of these countries would accept these people and give citizenship to them. He says it is unclear whether Bangladesh, which receives international assistance for the refugees, will continue to support them when the aid dries up. Cardinal Bo says the Holy Father agreed to talk with the Secretary of State, adding that he hoped a conference could be organised within the end of this year. He notes that he will be travelling to the northern Rakhine state with a group from the organisation Religions for Peace. He says members of group, plus European ambassadors will meet with Aung San Sui Kyi on May 25th and then fly to Rakhine state to see the situation for ourselves. He says the group plan to make independent statement reporting on what they observe. At a meeting with the president. Photo: Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images Kirstjen Nielsen, Chief of Homeland Security, Almost Resigned After Trump Tirade, reported a headline in yesterdays New York Times. According to the story, which broke the news of the harangue, Trumps abuse of his Homeland Security director was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his cabinet about what he said was its lack of progress toward sealing the countrys borders against illegal immigrants. Todays Washington Post, however, reports that Nielsen did not threaten to resign. The Posts account, headlined Trump unloads on Homeland Security secretary in lengthy immigration tirade, adds the details that Trumps tirade went on so long that many present began fidgeting in their seats and flashing grimaces, and that it lasted more than 30 minutes. That certainly is an extremely long tirade. Adolf Hitlers in Downfall lasts fewer than three minutes. Imagine sitting through a tirade lasting more than ten times as long. Also, does anybody else miss the days when White House reporters could go years at a time without having to use the word tirade to describe Cabinet meetings? The fake letter claims the Indian Church is in conspiracy with the Holy See to carry out conversions among a minority community in Karnataka state. By Robin Gomes Indias Catholic bishops have condemned a malicious fake letter making the rounds on the social media, that is designed to defame the Catholic Church and arouse communal tension for political gain in the run-up to the crucial assembly election on Saturday in the southern state of Karnataka. The fake letter claims that Indian Church officials in collusion with representatives of the Holy See in New Delhi, support demands made by Karnatakas Lingayat community to be recognized as a separate minority religion in order to convert them. False allegation of converting Lingayats In an official clarification dated May 9, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) wrote, The purportedly fake letter falsely attributed to Cardinal Oswald Gracias and as having been written by him to Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore, making wild allegations about Church involvement in the Lingayat issue. The March 28 fake letter claims that on December 21, 2013 officials of the Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican embassy) in New Delhi held their first meeting with Karnatakas ruling political leadership to convince them to grant Lingayats a minority religion status. The mail alleges that since then, subsequent meetings have taken place with the state government to convince them on the issue. The fake mail with a slew of language errors and wrong designations to persons, also suggests nine strategic steps on how to go about what it called harvest of souls, or converting Lingayats to Catholicism and setting Lingayats against Hindus. It claims much of this could be largely achieved through the European Unions developmental schemes and funds channeled through the Embassy of the Holy See. Legal action Bishop Mascarenhas said that neither the CBCI nor Cardinal Gracias will ever indulge in divisive tactics as indicated in the false letter. The circulation of this letter just before the Karnataka elections is a disgraceful mischievous ploy, he said, adding the CBCI reserved the right to take legal action against those involved in making and promoting the letter. Bishop Mascarenhas has been battling against those peddling the fake letter as genuine, especially on the social media. "Absolutely malafide malicious and diabolic. So sad that people can stoop to this level to malign others," he wrote in one of his posts on the Indian bishops' Twitter account. Political rivalry The Lingayats who make up 17% of Karnatakas population have an influence on nearly 100 seats in the 224-member state assembly where the Congress party is in power. The community is seen as a trump card in the May 12 election in which the Congress is pitched against the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power in the centre. The Lingayats traditionally support the BJP, especially in northern Karnataka. Christians, who form 1.8 percent or 1.1 million in the state's population, are traditionally seen as Congress supporters. On March 19, the Karnataka government approved a minority religion status to the Lingayat community, a move largely seen as a bid by to woo the community to the Congress party, as well as split BJPs Lingayat vote base. A Congress victory in Saturdays election will go a long way to its chances in the general election in 2019. Israeli soldiers near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights (AFP or licensors) The Iranian government says it supports Syria's 'right to defend itself' after a wave of Israeli air-strikes hit army bases in the country on Thursday. By Nathan Morley Israel launched strikes on what it claimed were Iranian military targets inside Syria they said the action was in response to rockets being fired at Israeli military positions in the Golan Heights. In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the strikes a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty. The international community's silence encourages Israel's aggression. Syria has every right to defend itself, the statement added. On Thursday, Israeli jets destroyed intelligence sites, weapons storage centres, and Syrian air defence systems. Jerusalem has repeatedly warned that any Iranian strike on Israel from territory in Syria would lead to a major response. The Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said President Assad should throw the Iranians out. The Iranian military has been supporting President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against a civil uprising and insurgents. In response to the raids, Moscow, which also supports Assad, called on both Israel and Iran to show restraint. This August, the GRAMMY Award-winning Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo will take the stage at Wynn Las Vegas for a two-night-only engagement. The group will bring their French and Spanish inspired hit songs from their 25 plus-year career to the Encore Theater on Friday, Aug. 17 and Saturday, Aug. 18. With more than 20 million albums sold, the Gipsy Kings are one of the rare groups to climb both the US and World music charts. Melding deep-heated flamenco, rumba, salsa and pop, the Gipsy Kings are celebrated worldwide for their booming Spanish vocals and flamenco guitars reminiscent of the south of France. Uniting the family Reyes and the family Baliardo, the Gipsy Kings will perform songs from their new album Evidence and their GRAMMY Award-winning album Savor Flamenco, as well as their other hits like Bamboleo,Djobi Djoba,My Way, and Hotel California in this exclusive two-night engagement. Blondie, the pet lion, happily being petted by her neighbor friend Jane Johnson (R), 11, as other kids look on, in the back of Charles Hipp's station wagon, parked in front of his house. Blondie daintily taking meat tidbits from the hand of her owner Charles Hipp as he sits a dinner table with his wife (L), daughter Charlene, his mother (C) and daughter Mrs. Juanita Evans (2R), holding his baby granddaughter Karen, at home. Blondie fascinated by the water as she takes her first ride in a Chris Craft Continental inboard motorboat with owner Charles Hipp (R) who is making sure she doesn't have designs on taking a swim, on Possum Kingdom Lake. Blondie looking pleased as her owner Charles Hipp places his baby granddaughter Karen on her back while his daughter Mrs. Juanita Evans (R) smiles and neighbor friend, Jane Johnson, 11, looks on, in living rm. at home. Blondie momentarily pinned down by her owner Charles Hipp while roughhousing on their lawn at home. Blondie looking bored during routine ride in station wagon past Graham Movie Theater with her owner Charles Hipp at the wheel. Blondie getting cautiously petted by Life photographer Joe Scherschel while she is relaxing on lawn after he finished a photo sampling of this amazing beast's everyday life. Blondie luxuriating in a good toweling off by her owner Charles Hipp after her refreshing shower bath, in bathroom at home. Blondie, age 2, the pet lion of owner Charles Hipp who purchased her from the Dallas zoo when she was 1-month-old, tethered by a chain as it relaxes on the lawn at his home. Blondie playfully putting the fang-in-the-fanny hold on her owner Charles Hipp who is smiling through some playful pain before prying her jaws open with his hands and fleeing into the house. (Nobody got hurt.) Blondie, the pet lion, patiently allows her owner Charles Hipp to pour Tide detergent on her pelt which she loves to lick off and gulp down during her combination bath and shower, at home. Blondie reveling in the shower spray of lukewarm water her owner Charles Hipp is directing on her pelt, at home. Blondie, the living room lion. Blondie giving a piggy back ride to young neighbor girl as its owner Charles Hipp keeps her in tow, in front of his home. In 1955,photographer Joseph Scherschel, who had made a career photographing everyone from JFK to Che Guevara, traveled to central Texas to find a family with an unusual pet.Blondie, an African lioness who was purchased by oilman Charles Hipp from the Dallas Zoo, was enough of a usual sight around Graham, Texas, that word got around to one the most popular weekly magazines in the country.The article in, titled Living Room Lion Blondie, A Docile 200-Pound Texan, Becomes A Member of the Family, gave readers a peek into the lives of the Hipp familys everyday lion-owning life.(Photos by Joseph Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) John McCain (front right) with his squadron and T-2 Buckeye trainer, in 1965. John McCain being pulled out of Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi and about to become a prisoner of war, on October 26, 1967. John McCain is administered to in a Hanoi, Vietnam hospital as a prisoner of war in the fall of 1967. In this undated photo, John McCain is seen lying injured in North Vietnam wearing an arm cast. John McCain lies in a hospital bed in Hanoi, North Vietnam, after being taken prisoner of war. This file picture taken in 1967 shows US Navy Air Force Major John McCain lying on a bed in a Hanoi hospital as he was being given medical care for his injuries. The A-4E (BuNo 149959) six days before McCain was shot down with it, landed by another pilot aboard Oriskany. Decades later, McCain's flight suit and gear were put on display at a museum in the remaining portion of Hoa Lo Prison. John McCain is escorted by Lt. Cmdr. Jay Coupe Jr., public relations officer, to Hanois Gia Lam Airport after the POW was released. John McCain during his release as a POW in March 1973. McCain giving an interview to the press on April 24, 1973, after his return from Vietnam. Photo by US News and World Report. John Mccain is welcomed by U.S. President Richard Nixon upon Mccain's release from five and one-half years as a POW during the Vietnam War. Washington, D.C., May 24, 1973. John McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment occurred on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected from the aircraft, and nearly drowned after he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".Although McCain was seriously wounded and injured, his captors refused to treat him. They beat and interrogated him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a high-ranking admiral. His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers.McCain spent six weeks in the hospital, where he received marginal care. He had lost 50 pounds (23 kg), was in a chest cast, and his gray hair had turned as white as snow. McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi. In December 1967, McCain was placed in a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live more than a week. In March 1968, McCain was placed into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.In mid-1968, his father John S. McCain Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes, and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain refused repatriation unless every man taken in before him was also released. Such early release was prohibited by the POWs' interpretation of the military Code of Conduct which states in Article III: I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.Beginning in August 1968, McCain was subjected to a program of severe torture. He was bound and beaten every two hours; this punishment occurred at the same time that he was suffering from dysentery. Further injuries brought McCain to the point of suicide, but his preparations were interrupted by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-U.S. propaganda "confession". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, I had learned what we all learned over there: every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine. Many U.S. POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements; virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors. McCain received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.McCain refused to meet various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory. From late 1969, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable, while McCain continued actively to resist the camp authorities. McCain and other prisoners cheered the U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years until his release on March 14, 1973. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. On an overcast afternoon last week, rain lashed the roofs of the modest villas of Phnom Penhs well-to-do Boeung Keng Kang neighborhood. At one house, decorated with antiques and handmade wooden furniture, portraits of a smiling man in a paratroopers uniform is on display. The man was Les Kosem, born an ethnic Cham in the 1920s, who later rose to become one of Cambodias highest-ranking generals during the Second Indochina War. He is FULRO; FULRO is him. His complicated relationship with the resistance movements of the highland peoples of Vietnam, the Cham in Cambodia and Khmer in the Mekong region, made him one of the most controversial of Cambodias decorated military leaders over the years leading up to the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975. Kosem was involved in the now-defunct United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races, better known by its acronym, FULRO. The group sought greater autonomy for the Cham Muslims and Hindus of Cambodia, for the Khmer people living to the south in modern-day Vietnam, and for the Montagnard hill people. He was also believed to have played a role in arranging the supply route to support Vietnamese forces fighting against the United States and South Vietnam regime, according to a Central Intelligence Agency document declassified in 2009. Kosem reacted to internal disagreements within FULRO by ordering the army to surround the movements headquarters in 1968 and arresting its leader, Y Bham Enuol. He was reportedly involved in the secret smuggling of weapons to Vietnam and later, in the early 1970s, was accused of committing war crimes by leading the 5th Special Brigade in the systematic slaughter of pro-Khmer Rouge villages. I provide these documents because I want to seek [clarification] of integrity and justice for an honest person. A U.S. State Department cable, leaked in 2013 by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, reveals Kosems prominent role in an incomplete effort to avoid the anticipated massacres of the Cham during the Khmer Rouges takeover by sending them to Muslim-majority countries. Kosems wife, Meidine Natchear, handed over three suitcases of documents and items belonging to Kosem as a donation to the archives of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), whose executive director, Youk Chhang, accompanied VOA Khmer on the visit to the family home. I provide these documents because I want to seek [clarification] of integrity and justice for an honest person, Natchear told us as we arrived, hoping that the donated files would pave the way for accurate studies of her husbands political life. While Kosem is known largely from a few surviving military documents from the pre-Khmer Rouge era, his family remember him differently. He was described by his wife as a faithful and loving husband. Before Kosems death abroad under suspicious circumstances after he sought refuge in Malaysia in 1975, the couple shared an eventful life. Natchear said that Kosems wish before his death was that he would be waiting for her at the gate of heaven, she said. On this edition of VOA's Press Conference USA, William Galston, senior fellow in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution discusses his latest book Anti Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy, with host Carol Castiel and VOA Senior National Correspondent Jim Malone. Galston asserts that failed efforts to effectively address immigration, along with institutional dysfunction and a growing divide between urban and rural areas, have paved the way for a populist backlash in America and around the world. South Sudan's much-delayed peace talks are scheduled to pick up again next Thursday in Ethiopia's capital. But analysts say diplomatic efforts won't succeed unless East African leaders use both carrots and sticks to force the warring sides to compromise. South Sudan has been mired in fresh conflict for nearly two years since a power-sharing deal collapsed in July of 2016. Speaking to VOA, the head of the U.N. mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, said there are two fundamental issues on the agenda for the upcoming peace talks in Addis Ababa. The first is security. "What's the shape of the army?" he continued. 'What [are] the armed forces going to look like if you bring all those parties together? The second thing, he added, "obviously is the constitution and the governance who governs, what's the progress towards ultimately to elections and how is it going to happen? So it's a little unclear at the moment exactly where everybody sits on that spectrum of being able to come together." Delays have set back efforts to hold the talks this year. Opposition and rebel groups have demanded the departure of President Salva Kiir. The government has pushed for elections, though many, including the United States, doubt a credible vote is possible under current conditions. The African Union maintains that negotiation is the best route to peace and stability in South Sudan. However, the five previous deals mediated by East African regional bloc IGAD have failed. James Okuk, who teaches political science at Juba University, said "if IGAD is looking for the government or the opposition to come up with something, I don't think they will come up with it." "It's for the IGAD now to find what is the middle way that they can propose," he added. "And if they propose that middle way, then that middle way it's what should be negotiated by those parties." A lot has changed since the 2016 clashes that forced rebel leader Riek Machar from Juba. More rebel and armed groups have emerged, and government forces have retaken ground. There is also tension within the opposition camp. One group has agreed to join Kiir's proposed unity government, while the other faction is staying away and wants to revive the 2015 peace agreement. Machar's allies say he will not accept Kiir's invitation to return to the country and reconcile without a peace deal. Casie Copeland, a researcher with International Crisis Group in Nairobi, said the sides will need pressure or incentives to reach a peace deal and follow through with it. "We don't necessarily see the international community having a well-organized strategy to provide that," she said. "So what I fear is that this diplomatic effort that is going on might not actually achieve anything because it's not backed up with this sort of support of the region to really try to shift the views of the conflict parties." Thousands have been killed since the war began in late 2013, and to date more than four million South Sudanese have been forced from their homes. And aid agencies now warn of severe hunger and say parts of the country once again risk famine this year. A long line of people, winding past a chain-link fence and a turnstile, distinguishes the boundary separating San Luis, in the U.S. state of Arizona, and San Luis Rio Colorado in Sonora, Mexico. Otherwise, it would just appear to be desert. At the U.S. port of entry, temporary farm workers leave their families and queue up daily before dawn to catch a bus to the fields, just outside town. Residents from Arizona join them. On one nearby date palm farm, men and women wear handkerchiefs to protect themselves from the fine desert sand and temperatures that reach 41 degrees Celsius; but, Mexican farmworker Juan Gonzalez voices few complaints. The work is steady for 11 months of the year, he says, and the border is calm.There arent many problems, Gonzalez said. Theres crime, but not like in other large cities. While others describe a sense of tranquility on either side of the border, there is an underlying tension, too. Drug trafficking is of particular concern, but not everyone wants to talk about it. Its complicated A mix of workers on temporary visas, permanent residents, and U.S. citizens with Mexican family members, residents of San Luis, Arizona, say its normal to have a foot on both sides of the border. Among the Latino-majority population, residents quietly acknowledge that the deployment of the Arizona National Guard to the area to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in monitoring illegal activity isnt the worst idea but has a caveat: if its for narco-trafficking and trafficking of persons. Its good to end that because its dangerous for anyone here along the border, said Candelario Vizcarra, a San Luis farmworker who lives in Mexico. They dont go and attack nobody, added Greg, a U.S. citizen who works in sales. Its just to protect the borders, and I agree. Others with business ties in San Luis agreed with Greg, who didnt want to share his last name with VOA. But they were careful not to voice their opinions out of concern they might appear to be anti-immigrant. Maria Herrera, a minimum-wage farmworker, mother, and permanent resident in Arizona, agrees that drug trafficking is a problem and that it is affecting the towns children, some as young as 12. They dont have work, there is no work, theres nothing, Herrera said. And their best option a lot of times is to go the easy route: rob, use drugs, or act as drug mules (carry drugs) across the border. Creating more well-paying jobs would be her suggestion. Absent that, Herrera is skeptical of the National Guard troops presence. She worries about the effect of a militarized border on the undocumented. Like all Latinos, we worry about what happens to other families like our own, because one way or another, many are family or relatives of some friend of ours that we have in common. In the worst cases, theyll deport the father, Herrera continued, and the mother and kids remain here protected by whom? Common ground In Calexico, California, 127 kilometers northwest of San Luis, across subtropical desert, a section of 9-meter bollard-style replacement fence towers over the palms and brush to its south. Border Patrol sector supervisor Jorge Rivera says he is grateful for the upgrade because of another issue: the safety of his agents. Criminal organizations come over and they attack us with rocks; they throw any type of object toward us to avoid us apprehending any type of illegal activity, Rivera told VOA. In fiscal 2017, the U.S. Border Patrol in the El Centro Sector of southern California reported 21 assaults against agents and seized more than 200 kilos of cocaine, 690 kilos of methamphetamine and 70,000 grams of heroin. But unlike San Luis, some residents concerned about illegal immigration in El Centro bring up a line of reasoning more in tune with pro-Trump areas of the country, including the narrative that those crossing the border illegally are an economic burden on society. They are leeching our system, and I pay so much (in) taxes every month, said Steve Andrade, who runs a security management company. It ... (makes me angry) that all my money goes to those people. I get nothing out of it! Ironically, Andrade admits to once being homeless and an undocumented immigrant himself, crossing multiple times from Mexicali until he successfully evaded the U.S. Border Patrol and settled in California in the early 1980s. He maintains the Mexican border town was different then. In my time, there was nothing, no opportunities ... to even survive Mexicali, Andrade said. There were no shelters to help you or anything. Andrade makes his stance on the wall clear go for it! but others who claim illegal immigration is a danger have other ideas. Bill DuBois, an El Centro-area resident and owner of a local firearms store, holds firm that if one illegal crosser gets across, the border is not secure. But unlike Andrade, the lifelong Californian doesnt subscribe to the idea of a wall. The only way to solve the problem of illegal immigration is to make things better in the other peoples home countries, DuBois said. Chinese missile deployment in the South China Sea is meant as a challenge to the United States and its allies, scholars believe. Anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles that China reportedly installed on islets in the sea off its south coast would discourage passage of naval vessels from the United States or its allies such as Australia and Japan, analysts say. Vietnam, which claims parts of the sea occupied by China, has officially protested to Beijing. China deployed the missiles in the seas Spratly Islands for military exercises in early April, according to a recent report by CNBC quoting sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports. China claims about 90 percent of the sea and opposes the passage of American naval ships, which Washington describes as freedom of navigation, or FONOP, exercises. The U.S. government calls the South China Sea, also claimed by five other Asian governments, an international waterway. Australia and Japan support the U.S. cause, and they have become more outspoken in the past half-year. Japan sent a helicopter carrier to the sea for drills in mid-2017. Last month Australian naval vessels ran into Chinese ships in the same sea. I think (the missiles are) relevant to other countries as well, to Australia, to Japan, because their freedom of navigation will be put into danger when China can install so many high-tech missiles in the South China Sea, said Trung Nguyen, international relations dean at Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Missile sightings China built missile shelters on the islands in early 2017, but the April deployment was the first confirmed placement of such platforms on the islands, the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative says on its website. Military units might have moved the missiles into those shelters after the exercises, the initiatives director Gregory Poling said. China has other military installations in the uninhabited Spratly archipelago. The initiative says China operates radar facilities on three islets: Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi reefs. Military aircraft have landed at all three, it adds. Deterring the United States Analysts expect that China will avoid firing missiles to cause actual damage. But it might use them to deter U.S. freedom of navigation movements, scholars say. The U.S. government will think three times about its movement now, said Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. Its posturing rather than actually shooting, so they send a political as well as military signal to the Seventh Fleet and to Washington, D.C., and even to the people on Capitol Hill that the South China Sea has at least two dominant powers and China is one of them, Huang said. The Seventh Fleet is a U.S. naval fleet based in Japan. China might fire off a missile symbolically if U.S. naval ships pass through the sea again, said Alan Chong, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Its actions may bear Japan in mind, too, he said. There could be a minor clash, meaning an American frigate symbolically stages one of those FONOPs and then (Chinese President) Xi Jinping under pressure, he symbolically says, All right, I want to defend the nation, and he might fire something off at the Americans, Chong said. China might use the missiles to block another countrys passage, Nguyen said. The U.S. government has carried out six freedom of navigation operations since President Donald Trump took office in 2017. Rigorous monitoring Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam claim all or parts of the South China Sea. Their claims overlap those of China. Most are looking in the sea for fisheries as well as oil and natural gas. Vietnam protested to China on May 8 and demanded that it remove any missiles. The Philippines is studying whether to make its own protest. The missiles pose a long-term danger to Vietnams interests in the South China Sea, Nguyen said, especially to Vietnamese airfields nearby. But the neighboring countries will probably make few changes in view of any missiles, said Jonathan Spangler, director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei. He sees no threat to marine shipping and notes that China regularly passes coast guard ships throughout the sea. The missiles would mark a slow progression in a militarization aimed at stopping any invasion of Chinese-held islets, he said. A domestic gag rule might well knock Planned Parenthood right out of the business of serving over a million low-income women with contraceptive services. Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images Those who follow the politics and policy surrounding abortion are familiar with a particular flash point known as the global gag rule or alternatively the Mexico City Policy (a reference to the city where it was first announced as U.S. policy). First promulgated by Ronald Reagan in 1984, and then routinely revoked by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republican presidents (including Donald Trump), the rule has been an important source of the anti-abortion movements bond with the GOP. Heres how the Kaiser Family Foundation defines it: The policy requires foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to certify that they will not perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning, using funds from any source (including non-U.S. funds), as a condition for receiving U.S. government global family planning assistance and, as of Jan. 23, 2017, any other U.S. global health assistance. The last phrase refers to a major expansion of the gag rule by the Trump administration to cover the entire $8 billion in U.S. international health assistance, not just the $600 million earmarked for family-planning assistance. But now Team Trump is considering an even more dramatic expansion of the policy into the domestic family-planning arena, as explained by Anna North at Vox: The White House is reportedly considering a domestic gag rule that would essentially apply the restrictions of the global rule to providers that receive federal Title X funds, which help low-income patients get services like contraceptive counseling and testing for sexually transmitted infections. Such a rule would force Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers to either stop discussing abortions with their patients or stop receiving Title X money. And actually, if it tracks the international gag rule, the domestic version would force even those family-planning providers who are willing to shut up about abortion services while serving Title X patients to stop providing them to other women. That would be a direct shot at Planned Parenthood, which serves an estimated 41 percent of the 4 million women accessing Title X assistance. The domestic gag rule has been on the agenda for anti-abortion activists for a long time, and a particular project for one of their favorite politicians, Vice-President Mike Pence. It was actually put in place by the Reagan administration in 1988, but was only in effect for a month; it was held up in court long enough for Bill Clinton to take office and rescind it. Aside from Pences avid support, the other major reason this is an administration priority is that it represents a way to partially implement Trumps campaign promise to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. A full ban requires congressional action, which has repeatedly been blocked in the Senate by a coalition of Democrats and the two remaining pro-choice Republican senators (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski). If you think this is a perilous thing for the administration to do in the middle of an election year when Democrats would love to mobilize pro-choice voters, you arent looking through the same lens as Republicans, as explained by Axios in discussing apparent intra-White House pushback on the gag-rule expansion: A conservative leader involved in the policy fight told Axios it would be political suicide for Trump to abandon the policy. I just dont understand why they would betray a core campaign promise during a midterm election year where there are a lot of key House and Senate races where this is a winning issue in light of the polling, the source added. Meanwhile, White House Political Director Bill Stepien compiled a list for Trump showing that of the top 50+ competitive House races, every single sitting Republican is pro-life. Attacking Planned Parenthood and other family-planning providers has become something of a no-brainer for all but a few Republican pols, and an increasingly impatient demand from their anti-abortion constituencies, which include, of course, conservative white Evangelical activists. So advocates for reproductive rights, and for womens health, and for low-income Americans, should brace for very bad news, and probably fights in actual courts and in the court of public opinion. Two weeks of climate talks organized by the United Nations ended Thursday as countries failed to resolve differences about implementing the Paris climate accord. The negotiations will resume in Bangkok in September, where an extra week's meeting has now been scheduled. The pact's 197 signatories have set a December deadline to agree on the precise rules that countries have to stick to under the Paris agreement. The lack of progress threatens to unravel three years' worth of work to complete the Paris agreement, a landmark deal reached in 2015 that set a goal to limit fossil-fuel pollution in all nations for the first time and keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Overall progress at the meeting in Bonn was very slow, with some countries such as China looking to renegotiate aspects of the Paris deal. Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. agency that oversees climate talks, described the package being negotiated as "highly technical and complex.'' It aims to ensure that the efforts countries claim they're making in the fight against global warming can be verified and compared. The administration of President Barack Obama was widely credited with helping to bring together the diverging interests of rich and poor countries in the drive to secure the Paris deal. His successor, President Donald Trump, withdrew the U.S. from the accord in June 2017. His administration has attacked climate science, saying it questions whether human activity is behind climate change, and is focused on boosting the fossil fuel industry. A third suspect in a human smuggling ring has been extradited from Colombia to face trial in the United States. The Justice Department says Fredis Valencia Palacios arrived in southern Florida Wednesday. Two co-defendants have already been extradited to the U.S. They are charged with illegally encouraging, inducing and smuggling aliens into the United States. Prosecutors allege that the defendants' actions led to the deaths of two of the migrants. The Czech centrist ANO party on Friday approved a coalition agreement for a new government with the center-left Social Democrats, subject to a poll of Social Democrat party members. The minority government would aim to boost spending on defense, wages and benefits as well as infrastructure, according to a policy agenda agreed by leaders of the two parties, which Reuters saw. It would maintain a pro-Western policy course but keep the country outside the eurozone and resist any EU pressure to accept asylum-seekers transferred from other EU states. "This is a solid base for the creation of a stable government," Social Democrat chief Jan Hamacek said after a party leadership meeting. But the deal still needs the approval of rank-and-file Social Democrats; the outcome of their poll, likely to be announced June 15, is far from certain. Prime Minister Andrej Babis' ANO party was the clear winner of an election in October but lacks a majority. The coalition will still be in a minority, with 93 of 200 lower house seats, and require ad hoc backing from the small Communist party. Most parties, and also some prominent Social Democrats, have rejected joining a cabinet led by the billionaire businessman because he has been charged with fraudulently tapping a European Union subsidy a decade ago. He calls the investigation a plot. As a condition of forming a coalition, the Social Democrats secured an agreement that Babis will step down if a court finds him guilty in the fraud case. ANO's other concessions to the Social Democrats include raising sick pay and child allowances and increasing salaries across the education sector by 50 percent by 2021. Communist backing "I think Social Democrat members will respond positively ... we made an awful lot of compromises," Babis said. If the deal falls through, he said an early election could be held next spring. The pro-Russia and anti-NATO Communist party has said it would lend the government its 15 votes in the formal confidence vote, which would mark its first involvement in national government since the end of Communist rule in 1989. The Communists oppose some of the potential coalition's foreign policy plans, such as more involvement in NATO military missions, but their voice will be limited. On defense, the new government would plan to boost spending to 1.4 percent of GDP from 1.05 percent last year, still far below the NATO guideline of 2 percent. It would also look to stabilize debt, which has dropped thanks to strong economic growth in the past three years to 34.6 percent of GDP in 2017. Taxes should dip with a reduction in personal income tax and in value-added tax on some services, tap water and draft beer. The budget should remain broadly balanced. ANO's current one-party cabinet lost a vote of confidence in January and has since served in a caretaker capacity. Britain is set to roll out the red carpet Sunday as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan starts a three-day visit to London. The visit comes at an opportune time for him, ahead of the June 24 presidential elections, but it is controversial because he is facing growing accusations of authoritarianism. Hosting Erdogan in the middle of an election campaign is seen as a sign of Britain's commitment to the Turkish president. "It is a great honor to have him and to be able to host him in our capital city," Britain's ambassador to Turkey, Dominick Chilcott, said Friday. Erdogan's reputation is increasingly tarnished by his country's human rights record. Rights groups designate Turkey as the world's worst jailer of journalists with more than 100 incarcerated reporters, along with tens of thousands of others jailed under emergency rule introduced after a 2016 failed coup. "The Turkish regime is more and more isolated. Any photo opportunity is good during these harsh days. It's an opportunity for Erdogan to send a message at home that things are going all right," political scientist Cengiz Aktar said. It's anticipated Erdogan won't face public criticism from his British hosts, with British diplomats maintaining that human rights concerns are best raised in private. Observers point out that a sign of how controversial Erdogan has become is the fact this isn't a state visit with all the accompanying public pomp and ceremony, an honor granted to Erdogan's predecessor, Abdullah Gul, in 2011. Erdogan will, however, have tea with Queen Elizabeth. Defense deals British-Turkish relations have flourished since the 2016 failed coup. London was among the first of Ankara's Western allies to offer its support following the failed military takeover. The decision by a British minister to proceed with an already-arranged visit to Ankara, just days after the coup attempt, cemented London's credentials as a trusted ally. Ankara still remains critical of what it perceives as the slow response of other Western allies in supporting it after the failed coup. "Even though Turkey is distancing itself from the Western alliance, an exception is made with Britain," said political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. British firms have reaped rich rewards from deepening bilateral ties. British defense companies have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. The centerpiece is a $130 million deal to develop and build a Turkish jet fighter. Favored status Trade is a key topic of Erdogan's visit. With Britain set to leave the European Union and Turkey's EU bid all but dead, analysts claim both sides see potential common ground and a solution to the threat of isolation. "Turkey is using the UK as a bridge [to a wider world] and I think the feeling is mutual," said Yesilada. "Turkey thinks the bilateral trade and investments agreements could mitigate ... damage that might arise from any deterioration of relations with the EU, so they [the UK] do get favored treatment." Favored treatment extends beyond trade. Intelligence cooperation is deepening. A "golden age" is how one Turkish diplomat described relations. Britain is offering assistance in Turkey's war against the Kurdish rebel group the PKK, while Ankara is helping London counter threats posed by Islamic State as well as tracking down British jihadists in Syria who are seeking to return home. The European Union, while critical of Turkey's human rights record, is expected to take a pragmatic approach to Erdogan. In March, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, met with Erdogan in the Bulgarian resort city of Varna. The meeting was seen as carefully choreographed to give the Turkish president a valuable photo opportunity, helping to enhance his statesman credentials at home. In February, Erdogan met in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. "The EU is taking a careful line with Turkey," said political columnist Semih Idiz of al-Monitor. "The EU understands, at the end of the day, it needs to work with Erdogan and he is seen as the only game in town." Observers point out most European diplomats are convinced Erdogan is certain to win the June elections, despite polls predicting a close election. Ankara's ongoing cooperation in curtailing migrants entering Europe is viewed as vital by the EU. "Turkey is very close to the EU; there have been lots of statements made from both sides, sometimes harsh ones last year," the head of the EU delegation to Ankara, Ambassador Christian Berger, said Thursday. "That has now disappeared. I think the relationship is back onto engagement." Such positive statements will be welcomed by Erdogan, who recommitted himself to pursuing EU membership for Turkey at a campaign rally. Analysts warn that for Erdogan's opponents, these developments can only add to questions about the commitment of Turkey's Western allies to the democratic values they claim to uphold. "The tolerance the regime enjoys in the West is intimately linked to what is happening to the rule of law in Turkey," Aktar said. "What the Europeans want is to trade with Turkey. They want Turkey's cooperation on the migrants, so all these laments from Europe about the rule of law in Turkey are just a charade." Europe's heavyweight economies took steps Friday to safeguard their interests in Iran, seeking to keep the nuclear deal with Tehran alive after Washington pulled out and said sanctions would follow. Germany and France have significant trade links with Iran and remain committed to the nuclear agreement, as does Britain, and the three countries' foreign ministers plan to meet Tuesday to discuss it. That is part of a flurry of diplomatic activity following Tuesday's unilateral withdrawal from what U.S. President Donald Trump called "a horrible, one-sided deal," a move accompanied by the threat of penalties against any foreign firms doing business in Iran. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ways to save the deal without Washington needed to be discussed with Tehran, while France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said EU states would propose sanctions-blocking measures to the European Commission. "Do we accept extraterritorial sanctions? The answer is no," Le Maire told reporters. "Do we accept that the United States is the economic gendarme of the planet? The answer is no. "Do we accept the vassalization of Europe in commercial matters? The answer is no." In Berlin, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Germany was ready to give help to its affected firms, including legal advice, to continue doing business in Iran. Le Maire said he was seeking concrete exemptions for countries already present in Iran, including Renault, Total, Sanofi, Danone and Peugeot. The 2015 agreement between major powers and Iran set limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Europeans fear a collapse of the deal could intensify conflicts in the Middle East. Germany, France and Britain want talks to be held in a broader format to include Iran's ballistic missile program and its regional military activities, including in Syria and Yemen. "The extent to which we can keep this deal alive ... is something we need to discuss with Iran," said Merkel, who earlier spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue. Divisions in Iran over how it should respond to the U.S. pullout were illustrated as senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University on Friday that European nations could not be trusted. President Hassan Rouhani had said Tuesday that Tehran would remain in the deal, provided its benefits stayed in force with its remaining signatories. Iran's foreign minister will travel to Moscow on May 14 and meet his Russian counterpart, Russia's RIA news agency said, citing a Russian foreign ministry official. 'Damage limitation' Iran said it had asked Europe's Airbus to announce whether it would go ahead with a plane deal with Tehran following the U.S. pullout. That appears unlikely after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that licenses for the planemaker and rival Boeing Co to sell passenger jets to Iran would be revoked. Le Maire said Paris would seek to strengthen Europe's ability to block sanctions and provide investment finance to companies. He called for the creation of a body to monitor the implementation of EU sanctions rules. Some fear Europe's room for maneuver is limited. "The Europeans are in the weaker position because they are not united," said Peter Beyer, Germany's commissioner for transatlantic relations. Trump's strength was that he did not need unity, Beyer added. French exports to Iran doubled to 1.5 billion euros ($1.79 billion) last year, driven by sales of aircraft and automobile parts, according to customs data. Exports of German goods to Iran rose by around 400 million euros to 3 billion euros. Around 120 German firms have operations with their own staff in Iran, including Siemens, and some 10,000 German companies trade with Iran. "We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimize the negative consequences," Altmaier told Deutschlandfunk radio. "That means, it is concretely about damage limitation." The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, said firms should question the morality of doing business with Iran. "Germany, France and Britain, the 'EU3,' say themselves that Iran poses a threat. Do they want to do business with a threat?" Bild newspaper quoted him as saying. Altmaier said Germany wanted to avoid "a spiral of escalation" in transatlantic trade relations. Merkel said at a church event in the western German city of Muenster: "It is in our interest to have a strong transatlantic relationship." But she also said: "If everybody does what they like, then this is bad news for the world." When Facebook recently said it would allow outside reviewers inside its platform to look for signs of racial or political bias, civil liberties and human rights activists politely applauded. For years, activists have called on tech companies to undergo assessments of how their policies affect people, both in the U.S. and globally. The companies have long rejected those audits as unnecessary. But now Facebook is inviting outsiders in to look at allegations of racial and political bias. "It's better than nothing," Rebecca MacKinnon said of the Facebook audits. She is director of Ranking Digital Rights a project that evaluates 22 tech and telecommunications firms annually in areas such as privacy, expression and governance. "There's increasing pressure on them to do this kind of thing," MacKinnon added. Facebook has faced criticism that it has allowed advertisers to use racial and ethnic profiles to target job and housing ads. American political conservatives have complained that Facebook has removed or taken down legitimate content because of its liberal bias, something the company has denied. Both issues came under scrutiny following the 2016 U.S. election, but activists say the company's focus on issues mainly concerning American users is overshadowing Facebook's bigger problems with the platform abroad. "The audits that Facebook is doing in the U.S., while welcomed, are very U.S.-centered," said Arvind Ganesan, director of Human Rights Watch's business and human rights division. "That's really a response to domestic pressure." Call for global assessments Critics say Facebook's bias problems do not stop at the U.S. border. They point to the role that the platform is alleged to have played in incidents of mass violence, such as the persecution of ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar in recent years or sectarian violence in Sri Lanka. The United Nations reported that in the case of violence in Myanmar, Facebook "substantively" contributed to the level of conflict. Facebook's News Feed, which highlights content of interest to a user based on the person's friends and preferences, has also been accused of reinforcing false or inflammatory stories that go viral. That can help extreme viewpoints get in front of a mainstream audience. Critics say the company is only starting to come to grips with the issue. "There needs to be an honest, candid, comprehensive assessment," said HRW's Ganesan. "What is the panoply of Facebook's impact?" Transparency as industry trend Self-assessments are nothing new for tech firms. Starting with Google in 2010, tech companies began publishing transparency reports that provide snapshots of how governments have turned to firms for user data or issued takedown notices because of copyright infringement or other reasons. More than 60 companies regularly file transparency reports, according to Access Now, a digital rights group in New York. Eleven companies, including Google and Facebook, undergo outside assessments every two years by the Global Network Initiative, a nongovernmental organization that looks at how companies are responding to government requests. In its recent assessment, Ranking Digital Rights, which is a nonprofit research initiative affiliated with the nonpartisan New America Foundation think tank, gave low marks to Facebook for disclosing less information than other tech firms about how it handles data that can be used to identify, profile or track users. Apple earned the greatest year-over-year score improvement of any company because it "strengthened its public commitment to protecting users' privacy as a human right," the report said. How effective these assessments are in spurring companies to change is unclear. But company-run reports and outside audits can help find and measure problems, human rights advocates say. "We call on Facebook to engage with stakeholders wherever it impacts human rights the burden extends globally," said Peter Micek with Access Now." It doesn't make sense from a human rights perspective to treat the U.S. exceptionally." Landmark U.S. net neutrality rules will expire on June 11, and new regulations handing providers broad new power over how consumers can access the internet will take effect, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday in setting the date. The FCC in December repealed the Obama-era open-internet rules set in 2015, which bars providers from blocking or slowing down access to content or charging consumers more for certain content. The prior rules were intended to ensure a free and open internet, give consumers equal access to web content and bar broadband service providers from favoring their own material or others. The new rules require internet providers to tell consumers whether they will block or slow content or offer paid "fast lanes." Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. have all pledged to not block or discriminate against legal content after the net neutrality rules expire. Reuters first reported the June 11 effective date, disclosed in an FCC document on Thursday. Acting New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, a Democrat, said the repeal of net neutrality would allow internet service providers to put their profits before the consumers they serve and control what we see, do, and say online. A spokeswoman for Underwood said the state attorneys general have not sought a stay of the FCC order yet. A group of 22 states led by New York and others have sued to try to block the new rules from taking effect, and the U.S. Senate may vote as early as next week to reject the December repeal. The revised rules were a win for internet service providers, whose practices faced significant government oversight and FCC investigations under the 2015 order, but are opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Some internet providers have said they could eventually offer paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritization, for some future internet traffic. The repeal of net neutrality is the latest thread in a broader pattern of Republican Trump administration reversals of Democratic Obama administration policies or achievements, such as the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear agreement. Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters on Thursday the rollback of the rules would not harm consumers and would return the internet to the pre-2015 era. The effect of this will be better, faster, cheaper internet access and the free and open internet that we have had for many, many years, he said. Pai said the FCC gave internet providers 30 days to comply with the new transparency rules. He said many politicians had sought to mislead the public about the repeals impact. Now everyone will be able to see the truth for themselves, Pai said. Democrats objected. The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said on Thursday. The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people. The U.S. Senate is set to vote as early as next week on whether to reject the FCC repeal of the net neutrality rules, but that effort faces an uphill battle. Proponents currently have the backing of 47 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with Democrats, as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. With the prolonged absence of Republican Senator John McCain due to illness, proponents believe they will win on a 50-49 vote. Senator Ed Markey said it was likely the vote will take place in the middle of next week. On Wednesday, senators officially filed a petition to force a net neutrality vote and 10 hours of floor debate under the Congressional Review Act. Following Thursday's FCC announcement, Markey wrote on Twitter: the Senate must act NOW and pass my resolution to save the internet as we know it. If the Senate approves the measure, it would not likely pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. If the legislation were to pass the House, President Donald Trump would be expected to veto it. The FCC voted in December 3-2 to reverse the Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain online content, but said under government regulatory rules it would take months before they could legally take effect. In February, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general refiled legal challenges intended to block the repeal of net neutrality. A number of states have adopted laws aimed at dissuading internet providers from abandoning net neutrality. Democrats have said they believe the issue would be key in November's midterm congressional elections, especially among younger internet-savvy voters. Republicans have said the FCC repeal would eliminate heavy-handed government regulations and encourage investment. Guatemala asked Sweden and Venezuela on Thursday to remove their ambassadors from the Central American country, accusing them of interfering in its internal affairs. A government press release said Guatemala wants Swedish ambassador Anders Kompass and Venezuelan diplomat Elena Alicia Salcedo to depart. Kompass is a well-known official and human rights defender. A few days earlier he had announced Sweden's financial support for a United Nations-sponsored commission investigating corruption in Guatemala. The commission, which goes by the initials CICIG, had accused Guatemala President Jimmy Morales of corruption related to alleged illegal campaign financing while he was secretary general of his party. Morales subsequently tried unsuccessfully to expel the commission's head, Ivan Velasquez, from the country. But Guatemala did not say why it was expelling Kompass and Salcedo beyond alleging "interference in its internal affairs." In a press conference, foreign minister Sandra Jovel described the move as a sovereign decision by her government. She said there were no plans to expel other diplomats. Sweden's foreign minister says it is "very unfortunate" that the country's ambassador to Guatemala has been ordered to leave. Margot Walstrom says the Swedish government will ask for "further explanations" as to why Kompass has been given 30 days to leave, adding the Scandinavian country's stance and actions "in matters relating to human rights and anti-corruption are well known." Former Guatemalan foreign minister Fernando Carrera said the government was trying to withdraw the financial and political support for the CICIG because of its investigations into corruption. "It's a desperate attempt, because the government has increasingly less internal support and must get rid of them," Carrera said. A Guatemalan national will spend the rest of his life in U.S. federal prison for his part in an international cocaine ring. Waldemar Lorenzana-Cordon was sentenced Thursday, one year after he was tried and convicted. His punishment "sends a powerful message to leaders of drug-trafficking organizations that if they send their poison to our country, the United States and our international partners will work tirelessly to bring them to justice," Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan said. U.S. prosecutors charged Lorenzana-Cordon and his brother Eliu Lorenzana-Cordon with receiving, storing and distributing tons of cocaine from Colombia and Guatemala, and trafficking the drug thorough Mexico and into the United States. Eliu Lorenzana-Cordon was sentenced to life in prison in February. Prosecutors say the brothers worked with the Mexican-based Sinaloa cartel. Editor's note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all of the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration, migration, and refugee stories every week the ones that will most affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners. We want you to know what's happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business. Questions? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com DACA Trial and Error Lawmakers tried again this week to push a bill that would protect some younger undocumented people in the United States. Leading the charge, five moderate Republicans who are trying to force votes on four immigration bills. Whichever bill gets the most votes passes. What's next? The magic number here is 218; that's how many votes are needed to agree to move ahead with the "Queen of the Hill"-style vote. How does the House get to that number? Every Democrat and dozens of Republicans would have to sign on. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the effort is pointless, unless the bill that passes is something the president would sign. (Ryan plans to retire from Congress this year.) While you're in the DACA zone, check out our video explainer of some of the lawsuits over DACA. Virginia's Cambodian-American-refugee-veteran-techie candidate Chanda Choun wants to live and die in Arlington County. In between, he wants to help run it. "I didn't see anybody with a military background, I didn't see anybody with an immigrant background, and I didn't see anybody with a tech background stepping up," he told VOA, when speaking of his candidacy for a local government position. "That's all it came down to." Sanctuary success? Policies in some U.S. cities and states limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and there is evidence those policies may be slowing the detention-to-deportation pipeline, according to a report released this week. Questioning the census A plan to include a citizenship question in the 2020 U.S. census is triggering bad memories for some Japanese-American families: the information they provided in the 1940 census was used to round them up, along with their parents, or grandparents, and detain them in camps for years. Border relations We've spent a lot of parched hours at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months and, honestly, we're left with more questions than answers. Press freedom under fire As a longtime fixture of the Cambodian press disintegrates in plain sight, a veteran journalist gets refugee status and safety in the United States. What's English for "pizza"? An English class for new Americans combines cooking, culture and the universal happy place: meeting over food. Cascada La Chorrera near the town of Choachi in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. Photo: Photographer: DM Chandra Dhas/Getty Images/iStockphoto Bogotas chaotic traffic and never-ending sprawl can make you feel trapped in a bubble. But take a short drive and youre in the middle of Andean greenery. Allow Richard McColl, owner of remote Mompox hotel La Casa Amarilla and host of Colombia Calling, an English-language podcast about Colombian culture, to be your guide. Cascada La Chorrera 75 minutes from city center The hike to the 590-meter-high [1,936-foot-tall] La Chorrera waterfall, the highest in all of Colombia and close to the town of Choachi, is one of the best day hikes in the Bogota area. Signs point the way to the trailhead from the main road between Bogota and Choachi, and the path leads you through a pristine cloud forest filled with orchids and birds. The hike takes about four to five hours round trip and its a fun option for getting out of the city for a little bit. Chicaque Parque Natural. Photo: young shanahan/Flickr.com Chicaque Parque Natural 1 hour from city center This small national park features more than 12.4 miles of well-marked hiking trails through cloud forest. The area appeals mostly to walkers and birders, as there are an estimated 300 different species of birds in the park, though you can also spot sloths, llamas, and deer. Biologist guides may be hired to show you through and you can even stay overnight with campsites and cabins available to rent. There are options for thrill-seekers too, including rappelling from a 262-foot-high oak tree and a 1,115-foot zip line over the cloud forest canopy. The zip reaches speeds of nearly 25 miles per hour as you take in some breathtaking views of the Magdalena River valley in the distance. Horse riding is also available. Laguna de Guatavita. Photo: Willys Alberto Sevillano/Flickr.com Laguna de Guatavita 90 minutes from city center Pack a raincoat and prepare yourself for a short, high-altitude ramble at 10,100 feet above sea level to contemplate the legend of El Dorado at the sacred lagoon of Guatavita. Providing us with what is potentially the most realistic claim to being the source of the El Dorado legend, the lake is an ancient and sacred ceremonial site for the Chibcha people, who allegedly had a ritual where their ruler, covered in gold dust, floated out on the lake on a raft as gold offerings were tossed in by followers. From Guatavita, a re-created white-washed Spanish colonial town for those displaced by the nearby Embalse de Tomine reservoir thats a good lunch stop, its a short drive to the lagoon. Up a steep set of 150 steps with beautiful country views brings you to a trail to explore the high Andean forests surrounding the lagoon. Hacienda Coloma. Photo: Hacienda Coloma/Facebook.com Hacienda Coloma 1 hour and 45 minutes from city center If you dont have time to visit the Zona Cafetera in southwest Colombia, you can still see coffee being produced at lower altitudes southwest of Bogota. Hacienda Coloma near Fusagasuga is a great place to learn about the production of coffee and to watch the workers on the hacienda riding around in old American military Jeeps. Theyll let you pick coffee cherries and sample some of the local product, including their line of coffee liquors. Most tours include lunch and a bilingual guide. Sumapaz Paramo. Photo: Luis Alejandro Bernal Romero (Aztlek)/Flickr.com/Copyleft, Luis Alejandro Bernal Romero (Aztlek), 2009. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Sumapaz Paramo 2 hours and 30 minutes from city center The Sumapaz Paramo, a high-altitude, Andean wetland ecosystem the largest of its kind in the world is a few hours south of Bogota, depending on traffic. Its impossible to reach on public transportation, so a tour is your best option. I went on a trip with Colombia Photo Tours and had a great time hiking around the rainy, misty lakes and through the thick vegetation for about four hours. Its at extreme altitude, upward of 12,500 feet, and you learn about the flora and fauna, like the spectacled bears and tapirs, while improving your photography skills. Bring rain gear, as you will get wet. Before taking office, President Donald Trump railed against the pharmaceutical industry and accused it of getting away with murder. The populist rhetoric appears to be giving way to a more nuanced strategy focused on making the pharmaceutical market more open and competitive, with the aim of lowering costs for consumers. Its an approach that could avoid a direct confrontation with the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, but it could also underwhelm Americans seeking relief from escalating prescription costs. On Friday, Trump is scheduled to give his first speech on an overarching plan to lower drug prices. Administration officials previewing the speech Thursday touted it as the most comprehensive plan to tackle prescription drug costs that any president has ever proposed, but offered few specifics. Officials said the plan would increase competition, create incentives for drugmakers to lower initial prices and slash federal rules that make it harder for private insurers to negotiate lower prices. The result would be lower pharmacy costs for patients a key Trump campaign promise. The plan will not include giving the federal Medicare program power to directly negotiate prices with drugmakers, they noted. Trump campaigned on the idea, which is vigorously opposed by the pharmaceutical industry. Public outrage over drug costs has been growing for years, because Americans are being squeezed in a number of ways: New medicines for cancer and other life-threatening diseases often launch with prices exceeding $100,000 per year. Drugs for common ailments like diabetes and asthma routinely see price hikes around 10 percent annually. Meanwhile some companies have been buying up once-cheap older drugs and hiking prices by 1,000 percent or more. Since entering the White House, Trump has backed away from reforms directly targeting drugmakers and staffed his administration with appointees who have deep ties to the industry, including his health secretary, Alex Azar, a former top executive at Eli Lilly. Still, administration officials ratcheted up the rhetoric ahead of Trumps speech. Azar promised bold action. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb another Trump appointee with industry connections hinted at a plan to dismantle the convoluted system of discounts and rebates between drugmakers and health care middlemen. On Thursday, administration officials also vowed to address foreign governments that rely on U.S. medicines but pay drastically lower prices due to government controls. The U.S. accounts for 70 percent of the worlds brand-name drug profits, according to a White House report released earlier this year. Here are some of the drivers of U.S. prescription drug prices, proposals for reducing the costs and whats at stake: Lack of regulation Drugmakers generally can charge as much as the market will bear because the U.S. government doesnt regulate medicine prices, unlike most other countries. Medicare is the largest purchaser of prescription drugs in the nation, covering 60 million seniors and Americans with disabilities, but it is barred by law from directly negotiating lower prices with drugmakers. Democrats have long favored giving Medicare that power, but Republicans traditionally oppose the idea. The powerful pharmaceutical lobby has repeatedly fended off proposals that could lower prices, such as Medicare negotiations or importing drugs from countries that regulate pricing. With no direct government price regulation, the primary check on prices comes from buyers in bulk such as insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers, which handle prescription coverage for insurers, employers and other big clients. But because there are so many players in the fragmented system, the discounts achieved in the U.S. are generally far more modest than those in other countries. The result is that the U.S. spends more on medicines than any other nation. In 2015, the U.S. spent $1,162 per person on pharmaceuticals, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That compares with $756 for Canada and $497 for the United Kingdom, both of which have government measures to control drug prices. Lack of transparency The U.S. system for pricing drugs is notoriously complex, so much that the real price for most medicines isnt clear. Critics contend that this lack of transparency limits competition and drives prices higher. Pharmaceutical companies often launch their drugs with high initial prices. But they argue list prices are merely a starting point for negotiations because they give substantial rebates and discounts to pharmacy benefit managers. Those price concessions are almost never disclosed and its unclear what portion actually flows back to consumers. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and others say the lack of transparency in the current system creates perverse incentives in which drugmakers and other health care companies benefit from rising prices at the expense of patients. Trump officials have suggested requiring Medicare pharmacy benefit managers to share rebate payments with patients. Another proposal would do away with rebates altogether to encourage more upfront discounts in Medicare. But the benefit managers and insurers say that they use rebates to lower health care premiums overall and that doing away with them would drive up costs. Patents and anti-competitive tactics Patents last longer in the U.S. than most countries, typically giving companies a dozen years of competition-free marketing after a drug launches. Most drugmakers increase their prices annually during this monopoly period, and until recently double-digit price hikes were the norm. Drugmakers also have developed a number of techniques to block competitors from launching lower-cost generic drugs. Companies often tweak drug formulations to extend their patents. In other cases, companies directly pay would-be competitors to stay off the market in so-called pay-to-delay deals. Gottlieb has promised a crackdown on some of these techniques used to game the system. Hes highlighted a practice in which drugmakers use tightly controlled distribution systems to prevent rival manufacturers from purchasing their drug. This effectively blocks the development of generic versions because generic drugmakers must test their products against the original medicine before they can win FDA approval. Public perception A majority of Americans say bringing down prescription drug prices should be a top priority for Trump and Congress, according to recent polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation. And experts who study drug pricing say its encouraging that the discussion around the issue has moved from outrage to sophisticated reforms. But some warn there is no guarantee that unraveling the current pricing-setting bureaucracy will lead to lower prices, because it all starts with drugmakers prices. Until we get closer to policy solutions that address the ability of drug manufacturers to set whatever price they want and increase prices year after year we may only be scratching the surface of this problem, said Juliette Cubanski, a health care expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Dan Mendelson, a health care consultant, said: If they dont address the cost that patients see at the pharmacy counter its not going to be seen as responsive. Iran says Israel's rocket attacks on Syria were based on "invented pretexts." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, quoted in state-run IRNA, said the attacks were a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. He said Syria has the right to defend itself "against the aggressors." The Israeli military released aerial footage Friday of the Iranian military sites in Syria targeted by the Israeli air force. A report in The Jerusalem Post says "Israel struck 50 Iranian targets in Syria after 20 rockets were fired towards Israel . . ." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts and provocative actions to "avoid a new conflagration" in the Middle East. The White House has condemned Iranian rocket attacks on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as an "unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East." In a statement issued Thursday morning, the White House said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "bears full responsibility for the consequences of its reckless actions" and warned the guard and its "militant proxies" not to take "further provocative steps." Israel said Thursday its fighter jets struck dozens of Iranian military targets inside of Syria overnight in response to the attacks. The Israeli military said its airstrikes focused on intelligence sites, weapons storage and logistics centers, and that the jets also destroyed several Syrian air defense systems. It also warned it would "not allow the Iranian threat to establish itself in Syria" and said Syria's government will be held accountable for "everything happening in its territory." Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference Israel struck "almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria." He added, "I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes against Iranian targets in Syria were "appropriate" because the Persian Gulf nation "crossed a red line." Netanyahu also warned Syria that Israel would retaliate if the Syrian military acted against his country. "We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria," Netanyahu said. Iran is a Syrian ally, and its military has been supporting President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's foreign ministry said Israel's attacks are the "start of a new phase of aggression" against Syria and will do nothing but "increase tensions in the region." Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, another Assad backer, said the Israeli airstrikes were "a very alarming development" and urged both Israel and Iran to refrain from provoking each other. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson condemned Iran's attacks, urged Iran to refrain from further actions that could destabilize the region, and called on Russia to pressure Syria to work toward a broader political settlement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called for a de-escalation between the two sides. Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported Israeli airstrikes hitting air defense positions, radar stations and an ammunition depot while saying anti-aircraft systems were able to shoot down dozens of Israeli missiles. Israel blamed Iran's al-Quds force for firing missiles targeting Israeli military positions inside the Golan Heights, and said no damage and no casualties were reported. In the past, Israel has rarely commented on its military activity in Syria where it is believed to have conducted multiple sets of airstrikes against Iranian forces. Israel has been on high alert in recent days after Iran threatened retaliation for a series of airstrikes on its military positions inside Syria last month that killed at least seven Iranians. Iran blames Israel for those strikes, while Israel has not confirmed or denied the attacks. Israeli intelligence has said it anticipated possible Iranian action after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear agreement with Iran. Organizers of a teachers' protest in the Iranian capital, Tehran, say security forces have violently broken up their rally, beating up some of the demonstrators and arresting at least six of them. Dozens of retired and practicing teachers attended Thursday's protest outside the Iranian government's planning and budget organization building in Tehran. It was one of several rallies around the country organized by the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations to protest what it says are poor salaries for teachers and insufficient funding of the public education system as a whole. The teachers association of Tehran reported that Iranian security forces used force to break up the rally, beating several protesters including women. A member of the association, Sedighe Pakzamir, tweeted the names of six education activists who she said were arrested. Iran's Human Rights Activist News Agency quoted the Tehran association as saying the number of those detained was at least 15. No other reports of violence VOA sister network RFE/RL's Radio Farda said Thursday's education protests also were held in Divandarreh, Isfahan, Kazeroun, Kermanshah, Mamasani county, Marivan, Qorveh, Sari, Shiraz and Tabriz. But there were no immediate reports of violence or arrests at those demonstrations. The demonstrators also denounced the privatization of state-run schools, saying the Iranian government should invest more in the public school sector that provides free education for all children. The lack of investment has driven many public school teachers to take up jobs at private schools to supplement their incomes. The teachers associations say that reduces the quality of teaching in the state sector. Iran has seen frequent eruptions of public protests drawing dozens to hundreds of people around the country since December. Many have been fueled by anger toward local and national officials and business owners accused of mismanagement, corruption and suppressing freedoms. Daily struggles In Thursday's edition of VOA Persian's Straight Talk call-in show, most people who called from inside Iran said the protests have not escalated into an ongoing mass movement because many Iranians are afraid of being arrested and assaulted by security forces. Some said many Iranians also do not participate in protests because they are more concerned with the daily struggles of life. But one caller, who identified himself as Mohammad in the southwestern province of Fars, said he sees a potential for escalating protests, comparing the Iranian people to a stick of dynamite ready to explode. Behrooz Samadbeygi and Afshar Sigarchi of VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report. Italian state and finance police announced they have broken up two alleged militant cells with a large anti-terrorism operation that led to a number of arrests. Police searches took place in around 20 properties in northern Italy and Sardinia. Interior Minister Marco Minniti hailed the operations, declaring that two hostile structures have been neutralized. Judges in northern Italy and Sardinia, issued the arrest warrants for Operations Foreign Fighters and Syriana. Officials said the two cells were based in Lombardy and Sardinia. They were believed to have ties to militants in Syria, namely the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Investigators said they believed the two cells were autonomous, although one individual appeared to have had relations with both. At a press conference in Rome Thursday, Italys chief terror prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho said 14 people were arrested in the operation, including 11 Syrians and three Moroccans. He said four of them are charged with association aimed at terrorism activities, and the others are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, in addition to crimes for abusive financial intermediation aimed at money laundering. All those arrested in Italy were legal immigrant residents in the country. Police added that they were able to track the laundering of about $2.4 million, some of which was sent to the Nusra Front. The prosecutor said the money was transferred largely using the informal network known as hawala that is common in much of the Arabic world and evades the usual checks to monitor for terror financing. A number of European countries were being used for these transfers. The prosecutor added that the investigation had uncovered links between those financing terrorism and illegal immigration but did not find evidence that migrant traffickers were bringing in foreign fighters. Swedish authorities collaborated with the Italians during their investigation and police officials said their assistance was of fundamental importance. The arrest warrant said that the man considered the head of the organization was a Syrian, Anwar Daadoue. He often worked in Sweden where he is already in state custody. More than 40 people were killed after a dam burst Wednesday night in Kenya's Rift Valley and many others are still missing following heavy rains. Authorities say the dam was built illegally on private land, and residents fear other dams built without permission could also collapse. The dam, known by locals as the Patel dam, was one of seven in the Solai area of Nakuru Town located on a private farm. It broke open Wednesday night, sweeping away hundreds of homes, according to officials. Search efforts continued Friday, with rescue workers hoping to find survivors trapped in the mud and debris. James Kimani barely escaped death when the dam burst on Wednesday. He said he carried two people on his motorbike. "Both of them were swept away," he said. "They died but I managed to hang on to a tree. When I reached home, I found that everything and everyone had been carried away." Local villagers blamed the tragedy on negligence, saying they had complained to authorities that the dam was leaking. The director of public prosecutions has directed police to establish the "cause and culpability if any" of Wednesday's disaster and give him the results of the investigation within 14 days. And Kenya's Water Resources Management Authority, which regulates private dams, said Friday the Patel Dam and the other dams on the property did not have the required permits. Solai resident Hellen Wanjiru said the remaining dams still present a danger. "There are so many dams around these area, and they will continue to cause more damage, she said. "This man has built a lot of dams, and these dams are starting to fall apart. Where do they want us to go?" Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i visited the scene Thursday and said the government was taking steps to determine the stability of the other six dams. "We have lost a lot of lives here, and this is very tragic," he said. "This is now not time to waste any minute on anything." Noellah Namulanda, communications manager of the Kenya Red Cross, told VOA the death toll of the Solai tragedy stood at 42 and could still rise. The Red Cross is trying to help the survivors. "The most crucial thing is to try help them recover from this, so we are putting up temporary shelters," she said. "We are also doing psycho-social support to families and the community. We are also involved in the search and rescue." Namulanda added that the Red Cross is evacuation services and giving first aid services on site "something at least to help them get back on their feet in the interim as we look for long term solutions." Weeks of torrential rain have caused flooding and mudslides across Kenya. The downpours that began in March have left close to 200 people dead. Government statistics released Wednesday showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding. Senior officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico ended the latest round of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement without any major breakthroughs on how to renegotiate the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Friday after a week of talks in Washington that the United States will continue to work with its partners to update the 1994 trade pact. "The United States is ready to continue working with Mexico and Canada to achieve needed breakthroughs on these objectives," he said. The talks involved all three of the top officials in the NAFTA negotiations: Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. The talks have come under increased pressure to produce a deal quickly after U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this week he would need to be notified of a new agreement by May 17 to give the current Congress a chance to pass it this year. Guajardo said Friday that revising the deal will take time. "We're not going to sacrifice the quality of an agreement because of pressure of time. We'll keep engaged," he said. Freeland echoed those comments. "The negotiations will take as long as it takes to get a good deal." She told reporters that there was a long "to-do" list to finish a renegotiation of NAFTA, but said the talks were making progress. U.S. President Donald Trump again heaped criticism on NAFTA during a meeting with auto executives Friday at the White House. "NAFTA has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country. And we'll see if we can make it reasonable," he said. Trump has long criticized NAFTA, blaming it for the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs that hurt the U.S. economy. The auto industry has featured prominently in the NAFTA talks, with one of the key sticking points being a U.S. demand to increase the U.S.-made components in vehicles that receive duty-free status in NAFTA. Trump praised Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne on Friday for plans to move production of its popular Dodge Ram truck back to the United States from Mexico. "Right now, he's my favorite man in the room," Trump said. Malaysia's newly installed prime minister says he is ready to make good on a campaign promise to pardon opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir Mohamad said Friday, "We will begin the . . . proper process of obtaining a pardon for Datuk Sri Anwar," using a Malay honorific. Mahathir said the king "has indicated he is willing to pardon" Anwar. The prime minister said Anwar "should be released immediately when he is pardoned." The opposition leader is in prison on corruption and sodomy charges that were widely denounced as politically motivated. Anwar had served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in Mahathir's government and was seen as Mahathir's heir-apparent until he was fired in 1999. Mahathir, Malaysia's former leader, was sworn in Thursday as the country's seventh prime minister after his stunning election victory the day before, a feat that makes him the world's oldest elected leader. The 92-year-old former prime minister known for his authoritarian rule, and his coalition of opposition parties, the Alliance of Hope, toppled Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition, which includes UMNO, the ethnic Malay party that had ruled Malaysia since its birth as an independent country in 1957. Najib's downfall was fueled by the imposition of a sales tax that mainly affects the rural poor and a corruption scandal in which billions of dollars were allegedly stolen from a state-owned investment fund he oversaw. Najib denies any wrongdoing. Mahathir has said he is not seeking "revenge" against his political opponents, but promised to restore law and order. Mahathir led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. He is credited with building a thriving economy, but many Malaysians are still upset over what they said was Mahathir's harsh treatment of political opponents and suppression of free speech. Najib's regime has also faced accusations of acts of repression against citizens. The human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday the election is a "historic opportunity to break with the human rights violations of the past." The rights group accused the Barisan Nasional coalition of "repeated attacks on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and arbitrary detentions under draconian laws." Amnesty International said Mahathir can begin reforms by fulfilling a campaign pledge to release Anwar. It also called on Mahathir to abolish repressive laws such as the recently imposed Anti-Fake News Law, which it says is "designed to stifle debate online." Mexico will not be rushed into revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) just to get a deal, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday ahead of trilateral talks with his U.S. and Canadian counterparts. Guajardo said he would meet at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) with Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and that the three are closer to agreeing new rules for autos that are vital for a deal. However, Guajardo, who is eager to reach an agreement on all the principal aspects of a modernized NAFTA before sealing a new deal, said plenty of other issues were outstanding. "I have to make very clear [that] the quality of the agreement and the balance of the agreement has to be maintained. So we are not going to sacrifice balance and quality for time," he told reporters on the doorsteps of Lighthizer's office. "We believe there is a way to solve autos. I think we are trying to make a very good effort ... We are looking at the whole set of items we have to solve. So it's not autos, it's everything else." Guajardo and Freeland have been meeting Lighthizer separately since the start of the week. Friday's trilateral meeting will be the first held this week. Drafting new rules of origin governing what percentage of a car needs to be built in the NAFTA region to avoid tariffs has been at the center of the talks to update the 1994 deal. It forms a key plank of the Trump administration's aim to boost jobs and investment in the United States. Officials and industry sources say the three sides have been gradually narrowing their differences on autos. However, several other major issues are still unresolved, including U.S. demands for a five-year sunset clause that would allow NAFTA to expire, and elimination of settlement panels for trade disputes. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new NAFTA to give the current Congress a chance of passing it. The United States will hold elections in November for a new Congress that will be seated early next year. Mexico's top trade official, however, said time was running short to meet such a deadline. Mexico will hold its presidential election on July 1. A nurse has been charged in the death of H.R. McMaster Sr., the father of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser. Christann Gainey, 33, was charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter, neglect and records tampering. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison. McMaster died last month, about eight hours after falling and hitting his head at the Cathedral Village retirement community. McMaster Sr., 84, was found dead on the morning of April 13 of blunt impact head trauma, according to the Philadelphia Department of Health. Prosecutors said they found surveillance video that showed Gainey failed to properly conduct required evaluations on McMaster Sr. after the fall. She then falsified documents to make it appear that she had. "Gainey could have saved Mr. McMaster's life had she simply done her job. Instead, she intentionally ignored her job responsibilities, falsified paperwork and lied to her supervisors to cover up this inexcusable conduct,'' Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference Thursday. Gainey's attorney, Sharon Piper, said Gainey would plead not guilty. H.R. McMaster left the Trump administration about a week before his father died after serving for a little over a year. In an apparent tit-for-tat, Pakistan announced unspecified travel restrictions on American diplomats Friday and withdrew concessions it had granted to U.S. missions as part of the "war on terror," dealing a major blow to what one ex-Pakistani diplomat described as "strayed" bilateral relations. The decision comes after Washington said Pakistani diplomats would be required to seek permission five days in advance before traveling more than 40 kilometers from their posts in the United States. A Foreign Ministry letter sent to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said without elaborating that "reciprocal travel permission" was being put into place in Pakistan. U.S. diplomats and embassy staff have recently complained of being subjected to searches and questioning by intelligence officials when leaving the embassy compound. The letter also confirmed that Pakistan has been informed that the new travel permission regime for Pakistani diplomats and officials in the U.S. would be implemented from 11 May 2018. The letter noted that diplomats posted to missions in Pakistan do not require prior permission for traveling inside the country, with one exception. It said permission is required if a visit is planned to designated prohibited/restricted areas in view of the security imperatives. Under the new restrictions, special treatment for U.S. Embassy and consulate staff at the airports ends. Their cargo will have to be scanned like that of other passengers at airports to prevent them from traveling with security- or intelligence-related gadgets and other prohibited items. A former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, Jalil Abbas Jilani, said in a tweet the restrictions are a sign of strayed relations and called on both countries to repair them. Restricting movements of Diplomats was a norm in Moscow and Islamabad during cold war and a regular practice between Pakistan and India even today but unheard of in the context of Pakistan and the US, tweeted Jilani. He was referring to a time when Pakistan sided with the U.S. to arm and train Afghan mujahideen or freedom fighters to battle the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Pakistan's letter outlined a list of concessions it has withdrawn from the U.S. diplomatic mission. American diplomats, according to the list, will now require permission before installing radio communication at residences and safe houses. The U.S. mission also has been instructed not to use tinted glass on vehicles and rented transportation and to stop installing non-diplomatic license plates on official vehicles. Diplomatic staff will no longer be allowed to use biometrically unverified/cell phone SIMs. It was the first disclosure of the concessions, which were granted the U.S. after Pakistan joined the "war on terrorism" 17 years ago. Pakistani analysts described them as shocking and scandalous. As Islamabad imposes tit-for-tat limits on U.S. embassy staff, the nation gets to know only some of the exemptions Americans were enjoying here, noted TV talk show host and columnist Talat Hussain. The reciprocal restrictions on diplomats has become an accidental nationalistic rallying point against perceived U.S. manipulation of Pakistan, Hussain added. Pakistans relations with the U.S. have steadily deteriorated since President Donald Trump announced a new South Asia strategy that blamed Islamabad for covertly supporting terrorist groups and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani officials have rejected the charges and maintain that their country is being scapegoated for Washingtons security failures in Afghanistan. Relations are also strained by a court order barring an American diplomat from leaving the country. Pakistan is seeking to hold the diplomat accountable for a fatal road accident despite the immunity he enjoys under international diplomatic conventions. Pay television stations should invest in data that profiles the behaviour of consumers if they are to survive in a dynamic market that has been disrupted by different forms of technologies, a top digital expert has said. While attending the fifth edition of the Digital Dialogue conference in Dubai recently, Paul Papadimitriou, a futurist and innovation expert, said the consumer preferences were changing thick and fast and therefore there is need to invest in research to understand these trends. ...the understanding of the future of pay TV is influenced by global numbers and the transition to being multi-modal and multi-local. As such, the current challenge for pay-TV companies is to shift the focus from content delivery systems to understanding its consumer through primary data (e.g. when they watch, how long, how much, etc., according to a statement from MultiChoice, one of the sponsors of the Dubai conference. Papadimitriou, according to the statement, added that the way consumers watch TV has evolved whether its bitesize formats to non-linear viewing such as watching multiple content on multiple screens. With the advent of 5G, African consumers will be able to watch TV on all platforms simultaneously. At the same conference, the issue of digital migration came up too. It was noted that good progress has been made by selecting and implementing the most advanced and spectrum efficient technology for terrestrial broadcasting. However, significant work remains in yielding the digital dividend. justuslyatuu08@gmail.com Changing one's name in Pakistan is a daunting and lengthy legal procedure that requires extensive paperwork. Surprisingly, that is not the case with militant groups that get banned by the government. In the past two decades, several groups accused of carrying out terror attacks have avoided a crackdown by changing their names. Islamist cleric Hafiz Saeed, a U.S.-designated terrorist who allegedly was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 160 people, is perhaps the most prominent leader accused of the tactic. Saeed lives freely in Lahore, despite having a $10 million U.S. bounty on him since 2012. His Lashar-e-Taiba (LeT) group also has been designated a terrorist outfit by the United Nations, Britain, Russia and the European Union. But he has evaded a ban in Pakistan on LeT by creating multiple other organizations that critics say are merely fronts for the original terrorist group. LeT was formed in the 1980s with a vision to liberate Indian-administered Kashmir and to eventually merge it with Pakistan. The government of Pakistan banned LeT in 2002. Saeed later renamed LeT as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and its charity subsidiary Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). Both JuD and FIF are placed on U.S. and U.N. terror watch lists. The resurfacing of several terror factions over the years has led regional experts to question the government's willingness to hold such groups accountable. "Banned organizations are not allowed to resume activities after changing names, according to the law," Zahid Hussain, a security expert, told VOA. "Nevertheless, almost all of the banned outfits are working in Pakistan. It appears that the state and the government are not serious about stopping them. They only place them on a terror watch list after facing increased international pressure," he added. "We have several such examples, such as JuD, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan." Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), an extremist group proponent of liberation of Indian-administered Kashmir, operated under a new name, Tehreek-ul-Furqan, after it was banned in 2002. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a U.N.-designated terror group, rebranded itself as Harkat-ul-Ansar in 1993 following a ban. Its leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, lives openly in the Pakistani capital. Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a radical group that is blamed for deadly attacks against the country's minority Shiite Muslims, was banned multiple times by the government, only to reinvent itself as Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (MIP) and Alh-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat (ASWJ). Despite these examples, Pakistan's minister of state for interior affairs, Talal Chaudhry, maintains that no banned terror groups are allowed to operate in any capacity. "The recent example is of Milli Muslim League. Pakistan's interior ministry last year wrote a letter to the country's election commission and stated MML is the front organization for Jamaat-ud-Dawa and should not be registered at the electoral body," Chaudhry told VOA. "There are scores of organizations who are placed under Pakistan's terror watch list to make sure they do not operate in any way." Many outside analysts say the government is willfully ignoring the problem because authorities believe the groups somehow promote the government's interests in the region. "Pakistan has the capacity to stop these groups from changing names and operating freely, but it simply doesn't have the desire to do so," said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at Washington's Wilson Center. "That's because Pakistan believes it has a stronger interest in letting these groups continue to operate, with different names, than in waging a full-scale crackdown," he added. 'Alarming' problem While the problem is not new, it may be worsening. Pakistan's general elections are scheduled to happen before mid-August, and observers say more radical groups are trying to rebrand themselves to enter national politics. Milli Muslim League was created in August 2017 and is considered to be the political wing for JuD. The United States last month banned the organization, declaring its leadership as "terrorists." Similarly, Alh-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat, the front for Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, aims to contest the upcoming general elections. Political experts see the emergence of militants-turned-political parties as alarming and say they should not be allowed to join mainstream politics. "The deep state of Pakistan is supporting the banned outfits as it has done in the past. This game should be stopped and the government should show its commitment and sincerity in disarming these groups and not to allow them to enter into politics," defense analyst Ahmed Rashid told VOA. Even if they run, there is no guarantee the militants' parties will be able to draw much support at the ballot. "The emergence of new hard-line religious political parties is certainly alarming, particularly as some are affiliated with actual terror groups," said Kugelman. "The good news is that religious political parties rarely do well at the polls in Pakistan. "However, the reason for concern lies less with their electoral prospects, which are limited, and more with the fact that mainstreaming them brings them a semblance of legitimacy that only emboldens them and makes them stronger." International pressure Pakistan has been under growing international pressure for its inability to crack down on Saeed and other terror groups that resurface with new identities. When Saeed was freed in November 2017 after 11 months of house arrest, the U.S. warned Pakistan of consequences. Later, the U.S., along with Britain, France and Germany, introduced a motion against Pakistan with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global financial watchdog that monitors terror financing and money laundering around the world. The motion sought to place the country on the FATF list. According to a decision taken at FATF's meeting in February, Pakistan will be placed on FATF's terror watch list in June this year. Jinne Hassan contributed to this article. British citizens were among a group of people taken hostage on Friday in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman for the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) said. "For the moment the (ICCN) cannot communicate much about the incident because the hostages are still in captivity. That would put their lives in danger," Joel Wenga, the ICCN's head of communications in North Kivu province told Reuters. A top U.S. State Department official resigned this week after President Donald Trump announced the United States is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, according to a report in the journal Foreign Policy. The report says 38-year-old nuclear proliferation expert Richard Johnson resigned his position as acting assistant coordinator in the State Department's Office of Iran Nuclear Implementation, which had been involved in talks with Britain, France, Germany and other nations to salvage the deal that rewarded Iran for giving up much of its nuclear activities in trade for relief from economic sanctions. Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. would no longer be part of that deal. Johnson's farewell party was held that night, according to Foreign Policy. Johnson did not make a statement to the journal for its report, but Foreign Policy reports that his farewell email to colleagues and staff praised the deal, calling it an "extraordinary achievement" and saying it has "clearly been successful in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." Johnson's departure highlights the Trump administration's loss of high-level career diplomats at the State Department and across the breadth of the federal government. The report notes that the office Johnson headed has gone from a full-time staff of seven to none since Trump's inauguration. That development was due in part to former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's decision to close the department's office in charge of coordinating sanctions and move some experts to administrative roles. Several former government employees contacted for the story, including former U.S. Treasury official Brian O'Toole, told Foreign Policy that they are dismayed at Johnson's departure. O'Toole called the nonproliferation expert "exactly the kind of person we want to keep in government." O'Toole added, "You can't be powerful without good people in government." Contacted for comment on the story, the State Department said in a statement that it does not comment on matters involving individual employees. But it added: "As directed by the President, we will continue to work with nations around the world to create a new coalition to counter Iran's nuclear and proliferation threats, as well as its support for terrorism, militancy, and asymmetric weapons like ballistic missiles." Young undocumented immigrants seeking permanent status in the United States received an unexpected boost Thursday on Capitol Hill as a small group of House Republicans mounted a last-minute effort to bring up an immigration vote in Congress. The group of eight Republicans some freed from political considerations by upcoming retirements and others facing tough re-elections races defied their own party leadership, quickly persuading 10 more Republicans to sign on to a petition that would force debate on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. With all 193 Democrats expected to sign on, Republicans will have to persuade just seven more members of their own party to join the petition to trigger a vote on several immigration bills on the House floor. But Republican leadership said the effort would be wasted if the end result is a presidential veto. "I think it's important for us to come up with a solution that the president can support," House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday. These types of petitions are rare and seen as a threat to leadership's ability to direct legislative action. "It's better to use the legislative process," Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Wednesday. But that argument appears to be losing sway with House members who see an opportunity for legislative action in a mid-term election year. The growing group of House Republicans are joining Democratic colleagues who have long criticized Ryan for not bringing immigration bills up for a vote. "This is about making sure we're not consolidating power in the White House," said Representative Mia Love, a Republican from Utah and one of the first lawmakers to sign petition. The immigration issue had all but died after an effort to pass a DACA fix collapsed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year. The program has been the focus of fierce negotiations on Capitol Hill since last September, when President Donald Trump announced he was ending the 2012 Obama-era program and called for a legislative fix. The DACA program has shielded from deportation about 800,000 undocumented people who were brought to the United States illegally as children, mainly from Mexico and Central America. The U.S. Supreme Court gave DACA recipients a reprieve this spring when it declined to hear an appeal of several lower court rulings to maintain the program. "The pressure point went away after the Supreme Court didn't act and I was happy that it gave more time to DACA recipients, but it took the pressure off here," Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, told VOA. "This is a way to bring it back. So this is very unique opportunity," he said. The lawmakers are pressing for a vote on a range of Republican, Democratic and bipartisan solutions to the status of DACA recipients, in addition to addressing concerns about border security and visa programs. If the petition succeeds, the earliest the House could enter into debate on the bills would be in mid-June. Under the rules of the so-called "Queen of the Hill" process, the bill with the most votes would be sent to the Senate. "We believe that there's going to be opportunities for members of all the different caucuses on the left and the right to vote on the bills they think are important but the important thing is to have a full debate here," said Representative Jeff Denham, a Republican from California who is leading the effort. Several states have filed lawsuits against the DACA program. Those cases are expected to work their way up to the U.S. Supreme Court this summer. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is expected to host a meeting Tuesday with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany in Brussels to discuss the future of the Iran nuclear deal, now that U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the United States is pulling out of the deal. The EU's External Action Service made the statement Friday, adding that Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif also is expected to meet with the three foreign ministers and the EU's Mogherini. Meanwhile, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said Europe should not think of the United States as the "world's economic policeman" and urged consideration of French interests when deciding what to do next about the Iran deal. In an interview Friday on Europe-1 radio, Le Maire said European nations must defend their "economic sovereignty." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal undermines confidence in the global order. But she added that the development does not warrant scrapping the deal. Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Friday about the U.S. decision. Their offices say they both emphasized the continued goal of preserving the deal. Russia also has announced it is pursuing a free trade pact with Iran, along with its former Soviet allies Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. On Wednesday, Trump warned Iran there would be "very severe consequences" if it starts developing nuclear weapons in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from a 2015 international pact aimed at restraining Tehran's nuclear program. Trump said the United States would "very shortly" reimpose economic sanctions in an attempt to force Iran to negotiate new terms on the deal, its ballistic missile tests and military advances in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East. The U.S. leader accused Iran of creating "bedlam and death" in the region. Trump's comments came as the other five signatories to the accord Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China all voiced renewed support for the deal. Embracing the role of party leader, President Donald Trump issued a stern warning Thursday that Democrats would disrupt the economic progress of his administration as he implored fellow Republicans to mobilize behind a slate of Indiana candidates. Trump used one of his signature rallies in northern Indiana to paint a rosy picture of his presidency, pointing to low unemployment, "booming'' job growth and optimism under his watch. Two days after Indiana wrapped up a divisive Republican Senate primary, Trump praised a ticket of House and Senate candidates by name and predicted Democrats would dismantle his agenda if Nancy Pelosi, the current House minority leader, became House speaker. "You have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue to make America great again,'' Trump said, referencing his 2016 campaign slogan. Chief among his targets: Indiana's Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, who faces Republican businessman Mike Braun in one of the most competitive Senate campaigns. Trump branded Donnelly as "Sleepin' Joe,'' assailing him for opposing the president's signature tax cuts and the president's efforts to end the Affordable Care Act. Trump said Donnelly would "do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do.'' Donnelly, Trump said, will "say one thing in Elkhart'' and then support the "radical, liberal agenda. It never, ever fails.'' The rally marks Trump's return to the campaign trail. He's planning a series of big-stage events targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats and mobilizing his most fervent supporters on behalf of Republicans after primaries this week that saw GOP congressmen lose in key races. Trump took the stage in Elkhart, Indiana two days after Republicans nominated Braun to challenge Donnelly. Trump's political advisers view the event as a way to project party unity following a bruising primary. Vice President Mike Pence, the state's former governor, introduced Trump at the rally. The president has told advisers he is eager to ramp up his campaign travel on behalf of Republicans. Trump, who helped raise $132 million for the Republican National Committee in 2016, won 10 states where Democratic senators are on the ballot this year. He's expected to campaign heavily to help Republicans maintain Senate and House majorities and elect GOP governors. Trump's bold strokes on the foreign stage come while he is dogged by the special counsel's ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and developments about his personal attorney's payments to a porn actress, allowing him to frame the campaign debate, specifically Donnelly's "no'' vote on last year's tax overhaul. Trump's political advisers chose to hold the rally in the heart of Donnelly's political base. Before his 2012 election, the senator represented a House district that included Elkhart. The city, home to manufacturing jobs and the recreational vehicle industry, was also paid a visit by President Barack Obama in 2009 when the region was suffering from unemployment rates surpassing 19 percent. Obama returned to Elkhart in 2016 to point to economic progress, but Trump carried the county and much of the region overwhelmingly that year. The rally comes on the heels of bruising defeats this week for Republican incumbents: Two Indiana congressmen making a bid for a U.S. Senate seat lost to Braun, a North Carolina congressman lost to a pastor and a third incumbent lost in a contested Senate primary in West Virginia. Ahead of the rally, Donnelly's campaign said the senator had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time "because he works for Hoosiers, not any politician or political party.'' The Indiana rally is Trump's fourth political-style event in the past two weeks. Trump skipped the White House Correspondents' Dinner late last month to rally supporters in Macomb County, Michigan. His speech last week to the National Rifle Association in Dallas put him before thousands of gun-rights activists who actively backed his campaign. And last Saturday, Trump was in Ohio, long the key electoral piece for any GOP presidential hopeful. A key to Trump's message will be energizing low-propensity Republican voters in 2018, many of whom turned out for the first time in years to vote for him. As he travels the country, Trump will face the question of whether his appeal is transferable to down-ballot candidates, much in the way that Obama struggled to rally core Democrats when he wasn't running himself. Obama suffered broad losses in Congress and in statehouses during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, an outcome Trump hopes to avoid. It was a made-for-TV moment that all presidents would relish, but it seemed especially significant for the man who turned a reality TV career into a successful bid for the presidency. Donald Trump triumphantly greeted the three Americans released by North Korea in the early morning darkness at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington early Thursday, an image one can expect to see over and over again come the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign. It was a very important thing to all of us to be able to get these three great people out, Trump told reporters on the tarmac. He then went on to speculate that live television coverage of the arrival probably broke the all-time in history television rating for 3 oclock in the morning. WATCH: Trump greets hostages released by North Korea Shifting focus It was a moment the president gladly seized given that his White House has been buffeted by a chaotic mix of policy and personal drama in recent days. The prospect of a potentially historic breakthrough on North Korea could move a number of other unwelcome distractions to the side, including the ongoing Russia investigation, the growing legal difficulties for Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and the soap opera that the Stormy Daniels story has become. Daniels is the adult film actress who claims she once had an affair with Trump. He denies the claim. Trump also announced Thursday on Twitter that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. A new CNN poll found that 77 percent of those surveyed support Trump meeting the North Korean leader, and 53 percent approve of his handling of the North Korea issue generally. Those numbers are in keeping with a general trend of late that has seen the presidents poll ratings improving, perhaps in part because of the strong economy. The presidents average approval rating at the moment is around 42 percent, up from the 39 to 40 percent ratings he was getting for months. That may not sound like much of an improvement, but given that Trump has been mired in the weakest poll ratings of any first-term president since World War II, it will be seen as good news by his supporters. Polarized politics Even with the slight improvement, though, many analysts say Trump remains a polarizing figure. I think for both sides, people who like Donald Trump and who dont like Donald Trump, positions have hardened, said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. And it is interesting to see that his approval ratings have not changed dramatically in the last several months even though it seems like a lot has happened. That includes this weeks decision by the president to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, fulfilling yet another campaign pledge from 2016. Trump condemned the deal as defective at its core. Many Democrats disagreed with the presidents action, including Maryland Senator Ben Cardin. Withdrawing from the nuclear agreement isolates America, and I think it helps Iran and it works against our objectives to control their type of activities, Cardin told reporters. Seeking credit Trump has long complained that he gets little credit for the strong U.S. economy, and he frequently has lashed out at the news media for what he sees as its preoccupation with the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. So we have the best employment numbers we have virtually ever had. And yet, all we hear about is this phony Russia witch hunt. That is all we hear about, Trump told an enthusiastic audience of National Rifle Association members recently in Dallas, Texas. In many surveys, Trump retains the support of 80 to 90 percent of Republican voters, a likely dividend of his relentless efforts to cater to his political base and remind them of campaign promises kept. Trump often reminds voters about the partisan stakes in this Novembers midterm elections and warns about the prospect of a Democratic takeover of Congress. The more partisan you are, the more likely you are to be loyally behind Trump and the more likely you are to think that the Democratic Party is posing a threat for America, and consequently when you feel that, then virtually any means are necessary to combat that threat, said Henry Olsen with the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. Democratic catalyst But Brookings Institution expert Bill Galston argued that even with the presidents slight improvement in the polls, Trump remains a catalyst for opposition Democrats. President Trumps job approval remains near historic lows for a first-term president and there are signs that Democrats at the grass roots are highly mobilized and record numbers are showing up and presenting themselves as candidates for office. Trump hopes to keep the focus on the domestic economy and North Korea, and away from the Russia probe, the legal problems facing his personal attorney Michael Cohen, and the legal battle over his alleged affair with Daniels. The president is well aware that any good news credit he can accrue between now and November could help Republicans resist what is expected to be a fierce Democratic campaign in the midterm elections in which control of both the House and Senate is very much in doubt. Turkey's prime minister says his country would be willing to assess requests for "a new page" in its relations with Armenia. Binali Yildirim's comments Friday were in response to reports that Armenia's new prime minister, Nikol Pashinian, had called for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two neighbors. Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in 2009 to establish diplomatic ties and open their common borders but the agreement later collapsed over Turkey and Azerbaijan's insistence that Armenia withdraw from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh regions. Armenia's demands that 1.5 million deaths under the Ottoman Empire be recognized as genocide have also driven a wedge between them. Yildirim says "if Armenia abandons its hostile stance ... if it wants to open a new page, we would look at the details and respond accordingly." The chief of inspections at the U.N. nuclear watchdog has resigned suddenly, the agency said on Friday without giving a reason. The departure of Tero Varjoranta comes at a sensitive time, three days after the United States announced it was quitting world powers' nuclear accord with Iran, raising questions as to whether Tehran will continue to comply with it. Varjoranta, a Finn, had been a deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and head of its Department of Safeguards, which verifies countries' compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, since October 2013. He will be replaced in an acting capacity by the head of the department's Iran team, the Vienna-based IAEA said. "Mr Tero Varjoranta has resigned effective 11 May 2018," an IAEA spokesman said. "The director general has appointed Mr Massimo Aparo, acting director, Office for Verification in Iran, as acting deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards, effective immediately." The accord signed by Iran and major powers in 2015 imposed strict limits on Iran's atomic activities to help ensure they are not put to developing nuclear bombs in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. The IAEA is policing those restrictions and said on Wednesday, the day after Trump's announcement, that Iran was still implementing its commitments under the deal. The U.N. watchdog has also repeatedly defended the landmark agreement, saying it is a gain for nuclear verification. "The agency's safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner," the spokesman said. Asked why Varjoranta had resigned, he said: "The agency cannot comment on personnel matters, which are confidential." IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano plans to appoint a permanent replacement as soon as possible, he added. The U.S. Transportation Security Agency (TSA) has apologized for the conduct of airport security officials who asked a member of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet to remove his turban during a search. Canadian Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who is Sikh, said airport security behaved inappropriately when he traveled to Detroit last year. Officials let him board his flight only after he revealed his diplomatic passport, he said. The incident was "frustrating" and "speaks to discrimination," Bains said, according to Canada's CTV News. Devout male followers of the Sikh faith, a monotheistic religion that originated in northern India, keep long beards and wear turbans. They have often been mistaken for Muslims and subjected to harassment and violence. Bains said security agents at the Detroit airport were "very insistent and very difficult" when he told them he did not want to remove his turban. Security guards asked him to undergo special screening because of his turban, despite the fact that he had passed through a metal detector without incident, he said. A TSA spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday that in a review of video from the incident, the agency found that the officer screening Bains did not properly follow procedure. "We regret the screening experience did not meet the expectations of Mr. Bains," the statement said. It noted that passengers who wear "non-form-fitting headwear" for religious reasons might be unable to remove it and should be prepared for special security screenings. U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken with Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, a day after announcing he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold an historic meeting in the southeast Asian city-state. The White House said Friday that the president thanked the prime minister for his willingness to host the June 12 meeting. In a statement, the administration also said the two leaders discussed regional security in the Indo-Pacific region and reaffirmed the relationship between the United States and Singapore. The statement called that relationship "one of the United States' closest partnerships in Asia for more than 50 years." Trump announced the time and place of the meeting in a tweet Thursday. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump said on Twitter, hours after he personally welcomed home three Americans freed by North Korea. After greeting the men at Joint Base Andrews early Thursday, the president expressed thanks to North Korean leader Kim for releasing them, stating that "I really think he wants to do something" to bring North Korea "into the real world." Trump has said the goal for his upcoming talks with Kim is for North Korea to agree to denuclearize. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who traveled to North Korea to secure the release of the detainees, said holding such a summit would have been more difficult had the Americans still been detained. Senator John McCain's daughter is dismissing attacks against her ailing father, saying "no one is going to remember" those who disparaged him. Meghan McCain defended her father Friday on The View, a television show she co-hosts, after a White House official said of McCain's opposition to the administration's pick to head the CIA, "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway." Kelly Sadler, a special assistant in the White House communications office, is reported to have made the comment Thursday in a White House communications staff meeting. Meghan McCain said that those who disparage her father are "nothingburgers," or people of no consequence. "My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,'' she said, adding that she wondered why those people attacking McCain still have a job. "I don't understand the kind of environment you're working in where that would be acceptable and you can come to work the next day and still have a job," Meghan McCain said. John McCain, an 81-year-old Republican senator from Arizona, is battling brain cancer. Two people who heard the comment about John McCain and spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said they felt "shocked and stunned" by the remark. The remarks have been confirmed by other media outlets. CNN quoted a White House staffer who said that Sadler meant the comment as a joke but that it flopped. White House statement The White House did not deny the remark. It issued a statement saying, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." Thursday evening after Sadler's remarks were reported, McCain's wife, Cindy, posted on Twitter: "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren." John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, issued a statement Wednesday urging the Senate to vote against Gina Haspel for CIA director. He said he believes Haspel is a patriot, but "her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying." The senator returned to Arizona in December after receiving a diagnosis of glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. Difficult relationship John McCain and President Donald Trump have a troubled relationship. During the presidential election campaign, Trump said of McCain: "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured." McCain famously returned to Washington from Arizona last year to cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care repeal. Trump later told the Conservative Political Action Conference that "except for one senator, who came into a room at 3 o'clock in the morning and went like that" Trump gave a thumbs-down "we would have had health care (reform), too." The crowd booed and Trump added, "I won't use his name." The World Health Organization said Friday it is preparing for "the worst case scenario" for an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. WHO said Thursday that between April 4 and May 5, twenty-seven cases of fever with hemorrhagic signs, including 17 deaths, were reported in the DRC's Bikoro district. WHO says two of the cases tested positive for the Ebola virus. The DRC Ministry of Public Health has requested WHO's support in coordinating the international and NGO response to the health crisis. The full extent of the outbreak is not yet known, according to WHO, and the location presents "significant logistical challenges." The affected area is remote with limited communication and poor transportation infrastructure. Ebola, named for the Congolese river near where it was first identified in 1976, begins with a sudden fever, aching muscles, diarrhea and vomiting. It is a hemorrhagic fever, marked by spontaneous bleeding from internal organs and, in most cases, death. It can be transmitted by close contact with infected animals or people, usually through blood or other bodily fluids. People can contract the virus through direct contact with victims' bodies at funerals. Caretakers, nurses and doctors treating Ebola patients also are at high risk. WHO says the outbreak in Bikoro is the ninth outbreak of Ebola in the DRC since it first emerged in 1976. Burden or business opportunity? A new U.N.-backed study of refugees from the World Bank's International Financial Corporation argues for the latter. The IFC researchers examined one of Africa's oldest and largest refugee camps, Kakuma in northwest Kenya. What they found is a growing consumer base they say is ripe for more private investment in sectors like mobile banking and energy. The IFC took VOA's Daniel Schearf on a tour of the camp. He has this report. Iraqis will head to polling stations this weekend for the first parliamentary elections since Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of the country. In Nineveh Province (Mosul), young politicians are injecting new excitement into a crowded field of candidates, pleading with Iraqi voters to give them a chance. Kawa Omer filed this report from Mosul. Stratovolcano 3562 m (11,686 ft)Ecuador, -0.08S / -77.66W(4 out of 5)1541, 1590, 1691, 1748, 1797, 1802, 1843, 1843, 1844, 1856, 1871, 1894, 1898-1906, 1912, 1926, 1929, 1936, 1944, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1972, 1973-74, 1976, 2002 (large eruption), 2004 (Nov) - 2005 (Jan), 2005 (June) - 2006 (March), 2008 (July) - ongoingExplosive and effusive.(5 days expedition to Ecuador to observe volcanic activity from close) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: We're proud to present our 2019 volcano calendar: 13 different and attractive images of volcanoes, volcanic landscapes and phenomena taken during volcano tours over the past few years. Ethiopia is a very diverse and beautiful country. Thanks to our numerous expeditions to Erta Ale and Dallol and beyond, we have an extensive collection of images showing the volcano's lava lake, the desert, the colorful hot springs of Dallol, the vast salt lakes, camel caravans and more. One of our best volcano expeditions! Stay 3 full days / nights at the active lava lake of Erta Ale, explore the wonders of Dallol and the Danakil desert in northern Ethiopia. 14 days expedition during Nov-March, small groups, guided by geologist. A growing list of often illustrated explanations and definitions of geological terms and keywords, with focus on volcanology and seismology. Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. 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The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Last week, former minister Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, unsuccessfully tried to stop court bailiffs from enforcing an eviction order given by Makindye magistrate Richard Mafabi. This was the climax of a 26-year battle for land measuring 1.2 acres in Kyamula Zone, Salama in Makindye division of Kampala. The Observer talked to James Mubiru with whom Muhwezi has been feuding over the land. Gen Jim Muhwezi GENESIS Mubirus father, George Ssekajjugo, died in 1987 when he was three years old, leaving him and his sister Nabunjo Nammande under the care of their paternal uncle Nathan Ssewambwa. Together with their mother, they left their home that sat on a 1.2 acre piece of land and joined the Ssewambwa homestead within the same locality. However, they kept on using the land for farming until one day in 1992 when strangers claiming to have bought the land showed up at his uncles home to introduce themselves as the new landlords. Puzzled, Ssewambwa asked who had sold them the land seeing that the only two orphans; Mubiru and Nabunjo hadnt come of age. Ssewambwa decided to take the matter to the Local Council committee. He got little help. When Mubiru, the heir eventually became of age, he joined his uncle to pursue justice. After some time, the people who claim to have bought the land came and razed down my fathers house and also exhumed his remains, Mubiru told The Observer. A sympathetic member of the L-CII committee eventually introduced him to one William Hitimana who claimed he had bought the land from one Naome Batuusa. Mubiru says neither him nor his uncle knew anything about Batuusa who had claimed to be the caretaker of the orphans. Hitimana told Mubiru that now that he had learnt that he had been swindled, he wanted to legally purchase the land after all. I asked him where he buried the remains of my father and he said he threw them in the lake because he didnt want emizimu gyAbaganda [Bugandas spirits] to disturb him, Mubiru says. LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION Growing old and weak, Ssewambwa handed over all the paperwork relating to the land to Mubiru to start administering his fathers estate. With the assistance of LC-I chairman of Kyamula and his clan leaders who wrote to the administrator general, a letter of no-objection was obtained. He was advised by the administrator general to get powers of attorney which were later given by then High court judge Remmy Kasule on July 12, 2005. Not much was heard of Hitimana until 2012 when Mubiru started the process of getting a lease from Buganda Land Board (BLB); the owners of the land. In his first meeting, Hitimana had indicated a willingness to properly buy the land from Mubiru. But on discovering that he wasnt willing to sell, he resorted to threats. Mubiru says Hitimana called someone whom he later learnt was Muhwezi. He asked Muhwezi what they should do for me, Muhwezi told him that he should just ignore me because I was useless, Mubiru says. He adds that Hitimana told him that it was in his interest to sell the land because if he doesnt, he would lose it. After the encounter, Mubiru still obtained an ownership certificate from BLB. He was given a go-ahead to survey the land so that they could determine how much money he would pay in busuulu [rental fees]. When the surveyors started surveying the land, Hitimana rose up again and through the LC-I chairman of Kyamula village, Kakooza Lukyamuzi, ordered the exercise stopped until the ownership wrangles are resolved. The BLBs standing orders prohibit surveying of any piece of land if there are some conflicts relating to owner- ship. When the exercise was stopped, Mubiru lodged a petition with High court at Nakawa and opened up a case against Hitimana. The file was first transferred to the Anti-Corruption division then eventually forwarded to the Land division under High court judge, Joseph Murangira. Muhwezi through his lawyer Ahmed Kalule Mukasa applied to become a party to the suit. He asked court for four months adjournment to justify why he was an interested party. But within those months, UPDF soldiers were deployed at our home and they arrested everybody they got there and took them to Kibuye police station, Mubiru says. Among the five arrested, three who were not related to Mubiru were released. Two were charged in the Makindye magistrates court with three counts of treason, attempted murder of Muhwezi and criminal trespass. Esther Nambayo, the then chief magistrate, remanded them to Luzira prison. I ran to the State House office in charge of land matters then led by Hajji Sseddunga who after studying the case wrote to the court telling them the circumstances surrounding their arrest. They were released on bail, Mubiru says. However, they continued to appear for mention of their case with the state attorney every time asking for an adjournment, claiming that investigations were incomplete. Nambayo eventually dismissed the case for lack of interest on the government side. The five UPDF soldiers who had been deployed on the land never left until late 2013 when State House ordered them withdrawn. A two-roomed house was also erected on the land to house the soldiers. In place of the soldiers, private security guards were deployed. In the court, after dismissing the case, the magistrate advised Mubiru and his cousins to streamline the ownership of the land. Mubiru again sued Hitimana for malicious damage to property and trespass. Like in the previous cases, Hitimana refused to honour the summons, prompting court now under Richard Mafabi on March 30, 2015 to give its judgement, reinstating Mubiru as the rightful owner, and also awarding him Shs 10 million in damages. Seeing that court had confirmed Mubiru as the owner, BLB gave him the green light to survey the land and get a lease title. Indeed, on June 6, 2015, Mubiru paid Shs 30 million to BLB for the land. But Muhwezis lawyer opposed the execution of the court order citing the presence of similar case in the High court. Mubiru says he applied to that court to withdraw the case. He then went back to the magistrates court for fresh eviction orders which were granted and effected last week. FRESH SURVEYING In 2015, BLB gave him surveyors to survey the land but their attempts were foiled by the private security guards. In the scuffle that ensued, involving shooting, the surveyors were arrested and taken to Kibuye police. To secure their release, Mubiru was called to police. Three accounts; attempted murder of Muhwezi, criminal trespass and treason were slapped against him. Mubiru says for seven days he was locked up in a toilet. One night I was picked and taken to the OCs office where I found a man in civilian clothes who asked me why I was refusing to vacate the land. The man asked me whether I knew him and I told him no. He then told me I will die because of that land; that I didnt know the people I was fighting with, Mubiru remembers. He says that night he was badly tortured and two of his teeth extracted using pliers. He now uses artificial dentures. He was later released on police bond and told to report there every after five days; a thing he did until January 2016 when he got tired. For now, Muhwezi has petitioned the High courts land division, asking them to review the magistrates decision. [But] Im hopeful that I will prevail because this is my land, Mubiru says. GEN MUHWEZI LAWYER RESPONDS Gen Jim Muhwezis lawyer, Ahmed Kalule, said Mubiru used an illegal court order to effect the eviction. Gen Muhwezi is trying to correct a situation where Mubiru in clear abuse of the court process; filed illegal suits and executed orders which court has made clear to him will never be executed until the High court is done with the case, Kalule said last week. He said Mubiru has been disturbing Muhwezi since 2012 despite knowing that the general bought the land in 2005. He [Mubiru] filed a suit against the former owner of the land William Hitimana even when he was aware that Gen Muhwezi was the new owner of this land, Kalule says. Having filed a suit in the High court, all subsequent suits were illegal for as long as the High court had not pronounced itself on the matter. bakerbatte@observer.ug Police in Hoima have arrested three Congolese refugees on allegations of theft and selling of relief items. Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson says that the suspects, who escaped from Kyangwali refugee settlement area, were arrested after a tip-off from traders that they were selling blankets, mattresses, saucepans and basins, which had been donated to refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A UNHCR official watches as a consignment of relief aid gets airlifted to Uganda recently Hakiza says that the three; whose names he did not reveal for fear of jeopardising investigations, stole the items from fellow refugees. Hakiza says police has several times received information of refugees selling most of the donated relief items in the areas of Kiryatete, Lusaka, Bujumbura and Kijungu in Hoima. A recent mini-survey by UNHCR in Kyangwali revealed that items bearing logos of humanitarian agencies are cheaply sold to communities. Some of the items include food, mats, blankets, delivery kits and detergents. The World Food Programme and other humanitarian agencies provide the food and other non-food items to every refugee family head, depending on the number of dependents he or she has. The eleven cholera patients recently admitted at Naguru and Mulago isolation wards have all been discharged after positively responding to treatment. Last week, the ministry of Health announced an outbreak a cholera in Kampala city and Wakiso district. This was after seven people in Kawempe exhibited symptoms of the disease. The seven were taken to Naguru hospital. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by a bacterium vibrio cholera and if not treated can lead to death. The most common symptoms are watery diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps. Vivian Serwanjja, public relations officer, ministry of Health, says that all the 11 patients have now been discharged from hospital. "Since Friday, we received a total of 16 people were suspected to be suffering from cholera. 11 people were confirmed to have cholera and all of them have been discharged from both Naguru and Mulago." The last five cases were discharged on Thursday evening from Naguru after receiving treatment. The patients were from Mpigi and Kawempe. However Serwanjja says they are still monitoring cholera prone areas in Kampala in case of any outbreaks. Dr Emmanuel Batiibwe, executive director Naguru hospital told URN that the hospital is relieved that the congestion on the isolation ward is no more. "We had twelve patients being treated for cholera and some of them even had to sleep down. So we are happy that the last five are being discharged today." Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa and is known for its diversity of languages and people. It has a rich heritage and unique mix of cultural groups. Despite its colorful culture and background, some Ghanaian communities lack many of the medical resources available in the United States. The Auburn University Outreach Global office decided to do something about that. Together with Auburns School of Nursing, Outreach Global sent eight Auburn nursing students, two faculty members and five staff members from Outreach Global to Ghana this spring. The mission of the trip was to medically serve the people in the towns of Sekondi in the western region and Nkanfoa in the central region, and leave them equipped to better serve themselves medically. The free health care program we just finished in Ghana is one of the latest programs established and implemented, said Elizabeth Essamuah-Quansah, director of Outreach Global. We wanted Auburn to become visible in Ghana and make a global impact. Essamuah-Quansah, a Ghanaian herself, contacted the mayors of both Sekondi and Nkanfoa prior to the trip to gain their support, which she said they gave freely. She conducted a needs assessment and began collecting medical supplies. Outreach Global and the School of Nursing together conducted a drive to supplement already donated supplies collected by Outreach Global. In total, 10 boxes of health supplies and 30 boxes of academic books were collected for use during the trip and to donate to the local hospitals. Partnered with the University of Cape Coast, the third largest public university in Ghana, Auburn nursing students and faculty set up free health clinics in the two towns, treating anyone who came to be treated. In all, Essamuah-Quansah estimates more than 600 patients were seen in a span of four days. Ive never seen a more amazing group of students, said Valarie Thomas, assistant clinical professor in Auburns School of Nursing. They were hands-on and up for anything. They represented Auburn very well. Auburn students and faculty screened and treated every patient for common ailments, such as ear and eye infections and high blood pressure. The biggest challenges they faced were the lack of paperwork for patients and insufficient medical supplies. They have the same health issues that we do here in the United States, but they have much fewer resources, said Assistant Clinical Professor Tanya Johnson. For that reason, their conditions are much more serious than ours are. The needs of the patients went beyond health care. One patient traveled from a neighboring town to come to the clinic, where students determined he was suffering from appendicitis, a potentially fatal condition. Unfortunately, the patient couldnt afford the cost of surgery, which amounted to approximately $50. The Auburn team decided to pool their money together so the patient would not be turned away, and he was able to have the surgery. Essamuah-Quansah said he is reportedly doing well. The trip was life-changing and humbling, Thomas said. We werent able to meet every need, but we met the needs that we saw in that moment. We take so many things for granted like running water and sanitation. The opportunity for the students to practice health care in a developing country provided hands-on experience in rural health care, which is an opportunity that many nursing students dont get to experience. When you take people to developing countries and they practice rural medicine, they appreciate that their calling is not only to make money but to leave a community better than they found it, Essamuah-Quansah said. We benefit academically but also psychologically. These students realize their ethical responsibility to their work and see a perspective that they would maybe not experience everywhere in the United States. They learn how their kindness can make a difference, that their service can impact someones life hugely. That is the whole purpose of Outreach Global. The team returned with a better understanding of the global community as well. Having stepped outside their own culture makes the students realize that the world doesnt look just like their world, Thomas said. It is truly a privilege to be serving someone else and making a difference in their life. It doesnt matter what they look like or who they are, it is our job as nurses, just like we did in Ghana, to leave every single person with a better life than they had before. The students worked for four full days, but had time to experience the culture of the country as well. The first two days of the trip were spent in the capital city of Accra, where students had opportunities to shop, explore museums and visit national landmarks. In addition, the mayor and Member of Parliament of Sekondi and the University of Cape Coast president hosted the Auburn team in their homes for meals. We wanted the students to really experience the culture, Thomas said. We worked hard but also had the chance to see the beauty of the country. They didnt just work, they lived. The program will be expanded in the future with an additional three days spent in Ghana. As Outreach Global, we want to make ourselves visible and increase our global impact, said Essamuah-Quansah. At the end of the day, we wanted to have an impact on two communities and make sure our presence is really felt and is beneficial to whoever we reach out to. Its not only about getting, you also have to give. You can do that anywhere. Kindness goes a long way. Amidst much fanfare around the Walmart-Flipkart deal, a question which has been niggling at the back of everyone's mind is: Why did PM Narendra Modi avoid the meeting with Walmart's global CEO Carl Douglas McMillon? Not only the Prime Minister, but the commerce minister Suresh Prabhu, too, cancelled the appointment with top Walmart officials at last minute. According to some sources, close to the Prime Minister, he avoided meeting the CEO because of the ongoing proceedings against the global retail company in the US. In 2015, the reports suggested that Walmart paid bribes -from $5 to $200, totally millions - to push their goods and real estate permits. It is expected that the department might give final order by end of May this year. The PMO got a timely alert from the Indian embassy in Washington, alerting them about the proceedings of the case. Sources told Business Today, that PM Modi is avoiding the meetings with 'controversial CEOs' or leaders of 'controversial companies'. Recently, PM Modi also cold shouldered Canada's PM Justin Trudeau, at his last tour to India, apparently because of his coziness with the Sikh separatists back home. Recently, the Prime Minister also refused meeting with another US based former CEO of big IT company, who is also into philanthropic activities. Not only the Prime Minister, the other officials are also keeping quite on the issue. So far there have been only two statements on the development: both are coming from NITI Aayog officials, CEO Amitabh Kant and Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, and technically both are not part of 'concerned authority', as far as the decision goes. At the editors' roundtable hours before flying back home, McMillon told Business Today, "I didn't really take it that way at all. We meet with the government at all kinds of levels all the time and have met before and am sure will meet again. We meet at state level as well as national level here and in other countries. We meet with NGOs, academics, senior people. I haven't had any concerns about the support. I think this investment is good for the country and I think people generally realize that. So I haven't given it that much of a thought." He further downplayed the cold shoulder, "We're not really new to the country. That's not the most important thing. We don't really need a photo-op." In June last year, PM Modi met McMillon in Washington along with 20 other top US-based CEOs, including Tim Cook of Apple, Caterpillar's Jim Umpleby, Google's Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Satya Nadella et al. But obviously there was much more to it this time. In May last year, Walmart Stores Inc offered to the Department of Justice payment of $283 million to settle the probe. The department and Securities and Exchange Commission however has sought more than $700 million. The order is expected by end of this month. A not so positive decision in this bribery case would mean that it would be tougher for the company to get regulatory and other approvals for the deal, to sail through. Suresh Prabhu-led commerce ministry has already formed a group of officials to study the deal's structure. Similarly, Arun Jaitley-led Finance Ministry is also getting into huddle to study the tax compliance issues. The settlement of this probe will require conviction or guilty plea from at least one subsidiary of Walmart Stores Inc, to absolve the parent company out of the implications of the bribery charges. This means, Walmart India, in case of the Indian subsidiary. There were also allegations that their Indian outfit lobbied with the establishment to seek permissions to open up for foreign direct investment, or FDI in the multi-brand stores. Justice Mukul Mudgal committee probed the allegations and submitted the report. In 2013, Walmart severed with their JV with Bharti Enterprises, and the government is refusing to liberalise the foreign investment rules for the stores. Bharti merged its store chain in May 2015 with Kishore Biyani's Future Group and Walmart India runs the wholesale-store chain as a fully-owned subsidiary. Interestingly, the recent definitive deal with Flipkart is been entered with the Walmart Stores Inc not the Walmart's India subsidiary. The heat generated out of Walmart's recent deal has already reached his office, after RSS affiliates including Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Kissan Sangh, Grahak Panchayat, Laghu Udyog Bharati shot letters and statements showing their displeasure. "The deal is unethical, illegal and against the national interests," the affiliates resolved and conveyed it to the prime minister. Also read: What Walmart CEO thinks of PM Modi's inability to meet him "A photo-op would have angered them more," says an official close to the PM. Interestingly, both PM Modi and McMillon were camped in Karnataka - the Prime Minister is there for the state assembly polls, while Walmart CEO to close the Flipkart deal-but they still didn't meet. On May 29, BJP said its ministers will sit with the RSS officials at coordination meeting to discuss the issue. The top officials in the government are keeping a watch on the proceedings, because if convicted, it will be very difficult for the government and regulators to give their clearance amid 'proved corruption case'. "The conviction or settlement in the US will push India to step up the probe against Walmart's India subsidiary," the official told BT. Taking cognizance of the media reports back then, India through, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) started probe under the provisions of prevention of corruption act, or PCA. CVC involved multilateral United Nations Conventions Against Corruption, or UNCAC to seek relevant details from the parent company in the US. But Walmart India moved Delhi High Court challenging the jurisdiction of the Indian commission. In 2011, the probe began under the provisions of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the US, after the allegations emerged out of Walmart's Mexico based outfit, that they paid bribes to government officials for securing the permissions to expand faster. The US authorities' probe found out that Walmart's other subsidiaries in India, Brazil and China also had the similar misconducts. "No deal is through till money is transferred and control is shifted," says a top BJP leader. Doug McMillon might have flown back home, but getting this deal through would be a tough task for him. Also watch: All you need to know about the recent Walmart-Flipkart deal The Fortis board was split with five out of eight Fortis Healthcare board members picking the Munjal-Burman family bid for the cash-strapped second-largest hospital chain in the country. Fortis board on Friday said that the Munjal-Burman family bid was considered the best from a view point of risk, certainty and liquidity flowing into the company. In a press conference, board member Brian W Tempest said that the board followed 'healthy process' in order to determine the right bid. Fortis board also said that two out of the five new board members voted in favour of the binding offer by Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office. "On the board we have 3 people who have got a lot of experience with Fortis and there are 5 members who were appointed to the board a few months back. Of the five, two voted for the Munjal-Burman family bid," Tempest said at the press briefing. Fortis board expect the deal to get shareholders' nod in 30 days. The board took the advice of the expert advisory committee, two financial organizations and two legal organizations and evaluated only four binding bids that were received. "We started the board meeting yesterday morning at 7 o'clock and fininished at 10 o'clock at night. We actually had a mammoth board meeting. And when we concluded that we had a majority decision," Tempest said at the press briefing. "Manipal-TPG bid was not one of the favourites," Tempest added. Meanwhile, two Fortis shareholders have called for on extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on May 22 to decide the fate of four existing members of the board. On SRL, Fortis board said that it has requested the resignation of Singh Brothers from SRL board and that Munjal-Burman combine would like to sit with SRL management and understand SRL business and decide which is the best way forward. On the question of experience in managing hospitals, Tempest said that Munjal and Burman family have several investments in healthcare even if they may not have as many hospitals as other parties. Speaking to the media after emerging as the winner for Fortis Healthcare, Sunil Munjal of Hero Enterprise said, "We would like to thank the board of Fortis... We think the offer that we bring to the table will be beneficial for everyone at Fortis - doctors, patients, shareholders, medical employees and non medical employees." Munjal added that only CCI clearance and shareholders' approval is required now. Without disclosing in detail their vision for Fortis, Dabur's Anand Burman said that they have very explicit plans for the first 30 days, 100 days and 365 days for the company. What the Walmart-Flipkart deal has in store for the Indian e-commerce ecosystem remains to be seen but it sure has raked in the moolah for some of its employees. According to reports, a bunch of current and former Flipkart employees who still hold shares in the company are likely to become dollar millionaires. As many as 3,000 employees out of its 10,000-employees workforce are still holding shares in Flipkart. On Wednesday, during an employee town hall, a big cheer rung across as co-founder and Group CEO Binny Bansal announced a 100% buyback of vested ESOPs (employee stock options). A report in the Times of India mentioned that the buyback could be at around $150 or Rs 10,000 a share. As mentioned in the newspaper, amongst the ones turning millionaires are Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe, Amod Malviya, former chief technology officer, Sujeet Kumar, former president of operations, Vaibform Udaan. While Flipkart has made many millionaires, it is still a long way till they catch up with Infosys that created 20,000 rupee millionaires and 500 dollar millionaires in 1990s and 2000s. On Wednesday, Walmart bought around 77% stake in India's online retail market leader for $16 billion, valuing Flipkart close to $20 billion. However, according to reports, trade experts believe that such a huge M&A would cause a 'rumble' in the industry. While Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal will sell his entire stake, Group CEO Binny Bansal along with Chinese investment giant Tencent Holdings, US hedge fund Tiger Global and Microsoft will continue to hold their stake in the new entity. Walmart, which intends to use a combination of debt and cash on hand to finance the purchase, will also pump in additional $2 billion into the online major to push further growth. After his decision to sell the entire 5.5% stake to the US retail behemoth Walmart, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal would likely take away around $1 billion from the mega deal. But, he would also have to pay around 20% capital gains tax. Flipkart was started in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal at a 2BHK-flat in Bengaluru's Koramangala. Ghana placed 5th in Africa and 95th in the world among 168 countries for its general quality of nationality, according to the latest Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) by Henley & Partners. The general quality of nationality includes travel freedom, settlement freedom and external value of its nationality. This summarizes the quality of life and opportunities for personal growth within a country of origin. With a value of 32.1, Ghana did far better than majority of African countries. Seychelles was first in Africa and 49th in the world, followed by Mauritius, South Africa and Cape Verde who placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in Africa but 53rd, 92nd and 93rd accordingly in the world. The other top five African countries were Botswana (6th in Africa and 96th in the world), The Gambia (7th in Africa and 103rd in the world), Sierra Leone (8th in Africa and 104th in the world), Senegal (9th in Africa and 106th in the world) and Togo (10th in Africa and 108th in the world. France was first in the world for its quality of nationality, according to the QNI. The French nationality earned a score of 81.7% out of a possible 100%, fractionally ahead of Germany. Germany was knocked off the top spot for the first time in seven years, with a score of 81.6%. According to the report, Frances comparative advantage lies in its greater "settlement freedom", which it says is "attributable mainly to the countrys former colonial empire". Iceland and Denmark came 3rd and 4th respectively on this years QNI. The UK dropped down a position to 13th place, again failing to secure a spot in the top 10, while the US increased its position by two ranks, claiming 27th place. The top 10 is completed by the Netherlands (5th), Norway (6th), Sweden (7th), Finland (8th), Ireland and Switzerland (both 9th) and Austria (10th). The relatively poor standing on the index of the US is primarily due to its low "settlement freedom" compared to European Union member states. China climbed two places to rank 59th and Russia maintained its position in 63rd place. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has for the first time overtaken Israel on the QNI, now ranking 46th, with Israel in 48th position. The Emirati nationality has climbed 13 positions over the past five years, making a significant leap when its holders received visa-free travel access to the Schengen area in 2016, according to the index report. Using a combination of quantifiable data, the QNI measures the internal value of a nationality. This refers to the quality of life and opportunities for personal growth within a country of origin. It also measures the external value of a nationality, which identifies the diversity and quality of opportunities a nationality allows its citizens to pursue outside their country of origin. Source: The Finder Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Ghana and China are working to establish a $60million Cocoa Processing Factory as part of plans to increase local processing of cocoa and boost consumption, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, said on Wednesday. Speaking ahead of a meeting with a team from China, Mr Aidoo said the factory, which would be sited at Sefwi-Wiaso in the Western Region, was a partnership between the Chinese and the Ghana governments. He said China was awarding a grant of $35 million towards the building of the 40,000 tonnes factory while Ghana would match it with $25 million. An eight-member team from China is currently in the country to conduct feasibility studies at the site in Sefwi Wiaso. The establishment of the factory is very significant as there is a rising consumption pattern of chocolate in the Asian countries, particularly India and China, Mr Aidoo said. He said it had been Cocobods objective to enter the Asian market, focusing essentially on China. So the acceptance of the Chinese Government to partner with Ghana government to put up this factory actually is a major step in realizing our objective and our vision of expanding the scope of consumption of cocoa and also in the realisation of the Presidents vision that in the next four to five years Ghana should be able to process not less than fifty percent of our cocoa beans here in Ghana, he said. Mr Aidoo said the proposed factory would run through from production of butter, liquor and down to the tertiary level, which was the production of chocolate. Ghana currently has 450,000 metric tonnes installed capacity but only about 250,000 metric tonnes is being processed. We envisage to improve on the productivity of cocoa in Ghana and in the anticipation of likely increase of production, we will certainly need more factories and the Sefwi-Wiaso factory is very timely, Mr Aidoo said. He said the next step in the project would depend on the outcome of the feasibility studies, adding that the site for the project had been secured. Meanwhile Cocobod is seeking $1.5 billion from Chinas Eximbank to rehabilitate aged farms and install irrigation systems and other projects. Mr Chai Zhijing, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, said the team undertaking the feasibility study would work out the details for the Chinese Government. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Taking the angst out car parking has led the group DIVVY to strike a deal with property agents JLL to service their commercial real estate tenants across the country. Making parking easier is big business and will get even more attention as landlords look to offer electric chargers and eventually cater for driverless cars. The plan is to allow more customers to experience hassle-free parking and enables property owners to manage their parking assets more efficiently. LL and DIVVY have teamed up to offer parking solution to commercial real estate customers. Westfield shopping centres were one of the pioneers in offering electronic parking systems that recognise a car's number plate which then opens the boomgate and directs the car to a bay. Labor's $9 billion pledge to scrap limits on the number of students that universities can enrol by restoring funding has been embraced by the sector but dismissed as reckless spending by the government. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten delivers his budget reply speech in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer In his budget reply speech, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he would reverse the cap on university places and the freeze on funding that was imposed by the Turnbull government last year as a savings measure. The policy would cost almost $9 billion over 10 years and be paid for by closing "generous tax loopholes and concessions", a spokesman said on Friday. Money would be allocated in the first budget to enable full enrolment in 2020. Modelling showed it would benefit an extra 200,000 people over 12 years, Labor said. An eclectic wall of sound from Alaskan psychedelic rockers Portugal. The Man filled Brisbane's the Tivoli on Thursday night. The establishment also housed a large contingent of punters who were very likely only there for one song: the nearly oversaturated Grammy-winning Feel It Still, which - along with new album Woodstock - has seen the band take a more mainstream pop direction. Portugal. The Man's Zach Carothers. Credit:Rachel Murdolo Fortunately, they treated longer-term fans to hits from earlier LPs In the Mountain in the Cloud and Evil Friends and showed no signs of fatigue at the penultimate show of their Australia-New Zealand tour. After the band recently took a stand against Sunrises controversial stolen generations segment, they have included a "welcome to country" at each of their Australian shows and Thursdays Brisbane ceremony was delivered by Aunty Maroochy Barambah of the Turrbal people. Alyce Tran, co-founder of accessories brand The Daily Edited, said buying back the 30 per cent stake her brand sold to Oroton a year ago feels "bittersweet". "We have a lot of respect for the Oroton brand," Tran said on Friday. "We had a very educational year with them. They added a layer of governance to our business we didn't have before." Alyce Tran, co-founder of The Daily Edited, at the brand's flagship store in Sydney. But against the backdrop of an uncertain future with Oroton, which entered voluntary administration last November, Tran and her business partner, Tania Liu, decided it was time to buy back their stake. The deal sees The Daily Edited, which has a niche in personalised or monogrammed leather goods, buying back the share it sold to Oroton in March 2017 for $4.5 million for $2.2 million. A Labor MP who had his personal car "vandalised" by Moora College supporters says he considers the move a "personal attack and breach of privacy". Member for the Agricultural Region Darren West visited Moora last week, returning to his car to find two "Save Moora College" stickers were placed on the bumper. A picture was taken of the stickers and circulated online. The stickers were stuck to Mr West's personal car. Credit:Twitter Mr West told the Avon Valley and Wheatbelt Advocate he considered the incident a targeted attack. The Moora campaign has previously been described as vile and I would say that is a fair assessment, he said. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson speaks on Friday about the shooting near Margaret River. Credit:AAP The slaying of seven people, including four children, near Margaret River in Western Australia is Australia's worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Police found seven bodies with gunshot wounds at the rural property on Friday morning, as well as two firearms. No one is being sought for the killings. Loading The number of deaths considered to be a mass shooting can vary, however a recent study by University of Sydney and Macquarie University researchers regarded it as five people killed, not including the perpetrator. WA Police plan to extradite an alleged career criminal known as the "Rabbit" who they say carried out a string of armed robberies across Perth in the 1980s. But they may have to wait a while to bring him back to WA. Ian John Peter Steele, 58, is due to be sentenced in a New South Wales court on Friday on similar historic charges in that state. Ian John Peter Steele. He is currently in custody in NSW. Away from the surf breaks and wineries the South West region is renowned for, the vineyards give way to paddocks full of sheep and cattle. Winding tree-lined roads take tourists and locals through the undulating landscape to Osmington, east of Margaret River. Osmington is lined by farmland and vinyards. It is now the scene of one of the worst Australian shooting crimes in recent memory. The crime scene is so extensive, senior WA police expect to be at the site for up to five days. "It's a crime scene and we've got to figure out what happened," the region's top cop, Superintendent Mick Sutherland told a media pack on Friday afternoon. Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier Two new restaurants and a record store are on the way, and a cheese shop, and a clothing retailer are already calling the downtown street home. Labor MP Anne Aly is facing questions about her citizenship. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Cowan MP Anne Aly has released documentation from the Egyptian embassy she says proves she relinquished her dual citizenship in time to contest the 2016 election. "Dr Anne Aly renounced Egyptian citizenship on 6 May 2016 having completed all the steps required and as of that date had completely renounced her Egyptian citizenship," the letter from the embassy read. "Nothing further needed to be done to make her renunciation effective." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had earlier told Dr Aly to release proof she gave up her Egyptian citizenship after reports her eligibility to hold her seat was in question. Rather than add a "fake news" button for users to easily report objectionable articles, Google aims to help them become more discerning news readers. The search giant is adding a new "Full Coverage" section as part of its Google News redesign, unveiled at this week's Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California. Coming to mobile devices and the web, Full Coverage isn't just a simple list of all available articles on a topic. Rather, it aims to offer readers a comprehensive and unbiased overview of issues by drawing on content from a variety of respected news sources. Most importantly, all Google News users will see the same mix of articles for each topic in Full Coverage, chosen by artificial intelligence with no human intervention. The choice of articles is not influenced by the user's reading habits or their preference for particular publications or points of view. The goal is to present all readers with all the facts, so they can draw their own conclusions, rather than reinforce filter bubbles which ensure their beliefs are never challenged. says Google's VP of News, Richard Gingras. There are other old roosters, too: President Francisco "Lu-Olo Guterres, 68; Nobel Prize laureate, former PM and president Jose Ramos Horta, 68; Abilio de Araujo, 69; Rogerio Lobato, 68, and other returnees of the diaspora. All are lined up with Alkatiri. In some ways its become a contest between two former wings of the Gusmao-led resistance and the diplomatic efforts from those outside the country led by Alkatiri and Horta," says Michael Leach, professor of politics at Swinburne University and long-time East Timor observer. "It's history wars over who contributed more to independence. Martin Hardie, professor of legal anthropology puts it more starkly. This battle is more about two ways of doing politics: the tension between Timorese who are in tune with their culture, language and land, and those, generally from the outside or with mixed blood, that see themselves as modernisers, and who see themselves as better than Timorese people and look down on regular Timorese. And while living standards have certainly improved at least in the bigger towns since independence from Indonesia in 2002, all the old roosters have had some hand in landing East Timor in the mess it is in. The economy is stagnating GDP growth is now less than 4 per cent, which is low for a developing nation and a distance away from a high of 16 per cent a decade ago. A new maritime treaty with Australia has been struck but so far with no guarantees that vastly increased undersea gas holdings will ever yield another cent for the country. And hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on roads to nowhere, big houses, cars and swelling bank balances for the often corrupt emerging elite. Alkatiri, who was forced from power during his first term as the nation's inaugural prime minister in 2006, took one more stab at the top job in the July 2017 general election, leading Fretilin to finish just ahead of CNRT. Supporters shout slogans during a Fretilin campaign rally this week. Credit:AP He got there, but only just, with a coalition including the Democratic Partys five seats and eight from KHUNTO, an election surprise package of untested politicians using a martial arts network to appeal to younger voters. A day before the official swearing in of the new government, KHUNTO walked away, but Fretilins Lu-Olo proceeded to invest Alkatiri anyway. After six months of deadlock, rather than hand government to Gusmao's team, Lu-Olo opted for fresh elections. All the while Gusmao was out of the country, renegotiating the country's 2004 maritime border with Australia. The result was another election campaign, and it has been a spiteful, sometimes violent one. A video showing Gusmao on the stump accusing Alkatiri, a moderate Muslim, of eating the wrong kind of pork went viral. Fretilin supporters have countered with shows of force, several times in recent weeks attacking convoys of opposition cars with rocks, once putting a three-year-old child in hospital. The Australian government has issued a warning for travellers to exercise a high degree of caution" in East Timor because of the uncertain security situation. "The situation could deteriorate without warning," the warning says.There are rumours in Dili that Australian troops are on standby to fly in. Security aside, there are also questions about what sort of development model will be used for the country. The CNRT has traditionally favoured a mega-project model while the PLP, has preferred direct funding to people and business. Now its unclear what the AMP would do," Leach says. A common theme, talking to people both inside and outside the political parties, is that fresh political blood is needed for the country whose population is unusually young, and has exploded from under one million to almost 1.3 million in just 15 years. Some of the parties have taken tentative steps. Former president Taur Matan Ruak, who succeeded as an independent head of state from 2012-2017 is still, at 63, part of the next generation and heads a younger team in the PLP, which is lead in parliament by Fidelis Magalhaes, a 35-year-old. KHUNTO, led by relative newcomer Jose Bucar Naimori, has benefited from targeting the youth vote. Guatemala: Guatemala has asked Sweden and Venezuela to remove their ambassadors from the Central American country, accusing them of interfering in its internal affairs. A government press release on Thursday, local time, said Guatemala wanted Swedish ambassador Anders Kompass and Venezuelan diplomat Elena Alicia Salcedo to depart. Sweden's Andreas Kompass. Credit:AP Kompass is a well-known diplomat and human rights defender. A few days earlier he had announced Sweden's financial support for a United Nations-sponsored commission investigating corruption in Guatemala. Loading The commission, which goes by the initials CICIG, had accused Guatemala President Jimmy Morales of corruption related to alleged illegal campaign financing while he was secretary general of his party. Morales subsequently tried unsuccessfully to expel the commission's head, Ivan Velasquez, from the country. But Guatemala did not say why it was expelling Kompass and Salcedo beyond alleging "interference in its internal affairs." In a press conference, Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel described the move as a sovereign decision by her government. She said there were no plans to expel other diplomats. Loading Former Guatemalan foreign minister Fernando Carrera said the government was trying to withdraw the financial and political support for the CICIG because of its investigations into corruption. The ongoing surge in volcanic activity on Hawaii's Big Island soon could cause a massive explosion from a volcano's summit, scientists and Hawaii officials have warned. Kilauea, the longest-erupting volcano on the planet, has displaced some 1700 people and destroyed 36 structures since a shifting flow of underground magma last week burst through the surface in a residential neighbourhood about 65 kilometres from the top of the volcano, unleashing torrents of molten rock and toxic gases. Scientists with the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said on Wednesday that the movement of magma from the summit out toward the Leilani Estates neighbourhood, where 14 fissures have opened in the past week, has caused the lava lake at the top of the volcano to drop in elevation. When that lava lake meets the ground water level - which they think is most likely to happen sometime in the next few weeks - it could lead to a series of powerful steam explosions that could shower the surrounding area in 10-tonne molten rocks and spew ash as far as 30 kilometres downwind, the scientists said during a conference call with reporters. Peregrine Estates Nampa Welcome to the Peregrine Estates subdivision, offering new homes for sale in Nampa, Idaho. This new community is a dream come true for homebuyers looking for a country feel just past the city landscape. Directly across the street from Lakevue Elementary School, Peregrine Estates is located by schools, shopping, dining, and Lake Lowell. Residents are just minutes to I-84, the Karcher Mall and a quick trip to Boise, Meridian, or the next great adventure out of town. Find convenience and solitude with your brand new Peregrine Estates home. Peregrine Estates Homes for Sale Looking for new construction? Browse our vast selection of new homes in Nampa or discover the perfect place with our new Nampa subdivisions guide. Peregrine Estates Features Pricing from the $400s Square footage from 1,600 to 3,118 Beds from 3 to 5, Baths from 2 to 3 2 to 4 Car Garages Schools Lakevue Elementary - 0.2 mi Vallivue Middle - 3.5 mi Vallivue High - 3.4 mi Homeowner Association Dues $265 Annually $500 Setup/Transfer fee Location From I-84 and head west on Karcher Rd. Turn left (south) on Lake Ave, then left (east) on Cirrus Dr. Then left at Fuschia Ave just across from Lakevue Elementary School - Nampa, ID 83651. Peregrine Estates Real Estate Plat Map To learn more about living at Peregrine Estates and to build your dream home in this exciting new community, or call a Nampa new home specialist at (208) 391-4466 today. These days, many of us live on extended credit. Our debts seem to grow and sometimes we wonder, When will I ever pay it all off? Its not just a question of how much money we owe our creditors because our debts are not only material. Our debts are also moral. We owe so much to so many people. One such person is someone who we celebrate in a special way during May. If there were one debt in my life that I think I will never be able to repay, it would be my indebtedness to my mother. All over our country, we celebrate our mothers. What are you indebted to your mother for? When I think about my own mom, her life, her role and her most important contribution in my life, I must say that her true greatness is in having provided us with a safe haven, a real place to call home. We say, theres no place like home and a house is not a home. Nothing is more certain. Some time ago, I heard someone ask a college student about the difference between a house and a home. That person responded, A civil engineer makes a house. Your mom makes it a home! The poet, Lorraine M. Halli, expressed it like this: A House A Home What is a house? Its brick and stone and wood thats hard. Some window glass and perhaps a yard. Its eaves and chimneys and tile floors and stucco and roof and lots of doors. What is a home? Its loving and family and doing for others. Its brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. Its unselfish acts and kindly sharing and showing your loved ones youre always caring. Yes, the great contribution of mothers to our families, our neighborhoods, our societies and our world is the love and sacrifice that they put forth to make the place, wherever we are, a home. In my mind, there is nothing greater a mom can do. We all need a home. We all need that personal environment in which we are nurtured, in which we grow, in which we are protected from harm, in which we learn to fend for ourselves and in which we learn to love and care for each other. Our mom is the one who creates that environment, wherever she is, wherever she goes. C.S. Lewis described the role of a mother (as a homemaker) like this: Homemaking is surely in reality the most important work in the world. What do ships, mines, cars government, etc. exist for except that people may be fed, warmed and safe in their own homes? The homemakers job is one for which all others exist. In a world that laughs at, scoffs at and looks down on the job of a homemaker, in reality, the person who makes the world a home is truly to be acclaimed a hero. Our mothers are real heroes! Donna Bell writes, Motherhood is a choice you make every day. To put someone elses happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing, even when youre not sure what the right thing is, and to forgive yourself over and over again for doing everything wrong. James Faust tells us, There is no greater good in all the world than motherhood. The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation. Therefore, as we celebrate our mothers with gratitude this month, let us remember that we will probably never be able to repay them for all they have done for us. But that doesnt mean that we shouldnt try. The Rev. Arthur Mollenhauer is pastor at St. Rochs Parish. About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profile Generations of Staples High School students knew Dick Leonard as a gifted, demanding, yet very kind and caring English teacher. He began in 1956 and retired in 1995. His career spanned the final years of the school on Riverside Avenue, the opening of the new North Avenue campus, and the modernization that tied nine separate buildings into one. It started with traditional great books courses, weaved through the convulsive 1960s and 70s when the counterculture shook education to its core, then reversed course again with a push toward standardization. Mr. Leonard who moved to Westport as a teenager (though he commuted by train back to his old school, St. Johns Prep, every day) saw this town change. He was here as the post-war baby boomers came of age, and flooded Staples with huge numbers and even greater energy. He was here as the school population contracted, and staff members were let go. He was here when the education budget soared, and Westporters paid for new buildings, new teachers, new programs, new technology. He was here when Taxwatchers and yes, that should be capitalized, for they were an actual political party forced referendums on educations budgets. Dick Leonard saw it all. Calmly yet passionately, he worked at his craft. As a senior at Staples in the 1970s, I was fortunate enough to be in his AP English class. We analyzed his favorite book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, James Agee and Walker Evans homage to good, hard-working Americans caught up in the Great Depression. He led but sat back and enjoyed rigorous intellectual debates about literature and life. (One of my classmates, Cathleen Schine, has gone on to become a leading American writer. She too remembers that course well.) We wrote in-depth, trenchant author papers. (Mine was on Richard Wright.) More Information Dan Woog COMMENTARY See More Collapse With the self-indulgence of a teenager, I did not realize then that Mr. Leonard was far more than just an English teacher. As I got to know him and his family later, as friends, I understood just how remarkable a man he was. For 20 years, Mr. Leonard served as Westport Education Association president. As a union leader he was heavily involved in contract negotiations. Salaries, benefits, working conditions all were on the table, and all were contentious. Mr. Leonard was a fierce advocate for his members, and the work he did to attract, retain and adequately compensate hundreds of teachers from kindergarten through high school helped cement the Westport school district as one of the finest in the country. Mr. Leonard was a tough negotiator. And it was those bargaining sessions that impelled him to go back to school. He took law classes at night, and in 1982 earned his law degree from the University of Bridgeport. That made him an even more formidable WEA president, and helped him bring another level of insights to the classroom. I knew him as an AP English teacher. But he taught all levels including the anything-goes Experimental English and when the alternatives program was launched in the 1970s, he was an eager participant. That novel, multipronged program reached out to disaffected students. It was intense and personal, and Mr. Leonard helped make it the interdisciplinary, get-them-to-graduate success it was. He was involved too in Project Concern. Throughout the 70s, that program brought under-served students from Bridgeport to Westport. It cost money, and it was controversial. But Mr. Leonard believed in it and believed it was right for that city, and this town. While all this was going on, he and his wife Paula raised five children. This was back in the day when teachers could afford to live in Westport. (Her work as a real estate agent helped.) The entire Leonard family was deeply embedded in Westport life. Dick and Paula instilled the values of community service, and giving back, in all five kids. Westporters may know some of them. Anne Hardy moved back to town 17 years ago, and is active in many organizations. Rick is a longtime Westporter too. Both Anne and Ricks kids graduated from Staples. Carey Leonard teaches in town. (Another son, Jim, also went into education. Hes head of school at New Mexicos Santa Fe Prep.) Remarkably, though, teaching was not Dick Leonards first career. Trained as a Navy pilot in the 1950s, he took a job with TWA. But shuttling planes from La Guardia to Idlewild (now Kennedy International Airport), he realized he much preferred working with people, not machines. It was a fortuitous decision, for countless generations of Westporters. Dick Leonard died last week. He was 88 years old. I am sure all who knew him join me in now praising this great, good and truly remarkable man. Dan Woog is a Westport writer, and his Woog's World appears each Friday. He can be reached at dwoog@optonline.net. His personal blog is danwoog06880.com. Kind and caring Breda was always thinking of others Thousands of shelter spaces, along with affordable-housing units for seniors and people living with disabilities, moved a step closer to reality Friday with the federal government's announcement of $13.2 billion in funding. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 11/5/2018 (1245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Thousands of shelter spaces, along with affordable-housing units for seniors and people living with disabilities, moved a step closer to reality Friday with the federal government's announcement of $13.2 billion in funding. Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette (Winnipeg Centre) said the National Housing Co-Investment Fund is a cornerstone of the previously announced National Housing Strategy. "It will prioritize projects that go above and beyond mandatory requirements for affordability, energy efficiency, and accessibility," Ouellette said. "It will create 4,000 shelter spaces for survivors of domestic violence, 7,000 new affordable housing units for seniors so they can stay close to their community and loved ones, and 2,400 new affordable units for people with disabilities." Ouellette said because it's a co-investment fund the government hopes it can partner with the provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous governments, and community housing providers to build projects that fill the needs of communities. Ouellette said the entire National Housing Strategy announced last year is a $40-billion, 10-year plan -- with Manitoba representing about four per cent of the country's population, it translates into roughly $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion for projects in the province. Ouellette made the announcement outside the former Mitchell Fabrics building on Main Street and Logan Avenue, which the Main Street Project hopes to convert into its new shelter. Executive director Rick Lees said the proposal fits the federal government's program requirements. "We at Main Street Project are extremely pleased to learn of this new avenue of funding and the potential it brings to our organization," he said. Earlier this year, the Free Press reported the Main Street Project is planning to build a $6.5-million shelter at the location, to house 120 recovering drug addicts and homeless people undergoing medical procedures. Lees said the expanded facility would help because the current one, on Martha Street, routinely has 85 people stuffed into it. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. But neither Ouellette or Lees wanted to discuss another part of the project's proposal: its application to Health Canada to open a safe-consumption site for alcohol and supervised injections to people with addictions. So far, the Manitoba government isn't on side for that part of the proposal. "Safe consumption is a different topic," Lees said. "This is about expanding our shelter... it is about safe, dignity and respect for both men and woman. And it frees up the space for addictions and mental health at our Martha Street location." However, Lees said, after meeting Thursday with Manitoba Families Minister Scott Fielding, the provincial government is "very supportive" about the expanded shelter part of the proposal. "They will work with us, going forward." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Manitoba's Indigenous leaders will find out Wednesday just how far Premier Brian Pallister believes he can go to ban night hunting. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 11/5/2018 (1245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba's Indigenous leaders will find out Wednesday just how far Premier Brian Pallister believes he can go to ban night hunting. There will likely also be sport-hunting restrictions placed on moose, elk and caribou, Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires hinted broadly to reporters Friday. Squires said she'll introduce her proposed Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management) bill for first reading on Wednesday. Pallister told a Conservative fundraiser Thursday night, "We're going to end the inhumane practice of using spotlights at night to kill animals." Squires said in a scrum following her estimates hearing Friday public safety is paramount in the pending legislation. "Ending unsafe hunting practices is a priority," the minister said. "I will offer all stakeholders a briefing on Wednesday." Squires said her department has conducted extensive consultation and received legal advice that it has met the requirements for consultation over hunting rights set in 2006 by the Supreme Court of Canada. "I do believe we have satisfied Section 35" of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the minister said. Squires said the proposed bill would recognize the Supreme Court's ruling Indigenous people may hunt on land on which they have the right to hunt, and to hunt safely. "Absolutely, and our legislation will be reflective of that advice. We understand our constitutional responsibilities." The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said Friday that Grand Chief Arlen Dumas will not comment until the bill is tabled in the house and he has seen the contents. Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand was skeptical Friday the Tories have done sufficient consultation to satisfy the Charter. "That remains to be seen," he said. Chartrand said the MMF did its own consultation and concluded night hunting should be banned anywhere south of The Pas, in the interests of public safety. "We've been trying to meet with the province to map out the areas," he said. The MMF president said he's anxious to see what's in the bill. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand "Some don't believe they have to follow the government law, and that the constitution is there to protect them," said Chartrand. Southern Chiefs' Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said in a news release Friday he's dismayed the province is proceeding without consultation. "We have been adamant the issue between First Nations and government is not a lack of regard for safety of Manitobans, but a concern that any blanket prohibition will necessarily infringe upon the collective, constitutionally recognized and affirmed Aboriginal and treaty rights," Daniels said. Squires said the province and Indigenous people to whom the government has listened are also concerned about over-hunting of moose and other species. "We want to make sure our iconic species are here for generations. Our woodland caribou are in jeopardy, our elk are in dire circumstances," she said. Squires said the proposed legislation could deal with sport-hunting restrictions, especially on non-Indigenous hunters who don't have a constitutional right to hunt. "Sustainability goals are certainly paramount," she said. In her own estimates Friday morning, Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke said she has consulted widely with Indigenous people about their cultural traditions of hunting, and their strong desire for safe hunting practices. "One thing in common, everyone agrees, safe hunting has to be a priority," Clarke said in response to questioning from New Democrat MLA Andrew Swan. "They're very concerned -- there's been loss of life in their communities. They want their hunters to go out and come back at the end of the day." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Clarke said elders in the north raised fears about the effect of sport hunting on the moose population. "Some grandmothers in the northern part of the province are concerned about the depletion of moose. It's just so important to them," Clarke said. "Potentially, there could be an impact on treaty and Aboriginal rights, but not necessarily." Swan cited the furor that erupted last year from the premier predicting a "race war" over a potential ban on night hunting with a spotlight. Clarke blamed the media for the controversy. As a former cabinet minister, Swan should "know very clearly how words spoken can be taken out of context. They (media) are looking for every crack they can find to discredit you," Clarke said. Swan also pressed Clarke to disclose if geography will be a factor in determining how a ban would be implemented. That prompted estimates hearing chairwoman Sarah Guillemard, the Tory MLA for Fort Richmond, to intervene and rule the debate was getting too close to discussing the contents of the bill before it's introduced in the house. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca EDUCATION Minister Ian Wishart has accused Manitoba faculties of education of failing to prepare future teachers for the job market and not encouraging them to fill shortages in specialties. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 10/5/2018 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. EDUCATION Minister Ian Wishart has accused Manitoba faculties of education of failing to prepare future teachers for the job market and not encouraging them to fill shortages in specialties. The shortage in teachers able to teach in the French language is so severe, not only is Manitoba looking to other provinces, but Wishart said he has asked France if there are teachers willing to come overseas. Manitoba is struggling to find vocational and English as an additional language teachers, Wishart said during an estimates hearing Wednesday. Wishart said provincial enrolment in French-language education is growing by 0.5 per cent a year, and growth in French immersion is increasing 4.6 per cent a year. "I recently had a discussion with one of the diplomatic groups that was in (Manitoba) on trade from France, as to see what they might have in terms of teachers that would come here and help us with our issue of shortage of French and French immersion teachers. And there was some interest there," he said. But the faculties of education with the exception of Universite de Saint-Boniface are resisting the governments call to actively direct students to meet Manitobas needs, Wishart said. "You know, our ultimate goal is to train them here in Manitoba -- train teachers to meet those needs, and one of the things that I did actually very early on as a minister was bring in the deans from the various faculties of education in Manitoba and say, What can you do to help me in regards to that?" he said, according to the Hansard transcript. "I didnt get a really great response, in all honesty." USB communications director Dominique Philibert said Thursday St. Boniface has the mandate to train French-language teachers, and has a good relationship with the other universities. "The faculties of education at the other universities in Manitoba have always wholeheartedly supported USBs faculte deducation in carrying out its provincial mandate, and this collaborative spirit is very much appreciated," she said. Brandon University said the deans are working collaboratively, and recognize the shortages. "We also recognize that another area of dire need is northern teachers. At BU, we have an excellent track record of producing top-notch teachers who have shown long-term dedication to educating students in northern and rural Manitoba." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The University of Winnipeg said it would not comment. The University of Manitoba did not respond. "Its a shortterm solution to go to other provinces and hire," Wishart said. "There are some cultural differences... Retention is also a factor," he said. Winnipeg School Division board chairman Sherri Rollins said Thursday the education deans have always been co-operative, unlike the province. "Deans of education have been strong partners with the divisions in developing the staff we need," she said. "The partner that is not delivering right now... is the provincial government. They need to think about what their education cuts and the fire they have lit under the contracts of teachers has signalled to the next generation of teachers." The Manitoba Teachers Society said the province loses about 40 French-language teachers a year to retirement, to other provinces such as B.C., which is recruiting heavily, and to private industry because of their language skills. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca The University of Manitoba has apologized to its faculty association and agreed to pay the maximum $2.4-million penalty for bargaining in bad faith by obeying Premier Brian Pallister's orders not to disclose the province had imposed a wage freeze. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 11/5/2018 (1245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The University of Manitoba has apologized to its faculty association and agreed to pay the maximum $2.4-million penalty for bargaining in bad faith by obeying Premier Brian Pallister's orders not to disclose the province had imposed a wage freeze. The university says it should have disclosed the province's order much sooner to the union, and realizes its actions were wrong. "We apologize for that," university president David Barnard said in an interview Friday afternoon. "We're looking forward to moving ahead with our faculty." The U of M will be passing a tight budget May 22, Barnard said, but it had set aside money in anticipation of having to pay the penalty. Barnard said the university had thought it could convince the government not to impose a freeze, but, "We now see that was inappropriate." The U of M appealed because, "We wanted to be convinced of what the final decision was," Barnard said. "We had our ideas tested, and it's clear the judgment that came back." "It's a good apology," UMFA president Prof. Janet Morrill said Friday afternoon. The apology will help to start rebuilding the relationship between the university and UMFA's professors, librarians, and instructors, she said. Nevertheless, Morrill said, "The amount of fines is still less than the amount they saved during the strike. It's still money that's sat in their bank account they didn't have to pay." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The university and union were bargaining in early fall of 2016, when the Manitoba government told the U of M it was imposing a one-year wage freeze, and ordered the university not to share that information with UMFA. The province issued the order months before the Tories first announced Bill 28 and its wage controls on 120,000 public-sector workers. It was not until the two sides were in conciliation in late November the university told the union bargaining team about Pallister's order. Several days later, UMFA went on strike for three weeks for improved working conditions. The Manitoba Labour Board ruled the university bargained in bad faith by keeping the government's order a secret, and told the U of M to apologize and to pay each UMFA member up to $2,000. The board also ruled the union knew about the wage freeze before it went on strike, and ruled the unfair labour practice did not cause the strike. The labour board recently upheld its ruling after both parties appealed sections of the decision. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca A new law aimed at streamlining collective bargaining in Manitoba's health sector will add confusion and uncertainty to a stressed-out workforce, union officials say. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 10/5/2018 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A new law aimed at streamlining collective bargaining in Manitoba's health sector will add confusion and uncertainty to a stressed-out workforce, union officials say. During the next 18 months, tens of thousands of health workers will participate in representation votes to determine if their current union or a rival one will act as their bargaining agent in the future. The votes will take place as the province reduces the number of health care bargaining units to fewer than 50 from 182. The Pallister government passed enabling legislation a year ago, but it did not proclaim Bill 29 until this week. On Thursday, the government named Robert Pruden, a former Manitoba government labour negotiator who has experience in the private sector, as the commissioner heading the process. The law gives Pruden considerable power. He will determine the composition of both provincial bargaining units as well as those existing within each of Manitoba's five health regions. He will be responsible for conducting secret ballot votes as workers choose their unions, and he will designate which existing contract will form the basis for negotiations in each newly defined bargaining unit. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said Thursday the new streamlined bargaining process will make it easier to schedule workers and improve overall operating efficiency. He noted that other western provinces operate with far fewer health care employment contracts. "When the system runs better, those who are working in the system do better as well," he told reporters. However, several unions affected by the law condemned the process as a waste of money that will be disruptive to workers and hurt patient care. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN Brandon Sun 30042018 Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen They are concerned it will further delay collective bargaining. The vast majority of health workers are working under a contract that will soon expire or has already expired. "This is not about improving patient care. This is about having unions pitted against each other," said Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents 17,500 health workers. Eight-thousand of them are expected to be forced to participate in representation votes. While they acknowledge Manitoba has a lot of health bargaining units, the unions insist the current system operates efficiently since wages and most benefits are negotiated jointly. "We see (rationalizing bargaining units) as a completely unnecessary cost to the system," said Lee MacLeod, regional director with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 11,500 health-care workers in Manitoba. "There's no reason to do it. Health care agreements are already bargained at a central table." The Health Sector Bargaining Unit Review Act requires the establishment of as many as seven bargaining units for each health region and provincewide employer. Bargaining unit categories will include: nurses, physicians, medical residents, physician assistants and clinical assistants, professional/technical/paramedical, facility support and community support workers. The Manitoba Nurses Union, which represents 97 per cent of all provincial nurses, is hoping the commissioner will exempt it from the cost and confusion of undergoing a representation vote, president Sandi Mowat said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. If a nurses vote is required, it's conceivable, for instance, that the nearly 1,600 nurses at St. Boniface Hospital, all MNU members, could find themselves being asked to choose between their union and the MGEU, CUPE, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and other unions that also represent some nurses. "It's a waste of resources," Mowat said. NDP MLA Tom Lindsey said health workers concerned about the possible loss of their jobs due to Tory hospital reforms will face an additional strain. "The more stress you put on workers, the worse it's going to get for the people receiving care from them," he said. Goertzen said the province has budgeted $250,000 to carry out the process. He said that investment will soon pay for itself in a more efficient health system. He called the 18-month timeline "a worst-case scenario." He said he hopes the job can be done sooner than that. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Once a year, on the second Sunday in May, we are reminded to celebrate our mothers. Over the past 100 years, Mothers Day has moved a long way from the intentions of its creator. American Anna Jarvis was the originator, and she prodded and pushed and lobbied and organized to get recognition for her mother, Ann Jarvis. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 11/5/2018 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Once a year, on the second Sunday in May, we are reminded to celebrate our mothers. Over the past 100 years, Mothers Day has moved a long way from the intentions of its creator. American Anna Jarvis was the originator, and she prodded and pushed and lobbied and organized to get recognition for her mother, Ann Jarvis. Ann was a peace activist who refused to take sides in the U.S. Civil War and urged other mothers to provide care to all young men who were wounded, regardless of what side they were on. When the war ended, she asked the mothers to set aside any differences and come together in peace. Anna watched as the day dedicated to her mothers peace work become a day of consumption and commercialization. The florist, chocolate and greeting card businesses seized the opportunity to make money and the real meaning of the day was soon lost. Anna was so angry about this turn of events she devoted her life to having the legislation be rescinded that she had worked so hard to achieve. She died penniless and bitter. Mothers in Canada are being honoured on Sunday. While many mothers are very successful as parents as well as being lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs, single mothers are among the poorest segment of our society. In 2016, according to Statistics Canada, 1,216,800 families with children under 24 were headed by lone parents. As many as one in five families is a single-parent household, and almost 80 per cent of them are headed by females. Although the incidence of poverty among sole-support families has been considerably reduced in the last 20 years, it is estimated that one-quarter of single parent families live below the poverty line. This means more than 300,000 families are struggling to get the basic necessities. Single female parents are poorer than sole male parents, poorer than single women, and poorer than women in dual-parent families. In short, they are poor because they accepted the responsibility of raising a child alone. The poorest of the single parents are those who gave birth to their first child as teenagers. The fertility rate among Manitoba teens is 20.8 per cent, whereas across Canada the rate is 8.5 per cent and in Quebec it is only 6.8 per cent. The children of adolescents have greater health problems, in part because of lower birth weights and in large measure because of inadequate living conditions exacerbated by poverty. Most teen moms drop out of school, which makes their likelihood of getting out of poverty even more remote. Few are married. A fundamental requirement to enable single parents to move out of poverty is easy accessibility to safe, reliable child care at a minimum cost and near to their home or workplace. Without a safe place for their children, women will not seek employment. Except in rare cases, the only way to leave poverty is through a decently paid secure job. If we truly want to interrupt intergenerational teen parenting, we need well-funded, specialized programs that provide interventions to keep these teens in school and to build their self-confidence and parenting skills. We must provide easily accessible birth control and assist them into supported placements where they can see a future with both parenting and employment as part of it. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. This Mothers Day, lets scrap the cards and candy. "You give a box to your mother and then eat most of it yourself," was how Anna Jarvis described it. Why not instead write a letter to our politicians demanding that we eliminate the poverty of so many families? We can recommend they follow the advice of the chamber of commerce and examine a guaranteed annual income, strengthen lunch and breakfast programs, reduce university tuitions and increase bursaries, expand specially designed and culturally appropriate training programs. We can develop employment opportunities that "work in lockstep with a poverty reduction strategy," but unless sole parents are at the centre of this strategy, we will fail and we will see a continuation of poverty. When the chamber of commerce and the anti-poverty activists can agree, it is clearly time for a change. Linda Taylor is a Winnipeg writer. The extraordinary thing is that there is no Plan B. If U.S. President Donald Trumps re-imposition of American sanctions on Iran does not cause President Hassan Rouhanis government to buckle at once (which is almost unimaginable), there is nothing else Trump can do short of going to war with the country. And he couldnt even win that war. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 10/5/2018 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The extraordinary thing is that there is no Plan B. If U.S. President Donald Trumps re-imposition of American sanctions on Iran does not cause President Hassan Rouhanis government to buckle at once (which is almost unimaginable), there is nothing else Trump can do short of going to war with the country. And he couldnt even win that war. Iran is entirely within its rights to condemn Trumps action. All the other signatories to the deal that hobbled Irans nuclear program Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China agree that Tehran is in full compliance with its terms, as do the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency and U.S. Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. All of Trumps complaints about the deal are about things it was never intended to cover and it does not contain those things because Iran would never agree to terms that effectively gave the United States control over its foreign policy. If Trump wants to try to negotiate that kind of deal anyway, it is not necessary to terminate the nuclear treaty in order to do so. But its a mistake to apply rational analysis to Trumps action, because this was an emotional decision, not a rational one. It is part of his obsession with expunging every single achievement of the Obama administration: health care, the opening to Cuba, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the Paris climate treaty and now the Iran nuclear deal. You can, however, apply rational analysis to every other players reaction to Trumps tantrum, starting with President Rouhani. He will try very hard to keep the deal alive, because his own political fate depends on it. If he cannot succeed, the Revolutionary Guard and other hard-line nationalists will gain the upper hand domestically and his entire reform policy will be paralyzed. Rouhani probably has only a few weeks to get public commitments to continue trading with Iran from the other parties to the deal and that will require them to defy the United States. Trumps declaration on Monday only requires American banks and companies to stop trading with Iran within 180 days, but the U.S. may also apply so-called "secondary sanctions" against foreign companies that trade with Iran. These "secondary sanctions" may actually be illegal under international law, but that has not stopped the U.S. in the past (Cuba, Venezuela, etc.) and it wont do so now. You can count on Russia and China to push back if the U.S. blackballs their companies for trading with Iran, but will the British, French and German governments also do so? Even if it risks splitting the Western alliance? Probably not, in which case the deal really will be dead. Rouhani would remain in office for the remainder of his term, but the hard-liners would be in charge. That doesnt mean that Iran will start working on nuclear weapons right away, however because it cant. Vahid Salemi / The Associated Press Iranian demonstrators burn a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest in response to Trump's decision Tuesday to pull out of the nuclear deal and renew sanctions. In obedience to the deal, it has destroyed the core of a reactor that could have produced weapons-grade plutonium, placed two-thirds of its centrifuges (for enriching uranium) under international monitoring and eliminated 97 per cent of its stockpile of enriched uranium. It would take a long time to get started again. The immediate impact is more likely to be seen in a tougher approach in Syria, where Iranian troops (sent to aid the government side in the civil war) are bombed by the Israelis practically every week. So far Iran has not responded to these attacks in any way, but it could start by shooting a couple of those Israeli planes down and then the fat would be in the fire. This week, Iran has already bombed Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, and Israel has attacked Irans military installations in Syria. For several years now, the main foreign-policy goal of Americas two primary allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia, has been to draw the United States into a war with Iran. Therefore they have to provide the hawks in the Trump administration (Pompeo, Bolton, et al.) with a plausible pretext for starting the war. A couple of downed Israeli planes would do nicely. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. If it were just an attack on Iran by the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia, it would not be of earth-shattering importance. They probably would lose a lot of planes, since Iran now has good air defences, but none of them could or would attempt a ground invasion. Iran is a country the size of Alaska, two-thirds of it is mountain or desert and it has 80 million people, lots of industry and good science and technology. Invading it would make the Vietnam war look like a tea party. So any ground fighting between Iran and its enemies would be more likely to happen in the countries between them: Syria and Iraq. You could be forgiven for thinking that both Iraq and Syria deserve a break from war by now, but they may not get it. And the most worrisome thing is that there are both Russian and American troops on the ground in these countries. Gwynne Dyers new book, Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work), was published last month by Scribe in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand. | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: NEWSALERT Uphaar fire tragedy: Delhi court also convicts former co'' Uphaar fire tragedy: Delhi court also convicts former co' Uphaar fire tragedy: Delhi court also convicts former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others in case. Panel of ministers has cleared winning bid for Air India; two bidders had put in financial bids: DIPAM Secretary. NEWSALERT-AFGHAN-EXPLOSION Witnesses report explosion in a mosque in northern Afghanistan after a Friday prayer service leaves several casualties. (AP)Witnesses report explosion in a mosque in northern Afghanistan after a Friday prayer service leaves several casualties. (AP) AMS Sensex surges 381.23 pts to end at 60,059.06; Nifty jumps 104.85 pts to record 17,895.20. Magna International Inc. designs, engineers, and manufactures components, assemblies, systems, subsystems, and modules for original equipment manufacturers of vehicles and light trucks worldwide. 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The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the national union umbrella federation, and Victorian Trades Hall organised a demonstration in Melbourne on Wednesday to bolster their Change the Rules campaign. Like rallies held in other capital and regional cities, the Melbourne protest was aimed at channelling growing discontent behind the re-election of a big business federal Labor government. Stopworks were called by some unions at workplaces across the state. Between 60,000 and 100,000 workers, according to different estimates, marched from Trades Hall to Federation Square in central Melbourne. The large attendance reflected mounting social opposition within the working class, and a broad desire to fight back against the decades-long assault on jobs, wages, conditions and social spending. Delegations participated from different parts of Melbourne and regional Victoria, with large contingents from the unions that nominally represent construction and manufacturing workers, electricians, dockworkers, hospital and health workers, teachers, academics and public servants. Change the Rules rally begins marching down La Trobe street These unionstogether responsible for innumerable betrayals in the working classare now posturing as opponents of social inequality and corporate exploitation. A multi-million dollar Change the Rules campaign, including prominent television and radio advertisements, is ostensibly aimed at opposing casual and precarious employment, declining real wages, rising costs of living and poverty. The real agenda, however, is two-fold. Firstly, the unions are seeking the installation of a Labor government in the upcoming federal election, which may be called within months. Secondly, they want Labor to adjust Australias industrial laws to entrench the privileges of the upper middle class union bureaucracy, while working people endure ever-greater hardship. The first speaker at the demonstration, Victorian Trades Hall Secretary Luke Hilakari, boasted that Change the Rules would be a bigger campaign than WorkChoices in 2007. Eleven years ago, the union bureaucracy directed bitter hostility toward the Liberal-National government of John Howard, and its regressive WorkChoices industrial laws, behind the election campaign of then Labor leader Kevin Rudd. After the election, the Labor Party and the unions legislated the Fair Work Australia (FWA) industrial regime, which maintained the prohibition on the right to strike and enforced a series of draconian, anti-democratic restrictions on any industrial action by workers. As a consequence of the FWA legislation, which the unions endorsed, strikes and other forms of working class industrial action have declined to unprecedented lows, while corporate profitability and the accumulation of wealth by the rich has increased to new heights. The unions are hoping for collective political amnesia within the working class. Hilakari made a series of chant and response slogans. He asked: Do you want to smash the rules? Do you want to take back our penalty rates? Do you want big business to pay their tax? Do you think Australia needs a pay rise? Do you want to get rid of [Prime Minister] Malcolm Turnbull? Responding to the yes call to the last question, Hilakari replied: Well, so do we comrades. He then declared that the unions plan was to mobilise and educate the working class. Such is the degree of hostility to the Labor Party within the working class that Hilakari did not feel able to openly call for a vote for Labor. This was nevertheless the guiding perspective of the entire rally. Susie Allison, assistant Victorian secretary of the National Union of Workers, followed Hilakari by declaring: Were going to change the rules and were going to change the government. ACTU secretary Sally McManus later addressed the rally and declared that the unions campaign was about changing the rules of neo-liberalism, trickle-down economics. She immediately let slip the real aim, however, with an angry complaint that the current Liberal-National governments agenda meant that, theres only one group of people that should make all the decisionsthe employers, the very rich, the very powerfuland because of that theyve got to get us, the trade union movement, out of the way. Translated into plain English, this makes clear that so long as the ruling elite ceases and desists from occasional efforts to sideline the union bureaucracy, it will not pose any obstacle to the ongoing corporate drive for higher workplace productivity and lower wages. McManus pointedly referred to the unions having to defend workers rights over the past 20 years, limiting the purported struggle to the period after the Liberal-National Coalition took office in 1996. Unmentioned throughout the protest was the devastating record of the Hawke-Keating Labor governments, which held power from 1983 to 1996. With the complete collaboration of the unions, they imposed the same devastation to workers jobs, wages and conditions that was inflicted in the US and Britain by Republican and Conservative governments respectively. All of the pseudo-left organisations have enthusiastically embraced the Change the Rules campaign. Socialist Alternatives Mick Armstrong wrote that the event showed that our unions are far from dead. He described the union appeal to change the government as fair enough. Armstrong cautioned only that we cant give Labor a blank cheque [and] we need to make it clear that the campaign wont end on election day. This statement underscores the backing of the pseudo-left for a big business Labor government that will intensify the assault on the social rights of the working class. The sole organisation seeking to mobilise the working class on the socialist and internationalist program that genuinely advances its interests is the Socialist Equality Party, the Australian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International. Workers seeking to build a genuine alternative to the Labor-Liberal offensive against their wages and conditions should contact the SEP through the World Socialist Web Site. Leaders of Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo on Wednesday in their first trilateral summit for two-and-half years. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks on North Korea, as well as trade in the region. The three leaders each held one-on-one meetings with their counterparts on the sidelines. The summit was portrayed as a renewal of relations between the three countries. Li is the first Chinese leader to visit Japan in seven years, while Moon is the first South Korean president to do so in six-and-a-half years. In a joint statement, the three said they strongly hope that, building on the results of the Inter-Korean summit, further efforts by relevant parties, in particular through the upcoming US-DPRK (North Korea) Summit, will contribute to comprehensive resolution of concerns of the parties for peace and stability in the region. Despite this public show of unity, the differences between China and Japan were not addressed. Tokyo is continuing to push for North Koreas complete and verifiable denuclearization and abandonment of ballistic missiles before any negotiations take place. Beijing, on the other hand, has called for simultaneous talks and gradual denuclearization. Li also pushed for closer trade relations with Japan and South Korea. The three countries comprise approximately 20 percent of the global economy. The Chinese premier stated: In the current circumstances, China, Japan and Korea should stand even more firmly together, uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system, and proudly oppose protectionism and unilateral actions. Li called for the completion of a trilateral free trade agreement, as well as progress on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which, if formed, would be the largest trade bloc in the world. The United States views the RCEP as a threat to its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific. Abe and Moon nevertheless both expressed support for pursuing such deals, with Abe calling for even freer trade in the region. Chinas desire to normalize relations with Japan follows several tense years marked by territorial disputes with Tokyo over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which were exacerbated by the previous US administration of Barack Obama. The relationship between Beijing and Seoul also deteriorated in 2016 following the deployment of the USs Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korea, but their ties have since improved. Ostensibly aimed at defending against a North Korean attack, THAAD and its corresponding radar system are aimed at China. Wednesdays summit allowed the three countries to feel one another out, while asserting their individual interests. China has been threatened with a US ultimatum on trade that reads more like a justification for war. Japan has similarly had US tariffs imposed on its steel exports. South Korea is concerned that a trade war would seriously impact its own exports to China, where it sends a large amount of intermediate goods. All three countries have regularly expressed opposition to protectionist measures. However, the major concern is the upcoming summit between North Koreas Kim Jong-un and the USs Donald Trump. Shortly before Wednesdays trilateral meeting, Trump announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way to North Korea for the second time in little more than a month to discuss the time and location of the Trump-Kim talks. Their formal support for the US-North Korea summit belies each countrys concerns, particularly Japan and China. Tokyo was caught off guard in March when Trump announced he intended to sit down with Kim. Abe has exploited the supposed North Korean threat to justify revising Article 9known as the pacifist clauseof the constitution and further Japans remilitarization. Beijing is worried that a deal between Washington and Pyongyang could ignore Chinas interests, such as the removal of the THAAD battery in South Korea, or even pull North Korea into the USs orbit and remove the buffer between it and US forces in the South. In this context, Kim Jong-un met Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time at Dalian, China on Monday and Tuesday to further shore up their relationship following a first meeting in March. Xi has praised North Koreas turn toward negotiations but wants to ensure Beijing is not left out in the cold. Chinas Xinhua news agency quoted Kim saying after his meeting with Xi that as long as relevant parties eliminate the hostile policy and security threats against North Korea, North Korea does not need to have nuclear weapons and denuclearization is achievable. At the same time, Pyongyang warned that Washington should refrain from claiming that Trumps maximum pressure campaign had forced the North to the bargaining table. There is no guarantee the Trump-Kim summit will take place. Lee Jong-nam, a professor on North Korea at Seouls Korea University, stated in the Financial Times: There are already signs of conflict between Washington and Pyongyang over to what extent they want North Koreas denuclearization. Washington is now talking about a permanent dismantlement of North Koreas nuclear programs and disposal of its biological and chemical weapons. This is a much stronger demand than Pyongyang had expected. Washington has a long history of using phony claims of weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapon attacks to justify imperialist aggression against former colonial countries, including Iraq, Libya and Syria. Most recently, Trump announced on Tuesday that Washington was pulling out of the nuclear agreement with Iran. Pyongyang has its own history of making deals with Washingtonin 1994 and again in 2007only to see the US abandon them. Resembling the current demands being placed on Pyongyang and the abandonment of the Iran agreement, the 2007 deal in particular was scuttled when the US unilaterally imposed additional demands on the North. For this reason, North Korea has long pushed for a treaty to formally end the 19501953 Korean War, which only concluded with an armistice. There is no guarantee anything will come out of the Trump-Kim summit other than a direct ultimatum for Pyongyang to give in to all US demands. This uncertainty has China, Japan and South Korea reevaluating their trilateral relationship. The following speech was delivered by Chris Marsden, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, for the past 20 years. Marx repudiated the central premise of reformism when drawing the fundamental lesson of the Paris Commune of 1871. The first attempt by the working class to take power into its own hands ended in the slaughter of up to 20,000 Communards. Marx concluded that the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes. The modern state functioned as the national power of capital over labour, a public force organized for social enslavement and an engine of class despotism. The working class must overthrow the bourgeois state and establish its own state power, tasked with the expropriation of the expropriators. Chris Marsden's address at the 2018 International Online May Day Rally The history of the revolutionary socialist movement is one of implacable hostility to the advocates of reformism, of the constant exposure of their pretensions and falsehoods to break their influence over the working class. In 1938, Leon Trotsky gave a speech on the founding of the Fourth International, in which he declared, Our aim is the full material and spiritual liberation of the toilers and exploited through the socialist revolution. Nobody will prepare it and nobody will guide it but ourselves. He contrasted the Fourth International with the old Internationals, which were rotten through and through. The great events which rush upon mankind will not leave of these outlived organizations one stone upon another. That prediction is now being realised. The Stalinist parties are either husks, or, in the case of China, the new organising nexus of the bourgeoisie. The Social Democratic parties of Europe, which once advocated a reformist road to socialism, are going the same way. Today, the average share of their vote in western European countries is just 22 percent. The German SPD, supported by less than a fifth of the electorate, is in a second grand coalition, propping up the right-wing CDU. But only another five EU statesMalta, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakiahave social democrats in government. Some parties, such as Frances Socialist Party, have suffered a collapse to single figure support, including in Greece, where the name Pasokification was given to this phenomenon. The Blairite think-tank, Prospect, proclaims, Social democracy, the most influential force in European politics for decades, is dying. They should know, because the party they dubbed New Labour was in the vanguard of the political shift to a nakedly pro-business, pro-privatisation, pro-austerity and pro-war agenda that has ended in electoral meltdown. The working class, particularly the younger generation, has abandoned the old parties in disgust at what they have done. Moreover, the broad left parties, meant to supposedly replace these despised formations, have themselves been discredited. This is epitomised by Syriza in Greece, which came to power based on a pledge to oppose austerity, only to implement cuts worse than those that led to the collapse of PASOK. Syriza is now in head-on conflict with the working class, after having privatised 14 regional airports, the Port of Piraeus, Thessaloniki seaport, cut pensions by 40 percent, with another 20 percent cut to follow, eviscerated the health service, shed tens of thousands of jobs, brought in anti-strike laws, embraced NATO and a military alliance with Israel. I speak to you from a country which is supposedly bucking this trendwhere the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2015 is meant to have signalled a rebirth of the Labour Party. This is the narrative pushed by Britains pseudo-left groupswho declared Corbyns victory a step towards Labours re-founding as a democratic, socialist, anti-austerity party. Events have already disproved such claims. We have documented, as a party, every retreat made by Corbyn to meet the dictates of the right wing of the Labour Party and of big business. Rather than oppose austerity, Corbyn instructed Labour councils to impose the cuts demanded by the Tories, while his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell dedicates his days to courting the City of London. Rather than mobilise workers against militarism and war, Corbyn has capitulated on every key issueallowing free votes on war in Syria and the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme, as part of NATOs military build-up against Russia. In our appraisal of Corbyn and Labour, we base ourselves on the rich legacy of the Marxist movement and on the analysis made by the International Committee of the Fourth International. Reformism is bourgeois deception of the workers, wrote Lenin, describing it as a disease. With the line-up of the social democrats behind their own ruling classes in the First World War, he wrote of the monstrous victory of opportunisma tendency rooted in a section of the petty bourgeoisie and of certain strata of the working class who have been bribed out of imperialist super-profits and converted to watchdogs of capitalism and corruptors of the labour movement. Without a struggle against these parties, he said, there can be no question of a struggle against imperialism, or of Marxism, or of a socialist labour movement. Trotsky said of Britains Labour lefts: Workers must at all costs be shown these self-satisfied pedants, drivelling eclectics, sentimental careerists and liveried footmen of the bourgeoisie in their true colours. To show them up for what they are means to discredit them beyond repair. Groups such as the Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, et al., pass over more than a century of the history of the Labour Party and similar formations. For decades, figures far to the left of Corbyn headed factions or led parties in which millions placed their trust, and which had implemented measures that significantly benefitted the working classsuch as the founding of Britains National Health Service. Even then, every effort to transform them along socialist lines failed. But those days are long-gone. The lurch to the right by the social democrats is not the result of a few bad leaders. How does this account for the universal character of this process? It was the necessary response of pro-capitalist parties and politicians to the profound changes associated with globalised production, the integration of finance and manufacturing and the domination of the world economy by transnational corporations. This rendered the reformist programme of securing social concessions, within the framework of the nation state through class collaboration, moribund. To compete in globalised markets, the ruling class demanded of the social democrats, and the trade unions on which they rest, that they impose savage cuts and betray strikeswhich they have done now for decades. In the process, their relationship to the working class has undergone a fundamental shift, as they have become ever more directly the servants of the financial oligarchy. The pseudo-left groups claim that this has all changed, because Labour is led by a nice man, with progressive intent. However, their support for Corbyn is not based on such stupid misconceptions, but on political calculations rooted in definite social interests. They represent an upper middle-class stratum that views revolution as a threat to the substantial privileges they enjoy, often as advisers to the labour bureaucracy or leading functionaries within the trade union apparatus. Close to a century and a half after Marx wrote on the Paris Commune, the perspective of the pseudo-left groups is to lay-hold not of the state, but of Jeremy Corbynand to ride his coat-tails into the machinery of government. This is what their co-thinkers have done in Greece, with Syriza, Portugals Left Bloc, Die Linke in Germany and Podemos in Spain. Should Corbyn come to power, his actions would be the same as those of Syrizato betray the political mandate he was given, and pursue the austerity and militarism demanded by the raging crisis of British and world imperialism. The Socialist Equality Party bases its perspective not on ephemeral illusions in figures such as Corbyn, Alexis Tsipras or Pablo Iglesias, but on the reality of existing social relations. There is no possibility of a return to the reformist past of the Labour Party. We live in an era of escalating class struggle, not class compromise, of blood and iron, that can only be transcended through world socialist revolution. In the bicentenary year of his birth, the future belongs to Marx, and to the great revolutionary tradition defended by Lenin and Trotsky, and embodied today in the parties of the ICFI. Tens of thousands of Louisianas poorest and most vulnerable residents were notified this week that their Medicaid benefits could be cut off on July 1, if budget cuts passed by the Louisiana House of Representatives become law. Included in this figure are more than 20,000 nursing home residents who would face eviction. Thousands more who suffer from mental or physical disabilities, and who reside in group homes or receive home health care aid, would also see their benefits eliminated and face homelessness. The Louisiana Nursing Home Association has stated that if the proposed cuts go through, it could lead to the closure of most nursing homes in the state, which would mean those residents with private insurance would also face eviction. As many as 25,000 nursing home employees could also lose their jobs as a result of the cuts. The House bill eliminates $648 million from the state budget, including $538 million from health care programs. If it is approved by the State Senate, Louisiana would ultimately face a reduction of $1.8 billion dollars in its health care budget because it would no longer qualify for over $1 billion in federal funds, according to the Times-Picayune. Both houses of the state legislature are controlled by the Republican Party, while Governor John Bel Edwards is a Democrat. Four major Medicaid programs are scheduled for elimination under the House budget plan. This would include programs that offer substance abuse and mental health treatment. The majority of the cuts would come from the Medicaid Long Term Care Special Income Level Program, which provides Medicaid services to elderly and disabled residents whose incomes range from $750 to $2,250 a month. Approximately 80 percent of Louisiana nursing home residents are beneficiaries of this program. The House budget would end benefits for anyone who earns more than $750 per month or $9,000 annually. The federal government would have to approve the states plan to eliminate these programs. Considering the Trump administrations recent executive order requiring all federal departments to eliminate social assistance programs that do not have work requirements attached to them, approval seems likely. Jim Tucker, CEO of a nonprofit that operates nursing homes throughout the state and a former speaker of the Louisiana House, told CNN, Our patients are old, they are frail. They have multiple health issues, and the stress of coming to realize that they are going to lose their funding that allows them to stay in a nursing home, and have no other known option, I believe could kill people. Eleven hospitals throughout the state that provide services to the poor and uninsured would face closure as well, with the doctors, nurses, and other staff losing their jobs. This would lead to additional loss of state revenues from lease payments made to the state by the operators of the hospitals, totaling about $168 million annually. Funding would also be eliminated for medical residency programs as well as hospitals that pay the staff at medical schools throughout the state. This would result in the state having almost no facilities where medical students receive on-the-job training. The Times-Picayune has reported that this could lead to the closure of Louisiana State Universitys two medical schools, and at a minimum would require them to reduce by half the number of medical students enrolled in their program. The university would also have to make reductions in its dental and nursing schools. The budget shortfall has been attributed by state legislators to the expiration of taxes passed in 2016. The Louisiana House of Representatives refused to pass any new taxes, both in a special session held earlier this year as well as during the regular legislative session in 2017. The budget cuts to health services have been justified by Louisianas political class as well as the local media as being necessary to fund the TOPS program, which provides tuition assistance to 50,000 residents annually. The proposed budget would allocate $233 million to the TOPS program. The supposed conflict between funding college tuition and providing health care services to the poor is a false one. Just as in the rest of the US, there exists in abundance enough money to provide free tuition and universal health care to all of the residents of Louisiana. The states wealthiest family, the Bensons, could cover the budget shortfall with less than half of the $2.8 billion dollars they control. Louisiana is home to more than 60,000 millionaires, in a state where the median household income is less than $40,000 per year. Millionaires pay a state income tax of only 6 percent per year. Additionally, billions of dollars in revenue are generated annually in offshore drilling by the large energy companies, only a fraction of which is remitted to the state. US imperialism, in concert with its junior partner, Israel, has launched an across-the-board military, diplomatic, and economic offensive against Iran. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the US was withdrawing from the UN Security Council-sanctioned Iran nuclear accord and would unilaterally enforce the highest level of global economic sanctions against Iran. In doing so, Trump snubbed Washingtons traditional European allies and brazenly dismissed their warnings that he was lighting the fuse for military conflagration across the Middle East. Wednesday night, more than two dozen Israeli warplanes, as well as Israeli surface-to-surface missiles, struck Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard positions across Syria, where they, along with Russian forces, have played a pivotal role in opposing the eight-year, US-sponsored insurgency against Bashar al-Assad and his Baathist regime. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman boasted yesterday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had "hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria. There are conflicting reports, but the Syrian Human Rights Observatory says the Israeli attack killed at least 24 people, most of them foreign fighters. The aim of Washingtons new offensive against Iran is regime-change in Tehran and the neo-colonial subjugation of the Iranian people. Trump has himself highlighted this. He has reshuffled the top personnel of his administration in recent weeks to place longtime advocates of war with Iran, like National Security Adviser John Bolton, in key positions. In Tuesdays speech renouncing the Iran nuclear accord, he once again sang the praises of pre-1979 Iran, when the Shahs US-backed monarchical dictatorship brutally suppressed the Iranian people and served as a linchpin of American imperialist strategy in the Middle East and across Eurasia. After a quarter-century of war across the greater Middle East, US imperialism is doubling down on its drive to establish unbridled dominance over the worlds most important oil-producing region through intimidation, violence and all-out war. The principal European powers, Britain, France and Germany, have reproached Washington for torpedoing the nuclear agreement with Iran. But they have all rushed to endorse Israels military strike against Iran as self-defense and they are insisting Tehran do nothing to escalate the situation, i.e., that it must passively accept the slaughter of its forces. France, declared a French Foreign Ministry statement, demands Iran desist from all military provocation and warns it against all temptations for regional hegemony. The European imperialist powers deplore Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal because it cuts across their plans to economically exploit Iran and because they dread the economic and political fallout from a US war on Iran. Their greatest fear and frustration, however, is that Washington remains in the drivers seat in any military repartition of the Middle East, leaving Berlin, London and Paris to haggle over mere scraps. That is why the European debate over how to respond to Trumps trashing of the Iran nuclear accord is bristling with calls for Europe to accelerate rearmament and develop an independent European military intervention force. Irans mullah-led bourgeois-nationalist regime has been stunned and shaken by this weeks events. The Iranian government has not even publicly acknowledged that it has been the target of Israeli aggression. Press TV, Fars News Agency and other websites tied to the Iranian regime are portraying the Israeli assault as simply a failed strike on Syria. Following Trumps election, Tehran banked on the European powers saving the nuclear deal. Instead, Britain, France and Germany threw their weight behind Trumps demands for further concessions from Tehran, including an end to its supposed disruptive activities in Syria and Yemenonly they proposed that these be the subject of a separate negotiation, not immediately tied to the fate of the current deal. No less worrying for Tehran is Russias complicity in Wednesdays Israeli attack, which was clearly given a greenlight by Moscow during the ten hours that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier the same day. Thus Iran now faces not just the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, but the possibility that an understanding could be cobbled together among the great powers to exclude it from Syria, which is vital to maintaining its ties with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Last but not least, there is the increasing social crisis in Iran. Over the course of the past year, and most dramatically in the mass street protests at the beginning of 2018, the long-repressed Iranian working class has come forward to challenge the brutal austerity policies pursued by all factions of the Iranian elite, including the so-called hardliners. Finding itself cornered, Irans clerical-bourgeois elite might choose to lash out militarily. But everything suggestsand this is underscored by Tehrans failure to even acknowledge Wednesdays Israeli assaultthat the Iranian bourgeoisie will intensify its efforts to reach a rapprochement with imperialism, and, moreover, that to do so it will further prostrate itself, offering concessions, including further anti-working class, pro-investor policies. For most of the past four decades, the rulers of the Islamic Republic, the chants of death to America notwithstanding, have been actively seeking an accommodation with Washington. That is why Tehran gave tacit support to the US in the 1991 Gulf War and provided logistical and political support to the US invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. Washington is well aware of this. Indeed, Trump and his advisers are banking on it. By intensifying military and economic pressure on Iran, Washington calculates that it can push the Iranian bourgeoisie, terrified of mounting social opposition from below, to surrender to US demands that Tehran demonstrably abandon any challenge to US dominance of the Middle East and open Irans economy to rapacious exploitation by Wall Street. As Leon Trotsky explained 90 years ago, in answering the claims advanced by Stalin to justify his insistence that the Chinese Communist Party subordinate itself to the bourgeois Koumintang of Chiang Kai-Shek: It is a gross mistake to think that imperialism mechanically welds together all the classes of China from without... The revolutionary struggle against imperialism does not weaken, but rather strengthens the political differentiation of the classes [E]verything that brings the oppressed and exploited masses of the toilers to their feet inevitably pushes the national bourgeoisie into an open bloc with the imperialists. The class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the masses of workers and peasants is not weakened, but, on the contrary, is sharpened by imperialist oppression, to the point of bloody civil war at every serious conflict. (Leon Trotsky on China, New York: Monad 1976, p. 161). In the Middle East, as around the world, the struggle against imperialist aggression and war must be founded on the independent political mobilization of the working class and the perspective of Permanent Revolution. Globally and in the Middle East and North Africa, 2018 has been marked by a resurgence of working class struggles. In addition to the mass protests in Iran, there have been major strikes in Tunisia, Israel and Turkey, as well as in the United States and Europe. It is this force, the international working class, that has the social power to mobilize the masses of the region across ethnic and religious-communal linesIranian, Arab, Turkish, Kurdish and Israelito oppose war and the predations of Washington and the other imperialist powers. Workers around the world must oppose the imperialist drive against Iran, whether in the form of brutal economic sanctions, war threats, military strikes or all-out war. Those who are leading the drive to subjugate the Iranian people are the very same forces that are leading the assault on the social and democratic rights of working people in North America and Europe. Opposition to the imperialist offensive against Iran means encouraging and supporting the growing class movement of the Iranian working class against austerity and social inequality and fighting to arm it with an international socialist program that links the struggle against the Iranian bourgeoisie and for workers power in Iran to the mobilization of the masses of the Middle East against imperialism and in the struggle for a Socialist Federation of the Middle East. The US trade war against China has claimed its first major victim with the telecom firm ZTE announcing that the major operating activities of the company have ceased. The announcement, which came in a statement issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Wednesday, is the result of a seven-year ban imposed by the Trump administration on sales of US components to the company last month, claiming it had breached the terms of a settlement of a deal over the companys sales to Iran and North Korea. The company operates on a global scale, doing business in more than 160 countries with over 74,000 employees. It generated revenues of $17 billion last year and recorded a profit of more than $700 million. It is the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the US and also supplies equipment for phone and telecommunications networks. It is one of the largest suppliers of telecommunications equipment supporting networks across Africa and in the Middle East, a business which could now be wiped out. The wireless carrier MTN, which provides networks to 220 million people in 22 countries across Africa, said it was assessing contingency plans given its exposure to ZTE in its networks. Telstra, the biggest Australian telecom firm, said it would no longer carry its own-branded smartphones made by ZTE because it could not guarantee supply. ATT, the major distributor of ZTE phones in the US has said it is assessing the impact of the ban. Production at the companys manufacturing plant in Shenzen ceased in April but employees are continuing to report for work and collect their wages. In its statement ZTE said that as of now it still maintained sufficient cash to comply with its commercial obligations. ZTE said that together with related parties it was actively communicating with relevant US government departments in order to facilitate the removal or modification of the order banning sales of components to it by US firms. The Chinese government is directly involved in those discussions. At the meeting at the end of last week in Beijing with a high-level US economic and trade delegation, the Chinese government raised the ZTE case in its list of demands. It pointed to high concern over the case and called on the US to listen to ZTEs complaints seriously, and consider the companys progress in complying with US demands. How much weight that will carry is another question under conditions where the central axis of US trade policy towards China is aimed at blocking its development in high-tech industries, not least in telecommunications, which it regards as an existential threat to US economic and ultimately military dominance. Far from pulling back, the Trump administration is reported to be considering imposing further bans on Chinese companies selling telecom equipment in the US on national security grounds. The ban by the Commerce Department has struck a severe blow because it targets one of the key weaknesses of the Chinese telecoms sector. China does not have a highly developed chip-making capacity and ZTE has been forced to rely on the US firms Qualcomm and Intel for the chips used in its devices. In the longer term, the Chinese government is expected to respond by pouring resources in to the development of chip-making capacity. In its report on the ZTE shutdown the New York Times cited a recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping pointing in this direction. By tightening our belts and gritting our teeth, we built two bombs and one satellite, Xi said. The next step is to do the same with science and technology. We must cast away false hopes and rely on ourselves. In the immediate situation, the US action has brought warnings that it will bring about major disruption in global supply chains. Christopher Thomas, a partner at McKinseys in Beijing, told the Financial Times: The complexity of this issue is mind-boggling because the electronics value chains are much more complex and globally integrated than they were in the past. A technology lawyer cited by the newspaper said the ruling over ZTE would lead to increased Balkanisation of the tech world, and speed up the tech arms race between China and the US. The issue of the ZTE ban will likely be raised at talks in Washington next week when a Chinese delegation, headed by chief economic negotiator Liu He, will hold talks with senior economic officials of the Trump administration over US demands that the trade deficit between the two countries be reduced by $200 million within two years. The US has threatened to impose tariffs on up to $150 billion worth of Chinese goods by the end of this month unless progress is made. The Wall Street Journal reported that China was likely to offer to import more US goods as the main way of reducing the trade gap. However it noted it was far from clear whether even a good-faith effort by China to reduce the deficit would be enough to satisfy the Trump negotiating team because although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is focused on deficit reduction, the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been leading negotiations on more fundamental issues. Those issues centre on Beijings Made in China 2025 program which aims at boosting the country to a leading role in high-tech development. Lighthizer and fellow anti-China hawk White House economic adviser Peter Navarro regard the program as a direct challenge to US economic supremacy and the US negotiating platform issued in Beijing last week included the demand that it be virtually scrapped. The ever-more aggressive America First program, which is directed not just against China but at all the major US trading partners, is starting to produce shifts in economic relations. This was in evidence at a trilateral summit in Tokyo earlier this week attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Standing beside his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Li delivered a speech calling for closer economic integration between the three countries and for the completion of the Chinese-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Without directly citing the Trump administration he declared: In the current circumstances, China, Japan and South Korea should stand even more firmly, uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system and proudly oppose protectionism and unilateral actions. Moon and Abe also made similar remarks endorsing free trade and closer economic alignment of the three countries. In the face of the most significant moves towards global trade war since the 1930s, one of the other characteristics of that disastrous decadethe formation of trade blocsis also starting to take shape. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe David Goodall got his wish. The 104-year-old Australian scientist made headlines last week with his plan to die by assisted suicide in Switzerland. He died on Thursday at the Life Cycle clinic in Basel, multiple news outlets report. Goodall was given a mixture of euthanasia drugs and died at 12:30 p.m. (local time), officials with pro-euthanasia organization Exit International announced in a Facebook post. David Goodall did it his way, officials wrote. Our thoughts to his incredibly kind and supportive family. Goodall, a botanist and ecologist who is considered Australias oldest scientist, left to fly to Basel by way of Bordeaux, France on Wednesday, according to Australias 9 News. Over the weekend, he spent time with family in Bordeaux and said his goodbyes. Ahead of his death, Goodall told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he was looking forward to the end of his life. My recent life has not been enjoyable, he said. I am glad to arrive [in Basel]. Ill be even more pleased when further steps of my journey are completed. I was a bit sorry to say goodbye to my family in Bordeaux but thats the way it was. Goodall rang in his 104th birthday in April, but knew long before then that he was ready to die. He told CNN that his life stopped being enjoyable five or 10 years ago. My life has been out in the field [working], but I cant go out in the field now, said Goodall, who uses a wheelchair. I would love to be able to walk into the bush again and see what is all around me. He added: At my age, I get up in the morning. I eat breakfast. And then I just sit until lunchtime. Then I have a bit of lunch and just sit. Whats the use of that? Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are illegal in Australia like most countries and although Switzerland has not passed legislation to legalize assisted suicide, the practice is allowed in some circumstances, according to the Chicago Tribune. Goodall traveled to the Swiss clinic to carry out his wish with the help of the organization, founded by Dr. Philip Nitschke. Story continues A GoFundMe page created for him was trending on Thursday morning and raised more than $20,000. Nitschke said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Goodall previously tried to end his life earlier this year after suffering an injury from a fall. He added that Goodalls family respects the mans decision. When he departed from Perth Airport last week, Goodall sported a shirt that read Ageing Disgracefully. The Cannes Film Festival just started on Tuesday, but there is already much to discuss: The festival opened with major star power as Asghar Farhadis Spanish-language Everybody Knows brought Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz to the red carpet, and the movie sold to highest bidder Focus Features within a day. The stories didnt stop there: Directors Fortnight kicked off with a Colombian film of note, while the competition highlighted a first-time filmmaker from Egypt. Journalists are still grumbling about changes to the press screening schedule, but so far, it hasnt disrupted a fast-paced environment in which every day brings a new wave of buzz. In this weeks episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson sit down at their Cannes apartment to discuss the beginning of the festival and anticipate the films around the corner. They also tease next weeks edition, which will be recorded in front of a live audience at Cannes in the American Pavilion on Thursday, May 17 at 11am. Listen to the full episode below. Screen Talk is available on iTunes. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter or sound off in the comments. Browse previous installments here, review the show on and be sure to let us know if youd like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWires podcasts on iTunes right here. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Related stories 'Border' Review: Gender-Bending Fairy Tale Is a Wild Ugly Duckling Story From the Writer of 'Let the Right One In' -- Cannes '355': Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, and Penelope Cruz to Star in Global Spy Thriller from 'Deadpool' and 'The Martian' Producer Terry Gilliam Wears 'I'm Not Dead Yet' Shirt After Stroke Rumors, Promises He's 'Well Again' and Ready for Cannes The ex-girlfriend of the 24-year-old man suspected of killing a 15-year-old Utah girl while she talked on the phone to her mom alleges he is a very dangerous man who is very easily provoked. KUTV spoke to Shaun Frenchs former girlfriend, who they identified only as Mikayla. PEOPLE was unable to reach the woman Thursday. Mikayla told KUTV she had a child with French more than two years ago, and that their relationship ended because he allegedly became violent towards her and their son. Mikayla told the station French is a very dangerous man. She added: I know he has access to guns, he has access to knives, and he knows how to fight. Baleigh Bagshaw was killed on Monday, and French was wanted by police for two days subsequently, first as a person of interest and then as the suspect. According to police, Baleigh called her mother on Monday at around 3 p.m., just after arriving home from school. It was something the girl did every day, Sgt. Brandon Shearer of the Salt Lake Police Department told reporters at a press briefing. While on the phone with Baleigh, the teens mother heard the teen being brutally attacked in their home, said Shearer. Eventually, the call was lost, police said. Baleigh Bagshaw Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Shaun French The mother called a neighbor who called 911. Police arrived at the Bagshaw residence to find Baleighs lifeless body. It has not been announced how Bailey died, but Shearer told reporters, It was a very violent attack. A warrant was issued for Frenchs arrest after the killing. The warrant alleges hed had a previous unlawful sexual encounter with Baleigh. He has been charged with unlawful sexual acts with a minor but has not been charged in Baleighs death. Baleigh Bagshaw According to KUTV, Mikayla was interviewed prior to Frenchs arrest in Colorado on Wednesday. At the time, she was fearful he would try to contact her. Story continues Im really scared, she said. Im frightened for my family, for Shauns parents. She told KUTV that French is very easily provoked and said that he has a very short temper. Lily Aimone, a former high school classmate of Frenchs, also spoke to KUTV, and said she wasnt surprised to learn of the allegations against him. Just the things he said, it just wasnt like normal everyday human beings, it just seemed like there was some mental issues there, Aimone said. I knew from him was always being in trouble, always doing things he wasnt supposed to be doing. The stock of MoviePass parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, has plunged for a third consecutive session in the wake of a warning about a possible cash shortage. Shares slid 17 cents on Thursday to 61 cents, a 22% decline, after falling 66 cents on both Wednesday and Tuesday. Its the second-lowest close for the stock since the company went public in 1997. Helios & Mathesons stock closed at 53 cents on Dec. 19, 2008. The stock hit a 52-week high of $38.86 a share in October, two months after it lowered its monthly subscription fee from $50 to $9.95. The sell-off has come following a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week by Helios & Matheson, which disclosed it had $15.5 million in available cash at the end of April, plus $27.9 million on deposit with merchants while current monthly expenses are about $21.7 million. The filing said if adequate funding doesnt materialize, We may be required to reduce the scope of our planned growth or otherwise alter our business model, objectives, and operations, which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. Investors were apparently unimpressed by a bullish statement Wednesday from Helios & Matheson chairman and CEO Ted Farnsworth, who insisted that the cash burn rate has been slashed by 35-40% by abuse prevention measures put in place over the last few weeks and that the company has access to over $300 million from capital markets. We have always known, from when MoviePass took off in August, that it was going to be a high cash burn business model, he said. We are not changing our guidance on 5 million subscribers by the end of this year, which should make us profitable/cash flow-positive according to our business model. The company is losing money because it pays movie theaters full price for the tickets its customers buy. MoviePass claims that it will eventually be able to monetize its more than two million subscribers by running ads, partnering with theater chains, or figuring out a way to make a profit on the data it collects on its users. Story continues MoviePass announced on May 2 that it would again allow customers to sign up for its popular movie-a-day monthly subscription package after briefly taking the offering off of its website. An independent auditor publicly raised questions last month about the services ability to continue operating. POPULAR ON VARIETY: Related stories MoviePass Parent's Stock Plunges Again Following Warning on Cash Burn MoviePass Parent's Stock Plunges After Warning on Growth Reduction MoviePass Rival Sinemia Unveils New Subscription Pricing Plans Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts! A 31-year-old Vermont woman was charged this week with murdering the man she claimed had raped her and whose body she allegedly kept for months in a barrel in her backyard, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The remains of 34-year-old Troy Ford were discovered on Saturday in Highgate, Vermont. Authorities were led there by a tip from a friend of Erika Guttilla, the woman suspected of murdering Ford late last year, the court documents state. Guttilla allegedly told police that Ford knew her sister and was allowed to temporarily move into their parents home, court papers show. But Ford overstayed his welcome making things unbearable and leaving Guttilla feeling unsafe and in November confronted her in the bathroom before forcing himself on her, authorities claim she said. She also allegedly told police that Ford hit her in the head with a full liquor bottle, according to the court records. A month later, according to allegations in the documents, Guttilla took a pistol and while Ford was passed out from drinking put it to his forehead and fired once, killing him instantly. According to an affidavit in the case, She advised [Ford] was one of the worst people she had ever met and the world was a better place without him. Fords actions toward her kept making the decision to kill him easier and easier for her, Guttilla told authorities, court documents allege. Guttillas friend who informed authorities of Fords death had reached out to them from behind bars while incarcerated on unrelated charges, court records state. He said he had been shown Fords body. The documents further show the informant told detectives that after being shot, Ford was placed head-down in a barrel and his feet, which protruded up from the opening, were covered with a garbage bag. Charging documents allege that the victims body was kept in Guttillas backyard for months before being moved to Highgate, where it was found last weekend. Story continues Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Corey Cassani The court records do not indicate if there is additional evidence supporting Guttillas accusation of rape against Ford. Guttilla is charged with first-degree murder and obstructing justice, to which she has pleaded not guilty. Her mother, 60-year-old Carmen Guttilla, is also charged with first-degree murder in Fords death. She is suspected of helping plot the killing and has pleaded not guilty. In an interview with police, she said Ford had allegedly held them [her family] hostage in their own home and had been both physically and sexually abusive, according to documents obtained by the Burlington Free Press. Her son Erikas brother made similar accusations. Erikas boyfriend, 28-year-old Corey Cassani, is the third defendant in the case and is alleged to have helped her dispose of Fords remains. Cassani pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to a crime after the fact, unauthorized burial or removal of a body and obstructing justice. All three remain in police custody. Their lawyers could not be reached by PEOPLE for comment on Wednesday. Michigan authorities say convicted murderer Arthur Ream has allegedly been bragging to other prison inmates about killing seven girls before he began serving a life sentence for killing a 13-year-old, PEOPLE confirms. On Monday, police announced they were searching a wooded area of Macomb Township for the body of Kimberly King, a 12-year-girl who was last seen alive in 1979, and up to six other girls all believed to have been killed by Ream. Warren police are confident they will find the bodies in a wooded area in southeastern Michigan now being called a burial site after recently reopening the investigation, Commissioner William Dwyer tells PEOPLE. Ream is serving a life sentence for murdering 13-year-old Cindy Zarzyck in 1986. In 2008, he led investigators to her body in the same wooded area currently being searched. Kimberly King went missing in September 1979 and was last seen trying to hitchhike in Warren to see some friends, Dwyer says. His profile fits, Dwyer says of Ream. All of these murders were random type pick-ups that turned into rapes. He would be patrolling [the area] for young girls and hed see one out there maybe hitchhiking, offer them a ride or something, get them in [his vehicle], rape them and then murder them. Authorities are labelling the 68-year-old a suspected serial killer and rapist, Dwyer says. He tells PEOPLE there is no connection between the girls. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Arthur Ream The Detroit Free Press identified four possible victims as 13-year-old Cynthia Coon, missing since 1970; Nadine ODell, 16, missing since 1974; Kim Larrow, 15, missing since 1981; and 17-year-old Kellie Brownlee, missing since 1982. (Asked about the names by PEOPLE, Dwyer said he did have the list on hand but referred a reporter to the Free Press.) However, unlike his other possible victims, Ream knew Cindy Zarzyck. Story continues The teen was dating his son at the time of her death. According to the Free Press, before Cindy was murdered, Ream told her that he was throwing his son a surprise birthday party and offered her a ride. Ream has not been charged in any additional cases. It was unclear Thursday if he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf and he could not be reached in custody. What were trying to do is bring closure to the families of the victim, Dwyer says. Hes not going anywhere, but these families have suffered for decades not knowing where their loved ones are and they want closure. And thats were trying to bring to them. Just call him Prince Cupid. Prince Harry may be preparing for his royal wedding to Meghan Markle later this month (May 19!), but hes helped out at least one of his army pals find love. Corporal of Horse Frankie OLeary told reporters on Wednesday the prince rather kindly helped me get in well with a young lady. RELATED: Download PEOPLEs The Story of Diana for intimate details, interviews with family and friends and exclusive home footage of Prince Harry and Prince Williams late mother OLeary, who was Harrys vehicle operator during his first tour of Afghanistan in 2007, said the royal was out for a drive when he spotted his army mate walking with a woman. He wound the window down and said, See you later, Frank, the CoH said. I was like, See you later, sir. Seeing a prince casually greet the man she was dating left OLearys date with her jaw on the floor. (from left) Captain Tom Mountain, Colonel James Gaselee, Frankie O'Leary, Corporal Major Daniel Snoxell, Staff Sergeant Philip Bishop and Warrant Officer Class 1 Mark Quickfall The moment made a lasting impact on the soldiers lady friend, Niina, as she stuck around after that, OLeary revealed. I just played it off as cool, OLeary said. It helped shes become my wife. OLeary is happy to see his friend look so in love and preparing for his own lifetime of joy. Ive seen him grumpy. Thats a happy man out there, he said. RELATED: Meet The Dashing Officer Who Will Salute Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Chapel OLeary will be a part of Harrys special day as he is a member of the prince and Meghans carriage procession which will be complete with 24 soldiers and two officers on horses. The CoH will be the first horseman on the left escorting Harrys carriage, revealing the prince himself asked them to be involved. It is really important for us because he served with us as the Household Cavalry at Windsor, and he still wears our uniform on a regular basis, he said. (Back row, from left) CoH Frankie O'Leary, Corporal of Horse Paul Carrington, Prince Harry, Lance Corporal of Horse Chris 'Dougie' Douglass, Lance Corporal Steve 'Geri' Halliwell It is a real sense of pride to be asked to be involved in what is going to be an amazing occasion and celebration, OLeary added. Want to keep up on the latest from PEOPLE? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our best stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox. RELATED VIDEO: Prince Harry Has Asked Prince William to Be His Best Man and His Response Is So Heartfelt Story continues The British Army will be heavily represented in the upcoming royal wedding. Captain Thomas Mountain, 28, recently told PEOPLE will help form the 24-man staircase party on the steps of St. Georges Chapel and greet Harry and Meghan with a royal salute when they exit as husband and wife. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Lieutenant Colonel James Gaselee will command a troop of 24 Household Cavalry soldiers, who will escort the newlyweds Ascot Landau carriage through the packed streets of Windsor. RELATED: A Toast to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle! Counting Down Their Milestone Moments Before the Wedding Its one in a million, Mountain said. The sense of excitement and drama has been building as we drawn nearer its palpable. The week before I think that, naturally, a few nerves will appear, but I think its always a good thing to be a little bit nervous. Theres going to be millions of people watching, so its a huge event to take part in. Everyone in the regiment is getting asked by their friends and family, Are you part of the parade? As you can imagine, everyones family is excited. To be honest, standing at the top of the stairs, its going to be immense. Its going to be phenomenal. Its going to be incredible. A dog breeder has been accused of selling untrained puppies for $25,000 and posing them as service dogs, according to a lawsuit filed by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. The company, Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, "represents itself as a nonprofit organization devoted to raising, training and placing service dogs with individuals who have 'invisible disabilities,'" such as diabetes, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and seizure disorders, according to the lawsuit, filed in a Madison County circuit court on Monday. Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers hadn't responded to the complaint as of Wednesday evening, according to online Madison County court records. Families seeking service dogs from the company are told that if they raise $25,000 for the nonprofit, they will receive a trained diabetic alert dog that will "save their or their family members' lives by identifying and alerting them to blood sugar fluctuations that could become life threatening," according to the lawsuit. The suit alleges violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law. Herring seeks a permanent injunction against further violations by the company and its owner, reimbursement to consumers, along with civil fines and penalties. The dogs are advertised to be able to detect high and low blood sugar, get help in the form of "third party support," retrieve food and medication and dial 911 on a special device, according to the lawsuit. Instead, "hopeful and vulnerable consumers" actually received dogs that were poorly trained, ill-behaved and "not equipped to help them manage a life-threatening disability," the lawsuit states, describing the dogs as "little more than expensive pets." Customers were supposed to receive dogs that were housebroken and had undergone obedience training and some scent training, but they actually received untrained puppies that needed basic obedience training for walking on a leash, inappropriate chewing and responding to their name, according to the lawsuit. Story continues PHOTO: The Hudson family received their dog, Malachi, as a 12-week-old puppy who was supposed to be trained to detect changes in blood sugar for their son, who has type 1 diabetes. (Courtesy Heather Hudson) The dogs that customers received would also frequently bark or whine, jump on people or other dogs, strain against the leash or show "significant fear" at loud noises, such as storms, fireworks or cars backfiring, the lawsuit states. Named in the lawsuit is the founder of the company, Culpepper, Virginia, resident Charles Warren. The company was incorporated in October 2010 with the company name of Guardian Angel Service Dogs, but it changed its named to Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers in 2012, the lawsuit states. It started promoting its diabetic alert dog services in 2011, which purports to offer dogs with "proven scent ability" to aid in detecting high or low blood sugar levels, according to the lawsuit. The company claims that all litters are "temperament tested" when puppies are 7 weeks old and that only puppies "from the best in the litter" are trained to be a diabetic alert dog, the lawsuit states. It also offered a money-back guarantee on its website on the scent-training portion of the program, according to the lawsuit. The company's website touts its nonprofit status and seeks donations as well as legacy gifts. The site also includes glowing testimonials amidst slogans such as "Hope Is Good" and "Until there's a cure, there's a dog." 2 dogs shipped to wrong places after breeder labeled kennels incorrectly: Airline German shepherd flunked out of police dog academy for being too friendly Florida dog has mugshot taken after being turned into police station with no tags Pawcatuck, Connecticut, resident Heather Hudson said she received her service dog from the company -- a 6-year-old red fox Labrador Retriever named Malachi -- in July 2012 after they paid a $1,000 deposit to Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers. Her son, who was 6 at the time, has type 1 diabetes, she said. Hudson, who has a degree in animal science and had been working with veterinarians for about six years at that point, said Malachi's health ailments were so bad that she was convinced he had come from a puppy mill. She noticed upon Malachi's arrival that he had bald spots on his head -- likely from rubbing his head repeatedly in a kennel. He had worms and other parasites, had trouble crate training and began developing skin allergies, she said. PHOTO: Malachi, who cost more than $20,000, is just 'a family dog now,' Heather Hudson told ABC News. (Courtesy Heather Hudson) During Malachi's first encounter with Hudson's son, the puppy placed his paw on his new owner, and the trainer told Hudson that Malachi was "alerting." "'He's telling us that your son's blood sugar is high,'" Hudson said the trainer told her. "I am such an idiot, but I believed him." Hudson had found out about the company from a Facebook ad, she said. While Warren claimed that all of the dogs were born on a farm in Virginia, she later found out Warren had bought Malachi from a breeder in North Dakota for $1,100. She ended up fundraising more than $20,000 to keep Malachi, she said. The company refused to reimburse any of the funds, she said. PHOTO: Malachi, who cost more than $20,000, is just 'a family dog now,' Heather Hudson told ABC News. (Courtesy Heather Hudson) Almost six years later, Malachi is just a family dog, and hasn't kicked some of his bad habits, Hudson said. "Still to this day," if they encounter another dog while on a walk, the family's "sweetheart" lab pulls on the leash to "get at every dog that goes by," she said. Glasgow, Kentucky resident Melinda Colon was looking to get a service dog for her son, who has type 1 diabetes, in 2012, when she contacted Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, she told ABC News. A few months into the process, Colon found out that the company wanted her to a sign a 30-page contract without letting her view the document first, which she saw as a red flag, she said. When she questioned Warren about it, she said she was booted from the organization and blocked from all of its groups. She was also told she couldn't get her $1,000 deposit back because the organization is a nonprofit, she said. After doing her research, Colon said she spoke to several unhappy customers who received their service dogs from the company, who complained that their dogs were displaying typical puppy behavior such as excessive whining and chewing, she said. Colon then decided to start a Facebook group called Stop the Scammers to expose the organization's wrongdoings. The group now has more than 2,500 members. Scarred from the experience, neither Hudson nor Colon ever ended up getting a service dog, they said. An attorney for Warren did not return ABC News' request for comment. ABC News' Katie Conway contributed to this report. In The Know by Yahoo Whether it's from a skating video on Instagram, the front row of the Fendace fashion show, or on your screen in the new Gossip Girl reboot, the chances are you know Evan Mock. Following his shoot for In The Know's October Muse issue, Mock talks to consulting Editor-At-Large, Elaine Welteroth, about his Hawaiian and Filipino roots and reads snippets from his Met Gala journal entry By Robin Emmott and Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - In 1996, when the United States tried to penalize foreign companies trading with Cuba, the European Union forced Washington to back down by threatening retaliatory sanctions. Two decades later, the European Union is being driven to threaten such measures again, over Iran, and this time may follow through after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and world powers and reimposed an array of wide sanctions on the Islamic Republic. This left dismayed European allies scrambling to salvage the international nuclear pact as Tehran said Trump had made a mistake and proved Washington could not be trusted. The EU's so-called blocking statute is the most powerful tool at its immediate disposal because it bans any EU company from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognize any court rulings that enforce American penalties. But it has never been used and is seen by European governments more as a political weapon than a regulation because its rules are vague and difficult to enforce, serving mainly as a warning to the United States. The international reach of the U.S. financial system and the U.S. presence of many European companies also raise questions about its effectiveness. "It is a technical tool that worked with (U.S. President Bill) Clinton because it was coupled with a political strategy," said one senior EU source involved in Iran negotiations, referring to Clinton's decision to waive extra-territorial sanctions on EU companies related to Cuba, Iran and Libya. EU officials say they are revamping the blocking statute to encompass Trump's May 8 decision to revive Iran-related sanctions, after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran's lifeblood oil sector and transactions with its central bank. "The blocking statute is one of the main options; it's being updated to make it ready," said a second senior EU official. European commissioners are expected to decide whether to go ahead next week in Brussels, setting the stage for EU government leaders to take a final decision at a summit in Sofia on May 17. But diplomats say it will be difficult to gain the agreement of all 28 EU states. The blocking statute threat has less weight than in Clinton's era because U.S. sanctions targeting financial transactions have become more robust and costly for EU firms. European companies with big operations in the United States, such as Shell , are pressuring their governments instead to pursue waivers on a case-by-case basis. ENERGY DIPLOMACY Europeans are most worried about how to sustain incentives for Iran to stick to the groundbreaking accord signed by world powers in July 2015, which lifted international sanctions on Iran in 2016 in return for Tehran shutting down its capacity, under strict surveillance by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to stockpile enriched uranium for a possible atomic bomb. Trump denounced the accord, completed under his predecessor Barack Obama, as a "horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made" as it did not cover Iran's ballistic missile program or its role in Middle East conflicts. The deal's proponents say it is crucial to forestalling a nuclear Iran and preventing wider war in the Middle East. "The issue of incentives (to keep Iran in the deal) is completely absent from U.S. thinking. In meeting with U.S. diplomats, it's all about confrontation and isolation (of Tehran)," another official said. Without the carrot of economic benefits, the EU worries it will also lose influence over Iran. Once Iran's top trading partner and its second-biggest oil customer, the EU has sought to pour hundreds of billions of euros into the Islamic Republic since the bloc, along with the United Nations and United States, lifted blanket economic sanctions in 2016 that had lamed the Iranian economy. Iran's exports of mainly fuel and other energy products to the EU in 2016 jumped 344 percent to 5.5 billion euros ($6.58 billion) compared with the previous year, while investment in Iran jumped to more than 20 billion euros. European Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will meet Iranian officials in Tehran during a three-day trip from May 18 to try to reassure Iran and strengthen energy relations. Other EU measures to try to keep EU money flowing into Iran include coordinating and increasing EU governments' export guarantee credits. That could allow more euro-denominated loans, as well as free the European Investment Bank to invest in Iran for the first time. For its part, Italy has signed a framework credit agreement with Iran to fund investments worth up to 5 billion euros for projects carried out jointly by Italian and Iranian companies. France is considering a similar agreement. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Mark Heinrich) The 2018 Honda Clarity Electric car rolled into California and Oregon dealerships this week, but nobody can buy it. It's only available for lease for $199 a month for 36 months with $1,499 due at signing. That figure reflects the $7,500 federal tax credit, which Honda finance will keep as part of the capitalized cost reduction of the lease. CHECK OUT: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: weekend drive review The Clarity Electric, however, also qualifies for a $2,500 tax rebate in each of the states where it's sold. Counting the state tax credit, consumers can drive home the Clarity Electric for $199 a month for 36 months and end up with $1,000 in their pockets to boot. If they live in California, the car is also eligible for a white sticker to drive in most of the states' carpool lanes with a single occupant. They may not get all the benefit they once did, however, as California agencies have begun to roll back the privilege. READ THIS: Teslas will start paying to drive in L.A.'s "Lexus lanes" Honda may need such motivation for to get buyers to pony up at all for a mid-size battery electric sedan with only 89 miles of range from its 25.5-kwh battery, when most other new electric models offer more for 2018. The base Nissan Leaf comes with 151 miles. The Chevy Bolt EV delivers 238. Even the Hyundai Ioniq Electric delivers 124 miles of range. The Clarity Electric's 6.6-kw on-board charger can provide a full charge on Level 2 in just over 3 hours. (PYONGYANG) After months of anticipation and drama, North Koreas release of three American detainees played out amid high-stakes diplomacy and was only sealed about an hour before the top U.S. diplomat was wheels-up from Pyongyang. The three men Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim walked on their own from a van and onto the plane of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the end of his daylong visit to North Korea. After meeting leader Kim Jong Un, Pompeo had given a fingers-crossed sign when asked if there was good news. A North Korean emissary came to the hotel shortly after to say the detainees were being freed. The three men finally left custody at 7:45 p.m. local time, and by 8:42 p.m. they were flying home. As soon as the plane cleared North Korean airspace, Pompeo called President Donald Trump to inform him of the releases with the men all apparently in good health; then other officials notified their families. Even before Pompeos plane had touched down for a stopover at Yokota Air Base in neighboring Japan, the president announced to the world by Twitter that the 3 wonderful gentlemen were free. They are the latest in a series of Americans to be held in North Korea for alleged anti-state activities in recent years, only to be freed during the visit of a high-level U.S. official or statesman. Their releases draw a line under an issue that had weighed on plans for a historic summit between Kim and Trump that will focus on North Koreas nuclear weapons. Were granting amnesty to the three detained Americans, the North Korean emissary told Pompeo at Pyongyangs Koryo Hotel, according to the senior U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the exchange. We issued the order to grant immediate amnesty to the detainees. Thats great, the secretary of state replied. The North Korean official then advised that the releases would follow a very brief ceremony which he described as more like a legal process. The official closed with a gentle warning for the U.S. to prevent a repeat: You should make care that they do not make the same mistakes again, the official said. This was a hard decision. Story continues The Trump administration has made clear it regarded the arrests as political motivated, and had been bitterly critical of North Koreas refusal to grant consular access to the three, other than a brief visit by a U.S. envoy last June. The envoy had repatriated college student Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster. Warmbier died in June 2017, days after he arrived back in the U.S. with severe brain damage. Since then, pressure to win the releases of the other three men, whom the administration has referred to as hostages, has intensified. Relatively little is known about the men, all Korean-Americans, and the circumstances in which they ended up in North Korean custody. Kim Dong Chul, a former Virginia resident who had reportedly run a company on North Koreas border with Russia, had been sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, who had both taught at a university in Pyongyang that was founded with donations from Christian groups, had been held for about one year and apparently had not been tried. Tony Kims son Sol Kim, a graduate student in California, is the only relative of the detainees to have appealed in public for their freedom. On learning of the release of Tony, who also uses the name Kim Sang-duk, his family expressed gratitude and credited Trump for engaging directly with North Korea. Washington and Pyongyang have remained in a state of war since the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War ended and do not have formal diplomatic ties, complicating efforts to handle the cases of American detainees. Typically, Swedish diplomats based in North Korea handle U.S. consular affairs. Pompeo, the most senior U.S. official to meet with a North Korean leader since 2000, was making his second visit to the isolated nation in five weeks and less than two weeks after becoming top diplomat. Some in Washington had expressed disappointment that Pompeos first trip, made in secret when he was still CIA director, did not win the freedom of the three captives. Pompeo said Wednesday he was thrilled the men were now out. Though were not quite back home yet, I welcomed them back, he said, recounting his first words with the men after they were freed. They were happy to be with us on this plane to be sure, he said. The three boarded under their own steam, when most of the U.S. delegation had already boarded the plane. They were seated with medical personnel in a curtained off area of the plane. After arriving at the stop in Japan, the men transferred to another plane with more medical facilities and were expected to land at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in the wee hours of Thursday, where Trump planned to greet them. A set of electric breast pumps for a nursing mom. (Photo: Getty Images) How many boobs do you have? That was a question asked of a nursing mother while she was waiting to board an American Airlines flight. And shes angry. Last weekend, Kelsey Myers was boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago with a carry-on, a personal item, breast milk, and a breast pump. At the gate, I was stopped by Daniel who told me I had too many items, she wrote in a Facebook post directed at American Airlines. I explained to him my breast pump is a medical device and the small cooler was breast milk. And he still told me I need to check my bag. Myers made sure to do her homework before heading to the airport so she didnt run into an issue like this, and she said she had read the airlines policy online and knew what was allowed. Myers was right. Normally your carry-on allowance is one bag, like a roller bag or something like that, and one personal item, which would be like a purse or a laptop bag, and that would be it. Thats what youre able to carry onboard the aircraft, American Airlines press representative Leslie Scott tells Yahoo Lifestyle. However, there are exceptions to the rule. There are exemptions for a couple of different things, and one of those would be a medical device, and we do consider a breast pump a medical device, Scott says. Unfortunately, the gate employee, Daniel, hadnt done his homework, and neither had his supervisor. He told me to step aside and said he was calling a supervisor, Myers continued, adding that the supervisor, who was identified as Juliette in the post, did not even ask me the situation, but instead immediately told me I need to check a bag, Myers wrote. Thats when things got aggressive. According to Myers, Juliette started yelling at her to check the bag. In a condescending tone, she screamed in front of about 50 people waiting to board the flight how many boobs do you have. I have never felt more harassed, disrespected and humiliated in my life. Story continues Eventually, Myers gave in and checked her carry-on (not her pump or milk). She said she was shocked that a supervisor would show such disrespect. American Airlines has acknowledged the mistake. It was a mistake on our part, Scott says. I am a former breastfeeding, traveling mom, so I know that its already difficult enough to be in that situation, and we have these policies in place to make it easier, not more difficult. Scott apologized on behalf of the company and promised that the airline would be reiterating the policy with our team members at every available opportunity so that it doesnt happen again. In an attempt to rectify the situation, Scott says they have reached out to Myers twice this week, apologized to her, and offered her a goodwill gesture of compensation. For Myers, the gesture is not enough. American Airlines has only offered me a $100 voucher. And the only person who has called to apologize is a call center rep, Myers tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Myers says she asked to speak to a supervisor involved in handling the situation at LAX but was shut down. I dont care about the money, but I do care about the individuals being held accountable, which is why I requested to speak with a supervisor at LAX. I want to do what I can to prevent other mothers or individuals with medical issues from having to go through what I went through. There is already plenty of stigma associated with breastfeeding, and this incident doesnt help. In 2001, only 43 percent of U.S. adults believed that women should have the right to breastfeed in public places. Other studies have found that restaurant and shopping center managers would either discourage breastfeeding anywhere in their facilities or suggest that breastfeeding mothers move to secluded areas to breastfeed. I think this message and the staffs behavior puts even more fear in nursing moms who have to travel, Myers says. I was already nervous to travel without my baby. I didnt want to leave him, worried I would forget pump parts, and worried about finding privacy in random places every two hours throughout the weekend to pump. Do I enjoy hiding in random rooms and bathrooms to pump? No, I do not. But I want to do what is best for my baby. While she cant change what happened, Myers is hoping her experience can spark change. I am glad this issue is being addressed and hope it will result in airline staff being properly trained to know the rules and respect all their customers, she says. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Even as President Donald Trump secured the release of three American hostages from North Korea by entering into negotiations with Kim Jong Un's rogue regime, at least five American citizens being held in Iran are seeing their hopes of release dashed. After Trump announced Tuesday that he was pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, leaders of both countries almost immediately began hurling insults. Irans speaker of parliament said that Trump doesnt have the mental capability to understand deal-making, and members of Trumps White House slammed Irans military action in the Middle East. Several experts and human rights advocates were quick to point out that the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Tehran will make it much harder to free U.S. detainees imprisoned in Iran. Trending: Argentine Sports Channel Makes Fun of Russias Gay Propaganda Ban Ahead of World Cup Of course its always hard to predict, but in 2015 when the nuclear deal was struck there was a prisoner swap deal, a prisoner exchange. Now the chance of that happening is zero. Any communication will be extremely strained, or maybe even cut off again as it was prior. So any limited means the U.S. had to negotiate while the deal was there, thats out the window, Jasmin Ramsey, a representative of the New York City-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, told Newsweek. "The international community should make sure it doesn't feed Iran's bad habit of taking dual and foreign nationals as political pawns. These people were sentenced without due process and the number one onus is on Iran to allow them to have fair and free trials, with lawyers of their choice and the ability to put forth a full defense. Iran heavily restricts the due process rights of these dual nationals, and Iran doesnt recognize dual citizenship. I cant imagine what those prisoners are feeling as this relationship deteriorates, Ramsey continued. Don't miss: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine Story continues At least five U.S. citizens are currently being held in Iran, but experts said there could be more because many families choose not to go public. A father and son, Baquer and Siamak Namazi, are two of the individuals currently jailed. Siamak, a dual U.S.-Iranian national, was working as the head of an oil and gas company when he was arrested in 2015. His father Baquer, also a dual citizen, was arrested a year later when he traveled to Iran to try and secure his sons release. He has undergone heart surgery while in captivity. Karan Vafadari, another dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was arrested along with his Iranian wife for allegedly serving alcohol in their home and hosting parties with members of both sexes. Other American captives include Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-U.S. citizen who was doing research for his doctorate degree at Princeton University when he was arrested in 2017, and Morad Tahbaz, an environmentalist detained on espionage charges. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The three Americans released by North Korea on Wednesday issued a statement thanking the U.S. government, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for securing their release. "We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," the three said in a statement released by the State Department. "We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world." (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by David Alexander) Archaeologists have discovered parts of an ancient Roman villa in the lost city of Pompeii and re-created a complete figure of a horse buried in volcanic matter for the very first time. The find was made after archaeologists spotted some clandestine tunnels in the area north of Pompeii. They began excavations in August to claim any lingering artifacts before looters got there first. Digging in at Civita Giuliana, a northern suburb of Pompeii, the team of experts found myriad, valuable imprints and items, including the extraordinary equine discovery. "The excavation has brought to light a series of service areas of a large, exceptionally well-preserved suburban villa, from which several artifacts have emerged (amphorae, kitchen utensils, part of a wooden bed that was used to make the calco) and a tomb," a statement by the Pompeii Archaeological Park said. Trending: Trump is Muellers Last Witness For Russia Probe, Giuliani Says Related: 14-inch spear made of tusk found inside mammoth skeleton in Siberia The Roman city suffered a catastrophic end during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., but the volcanic matter has preserved valuable imprints of its inhabitants last poses. Using plaster to cast the figures, scientists have been able to re-create many figures from the time. 05_11_Pompeii Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images Don't miss: Destiny 2 Spire of Stars - Power Level & How to Access the New Raid Parts of the villa in Civita Giuliana had previously been explored by archaeologists, though this largely included the area for the masters quarters. The latest dig unearthed the parts of the house where servants worked and lived, as well as outside areas such as the apparent barn, where the horse was found. The team that discovered the horse imprint estimates that the animal would have been larger than average and was likely a show horse, because traces of valuable ornaments were found near it. They are confident the animal is not a mule, donkey or any other kind of equine other than a horse because of the detailed mark that one of its ears left in the ground. Story continues The parks museum posted images of the finds, including some of the amphorae and the tomb, which was actually built after the eruption. This means some locals returned to live near the ruins in Civita Giuliana even after the city it was attached to perished. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek GettyImages-812796044 Seven people have been found dead at a home in Western Australia in the countrys worst mass shooting in two decades. The deadthree adults and four childrenwere discovered on a property in the rural town of Osmington, close to the southwestern tip of the country. The victims were found with gunshot wounds and two firearms were also recovered from the scene, the Associated Press reported. Trending: April 2018 Was Coldest in 20 Years, What Does This Mean for Climate Change? I can only describe it as a horrific situation, Western Australias Commissioner of Police Chris Dawson told reporters. We have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues at this point in time, he said, refusing to confirm reports of a murder-suicide. Osmington Google Maps Police have not released the names or ages of those killed, but Dawson said all most likely lived on the property where they were found, the BBC reported. Police are now trying to make contact with the relatives of the deceased. Don't miss: NASA Discovers Strange Magnetic Explosion in Earth's Turbulent Outer Atmosphere The bodies of two adults were located outside [and] five bodies were located inside a building on the rural property, Dawson said. It appears that gunshot wounds are there, but I don't want to go further than that, he said, describing the incident as a significant tragedy. Dawson said police were alerted to the shooting by a phone call from a male person, arriving at the scene just after 5 a.m. local time. Dawson did not comment on the identity of the caller. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, [and] the whole community, the police chief told reporters. Most popular: Facebook Russian Ads: 50 Fake Posts from the Newsfeed RTXHDPH David Gray/Reuters Story continues The incident marks the worst mass shooting in Australia since 35 people were killed and 18 wounded by a gunman in Tasmania in 1996. The Port Arthur Massacre prompted the introduction of strict gun laws, with the government buying back or confiscating around 1 million firearms and passing new laws to restrict access to weapons. American gun control proponents point to Australia as an example of what can be achieved through stricter legislation. Although the number of firearm-related homicides fell by 57 percent from 1990 to 2014, opponents say the murder rate was already falling before the Port Arthur Massacre and the impact of the new gun laws on this trend is limited. In the 18 years before Port Arthur, there were 13 gun-related mass killingsdefined as the killing of four or more people in one incidentresulting in more than 100 deaths. Since the new laws were introduced there has only been one, when a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself in 2014. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek He is receiving treatment for an aggressive, rarely-curable form of cancer. He is obtaining help for the treatments side effects. He is welcoming a stream of friends who share memories and say what needs to be said, without using the word goodbye. And amid all of this, 81-year-old Senator John McCain remains in the headlines, taking decisions he believes are vital for the well-being of his country and receiving a barrage of vitriol for his behaviour, some of it emanating from the White House. On Thursday, a White House official telephoned one of the former prisoner of wars daughters, Meghan McCain, to personally apologise after it emerged she had mocked the senators glioblastoma, a pernicious form of brain cancer. @kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren. Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018 Earlier in the week, Mr McCain, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he would not support Mr Trumps nomination for the next head of the CIA, Gina Haspel. Mr McCain, a longtime opponent of torture since he endured it during his five years as a prisoner in Vietnam, said Ms Haspel ought not to become head of Americas preeminent intelligence organisation as she has failed to explain her oversight of black-site CIA operations in which water-boarding and other such techniques were used during George W Bushs so-called war on terror. While Mr McCain was not present for her testimony, as he was receiving treatment in Arizona, he issued a statement saying Ms Haspel, the acting head of the CIA, ought not to get the vote to replace Mike Pompeo, the former director who is now Mr Trumps secretary of state. I believe Gina Haspel is a patriot who loves our country and has devoted her professional life to its service and defence, Mr McCain said. Story continues However, Ms Haspels role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination. After Mr McCain issued his statement, it emerged White House special assistant Kelly Sadler had sought to dismiss the veteran Republicans views with a joke. She reportedly told colleagues: It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway. A White House official told CNN that Ms Sadler, who deals with surrogates who speak on behalf of Mr Trump, meant the comment as a joke but one which fell flat. Reports said the phone call between Ms McCain and Ms Sadler did not go well, and that the senators family was deeply upset by the remark. Mr McCains wife, Cindy McCain, responded with a tweet to Ms Sadler, pointing out that my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren. Meghan McCain, who retweeted her mothers remark, further condemned Ms Sadlers remark. Appearing on ABC, she said: I dont understand what kind of environment youre working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job. She added: Dont feel bad for me or my family Theres so much more love and prayer and amazing energy being generated towards us. It is not how you die, it is how you live. This is not the first time that Mr McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, has been on the receiving ends of harsh words from either the Trump administration, or the president. During his campaign for the White House, Mr Trump, who received five draft deferrals for Vietnam, some of which were for purportedly having bone spurs, made fun of Mr McCains status as a US war hero. Hes not a war hero, Mr Trump said in 2015, of the man whose nickname was The Maverick when he challenged Mr Bush for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured. The relationship between the two men both of whom are frequently abrasive and with considerable egos - has remained tense. During the 2016 campaign, Mr McCain endorsed Mr Trump despite his reservations, because he himself was seeking re-election to the senate and realised he would need the backing of the former reality television stars supporters. Since Mr Trump has entered the White House, and as Mr McCain has entered what many suspect is the twilight of his political career, the senator has become more outspoken, and more concerned about doing the right thing, something he has acknowledged he failed to do when he agreed to have Tea Party-favourite Sarah Palin as his 2008 running mate. In a new memoir, The Restless Wave, he said he ought to have opted for his friend, former senator Joseph Lieberman. Mr Trump was furious in July last year after the Arizona senator voted against a measure that would have scrapped Mr Obamas landmark Affordable Care Act, something the president was determined to see consigned to the dustbin of history. A recent New York Times report on Mr McCain as he receives treatment and meets friends, said he had been leading conference calls with his staff in a strained voice, holding three-hour physical therapy sessions and ending most days glass of Absolut Elyx on ice. John knows hes in a very, very, very precarious situation, and yet hes still concerned about the state of the country, former vice president Joe Biden told the newspaper. We talked about how our international reputation is being damaged and we talked about the need for people to stand up and speak out. On Friday, Mr McCains office did not respond to requests for comment about Ms Sadlers comment or her apology. In a statement, the White House did not seek to deny she had made the remark, but added: We respect Senator McCains service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. Meghan McCain fired back against a White House aide who reportedly mocked and dismissed her father, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is battling brain cancer. Earlier this week, Sen. McCain, who announced in July 2017 that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, urged Senators to reject President Trumps nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel. It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, White House aide Kelly Sadler said in response to McCains opposition during a closed-door meeting of White House communications staffers on Thursday, according reports by multiple news outlets. I dont understand what kind of environment youre working in where that would be acceptable, and you can come to work the next day and still have a job, Meghan McCain said Friday on the View. Kelly, heres a little newsflash and this may be a bit intense for 11 oclock in the morning on a Friday but were all dying. Im dying, youre dying, were all dying, she added. I really feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it is not how you die. It is how you live. She said her father is doing really well right now. He has been receiving a stream of visitors from lawmakers and friends at his Arizona ranch. John McCains wife, Cindy, also responded to Sadler on Thursday. May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren, she said in a tweet to Sadler. @kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren. Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018 In another incident this week, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney appeared on Fox Business and mocked McCains history as a prisoner of war, saying torture worked on John. Thats why they call him Songbird John.' Fox News and Fox Business Network said they have since cut ties with McInerney, CNN reported. My fathers legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years, Meghan McCain said Friday. These people? Nothing burgers. Georgina Chapman, the Marchesa fashion designer and estranged wife of Harvey Weinstein, has spoken out for the first time since sexual misconduct allegations against her husband broke last year. In an interview with Vogue, Chapman said she didnt leave the house for five months after a flood of sexual harassment and assault claims poured in from actresses who had worked with Weinstein over the decades. I was so humiliated and so broken, Chapman said. I didnt think it was respectful to go out. I thought, Who am I to be parading around with all of this going on? Its still so very, very raw. I was walking up the stairs the other day and I stopped; it was like all the air had been punched out of my lungs. She continued: There was a part of me that was terribly naiveclearly, so naive. I have moments of rage, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief! And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? Weinstein has been accused by more than 50 women, including Uma Thurman, Lupita Nyongo, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek, of sexual assault, harassment and other inappropriate behavior. Weinstein, whose downfall sparked the wide spread of the #MeToo movement, has denied all allegations of non-consensual sexual contact. Chapman breaks her silence as others in Hollywood and in the fashion world rally around her. In the months after allegations against Weinstein broke, actresses everywhere stopped gracing red carpets in Marchesa, the fashion line Chapman co-owns. But Scarlett Johansson may have brought the unofficial protest to an end by showing up on the Met Gala red carpet in a Marchesa gown on Monday. I wore Marchesa because their clothes make women feel confident and beautiful, and it is my pleasure to support a brand created by two incredibly talented and important female designers, Johansson said in a statement. Vogue editor Anna Wintour commended Johanssons outfit choice during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Georgina is a brilliant designer and I dont think she should be blamed for her husbands behavior, she said. It was a great gesture of support on Scarletts part to wear a dress like that on such a public occasion. President Donald Trump revealed the date and location of his upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, announcing Thursday that they will meet in Singapore on June 12. In typical fashion, Trump first revealed the news on Twitter. The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th, he tweeted Thursday morning. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018 The details of the sit-down came two days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea to prepare for the meeting, which Trump noted on Tuesday as he withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them, Trump said in his speech at the White House that day. In fact, at this very moment, Secretary Pompeo is on his way to North Korea in preparation for my upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un. Plans are being made. Relationships are building. Some foreign policy experts worry that backing out of the Iran deal will make it harder for the Trump Administration to convince North Korea to enter into a deal with the U.S. But as TIME reported earlier this week, Trump and his aides think the decision will show North Korea that the United States wont accept any deal that would allow Kim to restart a nuclear program. Apple has helped find a new way of making aluminium that could revolutionise the way that iPhones and other products are made. The new technique completely eliminates greenhouse gases from the smelting process, in a discovery that it says is a "revolutionary" change in the way the key metal is made. Aluminium is one of the most important materials used by Apple: it is what just about every Apple product's case is made of. But that is a problem because Apple is committed to being as green as possible, and making the metal does a considerable amount of damage to the Earth and the environment. Now Apple has worked with other metal companies to develop the proprietary technique, which allows for the generation of "green" aluminium for the first ever time. Apple is committed to advancing technologies that are good for the planet and help protect it for generations to come, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO. We are proud to be part of this ambitious new project, and look forward to one day being able to use aluminium produced without direct greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing of our products. The smelting still relies on energy that could potentially be generated using the burning of fossil fuels. But it gets rid of the greenhouse gases that are usually created by the process itself. Aluminium has been mass produced in much the same way since it was 1886. That method was pioneered by Charles Hall, the founder of metals company Alcoa, whch along with Rio Tinto and Apple helped develop the process. Ever since then, aluminium has been made by hitting alumina with a strong electric current, removing the oxygen. But the material used to do that burns in the process, and releases considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. The new technique, discovered by Alcoa, uses a completely new process that replaces the carbon with a different, secret material. That material produces only oxygen when it burns, vastly limiting the environmental impact. Story continues Apple brought Alcoa together with Rio Tinto to develop the technique and bring it to the market. They have now formed a new company called Elysis that will develop the technology for wide-scale use. If that can happen, then it could cut out the greenhouses gases released by the smelting process around the world. That could vastly reduce the environmental impact of the creation of iPhones, other Apple products and everything else that relies on the important metal. An Arizona woman has been accused of stalking a man she met online after bombarding him with 65,000 text messages, breaking into his home and threatening to kill him. Jacqueline Ades, 31, broke into the man's house while he was out of town, police said, and was caught on his home surveillance system. When officers arrived at the house, they found Ades in the bath. A local ABC-affiliate reported that a large butcher's knife was found in her car. She was arrested and charged with trespassing but less than a month later turned up at the man's workplace and demanded to be let in. The local business, which has not been named, reported the disturbance. When police arrived, Ades was acting irrationally and claiming to be the wife of the owner. Trending: Dog Allegedly Shoots Owner with Gun, Cries Because The Dogs a Big Wuss Related: Woman dies after emergency responders mocked her call for an ambulance But it far from being married, the pair reportedly only dated once, according to the victim. Following their date, Ades sent around 500 text messages per day. 05_11_Arizona_police John Moore/Getty Images Don't miss: North Korean Waitresses Who 'Escaped' Say They Were Actually Kidnapped By South "Don't ever try to leave me, Ades allegedly pleaded in one message 3TV/CBS 5 reported. I'll kill you... I don't wanna be a murderer!" "I hope you die you... rotten filthy Jew," Ades reportedly wrote, in another attempt to coax a positive response out of the man. "I'm like the new Hitler...man was a genius." Speaking to media after her arrest, Ades confirmed that she had met the man online and that she felt he was the healing angel that a psychic told her to expect. Story continues "I felt like I met my soulmate and everything was just the way it was, she said, according to ABC15. I thought we would do what everybody else did and we would just like get married and everything would be fine, but that's not what happened," Ades said. Most popular: Destiny 2' All Sleeper Node Locations on Mars to Get Sleeper Simulant Exotic The woman refused to ask questions about her trespassing and threatening texts, which reportedly included: I want to wear your body parts" and also "bathe in your blood." She denied she was ever planning on hurting the man, adding: I just want to love him so much, that's it. And if he doesnt like it then Ill go home and Ill love my ex-boyfriend. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek On May 8, pro-democracy protester Nikol Pashinyan was appointed interim Prime Minister of Armenia, the tiny Moscow-friendly former Soviet state bordering Turkey, Georgia, Iran and Azerbaijan. Pashinyan, 42, has been praised for staging a peaceful revolution to topple a long-term leader. Now he must grapple with the reality of governing in Russias shadow. Rabble rouser Pashinyan first received attention as a student journalist in the 1990s, railing against corruption and an entrenched elite. He later founded and edited the countrys leading opposition newspaper and was briefly imprisoned in 2009 for his involvement in street protests. Pashinyan went on to found his own party, Civil Contract, which was elected to parliament as part of an opposition coalition in 2017. Velvet revolt In April, Pashinyan led 10 days of peaceful demonstrations across the country against Serzh Sargsyan, who was appointed Prime Minister after spending a decade as President. Protesters said Sargsyan, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, had abused the system to cling to power. Armenias velvet revolution came to a head on the eve of April 24, Genocide Remembrance Day. Sargsyan resigned, admitting, I was wrong. Two weeks later, parliament elected Pashinyan Prime Minister. Open questions Although Russia said intervening in the mass protests would be inappropriate and praised Sargsyan for resigning, it is unclear whether the Kremlin will warm to the self-styled revolutionary who now leads the country. With a population of just 2.9 million, Armenia depends heavily on Russia for economic support and security, as it is locked in a decades-old conflict with Azerbaijan over disputed territories. But left-leaning Pashinyan may be more inclined to forge links with the E.U., a move that would likely displease Putin. Pro-democracy activists will hope that Armenias revolution does not go the bloody way of those in exSoviet states like Georgia and Ukraine. Yerevan (AFP) - New Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was swept to power this week on the back of popular protests, said Thursday he had sacked the heads of the country's police and security service. The country's defence and finance ministers earlier said they would not serve in a new government, which has to be formed within a fortnight of the prime minister's election. "I've just signed a statement to the president about relieving the police chief Vladimir Gasparyan and security service head Georgi Kutoyan of their duties," the politician wrote on his Facebook page. Yerevan's deputy police chief Valeri Osipyan, who took part in negotiations with the organisers of the recent street protests, was nominated to lead the country's police force. Pashinyan underlined the symbolism of the appointment. "During the demonstrations, we were on a different side of the barricade from Valeri Osipyan. I decided... that we will be on the same side," he wrote. Artur Vanetsyan, who is currently head of the security services in the Armenian capital, was appointed to the national role. "The National Security Service must perform a serious function in the fight against corruption, which we must wipe out very quickly from Armenia," the prime minister said as he announced the personnel change. Armenia's parliament elected Pashinyan this week after he spearheaded weeks of mass protests against the ruling party, transforming the country's political landscape. Critics accused longtime leader Serzh Sarkisian and his Republican party of corruption, being under the influence of powerful oligarchs and of failing to tackle widespread poverty. The hugely popular Pashinyan had in recent weeks piled pressure on the Republicans through an unprecedented campaign of civil disobedience, leading to Sarkisian's shock resignation, a week after he shifted to the newly-empowered role of prime minister after serving for 10 years as president. Pashinyan said ahead of the vote that he would work to eradicate corruption and ensure "a normal life in the country". Heres a look at some of the companies the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you. AT&T (T) tops our list. Reuters says CEO Randall Stephenson just put out a memo to employees, calling the hiring of Michael Cohen a big mistake. The Washington Post says AT&Ts $600K deal with Cohen, specified that the presidents personal lawyer would advise the company on its $85B merger with Time Warner. Barclays (BCS) CEO Jes Staley is getting slapped with a hefty fine after trying to uncover a whistleblower. British regulators are ordering him to pay over $870K for breaching conduct rules that protect informants. The bank is expected to impose further fines on Staley today. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is putting its money where its mouth isnt. CNBC reports the bank is increasing its focus on electronic trading by naming a new head of global cash execution. The move comes after JPM reported 99% of all equities orders were electronic, which are far cheaper to execute than voice orders. Apple (AAPL) is opting out of sharing a key figure in its earnings report its overseas cash stockpile. Bloomberg reports tech titans Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle have all left the number out of their quarterly reports. Tax experts say the move makes sense but could make it harder to gauge how Trumps corporate tax change impacts American companies. Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: Getty Images Mistakes were made, America. AT&T circulated a memo to employees Friday that called its $600,000 payment to a shell company set up by Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange for political influence a big mistake. To be clear, everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in an internal memo obtained by Reuters. But the fact is, our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment. Stephenson also said that the companys chief lobbyist, Bob Quinn, was stepping down. AT&Ts mea culpa comes close on the heels of one issued by Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan, whose pharmaceutical firm was revealed to have paid Cohen $1.2 million for an insider ticket to Trumpworld. We made a mistake in entering into this engagement and, as a consequence, are being criticized by a world that expects more from us, Narasimhan wrote on Friday. In his own letter to his employees, Narasimhan, who became CEO after the payments to Cohens Essential Consultants had been set up, vented about the personal toll the scandal was exacting in a way that seemed ripe for parody in a South Park episode. Personally and for my family, yesterday was also a difficult day, as unfounded stories spread through the U.S. news. While I was not involved with any aspect of this situation, the facts did not matter. I went to sleep frustrated and tired, Narasimhan wrote, according to the letter, obtained by Politico. While these payments and the subsequent regrets may be news to most Americans, for special counsel Robert Mueller, they have been known for months. Muellers team of investigators questioned officials at AT&T and Novartis about their arrangement with Cohen last November, giving the CEOs ample time to craft their statements to the public. One day of atonement earlier, Town & Country magazine tried to make amends to Monica Lewinsky after it was revealed that the publication had disinvited her to its annual philanthropic summit after Bill Clinton said he would attend. Story continues We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled. TOWN&COUNTRY (@TandCmag) May 10, 2018 Even before this busy week in the woodshed, the corporate apology routine had become all too common in 2018. In fact, it seems like every time one turns on the television or hops online, another admission from a company is there waiting. In the wake of embarrassing disclosures about how Facebook spread Russian propaganda during the 2016 election campaign, the company took out an ad promising to do more to keep you safe and protect your privacy. Wells Fargos new apology ad follows a script eerily familiar to Facebooks. It attempts to remind consumers about the good old days of the brand, briefly acknowledge recent shortcomings which in the banks case includes setting up millions of fraudulent accounts to meet sales goals and then declare the crisis over. Its a new day at Wells Fargo! the ad concludes. Starbucks had its time in the barrel after a manager at a Philadelphia store called police on two African-American men who asked to use the restroom. In addition to the requisite apology, Starbucks will close all of its 8,000 stores on May 29 for an afternoon of sensitivity training. We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/suUsytXHks Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 14, 2018 Do these apologies work in helping foster forgiveness? The answer likely depends on the speed, context and sentiment of a given redress. The barrage of apologies can be numbing. In just the last week, Sen. John McCain and his family have received apologies from Sen. Orrin Hatch, who criticized the cancer-stricken Republican Tuesday over his desire to keep Trump from attending his funeral. Hes heard regrets expressed by Fox Business host Charles Payne after a guest on his show, retired Air Force Lt. Gen.Thomas McInerney, falsely claimed that McCain had broken under torture as a prisoner of war. And his daughter Meghan fielded an apology call from White House special assistant Kelly Sadler, who had joked at a meeting that McCains opposition to CIA nominee Gina Haspel doesnt matter, hes dying anyway. Shortly after the remark was reported, McCains wife, Cindy, responded on Twitter. @kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren. Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018 Even after the apology, Meghan McCain wondered aloud why Sadler still had a job at the White House. Perhaps thats because Trump, Sadlers boss, is no fan of apologies. This, after all, is the man who once said of McCain, Hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Simply put, for some brands, an apology is a matter of corporate survival. For others, not apologizing for anything is the brand itself. The White House/Trump never apologize. They do tell reporters/others they should, frequently. https://t.co/UzE1DlaLoQ Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 11, 2018 Read more from Yahoo News: Washington (AFP) - Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg on Wednesday emphasized the importance of free trade agreements for the aerospace giant -- deals under scrutiny by President Donald Trump's administration. Muilenberg, speaking at a meeting of The Economic Club of Washington, said that his company is a major US job generator and exporter. "We have about 90 percent of our manufacturing here in the US. We sell about 70 percent of our products outside the US," he said. The aerospace industry is a leading US exporter, contributing towards a trade surplus. "So we need trade agreements that allow us to compete globally, to sell globally, and that is a part of creating manufacturing jobs," he said. The Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs are not currently affecting Boeing sales. "We have a combination of domestic and international suppliers," he said. "But this is something we are watching." On March 8, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports in the name of national security. But on April 30 Trump said he was holding off the levies, offering a 30-day reprieve to major metals exporters Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Regarding China, the United States has threatened tariffs targeting $150 billion in Chinese imports, while China has warned $50 billion in US goods are in the firing line. Trump has long accused China of using unfair practices to gain an advantage over US exporters, thus costing US jobs. | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Panel of ministers has cleared winning bid for Air India; two bidders had put in financial bids: DIPAM Secretary. NEWSALERT-AFGHAN-EXPLOSION Witnesses report explosion in a mosque in northern Afghanistan after a Friday prayer service leaves several casualties. (AP)Witnesses report explosion in a mosque in northern Afghanistan after a Friday prayer service leaves several casualties. (AP) AMS Sensex surges 381.23 pts to end at 60,059.06; Nifty jumps 104.85 pts to record 17,895.20. Boris Johnson has challenged the US to come up with a new solution for de-escalating tensions in the Middle East following Donald Trumps decision to pull America out of the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday night. The Foreign Secretary said Britain had no intention in walking away from the agreement, which has seen Iran reportedly relinquish 95 percent of its uranium stockpile and open the country up to regular inspections from international experts. In exchange, tough sanctions on Tehrans financial and oil industries were lifted. It comes after President Trump described the 2015 agreement, reached by David Cameron, Barack Obama and other world leaders as defective at its core, as he confirmed that America would be withdrawing. The decision confirms the worst fears of Western leaders, who spent more than 13 years working to prevent from Iran from pushing forward with its nuclear programme. Following the major setback, Mr Johnson said that the Government had done its utmost to uphold the deal, adding that Mr Trumps decision made no difference to UK policy. Deeply regret US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. UK remains strongly committed to the JCPoA, and will work with E3 partners and the other parties to the deal to maintain it. Await more detail on US plan. Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 8, 2018 He added it was incumbent on them [the US administration] to come up with a solution, amid fears that a failure to uphold the agreement between the remaining partners could see Iran restart its nuclear programme. Meanwhile, Theresa May has told MPs that Britain is working with its European allies to address the concerns raised by Mr Trump, including Irans development of ballistic missiles. Speaking during Prime Ministers Questions, she said: "We continue to believe that the Iran nuclear deal was an important step forward in helping to keep the world safe. Story continues "There are other issues that need to be worked on. The Foreign Secretary and I will be continuing to work on those with our European and other allies. I have been very clear in a number of conversations with the President of United States about the belief of the United Kingdom that the JCPOA, the nuclear deal with Iran, should stay. "We accept that there are other issues in relation to the behaviour of Iran that need to be dealt with - ballistic missiles, the question of what would happen at the sunset clause at the end of the nuclear deal, and the destabilising activity of Iran in the region. "Those issues need to be addressed and we are working with our European and other allies to do just that." Alistair Burt, the Middle East Minister said that it was up to the remaining partners to 'de-escalate tensions' in the Middle East They were joined by Alistair Burt, the Middle East Minister, who said that it was up to the UK and its allies to de-escalate tensions in the region. On Tuesday night, Britain, France and Germany condemned the move in a joint statement, whilst Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, warned that his country could restart its uranian programme if the deal could not be maintained with the remaining parties. Asked whether Mr Trumps decision meant that it was inevitable the deal would collapse, Mr Burt said that the measured response from Iran showed that the agreement could be salvaged. Its the determination of all the other parties to keep the agreement in place and make sure it works and seeks to de-escalate tensions, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. Yes we now have to work with a different position to that of the President of the United States, but there are other parties to this, other parties in the region. We believe very firmly that having that nuclear deal, which the Iranians have stuck to, whatever its origins may have been, meant that we could put that issue to one side and focus on the other issues in the region. Iran nuclear deal | Key details Discussing Britains efforts to change Mr Trumps mind, Mr Burt also admitted that it was clear that the President had not listened, adding that efforts by Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel had failed. But now we have got to seek to persuade him and others there other ways of tackling the challenges he has set out, he continued. We regret the decision of the United States, we understand the concerns that they have, and we continue to work on those. The area is alive with binary confrontations now. We believe that the best way to stop them is not to minimise the concerns that people have...but also to use whatever building blocks you have after years of negotiation over the nuclear deal. It came after Mr Trump reversed the work completed under his predecessor Barack Obama, announcing on Tuesday evening that the agreement would not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran nuclear deal | Related content The US will now reimpose sanctions in the Iranian regime, in a move welcomed by Israel and a number of the Gulf states which have long warned against the deal. The re-imposition of sanctions will come into effect between three and six months from now. It includes sanctions on Iranian oil exports, the country's central bank, and Iranian businesses. European companies with significant presences in the US could be caught up if they do not curtail business in Iran before the sanctions come into effect. Iran has been accused of failing to be honest about its nuclear ambitions while supporting terrorist groups and acting in an increasingly hostile way across the Middle East. Front Bench promotion - end of article LONDON (Reuters) - Britain supports Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, Prime Minister Theresa May told her Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday. Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time in the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries. "The Prime Minister condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces, and said we strongly support Israels right to defend itself against Iranian aggression," May's office said in a statement. The confrontation came two days after the United States announced its withdrawal, with Israel's encouragement, from a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran. Netanyahu said Israel's air strikes were appropriate because Iran had "crossed a red line". The British statement said May and Netanyahu "agreed it was vital for the international community to continue working together to counter Irans destabilizing regional activity, and for Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks". The British statement added that May had "reiterated our position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon". (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Navdeep Bains said it was the first time has been asked to take his turban off while travelling in the US: AFP/Getty A Canadian government minister has said he was repeatedly told to take off his turban at Detroit airport by a security agent in what he branded a discriminatory security check. Navdeep Bainss saga caused a minor diplomatic incident, prompting Canada to complain to US officials and officials from the Trump administration to release an apology. Mr Bains, the minister of innovation, science and economic development, was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already gone through security checks when the incident took place. I went through all the security checks without revealing my identity as a minister, he told online Canadian newspaper La Presse on Thursday. I did it knowingly, as is my habit, to understand better what ordinary people are going through when they sometimes have trouble getting along with people in a position of authority. The minister said at first he managed to go through the metal detector without experiencing any problems but was then asked to go through an additional security process due to his turban. He said an agent asked him to go through another screening but the machine was not working properly. After the mechanism emitted a warning sound he was asked to take off his turban by a security officer. I asked him why I had to take off my turban since the metal detector had worked well. I will never be asked to take my clothes off. Its the same thing. Its a piece of linen, he recalled. In the Sikh religion men are required to wear the turban. The US amended its travel policy in 2007 permitting Sikhs to keep turbans on while going through the security inspection process. Mr Bains said that after passing a second test he was allowed to continue but he was again approached when he got to the boarding gate. Less than 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart he said a security guard approached him to say he had to go back to security because protocol had not been followed. Yet again he asked him to take off the turban. Story continues I politely replied that I did not represent a security threat, and that I had passed all security checks. He then asked for my name and identification. I reluctantly handed him my diplomatic passport. Mr Bains said he was then allowed to board the plane. He said it was the first time has been asked to take his turban off while travelling in the US. After the incident, Mr Bains complained to Canadas foreign minister and officials in Ottawa then got in touch with the US Embassy there and officials in Washington. Undersecretaries for both the homeland security and transportation departments apologised to Canada on behalf of the US government for what had happened. Barcelona (AFP) - Catalonia's parliament will start debating Saturday on whether to appoint staunch independence supporter Quim Torra as regional president, after deposed leader Carles Puigdemont stepped aside from the running. This will be the first major step forward in forming a regional government after months of political limbo following a failed independence bid by Catalonia's separatist leaders last October. Torra, a 55-year-old father-of-three, is a dyed-in-the-wool independence advocate cut from the same cloth as Puigdemont who has tasked him with continuing his fight with Spain's central government to achieve independence, in a sign that the secession crisis is far from over. In an interview with Catalan television TV3, Torra said he would adorn the regional government building in central Barcelona with a yellow ribbon, the colour used by separatists to protest on behalf of nine leaders held in jail on rebellion charges. He added his government would march on with its "process of construction of a republic." Lawmakers are expected to vote on his candidacy at the end of the debate, which has been scheduled for Saturday, the regional parliament said in a statement. Torra needs an absolute majority to get through, and if he does not, he will get another opportunity in a second round, likely to take place on Monday, where he will only need a simple majority. There are currently 70 lawmakers in the regional parliament who are pro-independence, against 65 who are not. But four of the 70 are from the radical anti-capitalist, separatist CUP party which has said it will vote for Puigdemont -- and no one else. If they decide to abstain, he will scrape through in the second round with a simple majority. But if they vote against, he will not succeed. - Staunchly pro-independence - Catalonia has been in political limbo since Spain's conservative central government imposed direct rule on the semi-autonomous region after it unilaterally declared independence on October 27. Story continues The declaration came just weeks after Catalan separatist authorities held a referendum despite a court ban, which was marred by police violence as security forces tried to stop people from voting. On October 27, Madrid sacked Puigdemont and his entire cabinet, and called regional elections in December which separatist parties won again. But since then, every candidate picked by the separatist camp has fallen flat. Puigdemont is abroad in self-exile and faces jail if he returns, while other candidates such as civic leader Jordi Sanchez are in prison, charged with rebellion for their role in the independence drive. Fresh polls will be triggered if a new leader is not elected by May 22. Torra is a newcomer to politics. After a long career with the Swiss insurance firm Winterthur, Torra used a severance package to set up a publishing house in 2008. There he specialised in reviving texts by Catalan journalists from the civil war and Francisco Franco's dictatorship, which severely repressed Catalonia among other regions. Until 2015 he also managed a cultural centre in Barcelona's El Born district which became notorious for pushing for independence. - Puigdemont pulls the strings - Puigdemont insists the situation is "temporary," implying that Torra may one day make way for him. As such, Ines Arrimadas, the Catalan head of centre-right, anti-independence party Ciudadanos, labelled him Puigdemont's "puppet" on Friday. "He is the most radical that Puigdemont could find and the only one who voluntarily accepted to be the puppet of Mr Puigdemont," she told reporters. Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium just days after being sacked by Madrid, was detained in Germany in March after Spain issued a European arrest warrant against him. Madrid wants to extradite him to Spain to try him on charges of rebellion -- which carries up to 30 years in prison -- and misuse of public funds for his role in the secession drive. But a German court rejected extraditing him for rebellion, and is still deliberating whether to send him back for the lesser charge of misusing funds. Santiago (AFP) - Around 30 Chilean bishops have begun arriving in Rome for what is widely expected to be a dressing-down by Pope Francis over years of sexual abuse within the Chilean Church. The bishops were joining Francis at the Vatican "with humility and hope," the Chilean Bishops Conference said Thursday, ahead of talks beginning Monday that are likely to result in a major shake-up of the Chilean hierarchy. Francis summoned the bishops to Rome in an April 12 letter saying he intended to discuss an investigation into an alleged cover-up by Bishop Juan Barros of abuse by pedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. He requested their assistance in finding measures "to repair the scandal as much as possible and restore justice." One of those accused of the cover-up, Andres Arteaga, the auxiliary bishop of Santiago, will not be attending, the Episcopal Conference said in its statement, citing health reasons. Media reports in Santiago said neither would Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, a member of the powerful Vatican C9 committee tasked with advising Francis on Vatican reform. Errazuriz stands accused by victims of ignoring repeated complaints against Karadima. - Signal of Change - "The pope is seeking to send a signal of change, otherwise he would not summon us to Rome. This is not to pay homage or to give us a pat on the back," Bishop Luis Infanti of the diocese of Aysen, told Chile's La Tercera newspaper. "What I forsee is a great shake-up in the Chilean Church, for example, that bishops are removed....and that it gives a new course to the Church in Chile," Aysen said. The series of meetings provide an opportunity for Francis to repair some of the damage done during his visit to Chile in January, which turned into a media fiasco after he said he was convinced of Barros' innocence and demanded "proof" of abuse before he would speak out against him. Story continues He later had to apologize to the victims and last month admitted "grave mistakes" after reading a 2,300-page report on the abuse in Chile. The report included the testimony of 64 people gathered in Santiago and New York by renowned Vatican investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna. Around 80 Chilean clergymen have been involved in sexual abuse cases in recent years, according to a victims' association. The 81-year-old pontiff, who hosted three of Karadima's victims at his Vatican residence in April, acknowledged he had made "grave mistakes in my perception of the situation." But the pope's complaints of a lack of "truthful and balanced information" which led to his misstep has put the spotlight on the Papal Nuncio in Santiago, Ivo Scapolo, and Errazuriz. Vatican watchers say they are likely to be sanctioned, as well as Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezatti, who also ignored complaints against Karadima. "We reiterate our union with Pope Francis in the pain and shame expressed against crimes committed against children and adults in ecclesial environments," the Conference said in a statement. One of Karadima's victims, Jose Andres Murillo, said he had told the pope in his audience how important it was to understand that sexual abuse was "abuse of power" and "the need to take responsibility...not just forgiveness." Chilean church watchers say the pope has to act to remove Barros from his duties and order the reorganization of the local hierarchy. - 'Laboratory' - Francis' letter to the bishops "prepares for measures going much further than the departure of Barros," Cristian Parker of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Santiago, told AFP. "The pope will have to take measures concerning all the bishops and the structures of the Church, so that in future he will be sure that the channels of communication are reliable." And "that will provoke a sort of earthquake in the Church in Chile, especially in the hierarchy," Parker said. "Chile is currently a laboratory in which Francis is risking part of his credibility," said Jose Manuel Vidal, a Spanish Vatican watcher and director of the online newspaper "Digital Religion." Local Catholic groups in Barros's diocese have since demanded that Francis remove the bishop for his ties to Karadima, who the Vatican in 2011 found guilty of abusing children in the 1980s and 1990s and ordered to retire to a life of penitence. Dave Majumdar Security, Europe The Center for the National Interest convened a panel of foreign policy experts to answer this very question. Russia, America and NATO: Where Are They Headed? Already President Trumps visit to Brussels for a NATO summit and the United Kingdom is engendering considerable controversy, with a further summit meeting on Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to come in Helsinki. How successful is Trumps course? Does NATO remain a vital component of American national security strategy? Or is it being downgraded by Trump? To examine such pressing questions, the Center for the National Interest convened a panel of foreign policy experts speaking at a lunchtime panel on July 12. While there was broad agreement that NATO is vital to Americas national security interests, not all of the panelists believe that it was wise for the United States to have extended the alliance into Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union itself in the aftermath of the Cold War. Indeed, to negotiate effectively with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the forthcoming Helsinki Summit on July 16, U.S. president Donald Trump will need to negotiate from a position of strength. To that end, the United States needs a strong NATO alliance behind it, Richard Burt, who served as ambassador to Germany and as an assistant secretary of state for Europe and Canada during the Reagan administration, said. A strong relationship with Germanythe linchpin of Europeis especially important. NATO is not an impediment to working with the Russians, it is a precondition, Burt said. NATO is essential to U.S. national interests, Dimitri Simes, president and CEO of the Center for the National Interest, said during the panel discussion in Washington D.C. With all of its imperfections, NATO is a key component of American power. And to give up this component would be reckless especially if there is no overriding need. Nevertheless, NATO can also be problematic for American interestsas any such alliance structure can be for its principal guarantor. Simes noted that if one looks back to the ancient world--specifically, Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War--smaller allies can often draw a great power into conflict through reckless and self-serving actions. As Athens continued to expand its alliance structure, some of its new allies acted on their own parochial interests and contributed to war with rival great power Sparta. Alliances can greatly enhance your power and credibility, Simes said. But unless you are careful and analytical, they can also provoke wars. Go back to the Peloponnesian War, thats how that war started. Story continues Pushing the NATO alliance towards Russias borderstowards the suburbs of St. Petersburghas predictably drawn a strong reaction from Moscow, Simes said. While the Russian reaction does not necessarily make sense given Western intentions, MoscowSimes notedsees NATO moves in the Baltics as inherently threatening. It would be the equivalent of Russia holding exercises in Canada or Mexico if Moscow were allied to those nations. I dont need to tell you what the reaction in the United States would be, Simes said. Burt agreed that NATO is vital to American geopolitical interests. However, Burt said that NATO expansion became an end unto itself during the 1990s in the immediate aftermath of the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the collapse of the Soviet Union when the alliance was trying to find a new purpose for itself. Many Washington think-tanksparticularly the Atlantic Councildedicated themselves to inventing a new purpose for NATO during that period when the alliance was searching for relevance in the post-Cold War-era, Burt said. Thats when you make mistakes, Burt said. That has led to our current relationship with Russia. NATO expansion sort of became an end unto itself. It didnt have a strategic rationale as much as it had a democracy promotion rationale. According to Burt, NATO overreached. Had there been a coherent strategy, Burt said, the alliance would have figured out a place to draw a line on how far East the alliance should have expanded. Ultimately, NATO expansion pushed too far into what had been the former Soviet Union by crossing into Georgia and Ukraine by saying that those two states would eventually become part of the alliance during NATOs 2008 Bucharest Summit. In my mind, when George W. Bush went to Bucharest in 2007 and proposed the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia, that was a bridge too far, Burt said. Weve been dealing with the consequences since then. Burt suggested that Russian revanchism has provided NATO with a strategic purpose, which is to defend the alliance from military aggression. Nonetheless, the alliance is still dealing with the issue of freeriders, which President Donald Trump emphasized at the NATO summit in Brussels. It is unclear if the president will succeed in persuading European members of the alliance to raise their outlays as substantially as he hopes, but it seems very likely that the NATO allies will have to boost their defense expenditures in coming years to meet the agreed upon two percent of gross domestic product by 2024. It appears to me that we are coming to grips with that issue, Burt said. But one of the reasons that the United States made poor strategic choices during the 1990s is that foreign governments actively try to influence Washington via lobbying. There are numerous lobbying firms and think-tanks around operating in Washington that are paid by U.S. allies to further their own particular agendas. But those agendas often do not line up with American national interests: There is a lobbying problem in NATO, Burt said. Washington has become a bazaar. All of these countries want to influence our politics, so they all establish lobbying efforts and that does not lead to the most coherent decision making. Ambassador Kurt Volker, U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations and a former ambassador to NATO and executive director of the McCain Institute, took a different view. In Volkers view, Washington and NATO had a very deliberate and strategic policy to expand the alliance into the formerly Soviet-dominated Eastern and Central European states. I firmly believe that NATO enlargement has been a very good thing for all the right strategic rationales from the beginning, Volker said. These are countries that are afraid of Russia. Fundamentally, Volker said he believes that the problem lies with Russias loss of its empire and its desire to regain those lost lands. Putin, in Volkers view, hopes to rebuild Russia as a great power, seeing the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union as the 20th Centurys greatest geopolitical tragedy. Volker noted that Putin has been decrying a Western betrayal of Russia by enlarging NATO since the 2007 Munich Security conference, which was before Bush proposed to expand the alliance into Ukraine and Georgia. Thus, in Volkers view, the blame for the current U.S-Russia impasse lies with Russia. Where we go to under that is Russia under Putin concluding that is an unfair arrangement in the post-Cold War and it is going to try to reverse it, Volker said. Particularly to draw a line with Ukraine and Georgia, so it changed the terms and it invaded both countries. If one strips away, Trumps crude language, Volker said that the substance of the presidents messaging and policies when it comes to NATO are not all that dissimilar to previous U.S. administrations going back to President Bill Clinton. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Barack Obama had all at various times pleaded with Americas European allies to spend more on defense and to share the defense burden. When it comes to the Helsinki summit on Monday, the Russians, Simes indicated, are likely coming to the Helsinki summit with a mixture of confusion, hope and apprehension. Theyre confused because of all of us are confused about what constitutes U.S. foreign policy and what the Trump Administration is claiming to do, Simes said. I think theyre hopeful, not because they think Trump is an agent or they can control him or they can manipulate him, but they are hopeful because they think Trump maybe, just maybe, thinks the way they do. For the Russians, that would mean that Trump would frame U.S. national interest in the same way Moscowin a more narrow realpolitik fashion. Nonetheless, Simes said that the Russians understand that Trump wants to make America stronger. As such, squeezing the Germans to cut their energy ties to Moscow is something the Kremlin understands as being in Americas national interests even though it hurts Russia, Simes said, because it is a simple naked power move. In Burts view, the United States should take care not to alienate NATO allies such as Germany as it seeks to strengthen its hand because Washington needs a united alliance standing behind it as it heads to the Helsinki summit. Anybody who is interested, it would seem to me, in developing a constructive relationship with this current Russian regime would want the strongest possible relationship with NATO, and to add to that, the strongest possible relationship with Germany, Burt said. Volker does not expect that Trumps policy on Russia will be substantially different from his predecessors when he meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinkithus one should not expect the White House to recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea. If you look at how this is playing out, this is a familiar set of policies, Volker said. Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for the National Interest. Image: Reuters. Read full article By Pei Li and Adam Jourdan BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's biggest ride-sharing company apologized on Thursday over the killing of a passenger, apparently by her driver, and said it had to win back the trust of users after a "tragedy" that has sparked a widespread debate on Chinese social media. The young woman passenger was killed in Zhengzhou city last week, turning a spotlight on passenger safety as ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing, which is valued at $50 billion, looks to make a big push outside China's borders. Didi was "deeply saddened by and sorry about the tragedy", the company said in a statement, adding that it had apologized to the family of the 21-year-old flight attendant killed en route from the city's airport hotel to downtown. "We need to step up to win the trust of our users. Our responsibilities in this case are undeniable," Didi said in a statement to Reuters. The case poses a challenge for Didi, the dominant player in China's ride hailing market, as it takes on rivals such as Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] overseas. Didi's backers include Apple Inc and Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. Didi is the world's largest ride-hailing firm by number of rides, thanks to its commanding market share in China, where it has 450 million users. It completed more than 7.4 billion rides last year, almost double Uber's count. Uber sold its Chinese operations to Didi in 2016 in exchange for a 17.5 percent stake in the Chinese firm, which also made a $1 billion investment in Uber. Didi said it was looking for a male driver named Liu Zhenhua to assist with the investigation and was offering a reward of up to 1 million yuan ($157,629) to anyone with information on him. Reuters could not reach Liu for comment. It also said police were looking for the person suspected to have killed the woman and it would work closely with law enforcement authorities. Zhengzhou police in east-central Henan province did not comment directly on the killing, but urged people not to engage in disputes with drivers and to "be accompanied when taking rides at night" in a notice posted on social media. The killing has sparked heated debate on China's active social media, fast becoming the most talked about topic on microblog platform Weibo with many expressing safety fears. "Didi really needs to step up internal supervision; who is going to ensure our safety?" one user wrote on the platform. (Reporting by Pei Li and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Robert Birsel and Paul Tait) By Andrew Cawthorne and Andreina Aponte CARACAS (Reuters) - Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos predicted on Friday there would be "regime change" soon in neighboring Venezuela, which holds a controversial presidential election on May 20 likely to consolidate socialist rule. Santos, who has taken an increasingly tough line against President Nicolas Maduro as tens of thousands of Venezuelans cross the border to escape an economic crisis at home, was speaking at a meeting with businessmen in Budapest. "With a regime change, which will come and will come very soon, the Venezuelan economy, with a bit of good governance, will take off very fast," the centrist Santos said, without giving details of how such change could come about. Maduro, 55, is widely expected to win re-election in a vote which the mainstream opposition is boycotting and many foreign countries have condemned as unfair. Two of the opposition's most popular figures have been barred from standing, the election board and courts lean toward the government, and Maduro benefits from state giveaways to voters, a formidable party machine and a divided opposition. "The 'voting' in Venezuela on May 20th is being done only to provide a phony cover for a dictator," the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this week. "IMPERIALISTS, GO TO HELL!" Maduro says Washington and its "lackeys" in the region like Santos are bent on toppling socialism in Venezuela via a coup in order to take control of the OPEC nation's oil riches. "The imperialists have gone crazy," he said at a campaign rally in western Trujillo state on Friday. "They talk as if they are the owners of the world, the owners of Venezuela ... North American imperialism, take your orders and go to hell!" The former bus driver and foreign minister, who narrowly won election to replace Hugo Chavez in 2013, says Venezuela's election system is the cleanest in the world. "Neither rain, nor thunder nor lightning will stop elections going ahead in this sovereign republic," he added, to cheers from red-shirted supporters. Maduro's closest rival is Henri Falcon, a former Chavista who defected in 2010 but has now split from the main opposition to break a boycott and run for president. In Hungary, Santos lamented the suffering of Venezuelans, including hungry people crossing the border, blaming it on bad governance and corruption. But Venezuela, with the world's largest oil reserves, was Colombia's natural trade partner and would rise again, he told the businessmen. "If I had to bet, I would bet on Venezuela for sure." (Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Julia Symmes Cobba and Phil Berlowitz) President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen leaves the federal courthouse in New York City on April 26. He set up a shell corporation that took in money from corporate clients and paid out money to a porn star. (Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps personal lawyer accepted millions of dollars in consulting fees through a Delaware-registered dummy corporation that was used to funnel hush money to a porn star. What consulting, exactly, did Michael Cohen provide to entities including AT&T, a Swiss pharmaceutical giant and an investment firm run by the cousin of a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin? Did any of that money flow to Trump himself or pay off any of Trumps personal obligations? White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders referred questions about the shell company to Trumps outside lawyers. Chief outside lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he didnt know anything about it and suggested asking Cohens lawyer Stephen Ryan. And Ryan had little to say Wednesday. Sorry, Im not talking to reporters, he said before hanging up. Its unbelievable, said Robert Weissman, president of the open government group Public Citizen. We dont know enough, so I cant tell you if it was a bribe. But the facts that we have fit what bribes look like. One year to the day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey over the bureaus investigation into Russias efforts to get Trump elected, Cohen and his use of a limited liability company, Essential Consultants, is the latest branch of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation to become public. The Swiss drug company Novartis said in a statement that it had been contacted by Muellers office and cooperated fully. It had paid Cohen $1.2 million for health care consulting, even though it says it realized early on that Cohen had no expertise in that area. Columbus Nova, the investment bank run by the cousin of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, paid Cohen $500,000 for what it called consulting fees. The half-million dollars came into the exact same bank account that was used to pay my client, Michael Avenatti, who is representing Stephanie Clifford (aka porn actress Stormy Daniels), told HuffPost on Wednesday. Story continues Clifford is suing Cohen to break a hush agreement she signed days before the 2016 election promising not to talk about the affair she says she had with Trump a decade earlier. Her lawyer Avenatti has become one of Trumps fiercest public antagonists in recent months. He sparked an avalanche of news coverage about Cohens consulting fees by releasing a summary of the payments Tuesday night on the internet. On Twitter, Trumps favored medium of communication, Avenatti wrote: Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen have a lot of explaining to do. But Giuliani, who took charge of Trumps legal team last month, said whatever Cohen did with his shell company, it had nothing to do with Trump. I dont care what bank he used, he said, adding that Mueller had now gone far afield of his original mandate. This was supposed to be an investigation of whether there was Russian involvement in the election. This is not that. One prominent Republican lobbyist said it was fairly common for lawyers close to politicians who get elected to high office to find new clients who suddenly want to hire them. Its the relationship that counts, the lobbyist said on condition of anonymity. There are lots of lawyers who live off of knowing someone. Public Citizens Weismann agreed that who you know is often far more important than what you know in the world of lobbying and influence. Nevertheless, it was curious that Cohen did not use his existing business, Michael D. Cohen & Associates, to receive payments and instead used the LLC he formed in October 2016 to pay Daniels her $130,000 in hush money within days of its creation, Weismann said. You would not expect a payment for advice and counsel to be run through a newly invented shell company rather than a standing business, Weismann said. In my experience, it is not part of the practice of most law firms. Giuliani said it did not matter legally how Cohen chose to accept his payments. He added that even if Trumps monthly retainer payments flowed through the same business entity or even the same bank account, there was nothing illegal about it. Moreover, what Cohen did was Cohens business, Giuliani said. Theres not involvement of the president in any of that. We cant be responsible for what Michael Cohen is doing. Giuliani had once been the U.S. attorney for the same office that is now investigating Cohen. He later was elected mayor of New York. Giuliani did concede that he would not have been pleased if, as mayor, his personal lawyer had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to provide access to the mayors office. I wouldnt be happy about it. But I wouldnt be investigated for it. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Oleg V. Belyakov - AirTeamImages [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], via Wikimedia Commons Charlie Gao Security, Europe Or just misunderstood? Russia's Mig-29 Fighter: Moscow's Worst Combat Jet of All-Time? The MiG-29 is one of the worlds most prolific fighter jets. It currently serves in both NATO and CIS air forces. Its the fifth most common combat aircraft in the world, even the current president of Bulgarian used to fly them. Despite its popularity, the design has been considered to have some significant flaws and has seen a checkered combat record when it has gone up against Western designs. As Russias United Aircraft Corporation attempts to modernize and push the MiG-29 for sale again, under the new name MiG-35, it begs the question: Can the MiG-29 be saved? When the MiG-29 first entered the scene in the 1980s, it was conceived as a lower-end air-superiority fighter which could be procured in greater numbers at a lower cost, in contrast to the Su-27, which was considered to be the high-end solution. While the Su-27 Flanker didnt see any exports until the waning years of the Soviet Union, the MiG-29 was already earmarked for export when it was still in development. As such, the MiG lacked many advanced systems found in the Su-27. Recommended: A New Report Reveals Why There Won't Be Any 'New' F-22 Raptors Recommended: How an Old F-15 Might Kill Russias New Stealth Fighter Recommended: How China Plans to Win a War Against the U.S. Navy While the Su-27 featured an advanced computerized fly-by-wire system that allowed for an aerodynamically unstable airframe, the MiG-29 despite a similar layout of engine and wings did not have this, instead relying on a traditional system of hydraulically controlled control surfaces. The MiG-29 also packed a less powerful radar and had much less internal fuel relative to the Sukhoi. However, the two aircraft were similar in many aspects. Both had a focus on heat-seeking weaponry, with bulbous InfraRed Search and Track (IRST) sensors on the nose of both aircraft. These were integrated with the advanced thrust vectoring R-73 missile, which could be slaved to a helmet mounted sight which allowed a pilot to lock onto a target just by looking at it. This could make the MiG-29 very hard to beat in a close-in dogfight. Story continues Despite these similarities, the lower-end nature of the design limited the MiG-29s capability to conduct combat at beyond-visual-range (BVR). The lower power radar limited the planes ability to search for and lock targets at a range, and the plane only featured six weapons hardpoints. This initial version of the MiG-29 can be called the 9.12 version and was exported to Warsaw Pact countries. Later versions of the MiG-29 resolved some of these issues. The MiG-29S (9.13), built for domestic use featured an enhanced radar that could shoot the R-77 active-radar homing air-to-air missile and increased the number of weapons hardpoints to eight. Around the same time that these updates were being completed, the MiG-29s reputation was about to take a beating. While exact numbers are uncertain, the Iraqi MiG-29s (9.12s) didnt fare well against coalition air power during Operation Desert Storm. Eight years later, Yugoslavian MiG-29s (also 9.12s) also suffered significant losses when facing down NATO air power over the Balkans. While Russia scored a second wave of exports to African and Asian countries in the 1990s, mostly of the MiG-29SE type, a downgraded MiG-29S for export, the future of the MiG-29 around the world appears to be in danger. Most of the old Warsaw Pact MiG-29s are now in the hands of NATO countries, so naturally, they have no future in the service. Poland has kept their MiGs in service largely by developing their own cottage industry, which does overhauls and repairs. But even now Poland is looking to withdraw the MiG from service and will probably replace it with F-16s. The entire fleet was recently grounded after a fatal crash. For other export customers, the MiGs biggest rivals are variants of the Su-27. While so called second-generation MiG-29s such as the MiG-29M and MiG-29SMT (MiG-29M technology applied to 9.13 airframes) brought the level of avionics up to that of contemporary Su-27 variants, these updates have not come cheap. In addition, the SMT upgrades have mixed reviews of quality. Notably, the Algerian Air Force canceled its order of MiG-29SMTs in favor of more Su-30MKAs. Therein lies the problem for the MiG-29. While it can reach the same level of features as the Su-27, the cost of upgrading them to that level makes the unit cost approach that of upgraded variants of the Su-27. The cost of a Su-30MK2 was estimated to be around $35 to $37 million in 2013, and the cost of a MiG-35 is around $46 million. While recent variants of the Su-27 (such as the Su-35) have price tags around $80 million, these variants have AESA radars and advanced thrust vectoring engines, features which are removed from the MiG-35 for cost reasons. In combat, the Su-27 has consistently bested the MiG-29, going 5:0 against the type during the Eritrean-Ethiopian war. With roughly equal unit costs and similar capabilities, its a fairly simple decision to go with the aircraft that was designed from the outset to be better than the other and has proven it in combat. While the MiG-35 has won one large order with Egypt and a smaller one with Iraq, these numbers are dwarfed by the number of Sukhoi sales that have occurred within the same time period. This trend seems likely to continue into the future. Charlie Gao studied political and computer science at Grinnell College and is a frequent commentator on defense and national-security issues. Image: By Oleg V. Belyakov - AirTeamImages [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], via Wikimedia Commons Read full article A Chinese couple have been reunited with their long-lost son, 22 years after he was abducted from a construction site by his fathers co-worker. In 1996, Li Mingzhao and Chen Zhens 4-year-old son, known as Pengpeng, disappeared while he was at work with his father in the Maojian district in Shiyan, reported state-run CCTV. The devastated couple then embarked on a decades-long search that ate through their savings, but they never gave up on finding their boy. After enlisting the help of authorities and volunteers across various provinces in China, Li and Chen finally found Pengpeng last month after a match was confirmed through DNA testing. Trending: 2018 Summer Movies List: Release Dates for Deadpool 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and More Image 2 Screenshot A video released by police captures the moment on May 3 when the couple met Pengpeng for the first since he went missing 22 years ago. In the heartwarming clip, Li and Chen can be seen crying as they embraced their son. I remember this scar he had on the brow bone. He fell on the ground when he was two, Chen said. Don't miss: Michael Avenatti Reveals Whos Paying For His Stormy Daniels Work After Questions About Anti-Trump Financing On the day that Pengpeng went missing, Li said he took Pengpeng to the cement factory where he worked. At the factory a co-worker, called Yang, offered to look after Pengpeng. When Pengpeng failed to come home that evening, the couple went to Yangs house, only to discover that he had fled, taking their son with him. Li and Chen reported the abduction to authorities in Maojian and traveled to the neighboring Henan Province, Hubei Province and Shanxi Province to search for Pengpengbut their efforts were in vain. Li said that he kept the same mobile number that Pengpeng remembered before he went missing, in the hopes that their son would call. The couple also remained in the same small brick home for 22 years to ensure Pengpeng could come back and find them one day. Story continues Most popular: Watch: Fox News Analyst Resurfaces Fake 'Songbird' John McCain Nickname to Defend Torture Use In 2010, police captured Yang, the abductor, in Sichuan. However, authorities soon discovered that Pengpeng had been sold to another abductor, whose name was also Yang. According to a police statement, the second abductor also named Yang, who was caught this year, confessed to authorities that Pengpeng had been sold to a couple. Despite the setbacks, authorities continued their search for Pengpeng by enlisting the help of Lin Yuhui, a sketch artist. In April, police finally found a positive DNA match in a 26-year-old man, who now went by the surname Liu. During the reunion, Liu told his biological parents that he was married and has two children. We won't ask him to move back and live with us. We understand that he has his job and his own family in Hebei Province, Li told CCTV. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek WASHINGTON Sanctions that the Trump administration slapped on a Russian oligarch as part of an effort to punish the country for its hostile behavior in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria likely delayed the delivery of sewage pump equipment to the headquarters of the National Mall last month, forcing National Park Service employees to continue using portable toilets at work. The Russian in question is Viktor Vekselberg, the billionaire reportedly involved with $500,000 in payments to President Donald Trumps attorney Michael Cohen. HuffPost was alerted to toilet troubles at the National Mall and Memorial Parks headquarters last month by an Interior Department employee with knowledge of the situation. The employee said at the time that the agency was working to find a new distributor to obtain a pump after the Russian sanctions held up the original order. Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service, confirmed that the historic building, located just east of the Jefferson Memorial, has had ongoing issues with pumps in the buildings sewage pit. The pumps were replaced last summer, but burned out again in March, rendering the restrooms unusable. For weeks, employees had to use portable toilets or facilities in nearby buildings, Litterst said. The difficulties at the National Mall and Memorial Parks headquarters comes as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is pushing an energy- and infrastructure-focused agenda. He has repeatedly promised to address the ballooning $11.3 billion maintenance backlog at national parks. Portable toilets are pictured April 13 in the parking lot of the National Mall and Memorial Parks headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chris DAngelo/HuffPost) It appears the restrooms would have been up and running sooner had Sulzer, a Swiss industrial company that specializes in pump equipment, not gotten wrapped up in the Russia sanctions. On April 6, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs with ties to President Vladimir Putin and 12 companies those individuals control or own. Among those targeted was Vekselberg, the Ukrainian-born owner of Renova Group, an investment company that specializes in metals, energy and chemicals. Until recently, Renova held a majority stake in Sulzer. Story continues To obtain new pumps, the National Park Service hired Chesapeake Environmental Equipment, a company based in Forest Hill, Maryland, that distributes Sulzers products. An online summary of the $9,468 contract lists the purchase as Sewage Ejector Pumps For National Mall and Memorial Parks HQ Waste System. Initially, Litterst told HuffPost that NPS was obtaining parts from two suppliers. He later clarified that the agency only dealt with Chesapeake, which was getting parts from two suppliers. Reached by phone, Chesapeakes president, Jason North, immediately hung up. He and other company representatives did not respond to numerous subsequent calls and emails seeking comment. Litterst confirmed that Sulzer manufactures the pumps and system controls the park service received through Chesapeake. Asked specifically if sanctions imposed against Sulzer impacted the contractors ability to supply NPS the required parts in any way, Litterst said, Chesapeake Environmental Equipment provided the equipment we ordered, and did so within the requested time frame. He suggested HuffPost contact Chesapeake with questions about the contractors suppliers. After learning of the Treasurys actions against Vekselberg, Sulzer CEO Gregoire Poux-Guillaume stepped into crisis mode in order to come up with a plan to limit the impact to the companys U.S. operations, Bloomberg reported. And on April 12, Sulzer announced that it had acquired 5 million of its shares from Renova in order to make Renova a minority shareholder, thus freeing Sulzer from the sanctions. Sulzer said at the time that its activities have been considerably disrupted, but that it does not believe that its long-term performance will be affected. Christopher Scott, a U.S.-based attorney for Sulzer, told HuffPost that while the sanctions temporarily froze the companys assets in the U.S., he could not speak to how exactly it might have impacted its business with Chesapeake. Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, owner of industrial firm Renova Group, at a 2017 event in Moscow. (Photo: Alexander Shcherbak via Getty Images) NPSs contract with Chesapeake is dated March 19, roughly three weeks before Sulzer was ensnared in the sanctions. Litterest said the pump controls were delivered to headquarters on April 13 one day after Sulzer freed itself from the penalties. So while the sanctions likely were not the sole reason for a delay, they appear to have further slowed toilet repair at the park service building. The toilets at the headquarters building were back up and running April 20, and the portable toilets were removed from the headquarters parking lot this Tuesday, according to Litterst. In an April 6 release announcing sanctions against Vekselberg and other oligarchs, the Treasury Department noted that in 2016 Russian prosecutors stormed Renovas offices and arrested two top executives for bribing officials connected to a power generation project in Russia. Unrelated, the attorney representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, revealed this week that Trumps longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, received payments totaling about $500,000 from Columbus Nova, a U.S. affiliate of the Russian billionaires company. Special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly interviewed Vekselberg this year both about payments to Trumps lawyer and as part of the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, according to reports from CNN and The New York Times. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. A massive gray whale that was found near the Bay Bridge in San Francisco was likely killed by blunt force trauma from a ship, according to necropsy results from the Marine Mammal Center in California. With the help of the California Academy of Sciences the MMC performed a necropsy of the 44-foot-long female gray whale on Wednesday. The necropsy found that the whale had "significant bruising and hemorrhaging to blubber and muscle tissue" on one side of its body. The whale also had fractures and contusions that further suggested blunt force trauma, according to a release from the MMC. While examining the whale, researchers found "a very significant fracture along the cranium," Padraig Duignan, the chief research pathologist at the MMC, told Newsweek. "It would be like a massive concussion, and she probably lost consciousness right away," Duignan said about the whale. Trending: Every Bon Jovi Album, Ranked: Celebrating 'Slippery When Wet,' 'New Jersey,' and All the Rest "One of the challenges with whales, as opposed to other animals, is that they decompose rapidly," said Duignan. But the researchers were able to identify the likely cause of death in this particular whale about halfway through the examination, Barbie Halaska, a research assistant at MMC told Newsweek. The Coast Guard alerted the MMC to the whale that was seen floating below the Bay Bridge on Friday. The whale ended up stuck on rocks near Oakland Airport over the weekend and the MMC towed it Tuesday before the necropsy was performed Wednesday, Halaska said. The whale is the third to die in the area since early March. On March 9, a male gray whale was found on Angel Island, in the San Franciso Bay, and the MMC reported that the minimal contents in the whales stomach suggest it died from "severe malnutrition." Less than a month later on April 3, another whale was discovered. The MMC tweeted that the mammal "showed severe entanglement and orca trauma," that were likely contributors to its death. Story continues Don't miss: Argentine Sports Channel Makes Fun of Russias Gay Propaganda Ban Ahead of World Cup gray whale The Marine Mammal Center Gray whales are currently making their migration from the Baja area of California up to the colder regions along the northern West Coast and the Arctic. The migration usually begins in March and continues until the end of May, which puts whales on track to be passing the Bay Area right around this time of the month. Some whales even stop for part of their migration in Northern California near the Redwood National and State Parks, and some stay in the area for the summer, according to the National Park Service. Most popular: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine This female whale may have been feeding on the bottom of the shallow bay and surfaced into a ship. "The volume of ship traffic is really high," said Duignan. While all three of the whales died in a similar area, they all died of different causes and their deaths are not linked. As for this whale, its body will stay on the beach on Angel Island where it will it will decompose. "We can let it decompose naturally," Halaska said. "It's basically an area where nature can be allowed to take its course." This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek After the DOJ meeting, Rep. Devin Nunes said they had a "productive discussion." (Photo: Mark Wilson via Getty Images) WASHINGTON Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a prominent defender of President Donald Trump who has taken to threatening the Trump-appointed leadership at the Justice Department, got a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday about his subpoena for documents that government officials reportedly worry would put a top-secret intelligence source in danger. Nunes, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, met with Rosenstein at the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon. The issue on the table: Nunes request to see department documents as part of an investigation into what he alleges are abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FBI and intelligence officials warned the White House last week that the information Nunes was seeking could put a valuable intelligence source at risk, according to The Washington Post. The source has reportedly provided information to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told HuffPost that Nunes and Gowdy as well as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member on the intelligence committee had been invited to department headquarters to discuss the matter on Thursday. She said Justice officials were willing to consider ways to accommodate the inquiry into information as it relates to that source. Nunes has threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is recused from the Russia investigation, in contempt of Congress if the Justice Department fails to hand over the materials. Hed previously threatened to impeach Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray unless he got cooperation from the Justice Department. All three men are Republicans nominated to their current positions by Trump. In a statement after their meeting, Nunes and Gowdy said that they had a productive discussion with FBI, DOJ and Office of the Director of National Intelligence officials and that the officials committed to holding further discussions of these matters next week. Story continues Its unclear how this will end. Nunes now has the backing of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who told reporters that the latest request was wholly appropriate and completely within the scope of the investigation that has been going on a while with respect to FISA. CNN reported that the White House has been closely involved in discussions about the dispute. Schiff told CNN that he believes Republicans want to have a fight with the Justice Department. Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel investigation, is in a precarious position. The longtime Republican, who has come under repeated fire from Trump, has recently taken pains to praise the presidents approach to law and order. But in a fiery comment last week responding to news that a group of conservative lawmakers had drafted articles of impeachment against him, Rosenstein declared that the Justice Department would not be extorted. Certain unnamed people, Rosenstein said, have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time. The Justice Department, he said, would do whats required by the rule of law, and any kind of threats that anybody makes are not going to affect the way we do our job. Related Coverage GOP-Led House Panel Ends Its Russia Probe By Claiming To Clear Trump Rosenstein To Republicans: DOJ Will Not Be Extorted Reminder: GOP Target Rod Rosenstein Is A Lifelong Republican Trump Appointed Ryan Reilly is HuffPosts senior justice reporter, covering the Justice Department, federal law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The Arizona Diamondbacks have permission to search for a new stadium as early as 2022. (Getty Images) The Arizona Diamondbacks can officially start looking for a new home. The Maricopa County board of supervisors passed an agreement on Wednesday allowing the team to start looking for a new stadium in exchange for dropping its demand for the county to pay up to $187 million in stadium upgrades, the Arizona Republic reported on Wednesday. The Diamondbacks have occupied Chase Field since it opened in 1998, and signed a lease through 2027. Should the team find a new location within Maricopa County which is home to the greater Phoenix area the team can leave Chase Field without penalty in 2022. If the team leaves Arizona after 2022, the team would be required to pay penalties between $5 and $25 million, per the report. If a new stadium is built on tribal land, it would charge the same taxes currently charged at Chase Field. (W)e will do everything in our power to ensure a safe and friendly environment while being diligent in determining the best long-term stadium option for the D-Backs, Diamondbacks majority owner Ken Kendrick told the Arizona Republic. Our front office will continue to focus on our team on the field, the fan experience and the key role we play in the Arizona community. The team has been at odds with Maricopa County for years. The Diamondbacks sued the county last year in an effort to break the lease on the stadium, alleging that the county didnt save enough money to keep the stadium in good condition. The Arizona Republic reported in 2017 that MLB officials were so alarmed by recent equipment breakdowns at the stadium that they might require the team to leave Phoenix unless the government helped with stadium repairs. While many say its clear that the team will leave at the end of its current contract with Chase Field, if not sooner, supervisor Denny Barney said the main goal is to keep the team in the Phoenix area. The county, though, still isnt prepared to help build a new stadium. Wed love them to be in Chase Field, but we really want them to stay in Maricopa County because thats what the taxpayers bargained for, Barney told the Arizona Republic. We dont have the ability to put more money in the stadium nor will we build them a new stadium. If they can find something that will take them the next 20, 30, 40 years in Maricopa County outside of Chase Field, great. As long as theyre here thats our goal. More from Yahoo Sports: Terez Paylor: Jets rookies unlikely journey from bouncer to the NFL Jerry Jones hurt Dez Bryant, but he doesnt think it matters MLS team about to make $16M mistake with Wayne Rooney Did video game obsession lead to pitchers injury? Donald Trump has greeted three American hostages after their plane from North Korea touched down at an airbase outside Washington DC. Mr Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, boarded the plane carrying the detainees after it touched down at Joint Base Andrews in the early hours of Thursday morning. Speaking after they disembarked the plane together with Kim Dong Chul, Kim Sang Duk, Kim Hak-song, Mr Trump said: We want to thank Kim Jong-un. The three Americans formerly held hostage in North Korea next to President Donald Trump upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews (Reuters) The release was secured as part of ongoing diplomatic talks between the Trump administration and Kim Jong-un, which will culminate in an historic summit within the next month. A denuclearised Korean peninsula would be his proudest achievement as president if it could be achieved at the talks, Mr Trump said. Referring to the possibility of reaching a denuclearisation deal with North Korea, Mr Trump said: We will see if we can do something that people did not think was going to happen for many, many years and a lot of bad things could have happened in between. My proudest achievement will be this is part of it when we denuclearise that entire peninsula, he said, adding that he really believed Mr Kim wanted to bring his country into the real world. We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting, he said. Its a very important thing to all of us. I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful, Mr Trump added. The three men, one of whom had been detained for more than two-and-a-half years, travelled back from North Korea on a military medical plane accompanied by Mr Trumps secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. They had walked without assistance to the US plane that flew them out of Pyongyang, and their flight departed less than an hour after they left custody on what a North Korean official described as an amnesty granted personally by Mr Kim. A White House spokeswoman said they would be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in nearby Maryland for further medical evaluation. Story continues In a statement released by the State Department as the plane carrying them stopped over in Alaska, the three former detainees expressed deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home. We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world. Who are the rescued prisoners? Kim Dong Chul, a Korean-American missionary formerly of Fairfax, Virginia, and thought to be about 62, was sentenced in March 2016 to 10 years of hard labour for subversion. He admitted to committing unpardonable espionage under the direction of the US and South Korean governments and deeply apologised for his crimes, the Norths KCNA news agency claimed. Other Americans taken captive by North Korea have said after their release they were forced into making confessions. In an interview with CNN conducted in Pyongyang in January 2016, Mr Kim said he was arrested in October 2015 after spying on behalf of what he called South Korean conservative elements who approached him while he was working at a trading business in Rason, a city in northern North Korea near the Chinese border. A North Korean defector later said she had met Mr Kim in the US and that he had told church gatherings he was a missionary helping North Koreans. Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, spent a month teaching accounting at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) before he was detained at Pyongyang International Airport in April 2017 while trying to leave the country. The universitys chancellor said the arrest was not connected to PUST and that Mr Kim, 59, had been involved with other activities, including helping an orphanage. North Korean state media reported that he was arrested for committing hostile acts against the government. Kim Hak-song, thought to be about 55, also taught at PUST, which was founded by evangelical Christians and opened in 2010. The universitys co-founder said that Mr Kim, who managed the schools experimental farm at the college of agriculture and life sciences, was detained in May while travelling on a train from Pyongyang to the Chinese border town of Dandong. In February 2015, Mr Kim wrote in a fundraising post on the website of a Korean-Brazilian church that he was a Christian missionary devoted to helping North Koreas people learn to be self-sufficient. North Korean state media said he also was arrested on suspicion of committing hostile acts against the government. Additional reporting by agencies President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," the president wrote on Twitter. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Singapore almost 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) south of Pyongyang represents neutral turf for the two leaders. The city-state of 5.5 million people boasts security partnerships with the U.S., a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China. The government there also has a history of putting together high-profile diplomatic events at short notice, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic 2015 meeting with his then-counterpart from Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. Still, Kim's agreement to travel so far from the safety of Pyongyang the farthest he's ever been as leader could be seen as a concession by North Korea. Trump heads into the summit hoping to gain an agreement from Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and end North Korea's ballistic missile program. U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that the regime is on the verge of being able to mount a nuclear strike against the U.S. mainland. In what is viewed as an early diplomatic concession, Kim released three U.S. prisoners held in North Korea. Trump greeted them when they returned to Washington early Thursday morning See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Donald Trump claimed that "America is being respected again" and vowed to "secure peace" with North Korea as he campaigned ahead of the US's midterm elections. Speaking at a rally in Elkhart, Indiana, the US president said his relationship with the secretive communist state's leader Kim Jong-un was "good", adding that he would meet him "to secure a future of peace and prosperity for the world". He told his cheering supporters: "Something very good is going to happen". Mr Trump was joined at the rally by Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana's former governor and a number of senior members of their Republican Party in the state. Ahead of Mr Trump's speech, Mr Pence said the president "embraces his role as a leader of the free world" and part of that was his work on brokering a deal with North Korea to stop developing its nuclear weapons programme. A historic summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim is set to take place in Singapore on 12 June. Mr Pence also praised the president for helping to secure the recent release of three American citizens - Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song, and Kim Sang Duk - that had been held by North Korea. In his own speech, Mr Trump lashed out at the media, labelling unamed reports that his actions would "get us into a nuclear war" as "fake news". He added: "You know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars, weakness". Lamenting his predecessor, he said Barack Obama "paid $1.8bn for hostages", while the men recently freed from North Korea, "came home for nothing". It is thought Mr Trump may have been referring to the Iran nuclear deal, which saw the US pay $1.7bn to Tehran, $400m of which was to settle a decades-old legal matter involving sales of military equipment just ahead of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Iran subsequently announced it would release four American hostages. The second and third payments - totalling $1.3bn - were made later and the Obama administration has since admitted it withheld some of the money as an inducement for actually releasing the Americans. Story continues Mr Trump continued by saying that his North Korean counterpart "did a great service to himself and his country," although this was greeted with a muted reaction from the crowd, which appeared uncertain whether to cheer for the leader who just last year threatened to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at US territory Guam, Hawaii, and even the west coast of the US. The president said the hostages "came out with respect," adding that what [Mr Kim] did was the right thing, but they came out for nothing and the others came out for $1.8bn in cash". Hopes for the summit remain high in the diplomatic world as it comes just a little over a month after a historic meeting between Mr Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The pair had met in the neutral border territory Demilitarised Zone to sign the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula during the Inter-Korean Summit and officially ended the war that began when the north and south split in a battle over communism and democracy that began on 25 June 1950. Podgorica (Montenegro) (AFP) - Montenegro's accession into the European Union will be "hampered" if there is no progress on the issue of protection of journalists and freedom of the press, an EU official warned Friday. After the investigative journalist Olivera Lakic on Tuesday was shot in her right leg when an unknown attacker opened fire in front of her home, the EU Enlargement Commissioner urged authorities in Montenegro to bring culprits to justice. Many of the dozen or so assaults against journalists or media organisations in the small Balkan country over the last 15 years, including the 2004 murder of editor Dusko Jovanovic, remain unsolved. "If there is no progress on all this, sustainable progress on which we can rely, this will definitely hamper the European perspective of Montenegro," Johannes Hahn told reporters in Podgorica, where he met Lakic. The attack on the journalist is "clearly an attack on media freedom," he said, adding that "it's something which is not acceptable for us. This has of course also an impact on the standing and reputation of the country." He demanded that "the culprits are found" but also "their backers, those who are behind them (to be) brought to court". Montenegro, home to 650,000 people, hopes to join the European Union by 2025 and has been under growing pressure to deal with the issue of organised crime and media freedom. Out of 180 countries, Montenegro is ranked 103rd on the 2018 press freedom list of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to RSF, the major challenges the country faces are "self-censorship and (the) safety of journalists." Milo Djukanovic, who had led the country almost without a break from 1991 and 2016 and was elected president in last month election, condemned the attack against Lakic. The attack on the journalist was an "attack on what is Montenegro's strategic goal, to become a part of free and developed European society in a foreseeable future," Djukanovic told local Radio Danilovgrad. Evan Longoria played for the Tampa Bay Rays for ten years before the Rays traded him to the San Francisco Giants in December. Longoria was very connected to Tampa when he played there, buying several houses and investing in businesses. Even though hes no longer part of the Rays, hes got a lot of opinions about the future of the team. The biggest? Hes not sure if the Rays should stay in Tampa. He doesnt think attendance will ever be strong enough Longoria talked with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, and he didnt beat around the bush when it came to the teams future, and whether it should be in Tampa or somewhere else. Honestly, and this is maybe not something I should say, but my gut tells me that the best decision might be to move the team, Evan Longoria said Thursday. I say that only because I look at the example of the Miami Marlins, and (a new stadium) didnt really solve their attendance issues. So from purely an attendance standpoint, somewhere else might be better. While the location of Tropicana Field is certainly an issue (its across a bridge on the other side of Tampa), he doesnt think that moving the stadium to a different Tampa location will help the Rays attendance woes. The Rays have ranked last or near last in total attendance since 2011, but as he pointed out, a new stadium didnt help the Marlins. Miami saw an attendance spike when the park opened in 2012, but since 2013 the team has ranked 27th or lower in total attendance. For Longoria, the attendance issues are the key to everything. Theyre why the Rays arent an attractive team for free agents, and why building a new stadium might not be the best idea. It pains me to say that, but players want to play in a place where you have consistent support,. Its a selfish thing to say probably as a player, but, I dont know, does anyone really want to play in front of 10,000 a night? I dont know. [] There are a lot of dedicated Rays fans and obviously it would be a shame for those people to lose the team. But you just hope there is consistent fan support, and it historically hasnt been there. I dont know that its the easiest case to lobby to build a new stadium in the area. Its not a slam dunk. Story continues San Francisco Giants Evan Longoria, right, smiles in front of teammate Buster Posey after Longorias three-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, April 29, 2018, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) He likes a different site for the Rays new stadium The Rays desperately need a new stadium, since Tropicana Field is a quirky mess, and its not in a location thats truly convenient to people who live in Tampa. The team has been working with the city to find a site, and the top choice is Ybor City, a neighborhood thats actually in Tampa. But Longoria disagrees. If the Rays are going to stay in Tampa and build a new stadium, he thinks theres a better location than Ybor City. I think they should move across the street from Raymond James (Stadium, on Dale Mabry Highway), he said. They should build a stadium that looks just like Houston, or very similar to (Minute Maid Park, which has a retractable roof). You cant play outside there (in Tampa Bay), it has to be a retractable. And obviously it should be grass. If you can do it in Houston you can do it in Florida you can grow grass in Florida indoors. He makes several good points. Namely that Raymond James Stadium, which can accommodate 65,000 people, is in an easily accessible area that can handle a big influx of people. And he even gets in a dig at the Trops famous (or infamous) artificial turf, because as weve seen at Marlins Park, good grass can be grown indoors. And of course there has to be a retractable roof, since its Florida in the summer. Its the circle of life In 1992, the Giants actually tried to move to Tampa. The team was desperate to replace Candlestick Park, but hadnt been able to get any public financing. So owner Bob Lurie agreed to sell the team to a group that would move it to Tampa. However, the other National League didnt approve the move, and the team stayed put, with Lurie selling it to a different group. Longoria, who used to play for Tampa Bay, now plays for the Giants, and thinks the Rays should leave Tampa. He didnt make any suggestions for where the Rays should move to, but San Francisco is already taken. Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher More from Yahoo Sports: Terez Paylor: Jets rookies unlikely journey from bouncer to the NFL Jerry Jones hurt Dez Bryant, but he doesnt think it matters MLS team about to make $16M mistake with Wayne Rooney Did video game obsession lead to pitchers injury? By Suzannah Gonzales CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former Illinois U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison for failing to file federal income tax returns, according to prosecutors. Reynolds, 66, was convicted last September on four counts of failing to file a federal return after not filing in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, prosecutors said. Reynolds will serve four months in prison since he already served two months in custody, prosecutors' spokeswoman Kim Nerheim said by telephone. The sentencing, before U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, followed Reynolds' previous conviction for sexual assault, child pornography, bank fraud and misusing campaign funds. Reynolds, a one-time Democratic Party rising star who represented himself during the trial, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a memorandum unsealed this week, Reynolds admitted guilt, pleaded for probation and apologized to Gettleman for wasting the court's time, the Chicago Tribune reported. Reynolds had faced a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. Prosecutors had argued Reynolds collected $433,000 for consulting work he did in Africa during the four-year period he failed to file tax returns, local media reported. But Reynolds said the money was not income, rather it was for travel and other expenses, and as such, it did not need to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Reynolds, first elected to Congress in 1992, was indicted in 1994 for having a relationship with a 16-year-old campaign worker and was re-elected that year in his Chicago district without opposition. The case ended with a conviction on sexual assault and child pornography charges in 1995 and Reynolds resigned. Before his scheduled release from prison in 1997, Reynolds was convicted of bank fraud and misusing campaign funds and sentenced to serve additional time. He was released in 2001. Reynolds tried politics again but in 2013 lost a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives seat of Jesse Jackson Jr., who had resigned before pleading guilty to fraud charges. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Chris Reese) Katrina Miles with her four children. The five were among seven people found dead in Australias worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre Four children have been found dead along with their mother and grandparents in the worst Australian mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre. The three generations of the same family were found with gunshot wounds Friday at a rural property in southwest Australia in what has been described as a "horrific" suspected murder-suicide. In a crime that has shocked the nation, Katrina Miles and her children aged eight to 13 were found dead at the home of her parents-in-law, Peter and Cynda Miles, who were well known and respected in the community. Cynda was killed, as was another male, identified by some media as Peter. All seven had moved Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people near the tourist town of Margaret River, to grow fruit three years ago. Police did not confirm their identities and would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide, but said they are not looking for a suspect. Police forensics investigate the death of seven people in a suspected murder-suicide in Osmington Credit: Richard Wainwright/AAP Image Officers were called to the quiet property by a male at 5am on Friday and found five people inside the house and two adults outside, as well as two firearms. All seven were said to be residents of the property at Osmington, a small town about 160 miles south of Perth, known for its wineries and resorts. The states police commissioner, Chris Dawson, said the shooting was horrific but confirmed they were not looking for suspects, suggesting it was a murder-suicide. "The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said. I dont think any other words can describe how tragic this is. This will be a very large-scale and detailed investigation." She apparently said on Facebook a month ago that she believed she was being stalked by someone close to her. Meg Janes, a 68-year-old local resident, said she heard a series of gunshots early in the morning and assumed that someone was shooting kangaroos. The shots, she said, had quite a long gap between them. Story continues Something woke me up around 4am, she told the PerthNow website. I heard quite a few gunshots and at the time I didnt take much notice of it. I got up and went to the toilet and I thought, Thats a bit strange, thats an odd hour to be shooting kangaroos. It wasnt until I saw the police that I thought, Hang on a minute. Ms Janes said of the family: Wed swap plants and seedlings from time to time. Theyre really nice people Its a huge shock for everyone. Pamela Townshend, the president of the local Margaret River-Augusta shire, said the dead family was well-known in the tight-knit community. Everyone is totally shocked. It is just so sad. Its just overwhelming, she told The West Australian. [Osmington] is a very small community. Everyone knows everyone. This family, if it is who we think it is, is very embedded in the local community. Felicity Haynes, another resident, said the family moved to Osmington from the town of Margaret River, about 12 miles away, for the seclusion and quiet of rural life. The incident was the worst mass shooting in Australia since a 1996 massacre by a deranged gunman at Port Arthur, a former convict jail in Tasmania, which left 35 people dead. That shooting prompted an overhaul of Australias gun laws, including an amnesty which resulted in the destruction of about 700,000 privately-owned firearms. #UPDATE: Police have addressed the media, as seven are feared dead in Margaret River mass tragedy. @hansinclair9 is #LIVE at the scene. #9Newspic.twitter.com/6itT6vCmpV Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) May 11, 2018 Gun crime in Australia fell sharply after strict controls were introduced in response to a mass shooting in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania. That prompted the government to buy back or confiscate a million firearms and make it harder to buy new ones. Australia has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and has a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. While there have been some mass killings since Port Arthur, the latest killings could prove to be the single biggest incident of gun-related deaths since 1996. Police said they went to the property after getting a telephone call. "The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which we've recorded," said Dawson, who would not comment on the identity of the caller. He said police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation," he said. A guest on Fox Business Network touted torture as an effective way to extract information from prisoners, claiming it worked on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The fact is ... it worked on John [McCain], Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney told FBNs Charles Payne on Tuesday. Thats why they call him Songbird John. The fact is those methods can work and theyre effective as former Vice President [Dick] Cheney said, McInerney continued. And if we have to use em to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to. ...Wow Conversation on Fox about torture: "It worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John'" https://t.co/OjCwhv2ZhI pic.twitter.com/WehsgPAqgb Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 10, 2018 Payne apologized hours later for not confronting McInerney about his comments on McCain during the interview. I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged, Payne tweeted. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet, these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain. My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment. Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country. Charles V. Payne Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 McCain was a prisoner of war for over five years in North Vietnam while serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War. His captors repeatedly broke his arms, leaving him without the ability to raise them over his head today. Story continues Not only are enhanced interrogation techniques immoral, according to McCain and many other lawmakers, but they do not extract accurate information. On Wednesday, McCain urged the Senate to reject President Donald Trumps nomination of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency, given her reported role in overseeing the torture of an al Qaeda terror suspect in 2002 at a clandestine base in Thailand. Like many Americans, I understand the urgency that drove the decision to resort to so-called enhanced interrogation methods after our country was attacked, McCain said in his statement. But as I have argued many times, the methods we employ to keep our nation safe must be as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world. I believe Gina Haspel is a patriot who loves our country and has devoted her professional life to its service and defense, he continued. However, Ms. Haspels role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. A representative of McCain did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment. McInerney has come under fire in the past for promoting conspiracy theories, including the racist myth that former President Barack Obama wasnt born in the United States and that terrorists hijacked missing Malaysia flight 370 in 2014. Cindy McCain, John McCains wife and a businesswoman, scolded Payne and Fox Business Network for having McInerney on the show. This article has been updated to include comments from Cindy McCain. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney will no longer appear on Fox News or Fox Business Network after a Thursday appearance in which he claimed that torture worked on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was tortured during the Vietnam War. A Fox spokeswoman told CNNs Brian Stelter that Fox News and Fox Business Network will stop inviting McInerney as a guest. McInerney will no longer be on Fox Business Network or Fox News Channel, a Fox Business Network spokeswoman confirmed to HuffPost Friday morning, adding that his contract as a contributing military analyst for the network ended last August. ...Wow Conversation on Fox about torture: "It worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John'" https://t.co/OjCwhv2ZhI pic.twitter.com/WehsgPAqgb Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 10, 2018 McInerney previously has promoted the right-wing birther conspiracy theory that claims without evidence that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and is a Muslim. In 2016, McInerney appeared with President Donald Trump, when the then-GOP presidential nominee held a news conference to attempt to disavow his promotion of birtherism. (Trump affirmed that Obama was born in the United States, period, but then falsely claimed that Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton started the birther controversy.) The host of Thursdays segment, FBN anchor Charles Payne, apologized for failing to push back on McInerneys claim. My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment. Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country. Charles V. Payne Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 This story has been updated with comments from a Fox Business Network spokeswoman. Story continues Related Coverage Fox Business Guest Defends Torture: It Worked On John McCain Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a Palestinian and hundreds of others were hurt on Friday, Palestinian medical workers said, bringing to 44 the number killed during a six-week protest at the Gaza-Israel border. The protests are building to a climax on May 15, the day Palestinians call the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe", marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the conflict surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948. Organizers of the protest, called the "Great March of Return", said they expected tens of thousands of Gazans at tented border encampments in the coming days. The man killed was protesting east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Seven people were critically hurt, including a 16-year-old who was shot in the face, Gaza medics said. Of total number 971 needing treatment, 176 were hit by live bullets, they said. Others suffered the effects of teargas or were hit by rubber bullets or shrapnel. Israel has been criticized by human rights groups for its lethal response to the protests. A report by the aid charity Save the Children, published on Friday, said that during the protests, at least 250 Gazan children had been hit with live bullets, among nearly 700 children injured overall. The analysis was based on data collected by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. An Israeli army spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the report. The Israeli military said on Friday its troops were defending the border and "firing in accordance with the rules of engagement". The military said protesters were "violent, burning tires and hurling rocks" and that it "will not allow any harm to the security infrastructure or security fence and will continue standing by its mission to defend and ensure the security of the citizens of Israel and Israeli sovereignty, as necessary". CONVEYOR BELT Before the protests ended for the day, dozens of demonstrators broke into the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing where humanitarian supplies are delivered to Gaza and ignited a pipeline that delivers gas from Israel and torched a goods conveyor belt, causing damage estimated at more than $9 million, Israeli officials said. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers used a drone to down flaming kites that protesters flew over the border in a bid to torch bushes and distract snipers. The Gaza Strip, home to 2 million people, is run by the Islamist group Hamas which has fought three wars against Israel in the past decade. Israel and Egypt maintain an economic blockade of the strip, which has the highest unemployment rate in the world and has become far poorer than the other main Palestinian territory, the Israeli-occupied West Bank. On Thursday in Gaza, Hamas leader Yehya Al-Sinwar described the protests as peaceful, and said: "We hope these incidents will pass without a large number of martyrs and wounded, and the occupation forces must restrain themselves." Samir, a refugee whose grandfather originally came from Jaffa, which now lies 40 miles up the coast in Israel, rolled tires toward the area close to the fence where he later burned them. "My grandfather told me about Jaffa, where he came from, he said it was the bride of the sea, the most beautiful of all. I want to go back to Jaffa," he said. "Killing me will not change anything, Jaffa will remain Jaffa. They need to kill every last one of us to change the facts." (Additional reporting by Mustafa abu-Ghaneyeh, Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Peter Graff and Alison Williams) Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman at the 68th International Film Festival in Cannes, France. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) The era of #MeToo has reshaped our views on a multitude of things from workplace standards to Hollywood films. But a seemingly unpredictable shift surrounds not the men who have been accused (or convicted) of sexual crimes but the women who stood beside them. The chief question one thats been asked of everyone from Ivanka Trump to Camille Cosby is are they complicit? Merriam Webster defines complicit as helping to commit a crime or do wrong. Dictionary.com calls it choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act. Neither specifies how much involvement a person who is complicit needs to have, but both eliminate the illusion of ignorance. A complicit person may not be the doer of bad deeds, in other words, but they know full well whos doing them and whats being done. Thats the stance many seem to have taken with Georgina Chapman, the former wife of Harvey Weinstein and co-founder of the whimsical fashion brand Marchesa. Since last fall, a total of 63 women have come forward to accuse her ex-husband of a series of heinous crimes ranging from verbal abuse and physical threats to rape. Ousted from his own company and the Motion Picture Academy, the 66-year-old is likely at the beginning of a long-overdue sequester. But where then, in this age of reckoning, does that leave his former wife? In the months since the allegations broke, Chapman has been noticeably absent from the public eye, as has her fashion line, which did not hold its usual place of prominence on the awards season red carpet. That changed this past week, when actress Scarlett Johansson arrived at the Met Gala in a blood-red gown by Marchesa. A few days later, Vogue released its June issue with not one but two pieces involving Chapman. The first, an interview by Jonathan Van Meter; the second, an editors letter by Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief. In her letter, Wintour seemed to refute the idea that Chapman is complicit in any way. I am firmly convinced that Georgina had no idea about her husbands behavior, Wintour writes. Blaming her for any of it, as too many have in our gladiatorial digital age, is wrong. Story continues Many on the Internet agreed with this assessment, writing pieces questioning why we cant just accept that shes free of blame or, at least, should be. Wintour, for one, demands that we do. I believe that one should not hold a person responsible for the actions of his or her partner, she writes in closing. What Georgina should be receiving is our compassion and understanding. The sentiment is one that is quoted in the accompanying feature in which her friend, the writer Neil Gaiman, is quoted saying that Georgina is a good person who married a bad person. But in a searing response on The Cut, editor Stella Bugbee argues the opposite: that the benefits Chapman gleaned from being Weinsteins wife including a significant boost to her fashion company are intertwined with his crimes. By asking us to forgive and forget for Chapman, Wintour asks that we do the same for her, Bugbee writes, referring to Wintours own connections with Weinstein. But when we ignore situations that hurt others because they benefit us, we are complicit. Bugbee is quick to make clear that shes not suggesting Chapman committed these crimes. She merely takes issue with clearing her name in an effort to help her regain the fame that she, arguably, won from Weinstein himself. I do not blame Georgina Chapman, Bugbee writes. Neither am I convinced theres any obligation to give her a comeback in Vogue. If theres anything to be learned from the controversy surrounding Chapman and the other women who have come before her its perhaps that complicit is a dangerously complicated term. Casting blame on anyone is dangerous, but denying it altogether is worse. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - Unidentified attackers on Friday killed a guard and kidnapped three people, including two British tourists, in DR Congo's Virunga national park, a famed haven for gorillas and other endangered species, authorities said. "I confirm that our vehicle was attacked. Three people were kidnapped, including two tourists," park director Emmanuel de Merode said. Park spokesman Joel Wengamula said a guard was killed and added that two of the people kidnapped were British. On April 9, five rangers and a driver were killed in an ambush in the park, which was established in 1925. One of the most important conservation sites in the world, it covers 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 miles), or three times the size of Luxembourg, along a swathe of eastern DR Congo abutting the border with Uganda and Rwanda. Virunga is home to about a quarter of the world's population of critically-endangered mountain gorillas, as well as to eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, lions, elephants and hippos. But it is located in DR Congo's North Kivu province, where armed groups are fighting for control of territorial and natural resources, and poaching is a major threat. De Merode, a Belgian national, was himself wounded in a road ambush between the park and Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in May 2014. On April 2, a park ranger died in an attack by armed men. He was guarding the site of a hydroelectric plant that is under construction. Georgina Chapman, the estranged wife of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, has spoken out for the first time since her husband was accused of sexually harassing dozens of women. The prominent fashion designer who was married to Weinstein for 10-years has stayed silent in the six months since allegations about her husband's alleged misconduct began to surface. She said they had left her humiliated and so broken". She told Vogue magazine that she never suspected her husband was capable of any of the behaviour which he has been accused of. There was a part of me that was terribly naive clearly, so naive, she said, adding that the man she first fell in love with was charismatic, smart and charitable. She said I have moments of rage, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief! she added. And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? What are people going to say to them? Chapman has two children with Weinstein: India, seven, and five-year-old Dashiell. Vogue's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, said in her editor's letter that she had known Chapman since 2004 and was "convinced" the designer was unaware of Mr Weinstein's alleged misdeeds. "Blaming her for any of it, as too many have in our gladiatorial digital age, is wrong," Wintour wrote. "I believe that one should not hold a person responsible for the actions of his or her partner." Chapman announced she was leaving her husband on 10 October five days after The New York Times published its first article about her husband's alleged behaviour. Weinstein was subsequently fired from the board of his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The producer is now under criminal investigation in New York, London, and Los Angeles. He has denied all allegations of sexual assault. In the intervening months, Chapman has been seeing a therapist and selling off the familys homes. She said she plans to move with her children to a farm in upstate New York, where her daughter can ride horses. Story continues The allegations have also affected her business the high-end fashion line, Marchesa, which she runs with longtime friend Keren Craig. Some stars have claimed that Weinstein bullied them into wearing his wifes dresses. In light of the allegations, Chapman and Ms Craig cancelled Marchesas autumn 2018 runway show and did not offer any clothes for awards season. But Chapman said she does not want people to feel sorry for her. I dont want to be viewed as a victim, because I dont think I am, she said. I am a woman in a sh*t situation, but its not unique. Officials in Hawaii are rushing to move tens of thousands of gallons of highly flammable chemicals out of the path of the lava flows there, and residents have been warned that mass evacuations may be necessary if the Kilauea volcano eruptions become more violent. The chemicals evacuation was started after a new fissure in the volcano opened Wednesday about a half a mile from a geothermal power plant. In response to that development, Hawaii Governor David Ige created an emergency task force. The fluid, Mr Ige estimated, would create a blast radius of up to one mile if it ignites. As more fissures open and toxic gas exposure increases, the potential of a larger scale evacuation increases, Mr Ige said in a tweet Wednesday evening, referring to a residential area near the threatened Puna Geothermal Venture plant. That residential area is on Hawaiis big island, where 15 volcanic fissures have so far destroyed 36 buildings, and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 residents. A mass evacuation of the lower Puna District would be beyond current county and state capabilities, and would quickly overwhelm our collective resources, Mr Ige, who has also requested federal funds to help with volcano response, said in a separate tweet. Geologists have warned that steam-driven explosive eruptions could hurl ballistic blocks that weigh several tons as far as a half a mile. The eruptions could send dust and ash as far as 25 miles away. Scientists also say that there remains the potential for further eruptions, as there is still magma under the ground that is draining out of the volcanos laws pool and flowing underground. Theres still quite a fair bit of magma under the ground thats available to erupt, Tina Neal, the scientist in charge of the United States Geological Surveys Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said during a conference call with reporters. Kilauea has been erupting nearly constantly for 35 years. The incidents are generally not violent eruptions, and lava generally just oozes out from fissures and into the ocean. Reuters contributed to this report Hennessey Performance Engineering once looked to exorcise the Demon with the Exorcist based on the Camaro ZL1, but now the Texan tuner is fully embracing the dark side. The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has been receiving attention from Hennessey's wrenches, and the company is ready to offer its HPE1000 package to Demon owners. To prove how fast the car can run down the dragstrip, Hennessey turned on the cameras and showed it sailing through a quarter-mile run. At the rear wheels, the HPE1000 Demon produces 880 horsepower. That equates to about 1,035 horsepower at the crank, and it's enough to see the Demon turn out a 9.14-second run with a trap speed of 152 mph. That's even quicker than the 9.38 seconds the car ran in April, and of course it's quicker than Dodge's own time of 9.65 seconds for the standard Demon. Could the next run see the car enter the 8s? Quite possibly. To hit the higher power figures, Hennessey equips the Demon's 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 with long-tube headers, upgraded pulleys, and a revised engine-management system. The car also gets Hennessey badges and serial numbers. If you want more, you can always get that from Hennessey as well. An HPE1200 package is available. Besides engine and supercharger upgrades that send the horsepower as high as 1,500, the car also gets plenty of drag racing goodies to make sure it's NHRA legal, including a roll cage and a parachute. Check out the video above to see the Hennessey HPE1000 Demon make tremendous noise as it runs down Hennessey's own test track. The whine from the supercharger is a guttural howl, and the bark of the V-8 lets you know this car is all business. The drag radials help further assert that notion. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told colleagues she was close to resigning after being criticized by President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing several current and former officials familiar with the incident. Nielsen, a protegee of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, two of the officials said, according to the Times. During the meeting, Trump blamed Nielsen for what he said was her failure to secure U.S. borders, the newspaper cited the officials as saying. A senior administration official confirmed the incident to Reuters, saying: "He lit into her." A DHS spokesman said in a statement on Thursday that the New York Times story "alleging that the Secretary drafted a resignation letter yesterday and was close to resigning is false." Nielsen "is hard at work today on the President's security-focused agenda and supporting the men and women of @DHSgov," he added. The White House declined specific comment on whether Trump berated Nielsen, her supposed resignation letter and on whether Trump retained confidence in Nielsen, who took over at DHS in December. "The president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws and the president and his administration will enforce them," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Thursday. Nielsen, in a statement on Thursday, said she shared Trump's frustration that "existing loopholes and the lack of Congressional action have prevented this administration from fully securing the border and protecting the American people." "These are complex issues and I will continue to direct the Department to do all we can to implement the Presidents security-focused agenda," she added, without saying anything about resignation plans. Nielsen is in charge of the 20,000 border agents who work at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One person at the meeting said Trump railed at the whole Cabinet over what he said was its lack of progress in keeping out illegal immigrants, the Times said. Trump has become frustrated in recent weeks over growing numbers of illegal border crossings after a drop during his first year in office, the Times said, citing several officials. Trump believes Nielsen and other DHS officials are resisting directives that parents be separated from their children when families cross illegally into the United States, to deter them from entering, the newspaper said, citing the officials. Trump's hard line against illegal immigration is a centerpiece of his presidency as he pursues an "America First" agenda that includes a proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying it was needed to stem the flow of immigrants and drug trafficking. (Reporting by Eric Walsh, Roberta Rampton and Dustin Volz; Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney) Dadaab (Kenya) (AFP) - Between the rape she suffered during a traumatic return to Somalia, the constant hunger, and the uncertainty of her future in Kenya's Dadaab camp, Fartun has almost forgotten what hope feels like. Two years ago Kenya's government said it would close what was at the time the world's largest refugee settlement. It has failed to do so, but the threat looms over residents, adding a new layer of precariousness to an already tough existence. "Before, life at the camp was good... but it's not the same," said Fartun, a 37-year-old mother of 11. She went back to Somalia as part of a repatriation programme, criticised as coercive and premature by human rights groups, but returned to Dadaab when her homecoming went terribly wrong. It was May 6, 2016 when everything changed for Fartun. Nairobi announced the closing of Dadaab -- which had nearly 350,000 residents -- and, deeming war-torn and famine-prone Somalia to be safe enough, said the refugees would be sent home. Without providing proof, the government also alleged that Dadaab was a staging ground for terror attacks in Kenya by Al-Qaeda affiliate Shabaab. "The Kenyan government had said in the past that it wanted to close the camp, but this time was different: they looked really serious," Fartun said. - 'We would be beaten' - Ignoring the legal and logistical concerns of international aid agencies, a deadline of November 2016 was initially set, and then postponed to May 2017, as a two-year-old programme of so-called "voluntary repatriations" was accelerated. For many there seemed little choice. "In the camp, it was said that if we did not leave, we would be beaten," said Fartun. "Maybe it was rumours, I don't know, but that was the atmosphere in the camp." So Fartun joined an estimated 75,000 since the repatriations began and made her reluctant return to Somalia in June 2016. She took the $400 resettlement allowance and boarded a minivan with her family, bound for the border. Story continues But only 50 kilometres inside Somalia the convoy, bound for the south-western town of Baidoa, was ambushed by hooded, armed men and Fartun and her family were taken captive. Fartun was raped multiple times before being released. Her eldest son, then 12-year-old Abdirizak, was press-ganged into the militia. "They wanted to recruit me," said the boy. A wide scar runs the length of Abdirizak's forearm, a punishment, he said, from the gunmen. "They gave me a rifle and ordered me to shoot, but I refused, so they did this to my arm." Mother and son were reunited a few months after their ordeal, when Abdirizak managed to escape the militia, and soon returned to Dadaab together. A reprieve was granted in February 2017 when Kenya's courts outlawed the closure of Dadaab. Harun Kamau, the top government official in Dadaab, said just 2,000 Somalis had returned to Dadaab after participating in the repatriation programme. But several aid agencies said that figure was a huge underestimate. - A dismal return - The return has been difficult for Fartun, who found much has changed for the worse. "Since we came back, there is less food, and we live at my brother-in-law's because I have no house," she said. The population has reduced too, now officially numbering 235,000. Kenyan authorities are making it harder for Somalis to claim refugee status, by making them submit individual applications, rather than automatically granting them asylum. Those who remain are receiving a third less food than before, a result of funding shortfalls, says the UN's World Food Programme. "Dadaab has been there for 27 years. Donors feel a bit tired compared to other crises like the Syrian refugees, or the Rohingyas," said one UN official in Dadaab. The uncertainty imposed on Dadaab by government is bad for aid workers, as well as refugees. "The first thing the donors tell us is: Why have long-term programmes when the camp will soon be closed?" said Caleb Odhiambo, Save the Children's director in Dadaab. Aid agencies are disappointed that the government has failed to publicly acknowledge that the swift closing of Dadaab is impossible, and while they welcome a proposed law to help integrate refugees into Kenyan society, they bemoan its slow passing. Meanwhile, the experience of Fartun and others who endured failed repatriation, means fewer than ever are willing to leave. "Even if the camp closes today, I'd rather stay somewhere here than go back to Somalia again, she said." House Democrats released over 3,500 ads online Thursday that were purchased by Russias Internet Research Agency to interfere with U.S. politics. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said that the release was meant to protect the U.S. from similar interference going forward. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant, Schiff said in a tweet. The 3519 ads released by the Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee were purchased by the Internet Research Agency between early 2015 and late 2017. Some of the ads voice support for political candidates including President Trump as well as Bernie Sanders, while others oppose Trump, or support causes like Black Lives Matter and LGBT rights. Russia sought to divide us by our race, our country of origin, our religion, and our politics, said Schiff. They attempted to hijack legitimate events meant to do good teaching self-defense, providing legal aid as well as those events meant to widen a rift. The link between these ads and Russias Internet Research Agency was first reported last fall, when Facebook acknowledged that the agency had spent about $100,000 in its attempts to boost its messages on the social network. Democrats had released a small subset of these ads last November. Facebook also told lawmakers last year that more than 11.4 million people in the U.S. had been exposed to these ads. However, Russias disinformation campaign didnt stop with paid content. Facebook pages linked to the Internet Research Agency also created around 80,000 regular posts, which are estimated to have reached more than 126 million Americans. House Democrats said Thursday that they planned to release these 80,000 posts in the future as well. In a response to Thursdays release, Facebook published a blog post that reiterated some of the steps the company is talking to prevent such abuse in the future. However, the post also acknowledged that the company could not completely rule out future disinformation campaigns: This will never be a solved problem because were up against determined, creative and well-funded adversaries. But we are making steady progress. Story continues Related stories Russian Filmmakers Rock the Boat to Critical Acclaim For Facebook, Change Is Political. For Google, It's Personal Facebook Shuffles Leadership of WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in Major Reorg Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts! A dam burst on May 9 in Nakuru County, Kenya resulted in the deaths of 150 people and the displacement of hundreds of others. The Daily Nation reported that a search and rescue operation was ongoing on Thursday after the walls of Solais Patel Dam broke around 9pm on Wednesday. Bloomberg reported the death toll had climbed to 150. The dam was constructed in the 1980s and was not cleared by government engineers and was illegally maintained, the newspaper reported. The Kenya Red Cross said it was supporting about 500 displaced families following the tragedy. These videos shared by an eyewitness are described as showing the aftermath of the incident on Thursday morning. Credit: Kel Wesh via Storyful By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited Nepal to launch building work with his counterpart K.P.Sharma Oli on the country's biggest hydroelectric project, as New Delhi seeks to rebuild trust in the Himalayan republic, where China has made deep inroads. At a ceremony in Kathmandu, Modi and Oli pushed a button that opened the curtain on a plaque at the site of the 900 MW hydro-power project, formally marking the start of construction work there. The project, which is expected to cost $1.04 billion and is being built by state-run Indian firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited, will be the single biggest foreign investment project in cash-strapped Nepal. India has an open border with Nepal and tens of thousands of Nepalis work in India. The two countries share close religious and cultural bonds. But India has been slow to implement projects despite ambitious plans, and it has also often been a target of Nepali politicians critical of what they see as meddling by their much bigger neighbor. China, on the other hand, is pouring aid and investment into Nepali hospitals, roads and hydroelectric plants. "As Nepal enters a new era of consolidating the gains of a democracy and achieving economic growth, India remains a steadfast partner," Modi said on Twitter before his visit. Project officials say they are in the final stages of agreement with the State Bank of India for investment of about 36 billion rupees ($535 million) for the Arun 3 project, with the rest coming from SJVN. The project is moving forwards just as a Chinese proposal to build a 750 MW power plant in west Nepal has run into a roadblock. China's Three Gorges International Corp is haggling for better terms, Nepali officials said. "The power plant will provide employment, economic and business opportunities to Nepal," Modi told reporters. Last year Nepal canceled the award of a 1,200 MW power project called Budhi Gandaki to a Chinese company. Ahead of Modi's visit, Nepal's Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun on Tuesday announced that the government would invite global bids for building the Budhi Gandaki project. Modi is visiting for the first time since protests for a greater say in government by ethnic Madhesis, in Nepal's lowland south, led to the closure of the border for months in 2015 and 2016. The blockade choked off Nepal's imports of fuel, medicine and construction material just as it was struggling to recover from the worst earthquake on record in which 9,000 people were killed. Many in Nepal saw India's hand in the protests although India denied that. Guna Raj Luintel, editor of the Nagarik daily, said there was lingering anger toward India over the blockade. "Modi is under pressure to bring the Nepal ties back to normal and win the confidence of the Nepali people," Luintel told Reuters. After arriving in Nepal, Modi offered prayers at a Hindu temple in the border town of Janakpur, which was a hub of the Madhesi protests in which more than 50 people were killed. He pledged 1 billion rupees for the development of Janakpur. "Nepal is ahead of all in our (policy of) neighborhood first," Modi said. ($1 = 67.2750 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Robert Birsel and Hugh Lawson) Tehran (AFP) - Iran on Friday condemned Israel's air raids in Syria, saying they had been launched on "invented pretexts". "Iran firmly condemns the attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, cited by semi-official news agency ISNA. "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," he added. "They are a violation of Syria's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contrary to international law." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iran into the occupied Golan Heights. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria. "I shall take advantage of this opportunity to send a message to Assad: throw the Iranians out," a defence ministry statement quoted Lieberman as saying during a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. "They are not helping you," he said. "They only do harm and their presence brings only damage and problems." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iranian forces into the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that Israel's bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence". Israel carried out the raids after it said Iran's Al-Quds force fired 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, at its forces in the Golan. It has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assad's regime in the country's seven-year civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of operations in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's army said Thursday it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria overnight after rocket fire towards its forces it blamed on Iran, marking a sharp escalation between the two enemies. The incident came after weeks of rising tensions and followed US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, a move Israel had long advocated. It was one of the largest Israeli military operations in recent years and its biggest such raid against Iranian targets. Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets were fired at its forces at around midnight in the occupied Golan Heights from Syria. It blamed the rocket fire on Iran's Al-Quds force, adding that Israel's anti-missile system intercepted four of them while the rest did not land in its territory. No Israelis were wounded. "We know that comes from the al-Quds force," Conricus said, referring to the special forces unit affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. "The Israeli army takes very seriously this Iranian attack against Israel." Later in the early morning hours, explosions could be heard in Damascus while live images were broadcast on television showing projectiles above the Syrian capital and several missiles destroyed by Syrian anti-aircraft systems. Syrian state media reported that Israeli missile strikes hit military bases, as well as an arms depot and military radar, without specifying the location. - 'Not looking to escalate' - The official SANA news agency added that "dozens of missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft systems in Syrian airspace," saying a number of missiles had reached their targets. Israel's military later confirmed it had carried out the raids, saying dozens of Iranian military targets had been struck and all its aircraft had returned safely. Conricus said intelligence, logistics, storage and vehicles as well as the origin of the rockets were targeted. Story continues Syrian air defences that fired on Israeli forces were also targeted, he said. There had been no comment from Iranian officials. "We are not looking to escalate the situation," Conricus said, but warned Israel would respond forcefully if attacked. Israel has been warning for weeks that it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where Tehran is supporting President Bashar al-Assad's regime in the civil war. Israel has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it did not acknowledged those raids. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal has added to tensions and led to a new level of uncertainty over how Iran will respond. burs-mjs/aph Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man on Friday during a seventh week of protests on the Gaza border, the enclave's health ministry said. Forty-year-old Jaber Abu Mustafa died after he was shot in the chest near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the ministry said. Nearly 150 other Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces during the demonstrations, the ministry said. The death takes to 53 the number of Palestinians killed since protests began on March 30 calling for Palestinians to be able to return to the homes they fled in 1948, which are now inside Israel. Thousands of Palestinians gathered at five different points along the border, AFP correspondents at the scene said. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live ammunition, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel's army said around 15,000 Palestinians took part in Friday's protests. "The rioters burned tyres, threw stones at the security fence and Israeli soldiers" and also flew kites carrying incendiary devices to set fire to Israeli territory, the army said in a statement. Israeli troops fired "in accordance with the rules of engagement," it added. The army has been accused of using excessive force against protestors, with both the United Nations and European Union calling for independent investigations. The protests are due to culminate early next week. On Monday, the United States is set to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and on Tuesday Palestinians will commemorate what they call the "Nakba" -- Arabic for catastrophe -- marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the war surrounding the creation of Israel. Tens of thousands are expected to gather along the border, with many expected to try to breach the fence. In a speech on Friday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said they would "transform the Palestinian catastrophe" into an Israeli catastrophe. Story continues The Islamist movement Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007 and has fought three wars with Israel since. Since the "Great March of Return" protests began on March 30, no Israelis have been injured. Israel says it only opens fire when necessary to stop damage to the fence, infiltrations and attacks. It accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence, but Palestinians say demonstrators are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers. US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital infuriated Palestinians, who see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state. Separately, the border with Egypt, the only country apart from Israel with which Gaza shares a border, is set to open its crossing for four days starting on Saturday, the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said. Former Vice President Joe Biden had two words to describe the moral standing of the Trump administration after a White House aide made a cruel joke about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this week: Rock. Bottom. People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration, Biden said in a statement Friday. It happened yesterday. On Thursday, White House aide Kelly Sadler mocked the health of the Arizona senator and Vietnam veteran, who is fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer. Hes dying anyway, Sadler said when referring to McCains opposition to the appointment of Gina Haspel, President Donald Trumps pick to lead the CIA. The White House reportedly confirmed Sadlers statement and said the joke ... fell flat. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders didnt deny the comments on Friday, but declined to address the specifics on the grounds of not wanting to validate a leak. Bidens son Beau died in 2015 of a glioblastoma, the same type of brain tumor McCain has been diagnosed with. Biden comforted Meghan McCain last year about her fathers illness and recently visited the elder McCain at his home in Arizona. John McCain is a genuine hero a man of valor whose sacrifices for his country are immeasurable. As he fights for his life, he deserves better so much better, Biden said. Heres his statement in full: People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday. John McCain is a genuine hero a man of valor whose sacrifices for his country are immeasurable. As he fights for his life, he deserves better so much better. Given this White Houses trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule; she is the epitome of it. Our children learn from our example. The lingering question is whose example will it be. I am certain it will be Johns. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Maggie Fick SOLAI, Kenya (Reuters) - A dam on a Kenyan commercial farm that burst this week, killing at least 45 people, was built illegally, the water resource regulator said on Friday, as police opened an initial investigation into the disaster. The minister in charge of water also ordered other dams on the property to be drained immediately. The earthen dam on the farm, which grew roses for export to Europe, burst on Wednesday night after heavy rains, sending a wall of water roaring down a hillside and obliterating everything in its path. Another 40 people are reported missing. The disaster is likely to put a spotlight on the regulation of Kenya's cut-flower industry, which has grown dramatically in the last two decades to become one of its biggest foreign exchange earners and a major source of jobs. One in three of all roses sold in Europe comes from Kenya and more than 100,000 people work in flower farms, many of which lie in the fertile Rift Valley. Elizabeth Luvonga, a spokeswoman for the Water Resources Management Authority, which oversees private dams, said other reservoirs on Patels Farm in Solai, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Nairobi, also lacked the necessary documents and were illegal. Water and Sanitation Minister Simon Chelugui said the burst dam and others on the property did not meet regulations, and that the Water Resources Authority had been pursuing the owner to make them compliant. He ordered all the others to be drained as a precaution. Chelugui added that a team would inspect dams countrywide. Vinoj Jayakumar, general manager of the 3,500-acre farm, blamed the collapse on torrential rain and denied that the dam had been defective or lacked the necessary approvals. "How can they say it is illegal?" he told Reuters. "It was not built today or yesterday. It was built 20 years back." Amid domestic reports that the dam had not passed government engineering checks, the chief prosecutor ordered police to open an immediate investigation and report back within a fortnight. SAVED BY TREE Sacks of rice arrived on lorries on Friday to provide for hundreds of families whose livelihoods had been swept away. In the village health center, distraught doctor Veronica Achoka recounted the suffering of the community. "Yesterday was rescue and evacuation all day. The water swept people 10 km downhill. Many bodies were found that far away. There's so much property destruction," she said. At the hospital in the nearby town of Bahati, dozens were being treated for injuries ranging from fractures to internal bleeding, she said. Further away in the provincial town of Nakuru, Isaac Mwaniki had to identify his wife at the mortuary. "I think the water's force and soil is what got her," he said. Rescuers managed to save his daughter after the water subsided. "She had hung onto a tree and was tired but, thank God, she is okay," Mwaniki said. After a severe drought last year, two months of heavy rain have affected nearly a million people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Bridges have been swept away and roads turned into rivers of mud. More than 150 people have been killed and 300,000 displaced in Kenya, where the damage runs into millions of dollars. "We all breathed a sigh of relief when the rainy season started strong in early March," said Lane Bunkers of Catholic Relief Services. "But now - two months later - we are seeing the consequences of the drought-ravaged land's inability to absorb all the rain." (Reporting by Duncan Miriri, Humphrey Malalo, Jackson Njehia and Maggie Fick; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Ed Cropley and Kevin Liffey) By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's chief prosecutor on Friday ordered police to investigate a dam-burst on a commercial farm in the Rift Valley that killed dozens of people as a wall of water tore down a hillside, obliterating everything in its path. At least 44 people were killed when the reservoir, used to store water for the farming of roses for export to Europe, burst its banks on Wednesday night after heavy rains. Another 40 people have been reported missing. The public prosecutor's office said on Twitter the police chief had been ordered "to carry out thorough investigations to establish cause and culpability if any" behind the disaster and file a report within two weeks. The Daily Nation newspaper quoted government officials as saying the dam and others on the 3,500-acre Solai farm, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Nairobi, had not been cleared by government engineers. Villagers had complained when the dams were built, accusing the farm-owner of depriving them of access to river water, the paper reported. Vinoj Kumar, general manager of the farm, blamed the disaster on heavy rainfall in a forest above the dam. He declined to comment on the Daily Nation allegations, saying he was too busy to talk. Kenya's cut-flower sector, in the fertile Rift Valley, has grown dramatically in the last decade to become one of the biggest foreign exchange earners in East Africa's largest economy and a major source of employment. After a severe drought last year, East Africa has been hit by two months of heavy rain that has affected nearly a million people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Bridges have been swept away and roads turned into rivers of mud. More than 150 people have been killed and 300,000 displaced in Kenya, where roads, bridges and crops have been swept away, causing millions of dollars of damage. "We all breathed a sigh of relief when the rainy season started strong in early March," said Lane Bunkers of Catholic Relief Services in Kenya. "But now - two months later - we are seeing the consequences of the drought-ravaged land's inability to absorb all the rain due to its degraded state." (Reporting by Duncan Miriri, Humphrey Malalo and Maggie Fick; Editing by Ed Cropley and Janet Lawrence) Kuwait City (AFP) - Kuwait and the Philippines signed a deal on Friday to regulate domestic workers, after a dispute between the two countries led to a ban on Filipino workers in the Gulf state. "A short time ago we signed an agreement between the two countries on the employment of domestic workers," Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah told a joint press conference with his Filipino counterpart Alan Peter Cayetano. In February Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a partial ban on workers travelling to Kuwait after a Filipina maid was murdered and her body found in a freezer. The crisis deepened after Kuwaiti authorities in April expelled Manila's ambassador over video footage of Philippine embassy staff helping workers escape employers accused of mistreatment. Cayetano said a new ambassador to Kuwait would soon be appointed and that he would advise Duterte to "immediately" lift the ban. "I think the crisis is over. We will move on with the bilateral relations and we will resume normal ties with Kuwait," said an official with Cayetano's delegation. He added that the agreement "gives a number of rights to Philippine workers". A copy of the agreement seen by AFP says that workers will be allowed to keep their passports and cellphones -- often confiscated by employers. It stipulates that contract renewals should be approved by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, instead of being automatically renewed. Employers must provide domestic workers with food, housing, clothing and health insurance, according to the document. About 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, 60 percent of them in domestic labour, according to Manila. More than two million Filipinos are employed across the Gulf. Rights groups have repeatedly urged Gulf states to reform their labour laws to cover domestic workers and provide them with "equal protections" available to other workers. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian insurgents left an enclave in south Damascus on Thursday, state media said, the last in a string of rebel towns that have surrendered around the capital in recent weeks. A pocket near Homs city remains the only besieged enclave in rebel hands across the country, though insurgent factions still hold tracts of the northwest and southwest along Syria's international borders. Fierce offensives and evacuation deals have helped President Bashar al-Assad's military wrestle back control of much of Syria, with support from Russia and Iran. State television said 15 buses shuttled fighters out of Beit Sahm, Babila, and Yalda south of the capital. "The towns have become empty of terrorist presence," a state TV correspondent said from the outskirts of Beit Sahm. Hundreds of people have left since last week. Under the deal, the buses take fighters and civilians who refuse the return of state rule to insurgent territory in the north near the Turkish border. Government forces pounded jihadists in a small adjacent zone also south of Damascus, state news agency SANA said. Islamic State militants have been holed up there after weeks of intense bombardment on the Hajar al-Aswad district and Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. (Reporting by Ellen Francis) INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Latest on Indiana's Senate race (all times local): 3:15 p.m. Democrats are already using harsh rhetoric from Indiana's nasty GOP Senate primary against wealthy former state lawmaker Mike Braun, just hours after he won the nomination. Whether that will prove effective in a general election campaign is far from certain. But an online ad by the Democrat-affiliated group American Bridge, released shortly after Braun clinched the nomination previewed what could be a major line of attack. Titled "Can't Trust Mike Braun," the ad repackages blistering criticisms from GOP Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer, who were defeated Tuesday. The clip includes everything from their attacks on Braun's vote in the Indiana Legislature to raise taxes, to Chinese goods imported by his national auto parts distribution business. Braun's campaign did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. ___ 12:16 a.m. Indiana Republicans who picked wealthy former state lawmaker Mike Braun as their Senate candidate now are hoping he's not too battered from a grueling primary to mount an effective challenge against a vulnerable Democratic incumbent. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have scheduled a campaign rally on Thursday just two days after the primary. It's a signal the GOP is trying to unify behind their nominee ahead of a pivotal fall campaign against Sen. Joe Donnelly. If Braun's concerned, he wasn't showing it Tuesday while basking in the glow of supporters after his double-digit victory over two congressmen Todd Rokita and Luke Messer. Braun, the owner of a national auto parts distributor, says his victory is a sign voters are disenchanted with "business as usual." Baghdad (AFP) - Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is hiding in eastern Syria and moves around with only a small group of followers, including one of his sons, an Iraqi intelligence official said Wednesday. IS retains territory in the desert plains along the Iraqi frontier despite losing the vast bulk of its cross-border "caliphate" to various military offensives. The senior Iraqi official said Baghdadi was in the Hajin, Shaddadi, Suwar and Markadah areas and "travels accompanied by four or five people, including his son and son-in-law". "His movements are discreet and he never travels in a convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity. Originally from Iraq, Baghdadi has been dubbed the "most wanted man on the planet" and the United States is offering a $25 million reward for his capture. The intelligence official said the noose was closing around the jihadist leader after Iraqi forces captured five top IS commanders in an unprecedented raid into war-torn Syria on March 24. "Officers from Iraqi intelligence entered Syrian territory and gained access to the zones controlled by IS," he said. The five men had featured in IS execution videos filmed while the group ruled over vast swathes of Iraq, the official said. One of those detained, former Syrian anti-government fighter Saddam al-Jamal, allegedly confessed to Iraqi forces that he had supplied IS with arms stolen from the Syrian army. The official said 39 IS fighters had been killed in cross-border air raids by Iraqi forces in Syria over the past few weeks and that the group had seen a "sharp decrease" in numbers. Iraq's interior ministry said in February that Baghdadi was being treated at a field hospital for wounds sustained in an earlier air strike. In mid-2017, Russia said it had probably killed Baghdadi in a late May air raid near Raqa in Syria, but later said it was still trying to verify his fate. In September, an American military chief said the jihadist chief was still alive and probably hiding in eastern Syria's Euphrates Valley. People carry a victim's body from a residential area after Patel dam burst in Solai, Kenya - AFP At least 38 people died when their homes were swept away after a dam burst in southern Kenya following heavy rains, officials have said. Weeks of torrential rain had already affected 220,000 people in in the country before the Patel Dam in Solai near the Rift Valley city of Nakuru was breached on Wednesday night. Regional police chief Gideon Kibunjah confirmed the death toll has risen overnight to 38 and the disaster left 40 people needing hospital treatment. Hundreds of homes in the neighborhood - estimated to be around 450 - were destroyed, including those on the expansive Nyakinyua Farm, which borders the dam's water reservoir. Mr Kibunjah said: "The search and rescue exercise is ongoing and more bodies have been retrieved. The death toll is now 27. "It is a disaster because most people were asleep when the tragedy occurred and their houses were swept away." Police officers speaking from the scene say the private Patel dam, used for irrigation and fish farming, may have lacked a proper outlet. Police chief Joseph Kioko said many were feared missing and officials said the dam water and mud flooded out of the reservoir and submerged homes, extending to a radius of more than a mile (almost 2km). Volunteers search for survivors of the disaster Credit: AFP The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that up to 500 families were affected by the disaster, which took place some 150 kilometres (90 miles) northwest of Nairobi. Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said: "The water has caused huge destruction of both life and property. The extent of the damage has yet to be ascertained. "We have set up a centre near the scene for families to report missing members to enable us to reunite them." Several villages were affected around Nakuru, Kenya's fourth-largest city, as well as two schools. Weeks of torrential rains in Kenya have led to flooding and mudslides, and the latest deaths take to 159 the death toll countrywide. Story continues Government statistics released Wednesday showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding as heavy rains hit the country after three consecutive failed rainy seasons had left it in drought. Since March, at least 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares) of farmland have been submerged in water with an estimated 20,000 animals killed, the Red Cross said last week. The floods have also destroyed road networks in some parts of the East African country and in some cases the military has stepped in to airlift residents from submerged houses. Verulam (South Africa) (AFP) - South African police hunting for three men who stabbed worshippers at a mosque outside Durban said on Friday that the attackers' motive was unknown but "elements of extremism" were involved. Three attackers killed one worshipper, reported to be an imam, and seriously injured two others after midday prayers on Thursday at a mosque in Verulam town, on the outskirts of the eastern port city. The assailants, who also set off a petrol bomb inside the Shia mosque, escaped in a car after the attack. "There are elements of extremism because the incident happened in a place of worship and the manner in which it was conducted," Simphiwe Mhlongo, spokesman for the Hawks police unit, told AFP. "It shows hatred towards the worshippers." Mhlongo stressed that the motive for the attack was still unknown, adding that a major hunt was under way to find the attackers. "The whole law enforcement forces are out, including private security, local detectives and police. Everyone is out on the lookout for the suspects," he said. The man killed had his throat slit, and the other two injured men were stabbed -- one in the abdomen and the other in the groin of his left leg, according to medics at the scene. The blood-soaked victims were found lying in the forecourt of the mosque by emergency services. One man who was attacked inside the building jumped out of a window when it was set alight by the petrol bomb. A knife was left on the ground, but police declined to confirm earlier reports that the attackers had carried guns. The incident appeared to be unprecedented in South Africa, where about 1.5 percent of the country's 55 million population is Muslim. The country prides itself on religious tolerance and has little record of violence related to religion. The South African parliament's police committee condemned the attack. "A mosque is a religious institution, and South Africa's constitution guarantees and protects the right to religious practices," its chairman Francois Beukman said. "We want our communities to live in harmony, practising their religions without fear." Verulam (South Africa) (AFP) - South African police hunting for three men who stabbed worshippers at a mosque outside Durban said on Friday that the attackers' motive was unknown but "elements of extremism" were involved. One Muslim leader said the mosque was targeted because it was a Shia place of worship that had received previous threats -- exposing deep tension between South Africa's Shia and Sunni communities. Three attackers killed one man by slitting his throat and injured two others after midday prayers on Thursday at the mosque in Verulam town on the outskirts of the eastern port city of Durban. "There are elements of extremism," Simphiwe Mhlongo, spokesman for the Hawks police unit, told AFP. "It shows hatred towards the worshippers." Local Islamic leader Aftab Haider said the Shia community in South Africa had been victim to a prolonged hate campaign. Haider did not name the Sunni community directly, but said the attack had "all the hallmarks" of the Sunni extremist Islamic State group. "There (has been) a huge organised hate campaign in different mosques, radio stations and on social media against the Shia community," he said. "There have been threats at this mosque before, but not in the weeks leading up to this incident. "It has all the hallmarks of the ISIS (Islamic State) style of operations in Iraq and Syria." - 'I will kill you' - The assailants, who also set off a petrol bomb inside the mosque, escaped in a car after the attack. The blood-soaked victims were found lying in the forecourt of the mosque by emergency services. "These people were not robbers. They did not want cellphones, they did not want laptops or money," said Ali Nchinyane, who was stabbed in the abdomen, speaking at a press conference on Friday. "They came to the gate saying they want to perform prayers. They prayed and afterwards they wanted to kill. Story continues "One of the suspects told me 'I will kill you'. If I did not fight, I would have been dead," Nchinyane added, saying he used a martial arts weapon to defend himself. Police spokesman Mhlongo added that a major hunt was under way to find the attackers. "The whole law enforcement forces are out, including private security, local detectives and police," he said. The incident appeared to be unprecedented in South Africa, where about 1.5 percent of the country's 55-million population is Muslim. The country prides itself on religious tolerance and has little record of violence related to religion. The parliament's police committee condemned the attack. "A mosque is a religious institution, and South Africa's constitution guarantees and protects the right to religious practices," its chairman Francois Beukman said. "We want our communities to live in harmony, practising their religions without fear." Meghan Markle's estranged sister tells Inside Edition their dad, Thomas Markle, is deeply in debt, and she claims the "Suits" star for did not help him out. "He was very clear with her about the fact that he needed some help and by his report, twice, she flatly refused," Samantha Grant claimed. Grant was not invited to the royal wedding. She says her father has asked her for financial help to pay for wedding expenses. "I live on a lot less than she does and he really had to chew on his pride to call me and ask me for help," she claimed. She says she never felt much of a rivalry with her sister. "We have never been jealous of Meg," she said. "We have been supportive and excited. Nobody is milking her for money; you help your father in return for everything he has done for you. Its that simple." Thomas Markle was recently spotted during a pit stop at a 7-Eleven while making his way to the royal wedding. He purchased Gas-X, a can of Heineken and a bottle of Yoo-Hoo. He took halting steps as he returned to his beat-up car and headed to a budget $70 a night motel. It was his last stop before crossing the border in San Ysidro, near San Diego. Markle's journey to London began in Rosarito, Mexico, where he lives a reclusive life. He crossed the border at Tijuana before spending the night in San Diego. Grant says he still doesn't have a plane ticket to London. The future royal's mother, Doria Ragland, arrived in London this week to help with last-minute wedding preparations. Meghan Markle's parents divorced when she was 6 years old. Samantha is Thomas' daughter from his first marriage. Grant says it will be "interesting" for her father and his ex-wife, Meghan Markles mother, to be at the same place for the first time in a while. Hopefully they sit them about five or six people apart, she said. Maybe it will all work out." RELATED STORIES Meghan Markle's Family Tree: See Photos of Her Relatives Story continues Royal Wedding Gowns Through the Ages: See the Photos Royal Weddings Through the Years: View the Gallery Related Articles: Michael Avenatti on Thursday afternoon issued a statement in response to an opinion piece by a former adviser for President Bill Clinton questioning who was paying him to represent Stormy Daniels, the adult film star legally named Stephanie Clifford who has alleged she had an affair with President Donald Trump. Once again (for at least the 20th time)ALL fees and expenses of this case have either been funded by our client, Ms. Stephanie Clifford, or by donations from our crowdjustice.com page, Avenatti wrote in a statement he linked to a tweet through Dropbox. Related: Michael Cohen selling access to Trump and should release bank statements, Michael Avenatti says Trending: Boston Dynamics Robots 'Atlas' and SpotMini Can Climb Stairs and Chase You Further, no political party or PAC is funding this effort. No left wing conspiracy group is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge, Avenatti added. Get over it. He later told The Daily Caller that any claim he was being funded by the left or other political interests was utter bullshit, and you can quote me on that. Avenatti earlier tweeted that Mark Penn, a pollster and adviser to Clinton from 1995 to 2000, didnt do any basic research for his ridiculous piece in The Hill. Had he merely bothered to review google or this feed, he would know exactly who is paying me. Story continues In his piece, Penn wrote that Avenatti, who had slammed the millions of dollars deposited into a bank account set up by Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, had some questions of his own to answer about his financing. Most popular: What Is Military Spouse Appreciation Day? Trump Praises 'National Hero' Partners for Sacrifices He wants to make the discussion all about where Michael Cohen, President Trumps personal attorney, got his money but, to have clean hands, Avenatti needs to come forward with exactly who is financing his operation. 05_10_18_AvenattiFees EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AFP/Getty Images The crowdjustice page for Daniels as of Thursday afternoon had received more than $428,000 in donations for her lawsuit against Trump to void a nondisclosure agreement that he did not sign and that she alleges is being used to intimidate her into not telling her story. Gerald Kelly, a Maryland-based tax attorney, told Newsweek Thursday that Avenattis legal fees in the six-figure range would be reasonable. The fees could go up exponentially, if theres substantial litigation and courtroom time, Kelly said. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek AT&T reportedly paid President Donald Trumps personal attorney, Michael Cohen, $600,000 to advise on various matters, including a pending merger with Time Warner. According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, Cohen was hired just days after Trump was sworn into office at a rate of $50,000 a month for all of 2017 to advise AT&T on multiple matters pending before the government. Politico later confirmed the news. The $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger is currently pending before the Justice Department, which has sued to stop it from going forward. In an email sent to employees on May 9 and obtained by Reuters, AT&T said that it had hired several consultants to help us understand how the president and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement. Cohens business dealings came under scrutiny after Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing porn star Stormy Daniels, revealed that Cohen had been paid millions of dollars to advise several major companies, including the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, a South Korean aircraft manufacturer and an investment fund linked to a Russian oligarch. Its unclear how Avenatti obtained the documents detailing Cohens finances, but they have since been confirmed by multiple media outlets. AT&T sent an email to staff saying it had hired "several consultants to help us understand how the president and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues," according to a copy of the document obtained by Reuters. (Photo: Brendan McDermid / Reuters) Those companies sent checks to Cohen through a shell company that was also used to issue a $130,000 payment to Daniels just before the 2016 election so she would keep quiet about allegations that she had an affair with Trump. The Post reported that AT&Ts deal with Cohen mandated that he focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner. He was also tasked with spending half of his time on legislative policy and half on regulatory policy. He was specifically told not to work as a lobbyist for the telecom. Story continues Cohen is currently under investigation by the FBI, which conducted raids on his home, office and hotel room last month. Both AT&T and Novartis said Wednesday that they had cooperated with special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and had spoken with investigators at the end of last year. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Tijuana (Mexico) (AFP) - In Mexico, there is a particularly colorful insult reserved for the mother of someone who has deeply offended you. On Thursday -- Mexican Mother's Day -- a group of migrants at the US-Mexican border shouted it full blast at someone who has offended them very deeply indeed: President Donald Trump. "Trump, chinga tu madre!" dozens of protesters belted out in Spanish at the border fence that separates Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego, California. Trump has been a widely reviled figure in Mexico ever since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015 calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists, vowing to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it. In recent weeks, he has fueled the fire by lashing out at a caravan of Central American migrants crossing Mexico toward the United States, demanding the Mexican government stop them and sending thousands of National Guard troops to the border. So this Mother's Day, a group of deported Mexicans and migrants hoping to reach the United States decided to send Trump a pointed message about his mom, organizing a protest known as a "mentada de madre," which roughly translates as a "mother insult." "This is a verbal and symbolic expression Mexicans use to express our deepest indignation and anger at someone who's offended us," said Sergio Tamai, head of migrant advocacy group Angels Without Borders. Scaling the border fence, waving Mexican flags and dancing to traditional Mexican music, protesters also had other angry words for the Republican president: "Trump, we will not pay for your wall," "Stop mass deportations," and more. As a grand finale, they burned a blond-haired Trump pinata -- all under the watchful eyes of US border patrol agents standing guard on the beach, just on the other side of the fence. When federal authorities stormed into Crystal Munozs home in 2007, she was three months pregnant and terrified. Already caring for a 4-month-old, the Native American mother was arrested on drug conspiracy charges and taken into custody. Authorities then told her a map shed drawn on notebook paper depicting a road in a Texas national park had been used to evade a checkpoint in a marijuana trafficking operation. Suspects previously arrested had the map in their possession when they were caught. Town & Country magazine has apologized to Monica Lewinsky after she said she was uninvited from an event that Bill Clinton was attending. The magazine issued an apology in a tweet, saying they regret the way the situation was handled. Lewinsky tweeted on Wednesday that she was uninvited from an event because Bill Clinton then decided to attend/was invited. In her tweet, Lewinsky did not mention the name of the event or the host. HuffPost reported Town & Country disinvited Lewinsky from its annual philanthropic summit, held Wednesday, where Clinton appeared to introduce Parkland school shooting survivor and activist Emma Gonzalez. We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled. TOWN&COUNTRY (@TandCmag) May 10, 2018 dear world: please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it's 2018. emily post would def not approve. ?????Me Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018 p.s. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag. Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018 According to a Clinton spokesperson, Clinton was not aware that Lewinskys invite being rescinded. President Clinton was invited to address the Town & Country Philanthropy Summit, the spokesperson, press secretary Angel Urena, said in a tweet. He gladly accepted. Neither he nor his staff knew anything about the invitation or it being rescinded. Monica Lewinsky in 2017 - Getty Images North America Monica Lewinsky has described how she was unceremoniously disinvited from a high profile event after the organisers realised Bill Clinton was going to be there. Miss Lewinsky, 44, had accepted an invitation to the fifth annual Philanthropy Summit hosted by Town & Country, the lifestyle magazine, at Hearst Tower in New York. However, her invitation was rescinded by the magazine, which offered her the opportunity to write an article instead. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky at the White House Credit: Getty Miss Lewinsky, who is now an anti-bullying activist, wrote on Twitter: "Dear world: please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and - then after I've accepted - uninvite me because Bill Clinton then decided to attend/was invited. "It's 2018. Emily post would def not approve," a reference to the etiquette expert Emily Post. She added: "P.S. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag." dear world: please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it's 2018. emily post would def not approve. Me Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018 Miss Lewinsky's affair with Mr Clinton, when she was a 22-year-old White House intern and he was the US president, became public in 1998, rocking his administration, and leading in part to his impeachment. The summit, which took place on Wednesday, featured "activists, game-changers, and leaders across the field of philanthropy, education, healthcare, and gun control". For a panel discussion Mr Clinton introduced survivors of the Parkland high school shooting in Florida, in which 17 people died. A spokeswoman for Mr Clinton said the former president had not been aware that Miss Lewinsky was scheduled to attend and then disinvited. Story continues She said: "President Clinton was invited to address the Town & Country Philanthropy Summit. He gladly accepted. "Neither he nor his staff knew anything about the invitation (to Miss Lewinsky) or it being rescinded." In a statement the magazine said: "We apologise to Ms Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled. By Simon Lewis and Sam Aung Moon MYITKYINA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Thousands of young people in northern Myanmar have staged one of the largest protests in years, successfully urging authorities to rescue civilians caught up in deadly fighting that threatens to unravel the country's fitful peace process. Since the army launched a major offensive against one of Myanmar's strongest ethnic rebel groups, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), more than 6,000 people have fled their homes and hundreds are still stuck in danger zones, rescue workers say. The KIA has regularly clashed with the military in the mountains abutting India and China since 2011, when a 17-year-old ceasefire broke down. But the 10,000-strong Kachin rebels say the recent fighting is the most intense since they started battling the government for greater autonomy in the early 1960s. The surprise emergence of the youth movement in Kachin has exposed the frustrations of ethnic groups with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle to fulfill her No.1 promise: to end decades of ethnic wars ravaging Myanmar's lawless borderlands. At the head of the movement has been Sut Seng Htoi, a diminutive 25-year-old women's rights champion with a beaming smile, who shot to fame on social media as the protests gathered steam over the last two weeks. "People lost their trust in the State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because the people from the whole country elected the NLD, the civilian government, to avoid wars and fighting," Sut Seng Htoi told Reuters. Kachin state's National League for Democracy (NLD) Chief Minister Hkyet Awng declined to answer Reuters reporters' questions. Military Spokesman Major-General Tun Tun Nyi was unavailable for comment. In early April, the youth protesters set up a camp resembling "Occupy" protests against economic inequality staged globally in 2011. The "ground zero" for the protests was Manau Park at the heart of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state. More than 5,000 protesters for days thronged the streets of the city and waved "Free the IDPs!" placards, filming protests with head-mounted cameras and posting videos on Facebook. After more than a week of demonstrations, Suu Kyi dispatched the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, Win Myat Aye, and on Monday some 150 trapped villagers - known as "internally displaced persons" or IDPs - were allowed passage to safety. Sut Seng Htoi said the movement was non-political and focused on humanitarian goals. But she was scathing of Suu Kyi's promise of national reconciliation, saying that the reality has been an accommodation between her ruling NLD party and the army that has seen the civilian administration defending the army's actions. DRONES AND BANANA STEMS Suu Kyi made the peace process her top priority after coming to power two years ago, but the fighting with myriad ethnic armed groups has escalated to the most intense in decades - not just in Kachin, but in several other ethnic minority areas, including those where rebels have signed a "nationwide" ceasefire deal with the government. Because of the mounting tensions, a peace summit meant to convene every six months to advance the talks has not been held since last June. Most ethnic Kachin are also against the KIA joining the deal. After launching a democratic transition in 2011, the military has ceded some political power, but has kept full control over security and defense matters. The army's push against the Kachin insurgents since April 11 comes amid international criticism over its crackdown on the Rohingya in Myanmar's west, which drove nearly 700,000 people to Bangladesh amid accusations of killings and arson by troops. The offensive has pushed villagers such as Roi Ja out of their villages and into the jungle for much of the last month. "We only had a little bit of rice so we ate banana stems. We used the herbs from the forest for medicine," said the 39-year-old, one of about 200 people from Aung Hlawt village who arrived at a church on the outskirts of Myitkyina on Wednesday. Unmanned drones buzzed near their makeshift jungle camps at night, she said. "We didn't flee when we heard the drone doing surveillance. But they must have suspected that the KIA was there, so they shelled us in the morning," she said. Dau Hka, a spokesman for the KIA's technical advisory team based in Myitkyina, said the Myanmar military's renewed offensive appeared to be targeting areas where civilians live in close quarters with rebel troops. "They fire artillery, there are often casualties and the civilians scatter into the jungle," he said. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar on Friday quoted a military commander in the area saying that troops "follow(ed) the rules of engagement" in the area. "We only go after military targets and after the skirmishes we look after the villagers' houses," Brigadier General Kyaw Soe Min was quoted saying. Asked why the army had been attacking the KIA since 2011, Colonel Thura Myo Tint, Kachin state minister for security and border affairs, told a new conference on Friday: "The army exists according to the constitution. The reason we are trying to destroy them is because of the state's sovereignty." He accused the KIA of forcibly recruiting civilians. A government rescue of about 150 people this week was extensively covered in state-run media, although hundreds of people are still hiding out in jungles. Meanwhile, the protests have been "paused" as a result of that progress, say organizers. However, said Sut Seng Htoi: "If the military keeps making the civilians the victims of war, we will confront them. But we won't even use a needle - our methods are non-violent." (This version of the story corrects spelling of spokesman's name in paragraph 20.) (Reporting by Sam Aung Moon and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Ann Wang; Editing by Alex Richardson) NASAs newly appointed chief Jim Bridenstine made his first major speech in the capacity on Wednesday, outlining his support for the space agencys plans to make a return to the moon and, subsequently, to put humans on Mars. Speaking at the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C., Bridenstine assured the audience that NASA was committed to both goals and that they were complementary. If some of you are concerned that our focus in the coming years is the moon, dont be, he said. The presidents vision has emphasized that our Exploration Campaign will establish American leadership in the human exploration of Mars. We are doing both the moon and Mars, in tandem, and the missions are supportive of each other. Trending: Argentine Sports Channel Makes Fun of Russias Gay Propaganda Ban Ahead of World Cup In fact, our return to the surface of the moon will allow us to prove and advance technologies that will feed forward to Mars: precision landing systems, methane engines, orbital habitation, surface habitation, surface mobility, long duration life-support operations, and much more that will enable us to land the first Americans on the Red Planet, he said. Bridenstinea former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma who was appointed NASA administrator just three weeks ago after the space agency had gone 15 months without a permanent leaderlikened the situation in space today to America in the 1800s when the West was still largely unexplored. He spoke of how Congress passed an act in 1862, greenlighting the development of a transcontinental railroad that would eventually open up vast new possibilities for exploration and economic expansion. Forty-nine years after Apollo 11, its time to build our own railroad," Bridenstine said. Don't miss: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine Looking forward, Bridenstine said that if NASA wanted to make a success of its future plans, it should encourage private space companies to invest in initiatives that will move humans beyond low-Earth orbit and take them deeper into space. Story continues In fact, as part of its efforts to return humans to the Moon, NASA has already asked the commercial space industry to help it land scientific payloads on the Earths only natural satellite. The agency hopes that by working with private companies in this way, they can lower mission costs. While Bridenstines latest comments didnt reveal any concrete new mission plans, they did shed light on NASAs focus for the coming years, following the signing of the Space Policy Directive-1 by President Trump in December 2017. Most popular: Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition Update Brings Cross-Platform Play in June The policy stated: "The NASA Administrator shall, 'Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations.' This Exploration Campaign, as NASA refers to it, involves a number of programs that will build toward manned missions in the latter half of next decade. These range from the development of a lunar-orbit space station that will be used as a staging post for moon and deep-space exploration (the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway) to robotic missions, such as the recently launched Mars InSight lander and the upcoming Mars 2020 roverwhich is designed to search for signs of life, among other things. GettyImages-954999350 Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images Bridenstine highlighted Mars 2020 as an example of how future missions will help put humans on the red planet. The rover will carry an instrument known as MOXIE, which will conduct tests to see if oxygen can be produced from the red planets atmosphere, something that will be key for future manned missions. Meanwhile, he noted how InSight was a perfect illustration of how the space agency will collaborate with various partners to achieve its goals. "This was a government lander, built by American industry with international partners, launched on a commercially procured ULA [United Launch Alliancea joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing] rocket from an air force base, he said. This is, in fact, evidence that we are building the railroad, tie by tie, stake by stake. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Nigerian diplomat was found dead in his home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, two security sources said, in an apparent murder that police said did not appear to be politically motivated. Police spokesman Omar al-Mokhtar said the unidentified diplomat, who had been working in the immigration section of the Nigerian Embassy, was stabbed to death and police had ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack. Mokhtar said police had arrested several suspects, but provided no further details. Officials from the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum were not available to comment. Dubai-based al-Arabiya television had earlier described the diplomat's death as an "assassination". Though intermittent violence is common in Sudan's ethnically torn southern and western regions, violence in the capital is rare. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has recently shaken up the security establishment, replacing the heads of the army and intelligence service in February. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Ahmed Tolba, writing by Sami Aboudi and Eric Knecht; editing by Mark Heinrich) (Reuters) - A North Carolina police officer is under investigation after he was seen in a social media video choking and pinning to the ground a black man in formal wear who had just attended his sister's prom, authorities said on Thursday. The incident took place on Saturday outside a Waffle House restaurant in the town of Warsaw. Anthony Wall, the man in the formal wear, posted the video on Facebook on Tuesday and it has been seen over 600,000 times. Wall, 22, told local media the incident took place after he had taken his sister, 16, to the prom and they went for a bite to eat. Such incidents "have to stop," he wrote in a message with the video. Warsaw police said they had begun an investigation, but did not offer further details. The video does not show what led up to the altercation in Warsaw, which has about 3,000 people and is 70 miles southeast of Raleigh. Wall was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for arguing with Waffle House employees, local TV station ABC 11 reported. "I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat," he told the broadcaster. The officer in the video has not been formally identified. Many people who commented on the video in the Facebook post saw it as part of the simmering national debate about possible racial bias in U.S. policing. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Peter Cooney) When North Korea detonates nuclear bombs, it brings the devices into tunnels dug deep inside Mount Mantap, a granite peak over 7,000 feet tall. Mantap has now sustained six such detonations, with the last of which set off on September 3, 2017 moving the mountain more than 11 feet (3.5 meters), according to researchers who used space imaging technology, called synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, to map how much Mantap's surface shifted and then settled back down during the blast. They published their results in the journal Science on Thursday. Although this technique isn't yet used to rapidly detect attempts at secretive nuclear testing today, it could help do so in the future. SEE ALSO: Extreme Arctic heat wave in 2016 wouldn't have happened without climate change "World peace benefits from the adherence to internationally-negotiated nuclear-test-ban treaties that strive to promote the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Teng Wang, lead author of the study and a tectonics senior research fellow at Earth Observatory of Singapore, said in an email. "Surveillance of clandestine nuclear tests relies on a global seismic network, but the potential of spaceborne monitoring has been underexploited," Wang added. "This study demonstrates the capability of spaceborne remote sensing to help characterize large underground nuclear tests, if any, in the future." Wang and his team used data captured by the German imaging satellite TerraSAR-X to view the mountain before and after the explosion. The images aren't actual digital pictures of the mountain; instead, the satellite acts as a radar, bouncing pulses off the land below, which travels back up to the satellite in space, giving scientists detailed measurements and how they changed after a powerful blast. The TerraSAR-X satellite. Image: dlr/esa The same satellite technology can be used to measure how the land deforms after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, moving glaciers and other natural events, said Wang. A great advantage to this space imaging technique is that, unlike digital imaging, SAR can penetrate clouds and weather, to see what's transpired below. Story continues The fact that Wang could measure a massive chunk of Earth-bound rock moving horizontally over 11 feet is understandable, when considering how big the September 2017 blast was. Detonated around 1,500 feet below ground, according to researchers, it triggered a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, a strong class of temblor that causes violent shaking near the epicenter. "This one was big enough that we saw it all over," Dale Anderson, a seismologist and specialist in nuclear nonproliferation monitoring at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said in an interview. "It was picked up on the other side of the world." Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2018%2f5%2f0d5b1351 a8e6 ac15%2fthumb%2f00001 (Above: A simulation of rock damage from a nuclear blast. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory) Although the international community can't see what North Korea is doing under Mantap, modern detection technology while not capable of observing the mountain move can easily spot a large nuclear blast, and pinpoint its location. "Its very, very, very hard to hide one of these," Anderson said. As part of the international ban on testing nukes (which North Korea does not adhere to), an organization called the International Monitoring System (IMS) is measuring seismic waves "24-7," said Anderson. This includes picking up movement in the rock at seismic stations around the world, as well as acoustic pulses the blast sends up into the air. Combining the two detection techniques can give scientists an accurate idea of where the shaking event came from, especially if the blast is big enough. "Every Korean test weve ever heard has been big enough," said Anderson. And confirming that the blast is definitely nuclear, and not say, an earthquake, is also possible. Nuclear blasts release a gas called xenon, which can be picked up by detectors all over the world. Even under a mountain, the gases can seep out, said Anderson. Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2018%2f5%2f582fb7d2 5b9b 50fc%2fthumb%2f00001 (Above: A simulation of gas moving to the surface. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory) Future nuclear blasts underneath Mantap will almost certainly be picked by the IMS, and Wang said space imaging technology can then be used to learn more detail about the event like how deep it is, and how it affected the mountain. After enduring six nuclear blasts, one wonders how much more a mountain can take. President Donald Trump is meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12, in discussions that might persuade the military commander to denuclearize the secretive, communist nation. Still, Mantap may continue to be used as a test site if North Korea decides to continue its nuclear testing program. It takes a lot to topple a mountain. After analyzing seismic shockwaves from the blast, the team suggests that some portions inside the mountain may have collapsed, but there's no way to actually confirm this without entering the mountain. "You're talking about a chunk of solid, confident rock that is 800 meters thick," said Anderson. "You cant just break that up with one shock." "Youll eventually find a flaw and itll crack," he added. "And if you smack it with a sledgehammer a nuclear explosion it might break a little quicker." Related Video: Trump Announces Date For North Korea Meeting Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. Manila (AFP) - Maria Lourdes Sereno rose to become the first woman to lead the Philippines' top court in a legal career marked by exception. But she notched a darker distinction on Friday when she became the nation's first chief Supreme Court justice to be sacked by her own colleagues. She was facing ouster efforts from within and outside the court after tangling with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly anti-drug crackdown and other human rights issues. Duterte warned her last month: "I'm putting you on notice that I am now your enemy and you have to be out of the Supreme Court". Long before Friday's vote, which stemmed from allegations she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in past years, Sereno was a star student. The 57-year-old graduated valedictorian from her law school in Manila and went on to get a masters degree from the prestigious University of Michigan Law School. In her early career she served as a legal consultant to government agencies and worked with the World Trade Organization's appeals body. Her biggest achievement came in 2012 when at 52 she became the second youngest person selected to lead the nation's judiciary. However, she stepped into a role that was only vacated when her predecessor Renato Corona was sacked after senators found him guilty of graft in an impeachment trial. When then-leader Benigno Aquino appointed her, he bypassed five more senior justices, which did not sit well in the legal establishment. Some of the judges also openly criticised her for alleged disrespect and for violating the court's "collegial nature". - 'Unwarranted use of power' - Trouble really began in 2016, with the landslide election of Duterte and the launching of his bloody crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands. Sereno fought the president when he ordered judges allegedly involved in narcotics to turn themselves in, saying authorities needed an arrest warrant. Story continues She also voted against two of the president's high-profile initiatives, which were ultimately validated by the court. They included his declaration of martial law in the southern Philippines after Islamist militants invaded the city of Marawi and his move to give dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero's burial. Sereno was also facing an impeachment effort led by Duterte allies in the lower House of Representatives. She has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. The conflict between the president and chief justice only increased as the anti-drug campaign claimed more lives. Police say they have killed more than 4,250 people in drug raids but human rights activists say the actual death toll is triple that number. Sereno has previously warned that summarily removing her would amount to "the wholesale destruction of all government institutions". Judges and civil servants would know as a result they can easily be sacked if they go against powerful figures, she said. "The primary role of judges is to protect the citizens from the unwarranted use of power by ensuring their constitutionally guaranteed rights," she told AFP previously. KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The flight manifest of a private jet scheduled to leave from an airport near Kuala Lumpur for Jakarta at 0200 GMT on Saturday names ousted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife as passengers, two sources and two media reports said. Officials close to Najib, who lost a general election this week, were not immediately available for comment to Reuters. The jet was scheduled to fly to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in the Indonesian capital at 10 a.m. local time, the sources and news reports said. A Kuala Lumpur airport source who spoke to Reuters confirmed the booking in the names of Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. A source in the newly elected government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Reuters that Najib would be taking a holiday. Malaysiakini, a news portal, cited an unnamed source close to Najib as saying that he would take a two-day break in Indonesia. On Friday, a day after he was sworn in, Mahathir vowed to investigate a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which was founded by Najib. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with 1MDB. (Reporting by Tom Allard and A.Ananthalakshmi; writing by Praveen Menon; editing by John Chalmers and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Remeber video showing lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano engulfing and melting a Ford Mustang? The video quickly spread across the internet, and the owner has spoken out since the lava reached his home on the state's Big Island. In an interview with WX Chasing, owner Michael Hale explained why he left the silver Mustang behind as lava approached his home. Hale said the Mustang had a dead battery at the time and needed a jump. Ultimately, it fell low on the priority list as friends and family helped him take scoop up anything they could ahead of the natural disaster. Hale reportedly owns a small car-rental business and friends helped him move a handful of other cars out of harm's way. The owner also left behind what he called a "junk truck." It's unclear if the junk truck made it out of the lava flow, but Hale didn't mention its status. Thus far, lava has engulfed 104 acres of land and taken at least 26 homes with it. With the volcanic activity has come a series of earthquakes, to make matters even more unfortunate. This past Friday, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook the island, though structural damage was minimal. The Mustang met its fate slowly but surely as the lava inched towards the car. Though, it was somewhat impressive to see just how well the Mustang handled the destruction; lava flows measure about 895 degrees Fahrenheit. As for Hale, he's not upset about the Mustang one bit. He is, however, heartbroken about something else he lost in the volcanic eruption: an R2-D2 mailbox his daughter made for him as a Christmas gift years ago. "That had sentimental value. The Mustang, I do have other cars," Hale said. _______________________________________ Follow Motor Authority on Facebook and Twitter. US detectives are using the same DNA tracing technology employed recently to arrest the suspected Golden State Killer as they hunt for another of the countrys most infamous serial killers. Police in Vallejo, Northern California, have sent letters written by the so-called Zodiac Killer for analysis at a private laboratory in a bid to build a better profile of the murderer who shot and stabbed to death at least five people in the 1960s. They hope DNA may be found on stamps or envelopes and could then be cross-referenced with online databases. Detectives investigating the Golden State Killer ran DNA through an open-source genealogical website before the arrest of former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, who is alleged to have committed at least 12 murders and rapes in California between 1976 and 1986. Investigators in Sacremento uploaded DNA collected at one of the crime scenes to the website and found a partial match to a distant relative of DeAngelo. They painstakingly constructed a family tree dating back several generations before they zeroed in the 72-year-old. The process raised concerns among privacy campaigners, who are worried about future abuses, but detectives investigating the Zodiac Killer say the technique could help solve one of the most notorious cold cases in the country. The Zodiac Killer sent taunting letters to local newspapers following murders in Vallejo, San Francisco and other nearby towns in 1968 and 1969. The correspondence included cryptogram puzzles as clues to his identity and claimed he had killed as many as 37 people. Two of letters were handed to a private lab by a Vallejo Police Department two months ago and the results are expected results soon. They were confident they would be able to get something off it, Vallejo detective Terry Poyser told the Sacramento Bee. Police in Vallejo, a city near to San Francisco, are leading the investigation into the Zodiac Killer a name he used in his letters - because his first two victims were shot dead there. Story continues Various pieces of evidence, including letters and a rope used to tie a victim, have previously been tested unsuccessfully for the killers DNA profile. Vallejo mayor Bob Sampayan said samples were sent to the lab as a matter of routine every couple of years in hopes that advances in DNA testing will finally yield a profile detectives can use. The former homicide detective said it was coincidental that the latest DNA test was taking place at the time of the breakthrough in the Golden State Killer case. There will come a time when we get a match, Mr Sampayan added. The 2007 film Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr, renewed widespread interest in a case that has always had a cult following of amateur detectives and cryptographers who sought to crack the killers code. One of those amateur sleuths, Tom Voigt, said the key to solving the Zodiac killings was mimicking the Golden State Killer investigation, which included forming a full-time task force dedicated to the case and exploiting publicly accessible DNA databases. He said the Zodiac case was being investigated part time by a Police Department in a city that filed for municipal bankruptcy. Theres a formula to follow, Mr Voigt said. And its to simply copy what happened to the Golden State Killer. A selfless Tennessee police officer has been praised for an act of kindness he didnt expect anyone to see. Mike Kelly, an officer with the Cleveland City Police Department, said he was working security at Walmart for some extra cash on Friday when he noticed a dad's card was declined as he tried to buy groceries. "They went to self-checkout and he went to put his card in," Kelly told InsideEdition.com. "The attendant says, 'I am sorry.' They start walking out." Kelly said it was one of the childrens faces that caught his eye. "The littles girl face got me, her eyes were welling up and it broke my heart. I felt God telling me, I put you up here for a reason,'" Kelly said. "I walked up to him, and said, 'Please let me bless you today.'" Kelly said they re-rang up the groceries and bought the kids some candy. A stranger captured the act of kindness and posted about it on Facebook, where the post was widely shared. Scrolling through random Facebook posts and then see this one that makes us ALL proud to be Cleveland police officers.... Posted by Cleveland TN Police Department on Saturday, May 5, 2018 Kelly said he didnt want any attention for the good deed. "I think anyone in our department probably wouldnt have done that," Kelly said. "Its important to show acts of kindness. It doesnt have to be money. It just changes peoples lives for the good." RELATED STORIES Police Officer Gets Emotional in Final Sign Off After 20 Years on the Force Retiring Police Officer Tears Up as He Delivers Final Radio Call 2 Police Officers Save Choking Baby's Life: 'He Was So Tiny' Related Articles: Video of an elderly Georgia woman getting hauled out of her car after refusing to sign a traffic ticket is sparking outrage. Rose Campbell, 65, was pulled over on May 4 for failing to stay in her lane in Alpharetta. In dashcam video of the incident that has now gone viral, an officer is heard asking the woman to sign a citation. As she refuses, the officer said he was going to have to take her to jail. Suddenly, other two other cops arrive on the scene. One of them begins screaming at Campbell. "Hey you're not in charge," he yelled. "Shut the f*** up and get out of the car." As she slowly stood up from her car, she asked the cop, "Who are you talking to?" "You!" he forcefully answered. She was dragged out of her car and placed under arrest. She was heard screaming in the dashcam video. "I just panicked," Campbell told WSB TV. "I just, it was like my heart exploded. I didn't expect that in America. I didn't expect that in Atlanta. I didn't expect that especially in Alpharetta." The incident begs the question: What are your rights, and do you really risk arrest if you refuse to sign a traffic ticket? To find out, Inside Edition spoke to security expert Steve Kardian. "Understand that a motor vehicle stop is technically an arrest," he said. "If you don't sign it and promise to appear [in court], the officer can arrest you and bring you before a magistrate or have the desk officer set bail on you." The incident involving Campbell is under investigation. Alpharetta Public Safety Chief John Robison released a videotaped statement. "As I was watching the video, I had some major concerns about what I was seeing there are aspects of this video that simply do not represent who we are as an organization," he said. The officer who screamed at the 65-year-old has since been suspended. RELATED STORIES Dash Cam Video: Trooper Risks Life to Save Bikini-Clad Woman Running Across Interstate Story continues See the Life-Threatening Car Crashes Caught on Dash Cam Report: Dash Cam Equipment 'Intentionally Destroyed' in Police Shooting Death of Laquan McDonald Related Articles: By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A breakaway group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives defied their leaders on Wednesday in an attempt to force bipartisan action on legislation protecting young illegal 'Dreamer' immigrants from deportation. The rare move, by lawmakers who largely represent districts with significant Hispanic populations or are supportive of pro-immigration business interests, could potentially break a congressional stalemate on immigration. It could trigger a House debate in June or July on four bills designed to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has protected some 800,000 people brought illegally to the United States as children, mainly from Mexico and Central America. President Donald Trump wants DACA to end and has moved to clamp down on both illegal and legal immigration. The issue is already prominent in some November congressional election campaigns. The Republican rebels include moderates and lawmakers whose districts have big Hispanic populations, such as Carlos Curbelo of Florida, Will Hurd of Texas and Mike Coffman of Colorado. Several face tough re-election bids. However, many conservative voters are squarely behind Trump's get-tough stance on immigration, making it potentially risky for Republican lawmakers representing such districts to join any insurgency forcing legislative action on DACA. Last September, Trump said he was terminating DACA, a program set up in 2012 by former Democratic President Barack Obama. Courts are reviewing the termination. Moves in Congress to replace DACA with legislation allowing DACA participants, known as Dreamers, to live and work legally in the United States collapsed in the Senate in February. The Republican rebels are attempting to get a majority of House members to sign a petition that would force debate and votes on four DACA replacement bills. The one getting the most votes and at least a majority of the House would go to the Senate. House backers of the insurgency said that if they can pull off the legislative feat, enough senators would vote for a bipartisan bill to ensure passage. Trump has proven to be erratic and many lawmakers have given up predicting whether he would sign or veto legislation. Republican Representative Jeff Denham, a leader of the new effort, told reporters he and other rebels would prevail. The number of Republicans involved so far totals 17 of 236 House Republicans. Assuming all 193 House Democrats sign on, Denham would need another eight Republicans to advance legislation. The effort is supported by Republican-friendly business interests, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which encouraged the insurgency in a public statement. House Speaker Paul Ryan has expressed support for doing some sort of "DACA fix" but has refused to stage votes on any bill. Among the measures that could be debated is one that would protect Dreamers, while adding border security measures, although not the southwest border wall Trump demands. Another would protect Dreamers from deportation and put them on a path to citizenship. A third would provide some protections, but would reduce legal immigration. A fourth bill would be one of Ryan's choosing. (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Rosalba O'Brien) Redmond O'Neal has been arrested for allegedly holding up a California convenience store at knifepoint. The LAPD says O'Neal, the son of late actress Farrah Fawcett and actor Ryan O'Neal, was arrested Tuesday after they responded to calls about an armed robbery. LAPD officer Rosario Herrera told USA TODAY the clerk gave O'Neal money from the register and O'Neal then fled. Police say O'Neal was later found on the street carrying cash and a knife. He was arrested and held on $50,000 bail. O'Neal has made headlines over the years, mostly for his reported struggle with drug addiction. The 33-year-old was jailed most recently in 2015 after violating the terms of a 2012 probation sentence related to drug charges. He was sentenced to three years, but was released serving out that sentence. RELATED STORIES Jury Grants Ryan O'Neal Ownership of Farrah Fawcett Painting Ryan O'Neal Fights in Court Over Ownership of Farrah Fawcett Painting Farrah Fawcett's Secret Letters Revealed Related Articles: Eighteen GOP members signed a petition to force an immigration debate in the House but Paul Ryan said it would only produce legislative show ponies Paul Ryan told reporters on Thursday: Going down a path and having some kind of a spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto doesnt solve a problem. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP A renegade group of centrist Republicans in Congress are maneuvering around their leadership in an effort to introduce immigration reforms to secure legal protections for young, undocumented people in the United States. The Republican-led effort follows a failure of Congress to act on immigration reform after Donald Trump cancelled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), an Obama-era program that extended protections from deportation to nearly 700,000 immigrants brought to the US as children. Federal courts have ordered the administration to temporarily continue the program while the legal challenges to Trumps decision move forward. The court rulings removed almost all urgency in Congress to act on immigration. The House speaker, Paul Ryan, said the effort would only produce legislative show ponies that would be simply wiped out by the presidents veto. But Ryan did say he wants to see a bipartisan immigration bill pass the House before the November midterm elections that would provide certainty for the so-called Dreamers. Going down a path and having some kind of a spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto doesnt solve a problem, he told reporters during a press conference on Thursday. We actually would like to solve this problem and that is why I think its important for us to come up with a solution that the president can support. (August 16, 2015) Upon announcing his presidential bid Donald Trump makes hardline immigration reform central to his campaign and pledges to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca). I will immediately terminate President Obamas illegal executive order on immigration, he says. (December 7, 2016) Weeks after winning the White House, President-elect Trump appears to soften his stance on Dreamers. Despite offering no specific policy he promises to work something out. Story continues On a humanitarian basis its a very tough situation. he tells Time magazine. (February 16, 2017) Trump acknowledges the fraught road to a solution, describing Daca as a very difficult thing for me as I love these kids. I have to deal with a lot of politicians, Trump says. And I have to convince them that what Im saying is right. (February 5, 2017) Trump abruptly announces he will end Daca, phasing out applications for renewal by March 2018. The president insists the decision provides a window of opportunity for Congress to finally act. (September 14, 2017) Following talks with Democrats, Trump hints a deal may be close, but suggests it wouldnt include a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Were not looking at citizenship. Were not looking at amnesty, Trump tells reporters. (January 9, 2018) Trump promises to take the heat for a bipartisan Daca bill being brokered by senators. But within days he revokes his support, calling the bipartisan plan a big step backwards. The US government shuts down after negotiations over the budget and a Dreamers solution collapse. On the same day a district judge rules the administration must keep the program open to new applications, a ruling that is later supported by other federal court decisions. (January 24, 2018) With the government reopened with a temporary bill, Trump tells reporters he is now open to a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers over a period of 10-12 years if the individual does a great job, they work hard. (April 1, 2018) Trump appears to end the possibility of a bipartisan deal over Daca with a series of furious tweets on Easter Sunday. He blames Democrats and declares: "NO MORE DACA DEAL!" Oliver Laughland As of Thursday afternoon, 18 Republicans had signed a discharge petition filed by Carlos Curbelo, a Republican congressman from Florida, to force an immigration debate on the House floor. A handful of vulnerable Republicans running for re-election in swing districts are facing fierce pressure to support immigration reform. Almost all of the Republican signatories represent large Latino constituencies, are in districts Democrats are targeting in the 2018 midterms, or are retiring at the end of their term. If the petition is signed by a majority of House members, the petition has the power to trigger votes on a suite of immigration bills following a so-called queen-of-the-hill rule. That means the bill with the most support above a majority would pass the House. The message from the House Republicans that so far have signed the discharge petition is that we want action, Curbelo said on CNNs New Day on Thursday. The president was right to call on Congress to act and that we find it unacceptable many months later, the House has done absolutely nothing. Our patience has run out. Discharge petitions are relatively unusual because members of the majority party are usually wary of sidestepping their leadership. Curbelo, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, conceded that the petition was an aggressive legislative maneuver and called the process historic. But he argued that the petition was written in a way to empower leadership, arguing that the speaker can use the opportunity to offer his own immigration legislation. The process would allow votes on four immigration proposals. Those include a conservative bill that would offer a limited path to citizenship for Daca recipients while imposing limits on legal immigration and new restrictions on hiring; a bipartisan solution that would pair a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers with border security measures; a Dream Act, which would codify the Daca program; and a placeholder bill of Ryans choosing. If a bill were to secure enough support to pass the House, it would still have to pass the Senate and then be signed by President Trump. Earlier this year, the Senate failed to advance several immigration bills, including one that had the White Houses support. Meanwhile, the White House remains an unpredictable factor in the negotiations. During the height of the immigration debate, Trump sent mixed signals to Congress about what he wanted. He both called for a generous bill of love while saying he would only sign a bill that included unpopular measures, such as restricting legal immigration, that Democrats and some Republicans rejected entirely. We laid out several months ago what we wanted to see happen, Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said when asked about the petition on Wednesday. Wed still like to see that happen, and wed love to see a piece of legislation that includes all four of the principles and the pillars that the president outlined. If all 193 Democrats join their effort, which is plausible, the Republicans would need to sway seven more members of their caucus to reach the required 218 signatures. However, while some Republicans in Democratic-targeted districts are under pressure to act on immigration reform, many Republicans will be reluctant to vote on a series of controversial bills in an election year. Meanwhile, Senator Jeff Flake, the retiring Arizona Republican, was once again blocked in his attempt to pass a temporary fix for Dreamers that would extend their protections for three years in return for three years of funding for the administrations border security plan, which includes a wall. The recent action by some of our colleagues in the House has once again raised the issue of immigration and border security, Flake said on the floor on Thursday. I am the first to admit this solution is far from perfect, but it offers a temporary fix to these crucial issues. He added: To put it as bluntly as possible, this simply is not something we are allowed to ignore. Israel has called on Saudi Arabia and other U.S.-aligned Gulf Arab states to help take on their mutual foe, Iran, as heightened tensions erupted into violence in the Middle East. After Syrian and suspected Iranian forces in Syria exchanged fire with Israeli troops deployed in the occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed that Israeli jet strikes destroyed "almost the entire Iranian infrastructure" in neighboring Syria. He warned of Iranian, majority-Shiite proxies operating next door and called on Sunni Gulf Arab states to join President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's increasingly rigid stance against Iran. Trending: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine "Who supported Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran? Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states," Lieberman said, according to Israeli outlet Ynet News. "So I think it's time for those moderate countries to 'come out of the closet' and start talking openly. Just like there's an axis of evil, it's time for the Middle East to also have an axis of moderate countries." RTS1QPAZ Hezbollah Media Office/Reuters Hours before Trump announced he was withdrawing from the landmark nuclear agreement that Barack Obama made with Iran and five other world powers in 2015, the Israeli military warned of a potential impending rocket attack from Iran or its allied militias in Syria. Shortly after the president declared the U.S. exit, Israeli jets struck what may have been an Iranian military site in Al-Kiswa, south of Damascus. Don't miss: Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition Update Brings Cross-Platform Play in June Story continues Israel claimed that its defenses in the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory it annexed without international recognition, then intercepted a number of missiles fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The elite Iranian group has been known to work alongside Syrian, regional and Russian forces battling the rebels, and jihadis in trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but it denied any involvement in the attack. Related: Did Trump break the law? U.S. leaves Iran deal, violates world order and risks war, experts say Israel responded by targeting several other Syrian and suspected Iranian military positions with up to 70 missiles, half of which were intercepted, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The White House accused and condemned Iran for its role but did not mention a long campaign of Israeli airstrikes against other suspected Iranian targets in Syria that led up to the most recent exchange. Most popular: Mayim Bialik on 'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Finale and Her New Book 'Boying Up' Saudi Arabia also protested Iran's growing foothold in the Middle East. The conservative Sunni kingdom has accused its Shiite rival of funding allied militias and political movements, upending Riyadh's influence in the region. Saudi Arabia has backed a number of Islamist groups attempting to topple Assad, and, like Israel, Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries to welcome Trump's decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal, something his European allies urged him not to do. GettyImages-945379666 OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP/Getty Images Israel has not had any formal diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab states since the country's formation in 1948, which resulted in the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors. For decades, Saudi Arabia supported these countries, but its focus has shifted to trying to curb Iran's influence in the region. Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying missiles to a Zaidi Shiite group, known as the Houthis or Ansar Allah, that it is battling in Yemen and of supporting unrest in Bahrain, a majority-Shiite island country ruled by a Sunni monarchy closely aligned with Saudi Arabia. In one of the most explicit signs of detente between Israel and these Gulf Arab states, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed issued a statement Thursday acknowledging that "as long as Iran breaches the status quo and violates nations with its forces and its missiles, it's the right of every country, including Israel, to defend itself by destroying the sources of this danger." This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Enjoy those fashionably distressed jeans while you can, kids. Come this fall, theyll be banned from at least one school district. As Todays News Herald in Lake Havasu, Ariz., reports, the Lake Havasu Unified School Districts governing board voted this week to implement a new dress code that will forbid students from wearing clothing that is torn, tattered, or frayed. That includes jeans, shorts, and pants that have holes or rips. Students will no longer be able to wear jeans like these at one school district. (Photo: Aleksander Rubtsov/Getty Images) Officials said that the dress code, which will take effect when the new school year begins in August, will require a more professional look from students. According to the Associated Press, however, some students and their parents have balked at the ban, calling it an overreach that has little to do with education. I dont think wearing jeans like that have any impression on the ability and want to learn, one commenter said. That is all about the individual. The issue also raises a point about socioeconomics: Will students whose clothing is threadbare or distressed not by design, but because their family cant afford to fix or replace it, be unfairly targeted? The ruling comes about a month after Canadian high school students protested after being told to change out of their ripped jeans. And last fall, Washington state students and their parents complained about a similar crackdown, arguing that a frayed pants knee does not reveal an inappropriate amount of skin. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. The green light could soon be given to fund the search for little green men. Legislation put forward by the U.S. House of Representatives for the future of NASA proposes $10 million be spent for each of the next two years on the search for technosignatures, such as radio transmissions. The Search for Extraterrestrial Life Institute (SETI) looks for radio signals in space and had government funding for its quest until 1992 when it was cut following objections from a senator that nothing had been found. Former director of SETI research, Jill Tarter, was part of that project which used radio telescopes in Puerto Rico and California that scoured space for potential signals. Trending: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine RTX29G2M REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters Now she hopes that the latest pledge from Congress means the search can resume and allow the construction of better equipment to examine the cosmos for longer. Ten million at once for one year won't do much but $10 million a year, as an ongoing funding stream, could do a great deal. Don't miss: Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition Update Brings Cross-Platform Play in June It could allow people to build special-purpose instrumentation, and then use it on the sky for a long time," she told The Atlantic. After government funding was cut, NASA has been focused on searching for biosignatures in space and signs of early microbial life. This meant that SETI scientists had to rely on academic institutions or private donors to continue their research. Avi Loeb, from Harvards astronomy department said even if detecting tiny microorganisms in our own solar system was more likely than finding communication from light years away, SETI research is still valuable. Story continues Most popular: Mayim Bialik on 'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Finale and Her New Book 'Boying Up' RTX5RPKI REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo I dont see a reason to do one and not the other, because its also very challenging to look for primitive life. Its not as if its a piece of cake, an easy task. Otherwise, we would have done it already, he told The Atlantic. In 1992, the only known planets were those in the solar system. Now, there are more than 3,700 known exoplanets, a number of which were discovered by the spacecraft Kepler. Kepler showed us that planets are as common as cheap motels, so that was a step along the road to finding other life because at least theres the real estate. That doesnt mean theres any life there, but at least there are planets, Seth Shostak, from SETI said. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Nakuru (Kenya) (AFP) - Kenyan troops and emergency workers picked through mud and debris Friday in search of some 40 people still missing after a dam burst its banks, sending muddy waters raging through homes and killing 45 people. Kenya's top prosecutor has ordered a probe into the collapse of the dam on Wednesday night, as questions mount over the quality of construction of the private reservoir on a vast farming estate. A portion of the earthen wall of the dam collapsed, sending millions of litres of water coursing down a muddy slope, engulfing nearby settlements and destroying power lines over a stretch of some 10 kilometres (6 miles). "The number of people dead from this tragedy is 45 after the recovery of the body of a teenage boy," on Friday, said Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Mwongo Chimwanga. Earlier Nakuru county governor Lee Kinyanjui said around 40 people were still reported missing and that at least one other local dam had "to be discharged to avoid disaster". Weeks of heavy rains have caused flooding and mudslides across the country that have left 175 dead, with no sign of a let-up in the deluge. The search and rescue operation, involving emergency services as well as volunteers digging through the mud by hand, was disrupted by further heavy rainfall on Thursday and resumed on Friday morning. The dam is situated on an area of about eight acres (three hectares), according to Water Resource Management Authority boss Simon Wang'ombe, with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters (200 million litres). Residents told AFP they had long been concerned about cracks in the dam, situated on Patel Coffee Estates, where coffee, macadamia nuts, flowers and other crops are grown. "Every time it rained, some water could discharge from the dam down to the lake passing through the homes and farms but it was not a lot and it came through the side cracks," said one resident Moses Mwangi. - 'Hell on earth' - Story continues Many of the houses affected by the disaster were rickety structures made of wood and tin that stood little chance against the raging floodwater. The torrent hit while people were in their homes, or sleeping, with one survivor describing it as "hell on earth". "During the floods I managed to rescue my two sons, their mother was swept away by the floods along with two girls. After the flood had subsided, we managed to rescue my wife alive with injuries but we found the girls dead," said another survivor, who identified himself only as Josphat. Another victim, Philip Koech, told AFP he lost his home and all his livestock. "I was coming back from work when I got home I heard the thundering ... I thought it was rain," he said, adding he and his family and managed to seek shelter in a nearby building from the raging floodwaters. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that up to 500 families were affected by the disaster. On Friday morning Kenya's chief prosecutor Noordin Haji ordered the opening of a police investigation into the tragedy "to establish cause and culpability". Government statistics released this week showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding as heavy rains hit the country after three consecutive failed rainy seasons had left it in drought. Since March, at least 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares) of farmland have been submerged in water with an estimated 20,000 animals killed, the Red Cross said last week. The floods have also destroyed road networks in some parts of the East African country. Nakuru (Kenya) (AFP) - The search for survivors after a dam burst its banks in central Kenya resumed Friday with 44 confirmed dead and a further 40 still missing, the region's governor said. Weeks of heavy rains have caused flooding and mudslides across the country that have left 175 dead. On Wednesday evening, the earthen wall of a privately owned irrigation dam in Solai, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Nakuru town in Kenya's Rift Valley, breached and inundated nearby settlements. Nakuru county governor Lee Kinyanjui said 44 bodies had been recovered so far, with another 40 reported missing, and warned that at least one other local dam "will have to be discharged to avoid disaster". Dozens more were taken to hospital with injuries. The search and rescue operation, involving emergency services as well as volunteers digging through the mud by hand, was disrupted by further heavy rainfall on Thursday, resuming on Friday morning. A sea of mud and water washed away two villages and cut power lines, according to local residents. The torrent hit while people were in their homes, or sleeping, with one survivor describing it as "hell on earth". - Investigation ordered - Many of the houses affected were rickety structures made of wood and tin that stood little chance against the raging floodwater. "I was with my parents and my younger brother. I don't know where they are. I was carried away by the water but I was lucky as I clung to a tree until the water subsided," said Ngugi Njoroge from his hospital bed. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that up to 500 families were affected by the disaster. The reservoir, known locally as "Patel dam" after the owner of the farm, is close to an informal settlement housing casual labourers. On Friday morning Kenya's chief prosecutor Noordin Haji ordered the opening of a police investigation into the tragedy "to establish cause and culpability". Story continues Government statistics released this week showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding as heavy rains hit the country after three consecutive failed rainy seasons had left it in drought. Since March, at least 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares) of farmland have been submerged in water with an estimated 20,000 animals killed, the Red Cross said last week. The floods have also destroyed road networks in some parts of the East African country. By Colin Packham and Jonathan Barrett SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police found seven dead people on Friday, including four children, in a rural town in the Margaret River wine-growing region, and said guns were involved in the killings. The bodies of four children and three adults were found at or near a property in Osmington near the southwestern tip of Australia, Western Australia's Commissioner of Police Chris Dawson told a news conference. Dawson said firearms were found at the scene. He said there appeared to be gunshot wounds. "I can only describe it as a horrific situation," Dawson said. "We have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues at this point in time." Gun crime in Australia fell sharply after strict controls were introduced in response to a mass shooting in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania. That prompted the government to buy back or confiscate a million firearms and make it harder to buy new ones. Australia has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and has a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. While there have been some mass killings since Port Arthur, the latest killings could prove to be the single biggest incident of gun-related deaths since 1996. Police said they went to the property after getting a telephone call. "The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which we've recorded," said Dawson, who would not comment on the identity of the caller. He said homicide detectives were helping police. (Reporting by Colin Packham and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Editing by Robert Birsel) Anna Sui at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Design for Disability Fashion Show and Gala at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City, May 9, 2018. (Photo: Jeffrey Holmes) In fashion, the words sexy and disability have rarely been used in the same sentence. Consider, for example, that the technical term for designs made for individuals with physical impairments is adaptive clothing. The phrase alone alludes to being purely functional, perhaps including Velcro, and probably not being very flattering at all. Thats why Richard Jimenez, a graduate student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, decided to design a corset for a model with cerebral palsy for the Design for Disability Fashion Show and Gala. Hosted on Wednesday night by the Cerebral Palsy Foundation at New Yorks Metropolitan Pavilion, the focus of the evening was almost entirely on clothing that emphasized not only the bodies but also the personalities of the actors, dancers, nurses, playwrights, and advocates who were chosen as models. Models at the 2018 Cerebral Palsy Foundation Design for Disability show. (Photo: Richard Copier) Model Bernadette Scarduzio at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Design for Disability show. (Photo: Richard Copier) When were designing for individuals with disabilities we tend to go straight to the technical side, instead of backing up and seeing how we can make their clothes look so great that everyone wants to wear them, Jimenez tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The model who wore his corset (which was finished off with comfortable spandex side panels) was Jessy Yates, an actress and performance artist who just became the first physically disabled person to be admitted to Yales Graduate School of Drama. Model Jessy Yates at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Design for Disability show. (Photo: Richard Copier) Its tough to admit, but its often hard for people to see past disability, says Yates. There are so many misconceptions and misperceptions. What better way to change this than by creating fashion that helps us to see it all differently? The six participating designers in the Design for Disability show were fashion students from F.I.T., Pratt Institute, and Parsons. For the past four months they worked alongside their mentor, Anna Sui, to create custom designs for 18 models with a variety of disabilities, including cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy, spina bifida with hydrocephalus, transverse myelitis, and osteogenesis imperfecta. Story continues Student designers and models at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation show. (Photo: Jeffrey Holmes) In a sense, the models, like Bernadette Scarduzio, Ryan Haddad, Andrea Dalzell, and Lacey Tompkins, really influenced the shows clothing, explaining to the designers what they dreamed of wearing but have never been able to find in a store. It was up to the designers to make those fashion fantasies a reality, by moving the seams of a pant from the side of the leg to the front to be wheelchair friendly, creating patterns that could work with a body that isnt entirely symmetrical, or crafting a bomber jacket that could be put on in two different ways with and without the help of a caretaker. Another shot of models at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation Design for Disability show. (Photo: Richard Copier) Sui, meanwhile, brought a decidedly high fashion touch, ensuring that the show felt like one of her own New York Fashion Week runways, replete with flashes of color, boho silhouettes, and flirty prints plus A-list attendees including Sofia Coppola, Derek Lam, Norma Kamali, and Hanne Gaby Odiele. Sui also brought on as partners Liberty of London, which donated yards of its signature floral prints, and Cotton Inc., which provided denim, cotton knits, and novelty jacquards for the students to use. Sofia Coppola and Anna Sui at the event. (Photo: Jeffrey Holmes) Norma Kamali (Photo: Jeffrey Holmes) Sui is hardly the only designer whos taking charge in the disabled fashion space; Tommy Hilfiger, Target, and Zappos have recently introduced ranges specifically designed for shoppers with disabilities. But, according to the CDC, one in every five adults in the U.S. has a disability, so theres quite a lot of room for growth in this category. As Sui pointed out, any form of education or awareness is a step in the right direction. The more we talk about this, the more knowledge that we gain, and thats where we will find acceptance, she says. So whats next for the future of disabled fashion? Getting retailers into the mix to see that the disabled have a real need for clothing catered to their bodies. Richard Ellenson, the CEO of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, is taking a pretty big role in this movement. Over the next few years, as the dialogue surrounding adaptive clothing keeps evolving, he anticipates bringing some of the designs from this fashion show into production. Happily, the discussion is no longer, Do we need inclusive fashion? he says. Rather, its How do we do it well? Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Malaysia's general election was called for Mahathir Mohamad's opposition alliance, Pakatan Harapan. Short-term volatility is likely given the uncertainty now associated with Malaysian politics entering "uncharted territory," analysts said. Some opposition campaign plans, including a pledge to scrap the Goods and Services Tax (GST), were credit negative, Moody's Investor Services said. Still, the move was positive in the long term, analysts said. A historic win at Malaysia general election by the opposition alliance led by the country's former leader, Mahathir Mohamad, will likely send markets on a wild ride, although analysts said long-term prospects appeared encouraging. Pakatan Harapan, the opposition coalition, had the support of 135 members of the 222-member parliament, Mahathir said at a press conference on Thursday. That exceeded the 112 seats needed for a simple majority, upsetting the incumbent Barisan Nasional coalition. Uncertainty will likely be a focus in the short term for markets following the surprise result. "The Malaysia election outcome is a huge upset, no pollster was expecting this. This upset ranks up there with Brexit and [the] Trump election," said Aninda Mitra, senior sovereign analyst at BNY Mellon Investment Management. "The bottom line is that while a long-term fix of governance, institutions and public life is now in sight, near-term policy uncertainty will be high," Mitra added. Among the issues feared by investors is "an unfamiliar change of government as Barisan Nasional has ruled since independence and potential for riots and/or a messy handover of power," Nizam Idris, head of foreign exchange and rates strategy at Macquarie Group, said in a note. In knee-jerk fashion to the surprise result, the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF dropped 6.03 percent overnight. The Malaysian ringgit also fell more than 2 percent in offshore forward markets, Reuters said. Markets in Malaysia, meanwhile, could take a hit when they reopen on Monday. The country's stock exchange is closed on Thursday and Friday in conjunction with a special holiday. Story continues "Financial markets are likely to react badly to the result," Capital Economics economists Gareth Leather and Alex Holmes wrote in a note. "Forward markets are already pricing in a 2 percent decline in the [Malaysian] ringgit and a 3 percent fall in the stock market," they said. Large-cap Malaysian stocks with government connections that are likely to fall hard include Maybank, Tenaga Nasional, Telekom and CIMB, Gerald Ambrose, chief executive officer of Aberdeen Standard Investments, told CNBC. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index had risen 1 percent a day before Wednesday's vote, ending a four-day losing streak. A long-term positive? While more clarity was required when it came to assessing Pakatan Harapan's economic policies, one pledge it has made has been to scrap the Goods and Services Tax introduced in 2015. Mahathir said Thursday in a press conference that the GST would be canceled and that Malaysia would go back to using a sales tax, Reuters reported. "In the near term, there is likely to be a sharp deterioration in the fiscal position, if as expected, Mahathir pushes ahead with plans to scrap the country's Goods and Services tax," Capital Economics said in a note. The country, now in "uncharted territory," would likely see greater reliance on oil-related revenues and a narrowing of the government's revenue base if it goes ahead with its GST plans, Anushka Shah, senior analyst at Moody's Investor Service, said in a Thursday note. Moody's said some of those campaign promises would be credit negative for Malaysia if no other adjustments were made. Still, analysts were optimistic about the change of party control following more than 60 years of Barisan Nasional in charge. The election outcome raises "the possibility that Malaysia could finally start to tackle some of the institutional problems that are holding back the country's long-run prospects," Capital Economics said, assessing that the 1MDB scandal was a "key factor" for the opposition's win. "[T]his has to be a massive positive for Malaysia in the long term," Ambrose said in an email. WATCH: What happened to 1MDB's money? CNBC's Sri Jegarajah contributed reporting to this report. More From CNBC Starbucks (SBUX) as we know it today would not exist if it werent for the help of Bill Gates Sr., the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, according to executive chairman Howard Schultz. In 1983, a 30-year-old Schultz made his first trip to Italy. At the time, he was an employee of Starbucks, which was a small Seattle-based roaster. While in Milan, he encountered the world of Italian coffee bars, where he experienced the romance and the theater of espresso. What really caught my attention was the sense of community that existed inside of these coffee bars, and what I began to realize and label as the third place between home and work, Schultz said at an event hosted by The Atlantic Council on Thursday. The young Schultz raced back to the U.S. to share his experience and convince the Starbucks founders that he had seen the light. Not interested Now, Im not the founder of Starbucks, he said. I was an employee of the company, and I had to convince the founder to embrace my idea. And I thought I was a pretty good salesman at the time. And he basically turned me down cold and said, not interested. Soon after, Schultz left and set out on his own with his first coffee bar Il Giornale, named after a daily newspaper published in Milan. Starbucks ultimately encountered some financial trouble and the founder approached Schultz to buy the company. The founder came to me and said, You would be the right steward to acquire the rights of Starbucks, which had six stores at the time for $3.8 million. That was the good news. The bad news is I didnt have any money. Schultz was given 60 days to raise the capital. About 30 days in, the founder informed Schultz that he had received an all-cash offer with a quick closing. It turned out that bid came from one of Schultzs investors in Il Giornale. It turned out that an investor of mine in my store went behind my back and was going to steal the company from me. Worse than that, this was one of the titans of Seattle. So I was crushed. I came home. I probably cried to [my wife] Sheri, Were going to lose everything, our dream. Its over. I dont know what to do. Story continues I had never heard of Bill Gates Sr. And Bill Gates at the time was not Bill Gates A young attorney friend whom Schultz had confided in recommended that he meet with Bill Gates Sr., a prominent Seattle lawyer. I had never heard of Bill Gates Sr. And Bill Gates at the time was not Bill Gates. Bill Gates Sr. was Bill Gates, Schultz said. Schultz met with Gates Sr. in his office at 8 a.m. and explained his story. Gates asked him two questions: Is everything true? and Have you left anything out? Gates Sr. then requested that Schultz come back in two hours. When Schultz returned, Gates Sr. told him that they were going to take a walk and see the man. My heart was racing. I didnt know what was going to happen, Schultz said. And we stormed into the guys office, and hes sitting at his desk and Bill Gates leaning over, all six-foot-seven of him, and basically points a finger at him and says, You should be ashamed of yourself. This is whats going to happen youre going to stand down, Howard is going to buy the company, and were never going to hear from you again. Do you understand? I was like, Oh, my God! Now, this is the way business is done. There was one problem, though. Schultz was still short on financing. I said, Mr. Gates. I have to tell you one thing. Im $2 million short. And he said, Were going to find the money and my son, and I are going to invest, Schultz recalled. If it werent for Bill Gates Sr. there would be no Starbucks. Schultz was turned down by 217 of the 242 investors he approached. The identity of the investor who tried to steal the Starbucks deal is still not known publicly. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Bob Quinn, a former Mayer Brown trial attorney who has led AT&T Inc.'s lobbying team since 2016, has retired amid growing scrutiny over the $600,000 the telecom giant paid to Michael Cohen last year. Quinn, executive vice president for external affairs and legislative affairs, ran the regulatory shop for state and federal operations and oversaw legislative efforts across the country. Previously, he led AT&Ts work before the Federal Communications Commission as the companys senior vice president for regulatory affairs. In his first role at AT&T, as a vice president in the federal regulatory affairs group, he represented AT&T before not only the FCC but the U.S. Justice Department. Quinns retirement was announced in an internal memo AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson sent Friday, in which he described Cohens hiring as a big mistake. In this instance, our Washington D.C. team's vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that, Stephenson said in the memo. For the foreseeable future, he added, Quinns external and legislative affairs team will report to AT&T general counsel David McAtee. Quinn, according to a Reuters report Friday, was responsible for hiring Cohen, a Trump Organization lawyer and self-described "fixer" for Donald Trump. AT&T said this week it paid Cohen $600,000 for "insights and understanding the new administration." It specifically hired Cohen to focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner, according to an internal document reported by the Washington Post. Cohen was not a registered lobbyist for AT&T, and neither was Quinn. I don't qualify under the standards that are in place in Congress," Quinn said last year in a C-SPAN segment about telecom regulations. In the internal memo Friday morning, Stephenson said everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate. He added: But the fact is our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment." [caption id="attachment_15794" align="alignnone" width="620"] AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson testifies in 2016. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / NLJ [/caption] Quinn had written extensively on regulatory issues on AT&T's public policy website. In March 2017, Quinn wrote a post titled "delivering on the Trump regulatory reform agenda." He touted the efforts by the FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, to reform "outdated" regulations. "Over the past several years, United States telecom policy has been marked by the FCC placing its thumb on the public policy scales in order to pick winners and losers in the marketplace," Quinn wrote. Quinn was just one of AT&Ts many ties to Mayer Brown. The firm has lobbied for AT&T since 2001, with its recent work focusing on broadband policy, along with privacy and arbitration legislation. In the first three months of this year, Mayer Brown was the highest paid firm in AT&Ts lobbying stable, pulling in $110,000. Last year, Mayer Brown received $420,000 from AT&T, according to lobbying disclosures. Among ATTs other lobbying firms are Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Wiley Rein LLP and Arnold & Porter. Mayer Brown has also done battle for AT&T in court. Two Washington-based partners, Andy Pincus and Archer Parasharami, advocated for the company in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are enforceable. The firm successfully represented AT&T in 2013 in class action litigation in Illinois state court. In 2015, AT&T's legal department named Mayer Brown the inaugural winner of the "pro bono partner law firm of the year." In Washington federal trial court, OMelveny & Myers partner Daniel Petrocelli has led the defense of AT&Ts proposed acquisition of Time Warner against a Justice Department challenge. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is weighing whether to block the deal. Leon is expected to announce his ruling in the coming weeks. Stephenson's memo is posted in full below: [falcon-embed src="embed_1"] Read more:Michael Cohen Referral Was Top 10 Lobbying Client of Squire Patton Boggs This YearSquire Patton Boggs Strikes Alliance With Trump's LawyerGiuliani Resigns From Greenberg Traurig for 'All-Consuming' Trump RoleWhat Campaign Finance Lawyers Are Saying About Giuliani's Stormy Comments The Russian election disruption effort evinced a clear dislike for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton: House Intelligence Committee Congress has released all of the more than 3,000 Facebook ads purchased by Russian-linked agents ahead of the 2016 presidential contest, seeking to illuminate a massive election disruption effort. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee moved to release the full stash of posts paid for by the Internet Research Agency, which is described by intelligence agencies as a Kremlin-linked troll farm, saying the American people deserved to understand the extent of Russian meddling. Theres no question that Russia sought to weaponise social media platforms to drive a wedge between Americans, and in an attempt to sway the 2016 election, California Democrat Adam Schiff said in a statement. The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see first-hand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us, he added. They offered a fuller picture of tactics already detailed in congressional hearings and in an indictment of alleged Internet Research Agency personnel from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian election meddling and potential links to the Trump campaign. Seeking to inflame social tensions, advertisements took provocative stances on issues like immigration and gun control - often releasing content that took both multiple sides of the same issue. Russian-backed posts praising Donald Trump and assailing his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton proliferated, bearing out what Mr Muellers indictment and intelligence agencies call Russias clear preference for Mr Trump. Other posts favoured Ms Clintons Democratic rival Bernie Sanders. The posts also harnessed Facebooks tools for targeting specific voter demographics. A page sponsored by an apocrvaphyl Army of Jesus group that likened Ms Clinton to Satan was geared towards people whose interests included stop illegal immigration and a range of Fox News personalities. With a Facebook advertising budget of about $100,000, Russian-tied actors were able to amplify the reach of their content so that it appeared before well over 100 million Americans. Story continues Amid a backlash over its role as a conduit for disinformation, Facebook pledged to begin releasing more information about political advertising and has unveiled a feature letting users see if they interacted with Russian-generated content. Mr Muellers inquiry has attracted the unflagging wrath of the president, who regularly denounces the investigation as a meritless witch hunt manufactured by partisan law enforcement officials. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Three men armed with guns and knives slit the throats of three worshippers at a mosque near Durban in South Africa and a person was killed, an emergency service official said on Thursday. One victim jumped from a side window of the building, which had been set ablaze sending smoke billowing, said Prem Balram, a spokesman for Reaction Unit SA, a private emergency service, who was among the first on the scene. "One of the three has just died on his way to hospital. The other two are in critical condition," said Balram, adding that the suspects fled in a white car. "The suspects were Egyptian males. The local people here identified them." South African police said the motive of the attack at a mosque on the Old Main Road in Ottawa the KwaZulu-Natal province was unknown and they were investigating. Africa's most industrialized country has a large expatriate community and attracts many tourists but has seldom been associated with Islamist militancy. Balram said police had cordoned off the scene of the attack. "There is a knife that was recovered at the scene, we believe the knife is suspected to have been used in the crime," the KwaZulu-Natal police spokeswoman Captain Nqobile Ngwala said at the scene. Police said in a statement that three unknown men entered a mosque after the midday prayer and attacked three people. The suspects also set certain rooms in the mosque alight before fleeing in their getaway vehicle, police said. "The motive of the attack on the three men is unknown at this stage," police said, adding that no arrests have been made. (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes the G7 will step up to fight extreme nationalism, and adopt concrete measures on the environment and women's education in crisis zones when it meets in Canada next month, he told AFP in an exclusive interview. "Many countries and many citizens are questioning the current system, as seen by the emergence of extreme nationalism or right-wing populism, or (voicing opposition) to anti-globalization," Trudeau said. "This must be at the center of the discussions we will have at the G7: how to reassure citizens about the future we are building together," he added in his parliamentary office in Ottawa. "It is important that we remain vigilant and keep this order, this peace, this stability, this predictability that has helped us to create everything we have today." President Donald Trump's recent decision to pull the US out of the Iranian nuclear deal is expected to be front and center at the June 8-9 summit in La Malbaie of leaders of the world's seven largest industrialized nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Global trade is also on the menu, as Canada, Mexico and the United States hold crunch talks to try to secure a new North American Free Trade Agreement, and Europe and Japan push back against US protectionist trade policies. Still, Trudeau suggested that US President Donald Trump will not feel alone at the table, because the G7 summit will "seek consensus on security and economic issues." There will be "real robust discussion on how we can move forward together," Trudeau promised. - Gender equality - Host Canada is planning to focus on gender equality at the summit, unveiling a G7 advisory council on the issue. "Gender parity, the defense of women's rights, the inclusion of LGBT and other minorities in society is not just a moral argument, it is an economic imperative," Trudeau said. Story continues The Canadian leader said he would encourage his G7 peers to tackle this issue in developing countries where "a lot of investment" is required, especially "in places of crisis, in refugee camps (where) education for girls is almost absent." "If, as a G7 nation, we can invest in the education of women and girls in crisis, we will reduce the impact of the crisis... and make sure not to lose a generation" and preserve the ability of "these women and girls to contribute to a better world," he said. - Ocean pollution - Canada will also press for action to clean up the world's oceans, as part of a larger environmental and climate agenda. "This is one of the topics in which there is the most consensus in the G7 and around the world," Trudeau said, adding that talks at the summit would broach sustainable fisheries, reduced plastic consumption and waste, and improved ocean data collection and science. To face climate change and its corollary "extreme weather events," Trudeau called for urgent preventative and adaptive measures, such as building "resilient infrastructure." Trudeau pointed to rising sea levels affecting coastal nations, and an increased frequency of hurricanes and floods. Oceans protection is a global concern and the G7 must demonstrate "real leadership" in dealing with this difficult issue and "deliver tangible results," Trudeau said. "Canada has the world's longest coastline, and oceans are extremely important to us, but we're not alone and it's an area where we can find a lot of common ground," he added, noting "broad" support from governments and the private sector. - Marijuana legalization push - The G7 summit is taking place a few months before Canada is scheduled to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Canada's government statistical agency has estimated the domestic market will be worth Can$5.7 billion ($4.5 billion US) based on last year's consumption data. Canadian producers are already positioning themselves to become world leaders in the sector. Uruguay legalized pot five years ago and several US states have too. Trudeau said other nations are closely watching Canada's move and may follow suit. "There is a lot of interest from our allies in what we're doing," the prime minister said. "They recognize that Canada is being daring... and that the current regime (of prohibition) does not work." Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which is accused of supporting terrorist groups around the Middle East: REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Following through on Donald Trumps move to pull America from a nuclear arms control deal, the Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions on Iran. Officials announced a joint effort with the United Arab Emirates to stifle payments to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which spearheads the regimes backing of proxy groups around the region. They accused the Iranian Central Bank of actively maintaining the flow of money. As I said following the Presidents announcement on Tuesday that America would withdraw from the nuclear pact, we are intent on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The sanctions target what officials called an elaborate currency exchange network sustaining Iranian clients in conflict zones. United States and United Arab Emirates disrupt large scale currency exchange network transferring millions of dollars to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force: https://t.co/vyPv9F3ICG Exchange Network CHART: pic.twitter.com/nPUR3B455o Treasury Department (@USTreasury) May 10, 2018 As the Trump administration moved to a more confrontational stance towards Iran, Israeli launched its most intensive assault yet on Iranian positions in Syria in retaliation for what its military called an Iranian rocket attack on its troops in the Golan Heights. The White House responded by condemning Irans provocative rocket attacks and upheld Israels right to self-defence. The Iran deal was the centrepiece of Barack Obamas foreign policy. In the years since its passage the world had begun to ease economic penalties on Iran as the country was certified as being in compliance. But Mr Trump has long derided the agreement, arguing it rewards a state that continues to sponsor terror and export instability in the Middle East. He found backing from congressional Republicans. Story continues The White House accused the Iranian regime of acting in bad faith, citing Israeli intelligence that detailed the countrys past efforts to develop nuclear arms. Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled those findings in a dramatic public appearance last month. This was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made, Mr Trump said earlier in the week, denouncing the Iranian regime as the leading state sponsor of terror. Both European leaders and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Tehran have pledged to continue abiding by the deal, presenting the possibility of isolating the US. National security adviser John Bolton argued in a Washington Post op-ed that the deal actually undermines the security of the American people, noting that since signing the pact Iran had poured billions of dollars into military adventures abroad, spreading an arc of death and destruction across the Middle East from Yemen to Syria. Withdrawing reversed an ill-advised and dangerous policy and set us on a new course that will address the aggressive and hostile behavior of our enemies, while enhancing our ties with partners and allies, Mr Bolton wrote. When Norma was recently injured in a car accident, she had to take time off from her job caring for a 93-year-old woman in Californias San Fernando Valley. While she was away, her client fell down and ended up hospitalized. Its the kind of danger that the elderly face without home care, something that has Norma concerned about her absence. I think of it as if Im caring for my own grandmother or mother, she says. But Norma worries that even after she is able to return to work, she wont be able to stay on the job for long for a very different reason: her immigration status. Norma, who asked that her last name not be used in this story, grew up in El Salvador, but received temporary permission to live in the United States in 2001 after a series of earthquakes rocked her home country. In January, the Trump Administration announced it would end temporary protected status, or TPS, for some 200,000 Salvadorans, giving them a deadline of Sept. 9, 2019, to leave the country. TPS is also ending for immigrants from countries such as Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua, many of whom hold similar service industry jobs as Norma. As aging Baby Boomers increase the demand for direct care workers, this profession has found itself at the center of the nations debate over immigration. The long-term care industry is already facing a worker shortage, and if tens of thousands of immigrants are forced to leave the United States, the countrys growing elderly population, as well as those with disabilities and long term illnesses, could be left without care. Though its difficult to tell exactly how many direct care workers could be affected by changing immigration laws, one in four workers are immigrants, according to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute. About 34,600 workers are non-U.S. citizens from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua, all of which are set to lose TPS in the next two years, according to the institute, and another 11,000 hail from countries that fall under President Trumps travel ban while 69,800 direct care workers are non-U.S. citizens from Mexico. Story continues Most immigrants in these professions come to the U.S. legally, but President Donald Trump and some Congressional Republicans have made it clear they want to limit all immigration. Beyond TPS, many direct care workers come to the U.S. through family reunification, or what critics call chain migration. Earlier this year, Trump proposed a plan that would move away from family-based immigration to focus on skilled immigrants and drastically limit the total number of arrivals. While Congress has so far failed to pass an immigration deal this year, the administrations priorities have those in the industry worried. Its impossible to imagine that the long term care sector would survive without immigrants, says Robert Espinoza, vice president of policy at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute. If you make it more difficult for people who are already documented to remain in the country, what youre doing is youre making it more difficult for families to find workers to care for their loved ones and for employers to find workers to meet all their cases. About 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, according to Pew Research Center, and research has shown that more than half will need long-term care. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that personal care aides and home health aides two of the main professions that make up the direct care category are among the fastest growing jobs in the country, and yet its unlikely that there will be enough workers to fill those jobs. Even if no immigration policies change, Paul Osterman, a professor of human resources and management at MITs Sloan School of Management, projects that the U.S. is on pace to see a shortage of 151,000 direct care workers by 2030 and a shortage of 355,000 by 2040. That does not include the 11 million unpaid family caregivers he estimates the country will need by 2040 a number that could grow if more families cannot find paid help. Were heading toward a perfect storm of a crisis, says Osterman. In many parts of the country, health care providers and workers say the crisis is already here. We have seen clear evidence in the nursing home industry of struggles to find staff, says Robyn Stone, senior vice president of research for LeadingAge, a trade group for nonprofit senior care providers. Weve heard anecdotes among our membership in rural communities that several nursing homes have had to close because they did not have the staff to serve their people. On the home care side, weve seen evidence of families looking for staff and not being able to find them. Miguel, a 36-year-old home health aide in Albuquerque who came to the U.S. from Mexico in search of a better life and more professional opportunities, says the challenging realities of direct care work have made it clear to him why the U.S. has such a shortage of workers. Our profession is not properly recognized as something that is needed and will be needed more so in the future. Second, were not afforded any backing or protection as professionals, he says. And finally in many cases the wages that we are given may not be a living wage. Miguel, who did not want his real name used in this story because he is undocumented, worked as a nurse in Mexico, but since arriving in the U.S., has only been able to find work as an aide in a group of assisted living facilities. While he enjoys caring for the people there and hearing their stories, he is constantly thinking about would happen to them if he is deported. I dont know that youre going to have lots of people racing to take these jobs, he says. Steven Camarota, director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration limits, sees the current state of the direct care industry as an opportunity. He notes that while immigrants are a growing part of the workforce, three quarters of direct care workers were born in the U.S. Camarota believes that cutting down on the flow of immigrants will force employers to raise wages, attracting unemployed Americans into the workforce. This is a real opportunity to draw in some more marginalized people, and were going to miss it if we create a guest worker program or we pull back on [immigration] enforcement, he says. But the solution is unlikely to be simple. Medicaid is the largest payer for nursing homes, and many senior care agencies also rely on Medicaid and Medicare, meaning that they cannot easily raise wages. And even when employers do increase salaries, theres no guarantee that Americans will want to take the jobs. Sherwin Sheik founded CareLinx, which matches home care workers with patients and families, with the goal of paying workers more and decreasing burnout. Workers sign up for his system, set their own rates and then CareLinx charges the patients a fee, letting caregivers keep their money and make at least 25% more than they would otherwise, Sheik says. Still, immigrants are a massive part of his workforce. It takes a lot to do these jobs, Sheik says. They are being filled by immigrants. Having these tighter policies is going to choke this industry. Norma has seen the impact of the workforce shortage firsthand. After her car accident, she called everyone she knew trying to find another home care worker to help her client. But the people that I knew had a background in home care had all found jobs [in other fields] and they were getting paid more, Norma says. Some now work in factories or clean houses, but few stuck with direct care. Norma loves her job and says she enjoys helping her clients feel comfortable in their homes. She hopes that immigration policies will change again before her protected status ends in 2019 so she can stay with her current client. But already feels sad thinking about the 93-year-old having to find a nursing home if she has to stop helping her next year. We will not be the only ones who are affected in this. Many people will be affected, and many people who are U.S. citizens, Norma says. Consumers are going to be left without care. And theyre the most vulnerable in this equation. Really leaving them without care they need is what worries me the most. By blocking Irans pathways to nuclear weapons, the 2015 agreement with Iran had helped resolve a long-standing crisis that was destabilizing the Middle East. But on Tuesday, President Donald Trump put this critical accord at risk with his reckless and irresponsible decision to violate the multilateral nuclear deal. By walking away from the agreement, Trump is jeopardizing U.S. national security interests and risks precipitating a nuclear crisis that the international community can ill afford. Trumps justification for abandoning the deal rests on a series of flawed assertions and a disregard for the value of agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal is not built on lies, nor will it expire in seven years as Trump claims. Rather it puts in place a wide array of restrictions and prohibitions on the most sensitive nuclear activities and it requires permanent, robust international monitoring to detect and deter any future effort by Iran to reconstitute the nuclear weapons effort it had pursued before 2004. A Flawed Understanding From a nonproliferation perspective, the 2015 Iran deal has been a resounding success. Before the JCPOA, Iran could have produced enough bomb-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon in two to three months. If Tehran decided to dash to a bomb, the international community would have struggled to stop it. By requiring a two-thirds reduction of its uranium enrichment capacity and a massive drawdown of its enriched uranium stockpile, the nuclear deal stretches that time line to more than 12 months for the first decade of the agreement. The 2015 accord also subjects Iran to the most intrusive monitoring and verification regime ever negotiated. No site, not even military installations, are off limits to the International Atomic Energy Agency if it finds evidence of illicit nuclear activities. In return, Iran received relief from sanctions and a commitment that the United States and its negotiating partners would refrain from reimposing nuclear-related sanctionsa commitment Trump violated when he declared that U.S. sanctions will come back into effect. Story continues Read more: How President Trumps Iran deal decision could backfire Without question, Iran is meeting its commitments under the deal. International inspectors have reported 10 times that Iran is adhering to the limits set by the deal. On Wednesday, one day after Trump announced his withdrawal from the deal and accused Iran of lying, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency noted again that Tehran is meeting the terms of the agreement. Even critics of the deal, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have admitted that there is no evidence that Iran is in violation of the agreement. In short, there is no legitimate basis for Trump to reimpose sanctions. Trumps other criticismthat the deal paves the way to an Iranian nuclear weapon in seven yearsis based on a flawed analysis. He discounts the value of permanent monitoring mechanisms and prohibitions put in place by the dealwhich act as a bulwark against nuclear weapons development. While some restrictions on Irans uranium enrichment capacity do ease after the first decade of the agreement, other key restriction and monitoring and verification mechanisms will remain in place. No Plan B What makes Trumps decision so dangerous is that there is no Plan B for addressing a resurgent Iranian nuclear program. His plan to pursue a better deal is a mythby violating the current agreement, Trump isolated the United States and dealt a serious blow to U.S. credibility. Americas partners in the deal, particularly Washingtons European allies, have already rejected Trumps plan to use sanctions to coerce Iran into accepting new terms and pledged to sustain the current agreement. These states, particularly, the EU, also have powerful tools at their disposal to block U.S. sanctions from targeting legitimate business with Iran and sustain the current deal. It is critical that they act quickly to demonstrate to Tehran that there will be an economic benefit to remaining in compliance with the deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that for now Iran will continue to adhere to the terms of the deal, despite Washingtons reimposition of sanctions. While Rouhani may be able to stave off a short term crisis, if the EU, Russia, and China cannot deliver economic incentives, Iran may reevaluate that decision. As Irans Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said April 22, if the benefits of the deal for Iran start to diminish, then there is no reason for Iran to remain in the deal. And following Trumps announcement on May 8, Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei took a harder line, saying that he does not trust European partners in the deal and if they do not offer definite guarantees, Iran will not stay in the nuclear agreement. If Tehran takes steps to resume nuclear activities, it could quickly get back to where it was in 2013capable of producing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in 2-3 months. This time, however, the United States will not have the international community behind it, supporting sanctions and a negotiated agreement. Shockwaves Abroad The fallout from Trumps decision is not just confined to Iran. There are serious nonproliferation consequences beyond Irans borders. If the deal collapses and Tehran resumes troublesome nuclear activities, it could precipitate a regional crisis. Prospects for a regional arms race were significantly diminished when Irans nuclear program was limited and under a microscope, but any loss of restrictions and inspectors may spur states like Saudi Arabia to match Irans capabilities to produce nuclear material. Trump is also about to sit down for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. After last years heightened tensions between Trump and Kim, the summit is a real and welcome opportunity to reduce the threat posed by North Korea a country which, unlike Iran, actually possesses nuclear weapons and missiles capable of targeting the United States. Read more: How talks with North Korea convinced President Trump to scrap the Iran nuclear deal But Trumps violation of the Iran deal makes progress on an accord with North Korea more difficult. Trump just sent a message to Kim that that even if an agreement is reached and North Korea abides by its terms, theres no guarantee that Washington will fulfil its commitments. This will likely increase North Koreas bargaining leverage and make it harder for Trump to seize this critical opportunity to put North Korea on the path to denuclearization. Trumps decision to violate the nuclear deal with Iran undermines broader efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The United States does not need, and cannot afford another nuclear crisis. Washington, however, has few cards to play to stave off the crisis that Trumps actions may incite. If the world wants to prevent Trumps decision from causing a catastrophe, the international community will need to step up. Indianas Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly has a tricky dance to learn if he wants to be re-elected this fall in his red state. (Photo: Bill Clark / Getty Images) HIGHLAND, Ind. President Donald Trump is set to fly to Indiana on Thursday night for a campaign rally, and if Senate Republicans have their way, his first goal will be to slam Joe Donnelly. Dont expect Donnelly, arguably the most vulnerable Democratic senator running for re-election in 2018, to return the favor. At a campaign event at a public park here in heavily Democratic Lake County, he never mentioned Trumps name in his stump speech, even as Donnelly slammed two of the administrations signature achievements: nullifying Obamacares individual mandate and making sweeping changes to the tax code. The twist? He blames those measures on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, not the president who signed them into law. Mitch McConnell increased everybodys health care [costs] in that tax cut bill, he said to applause from the crowd of about 40 Democratic activists. And Mitch McConnells tax bill made it so everything you did get would be given back in health care payments. The second television ad of Donnellys campaign, released before Trumps visit, has the candidate positioning himself as a bridge between the far left and the far right to pass laws combating military suicides and working with then-Gov. Mike Pence to expand health care in the state. Its a complicated dance slam GOP policies without attacking Trump, promote bipartisanship while bashing McConnell. And with five Democratic senators running for re-election in 2018 in states Trump won by double digits, Donnelly wont be the only one who needs to learn the steps. While the Democratic base is fired up to deliver a blow to the president in the midterms, Donnelly and other red-state Democrats want to keep the focus on the GOPs unpopular tax and health care policies while showing they can work with the president at times. Its an approach Democrats are confident can work in Indiana. The voters Donnelly needs to win dont want someone whos throwing red meat, said Kip Tew, a former Indiana Democratic Party chair. They want someone whos trying to solve problems. Story continues Donnellys re-election bid got tougher on Tuesday night, when businessman and former state legislator Mike Braun won the GOP primary to challenge him. Braun portrayed himself as an outsider to win a Trump-inspired primary so nasty that one candidate made a childrens book attacking another. Donnelly has a low profile in D.C. compared with some of the other Democratic senators facing re-election in 2018 Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill is ubiquitous on cable news, for instance, and Montana Sen. Jon Tester played a key role in spiking the nomination of Trumps White House doctor to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. But Donnelly is a constant presence back home, and he has already gone on multiple tours of the state, driving a campaign-branded recreational vehicle. Even his potential opponents acknowledged how hard it would be to defeat him. At a campaign stop last weekend before his loss in the primary to Braun, Rep. Todd Rokita said, If you know Joe Donnelly, you know hes better than Evan Bayh in a lot of ways, referring to the states Democratic former senator who lost a comeback bid in 2016. Hes very retail in what he does, and I mean that in the best way. Braun won the primary with the help of millions of dollars worth of television ads boosting his name recognition. He paid for those ads with his own money something he reportedly said he wouldnt do in the general election. In an interview before his primary victory, he seemed confident his momentum would continue into November. He contrasted his success building up Meyer Distributing, his warehouse distribution business, with what he said was Donnellys failed legal career and ineffective time in politics. Hes got a voting record that matches up pretty well with [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer, he said. I dont think we send the cream of the crop to D.C. Braun has a simpler job: He just needs to keep pro-Trump voters in his corner. His record is going to be easy to flush out, Braun said in his victory speech on Tuesday night, citing Donnellys votes against the tax bill and for maintaining Obamacare. I intend to be the person to send Joe Donnelly to an early retirement. Republicans and Democrats agree there are two large groups of swing voters in the state: union workers who make up Donnellys base but voted for Trump in 2016 and college-educated suburban voters, mostly women, in the so-called doughnut counties surrounding Indianapolis. Union leaders are confident Donnellys history of opposing free trade deals and outsourcing will keep voters in his camp in 2018. Jerome Davison, the rapid response coordinator for the United Steelworkers District 7, noted that Trump won 40 percent of the vote in deep blue northwestern Indiana, even as Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky won re-election with 82 percent of the vote. Its a lot about the individual, not the party, he said of union members voting decisions. They know Sen. Donnellys record on trade issues, on working-families issues. But Republicans see an opportunity to undercut his image by attacking him for owning stock in a family business that outsourced jobs to Mexico. Donnelly sold the stock, but that hasnt stopped the GOP from dubbing him Mexico Joe and the National Republican Senatorial Committee from sending a mariachi band to one of his campaign events. Republicans hope the attacks can undercut the core of Donnellys public image. Democrats will attempt to fire back by highlighting Brauns business record, citing an Associated Press report that found his companies do brisk business importing goods from the same overseas countries he has criticized for taking American jobs and said federal records present a picture of a boss who has overworked and underpaid employees. He defended his business record, saying Democratic opposition researchers cherry-picked from a long career. I think they found three instances from 37 years, he said. If we had those kinds of problems, we wouldnt have high retention rates. And we did. Some Republicans are worried that his embrace of Trump Braun called himself a humbler version of the New York real estate magnate and ran ads promising to build Trumps promised border wall and follow the presidents agenda could alienate voters in the suburbs. Trump won just 56 percent of the vote in Hamilton County, a GOP stronghold where George W. Bush claimed nearly three-quarters of the vote in his two presidential bids. Donnelly is often seen as an accidental senator. He won his seat in 2012 after his opponent, thenstate Treasurer Richard Mourdock, said pregnancies from rape were a gift from God. That gaffe and others enabled Donnelly to cobble together 50 percent of the vote, winning over working-class voters and suburban women the same coalition he needs to win a second term. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The Daily Beast Dallas County Sheriff's OfficeA bizarre saga in Missouri involving a missing woman who was seen being held captive in a cage has taken a baffling turn as the house where she was apparently kept burned to the groundimmediately after authorities discovered it had been boobytrapped.The Dallas County Sheriffs Office said the fire at the home in Windyville, an unincorporated Ozarks community about 160 miles from Kansas City, occurred Monday night, according to the Springfield News-Leader. Thats mo REUTERS/Mike Theiler US President Donald Trump has claimed that five most wanted leaders of Isis had been captured, an apparent reference to the capture of five commanders of the jihadi group group by Iraq. Five Most Wanted leaders of ISIS just captured! Mr Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, providing no further details. The president, who has a reputation for hyperbole, appeared to be responding to news announced on Iraqi state television late on Wednesday, that described the capture of the Isis commanders as some of the most wanted leaders of the group. The list did not include Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A statement from the US-led coalition against Isis called the arrests a significant blow to Daesh, using the Arabic acronym for Isis. The five alleged commanders are said to include Saddam al-Jammel, a Syrian involved in controlling territory around Deir Ezzor, and Ismail al-Eithawi, who is believed to be a top aide to Baghdadi. Those captured were not named by the coalition. It was reported that the five were captured after being lured by Iraqi intelligence services into crossing the border from Syria. Eithawi was captured in February by Turkish authorities and handed over to Iraqi agents, a security advisor to the Iraqi government told Reuters. Iraqi agents then used the Telegram messaging app on his mobile phone to lure four commanders from the group to cross the border from Syria into Iraq and into a trap, security advisor Hisham al-Hashimi said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last month he would take all necessary measures against jihadis based in Syria. The Iraqi air force has carried out several airstrikes since last year against Isis positions in Syrian territory. The US -led coalition supported Iraqi ground forces and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the war against Isis. Mr Abadi declared final victory over Isis last December, with with group having been pushed out of all the major territory it held in the country taken as part of offensives that started in 2014. But Isis still pose a threat along the border with Syria with ambushes, killings and bombings still occurring across Iraq. Story continues Related Video: Isis Claims Responsibility for Explosion in Kabul For more news videos visit Yahoo View. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report (Adds additional quote and information) BEIRUT, May 9 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader called U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement "silly and superficial", said he did not trust the European countries that were sticking with the agreement, and cast doubt on the future of the deal. The comments came on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's official website on Wednesday, where Khamenei reiterated his distaste for the agreement. "I said many times from the first day: don't trust America," Khamenei said. And he added, "I don't trust these three countries," Britain, France and Germany. All three are parties to the agreement and were trying after Trump's withdrawal to salvage the deal. But Khamenei sounded dubious about their efforts. "If you can't get a definite guarantee, then the nuclear deal can not be continued," he said. Khamenei heaped scorn on Trump, saying "You heard last night that the president of America made some silly and superficial comments. "He had maybe more than 10 lies in his comments. He threatened the regime and the people, saying I'll do this and that. Mr. Trump, I tell you on behalf of the Iranian people: You've made a mistake. "This man will turn to dust and his body will become food for snakes and ants," he added. "And the Islamic Republic will still be standing." Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, reluctantly gave his backing for the Iran nuclear deal and has publicly criticized the U.S. multiple times for not following through on its promises under the agreement. Raising the issue of Iran's nuclear programme was an excuse to curb the Islamic Republic's regional influence and missile programme, Khamenei said. Accepting negotiations on its missiles and regional influence would mean Iran had to make endless concessions, he said. "We accepted the nuclear deal, but the enmity against the Islamic Republic did not end," Khamenei said. Iran needs to preserve its nuclear programme because the country will need 20,000 megawatts of electricity in the next few years, he said. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh, editing by Larry King) Washington (AFP) - In quitting the Iran nuclear deal President Donald Trump cast aside years of painstaking diplomacy and took the US stand-off with Iran into dangerous new territory. America's European allies were dismayed by the decision, which fell even as London, Paris and Berlin were trying to negotiate a tougher accord to placate Trump. And in Washington, even the sternest critics of the 2015 accord caught their breath as they digested the news -- and wondered what new escalation might come next. Senior administration figures insisted that Washington is still determined to work with its humiliated allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. But it is hard to square Trump's professed quest for a "new and lasting deal" with his scornful dismissal of the "decaying and rotten" original agreement. The US leader is increasingly surrounded by hawkish voices like those of his new national security adviser, John Bolton, and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Their public position is that Iran can be forced by economic pressure into even greater concessions than those it grudgingly accepted under the 2015 deal. But Trump's decision opened a rift with European allies that weakens the common front against Iran, and it is far from clear that Tehran can ever accept a tougher deal. Some now say the logic of Trump's "maximum pressure" tactics leads not to a new quest for an accord but an attempt to crush Iran's already weak economy and to topple its regime. "We have a president who is tough," Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani told exiled Iranian opposition figures at the weekend. "We have a president who is as committed to regime change as we are." But the 38-year-old Iranian revolution will not go down without a fight, and the risks of renewed regional war -- or a renewed nuclear arms race -- are growing alongside once taboo talk of regime change. Story continues - Iraq debacle - Celia Belin, a former policy adviser to the French foreign ministry and a visiting fellow to the Brookings Institution in Washington, says Europe will not reimpose its own sanctions on Iran. "Europeans are slowly discovering Trump's 'hot potato' doctrine," she said, describing how Trump's habit of provoking unnecessary diplomatic battles then daring others to resolve them. "However, it is unclear whether the Trump administration truly seeks a 'better deal,' or whether he and his administration are aiming for regime change," she warns. So is Trump's true goal regime change? "Oh, I'm sure he would love that," says Rob Malley, a former adviser to president Barack Obama who helped negotiate the deal. "I don't claim to be a Trump expert," Malley, now head of conflict resolution think tank the International Crisis Group, told AFP. "But I'm sure that people around him -- he just hired or promoted two people, Bolton and Pompeo, who never made a secret of their view that the only way to change this issue is by changing the regime and taking military action." The phrase comes with a lot of baggage in Washington, where the 2003 US campaign to oust Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein and change his regime is now widely regarded as a mistake. Saddam's fall and the subsequent insurgencies in Iraq is seen as having encouraged the spread of jihadist groups and created an opening for Iran's influence to grow. Trump himself says he opposed the war but some veterans of former president George Bush's administration -- notably the newly elevated Bolton -- defend it to this day. And, in their attacks on the Iran deal, some see an attempt to rewrite history. For these conservative war hawks, Tehran's rising regional influence is a byproduct of Obama's decision to drop sanctions, and not of Bush's destruction of Iran's enemy in Baghdad. With Bolton in the Oval Office, these voices are getting louder, and with them the chance of a new deadly confrontation is growing. By Samia Nakhoul BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal has cast a shadow over an already fraught election in Iraq, where Tehran and Washington have vied for influence since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The removal of a Sunni dictatorship cleared the path for the country's Shi'ite majority, from which the three top contenders for the premiership, including incumbent Haider al-Abadi, are drawn. The outcome of the May 12 ballot is too close to call. Whoever wins must balance Iraq's interests - and the need to reduce the struggling economy's dependence on oil - with those of the United States and Iran, whose intensifying rivalry makes that more difficult. Abadi and his main rivals - predecessor Nuri al-Maliki and new challenger Hadi al-Amiri, a hardline militia commander at the head of a powerful paramilitary coalition aligned with Iran - tilt heavily towards Tehran. With Trump increasing pressure on Iran, its Shi'ite clerical leadership will be even more determined to maintain its patronage in Iraq. For Iran, Iraq is the most important Arab state, even more than Syria and Lebanon, where it also holds political and military sway. That is because Iran and Iraq share a border and Iraq is positioned in the heart of the Gulf region. Iraq is also Iran's main route for supplying arms and fighters to Syria, where it has deployed with allied Iraqi and Lebanese Shi'ite militias to back President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war. One concern for Iraq is the risk of clashes between the 5,000 U.S. troops there and Shi'ite paramilitaries notionally under Baghdad's command but answering to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "The Iraqis are very worried. They don't want Iraq to become a new theater of ... war between Iran and the United States," said one senior Western envoy. "If there is a war between Iran and the United States, part of it will be here." The U.S. and Iran had found a common enemy in Islamic State, which at one point held about a third of Iraq, mainly in the north and the west. Its rapid advance owed much to the collapse of Iraq's army, hollowed out by the sectarian policies of the Maliki government. Many Iraqis attribute the jihadis' subsequent defeat to men like Amiri and the Iranian-trained militias, rather than to U.S.-led coalition forces. America mainly provided air power, while relying on Kurdish fighters on the ground in both Syria and Iraq. PROXY WAR But while Iran sees Iraq as the most strategically important Arab state, some experts believe Tehran will focus more on Israel and the Syrian battlefield. The conflict there threatens to draw in Israel. Only hours after Trump's announcement on the Iran nuclear deal it launched air strikes against what it says were Iranian and Hezbollah assets, creeping closer to Israel's borders. Iranian forces in Syria shelled Israeli army outposts across the Syrian frontier overnight, Israel said, prompting one of the heaviest Israeli strikes in Syria since the war began in 2011. Iraq's foreign ministry called Trump's decision "hasty and rash", and said Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear accord "goes in the direction of escalation which would bring nothing but destruction and the desolation of war" in the Middle East. In the worst-case scenario, diplomats in the region said, Iran would target U.S. interests in Iraq as their militias did in 2005 by firing rockets into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. But Iran might prefer to steer clear of Iraq and use Syria instead. IRAQI DILEMMA Iraq's Shi'ite leaders nonetheless face a dilemma about how to balance policy between the United States and Iran. Some Iraqi leaders, among them Abadi, say they want to steer clear of U.S.-Iranian rivalries. They would "want to follow the model of non-aligned policies, friends of all", said another Western diplomat. Others, including Amiri, believe that Iraq's single most important relationship is with Iran, and that they have to reinforce that relationship. Also important to Iraq is building bridges with the minority Sunni community, although some politicians are wary of Abadi's tentative rapprochement with Sunni Saudi Arabia, nurtured after decades of estrangement. "Their greatest nightmare is to wake up and have the Sunnis or Arabs undermine their ascendancy and dominance in the system, as happened with Daesh," said the second Western diplomat, referring to Islamic State's advances in 2014. "They are reminded that Iran will be their ultimate resort when that nightmare happens ... When the (Islamic State) caliphate was declared, they (the Iranians) were the first to come to their rescue, not the U.S. or anybody else." Iraq's Shi'ites do not want to be dominated by Iran, but Trump's move this week against Tehran may make that harder. "After (Trump's decision) the question is how do you implement a balanced policy when Iran will use Iraq's airspace to arm its militias in Syria? What will they do?", said the diplomat. Powerful militias trained, funded and armed by Iran and led by Amiri might answer to Tehran rather than Baghdad. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has built Shi'ite militias at the heart of the so-called Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) into a structure to rival the Iraqi army and security forces. It did something similar within Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement, which has helped Tehran project military strength across the region. (Editing by Mike Collett-White) Istanbul (AFP) - The candidate of Turkey's main opposition in presidential polls visited Wednesday the jailed ex-leader of the pro-Kurdish party, in a symbolic move aimed warming ties between rivals of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Republican People's Party (CHP) presidential candidate Muharrem Ince met with the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) charismatic former leader Selahattin Demirtas, who is also standing for the presidency in the June 24 elections, the HDP said. The meeting took place at the prison in the Edirne region of northwest Turkey where Demirtas is being held. The HDP named Demirtas as its presidential candidate even though he is currently behind bars and standing trial in several cases on charges including links to a terror group. Turkish media reports said the visit took place under tight security, with Ince walking into the prison without making any statement. The CHP sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular and national traditions and has not always had easy relations with the HDP. The visit marked the first time a senior CHP figure had met Demirtas in prison. Demirtas hailed the visit as "important and meaningful," in a written message published by the HDP after the talks. "Mr Ince's visit is an example of humanitarian solidarity showing a political courtesy rather than a political message to our voters," Demirtas said. Demirtas said the visit highlighted "injustices" engulfing both his party -- several of whose MPs are in jail for alleged links to Kurdish militants -- and also the country which is currently ruled under state of emergency laws since the 2016 failed coup. "Me and my fellow colleagues are being held as political hostages but unfortunately the outside is not much different from a semi open-prison," he said. But he hoped despite the "unfair race" -- where all the state's resources would be mobilised for Erdogan -- the elections would open the way for democracy, freedom and peace. The visit is part of Ince's drive to meet with all presidential candidates ahead of the elections. He already met with Iyi (Good) Party leader Meral Aksener and Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoglu. Ince said he would meet with Erdogan later on Wednesday at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters in Ankara, in another unusual encounter given the fractious relationship between the two parties. ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, May 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is pleased with the job Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is doing but allegations of ethical missteps "have raised some concerns," a White House spokesman said on Thursday. The White House is hopeful Pruitt will be able to answer the concerns, spokesman Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Elkhart, Indiana. Pruitt has been under fire for potential ethics lapses, including flying first class, excessive spending on security, and the rental of a room in a Washington condominium owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist. (Reporting by James Oliphant; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by David Alexander) American troops operating in Africa need better protection and training, the Pentagon stated in a report about the deaths of four U.S. soldiers in Niger. The troops were killed in an ambush by fighters from militant group Islamic State (ISIS) near the village of Tongo Tongo, by the Mali border, in October 2017. An eight-page report released on Thursday outlined flaws in the operation, including command mistakes, insufficient training and the element of surprise in the attack by a well-trained and better-armed force, Reuters reported. Trending: Pruitt Dined With Climate-Skeptic Vatican Official Charged With Sex Abuse, and the EPA Tried to Hide It RTX3HNC9 REUTERS/Joe Skipper Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of United States Africa Command, said at a news conference, I take ownership of all the events connected to the ambush of 4 October. The responsibility is mine. Waldhauser said that troops are now better trained and equipped, following a review of operating procedures ordered by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Don't miss: PlayStation E3 2018 Presentation to Focus on Four First-Party Games The Pentagon report was compiled after interviews with 143 people, including survivors. The soldiers were hunting for a high-ranking ISIS militant, but without the necessary approval from someone senior in the chain of command. The militant was not found, and the troops, who had not trained for the mission, went to gather intelligence before they were ambushed. It is unclear whether local villagers tipped off the militants. The report said there was a "contradictory and ambiguous" command approval system as well as "a general lack of situational awareness and command oversight at every echelon." It could not pinpoint a sole reason for the ambush. Story continues Most popular: Worst Movies of All Time: These Films Got 0 Percent on Rotten Tomatoes U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, from the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, said in a statement that the tragedy was "deeply troubling. Our troops were in Niger to train and equip the Nigerian military. They embarked on a mission described as consistent with that limited purpose, but it was actually a kill-or-capture combat mission designed to target a high-value person believed to be present in the region." The soldiers who were killed were Army Sergeant La David Johnson, 25; and Staff Sergeants Bryan Black, 35; Jeremiah Johnson, 39; and Dustin Wright, 29. Wrights father, Arnold Wright, told the Associated Press that the whole thing was a screwed-up mess. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told North Korea's top diplomat that he wanted to end decades of conflict with the Hermit Kingdom and collaborate to achieve peace. Pompeo arrived Tuesday in Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong Un, who has defied international sanctions by developing a nuclear weapons program intended to deter any outside invasion. Kim Yong Chol, a vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, reportedly welcomed the former CIA director graciously, reminding him of the country's nuclear capabilities but asserting that Pyongyang had "high expectations the U.S. will play a very big role in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula," according to a number of media outlets at the scene, including The New York Times. The statement, which Kim Yong Chol accompanied with a toast, appeared to reverse his country's traditional stance of a strictly inter-Korean peace and reunification effort. Pompeo then responded with his own toast. Trending: Every Bon Jovi Album, Ranked: Celebrating 'Slippery When Wet,' 'New Jersey,' and All the Rest "For decades, we have been adversaries," Pompeo said. "Now, we are hopeful that we can work together to resolve this conflict, take away threats to the world and make your country have all the opportunities your people so richly deserve." RTS1QOT8 KCNA/Reuters North Korea embodied the earliestand arguably the only ongoingfront in the Cold War. After Allied powers defeated Japan, two postWorld War II satellite states emerged on the Korean Peninsula: North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and South Korea, backed by the U.S. and its allies in the United Nations. A three-year war broke out in 1950, leaving many dead on both sides of what has since become the world's most heavily militarized border. Story continues Don't miss: Argentine Sports Channel Makes Fun of Russias Gay Propaganda Ban Ahead of World Cup Kim Jong Un is the third installment of his family's absolute rulers in North Korea. Despite strong sanctions and accusations of human rights abuses, he has achieved historic success in launching the country's first intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducting its debut hydrogen bomb test last year. Those ambitious efforts were met with outrage by President Donald Trump, who threatened military action. Related: What does North Korea's Kim Jong Un want from Trump? Three steps U.S. can take to solve nuclear crisis As 2018 arrived, however, Kim sought to capitalize on his image as a reformer in order to pursue talks with pro-West South Korea. While skeptics assert that Kim was unlikely to give up his weapons of mass destruction, the millennial leader has surprised some observers by crossing the border to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in, suspending his nuclear program and inviting Trump himself for face-to-face talks. Most popular: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine While Pompeo's latest sit-down with Kim was his second, the upcoming leaders' summit, officially scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, will be the first time a sitting U.S. president has ever met a North Korean leader. rtx5xzbo_0 2018 INTER-KOREAN SUMMIT PREPARATION COMMITTEE/REUTERS Kim has already offered what was widely seen as a goodwill gesture ahead of the meeting. Following Pompeo's visit, Trump announced Wednesday that North Korea had agreed to release three U.S. citizens being detained there. The president welcomed the trio back as they arrived home at a ceremony early Thursday in Washington. Nevertheless, North Korea has cautioned against Trump's eagerness to credit the ongoing peace efforts to his own "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions and military posturing. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee, accused the U.S. in a commentary Wednesday of holding on to a "Cold War way of thinking" and being "rude," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. "The U.S. should bear in mind that it will conform to the demand of the world community and to its own interests to show etiquette and sincerity to its dialogue partner," it added. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Beirut (AFP) - United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said Friday they were keeping a close eye on the southern border with Israel, but the area was "quiet" after strikes on suspected Iranian positions in Syria. The Israeli raids in the early hours of Thursday had prompted concern that Iran's powerful ally Hezbollah could retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon. "We are monitoring the overall situation, but in relation to our area, the situation has been quiet," said Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Tenenti told AFP that the UN force had not increased its patrols in the south, which number around 450 per day. On Thursday morning, Israel carried out unprecedented strikes against what it said were Iranian logistics and intelligence targets in Syria. It said the strikes were in response to rocket fire towards its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, which it blamed on Iran's Quds Force. Iranian forces are deployed in Syria to back the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose fighters have also received a boost from Iraqi and other foreign militias as well as Hezbollah. Israel, which has vowed to prevent any entrenched Iranian military presence in southern Syria, is suspected of carrying out several rounds of strikes against Tehran-backed forces. It has also targeted what it says are arms deliveries to Hezbollah in Syria. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the latest Israeli strikes or how it might respond. Israel and its US ally believe the Lebanese Shiite militia is amassing weapons on Lebanon's southern border in preparation for a new war, after a deadly conflict with Israel in 2006. Set up in 1978, UNIFIL was beefed up after the 2006 war and tasked with guaranteeing a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from a demilitarised zone on the border. UNIFIL now has 10,500 troops on the ground, monitoring the truce and helping Lebanese troops secure the borders. Bains, a cabinet minister, said he refused to take off his turban after he had already passed through regular security checks Navdeep Bains, Canadas minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development: I believed that it was an intrusion into my private life They would never ask me to take off my clothes Photograph: Rebecca Cook/Reuters Officials from the Trump administration issued an apology after a security agent at a Detroit airport repeatedly demanded that a Canadian cabinet minister remove his turban, the minister has revealed. Navdeep Bains, the countrys minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, described the incident in an interview with the French-language paper La Presse on Thursday. Bains was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already passed through regular security checks, but because he was wearing a turban, a security agent told him that he would have to undergo additional checks, according to La Presse. He told me to take off my turban. I asked him why I would have to take off my turban when the metal detector had worked properly, the minister said. The US amended its travel policy in 2007, allowing Sikhs to keep turbans on while passing during the security inspection process. It was an uncomfortable experience, said Bains. He refused the agents request to remove his turban: I believed that it was an intrusion into my private life They would never ask me to take off my clothes, he said. The agent eventually relented. Bains said that when he travels, he rarely discloses his identity as a cabinet minister, in order to better understand the travel experiences and frustrations of people not afforded similar privileges. When he appeared at his scheduled gate, a second security agent approached him, requesting Bains return to the security checkpoint and again telling him to remove his head-covering. He told me: You have to take off your turban. I responded politely that it was not a security threat and that I had passed all the security controls. Then he asked for my name and identification. I reluctantly gave him my diplomatic passport. It was the moments that followed which most incensed Bains. I was speechless I was at the point of boarding and they asked me to take off my turban. But upon learning of my diplomatic status, they told me that everything is fine. Thats not a satisfactory response. The incident prompted foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland to express disappointment to her US counterparts. Both undersecretaries for the homeland security and transportation departments apologized for the incident. Canada has more Sikh ministers than any other country in the world. In the 2015 election, 20 Sikhs were elected members of parliament and four Bains, Harjit Sajjan, Amarjeet Sohi and Bardish Chagger were appointed as federal ministers. Unfortunately these types of incidents do occur from time to time to minorities in particular. But it should never become the norm, Bains said in a statement. I will continue to promote diversity and inclusion across the country as our government has done since we took office. It is exactly why I ran for office. Washington (AFP) - It's often said that a dog biting a man isn't news -- so one canine companion apparently decided to up the ante. A 51-year-old man from the US state of Iowa says he was shot by his own dog while playing with the pet in his home, local media reported Friday. Richard Remme of Fort Dodge was encouraging his dog Balew, a cross between a pit bull and a labrador, to jump on his lap as he lay on his sofa when the dog apparently flicked the safety catch off the 9mm pistol he was carrying in his belt. "I was lying on the couch, and we were horsing around, me and the dog. And I was tossing him off my lap, and he was jumping back on my lap," he told The Messenger newspaper after being discharged from hospital. "Apparently he bumped the safety one time, and when he bounded back over one of his toes went right down into the trigger guard," the injured dog owner said. "It has a trigger safety as well as a thumb safety, and he managed to hit both of them, and it discharged and went into my leg, did no major damage to anything." Remme called 911 and told the emergency dispatcher: "My dog shot me." "I've never heard of that," the city police chief Roger Porter told the paper. "I've heard of guns dropping and going off on the floor, and horsing around and guns going off. I can't say I've heard a dog story before." Cory Husske, his assistant, later issued a statement saying that a police investigation "could neither prove nor disprove the man's statement of events," adding that no charges were therefore planned. "Only in America can you get shot by your dog," weighed in Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization pushing for stricter gun controls in the United States. The incident proved rather too much for Balew, described by Remme as a "big wuss" who laid down and cried after the firearm went off. "He thought he was in trouble for doing something wrong," Remme said. Washington (AFP) - John McCain has been home in Arizona fighting brain cancer for months, and while the US Senate awaits his possible comeback, many colleagues have begun facing the prospect that the political titan might never return to Washington. In quiet conversations in the Capitol, more than a dozen senators several of them McCain's friends for a quarter-century or more acknowledged they are struggling to adjust to a Senate without the larger-than-life lawmaker in their midst. Each is eager for McCain to come back, but privately some concede it may not happen. The occasionally irascible national security hawk and 2008 Republican presidential nominee has not appeared in Congress this year. "I miss him all the time," Senate Democrat Michael Bennet told AFP, noting that McCain has routinely gone "out of his way" to work with Democrats. McCain, a 81-year-old six-term senator, was diagnosed last year with glioblastoma, the same aggressive form of brain cancer that took the life of another Senate giant, Ted Kennedy, in 2009. McCain's future may have a pronounced impact on Republican efforts to maintain their narrow Senate majority. Should he retire or die this month, it would likely trigger a special election for his replacement in November, during a year of sweeping Democratic enthusiasm. Lawmakers have avoided directly broaching such taboo subjects. "He ain't gone," Republican Senator Roger Wicker said in an interview, adding that McCain remains "very much still a presence" in the chamber, conducting conference calls with staff and maintaining his Armed Services Committee chairmanship. But his absence was palpable Wednesday when the Senate Intelligence Committee grilled CIA nominee Gina Haspel over her role in the post-9/11 enhanced interrogation program set up under George W. Bush. "It's hard to have a meaningful debate about a big issue like torture without John McCain," said Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, noting McCain's brutal treatment during his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Story continues "He was somebody that guided us through some of these life-and-death issues because he was one of the few that had faced those stakes personally." McCain released a statement opposing Haspel. "Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying," he said. - 'Incredible deference' - McCain's extensive challenges and exploits have earned his colleagues' admiration and respect. Now they are there for him as he contends with his toughest challenge. Former vice president Joe Biden, a cherished friend who served in the Senate for decades, visited McCain and wife Cindy recently at their ranch outside Sonoma. "I wanted to let him know how much I love him and how much he matters to me and how much I admire his integrity and his courage," Biden told The New York Times. Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend, has also made the trip. Arizona's retiring junior Senator Jeff Flake has visited twice in recent weeks. "We had a good conversation," Flake said of their latest meeting, which included an hour-long lunch. But he declined to discuss McCain's health. In early 2018, explicit talk of McCain retiring early or dying was rare, and even today, senators allow privately that little has been done to prepare for an official farewell. "People are showing incredible deference," one senator said. During his treatment, McCain penned and voiced a new memoir, "The Restless Wave," in which he gets the last word on his astounding career, addressing his leading roles in immigration reform and health care policy, and his adventures on the world stage. In the book, which comes out later this month, he calls on Americans to "recover our sense that we are more alike than different." But he also addresses his possible end, writing, "Maybe I'll be gone before you read this." - Country over party - Lawmakers have begun gingerly addressing the issue. Senator Orrin Hatch recently apologized after saying he thought it was "ridiculous" that McCain did not want President Donald Trump, who once mocked McCain's capture, to attend his funeral. One longtime senator declined to explicitly call his visit with McCain earlier this year a final farewell. But his voice cracked as he described to AFP how they parted: "We put our arms around each other and said goodbye." As much as McCain is an outsized personality with a volatile temper, he has had a generally calming influence on the chamber, one of the few senators who brings both sides together. "There's just no question that country matters more to John than party," said Murphy. Senator Dick Durbin, first elected to Congress in 1982, the same year as McCain, paused when asked what he missed about his friend. "Half the time he infuriated me, and the other half he inspired me," the Democrat said, expressing hope McCain could one day return to the Senate. "I hope in the meantime we can still hear his voice." The man accused of killing a 15-year-old Utah teen as she talked on the phone with her mother allegedly sexually assaulted the victim at some point before the murder. Authorities in Salt Lake City tell PEOPLE a warrant for 24-year-old Shaun French issued in the aftermath of Baleigh Bagshaws brutal end Monday afternoon has been sealed by a judge. The warrant was issued before investigators were ready to call French a suspect in the homicide. After his apprehension following two days on the run as a person of interest, police named French him the sole suspect in Baleighs killing which took place inside her home, in the citys Rose Park neighborhood, moments after she returned from school. Baleigh Bagshaw However, before French was arrested on Wednesday, police in Salt Lake City confirmed the warrant alleged that French had had a previous unlawful sexual encounter with Baleigh. French has not been formally charged with Baileys murder. Instead, he is awaiting extradition to Utah, and is being held on an unlawful sexual acts with a minor charge. KUTV is reporting that French, at some point before the murder, lived in the same Rose Park home as Bailey. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Citing court documents, KUTV reports that French moved into the Rose Park home with Bagshaws older brother in February of 2017, when she was 14 and he was 23. The station reports Baileys brother allegedly witnessed the teen and her accused killer engaging in unspecified sexual activity. According to police, Baleigh called her mother on Monday at around 3 p.m., just after getting home from classes. It was something the girl did every day, Sgt. Brandon Shearer of the Salt Lake Police Department told reporters at a press briefing. Shaun French While on the phone with Baleigh, the teens mother heard the teen being brutally attacked in their home, said Shearer. Eventually, the call was lost, police said. Story continues KUTV spoke to Baleighs mother, Shauna Bagshaw, who said all she heard coming through the phone were her daughters screams. The mother called a neighbor who called 911. Police arrived at the Bagshaw residence to find Baleighs lifeless body. It has not been announced how Bailey died, but Shearer told reporters, It was a very violent attack. French had yet to enter a plea, and does not have a lawyer of record who could comment on his arrest. A former Fox News military analyst falsely claimed Thursday that U.S. Senator John McCain was nicknamed Songbird John while he was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. The salacious claim alluded to McCain giving up information to the Viet Cong against his country and fellow service members. Retired vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force turned media pundit Tom McInerney challenged McCains decision not to vote for CIA director nominee Gina Haspel, stating the enhanced interrogation techniques, or torture, worked on the Arizona Republican and are effective overall. McInerney was employed as a Fox News military analyst until August 2017, but still regularly appears on Fox News and Fox Business. McCain made his stance against Haspels nomination specifically over her involvement in the U.S.s interrogation program while she was a CIA officer. Trending: What Is Military Spouse Appreciation Day? Trump Praises 'National Hero' Partners for Sacrifices While smearing McCain, McInerney also referenced comments made by former vice president Dick Cheney earlier in the day on the same network. Cheney said he wanted to bring the enhanced interrogation tactics back and believed they were not a form of torture. Well [Haspel] can't use it anymore because we have determined in Congress that it's not legal, McInerney told Fox Business. The fact is, is John McCainit worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.' The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective, as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to. Don't miss: These Dinosaur Tracks Are 200 Million Years Old, but Tourists Keep Ripping Them Up Fox Business host Charles Payne, whose show McInerney was appearing on, apologized for the remark and said in a statement that he was listening to the control room and did not hear McInerneys false statement. Story continues I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged, Payne said. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country. The full and incorrect nickname given to McCain was Hanoi Hilton songbird and surfaced on a flyer distributed by a group called Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain during the South Carolina primary as McCain campaigned for president in 2008, according to PolitiFact. Most popular: Single Women Are Letting the Country Down, Lawmaker Says That report indicates that McCain previously wrote in a memoir that he told his captors he would give them information, but only because he feared for his life and was severely injured. McCain also wrote that he never intended to keep my word with the enemy. McCain, who is currently battling brain cancer, was famously shot down in 1967 while serving in Vietnam and was not released from capture until 1973. Ever since he has been praised as a war hero and spoken out against the use of torture tactics. Correction: This story has been updated to correct that fact that McInerney's role as a Fox News military analyst ended in August 2017. A statement from Fox Business host Charles Payne has also been included. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek An off-duty police officer has been hailed a hero after he stepped in to save a babys life. Dashcam footage from Jeremie Nixs police car shows the moment the babys mother, Nechole Crowell, flagged him down at an intersection in Ocala, Florida. Nix, a K9 Deputy in the police force, swiftly turned his vehicle around and pulled in behind the distraught woman. He immediately began CPR on her three-month-old son, who was struggling to breathe. Dashcam footage from the officers car captured the dramatic scenes as they unfolded (Marion County Sheriffs Office) When the little boy failed to respond, the officer quickly drove him to the nearby Ocala Regional Medical Center where medics took over. The Marion County Sheriffs Office said on their YouTube page: Deputy Nix delivered the child to medical personnel, who then began treating the child. We are happy to report that baby Kingston is doing very well and doctors say he will make a full recovery!! Doctors also said that because of K9 Deputy Nixs actions, baby Kingston is alive today. We are tremendously proud of Deputy Nix and we can already see that he and baby Kingston will have a deep connection that will last a lifetime!! Doctors say that baby King will make a full recovery (Nechole Crowell/Facebook) MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO Heartwarming images of Deputy Nix and Kingston known as King have since been shared on Facebook, where his relieved mum has been expressing her gratitude. Let me just say that yesterday GOD showed me just how real he was, she wrote. My son KING was barely breathing, & fighting for his life. My sister & I noticed an officer sitting at a red light & we got his attention. With his fast thinking HE & GOD saved my son. His word to me was Dont you worry, I will not leave until I help save your son! GOD had me in the right place because he knew you needed me' Story continues Deputy Jeremie Nix has been credited with saving baby Kings life (Nechole Crowell/Facebook) Nechole added that Deputy Nix had since returned to visit King with his wife. She wrote: THANK YOU OFFICER JAY NIX FROM THE OCALA SHERIFFS OFFICE K-9 unit !! I just wanted the world to know how great this officer is, & how GREAT GOD is.. not all officers are bad, hes one of many good guys KING & I WILL FOREVER APPRECIATE YOU. Washington (AFP) - The White House on Friday slammed Iran for its "reckless actions" that it warned pose a "severe threat" to stability in Middle East. The statement came after Iranian forces in Syria were accused by Israel of launching some 20 missiles into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting Israeli strikes against positions held by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Syria. The White House said that Iran "pours resources into exporting destabilizing influence throughout the Middle East, even as the Iranian people are victims of a struggling economy." "Already this week, the IRGC has fired rockets at Israeli citizens, and Iran's proxies in Yemen have launched a ballistic missile at Riyadh. "These actions are further proof that the Iranian regime's reckless actions pose a severe threat to regional peace and security. "It is time for responsible nations to bring pressure on Iran to change this dangerous behavior." Iran is backing the Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen's civil war. The Huthis are battling a Saudi-led coalition that supports Yemen's government. A white woman in Oakland, California, called the police on a black family for using a charcoal grill in a park barbecue zone not designated for charcoal. (Photo: YouTube) A white woman called the police on a black family at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, last month while they were setting up for a day at the park. Their crime, according to the unidentified woman, was grilling in one of the parks designated barbecue zones using a charcoal grill, instead of a non-charcoal grill. The April 29 incident was filmed by a witness named Michelle Snider, who confronted the woman for calling the police on the family. In recent weeks, a number of incidents around the U.S. have involved white people calling the police on black people and other people of color for such activities as sitting at Starbucks, staying at an Airbnb, taking a nap and participating in a college campus tour. Police responded to the incident but did not issue any citations, according to Oakland Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, though the family was detained and questioned for one hour. In a city that needs significant policing services, we cant have those precious expensive resources squandered in a frivolous way, McElhaney told HuffPost. She added: Police are not private security for any white person thats offended by the presence of black folks in our public spaces. Sniders video of the confrontation went viral on Thursday after KRON4, a San Francisco news station, aired a segment on it. Passersby, including Angela Williams, gathered to ask the woman why she was calling the police. Williams told HuffPost she had just finished walking around the lake when she saw the woman standing near a man alone at the grill with this frown on her face. Williams described the woman as aggressive, curt and non-friendly. She was just close enough to be uncomfortable but far away that she wasnt in their physical space, she told HuffPost. Williams, who later learned the man was named Onsayo Abram, tweeted about the incident and took photos of the woman standing near the barbecue. So today Im at Lake Merritt and minding my Black ass business. As I finish my jog (Lets be real, fast walk) I notice this white woman being really aggressive towards the Black Guy. Im nosey so I stop to observe. #BlackLivesMatter (@ajwftw) April 29, 2018 Turns out, she is harassing him about bbqing on the lake....where everyone bbqs. pic.twitter.com/GooQfDcJ1j #BlackLivesMatter (@ajwftw) April 29, 2018 Thread: More white women mad at Black people for existing in public. Mind you, literally everyone BBQs at Lake Merritt. Everyone. https://t.co/PGRXoHrsO3 Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) May 10, 2018 Abram told the San Francisco Chronicle the woman began arguing with him about his grill being illegal while he was setting it up. Story continues I proceed to tell her, Hey, theres not a posted sign. I believe Im in the correct area. Go on about your day and leave me alone, Abram told the newspaper. So she said, No, Im not gonna leave you alone. Im gonna need you to shut this down, or Im gonna call the police. Lake Merritt has six designated barbecue zones three that permit charcoal grills and three designated for non-charcoal portable grills, according to the Oakland city website. The family was in a barbecue-designated area, but had a charcoal grill in a non-charcoal zone. The woman waited near the barbecue after confronting Abram, Williams told HuffPost, so Williams tried to defuse the tension. I made some innocuous conversation so [the woman] would walk away because she had a very aggressive tone, Williams told HuffPost. Some time later, Snider, whose husband, Kenzie Smith, was there for the barbecue, confronted the woman with a camera. Why are you so bent out of shape over them being here? Snider asked the woman, as heard in the video below. Because it causes extra money from our city to do things when children get injured because of improperly disposed coals, the woman replied. Eventually, the woman walked to meet police officers at a nearby convenience store and began to cry, saying she was being harassed. Snider followed her to the police, asking for the woman to return a card that she says the woman took from her. Councilmember McElhaney said she is not aware of any reports of children being injured by discarded coal. Dana Riley, a spokeswoman for Oaklands parks department, told HuffPost that the last time they received a report of a child being burned by discarded coal at the lake was in 2015. Smith told KRON4 that he and his family have had barbecues in that park for decades and that he often sees people barbecuing there with charcoal grills. She said that we were trespassing, we were not welcome, and then she turned back around and said, Yall going to jail, Smith said. Williams said she stayed to observe the situation so she could give an eyewitness account to police if needed. I approached because, one, Onsayo was alone; two, this white woman was being aggressive with him ... and three, I felt that if the police came, then facts could be misconstrued, she told HuffPost. I do believe the woman unfairly targeted them, Williams added. Others on the lake were grilling and its a common occurrence. Police eventually took reports from both parties, who each claimed they were being harassed by the other, according to the Chronicle. McElhaney hopes that the virality of the incident can be used as a teachable moment and suggested that everyone should ask themselves whether or not they should call the police. I know the person who called on Stephon Clark situation feels very badly that that ended with a loss of life, she said, referring to the unarmed 22-year-old black man who was shot by police in Sacramento, northeast of Oakland. We have white people who apparently feel threatened by a 12-year-old, Tamir Rice, and he loses his life in 20 seconds, McElhaney said, noting the 2014 police shooting of a black child playing with an Airsoft toy gun. The councilmember said that the police involved in the Lake Merritt incident handled the situation the best they could. She will be following up with the police to find out precisely what happened and is looking into possible changes to the barbecue regulations at Lake Merritt. We will do our part to lean into the conversation thoughtfully and [make sure] that the activities of black people arent being overly policed, she said. #CookingOutWhileBlack: White woman calls cops on black people having a barbecue in Oakland https://t.co/LtxByfhTVD pic.twitter.com/RzSZwrhlli The Root (@TheRoot) May 10, 2018 The story has been updated with comment from Oaklands parks department. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Also on HuffPost Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 A protester stands in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC before a march agains police violence on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Young protesters hold signs in Freedom plaza on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014. A protestor in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protestors in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza for a march to the capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza before a march to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protestors in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protestors pose for a photo in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protestors in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec, 13, 2014. Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Protesters march towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 Georgetown Law students protest at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters in Freedom Plaza in Washigton, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protestors gather in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014 Protestors gather in Freedom Plaza before marching to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 in Washington, DC. Al Sharpton speaking to protesters gathered in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice speaks to people gathered in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march towards the U.S Capitol building on Saturday Dec. 13, 2014 in Washington, DC. Filmmaker Spike Lee participates in a march in the U.S. Capitol building on Saturday, Dec. 13, 204 in Washington, DC. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Cannes (France) (AFP) - Women are the kick-ass heroes of a new wave of films at the Cannes film festival, where Hollywood's #MeToo moment may have just spawned its first big budget all-female blockbuster. Jessica Chastain caused a stir Thursday by revealing a dream team cast of female talent including Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Lupita Nyong'o of "Black Panther" fame and Fan Bingbing for her new $75-million Bond-style caper called "355". The "Interstellar" and "Zero Dark Thirty" star said she came up with the idea after serving on the Cannes jury last year where she found the depiction of women in the line-up "quite disturbing". With little or no female-led action films in Cannes' more commercial market, she decided to do something about it. The top secret project leaked out when the A-listers were spotted meeting potential backers in a five-star Cannes hotel. Chastain quickly went public, tweeting: "Top secret no more. Mission accepted". And she walked out in style with her co-stars to promote the project. "I love 'Jason Bourne', the Bond films and 'Mission Impossible', and I asked myself why apart from 'Charlie's Angels', there has never been a female spy movie like that," she said. - Avenging Yazidi women - While fellow Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett and Kristen Stewart -- who lead this year's majority female jury -- have been preaching empowerment at Cannes, other women are doing it for themselves in a series of new movies at the festival. They go from an Icelandic eco-warrior outrunning the island's army to Kurdish women fighters battling the Islamic State. "Girls of the Sun", with Iranian star Golshifteh Farahani heading a brigade of Yazidi women out for revenge on jihadists, is only one of a number of oestrogen-fuelled films where women go well beyond the cinematic stereotypes. Another contender in the running for the Palme d'Or top prize -- Jia Zhangke's "Ash is the Purest White" -- has a young dancer pick up a pistol to defend her man from rival Chinese mobsters. Story continues And among the festival's most praised films so far is "One Day", which follows a Hungarian working mother through a gruelling 36 hours as she tries to juggle her job with the demands of her three children and a husband who may be about to stray. The Hollywood Reporter raved about how it makes "painfully visible how much self-effacing effort goes into... the least appreciated job on the planet: being a mother. "No one thanks her but everyone expects her to remember and do a million little things every day," it added. - Eye-candy no more - Oscar-nominated "Drive" star Carey Mulligan said up to now women have been reduced to playing eye-candy in action films. "You end up always playing the wife of the guy that is saving the world, which is not very interesting," she told a Women in Motion talk at the festival. But some conventionally conceived action films -- rarely beacons of enlightened thinking -- seem to be getting the message. The "Star Wars" spin-off "Solo" -- which is also being launched at Cannes -- has British actress Emilia Clarke, the "Mother of Dragons" Daenerys Stormborn in "Game of Thrones" as a shapeshifting smuggler "with her own journey". Qi'ra's story is "definitely one of survival and strength. The way that I felt about her was this girl has got a core of steel," Clarke said. The British comedy "The Spy Who Dumped Me" -- which is showing in Cannes' film trade market -- plays the James Bond genre for chick flick laughs with two best friends who get accidently caught up in a spy hit before going toe-to-toe with hired assassins and coming out winners. It follows in the wake of the new BBC television series "Killing Eve" -- which was hailed as the "must-see show of the year" last month by critics after it premiered at the MIPTV market in Cannes. The whip-smart cat-and-mouse caper between two female spooks from the pen of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the brains behind the acclaimed series "Fleabag", is already a hit in the United States. This post was updated on June 8, 2018. When you think of the worlds most valuable tech unicorns (private companies with valuations above $1 billion), you likely think of Uber and its $70 billion valuation, Airbnb ($31 billion), SpaceX ($27 billion), and Pinterest ($12.3 billion). These American brands are frequently cited as the representatives of Silicon Valleys unicorn explosion. But theres a unicorn whose valuation trumps all of them: Ant Financial Services Group, which was spun out from Alibaba in 2014 and is the parent company of Chinas biggest payments app, Alipay. Ant has closed a new $14 billion funding round, valuing the company above $150 billion. So this Ant is more like an elephant. Prior to this round, Ant was last valued at $75 billion by CSLA Hong Kong after a $4.5 billion fundraising round in 2016. The average American consumer likely has no awareness of Ant Financial, which does most of its business in China. But Ants core product, Alipay, already has a quiet presence in the US, and is likely to expand here eventually. Heres why you should be aware of Ant. FILE PHOTO Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Holding, gestures as he speaks the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Live your whole life on Alipay Before Alibabas IPO in 2014, Alibaba (BABA) CEO Jack Ma spun off its payments division under the name Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, later Ant Financial. It was obvious Ant would go public, but the wait has lasted longer than expected. In February of this year, Alibaba took a 33% stake in Ant, further stoking market anticipation of an Ant IPO, though some have reported Ant isnt as eager to go public as Wall Street thinks. Alipay is the core product of Ant, and it is the most popular digital payments app in China, with more than a 50% share of Chinas giant $13 trillion digital payments market. (Even BlackRock is scared of Ant in China.) Alipay launched in 2004 and has ballooned to 520 million users, who conduct more than 100 million transactions on Alipay per day. (Alipays big competitor in China is WeChat Pay, from Alibabas rival Tencent.) Ant Financial also owns Yuebao, Chinas largest money-market fund, which has more than 200 million users and manages more than $170 billion in assets. Story continues Ant Financial says it is laser-focused, for now, on serving Chinese consumersnot just in China, but wherever they travel. The Chinese tourist has come to expect that they can use Alipay wherever they go, an Ant spokesperson says. You can basically live your whole life on Alipay. Alipays app has been described as a combination of all the hottest mobile payments products in the US: PayPal, Venmo, Square, and the new Venmo-like offering from the big banks, Zelle. As an April report from DataTrek puts it, Right now, there arent many analogs in US banking; PayPal and Square are the closest, and both are still working on the regulatory requirements to scale their businesses up to the market opportunity Ant already has in China. But its easy to imagine Ant more overtly entering America not long from now. Just last year, Ant made a $1.2 billion play to buy Moneygram, which would have handed Ant a major foothold in money transfers in America, but the US government blocked the deal, and just this week the two companies officially announced they have terminated the effort. And Alipay is already quietly active at 170,000 merchant points in America as a payment option, including in New York City taxi cabs, and even for horse-drawn carriage rides in Manhattan. (You see a pattern: serving Chinese tourists visiting America.) Of course, that US presence is a minuscule slice of the 800 million people globally that Alipay serves, the bulk of them in China and India. Ant has aggressively spread across Asia in the past two years through partnerships, including a deal with Indias Paytm in 2015, an investment in Thailands Ascend Money to launch a new e-wallet called TrueMoney in 2016, an investment in payments company Mynt in the Philippines in 2017, and an investment in payments company Kakao in South Korea in 2017. Ant Financials CEO is Eric Jing, who was formerly the CFO of Alipay, and before that, in 2007, was CFO of PepsiCo in Guangzhou. But the man still first associated with Ant is Jack Ma, and thats likely to be the case until Ant goes public, whenever that may be. When the Ant IPO does come, you can expect it to be a gargantuan financial event. Daniel Roberts covers payment technology and cryptocurrency at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @readDanwrite. Read more: A Chinese fintech behemoth is getting ready to go public Heres why Ant Financials $4.5 billion round is a very big deal Bitcoin was supposed to kill Western Union that hasnt happened Circle CEO: We will soon compete with Venmo, Square, Robinhood and Coinbase Police are investigating an incident caught on video in which a local police officer can be seen choking a young black man outside a Waffle House restaurant in North Carolina. Anthony Wall, 22, was at a local Waffle House on May 5 after bringing his 16-year-old sister to her prom, when he supposedly got into a verbal altercation with some of the staff at the Warsaw, N.C. Waffle House. The staff called the police because of Walls behavior. While it is unclear what preceded the confrontation, the viral video which has been viewed more than 600,000 times on Facebook starts when the police officer already has his hands around Walls neck, aggressively pushing him up against a wall outside the Waffle House. Wall can be heard screaming Get your hands off me! as the officer wrestles him to the ground and handcuffs him. I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and thats when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me, Wall told Eyewitness News 11. Warsaws Chief of Police, Eric Southerland, gave the following statement to Eyewitness News 11: We are currently investigating the whole incident, interviewing witnesses and gathering additional video. We have also reached out to the District Attorneys Office to make him aware of the investigation. Once the investigation is complete and the District Attorney has had a chance to review the case we will provide the public with an update on the findings. The Warsaw Police Department has not yet responded to a request for comment on this article. What happened between Wall and the wait staff inside the Waffle House is unclear, but Wall told Eyewitness News 11 that he takes responsibility for his behavior at the restaurant. Wall did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article. The May 5 incident is one example in a string of recent incidents in which police officers have been reported as using extreme force against unarmed black men and women in situations where it appears such force may be unwarranted. Its also the second occurrence in two months in which Waffle House staff called police about a black customer. Chikesia Clemons, 25, was wrestled to the ground by police at a Waffle House in Alabama in April. Story continues Prominent leaders in the black community are speaking out on social media about the incident, with well-known figures like Rev. Al Sharpton and Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.s youngest daughter, putting public pressure on Waffle House to improve its treatment of black customers in response to Walls choking. This is #AnthonyWall, in prom clothes, being lifted off the ground & choked by a Warsaw County police officer at Waffle House. He had just taken his sister to prom. And yet again #WaffleHouse called the cops. Anthony, was unarmed & non-violent.- repost @shaunking @madameash pic.twitter.com/GsZpoeiYPB Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) May 10, 2018 Israelis, all Israelisapart from a minority of hard-hearted peopleare looking at the residents of the Gaza Strip with great sadness. Its such a pity: An unemployment rate of 60 percent among young Gazans, a serious shortage of clean water and medications, and power supply only several hours a day. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Most Israelis would like to see Gaza blooming and thriving. Once, before the disengagement, there were plans to build the Singapore of the Middle East. For the first time in their short history, the Palestinians gained sovereignty, even if it was over a small territory. It could have been a wonderful beginning. Without occupation. Without settlements. Without Israel. The crossings to Israel and Egypt were operated under agreements which the European Union was part of. Goods were flowing in. An entire world was watching them with a huge desire to help. Mohammad Dahlan, who dealt with the disengagement on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, appointed teams with 42 experts who were supposed to fulfill the Singapore dream with the World Banks help. Palestinians set fire to the Kerem-Shalom Crossing, Friday (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) We know what happened next. Instead of Singapore, we got Afghanistan. It happened primarily because the industry of hatred overpowered the industry of prosperity. Hamas took over the strip with shocking violence, which included mass executions. The cancellation of the crossing agreements led to a siege, which Israel never wanted. But thats exactly what Hamas wanted. Gaza turned into a mass of oppression, distress and self-victimization. The settlements industrial zones turned into ruins or into jihad training camps. The strip was covered with great darkness. Once again, we learned that wherever radical Islam rears its head, the result is destruction, ruin and bloodshed. Gaza suffered the same fate. Not because of Israel, not because of Egypt, but because dark Islam provided the only thing it can providedestruction. Now, its the protests. Many of the strips residents know Hamas is exclusively responsible for the great darkness that has fallen upon them. But God forbid should they point an accusing finger at the ones who are really responsible for this situation. After all, those who take part in the border fence protests have become addicted to the Hamas-made industry of incitement. In their time of need, the victims turn to the mosques, where they receive an increased dosage of incitement. Theres no need for everyone to fall for it. But there are enough incited and miserable young people who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their people for an ideology of hatred. Both last week and this Friday, a force of those incited people made it to the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, the place where goods are delivered to the strips residents. Hamas often uses the goods for its own purposes or passes them on to its people. Nevertheless, after Egypt dealt the tunnels a critical blow, and in light of the fact that the Rafah Crossing is kept closed most of the time, the Kerem Shalom Crossing is the Gazans doorway for flour and fruit and vegetables and fuel. Without it, their distress will reach new heights. Palestinian rioter prepares incendiary kite on Gaza border (Photo: AFP) The rioters, who are defined in different newspaperssometimes in Israel tooas innocent protestors or innocent civilianscouldnt care less about that. They arent seeking peace. They arent sending swastika kites or incendiary kites over the border in a bid to solve their distress. On the contrary, they want to increase it, because thats the ideology of Hamas and Islamic Jihaddestruction and ruin. Thats why they set fire to the goods and fuels aimed at easing, if only a little, the Gazans distress. Twice the past year, the IDF destroyed terror tunnels built under the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Why would they build them there of all places? Why hurt themselves? This is incomprehensible to a stranger. Irrationality is their logic. Because self-harm is easier to market than reconstruction and welfare and livelihood. So some Hamas members build tunnels under the Kerem Shalom Crossing, and other Hamas members work to vandalize the crossing and the goods which were supposed to reach the strips residents. This is the grim reality. Nevertheless, we should offer themeven Hamaseverything. Both to lift the siege and increased aid, as well as a chance for prosperity and welfareas long as Hamas accepts the international communitys conditions, which include demilitarization in exchange for reconstruction. Many people in the world have trouble understanding that Hamas is the problem. A major, dramatic Israeli proposal could change the picture. Hamas would likely turn it down, but the picture would be much clearer. And because this is a battle over public opinion, an Israeli proposal is a must. The international coalition against the Islamic State (IS), led by the United States, announced the capture of five senior Islamic State leaders in Syria Thursday. Reuters reported that a senior aide to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was captured first and forces used his cell phone to facilitate the capture of the other four. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Coalition Spokesman Ryan Dillon called the arrests a significant blow to IS while US President Donald Trump tweeted, five most wanted leaders of IS captured. The Islamic State has already lost much of its territory in Iraq but still maintains a small presence in Syria along the Iraqi border. Last month, members renewed their loyalty oath to al-Baghdadi. Islamic State combatants (Photo: AP) Ismail al-Eithawi, who also uses the alias Abu Zaid al-Iraqi, was captured in February in Turkey by Turkish authorities and handed over to Iraqi agents, Iraqi security advisor Hisham al-Hashimi told Reuters on Thursday. Hashimi described Eithawi as a direct aide to Islamic State leader Baghdadi, responsible for funds transfers to the group's bank accounts in different countries. Iraqi agents used the Telegram messaging app on Eithawi's mobile phone to lure other Islamic State commanders to cross the border from Syria into Iraq, where they were captured, Hashimi said. Those held include Saddam Jamal, a Syrian who served as the group's governor of Syria's eastern Euphrates region. Hashimi described Eithawi and Jamal as the two most senior Islamic State figures ever to be captured alive. The capture of all five was announced on Iraqi state TV on Wednesday. Hashimi said the operation was carried out in cooperation with US forces, part of an American-led coalition fighting against Islamic State on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border. Following Eithawi's capture, Iraqi and American intelligence agents were able to uncover bank accounts used by the group and also secret communication codes he used, Hashimi said. Apart from Eithawi and Jamal, the operation captured three field commanders: Syrian Mohamed al-Qadeer and two Iraqis, Omar al-Karbouli and Essam al-Zawbai, Hashimi said. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a prior and more recent photo (Photo: MCT) "The noose is tightening around him," Hashimi said, referring to Baghdadi, whose real name is Ibrahim al-Samarrai. Brett McGurk, President Trump's Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat IS, addressed the Herzliya Conference Thursday. He said, In 2014, the Islamic State was a sort of state within Syria. Some 40,000 international fighters congregated there. Wherever IS ruled we witnessed genocide and still today we continue to find mass graves. Brett McGurk speaks at IDC Herzliya (: ) X The Islamic State attempted to destroy the ancient heritage of Syria and funded terrorists the world over, who will try to stage attack in our countries, like the attacks in Paris and Brussels, he added. According to McGurk, "By January, 2017, only 50 percent of the fighting had been completed. Since then, Mosul has been liberated, more than 18,000 displaced persons have returned to their homes, and the UN is helping people there. So, too, with Raqqa, which is free today. IS planted landmines in the whole region and we embarked on a large scale mission to remove them. "The numbers show that the 7 million who lived under the Islamic state have already been freed, with 5 million of them freed in our accelerated operation. These are unprecedented numbers." In recent days, our coalition attacks have killed more than 40 senior officials of the Islamic State, while the remaining senior officials have not had much time left, McGurk said, concluding, There is no doubt about the outcome. We are winning. These operations are backed by diplomacy when we focus on the day after. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency is reporting that the country's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel's attack on Iranian targets inside Syria and called it a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty. In Iran's first official reaction to the attack, the Friday report quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi. He says Israeli attacks on Syria under "fabricated and baseless excuses" is a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. He added that Syria has the right to defend itself "against the aggressors." The IDF on Friday released aerial footage of the Iranian sites that were targeted in Thursday's retaliatory air strike in Syria, highlighting and identifying the specific targets attacked by the IAF. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter As part of Israel's most extensive attack in Syria since the 1974 Yom Kippur War, the IAF bombarded military installations at Tel Gharba, Tel Kleb, Nabi Yusha and Tel Maqdad, as well as a military compound of the Iranian Quds Force in al-Kisweh, according to the Israel Defense Forces spokespersons unit. Targeted Iranian intelligence facilities in Syria (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) The footage published by the army includes overhead images of storage facilities and garages used by Iranian forces during their operations in Syria. Military compound belonging to Iran's Quds Force that was struck in al-Kisweh (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Another picture showed an Iranian logistics compound situated in an unspecified location near Damascus that was also targeted in the overnight attack, though noted that not all of the structures identified in it were hit. Among the targets attacked by Israel were also pro-Iranian militias close to the border fence between Israel and Syria in the Golan, such as observation posts and aerial defense systems The attack, which the air named "Operation House of Cards," lasted an hour and a half, during which over 50 Iranian targets were bombed. Iranian logistics compound struck near Damascus (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Thursday's heavy barrage was prompted by a rocket attack on Israeli army bases in the Golan Heights, launched by Iranian forces in Syria. IDF Spokesperson Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis said Thursday morning that none of the 20 rockets fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force hit Israeli territory. Four of the rockets, he said, were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system and the rest landed on Syrian territory. (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Iran vowed retaliation after a suspected Israeli air strike last month killed seven of its military personnel in a Syrian air base. The attack on the Golan Heights, just past midnight, marked the first time Iranian forces have attacked Israel from Syria, where they have deployed along with Iran-backed Shiite militias and Russian troops to support President Bashar Assad in the seven-year-old civil war. Germany is ready to help minimize the impact on its businesses of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday. "We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimize the negative consequences," Altmaier told Deutschlandfunk radio. "That means, it is concretely about damage limitation." Germany had no immediate reason to change its Hermes export guarantee scheme for Iran. He said Germany had no legal means of protecting German companies that do business in the United States. The weekend is expected to be relatively quiet along the Gaza border fence , however this alleged state of calm does not reflect next Tuesday's anticipated events during which Palestinians will mark Nakba Day which Palestinians consider as the catastrophe of Israels establishmentin addition to the long anticipated inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The IDF's Gaza Division and Southern Command are deploying their vast forces in the anticipation of the violent riots expected to take place along the Gaza border fencespreading from Kerem Shalom crossing located in the southern Gaza Strip to the shoreline near Netiv HaAsara. Fire break out across Gaza border communities due to incendiary kites flown from Gaza (: ) X The IDF estimates that as apposed to the five to six demonstration sites it had to deal with so far during the weekly "March of Return" campaign, some 20 demonstration sites are expected next week. The IDF is preparing for the possibility that many Palestinians will try to breach the Gaza border fence and enter Israel at once. Gaza's terror organizations are expected to attempt executing terror attacks in the wake of the riots. IDF's Armored forces, snipers, tanks and droneswhich are supposed to take down incendiary kites that are being flown from Gaza into Israel for the past few weekswill be deployed along the border fence. Riots on the Gaza border fence (Photo: AFP) According to the IDF's evaluations, the violent incidents will remain within the Gaza border fence and will not spread into Israel's territory. Gaza Division Commander Brig. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs met Thursday with the Gaza border communities' authorities' heads to prepare them for the Nakba Day events and briefed them about the IDF's comprehensive deployment plan. However, no special instructions were given. The only consideration the Gaza border communities' residents have to take under account is several roads that will be blocked in the area. IDF soldiers will be stationed in communities near the border fence as a means of reassurance for the residents. The police also intend to station a vast amount of forces in the area. The Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni who attended the meeting with the Gaza Division commander said that the IDF does not see the Palestinians are interested in matters to escalate, but the forces are prepared for any scenario. "We trust the army. We haven't received any new instructions and we continue with our routine," Yarkoni explained. Another council head who attended the meeting said he was glad to hear that most of the events are expected to stay within the border fence and not to spread to the near-by communities, which will allow the communities' residents to maintain their routine. "We rely on the IDF and know it will face this challenge as well. We'll go through this safely," he said. March of Return demonstrators (Photo: EPA) Hamas has increased tension in Gaza during the past few weeks in the wake of the March of Return's culmination and it is trying with all its power to preserve the Gazans' enthusiasm following the decrease in number of people who have been attending the protest during the last month. Though, if a mass breach of the border fence takes place, it might lead to a high number of casualties and even a military escalation that neither side is interested in. At the same time, international efforts are being made to prevent escalation. A Palestinian government source said during the past two weeks Qatari envoy to the Gaza Strip, Muhammad al-Amadi who is responsible for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and is in an ongoing solid contact with elements in Israel, including the former coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai. Fire caused by incendiary kites flown to Israel from Gaza (Photo: AFP) Moreover, the UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov has recently entered the Gaza Strip and met with Hamas leaders. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar met this week with young Gazans in order to encourage them to take part in the Nakba Day protests and told his crowd about the aforementioned Mediation attempts. Sinwar tried to incite the masses and described Gaza as a starved, humiliated tiger, which attempts to destroy it, have been made for 11 years. "I'm afraid to die in bed and wish myself to die as a martyr during the 'March of Return' protests," Sinwar told the crowd. Vladimir Kozin, Vladimir Putin's advisor on military cooperation said during an interview to the Russian newspaper Izvestia that Russia is not negotiating with Syria over the supply of the S-300 air defense system. "The Syrians have everything they need to face their enemies," Kozin added. The security of Israeli and Jewish institutions around the world has been greatly boosted in recent days for fear that Iran, frustrated by its failed missiles launch on Israeli bases at the Golan Heights and the following Israeli retaliation on its installations in Syria, will change its strategy and attempt to harm Israelis abroad. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Israeli embassies, synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions saw a greatly enhanced presence of security personnel patrolling the compound, while Israeli emissaries abroad were instructed to show great vigilance and change their routine in order to make it harder for potential terrorists to target them. Explicit requests to increase the security of Jewish and Israeli institutions were even made to certain local authorities in specific places deemed by Israel as likely to be chosen by Iran for such an attack, such as South America, Africa and certain parts of Asia, where Iran and its proxies have a developed infrastructure. Soldiers defending Jewish school in Belgium (Photo: Reuters) suspected Israeli air strike last month killed seven of its military personnel in a Syrian air base, raising initial concerns for an attack directed against Israel's representative offices around the world, using its proxies or allies, such as Hezbollah or other Shiite militias, to carry it out. A large scale terrorist attack orchestrated by the Islamic Republic is now considered a likely possibility by Israel. Syrian air defense fire targeting Israeli warplanes, missiles on Thursday And it won't be the first time it happened. While the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which claimed the lives of 85 people, is the most notorious Iran-attributed attack on Israelis abroad, such aggression is far from rare. According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, six such attacks took place in the span of just six months between May 2011 and February 2012. Aftermath of the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires (Photo: AP) In May 2011, an assassination attempt was carried out in the heart of Istanbul on the Israeli consul, David Kimchi. The attempt failed, but resulted in the injury of eight Turkish citizens. According to the Italian Corriere della Sera, the Turkish authorities concluded that the attempted assassination had been carried out by three Hezbollah operatives who had arrived from Beirut. On February 13, 2012, an explosive charge was attached to a car belonging to the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. The driver of the car, a local worker, noticed the device dragging from his car and immediately summoned police sappers who neutralized the charge. Israel accused Iran and Hezbollah of responsibility for the attack. Iran, though, denied any involvement, brazenly accusing Israel of staging the attack to incite the world against it. Wounded being evacuated after the AMIA bombing That same day, a motorcyclist attached an explosive device to the car of an Israeli Ministry of Defense representative in New Delhi. The ensuing blast seriously wounded both him and his wife. Similar attacks also occurred in Azerbaijan and twice in Thailand, some even conclusively proven to have been carried out by Iranian and Hezbollah operatives and leading to the exposure of trained and armed terror cells. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at military parade (Photo: EPA) Despite the fact that lessons have been learned, it is clear to all that security is not foolproof. Still, efforts are being made to ensure that such attacks, should they reoccur, are deterred, or at the very least thwarted. The Foreign Ministry refused to comment on this report. France pledged on Friday to push back against the threat of US sanctions against French companies doing business with Iran, in the wake of Washington's withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Tehran. The French government is seeking waivers and longer transition periods from the United States for companies such as Renault and Total, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, while pressing for European Union measures to improve the bloc's "economic sovereignty" in the longer term. "It's time that European countries opened their eyes," Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio. Unprecedented clashes between Israel and Iran over Syria have sparked calls for restraint from world leaders worried about the risk of all-out war, even as both sides say they want to avoid a regional conflict. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter All eyes will be on any fresh military activity Friday after Israel carried out widespread strikes against what it said were Iranian targets in Syria on Thursday in response to rocket fire towards its forces launched by Iran. Destruction of Syrian anti-aircraft missiles (: ") X The reported exchange of fire came after weeks of rising tensions and followed US President Donald Trump's decision Tuesday to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move Israel had long sought. The strike led to calls for calm from Russia, France, Germany and Britain and the European Union, while the United States put the blame squarely on Iran and stressed Israel's right to "self-defense". Germany and Britain joined the United States in denouncing the rocket fire towards the Golan Heights they also said was carried out by Iran, while France reiterated its "unwavering support for Israel's security". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that the resulting bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence." Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes in Syria, or those against the Golan Heights. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (Photo: Reuters) But the chairman of his country's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Allaeddine Boroujerdi, condemned the strikes, warning that "Israel has entered a dangerous game". The Israeli strike in Syria, which a monitor said killed 23 fighters, were one of its largest military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the Israeli military said. Syria said it was the Israeli strikes that marked a "new phase" of direct involvement in the country's seven-year conflict. Its army said three people had been killed. In a rare if not unprecedented move for an Arab country, Bahrain backed Israel's right to "defend itself" after the strikes. Israel has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria, where the Islamic republic is supporting President Bashar Assad's regime in the civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those strikes. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of strikes in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal has added to tensions and led to a new level of uncertainty over how Iran will respond. Israeli troops shot and wounded a Palestinian protester in Gaza, Palestinian medical workers said, as demonstrators arrived for the last Friday of a six-week protest at the Gaza-Israel border. Organisers of the protest, called the "Great March of Return," said they expected tens of thousands of Gazans at border encampments in the coming days. Israeli troops have killed 43 Palestinians during the protest, which ends on May 15, the day Palestinians call the "Nakba" or "catastrophe", marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the conflict surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948. Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russian S-300 air defense system (Photo: AP) Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russias Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. But Kozhins comments, made so soon after Netanyahus Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leaders lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off. For now, were not talking about any deliveries of new modern (air defense) systems, Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had everything it needed, Kozhin added. PM Netanyahu (L) and President Putin (Photo: EPA) Israel has made repeated efforts to persuade Moscow not to sell the S-300s to Syria, as it fears this would hinder its aerial capabilities against arms shipments to Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected shipments. On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes. The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military, but since modernized and available in several versions with significantly different capabilities, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Though since been superseded by the more modern S-400 system, the S-300s are still regarded as highly potent and outstrip anything that the Syrian government currently has. Syrian air defense fire targeting Israeli warplanes, missiles on Thursday (Photo: Reuters) Syria currently relies on a mixture of less advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft systems to defend its air space. Russian media on Friday were actively circulating a video released by the Israeli military which showed an Israeli missile destroying one such systema Russian-made Pantsir S-1 air defense batteryon Thursday in Syria. Thousands of Indonesian Muslims staged a rally Friday protesting President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, ahead of next week's US Embassy relocation to the city. About 5,000 people flocked to Jakarta's landmark National Monument and unfurled Indonesian and Palestinian flags. On Monday, the US plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, five months after Trump recognized it as Israel's capital. Palestinians also claim it as their capital. "We, the Muslims, oppose all forms of colonialism and oppression of the Palestinians," said a speaker standing on the top of a car, greeted with shouts of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great). EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini will host a meeting with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the Iran nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of it. The group will also then meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the European External Action Service said in a statement. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday he hopes Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the truth when he said saying his country is not interested in "new tensions" in the region. "This is an important message, I hope Rouhani told the truth," Lieberman said during a visit to Katzrin. Lieberman then directly addressed Syrian President Bashar Assad, telling him to "Kick (Quds Force Commander) Qassem Suleimani and the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force from Syria," stressing that "they are not helping you, only harming you. kick them out and a new life would be possible," Lieberman added. The IDF has taken responsibility Friday for the missile strike on the bases in the Hama and Aleppo countryside, in which some 25 people were killed, most of them Iranians, and 35 others were injured. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The attack targeted Iranian-made air defense systems that were transferred to Syria with the intention of being used against Israel. Israeli F-15 and the aftermath of the attack (Photo: Boeing) The IAF has intermittently attacked Iranian weapons shipments in Syria in the past, stressing it will not allow Iran to arm militias and terror organizations such as Hezbollah. These air defense systems could have hampered Israel's ability to continue to carry out such preemptive strikes. The decision to destroy these systems, the IDF noted, was made after a series of discussions in the top security and political echelon. The IDF added it was aware of the presence of Iranian officers in the vicinity of these systems, and although there was no intention to harm them, it was decided to carry out the operation anyway, accepting the collateral damage and chance for military escalation to eliminate these systems. This statement confirms the one made earlier this month by US officials. Government sources said that Israel appeared to be preparing for war with Iran. They noted that even though Israel had not requested permission from the United States for further actions, "some cautionary notes were sent." According to them, Israel has returned to a campaign of deliberate air strikes. Attack on Iranian base in Hama (Photo: Getty Images) A day before, the New York Times reported that 200 missiles had been destroyed in the missile strike. According to NBC, in recent weeks, Iran has increased military shipments to Syria. The supplies included ground-to-air missiles, which, according to two US officials, were meant to strengthen Iran's forces in Syria in preparation for an attack on Israel. According to Syrian state television, Israel's missile attacks took place at 10:30 pm. Al Akhbar reported the targets of the strike were Syrian army bases being used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The explosions were registered as a 2.6 magnitude earthquake by the European Mediterranean Seismological Center. Both the European Union and the United Kingdom expressed support Thursday for Israel's right to defend itself in the wake of the Iranian rocket attack on the Golan Heights and the IAF's retaliatory operation , which saw over 50 Iranian targets in Syria hit Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Reports about last night's Iranian attacks against Israeli army posts from inside Syria to which Israel responded by striking against Iranian targets in Syria are extremely worrying," a statement Thursday from the office of the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. "As the EU has said repeatedly, Israel has the right to defend itself," the statement went on to say, adding however that "At the same time, we call on all regional actors to show restraint and avoid any escalation, which could further undermine regional stability." Netanyahu meets with Mogherini in Brussels (Photo: AFP) British Prime Minister Theresa May called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening to offer her country's support to Israel. May "condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces, and said we strongly support Israels right to defend itself against Iranian aggression," according to a statement from Downing Street. She called on Iran "to refrain from any further attacks, and for calm on all sides." According to the British premier's office, May and Netanyahu "agreed it was vital for the international community to continue working together to counter Irans destabilizing regional activity, and for Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks." In a statement issued by his own office, Netanyahu "expressed his appreciation for Britain's condemnation of the Iranian missile fire and its support for Israel's right to defend itself." British PM May and PM Netanyahu meet in London (Photo: AP) Britain condemned the Iranian attack on Israel even earlier, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urging Iran "to refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region. It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no ones interest." "We also continue to call on Russia to use its influence to press those in Syria to cease their destabilizing activity and work towards a broader political settlement," Johnson's statement went on to say. Earlier Thursday, the White House condemned Iran's "provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens," adding that "Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bears full responsibility for the consequences of its reckless actions, and we call on the IRGC and its militant proxies, including Hezbollah, to take no further provocative steps." "The Iranian regimes deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East," the US administration added. "The United States also calls on all nations to make clear that the Iranian regimes actions pose a severe threat to international peace and stability." Russia, meanwhile, called the Israeli retaliation against Iran a dangerous escalation and urged both Israel and Iran to avoid provoking each other. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees Thursdays strikes as a "very alarming development." He noted that in contacts with the leadership of both countries, including a meeting Wednesday between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, "we underlined the necessity of avoiding any actions that might be mutually provocative." MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi on Monday to discuss the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, a Kremlin aide said on Friday. Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, added that Moscow was working closely with Tehran to prevent it from leaving the deal, which it sees as vital for global stability. "We really hope this won't happen. Honestly, we are working with Iran in favour of it not leaving," Ushakov said. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to "get rid" of Iranian forces in his country, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the Golan Heights in the wake of Iranian rocket fire on northern Israel, to which the IAF retaliated with attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. "We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here," he said. Lieberman tours Golan Heights (Photo: Ido Erez) Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assad forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. "I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani, and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages," Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. "Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life," Lieberman added. Lieberman tours Golan Heights (Photo: Gil Nechushtan) Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes in Syria, or those against the Golan Heights. Iranian President Rouhani (Photo: Reuters) Nevertheless, Lieberman noted that "The Iranian president's message is an important one. I hope it's a real one too." The defense minister, meanwhile, said that he didn't think exchange of blows between Israel and Iran was over. "We remain vigilant and using discretion. We're constantly on alert and monitoring events," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to "all hostile acts" to avoid "a new conflagration" in the Middle East. Guterres' comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the UN Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Iran's attack on its positions in the Golan Heights. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting. After instructing Israeli residents in the Golan Heights to open their bomb shelters on Tuesday in light of Iranian intentions to carry out an attack against Israel, the IDF said Friday shelters can now be closed. Readying bomb shelters in the Golan on Tuesday (Photo: Avihu Shapira) Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. The scope of the attacks -- which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War -- raised the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained, at least for now. The rising tension in Syria came just as the United States decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose new sanctions, adding to the pressure on Tehran. In Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said the Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. "The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," the hard-line cleric said during Friday sermons. The worshipers chanted: "Death to America," and "Death to Israel." Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (Photo: EPA) Thousands later demonstrated across the country. "Today, we must rely on our own capabilities and if we do so, rest-assured that we will win and the West's domination will not be successful, just like the past 40 years," said Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran's judiciary spokesman. In a first official reaction to the confrontation on Wednesday night, Tehran said Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the country's sovereignty "under fabricated and baseless excuses." Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that the international silence in the face of such "aggressive moves" is in effect a "green light" to more such attacks. Ghasemi went on to note that the direct attacks on Syria come as the government of Assad is regaining control of territories from rebel fighters, accusing Israel and the United States of supporting the opposition which he called "terrorists." Some 15,000 Palestinian rioters burned tires and threw grenades, pipe bombs and stones at IDF troops near the Gaza border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at breaking a decade-old blockade of the enclave. IDF soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived at the northern Gaza border on Friday afternoon to encourage the rioters. "We're expecting the great march on the 14 and 15 of this month - the entire Palestinian people will be out on the streets of Palestine," he said.' Palestinian rioting on the Gaza border ( ") X "Our people will flock from the refugee camps in Lebanon to the northern border of Palestine, and our people in Jordan will also flock to the outskirts of Palestine. We'll turn the nakba that ended Palestine to a nakba that ends the Zionist enterprise," Haniyeh added. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on the border Haniyah boasted that "at the beginning of the siege, our rockets would get to a distance of three kilometers from the Gaza border, and today what the resistance has frightens the enemy and encourages our people." Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on the border Defiantly, he insisted that Hamas "will not give up the weapon of the resistance, we'll develop it. We won't give up Palestine, from the river to the sea, and we will not recognize Israel." A 40-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in his chest in clashes with the IDF east of Khan Yunis in the southern part of the strip, according to Gaza health officials. Of total number 971 needing treatment, 176 Palestinians were hit by live bullets, including a 16-year-old boy shot in the head, the Palestinian health officials added. Others suffered the effects of teargas or were hit by rubber bullets or shrapnel. The protesters gathered in five tent camps set up weeks ago, each several hundred meters (yards) from the border. From there, smaller groups moved closer to the border fence. Some protesters flew kites with burning rags attached. One of the kites was downed by a small Israeli drone. Others caused fires in open areas in Israeli communities by the Gaza border. Most of the fires broke out in the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council area, and firefighters were able to gain control of all of them. Kite attached with burning rag (Photo: AFP) Several Palestinian rioters attempted to sabotage the fence and other security measures on the border. Palestinian trying to sabotage border fence (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) Witnesses said Israeli forces on the other side of the fence had added reinforcements, including cement slabs, as protective cover. In recent weeks, soldiers have fired from behind sand berms. The protest came just three days ahead of what the leader of Gaza's ruling Hamas terror group has said will be a march by tens of thousands who could burst through the border fence into Israel. The crowd on Monday will be unarmed and peaceful, but like a "starving tiger" in pent-up anger and unpredictability, Yahya Sinwar told foreign reporters Thursday. "We hope these incidents will pass without a large number of martyrs and wounded, and the occupation forces must restrain themselves," Sinwar added. Israel has warned that it will prevent any border breach, with the IDF saying Friday that it "will not allow any harm to the security infrastructure or security fence and will continue standing by its mission to defend and ensure the security of the citizens of Israel and Israeli sovereignty, as necessary." Since the Hamas-led marches began in late March, 44 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,800 wounded by Israel army fire, according to figures provided by Gaza sources. A report by the aid charity Save the Children, published on Friday, said that at least 250 Gazan children had been hit with live bullets during the protests, among nearly 700 children injured overall. The analysis was based on data collected by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Next week's border march is meant to protest the planned move of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday. The embassy's inauguration comes five months after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that outraged Palestinians as blatantly pro-Israel. Another large-scale protest is planned for Tuesday, when Palestinians mark their "nakba," or catastrophe, referring to their mass exodus during the war over Israel's 1948 creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven out or fled homes in what is now Israel. More than two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) Meanwhile, Gaza government officials announced that Egypt will open its border with Gaza for four days starting Saturday. Helping reinforce the Israeli blockade, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing point, Gaza's main gate to the outside world, closed most of the time since the Hamas takeover. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) Egypt opens the crossing from time to time, mainly to allow people in special categories, including medical patients and Gaza residents studying abroad, to leave the territory or return to it. The upcoming opening was framed as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins next week. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) In Jordan, about 7,000 people participated in a "nakba" rally in an area close to the West Bank border. Palestinian refugees and their descendants now number several million people in the region, including more than two million in Jordan. Friday's rally took place before a large stage with a view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank. Jordanian, Palestinian, and green Muslim Brotherhood flags flew over crowd. One man walked onto the stage with an effigy of Trump dangling from a noose. LONDON - The world's top two container shipping groups Maersk Line and MSC are reviewing their Iran operations after the United States withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Tehran. "MSC is reviewing its services, operations and business relationships to understand if any are impacted and will comply with the timetable set out by the US government," the private Swiss-headquartered group said in a statement on Friday. Denmark's Maersk Line said separately it had ceased acceptance of the specific cargoes listed by the US Treasury this week. "Our presence in Iran is limited. We will monitor the developments to assess any impact on our activities," Maersk Line added. The group also used feeder services to Iran from Jebel Ali. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Friday this week's retaliation to repeated Israeli airstrikes in Syria was a "very strong warning" to Israel. Berri, a close ally of Syria and Iran, said this time the Syrian retaliation was in the Golan Heights but next time it will be deeper into Israel. Speaking to the Associated Press in an interview, he said Israel and the US cannot bear the consequences of a wide-scale regional war. "There are American interests in Syria and if there is a larger war, I don't think even the American president can bear the consequences," he said. Berri, a powerful longtime politician allied with Hezbollah, said the Syrian response has achieved a "balance of terror" with Israel. An IDF soldier was lightly hurt Friday in a failed car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the Ganot Junction near the settlement of Shavei Shomron. IDF forces are currently searching for the driver, who escaped. PARIS - France urged Europeans to stand up to US President Donald Trump over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as "vassals," as the region scrambles to save the 2015 accord and billions of dollars in trade. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the US is the "world's economic policeman." "Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" Le Maire asked. "Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?" Russia and its ex-Soviet allies will sign a free trade pact with Iran, the Kremlin said Friday. Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the deal between Iran, Russia and other members of the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Union is set to be signed next week. The grouping includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. While Ushakov noted that the pact's signing had been planned for long time, the move coincides with the US exit from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that set the stage for re-imposing painful economic sanctions against Iran and rattled many US allies. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Friday American diplomats are excited about the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem next week. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "We're all happy and excited to participate in this historic event," Friedman said, speaking after one last toast at the Tel Aviv Embassy. "The embassy staff is working around the clock to get ready" for the inauguration ceremony on Monday, he added. "We're anticipating a beautiful, moving, inspirational event." Preparations for opening of US Embassy in Jerusalem ( ") X "We're proud that we've been able to make it possible to open the embassy ahead of schedule and at a lower budget than expect," Friedman noted. While US President Donald Trump will not be attending the opening ceremony, he will film a video message for attendees. Roughly 800 guests will attend the ceremony, including a delegation from Washington. Trump will be represented by his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kusher. Signs pointing to new US embassy installed in Jerusalem (Photo: Reuters) They will be joined by a delegation of eight Congressmen, headed by Rep. Joe Wilson, and a large delegation of American Jewish community leaders, Christian community leaders, former US ambassadors to Israel, and others. "Not only did we have the vision and courage to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, we also had the courage to open the embassy within 4.5-5 months from the moment the president declared the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem," Friedman said. Outside the new US Embassy in Jerusalem (Photo: TPS) He went on to explain he will be splitting his time between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and that the transfer of the embassy's different departments to the capital will be done as soon as possible. The embassy is opening in part of a pre-existing American visa-and-passport facility with a fraction of the total US personnel in Israel. Initial embassy staff will be made up of some 50 people, including Friedman and his aides, as well as US consular officers already working at the site. The embassy opening is expected to further increase tensions in Jerusalem in particular and in the region in general. A sign put up by Jerusalemites ahead of the embassy opening (Photo: Hila Tiano) The Americans have been working closely with Israel's security forces, including the Shin Bet and the Israel Police, to secure the capital ahead of and during the event. "There are people who are happy about this decision and some who aren't happy. It's too early to measure response," Friedman said. "Long-term, we're convinced this decision creates an opportunity to continue the peace process based on reality and not based on fantasies. We're very optimistic and believe the decision will create greater stability." Foreign ambassadors weren't invited to the embassy opening ceremony - unlike the reception held a day earlier at Israel's Foreign Ministry - to avoid a situation in which ambassadors may decline the invitation. "Sometimes we have healthy differences of opinion with our allies, but this decision hasn't created any isolation," a US government official said. Victoria Coates, a senior director for international negotiations at the US National Security Council, said Friday that Bahrain's statement in support of Israel's right to defend itself against Iran proves Israel is not isolated in the region. "This is a very important statement, which highlights the intolerable aggression of Iran, and this is something the president addressed when announcing the decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement," Coates said. "It's important for Gulf nations to recognize Israel as a country that has a right to defend itself against a country like Iran. I think this is a change that has been taking place for years, but to come out with this three days before the embassy move - this proves that what the president is doing is the right thing, and that his leadership brings elements in this region closer to each other," she added. Separately, Germany has advised its citizens to stay away from Jerusalem's Old Town this weekend, citing the possibility of violence surrounding the opening of the Embassy on May 14. Several thousand people are rallying in Jordan to mark the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians call their "nakba," or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were uprooted from their homes in the 1948 war over Israel's creation. Friday's rally took place before a large stage with a view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank. Jordanian, Palestinian, and green Muslim Brotherhood flags flew over crowd. One man walked onto the stage with an effigy of President Donald Trump dangling from a noose. A delegation of six Israelis from the Reservists on Duty organization encountered threats and serious displays of anti-Semitism while speaking at an event at UC Irvine during Apartheid Week. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The delegation arrived at the California universityconsidered the most hostile to Israel in the USto present Israel's side, but pro-Palestinian activists disrupted their events with shouting and jeering. One accusation hurled at the Israeli activists was "IDF, how many children have you murdered today?" Pro-Palestinian activists disrupt Israeli event (: ) X Another allegation made at the Israelis was "You murdered Jesus"a common anti-Semitic blood libel. But the Israelis were not deterred, and proudly held up Israeli flags. A representative of Reservists on Duty explained that if their delegation hadn't visited the campus, the Apartheid Weeka week of hatred directed at Israelwould've taken place with no Israeli response. Reservists on Duty volunteers at UC Irvine (Photo: Reservists on Duty) "The Israeli Apartheid Week was particularly violent and loud this year, perhaps because of Trump's decision on Iran," said Kayla Dolin, a volunteers coordinator for Reservists on Duty. Dolin said that "during the week, we had our own event to offer the students and had a question-and-answer panel about Israel. During the panel, anti-Israel activists barged in and disrupted the event. We needed the help of a large police force to safely evacuate us from the university grounds." "We were there speaking to the American students, who were exposed to this carnival of hatred all week long. There was need for 20 police officers, who surrounded us, to do the most basic thing in the western worldexercise the freedom of expression," Dolin lamented. Reservists on Duty volunteers at UC Irvine (Photo: Reservists on Duty) "We've experienced physical violence at UC Irvine exactly a year ago," Dolin said. Pro-Palestinian groups were sanctioned by the university after the disrupted a Reservists on Duty event by shouting and swearing, with one of the activists spitting at a member of the Israeli delegation. "This year, all of the anti-Israeli activists were wearing kaffiyahs and waving Palestinian flags, and they simply terrorized anyone who tried to ask questions or dispute the web of lies they tell about Israel and the IDF," Dolin added. Pro-Palestinian protests at UC Irvine (Photo: Reservists on Duty) Reservists on Duty executive director Amit Deri promised that "We will continue showing up at any place where the carnival of hatred celebrates without an appropriate response. We will continue to help the Jewish and pro-Israeli students make their voices heard and tell the truth. We expect the university to investigate and find out who were the ones to disrupt the event, bring them to justice, and allow freedom of expression for all." WASHINGTON - The US military is committed to supporting and providing assistance to the Lebanese armed forces, the Pentagon said on Friday, despite the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies making significant gains in parliamentary election "The United States remains committed to supporting Lebanon's sovereignty, stability, security, and its state institutions, to include the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) as the professional, multi-confessional and sole legitimate armed forces of the Lebanese state," Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told Reuters in a statement. "Strengthening the US-Lebanon defense relationship is all the more important in light of the continuing threats emanating from Syria, including continued ISIS challenges and Iranian aggression," Rebarich said. She added that the United States and Lebanon shared a goal of building the Lebanese armed forces' capacity as "the sole legitimate defender of Lebanon's sovereignty." Hundreds of Palestinian rioters vandalized and set fire to a fuel complex and a conveyor belt on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the strip's main cargo crossing with Israel, causing more than $9 million in damages and disrupting the import of diesel fuel and building materials. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to the IDF, the fuel installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities. A video from the Kerem Shalom crossing shows Palestinians cheering as a fire was set. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) It was the second such attack on the facility in a week. "Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive," the IDF said. Nissim Jan, the director of an Israeli company that operates Kerem Shalom in partnership with private Palestinian companies, said he spent large sums to repair last week's damage. "This time I can't repair and will not repair it. Where shall I bring money from?" he said. Some 15,000 Palestinian rioters burned tires and threw grenades, pipe bombs and stones at IDF troops near the Gaza border with Israel on Friday. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) Some protesters flew kites with burning rags attached. One of the kites was downed by a small Israeli drone. Others caused fires in open areas in Israeli communities by the Gaza border. Most of the fires broke out in the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council area, and firefighters were able to gain control of all of them. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) Several Palestinian rioters attempted to sabotage the fence and other security measures on the border. A 40-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in his chest in clashes with the IDF east of Khan Yunis in the southern part of the strip, according to Gaza health officials. (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office) At least 176 Palestinians were wounded by live fire, including a 16-year-old boy shot in the head, the Palestinian health officials added. Dozens of others were overcome by tear gas inhalation. Since the Hamas-led marches began in late March, 44 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,800 wounded by Israel army fire, according to figures provided by Gaza sources. WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the United States is willing to help North Korea with its economy if the North gets rid of its nuclear weapons. Pompeo held a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha a day after he returned from Pyongyang with three American detainees released by North Korea. Pompeo said the goal of talks with North Korea is complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He said he had "good" and "substantive" conversations with leader Kim Jong Un during his visit. Kang remarked there must be "airtight" coordination between South Korea and the US ahead of President Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with Kim. WASHINGTON - The White House said on Friday Iran's "reckless actions" pose a threat to regional security and urged other countries to press Tehran to change its behavior. "It is time for responsible nations to bring pressure on Iran to change this dangerous behavior," the White House said in a statement. It cited rockets fired at Israel from Syria and a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels at the Saudi capital Riyadh this week. WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Friday with British Prime Minister Theresa May and the two leaders condemned Iran's rocket attacks on Israel from Syria, the White House said in a statement. "Both leaders condemned the Iranian regime's provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens," the statement said. "The leaders discussed how best to address Iran's destabilizing behavior," it said. Expert Advice with John Lindeman: 12/05/2018. For many generations, our governments accepted responsibility for providing and maintaining basic essential community services such as power, water, hospitals, and education. For example, State Governments responded to the need for affordable housing by setting up Housing Commissions which cleared the old inner urban slums and built high rise apartments and also created new outer suburban housing estates. In this way it was through the taxation system that society as a whole subsidised the cost of housing for those who could not afford to buy their own home or pay rents at market rates. Over the last decades governments have sold off and privatised many of our public assets and relinquished their responsibility for providing services such as affordable public housing. Instead, they introduced a number of measures to encourage private investment in housing and fill the void. One of these is negative gearing, which is a tax incentive that allows investors to claim the holding costs of their properties such as rates, maintenance, repairs, management fees and interest as a direct deduction against their total income. The effect of this is to keep rents at their lowest possible levels. Once again, through the taxation system it is society as a whole that subsidises the cost of rents in such situations, keeping them lower than they otherwise would be and it is private investors who are now fulfilling the role formerly accepted by governments to provide affordable housing. All of this would be fine if there was an ongoing balance between rental housing supply and demand, but issues arise when shortages emerge and rents start to rise as a result. This is exactly what is about to happen, because our larger capital cities are experiencing record population growth rates and most of the new residents are overseas arrivals, who need to rent. The pressure on rental demand will see rents start to rise in Sydney and Melbourne over the next few years, particularly in inner urban medium and high-density areas. Some political parties will seek shot term gains by blaming investors, pointing the finger at negative gearing as an unnecessary lurk and perk for property investors. They will want it abolished or at least cut back, but they need to realise that negative gearing is a subsidy providing lower rents than would otherwise prevail. They also need to understand that investors are not a charity and will seek to maintain their cash flow by increasing rents if negative gearing is abolished. In areas where there is no shortage of rental properties and rents cant be raised, they will leave the market, which will lead to rental shortages, while in areas where there are such shortages, they will increase rents in order to maintain their current cash flow. The abolishing of negative gearing will hit those who need affordable housing the most, resulting in an outcome which is the exact opposite of what is intended. ................................................. J John Lindeman is widely respected as one of Australia's leading property market analysts, authors and commentators. Visit Lindeman Reports for more information. He has well over fifteen years experience researching the nature and dynamics of the housing market at major data analysts. Johns monthly column on housing market research featured in Australian Property Investor Magazine for over five years. He is a regular contributor to Your Investment Property Magazine and other property investment publications and e-newsletters such as Kevin Turners Real Estate Talk, Michael Yardneys Property Update and Alan Kohlers Eureka Report. John also authored the landmark books for property investors, Mastering the Australian Housing Market, and Unlocking the Property Market, both published by Wileys. To read more articles by John Lindeman, click here Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property. News Washington, DC - Remarks by President Trump at Arrival of Americans Detained in North Korea: THE PRESIDENT: This is a great honor. Hopefully everything is going to work out at the highest level. We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people. They are really three incredible people. And the fact that we were able to get them out so soon was really a tribute to a lot of things, including a certain process thats taking place right now. And that process is very important. So we will see what happens. We have a meeting scheduled in a very short period of time. Youll be hearing about it soon. We have the location set. And we will see if we can do something that people did not think was going to happen for many, many years, and a lot of bad things could have happened in between. So I just want to say this is a special night for these three really great people. And congratulations on being in this country. Thank you. Q How does it feel to be home? THE PRESIDENT: How does it feel to be home? MR. KIM DONG-CHUL: (As interpreted.) Its like a dream. And we are very, very happy. Q How were you treated by North Korea? THE PRESIDENT: How were you treated? You have to give them the answer. MR. KIM DONG-CHUL: (As interpreted.) Yes, we were treated in many different ways. For me, I had to do a lot of labor. But when I got sick, I was also treated by them. Q Mr. President, is this your proudest achievement? THE PRESIDENT: My proudest achievement will be this is a part of it but will be when we denuclearize that entire peninsula. This is what people have been waiting for for a long time. Nobody thought we could be on this track in terms of speed. So Im very honored to have helped the three folks. Theyre great people. You know, I got to speak to them on the plane. These are great people; theyve been through a lot. But its a great honor. But the true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons. Q Does tonight change how you will approach your meeting with Kim Jong-un? THE PRESIDENT: No, not at all. We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting. It was sort of understood that wed be able to get these three terrific people during the meeting and bring them home after the meeting. And he was nice in letting them go before the meeting. I mean, frankly, we didnt think this was going to happen, and it did. So you could say were a little bit it was a very important thing to all of us to be able to get these three great people out. And I must tell you, I want to pay my warmest respects to the parents of Otto Warmbier, who was a great young man who really suffered. And his parents have become friends of ours. They are spectacular people. And I just want to pay my respects. I actually called them the other day, and Mike called them, also Mike Pence. And they are really incredible people. Q (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: I think our Secretary of State, despite the fact that the New York Times said he was missing he was in North Korea but I think our Secretary of State has done a fantastic job. Mike, did you know that you were missing? They couldnt find you. They couldnt find him. They couldnt find him because he was in North Korea. You know, its Q Have you spoken with Kim Jong-un (inaudible)? THE PRESIDENT: I dont want to comment on whether or not I spoke to him. Q President Trump, is this enough to tell you that Kim Jong-un is an honest broker? Or was this just to get to the table? THE PRESIDENT: Well, were starting off on a new footing. This is a wonderful thing that he released the folks early. That was a big thing. Very important to me. And I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful. And if anybody would have said that 5 years ago, 10 years ago, even a year ago, you would have said thats not possible. So a lot I will say this: A lot of very good things have happened. Q (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: Say it? Q Why Kim decided to free these prisoners now? THE PRESIDENT: I really think he wants to do something. I think he did this because I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world. I really believe that, Jon. And I think I think that were going to have a success. I think this will be a very big success. Its never been taken this far. Theres never been a relationship like this. And were starting from here. But I really think a lot of progress has been made. And well see what happens. Were talking about a few weeks. I guess many of you will be with us. But some great things can happen, and thats what we hope. So I want to thank you all. Its very early in the morning. I think you probably broke the all-time, in history, television rating for three oclock in the morning that I would say. But I want to just congratulate. These are three great people, and congratulations. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Q Do you want to visit North Korea one day? THE PRESIDENT: It could happen. News Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump spoke today with Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom. Both leaders condemned the Iranian regimes provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens. President Trump called on all nations to join the United States and the United Kingdom in making clear that the Iranian regimes actions pose a severe threat to international peace and stability. The leaders discussed how best to address Irans destabilizing behavior. Arizona News Tempe, Arizona - Online education and distance learning are seeing dramatic growth and play an increasingly important role at Arizona State University and in the education activities of the School of Molecular Sciences. Online education programs allow much broader access to higher education, and they help to open the door to a more diverse and equal-opportunity education system. In fall 2017, the School of Molecular Sciences launched the very first fully online degree program in biochemistry from an accredited institution in the U.S. SMS online degree program takes a big step in leveling the playing field for nontraditional students interested in pursuing a wide range of careers in science and health. Biochemistry is the only online degree program in the sciences offered at ASU that includes hands-on laboratory experience, ensuring the program's credibility and competitiveness. This spring, the SMS online degree program team welcomed a new member, chemical education specialist Ara Austin. Although this is her first semester with SMS as clinical assistant professor and coordinator of online programs, Austin is a familiar face in the school, having completed both her BS in biochemistry with minors in communications studies and psychology and, more recently, her PhD in chemical education at ASU. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Austin was just one month into her freshman year at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln when she was involved in a serious automobile accident. She had a near-death experience when her vehicle flipped three times; doctors told Austin she might never walk again, having broken her back and both her legs in the accident. Because of her extensive injuries, including memory loss, Austin took some time off from school and returned to South Korea. After her recovery, the desire for a fresh start to her academic career brought her to ASU, where she has remained ever since. ASU is different because it gave me so much academic freedom," Austin said. "As an undergraduate, no one deterred me from getting two minors or pursuing research. As long as a student stays proactive about his or her goals, many people here will provide encouragement. The freedom given to me to explore different avenues and opportunities is why I ended up staying at ASU for so long. Austin decided that she wanted to study chemical education early in her student career, when she spent a semester as an undergraduate teaching assistant for a general chemistry course at SMS. Initially, her goal had been to go to medical school, and she was already far along in her application process. It really came down to what I enjoy doing," she said. "And what I really enjoyed doing was being in the classroom, working with students, and helping them achieve their goals and discover what theyre really good at. If I become a doctor, Im just a doctor, but if I become an educator, I have the potential to help hundreds of students become doctors or professors or researchers. At that time, ASU did not have a faculty member whose research was dedicated solely to chemical education. However, Austin persuaded her organic chemistry professor and eventual doctoral adviser Ian Gould that they had similar interests in education research, and together they initiated a program aimed at understanding the social and cultural factors that contribute to student learning. I was less interested in cognitive thinking and more interested in who the students are, how who they are affects their outcome in STEM courses, and in the end, why students choose to stay in science specifically," Austin said. "When I first decided to do this kind of research, there was a lot of pushback, because although affect is recognized as an important emerging area in education research, such studies are very new in a so-called 'hard science' or lab science context. In my work, I sought out education and sociology experts to help with my research about self-efficacy, human capital and gender differences in organic chemistry, which made my research truly interdisciplinary. As in more conventional science research, exploration of new areas can lead to researchers fielding questions about how their work is relevant. As scientists, we are always thinking about how we are going to progress as researchers," Austin said. "Someone has to come and be the pioneer and do this kind of interdisciplinary research for us to find new ways to help students be successful. If we only work within the already existing traditional disciplines, we are not going to change, and if we want to create change, we have to be different. Austins research adviser Gould agrees. Ara has become an expert in socio-cultural contributions to student learning and success," he said. "This is an emerging area in learning sciences at the college level that looks beyond just what happens in the brain, and recognizes the critical role that social and cultural factors play in determining student outcomes, and that learning only has meaning in a social context. Ara has helped to describe some of the important sociocultural factors that contribute to learning in large organic chemistry classes and has discovered and defined a new form of capital for college-level science. Austin said that people are starting to recognize that chemical education issues extend beyond simple problem-solving. There is more awareness in the community as well as in scholarship on chemical education about noncognitive factors. As the School of Molecular Sciences grows in new directions, exemplified by the new online degree program, Austin feels it is more important than ever to understand the new members of the SMS student population, who they are, what their social and cultural backgrounds are, what their goals are, and how to help them achieve those goals. She stated, When we know how and what our students do, it gives us more power as educators to guide different curriculum development and intervention strategies to help our students find success. As clinical assistant professor and coordinator of online programs for SMS, Austin is focused on ensuring the success of SMS first cohort of fully online biochemistry students. The online degree allows students who might not have been able to complete an on-campus degree, such as those with full-time jobs or young children, access to a degree program. When we look at the demographics of students we are reaching with this program, the numbers are quite interesting, she said. In our on-campus programs, we have always had issues in retaining students from underrepresented populations. The demographics of our online program show that we are getting these students to come to class and that they are doing well. Students in our online program are positive about the experience, saying that they love the convenience of this style of learning and that ASU Online is giving them a second chance at a university education. Based on my own experiences, I always wished that someone would have given me a break when I was having a hard time with school. I am finding a lot of fulfillment in giving my students the opportunities that I didnt have when I was a student myself. The School of Molecular Sciences recognizes that providing students with convenience, opportunity and accessibility is the future of university education. The schools online biochemistry degree program is different from other online programs because it gives students hands-on experience through accelerated organic chemistry and biochemistry labs, completed in-person over the summer. Not only that, online students are also given unique research experience via computational chemistry, which adds to the set of tools they need to succeed in future scientific careers. Arizona News Tempe, Arizona - Andrea Whitsett has been named director of Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. She has served as interim director since August. After a national search, Andrea emerged as the best candidate to continue the important work of Morrison Institute, said Jonathan Koppell, dean of the ASU College of Public Service and Community Solutions. Her experience, leadership and connection with the community visible in the overwhelming support expressed by a diverse group of Arizona leaders made this key appointment a clear choice. Andreat Whitsett is the new director of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. Whitsett, 37, fills the top position vacated by Thom Reilly, who become chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Whitsett joined Morrison Institute in 2007 and served as associate director, management research analyst senior and special projects manager prior to her interim appointment. I am excited that Andrea has been selected as director, said Richard Morrison, a co-founder of the public policy center launched in 1982. She has twinned a passion for public policy with a dynamic personality. With her great team, the institute will continue to offer important service for the benefit of Arizonans throughout the state. Betsey Bayless, chair of the Morrison Institute Advisory Board and a member of the search committee, said Whitsetts longtime ties to Arizona benefit both Morrison Institute and Arizona. Too often we look outside Arizona for people with ideas and solutions for Arizona when there are many talented individuals here already, Bayless said. Andrea being a native Arizonan is a real plus. She understands the states challenges and culture, along with its tremendous potential. She has great leadership instinct. Her collaborative spirit draws diverse constituents to the table for meaningful conversations that will shape Arizona for generations to come. During her tenure at Morrison Institute, Whitsett has guided the publication of numerous policy briefs, led Morrison Institutes flagship State of Our State Conference and launched the first Citizens Initiative Review in Arizona a multi-day, intensive citizen engagement project. Whitsett assumes leadership of a research organization that has produced several recent high-profile reports: "Finding & Keeping Educators for Arizonas Classrooms," which examined teacher recruitment and retention challenges; the "Spotlight on Arizonas Kids" series, which provided original data on subtypes of child neglect; and "Gamechangers? Independent Voters May Rewrite the Political Playbook," which explored disruption of the two-party system. An upcoming report, "Arizonas Voter Crisis," is part of a voter education and engagement project via Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. I am honored to serve at the helm of an enduring Arizona institution that works to inform sound public policy across a broad range of issues, Whitsett said. Whether the focus of our policy work is water, education, human services or economic development, we impact Arizona by bringing facts and nonpartisan analysis to further the conversation. She also noted her appreciation of its previous directors Reilly, Sue Clark-Johnson and Rob Melnick all of whom she worked under at Morrison Institute. Ive benefitted greatly by learning from all three, including their distinct styles, shared vision and collaborative approaches to examining public policy, Whitsett said. Whitsett is a member of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerces DATOS Research Committee and has co-edited multiple background reports for Arizona Town Hall. Whitsett previously served on the board of directors for the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence and as board secretary for Florence Crittenton. She is currently a member of the Collective Impact Group for Child Safety and Well-Being. Whitsetts passion for service traces back to her grandmother, Julieta Bencomo, who was the first Latina to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education. My grandmother was a tireless community leader who held herself and her community to the highest standard of excellence. I have always been inspired by her fierce spirit and her commitment to the principles of access, equity and public service values that I am fortunate to carry forward under the ASU charter, she said. She graduated from Arizona State University with a masters degree in nonprofit studies and has been a faculty associate in ASUs School of Community Resources and Development. She holds a bachelor of arts in American studies from Yale University, where she was awarded an Amy Rossborough Fellowship through the Yale Womens Center. Whitsett and her husband, Timothy Whitsett Jr., reside in north Phoenix with their two young children, Ben and Jack. Morrison Institute is commemorating its 36th year as Arizonas premier think tank for public policy. Its motto of policy, not politics is a mantra for nonpartisan research, analysis and public outreach on such issues as education, the economy, water, changing demographics, criminal justice reform, social policies, and governance and elections. In addition to its general policy operations, Morrison Institute features two centers the Kyl Center for Water Policy and the Latino Public Policy Center. Morrison Institute also oversees the Arizona Legislative Academy, which launched in 2016 to provide new lawmakers with a stronger base of knowledge about Arizona governance and policy. The Arizona Capitol Times named Morrison Institute as one of its Leaders of the Year in Public Policy for contributions to education in 2016 and to government in 2017. Latest News West Lafayette, Indiana - A solid can serve as a medium for heat and sound wave interactions just like a fluid does for thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators resulting in leak-free machines that can stay operating longer. Leaky systems have limited how engineers design thermoacoustic devices that rely on the interplay between temperature oscillations and sound waves. Researchers at Purdue and the University of Notre Dame have demonstrated for the first time that thermoacoustics could theoretically occur in solids as well as fluids, recently presenting their findings at the 175th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Although still in its infancy, this technology could be particularly effective in harsh environments, such as outer space, where strong temperature variations are freely available and when system failures would endanger the overall mission, said Fabio Semperlotti, Purdue assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Thermoacoustics has been an established and well-studied phenomenon in fluids whether as a gas or liquid for centuries. Applying heat to a fluid enclosed in a duct or cavity will cause the spontaneous generation of sound waves propagating in the fluid itself, said Carlo Scalo, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue. This results in so-called singing pipes, or thermoacoustics machines. While fluids have been historically used for these systems, the extra step of building something to contain the fluids and prevent leaks is cumbersome. This led the researchers to consider solids as a replacement. Properties of solids are more controllable, which could make them potentially better suited to these applications than fluids. We needed to first verify that this phenomenon could theoretically exist in solid media, said Haitian Hao, Purdue graduate research assistant in mechanical engineering. Thermoacoustics enables either waste heat or mechanical vibrations to be converted into other useful forms of energy. For refrigerators, sound waves generate a temperature gradient of hot and cold. The vibrating motion makes cold areas colder and hot areas hotter. Engines use an opposite process: a temperature gradient provided by waste heat leads to mechanical vibrations. Solid state thermoacoustics initially seemed unlikely, since solids are somewhat more stable than fluids and tend to dissipate mechanical energy more readily, making it harder for heat to generate sound waves. The researchers developed a theoretical model demonstrating that a thin metal rod can exhibit self-sustained mechanical vibrations if a temperature gradient is periodically applied to segments of the rod. This balanced unwanted mechanical energy dissipation and showed that, like fluids, solids contract when they cool down and expand when they heat up. If the solid contracts less when cooled and expands more when heated, the resulting motion will increase over time. Solids can also be engineered to achieve the needed properties for achieving high thermoacoustics performance. Fluids do not allow us to do this, Semperlotti said. Extreme temperature differences in space would be perfect for generating mechanical vibrations that are then converted to electrical energy on spacecraft. A solid state device would use the sun as its heat source and radiation towards deep space as its cold source, Semperlotti said. These systems could operate indefinitely, given that they do not have any part in motion or fluid that could leak out. Researchers still need to complete an experimental setup to validate this design idea and better understand the thermoacoustics of solids as discovered through mathematical calculations and modeling. Possible applications and performance of these devices are still in the realm of pure speculation at this point, Semperlotti said. But the phenomenon exists and it has the potential to open some remarkable directions for the design of thermoacoustic devices. Latest News Washington, DC - The United States condemns the Iranian regimes provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens, and we strongly support Israels right to act in self-defense. The Iranian regimes deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East. Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bears full responsibility for the consequences of its reckless actions, and we call on the IRGC and its militant proxies, including Hizballah, to take no further provocative steps. The United States also calls on all nations to make clear that the Iranian regimes actions pose a severe threat to international peace and stability. Latest News Washington, DC - The Trump Administration Secures the Release of Three Americans from North Korea, what they are saying... The Family of Freed American Tony Kim: We are very grateful for the release of our husband and father, Tony Kim, and the other two American detainees. We want to thank all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home. We also want to thank the President for engaging directly with North Korea. Mostly, we thank God for Tonys safe return. Members of Congress Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI): .@POTUS and @SecPompeo securing the release of the three American detainees from North Korea is terrific news. While this is a gesture of goodwill, we must remain clear-eyed about the true nature of the regime. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): This morning the world has learned that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back from North Korea with three American prisoners after securing their release. Two were detained last year, one had been in captivity since 2015, and now following successful discussions, all three are on their way back to the U.S. with our secretary of state. Im hopeful that by approaching our ongoing negotiations with clear eyes, we can build on this progress and pursue a verifiable agreement to dismantle North Koreas nuclear arms. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN): We are all very thankful for the release of these American citizens who have been unjustly detained by North Korea for far too long, and I applaud the administration for working with Congress to build significant international pressure against the Kim regime. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-NJ): This is great news and I join the families in this moment of profound relief. I commend Secretary Pompeo, and look forward to discussing his trips to Pyongyang upon his return. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA): I join all Americans in welcoming Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong-chul home. We all celebrate their return The Trump administration deserves credit for scrapping President Obamas failed strategic patience and working with Congress to apply maximum pressure against Kim Jong Un. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ): This is good news. Kudos to the Administration for making it happen. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR): The fact that Americans who were being held in North Korea are now on their way home in reported good health is great news. Grateful for the efforts of @POTUS & @SecPompeo to secure their safe return. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO): Todays development is great news for these Americans and their families and I could not be happier that they will soon be back on American soil I will continue to work with President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo ahead of the Presidents summit with North Korea and will do everything I can to guarantee a successful summit. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA): Very thankful for the return of Americans who were unjustly detained by North Korea. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA): This is an incredible day for America and proof that President Trumps maximum pressure campaign is working. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): So thankful our fellow Americans are coming home from captivity in #NorthKorea. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): Tremendous job by @realDonaldTrump! This is a monumental accomplishment and a real win for the U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID): Congrats @realDonaldTrump on securing the release of three US detainees from North Korea. Well done. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): This is great news. Thankful for the efforts of @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo to bring our Americans home. Sen. Angus King (I-ME): Obviously, it is good news. Its good news for these young men. Its good news for their families. And I think it is a positive development. The fact that were moving toward a summit with North Korea is also good news. And I think the President deserves substantial credit for that. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA): The long-overdue release of American citizens Tony Kim, Kim Hak-Song, and Kim Dong Chul is a positive step and removes an obstacle to a successful summit between @realDonaldTrump and Kim Jong Un. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE): Grateful to hear three Americans held in #NorthKorea are now on their way home. Thanks to @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo for your efforts in securing their safe return. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): I welcome the news that North Korea released the three remaining U.S. citizens it was detaining. This a testament to the Trump administrations diplomatic approach which has balanced tough sanctions and united international pressure with openness to a dialogue with the North Korean regime. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK): We need to be clear-eyed about the upcoming talks with North Korea, but one thing is certain. @realDonaldTrump accomplishing things that havent been done before. He has reestablished America as the leader of the free world. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): An example of Freedom Through Strength I know we are all excited to welcome home these Americans who were held hostage. We are also very happy for their families. Well done Mr. President and Secretary Pompeo! Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): Great news! Welcome home. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL): President Trump continues to impress with his foreign policy achievements. Like Reagan before him, the President is achieving peace through strength. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL): A pretty remarkable moment last night as we welcomed home three Americans. Good work by @POTUS and @SecPompeo to make this happen. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): An incredible moment. God bless America. Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA): Great news this morning! The three American prisoners being held North Korea will soon be returning home! Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL): Obviously, this is something for everyone in our country to celebrate. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL): Todays announcement that President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have secured the release of three North Korean prisoners is incredible news. It is a time of celebration for our nation, and most importantly, for those men and their families. Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL): Today three Americans, who were wrongfully imprisoned, are finally returning home to their families I commend the Trump administration for helping to secure the release of Kim Hak-Song, Tony Kim, and Kim Dong-Chul. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA): Positive steps toward diplomacy. As we press forward with our historic conversations with #NorthKorea, I am optimistic that @SecPompeo and @POTUS will lay the groundwork for successful negotiations that will bring peace and prosperity to the peninsula. Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL): This is absolutely fantastic news and a great sign of progress with North Korea Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL): Im pleased by the release of the three detainees from North Korea. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN): Great news this morning that @SecPompeo is on his way back from North Korea with three American detainees who are in good health. It is clear that President Trumps pressure campaign has gone a long way in bringing North Korea to the negotiating table. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD): Absolutely incredible. Welcome home, gentlemen. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD): I give credit to @SecPompeo + this Administration on securing the release and safe return of the 3 Korean-Americans. I hope this a step forward in negotiations toward a nuclear-free North Korea. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI): Glad to see real results as the US engages North Korea in the pursuit of real, lasting peace and a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We have a long ways to go but these are tangible steps. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): Great news that these men are home. My compliments to the Administration for strong diplomacy and the continued pressure on North Korea. We must keep the economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime and not let up. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC): What an incredible moment. Its a great day for our country thanks to the tremendous work by @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo to bring these Americans home! Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC): This is incredible news. Welcome home Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song, and Kim Dong-chul! Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC): Welcome HOME Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim! Working with @POTUS and his administration, this Congress has passed the most extensive financial sanctions ever to be directed at North Korea. Our strength and a global maximum pressure campaign are making great progress. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ): The release of the American hostages is a major breakthrough. The Kim regime is clearly feeling the international pressure brought on by the sanctions passed by Congress and the diplomatic overtures made by the Trump Administration. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY): Amazing news. Great work, Mr. President! Rep. Peter King (R-NY): Great day for America. Welcome home American citizens held hostage in North Korea. Thanks to @POTUS Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo. God Bless America!! Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY): I congratulate Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on successfully returning home the three Americans held captive in North Korea, and wish them a warm return to their family and loved ones. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): Today is a great day in America! Three Americans held hostage in North Korea are heading home! Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH): Great news this AM as N. Korea has released the 3 Americans the regime had been holding hostage. Very pleased for their families. Maybe, just maybe, NK is responding positively to the pressure this WH has applied to them. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA): Excellent news! Thank God they are safe and will soon be back home with their loved ones. Thank you for your leadership, Mr. President! The winning continues! Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA): Great news this morning as three Americans are coming home from North Korea with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC): Great job by @realDonaldTrump in securing the release of American prisoners in North Korea. Equally important is that it was negotiated separately from the upcoming talks, and that it didnt involve giving a dangerous country a plane load of cash. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC): This is what an effective foreign policy of #PeaceThroughStrength looks like! Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX): When America leads with strength, we get results. I applaud President @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo for bringing these men home. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): The release of three Americans unjustly held by the North Korean regime is great news and I look forward to seeing them return home to their families. Promises to freeze missile tests, close a nuclear test site, and the release of imprisoned Americans are necessary actions by Kim Jong Un ahead of the upcoming negotiations. Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX): Positive news from the Trump WH this morning! Grateful to learn 3 American detainees being held by N. Korea are on their way home with @SecPompeo. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX): This is further proof that international sanctions & America First tactics against the terrorist-sponsoring nation are having intended effect. The United States must keep this intense pressure up; we will not tolerate this war mongering nations illusive tactics any longer. Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT): It appears that @POTUS has secured the release of the three [A]mericans detained in North Korea. The President and his team are making great strides. Fantastic news! Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI): This is an important diplomatic accomplishment by @POTUS and @SecPompeo. I look forward to the return of these three brave Americans. Governors Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR): It is a great day for the United States to see the 3 American prisoners released from North Korea. Thrilled to see them coming home safe and this happened because of the strength of President Trumps leadership. Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL): Im happy to see the return of three Americans from North Korea. We need to continue to put pressure on rogue regimes from North Korea, to Iran, to Venezuela, to keep Americans safe. Gov. Phil Bryant (R-MS): Wonderful news! Thanks to the leadership of @realdonaldtrump, three Americans are on their way home from North Korea. Mississippi rejoices with them and their families. Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL): Credit to @POTUS and @SecPompeo for bringing these Americans home. Media, Reporters, and Political Commentators Boston Herald Editorial Page Editor Tom Shattuck: Excellent news about #NorthKorea releasing prisoners. Time for some @POTUS credit. Boston Herald Editorial Board: This is a big deal. Though the release of these prisoners is a relatively small effort for the North Korean regime, it is nonetheless an effort, and illustrates that Kim may be prepared to go into negotiations with legitimate intentions. CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper: Great news! Commentary Associate Editor Noah Rothman: This is unambiguously good news. A concrete confidence building measure from DPRK, at long last. Fox News Contributor Sara A. Carter: Its peace through strength leadership. Not leading from behind but out in front. Thankfully these three men are coming home @realDonaldTrump, Mike Pompeo and the team who worked this out are incredible negotiators. Fox News National Security Strategist Dr. Sebastian Gorka: With just this one act @realDonaldTrump has achieved more than @BarackObama did for America in EIGHT years. No more Strategic Patience, Leading from Behind, OR Apology Tours. The New York Times White House Correspondent Michael D. Shear: @potus says Secretary of State Pompeo has secured the release of the North Korean hostages, and they are in good health. Great news and a big boost to @realDonaldTrump ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un. Townhall Associate Editor Matt Vepsa: Americans released by North Korea. Another win for Trump. Washington Examiner White House Reporter Gabby Morrongiello: This is big news and a good sign for @POTUS ahead of his meeting w/ Kim. The Washington Free Beacon Senior Writer Susan Crabtree: Great news!! Lives possibly saved and A major concession before the talks really begin. Radio Host Howie Carr: The three North Korean prisoners are on their way back to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Big accomplishment for Trump and his Admin. Political Commentator Evan Siegfried: Its great news that President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have gotten North Korea to free the three American hostages Give credit where its due. Policy Experts Center for the National Interest Director of Defense Studies Harry Kazianis: President Trump deserves high praise not only for securing the release of the three U.S. citizens, but also for prompting Kim Jong Un to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently, and for setting up a Trump-Kim summit in the near future. These steps have hopefully averted what could have been a nuclear war. The Eurasia Group President And Founder Ian Bremmer: Very happy to see these hostages back on American soil. Its good to see Trump welcome them home. Hudson Institute President and CEO Kenneth Weinstein: Wonderful news of release of US hostages held illegally by Kim Jung Un. A significant achievement for @POTUS. Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs: This is a great day for the country and for these precious families. Thrilled. President Akufo-Addo is not in Ghana, he is in the United Kingdom for a week-long leave with his wife and family. The head of communications has revealed in a press statement that the leave is to help the president take some time off to rest. But there are dire issues on the mind of the president especially on best ways to improve his presidency and achieve the promises made in the lead up to the elections. READ ALSO: 6 wild photos of Ebonys replacement which prove shes a queen in her own rights In this write-up, we explore the key things Nana Addo will be thinking about during his stay in the United Kingdom (UK). 1. Growing threats of crime The issue of crime and vigilantism remains the existing threat to the presidency. It started with the vigilante groups to the menace of armed robbery. In fact, under the first years of Nana Addos administration have we experienced bouts of crime and daylight armed robberies in the country. The hallmark of every government is peace and so if such things with insecurity pursues. Nana Addo will definitely have to think through ways of dealing with this issue once and for all. 2. Gay pressure from lobbyists There has not been any administration with so much pressure to legalise gay rights than this new administration under the leadership of Nana Addo. From being hijacked at international media houses to fierce speeches from the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, it is clear that that the NPP government has been lashed with severe tags of planning to push the gay debate. The presidency has revealed that it will not legalize gay rights but from the look of things it is clear the Nana Addo-led administration has a long way to go to convince Ghanaians. 3. Job creation Millions of Ghanaians are currently without jobs. In fact, existing data show that over 1 million graduates from the various educational institutions are without jobs. Nana Addo has described this development as a threat to national security. This has seen government come up with various interventions including the recent Nation Builders Corps. But there is still much to be done about the menace of unemployment and the president knows this best. 4. Delayed projects Let us face the fact that Nana Addo made various wild promises to Ghanaians including the one district one factory program. Its been barely two years since the NPP administration took office and it still looks like some major projects are yet to be achieved. Ghanaians are watching closely how things will pan and it is left with government to not let the hopes of Ghanaians. Nana Addo will definitely have to keenly consider ways of dealing with this troubling trend before it swallows his votes in the 2020 polls. 5. Rising cases of HIV infections YEN.com.gh has earlier reported on how HIV infections increased by 21 percent as at 2016. It has been shown that the prevalence rate among young persons between the ages of 18 to 25 has doubled as at the end of year. With a youthful population and rise in the reproductive age, it is clear that figures could triple by 2020 if government fails to put in place drastic steps. 6. Rise in Tramadol abuse It has been described as health alert in the country with thousands of young men and women strangely hooked to the drug like life support. The effects of this drug is fatal and yet still, the countrys borders are being infiltrated by smugglers who illegally bring in overdosed milligrams of the drug. Definitely, the president will be taking time off to deal with these issues just once and for all. Ghana trends: All About Shatta Wale Highs and Lows | Yen.com.gh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook now! Source: Yen.com.gh Ghanaian media personality, Afia Schwar, has issues a crucial warning to those who gossip about her. In her latest post, she cautioned those who speak about her to other people, to add the reason for which they are so scared of her. She added that success in life could be unpredictable, and as such it is important to thoroughly examine comments made about people. READ ALSO: Actress 'attacks' Yvonne Nelson's daughter Afia Schwar also noted that her past has made her who she is today, and for that matter, she isnt scared of it. For that reason, she went on, it is important to pause before badmouthing people, as blood runs throw everyones veins. She concluded with a promise to ensure that all lies about her would come to an end this year. Her fans could certainly not keep quiet about this message: @mizaddison wrote: "Your maturity is something I admire so much..." @officialefyamugabe added: "A word to the wise is enough" @abinana73I also wrote: "I like everything about you; you are my role model" Afia Schwar has had several stints as a radio host with notable radio stations in Ghana, including Happy FM and EIB networks Kasapa FM. She also hosted the Kokooko show on Despite Groups UTV, before leaving to work with Angel TV. Afia Schwar has however taken up a role at TV Africa. READ ALSO: Prophet who predicted Shatta Wale's death predicts where Castro is hiding Top 7 Worst Jobs in the World in 2018 | Yen.co.gh: Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen Sharing is caring! 48 shares Share 29 Tweet Pin 19 My holiday last month to Malaysia was full of delightful surprises. From spicy and rich food I couldnt get enough of, to learning about a new land full of unique culture to sweating to new levels (leg sweat, how?!) my time in Malaysia was nothing if not full of the unexpected. If you follow me on Instagram you might have gotten quite the taste for it. After four days of roaming the streets of mighty Kuala Lumpur, a metropolis chock full of hidden gems and undiscovered spots for us visitors, photographer extraordinaire Trey Ratcliff and I headed down for a bit of an island getaway to travel Langkawi at the Ritz-Carlton. Oh my god guys, are you ready for this? Because I sure wasnt. Hello there Langkawi! Greetings from paradise. Now I know I might say that a lot, but this time I really mean it. I swear. An archipelago for more than 100 islands, Langkawi is the jewel of Malaysia, and my new favorite island retreat. Full of secluded and empty sandy beaches, beautiful jungle, warm seas and lots of delicious food (minus durian shivers!) right next to Thailand, its the perfect place for those who want a Southeast Asian holiday without the fuss and crowds. Still relatively undiscovered and undeveloped, but with all the creature comforts (and more) at your fingertips at the Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi is the best of both worlds. Plus a few monkeys thrown in to keep things interesting. Overlooking the Andaman Sea and surrounded by a 10-million-year-old rainforest, at the Ritz you really feel like youre in an oasis in Langkawi. Its really the best of both worlds. Opting for forest over seaside views, I squirreled away for days at the luxurious rainforest villas, surrounded by lush greenery and birdsong, with my own private infinity pool and the most comfortable bath to keep myself busy. Dont hate me. I think Ill always be a forest girl at heart. What about you? Ocean or forest? Is there anything better than swimming outside in a tropical rainstorm? After a very hectic 2017 with just a few too many commitments and after the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur, I absolutely relished having a few days all to myself in a quiet and peaceful place. Its funny to think about but the longer and longer I travel, I have found comfort in accepting that I have many different travel styles. Sometimes I want to be very busy and be in a new place, not sleep and see (and eat) as much as I can, like what I did in Kuala Lumpur, but also at the same time I am equally happy to just hang out in a more resort-style holiday environment, where the hardest decision of the day might be choosing between coconut cocktail or a mojito in the afternoon. I suppose the trick is just knowing what kind of holiday youre after and for when. And Ill be the first to stay Ill take a tropical island holiday at the Ritz-Carlton any day of the year! Langkawi was the holiday I very much needed, and this blog post is going to serve as my reminder to schedule one of these once a year, you know, for health purposes. While resetting my internal clock, we had lazy days by the beach and pool, afternoon naps during rainstorms, with a few activities thrown in and of course, amazing meals along with learning to cook Malay food (hello beef rendang all day every day!), while discovering the best that Langkawi has to offer. While I have plenty of more detailed stories to share down the road, I wanted to start by sharing some of my favorite memories from my time in Langkawi through photos in the hopes it might inspire you visit one day too. I, for one, know Ill be back! Enjoy! The overwater spa might have been my favorite place Exploring some of the uninhabited islands by boat or even jet ski Dont you want to be surrounded by this lush greenery too? The hornbill is Malaysias national bird and hangs around the forest around the Ritz The house cocktail at the Ritz is inspired by the hornbill, cant you tell? Exploring the coastal mangrove forest in Langkawi was a real treat Mudskippers can be spotted around Langkawi, the fish that lives on land! Hello there favorite bath tub! Pristine white sandy beaches galore and water as warm as a bath! Ok, these monkeys arent that bad, theyre pretty cute! A little glimpse at my rainforest villa, sigh, can I go back now? Many thanks to the Ritz-Carlton for hosting me in Malaysia like always Im keeping it real, all opinions are my own, like you could expect less from me. 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Islam is the dominant religion in the north of the country, while Christianity is dominant in the south. Ongoing rivalries between ethnic groups contribute to the persecution of Christians who are caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, radical groups, such as Boko Haram and Muslim Fulani herdsmen, heavily persecute believers in the northern and Middle Belt regions. Criminal groups engaged in human and drug trafficking also contribute to the persecution, and corruption at all levels of government only adds to the danger for believers. How Christians are Suffering In the southern part of Nigeria, Christians experience religious freedom. However, in the northern and Middle Belt regions, they suffer from violence perpetrated by Islamic militant groups. Death, physical injury and loss of property are commonplace, as well as loss of land and livelihood. In northern Nigeria, society as a whole treats Christians as second-class citizens who deserve to be discriminated against and excluded. Christians from Muslim backgrounds also face persecution from their own families who reject and pressure them to renounce Christianity. To make matters worse, corruption has made the government ill-equipped to protect Christians from violent attack. Examples In May 2016, church leaders in Kebbi State governed by Sharia (Islamic) law were arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. This arrest happened after local Muslim vigilantes had violently disrupted worship at their church, claiming church leaders built it without a permit. In the same area, Christians have been facing pressure from Muslim evangelists to renounce their faith to get funding for wells, schools and clinics. One Christian villager shared that his son died because doctors were only willing to offer treatment if he converted to Islam. In November 2016, raids conducted by suspected Muslim Hausa-Fulani herdsmen killed 45 people, mostly Christians, in southern Kaduna State in the Middle Belt region. In July 2017, a gunman attacked a church in the city of Onitsha in southern Nigeria, killing 12 and injuring 18. Guwahati : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Assam Rifles had seized gold biscuits weighing around 12 kg valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipurs Moreh town along with Indo-Myanmar border on Thursday. According to the reports, on the basis of specific intelligence developed by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), a joint team of DRI and Assam Rifles had conducted an operation and made a seizure of 12.075 kg of gold worth of Rs 3.62 crore. A top DRI official said that, the joint team of DRI and Assam Rifles at PVCP Khudengthabi stopped two Maruti Van travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking. While carrying out thorough inspection of the vehicle, gold biscuits were found hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both vehicles. DRI and Assam Rifles troops had apprehended two persons. The gold was smuggled into India through the Indo-Myanmar border. The gold have been seized under the customs act 1962. Further investigation is on in the case. DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfiet goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering. The North Eastern region including Assam having boundaries with Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China is particularly sensitive from the perspective of smuggling acitivities and cross border crime. There have been significant seizures of gold bars of foreign origin smuggled from Myanmar through the Indo-Myanmar border adjacent to Moreh and also from the Zokhawthar border with Myanmar in Mizoram. Combating this cross border crime in this region poses various challenges on account of factors such as rugged topography and porosity of theborders, lack of economic opportunities and the lure of easy money. To overcome these challenges, in order to further the cause of enforcement of cross border crime, DRI has joined hands with various formations such asCustoms, Assam Rifles, BSF, State Police agencies, Forests and Wild Life Crime Cotrol Bureau amongst others in the region. This year DRI with the help of Assam Rifle has made seizure of total 28 kg of foreign origin smuggled gold in two separate cases at Moreh area in Manipur. The DRI and Assam Rifle had recently seized 3,20,000 tablets of Methamphetamine having total weight of 38.5 kg under NDPS act 1985. Sarine ProfileTM selected to showcase Warren Buffetts Signature diamonds at Borsheims flagship store 11 may 2018 News Sarine Technologies Ltd has announced that Borsheims selected the Sarine ProfileTM to accompany each of Warren Buffetts very limited series of Signature Diamonds sold at the annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting this week in Omaha, Nebraska. Each diamond was engraved on-site by Sarines DiaScribeTM system with Buffetts signature, a personalised commemoration or message of affection of the buyers choice and its certificate number. Borsheims Senior Diamond Buyer Heather Ingraham said, Our partnership with Sarine provided guests an unforgettable experience as we sealed many diamonds with not only a girdle inscription of Warren Buffetts personal signature, but a meaningful message of the guests own choosing as well. We are always looking to elevate the experience at Borsheims. New technologies are key. Sarine CEO David Block stated, "We are delighted to have been Borsheims supplier of choice for enhanced stone documentation in support of their new customer experience, especially at such a globally recognised affair as Berkshire Hathaways annual shareholders event. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished Welcome to the PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE. We are a multi-racial, multi-issue "rainbow coalition" dedicated to social justice, peace and building progressive power. Our key priorities include economic justice; equal rights and equal opportunities for all regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation; international solidarity; humanitarian service; eradicating poverty at home and abroad; environmental protection and sustainable development; and electing progressives to public office and then holding them accountable. Human Rights Watch, May 9, 2018 No Place for Criticism Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary Police in Bangladesh have registered hundreds of complaints under the Information and Communication Technology Act, including against authors of social media posts and journalists criticizing the political leadership and the ruling Awami League party. Summary On April 9, 2018, Bangladesh listed its new Digital Security Bill in parliament, which was then sent to a parliamentary standing committee for review. The proposed law is in part intended to replace section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) 2006, which has been widely criticized for restricting freedom of expression and has resulted in scores of arrests since 2013. However, the current draft of the Bill replicates, and even enhances, existing strictures of the ICT Act. This report documents abuses under section 57 of the ICT Act to warn that any new law should protect rights, not be used to crack down on critics. For instance, exactly a year ago, Monirul Islam, a rubber plantation worker in Srimongol, southern Bangladesh, experienced an unwelcomed surprise. He was arrested on April 13, 2017, accused of defaming the countryas prime minister and harming the image of Bangladesh. His crime: he had alikeda and then ashared" a Facebook post, something social media users around the world do every day. The post, allegedly from a colleague, criticized the ongoing visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to India, saying that she was meeting her Indian counterpart, afor the sake of power and to win the coming election.a The post included some cartoons of the prime minister. He was accused of offences under section 57 of the ICT Act claiming that he, and the publisher of the post, were aopposition supportersa and that the post was an ainjustice,a acondemnable,a and a abetrayal to the country.a Denied bail by both the magistrate and district courts, Islam, who denies the offence, was detained for three months before the High Court released him in July 2017. Meanwhile, the author of the original post, reportedly went into hiding fearing his own arrest. *** Section 57 of ICT Act authorizes the prosecution of any person who publishes, in electronic form, material that is fake and obscene; defamatory; atends to deprave and corrupta its audience; causes, or may cause, adeterioration in law and order;a prejudices the image of the state or a person; or acauses or may cause hurt to religious belief.a These broad and sweeping terms invite misuse of the law. When Bangladesh first enacted the ICT Act in November 2006 to regulate digital communications, legal protections within the law limited the number of arrests and prosecutions. In 2013, the government amended the law, eliminating the need for arrest warrants and official permission to prosecute, restricting bail, and increasing prison terms if convicted. A new Cyber Tribunal dedicated to dealing with offences under the ICT Act was also established. As a result, the number of complaints to the police, arrests, and prosecutions has soared. Between 2013 and April 2018, the police submitted 1271 charge sheets, most of them under section 57 of the ICT Act. Many of these cases involved multiple accused. Often, it seems, the intent is to intimidate, with relatively few convictionsaaccording to anecdotal comments from court officialsaresulting from prosecutions. In September 2017, Md Nazrul Islam Shamim, special public prosecutor of the Cyber Tribunal, told The Dhaka Tribune that 65 to 70 percent of cases filed under section 57 cannot be proved in court. aSome cases are totally fabricated and are filed to harass people,a he said. In the first three months of 2018, of the nine cases where trials were concluded, eight were acquitted. However, the impact of being arrested for a criminal offense can be severe on the individual, their family, and on free speech, as those who might otherwise speak out choose to self-censor rather than risk arrest and months of imprisonment. aA sinister section such as section 57 must be repealed soon,a the Bangladesh daily, New Age, said in an August 2017 editorial, aor, else it must be resisted and repulsed by not only the journalist community but also society at large.a Following public outrage, Bangladesh authorities pledged to repeal the ICT Act, and on January 29, 2018, the cabinet approved a new Digital Security Act. However, the proposed draft is in some instances even broader than the law it seeks to replace and violates the countryas international obligation to protect freedom of speech. This reportabased on investigation of police and court documents and interviews with dozens of accusedadetails violations of free speech rights under section 57 of the ICT Act and concludes with recommendations to the Bangladesh government aimed at ensuring that any new law does not open the door to further violations. Information and Communication Act Between 2006, when the law was first enacted, and 2013, when it was amended, police data shows that while there were 426 complaints, only a few resulted in arrests or prosecution. However, after the law was amended in October 2013 the situation changed dramatically. Hundreds, including several journalists, have been accused under section 57 for criticizing the government, political leaders, and others. In the first three and half months of 2018 alone, police submitted 282 charge sheets with Cyber Tribunal officials. Most involve criticism of the government, defamation, or offending religious sentiments, while the rest are allegations against men publishing intimate photographs of women without their consent. After recent student protests, on April 8, 2018, a police officer filed a complaint referring to 43 aprovocativea Facebook posts which amany have liked and commented ona that has, as a result, acreated a situation which could potentially harm society and create chaos.a Yet, apart from a few lewd characterizations, these posts contained legitimate commentary about an ongoing political protest. The Cyber Tribunal provides no official data on the number of convictions and acquittals, but anecdotal evidence suggests few people have been convicted to date. The impact, however, of an arrest for a criminal offense may be significant. As Frank La Rue, former UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, has stated: Individuals face the constant threat of being arrested, held in pretrial detention, subjected to expensive criminal trials, fines, and imprisonment, as well as the social stigma associated with having a criminal record. In addition, such treatment may chill free speech. aThe government has reassured the public of their commitment to freedom of speech,a the Dhaka Tribune said in a September 2017 editorial. aThen why does section 57 continue to be a tool of harassment?a Punishing Government Critics Section 57 is often used in Bangladesh to prosecute those who criticize individual politicians, particularly the prime minister and her relatives. Under the 2013 amendments, a person may be arrested simply on the basis of a complaint to the police, regardless of whether the person filing it has themselves been prejudiced, defamed, or otherwise ainjureda by the offending material. Members and supporters of the ruling Awami League party have exploited this rule to file numerous complaints alleging that online speech has defamed or prejudiced the prime minister, other government officials, or the ruling party. For example, on August 27, 2016, Rashedul Islam Raju, general secretary of the Awami Leagueas student wing based at Rajshahi University, complained to police about three Facebook posts by Dilip Roy, a student involved with a left-wing opposition party. Raju said the posts, including one that stated, aI cant label a dog Awami League, because it would be ashamed to be labeled as such,a constituted a threat to the prime minister, insulted her father (the countryas first president), and defamed the Awami League. Roy was arrested the next day, and remained in custody for three months before the High Court granted bail. In other cases, police have acted directly against government critics without waiting for a complaint. For instance, on September 5, 2016, Shahadat Hossen Khondaker, a Bangladesh railways employee, was arrested for allegedly posting aanti-government statementsa on Facebook. These posts criticized the trial of Mir Quasem Ali, convicted of crimes committed during the countryas independence war. Shahadat remained in detention for 11 months before he finally obtained bail in August 2017. One of the most well-known uses of section 57 to target government critics involves Odhikar, a Dhaka-based human rights organization. On August 10, 2013, Odhikaras secretary, Adilur Rahman Khan, was arrested on asuspicion of causing disruption to societya and acarrying out a conspiracy against the state.a His arrest came three months after the group published a report documenting alleged killings of protesters by law enforcement during a rally by the conservative Islamist organization, Hefazet-e-Islami. On September 3, police filed a case against Rahman and Nasiruddin Elan, Odhikaras director, under section 57 of the ICT Act, alleging the report was afiction.a Both men were eventually released on bail, but the case remained pending at time of writing. Journalists have also faced arrest for writing online about alleged government or corporate corruption or inappropriate conduct. On September 1, 2016, Siddique Rahman, editor of the Daily Shikkha, a news website dedicated to education reporting, was arrested in Dhaka after publishing articles about alleged corruption in a government education department. The arrest followed a complaint by the departmentas former director general, who said the allegations were false and defamatory to her and athe nation,a would aprovoke anyone to commit crimes,a and thus wreak ahavoc in the law and order of the country.a [. . .] READ FULL TEXT AT: https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/05/09/no-place-criticism/bangladesh-crackdown-social-media-commentary Many of us likely consider ourselves outcasts in one way or another, that something about us has set us apart from common society, and we are bullied and dismissed for it. That might be true, but for some, it can be literally written on their body, and as such no avoiding their outcast state. So how does one build a life within that state? How does one find love, family, friends, community? Egyptian director and writer A.B. Shawky explores the plight of the outcast in his debut feature film, Yommedine. A beautiful, heartbreaking, and heart-soaring story, Shawky treads the familiar ground of the movie within a specific cultural and personal context. Beshay (Rady Gamal) has leprosy. As a child, his father left him at a colony to be treated and possibly cured. He was, but no one ever came back for Beshay. But he built a life for himself among his fellow lepers: he found love and got married; he manages a small living searching through trash; he has friends, and a young apprentice, the orphan Obama (Ahmed Abdelhafiz). But when Beshays wife dies, he decides to finally find out why his birth family never came back for him. With his trusted donkey Harby, and Obama tagging along, Beshay sets out from the colony across the miles of Upper Egypt to find his family and make peace. Whle his leprosy was cured, the scars never will be, and Beshays scarred face and deformed hands betray him immediately, and so to the people who do not know him, he is not only a leper literally but figuratively. Add in his status as a Coptic Christian in a Muslim country, and outside of his colony, he is less than trash. Obama is also unwanted, as an orphan in the company of a leper. But the man and the boy have each other, and the friendly relationship grows to a deeper familial bond as they encounter an outside world which at best has no time for them, and at worse will abuse them and then toss them aside. Much like Jim and Huck on their trip down the Mississippi, Beshay and Obama journey through a landscape unknown to them: they find pyramids and ancient burial grounds, places where, had the two been alive, they likely would have toiled under the hot sun in making these grand places only to be tossed aside as they are in their own time. Cinematographer Federico Cesca (Patti Cake$, Roxanne Roxanne) gives us both this grand, ancient Egypt, as well as the rivers where children play, and the dirty, trash-filled streets, with neither sentiment nor grandeur: we are seeing Egypt through Beshays eyes, as one who has never ventured more than a few miles from home, and must accept that the world might be beautiful, but it is also cruel. The people they meet are a cross-section not only of Egyptian society, but world society: some bully them; some treat them like, well, lepers; other deceive them with feigned kindness. It is only when they find others like themselves, fellow outcasts, that they find a metaphorical home, as each step of their journey becomrs more difficult; not because of themselves, but because of how society treats them. Gamal, as a non-professional actor, helps give the film a cinema verite style, as someone who likely has experienced much of what Beshay goes through, and yet does so with a heart that is always open and forgiving. Yomeddine doesnt necessarily give us a new story, but it gives us a true story, the one that we need to be reminded of every now and then; Shawky immeditely attaches the audience to the main characters, through their love of each other and the family of their community; their journey is ours, both as them, and as the people who might not treat them with the kindness they deserve. Seguin, TX (78155) Today Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 92F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. In a stunning political upset that took pundits by surprise, Mahathirs opposition alliance ended the long hold on power of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been in power in Malaysia since its birth as an independent country in 1957. The thumping victory capped a dramatic political comeback for Mahathir, who previously ruled the country with an iron fist for 22 years and came out of retirement to take on Prime Minister Najib Razak after the leader became embroiled in a massive corruption scandal. When he takes power, Mahathir will be the oldest prime minister in the world. Despite the shock result there were no reports of trouble on the streets, where pockets of celebration erupted overnight. A flag-waving crowd of supporters gathered on a field outside the headquarters of Mahathirs party near Kuala Lumpur. Suva Selvan, a 48-year-old doctor, said he felt the country had just won its independence. "I feel that with this change we probably can see something better in the future... our hope for the future is a better government, fair, free and united," he told AFP. Defeat could just be the beginning of Najibs troubles. Mahathir has vowed to bring him to justice over allegations that billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which the scandal-hit leader set up and oversaw. But at a press conference after his win, Mahathir vowed: "We are not seeking revenge. We want to restore the rule of law." He said he would be sworn in on Thursday. Mahathirs return to the political frontlines saw him throw in his lot with an opposition alliance filled with parties that he crushed while in power, and which includes jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim his former nemesis. Anwar is due to be released from prison in June. Mahathir has vowed to get him a royal pardon, and later hand over the premiership to him. As well as seizing control of the national government, several state legislatures across the country fell into opposition hands for the first time, including the highly symbolic bastion of Johor, the birthplace of Najibs party that was the lynchpin of the ruling coalition. Dramatic defeat Official results from the Election Commission showed that Mahathirs opposition grouping Pakatan Harapan, along with a small ally, had secured 121 parliamentary seats. 112 are needed to form a government. BN got 79 seats a dramatic drop from the 133 they held previously. Najib was nowhere to be seen as the evening wore on, and was believed to have holed up inside his house for talks with senior members of BN. The opposition win was particularly striking as critics said that Najib tried everything he could to cling to power. His government was accused of pushing a redrawing of electoral boundaries through parliament that created constituencies packed with the countrys Muslim Malay majority, who have traditionally supported BN. He called the election on a weekday polls are typically held at the weekend in Malaysia in what observers said was an effort to keep turnout down, which would hurt the opposition. In the event, voters flocked to the polls in huge numbers. Ultimately the explosive allegations of corruption, coupled with anger at rising living costs, proved too much for Malaysias 15 million voters, already sick of racially divisive politics in the multi-ethnic country and graft scandals under years of BN rule. In Mahathir, the opposition found the perfect person to take on Najib. He is a staunch Malay nationalist who could appeal to the countrys biggest ethnic group, and whose years in power were remembered as a prosperous period in the countrys history. Source from VNS. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, President of the union Huynh Minh Thien affirmed that the project is a manifestation for the fine sentiments between the two countries and their people. Licensed by the municipal Peoples Committee in 2010, the building will comprise 21 storeys with around 13,700 sq.m of floor area. Its construction is expected to be completed in two years. Once put into use, the building will also be the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations. Vietnam and Slovakia established diplomatic relations in 1950. Since then, the bilateral ties have developed continously, especially in trade and investment. Trade turnover between Vietnam and Slovakia has grown 40 times compared to 2004. In the first 10 months of 2017, two-way trade reached about 630 million USD, up 80 percent against the same period last year, making Slovakia one of Vietnams most important trading partners in Central and Eastern Europe. Slovakia invested in nine projects in Vietnam with total capital of 247 million USD, making it 36th among 128 countries investing directly in Vietnam. Vietnamnews Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on May 11, 2018 2018/05/11 At the invitation of President Julius Maada Wonie Bio of the Republic of Sierra Leone, President Xi Jinping's Special Envoy and Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang will travel to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Julius Maada Wonie Bio on May 12. Sierra Leone is an important cooperative partner for China in Africa. During the past 47 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, our two sides have long valued sincerity, friendship and equality and fruitful outcomes have been achieved in our mutually beneficial cooperation across the board. The friendship between our two sides serves the fundamental interests of our two countries and two peoples. China values its relations with Sierra Leone and we stand ready to join hands with Sierra Leone to add more dimensions to our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and deliver greater benefits to our two countries and two peoples. At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Yousef Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman will visit China from May 12 to 16. During Minister Alawi's visit to China, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks with him, during which the two sides will exchange views on China-Oman relations and international and regional issues of common interest. China and Oman enjoy traditional friendship. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic ties. Recent years have witnessed the rapid growth of China-Oman relations. Our two countries always support and understand each other on issues related to each other's core interests and major concerns. China is willing to work with Oman to take the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to further cement our traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust, elevate cooperation in various areas and move forward China-Oman friendly cooperative relations. At the invitation of French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Alfonso Maria Dastis Quecedo, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva and Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Marcelo Faurie, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay official visits to the aforementioned four countries and attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Argentina from May 16 to 24. Q: You just announced State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's upcoming visit to France. As we all know, the China-France relations have always been at the forefront of China's relations with Western countries, and there have been frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries. So what is the main purpose of State Councilor Wang Yi's visit? Who is he going to meet and hold talks with? Will they discuss the Iranian nuclear issue, the Syrian issue and other hot-spot issues? A: France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a core state of the European Union and an important member of the G20. It is the first major Western country to establish official diplomatic ties with China. In recent years, the China-France relations have enjoyed sound and steady development with ever deepening across-the-board practical cooperation and close communication and coordination in international affairs, playing a positive role in promoting our respective development and world prosperity and stability. In January this year, French President Emmanuel Macron paid a successful state visit to China and the two heads of state reached important consensus on further elevating the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership. During his visit to France, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with President Emmanuel Macron and the President's diplomatic advisor Philippe Etienne respectively, and hold talks with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Our two sides will exchange in-depth views on implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state, conducting high-level exchanges and advancing practical cooperation in various fields, as well as the China-Europe relations and major international and regional issues of common interest. Q: You just announced that State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is going to visit Argentina and attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. There have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and Argentina in recent years, so how do you comment on the current bilateral relations? What topics will come up during State Councilor Wang Yi's visit? And what propositions will China take to the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting? A: Argentina is a major Latin American country and an important emerging market, chair of the G20 in 2018 and a comprehensive strategic partner for China. Recent years have witnessed the rapid and comprehensive development of China-Argentina relations. President Xi Jinping has met with President Mauricio Macri for three times, reaching important consensus on stepping up across-the-board mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation and charting the course for the development of bilateral relations. During his visit to Argentina, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with President Mauricio Macri and hold talks with Foreign Minister Jorge Marcelo Faurie. Our two sides will exchange in-depth views on the development of bilateral relations under the new circumstances, the practical cooperation in various fields, the preparations for the G20 summit and other international and regional issues of common interest. When attending the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will expound China's position and propositions on such three issues as the nature and function of the G20 mechanism, multilateralism and global governance, and the actions to realize equitable and sustainable development. He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts of relevant countries, and exchange views on bilateral relations and major international issues with them. Q: It is reported that the DPRK-US summit will be held in Singapore on June 12. What is your comment? What are China's expectations for this summit? A: China welcomes the positive progress achieved by the DPRK and the US in preparing the summit. We hope that the summit can achieve positive outcomes and an important step can be taken towards advancing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, politically resolving the Peninsula issue and achieving the lasting peace and stability of the region. Q: According to reports, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that China and Japan have reached new consensus on the co-production of films. Could you give us more details? Will the two sides sign any agreement in this regard? Does China have any tentative ideas for the co-production of movies with Japan? A: During Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Japan, our two sides inked the Agreement on the Co-production of Films between the Chinese Government and the Japanese Government. The signing of this agreement will provide policy guarantee for the shooting and making of co-productions and play a positive role in promoting the cooperation between the two countries' movie industries. The art of film has always served as a special bridge between different countries, fostering a close bond and enhancing friendship between people. Since the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan was signed 40 years ago, the film industries of the two countries have always maintained close communication and cooperation. Many Japanese films and TV series have been familiar to Chinese people and a growing number of Chinese movies and TV series have found their way to Japanese households. Moreover, in recent years, our two sides have co-produced some outstanding movies. China and Japan are the world's second and third largest film markets. We hope that our two sides will continue to step up our exchanges and cooperation in film-making, build the cultural industry into a new highlight of our practical cooperation and bring closer the hearts of our two peoples so as to make new contributions to the sustained improvement and development of China-Japan relations. Q: According to reports, the Catholic Archbishop of Taiwan has said that he would like to invite the Pope to visit Taiwan next year. If such a visit did take place, what impact might this have on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Vatican? A: I have not seen the report mentioned by you. There is only one China in the world. The one-China principle is a universal consensus shared by the international community. Accepting this principle conforms to the trend of the times and reflects the will of the people. Q: With regard to the DPRK-US summit, will President Xi Jinping visit Singapore on June 12 or before or after that? A: We hope that the DPRK-US summit can achieve positive outcomes. Q: According to reports, on the evening of May 10, Mahathir Mohamad, chairman of the Pakatan Harapan and the former Prime Minister of Malaysia was sworn in as Prime Minister. What is your comment? A: Just as I said yesterday, Mr. Mahathir is a senior politician and made positive and important contributions to the development of Malaysia and ASEAN, China-Malaysia relations and East Asian cooperation. China congratulates him on assuming the post of Prime Minister. We believe that under his leadership, Malaysia will score new achievements in its national development and the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership will move forward in a steady and sustained manner. Q: Regarding State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Spain, do you have more details? A: Spain is an important member of the European Union and a permanent guest member of the G20. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Spain diplomatic ties. Our bilateral relations have enjoyed a sound momentum of growth as evidenced by frequent high-level exchanges and ever stronger political mutual trust. Our two countries have reaped early harvests on the Belt and Road cooperation, created many highlights in our practical cooperation covering the economic, trade, cultural, police and judicial fields and maintained good communication and coordination in international organizations such as the United Nations. During his visit to Spain, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey on separate occasions, and hold talks with Foreign Minister Alfonso Maria Dastis Quecedo. Our two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on further promoting the development of China-Spain relations and China-Europe relations under the new circumstances, forging closer high-level exchanges and seeking greater synergy between our strategies and deepening practical cooperation under the Belt and Road framework. Q: According to reports, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari will arrive in Beijing on Sunday. Can you confirm it? If yes, do you have more details? A: China and Iran have always maintained close communication and exchanges. Q: According to reports, Israel hit Iranian military targets in Syria, saying that it was a reaction to Iran's attack on Israel. What is your comment? A: We have noted relevant reports. We hope that the relevant parties can stay cool-headed and restrained to jointly uphold regional peace and stability. The Pacific island region is only 13 months away from having its very own Pacific Climate Change Centre hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme at Vailima, Samoa. The ground breaking ceremony today signified the start of construction of the PCCC funded by the Government of Japan through grant aid to the Government of Samoa. The PCCC will be the regional centre of excellence for climate change information, research and innovation. The construction of the Pacific Climate Change Centre is now open! said the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sailele Malielegaoi at the special event. It is planned that construction of the Pacific Climate Change Centre will end in July, 2019. A Steering Committee drawn from a wide range of key stakeholders including SPREP Member countries, partners, donors, agencies of the Council of the Region Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) and the Government of Japan is currently consulting with a view to finalise the details of the role and functions of the PCCC, as well as its governance structure and budget. The PCCC will be a major asset in SPREPs contribution to the Pacific region in terms of effective climate action and most importantly, in meeting the expectations of Members that such action will progress national efforts to achieve their climate change priorities, said Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Leota Kosi Latu. The cost of the construction of the PCCC is estimated at just under USD 8 Million dollars. The construction will be undertaken by the Japanese construction company, Konoike Company Ltd. The building itself will be constructed according to green guidelines which includes 50% of the energy to be driven by solar panels with the hope that it will be powered 100% by renewable energy in the future. It is intended to be a showcase of sustainable building technology in the Pacific. We all agree in the necessity of taking a holistic and long-term approach to addressing climate change, said Maugaoleatuolo Shinya Aoki, Japanese Ambassador to Samoa. To this end, Japan intends to provide comprehensive assistance, in collaboration with the lead agency on climate change in the Pacific Region, SPREP, including the development of the PCCC and capacity-building which supports the efforts for tackling climate change by the Pacific region as a whole. The special day also commemorated the launch of the 25 Year Anniversary of SPREP which was established as an independent organisation based in Samoa through the signing of the SPREP Agreement in June, 1993. I would like to acknowledge at this significant time the hugely important role that Hon. Prime Minister Tuilaepa has personally played firstly in the establishment of SPREP itself here in Samoa, and the provision of a place for SPREP to proudly stand in the Pacific among its Members, secondly, as the regions foremost champion for the need of a Pacific Climate Change Centre, and thirdly as the principal host of the Centre, here in Samoa on the SPREP campus, said Leota. The ground breaking ceremony and launch of the 25 Years of SPREP celebrations took place before a wide number of guests including Ministers of the Government of Samoa, Diplomatic Corp, development partners and the Pacific Community (SPC). The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. Who loves you, baby? was Alexander Skip Stadniks catchphrase. One that Johnnie Goodnight would give anything to hear again. Weve always loved you right back, Skip Stadnik, and we always will, wrote Goodnight, a Wilton Manors resident and employee who worked with Skip on the Community Affairs Advisory Board [CAAB]. Im sure people knew his kindness. He always wanted people to feel happy and cared about. When I first met Skip I didnt like him. The longer I got to know him, the better I got to know him, it started a wonderful love affair for 45 years, said his widow, Ruthanne Stadnik. It was never a merry go round. It was always a roller coaster with him. It was never the same mundane thing. Stadnik, 84, died on May 7. At the end, he was just suffering so bad. He just knew he was never going to get better. He was miserable, said Ruthanne. So, he signed a Do Not Resuscitate order. He was gone within three weeks. He was determined to stay alive until his granddaughter graduated from college and she did last Wednesday. He was one of Wilton Manors most-celebrated volunteers. He was a fixture on the Community Affairs Advisory Board [CAAB] for over 10 years and at a multitude of city events, including Veterans Day. At the last Veterans Day ceremony in November, Stadnik told the story of how he got his nickname, Skip. Stadnik, who had been in and out of the hospital struggling with health problems, said that it would probably be the last time he told the story. While in the Army, his fellow soldiers would yell skip it when Stadniks name came up during mail call. The guys started yelling skip it, damnt. Stadnik served from 1952 to 1958 and four years after that in the reserves. He briefly served again during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He talked about his service in a previous Gazette article. I didnt get there [to Korea] until the actual fighting was over. I had to spend three weeks over in Korea. Then, I came back and served my four years in the Reserve in South Florida. When the Cuban Missile Crisis happened, I had to put my uniform again and go back in. I trained a lot of medics. A pharmacist by trade, Stadnik moved to Wilton Manors in 1979 with Ruthanne. Over the course of their 45-year marriage, she was a public school teacher and the two had a spa and hot tub business, as well as general construction and roofing. Skip also did some pool design work before he retired in his early 60s. Ruthanne said he always had some new invention or business scheme up his sleeve. He was a consummate salesman, she said. He just wasnt an ordinary nine to five kind of guy . . . He could sell like no one I ever saw. He could sell ice to an Eskimo. He was just that kind of personality. Always smiling, never angry or sad. He just looked at the bright side of things. But the end of his professional career only meant more time for volunteering. For his efforts, Skip was honored by the city on his 80th birthday, given the key to the city, and the veteran chosen by Wilton Manors to be its honoree at the United Way of Broward Countys Mayors Gala in 2016. Mayor Gary Resnick often comments on how fortunate the city is to have a wealth of volunteers for its advisory boards. You and Ruthanne both are what makes our community great, he told the Stadniks last year. Were very blessed to have such great volunteers. Skip responded to the mayor, Youre not paid in any form except knowing youre doing a good thing. The rewards of seeing happy faces is out of this world. I always like to say, God loves you and so do I. A celebration of life in honor of Stadnik will be held on Saturday, May 12 from 12 to 2 p.m. at Island City Park Preserve, 823 NE 28 St., Wilton Manors. Attendees are invited to dress casually. Loving Participation welcomed. Two Expedition 55 Flight Engineers are using virtual reality and computer training today to prepare for next week's spacewalk at the International Space Station. Robotics controllers from Houston and Japan are also maneuvering a pair of robotic arms for the upcoming spacewalk and satellite deployments. NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will conduct the 210th spacewalk at the space station beginning Wednesday, May 16 at 8:10 a.m. EDT. The veteran spacewalkers will work for about 6.5 hours swapping thermal control gear that controls the circulation of ammonia to keep external station systems cool. NASA TV begins its live coverage at 6:30 a.m. The veteran spacewalkers checked the functionality a pair of jet packs that will be attached to their U.S. spacesuits next week. The jet packs, known as Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), provide mobility for spacewalkers in the unlikely event they become untethered from the station. The duo also wore virtual reality goggles to practice maneuvering their SAFER jet packs and reviewed their spacewalk procedures. Robotics controllers from opposite sides of the world maneuvered a pair of robotic arms independently of each other today. Canada's 57.7-foot-long robotic arm, nicknamed Canadarm2, was remotely positioned today by engineers in Houston in advance of next week's spacewalk activities. Controllers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency remotely operated the Kibo laboratory module's robotic arm to prepare for the deployment of small satellites Friday morning. On-Orbit Status Report Lab Mass Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Loss of Comm: The Lab MCA experienced a loss of communication overnight. A power cycle was performed to bring it back online; before that could happen, however, the Pump Vacuum Pressure rose above the limit allowed for activation. A manual pump-out is required before reactivation can be completed. Specialists are working to schedule this task and restore MCA. AstroPi: Today the crew transferred the AstroPi with the infrared camera from Node 1 to the Columbus module. This follows completion of the 2017-2018 European AstroPi Challenge during which student-developed software was executed on the AstroPi computers onboard the ISS. AstroPis are augmented Raspberry Pi computers equipped with the mighty Sense Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) that measure the environment inside the ISS, detect how the station moves through space, and pick up the Earth's magnetic field. One of the AstroPis has an infrared camera and the other has a standard visible spectrum camera. At Home in Space: The crew completed a questionnaire for the At Home in Space investigation. This Canadian Space Agency investigation assesses culture, values, and psychosocial adaptation of astronauts to a space environment shared by multinational crews on long-duration missions. It is hypothesized that astronauts develop a shared space culture that is an adaptive strategy for handling cultural differences and they deal with the isolated confined environment of the spacecraft by creating a home in space. At Home in Space also uses questionnaires to investigate individual and culturally related differences, family functioning, values, coping with stress, and post-experience growth. Recorded Public Affairs (PAO) Events: Today the crew recorded two deferred release downlink messages. One message is for the Memorial tree planting ceremony at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in celebration of John Young scheduled on May 14. The second message is for the retirement celebration of JSC Center Director Ellen Ochoa on May 17. Educational Recording: Drew filmed several demonstration of the Water Recovery System onboard the ISS. STEMonstrations are education videos conducted by crewmembers aboard the space station. Crewmember use the camera to capture onboard demonstrations and talking points. The material is deferred release and will not be seen on live NASA TV. Once edited, the material will be used for educational products, NASA TV, and social media applications. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: In preparation for next week's US EVA 50 Pump and Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS) Relocate, the crew used computer-aided simulations to review EVA procedures via Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) and the Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT). They also used Virtual Reality to review procedures associated with the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER). In addition to this training, the crew completed a checkout of the SAFER units, continued with Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) charging operations, and configured various cameras used during EVA. Eye Exams: Today the entire US crew performed routine eye exams using a Fundoscope. Eye exams are performed regularly onboard in order to monitor crewmembers eye health. Eyesight is one of the many aspects of the human body that is affected by long-duration stays in a microgravity environment. Robotic Operations: Last night, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) in position to extract the failed Pump Flow Control Assembly (PFCS) also known as 'Leaky'. They extracted the PFCS and stowed it on the Enhanced ORU Temporary Platform (EOTP) side 3. After initial release, the SSRMS rebounded in the X and Y directions and contacted structure; survey of the P6 interface did not indicate any damage. The Mobile Transporter (MT) was translated from Worksite 8 to Worksite 6 to complete last night's operations. It is going to be a busy night tonight outside the ISS. Ground controllers in Houston will continue to configure the MSS for the PFCS EVA. The SPDM, will install PFCS 'Leaky' on the EOTP, after which the SSRMS will be moved to the EVA starting position. Later in the evening Ground controllers in Tsukuba, Japan will maneuver Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) from the Stowed Position to the Small Satellite Deploy Position in preparation for Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Demonstration (JSSOD)-8 satellite deploys tomorrow morning. Today's Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Photo TV Battery Charge Initiation Metabolic Tracking Hardware Cleanup Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain JAXA Event Video Recording JAXA Event Closeout Public Affairs Office (PAO) Social Media Event Air Heater Fan [] Screen Cleaning in Soyuz 738 At Home In Space Questionnaire Food Acceptability Questionnaire Public Affairs Office (PAO) Educational Imagery Recording FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment. RS1 Laptop Inspection and Cleaning. Filling (separation) of () for Elektron or - maintenance Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Terminate AstroPi transfer from Node 1 to Columbus DAN. Experiment Session. DAN. Assistance with the Experiment and Photography Photo TV Battery Charge Swap Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) Checkout Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Termination Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Initiation Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill [Aborted] Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Configuration Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Review Scheduled monthly maintenance of Central Post Laptop. Laptop Log-File Downlink. FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops. Replacement of CO2 Filter Unit 0501 On-board Training (OBT) EVA Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Session Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB)/Metal Oxide (METOX) Installation Surface Pro 3 Hardware Stow Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup PAO Preparation Photo TV Battery Charge Swap Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - JEM Progress 438 Rodnik H2O Tank 1 Bladder Compression. FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment. CONTROL. Switching Indicator-ISS P/L measuring modes Virtual Reality Training (VRT) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) VIZIR. Experiment Ops using . Health Maintenance System (HMS) Fundoscope Setup Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - Lab Photo TV GoPro Setup PROFILAKTIKA-2. Training Session Using -01- Set Health Maintenance System (HMS) Fundoscope Prep INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops Virtual Reality Training (VRT) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) PHYSICAL EXERCISE - -2 Health Maintenance System (HMS) Eye Exam - Fundoscope FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops. Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test IMS Update Progress 438 H2O Tank 1 Bladder Compression, Closeout Ops Photo TV Battery Charge Deactivation Fundoscope Tear Down and Stow Completed Task List Activities Kennedy Center Downlink Message [Completed GMT 129] Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Load ICU R4 on KCU1 Kernel 0 SSRMS/SPCM Operations JEMRMS MNVR to JSSOD 8 deploy position Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 05/11: EVA Prep (DOUG review, EVA Procedure Review and Conference, REBA install and C/O), OCT, Eye ultrasound, JSSOD 8 Deploy Saturday, 05/12: Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty Sunday, 05/13: PONDS water refill, Crew Off Duty QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Idle Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship's stay at the International Space Station has been extended until Saturday after unfavorable conditions were reported at the splashdown zone in the Pacific Ocean. In the meantime, time-sensitive payloads are still being readied for return to Earth as the crew wraps up final cargo packing. Robotics controllers will operate the Canadarm2 to detach Dragon from the International Space Station's Harmony module on Friday. It will be remotely released into Earth orbit Saturday at 9:24 a.m. EDT before finally splashing down in the Pacific Ocean around 3 p.m. Flight Engineer Scott Tingle will be in the Cupola monitoring Dragon as it slowly backs away from the space station. NASA TV's live coverage of Dragon's departure begins Saturday at 9 a.m. The space freighter's parachuted splashdown 403 miles off the coast of Long Beach, Calif. will not be televised. Two NASA astronauts are looking ahead to their next spacewalk scheduled for May 16. Veteran spacewalkers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel took their body measurements today to ensure a proper fit inside their U.S. spacesuits. The duo will work outside the orbital lab for about 6.5 hours to swap out thermal control gear that circulates ammonia to keep station systems cool. Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai, who will assist the spacewalkers in two weeks, began configuring the Quest airlock where the 210th spacewalk at the station will be staged. He also trained to detect and clean ammonia from the spacesuits should they become contaminated during the maintenance spacewalk. On-Orbit Status Report SpaceX (SpX)-14 Dragon Operations: Yesterday, SpaceX reported unfavorable conditions at the landing site and the decision was made to slip to the alternate release date of May 5th. Today the crew relocated payloads and cold stowage from Dragon to ISS as required. Based on the modified timeline, the crew will resume loading activities, and complete preparing Dragon for unberth on Friday. Dragon release is scheduled at approximately 08:24 AM CDT on Saturday. Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-7 (ACE-T-7): The crew removed the ACE-T-9 module from the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) today and replaced it with an ACE-T-7 module. The ACE-T-7 experiment involves the design and assembly of complex three-dimensional structures from small particles suspended within a fluid medium. These "self-assembled colloidal structures" are vital to the design of advanced optical materials and active devices. In the microgravity environment, insight is provided into the relation between particle shape and interparticle interactions on assembly structure and dynamics. Veggie Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS): Today the crew thinned and photographed the plants growing for the Veggie PONDS experiment. Organisms grow differently in space, from single-celled bacteria to plants and humans. Future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food. Understanding how plants respond to microgravity and demonstrating reliable vegetable production on orbit are important steps toward that goal. Veggie PONDS uses a newly developed passive nutrient delivery system and the Veggie plant growth facility aboard the ISS to cultivate lettuce and mizuna greens which are to be harvested on-orbit, and consumed, with samples returned to Earth for analysis. Lighting Effects: The crew obtained light meter readings in the Airlock and Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) today. The Lighting Effects investigation studies the impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with adjustable intensity and color and aims to determine if the new lights can improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: Today the crew continued preparations for the upcoming US EVA Pump Flow Control System (PFCS) Relocate currently planned on May 16th. In addition to terminating a Metox canister regeneration cycle, the crew completed their On-Orbit Fit Verification (OFV). During the OFV, crew will take body measurements of the two crewmembers scheduled to perform the EVA. These measurements are used to ensure the EMU suit is sized properly for that crewmember. Environmental Health System (EHS) Microbial Air and Surface Sampling: Today the crew took surface and air samples for microbial analysis using the Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) and Surface Sample Kit (SSK). These samples will be incubated in Petri dishes, giving medical personnel a gauge of microbial growth in the air and on surfaces of the ISS. The EHS monitors the atmosphere for gaseous contaminants from nonmetallic materials off-gassing, combustion products, and propellants, microbial contaminants from crewmembers and Station activities, water quality, acoustics, and radiation levels. Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event: Today the crew participated in two live-to-air PAO events. Tingle and Feustel participated in the first event, answering questions from students in the Champlain Valley School District in Hinesburg, Vermont. Kanai participate in an event with Makuhari New City in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Today's Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. ALGOMETRIYA. Preparing and Conducting tensor- and thermo-algometry measurements. Lighting Effects Light Meter Setup Installation of additional fans to improve thermal conditions of SM Electric Power Supply 800 storage batteries. Photography of 228 mockup temperature sensors on the external surface of MRM2 Lighting Effects Light Meter Readings Cold Stowage Double Coldbag Unpack Window glass photography on EV hatch 2 in MRM2 and EV hatch 1, hatch 2 in DC1 Lighting Effects Light Meter Stow ASIM to Columbus serial line connection test Dragon CTB Retrieve PAO Preparation Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup Monitoring shutter closure on windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14. Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - JEM Verification of -1 Flow Sensor Position FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment. Filling (separation) of () for Elektron-VM or - Fruit Fly Lab-03 Hardware Transfer Team Task Switching Experiment Survey - Subject Multi-use Variable-g Platform Installation Operations maintenance Food Acceptability Questionnaire - Subject Miniature Exercise Device Hardware Gather Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Kit Sample Collection Fluids Integrated Rack Doors Open Miniature Exercise Device Surface Pro 3 Charge ALGOMETRIYA. Strain Measurements Mode ACE Module Changout ISS RS SM Lights Audit FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops. FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment. Public Affairs Office (PAO) Social Media Event PROBOY. Document review and equipment gathering. Payloads Network Attached Storage (NAS) Vent Cleaning Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cylinder Flywheel Evacuation Fluids Integrated Rack Doors Close Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Airlock Unstow Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Termination Cargo Water Container - Iodinated Degas Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config LAB Setup Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Decontamination Training PAO Preparation Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - Lab Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation Veggie Ponds Plant Thin Big Picture Words for ZSR Photo Activities HRF Centrifuge Payload Drawer Checkout FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) On-orbit Fitcheck Verification Measurements INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops ALGOMETRIYA. Conducting measurements in tenso- and thermo-algometry mode. Closeout Ops Completed Task List Activities None Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Battery 3B1 Capacity Test Three-Day Look Ahead: Thursday, 05/03: JEM ZSR Photo Survey, Mini Exercise Device Ops, ETVCG Assembly, EMU Loop Scrub Friday, 05/04: Dragon Double Cold Bag Repack, Dragon Center Stack Transfer, Dragon Egress and Closeout Saturday, 05/06: Housekeeping, Dragon Release Operations QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Today - SpaceX (SpX)-14 Dragon Departure Preparation: Early this morning, the crew completed re-packing of the Double Coldbags required for return of temperature-controlled items on Dragon. The crew also transferred the remainder of cargo into the Dragon F4 location before they loaded the Dragon Center Stack. Once the cargo was loaded the crew removed power connections, utility jumpers and completed closeout of the Dragon vehicle prior to depressurization of the Node 2 (N2) Nadir vestibule. Robotics ground controllers used the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to unberth Dragon and are maneuvering Dragon to an overnight park position in preparation for tomorrow's release at ~8:24 AM CDT. Dragon is scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 2:02 PM CDT tomorrow afternoon. Probiotics: Today a crewmember collected saliva samples and stowed them in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). He also completed a questionnaire. Some species of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella grow stronger and more virulent in the microgravity environment of space. At the same time, the human immune system is weaker in space, leading to increased health risks. The objective of the Probiotics investigation is to study the impact of continuous consumption of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) on immune function and intestinal microbiota in astronauts in a closed microgravity environment. The results of this investigation may be used to support improvements in crew members' intestinal microbiota and their immune function on long-duration space missions. Space Headaches: Two 53S crewmembers completed a weekly questionnaire for the ESA Space Headaches investigation today. This investigation collects information that may help in the development of methods to alleviate associated symptoms and improve the well-being and performance of crewmembers in space. Headaches during space flight can negatively affect mental and physical capacities of crewmembers that can influence performance during a space mission. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Yesterday, the Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and maneuvered the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Body Roll Joint (BRJ) and Arm1 as required to perform SPDM Arm1 Wrist, Elbow and Shoulder Joints Direct Drive Tests to support trending of mechanism health. At the end of the Arm1 tests, they maneuvered SPDM Arm1 to a stow configuration and performed the BRJ Direct Drive Tests on the SPDM Body Redundant String. Finally the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the BRJ to a stow configuration. Today's Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Probiotics Saliva Operations Probiotics Salive Sample MELFI Insertion Probiotics Question KMA-01 and KMA-TM adapter post-installation checkout Fruit Fly Lab-03 Hardware Return Multi-use Variable-g Platform Module Removal Cold Stowage Double Coldbag Pack Cargo transfer to Dragon maintenance Adjustment of -2 treadmill tension carriage position Dragon F4 Load Assist PROFILAKTIKA-2. Preparation for the Experiment. Double Coldbag Transfer to Dragon PROFILAKTIKA-2.Experiment Ops on -2 Treadmill Dragon/Node 2 VESTIBULE DEPRESS SETUP PROFILAKTIKA-2.Closeout Ops. VIZIR. Preparation Steps. PROFILAKTIKA-2.Hygiene Procedures Transfer Center Stack to Dragon Extravehicular Activity (EVA) QD Training Review Reconfiguration in MRM1 SEPARATION. Activation of the 5th distillation. Dragon Cargo Operations Conference Dragon Egress in Preparation for Departure Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) PLUTO Conference Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Controller Panel Assembly (CPA) Rotation, Installation, and Closeout SEPARATION. Activation of the 6th distillation. Dragon Vestibule Configuration for Demate Symbolic VIZIR. Closeout Ops Dragon/Node 2 VESTIBULE DEPRESS PAO Preparation Audio-session with participants of the Russian-French Conference Man and Space: Art, Science, Culture (S-band) SEPARATION. Concluding Distillation. Log-file downlink. USOS Window Shutter Close Space Headaches - Weekly Questionnaire Inventory Management System (IMS) Conference SEPARATION. Sampling of collected water Comm reconfig for nominal ops Completed Task List Activities Handover Questionnaire Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Battery 3B3 Capacity Test Dragon Unberth and Overnight Park Three-Day Look Ahead: Saturday, 05/05: Housekeeping, Dragon Release, Crew Off-Duty Sunday, 05/06: Crew Off-Duty Monday, 05/07: EMU OFV, EHS sample analysis, COL VCA1 Camera R&R, EVA LLB, CIR Optics Bench, Vascular Echo QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. International Space Station officials will preview a pair of upcoming spacewalks live on NASA TV Tuesday. Meanwhile, Orbital ATK is getting its Cygnus resupply ship ready for launch in less than two weeks while the Expedition 55 crew focuses on biomedical studies today. Two NASA astronauts are going out for a spacewalk May 16 to swap out thermal control gear that circulates ammonia to keep station systems cool. Station experts will be on NASA TV beginning at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday to preview next week's spacewalk including a second spacewalk planned for June 14. Both excursions will be conducted by veteran spacewalkers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel. Feustel and Arnold verified their spacesuits are sized correctly with assistance from astronauts Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Tingle also checked the batteries that power the U.S. spacesuits. On May 20, just four days after the first spacewalk, Orbital ATK is planning to launch its Cygnus space freighter on a four day trip to the orbital laboratory. Cygnus will resupply the Expedition 55 crew with new science experiments, crew supplies, station hardware and gear that will be installed on the June 14 spacewalk. Today's science taking place onboard the station explored how microgravity affects blood pressure and blood vessels. Kanai started his day photographing his face to help scientists understand how the upward flow of fluids impacts intracranial pressure affecting a crew member's eyes. He later attached sensors to his legs, scanned them with an ultrasound device and checked his blood pressure for the Vascular Echo study. On-Orbit Status Report SpaceX (SpX)-14 Dragon Departure: Saturday morning the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to position the SpX-14 Dragon for release. At 08:22 am CT the Robotic Controllers commanded the release of the Dragon and then backed the SSRMS away, while the ISS crew monitored and commanded the Dragon to depart. After Dragon had departed, the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the SSRMS to a park position and then provided video support of the Node 2 Nadir Active Common Berthing Mechanism (ACBM) petals closure. Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday at 2:00 pm CT and arrived safely at port earlier today. Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR): During activation of the CIR on April 27th, a hard drive for the Image Processing and Storage Unit (IPSU) failed. Today the crew removed the failed drive, which will allow the IPSU to boot up from a second hard drive. The final E-Field Flames run will be executed after verification of proper operation of the CIR. The ACME experiments being performed in the CIR include five independent studies of gaseous flames. The primary goals of ACME are to improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollutant production in routine fuel combustion activities on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability. Intracranial Pressure & Visual Impairment (IPVI): A 53S crewmember took front and side profile view pictures of himself today to check for facial edema, followed by a conference with ground experts. The IPVI investigation studies changes to crewmembers' eyes and optic nerves by analyzing arterial blood pressure and blood flow to the brain before and after spaceflight. This investigation uses non-invasive methods to measure intracranial pressure instead of the more common invasive methods. Vascular Echo: Today a crewmember attached Electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes to himself, marked his femoral artery and then performed an ultrasound scan with remote guidance from the ground team. They also took a blood pressure measurement. The Canadian Space Agency Vascular Echo investigation examines changes in blood vessels and the heart while the crewmembers are in space, and then upon their return to Earth. The results may support development of additional countermeasures to help maintain crew health. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: Today the crew initiated a charge of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Batteries (LLB) and also initiated an automated Charge-Discharge-Charge cycle on the EVA batteries in the Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) using the Battery Charger Assembly. After preparing the Equipment Lock and EMUs for suit donning, the crew completed an On-Orbit Fitcheck Verification (OFV) to verify correct EMU sizing for the upcoming US EVA Pump Flow Control System (PFCS) relocate EVA, currently planned on 16-May. External High Definition Camera (EHDC) Troubleshooting: Last week, during the External TV Camera Group (ETVCG) assembly, the Ext HD Camera (EHDC) would not fully lock into place when installed onto the Color TV Camera (CTVC). After conducting additional troubleshooting, to include attempting assembly with a spare EHDC, the crew was unable to achieve a nominal mating between the two cameras. Pictures, video, and audio of the various locking attempts were captured for review by ground specialists. Latching End Effector (LEE) Force-Moment Sensor (FMS) Characterization: Following the on-orbit R&R of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) LEE-A at the end of 2017, the FMS circuitry was characterized as part of checkout operations. New FMS Configuration Data Files (CDFs) were developed using this data and are ready for commissioning to ensure the parameter selection is appropriate and the system behaves as intended. This evening, Robotics Ground Controllers will perform these commissioning operations and gather data for post-processing. If required, additional FMS CDFs can be developed using this data in order to support the operations requiring FMS during the SpaceX-15 mission in July. Today's Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test iPad Air 2 Update Prep Surface Sampler Kit (SSK) and Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Analysis T + 5 Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire Intracranial Pressure & Visual Impairment (IPVI) Face Photo-taking Vascular Echo - Echo Ultrasound Setup for Ultrasound Scan Session Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Initiate Intracranial Pressure & Visual Impairment (IPVI) Medical Conference Vascular Echo 125min Scan - Subject Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Monthly Inspection Restow Node 2 Nadir Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK) Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Airlock Unstow Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Initiation Vascular Echo CDL Holter Arterial BP Measurement - Subject Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Equipment Lock Preparation Part 1 Vascular Echo - Echo Ultrasound Stow Columbus HD-VCA1 R&R maintenance MELFI 2 Ice Brick Insert 1 ISS HAM Service Module Pass Deactivate VCA1 Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open Combustion Integrated Rack Optics Bench Translation Out Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) On-orbit Fitcheck Verification Camcorder setup to capture -2 exercise Combustion Integrated Rack Hard Drive Replace Combustion Integrated Rack Optics Bench Translation In Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification Removal of Video Equipment Used to Capture -2 Exercise and Downlink the file Combustion Integrated Rack Doors Close Portable CO2 Monitor Power On and Deploy MERLIN 3 Desiccant Removal Biomolecule Sequencer Surface Pro 3 Software Update Checking -2 treadmill carriage position. Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification MELFI 1 Ice Brick Insert 1 Exercise Data Downlink via OCA Troubleshoot and Install the External High Definition Camera (EHDC) onto the External TV Camera Group (ETVCG) Completed Task List Activities PMM Prep Part 1 [Completed GMT 126] DATA Prep for Return - FE5 Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. SSRMS FMS commissioning Three-Day Look Ahead: Tuesday, 05/08: CBEF Config, JEMAL Depress, EVA Prep (Proc Rvw/Conf, Tool Config, LLB), COL VCA1 Camera C/O, AHIS Questionnaire, Radi-N handover, ELF Clean/Sample Exchange Wednesday, 05/09: Crew Holiday Thursday, 05/10: EVA Prep (SAFER C/O and Training, Go-Pro S/U, LLB, Camera Config, ROBO Proc Rev, ROBOT OBT), JAXA PAO, EDU imagery, AstroPi, AHIS Questionnaire, Eye Fundoscope QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Today - Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer 8 (J-SSOD#8): Today the crew depressurized and vented the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock in support of J-SSOD#8 operations this week. The launch of small satellites from the J-SSOD#8 deployers is planned for Friday, May 11th. Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutron (RaDI-N): After retrieving the RaDI-N hardware from a Russian crewmember, a USOS crewmember deployed the eight Space Bubble Detectors in the US Laboratory module. This Canadian Space Agency (CSA) investigation measures neutron radiation levels in the ISS. Bubble detectors are designed to only detect neutrons and ignore all other radiation. Electro-static Levitation Furnace (ELF): The crew exchanged the sample holders and installed a new sample cartridge within ELF to prepare for upcoming ground commanded operations. ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate, melt and solidify materials by containerless processing techniques using the electrostatic levitation method. With this facility thermophysical properties of high temperature melts can be measured and solidification from deeply undercooled melts can be achieved. At Home in Space: The crew completed a questionnaire for the At Home in Space investigation. This Canadian Space Agency investigation assesses culture, values, and psychosocial adaptation of astronauts to a space environment shared by multinational crews on long-duration missions. It is hypothesized that astronauts develop a shared space culture that is an adaptive strategy for handling cultural differences and they deal with the isolated confined environment of the spacecraft by creating a home in space. At Home in Space also uses questionnaires to investigate individual and culturally related differences, family functioning, values, coping with stress, and post-experience growth. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: Today the crew reviewed the EVA Systems Briefing Package for the upcoming US EVA Pump Flow Control System (PFCS) relocate EVA currently planned on 16-May. The briefing contains crew reminders, an emergency briefing, helpful tips, and specific procedures for the upcoming EVA; this information was reviewed, and crew questions addressed, during this afternoon's Procedures Conference with EVA ground specialists. After completion of this conference, the crew configured EVA tools per the briefing package and continued with Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Batteries (LLB) charging operations. Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Operations: Last night Robotic Ground Controllers performed the data gathering for characterization of the SSRMS Latching End Effector A (LEE-A) Force-Moment Sensor (FMS), on both SSRMS string. They performed first the Thermal Drift Filter Checkout and the Wrist Roll (WR) Compensation Checkout while unloaded on prime string. They next maneuvered SSRMS as required to unstow Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) and performed the same data gathering while loaded with SPDM. They then swap SSRMS string to redundant and performed Thermal Drift Filter Checkout and the Wrist Roll (WR) Compensation Checkout while SSRMS was loaded with SPDM and then unloaded after having stowed SPDM. Data will be reviewed and will help to decide if software configuration file update is required. MSS performance was nominal. This evening, Robotics Ground Controllers will begin operations to configure for the PFCS relocate EVA. They will power up the system, walk off the SSRMS to Mobile Base System (MBS) PDGF 3 and then unstow the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM). They will then perform a Mobile Transporter (MT) pre-translation survey and MT checkout before translating to Worksite (WS)8. Today's Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) and Video Compression and Recording Unit 2 (VRU2) Cable Reconfiguration 2 iPad Air 2 Charge FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment. Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) configure to Internal Air Heater Fan () Screen Cleaning in Soyuz 737 Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis Charging EVA Camera D4 Battery Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test PROFILAKTIKA-2. Preparation for the experiment. maintenance JEM Airlock Depressurization Glacier Desiccant Swap XF305 Camcorder Setup PROFILAKTIKA-2. Operator Assistance in Preparation for the Experiment Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack 2(MSPR2) Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Water QD Connect Glacier Desiccant Swap Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) sample Cartridge Retrieval PROFILAKTIKA-2. Experiment Ops on -2 Treadmill (Individual strategy test). Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) sample Cartridge Cleaning PROFILAKTIKA-2. Closeout Ops. EML Gas Valves Closing WRS High Flow Water Transfer Pump Inspection FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops. WRS High Flow Water Pump re-assembly FAZOPEREKHOD. Preparation steps and starting the experiment Photo TV EVA Go Pro Battery Charging R&R of EDV Transfer Hose PROFILAKTIKA-2. Hygiene Procedures At Home In Space Questionnaire URAGAN. Completion of Icarus PL Cable Installation. Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) Sample Holder Exchange Remove and Replace Waste Hygiene Compartment (WHC) -Y MATRYOSHKA-R. Prep and Initialization of Bubble-Dosimeter Detectors Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) sample Cartridge Installation JEM Airlock Vent Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons Hardware Handover MATRYOSHKA-R. Handover of BUBBLE-dosimeters to USOS Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter initialization and deployment for exposure Veggie Ponds Plant Photo JEM Common Gas Support Equipment (CGSE) CO2 Gas Supply Stop Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill URAGAN. Connecting Cables to Onboard Measurement System (). Health Maintenance System (HMS) Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire JEM Airlock Vent Confirmation URAGAN. Completion of Icarus PL Cable Installation. Health Maintenance System (HMS) OCT Setup Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Review FAZOPEREKHOD. Closeout Ops. Health Maintenance System (HMS) - OCT Exam Health Maintenance System (HMS) OCT Stow Verification of -1 Flow Sensor Position Delta file prep Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Conference Restore setting of VCA1 SSC-12 and SSC-16 Logout Water Transfer to from Progress 438 [AO] Rodnik H2O Tank 1 using compressor and tank bladder compression Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Terminate PROFILAKTIKA-2. Training Session Using -01- Set High Definition Video Camera Assembly 1 Activation in High Definition Mode Robotics On-board Trainer (ROBoT) Setup Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video Stow Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tool Configuring Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Initiate Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record High Definition Video Camera Assembly 1 Switch to SD Mode CONTENT. Experiment Ops Cleanup ops after water transfer to from Progress 438 [AO] Rodnik H2O Tank 1 Soyuz 737 Samsung PC Charging (if charge level is below 80%) Completed Task List Activities JAXA report part 7 and 9 AstroPi Wireless Dongle installation on AstroPi Vis Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Lab MCA Full Calibration JEMAL Depress MT Translation Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 05/09: Crew Holiday Thursday, 05/10: EVA Prep (SAFER C/O and Training, Go-Pro S/U, LLB, Camera Config, ROBO Procedure Review, ROBOT OBT), JAXA Event, AstroPi Relocate, AHIS Questionnaire, Eye Fundoscope Friday, 05/11: EVA Prep (DOUG review, EVA Procedure Review and Conference, REBA install and C/O), OCT, Eye ultrasound, JSSOD 8 Deploy QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Increased availability of quality seed in Cameroon is enabling smallholder farmers to boost their yields and incomes, and increase the food self-sufficiency of the country. To enhance productivity in Cameroon, more than two dozen seed multiplication farms for maize, cassava, beans, yams and plantains have been established, which supply rural smallholders with improved, affordable seeds. The farms, which have been set up by the Southwest Development Authority (SOWEDA) in Buea, in collaboration with local farmer organisations, provide a reliable stock of resilient seeds for smallholders struggling to adapt to the impacts of climate change. In 2017, over 70,000 t of maize seeds, 20,000 t of bean seeds and 15,000 yam sets from the farms were distributed to smallholders in the region. Further, since the projects implementation in 2014, 63 farming groups with over 70,000 members across the south-west region have benefited. According to Patrick Esapa, president of the Southwest Farmers Cooperative Union, severe droughts between 2012 and 2015 led to a limited supply of quality seed, and prices soared. Tomato seed, for example, quadrupled in price to 240 (CFA 160,000) for a 5 l container. By contrast, farmers who join a SOWEDA common initiative group can get a variety of seeds at the beginning of each year for 75 (CFA 50,000). The farmers also receive inputs like fertilisers for free. In the past, accessing seeds has been a major hurdle. Sometimes we could get quality seeds from agriculture research centres, but at prices three times higher than what we get now from the seed multiplication farms, says Julius Takem, a cassava farmer from Buea. We now get a regular supply of quality and adapted seeds at affordable prices, says Divine Nkeng, also from Buea. Since 2014, maize farmer Adolph Njokwe has been using the improved SOWEDA variety, which matures in 90-100 days as opposed to 130-150 days for the traditional variety. He says that since adopting the seed, harvests from his 1.6 ha farmland have increased from 3.5 t to 8 t. Speaking on the resilience of the farm seeds, Nkeng says, The seeds do well even during dry periods, unlike the ones we used before. Due to the increased availability of quality, adapted seed and a surge in production, the government estimates that more than 30,000 smallholder farmers in the southwest region have increased their income by 25%. SOWEDA officials acknowledge that the programme faces some difficulties and needs more funds to expand its research and development into high-yielding seed varieties. The need for partners to support the creation and diversification of seed multiplication opportunities in Cameroon to fight growing food insecurity is crucial, says Samuel Tangu, chief of the economic empowerment and food security support project in the east of the country. However, the multiplication farms cover all six divisions in the south-west region and are also now selling seeds to farmers in other regions. We are happy the seed multiplication farms are expanding as many more farmers from other parts of the country are attracted to the high yielding seeds, says Christopher Ekungwe, regional delegate of agriculture and rural development for the south-west region. For agriculture to be successful, it starts with quality planting material, he explains. Elias Ntungwe Shocking Curriculum in AZ Schools TUCSON, Az., May 11, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- Liberty Counsel represents concerned parents and residents against the implementation of a harmful curriculum under the guise of sex-ed in the Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson. The material is not age appropriate, violates Arizona law, is not medically accurate and promotes harmful sexual behavior to K-12 grade children. Advocates for Youth drafted the "Rights, Respect, Responsibility" curriculum, known as the 3Rs, and is featured prominently throughout the material as a "resource." A partner of Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth takes the following position regarding minor girls or young women and abortion: "Young women need the right to safe and legal abortion. But many states place barriers on young women's access by requiring parental notification or even consent...United States policies contribute to an anti-choice climate and limit young women's access to abortion. No young woman, anywhere, should be forced to seek out an illegal, dangerous procedure or carry a pregnancy she didn't want to term." The 3Rs material contains graphic gynecological illustrations for kindergarten through second graders and for fifth graders; a wooden "condom demonstrator" for eighth graders; and the covers of multiple p-graphic and homosexual magazines for classroom discussion with 12th graders. This curriculum also violates Arizona law by promoting a same-sex lifestyle and suggesting there are safe methods of homosexual sexual activity. In addition, one of the learning goals for 12th graders, includes knowing how to use a condom. The material promotes condoms for anal sex, despite the fact there is not one approved by the FDA as being suitable for this sexual activity. Numerous lessons involve virtual classroom excursions to Planned Parenthood's website, some involving small groups of self-supervised children. The material promotes abortion over childbirth and adoption and, beginning in the sixth grade with 11- and 12-year-olds, the 3Rs curriculum mentions or refers students to Planned Parenthood or its website more than 24 times. The Planned Parenthood website includes a "Glossary A-Z" that does not contain the words "adoption" or "pro-life," but contains "anti-choice" and "pro-choice." Planned Parenthood's glossary also contains many other obscene words and definitions, which are not suitable for children including "necrophilia," defined as "when a person is sexually aroused by dead bodies." Liberty Counsel's Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "The Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson has no business exposing innocent children to graphic and harmful material. The school board needs to stop this trash as it has no place in public schools. This harmful material is a violation of Arizona law. Tucson parents must let their voices be heard and protect their children. They should attend every school board meeting until this smut is permanently eradicated," said Staver. Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. A rare subtropical cyclone appears to have developed off the coast of Chile. Up to now, no subtropical or tropical cyclones have been recognized in that part of the world since cold water typically inhibits tropical development near South America. So was this strange phenomenon another amazingly rare weather event or some people playing weather wizards off the Chilean coast? An exceptionally rare subtropical storm appears to have formed off the central coast of Chile in the southeast Pacific Ocean, typically one of the worlds most tropical cyclone devoid ocean basins. The subtropical cyclone formed late last weekend several hundred miles west of the South American coast. The advanced scatterometer aboard the EUMETSAT satellite found the system had a well-defined surface low, with winds of 40-45 mph and shallow thunderstorm activity surrounding but not in its center Tuesday. These ingredients define the system as a subtropical storm, a system with characteristics of both a conventional tropical cyclone and a colder, non-tropical low-pressure system you may see over land or water in the middle latitudes. This system formed in water temperatures between 64 and 68 degrees, which is usually not supportive of sufficient thunderstorm activity that would help build a subtropical or tropical cyclone. How is that possible then? In this case, as with many subtropical cyclones of this nature, it had some atmospheric support. This cyclone is in the midst of an upper-level trough, or cold pool, of low pressure, adding the instability needed for thunderstorms. This system is spinning clockwise, typical of any storm in the Southern Hemisphere, as both high-pressure and low-pressure systems spin in the opposite direction as they do in the Northern Hemisphere. Interestingly, if there was a cyclone season in that part of the world, this system would have nearly fallen outside of it. A cyclone in the southern Pacific occurring in May is like a tropical storm occurring in November in the Atlantic. If there was a peak month for activity surrounding South America, it would be in February or March, so this system is quite late. How Rare Is This? It may be one of a kind. No other recognized subtropical or tropical storm has been documented in that part of the world. Unofficially, that is up to some debate. In 2015, a similar subtropical cyclone formed near Easter Island, which is located nearly 2,000 miles farther west of this weeks cyclone. Researchers called it Subtropical Storm Katie. The southeast Pacific isnt the only basin where some subtropical or even tropical cyclones go undeclared. There are two reasons why we dont see more subtropical or tropical storms in some ocean basins: Lack of responsibility and lack of good conditions. There is no Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) specifically in charge of the southeast Pacific Ocean. On the opposite side of South America, in the south Atlantic Ocean, there have been several subtropical systems that have formed in recent years that have gone officially off the record. In recent years, though, the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center has named such systems when they attain sustained wind speeds of 40 mph or greater. These systems are still largely off the record, and the record we do have is very short. Similar subtropical systems have also occurred in the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa. These systems are often called medicanes by meteorologists in the region despite their usual lack of hurricane force winds. These systems are monitored by several countries in the region, which can lead to multiple names for a given system and some confusion. There is no RSMC that follows these so-called medicanes, but there has been an increasing amount of research on them. They have been known to do some damage and whip up dust across that part of the world. The second reason few tropical or subtropical systems develop in the southeast Pacific Ocean is because atmospheric and oceanic conditions are far less hospitable than in the Atlantic or northern Pacific basins. Water temperatures struggle to reach temperatures that help systems like this one blossom, even in El Nino, which helps water warm up in this region. Wind shear is also typically higher across South America, which doesnt allow for sturdy and tall tropical cyclones to develop. Finally, there is a lack of atmospheric disturbances to kick the atmosphere into gear like in the Atlantic or Pacific. Compare this to the Atlantic where 40-70 tropical waves cross the Atlantic from Africa to Mexico each year. Difference Between Tropical and Subtropical Depression/Storms When an area of low pressure forms over waters with sea-surface temperatures of at least 70 degrees, a subtropical low can form. This is due to the core of the storm becoming warm, deriving some of its energy from latent heat, or energy released when water vapor that evaporated from the warm water is condensed into liquid. A subtropical depression or storm exhibits features of both tropical and non-tropical systems. This includes no cold or warm fronts, a broad wind field and thunderstorms removed some distance from the center. Subtropical systems also tend to have a large, cloud-free center and a less symmetric wind field. Maximum sustained winds are also much farther from the center, while the strongest winds in a tropical storm are close to the center. Subtropical Low Subtropical cyclones typically are associated with upper-level lows and have colder temperatures aloft, whereas tropical cyclones are completely warm-core and upper-level high-pressure systems overhead help facilitate their intensification. The NHC still issues advisories and forecasts for subtropical depressions and storms. They are assigned a number or name, just like a tropical depression or storm. Tropical low If the subtropical storm remains over warm water, thunderstorms can build close enough to the center of circulation, and latent heat given off from the thunderstorms can warm the air enough to create a fully tropical storm. As a result, the strongest winds and rain become closer to the center and, with time, further intensification becomes possible. So was this strange phenomenon another amazingly rare weather event or some people playing weather wizards off the Chilean coast? Follow us: Facebook and Twitter Extremely Rare Southeast Pacific Subtropical Cyclone Forms Off the Chilean Coast Weather.com Never miss a bite! Sign up here to receive new recipes and reviews straight to your inbox. Disclosure: I was invited to a dinner and a movie as a guest of Tanzy Restaurant and iPic Theaters. No monetary compensation has been received for this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. Whether its Date Night, Girls Night, or even just a Me Night, the combination of dinner and a movie at Tanzy Restaurant and iPic Theaters will never let you down. Before this recent visit to the movies, I cant even remember the last movie I saw in theaters. However, upon seeing the trailer for the comedy, Blockers, starring Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz, I knew I had to get back into the habit of movie-going ASAP. I wont give anything away in case you havent seen it, but the basic premise of the story is that Leslie, John and Ike (after this movie, I feel like I can totally be on a first-name basis with them) find out through some serious iChat message snooping that their daughters plan on giving up the V card after senior prom. In short, the anxious/nervous/upset/scared-to-lose-their-kids-to-college-and-adulthood parents show up to prom and follow them around all night being complete idiots, and I dont think I stopped laughing through the entire movie. I also had no idea that John Cena could act, let alone be hilarious. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing really, except for the fact that Jill and I worked up quite the appetite from laughing for almost two hours straight. Thankfully we were at the iPic in Boca Raton where Tanzy Restaurant is located right downstairs, and we could go straight from our comfortable, reclining chairs to a comfortable booth for dinner. We wasted no time ordering appetizers The grilled calamari with marinated artichoke hearts, capers and roasted tomatoes was the highlight of the evening. Jill and I feel the same way when it comes to capers they make everything tastier. Capers lend the perfect amount of brininess to a dish without making it too salty, and here, they married well with the acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes. There was a generous portion of thick-cut calamari steaks that I couldnt get enough of. Id order this again 100%. We also tried the yellowtail crudo with passionfruit splash, crispy shallot, radish, micro cilantro and grapefruit, drizzled with herb oil. There were so many appealing elements about this dish, from the bright, beautiful pink colors to the crunchy radish and flavorful herbs. If crudo is your thing, Tanzy also offers one with tuna, meyer lemon vinaigrette, dehydrated kalamata olives, picked cucumber and frenso chile. And because there are some serious buzz words in this menu description, Jill just couldnt resist ordering the beef carpaccio all for herself. Black truffle aioli, cured egg yolk, parmesan, capers, cipollini onion, calabrian chile even as a non-meat/egg/dairy eater, I couldnt blame her. Plus, it made for a gorgeous photo op! When it came to entrees, I was teetering back and forth between some of the fish dishes, but ended up going for the seared Atlantic salmon with charred cabbage, creme fraiche, horseradish and fingerling potatoes (chef left out the creme fraiche for me). The cabbage was the most interesting part of this dish, as Ive never seen it plated as a whole leaf. I mean, it sort of looked like I was about to eat a turtle But underneath, lay a beautifully cooked piece of salmon with perfectly crispy skin, and a bed of herb-roasted potatoes that I could tell would be delicious just by first glance. Oh, and I did really enjoy the cabbage too, despite it reminding me of Crush from Finding Nemo. Jill went a totally different route and chose one of Tanzys house-made pastas. But this was not just any ol pasta, it was beet agnolotti. Agnolotti are similar in appearance to ravioli, but a little smaller. These were filled with mascarpone and potato, and swimming in a saucy sea of beet, poppy seed, black winter truffle, and parmesan. The sauce was a deep, rich hue that reminded me of the holiday season. The essence of truffle jumped off the plate as soon as our server set it down. I may not have been able to taste it, but from Jills reaction, I have a feeling this is one dish youll definitely want to try. Take our advice go see a comedy at iPic, laugh until your face hurts, and then feed that face with aaaall of the food at Tanzy. Tanzy Restaurant and iPic Theaters are located in Mizner Park at 301 Plaza Real in Boca Raton. The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30am-10pm, Friday from 11:30am-11pm, Saturday from 11am-11pm and Sunday from 11am-10pm. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-3pm and featues $14 bottomless mimosas. Tuesdays are Ladies Night, when all ladies receive complimentary house-infused vodka cocktails and other drink specials include $4 select draft beers, $5 select wines by the glass and $8 select appetizers. On Wednesday, enjoy half-priced bottles of wine and $5 wines by the glass. The launch of Honor 10 brings two major ground-breaking and industry-leading smartphone technologies to consumers. One is advanced AI technology, and this is applied primarily to the phones smartphone photography and endorsed by Speos, the leader of higher education in professional photography in France. The other is the new CMF design technology which shapes the phone into a real beauty. The Honor 10s AI capability is pioneering and is a landmark moment in smartphone photography. This is thanks to the major breakthrough of the AI Chipset with built-in NPU, plus the Semantic Image Segmentation technology. The Honor 10s AI camera was developed and supported by the AI Chipset with built-in NPU, which means it recognizes 500+ scenarios in 22 categories real-time. It can pinpoint the outlines of various surrounding objects, like the sky, plants, people and waterfall, and identify their locations. This feature is supported by the industry-first Semantic Image Segmentation technology, which allows the Honor 10 to identify multiple objects in one single image. It is here where the Honor 10 stands out from the crowd at the first place. Furthermore, the industry-first Honor 10 features apply scene-specific parameters to each photo real-time when taking a picture, making every photo you take professional at just one click. Such cutting-edge technology often affects the phones efficiency or drain its battery. However, the Honor 10 is an exception to the rule. There is no potential lag or slow-down because the NPU processor is independently built-in for the latest generation of AI chipset that is separate from the CPU, GPU and DSP. Honor 10 was recently unveiled in China and will be launched globally on May 15 in London. It will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting midnight on May 16 2018. @Technuter.com News Service Kingston has announced that it has strengthened its Service in India for customers, partners and other stakeholders. Kingston maintained a consistent national Turn Around Time (TAT) of 80% to service customers on the same day, which is a sharp increase of 20% over the last year. Kingston provides sales support through a single national service partner as a one-stop solution for all its product lines. Customers buying from the right source can visit more than 50 service centers in India with most of them offering functional screening facility on the spot. To make the service delivery effective and prompt, select centers have a dedicated counter for Kingston products. For customers unable to reach the service centers, Kingston adds value with its limited courier facility. The company even provides free Android App based updates to customers about service and products. The company also continues to provide free technical support to even the non-customers. These benefits lead to a faster response time and faster problem redressals. Mr. Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director, Kingston Technology India, said, Channel partners know us for our long-standing goodwill and it is our responsibility to add value to the customers experience in the best possible way. We have always considered Serviceas an integral part of business and we urge customers to make a purchase from the right source to avail the array of benefits attached with Kingston products. Taking a step further in enhancing the customer service experience, the company offers a pre-sales assistance for customers to help them in identifying and buying compatible Kingston product for their device. @Technuter.com News Service Infosys ,a global leader in consulting, technology and next-generation services, has released new enhancements to its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered plug-and-play solution, Infosys Enterprise Service Management Cafe. The new capabilities further advance the adoption of ServiceNow with more than 40 solutions ready to be deployed across IT service management, user experience and mobility, as well as business process automation across human resources (HR), facilities, travel logistics and finance. For IT teams, Infosys Enterprise Service Management Cafe accelerates the deployment of ServiceNow with pre-configured process templates in a managed services environment. For end-users, the Cafe provides a streamlined, intelligent and intuitive user experience. Key Highlights of the Infosys Enterprise Service Management Cafe: Chatbots deliver faster, smarter service desk solutions with ServiceNow The solution offers an option to leverage chatbots with the power of AI and automation that work in tandem with ServiceNow to get queries addressed. Customers receive a seamlessly integrated bot that empowers users to take advantage of self-service, helping reduce direct tickets to the service desk and significantly improving user satisfaction. Leverage the solution beyond IT to support other business functions Extends ServiceNow beyond IT to support other business functions including customer service management (CSM), HR, facilities management, project portfolio management (PPM), security operations, cloud management platform and governance, risk and compliance (GRC). Customers are able to establish a single integrated enterprise platform with world-class solutions for enhanced user experience, better control, transparency and maintenance. Vertical solutions and business domains include persona-based self-service portal The user friendly service catalog caters to vertical industry solutions, including retail, financial services and manufacturing. This improves user satisfaction significantly through a persona based self-service portal, featuring a simple two-click service-catalog solution. The offering includes vertical specific solutions like Restaurant-in-a-Box, Enterprise Software library for manufacturing domain, Meet the Expert, Travel Management and more to address customers real-time challenges. Infosys Enterprise Service Management Cafe enables companies to leverage plug-and-play solutions that address pain areas specific to industry verticals and automate them on the ServiceNow platform. CXO/Service Management dashboards help executives get actionable insights Provides intuitive preconfigured reports and dashboards that help CXOs have a real-time view of service health. It offers self-service, license management, AI and orchestration dashboards based on industry standard and best practices. Cafe Mobility solution delivers work where employees need it Delivers enhanced experiences for users on the go, with iOS and Android apps enabling users to create, update, track and approve tickets on the move. Customers such as UK-based water company, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW), are tapping the solution today, transforming their enterprise service experience. De Lima Sous la pression du Congres de l'opposition et de la presse dominante, et des desaccords internes entre les... Trump to meet Kim in Singapore on June 12 The Trump-Kim summit would be the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. Reuters, Washington : U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore for a first ever summit between the leaders of the two countries. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump said on Twitter. The two leaders are expected to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons development and testing program, which has deepened long-seated tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump's announcement came just hours after three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea arrived at a U.S. military base outside Washington, having been released by Kim. Trump said on their arrival that he believed Kim wanted to bring North Korea "into the real world" and had high hopes for their planned meeting, which would be the first between a serving U.S. president and a North Korean leader. "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula." Trump made the announcement via Twitter just hours after welcoming home three Americans held captive for more than a year in North Korea. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Trump wrote in his tweet. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump had floated other possible locations, including the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, where Kim met last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which he said held the potential for being a "great celebration." But White House aides have been eying Singapore, a tiny island nation of 5.6 million that boasts one of the most advanced economies in Southeast Asia. Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, which has an embassy and ambassador in the country. Singapore's ambassador based in Beijing also is responsible for Pyongyang. "Singapore is an ideal location for this summit," said David Adelman, an attorney at ReedSmith who served as U.S. ambassador to the nation from 2010 to 2013 under former president Barack Obama. "Really since its founding, Singapore has carefully cultivated a reputation where East meets West," he said. "They take great pride in being a friend to all. And they've done a great job doing so. Russia, after Netanyahu visit, backs off Syria S-300 missile supplies An S-300 air defense missile system launches a missile during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia Reuters, Moscow : Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow.The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russia's Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. But Kozhin's comments, made so soon after Netanyahu's Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leader's lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off. "For now, we're not talking about any deliveries of new modern (air defense) systems," Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had "everything it needed," Kozhin added. Israel has made repeated efforts to persuade Moscow not to sell the S-300s to Syria, as it fears this would hinder its aerial capabilities against arms shipments to Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected shipments. On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes. The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military, but since modernized and available in several versions with significantly different capabilities, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Though since been superseded by the more modern S-400 system, the S-300s are still regarded as highly potent and outstrip anything that the Syrian government currently has. Syria currently relies on a mixture of less advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft systems to defend its air space. Russian media on Friday were actively circulating a video released by the Israeli military which showed an Israeli missile destroying one such system-a Russian-made Pantsir S-1 air defense battery-on Thursday in Syria. India hands over Rohingya relief to BD Chattogram Bureau : Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla handing over the reliefs to Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya in a ceremony at Chattogram Naval Port on Wednesday. The relief supplies carried by Indian Naval Ship 'Airavat' for the Rohingya people were handed over to Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Wednesday. Indian High Commi-ssioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla officially handed over the materials to the minister at a ceremony at the no 2 jetty of the port here around 9 am. The Indian Naval Ship sailing from Vishakha-patnam docked at the Chittagong Port around 9 am on Tuesday, The materials include 50,000 rain coats, 50,000 pairs of gumboot, 45 metric tons baby food, 100 tons of powder milk, 100 tons of dry fish and kerosene. While speaking at the ceremony, the minister urged India to put pressure on Myanmar for bringing back Rohingyas. He said, "At least 12 lakh Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh and the government has given shelter to them despite hundreds of limitations." The registration of over 11 lakh Rohingyas have been done, the minister said adding: "30 camps have been established for their rehabilitation while the government has constructed 13 kilometers of roads for easy transportation of relief materials." Pharma Carnival at EWU Latifur Rahman, Chairman, Transcom Group speaks at the closing ceremony of a weeklong academic festival \'Pharma Carnival 2018\' organized by the Department of Pharmacy of East West University at its Aftabnagar campus in the city. Campus Report : The Department of Pharmacy of East West University (EWU) celebrated their weeklong academic festival 'Pharma Carnival 2018' from 03 to 09 this month at EWU campus at Aftabnagar in the capiatl. The Pharma Carnival arranged different programmes including pharma olympiad, music competition, poster presentations, oral presentation competition, prize giving ceremony and cultural event. Latifur Rahman, Chairman, Transcom Group attended the closing ceremony on Wednesday as chief guest. Dr Mohammed Farashuddin, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, EWU and former governor of Bangladesh Bank chaired the program. Prof Dr MM Shahidul Hassan, Vice Chancellor, EWU and Prof Dr Fakrul Alam, Pro-Vice Chancellor, EWU were the special guests. Prof Dr Chowdhury Faiz Hossain, Chairperson, Department of Pharmacy, EWU addressed the welcome remarks of the program. A large number of students and faculty members of the department attended the Pharma Carnival. Death of accused appellant does not affect the entire judgment High Court Division : (Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Md Rais Uddin J MA Motin . ...... . Accused-Appellant vs State Respondent'" Judgment February 14th, 2017 Code of Criminal Procedure (V of 1898) Section 431 An Appeal against a sentence of fine shall not abate by reason of death of the accused-appellant because it is not a matter which affect his person but on which affect his estate. Hence part of the appeal which relates to the sentence of imprisonment shall abate on the death other accused-appellant but other part relating the sentence of fine shall not abate. The balance dues of the cheque amount are recoverable and shall be realized from the estate of the deceased accused appellant. Nazma Begum vs Md Habibullah, 57 DLR 603 ref. Qazi Zahed Iqbal, Advocate-For the Accused-Appellant. Ishrat Hasan, Advocate-For the Complainant-Respondent. Shafiul Bahsar Bhandary, DAG with Swapan Kumar Das, AAG-For the State . Judgment This appeal is directed against the judgment and Order of conviction and sentence dated 30-6-2014 passed, by the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Dhaka in Metropolitan Sessions Case-No. 11057 of 2013 arising out of CR Case No. 6395 of 2009 convicting the accused-appellant under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and sentencing him to pay a fine of Taka 1,42,00,000 (One crore and forty two lacs) and in default of which to suffer 1 (one) year simple imprisonment. 2. The prosecution case, in short, is that respondent No. 2 as complainant filed a petition of complaint before the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dhaka on 6-12-2009 against the appellant and another under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 alleging inter alia that on 29-9-2009 the accused appellant issued a cheque of Taka 1,42,00,000 (One crore and forty one lacs), being No. 0730961, dated 29-9-2009, Standard Bank Ltd, Dhanmondi Branch in favour of the complainant to pay complainant's part payment arising due to the service rendered to the appellant-petitioner's company, but the cheque was dishonoured on 1-10-2009 due to insufficient fund. The complainant sent a legal notice to the appellant through his lawyer on 18-10-2009 by stating the incident and with a demand to pay the same but the said legal notice lastly returned on 21-10-2009 due to the accused-appellant's non-availability on his address and, therefore, the appellant did not take any initiative in this regard. Hence, the case. 3. Upon receipt of the petition of complaint the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate examined the complain under section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and took cognizance against the accused appellant and another under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Acl, 1881. 4. The case record was transferred to the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Dhaka where it was numbered as Metropolitan Session Case No. 11057 of 2013 for trial. The learned Judge of the trial court framed charge against the accused-appellant and another under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. 5. At the trial, the prosecution has examined 1 (one) witness while the defence examined 1 (one) witness to prove their respective cases. 6. On conclusion of trial the learned Judge of the trial court considering the evidence and materials on record found the accused appellant and another guilty under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and Sentenced him as stated above. 7. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the judgment and order of conviction and sentence the accused-appellant preferred the instant appeal. 8. Mr Qazi Zahed Iqbal, the learned Advocate for the, accused-appellant at the very outset by filing supplementary affidavit informed this court that the accused appellant MA Matin son of Mowlana Momtaz Uddin died on 29-1-2016 and as such he prayed that the appeal is abated. 9. Mrs. Ishrat Hasan, the learned Advocate appearing for the complainant respondent submits that although after death of the accused-appellant the appeal has abated only on imprisonment of sentence. She submits that the sentence of fine is recoverable from heirs, successor of the deceased accused appellant and the property of Unicom International Ltd. House No. 50, Flat No. 1/ A, Road No. 3/1 Dhanmondi Police Station, Dhanmondi, District-Dhaka since he was Managing Director of the Company. She submits that the deceased appellant was Managing Director of the Company and chairman of the company are responsible to pay the dues since he was in-charge and holding the position of managing director of the company as per section 140 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. In support of her contention has refused a decision report in 57 DLR 603. 10. Mr Swapan Kumar Das, the learned Assistant Attorney-General has supported the contention of the complainant-respondent. 11. I have gone through the memo of appeal, petition of complaint, evidence, judgment of the trial court and other materials on record and relevant provision of law. 12. On perusal of the record it appears that the accused- appellant issued a cheque of Taka. 1 crore 41 lacs in favour of the complainant. The complainant deposited the cheque for encashment which was dishonoured for insufficient of fund. The complainant served legal notice upon the accused-appellant but he did not arrange to pay the money. It appears that the complainant was examined as P.W.! who categorically stated as to issuance of cheque of Taka. 1 crore 41 lacs by the accused appellant which was dishonoured for insufficient of fund. The complainant served legal notice but the accused-appellant did not arrange to pay the money and exhibited his documents. 13. However, certain condition precedents are stipulated in the provision of section 138(1) of the Act which are to be complied with before imposing any criminal liability to the drawer. From the scheme of the Act, it is clear that following the dishonour of a cheque a notice is to be issued in writing to the person who has issued the cheque inviting his attention to the fact that the cheque has been issued for reason stated in the return memo and that he is liable for penal consequences under section 138 read with section 141 of the Act. When the reason for return of the cheque has been mentioned as 'refer to drawer' or 'insufficiency of fund, it is primary duty of the drawer of the cheque to make payment of the amount within stipulated time from the receipt of notice. 14. Now, certain provisions of law under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 are required to be referred to for having a better view of the dispute in question: Section 138 of sub-sections 2 and 3: "Where any fine is realised under subsection (I), any amount up to the face value of the cheque as far as is covered by the fine realised shall be paid to the holder. Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (2), the holder of the cheque shall retain his right to establish his claim through civil Court if whole or any part of the value of the cheque remains unrealized." 15. From a combined reading of the above quote provisions of law it appears that the fine realized shall be paid to the holder and holder of the cheque shall retain his right to establish his claim through civil court if whole or any part of the value of the cheque remain unrealized. 16. On perusal of the supplementary affidavit filed by the learned advocate for accused-appellant it appears that the accused appellant died on 29-1-2016 as such the Criminal Appeal abates on the death of the accused-appellant. An Appeal against a sentence of fine shall not abate by reason of death of the accused-appellant because it is not a matter which affect his person but on which affect his estate. Hence part of the appeal which relates to the sentence of imprisonment shall abate on the death other accused-appellant but other part relating the sentence of fine shall not abate. The balance dues of the cheque amount are recoverable and shall be realized from the estate of the deceased accused appellant. 17. This view find support in the case of Khalilur Rahman being dead his heirs Mrs Nazma Begum vs Md Habibullah, reported in 57 DLR 603, wherein their lordships held: "During pendency of the Rule the convicted accused petitioner Khalilur Rahman died and ultimately under the provisions of section 431 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the case abates against him so far it relates to his sentence of imprisonment only but regarding imposition of fine to the tune of Taka 20,00,000 (twenty lakh) the impugned judgment passed by the courts below remains under challenge since the heirs of the convicted accused petitioner Late Khalilur Rahman have impleaded themselves as petitioner because such fine is to be realised from the deceased's estate, now vested to them." 18. In the result, the appeal is abated so far relates to the imprisonment. The impugned judgment and order of conviction and sentence 30-6-2014 so far relevant to the fine passed by the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Dhaka in Metropolitan Sessions Case No. 11057 of 2013 arising out of CR Case No. 6395 of 2009 ref. is affirmed. 19. The complainant-respondent is allowed to withdraw the 50% of the cheque amount which has been deposited by the accused-appellant at the time of filing appeal in the trial Court through chalan within 1 (one) month from the date of receipt of this judgment. 20. The balance dues of the cheque amount are recoverable and shall be realised [Will the estate of the deceased accused-appellant in accordance with law. Let the subordinate court records along with copy of this judgment be sent to the Court below at-once. Nadia Mim, Milon for first time Sheikh Arif Bulbon : On the occasion of coming Eid, Tushar Khan has made a special play titled Du Kuley Boshobash. In this play, for the first time Anisur Rahman Milon paired up with Lux superstar Nadia Mim. Shishir Ahmed also acted in an important role in the play. Milon, Mim and Shishir acted in roles of Ovi, Shikha and Dip respectively. This play will be aired in any satellite channel in Eid-ul-Fitr, said its director. In the story of the play, it will shown that there is a relationship between Shikha and Dip. But suddenly Shikha tied the nuptial knot with Ovi. After getting marriage Shikha again started communication with her ex-boyfriend Dip over Facebook. Later Shikha was informed that Dip was died of cancer before communicated with her. Then Shikha became tensed because by whom she communicated over Facebook. Story of the play gets momentum and climax. While talking about acting in the play Milon told this correspondent, When Eid comes actors become busy with acting and directors have close schedules to make plays. As a result, it is really difficult to concentrate in any specific work. My role in this play was challenging and I really enjoyed working in this play. It was my first work with Nadia Mim. She acted well. Nadia Mim shared her feelings by this way, Shikha was a challenging role and I have tried my level best to portray my role properly during acting. Milon Bhai is a reputed actor and he was also very much co-operative to me. Meanwhile, today Milon will be engaged with shooting of Chayanika Chowdhurys a play Biye Saree against Zakia Bari Mamo at Pubail in Gazipur. He has already taken part in shooting of Arif directed movie Kathgorai Sarat Chandra. On the other hand, Nadia Mim acted two serials - Noim Imtiaz Neyamuls Kagojer Phul and Swadhin Fuads Chirokumari Sangha are being aired in two separate channels now. Leadership needs to come from students' UNB, Dhaka : Claiming that the country is going through leadership crisis, speakers at a programme on Friday said positive leadership need to come from the students of the country to move Bangladesh ahead and make it corruption-free. The speakers came up with the opinion at the launching programme of a book titled "Bangladesher Chhatra Rajniti: Atit, Bartoman O Bhobisshyat" written by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener of Nagorik Oikya at the National Press Club. During the programme, former president Abdul Qasim Mohammad Badruddoza Chowdhury said the movement demanding quota reform has proved that student politics has not died yet. DUCSU election has not been held for 28 years because of lack of sincerity of the governments and as a result the country is facing leadership crisis, he said. To build up a peaceful country, ideal leaders need to be built first and for this leadership must come from the students, he said demanding that all political parties need to seek apology from the people of the country for their wrongdoings, and have to promise to work against corruption only then they will get support from people. Amanullah Aman, BNP Chairperson's advisor, said, today, student politics has become tender-based. And to come out from the culture, a movement has to come from the students of Dhaka University as it had done the same in the past. Govt won`t tolerate any violence UNB, Dhaka : Asking students to refrain from resorting to vandalism in their educational institutions, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said the government will no longer tolerate such acts. "Any sort of vandalism won't be tolerated. It won't happen that students will vandalise their educational institutions and I'll accept this," she said. The Prime Minister was inaugurating the 29th national council of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the afternoon. She said law enforcement agencies have been asked to take prompt and appropriate steps against the students getting involved in vandalism. "No one will be spared, no matter what organisation they belong to. Appropriate actions will be taken," Sheikh Hasina said. Referring to the recent attack on, and vandalism and looting of Dhaka University Vice-chancellor's residence during the quota reform movement, she said such heinous act did not happen in the country's history. "An investigation is on. Many of those involved in the incident have already been arrested while others will be detained. I've asked law enforcement agencies to take proper action against the culprits," the Prime Minister said. She also thanked the general students and the BCL men as no major unwanted incident took place in any educational institution in the last nine years. "Just one or two incidents happened. I don't want to see such incidents to take place," she said. Hasina, also the chief of ruling Awami League, asked the teachers of the educational institutions to refrain from engaging in conflicts among themselves that cause harm to their students. "I don't want to see the students to suffer for the conflicts," she said. Mentioning that the government is always there to resolve any problem, she, however, warned that excess will never be tolerated. The Prime Minister asked the students to use the internet as a platform for learning. "Digital Bangladesh is not for misusing it." She also asked them to keep them away from militancy, terrorism and drug abuse. "Make sure no one is getting involved in these menaces. We've directed authorities concerned to take stern actions against those will be caught red-handed." Hasina advised the students to have proper knowledge about traffic rules. Talking about selecting the next BCL leadership, she urged the organisation to go for selection reaching an understanding. "Sit and choose your leadership. Select such leaders who will strengthen the organisation manifesting a proper leadership," she said. The Prime Minister also asked the aspirants to learn how to sacrifice for achieving something in the future. Regarding the age limit for the BCL leaders, she said it was 27 years in the last council, but as the present committee continues their tenure for nine months more, the age limit will be 28 years this time. "This committee was in force for two years and nine months. They're in posts for additional nine months. I don't want anyone to be left out from any post for this nine months. So, we can give one year as a grace period," Hasina said. Highlighting the role of the BCL in the country's War of Liberation, all democratic movements and struggle for building a peaceful and harmonious society, the Prime Minister said every achievement of the Bangalee nation came as a result of the sacrifice of the BCL leaders and workers. She said Bangladesh Chhatra League is one of the oldest student organisations of the subcontinent which earned freedom for the nation and worked for making the independence and democracy sustainable amidst intimidation of the military dictators during pre -and post -independence periods. She said the history of Chhatra League and Bangladesh is identical. "Bangabandhu founded the student front when the Pakistani rulers had attempted to snatch the rights of Baengalee people to speak in their mother tongue. BCL was founded at the time of the of Language Movement to establish Bangla as the state language." Since its inception, the BCL has been playing a catalytic role in every movement, Hasina said. "The highest number of BCL activists being faithful to the ideology of Bangabandhu shed their blood for the cause of the nation for every national achievement, including the War of Liberation, she said. Earlier, the Prime Minister hoisted the national flag upon her arrival at the council venue when the national anthem played and the BCL president and secretary hoisted the organisation's flag. She inaugurated the council by releasing pigeons and balloons. 12 killed in road accidents Staff Reporter : At least 12 people including a police ASI were killed in several road crashes across the country on Friday. The deaths were reported from Dhaka, Mymensingh, Netrakona districts. Of them, four died in Dhaka,two in Netrakona and six in Mymensingh. Police sent the bodies to the hospitals. Dhaka: Four persons including a child were killed and eight others injured when a bus and a human hauler collided in Mirpur and Uttara Sector 8 of Dhaka on Friday noon. At Mirpur of Dhaka, the identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained. However, two of the injured people are in critical condition and a deceased was identified as Narayan Saha, 45, who was killed as a bus of Sakura Paribahan rammed the rickshaw he boarded along with his son. Shah Ali Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Sirajul Islam told the media that the accident occurred at 1:30pm as a passenger bus rammed the human hauler in Chatbari area of Mirpur leaving three people dead on the spot. The injured were sent to different hospitals in city. Netrakona: A member of Detective Branch of police and a source of the law enforcers were killed when a truck ran over their motorbike on the Mymensingh-Netrakona Road at Purbodhola upazila in Netrakona last night. Deceased Miraz Hossain, 28, was ASI of Netrakona DB police, and Raju Mia, 22, worked as a source of policemen, reports our Mymensingh correspondent. The accident took place when they by a motorbike were going to Netrakona from Shamganj around 11:00pm, said Shah Nur-e-Alam, Inspector of Shaymganj Police Investigation Centre. The truck and motorbike were seized from the spot, he said. The bodies were sent to Netrakona Sadar Hospital. Mymensingh: Six people were killed when a passenger bus and auto-rickshaw collided in Tarakanda upazila of Mymensingh on Friday afternoon. The identities of the deceased could not be known. However, initially it is being suspected that they were passengers of the auto-rickshaw. Tarakanda Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mazharul Islam told Banglanews that the accident took place around 3:30pm killing five people on the spot and the other on way to hospital. On information, police were sent to the spot. Four passengers and the driver of an auto-rickshaw were killed and one injured as it was run over by a bus in Tarakanda upazila of Mymnesingh yesterday afternoon. The identities of the deceased are yet to be known, our local correspondent reports quoting Mazharul Huq, Officer-in-Charge of Tarakanda Police Station. The injured was whisked off to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital in critical condition. A Dhaka bound bus of 'Imam Paribahan' ran over the auto-rickshaw in Kakni area on the Sherpur-Mymensingh Road around 3:15pm killing the five including its driver on the spot, the OC said. Police seized the bus after the incident but its staff managed to flee, he added. US pressures Iran with new sanctions over `malign activity` BBC Online : The US has imposed sanctions on six people and three companies it says have ties to Iran's elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the penalties targeted those who had funnelled millions of dollars to the group, funding its "malign activity". Iran's central bank helped the IRGC to access US dollars via "a large-scale currency exchange network," he said. The Treasury Department said all six individuals were Iranian. US individuals and entities will be barred from doing business with them following the move, which was carried out in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the (IRGC's) malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups," Mr Mnuchin said in a statement. "We are intent on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination," he added. Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and clerics assumed political control under supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Mr Khomeini quickly set up the IRGC to protect the state and defend the principles of his revolution. It has since grown into a major military, political and economic force in the country. With thousands of troops and advanced military equipment, the Guards have been behind many of Iran's key military operations. Admission to be tough in reputed colleges M M Jasim : The guardians and the students who achieved GPA-5 in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination 2018 are worried about their admission into the country's renowned colleges due to lack of seat capacity. The number of seats in both the reputed government and private colleges is less than that of GPA-5 scorers. The admission process will begin from May 13 and continue till May 24 across the country. A total of 110,629 students got GPA-5 in SSC and its equivalent examinations this year. But the number of seats in the top 200 reputed colleges is about 50,000 all over the country. Alimul Haider, a guardian, told The New Nation yesterday that his son attained GPA-5 in the SSC examination this year. He wants to admit his son in a reputed college in the capital. But he is in doubt about admission due to severe seat crisis here. "I have been trying to prepare my son as qualified candidate for higher education. But my all efforts will go in vain if I failed to admit my son in a reputed college in the city," he said. According to Education Ministry sources, there are 8,864 government and non-government higher secondary educational institutions in the country. But, about 200 of the institutions are reputed. These institutions have an enrollment capacity of only 50,000 to 60,000 students. As a result, many meritorious students will fail to get admitted into reputed colleges due to the seat crisis. Statistics available from BANBEIS (Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics) showed that there were only several thousand seats for XI students in reputed colleges last year and this year the number of seats is almost the same. In Dhaka, the enrollment for Class-XI was 2,449 at Adamjee Cantonment College, 516 at BAF Shaheen College in Kurmitola, 1,079 at Bir Uttam Anwar Girls School and College, 694 at Shamsul Hoque Khan School and College, 2,958 at Dhaka City College, 1,014 at Shaheed Police Smriti College, 1,474 at Noor Mohammad Public College, 2,537 at Dhaka Commerce College, 896 at Dhaka Residential Model College, 3,118 at Notre Dame College, 1,705 at Munshi Abdur Rouf Border Guard Bangladesh College, 1,893 at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, 1,332 at Holy Cross College and 1,619 at Rajuk Uttara Model College last year. In Rajshahi, the enrollment at New Govt Degree College was 1,200 last year, while the enrollment was 1,148 at Rajshahi Govt Women's College and 605 at Rajshahi College. In Chittogram, enrollment seats at Govt Chittogram College were 850 last year, while enrollment was 1,895 at Govt City College, 785 at Govt College of Commerce and 1,620 at Govt Haji Mohammad Mohsin College. In Barishal, Amrita Lal Dey College enrolled 1,149 students last year while the enrollment at Government Women's College was 1,230 and 926 at Syed Hatem Ali College. In Sylhet, annual enrollment to Class-XI was 320 at Govt MC College, 1,234 at Madan Mohan College and 706 at Sylhet Govt Women's College. Meanwhile, high officials of the Ministry and boards said, there are enough seats in intermediate colleges across the country for students who passed SSC and equivalent examinations this year. They, however, said many students may not get enrolled for their preferred institutions as the number of reputed colleges is few and seats for XI students are limited. Inter-Education Board Coordination Subcommittee President Professor Ziaul Haque told The New Nation yesterday, "The students will not face any problem over admission as the enrollment capacity at the colleges is over 19 lakh seats whereas the successful students are below the number of seats." But all the GPA-5 holders will not get chance of admission into their preferred colleges as seats in reputed institutions are less than the number of GPA-5 scorers, he said. A Ministry official said, a large number of seats remained vacant in colleges in rural areas. But, students who will try to get admitted into reputed institutions may face hurdles due to limited number of seats there. A meeting was held on April 30 at the Education Ministry regarding the admission at colleges to class-XI for 2018-19 session where a admission policy for Class- XI was finalized, Ministry sources said As per the policy, the students will be able to submit a list of their 5-10 preferred institutions through online and later the Education Board will select one institution for every student where they will get enrolled. Dr Mollah Jalal Uddin, Additional Secretary of the Education Ministry (College), said, "This year the 100 percent students will be admitted on the basis of merit at every college and there will be no reserve seat for quota this year." SpaceX to try again UNB, Florida : SpaceX, the US company handling the launch of Bangabandhu-1, country's first geostationary communications satellite into orbit, has sought to assure Bangladeshi officials that the rocket will be launched around 4:14 pm (local time) on Friday. This was after the original launch scheduled for Thursday was aborted by the rocket's flight control system less than a minute before take-off due to "technical glitch". It may be noted that the glitch had nothing to do with the satellite, its only payload for the flight. Whatever went wrong was at SpaceX's end, and they alone can rectify it. Talking to our correspondent later Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood, said "Every single things of the satellite is being operated by computer and there is no scope for manual operation. The process for launching the Bangabandhu-1 satellite has aborted due to technical glitch." The BTRC chairman came up with the information while talking to UNB at a hotel in Orlando. "There is no problem in the satellite and rocket but there might be some problem at the ground system," he also said, without any elaboration. In answer to a question, Mahmood, said "It's nothing new and there has been a precedent of a satellite launch succeeding at sixth attempt." "I hope the Bangabandhu-1 satellite will be launched on Friday afternoon successfully," he added. The BTRC boss also dismissed the notion of financial losses caused by the incident, saying "SpaceX will carry the loss until its launch." Won't tolerate violence, PM warns Staff Reporter : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday called upon the students at the two-day 29th national council of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) to refrain from vandalism in educational institutions. She warned the government will not tolerate such acts. Held at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the afternoon, she said law enforcement agencies have been asked to take prompt and appropriate steps against the students getting involved in vandalism. "No one will be spared, no matter what organisation they belong to. Appropriate actions will be taken," Sheikh Hasina said adding "Students can't vandalize their educational institutions, I will not accept this, she observed. Talking about selecting the next BCL leadership, she urged the organisation to go for selection reaching an understanding. "Sit and choose your leadership. Select such leaders who will strengthen the organisation manifesting a proper leadership," she said. The Prime Minister also asked the aspirants to learn how to sacrifice for achieving something in the future. UNB adds: the recent attack on and vandalism and looting of Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor's residence during the quota reform movement was a heinous act that did not happen in the country's history. "An investigation is on. Many of those involved in the incident have already been arrested while others will be detained. I've asked law enforcement agencies to take proper action against the culprits," the Prime Minister said. She also thanked the general students and the BCL men as no major unwanted incident took place in any educational institutions in the last nine years. "Just one or two incidents happened. I don't want to see such incidents to take place," she said. Hasina, also asked the teachers of the educational institutions to refrain from engaging in conflicts among themselves that causes harm to their students. "I don't want to see the students to suffer for the conflicts," she said. Mentioning that the government is always there to resolve any problem, she, however, warned that excess will never be tolerated. The Prime Minister asked the students to use the internet as a platform for learning. She also asked them to keep them away from militancy, terrorism and drug abuse. Those who will be caught red-handed will be sternly dealt with. About forming committee she further said the age limit for the BCL leaders was 27 years in the last council, but as the present committee continues its work for nine months more, the age limit will be 28 years this time. "This committee was in force for two years and nine months. They're in posts for additional nine months. I don't want anyone to be left out from any post for this nine months. So, we can give one year as a grace period," she said. Highlighting the role of the BCL in the country's War of Liberation, all democratic movements and struggle for building a peaceful and harmonious society, the Prime Minister said every achievement of the Bangalee nation came as a result of the sacrifice of the BCL leaders and workers. She said Bangladesh Chhatra League is one of the oldest student organisations of the subcontinent. She said "Bangabandhu founded the student front when the Pakistani rulers had attempted to snatch the rights of Bangalee people to speak in their mother tongue. BCL was founded at the time of the Language Movement to establish Bangla as the State language." Faithful to the ideology of Bangabandhu BCL members shed their blood for the cause of the nation for every national achievement, including the War of Liberation, she said. The Prime Minister hoisted the national flag upon her arrival at the council venue and inaugurated the council by releasing pigeons and balloons. BCL General Secretary SM Zakir Hossain presented the organisational report at the opening ceremony presided over by BCL President Saifur Rahman Sohag. AL General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader also spoke on the occasion. Councillors from 109 organisational units of the student front from home and abroad are taking part in the two-day conference. 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 best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Advanced Health, located along the Leeward Highway, has stayed the course of its first year and looks with optimism to continuing and expanding its services portfolio. One year ago, Dr Conrad Nedd harness the experience of having been Head of the Emergency Department at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, plus stints at other Health Care facilities and opened Advanced Health. Advanced Health. Dr. Nedd said, was and is a commitment to offering "high quality medical care for people of all ages, with emphasis on preventative care. Advanced Health, located opposite the Central Water and Sewerage Authority headquarters along the Leeward Highway, has reasons to celebrate after one year in service. The mandate is being fulfilled, and Dr Nedd, a Vincentian born medical doctor, is putting his heart into the operation. Dr Nedd regarded the first year as "good. He acknowledged there was "growth, and he is focusing on "expansion. "Our aim is to provide access to a different kind of health care, Dr Nedd explained. "We have seen opportunities to reach out to the public. We want to keep our services on a regular basis, he outlined. Dr. Nedd is modest though he speaks with forthrightness. He reflected on the support received for a symposium on Healthy Eating at the Kingstown Methodist Church Hall, October 2017 and a Clinic on April 28 this year, as being great successes. The Clinic saw one hundred and eighty-six persons. "People worked hard to make it a reality, Dr Nedd mentioned, as if to shift away from his own role in the exercises. Collaborations Advanced Health is linked with Specialists from abroad, and because they serve voluntarily, cost is reduced. It is also a training institution. Occupation Health and Safety features as an area of emphasis, and a collaboration with the School of Nursing here focuses on care during disasters. Advanced Health also offers Global Standard of World Health Training through a connection with the American Heart Foundation. Dr Nedd sees the need for others to take up training to respond to the various health care requirements. Further development Dr. Nedd spoke of full time X-Ray and Ultra Sound services as soon to come on board at Advanced Health. In a broader sense, he is wishing for a "Digital web portal, for patients to access personalised health information, and would like to see a greater degree of exchange among service providers. "Internal service providers have to work together, Dr Nedd suggested. "I dont know what is the hold up, he added, and described the absence as a "major barrier to people. Asked about his own orientation and what motivates, Dr Nedd responded: "Every physician has a responsibility to do some community outreach. They should find a way or opportunity to offer assistance without the community having to pay for it. He pointed to a "great need for a different approach to health care, where people are educated about their health, so that they can participate in the decision making and take responsibility for their own health care. The father of two sons with his Sri Lanka born wife, Dr Nedd is grateful to those who supported the Clinic. "We will continue to develop our service to bring health care into the 21st century, he assured. A former police officer, accused of having sexual intercourse with his daughter, and indecently assaulting her, was up to press time yesterday (Thursday) on trial at the High Court Criminal Assizes. The former cop is facing charges of incest, unlawful sexually intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, and indecent assault, allegedly committed between 2007 and 2013. The accused was said to be a constable, attached to the Special Services Unit (SSU), when the offences were allegedly committed. The trial commenced on Monday before Justice Brian Cottle, with Crown Counsel Karim Nelson leading the case for the prosecution. Attorney Kay Bacchus-Baptiste is representing the former police officer. Interestingly, attorney Grant Connell, who had also been on record to represent the accused, indicated at the start of the trial, that he wished to be removed from the record. Connell had represented the former lawman at the Preliminary Inquiry (PI). Connell and Bacchus-Baptiste have worked together on several high profile cases, including the one involving the March 2006 murder of Glen Jackson, former Press Secretary to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves. The accused Francis Williams was acquitted at the High Court in February 2008. When asked on Wednesday why he withdrew his representation in the sex case involving the former policeman, Connell told reporters, "There is nothing for me to comment on. Bacchus-Baptiste is doing the case. During an interview with THE VINCENTIAN in August 2016, then Commissioner of Police Renold Hadaway had revealed that a report was made to the police, in relation to the matter, in February 2013, but the accused had left the country shortly after. Reports were that he left legally, and was residing in the United States legally. Crown Counsel Karim Nelson had told THE VINCENTIAN then, that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had been in contact with the U.S authorities, in relation to the matter, for some three years, and the state had made a request to the U.S government for the former cops extradition. An extradition hearing was conducted in the United States, and the U.S government found that the requirements that were laid out in the extradition treaty between the United States and St.Vincent and the Grenadines were satisfied. The application was granted. The former cop was denied bail on his return to this country, and remains in custody. THE VINCENTIAN understands that up to Wednesday, seven prosecution witnesses were called, and three more were expected to be called before the prosecution closes its case. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell is determined to see certain constitutional changes during this new term of office for his NNP. (Photo Credit: Dallas Weekly Dr. Keith Mitchell and his New National Party (NNP) government, which won all seats in the March 13, 2018 general elections in Grenada, will once again try to convince the people of that country to support the Caribbean Court of Justice as their final Appellate Court. When this choice was put to Grenadians in a referendum on November 24, 2016 in what was termed the CCJ Bill, only 43.3 % of them voted in favour of the CCJ, less than the requisite two-thirds majority support. Now, just short of two months since being returned to government, Dr. Mitchell has announced that his government will be taking a second shot at a referendum, intending to get the support needed to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the islands final court of appeal. In fact, Dr Mitchell promised that this (second) referendum will be held before the end of the year. "The CCJ is an important issue to take a second look at, Mitchell said. "Hopefully well have everyone playing a very united role in going forward, because if we do not work together, then clearly its not necessarily going to pass, and I think it would be a tragedy of justice for this country and for the Caribbean. . Our jurists have served regional and international institutions with distinction, and it would be, to me, almost an insult to say to ourselves that we cannot be responsible for justice in our country. Mitchells New National Party had supported the 2016 Bill, but the main opposition National Democratic Congress opposed the reforms. With that on his mind, Dr. Mitchell said that leading up to this second referendum, he would play a much more active role than he did last time. According to information coming out of Grenada, the referendum promised before years end, will include not only a vote on the CCJ, but also on : the creation of an Elections and Boundaries Commission to replace the Constituency Boundaries Commission and the Supervisor of Elections; allowing the leader of the party with the most votes to be appointed Leader of the Opposition and to sit in the House of Representatives if the second-placed party fails to win a seat in a general election; introducing fixed dates for elections, with the caveat that a vote of no confidence may trigger an early election; changing the official name of the State of Grenada to Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; expanding the list of fundamental rights and freedoms; and limiting the Prime Minister to three consecutive terms in office. It will not include, as the original referendum (2016) did, a vote on a code of conduct for public officials, and swearing allegiance to the country rather than the Queen. (Caribbean 360, Grenada Informer) (L-R): Nick Francis, Bridget Bowens and Terrance Williams at the handing over at the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen. JCI St. Vincent continues to demonstrate its mission to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change. Four prospective members of JCI St. Vincent recently completed their membership project by donating food items to the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen located in Rose Place, Kingstown, and operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese. The donations were handed over to staff member Bridget Bowens at the Soup Kitchen on Friday April 27th 2018. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, prospective member Nick Francis highlighted the importance of JCIs service to humanity as being the best work of life, and thanked those who participated in the project which will provide hot meals to poor families in the community. Public Relations Officer for JCI St. Vincent, Mr. Terrance Williams, made an appeal to members of the general public and businesses in and around Kingstown to donate to the Soup Kitchen, which provides "an essential service to the less fortunate in our community, especially children who are in need of help. He also encouraged young persons to become members of JCI St. Vincent which "has a long history of providing excellent development programmes for young people. Young persons who are interested in becoming a member of JCI St. Vincent can speak to a JCI Member or send an email to [email protected] About JCI St. Vincent: The birth of the Jaycees movement started in 1959 when Mr. Phillip Greaves, an assistant master at the Boys Grammar School introduced the ideals of the movement to Mr. Joe Connell, brother of the first President and Senator, Senator Arthur. R. Connell. JCI St. Vincent (formerly known as Jaycees) grew over the years to become one of the most prominent social institutions in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The organisation became a household name from the popular Jaycees Radio Bingo and Jaycees Public Speaking Competition. One of the greatest contributions of JCI St. Vincent has been in the field of leadership development. Many of todays leaders in a wide range of fields and sectors were members of and benefited from the training offered by the organization. Its many courses and seminars give valuable training in management and leadership. Justice Paula Gilford, a highly respected judge in Grenada, is the most recent jurist to raise the issue of the need for sex offenders registers in the Caribbean. Madam Justice Paula Gilford, a senior High Court judge in Grenada, is calling on the authorities to introduce a Sex Offenders Register to deal with an increase in the number of sex related offenses making their way before the court. The Lady Justice made the call while delivering a sixty-nine year judgment at the #2 High Court on Monday on a fifty-nine-year-old man, after he pleaded guilty to six out of eight counts of sex related offenses, committed against three of his daughters, all under the age of fifteen. According to information emanating from the court, the incident spanned a period of three years dating back to 2014 and included four counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted incest. In delivering her judgment, Justice Gilford reminded the convicted man that, having been placed in a position of trust, he betrayed the trust of his children rather than being there for them. He failed them and therefore, apart from protecting the now victim in this incident, society also needs to be protected. Judge Gilford further reminded the fifty-nine-year-old that the court holds the view that those sexual acts against young children should be met with serious punishment. While advocating for civil society to get involved in dealing with the root cause of this problem, judge Gilford said the introduction of a sex register would act as a deterrent, since potential offenders would now know that their action would become part of the public record. She further calls on members of the public to report these incidents, since, according to her, as adults, one has a responsibility to protect the children. The convicted fifty-nine-year-old whose name and photograph the media was asked not to publish, as a means of safeguarding the victims in this case from further psychological and emotional trauma. Given that some of the sentences would run concurrent to each other, and others consecutive, the convicted man is expected to spend a maximum 39 years and 3 months in prison. Some natural phenomena which in their ravaging forms can cause catastrophic harm, even death and total annihilation to man, beast and the physical environment in which they dwell, will be featured for Vincy Mas 2018. This, when Lynx Mas Band present their costume band entitled Devastating Elements. The five sections to be presented are Volcanic Eruptions, Snow Storm, Wild Fire, Tidal Wave and Trough System. Bandleader Cornelius Pete Thomas disclosed that the band has chosen to reduce the number of sections for 2018 but projects the usual high level of artistry in the production. "Well have another colourful band this year; a presentation that we are hoping would set the Victoria Park and the streets of capital, Kingstown aglow. Thomas promised. Thomas noted that his band is still buoyed by the successes of the last two presentations. Last year, their presentation From the Movies enabled them to maintain the fifth position, as was achieved in 2016, with Send This, Send That, in the Band of the Year competition. Also in 2017, the band took the third place in the Section of the Year contest, and was 1st runner-up in the Individuals of the Year competition. Thomas said that his band will be going all out to surpass its recent standings, with a particular eye on copping the Individual of the Year title. While the band has not had an official public launch as has been the case in previous years, production is in full train for the 2018 Mas presentation. The Lynx Mas Band is again operating at the back of the G & T Enterprise Supermarket, located at the Sion Hill Intersection. Masqueraders parade at Little Tokyo (left) for Vincy Mas 2017, and at Victoria Park where the parade has been held for at least six decades. An announce-ment is expected to be made in the next two weeks as to the decision with respect to whether or not the Mardi Gras parade will return to Victoria Park, in 2018. Last year, the parade was held at Little Tokyo, for the very first time. Ricardo Adams, Chairman of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC), told THE VINCENTIAN that they were in discussion with stakeholders involved in the creation of Mas. "We would like to go back to Little Tokyo, but we have to take on the views of everyone on board, Adams explained. In 2017, the CDC took a decision to abandon the traditional crossing of the stage at the Victoria Park for Mardi Gras. Rather, masqueraders were judged at various points around Kingstown, beginning with the first point at the mini-bus terminal commonly referred to as Little Tokyo. The decision followed clear and ongoing declines in attendance (patronage) and revenue at the Victoria Park venue. According to Adams, Mas Bands expressed some concerns over the move from the Victoria Park. Fernando Sirieux, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Carnival Bands Association (CBA), said that among the concerns was the condition of sections of the road which made it difficult to manoeuver the larger costumes, such as the King and Queen of the Bands. Like some other Mas Band Leaders, Sirieux was of the opinion that Victoria Park has always been the venue and where the creators of Mas display the hard work put in during the months leading up to Carnival. But the CDC seemed to support the retention of Little Tokyo as the venue, with that body offering to erect a stage for use by the masqueraders, as has been the case at Victoria Park. Sirieux confirmed that talks were ongoing, with another meeting of stakeholders expected to be convened some time next week, and a decision anticipated within two weeks. "It is half and half right now, he said when asked in what direction was the discussion leaning. Kingsley Collis, affectionately known as Whiteman, is one of this countrys leading cultural advocates and exponents. He is the founder and leader of the High Voltage Mas Production (Band). Usually of an effervescent persona, Collis was visibly distraught and showed signs of emotional hurt, when he visited with the VINCENTIAN on Monday morning. He was hurt, he said, because of what was meted out to him last week Friday, and as a result, he felt "emotionally abused and embarrassed. Colliss woes stemmed from an incident outside the High Voltage Mas Camp on Bay Street. The small building that houses the camp is sandwiched between the more expansive wholesale outlet and storage facility of Coreas Hazells Inc. and the building that houses Bickles and Western Union outlets. Last Friday, Collis protested against the placement of a container, supposedly assigned to Coreas Hazells Inc., in front of his Mas Camp. He attempted to prevent that container from taking up that position when Traffic Police, curious about the container in the road, interacted with Collis. The incident escalated and members of the RSVG Police Force Special Services Unit *SSU( were called in. Collis recounted being dragged into a Police Pick-up (truck) and taken to the Central Police Station where he was made to remain for some time in the Traffic Department. His incessant demands for a reason for his detention, met with threats of being placed in a cell, which, he admitted, simply served to further raise his ire. After a short period of what appeared to be indecision with respect to what to do with him, Collis was allowed to leave the Police precincts. Collis had tried desperately to explain to the police that he had gone through a similar "container blockage during the 2014 carnival period, which had severely affected patronage of his band. A commitment had been made to avoid repeating the action during the carnival season. "The building is closed for most of the year. We dont see why anybody would want to interfere with our operations that last only a few months, Collis told THE VINCENTIAN. In the meantime, Collis remains uncertain about why last week Fridays exchange of words had warranted "calling in of the SSU. There was definitely no indication of "things getting out of hand, and Collis is of the opinion that sometimes we have to be careful about how we deal with a situation, since we might react in a way that only serves to exacerbate that situation. One person who had witnessed last Fridays incident and who did not condone the behavior of some of the persons involved, raised with THE VINCENTIAN, what he perceived to be a disparity between the rights and privileges accorded some, and those allowed to others of lesser ilk. "Whiteman, he said, cant fight the big business, but he will not give up trying. High Voltage Mas Production will present a ten-section band entitled Exotic Beaches for Vincy Mas 2018. STP PRESS: THE VINCENTIAN was informed that the container that had remained in front of the High Votlage Mas Production Camp, was removed during the week. A visit to the scene confirmed that. Kaushalya Nedd, Managing Director, provides the expertise that ensures the smooth operation of Advanced Heath. The age-old question about who stands firmly behind a successful man, is applicable to Advanced Health. While Dr. Conrad Nedd is the medical professional that interfaces with the public in an intimate way, his wife, Kaushalya Nedd, who is officially designed Managing Director, brings stability to the ongoing management of the health facility and its range of services. A Sri Lankan by birth, she came to this country many years ago, and has become fully acclimatised. There is no question that her contribution is vital in completing the setting for the provision of this service, even as she juggles this responsibility with her duties as husband and mother to two sons. Mrs Nedd, obviously proud of Advanced Health, was overly heartened by the April 28 Open Day that Advanced Health staged as part of its programme of activities to mark its 1st Anniversary. The Open Day featured services by eye specialists, paediatricians, nutritionists, five general medical practitioners, three nurses and technicians. In addition to the over 100 persons who benefited from the free clinics, 12 Biology students from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College were also in attendance. "We try to provide all the services, the Managing Director said. Mrs Nedd was pleased to say Advanced Health, among its many training programmes, was the local source of certification in Basic Life Support Training, an area of training she herself was able to put to good use in responding to the needs of a person who was involved in an incident, which occurred on the Leeward Highway, next to her clinic. She is looking forward to another successful year of service to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Abu Dhabi's total trade with Saudi Arabia amounted to Dh1.4 billion ($381 million) during January, an increase of 3.7 per cent over the same month 2017, a media report said. Saudi Arabia comes on top of Arab and Gulf countries with the largest trade volume with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, accounting for around 11.3 per cent of the emirate's total trade with all world countries during January, which is valued at Dh12.4 billion, reported Emirates news agency Wam, citing figures released by Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi. Market analysts attributed the bilateral trade growth to the privileged economic relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially following the formation of an ad hoc committee dedicated to the development of trade between the two sides, last year. Abu Dhabi's total imports from Saudi Arabia amounted to Dh950 million during January, against Dh888 in the same month 2017. I Re-exports between the two sides increased from Dh152 million to around Dh230 million during the same period, while exports were down to Dh205 million from Dh3000 million. Abu Dhabi's total trade with Saudi Arabia in 2017 totalled around Dh17.4 billion, accounting for 11.1 per cent of the emirate's total trade with all world countries by the end of December. Despite the German Federal government pushing for asylum seekers to voluntarily return to their countries of origin, several migrants have complained that the German bureaucracy has prevented them from returning at all. Breitbart reports in its artilce Migrants Claim German Bureaucrats Preventing Them From Returning To Their Home Countries that Last month German Development Minister Gerd Muller announced a new programmethat would see the government partner with corporations like Siemens to help train migrants once they returned to their countries. The programme was announced soon after reports that over 20,000 forced deportations failed in 2017. One of the migrants who has complained about Germanys bureaucrats is Syrian asylum seeker Jiwan Bozkurt who came to Germany at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. Despite wanting to return to Syria to rejoin his family, his request to travel to Syria was rejected because bureaucrats believed his passport may have been forged by the Islamic State terror group German broadcaster MDR reports. Bozkurt claims he has attempted to correct the issue by submitting identification documents to the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Saxony-Anhalt where he currently lives. Due to bureaucratic delays, he claims to have not received a decision despite meeting with immigration officials on 20 separate occasions. According to the LKA, the papers had been checked and sent back to the immigration officials, but still had not been processed. Amita Patel from India has made similar accusations against the German bureaucratic system. Coming to Germany with her family in 2010, Patel gave birth to a son in Leipzig five years ago but could not get a birth certificate issued for him since neither she nor her husband could provide authorities with their passports. Patel was given an order to leave Germany along with her family but due to the missing birth certificate, the bureaucracy determined that her son had an unexplained identity, forcing the pair to prove their Indian citizenship in order to get a birth certificate issued. The German federal government has heavily promoted voluntary deportations, investing millions of euros into programmes to encourage asylum seekers to return to their countries of origin. Islamophobia in Europe has its roots in Muslim migration to the continent in the aftermath of the Second World War, an Islamic scholar in Switzerland observed while addressing a conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Gulf News reports in its article Islamophobia isnt new to Europe, scholar says that many poor Muslims migrated to post-war Europe to fill the vacuum created by mass deaths of natives in the war, said Fawzia Al Ashmawi, researcher and president, Muslim Women Forum in Europe. Although Muslims helped with the post-war reconstruction and development, being poor and uneducated, they could not raise their voice against the low wages they received and other discrimination they faced, Al Ashmani said at the International Congress on Muslim Minorities in Abu Dhabi. However, when the next generation of Muslims received an education and went on to become professionals and started asserting their rights as European citizens, the European media turned critical of them, Al Ashmawi, a professor of Islamic Civilisation, said at a panel discussion on Role of Islamic communities in promoting multiculturalism. She said the media used the negative developments involving Muslims in the Middle East to vilify the Muslims in Europe. Now there is an extremist party in almost all European countries that fear that Muslims will Islamise Europe. The professor said it is a distorted view. Islamophobia is strengthening in Europe and we have to address it. Every Muslim in Europe should become the ambassador of [true Islam], she said. The scholar said many poor Muslims still migrate to Europe illegally; being uneducated and unskilled to get a job, they are attracted by extremist elements. This problem should be addressed and everyone should learn to live peacefully with other communities, she said. Shaikh Mohammad Khalayleh, Grand Mufti of Jordan, was the chairperson of the panel discussion and Dr Awad Saleh, President Unesco Heritage Panel in the UAE, acted as rapporteur. Dr Mohhammad Bin Salah, dean of Islamic Studies Centre in the University of Granada in Spain said he was disappointed to see that some of the Muslim issues were being discussed for the past 20 year. We just talk only without doing anything about them, Bin Salah said. He suggested proactive steps to address the issues of the community. The two-day congress announced the charter of the World Council of Muslim Minorities based in Abu Dhabi that will cater to around 500 million Muslims working and living outside the Islamic world. More than 400 leaders of Muslim minorities in around 130 countries are attending the event that discusses ways to prevent radicalisation of Muslim minorities across the globe. France's President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to move decisively and quickly on reforming the European Union, saying the bloc's biggest economy must look past its "fetish" for surpluses and bring about change at a critical juncture. Radio France Internationale reports in its article Macron urges Merkel to 'act now' on Europe that a year after he took office, Macron voiced his impatience at a Germany that has so far proved resistant to his flagship reform proposals for the eurozone including a common finance minister and budget to drive growth. "Don't wait, act now," he said in an impassioned plea to Merkel, who was in attendance at the award ceremony in Aachen where the French president received the prestigious Charlemagne prize for his efforts in boosting EU integration and cohesion. At a time when the United States is going its own way in ditching the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, as well as threatening allies with punitive trade tariffs, Macron said Europe needs more than ever to stand united and show greater strength. "If we accept that other major powers, including allies, ... put themselves in a situation to decide our diplomacy, security for us, and sometimes even make us run the worst risks, then we are not more sovereign and we cannot be more credible to public opinion," Macron said, in a clear attack against US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the hard-fought Iran accord. Trump has also warned European companies to pull out of Iran or face sanctions. But Macron urged Europeans to stand up against diktats from abroad. "Don't be weak," he said. "We need to choose, build, speak with all so as to construct our own sovereignty that will be the guarantor of stability in (the Middle East), stressed Macron. 'Take destiny in own hands' Merkel too underlined that Europe can no longer count on the United States. "It is no longer such that the United States simply protects us, but Europe must take its destiny in its own hands, that's the task of the future," she said. But she also underlined that disagreements still dog many proposals for further integration of the bloc. Macron has made little headway to date on a range of ambitious projects, most notably a common eurozone budget and finance minister, a joint military "rapid reaction force" and an EU tax on the revenues of technology giants. Discussions on the eurozone are "difficult" between France and Germany, acknowledged Merkel. But "the European economic and currency union must be made more sustainable." "We will make the eurozone more crisis-proof," she said, adding that she expects agreements on a banking union. But crucially, the German leader was silent on Macron's call for a common eurozone budget. Her party has also firmly slapped down the proposal of a finance minister for the bloc. Undeterred, Macron insisted Thursday that he wants "a more integrated eurozone, with its own budget". He also took aim at the Germans over their reluctance to spend, as well as their wariness of any plan that potentially draw resources from richer countries to help out struggling ones. Turning the tables on the German argument, Macron said: "In Germany, there cannot be a perpetual fetish for budget and trade surpluses, because they are achieved at the expense of others." The stakes are high as France, Germany and Britain face a period of outright confrontation with historic ally United States, over both Iran and Trump's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU. Washington has already warned that European companies will be subject to fresh sanctions against Tehran, setting a six-month deadline to end any business in Iran or risk heavy penalties. Macron and Merkel have promised to agree a common roadmap for the future of the EU by the time of a major summit in Brussels in June. "The only solution that we have is unity," said Macron. The first deputy head of the Armenian police, Lieutenant General of Police Hunan Poghosyan has resigned. "I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues for many years of joint work, for everything that we were able to do faithfully in the name of law, people and citizens," Poghosyan said today in a statement. Poghosyan expressed his gratitude to Armenian citizens. "Armenian Police and Armenian citizens jointly achieved success. This has been demonstrated most clearly following the peaceful resolution of the crisis, as the whole police system played a big role in it, particularly, Valeri Osipyan, whom I consider to be one of the disciplined and organized police officers," News.am cited the statement as saying. As reported earlier, Valeri Osipyan was appointed Police Chief at the proposal of the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenia's acting emergency minister, David Tonoyan, will be appointed today as defense minister, the republic's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. "The decree will be signed today, and other ministers will be appointed very soon," ARKA cited the PM as saying. Vigen Sargsyan served as defence minister from October 2016 until May 2018. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host a meeting with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, RT reports. They will discuss the situation over the 2015 agreement with Tehran after US President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of it. Following the consultations, Mogherini and the ministers will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the European External Action Service said in a statement on Friday. The European Union is seriously concerned by the recent attack on Israeli army posts on the Golan Heights, which Israel blames on Iran, the European Unions External Action service said on Thursday, TASS reported. "Reports about last night's Iranian attacks against Israeli army posts from inside Syria to which Israel responded by striking against Iranian targets in Syria are extremely worrying," an EU spokesperson said in a statement. The document stresses that "Israel has the right to defend itself." "At the same time, we call on all regional actors to show restraint and avoid any escalation, which could further undermine regional stability," the statement reads. France has condemned as "unacceptable" a US move to re-impose sanctions on companies trading with Iran. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said European companies should not have to pay for the US decision, BBC reports. In an interview with Le Parisien, Mr Le Drian said: "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable. The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal from an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed." He said the new sanctions regime would also affect the US and that Europeans would "put in place the necessary measures to protect the interests of our companies and start negotiations with Washington" on the matter. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and first vice president Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening ceremony of Dinamo hotel in Baku. The head of state and first vice president cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the hotel and viewed conditions created there. The president then met with the hotel staff and posed for photographs together with them, AzerTAc reported. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that if Heydar Aliyev was in Azerbaijan at that time, then he never allowed the separatist tendencies to raise their heads and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began. Speaking at a solemn ceremony dedicated to the 95th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, the head of state stressed that Bakus principled position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only on the basis of norms and principles of international law, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be fully restored, four resolutions of the UN Security Council must be implemented," Aliyev said, noting that there is no other way to resolve the conflict. He added that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is not the subject of negotiations, has never been and never will be. "The Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state will never allow a second Armenian state to be created on Azerbaijani soil. If someone thinks differently, I believe that he vainly lives in illusions," the president stressed, noting that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should be ensured completely and unconditionally. "Justice and international law require this. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan," APA cited Ilham Aliyev as saying. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal undermines confidence in the global order. Speaking in the western German city of Muenster, Merkel noted that it took 12 years of work to put together. She conceded that "it is certainly anything but ideal" and acknowledged that there are many other issues of concern with Iran. "Nevertheless, I think it is not right to unilaterally cancel a deal that was agreed, that was unilaterally approved in the U.N. Security Council. That diminishes confidence in the international order," the Associated Press cited her as saying. At the same time, Merkel stressed that Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is no reason to call into question the transatlantic cooperation. Yesterday, Merkel said that Europe can no longer count on the U.S. for military protection. "Its no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us. Rather, Europe needs to take its fate into its own hands. Thats the task for the future," she stressed. The chancellor said in a phone call with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani that Germany will continue to adhere to the Iran nuclear deal. The deputy dean of the Faculty of Global Economics and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University, Andrei Suzdaltsev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the split between Europe and the United States is not yet deep, but European countries want Washington to be more predictable. "Europe does not understand Trump's actions, what he is trying to achieve, but they feel that the US president is solving his internal political problems at the expense of the Euro-Atlantic solidarity. Europe has already lost a lot from the anti-Russian sanctions, and it does not want the sanctions curtain to return to Iran. The EU plans to invest heavily in Iranian facilities - and now Trump demands to stop it in his own interests," he explained. "It turns out that Trump acts against European competitors, preventing them from developing in the direction of Iran. Europe does not like the fact that it will not succeed in avoiding sanctions. It will protest, but the US influence is colossal, and in the end, Europe will have to hand over the Iranian market to China and Russia. We had very good positions on the Iranian market, but when the sanctions were lifted, the Iranians immediately reoriented to Europe. Not it's time to ensure that we warned Tehran that the situation in the West is unreliable for a reason, and, apparently, it will have to resume previous cooperation with Russia," Suzdaltsev stressed. "Europe has been trapped, because the main European companies working with Iran also work in the US market, where they earn much more money. They wouldn't take the risk of opposing the US," the deputy dean of the Faculty of Global Economics and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University added. The senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, drew attention to the fact that disagreements between the EU and the US have existed before, but now they became particularly acute. "Europe's indignation and perplexity is due to the fact that it maintains active economic relations with Iran, its new market, invests in the Iranian economy, while the US sanctions may lead to the fact that many European companies will be under so-called secondary sanctions, which will affect the trade of the EU countries with Iran," he said. "Iran is not the only point where the interests of the US and Europe are being tested. There are many such points, and one cannot say that Iran is a point of separation between the US and Europe. But as a factor of the increasing deterioration of these relations, the disagreements over the Iranian nuclear deal really have a negative impact. They will increasingly deteriorate because the US introduced new metal tariffs for the EU countries. If the US also tries to prohibit Europe's economic cooperation with Iran, it will be a serious undermining for the EU, and benefit for the Americans," Vladimir Olenchenko concluded. The presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdgan, agreed in a phone conversation yesterday to coordinate their further steps regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear program, the Kremlin press service said. "The situation, linked to United States unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA on Irans nuclear program, was discussed. It was stressed that the JCPOA is of utmost importance for international and regional security and also for the global non-proliferation," the Kremlin said in a statement. The sides also confirmed "Russia and Turkeys determination for further cooperation with other participants of the Plan of Action and for coordination of measures in this context," TASS cited the statement as saying. US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal as it provides Iran with possibilities of creating a nuclear bomb bypassing all currently in force restrictions under the agreement and added that another deal should be signed with Iran. He also promised to reintroduce sanctions linked to Irans nuclear program and even impose new ones. He also stated that the US is ready to sign a new agreement instead of the JCPOA, but set de-facto impossible conditions for Iran. The UK, Germany and France stated that they would continue to fulfill the agreement. Europe can no longer count on the US in defense and must take matters into its own hands, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who also said: Something should be done, RT reports. Its no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us, Merkel said in a speech honoring President Macron, who came to Aachen to receive the prestigious Charlemagne Prize. Receiving a round of applause, Merkel stated: Rather, Europe needs to take its fate into its own hands. Thats the task for the future. Europe has to act together and speak with one voice," she said, as cited by Germanys Die Welt newspaper. But let's be honest: Europe is still in its infancy with regard to the common foreign policy. Speaking after Merkel, Macron said that We should not be waiting, we must do something right now. Let us not be weak, added the French president. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Russias Black Sea resort city of Sochi on May 18 to discuss a wide range of international issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, acting presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday, TASS reported. "We have already announced that our president will have a very important contact on May 18. It will be German Chancellor [Angela] Merkels working visit. It has been agreed that the two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and, naturally, focus will be made on the current international problems," he said, adding that topics for discussion will include "the Iran nuclear deal, the Syrian settlement, the Ukrainian crisis and so on, i.e. all possible and impossible problems of the international agenda." President Armen Sarkissian has signed several decrees, appointing new First Deputy Prime Minister, deputy prime minister and several ministers, PanARMENIAN.Net reported. Accordingly, lawmaker from Yelk bloc Ararat Mirzoyan will be Armenias new First Deputy Prime Minister, while Yelk spokesman Tigran Avinyan will the deputy prime minister. Under the current constitution, the government will have two deputy prime ministers, but the name of the second one is yet to be revealed. In other decrees, acting Minister of Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan, who used to serve as Deputy Defense Minister for a long time prior to 2017, was appointed the Minister of Defense, while Yelk members Arayik Harutyunyan, Suren Papikyan and Mkhitar Hayrapetyan have been appointed the Ministers of Education and Science, of Territorial Administration, and of Diaspora, respectively. Russian tourists will be able to use their national currency - the ruble - in Turkey, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said. The minister explained that the talks are underway between Turkey and Russia in this regard. The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry earlier said that 97.5 thousand tourists from Russia visited Turkey in March, which is 39 thousand people more than in March 2017. A senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami said that if Israel acts "foolishly", Tel Aviv and Haifa would be destroyed, state TV reported. "We will expand our missile capabilities despite western pressure (to curb it) .... to let Israel know that if it acts foolishly, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be totally destroyed," the cleric said during Friday prayers at Tehran University. On Thursday morning, Israel attacked tens of Iranian military facilities in Syria in response to a missile attack on the army positions in the Golan Heights. Earlier on Thursday, Irans Quds Force had launched at least 20 missiles and other projectiles on the frontlines of the Israeli army in the Golan Heights, according to Israel. According to the survey, conducted by the Transparency International Georgia, 44% of respondents say President Giorgi Margvelashvili should pardon former President Mikheil Saakashvili in case he arrived in Georgia, InterPressNews reported. The survey, which is ordered by organization, reflects the results of the public opinion survey and is carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC). According to the same survey, 38% of respondents say that President Margvelashvili should not pardon Saakashvili. 18 % - refrained from replying to the question. The survey was conducted on March 3-28 and a total of 1843 people were interviewed throughout Georgia. The average margin of error is 2.8 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed North Korea on Wednesday, including Trumps upcoming meeting with Pyongyangs Kim Jong Un, the White House said in a statement released on Thursday, Reuters reported. They also said they remained committed to cooperating with South Korea and affirmed the shared goal of North Korea abandoning its illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, the statement said. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that five of the "most wanted" ISIS leaders have been captured, CNN reported. Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve Army Col. Ryan Dillon tweeted on Thursday that Iraq captured five key ISIS leaders as part of Operation Roundup. The tweet did not specify when or where the five were captured or give any names, but it did categorize the individuals as "key ISIS leaders" rather than "most wanted" as stated in Trump's post. The Tsarukyan parliamentary bloc will be part of the new Armenian government, while negotiations with the Dashnaktsutyun continue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. "We must find the best personnel decisions, and the Tsarukyan bloc will be involved in the formation of the government. As for the Dashnaktsutyun, the talks are still going on," ARKA cited Pashinyan as saying. He added that at this moment he does not intend to change the structure of the government because of shortage of time. The Tsarukyan parliamentary bloc and Dashnaktsutyun joined the anti-government protests led by Pashinyan in late April forcing two-time president and prime minister Serzh Sargsyan to resign April 23. Turkey will continue to trade with Iran without violating the requirements of the UN, Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said. "It is an opportunity for Turkey. We will continue to have trade with Iran while complying with the UN resolutions on nuclear activities," Zeybekci said at the Anadolu Agencys Editors' Desk in Ankara. Zeybekci emphasized that Turkey's position was clear on Iran, which was a "friendly and brother" country for Ankara. "We believe in this: The stronger Iran gets in this region, the stronger Turkey becomes as well, and the stronger Turkey becomes, the stronger Iran gets as well," the minister added. The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on six people associated, according to Washington, with the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as against three companies related to the IRGC. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim expressed willingness to consider Armenia's will to re-establish diplomatic relations. Yildirim's remarks came after a question on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans statement on May 9 that "Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic ties with Turkey without preconditions." "Let's see first," Yildirim said. "If Armenia gives up its hostile attitude which it has had for several years, its attitude towards Turkey's territorial integrity and borders, if it is giving up all its wrong attitudes... and it wants to open a new page, we will give the response looking at the details relating to this." "We are going to increase friends, we are going to reduce enemies," he added. "We do not desire to be hostile with anyone, especially our neighbors." Anadolu Agency cited Turkish Prime Minister as saying. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will pay a visit to Moscow on May 14 for consultations on the nuclear deal. He is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, a source in the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. "Mr. Minister will visit China on Saturday [May 12], will pay a visit to Moscow on Monday [May 14] and will take part in a meeting of the European parties to the deal in Brussels on Tuesday [May 15]," TASS cited the source as saying. "In Moscow Zarif plans to meet with Lavrov. [The two sides] will discuss the situation around the Iranian nuclear deal ," the source added. HA NOI Recent surges in transactions and withdrawal fees at a number of commercial banks went against the State Bank of Vietnams (SBV) initial policy roadmap for a seamlessly cashless society. For the past few months, a number of joint stock banks have continuously increased service charges, including SMS Banking fees, electronic transaction fees and interbank charges. In their latest attempt to curb uncontrolled fee hikes, SBV was quoted by a number of sources on Wednesday as having issued a decision prohibiting commercial banks from raising such charges. Said resolve is believed to be compensating for unreasonable increases in banking charges at well-known banks such as Agribank, VietinBank, and Vietcombank since the beginning of this year. Representatives from these banks also confirmed they had received the SBVs instructions and would devise a concerete plan to stop raising handling charges immediately. Agribank is set to increase cardholders withdrawal fees at the banks ATMs to VN1,650 (US$0.07) from the pervious VN1,100 starting May 12. VietinBank also announced a similar fee increase since May 5, with Vietcombank following suit on May 16. Vietcombank also increased mobile banking charges from VN8,800 to VN11,000 per month since March 1. ao Minh Tuan, chairman of the Vietnam Bank Card Association said that the hikes in banks service fees were "in accordance with international practice" and "justified" to cover expenses necessary for the upkeep of ATMs. Speaking at a banking conference organised by SBV on Tuesday, Tuan said that the current estimated VN7,000 to VN10,000 transaction cost enforced by numerous commercial banks across the country was reasonable, as it included all the necessary costs from ATM maintance to service, which he considered inevitable. The increase in service fees was part of the banks overall plan to expand non-interest income, besides regular credit loans, in the context of controlled credit growth rates via SBVs imposed quota of less than 20 per cent annually, as opposed to banks average growth of 30 to 40 per cent in 2018, Tuan added. At the moment, banking charges are set under the SBVs Circular 35. Accordingly, the maximum charge for cardholders per debit transaction is VN3,000 for domestic debit cards from 2015 onwards. This is seen as the ceiling price for most banks charges, which so far has yet been breached. Nonetheless, commercial banks should focus on other services to offset losses, rather than increasing ATM charges, said Tuan. Remaining banks such as ACB, VIB, Techcombank, or VPBank still maintain a free-of-charge money transfer between accounts at the same bank, with Techcombank going as far as keeping interbank transactions free as well. On another note, the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) announced in January an adjustment plan to reduce domestic interbank transaction fees under the SBVs Directive No. 01. Accordingly, for cash withdrawals at ATMs, NAPAS will aim for a fee reduction starting March 1, with a maximum reduction of VN150 per transaction, and it will not collect ATM service fees from banks as of March 1, 2021. VNS By Brian Spence* The good news just keeps coming for the Vietnamese economy. As discussed in this column, it enjoyed its strongest start to the year in a decade growing by 7.38 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2018, marking itself out as one of the true powerhouses of Asia. Best-case expectations for full-year growth are in the region of 6.7-6.8 per cent, but there are hopes of just over 7 per cent from some quarters. Now, the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is coming into view a deal which has been heralded as the most ambitious of its kind between the bloc and a developing nation, and one which will put an end to 99 per cent of customs duties on goods. Although concluded in 2015, the EVFTA is only expected to have been ratified and come into force by the end of 2018; but, when it does, what a blessing it is likely to prove. It is expected that the Agreement will boost the Vietnamese economy by up to 15 per cent of GDP and exports to Europe by a third or more. European appetite Earlier this month, I highlighted Viet Nams burgeoning electronics manufacturing sector, particularly as regards smartphones, but this is just one part of a multi-faceted boom. Viet Nam has a particularly strong growth story to tell with food exports, for example. Last year, Viet Nam achieved record highs in both seafood and fruit and vegetable exports, the former hitting US$8.32 billion (an 18 per cent year-on-year rise) and the latter $3.514 billion (up 43 per cent). As with manufacturing, the Chinese market has been crucial here. But Viet Nams economic take-off is also making the country a target for exporting countries too as its citizens amass wealth. Once the EVFTA is live we can expect things to get very interesting indeed in terms of European involvement in Viet Nams food and beverage sector. Coffee production and processing has been a growth market for some 10 years, with the Italians major players here. Their profile is set to soar following an Italian trade delegations visit to HCM City last year to explore the opportunities for food and drinks once free Europe-Viet Nam trade is in place. Meanwhile, other European countries have been rapidly expanding their exports to Viet Nam, such as with Poland being a major supplier of meat (some estimate that the relatively-new EU member accounts for about 15 per cent of that consumed in Viet Nam). Upsand downs It is no wonder that such countries are eyeing Viet Nam as a growth market. Its fortunes couldnt stand in starker contrast to those of Europe: the eurozone grew by just 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, falling even further than the meagre 0.7 per cent recorded for the last three months of 2017. While Viet Nams manufacturing, retail and services sectors are storming ahead, in Europe their growth is grinding to a halt with lethargic exports blamed in large part. Poor weather, strikes, and shortages of skills and raw materials have dogged Europe, with a strong euro further slamming on the brakes. The Vietnamese Government is putting a multitude of measures in place to maintain the countrys growth spurt until 2020 and I expect the EVFTA to play a huge part once it is eventually live. Escaping the glacial pace of EU bureaucracy and pursuing truly global trade were key reasons that the UK opted to leave the EU, and I hope that my homeland will follow its neighbours in looking East to link hands with Viet Nam. In the past Im sure few Westerners would have considered Viet Nam to be a key export market, but with the right government policies in place we can see how things can dramatically change. The votes of confidence just keep coming for Viet Nam, and I for one am looking at a broad range of investment opportunities to profit from them. - VNS * Brian Spence is Managing Partner of S&P Investments. He has over 35 years of experience in the UK financial services industry as an investment manager, financial planner, and M&A specialist. He is a regular contributor in the UK financial press and has a deep understanding of the financial services community. Brians column will reflect on all the challenges and opportunities within the Vietnamese market, bringing a fresh perspective to todays hottest issues. The columnists email address is brian@sandpinvestments.com. HCM CITY More than 210 Thai enterprises are showcasing their products and services at the Top Thai Brands expo which opened yesterday in HCM City. The four-day exhibition offers exceptional opportunities to explore the extensive range of internationally-recognised Thai products and services and discover the business potential in various sectors such as automobile and motorcycle parts and accessories, beauty and healthcare products, food and beverages, and fashion. The fair also features services like education, tourism, franchise businesses, and food services. Viet Nam has seen strong business expansion and investment by Thai firms in the last few years, Nguyen Van Nga, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Agency for Southern Affairs, said. Last year Thailand was its largest trade partner among ASEAN members, she said. Last year bilateral trade topped US$15.11 billion, accounting for 30.5 per cent of Viet Nams trade within ASEAN. The expo has attracted many major Thai brands and firms looking for opportunities to expand their business and franchise, she said. Ureerat Ratanaprukse, the Thai consul general in HCM City, said Thai investment in just the last 10 months was $9.3 billion. This reflects the confidence of the Thai private sector in Viet Nams vibrant economy. According to her, the event not only creates business opportunities for the Thai private sector but also market access for Vietnamese to top quality products and services, thus benefiting both Thai and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Top Thai Brands 2018 is expected to contribute greatly to achieving the bilateral trade target of $20 billion by 2020 as agreed by the two countries, she added. The fair, on at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7, is being organised by the Thai Trade Centre in HCM City in collaboration with the Viet Nam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company. VNS HCM CITY Land prices have surged on Con ao Island, a popular tourist destination in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, due to massive land speculation. Speculators from HCM City and Ha Noi are now looking for land for tourism services on the island, local media have reported. A resident on the island who declined to be named said land prices have surged since late last year, creating a new wave of land fever in yet another area of the country. Many people from HCM City and Ha Noi are pouring money in tourism services on the island, pushing up prices every day, he said. Land prices on mountain roads, mostly agricultural land, have increased six or seven times from VN1-2 million per square metre, depending on location, he added. A resident paid around VN1 billion (US$43,910) for more than 2,000 square metres of land, of which 300 square metres was residential land, located on the edge of a mountain 2km from the island districts centre. Last year, an investor in HCM City agreed to pay VN3 billion to buy the plot, but he hesitated and decided not to sell. Recently someone agreed to pay VN8 billion to buy the plot, but I did not agree. According to the market price of land on the island, it should be sold at VN10 billion or more, he said. On the main roads such as Tran Phu, Pham Van ong and Nguyen Hue, land prices have soared to VN50-70 million per square metre, with no signs of stopping. A resident said he sold 100 square metres of land on Pham Van ong Street for more than VN3 billion to a French-Vietnamese couple who wanted to invest in tourism services. Nine months later, someone is willing to pay over VN6 billion for the plot, but the land owner did not agree to sell. Land in prime locations is very expensive since supply does not meet demand. A 200-square metre land on Tran Phu Street was sold for VN16 billion a few days ago, he said. According to Con ao Land Registration Office, nearly 100 land transfer transactions have been recorded in the first three months, a sharp increase compared to before. Nguyen Anh Nhut, vice chairman of Con ao Island District Peoples Committee, said that better connections by air and boat between the mainland and the island had resulted in an increasing number of tourists. On average, some 2,000 visitors come to the island per day, he said. Seeing the potential, many investors have rushed to buy land to build restaurants, hotels and resorts, but the land fund is limited. That has led to the present land rush and rising prices, he said. The highest selling price recorded was VN40 million per square metre, but in reality the price was much higher, he added. Con ao Island District Peoples Committee has already suspended issuance of licenses to build new restaurants and hotels on the island, according to Nhut. The district authorities will strictly manage the planning and land regulations to prevent illegal transfer and construction. But we cannot prohibit people from selling land or stop investors from developing legal construction projects, Nhut told local media. Lack of long-term tourism planning is the main cause for the massive development of the sector, a phenomenon that has occurred in many other areas in the country, experts have warned. The authorities on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province and Van on Island in Quang Ninh Province as well as the Van Phong Bay area in Khanh Hoa Province have been struggling to control surging land prices on the islands. These areas are slated to become special administrative economic zones if approved by the National Assembly in October. The special designation would allow them to receive preferential incentives. As such, land speculators have been flocking to the three provinces, driving property prices up. Con ao Island, a former penal colony, consists of 15 islands and islets. It has become one of the countrys most popular attractions because of natural beauty. The island is 45 minutes by flight from HCM City. Tourists can also visit the island by boat from Vung Tau City, which takes about 12 hours. VNS HA NOI The textiles and garment industry gained the second-largest export value in the first four months of this year, after the export value of phones and their components, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The export value of textiles and garments in the first four months was estimated at US$8.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.7 per cent. Regarding the export markets, the ministry said in the first three months of the year, the United States ranked first, with the export value of textiles and garments from Viet Nam reaching $3.04 billion, a year-on-year surge of 11.6 per cent. This accounted for 47.3 per cent of the total garment export value. The export value of textiles and garments from Viet Nam to Japan reached $855.44 million, 19.6 per cent higher than the same period last year, accounting for 13.3 per cent of the total export value. The export value of textiles and garments to South Korea stood at $798.6 million and $268.95 million to China, an increase of 14.8 per cent and 40.9 per cent, respectively, against the same period in 2017. Meanwhile, the value rose by 11.8 per cent to reach $806.23 million worth of exports to the European Union and by 26 per cent to $228.36 million worth of exports to the ASEAN market compared to the same period last year. To reach the target of $35 billion in total textiles and garment export value for this year, the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association has asked enterprises to fully exploit the working capacity of their workers as well as restructure their management practices to improve labour productivity. Besides maintaining and developing export markets such as the United States, European Union, Japan and South Korea, the enterprises should focus on developing other markets such as ASEAN, Eurasian Economic Union, India and Latin American countries, including linkage with the distribution system in the local market. VNS HCM CITY Viet Nam will continue to ensure enforcement of intellectual property rights violations and strictly deal with violators, representatives of the Market Surveillance Agency (MSA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said at a forum on raising IPR awareness held yesterday in HCM City. Tran Hung, MSAs deputy director, said: Enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) is increasingly important for the socio-economic development of the country. While Viet Nam has achieved positive results fighting IPR violations, anti-counterfeit activities and IPR enforcement were still not strong enough, he said. Vu Xuan Binh, deputy director of the Anti-Counterfeiting Department, said there were 4,799 cases of counterfeit goods and IPR violations last year, with total fines of VN73.8 billion. There were also a total of 273 cases of imitation of quality and utility, 3,518 cases of imitation of geographical indications, trademarks and packages, 395 cases of imitation of stamps and packaging labels, and 608 cases of infringement of IPR. Yusun Park, of the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), said that the number of counterfeit goods and IP violations increased in a strong, growing economy. She said that South Korea faced similar problems many years ago but thanks to co-operation between the government, businesses and the public, they were able to overcome the situation. Jaeheon Lee, of the Korea Intellectual Service Centre (KISTA), said the production of counterfeit goods increased as a result of high profits made by distributing counterfeit goods and prioritising cost over quality among businesses, and preference for famous foreign brands among consumers. Profits earned from selling counterfeit goods were even higher than the fines that violators must pay, he said. Counterfeit products detected in Viet Nam were mainly food items, medicine and cosmetics. He said that South Korean companies in Viet Nam faced four types of IPR violations: infringement of trademark due to registration by agents or partners; simple theft infringement; online infringement of IPR; and industrial design infringement. With the growing importance of the Vietnamese market, and the increased number of foreign enterprises in Viet Nam, including those from Korea, there would be possible future patent disputes, he said. To prevent counterfeit goods, enterprises need to register trademarks, patents and other IP rights; allow the use of IR only by the local agent; refrain from registering any IPR under the agents name; and file patent applications before taking part in exhibitions among other strategies, he added. Korean experts at the meeting also gave their assessment of the IPR enforcement system and infrastructure for IPR protection in Viet Nam. They said there had been an increase in the number of patents filed in Viet Nam, mainly from foreign entities. This showed an effort made by individuals, organisations and enterprises in protecting IPR. But in reality, there were still counterfeits goods in the market as well as many infringements of intellectual property cases, they said. Experts suggested measures to improve enforcement of IPR in Viet Nam, including strengthening civil measures and improving sanctions to increase deterrence. They said that serious infringements of IPR, which cause great damage or recidivism, should be handled under criminal law. In addition, eliminating overlapping IPR enforcement and strengthening the role of associations, enterprises, newspapers and consumers were needed. Lee said the Government should work with enterprises to strengthen regulations related to counterfeit goods Other preventive measures would include medium- and long-term strategic plans for training human resources involved in IPR enforcement; and enhancing public-private partnerships in the identification of genuine goods and counterfeit goods. Yusun said businesses in Viet Nam should pay more attention to protecting their brands and co-operate with authorised agencies that handle violations if they face IPR infringement. In a related matter, the HCM City Market Management Department yesterday organised five teams to inspect the sales of counterfeit eyeglasses and watches at Ben Thanh Market, according to Hung. He said that Viet Nam would strictly deal with trade fraud and IPR violations as well as create a sound business environment to enable investors to feel secure when investing in the country. The forum was organised by MSA in collaboration with Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. VNS HA NOI The domestic tra fish industry is facing a boom in the development of production at present, according to experts and enterprises. The boom in the industry has opened a potentially dangerous situation in which supply exceeds demand, potentially leading to a bubble. Nguyen Minh Phuong, director of Minh uc Thanh Co Ltd in Can Tho, said prices of tra fish now stand at a record of VN31,000 per kilo of regular, and VN70,000 per 30 unit kilo of specificly bred tra fish varieties, a year-on-year increase of 70 per cent and three times, respectively. With such prices, farmers have earned a profit of VN4,000 per kilo from rearing tra fish and VN40,000 per kilo from developing tra fish varieties. Duong Nghia Quoc, chairman of the Viet Nam Tra Fish Association, said the current demand for tra fish is estimated to reach 1.2 million tonnes per year, while demand for tra fish varieties is expected to reach a maximum of 2-2.5 billion units per year. Farmers in many regions, especially in the provinces of Long An and ong Thap, are promoting the production of tra fish varieties, which would push the tra fish industry into a situation of oversupply, Quoc said. Enterprises and experts said this is dangerous because growth in the supply of tra fish will be faster than demand in the market, leading to high surplus, price reductions and ultimately losses for producers, reported Thoi bao Kinh doanh newspaper. Phuong said the market still shows a great demand for tra fish but the future is unpredictable. The demand for this product is expected to increase in the future if the United States reduces trade barriers, and exports to the EU and China continue their current recovery. Nevertheless, if demand in the US and European markets remains unchanged, while the demand in China reduces, the price of tra fish would reduce accordingly, Phuong said. Even if the demand goes up, enterprises and producers should not increase the supply, he said, as the US has imposed an anti-dumping tariff on Vietnamese tra fish, and other export markets remain risky. Vu Van Tam, deputy minister of agriculture and rural development, said the tra fish industry should now be developed under a regulated production chain, and must ensure strict quality requirements in the production of fish varieties, quarantine and food safety. Tra fish is a key national product, and export markets require high technical standards production, he said. Provinces must manage tra fish production for the long-term sustainable development of exports and not for benefits in the short term. At present, China is the largest export market of Vietnamese tra fish products, but enterprises should be careful when exporting the product to this market as it is facing risks, Phuong said. Quoc agreed and noted that exports to the US in 2017 reduced by 11 per cent against the previous year, and are expected to continue reducing this year. Meanwhile, local tra fish exporters are concerned about how much the US Department of Commerce will increase the anti-dumping tariff in the 14th administrative review for Vietnamese tra fish, he said. Other markets have built trade barriers for Vietnamese tra fish products for exports as well. The lack of stability in the Chinese market means that diversification of export markets are essential, he said. Local exporters should seek new markets within the ASEAN community, and in the Middle East, he said. Viet Nam is expected to gain an export value of $2-2.2 billion from exporting tra fish this year. VNS HA NOI Vietnam Airlines Corporation will pay dividends to its shareholders at eight per centtwo per cent higher than the previous yearafter it achieved impressive results in 2017. This was announced at the shareholders meeting held in Ha Noi on Thursday. The corporation said the ratio was in line with the business results of the year and the States regulations, ensuring the balance of cash flow and financial balance for business and production operations as well as the ability to pay a stable dividend for 2018 and coming years. In 2017, Vietnam Airlines was recognised as having the best financial market index. According to the valuation of Brand Finance (an independent business valuation consultancy firm), the corporations brand value was estimated at US$310 million, up by more than 60 per cent over 2016. Last year, the corporation completed its plan targets and achieved business results in excess of the plan compared to 2016. It ran 140,000 safe flights with more than 22 million passengers. It also made a consolidated pre-tax profit of over VN3.1 trillion, surpassing 92.6 per cent of the plan, of which parent company Vietnam Airlines JSCs pre-tax profit was over VN1.9 trillion, exceeding the plan by 52 per cent. At the meeting, shareholders of Vietnam Airlines discussed and voted to pass main contents, such as the report on business results in 2017 and the main targets of the production plan business in 2018. They also approved audited financial statements for 2017 and a profit distribution plan as well as selected auditors for financial reports for the 2019-21 period. As for the business plan in 2018 approved by the shareholders, Vietnam Airlines strives to reach the target of flying more than 24.3 million passengers, marking a consolidated turnover of over VN97 trillion, of which the parent company reaches nearly VN73.5 trillion, and a consolidated pre-tax profit of over VN2.4 trillion, of which the parent company gains more than VN1.95 trillion. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue has asked the State audit agency to review the investigation conclusions concerning tax liabilities of two beer corporations amounting up to VN4.35 trillion (US$191 million). The two corporations are Sai Gon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) and Ha Noi Beer Alcohol and Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Habeco). In the latest announcement of the Government Office this week, Hue requested the audit authority to review the additional payment of VAT and excise taxes and fines for late tax payment and administrative violations of the two companies, as well as undistributed profit of Sabeco to the State budget until the end of 2016. The audit agency has also been asked to review the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in both the enterprises when implementing the audits conclusions in accordance with the law and submit the reports to the Prime Minister, related ministries and enterprises. The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and Government Inspectorate have been asked to quickly comment on the audit agencys statements and send it to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to submit a report to the Prime Minister. In early April, the Ministry of Finance requested Sabeco to pay some VN2.5 trillion worth of undistributed profit to the State budget after the State Audit of Viet Nam learnt that Sabeco did not pay this amount to the State stakeholder. According to the audit report in March, that money was part of Sabecos VN2.7 trillion in undistributed profit and was considered the dividend that the government should have received from Sabeco for its 89.6 per cent stake in the company as of December 31, 2016. While awaiting the governments instructions, Sabeco last month conducted tax procedures to temporarily pay this amount to the State budget. The tax issue is expected to be discussed at Sabecos annual general meeting in June. At Habeco, the State audit authority required an additional payment of nearly VN1.85 trillion, including tax arrears and dividend on State capital. Sabeco and Habeco are two of Viet Nams largest beer producers. Sabecos total sales reached over VN34.4 trillion in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 per cent, and its net profit was nearly VN5 trillion, marking an annual growth of 6.3 per cent. Meanwhile, Habeco saw its revenue go down by 4.5 per cent last year to VN9.84 trillion, with a net profit of VN658 billion, which also went down by 17.4 per cent against 2016. VNS HA NOI The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said on May 10 it would relocate its Southeast Asia headquarters from Singapore to the Vietnamese capital of Ha Noi. The move is aimed at supporting Korean companies doing businesses in the fast-growing Vietnamese market. The regional headquarters will be shifted to Ha Noi where Korean companies are increasingly making a presence, Kwon Pyung-oh, CEO of KOTRA, was quoted by the online Yonhap News Agency. According to KOTRA, bilateral trade between Viet Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) reached US$63.9 billion in 2017. Viet Nam is currently the fourth-largest trading partner of RoK, while the latter is Viet Nams second-largest trade partner. The agency also plans to open new business centres in Ahmedabad, an industrial city in western India, and in a Nang, a commercial hub in Viet Nams central region. KOTRA will expand business centres in promising markets to keep up with the changing trade environment, Pyung-oh said. The agency currently operates 10 local head offices and 127 business centres in 86 countries around the world. Viet Nam and RoK are working to raise two-way trade to $100 billion by 2020. In 2017, RoK ranked first among 125 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam, with a total registered capital of $57.7 billion. VNS UOB bank in Singapore. File Photo HA NOI Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) will open its first branch in Viet Nam on July 2. It is the ninth wholly foreign-owned bank and first Singaporean bank in the country. UOB Vietnam has a charter capital of VN3 trillion (US$131.3 million) and has permission to operate in Viet Nam for 99 years. On March 23 last year, State Bank of Viet Nam announced that it had given preliminary approval to UOB to set up a branch in Viet Nam during a visit of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the country. The bank received the in-principle licence in July last year. Under the licence, the bank can expand its network in the country, enabling UOB to extend financial support and offer best-in-class products and services to consumers and businesses beyond HCM City. UOB was founded in 1935. Since then, the bank has developed a global network of more than 500 offices in 19 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. In 2013, UOB set up the FDI Advisory Unit in Viet Nam, its ninth unit in the region, to offer integrated services to its clients expanding their businesses within the country and across borders. UOB has also been promoting Viet Nam as an investment destination, supporting its regional clients venturing into and expanding within the country. In 2015, UOB signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Viet Nams Foreign Investment Agency to facilitate trade and investment between Viet Nam and Southeast Asia. Apart from UOB Vietnam, eight other foreign banks operating in the country are HSBC (Hong Kong), ANZ (Australia), Standard Chartered (United Kingdom), Shinhan Vietnam (South Korea), Hong Leong Bank, CIMB and Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia) and CitiBank (United States). VNS Prof. Tran Thanh Van, founder of Recontres du Vietnam a development initiative that has brought the worlds renowned scientists to Viet Nam for discussions since 1993 talks with Viet Nam News reporter Hoang Anh about this years event which marks 25 years since the first meeting. Among the many distinguished scientists in attendance at this years Recontres du Vietnam conference at the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education are two Nobel laureates Prof. Gerardt Hooft, Nobel prize winner in Physics in 1999 and Prof. Finn Kydland, Nobel prize winner in Economics in 2004. Why did you decide to invite them to Viet Nam? It was my wish for them to get to know Viet Nam better, to help connect Vietnamese scientists with renowned scientists from around the world. For instance, Prof. Kydland will meet and talk with teachers and students in Hue. Thats what we have always tried to arrange for our distinguished guests: to have them talk to Vietnamese young people and students, encouraging them to follow in the path of science. This year marks the 25th year of Recontres du Vietnam, what special events are you planning for this important milestone? The first Recontres du Vietnam was held in 1993 with around 60 international scientists and 40 Vietnamese. I want to invite many of the original guests from back then to attend this years meeting on August 5-11. It will be a much different conference than the first, which will only focus in scientific topics and almost exclusively for scientists and researchers. There will be many renowned scientists, among which two or three Nobel winners have confirmed their attendance. One of them is a very special guest for me on a personal level for he was the one who inspired me to follow a career in science. He used to serve as advisor to Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and helped China develop the country. I hope his presence will emphasise the important role of science in national development. It will be another opportunity for Vietnamese scientists to meet and connect with some of the most brilliant scientific minds from around the world. Why did you choose Binh inh as the location for ICISE and not one of the well-connected cities such as Ha Noi or HCM City? One of the reasons why we chose Binh inh was because it was not well connected to the rest of the country. We wanted scientists to come here only for science and not for any other reasons. It was also because of the enthusiasm of the provincial authorities in their support. The province fully understood and supported our goal of building a centre for scientific development. Another important reason why we chose Binh inh over other locations was because the province is home to Quy Nhon University. What are your recommendations on the development of science in Viet Nam? We have to accept the fact that the development of science in Viet Nam is lagging compared to the rest of the world. Therefore, it is imperative for us to learn from the international science community, to open our doors and invite them to come and help us develop. This is why our conferences aim at attracting an international audience with international impact. Of course, it also provides a venue for Vietnamese scientists to meet and exchange ideas with their peers from around the world. We have set up study groups which consist of both foreign scientists and young Vietnamese scientists to help them build their relations and further co-operation. What contributions are Vietnamese scientists and policymakers bringing to this years conference? There will be more contributions and participation by Vietnamese scientists and policymakers at this years event. For instance, we are trying to have at least one Vietnamese at every round-table discussion this year and it is a very good sign. It is my hope that Vietnamese scientists and policymakers will continue to attend our conferences. It is important to communicate our goals and vision for our countrys scientific development with the international community. What projects is ICISE working on to improve its education and research capacity? The most important asset in the development of science is human resources. We need young scientists who are willing to work and take risks. We have two PhD graduates who came back to Viet Nam after completing their studies overseas to work at the centre. It is my wish for them to take root here in Quy Nhon, to dedicate themselves and grow following the path of science. Currently, we have two groups who are working on research in the fields of theoretical and practical physics. Our priority is to encourage young scientists to follow their own path, to have freedom to explore science and reach their full potential. The important thing to note about science is even if one out of a million scientists discover a breakthrough it will be a huge step for science as a whole. VNS Members of the 12th-tenure Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee (CPVCC ) yesterday agreed a need to reform the social security policy. VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung HA NOI Members of the 12th-tenure Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee (CPVCC) yesterday agreed a need to reform the social security policy. This is part of measures to fulfill the countrys determination of achieving universal social protection at their working session yesterday. Discussing the master plan, they stressed that the insurance was considered as one of the main pillars of the system, contributing an important part to implementing progress and equality. They agreed with the goals, tasks and solutions set by the plan. Under the reform plan, the country aims to have 35 per cent of people in the labour age group participating in social insurance by 2021. The figure is expected to increase to 45 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2030. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien said right now, only 13.9 million out of 53 million people in the labour age group have social security, adding that the coverage was at low level. Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs ao Ngoc Dung proposed issue policies to increase attractiveness of social security and increase support to help poor and disadvantaged people to join. Regarding the plan to reduce the minimum compulsory time to pay for social security from 20 years to 10 years, many members said the reduction may cause imbalance between collection and spending. They also proposed increase fines for those found not making contributions. Social insurance debt has been recorded in many localities and at different businesses, including both foreign and State-owned. Total social insurance debt was estimated at over VN14 trillion (US$622 million) as of mid-2017. Social security is paid monthly by employees and employers to cover costs in the event of retirement, maternity leave, bereavement, unemployment, or work-related health costs. Minister Dung said adjusting retirement age was the general trend of the world and the adjustment depended on many factors. Viet Nam was in the golden population period but it would start to enter the aging population by 2026. If we do not act now, we will leave burden on our younger generations, he said. The current retirement age, 55 for women and 60 for men, was established in 1960 at the time when the average life expectancy was more than 40 years old. But now, the average life expectancy increased to 78 for females and 79.5 for males, the highest in the region while the average retirement age was lowest in the region. Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam Ho uc Phoc proposed retirement age at 62 for men and 58 for women. They also proposed a study to decide different retirement age for people of different sectors, depending on the special characteristics of their jobs. VNS Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam as well as Mekong sub-regional countries were among topics discussed at the Mekong-Republic of Korea Peace Forum 2018 held yesterday in Ha Noi. Photo vovtv.vov.vn HA NOI Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam as well as Mekong sub-regional countries were among topics discussed at the Mekong-Republic of Korea Peace Forum 2018 held yesterday in Ha Noi. The Mekong - Mekong Peace Forum 2018 is a continuation of the achievements of the two previous forums and expands the scope of discussion to connect the participation of delegates from the Mekong sub-region countries, Pham Hong Thai, head of Institute for Northeast Asian Studies under Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences said in his opening remarks. It was aimed at strengthening the cooperation between the countries for the development of peace and prosperity, he said. According to Nguyen Thi Tham, from Institute for Northeast Asian Studies, the RoK considers Viet Nam a key partner in RoK President Moon Jae-in new southern policy. With its special geographic location, Viet Nam plays an important role in cooperative policy of the RoK in the region, she said. It was necessary to boost cooperation between Viet Nam and the RoK in the context of the implementation of the new southern policy which focuses on Southeast Asia, she added. This idea was also shared by Kwon Yul from Korea Institute International Economic Policy. Given the expanding global trade protectionists and increasing instability in global economy, the two countries should cooperate closely to effectively support countries in the Mekong sub-region. Regarding plans for future development, he suggested that multilateral forums such as APEC, the Republic of Korea-ASEAN and the Republic of Korea-Mekong Sub-region should be intensified in response to challenges like food, energy and non-traditional security. He also said Viet Nam was acting as an important partner in the economic development in the region. South Korea is the biggest investor in Viet Nam and bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$64 billion last year However, he underlined the need to tackle Viet Nam s trade deficit to the RoK which stood at $31.7 billion last year. He suggested the country improve supporting industry as well as strengthening technology competence. Viet Nam mainly exports to South Korea phone and phone components, computer and computer components, machines and equipment and textile and garment products. It imported instruments, computers, electronics, petroleum, phones and plastics. During the forum, participants also hailed the positive move in the Korean peninsula. The meeting of RoK President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Panmunjeom was a historic milestone, opening up a good prospect towards peace, unification and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula , they said. A NANG The Japan-Viet Nam Friendship Association of Kawasaki has donated around 200 bicycles to underprivileged children in the districts of Hoa Vang, Cam Le and Ngu Hanh Son of a Nang City every year since 2003. The association said the bike donation project, which was organised by Haruo Miyahara, director of the association in 2003, has delivered over 12,000 second-hand bikes to school children facing financial difficulties in a Nang and Quang Nam . Volunteers helped collect and package the bikes in containers for shipping from Kawasaki port to a Nang and delivering them to kids living in a Nang and Quang Nam . Miyahara confirmed that this project would continue and develop to further boost friendship and cooperation in the future. The Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association was established by the Japanese veterans who remained in Viet Nam after the second world war to fight for Vietnamese independence. It was established on March 19, 1955, when they returned to Japan . a Nang and Hoi An boost cultural exchange with Japan by hosting the annual Viet Nam-Japan Culture Exchange Festival in August. Japan plans to open a Consulate General in a Nang as a way of boosting tourism and exchange between Japan and the central city. Japanese language teaching has been offered at some junior secondary schools as part of the citys foreign language teaching programme for 2012-20. QUANG NAM Farmers in the central provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai have been struggling to sell enough watermelons to turn a profit, as the price of the farm produce sharply dropped from VN7,000 (US$0.3) per kilo last month to VN1,000 ($0.04) or VN1,200 ($0.05) per kilo in recent days. The decreased price has left nearly 5,000 tonnes of watermelon on farms in Phu Ninh District of Quang Nam and Binh Son District of Quang Ngai the two major localities with the largest watermelon farms in the central region. Some farmers in Quang Nam Province had to sell water melons at VN500 ($0.02), just to make a few cents and avoid cleaning up rotting water melon. Duong Van Hoa, a farmer in Tam Phuoc Commune of Quang Nam Province s Phu Ninh District, said traders rushed to buy watermelon but only paid VN1,300 or VN1,000 for a kilo, or left if the farmer asked for a higher price. This years crop was a bumper harvest of watermelon. We expected a good income for the crop, but its really a heavy loss for me, Hoa said. Our nine tonnes of watermelon would earn VN50 million, but we could only hope for around VN10 million, he said. He said his family had to offer VN500 per kilo at wholesale markets. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, in Phu Ninh District, said he spent VN12 million ($530) on labour costs and fertiliser for his own 3,000sq.m farm, but he could face a heavy loss at too-cheap prices. The Ministry of Industry and Trade warned about lower prices last month, when the watermelon crop in the central region was ready at the same time as the watermelon harvest in China one of the major markets for Viet Nam s farm produce. Vo Thanh Anh, from Phu Ninh Districts agriculture office, said the district has a total of 490ha water melon with productivity of 12,700 tonnes. Anh said two thirds of water melon on farms had been harvested and sold at VN6,000 (0.26 cent) per kilo, but 3,000 tonnes have yet to be sold due to decreased price in recent weeks. He said the district had planned 400ha for watermelon, but farmers had planed much more, expecting the higher output would correlate with higher profits. They (farmers) thought they would earn the best price as last years crop, and thats the reason they expanded the crop area, Anh explained. In Binh Son District of Quang Ngai Province, with an area of 730ha, there remained 1,200 tonnes of watermelon unsold on farm, as the price went down to merely VN1,100 per kilo. Nguyen Thi Phuong in Binh Chuong Commune of Binh Son District said she invested VN15 million for her 2,500sq.m melon crop farm, but she would earn only VN8 million nearly 50 per cent of the crop input investment at the current low price of VN1,100 per kilo. She said she would recoup her investment if she could sell watermelon at VN3,000 ($0.13) per kilo. Almost farmers in four major communes Binh Thanh Tay, Binh Chuong, Binh Hoa and Binh Tri of Binh Son District in the province have suffered heavy losses because of the bumper crop this year. Vice chairman of Binh Son Districts Peoples Committee Nguyen Quang Trung said poor marketing and post-harvest technology as well as inadequate preservation were seen as the main causes of the surplus. Trung said the district has launched a pilot project with organic seedless watermelon variety for sale at super markets. He said the organic watermelon is offered at VN8,000 per kilo at Co-op mart in Quang Ngai City, but only one tonne is available. He said the district would promote organic farming with a higher price and stable market for farm produce in the coming years. Not only watermelon, chili and pumpkin were unsold thanks to a sharp decline in prices. In 2014, the same situation had happened in the central region with dragon fruit, watermelon and purple onion due to poor master planning and marketing. by Bich Huong In a business-as-usual scenario, the worlds oceans could contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastic than fish [by weight]. The numbers in a report launched at the World Economic Forum 2016 crossed my mind again when I saw images of trash abandoned at beaches and other tourist attractions that went viral on internet after recent public holidays on April 30 and May 1. More similar images are likely to come as Vietnamese enter the peak time of holiday season summer. When students have a long break, people flock to beaches and tourist destinations. Its a given that people are disappointed to spend their holidays in places that are filled or surrounded by ice cream sticks, wrappers, cans, water bottles and food waste. The trash not only damages the sight of the tourist areas, but also poses a high risk of environmental pollution to the locality if it is not treated properly. Early last month, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte approved the closure of the countrys most famous tourist island, Boracay, for six months from April 26, paving the way for a major cleanup of what he had described as a sewer pool. Nearly 200 Boracay businesses were found to be discharging untreated waste water into the sea, resulting in an increased concentration of human faeces along the beaches and posing health risks to swimmers. The case of Boracay also reflects the growing pressure on beach resorts across Southeast Asia, as infrastructure buckles under record visitor numbers. A friend of mine who travelled to Boracay said that she was surprised over the closure of the island because, in her opinion, Boracay beach was much cleaner than many in Viet Nam. Of course, as a tourist, I cannot know about the sewage system and waste treatment system, but what I saw of Boracay beach was clean. There was just a little trash along the beach and environmental workers regularly came to collect it, she said. We dont expect a similar move to be taken by the Government of Viet Nam because we have different criteria to the Philippines when assessing environment pollution, and of course, the state of Viet Nams beaches may be far different from those in the Philippines. However, we do expect stronger actions of the Government, people and tourists in keeping clean and protecting the environment in tourist areas. The tourist industry has contributed greatly to the socioeconomic development of the nation. However, its true that the hot growth of the industry left negative impacts on the environment, for example, increased waste volume, greenhouse gas emissions, and the overuse of water resources. For a long time, overcrowding and poor awareness on littering have been blamed for the pending problem in Viet Nam. Dr Nguyen Tung Lam, president of Ha Noi Educational Psychology Association, said that littering in public places in general and in tourist areas in particular reflected a bad mindset and reckless habits of many Vietnamese: Everybodys business is nobodys business, he said. In many cases, adults fail to create a good example for children to follow, Lam said, adding that many people are aware that littering in public places is bad, but they still did not throw trash into dustbins. As an excuse for their negative behaviour, many people said that they find few dustbins in public areas. In other cases, the dustbins were already full of trash but werent being regularly emptied, and more commonly, they saw many other people littering and no one was punished. In 2016, the Government issued a decree on administrative penalties in the environmental protection sector, taking effect in February, 2017. The decree aimed to impose stricter punishments for violations, particularly for littering, throwing cigarette butts, and smoking in non-smoking areas, as well as urinating in public places. The decree has been welcomed by many people who say dealing with the smaller offenses will have a big impact. Fines for violations reach up to VN7 million (US$308). However, stricter punishments dont seem to be as effective as was expected. More likely is that law enforcement has been ineffective at punishing violations, and thus the general public doesnt feel the need to follow the rules. Some tourist destinations have been successful in cleaning up the environment. Local people have worked alongside the local authorities and created a mindset whereby people are reluctant to litter and dump trash. Phan Ngoc Anh, a resident in Vung Tau City proudly told me about how beautiful and clean her hometown is, even while it was a popular tourist attraction in the south of Viet Nam. Vung Tau Sea is now very clean, she said, adding that as her family live near the beach, her children went swimming in the sea almost every day. Vung Tau used to be notorious for dirty beaches as people would bring food and drinks down on the beaches, then discharge waste there, Anh said. However, since 2016, the city Peoples Committee banned selling and having food/drinks on beaches, which has helped to reduce beach garbage dramatically. Besides investment to improve public infrastructure, the city paid more attention to waste collection and treatment. Recently, more and more dustbins have been placed along beaches and streets. Above the dustbins, solar panels are installed to facilitate power charging for mobile phone users, Anh said. She added that people from Vung Tau are highly aware of the need to keep their city clean. They want to receive more visitors, and hope that guests will help in keeping their city clean and beautiful. The image of a blue sea, white sandy beaches, and fresh air surely is much prettier than the image of trash lined beaches and blackened water. We must join hands to keep our environment clean. VNS HA NOI While violence and harassment in the workplace has received increasing attention from the public, a convention by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will serve as a useful tool enabling people to improve the prevention and response to violence and harassment at work. This was the focus of the discussion at a workshop held on Thursday in Ha Noi. The workshop focused on the ILO Convention on Ending Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work, organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and CARE International in Viet Nam. Speaking at the workshop, Nguyen Manh Cuong, director of the International Cooperation Department under MOLISA, said that the workshop provided an opportunity for concerned parties to update each other on the context and progress of the ILO convention. Its also a chance for us to assess the possibility for Viet Nam to join the convention, he said. Next month, the tripartite delegation from the Vietnamese Government, workers and employers will attend the 107th annual session of the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland. During the event, the Vietnamese delegates would participate in the discussion around the convention, he said. Le Kim Dung, director of the CARE International Viet Nam, said, Ensuring a safe working environment does not only enhance economic effectiveness, but also improve workers well-being and their right to be free from violence. CARE hoped that Viet Nam would make significant contributions to the process of developing the convention, and improve domestic legal regulations towards ending violence and harassment in the world of work, she said. Andrea Prince, ILO labour law specialist, said violence and harassment violated human rights, affected work productivity and enterprises reputations, and hindered the efficient operation of the labour market. There was no universal definition about violence and harassment, thus there was no international guidelines on how to deal with these issues, she said. Therefore, "new standards on how to approach violence and disability in the world of work are needed," she said. The new convention would provide definitions and implications for key concepts, preventive measures, and methods of supervision and support for victims, she said. VNS HA NOI Women migrant workers face the risk of violence and trafficking, discrimination and insecurity while accessing fair and sustainable employment, and supportive services. Experts agreed on these points during a conference to launch the project "Safety and Justice: The Rights and Opportunities of Female Migrant Workers in the ASEAN Region in the period of 2018-20," held on Thursday in Ha Noi by the United Nations Office on Gender Equality and Empowerment (UN Women), in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Women migrant workers will have positive experiences and contribute sufficiently when their safety, labour rights and human rights are adequately protected, they noted. Chang-Hee Lee, director of ILO, said in ASEAN, more women were migrating. International labour migration has increased in the past few decades to some 10 million people, nearly half the movement being driven by women. Migration of female workers can be an important source of empowerment for women, as female migrant workers have contributed significantly to economic and social development, emigration and immigration, he said. He stressed the conference was an opportunity to introduce the project to key stakeholders and identify the specific areas of focus at the national level to ensure the project was in line with national priorities. Elisa Fernandez, UN Womens Representative in Viet Nam, said Viet Nam was a source country and not a destination country for labour migration. At the national level, efforts are needed to assist women access information more effectively and reduce the range of activities and types of violence against women, particularly women migrants, she said. Viet Nam was one of the first countries to pilot a UN programme on essential services for women and girls suffering from violence at the national level, she added. During the two-day conference, experts discussed legal and policy priorities, a capacity building approach for partners to implement policies, service support and contact with female migrant workers. The project is one of the most prominent initiatives of the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate violence against women and girls. The project provides technical assistance to make labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN. The project attracts the participation of ASEAN member countries, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI The Viet Nam Marine Department has proposed a project to the transport ministry on dredging the Cai Mep-Thi Vai marine passage. The idea is to enable Cai Mep-Thi Vai port in the central province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to receive larger cargoes. At present, the 30km-long passage is 14m deep, allowing cargoes with a maximum load of 8,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) to access the port while larger ones have to transfer goods to other smaller cargoes. According to the proposal of the Marine Department, once the passage is deepened to 15.5m, it can handle cargoes with a load of up to 14,000 TEUs. The dredging is estimated to cost VN1.161 trillion (US$51 million), and if the project is approved this year, the work is expected to be completed in 2020. Late last month, the party secretary of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Nguyen Hong Linh, proposed that the Ministry of Transport and the government consider developing the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex and Long Thanh international airport into an economic centre of the south. The Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex, located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, already received significant investment and was set to become one of the largest seaport centres in the country. However, according to the provincial Party Secretary, the port complex is currently using only a small part of its designed capacity, causing economic waste of national resources. Therefore, provincial authorities have proposed that the government and the Ministry of Transport speed up the construction process of traffic infrastructure projects, including Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway and railway, provincial roads, ring roads and Phuoc An Bridge. The ministry has also asked to push forward the dredging of Cai Mep-Thi Vai port and Ganh Rai bay area to facilitate the transportation of goods. VNS Japans JICA lamented the slow payment of the Vietnamese Government to its official development assistance (ODA) projects contractors, saying they were becoming exacerbated. Photo zing.vn HA NOI Japans JICA lamented the slow payment of the Vietnamese Government to its official development assistance (ODA) projects contractors, saying they were becoming exacerbated. The Japan International Co-operation Agency Viet Nam Office Chief Representative Konaka Tetsuo said so during an annual press conference of the organisation held in Ha Noi yesterday. One of JICAs biggest ODA projects in Viet Nam is the HCM City Metro line 1 which, although still under construction, has been delayed several times due to prolonged difficulty to pay the contractors. The project was awaiting the National Assemblys approval for an adjustment in the total investment, which would hike up to VN47.3 trillion (US$2.1 billion). Without the approval in question, the metro project could not receive sufficient disbursement from the State budget to keep the work on schedule as unpaid contractors suspended their constructions time after time. Konaka said HCM City authorities made advance payments from their local budget three times to save the situation, and the city Peoples Committee also gave the green light for another fourth round with the disbursement of around five billion yen ($45.5 million). It (the money) is hoped to soon resolve the overdue payment (for the contractors) of 270 million yen, he said. Those advance payments of HCM City authorities, however, were just short-term solution, Konaka added. The metro project was not the only one running short of capital, the JICA chief said. There were some other JICAs ODA projects managed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport that were also struggling to get the much-needed disbursement. Konaka said the main reason for the tightened belt was the Vietnamese Governments policy to better control public debt, during which it considerably reduced ODA loans from foreign entities. The Government earlier set the annual loan cap for ODA projects while the National Assembly also announced the red line for public debt of no bigger than 65 per cent of the GDP. The Japanese Government and other big donors have conducted several high-level dialogues with the Vietnamese Government (on the matter), which consequently had a clear impact on (Viet Nams) budget allocation of the fiscal year 2018, Konaka said. JICA, however, still asks the Vietnamese Government to review the protocol in order to make quick decisions to allocate the budget for ODA projects and to simplify their procedures. According to JICA, Viet Nam and Japan signed three agreements with the ODA loans totalling 61.8 billion yen ($563.4 million) in the fiscal year 2017. VNS HA NOI The Investigation Police Agency, under the Ministry of Public Security, has prosecuted and put in temporary detention two former leaders of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co. Ltd (BSR). They have been charged with abusing position and power to appropriate assets. The arrestees are Nguyen Hoai Giang, former chairman of the Member Council, and Pham Xuan Quang, former chief accountant of BSR. The Investigation Police Agency said on Thursday it was investigating the case at BSR and the Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank, pursuant to prosecution decision No. 55/C46-P11, dated September 13, 2017. The case is directly monitored by the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption. Based on the investigation outcome, the agency issued orders on the prosecution and arrest of Giang and Quang in accordance with Article 355 of the 2015 Penal Code. On April 27 this year, Vu Manh Tung, former deputy director general of BSR, was also prosecuted and taken into temporary detention on the same charge. Police are expanding the probe to shed light on the acts of the accused and relevant persons and recover State assets. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is developing a draft decree to replace Decree No 51/2014/N-CP (Decree 51) allotting sea areas to organisations and individuals for exploiting marine resources. According to the ministry, since Decree 51, dated 2014, came into effect in 2015, the ministry had received seven applications for marine resources exploitation and use. The provinces of Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Phu Yen, Binh Thuan and Kien Giang assigned 12 sea areas to private organisations and individuals for this purpose. The assignment helped boost the marine economy of these localities as well as encouraged organisations/individuals to invest in projects on sea ports and wind energy. The investment is reportedly worth billions of US dollars. However, after three years of implementation of Decree 51, its shortcomings are starting to surface, the ministry said at a workshop in Ha Noi on Thursday. Decree 51 fails to clarify authorised agencies that can grant certificates/permissions or investment licences to organisations and individuals so that they can exploit marine resources in the allotted sea areas. Moreover, many exploitation activities are not included in the current list of activities regulated in the decree, leading to confusion among relevant agencies in granting permissions. In addition to this, activities such as oil surveillance and exploitation, aquaculture or those for national defence purposes, are regulated by other specific laws, which pose problems in granting permissions. Addressing the workshop, acting head of Viet Nam Sea and Islands General Department Ta inh Thi said it was necessary to amend Decree 51 to make it suitable to reality. The ministry hopes to complete and submit the draft decree to the government in October. VNS HCM CITY HCM City Peoples Court on Friday sentenced a restaurant owner to seven years in jail for misappropriating more than VN683 million (US$31,100) from an Australian client. Tran Tuan Minh, 23, of southern Ben Tre province is the director of NighFall Restaurant Ltd Company in District 1. On August 11, 2016, Australian national Caracciolo David John, 45, and a group of friends visited Minhs restaurant, had dinner and played bar billiards. John used two cards a Visa and a Master from two Australian banks to pay the bill, which came up to VN23 million (nearly $1,000). However, several days later, after returning to Australia, John discovered that AU$39,429 (VN683 million/US$31,100) had been withdrawn from his accounts. Minh got his staff to swipe the cards 10 times and withdraw more money than Johns bill amount. Minh also forged the signature of the card holder to withdraw money at a bank the following day. At the court, Minh admitted that he misappropriated the money because his business suffered difficulties. The misappropriated money was hidden in his motorbikes trunk. His family mortgaged its house to compensate for the fraud. VNS BINH DUONG Viet Nam is now home to more than 80,000 skilled foreign workers, according to Le Quang Trung, deputy head of the Department of Employment under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). They come from over 100 countries and territories and work as managers, managing directors, experts and technical workers, among other professions, Trung said at a meeting on employment hosted by the ministry in the southern province of Binh Duong on Thursday. As much as 95 per cent of eligible foreign workers in Viet Nam have been granted work permits, he said, adding that they provide a significant contingent of skilled, experienced and professional workers for Viet Nam . However, he noted that there is a lack of close, timely and comprehensive coordination in managing foreign labourers among local authorised agencies, while violations have not been strictly handled. The sense of law observance of some contractors, businesses and foreign workers in recruiting, employing labourers and following work permit regulations remains limited. He noted that some foreigners do enter Viet Nam before applying for work permits. The increasing number of foreign workers in Viet Nam requires subsequent improvements in the legal system to ensure the rights of migrant workers, especially with regard to social security. Social insurance authorities in the country have developed a compulsory social insurance scheme for foreign workers in Viet Nam , citing the need to follow international practices as the country deepens its integration into the global community. The 2014 Law on Social Insurance requires compulsory enrollment of foreign workers in the social insurance scheme, starting in 2018, to ensure their welfare. However, this has not yet been realised due to a lack of guiding documents. A MoLISA draft decree also proposed that foreign workers be required to take part in all five social insurance programmes including pensions and insurance for sickness, maternity, and cover for injuries, disease, or death in the workplace. VNS By An Phuong Most people are familiar with HCM Citys Chinatown in District 5, Korea Town in District 7, Japan Town in District 1, and the Western expat enclave in District 2. But few know about an area for Muslims in District 1 located on Nguyen An Ninh Street, sometimes called Malaysian Street, Halal Street or Halal Land. Located near Ben Thanh Market in District 1, the area has been a popular stop for Malaysian, Indonesian, and Bruneians for several years. The area is unique in that it is not really a town. But more of a long street of 100 metres with a significant cultural impact. Kicker: Nguyen An Ninh Street, located near Ben Thanh Market in HCM Citys District 1, is a popular stop for Malaysians, Indonesians, and Bruneians. VNS Photo An Phuong In 2011, a woman named Basiroh, a former market researcher at a British firm, opened a clothing store for Malaysian tourists and expats on Nguyen An Ninh Street in HCM City, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper. As demand for more services increased, more people opened new stores or changed their shops offerings to Malay products, making Nguyen An Ninh Street more vibrant than ever. My Sang, owner of a fashion store on 12 Nguyen An Ninh Street, told Bao Moi online newspaper that she used to make clothes for non-Asians back in the day. But as the street became more popular among Malaysian tourists, she began providing tailoring services for them as well. There are now about 70 shops on this street that mostly offer tailoring, city tours, and food and beverage services, many of them catering to Muslim visitors and residents. Though everything operates on a small scale, Im impressed that this street attracts so many visitors, especially at night, Thu Ha, 25, told Viet Nam News. Dont get me wrong, but this is one of the few places that I can see Islamic tourists with traditional costumes! she added. Nguyen An Ninh Street, located near Ben Thanh Market in HCM Citys District 1, is a popular stop for Malaysians, Indonesians, and Bruneians. VNS Photo An Phuong Malaysian friends of Tuan uc, 25, visit Viet Nam once or twice a year and buy fabrics for clothese for the new year or for special occaions on Nguyen An Ninh Street. One of my friends, Baini, told me that fabrics here are high quality but affordable, even after taking into account her travel expenses, he said, adding that Baini recently returned for some wedding props. Baini usually stays in Sai Gon for about three days if she wants to tailor her costumes, he said. Syiqin, a tourist, said that she also prefers shopping for Baja Kurung, a traditional Malay costume, in Viet Nam instead of other countries. I only have to wait for a day or two for my clothing to be ready, she said, adding that hijab, jubah, kain pasang, and tudung are all made well. According to several shop owners, buyers sometimes purchase fabrics in large quantities to resell them at a higher value in their hometowns. Theyre also interested in wooden sailboat models and wooden clogs, a shop owner said. Kicker 2: Multiple services, including tailoring and eateries offering Halal food and beverages, are offered on HCM Citys Nguyen An Ninh Street. VNS Photo An Phuong Besides clothing, shoppers cannot resist the various Halal restaurants. Most of them offer traditional dishes such as Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mee Goreng (fried noodle), Kari Ayam (chicken curry), and Nasi Lemak (fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves), among others. Im happy that I can easily find Halal dishes here. The food isnt extravagant but its hearty enough for me to fall in love with Sai Gon, Syiqin said. Tripadvisor.com comes in handy, too, since there are many restaurants with different price points to choose from. Tuan uc admitted that he couldnt offer an accurate assessment of the food. I dont know enough about traditional Malay food to judge whether it tastes good or bad, authentic or inauthentic, but my Malay friends seem to enjoy it! Seafood is a top choice among his friends as it is fresher and cheaper in Viet Nam than in Malaysia. To preserve the traditional flavours of each country, several of the restaurants employ both Malaysian and Vietnamese chefs. About 80 per cent of shop owners on Nguyen An Ninh Street can speak Malay. They are either Malay, Khmer or Vietnamese who know the language or who have worked with Malays long enough to understand their cultural norms. All merchandise can be purchased in Viet Nam ong (VN) or Malaysian ringgit (MYR), which makes the tourist shopping experience even more pleasant. Nguyen An Ninh Street is like no other place in the city, contributing to the ever-growing and dynamic Sai Gon. VNS JERUSALEM Israel carried out widespread deadly raids against what it said were Iranian targets in Syria on Thursday after rocket fire towards its forces it blamed on Iran, drawing global calls for restraint. The reported exchange of fire came after weeks of rising tensions and followed US President Donald Trumps decision Tuesday to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move Israel had long sought. The bombardment led to calls for calm from Russia, France, Germany and Britain and the European Union, while the United States put the blame squarely on Iran and stressed Israels right to "self-defence". Germany and Britain joined the United States in denouncing the rocket fire towards the Israel-occupied Golan Heights they also said was carried out by Iran, while France reiterated its "unwavering support for Israels security". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that the resulting bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence". Irans President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Rouhani did not mention Israels strikes in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. But the chairman of his countrys parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Allaeddine Boroujerdi, condemned the strikes, warning that "Israel has entered a dangerous game". The Israeli raids in Syria, which a monitor said killed 23 fighters, were one of the largest Israeli military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the Israeli military said. "We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," said Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "I hope weve finished this episode and everyone understood." Israel carried out the raids after it said 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, were fired from Syria at its forces in the Golan Heights at around midnight. It blamed Irans Quds force, adding that Israels anti-missile system intercepted four while the rest did not land in its territory. There were no Israeli casualties. If confirmed, it would be the first time Iran has sought to directly attack Israeli-controlled territory aside from an alleged attempted drone assault in February. New phase "We know that comes from the Al-Quds force," army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, referring to the special forces unit affiliated with Irans elite Revolutionary Guard. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that dozens of rockets were fired from Syria towards the Israeli-occupied Golan, without saying who fired them. It said the rockets followed a "first Israeli bombardment on the town of Baath" in Quneitra province. A senior pro-regime military source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, insisting Israel had fired first. Later, in the early hours of the morning, explosions were heard in Damascus, while live images were broadcast on television showing projectiles above the capital and several missiles destroyed by anti-aircraft systems. Syrian state media said Israeli missile strikes had hit military bases as well as an arms depot and a military radar installation, without specifying where. The official SANA news agency said "dozens of missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft systems in Syrian airspace", acknowledging a number had reached their targets. Israels military later confirmed it had carried out the raids, saying some 70 military and intelligence targets had been struck and all of its aircraft had returned safely. Syrian air defences, which fired dozens of times on Israeli jets, were also targeted, he said. Syria said it was the Israeli strikes that marked a "new phase" of direct involvement in the countrys seven-year conflict. Its army said three people had been killed. In a rare if not unprecedented move for an Arab country, Bahrain backed Israels right to "defend itself" after the strikes. Russia hotline Israel has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic republic is supporting President Bashar al-Assads regime in the civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of raids in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear deal has added to tensions and led to a new level of uncertainty over how Iran will respond. On Wednesday, Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to Assads regime. "I told President Putin that it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from this aggression," Netanyahu said, referring to Irans presence in Syria. Israel and Russia have established a hotline to avoid accidental clashes in the war-torn country. Russia was informed in advance of Israels strikes, Conricus said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an "immediate halt to all hostile acts and any provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the region already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians," in a statement. AFP BEIRUT Hundreds of Syrian rebels left an area south of Damascus on Thursday, a monitor and state media said, leaving the capital threatened only by the Islamic State group. Fifteen buses carrying hundreds of fighters and their relatives left the towns of Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham on the southern edge of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. "The convoy is on its way to opposition territory in northern Syria," the Observatory said. In all, the Observatory said, 8,400 people had been evacuated from the three towns since a deal was reached one week ago for the negotiated withdrawals. "For the first time since 2011, there are no opposition fighters in or around Damascus except the Islamic State group," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based monitor. IS still controls a pocket of territory inside the Yarmuk Palestinian camp and the adjacent Hajar al-Aswad district, both inside Damascus. Government forces have been pressing a ferocious weeks-long assault against them there and continued to carry out air strikes there on Thursday. The agreement for Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham was reached last Thursday and follows a pattern of similar deals through which Syrias government has recaptured swathes of territory around Damascus. "Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham south of Damascus have been cleared of terrorism, after the final wave of terrorists who did not want to reconcile (with the government) left to northern Syria with their families," said state news agency SANA. It said government security forces were preparing to enter the three towns, which had for several years fallen under a "reconciliation" agreement with the Syrian state. That meant they remained in rebel hands but a local ceasefire was enforced. This year, however, President Bashar al-Assad has appeared more determined than ever to secure the entirety of the capital and its surroundings with a blend of military pressure and negotiated withdrawals. It used the same strategy on the Eastern Ghouta rebel stronghold, which it recaptured last month, and on an area northeast of the capital. AFP By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2018 | 05:18 PM | PADUCAH, KY The man who was driving the vehicle that struck County Judge-Executive Van Newberry, leading to his death in October 2016, has entered a guilty plea.Sheriff Jon Hayden confirmed that 69-year-old Willie G. Holsapple appeared in McCracken Circuit Court on Thursday and entered a guilty plea to vehicular homicide, which is a downgrade from the 2nd degree manslaughter charge at his March 2017 indictment. He also plead guilty to unsworn falsification to authorities.The recommended sentence on the vehicular homicide charge is two years in prison, and Holsapple will likely get 90 days on the falsification charge, with sentences running concurrently.He has been in jail or under house arrest as the case moved through the courts, so with credit for time served, Holsapple may have completed his sentence by the time it is formally announced by the judge in August.Newberry was struck while riding a bicycle along Old Cairo Road on October 13, 2016. He was thrown from the bike and suffered trauma to his head and chest. Medical personnel tried to revive Newberry until he arrived at Lourdes Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. In the very back of my first bird identification field guide (Audubon, green, Eastern US) there were several blank pages. Since neither the Internet nor eBird were even a thought, thats where I collected the place names of my birding bucket list. Along with Hawk Mountain and the Platte River, there were two destinations in Texas near the top of the page Padre Island National Seashore and the Rio Grande Valley. Specifically I was headed for the 797-acre Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park; part of the World Birding Center. There are an additional 1,200 acres of surrounding protected refuge, supporting a documented 525 bird species! In the park proper, 358 species have been recorded. One of the highlights of birding in this Texas state park is the chance to see five owl species that breed here. This is made even sweeter by the hope of seeing two extremely rare US visitors the Mottled Owl and the Stygian Owl. Both of these have been documented in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. As I am only a word herder with miniscule picture-making skills, my favorite wildlife photographers have graciously shared their work with us. Lets enjoy the owls of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Barn Owl. Photo by KS Nature Photography Eastern Screech-Owl. Photo by Zach Great Horned Owl with owlet and dinner. Photo by KS Nature Photography Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Photo by Michael Todd Elf Owl. Photo by Dominic Sherony Specialty Sightings: Green Jay, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Great Kiskadee, Altamira Oriole, Plain Chachalacas, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and the two owls below (with a little luck!). Mottled Owl. Photo by Dominic Sherony Look in the mid-level to upper branches of trees during the day for roosting birds. This species hunts at night from low to mid-level perches, such as fence posts, in open areas adjacent to forests and woodlands. Stygian Owl. Photo by Hector Bottai Watch for this species roosting in shady and fairly open woodlands. The Stygian Owl hunts the same type habitat as the Mottled Owl. Where to Go: There are many guided birding tours for exploring the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. If youre a wanderer, be sure to catch the view from the two-story observation tower; step inside the enclosed bird blinds; visit the birding wall; enjoy up-close sightings at the 10 stocked feeding stations; and put your feet on the seven miles of trails. Insider Tips: For trail exploration, there are two particularly excellent hiking/birding paths. The Rio Grande Hiking Trail at the eastern side of the park is a loop. The 1.9-mile trail wanders down to the river; perfect for leisurely viewing. A second hiking loop, the Singing Chaparral Nature Trail starts close to the entrance. It is a mile in circumference, and is a favorite of birders. More Info: Birds of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park Field Checklist (Featured image Great Horned Owlets. Photo by KS Nature Photography) While it's true that most national and California state parks do not allow dogs on trails, there are still plenty of scenic on- and off-leash options for strolls, hikes and trail runs with your canine companion in and around San Francisco. Each of these destinations is dog friendly, but please check the regulations and adhere to the leash laws of each individual area. Lands End Lookout + Sutro Baths Dogs are allowed on leash or under voice control in some areas. Sutro Forest + Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve Dogs are permitted throughout the forest provided they remain on leash. Marin Headlands While dogs are allowed on leash or under voice control in some areas of the Marin Headlands, it is important to note they are prohibited in other areas. The apparent rule of thumb is that dogs are allowed off-leash north of Tennessee Valley Road, starting on the Miwok Trail and running up and over the hill to Muir Beach. Dogs are not allowed at all south of Tennessee Valley Road. Be sure to check before you hit the trial. Coastal Trail Dogs are not allowed on all sections of the coastal trail. They are allowed from Golden Gate Bridge to the junction with Wolf Ridge Trail, Rodeo Beach to Muir Beach, and the Wolf Ridge Loop. Dogs are allowed on leash or under voice control in some areas. Rodeo Beach Dogs are allowed on leash or under voice control in some areas. Corona Heights Park This is a city park with an off-leash area. Dogs must be leashed outside of this area. Big Rock Trail Dogs are allowed on leash or under voice control in some areas. Deer Island Open Space Preserve Dogs are only allowed on leash in this preserve. Remember that dogs must remain on leash in all parking lots and picnic areas. When out on the trails, respect the leash laws and follow these rules for dog etiquette on the trail. Have fun! Megan Lortez and Ryan Schindler met all the way back in middle school, became high school sweethearts, made it through college at UC Santa Cruz, and lived together for many years before marriage became a serious conversationon a road trip to Canada in their 1988 Volkswagon Westfalia. They purchased the engagement ring together since Schindler wanted to make sure they both had rings they'd be thrilled to wear for the rest of their lives. However, it wasn't until months later that he actually popped the question. It was the anniversary of their first date, and they'd left their home in Marin for a weekend getaway at a family vacation home in Mendocino. "It was sprinkling, and Ryan asked me to join him on the deck to overlook the ocean views with a glass of Champagne," says Lortez. "As we were talking about how fantastic the weekend had been, Ryan began to talk about how special our relationship truly is and proposed to me. It was a beautiful and poetic surprise." While on the hunt for a venue, the couple scoured numerous wineries in Sonoma County; but once they saw the cascading views of vineyards, apple orchards, and distant mountains of Vine Hill House, they knew they had found the spot. Their love of adventure carried over into their decor, and naturally they had to include their VW van as a backdrop for wedding photos, draped in floral garlands and tricked out with props including a retro full-length standing mirror, a large rug, wine barrel, a vintage suitcase, and throw pillows. And because the two endearingly refer to each other as "panda," panda bears appeared throughout. A palette of black, white, pale green, and cornflower blue was splashed through the floral arrangements, decorations and wedding party attire. To complement their signature cornflower hue, Italian ruscus, and cascading seeded eucalyptus adorned the bride's bouquet, while the bridesmaids' flowers were brimming with white dendrobium orchids, white roses, white hydrangeas and a few blue hyacinths and delphinium. The groomsmen's boutonnieres were scaled-down versions to match. While the bridesmaids selected their own styles of dressall in the same fabric by one designerthe groomsmen's attire paid tribute ti Schindler himself, riffing on the look he had worn we he took his bride to high school prom: a suit and with old-school Vans high tops. The addition of cufflinks, custom monogrammed with their initials in Art Decostyle font, added a grown-up element. Vintage elementsa 1970s photo booth, a 1930s photo album used as their guestbook, an antique 16mm reel to reel film projectoraccented the decor, while personal bits were found aplenty: Table markers were designed and illustrated by a friend with the van and pandas in Art Deco style; from an old oak tree hung 150 photos that told the story of the couple's romance from the age of 15 all the way up to the big day. When all is said and done, Lortez offers a bit of adviceto take your time, ignore a lot of recommendations from friends and family and seriously think about what will make your wedding special to both you and your partner. "You will know what works for you...For our wedding, Ryan and I decided not to follow several wedding traditions. For instance we had a good friend of ours officiate the ceremony, I stood to the right of the aisle rather than the left, we didn't have a garter or bouquet toss, we didn't have a traditional wedding cake, and rather than having a father/daughter dance and mother/son dance separately we did them together. That's all okay, we just found that those traditions did not speak to us but for others, it might. Do what your heart tells you and no matter how difficult it may be, truly relish the moment!" Venue: Vine Hill House Dress: Willowby by Watters 'Malta' Starlet Bridal Makeup: Bloom and Blush Caterer: Park Avenue Catering Company Floral design: Floral Designs by Heather Photography: Dekker Photography Receives First Mezzanine Debt Term Sheet Perth, May 11, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited (Altech/the Company) ( ASX:ATC ) ( FRA:A3Y ) is pleased to announce that it has received an indicative mezzanine debt term sheet for up to US$ 120 million from an international investment bank, for its proposed Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant and associated kaolin mine in Meckering, Western Australia (the Project).Highlights- US$120 million indicative mezzanine debt term sheet received- Follows extensive preliminary project due diligence- Global investment banking groupOn 2 February 2018 the Company announced that it had executed commitment and final terms for a US$ 190 million senior debt package with German government-owned KfW IPEX-Bank. Since then, the Company has been working with a number of advisors to secure the balance of funds for the Project, which is one of the conditions precedent to draw-down on the senior debt. One of the work streams being pursued by the Company and its advisors is a mezzanine debt facility of up to US$ 120 million, which will be subordinate to the senior debt.The Company has now received an indicative mezzanine debt term sheet from a global investment bank equal to US$120 million, representing a facility amount of US$ 90 million plus accrued interest during construction and plant commissioning. The investment bank has already conducted extensive preliminary due diligence on the Project, including accessing the Company's data room, which contains detailed project information and various due diligence reports commissioned by the senior lender, KfW IPEX-Bank.The investment bank is a diversified financial services group with a global presence and more than US$ 300 billion in assets under management. As is customary with these types of transactions, the public disclosure of the bank's name and the proposed lending terms remain confidential at this point in time. The Company expects similar term sheets from other potential lenders currently in due diligence and evaluation during the course of the month.Altech managing director Iggy Tan said, "From the outset the Company has been targeting 'vanilla' mezzanine debt from top-tier lenders. This approach does take longer and involves a higher level of scrutiny (due diligence), however securing mezzanine debt from top tier providers will be a far better outcome for the Company and shareholders. We are now starting to see some reward from this strategy and our efforts," Mr Tan concluded.About Altech Chemicals Ltd Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia. HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market. Capital Raise Secures Funds for Buffalo-10 Drilling Perth, May 11, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Carnarvon Petroleum Limited ("Carnarvon" or "the Company") ( ASX:CVN ) ( OTCMKTS:CVONF ) is pleased to confirm it has successfully raised $16 million (before costs) which will be used to fund drilling of its Buffalo-10 well. Additional funds are expected to be secured through a share purchase offer to existing shareholders to raise up to $4 million.Highlights- Carnarvon successful in capital raise to fund Buffalo-10 well development- Timing allows commitments to be made now to facilitate drilling in 2019- Buffalo-10 well to confirm attic oil and mid case volume of 31 million barrelsThe share purchase plan is being offered to existing eligible shareholders, so as to allow them to subscribe for new shares in Carnarvon at the same price as shares issued under the placement. Further details regarding the share placement and the proposed share purchase plan is set out in Annexure 1 (see link below).All capital raised is for the purpose of funding the Buffalo-10 well development and to meet the Company's general working capital requirements.As reported to ASX on 3 May 2018, the Company is moving quickly to progress the redevelopment of the Buffalo oil field.The Buffalo-10 well will be the first of three production wells to be drilled in this exciting oil redevelopment project. The current expected timing for drilling to commence on the first well is between March and September 2019 (after the end of the cyclone season).Amounts raised under the placement and share purchase plan, combined with the Company's existing cash, will underpin the funding of the Buffalo-10 well and enable drilling to occur as soon as practicable.The Board of Directors of Carnarvon deemed the raising the minimum needed to proceed with the Company's Buffalo and Phoenix project activities in a prudent financial manner.Carnarvon is currently participating in drilling the Phoenix South-3 well and will soon commence drilling the Dorado-1 well in its Phoenix project. These activities are expected to provide important value opportunities for shareholders in the near term.Carnarvon Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Cook said: "The Buffalo project has the potential to generate significant value that's ideally suited to Carnarvon in terms of scale, time to first production and overall risk profile.This capital raise demonstrates our expeditious approach to make this production opportunity a reality for shareholders, particularly as we see oil prices currently strengthening from the recent lows of previous years.Carnarvon now offers investors two high quality, organically derived projects progressing to commercialisation phases in the near term."To view the summary of the capital raise and Annexure 1, please visit:To view Capital Raise Presentation, please visit:About Carnarvon Petroleum Limited Carnarvon Petroleum Limited is an oil and gas exploration company, listed on the Australian stock exchange (ASX:CVN), Frankfurt (FRA:CJB) and US OTC (OTCMKTS:CVONF). Carnarvon has an extensive acreage position in the North West Shelf of Western Australia that is designed to offer investors high alpha leverage to the energy sector. The company's near term focus is on maturing oil, gas and condensate discovered in its Phoenix project, with partner Quadrant Energy, and on bringing into production oil from the Buffalo field. Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, the riotously camp transcontinental music competition, have banned a Chinese TV station from broadcasting Saturday's final after it censored an LGBT-themed performance. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the contest and distributes it to broadcasters around the world, said it had taken the action after Mango TV cut two acts in the first semifinal, broadcast on Tuesday. China's Global Times, a state-owned tabloid, said on Friday that the two acts -- Ireland and Albania -- fell foul of Chinese censors because they featured an LGBT theme and tattoos. In respons, the EBU barred Mango TV from broadcasting Thursday's second semifinal and the final, which involves acts from 26 countries and is this year being held in Lisbon, Portugal. "This is not in line with the EBU's values of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music," a statement from the EBU said. Mango TV didn't immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. The Irish entry, Together, sung by Ryan O'Shaughnessy, is a love song about a relationship between two men and features two male dancers, while Albania's act involved performers with tattoos. "A rainbow flag in the crowd, which represents the LGBT community, was also been blurred in the broadcast," the Global Times said. Guidelines released in China in 2016 characterized homosexuality as an "abnormal sexual behavior" unfit for Chinese television, alongside incest, sexual abuse and "perversion." O'Shaughnessy told the BBC he welcomed the decision. "From the very start we've just said love is love, doesn't matter if it's between two guys, two girls, or a guy and a girl," he said. Ireland, which holds the record for Eurovision wins but whose fortunes have waned in recent years, qualified for Saturday's grand final, as did Albania. Last weekend Air Malta started its much anticipated flights between Malta to London Southend, Malta to Cagliari and flights between London Southend, Catania and Cagliari Airports. Above: (left to right) London Southend Airport celebrated Air Maltas flight with a cake cutting event, Air Malta Acting CEO Joseph Galea and Glyn Jones, CEO of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport at London Southend Airport. Courtesy London Southend Airport The Maltese airline started operating a twice weekly flight to Cagliari in Sardinia every Wednesday and Sunday, a twice weekly flight to Catania every Monday and Thursday and three times weekly to Malta every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Above: Air Malta inaugural flight arriving at London Southend Airport. Courtesy London Southend Airport Customers travelling to/from London Southend can also opt to travel via Catania or Cagliari, thus connecting Malta and London Southend with a daily flight. Air Malta will continue to operate these routes in winter 2018/9. During an event at Southend Airport Joseph Galea, Air Maltas Acting Chief Executive stated: "We are delighted to launch our services from London Southend. This is not only a milestone for the airline, but it represents as well a strong commitment by Air Malta to better connect the Mediterranean region to major European gateways. "Air Malta is following a growth strategy, expanding its operations with over 4,000 new sectors this year. Over the last six months we have launch 19 new routes some of which are not only connecting Malta to new destinations but are also offering intra-European services like Catania - Vienna and now London Southend Catania and London Southend - Cagliari. We are aiming to continue expanding our operations as we become the Airline of the Mediterranean." Above: Air Malta aircraft taxiing at London Southend Airport. Courtesy London Southend Airport Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport said: Were delighted to welcome Air Malta to London Southend the UK capitals best and fastest growing airport. With our multi-award winning facilities offering the strategic advantages and capacity that airlines want, fast and frequent train services to London, market-leading record for punctuality and a unique customer service that our passengers love, we look forward to providing an excellent service to passengers wanting to explore Malta, Sicily and Sardinia." Minister for Tourism Dr Konrad Mizzi commented: This is a significant milestone for Air Malta and a further important step towards its growth. Over the last nine months the airline has increased its capacity by adding new aircraft to its fleet whilst planning to carry more passengers this year. As a Government we fully support its strategy since we believe that it is an important pillar for our economy. The flight schedule will operate as follows: Catania Catania is the second largest city of Sicily and it is located on the east coast of this Italian island, making it possible to witness impeccable views of the crystalline blue Ionian Sea. Situated just beneath the towering and outrageously magnificent Mount Etna the city offers travellers the possibility to immerse themselves in the culture and history of this splendid place. Stroll through the main square known as Piazza Duomo which was designed by the commendable architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini and admire the striking Baroque stylebuildings. Visit the Duomo the cathedral dedicated to Catanias patron Saint Agatha and the Badia di Sant'Agata, another impressive structure which contributes to the grandness of the square. Furthermore, at the very centre of the piazza one cannot miss the citys symbolic monument Fontana dellElefante which is a lava elephant fountain carrying an obelisk and bearing an inscription. Cagliari Cagliari, the capital city of the Island of Sardinia is an ancient municipal that has been home to various civilizations. Visit the main historical district of Castello in Cagliari which was founded by the Pisans in the 13th century and is set around a fortress surrounded by walls, towers and bastions. Wandering through the charming streets and passages of Castello can only be defined as a unique experience that will take any traveller back in time. The imposing Cathedral of Santa Maria on Piazza Palazzo should not be missed. A number of splendid domes and towers dominate the city scape of this beautiful medieval citadel. Castello is also regarded as home to a great number of museums such as the Archaeological Museum, The National Picture Gallery and Museum of Oriental Art. I tell you this testimony, not to pick on American Express or shame a society that turned its back at one of my lowest times in life. I relate it as something you might relate to. Hopefully, you will take it literally and not over extend yourself financially. The bigger picture, I really hope to convey is about the health of your baby and family. Then one day the bottom fell out of my world Lost resources, bills stacking up and mortgages to pay. I cant relate how fast those that said I was a member ran away. We had to fight back to solvency by ourselves. Nobody understood the depths of our financial despair. Even if they did, they had their own issues and could not really make a difference. By Tim Welsh I once was so full of myself, arrogant and prideful that I believed hook line and sinker the advertising propaganda sold to us that carrying an American Express Card for 20 years made me a better person. The powers that be.. the Allopathic Mainstream Medical Establishment Preach about Protecting The Herd A mythical magical group of healthy people created by pharmaceutical intervention. Stop and think this through with me... The Vaccine and Pill manufacturers are in business to make money. How do they make money? They sell more shots and drugs. The Fraternity you think you belong to falls apart as soon as they dont have Answers, you cost to much money, or disturb the emperor who has no clothes. I have been an advocate / Activist for Health Freedom for 15 years. Trust me, the medical establishment runs away just as fast as the credit card companies do when you dont pay your bills. One last Appeal, I pray you were surprised and shocked by the Alfie Evans saga in the UK. Parents rights were ignore and her Queens Government saw fit to end his life against the parents wishes. We live in a very fragile world in where we have put in to place rules guidelines Ethical standards and morality set for by those who came before us. They have stood for centuries. First Do No Harm (Hippocratic Oath) Parents have the right to decide Medical decisions for their Family and of course the right to second opinions. Also privacy and sanctity of the Doctor patient relationship. Not to mention that Doctors pledge to serve the patient first not the greater good. All of these really have stood the test of time. Now we are seeing Pharmaceutical Lobby influence manipulate our Government into destroying our health for profit. Please rise with me and say enough AmericanHealthCoalition dot com TannersDad Tim Welsh Saab unveils a 5,000-square-meter facility for its future Gripen fighter jet aerostructures plant: Saab Aeronautica Montagens (SAM), in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. This is another important step in the Gripen Programme in Brazil. Saab Aeronautica Montagens (SAM) will produce aerostructures for the Brazilian Gripen fighter and is preparing to become part of Saabs global supply chain. A Saab Gripen mock-up at Saab Aeronautica Montagens facility (Credit: Saab/Twitter) "We are transferring knowledge and production capacity for complex aerostructures to Brazil, in compliance with our offset agreement. The plant is planned to be part of the global Saab supply chain for the civil aviation and defence markets," explains Mikael Franzen, Head of Business Unit Gripen Brazil, Saab Aeronautics. SAM will be responsible for producing six complex structural parts for Gripen acquired by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), such as the tail cone, aerodynamic brakes, wing box, front fuselage for the single-seat and two-seat versions and the rear fuselage for the single-seat version of the aircraft. "This is the beginning of the plant installation. We are setting up the office, hiring personnel and suppliers. By 2020 the entire plant structure will be ready to start manufacturing Gripen components," explains Marcelo Lima, SAM's Director-General. When the operations starts at SAM in 2020, it will be with 55 employees. That number will until 2024 increase to 200. Among them engineers and technicians, who until then will be trained in Linkoping, Sweden, for up to 24 months. "The new jobs in the plant will be for highly skilled people to work on complex fuselage structures, both metallic and composite, driving our technology transfer programme. At the end of this project, we will have added more than 84,000 hours of training for SAM employees alone," says Marcelo Lima. Saab AB will be the majority shareholder in SAM with 90 percent and the Brazilian engineering company Akaer will be a minority shareholder with 10 percent. At the same time, Saab increases its stake in Akaer to 28 percent in a stock swap agreement. "The partnership with Akaer began even before Saab was selected by the FAB. The work began with the development of structural parts and engineering, and now it is also active in the manufacturing area. Since 2009, Akaer has worked more than half a million hours on the Gripen Programme," says Mikael Franzen. Akaers share participation in SAM strengthens our long-lasting partnership with Saab and it is in accordance with the strategy of expansion, diversification and internationalization of our business, said Cesar Augusto Teixeira Andrade e Silva, president and CEO of Akaer. In these 32 months of the Gripen Programme in Brazil, Saab, together with its industrial partners and the FAB, has contributed to the development of the defence industry in Brazil and helped create new skilled jobs, including the region of Sao Bernardo do Campo, which will also benefit and enjoy increased revenue. On the 9-10 May night, retaliating to a mass attack by Iranian rockets on Israeli positions in the Golan region, the Israeli armed forces fired a large number of missiles on Iranian operated installations in Syria. Israeli Air Force F-15I (Picture source: Israeli Air Force via Jewish Business News) On May 9, 2018, the Quds force, a special force wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, stationed in Syria, shot 20 rockets towards IDF posts in the Golan Heights. The IDF intercepted four of the rockets, preventing casualties and damage. According to The War Zone, five types of Syrian air defense systems were destroyed in the barrage, which included 60 weapons. Ten of those were surface-to-surface missiles. These could have been mix or guided artillery rockets, ground-launched Delilah-GL cruise missiles, and Spike NLOS missiles among others. The Delilah is a cruise missile developed in Israel by Israel Military Industries (IMI), built to target moving and re-locatable targets with a CEP of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) at a maximum range of 250 km. During the operation, Syrian SA-22, SA-2, SA-5, and SA-17 batteries were destroyed. The SA-22 unit, a Pantsir-S1 point defense system (SA-22 according to the NATO designation), is the most interesting of the lot as it represents the best air defense capability Syria has against standoff weapon attacks on key targets. In total, as The War Zone reports, Israel used 28 F-16C/D/I Sufa and F-15I (F-15E Strike Eagle) fighter aircraft to execute the strikes. All of the IDFs fighter jets returned to their bases safely. A KC-707 tanker supported the F-16Is. It seems fairly clear that the IAF was ready and waiting for a rocket barrage to occur in the days and hours that led up to the attack. Israeli press repeatedly warned that the IDF was tracking peculiar movements across the border in Syria and Israeli tankers were on station over eastern Israel for some time before the attack occurred. Above all else, the sheer size and brevity of the revenge strikes indicate a large pre-planned operation that would hit most known Iranian-related targets in Syria was ready and waiting to be executed. In total 23 were killed in Syria, 18 of which were foreign fighters according to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It's also worth noting that Russia was informed well ahead of the counter-attack. Israel considers the matter closed at this time but said it would retaliate heavily if attacked again. Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the IDF targeted "nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria" and that Iran "needs to remember the saying that if it rains on us, it'll storm on them. I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood." He continued, stating that Israel "won't let anyone attack us or build an infrastructure to attack us in the future." The extent of the damage done to Iranian interests in Syria still hasn't been quantified, but Israel's overwhelming response was clearly designed to deter further Iranian military operations against Israel. The big question now is how, or if Iran will respond to the Israeli retaliation? China's J-20 stealth fighter jets have begun their first-ever combat training over the ocean, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. "It will help the air force better fulfill its sacred duty of safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," said Shen Jinke, spokesman for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force. Undated file photo shows China's J-20 stealth fighter jets taking part in their first-ever combat training over the ocean (Credit: Xinhua) The J-20 is China's fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter aircraft and was commissioned into air force combat service earlier this year. Shen said that since its commissioning the J-20 had taken part in air warfare training with J-16, J-10c and other fighter jets, boosting the air force's combat strength. The aircraft features a glass cockpit, with two main large color liquid crystal displays (LCD) situated side-by-side, three smaller auxiliary displays, and a wide-angle holographic head-up display (HUD). According to analysts, the J-20 could features the Type 1475 AESA radar. It made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first shown to the public at the 11th Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, in November 2016. The fighters made their parade debut when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary in July 2017 at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Chinas 2017 defence budget is to grow by a further 7% to over $150 billion, Beijing announced in February. This is still roughly only a quarter of what the United States spends on its military. Posted on: May 11, 2018 1:19 PM The Archbishop of Canterbury has told African Anglican leaders that the strength of the Church on the continent is a gift to the world and that is has the ability to shape the globe but it must move forward. Speaking at a regional primates meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) in Kenya, Archbishop Justin Welby said the Church in the region was full of life and energy. It had grown and had enormous power even though Africa had often struggled economically. In a wide ranging address, Archbishop Justin urged CAPA leaders to learn from the mistakes of the Global North to be wary of individualism and not to be complacent about the numbers of young people currently in churches across the continent. Archbishops from Anglican provinces across Africa have been attending the three-day meeting in Nairobi. They also heard from the Secretary General, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon. Speaking on the second day of the meeting, Archbishop Justin began with the issue of climate change, which he described as an existential threat to all humanity. He noted that floods in Kenya had left more than 130 people dead and displaced nearly a quarter of million others since March. Overnight a dam had been breached north of Nairobi killing more than 30 people. He recalled the words of Archbishop Winston Halapua when he visited Fiji for an Oceania regional primates meeting in February that, for the Global South, climate change really was an issue of life and death. On church growth, Archbishop Justin noted that the number of people of faith was predicted to grow to over 90 per cent of the worlds population in the next 30 years but he said none of the forecast increase would be among Christians. And he warned CAPA leaders to beware the errors of the Global North which had failed to disciple young people in previous decades. He explained that in the 1950s a majority of children in the UK went to Sunday school. The church thought this is all right, we can go to sleep. Now the figure was very small. The Archbishop also expressed concern about the negative impact of modern, faster communication. He said there had been a very rapid rise in comment but it was not always accurate words were spread and reinterpreted in different cultures. And social media, although it had the power to spread the gospel and encourage prayer, was being used to slander, attack and bring disorder. He said half of the Anglican Communion was living in areas of violence and persecution and the perpetrators of violence were increasingly using religion to justify it. In addition there were more refugees than at any other time in history and more people than ever were being trafficked as slaves even into his own diocese in England. Against this backdrop, he said the Church had to change the way it was living if it was going to affect the world. There was now a lack of confidence in the gospel which meant the Church was becoming inward-looking rather than going out. He explained that the thinking behind the theme of the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in 2020 Gods Church for Gods World was that the Church had to be more outward focused. We cannot wait until we are all together, or we all agree, or we are all holy because the world is perishing, he said. We must move forwards to serve the world, even when we disagree. The Archbishop said it was exciting that CAPA was already addressing many issues and that Africa had set the example on discipleship. He said the Anglican Communion could change the future; it was good at reconciliation; it could mobilise people against climate change; it could reform family life. Anglicans are wonderful at education. We are good at health, at housing at building communities we are good at helping people caught up in trafficking, and refugees. He said the Church needed to be humble, to form partnerships, to teach people and to disagree with love and without manipulation. My prayer for the Lambeth Conference is that we will move towards working out how to deal with differences. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, then gave his address. He spoke warmly of the Church in the region saying there was a wave of change across the African continent where the Church was putting people first. The Anglican Church in Africa was central to the Communion. As he travelled the world, the Secretary General said he felt proud to be an Anglican and an African. Archbishop Josiah also gave details of the Anglican Inter faith Commission which was set up earlier this year. He explained that there would be a regional network in Africa which would gather information and pass it to the Commission. He closed with a series of challenges: he urged CAPA to do more to harness the financial resources available in Africa; to think about how to build up a new generation of leaders; to overcome tribalism and to prepare and protect nations and Churches from the impact of extremist Islam. And he urged the Primates to visit each other and strengthen relationships. Today (Friday) the conference is due to hear from the Chief Executive of the Lambeth Conference Company, Phil George. He will update CAPA on progress with organising the conference which begins in Canterbury in July 2020. Posted on: May 11, 2018 11:38 AM State and Federal law enforcement agencies are investigating after a package exploded outside an Episcopal Church in Beaumont, Texas. The rector of St Stephens Church in Beaumont, Steven Balke, said that nobody was injured in the explosion, which occurred between the end of worship on Wednesday evening and the start of the day at All Saints School on the Churchs campus. But the school was immediately evacuated as investigations began. The FBI is here and checking the property, Balke said. Everyone is taking this very seriously, especially since there is a school involved. The rector had been at a school breakfast before discovering the bomb damage. He expressed gratitude that the explosion occurred when the church was closed; saying that he or a staff member could have been severely injured if they had picked up the device. We are very blessed that no one was injured, he said, We are grateful for the messages of support and for the prayers that we have had from friends in town and across the country," he said. The head teacher of All Saints School, Scootie Clark, expressed pride in her pupils. The kids were calm and respectful as they left campus she said, explaining that she felt previous practice for emergency situations had been very valuable. The Bishop of Texas responded swiftly to the incident, sending assistant bishop Hector Monterroso, diocesan communications director Carol Barnwell, and Canon for Mission Amplificatio Joann Saylors, to Beaumont to support Balke and his congregation. Today (Friday) two suffragan bishops in the Diocese, Jeff Fisher and Dena Harrison, will make a follow-up visit and go to the school. I am so grateful there were no injuries and that St Stephen's and All Saints School have very strong and wise leadership, Bishop Andy said. We must pray for the person who carried out this act of cowardice so that they might come to understand that Gods love waits for them. In a statement issued yesterday (Thursday), the Beaumont Police Department said that officers were called to the church at 9.18 am in response to a call of Criminal Mischief. The statement continued: When the officer arrived, he located what appeared to be a previously detonated package that caused minor damage to a building on the property. The FBI, in partnership with BPD and ATF is investigating this incident. We know that our citizens have many questions, however we are very early in the investigation and there are several things that we are unable to talk about. Included in subjects we are unable to discuss: components of the device, intended victims, motive, relationship (if any) to previous devices, and suspect or suspects. The police said that they were working diligently with our law enforcement partners and using all available resources to investigate this and keep our citizens safe. They urge residents to See Something, Say Something and say: if you see anything that looks suspicious or out of place, please do not touch it. Keep a safe distance and call 911. Posted on: May 11, 2018 10:18 AM The Presiding Bishop of the US-based Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, will join a march on the White House by Christian leaders this month as part of an ecumenical movement to reclaim Jesus. The march, on Thursday 24 May, will mark the launch of the Reclaiming Jesus Declaration, which begins with a stark warning: We are living through perilous and polarising times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches. We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith are now at stake. It continues: It is time to be followers of Jesus before anything else nationality, political party, race, ethnicity, gender, geography our identity in Christ precedes every other identity. We pray that our nation will see Jesus words in us. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35). The declaration sets out a number of concerns, including of President Donald Trumps America first policy. The declaration describes it as a theological heresy for followers of Christ, and goes on to say: while we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal. We reject domination rather than stewardship of the earths resources, toward genuine global development that brings human flourishing for all of Gods children. Serving our own communities is essential, but the global connections between us are undeniable. Global poverty, environmental damage, violent conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and deadly diseases in some places ultimately affect all places, and we need wise political leadership to deal with each of these. The declaration says: Our churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries. The most well-known verse in the New Testament starts with For God so loved the world (John 3:16). We, in turn, should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants, rather than seek first narrow, nationalistic prerogatives. The strongly-worded statement also hits out at gender-based violence and misogyny, saying: we are one body. In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender, identity, or class (Galatians 3:28). The body of Christ, where those great human divisions are to be overcome, is meant to be an example for the rest of society. When we fail to overcome these oppressive obstacles, and even perpetuate them, we have failed in our vocation to the world to proclaim and live the reconciling gospel of Christ. Therefore, we reject misogyny, the mistreatment, violent abuse, sexual harassment, and assault of women that has been further revealed in our culture and politics, including our churches, and the oppression of any other child of God. We lament when such practices seem publicly ignored, and thus privately condoned, by those in high positions of leadership. We stand for the respect, protection, and affirmation of women in our families, communities, workplaces, politics, and churches. We support the courageous truth-telling voices of women, who have helped the nation recognise these abuses. We confess sexism as a sin, requiring our repentance and resistance. It also hits out at lies and falsehoods, saying: truth is morally central to our personal and public lives. Truth-telling is central to the prophetic biblical tradition, whose vocation includes speaking the Word of God into their societies and speaking the truth to power. . . Therefore, we reject the practice and pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life. Politicians, like the rest of us, are human, fallible, sinful, and mortal. But when public lying becomes so persistent that it deliberately tries to change facts for ideological, political, or personal gain, the public accountability to truth is undermined. The regular purveying of falsehoods and consistent lying by the nations highest leaders can change the moral expectations within a culture, the accountability for a civil society, and even the behaviour of families and children. The normalisation of lying presents a profound moral danger to the fabric of society. In the face of lies that bring darkness, Jesus is our truth and our light. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has co-signed the declaration, alongside 22 other Christian leaders, including Dr Peter Borgdorff from the Christian Reformed Church in North America; Dr Amos Brown of the National Baptist Convention; Dr Tony Campolo, co-Founder, Red Letter Christians; Dr James Forbes from Union Theological Seminary; Bishop Vashti McKenzie of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Dr Ron Sider from Evangelicals for Social Action; Jim Wallis, President and Founder, Sojourners; and Bishop Will Willimon, from the United Methodist Church. They conclude their declaration saying that we are deeply concerned for the soul of our nation, but also for our churches and the integrity of our faith. The present crisis calls us to go deeper deeper into our relationship to God; deeper into our relationships with each other, especially across racial, ethnic, and national lines; deeper into our relationships with the most vulnerable, who are at greatest risk. . . Our urgent need, in a time of moral and political crisis, is to recover the power of confessing our faith. Lament, repent, and then repair. If Jesus is Lord, there is always space for grace. We believe it is time to speak and to act in faith and conscience, not because of politics, but because we are disciples of Jesus Christ to whom be all authority, honour, and glory. It is time for a fresh confession of faith. Jesus is Lord. He is the light in our darkness. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). At 7 pm (EDT, 11 pm GMT) on Thursday 24 May, Church leaders and other Christians will gather at the National City Christian Church in Washington DC for a time of prayer and preaching. At 8.30 pm they will process to the White House where they will hold a silent candlelit vigil until 10 pm. More than 1,000 people are expected to take part. The church service, the procession to the White House, and silent candlelight vigil is planned in response to the moral and political crises at the highest levels of political leadership that are putting both the soul of the nation and the integrity of Christian faith at stake, the Revd Jim Wallis said. The elders call upon all Christians to remember that our identity in Jesus precedes every other identity. (ANSA) - Turin, May 11 - The 31st edition of the Turin International Book Fair successfully kicked off on Thursday to long lines and large crowds at the Lingotto convention centre. The event, which runs through Monday, was inaugurated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Turin Book Fair steering committee chief Massimo Bray and director Nicola Lagioia, together with Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino, Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, Italian Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico, Italian Senate Speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, and president of Italian broadcaster RAI Monica Maggioni. This year's edition saw the debut of a new independent publishers association, ADEI. Bray said the fair's future and history "are and will remain in Turin", and said the Milan book fair organised by the Italian Publishers' Association AIE that took place this year for the second time "was a mistake". "(We must) foresee and identify changes and reflect on the past. Turin must be the common home of this reflection," Bray said. Lagioia said 40 countries are participating in this year's edition, and said the fair makes Turin "one of the capitals of world culture" for the five days that it takes place. "The long lines and the big writers excite me," Lagioia said. "The Turin Book Fair isn't just the home of Italian publishing, but it's also a great laboratory," he said, just prior to the inaugural 'lectio magistralis' on Europe by Spanish writer Javier Cercas. Cercas said a "truly united Europe represents the only possibility to stem the blind and all-encompassing power of the economy". "The great challenge is that of reconciling cultural diversity, which is a great asset, with political unity," he said. Mayor Appendino said this edition looks to be "the best ever". "There's no Turin without the International Book Fair, and no International Book Fair without Turin," she said. However, the conflict over whether there will be two Italian book fairs, one in Turin and Milan, remains. Bray said the decision was made to tackle "the supplier problem" after the fair, together with Appendino and Piedmont Governor Sergio Chiamparino. NAPLES - Italy will bring to Expo Dubai the creativity and beauty that can unite people by giving centrality to talent and professionalism, said Paolo Glisenti, the general commissioner for Italy at the 2020 Dubai Expo. Explaining the connection between Italian art cities ahead of the Universal Exposition, Glisenti said that ''territories will be the protagonists'', noting they are ''responding in an extraordinary and spontaneous way''. In Naples, the Festival delle Luci hosts a dialogue between the southern port city and Florence, two cities that will be protagonists of the Italian pavilion in Dubai as well as collateral initiatives. ''The network is widening - Glisenti told ANSAmed - we have this initiative in Naples as well as others in Catania and Treviso. Florence is very active, the mayor of Tuscany's main city is enthusiastic and has had many ideas. The spontaneity of art cities is extraordinary as they understood the importance of Italy's participation in Dubai''. The Expo in Dubai puts the Arab world at the center and Italy cannot but highlight its role in the Mediterranean. ''It is clear - confirmed Glisenti - that Italy's Mediterranean cities in particular will be central. Our presence will be strongly connected to Italy's role in the Mediterranean, thus Naples will have an important role. Neapolitan creativity is the outcome of tradition, history, but it is also a sign of the contemporaneity of thoughts, cultures and talents in the Mediterranean. And this sums up the essence of Italy's presence at Expo Dubai. These past few days the Festival delle Luci in Naples joyously connects many squares of the city, the same spontaneous connection we will create between Expo cities. Let's remember that we will have the opportunity of showcasing Italy's ability to put together different creativity and know-how from different places to produce innovation, development and social and cultural growth''. This is a unique opportunity given that 25 million visitors are expected in Dubai for Expo, most of them 20-30-year-olds from all over Asia, Arab countries and northern Africa. ''It will truly be a Universal Expo - Glisenti - and there is great expectation in the Arab world on what Italy represents from a cultural, political, diplomatic, artistic standpoint. Italy at difficult times is perceived as a bridge fostering dialogue and peace. I perceive strong expectations that call for a participation of great quality that shows Italian excellence connected to the ideas on which Arabs are keen observers, also from an entrepreneurial standpoint, made of small companies''. Italy will be taking advantage of this, also through its cities: ''They will have an important role - stressed Glisenti - and they will have it from now until 2020, with events in Italy and the Mediterranean that will be like carrying an Italian Olympic torch''. (ANSAmed) Syria: Iran says Israeli strikes 'violation of sovereignty' 'Based on fabricated excuses without foundation' (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MAY 11 - Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, on Friday said Israeli strikes two nights ago are a ''clear violation of the sovereignty'' of Syria in Tehran's first reaction since the operation. The spokesman did not mention the Iranian bases Israel said were targeted in the operation. Qasemi was quoted by Iranian news agency Irna as saying that the strikes confirm ''the hegemonic nature of the Zionist regime''. Israel on Thursday said it had attacked dozens of Iranian military installations in Syria in what the military described as the most extensive strike in the neighboring country in decades. The operation was carried out in response to a rocket attack from Syria against Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, which the Israeli military said was launched by the Revolutionary Guards' Al Quds force and its commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The foreign ministry spokesman only hinted at Israeli allegations on the presence of the Pasdaran in Syria, stating that the Israeli strikes were ''based on fabricated excuses without foundation''. ''The silence of other countries and of international organizations on such aggressive moves by the Zionist regime is the equivalent of giving a green light and encouraging it to continue with its aggressive initiatives'', Qasemi said. The foreign ministry spokesman then said that ''legitimate defense against the aggressors is a right of the resisting government and of the Syrian nation''. (ANSAmed) Two killed at border with Israel - Palestinian sources Israeli Army says 5,000 taking part in 'violent riots' (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 11 - Two Palestinian demonstrators were killed in clashes with the Israeli Army along the defensive barrier between the Gaza Strip and the Jewish state. According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, which cited Gaza medical sources, a man named Jaber Salem Abu Mustafa, 40, "was hit in the chest by the occupation" east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian news agency Maan, the other Palestinian was killed in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. The same source said 167 people were wounded. An Israeli military spokesman said 5,000 Palestinians are taking part on Friday in "violent riots" in five different points along the border between Gaza and Israel. He said demonstrators are burning tyres, throwing rocks against the border fences and at soldiers, and using incendiary kites to set fire to the nearby Israeli farmland. Soldiers are using dispersion methods and opening fire according to the rules of engagement, the spokesman said. He said the Israeli Army will not allow security infrastructure along the border to be damaged, and it will continue to ensure the safety of the Israelis who live along the border with Gaza.(ANSAmed). FLORENCE - European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker on Friday called for a ''reform of the Dublin system'' in his 'State of the Union' address in Florence. ''During the migrant crisis, and before with the economic and financial crisis, I discovered that there are Europeans who are ready'' for an effort of solidarity ''and part-time Europeans who sometimes participate and sometimes don't but talk a lot: I would like all European countries to be full-time Europeans''. According to Juncker, ''there were rifts in European solidarity that appeared evident within the context of the migrant crisis. I was among those who believed that we had to recognize the dignity of the Italian and Greek people who had asked for more solidarity: we joined them, we couldn't abandon those countries. Our response to give them a hand unfortunately came late''. (ANSAmed) The International Air Transport Associations (IATA) top official believes that political instability in the Middle East is posing a threat to the regions airline industry growth. Kaleyesus Bekele reports. The Middle East airline industry has not yet totally recovered from the Arab Spring the 2010 series of protests and demonstrations across the region. Thats the view of IATA CEO, Alexander de Juniac, who believes that continuing regional political instability is still affecting the industry. The tourism industry in Egypt, for example, has not yet fully recovered from the impact of the Arab Spring, he said. The geopolitical instability and security threats hovering in the region are not encouraging the development of air traffic. What we have seen so far is that dynamic actors are able to overcome the challenges. But the more instability you have, the less attractive the region will be. The CEO cited the blockade in Qatar, the war in Yemen, and the position of Iran and the Saudi-led countries as not being favourable conditions for air transport. Speaking of the blockade, de Juniac said IATA believes that the world needs connectivity with Qatar. We will help to establish normal connectivity between Qatar and the rest of the world. We have practically helped the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to find an appropriate corridor for Qatar Airways and for the airlines flying to Qatar to be able to have access to the country. He said that governments had the right to close their borders when they thought it is necessary. They can do it but border closure has never been good news to the airline industry, he added. Regarding the war in Yemen, de Juniac said that uncontrolled groups were firing short-range missiles. When missiles are fired by a state army there is no problem because it applies ICAO regulations and warns airlines. But when uncontrolled groups fire missiles, it is dangerous. That is what happened in Ukraine and it is now the case in Yemen. The missiles are not fired precisely and, in that case, there may be a need to establish a no-fly zone. He added that, that in the wake of the Malaysian airliner MH17 disaster (a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on July 17 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew), pilot awareness of missiles had increased. The CEO also reacted to the third version of the Trump administrations travel ban, which the US Supreme Court allowed to go into effect on December 4. The ban bars most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea from entering the United States. There is little passenger traffic coming from those countries to the US. There are no direct flights between these countries and the US and that is why we believe that the operational consequence will be limited, he said. De Juniac said that Gulf airlines had been affected by various factors over the years. Its not just political instability, theyve also been growing at an incredible (double-digit) pace. Now I think they are entering into normal waters, he said. They are now growing like their peers. They are discovering the big world facing similar issues like replanning their networks, which is normal business. Despite the political turmoil, IATA forecasts that Middle East carriers will see net profits improve to $600 million in 2018 up from 300 million last year. Demand in 2018 is expected to grow by 7%, outpacing announced capacity expansion of 4.9% (the slowest growth since 2002). According to IATA, the regions carriers face challenges to their business models, and from low oil revenues, regional conflict, crowded air space, the impact of travel restrictions to the US, and competition from the new super connector (Turkish Airlines). Despite the challenges, however, there is positive momentum heading into 2018. The Estonian Parliament voted in favor of a commitment for the benefit of the French operation Barkhane. At the invitation of Mali and in liaison with France, Estonia will therefore deploy this summer 2018, 50 soldiers in Mali, for a period of one year. For the first time, a third country will be directly integrated into Operation Barkhane. French troops operating in Mali for Operation Barkhane (Picture source: French MoD) Minister of Armies Florence Parly welcomes this announcement. The Estonian commitment promises to reinforce already close bilateral cooperation. This commitment reflects an important convergence of strategic views, particularly on the threats to European security. The French armies were already working alongside the Estonians in 2017 as part of NATO's eastern flanking reinsurance measures and the French contribution to the enhanced forward presence. France has decided to renew this contribution in Estonia in 2019. In addition, four French Mirage 2000-5s are currently stationed in Estonia at Amari Air Base, from where they contribute to the NATO sky police mission. in the sky of the three Baltic countries. Operation Barkhane is an operation conducted in the Sahel and the Sahara by the French army, which aims to fight against armed Salafist jihadist groups throughout the Sahel region. Launched on August 1, 2014, it takes over the operations Serval and Epervier (Sparrowhawk). It is part of a strategy of forces prepositioned in the region, in partnership with the States of the zone. It mobilizes several thousand soldiers against a few hundred jihadists. Since early 2018, some 4,500 French soldiers are involved locally in the operation. A friend of mine has just discovered the music of Chet Baker, about whom I wrote sixteen years ago in The Wall Street Journal. Since that piece, a review of James Gavins Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker, has never been reprinted and is not available on line, I decided to post a lengthy excerpt for her benefit, as well as that of anyone else whod like to know something about Bakers pitiful life and beautiful art. * * * Anyone romantic enough to suppose that beauty is ennobling should spend an hour or two leafing through Deep in a Dream, James Gavins eagerly awaited biography of the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. From time to time, musicians with a twisted sense of humor have been known to play the macabre game of choosing an all-star band comprised solely of players who are notorious for their compulsively self-destructive behavior; invariably, they pick Baker as solo trumpet. According to Mr. Gavin, he was mad, bad and dangerous to knowyet he played and sang ballads like My Funny Valentine and She Was Too Good to Me with a fragile tenderness and delicacy that could wring tears from the toughest of cynics. When not actually making music, Baker spent most of his adult life either getting high (he favored the lethal mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a speedball) or scrounging drug money from friends, lovers, colleagues and relatives. All the attempts through the years to get him off heroinhe didnt want to get off heroin, said the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, in whose celebrated quartet Baker first won fame a half-century ago. Nobody knows for certain whether he fell, jumped or was pushed out of an Amsterdam hotel window in 1988, though it is widely thought that an unpaid dope dealer did him in. Similarly, many musicians believe that the person or persons unknown who attacked Baker in San Francisco in 1966, smashing his mouth so badly that his upper teeth had to be pulled and replaced with dentures, were paying him back for much the same reason. In addition to being a dishonest wastrel, Baker was, as Mr. Gavin suggests, a kind of idiot savant, unable to read even the simplest of chord changeshe did it all by earand uninterested in learning anything about music beyond the basic knowledge needed to improvise technically undemanding trumpet solos with a minimum of high notes. Maybe this rule stuff is all right for those who have no ear or creative ability, he once told an interviewer. (So much for Louis Armstrong, who could both read and write music, just like the overwhelming majority of great jazz musicians.) Yet at his not-infrequent best, Baker could play jazz that was both piercingly beautiful and in no way aesthetically naive. And while his whispery singing was more controversial, inspiring praise and contempt in equal measure, many listeners, this one included, find his tiny, feather-light tenor voice to be almost unbearably poignant. A half-educated hick from Oklahoma, Baker was all but incapable of introspection, and rarely had anything insightful to say about his work. Nor is Mr. Gavin a trained musician, meaning that he can shed no analytic light on Bakers playing. Of necessity, then, Deep in a Dream deals primarily with his sordid life. Unlike most musical biographies written by non-musicians, however, this one workspartly because that life was so appallingly eventful, but mostly because Mr. Gavin has done his job with scrupulous care, separating fact from rumor and facing up to the full implications of Bakers despicable conduct. Unlike Bruce Weber, the fashion photographer turned filmmaker whose 1989 documentary Lets Get Lost treated the handsome trumpeter as a glamorously decadent object of desire, James Gavin has no illusions about Chet Baker. Though he understands the perverse appeal of the beautiful, self-destructive rebel who lived on the run, avoiding responsibility, rejecting convention, he treats Baker not as a pretty pin-up boy but as a serious artist worthy of intelligent consideration. The problem is that Bakers life, though interesting, wasnt exactly edifying. He played music, shot dope and slept with foolish women, and thats about the size of it. Reading about him is like watching a ten-car pile-up on an ice-covered road: its sickening, but you cant turn away. In Bakers case, you keep trying to guess just how low he can possibly sink, and he keeps surprising you. It wasnt until the last day of his life that he finally hit bottom, cracking open his skull and bringing to a long-deferred close a career that by all rights should have ended years before. James Gavin tells us everything we could possibly want to know about Baker, save for the one unknowable thing that matters most. Where did all that beauty come from? It is the highest possible tribute to Chet Bakers haunted art that after reading Deep in a Dream, we should still wonder. * * * Chet Baker performs My Funny Valentine on TV in 1959: Chet Baker performs Love for Sale in concert in 1979: The firm, led by billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal, also saw its net debt decrease to USD 11.1 billion. The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal on Friday reported a 19 per cent jump in its net income to USD 1.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. New Delhi: The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal on Friday reported a 19 per cent jump in its net income to USD 1.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The firm, led by billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal, also saw its net debt decrease to USD 11.1 billion. The company had posted a net income of USD 1 billion in the year-ago period. Sales of the steel giant rose 19.27 per cent to USD 19.18 billion in January-March period from USD 16.08 billion in the corresponding period last year. ArcelorMittal follows the January-December fiscal year. The Luxembourg-based firm reported a lower net debt of USD 11.1 billion as compared to USD 12.1 billion in the year-ago quarter. The net debt included working capital investment of USD 1.9 billion, share buyback USD 0.2 billion and forex USD 0.2 billion. ArcelorMittal's Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal said: "The improvement in global steel market dynamics has continued into 2018, supporting an encouraging financial performance in the first quarter. EBITDA increased 13 per cent year-on-year to USD 2.5 billion, while net income improved by 19 per cent to USD 1.2 billion." The outlook for 2018 has strengthened as the year has progressed, with the combination of growing demand and supply-side reform driving higher capacity utilisation rates and healthy steel spreads globally, he said. "Against this improving backdrop, we continue to focus on structural improvement - through the delivery of our Action 2020 strategic plan - and investing with focus and discipline in opportunities that will drive higher future returns. "Our acquisition of Ilva has now received competition clearance from the European Commission and we expect to complete this acquisition by the end of the second quarter 2018," Mittal said. ArcelorMittal also reported steel shipments of 21.3 million tonnes (MT) in the first quarter of 2018, marginally up from 21.1 MT in the year-ago period. Iron ore shipments at market price in January-March rose to 9.1 MT from 8.7 MT earlier. Crude steel production dipped to 23.3 MT during the quarter under review from 23.6 MT. The company said it is positioned to deliver value and the execution of its strategy, combined with improved industry fundamentals, and the strengthening market backdrop has resulted in improved results. "There is more to come from our Action 2020 initiatives in the coming periods, particularly from volume and mix improvements. In recent years, the company has transformed its balance sheet. This deleveraging bias will continue as we target a net debt of below USD 6 billion to support an investment grade rating at all points of the cycle," it said. ArcelorMittal is also trying to gain a firm foothold in India and has bid for debt-laden Essar Steel which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings. "On February 12, 2018, the Company's subsidiary ArcelorMittal India Private Limited (AMIPL) submitted a Resolution Plan for Essar Steel India Limited (Essar Steel) which set out a detailed plan to restore Essar Steel's fortunes and enable it to realise its full potential and participate in the anticipated steel demand growth in India," it said. On March 2, 2018, ArcelorMittal signed a joint venture formation agreement with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) in relation to its offer to acquire Essar Steel, it said. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) on May 2 had met representatives of ArcelorMittal and Numetal regarding their eligibility for Essar Steel and a decision is awaited. ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 18 countries. In 2017, ArcelorMittal had revenues of USD 68.7 billion and crude steel production of 93.1 million tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 57.4 million tonnes. Bishnoi community is still seething over the actors conviction in blackbuck case. Salman Khan is returning to Jodhpur. This time, it is not for a court case, but for the filming of Race 3. While the actor will be arriving with the rest of the cast, there is going to be a lot of security for Salman. This is to make sure that the actor stays safe from unpleasant encounters with the Bishnoi community, which is still seething over his conviction in the blackbuck case. Earlier Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster had already threatened to kill Salman. The security has been doubled than what it was and the Race 3 shoot will be heavily guarded with security provided not just to Salman but to the rest of the cast as well. In addition to this some visuals from this shoot will be used for making the trailer of the film which needs to be put out soon because we are just a little more than a month away from the films release, says a source. Salman and team Race 3 left for Jodhpur on Friday morning. Sanskriti Media On his preparations for the role he says, I am a yoga freak and practice every day, I practice yoga at home. Jackie Shroff who gave a stunning performance in his debut Tamil venture Aaranya Kaandam, which won awards at national level, is back to Tamil with an unconventional and never done before role. He will be an Aghori (ascetic sadhu) in the period film Paandi Muni. The film also marks the return of director Kasthoori Raja. Jackie was in Chennai for the launch of his movie and spoke about his transformation into an Aghori, his preparations for the role, his insistence on dubbing his own voice and on son Tiger. This is my third film in Tamil after AK and Kochadaiyaan. My first movie in the lead Hero ran for 75 weeks in Padmam theatre in Chennai. It was a heartwarming gesture that the people gave me, the Bollywood actor reminisced. On accepting an intense role of an Aghori he quips, I am a city man! Kasthoori Raja has made me an Aghori. He came to Mumbai for the narration. I listened to his script at a stretch for three hours. Its a power packed role and I could say nothing but yes to Raja sir. Jackie Shroff On his preparations for the role he says, I am a yoga freak and practice every day, I practice yoga at home. I even listened to the script sitting in a yoga posture. I think that will help me for the performance, besides other things. Looks can be managed by make-up. I want to lose some more weight. Rest is just following the boss on the sets. Also, when a magician like Madhu Ambat is there behind the camera, why would I worry? There are two heroines Nikesha Patel and Meghali but you have no pair as such in Paandi Muni, we point out. The director didnt give a heroine.Jokes apart. The character did not demand a pair and I am a Shiva bhakt who is half God and half ghost. It was also said that he insisted on dubbing his own voice. Of course, it is a huge film and for a high voltage role like this, I definitely want to put my vocal chords into use. Talking about his Chennai connection he says, I have shot for many movies in studios like AVM. Those days I used to go around the sets in a bicycle. I have lots of friends in Chennai Rajinikanth from the day we worked together in a Hindi film Uttar Dakshin in 1987 and more recently Kochadaiyaan, Revathy, Suhasini, Prabhu, Khushbu, Lissy and many others. We also meet regularly at the 80s Actors Reunion event conducted every year. Jackie is a proud father today as his son is making it big in Bollywood. I am glad that audiences have accepted him and made his films a success. Today I feel very proud that I am known by his name Hey Tigers dad is here. So much so that my daughter Krishna is happy making short films and not keen on acting. She is more into direction. The Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking independent probe into death of Bollywood actor Sridevi in Dubai. The veteran actress died on February 24, 2018, in Dubai after accidentally drowning in her hotel bath-tub. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed plea seeking independent probe into death of Bollywood actor Sridevi in Dubai. The apex court said that it "can't interfere" into death of Sridevi. The plea was filed by a small-time filmmaker who goes by the name of Sunil Singh. He sought an investigation into Sridevi's death. According to reports, petitioner Sunil Singh in his plea mentioned that he was in Dubai on a family vacation from February 20 to February 26. It was then he came to know about the death of Sridevi who was also in Dubai at that time. Singh said he had filed a petition before the apex court as the information he received while talking to hotel staff, officials at the hospital where the actor was taken and others associated with the case, was contrary to what was initially reported. The veteran actress died on February 24, 2018, in Dubai after accidentally drowning in her hotel bath-tub. Apparently nursing her PM ambitions, Banerjee had been giving clear indications that she was reluctant to work under the leadership of Gandhi. Supporters of Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee launched a soft campaign on Facebook to project her as a prime ministerial candidate. The slogan reads: Come, lets make a change... Lets get a Bengali Prime Minister this time. New Delhi: The Congress hope of projecting party president Rahul Gandhi as the Oppositions prime ministerial face hit the first hurdle with supporters of Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee launching a soft campaign on Facebook to project her as the Opposition candidate for Prime Minister in the 2019 general election. A Facebook page set up by Mamata fans All India Trinamul Congress AITC Supporters put up posts stating: Chalo Bodlai-Ebar Bangali Prodhanmantri Chai (Come lets bring a change This time we need a Bengali Prime Minister). A photograph of a smiling Ms Banerjee was put above the slogan. Some of the comments read: TMC Zindabad Didi Pradhan Mantri hobe (TMC Zindabad Didi will be the next Prime Minister). This social media page is, incidentally, run by her fans (Trinamul supporters) and is not the official Trinamul Congress page, a party leader clarified. It may be recalled that even before Mr Gandhi threw his hat into the ring, TMC leaders have been sending out signals that it would prefer Ms Banerjee as leader of the Opposition charge in the next general election. Trinamul Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek OBrien was on record saying: In 2019, Mamata Banerjee will play the lead role, Bengal will play the lead role. Apparently nursing her PM ambitions, Ms Banerjee had been giving clear indications that she was reluctant to work under the leadership of Mr Gandhi. During her recent visit to New Delhi, Ms Banerjee had not met Mr Gandhi but had called on his mother, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Also, the TMC has been against the Congress move for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The Congress was wrong to move the impeachment notice against CJI Dipak Misra. The Congress wanted us to support it. But we did not, Ms Banerjee had gone on record as saying during her Delhi visit. Making it clear that she was not willing to come under the Congress umbrella, Ms Banerjee had pitched for a 1:1 formula, which in electoral terms would mean one winnable candidate versus another in each parliamentary constituency across the country. The United Front or the Grand Alliance (if formed) would put up one common candidate, which the rest would support. If this particular formula is followed, the Congress role in electoral politics will be completely marginalised in the southern states as well as in states where anti-BJP regional parties were in a commanding role. Pitching for a federal front, Ms Banerjee has also been in touch with other Opposition chief ministers, including K. Chandrashekhar Rao, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal and Naveen Patanaik. Eyebrows were raised when NDA ally Shiv Sena marched under the Trinamul Congress leadership to Rashtrapati Bhavan in protest against demonetisation. The TMC also got a major boost when DMK leader M.K. Stalin tweeted that the DMK has always stood for the unity of regional parties and stronger federal cooperation. I endorse the efforts of @MamataOfficial to bring together various political parties to oppose the autocratic and anti-democratic rule of the BJP, he had said. PM said his visit 'reflects the high priority, India, and personally I, attach to our age-old, close and friendly ties with Nepal'. Modi said the two countries have completed several bilateral connectivity and development projects in the last few years, and initiated transformational initiatives for the benefit of their people. (Photo: File) New Delhi: On the eve of his two-day visit to Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. The prime minister exuded confidence that his visit will further cement people-centric partnership with Nepal on the basis of mutual benefit, goodwill and understanding. Modi's visit to Nepal is seen as an attempt by both the countries to bring back normalcy in ties after a spell of uneasiness as it comes little over a month after his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli came to India. Describing his two-day trip to Nepal as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy, Modi said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. "As Nepal enters a new era of consolidating gains of democracy and achieving rapid economic growth and development, India will continue to remain a steadfast partner of government of Nepal to implement its vision of samriddha Nepal, sukhi Nepali' (prosperous Nepal, happy Nepal)," Modi said in a statement. Oli's visit was seen as an attempt to repair Nepal's ties with New Delhi. In 2016, the Nepalese leader had publicly accused India of interfering in his country's internal matters and trying to topple his government. "Prime Minister Oli and I will have the opportunity to take forward our recent wide-ranging discussions in New Delhi on issues of mutual interest, and to advance our cooperative partnership across diverse sectors," Modi said. He said his visit "reflects the high priority, India, and personally I, attach to our age-old, close and friendly ties with Nepal". "These high-level and regular interactions reflect my government's commitment to the 'neighbourhood first' policy, in consonance with the motto of sabka saath, sabka vikas'," he said. Modi said the two countries have completed several bilateral connectivity and development projects in the last few years, and initiated transformational initiatives for the benefit of their people. In addition to Kathmandu, the prime minister said he was also looking forward to visiting Janakpur and Muktinath. Both these places attract a large number of pilgrims every year. "They are living testimony to the ancient and strong cultural and religious ties between the peoples of India and Nepal," he said. Modi said he was also looking forward to meeting political leaders and friends in Nepal. "I am confident that my visit will further cement our people-centric partnership with Nepal on the basis of mutual benefit, goodwill and understanding," he noted. The prime minister's first stop will be historic city of Janakpur where he will offer prayers at the Janaki temple. He will also be given a civic reception at Janakpur. In the afternoon, Modi will travel to Kathmandu where he will meet Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. In the evening, he will hold delegation-level talks with Oli, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The prime ministers are likely to sign a number of pacts and inaugurate the Rs 6000-crore Arun 3 project which is expected to generate around 900 MW of power. Modi will also attend a banquet hosted by Oli on Thursday. On Saturday, he will visit Muktinath. He will come back to Kathmandu in the afternoon and offer prayers at Pashupathi Nath temple, Kumar said. Later, Modi will meet the leaders of various political parties which will be followed by a civic reception to be hosted by the mayor of Kathmandu. The victory of the Congress in Karnataka will be a stepping stone for the coming Parliament election, says Siddaramaiah. Thaatha, Thaatha... a young boy cried, chasing after chief minister Siddaramaiah, as he emerged from the throng at a late night rally in Nanjangud where a 5,000 strong crowd had gathered on the main street to hear him tear into the JD(S) opponent. Siddaramaiahs clever one-liners as he blew a hole in the JD(S) bogus claims of having spent Rs 500 crores since the JD(S) lost the seat to the Congress in recent bypolls had the overwhelmingly male crowd clapping and cheering. Look at this now, I'm seen as a grandfather, said the chief minister, chuckling ruefully as he settled into the car, gulping down a glass of cold water and a hot cup of tea in quick succession. Clearly exhausted at the end of the days campaign that covered five constituencies including Chamarajnagar district and Nanjangud, it hasnt however dimmed his fighting spirit or his confidence that he will win an absolute majority, he tells Neena Gopal and Shyam Sundar Vattam as he made tracks to his friend's home in Mysuru which has become his headquarters as the campaign heads into the critical final lap. What is your perception today of the elections, given the fact that Prime Minister Modi is making one attack after another on your government's performance, levelling charges of corruption against you personally as well as your government. Will people believe these charges? Will it affect you? Who will believe him? People of Karnataka understand, they see through the hollow speeches of PM Modi. What evidence does he have? Being a prime minister, how can he make these charges, what kind of documentary proof does he have? I can also attack him like anything and I am doing it, but not on a personal level. Look what happened in the last by poll in Nanjnagud, when Srinivas Prasad and (B.S) Yeddyurappa attacked me personally. Did you see how it blew up in their faces. They lost miserably. Unless there is evidence, people will not believe. The charge that you have made about JD(S) being the B Team of the BJP. How far is that true? It is a fact. Look at the candidates fielded in Mysore district, look at the candidates the BJP has put up in Chamundeswari, in K. R. Nagar, in Hunsur, in Periyapatna, in Varuna. In all these constituencies, the BJP has fielded weak candidates. The JD(S) candidate in Chamundeswari, G.T. Deve Gowda admitted it when he made a statement that wherever the BJP puts up a strong candidate, the JD(S) would field a weak candidate and wherever the JD(S) puts up a strong candidate, the BJP would do the same. The BJP and the JD(S) are working together to defeat you? Yes, I have completed five years, so they want to defeat me. They are jealous. They do not want me to come back again and continue as chief minister for another five years. That is why they are doing everything they can to stop me from coming back to power. They have come together, the JD(S) and the BJP. Is this further indication that the BJP and JD(S) will come together if there is a hung assembly? That will not happen. There will be no hung assembly. Congress will come back. There will be a clear majority. We have given a stable government. The BJP has given only unstable government. They had three chief ministers, one chief minister has gone to jail. They indulge in resort politics. People have seen, people will not trust them. What about the very strong reports of a group within the Congress party also trying to destroy you to stop you from becoming the chief minister again. No no, not true. There may be chief minister aspirants also. It does not mean they are working against me, or that we are working against each other. That is not true. Is that the sense you're getting in the North? According to the latest survey, in Hyderabad Karnataka, your numbers have gone up. Mumbai Karnataka seems to be holding on, however, in coastal Karnataka, there is a strong charge that with the BJP charging you with having links with the SDPI, which is accused of being behind the killings of BJP and RSS workers, it could affect your chances? Nothing will happen. They have tried this before. Mr Modi came to the area and made fierce speeches. They won only four out of the 19 seats available in Coastal Karnataka. We won 13! The cycle will simply repeat itself this year. In coastal Karnataka, it will be a swing in favour of Congress. What about Hyderabad Karnataka? We will get more than 25 seats out of 40. We got about 23 last time. The number will go up. Are you missing Srinivas Prasad and H. Vishwanath, who sided with you in 2008 and 2013? This time, they're in other parties. What influence does H. Vishwanath have in Chamundeshwari? What about Prasad's influence in Nanjangud? What has he done for Chamundeshwari, for that matter? What have they done in that constituency? And Varuna? You see, we will win. Comfortably. So you don't see a fight in Chamundeshwari? No. They are trying to fight - not Srinivas Prasad or Vishwanath, but the entire BJP cadre. They're trying hard to support the JD(S) candidate. In 2006, they joined together too, back when Kumaraswamy was CM and Yeddyurappa, his Deputy. They spent a lot of money, inspite of which I won. What about the seven JD(S) candidates you brought in to the Congress, having a hard time at the hands of some Congress workers. Is there any truth to it? We heard the Congress was facing an uphill battle in Srirangapatna, Magadi... And there is also the issue of Ambareesh.. he (Ambareesh) did go to Kumaraswamy's house... No, it's not correct. The JD(S) is putting in great efforts in Magadi, Srirangapatna and Nelamangala. They're spending a great deal of money there. As for Ambareesh, he told us he was not ready to contest, saying his health will not permit him to campaign. Going to the house. Ha! That's a political gimmick. He went to his house and had dinner or something. He is not going anywhere! What about your prospects in Badami? I will win quite easily. You're dependent again on a sitting MLA. He may not have the numbers but he is putting in a great deal of effort. And you have Janardhan Reddy behind the scenes. Oh. And what is Janardhan Reddy bringing? Money? Money will not win you an election alone, if you dont have the acceptance of your voters. Money is necessary but it will not work on its own. What do you have to say about the fact that Karnataka is being seen as pivotal for the 2019 election? The victory of the Congress in Karnataka will be a stepping stone for the coming Parliament election. Before that happens, elections are approaching in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The BJP will be defeated in both these places after the Karnataka election. According to me, it's a definite win for the Congress. What about the BJPs prospects in Karnataka? In eight districts, there is no BJP MLA. Chamarajnagar, Mandya, Hassan, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur - where are the BJP MLAs? How can they come to power when the BJP is absolutely zero in eight districts. The others districs won't make that much of a difference. The JD(S) isn't too different: they don't have MLAs in Kalaburgi, Ballari, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Udupi, Chitradurga, Davanagere - nearly a dozen constituencies. Where are the JD(S) MLAs? They have no presence here. Not dalit CM Why is there still a debate about the next CM? Kharge has been talking about it. Let me clarify to you that there is no race among the dalit Congress leaders in this regard. Our party leader in Lok Sabha is Mallikarjun Kharge, and he has already clarified that he is not a contender for the CM gaddi. Kharge himself made a statement in Afzalpur, where I was present on the dais. He said, "Siddaramaiah will be the next CM". The BJP which is raising the bogey of the dalit CM should declare its senior leader Govind Karjol as it's CM candidate. Since the assembly elections are being fought under my leadership, naturally I am the best choice for the CM post. Do you mean to say that dalits have to wait for another five years to become the CM? Yes, if I am made the CM. Will Congress make a Dalit as deputy chief minister?? I cant say anything about that. This decision has to be taken by the party high command and not me. Whatever is agreed on, I will support the decision. But Parameshwar says CLP? That's the procedure! I talk of procedure too, someone has to be approved by the High Command. That's how things go. And what about the post of CM, sir? I'm not against it. It's up to the High Command. That's awfully big-hearted of you sir, isn't it? CM (Laughs): It's not a question of being big-hearted. It's about providing social justice. The Congress party has made dalits Chief Ministers in some states - Shinde was the CM of Maharashtra. You have Ajit Jogi who was the CM in Jharkhand. Congress is the only party that makes Scheduled Caste leaders CMs. What made you want to contest a second term? I was asked to do so. Not Deve Gowdas protege You were groomed by H.D. Deve Gowda but appear to have several differences in opinion now. Who groomed me? Did you say Deve Gowda? Who told you this? He claims that he took you under his wing and made you the Deputy CM? Deve Gowda was the person who prevented me from being CM in 1996. This happened in 2004, too. How can he say he has groomed me? As it happens, I was elected as an independent, who didn't know Deve Gowda. In 1995, I was re-elected. In 1994, we formed our own party, he was defeated. How can he say he has groomed me? Who said Deve Gowda is my mentor. I was never groomed by him and in fact he scuttled my chances of becoming chief minister and deputy chief minister. I was groomed by late Ramakrisna Hegde who made me chairman of Kannada watchdog committee and later a minister. Even in JD(S) I was treated badly by Deve Gowda, who is always interested in grooming his family members. This forced me to quit JDS and join Congress. I have no regrets over quitting JDS. He does speak of you with affection. Affection is different. I have my own sense of Karnataka politics. Incidentally, it was Ramakrishna Hegde who made me Chairman of the Karnataka . In 1982, 84, he made me Minister again. Where does Deve Gowda fit in, exactly? But you are aware that the JD(S) and BJP have teamed up to defeat you in Chamundeshwari constituency. In the 2006 by- election, then CM H.D. Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa tried their best to defeat me..did they succeed? People don't believe Kumaraswamy or Deve Gowda anymore. I am confident of winning from both Chamundeshwari and Badami assembly constituencies by a big margin. How do you grade your opponents? JDS is strong in old Mysuru region where there is fight between Congress and JDS; there is fight with BJP in some constituencies in Mumbai- Karnataka and Hyderabad- Karnataka region. But the Congress has been strong across the state. We will win a majority of seats in Coastal districts. In case of a hung assembly, will Congress accept JD(S) help? That question does not arise as the situation will not. People have already decided how to vote. You think? I was told people decide 24 hours before. Does it all depend now on Mr Modi and Sonia ji? Mr Modi is not magic! You're still optimistic about 120 plus seats? Yes. I totally believe the people of this state. I have been seeing them, campaigning, since 1994. I understand the pulse of the people. What will be the JD(S) fate after May 14? I can't say, but they may get around 25 seats. Do you reckon BJP or JD(S) to be a more likely opponent? JD(S) is the opponent in South Karnataka and BJP in the north. That's very honest of you, unlike Mr Modi who said the JD(S) is not worth voting for and will only come third! One needs to know the ground realities! JD(S) is strong enough in about eight districts in the south. So they're not likely to open an account in Hyderabad Karnataka? As things stand, I don't think so. They may get a couple of seats. Last time, they won four seats across Hyderabad and Mumbai Karnataka. One in Navalgunda, one in Bidar and two in Raichur, that's four in all. So why is Kumaraswamy so confident that he will do well? It is just a strategy. Your final numbers are 124? 120 plus, I think. It could be 124, 128 or 132! There is also a strong rumour that the BJP is fielding independent candidates to eat into the Congress vote. I don't think it will help. You can't say for sure whether an independent will only take the Congress vote or the BJP vote. So there is no strategy? None. Take Amit Shah, who is being compared to Chanakya. What has he done in the last month? What about the Lingayat vote? Do you mean to say the Lingayats didn't vote for BJP in the last election? It is a divide. No, what about your own Lingayat gamble? I know you have said several times that the recommendations came from a Commission. But there is a strong feeling that it.. Well, to us, it's not a political issue! Have you heard me bring it up during my campaign? Really? Yes! I haven't touched it! They are saying Siddaramaiah has created a religious divide. What divide have I created? It was established 850 years ago by Basavanna. Not me. Yeddyurappa doesn't know anything, he has not read anything. What about the charge that you met a tainted businessman named Eshwar in China and accepted gifts? I don't know who he is. I went to China to attend the Global Investors Meet. Many people met me, I don't know who they are. They were people from various countries. I went there as Chief Minister, where people came up to me. The story is that you were gifted an expensive watch? Some people say Champaiah gave it to me. Other said it was a Dubai man. Others said I had bought it in a market. Now who is to be believed? It was given to me by Dr Varma. He has filed an affidavit and furnished documents saying the watch was purchased in Dubai. What more is needed now? Is it just another jumla to tarnish your image? Justice Santosh Hegde has specifically brought up the mining scam and the lack of action that followed the Lokayukta report. My image cannot be tarnished. Anyway, this issue goes back to 2014. Why raise it now? It's just a political gimmick. As for the mining scam, the matter was referred to the CBI, who delayed their report. Now, they produce one saying there is no case. We discussed it in the cabinet and have referred it to the SIT for a secondary investigation. All this was done as a response to the original report. Why was there no action taken against officers involved in the scam? When there is no case, what action will we take? There was a case against Janardhan Reddy, so what's the point of prosecuting officers? Justice Hegde says JD(S) and BJP have made a blunder by taking Reddy in and the Congress' blunder is in giving tickets to Nagendra and Ananth Singh. The charges against them are less serious. Mining, illegal export of iron ore: You will be surprised to know that the Reddy brothers' income at that point was `10 crore a day. 30% to 50% had to be given to the Reddy brothers like a hafta. There were serious differences between Janardhan Reddy and Yeddyurappa. Reddy instructed the DC and SP not to receive Yeddyurappa even though he was the Chief Minister. Reddy was a very powerful man. In 2008, he bankrolled the BJP, he gave them `200 crores. That's when the iron ore boom happened with China and they were making quite a bit of money. Why aren't you going after Sriramulu, his wealth? What kind of threat does he pose to you in Badami? 100% I will win. Sriramulu is not a threat. There are still 25,000 STs in the area. And more than 50,000 Kurubas! Before delimitation there were more than 70,000 Kurubas in Badami. Is this according to your secret census! No no, there are now 50,000 of them. There were 70,000 before the de-limitation. There are also about 70,000 votes from the Lingayat community and its many sub sects like Panchamashalis, Ganiga Lingayats, Reddy Lingayats, Banagigas etc. I am confident of getting Lingayat votes too. There are nearly 2,10,000 votes of which I am expecting 70-75 percent votes. Were looking at a tally of some 2 lakh-odd votes and I'm expecting between 70 and 75 percent of these. So, you don't see the Reddys as a threat at all? Not at all. Even in Ballari city? Why did he leave Ballari and contest elsewhere? He knew he wasnt going to win after his inflammatory speech. Even in Molakalamuru it is a tough election for him. Only with money they are aiming to win elections in both the constituencies. Janardana Reddy is camping in Molakalamuru and Sriramulu is spending time in Badami So when will the CM be nominated? 16th or 17th? I don't say. I'm not a fool like Yeddyurappa. No politician talks like that! Is Yeddyurappa overconfident? Again, it is just a strategy. Still, sending his son to stand from Varuna without the party's backing makes no sense. His son was campaigning in Varuna for about a month. He went to all the villages in the constituency, at the behest of Yeddyurappa, who told his son to go without the approval of the High Command. It looks like the RSS came in the way of his plans. Or Ananth Kumar and Amit Shah. Lalu Yadav was receiv-ed by his sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav at the Patna airport. Patna: Suspense over RJD Chief Lalu Yadavs parole finally ended on Thursday after jail authorities allowed him to visit Patna for the marriage ceremony of his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. The report of Lalu Yadav being released on a three-day parole came as a relief for his wife Rabri Devi and other family members, who have been busy preparing for the wedding of Tej Pratap Yadav on May 12. Lalu Yadav was receiv-ed by his sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav at the Patna airport. Mr Yadav had applied for a five-day parole but according to sources, the administration decided to give him short parole due to his current medical condition. Sources from Ranchi said that the two-page parole order clearly stat-es that Lalu Yadav will not be allowed to engage in any political activity or speak with media during his stay in Patna. Officials said that the parole to Lalu Yadav has been granted on condition that he will not interact with the media and will return to Ranchi when the date of his term ends. His family is happy to know that Lalu Yadav will be attending the ev-ent, but we fail to understand why he has been given parole for only three days, RJD MLA Shakti Yadav said. Two doctors from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) have also been deputed to monitor his health condition during his stay in Patna. A medical board of RIMS had earlier declared his condition as stable for parole. The jail authorities had sought a report on his health condition from RIMS. The medical board constituted to monitor Lalu Yadavs health in its report had declared him fit to travel but wanted doctors to keep a regular tab of his health, RJD MLA and Lalus closest aide Bhola Yadav had earlier said. An accounting assistant at power utility, Sushil Kashinath Koli, was suspended on Thursday for alleged dereliction of duty, said officials. A suicide note left behind by the deceased stated that he was frustrated with the exorbitant bill since his household consumed electricity worth around Rs 1,000 on an average every month. (Photo: Representational) Aurangabad: A vegetable vendor allegedly committed suicide after receiving an electricity bill of Rs 8.64 lakh for the month of March which the power distribution firm later said was an erroneous one caused due to a missing decimal point. Jagannath Nehaji Shelke (36) allegedly hung himself in the early hours of Thursday as he was distressed over the bill and several visits to the local office of the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) were in vain, his kin on Thursday said. Shelke was served a bill, in the last week of April, of Rs 8.64 lakh after 61,178 units of electricity was charged to him, with MSEDCL officials now claiming that the correct figure for the units consumed at Shelke's household should have been just 6,117.8 This amount would have come to around Rs 2,803, they said. The incident took place in Bharatnagar locality within Pundliknagar police station limits, said officials. A suicide note left behind by the deceased stated that he was frustrated with the exorbitant bill since his household consumed electricity worth around Rs 1,000 on an average every month. An accounting assistant at the power utility, Sushil Kashinath Koli, was suspended on Thursday for alleged dereliction of duty, said, officials. The MSEDCL, which had earlier said that it had nothing to with Shelke's death, later took action against its employee after the deceased's suicide note was widely circulated on social media. His family members on Thursday said that they would not cremate Shelke's body, which is in the morgue of a local hospital, till the officials responsible for the tragedy were arrested under charges of abetment of suicide. Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress power will return to power in the state. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah address the media ahead of the Assembly elections in Bengaluru. (Photo: PTI) Bengaluru: My mother is more Indian than many Indians, an emotional Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday, as he responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modis sarcastic barb at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin and alleged that Mr Modi saw him as a threat. My mother is an Italian. She has lived the larger part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many, many Indians I have seen, said the Congress president. She has sacrificed her life for the country, she has suffered for the country. When Modi makes such comments, it shows the quality of the man. I am happy if he enjoys making such comments, he is welcome, Mr Gandhi told a press conference before winding up his extensive tour of election-bound Karnataka. The issue of Sonia Gandhis foreign origin was raked up by Mr Modi at an election rally in Santemaranahalli on May 1 where he dared the Congress chief to speak for 15 minutes about the achievements of the Karnataka government in any language, including his mothers mother tongue. Mr Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress power will return to power in the state. The Congress came close to defeating the BJP in Gujarat... here, I am confident of the outcome, he said. Claiming that the Prime Minister saw a threat in him, Mr Gandhi said, Modi has anger inside him and he has got anger for everybody not only for me. I attract that anger because he sees a threat in me. His anger is his problem, not my problem. On Wednesday, Mr Modi had remarked that Gandhis ambition to become PM reeks of arrogance. On Mr Modis personal attacks, Mr Gandhi said, I have now learnt to deal with him, when he realises that he is coming into a space where there is no escape then he distracts and creates anger. We will not let him distract and create anger. The Congress president also took a swipe at Mr Modi for not holding any press conference in the last four years. In a tweet, Mr Gandhi said, Enjoyed meeting the regional and national press today in Bengaluru. We had a packed house! Im sorry not everyone got a chance to ask a question due to the paucity of time. But, unlike our PM who hasnt had a press conference in 4 years, I will be doing many more of these! he tweeted. Mr Gandhi hit back hard at the BJP for mocking him over visiting temples and calling him an election Hindu who remembered Hindu shrines only during polls. Maintaining that the BJP feels uncomfortable about his temple visits, Mr Gandhi said, I dont think they understand the term Hindu, because the term Hindu is a perspective, it is something that is in the heart, it is imbibed. On the purchase of Rafale fighter jets which the BJP and the Prime Minister have claimed was a good deal, Mr Gandhi said, It is a very good deal for the Prime Minister and his businessman friend, who has a `45,000 crore debt, who has never built an aircraft in his life. Mr Modi paid `1,500 crore per aircraft that the UPA government had worked out at Rs 700 crore, he said. On BJPs criticism of politicisation of rape cases, Mr Gandhi said atrocities against women and their rape was indeed a political issue, its a national issue. Are you telling me if Indian women are raped politicians shouldnt discuss it? It is absolutely a political issue, it is an issue that is fundamental. The treatment of our women is absolutely an issue, he added, The Congress president claimed Indias foreign policy was decimated as the Prime Minister looked at it as an individual exercise. He is under the impression that he can go on and have a personal conversation with the President of China and everything will magically happen, he said, adding that the Prime Minister needs to take into confidence talented people in the foreign ministry. Are discussions happening with finance, foreign and defence minister on strategies? No. Its a one man show, he added. Modi announced Rs 100 Cr package to develop Janakpur - sacred city for Hindus - while invoking mythological links between the two countries. Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground in Janakpur, Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting 'Jay Siya Ram' slogan three times. (Photo: PTI) Janakpur/ New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy as he announced Rs 100 crore package to develop Janakpur - the sacred city for Hindus - while invoking mythological links between the two countries. Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground in Janakpur, Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting "Jay Siya Ram" slogan three times. In a speech that invoked mythological references and symbolism, Modi said he has come to Janakpur not as the Prime Minister but as the chief pilgrim, amid applause. Modi, who is on his third visit to Nepal since assuming office in 2014, read out a verse from Ramcharitmanas which says 'one cannot remain isolated from the suffering of a friend and a true friend always helps his friend in the time of suffering.' "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," said Modi, whose voice appeared hoarse apparently due to his hectic campaign in Karnataka assembly elections. Modi assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy. He announced a Rs 100 crore package for the development of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. The amount will be spent on different development projects forging collaboration between the central government and the local government of Province No 2. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Modi, who earlier with his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya - the two sacred cities for Hindus, said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan Circuit. "This circuit will develop religious tourism. It also will strengthen connectivity between the two nations," Modi said. He also announced that two other circuits will also be developed for the promotion of the areas related to Buddhism and Jain religion in both Nepal and India, which will be instrumental in generating employment for the youths. Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport. He underlined the need for linking Nepal and India through highway, I- way or Information, Railway, Trans way or electric connectivity, waterway and airway. Read: PM Modi launches Ramayan bus route to Ayodhya on third visit to Nepal "We are also trying our best to connect Nepal with waterways so that Nepal will be able to export Nepali goods abroad. If done so Nepal will be able to reap benefits through international trade," Modi said. He said his long cherished dream to visit Janakpur has now been fulfilled with the grace of Goddess Sita. Modi, who earlier offered special prayers at the famed 20th century Janaki temple, invoked mythological King Janak of Mithila and King Dashratha of Ayodhya and said they not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but also united India and Nepal. "Nepal and India relations were started during the rule of King Janak in Treta Yuga and the bondage built by Sita during the period is still strong. It is this bondage which attracts people from Rameswaram to Pashupatinath, people from Lumbini to Bodhgaya and I was also attracted with the same bondage," he said. He said Nepal and India not only share border, aspirations, dreams and destination, but their happiness and challenge are also same. "Nepal is the land of great sages like Yagyavalkya, Astavakra, Gargi, who used to debate on theology and social issues in the palace of King Janak," he said, adding that Nepal has become the centre of spiritualism and philosophy. Modi said India will build a railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu to facilitate people-to-people contact and movement of goods. He also thanked Oli and said the honour he received in Janakpur is for the entire people of India. Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel welcomed Prime Minister Modi at the function. Modi was wearing a Maithili kurta gifted by Prime Minister Oli. "Nepal and India are tied together by common culture, civilization and history," Pokharel said. He expressed the confidence that the people to people relations between the two countries are being nurtured on the basis of brotherhood and equality. Mayor of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City Lal Kishro Shah read out felicitation letter in honour of Modi. He also handed over the symbolic key of Janakpur to Modi and gifted the picture of Janaki Temple as a token of love to him. Chief Minister of Province No. 2 Lal Babu Raut offered a huge garland weighing 121 kg to Modi on the occasion. Welcoming Modi, Chief Minister Raut said the "open borders between Nepal and India have been instrumental in connecting the peoples of the two countries." He stressed on the need for linking the peoples of the Janakpur and India by establishing connectivity through air route, railway line and roads. The Opposition parties had also accused the government of failing to protect the rights of dalits. New Delhi: In a significant step towards reaching out to dalits, the government has begun inter-ministerial consultations to bring in an ordinance to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that put safeguards on the arrest of those accused of committing atrocities on SCs and STs, official sources were quoted as saying by news agencies. This comes barely a month after dalit groups had held all-India protests against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act through the Supreme Courts March 20 ruling. The timing of the decision is interesting as the government is mindful of the fact that Lok Sabha polls are less than a year away. Therefore, in order to soothe the sentiments of dalits, it has begun to pave the way for the ordinance. The protests held on April 2 had turned violent at several places across the country, leaving many people dead. The Opposition parties had also accused the government of failing to protect the rights of dalits. A draft is ready with the social justice ministry and it is likely to be placed before the Union Cabinet in the coming days if the governments review plea before the Supreme Court fails to yield a favourable ruling. The next hearing is on May 16 and much would depend on that, said a senior official in the social justice and empowerment ministry. Another government official said there was no clarity yet on the exact date for the proposal to be placed before the Cabinet for its approval. But a Cabinet note detailing the reason for bringing the ordinance has been circulated to all ministries for consultations, he added. The proposed ordinance would make it clear that despite any judgment or any other law in force, the provisions of the act shall remain valid. Once promulgated, this will mean the ordinance would overturn the SC order, a law ministry official explained. Sources aware of deliberations within the government at different levels said promulgating an ordinance to restore the original provisions would help calm tempers. Introducing a bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament due in July to amend the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 to overturn the Supreme Court order is the second option before the government, the sources said. Recently, the Supreme Court refused to stay its March 20 order diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. While hearing observations by attorney-general K.K. Venugopal on a review petition filed by the Centre, the court had said it was not against the act but the innocent should not be punished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last month said that his government would not let any dilution in the law aimed at preventing atrocities on SCs and STs. In its March 20 order, the Supreme Court had laid down new guidelines for police officers on how to ensure that innocent people, specially public officials, are protected from false complaints under the law. Polling for 223 seats of the 224-member Assembly will be held on May 12. Bengaluru: The vitriol-filled campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended on Thursday with top leaders of the BJP and Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, making a last-gasp effort to sway voters in a likely cliffhanger. From corruption to communalism, attacks on the NDA over economic issues and PNB fraud to temple visits by leaders of all parties and bids to woo dalits, chief minister Siddaramaiahs `70 lakh Hublot watch to questions over UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhis foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all. Like all state polls since he assumed the reins of power in New Delhi, Mr Modi helmed the BJPs adrenaline-charged campaign despite the party having declared B.S. Yeddyurappa its chief ministerial candidate, while Rahul Gandhi spearheaded that of the Congress. On the last day of campaign on Thursday, Mr Modi said that there is no place for dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress and BJP president Amit Shah alleged that the Congress wants to win Karnataka elections in an undemocratic manner. Addressing BJPs SC/ST/OBC and Slum Morcha workers through his Namo App, Mr Modi said the Congress used all its power to defeat Ambedkar when he contested Lok Sabha election in 1952 and Bandara Lok Sabha by-election in 1953. That is the reason why Baba Saheb had to face defeat and insult. Let Congress show at least one thing it did to honour Baba Saheb There is no place for dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress, he said. Mr Shah, who extensively campaigned in the state, told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday, The Congress wants to win elections in an undemocratic manner... The developments in the last three days have sent a shock wave across India among those who are concerned about strengthening democracy. He was referring to the seizure of bogus voter ID cards from a flat here. Earlier in the day, Mr Shah led a massive road show in Badami constituency from where chief minister Siddaramaiah is contesting besides Chamundeshwari seat in Mysuru. The BJP president claimed that Siddaramaiah is going to lose from both the seats and expressed confidence that the BJP will win at least 130 seats in the 224-member Assembly and there will be no need to take any partys support. The Congress turned on the heat on the BJP by releasing a video, it claimed, shows BJPs B. Sriramulu negotiating a bribe for a favourable verdict in a 2010 illegal mining case, with a relative of a judge, who was in the Supreme Court at the time. The BJP has fielded Mr Sriramulu, a close aide of tainted mining baron Janardhana Reddy, from the Badami constituency against Mr Siddaramaiah. After the video was released, Mr Shah said, The video is fake, dont believe it. Congress president Rahul Gandhi ended the last day of campaign by responding to the Prime Ministers sarcastic barb at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin, claiming, My mother is more Indian than many Indians. Mr Gandhi said Mr Modis attack on him declaring his Prime Ministerial ambitions was aimed at distracting attention. I have now learnt to deal with the Prime Minister. When he cant respond, he distracts, Mr Gandhi told reporters in Bengaluru after winding up his extensive tour of the poll-bound state. Polling for 223 seats of the 224-member Assembly will be held on May 12. Election for the Jayanagar seat was countermanded after the death of the sitting BJP MLA and its candidate B.N. Jayakumar. Results will be declared on May 15. The number of voters in Karnataka is 4.9 crore. In 2013, a turnout of 70.23 per cent was recorded. During the election campaign, Mr Modi repeatedly addressed the Siddaramaiah ministry as seedha rupaiah government (a government that takes bribes for work) and 10 per cent commission government. Provoked, Mr Siddaramaiah first called the Mr Modi dispensation a 90 per cent commission government and then served legal notices on Mr Modi and Mr Shah, demanding an apology and threatening to file `100 crore civil and criminal defamation suits. Rally after election rally, Mr Gandhi targeted BJPs chief ministerial candidate Mr Yeddyurappa over corruption when he helmed the state while BJP was in power between 2008 and 2013. Will Modi ji tell the people of Karnataka why a man who spent time in jail for corruption is the BJPs CM candidate? Why the BJP has given eight tickets to Reddy brothers and their associates who looted `35,000 crore from the people of Karnataka? he asked. The Congress president frequently referred to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in his speeches, alleging that the government allowed him to flee the country after defrauding the Punjab National Bank. Mrs Gandhi also addressed a rally in the Lingayat stronghold of Vijayapura where she said, Modi is possessed by the devil of Congress mukt Bharat (bhoot lag gaya hai). Opinion polls and surveys have projected a thriller of a contest, with neither BJP nor the Congress getting a majority on its own and the JD(S) of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda playing the kingmaker. During the campaign, Mr Modi initially praised Mr Gowda and later hit out at him for having an understanding with the Congress. Chittorgarh rape survivor and her family allege that they have been boycotted by village after she refused to change her statement in court. The Chittorgarh woman filed a police complaint after she was allegedly raped last year. (Photo: AFP | Representational) Chittorgarh (Rajasthan): A young woman, who was allegedly raped last year, and her family in Chittorgah district of Rajasthan have not been able to buy vegetables or groceries from the ration shop in their village for a few months now. When the woman's relative went to a doctor, he refused to treat. A family member who went for a haircut was refused by the barber. The local mill denied grinding wheat for the family. The rape survivor and her family allege that they have been boycotted and ostracized by the village after she refused to change her statement in the court. The village panchayat or the local leaders passed a bizarre diktat which made sure the family did not get any support from the community. "The villagers gathered at around 11 pm and called my family. They asked me to change my statement in court and also get into an understanding with him (alleged rapist). I refused to do so," the woman said. The woman filed a police complaint after she was allegedly raped by a man who gave her an intoxicant, took her videos and then threatened her. According to her, the panchayat leaders told her parents, "Make your daughter understand. Else you will be an outcast in this village. We'll make you leave this village." As a punishment, the family was even forced to pay fine of Rs 11, 000, the woman alleged. The woman's family has given a written complaint with the police against the panchayat's order. (With inputs from ANI) She said the Indian media industry looked upon the digital world not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity. New Delhi: Union I&B minister Smriti Zubin Irani on Thursday stated that India will have around 969 million Internet users by 2021 and pitched for putting in place laws, ethics and rules to ensure that no one player dominated the digital media industry. She said the Indian media industry looked upon the digital world not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity. Do we look at the new evolving technologies from a position of suspect, or do we look at it from a position of opportunity, from a position of consolidation or further expansion, the information and broadcasting minister said while inaugurating the 15th Asia Media Summit (AMS) 2018. Within the next three years, India would have over 969 million Internet users, she said. This is the time to put laws, ethics, rules into place which help us balance out the industry so that we dont have one dominant player who rules the roost, Ms Irani said. The three-day media summit is being hosted by the information and broadcasting ministry jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and public sector firm Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL). The theme of the summit is Telling Our Stories Asia and More. Ms Irani said India is the fastest growing advertising market, which was expected to touch $10.59 billion by the end of 2018, and mobile spend was estimated to grow to $1.55 billion in 2018. Speaking at the occasion, Bangladesh information minister Hasanul Haq Inu outlined six complex challenges the world faces today, listing them as poverty, gender disparity, terrorism, ICT revolution, climate change and uneven globalisation. Expressing concern over cybercrime, he stressed the need to fight a war against cybercriminals to keep the media safe and expanding. Cambodia Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said, We are trying to improve the state of the press in Cambodia. We seek to maintain strong relationships with the fourth estate. UNESCO Director (New Delhi) Shigeru Aoyagi talked about the role of the media in creating peace and partnership on the planet. Born on May 11, 1918 in Kerala, Sarabhai trained in Bharatnatyam, Kathakali and Mohiniyattom. One of the few classical dancers trained in more than one form, Sarabhai was able to quickly build a career in choreography and teaching. New Delhi: Friday's Google Doodle celebrates the 100th birth anniversary of legendary dancer and Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai. Born on May 11, 1918 in Kerala, Sarabhai trained in Bharatnatyam, Kathakali and Mohiniyattom. "One of the few classical dancers trained in more than one form, Sarabhai was able to quickly build a career in choreography and teaching. Despite seeing the continuous evolution of dance forms over her multi-decade career, she was inspired to choreograph more than three hundred dance dramas with a strong base of classical tradition behind them," wrote the Google blog post. To "to share the craft with future generations," Sarabhai and her husband Dr Vikram Sarabhai - who is considered to be the Father of the Indian Space Programme - opened the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in 1949. "The small dance academy grew to become not only a study centre for diverse art forms but one that used the power of arts to bring about positive change to the critical issues facing society," it added. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1965 and Padma Bhushan in 1992. Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away at the age of 97 in January 2016. FICNs worth Rs 8 lakh recovered, one arrested. During interrogation, Kamil said he got the FICNs from one Martuz of Malda, for delivery to one of his associates in Kailash Nagar. (Representational Image) New Delhi: In a major haul, a special cell team has busted an Indo-Bangla border module involved in circulating Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) that is circulated across the country through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border. The police said that they also busted Uttar Pradesh-based module at Kairana. The special cell sleuths recovered Rs 8 lakhs of fake currency notes in Rs 2,000 denomination. Kamil (45), the accused, who hails from Shamli in UP, too landed in police net. According to a senior police officer, Inspector Rahul Kumar Singh was working to bust the module of one Martuz, a Malda resident. He operated the module and circulated FICN to different parts of country, including Delhi, through his associates. The police deployed its sources to different parts of Delhi and West Bengal. Technical surveillance was also mounted to develop the information about the module. On May 10, the police received a tip off that accused Kamil would be meeting one of his associates near Seelampur Metro Station Bus Stop, G.T,Road, Delhi to deliver the consignment of FICN. He had received a consignment of FICNs from one Martuz of Malda. The police laid a trap near Seelampur Metro Station Bus Stop and spotted Kamil carrying a black-coloured shoulder bag waiting under the foot over bridge. He waited for sometime and when no one turned up, he started to move but found himself surrounded by the police team which divested him of his bag and arrested him. A search of his bag led to recovery of a smaller bag wrapped in mosquito net. The smaller bag contained four wads of fake Rs 2,000 currency notes, amounting to Rs 8 lakh, wrapped in two packets of polythene. The police took the notes into their possession., During interrogation, Kamil said he got the FICNs from one Martuz of Malda, for delivery to one of his associates in Kailash Nagar. The accused had procured the consignment two days ago and had come from Malda to deliver the same to his associate. He said he was arrested while recovering FICNs woerth Rs 4 lakh in Delhi in 2013 and that he was convicted for the same. He was immediately rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival at 1.47 pm. Mumbai: Senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy (54), a former head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Mumbai crime branch shot himself with his personal licensed revolver at his south Mumbai residence on Friday. Roy, who was afflicted with bone-marrow cancer and had been on medical leave for two years, shot himself in his mouth around 1 pm. He was immediately rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival at 1.47 pm. The Mumbai police, which has registered an accidental death report, said in a statement, A suicide note has been found which states that he is ending his life as he is frustrated with the disease (cancer). Roy had developed a swelling on his body nearly four years ago, which was later detected as cancer. He continued to work while under treatment. Two years ago, when the cancer spread to his bones, he went on a medical leave. The cancer, however, spread later to his brain for which he was to undergo a surgery. The police said that Roy was in his bedroom while his wife was present in the residence when he killed himself. It is learnt that he wrote the note when he was alone. A team of experts from the forensic sciences laboratory (FSL) visited Roys residence soon after he was rushed to the hospital and collected samples from the scene of the incident. The police will record the statement of the family and close friends of the deceased to ascertain the facts. The police will also check his call records. The police said that the probe would try to ascertain whether or not the act was carried out in the heat of the moment. Activists cry foul, say they have photographic evidence. Mumbai: The issue surrounding the proposed car shed for Metro 3 in Aarey Milk Colony has taken an interesting turn with the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) denying that it was dumping debris or undertaking any reclamation in the area even though activists claimed to have photographic evidence of the same. In the latest affidavit submitted by the MMRC to the National Green Tribunal, Delhi on Thursday, it claimed that it has not indulged in dumping of debris, reclamation and felling of trees in Aarey Colony. Activists have cried foul over MMRCs claims. In the affidavit to the tribunal, the MMRC maintained, Respondent (MMRC) is not dumping debris, reclaiming and/ or cutting trees as alleged or otherwise. At the further outset, it is submitted that the Respondent has not violated any orders of the Honourable Tribunal as alleged or otherwise. However, activists have claimed that there have been instances of dumping of debris in the area. MMRCL has been dumping debris in the Metro car shed area since July 2017. But they have the audacity to lie in the NGT in their affidavit. Citizens have already filed a complaint with the suburban district collector against dumping debris in Aarey last August and October. MMRCL needs to realise that it cannot fool the public. Citizens have photographs to prove their lies, said Amrita Bhattacharya, a member of the Aarey conservation group. The Asian Age has a copy of the groups complaint to the district collector last year on the matter. However, the MMRC has denied the allegations. We are carrying out earth filling work, which is not debris dumping. Dumping of debris has never been done by our contractors for any purpose. Our earth filling work is with clean earth, that too only after removing the debris which was earlier dumped by others, said a MMRC spokesperson. But activists have asserted that there have been recent reports of debris dumping in the area. The MMRCs own application to the suburban district collector shows that they are filling up to 30 feet of earth in Aarey. This will choke the existing trees at the site, said Zoru Bhathena, a Mumbai-based activist. Arjun also talked about the pay disparity in Bollywood, as he said it is "not about actors topping actresses". Mumbai: Actor Arjun Kapoor believe pay disparity in film industry is a sensitive issue but finds it "crass and rude" to talk about how much one gets paid. On the pay disparity in Bollywood, he says it is "not about actors topping actresses", but for several years it has been the heroes who have generated business at the ticket windows for a film. "We are not saying that if you give them (actress) more money, we will not work. I have never asked how much my co-star is paid," Arjun told reporters at 'Bend the Gender' event here last evening. "For many years, there has been a certain growth of business because the main lead is a hero, an actor is the protagonist. The audience is used to seeing certain kind of films," he said. He, however, believes that in the last few years things have changed for women in the industry as the commercial success of a film has led to female actors getting more remuneration. "I hate calling it a woman-centric film, but, for example, if 'Raazi' does well, Alia Bhatt will be paid a lot of money for her next film," he said. "Like 'NH 10' works, Anushka Sharma's salary will change. It is a sensitive thing to discuss, people's prices, I find it very crass and rude. I feel this conversation leads nowhere as no one knows the truth except the bank manager and those who make the contract," he said. The actor said the situation is not perfect but nowadays there are lot of ways to compensate an actor, like if a film does well, they are paid after the release. "With every passing film, you are not seeing just a certain kind of cinema. The way cinema changes, similarly this conversation will decrease," he said. Asked about the #MeToo campaign and female stars' standing in Bollywood, he said actors like Kareena Kapoor Khan are the best example of women having a great career even after marriage and child. "I am talking to you after the wedding of my sister Sonam Kapoor, she will continue working. Anushka Sharma has been working after her wedding. Kareena is a prime example, she has been back on set fter Taimur (her son) was born," he said. What is more important, according to Arjun, is to make a safer and comfortable environment for female actors to grow and harness their skills. "A story like 'Raazi' seven or ten years back could be hero-driven but today it is content-driven. It is based on a true story and they have not changed it and made it with a guy. Evolution is there. "India is a very big country so I am trying to change the thinking with 'Bend the gender'. The film industry will not change or evolve overnight. We are making efforts, so we give credit to the film industry as we are way more secular and open," he said. Arjun felicitated those who stood for women's rights under the banner 'Bend- The Gender Heroes' at the event. "I felt we need to present those men who have made a difference in the lives of their partner, sister, daughters, and are supportive and encouraging, one can support just by standing by their side," he said. "We say behind every successful man there is a woman as she sacrifices a lot, so same way, men need to be there for women. Women are not given the opportunity," he said. In real life, he thinks his sister Anshula Kapoor is more talented than him. "...she inspires me, she is so educated, she is correct and sorted. I want women in our country to do whatever they want to do," he added. Trump also seems motivated by the old American dream of seeking regime change in Tehran. Earlier this week, Americas President Donald Trump finally withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement that his predecessor Barack Obama, along with other world powers, had signed with Iran. Iran had then agreed to end its nuclear weapons programme in return for the lifting of economic sanctions on oil sales, trade and financial transactions that had crippled its economy and had made it a pariah in regional and world affairs. Through the 2016 election campaign, Mr Trump had criticised the deal, but had indicated he would abide by it, ensuring Irans compliance through tough scrutiny. In office, his comments became increasingly harsh, finally reaching the sharpest level of vituperation during his withdrawal announcement when he described it as one-sided, horrible, defective, and above all rotting and decayed. Mr Trumps speech castigated Iran for the usual crimes he has held the country responsible earlier leading state sponsor of terror, exporter of dangerous missiles and fomenter of conflicts. However, most of his criticisms of the agreement itself are without foundation, such as Iran being allowed to continue enriching uranium, collecting billions of dollars in cash, continuing to pursue nuclear weapons due to inadequate inspections mechanisms, and being on the verge of a nuclear breakout in a short period. Mr Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear agreement evoked widespread criticism. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have expressed regret and concern at the Presidents action and reiterated their continuing commitment to the deal. The European leaders have also urged the US to avoid taking action which will obstruct its full implementation by all other parties, signalling their disquiet over the reimposition of sanctions. Former President Barack Obama called the step misguided and risking US credibility. Commentator Trita Parsi has described the withdrawal as one of the greatest acts of self-sabotage. Irans President Hassan Rouhani has described Mr Trumps announcement as psychological warfare and said Iran remained committed to the deal, but was ready to resume uranium enrichment if its interests were no longer served by the agreement. Mr Trumps increasingly bellicose position on Iran and the agreement is the result of his close affiliation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backed by the right-wing sections of the pro-Israeli lobby in Washington and the hard-right pro-Israel donors to his campaign, all of them reflected in the set of hawks, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, that he has placed around him. US commentators have also noted that Mr Trump seems to harbour an intense desire to overturn every aspect of the Obama legacy, impelled by his petulant envy of President Obama. Mr Trumps withdrawal appears to be based on the conviction that his tough posture, including threat of further sanctions and military action, had forced the North Korean leader to come to the negotiating table, and hence he can similarly achieve a better deal with Iran. Observers believe that Mr Trumps understanding is wrong: Kim Jong-un accepted negotiations after testing nuclear weapons and is confident that his regime and his country now face no threat of US military action. From this, hardline sections in Iran could draw the conclusion that nuclear weapons are the only currency of power that the US respects. It is also difficult to see how a better deal is possible when Iran now sees that the US is not to be trusted. Mr Trump also seems motivated by the old American dream of seeking regime change in Tehran. He hopes that the new sanctions will add to popular anger which could lead to widespread demonstrations, causing the government to collapse. The other idea is that Iran might now be encouraged to revive its weapons programme, giving the US and Israel the excuse to mount pre-emptive military action that would bring the Islamic government down. Both expectations are unrealistic. More stringent sanctions are likely to make the Iranians more united and nationalistic and rally around their government. Similarly, military attacks will not yield the results the US wants: Iran had endured eight years of war with Iraq in the 1980s, before it ended in stalemate. Again, Americas own record in regard to military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya should remind us that none of them delivered the results the US desired; in all instances, the principal beneficiaries were jihadi groups who now pose a far greater threat to US interests. But it is this seeking of quick-fix military solutions that has made West Asia so dangerous. Mr Netanyahu is rejoicing in the US rejection of the Iran agreement, and, confident of US support, has become even more aggressive vis-a-vis the Iranian presence in Syria. Saudi Arabia has also welcomed the US decision, though it will be the first target if a regional conflagration breaks out. The Israeli daily Haaretz has criticised Mr Netanyahu for dragging his country into a risky, unnecessary war of choice in West Asia. It noted that in Syria both Iran and Hezbollah were only interested in obtaining deterrent capabilities and neither had aggressive intentions. Given Israels air power and arsenal, neither in any case was a military threat. The outlook for West Asia is grim. While every effort will be made by world powers to keep the deal going, it is quite likely that fear of US sanctions will discourage purchase of Iranian oil, trade and investment. The European Union, allied with Russia and China, will have to make a major effort to salvage the agreement by ensuring their companies do business with Iran. India faces the same challenges. It has crucial energy and strategic ties with Iran that impinge on its wider regional interests. This will be a good occasion to convey clearly to the US administration that its unilateralism is no longer acceptable in the emerging world order, particularly since its actions are disruptive and do not respect international rules. This latest US folly should encourage India, China, Russia and a more energised European Union to pool their resources to promote security in West Asia and realise the nascent new order. This will be Mr Trumps best contribution to world affairs. The collegium meeting this week was an informal one, but we dont know why. The collegium members are reiterating their decision for the elevation of Justice K.M. Joseph to the Supreme Court. At least two have done so in public comments, with Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who is due to retire on June 22, again stressing that the collegium must send Justice Josephs nomination to the government again, when it will be bound to accept the collegiums recommendation. This has turned into a confrontation between the collegium, comprising the five seniormost judges, and a government bent on blocking the appointment on various grounds like seniority, judges state of origin, etc. The collegium meeting this week was an informal one, but we dont know why. An issue was made of the segregation of names too, as the recommendations of Indu Malhotra and K.M. Joseph were in the same missive. The need to clarify matters has become very important in the present atmosphere of misgivings over the way in which the top judiciary is administering the court. Instead of questioning the government over why the judges nomination was rejected, the Chief Justice, who said the government had the right to reject nominations, merely stayed silent. Such action can be seen as acquiescence or plain fear over having to confront the executive and assert the collegiums right to nominate judges, that flows from the famous ruling in the cause celebre of collegium versus NJAC. Having declared he is an outstanding judge, despite being junior to many among high court chief justices, the collegium finds the government playing ducks and drakes with its recommendation. Isnt it time yet for a formal meeting of the collegium to take place and place the ball firmly back in the government court over Justice Joseph? Facebook has been criticised for failing to prevent false reports - originating from alleged Russia operatives. In January, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the News Feed, the social media companys centrepiece service, would prioritise high-quality news over less trusted sources as part of its fight against false information on the platform. Facebook is asking users in Europe which news sources they trust to help it gauge whether to extend a change to its News Feed that it made in the United States earlier this year, designed to filter out misinformation. In January, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the News Feed, the social media companys centrepiece service, would prioritize high-quality news over less trusted sources as part of its fight against false information on the platform. Facebook has been criticized for failing to prevent false reports - originating from alleged Russia operatives, for-profit spammers and others - spreading on its platform, notably during the 2016 US presidential election campaign. It has also had a stormy relationship with news organizations, especially those with strong political leanings. Zuckerberg said in January there was too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world, and social media was making the problem worse. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we dont specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them, he wrote then. The company, which has more than 2 billion monthly users, turned to its members to determine how news outlets ranked in terms of trustworthiness, using short surveys on the site. On Thursday, it said it would start showing similar two-part surveys to users in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, asking them if they are familiar with specific news sources, for example, BBC News or the Guardian, and if they trust them. A Facebook spokesman said the results of the survey would not currently affect the ranking or the composition of News Feed in Britain or any of the other countries yet. The company said it would announce if it decided to implement any changes. FCC Chairman says the repeal aims to replace heavy-handed rules with a light-touch approach to Internet regulation. After a meeting voting to end net neutrality, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai smiles while listening to a question from a reporter in Washington. The FCC has set June 11 as the repeal date for net neutrality rules meant to prevent broadband companies from exercising more control over what people watch and see on the internet. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Landmark US net neutrality rules will expire on June 11, and new regulations handing providers broad new power over how consumers can access the internet will take effect, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday in setting the date. The FCC in December repealed the Obama-era open-internet rules set in 2015, which bars providers from blocking or slowing down access to content or charging consumers more for certain content. The prior rules were intended to ensure a free and open internet, give consumers equal access to web content and bar broadband service providers from favouring their own material or others. The new rules require internet providers to tell consumers whether they will block or slow content or offer paid fast lanes. Comcast Corp, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc have all pledged to not block or discriminate against legal content after the net neutrality rules expire. Reuters first reported the June 11 effective date, disclosed in an FCC document on Thursday. Acting New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, a Democrat, said: the repeal of net neutrality would allow internet service providers to put their profits before the consumers they serve and control what we see, do, and say online. A spokeswoman for Underwood said the state attorneys general have not sought a stay of the FCC order yet. A group of 22 states led by New York and others have sued to try to block the new rules from taking effect, and the US. Senate may vote as early as next week to reject the December repeal. The revised rules were a win for internet service providers, whose practices faced significant government oversight and FCC investigations under the 2015 order, but are opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc and Alphabet. Some internet providers have said they could eventually offer paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritization, for some future internet traffic. The repeal of net neutrality is the latest thread in a broader pattern of Republican Trump administration reversals of Democratic Obama administration policies or achievements, such as the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear agreement. Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters on Thursday the rollback of the rules would not harm consumers and would return the internet to the pre-2015 era. The effect of this will be better, faster, cheaper internet access and the free and open internet that we have had for many, many years, he said. Pai said the FCC gave internet providers 30 days to comply with the new transparency rules. He said many politicians had sought to mislead the public about the repeals impact. Now everyone will be able to see the truth for themselves, Pai said. Democrats objected. The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said on Thursday. The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people. The US Senate is set to vote as early as next week on whether to reject the FCC repeal of the net neutrality rules, but that effort faces an uphill battle. Proponents currently have the backing of 47 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with Democrats, as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. With the prolonged absence of Republican Senator John McCain due to illness, proponents believe they will win on a 50-49 vote. Senator Ed Markey said it was likely the vote will take place in the middle of next week. On Wednesday, senators officially filed a petition to force a net neutrality vote and 10 hours of floor debate under the Congressional Review Act. Following Thursdays FCC announcement, Markey wrote on Twitter: the Senate must act NOW and pass my resolution to save the internet as we know it. If the Senate approves the measure, it would not likely pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. If the legislation were to pass the House, President Donald Trump would be expected to veto it. The FCC voted in December 3-2 to reverse the Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain online content, but said under government regulatory rules it would take months before they could legally take effect. In February, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general refiled legal challenges intended to block the repeal of net neutrality. A number of states have adopted laws aimed at dissuading internet providers from abandoning net neutrality. Democrats have said they believe the issue would be key in Novembers midterm congressional elections, especially among younger internet-savvy voters. Republicans have said the FCC repeal would eliminate heavy-handed government regulations and encourage investment. Ali Soufan applied to the FBI as a dare and was the only one of his friends selected. Soufan, 46, is delighted that the show educates a new generation about 9/11, challenges Muslim stereotypes and sends a message to young people, particularly from immigrant backgrounds who may feel alienated. (Photo: AFP) New York: To television viewers, he is the FBI agent who hunts down Al-Qaeda. But in real-life, Ali Soufan is just as extraordinary, a Muslim immigrant who fled war to live the American dream. Born in Lebanon, a child of the Middle Eastern country's brutal 1975-1990 civil war, he migrated to the United States as a teenager, was student president at college and dreamt of studying for a PhD in Cambridge, England. Except he applied to the FBI as a dare and was the only one of his friends selected. With "The X-Files" big on television at the time, Soufan jokes that he was "more interested in aliens than terrorists." Instead, the only Arabic speaker on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, he was thrust onto the frontline in the hunt for Al-Qaeda after the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen. He travelled the world conducting investigations and interrogating suspects, but US intelligence proved ultimately unable to stop the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, among them Soufan's former boss. He calls the Al-Qaeda hijackings, which he watched on television from Yemen, "probably the most gut-wrenching moment in my life." Afterward, he was handed a manila envelope with intelligence he had been asking for since November 2000. "I don't know if angry is the word. Crushed. I don't know the feeling. I don't know the term to describe it, still today," he tells AFP in a recent interview in his New York office, an enormous US flag and framed awards on the wall. The bitter CIA-FBI rivalry that inadvertently paved the road to 9/11 is dissected in "The Looming Tower," a television mini-series on Hulu and Amazon Prime adapted from Lawrence Wright's best-selling, Pulitzer-prize winning book. 'Us versus them' With Soufan played by French actor Tahar Rahim -- the two have become friends -- and his FBI boss John O'Neill by Jeff Daniels, it narrates the power struggle between the CIA and the FBI, and their refusal to share intelligence. Soufan, 46, is delighted that the show educates a new generation about 9/11, challenges Muslim stereotypes and sends a message to young people, particularly from immigrant backgrounds who may feel alienated. "This is not only a TV series. This is a public service announcement," he says. "You have so many young people growing up in communities in the US, in Paris, in Brussels, in London and feeling that they don't fit... We're trying to reach out to them and say don't let cynicism take you down, don't believe Al-Qaeda and ISIS and their narrative," he adds. "Don't believe the us versus them," he says. "You can do the right thing and you can support your government, and your government will be there for you." The real-life Soufan is brimming with jokes, fiercely intelligent and relaxed, apologizing for not dressing in a suit and tie for an on-camera interview. He happily shows off a Thompson submachine gun, the FBI's first defence against the mob in the 1930s, given today as retirement presents. "Now we have fancy stuff," Soufan jokes. "Fancy and very effective stuff." Soufan testified before US Congress and presidential commissions, but opposed torture and left the FBI in 2005. Two years later, he founded a security firm which works with governments all over the world. Never felt discrimination "It was time," he says simply of his decision. "You don't have to be inside in order to make the world a better place and that's what we try to do here." The Soufan Group, employing retired CIA and FBI officers, offers consultancy and training to governments, corporations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world. A leading security expert and author, on Friday he considers cyber the chief security threat as technology advances at a faster rate than laws and regulations. But he also struggles to imagine a Muslim boy from the Middle East walking so accepting a path in today's polarized America. "I think the US was very good to me in so many different ways. Even as a child and as a young man, I never felt discriminated against." An advocate of immigration, he understands a need to focus on illegals but says isolating communities is not the answer. On his office wall hangs a photo of himself with Barack Obama but when it comes to US President Donald Trump, Soufan says they have never talked. So what would he say if he did? "I think that the job of a leader is to lead, not to mislead," he replies, not missing a beat. The White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. Such a move might force US to halt the meeting. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, adding that planning was still in progress. (Photo: AP) Washington: In his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, US President Donald Trump would seek a complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the White House has said. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic US-N Korea summit, the White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. Such a move might force US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesman said on Thursday. "Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. And that's what he's going to be seeking," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. "We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from North Korea would not be received well. So, I don't want to offer any hypothetical. All I'll say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons," Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. Shah added that Singapore was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. "Singapore has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the President's and Kim Jong-un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he added. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan took place in Singapore some years back," Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. Later Victoria Coates, Senior Director for International Negotiations at the National Security Council, White House, told reporters that the meeting could be scuttled if Kim Jong-un did something unacceptable to the United States. It is possible that leaders from South Korea and China could also be present in Singapore at that time, she added. Shah told reporters that prior to the invitation being accepted, the North Koreans had agreed to halt their ballistic missile testing, their nuclear testing, and not publicly oppose joint US-South Korean military exercises. "So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. We'll hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations," he said. On being asked if anything else was to happen between now and the summit, Shah replied, "I'm not setting additional preconditions. It's now been set." 'Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability,' Rouhani said. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes early on Thursday in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, also on Thursday. (Photo: AP) Tehran: Iran does not want "new tensions" in the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, after Israel carried out strikes against what it called Iranian targets in Syria. "Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability," Rouhani told Merkel in a telephone call, according to a statement on the website of Iran's presidency. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes early on Thursday in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, also on Thursday. Israel has said its strikes in Syria were in response to the attacks against the Golan Heights, which it blamed on Iran. But the chairman of Iran's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs condemned Israel for carrying out the strikes in Syria. "Israel has entered a dangerous game," Allaeddine Boroujerdi said during a visit to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. "The main purpose of these attacks, supported by the United States, is to divert public opinion from the behaviour of the American president (and) his decision to leave the agreement," added Boroujerdi, referring to President Donald Trump's decision this week to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. by Paolo Fossati The meeting should take place within the year, most likely in Rome. During his apostolic visit, the Holy Father brought financial aid. The Catholic Church in Myanmar is already involved in development and aid projects in Rakhine State. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "The Pope will organise an international conference on the Rohingya," said Card Charles Maung Bo (picture 1), archbishop of Yangon and Myanmars first cardinal. Together with the other members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar (CBCM), he met the pontiff two days ago during their ad limina visit to the Vatican In an interview at the end of the audience with Pope Francis, the archbishop of Yangon talked about the difficult humanitarian situation in the western state of Rakhine and explained the special attention with which the Holy See observes its evolution. "The Rohingya are a people without a homeland, Card Bo said. No state in the region, not even the Islamic countries that speak so much and with so much force to the media, is ready to accept them. So, we asked the pope, through the Secretariat of State, to organise an international conference to get the international community to help this population. We said that Myanmar and Bangladesh alone are not able to solve a situation in which two million people are not accepted." According to VaticanNews, the pontiff told the bishops of Myanmar that the Secretariat of State will organise this international conference within the year and most likely in Rome. Since the crisis broke out in Rakhine, Pope Francis has expressed compassion for Rohingya suffering. During his visit to Myanmar (27-30 November 2017), the pontiff cited their predicament several times even though the authorities had asked him not to mention them. The Holy See also donated money on behalf of the Catholic Church to solve the crisis. The Holy Father told the Burmese that the future of the country must be "peace, peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of every member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity." Mgr Alexander Pyone Cho (picture 2, first on the right) is the bishop of Pyay, a diocese that includes Rakhine. Speaking to AsiaNews, prelate confirmed the pope's personal commitment. "The Holy Father provided Card Bo with financial aid. The latter met with Aung San Suu Kyi, to discuss how best to use it, the bishop said. "The problems in Rakhine are very delicate and complex, Mgr Pyone Cho added. There are three parties involved: the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces), the Muslims and ethnic Rakhine. The latter consider the army an expression of the power of the Burmese, who constitute the majority of the Myanmar people. "Since ancient times, Rakhine [State] has been a land of conquest for Burmese kings and even today the local population resents the [central] government in Naypyitaw for its attitude of arrogance. This has caused distrust, and in some cases, hatred, by some Rakhine people towards the military." To this must be added the long-standing ethnic tensions between the local Buddhist population and Muslims. "When I was a student at the missionary seminary I was sent to one of the parishes in Rakhine and I was able to personally see all the problems caused by these divisions. Today, like then, Buddhists and Muslims are used to provoking each other. "However, as far as the latest conflict is concerned, people think the military triggered the violence to divert attention from the fighting in Kachin State over the mines. Solving the problem is really complicated. The Rakhine, the military and Muslims are used to fighting each other." After the papal visit, the Myanmar Church accepted the pontiff's invitation to become a tool of peace and reconciliation for the whole country. "Since the conflict began, as a Church we have tried to calm tensions. However, when an important Buddhist came to Rakhine to talk to people about peace and reconciliation, he failed and was forced to leave. "At present, the Rakhine do not want and do not seek peace. Many of them have joined the ranks of the Arakan army, an ethnic army that has claimed the right to self-determination and is backed by most of the population." Still, despite tensions and difficulties, Catholics are already involved in various initiatives. For instance, "Through Caritas Myanmar, the Catholic Church is engaged in projects for the development of the territory, said Mgr Pyone Cho. We picked ten locations to realise the project. Six are ethnically Chin villages with a Christian majority, two are Rakhine and two Muslim. "Another initiative in which we are involved was made possible through the help of a Sri Lankan named Joseph. He has lived and worked in Rakhine State for six years, in the conflict area, and has contacts with senior local government officials. "Last November, we began arranging meetings to organise an effective response to the difficult situation afflicting our land. Recently, Caritas met with Joseph and opened an operational headquarters in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State." Tomorrow the country will vote to renew the 329 parliamentary seats. Of these 83 are reserved for women, nine for minorities, of which five for Christians. Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds divided suffer internal division. Yonadam Kanna: "Towards political and non-sectarian majorities". Chaldean patriarchate issues fresh appeal for voter participation. Baghdad (AsiaNews) - Increased security, job opportunities for a growing number of people and a revival of the economy, plagued by years of violence and conflict, internal and regional, which have led to deep crises and general impoverishment of the population. These are the elements of greatest interest for the Iraqi citizens, called to the polls tomorrow May 12for the general elections in which the 329 members of the Council of Representatives (the unicameral Parliament) will be renewed. The deputies will then be called to form the new executive and elect the future president, crucial appointments that will outline Iraq in the near future. There will be almost 20 million citizens with voting rights, spread across the 18 provinces of the country; voters will be able to choose from a total of 6,990 candidates representing 87 parties, lists or movements. For women - just over 2 thousand candidates - 25% of seats are reserved (83), while there are 46 for the Kurds; another nine seats are reserved for religious minorities, including five for Christians. The parliamentary elections of May 12 are the fourth since the 2003 US invasion, which led to the ouster of the former Rais Saddam Hussein; it is also the first election since the ascent and the subsequent defeat of the Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis), the ultra-radical Sunni movement led by the "Caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who for almost two years controlled almost the half of the country. In recent years, the fight against ISIS has been a unifying element, in a nation that has always been fragmented due to ethnic and confessional conflicts. However, today the political and institutional landscape of the country appears to be divided even within the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish camps, and the leaders of the various coalitions are dominated by the same politicians who have long been holding the ranks of Iraq. Speaking to AsiaNews ahead of the vote, the Christian parliamentary Yonadam Kanna, leader of the Rafidain Coalition (the Assyrian Democratic Movement), recounts a climate of "great distrust and disappointment" in the electorate "towards the government and the main parties". A discontent dictated by a problematic economic and social situation, before which "ordinary people want to respond by contributing to change" through voting. The hope, he adds, is "to arrive one day at the birth of a civil state governed by law". "I am deeply convinced - continues Yonadam Kanna - that the election will be the engine for a great change towards a principle of political and non-sectarian majorities. This is because the blocks of the past are today divided and fragmented and this represents a positive step for the future of Iraq ". The Christian leader excludes a repercussion on the Iraqi vote of regional tensions, following the decision of US President Donald Trump to cancel the Iranian nuclear agreement. "A choice - he says - that has no influence on voters or votes in Iraq". In terms of fragmentation, the major divisions are in the Shiite camp: the ambitions of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to regain a central role (at the head of the Dawa party), clash with the goal of the outgoing Prime Minister Haider Abadi - protagonist of the offensive against the Islamic State - to remain in power. The latter has formed a coalition of his own (Nasr) and, in recent months, has emptied the rival Dawa from within, subtracting numerous (and authoritative) candidates. In recent weeks the "strange alliance" has emerged between loyalists of radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr and communists. From the Sunni front, the threats of the past years of abstention have been archived, the probable political inconsistency remains due to the deep internal divisions. Already a minority in the country, even for the 2018 vote, the Sunnis have not been able to unite under a single block capable of representing their aspirations in Parliament. The Kurds played a key role in the 2010 and 2017 elections, relying on their weight in the choice of the Prime Minister. However, the attempt by the Kurdish leadership and the Barzani family to achieve independence through referendums (with the majority of voters in favor, but the intervention of the central government and the judiciary in Baghdad effectively cancelling the consultation) has paved the way for new divisions and power struggles. With Kirkuk under the control of the central authority, the Kurds seem to have little room for manoeuvre to really affect the political future of the nation. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Iraqi Church relaunch the call for participation, choosing "those who will best serve" citizens and the homeland. On 6 May, in all the churches of the country, at the end of the Mass a message will be read signed by the Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako. The Chaldean primate asks to "pray for electoral success" and so that there is no violence at the polls. Looking toward the next Parliament, the prelate warns of the duty to "eradicate corruption and work for reconstruction and reconciliation" by strengthening citizenship and the rule of law, freeing the nation from regional and international "pressures". (DS) by Melani Manel Perera The Nimala Maria Balika Maha Viduhala (Convent of Mary Immaculate) has celebrated its 75th anniversary. Its purpose is to prepare girls to become "educated women, good mothers and responsible citizens". For Card Ranjith, the students are created by our God for a vocation. Noting that each one is very important, he urged them to use their talents to create a good society. Colombo (AsiaNews) Card Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, spoke at the Nimala Maria Balika Maha Viduhala (Convent of Mary Immaculate), a Catholic school in Tudella, Ja-ela, on the 75th anniversary of its foundation. In his address, he told students that one learns to be saints from school" and thanked teachers for your great service and for the help you give these girls in becoming saints". The schools jubilee was yesterday but celebrations were held the day before. In addition to current students, there were also many former students and teachers. The school was founded in 1943 by the Sisters of the Holy Family Association and is still run by nuns. Initially, it was a simple hut with a straw roof and 43 pupils; today it has 2,490 students and 90 teachers. "Thanks to the guidance and leadership of the sisters, we managed to create a larg-scale project that tries to provide society with educated women, good mothers and responsible citizens," said Sr Jesmin Fernando, provincial superior of the association, speaking to AsiaNews. "Today's challenge is not only about academic results, but also giving a different response to society, where values are not respected," she said. "We started in a hut, said V M F Fernando, 89, a former school principal and one of the only two lay persons who ran the school (the other 14 were nuns). All we achieved, we owe it to the efforts of the sisters who put their mission into practice with a clear vision." Graduates from Nimala Maria Balika Maha Viduhala include 16 Sisters of the Holy Family, a lay consecrated woman, 13 sisters of other congregations, as well as numerous scholars, researchers, women who hold prominent roles in society, like doctors, engineers, informatics, managers, and Supreme Court lawyers. In his message, Card Ranjith noted that "Every person is unique. There is not one like the other. This difference is beauty. Everyone is a blessed person, created by our God for a vocation, a blessed and great vocation. "The Holy Bible describes this vocation as love and care for every single person, living according to Gods will, which makes us happy and capable of giving him glory. This is our responsibility that the Bible teaches us." Addressing the girls, he added: "Dear girls, each one of you is very important and of great value and has received many talents from God. You must identify the talents that are within you, develop them and use them to create a good society and make our God happy." Six citizens and three institutions of the Islamic Republic targeted, guilty of having financed the "malignant activities" of the Pasdaran. Iranian President Rouhani invokes "security and stability". Netanyahu: Teheran "has passed the red line". Bahrain also supports Israel's "right" to "defend itself" against the Iranian threat. Teheran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United States is issuing new sanctions against six Iranian citizens and three Iranian companies that, according to Washington, have close ties with the leaders of the Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran serving the great Ayatollah Khamenei. The provision follows the decision of US President Donald Trump to end the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA). A move that has triggered the immediate reaction of Iran and exacerbated tensions between Tehran and Israel, protagonists in these hours of mutual attacks on the Syrian front. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the penalties targeted those who had funnelled millions of dollars to the "malign activity" of the Pasdaran with millions of dollars. The measures affect the central bank among others, which would have guaranteed dollars through "a large currency exchange network". Following the decision, taken in agreement with the United Arab Emirates (Eau), American citizens will no longer be able to do business with these people and institutions. In a situation of growing tension in the Middle-Eastern region, words of detente are spoken by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. In a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leader of the Islamic Republic stressed that "Iran has always tried to reduce tension in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability". Finally, he made no reference to the air raids made by Israel in response to rocket launches on the Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still making warlike proclamations. He stressed that Iran will not be allowed to settle in Syria. Teheran, he added, "has crossed the red line" and, for this reason, "our reaction will be adequate" and will also hit the government of Damascus in case of need. Bahrain, governed by a Sunni dynasty in a majority Shiite nation, through its Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa says it supports Israel's right to "defend itself" from attacks. "As long as Iran violates the status quo in the region - he added - and invades neighbouring countries with its forces and its missiles, any other state, including Israel, has the right to defend itself by destroying the sources of danger". Francis, receiving the Orthodox primate of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, spoke of the search for unity that does not mean uniformity, but reconciliation of differences in the Holy Spirit ". "To proclaim the Lord is not enough to reaffirm the patterns of the past, but we must listen to the Spirit, who always inspires new and courageous ways to evangelize our contemporaries. Even today in traditionally Christian countries often marked by secularization and indifference ". Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The suffering of many Christians "persecuted because of the Gospel is an urgent appeal, which challenges us to seek greater unity", a unity that "does not mean uniformity, but reconciliation of diversity in the Holy Spirit". These are some of the considerations expressed by Pope Francis in the meeting he had this morning, Archbishop Rastislav of Presov, metropolitan of the Czech lands and of Slovakia. Responding to the Metropolitan, who had spoken of "a disciple meeting another disciple", of "disciples who walk together" and share "the ardent desire" for unity, Francis spoke of the "spiritual bonds that unite us and encourage us to continue in mutual edification and in the common search for peace, a gift of the Risen One. Among these bonds I would like to evoke the presence here in Rome, of the tomb of Saint Cyril, Apostle of the Slavs in the ancient basilica of Saint Clement, whose preaching spread the faith in the lands where your Church carries out her mission". And inspired by St. Clement, Francis made three considerations. The first is that "according to tradition, it was the brothers Cyril and Methodius, coming from Thessaloniki, to bring the relics of St. Clement, one of the first Bishops of Rome, who died in exile under the emperor Trajan to Pope Hadrian II. The gesture of Cyril and Methodius reminds us that we Christians have inherited - and we continually need to share - an immense common patrimony of holiness. Among the many witnesses, countless martyrs have professed fidelity to Jesus in past centuries, such as St. Clement, but also in recent times, for example when atheistic persecution affected your countries. Even today the sufferings of many brothers and sisters persecuted because of the Gospel are an urgent appeal, which challenges us to seek greater unity. May the example of Cyril and Methodius help us to enhance this patrimony of holiness that already unites us! ". "A second aspect, which the Holy Apostles of the Slavs reminds us of, concerns the relationship between evangelization and culture. Byzantine culture. The holy brothers had the audacity to translate the Gospel message into a language accessible to the Slavic peoples of Greater Moravia. By incarnating the Gospel in a given culture, they gave development to the culture itself. The apostolate of Saints Cyril and Methodius, which Pope John Paul II proclaimed as co-patrons of Europe, remains for all of us today a model of evangelization. To proclaim the Lord is not enough to reaffirm the patterns of the past, but we must listen to the Spirit, who always inspires new and courageous ways to evangelize our contemporaries. Even today in traditionally Christian countries often marked by secularization and indifference". Saints Cyril and Methodius, finally, "managed to overcome the divisions that arose between Christian communities of different cultures and traditions. In this sense we can say that they were "authentic precursors of ecumenism" (JOHN PAUL II, Letter Slavorum Apostoli, 14). They remind us that unity does not mean uniformity, but reconciliation of diversity in the Holy Spirit. May the witness of Saints Cyril and Methodius accompany us on the journey towards full unity, encouraging us to live this diversity in communion and never be discouraged in our journey, which we are called to do by the Lord's will and with joy". by Bernardo Cervellera The occasion could be the Islands Eucharistic Congress. Abp. Hung will see the Pope on May 14th on his ad limina visit. "China and Taiwan are two churches, two nations, two different ways of life". On the island there are 300 priests and nuns from mainland China who study at the Catholic University of Furen. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Archbishop of Taipei John Hung Shan-chuan (), wants Pope Francis to visit the island of Taiwan, where no pontiff has ever set foot. The occasion could be the national Eucharistic Congress to be held on the island next March. Abp. Hung, who is in Rome for the ad limina visit together with six other Taiwanese bishops, also stressed that it is time to see the Church of Taiwan as a Church in its own right, and the people of Taiwan as a whole, without wanting to absorb it into "one thing with China". He told AsiaNews: "China and Taiwan are two churches, two nations, two different ways of life", even if "we can help and support eachother". Abp. Hung, a Divine Word Missionary (SVD), 74 years old, will see Pope Francis on May 14th. He expressed these considerations last night in a brief speech that he held at the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See, during a reception offered by Ambassador Matthew Lee, in the presence of cardinals, bishops, officials of the Vatican Curia, priests, nuns and journalists. Abp. Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, was also present. After having said that he wanted to communicate to the Secretariat of State and the Pope the invitation to come to Taiwan, Abp. Hung continued: "The first reason for the invitation is that no pope has ever come to Taiwan. Never, for 70 years. The history of Taiwan for the past 70 years is also a story of suffering. We too [like Christians in China] have always suffered in being considered as a nation to itself or as a part of China ". In fact, the Church of Taiwan, established by faithful, missionaries, priests and bishops who fled or expelled from the continent, thought of its presence on the island only as a temporary pause, before returning to China, putting mission towards the local population and ethnic groups in second place. Only in the last 20-30 years have Catholics carried out a direct mission among the people of Taiwan. Hence the claim to be "a Church in its own right", with its specific characteristics. At present the Church of Taiwan is made up of 300 thousand local Catholics and almost as many migrant Catholics. The Archbishop pointed out that this does not stop collaboration, support, the "bridge" function that the Church of Taiwan has towards the Chinese Church: "We receive and we have more than 300 priests and sisters [from the continent] who study at the Catholic University Furen and can use their language [Mandarin Chinese] to study. In this way we support the Church's hope in China by giving them degrees and diplomas. The Taiwanese Church also hosts international conferences on interreligious dialogue and globalization issues, making an international contribution ". Abp. Hung said that he has the support of the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen to extend this invitation. China considers Taiwan a "rebel island" that must be reabsorbed into unity even with the use of force and threatens to intervene if Taipei dares to declare any form of "independence". For years the Vatican has been engaged in a dialogue with Beijing, which has often called for the breaking of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Taiwan as a condition for continuing dialogue. (In the picture: Abp. Hung speaks at the reception, in the foreground to the left, Abp .Gallagher) Before the summit, Moon will meet Trump and have a telephone call with Kim. The detente continues: Pyongyang will evaluate the release of six South Korean prisoners guilty of proselytism and Moon promises that the South-North trade will continue. An inter-Korean taekwondo team in the Vatican. Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The "long-awaited" summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump will be held on June 12, in Singapore. The news was given by Trump himself, with a tweet published yesterday, a few hours after the arrival of the three US prisoners freed by Kim. The summit will be anticipated by a meeting between the US president and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, on 22 May. Also, it is likely that Moon will use the reopened direct line with Pyongyang for a telephone call with Kim. Meanwhile, diplomatic progress continues on the peninsula. The Blue House reports that North Korea has promised that it will "consider the release" of six South Koreans arrested in 2013 on charges of espionage, after being discovered proselytizing at the border between China and North Korea. For his part, during a lunch at the Blue House with some artists, the South Korean president promised that Seoul will continue to expand its trade with Pyongyang. "I believe that people can move freely between the South and the North, and finally the day can come when South and North will once again be one." Since the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the two Koreas have had several opportunities for exchange, with trips by crews and athletes in both countries. On 9 May, the world organization "World Taekwondo" announced that an inter-Korean team will hold a joint demonstration for Pope Francis in the Vatican, between June 1 and 3. By Caitlin Curtis, Research fellow, Centre for Policy Futures (Genomics), The University of Queensland from www.shutterstock.com There have been a number of news articles over the last week or so reporting that to avoid being matched to criminal forensic databases, criminals could edit their genomes using cheap, online kits. What seems to be at the centre of these articles, and giving them a sense of credibility, are some quotes from George Church a highly respected geneticist from Harvard. Asked if CRISPR could alter DNA to the extent it would make forensic evidence unusable, Church reportedly told The Telegraph: We could do that today, easily. A lot of it is done by blood and even if you just get a stem cell transplant you have a new identity. I could imagine there being an industry. But is it really so easy? From our perspective there may be some confusion around what is feasible, and what is actually happening now. Lets unpack some of the issues and think about what would be required to pull off such a feat. Read more: From the crime scene to the courtroom: the journey of a DNA sample Evading forensic databases The mainstay of modern DNA identification is short tandem repeat (STR) markers, which are small sections of DNA that vary by length (the number of repeats). Multiple STR markers are used to create a DNA profile. Most systems now use a panel of 24 DNA markers, but some will allow partial matches of as few as eight or nine markers. It might be possible, in theory, to cheat the system by changing only one of these markers, but in practice a hypothetical DNA-edited criminal would probably want to change several of them. STR markers are located in the more variable parts of our genome and this may make them more difficult to accurately target with gene editing tools. The easiest way to change your STR profile would probably be to delete some DNA and make the length of that marker shorter. Technology for reading DNA is getting better, and DNA forensics is currently moving from STR markers to systems that look at more of our DNA and can tell us much more about someone. Read more: DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult In the recent Golden State killer case, so-called SNP chips that measure around 600,000 sites in our genome were used to make matches to genealogy databases. DNA forensics is a moving field and a future criminal may have to edit much more of their DNA to evade this sort of matching. But how much of your body would you need to change to avoid detection? Is it just the cells that are used for sampling for example your cheek cells, your blood cells or every cell in your body? As George Church seems to point out, in theory a genetic manipulation to your blood (or another targeted area) could allow a criminal to be excluded as a suspect. In the Golden State killer case, police used discarded DNA from the suspects trash. To fully evade DNA forensics you would therefore likely have to make much more extensive changes (i.e. skin, semen, hair, blood, cheek cells). Lets look at the techniques that might be used by someone wanting to alter their DNA. Editing genes with CRISPR CRISPR or CRISPR/Cas9, is a method for making precise edits to a genome. For CRISPR to work it has to be delivered into cells. There are a number of ways to do this, but no one has published an effective way to change all of the cells in your body. Doing so is currently a formidable challenge. Its difficult to know exactly where we are with CRISPR in humans. There have been reports that the human immune system may attack the Cas9 enzyme required for CRISPR to work. Human trials involving CRISPR are only just starting in western countries. China has conducted tests, but most of these involve removing immune cells, editing them and putting them back. Read more: What is CRISPR gene editing, and how does it work? There are reports that CRISPR doesnt always modify all cells, and if criminals actually start using these kinds of techniques then law enforcement is going to be more alert to mixed signal samples. Dangers of biohacking The CRISPR Kit linked to in a Daily Mail article is from ODIN, a company that is part of the DIY Bio movement. The specific kit mentioned is designed to let someone edit bacteria. The CEO of ODIN Josiah Zayner has, however, previously injected himself with CRISPR DNA that would enhance his muscles. At best this stunt is unlikely to work, and at worst could be quite damaging. Community involvement in biology isnt a bad thing, but modifying your own genome using CRISPR really isnt something you should be doing at home on yourself. We dont yet fully understand how this gene editing technology might affect other parts of our genome. The US Food and Drug administration has highlighted that DIY gene therapy is illegal and risky. The legality may not concern a criminal, but the potential for off-target effects should. Stem cell replacement Another way to change your genetic code is stem cell replacement. This has a precedent with some people that have had stem cell or bone marrow transplants. Studies have looked at the DNA in cells of people who have received donor stem cells. They report both donor and recipient DNA this is known as chimerism, two different genomes from many types of tissue and fluid, including mouthwash, oral swabs, and fingernails, sometimes years after stem cell transplants have taken place. Hair follicles were thought to be unaffected by chimerism, but the genetic material from the Y chromosome of male donors has been detected in hair follicles of female recipients in at least two studies, suggesting that bone marrow replacement could affect much more of your body than originally thought. So varying your DNA through stem cells is feasible, but as noted by Church: CRISPR actually would be easier than a stem cell transplant because (a transplant) would have to be done sterilely and you would need to irradiate yourself to get rid of the old ones. Changing out all of your bone marrow would be an extreme medical procedure. What can we learn from this? Changing your DNA profile to evade criminal databases is technically possible but it seems highly unlikely that criminals are actually doing this now. It probably wouldnt even be effective with a DIY-bio kit. If any criminals are inspired to try and CRISPR themselves we would strongly recommend that they dont. George Church may have been speaking about what is possible in a somewhat hypothetical sense, and his quotes may have been taken out of context in some media coverage. Sensationalised or not, this story is a useful thought exercise that reminds us how the world as we know it could change as the code of life starts to become re-writable. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Originally published in The Conversation. Hey guys, I know you're all business enthusiasts and I've been interested in the realm of business and engineering for quite a while myself so that's why I am so excited to be listening to Ramtin Attar speak at the Myriad Festival in Brisbane next week. He is the king of all things business and engineering so I thought I'd just put it out there that he'll be in town! It'll be my first time at an event like this and it'd be awesome to see you guys there too! Hi there,on the link about BVA:Under "what can you do", it says, "If you still hold a current substantive visa when your BVA is granted, you must continue to comply with any conditions that are on that substantive visa. When your substantive visa ends, the conditions of your BVA will apply."When his student visa ends in June and the BVA comes into effect, can he discontinue his studies?Thank you! Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford sought to reassure investors today that the company's decision to discontinue several of its sedans isn't a retreat but would instead help reshape the company's lineup. While speaking at a meeting with investors, the great-grandson of Henry Ford promosed "fairly large" changes in the coming year that will build on its shift away from sedans and significant investment in electrification, reports Reuters. CEO Jim Hackett has pledged to cut $25.5 billion in costs by 2022, a "fitness effort" that should help the company get "back into fighting shape," Ford said, reports Bloomberg. Company executives expects to retain its customers by focusing on more popular models such as the F-150 pickup and Lincoln Navigator large SUV. "We want to give them what they're telling us they really want," Hackett said. "We're simply reinventing the American car." In late April, Ford announced plans to phase out most of its sedans by 2020 and offer a lineup that's 90% trucks, SUVs, and commercial vehicles. It would also retain the Mustang and a crossover version of the Focus. That would lead Ford to discontinue the Focus sedan, Fiesta, Taurus, C-Max, and most likely the Fusion midsize sedan. Related: Ford Phasing out Most Sedans by 2020 Photo of 2017 Ioniq Hybrid courtesy of Hyundai. Hyundai Motor America is recalling an estimated 10,156 2017 Hyundai loniq Hybrid vehicles because the Hydraulic Clutch Actuator (HCA) inner oil seal may leak and may cause oil to accumulate in the cap area. With this scenario, there is the possibility of an electrical short, which can increase the chance of a fire. To fix the problem, Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the HCA caps for oil leaks and replace the HCA assembly if necessary at no cost to owners. The recall begins on June 20. Customers can reach Hyundai customer service at (855) 371-9460. Related: Kia Motors Recalls Niro for Hydraulic Clutch Issue Photo: Enterprise Enterprise Truck Rental continues its North American expansion with the opening of a fourth location in the state of Colorado. The new truck rental branch in Fort Collins is situated on a three-acre lot and co-located with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office. The facility offers a one-stop shop for vehicle rentals to customers in the Fort Collins area, which includes parts of northern Colorado, as well as southern Wyoming. The Fort Collins Enterprise Truck Rental branch is poised to support the success of area businesses, including the numerous agriculture, construction, and oil and gas operations across the region. The Fort Collins Enterprise Truck Rental location provides access to a wide range of cargo vans, box trucks, and tow-capable pickup trucks for both business and personal use. Enterprise is working with local service shops and other area vendors to purchase and maintain the vehicles. The new location also includes a drive-through wash and prep facility to maintain the fleet. Enterprise Truck Rental is a service of Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand, which has delivered local transportation solutions to customers for more than 60 years and is an integral part of North America's transportation infrastructure. Enterprise first began renting commercial trucks in 1999 and, a decade later, started offering truck rentals for personal use in response to customer demand. Today, personal use accounts for 20% of Enterprise Truck Rental's business. As part of its ongoing expansion to provide transportation solutions when and where customers need them, Enterprise Truck Rental opened a total of 40 new U.S. locations in 2017 alone. The business is on track to open an additional 40 new locations across the U.S. this year. So far, these include new offices in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The new location openings are part of a broader growth strategy to increase Enterprise Truck Rental's North American presence, particularly in highly visible areas. Over the past decade, Enterprise Truck Rental has tripled its number of locations from 100 in 2007 to more than 300 today throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Related Content: Enterprise Truck Rental Opens Over a Dozen New Locations Photo: ReachNow ReachNow, BMWs carsharing division, will be ending its free-floating service in Brooklyn, due to a large amount of damage to vehicles and high maintenance costs. Despite great interest and support from the community in Brooklyn, we've decided to pivot our business model to focus exclusively on our residential fleet services in New York and end support for our free-floating carsharing service in Brooklyn, the company announced on its website. The last day of free-floating service in Brooklyn will be June 5. Since memberships are for a lifetime, customers can still use ReachNow vehicles in other cities, such as Seattle and Portland, Ore. While ReachNow has operated in Portland for two years already, it recently announced that it will be partnering with Intel to permanently bring its free-floating platform to the companys four main campuses in Hillsboro. Intels 20,000 employees will have access to the shared fleet of BMW and MINI vehicles at the entrance to each of the campuses. Solving transportation issues takes both the public and private sector working together, Don Odermott, City of Hillsboro transportation planning engineer, said in a statement. When Hillsboro employers provide transportation options for employees, our entire community benefits. ReachNow has been piloting the Intel program for nearly six months. Related Content: NYC Car Share Eliminating Available Street Parking, Residents Say Bakersfield, CA (93308) Today Showers early, then partly cloudy for the afternoon. High 66F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Clear skies. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. NEW YORK (AP) A Chinese billionaire was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for bribing United Nations officials to buy their support for a proposed U.N. center in Macau that was never built. Ng Lap Seng, one of China's richest men, had no visible reaction to the sentence imposed in federal court in Manhattan. Before hearing it, he had told the judge he was "full or regret" over his conviction on charges accusing him of paying the U.N. General Assembly president and another ambassador $1.7 million in bribes. "I want to apologize to the court for all of the trouble my actions have caused," Ng said through an interpreter. The defense had sought a non-prison sentence for a 69-year-old defendant it described as a devoted family man and philanthropist. But U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick said he deserved time behind bars plus a $1 million fine, in part because he threw his money around without pausing to consider the consequences. "Instead, you became more aggressive as time went on," Broderick said. The judge ruled Ng could remain under 24-hour guard at a Manhattan apartment on $50 million bail until he has to report to prison in mid-July. One of his defense attorneys indicated the sentence would be appealed. In statement after the verdict, the U.N. said it "had cooperated extensively to facilitate the proper administration of justice in this case, by disclosing thousands of documents and waiving the immunity of officials to allow them to testify at trial." A jury had found Ng guilty last year of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering a triumph for prosecutors who navigated thorny legal issues surrounding immunity given to U.N. diplomats before winning the cooperation of suspended Dominican Republic Ambassador Francis Lorenzo. Lorenzo, who pleaded guilty, testified that Ng initially paid him $20,000. It was boosted to another $30,000 a month in exchange for getting Ng's construction business named on official U.N. documents as the company that would build the Macau center for Southern Hemisphere nations. Defense lawyers contended the payments were ordinary. They blamed Lorenzo and the other ambassador U.N. General Assembly President John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda for manipulating Ng. Ashe, who also was arrested in the case, died in 2016 in an accident. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) A prominent Iranian cleric on Friday threatened two Israeli cities with destruction if the Jewish state "acts foolishly" and attacks its interests again, while thousands of protesters demonstrated against President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami followed a week of escalating tensions that threaten to spill over into a wider conflict between the two bitter enemies, who have long fought each other through proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes struck Iranian military installations inside Syria on Thursday its biggest coordinated assault on Syria since the 1973 Mideast war in retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two rivals to date. Khatami, who has echoed sentiments of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who says Israel will not exist in 25 years, said the Jewish state could face destruction if it continues to challenge Iran. "The holy system of the Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," he said, according to state television. His remarks drew chants of "Death to America!" from those gathered for Friday prayers in Tehran. Thousands later demonstrated across the country to protest Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The protests resembled other aggressive but orderly gatherings typical under President Hassan Rouhani, who has portrayed himself as seeking rapprochement with the West and is simultaneously trying to save the nuclear deal with world powers while attempting to appease hard-liners seeking revenge for Israeli attacks. In a lengthy government statement on Friday, the Iranian government warned that it would take "whatever reciprocal measures it deems expedient" if it is not fully compensated for the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement as provided for in the accord. It called on the other parties to the agreement especially Britain, France and Germany to safeguard the accord, adding that no provisions or timeframes in the 2015 agreement "are negotiable in any manner." At the same time, the government said it has tasked the president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran with "taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions." After Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the deal on Tuesday, Rouhani warned that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an even higher rate if the accord collapses. He ordered Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to negotiate with the countries still in the deal to try to save it, and Friday's statement reiterated that Zarif was seeking "required guarantees" from the five other parties to the agreement. The 2015 nuclear deal imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in return for the lifting of most of the U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran. However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran's ballistic missile program or its regional policies. Trump has repeatedly pointed to those omissions in referring to the accord as the "worst deal ever." However, proponents of the deal have said those time limits were meant to encourage more discussion with Iran in the future. On Friday, France urged Europeans to stand up to Trump over the nuclear deal and not act as "vassals," as the EU scrambles to find ways to save the accord and the billions of dollars in trade it unleashed. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the "world's economic policeman." "Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" Le Maire asked. "Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?" European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Aside from the mounting military tensions between Iran and Israel, oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Friday and underlined their aim of preserving the deal and peace in the Mideast. And European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insisted that it's not up to the U.S. to determine the deal's future anyway. "This deal is not a bilateral treaty. It's a UN Security Council Resolution and it belongs to the entire world," said Mogherini, who will chair talks Tuesday with the British, French, German and Iranian foreign ministers in Brussels. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. WINDSOR, England (AP) Few towns are as quintessentially English as Windsor, the bucolic riverside locale where Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle will get married on May 19. And few towns are as pleasing when a warm spring sun bakes off the morning mist. Even the plump white swans on the Thames River seem relieved that the winter is over. Most of the swans belong to Queen Elizabeth II and must be counted each year by Her Majesty's Swan Marker, a ritual that reflects the dominant role the Windsors play in the town whose name the royal family adopted as a surname a century ago. All roads seem to lead to Windsor Castle, a magnificent fortress perched high on a hill topped by the royal standard when the queen is in residence. It is here a favored royal playground since William the Conqueror built the first structure in 1070 that the royal wedding will take place. Harry, one of the least traditional young royals, has chosen the most traditional of venues. Fevered preparations are underway: Many roads have been repaved, street signs are being repainted, storefronts are decked out with life-size cutouts of Harry and Markle and shoppers are being lured by souvenirs of all kinds. Windsor is getting a bit of a makeover, just like the monarchy, which is rebranding itself with attention focused on the new, younger generation of princes as the 92-year-old queen slowly reduces her public duties. "Everything is now in place, we're 99.9 percent of the way there," said town councilor Phillip Bicknell, who expects more than 100,000 people on the royal wedding day if the weather is good. "We believe this is going to be the biggest number of people fitting into Windsor for any event. It's going to be quite tight, but the atmosphere will be electric." There's already a party feel in Windsor well in advance of the actual party. Tourists from around the world arrive daily by train and walk through the royal shopping arcade to the castle. No one, it seems, can resist the impulse to take a selfie in front of the castle. The royal wedding itself is a party on a grand scale, with 600 guests invited to the ceremony in St. George's Chapel, another 2,640 invited to the castle's grounds, and tens of thousands more expected to throng the town's narrow streets hoping for a glimpse of the newlyweds. Security barriers are being put in place and an elaborate police deployment plan has been mapped out. It's fairly easy to establish a secure perimeter around the castle grounds, and a no-fly, no-drone zone will be enforced to keep the airspace clear. Still, Harry and Meghan are determined to ride outside the castle in an open horse-drawn carriage, which calls for extra protective measures. Police are using an automatic license plate recognition system to flag any known suspicious vehicles. Many roads into the town center will be blocked off to lessen the chances of a vehicle attack on the huge crowds expected at the foot of the castle. Police with automatic weapons can already be seen on the streets of Windsor, a jarring fact reflecting that Britain's official terrorism threat level is set at "severe," indicating an attack is judged highly likely. Before the spate of extremist attacks on Britain last year, it was common to see some royals in the streets and in the park surrounding the town. When the queen was younger it wasn't unusual to see her on horseback, walking through a park, or driving her Jaguar through the narrow streets. That happens less frequently now, but the royal presence still permeates Windsor. Many are excited about the mantle being handed to Harry and older brother Prince William. "You'll see them about now and again," says Dean Wright, an artist at the darkened Rogue Tattoo Windsor studio. "You'll see the Duke of Edinburgh (the queen's husband, also known as Prince Philip) riding in a carriage in the morning. I've seen her go by in a convertible, a nice one. The royals are popular. With the princes becoming more public, the people really like them." Wright has had a surge in demand for tattoos with traditional British themes: the castle, the crown, the London skyline and a profile of the queen's face lit with the famous David Bowie lightning flash. "The wedding will make us busier for sure," he said of Windsor's business community. "It will definitely bring more people in. Everyone wants to get involved." Vijay Kapur, the manager of the nearby Havana House cigar emporium, is less certain. He fears extra security, road closures and big crowds may keep real shoppers at bay. But he knows the long-term benefit of having a major royal event in the heart of Windsor. He's offering two cigars a Romeo and Julieta, for its romantic connotations, and a Rocky Patel Royale, because it has royal in the name packaged with a cigar cutter and cigar matches in a special royal wedding gift box. But he's not expecting a crush of buyers. "Some businesses may suffer if the road to their stall is closed that day, but I think the royal presence is great," Kapur said. "It adds to the aura of the town, especially the castle. You can absorb and feel the culture and the tradition and the history. It puts the town on the map." ___ Complete AP coverage of the royal wedding: https://apnews.com/tag/Royalweddings ___ A previous version of this story has corrected the name to William the Conqueror, not Henry. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- A female bear that wildlife officials think was responsible for attacking several dogs and breaking into an SUV last month has been captured and put down, they said. FWC says it caught bear that attacked dogs, broke into SUV Female bear was euthanized early Friday morning Some residents in Longwood area said they didn't want bear put down RELATED: FWC trying to trap bear that was stuck inside SUV Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said they'd been trying to trap the bear for the past several months. Early Friday morning, officers went to The Estates at Springs Landing in Longwood and tranquilized the bear. It was euthanized. Biologists said it continued to exhibit "conflict behavior" and posed a threat to human safety. TAKE A LOOK: A bear got into an unlocked SUV in Seminole County and wrecked the interior. FWC helped get the bear out, but couldn't capture it. Now they're setting out traps: https://t.co/zEHQtlRCCo pic.twitter.com/EeEtyPzO2T Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) May 1, 2018 <_script charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> During the last week of April, two dogs were attacked by a bear in the Longwood area. Days later, a bear broke into an unlocked SUV in Seminole County and tore up the interior. FWC thinks this female bear was responsible for both incidents. On May 8, one Sabal Woods resident, Kourtney Pierson, found her garage destroyed by the bear, who got in by breaking down her garage door. "It was scary," Pierson explained. "The second night it came back, it ripped the part of the door handle completely off. If it tore down this wood door, what was to stop it from getting through the wood door to my house? We couldn't sleep." The bear raided Pierson's family's garage three nights in a row. Some people in the area where the bear had been spotted said they didn't want wildlife officials to put down the bear, even if it was causing problems. Because it had attacked several dogs, the bear's body is undergoing rabies testing, FWC said. The cub that was captured was released in the Ocala National Forest. FWC is still searching for the other cub spotted traveling with the mother bear. If they find the cub, they plan to release it into the wild away from the neighborhood, as well. This story will be updated. Check back for more details. A day ahead of his annual "State of the City" address, Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn, along with Tampa Housing Authority officials, broke ground Thursday on a new senior housing facility in the West River area. The Renaissance at West River a $46 million facility Buckhorn: "Riverfront revitalization has been a bright spot" Buckhorn will deliver speech tomorrow from new riverfront park With a cost of $46 million, "The Renaissance at West River" is the latest piece in the city's efforts to revitalize the West River area near downtown Tampa. "It will be an entirely new neighborhood," Buckhorn explained. "The folks that used to live here in somewhat pretty rough conditions will be allowed the opportunity to come back to much better conditions." Buckhorn went on to say Tampa has faced several difficult things recently, including Hurricane Irma and the Seminole Heights serial killer, but he said the riverfront revitalization has been a bright spot. "I think over the next five years this city is going to be transformed in ways we don't even know," said Buckhorn. The mayor will be giving his speech at the new Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, which is scheduled to officially open on Saturday. The park, which represents the city's largest investment in green space in its history, is also located along the west bank of the Hillsborough River. Residents said they can't wait to use it. "i like to see all the changes. There's a lot happening. Every time I come down here, there's something new," said Sidney F. Revels. Other projects slated for the West River area include public housing and new retail space. Pope Francis is one of the most controversial popes ever but for good reason. He is the first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years with an outspoken and radical leadership style that even his toughest critics can admire. His views on church reform, climate change, poverty and divorce have put him right in the media spotlight. Pope Francis has never been one to shy away from crisis and debate. Instead he embraces them and works to find solutions. There are a number of ways that Pope Francis is shaking up the Catholic Church and challenging the status quo. One major way Pope Francis is shaking up the Catholic Church right now is by urging young Catholics to not let adults silence them. On Palm Sunday, carrying a woven palm branch known as a palmurello, Pope Francis led a procession in front of the largest church in Christendom to commemorate the day the Bible says Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as a savior, only to be crucified five days later. Drawing on biblical parallels, Francis urged the young people in the crowd not to let themselves be manipulated. The temptation to silence young people has always existed, Francis said in the homily of a Mass. There are many ways to silence young people and make them invisible. Many ways to anesthetize them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive, he said. Dear young people, you have it in you to shout, Pope Francis said. He urged the young people gathered to be like the people who welcomed Jesus with palms rather than those who shouted for His crucifixion only days later. "It is up to you not to keep quiet." It is up to you not to keep quiet. Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, some corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out? The young people in the crowd shouted, Yes! The Popes message came right on the heels of a meeting of young Catholics who told the Vatican they want a more transparent and authentic church. This meeting came only a day after the youth-led rallies across the United States to demand greater gun control. Its time for Catholic Church reform and Pope Francis is responding to that call. Scandal, legalism and exclusion have made many people distrust the church. At a time when the Catholic Church, is under close watch and much scrutiny, its important that the Pope is pushing for change. Sometimes this change requires you to call those in leadership out for things theyre doing that are hurting the church. Just six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shockwaves through the church when he said the church had grown obsessed with certain hot button issues like contraception and abortion and that he had chosen not to speak on these issues despite criticism. He called out the church for putting dogma before love and for putting moral doctrine over serving those who are poor and marginalized. His vision for an inclusive church was quite a contrast from his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who envisioned a smaller, purer church. Another way Pope Francis is shaking up the Catholic Church is by changing its structure and leadership. Until Pope Francis, no pope had publically demoted bishops accused of gross negligence but Pope Francis has been a change agent. He is holding bishops for more accountable for sex abuse in the church. He approved the creation of a Vatican tribunal for judging bishops accused of covering up or failing to act in cases of child sexual abuse by priests. In addition, he is a big proponent of inclusivity. Throughout the papacy, Pope Francis has appointed cardinals that are intentional about pastoral work with little to no interest in becoming princes of the church. He also brought in bishops from different parts of the world including bishops from Mali, Laos, El Salvador and Sweden who were previously not represented, showing the catholicity of the church. Pope Francis also overturned the tradition of choosing bishops who are in charge of prestigious dioceses or Vatican departments as cardinals. His new system disrupted tradition and opening the door for more clergymen to become cardinals. He also replaced traditionalists with moderates as the church prepared for important decisions about the Vaticans decision-making process and the nature of the family. From the moment Pope Francis was introduced to the world, he introduced a different style of leadership. His pastoral style of leadership was what so many Catholics had longed for in the church. He is admired by so many in the church because of his love for everyone, rich and poor alike and his commitment to real reform in the church. Pope Francis has received many gifts that have come to him, including the famous Harley Davidson and has sold each one and given that money to the poor. While he is widely popular, he is less focused on his popularity and more focused on the needs of people. One of the reasons so many people connect with Pope Francis is because he is easy to relate to. We get the sense that he washes his own clothes and makes his own meals. He has such a strong sense of his identity in Christ and it shines through in his leadership. That leadership call not only shakes things up, but also calls us into action. The Bible has been under attack in the western world for over 200 years but never more intensely than today. These attacks have taken different forms and have come from many different corners of the academic world, from philosophers, to scientists, to textual critics. In the specialized world of archaeology the attacks have increased dramatically in the past 50 years. Once a specialization filled with Bible believing individuals, the field of archaeology is now overrun with atheists and skeptics, agnostics and those committed to the destruction of the Bible as a source of true historical information. These attacks on the Bible are a part of a sweeping movement in western culture. Spearheaded by academic elitists in the university and the public educational system, the news and popular media, and the entertainment industry, these revisionists cloak themselves with supposed objectivity, purity of motives, and the superiority of science over the "uninformed", "unscientific", religious community. They regularly mock those who question their world-view and their conclusions by name-calling and the worst forms of anti-Bible and anti-Christian propaganda. They have powerfully infected the church by turning Bible believing Christians against the very Scripture which is the foundation of truth and life in this world. Instead of contending for the Bible, Christian academics, pastors, and lay-persons are making egregious accommodations to these destroyers of faith and truth. In these days of intense spiritual battle, God has called ABR to step into the gap to contend for the truth and to assist the church in this critical hour. ABR is a non-profit ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible and to give answers to questions being asked by believers and non-believers alike. We do this by using original archaeological fieldwork and research along with studies in other apologetic disciplines. We take on the bold claims of skeptics and critics. We challenge the bizarre anti-biblical propaganda that is purveyed upon the public as gospel through television and print media. We uphold the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is God's message for the salvation of all mankind! For Immediate Release, May 11, 2018 Contact: Chris Nagano, (916) 765-9097, CNagano@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Seeks Overdue Endangered Species Protection for Giant California Fly Further Federal Delay May Cause Extinction of Hummingbird-like Insect FRESNO, Calif. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services unlawful delay in deciding whether to extend Endangered Species Act protection to the San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly. The hummingbird-like fly has been extirpated from more than 99 percent of its former range, with only one remaining population about 15 miles east of Bakersfield, where it is under immediate threat of extinction from sand mining. There may be just a few hundred left. The San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly is a unique animal. It deserves our help, said Chris Nagano, a Center biologist. This amazing creature will go extinct in the near future unless it receives the habitat protection and recovery efforts of the Endangered Species Act. The San Joaquin giant flower-loving fly acts like a stealth fighter jet. It can hover in mid-air and then instantly fly away at speeds difficult for the human eye to follow. Detailed studies of the high-speed, aerobatic flight and the structure of the eyes of a related fly led to advances in the U.S. Air Forces missile-tracking systems. Two California entomologists petitioned for emergency protection of the San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly in June 2014. The Service determined in April 2015 that protection may be warranted, but it has failed to either propose or deny listing. The decision is now nearly three years overdue. The giant flower-loving fly was first identified as being in need of federal protection by the Service in 1991. The huge insect is close in size to a small hummingbird, with a 1.5-inch body and long proboscis, or tongue. The species plays a critical role in its sand dune ecosystem, serving as food for birds and other predators and feeding on other invertebrates during its early stages. Surprisingly, the extremely active adults have never been observed feeding. The San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly is one of a number of insects in the United States that are in imminent danger of extinction, said Nagano. Many of them play key roles in their ecosystems, such as pollination or food for other animals, and their loss may have far-reaching impacts on people. For Immediate Release, May 11, 2018 Contact: Kieran Suckling, (520) 275-5960, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org Wendsler Nosie Sr. Honored With First Annual Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism PRESCOTT, Ariz. The Center for Biological Diversity has awarded the first annual Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism to Wendsler Nosie Sr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. is a former chairman and councilman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. An elder, spiritual leader and activist, he has for decades fought for American Indian rights and tribal sovereignty, protection of sacred places and religious freedom. Nosie Sr. champions cultural vitality, social justice and environmental and wildlife protection. He currently leads campaigns to protect Arizonas Mount Graham and Oak Flat. Were honored to present the first Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism to Wendsler Nosie Sr. for his bold and successful promotion of American Indian rights and environmental protection, said Kieran Suckling, the Centers executive director. Hes an inspiring visionary, bringing together the fights for tribal sovereignty, religious freedom, wild places, biological diversity and social justice. The award is named after Rose Braz, the Centers climate campaign director, who died in 2017. Rose dedicated her life to strengthening ties between environmental, social justice, labor and faith organizations. Before coming to the Center, she was a renowned human-liberation activist working to abolish the prison-industrial complex. Rose always encouraged us to be bold and fight for whats right and true, not just whats convenient, said Suckling. She never backed down from a daunting challenge. Wendsler perfectly embodies that spirit. The award consists of a handcrafted letterpress print by Roger Peet of Justseeds Artists Cooperative in Portland, Ore., and a $1,000 cash prize. The print depicts brown pelicans, a recovered endangered species and Brazs favorite animal, symbolically breaking through a barrier wall. The award ceremony was held Thursday in Prescott, Ariz. Wildlife Refuges No Safe Haven From Dangerous Toxics America's national wildlife refuges are being doused with hundreds of thousands of pounds of dangerous agricultural pesticides every year, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity. Our report, No Refuge, reveals that more than 490,000 pounds of pesticides were dumped on commodity crops like corn, soybeans and sorghum grown in national wildlife refuges in 2016. The analysis was conducted with records obtained by the Center under the Freedom of Information Act. "These refuges are supposed to be a safe haven for wildlife, but they're becoming a dumping ground for poisonous pesticides," said the Center's Hannah Connor. "Americans assume these public lands are protected, and I think most people would be appalled that so many pesticides are being used to serve private, intensive agricultural operations." Check out our press release and read the report. In response to a severe drought, Cape Town and the Western Cape is building a more sustainable tourism destination. Citizens have, over the past three years, cut water consumption by almost 60% - a performance not yet matched by any other major city globally - while new sources of water are being added. Efforts by the government, citizens and tourism industry have emerged as best practice for sustainable water management and promoting "water-wise tourism" in the face of climate change. Join global marketing campaign The new water programme by the City of Cape Town includes three additional, sustainable sources of water, namely: groundwater abstraction from underground aquifers, temporary desalination and re-claimed/re-used water. It already supplies 12% of Cape Towns daily usage, and this will increase to more than 45% within a year, at current consumption patterns.It is vital that all residents, visitors, and businesses continue to save water, while this augmentation comes online.These steps will secure the sustainability of the regions economy, its communities and natural resources, and employment. They will also help build a more resilient destination.International tourists, who only make up only 1% of the population of the city at any one time, contribute to a multi-billion dollar sector that supports over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Western Cape. Furthermore, the growth of tourism can support the creation of thousands of new jobs in the Cape in the coming years, but long-term benefits would depend on the industry embracing the kinds of sustainable practices that have been adopted by many Cape Town and Western Cape tourism businesses.It is for this reason that the tourism industry has taken a leadership role in working with the local communities and government to deliver more sustainable business practices. This approach by the industry has ensured that we have remained open for business and open for tourism.These efforts have been recognised by UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvilli who has said: We recognise the huge efforts that South Africa, especially the Cape Town local authorities, are undertaking in addressing the water situation and the inclusive approach that has been taken throughout the campaign in raising awareness for the end users and tourists in becoming more responsible.In order to ensure that the message goes out to the world that Cape Town and the Western Cape are open for business - and welcomes both international and domestic visitors to enjoy our unparalleled natural beauty - industry partners and tourism organisations will embark on a joint global marketing campaign.The campaign - which will be the first time many partners have contributed in terms of funding and resources - will be driven mainly through digital media and partners existing marketing channels. It will focus on engaging with potential visitors in our main source markets such as Europe, USA, Asia and South Africa.The campaign is set to launch in August 2018. Business leaders attending The Directors Event taking place on 8 June, will be addressing the issues of youth employment and entrepreneurship, and the role technology plays in promoting inclusive growth in SA. Public sector education is essential to changing our future Bridge the gap Some of the countrys most prominent public and private sector business leaders, as well as government officials including Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, minister of science and technology, and Enoch Godongwana, chairperson of the ANC sub-committee on economic transformation, will be getting together at the event described as SAs biggest board-meeting.Nontokozo Madonsela, chief marketing officer of MMI Holdings says As an African country, we have one of the youngest and fastest growing youth population in the world. Our youth unemployment rate is, however, unacceptably high and we need to do more to help our young population become better prepared for the world of work and business. The solutions to our youth unemployment challenge need to be approached from different angles including the recently launched Youth Employment Service initiative and as MMI we have committed to doing our part as well.Adriana de Roock, MD of Greymatter & Finch agrees, pointing out that inequality and a constricted budget hamper South Africas dissemination of education and that historically education has been limited or inaccessible for the majority of South Africans. Current problems include financial constraints, corruption and public schoolings low standards compared to private schooling. With a 27% unemployment rate in a population of 56.5 million, it is self-evident that public sector education is essential to changing our future, she says.And while it may appear that the onus lies squarely on the government to fix these issues, the words of President Ramaphosas inauguration speech are seeming to resonate as citizens acknowledge the need to be part of the solution.Jithendra Maharaj, senior academic at Mancosa [GSB] says that rising unemployment exacerbates the anathema of socioeconomic and political challenges our new president faces. Private citizens, the majority stakeholders of the economy, have a civic duty to strengthen the economy via improved personal spending, diligent payment of taxes and job creation. He says, National challenges rest not with any single stakeholder; collective action is required from all sectors.As juristic persons within this country, organisations form an integral part of the broader society. This status confers rights, obligations and responsibilities on the organisation towards society and the natural environment on which society depends, adds Parmi Natesan, executive: Centre for Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors (IoDSA).Challenges around education and unemployment fall within this ambit. The notion of corporate citizenship recognises that the organisation is licensed to operate by its internal and external stakeholders, and by society in the broad sense. There is an interdependent relationship between the organisation and its stakeholders, and the organisations ability to create value for itself depends on its ability to create value for others, Parmesan says.De Roock believes that South Africas future depends on educating children from pre-primary age, and that a child with no exposure to social assimilation and basic educational principles is already at a disadvantage when joining Grade 1.This is where private citizens and businesses carry a responsibility to bridge the gap between the present and future. This can be done by, among other things, donating to reputable institutions who support these initiatives; appointing interns; or creating entrepreneurial learning environments. Current BEE requirements can hamper this support by hobbling SMEs and burdening them with forced reform through unaffordable financial requirements resulting in possible job loss, limited resources for employment thereafter and, as such, access to education. Here the cycle begins again, says De Roock.The debates and discussions will continue at The Directors Event, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre on 8 June 2018. To view the 2018 agenda, speaker profiles, or to book tickets, click here GABORONNE, Botswana - Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been voted Africa's most reputable and ethical individual, while Gift of the Givers and Botswana were recognised as the most admired organisation and country on the continent. Dmitri Stalnuhhin via 123RF Combating corruption These are just some of the top level results from the research conducted by Reputation Matters for African Public Relations Association (APRA) on African ethics and reputation. According to president of APRA, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya: Many lessons have been learnt from the research and great opportunities present themselves to take ethics and reputation of African countries to the next level.The results of the survey were presented at the APRAs 30annual conference in Gaborone, Botswana on Wednesday, 9 May 2018. We need to start celebrating Africa as Africans, and to take the narrative back, leaders need to walk the talk and talk the walk if there is any chance for development and economic growth, added Badejo-Okusanya.APRA assists in setting standards, creating and enabling a professional environment for accurate perception, goodwill and understanding of necessary and effective PR practices. Valuable insights were gained from the almost 120 respondents who mostly identified as CEOs and senior executives in the communication, PR and marketing industry.These insights will be used to support the partnership between APRA and the African Union (AU) to assist them in building a prosperous image and reputation that is authentic to Africa. Of the 12 countries represented in the survey, 71% of respondents reside in South Africa with Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Namibia and Angola also being represented.The research highlights revealed that respondents scored 89% for ethics and reputation management on a personal level. Organisations received 84% for ethics and 85% for reputation management, while African countries received 35% for ethics and 34% for reputation management which illustrates big opportunities for growth. The average percentages confirmed and correlated with Reputation Matters unique measuring tool, the Repudometer which calculates ethics and reputation across 10 business dimensions.The AU theme for 2018 is Combating corruption - a sustainable path to Africas transformation. This resonates well with the data on country level where respondents indicated that the meaning of ethics mainly refers to anti-corruption in government.Respondents sighted Botswana as setting the example as the most reputable and ethical country in Africa. The research proved overwhelmingly that ethics and reputation are interwoven and one cannot exist without the other.Respondents felt that behaviour and core values such as honesty, transparency and credibility, are the most important elements of a reputation. On an organisational level, respondents felt that their brands reputation is actively managed, communicated and prioritised by their leaders. Organisations should focus on getting the internal building blocks in place before engaging in external communication.In re-writing the narrative as per the conference theme, Re-PResent Africa, Regine le Roux, managing director of Reputation Matters, said: The first steps to re-PResenting a positive African narrative is to go back to the basics and get the internal narrative right. We need to make sure that core values are in place and reflected in daily behaviour.This will then be authentic to our communication initiatives. As public relations and communication professionals, we should strive for a code of ethics which resonates with the real and positive story were here to tell about Africa to the world.The objective is to conduct this study on an annual basis and compare the findings.*To participate in the annual APRA research, or find out how your organisation measures up, please contact Thotbox is a media sales company that specialises in community radio airtime sales by integrating all regional radio stations to form a national grid. This job expired on 30 May 2018. This job expired on 14 May 2018. Bluestem has covered the arrival of the emerald ash borer in Minnesota and the slowness of the state legislature to respond. Now we learn that the evil beetle has made it to our new home state. At the Sioux Falls Argus, Trevor Mitchell and Joe Sneve report in Destructive insect found in Sioux Falls, putting more than 80,000 ash trees at risk: An invasive insect that's killed more than 60 million ash trees across the United States has arrived in South Dakota for the first time. Sioux Falls and state officials held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to announce that the emerald ash borer has been discovered in the city the first confirmed infestation in the state of South Dakota. John Ball, an entomologist with the South Dakota State University Extension Office, said an arborist working in northern Sioux Falls reported finding what looked like emerald ash borer symptoms, and their diagnosis was confirmed Wednesday morning. "This was an inevitability," he said. "The fact was that it was going to appear here eventually, and it happened to be this year." South Dakota is the 33rd state with confirmed emerald ash borer cases. Since receiving the report from the arborist earlier this month, Ball said they've identified about 250 trees in northern Sioux Falls that have the disease. And with more than 84,000 ash trees throughout the city, he said there's no question it will spread across Sioux Falls over the next 10 to 12 years. In response, an "Emergency Plant Pest Quarantine" has been declared, restricting the movement of all ash materials in Minnehaha County, areas north of Highway 18 in Lincoln County and east of Highway 19 in Turner County. We'll be on the look out for the EAB to make its way from Minnesota or up I-29 to Summit. Photo: The evil beetle, the emerald ash borer. If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button. Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient. The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. 1,000 urban and regional planning academics coming to Buffalo for national conference this fall Downtown Buffalo will be a significant feature of this year's ACSP national conference, being hosted Oct. 25-28 by UB's Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Photo: Douglas Levere Scholar activist Rosa Clemente will serve as keynote speaker The Buffalo-Niagara region has turned a corner since the planning academy last gathered here in Buffalo. BUFFALO, N.Y. One-thousand urban planners from across North America, Europe and Asia will be coming to Buffalo in October for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) national conference, being hosted by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the University at Buffalos School of Architecture and Planning. The conference runs from Oct. 25-28, and will take place primarily in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center downtown. Other conference-related events, including in-depth tours that will share some of the regions unique stories with visitors, will take place around the area. This years event is titled The Continuing City: People, Planning, and the Long-Haul to Urban Resurgence. Participants will explore stories of long-term planning and action, along with questions about equity on topics including economic development, waterfront redevelopment, parks planning, education, employment and transportation. Rosa Clemente will serve as the keynote speaker. A native of South Bronx, Clemente is one of the most raw and honest political, social and cultural voices in the country. She was recently part of bringing #MeToo, #TimesUp and #PRontheMap to the 2018 Golden Globes. Buffalo last hosted the ACSP conference in 1988, and much has changed in the city over the past 30 years. Faculty and students from UB, as well as community leaders from across Buffalo, will share lessons learned from Buffalos dogged, continually evolving comeback, while inviting the exchange of stories of city-making, and remaking, across all urban scales. The conference also provides an opportunity for UBs School of Architecture and Planning to showcase its recently renovated home in Hayes Hall, and to share with prospective students and urban planning scholars alike its city-as-laboratory approach to Buffalo and Western New York. The Buffalo-Niagara region has turned a corner since the planning academy last gathered here in Buffalo, said Robert G. Shibley, dean of UBs School of Architecture and Planning. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning, likewise, has grown and matured over those three decades, in large part through the role it has played in that resurgence. Were eager to share those stories. A series of mobile workshops will give conference participants a chance to learn more about the region through tours centered around affordable housing and social justice; Buffalos West Side; Niagara Falls; Buffalos many architectural treasures, which include the Louis Sullivan-designed Guaranty Building and Frank Lloyd Wrights Darwin D. Martin House; innovations in transportation; and the historic grain elevators that add a rustic beauty to the citys waterfront. In addition to the conference itself, UB is hosting two other key events around it: A Predoctoral Workshop for Students from Underrepresented Groups. ACSP has conducted four similar workshops since 2013, but this will be the first happening near the East Coast. The workshop is intended to help boost the diversity of faculty in urban planning schools by reaching students from underrepresented groups. We are delighted to host this event, since it can be a critical part of changing the diversity of faculty members who teach urban planning at U.S. colleges and universities, said Daniel B. Hess, chair of UBs Department of Urban and Regional Planning. A larger aim is to attract a more diverse student body to study urban planning and then join the profession. A Whats Next for Buffalo-Niagara? workshop that will bring local subject matter experts and stakeholders together with planning scholars from around the nation to consider what the region needs to do now and over the next 50 years to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Participants will examine the legacy of recent planning, ongoing work, and looming mega-trends to suggest what the region should look like by 2068. ACSP is a consortium of more than 100 university departments and programs offering urban planning degrees in North America, as well as programs that offer degrees affiliated with planning. The organization also includes students and individual and retired faculty. Research News UB marks 30 years as national hub for GIScience For 10 years, NCGIA hosted a prestigious, multimillion-dollar NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education Research and Traineeship) program in GIS. Here, Professor Chris Renschler leads a group of students in a post-disaster building damage assessment following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Photo: Douglas Levere By CHARLOTTE HSU The work of NCGIA is vital today as GIS becomes increasingly integrated into our daily life. In 1988, the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) opened at UB, putting Buffalo on the map as a hotspot for GIS. Short for Geographic Information Science, this field involves the use of spatial data to understand problems ranging from disease outbreaks to the impact of natural disasters. Crime mapping, epidemiological modeling and Google Earth are all GIS applications, to name a few. Today in a world where GIS technologies have become a part of everyday life UB and NCGIA remain at the forefront of the discipline. On May 11, university leaders and researchers will celebrate NCGIAs 30th anniversary at a reception in Capen Hall. UBs NCGIA site is one of only three funded by the National Science Foundation. The other two are at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Maine. Ling Bian, director of NCGIA at UB, was a PhD student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when the center was founded in 1988. She recalls that it immediately brought UB international visibility. I was a graduate student at the time, and I wished that someday I could work with these guys, she says. I had no idea I would be the director one day. Being hired here? A career highlight. UBs NCGIA site is housed in the Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences. But for three decades, the center has been cultivating collaborations and friendships between researchers across the university. Staff have supported work in fields as diverse as engineering, public health and the humanities. The center organizes speaker series, conferences and funding opportunity seminars. It also provides assistance in developing funding proposals, and has aided UB faculty in securing competitive grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, NASA and New York State. With NCGIAs support, UBs community of GIS researchers has tackled a variety of interesting problems over the years. This work has included mapping damaged buildings after a massive earthquake hit Haiti in 2010; exploring how prehistoric societies in Arctic regions adapted to ancient changes in climate; and conducting a smartphone survey to track the spread of flu in Western New York a study geared toward improving models that predict how infectious disease spreads. One new NSF-funded project focuses on mapping linguistic diversity in a rural region of Cameroon where the average adult speaks five different languages, including ones that are endangered. NCGIA at UB has also helped to educate the next generation of GIScience innovators. For 10 years beginning in 1999, the center hosted a prestigious, multimillion-dollar NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education Research and Traineeship) program in GIS, led by then-NCGIA director David Mark, a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geography. K-12 outreach has included a GIScience-focused summer camp in which middle schoolers and their teachers used drones to map Cradle Beach Camp in 2017. (A similar activity will take place again in 2018 and 2019.) Young people in the field know about NCGIA, says Bian, who is also a professor of geography. It has brought UB a lot of visibility. Many of the students who went through our IGERT program are now the leaders in GIScience today. Thats just one example of NCGIAs influence on global research in GIS. Another: On Jan. 1, Bian was named geographic methods (formerly methods, models and GIS) editor for the Annals of the AAG, the American Association of Geographers flagship research journal. Over the years, NCGIA at UBs leadership has helped to raise the center and the universitys reputation in the field, with the past three directors being Ross MacKinnon, Michael Batty and David Mark. The work of NCGIA is vital today as GIS becomes increasingly integrated into our daily life, says Mark. With location-based functionality embedded in so many smartphone apps and vehicle systems, there is even more need for new geographic information theory and computational methods, as well as attention to the social implications of the technology. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Artificial intelligence, or AI, has long transitioned from being the geeky upstart in a tech lab to a brash member of boardrooms across the world. And, despite the long Orwellian shadow that it casts on all that it surveys, AI is no longer an unwelcome gate-crasher. It is being feted as the god of future businesses. Most recently, Google restated its faith in AI and rebranded its entire research division as Google AI. At a town hall event in San Francisco in January this year, its CEO Sundar Pichai said, AI is one of the most important things humanity is working on. It is more ... In a filing to the stock exchange, the Bengaluru based company said, Venkatesan was stepping down to take up an exciting new opportunity outside the company. This is the first board level exit in the company after co-founder Nandan Nilekani returned to the Bengaluru-headquartered company as the Chairman of the Board of Directors in August last year. I thank Ravi for his pivotal contributions to Infosys in a period of important transitions ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Indias Supreme Court on Wednesday faulted the countrys archaeological conservation body for failing to protect the Taj Mahal from discoloration, dirty feet and green slime emitted by millions of mosquito-like insects. Since 2015, the body, the Archaeological Survey of India, has overseen a restoration project at the Taj Mahal, with workers scaling scaffolding to remove grime from the 17th-century tomb, which was built by the Muslim emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. But last week, the Supreme Court called in officials of the organization to ... A charge sheet filed by the Anti- Squad (ATS) against two suspected operatives last month has claimed that an unidentified associate of one of the two arrested men talked about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra "Yeah let's take out with a sniper rifle," is a line from a conversation cited in the charge sheet, attributed to an associate of Ubed Ahmed Mirza. The charge sheet against Mirza and Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala -- both arrested last October -- was filed before the chief judicial magistrate at Ankleshwar in Bharuch district. As per a WhatsApp chat between Mirza and his associate, identified only as 'Ferrari', on September 10, 2016, Mirza talked about buying pistols. In response, according to the charge sheet, 'Ferrari' said, "Yeah, let's take (Prime Minister Narendra) out with a sniper rifle Insha-Allah". When 'Ferrari' mentioned a Russian-made gun, Mirza promptly replied, "I want it". In another WhatsApp chat with Ferrari on July 26, 2016, Mirza was told that handlers had asked its modules and lone-wolf attackers in to use machetes and big chopping knives to target people. Instead of taking the risk of buying guns and assembling explosives, one can target people, "especially foreign citizens", using chopping knives, Ferrari told Mirza. According to an ATS official, the process to identify the other people who figure in these chats, including 'Ferrari', is underway. The ATS has alleged that Stimberwala and Mirza were "highly radicalised by the Jehadi ideology of Islamic State and were actively planning lone-wolf attacks on Jews". While Stimberwala worked as a laboratory technician at a hospital in Ankleshwar, Mirza was a practising lawyer at the Surat district court. Abdullah el-Faisal, a radical preacher based in Jamaica, and suspected handler Shafi Armar have been shown as absconding accused in the charge sheet. ATS claimed Stimberwala and Mirza were in touch with el-Faisal and Armar to plan attacks on Jews in They conducted a recce of some of the targets and were planning to send radicalised youths outside to take part in terrorist acts, the charge sheet said. Both have been charged under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (sedition) and 125 (waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with India), apart from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. (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.) Nepal is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as he announced a grant of Rs 1 billion to develop the sacred city of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," Modi said at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground. Modi, who is on his third visit to the Himalayan nation since assuming the office in 2014, assured Nepal that it is at the top of ... To avoid the imbroglio seen during the Vodafone retrospective tax affair, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has written to the India arm of US retailing giant Walmart, seeking details of their due-diligence on tax liabilities arising from the $16-billion acquisition of e-commerce major Flipkart. And, has offered to help the company on the issue, if needed. CBDT has written to sensitise Walmart on the tax liability implications of the acquisition. It is not a notice. The idea is to help Walmart follow due process and pay tax as per the law. This is the first time the department ... In what could be its first trading of power with a foreign nation, Odisha, via its bulk purchaser cum trading entity Gridco, is aiming at long-term supply of power to Bangladesh from 2020 onwards. The state is looking to start supplies of uninterrupted power of 250 Mw from 2020 which will continue till 2033. Odisha is expected to have a thermal power glut of over 1,600 Mw from 2020, as two super critical units of 660 Mw each owned by its PSU Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) are set to be commercialized by then. The state government will also be entitled to 800 Mw of power ... A family of seven, including four children, were found dead with gunshot wounds on Friday at a rural property in southwest Australia in what could be the country's worst mass shooting in 22 years, police and media said. The children died with their mother and grandparents. The three generations had moved to Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people near the tourist town of Margaret River, in 2015 to grow fruit, according to media reports. Police would not comment on the possibility of a murder-suicide, but they are not looking for a suspect. After being alerted by a ... The next launch by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. appears almost routine by now: A satellite owned by Bangladesh will blast toward orbit on top of a reusable Falcon 9 rocket, then the booster will land back on a drone ship to be launched again at a later date. SpaceX has already done this 24 times. But Friday will mark the debut of a slightly different rocket, called Falcon 9 Block 5, that SpaceX crafted to more quickly send an already used vehicle back into space. The new model was designed to be capable of 10 or more flights with limited refurbishment, according to the ... Things were looking up for Iranians like Mohammad Reza Azali. Two months after the nuclear deal was struck in 2015, he started an English-language technology news website in Tehran as the reformist politicians he supported opened up the country. Then came the election of Donald Trump. The U. S. presidents decision to withdraw the U. S. from the agreement has given succour to the hard-line skeptics whose mantra all along has been that you can't trust the Americans. It leaves the Islamic Republic torn between those who want change like 30-year-old Azali and those who want ... Kenyan troops and emergency workers picked through mud and debris on Friday in search of some 40 people still missing after a dam burst its banks, sending muddy waters raging through homes and killing 45 people. Kenya's top prosecutor has ordered a probe into the collapse of the dam on Wednesday night, as questions mount over the quality of construction of the private reservoir on a vast farming estate. A portion of the earthen wall of the dam collapsed, sending millions of litres of water coursing down a muddy slope, engulfing nearby settlements and destroying power lines over a stretch of some 10 kilometres (6 miles). "The number of people dead from this tragedy is 45 after the recovery of the body of a teenage boy," on Friday, said Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Mwongo Chimwanga. Earlier Nakuru county governor Lee Kinyanjui said around 40 people were still reported missing and that at least one other local dam had "to be discharged to avoid disaster". Weeks of heavy rains have caused flooding and mudslides across the country that have left 175 dead, with no sign of a let-up in the deluge. The search and rescue operation, involving emergency services as well as volunteers digging through the mud by hand, was disrupted by further heavy rainfall on Thursday and resumed yesterday morning. The dam is situated on an area of about eight acres (three hectares), according to Water Resource Management Authority boss Simon Wang'ombe, with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters (200 million litres). Residents told AFP they had long been concerned about cracks in the dam, situated on Patel Coffee Estates, where coffee, macadamia nuts, flowers and other crops are grown. "Every time it rained, some water could discharge from the dam down to the lake passing through the homes and farms but it was not a lot and it came through the side cracks," said one resident Moses Mwangi. Many of the houses affected by the disaster were rickety structures made of wood and tin that stood little chance against the raging floodwater. The torrent hit while people were in their homes, or sleeping, with one survivor describing it as "hell on earth". "During the floods, I managed to rescue my two sons, their mother was swept away by the floods along with two girls. After the had subsided, we managed to rescue my wife alive with injuries but we found the girls dead," said another survivor, who identified himself only as Josphat. Another victim, Philip Koech, told AFP he lost his home and all his livestock. "I was coming back from work when I got home I heard the thundering ... I thought it was rain," he said, adding he and his family and managed to seek shelter in a nearby building from the raging floodwaters. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that up to 500 families were affected by the disaster. Yesterday morning Kenya's chief prosecutor Noordin Haji ordered the opening of a police investigation into the tragedy "to establish cause and culpability". Government statistics released this week showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding as heavy rains hit the country after three consecutive failed rainy seasons had left it in drought. Since March, at least 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares) of farmland have been submerged in water with an estimated 20,000 animals killed, the Red Cross said last week. The floods have also destroyed road networks in some parts of the East African country. US President Donald Trump frequently talks about reviving the American auto industry, but his approach to trade policy may backfire on the countrys carmakers. Trumps efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), to impose tariffs on imported aluminium and steel and to reduce Americas trade deficit with China could limit the reach of companies that produce cars in the US and depend on access to growing markets outside the country. On Friday, the chief executives of the biggest automakers plan to meet with the president at the White ... At a time when the world is struggling to fight climate change, US President Donald Trump's administration has quietly killed a system to monitor the flow of greenhouse gas, the media reported. The White House has mounted a broad attack on climate science, repeatedly proposing cuts to NASA's earth science budget, including NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), the Science Magazine reported this week. It has now scrapped the funding for the US space agency's CMS which has until now used satellite and aircraft instruments to monitor and methane levels remotely -- spending $10m each year, the Independent reported on Thursday. Cancelling the CMS "is a grave mistake", Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts University's Centre for Environment and Resource Policy, told the Science Magazine. "If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the (Paris climate) agreement," Gallagher added. Other scientists also expressed their concerns about the impact the killing of CMS would have on fighting Scrapping the system was "disappointing", said Stephen Hagen, a senior scientist at Applied GeoSolutions in New Hampshire. "(This) means we're going to be less capable of tracking changes in carbon," he added. But the system has been an obvious target for Trump who had begun the withdrawal process from the The accord was signed in December 2015 by nearly 200 countries to curb global carbon emissions and contain global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. The United States did not pay any money to the North Koreans for the release of its citizens held as prisoners, President said as he slammed the previous Obama administration for paying $1.8 billion in cash after the Iranian nuclear deal. The president was addressing his supporters at a rally in Elkhart, Indiana, yesterday. "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did a great service to himself and to his country by doing this. But those hostages came out with respect, we didn't pay for them," he said. "We are going to set the table. We are going to make a great deal, for the world, for North Korea, for South Korea, for Japan, for China," he added. The Obama administration had paid $1.8 billion for hostages, Trump claimed in an apparent reference to a January 2016 deal between the US and Iran in which the United States agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle a case related to the sale of military equipment before the Iranian revolution. Simultaneously, Iran had released five American prisoners. The then Obama White House strongly refuted reports that it was a ransom. Trump said his meeting with Kim Jong-un would be a great success. "I think it's going to be a very big success. But my attitude is: And if it isn't, it isn't," he told his supporters. "You have to have that because you don't know. We're not going to walk into an Iran deal," Trump added. The Iran deal was one of the most embarrassing agreements the United States had ever entered into, he said, adding that the US could not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. "We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating Now, of course, we're all sure they're not cheating, but just in case," he said. "I'll be meeting with Kim Jong-un to pursue a future of peace and security for the world. For the whole world," the president said. "So the relationship is good, and hopefully, for all of us, for the world, hopefully so,mething very good is going to happen. And they understand it's very important for them. It's important for everybody," he added. would seek a "complete, irreversible and verifiable" denuclearisation of the during his summit with North Korean leader in on June 12, the has said. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic summit, the cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Such a move might force the US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesman said yesterday. "Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the And that's what he's going to be seeking," Deputy Press Secretary told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. "We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from would not be received well. All I'll say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons," Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. The main issue under discussion at the Trump-Kim summit will be North Korea's nuclear weapons, which the US is demanding give up. Shah added that was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. " has a relationship with both the and They can ensure both the President's and Kim Jong-un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he added. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of and took place in Singapore some years back," Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. Shah told reporters that prior to the invitation being accepted, the North Koreans had agreed to halt their ballistic missile testing, their nuclear testing, and not publicly oppose joint US-South Korean military exercises. "So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. We'll hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations," he said. On being asked if anything else was to happen between now and the summit, Shah replied, "I'm not setting additional pre-conditions. It's now been set." Victoria Coates, Senior Director for Negotiations at the National Security Council, the White House, told reporters that the meeting could be scuttled if did something unacceptable to the US. It is possible that leaders from and could also be present in Singapore at that time, she added. Meanwhile, US media commented that if Trump is successful in convincing Kim to agree to a verifiable eradication of his nuclear weapons program -- a huge if -- Trump will have achieved a breakthrough that has eluded previous presidents. "If he can end the standoff that has prevailed since the 1950-53 Korean War, he will have won a place in history that may offer redemption in posterity even if his presidency ends in ignominy," commented. A new poll shows that after rattling the nation and the world last year by threatening to wipe off the map, his turn to diplomacy is winning increasing public approval. Some 53 per cent of Americans approve of his handling of North Korea policy and 77 per cent back his decision to meet Kim at a summit in Singapore next month. That means Trump's stewardship of the nuclear crisis is now far more popular than the himself, the network said. But it also raises the tantalising possibility that a successful outcome to the summit and a dominant showing abroad could begin to lift the President's overall approval rating a little ahead of midterm elections in November, it added. At least twelve militants have been killed during the operations of the Afghan army Commandos and the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), Special Forces in Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province. The operation was conducted in the vicinity of Alingar district and this operation led to the killing of at least five militants, including two key militant figures, reported Khaama Press, citing a statement released by the governor's office in Laghman. Meanwhile, the Afghan army commandos conducted operations in Qasaba and Salingar areas of the district and as a result at least seven militants have been killed, the statement added. A suspect was also arrested during the operation and a weapons depot was eliminated. Commander of the militants identified as Mohibullah also famous as Khyber was among those killed, the report said. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven people, including four children, were shot dead in a suspected mass murder-suicide near Margaret River, in south-west Western Australia on Friday. Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson confirmed the mass shooting attack and said that the bodies of four children and three adults were found near a house at Osmington town when they received a distress call at around 5:15 am (local time). "Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident in Osmington, 20 km northeast of Margaret River. The bodies found there had gunshot wounds," he said. The deceased, Katrina Miles and her four children, aged eight to 13 were found at the crime scene. The shooter is absconding and an investigation has been launched to identify the motive of the attack. According to media reports, Miles was home-schooling her three boys and her daughter at their farm when the shooting occurred. Osmington is a small rural town, which is three hours south of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan condemned the attack, describing it as "tragic and shocking." "My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims, and also with the first responders and investigators as they piece together this tragic set of circumstances," he wrote on Twitter. Australia has a tough gun control law, where they have banned weapons of all types and a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain on Friday suggested that Bangladesh-origin Hindus do not pose any threat to the indigenous communities in Assam. "Few people are spreading rumours that with the implementation of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, all Hindu Bangladeshis will be a part of Assam. The Hindus who came to India till 2014 will be given citizenship. This won't affect the indigenous community of Assam," Gohain told ANI. "The Bangladesh-origin Hindus have supported us, so we (BJP) are also supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that would pave the way for grant of citizenship to this community. It is Bangladeshi-origin Muslims who are posing threat to the identity and culture of indigenous communities in the state," he added. Gohain's statement came while the Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) led by chairman and BJP MLA Rajendra Agarwal is in the state taking opinions of various sections of the society on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. The Committee listened to opinions of 127 organisations in Guwahati on Monday while it will be holding similar exercises at Silchar in Barak Valley from this afternoon till tomorrow. Agarwal stated that it would hold another round of hearing in Guwahati on a later date in view of the raging protests registered by various organisations in Brahmaputra Valley against the Bill. Various organisations in the state hit the streets and burnt an effigy of Gohain in an angry reaction to his statement in favour of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 2016, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to give citizenship by naturalisation to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who came to India before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Chinese Y-8 military transport aircraft was seen on the disputed Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It was witnessed just 12 nautical miles from the Philippines-occupied Thitu Island. China exerts de facto control over the Subi Reef which is also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. As per Sputnik, incredibly detailed images captured by satellite sensors on April 28 depict a Shaanxi Y-8 resting in an airfield on the reef. The popular Chinese aircraft is based on the Soviet-era Antonov An-12 aircraft and is comparable to America's C-130 Hercules as a medium-range, prop-driven transport plane capable of carrying troops, paratroopers and supplies. Beijing has already created several variants of the Y-8 aircraft like helicopter transportation, anti-submarine warfare, electronic countermeasures and electronic signals intelligence. The Y-8E variant can launch reconnaissance drones too. Earlier this month, China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three outposts in the South China Sea. The White House then warned Beijing saying, there will be consequences for its growing militarization in the South China Sea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a letter has requested a meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday seeking his intervention in execution of the Delhi government's CCTV project, two days after Lt Governor Anil Baijal formed a committee to prepare a framework for it. In his letter, he mentioned that the Governor had formed a committee for this issue and questioned its purpose. "A committee was formed by the Lieutenant governor. When everything was done, the cameras were about to be installed, the citizens too were waiting for it, then why was a committee formed? What is the purpose of the committee?" wrote Kejriwal in the letter. He further mentioned that the work on installing the CCTV was started and the people had started to welcome this initiative. "Keeping in mind the safety of women the Delhi government started the work in regard to the installation of the CCTV. The citizens of Delhi welcomed this move. Especially, women were happy thinking that because the CCTV is being installed the female members of their family would feel safe," mentioned Kejriwal. Kejriwal wrote that the committee had been formed to "stall" the CCTV project, claiming that the LG was doing "politics" over the issue. Labelling it as a political issue he asked the Prime Minister to look into this matter as soon as possible. "You (Prime Minister) had said in London that women's safety shouldn't be politicised," added Kejriwal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will lead an official delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from May 12 to 14. The visit comes nearly three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the UAE in February. During the visit, Pradhan is scheduled to meet his UAE counterparts, H.E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry and H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Abu Dhabi Oil Company (ADNOC) Group CEO and discuss issues of bilateral hydrocarbon engagement within the overall framework of India-UAE Strategic Partnership. He will also participate in the UAE Downstream Investment Forum and speak on 'New Trade Flows, New Market Opportunities'. In February, Prime Minister Modi and UAE's ADNOC had signed the Amended and Restated Oil Storage and Management Agreement, under which the latter would store about 5.86 million barrels of crude oil in the cavern at Mangalore at its own cost. Pradhan, along with H.E. Sultan Jaber, is expected to jointly flag off the first consignment of ADNOC crude oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facility of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) at Mangalore. This will be the first such investment by any foreign company in Indian SPR facility. Pradhan is also slated to meet H.E. Nasser Al Hamli, UAE Minister for Human Resources and Emiratization to discuss outcomes of the first Skill Mapping Conference held in April this year. The Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister will also participate in a roadshow on the Discovered Small Fields (DSF) Bid Round - II and 9th City Gas Distribution (CGD) international bidding round, inviting foreign investors to participate in the largest Indian CGD bid round covering 174 districts. Apart from this, a joint presentation on 'India's downstream sector' is slated to be presented during the aforementioned visit by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) Chairman and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) chief managing director, who will also be accompanying Pradhan to the UAE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Himanshu Roy committed suicide in Mumbai on Friday. He was on a medical leave for two years as he was suffering from cancer. The former ATS chief committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in Mumbai. Bombay hospital declared him as brought dead. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner, MN Singh said that cancer is one of the probable reasons for his suicide. "He was suffering from cancer, and probably because of that, he shot himself. He gave up his life. Probably he lost the will to fight to continue fighting," said MN Singh. Praising his courage for holding higher positions in the police department, Singh said that the often an officer of the law has to work under tremendous pressure. He even suggested a provision for a 1-month compulsory leave for the police officers. "Like the Army, we should have a compulsory leave for the police officers. Police officers should be given compulsory leave for one month to field officers in order to recuperate themselves," added Singh. Meanwhile, the Indian Police Service Association today tweeted that it is a big loss for the police community and is irreparable. "In a big tragedy, we lost one of our very bright officers Sri Himanshu Roy, IPS of 1988 batch #Maharashtra, today. A fiercely brave officer, his loss is irreparable. Our condolences & prayers to friends & family. Currently, a police investigation is underway to ascertain the reason for the suicide. Roy is a 1988-batch IPS officer, Roy who was the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) of Mumbai, and in 2016, he was appointed as Assistant Director General (Establishment) in Maharashtra. He is a well-known figure in the law enforcement world, who handled sensational cases like Indian Premier League betting scandal and the infamous 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and party in-Charge of Jammu and Kashmir Ram Madhav on Friday said that as long as there are terrorist activities in the valley, the security forces are duty bound to tackle it with utmost toughness. His reaction came after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for unilateral ceasefire. Speaking to ANI, the BJP general secretary said that security forces would end their operations in the Valley if 'terrorism stops'. "Our security forces are not engaged in operations out of any special interest and enthusiasm, it is a necessity that forces tend to undertake operations, so what is expected is that terrorists should desist from terrorist activities," he said. "As long as there are terrorist activities in the valley, the security forces are duty bound to tackle it with utmost toughness. What is needed is terrorist activities should stop, operations would stop automatically. As long as terrorists are active in the valley, the security forces are duty bound to protect the citizens and the country," he added. Objecting to the use of word 'ceasefire', Madhav said, "If by ceasefire, one meant ceasing of operations by forces in the valley during Ramzan, what's expected is that the terrorist elements will abstain from terrorist activities, as it is a holy month for the Muslims." Madhav said that they are open for talks to groups like Hurriyat but as far as terrorism is concerned it is their duty to deal with it with an iron hand. "We do not mind talking to groups like Hurriyat. There is no issue. We're open for talks but as far as terrorism is concerned it's our duty to deal with it with an iron hand," he said. All political parties of Jammu and Kashmir are for a unilateral ceasefire in the state, said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday. "Everyone agreed that we must urge the Centre that government must think about a unilateral ceasefire like Vajpayee ji did in 2000. Encounters, crackdowns are causing trouble to common man. Efforts must be made to maintain environment so that both Eid and Amarnath Yatra are peaceful," Mufti said. All agreed that if the agenda of an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is followed then the situation in the state will change, she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a Two-day State visit to Nepal, on Friday assured the Himalayan nation of India's support, saying "India stands shoulder to shoulder with Nepal." The Prime Minister also dwelled upon the successful elections conducted in Nepal at all three levels: federal, provincial and local levels. "I am visiting Nepal at a very special time when elections have been successfully conducted here at federal, provincial and local levels. India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nepal," Prime Minister Modi said whilst issuing a joint statement in Kathmandu along with his Nepal counterpart KP Sharma Oli. Nepal PM Oli echoing the sentiments of PM Modi said, "Relations between neighbours are different from others. Neighbours have always been our top priority." The two leaders also laid the foundation stone of Arun-III, a hydropower project in Kathmandu. The visiting Prime Minister also underscored that though his relationship with Nepal is pretty old, however, it is only his third visit to the country as Prime Minister. Nepal PM Oli stressed upon economic ties between the two countries by saying, "I requested Modi Ji to facilitate the exchange of demonetised currency notes held in the Nepali banking system and by the general public, at the earliest." The Nepal Prime Minister also shared that the two sides have agreed to take concrete measures to realise the benefits of a new partnership for agriculture and connectivity by rail links and waterways and have agreed to address all matters by September 19, on "our" Constitution Day. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi was accorded with the guard of honour at the Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in Kathmandu. The Prime Minister arrived in Kathmandu after attending the civic reception in the ancient and religious city of Janakpur. On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Modi will be heading for Muktinath temple in Mustang District followed by prayers at Pashupatinath Temple in the capital. After the visit to the temples, Prime Minister Modi is expected to engage with political leaders of various parties. He will attend the civic reception hosted by the mayor of Kathmandu and then depart for India on Saturday evening. Prime Minister Modi arrived at the city of Janakpur on Friday at around 10:45 am (local time). . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Elections in Karnataka will be held on Saturday and the state has seen fever pitch campaigning by top leaders, each attempting to woo voters through their unique campaigning styles. Here are some of the key issues that voters would consider while exercising their franchise tomorrow: FARMER CRISIS: The BJP claimed during its campaign that more than 3500 farmers committed suicide under the "anti-farmer" Siddaramaiah Government. The BJP said that if the Yeddyurappa Government is voted to power in the state, farmer loans of up to Rs 1 lakh would be waived off for each farmer. The BJP also promised that with a fund of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, every field in Karnataka will be watered. The Congress, on the other hand, has promised to double farmers' income and constitute a statutory Farmers Income Commission. To tide over the agrarian crisis in 2017, the Siddaramaiah Government waived off farmer loans of up to Rs 50, 000 per farmer at an estimated cost of Rs Rs 8,165 crore to the state exchequer. The Congress Government in Karnataka also asked the Centre to waive off farmer loans from nationalised and rural banks. It also promised to compensate farmers against the loss of crop revenues owing to natural calamity or otherwise, through the Annadaata Fund at a state or district levels. The Janata Dal (Secular) in its manifesto also promised to waive off 100 percent farmer loans. Also, Additional procurement price of Rs 150 per quintal on all cereal crops and Rs 500 for pulses. POLLUTION and TRAFFIC CONGESTION : The Congress has promised to reduce incidences of urban flooding and minimise its impact on the people. The Congress said that it will ensure that cities and their surroundings are free from all filth and ensure zero adverse impact of municipal solid waste on the environment and society. The Congress said it will introduce a technology-enabled, auto-synchronized traffic management system with connected signals across the city to improve traffic movement across the city. The BJP manifesto said that it will set up 24x7 Air Quality Monitoring Stations in urban centers of all city corporations with live updates about the level of pollution being made available on the KSPCB website. Also, it plans to strengthen the state pollution control board to ensure effective functioning and accountability. It also promised to invest Rs. 2,500 Crore in the "Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Fund" to clean and revive the lakes and rivers of Bengaluru and also free Bengalureans from the clutches of the water tanker mafia. To avoid the traffic menace, the BJP said it will introduce a comprehensive infrastructure action plan recommended by a committee of infrastructure and traffic experts to be constituted after forming the government. The JD(S) manifesto aimed at rehabilitating all mining areas in the state. It also said solid waste management will be given highest priority in both urban as well as rural areas. And added that steps will be taken to eliminate open defecation in all the Corporation areas, CMC and TMC areas in next five years. WOMEN: The BJP has promised to give free smart phones to women and three-gram gold mangalsutra for all brides in the below poverty line category. The manifesto also promised to constitute a Special Investigation Cell, under a woman police officer, to investigate crimes against women. The Congress also promised to give three-gram gold to all women belonging to the BPL category. And said that it will give free education to girls at post-graduation level. The Congress also promised to Implement sexual harassment prevention policy in all establishments and constitute fast track courts to try sexual harassment cases. The JD(S) has manifesto promised assistance of Rs 6,000 per month for three months to pregnant women, prior to delivery and after. They also said that hostels for distressed women will be constructed in every district. And a suitable legislation would be brought to address domestic violence YOUTH, EMPLOYMENT: The BJP in its manifesto promised to provide every college-going student with a free laptop. It also offered Government-sponsored foreign education for more than 400 Schedule Tribe students. The BJP also promised to set up six "K-Hubs" as the biggest incubators and working spaces for startups in India at Hubbali, Bengaluru, Raichur, Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Kalaburgi. The Congress promised smartphones to college-going students between age of 18 and 23. And also said that it will provide free education in Government schools until grade 12. According to the Congress manifesto, startups will get a subsidy of about Rs 1 crore to kick-start production. The subsidy will also have a grant component up to Rs 25 lakh and loan up to Rs 75 lakh. The JD(S) manifesto has promised that healthcare would be provided to labourers of unorganised sector. They will also be provided with identity cards. The JD(S) manifesto has also talked about increasing the minimum wages of labourers. SOCIAL SCHEMES: The BJP manifesto claims that more than 300 Annapoorna Canteens would be set up Corpus of Rs 7500 crores would be invested to provide modern amenities to OBCs, and housing schemes for the SC, ST communities. The Congress has promised to set up a separate OBC commission and 75% concession in education admission for OBC studies. The Congress manifesto also talked about POCSO courts being held in child-friendly rooms. The JD(S) manifesto announced schemes for the welfare of SC/STs, minorities and the youth and promised free education for girls in all courses. CORRUPTION: India's parties continue to level corruption charges against each other. The BJP has accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka of being the most corrupt party in the nation. The BJP called the Karnataka Government "10 percent commission government". Even two days before the BJP accused the Karnataka Government of resorting to foul means to win the election when fake voter ID cards were recovered from Jalahalli area of Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency. However, Congress refuted such claims, and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said that the BJP is using state machinery to its advantage. The BJP told the voters that by voting for the party they will vote for a corruption-free government in the state. While the BJP has been rallying on the cards of developmental and populist manifesto, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress is relying on the Chief Minister's resonance with the Kannadigas in the state, and their time-tested AHINDA formula - Alpasankhyataru (Minorities), Hindulidavaru (Backward Classes) and Dalitaru (Dalits), calling themselves a party for all. An incumbent Congress is leaving no stone unturned to remain in power in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections, while the BJP is looking at this election as its gateway into the South under the leadership of B.S Yeddyurappa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday said, as relations between China and Japan are now back to normal and that new progress and lasting stable development should be made. At a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the treaty in Tokyo, Li said, this is the best possible way to commemorate the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Xinhua reported. Li believes, the treaty will strengthen bilateral ties and is a vital move in the direction of peace and friendship between China and Japan. The reception was also attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe said bilateral relations are standing at a new starting point. Li is in Japan for an official visit. It is the first visit by a Chinese premier in eight years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia after a five-hour long wait at the National Palace on Thursday night. The ceremony was witnessed by Malaysia's head of state, Sultan Muhammad V. Mahathir-led Pakatan Harapan defeated the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled the nation for 61 years since independence from Britain. Mahathir won a majority in parliament as it emerged victorious in 122 out of 222 seats, which was enough for him to form the next government, South China Morning Post reported. During the swearing-in ceremony, Mahathir, wearing traditional Malay attire, pledged to serve the country and the people well. He also promised to bring the country to developed status by the year 2020. He was accompanied by his wife Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali and other leaders in the opposition alliance. Mahathir vowed to tap Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the deputy prime minister, as per Xinhua. In order to set up a new cabinet, he said he would consult with leaders of other component parties in the alliance on Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan Police on Friday arrested a man for allegedly raping an eight-month-old girl in Alwar's Harsana village. The child was last seen with the neighbour, who carried her saying that he wanted to spend some time with her. After that, she was found injured. According to police, the accused raped the baby by taking her out on the pretext of playing with her. "A man from the neighbourhood came to the child's house and took her out on the pretext of playing with her. Girl was later found injured and is now out of danger," a police official had said earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an astonishing incident, a woman chopped off her tongue in Tarsama village of Madhya Pradesh's Morena district to offer it in a temple. The family member said that they came to know about the incident when she saw blood oozing out from her mouth. The woman sacrificed her tongue in front of the deity at Bijasan Mata temple, where she offers prayer everyday. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where she was given initial medication. "A women was admitted, whose tongue was chopped off the tongue. We later came to know that she offered the same to a temple where she used to pray regularly," said the doctor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain on Friday announced that a Pahstun rally will be conducted on May 13 in Karachi and has expressed hope that it will be a successful one. "Two days from now, on May 13, 2018, we are going to hold a rally for the Pashtuns. I appeal to all the party workers to participate in it. I am also hopeful that almost everyone will take part in it," Altaf Hussain said, in a video message, broadcast from London. "People who have locomotion issues and cannot work are the only ones who are allowed to stay back at homes. Rest, I am expecting a massive participation to make this rally an enormous success," he added. The MQM Chief has also warned the Pakistani administration not to create hurdles and interfere with the rally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in Nepal today, a wave of excitement can be seen among the citizens as scores of them have lined up to attend his public rally. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address a public rally at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur. Heavy security has been deployed at the location to manage the crowd. While some of the visitors want to listen to Prime Minister's address, others just want to have a glimpse of him. While talking to ANI, one of the visitors, Sandeep Singh, said, "We will wait until Prime Minister Modi arrives here. We are very happy and excited to meet him." Another person said, "We want to see him and listen to him. We want to know what he (Prime Minister) shall provide for Janakpur." Another called him a religious politician, saying, "Prime Minister Modi will do something for our nation. He is the first (Indian) Prime Minister who is visiting Janakpur before starting his meetings in Nepal. He is a religious politician. He will also go to the Muktinath temple." Also, the natives of Nepal expect Indian Prime Minister to announce plans for the country's development. The Prime Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Nepal, will also be visiting Ram Janaki Temple situated in Mithila region. Elaborate arrangements have been made at the temple, where he is expected to offer prayers. Moreover, he is scheduled to visit Pashupatinath temple situated in Kathmandu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Investigation Agency (NIA), on Friday, registered two cases against Canada-based, suspected Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, one in connection with the 2016 terrorist attack in Punjab and second for conspiring to attack alleged right-wing leaders in India. Initial probes were conducted by the Punjab Police in the cases, who had also filed an FIR in 2016, however, the cases were eventually handed over to the NIA as it was a broader case of Khalistani terror activities in the state. According to media reports, Nijjar is a known terror mastermind and an accused in the 2007 blast that killed six and injured 42 in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab. There have also been concerns that western countries, especially Canada, could be sheltering Khalistani terrorists. That Nijjar was briefly taken into custody by Canadian authorities in April but was released without any charges within a day did not help those concerns at all. A Look Out Circular (LOC) and a Red Corner Notice (RCN) were also lodged against the Nijjar in 2015 and 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Sonam Kapoor, who now goes by the name "Sonam K Ahuja" over social media, has thanked her family, friends and well-wishers for making her wedding with Delhi-based businessman Anand Ahuja a "spectacular" event. Sonam shared a few photographs from the wedding on Instagram on Friday. "Our family is our strength," Sonam wrote. She went on to thank her mother Sunita Kapoor for being "the best mom in the whole wide world for making this happen in such a spectacular fashion", father Anil Kapoor for being "such an amazing host and loving Anand and I so unconditionally", her younger sister Rhea for being her "best friend" and "partner"; and her actor brother Harvarshdhan for being the "knight in shining armour". She added: "Also to all our friends and family who made it from far and wide at such short notice Anand and I love each and every one of you for loving us enough to want to make it for our big day! Love you all." Sonam, who is now gearing up to walk at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival red carpet, got married to Anand Ahuja on May 8 in an Anand Karaj ceremony, later followed by a star-studded reception, which was attended by Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Foreign Office has announced that all the United States diplomats in the country would face restrictions as part of which they will not be able to roam around freely from now. As reported by the Pakistan's News International on Thursday, the Trump's administration decided that the officials of the Pakistan Embassy and four consulates are required to get permission from the State Department five days before going beyond the set limits. This comes after Trump's administration turned around Islamabad's request to put the name of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader Umer Khalid Khurasani aka Abdul Wali on the UNSC sanctions committee's list. Pakistan had earlier attacked the United States saying that the top militant leaders are residing inside Afghanistan under the full view of NATO and the US troops. Following this allegation, Trump's administration turned down Islamabad's request to put the name of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader Umer Khalid Khurasani also known as Abdul Wali, a terrorist listed on the UNSC sanctions committee's list. Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman said, "We are deeply disappointed over the failure of the Sanctions Committee to list Wali who is a known terrorist and has the blood of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis on his hands". He added if Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had been listed by the Sanctions Committee, then its leader should also have been listed. He further accused the international bodies of having double standards in terms of fighting terrorism and disregarding Pakistan's sacrifices for curbing terrorism. Pakistan has also decided that from May 11, restrictions will be imposed on all American diplomats and their movements. The US fired back saying that Pakistani diplomats in Washington D.C. would be facing similar restrictions. It has been further reported that back-door negotiations are underway between the two countries. Pakistan also clarified for not allowing Pakhtun Afghan refugees in the PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) rallies. The Foreign Office spokesman said, "Refugees are not allowed to take part in political activities. Pakistan follows this policy for Afghan refugees as well." Earlier in April this year, the United States and Pakistan had faced tensions over visa policy. As reported by the Dawn, Pakistan had received a notification by the US imposing restrictions on the movement of the Pakistani diplomats as they would need to apply for permission at least five days ahead of an intended travel outside the imposed 25 miles radius. On the other hand, the US officials, in discussion with their Pakistani counterparts, argued that Islamabad had already slapped similar restrictions on its diplomats, who are barred from travelling to Karachi and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The tensions had escalated to an extent that the US had introduced short duration visas to the Pakistani officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Pamela Anderson, who is in a relationship with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has requested rapper Kanye West to help her "set him free." Anderson asked for West's help in a letter on Thursday, reported People magazine. "Hi Kanye. Hope you are well. I was wondering about your thoughts on Julian Assange," wrote the 'Baywatch' star. "I support him and I know you value Free Speech - Visibility is good for him especially in America. Where they are trying to put him away for life or worse for exposing corruption in governments," she continued. Anderson added that she believes "they are trying to kill (Assange)." "It is Torture," wrote the actress, sharing that Assange has "been locked in a small room for almost 6 years in London at the Ecuadorian Embassy." Assange has been at the embassy for the past six years after claiming political asylum in order to avoid facing extradition to Sweden over a rape allegation he has long refuted. The hacker is also wanted by the United States for espionage charges in relation to WikiLeaks' publication of classified information. "And he now can have no visitors. No Phone calls or internet. They are squeezing him," continued Anderson, who previously revealed that she hasn't spoken to Assange in nearly a month, with Assange's Internet access cut off by the Ecuadorean government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commenting on the four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Democratic Alliance (NDA) governance, the Congress on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government should apologise to the public for deceiving them. "The Government and PM Modi Ji should not be celebrating, instead they should apologise for deceiving the public, for hurting Indian economy and for the things that have happened with the unemployed youth, Dalits & women. They should celebrate 'pashchatap (remorse) divas' instead," said deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma. Addressing media in Shimla, Sharma said that the Prime Minister Modi led NDA government had failed to fulfil the promises made to the people of the country, while adding that the government had also failed to discharge its duties. He said that in the build-up to the Karnataka State Assembly elections, the PM and the BJP were trying to mislead the people of the state by misusing government machinery while claiming that they were levelling false allegations and registering IT cases against Congress leaders in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur upon his arrival in Nepal on Friday. He was received by his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli at the temple gate, along with various high-level dignitaries of Nepal. Various local artists lined up at the temple entrance to welcome both the Prime Ministers. They then together visited the shrines of Lord Ram, Janakidevi and Lord Shaligram. Prime Minister Modi even sang local religious songs along with the temple artists. Both the Prime Minister were seen holding friendly talks among themselves. Prime Minister Modi was then facilitated by one of the members of the temple board. He was presented a memento which depicted the landscape of the temple. Heavy security has been deployed in and around the temple premises. Flags of India and Nepal are placed outside the temple. Earlier a temple priest told ANI, " We are very excited. You could see that the entire Janakpur is dressed like a bride. (PM Modi) he is coming here for the first time along with Nepal's Prime Minister (KP Sharma Oli)." Prime Minister is further scheduled to visit Pashupatinath temple on Saturday. Earlier in the day Prime Minister Modi arrived at Janakpur airport on Friday to embark on a two -day visit to Nepal. He was received by various dignitaries of Nepal. Later Prime Minister will address a public rally at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A close associate of Congress leader Ramanath Rai, Kachigudda Sanjeev Kumar was allegedly attacked by unknown miscreants in Bantwal late Thursday night. The incident took place at Sajipamooda, Bantwala, in which four other people including Kumar's wife got injured. Two cars were also damaged. All five have been admitted to Mangalore Father Millar hospital. The reason for the attack is not yet clear. A complaint has been registered in Bantwala station and further investigation is underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A rape victim and her family in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh had to face social boycott after the victim refused to change her statement in the court against the accused. The diktat was passed by the village panchayat as per which the family was denied to get any support and food grains from the village. As a punishment, the family was even forced to pay fine of Rs 11, 000. "When the case was underway, some villagers came and threatened us to withdraw the case and compromise, to which we denied, following which they have been boycotting us," said the victim. The family of the accused has submitted a written complaint with the police against the Panchayat's Diktat. The accused allegedly gave the victim some intoxicating substance and made some videos, which he used later to blackmail and rape her. The victim later filed the case against the accused. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commerce Secretary of the Government of India, Rita A Teaotia, will inaugurate the two-day second Reverse Buyers Sellers Meet (RBSM) commencing from May 15 in Mumbai for promoting export of mangos and other tropical fruits and products. The Meet is being organized by the APEDA Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in association with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the objective to promote and give a fillip to exports of Indian mangos and other tropical fruits like pomegranate, pineapple, banana and jackfruits from the country and to develop new markets for promotion of these fruits and processed products. APEDA Chairman D K Singh said 50 buyers and importers from 20 countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Bahrain Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Israel, Thailand, UK, Mauritius, Malaysia, Greece, Egypt and UAE, are joining the meet. He further said that 13 state horticulture departments and 36 major and small fruits Exporters shall be displaying Mangoes, other tropical and their processed products. Arrangement has been made for wet sampling of mangoes. The buyers joining from various countries will be taken for an escorted tour of the post harvest treatment facilities such as irradiation facility, hot water dip and vapour heat treatment at APEDA / NPPO recognised Pack house in Vashi Navi Mumbai as a trust building exposure visit to demonstrate India's preparedness for export of pest and disease free produce. "It is highly encouraging for us to note and share that there is increasing acceptance of horticulture produce and exports from the country. In 2016-17, India exported fresh fruits and vegetables worth USD 1.6 billion and processed fruits and vegetables worth USD 1.1 billion to over 40 countries. Total export of mangoes and mango pulp from India was 59.22 thousand tons, and 1, 35,621.22 MT valuing USD 66.94 Million and USD 129.29 Million respectively during 2016-17," said Singh. According to him, concerted efforts have been made by government as well as private sector towards concurrent developments in the areas of cold chain infrastructure and pack houses with state-of-the-art technology and quality assurance measures such as Hot water and vapour heat treatment and irradiation; setting up of centers for perishable cargo at airports, integrated post-harvest handling facilities, capacity building initiatives at the farm level and with processors and exporters has also contributed towards export development. Unique product identification system, compliant to the traceability, networking and Residue Monitoring Plan has been developed for the consumer safety and readiness to product recall in case of any emergency. PHD Chamber President Anil Khaitan, while wishing great success to the event, has said that on account of our agro climate, India has a natural advantage of being able to produce varieties of fruits and vegetables and that too with extended availability in markets. Events such as RBSMs and focused marketing and export promotion initiatives in foreign fairs and countries to promote Indian produce are critical strategies for winning the trust of foreign buyers and to ensure a secure place for India as a reliable supplier of fruits and vegetables to the world. "I am sure the event will result in giving a further fillip to the exports of processed and fresh fruits and vegetables from the country and ensuring that new markets open up and besides Alphonso, and Kesar, other varieties grown in the northern states like Langda, Dusshery, Totapari, Chausa, Sindoori will also get visibility. Let's endeavor to make Indian mangos a household name in as many countries of the world and in as short a time," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Russian man, whose visa had expired, died on Wednesday night after he was taken to the foreigners' registration office for deportation procedures in Delhi. 44-year-old Sergey Erin was detained by the police after reports emerged that he was pelting stones at the public near the Zakhira flyover in west Delhi. As per police, Erin was staying in India since January 2017 and his Visa had expired in July last year. The police were taking him in the police vehicle when suddenly he became unconscious. Russian embassy had been informed about the incident and the body of the deceased has been sent for medical examination. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the petition seeking a probe into Bollywood actress Sridevi's death. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, dismissed the petition filed by Sunil Singh, the petitioner in the case. The top court did not find any merit in Singh's petition and thus dismissed it. Singh had approached the apex court after his petition was rejected by the Delhi High Court. The Apex Court had earlier dismissed two other similar petitions seeking a detailed inquiry into Sridevi's death. For petitioner, Sunil Singh, former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and Senior Supreme Court lawyer, Vikas Singh argued before the Apex Court and submitted that there should be a detailed probe into Sridevi's death. The petition also claimed that there was an insurance of Rs 240 crores issued in Oman in the name of Sridevi, and the money could be released only if she died in UAE. On February 24, Sridevi passed away in Dubai, where she was attending a family wedding. According to the forensic report, the 54-year-old actress died of accidental drowning in her hotel room's bathtub after suffering a dizzying spell. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Myanmar's first State Counsellor (Myanmar) Aung San Suu Kyi met in Naypyidaw on Friday as a part of her two-day visit to the South-Asian country. Seven agreements pertaining to several bilateral issues were signed in their presence. Earlier in the day, she also met Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Sushma Swaraj is on a two day to Myanmar visit from May 10-11. Earlier on May 10, she met President of Myanmar Win Myint in Naypyidaw. Her visit is a part of the ongoing high-level interaction between the governments of India and Myanmar, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement. The visit comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in September last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers on Friday hurled stones at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah's convoy. The alleged stone-throwing incident happened when Shah was returning from Lord Venkateswara's shrine in Tirumala. The workers were reportedly protesting against Centre's refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. TDP workers also protested against Shah in Tirupati. Later, a scuffle also broke out between BJP and TDP workers. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condemned the unruly behaviour of his party workers and warned them that such acts of indiscipline would not be tolerated. On April 30, Naidu hit out at the Centre for its failure to grant special category status to the state while saying that every other state received funds for development except Andhra. Naidu also questioned the Centre if Andhra was not eligible for development? "The centre promised special funds to backward districts on the lines of Bundelkhand, but they gave only 350 crores per year. Those funds too were taken back after crediting our account and hurting our self-respect," Naidu said while addressing a gathering at TDP's 'Fight against Betrayal and Collusion Politics' - public meeting here. "The development should also reach Andhra Pradesh," Naidu had said. "Bullet trains were given for Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Rs. 30-40 thousand crores for Bengaluru and Mumbai suburban trains and more funds for Gujarat. But nothing for Andhra. I am questioning the centre if we are we not eligible for development?," he added. The TDP had organised a grand public meeting in Tirupati to protest against the Centre's over special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The party has been organising cycle and bike rallies in constituencies across the state to create public awareness over the injustice that has been meted out to Andhra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, over a phone call, discussed the prospects of the Iran nuclear deal on Thursday. This comes after the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on May 8. Both the leaders reached a consensus that the JCPOA is a diplomatic success that must be safeguarded, Sputnik reported. They reached this conclusion as JCPOA according to them is vital for international and regional security, as well as for global nonproliferation. Earlier, Erdogan described the US decision as a mistake and said Ankara would never accept it. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the remaining parties of the JCPOA must compensate for the US pullout from the agreement. United States President Donald Trump earlier this week announced the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. He called the deal as "defective" adding that Washington would reinstate sanctions against the Islamic republic. The Iran nuclear deal was signed between six countries in 2015 - Iran, US, Britain, Germany, Russia, France and China for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limitations to the country's nuclear programme. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A leader of the opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly (NA) has protested against the recent court ruling of suspected five suspected Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) men, accused of killing former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the leader of the opposition in the NA, termed the court order as "another black day in the history of the country's judiciary", The Dawn reported. "Who has got the assassins of Benazir Bhutto released? And why are they being released?" Shah asked. "Benazir Bhutto used to say that she will grant the people their rights. Today, the same Benazir Bhutto is not getting justice. We should stand united on this issue. The head of the whole nation should hang in shame," he added. Five TTP members, who were arrested on grounds of allegedly conspiring to assassinate Bhutto, were granted bail on Monday. The suspects were given bail on surety bonds worth 5 lakh Pakistani Rupees, as reported by The Dawn. A two-member Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justice Mirza Waqas and Justice Sardar Serfraz granted bail to the TTP suspects - Abdul Rashid, Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Sher Zaman. Shah then recalled when an assassination attack was carried out on former Pakistan President General (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf, the scene was cordoned off from the public for four days for collecting evidence. He claimed that when Bhutto was killed, all pieces of evidence were "washed out by the authorities within a few hours." He further said that while the plotters of Musharraf's attack had been arrested, the "killers of Bhutto were being released". "Are we giving a message that those who kill politicians on getting signals from someone will be acquitted?" Shah asked. Earlier in 2017, the Anti-Terrorism Court of Rawalpindi acquitted the five TTP suspects and handed down 17-year jail terms to two police officers for criminal negligence in ordering the hosing down of the crime-scene and their failure to provide security to Bhutto. Subsequently, the Anti-Terrorism Court had also declared Musharraf an absconder in the case. Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack just after her election rally in Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. Terming Bhutto as a "national leader", NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq directed Pakistan's Minister for Law and Justice Mahmood Bashir Virk to write a letter to the court asking why the accused were being released in the Bhutto murder case and why the case was not being heard on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Virk, throwing light on recent assassination bids, said that Pakistan was passing through a dangerous phase and such attacks were being carried out on ministers under a "conspiracy against the state". On a related note, Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal escaped a possible assassination bid on his life and sustained injuries on his right shoulder as he was shot at after addressing a public rally in Narowal city of the country's Punjab province on May 6. The attacker, identified as Abid Hussain, had shot the interior minister from a distance of 15 yards as he was leaving a corner meeting. As reported by the Express Tribune on last Monday, the Deputy Commissioner of Narowal sent a preliminary report to the Chief Secretary of government, which depicted the attacker as an affiliate to Tehreek-e-Labbaik. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched a campaign to conserve water in his state. Called the 'Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan', this water conservation drive was started on May 1 and will continue till May 31. Around 1,300 reservoirs are set to be distilled and 34 rivers will be cleaned during this month-long drive. Rupani also said that it is the biggest water conservation drive that India has ever witnessed and added that it will help to tackle the shortage of water for irrigation and drinking purposes in the state. Rupani said that his government is securing Gujarat's future through this water accumulation campaign. He also accused the opposition Congress party of making false allegations. Prior to this, Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani said he is ready to resign from the state assembly if his charge that the Sauri dam being built by the BJP government could not be found turns out to be untrue. Dhanani, according to local media reports, has accused all BJP government departments of corruption. Rupani countered by saying that the water conservation campaign is a big campaign to secure the future of Gujarat. He also said that technology was being actively introduced in all state government departments to ensure transparency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With a view to allay the trade finance woes of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the Union Government has planned to more than double the credit guarantee up to Rs 50,000 crore for 2018-19 under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust For Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme set up by MSME Ministry, a top official said at an ASSOCHAM event. We have taken some decisions, we are allowing NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) partial collateral and this year, unlike previous years where, from fund we used to guarantee a credit flow of Rs 19,000-20,000 crore every year for last three years, we plan to cross Rs 40,000 crore, it may touch Rs 50,000 crore, said MSME secretary Mr A. K. Panda. He also said that MSME Ministry has taken certain concrete steps as part of structural reforms and is thus expecting about four lakh such credit proposals. To ensure credit availability to MSMEs for inclusive growth, the Ministry is also holding discussions with all banks and NBFCs and is planning that 70,000 units giving employment generation to almost 5 lakh people be taken up this year itself. Noting that MSMEs comprise almost 95-96 per cent out of the one crore entities registered in the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), the secretary said that it is more than the 47 lakh MSMEs registered under the Ministry's Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum. Thus there is need for a database to communicate with them and to tell them about the facilities that they can avail. In the Ministry we are trying to work with GSTN so that we can have an integrated database where we can communicate with MSMEs if we have their details and work on the problems faced by them, he added. GST has given a huge opportunity for MSMEs to actually come to a formal economy where we can talk to them and there can be an aggregation of their products and services and there can be a focussed kind of an initiative by Government, industry associations, bankers, export houses and international organisations so that at least their products and services can be showcased, sold and there can be better participation in the trade, further said Mr Panda. The MSME secretary informed that in order to ensure that credit flow for MSMEs is up to the expectation, gaps are bridged and their problems are addressed, the Ministry is holding discussion with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about promoting fintech companies who can reach out much better than the scheduled commercial banks to the MSMEs all across India. He also informed that MSME Ministry would be constituting a special task force to look at exactly what steps are needed to be taken to enhance exports from MSMEs, to make them part of the global value chain and also identify those MSMEs which are almost there and with little bit of facilitation and push they can come. He further said that this will sound interesting to the large players and it will make sense to them commercially as MSMEs always come up with local innovations to cut costs. Now the time has come for banks, NBFCs, MFIs, fintech companies, international financial institutions and the associations to come together for hand-holding and giving little help and push to MSMEs. Unless and until we do that we will not be able to have inclusive growth and employment generation, said Mr Panda. He also said that the Union Ministry will seek support of state governments to put up details of MSMEs on the MSME Samadhan Portal. Besides Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Council (MSEFC) will also take care of this to ensure that small enterprises do not get stuck and their payments are made in time. EXIM (Export-Import) Bank managing director Mr David Rasquinha suggested Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to look at further dialoguing with the FinMin (Ministry of Finance) and the International Basel Committee to find a way to make trade finance more reflective of the actual risks rather than a perceived artificial framework which relies predominantly on rating. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) believes India's trade deficit will widen to a four-year high of 6.4% of GDP in FY19 (USD178.1 billion). In FY18, merchandise trade deficit stood at USD156.8 billion (6.0% of GDP) on account of a rise in oil and gold imports. Widening trade deficit, escalation in commodity prices, particularly oil, coupled with the expectation of the US Federal Reserve raising its rate further, is exerting pressure on the rupee. Even other emerging market currencies are facing headwinds. Rupee has depreciated below INR67/USD mark in May 2018 from the high of INR63.35/USD in January 2018. Lately, external trade has emerged as a critical component in India's growth engine. At its peak in FY13, trade accounted 55.8% of India's GDP. However, post FY13, scenario changed due to sluggish global growth and rising protectionism. As a result, contribution of trade to India's GDP declined with private consumption and government spending supporting the growth momentum. Based on FY18 estimates, trade contribution to economy decreased to 40.6%. On the import side, a 25.7% surge in petroleum/petroleum product imports coupled with a 32.1% rise in gold, silver and precious stones imports, led to the overall import registering a growth of 19.7% to USD459.7 billion in FY18. The proportion of these two commodities in total import during FY14-FY18 was 41.4%. Organic/inorganic chemicals and engineering goods exports registered a 10.0% yoy growth to USD302.8 billion in FY18 led by the surge in petroleum products. Despite this double-digit growth, exports in FY18 were lower than FY15. India's trade relations have increased significantly with Asian peers over the years driven by the Look East policy. Trade with China witnessed a CAGR of 7.4% over FY10-FY18, largely driven by imports. As a result, trade deficit with China widened to USD57.9 billion in 11MFY18 (FY10: USD19.2 billion). On the other hand, demand from Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nepal contributed to the increase in exports. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In wake of the murder of a corporator and a lawyer within three days, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday transferred Allahabad police chief Akaash Kulhari and replaced him with Nitin Tiwari, an official spokesman said. The transfer of Kulhari, who has now been attached to the Director General of Police's office here, came a day after lawyer Rajesh Srivastava was shot dead in Allahabad city, leading to his colleagues going on a flash strike in protest. The Yogi Adityanath government was left red-faced by Srivastava's murder as it came while Chief Secretary Rajeev Kumar and Director General of Police O.P. Singh were in the city. On Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party corporator Pawan Kesari, who was considered close to Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, was shot dead in the Phulpur area. Official records show that there have been 46 murders in the city in the past three months, puncturing the much-touted claim of the year-old BJP government of bringing back the law and order on track, after five years of chaos under the Samajwadi Party regime. --IANS md/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Friday accused BJP national president Amit Shah of "MLA shopping", two days ahead of his one-day visit to the coastal state. State Congress President Girish Chodankar also told reporters at the party state headquarters that the opposition party's leaders would stage a protest when Shah visits the state on Sunday. "No MLA is left in our party who is up for sale. From what Vishwajit (State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane) has said, it appears that Amit Shah is coming to Goa for MLA shopping. "I think Amit Shah is not a leader. Vishwajit has referred to him as a dealer, who is coming to Goa for dealings," Chodankar told reporters, hours after BJP's Rane said "at least two Congress MLAs" were likely to meet Shah to speak about the possibility of switching over from the opposition party to the ruling dispensation. Rane had switched over from the Congress to the BJP on the day of the trust vote, which was eventually won by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar-led coalition government in Goa in March last year. On Sunday, Shah is expected to hold a meeting each with ruling coalition partners and members of BJP's legislative wing respectively, before addressing a gathering of BJP's booth workers at an indoor stadium near the state capital. Chodankar said the Congress on Sunday would also demand appointment of a full-time Chief Minister in the absence of the ailing Manohar Parrikar, who is currently in a US hospital undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer. --IANS maya/him/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday dismissed BJP President Amit Shah's pro-Karnataka comment on the Mhadei interstate water dispute as an election stunt. Rane, however, expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader would ensure that the interests of Goa are protected vis-a-vis Karnataka in the Mhadei river water row. "In an election, many statements are made. I am confident Amit Shah will ensure that the interests of Goa and the interests of our state are protected irrespective of whatever statement may have been made," Rane told a press conference in Panaji on Friday. Rane said this when he was asked to react on Shah's comment at a poll rally in Karnataka's Hubbali region where the BJP President promised to resolve the Mhadei dispute in six months and that waters from the multi-state river would flow into Karnataka. Questioned if the Goa BJP leadership will ask Shah, who is scheduled to visit Goa on Sunday, to deliver a statement promising to protect Goa's interest vis-a-vis the Mhadei issue, Rane said: "We will see when he comes here. We will have a discussion with him." Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are currently contesting parties in the Mhadei inter-state water disputes tribunal over the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across Mhadei river, through which Karnataka aims to divert water from the Mhadei basin. The Tribunal hearing the dispute is expected to deliver a verdict in a few months. Mhadei, also known as the Mandovi river, is considered a lifeline in the northern parts of the coastal state. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji while briefly flowing through Maharashtra. The river course is 28.8 km in Karnataka and over 50 km in Goa. --IANS maya/pgh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apple has reportedly partnered with investment bank Goldman Sachs and might release a credit card next year, a media report said. A report in Wall Street Journal claimed that the new credit card -- which marks the end of Apple's credit card partnership with Barclays -- would use the Apple Pay branding. Goldman Sachs would also offer in-store loans to Apple customers, the report said. The move follows Goldman Sachs acquisition of the team behind Final, a credit card startup. Final's dozen employees later joined Goldman's new Consumer and Commercial Banking division. Goldman Sachs has a partnership with American Express and its Platinum card. This would be its first foray into consumer credit cards. For Apple, the move is expected to increase user adoption of Apple Pay. --IANS sku/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of recent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, the Assam government on Friday said it will not do anything which is detrimental to the interest of the state. However, the state is also not going to take any decision like Meghalaya which opposed the bill, Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the media here. "The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 is interacting with people and organisations. We have requested the JPC to visit Assam and interact with the people again," said the senior Cabinet minister of the BJP-led government in Assam. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was following the democratic norms despite having a majority in the Lok Sabha. If passed, the bill would grant non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan Indian citizenship -- given they have completed six years in the country. "When Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983 was imposed on Assam, did the then Congress government take the views of the people of Assam? However in case of Citizenship Bill, views of people are being taken by the JPC." The minister urged the political parties to not politicize the bill. Slamming the Congress for showing double standard, Patowary said while Congress leaders in Guwahati are opposing the bill, its leaders in Bengali-dominated Barak Valley are supporting it. The minister said in 2012, then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi submitted a memorandum to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pleading that Indian citizens who had to flee due to religious persecution and discrimination at the time of partition should not be treated as foreigners on humanitarian grounds. --IANS ah/him/vm (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.) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said lenders should not hesitate in funding the gems and jewellery industry. "With 3 million new jobs on the anvil, the banks should not hesitate to fund the industry efforts which are bonafide, transparent and above board. "Also considering the fact that the sector is on a growth spiral and in view of the potential the industry has in future, the banks should further step up lending efforts to legitimate players fuelling the trade," the Minister said. Prabhu unveiled a white paper drafted by Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) at the one-day seminar titled "Diamond and Jewellery Financing 2018: Mitigating Risks Effectively". He hoped the active participation of banks, ECGC and other stakeholders would help in strategising for the development of the gems and jewellery industry that has "a proven track record of being labour intensive, continuous job creation and economic development". "We will never encourage wrongdoers in the industry but will ask our financial system to support all genuine players in the gems and Jewellery sector. This is essential to help the industry realise the full potential." Innovative financial instruments and risk coverage must be provided to all genuine businesses in the sector, he added. The event -- organised by the gems and jewellery industry to find ways to reduce risks and infuse confidence into financiers -- was attended by leading banks and financial institutions including the SBI, Central Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, ECGC and others. It also witnessed a huge turn out from the major industry players, a statement said. "This is the only industry in India who has created arbitration mediums with the banks and parties in case of NPA to achieve recoveries," GJEPC Chairman Pramod Agarwal said. --IANS bdc/him/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A supporter of an Independent candidate for the coming panchayat polls was killed in West Bengal's Bhangar on Friday, following which police arrested local strongman of the ruling Trinamool Congress Arabul Islam. Hafizul Molla (26), a resident of Bhangar's Machibhanga in South 24 Parganas district, died after an armed attack on a political rally brought out by the "Jomi, Jibika, Bastutantra O Poribesh Raksha Committee" (committee to protect land, livelihood, ecology and environment)', which has been leading a movement against the construction of a power grid sub-station in the area. Bhangar has been on the boil for over a year now on the issue of construction of the sub-station. According to the leaders of Jomi, Jibika, Bastutantra O Poribesh Raksha Committee, the deceased was shot in the head while walking in the rally, taken out in support of the Independent candidates backed by the committee for the polls. "Hafizul Molla, a resident of Bhangar's Machibhanga has been shot dead allegedly while walking in a rally taken out by the committee in Polerhaat-2 in South 24 Parganas district's Kashipur," Sarmistha Chowdhury, leader of CPI-ML Red Star, that has been backing the movement, told IANS. "The attack was conducted by a group of miscreants backed by local Trinamool Congress leader Arabul Islam, who opened fire and hurled bombs at the rally," she said. Following the killing, a huge contingent of state police launched raids at various pockets in the area in search of Islam and his associates. Arabul was finally arrested at around 10.30 p.m from a field behind his residence at Gazipur, said Baruipur Superintendent of Police Arijit Sinha. According to Sinha, Arabul -- a former MLA -- was nabbed by the police after tracking his mobile location. Meanwhile, Chowdhury said a local resistance group called "Bhangar Andolan Sanghati Committee" would hold a rally on Saturday from Kolkata's Moulali to Esplanade to protest the killing. Nine Independent candidates backed by the local committee and the ultra-left parties are contesting in eight Gram Panchayat and one Panchayat Samiti seats in Bhangar after the Calcutta High Court directed the State Election Commission to accept their nomination papers submitted through WhatsApp, as they were allegedly physically restrained from completing the paperwork. --IANS mgr-ssp/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leading vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Friday received the National Technology Award for 2018 from the Central government's Technology Development Board for its Rotavac vaccine. This prestigious award for innovative technologies, successfully developed and commercialized from India, was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Technology Day ceremony held at Vigyan in New Delhi. Launched in 2015 Rotavac was introduced into the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in India during 2016, with initial implementation in 9 states. Till date, Bharat Biotech has supplied about 35 million doses to the UIP. The vaccine is already saving infant lives and lowering the cost of hospitalizations across India. The company has also initiated supply of WHO Prequalified Rotavac to UNICEF and other Immunization programmes worldwide, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement. "We are proud to receive the National Technology Award 2018 for ROTAVAC, it proves that researchers and product developers from India are capabable to develop and commercialize innovative technologies for the world," said Krishna M Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech. The national award from the Technology Development Board award recognizes organizations, who have forged powerful partnerships with the national laboratories and to create knowledge networks with academic institutions to promote research and development and to gain entry into global markets. Rotavac boasts a large family of intellectual property with patents filed in more than 35 countries and granted in 10 countries including India, USA, China, EU, Japan, and Britain. Bharat Biotech currently, holds a portfolio of 60 patents and has delivered more than 3 billion doses of vaccines to over 65 countries. --IANS ms/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal called on NCP President Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence for a 'reunion' meeting here on Friday. Bhujbal returned home a week after hospitalisation on Thursday following bail granted by the Bombay High Court and was greeted with the first phone call from Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief. Reciprocating the gesture, Bhujbal's first meeting was with Pawar, said party spokesperson Nawab Malik. "There was no political discussions. It was mostly about my medical conditions. As a father-figure, Pawar advised me to take proper care of my health," Bhujbal told the media. After reaching home after spending around 26 months in jail, Bhujbal, 71, had indicated that he would bounce back to active soon. A prominent OBC leader and founder of Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, Bhujbal is slated to address a public meeting of the NCP on its 20th anniversary on June 10 in Pune, according to party General Secretary Praful Patel. The rally would signal Bhujbal's political rehabilitation which he plans to consolidate with follow up meetings in his home district Nashik. His son Pankaj Bhujbal said his father had been suffering from pancreatic problems since past over two months and had undergone treatment at the Sir J.J. Hospital and KEM Hospital. "It has improved his condition. However, doctors have advised further treatment and possibly surgery for which he will be re-admitted to hospital," said Bhujbal junior. Bhujbal was nabbed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 14, 2016 in connection with two money-laundering cases filed against him, his nephew and former NCP MP Sameer Bhujbal and other family members besides business associates. Later, they were probed for three other alleged corruption cases by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which lodged a charge-sheet against Bhujbal, Sameer and 15 others in the Maharashtra Sadan case. Arrested in February 2016, Sameer Bhujbal is still in judicial custody and has sought bail. --IANS qn/pgh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal of interfering in his government's functioning, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to order Baijal to allow implementation of the city's CCTV project. In the letter, Kejriwal also urged the Prime Minister that the Aam Aadmi Party government be allowed to work at the ground level to ensure women's security, pointing out that any law on women's security will be meaningless unless the ground situation was improved. Kejriwal also expressed the wish to meet the Prime Minister to inform him about the alleged disruptions caused by the L-G. "The Delhi government decided to put closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) across the city to ensure women safety. The decision was welcomed by the people of Delhi. The work was about to start, but suddenly the L-G came in and restricted the work. He set up a committee in this regard. This happened without our (Delhi Government's) knowledge," Kejriwal wrote. On Tuesday, Baijal formed the committee to come up with a standard operating procedure for the installation, operation and monitoring of closed-circuit televisions. Kejriwal said that the only aim of setting up the committee was to interrupt government work and not to let the CCTVs get installed. The Aam Aadmi Party leader claimed that Delhi residents were angry since the L-G was disrupting the Delhi government's welfare schemes time and again. "People are saying that the L-G is doing all this on central government's orders. They are also saying that the Centre does not want the Delhi government to do good things for the people," Kejriwal said. He urged Modi to order Baijal to let the work on CCTVs proceed since it is related to women's security. --IANS nks/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling Congress and the opposition BJP have locked horns to outsmart each other in the Karnataka assembly election on Saturday, with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) making the contest triangular. As the only assembly poll being held in the peak summer, wth temperatures soaring, the battle-royal at the hustings has the nation glued to the southern state where the stakes are high for both the national parties whose prospects the JD-S can make or mar as a kingmaker or spoiler in a fractured verdict. "If the Congress is desperate to retain power defying anti-incumbency, the BJP is impatient to return to power in south India after losing badly 5 years ago, while the JD-S wages a lone battle to play a key role in the new government formation," a poll analyst told IANS on Friday ahead of D-day. Single-phase polling will be held across the state in 223 assembly segments, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) candidates. The election in south Bengaluru's Jayanagar constituency was countermanded following the death of BJP's candidate B.N. Vijayakumar on May 4.One member is nominated in the 225-member assembly. A total of 4.97-crore electorate includes 2.52-crore men and 2.45-crore women. They will cast their ballots in 56,696 polling booths across the state amidst tight security, with 45,000 personnel from 585 the central and state forces deployed. "In all, 2,654 candidates are in the fray, including 219 women; 222 are from the Congress, 222 from BJP, 201 from JD-S, 1,155 Independents and about 800 from other national, regional and fringe parties," state Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told IANS after scrutiny and withdrawals on April 27. With the largest number (28) of assembly seats in a district, Bengaluru will witness a battle of sorts as 449 contestants, including 37 women, are in the race. Though the Congress returned to power in 2013 after losing the mandate in the 2004 and 2008 elections, it is betting on the 'performance" of its government, under Siddaramaiah, the only Chief Minister to have completed a five-year term 40 years after the party's legendary Devaraj Urs in 1978. "When the votes are counted on May 15, we will know if the Siddaramaiah-led Congress is lucky to beat anti-incumbency and return power as no outgoing party could do over the last four decades," the analyst said. As the second among the six southern states to be in power besides Puducherry, the Congress has been sweating out to hold on to Karnataka, as its outcome will decide not only Siddaramaiah's fate, but also the fortunes of his party's new president, Rahul Gandhi, who took over the mantle from his mother Sonia Gandhi in mid-December 2017. "More than Gandhi, the party's state unit leaders are anxious to win the election at any cost so that they could credit it to him (Rahul) for leading the party to victory and revive its fortunes for the 2019 elections," said Pradeep Puranik, a poll pandit in this tech hub. According to Congress state unit vice-president B.K. Chandrashekar, the ruling party would get 115 seats, which are more than the halfway mark (113) and will retain power. "Our welfare schemes like Indira canteens, 7 kg free rice per person for every household, free milk to school students and free education to girls up to post-graduation will work in our favour, with large number of women wanting to vote. We are confident of getting majority," Chandrashekar told IANS. In contrast, the BJP has pulled all stops to free Karnataka also from the Congress yoke and consolidate its position for its expansion south of the Vindhyas. The BJP declared its popular Lingayat leader, B.S. Yedduyurappa, as its chief ministerial nominee even before the elections were announced on March 27 although he was responsible for its defeat in the 2013 poll after he left it and formed the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), which split its votes. The 75-year-old veteran politician, however, returned to BJP in early 2014, was elected to the Lok Sabha from his home district Shivamogga in the Malnad region and was made its state unit president for leading it in the crucial assembly polls. Yeddurappa was also the party's first Chief Minister in south India for three years from May 2008 to July 2011, when he was forced to resign following his indictment by the state's anti-graft watchdog (Lokayukta) in the multi-crore mining scam that rocked Karnataka for over a decade (2001-11). "We are hopeful of getting majority due to palpable anti-incumbency against the Congress. We are confident of a decisive mandate to form the government on our own strength and without the support of other parties, as coalitions have failed in the past," BJP spokesperson Malavika Avinash told IANS. The BJP and Yeddyurappa were beneficiaries of a 'sympathy wave' in the 2008 assembly election after coalition partner JD-S withdrew support to them in November 2007, resulting in President's rule for six months. The BJP is also betting on the 'popularity' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the development model of its NDA government at the Centre over the past four years to again upstage the Congress and JD-S this time. Modi campaigned extensively across the state with 21 rallies over five days from May 1-9 and drew huge crowds with his extempore speeches in Hindi that were translated into Kannada for the benefit of the local people. The JD-S, on the other hand, has been working overtime to win the poll battle on the plank of being a regional party that alone takes care of the people in the face of national parties letting down the state on all fronts. "We will be single largest party with more number of seats, followed by the BJP and the Congress. With the help of Independents, we will form the next government, as the people want a local party like ours to be in power this time, as the national parties have deceived them," JD-S spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS. --IANS bha-fb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the May 28 Chengannur Assembly by-election, Kerala Congress (Mani) chief K.M. Mani on Friday said a decision on his party's support to one of the three fronts in Kerala will be taken within a week. Given that Mani's party has a support base of around 5,000 voters, his support is crucial. Last year, Mani's party severed ties with the Congress-led United Democratic Front after close to four decades. His party's six legislators sit as a separate block in the Assembly. Apart from the UDF, leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front have met Mani to seek his party's support. "A final decision will come in a week's time," Mani told reporters. CPI-M legislator K.K. Ramachandran Nair's death in January 2016 necessitated the bye-election to the seat. Counting of votes will take place on May 31. Chengannur was a Congress citadel for close to three decades until Nair broke through in 2016. In 2016, Nair secured 52,880 votes while two-time Congress legislator P.C. Vishnunath got 44,987; BJP's P. Sreedharan Pillai came a close third with 42,682 votes. Pillai is again in the fray whereas the CPI-M has fielded Alappuzha District Secretary Saji Cherian. The Congress has fielded D. Vijayakumar. --IANS sg/tsb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against senior journalist Upendra Rai, who was arrested last week on the charge of dubious transactions through his bank accounts, an official said on Friday. More than three ED teams raided Rai's residence in Greater Kailash in south Delhi and some places in Uttar Pradesh's Noida. The agency also searched the residential premises of Rai's alleged accomplices Rahul Sharma and Sanjay Snehi. The ED case is based on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) FIR filed on May 1, naming Rai, aviation firm Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, its Chief Security Officer Prasun Roy, some unidentified public servants of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and others. The CBI arrested Rai on May 3 for alleged dubious transactions of over Rs 100 crore in his bank accounts during 2017-2018 and also using false information to obtain access to sensitive areas through aerodrome entry passes for all airports across the country. A special CBI court on Wednesday sent him to judicial custody till May 23. The CBI also said that in 2017, Rai's bank accounts indicated credit of Rs 79 crore, with several transactions of over Rs one lakh each while in the same period the accounts reflect a debit amount of Rs 78.51 crore. Rai is accused of purchasing a fleet of cars with the ill-gotten money. It is also learnt that he received Rs 16 crore in one year from shell companies for bribing or fixing cases in the Income Tax Department and that he received about Rs 6.5 crore from Sahara India in one year. The CBI has claimed that Rahul Sharma of Palam in west Delhi and Sanjay Snehi of Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi assisted Rai to park the ill-gotten money. Owner of Printlines Group and formerly employed with Tehelka magazine/news portal, Rai is also accused of using false information to obtain passes to access sensitive areas in airports and allegedly committed the offence in connivance with officials of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd and some public servants of BCAS. They also alleged that Rai had paid Rs 13,92,000 on January 2, through his account, to Airone Charters Pvt Ltd, the parent firm of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd. --IANS rak/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Salony Luthra's "Forbidden", based on a true life story of honour killing, premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) here. The dramatic thriller is based on the story of a girl named Jasleen who was born and raised in New York. She was a doctor by profession who lost her life at the young age of 25. Salony said in a statement: "'Forbidden' is a true life love story of a very courageous girl born and raised in New York City who paid the price of following her heart. The issue of honour killing is not just a third world problem as they call it, but it is present everywhere across borders, religions and sections of the society. "With this film, I only hope and pray that I have been able to do justice to this courageous girl's life story and many other girls who have been victims of honour killing. The mission of this film is to end violence against women living outside of their native countries. "In addition, it is to ignite a social change that will compel the legal system to take action against criminals who commit heinous crimes against women in the name of family honour." "Forbidden" is Salony's second film to be screened at the NYIFF after "Kajal". The film also features Gulshan Grover, Gopal Divan and Dhanish Karthik. --IANS rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The decision by the Fortis Healthcare board to recommend the offer of the Hero and Burman Family consortium for sale of its business was primarily guided by the certainty of liquidity flowing in to enable greater efficiency, Fortis Director Brian Tempest said here on Friday. However, other contenders expressed their disappointment over the same. Following a board meeting here that lasted till late on Thursday, Fortis said its board had decided to recommend the offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office to its shareholders. "The Board, by a majority, decided to recommend the Hero-Burman Family offer to shareholders looking at the binding bids for the point of certainty of liquidity flowing into the company," Tempest told reporters. "After many months of engagement with Fortis, including due diligence, we are disappointed that the board has come to this conclusion. Manipal remains of the view that our offer proposed the most appropriate short and long-term plan for Fortis and was in the interests of all stakeholders, including shareholders," Manipal Group's CEO Ranjan Pai said in a statement on Friday. "Our offer comprised a significant and necessary immediate investment, a clear strategic plan to fundamentally transform Fortis, as well as synergies from a combination with Manipal. It is now for shareholders to decide whether they will accept the board's recommendation," he added. Earlier, Fortis' Board had received offers from suitors such as Hero Enterprise Investment Office and the Burman Family Office, Fosun Health Holdings, IHH Healthcare Berhad, Manipal Hospital Enterprises and Radiant Life Care for infusion of funds. "Hero-Dabur have 30-40 investments in healthcare, have one hospital, which has a nurses training college and another training hospital. To run this business efficiently, we'll need a regular supply of nurses and doctors," Tempest said. According to Fortis, the entire exercise for selecting the Hero and Burman consortium involved a process that witnessed "deliberation and recommendation" by an independent Expert Advisory Committee (EAC). "The Board considered the views of the EAC, financial and legal advisors, and following extensive discussions arrived at this decision," the company said in a late night statement on Thursday. The EAC comprised of Deepak Kapoor, former Chairman of PWC (India) and Lalit Bhasin, Chairman of the Indian Society of Law Firms, along with two financial advisors - Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital - while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas were the legal advisors. The deal envisages an infusion of Rs 800 crore via a "Preferential Allotment of Equity Shares at Rs 167 per share or as per SEBI ICDR guidelines whichever is higher...". It also encapsulates a "Preferential Issue of Warrants of Rs 1,000 crore at Rs 176 per share or as per SEBI ICDR guidelines whichever is higher." --IANS bc-ag/hs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) France has slammed an "unacceptable" the US move to re-impose sanctions on companies trading with Iran following President Donald Trump's decision to dump the landmark 2015 deal that sought to curb Tehran's nuclear programme. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with Le Parisien published on Thursday, said European companies should not have to pay for the US decision. "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable. The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal from an agreement by the US, to which they had themselves contributed." Le Drian said the new sanctions regime would also affect the US and that Europeans would "put in place the necessary measures to protect the interests of our companies and start negotiations with Washington" on the matter. The commitment of other partners to the Iran deal should be respected, said Le Drian, adding that the effects of the US move were already being felt in rising oil costs and an increase in political uncertainty in the Middle East. France, Britain and Germany had all said they will work with Iran to try to salvage the agreement. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he would work with affected companies to try to "minimise the negative consequences" of the US move, adding: "That means, it is concretely about damage limitation." A number of French firms have have signed billion dollar agreements with Iran since the nuclear accord was signed in 2015. They include Airbus, the oil giant Total and the car makers Renault and Peugeot, the BBC reported. They would have to wind up investments by November or face US sanctions. On Thursday, US individuals and entities were barred from doing business with six Iranian individuals and three companies that Washington said had ties to the Revolutionary Guards. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the penalties targeted those who had funnelled millions of dollars to the group, funding its "malign activity". --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Google on Friday celebrated renowned Indian classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai on her 100th birth anniversary. In the doodle, Sarabhai is seen with her signature parasol, standing proudly in the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts auditorium, with three of her students dancing in the background. A Padma awardee and an exponent of the Kathakali and Bharatanatyam dance from, Sarabhai, was born on this day in 1918, Her father was Madras High Court lawyer S. Swaminathan and mother social worker A.V. Ammakutty. She spent most of her early years in Switzerland, where she was introduced to the Dalcroze Eurhythmics. It is an unique approach to music learning developed by Swiss composer and educator Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. It awakened, developed and refined innate musicality within her through rhythmic movement, ear-training and improvisation. Sarabhai started training at a fairly young age, studying both the South Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam and dance-drama Kathakali. She quickly developed her own technique, spirit and strength. She was the youngest of three children -- her older sister, Lakshmi Sehgal, was a part of the Indian National Army and her older brother Govind Swaminathan, a former attorney general of the state of Madras. In 1942, she married renowned physicist Vikram Sarabhai, who became the Father of the Indian Space Programme. Their children, Kartikeya and Mallika, both took to their iconic mother and pursued dance and theatre. In 1949, she established the Darpana Academy along with her husband, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She trained close to 18,000 students and choreographed more than 300 dance dramas during a career spanning over three decades. Mrinalini Sarabhai was awarded the Padma Shri in 1965 and Padma Bhushan in 1992. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship New Delhi in 1994 and was the first recipient of the state annual award of Kerala, Nishagandhi Puraskaram, which was presented to her in 2013. She passed away on January 21, 2016, at the age of 97. --IANS in/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat High Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment awarded by a SIT court to 14 people for the massacre of 23 persons in a village during the 2002 riots. A division bench of Justice Akil Qureshi and Justice B.N. Kariaay also upheld the sentence of seven years in jail to five others. It acquitted four others in the case. On March 1, 2002, two days after the Godhra Sabarmati Express train burning left 57 persons dead, 23 persons were burnt to death in Pirwali Bhagol area of Ode village near Anand in central Gujarat. It was one of the nine cases of major riot cases that were handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). In 2012, the SIT found 23 of 47 accused guilty and sought capital punishment. Seeking relief from the SIT court ruling, those held guilty approached the Gujarat High Court. --IANS amc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egyptian star Mohamed Salah has asserted that his superb first season at Liverpool FC is just the beginning of a long, successful stint at the English Premier League (EPL) outfit. Salah has scored 43 goals in all competitions since he joined Liverpool from Italian giants AS Roma last summer. His form has played a crucial role in helping Liverpool reach their first Champions League final since the 2006-07 season. His performance this season has seen him linked with a possible move to Spanish giants and defending European champions Real Madrid, who face Liverpool in the Champions League final later this month. But Salah, who was named first team player and players' player of the year at Liverpool's end-of-season awards at the Anfield Stadium here on Thursday, asserted that he is determined to enjoy a long, successful stint at the club. "I'm very happy here, everything is fine. Of course I have got ambitions for the future with Liverpool. As you can see we had a great season, now we are in the Champions League final and everyone is excited," the Egyptian was quoted as saying by the Independent. "It is just the start. This is my first year here and it is the same for some other players. It is just the beginning," he added. Currently placed fourth in the EPL standings, a draw against minnows Brighton on Sunday will assure Liverpool a spot in next season's Champions League. Salah feels that once the match against Brighton is over, Liverpool will turn their attention to preparing for the Champions League final. "We are very comfortable about playing in the Champions League next season. For now we are thinking only about Brighton. Then we will have 14 days to prepare for the final. We will play to win against Real Madrid," the 25-year-old said. "It's always special to play in any final. We know it's not going to be easy." --IANS ajb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Friday announced his full support for the agitation called by the Gujjar community to press for their demand of 5 per cent reservation within the 21 per cent reservation for OBCs. Patel, who was in Ajmer on Friday, told the media that he would support every protest called to press for the rightful demands of the citizens of India. He confirmed that he was in Ajmer to take forward discussions with the Gujjar leaders with regard to their agitation. The Gujjar community has called a "Mahapanchayat" in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district on May 15, which would decide the future course of their agitation. The community's leaders have already started a village to village drive to garner support for the Mahapanchayat. Speaking to IANS, Gujjar leader Himmat Singh Gujjar also confirmed that he met Patel in Ajmer where he assured him of full cooperation in the protest. "We had an hour-long discussion. Patel said he was inspired by the Gujjar movement, and hence, he is willing to work together to press for their demands," Singh said. "Hardik Patel and Gujjars will jointly stage the protest. Our protest will be peaceful and government will have to bow to our demand...," he added. Patel reached Pushkar on Thursday night and on Friday he offered prayers at the Brahma temple. He also went to the Ajmer Dargah to offer prayers. --IANS arc/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Master shoemaker Jean Michel Casalonga of the brand Berluti Paris, which has made its India debut, says the country is a big market for them as the consumers have become more playful in terms of dressing up and they are looking for something that is not just comfortable but also light. "Berluti, with is long presence in Britain and Singapore, has very loyal Indian customers, who are all of them very exciting for us about this new adventure. They all agree to say that we arrived at the right time, ready to bring our products. India is clearly a big market," Casalonga told IANS. "The consumers are looking for more and more comfort, softness and lightness. Our customers are travelling a lot and want to be comfortable in their shoes. In the same time, people dress less formally and became playful," he added. Casalonga, a self-proclaimed 'shoe addict' with over 50 pairs in his closet, joined Berluti as an intern at age 23. Before walking away with the prized apprenticeship at Berluti, Casalonga was studying for an Advanced Degree in Physics when he decided to switch career paths and become a shoemaker. He dropped out of school and spent five years learning approximately 250 precise steps needed to make a single pair of the finest shoes at Berluti, eventually becoming the house's youngest maitre bottier or Master Shoemaker in 2008 when he was only 30 years old. On the evolution of shoe fetish, he said: "When I started 16 years ago, there were only a few shoemakers in the world. Since a couple of years, we can see daily new independent and talented shoemakers who launch new models. This is extremely encouraging and stimulating. That pushes us to be up to date and stay on the top." So what all offerings does the brand have for the Indian market ? "We are offering a selection of ready to walk, ready to wear, small leather goods and leather goods, but we are not ready yet for bespoke which requires the presence of the shoemaker in India. The staff is too small today to be ready for this challenge, but we offer the special order with which we can satisfy most of the demand," he said. --IANS nv/rb/mr (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted on Friday spewing 5,500-metre high column of volcanic ash, forcing residents to evacuate. The volcano situated in the borders of Klaten, Magelang and Boyolali districts erupted at 7.30 a.m., Xinhua news agency quoted national disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho as saying. Volcanic ash rain has occurred in Tugu Kaliurang and is forecast to persist in the south of the crater, he said. To prevent the risks especially, the local officials have distributed masks, Sutopo added. "Local disaster agency has instructed the villagers living in the radius 5 km from the crater to evacuate immediately," he told Xinhua. A 3 km no-go zone has been declared by the volcanology agency. Mount Merapi is an active stratovolcano and has regularly erupted since 1948. It is located about 28 km north of Yogyakarta city which has a population of 2.4 million and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano. Pyrolastic flow from a large explosion killed 27 people on November 1994, and another large eruption occurred in 2006. Mount Merapi is one of Indonesias 129 active volcanoes. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka is all set to vote on Saturday for electing its 15th Legislative Assembly after a fortnight-long bitter campaign by the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S). Vote count will take place on May 15. "Preparations have been made to conduct a free and fair polling in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies across the state amid tight security," state Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told reporters here on Saturday. The Election Commission (EC) on Friday postponed voting in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari (RR) Nagar segment to May 28 in the voter ID cards case, and earlier countermanded polling in the city's Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijay Kumar on May 4. A single-phase polling will be held in 222 constituencies, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 26 in Bengaluru from 7.00 a.m to 6.00 p.m. The state has over 4.97 crore electorate, including 2.52 crore men and 2.45 crore women. New voters are 15,42,000 in the 18-19 age group. Voting will be held at 58,008 polling stations in 30 districts across the state, with 600 of them marked as pink booths, manned by all-women personnel, and 28 ethnic booths. "Around 3.6 lakh personnel will be on duty from dawn to dusk at all polling stations with required facilities to enable the electorate cast their vote in EVMs comprising 94,841 balloting units and 84,830 controlling units that are connected to Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs)," said Kumar. Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting, maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident at all the polling stations. "About 1,40,000 security personnel have been deployed for the election, with para-military forces from 585 central and state companies at 20,826 polling stations, including 12,001 critical or hyper-sensitive booths," state Director-General of Police Neelamani Raju told the media here. In the state capital (Bengaluru), about 10,500 police personnel, 4,500 armed forces and 2,5000 home guards have been deployed at 7,400 polling booths in 26 constituencies across the city. "As 1,469 polling booths among them have been identified as sensitive, we have deployed additional forces, including 150 senior officers to supervise the election process," said Bengaluru Police Commissioner T. Sunil Kumar. In all, 2,654 candidates are in the fray, including 219 women. In all, 222 candidates are from Congress, 222 from BJP, 201 from JD-S, 1,155 Independents and over 800 from other national, regional and fringe parties. About 450 contestants are in the battle from Bengaluru, which has the largest number (28) of seats in the state. Of the prominent candidates, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is contesting from Chamundeshwari at Mysuru and Badami in Vijayapura district in the state's northwest region. BJP's Lok Sabha member from Ballari (ST) seat B.R. Sriramaulu is also contesting from two seats, including Badami and Molakamuru (reserved) seat in Chitradurga district JD-S state President and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is in fray from Ramanagara and Channapatna seats in the old Mysuru region. BJP's state unit president and its chief ministerial nominee B.S. Yeddyurappa is contesting from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district in Malnad region. Siddaramaiah has also fielded his son Yatindra from his home town Varuna in Mysuru district. --IANS bha-fb/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad six weeks provisional bail for medical treatment. His lawyer had sought three months provisional bail on health grounds, telling the court that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief wanted to get treated in Mumbai. Hearing the petition, Justice Apresh Kumar Singh sought a medical report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Lalu Prasad, who was undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) here after he was brought here from AIIMS on May 1, is currently in Patna on three days parole to attend the marriage of his eldest son Tej Pratap on May 12. In the Birsa Munda jail here since December 23, 2017 being convicted in a fodder scam case, he was admitted to RIMS on March 17 following complaints of uneasiness. He has been convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013 -- the latest being the Dumka treasury case in which a special Central Bureau of Investigation court sentenced him to a 14 year jail term. --IANS ns/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra's Additional Director General of Police Himanshu Roy reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself here on Friday afternoon, official sources said. According to preliminary information, Roy shot himself with his service revolver at his home in south Mumbai. He was rushed to the Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead. Roy had been a cancer patient for some time and was on medical leave. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday accorded a 21 gun salute and a guard of honour here on Friday. During a ceremonial function at the Nepal Army Pavilion, the Indian leader who is on two-day visit to the Himalayan country, then inspected the parade along with his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. Modi also held a discussion with Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali about areas of mutual interest. He is scheduled to meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandrai and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Later, Modi and Oli will hold one-on-one talks followed by the delegation level talks. --IANS giri/soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday inaugurated a cross-border bus service linking Janakpur with Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh as part of a "Ramayan Circuit". Modi, on a two-day visit to the Himalayan nation, began his trip by visiting the Ram Janaki temple. There he performed special "Shodashopachara" prayers with Oli, making him the first Indian Prime Minister to do so. Modi told Oli that he was extremely honoured "to be received you the way you welcomed me here". "Mere Bhai, this welcome is an honour to all Indian citizens," Modi said. This is Modi's third visit to Nepal since he became Prime Minister. Inaugurating the bus service, Modi said: "Ramayan Circuit will help boost tourism. This will act as a foundation for strong people-to-people ties between our two countries." The circuit is a part of Modi's vision to build a 650-km connectivity project. On his part Oli said that the bus service "would increase people to people connectivity". Modi then attended a civic reception organised by Mayor Lal Kishor Sah in his honour at the Rangabhumi Maidan. He was felicitated with a garland weighing 121 kg during the event attended by thousands. A key to Janakpur city was also handed over to Modi. Addressing the large gathering, Modi said: "Ayodhya is incomplete without Janakidham. Similarly, Nepal is incomplete without India and India is incomplete without Nepal. Our ties are religious, based of deep faith and historical and complement to each others." Modi said Janakpur will be added in the Ramayana Circuit while Lumbini will be included in the Buddhist Circuit. "Our relations do not have any definition but it is based on language," he said in Maithli. "Our ties are ahead of diplomacy, strategy and It is Devniti... Changes in governments do not matter, our relations remain the same." He later spoke in Nepali language. Modi also read out a small paragraph of "Ramcharitmanas" to describe the relations between Nepal and India. "India wants to connect Nepal through connectivity projects like railways, land and waterways. We are also linking Nepal through the gas pipeline... We are also working and developing the cross border transmission line," he said. Modi also announced Rs 1 billion for the development of Province No 2 and Janakpur area after attending the civic reception. He said that the central and provincial governments of Nepal will select the project and implement it. Federal government ministers Ishwor Pokharel, Giriraj Mani Pokharel and Matrika Yadav were present at the programme. After completing his engagements in Janakpur, Modi arrived in Kathmandu where he will be pay a courtesy call on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and hold talks with Oli. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of Arun III hydroelectricity project in Sankhuwasabha district in eastern Nepal, undertaken by India's Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, through video conferencing. --IANS giri-soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A leading Nepali newspaper on Friday said that Nepalis will greet visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with cautious optimism unlike in 2014 when they gave him a standing ovation. And Modi was perhaps aware that his current two-day visit to Nepal that began on Friday was "tempered with deep scepticism", The Kathmandu Post said in an editorial. Younger Nepalis, who in 2014 had welcomed Modi, have found various platforms to express their displeasure with the Indian leader, it said. The hashtag #BlockadeWasCrimeMrModi continue to trend among Twitter users in Nepal. In September 2015, Nepal came out with its much delayed Constitution. "An unhappy India imposed a border blockade for five months because it felt slighted that it was not 'consulted' by Nepal's three major parties," the Post said. The blockade was a foreign policy blunder by New Delhi, it said. "Nepali people lauded their defiant political leadership for standing up to India and they didn't rise up against their leadership as Delhi had perhaps expected." Following the blockade and the subsequent April 2015 earthquake, then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli signed 10 framework agreements with China to diversify Nepal's trade and transit. "The long term objective to cut down the historical dependence on India was widely applauded by the Nepali public. "Nepal and India both need to understand that bilateral relationship cannot be sustained by histrionics alone; each of the two countries need to feel valued, respected, trusted and heard," the editorial said. "There will be differences where both will need to understand that there is a strategic red line," it added. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Netizens of Nepal slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently visiting the Himalayan nation, reminding him of the 2015 border blockade and asking him to apologize. Hashtags like #BlockadeWasCrimeMrModi and #ModiNotWelcomed-InNepal were trending as the Indian leader kicked off his two-day Nepal visit on Friday. Some users reminded Modi of the border blockade enforced by India when Nepal was still reeling from the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. Others demanded that Modi apologize for the 135-day blockade from September 2015 to February 2016 that crippled Nepal's economy and led to tensions between the two countries. "Sorry, Mr Modi we haven't forgotten blockade. We are not welcoming you but it doesn't mean that we are anti-Indian. We are with Indian people but we condemn the Indian government act of blockade in Nepal," wrote user Shailesh M. Pokharel on Twitter. Another, Binod Khanal, posted: "Mr Modi Nepali politician will welcome you in Nepal but, Neplease people never!!" Former EU ambassador to Nepal Rensje Teerink, now based in Bangladesh, weighed in on the debate by posting a picture showing a long queue of cars and motorcycles waiting for refuelling, with the caption: "These images are hard to forget." A significant number of Twitteratis were equally critical of the Nepali government for its decision to bestow civic reception to the Indian leader and for giving "hasty makeover" to only those parts of the city where his motorcade was expected to pass. Taking a dig at the government, user Bhim Atreya commented: "There is a fundamental difference between welcome and flattery. Flattery is insincere, unnatural and abnormal praise, not actually welcoming someone with pleasure in a natural manner. Unnatural circumstances created in the name of welcome. Damned!!" However, there were many who defended Modi's visit. "Prime Ministers of both the countries have come to power with thumping majority, so try to celebrate this visit and get the best out of it. Interest is always mutual big or small," wrote a Rohit Thapa. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government's single-window portal has received 200 investment proposals with a committed investment of Rs 1,060 crore in the last six months, said an official statement on Friday. Government of Odisha-Single Window for Investor Facilitation and Tracking (GO-SWIFT), launched in November 2017, received the 200th proposal from Mumbai-based Hind Aluminium Industries Ltd recently. It has committed to invest Rs 56.3 crore at Angul Aluminium Park to manufacture 40,000 MT of aluminium conductors. The project will create employment opportunities for 200 people, according to the statement. The project proposals submitted on GO-SWIFT to set up manufacturing units envisage a cumulative investment commitment of Rs 1,060 crore with an employment potential of over 10,500, it said. The investment proposals belong to a variety of sectors ranging from food processing, seafood, aluminium downstream, apparel, cement, tourism. When compared to the six-month period prior to the launch of GO-SWIFT, the number of investment proposals received post launch has gone up by 37 per cent. "We are committed to ensuring investor delight and it is highly encouraging to note that within a short span of six months, GO-SWIFT has received over 200 investment proposals from investors across the country," said Industries Secretary Sanjeev Chopra. "Due to the significant ease of application and expeditious approval process, there has been a considerable increase in the number of investors wanting to set up their businesses in the state. We will continue to raise the bar for ease of doing business and are focussed on speedy implementation of investment proposals on the ground," he added. Some of the leading companies whose proposals were received and approved by the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority in the last six months include Manpasand Beverages, ITC Foods, Apar Industries Ltd, Sri Malani Foams (a company from Century brand of mattresses), Vedanta and Lalchand Resorts, among others. GO-SWIFT has seamlessly integrated all existing technological applications of the Department of Industries via the Single-Sign on Framework and covers all aspects of B2G interface during the investment lifecycle. As a result, an industrial unit can get customized information regarding incentives and requisite approvals about the proposed investment, apply for single window clearance, obtain land and other utilities. This is a first-of-its-kind development by any state in the country, said the statement. Over 6,600 industries have registered themselves on GO-SWIFT so far to avail various kinds of services, it added. --IANS cd/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Works Minister Naeem Akhtar on Friday urged the separatist Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) to join an all-party delegation that will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek a unilateral Ramadan ceasefire by security forces. A local news agency KNS quoted the Minister as saying: "The proposal on ceasefire is in public domain and we all welcome the statements on ceasefire from people of all shades and political ideologies. "Let JRL also join the all-party delegation to be sent to Delhi for dialogue on ceasefire and Pakistan must also respond to the ceasefire proposal keeping in view the feelings of Kashmiris," the news agency said. If then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan strongman Pervez Musharraf "could walk on the path of peace and ceasefire, why can't the present leaders in India and Pakistan follow suit to respect the feelings of Kashmiris", he asked. JRL is a separatist conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A policeman was killed on Friday in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district, police sources said. The militants fired at a guard post in Wadwan village, injuring constable Shamim Ahmad. He was shifted to a hospital but he succumbed to his injuries. The area has been cordoned off by security forces, the sources said. --IANS sq/in/mr/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vickey Kaushal and directed by Meghna Gulzar Rating: **** (4 Stars). Sometimes a flawed diamond can sparkle and shine brighter than a polished one. Raazi is that triumphant film which leaves you with some serious misgivings. The story, as we all know by now, is based on the real events during the eve of the 1971 Indo-Pak war when a valorous young Muslim Indian girl Sehmat decided to cross the border to become wife in a Pakistani family of armymen to gather information for the Indian government. It is an audacious tale, and one waiting to be filmed, as a work of cinematic art Raazi scores very highly, almost rivalling the director Meghna Gulzar's previous film Talvar in terms of the emotional ground the plot covers while uncovering the truth about the lies that we tell for the sake of "honour". In Talvar it was the family honour at stake, in Raazi it is "country". "Mulk se aage kuch bhi nahin," is said in various permutations and combinations and you feel, Sehmat (played with an intuitive rather than an intellectual brilliance by Alia Bhatt) is trying more to convince herself than others around her. Raazi is a film that gives us true female hero of her times and our times. Sehmat puts family, personal happiness and inter-personal relations behind her country and lets the mulkasorry milk of human kindness flow into the spirit of nationalism. But the same dedicated fiercely patriotic child-woman happily betrays the people who trust her take her in as the daughter-in-law of their family in spite of her being from the hostile country. Can a woman who betrays those who trust her blindly, really protect her country? Apparently she can and this courageous but misguided woman did exactly that. I don't know how much of the film actually happened in the real Sehmat's life. But what transpires in the film is pretty much improbable, if not altogether bizarre, as one after the other Sehmat the Indian spy compromise the role of Sehmat the Pakistani Bahu. Bravely director Meghna Gulzar and her co-writer Bhavani Iyer refuse to demonize the enemy. This is at once the film's biggest strength and its greatest failure. For, in humanizing the Pakistani family of Sehmat's husband Iqbal(played with unnerving quietude by Vickey Kaushal) the narrative takes the risk of seriously weakening the female hero's patriotic fervour. Many times I was horrified by Sehmat's abuse of her in-laws' hospitality and trust the easy way would have been to simply show the Pakistani household as a villainous den of radical fanatics. But Sehmat's in-laws and specially husband are suave, gentle educated cultured people. This adds to Sahmat's dilemma of the conscience's dilemma that neither Sehmat not the film is fully able to resolve even till the end. Alia Bhatt lets her performance merge in Sehmat's moral dilemma, we often see her break down in private. But her grief earns no sympathy from us, her imagined moral high-ground is not only patronizing to the people whom she betrays it is also unconvincing to us who watch in horrified silence as she murders and double-deals with a defiant impunity. Speaking of silence there is plenty of it in the storytelling. Meghna Gulzar basks in the quietude that underscores the turmoil of a soul tormented by the guilt of her betrayal. The most memorable moments in the film are those between Indian wife and Pakistani husband, played with an empathy and wisdom by the two leads actors that the script doesn't always support. The supporting cast specially Rajit Kapoor (as Alia's father) and Shishir Mishra (as her Pakistani father-in-law) is excellent. No, I didn't come away from Raazi convinced that country comes ahead of familial allegiance. Neither, I felt, is the protagonist fully Sehmat with that line of thought. Worse still, Alia Bhatt fails to convey Sehmat's anguished repudiation of a spy's double life of deception in her end-speech. It is the only time Alia is unconvincing perhaps because she is unconvinced. Finally she also seems to question the film's morality. Nation first is fine but what about the people you let down as you carry that flag up that mountain that takes you to the moral high-ground? --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korea and the US on Friday began large-scale annual joint air manoeuvers. The annual two-week Max Thunder exercises are being held after Seoul and Washington postponed the dates of their other joint manoeuvers, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, due to the inter-Korean summit in April, reports Efe news. The exercises will include some 100 fighters and bombers, and will deploy F-22 jets for the first time. The objective of the manoeuvers is to improve the aerial capabilities of the allies, at a time of detente on the Korean peninsula following Pyongyang's historic decision to enter into dialogue with Seoul. This led to the historic inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April. Pyongyang used to condemn theses war games, considering them a rehearsal for invading its territory, and usually responded to the manoeuvers with missile tests. This year, during a meeting with South Korean officials in March the North Korean regime expressed its understanding of the need for Washington and Seoul to hold such exercises. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking investigation into the death of veteran actress Sridevi, who drowned in a bathtub in a Dubai hotel in February. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud rejected the plea even as senior counsel Vikas Singh raised questions on how could a 5.7 foot tall person drown in a 5.1 foot bathtub. Singh sought that all documents related to the 54-year-old actress' death -- medical and investigation -- carried out by the Dubai Police be brought to India. He requested that the matter be investigated by an independent agency. Vikas Singh told the court that the late actress had passed away on February 24 under suspicious circumstances. He also mentioned about the insurance coverage of Sridevi. The petitioner, Sunil Singh, had moved the top court challenging a Delhi High Court order rejecting his plea. --IANS pk/in/rb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Increased public awareness about the Thalassemia blood disease is now a challenge for the government to set up testing centres in remote areas of the country, an expert said on Friday. "In India, or say Kolkata, HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) test is not available in remote places," Thalassemia Society of India Secretary Utpal Panda told IANS on the sidelines of a talk show 'Red Alert-Thalassaemia' at the American Center here. India is virtually the Thalassemia capital of the world with 40 million carriers already, and 10,000 more added annually. Thalassemia is passed down the families (inherited), in which the body makes an abnormal form of haemoglobin -- the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The disorder results in destruction of a large numbers of red blood cells, triggering anaemia. Thalassemia occurs when there is a defect in a gene that helps control production of proteins Alpha globin or Beta globin. Experts forbid marriage between two persons with carrier genes of Thalassaemia since there is a high chance of passing on the disease to the offsprings. Asked if people are actually getting pre-marital Thalassemia test done and asking each other if he/she is a carrier of the disease, Panda said: "To an extent, yes. They are asking now. As you make them more aware, they are scared. "But sometimes, getting out of family taboo becomes difficult. In some communities, it is a no-no thing," he added. The Thalassaemia patients can lead a normal life with safe blood transfusion. The genetic disorder can be prevented with awareness and prior detection. Thalassaemia patients require safe blood and right iron chelation -- a medical procedure that involves administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. "Blood transfusion has to be arranged every two to three weeks. The blood that saves their lives also creates iron overload in their system. Unless that iron is chelated out it creates a lot of problems," Panda said. New drugs, which are expected to make life easy for Thalassemia patients, are undergoing clinical trials. "We are all eagerly waiting for a drug that is in an advanced stage of clinical trial in America. This particular drug is supposed to increase the time gap in blood transfusions. "If the drug passes the trials successfully, the present time gap of 15 days between two transfusions can be increased to three months," said Panda. "There is another drug that is in the advanced stage of clinical trial, which once approved and launched, for clearing the body of iron," he said. --IANS bnd/ssp/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission (EC) on Friday ordered the removal of controversial police officer Parminder Singh Bajwa ahead of the May 28 Shahkot Assembly bypoll in Punjab's Jalandhar district. "The Chief Electoral Officer has appointed Inspector Hardeep Singh as the new station house officer of Mehatpur in place of Inspector Parminder Singh," a spokesman of the Chief Electoral Officer said here. In a related development, Bajwa was detained by police on Friday from a court complex in Jalandhar on charge of obstructing government officers from performing their duty. Bajwa allegedly tried to enter the court room with his licensed weapon but was asked to deposit it outside. He allegedly pushed aside the officer, after which he was detained. While he was whisked away in a police vehicle, Bajwa told the media that he feared for his life from the police. Bajwa had last week registered a case of illegal mining against Congress candidate Hardev Singh Laadi within hours of his being named as a ruling party candidate. The case was registered at 4.26 a.m., raising suspicion about the urgency of the action. Later, video footage of Bajwa allegedly moving around with a woman in a five-star hotel in Jalandhar emerged. His call records, as per the government, revealed that he spoke to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders. The Congress government headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had urged the EC to transfer SHO Bajwa "in the interest of free and fair bypoll". A government spokesperson had alleged a "major political conspiracy" against the Congress government ahead of the by-election. The seat fell vacant following the death of SAD legislator Ajit Singh Kohar in February. Kohar, a former Minister, was elected five times from this seat. Laddi lost to Kohar by nearly 5,000 votes in the February 2017 elections. --IANS js/tsb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Sonakshi Sinha took a short break from shooting "Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi" to come back to India for a quick trip. The actress came from Malaysia for just a day to complete her brand commitment in India. "Sonakshi is currently in Kuala Lumpur shooting for Aanand L Rai produced 'Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi'. She requested for a day off from her shoot schedule to fulfil a past commitment she made to one of the brands she endorses," her spokesperson said in a statement to IANS. The spokesperson added: "For a meet and greet scheduled in Delhi with the media, she took an early morning flight from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi to be part of the event scheduled for that evening. She landed in Delhi, got ready and was at the event in time to fulfil her ambassador duties. "That same night, after the event, Sonakshi took the last flight out back to Kuala Lumpur and resumed her shoot for the film the next morning. The brand team was happy and humbled by her commitment." -*- 'Bhonsle' was challenging for Manoj The first look of Manoj Bajpayee-starrer "Bhonsle" was unveiled at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The actor says it has been a challenging project. Manoj said in a statement: "I have always supported independent cinema and when a great script like this comes my way, I like to do everything possible as an actor to make the film happen. This has been one of the most challenging roles I have played so far." Produced by Muvizz and directed by Devashish Makhija, the film is currently in the final stages of post-production and will do the festive circuit globally before being released in India sometime early next year. Makhija said: "'Bhonsle' is more than a film for me. It is something Manoj and I have fought together for years to make. This story is my way of making some sense of immigrant politics - the burning issue of this era. "What makes someone an outsider? Where does 'mine' end and 'yours' begin? 'Bhonsle' has tried to epitomise these frightening, hard to answer questions. It's been made on a war footing by a bunch of mad-courageous producers. And we're all relieved - and thrilled - to have gotten here with it." Muvizz's Piiyush Singh said: "Cannes is an important destination for any media company. It has been a great journey for us as a film like this is not easy to make." -*- KJo proud of Vicky's journey Filmmaker Karan Johar, who had directed Vicky Kaushal for "Love and Lust", a series of short films, feels proud of the appreciation coming the actor's way for "Raazi". Karan tweeted: "Vicky!!! Having directed you myself and now seeing all the love you're receiving on 'Raazi'. I feel so proud and so elated!!! Love." Vicky was overwhelmed and wrote: "Karan!!! Your faith in me means so much to me. Thank You for making me a part of the family. Lots of love, always." The actor plays the male lead, a Pakistani Army officer in "Raazi", which features Alia Bhatt as a Kashmiri girl who marries Vicky's character to spy for her own country. --IANS sug-rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was shot dead here on Friday, police said. Prabhu Sahni, the secretary of the SP's youth wing in the Hindu holy city, was shot dead at the Sindhia Ghat when he was returning from a temple. An police official said the killing of Sahni, who had a criminal record and many cases against him, could have stemmed into a long-simmering dispute over berthing of boats at the ghat. "We are looking for the suspects after talking to his family," the official told IANS. Sahni was returning from the Sankata temple, which he visited every day, when some unidentified assailants accosted him and shot him thrice in the chest. Wounded critically, he was taken to a nearby medical facility where doctors declared him dead. Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. --IANS md/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) on Friday reported a 40 per cent rise in itss consolidated net profit to Rs 71.56 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2018, as compared to Rs 51.12 crore in the year-ago period. For the quarter, after excluding the impact of sales and restructuring of the group's businesses, revenue from operations increased by 4 per cent in constant currency on a comparable basis. In a regulatory filing, the company said the profit for the branded business segment, for the quarter, grew by 19 per cent while profit before exceptional items at Rs 129 crore was lower 7 per cent as compared to corresponding quarter of the previous year, mainly due to the adverse performance of non-branded business. Group consolidated net profit for 2017-18 at Rs 557 crore was higher by 22 per cent as compared to the previous year. "Whist operating performance from the branded segment was 18 per cent higher, profits from the non-branded segment were lower due to adverse impact of abnormal and extreme weather conditions resulting in substantially lower coffee crop harvested. This was further accentuated by lower commodity prices," the company said in a statement. Company's Managing Director and CEO Ajoy Misra said: "Over the last year, we've focused on streamlining the organisation for better agility and business performance. We remain focused on base business rejuvenation through brand building, category expansion and enhancing distribution reach. "We continue to explore new opportunities through our pilot projects such as Tata Cha, products in the RTD segment and entering new categories like Tetley Squash." In the water segment, its premium offering Himalayan natural mineral water is entering the US in a phased manner, through an agreement signed by its subsidiary with Talking Rain Beverage Company. In India, the brand launched its flavoured water variant, Orchard Pure. --IANS bdc/him/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Security in the nation's tech hub Bengaluru has been stepped up ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls on Saturday, Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar said on Friday. "A total of 10,500 policemen, 4,500 armed police and 2,500 home guards are being deployed ahead of the elections on Saturday," Kumar told reporters here. Polling will be held across 27 of the total 28 constituencies in the state capital, after the election in Jayanagar segment was countermanded by the Election Commission due to the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4. Police personnel would be stationed across 7,477 polling stations where voting would take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. "We have identified 1,469 polling booths as critical (sensitive)," Kumar added. Over 150 senior-rank police officers would monitor security across the city. "Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that prohibits gathering of more than five people at one place at a time has also been imposed across the city till 6 p.m. on Sunday to prevent any untoward incidents," the police officer said. Director General and Inspector General of Police Neelamani N. Raju said over 1,40,000 security personnel have so far been deployed across the state to ensure 'free and fair' polling. "A total of 585 companies of paramilitary forces are deployed across over 20,000 polling booths, including nearly 12,000 critical booths," Raju told reporters here. The southern state has a total of 58,008 polling stations, across its 224 constituencies. Polling will be held for 223 constituencies on Saturday after the election to Jayanagar seat in Bengaluru was postponed. The EC has set up 600 all-women run polling booths to push voter percentage among women. Twenty eight special polling booths bearing an ethnic look have also been set up in the state to encourage primitive and nomadic tribes to vote. Over 4.96 crore voters, including 2.52 crore men, 2.44 crore women and over 4,500 people who identify themselves as 'transgenders', have registered to vote. A total of 15.42 lakh voters, aged 18-19, have registered to cast their ballot for the first time. The voter turnout in the previous Assembly election held in the state in 2013 was 71.45 per cent. The poll panel hopes the voting percentage would surpasses 75 per cent in 2018, after it held several voting awareness programmes across the state. --IANS bha/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has stirred fresh controversy by saying that Rabindranath Tagore rejected the Nobel Prize in protest against the "British misrule" in India. Tagore had in fact rejected the Knighthood in 1919 and not the Nobel Prize for Literature - awarded in 1913 - which remained with him until his death on August 7, 1941. "Rabindranath Tagore was a world famous poet. He is such a great man that he rejected the Nobel Prize opposing the British rule," the Chief Minister said after inaugurating the three-day Rajarshi festival at the century-old Bhubaneswari temple on the occasion of the poet's 157th birth anniversary. Opposition Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders criticised Deb for the comments. Senior Congress leader Gopal Roy said that the Chief Minister did not have knowledge of any subject. "For Deb's incorrect comments on Tagore's Nobel Prize, the people of Tripura were ashamed. The poet visited the state as many as seven times between 1899 and 1926," CPI-M central committee member and writer Gautam Das told the media. He said that Deb has "crossed every limit of foolishness". The Chief Minister's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sanjay Mishra clarified Deb's stance saying that he had made a mistake. "The Chief Minister's intention was not bad. This is just a mistake," Mishra told IANS. Deb's earlier controversial comments also triggered widespread criticism across the country. Deb, an Arts graduate from Tripura University, had said that the internet and satellite communication existed during the Mahabharata era. Criticising the "marketing mafia", he questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as Miss World in 1997. The Chief Minister also stated that mechanical engineers should not opt for civil services, only civil engineers should. He has also asked educated youth to set up "paan" shops instead of running after political parties to get government jobs. He suggested exploring a career in the dairy field and keeping cows to earn Rs 10 lakh in 10 years. He said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must consult doctors for mental treatment. According to Deb, the Amazon forest was in Africa and Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang was a journalist while Chanakya taught at the ancient university situated in present-day Bihar. In his defence, Deb said that he was quoted wrongly by the media. Regarding Deb's comments, BJP chief Amit Shah told a television channel earlier this week that he is a new Chief Minister, everything would be alright soon. --IANS sc/ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dubbing the BJP-led government's functioning in Tripura "worse than the British rule", the Congress on Friday accused it of demolishing opposition party's offices here and warned of an agitation from May 17 on the issue. "Within two months of assuming office, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government bulldozed 60- to 70-year-old Congress offices in Agartala. We will launch a massive agitation from May 17 if the government demolished one more party office in Tripura," state Congress President Birajit Sinha told the media here. "The BJP's two-month rule in Tripura is worst than the British rule in India." Accompanied by party leaders Gopal Roy and Tapas Dey, Sinha said that all political parties and their trade union bodies have the right to do and offices were required for the purpose. "The government is trying to establish one-party rule in Tripura. They do not want the opposition parties to function in the state," he said. Led by West Tripura District Magistrate Milind Dharmrao Ramteke and district police chief Ajit Pratap Singh, officials have since Monday bulldozed many offices of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Congress and other parties, alleging they were built on government land. The Congress leader said that Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb's government had stopped 33 social pensions introduced by the previous Left Front government that benefitted over 4.50 lakh poor. "The government has also kept in abeyance all types of recruitment though there are 50,000 vacancies in government departments," he said, showing government circulars. "BJP workers and members of IPFT (Indigenous People's Front of Tripura) are engaging in violent clashes daily, causing serious trouble for the people. They are forcing elected leaders of local bodies to resign," Roy added. --IANS sc/tsb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday said that the upcoming historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, slated to take place in the island nation, will be a step forward "for peace". "We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula," Lee said in an official statement, adding that "Singapore is pleased to host the meeting". After several weeks of speculations and only few hours after welcoming three Americans who were held captive in North Korea, Trump finally announced on Thursday night the date (June 12) and venue for the first-ever meeting between him and Kim, reports Efe news. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump tweeted. Lee tweeted a message in response to the Trump tweet, saying that the upcoming summit "is a significant step on the path to peace", and wished that "may it lead to a successful outcome". The White House chose Singapore, a small and prosperous island state with 5.6 million people in Southeast Asia, as the summit venue due to "security" protocols and Singapore's experience in organising summits, an US official told Efe. Singapore was selected also because it maintains diplomatic relations with both Washington and Pyongyang and is therefore considered a neutral ground. The meeting is expected to last only one day, and can still be called off if Kim does anything unacceptable to the US, Victoria Coates, the director of international negotiations at the White House National Security Council, warned. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump on Friday spoke with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss his upcoming meeting with top leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. According to a statement of the White House, Trump, in a telephone call, thanked Lee for his willingness to host his June 12 meeting with Kim, Xinhua reported. The two leaders also discussed regional security dynamics in the region. Trump and Lee reaffirmed the bilateral relationship, which the White House said had been "one of the United States' closest partnerships in Asia for more than 50 years." Trump said that he looks forward to seeing Lee in Singapore soon. When asked about the reason why Singapore was chosen, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah on Thursday told the media that the Southeast Asian nation has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the President's security and Kim Jong Un's security, as well as provide neutrality, he said. Troy Stangarone, senior director of congressional affairs and trade at the Washington-based non-profit Korea Economic Institute, told Xinhua that "Singapore is a neutral location for both sides that has traditionally been seen as a place where the East meets the West." "The United States and North Korea have previously held meetings there, and the infrastructure is well placed to hold a summit meeting. Also, due to diplomatic and business ties, it is a place where the North Koreans would feel comfortable meeting," he said. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US security officials have apologised after a Sikh minister of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet was asked to remove his turban at a US airport before boarding a flight last year. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said the incident happened at Detroit Metro Airport on his way back to Canada in April 2017. He said the airport staff had behaved inappropriately, SBS News reported on Friday. Bains said the security guards asked him to undergo special screening because of his turban, despite passing through the metal detector. But the test malfunctioned. That is when a security official asked him to remove his turban for inspection. Bains said he pushed back and asked them to do the test again during the April 2017 incident. He said security agents at a Detroit airport were "very insistent and very difficult" when he told them he did not want to remove his turban. The airport officials allowed him to board his flight only after he revealed his diplomatic passport. The incident prompted Canada to complain to US officials. The officials with the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security apologised to Canada on behalf of the US government. "It was an experience that made me uncomfortable," Bains told Quebec newspaper La Presse on Thursday. "I never told them who I was, because I wanted to know how things would go for people who are not ministers or lawmakers." He said he was proud to represent the Sikh community. "As a Sikh, wearing the turban is considered one of the most dutiful acts for a person of faith, and I am proud to represent my community - unfortunately these types of incidents do occur from time to time, to minorities in particular." "But it should never become the norm. I will continue to promote diversity and inclusion across the country - this is exactly why I ran for office." US' TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said: "We regret the screening experience did not meet the expectations of Bains. Upon review of airport closed-circuit video, we determined that the officer conducting the screening did not follow standard operating procedures and therefore received additional training." --IANS and-soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson has donated $30 million to the Republican-affiliated Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) to boost the party's efforts to keep a majority in the House during November's mid-term elections. The long-sought donation was sealed last week when House Speaker Paul Ryan flew to Las Vegas to meet the billionaire at his Venetian Hotel, Republican officials told Politico news on Thursday. Also at the meeting with Adelson was his wife, Miriam; Norm Coleman, the former Minnesota senator who chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition; Corry Bliss, who oversees the super PAC; and Jake Kastan, Ryan's political aide. They laid out a case to Adelson about how crucial it is to protect the House. As a federally elected official, Ryan is not permitted to solicit seven-figure political donations. When Ryan left the room, Coleman made the ask and secured the $30 million contribution. The contribution will become public later this month in the organization's campaign finance filing. The $30 million contribution is three times as much as Adelson gave to CLF in 2016. CLF is one part of a two-pronged political organization designed to protect and bolster House Republicans. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Department of the Treasury said on Thursday that it has imposed sanctions against nine Iranian individuals and entities it accused of transferring millions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. The decision came on the heels of US President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw from the historic Iran nuclear deal, Xinhua reported. The Treasury said that it was working with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to "disrupt an extensive currency exchange network in Iran and the UAE that has procured and transferred millions in US dollar-denominated bulk cash to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to fund its malign activities and regional proxy groups." Iran's Central Bank "was complicit in the IRGC-QF's scheme and actively supported this network's currency conversion and enabled its access to funds that it held in its foreign bank accounts," the Treasury said in a statement. Iran has "abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the IRGC-QF's malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the US dollars were acquired," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. As a result of these actions, all property and interests in property of those designated today subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. In addition, foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for, or persons that provide material or certain other support to, the individuals and entities designated on Thursday risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the US financial system or block their property and interests in property under US jurisdiction, said the Treasury. It added that due to Trump's decision to cease the US participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "as of August 7, 2018, the United States Government will re-impose sanctions on the purchase or acquisition of US dollar banknotes by the Government of Iran." Trump's move on Tuesday has sparked global outcry for its potential undermining of the multilateral treaty and the unilateral imposition of long-arm jurisdiction that would cost other nations' economic interests. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Mewat in Haryana to act as nodal officer and visit two camps of Rohingyas located in the area. The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked the SDM to visit two camps after the counsel appearing for the group of petitioners disputed the Centre's report that Rohingya refugees were getting facilities at par with others living in the slums. The report submitted by the Central team comprising officers from the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the Home Ministry said that Rohingya refugees living in the camps located in the slums were getting all the facilities including that of primary health, education, sanitation, water and electricity at par with others living in those slums. The team of officials had visited three camps -- one located in Delhi and two in Mewat area of Gurugram district of Haryana -- on the April 9 direction of the top court. The top court had on April 9 directed the Central government to file a comprehensive report detailing the facilities being provided to Rohingya refugees staying at two camps in Haryana, saying "let us try to solve human problems first". The court had said that the report should be based on data about basic facilities like water, hygiene, toilets and medical facilities being provided to the Rohingyas in Mewat and Faridabad camps. As counsel Colin Gonsalves, Rajeev Dhavan, Ashwini Kumar and Prashant Bhushan contested the report of team officers that had visited the camps, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta wondered how a report based on personal visits by the officers could be doubted. The counsel for the petitioners who are opposing the deportation of Rohingya refugees said that refugees were not getting facilities as they had no identity proof like Aadhaar. Prashant Bhushan said that Rohingya refugees should be provided with some kind of proof to establish their identity, like a refugee card. As the lawyers cited Article 21 arguing for providing facilities to Rohingya refugees, the court said that it could not direct that these facilities to slum dwellers. It cited the example of Mumbai where 50 per cent of Mumbai is living in slums. The court directed for further hearing of the matter after vacation. --IANS pk/nir/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission (EC) on Friday postponed polling in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari (RR) Nagar assembly segment to May 28 from Saturday following recovery of nearly 10,000 voters ID cards from a flat in the constituency. "To maintain the sanctity of election process, the EC has ordered that polls in this (RR Nagar) constituency be deferred to May 28," the Commission said in a statement here. The counting of votes in the constituency will now take place on May 31. An FIR was filed with the police after the poll panel officials on May 8 found 9,564 voter cards, along with nearly a lakh counterfoils that resembled acknowledgement slips, stacked in a flat in the constituency. A second FIR was filed by the police on Thursday, naming Congress candidate and outgoing legislator from the same constituency, N. Munirathna Naidu, as one of the accused. The Commission has, however, maintained that the voter cards were genuine, and that the counterfoils were under investigation. "This was clearly an attempt to induce voters in a systematic and planned manner and vitiate the process of election...," the poll panel noted in the statement. The EC also said it was impossible to distribute the collected voter cards, which were seized, to the rightful card holders with less than 24 hours left for the polling. "The Commission considers it imperative to defer the poll for the time being so that the vitiating effect of the distribution of money and gift items to the electors of the constituency loses its intensity and the seized voter cards can be returned to voters," it added. The poll panel officials also said the voter cards would be given back to the card holders a week before the revised polling date, May 28. "The city police will ensure strict action against the culprits." After EC's decision to defer polling in the constituency, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the ruling Congress was caught "rigging" the election by the Commission. "Postponement of RR Nagar Assembly poll has exposed Congress in Karnataka as it is caught red hand in rigging the election there. Kudos to EC for saving democracy," tweeted Union Human Resource Development Minister and BJP's Karnataka in-charge Prakash Javadekar. The Congress has been blaming the BJP, calling the incident a conspiracy by the party in an apartment that allegedly belonged to a former BJP Corporator. Voting in Karnataka will be held on Saturday in 222 of the state's 224 constituencies between 7 a.m and 6 p.m. The election in Jayanagar segment of south Bengaluru was countermanded after the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4. --IANS bha/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Haryana government on Friday assured the Supreme Court that it will not disrupt the supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till the court decides on water-sharing dispute between the two. A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) to apprise it of a decision/suggestion on Delhi's water requirement and file a report by Monday. The court also slammed the board, saying the problems regarding sharing of water between states must be first taken care of by bodies like the UYRB and not the Supreme Court. "Is not there one Upper Yamuna River Board or something? What are they doing? Why don't they want to do their job. If they do not want to do their job, why should we do their job?" Justice Lokur asked. The Centre set up the the board primarily to regulate allocation of available water among five beneficiary basin states and also for monitoring the return flow. The apex corut posted the matter for May 16. The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) against a daily shortfall of 120 cusecs of water from the Yamuna. The DJB had sought instructions to Haryana to supply 450 cusecs of potable water daily to Delhi, as agreed between the two states. Haryana was supplying to Delhi only 330 cusecs of water daily as against 450 cusec per day, the DJB petition said. During the hearing, the Haryana government told the court that it has not reduced water supply to Delhi even though availability of the Yamuna water at Tajewala was down to about 56 per cent of the normal expected quantity during the first four months of 2018. "On an average, 2,289 cusecs of water was received at Tajewala from January 1 to April 30, as against 4,081 cusecs estimated by the UYRB for the purpose of making tentative distribution," said Haryana's affidavit. But the DJB now wants additional supplies of about 120 cusecs, which is totally unjustified, it added. The state had earlier told the bench that it was receiving only 50 per cent water from the Hathni barrage and there is a "huge distress" of water level in Haryana. With Delhi facing water shortage, the DJB had moved the Supreme Court for directions to Haryana to release adequate water to the Wazirabad reservoir, alleging that Yamuna water supply had been reduced by one third. "Delhi is in the midst of an acute water crisis owing to stop in supply of water by Haryana into the Yamuna, which is meant for drinking purposes in Delhi," the DJB plea said. The DJB's water treatment plants have been functioning below capacities over the past few weeks due to a drop in Yamuna water level and release of polluted water from Haryana that could not be treated, it added. Yamuna water sharing between Delhi and Haryana has been a contentious issue for decades and the apex court had ordered Haryana to release 450 cusecs of water daily to Delhi in February 1996. --IANS gt/tsb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) He has tasted success with films like "Ishaqzaade", "2 States" and "Ki & Ka" but has also faced failure with "Tevar" and "Gunday". But actor Arjun Kapoor, who completed six years in Bollywood on Friday, says he would not like to change a single thing about his journey. Arjun on Friday wrote a heartfelt note in which he thanked his fans and followers for loving him unconditionally for the past six years. "Today feels incredibly special and I have nothing but gratitude for the universe, for my loving fans who have stuck by me, around me unconditionally for six years. Thank you for taking care of me, protecting me, rooting for me through my success and my failures. It has been a special ride and when I look back upon my journey, I would not like to change a single thing," Arjun wrote. He said the "roller coaster" journey has been a learning experience. Arjun, 32, made his acting debut in 2012 with "Ishaqzaade", which he says gave him his identity. "May 11 will always remain the most memorable day of my life and today feels even more amazing because I'm letting you know about one of the most special films of my career," he added. Arjun announced his next film "India's Most Wanted", directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. It will release on May 24, 2019. He says it is a "remarkable story that has taken a special place in my heart". "As actors we all want/search for rare stories that have the potential to inspire. 'India's Most Wanted' is one such story based on true events that will make every Indian proud," he said. Arjun said he feels humbled that he has got the opportunity to bring to "life an instance from the pages of Indian history that will make us want to salute the unsung heroes who put their country before their lives". "'India's Most Wanted' is our tribute to the valour of those who devote their lives to protecting ours," he added. Before signing off, Arjun said he is confident that the film will be a "life changing chapter". Arjun has three more films in his kitty -- "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar", "Namastey England" and "Panipat". --IANS dc/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Zaira Wasim, 17, who courted fame with "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar", says she has been suffering from depression for over four years, but was pushed into a "bubble of denial" The National Award winner opened up about her struggle via a lengthy post shared on Instagram on Thursday night. "I'm writing this to (finally) admit and confess that I, for a very long time have been suffering from depression," Zaira wrote. She said she has been "embarrassed and scared" to admit it not only because of the stigma that goes around with the word depression, but most importantly because of always being told that 'You're too young to be depressed' or 'It's just a phase'". The young and talented girl from Srinagar said she has sometimes popped five anti-depressants everyday, faced anxiety attacks, was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, felt empty, restless, anxious and hallucinated, apart from having sore limbs from sleeping too much or not being able to sleep for weeks. "From overeating to starving myself, unexplained fatigue, body ache, self loathing, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, were all parts of this phase," said Zaira, who made her debut with Aamir Khan's 2016 drama "Dangal". Zaira said she knew something wasn't right for her, however, people and doctors around her told her, "It's nothing, you're too young to be depressed". Her first panic attack was at the age of 12, and another one at 14. "Now all I remember is losing count of the number of panic attacks, losing count of the number of medicines I've had and I'm still having..." Zaira said she could never accept the fact that she suffers from a disorder called depression, which "affects almost 350 million people worldwide; without asking for their permission to ruin their mental and emotional state or asking them their age". Depression and anxiety is not a feeling, she said. "It's an illness. It's not somebody's choice or fault. It can affect anyone, anytime." Now she has embraced it and understood it, and decided to share about the struggle "without being ashamed, embarrassed and having the fear of being judged for it". Zaira said perhaps a "complete break from everything, my social life, my work, school and especially social media", might help her. "I'm really looking forward to the holy month of Ramadan as it may be the perfect opportunity to figure things out. Please remember me in your prayers." --IANS rb/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 131 India-born people, who have changed their nationality to British, have been mapped as having links to organised crime gangs of the UK, according to an official data. According to the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) data obtained through the Organised Crime Group Mapping project, Albanians were the UK's largest foreign-born criminal group, followed by Pakistanis, who are largely thought to be involved in the wholesale supply of heroin brought in from Afghanistan via British ports. "The vast majority of members of organised crime groups in the UK are British. The data is an important tool to help measure risk, avoid duplication of work between law enforcement partners and helps inform government," an NCA spokesperson said. It also showed that 131 Indians, 141 Somalis, 78 Poles, 47 Sri Lankans and 44 Nigerians were among the active gang members who had changed their nationality. As per the detailed figures obtained by 'The Times', under the "current nationality" category, the number of Pakistan-born people involved in organised crime has reduced by almost half as out of 860 gangsters, about 393 have gained British or European Union nationality, as a result, Pakistanis on the list dropped to fourth place. In the figures, contrasting birth nationality and current nationality, large numbers of organised criminals from India, Pakistan, Somalia, Poland and Kosovo appeared to have become British or EU nationals, the newspaper concludes. Violent gangsters, drug dealers and human traffickers are among a total of 2,083 Britons who were born abroad and being monitored as active members of organised crime syndicates in the UK. Data from the NCA on 33,598 gangsters spread across 4,629 syndicates revealed that although up to 80 per cent of known organised criminals in the UK were British nationals, only 73 per cent were born in the UK. Of about 77 Kosovan-born gangsters, who are likely to have arrived in Britain as refugees, none appeared in the figures for "current nationality", suggesting that all had been granted British citizenship allowing them to remain in the UK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India on Friday marked the 20th anniversary of the Pokhran nuclear tests, covering a journey from being a sanctions-hit country to getting a special waiver from the elite paving the way for signing civil nuclear deals with the (US) and several other countries. India had conducted five underground nuclear tests on May 11 and 13, 1998 in Pokhran in the desert and declared it crossed the nuclear threshold. carried out nuclear tests a fortnight later. The US and several other countries imposed harsh sanctions against India, denying it critical nuclear and was also placed under sanctions. India had faced international sanctions also after its first nuclear test in 1974. One of the fallouts of the sanctions was that the country's atomic reactors operated way below their capacity due to lack of fuel. The worst hit were the two boiling water reactors at Tarapur, that required enriched uranium as fuel. On the Technology Day, marking the anniversary of the 1998 tests, President today said the tests demonstrated the country's scientific capacity and political will and had a far-reaching impact on how the world came to see India. After getting the NSG waiver, the US signed the historical nuclear cooperation agreement with India a decade later. India also reached civil nuclear cooperation accords with several other countries after that. The deal with the US not only paved the way for India to gain access to critical space and nuclear technologies, it made import of supercomputers and high-technology equipment easier. Since then, India has become a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Wassenaar Arrangement. While India joined the MTCR in 2016, it entered the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies last year. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had approved a safeguards agreement with India on August 1, 2008, after which the US approached the 48-nation NSG to grant a waiver to commence civilian nuclear trade. The NSG waiver was granted to India on September 6 that year allowing it to access civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. Following the waiver, was the first country to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India. India now has nuclear cooperation agreement with the UK, Russia, Australia, Japan, Canada, Argentina, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Bangladesh, and today recalled the statement made by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who as the prime minister, had announced the May 11, 1998 nuclear tests. "'Today at 15:14, India conducted three underground nuclear tests in Pokhran range. The tests conducted today were with a fission device, a low yield device and a thermonuclear device.' --Former PM Shri in a statement on #Pokhran2 (11/05/1998) @PIBIndia," she tweeted. On May 13, 1998, India had detonated two sub-kiloton nuclear devices. India has achieved nuclear triad capability having a structure to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea-based platform. India acquired the capability with the launch of first indigenously built nuclear submarine INS Arihant in 2016. Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila today announced that she will go to Jammu and Kashmir to work for women empowerment there. The activist also said she would no longer resort to 'indefinite fast' as an agitation tool. Sharmila shot to fame after launching an indefinite fast in 2000 demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur. She ended her fast on August 9, 2016. She was here with her husband Desmond Coutinho to visit Pune-based NGO Sarhad, which works for rehabilitation of Kashmiri children. Sarhad announced Sharmila as its brand ambassador on this occasion. "I am not against the Army. I am against the system. I will be going to Kashmir and will have a dialogue with Kashmiri women to know about their issues, sufferings," she said. "I will put emphasis on dialogue and will not use the tactic of fasting anymore," she said. Asked if she would talk to the Centre or the state government to raise the issues of Kashmiri women, Sharmila said she won't approach any government, but meet the people of Kashmir Valley with a hope that the government will be moved by the people's movement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A three-member committee has blamed the private company engaged in the construction of the Bomikhhal flyover, a portion of which had collapsed on May 3, for not putting adequate safety measures in place, a minister has said. Quoting the report of the committee probing the flyover collapse, Works Minister Prafulla Mallick said yesterday that the construction company had not engaged skilled workers for the project. Works secretary Nalinikanta Pradhan said that the state government would soon issue show cause notices to the concerned government officials and engineers who were entrusted to oversee the construction work of the flyover. The remaining work of the flyover will be taken up by the Works deprtment at an estimated cost of Rs 1-2 crore, Pradhan said. Expenditure for construction of two spans of another flyover near Lingaraj temple will be completed at a cost of Rs 50-60 lakh, he said. A portion of the under-construction Bomikhal flyover, which collapsed twice in the last nine months, caved in on May 3 resulting in the death of a labourer and leaving another seriously injured. The minister said before inaugurating the two flyovers, the government will conduct a third-party probe to ascertain the quality of work. "If any technical glitch is found, it would be rectified before throwing it open to public," he said. Asked about the government's decision on two other flyovers being built by the same company, the minister said the government will arrive at a decision after scrutinising all legal aspects. Meanwhile, the police yesterday arrested Prasant Padhi, a director of the construction company, in connection with the flyover collapse. The police had on May 4 arrested the owner of the company, Pratap Kishore Panda. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Advocates irrespective of gender have endorsed the tips given to young women lawyers by newly-appointed Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra on 'professional attire', saying Bar Council of India rules too favour a "sober and dignified" dress code. Justice Malhotra visited the bar room yesterday during the lunch hour where she said that all women lawyers should be professionally attired. The lawyers were in agreement with their former colleague, who became the first woman advocate to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge directly from the bar, that the dresses worn by the advocates shall be sober and dignified, as recommended by the Bar Council Of India (BCI) Rules. "She was basically asking the women advocates to adhere to the rules laid down in the Bar Council of India Act and the Advocates Act which prescribe the uniform for women advocates," advocate Anindita Pujari said. "I have taken her visit to the lady bar room and her talk with us on a positive note," the advocate said. Another advocate cited an example of a senior woman colleague who always comes "professionally dressed" to the court in a trouser. Some of the women lawyers said the lady judge was perhaps trying to give a message that three-fourth trousers or palazzos are not appropriate clothes for women lawyers in the courts. Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, a former secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said Justice Malhotra has reminded all lawyers, particularly young ones, to maintain professional ethics and perhaps her remarks was the reflection that a few percentage of women lawyers were not adhering to the uniform prescribed under the BCI Act and the Advocates Act. "In this male bastion, even the women lawyers have to be professionally committed and they can't give a go by to the norms prescribed for practising advocacy. The profession requires you to be dressed in a manner prescribed not only for the male lawyers but also for the female. "Majority of the women lawyers are professionally attired and to maintain the dress code it is also the responsibility of the senior lawyers under whom a junior works to be told about the discipline of the profession which requires all lawyers to be dressed professionally," Bhati said. Senior advocate Indira Jaising took to Twitter to express her views on the issue and said, "I join Ms Justice Indu Malhotra in appealing to women Lawyers to be well attired and professionally dressed in court. She was herself one of the best dressed professionally attired women Lawyer." Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh also agreed with Justice Malhotra's view and noted that she was not saying anything other than what has been prescribed under the law that not only male lawyers but also women have to be dressed properly. His views were shared by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, who also said that "all lawyers, whether male or female should be professionally attired and comply with the dress code." According to the BCI Rules, the women advocates shall wear "black and full or half sleeve jacket or blouse, white collar stiff or soft, with white bands and Advocates' Gowns. White blouse, with or without collar, with white bands and with a black open breast coat."Besides, the women advocates were allowed to wear "sarees of long skirts (white or black of any mellow of subdued colour without any print or design) of Flare (white, black or black striped or grey) or Punjabi dress churidar-kurta or salawar-kurta with or without dupatta) white or black. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Om Prakash Rawat in Delhi and appealed to him to provide a senior officer to overlook the Shahkot bypoll on May 28, and deploy paramilitary forces to ensure a free and fair election. The delegation, led by the party's secretary general and MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, alleged that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was resorting to phone tapping of rivals and asked the CEC to inquire into the alleged violations of the model code of conduct. The delegation submitted a memorandum in this regard to the CEC, a party release said here. Giving details of the alleged violations, Dhindsa said that on May 7, the chief minister held a press conference on the Shahkot by-poll in his official capacity at the Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh with senior government officials in attendance. "Captain Amarinder Singh carried out a campaign against his own officer, the SHO of Mehatpur, who was associated with the conduct of the Shahkot by-poll," the memorandum stated. "The chief minister also violated the model code by welcoming leaders of other parties into the Congress fold on the occasion," it read. Dhindsa alleged that the chief minister, in the same official meeting, also issued a clean chit to Congress candidate Hardev Singh Laadi Sherowalia "despite the fact that his own police had booked him in an illegal mining case". About the phone tapping charges, Dhindsa said, "Capt. Amarinder (Singh) also talked about phone calls made by Mehatpur SHO Parminder Bajwa to political leaders of SAD and AAP with specific times making it clear that the government was indulging in phone tapping". The delegation asked the EC to take the entire issue of registration of criminal case against the Congress candidate as well as pressure put on SHO Mehatpur to rescind his decision to register an FIR against Laadi in its own hands, the release said. The delegation also demanded an inquiry into the alleged incidents of phone tapping besides instructions to the state government not to intimidate officials engaged in poll duty in Shahkot. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh government today removed Allahabad SSP Akash Kulhari, a day after a 42-year-old lawyer was shot dead at point blank range in the city. Kulhari was removed and attached to the DGP office in Lucknow. SP (Railway) Agra Nitin Tewari was posted in his place, an official spokesman said. Advocate Rajesh Srivastava was on his way to the Allahabad district court, where he practised, when he was shot in the head in broad daylight yesterday. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital, police said. The killing had sparked outrage and lawyers blocked roads in protest. A public bus was also set afire. The Allahabad High Court lawyers called a strike to protest against the "worsening" law and order situation in the state. The state government announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the deceased's family. UP police chief OP Singh, who was in Allahabad to inspect preparations for the Kumbh, said they were investigating the case and arrests would be made soon. "The motive is being probed. As of now, its appears to be over a land dispute," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal today reported a 19 per cent jump in its net income to USD 1.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The firm, led by billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal, also saw its net debt decrease to USD 11.1 billion. The company had posted a net income of USD 1 billion in the year-ago period. Sales of the steel giant rose 19.27 per cent to USD 19.18 billion in January-March period from USD 16.08 billion in the corresponding period last year. ArcelorMittal follows the January-December fiscal year. The Luxembourg-based firm reported a lower net debt of USD 11.1 billion as compared to USD 12.1 billion in the year-ago quarter. The net debt included working capital investment of USD 1.9 billion, share buyback USD 0.2 billion and forex USD 0.2 billion. ArcelorMittal's Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal said: "The improvement in global steel market dynamics has continued into 2018, supporting an encouraging financial performance in the first quarter. EBITDA increased 13 per cent year-on-year to USD 2.5 billion, while net income improved by 19 per cent to USD 1.2 billion." The outlook for 2018 has strengthened as the year has progressed, with the combination of growing demand and supply-side reform driving higher capacity utilisation rates and healthy steel spreads globally, he said. "Against this improving backdrop, we continue to focus on structural improvement - through the delivery of our Action 2020 strategic plan - and investing with focus and discipline in opportunities that will drive higher future returns. "Our acquisition of Ilva has now received competition clearance from the European Commission and we expect to complete this acquisition by the end of the second quarter 2018," Mittal said. ArcelorMittal also reported steel shipments of 21.3 million tonnes (MT) in the first quarter of 2018, marginally up from 21.1 MT in the year-ago period. Iron ore shipments at market price in January-March rose to 9.1 MT from 8.7 MT earlier. Crude steel production dipped to 23.3 MT during the quarter under review from 23.6 MT. The company said it is positioned to deliver value and the execution of its strategy, combined with improved industry fundamentals, and the strengthening market backdrop has resulted in improved results. "There is more to come from our Action 2020 initiatives in the coming periods, particularly from volume and mix improvements. In recent years, the company has transformed its balance sheet. This deleveraging bias will continue as we target a net debt of below USD 6 billion to support an investment grade rating at all points of the cycle," it said. ArcelorMittal is also trying to gain a firm foothold in India and has bid for debt-laden Essar Steel which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings. "On February 12, 2018, the Company's subsidiary ArcelorMittal India Private Limited (AMIPL) submitted a Resolution Plan for Essar Steel India Limited (Essar Steel) which set out a detailed plan to restore Essar Steel's fortunes and enable it to realise its full potential and participate in the anticipated steel demand growth in India," it said. On March 2, 2018, ArcelorMittal signed a joint venture formation agreement with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) in relation to its offer to acquire Essar Steel, it said. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) on May 2 had met representatives of ArcelorMittal and Numetal regarding their eligibility for Essar Steel and a decision is awaited. ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 18 countries. In 2017, ArcelorMittal had revenues of USD 68.7 billion and crude steel production of 93.1 million tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 57.4 million tonnes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Arjun Kapoor has been cast as the lead in Raj Kumar Gupta's next directorial venture "India's Most Wanted". The film, which has a release date of May 24, 2019, is about "the capture of India's most wanted, without firing a single bullet". Arjun shared the on Twitter and wrote, "Honoured to be a part of an untold story that will inspire India! #IndiasMostWanted, a tribute to all the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to protect ours. In cinemas 24th May 2019." The actor also shared a statement saying, "India's Most Wanted" comes on the day when his debut movie film "Ishqzaade" completes six years. "On this day, 6 years ago, 'Ishqzaade' released but it just feels like yesterday. This film gave me my identity, made me realize that movies are my true calling. May 11 will always remain the most memorable day of my life and today feels even more amazing because I'm letting you know about one of the most special films of my career," he said in the statement. The 32-year-old actor said he is "excited" to collaborate with Gupta, who has films such as "Raid", "No One Killed Jessica" and "Aamir" to his credit. "Working with Raj Kumar sir obviously excited me. His films are raw and gritty. They talk about true events and true heroes. When he narrated 'India's Most Wanted' to me I was moved. I was proud of my motherland and its unsung heroes. It is a film that will inspire patriotism within all of us. "To play a character that might not be known to everybody but needs to be known by everybody was exciting. It's always been something that has been at the back of my mind. It intrigues me as an actor to play this role but it excites me as an audience that I will be getting a chance to see this story unfold on the big screen," Arjun said. "India's Most Wanted" will co-produced by Gupta along with Fox Star. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Assam government today assured the people of the state that their interests would not be harmed by the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, and appealed to them to maintain calm. There is no reason for the people of Assam to panic as it was Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who had insisted that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) visit the state and listen to the views of the people, senior minister and government spokesman Chandramohan Patowary said. "Have faith in the state government and the chief minister as he will ensure that no harm is caused to the interests of the people," he told reporters here. A 16-member JPC headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal had visited the state for three days since May 7 to inculcate opinions of organisations and individuals on the Bill. Several organisations and citizens took out a procession to voice their concern against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, saying it would breach the clauses of the Assam Accord that states that all illegal foreigners who came to Assam after 1971 from Bangladesh, irrespective of their religion, have to be deported. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants belonging to six communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- eligible for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in the country. Patowary alleged the situation is being politicised by some quarters and it was uncalled for. "The JPC has not taken any decision or submitted their recommendation but only visited the state to take the opinion and views of different sections of people and organisation," Patowary, also the industry minister, said. It was Sonowal who had gone to the Supreme Court much before he became the chief minister to get the IMDT Act scrapped as it was not much successful, the minister said. The Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) (IMDT) Act was enacted in 1983 to detect and deport illegal foreigners from Assam. The Act was struck down by the apex court in 2005. Patowary said the major challenge before the state currently is to ensure that a flawless updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) is presented before May 31, the deadline set by the Supreme Court. "We want a correct NRC, which is being updated under the directives of the Supreme Court, to protect the identity of the Assamese people," he said. The NRC is being prepared to identify illegal migrants in Assam and its first draft has been published on December 31 last year. Asked if the Assam cabinet would reject the Bill as the Meghalaya government had done, the minister said, "We are not in a position to do so as the process of NRC was on." "The JPC has also not asked for our opinion. We will let the people of the state know about our opinion only after the NRC process is completed," he added. The minister criticised the opposition Congress saying its leaders and members adopting different stands in Brahmaputra valley and Barak Valley. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Chief Justice today termed as "carnage" the targeted killings of the minority Hazara community members, asserting that no words are enough to condemn such "unfortunate" attacks. Mian Saqib Nisar, heading a two-member Supreme Court bench which also included Justice Ijazul Ahsan, expressed anger at the unabated targeted killings of Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims and live in and around Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province. "In my opinion, this (Hazara killings) is equivalent to carnage. We have no words to condemn these unfortunate attacks," Nisar said. He said such attacks must stop. "We have to protect the lives and property of the Hazara community," he said. Balochistan Deputy Inspector General Abdur Razzaq Cheema presented a report about attacks on Hazaras in compliance of an earlier order by the apex court. According to the report, 399 Shiites, 36 Sunnis and 29 settlers from the Hazara community had been killed in targeted attacks during the past six years. It also said that nine people from the community were killed in the past four month, while 28 security officials lost their lives in such attacks this year. Hazara community counsel Iftikhar Ali told the court that the killings had been going on for the last 20 years, but no action was taken to punish the attackers. "Our lives and property are being endangered...Our people had to leave for Australia [to escape the attacks]," he said. The court adjourned the hearing until the end of holy month of Ramazan which is expected to start from May 17. Hazaras are a small community and its members migrated from Afghnaistan at different times to settle in Quetta. They are mostly Shiite Muslims and an easy target for extremists who consider them as heretics. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the gems and jewellery industry being a major source of employment creation, there is a need to have a banking system which understands the sector and supports its growth, without taking any undue risk, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said. He urged banks to have proper risk-mitigation mechanisms in place to avoid any potential frauds. "Gold, gems and jewellery and diamond give huge employment opportunities in India. We will like to have a banking system that understands the business properly. Banks should not take any undue risk which are not understandable and quantifiable," Prabhu said at an event organised by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)here today. The gems and jewellery sector is facing funding issues after the Reserve Bank of India in March banned the issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and letters of comfort (LoCs), used extensively for trade finance, following the Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam involving diamantaire Nirav Modi. Prabhu said the government will not support any business activity which is not ethical and bankable. "We would like banks to fund everything which is genuine, bankable and has capability to scale up," he said. Pointing towards the PNB fraud, commerce secretary Rita Teaotia said there is need for an introspection by banks and the gems and jewellery sector. "The banking sector must also recognise that the reasons for this failure was actually failure of our own banking system," Teaotia said. "There is no cosy relationships that anyone of us can afford. It has to be business and we have to follow prudent norms," she added. Meanwhile, in a white paper submitted by the GJEPC to the government today, the council has demanded a turnover coverage from the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC). The cover from ECGC was available till 2014, but was later sealed. The council has asked the government to reinstate exposure under whole turnover post shipment (WTP) for banks. Teotia said the government will not give any instruction to ECGC and will like the institution to take a call based on the merit. "We expect them (ECGC) to operate in a professional manner to go by merits and then based on their ability and then they should support them. ECGC need to take the risk on the sector, but it will not be at the direction of the government," she said. The commerce secretary also asked banks to focus on the SME sector which are facing funding issues. "We are failing a very significant sector if we neglect the SMEs," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A victim of the January 1 Bhima Koregaon violence in Pune has filed an application in the Bombay High Court challenging the bail granted by a local court to Milind Ekbote, the prime accused in the case. Ekbote, who heads a right-wing organisation called the Samast Hindu Aghadi, was booked by the Pune Police in two separate FIRs on charges of inciting violence, as well as under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He was arrested in March after the local court in Pune, the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. However, a month after his arrest, he was granted bail by the Pune court. This bail order of the sessions court has now been challenged by Sanjay Bhalerao, one of the victims in the case. In his plea, filed through his counsel Nitin Satpute, Bhalerao claimed that the sessions court "erred" in granting bail to Ekbote for it failed to take note of the fact that the latter had been charged with a serious offence, and that he was a habitual offender. Bhalerao cited police records in his plea to show that Ekbote had several cases lodged against him in the past. As per the police's records, Ekbote has 17 cases of similar atrocities registered against him. He said the police probe into the Bhima Koregaon violence showed that it was a pre-planned conspiracy. The probe also showed that Ekbote enjoyed much clout in the local community, and therefore, it was likely that if released on bail, he would try to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence, Bhalerao said in his plea. Thus, he urged the HC to cancel Ekbote's bail. While the plea was mentioned before the vacation bench of HC earlier this week, it would likely be taken up for hearing by a regular bench on June 5. On January 1, violence had erupted at an event meant to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which British forces defeated the Peshwa army on January 1, 1818. The violence led to the death of one person, injuries to several others, including 10 policemen. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Shiv Sena today accused its estranged ally BJP of rigging EVMs to win elections and claimed that people do not trust the current method of polling anymore. The recovery of "fake" voter ID cards in Bengaluru show how the electoral process in Karnataka has touched a new low, the Sena said. The southern state goes to polls tomorrow and the results will be declared on May 15. "(PM Narendra) Modi talks about 'Congress-mukt Bharat'. But although the Congress is coming to an end, its thoughts are not dying. The BJP is trying to finish the Congress by imbibing the qualities of that party," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouth piece 'Saamana'. "Ahead of the Karnataka elections, 10,000 fake voter ID cards were recovered from a flat in Bengaluru. The Congress has targeted the BJP on the issue. This voter ID scam shows that the Karnataka election has touched a new low," the party said. "A large sum of money is being used in the elections. From where the BJP gets so much money is no more a secret as everyone knows the truth. "Money starts flowing ahead of any election, be it gram panchayat or Lok Sabha...It seems as if notes are being printed by 'Mudra Bank' in every house...The Congress used to indulge in this, which the BJP is now doing," the Sena alleged. Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of copying his party's manifesto in the Karnataka polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. "In short, the BJP has adopted the Congress' policy of winning elections by hook or crook. The Congress must be feeling proud that the BJP is taking its ideology forward," it said. The Sena alleged that the Congress had also indulged in malpractices during its rule. "When former prime minister Indira Gandhi won a massive mandate, the late Sena supremo (Bal Thackeray) had questioned her win, saying it was not the victory of 'bai' (Indira), but that of 'shai' (ink)," it said. "The ink rule is now over, but the BJP is rigging EVMs to win elections. People don't trust the current method of polling any more," it said. "Only the masks of those sitting in power have changed, but the faces behind these masks are the same. The BJP has not defeated the Congress, but has merged it within itself," the Sena alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Industrial Gases major Air Products today said its Build-Own-Operate new industrial complex in the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project of BPCL Kochi was the largest of its kind in India in terms of investment. "The company has invested several hundred million dollars for the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) project, the largest of its kind in India in terms of investment," Richard Boocock, President, Industrial Gases (Middle East, India, Egypt and Turkey) told a press conference here. "As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, we are very proud to invest in India and want to continue growing our presence and strong relationships in the region as the safest and most innovative industrial gas company," he said. The IREP was inagurated today by state Minister for Local Self-Government K T Jaleel in the presence of P Thilothaman, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Richard Boockock and Samir J Serhan, company Executive Vice President, besides others. The Complex, which generates hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and steam, is an invaluable constituent of BPCL's IREP to manufacture auto-fuels complying with Euro-IV/Euro-V specifications, the company said in a release. It said the IREP would enable BPCL increase refining capacity from 190,000 to 310,000 barrels per day, while producing cleaner fuels through upgraded fuel specification. R Ramachandran, Director, Refineries, BPCL, said the commissioning of IREP in 2017 made BPCL Kochi Refinery the largest public sector refinery in India and enabled it to manufacture auto-fuels complying with the required Bharat Stage IV (Euro IV) specifications and a greater depth of conversion. IREP is one of the largest investments Kerala has ever witnessed,targeted at enhancing the refining capacity of Kochi refinery at a cost of Rs 16,500 crore. With the increased capacity of 15.5 million tonnes, the refinery would transform itself into a most modern industrial complex having global standards, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian community groups here plan to reach out directly to British Prime Minister Theresa May for action within three weeks against protestors responsible for the desecration of India's national flag during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit last month. On April 18, during the bilateral leg of Modi's visit to the UK, some protesters at Parliament Square turned aggressive during which the Indian Tricolour was torn down from one of the official flagpoles set up for all 53 Commonwealth countries to mark the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and ripped up by some protesters. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said the Indian government was "deeply anguished" over the incident. "We expect action, including legal action, against the people involved in the incident and also people responsible for instigating the incident," an MEA spokesperson said at the time. The Scotland Yard had registered a case of assault in relation to the incident and continues to investigate. "We received an allegation of assault on April 19 relating to an incident in Parliament Square on April 18. No arrests. Enquiries continue," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said. Meanwhile, an online petition on change.org website launched by the Friends of India Society International (FISI) in UK demanding action against the "culprits who brought down Indian flag and torn under the watchful eyes of British police" has attracted nearly 22,000 of the 25,000 target signatures. "We are preparing a detailed presentation, including all the evidence gathered from social media and other sources, and will be handing it over for the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street on Monday," said Pravin Patel, of the Sardar Patel Memorial Society. His group has found the backing of a senior Indian Supreme Court advocate, E V Venugopal, who has set a timeline of three weeks for the British government to take decisive action after which he plans to take the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a "crime against humanity". "We will knock on the doors of justice and make our representation to the British government. We don't ask for sympathy. We want action against this hate crime, as per the law of the land. The pride of my country is at stake," Venugopal said. Based on social media evidence, the group wants the British government to take action against the pro-Khalistani groups behind the incident. "These Khalistani elements are encouraging terrorism on this soil. This conspiracy of terrorist groups should be highlighted because they are waging war against India which can spill over into England as well," added Venugopal. The perpetrators, caught on camera with the tricolour, were pro-Khalistani demonstrators brought together with Kashmiri separatist groups under the banner of the so-called "Minorities Against Modi" group, led by Pakistani-origin peer Lord Ahmed. A UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesperson said the UK government had been in touch with the Indian High Commission soon after the incident. "While people have the right to hold peaceful protests, we are disappointed with the action taken by a small minority in Parliament Square and contacted High Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha as soon as we were made aware," a spokesperson said. A senior broadcast journalist from one of the leading Indian media channels covering the protests was also caught up in the scrum and has had her police complaint with the Met Police registered as a hate crime. On Monday, veteran Indian-origin MP Virendra Sharma has called a meeting over the issue in a House of Commons committee room to evaluate further steps. Venugopal and other Indian community groups are planning to join that meeting following their Downing Street visit. "They have tried to create an atmosphere of hate in this country, which respects freedom of speech. The use of British land by such disruptive elements should not be left unchecked because it could lead to worse scenarios and escalate further," said Dr Anand Arya, spokesperson for the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP). The Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB), an umbrella body of over 400 Hindu organisations in the UK, has also written to the UK Home Secretary calling for action against the Lord Ahmed and Sikh Federation UK for the "hate crime" against British citizens during the protests. The Sikh Federation, UK termed the entire incident an "over reaction" to an "impromptu removal of the Indian flag". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Canadian Sikh minister was asked to take off his turban at a Detroit airport during a security check despite passing through the metal detector without any problem, prompting senior US officials to apologise, media reports have said. Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, described the incident in an interview with the French-language paper La Presse yesterday. Bains was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already passed through regular security checks at the Detroit Metro Airport, but because he was wearing a turban, a security agent told him that he would have to undergo additional checks, according to La Presse. "He told me to take off my turban. I asked him why I would have to take off my turban when the metal detector had worked properly," the minister said. The US amended its travel policy in 2007, allowing Sikhs to keep turbans on while passing during the security inspection process. Bains said that when he travels, he rarely discloses his identity as a cabinet minister, in order to better understand the travel experiences and frustrations of people not afforded similar privileges. The incident prompted Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland to express disappointment to her US counterparts. Both undersecretaries for the US homeland security and transportation departments apologised for the incident. In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration said it reviewed closed-circuit video of the incident and determined the officer did not follow standard operating procedures; the officer subsequently received additional training. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Canadian cabinet minister says he was subject to a discriminatory security check at Detroit's airport that caused Canada to complain to US government officials. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said yesterday that he was asked to remove his turban at Detroit Metro Airport on his way back to Canada last year. He says there were challenges with the swab machine and he was recalled from the gate and brought back to security where he was asked to take the turban off. He says when they realised who he was they allowed him to travel and not take it off. Bain says he complained to Canada's foreign minister who then complained to US officials. He says US officials expressed regret and apologised and he's accepted the apology. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A timber company has allegedly cheated the Oriental Bank Commerce to the tune of Rs 155 crore by manipulating sanctioned credit limits of its subsidiary in Singapore using international banking messages for fund transfers without mentioning it in the bank's books, prompting the CBI to register an FIR. Similar modus operandi was allegedly used by the companies of diamantaire Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi to defraud the Punjab National Bank to the tune of over USD 2 billion. Acting on the complaint of the OBC, the CBI has booked Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd (MTPL), its directors, Ashok Mittal and Nisha Mittal, and a senior manager of the bank, Surender Kumar Ranga, who has been terminated from service, officials said. It is alleged that MTPL owns Singapore-based Mahesh Timber (Singapore) Ltd which availed credit facilities from the branches of the SBI, Bank of Baroda and UCO Bank in that country, they said. These facilities were backed by the Standby Letter of Credit issued by the SBI, Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce to the parent company MTPL, they said. MTPL which was engaged in trading and sawing of imported timber availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 242.09 crore from a consortium of the State Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of Baroda, the officials said. It was found that cash credit limit sanctioned to the bank was increased from Rs 12 crore to Rs 108.11 crore in a fraudulent manner, they said. Giving the modus operandi, the bank alleged in its complaint that foreign letters of credit (FLC) were opened in the bank's book through Finacle -- banking software -- and SWIFT messages -- an international messaging system for banking used to pass instructions among banks globally to transfer funds, the officials said. "Subsequently, the dealing officer without having any authority, fraudulently and in collusion with the suspected persons, increased the amount of the FLC by way of sending amendment through SWIFT without increasing the amount in bank's books (in Finacle). "Bills lodged by the overseas bank against these LCs were confirmed for payment on due date in the SWIFT message," the complaint alleged. It also alleged that the company in criminal conspiracy with Ranga, the dealing officer of the bank's M P Chowk branch in Karnal, Haryana, opened FLCs through Finacle and Swift messages. Ranga allegedly gave original documents to the party and no copy of the document was available in the branch, it alleged. On receiving the claim for payment, it came to notice that 38 documents worth USD 1.25 crore and Euro 36 lakh were incomplete where confirmation to make payment by the bank has been sent to overseas banks in Singapore through SWIFT but no entry was made in the Finacle, it alleged. The bank obtained these documents from the borrower after the fraud was noticed, it alleged. "The amount relating to documents claimed by foreign banks was remitted to them by debiting account of the borrower which resulted in increase of outstanding to the extent of Rs 155.21 crore against the sanctioned limit of Rs 12 crore...," it alleged. The complaint also alleged that Ranga opened six LCs and enhanced their value exorbitantly without making any entry in Finacle. The bank claimed that no such request was received from the borrower and Ranga did not obtain necessary margin and amendment charges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CBSE schools in Kerala and Lakshadweep will soon be promoting art, culture and creativity among students and helping them showcase their talents. The board envisions a robust system which focuses on Academics and holistic development of children, a top official said. "Co-curricular activities supplement and complement the curricular or main syllabi activities.These are very important to develop the students' personality as well as to strengthen classroom learning", Tarun Kumar, CBSE Regional officer, Thiruvananthapuram, told PTI. Letters in this regard were sent today to 1,350 schools in Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, which comes under Thiruvananthapuram division. The schools have also been asked to start video channels in their websites or use any free video sharing app to provide a platform for students to exhibit their skills. Some schools have already started such video sharing websites like Youtube or vimeo, in which users can upload their activities and can continue to use the existing channel, Tarun Kumar said. "We have prepared elaborate themes such as patriotism, love to humanity and compassion, empathy, caring and sharing, honesty, sincerity and self-reliance as topics for the students to choose from, so that these human values can be inculcated", he said. Many schools in Kerala are already promoting such creative activities. The activities can be in the form of skits, dance-drama, extempore, flash mob, rendition, shadow play, tableau, motivational speech, short film scripted and directed by students or a cartoon strip. Pointing out that children should be encouraged to showcase their talents by way of stage shows in music room/ activity room/school auditorium, Kumar said that such activities can be held on a weekly basis. More emphasis should be given on expression and raising self-confidence without any additional cost to the children,he said. All such events should be organised in schools and no participation fees or costume fees should be collected from children, Kumar said. The video of the best performer of such events should be hosted by the school in a video channel on a weekly basis. On an average four or more videos can be uploaded by the school, Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Competition Commission plans to assess algorithms used by domestic airlines for ticket pricing to check for possible cartelisation, a top official said on Thursday amid instances of sharp fluctuations in airfares during peak demand. The watchdog, which keeps a tab on unfair practices across sectors, has been looking into the issue after the Jat agitation in early 2016 when ticket prices on to flights shot up sharply. (CCI) Chairperson D K Sikri told that the regulator is looking at how algorithms function when it comes to pricing of air tickets in order to check for possible cartelisation. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference organised by industry body In his speech at the conference, Sikri said collusion among digital players through self-learning algorithms is one of the biggest challenges that is being faced by competition law enforcers. Citing the sudden rise in airfares for flights between and during the Jat agitation, he wondered how can it happen. "We asked the airlines. (They said) we don't know, the algorithms are driving it up. What are algorithms? These are not kind of systems that are moving on their own. Somebody has designed them, logic has been put into it...," Sikri said. "They (airlines) say we have these indicators, variables but they are not showing the weightage given to them. So we are talking to a lot of technical people... how do we bring them down to understanding these algorithms," he noted. According to him, one suggestion was for the CCI to develop its own algorithm to look at the issue but that would require huge investment. Another suggestion, he said, was to develop a hypothesis and "tell them (airlines) to satisfy the hypothesis with your algorithm. If it fails, hold them responsible". Meanwhile, Sikri emphasised that dominance per se is not an anti-trust concern and that is true even in the data-driven digital markets. "We understand that as competition authorities, data rich are not an economic threat in themselves. They are a source of innovation but the practices of dominant digital players must be competition (norms) compliant," he said. Defying the AAP government's stand, Delhi Home Secretary Manoj Parida today chaired a meeting of the Lieutenant Governor-appointed committee on a project for installation of CCTV cameras, in what could trigger another confrontation with the AAP dispensation and the L-G's office. An official said Parida would call another meeting of the six-member committee in the next five-six days and discuss various aspects such as common framework for installation, monitoring and other issues related to CCTV cameras in public spaces. The Arvind Kejriwal government has declared as "null and void" the Parida-headed panel constituted by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, saying that it was the responsibility of the government to install CCTV cameras aimed at ensuring women's safety in the city. In a letter to Baijal yesterday, Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain directed Parida not to proceed with the committee. The Home Secretary received the communication from the minister's office this evening. The official said that following the direction of L-G who is the "head of government" , Parida today held a meeting of committee and discussed common framework for installation, monitoring and other issues related to CCTVs in public spaces. As per terms and reference of the panel which has to submit its report to the L-G within one month, its members will recommend norms regarding storage, monitoring, access and sharing of CCTV footage with the government authorities, keeping in view the privacy and security concerns including erasure/final disposal of recorded footage, evidentiary value of images among others. "While the use of surveillance cameras helps improve safety and prevent incidents of crimes, there have been reported instances of misuse of CCTVs for intrusion and compromise on privacy/safety of individuals. "The use of the surveillance camera system should not be permitted to become a tool to violate privacy of individuals which is considered to be a fundamental right," stated an order issued by the home department's deputy secretary regarding terms and reference of the panel. It stated the "privacy concerns" related to installation of CCTVs have to be addressed appropriately and effectively and there must be clear responsibility and accountability for all surveillance camera system activities including images and information collected, held and used. "...there is an urgent need to establish a standard operating procedure/framework for installation operation, monitoring of CCTV cameras in public spaces and other related issues," it stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sashastra Seema Bal today arrested a man in East Champaran district and seized 20 kg of charas worth Rs 2 crore in the international market from his possession, an SSB official said. Bihari Lal (55), a resident of Hasanpur village in East Champaran district, was caught by SSB personnel from the vicinity of a railway station here when he was about to board a train to Delhi, Commandant of SSB's 47th Battalion Sonam Chering said. The contraband was kept in 20 packets, each of which contained a kilogramme of charas. The Commandant said Lal has known to be involved in drug peddling for long and he had recently released from Tihar Jail in Delhi where he had been lodged in connection with a drug related case. The accused has been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after his discharge from hospital, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal today called on party president Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence in South Mumbai. Bhujbal, who got bail last week after spending more than two years in jail in a money laundering case, was accompanied by his MLA-son Pankaj Bhujbal. Talking to reporters later, the former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister said politics was not discussed at the meeting. "No politics was discussed. We spoke about my health. Pawar enquired about my well-being and told me to look after myself," the 70-year-old NCP leader said. Bhujbal, the OBC face of the NCP, a Maratha-dominated party, was in jail since March 2016 in the money laundering case and was granted bail on May 4 by the Bombay High Court which took into consideration his old age and deteriorating health. He was admitted to the KEM Hospital in Parel after being granted bail and released from the Arthur Road Jail, where he was lodged under judicial custody. Bhujbal is suffering from a pancreatic ailment for which he would require further treatment and surgery, his son Pankaj Bhujbal said yesterday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China sent fighter jets and other military aircraft near Taiwan today in the latest of a series of drills which Beijing has said are aimed at the island's "independence forces". Taiwan's defence ministry said multiple H-6K bombers, reconnaissance planes and transport aircraft flew over the Bashi Channel, south of Taiwan, and over the Miyako Strait, near Japan's Okinawa Island, in a drill this morning. It was the first time that China's Su-35 fighters were sent over the Bashi Channel, the ministry said, while J-11 fighters and early warning aircraft also took part. The ministry assured the public in a statement that it was able to fully monitor Chinese naval and air drills and "take effective responsive measures to ensure defence security". China sees democratically governed Taiwan -- which has never formally declared independence from the mainland -- as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold, and has not ruled out reunification by force. The Chinese defence ministry confirmed in a statement Friday that it was the first time Su-35s flew over the Bashi Channel, hailing it as a "new breakthrough, highlighting the new enhancements to the Air Force's combat capability". Beijing has stepped up military patrols around Taiwan and used diplomatic pressure to isolate it internationally since President Tsai Ing-wen, of the traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, took office in 2016. Last month, China's air force said the series of operations were meant to "strengthen its capacity to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity". Defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a monthly press conference that they were "directed against Taiwan independence forces and activities in the island". Taiwan has accused Beijing of "sabre rattling" and trying to stoke regional tensions with its recent spate of drills. Taipei has announced that it will practise thwarting a Chinese "invasion" in annual live fire drills in June by simulating surprise coastal assaults. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An unbreakable cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir is taking a heavy toll on human lives, a citizen's group said today and called for a sincere and meaningful dialogue for final and lasting resolution of the dispute in the Valley. The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), which includes eminent people from a cross section of society including jurists, former vice chancellors, academicians, civil servants and business heads, expressed concern over the distressing situation in Kashmir. "We are deeply concerned by the distressing situation created by a prolonged conflict and an unbreakable cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir that is taking a heavy toll of human lives especially youth and adversely impacting all vital sectors of health, education and economy," it said in a statement. "We are of the considered view that an immediate ceasefire by both the sides followed by a sincere and meaningful dialogue for final and lasting resolution of the dispute is the only way out. "We call upon the Government of India to immediately announce ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir and suspend all operations by the security forces to quell the unrest," it said. This goodwill gesture can bring down the levels of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, create space for genuine confidence-building measures and ultimately for resolution of the conflict peacefully through dialogue, the GCC said. "While we hope that the Centre immediately responds to this demand, we also call upon the Joint Resistance Leadership to reciprocate to a possible ceasefire announcement with an open mind and use all its influence to ensure reciprocal ceasefire and end to protests," it said. Ceasefire for a limited period is of no avail unless the period free of hostilities is not used for initiating confidence-building measures followed by a sincere dialogue with all the stakeholders for final and lasting solution of the problem, the GCC said. "We also call for restraint and request all concerned to avoid provocative utterances and give peace a chance. This is an opportunity for all the sides to play a constructive role by stepping back and looking for a road map towards just and lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir, and rest of sub-continent," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A sessions court here rejected today the bail plea of assistant professor Nirmala Devi, arrested in connection with an alleged sex scandal. The suspended assistant professor of the private Devanga Arts College in Aruppukottai, some 500km from Chennai, was accused of advising students to extend sexual favours to some officials in return for higher marks and money. District Sessions judge Singaraj dismissed Nirmala Devi's bail plea and adjourned the hearing on the petitions filed by two other accused in the case - V Murugan and Karuppasamy to May 18. Nirmala Devi was arrested on April 16, a day after an audio clip went viral on the social media, in which she purportedly advised students "to adjust with some officials". It was alleged that she sought to persuade girls to consider extending sexual favours to senior officials of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), to which the college is affiliated. She, however, denied a sexual angle to her advice and claimed she had made it "in the right spirit" and not with any hidden motive or agenda. Based on Devi's alleged "confession", the CB-CID had arrested Murugan, an assistant professor at MKU and Karuppasamy, a former research scholar. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has constituted a 'high powered enquiry' under retired IAS officer R Santhanam to probe the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Collegium today agreed in principle to reiterate its recommendation for elevating Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the apex court, almost three weeks after it was returned by the Centre. Justice Joseph had headed the bench in the Uttarakhand High Court that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled hill state in 2016. In 2017, the Congress lost the assembly election there. Justice Joseph, who turns 60 this June, has been the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court since July 2014. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court on October 14, 2004 and assumed charge of the Uttarakhand High Court on July 31, 2014. Legal experts had earlier opined that the government is bound to appoint Justice Joseph as a Supreme Court judge in case the Collegium reiterates its recommendation to elevate him. However, the experts had said there is no time-frame for implementing the Collegium's recommendation. After an hour-long deliberation today, the five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, unanimously decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of names of other Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, in a resolution, said there was need for further discussion on the issue of sending the other names to the Centre and decided to meet again on May 16. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution said. "In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 PM on Wednesday, May 16, 2018," it said. The resolution further said the Collegium today met to consider the following agenda: "1. To consider reiteration of the recommendation dated January 10, 2018 for elevation of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as Judge of the Supreme Court. 2. To consider names of High Court Judges for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court." The decision to convene the meeting was taken late last evening by the CJI. On May 2, the Collegium had met on the issue but had deferred its decision. In today's meeting, the agenda was same and besides Justice Joseph, the Collegium deliberated on the names of some judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as apex court judges. The Centre, while returning the file of Justice Joseph to the collegium, had also mentioned that judges from various high courts have not found place in the apex court. Justice Joseph's seniority was also questioned by the Centre which had said "he stands at Sl. No.45 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis." The Collegium, while recommending Justice Joseph's name earlier, had said he was "more deserving and suitable in all respects" than other chief justices and judges of the high courts. During the deliberations today, sources said those high court judges who are in the race to be elevated to the apex court are Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, who is originally from the Calcutta HC, Gujarat HC Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, whose parent cadre is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh HC, and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who is originally from Rajasthan HC. It is pertinent to mention that Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the apex court, had on May 9 written a letter to the CJI urging him to convene the Collegium meet to urgently forward Justice Joseph's name to the Centre. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. According to an apex court official, Justice Chelameswar, in his letter sent to the CJI, had conveyed that he was reiterating his decision favouring elevation of Justice Joseph as the judge of the top court as there was no change in the circumstances that had led the Collegium to recommend his name to the government on January 10. Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, was also understood to have responded to all the points raised in the communication to the CJI by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressing reservations on the elevation of Justice Joseph. Justice Kurian Joseph, during his visit to Kerala last week, had also reportedly made it clear that he was in favour of reiterating the recommendation of the Collegium on the issue concerning the Uttarakhand Chief Justice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CCI chief D K Sikri today pitched for revisiting the uniform threshold framework under competition law for M&As, saying the current system based on assets and turnover of companies might have a "blind spot" when it comes to deals in the digital space. He also said the regulator would be writing to the government proposing changes in the threshold framework for M&A transactions. Mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain threshold require approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). At present, there is a uniform criteria across sectors in terms of deciding on whether a particular deal need the regulator's nod. Sikri said that a firm legal framework for data protection is the foundation on which data-driven innovation and entrepreneurship can flourish while also keeping personal data of citizens secure. "Merger between companies that hold big data would allow the resultant entity to have even more tools to profile individuals and invade privacy. It is well known that many large tech companies require other companies with the primary objective of having access to data owned by that firm. In most of these cases, the deal size is strikingly high, reflecting essentially the value of the data owned by the target company," he said at a conference here. According to him, since data is not accounted for as an asset, "the traditional asset (and) turnover criteria under competition law might fail to capture those transactions during review. That is our worry". "This is because targets in these sectors have limited actual turnover or physical assets. That is asset, turnover base notification threshold which we have in force in the country, in the digital sector they may have a blind spot. If relied on solely, we will not be able to take stock and evaluate them in mergers," the CCI chairperson said. Speaking at a conference organised by industry body Assocham, Sikri also noted that probably time has come to revisit the desirability of uniform threshold across sectors and pitched for sector-wise thresholds. "We are just proposing... We are writing to the (Corporate Affairs) Ministry," he told PTI on the sidelines of the conference. The regulator comes under the administrative control of Corporate Affairs Ministry. Stressing that there needs to be a balance in terms of embracing social benefits of big data and avoiding harm to individuals, Sikri said, "transparency, accountability and informed consent are going to be the key words". He also said that rapidly evolving data landscape and more and more data centric businesses are posing colossal challenge. "They are altering the traditional parameters of regulation. They are making the regulators develop innovative perspective on how to apply the existing instruments and devise new tools wherever necessary," he added. Emphasising that regulations and regulators have to work in tandem, Sikri said there could be potential abuse of dominance case, which might also involve breach of data protection issues. "There should be then appropriate remedies which could address both anti-competitive practices and data (issues). Authorities responsible for data protection in the digital economy will have to have a continuous dialogue to ensure that a cohesive regulatory architecture is in place for most efficient digital markets. In this quest, industry will have a significant role to play," he said. In his address, Law Secretary Suresh Chandra said that by creating a good data protection law, India could extend well beyond being a mere supplier to the world's multi-national corporations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today that the Congress cannot have a majority on its own in the next Lok Sabha polls and the federal front being mooted by her and other regional parties will be "the future". Banerjee, also the supremo of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, said the future lies with the federal front, a concept she has been pushing for quite some time now. "Various regional parties will emerge victorious in their respective states. Federal Front of regional parties is the future. If regional parties come together and form a platform, it would be good for the country," she said in an interview to Bengali channel Zee 24Ghanta. On Rahul Gandhi's claim that he is ready to become the prime minister if the Congress emerges the largest party in the 2019 polls, Banerjee said: "He is free to give his opinion. But the fact is, in the present situation of the country, the Congress can never have a majority of its own." Asked if she will lead the front of regional parties, Banerjee said everybody will work like a "united family" and whatever is good for the country will be done. Banerjee predicated the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti and the Telugu Desam Party will perform well in the Lok Sabha polls. Earlier this year, Banerjee had said she would try to unite all anti-BJP forces to defeat the saffron party in the general elections. She had met several opposition leaders, including TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, in an effort to cobble up a formidable front against the BJP. In the interview, she predicted that neither the Congress nor the BJP will get a majority in the Karnataka Assembly polls and the JD(S) will emerge as the kingmaker. "The Congress should have worked more tactfully with H D Deve Gowda, it would have helped them," she said. Banerjee lauded the performance of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh, chief ministers of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively, but said the saffron party will lose assembly elections in the two states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court today decided to hear on July 30 the CBI's plea seeking a direction to allow it to go for further probe into the politically sensitive Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case. The matter came up before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ashu Garg, who fixed it for hearing after the summer vacation, noting the submission of BJP leader and advocate Ajay Agrawal that he would file an application in the apex court for transfer of the original case records to Tis Hazari court. The court was told that the original records file pertaining to the case was with the Supreme Court. The court had earlier deferred the matter due to non-availability of documents which had been provided to the apex court, which was seized of Agrawal's plea challenging the May 31, 2005 verdict of the Delhi High Court quashing all charges against the accused. Agrawal, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli against then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had filed the appeal in the top court after the CBI had failed to challenge the high court verdict within the mandatory 90 days period. The CBI had on February 1 moved the trial court seeking permission for further probe in the matter saying it had come across fresh material and evidence. A day after, it had also filed an appeal against the high court decision in the Supreme Court. After the CBI, the BJP leader had also moved the trial court supporting the plea of the probe agency in the case. The agency had swung into action after the Attorney General had orally given it a go ahead to file the appeal in the case in which it cited the October 2017 interview of private detective Michael Hershman, alleging that the then Rajiv Gandhi government had sabotaged his probe. Justice R S Sodhi (since retired) of the Delhi High Court had on May 31, 2005 quashed the CBI case in the Bofors pay-off scam. Before the 2005 verdict of Justice Sodhi, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice J D Kapoor (since retired) had on February 4, 2004 exonerated the late prime minister in the case and directed the framing of charge of forgery under section 465 of the IPC against Bofors company. The Rs 1,437-crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered into on March 24, 1986. Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel. The CBI on January 22, 1990 had registered the FIR for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the IPC and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then president of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and the Hinduja brothers. It had alleged that certain public servants and private persons in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on October 22, 1999, against Chadda, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet was filed against the Hinduja brothers -- S P Hinduja, G P Hinduja and P P Hinduja -- on October 9, 2000. A special CBI court in Delhi on March 4, 2011, had discharged Quattrocchi from the case, saying the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which had already cost Rs 250 crore. Quattrocchi, who had fled from India on July 29-30, 1993, never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on July 13, 2013. The other accused who died are Bhatnagar, Ardbo and Chadda. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man has been arrested by customs officials at the Delhi international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle more than one kg gold into the country by hiding it in his rectum. The accused was intercepted after his arrival from Dubai on Tuesday, a statement issued by the customs said. "A detailed personal and baggage search of the passenger resulted in the recovery of ten gold bars, collectively weighing 1.16 kg, concealed in his rectum," it said. The value of the gold bars was assessed to be Rs 36.55 lakh, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The famous Dabbawalas (tiffin carriers) of Mumbai will be celebrating the wedding of Prince Harry of the British royal family and Hollywood actor Meghan Markle in a special way. They are going to distribute sweets to relatives of patients at the government-run Tata Memorial Hospital, KEM Hospital and Wadia Hospital here on May 19, the wedding day. The Dabbawalas ferry tiffins of home-made food to thousands of office-goers in the city every day. They also provide free food outside these three hospitals to the relatives of patients who come from far-away places. "We have an emotional connect with the British royal family. Prince Charles had invited us to his wedding some years ago. The royal family treated us with a lot of respect when we attended the wedding," said Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association. "We have decided that along with the good quality food that we provide to the relatives of patients outside these hospitals every day, we will distribute them sweets on May 19 to mark the wedding," he said. The association also plans to gift traditional Maharashtrian wedding outfits to the would-be royal couple through the British Consulate here, he said. Some five thousand Dabbawalas deliver around two lakh lunch boxes to offices in Mumbai every day. They are known for their flawless delivery system, which has been studied by global management experts. Harry (33), fifth-in-line to the British throne, and Markle (36) are set to get married in a ceremony at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ankit Chadha, a young exponent of Urdu storytelling tradition 'Dastangoi', who passed away recently, was cremated here today at the Lodhi Cremation Grounds. The writer-storyteller drowned at Uksan lake near Kamshet, around 60km from Pune on Wednesday evening. He was 30. "He had gone to Pune for a performance, where he accidentaly fell into the lake while taking an evening stroll," a close relative told PTI. The body was recovered several hours after the mishap, the relative added. Chadha was to perform 'Dastan-e-Kabir' at the Gyaan Adab Centre in Pune on May 12. Known for his unique style of bringing music and stories together, Chadha's storytelling covered the lives and works of historical personalities like Kabir, Dara Shukoh, Amir Khusrau and Rahim. Writer and director Mahmood Farooqui, who specialises in 'Dastangoi' and had trained Chadha in the art form, termed his untimely death a "devastating loss". "He was the brightest star and he was charting his own path with storytelling. He was doing some really promising experiments," the "Peepli Live" director said. Farooqui said Chadha's uniqueness lay in not just being a talented individual but also a "beautiful person", which reflected in his work. "The kind of engagement with the audience...it could only come from someone with an open heart. You can always find talented people, but to find a talented person with an open heart is a very rare thing," he said. He added that Chadha's evolution as an artist was an ongoing process. "He was learning Persian, Urdu. He was constantly working, evolving." Hailing from a middle-class family, Chadha had taken up a job after graduating, but quit when he was introduced to 'Dastangoi'. Farooqui had met Chadha's parents to dissipate their worries, assuring them that he had "found his own place and niche". Chadha did his first show in 2011, and by 2012 and 2013, he was already doing solo independent shows. "I am glad I was able to provide him a platform... he led the life he wanted to lead. It was a short but beautiful life, and he lived it on his own terms, and I find myself fortunate that I could help him find his calling," Farooqui said. Many artiste friends of Chadha also took to Twitter to express their shock and grief. Nationa Film Award winning lyricist Varun Grover recalled Chadha as a warm person who was capable of offering "unforgettable" experiences through his art. "The unfairness of it all. Death arrives like a whisper in the wind & takes one of our greatest, youngest Dastangos along. There were so many stories still waiting to be told by him, so many stories he had to become. Nobody can replace Ankit Chadha," he tweeted. Journalist and radio storyteller Neelesh Misra of 'Yaadon Ka IdiotBox' fame, remembered the young artiste as a "good human being, a pure soul". Expressing "disbelief, and a deep deep sadness", he wrote, "Apko naman #AnkitChadha ... you were a good human being, a pure soul. I wish I was half as good as DASTANGO-you as a storyteller. What a legacy you leave behind. God, why did you go to the lake in the evening Ankit? Was it dark? Kya zaroorat thi?" Besides performing historical stories, Chadha also worked with NGOs to tell tales on technology, sustainability, and hunger. He also performed at several cultural festivals in the country like 'Jashn-e-Rekhta' and 'Kabir Utsav', as well as had spoken on Dastangoi at international universities including Harvard, Yale and Toronto. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) government has warned parents and students against fake boards running in the national capital, saying there are only three relevant boards operating in the city. The (DoE) has made public a list of 12 fake boards operating in "No board with the name of 'Board of Adult and Training' is recognised by the directorate," a DoE order said last week. The department clarified that there is no state board of the government of "Further, DoE which regulates government, private, unaided and aided schools in Delhi, does not grant any recognition to any board," it said. "As far as Delhi is concerned, there are only three relevant boards - Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)," it added. The boards declared fake by the DoE are: Urdu Education Board, Gramin Mukth Vidhalyai Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi Board of Secondary Education, The Central Board of Higher Secondary Education, National Open School and Board of Secondary Open Education, Delhi. Higher Secondary Education Board of Delhi, State Council of Senior Secondary Open Education, Delhi Board of Senior Secondary Education, Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi, Council of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Delhi, and The Central Board of Higher Education, Delhi. The Supreme Court today slammed the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for not doing their job pertaining to distribution of river water among the beneficiary states, asking it why should the courts do its work. The apex court, which was hearing a matter relating to river Yamuna water sharing between Delhi and Haryana, observed that the UYRB was supposed to do their job of regulating water supply to the barrages and asked the board to give its suggestions on the issue by May 14. UYRB was set up by the Centre in 1995, with one of its main functions being to regulate and supply water from all storages and barrages till the Okhla barrage in Delhi, in accordance with the agreements between the governments of the six basin states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. "Why is the Upper Yamuna River Board not doing their job? What are they doing," a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked, adding, "the board is supposed to do its job. We do not know why they (UYRB) do not want to do their job? Why should we do their job?." It directed the board to give its suggestions or take a decision in the matter related to water sharing between Haryana and Delhi and posted it for further hearing on May 16. During the brief hearing, Haryana's counsel told the bench that they were supplying Yamuna water to Delhi and would not alter the status quo. The lawyer said there was clear-cut allocation of water and Haryana was supplying water, which was more than what was stipulated, to Delhi. Delhi's counsel said that the issue was about continuation of the stream of drinking water to the national capital. The bench observed, "We will hear the matter on July 16. In the meantime, the status quo would continue". On May 1, Haryana government had told the apex court that it was facing a "huge distress" for water as it was receiving only half the supply from Hathni Kund barrage located in the Yamuna Nagar district. Haryana had, however, said that it would continue supplying 150 cusecs of water to Delhi till May 15. Delhi had earlier said that there was a shortfall of 120 cusecs of water of Yamuna river daily for the national capital. The court was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) which has alleged that Haryana had reduced by one-third the supply of Yamuna water to the national capital, leading to a grave water crisis. The DJB had contended that Haryana was supplying Delhi only 330 cusecs of water daily as against 450 cusecs per day, which was agreed upon between the state and the Union Territory. It had claimed that due to curtailment in water supply to Wazirabad reservoir, the plant was running at reduced capacity leading to a "grave water crisis" in the city. The DJB had sought directions from the apex court to Haryana to supply the entire 450 cusec of water per day continuously and daily to the Wazirabad reservoir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will visit the UAE to drum up investment for oil exploration and city gas projects. His three-day official visit from May 12 to 14 is a follow up on the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE in February, an official statement said here. "During the visit, Pradhan is scheduled to meet his UAE counterparts Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry and Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Group CEO and discuss issues of bilateral hydrocarbon engagement," it said. He will also participate in UAE Downstream Investment Forum and speak on 'New Trade Flows, New Market Opportunities'. He is expected to jointly flag off the first consignment of ADNOC crude oil to be stored at the Mangalore underground strategic storage. "This will be the first such investment by any foreign company in Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve facility," it said. During the state visit of Modi to UAE, ISPRL and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of UAE had signed the Amended and Restated Oil Storage and Management Agreement. Under the Agreement ADNOC would be storing about 5.86 million barrels of crude oil in the cavern at Mangalore at its own cost. During the visit, Pradhan will participate in the roadshow on the Discovered Small Fields (DSF) Bid Round II and 9th City Gas Distribution (CGD) international bidding round inviting foreign investors to participate in the largest Indian CGD bid round covering 174 districts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To pitch the Dholera Special Investment Region as an investment destination during the next year's Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), authorities have planned an investor conclave prior to the event. "The CM (Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani) had said that Dholera will be the main investment destination to be projected at the Vibrant Summit of 2019. So we have planned to hold a pre-Vibrant summit in Dholera," said the managing director of Dholera Industrial City Development Ltd, Jai Prakash Shivhare, today. "Several theme-based seminars will be organised three or four months prior to the main biennial event of 2019," he said. Shivhare was here to attend 'Defence Conclave 2018', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Several international players including Lockheed Martin and Airbus have shown interest in starting operations in the upcoming industrial city, he said. The Dholera SIR is around 100 km from Ahmedabad. Work for the proposed greenfield international airport at Dholera will start this year, Shivhare said. "The total cost of the international airport project would be Rs 2,125 crore. It will have two runways. Since we have received all required permissions, we expect that the ground-breaking ceremony will take place this year," the IAS officer said. He urged defence manufacturers to set up plants at Dholera, saying the city has enough land for them. "In the defence sector, companies require huge tracts of land. They need around 400 to 500 hectares of land. Such large land parcels are not available anywhere (else) in India," he said. "We have land parcels as large as 750 hectares....we have a world-class infrastructure and all pending works will be finished by September 2019. We are getting many queries from potential investors from the defence sector," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov here and discussed a host of issues such as combating terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking. Doval, who was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale during his visit here yesterday, also held talks with Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev besides calling on Lavrov, an Indian Embassy statement said. The visit, which was part of the regular dialogue at the NSA-level between the two countries, comes ahead of summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in India later this year. In his opening remarks during the meeting with Doval, Lavrov was quoted as saying by an official Russian statement, "We have a very full agenda in our bilateral relations. Economic ties are growing, and a mechanism is being developed to further liberalise trade both bilaterally and as part of India's cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union." The two countries' foreign policy coordination is making steady progress as part of regular bilateral contacts between the relevant agencies, as well as in the context of their partnership promotion in multilateral formats, he said. "I am speaking of the Russia-India-China (RIC) format, BRICS, and now the SCO, of which India became a full-fledged member last year. All this allows us to closely interact and coordinate our approaches in the UN and various military and political security mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region," he said. "I am happy to have the opportunity to talk today about our further work in these formats to solve tasks related to fighting terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking, and to promote cooperation in practical areas," Lavrov said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP today said the Election Commission order deferring polls to the R R Nagar seat in Karnataka and registration of a case against the Congress candidate was a "clear indictment" of the ruling party in the state and proved that it was "using money power to influence the Karnataka polls". The EC today ordered postponement of polling to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat to May 28. The decision comes days after nearly 10,000 voter identity cards were recovered from a flat in the constituency. On the eve of the polling, Union minister Piyush Goyal, in a scathing attack on the Congress, alleged that the ruling party had resorted to corrupt practices to rig the elections. He also said the BJP had asked the EC to seek one more proof of address from first-time voters, besides the voter ID card, to ensure that they are genuine voters. "A desperate Congress has given up all hope of winning the elections and is resorting to most corrupt electoral practices to rig the state polls," Goyal told reporters here. The minister termed the EC order postponing the polls to the R R Nagar constituency an "extraordinary" step. "The EC and its special observers had detected specific instances of corrupt electoral practices and attempts at bribery. The poll panel has taken an extraordinary step to postpone the election in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat," Goyal said. "We have also asked the EC to put out an advertisement asking voters not to get carried away by any inducement or coercion, and exercise their right in a free and fair manner," he said. While the seizure was made in one seat, similar methods may have been adopted in other seats. The EC should conduct a probe across the state, he said. "The seizure of 9,564 EPIC cards, photo voter slips, laptops, and other materials indicates there was a clear attempt to induce voters in a systematic and planned manner... it vitiates the election process," Goyal said citing the EC order. He said the BJP had also asked the EC to take note of a similar malpractice in a neighbouring constituency, and alleged that the Congress was distributing money in Bedami, one of the seats from where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is contesting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight persons including a woman were killed on the spot and two others sustained serious injuries when the six-seater rickshaw in which they were travelling collided with a water tanker near Aurangabad in Maharashtra today. The accident took place near Georai Tanda village near Banjara hotel this evening, police said. The two injured persons were admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here. The rickshaw was speeding and trying to overtake another vehicle when it collided with the tanker coming from the opposite direction, police said. The deceased were yet to be identified, police said, adding that further probe was on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An elderly couple was charred to death early today in a fire at their residence in west Delhi's Moti Nagar, police said. The deceased were identified as Chedi Lal (70) and his wife Laxmi (62), they said. Police said that a call was received about the fire around 3.25 am and two fire-tenders were rushed to the spot. The cause of the fire is being investigated, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The election in voter ID controversy hit Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency here was deferred to May 28 due to various irregularities, the state electoral authorities said. The Election Commission of India today deferred the poll to May 28 and counting of votes will be held on May 31. The decision was taken based on the discovery of 9,564 Election Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) from an apartment at Jalahalli under Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly constituency, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjeev Kumar told reporters here. Besides this, the commission took a serious view of the discovery of a huge cache of water cans, tee-shirts, half pants and pressure cookers meant to bribe the voters, he said. Kumar said discovery of these materials was a serious offence under various sections of laws. It comes within inducement under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Representation of the People Act, he added. Conviction of such persons, specifically if under Section 121 of the RPA, can result in the election of the returned candidate being declared void, he said. Besides, the candidate found guilty of such a corrupt practise can also be disqualified by the President on the recommendation of the commission, said Kumar. He said the investigation led to the recovery of sarees and water cans from houses. The cans were similar to what the commission found in Jalahalli apartment, where the voter ID cards were found. "It appears that attempts were made to systematically influence voters," Kumar said. He said besides water cans, EPIC, pressure cooker, a truckload of 5,018 tee shirts with photos of the candidates and 23,393 half-pants were found. A truck was dispatched from Tirupur to Tumakuru, but was unloaded at Bengaluru. While Reliance Retails came forward to claim the half pants, nobody came to claim the tee-shirts, Kumar said. The tee-shirts carried the photo of the same candidate who did the survey and other things were quite visible, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed it was "wrong" for the United States to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a Turkish presidential source has said. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would pull out of the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. Calling Trump's decision "wrong", Erdogan and Putin pointed out that the nuclear accord "was a diplomatic success which actually should be protected" during a telephone conversation last evening, the Turkish source said yesterday. The Kremlin said in a statement that the two strongmen "emphasised that the safeguarding of the JCPOA (the formal abbreviation for the accord) is very important for international and regional security as well as the nuclear non-proliferation regime". The two leaders "confirmed their determination" to continue to cooperate to this end with the other signatory countries of the agreement, the Kremlin added. After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany. Erdogan also congratulated Putin on the start of his fourth term as president after the Russian leader was sworn in on Monday. Ankara has been working closely with Moscow and Tehran over the past year on the Syrian peace process despite being on opposing sides of the conflict and having a sometimes troubled relationship with Iran. According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, in the final year of Putin's third term as president, he spoke to Erdogan 20 times, double that of other world leaders. Relations between Turkey and the US are strained over multiple issues including Washington's support for Syrian Kurdish militia which Turkey views as terrorists and the continued imprisonment of an American pastor in Turkey. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Union today transferred the rights of the logo for the International Solar Alliance, a coalition of solar resource-rich countries, to the ISA Secretariat located in Gurgaon. The ISA logo consists of 121 dots. Each dot represents one of the 121 countries that are part of the alliance. The ISA has a shared ambition to reduce the cost of solar finance and technology, mobilise over USD 1,000 billion of investments needed by 2030 for deployment of solar energy, and to pave the way for future technologies adapted to the needs. The logo was designed and developed by Andrzej Uwitniewski and Marek Zaborowski under the EU technical assistant project for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The logo was transferred to ISA Secretariat at a ceremony attended by European Union Ambassador Tomasz Kozlowski, ISA Interim Director General Upendra Tripathy and MNRE Secretary Anand Kumar. "Sustainable development is at the heart of EU-India relations and we are well advanced in our clean energy and climate partnership. The EU and India are committed to implementing the Paris Agreement and are collaborating closely in the area of off-shore wind, solar parks, roof-top solar, urbanisation, circular economy, waste management. We are looking at formalising our support to the ISA in the coming months," Kozlowski said. The EU is also supporting the ISA through the European Investment Bank (EIB), the largest climate financier in the world. India was the leading recipient of the EIB financing for solar investment outside the European Union, both in 2017 and overall since 2013. The EIB has approved a total of EUR 640 million of new investment in solar projects in India to provide clean energy to an estimated 4.2 million households and save more than 4 million tons of carbon emissions. "Closer cooperation between the European Union and the International Solar Alliance demonstrates the shared commitment to tackle climate change. Working with the EU is crucial to mobilise climate finance and share technical expertise. Its unique experience of successfully supporting renewable energy development in its member countries as well as in the world will enhance the efforts of the ISA in the years ahead," Tripathy said. The ISA was launched at the landmark UN Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of 2015 by former French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The founding conference of the ISA was held in New Delhi in March this year. It was attended by the heads of state and government and representatives of the 121 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing concern over the state of defence manufacturing in India, Director General of Ordnance Factories S K Chourasia said today that even the parachute cloth is not available in the country to meet the "full requirement". Addressing the 'Defence Conclave 2018' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Ahmedabad, Chourasia said entrepreneurs in Gujarat should focus on entering the defence manufacturing sector. He said India received some of the parts of the tanks it manufactures about 30 years ago from Russia. "Still, we have to import some items. Simple items like parachute cloth is still not available in our country to meet the full requirement," he said. Chourasia, who is also the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board, said India still imports 50 per cent of its total defence requirements. "Our comfort zone is readily available technology and infrastructure. That segment is considered (getting attention). But the segment (for) which the country is still importing is not being considered sometimes," he said. "As a result, the percentage of imports is not reducing... This leads to over-competition as technology is available and we have many players. And where technology is not available, there is under-competition. As a result, we have to import," he said. Raising the same issue, Air Marshal R K Dhir, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South West Air Command, said there was an urgent need to build capacity for self-reliance in defence technology. He called for synergy and active interaction between end-users and manufacturers. Though "strong research and development" facilities are available in the country, Defence Research and Development Organisation is not able to retain talent in R&D, he said. "For R&D activity, defence budget allocation is just 5 per cent. Only that much goes into R&D in India. The same is almost 15 per cent in France," he said. He urged entrepreneurs, especially those from Gujarat, to tap the vast potential of the defence manufacturing sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook has responded to Indian government's latest notice over alleged data breach, outlining in detail the "changes made" to protect users' information. The UK-based Cambridge Analytica, however, is yet to send its formal response to government's second notice, an IT ministry official said, adding that a view will be taken once both the replies are in place and reviewed. A spokesperson of the social media giant said Facebook is grateful to the Indian government for giving it an opportunity to address concerns. "We are committed to protecting people's information and safeguarding the integrity of elections in India," a Facebook spokesperson said in an e-mail. "We hope we have helped to answer important questions about the changes we have made to further protect users information as well as elections from abuse and exploitation including removing fake accounts, increasing ads transparency and reducing the spread of false news," the spokesperson added. The government had, in end-March, sent a notice to Facebook asking whether the personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by the UK-based Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity. A similar notice was dispatched to Cambridge Analytica following media reports that it had misused data to profile users and influence elections. The government had served second set of notices to Cambridge Analytica and Facebook over the data breach issue late last month after finding discrepancies between the previous responses given by the two The were asked to reply to the additional set of queries by May 10. ALSO READ: Russian Facebook ads suggest efforts to split US public before 2016 polls Without giving details of the reply sent to government's latest notice, the spokersperson said Facebook is committed towards its role in protecting the integrity of the electoral process in India. Facebook has been facing intense scrutiny from its users as well as governments across the globe after a data leak scandal hit about 87 million users. British data analytics and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has been accused of harvesting personal information of millions of Facebook users illegally to help political campaigns and influence polls in several countries. Earlier this month, however, Cambridge Analytica announced its closure in a statement on its website and claimed it had been "vilified" for activities that are legal and considered a standard component of online advertising. ALSO READ: Facebook to introduce Clear History privacy tool in coming months Indian officials familiar with the line of questioning and notices sent in the data leak matter have previously maintained that the shutting down of Cambridge will not impact its ongoing probe as the liability of the company existed prior to the closure announcement. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today said a final decision on issues concerning government employees, teachers and others would be taken on May 16 after discussions with the staff associations. Rao said this in a meeting with ministers and officials, a release from his office said. The Cabinet sub-committee, which held discussions with employees' associations and teachers' associations, submitted its report to Rao, it said. Rao asked state Finance Minister E Rajender,who heads the sub-committee, to hold talks with employees' associations of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) also and study the issues further. Rao said he, along with sub-committee members and officials, would meet leaders of the associations on May 16 from 3 PM to 4 PM and announce decisions on their issues at 4 PM. The issues of employees' associations include pay hike and otherwelfare measures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least five of a family, including two children, were killed and two others severely injured in a powerful explosion in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar city this morning, police said. The blast occurred inside a hotel near Bilal Town area of Peshawar. According to the police, the blast may have been caused by an explosive device or a gas leak. The blast occurred on the fourth floor of the hotel and all victims belonged to Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chief Capital City Police (CCPO) Qazi Jamil ur Rehman said, adding that fire engulfed the entire floor after the blast. He said security forces were looking for evidence to ascertain the cause of the blast. The Bomb Disposal Squad have also reached the spot, the CCPO added. The injured are rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital, where their condition was stated to be critical, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shares of Fortis Healthcare fell nearly 3 per cent today after the company announced that its board has picked the offer from Munjals-Burmans combine over four other suitors who made binding offers. The stock declined 2.66 per cent to close at Rs 148.40 on BSE. Intra-day, it slumped 4.39 per cent to Rs 145.75. At NSE, shares of the company fell 2.27 per cent to end at Rs 149.50. The company's market valuation fell by Rs 208.78 crore to Rs 7,697.22 crore. In terms of equity volume, 11.58 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over one crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day. The board of Fortis yesterday recommended the binding offer of the Munjals-Burmans combine to the shareholders after 18 months of hectic parleys with several potential investors for the sale of its business. The board decided by majority to recommend the revised offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office made on May 1 for an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share through preferential allotment, Fortis said in a late-night filing to BSE yesterday. The Munjals-Burmans combine further agreed to invest another Rs 1,000 crore via preferential issue of warrants priced at Rs 176 per share, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) France's finance minister says European countries should push back harder against the Trump administration over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as "vassals" to the US. Bruno Le Maire said today on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the "world's economic policeman." He wants European companies to be able to continue trade with Iran despite US President Donald Trump's decision this week to re-impose sanctions. Le Maire proposed creating a European body that would have the same kind of powers that the US Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. As a result of the new US sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk US fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar US companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt foreign companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran. "Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" Le Maire asked. "Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?" European and American companies could lose billions of dollars in commercial deals struck since the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord, and lose access to a major new export market. Trump argued that the 2015 deal, which allowed for the lifting of sanctions, wasn't tough enough on Iran. Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and auto manufacturers like France's Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit. Le Maire said France is pushing for exemptions for its companies, but that he has "no illusions" about a generous American response. Meanwhile, the US government tried to further pinch Iran's finances by disrupting a currency exchange network allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The Treasury Department said in a statement yesterday it took joint action with the United Arab Emirates against nine Iranian individuals and entities involved in the network, and threatened sanctions against any other companies that help those nine. European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet early next week to discuss their next steps. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the importance of protecting Israel's security but urged a "new path" of negotiations with Iran to calm tensions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Future Retail Ltd today said it has completed acquisition of Travel Services (India) by paying Rs 65.42 crore in cash to the latter's shareholders for the entire stake. Consequent to the acquisition of the entire share capital, TNSI became a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, Future Retail Ltd said in a filing to BSE. "By virtue of said acquisition, the subsidiary companies of TNSI---TNSI Retail Pvt Ltd (TNSI Retail) and Welcome Retail Pvt Ltd (WRPL)--have also became step down subsidiary/ies of the company," the filing said. WRPL is a joint venture of TNSI into which TNSI holds 51 per cent of the share capital. Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail had said in January that it will fully acquire TNSI in a Rs 100 crore deal, a move which would help the company to consolidate further its retail business. The acquisition will help Future Retail to expand its presence at airports, metro stations and universities where the majority of retail outlets of TNSI and TNSI Retail are operating, the company had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today claimed to have arrested a member of an inter-state gang allegedly involved in swapping original ATM cards with fake ones and withdrawing money from people's bank accounts in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. Dinesh Kumar was arrested yesterday by policemen dressed in civilian clothes who were deployed around the ATM machines in Samba, following many reports of frauds of similar nature in the last couple of months. Police also recovered 18 ATM cards of different banks from Kumar's possession. "The accused was arrested from a Punjab National Bank ATMnear Gas Agency, Samba, when he was trying to dupe one person, namely Kaka Ram, who went there to withdraw cash," a police official said. During questioning, Kumar disclosed the gang's modus operandi in which they offered help to customers in withdrawing money and then, after secretly noting their password, the gang fraudulently swapped the ATM cards of the customers with some other cards of the same colour and bank, the official said. "Later on, they used the ATM card to withdraw money from the accounts of the customers," he said. "A case has been registered against the accused in Samba police station under relevant sections," he said, adding that the police was on the lookout for other gang members. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sushil Modi led panel on incentivising digital payments under GST will carry out a detailed analysis of revenue implications on doling out concession in tax rate. It will also study "international best practices" on moving towards a less-cash economy. "The GoM will meet one more time as there are various issues which need to be discussed, including the benefits or losses to the exchequer," Modi told reporters here today. The Bihar Deputy Chief Minister further said that the Group of Ministers will meet again in 10 days and finalise its view, which would be put forth to the GST Council. "In the mean time the officials will collect some data on the revenue implication and the gains. Issues raised by various states will be taken into account," he said. To incentivise digital transaction, the GST Council had last week discussed giving a concession of 2 per cent in GST rate (where the tax rate is 3 per cent or more) to consumers making payment through cheque or digital mode. The discount would be capped at Rs 100 per transaction. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who had earlier voiced concerns on the proposal saying that the poor people will suffer because they still find cash as a viable mode for transaction, said that different views were discussed with regard to its short-comings relating to data and political economy. "We will have to go threadbare on each of the view points...may be some international studies as well to look at best practices elsewhere," Mitra said Set up on May 4, the GoM was tasked with submitting its report to the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, within 15 days. The five member GoM include Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Haryana Excise & Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Talking to reporters, Badal said that study would be done on countries like Korea and Brazil-- who have moved to a cash-less economy. Also there were discussions on whether the concessions in GST rate should be given while purchase of demerit or sin goods. There were discussions on whether there should be a negative list or a positive list of commodities which are evasion prone, Badal said. Jaitley, after the GST Council meet last week, had said that while most states were agreeable to the proposal of giving a concession in GST rate, some states wanted a small negative list. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today rejected the plea of Vikas Yadav, in jail for life for the murder of Nitish Katara, to be present in person during the hearing of his plea seeking furlough. Justice S P Garg denied the relief sought by Vikas saying there was no need for him to be present during hearing of his petition. Furlough is a right of a prison inmate to have leave for a certain period of time in a year when he can come out of jail. It is counted towards the total period of his sentence. The prison authorities may deny the relief in certain cases. The high court also agreed to hear on July 20 a separate plea moved by Katara's mother Neelam Katara alleging that Vishal Yadav, also serving jail term in the same case, and his brother Vivek lied to court in the plea for parole moved by Vishal. Vishal in his plea for parole, which was rejected by the high court on April 20, had sought the relief to sell a property to arrange funds for his family. Vivek had signed on the petition on behalf of his brother. Parole is also a temporary release from jail, but it is not a matter of right and is entirely subject to discretion of the prison authorities and the period outside does not count towards the duration of sentence. Neelam Katara, in her application, has contended that the property which he wanted to sell had been sold during pendency of his appeal in the high court against his conviction in the case by the trial court. She has sought action against Vishal and Vivek for perjury. On August 29, 2017, the Supreme Court had dismissed Vishal and Vikas' pleas seeking review of its verdict sending them to prison for 25 years. The apex court had also awarded a 20 year jail term to third convict Sukhdev Pehalwan in the case. The top court had earlier dismissed the appeals against their conviction in the case of kidnapping of Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002 before killing him for his alleged affair with Vikas Yadav's sister Bharti. Bharti is the daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav who is in jail in connection with a murder case. Katara was murdered as Vishal and Vikas Yadav did not approve of the victim's affair with Bharti because they belonged to different castes, the lower court had said in its verdict. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court has ordered registration of a police complaint against a private teacher training college in Puducherry for admitting students without affiliation. The court said the institute was commercialising and cheating poor students by admitting them, though its affiliation to the Pondicherry University had been cancelled in the previous academic year. Justice S M Subramanian directed the university to register the complaint against Usha Lachumanan College of in Thirukkanur while dismissing a miscellaneous petition by aggrieved students of the institute seeking permission to appear for university exams. He said by permitting the students to write the examination, the court cannot allow continuation of the illegality which had already crept in. Observing that the college had cheated the students as well as the society, the judge directed the police to investigate the matter and proceed with further action, and posted the main petition to June 11 for final hearing. The college had been adopting the tactic of getting an interim order and permitting students to write the examination and thereafter admitting the students in the next academic year. This way, it was commercialising and cheating poor students, the judge said. In their main petition, the students, admitted to B.Ed course in 2017-18 academic year, sought a direction to the university to permit them to continue and complete their course in the institute without any break or transfer them to any other approved institution affiliated to the varsity. The judge said the petitioners or all other similarly placed students were entitled to claim exemplary compensation from the institute. He said, "This court is of the strong opinion that it is a social concern wherein such institutions are functioning without any affiliation. Further, the competent authorities are also not initiating appropriate action against such institutions." Hence, there is a possibility of collusion between these officials in admitting the students even as the institute did not have any affiliation, the judge said, and noted that in spite of cancellation of affiliation to the college in 2016-17 itself, it had admitted the students in the next academic year. It had not only committed an illegality, but also an offence of collecting huge fees by cheating the students, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Decorated Maharastara IPS officer Himanshu Roy, who handled a number of high-profile cases including those related to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and IPL spot-fixing, would leave a deep impact on people with his dramatic moustache, rippling muscles, and a rich baritone, before cancer took its toll. The over six-feet tall officer was very particular about fitness and would attend Bollywood and social events regularly. He was a teetotaller and had a penchant for Hindustani classical music. The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer, who had been on leave since 2016, was undergoing treatment for cancer. He would have been 55 next month. The officer became the youngest SP of Nasik (rural) in 1995. Thereafter, he took charge as SP, Ahmednagar; DCP Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP Zone 1, and Commissioner of Police, Nasik. He was appointed Joint Commissioner of Police Mumbai in 2009 and is credited with setting up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell, the women's cell, and taking anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra. He had a number of crucial cases to his credit, including those related to the murders of journalist J Dey and Bollywood actor Laila Khan, the Kohinoor Mill rape case and the Goregaon diamond heist. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. Mumbai terror attack convict and Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death during Roy's tenure as Mumbai crime branch chief. Roy was an alumnus of St Xavier's College, Mumbai. He had also worked as a CA at Arthur Andersen, one of the best accounting firms in the world, before he cleared the UPSC examination and joined the IPS. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A teetotaller, fitness enthusiast and someone with a penchant for Hindustani classical music. This is how super cop Himanshu Roy would be remembered by those close to him. The Maharastara IPS officer, who allegedly committed suicide today "out of frustration" after a prolonged battle with cancer, handled several high-profile cases, including those related to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the IPL spot-fixing, in his nearly three-decades-long service. Over six-feet tall, having rippling muscles, a dramatic moustache, and a rich baritone, Roy stood out with his personality, but it all came apart when he was diagnosed with cancer. The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer was very particular about fitness and would attend Bollywood and social events regularly. He was a teetotaller and had a penchant for Hindustani classical music. Roy, who had been on leave since 2016, was undergoing treatment for cancer. He would have been 55 next month. Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said Roy took the extreme step "out of frustration" due to his illness. The officer became the youngest SP of Nasik (rural) in 1995. Thereafter, he took charge as SP, Ahmednagar; DCP Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP Zone 1, and Commissioner of Police, Nasik. He was appointed Joint Commissioner of Police Mumbai in 2009 and is credited with setting up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell, the women's cell, and taking anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra. He had a number of crucial cases to his credit, including those related to the murders of journalist J Dey and Bollywood actor Laila Khan, the Kohinoor Mill rape case and the Goregaon diamond heist. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is also credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. Mumbai terror attack convict and Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death during Roy's tenure as Mumbai crime branch chief. Roy was an alumnus of St Xavier's College, Mumbai. He had also worked as a CA at Arthur Andersen, one of the best accounting firms in the world, before he cleared the UPSC examination and joined the IPS. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today sought the response of the Delhi government on a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against labour department officials for allegedly failing to comply with the court's direction to register private placement agencies to check human trafficking. Justice V Kameswar Rao asked the Delhi government to file a compliance report and granted it eight weeks time while listing the matter for September 5. The court was hearing the contempt petition by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan alleging that there was a "complete wilful disobedience and non-compliance" of the court's September 30, 2014 order for regulating the functioning of placement agencies. Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, appearing for the NGO, contended that he contempt plea had been filed because the labour department had completely failed in implementing the executive order of September 25, 2014 for compulsory registration of private placement agencies providing domestic workers. The government had earlier said that all such unregistered firms would have to shut down after October 25, 2014. Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh told the bench the government was not treating the petition as an adversarial litigation, and they would place the bill regarding the issue before the legislative assembly in eight weeks. The high court had in its 2014 order, after taking note of the government's submission, asked it to implement the executive order passed on September 25, 2014 at the earliest. It had directed the government to follow its instructions in letter and spirit to check the problem of trafficking of girls. The NGO said in its plea that it seemed the executive order was passed by the government in an attempt to hoodwink the court in closing the proceedings before it and was only intended to remain on paper. "The non-compliance by the Delhi government is completely in the face of the human trafficking lobby that is increasing on an unprecedented scale under the comfortable and safe swaddle of unregulated placement agencies," it alleged. It claimed that non-implementation of the earlier directions of the court and the executive order of the government was fuelling a business that thrives on human trafficking by unregulated placement agencies across the national capital. "In the absence of a regulating framework, which acts as a deterrent, placement agencies specifically employ children because they are cheaper to employ and can be easily exploited. Consequently, the phenomenon of trafficking has spread its fangs far and wide into our system, affecting the most vulnerable members of our society i.e. children and women. "Being unregistered, these placement agencies are outside the net of the authorities concerned and hence, are not answerable to anyone unless apprehended," the plea said. The NGO has sought directions to the secretary-cum-labour commissioner and chief inspector, shops and establishments of the government, to compulsorily register all placement agencies within eight weeks, and take action against the unregistered ones. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, has been ranked 4thamong the IITs in the 2018 Times Higher (THE) Emerging Economies Universities Rankings, one of the world's influential university rankings. IIT-Roorkee has also been ranked 5th among all national universities/institutes, coming next only to Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur, an IIT-R press release said here. The overall ranking of IIT Roorkee has improved to 56th position from last year's 62nd, it said. Speaking about the performance of IIT Roorkee in the rankings, its Director Ajit K Chaturvedi said he was happy that the work of his colleagues and students was getting recognized globally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The is expected grow at eight per cent to $167 billion and hire over 100,000 people this year 2018, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday. "President NASSCOM @debjani_ghosh_ met me. We discussed issues pertaining to IT industry of India. She informed me that is set to grow at 8% to $167 Billion in 2018 offering direct to 3.97 million people, which is an addition of 105,000 employees over 2017," Prasad said on social media platform Twitter. President NASSCOM @debjani_ghosh_ met me. We discussed issues pertaining to IT industry of India.She informed me that Indian IT industry is set to grow at 8% to $167 Billion in 2018 offering direct jobs to 3.97 million people, which is an addition of 105,000 employees over 2017. pic.twitter.com/igztB1hZqZ Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) May 11, 2018 According to software services industry body Nasscom, the exports would be $137 billion in 2018-19 as against $126 billion in 2017-18. The industry is expecting to add 100,000 in 2018-19. The overall IT-BPO industry size would be adding $14-16 billion. At another event today, Debjani Ghosh and UK's Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Matt Hancock, launched the 4th edition of the India-UK TECH Rocketship Awards. The awards are designed to help Indian start-ups in the emerging technology field --artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security, fintech, med-tech and IoT in getting access to capital and a platform to go global via the UK. The winners will get a week-long sponsored trip to the UK exposing them to prospective business partners, investors, and incubators during the London Tech Week 2019. The winners from last year will travel this year and the winners from this year will be travelling next year. An Indian journalist charged with an aggravated people smuggling offence by Australian authorities for facilitating the travel of a "fake media contingent" to attend the Commonwealth Games will stay in custody for six more weeks, a media report said today. Rakesh Kumar Sharma, 46, was detained along with eight others by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at the Brisbane Airport in March because his companions' accreditations were not genuine. The Commonwealth Games were held on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane from April 4-15. The eight, aged between 20 and 37, were allegedly holding temporary activity visas and claiming to be accredited media representatives, Brisbane Times reported. Sharma is described in court documentation as a journalist. Prosecutors claim his accreditation was genuine but he "facilitated" the group's travel, the report said. Sharma, who is from Haryana, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court and charged with an aggravated people smuggling offence, which carries a minimum five-year sentence if convicted. The charge applies to anyone accused of smuggling five or more people and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Sharma is also accused of causing "false or forged" documents to be presented on behalf of his eight fellow travellers in relation to a visa application, between December 2017 and March this year. Legal Aid solicitor Axel Beard used Google Translate to communicate with the accused as he stood in the dock during the first brief hearing. Sharma was remanded in custody in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, with his matter adjourned to June 22 at the request of commonwealth prosecutors. In another blow to his legal cause, he will no longer be represented by private law firm Legal Guru after failing to satisfy the terms of his retainer. He will instead by represented by Legal Aid. His case has been delayed as Australian Federal Police continue preparing their brief of evidence, with time being taken to examine a laptop and nine mobile phones. The ABF confirmed the other eight had been taken into immigration detention. Local authorities had been tipped off by officials in Bangkok that the group might not be genuine, the ABF had said in a statement describing the group as a "fake media contingent". All nine people were found to be carrying 'false or forged' documents. Australian Border Force Queensland regional commander Terry Price said any attempts to exploit the Commonwealth Games and Australia's visa program would not be tolerated. "Anyone wishing to enter Australia, including athletes, team officials, spectators and the media, must hold a valid visa and accreditation and must be deemed to be a legitimate visitor," he said in a statement. Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation chairman Peter Beattie had said there was no concern despite the security scare. "There should be no issue in relation to security at these Commonwealth Games. None at all," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian Navy ship has been deployed to undertake joint surveillance of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Maldives, seen as a move to improve bilateral relationship between the two countries which nose-dived after imposition of emergency in the island nation. The Indian Navy said its ship Sumedha, a naval offshore patrol vessel has been deployed to undertake the joint surveillance of EEZ of Maldives from May 9 to 17. It "is an endeavour of the Government of India and the Indian Navy to ensure the safety and security of the vast EEZ of the island nation," the Navy said. It said the deployment has been made under its new 'Mission Based Deployments', a new plan for deployment of warships in the Indian Ocean region. In February, Maldives had declined India's invitation to participate in the eight-day mega naval exercise -- Milan -- from March 6-13. Ties between India and Maldives nose-dived after Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen declared emergency on February 5 following an order by the country's Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. On February 21, India had reacted strongly over the extension of emergency by a month. The emergency was lifted 45 days later. The Navy said INS Sumedha would undertake an Operational Turnaround (OTR) at Male from May 11 to 12 during which Navy personnel on board the ship would interact and impart training to Maldives' National Defence Forces (MNDF) personnel. The Indian Navy said Sumedha would also embark MNDF personnel onboard and undertake joint EEZ surveillance of Maldives from May 12 to 15. Two officers and eight sailors of the Indian Navy's Marine Commando (MARCO) cadre are currently conducting the second Asymmetric Warfare Training Exercise 'Ekatha 2018' at Maldives, from Apr 28 to May 15. The exercise is taking place at Composite Training Centre, Maafilhafushi, which is about 145 km north of Male. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of Indonesian Muslims have staged a rally protesting President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. About 5,000 people flocked to Jakarta's landmark National Monument and unfurled Indonesian and Palestinian flags. On Monday, the US plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, five months after Trump recognized it as Israel's capital. Palestinians also claim it as their capital. The protest was organised by a new umbrella group that includes the most influential government-sanctioned Indonesian Ulema Council and some hard-line activists as well. The protesters performed Friday prayers at the monument before dispersing. Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has strongly condemned Trump's move, which he described as a violation of UN resolutions. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission today cleared the appointment of Inspector Hardeep Singh as new SHO of Mehatpur, replacing Inspector Parminder Singh Bajwa, who was arrested by the Jalandhar police for allegedly assaulting and obstructing an on-duty government official. The office of chief electoral officer, Punjab, cleared the appointment of Singh, station house officer, Maloud under Ludhiana Police Range, as the new SHO, an official statement said here. Mehatpur SHO Bajwa, who had booked the Congress's Shahkot Assembly bypoll candidate in an illegal sand mining case recently, was arrested by the Jalandhar police today for allegedly assaulting and obstructing an on-duty government official. The Congress nominee for the May 28 by-election, Hardev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, among others, was booked for alleged illegal sand mining in different villages of Jalandhar district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vowing to severely hurt those trying to attack Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Iran crossed a red line", forcing his army to strike its bases in Syria. Israeli Army and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed that the overnight clash, the largest-ever direct clash between the Iranian and Israeli armies, was a setback to Iran's military capabilities by "many months". The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the operation was in retaliation to Iran attacking Israel's northern region with a barrage of rockets. The army said four of the 20 rockets fired on Israel were intercepted by the iron dome anti-missile system and 16 fell within Syrian territory. "Iran crossed a red line. We responded accordingly. The IDF carried out a very wide-ranging attack against Iranian targets in Syria," Netanyahu said in a statement. "No rocket landed in Israeli territory and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria", the Israeli prime minister asserted. Israel had been bracing for a possible Iranian "revenge" attack after the Islamic Republic accused the Jewish state of having attacked one of its bases in Syria on April 9 in which nine Iranian commanders were said to have been killed. Tehran accused Israel of having carried out the attack but Israel, as per its known policy, did not accept or deny any responsibility. On the other hand, Israel has been constantly stressing that it will take all necessary steps to prevent Iran from setting up "forward bases" in Syria to be used to attack the Jewish state. "Yesterday I delivered a clear message to the Assad regime: Our action is directed against Iranian targets in Syria. However, if the Syrian military acts against us, we will act against it. This is exactly what happened yesterday Syrian military batteries fired surface-to-air missiles against us and, therefore, we attacked them," Netanyahu said. The IDF "suffered no casualties", either on the ground or in the air, and that no rockets fired from Syria made any impact in Israeli territory, a spokesman said, adding that "all of our planes returned home safely". As tensions escalated, especially in its northern region bordering Syria, the Israeli Premier called upon the international community to prevent "the Iranian Al-Quds force from establishing itself in Syria". "We need to unite in order to cut off its spreading tentacles of evil there and everywhere," he said. "I repeat: Whoever hurts us we will hurt them sevenfold, and whoever is preparing to hurt us we will act to hit them first. This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do," Netanyahu said in the statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman today urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria. "I shall take advantage of this opportunity to send a message to Assad: throw the Iranians out," a defence ministry statement quoted Lieberman as saying during a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. "They are not helping you," he said. "They only do harm and their presence brings only damage and problems." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early yesterday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iranian forces into the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that Israel's bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence". Israel carried out the raids after it said Iran's Al-Quds force fired 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, at its forces in the Golan. It has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assad's regime in the country's seven-year civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of operations in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man today during a seventh week of protests on the Gaza border, the health ministry in the enclave said. He was the 53rd Palestinian killed since protests began on March 30 calling for Palestinians to be able to return to the homes they fled in 1948, which are now inside Israel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Income Tax department today filed four charge sheets against former Union finance ministerP Chidambaram's wife Nalini, son Karti, daughter-in-law Srinidhi and a firm under the Black Money Act for allegedly not disclosing their foreign assets. The charge sheets or prosecution complaints have been filed by the department before a special court in Chennai under Section 50 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, officials said. Nalini Chidambaram, Karti and Srinidhi and a firm linked to Karti have been charged for allegedly not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Barton, Cambridge in the UK worthRs 5.37 crore, property worth Rs 80 lakh in the same country and assets worth Rs 3.28 crore in the US, they said. The charge sheets claimed that the Chidambarams as also the firm in which Karti is one of the Directors-- Chess Global Advisory-- "did not disclose" these investments to the tax authority in violation of the black money law. The Chidambarams and the firm, on April 27, had sent four separate replies to the specified Income Tax department authority in Chennai stating that they had not defaulted in disclosing these assets to the taxman, and in certain cases they had revised their Income Tax returns to reflect the said overseas properties. "Omission, if any, in the original return under Section 139(1) was corrected in the revised return underSection 139(5) of the Income-tax Act. The original return and the revised return were filed on the advice of her Chartered Accountant," the reply by Karti's wife Srinidhi said. All the four, including the firm, in more or less similar replies, told the department that there was "no failure to disclose any information about the foreign assets, and certainly no wilful failure to disclose any information." "On the facts of the present case, it would be totally unreasonable and perverse to conclude there has been any wilful failure to disclose any information about the foreign assets. Hence, the present show causenotice deserves to be dropped," they had said. The case pertains to the assessment year 2016-17. The charge sheets are expected to be taken up by the court on June 11. The black money law was brought by the Modi government in 2015 as part of its drive to prosecute Indians who have stashed illicit wealth abroad. The department had also recently issued notices to Karti and his family members in the case which they had challenged before the Madras High Court. Karti had refused to join the probe stating that he had already submitted the details of the assets and related transactions undertaken last year to another tax authority, and that "parallel proceedings" cannot take place against an individual under the same law. The writ petition was later quashed by the high court. Officials said the charge sheet has been filed as the investigation of the case had reached its "logical conclusion" and thus it could be presented before the court. The income tax department had slapped the Black Money Act on Karti last year after it found that assets created by him abroad were in alleged violation of law. The new anti-black money law deals with cases of overseas illegal assets, which till recently were probed under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The new legislation has provisions for a steep 120 per cent tax and penalty on undisclosed foreign assets and income, besides carrying a jail term of up to 10 years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jharkhand High Court today granted six-week provisional bail to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad on medical ground after hearing all the three fodder scam cases in which he is convicted. The bail, granted by Justice Apresh Kumar Singh, would be effective from the day he is released from jail. He will have to report back on May 14 after completion of the parole to file bail bond and then he will be released, Prasad's advocate Prabhat Kumar said. The RJD chief flew to Patna last evening after he was granted a three-day parole to attend his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's marriage on Saturday. On April 20, the high court had sought medical reports to hear the provisional bail petition on medical ground filed by Prasad in connection with fodder scam cases. The court had sought AIIMS report and asked the CBI to file a counter affidavit. Prasad went to AIIMS for treatment and came back to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences on May 1. Advocate Kumar said they had filed for provisional bail in all the three cases -- Chaibasa, Dumka and Deoghar treasuries -- and the court gave relief. Justice Singh had on February 23 rejected the bail petition of Prasad in connection with illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deogarh treasury during the 1990s. Prasad has been in jail from December 23 after being convicted in the Deoghar treasury case for three-and-a-half years before being convicted in the Chaibasa Treasury case (five years) and the Dumka Treasury case (14 years). The over Rs 900 crore fodder scam cases are related to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasury by the Animal Husbandry department in undivided Bihar in the 1990s when RJD was in government and Prasad the chief minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two local governments have appealed to Japan's top court, challenging rulings that awarded millions of dollars in compensation to families whose children were swept out to sea in a 2011 tsunami. In late April, the Sendai High Court upheld a district court judgement ordering the two local governments to pay a combined 1.43 billion yen (USD 13.7 million) to families of 23 children who were killed in the disaster. The victims, from the public Okawa Elementary School in the city of Ishinomaki, were among a total of 74 children who perished in rising waters after being told to wait for more than 40 minutes in school grounds with teachers, 10 of whom also died. Yesterday, the local governments appealed against the latest compensation ruling before the Supreme Court, an official with Ishinomaki city's education board told AFP. "It's nearly impossible for the principal and other teachers, who are not anti-disaster experts, to predict a tsunami," Masato Chiba said. The plaintiffs argue that their children would have survived if they had been evacuated in time. Hiroyuki Konno, who lost a 12-year-old son and represents the plaintiffs, voiced disappointment at the appeal, telling public broadcaster NHK: "I want the Supreme Court to make a judgement that can protect the lives of children in the future." A massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011, sent a giant tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeastern coast, leaving about 18,500 people dead or missing, and sending three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. It was Japan's worst postwar disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid a row over Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait at the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), local MP Savitri Bai Phule has termed the founder of a 'mahapurush' (great personality), causing embarrassment to her party. "All the 'mahapurush' who had contributed to the freedom struggle, irrespective of their caste or community, need to be respected," the MP told newspersons here last night when asked to comment on the Jinnah controversy in AMU. Asked if Jinnah was a 'mahapurush', she replied, "He was, is, and will always remain a great person." "The portrait of such a 'mahapurush', wherever it is required, should be installed with respect... Jinnah is respected from the times of freedom struggle... His portrait is installed in the Lok Sabha... His name should be taken with respect," she said. The MP said that the Jinnah controversy was being raked up in order to divert attention from the real issues of 'bahujan samaj' of poverty, starvation, etc. Her own party colleague and MP from Aligarh, Satish Gautam, had earlier written a letter to AMU vice-chancellor seeking an explanation as to why Jinnah's portrait continues to adorn the walls of the university, triggering a massive controversy. UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya had a few days ago said Jinnah was a great leader and demanded that Gautam be expelled from the However, he had later denied making any such remarks. To a question on Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader Om Prakash Rajbhar's statements that backward people were being neglected, she said she too had felt the same way. Phule had earlier raised questions on BJP leaders dining at the houses of Dalits. Indian actors Kangana Ranaut and Deepika Padukone won the hearts of many at the French Riviera as they walked down the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Deepika, who is coming to the famed festival for the second time, wore a white gown with a flowy cape and intricate work by designer Zuhair Murad. With side swept hair, the "Padmaavat" star opted for minimalistic make-up. "Ready to rock and roll... #Cannes2018 @zuhairmuradofficial," she wrote on her Instagram page. The actor walked the red carpet for the cosmetic brand she endorses. During the day, Deepika opted for three different looks. Kangana, who made her Cannes red carpet debut, also opted for a pastel gown from the Lebanese designer. The "Queen" star lived upto her reputation of a fashionista as she descended on the red carpet in a dull grey sheer embroidered and backless gown. Kangana also opted for minimalistic make-up coupled with hair bun and accessories. Earlier, she also made an appearance at the Indian Pavilion in a sultry, sequinned black saree from designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee with white pearl jewellery. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will walk the Cannes red carpet on May 12 and 13, while newly-married actor Sonam Kapoor will descend on the red carpet on May 14 to May 15. Actor Huma Qureshi is also attending festival and made her red carpet appearance in a beige pantsuit from designer by Nikhil Thampi. Qureshi met Hollywood star Lupita Nyong'o at the festival and also posted a photo with the "Black Panther" star on Instagram. "It's always great to bump into strong inspiring women.. So nice to meet the beautiful and uber talented Lupita Nyong'o," she wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala government today said it would submit a memorandum to the 15th Finance Commission against the present Terms of Reference, as it was against the state's interests and a threat to it's economy. Addressing an all-party meeting, convened to evolve ways toamend the ToR in favour of the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state would incur heavy financial loss if the ToR was implemented in the present form. The Chief Minister demanded that tax revenue for states be increased to 50 per cent from the existing 42 per cent and added that Kerala would also place this demand before the Commission. "The ToR has recommendedusing the 2011 census to calculate population for allocation of central tax revenue in place of the 1971 census. If such was the case, we will demand that the state's share not be reduced, considering it's achievements in the field of population control," he said. Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said the state's tax share would come down to 1.8 per cent from the present 2.5 per cent if the 2011 census was taken as the base for allocation of central tax revenue. Representatives of political parties extended full support to the state government for submitting a memorandum to the Commission, highlighting the 'adverse' affect of ToR. The Commission will arrive in Kerala on May 28 and hold discussions with political parties. The Commission would meet government representatives on May 29 and also visit different institutions at Thrissur on May 30, an official release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the people of the state not to panic over the carcass meat scandal, and said strict action would be taken against the culprits. "We have already formed a high-powered committee. I have asked the police to take stern action against the culprits involved in the scam," Banerjee said, during an interview to a Bengali TV Channel 'Zee 24 Ghanta'. The alarm over the carcass meat racket in West Bengal prompted the state government to form the high-powered committee for keeping a check on such malpractices. An eight-member committee, headed by chief secretary Malay De, will devise a mechanism to deal with the issue, the CM had said earlier in the week. The police recently busted the racket involved in supplying decomposed meat from dumping grounds to restaurants in and around the city. Meanwhile, the West Bengal CID today arrested one person for his alleged involvement in the racket, and seized nearly six tonnes of meat from a cold storage here, a senior official of the agency said. With the latest arrest, a total of 12 people have been held in connection with the scandal, including a leader of a political outfit. Acting on a tip-off, the SIT formed by the CID to look into the case, nabbed the man from the Belaghata area this morning, and upon questioning, learnt about the cold storage on Canal West Road. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sri Lankan Army has set up a special international directorate tasked with countering allegations of war crimes, Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake has said. The directorate which was set up last month would collate relevant information to defend the Army in its conduct during the final phase of the military conflict with the LTTE. Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE were both accused of committing war crimes. Sri Lanka faced severe international condemnation with UN Human Rights Council passing resolutions to hold the country's government accountable for war crimes. The UN rights body has prescribed an international investigation into the alleged war crimes. "We (the Army) have to have our own unit to counter these charges. We are keen to clear our name," Senanayake said. "A few may have committed crimes but the whole Army cannot be blamed," he said. He dismissed the claim that 40,000 people had been killed in the final phase which ended nine years ago in 2009. Senanayake said the new unit would also supervise the vetting of soldiers who serve as UN peace keepers. The soldiers serving as UN peace keepers have faced sexual abuse charges in recent times. The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission last month in a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena found fault with the Army for non-cooperation with them for screening soldiers for human rights conduct before being sent as UN peace keepers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior bureaucrat Lok Ranjan, who is the central government's nominee on the board of ICICI Bank, has been transferred to the Personnel Ministry. His transfer comes a month after he was appointed on the board of the bank whose Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest in sanctioning of loan to Videocon group. Ranjan, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Tripura cadre, is at present joint secretary in the Department of Financial Services. He has been appointed as joint secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, according to an official order issued yesterday, without citing further details. Ranjan was appointed the government's nominee of the bank, effective April 5, 2018, according to the ICICI Bank's website. The bureaucrat had on Monday skipped board meeting of the ICICI Bank. The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry against Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, and unidentified others. The probe agency had questioned a few ICICI Bank officials as part of its enquiry to find out if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank issuing a Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon group in 2012. The CBI had last month questioned Rajeev Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law in connection with its enquiry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself here today, police said. The 1988-batch IPS officer allegedly shot himself at his residence with his service revolver, he said. Roy, who also served as Additional Director General of Police (Establishment), was rushed to Bombay Hospital, where he was declared dead. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra government today signed an MoU with the Centres Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council to train state PWD officials to rate government buildings. A state government release issued today said that Maharashtra was the first state to sign such an MoU. As per the agreement signed today, the GRIHA Council, a green rating body under the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, would train PWD's civil and electrical engineers and architects to rate government buildings as per its parameters, an official statement said. PWD minister Chandrakant Patil said the aim was to encourage environment-friendly buildings. In January this year, the state government and the GRIHA Council had signed a MoU to construct government complexes as green buildings which would minimise the use of electricity while optimising the use of natural light and non-conventional energy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood star-actor Manoj Bajpayee, who was last seen on the Croisette in 2012 when Anurag Kashyap's rambunctious two-part period gangster thriller premiered in Directors' Fortnight, marked his presence on the sidelines of the 71st Cannes Film Festival for the first-look launch of Devashish Makhija's politically inflected drama "Bhonsle". The film, coming in the wake of the lauded short "Taandav" and the dark, disturbing rape-themed drama "Ajji", is Makhija's take on the vulnerability of north Indian migrants in the city of Mumbai. It has the makings of another milestone in Bajpayee's much-feted screen acting career. "It is pointless choosing a film of the kind that one has done before especially in the independent cinema space. There is absolutely no challenge in it," the actor told PTI, explaining why he was drawn to the world of "Bhonsle". The upcoming film hinges principally on an "undefined relationship" that develops between a retired, terminally ill policeman "who is running away from his loneliness" and a migrant woman who comes to live in his neighbourhood and faces grave threats to her well-being. The project germinated four-and-a-half years ago. However, the politically sensitive theme of the film scared away prospective producers "when we went around pitching the idea in the industry", Bajpayee said. So the only alternative was to find several individual producers who would put in small inputs so as to minimise the risk. "The team that eventually emerged is of people who believe in the film completely," said the lead actor who has, on his own part, frequently lent his weight as a star to adventurous movie projects. What is "Bhonsle" seeking in Cannes? "This is a great platform from where we can let the world know about the film," Bajpayee replied. The film is in the final stages of post-production and its producers are in Cannes to explore sales and marketing prospects. Bajpayee, who played key roles in recent Bollywood biggies like "Aiyaary" and "Baaghi 2" and has just wrapped up the shoot of the John Abraham-starrer "Satyameva Jayate", sees his buzzy off-mainstream outings as an opportunity to boost his profile on the international festival circuit. Roles in independent Hindi films have lately seen him don the guise of a gay university professor immersed in his own world of poetry, Lata Mangeshkar and two pegs of whisky a day ("Aligarh"); of an Old Delhi man with a tormented childhood ("Gali Guliyan"); and a father/husband who feels that he has failed his family ("Rukh"). None of these roles was a cakewalk. "What other characters could have thrown such challenges at an actor. These were demanding yet rewarding roles that called for a great deal of preparation, introspection and questioning. Each helped the actor in me get in touch with newer facets of the craft," Bajpayee said in response to a question about his penchant for complex, conflicted characters in independent cinema. Asked whether he believes that an actor of his calibre now has more openings than when he started out nearly a quarter-century ago, he said, "You are talking to a person who fought to create this space. After 'Satya', I could have opted to play villains in many films with big Bollywood stars. But I chose to sit at home and bide my time. I waited for the tide to turn." Wouldn't he be keen to make global moves as an actor? Bajpayee replied, "At least one film of mine each year has been travelling across festivals." So, as he himself suggests, there is reason to believe that his visibility is on the upswing beyond the shores of India. "Bhonsle" is another step in that direction and the Cannes market just the right pit-stop. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The army and Assam police arrested the leader of the militant outfit Karbi Peoples Liberation Tigers (KPLT) and seized a huge quantity of M16 ammunition during a joint operation in Karbi Anglong district, said a senior police official today. The rebel was identified as Sing Timung alias Binong Timung alias Songriso Tungjang who was the acting chairman of the outfit when its chairman Donri Kramsa was in jail, the district superintendent of police Siva Prasad Ganjala here. The Army's 12 Gorkha Rifles and police from Dokmoka jointly searched the courtyard of Timung's uncle's house at Belughat yesterday and found 301 bullets of M16 ammunition, Ganjala said. A case has been registered in Dokmoka police station under the Arms Act, the SP said. The KPLT is dedicated to forming an autonomous Karbi State out of Assam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armed men stabbed to death three persons, including two women, and injured another three people in Kasganj city in western Uttar Pradesh, police said today. The miscreants barged into the residence of Balwant Singh last night in Nabinagar area and tied his wife Champa Devi, daughter-in-law Maya Devi and another person identified as Ramdas to a bed and beat them with iron rods, police said. They then stabbed them persons to death. Another three people seriously injured in the incident have been admitted to a hospital, police said. Police said prima-facies it appears to be a case of loot or old enmity. An investigation is underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A year after it was handed over the probe, the CBI today told the Delhi High Court that the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed was only a "missing" person case as of now as it has "not found any evidence" to show that any crime was committed. The agency, which took over the case on May 16 last year, also told the high court that presently it does not have "an iota of evidence" to arrest or take any coercive action against the nine students who are suspects in the case of disappearance of Ahmed. The probe agency told a bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta that on an analysis of the data retrieved by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Chandigarh from six of the nine mobile phones of the suspect students, it has "not been able to find anything remotely connected to the allegations against them (the suspect students)". "We are (at this stage) not even sure if a crime has been committed," the lawyer for the CBI told the court. The agency said three of the phones could not be examined by its CFSL in Chandigarh as two were in damaged condition and the third had a 'pattern lock' which could not be unlocked. The CBI told the court that the three phones would be sent to its CFSL in Hyderabad where hopefully they can be examined. Taking note of the submission, the bench asked the CBI to send the phones expeditiously to the lab and directed the CFSL to examine the phones and give a report to the agency within one month of receiving the phones. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Ahmed's mother Fatima Nafees, said that information in the CBI status reports has to be provided or communicated to her and she cannot be excluded from it. He also sought directions to the CBI to pay Nafees Rs 10,000 for every hearing so that she can travel back and forth from her home in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi. Apart from that he also sought that the probe be monitored by the court or a retired high court judge who will minutely examine every detail of the investigation. He also asked the court to peruse the statements of the suspects recorded by the CBI to ascertain whether the agency questioned them about their movements after Ahmed disappeared on October 15, 2016 and compared their answers against the mobile phone location data. In response to the argument by Gonsalves, the CBI said the statements of the suspects will be placed before the court on the next date of hearing on July 12. The agency also said that it has done much more than questioning the suspect students about their movements and comparing it to their mobile phone location data. It said it has questioned 28 students and 25 security guards of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in connection with the disappearance of Ahmed, a student of M Sc Biotechnology. Apart from that, the agency said it has sought help of Interpol to issue a yellow notice, a global alert, for the missing student and has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any clue about him. The bench expressed its satisfaction with the probe, saying the agency's status reports were of "quality standards" as well as "distinct and different every time" and were "not a mechanical exercise". The court also said that the agency appeared to be making efforts to trace the missing student and it should not be pressured at this stage of the investigation. It, however, said that if it gets "one whiff" that the probe was being carried out in a casual manner, it will pull up the agency. The bench had earlier chided the CFSL in Chandigarh for its "laxity" in dealing with the examination of the nine mobile phones. The court was hearing a petition filed by Nafees seeking directions to the police to trace her son who went missing in October 2016. Ahmed had gone missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on October 15, 2016 following a scuffle with some other students, allegedly affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the previous night. The high court had on May 16 last year handed over to the CBI the investigation into the disappearance of Ahmed. His mother had moved the high court on November 25, 2017, seeking directions to the police to trace her son. However, as the Delhi Police remained clueless about his whereabouts even seven months after he went missing, the probe was handed over to the CBI on May 16 last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Scheduled Castes Alliance (NSCA) today accused the Narendra Modi government of being responsible for the "deteriorating and volatile" situation between the SC community and society and also the "crumbling" law-and-order in the country. The NSCA is a socio-political organisation championing the cause of the Scheduled Castes community in Punjab. "The Modi government is anti-Scheduled Caste, it only knows how to play the Dalit card," Paramjit Singh Kainth, the President of the NSCA, told reporters here. He alleged, "The Modi government is responsible for the deteriorating and volatile situation between the Scheduled Castes community and society and also the crumbling state of law and order in the country, especially in states with higher Scheduled Castes population." If the BJP government had acted swiftly or at least presented its case against the March 20 verdict of the Supreme Court diluting stringent provisions mandating immediate arrest under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act with vigour and interest, the situation would not had been so grim and unruly, Kainth said. "Our protests will start from May 18 and will continue regularly," he said. Questioning the intention of the Centre regarding proper implementation of schemes related to welfare of Scheduled Caste community, Kainth accused the Punjab government of being inefficient and unable to implement post-matric scholarship, Scheduled Castes sub-plan and stand up India schemes. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of Punjab Aam Aadmi Party, Palwinder Kaur Hareayu today resigned from the party alleging the party's lack of interest regarding the "plight" of Scheduled Caste community in Punjab. She said, "The AAP lacks any real motive and plan to work for the welfare of the SC community; this is one of their least concerned domains. There have been numerous instances of rape, assault, murder against the SC women in the state but no one from any of the political parties has been raising their voices against it except the National Scheduled Castes Alliance". "I decided to join the NSCA to raise our voices against the injustice and discrimination met with by the Scheduled Caste Community," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli today jointly laid the foundation stone of the 900-megawatt Arun III Hydroelectric Power Plant in Tumlingtar area in eastern Nepal through a remote system here. The project is expected to bring in USD 1.5 billion foreign direct investment into Nepal and create jobs for thousands of people. Investment Board Nepal (IBN) recently granted the licence to Satluj Jala Vodyut Nigam Power Development Company, a subsidiary of Indian government-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, to generate power from the Arun-III Hydropower Project, nearly 500-km from Kathmandu. The permit was granted in line with the decision of the 30th meeting of IBN's board of directors chaired by Prime Minister Oli on April 28, according to an IBN official. Arun-III is the largest capacity project in the history of hydroelectricity that is scheduled to be constructed within the next five years. Nepal is currently facing shortage of power and the production of hydropower from the project will mainly serve its domestic demands. The Nepal government will receive benefits worth Nepali Rupees 348 billion from the project as royalty, income tax, customs tariff and free energy in the concession period of 25 years. The project will also provide 21.9 per cent or 197 megawatts of the generated energy free of cost to Nepal. Last month, the compound wall of the Arun-III plant's office in Tumlingtar area was damaged in the explosion, weeks before its inauguration. India had asked Nepal to investigate the explosion that caused minor damaged to the office. However, no one was injured in the blast. Following the incident, security was stepped up in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The political temperature in Madhya Pradesh has soared ahead of the Assembly polls as the Congress and the BJP trade barbs against each other over videos targeting Congress' leaders. Early this week newly-appointed Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath had dubbed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan "nalayak" (unworthy) at a press conference. "Some of my friends are 'layak' (worthy), while some of them are 'nalayak' (unworthy)," Nath said when asked about his friendship with the BJP chief minister. Chouhan, reacting to Nath's jibe, said he was unworthy because he had worked for the people of the state and he listed the welfare schemes launched by the BJP government. Chouhan also referred to his decision to regularise illegal colonies in the state, thereby providing relief to a large number of people. Meanwhile, a video, inspired by TV serial Ramayan, surfaced on social media, depicting Chouhan as Angad, a character from the sacred epic. The clip shows Nath and two other Congress leaders, Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, trying to lift Angad (Chouhan). The video came in the wake of BJP president Amit Shah's recent statement at a function where he had said the Congress could not unseat Chouhan as he stands his ground firmly like Angad. The BJP distanced itself from the video, while the Congress filed a complaint. "We have filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell of the Madhya Pradesh Police demanding registration of cases against BJP leaders under relevant sections of the IT Act for morphing pictures of Congress leaders in a derogatory manner," party leader JP Dhanopia told PTI. "We have named the state BJP's IT Cell in-charge Shivraj Singh Dabi, state BJP president Rakesh Singh and the chief minister as accused in the complaint," Dhanopia said. Soon a second video surfaced on social media, mocking senior Congress leaders with the popular Bollywood song 'All is Well,' from the movie '3 Idiots', playing in the background. Dhanopia has filed a separate complaint with the Cyber Cell over the second video. The video shows morphed pictures of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Nath, Digvijay Singh, Scindia and Ajay Singh. Dhanopia, who has named Mumbai BJP spokesman Suresh Nakuwa in the second complaint, said the video damaged the reputation of party leaders. State Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya also took potshots at Nath (71), calling him a 'bujurg' (old man). Speaking in Indore, Malaiya, who himself is 71-years-old, said it will be difficult for a "bujurg" like Nath to take on a young Chouhan (59) in the Assembly polls likely to held by the year-end. To counter the saffron outfit, state Congress chiefs media coordinator Narendra Saluja released a list of BJP ministers who are 65 and above. The list included the names of Gopal Bhargava (65), Kusum Mehdele (74) and Rustam Singh (73). State BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal said his party had nothing to do with the two videos which targeted Congress leaders. "The BJP has nothing to do with these comic videos. We are not aware who uploaded them. Anybody can post anything on social media," Agrawal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Garbage has started to pile up in different areas of Haryana raising a stink as a large number of municipal workers decided today to extend till May 14 their three-day strike across the state in support of their demands, including regularisation of contractual employees. Nearly 30,000 employees of over 80 municipal corporations, municipal committees and councils began a three-day strike on Wednesday, said Subhash Lamba, general secretary of Sarv Karamchari Sangh, an umbrella body representing various employees unions in the state. "Today, we decided to extend the strike till May 14 as the government is not willing to listen to our demands," he said. He said in such a scenario they were left with no option but to extend their strike. "We do not want to put common public to inconvenience as we know that garbage has started to pile up at different places and in this summer season this raises stink. But we are left with no other choice. The government is not listening and the ministers, who are elected public representatives, are not willing to talk to us. We have taken a decision to extend the strike till May 14, but if government does not engage in talks with us, we will be forced to extend the strike indefinitely," he said. Lamba said the main demands of the striking employees are regularisation of nearly 20,000 contractual employees and equal pay for equal work. "We are also demanding a hike in minimum pay of safai karamcharis from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month," he said. He said the BJP government in the state had failed to keep the promises made to the employees in its poll manifesto. The other major demands of the striking employees include implementation of cashless medical facilities for contractual employees, increasing allowances of both permanent and contractual employees, risk allowance and better safety equipment for those engaged in cleaning sewers. A large number of municipal employees also took out protest marches at different places in the state in support of their demands. He said that as a result of the civic employees going on strike, various services were affected in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rafael Nadal won his 50th consecutive set on clay on Thursday to break John McEnroe's 34-year record and beat Diego Schwartzman at the Madrid Open. Nadal's comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory moves him into the quarter-finals in the Spanish capital and means he sets a new Open era best for the longest streak of victorious sets on a single surface. McEnroe's 49-set winning streak on carpet in 1984 included him clinching the Madrid Indoor Open title and Nadal may well be about to follow suit. He will play Austria's Dominic Thiem on Friday for a place in the last four. Nadal had insisted before the match this latest milestone had barely crossed his mind but if nothing else, it is testament to the 31-year-old's relentless consistency over the past 12 months. The run includes tournament triumphs in Barcelona, Monte Carlo and last year's French Open, where he will be the clear favourite later this month to claim a 17th major crown. Schwartzman, ranked 16th in the world, briefly threatened a comeback on Manolo Santana court when he broke back at 4-3 in the second set. But the Argentinian double-faulted to give his opponent a second break in the very next game, as Nadal sealed a straight-forward victory in an hour and 44 minutes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amidst intense negotiation with Mexico and Canada on the North America Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trump today said that it is a "horrible, horrible disaster" for the US. The Trump administration is currently negotiating NAFTA with Mexico and Canada. "NAFTA has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country. And we'll see if we can make it reasonable," Trump told reporters during a meeting with major auto makers at the White House. "We will see what happens. We're negotiating NAFTA right now. I've never been a NAFTA fan. NAFTA has been a terrible deal for the United States and one of the worst trade deals in history," he said. "We have some bad deals in this country - between the Iran deal, NAFTA - Mary, we can look at any deal. Bad deals. But now we're going to good deals," he said in response to a question. NAFTA has been a terrible deal, he said. "We're renegotiating it now. We'll see what happens. Look they (Mexico and Canada) don't like to lose the golden goose, but I'm representing the United States. I'm not representing Mexico, and I'm not representing Canada," Trump added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today called on Peruvian President Martn Vizcarra and discussed trade, developmental cooperation, cultural links and multilateral issues. Naidu is in Peru for the last leg of his three-nation tour to Latin America. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet: "No better way to start a day! Vice President @MVenkaiahNaidu met President of Peru Martn Vizcarra. Leaders had a significant discussion on trade, developmental cooperation, cultural links and multilateral issues". The Vice President reached Peru from Panama where he addressed diplomats and students in Panama City and visited the strategic Panama Canal, the famous waterway through which five per cent of the global trade transits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top commanders of the Navy have finalised a plan to incorporate big data analytics and artificial intelligence into operational functioning of the force and have reviewed the new transition cycle to deploy ships from maintenance to operational spheres. A four-day conference of the commanders, which concluded today, also undertook a review of the Navy's 'Mission Based Deployments', a plan for deployment of warships in the Indian Ocean region which was made operational last year. "The review was aimed at maximising benefits accrued from the deployment of Indian Navy ships and aircraft to critical areas within the Indian Ocean Region," the Navy said. The commanders also deliberated on the security and hardening of naval data networks in keeping with contemporary cyber security practices, it said. It said measures such as information sharing with other navies as well as combining defence diplomacy initiatives such as bilateral exercises and port visits into these deployments are planned to be undertaken. The commanders also deliberated extensively on the Navy's modernisation plan. "The imperative need for approval of the second indigenous aircraft carrier for the Navy was also deliberated upon," the Navy said. The commanders also deliberated upon various long-pending projects including production of mine counter measure vessels (MCMVs), landing platform dock (LPD), anti-submarine shallow water craft, diving support vessels and survey vessels. On the force's plan in the cyber domain, it said, "In keeping with the Navy's ethos of harnessing niche technologies, concrete plans to incorporate big data analytics and artificial intelligence into the Navy's operational functioning have also been formulated." They also reviewed the Navy's new transition cycle to deploy ships from maintenance to operational spheres that allows for a focused and gradual transition of ships from periods of maintenance layoffs to full scale operations, thus reducing chances of any mishap. "This has resulted in considerable improvement in combat efficiency and crew proficiency of ships undergoing the new transition cycle. "The new transition cycle has also resulted in the overall improvement of operational logistics, spares management and forecasting, refit planning and expenditure management," the Navy said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Naxal leader was killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district today, an official said. Sevak Ram, a Naxal 'commander', was killed in an encounter with police in a forest near Ravandiggi village, a police official told Bhasha/ PTI over phone. A team of district police was patrolling the area after getting information about presence of Naxals under the Mainpur police station limits yesterday, he said. The team came under fire near Ravandiggi village today and retaliated, he said. Sevak Ram, the Naxal whose body was recovered from the spot after the rebels fled, was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, the police official added. He was involved in many incidents of violence including killings, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Along with laws, there is a need for active participation from various stakeholders to end child labour, Union Minister Santosh Gangwar said today and stressed that the government was working towards eliminating the menace. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment made the remarks during a 'National Consultation' on child rights held by NGO Kailash Satyrathi Children's Foundation (KSCF) here. "The day that child labour is history is approaching soon. Along with laws, we need active participation from different stakeholders to defeat the evil of child labour. We will work towards making this country child-friendly and child labour-free," Gangwar said, according to a statement. He also hailed KSCF's 'Bal Mitra Gram' (child-friendly village), an initiative to fight child rights abuse. "The Indian government extends its full support to the vision -- Bal Mitra Gram -- and I am proud to inform that this model of BMG is not just the best practice in India, but it is also an internationally recognised model," the minister told the gathering which included former Supreme Court Judge M K Sharma and Lok Sabha MP Ravi Prakash Verma. Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi called on lawmakers to take into consideration the views of children and ensure their participation during decision making, to make the country an "inclusive democracy". "Bal Mitra Gram (child-friendly village) is the first step towards my aim of making a child-friendly world. This means parents, teachers, communities and leaders should listen to and respect the voices of children and involve them in decision making," he said. "The soul of the child-friendly village lies in inculcation of caring and sharing, participation, democracy and leadership values among village children through the formation of Bal Panchayat," Satyarthi said. India, being the largest democracy of the world, is yet to learn "inclusive and participatory democratic practices", the child rights campaigner said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy as he announced a Rs 100 crore package to develop Janakpur - the sacred city for Hindus - while invoking mythological links between the two countries. Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground here, Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting "Jay Siya Ram" slogan three times. In a speech that invoked mythological references and symbolism, Modi said he has come to Janakpur not as the Prime Minister but as the chief pilgrim, amid applause. Modi, who is on his third visit to Nepal since assuming office in 2014, read out a verse from Ramcharitmanas which says 'one cannot remain isolated from the suffering of a friend and a true friend always helps his friend in the time of suffering.' "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," said Modi, whose voice appeared hoarse apparently due to his hectic campaign in Karnataka assembly elections. Modi assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy. He announced a Rs. 100 crore package for the development of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. The amount will be spent on different development projects forging collaboration between the central government and the local government of Province No. 2. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Modi, who earlier with his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya - the two sacred cities for Hindus, said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan Circuit. "This circuit will develop religious tourism. It also will strengthen connectivity between the two nations," Modi said. He also announced that two other circuits will also be developed for the promotion of the areas related to Buddhism and Jain religion in both Nepal and India, which will be instrumental in generating employment for the youths. Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport. He underlined the need for linking Nepal and India through highway, I- way or Information, Railway, Trans way or electric connectivity, waterway and airway. "We are also trying our best to connect Nepal with waterways so that Nepal will be able to export Nepali goods abroad. If done so Nepal will be able to reap benefits through international trade," Modi said. He said his long cherished dream to visit Janakpur has now been fulfilled with the grace of Goddess Sita. Modi, who earlier offered special prayers at the famed 20th century Janaki temple, invoked mythological King Janak of Mithila and King Dashratha of Ayodhya and said they not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but also united India and Nepal. "Nepal and India relations were started during the rule of King Janak in Treta Yuga and the bondage built by Sita during the period is still strong. It is this bondage which attracts people from Rameswaram to Pashupatinath, people from Lumbini to Bodhgaya and I was also attracted with the same bondage," he said. He said Nepal and India not only share border, aspirations, dreams and destination, but their happiness and challenge are also same. "Nepal is the land of great sages like Yagyavalkya, Astavakra, Gargi, who used to debate on theology and social issues in the palace of King Janak," he said, adding that Nepal has become the centre of spiritualism and philosophy. Modi said India will build a railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu to facilitate people-to-people contact and movement of goods. He also thanked Oli and said the honour he received in Janakpur is for the entire people of India. Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel welcomed Prime Minister Modi at the function. Modi was wearing a Maithili kurta gifted by Prime Minister Oli. "Nepal and India are tied together by common culture, civilization and history," Pokharel said. He expressed the confidence that the people to people relations between the two countries are being nurtured on the basis of brotherhood and equality. Mayor of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City Lal Kishro Shah read out felicitation letter in honour of Modi. He also handed over the symbolic key of Janakpur to Modi and gifted the picture of Janaki Temple as a token of love to him. Chief Minister of Province No. 2 Lal Babu Raut offered a huge garland weighing 121 kg to Modi on the occasion. Welcoming Modi, Chief Minister Raut said the "open borders between Nepal and India have been instrumental in connecting the peoples of the two countries." He stressed on the need for linking the peoples of the Janakpur and India by establishing connectivity through air route, railway line and roads. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as he announced a grant of Rs 100 crores to develop the sacred city of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," Modi said at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground here. Modi, who is on his third visit to the Himalayan nation since assuming the office in 2014, assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy. He said the two neighbours can work on 5Ts - Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport - to achieve progress and prosperity. Modi, who earlier offered special prayers at the famed 20th century Janaki temple, invoked mythological King Janak of Mithila and King Dashratha of Ayodhya and said they not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but also united India and Nepal. He also announced that India will grant Rs 100 crores to Nepal to develop Janakpur and its surrounding areas. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Modi, who initially spoke in Maithili, said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan Circuit. Prime Minister Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya - the two sacred cities for Hindus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A conglomeration of students' bodies of the seven states of the north eastern region today announced that they would launch a joint agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. "All the seven North Eastern states are united on this issue and will launch a joint agitation against the Bill. We are warning the prime minister not to impose the Bill on us," Advisor of NESO, Samujjal Bhattacharya, told reporters here. The Bill was unconstitutional and not acceptable as the identity of the indigenous people was at stake, he said adding that the region is not a dumping ground for Bangladeshis. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants belonging to six communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- eligible for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in the country. The Central government should also initiate bilateral dialogue with the Bangladesh government to ensure the deportation of Bangladeshis staying illegally in the region, Bhattacharya said. "The inner line permit system should be introduced in all the seven NE states, taking into consideration the local conditions," the advisor of the North East Students Organisation (NESO) added. A NESO delegation attended the Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting at Shillong yesterday on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and expressed its reservations against the Bill. The NESO comprises the All Arunachal Pradesh Student's Union, the All Assam Students' Union, the All Manipur Students' Union, the Naga Students' Federation, the Khasi Students' Union, the Garo Students' Union, the Mizo Zirlai Paul and the Twipura Students' Federation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A third year nursing student of a private hospital here allegedly committed suicide in the hospital premises leading to protests by her classmates and family members and alleged assault of police personnel who had tried to stop them, a senior police officer said today. Journalists of an electronic media house were allegedly assaulted by the private guards of the hospital when they went to cover the incident, he said adding that police were looking into the matter. The nursing student was found hanging from the ceiling of a room at the hospital's hostel late last night following which there was huge protests by classmates and her family members who held the hospital authorities responsible for her death and demanded action against it, a senior officer of Jadavpur police station said. The protests continued throughout the night following which there a scuffle between the police personnel and the protesters, he said adding that few police personnel were allegedly assaulted when they tried to stop the protesting students from entering the hospital premises. So far nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident, the police officer said. Probe is on into the incident, the police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vaccine to prevent swine flu has been administered free of cost to 54000 people in Maharashtra between January and May this year, Health Minister Deepak Sawant said today. During this year, between January and May, a total of 54,216 people have been given the swine flu vaccine, he said. In a statement issued here, Sawant said this number included 41,000 pregnant women and another 9,000 people suffering from diabetes and hypertension. The Health Minister said that Pune division had the highest number of vaccinations at 25,000 followed by Mumbai (12,000), Nagpur (4,000), Aurangabad (3,500) and Kolhapur (2,000). The statement added that there were 31 swine flu patients in the state currently and around 8,000 people were being tested for it daily. Last year, a total of 42,492 people were administered the swine flu vaccine, officials said. The programme was started in the state in 2015, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan was today given the additional charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, days after former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was disqualified by the high court here. Asif, 68, was disqualified by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) last month for concealing details of his UAE work permit while contesting polls in 2013. Dastgir Khan, 47, a PML-N federal lawmaker from Gujranwala, was assigned the additional charge of the foreign ministry by the federal government. Khan has served in several ministries during the incumbent government's tenure. He started off as the state minister for privatisation in 2013, but later the same year was moved to the commerce ministry. He soon took charge as the federal minister for commerce and continued to serve there until former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July 2017. Khan, the son of veteran politician Ghulam Dastgir Khan, then took charge of the defence ministry under Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Asif was given the foreign affairs portfolio. He will serve the ministries until the end of the government's tenure later this month. Asif was the second high ranking leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) who was removed after party chief and former prime minister Sharif was disqualified for corruption last year. Asif's disqualification is considered as another huge blow to the PML-N ahead of general elections scheduled to be held after June. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) on Friday imposed "reciprocal" restrictions on the movement of US diplomats after Washington took similar measures, a tit-for-tat move that is likely to further strain ties between the two countries. Earlier, the restriction was to come into effect from May 1, but was deferred as the two sides decided to resolve the issue. Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal confirmed yesterday that the two sides would impose curbs on movement of each other's diplomats. "The restrictions will be implemented from May 11 and on a reciprocal basis," he said, adding that "however, negotiations were going on between the two sides, on the matter." According to the US decision, Pakistani diplomats, at the embassy in Washington and four consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Texas and Chicago, will need to stay within 25 miles (40-kms) of the city of their posting. They would be required to take formal permission at least five day before moving beyond the prescribed limit. Official sources said that the US has conveyed to through a letter that the restrictions will be implemented today. The curbs are likely to further strain the ties already under stress due to multiple reasons, including the issue of immunity to US military attache Col Joseph Emanuel Hall who was involved in last month's fatal accident in which a motorcyclist had died after being hit by the US diplomat's vehicle here. has stopped Hall from leaving the country and demanded the US to withdraw his diplomatic immunity, so that legal action could be initiated against him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the famed 20th century Janaki temple in this Neplease town and offered special prayers. Modi, who arrived here today on a two-day state visit to Nepal, directly went to the Janaki temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Sita, from the airport. Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli welcomed his Indian counterpart upon his arival at the temple complex. Modi will spend around 45 minutes in the temple. Modi took part in the Shodasopachara Pooja at the Janaki temple, local media reported. Devotional bhajans of Sita and Ram was played during the 10-minute long prayer perperformed by Modi at the temple. Shodashopachara worship ceremony with sixteen ritualistic services including tantric mantra recitation is carried out only by special guests at the Janaki temple. During the ritual, the idol of Hindu Goddess Sita is worshipped and decorated with clothes and jewels. Visiting Indian Presidents Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Gyani Zail Singh and Pranab Mukherjee had peromed such prayers during their visits to Nepal, temple's priest Ramatpeshwar Das Vaishnav said. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to hold such a worship ceremony at the temple. Thousands of people have gathered in the Janaki temple premises to welcome Modi. Janaki temple has got a new look as the temple was cleaned up and decorated with lights. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Janaki temple was built in memory of Sita in 1910. The three-storied structure made entirely of stone and marble is 50-metre high and spread over 4860 sq feet. Later, Prime Minister Modi will be accorded a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground. Modi and Oli will jointly launch Ramayan Circuit to promote tourism in Nepal and India. Earlier, Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut received Prime Minister Modi at the airport upon his arrival. This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. Ahead of his visit, Modi said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. Describing his trip to Nepal as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy, Modi had said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised scientists and the leadership as India observed the 20th anniversary of the May 11, 1998 Pokhran - II nuclear tests on Friday. "We also remember with great pride, the skills of our scientists as well as the courage of our political leadership for the historic tests in May 1998," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted the PM as saying. In the era of technology and innovation, the youth should get acquainted with more aspects of technology, the prime minister was quoted as saying in another tweet. "Our Government is taking numerous steps to create an eco-system that furthers outstanding research, innovation and strides in technology ... on Technology Day, we salute our stupendous scientists and technology enthusiasts," he said. India had carried out five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran in the Thar desert in on May 11 and 13, 1998. A senior police officer was today suspended in connection with the recent alleged custodial death of a 26-year old man at Varapuzha in Kochi, police said. Then Ernakulam Rural Superintendent of Police A V George, transferred to the Thrissur Police Academy after the April 9 death of S R Sreejith, was suspended based on the report of a Special Investigation Team which found 'lapses' on his part, they said. The report was submitted today to the state police chief Loknath Behra today. Five police personnel -- a circle inspector, a sub-inspector and three members of the Rural Tiger Force (RTF), set up by George, have been arrested in connection with the death of Sreejith, which had triggered protests from different quarters in the state. Sreejith, who was taken into custody in connection with the death of a person, had died in a private hospital. His relatives alleged that he died due to custodial torture. Police have rejected the allegation saying Sreejith was suspected to have suffered injuries during a clash before he was taken into custody. Facing flak from the opposition, the Kerala government has constituted the SIT headed by IGP S Sreejith to probe the death. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy have been at loggerheads over various issues, with each taking a turn to criticise the other. However, Narayanasamy translating her speech at a function today came as a pleasant surprise to many. At the inaugural of the 53rd annual Kamban Vizha, a literary festival, Narayanasamy agreed to Bedi's request to translate her speech into Tamil. This left the scholars and delegates in attendance surprised. As soon as Bedi went up to the dais to speak, she wanted to ascertain how many people would be able to understand her speech as it would be in English. Education Minister R Kamalakannan initially volunteered to translate her address into Tamil. However, the lt governor expressed wish that "my chief minister should translate into Tamil what I say in English". Responding to her request, Narayanasamy came forward to translate. She, however, asked the chief minister in no uncertain terms that he should translate "only what I say". To this, Narayanasamy said he could not "guarantee it." Bedi said, "I trust you just for 10 minutes and it is only a temporary friendship." The chief minister, however, said he wished for a "permanent friendship" and began translating Bedi's speech. The former IPS officer, who highlighted the features of the 'Ramayana' and "Kamba Ramayana", said she was glad Narayanasamy "possesses good knowledge of not only Tamil but English, Hindi and French also." She expressed happiness that he came forward to translate her speech. "This versatility of Narayanasamy is his strength," she said to thunderous applause from audience. Recalling how her family had been zealously reading the Ramayana at home, Bedi said her mother was proficient in the knowledge of the epic. She suggested the Kamban Society's Puducherry chapter present cash awards to those proficient in reciting the epic ('Ramayana'). Bedi said the cash award totalling Rs 1 lakh be presented to those ably reciting the epic and this amount would be contributed equally by the lt governor and chief minister from their respective relief funds. Later asked whether she had buried the hatchet with the chief minister, Bedi told PTI, "I am for a mission and my concern is development of Puducherry and well-being of people and nothing else. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nobel laureate and noted economist Muhammad Yunus today called for imagining a system that creates wealth for everybody in the world. Yunus, who is the founder of Grameen Bank and known as the Father of Microfinance, said that 99 per cent of world's population owns only one per cent of the wealth and said wealth for everyone can be created through imagination. "In India the privileged one per cent is holding 73 per cent of wealth," he said after being honoured with the 11th KISS Humanitarian Award 2018 at a function held here. "You should imagine with the wildest imagination because only imagination brings change," said the eminent Bangladeshi economist in his acceptance speech. Prof Yunus is the second Nobel laureate to be conferred the award. Last year it was presented to the 14th Dalai Lama, a statement from KISS and KIIT said. The award was presented by Saswati Bal, President of KIIT and KISS and Achyuta Samanta, its founder before a host of dignitaries. Yunus said, "When Dr Samanta started KISS in the early 1990s, he didnt have anything but only imagination and dream. KISS is a dream he turned into reality. KISS and Grameen Bank are products of wild imaginations that were pursued relentlessly." Yunus was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with Grameen Bank - the microcredit organisation he created to provide loans to the poor in Bangladesh. His model of microcredit popularised by Grameen Bank has been successfully replicated in over 100 countries providing lifeline to millions of poor, mainly women, the statement said. Samanta in his speech said the Yunus Centre is in the process of signing an MoU with KISS for promoting social business, he said. KISS Humanitarian Award is an international award given to someone who has made exceptional contribution to the society in various fields relating to social issues and who has distinguished himself or herself as a true humanitarian, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mehatpur SHO Parminder Singh Bajwa, who had booked the Congress's Shahkot assembly bypoll candidate in an illegal sand mining case recently, was arrested by the Jalandhar police today for allegedly assaulting and obstructing an on-duty government official. The Congress nominee for the May 28 by-election, Hardev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, among others, was booked for alleged illegal sand mining in different villages of Jalandhar district. "He (Bajwa) has been arrested and an FIR registered against him. He pushed and assaulted an assistant sub-inspector-rank police officer during the frisking process at the court premises (in Jalandhar) thus preventing him from discharging his duty," Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, Praveen Kumar Sinha said. "He was carrying his licensed revolver at the time of being frisked and tried to conceal it before the on-duty police officer when he checked him," he said. Bajwa was arrested under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC, Sinha said, adding that he was also booked under relevant the provisions of the Arms Act. Earlier in the day, Bajwa had been taken into police custody, Sinha said. "Being a police officer himself, Bajwa knows the rules, but violated them," Sinha said over phone. Bajwa had gone to the district court to seek security for himself as he felt there was a threat "from unknown people", his counsel told reporters in Jalandhar. The SHO had earlier said he would not sign the case cancellation report of the FIR against MLA Laddi before the magistrate. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had earlier described the arbitrary registration of the FIR by the SHO against the Congress candidate as part of a political conspiracy. He had also accused him of being in touch with leaders of the opposition SAD and AAP. The Shahkot bypoll was necessitated following the death of MLA Ajit Singh Kohar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Punjab government today signed a pact with the UK for setting up of bio-gas and bio-CNG plants in the state. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Andrew Ayre, deputy high commissioner, British High Commission, as part of the state's efforts to find sustainable solutions to paddy straw burning, which has become a major environmental concern. Giving details, an official spokesperson said the MoU has been signed with Rika Biofuels Development Ltd UK by Punjab Bureau of Industrial Promotion (PBIP) and Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA). Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) will facilitate regulatory clearances and incentives by the state government. He said these plants will be based on a new patented anerobic digester concept and straw extruding technology. Rika plans to build in excess of 10 bio-CNG plants with a total investment of USD 100-150 million, creating up to 1,000 jobs across the whole operation and supply chain with the aim of having the first plant operational in 2019, he said. The capacity of each plant will be around 100 MT of paddy straw intake daily, he said. He said these projects would promote sustainable agriculture practices by stopping burning which severely damages the soil. The digestate/bio manure, which is rich in organic and inorganic matter, gives a perfect mix of nutrients that promotes long-term soil health and improves agricultural yield, he said. "The Government of Punjab will facilitate identification of land parcels in various locations of the state for setting up the plants and also ensure incentives and benefits as applicable for such plants under the State Industrial and Business Development Policy-2017," he said. Rika Biofuels is a specialist anaerobic digestion project developer, specialising in processing problem feed stocks, including high volume manures and agricultural wastes such as crop straws. Gregory Krupnikovs, Director of Rika Biofuels, said "We are very excited to be working with the Punjab government and look forward to developing these projects and helping the State of Punjab and India solve environmental problems arising from the burning of paddy straw. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the US decision to withdraw, the Kremlin said today. Putin has previously voiced "deep concern" over US President Donald Trump's decision and Russian officials have said they would work with European partners to preserve the agreement. "The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted," the Kremlin said in a statement following a call between Putin and Merkel. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkel's planned working visit to Russia next week, Moscow said. Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would "do everything" to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan, with the pair saying Trump was "wrong" to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source late yesterday. Ankara has been working closely with Moscow and Tehran over the past year on the Syrian peace process despite Turkey and Russia being on opposing sides of the conflict and having a sometimes troubled relationship with Iran. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Russia in the coming days as part of a diplomatic tour taking in Brussels and Beijing, his spokesman said today. Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. After long negotiations, Iran had agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court today issued production warrant for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's relative Vinay Bansal, arrested in connection with an alleged scam in the Public Works Department (PWD), after the Tihar jail authorities failed to produce him. The court took a stern view and directed the jail authorities to explain the absence of Bansal, a nephew of Kejriwal, who was sent to one-day judicial remand yesterday after he fainted in the court room and was rushed to nearby hospital. "The accused has not been produced by jail superintendent, Tihar jail. No intimation from the superintendent regarding his non-production. Production warrant be issued against the accused with a direction to the jail superintendent to explain non-production of the accused. The accused to be brought tomorrow," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Khanagwal said. Bansal, through his counsel B S Joon, also moved a bail application on the ground that all allegations were baseless and the FIR filed against him was false and frivolous. He said Bansal was currently in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital here. The application, which will be heard on May 14, also said he has been cooperating with the investigating agency since the FIR was lodged in May last year and never evaded the process of law. A duty magistrate had yesterday remanded Bansal to a day's judicial custody while refusing the Anti-Corruption Branch's plea seeking his three-day remand. In the court room packed with lawyers and mediapersons, Bansal had fainted during the hearing and a stretcher was brought to take him to the CAT ambulance stationed outside the court premises. The proceedings were halted for a few minutes. The probe agency had yesterday argued that custodial interrogation was necessary for digging out the true factual position in the case. Bansal, the son of Kejriwal's late brother-in-law Surender Bansal, was arrested yesterday by the ACB. Three FIRs, including one against a company run by the chief minister's brother-in-law Surender Bansal, were registered by the ACB in this case on May 9 last year. Three companies, including Renu Constructions (owned by Bansal, Kamal Singh and Pawan Kumar), were also named in the FIRs. In a complaint, Rahul Sharma, founder of NGO Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO), had alleged financial irregularities in building a drain in north-west Delhi and that Kejriwal and PWD minister Satyendra Jain misused their office for grant of contracts to Bansal. However, they were not named in the FIR. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Ramdas Athawale today said that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi would have to wait for "10 to 15 years" to become the country's Prime Minister. He said that there was, however, nothing wrong in nurturing such an ambition. "Rahul Gandhi has spoken about his Prime Ministerial ambitions. But I think he will have to wait for 10 to 15 years. There is nothing wrong with having an ambition to become Prime Minister. However, it is too early to express such an ambition," said Athawale. The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment claimed that the National Democratic Alliance under PM Narendra Modi would once again come to power in 2019. He added that the BJP would win Karnataka with a clear majority as communities like the Lingayats, OBCs etc were supporting the party. "The Congress is projecting the BJP as an anti-Dalit party, but people are wise enough to understand what is right," he said. Earlier in the day, Athawale visited Bhima Koregaon and met the family members of Pooja Sakat, whose house was torched during the violence that occurred there on January 1. Pooja, who was a witness to the violence, was found dead in a well nearby in April. "Pooja's family claims she was either murdered or was forced to commit suicide. Nine people have been named in the FIR of which two have been arrested. I have asked police to arrest the rest soon," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In what appears to be a case of poor choice of words, a Class 8 reference book described freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak as the "Father of Terrorism". Printed by a Matura-based publisher, the book is used by private English-medium schools affiliated to the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE). The Rajasthan State Textbook Board publishes books in Hindi, leaving students no other option but to use reference books. Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism, reads page 267 of chapter 22 of the book. The description is part of sub-topic "Incidents of National Movement during 18th and 19th century". "Tilak clearly believed that we cannot achieve anything just by pleading the British officers. Through Shivaji and Ganpati festivals, Tilak aroused unique awareness in the country. He instilled the mantra of freedom among the masses, due to which he became a thorn in the eyes of the British," the book reads. Officials at the Student Advisor Publication Private Limited, which publishes the book, said the mistake had been rectified in the revised edition. The translators made the mistake. It had come to our notice and was corrected in the revised edition last month. The first edition was published last year, Rajpal Singh, a production official at the publisher's office, told PTI. Dr R.S Khangarot, professor of history in Agrawal PG College, Jaipur, said Tilak awakened the people of the country during the Home Rule movement in 1916. Such a mistake in books is unacceptable, even if it was an error in translation, he said. Retired professor of history, Rajasthan University, B L Gupta said British author Ignatius Valentine Chirol had described Tilak as "the father of Indian unrest". "It is derogatory to call Tilak the father of terrorism," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said that the BJP would embark on a "Vikas Yatra" from tomorrow to highlight the achievements of his government. The yatra, which will be carried out in two phases, will be flagged off by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh from the Naxal-affected Dantewada district in Bastar division. The first phase of the yatra will culminate on June and will cover 62 Assembly constituencies and will see 53 public meetings and 16 road shows. The second phase of vikas yatra is scheduled to be held from August 16 to September 30. "The yatra will start after paying obeisance at Danteshwari temple in Dantewada tomorrow at around 12 noon. Union minister Rajnath Singh will also be present on the occasion. A public meeting will be held at the Dantewada high school ground," the Chhattisgarh CM said at a press conference here today. During the yatra, foundation of development works worth Rs 29,500 crore will be laid while smart phones will be distributed among 50 lakh families under the Sanchar Kranti Yojna (SKY) scheme, he said. Besides, bonus to tendu leaves collectors will also be disbursed at various places during the campaign in which several Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will take part, Singh said. He claimed that the state witnessed rapid development during 15 years of BJP rule. The literacy rate has increased while maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) have been brought down, he said. Asserting that Centre and the state government were serious about tackling the menace of Naxalism, he said, security forces have been continuously carrying out operations against them. Development works coupled with anti-Maoist operations were yielding better results and the growth of Bastar is being discussed at the national level, he said. Commenting on the controversial Patthalgadi movement that has erupted in the northern part of the state, Singh said his government had no problem with the traditional practices of tribals but was against forces that were trying to divide society in the name of Patthalgadi. The main feature of the Patthalgadi movement is placing of huge stones or plaques outside the village, with messages, declaring "sovereignty" of the village body or 'gram sabha' under the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension of Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), written on them. "Patthalgadi is a traditional tribal practice and we are not against it. There is no problem in observing such traditional practices. But we are against those forces which are trying to divide society in its name," Singh said. Those who talk about banning the entry of outsiders in the village and want to disrupt development work are not following the Constitution, he said. "Those who have been taken into custody in this connection had taken people hostage and were trying to create division among people. Hence action was taken," the CM added. Launching an attack on the Congress, Singh further said the party should oppose him as much as it can but it shouldnt oppose development as the latter belonged to the people and not any party or person in particular. Refuting Singh's charges, the Congress today said that it was not opposed to development. "Congress has never been against development. Rather it has protested against corruption and the anti-people and anti-development polices of the ruling BJP," state Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla said. Shukla further alleged that the ruling BJP had been misusing government funds for Vikas Yatra ahead of the election. The Congress party would launch a "Vikas Khojo Yatra" (look for development) from May 13 from Dantewada district in which local public representatives will take part, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yoga guru Ramdev today congratulated RJD chief Lalu Prasad on his son's marriage and blessed the groom Tej Pratap Yadav by tying a sacred thread around his neck to cast off evil eyes. Later, he also blessed Aishwarya Rai, the bride. Ramdev met Lalu at the 10, Circular Road residence of Rabri Devi, where he also congratulated the RJD supremo on getting a six-week provisional bail from the Jharkhand High Court, besides advising him to practise yoga for good health. The yoga guru also tied a "raksha sutra" (sacred thread) around Tej Pratap Yadav's neck, apparently to cast off evil eye, which was shared by the former Bihar health minister on the social media. Emerging out of the residence, Ramdev told reporters, "I have blessed Tej Pratap for a happy married life. While I was with Lalu, he called up his would-be daughter-in-law, thanking her for the good luck she has brought on his family. I am now going to Aishwarya's house to bless the bride." Replying to queries on Prasad's bail, which came a day after he was given parole for only three days, Ramdev said, "Lalu is not a criminal. He is a friendly man and an astute politician. He is seriously in need for medical help. I noticed that his face was swollen and learnt that he suffers from kidney problems." The yoga guru, who had good relations with Prasad before it got soured on account of his perceived closeness to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been in Bihar since Tuesday for holding training camps in districts such as Nalanda and Gaya. "I congratulated him on getting six-week bail and advised him to regularly practise yoga to maintain good health. He asked me to send an instructor to supervise his exercises. I would do that," Ramdev said. At the house of Aishwarya Rai, daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai and grandchild of late Chief Minister Daroga Prasad Rai, Ramdev blessed the bride whose family members posed with the yoga guru for pictures. "Lalu and Rabri have always been like a family to me. Now Chandrika Rai is like family too," Ramdev said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian federal investigators said Friday they had sent the World Anti-Doping Agency "proof" refuting claims by whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov of a state-sponsored doping programme at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. "The investigators have collected objective proof refuting Rodchenkov's deceitful evidence concerning the delivery of athletes' doping samples to the Sochi anti-doping laboratory," the Russian Investigations Committee said in a statement. The committee said it had sent WADA documents relating to the registration of doping samples that contradicted the whistleblower's allegations, according to the statement on its website. The body, which reports directly to the Kremlin, opened an investigation into the scandal in 2016. Former Russian Anti-Doping Agency chief Rodchenkov provided key evidence leading to suspensions of Russian athletes from global sport, including a ban from competing under the Russian flag at February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The suspensions followed revelations based on Rodchenko's evidence concerning a vast state-sponsored doping scheme that included charges that tainted urine samples were switched with clean ones at the Sochi Games. Rodchenkov fled to the United States in late 2015 and went into hiding, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted him dead for his role in exposing the doping conspiracy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Collegium today agreed in principle to reiterate the recommendation for elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the apex court, after his name was returned by the Centre. Justice Joseph had headed the bench in the Uttarakhand High Court that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled hill state in 2016. In 2017, the Congress lost the assembly election there. After an hour-long deliberation, the five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, unanimously decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of names of other Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, in a resolution, said there was need for further discussion on the issue of sending the other names to the Centre and decided to meet again on May 16. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution said. "In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 PM on Wednesday, May 16, 2018," it said. The resolution further said that the Collegium met to consider the following agenda: "1. To consider reiteration of the recommendation dated January 10, 2018 for elevation of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as Judge of the Supreme Court. 2. To consider names of High Court Judges for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court." The decision to convene the meeting was taken late last evening by the CJI. Earlier on May 2, the Collegium had met on the issue but had deferred its decision. In today's meeting, the agenda was same and besides Justice Jospeph, the Collegium deliberated on the names of some judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as apex court judges. The Centre, while returning the file of Justice Joseph to the collegium, had also mentioned that judges from various high courts have not found place in the apex court. During the deliberations today, sources said those high court judges who are in the race to be elevated to the apex court are Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, who is originally from the Calcutta HC, Gujarat HC Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, whose parent cadre is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh HC, and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who is originally from Rajasthan HC. It is pertinent to mention that Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the apex court, had on May 9 written a letter to the CJI urging him to convene the Collegium meet to urgently forward Justice Joseph's name to the Centre. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. According to an apex court official, Justice Chelameswar, in his letter sent to the CJI, had conveyed that he was reiterating his decision favaouring elevation of Justice Joseph as the judge of the top court as there was no change in the circumstances that had led the Collegium to recommend his name to the government on January 10. Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, was also understood to have responded to all the points raised in the communication to the CJI by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressing reservations on the elevation of Justice Joseph. Justice Kurian Joseph, during his visit to Kerala last week, had also reportedly made it clear that he was in favour of reiterating the recommendation of the Collegium on the issue concerning the Uttarakhand Chief Justice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Collegium today unanimously agreed in principle to reiterate the recommendation for the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the apex court, after his name was returned by the Centre. The five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, after hour-long deliberation decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, in a resolution, said there was a need for further discussion on the issue of sending other names to the Centre and deferred its meeting till May 16. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution said. "In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 PM on Wednesday, May 16, 2018," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The today dismissed a plea seeking an independent probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sridevi. The actor had died on February 24 due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub in Dubai. A bench of Chief Justice and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the plea filed by one Sunil Singh who sought an independent investigation into the death of the actor. He moved the apex court after the had on March 9 refused to entertain his to probe her death, saying authorities in India and Dubai had already looked into the incident. The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking an independent probe into the alleged "mysterious" death of veteran Bollywood star Sridevi at a Dubai hotel on February 24 this year. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra did not accept the submission of senior advocate Vikas Singh that the Delhi High Court was wrong in dismissing the plea and holding that the authorities in Dubai have already looked into the incident. Singh, representing Uttar Pradesh-based petitioner Sunil Singh, drew parallel with Special CBI Judge B H Loya death case. "In Judge Loya's case, a natural death was converted into a mysterious death, while in this case a mysterious death is treated as a natural death. This was unfortunate," the senior lawyer told the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. "There is no way a 5 feet 7 inch person can drown in a 5 feet 1-inch bathtub. There is some mystery in it. It ought to be probed. This country wants to know as to what happened in the Dubai hotel. She was a celebrity," the lawyer said. Pressing for a fresh probe, he claimed that the 54-year-old actor did not drink and "she was insured for an amount of Rs 250 crore with an Oman-based Insurance company" and there was a policy condition which said that the insured sum can be realised by the nominee if the insured dies in Dubai. "No. Sorry," the bench said while dismissing the plea. The appeal was filed by Singh challenging the Delhi High Court's March 9 order refusing to entertain his PIL for a probe into the death of veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi. Singh, who claims to have acted in and directed a few movies and runs cinemas and visual-effect studios, had said that he was in Dubai on a family vacation from February 20 to February 26 when he came to know of Sridevi's death. The actor had died on February 24 due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal State Election Comission today held a meeting to discuss the security arrangements for the May 14 panchayat polls in the state. State Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya, Director General of Police Surajit Kar Purakayastha, ADG (law and order) Anuj Sharma met State Election Commissioner A K Singh in the evening. "We have discussed the security arrangements for the May 14 polls," an SEC official said. Putting to rest uncertainties, the SEC yesterday said that panchayat poll in West Bengal will be held on May 14 as was announced earlier. The counting will take place on May 17 and repolling, if any, will be held the day before, the SEC had said. Around 1,500 security personnel from Assam, Odisha, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh will be arriving in West Bengal for the panchayat elections scheduled on Monday. In addition to around 46,000 personnel of the state police and 12,000 of the Kolkata police, the state government would use close to 2,000 security personnel from the departments of excise, prison and forest in manning the booths during voting for the three-tier panchayat bodies, a state government official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Maharashtra IPS officer Himanshu Roy today allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence here, police said. The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer, who was suffering from cancer, would have been 55 next month. Roy, the additional director general of police (Establishment), allegedly shot himself with his service revolver and was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead, an official said. Roy was considered a fitness enthusiast and had been on leave since 2016, undergoing treatment for cancer. The officer had served in elite groups of the Maharashtra Police, including as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and in the Crime Branch. Roy is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey, fringe Bollywood actor Laila Khan and law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta in Mumbai. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh termed him a courageous and hardworking officer. "He was suffering from cancer but he was fighting it. It is very unfortunate that he had to end his life like this," Singh told reporters after visiting Roy's family to express his condolences. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a significant direction, the Supreme Court today directed the heads of all high courts to set up anti-sexual harassment committees in all courts across the country within two months in accordance with a 2013 law. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also asked the Registrars General of the High Courts to file a compliance report regarding setting up of these committees in courts, where it has not been constituted so far, by July 15. "As far as the question of constitution of such committee(s) in other High Courts/ District Courts throughout the country is concerned, the Chief Justices of each of the High Courts are requested to constitute the Committees in High Courts as well as the District Courts, if not already constituted, within a span of two months," the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said. The directions came on a petition filed by a woman advocate who had alleged that she was assaulted by some lawyers observing a strike at the Tis Hazari district court complex here. The bench asked its Registry to communicate the order to the Registrars General of each High Court for necessary action by the Chief Justice or the Acting Chief Justice. "The Registrars General of the High Courts shall send a Compliance Report with regard to constitution of the Committee(s) in the High Courts and/or the District Courts on or before 15th July 2018. Let it be made clear, if the Compliance Report is not filed within the said time, the matter shall be listed before the Court suo motu ...," it said. The court also directed the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to set up the anti-sexual harassment committee in all courts in the capital as per the mandate of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, with "quite promptitude". The court, which had earlier granted protection to the woman lawyer, today tried to mediate the dispute between her and the bar members of Tis Hazari district courts. Cross-FIRs have been lodged by the woman lawyer and the accused advocate against each other at the Subzi Mandi police station here. The bench later went on to pass the slew of directions in the case. Transfering the probe into the cross cases, the bench said, "an officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Crime Branch, New Delhi shall investigate both the FIRs. "In both the FIRs, though lodged at P.S. Subzi Mandi, Delhi, if eventually chargesheets are filed and trial is held, for all purposes it shall be at Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," it said, adding that the lawyers named as accused in both FIRs shall not be arrested. "When we say that they shall not be arrested, it is requisite that neither of the parties shall create any kind of acrimonious atmosphere or tamper with the witnesses or any evidence which is likely to be brought on record. They shall also cooperate in the investigation," it said. There shall be a fair trial and none of the parties or any member of the Bar shall create any obstruction in the judicial proceedings, it said. "Needless to say, our observations will not debar the parties to enter into a settlement, if they so desire and they will also be at liberty to challenge any order passed by the concerned Court or even take such steps for seeking quashing of the FIRs...," it said. It also allowed the woman lawyer to approach the ACP, Crime Branch in case of apprehension to her security, and the police officer, "if satisfied, shall make arrangement for her security". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu today met Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to discuss the progress made through e-governance in all the 167 urban local bodies (ULBs) of the state. The minister also took up the issue of operationalizing the Mohali campus of Infosys, an official release read. The discussion at Bengaluru centred around doorstep delivery of government services, the release said. In this context, e-governance would play a critical role by increasing transparency, simplifying service delivery, and driving efficiency, the release said. The entire exercise would result in manifold increase in revenue collection which in turn would enable delivery of high-quality services to people, he said. Nilekani, drawing on his cross-sectoral experience with digital transformation at scale, concurred on the need for capacity building to ensure long term statewide benefits arising out of this programme. An MoU was signed in February with the eGovernments Foundation, also co-founded by Nilekani, to provide solutions for e-governance of urban local bodies (ULBs) throughout Punjab. Sidhu said that 500 IT savvy experts would be hired through TCS for the capacity building of ULBs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today claimed that the "silence of Rajbhawan" over the increasing anarchy in the state was astonishing. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that despite the number of crimes no "accountability" was being fixed by the government. "The silence of Rajbhavan over increasing anarchy in the state is astonishing," he claimed, adding that the state was in a grip of fear due to lawlessness. "The chief minister is saying that by encounters, he would establish Ramrajya, but the criminals are committing heinous crimes and roaming scott free", he alleged. He said those who died due to police atrocities and in fake encounters should be compensated. He alleged that the Yogi Adityanath led-government had failed on all fronts and the BJP ministers lacked collective responsibility and made a mockery of the democracy. "While farmers suicides could not be controlled, incidents of fake encounters, rapes of minors are increasing," Yadav alleged. "The state's situation is going from bad to worse. No section is feeling safe. Be it farmers, teachers, traders or lawyers all are unsafe in the present regime," he said, adding that the people were looking for an opportunity to get rid of the present "misrule". Yadav had yesterday accused the BJP government of misusing the police. "The BJP is misusing the UP Police, which is inflicting torture on the people and creating fear among them. The SP is not only raising questions, but also telling other opposition parties that the government is engaged in fake encounters," he had alleged. Yadav, taking a jibe at Adityanath, had claimed, "The chief minister is not bothered about improving the law and order of UP. He is more bothered about the law and order of Karnataka (where he was campaiging for the Assembly elections). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A "fact-finding" team comprising Dalit rights activists, who claimed to have visited Saharanpur to probe the killing of Sachin Walia, said today that he was shot after being mistaken for his brother and Bhim Army district president Kamal Walia. On Wednesday, unidentified assailants shot Sachin Walia in Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh. He succumbed to the wounds at the district hospital later, triggering tension in the area. Speaking at a conference in Delhi against the killing, policy and advocacy officer with National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Kamal Chand, said: "There was a plot to kill Kamal Walia, but Sachin was mistaken for his brother as both their faces look somewhat similar and was killed. Even in videos, you can hear voices saying this is Kamal shoot him." Chand said the "fact-finding" team members included a Delhi High Court lawyer and a few local residents. "Despite it being a sensitive vicinity, the UP Police gave permission to conduct a function to mark the Maharana Pratap Jayanti. Though the police gave directions not to carry any weapons, the organisers and participants carried it and police did not do anything about it. This shows the cops were hand in glove with the organisers," Chand said. He claimed Kamal was targeted because he was against holding the event in Ramnagar, nearly 50 km from Saharanpur. Dalit activist Ashok Bharti said Ramnagar, where celebrations on Maharana Pratap Jayanti was planned, is not a place where Thakurs or Rajputs live. "If you see the social demography, this is a place where Muslims or Dalits live... Despite this, there were attempts to organise the event. Kamal was opposed to the event because of this fact," Bharti said. The activists urged Dalits and minorities to participate in a protest march on May 20 on Parliament Street in Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two more prosecution witnesses in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati alleged fake encounters case today turned hostile before a special CBI court here, taking the number of such witnesses to 55. Deputy Superintendent of Police Himmat Singh and constable Kanti Lal, both of the Rajasthan police, deposed before the special judge S J Sharma here today. Kanti Lal, in his statement to the CBI, had said that he, with some other policemen, had taken Prajapati to an Ahmedabad court on November 27, 2006, a month before Prajapati's death in an 'encounter'. Prajapati was lodged in the Udaipur Central Jail then. However, in the court today, Kanti Lal maintained that he had taken Prajapati to Ahmedabad on November 26 and not 27. Following which, CBI lawyer B P Raju declared him as hostile. Himmat Singh, on the other hand, claimed he gave a statement to the CBI because the agency officials threatened to implicate him in a false case. The CBI lawyer then declared him hostile too. Singh had told the CBI that then SP Dinesh MN (who has been discharged in this case) directed on December 25, 2006 that assistant sub-inspector Narayan Singh and constables Dalpati Singh, Yudhveer Singh and Kartar Singh should escort Prajapati to Ahmedabad. Singh had said he requested Dinesh MN not to send these four policemen away as they were part of a special anti-theft task force. But Dinesh MN asked him to send these four men anyway, and not to make any entry in the 'Roznama' (diary) of the police station that they were going as escorts at his instructions, Singh had told the CBI. According to the police, Prajapati escaped from the train during this trip and was later killed in an encounter. As per the CBI, Prajapati never escaped, and the encounter was fake. The Mumbai court has examined over 80 prosecution witnesses so far, of which 55 have turned hostile. Sohrabuddin, a suspected gangster with terror links, and his wife were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in November 2005, while Prajapati, his aide, was killed in another alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in December 2006. Of the 38 people charged by the CBI, 15, including senior IPS officers D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, Dinesh MN, and BJP president Amit Shah (then the Minister of State for Home in Gujarat) were discharged by the court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior minister in the Goa government today said that many Congressmen were in touch with the BJP and some of them may seek an appointment with the party's national president Amit Shah when he is in the state on May 13. "There are a lot of Congressmen who are in touch with the BJP. They may even seek an appointment with BJP president Amit Shah when he visits Goa on May 13," state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters at a press conference here. He said that it is this "insecurity" on the part of the Congress that was making it raise the demand of a change in the leadership of the state government due to the unavailability of chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Rane asked reporters to keep a watch for those from the Congress who would be meeting Shah. He said that Parrikar, who is currently undergoing medical treatment in the United States of America, was in regular touch with his ministerial colleagues and was advising them on various issues. "The CM is in touch with all the ministers on a weekly basis. Whatever issues there are, they are being addressed by interacting with the CM. Any scheme or issue of the government is being resolved," Rane said. Accusing the Congress of raising this demand (of a leadership change) to "keep its own flock together", Rane said that Parrikar had the mandate of the people. Rane, while stating that Parrikar was responding well to treatment, however, refused to talk of a date by which the Goa CM was expected to be back to lead the state government. "But I feel we should give him this exemption as he has been serving Goa all his life. I am sure he knows his responsibility as CM," Rane told reporters. He added that there was no instability in the state government nor were there any issues between its constituents. "This government will last its full five year term. It is running well. Every minister is performing and delivering," he claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja have thanked the people who supported them in making their dream wedding come true. The actor shared a lengthy posted on her official Instagram account, thanking the family, friends and fans for making their wedding a memorable moment. "Anand & I would like to thank everyone who made our wedding the most magical two days of our lives. We would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who made this day special," Sonam wrote. The couple got hitched in a traditional Anand Karaj ceremony on Tuesday morning at her aunt's mansion in Mumbai, which was attended by close family and friends, including Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Ranveer Singh. After the marriage ceremony, the couple also hosted a reception which was attended by superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In her Instagram message, Sonam tagged her wedding planner, designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna and Anuradha Vakil, who designed her red wedding lehenga. Sonam also thanked the media and the Mumbai police for their support on the occasion. "The Indian Media thank you for respecting our privacy & celebrating with us & covering us with such positivity & warmth... Mumbai Police for all the support," she wrote. "Last but definitely not the least, I would like to thank my fans for all the love they have shown me over the last few days," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Africa's elite police unit says it is investigating an "element of extremism" in the deadly mosque attack in which three people's throats were slit after midday prayers. Hawks spokesman Simphiwe Mhlongo told The Associated Press that "you can see elements of hatred to a certain religion" in yesterday's attack in the mosque's worship space. But Mhlongo says police cannot yet say whether the assault on the Imam Hussein mosque in the eastern town of Verulam, just north of Durban, can be called a terror attack. He says police cannot confirm reports that the three attackers were Egyptian. They are still at large. Mhlongo says two victims are still hospitalised. A representative of the mosque has blamed "fanatics" and says they plan to go ahead with Friday prayers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of dog attacks in Sitapur, an animal protection body today said it had deployed a team to assess the situation there and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to stop the culling of canines so that the issue can be dealt with "humanely and legally". Panic gripped Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh after around 12 children were mauled to death by dogs while many others were injured since last November. The Humane Society International, India deployed a team of veterinarians, animal welfare officer and dog handlers to Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh to assess the situation and provide expert assistance. The body did so after it received a request for help from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), it said in a statement. After the children were reported to be killed, the reaction by local communities led to the indiscriminate and brutal killing of large numbers of street dogs, the body said. "HSI/India has issued an urgent letter to the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh government and to the inspector general of UP Police urging dog culling to stop so that the situation can be properly assessed and dealt with humanely, effectively and legally," it said. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, the culling and relocation of dogs is prohibited, prescribing instead spay and neuter of street dogs in the country, it pointed out. The Supreme Court has also reiterated that all state governments must not resort to culling dogs but should carry out effective Animal Birth Control programs and anti-rabies vaccination, both of which HSI India specialises in, it said. "We understand the seriousness of the situation however, indiscriminately killing street dogs who could well be entirely unconnected to the tragic incident, is both unethical and ineffective. "This is the first incident of this scale to our knowledge, with previously seemingly harmonious co-existence of people and dogs. Random dog killing is more likely to see friendly and approachable dogs removed from the area, leaving space for new dogs to move in, and that helps no one," said N G Jayasimha, HSI/India managing director. He pointed out that teams of HSI India were also meeting with the Forest Department tomorrow morning along with the Wildlife Institute of India. "The people of Sitapur need to know that our trained professionals are taking every possible step to ensure this is dealt with in an effective way, and that means humane intervention to protect the public and animals alike," he said. HSI/India carries out animal birth control programs around the country, including the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand where the charity has successfully spayed and neutered more than 70 per cent of the dog population there, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today met Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations across different sectors. Swaraj arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit for talks with the country's top leadership on key bilateral and regional issues, including the Rohingya refugee crisis. "Neighbourhood First! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on the 2nd day of her visit to Myanmar. Discussion focused on strengthening our bilateral relations across different sectors," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Yesterday, she called on Myanmar President U Win Myint. An estimated 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine State since August last year after large-scale violence following a military crackdown. The exodus of refugees in large numbers has resulted in a major crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh. Suu Kyi has faced intense international scrutiny for her response to the exodus, which the UN has called "ethnic cleansing." According to reports Swaraj alos met the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar armed forces General Min Aung Hlaing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sweden today criticised Guatemala for asking Stockholm to recall its ambassador who was accused of interfering in the Central American nation's internal affairs and warned it could take action. "This is very unfortunate. We are now going to seek further explanation from the Guatemalan Government and then decide on a course of action," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement. Guatemala's government said in a statement on Thursday that it had asked Sweden and Venezuela to withdraw their respective ambassadors Anders Kompass and Elena Alicia Salcedo Poleo, accusing them of "interfering in the internal affairs" of the country. Sweden is one the largest supporters of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was founded in 2006 to tackle corruption and organised crime. "Sweden's views and action on issues regarding human rights and anti-corruption are well known," Wallstrom said without specifying further. "In this case, as in other similar cases, the Government will keep its comments to a minimum," she added. Guatemala said the move did not mean anyone was declared non grata and that it was expecting Sweden and Venezuela to propose new candidates. Kompass has 30 days to return to Sweden, a Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman told AFP. The 62-year-old became widely known as a UN whistleblower who was suspended in 2015 for leaking a report to France about child abuse by French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. He resigned from his position as the director of field operations for the UN human rights office (OHCHR) the following year over the organisation's failure to hold senior officials to account. Kompass was appointed as Swedish ambassador to Guatemala in the fall of 2017. Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales had initially decided to not approve Kompass as an ambassador, sources told Swedish Radio. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A remote-controlled bomb fitted to a motorcycle went off in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing one policeman and wounding 13 others, police said today. The blast occurred near a bus stand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu district. The explosives hidden in a motorbike exploded as the police van reached the site. One policeman was killed and 13 were injured, police said. The injured, including civilians, have been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Bannu, a media report said. Bannu district is located close to North Waziristan Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas where security personnel are often killed in targeted attacks. On April 22, one security official was killed and three others were injured in an explosion in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency. Another blast occurred on the same day in Miranshah in North Waziristan Agency, but there were no casualties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tension prevailed at Alipiri in Tirupati today when TDP workers staged a demonstration against BJP president Amit Shah as he was proceeding to Renigunta airport from Tirumala hills and in the melee a stone was allegedly hurled at one of the vehicles in his convoy. Shouting slogans, Telugu Desam Party activists demanded that the Centre immediately fulfill all promises made to Andhra Pradesh in the Reorganisation Act, 2014, and also accord special category status for the state. On learning about the incident, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was holding a meeting of party leaders here, criticised the workers and warned them that such acts of indiscipline would not to be tolerated. Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N China Rajappa told reporters that some "unidentified miscreants" hurled a stone that hit one of the vehicles in Shah's convoy. "No stone hit Shah's vehicle. The stone hit another vehicle behind Shah's car.We don't know yet if some miscreants posing as TDP workers resorted to this act," he said. A TDP statement, quoting the chief minister, said he asked the party leaders to ensure that such incidents did not recur. "Dont bring disrepute to the party by such acts of indiscipline. Everybody should act in a disciplined manner. There is no place for clashes or tensions in our just struggle," Naidu said. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Abhishek Mohanty told PTI that they were verifying all facts related to the incident. "BJP leaders have lodged a complaint with us over the attack. We have got only preliminary information and we are verifying all facts," he said. Shah offered prayers at the Lord Venkateswara shrine in Tirumala this morning. The BJP president had arrived in Tirupati last night after wrapping up his over a month-long election campaign in Karnataka. Alipiri is located at the foothills of Tirumala. The alleged stone-throwing incident happened when Shah was returning from Tirumala. The TDP had snapped its ties with the BJP alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant special category state status for Andhra Pradesh. It has alleged that the Centre failed to fulfil its commitments toward Andhra Pradesh, after the state was bifurcated in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, opposition leaders as well as the prosecutors who had worked with senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy today condoled his death, calling it a loss for the state police. Roy (54), who handled some high-profile cases when he headed the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police, allegedly committed suicide at his residence this afternoon. "Himanshu Roy was a dedicated police officer. He was an asset for the police force. Roy was known for his remarkable investigation skills....His demise is a great loss for the state police force," the governor said in his message. Chief minister Fadnavis noted that Roy successfully handled several important cases. "In his sudden death, we have lost a dedicated officer. I share the grief of his family members," Fadnavis said. Former state home minister and Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil told PTI that he had met Roy at a gym only yesterday. "We spoke for about 20 minutes. When I told him that his skin had darkened, he said it was effect of chemotherapy. There is a limit to (efficacy of) chemotherapy. It's unending and not easy," Patil said. Roy was a good officer who never compromised on work, he added. He often ran into Roy at the gym in the morning and chatted with him, the former minister said. "When he was diagnosed with cancer, he told me he is quitting his job. I suggested instead he should go on a long leave, and he did so. "We would speak about his health. He would say sometimes it's good, and sometimes there is pain," Patil said. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil described Roy's death as shocking. "He was an upright officer and a close friend. His untimely exit is a personal loss to me," Vikhe Patil said. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan said Roy was known for his bravery and integrity, and his contribution to maintaining law and order in the state will always be remembered. The special public prosecutors who worked with Roy in prominent cases such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack fondly remembered him. "I always perceived Roy as a strong person who was fond of going to gym. He was suffering from a disease for two years and was fighting against it. Maybe he felt burdened and decided he could not take it anymore," special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said. "Whatever the reasons behind his step, the police department has lost a good officer. He was a gentleman and always treated everyone including junior-level policemen with respect," Nikam said. During the final arguments in the 26/11 terror attack case, Roy, then the joint commissioner of police, Mumbai crime branch, sat through the entire arguments, Nikam recalled. Another special prosecutor, Raja Thakre, termed Roy as a "thorough professional". "He had approached me on several occasions when he was ATS chief, seeking advise on cases. He would always follow up on each and every important case," Thakre said. Pradip Gharat, special prosecutor in the journalist J Dey murder case, said Roy could have taken the drastic step because of the unbearable pain he was undergoing for the last two years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Banana and spices crops are reported to have been damaged in Kerala, while up to 20 per cent mango fruits have fallen off in Uttar Pradesh due to thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds last week, Agriculture Secretary S K Pattanayak said today. The Union Agriculture Ministry is closely monitoring the developments and is in touch with state governments which are in the process of assessing the extent of damage, he added. "We are yet to receive a full report from the state governments. We are reviewing the situation on a daily basis," Pattanayak told PTI. Barring Kerala, there have been no reports of significant crop damage from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, he said. In Uttar Pradesh, there are reports that 10-20 per cent mangoes have fallen off because of gusty winds. Whereas in Kerala, banana and spices crops have been affected badly, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Singapore's diplomatic ties with North Korea and its relative proximity made the small Southeast Asian nation a natural choice for the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, analysts say. Trump announced in a tweet yesterday that the two leaders will meet in Singapore on June 12. The city is "a great location" for the summit, said Tom Plant, who specializes in nuclear and proliferation issues at London's Royal United Services Institute. "Kim will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. But he wouldn't be on home turf." Among the factors: it's closer for Kim than possible Europe venues, the experience of Singapore's security forces, and the fact that Pyongyang has had diplomatic relations with the country since 1975. Singapore is familiar ground for the reclusive communist country, which has its embassy in Singapore's central business district. Single-party rule since Singapore gained independence in 1965 has ensured stability and fostered a security state that is among the world's most efficient, although sometimes it is decried by civil libertarians as repressive. Located between two Muslim majority nations - Malaysia and Indonesia - with Islamic State group sympathizers, it has effectively checked terrorist threats. According to the US State Department's report on human rights for 2017, Singapore's "most significant human rights issues" included caning as punishment imposed by the courts; preventive detention under various laws without warrant, filing of charges, or normal judicial review; monitoring private electronic or telephone communications without a warrant; the use of defamation laws to discourage criticism; and the criminalisation of sexual activities between men, although the law was not enforced. North Korea's state companies have, in the past, conducted legal and illegal business dealings with Singapore companies. The city-state, under pressure from the US and a leaked UN report, officially cut off trade relations with North Korea in 2017 to abide by sanctions. Singapore also is welcome ground for the United States. It is a large trading partner, the second-largest Asian investor, and a longtime supporter of its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. It's also the regional headquarters of large US companies including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1966. "The North Korean side will likely have a very large number of logistical and protocol issues it wants addressed by the summit venue, so having a (North Korean) embassy in the country where the summit is to be held is likely a requirement," said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. Located just over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) from North Korea, Singapore is comfortably within the flying range of its aircraft. Flying to western Europe would require a stop or two to refuel. "Singapore is neither too far away as European nations are, allowing Kim Jong Un's private jet to make it here without refueling, nor too close that Trump might be seen as 'giving way' to Kim by having to travel a longer distance than the latter," said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Former US Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman said Singapore was ideal because it has been "an honest broker between East and West. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb came in for fresh criticism after he said Rabindranath Tagore had rejected his Nobel prize in protest against the British government. The opposition was quick to react to the chief minister's folly. Speaking in Bengali at a programme in Gomati district on the occasion of Tagore's birthday on Wednesday, the chief minister had said, "Rabindranath Tagore not only rejected the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government, but also got Biswosrestho (world's best) award for Gitanjali. However, Tagore cannot be confined to the (Gitanjali) award". Tripura's royal scion, Pradyot Kishore Devburman, who is also the TPCC working president, said he was "very unhappy" with the chief minister's comment. "Tagore surrendered the knighthood conferred on him in 1919 to protest against the massacre at Jallianwalabagh in Punjab. My grandfather was also very perturbed at the incident. I found it in his diary. It is not good if our chief minister said like this. It does not have any sense," he said. Tagore had visited Tripura seven times and was close to four successive kings - Birchandra, Radhakishore, Birendra Kishore and last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, said Panna Lal Roy, a writer, who wrote a number of books on Tagore's relation with Tripura kings. Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Birajit Sinha told a press conference today, "Even we are receiving phone calls from abroad and people are laughing at his comments. He has tarnished the image of our state and made us feel ashamed". TPCC vice-president Tapas Dey said, "Tripura is a state where 98 per cent people are literate, but I wonder what the people of our country or abroad are thinking about our state now. Our beloved chief minister's comment is embarrassing for us". CPI-M state secretary, Bijan Dhar said, "I can only laugh at his comment". Tagore was conferred the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work 'Gitanjali' in 1913. The poet had refused to accept Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. The Tripura chief minister has been riding waves of controversy with a slew of remarks such as the existence of the Internet during the Mahabharata war, whether 1994 Miss World Diana Hayden should be considered an Indian beauty and the questionability of mechanical engineers joining the civil services. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has congratulated Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia on his electoral victory, with the White House saying America is looking forward to working closely with it to address common international and regional challenges. Mahathir's alliance crushed the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in a shocking defeat, toppling the corruption-riddled regime's six-decade stranglehold on power. The 92-year-old Mahathir -- who had retired in 2003 as premier but made a comeback in a bid to oust the coalition he once headed -- was sworn yesterday, becoming the world's oldest elected leader. "President Donald J Trump congratulates Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on his having been sworn in today as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia. The President also congratulates all Malaysians on their participation in a competitive and peaceful election campaign," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement yesterday. She said the United StatesMalaysia relationship is rooted in longstanding and strong people-to-people ties, shared democratic values and commercial relations. Sanders said the US looks forward to continuing to work closely with Malaysia to further strengthen the partnership between the two countries and to address common international and regional challenges. Earlier State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert congratulated the people of Malaysia on their participation in a "hard-fought" election campaign. "Malaysians from all parties, states and backgrounds engaged the electoral process in large numbers peacefully and with great enthusiasm," she said. America's Wall Street Journal said the return of Mahathir spells "historic shift" in the country's relationship with China and promises a "beefed up anti-corruption probe". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump in a telephonic conversation thanked Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for hosting his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the White House said today. Trump yesterday announced that he will meet Kim on June 12 in Singapore, the first-ever summit between the top leaders of the two Cold War rivals to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. "President Trump thanked Prime Minister Lee for his willingness to host President Trump's June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un," the White House said in a readout of the call. The two leaders also discussed regional security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region. Trump and Lee reaffirmed the relationship between the US and Singapore, which has been one of the US' closest partners in Asia for more than 50 years, it said Trump said that he looks forward to seeing Prime Minister Lee in Singapore soon, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, US President Donald Trump would seek a complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the White House has said. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic US-N Korea summit, the White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. Such a move might force US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesman said yesterday. "Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. And that's what he's going to be seeking," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. "We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from North Korea would not be received well. So, I don't want to offer any hypothetical. All I'll say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons," Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. Shah added that Singapore was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. "Singapore has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the President's and Kim Jong-un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he added. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan took place in Singapore some years back," Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. Later Victoria Coates, Senior Director for International Negotiations at the National Security Council, White House, told reporters that the meeting could be scuttled if Kim Jong-un did something unacceptable to the United states. It is possible that leaders from South Korea and China could also be present in Singapore at that time, she added. Shah told reporters that prior to the invitation being accepted, the North Koreans had agreed to halt their ballistic missile testing, their nuclear testing, and not publicly oppose joint US-South Korean military exercises. "So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. We'll hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations," he said. On being asked if anything else was to happen between now and the summit, Shah replied, "I'm not setting additional preconditions. It's now been set. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Turkish economy minister today said the United States withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was an "opportunity" for Turkey, insisting there would be no-let up in trade with Tehran. Despite strong protests and last-minute lobbying by his European partners, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord. Trump then vowed that there would be fresh sanctions issued against Iran. "I see it like this, this is an opportunity for Turkey," Nihat Zeybekci told state agency Anadolu, adding: "I will continue to trade with Iran." But he said that if there are United Nations decisions related to Iran's nuclear activities and other issues, "of course" trade would continue "complying with them". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during which both men agreed the US move was a mistake. Zeybekci criticised the unilateral decision by Washington but added: "I don't see anything big to worry about at this stage," noting that other countries including EU members were not of the same opinion as the US. Relations between Turkey and the US have been strained over several issues including the conviction in January of a Turkish banker who helped Iran evade US sanctions. Mehmet Haka Atilla was convicted after well-connected Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, arrested in the US in 2016, became a government witness and admitted involvement in a multi-billion-dollar gold-for-oil scheme to subvert US economic sanctions against Iran. During Zarrab's testimony late last year, the businessman, who was once close to the ruling party elite, implicated Erdogan and other officials in the scheme. In a deal negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the UK, China, France, Russia and the US -- plus Germany, Iran agreed in 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. Turkey and Iran together with Russia have been working closely on the Syrian peace process despite being on opposing sides of the seven-year conflict. Erdogan had yesterday held a telephone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during which the Turkish leader reiterated Turkey's commitment to JCPOA (the formal abbreviation for the accord). The men also touched upon developing bilateral economic relations, a Turkish presidential source said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A sessions court here awarded life imprisonment to two persons today in the 2012 murder case of budding actor Meenakshi Thapa. Additional Sessions Judge S G Shette awarded the sentence to Amit Jaiswal (36) and his girlfriend Preeti Surin (26). The court had convicted them on Wednesday under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 364-A (kidnapping for ransom). "The prosecution had sought harshest punishment for Jaiswal and Surin. However, the judge observed that it was not the rarest of rare case and also the convicts have dependents on them. The court sentenced them to life imprisonment," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said. According to the prosecution, Jaiswal and Surin, both hailing from Uttar Pradesh, had befriended Thapa (26) on the sets of "Heroine", a Bollywood film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. Both the accused used to work as model coordinators. Under the impression that the actor belonged to a rich family, the duo had hatched a conspiracy to abduct her and demand a Rs 15-lakh ransom from her family. The duo had also persuaded the actor, who had moved to Mumbai from Dehradun only two months ago, to accompany them to Uttar Pradesh on March 12, 2012, stating that there was an acting assignment for her. Subsequently, they had abducted her, but after realising that her family was in no position to pay up, they strangulated her, according to the prosecution. The remains of the actor's body, with the head severed, were found in the sewage tank of a house in Allahabad a month after the incident. The duo had come under the lens of the police as Thapa was last seen with them. Call details and other evidence had confirmed their involvement, a Crime Branch official had said. A month after her murder, Jaiswal and Surin were arrested when they were withdrawing money, using Thapa's debit card, from an ATM in suburban Bandra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today expressed reservations about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), saying that a citizen must know whether his or her vote has gone to the intended candidate. Earlier in the day, Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' had accused the ally BJP of rigging EVMs to win elections. Thackeray today met Sena leaders from Vidarbha here to chalk out the party's strategy for the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a press conference later, Thackeray, when asked about EVMs, said, "Today's generation is voting through EVMs. They do not know what is a ballot paper. "The RTI empowers a person with right to information. But in the case of EVM, the right to know whether the vote one has cast has been rightly registered or not has been taken away. That right should be restored," he said. There have been cases where wrong candidate or party got the vote after pressing the button, the Sena chief claimed. Asked about the by-poll in Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency, Thackeray said his party hasn't yet decided whom it will support. "Our decision to extend support in Bhandara-Gondia will depend on who supports our candidate in Palghar bypoll," he said. Thackeray also said Vidarbha needs development, and it won't happen by only holding a session of the state legislature in Nagpur. "Maharashtra should remain united and should not be split," he said, referring to the demand for separate Vidarbha. The Sena president demanded that "cases" should be filed against those demanding separate statehood for Vidarbha. On the issue of demand for relocating the Nanar oil refinery project to Vidarbha from Konkan, Thackeray said if the people of Vidarbha wanted the project, if land was available and if it was going to develop the region, then there should be no objection to the project shifting to Vidarbha from Ratnagiri. Meanwhile, a senior Sena leader said that Thackeray had given indications that the party may take on senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on his home turf. "Uddhav-ji, by taking a review of party's preparedness to contest the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat in 2019, has given indications that the Sena intends to take on Gadkari on his home turf," the leader said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The University Grants Commission (UGC) today approved a proposal for granting deemed to be university status for the National Rail and Transport Institute, Vadodara. "The UGC today granted Letter of Intent for first Railway University. Will fast track defence university also," Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted. "The proposal to grant deemed to be university status to the institute was sent to the ministry for consideration and issuing of letter of intent," a senior HRD official said. The Union Cabinet had approved the establishment of India's first national rail and transportation university at Vadodara on December 20, 2017. Christened 'National Rail and Transport University (NRTU)', the institute is expected to have 3,000 full-time students. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the Japan-China-South Korea summit and their effort to cooperate in ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. The Secretary-General "welcomes" the trilateral meeting and their cooperation for "the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the UN chief's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement issued yesterday. "The Secretary-General hopes that the joint resolve of the countries in Northeast Asia will strengthen the path to achieve lasting peace and prosperity in this region," the spokesperson added. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in met in the Japanese capital on Wednesday and agreed that the Northeast Asian neighbors will cooperate on ending North Korea's nuclear programme and promoting free trade. This trilateral meeting followed the bilateral summit on April 27 between the leaders of South Korea and North Korea in which they agreed on measures toward lasting peace on the Peninsula. Those agreements set out in Panmunjom Declaration include realizing the common goal of "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," and pursuing talks to declare an official end to the Korean War, which devastated the Peninsula, beginning in June 1950. An armistice brought about a ceasefire in 1953, but the conflict never officially ended because the parties failed to reach agreement over a formal peace treaty. The UN chief also congratulated the people of Malaysia following the peaceful holding of national and provincial elections, and praised voters for their "strong commitment" to the democratic process. He welcomed the formation of a new government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and said he was looking forward to working closely with Malaysia on issues of mutual interest. The new Malaysian prime minister is no stranger to the job, having led the country for much of the 1980s and 1990s, and at 92 he has become the world's oldest elected leader. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US in collaboration with the UAE has slapped sanctions against six individuals and three companies, accusing them of financing network and helping funnel dollars to Iran's elite military unit known as the Quds Force. The move comes after US President Donald Trump declared that he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the 2015 agreement reached by seven countries after more than two years of gruelling negotiations. Iran said it will remain in the deal, which tightly restricted its nuclear ambitions for a decade or more in return for ending the sanctions that had crippled its economy. So did France, Germany and Britain, raising the prospect of a trans-Atlantic clash as European companies face the return of American sanctions for doing business with Iran. The US and UAE took action to disrupt an extensive currency exchange network in Iran and the UAE that has procured and transferred millions in US dollar-denominated bulk cash to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to fund its malign activities and regional proxy groups, the Department of Treasury said. Specifically, the Treasury designated nine Iranian individuals and entities. Iran's Central Bank was complicit in the IRGC-QF's scheme and actively supported this network's currency conversion and enabled its access to funds that it held in its foreign bank accounts. This network of exchangers and couriers has converted hundreds of millions of dollars, the US said. "The Iranian regime and its Central Bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the IRGC-QF's malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the US dollars were acquired," Treasury Secretary Steven T Mnuchin said. The US is intent on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination, he said. "Today we are targeting Iranian individuals and front companies engaged in a large-scale currency exchange network that has procured and transferred millions to the IRGC-QF," he added. "The Treasury Department thanks the UAE for its close collaboration on this matter. Countries around the world must be vigilant against Iran's efforts to exploit their financial institutions to exchange currency and fund the nefarious actors of the IRGC-QF and the world's largest state sponsor of terror," Mnuchin said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing Iran of exporting destabilising influence throughout the Middle East, the Trump administration today urged responsible nations to bring pressure on Iran to change its "dangerous behaviour". Israel on Thursday launched deadly strikes against alleged Iranian sites in Syria. Israel said its raids were in immediate response to Iranian missiles raining down on the occupied Golan Heights. "Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pours resources into exporting destabilising influence throughout the Middle East, even as the Iranian people are victims of a struggling economy," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. Already this week, the IRGC has fired rockets at Israeli citizens, and Iran's proxies in Yemen have launched a ballistic missile at Riyadh, she said. These actions are further proof that the Iranian regime's reckless actions pose a severe threat to regional peace and security, she alleged. "It is time for responsible nations to bring pressure on Iran to change this dangerous behaviour," Sanders added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Domino After five years and zero advance singles, the new Arctic Monkeys album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is finally here. The British rockers' sixth studio effort, the follow-up to 2013's AM, arrives today. Coming off AM, which boasted the swaggering, guitar-heavy singles "Do I Wanna Know?", "R U Mine?" and "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?", frontman Alex Tuner decided to swap out his six-string for a Steinway, and wrote most of Tranquility Base on a piano. However, the band decided to not give us a preview of their new, piano-based sound, and confirmed that they won't be releasing any singles ahead of the album's arrival. Even still, Turner and company have dropped a few hints about the album. We learned that the first line on the record references The Strokes, and that the lyrics loosely adhere to a sci-fi storyline. Meanwhile, an executive for the band's longtime publisher called it a "masterpiece." Fans got a taste of the album when the band performed the song "Four Out of Five" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday night. Additionally, Arctic Monkeys debuted a few Tranquility songs on their U.S. tour, which concluded earlier this week. If you missed any of those shows, the band will return to the States for another run in the summer, followed by another U.S. trek in October. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Actor Vicky Kaushal is going through extensive military training for his next project "Uri", based on Indian Army's surgical strikes across the LoC. The actor, who plays a Pakistani major in "Raazi" that released today, will be playing a commander-in-chief who led the 2016 surgical strike in "Uri". Aditya Dhar is directing the project. "I am training for five hours every day. Then there is three to four hours of military training, you get to enhance your stamina, go through obstacle training, you are slithering. I am receiving gun training right now," the actor told PTI. "I go to gym and train at the naval base in Cuffe Parade (in Mumbai). Army men help me with training. As of now they are helping us. I have to gain some weight. I am looking forward to the shoot," he adds. The film produced by Ronnie Screwvala's production arm, RSVP, will go on floors soon. "We will fly to Serbia, where we will shoot for two months," he says. Recently, the teaser of "Sanju", a biopic on Sanjay Dutt, was released in which Kaushal apparently plays the role of Ranbir Kapoor's on-screen friend. "You will see me and the entire cast in the official trailer, which will come in due time. It is about Sanju and with this film we show the magic Ranbir has created," he says. Kaushal says he met Dutt but after the shooting, of the Rajkumar Hirani-directed film, was over. "I met Dutt after finishing the shoot for 'Sanju'. My dad and he have worked together. When I met him first at the Diwali party. He was sweet to us and was like 'you are my son and call me if you are ever in problem'. He has a big and beautiful heart," he says. The 29-year-old actor is also part of Karan Johar's short in "Lust Stories". The anthology film feature four short films by Karan, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibarkar Banerjee. "We have already shot for the film and it is ready and coming out on Netflix in June. The theme is lust for all the four stories. I got to work with Karan for the first time. Ours is a quirky comedy film and it is something Karan has tried for the first time. It has turned out well. We had a blast shooting for it. I can't talk much in detail," he says. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has purchased 30.87 million tonne (MT) wheat directly from farmers within the first 40 days of the current marketing year, surpassing the last year's total procurement. It was 30.82 MT in the year-ago period. The procurement target for the 2018-19 marketing year (April-March) is 32 MT. Wheat is procured at the minimum support price and the grain is used for distribution through PDS and other welfare schemes. "The procurement is almost completed in Punjab and Haryana, while it is continuing in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh," a senior Food Ministry official told PTI. About 32.86 MT of fresh wheat was brought to mandis for sale, of which the government has procured 30.87 MT at the support price. As per the official data, Punjab and Haryana have procured 12.34 MT and 8.53 MT, respectively, exceeding their set target for the current year. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are lagging behind as they have purchased 5.90 MT and 2.7 MT each so far this year. "Payment is being done online within two working days. There has not been any problem," the official said. Although wheat marketing year runs from April-March, the bulk of procurement is done in first three months. Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertake purchase at the minimum support price. As per the second estimate, wheat output is likely to decline by 1.42 per cent to 97.11 MT in the 2017-18 crop year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The White House has "quietly killed" a USD 10-million per year NASA program that tracks carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, the journal Science said. NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon, said the report. "Now, President Donald Trump's administration has quietly killed the CMS," it said, describing the move as the latest in a "broad attack on climate science" mounted by the White House. The journal said NASA "declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond 'budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget.'" It also quoted US space agency spokesman Steve Cole as saying there was no mention of the CMS in a budget deal signed in March, which "allowed the administration's move to take effect." Cole, responding to a request for comment from AFP, said Trump proposed cutting the CMS project and four Earth science missions last year. After much deliberation, Congress decided they wanted those four space missions to be funded, writing them into the budget bill they passed in March 2018, he said. But since CMS was not among them, it was cut as proposed, Cole said, describing the entire process as a joint effort by lawmakers and the executive branch. Existing grants would be allowed to finish but no new research would be supported, he said. Trump has already canceled another Earth science mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3), and announced the US pullout from the 2015 Paris climate accord. According to Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts University's Center for International and Resource Policy in Medford, Massachusetts, the CMS cuts jeopardize efforts to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate deal. "If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement," she told the magazine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Noted economist Muhammad Yunus today said zero poverty is possible and achievable, if the government activates its citizens. While delivering the 16th Lecture of Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) here, he said "Removing poverty needs activating the citizens. This cannot be done only through government money. It can be achieved through appropriate policy, institutions and strong willingness," Yunus said. "Zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emission are not academic concepts; they are jobs and can be realized through joint action," he said. The Nobel laureate further said that micro credit system through the models of social banking adopted by Grameen Bank he founded has proved successful in Bangladesh. The technique has helped lakhs of families remove poverty and has also proved its worth in empowering women of Bangladesh enormously. Younus is considered a pioneer of micro finance and was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with Grameen Bank - the micro-credit organisation he created to provide loans to the poor in Bangladesh. He emphasized that the similar banking model has also been successfully tried in different western countries. Yunus expressed confidence that the same model can be replicated in India and elsewhere for removing the poverty by improving banking access to poor people. "Every individual has the qualities of entrepreneurship and through opening their access to credit that his/her productivity can be enhanced," he said. Yunus noted that Odisha has taken the lead in 'knowledge sharing and good governance through the institution of OKH and the model should be followed by other states. Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary R Balakrishnan, who attended the meeting, said the micro finance model initiated by Yunus is a proven model both in Bangladesh and USA. Finance and Excise Minister S B Behera presented the OKH memento to Yunus in commemoration of his visit to the state. Yunus reciprocated by presenting his recently published book A World of Three Zeros to the minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Jessica Toonkel and David Shepardson(Reuters) - AT&T Inc on Friday ousted its top lobbyist, and the No. 2 wireless carrier's chief executive said it was a "big mistake" to hire Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, for advice on working with the Trump administration.AT&T paid Essential Consultants LLC, a firm set up by Cohen, a total of $600,000 over 2017 for the advice. Cohen and others were hired to help navigate "a wide range of issues," including its proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner Inc , CEO Randall Stephenson said in a memo seen by Reuters.The ... By Joshua Franklin and Svea Herbst-Bayliss(Reuters) - Daniel Loeb's activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is in talks with investment banks about launching a "blank check" company that would raise money in an initial public offering to pursue an acquisition, according to people familiar with the matter.The new investment vehicle, referred to on Wall Street as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), would be the first of its kind to be raised by an activist hedge fund such as Third Point, which acquires stakes in public companies to pressure them to pursue changes or seek board ... By A. Ananthalakshmi and Joseph SipalanKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad plans to appoint a finance ministry adviser who will oversee efforts to recover billions of dollars allegedly stolen from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), two sources told Reuters. The adviser would be appointed to "restart the 1MDB probe and bring back the money", said one of the sources, who worked closely with Mahathir's campaign team. The second source, a lawmaker, said the announcement could come as soon as Saturday when Mahathir is expected to name ... By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday proposed changes to automotive rules by the U.S. government may prompt the Italian-American automaker to shift exports of the company's Mexican-made vehicles.Marchionne told Reuters that changes planned for automotive rules under the North American Free Trade Agreement by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump were "directionally" correct but "we're not done." The revised agreement would not threaten the automaker's Mexican production, he said. "I think we have to ... SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors raided the country's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, on Thursday and Friday on suspicion of fraud, Yonhap news agency reported.The agency did not give details. Neither Upbit nor the financial investigation team of the Seoul Southern District public prosecutors' office was immediately available for comment.Upbit sent a note to its clients that it is co-operating with the prosecutors and that it can guarantee that all its clients' assets are secure.Four executives from two other South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges were detained in April in ... (Reuters) - SpiceJet Ltd posted a 10.8 percent growth in March-quarter profit on Friday, helped by a rise in passenger yields during the period.The airline's standalone net profit, which excludes results of units SpiceJet Merchandise and SpiceJet Technic, rose to 461.5 million rupees ($6.85 million) in the quarter ended March, from 416.4 million rupees a year earlier, SpiceJet said on Friday. https://reut.rs/2rzE4Qc Passenger yields, a measure of fares and distance flown, rose 8 percent during the quarter. SpiceJet's market share was the fourth largest in the quarter, according to India's ... (Reuters) - Shares of Indian telecom services providers fell sharply on Friday after Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd unveiled a new post-paid plan as it takes on bigger rivals such as Bharti Airtel Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd.Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, introduced an unlimited domestic post-paid plan for 199 rupees http://bit.ly/2G6iiJa ($2.96) and international calling at 0.50 rupees per minute on Thursday. Shares of Idea fell as much as 8.1 percent to their lowest since February 2011, while Airtel declined about 5.8 percent.Reliance Jio's entry into the telecoms sector has set ... Many people have grown accustomed to talking to their smart devices, asking them to read a text, play a song or set an alarm. But someone else might be secretly talking to them, too. Over the past two years, researchers in China and the United States have begun demonstrating that they can send hidden commands that are undetectable to the human ear to Apples Siri, Amazons Alexa and Googles Assistant. Inside university labs, the researchers have been able to secretly activate the artificial intelligence systems on smartphones and smart speakers, making them dial phone ... It is a committee comprised of city council members, county council members and others. The Cache Museum committee is trying to gauge public interest in a Logan or Cache Museum through a series of public hearings. According to Cache County Council member Gina Worthen, who is also on this committee, the public is invited over a series of weeknights from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to an open house forum where people can drop in and provide their input. On KVNUs For the People program on Thursday, Worthen said the meetings will be held Monday, May 14th, in the Cache County Council Chambers (199 N. Main in Logan), Tuesday evening in the Hyrum City Chambers (60 West Main) and Wednesday evening at North Cache Middle School (157 W. 600 South) in Richmond. We do have the (Daughter of Utah Pioneers) museums throughout the valley, Hyrum has a wonderful museum and we have some things up at Utah State University. But it would be really fun to just have a localized museum for the whole county. Theres been a lot of different ideas thrown around: a childrens museum, a combined local history museum, some displays with the Shoshone Indians, said Worthen. Also on the program was an individual who has really moved the idea along, Darrin Smith, who has collected mainly Logan memorabilia since the mid-1980s. He said his collection includes a postcard collection from 1900, old photographs, old bottles from the 1870s from local pharmacies at the time and more. I remember talking with Ray Somers (when) he was not doing well at all, I asked him, whats going to happen to all the things youve collected? He just kind of looked at me with a blank look and said, I dont know. Well Im starting to get to that point because my children dont want it, Smith explained. He said his children are all grown and he doesnt want to sell his collection. So the other alternative, as he sees it, is to see if the county would be interested in a museum and he could donate his collection to them. Smith praised Worthen for backing his proposal and said the other committee members include the movers and shakers in the historical community and are the best of the best. LOGAN A jury has found Neal O. Eddington guilty to lesser charges, for raping a woman while the two were on a first date. The verdict in 1st District Court came early Friday morning, following the three-day trial. According to a court clerk, the jury found Eddinton guilty of object rape, a first-degree felony, and misdemeanor sexual battery. The 24-year-old South Jordan man was originally charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. Following the jurys decision, Eddington was taken into custody again and transported to the Cache County Jail. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 11. During the trial the victim claimed that on October 5, 2017, she and Eddington went to her Logan townhome to watch a movie. Afterwards, they went to her bedroom where he reportedly became forceful, ripping her pants and bra, and telling her he was going to, break her. She described how through the course of the night, the defendant forced her to perform oral sex multiple times, as she repeatedly told him no. Defense attorneys claimed the victim didnt allege to being raped until feeling ashamed that her roommates knew Eddington spent the night with her. They showed how her account of the assault changed from her previous testimony, given during a January preliminary hearing. During the investigation, Eddington told investigators that the victim gave him confusing signals during the night. He said, she would tell him to stop and then tell him to start again. He said, he thought everything they did was consensual. Eddington will be held in jail until sentencing. He could face up to five-years-to-life in prison. will@cvradio.com The appointment of a new Prime Minister and the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan have raised hopes for speedy economic reforms and liberalization of the national economy. New, young and foreign-educated ministers are expected to create more transparency and accountability in the system, create a more attractive business climate and further ensure the sustainable development of the country. President Aliyevs new appointments have been welcomed by the public and foreign investors, and hint at the urgent need to deepen the pace of reforms. BACKGROUND: Following presidential elections on March 11, the Parliament of Azerbaijan on April 21 confirmed Novruz Mammadov as the new Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. In that position, Mammadov replaced Artur Rasizade, one of the longest serving prime ministers in the world, who has been in charge of the Cabinet of Ministers of the country for 22 years. Mammadov, who previously served as assistant to President Aliyev on international affairs and as head of the foreign policy department of the Presidential Administration, received the unanimous support of the parliament. Fluent in French, Russian, and English, Mammadov is regarded by many inside and outside the country as a hard-working, loyal and professional governmental member, whose public service record has been recognized by many international awards and honours. Simultaneously, President Aliyev issued a statement thanking the 83-year old outgoing Prime Minister, Artur Rasizade, for his service to the country. He highlighted the important work done by Rasizade during difficult 1990s when the country faced severe economic and political problems. On the same day, President Aliyev confirmed the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers. While many of the ministers especially in law enforcement and economic sectors retained their positions, the large number of new appointments was somewhat surprising. What is striking is that many of the new appointees are fairly young officials, mostly in their early forties. The Head of the Migration service has been replaced by Vusal Huseynov, a Harvard graduate. Inam Karimov, head of the ASAN one-window document issuing service famous for its transparency and easy service, was appointed the new Minister of Agriculture. Karimov holds an L.M. and PhD from Frances Sorbonne, and is the recipient of a UN award for best public service. One of the youngest members of Parliament and a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Fuad Muradov, became the new Head of the Diaspora Committee. Two other members of Parliament, Mukhtar Babayev and Rovshan Rzayev, were appointed to the positions of Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and Head of State Committee on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, respectively. Duke University graduate Samir Nuriyev became Head of the State Committee for Architecture and City building. Two young deputy ministers, Jeyhun Bayramov and Sahil Babayev, were appointed Minister of Education and Minister of Labor and Social Protection, respectively. The Head of State customs was fired and replaced by his deputy. Several weeks before the elections, moreover, the Minister of Taxes was fired and replaced by the active and reform-oriented minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov, a member of the New York bar. It is noteworthy that several deputy prime ministers were also sent into retirement, including Abid Sharifov, responsible for the construction sector; Elchin Efendiyev, responsible for social and humanitarian issues; and Ismet Abbasov, responsible for agriculture. IMPLICATIONS: These appointments appear to have been generally welcomed by the population. They indicate that President Aliyev is keen to deepen economic reforms. The country has been facing economic challenges since 2015, when oil prices in world markets fell and the national budget experienced significant challenges. The national currency, the manat, was devalued twice and the banking sector experienced severe liquidity problems, which affected entrepreneurship and increased the risk of bankruptcy among local barrowers. The government has undertaken rapid and large-scale reforms to remedy the situation. A national road map for economic reforms has been prepared in partnership with McKenzie company. The road map outlined eleven key areas for the development of the non-oil sector, including agriculture, light industry, tourism, and transport. It is believed that in these areas, Azerbaijan possess competitive advantages, and can increase its export potential. Early steps provided some successful results. Tourism in the country has increased significantly in last three years due to the simplification of visa procedures. The number of Arab and Iranian tourists has risen threefold, according to official statistics, which has boosted local hotel, transportation and food industries. The government has undertaken large-scale investments in agriculture, and in 2017 tomatoes became the countrys second largest export product. Many greenhouses and warehouses have been built in and around Baku. Significant changes have been done in customs operations, making it easier for companies to export and import goods. Nevertheless, the pace of these reforms remained slower than expectations. Many ministers continued to rely on old practices and prevent the implementation of reforms. In this context, the changes in the cabinet of ministers and the appointment of young cadres indicate the will of the President to speed up reforms and eradicate some negative elements, such as corruption and bureaucracy in the government bodies. The migration service has been mentioned by many foreign companies as one of the biggest obstacles to doing business in the country. Receipt of work permits and residence permits has been afflicted by corruption. The new head of the service is tasked to clean up the system and create transparent and accountable procedures. The same goes for the customs, taxes and labour ministries which constitute the backbone of the economic policy of the country. President Aliyev is pushing for the diversification of the economy and development of non-oil sector in an effort to increase the welfare of people and address some problems such as unemployment and poverty. These themes were highlighted in the recent presidential campaign. President Aliyev is focusing on economic issues as the country faces a growing young population, high demands on social services, infrastructure and employment. Oil and gas have served the country well in the past two decades, which has resulted in a significant increase of GDP and a decrease of poverty from 56% to 5%. Yet, without major reforms and liberalization of the economy, further results will be under risk. CONCLUSIONS: Much is expected from the new cabinet. Previous business practices in the country were often subject to criticism by foreign investors. New, young ministers are expected to tackle corruption, liberalize the economy and eradicate barriers to the development of entrepreneurship, export-oriented industries, mid-size businesses. Transparency, predictability and clarity in tax and customs practices are much demanded by the business community. If the new cabinet manages to achieve these developments, Azerbaijan will ensure sustainable development for the next decade, stable inflow of revenues into the national budget and provide opportunities for the rising population in terms of employment, social services and education. In this regard, the priority of the new cabinet is to attract foreign direct investment, and create a favorable business climate. Transport, agriculture and industry can been the backbone of the new economy of Azerbaijan. AUTHORS BIO: Fariz Ismailzade is a frequent commentator on regional affairs, based in Baku. Image source: By: kremlin.ru, accessed on 5.11. 2018 Roger Nkodo Dang, President du Parlement panafricain Archives Cameroon's Member of Parliament, Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang has secured a land slide victory in Midrand,South Africa Friday, to retain his position as President of Pan African Parliament. He beat his immediate rival Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira from Zimbabwe, 133 against 47 votes to maintain the seat for another three years. The PAP Press officer write sthat the elections were held following the expiry of the term of the 4th Bureau led by Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang that has served for three years as per the constitutional rules of the PAP. Hon. Nkodo Dang returned his presidential seat after poling 133 votes, followed by Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira from Zimbabwe who got 47 while Hon. Mostafa El Gendy from Egypt got 44 votes. Hon. Nkodo Dang came into office as an elected successor to Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi on May 27 in 2015. Democracy has prevailed, said Hon. Chief Charumbira after the election. I am hoping this is a lesson to my fellow Africans across the continent that democratic processes must be embraced and appreciated. The parliamentarians from across the continent present here today casted their votes freely and this is a signal that we are in the correct path towards embracing the democratic processes of running our elections. Let this not end here, but let it be a continental practice and culture. A jovial Hon. Nkodo Dang expressed gratitude towards Hon. Chief Charumbira for accepting the results. I am pleased that our experienced parliamentarian brother Charumbira allowed democracy to prevail by accepting the results. This is the correct path that we are taking as PAP and I am as well optimistic that this gesture will not end here, but will be adopted by our parliamentarians and educate our peoples in their communities on democratic processes, he said. Nkodo Dang further urged unity amongst Africans to achieve a better tomorrow and predicted hope for the continent. We need to work forward as a team. There are a lot of things that we are still learning and implementing. If we are given support by PAP parliamentarians, we will achieve them. We might not agree on various things, but let us unite for a better continent. Long live Africa, long live PAP, he added. Also accepting the outcome of the elections Hon. Mostafa El Gendy said he had confidence that Nkodo Dang would transform PAP. This is a new era, a rebirth of PAP. Let us support Nkodo Dang who prevailed following a publicly witnessed democratic election process. Dang has the capacity to do it. As Africa, let us rally behind him as our chosen leader. He has always implemented efforts to unite us as a continent, he said. The other Bureau Members are Hon. Stephen Julius Masele of Tanzania (East Africa), Hon. Haidara Aichata Cisse of Mali (West Africa) and Hon. Bouras Djamal of Algeria (North Afica) as first, second and third vice-presidents respectively. The Southern African Region does not have a vicepresident as the caucus had not yet nominated a candidate. Mr. Vipya Harawa, Clerk of Parliament will later call a fresh election for Southern Africa to take the position of 4th vice President. La revenante CRTV Many Cameroonians have been trooping into the residence of Tadougang Duplex, an inhabitant of Mbanga, Moungo division of Littoral region, to see for themselves the story of an alleged resurrection of his wife, Marie Ndongmo. The story was first relayed by CRTV Littoral when reporters said the lady died in 2013 after undergoing a Caesarean section, she was buried in the compound in Mbanga, Moungo Division in Littoral region. This lady would later appear in Douala and has since been selling Oranges at Ndokotti, a popular roundabout in Douala three municipality. Upon seeing her, the husband, children and neighbors were terrified but she was instead surprised that they did not welcome her. The husband brought out her ID card and the name she gave was the same, she was asked to show her belly, same scars were found on it. Another version of the story relayed by Equinoxe Television, a Douala based Channel, reveals that Corine is the name of this lady who has been at the centre of attraction in Mbanga recently and Ndongmo Marie is the name of the woman who died on December 1, 2013. Corine who is said to be having an affair with husband of late Ndongmo Marie and was introduced to the latters kids as their mother. The kids who were convinced and happy about her reappearance/return due to the resemblance drew the attention of neighbors and other family members who were convinced that Marie has resurrected. A renown private Television Channel in Cameroon(Equinoxe Television) spoke to Corine, a known resident of Quarter 4 in Mbanga who hails from Nde Division West Region. She lives in Mbanga with her relatives. Ndongmo Marie was native of Menoua Division in the same region. Her mother and brothers have confirmed that NIADJA Corine is not their late sister. Asked about the similar scar on her stomach, it was revealed that Corine has three children and gave birth to one through an operation. From all indications, she could be mentally sick as claimed by neighbors and could have nothing to do with Marie Ndongmo. Police are still investigating. | BY Lynchy | Belgiovane Williams Mackay Melbourne has further strengthened its senior creative team with the appointment of Amy Hollier as creative group head. Hollier, who has spent the last six years at Saatchi & Saatchi in Paris, was responsible for creating Europe-wide campaigns on the Procter & Gamble megabrand Ariel. She also worked in Geneva adding FMCG sex appeal to pharmaceutical brands Voltaren and Lamisil. Hollier has worked across a number of successful campaigns, picking up a One Show for the Sony Ericsson Puppies campaign and London International Awards for her work on the Reporters Without Borders account. Prior to moving overseas, Hollier had worked on iconic Aussie brands like McCain, IXL, SPC Ardmona and Yellow Pages. We are thrilled to have Amy back on home soil and working with the team here in Melbourne. Her experience with FMCG products and working with big brands will really assist us in continuing to create innovative campaigns for our clients, said BWM Melbourne managing director Hugh Nairn. | BY Ricki Green | D&AD Impact is a global initiative and awards programme that exists to shine a light on the power of creativity as a force for good in the world. Entries for the third annual D&AD Impact Awards are now open for entries. Entries close on 18 July 2018. This year sees the implementation of the first D&AD Impact Council, made up of over 70 leaders from across the creative, social entrepreneur and NGO space. Representing Australia on The Council is Ben Cooper (left), founder, Tricky Jigsaw and Emad Tahtouh (right), managing director, Nakatomi. The Council will represent D&AD Impacts mission to support creativity that powers change, and is comprised of individuals who have already demonstrated their drive to use human centered design, bravery and innovation to reimagine our future. Says Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD: We are delighted to welcome the first D&AD Impact Council, an esteemed group of business leaders who stand for positive social impact. Through their invaluable expertise, the D&AD Impact Council members will help great ideas to scale, and connect NGOs, brands and social entrepreneurs with creative practitioners in the belief that businesses with creative thinking and design excellence at their heart are more successful both commercially and in terms of their potential for social change. D&AD Impact Council members include Aline Santos Farhat, SVP of Unilever; Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global; Janet Scardino, CEO of Comic Relief; Jennifer Lindenauer, CMO of Upworthy; Jesse McMillin, VP creative director of Lyft; Kojiro Bruce Fukushi, creative director of IBM and Sandra Ro, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council. The full list of D&AD Impact Council members list is included below. Says Dr Nelly Ben Hayoun: Im delighted to be involved in the new D&AD Impact council alongside such an unbounded plethora of thinkers, designers and dreamers of the day; to support the mission for change and diversity in institutions and beyond, to hopefully uncover the future Willy Wonkas and the designers of experiences sitting at the edge of theater, politics, philosophy, film and design, embarking on their quest to go above and beyond! Says Julia Plowman, managing director of MAL\FOR GOOD: I am honored to join the D&AD Impact Council to award brands making a positive impact on peoples lives and the planet. We are at the forefront of a new business culture where creativity can be a force for good. Today, businesses have the responsibility to put social impact at the heart of their brand and I look forward to seeing great creativity that challenges social norms and inspires us to live responsibly and equitably. D&AD Impact is the result of a partnership between D&AD and Advertising Week. A D&AD Pencil is widely regarded as the top Award of the creative industries. Advertising Week create events around brands, agencies, media, technology and startup communities to curate a hybrid of thought leadership and special programmes worldwide. The D&AD Impact Awards 2018 will be unveiled in partnership with the 15th annual Advertising Week New York and celebrated by global leaders in marketing, advertising, technology, and beyond who recognize the vital importance of new ideas with strong promise for impact. Aside from the potential to receive a coveted White Pencil, shortlisted entrants in this years D&AD Impact Awards will be able to apply for the D&AD Impact Academy, a two-day masterclass programme that aims to inspire talent and provide tangible tips and tools based on the experiences of global leaders in sustainability and purpose. The D&AD Impact Council will also work with successful entrants to help bring their ideas to market. Says Lance Pillersdorf, co-founder and COO of Advertising Week: Now in our 15th year, we are proud to continue our partnership with D&AD Impact to further highlight work that can make for a better tomorrow while galvanizing the broader industry to take action. Just as weve seen all facets of creativity evolve since the first Advertising Week, we are excited to take the next transformative step with the D&AD Impact Awards to not only recognize world-changing ideas, but put in place a Council and program that have the power to unlock the full potential of these ideas. | BY Ricki Green | Richard Hughes has joined Guiltys roster of talent. Hughes is one of the new breed all round filmmakers with his finger on the pulse when it comes to all things current. With his past experience being on the camera, and in the editing suite hes shaped himself into becoming a full service master. At his core, Hughes is an extremely visual director. Hughes has a huge interest in upcoming trends and style, and his steadfast approach is quickly evolving him into one of Australias young hot talents in the film game. In 2017 he picked up a Golden Pencil for the infamous Viral Experiment, while very recent work includes Bonds Killer Undies spot featuring Dustin Martin. His passion and energy on set is contagious to say the least. Hughes has the bravado of a cowboy, with the emotive heart beat of a true story teller. Says Rohan Timlock, executive producer, Guilty: Were rapt to get Richard in our team of Directors, and in some respect hes showing us how it can be done, and thats invigorating hes a true renaissance man. Says Jason Byrne, executive producer, Guilty: Welcome to the Guilty family Rich youre one of us. Check out the work here: www.guiltycontent.com. | BY Ricki Green | Gumtree has today launched a new campaign Keep Gumtree Real via Pollen that aims to improve the buying and selling experience by encouraging trust and responsibility. Gumtree has tackled this head on by once again collaborating with former TV host Jason Dundas to create a light-hearted, content-led campaign, which offers tips on online etiquette and buyer and seller best practice. Says James Walmsley, senior marketing manager at Gumtree: With over seven million Australians visiting Gumtree each month, weve built a community of people who love to search, discover and find unique items. As a result of being an online marketplace, on occasion people often think they can get away with behaving in a way that they normally wouldnt in person. Keep Gumtree Real is about encouraging buyers and sellers to treat each other as they would in real life and to ensure their experience is as seamless as possible. Launching with a series of creative videos hosted by Dundas that offer tips on buyer and seller best practice in a light-hearted way. These include: Write an honest description: Be upfront, honest and accurate when listing an item. Be a time saver: While its great to shop around to see whats available in the community, be respectful of other peoples time and hold off meeting up with a seller until youre serious about buying an item. Show up on time: If youve set a time to meet a buyer or seller, stick to the plan and show up on time. If you cant make it, thats fine, just let the person know as soon as possible. Negotiate fairly: Do your research and negotiate on a price you think is fair not an unrealistic amount. Be responsive: If youre going to be unreachable for an extended period of time, simply pause youre listing so you dont keep people waiting. By following these tips, Gumtree users will be able to improve sale time and build a good reputation within the platforms local community, making it easier to have successful transactions in the future. To complement the campaign, Gumtree has also announced its latest platform updates that are also aimed at encouraging trust and reliability. This includes the addition of profile pictures and trust markers on a sellers profile page which show average reply and response rate. The campaign will be executed across social and owned channels and will be targeted at both new users (signing up), as well as existing users in an effort to improve user behaviour. Creative Agency: Pollen Production Company: Dundas Media | BY Lynchy | Seven West Media has today announced that John Driscoll (pictured) has stepped down as CEO Seven West Media WA, after 8 months in the role. A statement released by SWM said Chairman Kerry Stokes recently discussed with Driscoll new additional responsibilities to the CEO role that would have required extensive travel. However, after further consultation and consideration, Driscoll has, for family reasons, decided that he would not be able to accommodate the additional responsibilities. It said Stokes had reluctantly accepted Driscolls decision to step down, on the understanding that this would not preclude them from working together in the future. I would like to thank John for his services, said Stokes. He has instituted a number of important reforms for our newspapers which will continue to benefit the company after his departure. A new leader of Seven West Media WA will be announced early next week. | BY Ricki Green | Following in the footsteps of its rebrand, Rest one of Australias largest superannuation funds has launched a new brand campaign called Hello progress. Hello Rest via independent creative agency Mr Wolf. The campaign highlights Rests focus on finding innovative ways to help connect members to their super, so they can enjoy more of the feeling of making progress. The launch campaign spans TV, digital, outdoor and social. Says Mary Atley, general manager, brand, marketing and communications, Rest: This campaign and our overall rebrand is all about how were evolving as a fund. Weve always put our members interests first, but over the last few years weve focused on innovations that really help our members to connect and engage with their super. Our fresh new brand and this campaign are reflective of the transformation the fund has being going through. Says Tony Singleton, managing partner, Mr Wolf: When you think of superannuation its difficult not to think of retirement. However, when youre talking to a super fund who has a large demographic of younger people like Rest who generally feel next week is a long time away you lose them if you start talking about a far-off future that they struggle to relate to. Therefore it was really important to find a way to make this brand campaign about an emotional benefit delivered today and not just tomorrow. Fortunately we found a really simple human truth it doesnt matter who you are or what youre doing, you just feel happier when youre making progress that also related to the innovations and benefits that Rest has been delivering. Says Michael Stevenson, managing partner, Mr Wolf: To help combat any brand misattribution during the rebranding process, we introduced the brand thought at the forefront of the communications. By landing this early we were then able to explore the emotional impact that Rest delivers to its nearly two-million members. The result is a campaign that both we and our partners at Rest are really proud to have produced. Creative Agency: Mr Wolf Art Director: Steve Liu, Kelli Anderson Copywriter: Jen Barnett, Andy Healy Strategy: Tony Singleton Account Management: Michael Stevenson Agency Producer: Tanja Perl Media: Customedia Brand Identity: Principals Production Company: Filmgraphics Director: Nick Robertson Producer: Kim Kirby EP: Anna Fawcett DOP: Ben Shirley Editor: Danny Tait Sound: We Love Jam | BY Ricki Green | PEDESTRIAN.TV has teamed up with Tourism NT to get young Aussies exploring their own backyard by packing their own city-kid bags and heading to the larger than life Northern Territory. The result is a wild 3-part video series appropriately titled All the Gear and No Idea. The mockumentary style series chronicles PEDESTRIAN.TVs very own Lucinda Price, Sydney funny girl Tanya Hennessy and radio host Michael Beveridge as they embark on 3 very different Northern Territory experiences. In the search for the biggest croc and best pub grub to the most Instagrammable adventures, mountain biking in the outback and primo room service at a swim up hotel room, the series demonstrates that the NT truly has something for every travel personality and encourages young Aussies to do themselves a favour and go bush for themselves. Says Tony Quarmby, GM of marketing, Tourism NT: The Territory has a big reputation for quirky and adventurous marketing campaigns, so we jumped at this opportunity to work with the folks at PEDESTRIAN.TV and shout-out about the incredibly Instagrammable adventures that await young Aussie travellers in the NT. Not only was Out of the Office wildly fun to shoot thanks to the antics of Tanya, Michael and Lucinda, but it cut to the essence of what the NT is all about fun, adventurous, enriching and incredibly spiritual experiences in some of the most pristine and accessible wilderness Australia has to offer, with great accommodation and good food to boot! Says James McManus, creative director, PEDESTRIAN.TV: A recent dive into the lives of PEDESTRIANs audience overwhelmingly displayed their embrace of diversity and new cultures, in both their own neighbourhood and overseas, and a hunger for hobbies that help them escape technology. Combined with travel being an unwavering motivator, this tongue in cheek look at the incredible spirit and variety The Territory has on offer proves the NT is ripe for the young Aussie explorer to nail their passions on home soil. The video series is a part of a broader campaign with PEDESTRIAN.TV, including social content and an editorial series which is hosted across a dedicated content hub, News and Travel verticals. PEDESTRIAN.TV Agency Partnerships Manager: Caitlin Hibbert Producer/Director: Anna Lawrence DOP: James Millynn Account Manager: Kylie OConnell Tourism NT Monika Tonkin Manager Consumer Communication Lindsey Dixon Brand Coordinator Looking for a celebration? Crack an egg in honour of World Egg Day In the mood for a celebration? Crack an egg its World Egg Day Oct. 8, an international event established in Vienna back in 1996 to help fete the wonderful versatility of this humble food, not only for all its nutritional and delicious benefits, but to honour all the farming families who help put eggs on the table for everyone, certainly Canadians coast-to-coast. Keiser University has recognized Gulf Coast Village as the top local site for its occupational therapy students during the 2017-18 academic year. Gulf Coast Village earned the universitys Best Fieldwork Site award after developing a mutually beneficial program in which Keiser students complete their clinical internships at the premier continuing care retirement community. The annual award recognizes a community partner that graciously accepts Level I and Level II fieldwork placements and is willing to share knowledge and expertise with future occupational therapy professionals. Keiser University has long been known as a leader in healthcare education, and the quality of Keisers interns has been second to none, said Kevin Ahmadi, executive director of Gulf Coast Village. Our team of clinicians has happily accepted as many Keiser interns as we can accommodate, and that ultimately raises the level of service were able to offer our residents. Keiser University, founded in 1977 by Arthur and Evelyn Keiser, opened a Fort Myers campus in 2010. The private university specializes in medical career education, with its occupational therapy assistant program among its most popular degree tracks. Dr. Vanessa Khan, Keiser Universitys fieldwork coordinator in Fort Myers, praised Gulf Coast Village as a wonderful resource and asset to Keiser University occupational therapy assistant students and the future of the occupational therapy profession. We value their collaboration and the knowledge that they bring to our students. About Keiser University Keiser University is a private, not-for-profit University serving nearly 20,000 students offering 100 degrees at the doctoral through the associate level on 18 Florida campuses, online and internationally, employing 3,800 staff and faculty. Keiser University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award certificates and degrees at the associate, baccalaureate, masters, specialist and doctoral levels. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Keiser University. For more information, visit www.keiseruniversity.edu About Gulf Coast Village Founded more than 25 years ago, Gulf Coast Vil-lage is a top Continuing Care Retirement Commu-nity in Cape Coral. Resi-dents enjoy active independent living in a lifestyle of comfort and convenience with a rich array of services and amenities that are focused on living well. The community also offers a full continuum of care when needed, including: assisted living, skilled nursing, specialized memory support, home health and outpatient services. Gulf Coast Village is located at 1333 Santa Barbara Blvd., Cape Coral, FL 33991. For more information call 239-772-1333 or visit www.GulfCoastVil-lage.com. With a $478 million shortfall in capital revenue projected over the next five years, the Lee County School District is seeking one thing that five other growth districts in Florida have in place. At a public forum on May 3 at The Community House on Sanibel, Lee County Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins and School Board Member Chris Patricca discussed the sales tax referendum set for the November ballot. They covered the districts capital need, how the funding will be spent and more. According to Adkins, Lee County is one of six growth districts in Florida. The district takes in about 1,500 to 2,000 new students per year from in state, out of state and outside of the country. The district has approximately 94,000 students, making it the ninth largest one in Florida and 32nd in the nation. Patricca noted that Duval, Hillsborough, Orange, Polk and Sarasota have one thing in common. They all have a surtax, she said. Lee County is the only growing county in the state of Florida that does not have a surtax. Adkins explained that the district had more than $300 million in capital funding in 2006-07, as compared to just over $100 million for 2016-17. He cited a reduction in the millage rate, decrease in PECO or Public Education Capital Outlay funds, and lower impact fees as contributing factors. He noted that capital funds are used for the construction of new schools, rebuilding schools, facility improvements, technology, enhancements for progress, and safety and security not for salaries. Were confidant were going to continue growing at the rate that were going, Adkins said. He outlined the districts needs as the construction of seven new schools, the rehabilitation of two existing schools and the addition of one high school. Funds are also needed for the ongoing upkeep of things like the districts 799 existing buildings and 118,000 computers, including students laptops. We have over 3,000 acres of property that we have to maintain, Adkins said. We need $478 million to close the capital revenue gap over five years, he added. Patricca explained that the sales tax option will bring in the most revenue. The district considered an additional property tax, but it would draw about $39 million annually as compared to $59 million. Impact fees are a tiny piece of the problem, she added. Both noted that the districts annual debt payment this year totals $51 million. It could borrow more money, but doing so would increase the annual amount and lengthen the time is takes to repay it. In terms of reducing spending, they explained that the district has cut expenses since the recession. Within the capital fund, funding for the maintenance of existing buildings was reduced by 36 percent and the district increased its borrowing to pay for needed schools, resulting in even less money left. Weve tightened our belts so tightly, were starving, Patricca said. We need schools for our students, she added. Were not going to get the relief from the state. We need a local solution. The average family of four in Lee County makes an estimated $50,000. Patricca noted that the half-cent sales tax would cost them about $64 per year. Thats less than 18 cents a day, she said. The tax is not assessed on necessities, such as food and medication, Patricca added. For major purchases, like a vehicle, it would only apply to the first $5,000. Based on the districts research, the county surtax will not stand solely on the shoulders of residents. About one-third of this tax will be assessed on tourists, she said. Its like building our buildings at a one-third discount, Patricca added. Adkins explained that without the needed capital revenue, the district will have to rely on more portable classrooms, schools face overcrowding and students could fall behind in learning. He noted that overcrowding is a safety issue, especially for incidents in a hallway. Trying to get to a problem through all that crowding, Adkins said. It can be very difficult. Patricca pointed out that studies have shown a quality education system benefits a community as a whole by raising property values, decreasing crime rates, promoting higher incomes and more. This is about the economic health of the entire county, she said. If approved by voters, the surtax will come with an elected board of individuals, who will oversee the funding and report to the public not the school board. It will also sunset, or expire, after 10 years. We will have a citizens oversight committee, Patricca said. On the topic of transparency, she also spent a few minutes addressing what happened with Bonita Springs High School. According to Patricca, the cost estimated for the build out and approved by the board was a gross underestimation, which ended in a complete restructuring of one department. We recognized there was a problem, she said. We brought in professionals to solve that problem. Patricca noted that there have been no problems since then. In the state of Florida, it costs $65 million to build a high school today, she said. According to Patricca, it costs approximately $34,000 to $36,000 per student to build a school, as compared to $23,000 the underestimation had used. The Bonita project will come in at $35,000. Im here tonight to ask you to rally with us, she said to those in attendance. Im going to ask you to please vote yet on the half-cent sales tax, Patricca added. This is not just about our children. This is about our entire community. For more information about the referendum, visit www.leeschools.net/change-for-change. Mothers looking for a day of relaxation, fun rides and cool waters need not to look any further than Southwest Floridas largest water park. Sun Splash Family Waterpark is once again treating mothers to a weekend of free admission with a paid kid or regular-priced ticket in honor of Mothers Day. Waterpark Manager Sandy Grenier said this a tradition they hope to continue for many years to come. All mothers can enter our park this Saturday and Sunday for no admission price with the purchase of a child or regular admission ticket. Its a way of honoring the moms in the area and we make it affordable to them if they otherwise couldnt make it out to Sun Splash, Grenier added. Raffle prizes will also be available for moms to take a chance at receiving some great gifts. Included will be a two-night, three-day stay at Gullwing Beach Resort, a $250 gift card to Sanibel Outlets and an Ideal Image underarm laser hair removal treatment. We love giving out these wonderful prizes to our moms, said Grenier. The winners will be drawn on Sunday at 4 p.m., and mothers do not have to be present to claim their prize. Our turnout is always great to see, said Grenier of the annual event. Sun Splash also provides the same discount on Fathers Day. Some big changes have been taken on this year, and Sun Splash has had an eventful off season, according to Grenier. This is the first time the park has been all together since our unfortunate fire in 2016. We have a new cafe, new guest relations center and a new gift shop. These new amenities make us more efficient in helping customer the way they should be served. In her nine years working at the park, she feels this season has a whole new feel to it. The park looks beautiful, we have done so many wonderful upgrades, including a new logo. It feels fresh. The new Pirates Cove has also been a great addition to the waterpark. We build Pirates Cove for the kids, but we see the adults having just as much fun! said Grenier. Sun Splash has lots to offer not just kids, but the whole family. You can relax along the Main Stream River Tube Ride as is gently navigates you through the park. For the more adventurous, Thunder Bump, Terror Tube and the X-celerator drop guests down a steep incline, perfect for the adrenaline rush youre looking for. Flumes, tunnels and slides all find a home at Sun Splash, varying in size and ferocity. Come and check out our park and all of our new renovations, said Grenier. Its a great place to cool off and relax, youll want to come back. Sun Splash is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays only from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The parks seven day a week operating schedule will begin on Thursday, May 31, and run through Aug. 9, weather permitting. Sun Splash is at 400 Santa Barbara Blvd. For more information about Sun Splash, admission rates and directions to the park, call (239) 574-0558 or visit www.SunSplashWaterpark.com. To the editor: NRA is not the sole supporter of gun violence. Any major corporation, such as gun manufacturers, are also supporters of gun violence. The NRA should be subject to the same rules of political candidates to determine all sources of contributions. Certainly foreign contributions should be illegal. However, certain domestic fundings are also troubling. Your politicians, president, judges, wealthy individuals (Koch Brothers) and corporate America fund the NRA for political games. Changes in the emphasis of the Second Amendment was accomplished by a group effort for political gain (ALEC). The proliferation of guns and the vote of the gun culture was the prize. Lewis Robinson Fort Myers The Captiva Community Panel approved its summer plan and an additional consultant fee for the Captiva Code at its recent meeting, as well as agreed to reach out to Lee County on two issues. On May 8, the panel voted unanimously to pay local planner Max Forgey an extra $3,000 to provide options for addressing the high-priority concerns identified as part of the Code update. President David Mintz explained that the alternatives will be based on how other communities handled similar issues. Some of the comparable areas cited included Boca Grande, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach. How they have dealt with it and give us options, Mintz said. Over the summer, local planner David Depew will review the new Captiva Plan, current Code and county ordinances on land use and development, then propose any additional steps that the panel can take to protect the Plan and zoning from any future amendments that increase density and intensity. Mintz noted that some of the new language in the Plan may be too general. We may have an obligation to make it a little more detailed, he said. Between now and June, were going to flush all this stuff out. In the meantime, panel administrator Ken Gooderham will propose to the panel which issues raised during public workshops and an online community survey need to be eliminated from the updating project. Ken will eliminate about 30 percent, Mintz said. This is a first cut. He added that the cuts will most likely involve preemptive legislation that the panel cannot change, concerns that ranked lower on the list of priorities for the public and issues no one cared about. Once the list of high-priority concerns is established, Gooderham will better define each one, while Forgey will review existing local, state and federal regulations and compare similar situations. In addition, Depew will present any regulatory options on the issues and identify the best possible fits. So thats sort of the overview of the plan for the summer, Mintz said. A report is expected to be prepared in September, with a presentation to the panel in November. Panel Member Mike Kelly suggested sharing the completed report with the public in pieces, like breakout sessions, rather than all at once. He stressed the need for community feedback on all parts. Otherwise, it will be a conglomeration of stuff, Kelly said. It has to be workshopped all the way along, so the communitys as involved as we are were a planning group, thats our situation. Also during the meeting, the panel decided to approach the county about funding for community planning, like it has received in previous years, and controlling the islands iguana population. The panel typically receives $50,000 in funds from the county for projects and such. Mintz noted that it did not receive any funding for next year. I think its important we make a request to the county to put it back in the budget, he said. Gooderham suggested that the panel draw up a proposal outlining the reasons why it needs $50,000, adding that the panel may also want to include other similar entities that rely on the county funds. If its just Captiva, it puts a bit of a bullseye on our back, he said. With the iguana situation, the panel discussed if the species is a problem, how Sanibel handles its population and where they can be found on Captiva, with Turner Beach and South Seas noted. I think the question now is whether or not we actually go to the county at this point, Mintz said. He voiced reaching out, as well as contacting the Captiva Erosion Prevention District. See if the county will be willing to take responsibility for culling the iguana population on Captiva and keep it under control, Mintz said. The panel heard a short presentation on the proposed re-platting of two adjacent plots. Austin Turner, with Henderson Franklin Attorneys at Law, explained that one plot has a residential structure encroaching on the adjacent boundary line, which is being resolved with the re-platting. Arrange the lot lines so the encroachment is entirely in our clients property he said. Russell Trout, also with the firm, explained that it is a few inches and a roof overhang. So instead of a straight line its going to be a little jagged, he said. Panel Member Jay Brown gave an update on the wastewater alternatives study. TKW (Consulting Engineers) has completed the study, he said. I have not seen the study. Brown added, however, that he has been told it contains the best options for a central sewer system along with a cost analysis, the means for public regulation of existing septic systems and more. The per parcel long-term (cost) is equivalent to each person operating their own septic system, he said he was told about the central system. But I have not seen any of the data underlining that. Brown said Lee County staff has reportedly reviewed the study. Im hopeful that the next steps will be that Lee County will allow TKW to share the study with members of the Wastewater Committee, he said. IN OTHER NEWS Mintz reported on the Captiva Drive project that CenturyLink has no equipment in the path, so pricing for moving the existing equipment has been obtained. The next step is sitting down with Lee County and outlining the plan, as well as obtaining easements from the involved property owners. The Lee County Department of Transportation has assigned a project manager. Everyone seems to think this is doable, so there we go, he said. Secretary Mike Mullins reported that a draft of the panels new website is out. At this point, were trying to get it released in the best condition that we can, he said. Mullins anticipates that the site will launch over the summer. Over time, well be adding to it, he said, citing videos and such. The panel debated if hurricane information should be posted on it. It eventually decided that the distribution of information during a disaster may fit better with the fire district and moved to suggest that the commission assign the duties to a district employee or hire a public information officer. Vice President Mike Boris reported that Monday After the Masters raised more than $17,000 after expenses were deducted. In addition, the most recent donation letter has brought in almost $5,000. Its off to a great start, he said. The panel is a recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Charitable Foundation of the Islands 2018 Capacity Grant and Collaboration Grant initiative. The panel will aim to hold its summer meetings as scheduled. For more information on the Plan and Code, visit www.captivacommunitypanel.com. Photo: Contributed A Lake Country dog was mauled and attacked on the Rail Trail by two dogs off leash. A dog owner is worried about the safety of her dog and others after her 12-year-old Border Collie was mauled on the Okanagan Rail Trail. Kelsi Edgelow was walking her dog Baylee on leash near the Oyama fire hall on Friday at 5 p.m., when she stopped to chat to a woman and two children. Two large dogs, which she described as a boxer-bulldog mix, ran up to them and started attacking Baylee. They grabbed her neck and threw her to the ground, she said. According to Edgelow, the owner came over after and didnt have any leashes to put the dogs on. The owner was yelling at them but they werent listening at all, she said. People ran to help because it took so long to get the dog off. The attack took about four minutes before they could pull the dogs off Baylee. The dogs were trying to kill her that was their motive, said Edgelow. Baylee needed five stitches in her ear and she had puncture wounds in the back and front of her neck. The owner admitted to her that their dogs had been aggressive to other dogs. It has happened before and they are like whatever, she said. On the same morning of the incident, another dog attack occurred in Lake Country on Parkside Crescent just after 7 a.m. Witnesses in the area said they saw two large dogs wrestling with a small dog and saw a woman shrieking. Two people reached out to Castanet about the incident out of concern for the safety of other dogs in the neighbourhood. Photo: Penticton Racing Canoe Club The annual "Duel in the Desert" outrigger canoe race is returning this weekend at Skaha Lake. The Penticton Racing Canoe Club is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year with the event, which involves races and a special dinner in the evening on Saturday, May 12, and more races on Sunday, May 13. On Saturday, 23 crews from around B.C. and Alberta will participate in a series of six-person outrigger canoe races. It's the first of the Canadian Outrigger Racing Association's Cup Race series. Saturday's races include an eight-kilometre short course at 9 a.m., a 16-kilometre women's/mixed long course race at 10:30 a.m. and the men's/mixed long course at 12:30 p.m. Sunday's races begin at 10 a.m., and will feature one and two-person boats racing eight to 10 kilometres. Sixty paddlers are expected. All the races begin and finish at Skaha Lake park near the marina. Photo: CTV A New Democrat member of Parliament is jumping into the Vancouver mayoral race. Burnaby South MP Kennedy Stewart says he's going to run as an independent candidate to replace Gregor Robertson, who is not seeking re-election. Stewart launched his campaign promising action on housing, protecting the environment, supporting an equitable economy and preventing illicit drug overdose deaths. Stewart was arrested in March along with Green party Leader Elizabeth May and others who allegedly defied a court injunction banning protesters from disrupting construction at both Trans Mountain pipeline terminals in Burnaby. He said he had to stand with constituents opposed to Kinder Morgan's planned pipeline expansion. Stewart was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011. He has a PhD from the London School of Economics and is on leave as a professor from Simon Fraser University's school of public policy. An online profile on his website says Kennedy was also a musician who won a West Coast Music Award. Photo: Contributed For several weeks, after 6 p.m., the Tolko sawmill in Kelowna's North End has been spewing out unacceptable levels of pollution. Given the high density of approved development in this area, I am appalled that with todays scrutiny, this is allowed. Perhaps publicly shaming these industries to comply with higher standards will change things. Brad Almond, Kelowna Photo: Fox News A 114-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was the oldest person in the United States has died, according to a funeral home. The Robert D Heath Funeral Home in Mount Union said that Delphine Gibson died Wednesday. Lessie Brown, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 113, is now believed to be the oldest American, according to the Gerontology Research Group in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Gibson, who had been living at a Huntingdon nursing home since 2004, when she was 100, attributed her long life to good food, her faith in God and her church. "Frances and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Delphine Gibson, America's oldest citizen," said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. "She was an incredible Pennsylvanian and she will be missed." Although she was blind and deaf near the end of her life, she still enjoyed singing and humming songs like "Amazing Grace," nursing home unit manager Miranda Glover told WJAC-TV in February 2017. She took no medication except for a single vitamin a day, Glover said. "She has an amazing spirit," Glover said. "She always singing to us or sharing the gospel. She is a treasure to the nation." On her 112th birthday, Huntingdon Mayor Dee Dee Brown declared it "Delphine Gibson Week" in the borough. Kammi Plummer, admissions director at AristaCare at Huntingdon Park, where Gibson lived most recently, told the Altoona Mirror she informed Gibson when she became the oldest living American. "She just kind of acted surprised and said, 'You don't say?'" Plummer said. "We also told her she was she prettiest. She just said, 'I know that.'" Born Delphine Tucker on Aug. 17, 1903, in Ridgeway, South Carolina, Gibson's funeral will be Saturday at Mount Hope Baptist Church in Mount Union. Photo: The Canadian Press The family of the man accused in the deadly van attack that shocked Toronto last month is grieving for the victims but stands by the accused, the man's lawyer said Thursday as three new charges were laid against his client. Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, Ont., now faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in the April 23 incident. Eight women and two men died after a rental van mounted a sidewalk along a busy street in north Toronto and ran down pedestrians in its path. Authorities initially said 13 people were injured that day but further investigation revealed three others were also hurt. Following a brief hearing where three new attempted murder charges were laid against Minassian, his lawyer said outside court that his client's family was devastated. "They appreciate the devastation on many other families as well," Boris Bytensky said. "They're going to allow everyone to grieve. They send their condolences and really their prayers for everyone affected by this. "They stand behind their son and are very respectful of the court process," Bytensky said, adding that he didn't want to talk about how his client was doing. "This isn't a time to discuss Mr. Minassian, this is still a grieving period for the city," he said. "There are many families that are grieving for those lives lost and those injured." Minassian appeared in court by video from jail, standing straight with his arms at his side, and didn't say a word. Several people in court cried during the brief hearing, which concluded with the case being put over to Sept. 14. Bytensky said the adjournment in the case is a little longer than usual because the Crown has a lot of disclosure to go through before handing it over to the defence. He added that he had no intention of litigating the case through the media. Eight people injured in the attack remain either in hospital or a rehabilitative facility. Photo: The Canadian Press The Alberta Energy Regulator says there were hundreds of pipeline safety incidents in the province last year but the rate has improved significantly in the past decade. In its annual report on pipeline performance, it says incidents fell by nearly half, from 800 in 2008 to 417 in 2017, despite the total length of provincially regulated pipelines growing by 11 per cent to 426,000 kilometres. Twenty-six of the incidents in 2017 resulted in high consequences which could include more than 200,000 litres of liquids released, the release of poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas, impacts on flowing water or injuries to wildlife. That's down from 29 in 2016, as the total number of incidents dropped by six per cent in 2017 from the previous year. About 80 per cent of incidents had low consequences, which means less than 20,000 litres of liquid spilled and it affected less than 100 square metres of land and no water bodies. Incidents are defined by the AER as leaks from faulty fittings or installation, releases from auxiliary equipment, damage from something hitting the pipeline even if no leak results, minor leaks and ruptures. The AER says nearly two-thirds of pipeline incidents resulted in less than 1,000 litres being released. It says internal corrosion remains the leading cause of pipeline failure. Photo: The Canadian Press Smoked salmon, shrimp cocktails, pate, chocolate fondue and maple syrup are all headed for space. Those tasty foods will be part of David Saint-Jacques' menu during the Canadian astronaut's upcoming six-month stay on the International Space Station. Natalie Hirsch, food co-ordinator at the Canadian Space Agency, says Saint-Jacques taste-tested 50 different products and rated them from one to 10, with those scoring seven and above making the cut. "When David came to us for his first meeting about his menu, we looked at what he was interested in and looked at what was available," she told reporters Thursday. "We had a second meeting with him, presented him with products that he suggested and other products we thought would meet his criteria." Hirsch said the Canadian astronaut, whose launch has been rescheduled to Dec. 20, likes savoury foods and "really enjoyed the salmon." So four types of salmon were selected and Saint-Jacques, 48, took to all of them. "When you look at a six-month menu, you want to make sure that there's a lot of variety," Hirsch noted. "So that's why there's a number of different types of salmon products because over six months, you don't want to give just one type." The salmon will be sent to the space station in metal pouches, but at least one food item, pad Thai, a noodle dish, will have to be repackaged by NASA's food lab. Hirsch, who has been at the space agency for 18 years, has worked on preparing the food menus for five missions involving Canadian astronauts. There's always a concern about crumbs getting into the space station's ventilation system, so maple cream cookies being sent with Saint-Jacques will be repackaged and vacuum-packed in small quantities. Most of the food is either dehydrated or canned. NASA has also developed a tortilla that allows astronauts to create their own sandwiches because bread crumbs could also jam up the works. She pointed out there's no refrigerator on the space station, so all food must have a shelf life of at least one year and ideally 18 months. Photo: The Canadian Press The federal competition watchdog says he wants to "shine a light" on Canada's broadband internet providers with the public's comments on a market that is predominantly served by traditional phone and cable companies. There are few products more vital to Canadas economic future than broadband. We want to shine a light on potential competitive issues in a sector at the heart of our daily lives, Commissioner of Competition John Pecman said in a statement Thursday. The Competition Bureau said there are more than 550 companies offering an alternative to traditional telephone and cable companies, but 2016 data showed that only 13 per cent of Canada's retail internet subscriptions were with the alternatives. The bureau says it's exploring ways to make the broadband internet sector more competitive, including a change to regulations, easier switches between providers and more informed consumer choice. Representatives of two Canadian consumer advocacy groups said they hoped that the bureau's study will lead to lower prices. OpenMedia's Katy Anderson added that she would like the bureau to also look at high wireless data prices, which affect how much people pay for accessing the internet through mobile devices. "Having the Competition Bureau come in and look at (the) broadband internet market is great news for Canadians . . . but I'd love, love, love for to see them include wireless in this," Anderson said in a phone interview from Calgary. "Because we know people are using their cellphones more and more and using more data on them, and the CRTC's monitoring report that comes out every fall tells us that." John Lawford, of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa, said in an email that the market study is well-timed and very necessary. He said many consumers "have problems with affordability of service and are stymied in using the internet's full potential by high prices and low data caps. "It will be helpful to see whether the Competition Bureau can highlight the flaws in the market that allow this state of affairs to continue," Lawford said. The bureau is seeking initial submissions by Aug. 31 and aims to publish a final report next year. Photo: The Canadian Press Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says the plastics charter she is negotiating with other G7 nations ahead of next month's leaders' summit in Quebec could be billed as a Paris-type agreement for ocean garbage. McKenna tells The Canadian Press the talks are tough, but going well and she's confident Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have something solid to present to other leaders in Charlevoix, Que., in June. The plastics charter is to be a centrepiece element of the summit, where the environment is one of the themes Trudeau chose for Canada's turn as the presidency of the G7. McKenna says the charter will focus on a high-level policy approach that will include targets for reducing the amount of garbage in the oceans and call for domestic plans to meet those targets. Different studies suggest anywhere from 6 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes of plastic garbage ends up in the ocean each year. More than half of it comes from a small number of countries, mainly in Asia, where garbage collection is lacklustre at best. She says even if a lot of the garbage Canadians individually produce isn't what's clogging the ocean, Canada has a role to play in developing products that are easier to recycle and Canadians can do more to reduce the amount of single-use plastics in their lives. Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, says it is ridiculous to walk into a grocery store and see a Styrofoam tray with one or two bell peppers wrapped tightly in plastic shrink wrap. He says companies argue consumers want the convenience but he says he finds it highly unlikely customers are clamouring for plastic wrap on all their vegetables. He noted Canada doesn't yet have a domestic plan for plastics. McKenna launched public consultations in April on such a plan, but would not confirm if Canada will announce any national policies before the G7. In addition to setting targets for reducing plastic waste, McKenna says the charter will push the G7 to work with industry to develop less harmful products and help developing nations create better waste disposal systems to keep plastics from the water. McKenna says if the G7 can agree on a charter, the goal then will be to take it next to the G20. Photo: Google Street View A police-involved shooting occurred near Highway 3 and Donaldson Drive Thursday. UPDATE: Friday 6:50 a.m. The Independent Investigations Office has been called in to investigate a police-involved shooting in Grand Forks, B.C. The RCMP says the incident began just before 3:30 p.m. Thursday when officers from the Grand Forks detachment were checking a report of a car being driven erratically. Officers found the vehicle in an industrial park, but the RCMP says in a release that the driver rammed several police vehicles while attempting the flee and shots were fired by police. The RCMP says the male driver suffered "unknown injuries" and was taken to hospital in critical condition. His name was not released. There were no other injuries. The Independent Investigations Office investigates all police incidents that result in death or serious injury. The Canadian Press ORIGINAL: Thursday 8:15 p.m. Amid unprecedented flooding, investigators with the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. are heading to Grand Forks after a police-involved shooting in the small West Kootenay town. Thursday evening, the IIO posted to Twitter saying an "incident" had occurred in Grand Forks. The independent agency investigates all incidents that have involved police where serious harm or death occurred. A longtime resident of Grand Forks says police had cordoned off an area near Highway 3 and Donaldson Drive earlier in the afternoon after the shooting had occurred. He says an incident like this is rare for the small town. "Shootings don't happen here, but this one, it doesn't sound good at all," said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. The condition of those involved in the incident is unknown at this time. Photo: Kyle Hodgson Nearly 2,700 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in British Columbia's southern Interior as officials warn of flooding due to extremely heavy snowpacks, sudden downpours and unseasonably warm temperatures. Chris Marsh, emergency operations centre director and program manager for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, said there has been "significant flooding" in the eastern area of the region. "Over the last 24 to 36 hours we've experienced significant rainfall, up to 50 millimetres in some spots and in some of the drainages in this area, and that's caused the rivers to rise significantly over the past 24 hours," Marsh said Thursday. Frances Maika of the regional district said the flood is "in the range" of a once in a 200 year occurrence. Evacuation orders were issued Thursday for the about 1,500 properties covering a large area along the Granby, Kettle and West Kettle rivers, as well as in the Carmi region, 80 kilometres southeast of Kelowna. Officials in Osoyoos declared a state of emergency Thursday evening due to the "imminent threat of flooding and rising lake levels." They also ordered the Coast Hotel to be evacuated due to an "immediate danger to life and safety." Marsh said there have been washouts on smaller streams and tributaries in the region as well, isolating residents on some properties. Marsh said they expected water levels to peak Thursday evening, adding that different parts of the district could see bodies of water swell between 30 and 100 centimetres. "If you are thinking you're safe because you haven't flooded before, but you are seeing the water come up, please make sure you're safe and that you make the decision timely enough to evacuate yourself if you need to." Jessica Mace of the Kettle River Watershed Authority said volunteers arrived in downtown Grand Forks from across the area to help business owners and residents. "It's been truly amazing," she said. "I was just downtown and there are tons of people down there helping all the businesses sand bag their places as best they can." Mace and Maika said volunteers had filled almost 30,000 of the 120,000 sandbags that went out. "Many businesses are starting to donate food," said Mace. "People are very happy to see food show up." Residents under evacuation order are being directed to reception centres in Grand Forks and Midway, but Maika said the surge of water should pass quickly. "In the next 24 hours, we are going to see the peak in some areas but then people have to respond to what has happened. The recovery is going to be an active process," she said. The EmergencyInfoBC website, which provides information during provincial emergencies, lists evacuation orders or alerts in seven regional districts and for seven First Nations around the province. The province also encouraged local governments and First Nations communities along the lower Fraser River to prepare for potential flooding as it experiences high flow rates. Average temperatures in the region have been five degrees above normal for the last two weeks, and higher temperatures are forecast for next week, it said in a news release. The Central Okanagan's emergency response centre said there had been localized flood and record creek flows in the area including Kelowna. Mission Creek reached a record flow rate overnight on Wednesday, the centre said, and dikes, sand bags and tiger dams were able to contain the flow. By Spencer Harwood and Beth Leighton in Vancouver Photo: Contributed Police say someone who donated costume jewelry to a thrift store in Tsawwassen, B.C., might have given away more than they realized. Delta police say a person working at the Delta Youth Support Link Thrift Store thought some of the jewelry donated around March 1 looked valuable. They had it appraised and police say it turned out to be worth $23,000. Store manager Josie Mae says they have previously received pricey jewelry, including a Rolex watch and a diamond ring. But she didn't want to keep the jewelry at the store while waiting for someone to claim it so it was turned over to the police. The store sells donated goods to raise money for grants and bursaries provided to students at seven high schools. Delta police say anyone wanting to claim the jewelry should contact the department and provide a description. Photo: CTV UPDATE: 4 p.m. Police say a woman's death at a cabin in Sooke was not a criminal incident. After gathering evidence and speaking with witnesses and family members, police determined the death was non-criminal. The BC Coroner's Service is handling the case. ORIGINAL: 6:30 a.m. Vancouver Island's Integrated Major Crimes Unit is investigating a death at a secluded cabin in Sooke. A 37-year-old woman died suddenly last Friday at the cabin under what were initially described as "unexplained circumstances," RCMP say. Police and coroners swarmed the property, neighbours say. The woman had only moved in a few weeks earlier. The landlord says he was shocked to learn of the death, but didn't believe a crime had taken place. Police don't believe there is any risk to the public. with files from CTV Vancouver Island Photo: Contributed The RCMP are treating the discovery of human remains near Nelson as suspicious until the cause of death has been determined. The remains were found near Beasley Road on May 8. "The remains have been determined to be human remains, however, the identity of the deceased and the cause of death will not be established until a forensic autopsy is completed," stated RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Janelle Shoihet. "The autopsy has not yet been scheduled." The RCMP will not be releasing further information until after the autopsy is completed. Photo: Contributed RCMP in Enderby are investigating a possible luring attempt. Enderby RCMP are looking into a possible luring attempt in the North Okanagan community. According to a letter sent to parents from MV Beattie Elementary School, a concerning interaction with an adult in our community has been reported to the school. The incident happened on May 8 and RCMP said they are aware of the alleged luring attempt and are investigating. According to the warning letter, the incident happened at 6 p.m. as the student was crossing Highway 97 near the Shell gas station. An older man with tied-back, long grey hair asked the student if she wanted some candy. The man said, Come over to my truck, which is described as an older model red Ford pick-up. The student quickly headed home, but was followed by the truck for two blocks along Sicamous Street. When she got home, the girl told her parents of the incident and they contacted police. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call RCMP. Photo: File photo Everything Vernon has to offer will be discussed during the Vernon VIP Industry Familiarization (FAM) event. Everything Vernon has to offer will be front and centre during the Vernon VIP Industry Familiarization (FAM) event on Monday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 15. Some 40 participants from 18 local tourism businesses and British Columbia Visitor Centres are expected to attend the third annual event. This is a great opportunity for our tourism partners to showcase their businesses and network, said Angeline Chew, tourism manager with the City of Vernon. The FAM is free for our tourism partners to attend and to experience Vernon, with the hopes that they will become Vernon tourism ambassadors and help promote our activities, attractions and businesses to visitors coming to BC, the Okanagan and Vernon. Chew said the FAM will be showcasing 24 tourism partners in and around Vernon, from stand up paddle boarding to a local craft cidery, downtown shops and key attractions like Davison Orchards, Historic OKeefe Ranch and Greater Vernon Museum. Participants will be coming from as near Lumby to as far west as Whistler and north as Prince George. The Vernon VIP Industry FAM is organized by the Tourism Vernon Visitor Services team, who spend many hours working with the tourism partners in Greater Vernon and participants to arrange the individual business tours, transportation for the two days, meals and the schedule, said Chew. Photo: The Canadian Press Licensed marijuana producers are throwing out thousands of kilograms of plant waste each year in what some of them say is a missed opportunity to find other uses for the byproduct. Health Canada's destruction policy for producers makes it impossible to benefit or learn from the potentially valuable waste product, said Terry Lake, the vice-president of corporate social responsibility at Hydropothecary, a licensed producer in Gatineau, Que. "We're growing like 3,000 kilograms to a 108,000 kilograms each year, that's an awful lot of waste," said Lake, a former health minister in B.C. Lake said almost half of everything Hydropothecary grows is tossed into the compost bin. Like its cousin the hemp plant, Lake said the stems of the marijuana plant could be used as fibre for a wealth of products like T-shirts, animal feed and housing siding. "The stalk could be used as a reinforcer for cement, another use of hemp fibre, or could be used as insulation," said Lake. Shawn McDougall, production manager at BlissCo, a licensed producer in Langley, B.C., said the company mixes leftover stalks, stems and leaves into its food waste compost, and must report the amount dumped to Health Canada. "There is some great future potential stuff there, but we're mandated by Health Canada to destroy and dispose," said McDougall. Lake said Hydropothecary has to undergo the same process. No one from Health Canada was available for an interview. McDougall and Lake said most of the plant material underneath the flowered buds, such as leaves, stems, and stalks, all have negligible amounts of THC, the active chemical ingredient found in marijuana plants. McDougall said for years when marijuana was unregulated in California and Oregon, personal growers would juice the leaves and stems of the plant, turning them into a beverage. BlissCo CEO Damian Kettlewell said juicing is just one of the applications they would like to develop after legalization in Canada later this year, along with distilled marijuana resin, commonly known as shatter. "We are in the process of doing research on edibles and on vape pens, and then we anticipate there will be other high concentrate and high THC products like shatter available as well," said Kettlewell. The Big Bike is back in town. The Heart and Stroke Foundation's Big Bike is a 30-seat pedal machine used to raise money for research and it was seen on the streets of Vernon Friday. Vernon is a huge supporter of Heart and Stroke and the Big Bike. Vernon has huge heart, said Wendy Wright, with the foundation. It's actually the 25th anniversary of the Big Bike across Canada. The Big Bike was ending a tour of the B.C. Interior in Vernon. Wright said 10 teams from the Vernon went for a ride, raising tens of thousands of dollars for the foundation. There are more than 800 heart and stroke researchers in Canada, including at UBCO. Photo: Coral Brown A road and wall of gabion baskets now protects some homes along Lower Nipit Lake Residents around Twin Lakes are feeling a bit more optimistic about the dire flooding situation there. Over the past week, crews with the B.C. Wildfire Service have supported contractors in building up the road in front of several homes along Lower Nipit Lake, installing a wall of gabion baskets. Crews also worked to protect the sewage lift station, which remains functional. Resident Craig Hunters home is behind the wall of gabion baskets and estimates 250 truck loads of fill were needed to build the road they sit on. He's been sandbagging against the rising water for six weeks now. I feel incredibly lucky, in this disaster to have that degree of help, he said. Im more optimistic, but Im cautious about that, because if the newly built roadway that these bins are resting on, should it erode, the bins could topple over and we are flooded. An incredible amount of water continues to seep up through the ground, testing several pumps on the dry side of the barrier. Hunters been told to expect another 2.5 feet of snowmelt for the lake. This is coasting on the edge of chaos, he said. I dont know when this will end. Lower Nipit Improvement District chair Coral Browns home is on the opposite side of the lake from Hunter, but thinks the RDOS made the right call focusing its resources where it did. They tried to put the money where theyd get the best bang for their buck. There is a lift station there that could have immediately contaminated this lake and it was inevitable to do that, she said. Brown added that all permanent residents got assistance sandbagging from B.C. Wildfire crews, which have since moved on from the area. With this being the second-straight year for significant flooding on the lake, Brown says questions need to be answered about how the province has managed the Park Rill creek system. Lower Nipit Lake has no natural outflow and needs to be pumped into Park Rill, which is being severely limited right now due to flooding downstream in rural Oliver. Sixty-four properties around Lower Nipit Lake remain on evacuation alert. Photo: Colton Davies Flooding along homes on Mimae Court in Okanagan Falls on Thursday. An evacuation order issued on Thursday for 54 properties in Okanagan Falls has been rescinded. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen said the risk of flooding from Shuttleworth Creek has been reduced. The affected properties remain on an evacuation alert while mitigative work continues on the creek, and the RDOS said an evacuation order may be implemented again "if conditions revert back to a threat to life safety." Flood waters began to flow through 14th Avenue, Mimae Court and Brockie Place in the middle of the day on Wednesday, and by mid-day Thursday flooding had caused significant damage to many homes in the area. Some residents told Castanet the flooding was due to a series of debris jams in the creek further upstream, behind the Peachcliff Estates mobile home park, causing it breach its banks and find a new path. Among the damage was a bridge to a private property being taken out by floodwaters. Dozens of residents never left when they were evacuated, continuing to sandbag instead. Many residents said they were involved in sandbagging efforts that went on for 13 hours straight when flooding began. Fake news can and does spread like wildfire on social media. Anybody can set up a Facebook or Twitter account for free, and propagate their particular brand of misinformation from the ridiculous to the dangerous. Its easy for someone to set up their own website to do the same thing. With a little money, anybody can self-publish a book that peddles nonsense. People can pay to have sub-par science articles published on websites that look like reputable journals, but are not. It has become harder and harder for the average person to distinguish between genuine information and fake news. How should our society respond to political propaganda, medical conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and baseless fear mongering? Should governments step in to control misinformation, even if it means censoring some views? Should any books or websites or speech be banned? Or is our freedom to speak and read so vital to a healthy democracy that we must let even those who would lie and deceive have their say? On May 16, Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists Association will host UBC Okanagan professor Andrew Irvine at the downtown Kelowna library at 6:30 p.m. He'll be talking about Fake News, the New Media, and Freedom to Read. Nina George, Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists Association Chirality is at the heart of chemical research and much technology. For organic chemists, choosing between the left- and right-handed isomers of molecules is all part of a day's work. However, many solid materials also have enantiomeric forms, giving rise to a range of applications. Organic chemists generally rely on an arsenal of laboratory reactions to control chiral purity. For materials, there is another, more elegant approach - circularly polarized light, which is readily made, and can be either left-circularly polarized (LCP) or right-circularly polarized (RCP). In material synthesis, the opposite twists of LCP and RCP light indirectly lead to structures that are mirror images of each other. Previously, this strategy has been hampered in practice. Now, researchers at The University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science have successfully created chiral nanostructures from particles of gold (Au). The trick was to use circularly polarized light to generate electric fields, which localize differently depending on LCP or RCP. This in turn drove the chiral deposition of a dielectric material. As described in a study the researchers first deposited Au nanocuboids - essentially miniature rectangular gold bars - on a TiO 2 substrate. As study co-author Koichiro Saito explains, "Under a beam of circularly polarized light, electric fields built up around the cuboids - but at one pair of corners for LCP rotation, and the opposite pair under RCP light. At this point, we had achieved chirality, but in electric rather than material form." The chirality of the electric field was then transferred to the material itself by plasmon-induced charge separation, in which Pb2+ ions were oxidized through the chirally distributed electric fields. This deposited PbO 2 , a dielectric material, at either one set of cuboid corners or the other, depending on the original light source. Electron microscopy showed the gold bars transformed into non-superimposable mirror images, the hallmark of chirality. "This is the first time a chiral material has been made by exploiting plasmon resonance," co-author Tetsu Tatsuma says. "No other source of chirality is needed but light itself. Nanoscale chiral plasmonic materials are highly useful for sensing and asymmetric synthesis, and our process makes them much more efficient to produce. Plus, we don't think it's limited to one product - other chiral nanomaterials have an incredible range of functions in modern technology." A 2017 theory proposed by Rice University physicists to explain the contradictory behavior of an iron-based high-temperature superconductor is helping solve a puzzle in a different type of unconventional superconductor, the "heavy fermion" compound known as CeCu 2 Si 2 . An international team from the U.S., China, Germany and Canada reported the findings this week. The study focused on a cerium, copper and silicon composite whose strange behavior in 1979 helped usher in the multidisciplinary field of quantum materials. That year, a team led by Max Planck Institute's Frank Steglich, a co-author on the PNAS paper, found that CeCu 2 Si 2 became a superconductor at extremely cold temperatures. The mechanism of superconductivity couldn't be explained by existing theory, and the finding was so unexpected and unusual that many physicists initially refused to accept it. The 1986 discovery of superconductivity at even higher temperatures in copper ceramics crystalized interest in the field and came to dominate the career of theoretical physicists like Rice's Qimiao Si, a PNAS study co-author and the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Si, whose decadeslong collaboration with Steglich has led to almost two dozen peer-reviewed studies, said, "In my wildest dreams, I had not thought that the theory that we proposed for the iron-based superconductors would come back to the other part of my life, which is the heavy-fermion superconductors." Heavy fermions, like high-temperature superconductors, are what physicists call quantum materials because of the key role that quantum forces play in their behavior. In high-temperature superconductors, for example, electrons form pairs and flow without resistance at temperatures considerably warmer than those needed for conventional superconductivity. In heavy fermions, electrons appear to be thousands of times more massive than they should. In 2001, Si, who also directs the Rice Center for Quantum Materials (RCQM), offered a pioneering theory that these phenomena arise at critical transition points, tipping points where changes in pressure or other conditions bring about a transition from one quantum state to another. At the tipping point, or "quantum critical point," electrons can develop a kind of split personality as they attempt to straddle the line between states. The case of superconductivity illustrates how this can play out. In a normal copper wire, electrical resistance arises when flowing electrons jostle and bump against atoms in the wire. Each bump costs a small amount of energy, which is lost to heat. In superconductors, the electrons avoid this loss by pairing up and flowing in unison, without any bumps. Because electrons are among the most antisocial of subatomic particles, they repel one another and pair up only in extraordinary circumstances. In the case of conventional superconductors, tiny variations in the spacing between atoms in a supercooled wire can coax the electrons into a marriage of convenience. The mechanism in unconventional superconductors is different. "Our unifying understanding is that if two electrons work really hard to repel one other, there can still be an attractive force," Si said. "If I am moving because I don't like being close to you, and you are doing the same, and yet we cannot be too far apart, it becomes a kind of dance. The pairs in high-temperature superconductors move in relation to one another, not unlike two dance partners that spin, even as they move together across the dance floor." The 2017 theory put forward by Si and then-graduate student Emilian Nica, now a postdoctoral research associate at the University of British Columbia's Quantum Materials Institute, posited that selective pairing within atomic orbitals could explain some puzzling experimental results from some of the highest-temperature superconductors, alkaline iron selenides. Some experiments had shown that the pairs in alkaline iron selenides behaved as if they had an angular momentum of zero, which physicists refer to with the term s-wave, while other experiments indicated the pairs had an angular momentum of two, which physicists call d-wave. This difference is profound because angular momentum is a fundamental identifier for electrons. Just as apples and oranges are found in different bins at the grocery story, s-wave and d-wave pairings don't mix and are found in different materials. "What Nica's thesis introduced was that you can have a superconducting state in which electron pairs associated with one orbital of a subshell are very different from those of another closely related orbital in the same subshell because they have an opposite sign," Si said. "The reason we proposed this multi-orbital pairing state was because measurements of some things, like magnetic responses, would show that the alkaline iron selenides had canonical d-wave features, and other measurements, like angular resolved photo emission, revealed attributes associated with s-wave superconductors. "The experiments in the iron-based superconductor had already been done, and we offered an explanation, a pairing state that was both stable and robust, and yet had all these seemingly contradictory properties that were experimentally observed." When 2017 experiments in Japan revealed some puzzling properties in CeCu 2 Si 2 , Si told Steglich that the orbital-selective theory might be able to account for them. Together, they joined forces with the experimental team of physicist Huiqiu Yuan, deputy director of the Center for Correlated Matter at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, to test the idea. Si and Nica's theory predicted that experiments would reveal a specific set of seemingly contradictory measurements from CeCu 2 Si 2 , provided the material could be cooled to a temperature even colder than the tipping point that brings about superconductivity. Yuan's group performed the experiments and confirmed the prediction. "Historical evidence has always been that the pairing in this material is d-wave," Nica said. "But the experiments confirmed that indeed, despite all the overwhelming evidence that it is d-wave, it has a feature called 'fully opened gaps' that is normally associated with s-wave superconductors. Ours is the only theory offered so far that can account for this." Si said, "It's enormously satisfying on several levels. One is that while condensed-matter physics offers many materials that can host fascinating properties, we ultimately are seeking unifying principles, especially as theorists. I have actively searched for these unifying principles for years, but we weren't actively seeking a unifying explanation when we proposed this theory. To see it applied, to such effect, in another completely unexpected setting was a real surprise." Voice of the People Audio Article Native son Tom Smiths history of East Chesterton (Chesterton Tribune 9-30-21 Commentary) was interesting and a poignant tribute to his five-generations back ancestors, the Morgans, who traveled from West Virginia and Ohio to settle here in 1833 to raise a family, to farm and... Voice of the People Audio Article This summer the Times of NW Indiana again suggested in an editorial that Dunes Action had been in opposition to the renovation of the State Park Pavilion. We never did. In fact, most of us had been waiting for it for decades. They did not... Guest Commentary Audio Article This is a short history of the Morgan family farm before the possible development of the remaining 49 acres east of Chesterton. Jesse and Jane Morgan arrived in Northwest Indiana in 1833 after traveling through Ohio, northern Indiana, stopping off in LaPorte County for a... Echoes of the Past Audio Article 10 Years Ago Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 Bethlehem Lutheran Church will host a wellness screening event. . . CHS girls soccer team beats LaPorte 5-0 and clinches a share of the DAC title. Scoring goals are Rosie Biehl (2), Hannah Kollar (2), and Sam... Cloud, whose now-deleted author profile described him as the publication's founder, was actually a "pseudonym that a diverse group of authors at Student Loan Report LLC use to share experiences and information related to the challenges college students face with funding their education," LendEDU chief executive Nate Matherson said in a statement sent to The Washington Post. In the statement, which was also published on The Student Loan Report's home page, Matherson apologized for not disclosing that "Drew Cloud" was not real. 1) Kitchen Possible, a Chicago cooking nonprofit that works with underprivileged kids, is partnering with restaurants to raise money for its programs in Pilsen and East Garfield Park. Coalfire Pizza is cooking up a margherita pizza, for instance, Gian is serving short ribs, and HaiSous will serve canh ga chien (fried chicken wings with caramelized fish sauce) and goi du du (young papaya with Vietnamese beef jerky), among many others. So get out there, have some delicious bites and know that your money is going to a good cause. Available the entire month of May. www.kitchenpossible.org The biggest steak is the $99 prime tomahawk rib-eye, a 36-ouncer. It arrives at the table propped upright on a carving board (giving the rib bone its moment in the spotlight), then is sliced tableside. The meat is so rich it glistens, and though the menu declares that it serves two, I'd guess it would sate around four normal people (or one hungry lion). I weighed the bone when I got home (yes, I kept the bone; my dog has had a pretty good life, all things considered), and it checked in at 9 ounces. Even allowing for the exterior fat common to the rib-eye cut, that's a lot of beef. Volvovski named the project "From Cover to Cover," though really it's more of a hobby not found in a coffee-table book, never shown in a gallery, not intended for anyone in particular. She posts work on From-Cover-to-Cover.com, and that's it. But what she comes up with is often strikingly free of conventions, a frequent reminder of the timidity of commercial publishing. Sometimes you have to adjust your eyes to her work before recognizing even the most familiar title: Crown's cover for Andy Weir's "The Martian" adapted into a 2015 Matt Damon film shows an astronaut on a red, dusty Mars; Volvovski's cover looks encased in the same gray duct tape the book's hero uses to make repairs. The Estate and Tidal owner Jay-Z are working together on the song selection for the album. "Our only goal is to share Prince's music with his fans as he wanted," Jay-Z said in the statement. "After thoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose Tidal as his partner for 'HITnRUN Phase One' and 'HITnRUN Phase Two,' and we will continue to respect and honor Prince's enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection." But one of the duo's most public moments was in November 2016, when the palace took the rare step of releasing a statement, on behalf of Harry, to condemn the racist and sexist abuse that Markle, who is biracial, had endured since news of their relationship leaked out. He also chastised the media for intrusive coverage: "Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle's safety and is deeply disappointed he has not been able to protect her." Jarvis, born in West Virginia in 1864, began lobbying for the creation of Mother's Day after her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died from heart failure in 1905. Reeves Jarvis gave birth to a whopping 13 children, but only four lived to adulthood. Anna Jarvis wrote letters to governors nationwide asking them to recognize the holiday on the second Sunday in May, "because that's the closest Sunday to the anniversary of her mother's death," Antolini says. Focus on form. It's the shape of vintage pieces that matters (upholstery can be changed) and the contrast between antiques and newer things. "I think there needs to be a re-appreciation of how cool antiques look next to contemporary pieces," Olsen says. "How long have we been saying, 'It's all in the mix,' but that somehow still needs to sink in. The market is now educated enough that people are not buying a suite of furniture, but they also might not get that something curvy and art nouveau might look really cool next to the Florence Knoll classic modernist sofa." "I think you see ethnic influences coming into play in a more indirect way. You see more parents looking back and looking for places in their lives that hold meaning that can be translated into names," said Satran, who also co-wrote the books "The Baby Name Bible" and "Cool Names for Babies." Consider other dangers: Among Lopes's most frightening experiences exploring an active volcano were a pack of unfriendly dogs and a gun-toting farmer. "There are times when the place itself is more dangerous than the volcano," she said. Erfurt-Cooper concurs: "Safe access can be a problem in remote regions such as Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, the Aleutians or Mount Erebus. On occasion, volcanoes may become unsafe due to political unrest." The trek up 11,378-foot Nyiragongo remains popular, despite the ongoing violence in Congo. And tours to Erta Ale, the volcano I visited, have grown since a 2012 incident in which five European tourists were killed by rebels. (The death of a German tourist in 2017 was deemed a tragic accident.) To help evaluate whether your destination is safe, check out the State Department's travel advisory system. There may be no "i" in team, as the saying goes, but there there's a capital "I" in politics. Pretty soon, the campaign bloodletting will get serious, candidates savaging each other in the hopes of knocking the other contenders out of the way and winning that throne on City Hall's fifth floor. "We intend to be at the leading edge of serving that demand. Chicago must maintain its leading position in aviation," said Evans. "We have to have modern infrastructure and we have to have more gates. Many more gates. What you're seeing today is step one of a very important, long-scale expansion." Salgado and five other officers were accused in 2009 of taking $3,800 in cash and coins while executing a search warrant at a North Lawndale residence and failing to document that they confiscated the money, records show. About three years later, Salgado and about a dozen other officers were accused of taking $400 during a search warrant at another residence in the West Side neighborhood and not recording it, according to the records. Internal affairs cleared all the officers of wrongdoing in both instances. Now there will be a chance for three public hearings, and the draft plan's details could change. The first will be at Illinois EPA headquarters in Springfield on May 23; the second at the St. Paul Baptist Church in East St. Louis on May 24; and the third at the James R. Thompson Center auditorium in Chicago on May 30. All will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. "I guess I probably shouldn't have put it on there, because it might give people the wrong impression, but I guess at the time I just looked at what was on there (the Wix template) and went to publish it," Nitchoff said. "Definitely after this phone call, I'm going to get rid of it. It might just make your business look less professional. They may think, 'Hey this company isn't really legit,' when it really is." The researchers were interested in whether the students would protect the privacy of their friends by handing over invalid email addresses. (The economists were able to verify whether the addresses were valid.) It turns out that if you offer the students free pizza, the likelihood that they will protect the privacy of their friends is cut in half. Surprisingly, this result was the same for students who reported high or low degrees of concern about protecting their privacy from businesses, the government and the public in general. As the officers were inside the Hyatt Regency Chicago for the annual recognition ceremony, the suspect used a bat or bricks to demolish the front and rear windshields of one marked car and about six unmarked cars, police said. In a letter to the sheriff after he announced the limits on who qualified for electronic monitors, county Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Dart's own data did not support his concerns that releasing more gun suspects endangered the public. Dart, she noted, had pointed out that only five of the 195 defendants facing gun charges who had been released while awaiting trial had picked up new weapon offenses in the first 4 1/2 months since the bond changes took effect in September. According to the complaint, a DEA agent in September 2016 asked Reyes Arzate to assist in surveillance of several targets in Mexico City. The agent sent Reyes Arzate a surveillance photo that had been taken in Cancun to help him identify the players and gave him the address of an apartment where they were believed to be living and the name of a restaurant where they often met, the charges alleged. Three people who were inside the rental car that hit the pedestrians were arrested after a foot chase, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter. The car wasn't reported stolen, however, it's unclear if the occupants had permission to use the vehicle, Guglielmi said. The officers followed the car onto Cottage Grove Avenue and then to 79th Street, where they told the dispatcher they had given up the chase as the car kept going up Cottage Grove. The Nissan was spotted minutes later on the Dan Ryan, then an officer radioed about a crash at 79th and Lafayette. "If the foundation is not able to secure commitments in the very near future to retire most if not all of the remaining $9.7 million debt, it will have no choice but to accelerate the possibility of selling these unique artifacts on the private market which would likely remove them from public view forever," the Lincoln library foundation said in a statement. Including these two latest proposed towers, Chicago has 11 planned or under-construction buildings of at least 800 feet in height. That's 10,696 feet in combined height or roughly the equivalent of stacking seven Willis Towers on top each other. So if these new plans for 400 N. Lake Shore are not to go the way of the Chicago Spire, Related will have to establish the project in a hypercompetitive luxury condo market and, unlike 2008, hope the national economy continues to cooperate. "If the mayor or his allies can point to something where she wasn't a total professional, where she wasn't totally committed to doing that difficult work to the best of her ability without compensation, they should do so on the record," Snyder said. "No one can demonstrate she did anything but stellar work." Ryan, who is not running for re-election, said provisions of the new tax code offer ways for private investment in poorer communities. In "opportunity zones," for example, private investors who sell an asset and use the proceeds to invest in a fund set up to rebuild neighborhoods in the nation's most impoverished federal census tracts will not face capital gains or other federal tax consequences after 10 years, he said. The Senate passed a bill by a 52-0 vote Thursday that would require veterans homes to write letters to all residents, post warning signs in common areas and regularly update the state's veterans affairs and public health departments within a day of an outbreak being found. Lawmakers have repeatedly questioned if Rauner's appointed directors were swift enough in those actions. Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold did not answer questions about if and when the governor would sign the bill, saying in an emailed statement that the administration "is clearly in favor of transparency and supported this legislation as it moved through the legislative process." He is accused of taking and transmitting an unauthorized photograph of a blindfolded and partially naked woman while she was bound to exercise rings in the basement of his St. Louis home in 2015, before he was elected. The woman, a hairdresser with whom Greitens has admitted having an affair, told investigators she saw a flash through the blindfold and heard what sounded like a photo being taken. Trump lashed out at his Cabinet, and Nielsen in particular, when told that the number of people arrested for illegally crossing the Mexico border topped 50,000 for the second consecutive month. The blowup lasted more than 30 minutes, according to a person with knowledge of what transpired, as Trump's face reddened and he raised his voice, saying Nielsen needed to "close down" the border. If that sounds too good to be true, think again: New Jersey developer Ralph Zucker, who claims to have coined the term "metroburb," already has built one at a suburban complex of even greater size and architectural distinction than AT&T. It's the former Bell Labs building in Holmdel, N.J., a nearly 2 million-square-foot box of black mirrored glass in an affluent, rural suburb about 45 miles south of midtown Manhattan. Its architect, Eero Saarinen, designed St. Louis' Gateway Arch. Germans woke up one morning and realized their country had new occupants unacquainted with their values. The refugees arrived to physical safety, but in a place where their traditional ways are at odds with those of their new home. A study last December by the American Jewish Committee found "widespread" anti-Semitism among the 68 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Germany that the researchers interviewed. Merkel herself has been forced to admit that some of the new arrivals have brought "another form of anti-Semitism into the country." Until the Robert Bork nomination in 1987, Supreme Court fights were remarkably staid affairs. But by the late '80s, the court had become a bulwark for all sorts of policies and laws that should rightly be in the portfolio of the legislative or executive branch, or, better, left to the various states. As a result, on any number of issues most conspicuously abortion policy the court became more important than the presidency or Congress. No wonder fights over Supreme Court appointments started to look more and more like political campaigns than debates over the finer points of judicial philosophy. The evidence that triggered the special counsel's Russia investigation was the 35-page opposition research document known as the "Steele dossier." Democratic campaign operatives funded the dossier; it was not an independent intelligence report. And it was later shared with the FBI, whose former director, James Comey, has acknowledged that allegations in the document could have been made up. The other two leaders of his panel are state Rep. Carol Ammons of Urbana and state Sen. Melinda Bush of Grayslake (who has replaced U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos). The Democratic trio say they will operate their panel independent of Madigan and other party leaders.They will raise money, work with experts and hold hearings to identify policies they hope will change the way Illinois politics operates. We hope they succeed. But their panel isn't empowered to investigate possible wrongdoing by anyone, so it's unlikely to "rip the Band-Aid off" the culture of impropriety and inequality that exists, as Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago has urged. Whether the issue is the budget or fair legislative districts, these citizen rights have been ignored for decades. This is not just "politics at work," it is a dictatory abuse of power that excludes the voters and every Illinois citizen. Unfortunately Illinois cannot even get a benevolent dictator by chance. Instead we elect people to office who are not allowed to actually represent us. Overall, 66 percent of American voters called the media an "important part of democracy" and 53 percent of voters trust the media more than they trust President Donald Trump. Thanks, folks. But please keep us on our toes, as you should keep politicians on their toes. It was refreshing to see Trump's tweet had the word "Fake" inserted in parentheses to describe "negative" coverage, lending weight to what I, among other skeptics, have written before: "Fake news" to Trump is any news Trump doesn't like. Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, is headed for a showdown with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The federal regulator wants to know more about Hova's relationship with Iconix, the company to which he sold Rocawear for $200 million in 2007. Iconix is now under SEC investigation for its accounting practices, but Jay-Z didn't show up when he was subpoenaed to testify in November and then in February so the SEC has asked for a court order to make him show. "I recently just felt the youth in Aurora needed a place to come with ideas," Cisneros said. "The Youth Council worked hard. We wanted to show the youth have a voice and we matter here in the city of Aurora." Trump's chronic problem: For all of you out there, I don't care if you follow and you are a supporter of the president. What I do have a problem with is if you support someone who is not morally sound, especially those evangelicals who call themselves Christian. I would advise the president not to go before (special counsel Robert) Mueller because when you tell the truth you can always remember it. You people reading this right now, you know this president is a chronic liar. When you tell as many lies as he does, it is hard to keep up with them. "If we want to have caregivers when we get old, we need to nurture relationships with the young," she said, pointing to a stack of manila folders on her desk. "We have 10 applications for caregiving scholarships at Barrington High School. Fifty percent of them said in essays they had been touched by an older person." Board vice president Stan Helgerson said the board wanted to perform "due diligence" in the matter after receiving calls from taxpayers asking that Bokowski's pension be suspended following his conviction. Among those who called for him to lose the retirement benefit was state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, an East Dundee Republican. The Shedd has maintained that any food or beverages served were not the source of what made the approximately 111 students from Andrew sick, and that the aquarium has hosted other large private catering events, including a prom, since then without any incidents. The aquarium previously said that, apart from the Andrew students and kindergartners, neither the Shedd nor city health officials had received any reports of similar illness among the thousands of aquarium visitors and the Shedd's hundreds of employees and volunteers. Since 2003, a group of friends and family have gathered at Lake Katherine annually to perform a task aimed at sprucing up the grounds around the lake in honor of Weglarz-Rountree, an environmentalist. On Saturday, the group plans to meet again. Their efforts coincide with Chicago River Day, which is in its 26th year and coordinates volunteers to help cleanup various parts of the 156 miles of shoreline that fall under the watchful eye of Friends of the Chicago River. House Bill 4789 wouldn't cut funding. It wouldn't cut services. It wouldn't change anything about curriculum. It would simply cap growth in administrative spending that has diverted far too much money away from the classroom. Specifically, districts would only be able to grow administrative spending each year up to the rate of growth in the Consumer Price Index or 5 percent, whichever is less. I saw in the Daily Southtown newspaper that Will County wants to add 1 percent sales tax to help all these schools with their maintenance and stuff. I'm tired of paying for all these schools. They're just a waste of money. You're throwing them down the drain. You want to do something sensible? Deduct 20 percent from all these superintendents and principals who are making these outrageous salaries over $200,000 a year and teachers who make salaries over $100,000 a year. Let them give back 10 to 20 percent of their pay and you can take that money for maintenance at the schools instead of asking the taxpayers for more and more and more. That's all the state knows. 270 E. Pearson St., No. 803, Chicago: $3,000,000 | Listed: Aug. 24, 2021 This three-bedroom home has three full bathrooms, two half-baths, custom built-ins and millwork, two fireplaces and views of the lake and city. This home has an open floor plan with a formal dining room, living room and family room. The kitchen is equipped with a double oven, custom cabinetry, an island and hardwood flooring. The primary bedroom suite has a private office and a bathroom with double sinks, a tub and a separate shower. The living room and the library, which features built-in shelving, both have fireplaces. This home is located in a building with a 24-hour door staff. A south-facing terrace, a wine refrigerator and two deeded parking spaces complete this home. Agent: Caroline Druker and Matthew Druker, Baird and Warner, 847-471-5115 and 847-490-5115 *Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options. To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com. Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news. As police were talking to the two men prior to their arrests, a woman in a car pulled up and told officers she had given the two a ride to the area earlier in the day and that Spain had called to request a pickup at the intersection of Abbott and Getzelman drives. The driver arrived to see the two men in police custody, the report said. "Elgin Community College is a Hispanic-serving community college. We are in an area where the Hispanic population is over 40 percent," said Ignacio Alvarez-Garcia, an ECC instructional coordinator. "We want to serve them, we want our students to serve this population. This will help patients relieve the stress when they go into the doctor's or dentist's offices." "The important thing to note too is there is no debt with this. Our plan is to have a pay-as-you-go TIF where new development is funded retroactively once the new development comes in. We have no intention of building infrastructure in anticipation of developments," he said. "The intent is to help with deployment of infrastructure throughout that corridor and the downtown and also provide potential incentives to office and light industrial uses along Route 31." According to Powell, the goal of the commission would be to promote greater police responsibility. Police need to be directed to look at best practices in this area, and Powell hopes such a commission would be able to look to other communities and make suggestions to the Elgin police on how they could improve. The brothers, originally from an Amish farm in Minnesota, have worked in teams of two, three and four horse hitches in a public setting and alone on the farm, according to the release. The goal is to transition them into the primary team at Wagner Farm. Mall, who will soon turn 45, didn't set out to become a teacher. He studied film and journalism at the University of Illinois after graduating Highland Park High School and worked for a time in New York. After Sept. 11, he and his wife Jamie, who grew up in Deerfield, made a decision to return to the area where they both had been raised. She said this week the NAACP had been concerned last year about incidents of hate graffiti found in some Lake County schools, including a Gurnee-area incident, and she praised village officials for taking a proactive role in investigating whether there was an organized presence and making sure the map was corrected when one was not found. It's important to note that two of the open-to-the-public Wright designs that did make the list of 13 sites on the trail the B. Harley Bradley House in Kankakee and the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield were listed with the Willits House in the 1998 report as among the first of his "mature" Prairie period, which ran from 1900 to 1912. A staff member who was attempting to break up a fight received an injury to the hand or arm, Alajakis said. He didn't have any further information about the severity of the injury, but said it's unusual for a safety officer to need to be taken to the hospital. Hardcover and paperback books, movies and music can be donated to the American Association of University Women's Naperville book sale on May 19 at Knox Presbyterian Church in Naperville. The sale itself will be held in June. (AAUW) "In November 2015, a week before Thanksgiving, we had a backup," Long said. "I had somebody come out, and they couldn't clear up the issue. We found six inches of sewage backup in my basement, and it almost destroyed my brand new furnace. The village came out and determined Trine had tied off an old sewage line coming from the house instead of the actual one four feet away." Morask said attorneys Keri-Lyn Krafthefer and Kurt Asprooth from Ancel Glink will serve as the township's primary attorneys and are expected to attend board meetings. There is no retainer fee charged by the firm, but the township will pay a rate of $200 per hour for legal work and representation, and $150 per hour for all work performed by paralegals, according to the proposal submitted by the firm. The suspects were in a tan or light brown Cadillac Deville that had tinted windows, she said. The Cadillac was later found "abandoned and torched" along 136th Street, also known as Boy Scout Road in Hammond, Bavender said. As a child, her parents emigrated from Mexico. As the oldest of five siblings, she passed a variety of educational milestones: one of the first in her family to graduate from middle school, high school and now college, he said. One of them would allow Ball State University to run Muncie schools, but also would turn the already powerless Gary school board into an advisory committee. Meetings would be limited to four per year. "Typically, we find these crimes have not necessarily been completed by Portage residents," Williams said. "We believe the suspect and driver left Portage. We would not be surprised if the vehicle shows up somewhere else, and, if it does, we'll go to wherever it is in for our investigation. Earlier in the day, U.S. 30 was shut down for about four hours after a truck rollover around 1:50 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Joliet Road, in which the driver of a car involved in the accident had to be extricated. Meade grew up in Dyer and was the first person from his family parish, St. Maria Goretti, to be ordained a priest. At his ordination in August 1986, it was the late Bishop Norbert Gaughan who led the ceremony, as Grutka retired in 1984 after holding the distinction of heading a diocese longer than any other active bishop. Before his retirement, I recall how excited I was to meet Bishop Grutka when he came to our tiny farm parish in San Pierre to lead the Mass of my own class' confirmation. It gives me a great comforting and pleasant ease of mind to know we elected the right man to be president of the United States. After the previous eight years of misguided adventures of doing nothing but spinning our wheels and kicking the can down the road, we finally put a doer into office. One by one our great leader is knocking off the obstacles that have been holding our nation back. He is doing just what he promised he would do. That has been unheard of in the past. H.W. Houston is purchased by California builder H.W. Houston Construction will continue to serve Pueblo after being purchased by California-based contractor DPR Construction. Our weekly round up of other news affecting foreign investors throughout Asia: The 2018/19 ASEAN Tax Comparator The latest issue of ASEAN Briefing Magazine titled, The 2018/19 ASEAN Tax Comparator, is out now and available to subscribers as a complimentary download in the Asia Briefing Publication Store. e-Commerce in India: Market Trends and Regulations In this article, we discuss some of the major drivers shaping the momentum in favor of e-commerce in India, as well as key legal and regulatory considerations for online businesses. Russian 2018 Public Debt to GDP Ratio Among Worlds Lowest Russia has been reducing its public debt as measured against GDP, with this now standing at just 33 percent and a 7 percent decrease from last year. Chinese Contractors Winning Bid for EU Funded Peljesac Bridge in Croatia Raises Eyebrows A Chinese consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has won the bidding for a contract to build a bridge in Croatia, an EU member state. The awarding of the contract has lead to further allegations concerning Chinese state funding amounting to subsidies and a lack of transparency over the bidding process Vietnams Textile and Garment Exports Continue to Grow In 2017, Vietnams textile and garment industry earned US$31 billion from exports, a year-on-year increase of over 10 percent. This growth momentum will continue in the next few years, with exports predicted to reach US$34-35 billion this year, and US$50 billion by 2020. This is the 24 Solar Terms. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Chinese publishers are expanding the depth and range of international cooperation with their global peers. Huang Jian, president of Jieli Publishing House says they're not only buying and selling copyrights, but also inviting foreign writers/illustrators to collaborate with Chinese partners, starting publishing branches abroad and more. The press alone has increased 13 percent of titles sold to international market from November 2016 to October 2017, Huang says. It started an Egyptian office in 2016, the first established by a Chinese children's publisher. And the office produces 26 titles in Arabic. "We're trying to set a new international prize with Russian organizations, under the name of writer Vitaly Bianki, to promote writing and reading of books on nature. And we'll initiate a publishers' union with ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries," he adds. "These are some of the new attempts." During the 55th Bologna Children's Book Fair, which features China as the guest of honor, many of the publishers presented communicate or give speeches in fluent English. Kiran Gautam, president of Nepalese Current Publication, says he feels Chinese publishers "going out" strategy is a huge success after witness many new Chinese books and "legendary writers" as he calls during the fair. Gautum's press was established by his father in 1972. "With the Belt and Road Initiative, our relationship and bonding with Chinese publication industry as a whole has skyrocketed to highest level," he says. In about two years time he has signed about 400 titles out of which about 100 have been in pipeline to be published in 2018. Believing holidays have played a huge role in promoting Chinese culture to people like himself, his publications from China cover culture, religion, and children's reads. "Chinese illustration books are now world class. Nepalese kids are very much happy to read Chinese stories," he says, adding he's happy to have offered more options to young readers in his country. Some of the new Chinese titles in foreign languages released during the fair: This is the 24 Solar Terms The four-volume illustrated book features a little girl Yaya and her explorations of the 24 solar terms, of which the system was listed as UNESCO's world intangible heritage. Dolphin Books published audio books and a special carpet jigsaw puzzle book based on the print books. Translation has always been more about the yearning to connect with the world at large rather than just turning works from one language into another. And driven by this shared desire, many translators, writers and publishers from around the globe are now working together to share Chinese culture with the rest of the world in innovative ways. At the 10th China Translation Profession Forum held at Peking University in April, the discussions focused on how collaborations between Chinese and foreign translators, writers and artists can help readers around the world better understand China. Meanwhile, collaborations between Chinese writers and foreign illustrators have in recent years proved very successful in spawning foreign language translations of Chinese books, according to Zhang Yuntao, the chief editor of children's book publisher Tian Tian Publishing. In 2013, Tian Tian Publishing and the People's Literature Publishing House jointly launched a project to get foreign illustrators to work with 64-year-old Chinese writer Cao Wenxuan, the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2016. Speaking about the project, Zhang says: "When we are translating and publishing books, we don't always know who the readers are. But working with foreign illustrators, who are very careful readers of our books, allows us to see how Chinese literature is received outside China." The project involved illustrators from Italy, Sweden and Denmark and led to the publication of six picture books in a series called Chinese Seeds and Global Blossoms. The books have been published in Sweden, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates. Then, in February, two of Cao's picture books, Bronze and Sunflower and Feather featured on a top US literary list. Feather is illustrated by 52-year-old Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello, winner of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award. And the book recounts a feather's journey to seek its owner. Separately, foreign translators are also collaborating with Chinese magazine publishers to introduce their products to global readers. Italian translator Patrizia Liberati works with Chinese editors on the Italian version of China's longest-running literature magazine Ren Min Wen Xue (People's Literature). The Italian version of the magazine titled Caratteri publishes Chinese works that have not yet been translated into Italian. And its four issues published so far have featured espionage novel writer Mai Jia and 2016 Hugo Award winner Hao Jingfang among others. Speaking about her work, Liberati says: "We want to introduce up-and-coming (Chinese) writers to Italian readers." In a related development, the magazine published Wang Shuo's Dong Wu Xiong Meng (Ferocious Animals) as a special feature called "must-read books for Italian students". Giving details about the feature, Liberati says: "I've always wanted to translate Dong Wu Xiong Meng ever since I was a college student, and at the magazine we finally did it." As for Liberati's background, she is the Italian translator of Nobel Prize Laureate Mo Yan's work Tan Xiang Xing (Sandalwood Death), Wa (Frog) and Sheng Si Pi Lao (Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out). And Liberati, who has been translating Chinese literature since 2002, is now translating Jia Pingwa's Tian Gou (Sky Dog). Zhu Zhenwu, 55, a professor of literature and translation at Shanghai Normal University and the Chinese translator of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, says closer collaboration between Chinese and foreign translators is needed when it comes to translating Chinese works. Hu Zongfeng, a professor of literature and translation at Northwest University in Shaanxi province, has set up a workshop with Robin Gilbank from the United Kingdom to translate the works of Shaanxi-based writers, including Jia Pingwa and Chen Zhongshi. The workshop's translation of the best-selling Chinese writer Ye Guangqin's Mountain Stories was published last July in the United Kingdom. China will resolutely defend its interests even as it expects a positive outcome from the upcoming China-US trade talks through efforts from both sides, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The ministry issued the statement ahead of a planned May 15 hearing by the Office of the US Trade Representative to discuss proposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports. During the hearing, US companies and consumers will have the chance to have certain products taken off the list or others added through public discussion and lobbying. Regarding this issue of China-US trade friction, China's stance has been very clear. China opposes any form of unilateralism and protectionism in trading. The US must withdraw its threats, said Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce. As China and the US will conduct the second high-level economic and trade consultations in the US soon, Gao said China hopes the two sides can work together to jointly advance bilateral business ties and gain mutual benefit for the good of the people in both countries and the world as a whole. The Ministry of Commerce also announced on Wednesday that Vice-Premier Liu He will lead a delegation to the US to discuss economic and trade issues at an appropriate time, marking the second high-level meeting since a bilateral trade dispute escalated in March. The first talks were in Beijing on May 3 and 4. Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the Chinese delegation's visit will be helpful to tell the US public that unilaterally imposing a tariff on China will generate a huge impact on the US economy. "This will send a signal to companies or people attending the hearing that proposed tariffs will penalize US consumers by increasing prices on consumer and technology products," he said. "Both sides definitely will discuss the details on this issue in the US." The administration of US President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions with China in late March by invoking Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 to probe China's intellectual property and technology transfer. A tariff list was issued targeting 1,300 Chinese products, including industrial robots and telecommunications equipment. Business leaders in the US have voiced concerns about the negative impact of a possible worsening China-US trade relationship and pinned high hopes on the resumed talks between the two countries. William Cohen, US defense secretary from 1997 to 2001 and now chief executive of the Cohen Group, said there were legitimate concerns to be addressed, but he emphasized that it's important to address them in a responsible fashion so that everyone is in a win-win situation. "I don't feel the (Trump) administration has a strategy for achieving that," Cohen said. "The stated objective of doing it within the next two years is pretty short term. I don't think it's possible." According to US media reports, the US trade delegation that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led to Beijing last week demanded China cut the bilateral deficit by $100 billion a year over the next two years, a demand that most economists regard as untenable because US fiscal policy and low savings rates in the US are the primary cause of the deficit. China will continue to provide public goods and services to countries bordering on the South China Sea and will work with them to maintain regional peace, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday after the inauguration of a tsunami alert center. The South China Sea Tsunami Advisory Center, built by China and authorized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was officially launched on Tuesday. Vladimir Ryabinin, executive secretary of the commission, joined the opening ceremony in Beijing. The center, built to monitor and warn about possible tsunamis, began its trial operation at the end of January, and will provide a 24-hour service to nine countries, including China, Geng said at a news conference. The other eight countries covered by the service are Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore. The center also will provide training. "China has always believed in and been committed to promoting pragmatic maritime cooperation among countries bordering on the South China Sea and fulfilling duties to cooperate, stipulated in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Geng said, adding that China hopes to strengthen such cooperation. "This helps the common interests of countries in the region, and will benefit their people in the long term," he said. Also, China hopes to work with these countries to make the South China Sea "waters of peace, friendship and cooperation", the spokesman said. Zhang Jie, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy, said the establishment of the advisory center is in line with China's policies toward the South China Sea. Countries in the South China Sea have begun to focus on cooperation since the situation in the region eased, Zhang said, adding that such cooperation will help enhance mutual trust and will be strengthened over time. You are here: China Twenty-nine suspected members of a mafia-style gang went on trial in the city of Qingyuan, Guangdong province, on Wednesday in a hearing expected to last 15 days. Zhou Youde, the alleged ringleader, suspected key members Su Jianping and Su Jianhua, and other gang members have been charged with illegally organizing a secret society and criminal gang. They also face charges of drug trafficking, running secret casinos, monopolizing local markets, provoking disputes, organizing gang fights, illegally owning weapons, robbery, harboring criminals, extortion, sabotaging production and business operations, destroying evidence, intimidation, illegal mining, fraud and bribing Party and government officials. An investigation implicated the gang in two deaths, one serious injury and seven lesser injuries in gang fights. It also led to the suspects being accused of earning dozens of millions of yuan from illegally running secret casinos, illegal mining and monopolizing markets. The open trial at Qingyuan Intermediate People's Court attracted family members of the defendants as well as many residents and reporters. You are here: China A man from central China mistakenly transferred 147,258 yuan (US$23,142) to a shop owner when he paid for two steamed buns using Alipay over a month ago. The full amount was returned to the man at a local police station on May 9, although he didn't initially realize the money was even missing, Xinhua news agency reported. The shop owner of the franchised bun outlet has also been awarded 5,000 yuan by its parent company for his honesty. He Liuzhu from Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, discovered the extra 147,000 yuan of business revenue when he did his monthly accounts on May 2. He found one of his customers had made a mistake while paying his bill and reckoned he might have input his password instead of the buns' price. The shop owner had to ask media for help since the customer hadnt attempted to contact him. The customer, Han Hongwei, didnt notice the abnormal payment from his account until Alipay staff reached out to him. He thought it was a prank call at first. The cash was returned after local police verified the pair's transfer records and identities. South China's Hainan Province is at the forefront of China's 40 years of reform and opening up, said Chen Fengying, a research fellow with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. Hainan free trade port will play an important role in the business of international conferences, exhibitions and warehousing, Chen made the remarks during a recent interview with Xinhuanet. China aims to "basically establish" free trade port system in Hainan by 2025 and make the free trade port system and operational mode "more mature" by 2035. Hainan is facing new opportunities in China's development of maritime economy which is of great significance to the Belt and Road Initiative, Chen stressed, adding that maritime economy can be regarded as the frontier or expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative. Service trade is also the key of Hainan's development as well as a core issue in China's comprehensive opening up, she noted. Hainan will have great space for development under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, she stressed. Speaking of the visa-free access to Hainan, Chen said that as a vivid reflection of China's opening up, it opens the door for further cooperation between China and the Belt and Road countries as well as Southeast Asian countries. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of Hainan Province and the Hainan Special Economic Zone, as well as the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up of the whole country. Exports as the first stage of expansion China's first major civilian exports began after 1980 and have continually increased ever since. Those early export activities are likely considered the first important path toward internationalization of Chinese enterprises. Opening-up policies, based on Deng Xiaoping's efforts to liberalize the economy, paved the way for the country's economic transformation and has since been described by many market observers as the real engine of the Chinese economic miracle. The significance of exports in the development of the Chinese economy is that they have allowed local producers to enter and explore foreign markets. Orders received from abroad carry valuable information about the products that are in demand, with the clients supplying all the necessary information as to exact styles, designs, varieties, quality and sizes of products desired. Thus, international orders have contributed to a major initial transfer of market knowledge to Chinese manufacturers. The advantage to the Chinese government in earlier decades was thus that fruitful economic conditions abroad could be established without having to know in great detail the internal dynamics of internationalization. The result was ultimately the unspoken approval of retail trade activities, which then finally supported growth. The role of the partner in quality In connection with exports, two factors of note should be mentioned: namely, the impact of foreign buyers on Chinese producers, and the uneven production quality of some manufacturers which has created a negative bias in global markets. Both of these aspects can be explained from a socio-economic perspective. First of all, in the early days a significant majority of Chinese exports took place through the business relationship between Chinese commodity producers and foreign wholesalers or retailers. This put most producers in the role of contracted manufacturers rather than direct brokers or sellers, which in turn contributed to a notable reduction in profit margins for Chinese factories, with much of the revenue flowing into the pockets of foreign companies. However, at that time such an uneven distribution of profits did not entail any significant disadvantage, as most Chinese producers lacked the necessary capital and knowledge of foreign markets to realize direct sales on their own. Acting in the role of commissioned manufacturers, they therefore needed no in-depth knowledge of distribution, logistics and marketing, which were organized and carried out by the foreign client. In addition, these goods were low-tech but labor-intensive products. As for the problem of quality awareness with which many foreign buyers have been confronted, this assertion needs to be differentiated. The question has been asked: Which side is to blame for lousy quality, and who ultimately has to take responsibility for any unethical behavior? Is it the Chinese producers, who had no relation to quality-oriented production? Or the foreign clients, who tried to keep purchase prices so low that the producers had no choice but to generate masses of low-quality product to earn target profits? Well, the truth is somewhere in between, as the two mutually influence one another. The power of the client over manufacturing Often the foreign client has a strong position over the contractor and an indirect influence on internal processes such as working hours and conditions, as well as variables like remuneration and internal management practices. Although the onus of maladministration in Chinese companies should not be placed solely on foreign partners, their active role in the design of various work processes should not be overlooked. It is possible to identify two main producer groups that were found in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The first consciously accepted poor product quality in an attempt to reduce costs; they produced a great deal, but most of it very cheaply for the benefit of foreign buyers. The second group would have liked to deliver better product quality, but were limited by deficient technology or insufficient capital. Following the zeitgeist of the time, it can therefore be said that for many buyers and resellers, a favorable price was more decisive than product quality. In this respect, the question of the origin of poor quality remains one that bears reciprocal traits. On strict consideration, it is a condition that strains producers and buyers almost equally, and potentially calls for the burden of co-responsibility to be extended to all market participants. In short, the initial cooperation between foreign clients and Chinese producers was important for both China's growth and world trade in general. While China's economy has steadily gained strength through exports, the rest of the world has received products that satisfy internal demand. However, this development cannot be said to have positive effects only. Pollution and health problems of the people doing the hard labor are the price to be paid, and not by China alone. The risks are global, and it is therefore a common responsibility of all market players to boost sustainability and quality in the future. Dr. Konstantin Schamber is an international entrepreneur, expert in intercultural collaboration between China, Central Asia and Germany, and visiting lecturer at several Business Schools in Europe. He is Managing Director of the Center for Strategic Intercultural Communication GmbH in Germany and Founder of Business Innovation Congress. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday that new progress and lasting stable development should be made in China-Japan relationship as it returns to the normal track. This is the best way to commemorate the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Li told a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the treaty in Tokyo. As an important milestone in bilateral ties, the treaty affirmed the principles of the bilateral joint statement that was issued in 1972 in legal form, which include Japan's deep reflection on war responsibilities, and its firm adherence to the One-China policy, Li said, noting that the treaty also made it clear that the two countries' friendship would last from generation to generation. Over the past 40 years, China-Japan relations have achieved remarkable progress under the guidance of the spirit and principles of the treaty, Li said at the reception, which was also attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and some 1,400 representatives from all walks of life from China and Japan. It is based on the principles of the four cornerstone political documents, including this treaty, that the development of bilateral ties can be led back onto the right track in spite of twists and turns in the past, he said. The four documents refer to the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the 1978 China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the 1998 China-Japan Joint Declaration, and the 2008 joint statement on advancing strategic and mutually beneficial relations. Li is now in Japan for an official visit, the first by a Chinese premier in eight years. He has met with Abe on Wednesday as they agreed to enhance political mutual trust and step up economic cooperation between the two countries. In the political area, Li said at Thursday's reception that China and Japan have agreed that they will use history as a mirror while keeping a future-oriented mind, and maintain high-level exchanges. In the economic sphere, Li said both sides are willing to bring bilateral pragmatic cooperation to a higher level, and achieve more mutually beneficial cooperation. They can work jointly in innovation and high-end manufacturing as well as in the financial industry, the premier noted. Also, China and Japan, taking the opportunity of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the treaty, are encouraged to hold more people-to-people exchanges, so as to bring the two peoples even closer. A new chance has emerged for the improvement and development of bilateral relations, Li said, urging the two neighbors to take new steps for their ties to progress and to bolster the confidence of the two peoples and of the entire international community in the development of China-Japan relationship. For his part, Abe hailed Li's remarks at their meeting on Wednesday that bilateral relations are setting sail again and will sail further. The two countries, Abe said at the reception, can jointly shoulder greater responsibility in resolving regional issues, such as jointly promoting infrastructure construction in Asia by setting up a trans-departmental committee. Abe called on the two sides to turn competition into coordination. He said that, starting today, bilateral relations have entered the era of coordination. Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan Business Federation, also took part in the event. He said he looks forward to more of such high-level visits between the two neighbors. Business people of both sides can work together, especially within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and in jointly developing third-party market, he said. For his part, Yohei Kono, former speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, said he was amazed by the popularity of new services like bike-sharing, mobile payment and Internet-based delivery during his recent visit to China. The progress made by China is worth learning from, said Kono, adding that China and Japan should learn from each other to achieve common prosperity and make joint contribution to the development of the world. Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday said that he hoped that China and Japan would carry forward the spirit of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship to push for new progress in bilateral relations. Li, who is on an official visit to Japan, made the remarks when meeting with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the treaty-making process on Thursday morning. Forty years ago, the older generation of leaders from China and Japan showed great farsight and strategic resolve by concluding the treaty, said Li. The treaty confirmed the principles of the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement in legal form, raised it to a law that must be strictly followed, and established the general direction of friendship for generations and peaceful coexistence between the two countries, said Li. Forty years later, the two sides should continue to follow the spirit of the treaty, said the premier. Both countries should take greater resolve and make greater efforts to increase mutual trust, build consensus and properly handle their differences so as to bring Sino-Japanese relations back to normal track and achieve new development. Li noted that the development of Sino-Japanese relations in recent years has proved that only by adhering to the principles and spirit set out in their four cornerstone political documents can the relations between the two countries achieve stable development. Otherwise, there will be twists and turns. The four documents refer to the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the 1978 China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the 1998 China-Japan Joint Declaration, and the 2008 joint statement on advancing strategic and mutually beneficial relations. Li called on both sides to cherish the hard-won momentum of improvement in bilateral relations, carry forward the spirit of the treaty, and promote new progress in their ties, in a bid to provide stable and positive expectations for the two peoples as well as the international community. More than 20 Japanese representatives attended the meeting, including former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yohei Kono. The Japanese attendees briefly reviewed the history of the signing of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, voicing full agreement with Premier Li's remarks. They expressed confidence in the improvement in bilateral ties and believed that the ties will continue the health and stable development. They also voiced willingness to work with the Chinese side, taking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty as an opportunity, to promote bilateral friendly cooperation. Flash German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call on Thursday afternoon that Germany, as well as France and Britain, will continue to implement the Iran nuclear deal, as long as Iran continues to fulfill its obligations under the agreement. According to German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, Merkel told Rouhani that Iran must continue to fulfill its obligations under the agreement. She also condemned Iran's attacks on Israeli military positions on the Golan Heights, and called on Iran to contribute to de-escalation in the region. According to Seibert, Merkel was in favor of holding multilateral talks with Iran on its ballistic missile program and on its regional activities. On Wednesday, Merkel had reaffirmed Germany's commitment to the Iran nuclear deal, saying the U.S. withdrawal "serious" and caused regret and concerns. "Germany, France and Britain have decided that we will abide by the agreement, and we will do everything we can to see that Iran also abides by its responsibilities in the future," said Merkel. She stressed that the European countries viewed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as an "important pillar that we don't want to do without". Flash Malaysia's new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attends a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, May 10, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] Mahathir Mohamad, 92, a former Malaysian prime minister who led the opposition to achieve a stunning victory in the general election, took the oath of office on Thursday night, becoming the world's oldest government leader. Mahathir won the election after his coalition Pakatan Harapan secured 113 seats out of the 222 seats at the parliament's lower house, unseating the Barisna Nasional coalition, which has run the country for more than 60 years and of which Mahathir used to serve as the chairman. TV live-broadcast showed that Mahathir, wearing traditional malay attire, pledged to serve the country and the people well. He was accompanied by his wife Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali and other leaders in the opposition alliance, including Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, whom Mahathir pledged to tap as the deputy prime minister. The ceremony, held at the national palace, was witnessed by Malaysia's head of state Sultan Muhammad V. A statement released by the royal palace ahead of the ceremony said the king Sultan Muhammad V invited Mahathir to form the next federal government. The royal palace also refuted allegations that the king delayed the appointment of Mahathir as the new prime minister, saying that he strongly supports and respects the democratic process. The appointment of Mahathir as prime minister added more optimistic sentiments and jubilance to the country, with many Pakatan Harapan supporters taking to the street, holding flags and honking horns. In his first press conference as the new prime minister, Mahathir said that even he himself did not anticipate the surprising election results. He thanked the Malaysian people for their support. Mahathir listed his 22 years of experience being the former prime minister as his qualification to run the country again, saying he aimed to set up a good government, which is based on the constitution and the law. As for the next move, he said he would consult with leaders of other component parties in the alliance on Friday, to divide the number of ministers among themselves to set up a new cabinet as soon as possible. Mahathir reiterated his pledge to seek a royal pardon for Anwar Ibrahim and hand over the premiership within two years. Anwar is the former deputy prime minister of Mahathir who is in prison for sodomy charges. He is scheduled to be released in June. Expectations are high for Mahathir to transform the Malaysian government from the race-dominated agenda to more constructive policies. During his last premiership, Mahathir introduced the "Vision 2020" blueprint for the nation to become a self-sufficient industrialized nation by 2020. On his way to the royal palace on Thursday afternoon, Mahathir sat in a Malaysian-made sedan called Proton Perdana with car plate number "2020", a sign that he is still sticking to his plan. Flash The U.S. move to reinstate economic sanctions against Iran would not only harm Turkey's economy but also pose problems in Ankara's regional policy, analysts told Xinhua. The impending sanctions are sure to deal a blow to the Turkish economy, said Aziz Konukman, a professor of economics. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday U.S. withdrawal from the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, vowing to re-impose "the highest level of economic sanctions" against the Islamic republic. A decrease in oil imports from Iran would adversely affect Turkish exports there, said Konukman, who teaches at Gazi University in Ankara. Turkey will begin to genuinely feel the negative effects of the U.S. move when the sanctions go into effect, said Cahit Armagan Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute. Some of the punitive measures, like those related to Iran's acquisition of U.S. dollars, trade in gold and precious metals and automotive sector, will take effect following a 90-day wind-down period ending on Aug. 6. Those related to the purchase of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran as well as to its energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors are to take effect as of Nov. 4 this year. The U.S. and the European Union have lifted economic sanctions on Iran after the deal that imposed restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program was concluded in 2015. The U.S. reversal would make Turkey pay a higher bill for energy, as its oil imports from neighboring Iran should be expected to fall as oil prices rise, said Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat. "Ankara would talk with Washington about exemption from the sanctions, but it's expected that its oil imports from Tehran would decrease," said Ulgen, who chairs the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. Turkey has been making efforts to boost economic ties with its eastern neighbor since the West lifted the sanctions against Iran in early 2016. Iran has become Turkey's biggest supplier of crude oil and the second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December last year that Turkey wanted to import more crude oil and natural gas from Iran and was working to supply the Iranian gas to other countries via Turkey. Turkish-U.S. ties have been strained as a Turkish banker, Hakan Atilla, was found guilty by a New York court of defrauding U.S. banks and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran before the nuclear deal was inked in 2015. The court is expected to hand down next week its verdict on Atilla, the former deputy chief executive officer of Halkbank, a state-owned institution. Several Turkish banks may also be sentenced by the U.S. court to pay billions of dollars in fines over similar charges, according to Turkish media reports. As Washington backtracks on the Iran deal, the other five signatories, namely Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, have pledged efforts to save the deal for the sake of regional stability and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signaled his country's readiness to remain in the nuclear deal if a consensus is reached, though he raised the possibility of restarting enriching uranium after talks fail. The U.S. says the current deal must be amended to ensure that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has, however, flatly rejected any renegotiation on the deal, insisting that it has no intention of producing nuclear weapons. The disagreement risks leading to increasing geopolitical tension in the region. "Something will happen" unless Iran agrees to renegotiate, Trump said one day after declaring withdrawal from the deal, threatening Iran with severe consequences in case it restarts its nuclear program. Dilek feels that the U.S., Turkey's NATO ally, may use the sanctions to blackmail Ankara into siding with it against Tehran. Noting the sanctions will cover all of Iran's state and financial institutions, he said any country cooperating with them could also face U.S. punishment. "In such a case, Turkey would be the country that would be most severely affected," he added. Should Ankara agree to act in line with the U.S. sanctions, it would risk losing Iran's possible cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has been fighting against the Turkish state for over three decades. Turkey's energy ties with Iran would be at risk as well, said Dilek. Siding with Washington could also damage Ankara's ongoing cooperation with Tehran in war-torn Syria, as Ankara, Moscow and Tehran have been jointly pushing for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict since last year. In the days ahead, the U.S. should be expected to increase pressure to have Ankara's support against Iran, remarked Ulgen. By Adam Jourdan, Jamie Freed, Reuters | May 10, 2018 North Korea's Air Koryo plans to laun c h charter flights between Pyongyang and C hengdu in south-west C hina, two airline offi c ials told Reuters, amid a major improvement in diplomati c relations between the neighbors. The flights to C hengdu, one of the biggest c ities in C hina's vast western region, c ould start as early as late June if approved by C hina's aviation regulator, the offi c ials told Reuters on c ondition of anonymity. "At the moment this is still a plan. Whether it c an a c tually take off will be impa c ted by the poli c y environment going forward," said one of the offi c ials, who said an appli c ation to the regulator had not yet been submitted. "Now perhaps it's C hengdu, afterwards c ould be Dalian, Guangzhou. If there's a market we'll fly, if not we won't," he said, noting C hinese travel agen c ies were involved with marketing the flights to potential c ustomers. C hina has traditionally been politi c ally isolated North Korea's c losest ally but ties have been frayed by Pyongyang's nu c lear weapons program and Beijing's ba c king of tough U.N. san c tions in response. Relations have, however, improved of late. C hinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have held two meetings in C hina sin c e Mar c h as North Korea prepares for a planned summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Air Koryo already offers regular flights from Pyongyang to the north-east c ities of Beijing and Shenyang, and the eastern port c ity of Shanghai. Revenues from C hinese tourists would provide a wel c ome boost to North Korea's c losed e c onomy. Tourists from C hina a c c ount for about four-fifths of foreign visitors to North Korea, says South Korean think-tank the Korea Maritime Institute, whi c h estimates tourism generates revenue of about US$44 million ea c h year for the c ountry. By Joseph Campbell, Martin Pollard, Allison Lampert, Jamie Freed, Reuters | May 10, 2018 North Korea has agreed not to engage in activities hazardous to aviation without advanced notice, a U.N. aviation agency official said on Thursday, an assurance that could lead to major airlines resuming flights through its airspace. Airlines take indirect routings to avoid North Korea due to the threat posed from unannounced missile launches that are worrisome in the wake of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine. If the airspace was deemed safe, carriers could save fuel and time on some routes between Asia and Europe and North America. Officials from the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) visited North Korea this week to discuss a request by Pyongyang to open a new air route that would pass through North Korean and South Korean airspace. "We received a solid assurance from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that they will not be engaging in activities hazardous for aviation without full advanced notice for the other states in the region, and that they would coordinate that activity to ensure that we could retain safety," ICAO Air Navigation Bureau Director Stephen Creamer said upon his return to Beijing. Asked whether this meant international airlines would resume flights over North Korea, ICAO Regional Director Arun Mishra said: "It's always a possibility. ... We're continuing toward establishing a more healthy relationship." ICAO and North Korea's General Administration of Civil Aviation are also coordinating on an upcoming air traffic management workshop, the U.N. agency said in a statement. It is the latest sign of practical reconciliation measures taken since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met last month for a first summit by leaders from both countries in years, and signed a pledge to pursue peace on the peninsula. Countries such as Britain, France, Germany and the United States have advised airlines not to fly in North Korean airspace, known as the Pyongyang flight information region (FIR). A spokeswoman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the airline trade group supports efforts to improve air travel safety and efficiency, including "a direct air route between North Korea and South Korea." Mark Zee of Flight Service Bureau, which provides safety information on airspace to airlines, said on Wednesday that North Korea had provided warnings of all missile launches until around 2014 but that gradually ended and by 2016 airlines avoided the airspace entirely. He said a guarantee by North Korea that it would provide warning if it fired a missile would likely be enough for regulators to remove warnings about the airspace. Mahathir Mohamad, a former Malaysian prime minister who led the opposition to a stunning victory in the general election, took the oath of office on Thursday night, becoming the world's oldest elected leader at the age of 92. In a huge political upset, Mahathir's opposition alliance broke the grip on power of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which had governed Malaysia uninterrupted since its birth as an independent country in 1957. The vote tally released by the Malaysian Election Commission on Thursday showed that the opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, or PH, led by Mahathir, won 113 seats out of the 222 seats of the parliament's lower house, enough for them to form the federal government. Mahathir ruled Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. Born in a small village near the border with Thailand, Mahathir is known for steering Malaysia from a mining backwater to become one of Asia's fastestgrowing economies. His PH alliance of four parties trounced the BN coalition of prime minister Najib Razak. Najib's BN won 79 seats, a collapse from the 133 it won in the 2013 election, which was itself the coalition's worst poll performance ever at the time. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday that Mahathir is a veteran statesman, who made great contributions to the development of China-Malaysia relations. The comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Malaysia has a sound momentum for development, the mutually-beneficial cooperation has achieved significant outcomes and brought substantial benefits to both countries and the two peoples, which should be cherished and safeguarded by both sides, Geng said. Mahathir has promised to hand over the premiership to Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister who is in prison on sodomy charges and is scheduled to be released in June. "Our struggle to change Malaysian politics is not wasted. We believe Mahathir can make a change," said PH member Mohamad Azlan Shah. Mahathir was once Najib's patron but they clashed over a scandal around 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, a state fund from which billions of dollars were allegedly siphoned off. The 1MDB affair is being investigated by at least six countries, although Najib has denied any wrongdoing and has been cleared by Malaysia's attorney-general. At a news conference on Thursday morning, Mahathir said he would not seek revenge but is "seeking to restore the rule of law". Mahathir had vowed to investigate the scandal if elected and bring missing funds back to Malaysia. On Thursday he said that if Najib had done anything wrong he would "face the consequences". Multiple polls before the election had predicted that BN would extend its grip on power. The rout of BN was made possible by a swing of BN core supporters to PH such as those in rural areas, who have long relied on subsidies and favorable BN policies. Xinhua, Reuters and Gao Desheng in Beijing contributed to this story. Online See more on www.chinadaily.com.cn Mahathir Mohamad reacts during a news conference after his general election victory, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on Thursday.Lai Seng Sin / Reuters (China Daily 05/11/2018 page11) THE GOVERNMENT OF NINGSHAN COUNTY in Northwest China's Shaanxi province said its tourism revenue was 1.4 billion yuan ($220 million) over the three-day May Day holiday from April 29 to May 1. But later admitted it had made a mistake and the figure was actually 140 million yuan. Xiaoxiang Morning News comments: Ningshan's slip-of-the-pen error was exposed when Ankang city, where Ningshan, one of 11 counties is located, said its May Day holiday tourism revenue was 1.9 billion yuan. Generally speaking, there is a strict procedure for government to release statistics, and the chance of enlarging the amount tenfold is slim. That's why the netizens have tended to believe the county government intentionally exaggerated its tourism revenue. Especially as the local governments in Liaoning province, Tianjin and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region were found to have fudged their gross domestic product data. China is ready to boost coordination with Argentina over its hosting of the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires later this year and to help make the summit a success, President Xi Jinping said on Friday. Xi made the comments as he exchanged messages with Argentine President Mauricio Macri on bilateral ties, the summit and Argentina's economic situation. China firmly supports Argentina's hosting the summit, which will be held from Nov 30 to Dec 1, and will work with the country to effectively navigate the event, advance multilateralism, reinforce global governance and build a world economy of openness, Xi said. US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Middle East country on Tuesday. The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France), Germany and Iran in Vienna on July 14, 2015, after 18 months of negotiations, and immediately approved by the Security Council. Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the international community withdrawing some of its sanctions against the country. Although the deal allows Iran to retain its nuclear potential and is thus not restrictive enough, it prevents Teheran from crossing the nuclear threshold to develop nuclear weapons. In a way, the deal preempts another war and sets an example for future nuclear nonproliferation negotiation. Among the six world powers that signed the deal, the US was the only one hostile toward Iran. So its consent was critical. Former US president Barack Obama, determined to leave behind a diplomatic legacy of peace, changed his stance on the Iranian nuclear issue and agreed to the deal. In the process, he even offended his allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Zhang Jiangting, member of the standing committee of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, who also serves as Qingdao Party chief, recently said at a media briefing that the preparatory work for the upcoming SCO Qingdao Summit has been mostly completed. The city will now make the best use of its time before the meeting to "sprint hard" to ensure the city's optimal conditions for the summit are in place. The 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Qingdao in June, fixating the worlds attention on this scenic littoral city in China. The SCO currently has eight member states, four observer countries, and six dialog partners. It has become a comprehensive regional organization with the largest population, the most extensive geographical coverage, and huge potential, and is beginning to play a more active role in regional and international affairs. Zhang said that Qingdao is now reviewing conference, concierge and reception services, theatrical performances, and transportation in an effort to provide Chinese and foreign guests with the best environment and experience. In terms of service guarantees, Zhang said that in order to demonstrate current Chinese and regional qualities, Qingdao is forming a strict congruency with international standards and practices and thoroughly improving medical and health care, food safety, transportation services, and support capabilities. Qingdao has fully availed itself of its existing facilities, renovating all the venues. Utilization after the summit has also been considered in the planning and design of the relevant facilities to ensure efficacy of fund use. Speaking specifically about the media center of the summit, Zhang said that Qingdao now has a 10,000 square-meter media center capable of accommodating 3,000 people and 15 functional areas for integrated services including media conferences. The center was renovated from an original construction. The Olympic Sailing Center in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/IC] Zhang said that since the commencement of preparation work last year, Qingdao has integrated Chinese traditional culture, the Belt and Road Initiative, and distinctive Shandong and Qingdao features in site selection, venue planning, decoration, and artistic design. The Olympic Sailing Center, for instance, the summit's venue, is a hallmark landscape that embodies Qingdao's integration of mountain, sea, city and bay. Qingdao, as a coastal city, has always been at the forefront of China's opening to the outside world, and has been designated as the main node city of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge Economic Corridor and the strategic fulcrum of maritime cooperation in the construction of the Belt and Road. Qingdao has accumulatively invested 761 projects in countries and regions along the B&R, with an agreed investment of $9.56 billion. As of the end of 2017, Qingdao's GDP was about 1.104 trillion yuan ($174.3 billion) and the city was home to more than 140 Fortune 500 companies that had invested in over 270 local projects. Qingdao has 69 sister cities around the world and has established economic partnerships with 76 cities in China through provincial and national economic and trade organizations. As the rotating president of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), China will hold an SCO Qingdao Summit in June this year, which will be the first summit after the SCO's expansion. The summit is one of the most important of China's home-based diplomatic activities in 2018. It is an international event with global influence and will be hosted by Shandong. In recent years, Shandong has implemented more active and open initiatives to encourage rapid development of the open economy. The First Gwadar International Product Fair was held at Linyi Mall in Gwadar, Pakistan, in January, which attracted nearly 130 companies from China and Pakistan. The overseas shopping mall is playing a huge role. Gwadar is a small fishing village in Pakistan's southwest. Located near the throat of the Persian Gulf, it is the closest seaport for the landlocked countries of Central Asia including Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Three years ago, Linyi Mall rented land near Gwadar Port and invested 500 million yuan to build an overseas mall, making it a place for global shopping as well as a fully functional regional international trade logistics center. "In addition to its natural geographical location and free trade zone preferential policies, what we value is the construction of the China-Pakistan economic corridor," said Zhuang Weiguo, director of the Economic and Trade Development Bureau of the Linyi Shopping Mall Management Committee. Since the establishment of the SCO, its circle of friends has continued to expand. It has also attracted many Shandong companies to seek new business opportunities in member countries. Weichai India branch is the first factory built by Weichai in a foreign country. Through this plant, Weichai has successfully introduced marine products, hydraulic products and high-power generator sets into the South Asian market and achieved historic breakthroughs. Weichai has built 30 service stations in the region. The companys sales service network of ship machines covers the Indian coastline and its market share has reached 45 percent. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will hold a summit in June as leaders are expected to exchange ideas on dealing with global issues and roll out cooperation measures for the bloc's future when they gather in east China's coastal city of Qingdao. The SCO, after 17 years, has grown into the world's most populous comprehensive regional organization. Its full members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. The SCO now accounts for over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass, nearly half of the world's population and over 20 percent of global GDP. Experts say the upcoming summit is widely expected to inject new drive into the development of regional organization toward a closer "community of shared future" for member countries. Russian student Zakir (R) and his sister Zaira, both studying in China University of Petroleum, display boards with Chinese and Russian handwritings of "Hello Qingdao" and "Hello SCO", in Qingdao, the host city of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, in East China's Shandong province, May 3, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] BEDROCK SPIRIT With a focus on carrying on the "Shanghai Spirit", the bedrock of the SCO, the Qingdao summit will enhance trust and solidarity between the member states and build a closer SCO community. The "Shanghai Spirit," which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development, has become the spiritual bond of member states on building a community of shared future. Member countries have been promoting win-win cooperation and shared development in various areas and played constructive roles in regional and international issues. The SCO has never been simply a security group. The organization has also been devoting itself to the region's development by facilitating trade and investment, enhancing industrial cooperation and promoting people-to-people exchanges. Meanwhile, the China-proposed cooperation framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which features many flagship projects on infrastructure, finance and people-to-people exchanges, heralds greater opportunities for development. "The SCO and BRI offer mutual support and opportunities to each other, and the BRI concept has already been embedded into the SCO and are making positive progress," said Li Jianmin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "From theory and planning to practical implementations, cooperation in the alignments of development strategies between China and other SCO member states has also come to a new stage, with a series of projects under steady progress," Li said. SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov described the bloc as "a paradigm of the peaceful co-existence of nations with different powers and various political systems and cultures." "Within the group, no one dominates, wins or loses, and agreements are reached through negotiation and consultation," Alimov said. "The 'Shanghai Spirit' bears similar elements embodied in the vision of a community of a shared future for humanity and the global governance principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, and will continue to deliver strong vitality," said Li Yongquan, head of the China Society for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies. Shanxi, Rio link up for tourism ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2018-05-11 Shanxi province holds a tourism promotion event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 2. [Photo/people.com.cn] The Government of Shanxi Province hosted an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 2, as part of a promotional tour to showcase the province's tourist attractions. Shanxi aims to develop itself into a major international tourist destination, and the provincial government is currently promoting the province around the world. "As a major cradle of Chinese civilization, Shanxi is a place full of culture and history with various historical sites and natural landscapes, including the famous Great Wall and Yellow River," said Zhang Fuming, vice-governor of Shanxi province, at the promotion event in Rio. "Shanxi also boasts several UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Mount Wutai, Yungang Grottoes and the Ancient City of Pingyao," he added. In 2017, nearly one million foreign tourists visited Shanxi, proving the province has real potential to attract visitors from all over the world. Shanxi Provincial Tourism Development Commission signs a memorandum of cooperation with the tourism department of the government of Rio de Janeiro. [Photo/people.com.cn] To strengthen tourism links between Shanxi and Rio de Janeiro, Shanxi Provincial Tourism Development Commission signed a memorandum of cooperation with the tourism department of the government of Rio de Janeiro at the event, committing both sides to promoting each other as key tourist destinations. They also agreed to attend each other's respective tourism promotion events, such as expos and fairs. According to the details of the memorandum, the two sides will focus on integrating tourist information, improving management of tourism sites, and supporting the development of tourism products. The memorandum also encourages travel businesses in both countries to build links with each other. So far, Shanxi has started work on 184 tourism projects worth 247.7 billion yuan ($39.04 billion), with a focus on developing tourism brands featuring the Great Wall, Yellow River and Taihang Mountains. Over the coming years the province hopes to improve travel services, attract more foreign visitors and improve their travel experiences. This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Asociatia Obsteasca DEMOS anunta concurs pentru angajarea unui expert/grup de experti/a unei companii care sa presteze servicii pentru lansarea afacerii sociale BEREA, Ohio -- After a 12-year pause from her former role as assistant finance director in the Berea Finance Department, Andrea Morris has returned to the city as its new finance director. She replaces Dana Kavander, who left April 30 for a position in Orange. Morris was re-introduced to city officials at the May 7 City Council meeting. Mayor Cyril Kleem welcomed her back and emphasized that "she knows us, she knows our system, and she is also very familiar with this community." Morris worked for the city from 1998 to 2006. "We're very happy to have her and pleased that she's here," Kleem said, noting that her acceptance enabled him to appoint a proven, known financial professional in lieu of advertising for candidates. "It's nice when you don't have that gap where you have to look for someone qualified," said Council President Mary Brown. Morris most recently was fiscal officer for the village of North Randall, a position she had held since 2006. She also has been fiscal officer for Highland Hills and worked for the office of the Auditor of State of Ohio. Morris has a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a major in accounting, from the University of Cincinnati. She resides in Maple Heights. "I'm very grateful for being back here in the city of Berea," Morris told council. "I've been gone for 12 years, but it's been nice to see a lot of wonderful faces again and meeting new people. I look forward to working with council and all the residents here in the community." BROOK PARK, Ohio -- Operating a vehicle under the influence, Interstate 480: A Bedford man, 21, was arrested at about 7 a.m. April 29 after he crashed his car on I-480 eastbound. The man drove his Volkswagen into the rear end of a Ford Explorer. Police found an open container of Yuengling Light Lager in his car. The man was injured in the crash and taken to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights. The driver of the Explorer was unhurt. Operating a vehicle under the influence, Engle Road: A drunk Parma Heights man, 19, was arrested at about 4 a.m. April 26 after he crashed his car on Engle near Holland Road. The man's 2008 Chevrolet sideswiped a 2008 Honda. No one was hurt. Disorderly conduct, Gallatin Boulevard: A Brook Park man, 55, was cited at about 12:30 a.m. May 2 after he shined a flashlight into his neighbor's window with the intention to taunt. The incident was part of an ongoing neighbor dispute. The man admitted shining the flashlight. Drunkenness, Snow Road: A Brook Park man, 54, was arrested at about 7:15 p.m. May 1 after police found him drunk and unable to care for himself outside Howard Johnson by Wyndham Cleveland Airport, 16644 Snow. The man refused to leave the area around his hotel room and wanted to re-enter the room. Hotel workers called police. Disorderly conduct, Snow Road: An Akron man, 36, was arrested at about 7 a.m. May 1 after he passed out in the lobby of Howard Johnson by Wyndham Cleveland Wyndham Airport, 16644 Snow. The man was drunk. He gave police a false name and refused to identify himself for more than seven hours. Police eventually learned that a felony warrant had been issued for his arrest. Suspicious person, Glenway Drive: A Brook Park man, 25, was arrested at about 9:30 p.m. April 30 after someone called police about him acting suspiciously. The man was sitting in a vehicle parked in the street. The caller suspected that a drug deal was taking place. Police, after identifying the man, learned that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. They found a bag of pills in his possession. The pills were sent to a lab for testing. Grand theft, Eastland Road: Audio equipment was reported stolen March 21 from a business at 6511 Eastland. The equipment was reportedly stolen between Aug. 3 and Feb. 26. Police said they were still investigating and weren't able to say whether the building had been broken into. Operating a vehicle under the influence, Smith Road: A Brook Park man, 26, was arrested at about 1 a.m. May 1 after police caught him driving drunk on Smith near Sylvia Drive. Police had stopped the man's car because he failed to signal while turning from Smith onto Snow Road. Marijuana possession, Ohio 237-Snow Road: A Berea man, 32, was cited at about 5:45 p.m. April 30 after police caught him speeding on Ohio 237 near Snow. Police found a small baggie of marijuana and a marijuana sifter in his car. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a retired Cleveland police officer who claimed he was unfairly treated because he spoke out against the privatizing of security at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport at the beginning of Mayor Frank Jackson's tenure. U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi on Monday wrote that Christopher Harper did not prove that the city retaliated against him when he was suspended for 30 days in August 2015 for a variety of infractions ranging from inconsistencies on his daily duty report to sleeping on the job. Harper, who was transferred from the airport detail to the Fourth District following his discipline, retired in 2016. Harper, who worked at the airport for 14 of his 27 years at the city, said in a 2016 lawsuit against the city and other officials that he was disciplined, transferred and forced out of the department because he was among the most vocal opponents of privatizing security at the airport, an unsuccessful measure the city attempted between 2006 and 2008. Police officials brought the disciplinary charges against him in 2015. Harper claimed the charges were "baseless" but that city officials promised a lenient punishment if he pleaded no contest to them. Lioi wrote that "the City has more than sufficiently shown by competent and unrefuted evidence that it had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for its actions with respect to Harper, all of which were permitted under the terms of the (union's collective bargaining agreement) and agreed to by Harper." She also said he didn't prove a connection between his discipline and his free speech years before, and noted that officials said they weren't aware of any police officers organizing against privatization efforts until Harper filed suit. Lioi also wrote that Harper didn't show that his reassignment to the Fourth District was a retaliatory action. She also said Harper said he didn't show he was treated differently than non-black officers. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland first fell in love with Mason's Creamery as a mobile ice cream operation that served their artisan creations at pop-up markets and events around the region. In 2014, the business found a permanent home at the vacant former Ohio City Ice Cream at 4401 Bridge Ave. Beyond the brick-and-mortar opening the doors for more people to discover their delicious, creative flavors, it also gave cold treat lovers a chance to better get to know the charming couple behind the operation - Helen Qin and Jesse Mason. Now, people across the U.S. are getting the opportunity to hear the story behind their success. The ice cream shop was recently tapped to help promote the new "Grow with Google" project, an initiative launching throughout the country that offers free training for individuals and small businesses. To spread the news of the nation-wide project, Google is spotlighting small businesses in a series of video shorts. The mini-doc will be shown at Cleveland's Google workshop, which is taking place today at Cuyahoga Community College's Hospitality Management Center. It's slated to be hosted by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. To capture the whimsical, community spirit of Mason's Creamery, Google and its film crew asked the shop to host one of their regular movie nights. Qin says Google reached out to the business based on positive reviews and personally interviewed herself and Mason. There was just one problem: Mason's usually holds their screenings on breezy summer evenings. Google wanted to film in April. "We all spent the week obsessively checking the forecast - first rain, then snow, then possibly just a foggy Friday?" the business owners wrote in a Facebook post. "Nope, snow again. Now snow, plus rain! We reached out to all of our neighbors, friends, and organizations within the area like Ohio City Incorporated, Ohio City Farm, Near West Family Network and Near West Intergenerational School and basically begged them to come out so that there'd be actual people to film, and not just us and the film crew." But a little chilly weather can't hold Clevelanders back. They ended up with more than 160 people. (Free scoops and food from the popular Wok 'n' Roll food truck didn't hurt in attracting patrons, of course.) "There was a TV set up in the back of the shop so we could see what the film crew was shooting, and it was incredible," Qin and Mason wrote. "Strangers sharing picnic tables, possibly huddling for warmth, dogs cleaning up dropped ice cream and food, and a group of kids sitting on blankets on our lawn, watching 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' while wrapped up in ski jackets and balaclavas, eating ice cream while snow fell on them." The short film talks about how the shop's become a neighborhood gathering place and their transformation of the former Ohio City Ice Cream - including, naturally, how they used the internet to navigate growing their business and attracting new ice cream fans. And aside from the spotlight on Mason's, you'll see plenty of great footage of Ohio City businesses along the Lorain Ave. strip, like The Grocery, Fridrich Bicycle and Old Fashion Hot Dogs. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If all the behind-the-scenes drama and so-so trailers for "Solo: A Star Wars Story" had you thinking "I've got a bad feeling about this," you can relax. Well, at least until the movie hits theaters on May 25. The Han Solo origin story premiered Thursday night in Hollywood where it received a generally enthusiastic reception from the VIPs and media in the audience. The consensus: though not perfect, "Solo" is a fun, rip-roaring adventure worthy of the "Star Wars" franchise. Alden Ehrenreich as everybody's favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder takes some time getting used to, but is solid. Daniel Glover is said to be as charismatic as Billy Dee Williams in the role of Lando Calrissian. There are enough references and call backs to the other movies set in the galaxy far, far away to satisfy die-hard fans. Also, avoid spoilers because there's a big surprise in the movie. "'Solo' was SO much better than I was expecting! It balanced fan service w/ meaningful storytelling, and it's an absolute blast," tweeted Nerdist senior editor Dan Casey. "It's kinda a blast," Rotten Tomatoes' Joel Meares posted. "Donald Glover was as perfect as expected, but Alden Ehrenreich has swagger to match, and spare." Some of the reaction, however, was more lukewarm. "Not convinced we needed a young Han Solo movie. Was really hoping for higher stakes, more energy and depth," Collider's Perri Nemioff tweeted. Added CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg, "'Solo: A Star Wars Story' is... fine. It's slow to find its footing, but picks up in the second act, and it's definitely fun. Has the occasional prequel problem answering questions I didn't need answers to, but also some fun references. Overall I liked it, didn't love it." More reaction: Solo: A Star Wars Story is a goddamn delight. Its a non-stop adventure packed with way more emotion than your expecting. Youll have a smile on your face the whole time and leave eager for more. pic.twitter.com/fOsF7Tr95L Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) May 11, 2018 #SoloAStarWarsStory has a bit of a rough start, but it was a blast of of an adventure. And yes, Donald Glover steals the movie! But you already knew that. pic.twitter.com/4SGiq6tDmQ Jenna Busch (@JennaBusch) May 11, 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story has a light tone and has some great action sequences. There were great moments but some were a bit too on the nose for me. The Chewie/Han bromance is the thing to watch for. Wendy Lee Szany (@WendyLeeSzany) May 11, 2018 #Solo is afun! I was pleasantly surprised that it worked as well as it did given all the behind the scenes drama & retooling. Charming cast, fun action, good jokes, good fan service but still does its own thing. #StarWars will be fine. Jim Vejvoda (@JimVejvoda) May 11, 2018 #SoloAStarWarsStory: It takes a bit for it to find its feet and for AE to turn on enough charm to make you forget hes not HF. But once it kicks into its hey-lets-make-a-crew and yes-also-do-a-heist stuff, it totally flies. Kate Erbland (@katerbland) May 11, 2018 #SoloAStarWarsStory is reaaaaalllly good. Fun as hell. Its a straight intergalactic heist movie, kind of refreshing to see a Star Wars movie w/o a Death Star or the rebellions fate at stake. Alden Ehrenreich is super impressive as Han, but L3 might be my favorite new character. Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) May 11, 2018 Pleasantly surprised by #SOLO! A cute, fun, stylish #StarWars adventure. Would absolutely watch more Han and Chewie, which is not what I expected going into this AT ALL. Excited to see it again. pic.twitter.com/rpwaZCNevC Rachel Heine (@RachelHeine) May 11, 2018 And when I say surprise, I mean the thing that made jaws drop around the theater. Man, what a hell of a secret to keep. #Solo Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) May 11, 2018 Ooo @StarWars fans you are in for a friggin TREAT w/ #Solo. Killer cast. A great adventure. So much fun. #hansolo Kara Warner (@karawarner) May 11, 2018 #Solo is a ton of fun! Alden Ehrenreich is full of charm and definitely does right by Harrison Ford. Not to mention Donald Glover, who's equally great as Lando. Don't let the drama and rumors fool you, this is a seriously fun, exciting addition to the Star Wars universe! Tom Jorgensen (@Tom_Jorgensen) May 11, 2018 Despite all the kind words, it should be noted that the audience's reaction at premieres tends to be more enthusiastic than when the film is released to critics and the general public. The embargo on reviews lifts on Tuesday, May 15 at 5 p.m., so expect a cascade of more balanced hot takes then. WASHINGTON - During his successful bid to become the Republican candidate to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in November, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci's election rivals repeatedly tried to tie him to Washington's "swamp," condemning him for his apparent use of straw campaign donors and for once registering as a lobbyist. Now, a Democratic group that makes independent expenditures against Republicans is running an ad on social media that accuses Renacci of being "afraid to fight for us in Washington" because he hasn't denounced EPA director Scott Pruitt, whom the ad calls "the most corrupt member of the DC swamp, enriching himself with our tax dollars." The ad from American Bridge 21st Century references multiple scandals associated with Pruitt, with headlines about him spending over $105,000 on first class flights and renting a condo tied to lobbyists. It concludes by urging viewers to call Renacci and "demand he stand up to Scott Pruitt." American Bridge spokesman Joshua Karp said the ad is the latest installment of an ongoing five-figure ad buy in Ohio. A statement from Karp said Renacci has "failed to stand up for his constituents whose taxpayer dollars Scott Pruitt has recklessly wasted." "Many elected leaders are saying they want Pruitt gone, but clearly Renacci's more interested in his own political career than holding wrongdoers of his own party accountable," Karp said. When asked about Pruitt's spending on MSNBC, Renacci said he disagreed with "some of that spending" but argued that Pruitt is "following through on the president's agenda." Renacci spokeswoman Brittany Martinez issued the following statement in response to an inquiry about the ad: "It's been just 48 hours since Jim Renacci won the primary, but George Soros and the far left special interests Sherrod Brown represents in Washington are already in panic mode--and they should be. While Sherrod Brown sells out Ohio families every day by shilling for the far left wing of the Democratic Party and consistently voting to obstruct President Trump's agenda, Jim Renacci will restore Ohio's voice to this seat by working with President Trump and serving the needs of Ohio families and businesses. I guess George Soros and Sherrod Brown's Hollywood liberal friends will just have to find another state's Senate seat to own come January because Jim Renacci is returning this one to the people of Ohio." CLEVELAND, Ohio - FirstEnergy's Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. has asked a court to halt Cleveland Public Power from constructing electrical lines needed to tap power from a large solar field under construction in Brooklyn. In a complaint filed Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, CEI argues that the construction work is creating hazards that could endanger the health and safety of its workers and people in the area. The work also could spark damages to CEI's equipment that could lead to power outages. CEI seeks a temporary restraining order that will stop all work until CPP fully briefs the utility company on its work. "This is not sensationalized," CEI argues in its complaint. "Should CPP's unauthorized power line(s) create a short in CEI's local grid, it could create an arc event that is powerful enough to melt the steel components on the poles, including those keeping the wires elevated and taut "Potential effects to the vicinity would include, among other things: spraying molten metal, electrical arcing to nearby conductors and failing energized power lines," CEI said. You can read CEI's complaint below. Mobile users click here. What's the project? Columbus-based IGS Solar will use about 17 acres of a closed 75-acre landfill in Brooklyn to build a solar array that IGS expects will generate about 5 megawatts of power - about enough to power 500 homes a year. The array is expected to be generating power by this summer. Cleveland Public Power, which is owned by the city of Cleveland, is building a transmission line that will carry the power from the array to a nearby electric substation. CPP will buy all the power that the solar farm produces. Brooklyn granted CPP an exclusive franchise to sell power from the solar array to Brooklyn residents. Cuyahoga County also has agreed to buy electricity from CPP for its 16 commercial buildings. About 20 to 25 percent of that electricity will be the clean solar power. What's the problem? CPP failed to disclose its construction plans and didn't tell CEI that it was going to be doing work that interacts with the CEI power grid, CEI asserts in its complaint. The new transmission line is being built at a higher level than existing CEI lines, the complaint says. At some points, the new CPP line crosses energized CEI wires, the complaint says. Cleveland Public Power violated national safety standards, CEI alleges, by resting wires directly on top of CEI's active wires as they were being installed. What's Cleveland Public Power's response? CPP did not have an immediate response when contacted by cleveland.com, but a spokesman said one would be forthcoming. CEI asserts that the city, through a series of emails and telephone calls, contended that it had done nothing that was inappropriate and that it did not intend to delay construction. In its complaint, CEI also said the city expressed a willingness to meet when contacted a week ago, but that no meetings have taken place. The city also has not provided project plans and diagrams sought through a public records request, the complaint said. More from Cleveland City Hall: Neighborhood WIFI? Gunshot sensors? Councilman says Cleveland should tap smart technology when it upgrades street lights Cleveland looks to cut its utility bills by teaming with Cleveland schools, regional sewer district Cleveland leaders say there have been no talks with the Browns about a new stadium Follow me on Facebook. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The software that was intended to help the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow accurately report student activity was used by state auditors to show the now-shuttered online charter school might not have been completely honest in its reporting. Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said ActivTrak was the "smoking gun" that allowed auditors to prove ECOT submitted inflated numbers of recorded student hours to the Ohio Department of Education to get paid for student participation. Yost referred his audit of the 2016-17 fiscal year to the U.S. Attorney and Franklin County prosecutor for possible criminal charges. "For the first time, we have evidence that, when ODE went to confirm that information, ECOT hid the truth beneath meaningless and unreliable information, fake proof that ODE inexplicably accepted," Yost said at a Thursday news conference. What is ActivTrak and what role did it play in state auditors' investigation? Read on to find out. What is ActivTrak? ActivTrak software monitors web browser and app activity on computers, smartphones and other devices. The software can be installed remotely, without the user noticing, and runs undetected in the background. It could be tracking your visit to this article without you knowing. ActivTrak records the application title or website title and address, along with the time spent on each activity and idle time. The company markets the service to businesses and government entities as a way to monitor employee productivity. What can ActivTrak track? Any time a user views a webpage or opens a document on his computer, ActivTrak notes the time and how long is spent on each activity. Employers can view this data in detailed reports. They can also set the software to capture screenshots at time intervals or every time an employee opens a specific site or app. Employers can rate the productivity of certain sites and apps to gauge whether employees being productive. The company says it does not collect passwords, keystrokes or personal information. In this screenshot, an employer is viewing the time each employee spent on a website or when the computer sat idle. Why was ECOT using ActivTrak? State education officials began requiring online schools to show students spent time learning, not just that they were enrolled, for the 2015-16 school year. Under the new requirement, ECOT could not prove all of the 15,300 students it received funding for had actually participated in classes. The state sought to recover $60 million, and ECOT argued it was unfair to apply the class participation standard retroactively. ECOT officials said they would use ActivTrak on all computers going forward to document how much time students were engaged in the online school on their computers. How did the software factor into Yost's audit? When it came time for ECOT to again prove student participation, officials gave the Education Department a spreadsheet detailing a student's engagement time, end time and duration, according to Yost's audit. But the calculations didn't deduct time spent on non-education activities nor with the computer idle. Yost said officials may have committed fraud by withholding that information. "Instead of doing the right thing and subtracting non-education time and idle time from their students' school day, ECOT misled the Department of Education and submitted inflated timesheets -- garnering an improper windfall for the school," Yost said. ECOT's attorney said school officials provided information that met the department's requirements. "What they gave is what the department thought to be acceptable," attorney Marion Little said. "Where in the statute does it say what you have to provide? It doesn't." AKRON, Ohio -- A Hudson man indicted on several federal charges linked to filing false tax returns was found not guilty Thursday by a jury. Sergio Gardea, 44, had been charged with 21 felony counts of tax fraud, according to a news release from a family spokesman. Federal prosecutors indicted Gardea, who worked for SGO Accounting and Tax Services, in September 2015 on 30 counts of aiding and abetting in filing false tax returns. Nine counts were dropped before the end of the two-week trial. Investigators say he prepared taxes primarily for Spanish-speaking workers and undocumented immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico who worked in Stark County. He was accused of filing tax returns for clients whose dependents lived outside the United States, which is not legal. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. KENT, Ohio - Kent State University has received a $1 million gift from alumnus George Newkome, a former University of Akron administrator. Newkome and his wife, Mary Jane Saunders, pledged the funds for a first-ever professorship in materials science in Kent State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Newkome is a two-time Kent State alumnus. "George and Mary Jane both have a passion and desire to advance scientific discovery," Kent State President Beverly Warren said in a news release. "We are so pleased that they recognize and appreciate Kent State's upward trajectory in advanced materials science and have chosen to support the recruitment and retention of talented faculty members." Newkome, a native of Akron, received a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in chemistry in 1961 and 1966, at Kent State. He currently works in the Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Florida Atlantic University. Saunders is the former president of FAU and she currently serves as a professor of biological sciences at the school. The Kent State news release did not include Newkome's tenure at Akron. From 2001 to fall 2014, he was vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at UA. He was a professor of polymer science and chemistry. The couple's gift will support the George R. Newkome Endowed Professorship in Materials Science in the new Materials Science Program. The fund will provide competitive compensation and research support for promising faculty members. "I am so appreciative of the professors that I had while getting my B.S. and Ph.D. at Kent State University," Newkome said in the news release. "The outstanding education I received enabled me to have a successful career as a researcher, professor and university administrator. I see that same kind of vision in President Warren and her academic and leadership team. It gives me great pleasure to be able to help support new faculty in the area of materials science as part of the strategic future for Kent State and Northeast Ohio." Newkome is a member of the Kent State College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board. In 2016, he received the university's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has served on the board of numerous corporations and editorial boards, and he has published more than 500 papers and articles, holds 55 patents and edited or wrote more than 20 scientific books and monographs. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An 18-year-old man is charged in connection with the armed carjacking of a 19-year-old woman in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood and an ensuing chase with police. Ja'Quez Lyons of Cleveland is charged with aggravated robbery and failing to comply with the order of a police officer. He is in the Cleveland City Jail awaiting his first court appearance. The carjacking happened about 11 p.m. Monday on Literary Road near Thurman Avenue, according to police. Lyons walked up to the woman with a hood pulled tight around his face, police reports say. He pointed a handgun at her and threatened to shoot her unless she gave him the keys to her 2016 Lincoln Zephyr, according to police. The woman gave Lyons her keys, then asked if she could get the purse from her car. Lyons allowed her to take her purse before he sped off in her car, police reports say. A detective with the fugitive task force about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday spotted Lyons driving the stolen car on Lee Road and Harvard Avenue. Officers followed the car until Lyons sped off on East 136th Street and Caine Avenue, according to police. A police supervisor authorized the chase, police reports say. The officers chased the car several blocks until Lyons briefly stopped. A 15-year-old boy and another man got out of the car and ran away, police reports say. Officers caught up to the teen and arrested him, but they didn't find the other man, according to police. The stolen car sped away. Detectives suspected the group could be involved in recent armed robberies in the Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods, according to police reports. Officers went to the home of one of the suspects and saw Lyons and another man inside stolen car, according to police reports. Lyons saw the officer and drove away, police reports say. The officer's supervisor again approved the chase, which lasted about 15 minutes until it ended on Alonzo Avenue near East 153rd Street, police reports say. Lyons and the passenger-- late identified as Coretez Austin, 22-- jumped out of the car and ran, according to police. Officers caught up with both men shortly after and arrested them, police reports say. Austin is charged with receiving stolen property. Cleveland police, the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms all questioned the trio after their arrests, according to police reports. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Montessori High School at University Circle is slated to close a decade after it opened as the city's only high school dedicated to the 111-year-old "whole child" teaching method. The school's board last week passed a resolution to close at the end of the school year, according to an email shared with The Plain Dealer. Students and parents were told of the decision on May 4, the following day. According to the email, the school for several years was "operating at a significant deficit, despite generous financial support from board members, parents, foundations and other donors." Head of School Gregg Good, who did not return a call for comment. Board member Amy Ryder Wentz confirmed that the school would close June 30 and liquidate its assets, which include four Magnolia Drive properties in University Circle. Wentz said the board made the decision because low enrollment numbers for the 2018-2019 school year were not sufficient to keep the school operating. Tuition for day students was around $25,000 a year. Students who boarded at the school was around $45,000. Parents, graduates and community members met with the board and school officials Wednesday night at Alta House in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood for what one attendee described as a "spirited" discussion around the closing and the future of the school. Many of the comments from people who said they were former students who wrote of the warm and welcoming environment and the confidence they gained while attending the school. Wentz said the high school was one of just a few Montessori high schools in the country. "The board and the parents and the students are all extremely passionate about this school," she said. Parents and community members after the meeting organized committees to see if there was any plan that board had not considered to save the school, she said. The board could reconsider the decision to close is a viable plan emerges, she said. The school opened in 2008 with 37 students enrolled, according its web site. The following year it started offering an accredited International Baccalaureate diploma. It also offered innovative arts and community education by partnering with University Circle institutions. The high school was opened with the help of Montessori Development Partners (MDP) 2012 as part of an effort to expand Montessori programs for adolescents. MDP, founded in the 1990s by Debra Guren and David Kahn to support the expansion of Montessori education, also invested in creating or supporting Stonebrook and Hershey Montessori for elementary school-aged children. The school owns four properties on Magnolia Drive including Lillard Hall, Ferris House and Otis Boarding House, where some students reside. According to the school's web site enrollment was about 110 students, with about 25 students boarding at the school. It's not clear what years those numbers are from. Ohio Department of Education Enrollment numbers from 2017 show 25 freshman enrolled and 20 or fewer students in some of the upper grades. Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Perez Jr., killed in a turnpike accident in 2000. (Ohio Turnpike Commission) BEREA, Ohio - The Ohio Turnpike Commission is continuing its campaign to make work zones safer by increasing enforcement of the state's move-over law and a memorial system. The commission is illustrating the risks with separate signs honoring 12 Ohioans who died on the turnpike while performing their duties. Most were maintenance workers, two were state troopers, and one was a private tow-truck operator. A sign honoring Mike (Turnpike Mike) Kennedy was dedicated in Richfield Friday morning. A semi truck struck and killed him at Milepost 182 in Hudson in 2015 as he helped a motorist. Another sign was dedicated Friday afternoon in Amherst, honoring Kermit C. Starkey, who was a maintenance worked there, killed in 1978. Since May, 2017 the commission and Ohio State Highway Patrol have worked to make the public aware that aerial speed enforcement is ongoing around work zones. According to a press release from the turnpike commission, the campaign helped to ensure no one was killed in work zones last year and there was a 21.5 percent drop in work-zone traffic crashes last year. There was also a 44 percent decline in injury crashes throughout the entire 241-mile turnpike. The names of the dead Ohioans with location, milepost number where their signs will be located, and date of death: Michael W. Kennedy, Hudson, MP 182 eastbound, May, 2015. John Fletcher, Sandusky Township, MP 90.2 westbound, January 24, 2012. Trooper Robert Perez, Jr., Berlin Township, MP 121 westbound, May 15, 2000. Duane E. Cisek, Holiday City, MP 12.4 westbound, July 31, 1997. Richard L. Yoh, Holiday City, MP 12.4 westbound, July 31, 1997. John Todd, Canfield Township, MP 228 eastbound, 1987. Kenneth W. Geiger, Fulton Township, MP 47.3, 1983. Kermit C. Starkey, Amherst, MP 141.3 westbound, 1978. Mike H. McConnell, exact location unknown, MP 198.75 eastbound, 1977. Kenneth C. Bailey, Townsend Township, MP 103.1 eastbound, September 17, 1970. Berton C. Stewart, Townsend Township, MP 103.1 eastbound, September 17, 1970. Trooper Jon D. Birchem, Rossford, MP 65.5, February 22, 1967. Surviving family members are asked to contact the Ohio Turnpike Commission at 440-971-2066. As with 2017, today's dedications are a prelude to Police Week in Cleveland, which begins Saturday at 8 a.m. with a grave marker placement at the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial in Huntington Park next to the old Lakeside Courthouse. Other activities include a Memorial Parade, which steps off from East 12th and Lakeside at 10:30 a.m., and the Cleveland International Tattoo -- a military pageant featuring marching and music -- on Saturday, May 19 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. CLEVELAND, Ohio - State Attorney General Mike DeWine on Friday filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Discovery Tours, the Mayfield Village-based company that abruptly shut down last week, canceling tours for thousands of students and mishandling millions of dollars. The lawsuit, filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, accuses Discovery Tours of taking money from students, their families and schools for bus trips, meals, special events, and lodging, but which the company failed to provide. In some cases, Discovery Tours continued to accept money from schools and parents after they knew - or should have known - that their customers would not be receiving the promised tour services due to the company's precarious financial condition, the lawsuit said. "We believe Discovery Tours violated consumer protection laws and must be held accountable," DeWine said in a prepared statement. "Families and schools across the state trusted this company, and their trust was betrayed." Since May 2, the Attorney General's Office has received more than 700 complaints about Discovery Tours, primarily from parents who said they had paid the company hundreds of dollars for a school trip before the company canceled the trips and shut down. In some cases, the parents said their children had been looking forward to the trip for years, and some had held fundraisers to help them to afford to pay for the trips. The lawsuit asks Judge Steven Gall to issue a permanent injunction preventing Discovery Tours from organizing any future school trips or from conducting any additional business that would violate the Consumer Sales Practices Act. DeWine asked the judge to order Discovery Tours to reimburse all of the victims who were damaged by the company's "unfair, deceptive and unconscionable acts and practices," as well as to pay fines of $25,000 for each violation of the law. Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, emphasized that the case is a civil complaint, and any criminal actions pursued against Discovery Tours or its president, Alfred Cipolletti of Richmond Heights, would be handled by local law enforcement agencies. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office has joined the Geauga and Summit county prosecutors investigating the company, and earlier this week Sen. Sherrod Brown asked U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman and the Federal Trade Commission to conduct their own investigations. The company on Monday filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio, claiming it has about $1.4 million in assets but owes about $3.9 million. Bankruptcy protection "could have a role in determining restitution, court-ordered payments and the priorities of compensation to anyone who paid their money and didn't receive their services," Tierney said. "That being said, we could still seek injunctive relief from the court, and pursue other parts of the laws to protect consumers," Tierney added. Lester Potash, the lawyer for Cipolletti, said he was unaware of the lawsuit so could not comment. The first sign of problems at Discovery Tours came last week with the abrupt cancellation of a trip to Washington, D.C., for 500 eighth-graders from Mentor the night before their scheduled departure. The families paid the company more than $230,000 in advance for the trip. Since then, Discovery Tours has cancelled trips for more than a dozen schools across Ohio, including thousands of students from Chardon, Elyria and Twinsburg, and suburban Columbus and Cincinnati. Cipolletti, a former Mayfield schools counselor and former Richmond Heights school board member, founded the company 36 years ago and had run it ever since with members of his family. In addition to organizing school bus tours to Washington, the company also visited such destinations as New York City, Chicago, Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Henry Ford Museum outside Detroit. OAKWOOD, Ohio -- Deputies in Paulding County arrested a 73-year-old man, accusing him of shooting and killing his 19-year-old grandson, according to reports. William R. Miller II is being held in the Paulding County Jail on a count of murder, WTVG Channel 13 reports. Deputies were called to the rural home at 9:38 p.m. Thursday, according to wane.com. Evan Andrew Holcombe was found dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the chest, WTVG reports. Reports do not say what instigated the shooting. It remains under investigation by the Sheriff's Department, county coroner and prosecutor's office. Paulding County is located in Northwest Ohio on the Indiana border. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Saying that schools districts and families "deserve answers as to what happened to their money," Sen. Sherrod Brown on Thursday asked the Federal Trade Commission and local U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman to investigate Discovery Tours, the company that booked long-distance, out-of-state field trips for Ohio students. Brown said the FTC and Justice Department should determine whether Discovery Tours broke any laws and "ensure there are proper consequences for the company cheating hardworking parents out of their money." The Ohio Attorney General's office and the Geauga and Summit county prosecutors have said they also are investigating Discovery Tours, which last week canceled pre-paid trips for several schools around the state. The company on Monday filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio, claiming it has about $1.4 million in assets but owes about $3.9 million. Brown asked FTC Chairman Joseph Simons and Herdman, attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to review whether Discovery violated any federal laws. "Beyond the disturbing reality that hundreds of students will likely miss long-awaited school trips, is the fact that a company allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars - and possibly millions - from Ohio families for services that the company will not provide," Brown wrote. "And the company has failed to provide any information as to when or if the money it received will be returned to those hardworking men and women." CLEVELAND, Ohio - Dennis Kucinich, whose roots politically track back to being a Cleveland councilman and then mayor, lost to Richard Cordray statewide and in Cuyahoga County in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary, but he won in his hometown and some suburbs. Kucinich carried the election day Cleveland vote, 15,064 to 13,643 over Cordray, according to the unofficial tally. Note: This story has been updated to include the unofficial totals for both absentee and in-person ballots cast. A previous version of this story included only in-person voting. Kucinich also won in Bedford Heights, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Linndale, Maple Heights, Newburgh Heights and North Randall. Yet, Cordray won in five times as many places in Cuyahoga County, rolling up an easy win over Kucinich in his home county (53.5 percent to 39.3 percent) and by an even wider margin statewide (62.3 percent to 22.9 percent). Four other candidates split the remaining votes. (See complete city-by-city vote below.) Kucinich, a member of congress from 1997 until 2013, ran for president twice. In 2004, both John Kerry and John Edwards out-polled Kucinich in his home 10th congressional district. In 2008, he withdrew from the presidential race before the Ohio primary. The Republican vote Mike DeWine beat Mary Taylor in nearly every corner of Cuyahoga County in Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary. In the Republican Primary, Mike DeWine ran strong in nearly every corner of Cuyahoga County, rolling up a 67.8 percent to 32.2 percent victory over Mary Taylor. Statewide, DeWine defeated Taylor, 59.8 percent to 40.2 percent. Still to be added to the totals are late-arriving absentee ballots and provisional votes. Cordray vs. DeWine This precinct map shows where Republican Mike DeWine or Democrat Richard Cordray received the most votes in their separate gubernatorial primaries. Cordray is a heavy favorite in Cuyhoaga County, home to the biggest concentration of Democratic voters in the state. Yet, there are a lot of Republican voters as well. Cuyahoga Couinty was No. 1 in the state for both Demcoratic voters (128,709) and Republicans (57,567) in the primary, according to unofficial counts. Cordray won 68,870 primary votes in the county; DeWine collected 39,053. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. Sabrina Eaton, from cleveland.com's Washington bureau, contributed to this report. Previously: Democratic vote Place Winner Cordray Kucinich Bay Village Cordray 1,177 538 Beachwood Cordray 1,849 571 Bedford Cordray 612 596 Bedford Heights Kucinich 718 730 Bentleyville Cordray 51 13 Berea Cordray 985 674 Bratenahl Cordray 208 62 Brecksville Cordray 844 392 Broadview Heights Cordray 905 481 Brook Park Cordray 841 790 Brooklyn Kucinich 533 609 Brooklyn Heights Tie 93 93 Chagrin Falls Cordray 282 70 Chagrin Falls Twp Cordray 8 0 Cleveland Kucinich 13,643 15,064 Cleveland Heights Cordray 4,868 2,630 Cuyahoga Heights Cordray 17 10 East Cleveland Kucinich 652 783 Euclid Cordray 2,236 2,105 Fairview Park Cordray 1,090 658 Garfield Heights Kucinich 1,008 1,134 Gates Mills Cordray 153 34 Glenwillow Cordray 57 36 Highland Heights Cordray 535 196 Highland Hills Cordray 53 48 Hunting Valley Cordray 29 2 Independence Cordray 332 218 Lakewood Cordray 3,588 2,912 Linndale Kucinich 4 7 Lyndhurst Cordray 1,120 487 Maple Heights Kucinich 1,009 1,054 Mayfield Heights Cordray 871 510 Mayfield Village Cordray 223 56 Middleburg Heights Cordray 821 523 Moreland Hills Cordray 326 62 Newburgh Heights Kucinich 46 68 North Olmsted Cordray 1,753 1,186 North Randall Kucinich 46 63 North Royalton Cordray 1,333 759 Oakwood Cordray 280 258 Olmsted Falls Cordray 418 280 Olmsted Township Cordray 531 396 Orange Cordray 383 111 Parma Cordray 3,489 3,420 Parma Heights Cordray 872 742 Pepper Pike Cordray 684 170 Richmond Heights Cordray 768 535 Rocky River Cordray 1,549 785 Seven Hills Cordray 709 590 Shaker Heights Cordray 4,430 1,661 Solon Cordray 2,037 846 South Euclid Cordray 1,705 1,071 Strongsville Cordray 2,090 1,031 University Heights Cordray 978 455 Valley View Cordray 73 71 Walton Hills Cordray 130 83 Warrensville Hts Cordray 929 846 Westlake Cordray 1,851 967 Woodmere Cordray 45 38 Total Cordray 68,870 50,580 Republican vote CLEVELAND, Ohio - After a wild night of primary results on Tuesday, general election season is already upon the state. Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine and Democrat Richard Cordray, former director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will square off in the governor's race in a repeat of their 2010 bout for the attorney general. Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will look to hold the state for his party against GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, who has the backing of President Donald Trump. This week on the Ohio Matters podcast, the team invited cleveland.com data guru Rich Exner to help break down some of the surprising results - Dennis Kucinich's futility, Renacci's inability to get 50 percent of the vote and what the new redistricting ballot initiative means for elections going forward. Play this week's episode of Ohio Matters: Exner recently published stories about what the results mean with voter maps and analysis from the primary election. Ohio Matters is the weekly politics podcast from cleveland.com. Every Friday, Andrew Tobias, Mary Kilpatrick and Seth Richardson sit down with political figures from around the state for in-depth interviews and discussions. Previous episodes can be found here and include full-length interviews with FiveThirtyEight senior politics reporter Clare Malone, longtime Democratic strategist Jerry Austin and Citizens for Community Values President Aaron Baer. SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Shaker Heights High School was evacuated Friday due to a suspected electrical fire, officials said. There are no reports of any injuries in the small fire that broke out about noon at the high school, a Shaker Heights City School District spokesman said. Students have been dismissed because they are unable to return to the building due to smoke, the school district said in a news release. The Shaker Heights Fire Department is still investigating the fire's cause, the school district spokesman said. Smoke filled two first-floor hallways. Firefighters are currently at the scene. The fire department did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Students who are unable to immediately go home are being moved to the high school's North Gym to await pickup. Those students will be allowed to use cellphones to contact their parents or guardians. STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- A former Strongsville schools maintenance foreman may face criminal charges related to his allegedly stealing property, and possibly money, from the school district. On Thursday, the Lorain County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant at the man's home, according to a Strongsville City Schools press release. District officials said "much" of the stolen property was recovered at that time. The raid occurred after an investigation by the district and the Ohio Auditor of State's Office, both of which, citing an ongoing investigation, would not reveal the man's name, what and how much he allegedly stole, when he worked for the schools or why he left. "The district has and will continue to work closely with the Ohio Auditor of State's Office to recover all of the stolen material goods, as well as recoup all financial losses," school officials said in the press release. "The Ohio Auditor of State will be handling the continued investigation and any future pending criminal charges," school officials said. Dominic Binkley, spokesman for state Auditor David Yost, said his office might have additional information to share next week. School officials said that in June, they received anonymous tips regarding alleged fraudulent activities by the maintenance foreman. Superintendent Cameron Ryba ordered an internal audit and reported the alleged theft to Yost's office. According to the Ohio auditor's website, the state agency receives hundreds of tips each year regarding suspected fraud and violation of local laws. The tips are evaluated by the agency's Special Audit Task Force, which determines whether cases fall within the purview of the auditor's office. If so, the case is referred to the auditor's Public Integrity Assurance Team for further review. The auditor's office might then order a special audit, start a criminal investigation or refer the case to county or federal prosecutors. "Strongsville City Schools will continue to work with the auditor's office to implement any additional controls to reduce risk and further protect the district," school district officials said in the press release. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. May 11, 2018 The Russian spacecraft that launched the first Dane into space and returned the first crew to spend a year aboard the International Space Station has landed on display in Denmark. The Soyuz TMA-18M descent capsule debuted on exhibit at the Danmarks Tekniske Museum, or Danish Museum of Science & Technology, in Helsingr, Denmark on Tuesday (May 8). The gumdrop-shaped spaceship orbited Earth for nearly 182 days from Sep. 2, 2015 through March 2, 2016. "It is no less than a scoop for the Tekniske Museum that it has succeeded in obtaining Andreas Mogensen's capsule, which is clear proof that Denmark is a space nation," said Mette Bock, Denmark's Minister of Culture, in a statement released by the museum. "Certain museum objects are by nature more unique than others, and this is really a piece of Denmark history." The Soyuz TMA-18M capsule returns from the International Space Station to a landing in Kazakhstan on March 2, 2016. (NASA) Mogensen made history as the first citizen of Denmark to launch into space flying on Soyuz TMA-18M from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut since 2009, Mogensen, together with Russia's Sergei Volkov and Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov, arrived on board the International Space Station two days after their liftoff on Sept. 4, 2015. Nine days later, Mogensen returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-16M, landing with Aimbetov and Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft followed after six months, touching down with Volkov and the two crew members of the station's first year-long mission, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who each logged 340 days on the extended expedition. "The capsule is a unique piece of Denmark history, and I am excited that we managed to get it to the museum," said Jesper Buris Larsen, the director of the Tekniske Museum. "With a single museum object, we show how, as a cultural history museum, we can be both current and historical." "The capsule is the tangible proof Denmark can still break new boundaries and put our impressions on history we are dealing with what the matter of dreams are made of," he said. The Soyuz TMA-18M capsule, shrink wrapped for transport, arrives at the Danmarks Tekniske Museum. (Danmarks Tekniske Museum) Russia's 44th crewed spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station, Soyuz TMA-18M is now the centerpiece of the museum exhibit, "Rummet Tur-Retur," which focuses on Mogensen's journey to and from the orbiting laboratory. Overall, the capsule was the 167th to launch since the first Soyuz lifted off in 1967. "Andreas Mogensen's Soyuz is a symbol of a big event in Denmark's history, the first Dane in space," stated Sren Pind, Minister of Education and Research. "Through ESA, we have participated in the space station partnership for more than 20 years. Andreas' spacecraft is firm proof of this cooperation and Denmark's extensive work in space. I look forward to seeing how the Tekniske Museum will use the capsule to create a fascination so interest in science is strengthened in Denmark." The museum acquired the Soyuz capsule after two years of negotiations with Russia. Denmark's Embassy in Russia and the family foundation of Danish billionaire Niels Louis-Hansen, Aage og Johanne Louis- Hansens Fond, were key partners in the spacecraft's purchase the value of which has not been disclosed, but described as running into the millions of dollars. Soyuz TMA-18M is the latest, and perhaps the last, of the flown Soyuz descent capsules to go on display outside of Russia. Danish media reports about the new exhibit said Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency, has decided to cease offering its spent Soyuz to foreign countries and museums with the completion of the deal with Denmark. First Dane in space, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, poses with the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft that he rode aboard into orbit at the Danmarks Tekniske Museum. (Andreas Mogensen on Twitter) "Great to be reunited with the Soyuz capsule that brought me to space," wrote Mogensen, sharing photos of him with the spacecraft on Twitter. "Teknisk[e] Museum has created a superb exhibit that includes a virtual reality trip back to Earth from the ISS in Soyuz." In addition to Mogensen's spacecraft, British astronaut Tim Peake's Soyuz TMA-19M capsule, which flew from 2015 to 2016, was acquired by London's Science Museum Group and is currently midway through a two-year tour of the UK. Another Soyuz, TMA-03M, which in 2011 launched for the space station with Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers aboard, went on exhibit at Space Expo in The Netherlands in 2016. Soyuz TMA-13M, which in 2014 launched with Germany's Alexander Gerst, is on display at the German Aerospace Center, DLR, in Cologne. Older Soyuz spacecraft, pre-dating the International Space Station, can be found in museums across Europe, as well as in India, Vietnam and Cuba. At least four flown Soyuz spacecraft can be seen by the public in the United States, including TMA-6 and TMA-14, which were purchased from Russia by their privately-funded spaceflight participants (or "space tourists") crew members, Greg Olsen and Charles Simonyi, respectively. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Instant Beverage Premix Market: By Product Type (Instant Coffee, Instant Tea, Soups, Instant Health Drinks, Instant Milk, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Department stores, Online Stores, and Others), and Geography - Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024 Global instant beverage premix market was valued at US$ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at XX% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over 2018 to 2024 Market Outline: Instant Beverage Premix Market Instant beverage premix is the ready-to-use premixes available in the market, they ease the process of preparation. It helps in enhancing the functionality and boosts the metabolism, providing healthy hydration. Increase in the preference for the convenience food and ease of preparation using these premixes is adding fuel for the growth of the market. The fast-paced lifestyle is compelling people to adopt instant beverage premix. The availability of the products in various tastes and flavors and continuous launch of the new product variants are attributed for the growth of the market. Increase in the research and development activities are providing opportunity for the manufacturers in expansion of their product portfolio, which is adding scope for the growth of the market. However, the stringent government regulations regarding the food and safety are likely to hamper the growth of the instant beverage premix market A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/instant-beverage-premix-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx Market Scope: Instant Beverage Premix Market Instant beverage premix market is segmented based on the product type, technology, disease indication, and distribution channel Based on the product type, the market is segmented into the following: Instant Coffee Instant Tea Soups Instant Health Drinks Instant Milk Others Based on the distribution channel, the market is segmented into the following: Supermarkets/Hypermarkets Department stores Online Stores Others To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/instant-beverage-premix-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu Regional Analysis: Instant Beverage Premix Market Geographically, global instant beverage premix market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The Asia Pacific instant beverage premix market is growing due to increase in urbanization along with rising in disposable income. The soaring demand for instant premixes is adding a scope for the growth of the market. China, Singapore, India, Japan, and Australia contribute the largest share in the region of Asia Pacific. Europe instant beverage premix market holds the second largest share owing to its developing consumer-base. North America follows Europe. North America instant beverage premix market is expected to grow in the forecast period. Need more information about this report @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/instant-beverage-premix-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3 Competition Assessment: Instant Beverage Premix Market Some of the players in the global instant beverage premix market include: Monster Beverage Co. (U.S) The Republic of Tea Inc. (U.S) Ajinomoto General Foods Inc. (Japan) PepsiCo Inc. (U.S) Monster Beverage Co. (U.S) Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (U.S) Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (U.S) Starbucks Corp (U.S) Notable Market Developments: Instant Beverage Premix Market In March 2017, Nescafe has launched a new instant coffee product for the Vietnamese market. Get access to full summary @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/instant-beverage-premix-market/ About Precision Business Insights Precision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs. Contact to Precision Business Insights, Kemp House, 152 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX Email: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.com Toll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553 Website @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Jack Straw could not have been clearer or more definitive when he was asked about Britains involvement in torture during George W. Bushs notorious War on Terror. It was 13 years ago, and the then Foreign Secretary had been called before the foreign affairs select committee. Given the remarkable events that unfolded yesterday, it is worth repeating the full text of Mr Straws denial. Unless we all start to believe in conspiracy theories and that the officials are lying, that I am lying, that behind this there is some kind of secret state which is in league with some dark forces in the United States, and also let me say, we believe that [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] is lying, there simply is no truth in the claims that the United Kingdom has been involved in rendition full stop. It was 13 years ago, and the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had been called before the foreign affairs select committee. Crucially, Jack Straw is not the only member of the Blair government who was involved in covering up torture. So was his successor David Miliband Today, after a cringing government apology and massive compensation payout to former Libyan dissident Abdul Hakim Belhadj, we know that Britains involvement in torture was not a conspiracy theory, as Jack Straw claimed. It was all too real, and all too horrible. Indeed, there were a number of other cases in which British officials were shamefully complicit in torture, too. British agents did not actually carry out torture themselves. However, they aided and abetted it. They provided intelligence, sent questions to the torturers and were heavily involved in the so-called extraordinary rendition programme (that polite euphemism for the kidnap and torture of terror suspects and others) overseen by the CIA in the years after 9/11. One of the worst of these cases concerned Abdul Hakim Belhadj and his wife Fatima Boudchar. Belhadj was one of the bitterest enemies of Muammar Gaddafi, the feared dictator of Libya. In 2004 he was abducted with his wife in Thailand and flown to Libya by the CIA, where he was imprisoned for six years and tortured. In February 2004, Mr Belhadj and his Moroccan-born wife were arrested at Beijing airport when the French passports they were travelling with were spotted as forgeries Mr Belhadj was head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an underground paramilitary organisation dedicated to Gaddafis downfall Belhadj says MI6 provided the CIA with key intelligence which led to his and his wifes abduction. This would never have come to light but for the human rights group Human Rights Watch, which discovered correspondence from Sir Mark Allen, head of counter-terrorism at MI6 at the time, to the Libyan intelligence chief, congratulating him on the safe arrival of Belhadj in Libya, and noting that the intelligence which allowed the CIA to kidnap Belhadj was British. Belhadj was abducted in March 2004, more than a year before Jack Straw gave his evidence to MPs in the House of Commons. I have looked at Jack Straws testimony, and I am afraid he was either incompetent for not knowing what happened on his watch or he was lying through his teeth. Yesterday, he said in a statement that he had gaps in his memory, but had given approval in March 2004 for some information to be shared with international partners. Former British Prime Minister embraces Colonel Moammar Gaddafi after a meeting on May 29 in 2007 in Libya Mr Belhadj was visited three times by MI6. Before the visits, he was given names of UK-based Libyan dissidents. Pictured: Tony Blair with Muammar Gaddafi But he said he had no idea that this information might be used to facilitate the abduction of Abdul Hakim Belhadj. Jack Straws claims of innocence are worthless. Those who reach the senior ranks of MI6 were not born yesterday: they do not get involved in illegal actions such as torture without getting explicit authority from their bosses. Crucially, Jack Straw is not the only member of the Blair government who was involved in covering up torture. So was his successor David Miliband. In Milibands defence, the evidence suggests that the worst of Britains involvement may have finished by the time he became Foreign Secretary in 2007. However, Miliband who now earns a staggering 400,000 as head of an international charity was intimately involved in the cover-ups of this appalling wrongdoing. He, too, repeatedly lied about his knowledge of extraordinary rendition in an attempt to keep the government off the hook. The third member of this morally squalid troika was Tony Blair himself, who allowed himself and by extension Britain to become George W. Bushs principal lieutenant in his so-called War on Terror. Since then, successive governments have failed to lay bare the extent of this appalling crime. In 2010, David Cameron set in motion an inquiry into torture after the Belhadj documents came to light, but it did little to shine a light on what really went on. Mr Belhaj holds a letter of apology he received by the British government, as he talks to members of the media following a news conference in Istanbul What a contrast to the very powerful investigation into torture that was conducted by Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington from 2009-2015, and which revealed the brutal reality of what went on far from the public gaze. While the CIA involvement in torture was far more systematic and terrible than that of MI6, the United States has shown a real commitment to bringing its own wrongdoing to light. The same cannot be said of Britain. Crucially, yesterdays apology was only extracted after a legal claim by Belhadj and his lawyers. Throughout all of this, Abdul Hakim Belhadj has behaved with extraordinary honour and decency. He has insisted that he does not want money for himself, and has merely been asking for an apology. Dominick Chilcott, right, British ambassador in Turkey, hands over a letter of apology from the UK government to Libyan dissident Abdel Hakim Belha I interviewed him in Libya in 2011, shortly after he had been released from jail, where he had been tortured for years by Gaddafis goons. When we met, Gaddafi had only been dead a few weeks, but already Belhadj was a powerful political figure in post-Gaddafi Tripoli. Even so, I could see the pain of the torture on his face. There was no question that he and his wife had been through a great deal, and they fully deserve the apology they received yesterday. But this should not be the end of the matter. Jack Straw and the MI6 official responsible for the abduction of Belhadj, Sir Mark Allen, should also apologise. It is disgraceful they did not do so long ago. I also believe we should seriously consider whether they should face criminal prosecution. Both of them have done terrible damage to Britains international reputation. Only through prosecution can we demonstrate as a nation our moral abhorrence at the crime of torture. There was a four-year Scotland Yard investigation into whether Sir Mark Allen or indeed anyone else in the British intelligence community should be prosecuted. The file was handed to the director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders. Im told that the police officers involved in investigating the Belhadj case felt they had assembled very strong evidence. Yet Alison Saunders decided not to proceed with a case. In his statement yesterday, Jack Straw said that he would be happy to give evidence to the toothless intelligence and security committee in the House of Commons. That isnt good enough either. I believe that whoever replaces the departing Alison Saunders as director of public prosecutions in October should reopen the file. If he or she decides not to do so, they will be sending a message across the world that Britain tolerates torture. Nothing less than prosecution will express the moral disgust of the British people at the treatment of Abdul Hakim Belhadj. More than ten years have passed since Tony Blair stepped down as prime minister but his malign influence persists. Among the great institutions of state that he cynically prostituted for squalid partisan advantage were the Civil Service, the monarchy, the Secret Services, the judiciary, Parliament and sections of the Press. Even now, the neutrality of these institutions has not been fully restored. This week's shameful story about the Blair government's complicity in the kidnap and torture of an anti-Gaddafi Libyan dissident and his pregnant wife were shocking in the way we were told how Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6, was suborned by Labour ministers. Mr Belhadj was visited three times by MI6. Before the visits, he was given names of UK-based Libyan dissidents. Pictured: Tony Blair with Muammar Gaddafi What we already know is that although British agents did not actually carry out torture themselves, they aided and abetted it. They provided intelligence, sent questions to the torturers and were heavily involved in the so-called 'extraordinary rendition programme' (that sickening euphemism for the kidnap and torture of terror suspects and others) overseen by the CIA in the years after 9/11. Although the then Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, approved the sharing of British intelligence that led to the Libyan couple being captured and tortured, it was Blair's role that was most morally reprehensible. He allied himself with President George Bush and the CIA's systematic involvement in torture. Rarely, I believe, had a British prime minister behaved with such amorality. It should never be forgotten that on the eve of the first Iraq war against Saddam Hussein, the magnificent and principled Margaret Thatcher refused to allow British officials to obtain information through use of unethical methods. Instead, she made it clear that information extracted under torture must never be used. The morally bankrupt Blair had no such scruples. In the wake of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11, his government came under pressure from Bush to help America's extraordinary rendition programme. It's important to stress that such tactics against enemies is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, in 1960, the Israelis captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and took him to stand trial in Jerusalem. This was a morally justifiable act to which few objected. But rendition gained a new meaning under Bush involving the kidnap and torture of terror suspects. Dominick Chilcott, right, British ambassador in Turkey, hands over a letter of apology from the UK government to Libyan dissident Abdel Hakim Belha Bush had dragooned a sycophantic Blair into helping him in his war against terror. Indeed, whenever Bush said 'jump', his British buddy would simply reply: 'How high?' Now there may be no evidence that Blair had any knowledge of the specific case highlighted this week, involving Libyan Abdul Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima. But as PM, he was in charge of the general policy. But there are oceans of evidence that under Blair, MI6 went from being one of the most respected institutions in Britain to one of its most disreputable bodies. Crucially, Blair changed the nature of MI6's work ordering it to drop its traditional obligation to advise governments on foreign matters and warn them of the possible unintended consequences of proposed courses of foreign action. Indeed, this had been a system which had worked perfectly for years for example, in the Sixties, it was undoubtedly the advice of MI6 spymasters that helped Harold Wilson decide that Britain should not help the U.S. in the calamitous Vietnam War. Having abandoned its cautionary role, MI6 was roped into Blair's shabby and false propaganda campaign to persuade MPs to vote in favour of Britain going to war with Iraq. To quote from a notorious Whitehall memo at the time: 'The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.' As a result, in the run-up to the Iraq war, Blair compromised the neutrality of two senior civil servants who, to their eternal shame, acceded to his will. John Scarlett, then chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, was leant on to produce a dossier making a fabricated case for war. And MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove, despite having no hard evidence from Iraq about any 'weapons of mass destruction', acted as Blair's go-between with Washington, thus aiding and abetting Blair's march to war. Mr Belhadio, left, first fled Libya aged 21, under threat of arrest for his membership of an Islamist group opposed to the Gaddafi regime. Pictured: His wife Mrs Boudchar yesterday Separately, truly culpable was Sir Mark Allen, who was head of MI6 counter-terrorism at the time of the kidnapping of Libyan Abdul Hakim Belhaj and is said to have claimed credit for this 'coup', handing him over to Gaddafi's torturers. It is not right that he should retain his knighthood and still be an honorary fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford. He has also been an adviser to oil giant BP and a speaker at The Royal United Services Institute, one of the world's most respected think-tanks. These bodies' associations with Allen, I believe, mean they have condoned torture. As for MI6 itself, is it any wonder that its reputation for integrity is deeply scarred. I fear that this loss of faith in our security service one of the most important bulwarks of this country's safety has led some to question any judgment it now makes, even if they are accurate. For example, one reason the Government's statements about the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury are not universally believed is because MI6's authority was so badly tarnished by its craven behaviour during the Blair years. Likewise, British government statements blaming Syria's President Assad for chemical weapons attacks on his own people do not carry the credibility they ought to. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair embraces Colonel Moammar Gaddafi after a meeting on May 29 in 2007 in Libya Sadly, MI6 also failed in its duty during David Cameron's premiership when it should have warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of his meddling in Libya when Britain intervened to topple Gaddafi in 2011. Significantly, it had also earlier failed to warn ministers about the dangers and futility of our soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. In stark contrast, the reputation of the domestic intelligence service, MI5, has remained impeccable. Unlike Blair stooges Dearlove and Scarlett, MI5 head Eliza Manningham-Buller refused to give into Downing Street pressure ahead of the Iraq war. She warned Blair that invading Iraq would increase the risk of terror attacks on Britain's streets. In recent years, MI5 has undoubtedly foiled many terror plots and saved countless lives. In my criticism of MI6, I blame its bosses, not the majority of intelligence officers who are brave and patriotic men or women with many unsung achievements to their credit. But by becoming part of the propaganda arm of the Blair war machine, MI6 chiefs have betrayed the interests of this country. Perhaps I am a romantic, seduced by the achievements of fictional spy George Smiley, but I want to be proud of an MI6 that upholds the traditional British values of decency, honour and fairness. Indeed, Smiley's creator John Le Carre once noted: 'The only real measure of a nation's political health is the state of its intelligence services.' If that is the case, then Britain is currently in a very bad way. Just after 9am on Friday 20 July, 1979, the BBC dispatch rider strode up the drive of my Chiswick home and handed me a letter marked Personal/Private and Urgent. It came from the editor of BBC Television News advising me that I was forbidden to show my copy of the background film to Jeremy Thorpes trial for conspiracy to murder, to anyone; the Director General himself seeks your personal assurance. In a later phone call, I was ordered to destroy my copy. That film is libellous, the notes author warned me. Well, one doesnt burn books or destroy documentary films. Not in my house anyway. The BBC film, for which I was the reporter, was an investigation into Thorpes relationship with his lover Norman Scott; how Thorpe plotted to have him murdered; and how elements in the British establishment had participated in an attempt to cover up Thorpes crimes. According to a soon to be aired BBC documentary, Jeremy Thorpe (pictured) had protection at the highest level during his trial for conspiracy to murder former lover Norman Scott Thorpe was the first British TV celebrity politician and became Liberal Party leader in 1967. He was also a secret homosexual. His infamous plan to have the troublesome Scott killed led to him and three associates being charged with conspiracy to murder. Before his trial, BBC TVS Panorama had prepared a one-hour investigation into the affair, concentrating on the cover-up. When Thorpe and his co-defendants were found not guilty on Friday 22 June 1979, the film we made could not be shown for legal reasons. But I thought it should be preserved. For years the VHS copy sat on the top shelf of my study. A few years ago I converted it to disc. Seeing it reminded me it was a remarkable snapshot of 70s Britain. When we learned the BBC was planning a three-part drama about the Thorpe affair, my producer Steve Anderson suggested we show our film. When we approached todays more enlightened BBC bosses they were delighted it had survived so now, at last, after an almost 40-year wait, we will be showing The Lost Panorama, on BBC4. The fight to make this documentary took much time and stealth by our tiny production team. We received hostile calls from outsiders including Jo Grimond, who was Liberal Party leader before Thorpe and briefly again in 1976 when Thorpe resigned. Grimond said hed have me sacked if I didnt stop working on the film. And much of my research material was covertly handed over to the Security Services by their man in the BBC. It was only the cunning of our producer that kept the film alive. We gasped as the material flowed in. My chance meeting in the Bahamas with Sir Ranulph Bacon, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner Crime of the Metropolitan Police, led to him revealing the steps taken by police to lose Thorpes files. Dennis Meighan was reportedly offered 13,500 to murder Norman Scott (pictured) Former bomb squad hero Bob Huntley told me how Scotts attempts to launch an investigation into his illegal sexual relationship with Thorpe failed. And Thorpes close friend, Liberal MP Peter Bessell, frankly revealed to me how he operated at Home Office level to organise the cover-up to protect Thorpe. We called the film Jeremy Thorpe The Other Conspiracy because it was more concerned with the political cover-up than the murder plot. That is the real scandal. And it isnt over yet. Ive uncovered evidence which, if proven, points to the successful attempt by someone at the highest political level to silence a key witness against Thorpe, whose evidence would have certainly led to Thorpes conviction. That man is Dennis Meighan, a south London villain and antique firearms collector. Years ago, I was in Chiswick Park when Meighan called out to me and we spoke about the Thorpe affair. He revealed he was offered 13,500 to murder Scott who was a nuisance to the Liberal Party. Jeremy Thorpe's (pictured left with his wife) representatives agreed a contract to kill Norman Scott at a meeting in 1975 According to him, Thorpe had asked his friend David Holmes to organise a final solution. Holmes found Meighan through a dodgy contact, Andrew Newton (who has now changed his name its unknown whether hes still alive). Meighan says he, Newton and Thorpes representative met in the sleazy Ritz Cafe in Shepherds Bush in 1975, where a contract to kill was agreed. Meighan says he travelled to Barnstaple to murder Scott, but bottled out, returned to London and gave his gun to Newton. In October 1975, Newton went to Exmoor to kill Scott but only managed to kill his Great Dane Rinka, who was in the car with them, before the gun jammed. Newton was charged over the shooting and Newton in turn, says Meighan, grassed me up as the owner of the gun. Meighan says officers came to his Chiswick home and, in the kitchen, he made a statement revealing the whole plot. He was warned he may be done for illegally possessing a firearm. If true, his statement to them was a time bomb, evidence Thorpe had offered the equivalent today of 134,000 to have his former lover murdered. So what happened to this dynamite statement? Thorpe was met by gay protesters as her arrives at the Old Bailey for the court case accompanied by his wife Meighan said that a little while later he received an anonymous phone call, inviting him to go to his local police station. There, he was given a new statement written for him and awaiting his signature. It was good news for me and Thorpe, he said. Thorpes name and the Ritz meeting were gone, but so was my involvement with the gun. I couldnt wait to sign. Meighans claims were recently investigated by an independent police force, who were poised to bring charges against two people, but the Crown Prosecution Service declined to take it any further. If true, Meighans story amounts to astonishing interference with a police document, which could only have been ordered at the highest level. So why was it so important to protect Thorpe? My guess is the US intelligence services were exerting pressure on Whitehall to prevent another scandal. The Cambridge spies fiasco in the 50s and 60s, when Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean fled to the Soviet Union, had severely bruised Anglo-American intelligence sharing, and the Profumo affair was fresh in the publics memory. The last thing the British needed was a problem with a politician who came close to a top job in Ted Heaths aborted attempt at a coalition government. Proof of this came last month with the release of secret documents in Washington. One, from the FBI in 1963, revealed Thorpe had picked up a rent boy in San Francisco and sent him an incriminating letter. The rent boy had given this to the FBI and it was passed to MI5. However, Robert Kennedy, then-US Attorney General, intervened as he wanted the British to be informed at a very high level as they cant afford another disclosure of this kind. There are so many questions about the Thorpe affair that have never been answered. I hope that now this film is being aired, they finally might be. Tom Mangolds updated version of Jeremy Thorpe The Other Conspiracy will be on BBC4 in June. She hated pregnancy, reviled childbirth, was disgusted by breast-feeding and thought a baby was 'a very nasty object'. Yet, such was Queen Victoria's passion for her husband that she kept on having children. When Prince Albert died in 1861, Victoria became a widow aged 42 with nine children to care for. She was also head of the world's biggest empire. She withdrew from public life to mourn her darling Albert and, in some respects, took out her pain on her children. Queen Victoria's Tragic Family, a three-part documentary for Channel 5, tells the remarkable story of her love-hate relationships with her children. It reveals a far less flattering picture of her than popular ITV drama Victoria. Channel 5's new three-part documentary uncovers the relationship between Queen Victoria and her children. Pictured: A family portrait painted before Alberts death 'She really was an awful mother, an absolute control freak,' says Richard Sanders, who produced the Channel 5 series. 'She was occasionally loving but extraordinarily selfish. She was their parent, but also their queen. She was the ultimate controlling mother.' Until Albert died at 42, Victoria had left the parenting up to him. While he supervised their schooling and social lives, she was happy to see the children twice a day while in her role as queen. When he died she was bereft but acted as if she was the only one suffering. 'It didn't occur to her that her children had lost their father and needed their mother,' says Richard. 'She saw them as people who must look after her now. Being queen, she took it for granted that she was the most important person in the world.' Albert and Victoria had strong ideas about how to raise their children. 'They were to be as different as possible from the families Victoria and Albert had,' says Richard. 'They didn't want them debauched or decadent, instead they wanted them to be models of middle-class virtue and intelligence.' They imposed hours of strict schooling. It worked for their first child, the diligent Victoria, who married the Prince of Prussia and was the apple of Albert's eye. But it came unstuck with Bertie, the heir to the throne. 'They treated Bertie harshly,' says historian Helen Rappaport, contributor to the programme. 'They had very high intellectual expectations which he couldn't rise to. He was very good socially but for Victoria and Albert it was all about academia.' Victoria disparaged his appearance, particularly his 'total want of a chin', and his attitude, which grew more dissolute the more she complained. Victoria chose not speak to Princess Beatrice (pictured together in 1880) for seven months after she fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg 'They hoped he'd be a mini Albert. But Bertie was impulsive, like Victoria,' says Richard. And their relationship would never recover after his indiscretion with a prostitute called Nellie Clifden in 1861. 'Victoria and Albert were manic about sex outside marriage, it scared the living daylights out of them. Albert went to Cambridge, where Bertie was studying, to tell him off,' says Richard. 'They went for a long walk and Albert got a chill. Nineteen days later he was dead. Victoria always believed that her son had murdered her husband.' Victoria once wrote of Bertie, 'Oh, that boy. As much as I pity him, I never can or shall look at him without a shudder.' In another letter she said, 'I often pray he may never survive me for I know not what would happen.' Her third child was Princess Alice, who married a German prince. She infuriated her mother by breast-feeding her first baby. Victoria called one of her royal cows Princess Alice out of spite, but was distraught when Alice died at 35 after catching diphtheria from her son. Prince Alfred came next. After several scandalous liaisons, he was unhappily married to a Russian princess and spent his life at sea. But Victoria's fifth child, Princess Helena, was more obedient. She married a German prince but was ordered by her mother to live close by as Victoria needed at least one married daughter at her beck and call, so the couple remained in Britain. Queen Victoria (pictured with Prince Albert and their six eldest children) found companionship in Beatrice after her husband Prince Henry died Princess Louise, the sixth child, was an artist. She is said to have had many affairs, starting with her sculpting tutor. 'We explore a hypothesis that a teenage Louise had an illegitimate child,' says Richard. 'People who have tried to research this in the royal archive have found that the records for Louise are still closed. And there's a family, the Lococks, who are convinced they are descended from an illegitimate son; they have a trust fund which was administered by the royal solicitors. Louise is also believed to have entered into a sham marriage with a gay man.' Victoria's clear favourite son was Prince Arthur, her seventh child. The others were compared to him, which was difficult for Prince Leopold, the youngest son. He was a haemophiliac, described by his mother as 'the ugliest and least pleasing of the whole family'. But, worried about his health, she determined he should stay with her forever as her private secretary. He was bright and went to Oxford University, and got married, but died aged 30. The youngest child, Princess Beatrice, was called 'Baby' by her mother, who determined that she should be her constant companion. She was furious when the princess fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg. 'Victoria was apoplectic when Beatrice said she was getting married,' says Richard. 'They lived together but she refused to talk to Beatrice for seven months, only communicating through notes.' The couple married, but when Henry died a decade later, Beatrice became the companion Victoria had wanted. 'There's so much melodrama that these stories feel like a posh EastEnders,' says Richard. 'Victoria thought she was doing the best for her children. But she was relentlessly selfish.' Queen Victoria's Tragic Family will be on Channel 5 later this month. It has long been a favourite of celebrities and high street shoppers alike. Now the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is set to become even more of a must-have with the release of two limited edition scents. The British skincare label has sent beauty fans into a frenzy with the launch of its Lavender & Vetiver and Mimosa & Angelica cleansers. Holly Willoughby is among the millions of British women who swears by the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser to keep their complexion clear The original Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, pictured, has won dozens of awards and has become so popular that one tube is sold every 17 seconds Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare was set up more than a decade ago by entrepreneur Liz Earle and her friend Kim Buckland. The owner of the high street chemist Boots bought the UK skincare brand for 140 million in 2015. The original Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser has won dozens of awards and has become so popular that one tube is sold every 17 seconds. Poppy Delevingne, 32, the older sister of model Cara, has previously revealed she 'washes her face day and night with it'. Meanwhile Holly Willoughby, 37, said she uses it because it 'really suits her skin'. The British skincare label has sent beauty fans into a frenzy with the launch of its limited edition Lavender & Vetiver (pictured) and Mimosa & Angelica cleansers The new limited edition offerings combine the deep cleansing experience of the original formula with new soothing fragrances. The Mimosa & Angelica scent is exclusive to Boots, and priced at 23.50 for a 150ml bottle. It promises the 'rich, indulgent cream' will deeply cleanse to 'instantly remove daily grime and make up, even stubborn mascara, to leave skin feeling comfortable, balanced and exceptionally clean'. The Mimosa & Angelica scent, pictured, is exclusive to Boots, and priced at 23.50 for a 150ml bottle It has already received rave reviews from customers averaging 4.5 stars out of 5 It has already received rave reviews from customers averaging 4.5 stars out of 5. One customer wrote: 'Have just started using this C&P it is really gorgeous. The Mimosa comes through, a lovely way to begin the day. Going to be a favourite of mine'. Meanwhile another added: 'Can not wait to take my makeup off at the end of the day using this cleanser,please keep it permanently in the range as the texture and perfume are addictive.' The Lavender & Vetiver focuses on peace and calm for the user. A description reads: 'Immersed with notes of soothing lavender, perfectly balanced with the warmth of woody vetiver, this scent unfolds delicately at the fingertips to provide a moment of calming clarity, every day.' When Anneke van den Broek was just a child she began selling mice to the local pet shop for just 40 cents each. Fast forward a few decades and now the mother-of-two from Sydney is the founder of a multi-million dollar pet health and beauty business,Rufus & Coco. 'The business was born from my passion for pets and the frustration I experienced trying to find quality, stylish and natural alternatives for pets,' she told FEMAIL. Anneke van den Broek (pictured) was just a child she began selling mice to the local pet shop for just 40 cents each 'Having owned more than 40 pets in my life, I often struggled to find high-quality, natural and fashionable products. 'I saw a gap in the market,' she added. Ms van den Broek, who had a successful career first running 300 David Jones fashion shows and then as a Marketing Director for vitamins company, Blackmores, made the leap in 2008. Ms van den Broek had a successful career in marketing before founding the company, Rufus & Coco 'I had a lot of naysayers and was doggedly determined to prove them all wrong,' she said She started up her company after first drafting a business plan on a cocktail napkin on a trip in Bali. 'In the beginning I had a lot of naysayers and was doggedly determined to prove them all wrong,' she said. 'To be a successful entrepreneur, requires persistence and resilience in spades. Rufus & Coco was rejected by Woolworths three times before we successfully secured ranging.' A decade on, the business is now the largest Australian grocery brand within the pet accessories category and has an 18 per cent share of the pet accessories category within the supermarket giant. Rufus & Coco is now the largest Australian grocery brand within the pet accessories category and sells more than 1.3 million products each year Anneke's top three tips for entrepreneurs 1. Love what you do passion will help driving you forward through the inevitable setbacks. 2. Follow your gut at the end of the day people will have opinions but where will these people be when it fails? It is up to you as business owner to consider all options and make the decision. 3. Listen to your customers they are the heartbeat of your business and will tell you what's working and what's not. If they don't like what you are doing, you have no business. Advertisement It also stocks its range of pet products for dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and guinea pigs in Coles and is available in nine countries across the globe. 'We sell over 1.3 million products every year. That's 2.5 products per minute.' But the transition from the corporate world to entrepreneur hasn't been easy for Ms van den Broek. She said convincing manufacturers, distributors and retailers to take a chance on an unknown brand is extremely challenging, as is finding a team of like-minded people. 'Founding a business has been incredibly difficult - and has taught me so much about the value of persistence and resilience as a person,' she said. Ms van den Broek said her business was a success overnight and required 'persistence and resilience' 'I've had to focus on finding unicorns who truly share my vision, and who can stand on the hill with me at one moment and get down and personally sew the grass seeds the next.' 'But, I have absolutely loved and thrived on the challenge and learning,' she added. 'We are committed to solving the everyday problems of pet owners.' A photographer is out to change the way redheads are seen by capturing those with flame-coloured locks in all their glory. Bianca Duimel, from New Zealand, isn't red-haired herself, and neither is her daughter, but she has seen first-hand the effects of bullying on those who are. Speaking to FEMAIL, Ms Duimel shared how she had 'discovered' a young model in her daughter's gymnastics class and been struck by the 'incredible' colour of her hair. But shockingly she learned from the girl's mother the girl had been picked on at school and had been bullied by others for the way she looked. Bianca Duimel's art project Red Matters aims to capture the beauty and bravery of redheads The artist said she was prompted to start photographing redheads as a way to change perceptions and end bullying 'Her mum was a redhead too and told me she'd been picked on all through her life.' Ms Duimel said the response to the portraits of the young red-haired girl was overwhelmingly positive and became the catalyst for her next art project. 'As an artist you want to do something that can make a difference in a positive way.' Photographer Bianca Duimel (pictured) isn't red-haired herself, and neither is her daughter but seen first-hand the effects of bullying on those who are The photographer said the response to her project had been overwhelmingly positive From there, the photographer set up a Facebook page and put out the call for redheaded models. She said from that one post she received 600 or 700 responses and photographed babies, toddlers, children, men and women right across the board. Seventy portraits from that shoot featured in her first book Red Matters. She has photographed babies, toddlers, children, men and women right across the board Her second book, due out at the end of this month, will feature 100 photos, and she is currently shooting for a third. 'I really felt that by showing people the beauty and bravery of redheads I could bring some attention to the issue of bullying and reveal just how senseless it is,' she said. The artist explained she didn't make any particular choice about those she photographed and that anyone who wanted to participate was welcomed. 'I really felt that by showing people the beauty and bravery of redheads I could bring some attention to the issue of bullying and reveal just how senseless it is' Ms Duimel said while the response to the books had been overwhelming, it was the experience of photographing the models themselves that gave her the most pleasure. 'People started telling me what they had gone through in life and their stories were all incredibly similar. 'A lot of redheads don't escape being bullied, some are tough enough to shrug it off but then there are a lot who can't and they end up carrying this stigma for the rest of their lives.' The artist explained she didn't make any particular choice about those she photographed, and that anyone who wanted to participate was welcome She said while many suffered so-called harmless name-calling, some had revealed to her they had also been physically bullied for the way they looked. The artist said although she loves photographing redheads of all ages, her second book, dedicated to children, in particular, was one close to her heart. 'I felt by photographing children at a young age I could help them to feel good about themselves. Ms Duimel said her second book, one dedicated to children, in particular, was especially close to her heart She said when children turned up for photo-shoots she could see how excited they were to be there and how the experience helped boost their confidence. 'They leave feeling a bit stronger and for me that was the real purpose of the book, to help people feel better about themselves.' Ms Duimel said she is constantly fielding emails from people all over the world asking if they can be part of her project. 'People are just blown away by the images; it's sparked conversation and made people think about how people treat those with red hair.' A woman whose hair was streaked with gray proudly showed off her newly highlighted brown locks after getting a surprise ambush makeover in honor of her turning 50 years old. When Carol Batteba from Clearwater, Florida, traveled to New York City for her milestone birthday, her husband, Ray, made sure that she would catch the eye of the Today show's ambush makeover team on Thursday morning. 'I have the best husband in the world,' Carol gushed. 'He surprised me with a 50th birthday trip to come here because I watch this every week.' Scroll down for video Then and wow: Carol Batteba, 50, from Clearwater, Florida, received an ambush makeover on the Today show on Thursday morning It worked! Carol's doting husband, Ray, blew up a picture of Today fashion expert Jill Martin and celebrity hairstylist Louis Licari in hopes of getting his wife chosen for a makeover The doting husband blew up a picture of Today fashion expert Jill Martin and celebrity hairstylist Louis Licari, and he waved the poster in the air until Carol was plucked from the crowd huddled inside the plaza. 'I have gray hair. I've never colored it,' Carol told Jill. 'I'm frumpy and dumpy, and I need to look good for him.' 'She really deserves it,' Ray added. Although she had yet to see her transformation, Carol was a bundle of excitement when she stepped on stage to reveal her new look. Wanting a change: 'I have gray hair. I've never colored it,' Carol told Jill. 'I'm frumpy and dumpy, and I need to look good for him' 'Wow!' Ray was stunned when Carol took the stage to show off her new look Grateful: Carol was just as thrilled when she looked in the mirror for the first time since her makeover 'Wow!' Ray said, and Carol responded by telling him: 'I love you.' Ray assured her that she looked 'awesome,' and Carol started bouncing up and down after she looked at herself in the mirror for the first time since her makeover. 'Oh, Louis thank you! Thank you guys so much!' she gushed before running over to give them hugs. Carol had several inches of her hair cut off, and she couldn't help but joke: 'It's shorter than we wanted, but hey.' New woman: Carol had several inches of her hair cut off, and her gray locks were colored and highlighted 'Thank you so much!' Carol ran over to give Louis and Jill a hug after looking at herself in the mirror Overcome with emotion: Carol had to get a tissue because she started to tear up Louis covered Carol's gray and added highlights to her new layered 'do, and she couldn't stop shaking her head to show off her hair. 'She might be the tiniest person we've ever had,' Today host Kathie Lee Gifford said of Carol's petite frame. Jill dressed her in a floral top and black dress pants to enjoy her birthday celebrations, and the stylist stressed that Carol was so 'loving' and 'appreciative' throughout the process. 'We had so much doing this for her,' she said. Before and after: Diana Olkowski, 35, from Three Lakes, Wisconsin, also received a makeover on Thursday morning's show Stunned: Diana was on a girls' trip with 26 of her female colleagues, and they were amazed by her transformation Diana Olkowski, 35, from Three Lakes, Wisconsin, also received a makeover on Thursday morning's show. The marketing coordinator for the logging equipment company Ponsse was in New York City after planning a girls' trip for 26 of her female colleagues. The group nominated Diana to try and get chosen for an ambush makeover, and as the fates would have it, she did. '[I'm] a little nervous, but [I'm] looking forward to seeing what you can do,' she told Jill before her transformation. Shocked: 'Who am I?' Diana asked when she looked at herself in the mirror Brightened up: Diana's hair was cut and dyed a strawberry blonde to bring out her complexion Diana looked incredibly chic when she stepped on stage wearing a bright red blazer and statement earrings. 'Holy cow,' she said when she looked at herself in the mirror after her makeover. 'Who am I?' Diana's hair was cut and dyed a strawberry blonde to bring out her complexion. 'People are very reluctant to give up their blonde, but look how pretty this looks,' Louis said. 'The blonde was actually washing away her skin color. Now her skin color is back.' Diana looked ready for a night out on the town in her eye-catching blazer, skinny jeans, and black pumps. In a weekly shop of $300, it's possible to get $60 cash back, says Mrs Clarke It sounds too good to be true-a website that gives you a cash rebate on your shopping. But you better believe it! By using a cash back website to access other online retailers, you can earn a cash back fee which is credited directly into your bank account. But how does it work? Cash back websites such as Cashrewards offer shoppers a rebate on shopping, as long as you start on the Cashrewards homepage and use it to click through to online shopping sites. Cash back websites such as Cashrewards offer shoppers a rebate on shopping, which varies according to the retailer Lorica Clarke, 51, founded the website Cashrewards with her husband Andrew four years ago. The Sydney based couple have three children, aged 18, 21 and 23. As entrepreneurs with a background in the hotel, ticketing and events industries and the pair were looking for a new challenge. 'It basically started at the kitchen bench, coming up with a new idea that wasn't being done here in Australia,' she said. 'We wanted to help families and think about how we can make a difference.' The couple found that cash back websites were very successful in the United States and UK and they saw a hole in the market in Australia. Their first retailers were Ebay and Woolworths and the website now hosts over 1200 retailers. Lorica Clarke (pictured left) and Andrew Clarke (pictured right) started the website Cashrewards four years ago and now have relationships with over 1200 retailers Cashback sites are booming, with Cashrewards achieving $900 million in retailer's revenue. 'We're blown away that we're nearly hitting a billion dollars that we've put through retailers,' she said, 'And that equates to $36 million cashback that we've given to our members.' So how does the website work? To get cashback, simply create a free account on Cashrewards. Then, jump on the Cashrewards site and search for the item you want or access a retailer's online shop in the search bar. 'Patience and passion are two very important ingredients to start a new entrepreneurial business,' said Mrs Clarke (pictured) By accessing the website through the Cashrewards website and then being redirected to your desired site, you will get a percentage of your purchase refunded to your bank account as a cash back. For instance, if you go on Cashrewards, click through to the Woolworths site and spend $100 online, you will receive a five per cent or $5 cash back into your bank account. 'You can get five per cent off at Woolworths from Cashrewards and you can then use that on your groceries, or your liquor, or your petrol.' According to Lorica, this business model is successful because retailers find it cheaper to advertise through Cashrewards instead of using more traditional online advertising methods. The cashback website model benefits retailers because it can be cheaper than traditional advertising When customers make purchases on a retailer's website, Cashrewards is paid a commission, which it splits with the customer in the form of a cashback. 'People go, it's too good to be true. It's as easy as going through one more step and that step is going through the Cashrewards site to get to those great deals,' she said. 'If [a shopper is] spending $300 a week on groceries and food and extras, she could be saving 20 per cent on that, she could get $60 a week back if it was $300,' she said. For every purchase referred from the Cashrewards site, Cashrewards is paid a commission which it splits with shoppers in the form of a cash back paid directly into their bank account Ms Clarke's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is: 'Patience and passion are two very important ingredients to start a new entrepreneurial business, because it takes a lot of your personal time. You're giving up a lot, because it is 24/7, because it's your baby and you live and breathe it.' The business is passionate about giving back to the community and has assisted over 1400 children through the Starlight Children's Foundation. 'We're very, very proud of that, because my son was sick with cancer when he was a young boy, when he was 13. And we were at the Sydney Children's hospital and he used the Starlight rooms,' Mrs Clarke said. For the future, Lorica is adding more retailers to the site and has plans to expand into offline shopping. From hygge to lagom, in recent years many of us have been obsessed with Scandi interiors and lifestyle trends - with people all over the world turning their home space into a sanctuary. But if you want to make your house a healthier place to live, where should you start? Melbourne-based interior designer Georgia Ezra recently spoke to FEMAIL about the ten steps you can take to make your home healthier. From starting with the kitchen sink to adopting the rule of five, FEMAIL takes a look at what she advises. Melbourne-based interior designer Georgia Ezra (pictured) recently spoke to FEMAIL about the ten steps you can take to make your home healthier It might sound simple, but making your bed in the morning is the first - and most important - step towards a healthier home 1. Make your bed It might sound simple, but making your bed in the morning is the first - and most important - step towards a healthier home. 'The tone of your entire day is set in the first hour of being awake,' Georgia explained to FEMAIL. 'The way you choose to spend this time will either set off a flow of events that will end up in an inspired, positive day ahead of you, or the contrary.' The interior designer recommends setting aside just a few moments each day for making your bed. She said it has proven results that when your bed is made, you are more efficient throughout the day. 2. Remember your kitchen sink Like your bed, the kitchen sink is another area that can hugely contribute to a healthier home - and clearing out the contents of it is crucial to happiness. 'Commit to cleaning the contents of your kitchen sink every day,' Georgia said. 'Prioritise this task so that every morning when you wake you are greeted by an organised, clean, gorgeous kitchen, instantly raising your mood and spirits.' 'Commit to cleaning the contents of your kitchen sink every day,' Georgia said - if you prioritise this task each day, when you wake you'll be greeted with an organised kitchen 3. Adopt the rule of five While some people think that to have a perfect home, you need to invest hours and hours into preening, cleaning and styling it, Georgia said this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, all you need to do is adopt a simple rule of five to have a healthy abode. 'Every time you get up from your desk or walk through your home, select five things to put away,' she said. 'Alternatively, each hour set aside five minutes for organisation. By the end of the day, you could have accumulated an entire hour of cleaning.' 'Indoor plantation and nature is directly linked to mental and emotional development, reduced stress and improved concentration,' Georgia said 4. Introduce flora and fauna into your home Plants and flowers in your home do more than just look pretty. They can help hugely with your health, too. Ten steps to a healthier home 1. Make your bed every day. 2. Clean your kitchen sink each day so that you can enjoy a clean kitchen when you wake up. 3. Adopt the rule of five, whereby you pick up five things every time you walk through your home. 4. Introduce flora and fauna into your home to help your spirits. 5. Embrace natural sunlight. 6. Burn oils and candles to feel more relaxed. 7. De-clutter your refrigerator door. 8. Gather items you've not used for a while and put them in a box. If you've not missed them, then you don't need them. 9. Avoid watching TV during family periods of the day. 10. Invite friends over often to enjoy time with them. Advertisement 'Indoor plantation and nature is directly linked to mental and emotional development, reduced stress and improved concentration,' Georgia said. Whether it's a cactus or a vase of lillies, embrace some indoor greenery and you can expect to feel instantly uplifted. 5. Embrace natural sunlight There's a reason why we feel down in winter, and it's due to a lack of natural light and flailing serotonin levels. But if you embrace natural sunlight in your day-to-day life, then your home will feel instantaneously happier and healthier. 'Natural sunlight causes our brain to release a hormone called Serotonin this being the happy hormone and feel good neurotransmitter,' Georgia said. 'So this means that without sunlight in our homes we are in fact exposing ourselves to the risk of depression, anxiety and an array of other yucky symptoms. 'Open the blinds and let some natural light and fresh air to flow through your home every day!'. 6. Burn oils and candles Burning oils and candles will instantly lift the spirits of a place - and help to make you feel calmer and more collected. 'Fragrances and oils have the power to literally induce a state of energy and motivation, leading to an all-greater productivity in our daily life,' Georgia said. 'Choose your favorite candles and oils and dont save them for a special occasion - you and your home are special enough to celebrate on a daily occasion!'. Open the blinds and embrace natural light in your home each day, which can be a huge uplift in the spirits 7. De-clutter your refrigerator door Georgia explained that studies have shown there is a direct link between the amount of clutter in one's home and the number of items stuck to the front of their fridge door. 'Get rid of the magnets, takeaway menus, calendars and photo frames as a step to a more de-cluttered home,' she said. 'Further to this, go through a fridge audit every two months. Are there opened and unused mustard jars, jams that have gone old and things?'. Bin anything you don't use regularly to enjoy a happier space. 8. Test whether you'll miss them We all think to be happy we need lots - both in terms of money and material possessions. But, in fact, it pays to be minimalist in your approach, and there's a simple way to give this a go. 'Gather items you have not used for a while and place them in a box,' Georgia said. 'Tape the box and put it away. If you have not opened this box, or missed any of its contents after one year donate it to charity!'. 9. Avoid watching TV during family time For many of us, after a busy day at work, the temptation to collapse in front of the TV is huge. But Georgia said you need to refrain from watching TV when you're trying to catch up with your family. 'The dining room and kitchen is about fostering family bonding time, a space to interact, laugh, share stories and create beautiful memories,' she explained. Stop watching it, play some music and enjoy talking and cooking together instead. 10. Enjoy some time with friends Last but not least, spending time with friends in the home is a great way to make your home feel healthier and happier. 'Invite friends and family over, entertain and enjoy experiences in your home,' Georgia said. 'When you know you have guests coming into your dwelling you will put the effort into making it feel as special and striking as possible.' To read more from Georgia Ezra, you can visit her website here. One of the little joys of travel, is seeing what freebies you can score from your hotel. From open mini bars to tiny toothbrushes, we've rounded up the best hotels for freebies when travelling across Australia. One star of the scene is the Ovolo group of hotels, which have properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Hong Kong. When you book directly on their website, you have access to a range of complimentary items and services. The trendy hotels offer a whole swag of freebies including a free in-room mini bar- that's right, anything edible or drinkable in the room is completely free! The Ovolo group of hotels (Ovolo roomo pictured) is one of Australia's best hotels for free swag including a snack 'loot bag' upon arrival, complimentary in-room mini bar, happy hours and free breakfast This includes everything inside the mini refrigerator and each room comes with a mini 'loot bag' which is filled with chips, chocolate and other yummy snacks. The fun doesn't end there. Ovolo has a free social happy hour for guests. Between 5:30 and 6:30 pm, all house beers, wine and snacks are complimentary. There is also a social area called the 'Lo Lounge' which offers free snacks all day. At this rate, you'll never leave the hotel! Ovolo hotel stocks bathrooms with luxurious Australian products by 'Biology' and provides extra amenities on request Toiletries are by the Australian skincare brand 'Biology' and include shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion. The luxurious products are sulphate, paraben and silicone free. In addition, they offer free continental breakfast, self service laundry, 24 hour pool and gym access. If you'd like more freebies, simply ring reception to request extra complimentary items such as toothbrushes, deodorant and shaving accessories. Rooms at the Darling Harbour Ovolo start at $287 a night. These Australian skincare products are yours for the taking when you stay at the Ovolo group of hotels It seems that Sydney is the hub for fancy swag, with the trend continuing at 'The Urban' in Newtown. Every morning, guests can feast on complimentary croissants, muffins and pastries. The rooms feature free minibars which are stocked with beer from local brewery Young Henry's, wine, chips and chocolate. Each room has an espresso machine which is fully stocked with coffee pods. On Friday and Saturday, The Urban throws happy hour for guests. On the menu is free beer, wine and locally cooked Lebanese snacks. At The Urban, tonight's starting rate for a room is only $114. The Urban in Newtown offers happy hour for guests on Friday and Saturday with beer and wine tastings and free locally cooked Lebanese snacks Down South in Melbourne, on sophisticated Flinders Lane is the Adelphi Hotel. Upon arrival, all guests receive a free alcoholic beverage. In each room, there is a complimentary mini bar stocked with chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, chips, lollies and non alcoholic beverages including Capi soft drinks, juice and water. For those wanting more of a buzz, there are Nespresso or Lavazza machines in each room, fully stocked with coffee pods. For the tea drinkers, there are facilities for making T Bar tea. Adelphi Hotel in Melbourne offers guests a free alcoholic beverage on arrival and each room includes a complimentary mini bar stocked with snacks and non alcoholic beverages The bathrooms are stocked with amenities from the Australian made and owned brand Appelles Apothecary & Lab. At the Adelphi, tonight's base rate is $275. However, if you'd like to splash out on the Palatial Suite, you will be greeted with free French champagne, chocolates and breakfast the next morning. Viewers on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? were left delighted after an amputee contestant won 125K by correctly naming the location of a castle - as it was where he lost his leg. Gareth Kendall, from Halifax, was asked where the ruins of Urquhart Castle in Scotland stood, to which he replied: 'I know this...because I lost my leg there' - leading to gasps in the audience. He had earlier explained how he had nearly died in the horror car crash that caused him to lose his left leg. The cafe owner then revealed he had been visiting the ruins of the castle on Loch Ness - the correct answer to the 125,000 question - that day. Social media users were quick to react to the fitting way Gareth managed to secure his prize money, to become the most successful contestant so far on the new series. Viewers on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? were left delighted after an amputee contestant won 125K by correctly naming the location of a castle - as it was where he lost his leg However, he could have gone home with 250,000 - as his 'inkling' on the answer of the next question had been correct. Clarkson had asked Gareth, who was seen adjusting his prosthetic leg as he sat down, about losing his left leg on Wednesday night's show. Gareth explained 'I was in a car crash', before revealing that he had got a tattoo on his right leg. 'I have one foot in the grave tattooed on my leg, and it's actually gone quite viral,' he said. During the show, Gareth revealed how he had got 'One Foot In The Grave' tattooed on his right leg, after losing his left leg Cafe owner Gareth (pictured with his prosthetic leg) described how he lost his left leg while in a car crash On Thursday night's show, Gareth also described how he 'died five times' following his horrific car crash. 'I flatlined before I got to to the hospital, flatlined at the hospital,' he said. 'So I've beaten the odds. When I came into ICU, they told mum, my dad, my wife, that I had a 2 per cent chance of living.' When asked a question about the NHS, Gareth joked: 'I should [know the answer], the amount of time I've spent in hospital!'. Viewers were quick to react to Gareth's win, saying they were delighted he had managed to take home a sizeable jackpot. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked Gareth where the ruins of Urquhart Castle in Scotland stood Explaining how he used to live in Inverness, he recalled how he had visited the ruins of Urquhart Castle before losing his leg in a car crash Viewers were quick to react to his win, commenting that they were delighted that Gareth managed to take home a sizeable jackpot One wrote: 'So pleased for Gareth on #Millionaire. What a question to win 125k on! #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire #WWTBAM.' Another added: 'What a great contestant Gareth on #WhoWantsToBeAMillionare and to get that question on Loch Ness based on his own experience has changed his life for a second time!' Meanwhile, one viewer commented: 'Delighted for Gareth. A normal Yorkshire bloke. Well deserved. 'Fancy the place you lost your leg essentially winning you 125k one day. Amazing. Enjoy every penny. #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire' Gareth appeared on Wednesday night's show, after winning the Fastest Fingers First round The amputee was seen adjusting his prosthetic leg as he prepared to take part in the quiz show Gareth could have taken home 250K, as his 'inkling' on the answer of the next question - British Museum - had been right Others pointed out that the fact that he has been the most successful contestant since the reboot of the quiz show hit screens last week. In fact, even host Clarkson appeared to lose his patience on Monday night's show, after a contestant struggled to answer a question on where Blackpool Tower is. The original Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show ran from 1998 to 2014, and was hosted Chris Tarrant. Clarkson is reviving the quiz show for seven episodes to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the programme. Gareth has become the most successful contestant on Who Wants To The Millionaire? since the new reboot A photograph of his One Foot In The Grave tattoo was shown during the programme Gareth told Clarkson how he 'died five times' following his horrific car crash in Inverness A grieving mother whose baby was stillborn has left a cast of her hands in her daughter's coffin so that she can always hug her. When Kim Stephens and partner Si Down's fourth child, Olivia-Rose, was 'born sleeping' in March this year, the distraught mother had plaster casts made so she could cuddle her baby forever. In heartbreaking images of the infant's coffin, the hands can be seen embracing Olivia Rose, whose body is covered up by photos of her family. Kim, 36, and Si, 40, live in Saltash, Cornwall, with their three children - Jordan Stephens, 18, Ellianna, eight, and Imogen-Grace, six. Tribute: When Kim Stephens and partner Si Down's fourth child, Olivia-Rose, was 'born sleeping' in March this year, the distraught mother had plaster casts made for her coffin The plaster cast of Kim's hands. She said: 'I had casts made of her hands and feet, so I thought it would be a good idea to have casts of my hands made too' The devastated parents organised a funeral for their little girl, where mourners lined the streets to see a tiny coffin carried through on a horse-drawn carriage. Olivia-Rose was to be the couple's last child, and just two days before the birth the expectant parents went for a private scan - where they were told everything was fine. Then two days later, on March 1, Kim gave birth to a stillborn daughter. Kim, a full time mum, said: 'We booked a 4D scan because she was going to be our last baby. We were told she was absolutely perfect, then two days she was gone. 'Our lives were shattered when our beautiful baby girl was born sleeping, we are so heartbroken. 'I had casts made of my own hands so I could cuddle her, I wanted to feel like she had me cuddling her forever and I thought that I couldn't do it any other way. Last goodbye: In heartbreaking images of the infant's coffin, the hands can be seen embracing Olivia Rose, whose body is covered up by photos of her family Heartbroken Kim said: 'Our lives were shattered when our beautiful baby girl was born sleeping, we are so heartbroken' 'I had casts made of her hands and feet, so I thought it would be a good idea to have casts of my hands made too. 'It makes me feel closer to her, makes me feel like I'm with her still. I've got her hand and she's got mine, it's like a link.' Olivia-Rose's funeral was held last week and Kim said her service was 'beautiful' and that she has received so many messages of support. Kim and Si's oldest child, Jordan, offered to carry Olivia-Rose, but on the day the bereaved parents carried their child to her final resting place. A few days before the funeral, Kim had asked for people to wave at Olivia as she passed. Grieving: Olivia-Rose's funeral was held last week and Kim said her service was 'beautiful' and that she has received so many messages of support Tribute: The devastated parents organised a funeral for their little girl, where mourners lined the streets to see a tiny coffin carried through on a horse-drawn carriage She added: 'The funeral was beautiful, every thing was beautiful, but it was heartbreaking as well. 'She was my princess going off to her castle in the sky. We were overwhelmed by the people who came out and gave us support. 'She brought a whole community together, people made the effort to do what I asked, to blow her a kiss or wave at her as she went by, so she could look down and see she was loved. 'She may only have been here for 32 weeks but she's touched more hearts in those weeks than most people do in a life time. Speaking about her ordeal, Kim said: 'Still birth is quite a taboo subject, women can be made to feel ashamed, I think she has brought awareness to the issue' Speaking about her daughter, Kim said: 'She may only have been here for 32 weeks but she's touched more hearts in those weeks than most people do in a life time' 'Everyone laid a pink rose at her funeral. The postmortem came back as unexplained, they can't find a reason for it, it's been the worst time of our lives. 'Still birth is quite a taboo subject, women can be made to feel ashamed, I think she has brought awareness to the issue. 'It happens more than you would think, I think it's 15 babies a day in the UK are stillborn and the affect it has on parents is awful, it has a massive impact on your life.' Throughout their ordeal Kim and Si were supported by two charities, Ava's Fund and Little Things, and the bereaved parents now want to raise 500 for them. To donate, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kelly-best Advertisement With her own personal dressmaker and a wardrobe worth thousands, one might expect the Queen to plump for expensive designer clothing. But the thrifty monarch surprised onlookers when she stepped out in a 69.99 quilted popper-front jacket from British label David Barry at the Royal Windsor Horse Show today. The navy coat is available from Debenhams and Her Majesty teamed hers - which features a slightly different tartan piping to the version listed online - with a tweed skirt, silk headscarf and Launer handbag. Meanwhile, Prince Philip delighted onlookers when he made a surprise appearance - the first time he has been seen in public since leaving hospital on April 13. The Duke of Edinburgh, 96, was spotted chatting to the Queen through the window of his Land Rover Discovery this morning as day three of the annual equestrian event got underway, in the strongest indication yet that he will be well enough to attend the nuptials of his grandson Prince Harry next weekend. Her Majesty appeared to be in high spirits, and she certainly had plenty of reason to smile after watching one of her own horses win the Anglo Arab showing championship on Wednesday. Queen of thrift! The navy David Barry coat is available from Debenhams and features a piped trim and popper-front fastening. Her Majesty teamed it with a tweed skirt and silk headscarf as she watched the action unfold Favourite day of the year: Today marks the Queen's second appearance after she was seen chatting to fellow spectators at the prestigious show, which has long been an unmissable event in Her Majesty's diary, on Wednesday Recuperation: The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to the private King Edward VII Hospital in early April for surgery after a month of severe discomfort on the advice of doctors The Duke, who appeared to be wearing a hearing aid, popped on a pair of spectacles at one point as he drove himself around the castle grounds on Friday morning - before stopping to chat to his wife The Queen, 92, could be seen sharing a laugh with fellow guests as they examined the schedule of events together. One of the spectators appeared to have highlighted some of the main events in yellow Clad in dark sunglasses, a silk headscarf and a quilted jacket, the Queen could almost have passed for a ticket-holding spectator. The monarch was no doubt delighted to be joined by her husband after his recent hip operation Refusing to miss out on the fun in spite of his condition, the elderly Duke, dressed in a navy jacket bearing a royal crest, watched the action through a pair of binoculars at one point, after an aide brought him a programme of events to read She was accompanied by Lady Penelope 'Penny' Romsey, who is the wife of the Queen's cousin Lord Brabourne as well as Philip's carriage-driving companion - and arrived with the Duke in his car. The elderly Duke, dressed in a navy jacket bearing a royal crest, watched the action through a pair of binoculars at one point, after an aide brought him a programme of events to read. Later on, the Queen was joined by VIP guests including the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifia, and her son Prince Andrew. The annual show, just a short distance from Windsor Castle, is one of the Queen's favourite equestrian events of the year and the only occasion on which members of the public are able to enjoy the palace grounds. It sees competitors taking part in a range of events from show jumping to dressage, along with displays from The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery and DAKS Pony Club. Friday's timetable kicked off bright and early with the Speed Stakes at 8.15am, followed by the Land Rover Shetland Pony Grand National at 11am. Royal box: Later on, the Queen was joined by VIP guests including the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifia, left, and her son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, centre. Prince Philip, who was spotted in his car earlier, was nowhere to be seen Andrew, who lives just a stone's throw away from the event at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, could be seen watching the action intently as he chatted with the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on Friday afternoon Equestrian spectacular: Well-heeled competitors don their finery for The Coaching Marathon, one of the flagship events of the show, as the procession makes its way along the Long Walk on the third day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show Horse and carriages taking part in the Coaching Marathon on the Long Walk this afternoon included The Defiance, hailing from London and Brighton. The vintage coach dates back to the early nineteenth century Competitors dressed in smart clothing and towering top hats make their way down the Long Walk, which will form part of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding procession when they tie the knot on Saturday May 19 Carriages taking part in the Coaching Marathon follow Harry and Meghan's procession route, with the newlyweds set to be driven along Castle Hill, into Windsor town centre before returning along the famous Long Walk for their reception VIP visitors don their glad rags for The Coaching Marathon, one of the flagship events of the show, as the procession makes its way along the Long Walk on the third day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show After a brilliant procession, set against the backdrop of Windsor Castle, the presentation of awards for the Coaching Marathon is due to take place just after 12.30pm The Coaching Marathon is one of the most glamorous and competitive events on the Royal Windsor Horse Show lineup. The annual event is the only time of the year that guests are allowed into the palace's beautiful grounds And just after midday, well-heeled competitors donned their finery for the Coaching Marathon, one of the flagship events on the programme, with the procession - which included vintage coaches dating back to the early nineteenth century - making its way along the Long Walk leading up from the castle. The carriage procession will begin at 1pm after the wedding service, with the newlyweds driven along Castle Hill, into Windsor town centre before returning along the famous Long Walk for their reception. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19 - which coincidentally includes a procession along Castle Hill and Long Walk - will have been timetabled to allow the Queen to attend the show and to make sure the nuptials did not clash with its organisation. He's back! The Duke, 96, was spotted chatting to his wife through the window of a private car as day three of the annual equestrian event got underway this morning and appeared to be in good spirits The annual events is one of the highlights of Her Majesty's calendar, and she appeared to be in excellent spirits as she chatted to fellow spectators on Friday morning. At one point she could be seen laughing uproariously The Duke arrived today with Lady Penelope 'Penny' Romsey, who is the wife of the Queen's cousin Lord Brabourne as well as Philip's carriage-driving companion - fuelling speculation that Philip might take part in an event today The beaming monarch could be seen admiring the thoroughbreds after arriving for her second day at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Held in her own backyard, the castle grounds will play host to the wedding of the year next weekend The monarch, casually dressed in a quilted navy jacket, tweed skirt and floral headscarf, looked delighted to have her husband back at her side - pictured here with Lady Penny Romsey The monarch was all smiles as the Royal Windsor Horse Show kicked off on Friday. Accompanied by close friend Penny Romsey and joined by her husband for the first time in weeks, she had plenty of reason to smile The Queen looked to be in excellent spirits as she chatted to fellow equestrian lovers at the annual event, which comes to an end on Sunday. She kept warm with a navy blue quilted jacket, teamed with a pair of oval sunglasses Her Majesty (third right) was accompanied today by Lady Penelope 'Penny' Romsey, who is the wife of the Queen's cousin and Prince Charles's mentor and childhood friend, Lord Brabourne Getting ready: A steward sets the course ahead of an event on the third day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Berkshire. This is the Queen's second appearance at the show this week, although she was not joined by Philip on Wednesday Getting ready: A steward sets the course ahead of an event on the third day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Berkshire. This is the Queen's second appearance at the show this week, although she was not joined by Philip on Wednesday Busy day: Friday's timetable kicked off bright and early with the Speed Stakes at 8.15am, followed by the Land Rover Shetland Pony Grand National at 11am On being discharged from hospital last month, it seems the 96-year-old, who is likely to still be using walking sticks or crutches at this stage, was keen not to be seen incapacitated so left ten days later after a prolonged rest Back together: The monarch, casually dressed in a quilted navy jacket, tweed skirt and floral headscarf, looked delighted to have her husband back at her side while Philip appeared in good spirits And it was claimed last night that the Duke, who retired from public duties in August 2017, had ditched his crutches 'just in time' for the wedding of the year as a royal insider praised his 'amazing willpower'. They told The Sun: 'When he sets his mind to something he gets on and does it. He has been walking up and down stairs several times in succession. He has also been charging across rooms at full speed. He even had to be told to slow down.' The Duke was admitted to the private King Edward VII Hospital in early April for surgery after a month of severe discomfort on the advice of doctors. It seems the 96-year-old, who is likely to still be using walking sticks or crutches at this stage, was keen not to be seen incapacitated so left ten days later after a prolonged rest. Fighting fit: It was claimed last night that the Duke, who retired from public duties in August 2017, had ditched his crutches 'just in time' for the wedding of the year as a royal insider praised his 'amazing willpower' Speaking about the Duke's miraculous recovery this week, a source told The Sun: 'When he sets his mind to something he gets on and does it. He has been walking up and down stairs several times in succession. He has also been charging across rooms at full speed. He even had to be told to slow down' On the mend: Buckingham Palace had previously said that Philip would continue his recovery at Windsor Castle, where the Queen is in residence, and both the Queen and Princess Anne have said he is in 'good form' While it is not know if Philip will enjoy the day's festivities on foot, the 96-year-old Duke's surprise appearance is the strongest indication yet that he is firmly on the mend Luckily the Duke - who has reportedly surprised and delighted his loved ones with his remarkably quick recovery - didn't need his spectacles to red through the programme of events after it was offered by one of his fellow spectators Buckingham Palace had previously said that Philip would continue his recovery at Windsor Castle, where the Queen is in residence, and both the Queen and Princess Anne have said he is in 'good form'. The elderly royal will have already begun his rehabilitation moving with the aid of a stick or crutches, and may still face weeks of physiotherapy as he learns to walk again on his new hip. The Queen was seen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Wednesday as she with fellow spectators at the prestigious show, which has long been an unmissable event in Her Majesty's diary. The five-day event, held in the private grounds at Windsor Castle, is now in its 75th year and the Queen is believed to have attended every single year since it began as a wartime fundraising event back in 1943. Competitors donned their finery to descend on the picturesque castle grounds, which were decked out in a dazzling floral display, for a second day of show jumping and dressage just a stone's throw from next weekend's wedding venue A Shetland pony, just one of hundreds of animals that descended on the private grounds of Windsor Castle today for one of the biggest events in the equestrian calendar. It is likely to have taken part in the Shetland Pony Grand National this morning Carriage driving competitors compete on the third day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show. It had been hoped that Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, might take part but she has not yet been sighted Guests, spectators and competitors soaked up the sunny weather as they took advantage of the only occasion of the year when the picturesque palace grounds are open to the public On Friday, hundreds of competitors donned their finery to descend on the picturesque castle grounds, which were decked out in a dazzling floral display, for a second day of show jumping and dressage just a stone's throw from next weekend's royal wedding venue. The event is intrinsically linked with the royal family; both the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh competed at it during their younger years, with Prince Philip entering the Carriage Driving at Royal Windsor Horse Show for 30 years, winning it just once in 1982. In more recent years, the Queen has watched many of her own horses take part in the showing class competitions. Last year, the monarch was joined by son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie as well as grandson Peter Philips, Canadian great-daughter-in-law Autumn and their two children. Pair then tried their hand at Greek dancing in the village of Archanes, Crete Prince Charles and Camilla showed off their Greek dancing today as they complete their three-day tour of Greece. The pair proved themselves to be good sports as they joined dancers wearing in traditional dress in the village of Archanes, on the island of Crete, during their visit today. It comes after Charles joked that he was unprepared for Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding earlier in the day, commenting when asked: 'Are you ever ready?' A member of the public also shouted 'Hello your highness, how are you?', to which a jovial Charles replied: 'Still alive.' The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Knossos Archaeological Site in Crete this morning on the final day of their tour of Greece. Later in the day, Charles and Camilla went to the village of Archanes, where they visited stalls showcasing Cretan produce, crafts, and local initiatives. Charles and Camilla looked happy and relaxed during the second day of their tour of Greece The Prince of Wales looked in very high spirits as he joined in with the dancers today The Duchess received a warm welcome from a group of school children who are learning about Minoan Crete Camilla, Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at a traditional festival during their visit to the Crete Island Prince Charles gives a wave to the crowd and camera as his wife Camilla talks to crowds during a visit to the town of Arhanes in Greece Charles and Camilla are completing their three-day tour of Greece with a visit to the Knossos Archaeological Site in Crete Cheers! The Duchess of Cornwall looked in great spirits as she raised a glass at the Lyrarakis Winery Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visits Lyrarakis Winery on the island of Crete Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, takes part in a wine tasting ceremony during her visit to the winery The royals kept cool in shades and cream outfits as they visited the Knossos archaeological site in Crete The couple were welcomed in bright sunshine on Friday morning by Professor John Bennet, director of the British School at Athens, who will give them a tour of the area. Upon their arrival, Camilla received a gift of a brooch while Charles was given an inscribed stone. Camilla looked cool in the 22 degree heat, donning a simple cream kaftan over white trousers and carrying a parasol to shade her from the sun's rays. Meanwhile, her husband was looking typically dapper in a pale beige suit. Charles looked to be getting into the swings as he joined dancers wearing traditional dress Camilla also showed off her moves as she joined other dancers in the Greek village Camilla received a warm welcome from schoolchildren who have been learning about Minoan Crete Wedding ready? Camilla and Charles looked like they were channeling the right colours as they dressed in cream The couple have arrived in Crete to visit the city of Heraklion on the final day of their five-day tour of France and Greece Prince Charles joked that he's not prepared for Harry's wedding when asked about the nuptials by a reporter Camilla (centre), the Duchess of Cornwall, is hugged by a boy as she visits the Archeological site of Knossos on the Crete Island Charles toured the site, before joining a 'Cooking Like Minoans' event and learning about the research the British School at Athens has done at Knossos. The royal couple arrived in Greece for a three-day visit of Greece Wednesday, after visiting France. And the pair delighted fans when they described next week's royal wedding as 'marvellous' and 'special'. Asked about his son Prince Harry's forthcoming nuptials to Meghan Markle at a flower market in Nice yesterday morning, the heir to the throne said: 'Obviously marvellous. I'm sure it will be a very special day for everybody. ' Camilla was seen trying out a white wine during a visit to a winery in Heraklion The Duchess of Cornwall looked animated as she sat down for a tasting session at the Lyrarakis Winery Prince Charles joked that he's 'still alive' when he was questioned by local reporters The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visit the Knossos archaeological site in Crete on the final day of their tour of Greece The royals will fly home at the end of their five day tour to commence the countdown to Harry and Meghan's wedding Charles was seen trying his hand at Greek dancing while visiting Archanes, Crete Charles was seen sharing a joke with one of the Greek dancers during the visit today The Prince Of Wales proved to be a good sport as he participated in a spot of dancing The pair were dressed in complementing beige and cream ensembles during the visit A spoiled teenager who publicly slammed her mother for cutting her monthly allowance from $5,000 to $1,000 is now insisting she needs the money to sustain her lavish lifestyleeven though she categorically refuses to get a job. Nicolette Gray, 16, and her mother Nina, a doctor from Beverly Hills, California, appeared on the UK show This Morning on Friday to discuss the self-proclaimed 'Beverly Hills brat''s finances. The teenager, who - according to her social media - has now gotten her allowance raised back to $5,000, insisted she absolutely needs thousands of dollars a month to pay for 'wallets, purses, jewelry, clothing, and all types of things', including personal trainers, making it very clear she's not prepared to embrace a simpler lifestyle. Scroll down for video Chat: Nicolette Gray, 16, and her mother Nina, a doctor from Beverly Hills, California, appeared on the UK show This Morning on Friday to talk personal finances Money: The teenager insisted she needs thousands of dollars a month to sustain her lavish lifestyle, even though she categorically refuses to get a job because it's 'too much work' After initially only forcing her mother to raise her allowance to $4,000 a month - $1,000 shy of the original lump sum, the teen was asked by This Morning host Eamonn Holmes what exactly she needed such a huge amount of money for. 'I need it for food, I need it for shopping, I need it for lots of things,' Nicolette said of her four-figure allowance. 'Just everything that I buy, everything that adds up, my personal trainers, all of it.' She added: 'I'm buying wallets, purses, jewelry, clothing, and all types of things. I even buy my mom a bag sometimes.' Nina chimed in at that point, telling her daughter: 'Thank you for that.' Asked if she is 'very rich', Nina explained that she does 'pretty well' as a doctor, and is able to 'scale' her lifestyle to her own level. Nicolette, however, believe she's not on the same level as her mother and needs even more money - insisting that $4,000 just isn't enough to fund her lavish lifestyle. 'Yeah, I'm literally, like, low,' she said. 'The standards here are way higher than anywhere else. I'm not at a high level.' When the presenters pointed out that if Nicolette needs that much money, she might want to consider getting a job to help cover her expenses, the teen and her mother both agreed this is not an option. 'It's too much work,' Nicolette said. Her mother Nina added: 'I think she'll quit before she's even fired.' Sharing: Nicolette often flaunts her prized possessions on social media, by sharing shots such as this one if which she's carrying an impressive amount of designer bags Message: The teen shared this photo with the caption 'taking my kids out for a walk' Purse: Nicolette is especially attached to her Celine purse, whom she refers to as Gerald Work: The teenager insisted on Friday that she's had a job before, telling the presenters: ' I do make my own money, but I'm not going out and getting a job at some random place' The teenager insisted she's had a job before, telling the presenters: 'I do make my own money, but I'm not going out and getting a job at some random place.' Nicolette explained that her earnings come from 'online work', 'private things,' and 'social media', adding: 'But I'm not going to go out and go work at, like, some random fast food place.' She pointed out that she doesn't have much incentive to work for her money, asking: 'Why, if I'm already living a good life?' Nina admitted that she feels like she has 'raised a Beverly Hills brat', prompting Nicolette to blame her mother for her ways. 'So it's your fault,' the teen said. 'You literally caused me to be this way. You caused this, so you have to deal with it. Like, you grew me up [sic] in Beverly Hills, you have to deal with it. I'm sorry.' Nina responded: 'And you know what, dealing with it by throwing money at her is a lot easier than taking it away.' On the show, the mother gave more insight into how she came to give her daughter such a high allowance in the first place. Not doing it: Nicolette explained that her earnings come from 'online work' and 'social media', adding: 'B ut I'm not going to go out and go work at, like, some random fast food place' Four-figure: The teen posted this triumphant video on social media last week to announce her allowance has been raised back to $5,000 'I was just tired of it,' she said. 'I'd come home from work and she'd be complaining and whining. I was just, forget it, we're taking it back to 5K. 'Because it's easier to give her the credit card, distribute the money and put an end to it. And I have the means, I'm like, why not. 'Every mother out there gives her kid everythingI think most mothers try to do. I'm just being honest about it. So I decided to raise it up to five and just let her enjoy.' Asked whether she would prefer to have more of her mom's time instead of her money, Nicolette said that isn't the case. She refused to discuss her father, saying she does have one, 'but we're not going to talk about him'. 'I'm happy with my life but I'd rather have more money,' the teen, who can often be seen on social media flashing her expensive purchases, including designer purses, said. When one of the presenters declared: 'Money's everything to you,' Nicolette replied: 'Yeah.' The teenager initially appeared with her mom on on Dr. Phil last week, insisting she was being forced to live like a 'peasant' after her mother cut her allowance from $5,000 a month to $1,000. Nicolette dragged Nina to the show to argue that she should be giving her at least $2,500 a month because she 'works all the time' and doesn't do anything for her. 'I want my mom to understand that I can't live off $1,000 a month, and I grew up on a certain lifestyle. She can't just take that away from me immediately,' she told Dr. Phil. Before her appearance on the talk show, Nicolette told the cameras that her mother raised her with everything she ever wanted, including 'amazing schools,' a driver, a nanny, and personal trainers. 'It's the only life I've ever known,' she said. Spoiled rotten: Nicolette, seen showing off $1,045 caged Valentino shoes, previously insisted on Dr. Phil that an allowance of $1,000 a month is not enough for her to live comfortably Living the good life: The self-proclaimed 'spoiled brat' loves to buy designer clothes, bags, and shoes, and she has a closet full of luxury goods Upset: Nicolette was outraged when her mother, Nina (left), cut her allowance from $5,000 a month to $1,000 Nina admitted that she gave her daughter credit cards without any credit limit at a 'very young age,' and some months the bills would be up to $10,000despite her already having a $5,000 allowance. Her daughter loves designer clothes and shopping on Rodeo Drive, and Nicolette proudly rattled off pieces from her designer bag collection, including a couple Chanel bags that cost about $5,000 a piece. Nicolette said her favorite handbag is her Celine Micro Luggage Tote Bag, which cost about $3,000. 'I keep it on a chair because it's just so special,' she said. 'I literally think of it as my own child.' The teen has so many designer bags, she isn't even entirely sure how much she paid for each one. When pulling out her Gucci Padlock shoulder bag, she estimated it also cost her about $3,000. 'These are my favorite pair of heels. They're Valentinos I love them so much,' she gushed while showing off her $1,045 caged leather sandals featuring gold studs. At the end of her close tour, Nicolette pulled out her Louis Vuitton Keepall, which retails for $1,420 to $1,860 depending on the size and style. Lavish life: The teen has multiple Chanel wallets and a couple of Chanel handbags, which cost about $5,000 each Closet tour: Nicolette said her favorite handbag is her Celine Micro Luggage Tote Bag, which cost about $3,000 Estimate: When pulling out her Gucci Padlock shoulder bag, she said it cost her about $3,000 Pricey luggage: Nicolette's Louis Vuitton Keepall retails for $1,420 to $1,860 depending on the size and style 'I really like this piece. It's Louis Vuitton,' she boasted. Nicolette's spending habits are so out of control that Nina estimated she has given her about $100,000 in the past year. 'I know I am a spoiled brat, but I enjoy the lifestyle, you know? People are going to hate on me, but they wish they were me,' she said. After realizing that her daughter has turned into a 'monster,' Nina tried scaling back her allowance, but Nicolette refused to accept her new budget without a fight. 'I feel like a peasant. I can't live like this anymore,' she said. 'I'm always out of money. If you ask me, I think my mom should be giving me at least $2,500 a month just to cover my basic expenses.' Nicolette admitted that she makes her mother's 'life a living hell' when she runs out of money, and Nina tends to give in because she doesn't want to 'deal with the drama.' 'My mom refers to me as a Beverly Hill brat. It's true. I'm a bratand I'm not going to change,' she said. Not only does Nicolette want her allowance raised, she also expects her mom to buy her a $231,000 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen in 'matte black' for her 16th birthday. 'Im a princess. Im definitely worth the price tag,' she said. Posh: Nicolette said she loves buying designer clothes and accessories on Rodeo Drive Clueless: Nicolette wrote in to the Dr. Phil show in hopes of making her mom realize that she needs at least $2,500 a month because she is being forced to live 'like a peasant' Financial burden: Nina admitted that she gave her daughter credit cards without any credit limit at a 'very young age,' and some months the bills would be up to $10,000 Nicolette told Dr. Phil that her mom is willing to get her a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which she will accept, but she really wants her G-Wagen. 'I will not be driving anything that can be considered an Uber X,' Nicolette boldly told Dr. Phil, noting that her mom should be willing to get her the SUV she wants when she is buying herself a Bentley. Nicolette wrote in to the Dr. Phil show in hopes of making her mother realize that she needs at least $2,500 a month because she does everything herself and needs 'the funds for that.' However, her plan backfired. Nina was actually glad that Nicolette had written in to the show. She knew she needed help getting her daughter under control. While speaking to Dr. Phil, Nina said she spoils Nicolette because she has always felt guilty about being a single mom who works six days a week. The talk show host pointed out that she was essentially compromising her daughter's values and making her feel like she has no self-worth without material goods just to make herself feel better. Nina confessed that she didn't even know how to properly punish a 15-year-old. She has tried taking away her phone and laptop, but she ends up giving them right back because Nicolette 'needs them'. Great expectations: Not only does Nicolette want her allowance raised, she also expects her mom to buy her a $231,000 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen for her 16th birthday Her side: The teen argued that her mom should be willing to get her the SUV she wants when she is buying herself a Bentley Looking the look: Nicolette said she wants the luxury SUV in in 'matte black' There's a thought: The teen joked that she can buy even more bags and store them in the large backseat 'She needs a $6,000 purse? She must carry a lot of s**t,' Dr, Phil hit back. Meanwhile, Nicolette insisted that her mother 'should have done better,' claiming her mom never loved her as a child. 'She says that she cares about me but still, as a child, I was never loved. She just gave me money,' she said while breaking down in tears. Nicolette doesn't even go to high school with other kids her age. She takes online classes because she 'just got traumatized' at her old school. Although her mom suggested the issue was her daughter's desire to keep up with her peers' lavish spending, Nicolette insisted that there were other reasons she couldn't 'get into.' The two were joined on stage by their friend Joel, who recently moved into their house to watch Nicolettes spending and to chauffeur her around. He admitted that the teen has a habit of calling people 'peasants', but he agreed with her when she said she was ultimately a nice person. 'Once you get to know her, she's a great person and I love them both,' he said. 'I'm a great person,' Nicolette interjected. 'I was raised horribly.' Life lesson: Ahead of the show, Dr. Phil sent Nicolette to feed the homeless at a shelter near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to show her her another side of live Heartbreak: Nicolette burst into tears while claiming her mother never showed her love as a child. 'She just gave me money,' she said Trying again: Nina apologized to her daughter hurting her, explaining that she just wanted to fix her pain for her Joel said it was 'sadly true that Nicolette has no friends,' noting that her loneliness has 'nothing to do with her not having the right materialistic items.' 'I have my bags. My bags are my friends,' Nicolette hit back. Ahead of the show, Dr. Phil sent Nicolette to feed the homeless at a shelter near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to show her another side of live. 'It was a culture shock and I was scared at first,' she admitted, but she was ultimately grateful to have the experience. Dr. Phil warned Nina that 'overindulgence is a form of child abuse' because it 'does cripple a child'. He insisted that they needed to redefine their relationship, starting with Nina giving Nicolette more love and less money. Nina agreed that Nicolette should get a job, but her daughter was outraged by the thought. 'You cant just reset the button,' she told her mom backstage, noting that she will 'absolutely not' get a job or accept a smaller allowance. 'I wish I could take things back and make things better,' her mom told her. 'If I've done you wrong, I'm really sorry. If I hurt you, I am really sorry. I know you're hurt. I understand your pain, I just want to help fix it for you.' A Queer Eye participant who touched the hearts of viewers by admitting he had left the true love of his life, his ex-wife Abby, get away has written a happy ending to his shaky love story. Tom Jackson, 58, from Dallas, Georgia, appeared on the first episode of Netflix's Queer Eye reboot, which was released in February this year. His catchphrase, 'You can't fix ugly', left the show's five experts adamant that they could, in fact, bring Tom's inner beauty to the surface. In addition to updating his appearance and lifestyle, Tom told the show's Fab Five that he dreamed of wooing Abby, 52, againand on Thursday, he announced that his wish has come true since he and Abby have tied the knot once more. Scroll down for video True love: Queer Eye participant Tom Jackson, 58, and his ex-wife, Abby, 52, have tied the knot again after he admitted on the show that he wanted to get back with her Dress: The bride looked elegant in a grey, floor-length Oleg Cassini gown with thin straps and a sparkly headband embellished with pearls Queer Eye alum: Tom, who has visibly not forgotten the style lessons he got during his time on the show, looked dapper in a black suit paired with a white shirt and a light gray tie 'Abby and I got married!!!!!!!' Tom wrote in an excited tweet, adding that he and Abby re-married in Gatlinburg, Tennesse, at Chapel at the Parka venue that specializes in weddings and even offers special elopement packages. Tom and Abby might have taken advantage of one of the offers, given that Tom described their ceremony as 'an elopement wedding' with 'just the two of us'. While the groom only just broke the news of his second wedding to Abby, the nuptials took place in March, Us Weekly reported. 'The best part of the day was during the ceremony as we stood before the minister, both of us excited and happy to be recommitting ourselves to each other in marriage,' Tom and Abby told the magazine. Abby and Tom lit a unity candle during their ceremony, before enjoying a small wedding cake and honeymooning in the mountains in Gatlinburg. Cheers! Abby and Tom lit a unity candle during their ceremony, before enjoying a small wedding cake. They also drank out of custom flutes Sharing: Tom announced the wedding in an excited tweet, and later shared this photo of the two wedding bands Flowers: Abby carried a romantic bouquet of red roses during the couple's ceremony The bride looked elegant in a grey, floor-length Oleg Cassini gown with thin straps and a sparkly headband embellished with pearls. She finished off her outfit with a pair of gray sandals with a small heel. Tom, who has visibly not forgotten the style lessons he got during his time on the show, was dapper in a black suit paired with a white shirt and a light gray tie matching Abby's dress. He wore a red rose boutonniere echoing Abby's bouquet and elegant black dress shoes. 'I was excited and happy!' Abby told Us Weekly of the ceremony. 'I was marrying the love of my life.' Tom, she said, was 'grinning from ear to ear' as he watched her walking down the aisle. His life appears to have changed drastically since he was featured on Queer Eye. When Tom appeared on the show, he was living in his daughter's basement in a self-contained apartment. He spent his days smoking and drinking 'redneck margaritas' (made of tequila and Mountain Dew), and didn't have much of a social life, only meeting up with friends once a week to look at vintage cars. Team: On Queer Eye, Tom received help from the show's (front row from left to right) Tan France, Bobby Berk, (back row) Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, and Karamo Brown Shy: During the episode, Tom detailed (pictured left before and right during his makeover) detailed how his relationship with Abby had fallen apart True love: Although Tom told his Twitter followers in February that he and Abby had called it quits, he took to Twitter again in March to reveal they were back together Wedding bells! A few days later, Tom shared another happy update, this time announcing that he and Abby had gotten engaged Smitten: Tom shared a photo of Abby's ring when he first broke the news of their engagement However, viewers fell in love with Tom as he learnt to embrace beard oil and cover up his red patches with green tinted concealer courtesy of Jonathan Van Ness, the show's grooming expert, and make healthy guacamole to satisfy his Mexican food habit with cook Antoni Porowski. They also willed him and Abby back together at the end of the episode, after he showed her around his newly decorated apartment courtesy of interior designer Bobby Berk in his snazzy new outfit, hand-selected by the show's style guru Tan France. Culture expert Karamo Brown helped Tom work on his confidence and self-esteem issues. However, in February, it seemed like Tom and Abby had finally decided to call it quits for good, after Tom tweeted: 'I just watched my episode for about the 20th time. I cry like a baby ever time I watch it. Just to let the world know, Abby and I are no longer together. She will always be the love of my life. I will always love her more than anything!!!!!!!' However, keeping his fan's abreast of his roller coaster of a relationship, Tom took to Twitter, where he now has more than 24,000 followers, once again in March to share the happy news that he and Abby had reunited. Helping hand: Viewers fell in love with Tom as he learnt to embrace beard oil, guacamole and green tinted concealer in a bid to win Abby back Posting a photo of the two of them, Tom wrote: 'So happy to say that Abby and I are reunited. Weve loved each other for many years and want to spend the rest of our lives together!!!!!!!!' A few days later, Tom shared another happy update, this time announcing that he and Abby had gotten engaged. 'It's official, Abby and I are engaged. What a Netflix special the would be. If the Fab 5 planned and attended our wedding!!!!!!!!!' he wrote in March. While the show's five experts didn't make it to the ceremony, two of them offered their congratulations after news of the nuptials broke. 'We couldn't be happier,' Bobby told ET during a celebration of his co-star Karamo's own engagement. 'Tom, Abby, congratulations. We love you.' Tan added: 'We did hear from him today and we couldn't be happier. Watching Tom with Abby was the most beautiful thing. You can tell how much he loves her. They've been married already and there's got to be something there if he so desperately wanted to marry her again.' The stylist shared a word of advice for Tom: 'You lost her before. Make sure that this time you do everything you can to make sure you keep up every lesson we taught you.' Abby previously told Us Weekly that their love has never stopped existing, even when they had split. 'Thomas and I, we have never really been apart, apart. We have been best friends for 12 years and we have known each other for 12 years,' she said. 'We have always loved each other, that never stopped, whether we were together or not.' The US Social Security Administration has released the most popular baby names for 2017... and they're not all that different from 2016. But while Noah, Liam, and William are still at the top of the list for boys, and Emma, Olivia, and Ava are the top three for girls, there were a few unexpected names that made strides in popularity this year. The names that saw the highest jumps from 2016 to 2017 were also released, including Wells and Kairo for boys and Ensley and Oaklynn for girls. Ta-da! The US Social Security Administration has released the most popular baby names for 2017 He's number one! Liam (like actor Liam Hemsworth) was number one for boys, up from the number two spot in 2016 Popular: Also in the top ten for boys are William (Prince William pictured left) and James (James Franco pictured right) Several popular baby name lists tend to be published throughout the year, but they typically reflect the frequency of name searches on baby-naming sites. This ranking, released by the SSA, is the definitive list of actual newborns' legally-given names. For boys, the most popular names last year were Liam, Noah, William, James, Logan, Benjamin, Mason, Elijah, Oliver, and Jacob. Eight of the ten names were also in the top ten last year, with the biggest change being that Liam supplanted Noah in the number one spot. Inspiration? Emma (pictured: Emma Watson) was once again the top name for girls Ladies: Olivia (like a Olivia Wilde, left) is in the top ten, as is Ava (Ava Phillippe pictured right) For girls, the ten most popular names were Emma, Olivia, Ava, Isabella, Sophia, Mia, Charlotte, Amelia, Evelyn, and Abigail. Eight of those ten names were also in the top ten last year Amelia and Evelyn are new, having risen from the 11 and 12 spots in 2016. The SSA released all 1,000 of the top names for each gender, with the names becoming much less common down the list like Jaxx, Yisroel, and Alaric for boys, and Alora, Zendaya, and Zendaya for girls. Different spellings are also all rated separately, so Melanie and Melany are both on the list, as are Madelyn, Madelynn, Madeline, and Madeleine. Perhaps most interestingly, the SSA published the baby names that have seen the biggest changes in popularity from 2016 to 2017, too. That doesn't mean that the names are actually popular some are ranked 915 or 803 most popular but they have been used considerably more. Crush? Caspian saw a surge in popularity, possibly belatedly inspired by Prince Caspian from The Chronicles Of Narnia White House: The first lady likely inspired the rise in popularity of the name Melania Turning to the stars: Dream like Rob Kardashian's daughter saw a boost in popularity, too For boys, the names that saw the highest jumps were Wells, Kairo, Caspian, Nova, Colson, Kace, Kashton, Koa, Gatlin, and Bjorn. For girls, the ten highest jumpers were Ensley, Oaklynn, Dream, Oaklyn, Melania, Emberly, Octavia, Paisleigh, Yaya, and Kehlani. Some boys' names that had big dips in popularity from 2016 include Riann, Kylo, Kamdyn, Jamar, Giovani, Nickolas, Chad, Braiden, and Neymar. Girls saw a decrease in popularity for names including Julianne, Wendy, Milania, Nathaly, Jessa, Ciara, Aryana, Jaylynn, Brittany, Patricia, and Heather. Cutie: The SAA also released lists of names that went down in popularity Nameberry also delved deeper into the names list, pointing out that the name Michael fell from the top 10 boys' names for the first time in 75 years in 2017. And while the first lady has likely contributed to the bump in usage of Melania, she's not the only one to have influence: Ivanka is up 48 per cent, Mattis (last name of the Secretary of Defence) is up 77 per cent, and Theordore (Ivanka's son) is up 77 per cent. The site also gave the honor of 'craziest hot new spelling' to the name Jru, which is pronounced the same as Drew. Nearly 100 babies of both genders were named Jru in 2017. A mother and son who lost a combined 455lbs have finally completed their weight loss journeys after having a total of 16lbs of sagging excess skin removed from their bodies. Emilly Cruz, 41, from Cary, North Carolina, struggled with her weight her entire life, and she blamed herself for her 22-year-old son Jose's obesity. At their heaviest, Emilly weighed 400lbs while Jose tipped the scales at 450lbs. While sharing their stories on Wednesday night's episode of the TLC reality series Skin Tight, Emilly recounted how she and her son shed half of their bodies after he was diagnosed with a pseudotumor. Scroll down for video Before and after: Emilly Cruz, 41, from Cary, North Carolina, had 6lbs of excess skin removed from her body after losing a whopping 255lbs Weight loss winners: The mom's 22-year-old son Jose also had skin removal surgery. He had 10lbs of excess skin removed from his body after losing 200lbs Throwback: At their heaviest, Emilly weighed 400lbs while Jose tipped the scales at 450lbs 'My brain was seeing my fat as a tumor and creating a build up of fluid to protect itself,' Jose explained. 'It was a pretty scary moment in my life.' The only thing that was going to help Jose was losing weight, and Emilly convinced him to get weight loss surgery with her so they could transform their bodies together. 'I had never been to lose weigh myself, but I was going to do whatever it takes to save Jose,' she said. The mother-of-two explained that growing up she and her siblings were 'all big' because their father put so much food on their plates. Start of it all: Growing up, Emilly and her siblings were 'all big' because their father put so much food on their plates Cycle of obesity: The mother-of-two passed on her poor eating habits to her sons Jose and Jerry, and she admitted that she would often stop by drive-thru restaurants to get them food Out of control: After hitting 450lbs at the age of 18, Jose was diagnosed with a pseudotumor. 'My brain was seeing my fat as a tumor and creating a build up of fluid,' he explained By the time she was 11 years old, Emilly weighed a whopping 200lbs. 'I always realized that I had a weight issue, but I just did not care to do anything about it,' she admitted. Emilly, who also has a son named Jerry, said that she gained even more weight during both of her pregnancies. She was a single, working mom, and she would often stop by drive-thru restaurants to get them food. 'I feel so guilty about it,' the mom said of putting her sons on the same path of obesity that she was on. Transformation: Jose's diagnosis of a pseudotumor was a wake-up call for both of them, and they opted to have duodenal switch surgery on the same day with the same surgeon Leftovers: Emilly's 255lb weight loss left her with excess skin that hung from her arms, stomach, and thighs Struggle: After losing a whopping 200lbs, Jose's chest and stomach sagged Jose's diagnosis of a pseudotumor was a wake-up call for both of them, and they opted to have duodenal switch surgery on the same day with the same surgeon. Emilly lost 255lbs, which brought her weight down to 145lbs, while Jose shed 200lb following the procedure. However, their dramatic physical transformations left them both with unsightly excess skin that hung from their stomachs, arms, and legs. 'Losing weight together saved my son's life, but it also caused us a anguish by leaving us with a lot of lose skin,' the mom explained. 'When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't even recognize myself.' Jose admitted that he saw the 'worst version' of himself when he looked in the mirror because the excess skin was a reminder of how he let his weight spiral out of control. Next step: After consultations with Houston-based surgeon Dr. John LoMonaco, Emilly and Jose were both approved for skin removal surgery Recovering together: While she had 6lbs of excess skin removed, Jose had 10lbs taken off of his body Results: Jose was thrilled to have a normal chest and stomach for the first time since his weight loss The skin made both of them miserable, and, as a result, they were closing themselves off from other people. Emilly refused to go on dates and Jose would often stay home by himself. 'I'm not living my life like a 22-year-old should at all,' he said. After consultations with Houston-based surgeon Dr. John LoMonaco, Emilly and Jose were both approved for skin removal surgery. Emilly went first and had a lower body lift, an abdominoplasty and a brachioplasty. A few weeks later, Jose went under the knife with and Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, who had stepped in for Dr. LoMonaco. He had had an arms and upper body lift, a thigh lift and an abdominoplasty. Happy as can be: 'I can't look at the mirror now without smiling,' Emilly said of her new body Showing off: 'I've never seen my mom wear a dress like that before, and Jose, he looks amazing,' Emilly's son Jerry said after she and Jose proudly unveiled their new bodies Emilly had 6lbs of skin removed, taking her weight loss to 261lbs, while Jose had 10lbs of skin removed from his body, bringing his total weight loss to 210lbs. The mother and son recuperated together before unveiling their new bodies to Jerry, who was thrilled with their progress. 'I've never seen my mom wear a dress like that before, and Jose, he looks amazing,' he said. 'They have come a long way.' Emilly, meanwhile, was 'so proud' that she was able to make things right for her son once and for all. 'I can't look at the mirror now without smiling,' she said. 'I can't believe all this beauty was hidden under all of that excess skin.' While Amber Heard's love life hasn't been plain sailing in recent years, her career is going from strength to strength. And the 32-year-old Texan beauty has just been announced as the new face of L'Oreal Paris at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Heard who divorced Johnny Depp in 2015, was last linked to Tesla founder Elon Musk. She's got the look: Actress Amber Heard, 32, has landed a huge beauty deal with L'Oreal Paris, pictured at this year's Cannes Film Festival where the news was announced New beginnings: The Texan beauty who divorced Johnny Depp in 2015, was last linked to Tesla founder Elon Musk - the former flames dated on-and-off from 2016 to 2017 Moving on: SpaceX founder Musk has moved on, and debuted his new relationship with Canadian art-pop musician Grimes at the Met Gala on Monday night The former flames dated on-and-off from 2016 to 2017. However, SpaceX founder Musk has moved on, and debuted his new relationship with Canadian art-pop musician Grimes at the Met Gala on Monday night. And on Tuesday - the 46-year-old Tesla CEO - who boasts a $20.8B fortune - tweeted that his two favorite Grimes songs were Flesh Without Blood and Kill V. Maim off her fourth album Art Angels from 2015. Meanwhile, Amber also seems to be back in the dating pool and was recently spotted in the back seat of a dark SUV in New York City with Heidi Klums ex Vito Schnabel. The 31-year-old Brooklyn-born art curator looked caught by surprise as they seemed to be in deep conversation Monday, May 9. Schnabel split from German supermodel Heidi Klum, 44, for good in 2017; the duo had been dating on-and-off since 2014. However, the unlikely pair who are based on opposite sides of the country (Amber currently resided in Los Angeles while Vito is based in New York) have a shared passion for the art world and according to L'Oreal Paris, Amber is a 'believer in the healing power of art'. New flame? Amber also seems to be back in the dating pool and was recently spotted with Heidi Klums ex Vito Schnabel in New York City History: The 31-year-old Brooklyn-born art curator split from German supermodel Heidi Klum, 44, in 2017 they had been dating on-and-off since 2014 Common interest: According to L'Oreal Paris, Amber is a 'believer in the healing power of art' so has a lot in common with Vito Giving back: She is also a member of The Art of Elysium, an organization empowering artists and needy communities to thrive through art She is also a member of The Art of Elysium, an organization empowering artists and needy communities to thrive through art. And in a 2013 interview with Flair magazine, she revealed her passion for creativity. 'I want to be an artist. I dont want to be a celebrity,' the famously outspoken former-model told the publication. The beauty brand which is the official makeup partner to the festival has this year dedicated its involvement to honoring women by encouraging them to speak up. And later this year, on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Amber will be joining forces with the UN Human Rights Office. 'Over the years I've always thought to not just be an actor, but to use my voice as a platform for good to make the world a slightly, slightly better place and empower women the best that I can,' she revealed. When model looks run in the family, why not combine them? This appears to be the thinking behind a new campaign featuring Isabella Rossellini, 65, and her daughter Elettra Wiedemann, 34. Isabella and Elettra, who is a model, a food editor and blogger, and a triathlete, can be seen in two tender images shot by the jewelry brand Mene holding onto each in a loving embrace. Duo: Isabella Rossellini, 65, poses with her daughter Elettra Wiedemann, 34, in a tender new jewelry campaign for the brand Mene Tender: The mother wears a classic black blazer on top of a white shirt in the photos, as she wraps her arms protectively around Elettra Family: Elettra (pictured with Isabella in 1985) is also the granddaughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini Isabella, who has recently reprised her role as the face of Lancome after being told she was 'too old' for the industry, wears a classic black blazer on top of a white shirt as she wraps her arms protectively around Elettra. Elettra, Isabella's daughter with her former husband Jon Wiedemann, dons a flowy black top in the photos, her long hair worn cascading in lose waves onto her shoulders. One of her hands clasps Isabella's arm, while the other rests on her mother's chest. In one of the shots, Elettra's eyes are closed, as if she were resting in total confidence in her mother's arms. The campaign was revealed by the brand on Thursday, just a few days ahead of Mother's Day. Isabella was married to Jon, Elettra's father, from 1983 to 1986. He was once a fashion model too and now works as a principal design director at Microsoft. Elettra has a brother, Isabella's adoptive son Roberto, 25. She is the granddaughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini. In addition to working as a model, she runs a successful food blog, Impatient Foodie, on which she shares recipes and cooking tips. Elettra is currently in a relationship with Pretty Little Liars actor Caleb Lane, 35. The two welcomed their first child, a son named Ronin, now four months old. Career: In addition to working as a model, Ellettra (pictured with her mother in 2012) runs a successful food blog, Impatient Foodie, on which she shares recipes and cooking tips New mother: Ellettra welcomed her first child, , a son named Ronin, four months ago Father: She is currently in a relationship with actor Caleb Lane, 35 (pictured with Ronin) Isabella, who recently told The New York Times she's 'hot again' after not being wanted as a model or as an actress, has seen her career kick off once more after Lancome reached out to her again, two decades after she was fired for being 'too old'. She first became the face of Lancome in 1982 and advertised a wide range of products for the brand, until she was fired 14 years later at the age of 43. For a while, she thought her modeling career was over, until Lancome reached out again, this time during her sixties. 'I just couldnt believe it,' Isabella told Glamour of Lancome's request to resume their partnership, back in 2015. 'I mean, it wasn't like three years later. Twenty-three years is a lifetime. I did say, "You better see me", because I thought maybe they looked at the old photos and thought I haven't changed.' While working with the brand again, Isabella has been determined to fight against anti-aging messages, at one point telling the company during a meeting just how much that kind of wording aggravates her. Grandmother: Isabella is occasionally pictured on Elettra's Instagram feed bonding with her grandson; she is pictured reading to him in a photo shared in February Making a comeback: The model (pictured in January with her newborn grandson) recently said she's 'hot again' after not being wanted as a model or as an actress Opportunities: For a while, Isabella (pictured in a Lancome ad in 1983) thought her modeling career was over, until Lancome reached out again, this time during her sixties Ambassador: Isabella became the face of Lancome in 1982 and advertised a wide range of products for the brand, until she was fired 14 years later at the age of 43 'Now they've developed several versions of this cream and the latest is called Renergie Multi-Glow. We had a long discussion about that, because sometimes it's still described as antiageand I said, "Antiage!? That irritates me!"' Isabella said. Asked why anti-aging messages bother her so much, the mother and grandmother added: 'Because we can't antiage. It's against nature!' Back when Lancome first sacked her, Isabella spoke openly of her relationship with the company. 'I did not leave on my own; they hired a younger woman with raven hair to replace me,' she said in 2002 according to a conversation archived by New York Magazine. 'They fired me because I was strong.' In the same monologue, Isabella explained 16 years ago that she didn't take kindly to Lancome's decision to send her 'many flowers' on her 40th birthday. 'It was a morgue,' she said. 'I knew I was dead. They said, "Be grateful, Isabella. You're lucky you lasted so long in the business."' Isabella advertised the same line she is representing now, Renergie, during her first time as the face of Lancome. Now, she attributes much of the brand's decision to bring her back to the fact that Lancome is now managed by a woman, Francoise Lehmann, the general manager of Lancome international. 'I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the general manager is now a woman,' Isabella told Glamour. 'She told me she wanted to be inclusive and not just portray women as beautiful when they're young and thin with blond hair and blue eyes. And she wanted [the brand] to be an instrument of finding elegance and glamour, rather than dictating to women what they should be. 'She also felt like, before, cosmetics were emphasized as a seduction toolwhich obviously they are. We put makeup on if we're going out on a date. But the other part that wasn't emphasized was the real pleasure women have in self-decorating. There's a feminine pleasure in making things look prettier and put together.' Leadership: The model (pictured in 2015) attributes much of the brand's decision to bring her back to the fact that Lancome is now managed by a woman Boss: Isabella (pictured in a 1994 Lancome ad) previously said she felt as though 'things had changed' the first time she met Francoise Lehmann, the head of Lancome international Isabella previously recounted how her first encounter with the company's head left a durable impression on her, telling the Daily Mail: 'A fantastic-looking woman got off, took off her casque [helmet] and this blonde hair fell out. 'Then she walked up to me, shook my hand and said: "Hi, I'm Francoise," and, just with that, I knew things had changed. 'Before, I used to deal with 60-year-old men who were paternalistic and condescending.' Back when the brand first sacked her, Isabella said, beauty was still strongly associated with youthfulness, even though Lancome didn't directly tell her 'You're too old to be beautiful.' 'The rationale was that women dream to be young, so you cannot represent that dream when you're not young anymore,' she told Glamour. 'The thought was you have to have a young-looking person sends the message "eternal beauty is youth." Obviously, I didn't agree, and it hurt me because I felt that I wasn't alone. 'So I asked my friends: Do you really dream to be young? A lot of them said no. We dream to be elegant and sophisticated, but young? We know at the beginning from the moment you're born you're going to grow older, so don't deny that reality. You just say, how do I live well through the different chapters of my life, that's what people seek. 'Also, it wasn't only Lancome. I was dropped by a lot of other jobs. Lancome was the most known because it was a big company, and because the campaign was so successful. But I stopped modeling all together and eventually even working less as an actress. I mean, it happens, even still today.' New Yorkers are very serious about their salads and when one popular chain announced this week that it would not longer chop up its offerings for customers, many did not take it well. Just Salad revealed this week that it has been phasing out the option to have salads chopped in its 20+ New York City locations, and by the end of the month there will be a strict no-chopping policy in place across every store. Since the news was published online, many customers have taken to Twitter to express disappointment, outrage, and horror at the decision. Chopping block: Just Salad announced this week that it will no longer give customers the option to have their salads chopped up Salad rules: Some customers of New York City salad chains like their salads chopped, so all of the ingredients are in small pieces that are easy to get onto a fork New York City has several popular salad chains, including New York City has several popular salad chains, Just Salad, Chop't, Fresh & Co, and Sweetgreen. Some customers like to have salad-makers 'chop' all of the ingredients, cutting everything up into smaller pieces. It's particularly popular in the city, where many office employees eat at their desk and can more easily eat a salad with smaller pieces using just one hand, with the other hand on a computer mouse. The New York Post published the news this week that Just Salad will no longer chop salads on request after phasing it out at some stores. 'Chopping seems so 2006 now,' said Just Salad founder and CEO Nick Kenner, who explained that nixing that option will save time and get people in and out faster. The chain will, however, pre-cut ingredients into smaller pieces, according to Eater. Works for them! Fresh & Co. stopped offering chopping of salads two years ago Them too! Sweetgreen also has a no-chopping policy; the chains say not chopping speeds up lines and wait times How dare they!? Many customers, though, are very upset about the decision Breaking their hearts (of romaine)! They've called the new policy 'unacceptable' and expressed disappointment The move is following in the footsteps of other chains like Sweetgreen and Fresh & Co., the latter of which stopped chopping two years ago. 'Its soup-like if you chop a salad too much youd need a spoon over a fork,' Fresh & Co. CEO George Tenedios told the Post. But while Kenner painted the change as positive, not everyone is convinced. Several customers spoke to The Post about the change and expressed passionate disappointment. 'Thats pathetic,' said Nidhi Shah, 23. 'Thats not going to be convenient at all. Its really easy to eat chopped salad everything gets mixed so well with the dressing.' Another customer called it 'kind of a shock' when she was told she couldn't have her salad chopped, and said she was upset. Lettuce all be sad! They've taken to social media to express their frustration You're kale-ing her, guys! This young woman is 'livid' and may start going somewhere else It's bean real! This woman acknowledges that this might be a very New York City problem What's the big dill? This woman says salad goes down easier when it's chopped up More expressed their ire in various degrees on social media. 'THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE,' wrote one woman. 'Why ruin a good thing????' asked another. 'I am livid about this change! I thought this was a random fluke but no?!?!? UGHHH,' tweeted a third. 'What?! This clearly goes against something in the Geneva Convention, ' wrote someone jokingly. 'Dont buy it. Not for a second. Eating my salad like rabbit food is one of the only reasons I can consume kale,' added yet another. 'This is a very NYC tweet, wrote one woman in response to The Post's tweet about the story. 'While living there, I developed strong feelings on this topic. And gosh darn it... I like a good chopped salad. 10/10 dislike the trend of it going away.' No worries! Chop't will be staying true to its name and will continue to chop salads A chard of hope! Since Just Salad's offerings will no longer be chopped (like this one from Chop't), the chain will pre-cut the ingredients A positive spin(ach): This guy doesn't mind the move and thinks it's no big deal to have to chew a bit more Others wanted to know, with so many chains ending chopping, if the specifically-named Chop't would change, too. But Chop't happily responded to tweets to promise that all would remain chopped there. 'We've been chopping since we opened the first salad restaurant in NYC in 2001, and have no plans to stop now!' they wrote. Not everyone is outraged or even the least bit bothered, though. A few have responded to the backlash by saying that they prefer un-chopped salads 'Never understood why salad places always want to chop my salad?? I have many teeth, and years of experience chewing,' wrote one man. Girls should be taught how to breastfeed at school, experts have urged after a new analysis revealed the UK still has one of the lowest rates in the world. Just 81 per cent of babies in the UK are fed 'the natural way' - meaning 150,000 are missing out on breast milk each year, according to data from Unicef. This is despite repeated Government campaigns to boost rates and NHS guidance that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six months. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has now called for breastfeeding to be added to the curriculum so children can learn it is natural and the best source of nutrition for a baby. Unicef, which assessed breastfeeding rates from 123 countries, claim nearly eight million babies across the world are missing out on being breastfed each year. The charity discovered Ireland has the lowest rates, at just 55 per cent. In contrast, Sri Lanka tops the charts, with 99.4 per cent of mothers breastfeeding. Spain (77 per cent), the US (74.4 per cent) and France (63 per cent) are also placed in the bottom five for breastfeeding rates, according to the data. MailOnline has today sifted through the 13-page report to reveal the 10 countries with the highest and lowest rates of breastfeeding. Ireland has the lowest rates of breastfeeding on the planet, a new analysis today revealed. Just 55 per cent of babies on the Emerald Isle have been fed 'the natural way' at least once Breast milk contains antibodies passed on from the mother, which boost a babys immune system and help it fight infections and viruses. There is also evidence that breastfed babies have higher IQs and are less at risk of obesity - because formula milk is higher in fat. Breastfeeding is also deemed beneficial for the mother because it enables her to bond with the newborn. It also enables her to lose weight, as nursing mothers burn up to 500 calories a day extra. Yet despite numerous breast is best campaigns by the Government and the NHS, rates have barely improved in recent years. The NHS recommends babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six months and after that given a combination of breast milk and food for about a year. Sue Ashmore, of Unicef UKs Baby Friendly Initiative, said: 'The UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world and it is a highly emotive subject. 'Many women have not breastfed, or have experienced the trauma of trying very hard to breastfeed and not succeeding. 'It is time to stop laying the blame for the UKs low breastfeeding rates in the laps of individual women.' She added that it is a public health imperative, for which the 'Government, policy makers, communities and families all share responsibility'. THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE LOWEST RATES OF BREASTFEEDING Ireland France US Spain UK Germany Italy Republic of Korea Montenegro Guyana Source: UNICEF 55% 63% 74.4% 77% 81% 82% 86% 88% 88.3% 89% Advertisement THE 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF BREASTFEEDING Sri Lanka Bhutan Nepal Madagascar Niger Rwanda Kenya Gambia Burundi Uruguay Peru 99.4% 99.3% 99.1% 99% 98.8% 98.8% 98.7% 98.7% 98.7% 98.7% 98.7% Advertisement The Unicef figures, which are estimates, revealed a huge disparity in breastfeeding rates between rich and poor countries. An estimated 21 per cent of babies in high-income countries are never breastfed. But in low- and middle-income countries, the rate is just four per cent. Bhutan (99.3 per cent), Nepal (99.1 per cent) and Madagascar (99 per cent) were the only other countries, alongside Sri Lanka, to breach the 99 per cent mark. Professor Russell Viner, president of the RCPCH, said: 'We know that many women want to breastfeed and although its natural, it doesnt always come naturally. 'Breastfeeding rates decrease markedly over the first weeks following birth - 81 per cent of mothers in the UK initiate breastfeeding but only 34 per cent still breastfeeding at 6 months. IS BREAST REALLY BEST? Breast milk contains antibodies passed on from the mother, which boost a babys immune system and help it fight infections and viruses. There is also evidence that breastfed babies have higher IQs and are less at risk of obesity - because formula milk is higher in fat. Breastfeeding is also deemed beneficial for the mother because it enables her to bond with the newborn. It also enables her to lose weight, as nursing mothers burn up to 500 calories a day extra. Advertisement 'Thats why its important women are supported to breastfeed before and after they have their baby health visiting services are a vital tool but with cuts to public services, we have concerns that much of this support is being lost. 'The Government must invest in these services or breastfeeding rates will decline further and child health will suffer as a result.' He added: 'Society as a whole also has a role to play. Women should be able to breastfeed whenever and wherever their baby needs without feeling anxious or being verbally abused. 'Public facing campaigns are one way of changing attitudes but so too will education. 'Children need to learn from a young age that breastfeeding is natural and the best source of nutrition for a baby Personal Social Health Education in all schools will do this and must be added to the curriculum quickly.' Clare Livingstone, professional policy advisor at The Royal College of Midwives, said: 'There is no doubt that the UK along with many other countries needs to improve its breastfeeding rates. 'Typically the number of women who start breastfeeding in the UK is at around 80 per cent, but unfortunately after a couple of weeks this number falls dramatically. 'Low breastfeeding rates in parts of the UK unfortunately indicate a much bigger social and cultural problem that needs to be tackled. 'There are some areas where many generations of women haven't been given the example of breastfeeding or offered the right support to enable them to initiate and sustain breastfeeding if the can and chose to do so.' More than 400 people in England have been struck down with measles so far this year, new figures reveal. Between January 1 and May 9, 440 cases were confirmed, with London being the worst hit, according to data from Public Health England (PHE). PHE claims travel between European countries experiencing measles epidemics is behind England's outbreak, as well as people failing to take up the recommended measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines. Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at PHE, said: 'The majority of cases we are seeing are in teenagers and young adults who missed out on their MMR vaccine when they were children.' Romania, Italy, Germany, Greece and France are all experiencing unprecedented cases of the highly infectious, life-threatening condition. To prevent a measles outbreak, it is recommended that 95 per cent of the population is immunised against the infection. Only 91.9 per cent of children were vaccinated against measles between 2015 and 2016 compared to 94.2 per cent in 2014-to-2015 and 94.3 per cent in 2013-to-2014, according to NHS immunisation statistics. More than 400 people in England have been struck down with measles so far in 2018 (stock) MEASLES DECLARED 'ELIMINATED' FROM THE UK JUST FOUR MONTHS AGO The 'elimination' of measles has been achieved in the UK, global health leaders said in September. The elimination of measles or rubella can be verified once a country has sustained 'interruption of endemic transmission' for at least 36 months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The European Regional Verification Commission said the UK achieved elimination status for measles as of 2016. Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: 'We are delighted that the WHO has confirmed that the UK achieved measles elimination in 2016 and that rubella elimination continues to be sustained. 'In addition, national vaccine coverage of the first MMR dose in five year olds has hit the WHO's 95 per cent target. 'This is a huge achievement and a testament to all the hard work by our health professionals in the NHS to ensure that all children and adults are fully protected with two doses of the MMR vaccine. 'We need to ensure that this is sustained going forward by maintaining and improving coverage of the MMR vaccine in children and by catching up older children and young adults who missed out.' Advertisement WHAT WERE THE MEASLES, MUMPS AND RUBELLA VACCINATION RATES IN TWO-YEAR-OLDS ACROSS ENGLAND IN 2015-TO-2016? Region of England % vaccinated North East North West Yorkshire & Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England London South East South West Source: NHS immunisation statistics 95 92.9 94 94.1 93.1 93.5 86.4 91.9 92.9 Where in England are outbreaks occurring? London has had the most measles cases, with a confirmed 164 incidences so far this year. This is followed by the South East where 86 people have suffered since January 1. The West Midlands has had 78 incidences and the South West 42. West Yorkshire is also experiencing a local outbreak with 37 confirmed cases in just over five months. Officials urge people to get vaccinated Dr Ramsay said: 'The measles outbreaks we are currently seeing in England are linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe. 'The majority of cases we are seeing are in teenagers and young adults who missed out on their MMR vaccine when they were children. 'Anyone who missed out on their MMR vaccine in the past or are unsure if they had two doses should contact their GP practice to catch-up. 'This serves as an important reminder for parents to take up the offer of MMR vaccination for their children at 1 year of age and as a pre-school booster at three years and four months of age. She added: 'Wed also encourage people to ensure they are up to date with their MMR vaccine before travelling to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks. 'The UK recently achieved World Health Organization (WHO) measles elimination status and so the overall risk of measles to the UK population is low, however, we will continue to see cases in unimmunised individuals and limited onward spread can occur in communities with low MMR coverage and in age groups with very close mixing.' The WHO claims people's fear of vaccines, along with complacency, means many, particularly young children, are unprotected. To prevent a measles outbreak, 95 per cent of the population should be vaccinated (stock) Epidemics in Europe Earlier this year, the WHO warned measles was spreading across Europe in regions where vaccination rates are low, such as Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine. Data published in November last year by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in the Communicable Disease Threat Report show that from January 2016 to November 2017, more than 19,000 measles cases were reported in the EU, including 46 deaths. The highest number of cases in 2017 were reported in Romania, where 7,759 people suffered, followed by Italy with 4,775 cases and Germany with 898 sufferers. Greece also experienced a measles outbreak, with at least 368 cases, and one death, since May 2017. Dr Ramsay said: 'Due to ongoing measles outbreaks within Europe, we will continue to see imported measles cases in the UK in unimmunised individuals. 'This serves as an important reminder for parents to take up the offer of MMR vaccination for their children when offered at one year of age and as a pre-school booster at three years, four months of age.' WHAT IS MEASLES, WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS AND HOW CAN YOU CATCH IT? Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads easily from an infected person by coughing, sneezing or even just breathing. Symptoms develop between six and 19 days after infection, and include a runny nose, cough, sore eyes, a fever and a rash. The rash appears as red and blotchy marks on the hairline that travel down over several days, turning brown and eventually fading. Some children complain of disliking bright lights or develop white spots with red backgrounds on their tongue. In one in 15 cases, measles can cause life-threatening complications including pneumonia, convulsions and encephalitis. Dr Ava Easton, chief executive of the Encephalitis Society told MailOnline: 'Measles can be very serious. '[It] can cause encephalitis which is inflammation of the brain. 'Encephalitis can result in death or disability.' Treatment focuses on staying hydrated, resting and taking painkillers, if necessary. Measles can be prevented by receiving two vaccinations, the first at 13 months old and the second at three years and four months to five years old. Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital Advertisement Fears over discredited claims the jab causes autism may be to blame for outbreaks (stock) ARE AUTISTIC CHILDREN MISSING OUT ON VACCINATIONS? Autistic children are missing out on life-saving vaccinations, research suggested in March 2018. Only 81.6 per cent of those on the autism spectrum have received all the recommended vaccinations for children aged between four and six years old, a study found. For those without the developmental disability, 94.1 per cent have had the necessary jabs, including diptheria, polio, and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), the research adds. Lead author Dr Ousseny Zerbo, from Kaiser Permanente, California, said: 'These findings suggest that children with autism and their younger siblings may be at greater risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. 'Vaccine hesitancy or refusal may play a role in children not getting properly vaccinated.' Results further suggest just 89.1 per cent of children with autism have been vaccinated against diptheria, tetanus and whooping cough, compared to 96.6 per cent of youngsters without the disorder. Only 84 per cent of autistic children are protected against MMR versus 95.9 per cent who do not suffer such developmental and behavioural challenges. The younger siblings of autism sufferers are also missing out, with 6.8 per cent receiving fewer vital jabs than their peers. Dr Nicholas Wood, from Sydney University, who was not involved in the study, added: 'Parents of autism spectrum disorder kids may be worried; they may still feel that the MMR vaccine led to autism. 'And that a second dose may cause a regression.' Advertisement Is Andrew Wakefield's discredited research to blame for low vaccination rates? In 1995 the gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet showing children who had been vaccinated against MMR were more likely to have bowel disease and autism. He speculated that being injected with a 'dead' form of the measles virus causes disruption to intestinal tissue, leading to both of the disorders. After a 1998 paper further confirmed this finding, Wakefield said: 'The risk of this particular syndrome [which he termed autistic enterocolitis] developing is related to the combined vaccine, the MMR, rather than the single vaccines.' At the time, Wakefield had a patent for single MMR vaccines and was therefore accused of having a conflict of interest. Nonetheless, MMR vaccination rates in the US and UK plummeted, until, in 2004 the then-editor of The Lancet Dr Richard Horton described Wakefield's research as 'fundamentally flawed', adding he was paid by attorneys seeking lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. The Lancet formally retracted Wakefield's research paper in 2010. Three months later, the General Medical Council banned Wakefield from practicing medicine in Britain, stating his research had shown a 'callous disregard' for children's health. On January 6 2011, The British Medical Journal published a report showing that of the 12 children included in Wakefield's 1995 study, at most two had autistic symptoms post vaccination, rather than the eight he claimed. At least two of the children also had developmental delays before they were vaccinated, yet Wakefield's paper claimed they were all 'previously normal'. Further findings revealed none of the children had autism, non-specific colitis or symptoms within days of receiving the MMR vaccine, yet the study claimed six of the participants suffered all three. Health officials are preparing for the 'worst' Ebola outbreak yet. Peter Salama, head of emergency response at the World Health Organziation (WHO), said: 'We are very concerned, and we are planning for all scenarios, including the worst-case scenario.' This comes days after the first confirmed death in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which also has 11 known sufferers. Seventeen recent fatalities are thought to be linked to the Ebola outbreak, while 32 people are suspected to be infected with the virus in the northwestern area of Bikoro. The outbreak, which was confirmed by the DRC's health minister last Tuesday, is the country's ninth epidemic since the virus was identified in 1976. Scientists fear it may be a 'public-health emergency' after an Ebola pandemic killed at least 11,000 when it decimated West Africa between 2014 and 2016. All nine countries that neighbour DRC have been put of high alert over the possible spread of Ebola and international aid teams have flown in to help. Health officials are preparing for the 'worst' Ebola outbreak yet (pictured, Red Cross workers carrying a corpse out of a house in Sierra Leone during the Ebola pandemic of 2014-16) Three health professionals have died The Congo Health Ministry said last Tuesday: 'Our country is facing another epidemic of the Ebola virus, which constitutes an international public health emergency.' Three of the confirmed or suspected sufferers are healthcare workers, of which one has died. Health Minister Oly Ilunga said: 'One of the defining features of this epidemic is the fact that three health professionals have been affected. 'This situation worries us and requires an immediate and energetic response.' What is being done to prevent more cases? The affected region of Bikoro is very remote and difficult for emergency teams to reach. Mr Salama said: 'Access is extremely difficult... It is basically 15 hours by motorbike from the closest town.' In addition, to the health team that is already there, the WHO is preparing to send up to 40 specialists in the next week or so. Mr Salama also stated the UN health organisation hopes to have a mobile lab up and running on site this weekend. The WHO and World Food Programme are also working to set up an 'air-bridge' to help bring in supplies, however, only helicopters can be used until an airfield is cleared to allow larger planes to land, Mr Salama added. The health body has released 738,000 ($1m) from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support response activities for the next three months. Where could the outbreak spread to? The WHO is thought to be particularly concerned about the spread of Ebola to Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province, which has around one million residents and is just a few hours away from Bikoro. Mr Salama said: 'If we see a town of that size infected with Ebola, then we are going to have a major urban outbreak.' Nigerias immigration service has increased screening tests at airports and other entry points as a precautionary measure. Similar measures helped the region contain the virus during the West African epidemic that began in 2013. Officials in Guinea and Gambia both said they have heightened screening measures along their borders. This comes days after the first confirmed death in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which also has 11 known sufferers (a health worker is pictured spraying a colleague with disinfectant during a training session for Congolese health workers to deal with Ebola four years ago) How bad have previous outbreaks been? DRC escaped the brutal Ebola pandemic, which was finally declared over in January 2016, but was struck by a smaller outbreak last year. Four DRC residents died from the virus in 2017. The outbreak lasted just 42 days and international aid teams were praised for their prompt responses. Health experts credit an awareness of the disease among the DRC population and local medical staff's experience treating for past successes containing its spread. The country's vast, remote geography also gives it an advantage, as outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate. Bikoro, however, lies not far from the banks of the Congo River, which is considered to be an essential waterway for transport and commerce. Further downstream, the river flows past Kinshasa and Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic. The two cities have a combined population of more than 12 million people. Neighbouring countries alerted Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and the Republic of Congo - which border the DRC - have all been alerted. While Kenya, which does not border the country, has issued warnings over the possible spread of Ebola. Thermal guns to detect anyone with a fever have been put in place along its border with Uganda and at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Concerned health officials in Nigeria, which also does not border the DRC, have put similar measures in place to keep its population safe. Mass vaccination will not curb epidemics This comes after research released earlier this month suggested mass vaccinations will not stop Ebola outbreaks. Professor Martin Michaelis and colleagues examined the prospects of a major Ebola campaign to dole out jabs to at-risk patients by looking at 35 old studies. Writing in the Frontiers in Immunology, they revealed that controlling an outbreak of the virus depends entirely on surveillance and the isolation of cases. At least 80 per cent of the population would have to receive the vaccine to establish herd immunity, as the average infected patient passes it onto four other people. Yet, Professor Michaelis pointed to a trial during the Ebola pandemic, which showed less than half of patients were given a experimental jab. Currently, there are no vaccines to protect patients against Ebola and scientists are unsure if any of the ones under investigation will work in the long term. Doling out vaccines to populations would also be 'costly and impractical', Professor Michaelis claimed, due to many people at risk living in remote, rural areas. The first ever definitive list of 'dodgy dentist' scenarios that patients should never face in the chair has been drawn up. In a bid to crack down on bad mistakes, experts have agreed on the 15 situations dental patients should never find themselves in. The blunders, dubbed 'never events', include pulling out the wrong tooth, breaking the patient's jaw and leaving 'foreign object' in their mouths. It is the first international agreement of its type for dentists and experts claim it may be a major step forward in improving patient wellbeing across the globe. Monitoring the events will allow clinics to quickly identify serious errors and could enable health authorities to better monitor dentists' performance, researchers say. There is already a well-established checklist for doctors and surgeons to avoid 'never events' - catastrophic blunders that should not happen under any circumstances. The checklist, adopted by the World Health Organization, includes making sure they operate on the right body part and ensure no instruments are left inside patients after surgery. The list for dentists, published in a prestigious journal, was devised by a group of researchers led by the University of Edinburgh. The new list will be the first of its kind for dentists and record when accidents happen, such as dentists reusing disposable equipment or giving patients medication they are allergic to Safety guidelines vary throughout the world Until now, never events recording has not been widely used in dentistry and safety guidelines vary throughout the world. Using electronic questionnaires, researchers worked with an international panel of experts to develop the detailed list of never events for dentists. The agreed list covers routine assessments as well as surgery and includes equipment not being sterilised and dentists prescribing the wrong medication to children. The consensus is published in the British Dental Journal and was funded by the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology. It was carried out in collaboration with researchers at Cardiff University and King's College London. 'We hope the list will improve patient care' Professor Aziz Sheikh, of the University of Edinburgh said: 'Never events are a vital way to flag failures in procedure that put patient safety at risk. 'By listing a consensus position on never events in dentistry, we hope that regulators and professional bodies will be able to assess the frequency of such events and reduce their occurrence.' Professor Raman Bedi, emeritus professor at King's College London and former chief dental officer of England, was also involved in the study. He added: 'Our definitive list of never events reflects a collaborative international effort to improve patient safety. 'We hope the list will improve care for all patients by creating an environment of openness where all members of the dental team can easily report adverse incidents.' A 50-year-old grandmother has died after contracting flesh-eating bacteria on vacation - allegedly from the hot tub in her hotel room. Carol Martin developed a sore the size of a nickel on her buttocks after returning to Indianapolis from her family's annual trip to the races in St Petersburg, Florida. At first, the mother-of-four and grandmother-of-seven thought nothing of the blemish, but it soon became painful and she went to her doctor, concerned. The doctor allegedly refused to test the sore, and sent her home with a heating pad. Days later, Carol returned in desperation, as the sore grew, but she was sent home again. Eventually, in late April, she was hospitalized with searing pain all over her body, and doctors confirmed she had necrotizing fasciitis, an often deadly flesh-eating bacteria that ravages the human body. On Saturday, after 16 days in intensive care, she was sent home, where she died. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Carol Martin, 50, used the hot tub one evening during her family's annual trip to Florida for the races. Her family believe that is what gave her the nickel-sized blemish that took her life Agonizing battle: Carol was finally hospitalized, but two surgeries couldn't save her Grieving: She is survived by her husband Richard (pictured), four children, and seven grandchildren (one pictured here) WHAT IS FLESH-EATING BACTERIA? Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection that quickly kills surrounding tissue. Once the bacteria enters the body, it can spread to the muscles, nerves, fat and blood cells around the infected site causing damage. Death can occur if it is not stopped quickly enough. Symptoms: Pain or soreness Swelling near wound Ulcers, blisters or black spots Fever Chills Fatigue Vomiting Treatment: Strong antibiotics are imperative to treating the disease and are typically administrated through an IV. Surgery is recommended when the antibiotics are unable to reach the tissue that has already been infected. This happens when the bacteria has prevented blood flow to those areas. If any of the infection is left in the body after surgery, it can cause organ failure and the patient will die. Advertisement 'She made me lunch, I kissed her goodbye to go to work. I come home early in the morning and found her passed away,' Richard told the Indy Channel. Carol always loved staying at Days Inn in Tampa for their vacation to see the races, Richard said. Towards the end of the vacation, they had a long day of activities, and Carol decided to relax in the hot tub for the evening. Richard is now pushing for the hotel's hot tub to be tested for the bacteria. The coroner in Indianapolis has collected samples, which will take three months to test, the Sentinel reported. 'My thing is, nobody else got it, the flesh-eating bacteria. She was the only one that got in the hot tub,' he said. He also questions why his wife's deadly condition was not spotted sooner. Necrotizing fasciitis spreads quickly and attacks the body's soft tissue, and the illness can become deadly fast. It is common to contract the bacteria through an open wound. The CDC recommends keeping wounds that are open or draining covered by clean bandages until they are completely healed. The bandages need to be dry when they are applied to the wound. People with conditions that impact the immune system should be particularly careful with open wounds, since their infection-fighting abilities are impaired. Tory MP and ex-Army captain, Johnny Mercer, came under fire this week for daring to question the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military veterans Tory MP and ex-Army captain, Johnny Mercer, came under fire this week for daring to question the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military veterans. The Plymouth MP accused some charities of exaggerating the scale of the problem to boost their own coffers and in doing so, damaging the image of servicemen and women, presenting them as mad, bad and dangerous. He went further, warning that soldiers were being swept up by a culture of victimhood and wrongly self-diagnosing PTSD, which harmed those with genuine problems who were in need of support. Cue the predictable torrent of abuse on social media denouncing Mercer for his cruel insensitivity. Naturally, members of the stress industry counsellors, therapists, psychologists and charities lined up to condemn him. It was Mercers comments that were degrading to veterans, they said, and accused him of promoting himself at veterans expense. They chose to ignore that Mercer served three tours in Afghanistan so might actually know what hes talking about. He has also admitted to his own struggles with mental health problems throughout his 20s, undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy and treatment with antidepressant drugs. A 2010 study by the Ministry of Defence and published in The Lancet concluded that PTSD only affects a minority of veterans around 4 per cent But more than all of that, what Mercer said wasnt just opinion: it is rooted in medical evidence. A 2010 study by the Ministry of Defence and published in The Lancet concluded that PTSD only affects a minority of veterans around 4 per cent. Of course, that is still a significant number, and their trauma is all too real, but the study revealed that PTSD was far from the most common mental health problem affecting veterans. Depression and anxiety were much higher than expected, while alcohol abuse was a major problem, with around 13 per cent affected. Among those deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, there was a 22 per cent higher risk of alcohol abuse than among those not serving in conflict zones. There is, too, a well-established link between alcohol misuse, violent crime and homelessness, and this is vital in understanding why many veterans end up in prison or on the streets. Among those deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, there was a 22 per cent higher risk of alcohol abuse than among those not serving in conflict zones It is estimated that there are up to 7,000 veterans who are homeless, while around one-tenth of the prison population are ex-servicemen or women. So why arent we talking about this? Why the obsession with PTSD among veterans and not alcohol or drug misuse, which is so much more pervasive? I would argue that we, the public, are partly to blame. We like to see our service personnel as heroic, or, as Johnny Mercer put it, broken. And if theyre broken, then we want to help fix them. PTSD fits in neatly with what civilians understand about war: the physical demands of military life, the separation from loved ones, the fear of dying, the exposure to death and carnage, the loss of comrades. No wonder it exerts a terrible mental toll. The individual is entirely a victim of his or her circumstances and so deserving of our sympathy and our donations. Turn to drugs or alcohol, however, and no matter what youve done for your country, thats considered a weakness of character and therefore not worthy of the same compassion as a victim of PTSD. That is grossly unfair. In his interview, Johnny Mercer made an even more important point. He spoke about his own post-traumatic growth the phrase used to describe how terrible events can, in the long term, be beneficial for some people. It helps develop coping skills and resilience, and many soldiers experience this, but it is rarely spoken about, said Mercer. Again, hes right. But this doesnt resonate with todays victimhood culture. Even to suggest that out of bad experiences, good might come, will see you instantly shouted down. People, of course, respond to situations differently and many find life in the Armed Forces tough. A small number experience difficulties when they leave, and in my work, Ive seen how easily lives can unravel away from the cameraderie and structure of service. But for most veterans, their time with the Forces was a positive experience, and they adjust well to being in Civvy Street, bolstered by the excellent work ethic and discipline instilled in them. Johnny Mercer knows that better than any of the ignorant online mob trying to shout him down. Troubled outsourcer Interserve said the UK's financial watchdog has launched a probe into its disclosure of costs associated with the closing down of its energy-from-waste business. In 2016, the company revealed it was exiting a contract to build incinerators to turn waste into energy an announcement which sent shares rallying. At the time, it said it would need around 70million to get out of the incinerator business, but in February last year it raised that figure to around 160million. The news sent shares crashing by as much as 32 per cent. Today, the group said the FCA was looking into the way Interserve informed the market it was exiting the energy-from-waste business between 2016 and 2017. Probe: FCA is looking into Interserve's disclosure of its exit from energy-from-waste business It said the investigation was 'in connection with the company's handling of inside information and its market disclosures in relation to its exited energy from waste business' between July 2016 and February 2017. The announcement sent shares falling more than 5 per cent at one point, although they have since rebounded a little, trading 2.4 per cent lower at 75.15p. 'The company will co-operate fully with the investigation and will update the market on the outcome in due course,' Interserve added. The probe comes after Interserve last month fell deeper into the red and signed a rescue deal with its creditors. Losses more than doubled to 244.4million in 2017, from a 94.1million loss in 2016. Meanwhile, the company agreed a 196.6million cash injection and 95million in bonds following talks with its banks, which include HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Barclays. Interserve, which is responsible for British military bases in Gibraltar and the Falklands and holds several contracts with local authorities, the London Underground and for Whitehall offices, was hit by disappointing trading in July and August. In September it issued a profit warning after widening losses from the incinerators' contract. Then in October it warned again over profits and a potential breach of its banking covenants as it grappled with escalating staff costs, squeezed margins and a flagging performance from its justice business. Hedge funds have recently increased their bets against Interserve as they believe its share price will fall even further. Fears have grown about the financial strength of the company and that of rivals such as Capita - after the dramatic collapse of construction giant Carillion. David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: 'At the end of last year the company issued a profit warning and there were fears it would break its covenants, and since then the stock has struggled. Today's announcement about the FCA investigation has eroded investor confidence again.' The partner of Hollywood actress Rosamund Pike has been disqualified as a company director after he failed to pay nearly 200,000 to the taxman. Robie Uniacke, 57, who is the father of the Gone Girl star's two children, has been banned from being a company director for four years after admitting a number of offences following an investigation into the collapse of his company Pale Fire. Details of Mr Uniacke's disqualification, who is 18 years Pike's senior, come as her new film Entebbe, about the iconic 1976 rescue of hostages in Uganda by Israeli special forces, hits UK cinemas. Ms Pike, 39, first found Hollywood fame when she was 23 alongside Pierce Brosnan in the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day - and went on to star opposite Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck. Robie Uniacke (left), the partner of Hollywood actress Rosamund Pike (right) has been disqualified as a company director after he failed to pay nearly 200,000 to the taxman Mr Uniacke, 57, has been banned from being a company director for four years after admitting a number of offences following an investigation into the collapse of his company Pale Fire Details of Mr Uniacke's disqualification, who is 18 years Pike's senior and the father of her two children, come as her new film called Entebbe hits UK cinema screens next week The actress, educated at the private Badminton School and Wadham College, Oxford, is believed to have started seeing Uniacke in around 2008 around the time he wound up three of his companies. She said she was drawn to him because he was 'the most interesting person I've ever come across' and dismissed sceptics who think that a woman 'goes for an older man because you think you're less likely to be left by him.' She has also credited him for helping her career, once stating: 'I have a very clever partner who's got a very astute mind and is very, very well read and articulate and ruthless about how something I do might play out on screen. 'My tendency is to identify with a character and imagine there is more on the page than there is. He's quite good at putting a check on that.' Ms Pike, educated at the private Badminton School and Wadham College, Oxford, is believed to have started seeing Uniacke in 2008 around the time he wound up three of his companies Mr Uniacke's firm Pale Fire Ltd, an IT consultancy, was declared insolvent and subsequently dissolved in 2016 and the liquidator's report states the account was overdrawn by 133,000 However the news that her Eton educated partner has been banned as a company director is likely to come as a considerable embarrassment to Pike, who has a number of new films being released after focusing on their children Solo and Atom in recent years. Mr Uniacke's company Pale Fire Ltd, which was an IT consultancy incorporated in 2010, was declared insolvent and subsequently dissolved in 2016 and the liquidator's report states his account was overdrawn by 133,000. The report states that the businessman had no income and no assets but his offer of 25,000 'in full and final settlement of the overdrawnaccountby a third party' was accepted by the liquidator. As part of the disqualification process, Mr Uniacke was obliged to set out and sign a 'schedule of unfit conduct' in which he admitted that 'I failed to ensure that Pale Fire complied with its statutory obligationsand caused Pale to trade to the detriment of HMRC' on VAT and corporation tax. He also admitted that no payments were made to HMRC after July 2012 despite the fact that over the next two years 260,508 was deposited into his account, which then paid out 268,728. The actress's partner admitted that 144,060 went to himself, 10,514 on mobile phones, and 25,154 on other payments and bank charges. He ended up owing a total of 179,602 to HMRC. The couple have a 2.3m house in Islington, north London, which they share with their sons Solo and Atom. Despite Pike's glittering Hollywood career, her private life has been beset by bad luck. Her first love was actor Simon Woods, but they parted ways after he started to doubt his sexuality The actress was engaged to director Joe Wright, but he jilted her after she sent out 'save the date' cards Her relationship with film director Joe Wright ended after an alleged fall out over 'pre-wedding postcards.' She fared no better with her first love Simon Woods, whom she split with after two years when he decided that he was gay. Mr Uniacke has a complicated relationship history. He married Emma Howard, the daughter of the late Earl of Carlisle, in 1983, when he was just 22 and she was 30. They had a son but were subsequently both treated for heroin addiction and the marriage was over in a few years. He then married interior designer Rose Batstone and they had three children. The HMRC refused to comment and a spokesman for Rosamund Pike did not respond to a series of questions. Advertisement It's one of the most anticipated events of the year, and royal aides have spent months planning every tiny detail. But one thing that can't be organised in advance of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding at Windsor Castle in Berkshire next Saturday is the weather with the royal family and their fans hoping for clear skies and sunshine. However, good news is on the horizon, with forecasters' early predictions suggest showers will hold off for the big day on May 19 - with only a 12 per cent chance of downpours, and temperatures of 66F (19C) expected. Before then, Britain is preparing for a cooler weekend as temperatures only make it to 64F (18C), just a week after they hit a sweltering 84F (29C), and there is a chance of showers along with some hail and even thunder. The Coaching Marathon travels along the Long Walk at the Royal Windsor Horse Show today, one week before the wedding Carriage driving competitors at the Royal Windsor Horse Show are pictured on a pleasant spring day in Berkshire today Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Kensington Palace in London, after their engagement was announced last November Met Office forecasters expect temperatures will make it up to 63F (17C) today in the South East, and will only rise to a maximum of 64F (18C) by the weekend - which is just above the average for the time of year. Today will bring a dry start for most areas, although it will be windy in the North. Rain will soon move into Northern Ireland and will spread into western Britain during the afternoon, with heavy spells possible. Central and eastern areas meanwhile will be dry with hazy sunshine, but become more cloudy later with fresh winds. Tonight, rain will continue to affect western Britain but become more confined to the North by dawn. Tomorrow, eastern parts of Britain will be cloudy and wet, particularly in the afternoon and evening. It will also be damp at times across Wales and South West England with showers, but a mostly fine and dry day elsewhere. This graphic shows the forecast for today and this weekend, with showers possible in eastern areas on Saturday and Sunday Temperatures reached 54F/12C this morning (left), before rising to 63F/17C by the afternoon in the South East (right) On Sunday showers will affect south-western Britain, possibly thundery, with outbreaks of rain across northern and eastern parts. Monday with then be drier with sunny spells, but there will still be a chance of showers. The drop in temperatures follows a series of scorching days - with highs of 71.6F (22C) recorded yesterday, preceded by 81.7F (27.6C) on Tuesday and 83.7F (28.7C) on Monday, the hottest early May bank holiday on record. Met Office forecaster Sophie Yeomans told MailOnline said yesterday that some parts of Scotland could see a frost this morning, especially in countryside areas, and possibly also in northern England and parts of Wales. She added: 'We've got a band of rain pushing in from the West. It will move across into western Britain for the afternoon South West England, Wales, North West England and Western Scotland mainly seeing that. The pollen count is high for northern England today (left), while temperatures tomorrow are set to reach 64F/18C (right) The movement of the jet stream is resulting in cooler conditions for Britain today, after it moved southwards during the week 'North East England, eastern Scotland, South East England and some central areas through most of the day (today) are going to have another dry day, turning increasingly cloudy though.' Looking ahead to the weekend, Ms Yeomans said there is 'still quite a bit of uncertainty on the detail, but on the whole it looks like most places are going to see some sunshine, but there will also be some showers'. She added that temperatures will probably be around the average for the time of year, but added that there was an 'outside chance of hail and thunder' for both days of the weekend. Maximum temperatures recorded last weekend were 79.3F (26.3C) on Sunday, and 74.7F (23.7C) on Saturday. But the hottest day of 2018 so far remains April 19 when St James's Park in London made it up to 84.3F (29.1C). A white student who reported a black student for napping in their dorm common room because she didn't believe she lived there, has a history of placing similar calls on black students. The woman identified as Sarah Braasch, was reprimanded by the university an administrator said on Thursday. Lolade Siyonbola posted two videos of the encounter Monday night on social media showing Yale University police officers interviewing her for more than 15 minutes after being reported by Braasch. It has now emerged that Braasch had called police months earlier on another black student, Jean-Louis Reneson, who had got lost in a stairwell of the building. Scroll down for video Lolade Siyonbola, left, had the police called on her by a white student, Sarah Braasch, right, a Philosophy PhD student, after she found her napping in a common area of their shared dorm In March, Siyonbola and another black student, Jean-Louis Reneson, pictured, submitted a complaint about a separate incident also involving Braasch On that occasion, Siyonbola invited several colleagues, including Reneson, to the same residence hall in February for a meeting in the common room according to the Yale Daily News. Reneson, who got lost inside the building, was physically blocked by Braasch from entering the common room and accused him of being an intruder, according to the complaint. Commenting on Facebook about the experience Reneson wrote: 'I believe that as a Yalie, I'm blessed to have such an institution support my academic and professional ambitions. However, I cannot overlook the blatant racist experiences I have had while at Yale.' After Monday's episode, Yale Vice President for Student Life Kimberly Goff-Crews said in a statement: 'This incident and others recently reported to me underscore that we have work to do to make Yale not only excellent but also inclusive.' Siyonbola said she saw the statement from Goff-Crews as 'a move in the right direction'. Siyonbola says that Braasch, pictured, has made similar calls to authorities when she has invited black friends over to her dorm in the past Ms Siyonbola told police the woman (pictured) believes the common area is part of her own apartment, and that she had called police before on Ms Siyonbola's friend, who had become lost in the building She said requests for action by the university are currently being drafted by black graduate students. Goff-Crews said administrators and the Yale police chief are planning listening sessions with students in the months ahead to address the episode. She said she also plans to work with administrators and students to review suggestions on how to improve the university's response to incidents of discrimination and harassment. Lynn Cooley, the Dean of Yale's graduate school of arts and sciences, sent an email to graduate students Tuesday telling them that Ms Siyonbola had every right to be in the building and inviting them to share their concerns about the incident. 'Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place,' she wrote. 'I am committed to redoubling our efforts to build a supportive community in which all graduate students are empowered in their intellectual pursuits and professional goals within a welcoming environment.' Ms Siyonbola said she has received an outpouring of support from the black Yale community Reneson, who got lost inside the building, was physically blocked by Braasch from entering the common room and accused him of being an intruder, according to the complaint Siyonbola told police she had fallen asleep while writing a paper at the Ivy League school. She began to film herself as she spoke to Braasch who reported her for napping on a couch in the Hall of Graduate Studies. 'She came in and turned the lights on. I was sleeping on the couch and she said you're not supposed to be here, why are you sleeping here?' Siyonbola told police. She later told police Braasch believed the common area, in Yale's Hall of Graduate Studies at the New Haven campus, was part of her apartment. The African Studies student began to film again when police came, and they were seen speaking with her for more than 15 minutes before finally confirming she was a student at the university and leaving. Siyonbola's livestream of her interactions with Braasch and the officers went viral in the wake of the incident, with many responding in shock and disappointment. The police officers insisted that their attempts to verify her student status was 'protocol.' Police told her the encounter was prolonged because her name was not spelled correctly in a database of student information. Multiple officers arrived at the scene to verify Ms Siyonbola's identity after they were called to Yale's Hall of Graduate Studies at the New Haven campus Lynn Cooley, the Dean of Yale's graduate school of arts and sciences, said the university needed more work to become a 'truly inclusive place' Siyonbola, who showed police she had a key to her room and later provided them with her ID, accused the officers of harassing her. 'I deserve to be here,' she said in the video. 'I paid tuition like everybody else. I am not going to justify my existence here. It's not even a conversation.' Siyonbola repeatedly told police that Braasch that suffered from mental illness and that she was known to call the police and complain. 'I think you probably need to commit her to an institution,' she said. 'That's the only use you have to be here.' They spoke with the African studies student for 15 minutes, explaining the encounter was prolonged because her name was not spelled correctly in a database of student information Siyonbola expressed gratitude Tuesday on her Facebook page for 'the love, kind words and prayers' she has received. 'Black Yale community is beyond incredible and is taking good care of me,' she wrote. 'I know this incident is a drop in the bucket of trauma Black folk have endured since Day One America, and you all have stories.' Yale has faced a number of scandals over racism and has tried to take steps to prevent it. In February 2017, they announced they would change the name of a residential college that honors a 19th century alumnus and former U.S. vice president who was an ardent supporter of slavery, John C Calhoun. Last year, the school also removed a 'problematic' carving of a puritan holding a gun at a Native American. TV chef Gordon Ramsay has credited his success in the United States to Americans knowing 'f*** all about good food', DailyMailTV can reveal. Ramsay opened up about his time in the United States as he accepted an award for his success on both sides of the Atlantic at the Britweek Innovation Awards in Santa Monica, California, on May 4. The chef spoke about his move to the States in 2004, when he saw a Los Angeles Times reporter to box up a Caesar salad for takeaway. In May 2005, Fox launched a US version of the father-of-four hit show Hell's Kitchen (pictured), which showcased the chef's perfectionism and short temper in a high-stress competition reality cooking show. It was the first of a string of hit shows Scathing judgment: Gordon Ramsay - seen judging a pizza at Pantaleone's in Denver CO during a Kitchen Nightmares episode - has made a his often foul-mouthed criticism his hallmark Restaurant empire: Gordon Ramsay has a series of restaurants across the U.S. with some in Las Vegas and others on the east coast Winning: Ramsay has opened 11 restaurants across the United States, including the one above at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, although some have shuttered Honored: Gordon Ramsay opened up about his time in the United States as he accepted an award for his success on both sides of the Atlantic at the Britweek Innovation Awards in Santa Monica, California. He attended the event with his wife, Tana He told the crowd: 'The first thing that struck me when I first came over here in 2004, I got interviewed with the lady from the LA Times, and we sat in this amazing restaurant and I couldn't eat because I was too busy talking about sort of this little documentary called Hell's Kitchen. 'And it was really weird, because I said to her, "Look, I've got to get back to set. Fox runs a show, I run a restaurant, that's why we work so well together". 'And she wasn't upset, she just got a little bit nervous that I just wanted to get out of there and get back to work. And the waiter came over and said, "Would you like your food to go?" She said, "Yes", I said, "No, thank you". 'She boxed a Caesar salad and I said to her, "Do you have any idea how s**t a Caesar salad tastes 24 hours later? What will you do with that f***ing thing?" She said: "I'm going to eat it." 'I said, "But it's been dressed. We dressed it 20 minutes ago; it's sat there for 25 minutes. Why would you eat that?" She said, "It's delicious". 'That's when I knew Americans knew f*** all about good food. Right there and then.' Ramsay, who attended the event with wife Tana at the Fairmont Hotel, spoke to business people and influential Brits in Los Angeles. Ramsay and his wife, Tana (far right) , have four children together (from left): Holly, Matilda, Jack, and Megan Something to show for it: In 2012, Ramsay bought a $6.75 million home for his family in Bel-Air California. The five-bedroom, 7,400 square-foot home has sweeping views of the Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean Since arriving in the United States in 2004, Ramsay has become a television phenomenon. In May 2005, Fox launched a US version of the father-of-four hit show Hell's Kitchen, which showcased the chef's perfectionism and short temper in a high-stress competition reality cooking show. Hell's Kitchen is still on the air, and its 17th season ended in February. Ramsay also hosted a US version of the show Kitchen Nightmares, which ran for seven seasons from 2007 to 2014, and there was Hotel Hell on Fox, which ran for three seasons. Since 2010, has Ramsay served as a producer and judge on the US version of MasterChef. The series' ninth season, with Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and chef Aaron Sanchez serving as judges, will premiere on May 30. Ramsay has opened 11 restaurants across the United States. While at least three of the restaurants have shuttered, several remain open in cities including Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Baltimore. In 2012, Ramsay bought a $6.75million home for his family in Bel-Air California. The five-bedroom, 7,400 square-foot home has sweeping views of the Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. Ramsay, said at the awards show that his production team were due the credit for his success. He continued: 'I take my job very seriously. I love that sort of insight between LA and London. 'I went to dinner when I first arrived out with the team and that's the secret behind any of these shows is the team, so this award is not about me, it's about the team that worked alongside me and I travel at 1000 miles an hour and everyone that is on that page gets looked after equally as important. 'So I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to them and more importantly I think, a big thank you to Fox for letting me be me. I don't mean to swear, it's the f***ing idiots that I have to work with.' Performances by a former Metropolitan Opera music director have been removed from the company's radio channels following allegations of years of sexual abuse and harassment. James Levine, 74, was fired as music director in March after an investigation found evidence of 'sexually abusive and harassing conduct towards vulnerable artists' dating back to the 60s. He had served as the Met Opera's leading force as music or artistic director for 30 years from 1976 to 2016, conducting 2,551 performances between 1971 and December 2, the day the abuse allegations first appeared in the press. Former Metropolitan Opera director James Levine was fired in March after an investigation revealed accounts of sexual abuse and harassment dating back to the 60s. This week the company revealed it had removed the 74-year-old's performances from its radio channels More than 175 of Levine's performances from 1972-2017 remain available for streaming on Met Opera on Demand, ending with a performance of The Great Gatsby on December 10. The company said Levine's performances 'will be reintroduced to the programming at an appropriate time'. Levine has sued the Met, claiming defamation and breach of contract, which the company denies. A conference with Justice Andrea Masley in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan is scheduled for Tuesday. The Met launched an investigation in December after the New York Times reported accusations of Levine's sexual abuse, which occurred while some victims were his students. The investigation included interviews with more than 70 people, revealing abuse accounts from 'both before and after the period' of his 46-year music career at the Met. Some accounts of his abuse include forcing mutual masturbation among his students, although the investigations complete findings have not been published. Levine has sued the Met Opera, claiming defamation and breach of contract, reports say The 74-year-old worked with the company for 46 years, conducting 2,551 performances between 1971 and December 2, the day the abuse allegations first appeared in the press 'The investigation also uncovered credible evidence that Mr Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct towards vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr Levine had authority. In light of these findings, the Met concludes that it would be inappropriate and impossible for Mr. Levine to continue to work at the Met,' the organization said in a statement back in March. Levine responded to those accusations calling them 'unfounded' and that 'I have not lived my life as an oppressor or an aggressor'. The article revealed the account of Ashok Pai who reported to Lake Forest, Illinois police that he was 16 when he was abused by Levine after a Ravinia music festival. The man said Levine held his hand in an 'incredibly sensual way' and the following summer lay naked with him in bed and touched his penis. Levine was in his early 40s at the time. Levine's alleged sexual misconduct began before he joined the met, according to investigators The Met Opera has said Levine's performances 'will be reintroduced at an appropriate time' Pai told Lake Forest Police of the incident in fall 2016 but law enforcement said they would not bring criminal charges against Levine saying that although the age of consent in Illinois is 17, it was 16 back in 1986 when the incident took place. The New York Times also reported the accounts of three other students who were abused by Levine. One alleged victim Chris Brown said that he was abused by Levine in the summer of 1968 when he was 17. He was a student at the Meadow Brook School of Music in Michigan at the time where Levine led the schools orchestral program. The alleged abuse occurred in a dorm during night when Levine allegedly masturbated on him and asked him to reciprocate. When he declined to do so again Levine allegedly punished Brown by ignoring him for the rest of the summer program even while conducting him. Albin Ifsich, another former student at Meadow Brook claimed he too suffered years of abuse at the hands of Levine, as he joined the clique that followed Levin to Cleveland then New York. The Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center (above) announced Levine's removal in March Another alleged victim James Lestock was a cellist who claims he was abused one summer when he was a student and that the abuse continued in Cleveland where he followed Levin along with other musicians. He said that at one point Levine had the group wear blindfolds then masturbate partners they could not see. Responding to Levine's firing from the Met, Lestock said he was 'moved' to see acknowledgement of Levines reign of abuse. 'The truth can be very useful. The truth creates good,' he said to The Times. Rumors of his sexual abuse echoed through the Met for years. Former Met Press representative documented that such rumors dated back to 1979 in her book Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera, published in 2001. The accounts against Levine include the claims of four men, some of whom were teenagers or the conductor's students at the time of the abuse which involved masturbation Despite the accusations against him, Levines career at the Met was slowly reeling to an end. He stepped down as music director two season ago due to Parkinson's disease. He joined the met in 1971 and conducted 2,552 performances as music and artistic director. After he stepped down he was still music director emeritus and the head of the young artists program. He was suspended on December 3 however in wake of The Times' first article of his sexual abuse. Last month it was announced that Yannick Nezet-Seguin his successor would take over his role next season two years before he was scheduled to. In 1983 he covered Time magazine with the headline 'America's Top Maestro'. Some considered Levine to be the greatest American conductor since Leonard Bernstein. Levine has not commented on his firing. A Canadian Cabinet minister said he was left 'speechless' after he was told to take off his turban at a security check at a Detroit airport. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, said that while on his way back to Canada in April 2017, he was asked to remove his turban at Detroit Metro Airport after he had already passed through regular security checks. He said that he was asked to do additional security checks because he as wearing a turban, calling the experience 'uncomfortable'. The minister said when they realized who he was they allowed him to travel and not take it off. Bains told Canada's foreign minister who then complained to US officials. US officials have issued an apology to the Canadian Minister. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Navdeep Bains, Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development said he was asked to take off h He said US officials expressed regret and apologized and he's accepted the apology. 'I was very frustrated and disappointed that this occurred but ultimately I was allowed to fly,' Bains said in an interview with the French-language paper La Presse on Thursday. 'But it was because of who I was and that should not be the case. It doesn't matter what your status is and what your position is,' he added. Bains said it's the first time he's been asked to take his turban off while travelling in the US. 'I was speechless I was at the point of boarding and they asked me to take off my turban. But upon learning of my diplomatic status, they told me that everything is fine. That's not a satisfactory response,' he said. In the Sikh religion men are required to wear the turban. Mike England, a spokesman for the US Transportation Security Administration, said closed-circuit video was reviewed and said the officer conducting the screening did not follow standard operating procedures and has received additional training. 'We regret the screening experience did not meet the expectations of Mr. Bains,' he said in an email. But England said security does have the right to search headwear. 'All persons wearing head coverings may be subject to additional security screening, which may include an officer-conducted or self-conducted pat-down. TSA does this to ensure that prohibited items or weapons are not concealed beneath any type of clothing and brought onto an aircraft. This policy covers all headwear and is not directed at any one particular item or group,' he said. 'We recognize that passengers may be unable or unwilling to remove items for religious, medical, or other reasons, and should expect to undergo additional screening protocols.' One of the men questioned during the investigation into the 2002 death of a woman on a cruise ship has been arrested and charged after a police drug sting operation. Luigi Vitale, 53, was one of eight men who was questioned during the investigation into the gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) overdose death of Dianne Brimble during a 2002 P&O Cruise, for which he was not charged. Mr Vitale told the inquest that he had not met Ms Brimble because he was in bed, seasick. Scroll down for video One of the men questioned during the investigation into the 2002 death of a woman on a cruise ship, Luigi Vitale, 53, (pictured) was arrested and charged by police after a drug sting operation This week South Australian Police were monitoring the home of Mr Vitale in Henley South Australia when they witnessed Elio Commachio, 45, leaving the home and pulled him over shortly afterwards. Police allege they found up to 15 litres of liquid fantasy in the car that Mr Commachio was driving who was also drug tested, a test he allegedly failed, 9 News reported. Police allege in court that when they raided the home of Mr Vitale he was seen racing to the bathroom where he allegedly poured an unknown liquid into the bath drain while the water was running. Officers from the Crime Gangs Task Force who conducted the raids will allege they found a 'clandestine drug lab' inside Mr Vitale's home Both men faced court on Thursday and Mr Vitale's lawyer said in court there was no evidence of what his client had poured into the bath drain, 'whatever it may have been'. The lawyer also told the court there were no illicit drugs found inside Mr Vitale's home. Bail for both men was denied by the Magistrate. Mr Vitale was one of eight men who was questioned about the gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) overdose death of Dianne Brimble (pictured) during a 2002 P&O Cruise, for which he was not charged However the Magistrate said she would look into the possibility of releasing both men into home detention should reports be favourable towards them. Officers from the Crime Gangs Task Force who conducted the raids will allege they found a 'clandestine drug lab' inside Mr Vitale's home. And in 2016 a bomb allegedly exploded on the front lawn of Mr Vitale's home causing significant damage. A teacher at an elite private school who was investigated for allegedly deliberately trying to infect her children with measles is set to continue in her job. Rochelle Senn, a mother-of-two, was a teacher at Geelong Grammar School's primary school campus near Melbourne. She is the subject of an investigation carried out by the school and the Victorian Institute of Teaching after she made a shocking post on Facebook, the Herald Sun reported. Rochelle Senn's comments came after health officials warned of a measles outbreak in Melbourne's south-east and western Sydney (stock image) 'With the recent measles outbreak near Dandenong, please contact/message me if your children get measles and you are happy to share,' a fellow anti-vaxxer posted 'With the recent measles outbreak near Dandenong, please contact/message me if your children get measles and you are happy to share,' a fellow anti-vaxxer posted to the private group Australia: Childcare for Unvaccinated Children. 'Same plz!' Ms Senn responded. Her comments came after health officials warned of a measles outbreak in Melbourne's south-east and western Sydney. The VIT said the investigation into Ms Senn was ongoing. but she is unlikely to be struck off. 'There are a range of options available following the investigation. These include issuing a warning through to suspension but that's highly unlikely at this stage.' The Herald Sun reported that Geelong Grammar School has refused to answer questions about Ms Senn. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the school and Ms Senn for comment. The school's internal investigation began in February after then-principal Stephen Meek wrote a letter to parents. The school has refused to reveal the outcome of that investigation. Australian surfer Mick Corbett talked to Daily Mail Australia on what it's really like surfing in the Southern Ocean. Mick has surfed around the world from Hawaii and California, to the monster waves in Nazare, Portugal. And the Perth-born surfer said the waves and conditions in the Southern hemisphere are very different to the north. 'I feel like its a lot more raw in the Southern Ocean - and more wildlife too like dealing with sharks and big waves. We have a lot of slabs down here compared to the northern hemisphere.' He said 'slabs' refer to waves that break on a slab of reef which cause the wave to barrel. Renowned Australian surfer Mick Corbett talked to Daily Mail Australia on surfing in the Southern Ocean While Mick hasn't surfed in New Zealand's south coast he says that surfing in the Southern Ocean is very different to the northern hemisphere' Mick said he's not surprised by the biggest recorded wave in the Southern Ocean being 23.8 metres high. 'We get a lot of big swells in the southern hemisphere and because we arent as populated as the northern hemisphere there are a lot of undiscovered waves.. possibly waves that can break bigger then Nazare - the biggest wave in the world,' he said. 'I feel like its a lot more raw in the Southern Ocean - and more wildlife too like dealing with sharks and big waves' 'We get a lot of big swells in the southern hemisphere and because we arent as populated as the northern hemisphere there are a lot of undiscovered waves,' he said When asked to explain what is rushing through his head when he catches a monster wave Mick said, 'Before you go out you get really nervous. You are getting ready knowing that danger of surfing these waves are real. When it is super big the chance of not coming back is real.' As an experienced surfer, Mick said he still gets cold feet for the first few waves. 'The first couple of waves tend to be real nerve wrecking but after those waves you really get in sync with the ocean and your surfing really starts to open up,' Mick said. He added: 'Your adrenaline is rushing and then you start to push the limits.. It is the most insane feeling you will ever have. 'The come down after the session is crazy. Your still buzzing that night but the next day your so mellow, your body is aching like youve just played a footy match. Your just trying to take in what you have experienced.' The remains of a 10-year-old girl who went missing nearly a decade ago have been discovered hundreds of miles from her home. Lindsey Baum disappeared while walking back to her house in the small town of McCleary, Washington on June 26, 2009. The case gained nationwide publicity and Lindsey's face even appeared on the cover of People Magazine the following year. But now it has come to a tragic end after Lindsey's remains were discovered by hunters in what has been described as a remote location in eastern Washington. Scroll down for video The remains of 10-year-old girl Lindsey Baum, who went missing nearly a decade ago, have been discovered hundreds of miles from her home in McCleary, Washington Lindsey disappeared while walking back to her house in the small town on June 26, 2009 The remains were found in September 2017, but they were only identified by a DNA match last week after being sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. 'We've brought Lindsey home,' Grays Harbor Sheriff Rick Scott said during a press conference on Thursday. 'We've recovered her.' 'For the last nine years we've not been able to definitively say what this was, beyond this was a missing child,' he added. 'Now the reality is, we need to find a homicide suspect.' Scott said Lindsey's family was 'understandably devastated' by the outcome. 'They had prayed we would find her alive and bring her home,' he said. 'That was not the outcome that the family wanted to hear.' A statement posted on the Find Lindsey Baum Facebook page asked for privacy and 'silent prayers of support' for the family. 'Lindsey's mother, Melissa Baum, as well as the relatives and close friends of Lindsey wish to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support since the onset of Lindsey's disappearance,' it reads. 'While we are experiencing profound grief and mourning the loss of "OUR ANGEL" Lindsey at this time, we respectfully ask for your understanding of our need for privacy.' 'We've brought Lindsey home,' Grays Harbor Sheriff Rick Scott (pictured) said during a press conference on Thursday. 'We've recovered her' The case gained nationwide publicity and Lindsey's face even appeared on the cover of People Magazine the following year But now it has come to a tragic end after Lindsey's remains were discovered by hunters in what has been described as a remote location in eastern Washington Sheriff Scott pledged to find the 'monster' who killed Lindsey and urged anyone with information to come forward. 'There is someone out there who knows who did this, and how this happened,' he said. Grays Harbor County Comissioner Vickie Raines added that she hoped Lindsey's family would be able to find 'some peace through their grief and closure'. Lindsey had moved to McCleary with her mother and older brother Josh from Tennessee after her parents divorced 'A monster is still out there,' she wrote in the Facebook post. 'It is a very sad day, certainly not the outcome we've been hoping for.' The sheriff shared little specific information about the remains, but said the location where they were found could provide clues for the case, according to KOMO. No suspect has ever been arrested in the case, despite numerous leads and tips. Lindsey had moved to McCleary from Tennessee with her mother and older brother Josh after her parents divorced. 'McClearly felt like a nice, quiet, safe town,' Melissa told Dateline last year. 'The kids were making friends and doing well.' 'Everything seemed to be smoothing over for us finally.' On the fateful day of June 26, Lindsey had spent the morning at a friend's pool and then walked to another friend's house in hopes they would have a sleepover. The friend's mother said it would have to be another night, so Lindsey ventured on the 10-minute walk home by herself - never to be seen again. On the fateful day of June 26, Lindsey went to a friend's house in hopes they would have a sleepover. When her friend's mother said no, she began the 10-minute walk home alone Authorities have looked into more than 40 people as potential persons of interest, but have never named a suspect in Lindsey's disappearance As Lindsey's disappearance became national news, her mother was spending hours on end driving in her car, hoping for any sight of her little girl. Authorities have looked into more than 40 people as potential persons of interest, but have never named a suspect. Lindsey's mother Melissa (pictured) would spend hours in the days after she vanished driving through the city in hopes of finding her daughter More than 20 search warrants have been executed, and nearly 40 polygraph tests have been given. In 2010 authorities searched the home of a 47-year-old man who police said had provided 'inconsistent statements' to investigators. The following year, police searched the home, business, and storage unit of a man whose business is on the route Lindsey would have taken on her walk home. In 2014 investigators questioned a man who had already been charged with sexually abusing another child. Most recently, police investigated three elderly brothers who were arrested in a shocking child porn case. Charles Emery, 82, and his brothers Thomas, 80, and Edwin, 78, were taken into custody after a stash of child porn was discovered in their home. Melissa (pictured here meeting kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart in 2013) said she 'just kind of died inside' after her daughter vanished Charles stayed part-time in an isolated farmhouse in Shelton, Washington, just half an hour from Lindsey's home. Authorities found pictures of girls being raped and murdered, as well as used children's underwear, used condoms, dozens of penny loafer shoes and soda bottles laced with vodka in the Shelton home. A hand-written manifesto detailing 'ritualistic and satanic sacrifices' of young girls was also discovered, along with descriptions of how the girls should always wear penny loafers before their murders. Police also discovered a flyer about Lindsey in the home, but authorities ultimately were not able to find a connection between the brothers and her case. FBI and Grays Harbor Sheriff's investigators execute a search warrant on a McCleary residence in connection to Lindsey's disappearance Volunteers search for Lindsey with a team of dogs days after she disappeared in June 2009 'Despite everything we've done and continue to do, there is no piece of evidence of what happened to her,' Scott said in 2017. 'That's frustrating for us - and unimaginable for her family.' Melissa said she 'just kind of died inside' after her daughter vanished. 'It was as if I was in a coma, just numb,' she told Dateline. 'It destroyed us, especially Joshua. He didn't just lose his sister, he lost the mom he knew.' 'As a mother I could, and would, never stop searching,' she added. 'If I don't, who will?' Tips regarding Lindsey Baum's kidnapping and murder can be made at 1-360-964-1799 or by email at baumtips@co.grays-harbor.wa.us Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told colleagues she was close to quitting after President Trump laid into her during a Cabinet meeting, sources say. Nielsen, a protegee of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, had drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, two former officials told the New York Times. The Homeland Security Secretary has since pushed back on the claims, saying that Trump was 'rightly frustrated' that his administration has been prevented 'from fully securing the border and protecting the American people' - adding that she shared his frustration. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (right, at the Cabinet meeting) told colleagues she was close to quitting after President Trump (left, at the meeting) laid into her during a Cabinet meeting Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton added on Twitter that claims Nielson drafted her resignation letter were' 'false.' The Times reported that the president has growing increasingly angry with Nielsen over what he feels is the country's inability to adequately secure its border. On Wednesday, Donald Trump and Nielsen got into a heated argument during the Cabinet meeting focused on immigration. During the meeting, Trump blamed Nielsen for what he said was her failure to secure U.S. borders, the newspaper cited the officials as saying. A senior administration official confirmed the incident to Reuters, saying: 'He lit into her.' On Wednesday, Donald Trump and Nielsen (pictured next to Elaine Chao US Secretary of Transportation) got into a heated argument during the Cabinet meeting focused on immigration Trump blamed Nielsen for what he said was her failure to secure U.S. borders, the newspaper cited the officials as saying A DHS spokesman said in a statement on Thursday that the New York Times story 'alleging that the Secretary drafted a resignation letter yesterday and was close to resigning is false.' Nielsen 'is hard at work today on the President's security-focused agenda and supporting the men and women of @DHSgov,' he added. The White House declined specific comment on whether Trump berated Nielsen, her supposed resignation letter and on whether Trump retained confidence in Nielsen, who took over at DHS in December. 'The president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws and the president and his administration will enforce them,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Thursday. Nielsen, in a statement on Thursday, said she shared Trump's frustration that 'existing loopholes and the lack of Congressional action have prevented this administration from fully securing the border and protecting the American people.' Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, on Wednesday Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, where the focus became immigration 'These are complex issues and I will continue to direct the Department to do all we can to implement the Presidents security-focused agenda,' she added, without saying anything about resignation plans. Nielsen is in charge of the 20,000 border agents who work at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One person at the meeting said Trump railed at the whole Cabinet over what he said was its lack of progress in keeping out illegal immigrants, the Times said. Trump has become frustrated in recent weeks over growing numbers of illegal border crossings after a drop during his first year in office, the Times said, citing several officials. Trump believes Nielsen and other DHS officials are resisting directives that parents be separated from their children when families cross illegally into the United States, to deter them from entering, the newspaper said, citing the officials. Trump's hard line against illegal immigration is a centerpiece of his presidency as he pursues an 'America First' agenda that includes a proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying it was needed to stem the flow of immigrants and drug trafficking. This mugshot shows Nicholas M. Webb, 58, a convicted killer who has been charged in the stabbing death of an Air National Guard member A convicted killer has been arrested and charged in the Saturday stabbing death of an Air National Guard member. Nicholas M. Webb, 58, was slapped with second-degree murder and armed criminal action charges Thursday, days after Cody Harter, 23, was found dead outside of his truck on a Missouri highway in a fatal road rage attack. Police said Webb was taken into custody Wednesday evening at his residence in Pleasant Hill. Webb had been shockingly convicted of murder back in 1981 and served 35 years in prison. He was just released last year. Police discovered the stabbing suspect was also arrested earlier Saturday for drug possession and driving under the influence. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a Thursday press conference it is a 'sad day' for the family, but a time recognize 'good police work', while speaking of Lee's Summit Police Department. 'Our hearts are with them, our prayers are with and we will continue to fight for them,' Baker said. Witnesses told police that they saw Harter arguing with the man while pulled over on the shoulder where 291 Highway and I-470 merge near Colbern Road. They also said a second vehicle stopped in front of Harter's red pick-up truck that evening and fled north after the attack. Lee's Summit police believe Harter was stabbed during the argument and stumbled into traffic where he died. Scroll down for video Cody Harter, 23, was found stabbed to death on a Missouri Highway on Saturday evening The man from St Joseph, Missouri, had served tours in Iraq and Qatar and was set to graduate with a degree in engineering technology Witnesses said they saw Harter pulled over and arguing with a man. He was driving his red pick up truck are police believe this was a road rage incident His family appeared at a press conference noticeably devastated and had urged the suspect to come forward. They called his killing 'senseless', adding that Harter had served in Iraq and was set to graduate from Missouri Western State University with a degree in engineering technology. Harter's mother Kerrie said during the press conference on Sunday: 'He did a tour over in Iraq and he was in Quatar. 'He helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. He loved everyone. He would help anybody. He only had one semester left until he graduated with an engineering technology degree.' The late Harter is pictured above with his girlfriend Shelby Berkemeier on Facebook The family from St Joseph, Missouri, said that Harter had his own lawn care business and was also an aspiring dirtbike racer. He was returning from Kansas City in his 2003 Chevrolet Silverado truck, where he had picked up a new lawnmower for his business. 'He's been to war and back and to die because someone was angry,' his mother said. 'I can only imagine someone was upset because he wasn't going fast enough. Is that a reason to take his life and leave him there? His funeral will be held Friday morning at the Word Of Life Church in Saint Joseph 'I keep waiting for someone to tell me it's not true,' she said. 'That I'm going to wake up from this. But I'm not.' His sister Kylee Harter said: 'He would do anything to help anyone at the drop of a hat. 'For someone to just take everything from him... They didn't know him. He didn't deserve this and we don't deserve the pain that came with it.' The veteran's funeral will be held Friday morning at the Word Of Life Church in Saint Joseph. A man who was seen by a smart doorbell allegedly trying to burgle a mother and her young daughter has been arrested. The man was pictured by the doorbell's camera entering the property in Northmead, Sydney, ringing the bell and then appearing to push the door last Wednesday. Police told Daily Mail Australia the man was arrested on May 3 on other property-related offences and is remanded in custody. Police are also preparing to charge him over the Northmead incident. A mother and her young daughter were saved from a potential home invasion after an alleged intruder came onto their property (pictured) Jrisi Jusakos and child, two, were sleeping inside their northwestern Sydney home when the main entered through the front gate (pictured) Ms Jusakos and her husband Tristan Baker (pictured with their two children) had just installed a 'smart doorbell' which is equipped with a camera Jrisi Jusakos and her two-and-half-year-old were sleeping inside when the stranger approached their front door and rang the doorbell. Ms Jusakos and her husband Tristan Baker had just installed a 'smart doorbell' which is equipped with a camera. The device records video, has two-way audio and customisable motion sensor which was set to alert Mr Baker when someone arrived at the residence. When the suspected intruder was detected at the door, Mr Baker was able to communicate with the stranger which scared him away immediately. 'He heard Tristan's voice then bolted. Tristan thought he was a courier and even said "thank you" as this a***wipe was leaving,' Ms Jusakos told News.com.au. A stranger approached their front door, rang the doorbell and then waited (pictured) A professor's career is in jeopardy after he made an admittedly 'lame' joke in a packed lift where he requested to get off at the ladies' lingerie department. Richard Ned Lebow, 76, professor of international political theory at King's College London, made the remark at the International Studies Association (ISA) annual convention, held in San Francisco, last month. The joke fairly tame by Are You Being Served? Standards - was overheard by Simona Sharoni, a professor of women's and gender studies at Merrimack College in Massachusetts and a female colleague of hers. Professor Sharoni, 57, and her colleague were too shocked to confront Professor Lebow there and then but she later reported him. Richard Ned Lebow's (right) joke was overheard by Simona Sharoni, a professor of women's and gender studies, who later reported him The ISA determined that Professor Lebow's comment violated its code of conduct, the Washington Post reported. In a letter to Professor Lebow, who has been teaching for 53 years, the association said an email he had later sent to Professor Sharoni, calling her complaint 'frivolous', was an even bigger violation. 'Like you, I am strongly opposed to the exploitation, coercion or humiliation of women,' he had written in the email. But by 'making a complaint to ISA that I consider frivolous, you may be directing time and effort away from the real offences that trouble us both,' he added. Professor Sharoni, who said she did not know Professor Lebow before the incident, said she would have reacted the same way no matter who made the joke. Professor Lebow joked that he wanted to be let out at the ladies' lingerie department - a joke that would be considered tame on Are You Being Served? (pictured, a still from the show) The professor, who has since received hateful messages, added: 'Honestly I am so exhausted of confronting sexism in the academy and paying a high price that I am reluctant to attract more media attention,' she told the Insider High Ed website. The ISA has given Professor Lebow until Tuesday to apologise to Professor in a way it sees fit. However, he is refusing to do so, insisting that 'there is nothing to apologise for.' 'The elevator was jampacked and claustrophobic, which may be why I made my admittedly lame, but inoffensive, remark,' he said. He claims that if he were to apologise, it would be an acknowledgement that 'an innocent remark in an elevator is somehow wrong.' Professor Sharoni disagrees, noting that the incident demonstrates how 'political correctness becomes the blanket excuse for those who refuse to rethink and change their racist, sexist and homophobic beliefs and practices. She added that powerful men are outraged at being held accountable even if the penalty is as minor as an apology. Professor Lebow, who lists his interests as conflict management and the psychology of decision-making, insists he has 'always supported women.' Cindy McCain has fired back at a White House official who mocked Sen John McCain's battle with brain cancer. McCain's wife took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon after news broke that Special Assistant Kelly Sadler had made light of the Arizona senator's terminal diagnosis. Sadler said McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's nominee for CIA director 'doesn't matter' because 'he's dying anyway'. Cindy McCain tweeted a stern message directly to Sadler, writing: '@kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.' White House official Kelly Sadler (left) has come under fire after she mocked Sen John McCain's battle with brain cancer during an internal meeting and said 'he's dying anyway' The message was later retweeted by McCain's daughter Meghan. Like her father, the View host has also been an outspoken critic of Trump's nominee. The White House did not dispute Sadler's remark during the closed-door meeting - which included two dozen communication staffers - and praised McCain in a statement. 'We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time,' a spokesman told The Hill on Thursday. Two anonymous sources who spoke to the Hill confirmed Sadler's comment and said they believe she had been trying to make a joke which 'fell flat'. While McCain has not addressed Sadler's comment, his wife Cindy (pictured together in 2008) was quick to speak out on Twitter She tweeted a stern message directly to Sadler on Twitter on Thursday to hit back at the joke There was 'discomfort' in the room after Sadler made light of McCain's diagnosis, one of the sources added. Sadler is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times who now focuses on illegal immigration for The White House. The mother-of-three is married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as Carly Fiorina's campaign manager for the 2016 election. A source said that press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was not present at the meeting, which was led by deputy press secretary Raj Shah. Sadler's comments came after McCain released a public statement on his official website denouncing Trump's decision to nominate Gina Haspel for CIA director. McCain urged the Senate to reject Haspel for the position, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration. Two sources who spoke to the Hill confirmed Sadler's comment and said they believe she had been trying to make a joke which 'fell flat'. She is pictured here with her husband There was 'discomfort' in the room after Sadler made light of McCain's diagnosis, one of the sources added 'Like many Americans, I understand the urgency that drove the decision to resort to so-called enhanced interrogation methods after our country was attacked,' he wrote. 'I know that those who used enhanced interrogation methods and those who approved them wanted to protect Americans from harm.' 'I appreciate their dilemma and the strain of their duty. But as I have argued many times, the methods we employ to keep our nation safe must be as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world.' McCain went on to say he found Haspel's role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans to be 'disturbing'. 'Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination,' he wrote. Sadler's comments came after McCain released a public statement on his official website denouncing Trump's decision to nominate Gina Haspel (pictured) for CIA director McCain urged the Senate to reject Haspel for the role, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration President Trump, however, praised Haspel's performance and released a contrasting statement hours after McCain President Trump, however, praised Haspel's performance and released a contrasting statement to social media just hours after McCain. 'Gina Haspel did a spectacular job today. There is nobody even close to run the CIA!' he tweeted. The topic of torture hits especially close to home for McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Trump made headlines in 2015 when he said McCain wasn't truly a war hero. 'He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured,' the future president proclaimed. Bad blood has only continued to brew between the two men, as it was recently revealed McCain does not want Trump to attend his funeral. People close to the Arizona senator told the White House last week that McCain wanted Vice President Mike Pence to attend in Trump's place. Retired Air Force Lt Gen Thomas McInerney also made a controversial comment about McCain on Thursday, saying on Fox Business that torture 'worked on John' McCain's wife took to Twitter to hit out on Fox Business host Charles Payne, writing: 'Please choose your guest more wisely', after McInerney's controversial appearance Both Barack Obama and George W Bush have been invited and will give eulogies at the memorial. Sadler wasn't the only person who made a controversial comment about McCain on Thursday. Retired Air Force Lt Gen Thomas McInerney defended Haspel and the use of torture while taking a dig at the Arizona senator during an appearance on Fox Business. 'It worked on John,' he said of torture. 'That's why we call him "Songbird John"'. 'Those methods can work and they are effective. If we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.' WHO IS KELLY SADLER? Before she mocked John McCain's terminal brain cancer, few had heard of the name Kelly Sadler. Sadler is a special assistant to President Donald Trump who now focuses on illegal immigration for The White House. Before beginning work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sadler was an editor and writer at The Washington Times for three years. She also previously worked as a reporter at Bloomberg. The mother-of-three is married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as Carly Fiorina's campaign manager for the 2016 election. Source: Newsweek Advertisement McCain has always maintained that he never cooperated with his captors and instead gave them the names of Green Bay Packers players. As she did with Sadler, Cindy McCain took to Twitter once again to hit out at Fox Business host Charles Payne, writing: 'Please choose your guest more wisely'. Meanwhile, Sen Lindsey Graham has revealed that McCain continues to be in good humor as his battle against brain cancer continues. The South Carolina senator, who spent several days this week with McCain in Arizona, said he will 'be with us for awhile to come'. Graham told the Associated Press that McCain continues to keep tabs on current events and that the pair watched movies and talked about the future. He added that McCain is stabilizing after a recent emergency surgery and is 'always looking for the next battle'. The White House distanced itself from pay-for-play allegations on Thursday as charges that the president's friends are profiting off the presidency hit a break point. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a rally in Indiana that Trump 'makes up his own mind about policy matters and everything else in between,' regardless of what he's being lobbied to do by his confidantes. He's not influenced by the kinds of things that you're referencing,' Shah told DailyMail.com just before it was revealed that AT&T hired Trump's longtime fixer Michael Cohen to provide advice on its proposed merge with Time Warner. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a rally in Indiana that Trump 'makes up his own mind about policy matters and everything else in between,' regardless of what he's being lobbied to do by his confidantes. Trump speaks at the rally above President Donald Trump is pictured with Michael Cohen. Cohen raked in upward of $2million from companies that included AT&T and Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis Leaked documents outlining Cohen's consulting fees for 'advice' and 'insight' into the administration infuriated critics of the former businessman who promised he'd 'Drain the Swamp' if elected. Cohen, for instance, raked in upward of $2million from companies that included AT&T and Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis. The Washington Post on Thursday evening revealed that AT&T explicitly hired Cohen to assist with the $85billion merger with Time Warner. The deal had to be approved by federal antitrust regulators in the Trump administration before it could move forward. Prior to the disclosure, the Post claimed in a report that Cohen pitched himself as a Trump whisperer to potential clients, showing off pictures of himself and the commander in chief and bragging about their relationship. 'Im crushing it,' he told friends, according to the Post. The White House refused on Thursday to comment directly on allegations that Cohen was selling access to the presidency. Shah directed questions about Cohen to the attorney and the presidents outside counsel. He noted, however, that Trump has signed some of the most sweeping rules when it comes to ending the revolving door around lobbying. Theres been a multi-year ban on lobbying and restrictions on what former employees and executive branch officials can do, he said. There was an executive order signed in his first weeks in office, as well as a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign governments. We think that those are stringent and something we are very proud of. The Washington Post on Thursday evening revealed that AT&T explicitly hired Cohen to assist with the $85billion merger with Time Warner. The deal had to be approved by federal antitrust regulators in the Trump administration before it could move forward. Trump and Cohen pictured above Cohen is not the only person to Trump who has been accused of profiting off the presidency. In a report on the matter Wednesday evening, Politico noted that Trumps former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is not registered as a lobbyist, either, yet he represents clients that are interested in having a minds eye into the unconventional president. Lewandowski pointed out in an email to the news outlet that Jim Messina, a former Obama White House official, took on similar clients after he left the government. Obama had promised his administration would be the most transparent in history and that aides to him wouldnt be allowed to lobby after they left the administration. Trump in his first week in office followed on Obamas rules, introducing a five-year ban on lobbying ban for anyone who worked in his administration. That ban only applies to the agency that the officials worked, in however. And none of the rules that Trump put in place affect campaign aides and confidantes of the presidents who did not serve government. Former Trump Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski speaks as US President Donald Trump looks on during a rally at Total Sports Park in Washington, Michigan on April 28, 2018. Lewandowski, is not registered as a lobbyist, either, yet he represents clients that are interested in having a minds eye into the unconventional president President Trump has been accused of exacerbating the problem, calling up friends to survey them about major decisions. The last time Trump is known to have spoken to Cohen was shortly after the feds raided his attorneys dwellings in early April. Rudy Giuliani said over the weekend that Cohen was no longer Trumps attorney but it was only because it would at this point be a conflict of interest. Giuliani likewise said on Wednesday afternoon that Cohen's latest woes the leak of his financial documents had nothing to do with Trump. 'Theres not involvement of the president in any of that,' he said. 'We cant be responsible for what Michael Cohen is doing.' A former politician himself, Giuliani said he wouldn't appreciate finding out that his attorney had been accepting large sums of money in exchange for access to his office, but he said, 'I wouldnt be investigated for it.' He declined to comment on Trump's feelings about Cohens consulting in an interview with Bloomberg. Giuliani (pictured) said on Wednesday afternoon that Cohen's latest woes the leak of his financial documents had nothing to do with Trump. He is pictured on May 5 He's not influenced by the kinds of things that you're referencing,' Shah told DailyMail.com just before it was revealed that AT&T hired Trump's longtime fixer Michael Cohen to provide advice on its proposed merge with Time Warner. Trump speaks in Indiana Thursday, above The companies that hired Cohen for his advice ultimately dropped their contracts with the New York attorney, Politico reported, when they realized that Cohen couldn't deliver. AT&T, for instance, had a run-in with the Justice Department as it tried to merge with Time Warner, regardless of the up to $600,000 consulting fee it paid Cohen. Pharmaceutical company Novartis also said it didn't get the goods it expected from the Trump crony. After paying him $100,000 a month to Cohen for advice on how to deal with Trump, spokeswoman Sofina Mirza-Reid said the company severed ties with the consultant. She said in a statement that the company determined Cohen 'would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters and the decision was taken not to engage further. 'As the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018.' 'Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration.' Trump met with the incoming CEO of the Swiss drug company Vas Narasimhan during his trip to Davos, Switzerland in January. AT&T explicitly hired Cohen to assist with the $85billion merger with Time Warner. The deal had to be approved by federal antitrust regulators in the Trump administration before it could move forward AT&T had a run-in with the Justice Department as it tried to merge with Time Warner, regardless of the up to $600,000 consulting fee it paid Cohen. AT&T said in a Wednesday statement that Cohen was one of several consultants it hired 'to help us understand how the President and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement.' The company says that Cohen did not do any lobbying on their behalf. Both former clients of Cohen said this week that they had been approached by special counsel Robert Mueller after attorney Michael Avenatti alleged that Columbus Nova may have funded a $130,000 payoff to his top client. Avenatti represents Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006. He suggested the company that's linked to a Russia oligarch may have reimbursed Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels just before the 2016 election to buy her silence. Cohen says he took out a home equity loan to fund the payoff. Giuliani revealed last week that Trump reimbursed him for more than $450,000 in expenses, including the non-disclosure agreement with Daniels, beginning last year. Avenatti suggested this week, though, without evidence that Columbus Nova may have actually been funding Trump's hush-money slush fund. Renova Group Board Chairman and Skolkovo Foundation President Viktor Vekselberg (L). Columbus Nova issued a statement explaining that the payments it made to Cohen had nothing to with oligarch Vekselberg, who has since been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department Columbus Nova issued a statement explaining that the payments it made to Cohen had nothing to with oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has since been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. 'After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures,' it said. 'Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false.' The company said, 'The claim that Viktor Vekselberg was involved or provided any funding for Columbus Nova's engagement of Michael Cohen is patently untrue. 'Neither Viktor Vekselberg nor anyone else other than Columbus Nova's owners, were involved in the decision to hire Cohen or provided funding for his engagement.' Korea Aerospace Industries also paid Cohen $150,000, although its spokesperson told The Washington Post that the company that is competing for a contract with the U.S. government did not enlist Trump's attorney because of his connection to the president. The company says it paid Cohen 'to inform reorganization of our internal accounting system.' Trump met with the incoming CEO of the Swiss drug company Vas Narasimhan during his trip to Davos, Switzerland in January Avenatti told Politico that Cohen should face 'serious consequence' for his actions, regardless of the circumstances, if he was lobbying the president without disclosing it. 'If Michael Cohen, the personal attorney to the president, was selling access to the highest office in the land, without complying with the appropriate rules and regulations, serious consequences should result,' Avenatti said. Giuliani argued Wednesday that payments Trump's former attorney received from clients looking for insight into his administration have nothing to do with the president. 'The president is not involved in any respect. Its a dead issue as far as Im concerned,' Giuliani told Bloomberg. Controversial plans for a new customs partnership with the EU looked set to be sidelined last night after Theresa May asked David Davis to find an alternative Controversial plans for a new customs partnership with the EU looked set to be sidelined last night after Theresa May asked David Davis to find an alternative. The Brexit Secretary is to lead a new Cabinet group designed to break the deadlock over future customs arrangements with the EU. He will work with Business Secretary Greg Clark and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley to develop an alternative to the customs partnership idea, which is opposed by Eurosceptics. The trio will develop the Governments alternative plan known as maximum facilitation which focuses on using technology to streamline customs checks. The decision follows talks between the Prime Minister, Mr Davis and other senior ministers in Downing Street yesterday. Another group, involving Environment Secretary Michael Gove, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Mrs Mays deputy, David Lidington, has been asked to see if it is possible to revive the customs partnership idea in a way that would not threaten Britains ability to develop an independent trade policy. While both options remain alive, insiders believe the decision to appoint Mr Davis to lead work on finding an alternative suggests support for the customs partnership idea is slipping away. The two groups will provide an update to a meeting of Mrs Mays Brexit war cabinet on Tuesday, although a final decision could be postponed until later this month. The customs partnership had been Mrs Mays preferred option. But critics claimed it would be unworkable and could lead to the UK remaining in the EU customs union in all but name. A senior government source said last night that Mrs May was now not wedded to either option and was interested in what works A senior government source said last night that Mrs May was now not wedded to either option and was interested in what works. The customs partnership plan, backed by her chief Brexit adviser, Oliver Robbins, would involve the UK continuing to collect EU import tariffs at the border and passing them to the EU. Regulations would also have to be aligned to a significant extent. Its supporters believe it would resolve the Northern Ireland border issue and minimise disruption for business. But critics fear it would make it almost impossible for the UK to strike new trade deals. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson branded the proposal crazy this week, saying in a Daily Mail interview that it amounted to not taking back of your trade policy, not taking back control of your laws, not taking back control of your borders. The Brexit war cabinet blocked the customs partnership at a crunch meeting last week. But some senior figures, including Mr Clark, have continued to push it. Tories' lead over Labour now 5 points Theresa May has extended her partys lead over Jeremy Corbyn to five points, according to a poll. The Conservatives are up one point to 43 per cent, while Labour remains on 38 per cent, the YouGov analysis found. It is the fourth poll in a row showing a four or five-point Tory lead over Labour. The surge in Tory support comes after Labours anti-Semitism crisis and Mr Corbyns badly-received interventions on the Russian attack in Salisbury. About 39 per cent would choose Mrs May as best prime minister, up two points, while 25 per cent pick Mr Corbyn, down two points. YouGov interviewed 1,648 adults on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Times. The Lib Dems were up 2 per cent at 9 per cent. It came as former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson said the party could spend a further 18 years out of office and called for more moderate socialism. He branded Momentum a fan club for the leader and said: I think it will all end in tears. Advertisement He will now be asked to work with Mr Davis to address his concerns that even streamlined customs checks could cost jobs in sectors such as the car industry, where parts criss-cross the Channel multiple times. Miss Bradley will be asked to find a way to make the maximum facilitation option compatible with the Governments pledge to avoid the introduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland. The central role for Mr Davis reflects fears in government that he could quit if the customs partnership idea is pushed through. One Whitehall source said: Obviously she is ultimately the boss and will have the final say. But there is a recognition that if she pursued a policy that meant losing her Brexit Secretary then that would be pretty existential for her. Meanwhile, ministers were yesterday accused of delaying vital Brexit legislation after Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom confirmed the EU Withdrawal Bill would not be brought back to the Commons in the next fortnight. Ministers face a challenge in overturning 14 amendments imposed by pro-Remain peers in the Lords, including measures to keep Britain in the EU single market. Advertisement A mission to kill Robert Mugabe before he seized power was thwarted when the British tipped him off that assassins were closing in. Mugabe was leading the fight for majority black rule against Ian Smith's government in Rhodesia now known as Zimbabwe - in 1979, a year before he became the nation's prime minister. The Rhodesian SAS squad was tasked with preventing uprisings against the white-minority rule as well as a number of covert operations. Among these was the assassination of the two leaders of the two sides of the independence movement: Mugabe, who led the Zimbabwe National African Union, and his rival Joshua Nkomo, who led the Zimbabwe African People's Union. A mission to kill Robert Mugabe before he seized power that was thwarted when the British tipped him off that assassins were closing in is described in a new book by Andre Scheepers, a former Rhodesian SAS officer. A fellow SAS soldier pictured disembarking from a helicopter in the late 1970s In 1979, Mugabe was leading the fight for majority black rule against Ian Smith's government in Rhodesia now known as Zimbabwe. Pictured, Mugabe last year Both plots failed and a new book describes how it was the British who alerted Mugabe, prompting him to flee before the assassins arrived. A new book - We Dared to Win: The SAS in Rhodesia by Hannah Wessels and Andre Scheepers details the SAS plan to kill Mugabe as he led the African National Union forces across the border from Mozambique in February 1979. Mr Scheepers, who was an officer in the Rhodesian SAS in the late 1970s, describes how officers, escorted by South African special forces known as Recces were dropped off by submarine off the coast of Maputo, where Mugabe was living, before making their way to shore in inflatable boats. They were armed with machine guns, grenades and a bomb that one officer described as 'big enough to sink a ship.' But by the time they arrived, it was clear Mugabe had fled. SAS officers Ray Gibbison, Frans Botha and Phil Toland are pictured while serving in Mozambique in the late 1970s Andre Scheepers, author of We Dared to Win: The SAS in Rhodesia, is seen being taken to safety after sustaining an injury Former Rhodesian SAS officer Andre Scheepers (pictured) was wounded during the conflict in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe 'By late 1978 a decision had been taken to kill Mugabe in Maputo,' Mr Scheepers writes. 'Following rehearsals the operation commenced mid-February and following a two-day voyage from Langebaan in a strike craft the ship took up a position below the horizon with the lights of Maputo brightening the distant sky. Chris Hougaard after demolishing an electrical sub-station 'At sunset a signal from an intelligence operative was received indicating the 'target' was in residence. 'Travelling in three Zodiac inflatables the SAS men boated into shore paddling the last few hundred metres to maintain maximum silence knowing the harbour mouth was heavily defended.' Rich Stannard, a commando, added: 'We came down the rope-ladders and on to the inflatables and made for the beach. 'There was a bit of a scare when we ran into some fishermen and I heard the 'Recce' guys speaking in Afrikaans saying we had been compromised but the fishermen did not appear to be too alarmed and we decided to carry on. 'We left a landing party on the beach and headed for the target. 'We approached the house with no problem as we knew the route from our rehearsals and none of us saw any sentries. I was carrying a bomb big enough to sink a ship. As we neared the house, Keith said to me, 'good luck Sir this is going to be quite something.' Billy Grant and Keith jumped up on to the wall with RPGs ready to initiate but nothing happened because they could see no sign of life. I jumped up to look and could see through his bathroom window and I could see a small red light but it was clear the place had been abandoned and only recently. 'I was itching to blow the place to pieces anyway and damn nearly pulled the pin and threw it for the hell of it. 'We all felt that he had been warned we were coming. It was a huge disappointment.' Wing Commander Peter Petter-Bowyer later told the BBC:'We had absolute proof. The guy who lived across the road from Mugabe, happened to be a South African. Air Marshal McLaren, General Peter Walls and PM Ian Smith visiting serving personnel in Zimbabwe in the late 1970s Rich Stannard (left), a commando, and Mike West (centre) are pictured on their way to Beira by sea 'I met the man, confirmed that Mugabe was at home and all was well. But, when we got there, [he had] gone. No question, Mugabe was called, there's no doubt. That's exactly what happened.' Asked who he believed called Mugabe, Mr Petter-Bowyer replied: 'The Brits.' Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted last year after the military took over briefly and his once-loyal ZANU-PF party turned against him. The former ruler, 94, whose own regime was accused of siphoning off diamond profits, has described his ousting as a coup, and that it must be 'undone'. Rhodesian Defence Minister PK van der Byl (left) is pictured at an awards ceremony in the late 1970s The streets of San Francisco are being littered with thousands of used syringes, as the city stays committed to handing out millions a year to drug users, despite little control over how they are discarded. The California city distributes an estimated 400,000 syringes each month through various programs aimed at reducing HIV and other health risks for drug users. Of those, about 246,000 syringes are discarded through the city's 13 syringe access and disposal sites, but that leaves thousands more ending up on streets, in parks and other public areas, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. To address the problem, San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell has hired 10 workers whose sole job will be to pick up needles starting in June. San Francisco streets are being littered with thousands of used syringes like the one shown here on May 10, as the city stays committed to handing out millions a year to drug users San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell announced $13 million in dedicated funding for city cleanup on April 25. He is seen here speaking to union members during a rally outside of San Francisco City Hall on February 26 'We are taking an aggressive, focused approach to clean up needles on our streets and sidewalks,' Farrell said in a press release published on April 23. 'This situation on our streets is unacceptable I will not allow the status quo to continue. When a resident calls in about needles, we are staffed to respond immediately. 'I want to make sure when a business calls, our team will go to the storefront. We will have the right people at the right places at the right times to address this epidemic.' Syringes discarded in public places have become a nationwide problem amid growing heroin use. But in compact San Francisco, which spans only about 50 square miles, where there is a growing homeless population, the problem is a lot more visible. Last year, the city logged more than 9,500 requests for needle pick-up. This year, there have been more than 3,700 requests to date. In this photo taken on April 26, a biohazard container used for the storage of used needles sits on a sidewalk in San Francisco Still, the city has no plans to change its policy of handing out unlimited numbers of needles. 'Research shows that reducing access to clean syringes increases disease and does not improve the problem of needle litter,' Barbara Garcia, director of the Department of Public Health, said. The syringe clean-up initiative will be part of a greater $13 million effort to clean up the streets of San Francisco over the next two years. Farrell announced the new dedicated funding on April 25 in a press release. 'The Citys increased investment will allow us to build upon current disposal efforts which result in the collection and disposal of more than 275,000 used needles per month,' San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Joe Hollendoner said. 'I am deeply thankful to the Mayor and the Department of Public Health for their steadfast commitment to the publics health and safety.' The 96-year-old Duke of Edinburgh has ditched his crutches two weeks after his surgery, ahead of Harry and Meghan's big day Prince Philip has recovered from his hip operation just in time to go the Royal wedding. The 96-year-old Duke of Edinburgh has ditched his crutches two weeks after his surgery, ahead of Harry and Meghan's big day on May 19. To ensure he can stand without the aid of a stick on the big day, the royal has been walking up and down stairs to build up his strength. A source told The Sun: 'The Duke is already walking unaided. 'He has amazing willpower. 'When he sets his mind to something he gets on and does it.' 'He has been walking up and down stairs several times in succession. 'He has also been charging across rooms at full speed. He even had to be told to slow down.' The Duke of Edinburgh has left hospital on April 13, following a successful hip replacement operation the previous week. He was taken to the private King Edward VII hospital in central London, for surgery to replace his joint with a prosthetic implant. He was admitted on Tuesday, April 3 and underwent the planned procedure the following day. The duke, who retired from royal duties in August 2017, continued his recovery in Windsor. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding is likely to be the first public appearance by the Queen's consort. The mother who died a day after getting a silicon implant in her thumb posted disturbing photographs of her surgery to Instagram hours before her death. Samantha Strickland, 31, died from blood poisoning in April 2017, a day after she was operated on by body modifier Brendan Russell at his shop in Erina Fair on the Central Coast. Police are investigating whether Ms Strickland's death was directly linked to a procedure she had by Russell. In a caption under the picture, Ms Strickland promised to keep her friends updated with how it healed. Samantha Strickland, 31, died in April 2017 after she contracted septicaemia, police are investigating Ms Strickland posted this photograph to Instagram, showing the procedure she had the day before she died The mother had been to Russell for a number of procedures over time - including her first scarification, left, and for her love heart-shaped finger implant Russell, 37, pictured, was charged last week with prohibition of genital mutilation after he allegedly used a branding iron to burn off part of a woman's genitals 'Did a little custom thumb implant project today with my homie Bslice,' she wrote. Russell, 37, was charged last week with prohibition of genital mutilation after he allegedly used a branding iron to burn off part of another woman's genitals. Russell has only been charged with the one alleged offence, and is on bail. A police source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that detectives from Strike Force Nellivale - which was set up to investigate Russell and the body modification industry - are currently probing Ms Strickland's death as part of their inquiries. Ms Strickland had also had part of her ear removed by Russell in a procedure She shows off her 'broken heart' in February - the silicon implant snapped under her skin Police said they are also looking at complaints by other former customers of Russell who have come forward since he was charged A police source said the woman had a procedure by Russell in 2017, and allegedly 'went back to him several times to get it fixed after it became grossly infected'. There is no suggestion that the infection was caused by Russell but only that she suffered from an infection. The body piercer had been a long-term customer of Russell prior to her death, undergoing many procedures including having her nipples shaped into love hearts, and having a magnet inserted into her finger. She also had part of her ear removed by the extreme body modifier as well as a heart-shaped implant inserted into one of her fingers and a crown-shaped implant placed near her shoulder. Ms Strickland, pictured here following a fresh haircut, the week before her death Russell has only been charged with the one alleged offence, and is on bail The body modification artist is pictured here posing with a client he worked on Body piercer charged with genital mutilation allegedly 'used a branding iron' to 'burn off' part of a woman's labia during unlicensed operation in the back of tattoo shop Brendan Russell, 37, from the NSW Central Coast, was charged last week with prohibition of genital mutilation, after a former customer went to police. Court documents allege that Russell 'used a branding iron to burn off the labia majora' of the woman. The alleged genital mutilation took place between January 1 and December 31 in 2016, according to the court documents. Police allege the woman went to Russell at his workplace, a tattoo studio in Newcastle West. She was allegedly unhappy and embarrassed over the outcome of the procedure and complained. Branding irons heat up to just over 1000C. They are used in hospitals and for scarification, and create an instant third-degree burn. Advertisement Ms Strickland was described as beautifully kind, caring and accepting by friends following her shock death. 'I don't even know what to say... You changed my life,' wrote one friend. 'Rest easy, and look after your beautiful girl from up there where ever you are,' said another. While others described their hearts as 'shattered' by the news. Ms Strickland was an advocate of the body modification industry, posting deep messages about changing her appearance to 'recreate' herself. Police said they are also looking at complaints by other former customers of Russell who have come forward since he was charged. Russell will face Gosford Local Court on May 15. Brad Hazzard has vowed to crackdown on the body modification industry and tighten regulations. 'I have asked the Ministry of Health to expedite regulatory changes announced last week as part of the cosmetic surgery review,' he said. 'This so-called body modification can lead to permanent maiming.' Russell, pictured, is on strict bail conditions and isn't allowed to practice body modification or teach others until bail conditions are lifted 'This so-called body modification can lead to permanent maiming,' Brad Hazzard said. Russell pictured branding a client's head Advertisement Donald Trump said Thursday that America is respected around the globe again as a result of his leadership as he celebrated the release of three detainees from North Korea at a rally in Indiana. Trump said his approach to dealing with North Korea is 'leading to some very big things'. The U.S. president continued: 'And I think that Kim Jong-un did a great service to himself, to his country, by doing this. 'I'll be meeting with Kim Jong Un to secure a future of peace and prosperity for the world and the relationship is good.' He added: 'America is being respected again.' Riding high from the prisoner release, Trump mocked former President Barack Obama for what amounted to a ransom payment to Iran during his administration to ensure the safe return of five detainees from Tehran. 'Obama, President Obama, paid $1.8billion for hostages,' Trump said of a settlement that Obama's government paid out only if the prisoners were released. 'We didn't pay for them!' the sitting president said of his own administration. Scroll down for video Donald Trump said Thursday that America is respected around the globe again as a result of his leadership as he celebrated the release of three detainees from North Korea at a rally in Indiana 'President Obama, paid $1.8billion for hostages,' Trump said of a settlement that Obama's government paid out. 'We didn't pay for them!' the sitting president said of his own administration Trump was greeted to the crowd of 7,500 supporters in Elkhart, Indiana, with chants of 'U S A' Trump also talked up the economy, telling a rowdy audience 'we making America proud. We are rockin' Trump told his supporters that it had been suggested to him that he cancel the campaign event after a 4:30 am return to the White House from Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland. 'And I said, "You just don't know the people of Indiana. I don't have the courage,"' Trump joked. The President and Vice President were in Elkhart to congratulate Mike Braun, the businessman and former state representative who won Tuesday's GOP Senate primary for Indiana. Vice President Mike Pence joined Trump at the airport early Thursday morning and also flew with him to Indiana the very same evening. The former governor of the state, Pence was also in high spirits as he made a rare appearance on his home turf. What the world saw this week is an American president who embraces his role as leader of the free world Mike Pence on Donald Trump 'It was humbling for me to be there,' the VP said of his Thursday morning excursion to Andrews. 'And it never would have happened without the strong, clear, resolute leadership of President Donald Trump.' Pence told the crowd, 'What the world saw this week is an American president who embraces his role as leader of the free world.' He specifically lauded Trump for withdrawing the U.S. 'disastrous' Iran nuclear deal. 'He is a man of his word. He is a man of action. And how about all the action this week,' the Indiana native said to cheers. 'This president took action on Iran. We saw progress on North Korea, and the new American embassy will open in Jerusalem.' The president and vice president and their spouses were up at the crack of dawn to welcome the three Americans imprisoned in North Korea back to the U.S. Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim received a hero's welcome, with Donald and Melania Trump clapping and cheering as the men walked down the steps with their arms in the air and giving triumphant 'V' signs, signifying both peace and victory. Then Trump said the words most observers thought no American president would ever utter: 'We want to thank Kim Jong-un.' 'These are great people. Frankly, we didn't think this was going to happen, but it did. It was important to get these people out. This is a special night for these three really great people,' Trump said in Maryland. At his Indiana event, Trump said he made sure the detainees were 'welcomed home the proper way' that morning. 'You know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness,' Trump said, before switching back to Kim. 'So the relationship is good, and hopefully, I mean for all of us in the world, and hopefully something very good is going to happen. And they understand it's very important to them. It's important to everybody.' Vice President Mike Pence joined Trump at the airport early Thursday morning and also flew with him to Indiana the very same evening. The former governor of the state, Pence was also in high spirits. They are seen together on stage at the rally Trump also warned of the potential consequences of Democratic wins in the midterms in November that threaten to derail his agenda in Congress Trump also warned of the potential consequences of Democratic wins in the midterms in November that threaten to derail his agenda in Congress. He branded Joe Donnelly a 'swamp person' Pence told the crowd: 'He is a man of his word. He is a man of action. And how about all the action this week.' He's pictured above on stage with his wife Karen The President and Vice President were in Elkhart, Indiana, to congratulate Mike Braun (pictured), the businessman and former state representative who won Tuesday's GOP Senate primary there Trump thanked Kim for freeing 'the folks early' in Maryland earlier in the day, saying it was 'sort of understood' they'd be released during his planned summit with the 33-year-old despot. The president said it's his sense that Kim 'really wants to do something' and bring the hermit kingdom 'into the real world.' He stated: 'We're starting off on a new footing. I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful, and if anybody would've said that five years ago, 10 years ago, even a year ago, you would've said, "That's not possible." ' Later on Thursday Trump announced that his first-ever in person meeting with Kim would take place in Singapore on June 12. 'I think it's going to be a very big success,' he said of the planned face-to-face with Kim during the rally in Indiana. 'But my attitude is, and if it isn't, it isn't, OK? If it isn't, it isn't. But - and you have to have that, because you don't know - we're not going to be walking into an Iran deal, where the negotiator John Kerry refused to leave the table.' Trump also said this week that he was pulling the U.S. out the nuclear deal the Obama administration negotiated with Tehran in 2015. He referred to the Iran deal as 'disastrous' in his speech, saying that it would ultimately have allowed the Middle Eastern country to obtain a nuclear weapon. 'I hope to be able to make a deal with them, a good deal, a fair deal,' Trump said. 'But we cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons. We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not theyre cheating.' The president said he believes a new agreement is possible because his administration is 'putting the harshest, strongest, most stringent sanctions on Iran' now that he's ditched the previous accord. Trump told his supporters that it had been suggested to him that the cancel the campaign event after a 4.30am return to the White House from Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland. 'And I said, 'You just don't know the people of Indiana. I don't have the courage,' 'Trump joked The president and vice president and their spouses were up at the crack of dawn to welcome the three Americans imprisoned in North Korea back to the U.S. Crowds at the Indiana rally later in the day are seen above, with Trump on stage At the campaign event Trump also set his sights on Indiana Democrat Joe Donnelly, who's up for reelection in November. 'Now if Joe Donnelly, Sleepin' Joe, and the Democrats get back into power, remember what I said, they will raise your taxes,' he claimed. 'They will destroy your jobs, and they are going to knock the hell out of your borders.' The president said that Donnelly would 'do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do' and 'say one thing' to constituents while fully intending to vote with the Democrats' 'radical, liberal agenda' in Washington. He pushed his new 'Keep America Great' slogan at the event sponsored by his 2020 campaign, noting that two years from now it wouldn't make sense for him to say he wants to 'Make America Great Again' having already held high office. Trump said that he paid nothing for his new slogan, while lots of politicians pay millions for a tagline. He used the line to launch his attack on Obama over the money the U.S. unfroze of Iran's just before Tehran released five detainees. Giving himself a pat on the back for getting the the Americans who'd been held captive home from North Korea safely, Trump said: 'They came out for nothing. And the others came out for 1.8 billion in cash, can you believe it?' Trump's political advisers see the rally as a way to project party unity following a bruising primary Pence said, 'What the world saw this week is an American president who embraces his role as leader of the free world' He says he doesn't think 'we've ever done better as a country.' He says, 'We making America proud. We are rockin' Trump cast the prisoner release as unrelated to the summit with Kim on Thursday, even though the date and location were announced only after the three men were on the U.S. mainland. 'This is what people have been waiting for for a long time. Nobody thought we could be on this track in terms of speed,' Trump said of nuclear summit with Kim while in Maryland. The White House had few additional details on the meeting to offer on Thursday evening. Aside from the announced date, the president's deputy spokesman said he could not comment on how long the talks would last or whether Trump would have one-on-one time with Kim. Singapore was chosen, White House spokesman Raj Shah said, because the country can be trusted to 'ensure both the presidents security and Kim Jong Uns security as well as provide neutrality.' At his Indiana event, Trump said he made sure the detainees were 'welcomed home the proper way' that morning. Trump is pictured arriving at the Indiana rally At his Indiana event, Trump said he made sure the detainees were 'welcomed home the proper way' that morning. Trump walks toward members of the media after greeting the three American citizens Kim Hak-Song, Kim Dong-Chul, and Kim Sang-Duk, who were detained in North Korea Trump and the first lady boarded a plane to welcome the men home after they were freed by North Korea and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Kim Dong-chul, speaking about his time in North Korea, said: 'We were treated in many different ways. For me, I had to do a lot of labor. But when I got sick, I was also treated by them' Trump confirmed early Wednesday that the American prisoners would be coming back to the U.S. with Seceretary of State Pompeo. The president said he'd be waiting for them when they landed at Andrews. 'This is a great honor. Hopefully everything is going to work out at the highest level. We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people,' Trump said from the tarmac. 'They are really three incredible people. And the fact that we were able to get them out so soon was really a tribute to a lot of things, including a certain process thats taking place right now. And that process is very important.' One of the freed Americans said through a translator who relayed his sentiment that being home felt 'like a dream' and that the men were 'very, very happy' to be freed. They later gave President Trump a round of applause. Kim Dong-chul, speaking about his time in North Korea through the translator, said: 'We were treated in many different ways. For me, I had to do a lot of labor. But when I got sick, I was also treated by them.' Trump's claim that Kim 'was excellent to these three incredible people,' was in contrast to Vice President Mike Pence's suggestion in an ABC interview they had endured harsh conditions. Pence said Pompeo told him that at a refueling stop in Anchorage, 'one of the detainees asked to go outside the plane because he hadn't seen daylight in a very long time.' Shah said the White House was not under any 'illusions' about the prisoners' time doing hard labor, as he took questions on Air Force One. 'The whole nation should be pleased with the release of these three Americans. I dont think anybodys under any illusions about what life was like in a North Korean prison camp,' he said. 'But nonetheless, the president, the vice president, the entire U.S. government, Secretary Pompeo and everybody else, is pleased to see the release of these three American citizens.' Donald Trump and Melania welcomed three Americans imprisoned in North Korea back to America to cheers and applause Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, warmly embraced former North Korean detainee Tony Kim upon tthe plane's 2:00 a.m. arrival at a Maryland air base Social media firms should be forced to impose tough controls on junk food adverts, the head of the NHS said. Ministers are considering bringing in a 9pm watershed on junk food TV adverts to prevent them being screened around family programmes. But Simon Stevens said it was no longer enough to bring in rules on TV and called for restrictions on sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. For these restrictions to be effective, theyre going to have to also bring in whats happening on social media, he said. Social media firms should be forced to impose tough controls on junk food adverts, the head of the NHS said Mr Stevens also warned of the scourge of childhood obesity which was now affecting as many as a fifth of 11-year-olds. In a speech in London, he called for vigorous and assertive action. Obesity rates in England are among the worst in Western Europe and a third of children and two thirds of adults are either overweight or obese. Later this summer, ministers are due to publish an updated obesity strategy which is likely to call for tighter controls on junk food advertising and discount deals. This will replace a watered-down strategy published in August 2016 which was heavily criticised by campaigners and health organisations for not going far enough. Mr Stevens also slammed discount deals for sweets at tills. Addressing a conference hosted by the Kings Fund think-tank, he said: The big debate we will be having over the next month or two is how assertive and how vigorous we going to be on tackling the scourge of childhood obesity. 'Childhood obesity affects one in ten children when they start primary school and one in five when they leave. There are a whole range of areas where it will be important we get it right. Whether it be calorie labelling, thinking about childrens consumption of energy drinks, or so-called BOGOFs [buy one get one free promotions] at the tills that subtly nudge us into buying supersized confectionery. Childhood obesity affects one in ten children when they start primary school and one in five when they leave As we debate the advertising restrictions for young people before the 9 oclock watershed we need to be thoughtful about the fact that this is not just a question about sitting in front of the television. Weve got to recognise that for these restrictions to be effective theyre going to have to also bring in whats happening on social media and all the channels our kids are exposed to. It came as London planned to ban junk food advertising on public transport. London mayor Sadiq Khan will today announce that unhealthy food and drink promotions will be prohibited on the Tube and buses. His spokesman said: We really hope and are confident it will have a positive impact. An angry Spirit Airlines passenger caused her entire plane to disembark after she refused to leave the aircraft. Safira Allen was flying Spirit out of Atlanta, Georgia, on May 1 when a flight attendant approached her saying she was denied boarding and would have to leave. Instead of leaving she launched a heated rant which she filmed on Facebook Live complaining that the airline allegedly refused to reimburse her after three missed flights. Safira Allen caused her entire Spirit Airlines flight to deplane after she refused to get off the Atlanta to Las Vegas aircraft on May 1 Allen was asked by a flight attendant, left, to disembark the flight. But she refused, pictured right showing other bothered passengers on her flight The 18-minute clip has gone viral with nearly three million views in which Allen calls the airline's name blasphemous saying 'ain't nothing spiritual about this plane' and says she refuses to get off the plane until she is reimbursed. Allen claimed she missed an earlier flight because the gate closed 20 minutes early. She also said she missed three flights with the airline. The flight she's sitting in seems to be a following flight, which she refuses to leave despite being asked. 'Im not getting off this plane. Girl let me share this because this not right. How are yall going to inconvenience me. I get on the plane and yall telling me I have to get off? No. Today Im not,' she says.. She adds that she's an orthodox woman and criticizes the name of the plane. On the intercom the passengers were told to disembark the plane, pictured left exiting. She was the only one left on board and began to berate cabin crew and the pilot Allen then began to yell at the pilot, pictured above, making bizarre comments about treatment on Spirit airlines and asking if he is religious and if he prays A police officer then boarded the flight to ask her to leave and she complied saying 'I don't care about boarding the flight, I care about making a difference' 'Yall going to use Jesus name the Holy Spirit? No thats got to change, yall need to be called something else, yall need to change yall name because nothing Holy Spirit about this airline, no. But yall say yall represent God. Yall need to quit playing with Jesus, and Im not getting off this plane,' she says. A black flight attendant tells her: 'You've got to come on, the police is waiting for you'. Allen then says that the flight attendant confiscated her boarding pass and says she was told she was banned from the Atlanta airport. 'Security, where he at, because Im not getting off this plane. Every time I fly Spirit its a problem but I guarantee you Spirit has all my money and they want to charge me and tell me that I have to fly another airline? Im banned from the airport in Atlanta?' she says. 'Im sitting on this airline and shes telling me I have to get off this plane. Im trying to go to Las Vegas. She took my boarding pass that I paid for. Who finna get off this plane? ... After you made me miss my flight because you closed your gate early Im not getting off,' she adds. Later a voice is heard on the intercom telling passengers to deplane. She posted this image on social media saying she was arrested after the incident Allen said in the rant that she is orthodox and that she served in the armed forces as well The reason for her rant is not clear but she alleges she missed three flights with the airline because they closed their gates 20 minutes early and she was never reimbursed As passengers begin to walk off the plane, Allen points towards the exit and says 'Yeah y'all go that way. Hell's that way'. When Asian passengers pass by she insults them saying 'Konnichiwa, welcome to America' laughing to herself. After everyone exits the plane she berates cabin crew and the pilot. Then a police officer arrives on the scene. 'Im the police supervisor. This is Ms. Phillips shes the representative for Spirit Airlines. From what I understand you have been denied boarding and you are not going on this flight,' he says. 'I don't care about boarding the flight, I care about making a difference,' she says. When he asks her to pack her stuff and exit the plane she complies and willingly exits the plane, leaving with a final 'Spirit ain't s***' statement. As she walks back into the airport she's still ranting into the camera until the officer asks her to put her hands behind her back so he can seemingly arrest her. On social media she announced they then try to put her on the 'No Fly List' and arrested her. ' ...Then the Cities finest Atlanta Police Department takes me to jail for Trespassing & beating up a cop. When SGT Baker ( the white cop who said "ain't NO CUZ" ) knocked the phone out my hand PUSHED me down hella hard & called me a "Black B****" ...all while my left hand is dripping blood from the carpet burn & my left knee is out of my socket. Then the guard asks : are you really smiling on your booking photo. My Response: "S*** I'm INNOCENT! Fam... why Do I need to mean mug on a booking photo?' she wrote on Instagram. Spirit Airlines has not responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin praised rapper Kanye West on Thursday night for jumping aboard the Make America Great Again train and braving the slings and arrows of fans and fellow artists who have turned their backs on him as a result. 'I think there is nothing more attractive than to find out that a talent, a strong talent, has this pronouncement that they are an independent thinker,' she said in Washington during a fundraiser for the MAGA Coalition super PAC. At the Trump International hotel just a few blocks from the White House, Palin said conservatives should rally around the performer, who gave the building's namesake president an 11-point polling bounce among black men last month by posting a photo of himself wearing Donald Trump's iconic red hat. 'Regardless of where he goes with his mission now, the MAGA mission Make America Great Again I think we owe him some gratitude,' Palin told about 250 donors who paid between $250 and $2,500 to hear her speak. 'We can show some gratitude for his boldness, kind of bucking the tide and doing what he thinks is right, and supporting our president,' the 54-year-old onetime Alaska governor said. Sarah Palin praised rapper Kanye West Thursday night in Washington for 'bucking the tide' and embracing President Donald Trump West, pictured Thursday with his wife Kim Kardashian, shocked the left-leaning entertainment world last month by calling Trump a 'brother' who shares similar 'dragon energy' Last year West shared with a California concert audience that he would have voted for Trump if he had voted at all, and then met with him a month after Election Day in New York The recording industry and most of Hollywood leans heavily to the political left, making West's embrace of a Republican president a political seismic event. Palin praised him earlier in the day during a phone interview with DailyMail.com, saying the 'New Slaves' rapper is 'ditching groupthink, and he just wants to deal in facts.' 'And Kanye now is facing the wrath of fair-weather friends,' she said. 'I've been there too.' 'I respect that he's stood up and spoken out about something he truly believes in, and that is that the Make America Great Again agenda is right for such a time as this.' She called him 'independent and patriotic.' Kanye West showed his support for President Trump by tweeting a picture of himself in a Make America Great Again hat (here with music mogul Lyor Cohen pictured center) Trump retweeted West's image of his autographed red hat The president also tweeted a 'thank you' to the rapper last month after he wrote that 'you don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him' Palin's warmup act was Diamond and Silk, a pair of African-American women who wowed Trump rally crowds during the 2016 campaign. They declared that they had left the Democratic Party's 'plantation,' and learned as newly minted Republicans to oppose the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus. 'These are the people we have to vote out immediately,' they said. Palin took the stage minutes later, telling them: 'If Kanye and Trump can be brothers now, we can be sisters!' West said after the 2016 election that he would have voted for Trump if he had voted at all. He has also suggested he wants to run for president himself in 2024. In late April the rapper offered his unsolicited support for Trump on Twitter, stunning millions of his fans. West called Trump his 'brother' and said they shared similar 'dragon energy.' Diamond & Silk, the popular black pro-Trump duo, warmed up Thursday's crowd for Palin Sarah Palin gave a shoutout to Mike Flynn Jr., whose father a former Trump national security adviser has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in connection with the DOJ's Russia probe 'He has good taste,' the president replied during a phone interview with 'Fox & Friends' the next day. 'You know, I have known Kanye a little bit. And I get along with Kanye.' Trump said he believes West was impressed with his record driving down levels of black, Latino and female unemployment. 'He sees that stuff and he's smart,' Trump continued. 'And he says, "Trump is doing a much better job than the Democrats did".' Trump attracted just 8 per cent of the black vote in 2016, and was quick to recognize the political boost an endorsement from West could give him. 'Thank you Kanye, very cool!' Trump tweeted. In a second message, he wrote 'MAGA' shorthand for 'Make America Great Again' blasting out a photo Kanye had shared of his autographed red Trump hat. Kardashian (pictured with West in a recent family photo) was a vocal supporter of Clinton during the 2016 presidential election campaign 'You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him,' the rapper wrote along with the picture. 'We are both dragon energy. He is my brother,' West added. 'I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.' Less than an hour later, West tweeted that his wife Kim Kardashian had called him about the Trump tweet. 'My wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does,' he wrote. 'I don't agree 100% with anyone but myself.' A video posted to social media shows a man in prom attire being choked by a police officer and thrown the ground outside a Waffle House in North Carolina. The video was shared by Anthony Wall, the man seen in the video. Wall, 22, told television station WTVD he took his 16-year-old sister to prom Saturday before his and his siblings went to the Warsaw Waffle House. A video posted on Facebook shows a Warsaw, North Carolina police officer choking a black teenager wearing prom attire and slamming him to the ground at a Waffle House The police department and district attorney's office are investigating why the officer reacted this way, putting his hands around the neck of 22-year-old Anthony Wall Police were reportedly called to the restaurant after Wall got in an argument with employees there. The video shows the white officer slamming the black teenager against a window, then turning him around before gripping the teen's neck. The officer then pins him to the pavement with his left hand on the teen's head as other young people stand around them, recording the scene. 'I was pretty much trying to scream for air and to breathe, because he was holding my throat, and that's when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me,' Wall told the local TV station. The officer put Wall into a chokehold before pushing his face onto the kerb with his knee Wall says he takes full responsibility for his interaction with Waffle House employees, but said that the cop's actions were not justified It was unclear who called the police - other customers at the restaurant or Waffle House employees. Wall said that he takes full responsibility for his interaction with Waffle House employees, but he told ABC11 the cop's actions were not justified. The video, which features strong language, does not show anything before the physical altercation. 'Your hands should have never been around my neck like that if my hands were in the air,' said Wall. 'Your hands should have never been around my neck like that if my hands were in the air," said Wall during an interview on local TV Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland told The News & Observer of Raleigh that his department and the district attorney's office are investigating, and more information will be released. 'It's not what you're trained to do in incidents like this but when you're dealing with someone fighting and resisting against an officer, you try to use proper tactics and go for one move, but that might not work because that person is moving or the officer is moving,' Southerland said. 'In real versus training situations, moves don't always work out like you want them to,' he continued. It wasn't immediately clear what might have prompted the officer's use of force. Wall says his back was injured and he had a cut on his arm. He was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. A 73-year-old man has died from Legionnaires disease after catching the infection while shopping. The man's furious family have accused the government of failing to keep Australians safe. Two other men in their 60s and 70s caught the infection during shopping trips to Melbourne's Airport West retail centre and Gladstone Park area between April 20 and 26. Three men in their 60s and 70s caught the infection during shopping trips to Melbourne's Airport West (pictured) retail centre and Gladstone Park area between April 20 and 26 The men are believed to have inhaled bacteria from nearby water cooling towers, which have since been disinfected. The husband of the dead man's niece, James Downing, said he could not believe that his relative died this way. 'I just became so angry because, naively, I thought that this insidious disease had been eradicated,' he told 3aw. It is believed they inhaled bacteria from nearby water cooling towers (pictured is one of the suspected water cooling towers) which have since been disinfected 'A few years ago there'd been some deaths, and I just presumed the government would be protecting us by now. 'I would've thought there'd be strong laws and a strong regime of testing. I just can't believe this has happened.' Victoria's deputy chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton said: 'My message to people who have visited the Gladstone Park area between mid-April and earlier this week and who may be suffering from pneumonia or flu-like symptoms is to visit their GP who will assess the need for testing for Legionnaires disease.' A spokesman for Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services told Daily Mail Australia that the towers were disinfected as soon as the connection to the outbreak was made last Friday. He said: 'We have an extremely good system in place for checking water systems with more than 100 accredited auditors. 'Sadly, we can never completely eradicate Legionella from the environment. We can't totally remove the possibility of people falling ill.' What is Legionnaires disease? Legionnaires disease is a severe form of pneumonia that causes lung inflammation. It is caused by a bacterium, known as Legionella. Around 500 people in the UK and 6,100 in the US suffer every year. The condition can cause life-threatening complications, including respiratory failure, kidney failure and septic shock, which occurs when blood flow to the vital organs is blocked. Most sufferers become ill by inhaling tiny water droplets from infected sources, such as shower heads, hot tubs, swimming pools or ventilation systems in buildings. Anyone can become infected, however, at-risk people include the elderly, smokers and those with suppressed immune systems, such as chemotherapy patients. Symptoms usually develop between two and 10 days after exposure to the bacteria. Early signs include: Headache Muscle pain Fever and chills People may then experience: Cough, which may bring up blood Breathlessness Chest pain Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea Confusion Treatment is antibiotics, usually in hospital, as soon as possible. Prevention involves meticulous cleaning and disinfection of water systems. People can reduce their risk by not smoking as this damages the lungs and makes individuals more susceptible. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement A volcano has erupted on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta in Indonesia causing chaos and possible flight diversions to the region. The volcano started to erupt at 7.32 EST on Friday morning, with the thick plume of smoke reaching a height of 5,500m above the summit, Indonesia's Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology has said. Thick smoke, volcanic ash and pyroclastic materials were released during the eruption, Miriam Tulevski from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism told Daily Mail Australia. The danger zone has been restricted to a 3km radius from the peak of Mount Merapi. Scroll down for video A volcano has erupted on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta in Indonesia causing chaos The volcano started to erupt at at 7:32 AM EST, with the thick plume of smoke reaching a height of 5,500m above the summit A view of Mount Merapi following an eruption as seen from Donoharjo village, near Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, Indonesia May 11, 2018 The Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology said there was a noticeable increase in the crater rate at 6.00am - about two hours before the eruption. Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia and thousands of people live in villages on the flanks of the volcano. 'Residents who live in a radius of 5km from the crater of Merapi is expected to come down and evacuate,' Edi Danarto of the Quick Reaction Team said. Stunned villagers lined the streets at the foot of the volcano to record the sight of thick smoke billowing from the mountain above. Previous eruptions have caused fatalities, including a large explosion in 1994 which killed 27 people in November. 'A phreatic eruption occurs when liquid material contacts hot magma. This is considered not dangerous and could happen at any time in any active volcano,' Miriam Tulevski from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism told Daily Mail Australia. Ms Tulevski confirmed the status for Mount Merapi to be normal (Level I) with a danger zone of 3km radius from the peak. More information to come. The Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology said there was a noticeable increase in the crater rate at 6.00am - about 2 hours before the eruption 'Residents who live in a radius of 5km from the crater of Merapi is expected to come down and evacuate,' Edi Danarto of the Quick Reaction Team said Stunned villagers lined the streets at the foot of the volcano to record the sight of thick smoke billowing from the mountain above The youngest of two brothers who stabbed their parents and three siblings to death in a 2015 massacre will be sentence to at least 28 years behind bars. An Oklahoma jury now has to decide Friday whether Michael Bever, 19, should serve life in prison with or without the possibility of parole on first-degree murder counts. On Wednesday night the jury found Bever guilty of five counts of first degree murder and one count of assault and battery. His older brother Robert, now 21, was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Michael Bever, now 19, (pictured above in April) was found guilty on Wednesday of five counts of first degree murder for killing his parents and siblings in a stabbing massacre in 2015 The pair murdered their parents, David and April Bever, younger brothers Daniel and Christopher, and their sister Victoria in a frenzied stabbing attack in July 2015 at their home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Their 13-year-old and two-year-old sisters survived. Robert and Michael fled to the woods behind their house after the attack but were arrested after being sniffed out by a police dog. On Wednesday, a jury took five hours to convict Michael on all charges. He collapsed when he heard the verdict, local network KJRH reports. During Michael's trial, he said the attack was driven and orchestrated by his older brother who had a 'hated' for society and 'everyone'. He admitted that he was obsessed with Columbine but claimed he only went along with his brother's murderous plot to save his own life. Michael, who was 16 at the time of the killings, pleaded not guilty on that basis. He will be sentenced on Thursday morning. A life sentence is inevitable but the jury must decide whether he ought to ever be eligible for parole. The killings began at around 11.30pm on July 22. It started with the boys attacking their 13-year-old sister. She testified that they lured her into a bedroom where they slit her throat and stabbed her in the torso and arms. Miraculously, she survived. As they attacked her, their mother April, 44, came to the bedroom to find out what was going on. Robert (pictured in red before the killings) stabbed Daniel, 12, (right), Christopher, 7, (left), five-year-old Victoria (in pink) and their parents. Their 13-year-old sister (second from left) and two-year-old sister (on Robert's lap) survived Parents David and April were slaughtered in the massacre. The brothers said it was driven by Robert's hatred of 'everyone' and society The brothers hid in the woods after the attack and were found by a police dog. They are shown above in the mugshots taken immediately after they were caught with mud on their faces Michael (left in his 2015 mugshot) was 16 at the time. Robert, then 18, is seen (right) after being cleaned up In this February 2016 picture, Robert leads his younger brother into court in shackles. Michael claimed he was just trying to save his own life by going along with the killings That is when they turned on her. She was stabbed nearly 50 times in the head, neck and torso. Fifty-two-year-old David Bever was killed by 28 stab wounds to the head, neck and torso. Robert is now 21. In October 2016 (pictured) he took a plea deal which found him guilty of all five murders but spared him execution in exchange for life without parole Daniel, 12, was able to call 911 before he succumbed to the nine stab wounds he sustained. The youngest victim was five-year-old Victoria who the brothers stabbed 18 times. Two-year-old Autumn was asleep throughout the attack and was not harmed. During his trial, prosecutors heard how Michael tricked his siblings into opening locked doors as they hid from Robert by pretending that he too was under attack. When police arrived at the family home, there was blood on the porch. Michael and Robert had fled to the woods behind the house and were found by a police dog. The brothers had planned to steal their parents' car and drive to Washington State after carrying out the killings. They wanted to shoot five people at a time in random attacks along the way using guns and ammunition Robert had been able to buy online. Much of Michael's trial relied on claims made to police by the 13-year-old sister who survived (left). She was spared having to testify in court in October 2016 in exchange for Robert being spared execution A savage murderer who killed his ex-girlfriend with an axe while she was carrying her eight-day-old daughter is under protection in jail after being beaten up. Marcus Rappel, 43, murdered mother-of-three Tara Costigan, 28, in February 2015 in front of her sons, aged nine and 11. He was beaten up last month at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in Canberra where he is serving a 32-year sentence. Marcus Rappel (pictured), 43, murdered mother of three Tara Costigan, 28, in February 2015 in front of her sons, aged nine and 11 Tara Costigan (pictured), 28, was slashed in the neck by Rappel while holding her daughter and in front of her sons, aged nine and 11 at the time The Alexander Maconochie correctional centre where Marcus Rappel is held in Canberra The murderer was left with facial bruising but did not need hospital after the attack at 6pm on April 19. A Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokesman said: 'The incident was not observed by custodial staff but as soon as staff became aware of the incident health staff were informed. 'Following assessment the detainee remained at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. The incident was quickly responded to and according to normal procedures. 'ACT Corrective Services has implemented measures to protect the detainee as is usual after incidents of this kind.' ACT Policing is investigating the attack. A spokesman said: 'No charges have been laid at this time, however, the investigation remains ongoing.' Ms Costigan was killed just a day after she sought an interim domestic violence order against Rappel and one week after she gave birth to their daughter. Marcus Rappel, 43, was been sentenced to 32 years in jail after killing his ex-partner with an axe while she held their eight-day-old newborn daughter Ms Costigan, 28, was killed just a day after she sought an interim domestic violence order against Rappel (pictured together) Ms Costigan was breastfeeding her newborn daughter when Rappel broke in to her Canberra home. She fled to the laundry in terror - but it was there she was struck in the neck In a sentencing hearing in September 2016, the court heard that the estranged pair's relationship had broken down and Rappel had become increasingly abusive. 'The love was gone, the trust was gone, the family was against me for things I didn't do,' Rappel said in his evidence. 'It was doomed.' Angered at not being present for his daughter's birth and intent on reclaiming furniture which belonged to him, he arrived at the Calwell home in a rage. Ms Costigan was breastfeeding her newborn daughter when Rappel broke in. She fled in terror to the laundry but was not quick enough. It was there that she was struck in the neck by Rappel, falling face-first to the ground while still holding her newborn daughter. Ms Costigan's sister Nikkie Schmidt and her partner were in the house at the time and both suffered injuries in the attack. Ms Schmidt's partner eventually managed to knock the axe from Mr Rappel's hands and a neighbour was able to restrain him until police arrived. '(It) should have been forever,' Ms Costigan's mother Trish Fuller (pictured) was emotional outside of court after the sentencing Rappel was sentenced to 32 years and 2 months jail, with a non-parole period of 26 years, for murder, breaching a domestic violence order and two counts of assault. He will be eligible for release in 2041. When he was sentenced in February last year, Rappel had to be restrained and removed from the ACT Supreme Court room after yelling at Justice John Burns. Ms Costigan's mother Trish Fuller said no sentence would have been good enough. '(It) should have been forever,' she told reporters outside of court amidst sobbing tears. 'Whatever he did is never going to bring her back, this has just been devastating.' Ms Costigan's uncle Michael said Rappel got what he deserved. 'Many have suggested that today will bring closure. It hasn't - today's verdict does not bring me peace. Tara remains dead,' he told reporters outside court. Justice Burns told Rappel the ruthless murder was 'vicious and cowardly' and would be 'felt for decades to come', the ABC reported. 'Those who witnessed your violence will have to live with their memories for the rest of their lives,' he said. 'Your actions deprived three children of their mother, including your own infant daughter. Justice Burns said Rappel's motivation for the murder was the AVO that Ms Costigan had applied for Rikki Schmidt, sister of domestic violence victim Tara Costigan is hugged by family members outside the Supreme Court after Rappel was sentenced Four children and three adults have been killed in Australia's worst mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. Police were met with horrific scenes when they arrived at a farm in Osmington in Western Australia's Margaret River region shortly after 5am [local time] on Friday. Two adults were found dead outside a building on the rural property, before the bodies of four children and another adult were discovered inside. There are reports the deaths are related to a murder-suicide, but this has not been confirmed by police. Nearby residents said they heard gunfire around 4am but dismissed the sound as coming from kangaroo shooters. The rural property at Osmington in Western Australia's Margaret River region where four children and three adults were found shot dead on Friday morning WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson described the incident as a 'significant tragedy'. He said two firearms were located at the scene and confirmed that at least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds. 'Based on what we do know, this is clearly a tragedy... Police located seven persons deceased. Four children and three adults,' he said. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police, who then attended. Forensic officers comb the scene where four children and three adults were found shot dead Police were met with horrific scenes after they were called to a property in Osmington in Western Australia's Margaret River region at around 5am on Friday 'This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west,' he said. 'The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy,' he said. A neighbour told the ABC he had spoken to a man who lived at the property just hours before the bodies were found. 'I was talking to him on the phone last night, I was going to ask him to come over tomorrow. He seemed very vague,' he said. Commissioner Dawson said two firearms were located at the scene on the outskirts of Margaret River Another neighbour who lives across the road from the property told Fairfax he hadn't heard anything unusual overnight. 'There was nothing much I could tell [police],' said the semi-retired farmer, adding he didn't know the residents very well. 'I'd seen who I assume was the father out in a paddock one day, on a tractor. But I didn't have the opportunity to say hello.' Julia Meldrum, deputy president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, told Daily Mail Australia the district was in deep shock. 'It's devastating,' the distressed mother-of-two said. 'It's just shock and devastating for the community. 'I actually feel like vomiting. The shire has a population of 14,000 people but each town is very close knit. The seven bodies were found on the property at Osmington in WA about 5am on Friday There are reports the deaths are related to a shooting murder-suicide, but this has not been confirmed. Police are pictured at the scene 'In Margaret River there's a lot of children and a lot of young families. It'll be devastating for the community. It's touched many people, people I'm sure will know one another. 'The shire will be doing whatever we can to provide support and whatever else we can do in addition... I've got young children as well. It's just devastating.' Shire president Pamela Townshend said the names of those believed to have been killed were circulating in the community. 'There'll be a grapevine happening I'm sure in the community but we can't comment because it's a crime,' Councillor Townshend said. 'At the moment all we really know is it's a small community. Everyone knows everyone to some extent. 'Its an isolated rural area. There's no centre of town. Everyone comes into town to do their shopping. 'Everyone's involved in everyone else's business in a small town so it's going to be a huge shock for this town. Deputy president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, Councillor Julia Meldrum (left), and shire president Pamela Townshend (right) 'The shire will provide as much support as we can for our town, for the community and for the remaining family members. 'There are community members already rallying to work out a support response for the family. We're already seeing this rallying. Councillor Townshend believed the deaths should lead to further debate about gun and family violence. 'Once again we are faced with this problem in families with gun violence and male violence, assuming it is male violence,' she said. 'We need to have it firmly on the table to talk about it and not just have it as an isolated mental health issue of one person. It's society's problem. Commissioner Dawson, who said there was no danger to the public, did not specify the ages of any of the victims. Police are attempting to locate family members of the deceased. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police, who then attended Osmington, about 260km south of Perth, is a 10-minute drive east of the Margaret River township. The tiny community, which ABS data shows has about 135 residents, mostly consists of farmland properties and vineyards. Australia had not experienced a mass shooting massacre, defined as the death of five or more people, since 35 people were gunned down at Port Arthur in April, 1996. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. The brother of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz can serve out his probation for trespassing in Virginia, where his lawyer says a home, a job and educational opportunities await, a judge ruled Friday. Zachary Cruz, 18, had to get permission from Broward County Judge Melinda Brown to move to Staunton, Virginia, because he is on six months' probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Nikolas is accused of killing 17 people there in the Valentine's Day shooting rampage. Zachary's trespassing arrest took place little more than one month later. 'You need to just take this moment and appreciate what they're offering you,' Brown told Zachary. 'Make wise choices.' Zachary Cruz has been granted the ability to relocate to Virginia, where his education, employment and housing will be taken care of by Nexus Services (pictured right is CEO Mike Donovan) Zachary, 18, will serve out the rest of his probation in Virginia, after being charged with trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school just weeks after his brother allegedly killed 17 people there Nikolas has agreed to plead guilty if he is only given a life sentence, but prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the Valentine's Day massacre Zachary's job as a maintenance technician and living quarters will be provided by Nexus Services, which specializes in helping people adjust after prison or treatment. He will make $13 an hour and still face a host of probation restrictions including no possession of weapons or ammunition, no drug or alcohol use and no visits to any school unless he is enrolled there. 'I'm very happy with the court's ruling,' Zachary, dressed in a charcoal suit and plaid tie, told reporters after the hearing. 'I'm looking forward to starting a new life there.' Zachary had been living with a caretaker, Rocxanne Deschamps, who initially took in both brothers after their mother died in November. Nikolas moved out after a dispute with Deschamps over his gun ownership and went to live with another family shortly before the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Deschamps told Zachary he had to leave her home after he was arrested last week for violating probation by driving his mother's car without a license, attorney Mark Lowry said. He has been living in a hotel since then. Lowry said the move to Virginia will give Zachary a chance to live a relatively normal life and escape the shadow of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Nikolas has confessed to the crime and his lawyers say he would plead guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence, but prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. 'Mr. Cruz is not his brother. He is not charged with what his brother is charged with,' Lowry said. 'This gives him a chance to start over. A fresh start.' Zachary's lawyer told the court his brother's (right) crimes would always cast a shadow on him in their native Florida Zachary will remain under curfew and electronic monitoring for the rest of his probation Prosecutor Sarahnell Murphy closely questioned Nexus officials at the hearing about the level of supervision Zachary would be under, how he would get around and what kind of mental health counseling would be available. The Nexus officials assured her they would keep close tabs on him and ensure he met all requirements of his probation, including electronic monitoring of his whereabouts. Still, Murphy said she was concerned he was leaving Broward County's jurisdiction. Prosecutors have previously noted Zachary's own scrapes with law enforcement and said many 'red flags' exist with him that were apparent with his brother after the shooting. 'I wish I could say I was without trepidation,' Murphy said. Then she added: 'The state of Florida wants nothing more than for Mr. Cruz to be successful.' Zachary said he will leave Saturday for Virginia. The 18-year-old will move to Virginia to begin his new life on Saturday Sarah Palin dismissed the Stormy Daniels saga on Thursday as a giant distraction, telling an audience of super PAC donors that sexual affairs between consenting adults have little bearing on leaders' fitness for office. The former Alaska Governor and onetime Republican vice-presidential nominee described the daily drumbeat of the all-consuming Donald Trump sex scandal as a ploy by the president's 'unhinged' opponents to tie him up in knots so he can't be successful. Conservatives have traditionally been the moral finger-waggers of American politics, most famously raking former President Bill Clinton over the coals for a series of Lothario episodes including Oval Office liaisons with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Sarah Palin dismissed the Stormy Daniels saga entire on Thursday, suggesting during a super PAC fundraiser at President Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel that presidential affairs are no big deal Daniels, a pornographic film star, says she bedded the president in 2006 and 2007, a claim Trump denies Palin, a former vice presidential nominee, hinted that Bill Clinton's conquest of White House intern Monica Lewinsky was worse than Trump's affair with Daniels because the latter case involved consenting adults who were on equal footing Palin seemed to concede during a speech at Trump's hotel near the White House that porn star Stormy Daniels' claim to have bedded the president in 2006 and 2007 may be true. But the scandal's power, she said, stems from the fact that for out-of-power Democrats, Trump's political base is 'their existential threat.' 'Their tactic is to divide us,' she said, 'and to divide, they distract.' 'The real threat isn't if a private citizen, you know, messed around, had an affair or whatever with a consenting grown-up years and years ago,' Palin declared as about 250 fans whooped and clapped without acknowledging the irony hanging in the air. 'You know, we've had men in office literally in the office! do much worse,' she added, in an unmistakable jab at Clinton. Trump, shown Thursday night during a rally in Indiana, has found the Daniels saga a massive distraction which, Palin says, is why Democrats are eager to keep the scandal burning Daniels is embroiled in a legal battle to free herself from a nondisclosure agreement she signed in 2016 but has already violated repeatedly Clinton was impeached for lying under oath in Grand Jury testimony about his affair with Lewinsky, some of which was conducted in rooms adjacent to the Oval Office The Lewinsky story captured Americans' attention in the late 1990s as the Clinton presidency hung by a thread Palin, whose commentary on sexual mores appeared to be a departure from her written notes, quickly shifted gears to insist that she wasn't condoning extramarital wanderings. 'I don't excuse any of that,' she said. 'I'm just saying repeating what some neanderthals still say: "Oh, boys will be boys".' 'Oh yeah? Boys will be boys, and that's why they shouldn't run the world.' Palin said Democrats' tactic The tactic, friends, is to wear you down with these distractions and scandal after scandal, and compound it all, hoping you just give up and wave the white flag of surrender and say it's just too much. Police have described the horrific scene they found when called to a suspected mass murder-suicide outside Margaret River this morning. Officers found seven bodies riddled with gunshot wounds beside two guns at a rural house in Osmington, Western Australia. 'At about 5.15am this morning, police were called to a rural property on the outskirts of this property at Margaret River,' WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said at a press conference. 'Upon arrival, police located seven persons deceased. Four children and three adults. Officers found seven bodies riddled with gunshot wounds and two guns at a rural house in Osmington, Western Australia Police have described the horrific scene they found when called to a mass shooting outside Margaret River this morning 'The bodies of two adults were located outside, five bodies were located inside a building on the rural property. Two firearms have been located at the scene.' He added: 'This is a horrific tragedy for any person involved, and clearly officers and other first responders attending these sorts of scenes, it is very tragic.' Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police. A neighbour told the ABC he had spoken to a man who lived at the property just hours before the bodies were found. 'I was talking to him on the phone last night, I was going to ask him to come over tomorrow. He seemed very vague,' he said. An ambulance spokesman told Daily Mail Australia paramedics were not called the scene. Details of the incident are still emerging, but it is believed it unfolded at Margaret River on Thursday night Police have described the horrific scene they found when called to a mass shooting outside Margaret River this morning Commissioner Dawson said police are not looking for a suspect and there is no danger to the public. The suspected murder suicide is the biggest shooting massacre since Port Arthur in Tasmania in April 1996 when 35 people were killed and 23 wounded. Commissioner Dawson said police were attempting to locate family members of the deceased. 'This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west,' he said. 'The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy,' he said. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. A mother in Texas says her autistic son's teacher texted her an insulting, curse laden message about her son, after another teacher from the school called her telling that he wanted to come home. The teacher had texted mom, Tiffany Lynn Elfstrom: 'This lil mother f****r is crying like a baby for mommy because he wants to go home. Omg I just want to omggggggg pull all my damn hair out.' Elfstrom's son, Jayden, is 13-years-old and a student at the Levi Fry Intermediate School in Texas City Independent School District, according to Chron.com. The teacher later admitted to sending the texts, but said she sent it to Jayden's mother, 35, in error. Tiffany Lynn Elfstrom, 35 (pictured with her autistic, 13-year-old son Jayden) says his teacher sent her an insulting and curse laden text about her son on Monday The text was sent early in the school day. The mother posted it to Facebook The teacher was fired by Wednesday, after the mother complained to the school's principal Elfstrom shared a screenshot of Monday's text messages on Facebook and it was shared 370 times. 'I was shocked, also felt disgusted that she would send something like that,' Elfstrom said on Thursday. The mother took the issue to the school's principal, and by Wednesday, the teacher was fired. 'The teacher admitted to sending the text but did not intend to send it to the parent,' Texas City ISD spokeswoman Melissa Tortorici said in a statement. The mother took the issue to the school's principal, and by Wednesday, the teacher was fired Tortorici added: 'No matter her intention, the text is highly inappropriate and does not represent the character of people we want teaching our students.' 'She was immediately removed from the classroom. We investigated the incident and she no longer has a contract with our district.' Cecilia Haddad, 38, was found in the Lane Cove River, in Sydney's north shore, on May 1 Devastated friends and family of a murdered Brazillian woman who was found floating in a river last week have gathered to farewell the 'kind soul'. Cecilia Haddad, 38, was found in the Lane Cove River, on Sydney's north shore, on May 1, just hours after being reported missing by a group of worried friends. Her pockets were 'weighed down with rocks', according to the kayaker who found her, and her death is being treated by police as a murder. Ten days after her tragic death the mining executive's closest friends gathered to say goodbye. An emotional speech described her as a 'bright light' and a 'vibrant, kind soul who made the world a much happier place'. Mourners cried as her friend continued to speak about the much-loved woman. 'It is too quiet here without you,' Ms Haddad's friend Carolina Camara said. 'She meant a lot to all of us and will be dearly missed.' The memorial service was held at Pinnaroo Cemetery in Perth. Ms Haddad spent several years in Western Australia before moving two Sydney about two years ago. Friends gathered on Friday to farewell the mining executive in Perth Carolina Camara waits to speak to the media at the memorial service held at Pinnaroo Cemetery for Cecilia Haddad 'It is too quiet here without you,' Ms Haddad's friend Carolina Camara said Ms Haddad's ex-boyfriend and former business partner Mario Marcelo Santoro flew home to Brazil the same weekend she went missing. Detectives said he is a person of interest in Ms Haddad's death, and they are keen to speak to him in Brazil, but on Friday had still not formally interviewed him. Mr Santoro, who met Ms Haddad many years ago in Rio, arrived in Sydney about 18-months ago, claiming to have a 'big job' in healthcare lined up. But sources close to the investigation told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Santoro had no such job and came to Australia simply to 'pursue' Ms Haddad. 'She meant a lot to all of us and will be dearly missed,' Ms Camara, pictured, said The emotional speech described her as a 'bright light' and a 'vibrant, kind soul who made the world a much happier place' Mourners cried as her friend continued to speak about the much-loved woman But sources close to the investigation told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Santoro had no such job and came to Australia simply to 'pursue' Ms Haddad. 'Essentially he told his friends and family he'd scored a big job with a healthcare company in Australia, but he lied,' the source claimed. 'He came here to pursue Cecilia. Ostensibly he came to visit her and never left. 'He told Cecilia he had something lined up (for work) here too, but his first job in Sydney was driving an Uber from memory.' It was so unusual for Ms Haddad to drop off the radar that three friends called police to report her missing on Sunday, having not heard from her since 9.30am on Saturday. Ms Haddad (left, pictured with a friend) ended her business and personal relationships with Mr Santoro in the weeks before her body was found floating in a Sydney river, according to friends A copy of the emotive speech by Ms Camara for her friend Ms Haddad 'Three of us that I know of reported her missing within 48 hours, that shows how out of character her disappearance was,' a friend said last week. Ms Haddad attended a 'brief' barbeque with friends on Friday night before heading home for an 'early night'. That was supposed to be followed by a mixture of personal and business events the next day, including a meeting with a disabled client she regularly cared for. 'She spent the remainder of Friday evening on the phone to friends sharing her plans for the weekend. This is why we were concerned about her - we knew her plans and should have heard from her,' the friend said. Ms Haddad's ex-boyfriend Mario Marcelo Santoro (pictured) flew home to Rio de Janeiro last week but is talking to NSW police Mr Santoro, who met Ms Haddad many years ago in Rio, arrived in Sydney about 18-months ago, claiming to have a 'big job' in healthcare lined up 'The BBQ was brief and ended early. I spoke to her on Friday evening, Cecilia was an open book and an open communicator.' 'Her disability clients loved her because she treated them like real people, never like they were disabled... she had plans to provide assistance to one on the weekend. 'She had an impact on everyone she met. She was the most sincere person you ever met.' Ms Haddad spoke to friends between 8am and 9.30am on Saturday over message and phone calls, but was never heard from again. Police divers searched kilometres from where her body was found on Friday, the same day her father Jose arrived in Sydney to meet with homicide detectives. A guest on Fox Business attacked Senator McCain in defense of the use of torture, saying 'it worked on John'. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney made the controversial comment on Thursday in a conversation with Fox host Charles Payne, as they discussed Trump's CIA director nominee Gina Haspel. Haspel is known for supporting the use of torture in the CIA's post 9/11 program. 'The fact is John McCain, it worked on John, that's why they call him Songbird John,' McInerney said on air. Scroll down for video Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney sparked controversy when he attacked McCain on Thursday as he spoke to Fox Business saying torture worked on 'Songbird John' ...Wow Conversation on Fox about torture: "It worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John'" https://t.co/OjCwhv2ZhI pic.twitter.com/WehsgPAqgb Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 10, 2018 McInerney, left, alluded that McCain succumbed to the demands of his interrogators during the Vietnam War in his slanderous comment McInerney was defending Trump's CIA director nominee Gina Haspel, pictured above, for her role in the CIA's post 9/11 torture program 'The fact is those methods can work and they are effective as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to,' he added. However the comment sparked fury, as it pointed towards the five years of torture the Arizona senator suffered as a prisoner of the Vietnam war. McCain was a Navy pilot during the war and was captured in 1967 after his aircraft was downed, leading him to endure years of torture in his captivity. He even signed a confession apologizing for crimes committed against the North Vietnamese people but he insisted he never gave up any information, even going so far as to say he gave interrogators the names of the Green Bay Packers defensive linemen, according to the New York Daily News. However he was nicknamed a 'Hanoi Hilton songbird' for allegedly collaborating with the enemy. McInerney's statement alludes that torture worked on McCain and alleges he gave over information to his interrogators. McCain has long been a outspoken advocate against torture, having suffered it himself for five years as a prisoner of war, pictured in a Hanoi Hospital above The Arizona senator was held captive for five years after his plane was shot down in 1967, pictured above being examined by a Vietnamese doctor McCain urged the Senate to reject Haspel for the role, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration President Trump, however, praised Haspel's performance and released a contrasting statement hours after McCain McCain's wife took to Twitter to hit out on Fox Business host Charles Payne, writing: 'Please choose your guest more wisely', after McInerney's controversial appearance Despite McInerney's controversial comment, host Payne made no comment and wrapped up the conversation saying 'Sir, thank you very, very much'. Payne has since issued a public apology. 'My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment,' he said on Thursday. 'I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country,' he added. Although McCain hasn't responded, his wife Cindy fired at the Fox host on Twitter saying: 'Please choose your guest more wisely'. On Wednesday McCain took to Twitter to denounce Haspel, who defended the 2002 torture of an Al Qaeda militant in a black-site prison, as a pick for CIA director for her 'disturbing' support of torture. 'I believe Gina Haspel is a patriot who loves our country & has devoted her professional life to its service & defense. However, her role in overseeing the use of torture is disturbing & her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying,' he wrote. 'I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination,' he added. Hours after McCain tweeted his concern over Haspel, Trump tweeted praising her. 'Gina Haspel did a spectacular job today. There is nobody even close to run the CIA!' he said. The shooting deaths of seven people at a rural property south of Perth are Australia's worse mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre sparked new gun laws. Australia had not experienced a mass shooting massacre, defined as the death of five or more people, since 35 people were gunned down at the historic Tasmanian tourist site on April 28, 1996. However, the confirmed murder-suicide deaths of four children and three adults at a rural property in Western Australia has changed this. Scroll down for video The shooting deaths of seven people at a rural property south of Perth are Australia's worse mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre (Seascape Guesthouse pictured) which sparked new gun laws Australia had not experienced a mass shooting massacre, defined as the death of five or more people, since 35 people were gunned down at Port Arthur on April 28, 1996 The Tasmanian massacre at the hands of Martin Bryant (pictured) a national crackdown on semi-automatic weapons and stopped a massacre occurring in Australia until May 11, 2018 The Port Arthur massacre, centred at the Broad Arrow Cafe, was the worse mass shooting in Australia's history and was the last gun massacre until the Margaret River tragedy The gun deaths of seven people in rural Osmington, about 21km east of Margaret River, marks the worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre led to new national gun laws. A month after John Howard was elected prime minister in March 1996, an unemployed Martin Bryant drove to the Seascape Guesthouse, in an old Volvo, where he murdered owners David and Sally Martin. He then drove to the historic Port Arthur prison, a popular tourist site, and began his Sunday rampage which left 35 dead. The scattering of bodies in and around the Broad Arrow Cafe, which has since been demolished, led to a national firearms agreement and an Australia-wide gun buyback scheme. Nine years earlier, in August 1987, seven people were gunned down at Hoddle Street in central Melbourne. Just four months later, only two weeks before Christmas 1987, nine people were killed as part of the Queen Street shooting massacre in Melbourne's city centre. Carnage came to Sydney in August 1991 when seven people were killed at Strathfield Plaza in the city's inner-west when a gunman shot dead six people in the mall after he had stabbed a teenage girl. Before the Port Arthur massacre, at the hands of Martin Bryant, seven people in August 1987 were gunned down at Hoddle Street in central Melbourne (pictured) The gunman Wade Frankum killed himself as police arrived at the scene. After more than two decades of being spared mass gun murders on the scale of the 1980s and 1990s, the nightmare of firearm violence has returned to Australia. On Friday morning, West Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers were called to the property in the Margaret River area at about 5.15am on Friday, and described the deaths as a 'significant tragedy'. 'Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident,' he told reporters in Perth. He said two bodies were located outside a building, while five were found inside. Two firearms were found at the scene. In August 1991, seven people were killed at Strathfield Plaza in Sydney's inner-west when a gunman shot dead six people in the mall after he had stabbed a teenage girl The Strathfield mall gunman Wade Frankum killed himself as police arrived at the scene On Friday morning, West Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson described the deaths as a 'significant tragedy' However, the confirmed deaths of four children and three adults at a rural property in Western Australia has changed this Perth homicide detectives are helping local police in the state's south-west with the investigation. Before the Port Arthur massacre, there had been 13 mass shootings in Australia. Until Friday morning, Australia had not suffered a mass shooting since 1996, a point which former prime minister John Howard had made to American journalists as the architect of national laws banning semi-automatic rifles. The murder-suicide in Western Australia was worse than the September 2014 shooting of mother Kim Hunt, 41, and her children Fletcher, 10, Mia, 8, and Phoebe, 6 on a farm in the southern NSW town of Lockhart. Geoff Hunter, 44, then turned the gun on himself after killing his wife and children, with his body later found in a nearby dam with a gun beside his body. Three months later, in December 2014, two people were killed at Sydney's Lindt cafe, after gunman Man Monis shot dead cafe manager Tori Johnson at the end of a 16-hour siege which led to Katrina Dawson being killed by a police bullet fragment. Mass murders without guns have recently occurred in Australia, with a woman in the Cairns suburb of Manoora charged in December 2014 with fatally stabbing eight children, aged 18 months to 14, seven of whom were her own children. She was an aunt to the eighth child. The murder-suicide in Western Australia was worse than the September 2014 shooting of mother Kim Hunt and her three children on a farm in the southern NSW town of Lockhart Two people were killed at Sydney's Lindt cafe in Martin Place in December 2014, after gunman Man Monis shot dead cafe manager Tori Johnson at the end of a 16-hour siege which led to Katrina Dawson Advertisement Israel's UN ambassador is calling on the UN Security Council and the secretary-general to immediately condemn Iran's missile attack and demand that Tehran remove its military presence from Syria. Danny Danon said in letters to the council and UN chief Antonio Guterres that 'the international community must not stand idly by while a tyrannical regime attacks a sovereign nation and continues to threaten the very existence of a member-state of the United Nations'. 'Israel is not interested in escalation, but under no circumstances will we allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria whose purpose is to attack Israel and to deteriorate an already fragile situation in the region,' Dannon added. The Security Council, which is deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and no council member has asked for a meeting on the missile attacks against Israel and Syria. But Secretary-General Guterres urged 'an immediate halt to all hostile acts' to avoid 'a new conflagration' in the Middle East, a UN spokesman revealed. The UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights has maintained contact with the Syrian and Israeli military, 'urging both parties to exercise maximum restraint' and abide by the 1974 cease-fire agreement. Israel's UN ambassador is calling on the UN Security Council ato immediately condemn Iran's missile attack and demand that Tehran remove its military presence from Syria. Pictured is an Israeli soldier on a multiple rocket launcher vehicle near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on Thursday The Security Council, which is deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and no council member has asked for a meeting on the missile attacks against Israel and Syria. Pictured is an Israeli soldier directing a M113 armored personal vehicle in Golan Heights Secretary-General Guterres has followed overnight reports of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by Israel 'with utmost concern', spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. Dujarric said Guterres was relieved that 'partial normalization of the situation' had returned on Thursday and that he is 'very engaged' and has been in contact 'with various people at various levels' about the attacks. The remarks come after Israel revealed it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, destroying dozens of sites - in an operation dubbed 'House of Cards' - after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time. Israel released footage of the moment one of its missiles destroyed an Iranian rocker launcher in Syria as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had 'crossed a red line' by firing 20 rockets across the border early on Thursday. The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact. Secretary-General Guterres has followed overnight reports of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by Israel 'with utmost concern', spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday The remarks come after Israel revealed it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, destroying dozens of sites in an operation dubbed 'House of Cards' A SA22 aerial interception system, also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system. The targets of the strikes, Israel's largest in Syria since the 1973 war, included weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in the country. Netanyahu said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions. 'We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria,' Netanyahu said. Later, in a statement issued as Israel's security cabinet was meeting, Netanyahu said the strike on Iran's military installations inside Syria sent a 'clear message' to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to attack Israel. Netanyahu warned 'whoever attacks us - we will attack them sevenfold and whoever prepares to attack us - we will act against them first.' A video shows Israeli missiles destroying Iranian military targets in Syria after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that they'd 'crossed a red line' when they fired at the Golan Heights He said that 'we are in a continuous campaign' and that 'Israel's military had carried out very extensive strike against Iranian targets' in Syria. Netanyahu said Syrian batteries fired at Israeli forces 'and therefore we struck them.' Alongside the video of the strike, the IDF wrote that they 'struck an SA22 aerial interception system as part of a wide-scale attack against Iranian military sites in Syria.' It added: 'The IDF strikes were a response to the rockets that were launched by the Iranian Quds Forces against IDF positions on the Golan Heights & the Syrian aerial defense fire at IAF aircraft.' The military said previously it targeted a number of Syrian air defense systems - the SA22 as well as SA5, SA2, SA17 batteries - which had fired at Israeli planes, according to the Times of Israel. It comes after Iran and Israel traded blows on the Syrian border overnight, marking the first time Tehran has directly attacked Israel. Iranian forces fired 20 rockets across the border at Israeli frontline military positions early on Thursday, the Israeli military said. The Israeli military said its Iron Dome defence system intercepted some of the incoming projectiles, while others caused only minimal damage. The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers (pictured top left) stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact A SA22 aerial interception system (pictured), also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-artillery weapon system Lebanese soldiers inspect the remains of a surface to air missile that landed in the southern Lebanese village of Hebarieh on Thursday Cows are seen alongside Israeli Soldiers and Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday Israeli soldiers were deployed near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights as Israel carried out widespread raids against Iranian targets in Syria Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. Pictured, cows graze near Merkava tanks in Golan Heights An Israeli soldier stands next to signs pointing out distances to different cities, on Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday The attack was followed by retaliatory strikes by Israeli jets, which struck 'dozens' of Iranian military installations within Syria. They struck a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said. Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had 'hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria'. HOW SA-22 GREYHOUND ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLE CAN DOWN 12 TARGETS EVERY MINUTE A Pantsir-S1 is a Russian-made anti-aircraft system that is also known by its NATO code name: SA-22 Greyhound. It's a truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system that has been in active service since 2003. The vehicles, which combine the use of both guns and missiles, are designed to shoot down aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and drones. The eight-wheel trucks carry 12 57E6 surface-to-air guided missiles and two automatic guns developed from the two-barreled 30mm GSh-30 gun. A Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft defence system The Pantsir-S1 can fire at two targets at the same time and attack up to 12 targets within a minute. Its missiles have a maximum range of just over 11 miles. Russia has sold the systems to countries including Iran, Iraq and Jordan. Syria is known to have a mixture of Russian-made anti-aircraft systems, including the Pantsir S-1 and the Buk M2 surface-to-air missile system. The Pantsir-S1 has been fired in Syria a number of times to take out drones and missiles. The first known combat use of the Pantsir-S1 was by the Syrian Army when a system tracked and downed a Turkish aircraft in June 2012. Advertisement But he insisted Israel had 'no interest in escalation' of the situation, adding: 'I hope that we have finished this chapter and that everyone got the message.' Meanwhile, France and Germany on Thursday urged Israel and Iran to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of hostilities in the Middle East after the heaviest military exchange ever between the two regional adversaries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Iranian rocket attacks and Israel's response in Aachen, western Germany, and called for prudence and de-escalation. 'The escalations of the past few hours show us that it is truly about war and peace. And I can only call on all sides to exercise restraint here,' Merkel said during a ceremony awarding Macron the Charlemagne Prize for strengthening EU integration. Britain also condemned a rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights by Iranian forces based in Syria, and said Israel has every right to defend itself. Downing Street called for calm on both sides and urged Tehran to refrain from further assaults. Number 10 also urged Russia to use its influence in Syria to rein in Iranian aggression. Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself. 'We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks.' The White House also condemned Iran's 'provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens' and expressed strong support for 'Israel's right to act in self-defense.' 'The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East,' Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Syrian air defense missiles are seen in the sky over Damascus, Syria. According to Syrian official media reports, the air defense was responding to a new wave of Israeli missile strikes Israel said Iranian forces had fired 20 artillery rockets at their military bases in the disputed Golan Heights and that their Iron Dome defence system had intercepted a number of them An image released by the government-affiliated 'Central War Media' in Syria purportedly shows Syrian air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Damascus' airspace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured in Moscow on Wednesday) said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians. Israel said the Iranian rockets were either shot down by its Iron Dome air defence system or fell short of the Golan targets, claiming the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch. The exchange of fire came less than a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt on its nuclear program. Merkel has scrambled to try to preserve the nuclear accord with Iran following Trump's announcement that the United States would be withdrawing from the accord. In a call with Hassan Rouhani, Merkel called for talks to be held in a broader format on Iran's ballistic missile programme and its regional activities - including in Syria and Yemen, her office said in a statement. Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights today after some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces from southern Syria just after midnight Firing back: This photo supplied by Syrian state media allegedly shows Israeli missiles hittin air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria The Israeli Iron Dome defense system is seen above on the Golan Heights attempting to intercept suspected Iranian missiles being launched from Syria The project was given a bigger boost when the Obama administration sought and received hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding The latest strikes were the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its civil war, in which Iranians, allied Shi'ite militias and Russian soldiers have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad. 'We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria,' Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference on Thursday morning. 'They need to remember the saying that if it rains on us, it'll storm on them. I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood.' An IDF spokesperson said Iran's Quds force fired the rockets at several Israeli bases, though would reveal how Israel determined the Iranian involvement. If Israeli claims are true, it would be the first time Iranian troops have directly attacked Israel rather than using proxies such as Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Trading blows: Iranian forces reportedly fired 20 rockets on the Golan Heights, to which Israel responded with dozens of strikes on Iranian positions in Syria This frame grab from video provided on Wednesday by Syria News shows people standing in front of flames rising after an attack on an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases in Kisweh, south of Damascus The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 war. People in Metula, a town in northern Israel, were reportedly asked to enter 'secure areas' following an explosion in the area. While the IDF blames Iran for firing the initial barrage of rockets into the Golan Heights, Syrian media claims Israel fired first. US LEAVING IRAN DEAL COULD SEE SPIKE IN OIL PRICES The United States' immediate reinstating of sanctions on Iran, could lead to a global spike in the price of oil. Oil prices are already at their highest level since November 2014 and as Iran is the world's fifth biggest oil producer, any new sanctions is likely to affect the market. However, U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia has said to will help meet the oil demands if Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal would create any shortfalls. Advertisement Israel's response saw war planes targeting Iranian positions inside Syria, according to an IDF spokesman. Targets included the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, according to Israeli media. More than 30 Israeli missiles have reportedly struck targets near the city, with the Russian military claiming 70 were fired - and half of them downed. Russia's defence ministry said: '28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 aircraft were used in the attack, which released around 60 air-to-ground missiles over various parts of Syria. Israel also fired more than 10 tactical ground-to-ground missiles.' Russia said Syria's air defence systems shot down more than half of the missiles, while the extent of the damage was still being assessed. 'The locations of Iranian armed groups and also the positions of the Syrian army's air defences in the area around Damascus and in the south of Syria were attacked,' the ministry said. Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus. 'Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,' Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. Another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse, it said. Syrian state television was broadcasting footage of its air defenses firing at incoming rockets, and playing patriotic songs. Long-exposure photographs showed Israeli artillery launched to intercept projectiles fired from Syria early today THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: SYRIAN TERRITORY ANNEXED BY ISRAEL The Golan Heights form a strategic plateau between Israel and Syria of about 460 square miles. Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. About 18,000 Israeli settlers have moved to the Golan, which also borders Jordan, since 1967. Some 20,000 Druze Muslims also live there. Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship though most rejected it. Syria tried to regain the Golan Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but the assault was thwarted. The two signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan has been relatively quiet until recently. The Golan contains important water sources and has further strategic value because it overlooks northeastern Israel including the Sea of Galilee, a tourist attraction and Israel's biggest reservoir. In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed. Source: Reuters Advertisement It said Israeli warplanes were firing the rockets from outside Syria's borders and targeting Baath City in Quneitra province. Earlier, Syrian media said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in the country's south from across the border. Pro-Syrian media said Syrian missiles then fired at Israeli forces. One TV station, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen, said at least 50 missiles were fired from Syria at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the first time in years that Syrians had fired at Israeli forces in Golan, Syrian media reported. The news that Israel and Iran had exchanged fire saw several world leaders call for de-escalation in the area, amid concern about growing military tensions between the two nations. This morning, France's President Emmanuel Macron was first to call for de-escalation, and will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later today to discuss the Middle East. This was echoed by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who said: 'This is all very alarming, it causes concern. There should be work to de-escalate the tensions,' An air defense missile is seen over Daraa, Syria on Thursday. Daraa is very near the southwestern border with Jordan and not far from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights Anti-aircraft missiles are seen from the Syrian capital of Damascus before dawn on Thursday The above image shows more Syrian air defense missiles as seen in the sky over the capital Damascus on Thursday Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts. Late on Tuesday, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard. Last month, an attack on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel. On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians. SOHR said the attacks killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers. The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said five Syrian soldiers, including two officers, and 18 militia fighters were killed. Abdurrahman says it is not immediately clear if he believed Iranians were among those killed. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied most of the airstrikes. But for months, it has repeatedly said it will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria. Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov today called for 'restraint on all sides', adding that Moscow was 'concerned' at the development. The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year civil war. At the meeting Putin also expressed 'deep concern' over Trump's decision to withdraw from a key 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, a decision Netanyahu supported. On Wednesday the Russian leader called the situation in the Middle East 'unfortunately very acute'. Netanyahu had told Putin that 'it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from (Iranian) aggression)', his office said in a statement Wednesday, referring to Iran's presence in Syria. An Israeli Iron dome system is seen deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights An Iron Dome anti-missile system can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday An Israeli tank can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in Golan Heights The Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights was placed on high alert due to 'irregular activity by Iranian forces' across the demarcation line in Syria An Israeli artillery unit takes position near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights Israeli soldiers stand on top of their Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights Israel has long objected to an Iranian military presence near the Golan Heights frontier In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace. Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, but an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle. Iranian forces moved into Syria after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 to back the forces of President Bashar Assad. As that war winds down, and Assad appears to be headed toward victory, Israel fears that Iran, along with tens of thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen, will carry out attacks against Israel. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would response fiercely to any further Iranian actions. 'We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel. This is the policy, a very, very clear policy, and we're acting according to this policy,' he said. 'We, of course, struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, and they need to remember this arrogance of theirs. If we get rain, they'll get a flood. I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood.' Iranian protesters burn US flags during an anti-US gathering outside of the former American embassy in central Tehran Iranians reacted angrily on Wednesday to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Protesters are seen above walking on the US flag in Tehran Rules of the agreement: Behind the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal Trump withdraws from Iran deal President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency. He declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility with a rationale that contradicted the analyses of U.S. and foreign intelligence sources. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran But Trump, a severe critic of the deal dating back to his 2016 presidential campaign, said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House that it was 'defective at its core.' On Wednesday, he warned Iran against resuming its nuclear weapons program. 'I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program,' Trump told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting when asked about the potential consequences. 'I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence.' He claimed the deal 'was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East' and bragged the sanctions would be among the strongest 'that we've ever put on a country.' U.S. allies in Europe had tried to keep Trump in and lamented his move to abandon it. Iran's leader ominously warned his country might 'start enriching uranium more than before.' The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Iran's government must now decide whether to follow the U.S. and withdraw or try to salvage what's left with the Europeans. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he was sending his foreign minister to the remaining countries but warned there was only a short time to negotiate with them. Trump also left open the possibility of a new deal, and told reporters Wednesday: 'We'll make either a really good deal for the world or we're not going to make a deal at all. He predicted Iran would choose to negotiate eventually, or face consequences. The administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump's announcement as a 'historic move.' Trump said Tuesday that documents recently released by Netanyahu showed Iran had attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003. Although Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran violated the deal, he said Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted. Iran has denied ever pursuing nuclear arms. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin (right) and discuss military coordination in Syria A young girl who was allegedly raped by a person close to her family may have been sexually assaulted by another man. The two-year-old girl tested positive for gonorrhoea after the incident in Tennant Creek earlier this year. But a source close to the family told the Herald Sun the alleged assailant, who has been charged with unlawful sexual intercourse, did not test positive for the sexually transmitted disease. A little girl (pictured) who was allegedly raped at Tennant Creek earlier this year has tested positive to a sexually transmitted disease months after the horrific ordeal The two-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a person close to the family in February in remote Northern Territory town (pictured) while her father was in prison for assaulting her mother The source, who has knowledge of the medical results, said: 'The man accused of raping her did not test (positive) for an STI. 'Looking at what was going on in that household, it's a possibility there is another assailant.' A report by the Northern Territory Children's Commissioner revealed the parents of the two-year-old girl, were 'well known' to several Tennant Creek authorities including Northern Territory Police and the Education Department. The toddler was flown the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide to be treated for the physical trauma of the alleged rape and has since been treated with post-exposure HIV medication, according to Sky News Australia. Before the victim was even born, substantial neglect and harm was allegedly inflicted on her older siblings where the parents have had more than 150 interactions with police. The horrendous findings of the investigation were heard in Parliament Wednesday night, revealing the alleged rape was not the 'only violence (the toddler) had been exposed to, and experienced, in her short life', ABC News reported. Before the victim was even born, substantial neglect and harm was allegedly inflicted on her older siblings where the parents have had more than 150 interactions with police 'Some of these investigations resulted in prosecutions, with the perpetrator incarcerated,' the report stated. A 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with sexual assault in late February. The girl's siblings 'regularly' experienced 'substantial neglect and numerous harms' as well as sexual abuse between 2002 and 2018 where 52 child protection notifications were reported. Parliament heard there were 16 reports made directly to Territory Families, a state government run establishment, and 'critical intervention points' were ignored which 'failed her (the two-year-old) and her siblings', according to News Corp. The two-year-old girl was removed from her mother's care by the Department of Child Protection in South Australia last month. Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, who killed himself on March 21 may have struggled with his sexuality and faith prior to bombing spree The Austin bomber who killed himself after leading a three-week bombing spree struggled with his faith and sexuality. Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, killed himself in one of his own makeshift bombs after he terrorized the Texas state capital with a series of package bombs that killed two and wounded at least five others. New details of his personal life reveal that he was raised in a devout Christian home but later told his family he no longer believed in God. Police also found evidence that suggests Conditt may have been gay as he had a profile on Grindr, a dating app for men, according to KVUE. When he was 17, Conditt had written that homosexuality is 'not natural', referring to his religious home school education. Police have ruled out the possibility that the attack was racially motivated or linked to terror groups. An investigation into his background life that may unveil his motive will continue through mid-summer. Conditt's family has not commented on latest findings. Scroll down for video He was cornered by police and took his own life by detonating a bomb he made in his SUV. New details reveal he may have struggled with sexuality as he was on the gay dating app Grindr Police followed Conditt's tail after he was caught on video surveillance sending two bomb devices as packages as he wore a blonde wig and gloves in a disguise Conditt killed himself around 2am on Wednesday, March 21, inside his SUV as police surrounded him near a hotel on Interstate 35, just outside Austin. He was tracked down using store surveillance video, cellphone signals, and witness accounts of a customer shipping packages in a disguise of a blond wig and gloves. CCTV footage of Conditt posting two devices inside packages a FedEx office under the alias Kelly Killmore led police to him. Prior to his death he left a 28-minute audio 'confession' recorded on a cell phone. 'There were indications, that he stated in the video, that he felt like we were getting very close to him,' Police Chief Brian Manley said. Conditt killed himself around 2am on Wednesday, March 21, inside his SUV as police surrounded him near a hotel on Interstate 35, just outside Austin In the recording he says 'I wish I were sorry but I am not' and calls himself a 'psychopath' adding that he has been mentally ill since childhood. Conditt increasingly isolated himself from his friends and family prior to his death. He declared himself an atheist and turned against his family's Christian faith. He also turned away from his oldest friends. Less than a year prior to his string of bombings, the college drop-out had lost a job in the tech industry. Police say they struggled to find a single confidant who could provide insight into his life, according to the American-Statesman. Prior to his bombing spree he became increasingly isolated, even from his devout Christian family, pictured above, saying he was an atheist After his death Manley said Conditt was 'a very challenged young man' and referred to him as a 'domestic terrorist'. Conditt never left a reason behind his bombing spree. In his 28-minute audio he did not explain why he targeted his specific victims but spoke in detail about the bombs he created. 'He mentioned seven explosive devices, and we have identified those devices and those are no longer in play. We can account for every bomb, and he did individually identify each bomb,' Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. 'There were no indications of why these specific addresses, or those that were placed in the community, there was no reasons given for why he selected those individuals,' he added. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley (center) revealed Conditt made a 25 minute video confessing to the attacks. Austin police will continue to investigate his history through mid-summer Police did find a 'target list' after raiding his home however as well as a list of 'additional addresses we believe he was using for future targets', according to US Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The troubled youth started making bombs after joining a conservative club called Righteous Invasion of Truth (RIOT) as a teenager, which involved home-schooled youth studying the bible and being taught gun skills. For his bombs he bought his materials from Home Depot. The SUV in which he killed himself is pictured above being towed away after the bombing A friend in the group said she was shocked to learn that Conditt was behind the attacks, describing him as a 'normal kid'. 'A lot of us were very into science; we would discuss chemicals and how to mix them and which ones were dangerous. We were into weapons and stuff. A lot of us did role-playing, and (role-playing games); we'd have foam weapons and act out a battle, Cassia Shultz said to BuzzFeed. His devout Christian family of his parents and three younger sisters had no idea of his struggles. 'What is clear from listening to that video, is that this was very troubled young man who was talking about the challenges in his life that led him to take the actions he took,' Manley said. 'He doesn't mention anything about terrorism or anything about hate. It's an outcry of a challenged young man,' he added. Police raided his home, pictured above in Pflugerville, Texas, searching for clues to a motive Searching for clues: In the audio recording Conditt left no motive towards his bombing spree The bomber's grandmother Mary Conditt, who lives in Colorado, told CNN that she had never seen any sign of violence in him. 'If anything he's low-key and peaceful,' she said. 'He's from a family that is so tight, that works so hard to raise their children correctly. It's just horrible.' A statement from his extended family in Colorado read: 'We are devastated and broken at the news that our family could be involved in such an awful way. We had no idea of the darkness that Mark must have been in. 'Our family is a normal family in every way. We love, we pray, and we try to inspire and serve others. Right now our prayers are for those families that have lost loved ones, for those impacted in any way, and for the soul of our Mark. We are grieving and we are in shock.' Residents on the Big Island of Hawaii were alerted on Thursday to rising levels of toxic gas from lava-oozing fissures, and the possibility of 'ballistic blocks,' weighing tons could shoot into the sky. It's been a week since the start of new eruptions at Kilauea's east rift zone that has incinerated homes and property and promoted thousands of evacuations, while scientists say there's no telling when the volcanic activity will end. Geologists warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk to molten rock bursting from the ground. Meanwhile, geologists add Kilauea may be entering a new phase of explosive eruptions not seen in nearly a century that could hurl 'ballistic blocks' weighing up to 12 tons for half a mile, and rain pebble-sized fragments for another mile or two. Rising levels of toxic gas are now spewing from the fissures on the Big Island in Hawaii after explosions around Kilauea Volcano began last week. Pictured, ash and gas rising up from the Overlook crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano on Thursday Lava flow moving on Makamae Street in Leilani Estates at 9.32am local time, on May 6, in Leilani Estates, Hawaii, where many homes and property have been annihilated. Hawaii Governor David Ige is requesting federal funds from the president A soldier inspects the 'lava zone' in Leilani Estate, wearing a gas mask, as scientists warn of toxic gasses emitting from the open fissures Toxic gas is rising from the fissures, and a smog is forming over and around the Big Island This Wednesday photo shows an aerial view of the East Rift Zone, along which the Leilani Estates neighborhood sits, from the ongoing Kilauea eruption, as seen from a helicopter flying around Pahoa Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents of the southeast corner of the island notifying them that a wind change would bring rising levels of sulfur dioxide gas, which can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities. 'Due to decreasing trade winds, residents are advised to monitor their sensitivity to increased levels of SO2,' the text message sent at 9:22 a.m. said. Hawaii's governor has warned that mass evacuations may be required as more fissures open in the ground and spew lava and gas into semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes. Authorities on Thursday completed the removal of highly flammable chemicals from a nearby geothermal power plant that was in the path of creeping lava. The latest upheaval at Kilauea began last week after the crater floor of a long-active side vent collapsed suddenly in a cloud of ash, triggering a similar plunge in the molten lake inside the larger crater at the volcano's summit. What followed was a flurry of earthquakes as huge volumes of magma -- the term for lava beneath the surface -- drained back through deep-underground passages that carried the molten rock far downslope. The lava then forced its way back to the surface through large cracks, or fissures, that opened at ground level in a residential area miles away. However, the immediate vicinity around the summit, an area controlled by the National Park Service, was to be closed to visitors indefinitely, starting on Thursday night. Such blasts would likely also eject plumes of volcanic ash that could be carried farther downwind into neighboring communities, creating a nuisance and potential respiratory irritant, but not a life-threatening hazard, officials said. The Leilani Estates community remains in greatest danger, with 15 volcanic fissures so far having destroyed 36 structures, most of them homes, and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 residents. Bu t as the eruption progresses, 'other areas of the lower East Rift Zone may also be at risk,' the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its latest bulletin. 'There is the potential for additional outbreaks,' Christina Neal, the chief scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea told a news briefing. 'There are other communities, other residential neighborhoods that could, depending on the evolution of activity, be in harm's way.' Hawaii Governor David Ige has requested presidential disaster assistance Thursday as he said a mass evacuation of the lower Puna District, where Leilani Estates is located, would be beyond current county and state capabilities. 'It certainly is heartbreaking to see the homes and the families who have lost everything,' Ige said, while visiting an information center set up by residents in Pahoa. 'We just want to keep everyone safe and continue to look at what we can continue to do to prepare,' he added according to Hawaii News Now. U.S. Army National Guard soldiers take measurements for dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas near a volcanic fissure in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island Hawaii Governor David Ige speaks at a community meeting in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island. On Thursday he called on the federal government for more assistance Steam and gas rise from a volcanic crack in a roadway in Leilani Estates in the aftermath of the Kilauea volcano eruption on Hawaii's Big Island Cracks and volcanic debris are seen on a road on May 9, 2018 in Leilani Estates, Hawaii Kilauea has destroyed 35 homes & buildings and forced 1,700 people to evacuate in Leilani Estates area. The American Red Cross is housing 300 people and dozens of pets at two emergency shelters, while hundreds more residents are staying with friends and family. Meanwhile residents are dealing with the reality they will never see their homes again. Puna residents fled their homes Thursday evening with few belongings just what they could collect in the minutes they had to leave, as officers went door-to-door to ensure everyone got out. One resident said he grabbed his father's ashes as he ran out the door. 'My family is safe, the rest of the stuff can be replaced,' another resident said. 'When I bought us here 14 years ago, I knew that this day would eventually come. But the reality is sinking in now.' Local meteorologists said the change in prevailing winds could send Kilauea's volcanic smog, or vog, northwest to Maui and other islands in Hawaii as well. Surfers bobbing in the ocean off Kona on the west side of the Big Island complained of the smog that could be seen in a haze over the coast. 'Does that hat protect against vog?' one surfer was heard quipping to another about the floppy sun hat he was wearing. In Pahoa, the nearest village to Kilauea, some schools remained closed after the area was hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday, the biggest since 1975. The closures have added to a sense of disarray and ramped up stress levels, said gallery owner Amedeo Markoff, 49. 'It's like our version of a snow day -- a lava day,' joked Markoff. Advertisement These four autistic children and their mother - whom just weeks ago claimed she was being stalked by her ex - are among the seven victims of Australia's worst mass shooting for 20 years at a remote farmhouse this morning. Four children and three adults were found shot dead in a grisly murder-suicide at the home in Osmington, Western Australia at 5am today. The property, known as Forever Dreaming Farm, is owned by Cynda Miles and her farmer husband Peter. Their daughter Katrina Cockman home-schooled her four autistic children ion the farm - Taye, 13, Ryan, 11, Ayre, 10, and Kadyn Cockman, 8, according to Daily Telegraph. Neighbour Felicity Haynes told Daily Mail Australia that Cynda and Peter had moved to the countryside to build the sustainable farm as a home for Katrina, her daughter and three sons. The 'devoted' mother is believed to be estranged from her children's father, Aaron Cockman, who is a builder. Katrina, who referred to her 'four autistic children' in a recent Facebook post about a swimming lesson, wrote on the site last month: 'My ex does not stop stalking me.' It is not yet clear who the other two dead adults are. Tragic: The property where a mass shooting was discovered this morning is owned by Cynda Miles and husband Peter. Their daughter Katrina Cockman has four autistic children (pictured together) who are all among the victims Cynda (pictured) is an active member of local community group Transition Margaret River which seeks a happier and more sustainable future Neighbour Felicity Haynes told Daily Mail Australia that Cynda (pictured) and Pete had moved the countryside to build the sustainable farm as a home for Katrina and her children aged eight to 13 Police were met with horrific scenes when they arrived at the farm this morning. Pictured: A metal building on the farm This image shows the kitchen of the remote farm where a mass-murder suicide was discovered on Friday morning Two adults were found dead outside a building on the rural property, before the bodies of four children and another adult were discovered inside. Pictured: A bedroom in the house This image shows a dirt road on the farm where police discovered seven dead bodies including four children on Friday morning Two guns were found at the scene. At least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds. Pictured: Katrina Cockman, whose parents owned the farm A friend of Katrina told The Australian she 'worked tirelessly to provide her children with everything they needed'. 'I always admired her for her strength The kids were kind, gentle, smart and beautiful children.' Her mother Cynda is an active member of local community group Transition Margaret River which seeks a happier and more sustainable future. The well-loved local also owns a craft company, Soft Salvage, where she turned recycled materials into decorative pieces, news.com.au reported. On the farm's website, Cynda Miles wrote of watching her grandchildren play with the animals. 'Forever Dreaming is our forever farm. It is here that we will grow as much of our food as we can, sit on the veranda and watch the birds, and watch the grandchildren immerse themselves in the animals and everything else that happens on a daily basis,' she wrote. Police were met with horrific scenes when they arrived at the 30 acre farm with two houses, according to RP Data, on Friday morning. They found the bodies of two adults and two guns outside a shed - which had been converted into a living quarter - on the rural property, before discovering the bodies of four children and another adult inside. Nearby residents said they heard gunfire around 4am but dismissed the sound as coming from kangaroo shooters. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson described the incident as a 'significant tragedy'. He said two firearms were located at the scene and confirmed that at least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds. 'Based on what we do know, this is clearly a tragedy... Police located seven persons deceased. Four children and three adults,' he said. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police at 5.15am. The rural property at Osmington in Western Australia's Margaret River region where four children and three adults were found shot dead on Friday morning Police were met with horrific scenes after they were called to a property in Osmington in Western Australia's Margaret River region at around 5am on Friday 'This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west,' he said. 'The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy,' he said. Neighbour Felicity Haynes, who lives just 500m up the road, told Daily Mail Australia a resident on the property had heard gunshots sometime after 4am on Friday morning. 'Cynda and Pete moved out from town three years ago in order to build a house for Katrina and their kids,' she said. 'They had started to build a river farm and had done fabulous work growing their own vegetables and building dams. 'That's what makes it so tragic. They were building a self-sustainable farm to raise the family there.' A neighbour told the ABC he had spoken to a man who lived at the property just hours before the bodies were found. 'I was talking to him on the phone last night, I was going to ask him to come over tomorrow. He seemed very vague,' he said. Commissioner Dawson said two firearms were located at the scene on the outskirts of Margaret River Forensic officers comb the scene where four children and three adults were found shot dead on Friday at 5am local time Another neighbour who lives across the road from the property told Fairfax he hadn't heard anything unusual overnight. 'There was nothing much I could tell [police],' said the semi-retired farmer, adding he didn't know the residents very well. 'I'd seen who I assume was the father out in a paddock one day, on a tractor. But I didn't have the opportunity to say hello.' Julia Meldrum, deputy president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, told Daily Mail Australia the district was in deep shock. 'It's devastating,' the distressed mother-of-two said. 'It's just shock and devastating for the community. 'I actually feel like vomiting. The shire has a population of 14,000 people but each town is very close knit. Jan Walsh told Australian Associated Press they lived in a very 'caring town'. 'There's retired people who live down here, there's ex-farmers,' she said. 'It's just a wonderful place to live and everyone's so friendly. 'You wave to everyone coming down Osmington Road and you don't even know them.' WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE MASS SHOOTING - Police found seven bodies at a rural property in Osmington after being called there just after 5am on Friday - Four of the victims were children, three were adults - The victims suffered gunshot wounds - Two firearms were found at the scene - Police would not confirm if it was a murder-suicide - Police said there was 'no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues' as no suspects are being sought - Identities of all victims have not been released, but locals say the family that lived at the farm were respected and contributors to the community - Osmington is in the Margaret River region, which is renowned for its surf breaks and vineyards - Situated about 15-20km from Margaret River, Osmington had a population of just 135 people in the 2016 Census - The region consists of a handful of roads, farms, vineyards, horse studs, holiday chalets, luxury accommodation, a small church, a five-star dog retreat and gourmet dining Source: Australian Associated Press Advertisement There are reports the deaths are related to a shooting murder-suicide, but this has not been confirmed. Police are pictured at the scene 'In Margaret River there's a lot of children and a lot of young families. It'll be devastating for the community. It's touched many people, people I'm sure will know one another. 'The shire will be doing whatever we can to provide support and whatever else we can do in addition... I've got young children as well. It's just devastating.' Shire president Pamela Townshend said the names of those believed to have been killed were circulating in the community. 'There'll be a grapevine happening I'm sure in the community but we can't comment because it's a crime,' Councillor Townshend said. 'At the moment all we really know is it's a small community. Everyone knows everyone to some extent. 'It's an isolated rural area. There's no centre of town. Everyone comes into town to do their shopping. 'There's a lot of giving each other vegetables, cooking each other meals, looking after each other when they're ill - very connected in deep ways.' The seven bodies were found on the property at Osmington in WA about 5am on Friday. Pictured: Police on the road outside the farm 'Everyone's involved in everyone else's business in a small town so it's going to be a huge shock for this town. 'The shire will provide as much support as we can for our town, for the community and for the remaining family members. 'There are community members already rallying to work out a support response for the family. We're already seeing this rallying. Councillor Townshend believed the deaths should lead to further debate about gun and family violence. 'Once again we are faced with this problem in families with gun violence and male violence, assuming it is male violence,' she said. 'We need to have it firmly on the table to talk about it and not just have it as an isolated mental health issue of one person. It's society's problem. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police, who then attended Commissioner Dawson, who said there was no danger to the public, did not specify the ages of any of the victims. On Friday afternoon police were trying to find family members of the deceased. Osmington, about 260km south of Perth, is a 10-minute drive east of the Margaret River township. The tiny community, which ABS data shows has about 135 residents, mostly consists of farmland properties and vineyards. Australia had not experienced a mass shooting massacre, defined as the death of five or more people, since 35 people were gunned down at Port Arthur in April, 1996. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Beach goers were snapped braving shark-infested waters despite a sign warning swimmers to enter at their own risk. A shark spotted in the water at Manly and North Steyne beaches on the Northern Beaches of Sydney was not enough to deter eager swimmers, some of whom even posed next to the sign. In what could be the most Australian image, beach goers and local residents posed alongside the the sign which read: Shark sighted today Enter the water at your own risk. In what could be a contender for the most Australian photo to have been taken, beachgoers snapped a photo of swimmers braving shark-infested waters despite a sign warning swimmers to enter at their own risk The shark scare didn't stop people from entering the water, despite a spate of attacks known to occur along Australia's coastline. The photo was uploaded online and received a similarly casual response. 'Don't forget the kid who swam in crocodile infested waters to impress a British backpacker,' one person replied. The Australian shaped steak caught the attention of Reddit users last month who were shocked by the oddly shaped slab of meat 'Jellyfish are the real villains of the beach!' another person said. Other contenders for the most Aussie image snapped is an uncanny resemblance of the nation a steak and beer froth to Australian map. The Australian-shaped steak caught the attention of Reddit users who were shocked by the oddly shaped slab of meat. One Reddit user found Australia's version of Jesus toast after he cracked open a cold one and his beer foam formed into a striking silhouette of the nation It was likened to our great southern land despite Tasmania. One Reddit user found Australia's version of Jesus toast after he cracked open a cold one and his beer foam formed into a striking silhouette of the nation. 'Cracked up the barbie and noticed me XXXX can draw Oz better then me...' he captioned the photo. Beachgoers and local residents posed alongside the the sign which read: Shark sighted today Enter the water at your own risk The shark was spotted in the water at Manly and North Steyne beaches on the Northern Beaches of Sydney but was not enough to deter eager swimmers, some of whom even posed next to the sign My wonderful colleagues presented me with a quilt pieced with chitenge (sections of African waxed cotton fabric) which I have brought back from Zambia through the years). Beckie came to my office and asked if I would be upset if some of my chitenges disappeared and returned in another form. Thus the extra long, two-sided quilt presented at tthe end of the year party. Katherine Boone pieced the quilt. It was a wonderful retirement gift. It is also an excellent way to begin my posts as I return to Zambia for a short time next week. I am only staying for two and a half weeks as I transition Tim into the director's position. He is totally capable and has completed organized this trip but I am tagging along for moral support.Welcome to my new life as a retired professor from Harding University. Of course it hasn't officially started yet, but I now understand exactly what is meant by the term "lame duck." I have always tried to include all stakeholders in any decision that I have made, but I'm discovering that I no longer have a seat at the table. All I can say is, "please don't ask me to work on something in which you have no inttentionof giving me a say." Two men have been found dead after their boat hit rocks off the coast of Queensland. The men, aged 53 and 66, left Townsville at 3am on May 11 and were found dead in the water near Orchid Rocks. Police were called to Arthur Bay at 9.30am after two recreational fisherman found their bodies, according to The Townsville Bulletin. The men, aged 53 and 66, left Townsville at 3am on May 11 and were found dead in the water near Orchid Rocks A Queensland Police spokesperson said that the men's boat hit the rocky shore and capsized in the morning's high tide. A Queensland Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the men were then 'seriously' injured when this happened. The spokesperson also described the boat as a 'tinny'. Police continue to investigate. Water Police are in the process of getting the boat. It is not being investigated as suspicious. This is the jaw-dropping moment a French family narrowly escapes being attacked by cheetahs in a Dutch safari park. Video footage filmed by a witness shows the tourists being chased by the cheetahs after getting out of their car to take photos. Beekse Bergen is a drive-through African wildlife safari park, in the south of the Netherlands, where visitors are under strict instruction not to leave their cars. Danger: The family got out of their car - despite the safari park's strict instructions not to do so - near the cheetahs, which came running after them However, a family of five appears to have missed this instruction and is seen getting out in the middle of the park where some cheetahs are sunning themselves - twice. The tourists filming in the car behind them cannot believe their eyes when the group climb out of a French-registered car to take snaps of the predators. They then drive a little further down the road and get out again, stepping onto a small hill just feet away from where the cheetahs are resting. Unsurprisingly, the cheetahs - the world's fastest land animal - get up and start to run towards the group, seemingly made up of three adults and two children. Madness: Despite knowing fully well that they were in close proximity of the fastest animal on the planet, and a predator to boot, the family got out of their car with their small children That takes guts: The mother picks up the youngest child and shoos off the cheetahs Last mad dash: Amazingly, all five people from the group make it back to their car The tourists spot the cheetahs at the last minute and make a panicked dash for the car. They all run for their lives, bar one of the women, who is seen picking up the youngest child and shooing the cheetahs away as she strides to the car. They all manage to get back into their vehicle and drive off, to the amazement of the Dutch person behind the camera. A spokesman for Beekse Bergen park said they make it very clear that it is forbidden to leave your vehicle. 'We inform visitors about the risks in several languages throughout the park,' the spokesman told Dutch broadcaster NOS. A furious wife who caught her husband jetting off on a romantic holiday with his mistress dragged her love rival around by the hair at the airport check-in queue. Footage, which appears to be filmed by another passenger, shows the confrontation unfold at Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Colombia. The jilted wife can be seen hurling insults at her love rat husband before grabbing a fistful of his mistress's hair. The husband, wearing his gold wedding ring during the scuffle, tries to fend off his enraged spouse. But she remains latched to the woman, holding on to her hair under his arm in the alarming video. 'On Saturday you were going to take me out with the little one and today you're taking her,' she can be heard saying in Spanish. 'Get rid of her or I'll cause a scandal right now. I'm not going to let go. Hit me if you want so they throw you in jail.' The jilted wife (left) grabs hold of her love rival's hair at Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Colombia She hurls insults at her cheating husband (centre) while still holding on to his lover's locks Her cheating husband tries to pacify her but she shouts: 'I don't care!' She then brands his seemingly younger lover, who is wearing a shiny pink jacket and black skinny jeans, a prostitute - and slams him as 'fake and a liar'. The clip ends with the furious wife still holding on to the mistress's brunette locks. Footage shows her calling him 'fake and a liar' and branding his mistress a prostitute The scorned wife refuses to let go of the woman's hair as the confrontation escalates in the airport's check-in queue It is not clear whether any arrests were made or airport staff managed to break up the fight. The husband and his mistress are believed to have been flying to Cartagena on Colombia's Caribbean coast. A teenage bride has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing the man she was forced to marry after he allegedly raped her while his cousins pinned her down. A court in Sudan handed Noura Hussein, 19, the death penalty after her husband's family refused to accept financial compensation. Ms Hussein was married against her will to Abdulrahman Hammad at the age of 16 and forced to move in with him last April when she finished high school. In Sudan the legal age of marriage is ten and marital rape isn't considered a crime (file photo) Ms Hussein is said to have run away from their shared home last May, which angered Hammad, according to her lawyer Ahmed Sebair. The husband then allegedly raped her while his male relatives held the 19-year-old down. When the two were alone the next day and he attempted to rape her again, she managed to grab a knife he had used to threaten her and stabbed him to death with it, according to her lawyer. That was May 3 last year and Hussein has been in prison since. Supporters of Ms Hussein flocked to the Criminal Court in Omdurman, Sudan's second-largest city, in protest during the trial In Sudan the legal age of marriage is ten and marital rape isn't considered a crime. Supporters of Hussein flocked to the Criminal Court in Omdurman, Sudan's second-largest city, in protest during the trial. The case has gained widespread attention on social media under the hashtag #JusticeForNoura, with people sending photos from around the world in her support. Witnesses who attended the proceedings posted online that Ms Hussein's family had abandoned her and she appeared alone during Thursday's sentencing for her earlier murder conviction. The case has gained widespread attention on social media under the hashtag #JusticeForNoura. An online petition has been started to protest against the court ruling A Sharia court, which follows Islamic religious law, found Hussein guilty of premeditated murder last month and on Thursday officially sentenced her to death by hanging. Her lawyers have 15 days to appeal. 'Under Sharia law, the husband's family can demand either monetary compensation or death. They chose death and now the death penalty has been handed down,' said Badr Eldin Salah, an activist from the Afrika Youth Movement who was in the court. 'Noura's lawyers say they plan to appeal against the decision, but we also need strong international support from organizations such as the African Union, the United Nations and the European Union to support her.' Sudan is ranked 165 out of 188 countries on the UN's Gender Inequality Index, which measures how women fare compared to men when it comes to access to health, education, political participation and employment opportunities. UN Women says violence against women and girls is considered prevalent. The country has not signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and has weak policies in place to protect them. A man who had his New South Wales community rallying against his deportation from Australia has been revealed as a sex offender. David Degning has lived in Australia for 50 years but is currently being held at Villawood Detention Centre following a recent move by the Department of Home Affairs to send him back to England. Mr Degning was previously convicted for having sexual intercourse with a person with a cognitive impairment, according to News.com.au. According to court documents previously under a suppression order, he was given a 17-month prison sentence in 2013 by the Bega District Court. The sentence was suspended by New South Wales District Court Judge Clive Jeffreys, who released Degning from custody. A local community rallied for David Degning (pictured) not to be deported from Australia however it was soon revealed the man was a sex offender Degning has lived in Australia for 50 years but is currently being held at Villawood Detention Centre (pictured) Moruya Anglican Minister Reverend Linda Chapman was shocked to learn of the conviction but expressed concern about the government's power to deport someone who had been in Australia for more than 50 years. 'I am not defending this man and his behaviour,' Reverend Chapman told the ABC. 'I am defending a principle that in this country we have a judicial system. This person was brought up in Australia and that we have responsibility to deal with the issues that are formed here in this country.' A recent Change.org petition lobbying against his deportation has more than 2600 signatures and describes the Batemans Bay man as a loving grandfather. 'David has a wife, three children, three grandchildren, his father, brothers & sisters and all his friends in Australia,' the petition states. 'We are at the stage now where David will be deported to England. According to the Australian Government, David is of 'bad character' which we all know not to be true. The decision follows a recent move by Department of Home Affairs to send him to England (pictured is Villawood Detention Centre) 'Please help us keep David in the country where he is needed by his family. For a family that has already suffered so much in the past few years please help us keep this family together.' One of the supporters commented on the petition: 'David doesn't claim to be perfect, none of us are we are all human and make mistakes but that said he has already dealt with his mistakes which do not in any way warrant the excessive attempt to deport him to a country foreign to him that he left with his family as a seven year old child. Court documents revealed Degning was given a 17-month prison sentence in 2013 by the Bega District Court (detention centre pictured) Despite his convictions, a petition lobbying for the Batemans Bay (pictured, stock image) man to remain in Australia revealed he was a loving grandfather with a 'wife, three children and three grandchildren' 'David is not violent, dangerous or a threat and him staying in Australia does not pose a risk to the Community that love and care for him so much. 'He is a supportive son to his aging Father, Husband to his wife of many years, devoted father and grandfather to his children and grandchildren who have already endured so much. 'Adored brother to his siblings and much loved uncle and friend to many all who live in Australia which is where David has lived his life, worked, raised a family and made his home.' The Department of Home Affairs declined to comment on the case. The President also claimed videos of the chemical attack on Douma were faked He argued that western backing had increased the likelihood of a world war Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he fears the country's civil war could erupt into a full-scale global conflict. He argued that US intervention to help the rebels, as well as the Russian backing of government forces, could lead to direct conflict between the superpowers. President Assad warned the conflict had already gone beyond a 'Cold War' but said he hoped it would not escalate any further. 'I hope we don't see any direct conflict between these superpowers, because this is where things are going to be out of control for the rest of the world,' Assad said in the interview with Greek newspaper Kathimerini. 'It's something more than a cold war, but less than a full-blown war.' Scroll down for video President Assad speaking to a reporter from Greek newspaper Kathimerini for the interview In the interview, Assad argued that western intervention in Syria was doing nothing to lessen the threat of a world war The President also took the opportunity to praise his Russian backers - saying that if a world war was avoided it would be 'because of the wisdom of the Russians' rather than President Trump. 'Since Trump's campaign, the main agenda was against Russia, create a conflict with Russia, humiliate Russia, undermine Russia, and so on,' he added. 'Fortunately, you have a wise leadership in Russia, and they know that the agenda of the deep state in the United States is to create a conflict.' Since Donald Trump's decision to back out of the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, there have been a number of skirmishes between rival Middle Eastern forces using Syria as a battleground. Syrian-allied Iranian militants stationed in the country fired around 20 missiles across the border towards Israel's Golan Heights on Thursday. And US-backed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a strike on 'almost all' of Iran's military bases in Syria. Assad warned that the Western backing of Syrian factions has led to a complication of the civil war which could lead to the conflict spilling over into neighbouring countries and dragging in more and more nations. 'The Turkish, French, whoever, they are all enemies; as long as they came to Syria illegally, they are our enemies,' Assad added. 'Forget about the different factions and who is going to finance those factions; at the end of the day, they work for one agenda, and those different players obey one master: the American master.' The Syrian Civil War, which started in 2011, has claimed nearly 500,000 lives since it began Assad used the opportunity to praise his Russian allies, saying the resolve of President Putin (right) would hopefully quell the possibility of the war's escalation Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited the settlement of Katzrin in the Golan Heights on Friday amid missile strikes between Iran and Israel On the question of chemical weapons, Assad said his country complied with UN resolutions and handed over its stockpiles to international authorities. 'We don't have a chemical arsenal since we gave it up in 2013,' said Assad. 'The (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) made investigations about this, and it's clear that we don't have them.' Last month, at least 49 people were killed and dozens more injured in an alleged chemical weapons attack. The US and other Western countries accused the Syrian regime of staging the assault. But Assad refused to accept responsibility for the attack in rebel-held Douma, saying: 'It's a farce, it's a play. It's a very primitive play just to attack the Syrian army.' Iran DENIES firing rockets at Israel and describes the claims as 'freely invented and baseless' Iran has denied firing rockets at Israel - claiming the allegations were invented by Israeli politicians to justify attacks on Syria. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi described claims the Revolutionary Guard fired around 20 missiles at Israeli targets in the Golan heights as 'freely invented and baseless'. Qasemi also struck out at western nations for not condemning the ferocious Israeli retaliation against the Iranian military - which saw several key targets within Syria blasted by powerful missile strikes. 'Their silence only gives the Zionist regime (Israel) the green light for further aggressions that serve only to make the region more insecure and unstable,' he said. Syrian air defence systems firing to protect Damascus from the alleged Israeli strike The defense committee of Iran's parliament also said Iranian forces had nothing to do with the attacks on Israeli positions. 'This is another lie from the Zionist regime for propaganda purposes, ' said committee spokesman Mohammad Nabandegani. He also denied that Iran had any military forces in Syria at all. Israel announced early on Thursday that its forces had hit 'almost all' Iranian infrastructure sites in Syria during airstrikes carried out in retaliation for Iran's firing of 20 rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Netanyahu said that Iran had 'crossed a red line' with the rocket attacks. The attacks were some of the worst direct violence between arch rivals Israel and Iran in years and have raised fears of a wider conflict in the region. Israel has long expressed concern that Iran could establish a military presence in Syria amid the instability caused by Syria's long-running civil war. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed fears of further escalation in a tweet in which he called for an end to 'all hostile acts and any provocative actions.' Advertisement Leave.EU was today hit with a 70,000 fine for breaking rules on spending during the referendum battle. The Brexit group, co-founded by former Ukip backer Arron Banks, overspent by at least 77,380 - 10 per cent over the limit. The Electoral Commission has also referred chief executive Liz Bilney to the police. But it found no evidence that controversial tech firm Cambridge Analytica had made donations or provided paid-for services, and its role was limited to 'initial scoping work'. Leave.EU, co-founded by former Ukip backer Arron Banks, overspent by at least 77,380 - 10 per cent over the limit. Mr Banks is pictured second from right at the launch of the group in November 2015 The Electoral Commission has also referred chief executive Liz Bilney (pictured giving an interview in 2016) to the police Mr Banks insisted the outcome proved there was no 'big conspiracy' and raised the prospect of a legal bid to overturn the findings. Bob Posner, the Electoral Commission's director of political finance and regulation, and legal counsel, said: 'The rules we enforce were put in place by Parliament to ensure transparency and public confidence in our democratic processes. 'It is therefore disappointing that Leave.EU, a key player in the EU referendum, was unable to abide by these rules. 'Leave.EU exceeded its spending limit and failed to declare its funding and its spending correctly. These are serious offences. 'The level of fine we have imposed has been constrained by the cap on the Commission's fines.' Mr Banks attacked the Commission and threatened to take legal action. He said: 'We view the Electoral Commission announcement as a politically motivated attack on Brexit and the 17.4m people who defied the establishment to vote for an independent Britain.' He added: '(The commission) went big game fishing and found a few 'aged' dead sardines on the beach. So much for the big conspiracy! 'What a shambles, we will see them in court.' The 70,000 fine is the maximum the watchdog can impose. It handed out the same level of punishment to the Tories in March last year for offences during the 2015 general election campaign and 2016 by-elections. A separate probe into spending by the official Leave campaign, Vote Leave, is still under way. The commission found the overspend by Leave-EU 'may well have been considerably higher', adding that the group had presented 'incomplete and inaccurate' information about spending. The commission said its investigation also found that three payments from Mr Banks, totalling 6 million, had been incorrectly reported by Leave.EU. It was also criticised for failing to report services from US strategy firm Goddard Gunster when it should have done. The organisation also failed to provide invoices or receipts for a further 97 payments it received of more than 200, which together totalled 80,224. The commission report said: 'Through its investigation, the Commission also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the responsible person for Leave.EU committed criminal offences and she has therefore been referred to the Metropolitan Police.' Kevin Clegg, 51, served in the army before becoming a police officer with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary A former soldier and police firearms officer killed himself after he feared he had cancer, an inquest heard. Hero PC Kevin Clegg, 51, was assigned to protect British cities and nuclear bases from terrorist attacks. He had been referred for medical investigations after he became worried about lumps found on his body which he thought may be cancerous. But when his wife Ann also suffered a health scare, the former soldier was signed off work with stress and was described as having the 'weight of the world on his shoulders'. Last January PC Clegg kissed his daughter goodnight, emptied the bins at and hanged himself in woods on a farm near his home in Warrington, Cheshire. He was found the following day by a dog walker. The father-of-one was described as a 'very protective family man' and had landed a job at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary a year after leaving the army where he served with the Royal Horse Artillery. Later following the terror attacks at the Manchester Arena and Westminster bridge he provided assistance as a firearms officer providing protection to various cities and ensuring that public safety was maintained. Mr Clegg's widow Ann told the hearing: 'Kevin was born into a military family and served in the armed forces in the Royal Horse Artillery for many years. He was employed to various postings and he served in very difficult situations. 'The effects upon Kevin were clear, he did have very difficult experiences, and these were matters he didn't discuss with other people. He was a popular, respected and strong member of the team in which he served. 'He had a strong bond with the family and it was very important to him. We had regular contact. He was a very protective family man. His career in the army came to an end in 2006. At the time he was only 40. His military service had come to an end and he had an exemplary history of service. 'He had difficulty adjusting to civilian life afterwards, he found it insufficient considering he was brought up in an organised and regimented career in the armed services. PC Kevin Clegg, a father-of-one, formerly served in the Royal Horse Artillery before retiring from military service in 2006 and becoming a police officer Mr Clegg, who was born into a military family, served in the Royal Horse Artillery 'He adapted and started off driving heavy good vehicles for various local companies, which he didn't enjoy, but he did anyway to keep himself busy and keep an income coming in. He was very dedicated to his work and would work whenever he was asked to do so. 'After he had been out of the army for some time, a friend suggested he should join the police. He applied to work at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and landed a job as a Police Constable in 2007. 'This was a new challenge for Kevin which he enjoyed to provide for the public. He kept his strong family bonds as well. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for himself and for us. He was proud of what he did at work and at home. When other members of the family fell ill he would support them and help them as much as he could. The father-of-one was assigned to protect British cities and nuclear bases from terrorist attacks 'During the course of 2017 after various terrorist attacks, he was also employed as a firearms officers to provide assistance to the public using his skills to provide protection for various cities and ensuring public safety was maintained. 'He found this rewarding and satisfying using his skills to serve the public in that way. 'Late summer of 2017 he had various concerns in relation to his health after finding some lumps that he thought were cancerous. He was subject to an on going medical investigation. I also had a health scare and he had to support me through that too. 'Kevin also had difficulties at work. He had a lot of weight on his shoulders, he had a lot of things on his mind. Kevin saw his GP about this and he said he was suffering suffering either stress and signed him off for a short period of time. Kevin had taken his family dogs for a walk and kissed his daughter goodnight on the night he died Mr Clegg was in the military for several years and 'served in very difficult situations' 'Kevin was a changed man, a different sort of character, he had been having difficulties in coming to terms with the issues he was facing in his life. I tried to cheer him up, we all did, we provided support for him. We had a difficult time over last Christmas and the new year. 'On January 3 Kevin got up to take the dogs out for a walk by himself. It was a normal day. He was being depressed and not speaking to me as much at the time. I cooked tea for us and we ate it together. I then got ready for bed. Kevin took the dogs out and went into our daughters bedroom and kissed her on the head. 'Then he went downstairs. They had a good relationship but he never did that and it was unusual for him to kiss her goodnight. The next morning when I got up, the bins had been emptied outside. He had not come to bed that night and I was worried. Mr Clegg served in the army until 2006, when his miltary career in the army came to an end aged 40 Mr Clegg 'had an exemplary history of service' in the military according to his widow 'I went downstairs and he wasn't there and this increased my anxiety further. I looked for him and I was unsuccessful. I reported him as a missing person to the local police and shortly after that two police officers came to my front door and told me Kevin had been found having died.' PC Clegg's doctor Abraham Joseph said in a statement: 'I diagnosed him with stress in October 2017. He came back in December and I diagnosed him with stress again. He denied he was feeling depressed at the time. I gave him a short course of medication. I didn't feel he was fit to work so I signed him off from 11th December 2017 to 8th January 2018.' Det Sgt Alison Howarth of Cheshire Police said there was no evidence of suspicious circumstances surround PC Clegg's death and added: 'In my opinion this is a tragic case of suicide.' The father-of-one was described as a 'very protective family man' and had landed a job at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary a year after leaving the army where he served with the Royal Horse Artillery Following the terror attacks at the Manchester Arena and Westminster bridge he provided assistance as a firearms officer providing protection to various cities Recording a conclusion of suicide, Coroner Peter Sigee said: 'Mr Clegg dedicated his life to his service to his family, both immediate and wider family, providing love and support to them. He served the public for many years in the Armed Forces, the police constabulary and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, also protecting the public in terror incidents in 2017. 'In 2017 he was diagnosed as suffering with stress following a health scare and concerns at work. I have to be sure he acted with the intention to ending his life, I am sure that action did, in fact, cause his death. 'I want to offer my sincere condolence and I am sorry we have to meet in these circumstances. I am sorry I had to learn about Kevin's life in this way, it is clear he had a long life in which he made a considerable contribution to the public in this country. I am grateful for his service but I am sorry I have had to learn about Kevin in these circumstances.' For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org for details. Royalists are eagerly anticipating Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle with just over a week to go until they tie the knot in Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel. In line with tradition, the American former actress will have no US-style maid of honour, but the Duke of Cambridge enlisted as his brother's best man, seven years after Harry performed the same duty for his wedding to Catherine Middleton. As the couple prepare to spend the night before their wedding apart, MailOnline will bring you all the updates live here. To read this in the app, please click here. A teenager, her sister and her mother all planned to launch a terrorist attack in central London which they dubbed the 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party', a court has heard. In Britain's first alleged all-female terrorist plot, Safaa Boular, 18, was arrested as she planned a suicide attack on the British Museum, urged on by an ISIS fighter in Syria that she planned to marry, a jury was told yesterday. After her plan was thwarted last April, she is said to have encouraged her older sister, Rizlaine, 22, to take it over. Rizlaine was taken on a reconnaissance trip by her mother, Mina Dich, 43, who drove her around the major landmarks in the Westminster area, the Old Bailey heard. The pair went with her to purchase a packet of knives, the largest of which had a 6ins blade, on April 26 last year. A rucksack was also bought and prosecutors said that was part of preparations for an attack the following day, which they had code-named the 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party', prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told the court. Sisters Safaa (left in court sketch) and Rizlaine Boular (right) allegedly plotted a terror attack in London. The court heard they referred to the planned atrocity as 'The Mad Hatter's Tea Party' The sisters, pictured at a younger age, were allegedly supported by their mother Mina Dich Mr Atkinson told the court: 'All preparation for Rizlaine's attack followed discussions with her sister who encouraged and supported her every step towards the kind of terrorist outrage that the timely intervention of the authorities had stopped Safaa from undertaking herself.' In a conversation by telephone from prison, recorded by the authorities, Safaa told her sister: 'I never knew I'd be around at that time but think I will be around at that time peace be upon us, and then the world will rock.' Her sister replied: 'Wooo! Rooockk. Rock. Rock.' Rizlaine said: 'It's going to be like me like and a few sisters and stuff and we're just going to have fun. It's basically going to be like a tea party and stuff.' Mother Mina Dich took Rizlaine on a reconnaissance trip of potential attack sites, a jury at the Old Bailey was told Mr Atkinson said the pair went on to make several references to jannah [paradise] and 'referred to a Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Alice in Wonderland.' 'The prosecution alleges that the expression 'party' was being used as code for a terrorist attack,' Mr Atkinson added. 'The significance of these conversations is to demonstrate the extent of Safaa Boular's determination, when talking to her mother and her sister. 'Her sister was doing what she had wanted to do herself, and what she had been actively engaged in planning to do until she was physically prevented from doing so.' Mina Dich accepts that she provided 'positive assistance and support' to Rizlaine in the knowledge that she would commit an attack using knives, but claims she did not understand that the attack would involve fatality or injury, the court heard. Safaa Boular is accused planning an attack on the British Museum, so that she could join her fiancee in paradise. Boular had allegedly planned to wear a suicide belt in Syria with her ISIS husband and 'depart the world holding hands, and taking others with them in an act of terrorism,' the Old Bailey was told. But when he was killed in Syria, she switched her plans to Britain. Younger sister Safaa had planned to marry ISIS fighter Naweed Hussain (pictured) in Syria but turned her attention to attacking Britain after he was killed, prosecutors say It is claimed that she conducted a relationship with Naweed Hussain, with a view to marrying him, and made plans to travel to Syria by booking a flight to Istanbul. After they had been speaking for two or three months they had declared their love for each other and resolved to marry and to have children together, the Old Bailey was told. 'However, there was nothing conventional about their relationship,' Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said. Her support for him 'would extend to each of them donning a suicide belt,' he added. 'Together they would, as Hussain put it, 'depart this world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism.' When he was killed on April 4 last year, she allegedly arranged to receive weapons in order to conduct an attack in the UK, and received instructions on how to train and use weapons. Investigators listened in to calls Boular made from Medway Secure Training Unit in Kent Mr Atkinson, told the Old Bailey: 'Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public, selected largely at random, in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum, in central London. 'This would have been an attack that would, at the very least have caused widespread panic, but was intended to involve the infliction of serious injury and death. 'Whilst Naweed Hussain had undoubtedly done much to encourage Safaa Boular in these plans, the intention underlying those plans was always hers. She was encouraged, but she was willing; she was supported but she was resolute. 'Her determination in this regard was, if anything, strengthen after she learned that Naweed Hussain had been killed on April 4 2017. 'With positive encouragement from her mother and her sister, Rizlaine, Safaa wanted to reunited with her fiancee in paradise by becoming a martyr.' Joel Bennathan QC, defending, told the court: 'Safaa Boular was groomed when she was a child. She was sexually groomed, someone who was groomed to be radicalised.' Safaa showed no emotion as the trial began yesterday, occasionally flicking her hair behind her ears during the hearing. She denies two charges of preparing acts of terrorism. The trial continues. As Harry and Meghan's big day looms ever closer, food and drink companies are cashing in with a selection of Royal wedding-themed snacks. From Marmite to cake and beer to sausages, there are a whole host of choices for well-wishers who want something extra to commemorate the occasion. The Royal wedding is expected to boost the economy by up to 80 million and food and drink is expected to be a significant part of that. Jars of Marmite on sale at Daniel department store in Windsor, with Harry and Meghan names replacing the usual label Among the Harry and Meghan-themed products are a set of commemorative jars on sale at Daniel department store in Windsor. The jars aren't officially being sold by Marmite but instead seem to be designed by fans using an app. The names of the happy couple are plastered over the jar, replacing the brand name. Iceland have produced a wedding cake, made in the style of Harry and Meghan's but costing just 8. Marmite has revealed a set of commemorative jars, with the names of Harry and Meghan replacing the brand name Supermarket M&S, on the other hand, have designed a special tin of biscuits for the occasion. The tradition biscuit tin is priced at 6 and is inscribed with the words 'To commemorate the marriage of Prince Henry of Wales and Ms. Meghan Markle.' Meanwhile, a brewery in the town of Windsor, where the couple will wed on May 19, has created a special brew for the occasion. Supermarket Iceland, on the other hand, has created a replica of the Royal wedding cake, which could be yours for 8 This M&S biscuit tin is more of a classic tribute to the wedding and reads: 'To Commemorate the marriage of Prince Henry of Wales and Ms. Meghan Markle' The 'Harry & Meghan's Windsor Knot' pale ale combines British and American hops, barley grown on the Royal Farms next to Windsor Castle. The finishing touch is champagne yeast. The Windsor Knot ale was first brewed for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. A brewery in Windsor, the town where the wedding will take place, has created a special brewery called 'Harry & Meghan's Windsor Knot' The brewery first created the Windsor Knot pale ale to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton Meanwhile, Harveys and Bensons for beds have made a collection around the royal wedding. The centrepiece of the collection is a sofa adorned with Great Britain flags, including two cushions embroidered with a H and M to represent the royal couple. The sofa can be yours for a princely 1,279 and can even be reversed if you change your mind. This sofa from Harveys and Bensons is adorned with British flags and could be yours for 1,279 Crisps brand Tyrells have also designed a special packet to commemorate the wedding - although its product is a bit less obvious than other brands. It has unveiled a Ginger & Sparkle flavour of its parsnip crisps - just for May. Joining them are The Black Farmer's Daughter, who have unveiled a packet of in honour of the wedding. The packet depicts British and American flags. Tyrrels (left) have released a cheeky special packet of its parsnip crisps while The Black Farmer's daughter (right) have released Royal-wedding themed sausages Popular sparkling water brand SodaStream has released a collection of limited edition water bottles to mark the occasion. They will be auctioned to the plastic-free charity Surfers Against Sewage. The charity is supported by the royal couple. SodaStream have unveiled a collection of limited edition Royal sparkling water bottles, they will be auctioned for a charity supported by the Royal couple Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at a memorial service, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence Three Thai women who murdered their karaoke bar colleague before butchering her body and dumping her remains in bin liners, have been jailed for a combined 127 years. Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, Apiwan Satayabundit, and Kawita Ratchada, were dubbed the 'Murder Babes' after the killing of Warissara Klinjui, 23, in Khon Kaen, northern Thailand last May. Nonwangchai, now 25, and Ratchada, 26, strangled fellow prostitute Klinjui after an argument, before calling in Satayabundit, 28, and another friend to chop up the victim's body and bury the parts in a shallow grave. Murder babes: Ringleader Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, right, and friend Apiwan Satayabundit, left, have been jailed for the murder of their colleague Warissara Klinjui, 23, last May Killer trio: Nonwangchai, 25, Satayabundit, 28 and Kawita Ratchada, 26, have now been jailed for a combined 127 years Police quickly linked them to the murder, and the trio fled to neighbouring Laos and looked for work in massage parlours. Not long after, all three were arrested while out shopping for designer clothes. While in custody, pictures emerged of the group laughing, smoking, and posing for selfies with police officers, seemingly star struck by the beautiful murderers who had become well-known in the Thai press. Nonwangchai and Ratchada had worked in the same bar as the victim, where prostituted could be hired for the evening. But the group fell out after Klinjui reported Nonwangchai's boyfriend to police for selling drugs. Victim: Warissara Klinjui, 23, had gotten into an argument with ringleader Nonwangchai, who strangled her along with Ratchada Gruesome: Police are seen at the crime scene where the body of Klinjui was found butchered and buried in a shallow grave Casual killers: The 'murder babes' trio are seen being given cigarettes while in custody Special treatment: After their arrest, photos emerged of the pretty trio getting party food and cigarettes in jail Nonwangchai and Ratchada lured the victim to her death after picking her up in a rented car and telling her they wanted to discuss a job offer. Nonwangchai with help from Ratchada strangled Klinjui, and Satayabundit and a male friend later helped to dispose of the body. Lurid details previously emerged of how Nonwangchai would charge men up to 5,000 baht a night for her services - and made money on the side as a webcamera model. She was a regular user of methamphetamine and had drugs fuelled sex sessions with customers and other women. Yesterday, the gang were jailed for a combined 127 years over the grisly murder which had seen the ring leader Nonwangchai nick-named 'butcher Praew'. Moneymaker: Nonwangchai would charge men up to 5,000 baht a night for her services - and made money on the side as a webcamera model. Khon Kaen Court sentenced Nonwangchai and Rachada to life in prison, reduced to 34 years and six month each after the confessed and co-operated. The two girls were found guilty of conspiring to murder Klinjui, conspiring to destroy and hide her body and conspiring in theft. The third member of the ''murder babes', Satayabundit was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to destroy and hide the body, and taking methamphetamine, and was handed 33 years and nine months in jail. Their male friend Wasin Namprom, 22, was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder, conspiring to destroy and hide the body, and conspiring in theft and sentenced to 23 years, four months and 20 days. The four were ordered to pay 1.07 million baht (24,781) to support the family of the victim, Warisara Klinjui, 22, and 100,000 baht (2,316) for her funeral. A fifth defendant, Jidarat Promkhun, 23, was sentenced to one year for receiving the victim's stolen phone to sell. South Wales Police issued this CCTV image of a man they think can help with inquiries A cafe worker has been assaulted in an alleged row about the colour of toast. The incident happened in Cardiff city centre on April 2, and South Wales Police have issued a CCTV image of a man they think can help with inquiries. Officers, who have not named the cafe, want the man in the photo - or anyone with any information - to contact police. They can contact 101 with reference number 140082, or Crimestoppers can be called anonymously on 0800 555 111. It comes three years after police raced out to an emergency call to end up settling a row between two brothers over who got the last slice of toast. Officers were called to the house in Hull, East Yorkshire, in October 2016 after one of the adult siblings rang 999 and told call handlers he 'feared for his safety'. But when police arrived, they discovered the two men, aged 27 and 29, were actually arguing over a piece of bread. No one was injured or arrested. A woman was beaten to death and her family brutally attacked after a lynch mob mistook her for a child-snatcher when she gave chocolates to children. The victims were attacked in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, Southern India. The mob assumed the family were child-snatchers due to a recent hoax spread in the area. A woman was beaten to death and her family brutally attacked after they were mistaken for child-snatchers The police have identified the deceased as Rukmani, 65, from Old Pallavaram in Chennai. The other injured relatives were identified as Venkatesan, 52, S Mohan Kumar, 33, Chandrasekheran, 34, and R Gajendran. The victims had been on a family trip in the area and were on their way to visit the Muthumariamman temple. The vicious attack happened when they asked for directions from an old lady sitting outside with her grandchildren. On seeing the children Rukmani started distributing sweets to them. A lynch mob (pictured) viciously attacked them when the family asked for directions from an old lady sitting outside with her grandchildren The grandmother raised an alarm suspecting the group to be child-snatchers. Villagers hounded the family and beat them The grandmother raised an alarm suspecting the group to be child-snatchers. Villagers hounded the family and began questioning them. The visiting family tried to speed away in their car but the villagers chased them and pelted stones at their car. The victims were finally caught by locals and pulled out to be brutally beaten in turns. The visiting family tried to speed away in their car but the villagers chased them and pelted stones at their car The family are said to have showed their passport to make the villagers believe that they were not child lifters. The police have arrested 43 villagers in connection with the incident and confirmed that they'd all be tried for murder. A police statement said: 'We have been getting calls for the last two or three days related to similar incidents' 'We are trying to educate people and have asked them not to believe such hoaxes and report anything suspicious to the police first.' Police said a child-snatcher hoax had been spread in the area which prompted the attack This is not the first incident of this nature in the area. In a similar incident earlier on April 22, a teenager was killed while his two friends had sustained injuries when a group of villagers in the Sumangali village mistook them as child-snatchers. Another incident was reported on April 29, where a 30-year-old man was killed when the villagers mistook him for a robber. Shocking footage shows a pick-up truck plough into the dividing wall on a highway, uprooting two lamp posts and sending them smashing into the path of traffic. Motorists skillfully avoided catastrophe and swerved out of the way just in time in the jaw-dropping clip. The terrifying moment was captured by CCTV on Interstate 43 in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. After mounting the dividing wall, the truck carries on moving with just two of its wheels on the tarmac. Its tyres hit the lamp posts one at a time, popping them out of the ground and sending them shooting into traffic on the other side of the highway. The first ends up falling over the dividing wall back onto the driver's side, while the second bounces next to cars going the other way. The truck then slams down onto four wheels again and comes to a stop, leaving a cloud of dust circling its path of destruction. The truck driver mounts the dividing wall on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin and begins the path of destruction on two wheels The out-of-control truck uproots the first lamp post, which shoots out of the ground and lands on the other side of the road before bouncing back over to the driver's side The incident caused delays for up to three miles on both sides of the highway. Debris hit six cars after the truck ploughed into the dividing wall but no injuries were reported. The driver reportedly failed a field sobriety test and was arrested. The driver ploughs into the second lamp post, sending it flying through the air towards cars on the opposite side of the highway The Philippine Supreme Court has voted to remove its top judge, who had clashed with President Rodrigo Duterte over human rights and his deadly war on drugs. Duterte had previously branded Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno an 'enemy' for voting against some of his controversial government proposals, and had told lawmakers to oust her or 'I'll do it for you'. Government critics say the sacking of Sereno poses a grave threat to the nation's democracy, and is part of a wider campaign by Duterte to destroy anyone he perceives as a foe, and create 'one-man rule' in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte Duterte had previously branded Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno an 'enemy' and had told lawmakers to oust her or 'I'll do it for you' One opposition party said the ousting of Sereno removed a shield against abuse of power in government and left behind a 'puppet Supreme Court'. Sereno, the country's first female chief justice, is one of several high-profile critics who have found themselves targeted after speaking out against the president. Other Duterte critics have also been ousted, punished or threatened, including de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights and an anti-corruption prosecutor who investigated allegations that Duterte has hidden wealth. The president last month urged lawmakers to 'fast-track' Sereno's removal, warning that otherwise 'I'll do it for you'. Addressing reporters outside the court, spokesman Theodore Te said: 'Sereno is found disqualified from and hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the chief justice. Ousted Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several critics of President Duterte who have found themselves targeted 'The decision is immediately executory without further need of action from the court,' Te said, adding the vote was 8-6 against Sereno. The Supreme Court case against Sereno alleged she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in previous years - accusations she categorically denied. Separately, Sereno is also facing an impeachment effort in the lower House of Representatives, a move which critics allege is part of Duterte's power-grab plan. The vote 'ushers in another era of another dictatorship as the Court... puts an end to the last gasps of a dying constitutional democracy', Senator Leila de Lima, a jailed Duterte critic, wrote in a statement. The Philippines lived under martial law a generation ago, when dictator Ferdinand Marcos used military rule to suppress his critics. Minutes after the decision was announced, a smiling Sereno emerged from the Supreme Court building to tell her supporters, who had gathered in their thousands in the street, that the fight was not over. 'This day is not the end, this is just the beginning,' she said, without specifying her next move. 'Let us set aside our differences because there is a greater and stronger enemy that we must all face,' she told the cheering throng. Around 2,000 people protested against Sereno's removal outside the Supreme Court in Manila The national lawyers group, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said it will closely scrutinise the decision because it believes only the Senate has the power to dismiss a Supreme Court justice in this case. Duterte and Sereno first clashed in 2016 when she criticised his order urging judges whom he linked to the illegal drug trade to turn themselves in as part of his crackdown. Police say they have killed around 4,200 drug suspects in Duterte's nearly two-year-long campaign but rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher. Duterte's spokesman released a statement saying: 'The High Court has spoken. Let us respect its decision.' Sereno had resisted the ouster effort, saying in March: 'The current state of the nation is one where perceived enemies of the dominant order are considered fair game for harassment, intimidation and persecution.' She has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos (29,500) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. She is also alleged to have spent excessively on 'opulent' hotels and a luxury official vehicle, as well as flying business or first class. Sereno is the second chief justice in a row to be ousted in the Philippines. Lawmakers convicted her predecessor, Renato Corona, in 2012 of corruption. Then-president Benigno Aquino said the sacking was part of his anti-graft reforms, but critics said he was trying to ensure his control of the court. A police sergeant was overlooked for promotion in favour of 'less experienced, less qualified, white' officers because of his Pakistani ethnic origins, an employment tribunal has ruled. Zaheer Ahmed, 54, took North Yorkshire Police to court over what he said were racially-motivated snubs during his 23 years with force. In one case, an officer who had previously been sacked from the force for racially abusing a doorman was reinstated and was allowed to preside over one of Mr Ahmed's promotion applications, the tribunal heard. Mr Ahmed also told the tribunal that he was also told by white colleagues that a prisoner was 'not being serious' when he called him a 'n****r' at a station's custody desk. The 54-year-old - who is no longer with the force - will now receive what could be a substantial damages payout in a remedies hearing that will be held on a date still to be fixed. Policeman Zaheer Ahmed was discriminated against by North Yorkshire Police because of his his Pakistani ethnic origins, a tribunal has ruled The tribunal, held at Teesside magistrates court, ruled: 'The tribunal has concluded that a white police sergeant who had passed his or her inspectors' exams and was seeking promotion would not have been treated in the same way the claimant was to the extent that the various obstacles would not have been placed in that officer's way. 'The tribunal is satisfied that the reason why this claimant was treated that way was as a result of unconscious race discrimination because of the claimant's protected characteristic of his Pakistani ethnic origin.' Mr Ahmed was subjected to 'unconscious race discrimination', plus two instances of 'direct discrimination', the tribunal found. Mr Zaheer left the force after hitting a 'glass ceiling' in September last year when he was passed over several times for promotion. He began working for the force in June 1994 and was promoted to sergeant in 2006 but was unable to progress further for the next 11 years. He told the tribunal that one of his most disturbing moments as an officer came at Selby Police Station in in April 2014. He said a prisoner was drunk and swearing before he walked to the front of the custody desk. Mr Ahmed said: 'whilst stood in front of me and looking at me he called me a n****r. In July 2014, he was told by Roland Burnett, one of those chosen to investigate the incident, that it was not being pursued because a white colleague, Liz Hartley, felt the prisoner was 'not being serious.' Mr Ahmed told the tribunal in Middlesbrough (pictured) he had repeatedly been overlooked for promotion in favour of white colleagues He later discovered the incident had been 'NFA'd' (no further action) in May 2014 but he had not been told. Mr Ahmed told the hearing that he was assessed for a temporary inspector post by a Chief Inspector who had previously been involved in a racialy aggravated incident in York. He said: 'My application for the temporary inspector posts in York was assessed by Chief Inspector Bloxham and Chief Inspector John Wilkinson. My application was unsuccessful. I received a score of 3/14. The lowest score that could be received was a '2.' 'Chief Inspector Wilkinson was dismissed from the force due to allegedly racially abusing a doorman in York in June 1998. It was stated that he had brought discredit on the reputation of the force or of the police service.' Mr Wilkinson was reinstated on October 3rd 2000 and went on to become a Chief Inspector. Mr Ahmed said: 'I served as a police officer for 23 years, I gave my life to the job and was eager to succeed in my career. 'I did a great deal of overtime, worked on my rest days and routinely requested to be kept in mind for any experience. 'My loyalty and dedication has been rewarded with resistance and humiliation. I had an immense sense of pride of being a police officer and that I was part of this organisation. To have experienced and witnessed the discrimination within the organisation, I can no longer be proud. I am disappointed and I am hurt. Responding to the tribunal's finding Amanda Oliver, Assistant Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said: The employment tribunal recognised the work that North Yorkshire Police is doing in its Positive Action Programme to improve the diversity of its workforce, which has a particular focus on the recruitment, retention and progression of people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. 'North Yorkshire Police employs a minimum of 44 police officers and police staff from black or minority ethnic backgrounds, and we are absolutely committed to making sure that every single one of those people has every possible chance to thrive in our organisation. 'I want to assure them, and future recruits, that the findings of this employment tribunal has strengthened our resolve even more. 'We will now reflect on the employment tribunal's full judgement very carefully and consider what further action needs to be taken.' A Melbourne artist who became the tenth woman to win the Archibald Prize in its 97-year history received an unexpected phone call live on television. Yvette Coppersmith's self-portrait won the 2018 Archibald Prize and received the $100,000 prize money on Friday. The 37-year-old was awarded the top prize after an unanimous decision by the judges. Ms Coppersmith originally requested New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to be the subject of her portrait, but was rejected. Scroll down for video Archibald Prize winner Melbourne artist Yvette Coppersmith poses for a photograph next to her portrait She then thought that she could interrogate the issues of women's representation through her own image, which then resembled George Lambert's 1924 portrait of Sydney socialite Hera Roberts, The Daily Telegraph reported. In a phone call with Ms Ardern broadcast on Sky News on Friday, who praised Coppersmith's work as 'incredible', the shocked artist described her inspiration. 'You (Ms Ardern) were the initial inspiration and when you were unavailable I thought, 'I'll do one as you!',' she told Ms Ardern. Ms Coppersmith named her painting 'Self-portrait, after George Lambert.' Lambert also won the Archibald Prize in 1927. Ms Coppersmith talking to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on the phone Ms Coppersmith named her painting 'Self-portrait, after George Lambert.' Lambert also won the Archibald Prize in 1927 With Ms Coppersmith being only the tenth woman to win the Archibald Prize, she says it's reflective of the art industry and that every generation has to work to affect change. 'I think every generation has to work to affect change. I don't think you can rest on your laurels for equality, I think it's an ongoing battle,' she told AAP. According to the Art Gallery NSW, The Archibald Prize, was first awarded in 1921, and is Australia's favourite art award, and one of its most prestigious. This is the bizarre social media post that led to disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer being put back in custody on Friday The controversial Sydney property developer faced court after he was allegedly caught using two mobile phones, which would be a breach of his bail conditions. A live Instagram thread showed Mehajer flaunting the tattoo of his estranged wife, putting up his middle finger and saying 'R.I.P'. The magistrate found the video to be an 'act of intimidation' and a breach of Mehajer's good behaviour bond. Scroll down for video A court heard on Friday, Mehajer posted a live stream to Instagram of a tattoo on his right leg on Saturday The footage shows Mehajer allegedly flaunting a tattoo of his ex-wife on his leg, stick up his middle finger and say the words 'R.I.P' The video breached bail conditions imposed on Mehajer as part of his conditions included owning only one phone and not contacting his estranged wife as well as a $200,000 surety. The magistrate ordered his bail be revoked, sending Mehajer back into custody. Mehajer's bail conditions also required him to report to the Bankstown Police Station twice daily, every day. He was prohibited from applying for a new passport, or going within 500metres of an airport. Mehajer was out on bail after being charged with perverting the course of justice over an alleged fake traffic accident. 'We don't think he had any malice in breaching those conditions and it's unfortunately a hard lesson to learn,' his lawyer Ahmed Dib told Nine News. Mehajer was allegedly posting selfies to Instagram before his bail violation for using two phones Controversial businessman and ex-mayor of the former Auburn City Council Salim Mehajer, 31, (pictured) has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions Mehajer allegedly orchestrated a car crash to avoid a court date in 2017. The incident occurred on October 16 last year in western Sydney when the car he was travelling in was involved in a collision on Delhi Street, in Lidcombe. Mehajer was due to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court that same day but instead was rushed to the Westmead Hospital with neck injuries. After leaving his home on the way to court his white 4WD was involved in the accident that left him trapped inside his vehicle for up to 20 minutes. Mehajer was out on bail after being charged with perverting the course of justice over an alleged fake traffic accident After leaving his home on the way to court his white 4WD was involved in the accident that left him trapped inside his vehicle for up to 20 minutes Pictures from the scene showed Mehajer being being pulled from the vehicle and placed into a neck brace, before being treated for neck pain. That incident followed a serious crash in 2012, in which Mehajer lost control of his $300,000 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and ran over two women, Nhu Hua and Tuyet La. Both women suffered serious injuries to their leg and pelvis. Mehajer was then found guilty of negligent driving in October of the same year and was disqualified from driving for a year and sentenced to complete 150 hours of community service. Mehajer also paid a $1.7million settlement to the two women. Huw Thomas arriving at court this week A boyfriend who proposed to his lover in the sand with 30-metre high letters saw the tide turn on their romance - as he was hauled to court after a furious row. Huw Thomas, 35, saw his relationship with Kara Conlon hit the rocks after she accepted his gigantic beach proposal written into the sand. Property manager Thomas argued with Kara, 33, at their home, punched a hole in the bedroom wall and then drove drunk. The two never married despite being engaged for three years after the romantic proposal. He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 48 months. A court heard the pair had fallen out so badly that they were sleeping in separate bedrooms at the time of the row on March 13. Thomas had etched out: 'Kara will you marry me' in giant letters on the stunning seaside beach. The proposal was at Rhossili Bay - the beach at Gower, South Wales, which is regularly rated as one of the best in Britain. But magistrates in Cardiff heard the sands of time ebbed on the relationship as Thomas drowned his sorrows after a bust-up. He got behind the wheel of his Audi A4 and drove with 125 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35. Prosecutor Hannah George said: 'Police attended at 4.15pm and searched the property. The couple in happier times before their row 'He was at the back of the address and he was slumped on the kitchen floor. 'He provided a positive breath test at the address.' Thomas told the court how their relationship had broken down despite his marriage proposal. He said: 'The day started off abruptly with my other half kicking down the door of the spare bedroom at 6.30am. Thomas dramatically proposed to partner Kara Conlon on beautiful Rhossili Bay three years ago - but the relationship turned sour 'We had separated weeks before. We were sleeping in separate bedrooms. She said get up we have things to do.' Thomas said his ex made a comment to him at the bottom of the stairs and reacted by punching the wall at their home in St Fagans, Cardiff. He claimed he drove sober to a Tesco Express, bought two bottles of wine and went for a walk up the nearby Garth mountain. He said: 'I consumed the alcohol that I did in the kitchen and then I stayed put. The two had taken a trip to the beach at Gower in South Wales where Thomas had popped the question (right) Thomas proposed at Rhossili Bay which is regularly rated as one of the best in Britain by visitors 'It was two bottles of wine and probably about half a bottle of gin as well.' But magistrates in Cardiff rejected his claims he had been sober whilst driving. The court heard Thomas had a problem with alcohol and has since been in rehab. Thomas, now of Cwmbran, Gwent, pleaded guilty to criminal damage. He had been banned from approaching his former fiancee before the hearing. He denied drink driving but was found guilty by magistrates. Thomas, who has two previous drink driving convictions, must also do 150 hours unpaid work and 20 days rehabilitation activity. Police are searching for a man on the run after two women were allegedly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground in the same suburb. New South Wales Police are investigating if the same person is responsible for the attacks of the women, aged 23 and 25 in Bonnyrigg in Sydney's west. Victim Felicia, 25, was allegedly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground in a nearby street on Tuesday. Scroll down for video Police are searching for a man on the run after two women were grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground in the same Sydney suburb. One of the victims, Felicia, is pictured. Police are looking into CCTV footage (pictured) of a man running behind a woman about the same time of one of the attacks The woman told Nine News she was screaming in fear when a man threw her to the ground and grabbed her around the neck. 'As I've turned into my street and took like three steps, that's when he grabbed me from behind and went straight for my neck,' she told the network. The attacker also covered her with his hands, but ran off after she struggled and screamed. 'I kept asking him, what do you want, I can't breathe, let go a little bit, that's when I really started to scream,' she said. Detective Superintendent Peter Lennon told the media there are a 'number of similarities' in the attacks This victim described her attacker as being aged between 16 and 23, with a medium build and scraggly long hair. On Thursday afternoon, a 23-year-old woman was walking when a man grabbed her from behind, placed her in a choke hold and dragged her to the ground behind a bus stop, police said. He punched the women but fled when she kept screaming. Detective Superintendent Peter Lennon told the media there are a 'number of similarities' in the attacks, which happened within metres of each other. 'They are both women in their mid-20s. Both incidents have occurred within about 500 metres of each other,' he said. Police have urged anyone with information on either assault to contact them and are considering whether the incidents are linked. Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to protest at the US decision to back out of the nuclear deal. Hordes of enraged demonstrators could be seen pouring petrol on US flags and burning them as the protests became increasingly vitriolic in the Iranian capital. The mass protests began as Iran denied firing rockets at Israel on Thursday - claiming the allegations were invented by Israeli politicians to justify attacks on Syria. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi described claims the Revolutionary Guard fired around 20 missiles at Israeli targets in the Golan heights as 'freely invented and baseless' as discord spreads through the Middle East following the landmark decision on Iran's nuclear capabilities. In return, Israel struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria with high-powered missiles early on Thursday as part of 'Operation House of Cards'. Scroll down for video Iranian protesters burn a US flag at a demonstration in the capital of Tehran on Friday morning The protestors could be seen pouring petrol on the flag before burning it and waving it around Thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran to protest against Trump's refusal to sign the nuclear deal Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was pictured reading a Persian version of Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury book about President Trump, at Iran's 31st International Book fair in Tehran today Following the Israeli strikes, Qasemi struck out at western nations for not condemning the ferocious Israeli retaliation against the Iranian military. 'Their silence only gives the Zionist regime (Israel) the green light for further aggressions that serve only to make the region more insecure and unstable,' he said. 'They are a violation of Syria's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contrary to international law.' The defense committee of Iran's parliament also said Iranian forces had nothing to do with the attacks on Israeli positions. 'This is another lie from the Zionist regime for propaganda purposes, ' said committee spokesman Mohammad Nabandegani. He also denied that Iran had any military forces in Syria at all. Israel announced early on Thursday that its forces had hit 'almost all' Iranian infrastructure sites in Syria during airstrikes carried out in retaliation for Iran's firing of 20 rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Netanyahu said that Iran had 'crossed a red line' with the rocket attacks. The attacks were some of the worst direct violence between arch rivals Israel and Iran in years and have raised fears of a wider conflict in the region. Israel has long expressed concern that Iran could establish a military presence in Syria amid the instability caused by Syria's long-running civil war. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed fears of further escalation in a tweet in which he called for an end to 'all hostile acts and any provocative actions.' Syrian air defence systems intercepting Damascus-bound Israeli missiles fired in retaliation to the Iranian strike Women and children also vocally demonstrated against the US decision to back down from the accord Crowds chanted and held banners ridiculing President Trump for the decision on Friday Iran's foreign minister simultaneously announced he will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. Israeli Defence Minister Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to 'throw the Iranians out' from his country. Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday 'against any temptation for regional dominance'. The protests came as the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced he would be embarking on a tour of several nations in a bid to try and salvage the deal An Israeli soldier runs down a road in the Golan heights where the Iranian strike was said to have hit Israel frantically rushed to reinforce the Golan Heights on Thursday after the Iranian strike was reported Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited the settlement of Katzrin in the Golan Heights on Friday amid the strikes The leader of the Communist Party has heaped praise on Jeremy Corbyn - saying it has 'no major differences' with his version of Labour. Robert Griffiths hailed Mr Corbyn for achieving a hard-Left takeover of Labour, suggesting it was progress towards turning Britain into a communist society. The glowing endorsement from the Marxist party will cause further disquiet among Labour moderates. Mr Corbyn faced a major backlash yesterday after boasting about his close ties to a far-Left party in Germany that wants to disband NATO and backed Russia over the annexation of Crimea. Robert Griffiths (pictured) hailed Mr Corbyn for achieving a hard-Left takeover of Labour, suggesting it was progress towards turning Britain into a communist society Mr Corbyn (pictured giving a speech in Govan today) has been criticised by Labour moderates for bringing the hard-Left back into the party Labour MPs and activists voiced outrage after the leader tweeted a picture of himself meeting the chief of Die Linke, Katja Kipping. They pointed out that Die Linke was the new incarnation of the communist party that enforced the brutal Stasi regime in East Germany. Senior figures have previously demanded the abolition of NATO in favour of a security alliance with Moscow, and insisted that Crimea should be recognised as part of Russia. Die Linke is also in direct competition with the SPD - which is UK Labour's sister party in Germany. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Griffiths pointed out Mr Corbyn appeared to be following one of the Communist Party's key texts, the Road to Socialism from 1951, It says step one is a leftwing takeover of Labour, followed by electoral victory, controlling the state, and transitioning to Communism. 'The programme is actually turning out to be a good guide as to how things could turn out,' Mr Griffiths said. 'There are plenty who said, 'It's nonsense, give up! The Communist party is hopelessly out of date.' Well, where are we now?' Jeremy Corbyn's decision to hold talks with the leader of hard-Left Die Linke fuelled a huge rift in Labour Mr Griffiths insisted that Mr Corbyn was 'very much his own person'. But he pointed out that there were 'no major differences on immediate issues', highlighting a shared opposition to NATO and nuclear weapons. The Communist Party did not field any candidates in the general election last year for the first time since its formation - instead urging followers to back Mr Corbyn's Labour. Lukhbir Turner, 40 (pictured), was found dead in a bathtub at her home after setting fire to herself A lonely mother-of-two whose marriage had ended and who was living alone without her children, was found dead after she set herself on fire while in a bathtub. Lukhbir Turner, 40, texted her estranged husband 'there was nothing left for her' before being discovered by police officers at her home in Newtoft, Market Rasen in Lincolnshire. Her former partner, Christopher Turner, was initially a suspect after red marks were found on her neck, though he was later cleared as he was in Devon at the time. Police broke down the door to Mrs Turner's home after neighbours raised the alarm because they had not seen her for three days. She was feeling isolated in rural Lincolnshire and was living without her children, an inquest revealed. The inquest in Lincoln heard how her estranged husband was a police suspect following her death. Officers found the 40-year-old woman with red marks around her neck and, as a result, they initially believed that she may have been strangled and her death made to look like suicide. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue concluded the fire was deliberate, however, a box of matches at the side of the bath was unused. But the mystery was solved when a cigarette lighter was found in the bath. Mrs Turner was also spotted on CCTV carrying a can of a flammable substance into the house. The bathroom door was closed which stopped the fire from spreading to the rest of the house. Estranged husband Mr Turner was eventually cleared because he was hundreds of miles away in Devon at the time. Mrs Turner was found at her home in Tudor Close, Newtoft, Market Rasen, with an inquest hearing she felt 'lonely' and 'isolated' in rural Lincolnshire The court heard that Mrs Turner, originally from Wolverhampton, had taken three overdoses of prescription drugs in the three months prior to her death on September 5 last year. She had regular contact and support from mental health services and her GP surgery but she was troubled by the breakdown of her marriage and also felt isolated in rural Lincolnshire. Detective Inspector Dave Harrop, from Lincoln CID, told the inquest about his initial thoughts when he saw the red marks on Mrs Turner's neck. He said: 'I formed the initial hypothesis that she had been strangled and it was made to look like a suicide. 'I could not believe that someone could set a fire in the bath they were in and then neatly place a box of matches on the side of the bath. 'But a cigarette lighter found in the bath explained the initial mystery of how the fire was started. 'Mr Turner was a suspect but we establish he had been in Devon. My conclusion is that she committed suicide. I think she was in a desperate place in order to do what she did.' The cause of death was found to be inhalation of the products of combustion and the coroner's conclusion was suicide. Assistant coroner Marianne Johnson said: 'Mr Turner had made it clear the relationship was at an end and Mrs Turner was reconciled to it. 'Maybe, from her point of view, there was no point in carrying on. She was definitely in a low mood.' The coroner said that on the evidence she had heard she was satisfied Mrs Turner took her own life. She said: 'Her GP alluded to the fact that there were three previous suicide attempts. She was effectively provided with continuing support over the telephone from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust. 'She was not shy about contacting them for help. She was not forgotten by mental health services - they did all they could to help her. 'Mrs Turner felt very isolated. She was in Lincolnshire on her own without her children. 'But she did speak positively about her future and acute care nurse William Campbell said she had no intention to take her life.' Her brother said she was a very popular and successful businesswoman, whose funeral attracted a large crowd. Amarjit Dhami, 45, told Lincolnshire Live: 'She was ill over these last few years but prior to that she always had too much confidence. 'Growing up, I had about five friends and she had hundreds - she was very popular and a lot of her friends went to the funeral.' She was director of Crucial Trades, a firm in her home village that offer electrician, heating engineer and plumber services. She had also previously worked at Siemens as a standard services business coordinator from 2014 to 2016, as well as working at DS Smith Packaging, Audi and Nottingham City Council. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch, or see samaritans.org for details. Horrifying CCTV footage shows the moment a man was stabbed in broad daylight as London's knife crime epidemic continues. The hooded thug is seen pulling out a blade and plunging it into the victims back after headbutting him. The footage, taken in Wanstead, east London, captures the attacker chasing the victim, a man in his 30s, around the corner before bundling him into a doorway. After headbutting him twice, the pair appear to be brawling over the knife before the attacker stabs him in the back. The footage captures the attacker chasing the victim around the corner before bundling him into a doorway and carrying out the assault The dramatic video then shows the victim walking into a hair salon along the street, whilst his attacker flees the scene. It was one of three knife attacks in 90 minutes in London, after two 17-year-old teenagers were attacked in Plumstead, south east London. Police and paramedics were called to Wanstead, east London, yesterday afternoon and found the man suffering multiple stab wounds. He has been taken to hospital where his injuries are not said to be life-threatening. The hooded thug is seen pulling out a blade and plunging it into the victims back after headbutting him (left). The victim then stumbles into a hair salon (right) Police are now trying to find the man seen in the footage during the incident at 5pm on Thursday. The attacker is described as wearing a dark coloured body warmer with a lighter coloured long sleeved top underneath, dark jeans and trainers. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue. One of the 17-year-old youths stabbed in Plumstead is still fighting for his life in hospital. The other is said to be in a stable condition. Eyewitness footage captured the moments following the attack as emergency services treated them. The Metropolitan Police said one of the teenagers was found at the scene near Plumstead Station, while the other was found injured in nearby Frank's Park, in Belvedere. Police said he was taken there in a vehicle. Two men were arrested close to the scene on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm. Both men remain in custody in a south London police station. One of the men is aged 18 and the other is in his late teens or early twenties. Eyewitness footage captured the aftermath of the attack (pictured) on two the 17-year-old's who were stabbed near Plumstead train station Two men were arrested close to the scene on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm following the attack at 6.20pm The latest attacks come after a day of violence saw six stabbings across the capital on Tuesday. Attacks took place across Woolwich, Hackney, Twickenham, Greenwich and Croydon. Some 62 murders have been recorded by Scotland Yard so far this year, of which 39 involved knives and ten were gun-related. In the first three months of this year 45 murders were recorded, compared to the first quarter of 2017 when there were 23. An urgent investigation into the violent crime wave in the capital was launched by the Police and Crime Committee of the London Assembly - and Mayor Sadiq Khan has been urged to 'take hold of the situation'. Eileen Hickey has been hit with a record fine for subletting her rent controlled apartment via Airbnb An artist is facing eviction from her Tribeca loft apartment and has been hit with a record fine for renting the property out on Airbnb. Eileen Hickey, 72 was first sued in 2014 by the owner of the property in 460 Greenwich Street, which spans the entire fourth floor, over the illegal subletting of her rent-stabilized home of 43 years. Landlord the Robert Moskowitz Children's Family Trust claimed Hickey made $4,500 a month via her Airbnb guests from Spain, California and New Orleans, the New York Post reported. She was caught when a Spanish tenant hung a banner from the fire escape of the 1,400-square-foot unit to welcome friends. Hickey, whose artwork has appeared in 'Eat Pray Love' and other films, has now been hit with a $185,000 fine, which covers the landlord's legal fees plus a penalty for violating the Rent Stabilization Code. 'Hickey has engaged in outrageous behavior using her rent-stabilized apartment as an illegal hotel,' said the court papers served against her. According to the landlord, Hickey engaged in 'rent profiteering and commercial exploitation' and her action is in violation of the Rent Stabilization Code and a number of other laws. According to the landlord of the Tribeca property, pictured, Hickey made $4500 from renting it on Airbnb The original Airbnb posting for the apartment, which was pulled when Hickey was served with a lawsuit by the landlord Eileen Hickey-Hulme, as she was formerly called, pictured in 2009. She is a former curator at the Guggenheim Museum, whose work has appeared in Eat, Pray, Love and other films But Hickey insisted she has done nothing wrong and only briefly rented the property, for which she pays $1,463.79 a month rent, on Airbnb to pay her now-former husband's medical bills. The former Guggenheim Museum curator claims she consulted an attorney who advised her she could legally rent out the apartment on Airbnb. According to the landlord, she repeatedly failed to hand over documents ordered by the court, including bank and credit-card statements, because she was 'in the Hamptons'. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Nancy Bannon authorized a city sheriff to 'take all necessary steps' to have her evicted and she now has until June 9 to get out. Last year, she made a plea via GoFundMe for $15,000 in order to raise the money for an attorney help her fight the eviction 'To have no place to go at age 72 is quite horrible,' she said, though the Post reported she has admitted to owning an East Village condo but claims to use it as an office. The $185,000 fine covers the landlord's legal fees plus a penalty for violating the Rent Stabilization Code. According to industry experts it is the highest known penalty in the United States for an individual Airbnb host illegally renting out a single property, though larger operators have been hit with $1 million fines. Last year, Hickey, formerly Hickey-Hulme, posted an ad on GoFundMe seeking to raise $15,000 in order to mount a legal defense against the eviction. Under the banner 'Save Eileen from Eviction!' she claimed 'I am the target of a greedy landlord's predatory tactics'. In a Facebook post after the court case she said: 'I used Air BNB starting in September 2012 and 2013 for a total of 85 nights over 10 months to help pay the bills in a brief family emergency, not to earn a living, ending my listing well before Robert Moskowitz and his attorney served me with ejectment papers for the first time. 'The first case was dismissed. They immediately refiled against me. I consulted an attorney before I allowed my friend out of concern to list me, and got advice from an attorney that is was ok. 'I ended my listing well before i was aware there was any problem. My total profit was $140 a night for 85 nights.' Photographs reveal the grisly scene met by police officers after a man beat his girlfriend to death before chopping her up and flushing parts of her down the toilet. Dean Lowe - who called himself 'the biggest stoner in the world' - killed Kirby Noden, 32, with a rock and a metal pole at their flat Marazion, Cornwall. The 33-year-old then cut up her remains, putting bits in a wheelie bin before flushing others away. The court heard he also made a necklace out of her teeth - but it took four months after the brutal attack for anyone to realise something had happened to his victim. Lowe, 33, denied one count of murder and maintained that Miss Noden was still alive and living in South Africa. Photos from inside the property show the state of the flat where Dean Lowe killed Kirby Noden Lowe (left) beat Kirby Noden (right) to death with a metal pole before chopping up her body Ms Noden's blood-splattered jumper (shown) was found at the property when police moved in But a jury at Truro Crown Court - some of whom were left in tears by the disturbing cases - found Lowe guilty of murder. Prosecutor Paul Dunkels QC had told how Lowe got rid of his partner's body 'so nothing has been found apart from her blood'. The victim's blood was found on the weapons used to murder her, as well as being spattered around the flat and soaked into a mattress. Mr Dunkels said: 'Nobody other than the defendant knew what happened for four months until May of last year when the defendant sent messages to members of his family living in Cheshire saying there had been a body on the floor of the flat and that he had cut it up and put it down the toilet.' After his apparent confession, the family contacted police who went to the flat and found Ms Noden's blood. Lowe later claimed that Ms Noden left him after an argument about her cheating on him with an old friend. He claimed that he had been drugged and raped by two men whilst Miss Noden spread her blood around the flat. Lowe also said that he received a call from Ms Noden whilst incarcerated in HMP Exeter when she said 'you're f***** now, you've got life in jail and I've got a new life out here'. But the jury rejected his version of events and found him guilty after several hours of deliberations. Police built a case against Lowe based on the amount of blood found in the flat and on his lover's jumper The court has heard that the couple had lived together for a number of years. Originally from Winsford, Cheshire, they moved to south-west England and lived in Torquay, Devon, and Launceston, Cornwall, before moving to Marazion. The court heard that they lived 'a chaotic lifestyle marked by the use of various illegal drugs'. Lowe will be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court next week. Speaking after the verdict, Detective Inspector Ian Ringrose said: 'On the evening of 18th May 2017 officers found Lowe at the courtyard flat and, due to what he told them and the scene that they discovered, they arrested him on suspicion of Kirby's Murder. 'Lowe had made certain disclosures in the Facebook messages and to the arresting officer to suggest that he had killed Kirby, disarticulated her body and disposed of her remains. Police documents show the location of the flat, near St Michael's Mount in southern Cornwall Victim's family say she was 'totally precious' Kirby Noden's family released a statement welcoming the guilty verdict. They said: 'Dean Lowe has taken away from us something totally precious, and although we welcome this verdict and sentence, it will never replace our loss. 'We would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen of the jury; and all members of the Devon and Cornwall Police, especially D.I. Ian Ringrose and his team for their extremely thorough hard work and relentless dedication to achieve a conviction. 'We would especially like to express our thanks and warm wishes to DC Jon Watts for his outstanding work and compassion during this case.' Advertisement DeI Ringrose added: 'The forensic examination of the scenes supported this and that there had been a sustained attack on Kirby and that Lowe was the person responsible for that assault. 'He subsequently denied those admissions and pleaded not guilty to murder. 'This has been an extensive and complex investigation which has been necessary to prove that Lowe is responsible for Kirby's death, disprove his various explanations as to why Kirby could not be found and in parallel, because we have been unable to find any of Kirby's remains, a complex investigation to prove that Kirby is no longer alive. This has required extensive nationwide and International enquiries. 'Miss Noden's family have been put through a living hell with Lowe not disclosing where he disposed of Kirby's body and denying all knowledge in court.. Lowe added to their upset by insisting that Kirby was still alive. 'We hope the sentence gives them some comfort in the conclusion of the case and our thoughts and sympathies are with them.' Kathy Taylor, from the CPS, said: 'This case demonstrates that through detailed investigation it is possible to prove a murder has taken place, even when the body of the deceased has not been found. 'Dean Lowe denied that he had killed Kirby, claiming she was still alive and had married another man. The CPS was able to present evidence to the jury which proved he was responsible for her death. 'Our thoughts are with Kirby's family and I hope this conviction can bring some measure of comfort to them.' Dambisa Moyo tore into the Donald Trump and Brexit votes claiming they have 'tested the limits of people's faith in democracy' Britons should have to pass a general knowledge test before they are allowed to vote, an ex Goldman Sachs banker has said. Dambisa Moyo tore into the Donald Trump and Brexit votes claiming they have 'tested the limits of people's faith in democracy'. She said that people should be forced to sit Government-backed tests before they are allowed near a ballot box as the right to vote 'has to be earned'. And she said MPs must have to prove they have career experience before they are allowed to stand for Parliament, while their pay should be linked to how well the country is performing. The economist claimed the serious curtails to people's democratic rights are needed because fake news and social media are skewing politics. But Tory MP Michael Fabricant said it is a silly idea which could disenfranchise current MPs. He told Mail Online: 'I understand where she is coming from, but who is going to decide what level of IQ entitles you to vote? 'I know several members of Parliament who probably wouldn't be qualified to vote. But would they still be allowed t be members of Parliament?' Writing in The Guardian, Ms Moyo said she came up with the plan after examining electoral systems across the world. She wrote: 'In many democracies, including the US and UK, migrants are required to pass government-sanctioned civic tests in order to gain citizenship. 'So, in this vein, why not give all voters a test of their knowledge? This would ensure minimum standards that should lead to higher-quality decision-making by the electorate. 'The message this would send is that voting is not just a right, but one that has to be earned. Such testing would not only lead to a better-informed electorate, but also to voters who are more actively engaged.' She admitted that efforts would need to be made to stop the test being skewed to discriminate against less educated people. 'To that end, the knowledge needed should be part of the core curriculum, with young people tested in their final year of secondary education', she added. 'Governments could also organise tests for those over school age.' And she also called for would-be MPs to have to prove they are worthy of a place in Parliament by passing career tests. Dambisa Moyo attacked voters for backing Donald Trump (pictured yesterday in Eikhart Indiana) and said democracy must be overhauled in the wake of his election She said: 'One approach is to move away from the career politician model by setting minimum experience requirements for politicians.... 'The process for selecting candidates could be altered to discriminate against someone seeking to enter parliament after five years as a political researcher. 'It would instead favour candidates with a wider range of experience outside politics and a good knowledge of the broader workings of the economy in key sectors such as business, agriculture, education and healthcare.' And she said that MPs' pay should be linked to the performance of a country, for example how well the economy is doing. She said: 'A further move to improve credibility could be to link politicians pay to the broader progress of the country. 'MPs or senators could be rewarded on how the country performs in key areas. In this way, voters would be better able to judge politicians come election time.' She said that these reforms may not have stopped voters backing Brexit or Mr Trump. Bit she insisted the debate would have been better. She said: 'First, voters would have witnessed a higher-quality debate. Second, the candidates would have been more vigorously vetted. The economist said the decision to back Brexit (pictured Boris Johnson on the campaign trail for the Leave campaign in 2016) showed how the level of political debate had sunk 'Third, voters would have been given more objective information, subject to scrutiny and minimum standards. This in turn would have led to wider acceptance of the result. 'The democratic system itself would be deemed legitimate, and elected leaders would then be free to do their work, rather than being subjected to a relentless barrage of questions around their credibility. 'In practice, while countries may not be able to adopt all these ideas, taking on at least some will move their democracy in a better direction.' Ms Moyo spent eight years working at Goldman Sachs and two years at the World Bank. The Google Doodle for May 11, 2018 celebrates the highly influential Indian classical dancer, Mrinalini Sarabhai on what would have been her 100th birthday. In a long and illustrious life, Mrinalini trained in multiple forms of dance and founded her own dance academy that evolved to become one of Indias foremost performing arts institutions, training over 20,000 in its first fifty years. Here is all you need to know about Mrinalini Sarabhai including her life, dance history and marriage to Vikram Sarabhai. The Google Doodle for Friday, May 11 celebrates the Indian classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai Who was Mrinalini Sarabhai? Mrinalini Sarabhai was born on May 11, 1918 in Kerala, India to a lawyer father and an activist mother. Mrinalini grew up in Switzerland and started to study dance at the Dalcroze school, but continued her education back in India, studying the Bharatanatyam and Kathakali forms at Shantiniketan under Rabindranath Tagore. As well as a dancer, Mrinalini, in her own way followed in her mothers activist footsteps. She worked tirelessly to help the needy, during one winter handing out over 200 blankets to street dwellers. In 1942, Mrinalini married the physicist Vikram Sarabhai, widely considered to be the father of Indias space programme. Together, the couple founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in 1949. For Mrinalini, the academy was more than just an educational institution. It was a vehicle for good. With her husband Vikram, Mrinalini set up the Darpana Academy for Performing Arts in 1949 As the Google Doodle notes: The small dance academy grew to become not only a study center for diverse art forms, but one that used the power of arts to bring about positive change to the critical issues facing society. Mrinalini Sarabhai died on January 27, 2016 at the age of 97. What is a Google Doodle? Google Doodles celebrate culturally significant events with illustrations. They are incorporated into the Google logo on the search engines homepage. The very first Google Doodle marked Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brins visit to the 1998 Burning Man Festival. The doodle was no more than a stick-man standing behind the second o in the Google logo, but after people began to respond positively to the frequent updates to the logo, the doodle became a constant presence. Nowadays, a team of illustrators, graphic designers, animators and artists work on the Google Doodles and the logos are hyperlinked to a page that provides more information about the cultural event celebrated. A young ballerina trained in Switzerland, Mrinalini Sarabhai went on to become one of Indias most respected classical dancers. On her 100th birth anniversary, #GoogleDoodle celebrates her immense contribution to the Indian arts. https://t.co/pB1li21tcl pic.twitter.com/zSB4S8gDVg Google India (@GoogleIndia) May 11, 2018 Recent Google Doodles have celebrated everyone from the Prince of Mathematics Johann Carl Friedrich Gau, US Teacher Appreciation Week and Labor Day. The Google Doodle celebrating Mrinalini Sarabhai was designed by Sudeepti Tucker and features the award-winning classical dancer holding her signature parasol in the auditorium where her students are training. One of the few classical dancers trained in more than one form, Sarabhai was able to quickly build a career in choreography and teaching. Despite seeing the continuous evolution of dance forms over her multi-decade career, she was inspired to choreograph more than three hundred dance dramas with a strong base of classical tradition behind them. Lazy peers could be targeted with letters urging them to quit amid growing pressure for an overhaul of the Lords. The Lords authorities are understood to want to step up 'proactive' measures to shrink the overcrowded and unwieldy Upper House. They are urging Theresa May to push ahead with plans for a 'cap' on numbers in the chamber. Senior peers have told MailOnline the move could open the door to 'professionalising' the House by scrapping the controversial 305 daily attendance allowance in favour of a salary. Honorary titles, with individuals becoming Lords but not able to sit in the House, could also be deployed. Senior sources at the Lords have told MailOnline they want to step up 'proactive' measures to shrink the overcrowded and unwieldy Upper House The 800-strong Lords is notoriously the second largest legislative chamber in the world - behind only the Chinese National People's Congress. Calls for the chamber to be reformed - or even scrapped altogether - have been mounting amid a bitter row over Brexit legislation. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom warned yesterday that peers must not 'undermine the will' of the people who voted in the EU referendum after the government suffered a series of humiliating defeats on the Bill. Last year, a report by Lord Burns, a crossbench peer and former head of the Treasury, recommended that the Upper House should be progressively slimmed down, to a total of 600 members over the next decade. In her response to the report in February, Mrs May pledged to show restraint in the number of appointments she makes to the Lords. However, she has so far stopped short of committing to the cap on numbers. Senior peers said the authorities were eager to make progress in curbing the size of the House. They said 'a lot depends' on Mrs May exercising restraint in new appointments and agreeing to the cap of 600 members. Once we have a number we can make real proactive efforts to persuade people they should go,' one said. There has been some proactive work going on, but we could write to all peers who do not attend often and suggest it is time for them to leave. Peers are often hesitant about giving up even if they want to, because the balance in the chamber is so fine and there is no agreement on appointments. They dont want to let down their colleagues and disadvantage their party by giving up.' A Downing Street source said the government was 'working through' the reform plans. Experts believe it would not require new legislation to allow people to be made peers without giving them voting rights in the Lords. Theresa May (pictured in the Commons this week) is being urged to push ahead with plans for a 'cap' on numbers of peers One thing that could be done without statute is to introduce a peerage that doesnt involve membership of the House,' a senior Lords source said. Someone like Sir James Dyson could become Lord Dyson but you dont want him working in the Lords, you want him developing new technology and running business. That kind of peerage could have very wide appeal. Even without the cap, the authorities are understood to be confident numbers can be brought down by around 75 by the end of the parliament. There are also suggestions that the per diem allowance could be abandoned. Concerns have been raised about abuse of the system, with some peers accused of 'clocking on' to receive the cash without doing any real work. If you were to bring the numbers down you could address the issue of whether it is a part time or a full time House,' one senior peer said. 'The per diem arrangements we have at the moment are not satisfactory. They are unfair on people who dont have homes in London. The possibility of salaries could be on the agenda if we can show the costs are coming down. Two young refugees from Myanmar have pleaded guilty to raping a woman who was sleeping rough under a bridge in Melbourne's southwest. Thwang Za Lian, 24, and Kapling Hlawnceu, 21, found the woman under a Werribee footbridge before they held her down, covered her mouth and raped her one night in August 2017, a court heard. The two men are both Christian refugees who fled to Australia with family because of persecution by the Buddhist majority. They may be deported after their release from jail, but face the possibility of being held in a detention camp because they cannot return to Myanmar. Thwang Za Lian, 24, and Kapling Hlawnceu, 21, have both pleaded guilty to raping a woman who was sleeping rough under a Werribee footbridge in Melbourne's southwest 'It would've been terrifying [for the victim], absolutely,' County Court Judge Irene Lawson said during the pair's plea hearing on Friday. Although they both pleaded guilty to rape, Hlawnceu's role in the crime was different to Za Lian's. Hlawnceu held the woman down and covered her face with a jumper as Za Lian raped her. They had been drinking beers and playing pokies at a nearby pub earlier in the night. The woman had been sleeping under the Werribee Bicentennial Bridge for a couple of nights prior, having had a fight with her partner. A passing car stopped after the driver spotted the scene under the bridge and called out, spooking the rapists. The two men may be deported after their release from jail, but face the possibility of being held in a detention camp because they cannot return to Myanmar The attack was reported and police arrived a short time later, subsequently circulating a description of the suspects to colleagues. Hlawnceu and Za Lian were spotted walking out of nearby parkland and were arrested. A police dog tracked down a used condom bearing DNA evidence. The victim said she felt her life had been in a 'holding pattern' of fear, anxiety and mistrust since the rape. 'For three months after this happened I hid from the world, from my friends,' she told the court via video link. 'I am wary and distrusting of people of Asian appearance and I feel bad about that but I can't help how I feel. 'I did not deserve for this to happen to me. It was not my fault.' The judge heard Hlawnceu and Za Lian are childhood friends from the same village in Myanmar. A loyal dog prevented angry motorists and police from waking up its drunk owner who was sleeping off a hangover in the middle of the street. In the footage, filmed in Colombia, the pooch lies on top of the man and barks at anyone who comes near him. The golden-coloured mutt licks its owners face and paces around his body in a circle to try protect him. Bark off! The loyal dog prevented angry motorists and police from waking up its drunk owner who was sleeping off a hangover in the middle of the street Hair of the dog: In the footage, filmed in Colombia, the pooch lies on top of the drunk man and barks at anyone who comes near him As one onlooker tries to shake the man and wake him up, the animal springs into action and barks at him until he backs away. Seconds later a policeman approaches to deal with the disturbance, but finds that the protective pooch will not let him anywhere near its drunk owner. It nuzzles into the man's face, lovingly trying to wake him up, while the cop attempts to get closer. Dog nap: The pooch licks its owners face and paces around his body in a circle to try protect him while he sleeps Canine companion: A policeman tries to tap the drunk man with a stick but finds the protective pooch will not let him anywhere near its owner The guard dog barks at the approaching policeman while a resident informs the officer: 'The guy is drunk.' The dog sits by its owners face, closely watching the crowd of onlookers. When the policeman tries to gently shake the dozing drunk, the dog springs up and nips at his outstretched hand. Let him be! Eventually, the owner wakes up from his drunken slumber and the officer helps him up Nice spot for a snooze: The video was recorded by onlookers and shared on social media where it amassed 650,000 views in 24 hours Eventually, the owner begins to stir and someone craftily removes the bike helmet he was sleeping in while the dog was distracted with the officer. The owner wearily lifts his head and gives his beloved pooch a loving pat before getting a ticking off from the cop. The video was recorded by onlookers and shared on social media where it amassed 650,000 views in 24 hours. A man who saving an injured wallaby from between a fence and shed was left heartbroken after the wallaby died in his arms. Australian wildlife rescuer and snake catcher Tony Morrison spotted the distressed wallaby in his backyard in Brisbane. Mr Morrison caught the ordeal on camera, his footage showing the visibly distraught wallaby wanting to be freed. 'What the hell, I have a kangaroo in my yard,' he is heard saying. Scroll down for video He tries to pull the wallaby out carefully but is unsuccessful when he sees that it's too stuck The wallaby was twitching before it's heartbeat stopped, and Mr Morrison couldn't feel its heartbeat Unfortunately the wallaby and its baby joey (pictured) died after going through shock during the ordeal Mr Morrison then proceeds to attempt to pull the wallaby out from it's position, but the wallaby doesn't budge in it's position. It is then that Mr Morrison notices that the wallaby is pregnant. 'Oh no you have a baby, oh no,' he said. He grabs a wooden pole and attempts to make some room for the wallaby to make it easier to pull out. 'Hold on, hold on, hold on buddy, its alright were going to help you.' Mr Morrison grabbed a wooden pole and attempted to make some room for the wallaby to make it easier to pull out Tony Morrison found an injured pregnant wallaby (pictured) in his backyard in Brisbane He successfully pulled out the wallaby from the top of the fence (left) and took it over to the grass (right) Mr Morrison then grabs the wallaby and pulls it out from the top of the fence before carrying it over to the grass. Mr Morrison then caresses the wallaby saying, 'Don't go into shock now mate. Come on. 'I think you're going, it's all too much isn't it. 'Oh your eyes are rolling. 'Don't go, you've still got a heartbeat there.' The wallaby is seen twitching when it suddenly lays still. The wallaby died in his arms, and Mr Morrison sighs heavily in defeat. 'Damn...You're done.' Delaware has become the first state in the nation to completely ban marriage for anyone under 18. Democratic Gov. John Carney on Wednesday signed into law the measure that makes it illegal for minors to get married, under any circumstances, even if their parents approve. Previously, anyone could get married in Delaware at any age with a judge's approval. 'Now that we have closed this loophole in Delaware law, children will be protected from forced marriage and its dangerous consequences,' Rep. Kim Williams (D-Newport) told WDEL. Delaware became the first state to make it illegal for people under the age of 18 to get married after passing a law banning underage marriage under all circumstances Wednesday Williams, who introduced the bill, also said that the law will protect children under 18, as they have no legal standing. Among other things, children are unable to file for divorce or use domestic violence shelters. 'Until this bill was signed they could be married as a child without any way of escaping an abusive marriage,' Williams said of under 18s. In addition, Sen. Anthony Delcollo (R-Elsmere), who supported the marriage ban, said that it was illogical to think that minors could make the 'incredibly important decision to marry' when minors weren't given the legal capacity to make other decisions in their lives, WDEL reported. The law also ends a statutory rape exception that had been part of the old Delaware law. Democratic Gov. John Carney signed the bill into law Wednesday. It was first introduced by Rep. Kim Williams (D-Newport), who said the law protects children forced into marriage The new law also closed a loophole that had stated that sex between a minor and someone 30 years or older was not statutory rape if the two people were married (file) Previously, sex involving an under 18 and someone 30 years old or older was banned, but it was not considered statutory rape if the two parties are married. Delcollo called the old statutory rape exception both 'backward' and 'unacceptable.' In addition, the new law makes it possible for a court to annul marriages between people who were under 18 at the time of there marriage, if they do not confirm their nuptials after they turned 18. More than 200 minors were married between 2000 and 2017 in Delware, with more than 90 per cent of those marriages occurring between underage girls and adult men, NPR reported. Supporters say the bill is an important step to protect children from being forced to marry someone against their will, citing human trafficking. 'This is such a huge victory for women and girls,' Fraidy Reiss, the founder of Unchained At Last, a group working to end child marriage in the US, told FRONTLINE. Fraidy added that, 'In the age of the Me Too movement, were finally getting our elected officials to recognize that girls have value.' Opponents of the law raised concerns that the law could have implications beyond forced marriages, citing religions that traditionally allow followers to marry young. Before Gov. Carney signed the bill into law, State Rep. Stephen Smyk had said the 'blanket ban on marriage under age 18 might unfairly exclude couples with legitimate reasons for seeking such unions,' NPR reported. Opponents of the ban on childhood marriages cited concerns that states might interfere with religious reasons allowing children to marry Prior to the bill being signed into law, Delaware State Rep. Stephen Smyk had said a 'blanket ban' would unfairly prohibit couples who had a legitimate reason to get married In recent years, other states have been reworking laws that allow minors to marry. There are currently loopholes in the remaining 49 states' laws allowing those under 18 to get married provided they receive permission from their parents or legal guardian or that they get approval from a family court judge. Marriage records across the US, from between 2000 to 2014, indicate that more than 207,000 people under 18 were married, FRONTLINE reported. The marriages most frequently involved people who were 16 or 17 years old, however some marriages involved people as young as 12. More than 20 states have been slowly working towards raising the legal age of marriage for minors since 2016. In 2018, Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a law raising the marriage age to 17 and Tennessee has passed a similar age ban that is awaiting approval from its governor. Meanwhile, New Hampshire has passed a bill raising the marriage age to 16, up from the previous ages of 13 and 14 for girls and boys, respectively. New Jersey is expected to consider a similar ban against marriages between people under 18 in May. The ban had been previously passed and sent to then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, in 2017, but he refused to sign it into law, citing that notion that it would 'violate the cultures and traditions of some communities in New Jersey based on religious traditions.' Advertisement These are the brave faces of India's acid attack survivors who have refused to be victims. Some of them were attacked by jealous family members, others by men who wanted to punish them for rejecting their advances, but they have all suffered disfigurement after having corrosive liquid thrown in their faces. Together they set up a campaign called STOP ACID ATTACKS, which started in Delhi, but has now spread across India. In sharing their stories with photographer Pascal Mannaerts, they hope to raise awareness of their campaign, and help other women suffering the same fate. Mr Mannaerts says: 'The girls don't want to hide. They design clothes, they opened a cafe-restaurant in Agra. They want to smile and have different life projects. 'They also interact with other minorities such as rape victims, LGBT communities, old people abandoned by their families, sharing their strength and experience. They refuse to be called "victims" but prefer the term "fighters".' Her story: Laxmi, 24, was just 15 when a man more than twice her age threw acid on her when after she refused his advances. She described how she had been approached by the 32-year-old man, a brother of a friend, who started sending her text messages. 'He messaged me: I love you. I ignored him, but the next day, he messaged me again, saying that he wanted an instant reply. Again, I didn't respond. Three days later, I was waiting for the bus in a crowded area of central Delhi. He approached me with his brother's girlfriend. Before I realized anything, they had pinned me down and threw acid on my face. I kept screaming for help but no one came to help me. Everyone ran in the opposite direction. I could feel my flesh burning and I covered my eyes with my arms. That reflex action saved me from losing my vision. Acid corrodes quickly. Within a few seconds, I had lost my face, my ear had melted and both my arms were charred black.' After ten weeks she was released from hospital and has had numerous operations since. 'I learnt to live with the physical pain but what hurt more was the reaction of society. My own relatives stopped seeing me, as did my friends. I stayed indoors almost all the time for eight years. My main attacker was out on bail within a month and he soon got married. He returned to a normal life within a month. I tried to pick up a job but nobody was willing to hire me. Nobody wants to hire acid victims because of the way they look.' Attacked: Ritu, 20, left, had acid poured on her after her aunt ordered an attack in revenge over a family dispute in 2012. 'There were some property matters between my father and his sister. My aunt couldn't have revenge on my father, so she decided to have revenge on me. She asked guys to attack me. Two men approached me on a motorbike. One of them splashed acid on me. Shopkeepers gathered around me as I was lying on the ground, screaming with pain. But nobody helped me. Fortunately, my elder brother was passing by. He spotted me and brought me to the hospital.' Soniya Choudhari, 30, right, was attacked in 2004 by two neighbours after a dispute. 'They helped me buy a cellphone, but it was a stolen one. I sent the police to them. They were angry as the police jailed them for a while. They had also stolen something from my father's shop before. They got more and more angry at us, that's why they did that. The two guys were sentenced to 6 months jail only. Heartbreaking: After her mother's death, Rupa, left, was living with her stepmother in her native village in Uttar Pradesh. Her stepmother didn't want to take care of her, so one night, she poured acid on Rupa while she was sleeping. Her stepmother left her in bed for six hours before taking her to hospital, where she spent three months. Dolly, right, is 14 years old. She was 12 when she was attacked with acid by a man who was twice her age. He had tried several times to force her to have sex with him. Today, she wants to become a doctor. No choice: Gita poses with her husband - who is also her attacker - and her two daughters in Agra. Gita's husband threw acid on her and their two daughters because she had not given birth to a son. Her youngest daughter died, and her eldest, Nitu, now 24 and seen right, survived. Gita ended up staying with her husband because she says she had no other option as a woman, and they later had another daughter, seen in the background. Survivor: Gita's daughter Nitu, 24, lives in Agra and works at Sheroes Hangout, a cafe founded by Stop Acid Attacks-members. She dreams of becoming a famous singer one day Unimaginable pain: Gita, who lost one of her daughters when her husband threw acid on them more than a decade ago, prays at a temple near her home Out and proud: Ritu, pictured with friend and fellow acid attack victim Soniya in north Delhi, says: 'It is important to know that this is not your fault and that you don't have to hide. You have to be proud of what you are and become an example of strength, as this will help other people, who have to face the same problems as you.' Commitment: Laxmi and Ritu are sitting at the HQ of Stop Acid Attacks - also called Chhanv - a three-room flat in Laxminagar, a middle-class area of east Delhi where acid attacks survivors can meet Dreams: Rupa has always wanted to be a fashion designer, and dreams of being able to open her shop in Delhi or Mumbai. At the moment, she designs clothes which she sells at Sheroes Hangout Refusing to hide: Some of the campaigners are spending a chilled Sunday afternoon at the India Gate, in Delhi Living in fear: Three of the men accused of the attack on Ritu have been charged with attempt to murder and five others under criminal conspiracy. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently granted bail to two of them Changed forever: Dolly sits with her mother and sister in their home, as she speaks about her dream of becoming a doctor Brave: Ritu, who was attacked when she was just 14 years old by men paid by her own aunt, is seen shooting a documentary about Stop Acid Attacks near the Taj Mahal, in 2015 Motives: The Stop Acid Attacks campaigners say eight in ten acid attacks are caused by a one-sided love affair, followed by failed relationships and family problems. Best buddies: Ritu poses with her best friend Atul Kumar, who also works for the 'Stop Acid Attacks' campaign. Campaigners: Ritu, Laxmi, Soniya and Rupa are all members of Stop Acid Attacks and prefer to call themselves fighters, rather than victims Police are seeking urgent public assistance to help find a 12-year-old boy who was abducted off the street just hours ago. The boy was last seen being pulled into a dark hatchback car on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The missing child is described as being Asian in appearance, and was last seen wearing a white shirt and dark coloured shorts. Police are seeking urgent public assistance to help find a 12-year-old boy who was abducted off the street just hours ago Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia there are concerns the boy may be at significant risk of harm, and they are fearing for his life. The Police Service appealing to the public for any information regarding the incident. Call 131 564 to provide information about this abduction. Call 000 for life threatening information about this abduction. A Bosnian gang including an embassy official made almost 3million sending migrant children on to the streets of major French cities including Paris to steal, prosecutors revealed today. They released details of the scam after charging eight alleged ringleaders with a range of crimes including human trafficking, forging documents, money laundering, bribery and theft. In a shocking example of the EUs porous borders, the defendants were able to transport the children to France effortlessly, even though none of them had passports. Prosecutors in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, said the alleged crimes were committed between 2012 and 2015 by youngsters who were forced to commit thefts and pickpocketing in public places, subways, and museums. A statement from prosecutors added that the almost 3million in profits was largely sent back to the accused in Bosnia. Scroll down for video Between 2012 and 2015 youngsters were forced to commit thefts and pickpocket in public places Public places such as the Louvre (pictured) were targeted by the gangs in a bid to fill their coffers In turn, the thieves were given fake identification documents and accommodation in France. According to evidence shown to the news agency AFP, a former employee of the Bosnian embassy in Paris is among those who have been sentenced after pleading guilty to his part in the scam. Despite this, none of the newly charged eight have yet been arrested or indicted. Roma gypsies from countries such as Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria are regularly blamed by the French authorities for carrying out the majority of street crime in Paris. They live in illegal camps on the edge of cities such as Paris, and travel in to the centre on public transport to steal, mug, burgle and beg aggressively. Gangs of mainly Roma girls are a common site around tourist attractions such as the Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower. In 2013 the EU warned France that it would face sanctions over its treatment of its Roma community after the then Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the majority should be deported and that his country was not here to welcome these populations. At the time, and EU spokesman said: Roma, like all EU citizens, have the freedom to circulate freely in all member states of the EU and to live in a country other than their country of origin. Scamming and pickpocketing is a large problem in Paris with local police engaged in a constant battle to crack down on criminals However, it was pointed out at the time that many Roma did not come from EU countries, and were simply forging EU documents. Last year the heads of a Roma crime gang that preyed on visitors to Disneyland Paris and other tourist spots were given prison sentences after their own children turned evidence against them. Marian Tinca, a 57, and his ex-wife Maria Iamandita, 51, organised a highly sophisticated theft operation that fleeced tourists of at least 1million over two years. They would send youngsters including their seven children, three of them still minors, into the French capital to pickpocket, beg aggressively and mug people. Judges sitting at the Correctional Court in Meaux, north east of Paris, sentenced the couple to six and five years in prison respectively. They also ordered that the Romanian nationals should be banned from France for ten years when they are finally released. During the trial, Marian Tinca told the court that he and his family wanted to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Windsor is normally a peaceful town, known for being the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family. However, that peace and serenity is set to be shattered on May 19, as thousands of people descend on the market town - and they aren't coming for the nearby Legoland. Instead, fans are flocking to Windsor for the wedding of the year as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finally tie the knot. Union Jacks flutter in the wind near Windsor Castle as the town of Windsor prepares for the big day The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has released a 'complete guide' for eager visitors. The guide includes tips on road closures, commuting and outlines how visitors can take a boat to the town centre. Meanwhile, train firms have warned passengers to leave as early as 4am so they don't miss watching Harry and Meghan exchange their vows. The Royal Borough released an ultimate guide for people visiting the town on May 19. A spokesman said: 'The wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle will be a special day for Windsor, which hosts the world's oldest and largest inhabited castle. 'Prince Harry was baptised at St George's Castle in Windsor, and attended school and learned to row in the Borough. However, train firms have warned that well-wishers who want to attend the Royal wedding procession must head to Windsor by 4am The town of Windsor has been hit with Royal wedding fever and council officials have now released a set of guidelines for visitors to the town How to make the most of the Royal Wedding with the help of a P.R.I.N.C.E The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have released an ultimate guide for people visiting the town for the wedding on May 19: - Parking book it in advance. There is a limited amount of parking available including a park and float car park at Windsor Racecourse. - Road Closures plan ahead. Roads will be closed for the royal wedding from 10pm on Friday, May 18. - In Windsor be prepared. Residents and visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the proceedings should check the weather forecast before they travel. - Navigate to your preferred viewing spot. The Royal Wedding route will take in a round trip to and from the castle. - Commuting? Check out your route. Extra trains will be provided to Windsor's two railway stations. - Enjoy it! The Royal Wedding is a once-in-a-generation event. Advertisement 'The Royal Borough is urging visitors to act now to plan their travel. Windsor and the surrounding area are likely to be extremely busy in the weekend as visitors and residents join in the celebrations. Road closures begin from 10pm and limited parking for those travelling into the borough, and it is essential visitors prepare now to make sure they enjoy the day and keep safe.' The Royal Borough have also released a series of tips, labelled as P.R.I.N.C.E guidance. This includes guidance on parking, with the Royal Borough recommending that visitors book parking in advance at three sites - including a park and float car park at Windsor Racecourse. This will allow visitors to enjoy a boat ride back into the town centre. The Windsor Racecoure website read: 'We're also able to offer a unique Park and float service where you can purchase a return riverboat from the racecourse, to the town centre for only 10.' Roads in Windsor will be closed from 10pm on Friday, May 18, for the route of the Royal carriage, which will include a round trip to and from the castle. The guide also warns visitors to be prepared for the warm weather that is expected, before repeating the need to be diligent when organising your commute to the town. Cllr Phill Bicknell, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for highways, transport and Windsor, said: 'We want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy this celebration and a key part of that is making sure people are in place as early as possible. To ensure everyone's safety the crossing points over the Long Walk from the town centre are likely to close around 11am so we're encouraging people take this into account when they plan their journeys. As well as a park and float facility, Windsor Racecourse are offering visitors the chance to purchase a return riverboat from the racecourse to the town centre for only 10 The Royal Borough's guidelines follow a set of tips called 'P.R.I.N.C.E', which outline advice for people wishing to visit Windsor on the day Cllr Phill Bicknell, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for highways, transport and Windsor, said: 'We want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy this celebration' 'We have worked closely with a wide range of partners to make this as easy as possible but due to the large number of expected visitors we ask people to plan ahead and leave early on the big day.There is going to be a real party atmosphere in the town throughout the day with local entertainers, large screens and food and facilities in the public viewing areas. 'With so much on offer in Windsor we're encouraging people to plan ahead and arrive early so they can get a good spot and enjoy more of what our wonderful town has to offer.' Rail operator Great Western Railway (GWR) urged passengers to 'travel early and travel light' to reach Windsor in time for the royal wedding procession. As Windsor gears up for the big day, train firms have warned that customers should 'travel early and travel light' to avoid disappoinment Passengers from Scotland, Lancashire, Devon and several other areas have bought train tickets to Windsor for the day. GWR published a series of train times under the heading 'What time can I leave?' to aid people travelling to Windsor, including journeys from Preston at 4.15am, Stafford at 5.25am, Solihull at 6.24am and Leamington Spa at 6.38am. Get me to the church on time! What time will you have to leave home to make it to the Royal Wedding? Here is the full list of royal wedding journeys published by Great Western Railway: Departure time - departure station - arrival time at Slough 4.15am - Preston - 9.07am 5.25am - Stafford - 8.37am 6.03am - Stockport - 9.07am 6.19am - Kinghorn (Fife) - 1.07pm 6.20am - Newton Abbot - 9.24am 6.24am - Solihull - 8.39am 6.31am - Tamworth - 9.10am 6.38am - Leamington Spa - 8.08am 6.43am - Exeter St Davids - 9.24am Advertisement All of these trips are due to arrive at Slough at around 8am or 9am for a connection to Windsor. A 'sizeable queuing system' will be in place for GWR's four-carriage branch line service between Slough and Windsor and Eton Central. Around 2,300 metres of fencing will be used for queues across the busiest stations on routes to Windsor. Passengers travelling from the West, South Wales and the Cotswolds are advised to change at Reading for services to Slough. Meanwhile, those travelling from the London area should use South Western Railway services from London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside. If the number of visitors proves to be a safety issue, Thames Valley Police may order trains not to stop in Windsor and close off the wedding's processional route to latecomers. GWR managing director Mark Hopwood said: 'We help thousands of people each year travel to some of the biggest events in the country: Reading Festival, Glastonbury, Henley Regatta and many more. Train firms are expecting people to visit Windsor on the day of the wedding from all over the UK 'This will be one of the largest ever one-day events that has taken place on our network and our aim is to ensure our customers have a great day out and enjoy what will be an international spectacle.' Meanwhile, the Queen has also won a Restriction of Flying Regulation, which means that nobody can operate drones above Windsor castle or on the royal carriage's route into the town. Drones are a fear for Thames Valley Police who are responsible for the security of Harry and Meghan on the streets of Royal Windsor and are calling on the public to keep an eye out for drone pilots. Jennifer Bastian went for a training run on her bike in August 1986 but her body was found three weeks later in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park A man has been arrested in connection with the kidnap and murder of a 13-year-old girl more than three decades ago. Robert D. Washburn of Eureka, Illinois, was detained by police in the state after DNA evidence produced a breakthrough in the case of Jennifer Bastian. The 60-year-old is alleged to have killed her in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, Washington state, in August 1986. 'I think everybody who has been involved with this over the years is extremely happy that it's been solved,' said Tacoma police spokeswoman Loretta Cool. Washburn lived less than nine blocks from the Bastian home, property records show, the News Tribune, of Tacoma, reported. On the day she vanished, Jennifer, a keen cyclist who was eager to train for an upcoming race, asked her dad if she could take her bike to the park. He agreed but only if she called him when she arrived back home. When she did not return home by 8.30pm, her parents called the police and scores of officers, assisted by dogs searched for her. Point Defiance closed for two days while searchers looked for Jennifer, whose remains were recovered three weeks later after a jogger noticed an odd smell. Robert Washburn has been arrested after a three decade hunt for the killer of Jennifer Her body was hidden beneath brush, with her bike nearby, and she been strangled. In 2013, Jennifer's mother, Pattie Bastian, told The News Tribune, 'Not a day goes by that we don't think of her. She's our little girl.' A six strong task force put in at least 10,000 investigative hours in the hunt for her killer and DNA tests have been run on evidence since 1988. A behavioral profile of the killer was developed in 2013 but despite the DNA being run through a national database, not matches were found. The case was examined by experts at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Jennifer's murder was believed to be linked to the death of 12-year-old Michella Welch around the same time. In 2016, using technology called DNA phenotyping, Tacoma police and a Virginia based company, Parabon Nanolabs, produced computer generated composites that could reveal the faces of two killers responsible for murders. More than a 100 new tips were generated when Tacoma police activated its Child Abduction Response Team to rework the case as if Jennifer had just been kidnapped. Washburn is not linked to the murder of Michella Welch. This is the shocking moment a screaming 65-year-old grandmother was dragged out of her car by a police officer during a traffic stop. Squad car video shows Officer James Legg shouting 'you're not in charge, shut the f*** up' before pulling Rose Campbell out of her vehicle during the heated encounter on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta on May 4. Campbell's arrest followed a stand-off lasting more than five minutes during which the driver refused to sign a traffic violation ticket and then ignored repeated requests to leave her vehicle. Squad car video shows Officer James Legg (wearing a cap) screaming 'you're not in charge, shut the f*** up' before pulling a screaming Rose Campbell out of her vehicle The Alpharetta Police Department posted the video on Facebook with a statement from Public Safety Chief John Robinson in which he said Legg's behavior 'did not represent our organization'. The footage starts with Campbell's silver SUV being pulled over by the side of the road, before Officer Michael Swerdlove approaches her to check her license and explain she had been ticketed for drifting from one lane to another. After hearing she had been ticketed, Campbell asks Swerdlove to call a supervisor, which he claims to have done. But she refuses to sign the ticket - on offense in Georgia - so Swerdlove asks her to step out of her car so she can be arrested. 'Step out of the car', Swerdlove says repeatedly, to which Campbell replies, 'I'm going to wait for your supervisor.' The exchange then becomes heated as Campbell closes her door on Swerdlove, which he reacts to by shouting at her to leave the vehicle and trying to pull her out. 'Stop it! Your supervisor needs to come now, now!' she replies, at which point a passenger gets out of the back door and walks away from the confrontation. 'You need to get out of the car, you're under arrest,' Swerdlove says. 'Step out of the car, you need to come now.' 'I won't until your supervisor comes,' Campbell says. 'This is abusive behavior, no sir. I need to supervisor, now!' 'You're under arrest, you are resisting arrest,' the officer replies. At this point reinforcements called by Swerdlove arrive in two police cars with their sirens blaring before pulling up next to Campbell's car. The 65-year-old is walked away from the car by the first two officers while Legg watches on At this point Legg grabs Campbell again and pulls her towards the cop cars with significant force A second officer, who has not been named, gets out of one of the cars and approaches Campbell, telling her: 'I need you to get out of the car, step out. 'Come out of the car, you're been arrested. We're not going to try and hurt you.' Officer Legg walks to the other side of the car as the polite, but heated, encounter continues. Campbell says, 'I won't come out for him,' referring to the first officer. Campbell is seen in a police mug shot taken after she was arrested on Friday The second officer says, 'Ok, alright, as he gently helps her out of the vehicle.' But at this point Legg begins shouting curses at Campbell. 'Hey, you're not in charge, shut the f*** up and get out of the car,' he screams. Swerdlove and the second officer continue moving Campbell out of the vehicle, but Legg then grabs her and pulls her with considerable force. She begins screaming as three other officers arrive at the scene. 'Where's your supervisor, where's your supervisor,' Campbell screams. At this point Legg grabs the woman again and pulls her towards the cop cars. 'I want the supervisor, where is the supervisor, I need him now,' Campbell says. 'I'm going to have a heart attack, my blood pressure is sky high.' Off-camera, one of the officers says he is going to call a medic, to which she responds by demanding again to see a supervisor. One of the officers can be heard telling Campbell not to slam her body against the cop car and saying 'please, I need you to sit down now.' 'I want the supervisor, where is the supervisor, I need him now,' Campbell says. 'I'm going to have a heart attack, my blood pressure is sky high' Recounting the incident, Campbell said she felt 'scared' and 'ganged up on' by the officers. She is pictured being led away to the cars Recounting the incident, Campbell said she felt 'scared' and 'ganged up on' by the officers. 'I just panicked, I felt like my heart exploded. Am I in a movie? Is this a movie? I couldnt believe it. It was surreal,' she told WSB. 'I didn't expect that in America. I didn't expect that in Atlanta. I didn't expect that especially in Alpharetta.' Legg was immediately suspended and has since resigned. Campbell says she wants an apology and more training for officers and has not decided whether to take legal action. Public Safety Chief John Robinson said in a Facebook post about the video: 'We strive to be a transparent department. 'If we are going to be 100 percent transparent, that means that we also must be willing to share with you any major concerns that arise regarding employee performance and behavior. 'There are aspects about this video that simply do not represent our organization.' As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. 2006 Assange creates Wikileaks with a group of like-minded activists and IT experts to provide a secure way for whistleblowers to leak information. He quickly becomes its figurehead and a lightning rod for criticism. 2010 March: U.S. authorities allege Assange engaged in a conspiracy to hack a classified U.S. government computer with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. July: Wikileaks starts releasing tens of thousands of top secrets documents, including a video of U.S. helicopter pilots gunning down 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. What followed was the release of more than 90,000 classified US military files from the Afghan war and 400,000 from Iraq that included the names of informants. August: Two Swedish women claim that they each had consensual sex with Assange in separate instances when he was on a 10-day trip to Stockholm. They allege the sex became non-consensual when Assange refused to wear a condom. First woman claims Assange was staying at her apartment in Stockholm when he ripped off her clothes. She told police that when she realized Assange was trying to have unprotected sex with her, she demanded he use a condom. She claims he ripped the condom before having sex. Second Swedish woman claims she had sex with Assange at her apartment in Stockholm and she made him wear a condom. She alleges that she later woke up to find Assange having unprotected sex with her. He was questioned by police in Stockholm and denied the allegations. Assange was granted permission by Swedish authorities to fly back to the U.K. November: A Swedish court ruled that the investigation should be reopened and Assange should be detained for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol. Wikileaks releases its cache of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. December: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. Assange is granted conditional bail at the High Court in London after his supporters pay 240,000 in cash and sureties. 2011 February: A British judge rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden but Wikileaks found vows to fight the decision. April: A cache of classified U.S. military documents is released by Wikileaks, including intelligence assessments on nearly all of the 779 people who are detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. November: Assange loses High Court appeal against the decision to extradite him. 2012 June: Assange enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London requesting political asylum. August: Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador. 2013 June: Assange tells a group of journalists he will not leave the embassy even if sex charges against him are dropped out of fear he will be extradited to the U.S. 2015 August: Swedish prosecutors drop investigation into some of the sex allegations against Assange due to time restrictions. The investigation into suspected rape remains active. 2016 July: Wikileaks begins leaking emails U.S. Democratic Party officials favoring Hillary Clinton. November: Assange is questioned over the sex allegation at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the presence of Sweden's assistant prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and police inspector Cecilia Redell. The interview spans two days. 2017 January: Barack Obama agrees to free whistleblower Chelsea Manning from prison. Her pending release prompts speculation Assange will end his self-imposed exile after Wikileaks tweeted he would agree to U.S. extradition. April: Lenin Moreno becomes the new president of Ecuador who was known to want to improve diplomatic relations between his country and the U.S. May: An investigation into a sex allegation against Assange is suddenly dropped by Swedish prosecutors. 2018 January: Ecuador confirms it has granted citizenship to Assange following his request. February: Assange is visited by Pamela Anderson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. March: The Ecuadorian Embassy suspends Assange's internet access because he wasn't complying with a promise he made the previous year to 'not send messages which entailed interference in relation to other states'. August: U.S. Senate committee asks to interview Assange as part of their investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. September: Assange steps down as editor of WikiLeaks. October: Assange reveals he will launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his 'fundamental rights and freedoms'. November: U.S. Justice Department inadvertently names Assange in a court document that says he has been charged in secret. 2019 January: Assange's lawyers say they are taking action to make President Trump's administration reveal charges 'secretly filed' against him. April 6: WikiLeaks tweets that a high level Ecuadorian source has told them Assange will be expelled from the embassy within 'hours or days'. But a senior Ecuadorian official says no decision has been made to remove him from the London building. April 11: Assange has his diplomatic asylum revoked by Ecuador and he is arrested by the Metropolitan Police; he is remanded in custody by a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court. April 12: He is found guilty of breaching his bail terms. May 1: Sentenced to 11 months in jail. May 2: Court hearing takes place over Assange's proposed extradition to the U.S. He tells a court he does not consent to the extradition and the case is adjourned until May 30. May 13: Swedish prosecutors reopen rape case saying they still want to question Assange. June 3: Swedish court rules against detaining him in absentia, setting back the extradition case. June 12 Home Secretary Sajid Javid signs an extradition request from the US. June 13 A hearing sets out the date for Assange's full extradition hearing - February next year. November Swedish prosecutors stop investigation into an allegation of rape against Mr Assange November 25 - Medics say without correct medical care Assange 'could die' in Belmarsh December 13 - Hearing in London hears he is being blocked from seeing key evidence in case December 19 - Appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court via video-link where his lawyer claims US bid to extradite him is 'political'. 2020 June: Assange failed to appear via video link for his most recent court matter in London's Westminster Magistrates' Court PC Graham Smith has impressed the internet with his beard labelled 'magnificent' A bearded police officer has denied he is Britain's newest hipster cop after his 'magnificent' beard was spotted on the internet. PC Graham Smith's seven-inch red beard has been turning heads on his patch in Stroud, Gloucestershire - and impressed the internet. The Gloucester-based PC could have been set to take the 'Britain's most hipster cop' title, but he revealed he has no other 'hip' attributes. PC Smith has been a police constable for 18 months, but worked for the police in other roles since 2011. The 29-year-old grew his beard after being inspired by family in Scotland. He said: 'I was visiting family in Scotland a few years ago and they all had beards. I grew it long like this, then cut it off when I went through the application process to be a police constable, and now I've grown it long again. 'One side of my family are from the Orkney islands and most of them seem to have beards in one variety or another. 'I don't consider myself to be Britain's newest hipster cop I'm not a hipster. I'm not a big fan of falafel or avocado, I've never drank a sweet chai latte and I have very few flannel shirts in my wardrobe - but I accept that the beard could be considered an hipster attribute. 'Oh and I don't use a typewriter, ride skateboards or wear organic vintage clothes. I'm a local neighbourhood police officer with a big bushy beard.' In 2015 Peter Swinger was given the Hipster Cop mantle after images of him appeared during a protest march in London. Ex-soldier Peter was snapped looking suave with a curly moustache at the EDL rally. PC Smith impressed social media users when he revealed his seven-inch long facial hair on Twitter The officer's beard was labelled 'magnificent' by a Twitter user who spotted his drug-bust scene selfie Graham, who is an officer for the Stroud Urban beat, was spotted on social media after seizing cannabis from people in a local park on Tuesday. Social media users called his beard 'magnificent' after spotting his selfie. In 2015 police in Gloucester made the headlines over proposed uniform changes which reportedly included beard nets. What are the rules for police with beards? The rules on police officers having beards varies from force to force in accordance with their own uniform policy. However, officers' health and safety must be considered, according to the Police Federation, since they could have their facial hair tugged or held during an arrest. Guidance for recruits from the Royal College of Policing states facial hair is allowed but should be 'neat and tidy'. Stubble is 'unacceptable unless you are growing a beard or moustache' and officers should not 'dye it in conspicuously unnatural colours'. In 2015 Gloucestershire Constabulary became the first force to propose an outright beard ban to improve the look of officers on the beat. The force said police would need to trim or cover their facial hair. The rules do not apply where there is a genuine medical reason not to shave. Advertisement The regulations included crackdowns on visible tattoos, fake tan and heavy bronzer. The officers won support from the public who said they are fine with facial hair. Olivia Trump wrote on Twitter at the time: 'I live in Gloucester & I'd rather police have beards & tats than be fat & unable to chase criminals. Sort out your priorities!' Police Federation chairman Steve White said in 2015: 'Police officers have got to look smart when they are on duty but there is a big difference between a trimmed goatee and a full length ZZ Top beard. People just need to be sensible. 'But a beard net? There are many much more important things that need to be discussed.' A 'distressed' Florida university student who police say purchased high-powered rifles and an expensive car has been deported. Wenliang Sun, 26, was in federal custody for about three months before he was deported to China on Tuesday, The Orlando Sentinel reported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Tammy Spicer said Sun is prohibited from returning to the United States for at least 10 years. University of Central Florida police began investigating Sun after he made 'unusual statements' to a counselor last year. The student bought a $68,000 Chevy Corvette in September, dyed his hair blonde and gained weight, the Washington Post reported. In late January, Sun bought a high-powered rifle, and just days after police spoke with him about the purchase, he went and bought another. Wenliang Sun, 26, has been deported to China after displaying 'crisis' behavior and purchasing two high powered rifles. In the lead up to his arrest, he also dyed his hair blonde and gained weight (pictured February 2017 left, after his arrest in March 2018 right) Sun also bought a $68,000 Chevy Corvette months before he began to purchase guns. Campus police chief Richard Beary says Sun did not pick up his guns in this car because he did not want the weapons associated with it Sun also purchased a few hundred rounds of ammunition, and police say he had rarely left his room. His roommate, friends and university employees all shared their concerns about Sun's behavior with campus police, who said his actions were 'very indicative of an individual who's in crisis'. Sun purchased the guns legally, because he had a hunting license, but campus police chief Richard Beary said his Facebook profile picture had the slogan: 'shoot selfies, not animals', which indicated he may not have intended to hunt animals with the weapons. In an interview with police, Sun said he never intended to hurt himself or anyone else, and the student never made any specific threats. Sun was able to buy the guns because he had a hunting license, but Beary said his license did not correlate with the student's PETA-supporting profile picutre But Beary said Sun's behavior was consistent with the way people act in the lead up to mass shootings. 'In my mind, something very bad was going to happen somewhere in central Florida,' Beary told reporters in April. 'Again, he bought a very expensive, very fast car. Why? Why would you do that?' When he picked up the firearms, he didn't drive that car. Why? He didn't want people associating him and that car. So I think there was a disaster about to happen, and we stopped it,' he said. A judge revoked Sun's visa in February when officials learned he wasn't attending class, which is a requirement of the visa. At this point, his hunting license became void and therefore his rifles became illegal. Beary believed Sun's behaviour was consistent with that of a mass shooter These are the terrifying last moments of a tourist who went missing in Bulgaria after sprinting from an airport building and vanishing into a nearby forest. German Lars Mittank, 28, has been missing since he disappeared outside Varna airport in Bulgaria back in July 2014. Remarkable CCTV footage of Mittank's last sighting shows the holidaymaker casually walking through the airport - before suddenly starting to sprint. He is caught on camera desperately trying to flee from something and makes his way out through the terminal building and into the car park. Mittank can be seen getting further and further away from the terminal and eventually leaps a barrier into the forest beyond. Footage taken from a CCTV camera in Varna Airport shows Mittank strolling through the terminal with his bags But he soon becomes spooked by something and drops his bags containing his passport and runs out of the building He has not been seen again since then and left behind a rucksack and suitcase containing his wallet, passport and phone in his haste. Police have been left completely baffled by his disappearance and members of the YouTube and Reddit community have weighed in to try and solve the mystery - but to no avail. Mittank is now described as the 'Most famous missing person on YouTube' after the video of his disappearance has been watched more than 16 million times. His Bulgarian holiday had been relatively uneventful until a few days before he was due to leave. He had flown with friends to the seaside resort of Golden Sands - but near the end of their trip was injured in a fight in McDonald's, leaving him with a perforated eardrum and possible concussion. After going to a local doctor, he was given a course of antibiotics called Cefuroxime 500 and forced to stay behind when his friends flew home because the air pressure changes on board the plane would have hurt his ear. He can be seen sprinting at full speed as though he is trying to escape someone chasing him Mittank had been on holiday with a group of German friends in a seaside resort in Bulgaria Having waved off his friends at Varna Airport, he checked into a nearby hotel - where things started to unravel for the tourist. Lars made a terrifying, panicked phone call to his mum from his hotel room ordering her to cancel his bank cards and suggested he was being followed by people trying to kill him. Sandra Mittank told German TV: 'I thought, god, my son is in danger. I could hear his heart pounding over the phone. He said people were trying to rob him or kill him.' He also sent his mum a text asking about the antibiotics he had been prescribed. CCTV reportedly showed him pacing up and down the hotel foyer, looking out the windows and hiding in a lift. It is believed Lars left the hotel at 1am before returning. It is not known where he went in the meantime. The next morning, his mum's fears were eased when he texted her to say he had made it to the airport terminal. He started acting strangely after being punched in a McDonald's brawl and perforating and eardrum - an incident which left him needing antibiotics Mittank was separated from friends after being banned from flying because of his ear and stayed behind alone Lars needed the all-clear to fly from an airport doctor, who reportedly described him as 'nervous and erratic', as well as mistrustful of the medicine he had been prescribed. The medic, Dr Kosta Kostov, has been quoted saying Lars began to tremble when a construction worker entered the room and cried: 'I don't want to die here. I have to get out of here.' At this point Lars reportedly leapt to his feet and fled the airport. Police turned up no concrete leads and a private investigator hired by his family failed to find any trace of Lars. It has never been established what triggered his paranoia - drugs, a reaction to his medication, a head injury from the fight, an undiagnosed mental health condition or a genuine threat from unknown attackers. One ray of hope for Lars' family came in December 2016 when police in Brazil tweeted a photo of a bearded, scruffily dressed man they found wandering barefoot along a highway. But he was later identified as a missing Canadian aid worker. His fate is unknown. Dark conspiracy theories circulate online about what became of Lars in Bulgaria - a country with high levels of human trafficking and organised crime. China sent some of its most powerful fighter jets and other military aircraft near Taiwan Friday in the latest of a series of drills which Beijing has said are aimed at the island's 'independence forces'. Taiwan's defence ministry said multiple H-6K bombers, reconnaissance planes and transport aircraft flew over the Bashi Channel, south of Taiwan, and over the Miyako Strait, near Japan's Okinawa Island, in a drill Friday morning. It was the first time that China's missile-capable and supersonic Su-35 fighters were sent over the Bashi Channel, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV. This photo taken and released on May 11 by Taiwan's Defence Ministry shows a Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighter (left) monitoring a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force H-6K bomber Taiwan's defence ministry assured the public in a statement that it was able to fully monitor Chinese naval and air drills and 'take effective responsive measures to ensure defence security'. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV today released a 49-second of the drill through its social media account. The Chinese defence ministry confirmed in a statement Friday that it was the first time Su-35s flew over the Bashi Channel, hailing it as a 'new breakthrough, highlighting the new enhancements to the Air Force's combat capability'. China's J-11 fighters and early warning aircraft also took part in the drill. It was the first time that China's supersonic Su-35 fighters (file photo) were sent over the Bashi China's H-6K bombers have taken part in several drills over the Taiwan island in the past China's fighter jets flew over two strategic channels, the Bashi Channel and the Miyako Strait The highlight of the drill SU-35 is fitted with a 30mm cannon for air-to-air dog fighting as well as the capability of carrying rockets, missiles and bombs. Several cameras have been fitted to the aircraft in the video as it performs a range of high-energy manoeuvres. China bought 24 Sukhoi SU-35s from Russia in a 1.47 billion ($2 billion) landmark deal in 2015, reported Reuters. The Kremlin has delivered more than half of the order to Beijing by December, according to Chinese news site Sina.com. Russia claims the aircraft is better than the west's fourth-generation aircraft, such as the US F-16 and French Rafaele and even the RAF's Typhoon interceptor. In this April 18, 2018, photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese armed helicopter assaults targets with rocket projectiles in a live-fire exercise off China's coast China sees democratically governed Taiwan - which has never formally declared independence from the mainland - as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold, and has not ruled out reunification by force. Beijing has stepped up military patrols around Taiwan and used diplomatic pressure to isolate it internationally since President Tsai Ing-wen, of the traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, took office in 2016. Last month, China's air force said the series of operations were meant to 'strengthen its capacity to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity'. Defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a monthly press conference that they were 'directed against Taiwan independence forces and activities in the island'. Taiwan has accused Beijing of 'sabre rattling' and trying to stoke regional tensions with its recent spate of drills. Taipei has announced that it will practise thwarting a Chinese 'invasion' in annual live fire drills in June by simulating surprise coastal assaults. Starbucks has announced it is changing its bathroom policy after two videos went viral igniting a racial firestorm. In the first incident last month, Donte Robinson and his longtime friend Rashon Nelson were arrested while sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks. The two men, who did not purchase anything, were waiting for a potential business partner to discuss real estate development. One of the men was denied use of the bathroom while he waited. Minutes after sitting down at the coffee shop, the manager called the police and had Robinson and Nelson arrested. Donte Robinson (left) and Rashon Nelson (right) were waiting for a potential business partner when the store's manager called police and they were arrested Nelson (left) and his friend Robinson (right) reached a settlement with Starbucks for an undisclosed amount earlier this month Their arrests sparked major backlash for the company. The company's CEO flew to Philadelphia to personally apologize to the two men Shortly after video of their arrests went viral, a black man in California posted a video on Facebook claiming he was denied use of the bathroom at a Starbucks in Torrance while a white man was allowed to use it. At the Atlantic Council in Washington on Thursday Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz announced that Starbucks was changing its bathroom policy and would allow people to use its restrooms even if they don't buy anything. He said he doesn't want the company to become a public restroom, but feels employees can make the 'right decision a hundred per cent of the time,' if that choice is removed at the store level. Schultz said the coffee shop previously had a 'loose policy' that only paying customers could use the bathrooms, but that it was up to each store manager to decide. The arrests of Nelson and Robinson, both 23, on April 12 were a major embarrassment for Starbucks and prompted CEO Kevin Johnson to fly to Philadelphia to personally apologize to both men. The manager who called the cops was also fired. Earlier this month, Nelson and Robinson settled with Starbucks for an undisclosed sum and an offer of a free college education. Separately, they reached a deal with Philadelphia for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from city officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz announced Thursday that in the wake of the videos the company was adopting an open-bathroom policy Brandon Ward, 26, said he was denied use of a bathroom in California because he did not make a purchase, but a white man who also did not buy anything was allowed to use the restroom The second incident, involving a man named Brandon Ward happened on January 23, but video of it wasn't posted online until last month. In the footage, the 26-year-old man politely asks another man identified as Weston if he had purchased anything before he used the bathroom. When Weston, a white man, said he not yet bought anything, Ward went up to the manager to ask why he was not allowed to use the bathroom. Ward claimed that he had asked the manager if he could use the restroom before he made a purchase, the same thing Weston had done. 'Is it my skin color?' Ward asked the manager. 'Is it my skin color?' 'This is a private business,' the manager responded, telling him to put the camera away. 'You are actually not allowed to be in here anymore. You need to leave.' A security guard quickly approached to deescalate the situation. Ward said the police arrived after he had already left the store. Starbucks said in a statement following that incident stating it was taking the incident 'seriously'. '(We) are working closely with the team to learn from our mistakes,' a spokeswoman said. 'We are fully investigating our store practices and guidelines across the company. In addition to our own review we will work with outside experts and community leaders to understand and adopt best practices, including unconscious bias training.' Starbucks plans to shut down more than 8,000 of its U.S. stores on the afternoon of May 29 to instruct 175,000 employees how to better recognize unconscious bias. Donald Trump Jr. is a man on a mission and believes he can be the one-man wrecking ball that demolishes Democrats' chances for a 'blue wave' in November. 'Hunting season starts early for Don Jr. this year,' a Trump confidant with knowledge of his summer and autumn plans told DailyMail.com. The outdoorsy metaphor is no accident: The president's eldest son is a noted hunter whose big-game exploits have drawn slings and arrows from Democratic partisans and animal rights activists. Business-wise, Don Jr. has been sometimes stuck in neutral since last year's Inauguration Day when the Trump Organization, the family real estate business, began enforcing an ethics-related prohibition on new business deals overseas. The resulting quiet time has given Don Jr. a chance to muse about the role he wants to play in the November midterms. Donald Trump Jr. is preparing to campaign hard for Republicans facing tough tests in this year's congressional primary elections; he's pictured on stage last week at the National Rifle Association convention with the organization's CEO Wayne LaPierre 'Hunting season starts early for Don Jr. this year,' a close confidant told DailyMail.com; the president's son is pictured on a pheasant hunt last year with uber-conservative congressman Steve King He is also craving a distraction from a pending divorce from his wife Vanessa, according to a second source close to the Trump family. Don Jr.'s first campaign weigh-in this year is expected to be in West Virginia, where he will stump and raise money for U.S. Senate hopeful Patrick Morrisey. Morrisey prevailed in a nasty Republican primary this week that included convicted criminal Don Blankenship, whose comments about 'Chinapeople' drove voters to abandon him. Blankenship gave the GOP flashbacks to Roy Moore's embarrassing finish in last year's Alabama special election. He aims to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Five days before the primary, Don Jr. jumped in on Twitter. 'I hate to lose. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask the people of West Virginia to make a wise decision and reject Blankenship! No more fumbles like Alabama. We need to win in November,' he wrote. Don Jr. helped torpedo U.S. Senate primary candidate Don Blankenship in West Virginia this week, tweeting furiously that the man who insulted 'Chinapeople' couldn't possibly beat incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin The president's eldest son will argue on the campaign trail that fewer Republicans in Congress will translate to a rollback of the administration's economic achievements including tax cuts Blankenship spent a year in prison for flouting mine safety standards, following an explosion that killed more than two dozen workers. He responded to Don Jr.'s intervention, and a similar Twitter thumbs-down from the president himself, by venting that he was under attack by 'the establishment.' 'Ha, now Im establishment?' Don Jr. replied in a tweet. 'No, Im realistic & I know the first thing Manchin will do is run ads featuring the families of those 29 miners killed due to actions that sent you to prison.' Forward motion on the president's policy goals could grind to a halt if Democrats take over either house of Congress or both in November 'Cant win the general... you should know that & if others in the GOP wont say it, I will.' Blankenship ultimately faded, giving the GOP a heartburn cure. He finished third in a three-man race on Tuesday. It's unclear how many campaign speeches he'll give, but Don Jr. is committed enough to aiding endangered Republicans to hire his own private political strategist. Andy Surabian ran the Trump presidential campaign's 'war room' and moved on to the White House as an aide to then-presidential counselor Steve Bannon. The Axios news website reported Thursday that the pair parted ways after Bannon helped secure West Wing access for author Michael Wolff, whose 'Fire & Fury' book directly attacked Don Jr. Surabian has emerged as a solid match for his new client, throwing elbows at Don Jr.'s naysayers and defending him to reporters. 'Anybody bashing Don Jr. is jealous of him,' he told Politico in February. 'And theyre jealous of him because he has become a cultural phenomenon on the right.' Don Jr. campaigned last year for then-candidate Greg Gianforte, a Republican who overcame nationwide scandal and won a seat in Congress despite physically assaulting a reporter His political engagement this year will give him a break from the stress of a pending divorce from Vanessa, his wife of a dozen years The presidential progeny's goal on the campaign trail will be to leverage his father's policies, particularly the December tax-cut, to argue against a list of accomplishments that a Democrat-controlled Congress might roll back. 'There are few people who have as powerful a connection with the conservative base as Don does,' the first Trump insider said Thursday. He showed that last year campaigning for Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte, who won his Capitol Hill seat despite devastating publicity that temporarily swamped him after he physically assaulted a journalist. The pair barnstormed the state campaigning, raising cash and hunting prairie dogs with the pol, who is reportedly a crack shot. The PETA-like Humane Society of the United States was not amused, but Gianforte told the Associated Press at the time that 'clearly they've never shot a prairie dog. They dont know how much fun it is.' The original version of this article referred to Don Blankenship as a convicted felon. In fact, Mr. Blankenship was convicted of a misdemeanor. The article has been amended accordingly. A Philadelphia man locked up for three years based on a police officer's false testimony has been awarded $10 million. The jury's verdict Thursday was handed down in the case of Khanefah Boozer, 33, who languished in jail on $500,000 bail while he awaited trial for allegedly firing a gun at Officer Ryan Waltman in 2011. The Philadelphia native was with with friends in January 2011 on Abbotsford Road in Germantown. Khanefah Boozer, 33, (left) was locked up for more than three years based on a Ryan Waltman's (right) false testimony and has now been awarded $10 million Boozer said a friend took out a gun and fired a shot into the air. Waltman, who was a nearby police officer, named Boozer as the shooter and arrested him, claiming Boozer pointed a gun at him. When Boozer finally went to trial in 2014, another man testified that he, not Boozer, fired the gun in the air, not at the officer. In Boozer's suit, he says he told police that very detail on the night of his arrest, but it was never investigated. Boozer said a friend took out a gun and fired a shot into the air. Waltman, who was a nearby police officer, named Boozer as the shooter and arrested him, claiming Boozer pointed a gun at him Robert Levant, who represents Khanefah Boozer, said Thursday. 'I really believe that this jury verdict is about the facts in this case because they were so egregious but I think its important that the conscience of our city and our nation is thinking about these matters,' CBS reported. Officer Waltman, who remains on the force, was represented by a city solicitor 'Social media does help to share the message when these things do happen. Though, I wouldnt connect it to Starbucks but I would certainly say that in a positive way people are conscious of the potential problems that exist in the criminal justice system if cases are not handled properly.' Boozer said 'Some points Im happy. Some points Im nervous. Im just happy that its all over.' 'In times of grief when I sat there in my cell and cried and prayed to God that I wanted to die it always was my family who wrote me letters and was basically my support,' he continued. When Boozer, whose mother and sister passed away while he was in jail, was released from prison in 2014 he initially sued Officer Waltman for his false testimony. Officer Waltman, who remains on the force, was represented by a city solicitor. Ultimately a jury decided to pay Boozer $10 million for being wrongfully accused and imprisoned. Lawyers for the city say Waltman made an honest mistake. The city says it may appeal. An 83-year old businessman has been jailed for failing to co-operate with his former air hostess ex-wife in their bitter 9.4million divorce. Self-made property tycoon, John Hart, was ordered to pay 62-year-old former flight attendant Karen Hart 3.5m by a divorce judge three years ago. The businessman kept 5.9m of the marital pot, but was told to hand the keys to his thriving property business, worth 1.6m, to his ex. But his attempts to thwart her effectively taking over the business have now earned Mr Hart, who is being monitored for prostate cancer, a 14-month jail term. Mr Hart was handed a jail sentence in March, but judges allowed him to stay on bail while the unusual case could be appealed. That appeal was rejected at London's Royal Courts of Justice today, meaning Hart will now be taken into custody. Millionaire property developer John Hart, 83, has been jailed for failing to comply with the terms of his 9million divorce following a bitter and long-running court battle with his ex-wife Lord Justice Moylan told the Court of Appeal he had shown no remorse and had to be punished for his defiance of court orders. Mr Hart has been battling his ex-wife over money since 2011 and well over 500,000 has been lavished on lawyers' bills, the court heard. The once 'upbeat, proud and canny' businessman had been reduced to an 'isolated and sad' shadow of his former self, unable to enjoy the years left to him. As part of his ex-wife's award, Mr Hart was ordered to transfer to her his 100% shareholding in Drakestown Properties Ltd, which owns two industrial estates. Former air hostess Karen Hart, 62, was given control of a company as part of the divorce, but her ex-husband refused to give her access to the firm and then took key files But, in order to winkle her ex-husband out of the company's office, Mrs Hart had to get a court possession order in November 2015. By the time he left, however, the office had been 'stripped' of almost all the records and documents she needed to effectively run the business. Mr Hart was ordered to hand over the documents, but faced Judge Stephen Wildblood in March this year after failing to fully comply. The judge said he had 'persistently' failed to co-operate and was 'motivated by a wish to demonstrate his resentment against Mrs Hart.' Finding him in contempt of court, the judge said he had 'sought to deliberately obstruct' his ex-wife's attempts to run the company efficiently. Although the pensioner was of blameless character and had 'contributed to society', even his ill health was not enough to keep him out of jail. He had shown 'no remorse at all' and, by failing to cooperate with his ex, had thrown away 'some of the money which he holds so dear', the judge said. He was jailed despite his barrister, Grant Armstrong, protesting that he had done nothing wrong and had been jailed on an 'unclear and questionable' basis. He had in fact handed over a great many documents and Judge Wildblood's approach to the case had been 'fundamentally flawed', his lawyer argued. But, dismissing his appeal today, Lord Justice Moylan said he had been 'required to deliver up documents, which he had no right to retain.' The 1.1m former matrimonial home of Mr and Mrs Hart near Sutton Coldfield (pictured) - they also spent time in villas in Spain and the US His ex-wife, as sole shareholder and director of the company, was demanding no more than she was entitled to. Lord Justice Moylan, sitting with Lord Justice Kitchen and and Lady Justice Asplin, said jail would have 'a marked effect' on such an elderly and sick man. But, upholding the sentence, he said Mr Hart simply 'does not appear to recognise the seriousness of what he has done'. Mr and Mrs Hart wed in 1987, when she was 34 and he was 55, and had two children together. They enjoyed a 'lavish lifestyle', with holiday homes in Miami and Spain, before separating after more than 20 years of marriage. They lived in a 1.1m five-bedroom gated residence in Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, boasting a gym, home cinema room, and garaging for five cars. Jamie Simmons (pictured), 37, stabbed Samir Draganovic, 23, at least 40 times after chasing him down the platform at Knockholt station in Kent, on 5 November last year A criminal who butchered a commuter in an unprovoked machete attack at a train station has been jailed for at least 26 years. Jamie Simmons, 37, stabbed Samir Draganovic, 23, at least 40 times after chasing him down the platform at Knockholt station in Kent, on 5 November last year. Chilling CCTV footage showed Mr Draganovic desperately looking over his shoulder as he was pursued by Simmons before both men disappeared over the far end. His remains were only discovered when a passing train driver spotted them later that night. Police initially thought he had been hit by a train, with the circumstances of his death only coming to light later. Simmons pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibly, claiming he had no memory of the killing. But a jury at the Inner London Crown Court took just an hour and a half to convict him of murder following a three-week trial. Mr Draganovic, an employed of design firm Stone Interiors, was born in the UK to Bosnian parents. He was described as 'one in a million' by friends and family in the aftermath of his death. Judge Usha Karu today jailed Simmons for life with a minimum term of 26 years over the 'terrifying' attack. She told him: 'On the evening of 5 November 2017, between 9.22pm and 9.29pm, you stabbed Samir Draganovic in a frenzied attack with a machete. 'He was pursued by you from outside Knockholt Railway Station, in Kent, onto a platform and down to the far end where, in a desperate attempt to get away from you he went down the platform and ended up on the railway tracks. 'You didn't stop, and you must have caught up with him because his body was found later in the area between two sets of tracks.' CCTV footage showed Samir Draganovic (pictured) desperately looking over his shoulder as he was pursued by Simmons before both men disappeared over the far end Crime scene: Knockholt Station in Kent was sealed off after the victim's remains were found The court heard Mr Draganovic suffered more than 40 knife wounds all over his body, including a number of deep ones to his chest that would have only seen him survive for a further three minutes. Despite those devastating wounds, cuts to his hands showed the younger man put up a frantic fight for his life. 'Samir Draganovic must have been all too aware of what you were doing as he attempted, unsuccessfully, to fend you off,' Judge Karu told Simmons. 'He must have been terrified as you persisted despite his attempts to defend himself.' She added: 'There is no explanation for this attack. Samir Draganovic and you did not know each other. It was wholly unprovoked.' The victim's family spoke of their heartache in statements provided to the court. Mr Draganovic's parents described feeling 'broken' and 'housebound with grief' at the loss of their youngest child as he travelled back to London having visited a friend. His sister told the court she was 'beyond devastated', as was his other brother. A jury at the Inner London Crown Court took just an hour and a half to convict Simmons of murder following a three-week trial. Crime scene at Knockholt pictured Simmons' relatives told the court during his trial he had been drinking that evening. He also confided in medical staff that he regularly used crack cocaine, heroin and spice. The court heard Simmons had 48 convictions for 90 offences. In 2006 he was convicted of robbing a train passenger and was convicted of having a knife later that month. Two similar offences followed in September 2012 and May 2013 when he threatened shop staff with blades after challenging him. When CCTV footage was reviewed after the murder it was revealed Simmons had previously turned up at the station armed with a knife. On 21 October, Simmons was spotted by a train driver standing on the tracks before casually walking away while he was separately seen wandering around the station for about an hour on the same day with a similar blade to that used to kill Mr Draganovic. Three days later a commuter securing his bicycle noticed Simmons dropping another knife as he sidled past him. The Retail Retreat Continues Vogel's has closed, and the Bead Gallery and Aunt Agatha's will soon follow. by Sabine Bickford From the May, 2018 issue In April, Robin and Jamie Agnew announced that they would be closing Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookshop in August after twenty-six years. The couple cite a variety of reasons for the closing, but when first asked why, Robin immediately gestures to the construction crane parked across the street from their Fourth Ave. storefront (see Bandito's, below). "I don't think it's going away anytime soon," she says. The Agnews say their spot between Washington and Liberty has always been a dead zone compared to Main St., and the Montgomery Houze condo project spilling out onto the street has only made matters worse. "Brick-and-mortar, and used bookstores in general, a lot of them are closed across the country," says Jamie. Online retailers like Amazon are making it tough for booksellers everywhere, and "it doesn't help to have competition across the street," says Robin, referencing Literati at Fourth and Washington. Add declining interest in mystery novels, and the one-two punch of a long winter with sparse parking for their older customers, and the Agnews felt the store wasn't sustainable anymore. Both, however, will remain active in the book world: Robin is starting a blog where she'll review mystery novels by women, and Jamie plans to sell their remaining inventory on their website. The Aunt Agatha's book club will continue to meet regularly, and the Agnews will still put together occasional author visits and other events at the downtown library. Still, there's no denying the sense of loss. "There have been tears," says Jamie. For those who visited weekly, and those like the elderly woman who, Jamie says, would save her Social Security money to come in twice a year, an online presence won't be the same. The couple will be lowering prices through August, and a closing event with author William Kent Krueger is set for August 26. "We really appreciate the people that shopped here," says Robin. "We've made some really good friends." Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookshop, 769-1114. 213 S. Fourth. Open through ...continued below... August 26; Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. auntagathas.com ---A year and a half after Steve Gilzow's painting ofappeared on the cover of our November 2016 issue, Robert and Denise Vogel have closed their 105-year-old shop on Washington St. In late March, the couple put a sign on their door (still framed by windows full of old keys) announcing the closure and their plans to partner with Pinckney-based Howlett Lock and Door "to service our current customers locksmith needs.""I think people were a little shocked," says Robert Vogel, reached by phone on vacation in Florida. But he thinks customers will be happy with their successors. "They're a good company," he says of Howlett.Robert's great-grandfather, German immigrant Gus Vogel Sr., opened what was originally a machine repair shop. When Gus Vogel III took it over, he reinvented it as a bicycle and sporting goods store.David Vogel (Gus III's son, Robert's uncle, and current owner of the building) told us when we spoke to him last summer that the changeover to locks and safes happened naturally as Ann Arbor became less safe in the 1960s, and people started needing to lock their bikes and homes. Eventually, there was so much demand for locks that the family decided to drop the other products.When asked if there was ever a possibility of a fifth generation at the store, Robert laughs. "We tried," he says, but his uncle never had any kids, and his own children had other plans. He also cites growing issues with the city as a reason for the couple's retirement."In my opinion, the city's making it very, very hard to be a small business and not a restaurant or bar," he says. "There's too many delivery trucks, there's too many fees. I had to pay for a dumpster fee ... I had to pay for sidewalk shoveling, which we should do ourselves, and the alley is just brutal."Though retired from locksmithing, Robert's keeping his position as chief of the South Lyon fire department. He says he isn't sure what will happen with the building, but that selling is a likely option. "The real estate market is still pretty good in downtown Ann Arbor." (At least if you're the one selling.)---In yet another closing of an Ann Arbor fixture, the thirty-two-year-oldhas announced its imminent departure. Connected boutiquewhich shares the old house on E. Liberty, will close along with its parent shop."Retail in downtown Ann Arbor is not what it used to be," says owner Julie VanDyke. "It's not the same ballgame anymore." Along with parking issues and declining public interest in crafting, she says a long commute, and her mother's recent health issues contributed to her decision.As of mid-April, VanDyke had not yet announced an official closing date, but she says she will be selling discounted products, fixtures, and merchandising displays until the majority has been sold off. "I'd like to be done by May," she says.The Bead Gallery will maintain an online Etsy store with a selection of both jewelry and jewelry-making supplies. Staff member Becky Foster will also continue to teach local beading classes at a location "to be announced."[Originally published in May, 2018.] A policeman allegedly offered to drive a sexual assault victim home but instead took her to a motel and raped her. John Nissen, 42, was charged with official misconduct, tampering with a witness and theft by deception over the incident on September 21 last year. Why the veteran officer was not charged with rape was unclear but prosecutors said that was what the woman alleged. Hillview police officer John Nissen pictured in 2015 when he made news for very different reasons - consoling a woman who just found out her sister died Bullitt County commonwealth attorney Shelly Alvey said the victim gave an interview at the Hillview, Kentucky, police station about the initial rape. 'Nissen agreed to take her home, and... when he left the police department, he actually drove her to the home of the alleged perpetrator,' she told WLKY. He and another officer then took her to a Walmart and pooled their cash to buy her a phone before Nissen took her to the hotel in nearby Brooks. Nissen paid for the room before allegedly demanding oral sex from the woman and then raping her, Ms Alvey said. Afterwards the officer is accused of suggesting she should move to a different jurisdiction and not pursue her rape case. Ms Alvey said the evidence suggested the victim was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident. Numerous cases may now have to be reviewed because Nissen was the lead investigator. 'They are very serious cases, and they have very real victims. It is very unfortunate that this case has to be indicted because that directly impacts those cases, Alvey said. Nissen's own department became suspicious of his actions when reading the incident report and handed it over to the Kentucky State Police to investigate. A grand jury then indicted Nissen last week and he was suspended from duty while the case played out in court. The witness tampering charge came from him telling the victim to move, and the theft charge from using his badge to take something, but it wasn't clear what. Barbie Henderson became so distressed she couldn't operate her car safely and so pulled over and called 911. Nissen then arrived and consoled her and was praised by her sister Each crime is punishable by up to five years jail and up to $10,000 in fines, and official carries up to 90 days jail. Nissen last made the news in July 2015 for very different reasons after his kindness to a woman who found out her sister was dead. Barbie Henderson became so distressed she couldn't operate her car safely and so pulled over and called 911. Nissen then arrived and consoled her. 'Officer Nissen was more than an officer yesterday. He was a person with a heart to understand this was a lady who just lost her sister and heard the news over the phone,' her sister wrote at the time. 'From there on he took care of my sister. As she cried, he listen to her and wiped away her tears. He made sure she drank water as it was extremely hot outside, and he spoke to the family on the phone each time we called until my arrival. 'When I arrived he wasn't standing on the side of the car. He was seated right next to her just as we would've been while she was grieving. What an awesome guy!!!!' Nissen told People magazine of the incident: 'I wanted her treated the way I would want my family to be treated if they needed help.' Donald Trump's face will feature on an Israeli coin marking the 70th anniversary of the country's independence. It depicts the US President alongside the biblical King Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem 2,500 years ago. The coin, which cannot be used as currency, is also a token of gratitude for Mr Trump's decision to move the US embassy from to Jerusalem, KOBI reported. The celebratory coin has Donald Trump's face alongside the biblical King Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem 2,500 years ago 'President Trump is starting a prophetic process by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem,' claimed a representative from the company producing the coins Nonprofit organisation The Mikdash Educational Center has made 1,000 of the half-shekel celebratory coins. The standard version, made from pewter and plated with silver, will be sold for 36. There is also a limited series of gold-plated coins which will sell for 52. Jewish men gather in Jerusalem's Old City to 'thank God' for the cancellation of the Iranian nuclear deal The city has billboards and posters praising US President Trump's decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem A play on Mr Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan, posters near the US consulate in Jerusalem read 'Trump Make Israel Great' 'President Trump is starting a prophetic process by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem,' Mikdash representative Rabbi Mordechai Persoff told KOBI. 'Just like King Cyrus 2,500 years ago said, "he charged me to build a house in Jerusalem", here again, President Trump is building a house in Jerusalem.' The seal of the United States government also features on the face of the coin, along with biblical verses written in in Hebrew. On the back is a dove, holding an olive branch in its beak, above a temple. Posters and billboards praising Donald Trump and his decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran have been put up in the streets of Jerusalem today. She rose to fame playing a lifeguard CJ Parker on Baywatch, and now Pamela Anderson is attempting to ride to the rescue of Julian Assange by asking Kanye West to help her set free the WikiLeaks founder. The former actress and model has written a letter to Kanye West, which was obtained by TMZ, in which she says she believes Assange is being tortured and that they are trying to kill him. I support him and I know you value Free Speech Visibility is good for him especially in America. Where they are trying to put him away for life or worse for exposing corruption in governments, Anderson wrote. Pamela Anderson has written a letter to Kanye West asking him to help her 'set free' Assange Hes been locked in a small room for almost 6 years in London at the Ecuadorian Embassy. And now he can have no visitors. No phone calls or internet. They are squeezing him. Julian Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over allegations of rape. Assange has denied these claims. Despite Sweden later dropping the case, the WikiLeaks founder could still be arrested in the UK for jumping bail. He also believes that if he leaves the premises of the Ecuadorian embassy, he will be extradited to the US to face questioning over his WikiLeaks organisation. On May 11, 2018, it was claimed by WikiLeaks that Ecuador has banned Assange from seeing visitors or taking phone calls. Anderson first met Assange through the designer Vivienne Westwood and started to see him at the embassy towards the end of 2016. Anderson told the Daily Mail earlier this year that the rape accusations against Assange were 'set-up'. In her letter, Anderson explained that she wanted more people to discuss Assanges situation: So I want to seek more voices and share more about his fight. Public support could set him free. Media is monopolized So some brave voices are the only Hope to break through. Anderson went on to say that she always supported Kanyes no filter, adding that you make an impact. And you make an impact. Im sure a lot of people feel like you They just are stuck in what society says is OK to say. She ends her letter by telling the Life of Pablo musician that he should let her know if he wants to know more about Assange or just look at his life and writing. In a postscript, Anderson thanks Kanyes wife, Kim Kardashian for going #furfree. Andersons plea to Kanye comes after a several controversial weeks for the rapper. Kanye West controversially tweeted his support for President Donald Trump back in April 2018 Kanye's return to Twitter was marked by messages showing his support for President Trump. During his appearance on TMZ Live at the beginning of May, West called slavery a choice and compared himself to the Underground Railroad hero, Harriet Tubman. Kanye also frequently took to Twitter to voice his opinions on free speech, posting messages such as Only free thinkers and truth is my goal. Controversy is my gym. Ill do a hundred reps of controversy for a 6 pack of truth. Phone scammers using a spoof number have fleeced money from Chinese students by telling them they will be deported if they don't pay large amounts of cash. Three victims in South Australia have paid $350,000 to scammers using a number appearing to belong to someone else. Police on Thursday received a report of a person claiming to be the Chinese Embassy in Canberra and threatening a potential victim with deportation. Phone scammers using a spoof number have threatened Chinese students they will be deported if they don't pay up (stock photo) This follows two incidents in March where students paid money to scammers after being targeted. South Australian police said similar scams involving social media and phone calls have been reported interstate. The 'spoofed' phone number is misleading the students to believe the phone number is from a China-based phone number or Government agency, according to the police. A Reddit user claimed 'almost all' of the Chinese community received a robo-call on Friday. He said 'millions' have been 'lost' to the scam' and believes most Chinese Australians received the call. Three victims in South Australia have paid $350,000 to scammers using a number appearing to belong to someone else 'Almost all if not all Chinese Australians received a robo-call today in mandarin advising that their visa was invalidated and they needed to pay up or they would be here illegally,' he said. 'My wife received the message and we thought it was weird as she is an Aussie citizen and doesn't need a visa. 'We have since discovered that every Chinese person we know of also received the call.' One person commented: 'Received the call and not even Chinese', while another said: 'I had some robo call from a private number and just hung up. Now I know what it was.' One person posted on Reddit that 'every Chinese person they know 'received the call' SA Police Major Fraud Investigation Section detective Andrew Bolingbroke said the scammers are allegedly 'deliberately targeting the Chinese community'. 'While scams can target a wide range of people, in this case the scammers appear to be deliberately targeting the Chinese community, he said in a statement. 'We will continue to disseminate information about scams to the community because we know that education is key in preventing scammers defrauding people. 'Our key advice to the whole community is that they should always get independent advice if an offer involves significant money, time or commitment and never send money or give credit card or online details to anyone they do not know and trust.' Special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe is not only witch hunt, as President Trump calls it, but it's also downright awkward, White House chief of staff John Kelly says. The probe which has already drawn guilty pleas from Trump associates and led to the indictment of his campaign chair and a raid on his personal lawyer also can lead to awkward small talk when Trump tries to sit down with a foreign leader. Kelly told NPR it's a particular issue when someone like Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to town. Netanyahu is facing his own corruption in investigation in Israel. 'It may not be a cloud but certainly the president is, you know, somewhat embarrassed, frankly,' Kelly told the public radio network. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said President Trump has been 'somewhat embarrassed' by the Russia probe 'When world leaders come in, it's kind of like you know Bibi Netanyahu is here and he who's under investigation himself and it's like, you know, you walk in and you know the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing.' Kelly didn't call it a 'witch hunt,' as President Donald Trump does repeatedly, but he did say that after months of investigation there's 'nothing there.' His comments followed Vice President Mike Pence urging the ongoing investigation come to an end. Kelly also kept up his tough line on immigration, even as he said people with temporary protected status who have been here for decades should get citizenship. HUDDLED: 'They're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society. They're overwhelmingly rural people,' said Kelly He said most immigrants were 'rural' with minimal education levels and 'don't integrate well,' digging up arguments that have been used against eastern European immigration in the 19th century and since then. 'Let me step back and tell you that the vast majority of the people that move illegally into United States are not bad people. They're not criminals. They're not MS13,' he said of the violent gang. 'They don't integrate well. They don't have skills. They're not bad people,' Kelly said of most illegal immigrants who come here The Boston-born kelly said the recent arrivals aren't people who would 'easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society' 'But they're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society. They're overwhelmingly rural people,' said the Boston-born Kelly. 'In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm. They don't speak English; obviously that's a big thing.' He continued: 'They don't integrate well. They don't have skills. They're not bad people. They're coming here for a reason. And I sympathize with the reason. But the laws are the laws. ... The big point is they elected to come illegally into the United States, and this is a technique that no one hopes will be used extensively or for very long.' AWKWARD: Kelly said the Russia probe made it uncomfortable during foreign leader visits, and mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is himself under investigation Kelly also justified his decision to serve as Trump's chief of staff, and said he wished he had joined the administration sooner. 'My view is to speak truth to power. I always give my opinion on everything. He always listens,' Kelly said. 'Sometimes he takes the opinion, sometimes he doesn't.' 'There's times of great frustration, mostly because of the stories I read about myself or others that I think the world of, which is just about everybody who works at the complex and wonder whether it's worth it to be subjected to that,' he said. Kelly said he thinks Trump is 'a super smart guy.' Theresa May's desperate bid to hammer out a Cabinet compromise on post-Brexit customs arrangements is doomed to fail, John Major has warned. The former PM said the government was coming up with 'ingenious' options for keeping frictionless trade with the EU. But he insisted there was 'no sensible alternative' to staying in a customs union with the bloc in order to maintain a soft Irish border and avoid harming business. The comments by the Tory ex-premier, in a speech at the Irish embassy, will heap more pressure on Mrs May to break the impasse between ministers. Former PM Sir John Major said the government was coming up with 'ingenious' options for keeping frictionless trade with the EU (file picture) The PM has split ministers into working groups as part of the efforts to thrash out a deal, after her favoured blueprint of a 'customs partnership' ran into furious opposition from Euroseptics. Brexit Secretary David Davis is to work with Business Secretary Greg Clark and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradleyon the 'maximum facilitation' proposal which focuses on using technology to streamline customs checks. Another group, involving Environment Secretary Michael Gove, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Mrs May's deputy, David Lidington, has been asked to see if it is possible to revive the customs partnership idea in a way that would not threaten Britain's ability to develop an independent trade policy. The decision follows talks between the Prime Minister, Mr Davis and other senior ministers in Downing Street yesterday. According to Buzzfeed, Sir John told the event last night that staying in a customs union was 'crucial to trade'. 'No doubt many goods can be cleared in some invisible, frictionless way -- as yet unidentified -- but not all,' he said. 'Ingenious options - well-meaning options - have been proposed but rejected by Cabinet sub-Committees, with the limp promise that further ideas will be sought. No doubt the search will intensify - but I doubt it will be successful.' Mrs May (pictured in the Commons this week) has been scrambling to end the deadlock in her Cabinet over customs plans What are the options on the table for a customs deal with the EU? With time ticking away on the Brexit negotiations, the Cabinet is still at daggers drawn on the shape for future trade relations with the EU. The government has set out two potential options for a customs system after the UK leaves the bloc. But despite a series of tense showdowns at Theresa May's Brexit 'War Cabinet' ministers continue to be deadlocked over what to do. Meanwhile, Brussels has dismissed both the ideas - and warned that negotiations could stall altogether unless there is progress by a key summit next month. Despite a series of tense showdowns at Theresa May's 'War Cabinet' (pictured in February) ministers continue to be deadlocked over what to do OPTION 1 - CUSTOMS PARTNERSHIP Under the so-called 'hybrid model', the UK would collect EU import tariffs on behalf of Brussels. Britain would be responsible for tracking the origin and final destination of goods coming into the country from outside the EU. The government would also have to ensure all products meet the bloc's standards. Firms selling directly into the UK market would pay the tariff levels set by Brussels - but would then get a rebate if Britain's tariffs are lower. Supporters of the hybrid plan in Cabinet - including Theresa May, Philip Hammond and Greg Clark - say keeping duties aligned up front would avoid the need for physical customs borders between the UK and EU. As a result it could solve the thorny issue over creating a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Mrs May has been advised by the chief whip that the hybrid option could be the only way of securing a majority in parliament for a Brexit deal. But Brexiteers regard the proposal as unworkable and cumbersome - and they were joined by Sajid Javid and Gavin Williamson in criticising it at a tense 'War Cabinet' meeting last week. There are fears the experimental system will either collapse and cause chaos, or prevent the UK from being able to negotiate free trade deals around the world after Brexit. Mrs May has instructed official to go away and revise the ideas. Eurosceptics are braced for her to bring back the plan with only 'cosmetic' changes, and try to 'peel off' Mr Javid and Mr Williamson from the core group of Brexiteers. They are also ready for Mrs May to attempt to bypass the 'War Cabinet' altogether and put the issue before the whole Cabinet - where she has more allies. OPTION 2 - MAXIMUM FACILITATION Boris Johnson (left) and Liam Fox have been pushing for the 'Max Fac' customs option The 'Max Fac' option accepts that there will be greater friction at Britain's borders with the EU. But it would aim to minimise the issues using technology and mutual recognition. Goods could be electronically tracked and pre-cleared by tax authorities on each side. Shipping firms could also be given 'trusted trader' status so they can move goods freely, and only pay tariffs when they are delivered to the destination country. Companies would also be trusted to ensure they were meeting the relevant UK and EU standards on products. Senior ministers such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox believe this is the only workable option. But Remain minded Tories such as Mr Clark insist it will harm trade and cost jobs in the UK. They also warn that it will require more physical infrastructure on the Irish border - potentially breaching the Good Friday Agreement. It is far from clear whether the government would be able to force anything through parliament that implied a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The EU has dismissed the idea that 'Max Fac' could prevent checks on the Irish border as 'magical thinking'. Kidnappers are demanding 150,000 for the return of two Britons who were abducted while gorilla trekking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congelese Army have tonight launched an operation to rescue the two unnamed British citizens. Armed men began firing on a convoy of vehicles after it drove into the Virunga National Park one of the dangerous of its kind in the world. The two Britons, both male, were seized by the gunmen after a female park ranger was shot dead, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation confirmed. Kidnapping: Two British citizens have been kidnapped while visiting the Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Another man, believed to be a driver, was shot in the shoulder during the attack but either managed to escape or was set free. According to a park officials the captors are demanding $200,000 (147,645) for the return of the two British men. The gunmen launched their attack at 10am near the village of Kibumba inside the national park. The village is eight miles away from the capital city of easter Congos troubled North Kivu provicnce, Goma. The cast Virunga National park stretches 3,000 miles across verdant savannah, along the Rwandan and Ugandan borders. The park is home to between a quarter and a third of all Mountain Gorillas, which are highly endangered. However, the swathes of land also gives shelter to a dozen militias and rebel outfits from three different countries. The armed groups are remnants of Congos civil war but also made up of poachers and criminal parks. A group of park rangers pause in front of a field post in Virunga National Park (file photo) Attacked: The convoy the Brits were travelling in through Virunga National Park reportedly came under attack around 10am local time (file photo) Their presence makes the park one of the most dangerous in the world for rangers and conservationists. In the past 20 years, at least 170 wildlife rangers have been killed, including five who were murdered with their driver following an ambush last month. While kidnappings are not uncommon in the park, the latest abductions mark the first time in 20 years that an attempt was made to seize Western tourists. Diplomats at the British embassy in Kinshasa were last night desperately trying to gather information from the region, where there is virtually no Western presence. Kidnapping: Virunga National Park is a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the the Democratic Republic of Congo (pictured are gorillas in the park) A Foreign Office spokesman said: We are in close contact with the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals and out staff are providing support to their families. Just a few dozen British tourists visit the park each year. The Foreign Office warns against all travel to the area due to the rapidly deteriorating security situation there. The continued presence of armed groups, military operations against them, inter-communal violence and an influx of neighbouring countries all contribute to a deterioration in the political, security and humanitarian situation, the Foreign Office warns in advice released before the kidnappings. Tourists in eastern DRC have been known to be left very vulnerable and the risk of kidnap or injury as a result of armed or criminal activity remains high. The park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, a Belgian national, was himself wounded in a road ambush between the park and Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in 2014. A self proclaimed ex-bikie who has been on the run from police since late February has been extradited and will return to jail. David Brooks was flown from Adelaide to Sydney on Friday, three days after his arrest. The 48-year-old has been wanted since February 21 after he failed to report to parole officers after spending time behind bars for drug charges. Scroll down for video David Brooks(pictured left) was flown from Adelaide to Sydney on Friday, three days after his arrest The Newcastle man (pictured) is expected to be extradited back to New South Wales The former Finks member taunted police from his Youtube channel 'That Brooksy Bloke' and regularly posted his 'Memoirs Of A Wanted Man'. The arrest came a week after he posted a video which invited police to come look for him. 'Come and look for me, come and capture me, lock me in your little jail,' he said. The 48-year-old (pictured) was arrested north of Adelaide, South Australia, on Wednesday NSW Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Smith said investigators became aware of Brooks' social media posts three days before he was arrested. 'We became aware of an individual taunting police on social media (and) obviously we don't take these matters lightly,' he said. Brooks, who was charged with the warrant from NSW, previously boasted about avoiding authorities in a number of videos he posted during his time on the run. NSW Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Smith said investigators became aware of Brooks' social media posts three days before he was arrested Mr Brooks took part in an interview with 9 News and said he was being harassed by police until he couldn't take it anymore The 48-year-old was wanted since February 21 after he failed to report to parole officers after spending time behind bars for drug charges in New South Wales 'I don't accept those laws, so I can't be a criminal,' he said in one Facebook post. Mr Brooks took part in an interview with 9 News and said he was being harassed by police until he couldn't take it anymore. He had some more choice words for police in another of his Facebook live updates. Brooks taunted police during weeks on run with videos he posted online, where in one video he said: 'A shout out to detectives at a police station f****** anywhere' 'It's the end of my patience I just took off to rebuild my life on my own terms,' he said. He geo-tagged his Facebook updates with different locations everyday including Melbourne, Canada and the Philippines in a calculated ploy. 'My actions are very deliberate and they shall continue to be until I am either caught or handed in,' he said. His latest post was geo-tagged as coming from Amsterdam which he joked about in the interview. 'My feet aren't taking well to clogs and the windmills messed up my hairstyle so that's why I've got the hat,' he said. In a separate upload, he gave officers a 'shout out' and said they were failing to do their jobs. In the video, in which he wears sunglasses and black sweater and smokes a cigarette, he says: 'A shout out to detectives at a police station f****** anywhere'. 'Get yer f***ing s*** together, you still haven't found me, you f***.' He continues: 'OK? I'm not that f***ing hard to find'. 'OK, I'll give you a clue: I'm not in Fiji. Hopefully that will help you in your investigations into ''where is Brooksie''?' Brooks (pictured) had spent about seven weeks on the run across the country from authorities Brooks is expected to face court in South Australia at Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Thursday David Brooks (pictured), a self proclaimed ex-bikie, has finally been caught after running from police since late February Two hours after posting the video on Facebook, Brooks updated his location to Montreal, Canada by using the site's 'check in' feature. He wrote: 'Anyone want some maple syrup?' Brooks, who depicted himself as an outlaw, previously told The Daily Telegraph: 'After four constant years of police harassment and being a target, I simply wanted to be left in peace and to be a normal everyday working person as I was before they injected themselves into my life. 'I enrolled in university and am also working long hours. I have no affiliation with any motorcycle club and do not participate in any criminal activity.' When asked if he wanted to hand himself in, he said: 'I eventually do but I want to make some noise first.' Brooks appeared in an Adelaide court on Thursday where a magistrate agreed he would be extradited to Sydney. He has now been returned to the custody of Corrective Services NSW. Shocking video filmed at a Texas high school shows a student shoving and cursing at his teacher after his cell phone was confiscated during class. But the way the teacher handled the situation has many people praising the educator. Michael McDonald, principal of Cedar Hill High School, said the video was taken Tuesday afternoon during teacher Bobby Soehnge's physics class. The student, who is not being identified because of privacy laws, was upset that Soehnge took away his cell phone. In the video, captured on another student's cell phone, the teen is seen knocking papers off the teacher's desk, cursing and then shoving the teacher's face. A student at a Texas high school was seen knocking papers off his teachers desk and then shoving the man's face after his cell phone was taken away in class Bobby Soehnge, a physics teacher at Cedar Hill High School, remained calm as the student yelled and cursed. Soehnge said his main priority was to deescalate the situation 'My last time asking you,' the student says. 'Give me my phone. Put my s*** right here.' When Soehnge hands the student his cell phone back, the teen snatches it and walks away. 'I was shocked to see such egregious behavior,' McDonald told WTSP. 'That's not something we condone.' While many people were outraged by the student's behavior, others are praising the teacher for remaining calm. In the video, Soehnge simply sits there as the student yells and curses before placing the cell phone on the desk. Soehnge said the student has gotten frustrated at times throughout the school year, but it never escalated into something like that. He said his main focus was to deescalate the situation. 'The important thing was to not add any energy into the dynamic that would make the situation more complicated,' he told the outlet. 'He lost his balance and acted out.' Several parents rallied around Soehnge showing up to school on Wednesday with cards and small gifts. 'It broke my heart a little bit,' said parent Chris Hunt, who shared the video on his Facebook page. 'I just want to let (Soehnge) know I appreciate him for how he handled that.' Parent Chris Hunt (left) praised Soehnge (right) for how he handled the situation with the teen The principal at Cedar Hill said Soehnge has been working with the student in the video throughout the year and the teen apologized after the class The district said it was made aware of the video after it went viral on social media. McDonald said Soehnge met with the student after class and they talked and hugged. The teen and his parent also apologized to the teacher. '(Soehnge) spent a lot of time working with the student through the course of the year. They have a great relationship and that was just a bad day the student was having,' McDonald said. Soehnge said he doesn't hold a grudge against the student for acting out. 'There's a way to solve complex problems whether it's in Physics or even in life,' he said. 'I think because he was so willing to accept ownership and the consequences of his actions show that he's maturing - and that's what we always want as a teacher.' A prisoner was given the opportunity to have sex in a Hungry Jack's bathroom while a guard bought him and other prisoners ice creams, a Corruption and Crime Commission report has found. Inmates from the Karnet Prison Farm in Serpentine, Western Australia enjoyed a shocking amount of freedom whilst under the supervision of former prison officer David Northing, 64. And now the Department of Justice is under fire for not taking proper action, WA Today reports. Scroll down for video Mr Northing would leave Karnet every morning in the company of his 'assistant' prisoners to deliver food products produced at the prison to other Department of Justice facilities and retrieve supplies. The CCC report found that throughout the course of these recurring errand runs the prisoners were able to 'groom and exploit' Mr Northing: currying favour with the guard and gaining leeway in return. And on February 21 2018, one particularly audacious inmate went so far as to meet an acquaintance for an intimate rendezvous at Hungry Jack's during one of many unauthorised stops - while Mr Northing was lining up for some soft serves. Surveillance footage from inside the Mundaring fast-food restaurant shows Mr Northing enter in the company of two inmates, one of whom heads straight for the restroom. Surveillance footage from inside the Mundaring fast-food restaurant shows the moment the inmate approaches a woman a booth of the restaurant The woman proceeds to follow the man into the unisex toilet, where the two remain for a little over two minutes The second continues to follow behind Mr Northing until he reaches a booth occupied by two women, and subtly engages with one of them. Gesturing with tips of his head, the inmate walks back toward the restrooms and enters the unisex toilet while the woman gets up, grabs her bag and follows him. Just over two minutes later the pair reemerge, the woman wiping her mouth as she returns to the booth while the man strolls into the male toilet. And within mere seconds, Mr Northing and the other inmate can be seen returning with ice creams in hand. They appear to inform the man that it's time to go before exiting the restaurant. Afterwards, the inmate can be seen handing the woman a slip of paper before leaving the restaurant A Corruption and Crime Commission report has found that inmates from the Karnet Prison Farm in Serpentine, Western Australia enjoyed a shocking amount of freedom whilst under the supervision of former prison officer David Northing, 64 As the man goes to leave, he strolls back to the booth and hands his female accomplice a piece of paper before walking out. The woman later told investigators that they did in fact have sex in the toilet. '[Mr Northing] is adamant that he had no idea of what the prisoner was planning,' the report said. 'He says that the prisoner seemed genuine in his need to use the toilet and that is why he stopped for him. It is obvious that Mr Northing was taken advantage of.' The report further concluded that the potential risks stemming from such wanton negligence were severe. Though the prisoners who assisted Mr Northing on his runs were minimum security, many had been convicted of the most serious criminal offences, including murder and child sex offences. The report concluded that the potential risks stemming from Mr Northing's wanton negligence were severe, and found that the Department of Justice did not act or intervene sufficiently One particularly audacious inmate went so far as to meet an acquaintance for an intimate rendezvous at Hungry Jack's during one of many unauthorised stops - while Mr Northing was lining up for some soft serves 'When a prison officer delivering supplies stops off at a Hungry Jack's restaurant to buy ice creams for 'his boys', and allows a prisoner serving a lengthy sentence for drug offences to disappear into the toilet for a few minutes on a pre-arranged visit with an associate, the security risks to the public and the prison system are obvious,' the report said. The investigation revealed that throughout Mr Northing's 18 years of employment with department he had a checkered history of of inappropriate contact with prisoners and of failing to adequately supervise prisoners in his charge. It also found that the Department of Justice - while giving Mr Northing verbal cautions, small fines and eventually a demotion - did not take action to prevent them from reoccurring, or monitor his conduct. The CCC made a series of significant recommendations on matters of driver safety, vehicle tracking and monitoring, staff training, and the selection and rotation of staff appointed to high-risk duties. It will release further reports on prison security in coming months. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan tasked the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces to pay close attention that all soldiers are provided with hygienic items, military uniforms, shoes and high-quality food. May 11, 2018, 09:37 General Staff of Armed Forces obliged to provide soldiers with all necessary items and high- quality food - PM Pashinyan STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS:In the morning I had a meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, logistics representative during which we discussed the issue of providing soldiers with necessary items. If you remember, I have talked about the fact that many parents of soldiers have to send their sons different hygiene items, shoes and etc. And today in the morning I put this issue very strictly before the representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the PM said live on Facebook. Addressing the parents of the soldiers, the PM said they are doing a great work for the homeland as they have sent their sons to serve in the Armenian Army. Therefore, the state is obliged to provide your children with everything starting from hygiene items up to clothing and food. From now on I call on you not to send hygiene items, military uniforms and shoes to your sons all, in other words everything that the state has to provide to soldiers. If your sons tell you that they are not provided with that items, I urge you to apply to the PMs staff or voice about that issue via media. We will conduct a monitoring and will solve that issues, PM Pashinyan said. Nikol Pashinyan assured that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces has been obliged to provide soldiers with all necessary items, as well as with high-quality food. I ask you if there are problems with food, please apply to the PMs staff so that we can deal with that issue. I have already received assurances that these issues will be solved, and if it turns out that after this assurance that issues have not been solved, all those who ought to solve that issue, but didnt do it, will be held strictly accountable, PM Pashinyan noted. Jerusalem Day, known as 'Yom Yerushalayim' in Hebrew, celebrates the reunification of the capital of Israel under Jewish sovereignty during the Six Day War in 1967. Despite The Jerusalem Post reporting that most Israelis do not regard Jerusalem Day as a holiday, the day is marked every year on the 28th of Iyar, the eighth month of the civil and second month of the Jewish year. After President Donald Trumps announcement that the US now officially considered Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel, the US Embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv soon after Jerusalem Day 2018. President Donald Trump seen here visiting the Western Wall in East Jerusalem in May 2017, the first sitting US President to do so What is Jerusalem Day? Jerusalem Day commemorates Israeli control over the Old City after the Six Day War in June 1967 and the reunification of Jerusalem. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a religious holiday to mark access to the Western Wall being regained. West Bank annexation by Jordan The 1947 UN Partition Plan proposed that the Jewish state and Arab state in the British Mandate of Palestine merge to become an international city, not aligned to a particular religion for ten years. A referendum would then be held in order to decide whether to join either Israel or Palestine; while the Jewish leadership accepted, the Arabs rejected it. Soon after Israels declaration of independence, the Arabs attacked and later, Jordan assumed control of East Jerusalem and the Old City. The 1948 Arab-Israeli war left Jerusalem divided between Israel and Jordan and with the latter occupying the East, Jewish residents were forced out and synagogues demolished. The West Bank area was annexed in the aftermath of this war, with Jordan in control. An Israeli Soldier seen here looking at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock in the background Jerusalem reunification In 1967, before the Six-Day War between between Israel and neighbouring states Egypt, Jordan and Syria, Israel relayed a message to King Hussein of Jordan that the country would not attack Jerusalem or the West Bank if Jordan did not. However, Jordan attacked Israel having been encouraged by Egypt and false intelligence and in response, Israel opened the eastern front. The next day, June 7, 1967 (28 Iyar 5727), Israel took control of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, gave a speech that is often quoted on Jerusalem Day. This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour - and with added emphasis at this hour - our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity. After Moshe Dayan gave this speech, the Six-Day War ended with a ceasefire on June 11, 1967. US President Donald Trump pictured here delivering a statement on Jerusalem from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in December 2017 as US Vice President Mike Pence looks on When is Jerusalem Day 2018? In May 1968, the government announced that the 28th of Iyar, the Hebrew date when the separate states of Jerusalem came together, would be a national holiday. In 2018, Jerusalem Day falls from the evening of Saturday, May 12 and ends in the evening of Sunday, May 13. How is Jerusalem Day celebrated today? Today, the day is not celebrated outside Israel, but some Religious Zionists will mark the day with parades and prayers in synagogues. A survey conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute found that 63 percent those who are religious celebrate Jerusalem Day and 52 percent of liberal religious Israelis will mark the day in some way. As well as this, 77 percent of those who are ultra-Orthodox, known as 'haredim', celebrate Jerusalem Day. Jerusalem Law and Resolution 478 In 1980, the Knesset, the national legislature of Israel, passed the Jerusalem Law that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel and the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court. In response, the UN Security Council then adopted Resolution 478, which stated that the Jerusalem Law violated international law and member states were called upon to withdraw diplomatic missions. The Resolution passed 14-0, but the US abstained. Here, Palestinians burn Israeli and US flags as well as posters of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the US intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel US Embassy move to Jerusalem Since 1948, the US has maintained its embassy in Tel Aviv because the nation did not formally consider Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. After the reunification of Jerusalem, calls to move the embassy have increased with President Bill Clinton promising to do so after Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act. However, it has not been done because it would evoke the understanding that Israel had sovereignty the entire city, including East Jerusalem and over the third holiest site in Islam, the Al Aqsa mosque. After Jerusalem Day 2018 on May 14, 2018, 70 years after Israel gained independence, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are expected to visit East Jerusalem to open the US Embassy in what Trump has declared, Israels capital. A new position has opened up for what is described as a dream job which allows you to snorkel and live on a Great Barrier Reef island for two years. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has advertised a two-year contract for caretaking services to be provided for Low Isles, off Port Douglas, North Queensland, The Cairns Post reported. The former caretakers had to leave their position due to personal reasons and now there's a position open for someone to take over the reigns. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has advertised a two-year contract for caretaking services to be provided for Low Isles (pictured) GBRMPA field manager Stephanie Lemm said the position is a dream job and the caretaker would be living in a historic site. 'It's got a beautiful Commonwealth-listed lighthouse stationed there, and it's been there since 1878,' she said. The job ad has a list of requirements of daily maintenance tasks such as cleaning the compost toilets, and taking care of the 50,000 visitors who visit the attraction. The job ad has a list of requirements of daily maintenance tasks such as taking care of the 50,000 visitors who visit the attraction Some of the other tasks will occasionally involve snorkelling, and caretakers would be required to conduct regular surveys of pied-imperial pigeons. However, the catch with this job- other than cleaning toilets - is that whoever takes up the post should live at Low Isles for the term of the contract and are not allowed to have another full-time job. Anyone who is interested in the position should hurry as applications close on May 31. Some of the other tasks will occasionally involve snorkelling, and caretakers would be required to conduct regular surveys of pied-imperial pigeons A National Guardsman from Alabama has shot dead his estranged wife and her new boyfriend inside a Florida hotel room where the pair had been staying before turning the gun on himself in what police are calling a double murder-suicide. According to police, 37-year-old Mark Stokes, a major in the Army National Guard stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, murdered his wife, Army National Guard Sgt Amanda Stokes, 28, at Hampton Inn and Suites in Panama City, Florida, early Saturday morning. Also killed was Kenneth Krause, 30, whom investigators described as Amanda's 'new acquaintance. Deadly love triangle: Police in Florida say Army National Guard Major Mark Stokes killed his estranged wife Amanda (pictured together, left) and her new boyfriend, Kenneth Krause (right) Amanda and Krause had been staying at Hampton Inn and Suites in Panama City, Florida (pictured), while attending the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally last weekend Amanda and Mark, who have a five-year-old daughter together, had recently separated but continued running a biker bar in Alabama called Chainsaws together, reported WJHG. The Stokes had rented a house in Panama City for their family, friends and co-workers attending the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally last weekend, but Amanda decided to stay in the hotel with Krause because she had split up with her husband a few weeks earlier. On May 2, Mark posted a status update on Facebook that read: I'm bout to get back in the saddle again and I may not get out of it for a while, reported Northwest Florida Daily News. Amanda shared a screenshot of her estranged husbands post, announcing that they were no longer a couple. I dont want to know what hes doing, she wrote. I dont want to know where hes at. Please dont contact me in regard to his actions. I dont care to know. Split: Amanda, 28, was an Army National Guard sergeant (left). She and Mark (pictured right on their wedding day) had recently separated Orphan: The Stokeses have a daughter together (pictured as an infant), who is now five years old and growing up without her parents Business partners: Despite their split, the couple continued operating a bar in Alabama together On May 2, Mark posted this status update on Facebook that read: I'm bout to get back in the saddle again and I may not get out of it for a while' Amandas two final Facebook updates posted on the morning of May 4 consisted of photos of herself posing with Krause in a leather biker vest and holding a pitcher of beer. Less than 24 hours later, both Amanda and Krause were dead, along with the womans husband. Police said at 4am on May 5, Mark arrived at the hotel where Amanda and Krause were staying, got a key to her room from the front desk and shot the man and woman, before taking his own life. Police were called to Room 222 at the hotel at 8am by maintenance workers after guests staying in a downstairs room reported seeing blood dripping from the ceiling. Happier times: Amanda and Mark (pictured on their wedding day) had recently separated Grisly end: The bodies of Amanda and Krause were discovered inside Room 222 after guests staying in a downstairs room complained of blood dripping from the ceiling Amanda posted this selfie with Krause less than 24 hours before the two were shot dead The Stokeses now-orphaned daughter is staying with her grandmother in Alabama. According to her obituary, Amanda was the daughter of a pastor and served as a recruiter for the National Guard for four years and later became a reserve officer. Sgt. Stokes was very proud to serve her country along with the military men and women who she considered family, the obituary read. Krauses obituary described him as a true gentleman known for his contagious laugh and infectious smile. He will be remembered for helping anyone and everyone at any moment. He loved being outdoors, whether on his motorcycle, hunting, fishing, shooting or teaching someone to ride a horse, the statement read. More than any of those things, he loved his family and friends with an intensity that could be felt in any conversation with him. A beauty queen turned dentist who killed her cheating husband by running him over in 2002 was released from prison on Friday after spending 15 years behind bars. Clara Harris, now 60, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2003 for the death of her husband David. She was a 45-year-old dentist at the time and had discovered her husband's affair with receptionist Gail Bridges. After confronting the pair in a hotel in Friendswood, Texas, Harris ran her husband over three times in the parking lot while her 17-year-old teenage stepdaughter Lindsay was in the passenger seat. She was convicted of murder and has been at the Crain Unit in Gainesville, Texas, ever since. On Friday, Harris emerged from the prison early in the morning with a guard by her side. She was dressed in a purple button down shirt and khaki pants. The mother-of-two carried a pink bag with her possessions in one hand. As she approached the gate to be released, Clara smiled widely. She got into the back of a waiting car where, once inside, she hugged a relative who was sitting in the passenger seat as the driver sped away. Clara Harris, 60, beams as she leaves the Crain Unit in Gainesville, Texas,on Friday morning at 15 years behind bars Last year, she was finally granted parole after being turned down twice before. She is expected to be released next month. The terms of her parole are not known. Harris, who was born in Colombia and was once crowned Miss Colombia Houston, had two children with her husband. He had another daughter from a previous relationship. Harris is seen left in a 2017 prison photo and right in 2003 during her trial when she was 45 Harris murdered her orthodontist husband David, 44 By the time she killed him, she had already hired a private investigator to follow her husband because she suspected the affair. Bridges worked as a receptionist in the orthodontist practice where David worked. On the night of his murder, she and him had met at the Nassau Bay Hilton hotel. It was where he and Clara got married. After following them there, Clara confronted the pair in the lobby. Bridges testified that she attacked them, punching her and screaming before retreating to the parking lot where she got in her silver Mercedes. Bridges was walking back to her own car when she saw Clara suddenly charge at them. She was hit in the leg but David's injuries were more serious and he died at the scene. Harris waited behind a gate to be let out on Friday. When the prison guard approached her from the other side, she was asked to show her ID for the last time Harris was accompanied by a prison guard as she walked to a waiting car. She said nothing as journalists asked her what it felt like to be free but smiled and kept her head down Harris got into the backseat of a waiting SUV. A woman sitting in the front passenger seat reached back to hug her and they continued to embrace as they were driven away The couple ran a string of successful dentist and orthodontist offices in Friendswood, Texas, and had four-year-old twin boys. They are pictured on their wedding day According to Bridges' trial testimony, his final words to her were: 'I'm sorry.' Harris claimed it was an accident and that she never meant to hit the pair. Part of the evidence used against her was a video of her running them over which had been filmed by the private investigator she'd hired. They remained in their vehicle on the night in question and caught the murder on tape. Prosecutors also used testimony from David's daughter, Clara's stepdaughter, against her. After being sentenced, she was hit with two wrongful death lawsuits. One was filed by her stepdaughter and the other was filed by her husband's parents. The stepdaughter was given $2million from her father's estate, the same amount as her two twin half-brothers received. The boys were just four at the time of their father's death. David Harris's parents were awarded $3.75million. At the time of her husband's death, Clara was reported to have $1.2million in assets of her own. It is not clear how much of that she still has. This is the hilarious moment a TV journalist throws her coat into a bush after realising she's wearing it during a broadcast. In the clip, Maria Ryabova, can be seen wearing the thick grey overcoat as she stands waiting to give a broadcast in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. As the camera pans to a shot of her, the journalist looks less than happy to be standing outside in one of Russia's coldest regions. Ms Ryabova can be seen wincing from the cold as a chilly breeze whips across her before she suddenly releases she is on camera. As both her and the show's producer realise the error, he can be heard screaming: 'Take off your coat! Throw it on the ground!' Maria Ryabova, was filming a segment about the Russian victory day celebrations at the time She was filming a piece in the chilly city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region The broadcaster then quickly and clumsily tries to remove the garment. When she eventually gets it off she flings it behind her into a bush before turning back to camera to give her piece. She then did her best to resume her professionalism, by putting on her best smile and continuing with her story about celebrations to mark Victory Day in Russia. Ms Ryabova was covering tributes to the war dead in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for the local Russian TV Channel, OTV Sakhalin. Victory Day is a major public holiday which marks the anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in Russia. It marks the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945 which happened late in the evening of 8th May but is marked in Russia on 9th May as it was after midnight in Moscow. The presenter can be seen hurriedly stashing the coat under a nearby bush after realising she's live After ditching the rogue overcoat the presenter turns back to camera and begins giving her piece Doctors are 'months late' in conducting a risk assessment on John Hinckley Jr., the would-be assassin who shot Ronald Reagan and was released from a mental hospital in 2016. A federal judge freed Hinckley after 35 years of confinement at St Elizabeth's Hospital, DC, on condition that medics provide an 'updated assessment' of the threat he posed to the public within 18 months. This deadline passed in January, Judge Paul Freidman said, as he gave Hinckley's defense attorneys and prosecutors until Friday to inform him of suitable dates for a hearing on the future of the shooter's 'convalescent leave'. Doctors have failed to complete a risk assessment into John Hinckley Jr. on time, a judge has said. He is seen running errands in March 2017 near his mother's home in Virginia Hinckley visited a subway on his first day out from hospital in August 2016, (left) while the day before his mother Jo Ann ran errands in preparation for him staying at her home (right) Hinckley, pictured in August 2016, is free to live in the community as long as regularly informs a court about his condition and the treatment that he is receiving This sees Hinckley free to live in the community as long as regularly informs a court about his condition and the treatment that he is receiving, NBC Washington reported. Judge Freidman blamed the delay on 'unforeseen scheduling delays beyond the parties' and the hospital's control'. Hinckley was 25 when he opened fire by the Washington Hilton in March, 1981, striking Reagan in the chest. The President's press secretary was hit in the head while a police officer and Secret Service agent were also wounded. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to live at St. Elizabeth's for treatment. Over the years, the court loosened restrictions on him. His 91-year-old mother Jo Ann has stood by her son since being locked away. She has spent a large part of the three decades promoting mental-health awareness and aiding in his rehabilitation. Hinckley shortly after shooting four men, including President Reagan Mrs Hinckley, who was widowed in 2008, agreed to allow her son to stay at her home as part of his eventual return to society. Neighbors on the quiet, tree-lined street rarely see her and she never talks about her son. When in Williamsburg, Hinckley is a regular customer at fast food restaurants near his home. The young staff at his favourite Wendy's restaurant have no idea of the identity of their customer who usually orders a cheeseburger, fries and coke. All of the servers were born at least two decades after Hinckley's assassination attempt. He was roughly their age, in his early 20s, when he became fixated with actress Jodie Foster, then one of the best known child stars in Hollywood for her portrayal of a teen prostitute in Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver'. A college dropout, he was living off an allowance from his wealthy parents John and Jo Ann who were based in Denver, Colorado. In 1980 Hinckley learned that Jodie Foster was attending Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Hinckley was sent to St Elizabeth's Hospital, DC, in 2001 after shooting President Ronald Reagan (above) and three other men in an attempt to get the attention of Jodie Foster The president was hit under the arm and the bullet missed his heart by an inch. Above he is pictured being rushed into his limo after being shot by Hinckley He began to follow her across country until he was able to establish contact with her on two occasions. Hinckley believed he could never establish a relationship with Foster unless he could do something that would draw her attention. On the morning of March 31, 1981, he stood among a small crowd outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Washington DC. Inside the President was addressing a union conference. A self-portrait of Hinckley released by the FBI in 1981 As Reagan emerged flanked by his security detail Hinckley opened fire with a six shot .22 revolver. He wounded James Brady, a policeman and a Secret Service agent before his last shot ricocheted off the president's armor-plated limousine and struck Reagan beneath his left armpit as he was being bundled into the car by other agents. The bullet penetrated within an inch of the president's heart. One lung flooded with blood and Reagan, 68, lost half his body's blood supply. Doctors said that had the Secret Service not rushed the president to a nearby hospital as quickly as they did, he might have died. A trauma team led by Dr Joseph Giordano was hastily assembled to receive the president. As he was about to be put under anesthetic Reagan joked, 'Please tell me you're all Republicans'. One of the notes that Hinckley sent Foster just weeks before he shot Reagan (above) His surgeon Dr Giordano, a Democrat, replied, 'Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans'. The operation lasted about three hours, and the President's humor continued when his wife Nancy arrived in the emergency room, telling her 'Honey, I forgot to duck'. Hinckley did not attempt to flee and was held at the scene where photographers and TV news crews had captured the pandemonium that followed as the shots rang out. In the would-be killer's hotel room police found a letter he had addressed to Foster. 'There is a definite possibility that I may be killed in my attempt to get Reagan,' Hinckley wrote. Foster later said she had never heard of Hinckley. Brady was the most seriously wounded after being struck by a bullet in the head. On March 31, 1981, Hinckley (above) opened fire on President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC He was left paralyzed on the left side of his body and later dedicated his life to gun control by starting the Brady Campaign which has been the most vocal campaign to outlaw assault weapons. Police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy recovered from their wounds. One condition of the release was for Hinckley to see a psychiatrist once a week in Williamsburg. In the last decade the amount of time Hinckley has been allowed out has increased as doctors said he was no longer a danger to the public or himself. While at St Elizabeth's he struck up a romantic friendship with a former patient Cynthia Bruce. She has never talked about their relationship. A school has banned pencil cases over fears poorer students are missing classes because they are ashamed of their stationery. St Wilfrid's Primary School in Blyth, Northumberland is among a number of schools taking part in scheme aimed at reducing the 'stigma' felt by less well-off pupils. As part of the measures, school bosses have banned pencil cases and brought in plain school bags to stop students envying each other's belongings. Headteacher Pauline Johnstone has banned pencil cases to stop pupils comparing belongings St Wilfrid's headteacher Pauline Johnstone said the ban on pencil cases was to prevent 'comparison on the tables as children are learning'. She told the BBC's Look North the school asked parents and pupils about their worries over the cost of schooling and were 'horrified' at their replies. She said: 'We found it very traumatic when the feedback was given because we were sure that we had made our school very inclusive and what was coming back from the children was that, for some children, it wasn't inclusive.' The pencil case ban is one of the range of measures encouraged by the charity Children North East, citing Newcastle University research which advises schools to review the numbers of non-uniform days and refrain from asking students what they did over the holidays or at the weekends. While children who receive free school meals usually went unnoticed, they were identifiable to others on trips out as their packed lunches came in a brown paper bag, Mrs Johnstone said. The school also calculated it could cost parents up to 581 per child per year - including uniform, meals, trips and if children attended every optional after school event. Schools are being told pencil cases and 'designer goods' in school can put off poorer children Campaigners hope that the attendance of poorer students will increase if they feel less stigmatised. But the moves have raised eyebrows among parents online, with some questioning whether changes mean schools are failing to prepare youngsters for the inequality in the wider world. Euan Bass wrote on Facebook: 'Its a fact of life some people have more money then others, surely is a fact of life that children need to learn.' Adam Rhodes added: 'I remember kids coming into school with Adidas, Nike etc... I asked my parents why, they told me "Because you'll grow out of them before you make good use of them" and that was that. Surely people haven't lost the ability to explain this to their kids these days?' WH Smith has been slammed after it was spotted selling a single tube of toothpaste in a hospital shop - for 7.99. Critics accused the retail business of cashing in on the sick by hiking up prices at the shop in Pinderfields General Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The same 75ml tube costs just 80p at Tesco - 898 percent cheaper - and a 1 in Boots. It comes despite the company promising to slash prices in hospital shops in 2015 after MPs called them out on the different price tags compared to its own high street shops. WH Smith has been slammed after it was spotted selling a single tube of toothpaste in a hospital shop - for 7.99 Marc Leaf, 45, visited the shop to buy toothpaste yesterday for his girlfriend who was being treated there, and accused the shop of 'extortion'. He said: 'Everything in there is totally ridiculous. 'A hospital is a place where people to to get better. They aren't at their best and are usually at their most vulnerable. 'It's the last place they should be taken advantage of, but this price tag is just totally taking the mick out of people. 'It's 7.99 for a tube of toothpaste that I've seen for a 1 in a Home Bargains store or a pound shop. 'When I was there, I looked around, and there are a lot of people knocking about who are less fortunate than others. 'It's absolutely outrageous. I went to the counter and asked the assistant 'is this right?' and they said it was. 'I was gobsmacked. It's extortion. They are cashing in on sick people who can't go elsewhere. 'Something needs to be done about it. 'In the end I went for the tiny little travel size one and it was 2.69. That's still ridiculous.' Critics accused the retail business of cashing in on the sick by hiking up prices at the shop in Pinderfields General Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire WH Smith has 610 shops on the high street and 839 'travel outlets' - shops in airports, railway stations, motorway service areas, hospitals and workplaces. Of these, 129 are in hospitals. The price at the hospital in Wakefield was highlighted on Twitter by a reporter at the Health Service Journal. Responding to the tweet, one person said: 'They've been warned just a couple years ago for price gouging. If that isn't an accidental mistake then they need fined.' Another added: 'Please tell me this isn't true. 'Absolutely horrible to think the cost of a product vital to oral health is spiked because someone is unwell in a hospital. 'This should be provided on wards regardless.' One wrote: 'I assume that buys you a check up and polish too for that money..' Last month it was reported the retailer recorded a one percent fall in pre-tax profit to 82m for the six months ended February 28, while total group revenue was flat at 643m. Marc Leaf, 45, visited the shop to buy toothpaste yesterday for his girlfriend who was being treated there, and accused the shop of 'extortion' The retailer - a UK franchise partner of M&S - also reported a successful trial of two WH Smith hospital stores offering an M&S food-to-go range,. A spokesperson at the time announced plans to open six new hospital stores, including four M&S Simply Food stores in the second half of the current financial year. WHSmith apologised and claimed it was a 'pricing error' and the company would be donating the total proceeds from all 89 sales at the store to charity. 'Please tell me it isn't true' was one of the many angry messages on social media about the price A WHSmith spokeswoman said: 'We would like to apologise to our customers for a recent pricing error in our system relating to this product. 'While the wrong price was effective we sold a total of 89 units. 'The total proceeds from these sales (711) will be donated to charity. The error has been rectified and changed to the correct price of 2.49.' Iain Brodie, general manager of facilities at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals trust said: 'WH Smith is a national chain with outlets in our Pontefract and Pinderfields hospitals. 'The pricing policy in their outlets is a commercial decision by WH Smith. We have however raised this matter with them.' A man was caught dealing drugs just days after he was released from jail when he made a simple mistake which led police to his motel. The Supreme Court in Townsville, Queensland, heard Nathan Allan Cameron, 27, either supplied or offered to supply between 26 to 28g of ice in return for money. Police observed glass pipe and other drug paraphernalia in his room and conducted a search warrant, The Townsville Bulletin reported. A man has been caught dealing drugs just days after he was released from jail (stock image) Crown prosecutor Cath Ferguson told the court police searched a room at the Spanish Lace Motel in Townsville just eight days after he was released from custody in January 2017. 'They attended because the room was booked using counterfeit money and they were alerted to this by hotel employees,' the court heard. 'The defendant either supplied or offered to supply between 26 to 28g of methamphetamine over the trafficking period the turnover to be derived from this quantity is between $9700 and $10,600.' Police conducted a search warrant after observing drug paraphernalia, including a glass pipe in his motel room (stock image) Cameron's defence lawyer presented a handwritten letter written by his client and argued his childhood had been a 'horrific one'. 'I think it can safely be said his childhood, his past was a horrific one and in my submission, place his conduct and his resort to dangerous drugs over the years into context,' he told the court. Justice David North sentenced Cameron to three years' jail with a non-parole period of 10 months, saying he remained a threat to the community. Fox News has banned a retired Air Force general from the air because he called Sen. John McCain 'songbird John', implying he had spilled information to enemy when he was a prisoner of war. Tom McInerney, 81, made an appearance on Fox Business Network on Thursday where he attempted to spread the story that McCain had provided the North Vietnamese with classified information. The allegations against McCain have been around since the Arizona senator ran for president in 2000 have been widely discredited. Fox host Charles Payne later apologized for not correcting McInerney on the air, and a spokeswoman said Monday that the retired general will not be invited back to the network. Scroll down for video Fox News has banned a retired Air Force general Tom McInerney from the network because he called Sen. John McCain 'songbird John', implying he'd given information to enemy as a POW McInerney made the remarks after McCain opposed President Trump's nomination for CIA director, Gina Haspel, because of her history of supporting torture techniques McInerney made the claim against McCain discussing President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the CIA, Gina Haspel. Last week McCain urged fellow lawmakers to reject the nomination because 'her role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing,' he said in a statement. 'Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying.' Haspel reportedly supervised waterboarding at a CIA black site where terror suspects were tortured. McInerney responded by saying that torture is effective, and McCain's POW experience is proof of that. 'That's why they call him 'Songbird John,' he said on the air. Later on Thursday host Payne tweeted an apology to McCain and his family for McInerney's 'very false and derogatory remark' about the senator on his program. ...Wow Conversation on Fox about torture: "It worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John'" https://t.co/OjCwhv2ZhI pic.twitter.com/WehsgPAqgb Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 10, 2018 Fox Business host Charles Payne apologized for McInerney's comments on the program Claims that McCain collaborated with the enemy while he was a POW have been around for at least two decades, although there is very little evidence to back them up. In 2008 Politifact reviewed accounts from other POWs, an author who wrote a biography about McCain and the senator's own accounts. They ultimately labeled the claims as 'Pants on Fire', the lowest possible rating on the publication's Truth-O-Meter. In his 1999 memoir Faith of My Fathers, McCain wrote that he initially offered information because he was badly injured and afraid of dying, but that 'I didn't intend to keep my word'. Also last week, a Trump aid dismissed McCain's opposition Haspel's nomination by saying it 'doesn't matter' because he is 'dying anyway', referring to the senator's brain cancer diagnosis. McCain was a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War who was captured by the enemy in 1967 German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a congratulatory letter to Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on assuming office, the PMs office said. May 11, 2018, 13:53 Chancellor Merkel congratulates Armenias new PM on assuming office STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS:The letter says: Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I sincerely congratulate you on your election. As a reliable partner Germany will continue assisting Armenia in modernization and implementation of reforms and will make efforts to deepen the bilateral friendly relations, as well as for the peaceful development of the region. I highly welcome the fact that all participants of political processes of recent days and weeks demonstrated high sense of responsibility for the benefit of the Armenian people. I wish you success and all the best in the formation of the government and during your tenure. PM Pashinyan continues receiving congratulations. Divers have found proof that a shipwreck off the North Carolina coast is a steam ship that sank in 1838. A tiny tag and a candlestick holder recovered from the wreck site bear the name of the ship 'S.B Pulaski' - for Steam Boat Pulaski - on its bottom, recovery firm Blue Water Ventures International have confirmed. 'This is a game changer. I have believed for so long we were in the right spot, and there's nothing like the feeling of having something like this confirmed,' the company's Keith Webb said. Scroll down for video: The smoking gun: a tiny tag with S.B Pulaski written on it that confirms the wreck is that of the famed steam ship A candlestick holder from the ship has also been recovered, providing more evidence that the wreck of the S.B Pulaski lies off the coast of North Carolina Dr. Joseph Schwarzer, director of the North Carolina Maritime Museums, was among the historians waiting for Webb to prove he was in the right spot. Schwarzer was hoping for the ship's bell, but he says a candlestick holder with the ship's name is just as good. 'That really is a smoking gun,' Schwarzer said. 'It's like finding proof of something which was not just history, but almost legendary. 'This is empirical evidence. The wreck is no longer folklore, on the pages of a book. 'There is an actually object that proves it is out there.' The wreck is 40 miles off the coast, more than 10 miles farther out to sea than historians originally believed the Pulaski went down. A 1919 account in 'The Georgia Historical Quarterly' said a boiler explosion caused the ship to split in half. The Pulaski had sailed from Savannah, Georgia, on June 13, 1838, and reached Charleston, South Carolina, that same day, according to the quarterly entry written by an unidentified man described as a survivor. The ship was bound for Baltimore when it sank, killing about half of the 200 people aboard. Schwarzer says historians want to know whether the boiler really caused the Pulaski to sink or whether there was another reason. The Pulaski was ferrying politicians such as William B Rochester, a politician and the son of the New York city's namesake, and members of the Lamar family, a wealthy Southern dynasty. The former and at least five of the latter died. The ship made a stop - its last landfall - in Charleston, South Carolina. An account of the ship's tragic end by a Mrs Hugh McLeod reads: 'The passengers were from the elite of [Savannah]. 'Sojourners returning to their distant homes, and others from farther South and West, assembled on the deck, presenting a picture of unusual brightness; so many happy faces animated by hope and expectation. '[The Pulaski] inspired confidence. She appeared so strong, and looked so comfortable.' While traveling down the Eastern Seaboard one night in June, it exploded at around 11pm. Of the 200 passengers and crew on board, around 100 are believed to have died. The Pulaski, a steamboat, was ferrying elite Southerners from Savannah, Georgia to Baltimore, Maryland when it exploded. Around 100 of the 200 passengers and crew on board died A survivor's account in the Wilmington Advertiser tells of 'the wailing of the hopeless beings who were floating around in every direction, upon pieces of the wreck, to seek land'. McLeod's account, compiled from survivor's recollections, reads: 'The boat parted in two with a tremendous crash, and the bow and stern rose somewhat out of the water, but the latter again continued to sink until the water reached the promenade deck, when it separated into two parts, upset and precipitated all on it into the water.' The North Carolina Standard deemed the disaster to be 'the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred on upon the American coast' up to that point. The shipwreck was blamed on a starboard boiler explosion; accounts from the day blamed the steamboat's engineers. Survivors then floated in rafts days before finally making landfall and reuniting with family and friends. The North Carolina Standard deemed the disaster to be 'the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred on upon the American coast'. Divers are pictured exploring the wreckage Blue Water Ventures International and Endurance Exploration have been working to recover coins and other valuables from a wreckage site. The coins that have been found by the operation's divers so far are dated to no later than 1836. They include early United States silver issues and Spanish silver coins from the late 1700s. But the facts that the coinage found on the boat predates 1838 and that analysis of the wreckage corroborates a boiler explosion were seen as promising by the exploration team. 'Finding the Pulaski is a big deal,' Dr Schwarzer of the North Carolina Maritime Museums told the Charlotte Observer earlier this year. 'Saying something was the 'Titanic of its time' is an overworked metaphor....But I will say it's one of the more significant disasters in American maritime history.' Other notable objects found include a men's razor, a candlestick holder and a turkey platter, per the Observer. Evidence that could confirm the wreckage is in fact the Pulaski include the ship's bell and numbering on its boilers - neither of which have been found. Ministers have formally unveiled plans for dealing with the toxic legacy of the Troubles - despite fury that British troops are not being given an amnesty from prosecution. A four-month public consultation will seek to canvass views on a series of new mechanisms to investigate, document and uncover the truth around killings during the 30-year conflict. But soldiers will not be protected from prosecution in spite of a Cabinet revolt and demands from Tory MPs. The concept of an amnesty has been gaining traction among MPs who complain there is a 'witch hunt' against former British soldiers (file picture) There are thought to be tensions between Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson on the issue Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley insisted there was 'no support' for a statute of limitations that only covered the province. The draft plans published today are based on a blueprint agreed by the Stormont parties and UK and Irish Governments in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. The implementation of the agreed mechanisms, which include a new independent investigation unit and a truth recovery body, has been delayed amid ongoing political discord in Northern Ireland. The consultation is a bid to inject some momentum into efforts to making those new bodies a reality, but it has become embroiled in controversy over what is not included in the document, rather than what is. Late last year, the Government, which is to spend 150million setting up the new institutions, indicated that a statute of limitations protecting security force members from historic prosecutions may be added to the consultation. The prospect of such a move was met by a wave of opposition in Northern Ireland. Both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists voiced concern, as did the Irish Government and representatives of the victims sector. The DUP and some military veterans in Northern Ireland made the point that any such statute would, by law, have to be extended to also cover former paramilitaries - something they branded unacceptable. Senior DUP figures favour protections for ex-service personnel as part of wider legislation that focuses on all conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. While the decision to remove the contentious proposal from the consultation was therefore widely expected in Northern Ireland, it has nonetheless generated opposition both within the Cabinet and on the Conservative backbenches. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is understood to be among ministers unhappy at the prospect of veteran servicemen being prosecuted. Tory MP Johnny Mercer told MailOnline the government had 'lost its moral compass' and the proposals were 'insane'. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley insisted today that the new mechanisms would be 'balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable'. While not publicly backing calls for an amnesty, Theresa May told MPs this week (pictured) that the only people currently being investigated over Troubles incidents were former security forces members Tory MP Johnny Mercer told MailOnline the PM must now step in and 'do the right thing' 'Since my appointment as Secretary of State, I have heard deeply moving stories about the suffering that victims and survivors have lived with for decades and the profound and lasting impact on individuals, families and communities. 'This consultation provides the opportunity to begin a process that has the potential to provide better outcomes for victims, survivors and their families. There is broad agreement that the current complex system does not work well for anyone and we are determined to put that right. 'In an area as sensitive as the troubled past in Northern Ireland, it is important that we recognise and listen to all views. Any way forward will only work if it can command confidence from across the community. She added: 'The people have been very clear to me in Northern Ireland - the way to address the legacy of the past, the way to address the legacy of the Troubles is for people to go through this process of understanding what happened, for victims to find out the truth and to see justice being done,' she said. 'That is what people have been clear they want, they don't want to draw a line in the sand and pretend it never happened - they want to deal with it this way and that's what I support.' While not publicly backing calls for an amnesty, Theresa May claimed earlier this week that the only people currently being investigated over Troubles incidents were former security forces members. She told the Commons that the current system in Northern Ireland is 'patently unfair'. There have been growing calls from MPs for an amnesty in recent years. They claim that recent prosecutions of former British soldiers are tantamount to a 'witch-hunt'. The consultation will close on September 10. Former AFL star Dane Swan has returned from Vanuatu with his girlfriend Taylor Wilson, after a leaked sex tape involving the star circulated on social media last week. The couple had pre-planned the trip and left Melbourne after the sex tape leaked, The Herald Sun reported. Brownlow medallist Swan, 34, has kept his head down in the wake of the scandal, but has reportedly lodged a complaint to police. Scroll down for video Former AFL star Dane Swan has returned from Vanuatu with his girlfriend Taylor Wilson The couple had pre-planned the trip and left Melbourne after the sex tape involving Swan, leaked Police have not confirmed whether the girl who circulated the video has charged, according to the publication. Swan has already flown to Perth for a talk event, Dane Swan Night, on Saturday night. The leaked sex tape, seen by Daily Mail Australia, has already been viewed thousands of times, with some viewers claiming Swan to be the past player involved. The Collingwood premiership player is understood to have lodged a complaint to police on May 2. He claimed to police the video was shared without his consent, according to The Herald Sun. The Collingwood premiership player (left) is understood to have lodged a complaint to police on 2 May The 34-year-old (left) reportedly lodged the complaint after viewing the video, in which a former AFL player is seen having consensual sex with a naked woman in bed In the video, the player involved tries to hide his face when he notices the woman filming him while they are kissing. It is not clear when or where the video was taken. A Victoria Police spokesman said the video was posted without consent and an investigation was under way. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Swan for comment. Uber Technologies Inv. hopes to use drones in San Diego to deliver food as part of an innovative commercial test program approved by the federal government on Wednesday. Dara Khosrowshahi, the company's chief executive officer, described how deliveries could be expected in between five to 30 minutes depending on if they were done by humans or drones. 'Push a button and get food on your doorstep,' he said, according to Yahoo Finance. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's chief executive officer, described how deliveries could be expected in between five to 30 minutes 10 state, local and tribal governments along with companies like Alphabet Inc., FedEx Corp., Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Uber were all selected by the U.S. Transportation Department to take part in commercial drone testing (stock) The executive was speaking to a crowd during an on-stage interview with Bloomberg at a Uber Elevate conference in Los Angeles when he said that Uber had become the largest food delivery business in the world. 10 state, local and tribal governments along with companies like Alphabet Inc., FedEx Corp., Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Uber were all selected by the U.S. Transportation Department to take part in commercial drone testing. The CEO has been a skeptic of the flying car program but seems to be playing a different tune as of late. Khosrowshahi said: 'It's my personal belief that a key to solving urban mobility is flying burgers, in any city. We need flying burgers' 'Uber can't just be about cars,' he said. 'It has to be about mobility. 'It's my personal belief that a key to solving urban mobility is flying burgers, in any city. We need flying burgers.' The hope is that the pilot program - a joint effort from NASA and the U.S. Army - will be ready to launch in 2020. Uber will not be building its own flying cars. Uber isn't the first company to test drone delivery. A company in Hong Kong called Food Panda already delivers food by drone in under 20 minutes. According to Food and Wine, they plan to expand to Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries. The hope is that the pilot program - a joint effort from NASA and the U.S. Army - will be ready to launch in 2020 In 2016, Dominos rolled out test drone delivery for a New Zealand location but has failed to implement the program in the United States. At the University of Virginia, Chipotle attempted to deliver meals to students and faculty on the campus. But no other major chain has successfully implemented the strategy as it stands at the moment. A white teenager filmed firing a gun and yelling racist profanity while driving will only get a slap on the wrist from his high school. The Chiles High School student shouted about attacking 'n****rs' as he shot the BB gun out the window while steering with his knees outside Tallahassee, Florida. Principal Joe Burgess said the student was spoken to and 'appropriately' disciplined but the school had little power to punish him as it was a civil matter. The Chiles High School student shouted about attacking 'n****rs' as he shot the BB gun out the window while steering with his knees outside Tallahassee, Florida The teenager will not be charged with any crime because a BB gun isn't technically a firearm so it wasn't a crime to shoot one, police said 'You know, if you have enough students and enough people you have things happen,' he told WCTV. 'Things are never going to be perfect, as a school we are imperfect people. We strive to be perfect, but we are imperfect people. Principal Joe Burgess said the student was spoken to and 'appropriately' disciplined but the school had little power to punish him or his friend who filmed it 'Unfortunately there is a tough lesson that they are going to have to learn from this that I don't think any lesson like that they would have got from school.' Mr Burgess said there was 'no threat to our campus at any time' and insisted the 'inappropriate' actions were 'not a reflection of our student body'. Local school superintendent Rocky Hanna said he was 'sickened' by with video as it spread across social media but it was out of the school's hands. 'Unfortunately, we have little jurisdiction over what takes place off campus, during non-school hours, while students are in the custody of their parents,' he said. 'Our schools have zero tolerance for bullying or hate speech of any kind. This off campus incident should be used to educate children that these actions and words are unacceptable in our society.' The teenager will also not be charged with any crime because a BB gun isn't technically a firearm so it wasn't a crime to shoot one, police said. Those who saw the video, including other Chiles High students, were outraged and demanded he be expelled. 'This reckless behavior can not be tolerated, and it does not reflect the values of all students at Chiles,' student body president Ernso Louissaint said. This was not the school's first racist episode as dozens of students flew Confederate flags on their cars and drove around campus last May 'I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by what I saw in that video.' This was not the school's first racist episode as dozens of students flew Confederate flags on their cars and drove around campus last May. All flags except the American flag were banned from campus after that, but students were frustrated that no one was ever punished. 'After really nothing happened to those who had Confederate flags and were using their 'freedom of speech,' everyone felt like it was okay,' Tellicia Mitchell said. A family have released the shocking transcript of a dying man's 999 call which ended with staff hanging up and then failing to find him. Ronald Russell was only discovered by a neighbour 17 hours later but it was too late to save the vulnerable 49-year-old. The full transcript of his call makes clear Ronald, from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, had collapsed and was loudly moaning. But the operator keeps asking Ronald for his phone number - even though it was automatically displayed - and even checks three times that he wanted an ambulance. His family have released the transcript as part of their bid to pressure the authorities into changing emergency call procedures. Ronald Russell (left, and right) was only found thanks to a neighbour 17 hours later but it was too late to save him They want the first question to be for information on the caller's address, rather than the number. The transcript suggests Mr Russell would have been able to provide his address in the first seconds of his call but could not remember his phone number. Speaking today Mr Russell's sister Margo Cassidy, 52, said: 'It was really devastating to read that, especially because I think most people imagine that when you phone an ambulance the first thing they will ask is, 'Where are you?' 'We knew he had phoned an ambulance because we had his mobile. 'When we met with the Scottish Ambulance Service the first time they told us that it had just been marked up as a silent call, but we got the transcript and when we found out that he was initially able to speak that made me really angry. Mr Russell's family have released a transcript of the 999 call at 5.45pm on July 4, 2017 'He died because of the lack of oxygen to his brain. 'If you imagine that he had been asked in the first instant where he was, the result could have been totally different. ' Mr Russell, who lived alone and had mental health issues, dialled 999 at 5.45pm on July 4, 2017 and had requested to for the ambulance service. The call handler asked: 'What's the telephone number you're calling from please?' Mr Russell replied: 'Can you hold on until I get that?' The call handler says 'Sorry?' and he continues: 'I've got this, I've I've got this, got it written down.' Mr Russell's sister Margo Cassidy said reading the transcript was 'really devastating' The call handler keeps on asking for the telephone number even though they already have it. At one point Mr Russell's response is recorded as: 'Ooooooh ohhh (incomprehensible sound from caller). Despite that the handler asks: 'Hello do you require an ambulance?' During the three-minute call, the handler says 'Hello?' five times without getting an answer. There is what is described as 'movement heard in the background' and then 'loud background noise'. Despite that the transcript makes clear the handler 'ended the call'. Three calls were made in an attempt to get Ronald back on the phone but there was no follow up by a supervisor to make an attempt at finding the address. The Scottish Ambulance Service's own incident report admits there could have been more attempts made to get Ronald's address. Tragically, Mr Russell lay for 17 hours until a concerned neighbour overheard his alarm clock, became concerned, and called an ambulance. He had suffered a stroke and died later in hospital. The SAS report states: 'It is evident on listening to the call that the call handler can hear noises and moaning. 'The correct process was followed by providing three calls back, however, due to the call handler knowing that the caller was on the line before it disconnects, there could have been more attempts to confirm the address - or for this to be highlighted to a supervisor. 'The supervisor stopped the call, whilst the notes were in the call advising that the call handler can hear noise in the background.' The Scottish Ambulance Service said: 'We have met with the family to discuss the case and to offer our sincere sympathies. 'A full review has been conducted to look at the handling of the call and this included meeting with the staff involved to identify learning. We have now also brought in new national procedures for calls with no confirmed location. 'Asking for a telephone number at the start of a call is vital as it enables our dispatchers to quickly ring back if a connection is interrupted. 'However, under the new procedures, call handlers will attempt to return a call three times; if this fails it is passed to a supervisor who will carry out further location searches using mobile phone triangulation and by contacting Police Scotland for assistance.' The country's ruling class are 'ashamed' of being English, a Tory former minister has said. Nick Boles said that he barely saw a single English flag in central London on St George's Day last month. And he called for ministers to do more to promote patriotism by flying the flag on public buildings on the saints day. Mr Boles, a Tory MP and former business minister, said it is 'bonkers' that English people are so afraid to celebrate their national identity. He told Daily Telegraph: 'I drove through Parliament Square on a bus on St George's Day this year and only place where I could see a St George's flag was on Westminster Abbey. 'There was I was surrounded by Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Treasury, the Foreign Office all the Great Offices of State there wasn't a St George's flag to be seen. Nick Boles (pictured in parliament last month) said that he barely saw a single English flag in central London on St George's Day last month 'It is completely bonkers and it is not surprising that people feel that the governing class is somehow a bit ashamed of English identity if we make such little effort.' He called on ministers to find 'small steps' to allow the English can mark their national identity. Mr Boles suggested that all public buildings in England government offices, courts, police stations, fire stations and town halls should be required to fly the national flag on St George's Day, April 23. People should also be allowed to put an English or Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh flags on the number plates to reflect where their cars were registered, he said. While English teams singing one of Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem or I Vow To Thee My Country rather than the British national anthem at sporting events. In 2014 Labour's then shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry (pictured outside her home) was sacked from the frontbench after mocking a family home with an England flag draped outside His comments come a month after a report found Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is ashamed to say 'England' for fear of appealing to racists. The English Labour Network - set up by Labour moderate MPs - ordered a study to look at how to champion patriotism. But the group which was founded last year, found that Labour is too scared to mention England, or celebrate St George's Day - which is today. The report warns: 'Labour's biggest single problem is we often don't mention England even when talking about England.' In 2014 Labour's then shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, was sacked from the frontbench after mocking a family home with an England flag draped outside. Mrs Thornberry was accused of holding working class voters in 'contempt' for sending a mocking tweet of a photograph of the home. Staff Sgt Logan Melgar, 34, died June 4 from asphyxiation and it has been reported that he was strangled by two members of the legendary SEAL Team Six, the miliary are now investigating The military is investigating whether two SEAL Team Six members played a role in the choking death of a Green Beret in Mali last year. Staff Sgt Logan Melgar, 34, died June 4 from asphyxiation and it has been claimed that he was strangled by two members of the legendary SEAL Team Six after he uncovered they had gone rogue and were pocketing slush fund money from a special forces operation in Mali. He stopped breathing around 5am and was rushed to a French clinic in the Western African nation. He was already dead when he arrived at the hospital, and the SEALs told investigators that he'd been involved in a drunken accident during combat training. The SEALs stories didn't add up however, and when Melgar's autopsy came back it showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death. Sources close to the investigation told The Daily Beast that shortly before his death Melgar told his wife, Michelle, that he had a bad feeling about the two SEAL team six members on the operation with him. Melgar stopped breathing around 5am and was rushed to a French clinic in the Western African nation SEAL Team Six is the special operations force famed for killing Osama Bin Laden in 2011. Melgar didn't give Michelle any other details over email, instead telling her that he'd give her the full story once he was home. Part of the intelligence gathering operation in Mali involved a fund used to pay informants. Two Special Operation sources told the Daily Beast that Melgar discovered the pair of SEALs were skimming off of the top of the dirty military money to keep for themselves. When he confronted them about it, sources say the pair told Melgar they could get him a cut of the money in return for his silence. He allegedly refused. It isn't clear what happened that sparked an altercation between Melgar and the two SEALs at around 5am on June 4. But the sources allege that things escalated to the point that Melgar ended up losing consciousness and eventually stopped breathing, suggesting that he was suffocated. In a panic the SEALs attempted to open an airway in Melgar's throat, officials claimed. When that failed to revive him, the two SEALs told another Green Beret on the operation that Melgar was unconscious, and the three of them took him to a French clinic for help. But Melgar was dead on arrival. It's not clear exactly when he died, but he died of asphyxiation. His body was found in a US Embassy Housing Room, the New York Times reported. His superiors suspected foul play and dispatched an investigating officer to the scene within 24 hours. The SEAL pair then tried to cover their involvement by telling superiors that Melgar was drunk during combat training - or hand-to-hand fighting exercises - and that is how he got himself knocked out and killed. But it was a bad excuse because the autopsy report eventually came back, proving that there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in the Green Beret's system. One source even claims he didn't drink in the first place. Brig. Gen Donald Bolduc, who is the Commander of the Special Ops Command-Africa, was allegedly skeptical of the SEALs stories and the initial reports about Melgar's death, and told commanders in Mali to preserve any evidence. Michelle was apparently also suspicious, three sources told the Daily Beast. She approached commanders about her concerns regarding his cause of death and allegation that he had been drinking. She also gave investigators the emails her husband sent her about the problems he was having with the two SEALs. Melgar, who was from Lubbock, Texas, served two tours in Afghanistan. He graduated from Texas Tech in 2006, and enlisted in the Army in 2012 as an off-the-street Special Forces recruit. He graduated from Special Forces Qualification in 2016. A Rockaway couple had a run in with the real-life Yogi Bear on Thursday morning - but he wasn't after a picnic basket. Christine Allen, who owns Mo'Pweeze vegan bakery in New Jersey, had left two dozen strawberry and chocolate raspberry cupcakes in her car overnight to prepare for an early morning delivery. Her husband Adrian told DailyMail.com the couple woke up at 2am to hear 'some munching outside' and saw the 300lb bear, but thought he had been digging through the neighbour's garbage. The next morning, Mr Allen walked outside and saw their son's car seat on the ground, along with things that had been in the trunk of the car. As he got closer, he saw the back passenger window had been smashed in. And while most of their belongings were still there, the cupcakes were gone. A Rockaway couple were surprised to discover the hungry bear had eaten their cupcakes on Thursday morning The bear smashed the window and pulled the boxes from the vehicle - clearly eating some as he went (pictured on the ground next to the car is chewed up cupcake and glass from the window) The bear (pictured) has broken the family's fence twice (pictured during an earlier trip to the Allen house) in separate visits to the home 'He took the boxes [of cupcakes] out and dragged them to a corner of the yard where he proceeded to open each and every one,' he said. Mr Allen said the bear is lucky he picked their cupcakes to munch on, and not someone else's. 'Our cupcakes are free from all gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and food coloring. They're also 100 per cent vegan, so apart from some cavities he should be okay,' he joked. This is not the first time the Allen family have come into contact with the neighborhood bear. 'We've encountered the bear twice in the last two weeks,' Mr Allen said. 'He broke down our fence on both occasions and broke into our basement to get at our garbage. 'This time I guess the smell of sweets was a treat for him.' Christine (left) and Adrian (right) own a vegan bakery, and the cupcakes were for an early morning delivery Mr Allen says the bear has visited a total of three times now. The first two times the fence was left broken, and this time the animal has smashed up his car Pictured: Icing sugar and shattered glass near the door of the Allen family's car The bear, which is known by most families in the neighborhood and has been active around the Allens' house since April 21 has now been upgraded to a Category One bear. Bears in New Jersey can be Category Three, which means they are harmless and don't interact with humans or property, Category Two, a 'nuisance bear' that does not threaten public safety, or Category One - a bear threatening public safety. Category One bears who are caught can be euthanized under state law, but Allen said they hope that doesn't happen. 'We love animals, and although he's a bit scary we just hope he is able to be relocated to an area where he won't be a danger,' he said. An asylum seeker in Germany killed a prostitute and robbed her two months after he should have been deported by authorities. Soueymane Sidiki, 23, is charged with murdering Romanian prostitute Lica Luminata, at her house in Regensburg on August 30 last year - German newspaper Bild reported. Sidiki, from Senegal, who was living in an asylum seekers refuge across the street, murdered the woman after being told by another person living there he should 'beat prostitutes unconscious and steal from them'. A court heard how Sidiki went to the woman's house and paid 50 euros for sex before smothering her with a pillow, taking back the money and stealing her phone. He fled the scene but was later caught by police in another asylum seeker's refuge on the Czech border after they managed to track him down using her phone signals. Soueymane Sidiki, 23, is charged with murdering the woman in the German city of Regensburg Lica Luminata was a Romanian prostitute who was living across the road from Sidiki's asylum seeker's refuge The court also heard how Sidiki had been allowed to remain in Germany because of an administrative error, Bild reported. He had seen his application for citizenship denied two months earlier on June 20 2017 - but German authorities found they were unable to deport him because he lacked the correct documentation. They were forced to send off an application to Senegal, his country of origin, to try and get him a new passport so he could leave the country. But the process soon became tangled in bureaucracy - resulting in significant time delays. Sidiki's lawyer, Robert Hankowetz, claims the process was delayed even further by the fact he had given German officials a fake name because he is wanted in Mali in connection with a traffic accident. Soueymane Sidiki's room in the asylum centre in Regensburg is pictured Ms Luminata was found by police having been smothered to death with a pillow by the murderer Sidiki was due to be deported two months earlier from Germany but the process was held up by an administrative error Hankowetz also claimed he only decided to rob the woman because he had a sick daughter back in Africa and was told by another man in his refugee accommodation he should 'go to the prostitutes across the street and beat them unconscious'. According to Hankowetz, Sidiki only discovered Ms Luminata had died when he was arrested and his lawyer said: 'He can hardly live with this guilt.' The verdict of the trial is due to be given on June 22 this year. Sidiki is facing life imprisonment over the murder. He has pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against him. Belgian parliamentarians David Clarinval, Georges Dallemagne and Els Van Hoof sent a letter to Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders titled Azerbaijan must stop political harassment against Kaspar Karampetian. May 11, 2018, 14:42 Azerbaijan must stop political harassment against Kaspar Karampetian - Belgian parliamentarians to Belgiums FM STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS:The full text of the letter runs as follows: Honourable Minister, Herewith we would like to draw your attention to the unacceptable and abusive nature of the international arrest warrant initiated by the Republic of Azerbaijan against Mr. Kaspar Karampetian, President of the Belgian non-profit organization European-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (hereinafter EAFJD) for having visited the Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh Republic. The EAFJD is a Brussels-based grassroots organization which is involved in civic activism to raise awareness and advocates i.a. for reducing the geopolitical isolation of the population of Nagorno Karabakh. It is within this framework that Mr. Karampetian carries out regular visits there. Honourable Minister, As you know, there is no norm in the international law which would prevent any Belgian or European citizen from visiting Nagorno Karabakh. We consider that visiting Nagorono Karabakh is essential in order to support the peaceful resolution of the conflict - the only acceptable outcome of the negotiations conducted under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. We therefore regret that the Azerbaijani authorities are using methods of intimidation, seeking to criminalize these visits, blacklisting visitors and declaring them persona non grata. We firmly believe that the request of the international arrest warrant against Mr. Karampetian addressed to Interpol evidently contains defamatory elements and is politically motivated persecution. This is highly regrettable and undermines our values. Honourable Minister, Azerbaijan is a country with which Belgium maintains diplomatic relations. In your capacity as the Minister of Foreign Affairs you work with your Azerbaijani counterpart, we therefore consider it important that you are informed about this, so that you could take action accordingly. Sincerely, David Clarinval Georges Dallemagne Els Van Hoof. A father and daughter in Philadelphia walked across the stage together to get their undergraduate degrees from Temple University Craig Manning, 47, and his daughter, 22-year-old Juliana, graduated from Temple on Thursday. Craig - who is known as Jamaica - graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in film and media arts with a concentration in cinematography. Craig Manning, 47, and his daughter, 22-year-old Juliana, graduated from Temple on Thursday Craig - who is known as Jamaica - graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in film and media arts with a concentration in cinematography. Juliana - who goes by Jay - graduated with a dual major of linguistics and creative writing with a focus in French and English creative writing and fiction Juliana - who goes by Jay - graduated with a dual major of linguistics and creative writing with a focus in French and English creative writing and fiction. 'I've attended about four or five different colleges to get to this point,' Craig said to Temple University News. 'Living overseas, you have limited choices and classes.' Craig was born in Jamaica - hence the name - before moving to New York and living in Staten Island. He moved to Germany for a year-and-a-half after his wife joined the military, before moving to Italy and England for a total of eight years. Temple would not be the father and daughter's first academic setting together as they both attended Bucks County Community College. While on the move from country to country, Craig acquired course credits proving that he was determined to make the most out of an education. Juliana was born while the Mannings were stationed in Italy. 'You would use two or three languages in a sentence,' the girl's mother - Johanny - said of Juliana. The family moved to Yardley, Pennsylvania, soon after their international stint. There they received associate's degrees before they transferred to Temple. But the duo chose to not take classes together at either of the schools, in hopes of staying away from competition Juliana joined the United States Army Reserves under the Corps of Engineers in 2014. She drove military vehicles while serving as an engineer and conducted communications and administrative work as well. But it was her passion for linguistics and writing that motivated her to go on and seek out a college degree. The college grad speaks Spanish, Latin, Italian and French fluently in addition to English. Juliana joined the United States Army Reserves under the Corps of Engineers in 2014 before turning to focus on her education Her most memorable memory in school - a study abroad trip she took to France. 'I could barely order food, and by the time I left, I was having conversations with people, and I could get jokes,' Juliana said. 'When you can get jokes, that's the pinnacle.' Temple would not be the father and daughter's first academic setting together as they both attended Bucks County Community College. There they received associate's degrees before they transferred to Temple. But the duo chose to not take classes together at either of the schools, in hopes of staying away from competition. Parts of what motivated Craig to continue on with his education, were the mentors who helped push him to succeed in classes like Moving Camera, Videography and Still Photography for Filmmakers. 'One professor that always stands out to me is Leann Erickson,' he said. 'She took the time to talk to me, and that I'll always remember.' The father hopes to use his degree to open a business that focuses on film and production. His daughter, on the other hand, she plans to take her talents abroad and teach English to students in Japan. Craig told WTXF that want to walk on graduation because he felt too old. He says his wife encouraged him, to show their three other children - 18-year-old Katherine, 15-year-old Alexander and five-year-old David - what it looks like when you achieve your goals Juliana is proud of Craig, however, and the fact that they got to graduate at the same time. 'It's a big moment, because he's been working at it for a really long time,' said the graduate. Craig told WTXF that want to walk on graduation because he felt too old. He says his wife encouraged him, to show their three other children - 18-year-old Katherine, 15-year-old Alexander and five-year-old David - what it looks like when you achieve your goals. Charlotte Laudat (pictured outside court last month), 31, launched the frenzied attack on her husband Simon, 40, after finding naked pictures of a woman in her 70s on his phone A children's fashion designer who slashed her husband eight times across the face leaving him with no choice to jump out of a window has been spared jail. Pregnant Charlotte Laudat, 31, launched the frenzied attack on her husband Simon, 40, after finding naked pictures of a woman in her 70s on his phone. At first she thought it was a joke, but he later admitted they were having an affair. After discovering the images on a property management course in Milton Keynes, the pair returned home to Finsbury Park, north London. It was there that Laudat pulled out a pair of scissors and said 'you're going to die tonight'. She was today given an 18-month prison sentence at Blackfriars Crown Court but allowed to walk free after it was suspended for two years. Laudat owns two fashion brands offering 'alternative edgy London street wear for children'. She is also a Women's Aid Campaign Champion. One brand is Baby Little Lott Newborn for babies up to two. She also has a range for children aged between three and 12 and Teen Little Lott London for children between 13 and 15. The court heard how the mother-of-two flew into a rage after calling the mistress, as Simon 'pleaded' with her to stop attacking him, grabbing her hair in a bid to wrestle the scissors off her. But to escape the ferocious attack, Simon jumped out of the first-floor kitchen window of their flat. Charlotte Laudat is pictured with her husband of 18 months Simon before she attacked him Simon Laudat (pictured outside court last month) had to jump out of a window and was left in a wheelchair after his wife assaulted him He shattered his ankles in the fall and now uses a Zimmer frame and wheelchair to get around. Laudat initially claimed her husband of 18 months had come at her first with the scissors and she only inflicted the wounds in self defence during the struggle on October 26 last year. The designer, who married her husband in April 2016, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and inflicting grievous bodily harm at an earlier hearing. Judge Jane Sullivan ordered Laudat to pay 5,000 compensation to her husband as well as 1,800 in court costs and issued a restraining order on her stopping her from contacting him. She was also ordered to complete a community order of 14 days and another 30 days of rehabilitation activities. Laudat (pictured) owns two fashion brands offering 'alternative edgy London street wear for children'. She is also a Women's Aid Campaign Champion Spared jail: Charlotte Laudat walked free from Blackfriars Crown Court today after a trial Advertisement A grandfather is reportedly suspected of shooting dead his wife, daughter and her four children before turning the gun on himself at a remote farm 15km from Margaret River. The grisly murder-suicide at the property in Osmington, Western Australia, early Friday morning shocked the nation, and is Australia's worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Police are focusing their investigations towards farm maintenance business owner Peter Miles, the husband of Cynda Miles, father of Katrina Miles and grandfather of her four autistic children aged between eight and 13 - who were all found dead at the 30 acre sustainable farm, The Australian reported. Investigators are establishing whether Peter killed three generations of his family before calling 000 at 5.15am and then taking his own life. The grandfather of four autistic children (pictured) who were found shot dead alongside three adults, including their mother, Katrina Miles (in red dress) and his wife Cynda Miles (back right) at a remote Margaret River farm is being investigated Three generations were found shot dead at the rural farm in Osmington including Katrina Miles and her four children (pictured together) aged between 8 and 13 Police are turning their investigations towards Peter Miles, the husband of Cynda Miles (left and right) and father of Katrina - who were found dead at the 30 acre sustainable farm in Western Australia early Friday morning The grisly murder-suicide at a remote farm house (pictured) in Western Australia shocked the nation as Australia's worst mass murders in two decades where police are establishing whether Peter killed three generations of his family before himself Police were met with horrific scenes when they arrived at the farm. Pictured: A shed on the farm Katrina is thought to have home schooled her four children, Taye, Ryan, Ayre and Kadyn, at the farm known as Forever Dreaming when they moved their after her marriage breakup. Katrina is believed to be estranged from her children's father, Aaron Cockman, who is a builder. Despite sharing on Facebook last month that her ex 'does not stop stalking (her)', authorities told the publication Mr Cockman, who is still alive, was not a suspect. The children's grandparents bought the farm, which is a short drive from Margaret River, Western Australia, in 2014 and planned to live a sustainable life with their daughter and grandchildren. The seven bodies were found in different locations on the remote property along Osmington Road at about 5am Friday. The children were found beside an adult in a shed which had been transformed into a living area. The children's grandparents (Cynda pictured) bought the farm in 2014 and planned to live a sustainable life with their family after their daughter's marriage breakup Katrina is thought to have home schooled her four autistic children, Taye, Ryan, Ayre and Kadyn Cockman who were aged between 8 and 13, at the farm known as Forever Dreaming (pictured) Katrina (pictured) is believed to be estranged from her children's father, Aaron Cockman, but despite sharing on Facebook last month that her ex 'does not stop stalking (her)', police said Mr Cockman, who is still alive, was not a suspect WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson described the incident as a 'significant tragedy'. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property had phoned police at 5.15am about an hour after nearby residents woke to the sound of gun shots. Two firearms were located at the scene and Commissioner Dawson confirmed that at least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds. 'Based on what we do know, this is clearly a tragedy... police located seven persons deceased. Four children and three adults,' he said on Friday. A neighbour told the ABC he had spoken to a man who lived at the property just hours before the bodies were found. 'I was talking to him on the phone last night, I was going to ask him to come over tomorrow. He seemed very vague,' he said. Commissioner Dawson said a 'male person' connected to the property (pictured) had phoned police at 5.15am about an hour after nearby residents woke to the sound of gun shots This image shows the kitchen of the remote farm where a mass-murder suicide was discovered early Friday morning Two adults were found dead outside a building on the rural property, before the bodies of four children and another adult were discovered inside. Pictured: A bedroom in the house This image shows a dirt road on the farm where police discovered seven dead bodies including four children on Friday morning Another neighbour, Felicity Haynes, told Daily Mail Australia that Cynda and Peter had moved to the countryside to build the sustainable farm as a home for Katrina, her daughter and three sons. 'Cynda and Pete moved out from town three years ago ... they had started to build a river farm and had done fabulous work growing their own vegetables and building dams,' she said. 'That's what makes it so tragic. They were building a self-sustainable farm to raise the family there.' A friend of Katrina told The Australian she 'worked tirelessly to provide her children with everything they needed'. 'I always admired her for her strength The kids were kind, gentle, smart and beautiful children.' Her mother Cynda was an active member of local community group Transition Margaret River which seeks a happier and more sustainable future. The well-loved local also owns a craft company, Soft Salvage, where she turned recycled materials into decorative pieces, news.com.au reported. Nearby residents said they heard gunfire around 4am but dismissed the sound as coming from kangaroo shooters (farm pictured) On the farm's website, Cynda Miles wrote of watching her grandchildren play with the animals. 'Forever Dreaming is our forever farm. It is here that we will grow as much of our food as we can, sit on the veranda and watch the birds, and watch the grandchildren immerse themselves in the animals and everything else that happens on a daily basis,' she wrote. Police were met with horrific scenes when they arrived at the 30 acre farm with two houses on Friday morning. Nearby residents said they heard gunfire around 4am but dismissed the sound as coming from kangaroo shooters. 'This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west,' Commissioner Dawson said. 'The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy.' Two firearms were located at the scene and Commissioner Dawson confirmed that at least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds A neighbour told the ABC he had spoken to a man who lived at the property just hours before the bodies were found Forensic officers comb the scene where four children and three adults were found shot dead on Friday at 5am local time Another neighbour who lives across the road from the property told Fairfax he hadn't heard anything unusual overnight. 'There was nothing much I could tell [police],' said the semi-retired farmer, adding he didn't know the residents very well. 'I'd seen who I assume was the father out in a paddock one day, on a tractor. But I didn't have the opportunity to say hello.' Julia Meldrum, deputy president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, told Daily Mail Australia the district was in deep shock. 'It's devastating,' the distressed mother-of-two said. 'It's just shock and devastating for the community. 'I actually feel like vomiting. The shire has a population of 14,000 people but each town is very close knit. Jan Walsh told Australian Associated Press they lived in a very 'caring town'. 'There's retired people who live down here, there's ex-farmers,' she said. 'It's just a wonderful place to live and everyone's so friendly. 'You wave to everyone coming down Osmington Road and you don't even know them.' WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE MASS SHOOTING - Investigations are turning to Peter Miles, the husband of Cynda Miles, father of Katrina Miles and grandfather of her four children all found shot dead - Police found seven bodies at the family farm in Osmington, 15 km from Margaret River in WA, after being called there just after 5am on Friday - Four of the victims were children, three were adults including Peter Miles - The victims suffered gunshot wounds - Two firearms were found at the scene - Katrina's estranged husband, Aaron Cockman, is not a person of interest - Locals say the family that lived at the farm were respected and contributors to the community - Osmington is in the Margaret River region, which is renowned for its surf breaks and vineyards - Osmington had a population of just 135 people in the 2016 Census - The region consists of a handful of roads, farms, vineyards, horse studs, holiday chalets, luxury accommodation, a small church, a five-star dog retreat and gourmet dining Advertisement Another neighbour who lives across the road from the property told Fairfax he hadn't heard anything unusual overnight 'In Margaret River there's a lot of children and a lot of young families. It'll be devastating for the community. It's touched many people, people I'm sure will know one another. 'The shire will be doing whatever we can to provide support and whatever else we can do in addition... I've got young children as well. It's just devastating.' Shire president Pamela Townshend said the town would struggle to come to grips with the horror. 'At the moment all we really know is it's a small community. Everyone knows everyone to some extent,' she said. 'It's an isolated rural area. There's no centre of town. Everyone comes into town to do their shopping. 'There's a lot of giving each other vegetables, cooking each other meals, looking after each other when they're ill - very connected in deep ways.' Julia Meldrum, deputy president of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, told Daily Mail Australia the district was in deep shock because of how peaceful the area is 'Everyone's involved in everyone else's business in a small town so it's going to be a huge shock for this town. 'The shire will provide as much support as we can for our town, for the community and for the remaining family members. 'There are community members already rallying to work out a support response for the family. We're already seeing this rallying. Councillor Townshend believed the deaths should lead to further debate about gun and family violence. 'Once again we are faced with this problem in families with gun violence and male violence, assuming it is male violence,' she said. 'We need to have it firmly on the table to talk about it and not just have it as an isolated mental health issue of one person. It's society's problem. Commissioner Dawson, who said there was no danger to the public, did not specify the ages of any of the victims Osmington, about 260km south of Perth, is a 10-minute drive east of the Margaret River township. The tiny community, which ABS data shows has about 135 residents, mostly consists of farmland properties and vineyards. Australia had not experienced a mass shooting massacre, defined as the death of five or more people, since 35 people were gunned down at Port Arthur in April, 1996. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. A UN race relations envoy sparked fury today as she claimed Brexit had made Britain more racist and fuelled a rise in anti-Semitism. Tendayi Achiume said the EU referendum had resulted in a rise in 'racial discrimination and intolerance'. And she pointedly said that anti-Semitic abuse and attacks surged last year in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Labour has been dogged by claims of anti-Semitism ever since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2016, with Jewish Labour MPs telling how they received death and rape threats after they spoke out. The Labour leader has vowed to do more to root out the abuse after backbenchers turned on him for allowing racism to fester among some of his supporters. MPs tore into Ms Achiume's claims that Brexit had made Britain more racist branding them 'complete rubbish' and 'not worth the paper they are written on'. Labour MP John Mann, chairman of the all party campaign group on anti-Semitism, told Mail Online: 'An ignorant and foolish claim which has literally no basis in fact. 'Quite extraordinary buffoonery.' The UN inspector has spent the past two weeks travelling the country speaking to victims of racism. Tendayi Achiume (pictured at a conference last year) said the EU referendum had resulted in a rise in 'racial discrimination and intolerance' Addressing a press conference in London today, she said suggested Britons are in a state of 'national panic' about terrorism - even though the UK was hit by five terror attacks last year killing dozens and injuring hundreds more. And she accused the UK of a string of failures which have fostered racism and inequality - singling out the Brexit vote for particular criticism. She said: 'I think the environment leading up to the referendum, during the referendum and after the referendum has made racial ethnicities more vulnerable to racial discrimination and intolerance.' UN rapporteur is Zambian academic linked to group which wants jails abolished The UN envoy who produced the report is a controversial figure who is a connected to a US pressure group that campaigns to abolish prisons. Zambian-born academic E Tendayi Achiume, 36, is UN special rapporteur on racism and related intolerance. She has close links to the LA campaign group Dignity and Power, which campaigns to abolish jails. Four years ago she claimed attacks against foreign nationals threatened the lives of refugees in countries including the UK, comparing it to Libya. Describing her mission previously, she said: Xenophobic discrimination and intolerance aimed at refugees, migrants and even British racial, religious and ethnic minorities will be an important focus. She is the latest in a string of dignitaries sent by various branches of the UN over the past decade who have criticised Britains human rights record. Among them was UN adviser Professor Yves Cabannes joined protesters at Dale Farm in Essex in 2011 to condemn the removal of hundreds of travellers from illegal pitches Two years later a UN housing rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, demanded an end to the bedroom tax that limited housing benefit for people with unused bedrooms in their homes. The Brazilian academic, who admitted making an animal sacrifice to Karl Marx during a witchcraft ceremony, said the cut was leaving people hungry. She stayed in a 300-a-night hotel during her visit to London. South African feminist Rashida Manjoo, UN special rapporteur on violence against women, attacked Britains boys club sexist culture in 2014. Earlier this year another special rapporteur, Canadian Leilani Farha, said Britain had a troubling attitude to social housing and suggested that the Grenfell Tower disaster showed that human rights laws were being broken. Advertisement She added: 'It is also important to draw attention to the increase in anti-Semitic hate speech and violence that accompanied and followed the referendum. 'In 2017, anti-Semitic incidents reached a record level in the UK, with 1,382 anti-Semitic incidents recorded nationwide by the Community Security Trust. 'This figure represents a 3 per cent increase compared to 2016, and was the highest annual total that the organisation recorded since it began gathering such data in 1984. 'The number of violent anti-Semitic assaults increased by 34 per cent compared to the previous year.' She said that online hate campaigns tended to single out high profile Jewish women, including MPs, subjecting them to a barrage of hate-filled abuse. And she also suggested that Britons are in a state of national panic over terrorism - even though the UK was hit by five terror attacks last year killing dozens. She said: 'In recent years, a series of terrorist attacks by individuals purporting to act in the name of Islam have served as triggers for national panic regarding Britain's security.' Ms Achiumealso said the Government's adoption of 'sweeping austerity measures' since 2010, which have 'disproportionately' affected ethnic minorities. She slammed Theresa May's 'hostile environment' policy which she oversaw in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration while Home Secretary. And she added that the picture for young black boys in Britain 'remains grim and has actually worsened'. Speaking at a press conference to mark the end of her trip, Ms Achiume said: 'The structural socioeconomic exclusion of racial and ethnic minority communities in the United Kingdom is striking. 'The harsh reality is that race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability status and related categories all continue to determine the life chances and wellbeing of people in Britain in ways that are unacceptable and in many cases unlawful. 'Austerity measures have been disproportionately detrimental to racial and ethnic minority communities. Unsurprisingly, austerity has had especially pronounced inter-sectional consequences, making women of colour the worst affected.' But today Tory MPs slammed the UN inspector for claiming Brexit had fuelled racism - and said she had completely misunderstood the vote. Iain Duncan-Smith, the former leader of the Tory party, told Mail Online: 'It is complete rubbish. These reports are always rubbish. 'Every single one of these UN rapporteur reports are not worth the paper they are written on they are a total waste of time. And she also suggested that Britons are in a state of national panic over terrorism - even though the UK was hit by five terror attacks last year killing dozens (pictured, floral tributes left to the victims of the Manchester bombing last May) 'The people who come here have always got an axe to grind.' Tory MP Peter Bone told Mail Online: 'There is no basis for that - she is just plain wrong. 'I think the person who made this claim that we are somehow more racist now is totally ill informed and doesn't understand Brexit.' He said that current immigration rules are discriminatory be cause they allow EU nationals to move to Britain freely while hitting other nationalities with strict controls. He said post Brexit a fair immigration system will be developed it make the system equal for al applicants - no matte where they are from. Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the influential backbench group of Brexiteers, the European Research group, said: 'The UN ought to have better things to do than issue tendentious reports abut the UK.' Hillary Clinton has been hard at work on the for-profit speaking circuit over the past few weeks, and on Friday the former secretary of state was back at it in Sydney at the Women World Changers series. One day after appearing alongside Julia Gillard in Melbourne, Clinton and the former Australian Prime Minister made the trip to the nation's capital for the last of three stops down under. Also making a repeat appearance was the outfit Clinton selected for the event, with the former first lady wearing the same blue jacket, navy slacks, scarf and heels she had on last week in New York City. Clinton chose however to tie her scarf behind her neck, which added volume to the neckwear behind her head just a few days after some speculated that she may be wearing a back brace. Scroll down for video Back in blue: Hillary Clinton wore the same coat and over-sized scarf she had on last Thursday to deliver a speech in Sydney on Friday (Clinton above on Friday) Tie-why: Clinton opted to tie her scarf behind her neck for her speech on Friday, leaving a large lump of fabric at the top of her back (above) Clinton couture: She has been exclusively wearing large scarves and 3/4 length coats ever since she suffered a hairline fracture in her wrist during a trip to India in March Bump-it: The protrusion seen through Clinton's jacket last week that led to speculation (above) Slide me Repeat viewing: The jacket Clinton wears in photos from Thursday (left) is the same one she appeared in on Friday (right), with the same scarf to top off the look Clinton's look was also remarkably similar to the one she displayed on Thursday in Melbourne. There she wore a stretch wool crepe jacket in blue once again that extended to the knee along with slacks and kitten heels. The jacket was a custom creation from Nina McLemore, and she finished the look off with an $1,100 cashmere-blend shawl from Hermes. And earlier in the week it was a fuchsia coat and yet another over-sized scarf for the first stop of the speaking tour in Auckland. Clinton's decision to wear a custom coat and repeat a look from last week will no doubt only fuel rumors that she has been wearing a back brace. It was the photos of Clinton wearing her jacket last Thursday in New York that first caused the speculation about a possible brace because of an odd protrusion which appears to be seen just below her neck. 'Hillary Clinton bullet-proof vest or back brace?' asked one person on Twitter. 'I recently noticed Hillary's new predilection for wearing scarves around her neck. Now she appears to be wearing some sort of back brace,' noted another individual. 'Before that she was wearing a cast on her arm and before that she was wearing a boot. Is Hillary falling apart before our eyes?' And on Friday, one person commented: 'Hillary Clinton spotted wearing yet another massive scarf after earlier photos showed she might be trying to hide a back brace.' Hermes-ing to see you: Clinton spoke in Sydney one day after appearing alongside Julia Gillard in Melbourne (Gillard and Clinton above) Ca$hmere: Clinton's jacket was a custom creation from Nina McLemore, and she finished the look off with an $1,100 cashmere-blend shawl from Hermes (above) The fuchsia is female: Clinton wore a similarly-lengthed coat and scarf when she stopped in Auckland for the first leg of her trip this week (above) Hey-llary: Clinton got her cast off before her trip, eight weeks after suffering a hairline fracture of the wrist (above on Monday with the former prime minister of New Zealand, Jenny Shipley) Clinton has been pairing scarves with almost all of her looks ever since she returned from India, where she suffered a series of falls that eventually required her to seek medical attention. She was treated for a broken wrist during that trip, which her spokesperson said was the result of a fall in her hotel bathtub. Hillary's tumble in the tub was actually her third fall of the trip, with the first two coming in Mandu as she struggled to maintain her footing while heading down the steps of the Jahaz Mahal Palace on Monday. She was quickly caught and kept upright by her Secret Service agents, who reacted with lightening speed. At that point Hillary decided to just take off her shoes on the steps of the palace before continuing on her way. Video of the incident hows that she did have a good deal of pressure placed on her right wrist when she caught herself with that hand during both falls. She then announced the following day that she would have to cancel a planned visit to Mehrangarh Fort after arriving in Jodphur. Hillary soldiered on after that fall, but when she lost her footing in the bathtub of her luxury hotel it was off to the hospital. An X-ray and a CT scan taken at the hospital revealed Clinton had a hairline fracture in her right wrist. Hillary flew commercial after her speech in Melbourne heading off to Sydney in her Hermes scarf and shades Female leader: Clinton also wore a scarf when she paid a visit to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, who is currently on maternity leave (above) Scarf-face: Clinton wore a tightly wrapped scarf around her neck and long coat back on April 22 when she spoke at the 14th Annual PEN World Voices Festival (above) Gumshoe: Clinton was last seen without the scarf on April 13 at the Women of the World Summit in NYC (above) Clinton was then given a plaster cast and told she was fine to continue with her travels but should report back for a check-up in three days. It was also noted in those local reports that Hillary may have been treated for pain in the wrist prior to her hotel room mishap. A spokesperson for the Umaid Bhawan Palace confirmed to DailyMail.com at the time that Hillary is staying at the property but claimed it was not where she broke her wrist. Clinton had her cast removed just before her trip, eight weeks after she was bandaged up by doctors in India. That is the normal recovery period for a hairline fracture. Her injury while travelling came just a few months after she was forced to wear a surgical boot following a bad spill while travelling abroad. Clinton tumbled down some stairs while wearing a pair of heels and broke her toe back in October her spokesperson said at the time. She had been in London at the time promoting her book What's Happened. There have been no mishaps on this recent trip however, and Clinton is now heading home. Surveillance footage has surfaced showing the end result of a road rage incident that resulted in a shootout outside a Georgia Walmart. Authorities said the incident occurred on April 30, when Jermaine Davis, 23, got into a verbal disagreement with Samuel Jones, 62, in the parking lot of a Walmart in Cobb County, Georgia. Davis then allegedly punched Jones, who responded by pulling out his gun and shooting Davis. Surveillance footage has surfaced showing the moment when Jermaine Davis, 23, and Samuel Jones, 62, got into a fight, which turned into a shooting in a Georgia Walmart parking lot In the surveillance footage, which was obtained by Channel 2, Davis appears to hit Jones, who then shoots Davis twice. Najee Trujillo, 21, said Jones shot her boyfriend, Davis, in the chest and back. She then shot at Jones using her own gun. 'After my boyfriend hit the ground, he was still pointing his weapon as if were going to shoot again, and I fired my gun at him and that point he began to shoot at my car,' Trujillo said. Trujillo drove Davis to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wounds, CBS46 reported. Davis now faces a misdemeanor battery charge. Police said Jones acted in self defense Davis' girlfriend, Najee Trujillo, 21, said that she returned fire at Jones after he shot Davis Jones was not injured during the fight, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. According to Trujillo, the road rage incident initially kicked off prior to the shooting, after Jones nearly crashed his car into the car that Davis and Trujillo were driving, then started to yell at them. The actual physical confrontation took place later, when both Davis and Jones encountered each other again in the Walmart parking lot. Authorities said that it was clear that Davis had started the physical confrontation between the two men, however. Davis is said to be recovering from his wounds at home, but faces a misdemeanor battery charge. Police said that Jones was acting in self defense when he shot Davis. Jeremy Bedford-Turner, 48, denies that a speech outside Downing Street, during which he also blamed Jews for both World Wars and the Kray twins, could stoke racism An Army veteran who encouraged his 'soldiers' to liberate England from 'Jewish control' has claimed at his trial for allegedly stirring up racial hatred that DNA evidence showed Jack the Ripper was a Jew. Jeremy Bedford-Turner, 48, denies that a speech outside Downing Street, during which he also blamed Jews for both World Wars and the Kray twins, could stoke racism. Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, the alleged white supremacist denied he was talking about Jewish people generally, and instead said he was discussing the 'Jewish power structure'. Claiming the media was controlled by Jews who cover up bad publicity for the race, he cited the notorious 19th century serial killer as an example. Prosecutor Louis Mably QC asked: 'Are you saying you, Mr Bedford-Turner, cracked the greatest mystery in the annals of British crime and identified Jack the Ripper?' Bedford-Turner, who spent 12 years in the British Army where he was a linguist speaking Pashtu and Arabic, said there was DNA evidence that the killer was a Polish Jew. Judge David Tomlinson took him to task on this, saying artist Walter Sickert had also been identified as the serial killer based on supposed genetic material by writer Patricia Cornwell, who was talking 'absolute nonsense'. Bedford-Turner said he was not aware of similar evidence against a fellow Englishman, conceding: 'I'm not an encyclopedia.' Under pressure from the prosecutor, Bedford-Turner said he was addressing people of 'nationalist mindset' who were white, with the speech, and defended his supporters on the day of the speech flying 'white pride worldwide' flags. The defendant, who said he studied at the London School of Economics, told jurors he was against races mixing biologically. 'I believe blacks should breed with blacks and whites should breed with whites,' he said. 'I would encourage people not to interbreed.' The jury was shown a recording found on YouTube of the 15-minute speech, which took place in Whitehall during a rally against Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim on July 4, 2015 Becoming increasingly enthused, Bedford-Turner tells the crowd: 'Let's free England from Jewish control. Let's liberate this land. 'Don't worry about Iraq and Syria and countries beyond the sea. 'Listen soldiers, listen to me. It's time to liberate our country.' In the speech Bedford-Turner also claims politicians are 'a bunch of puppets dancing to a Jewish tune' and calls former prime minister Tony Blair a 'Jewish puppet extraordinaire'. The trial of Bedford-Turner, of no fixed abode, continues. The White House is facing mounting pressure to fire an aide who mocked Republican Sen. John McCain's failing health. The senator's daughter Meghan joined a chorus of high profile voices who have criticized Kelly Sadler after she told colleagues in an internal meeting that Donald Trump shouldn't worry about Sen. McCain's opposition to CIA director-designate Gina Haspel's nomination. 'He's dying anyway,' she said. Former Vice President Joe Biden said that the comments were evidence that 'decency' in the White House had hit 'rock bottom'. While former President Bill Clinton praised Sen. McCain as 'one of the most remarkable patriots our country had ever produced.' 'Nobody's going to remember you', a furious Meghan McCain, a regular co-host on 'The View,' said on the show Friday. The comments come after the White House confirmed that surrogate communications staffer Sadler still had her job. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that Sadler still works at the White House. 'Yes, she does,' Sanders said. Not amused: Meghan McCain (left) appeared on The View on Friday and hit out at White House official Kelly Sadler (right), who was quoted as mocking John McCain's cancer battle McCain, 33, marveled that Sadler has been allowed to keep her job after saying at a meeting that her father's opposition to a Trump nominee didn't matter because 'he's dying anyway' Sanders initially dodged the question, refusing to talk about personnel matters or to 'validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting, one way or another.' But she ultimately told a dogged White House press corps that there had been no sacking in the West Wing over the latest scandal to rankle the president. McCain is recovering from brain surgery in Arizona, and has begun to talk publicly about his wishes for his funeral. Should he be healthy enough to return to Washington, he could cast a deciding vote in a tough roll call on Haspel's nomination. Sadler has yet to comment about her flippant jab at McCain. Neither she nor the White House has apologized to the McCain family. Meghan McCain said on The View Friday that Sadler is unimportant and unlike her father won't be remembered for long. 'Kelly, here's a little news flash, and this this may be a bit intense for 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday,' Meghan McCain declared, but we're all dying. I'm dying, you're dying, we're all dying. ... I really feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it's now how you die, but how you live.' 'The thing that surprised me most,' she continued, 'is I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in where that would be acceptable, and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job.' While McCain has not addressed Sadler's comment, his wife Cindy (pictured together in 2008) was quick to speak out on Twitter She tweeted a stern message directly to Sadler on Twitter on Thursday to hit back at the joke 'My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,' she said. 'These people? Nothingburgers. Nobody's going to remember you.' On Thursday the senator's wife Cindy hammered Sadler on Twitter, writing: 'May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.' The following day, reporters caught up with former President Bill Clinton as he left the Pierre hotel in New York City, to ask his opinion on Sadler's comments. 'In my lifetime he had one of the most remarkable patriots our country had ever produced,' Clinton told TMZ. 'I love the guy, and we've had our disagreements, but if it hadn't been for John McCain I don't think I would have had the ability to end the Vietnam War,' he said, referring to his full accounting of MIAs during his presidency and bringing an end to the trade embargo. Former Vice President Joe Biden released a statement condemning Sadler's comment at the expense of the war hero. 'People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday,' Biden said. 'John McCain is a genuine hero - a man of valor whose sacrifices for his country are immeasurable. As he fights for his life, he deserves better - so much better,' he continued. 'Given this White House's trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule; she is the epitome of it.' Former Vice President Joe Biden (right, in Washington this week) said that the comments were evidence that 'decency' in the White House had hit 'rock bottom', While former President Bill Clinton (left, on Friday in New York) praised Sen. McCain as 'one of the most remarkable patriots our country had ever produced' There has been mounting pressure for the White House to fire the staffer over her shocking comments The White House hasn't denied the accuracy of reports about Sadler's comment to a group of two dozen fellow communication staffers. It issued a tepid statement praising the anti-Trump war hero McCain, who has called the president the equivalent of a tinhorn dictator. 'He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,' McCain writes in his forthcoming memoir. 'The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values.' A White House official tried to take the high road, saying in a statement that '[w]e respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.' There was 'discomfort' in the room after Sadler made light of McCain's diagnosis, one of the sources added. Sadler is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times who now focuses on illegal immigration for The White House. The mother-of-three is married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as Carly Fiorina's campaign manager for the 2016 election. A source said that press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was not present at the meeting, which was led by deputy press secretary Raj Shah. Sadler's comments came after McCain released a public statement on his official website denouncing Trump's decision to nominate Gina Haspel for CIA director. McCain urged the Senate to reject Haspel for the position, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration. Two sources who spoke to the Hill confirmed Sadler's comment and said they believe she had been trying to make a joke which 'fell flat'. She is pictured here with her husband There was 'discomfort' in the room after Sadler made light of McCain's diagnosis, one of the sources added 'Like many Americans, I understand the urgency that drove the decision to resort to so-called enhanced interrogation methods after our country was attacked,' he wrote. 'I know that those who used enhanced interrogation methods and those who approved them wanted to protect Americans from harm.' 'I appreciate their dilemma and the strain of their duty. But as I have argued many times, the methods we employ to keep our nation safe must be as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world.' McCain went on to say he found Haspel's role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans to be 'disturbing'. 'Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination,' he wrote. Sadler's comments came after McCain released a public statement on his official website denouncing Trump's decision to nominate Gina Haspel (pictured) for CIA director McCain urged the Senate to reject Haspel for the role, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration President Trump, however, praised Haspel's performance and released a contrasting statement hours after McCain President Trump, however, praised Haspel's performance and released a contrasting statement to social media just hours after McCain. 'Gina Haspel did a spectacular job today. There is nobody even close to run the CIA!' he tweeted. The topic of torture hits especially close to home for McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Trump made headlines in 2015 when he said McCain wasn't truly a war hero. 'He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured,' the future president proclaimed. Bad blood has only continued to brew between the two men, as it was recently revealed McCain does not want Trump to attend his funeral. People close to the Arizona senator told the White House last week that McCain wanted Vice President Mike Pence to attend in Trump's place. Retired Air Force Lt Gen Thomas McInerney also made a controversial comment about McCain on Thursday, saying on Fox Business that torture 'worked on John' McCain's wife took to Twitter to hit out on Fox Business host Charles Payne, writing: 'Please choose your guest more wisely', after McInerney's controversial appearance Both Barack Obama and George W Bush have been invited and will give eulogies at the memorial. Sadler wasn't the only person who made a controversial comment about McCain on Thursday. Retired Air Force Lt Gen Thomas McInerney defended Haspel and the use of torture while taking a dig at the Arizona senator during an appearance on Fox Business. 'It worked on John,' he said of torture. 'That's why we call him 'Songbird John''. 'Those methods can work and they are effective. If we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.' WHO IS KELLY SADLER? Before she mocked John McCain's terminal brain cancer, few had heard of the name Kelly Sadler. Sadler is a special assistant to President Donald Trump who now focuses on illegal immigration for The White House. Before beginning work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sadler was an editor and writer at The Washington Times for three years. She also previously worked as a reporter at Bloomberg. The mother-of-three is married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as Carly Fiorina's campaign manager for the 2016 election. Source: Newsweek Advertisement McCain has always maintained that he never cooperated with his captors and instead gave them the names of Green Bay Packers players. As she did with Sadler, Cindy McCain took to Twitter once again to hit out at Fox Business host Charles Payne, writing: 'Please choose your guest more wisely'. Meanwhile, Sen Lindsey Graham has revealed that McCain continues to be in good humor as his battle against brain cancer continues. The South Carolina senator, who spent several days this week with McCain in Arizona, said he will 'be with us for awhile to come'. Graham told the Associated Press that McCain continues to keep tabs on current events and that the pair watched movies and talked about the future. He added that McCain is stabilizing after a recent emergency surgery and is 'always looking for the next battle'. President Donald Trump was told years ago about abuse allegations against former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, according to a lawyer who has written the judge overseeing the Michael Cohen case. New York lawyer Peter Gleason revealed his contacts with Trump about Schneiderman in a letter to Judge Kimba Wood seeking that files concerning him remain sealed. FBI agents raided Cohen's home and office last month as part of a criminal investigation, swooping up boxes of the legal files of Trump's longtime personal attorney. According to Gleason, this included contacts between him and Cohen about 'two women that were sexually victimized by Mr. Scheinderman.' BETTER CALL A REAL ESTATE MOGUL: Attorney Peter Gleason, a former NYPD officer, says he contacted Trump after learning of abuse allegations against AG Eric Schneiderman. He says he didn't call the district attorney because of its poor record on political corruption Schneiderman stepped down as New York state attorney general this week just hours after the New Yorker reported on four women who accused him of hitting and slapping them. Schneiderman denied abuse and said he was only engaging in role-playing. Gleason writes that Trump was given information about Schneiderman years ago and that he spoke to Trump lawyer Michael Cohen about it. Trump published a cryptic tweet about Schneidermanin 2013 Trump tweeted about Schneiderman in 2013, comparing him to two disgraced New York politicians but merely referencing what he claimed to know about him. 'Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone - next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner,' wrote Trump. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner stepped down amid a sexting scandal, and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned after a prostitution scandal. Gleason says he contacted the New York real estate magnate after speaking to two women who were 'sexually victimized by Mr. Scheinderman' Gleason doesn't want the content of his conversations with Michael Cohen revealed Gleason's tale of what he did with the information involves several colorful New York characters of the 80s ad 90s. After he learned the information, he approached retired longtime New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy. 'At first glance the logical recommendation would have been to report this matter to the Manhattan District Attorney,' he explained. 'Unfortunately, I had to advise this woman against reporting the incident to the Manhattan District Attorney Office' due to what he said was it past experience ignoring 'political corruption.' When Gleason got information about alleged sexually inappropriate behavior by Schneiderman, he says he was advised by Steve Dunleavy to contact Donald Trump Gleason wrote the judge overseeing the Michael Cohen case seeking that any documents about him and women accusers of Schneiderman remain under seal Gleason wrote the judge overseeing the Michael Cohen case seeking that any documents about him and women accusers of Schneiderman remain under seal Instead, he sought out Dunleavy, who retired from the Post in 2008 after 41 years working for owner Rupert Murdoch. Dunleavy 'suggested and offered to discuss the matter with Donald Trump. Mr. Dunleavy did indeed discuss this very matter with Mr. Trump as evidenced by a phone call I received from Attorney Michael Cohen,' Gleason wrote. He writes that during his communications with Cohen, 'I shared with him certain details of Scheinderman's vile attacks on these two women. The extent of Mr. Cohen memorializing any of our communications is unknown. However, these two women?s confidentiality, as victims of a sexual assault, should be superior to that of any unrelated subpoena,' Gleason writes. He asks that any communications with him remain sealed. Gleason ran a write-in campaign against District Attorney Cy Vance. Schneiderman tried to sue Trump University for fraud in 2012 and filed a federal complaint against it. The issue became a headache during his presidential campaign, and Trump ultimately paid a $25 million settlement with former students. Embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has another decision to answer for: dining at the Vatican last year with a Catholic cardinal who was under investigation for multiple allegations of child sex abuse. Cardinal George Pell ate with Pruitt, top EPA policy adviser Samantha Dravis and EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson on June 7, 2017, according to documents obtained by the Sierra Club, a progressive environmental group, through a Freedom Of Information Act demand. Leonard Leo, a lawyer with the conservative Federalist Society, also attended the dinner. Leo has been instrumental in vetting and choosing federal court nominees for the Trump administration, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. The five-star restaurant event was not on the EPA's official schedule for that day, but emails show the encounter with the high-profile accused pedophile was being planned for weeks. Scroll down for videos EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt broke bread with Cardinal George Pell last year even though the agency knew he was under investigation for child sex abuse Pell, who was in charge of the Vatican's finances before returning home to Australia to face criminal charges, will face jury trials in cases involving alleged incidents in a swimming pool and at a Catholic cathedral The New York Times reported Friday that the EPA was aware before Pruitt's trip that Pell had been under investigation for years but scheduled the get-together anyway. President Donald Trump was asked Friday by a reporter during a White House meeting with auto executives whether he still has confidence in Pruitt. 'Yes I do,' he responded. Pell, a 76-year-old cleric, faced a court magistrate on May 1 in his native Australia, pleading not guilty. There will be separate jury trials in two cases related to accusations of sexual misconduct in a swimming pool in the 1970s and at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia in the 1990s. Pell's bail conditions require him to stay in Australia and give police 24 hours' notice if he changes addresses. He is also forbidden to make any contact with prosecution witnesses. The details of the accusations against Pell have not been made public, but police have described the alleged incidents as 'historical' suggesting they are from decades ago. It's unclear why Pruitt, a Southern Baptist, would risk public exposure of his meeting with Pell. But the cardinal was in charge of the Vatican's finances, making him in effect the number-three official in the Holy See. Pruitt's Vatican trip itinerary included other meetings with different pontifical officials. It also mentions a tour of the Sistine Chapel to examine its air filtration system, installed by the U.S. firm Carrier and an up-close look at the Vatican's solar panels. President Trump was asked Friday if he still has confidence in Pruitt and said yes Pell is the highest ranking church leader to be publicly accused of child sex abuse. The Vatican, a sovereign nation, does not have an extradition treaty with Australia. But Pope Francis granted him leave to return home voluntarily. Before his elevation to cardinal, Pell was the archbishop of both Melbourne and Sydney. In Melbourne he set up a special council in 1996 to address accusations of sexual misconduct with minors, but was widely criticized for providing little support to victims and limiting their individual compensation to $50,000. Pell persistently annoyed progressives in the Church by resisting moves to ordain women, permit Catholic divorce and relax ecclesiastical law on abortion. He also famously refused communion to gay activists. 'Homosexuality we're aware that it does exist,' Pell said in 1990. 'We believe such activity is wrong and we believe for the good of society it should not be encouraged.' In 2002 he was accused of sex abuse against a 12-year-old boy but a lack of forensic evidence led prosecutors to drop the complaint. Eleven years later he faced a probe related to between five and 10 complaints, all from boys, covering alleged sex abuse from the years between 1978 and 2001. It is unclear whether the agreement to allow 300,000 Filipinos is limited to domestic workers or includes other jobs. At present, some 200,0000 Filipinos work in Chinas underground economy. It is unclear whether theyd benefit from an amnesty. Two years ago, the first Filipino domestic workers appeared in a number of Chinese cities. Rights groups are concerned about their rights. Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) China and the Philippines are close to an agreement that could double to 500,000 the number of Filipinos working in China. The landmark agreement would grant legal employment status to 300,000 Philippine nationals, said William J Lima, Manilas special envoy to China, and it is expected to be signed by the end of this year, Appointed by Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte to deal with Beijing on a range of key economic and trade issues, Mr Lima estimated that around 200,000 Filipinos were already working illegally in China, most of them domestic workers. With the 300,000 we expect to be permitted to work legally in mainland China under the deal, added to the 200,000 black market workers we estimate are already working there, that would make the total number close to half a million, he said. However, he did not explain whether the deal to create 300,000 legal positions was limited to domestic workers or extended to other types of employment, nor did he say if unauthorised Filipino workers in China would be granted amnesty. For now, some small issues remain to be ironed out, like the differences in employment-related health service provisions available in China and the Philippines. Speaking about the issue last month, Filipino Labour and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello said that China needed Filipino cooks, carers, domestic workers, musicians and nurses. In fact, right after Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Filipino counterpart Duterte in Hainan province at the Boao Forum last month, senior Chinese and Philippine officials inked a memorandum of understanding on the employment of Filipinos to teach English in China. Chinas Foreign Ministry said that both sides were agreed upon in the memorandum but did not say if Filipinos can work in other areas. Unlike Hong Kong, whose doors are open to foreign domestic workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries of Southeast Asia, mainland China has always adopted a different policy. Only two years ago did some of them start to arrive in mainland cities. Eman Villanueva, spokesman for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, warned that Filipino domestic workers may leave Hong Kong for teaching jobs on the mainland because many of them were teachers in the Philippines before coming to the city. In mainland China, they would be paid $ 1,500 US per month. What is more, the monthly minimum wage for domestic workers in Hong Kong is HK,410 (US$ 560). Employment agency bosses have said unauthorised maids in the mainland are paid 6,000 to 7,000 yuan (US0 to US,100) a month. Allan Bell, chairman of the concern group Hong Kong Domestic Workers Roundtable, said Filipinos keen to work on the mainland needed to be careful about bogus contracts where they are promised a teachers job, but end up with another, lower-paid, job. Foreign domestic workers are facing issues in getting fair treatment in Hong Kong even with a robust legal system and professional law enforcement. The situation in China may be very different, he said. Currently, some 10 million Filipinos work abroad. Through their remittances, they contribute to the countrys economic development. In the past, their revenues also saved the Philippines from financial crisis and remain a cornerstone of the national economy. According to the Philippines central bank, Filipinos abroad sent home at least 1,400 billion pesos (US$ 2.6 billion) between January and November last year. Rudy Giuliani, one of President Donald Trump's attorneys, says he is 'quite certain' the president did not know Michael Cohen was trying to sell his insight into the president. Giuliani told The Associated Press on Friday that Trump was 'surprised' to learn that Cohen, his longtime attorney and self-described fixer, brokered deals with companies looking to gain his knowledge about the president. Asked if the president was aware that Cohen was trying to sell influence and knowledge of the president, Giuliani said: 'The answer is that I am quite certain he didn't.' The former New York City mayor, who is part of the outside legal team representing Trump in the Russian election meddling investigation, said he asked Trump about one of Cohen's clients, a firm with ties to a Russian oligarch, the day the story broke. 'He knew nothing about it,' Giuliani said, adding that he had yet to ask Trump about some of the other corporations that paid Cohen, including telecom giant AT&T. Cash for knowledge: Michael Cohen used his long-time role as Trump's fixer and lawyer to pitch himself as able to provide 'insight' to the newly-elected president New attorney: 'I haven't talked to him in detail except for the first day it came out. When it first came out, he was surprised,' Giuliani said of the scandal engulfing Cohen 'I haven't talked to him in detail except for the first day it came out. When it first came out, he was surprised,' Giuliani said. Giuliani also said it not appear Cohen took any steps to advance the interests of the companies that paid him and did not speak to the president on their behalf. 'There doesn't seem to be any involvement with us,' he said. Cohen's deals netted him at least $4 million and saw him signed up by AT&T and Novartis, the pharmaceutical giant. Both companies have apologized and in AT&T's cases ousted the executive who signed the deal. Giuliani also said that any preparation with Trump for a possible interview with investigators would likely be delayed until after the June 12 summit in Singapore because 'I wouldn't want to take his concentration off something far, far more important.' Trump's lawyers haven't decided whether it would be in the president's best interests anyway to speak with Mueller. Giuliani said that he had hoped to resolve that question by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment, but that was no longer feasible. 'Several things delayed us, with the primary one being the whole situation with North Korea,' Giuliani said. 'The president has been very busy. It really would be pretty close to impossible to spend the amount of time on it we would need.' Though Giuliani would not provide an exact date as to when a determination would be made about the interview, he said 'it would be silly to make a decision' before the much-anticipated summit. He said that the demands on Trump's time meant that his legal team had 'not done a lot' in terms of preparing the president for a possible in-person interview. 'It would take a while and he's focused on North Korea,' said Giuliani. A number of Trump allies, including Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, have recently stepped up calls for Mueller's investigation to wrap up, suggesting it was interfering in the president's ability to do the country's business. All waiting for Kim: The June 12 summit with the North Korean leader who met Mike Pompeo this week and released three American prisoners means that Trump has no time to prepare for a Mueller interview and his legal team have made no decisions on whether one will take place No questions: Giuliani predicted Jared and Ivanka will not be interviewed by Mueller Mueller's team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsel's office has charged 19 people - including four Trump campaign advisers - and three Russian companies. Both Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. A number of other former White House and campaign staffers, like Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, as well as Inauguration Day committee chairman Tom Barrack, have been interviewed. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, demurred when asked if Trump would consider it a 'red line' for his children to be interviewed. His daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared, Kushner, both worked on the campaign and are senior advisers at the White House, while Trump's adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also leading figures on the campaign. Giuliani said he did not expect those interviews with Mueller to take place. 'Our understanding is that he's pretty much finished,' Giuliani said. 'Doing more interviews would be inconsistent with what he's indicated would be the timeframe of the investigation.' 'As far we know, we're basically the last witness,' the former mayor said, though he did not elaborate as to whether he meant for the possible obstruction of justice component of the investigation or the entire probe. It's over: Rudy Giuliani claimed of Robert Mueller: 'Our understanding is that he's pretty much finished.' The special counsel's office has not outlined the duration of the probe. Mueller's investigation has operated largely in secrecy with the public only getting glimpses into its operation through witnesses who are questioned or when indictments and guilty pleas are publicly unsealed. Though Giuliani left the door open for an interview, Trump has recently signaled a more confrontational legal strategy against the probe, ripping into what he dismissed as an investigation into a 'made up, phony crime.' Trump's tweets this week were fresh evidence that the cooperative approach Mueller that had been advocated by the president's legal team for months has gone by the wayside. It also revealed the president's anxiety about how the investigation could sway voters as they decide whether to keep congressional Republicans in power or force him to face an aggressive Democratic majority. 'The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice...and just wait 'till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!' Trump wrote Monday. Trump appeared to be drawing attention to a federal judge's questioning last week of Mueller's authority in a case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. But it was unclear what legal action Trump was referring to that would touch on 'unrevealed' conflicts of interest. Mueller is a longtime Republican, but some members of his team have made political contributions to Democrats, including to Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2016 election. Mueller could not have barred them from serving on the team based solely on their political contributions. Federal regulations and Justice Department policy prohibit the consideration of political affiliation in hiring and other personnel actions involving career attorneys. In congressional testimony, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has defended Mueller's team against criticism that it was politically tainted. 'We recognize we have employees with political opinions. And it's our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions,' Rosenstein said, adding: 'I believe that Director Mueller understands that and that he is running that office appropriately.' Passengers are facing travel chaos after Luton airport staff voted to strike during the May Bank Holiday weekend in disputes over pay and zero hour contracts. The Unite union warned of disruption to flights unless a series of rows with the airport and contractors are resolved. The industrial action will take place at different times between 7am on May 25 and 6.30am on May 30. Passengers could face travel chaos after Luton airport staff voted to strike during the May Bank Holiday weekend in disputes over pay and zero hour contracts Unite officer Jeff Hodge said: 'Luton airport now faces severe disruption unless management get around the table and negotiate a fair deal which recognises the contribution workers make. 'Turnover at Luton airport is up, company profits are up and passenger numbers are up. This April alone saw passenger numbers growing to 1.3 million people. That's the 15th consecutive month of over a million passengers passing through the airport. 'Workers at Luton airport deserve a decent rate of pay for their work and to be treated fairly by management. 'These ballot results demonstrate that members will no longer accept paltry pay and unfair treatment while their bosses constantly squeeze every last penny to boost profits.' Workers directly employed by Luton airport in several different roles including firefighters and security guards voted overwhelmingly for strike action. Unite members at Menzies Aviation, which undertakes baggage handling, also voted in favour of strike action over pay. Workers employed by Clece Care Services Ltd, which provide assistance at the airport to passengers with reduced mobility, also backed industrial action over zero hours contracts and pay. The Unite union warned of disruption to flights unless a series of rows with the airport and contractors are resolved Luton airport said in a statement: 'We are disappointed that Unite members have chosen this course of action and recognise the uncertainty this news will cause for our passengers. 'We are working with the 73% of staff who did not vote to strike, to mitigate the impact of any action. 'We also remain committed to continuing discussions with Unite in the interim before any such action can take place. We will keep passengers regularly updated via our website.' The airport said it had offered a 2.5% pay increase plus 150 for every employee to be paid in July 2018, adding: 'Next Tuesday, our leading profit share scheme will pay every qualifying employee 5,145.' London Luton Airport Firefighters will be striking from 7am Friday May 25 until 7pm Saturday May 26 while security staff strikes will be taking place from 3am Monday May 28 until 5am Tuesday May 29. Three men have been arrested for stealing an entire US Postal Service mailbox in New York City. Police in Queens posted a photo on Twitter of the large mailbox that had somehow been crammed into the trunk of a minivan. Vandalizing a mailbox is a federal crime that can result in five years in prison or a $250,000 fine. Police arrested three men attempting to steal a US Postal Service mailbox in Queens on Friday The large blue receptacles have long been the target of a tactic known as fishing, in which a person drops an object covered in a sticky substance attached to a string into a mailbox and then reels it in and grabs whatever mail sticks to it. Stealing the entire box is a much more involved process because they are bulky, heavy, and usually anchored into the cement sidewalk. It is not clear how the thieves apprehended last week were able to remove the mailbox. The names of the suspects have not been released. The NYPD Queens North division posted about the incident on Twitter Friday saying: 'Great arrest by the @NYPD112Pct Midnight Crime Team protecting New Yorkers while most are asleep. They caught 3 perpetrators in the act of putting an entire mailbox in a van. Take a look at the pic #NeighborhoodPolicing #FridayMorning.' After helping to save the babies of more than two million Australian women, an 81-year-old blood donor with a precious antibody has officially retired from his selfless duty. James Harrison, dubbed the man with the golden arm, has provided 1,117 bags of vital blood which contain an antibody in his plasma, and stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia. The antibody is used to make a lifesaving medication, Anti-D, as it is given to pregnant mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking and killing their unborn babies. James Harrison's blood plasma contains an antibody that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia Australian blood donor James Harrison has made his last blood donation, having helped save the babies of more than two million Australian women Mr Harrisons kindness leaves a remarkable legacy, and he has put the challenge out to the Australian community to beat it More than three million doses of Anti-D containing Mr Harrisons blood have been given to Australian mothers with a negative blood type since 1967. After donating for the last time today, Mr Harrison issued a challenge to others to break his incredible record, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause'. Jemma Falkenmire, spokesperson for the Blood Service, said: Australia owes a big thank you to James Harrison. Australia became the first country in the world to be self-sufficient in the supply of Anti-D. Medications like Anti-D are a life-giving intervention for thousands of Australian mums, but they are only available because men like James give blood.' His golden arm has even helped his own daughter, Tracey, give birth to a healthy son, thanks to her fathers precious blood. When Mr Harrison started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars. Mr Harrison is one of about 50 people in Australia known to have the antibodies. His generosity as a continuous donor stems from a brush with death at the age of 14, when he had a chest operation, and committed himself to helping others by giving blood on a regular basis. According to CNN, doctors are unsure why Mr Harrison has this rare blood type, but they concluded that it might have been triggered from the transfusions he received while a teenager, after his operation, which saved his life. In an interview with the news channel several years ago, he said that despite donating, he had not witnessed the process: Never once have I watched the needle go in my arm. Ms Falkenmire said that up until 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didnt know why and it was awful. 'Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage. Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time. One of the countless mothers he has helped over the decades is Joy Barnes, who works at the Red Cross Blood Bank in Sydney. Ms Barnes, who miscarried at four and five months before having treatment, said: 'Without him I would never have been able to have a healthy baby.' Joe Tilley was last seen close to a waterfall and tourist attraction Fin Del Mundo, near to Mocoa city at around 5.30pm last Saturday Fears are mounting for a missing reality TV star who has not been seen since vanishing in Columbia five days ago. Jungletown star Joe Tilley was last seen close to a waterfall and tourist attraction Fin Del Mundo, near to Mocoa city at around 5.30pm last Saturday. A fellow traveller said Mr Tilley, 24, disappeared after not hearing from him so she decided to alert his family back in Leicester. His worried family immediately flew out to Columbia to join the search effort, the Leicester Mercury reports. Mr Tilley's friends described him as an experienced traveller who had been in Columbia since February. He had maintained frequent contact with family and friends, who added that it was out of character for him not to call. Now, his family have set up a Facebook page to find Mr Tilley after this father Ian and step-father Brad Cook flew out to South America on Wednesday. Mr Tilley stared in a Viceland documentary called Jungletown, which followed American entrepreneur Ondi Tumoner and hundreds of others who tried building the world's 'most sustainable modern town' in the Panamanian jungle. Family have set up a Facebook page to find Mr Tilley afte rhis father Ian and step-father Brad Cook flew out to South America on Wednesday Police and soldiers have been drafted in to search the area with dogs and drones, he added Mr Tilley's best friend Zane Bham told the Leicester Mercury: 'Joe is a brilliant guy. He's adventurous and quite playful but he's also sensible. 'He and I travelled round Australia together for five months and it is not like him just to disappear without telling anyone what he was up to. 'He was travelling with a friend before he went missing. He would not have wanted to leave without letting her know.' Mr Bahm said the area in which his friend went missing was 'quite rural' but that most hostels had wifi so there is a means for him to stay in touch. Police and soldiers have been drafted in to search the area with dogs and drones, he added. Joe, who went to Leicester's The Lancaster School and studied at Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, was travelling in Panama before his current trip to Colombia. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: 'Our staff are supporting the family of a British Man who has been reported missing in Colombia and are in touch with the local authorities.' Anyone with information about Joes whereabouts can contact his family through the Facebook page. A pop-up bar in DC is under fire for its 'racist' royal wedding-inspired drinks. The Drink Company launched its Royal Wedding pop-up bar on May 4 with a drink menu that includes cleverly-titled cocktails such as the Markle Sparkle and American Princess. However, it's not the names of the alcoholic beverages that have ignited a firestorm, it's the ingredients. The Lions & Unicorns drink, for example, includes Plantation Rum among its many ingredients. The American Princess has Blackcurrant Liqueur in it and When Harry Met Meghan includes bananas and Monkey Shoulder Scotch. A royal wedding pop-up bar in DC is coming under fire for some of the ingredients it used in its Meghan Markle and Prince Harry-inspired drinks The bar opened on May 4 and will run until May 20, one day after Markle and Prince Harry marry in England Some people are upset over the ingredients used in the drinks When Harry Met Meghan, Lions & Unicorns and American Princess Dan Silverman, a blogger for Pop Ville, wrote in a post on Thursday that he was in 'disbelief' over the ingredients used in the drinks. 'I am at a loss for words on my feelings about the racial overtones of the ingredients in this drink,' he said, writing that the Monkey Shoulder Scotch and bananas in the When Harry Met Meghan refers to Meghan Markle, who is mixed race, and the ginger refers to Prince Harry. He added: 'I have showed the menu to several people of different racial backgrounds and the reaction is the samecomplete disgust and disbelief that an establishment in DC could be so blatantly racist and hateful. 'I simply can't believe in today's environment of racial discourse that this is simply an act of ignorance. It is explicit racism written right there in black and white (or actually white and bluemaybe they thought the floral patterns and soft hues would disguise their overt, blinding racist words.' Silverman, who posts on the blog under the name Prince of Petworth, said the blackcurrent liqueur used in the American Princess is a 'not too subtle reference to the stereotype "the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice."' 'I understand that this must be their take on a Bramble, which is an English drinkbut seriously, name it for any other person in the royal family or other thing attributed to the UK,' he wrote. 'This cannot stand.' The menu features 11 original cocktails created and handcrafted by Paul Taylor, Drink Company's Head of Bar Concepts. 'We drew inspiration for the menu from the engaged couple's background, royal weddings of past and English springtime. Think: martinis, bubbles and Pimm's Cups,' Taylor said in a press release. 'We will honor the princess-in-waiting in the form of a spritz-style cocktail with rose cider and edible glitter called the "Markle Sparkle.". "When Harry Met Meghan" salutes the dashing groom, weaving Scotch, bananas and yes, ginger together for a robust, refreshing cocktail.' When Harry Met Meghan includes Monkey Shoulder Scotch and banana. Some people are upset over the ingredients because Markle is mixed race Kenya Downs, a HuffPost podcast producer, called out the bar for its drinks in a tweet The pop-up bar said in a statement that it is 'against hate, exclusion and intolerance' and picked each liquor brand because of how they paired with the other ingredients in the drinks Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will wed on May 19 at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle in England Drink Company responded to the backlash telling the DailyMail.com in a statement how it selected each brand for the drinks in question. The company said the drink When Harry Met Meghan is a variation on a Penicillin cocktail with ginger and banana, a flavor both Markle and Prince Harry have said they love. 'When tasting Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Whisky, we found that its flavor profile worked well in the cocktail,' the company said. The company said the American Princess, which includes blackcurrant liqueur, is a variation on the English drink Bramble, which is made with either blackcurrant liqueur or blackberries. Drink Company said it picked Plantation Rum because its pineapple and caramelized sugar flavors paired well with the fresh pineapple used in the Lions & Unicorns drink. 'Drink Company is against hate, exclusion and intolerance in all forms,' the statement read. 'We are always open to a dialogue about issues that affect our greater community and believe no opinion is outside bounds. However, we want to be clear about our intentions since they were called into question. We hope our guests will read this and recognize our true intent: to join in this global celebration and create a fun bar for everyone.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will wed on May 19 at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle in England. A Connecticut school called the cops on a student who built a gun out of Legos and pointed it at other classmates. Police were called to Jepsen Magnet School in New Haven this week because an unidentified child was pointing the gun made out of colorful toy blocks at other students. Very few details have been released by the school which serves students from pre-K to eighth grade. A student in Connecticut reportedly made a gun out of Legos and pointed it at classmates Will Cook, a spokesperson for New Haven Public Schools told Fox61: 'School leaders and local police partners were able to investigate and resolve the issue internally with use of restorative practices.' 'Appropriate steps were taken at the school level to insure the safety of all students and to impress upon the students the seriousness of engaging in positive peer interactions while avoiding conduct that may pose risk or concern to others. 'All children need to feel safe and secure within the learning environment and we all have a role to play to make that happen.' Earlier this year a 14-year-old in California was arrested for posting a photo of a Lego rifle on social media along with a threatening message. In 2013 a five year old in Massachusetts was almost suspended after he made a gun out of Legos. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are turning their sites on President Donald Trump's record-breaking inaugural committee fundraising haul with a focus on donors tied to Russia and the Middle East. Among the names that have surfaced in connection to the committee that put on a series of lavish events for Trump's inaugural are two men who also surfaced in a new document showing contributions to longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen. One of the men, Andrew Intrater, who donated $250,000 to Trump's inaugural, ABC News reported. Intrater also contributed $35,000 to Trump Victory PAC, a joint fundraising committee, and $29,600 to the Republican National Comittee. Intrater also came up in a document porn star Stormy Daneils' attorney Michael Avenatti released showing that his firm, Columbus Nova LLC, gave $500,000 to Cohen during 2017. Intrater is CEO of the firm. LETS PARTY: Investigators are interested in inaugural donors with foreign ties Mueller's team has been quizzing witnesses about Trump inaugural donors, including Andrew Intrater, who donated $250,000 The firm is connected to Renova Group, which is controlled by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. Intrater and Vekselberg attended Trump's inauguration together. Mueller's team has interviewed Tom Barrack, who ran the inauguration for Trump and oversaw its record haul. He was one of two dozen business leaders to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin last year, Bloomberg reported, and Vekselberg has been sanction by the U.S. following Russia's election meddling. According to ABC's report, Mueller's team questioned witnesses about donors with ties to not only Russia, but also Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, based on a source who sat for recent interviews. Renova Group Board Chairman Viktor Vekselberg attended Trump's inauguration. His company is tied to Columbus Novo, whose CEO was a major inaugural donor Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has been focusing on the Trump inauguration committee, which set a $107 million record for its haul Trump hauled in $107 million for the inaugural blowout, doubling what Barack Obama raised in 2009, a prior record. Some of the donors provided gifts to the committee that surpassed $1 million. Columbus Novo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Other questions have focused on businessmen Leonard Blavatnik. Neither Blavatnik or Intrater are accused of wrongdoing, according to ABC. Blavatnik, whose Access Industries gave $1 million, is a dual U.S. British citizen. The Soviet-born Blavatnik also attended the inauguration, the Washington Post reported. Trump hauled in $107 million for the inaugural blowout, doubling what Barack Obama raised in 2009, a prior record. Tom Barrack, here speaking with members of the press at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017, oversaw the effort Leonard Blavatnik attends the Vanity Fair and HBO Dinner celebrating the Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2017 in Cap d'Antibes, France After porn star Stormy Daniels' attorney revealed Columbus Nova's fees to Michael Cohen and said they could represent influence peddling or obscuring payments by Vekselberg's firm, the firm responded that Columbus 'has managed assets on behalf of Renova Group companies and other clients. Columbus Nova itself is not now, and has never been, owned by any foreign entity or person including Viktor Vekselberg or the Renova Group.' ABC's report does not mention Moscow-born Alexander Shustorovich, the CEO of IMG Artists performing agency, who gave $1 million to the inauguration. In 2000 he tried to give $250,000 to the Republican Party during George W. Bush's presidential campaign but was rejected. An arrest of an undocumented immigrant by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Diego County that was caught on video may be thrown out if a judge finds the arrest unreasonable. A cell phone video recorded by one of his daughters shows the arrest of Alberto Alonso Hernandez in his National City home on Tuesday. He was arrested on a federal warrant for reentering the country after he was already deported. Heavily armed ICE agents - driven in unmarked vehicles - can be seen breaking into a metal door at the home as the man's wife tries to keep the door shut. A cell phone video recorded by one of his daughters shows the arrest of Alberto Alonso Hernandez in his National City, California, home on Tuesday 'We want to see a warrant,' shouts Brianna Alonso, who refused to open the home until one was showed to her. The ICE agents simply laugh it off and respond: 'You're watching too much movies. We'll show you the warrant when we are done.' Brianna claims that for three hours, agents waited outside the couples home and even turned off their electricity at one point. 'My dad was going outside to go to work when ICE came. He started running upstairs, and we were waiting with him for three hours. We filmed them until they got a warrant,' 11-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, shared with WSWS. The father-of-five (center) was arrested on a federal warrant for reentering the country after he was already deported 16 times 'They sent someone to get a warrant, which means they lied when they said they had a warrant in the beginning. They got in without showing anything, and they pointed a gun at the three of us, my grandma and my sister.' 'They eventually cut the power and turned off the lights while we were calling our lawyers. They hurt me by grabbing my hand to get my phone, and they deleted a photo, but I was still able to send a recording online. They have no right to touch me, I'm a kid.' Hernandez's 11 year-old daughter recorded the altercation and neighbors also filmed from their properties outside. 'I told my daughter to record even though she didn't want to,' said Briana. 'When they got in they took the phone, they pointed their guns, and I was in total shock, I don't even remember when they took my husband.' Heavily armed ICE agents - driven in unmarked vehicles - can be seen breaking into a metal door at the home as the man's wife tries to keep the door shut Hernandez' attorney William Baker claimed that there are several factors the judge will consider to determine whether the arrest was lawful or not. 'For instance, they turned off the lights to the house, they were outside for hours,' he said, NBC Los Angeles reports. 'It's unknown whether they properly announced themselves before they came in and broke in the door. They did not give the wife the arrest warrant even though she asked for it many times. They apparently took the phone away from the young girl and twisted her arms, and it seemed to be excessive force.' ICE retorted that the raid followed training protocol and that the responding agents had an arrest warrant for Hernandez. Brianna Alonso - his wife (top center) - can be heard asking for a warrant while 11-year-old Jocelyn films the whole ordeal They also shared with 10News that the father re-entered the country 16 times since 2013 and had a domestic violence conviction in 2014. When ICE attempted to leave the scene, folks in the community blockaded one of the vehicles and demanded that they turn the family's power back on. The father-of-five is now in criminal custody and is being held on a $20,000 bond. Posting bail could prove risky, however, as it is believed he would be detained by ICE again and sent to a different center to post bail there. Baker claims that if the judge rules in favor of Hernandez, the case could get thrown out. Hernandez has been described as a painter by his family and the community. Jocelyn said: 'Even though he was an immigrant he worked hard to put food on our table. In this neighbourhood there were seven killings recently and the cops haven't arrested anyone for that, but they sent ICE to get my dad and made us wait three hours to get a warrant.' 'He was the person who waited for all of us to eat first, and he would eat leftovers. He's not a criminal, he's not a bad person, his only problem is that he's Mexican,' his wife added. The family has launched a GoFundMe to help with the cost of running the family without their father's income. It has only been able to raise a little over $100 of the $8,000 goal. Theresa has urged Donald Trump to consider the impact America's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal would have on British business. In a phone call to the US president Mrs May reiterated her support for the nuclear deal after Mr Trump vowed powerful sanctions against the Islamic republic. The 2015 agreement had allowed the lifting of sanctions against Iran, meaning British businesses were able to pour billions of pounds into the Islamic republic. But President Trump said the deal was not tough enough on Iran and experts have told MailOnline UK businesses could be fined and forced to choose between working in Iran and the US. The world leaders spoke over the phone and Mrs May, left, reiterated her support for the Iran nuclear deal and urged Mr Trump, right, to consider the impact America's withdrawal from the deal will have on British businesses with billions of pounds worth of interests in the Islamic republic Among the British businesses with interests in Iran are Rolls-Royce, Vodafone and British Airways, which could be forced to pull out of Iran or scrap any lucrative deals with Tehran. A spokesman for Mrs May said: 'The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. 'The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran.' UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business in Iran (pictured) since crippling economic sanctions were lifted two years ago but many deals may now be in tatters Donald Trump last night tore up the Iran nuclear deal, which could force Britain's biggest businesses out of the country UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business since crippling economic sanctions were lifted after the 2015 agreement between the Persian state and the US, UK, Russia,France, China, and Germany. Since then Vodafone did a deal to improve broadband and mobile internet in Iran, Rolls-Royce agreed to produce jet engines for Iran Air and British Airways re-started its flights to Tehran. BP has operated a joint gas field in the North Sea with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year. Other British businesses are building hospitals, roads and other infrastructure including the world's largest solar energy farm in the country. Banks will also be asked not to accept any funds sent via Iran. Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand'. Trump blasted the Iran deal as a 'horrible' agreement as he announced the reinstatement of sanctions It is not clear yet how any British firms would be punished but in a clue about what is to come Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin and a known ally of the President, said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'. Boris Johnson is fighting to save the nuclear deal but British business has poured money into Iran since sanctions were relaxed in 2015. World's 'economic policeman' Donald Trump could force UK businesses to choose between Iran and US UK companies operating in Iran could be forced to choose between working in Tehran or the US, experts said today. Donald Trump will also have the power to levy huge fines and pressure banks not to accept cash out of Iran after bringing back sanctions. Details of how UK businesses will have to change will emerge in the coming days but Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'. Alexandra Renison, Head of Europe and Trade Policy at Institute of Directors, told MailOnline businesses are right to be 'very worried' about the consequences. She said: 'The message sent by the new US ambassador to Germany is very worrying given that there were a number of companies already operating in Iran 'To issue an ultimatum that non-US companies should divest completely from the country sets a seriously concerning. No business wants to pull out of a multi-million pound investment altogether, but the US Government has a record of robust enforcement particularly with banks to date. 'Most of them have American branches and so are at risk of being forced to choose between offloading their operations in the US or Iran'. She added: 'It may be that discussions between Washington, Brussels and European capitals in the coming days provide further clarity about whether there will be any waivers or exemptions for individual firms'. Advertisement French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French radio that Trump's decision on Iran was a mistake and that the United States should not consider itself as the world's 'economic policeman'. Former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell called Iran 'one of the last great untapped opportunities for global business'. The Rhum North Sea gas field has been co-owned by BP and Iran's state oil company since the 1970s. It started producing gas in 2005, but this was suspended in 2010 due to sanctions. With the support of the UK government, an agreement was put in place that allowed production to resume in 2014 while still complying with sanctions. In 2016 the US Treasury renewed the licence to keep operating their joint gas field in the North Sea, and this was again renewed last year. BP was also reported to have bought crude from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). It is about to sell Rhum in a 300million deal with Serica Energy, who will also pay for two other gas fields. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 and sent Serica's shares tumbling today. A Serica spokesman said: 'The Company is evaluating the implications of these statements and how they relate to the Rhum field in which the Iranian Oil Company (UK) is a 50 per cent partner. We will update the market, as appropriate, in due course.' In December 2016 Rolls-Royce welcomed a $19billion deal between Airbus and Iran Air for the supply of 100 aircraft, which they make the jet engines for, including 16 Airbus A350s. Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure. With a young population and high levels of mobile ownership, Iran is seen as an opportunity for telecoms companies seeking to expand into frontier markets. A spokesman said today they are 'monitoring the situation'. Two years ago British Airways relaunched direct flights to Iran following the lifting of sanctions. The carrier operates six flights per week between London Heathrow and Tehran, which was suspended in October 2012. A spokesman said today: 'We constantly review our network to ensure that our routes match our customers' needs and are commercially viable. We are in regular contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.' And a Rolls-Royce spokesman said: 'We are examining the announcement and its potential implications. 'We conduct business in all countries, including Iran, in accordance with all relevant UK, EU or other national sanctions and export control regulations.' British businesses have also tapped into Iran's medical, energy and engineering sectors. International Hospital Group (IHG), a leading international healthcare services company based in Britain, signed an agreement worth 1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) with Iran to finance the construction of a network of cancer centres in the country. A London-based investment fund agreed a deal to build one of the world's largest solar power projects in Iran by 2020. The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million. Rolls-Royce is helping to make engines for Iran Air for the supply of 100 Airbus aircraft BP has operated the joint Ruhm gas field in the North Sea (pictured is the neighbouring Bruce field ) with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure (a HiWeb advert in Tehran) The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million and will see Iran's sunny climate (pictured) Businesses around the world face crisis over Iran sanctions AVIATION - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Airbus and Boeing Co will lose licences to sell passenger jets to Iran. - IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft - 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. All the deals are dependent on U.S. licences because of the heavy use of American parts in commercial planes. - Boeing said on Tuesday it will consult with the U.S. government on the 'next steps,' adding Boeing's 777 production plan 'is not dependent on the Iranian orders.' - Airbus said it needed time to study the impact of Trump's decision on Iran and will be evaluating next steps consistent with internal policies and in full compliance with sanctions and export control regulations. - Airbus shares fell 1 percent on Wednesday in response. CARMAKERS - France's PSA said it hoped the European Union would adopt a common position on Iran. - French automakers PSA and Renault have pushed hard into Iran after sanctions were lifted following the 2015 international nuclear pact. - PSA has signed production deals worth 700 million euros ($830 million) to reclaim the leading position it once enjoyed in the market, while Renault invested to increase its production capacity to 350,000 vehicles a year. - Germany's Daimler said it was closely monitoring any further developments and will then evaluate the potential impact on its business. - Shares of PSA and Renault were down more than 1 percent. MANUFACTURERS - German engineering group Siemens said it would closely monitor the situation in Iran and comply with all export controls that arise. - Siemens signed a contract in October 2016 to upgrade Iran's railway network and also to supply components for 50 diesel-electric locomotives to Iran. Shares were up about 5 percent on a bullish results forecast on Wednesday. OIL AND GAS - Britain's Serica Energy said it is looking into how renewed sanctions on Iran would affect a British gas field which it operates in partnership with the Iranian Oil Co (UK) Ltd. It is set to complete purchase of fields from BP in mid-2018. - Serica said it was evaluating the implications of Trump's statements on the Rhum field in Britain's North Sea, in which the Iranian Oil Co (UK) has a 50 percent share. - Shares of Serica Energy fell more than 7 percent in response. - Trump's decision could scupper French oil major Total's multibillion-dollar gas project in Iran unless it can secure a waiver. Total signed a deal with Tehran in July 2017 to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion. TELCOS - Vodafone had deal with HiWeb, an internet and phone company and subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in 2003 - South Africa's MTN Group said the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran may limit the South African telecoms firm's ability to repatriate cash from MTN Irancell. - In 2018, MTN had repatriated about 88 million euros ($104.26 million) from MTN Irancell, with another 200 million euros due. - MTN shares fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday. Advertisement Donald Trump faced worldwide condemnation last night after he pulled the US out of the nuclear Iran deal in a move that inflamed tensions in an already volatile region. Theresa May, French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel said his decision had been met with 'regret and concern'. In a joint statement they said 'the world was a safer place' because of the deal and pledged to remain committed to it. Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said todat he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand' The US President said he was walking away from the 2015 pact in order to stop a 'nuclear bomb' being acquired by the 'world's leading state sponsor of terror'. Announcing 'powerful' sanctions, he warned that if he did not pull out from the deal which is 'defective at its core' then there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. And, in a fresh warning to Iran he said if the country developed nuclear weapons it would have 'bigger problems then it has ever had before'. Iran's president responded by saying that if negotiations fail over the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium 'more than before in the next weeks'. The announcement came despite desperate lobbying from a string of European leaders, including Prime Minister Mrs May, Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel. After a joint phone call, the leaders said the agreement which they remained committed to was 'important for our shared security'. 'The world is a safer place as a result', they said. The leaders also urged Iran 'to show restraint in response to the decision by the US'. They said: 'It is with regret and concern that we, the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.' In a much anticipated statement from the White House, Mr Trump said: 'If I allowed this deal to stand there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. 'Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs. 'We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotting structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core.' He went on: 'If we do nothing we know exactly what will happen. 'In just a short period of time the world's leading state sponsor of terror would be on the cusp of acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons.' The deal was signed by world powers in 2015. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in return for eased economic sanctions. Tehran claimed at the time it had been pursuing only nuclear energy rather than weapons. President Trump said that since the agreement 'Iran's bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen'. He said that the deal 'didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will'. At PMQs today, Theresa May said she had made her position 'clear' to Donald Trump before he announced his decision - and pledged to keep trying to win him over to the merits of a pact Mrs May joined French president Emmanuel Macron (left) and Angela Merkel of Germany (right) last night in voicing regret over Mr Trump's decision on the Iran nuclear deal The President pointed out that Iran a regime of 'great terror' had boosted its military spend, supported terrorism and 'caused havoc' throughout the Middle East and beyond. Controversial Iran deal that Trump tears up after calling it 'horrible' The 2015 nuclear deal was an agreement signed between Iran, the US, UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for limitations to the country's nuclear energy programme, which many feared would be used to create a nuclear weapon. Under the deal, Iran agreed to keep its uranium enrichment levels at no more than 3.67 per cent, down from almost 20 per cent. The country's uranium stockpile was also to be kept at under 300 kilograms, which Mr Obama said would see a reduction of 98 per cent. Tehran also agreed to redesign a heavy-water nuclear facility it had been building that was capable of producing plutonium suitable for a nuclear bomb. The reactor would no longer produce any weapons-grade plutonium and no additional heavy-water reactors were to be built for 15 years. In order to ensure Iran stuck to the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency was granted greater access and information regarding the country's nuclear programme. The agency was also given powers to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of covert facilities as well as having access to the supply chain that supports Iran's nuclear programme. Measures were put in place to ensure the 'break-out time' - the amount of time it would take Iran to create a nuclear bomb - was slowed dramatically, while its government agreed not to engage in activities, including research and development, that it would need to make one. In return, the lifting of sanctions meant Iran stood to gain access to more than $100bn in assets frozen overseas. It was also able to resume selling oil on international markets and use the global financial system for trade. But if the country was to violate any part of the deal, it was agreed that UN sanctions would 'snap back' into place for 10 years, with the possibility of a five-year extension. Advertisement He said he had talked to France, Germany, the UK and friends across the Middle East and said they were 'unified' in their conviction Iran must never deliver nuclear weapons. He went on: 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. 'The US no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises I keep them.' He said he would be open to a new deal in the future. In a statement immediately afterwards, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said there was a 'short time' to negotiate with the countries remaining in the nuclear deal. He warned his country could start enriching uranium more than ever in the coming weeks. Mr Rouhani spoke live on Iranian state television. He said he would send Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to countries remaining in the accord. He said: 'I have ordered Iran's atomic organisation that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before.' He said Iran would start this 'in the next weeks'. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned by the US decision to withdraw from the deal. The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the EU wanted to preserve the deal. She said: 'The European Union is determined to preserve it [the deal]. 'Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.' 'The nuclear deal with Iran is crucial for the security of the region, of Europe and of the entire world.' Mr Macron tweeted: 'The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake.' Tensions were already heightened in the region after Mr Netanyahu announced that Israeli spies had stolen thousands of files on Iran's nuclear programme. Israel has also struck Iranian forces in Syria several times in recent weeks. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had travelled to Washington on Saturday where he made a last-ditch bid to prevent the US pullout. Mr Johnson said Mr Trump would be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize if he can sort out the Iran nuclear deal. Earlier in the day the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said Iran would not be 'passive' if President Trump left the nuclear deal. He said: 'It will not be in the American's interests if the JCPOA (Iran's nuclear deal) collapses by their offensive... 'We will not be passive if the United States starts confrontation with Iran.' Mr Trump has previously condemned the Iran accord signed by his predecessor Mr Obama as 'insane' and the 'worst deal ever'. Scrapping it was a commitment he made during his election campaign. Mrs May spoke to Mr Trump on the phone last weekend. Then Mr Johnson urged the President not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' by walking away. He accepted the agreement was not perfect but warned that there was not a better alternative. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would rather face a military confrontation with Iran 'now than later'. He said his country was prepared for a war to stop Iranian forces embedding in neighbouring Syria. Mr Netanyahu said: 'We are determined to block Iran's aggression against us even if this means a struggle. Better now than later.' Lola, a lively child with Down syndrome, has been helped by the Community Based Rehabilitation programme of Caritas in collaboration with local NGOs and the Tajik government. The programme entails training parents and staff and removing the stigma of disability. Dushanbe (AsiaNews) "Caritas implies 'equality' for me. My daughter Lola is able to participate in daily life. She has become an equal member of society, said Ozodhakon, the childs mother. Lolas actual name is Parivash. She is nine and has benefited from the rehabilitation programme provided by Caritas Germany to people with disabilities in Tajikistan. On 19 April, the Tajikistan chapter of Caritas Germany celebrated ten years of active involvement in support of the most vulnerable along with partner groups and high-level Tajik officials. Caritas Germany helps people with disabilities, lonely seniors and even victims of natural disasters, working with local NGOs in co-operation with the Tajik Ministry of Social Protection. With the support of Caritass Community Based Rehabilitation programme and its partners, Ozodhakon learnt how to take care of the child and provide her a happy life. The programme is designed to train parents and staff who deal children from doctors to teachers to deal with children with disabilities as well as counter the stigma associated with it. Early on in Lolas life, the doctors at Maksad, a local NGO partner of Caritas, diagnosed her as having Down's syndrome. In Tajik society, this kind of diagnosis leads to a blame game against mothers and children. For many, disability is seen as divine punishment, a "fault" to pay for. Children are segregated, kept at home or sent to "special schools", hidden from public view, and the child's father often abandons the family. "My husband left me, and his family turned their backs on me. Lola was a 'disgrace' for the family this is what they told me," Ozodhakon said. "In most cases, even if the father leaves the family, [the wife] must stay in her husband's home, and continue to look after her in-laws," said Parvina Tadjibaeva, director of the Tajik branch of Caritas Germany. Lola took hard her relatives attitude towards her mother and the different treatment of other children in the family. Still, despite the difficulties and resistance of other parents, Ozodhakon was able to send her child to school thanks to the support of the social workers of the programme. "To integrate people with disabilities, change comes with children, who never talk about the special child in the group, said Tadjibaeva. Most of the time those who object are other parents and seniors, worried about infectious diseases. For this reason, we try to include local mothers in our outreach since often they are relatives or people who know each other. At the beginning, most of them are full of negative ideas, but after the second, third meeting, they begin to understand that there are no differences between children like Lola and the others." "Now Lola is attending in a school that is inclusive, in a 'normal' class, taking additional lessons to keep up with the other children said Tadjibaeva. She loves going to school, and that's fine: she can read and has learnt many poems. She loves to dance during playtime when children play and dance together. When she hears music, she loves to be well dressed and dance, like all little girls." The programme has not only give the girl a new lease on life, but her mother came to realise that she could take care of her daughter and turn it into a vocation. Now Ozodhakon uses her skills as a social worker, a profession she is proud of, and "I have my daughter to thank for this." "In Tajikistan, most women are homemakers and do not work, said Tadjibaeva. But for Ozodhakon, work is very important. Now the neighbours do not look away but support her in everything. They do not look at her just based on her daughter's situation. She is accepted as a normal woman, who has a child." An Oklahoma woman has died after being mauled by seven of her neighbor's dogs on Thursday evening. Deputies were dispatched at 10pm to an area east of Ardmore where they found the woman in her fifties being treated by medics. She later died in hospital. The dogs have been euthanized at the owner's request, according to Carter County Sheriff Chris Bryant. Deputies were dispatched at 10pm to Banyon Road (pictured) just east of Ardmore where they found the woman in her fifties being treated by medics. She later died in hospital Bryant says the woman lived in the area, around 100 miles south of Oklahoma City, but he did not immediately release her name. No arrests have been made and police are investigating the incident. This weekend another Oklahoma woman was attacked by dogs in a savage attack that left her fighting for her life. Terri Cosby, 54, was jumped by the ferocious dogs while walking down a street in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The attack was so brutal she has had to have an arm amputated - and may also lose a leg. Witnesses called cops after seeing the dogs 'all over' Cosby. One witness - Felix Willis - said they were 'eating the hell out of her'. The Federal Air Marshal Service has been forced to defend its existence after a scathing report which detailed alleged abuses including agents showing up to flights drunk and claims of sexual and racial harassment. The service employs thousands of former military personnel who work on flights across the country for the purposes of protecting passengers if someone tries to hijack the plane or use it as a weapon. It is part of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and was formed in the 1960s amid a spate of hijackings linked to the conflict with Cuba. It now has a rumored budget of $800million but critics question the need for it in its current form, claiming agents are being put on the wrong flights and sometimes use the travel to get to places they want to be for personal reasons. The Federal Aviation Marshal Service has come under fire amid claims its thousands of agents are abusing alcohol while they are meant to be protecting passengers and crew on commercial flights. Pictured, a file image from its training HQ On April 25, The New York Times published allegations of alcohol abuse, suicide and impropriety among agents which they said the service was responsible for. The allegations triggered a Congressional investigation which is ongoing. On Friday, the service's director Rod Allison, defended it. 'In my mind, success is the security of the traveling public. And the fact that we haven't had any major incidents since 9/11,' he told CBS. The New York Times report cited allegations including agents being made to work back-to-back shifts which deprive them of sleep. They said it caused them to develop medical conditions including sleep apnea and sometimes, forced them to use alcohol. The service's training center in New Mexico is pictured. Agents who spoke anonymously said that some were driven to suicide by their jobs and others were being tested before they got on flights to make sure they were sober One told how 13 agents alone had been hit with DUIs. Others said they knew of colleagues who were driven to suicide by the job. Other air marshals blamed losing their weapons on alcohol consumption. In one case, Indianapolis International Airport last year was forced to cease operations until one agent's weapon was found after they misplaced it. Director Rod Allison defended the service and said it does not have systemic problems All of them spoke anonymously, fearing rebuke if their names became known. Among them were women who claimed to have been sexually harassed in text messages by superiors using government phones and minority agents who complained about racially insensitive memes being spread through the workplace. The problems with alcohol are so bad that the service introduced an alcohol awareness program. Allison said the abuses did not amount to anything out of the ordinary. 'Do I see where people get in trouble like any other large organization with alcohol? 'Absolutely. But do I see it as or do I think it's abuse? No, I do not,' he said. He made his name online setting up a notorious Facebook page to help fellow Albanians sneak illegally into the UK. But after being sent to jail on drugs charges, Fari Lleshi has maintained his menacing social media presence thanks to videos direct from his cell. In fact, footage of the thug smoking marijuana, rapping and even threatening his victims is regularly posted on his Facebook and Instagram pages. Thousands of his followers have watched him enjoying a cushy life in the scandal-hit Dorset jail. After being sent to jail on drugs charges, Fari Lleshi (above), from Albania, has maintained his menacing social media presence thanks to videos direct from his cell Lleshi, who sneaked into Britain in the back of a lorry, has filmed himself boasting about times he has outwitted the police. In other posts, he serenades his girlfriend with a rap song, blows kisses to the camera, swigs energy drinks, dances with other inmates and smokes as a giant TV blares in the background of his cell. His followers post adoring messages as he performs often calling for him to be freed many of which he responds to. More disturbingly, Lleshi, who uses the nickname 2gunz, also threatens his victims on the outside, posting images of himself making a pistol gesture with his hands and saying bang bang. Most of his videos are on Instagram but he also posts them on YouTube and a Facebook page that he created from prison, presumably on a mobile phone. The YouTube videos carry advertisements by Hugo Boss and Pepsi, helping the internet giant make a profit as Lleshi flouts the law. Lleshi, who sneaked into Britain in the back of a lorry, has filmed himself boasting about times he has outwitted the police. In other posts, he serenades his girlfriend with a rap song, blows kisses to the camera and smokes as a giant TV blares in the background of his cell The 29-year-old criminal, who came to the UK after serving six years for a 20,000 bank heist in Italy, is now serving a three-year sentence in Guys Marsh prison in Dorset after being convicted of dealing class A drugs earlier this year. It is the same jail where prisoners posted photos on Facebook in November 2016 showing them drinking alcohol, taking drugs and gorging on steaks. Their cells were crammed with luxuries including games consoles and stereos. The numbers of prisoners using phones are surging, with more than 20,000 mobiles and SIM cards found in jails in England and Wales in 2016 double the number in 2014. And official data shows instances of prisoners caught using social media behind bars have almost quadrupled. Inmates use phones to taunt victims and run an illicit, lucrative and growing drugs market, selling Spice and Black Mamba to users inside and outside of jail. Before his arrest, the Mail revealed how Lleshi ran a notorious Facebook page from London in which suspected illegal immigrants posted stowaway selfies pictures of themselves travelling illegally to the UK in lorries. He enjoyed a huge following of more than 70,000 on the page called Albanians in London which also hosted adverts for smugglers and fake IDs and regularly described his scrapes with the law in London. Lleshi, who uses the nickname 2gunz, also threatens his victims on the outside, posting images of himself making a pistol gesture with his hands and saying bang bang Leshi's online antics reflect growing social media use in UK prisons. The number of active accounts shut down by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) jumped from 133 in 2014 to 527 last year, the highest on record. So far this year, 149 accounts have been closed Earlier this year, he should have been silenced on social media when he was arrested and jailed for possession of Class A narcotics with intent to supply. But this proved just a minor setback for Lleshi, as he simply continued to post regular social media updates on new accounts set up from inside jail. He posted his first Instagram video on April 18, winking at the camera, while in another video he blows a kiss. On April 21, he films himself taking a drag on a roll up, blowing smoke through his nose before performing a rap as a cellmate makes shooting gun hand gestures behind him. The video has been seen 2,640 times. His Instagram page was finally closed this week after the Daily Mail alerted the Prison Service to its existence. But Lleshi has already uploaded his jail videos to YouTube, where they remain. In one he chats with a friend serving a sentence in Italy, describing how he found a way to get online despite police seizing two of his phones. Lleshi also describes how he is creating a new album from jail for which he has already finished two songs. In another video, he speaks to a young woman who follows him on Instagram. Before his arrest, the Mail revealed how Lleshi ran a notorious Facebook page from London in which suspected illegal immigrants posted stowaway selfies pictures of themselves travelling illegally to the UK in lorries Lleshi also has a Facebook page in which he has posted a selfie from his cell while bare chested, revealing an array of tattoos including the double headed eagle from the Albanian flag. Lleshi, originally from Kukes in Albania, was jailed in Italy in 2011 for his part in a 20,000 bank heist. After his release he came to England illegally, working on the black market as a plasterer. His online antics reflect growing social media use in UK prisons. The number of active accounts shut down by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) jumped from 133 in 2014 to 527 last year, the highest on record. So far this year, 149 accounts have been closed. In 2016, the MoJ set up the Digital Investigations Unit to tackle the problem. It works with prisons to identify offenders who are going online and then shares evidence with law enforcement agencies so further action can be taken. Inmates going online could face an extra two years behind bars. The MoJ has also spent 2million on hi-tech measures to block phone signals in prisons, in co-operation with mobile network operators. A Prison Service spokesman said: This behaviour is totally unacceptable and we acted quickly to remove the content from social media. Instagram declined to comment. Google, which owns YouTube, said it must have a legal notice from prison authorities to block videos filmed inside UK jails. For some, there is no finer sight than a locomotive in full steam chugging majestically through the glorious English countryside. But in one idyllic corner of East Sussex, that prospect has got the locals, well, rather steamed up. They are trying to prevent a heritage railway line being extended by two miles from Bodiam to Robertsbridge amid accusations of bullying and environmental vandalism. Locals are in revolt over the proposed expansion of the historic train route The use of compulsory purchase orders on farmland needed for the new track has even been branded The Great Robertsbridge Train Robbery by campaigners. The controversial 7million scheme, led by rail enthusiasts backed by wealthy and anonymous benefactors, would restore what supporters call the 'missing link' in the Kent and East Sussex Railway, connecting it with the national network on the London to Hastings line. The original route, between Robertsbridge and Headcorn in Kent, opened in 1900 and was shut in 1961. It partially reopened as a heritage railway where the public can enjoy journeys at 25mph on old steam locos and diesel trains 13 years later, running for ten and a half miles from Bodiam to Tenterden. A previous attempt by rail preservationists to take over the missing Bodiam to Robertsbridge section was quashed in 1973. Andrew Hoad, 67, with his two sons Tom 38 (left) and Will 34 (right) who own Parsonage Farm in Robertsbridge, East Sussex where multi millionaire Richard Broyd is trying to extend a heritage steam railway across their land as a 'Vanity Project' Those behind the current bid by the Rother Valley Railway, or RVR, argue it will attract an extra 50,000 visitors annually and add 4.1million a year to the local economy. Supporters include Network Rail and the National Trust, which will gain a rail link to the 14th century moated Bodiam Castle. They say it could put Robertsbridge, which dates to 1176 when a Cistercian abbey was founded, back on the map. But opponents fear it will leave an 'ugly scar' on the landscape, harm wildlife habitats and destroy the area's tranquillity. Three level crossings would be needed, including one on the busy A21 London to Hastings road. Emma Ainslie, 45, and her husband Alexander, 45, who own Moat Farm in Robertsbridge in East Sussex Rother District Council granted planning permission last year but, crucially, the two families whose farms would be crossed by the line do not want to sell their land to RVR Rother District Council granted planning permission last year. Crucially, however, the two families whose farms would be crossed by the line do not want to sell their land to RVR. They claim the project is to allow 'rich men to play with their toys' and the threat of compulsory purchase orders, or CPOs, amounts to 'a land grab reminiscent of the Dark Ages'. There is no surviving railway track on either farm. One embankment is still visible but is covered by mature oak and other trees. Alexander and Emma Ainslie, both 45, run 220-acre Moat Farm. Mrs Ainslie's grandfather Robert de Quincey bought it in 1946 after returning from three years as a prisoner of war in Burma. Mrs Ainslie said: 'It is purely the whim of an organisation of train enthusiasts who feel they have the right to take something for their own gratification. Karen Collier-Keywood, the landlord of the Salehurst Halt Pub in Salehurst. She has put up a poster protesting about proposed railway track extensions through her area A train on the Kent and East Sussex Railway at Bodiam Station - part of the East Sussex Heritage Line 'They are just big bullies who want their train set and don't seem to care what they have to do to get it. The habitats that survive there are incredible. We are continuing to try to protect this for future generations.' Neighbouring 440-acre Parsonage Farm has been in Andrew Hoad's family since the 1880s. Mr Hoad, 67, who runs it with wife Lynn and sons Tom, 38, and Will, 34, said: 'We feel angry at having our land taken from us against our will for what can only be termed a vanity project. It would wreck part of our farm, chopping fields into narrow pieces that we can't farm properly.' At the local pub, the Salehurst Halt, landlady Karen Collier-Keywood, 59, said: 'Our village has always been about community. Using a CPO to take someone's land for a heritage railway is immoral.' End of the line: Those behind the current bid by the Rother Valley Railway, or RVR, argue it will attract an extra 50,000 visitors annually and add 4.1million a year to the local economy The Government must now agree to make an order under the Transport and Works Act for the purchase to go ahead, but that could require a public inquiry. RVR, which would pay 10 per cent above the market value of the land, is already building a heritage railway station opposite Robertsbridge mainline station and track has been laid for about half a mile towards the two farms. One of RVR's directors is Richard Broyd, who founded Historic House Hotels. It also has links to multi-millionaire hedge fund manager Jeremy Hosking, 59, who owns a number of steam locomotives including the Royal Scot. RVR chairman Gardner Crawley, 74, said: 'There's a lot of very wealthy people in East Sussex but parts of it are very deprived and the big employer nowadays is tourism. Making tourism here more accessible to people who don't have cars is very important. It's not as though we're putting a new line across virgin land there was a railway there until the 1960s.' Claire Upshall always knew she wanted a large family. When she was at school in Dorset, her vision of her future included children armfuls of them. But there was no white wedding and handsome groom in her schoolgirl dream. All the other girls talked about wedding dresses and what their husband would be like, but I was planning my kids names and how to decorate a nursery, Claire says. And I think I always knew Id adopt I always felt there were already so many children in the world who needed a family. Claire was just 19, barely more than a child herself, when she headed to Tanzania to work unpaid, save for bed and board in an orphanage, where she started making the family of her dreams, effectively scooping up the neediest little souls. Claire Upshall always knew she wanted a large family. Now, at the age of 28 that point at which most Western women are just thinking about whether it might be time to have their first Claire is still resolutely single but officially a mother of four First there was Alfie, then 13 months old, a little boy she coaxed to smile, and went on to foster and adopt. He was followed by another child, then another, then another. Now, at the age of 28 that point at which most Western women are just thinking about whether it might be time to have their first Claire is still resolutely single but officially a mother of four. Alfie is now ten. His siblings, Layla and Isabella, are eight, and little Jack is five. Although they have no blood ties, the emotional bonds are as strong as they get. They are typical siblings, Claire laughs at their spacious, if slightly chaotic, family home just outside Arusha, in north-eastern Tanzania, from where you can get a spectacular view of Mount Meru, the fourth highest mountain in Africa. They are incredibly close best friends one minute, but bickering the next. Hats off to this extraordinary young woman, single-handedly raising four young children in an environment so very different from the one in which she grew up. She now speaks fluent Swahili, because she was determined to converse with her children in their native tongue. Claires own mother couldnt be more proud of how her daughter has chosen to do things although she has baulked at some of the challenges she has faced. Take the first time Helen, now 63, flew over to visit in 2012 just a day or so after grandchild number three, Bella, arrived. When Claire was sent from the orphanage to pick up Bella at a neighbouring village, the word was that this abandoned little bundle of skin and bones, weighing just 10lb, was a few months old. In fact, she turned out to be two years old. Helen remembers Claire patiently tending to the little girls tiny fingernails and toenails, but not in the usual way. First there was Alfie, then 13 months old, a little boy she coaxed to smile, and went on to foster and adopt. Alfie is now ten. His siblings, Layla and Isabella, are eight, and little Jack is five I remember sitting watching Claire picking maggots virtually out of every pore. It brought home the conditions these children had been brought up in. There are other colourful memories, such as that time she put bread in the toaster and all the creepy-crawlies came out. And Nanny as Helen is known by the children hasnt quite recovered from the fact Claire was perfectly happy sharing the kitchen with a lizard. It was on the wall, she complains. I had a problem with that. But nothing fazes Claire. Those exotic anecdotes may be numbered, though. Although it was never Claires plan to return to the UK with her children, changing circumstances have forced a rethink, and she is trying to get home new family in tow. Her own mother could not be happier, and the Skype conversations are all about the move. Alfie is desperate to see snow. And they all want to visit Buckingham Palace, and see a red London bus in real life instead of in the books Nanny sends. There is a problem, though. While love is clearly in abundance in this family, money is not. The political climate in Tanzania (meaning Westerners arent finding it as easy to get work) means Claire isnt working and is finding it difficult to support her family. While her parents have always helped her out, they arent in a position to do so now. Helen works in the catering industry and lives modestly in a one-bedroom home. Claires dad, Derek, from whom Helen was amicably divorced, died earlier this year. So how can Claire fund the expensive return to the UK? Well, she has turned to that very modern charitable source crowdfunding, appealing to friends, family and strangers to donate. She needs to raise 34,000 to get herself and the four children back to the UK, the bulk of the money needed for flights and lawyers to assist with the visa applications. Claire Upshall with the four Tanzanian children she has adopted. They are pictured here in 2017 Although they have no blood ties, the emotional bonds are as strong as they get. They are typical siblings, Claire laughs at their spacious, if slightly chaotic, family home just outside Arusha, in north-eastern Tanzania Yet as much as her own family supports her, not everyone does. News reports about her appeal this week were met with a decidedly mixed reaction. While some applauded Claires mission, others have questioned the idea that she should be financially bailed out when the decision to take on the four children was hers alone. One particularly brutal online commentator called her a potential Madonna on benefits. And what will happen, some asked, if the family still struggle after they arrive in the UK? Will the taxpayer have to foot the bill? The whole point is to get them over here so Claire can work, Helen says. She has no intention of being on benefits. And if I can say one thing about her is that she is a hard worker. She has never been work-shy quite the opposite, in fact. She came home when her dad was ill, to be with him when he died, and even in those few weeks she got a job here. Claire herself is appalled at the suggestion she is trying to milk the system. There is no way I want to be on benefits. Its not who I am. My parents instilled the idea of hard work in me, and I want to do the same with my children. Its exactly why I want to come home so they can see me work. Its a dilemma Madonna and Angelina Jolie and those high-profile advocates of foreign adoption simply do not face. Deep pockets can smooth all manner of problems. While her parents have always helped her out, they arent in a position to do so now. Helen works in the catering industry and lives modestly in a one-bedroom home. Claires dad, Derek, from whom Helen was amicably divorced, died earlier this year Claire will have to rely on family to help with childcare while she works and her plight does raise genuine questions about whether the heart should rule the head even in these emotive matters. Should we applaud Claires selflessness in putting these children above all else, or question her naivety in thinking she could do it alone? The familys answer, of course, is that she is not alone. They are clearly close, and have been through a good deal together. The Claire they waved off to Tanzania at 19 certainly hadnt had a sheltered life. Claires elder brother, Adam, was killed in an accident when he was 12, when a rope became tangled round his neck while he was playing. Understandably, Helen and Derek were highly protective of Claire. But you cant wrap them in cotton wool, she argues. And we tried so hard to bring Claire up to be as independent as possible. We were worried when she wanted to go to Tanzania, but we knew how she felt about wanting to work with children, Helen says. We heard all about Alfie, who seemed special to her. But I had no idea she was talking about my future grandson!. Claire has cared for more than 200 children since she arrived in Tanzania in 2009, but Alfie touched her heart most. An orphan, Alfie, then 13 months old, was perhaps not in as pitiful a state physically as some of the other children (we couldnt save some of the babies who were so malnourished when they came in) but his behaviour upset her. He was very withdrawn and bewildered. Toddlers in the orphanage were always more aware than the little babies, and Alfie just wouldnt smile. I was drawn to him. You try not to favour one child, but because I was trying so hard to get through to him, it was hard. I got to the stage where I coaxed a smile out of him, and a bond developed. Hed look for me if I left the room. Five months after Alfie moved in, baby Layla followed. Then came Bella, then Jack That first stint in Tanzania was a short one and Claire returned to the UK to work as a nanny. She felt compelled to go back, however, but when she did she discovered Alfie had been moved to a different orphanage 15km away. She went to visit him. Im sure he recognised me even at the start, she says. But by the end of that visit he was in tears. They had to prise him off me. Distraught, she wondered if she could somehow sponsor Alfie. But her inquiries led to her asking if she could foster the little boy, and in 2011 she became his sole carer. I still wasnt thinking adoption, she says. At the start, that never occurred to me. And he wasnt the only one I fostered. Id often have the sickest babies overnight, or for longer periods. But Alfie stayed. Five months after Alfie moved in, baby Layla followed. Then came Bella, then Jack. It was a natural progression, Claire says. It felt right. Ive always felt that however good an orphanage is, children thrive best in a home situation. It was 2016 before the legal process to adopt all four children was completed, but Claire says they felt like hers practically from the moment they arrived. Did she ever sit her parents down and tell them about her adoption plans? No, she says. But it wasnt like it was one big decision. It was a series of little ones. And they were always right behind me. They came out and met the children. My dad doted on them. He couldnt have helped more, and he was really proud of what I was doing. 'The plan was never to return to the UK, though. I thought our lives would always be in Tanzania, Claire says The plan was never to return to the UK, though. I thought our lives would always be in Tanzania, Claire says. Outwardly, they must seem well off compared to the locals. Like many in the expat community, they have a security guard patrolling their home (Its essential, says Claire), and a woman who is employed as a cleaner, cook and babysitter. Whenever Claire was working at the orphanage or, latterly, when she has returned to the UK for visits, this lady has looked after the children. But the lifestyle is no longer tenable. The children have been educated at an international school so they would be fluent in English and the fees were not affordable some time ago, but luckily when I explained this the school agreed to let the children stay on anyway. Hence the idea of moving back. Losing her father has just reinforced the idea that Claire needs to be at home. It was such a shock, she said. Dad was the fittest person I know. He was never ill. But he collapsed one day, and he was dead seven weeks later. I made it home to see him before he died, but it has been devastating. Its made me realise I want the children to grow up with their extended family. The expat community is a transient one. At home, we will have support. But the costs involved are eye-watering. And there are other problems, too. Its by no means a given that the British authorities will extend the sort of warm welcome the family want, and the state of Claires bank account will be a major deciding factor. Claire has cared for more than 200 children since she arrived in Tanzania in 2009, but Alfie touched her heart most To satisfy the immigration authorities, you have to have a certain amount in your bank account, around 5,000, and prove that you can support your children, so we are working towards that, says Claire. Her online critics will say she clearly cant support the children, if she is having to crowdfund. Her reply? But longer term, I will be able to. And the big thing is that we have somewhere to live. We are not asking for State assistance. Claires aunt and uncle have offered her and her children a home in the UK. It will be a squeeze, admits Sally Clifford-Smith, 53, who shares her four-bedroom home with her husband and daughter, 22. But we are so looking forward to getting them all home, she adds. We arent in a position to hand over thousands of pounds, but we can do this. For Helen, though, the day that she can throw her arms around her grandchildren on British soil cant come quickly enough. I cannot wait, she says. I love these children to bits, and we just want them all home. To help Claire, donate at youcaring.com/theupshall children-836976 Cops in Kansas are now banned from having sex with people they arrest or pull over at traffic stops under a new law that many legislators were surprised was necessary. Before Gov. Jeff Colyer signed the law Thursday, Kansas was among 33 states where consensual sex between police and people in their custody wasn't a crime. Law enforcement officers were banned from having sex with people in jail, but the new law bans sexual relations 'during the course of a traffic stop, a custodial interrogation, an interview in connection with an investigation, or while the law enforcement officer has such person detained.' Before Gov. Jeff Colyer (pic Jan 31, 2018) signed the law Thursday, Kansas was among 33 states where consensual sex between police and people in their custody wasn't a crime Democratic Representative Cindy Holscher, of Olathe, introduced the bill, The Wichita Eagle reported. She said the legislation grew from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn't commit. McIntyre was released last year after investigators determined the detective who arrested him had long coerced sexual acts from women in Kansas City's black community, including McIntyre's mother, by threatening to arrest them or their relatives. McIntyre's mother said in an affidavit that she believed the detective targeted her son after she spurned his advances. Holscher said she also was influenced by a New York case where a teenager alleged she was raped by two police officers in the back of their van. Democratic Representative Cindy Holscher (left), of Olathe, introduced the bill. The legislation grew from the case of Lamonte McIntyre (pictured right with his mother), who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn't commit No charges were filed because the officers claimed the sex was consensual and therefore legal. The Kansas bill received bipartisan support. Rep. John Carmichael, a Democrat from Wichita, said he was shocked to learn that such behavior wasn't already illegal in Kansas when Holscher first discussed the proposal. Many officers now wear body cameras, so it would be difficult for law enforcement to get away with sex on the job, said Rep. John Whitmer, a Republican from Wichita. 'Most officers are great guys and women who are working hard, but there's always the one,' Whitmer said. Killer: Kelly Cochran, 35, is serving time for murdering both her husband and her lover, but it is alleged that she could be responsible for nine other killings An Indiana woman already imprisoned for killing and dismembering her lover and strangling her husband to death may be responsible for nine other murders, as well as a suspected case of cannibalism. Kelly M. Cochran, 35, was sentenced to 65 years last month in the February 20, 2016, death of her husband, 37-year-old Jason Cochran, at their Hobart, Indiana, home. She is already serving a life sentence for the 2014 killing of her lover, 51-year-old Christopher Regan, in Iron River, Michigan. Kelly told investigators after her arrest that she drugged her husband of 13 years with heroin and then smothered him to death because he took 'the only good thing' in her life in Regans death. During her earlier trial, Michigan prosecutors maintained she lured Regan to her home, where Jason shot him and then helped butcher his body and hide his remains in the woods. Scroll down for video Life behind bars: Kelly was sentenced to 65 years last month in the February 20, 2016, death of her husband, 37-year-old Jason Cochran (left). She is already serving a life sentence for the 2014 killing of her lover, 51-year-old Christopher Regan (right) Confession: Kelly, pictured left during a police interrogation, admitted to drugging Jason with heroin and then smothering him to death as payback for Regan's death A new documentary about Kelly Cochran's case, called 'Dead North,' airing on Investigation Discovery, follows former Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo, who helped catch the killer But according to a new two-part documentary called 'Dead North,' airing on Investigation Discovery on May 28 and May 29, some of Regan's body parts were allegedly served by Kelly to her neighbors at a barbecue. Cochrans family members, including her brother, told investigators she may have killed as many as nine people and buried their bodies in Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota. However, the identities of the potential victims remain unknown to this day. The film follows the now-former Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo, who led the investigation into Regans disappearance and murder, from her first meeting with Kelly and Jason Cochran in October 2014 to the present day. According to a statement from Investigation Discovery, Frizzo made contact with the Cochrans on October 28, 2014, after getting a tip that Chris Regan, who had been the woman's lover, had gone missing. The case went cold until February 2016, when Jason Cochran was found dead at his home from a suspected drug overdose. It was later determined that the man had been murdered. During an interrogation, Kelly admitted that she participated in Regan's slaying, and that she and her late husband had a pact to kill off anyone involved in their extramarital affairs. Prosecutors maintained Kelly lured Regan to her home, where Jason shot him and then helped butcher his body and hide his remains in the woods in 2014 Cannibalism claims: It is alleged that Kelly (left and right) served some of Regan's body parts to her neighbors at a barbecue She later led Frizzo to Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula woods, where she had buried her lover's skull after cutting up his body. According to court documents, Kelly admitted that she later killed her husband as revenge for Regan's death. In May 2017, Kelly was sentenced to life in prison for Regan's murder, and on April 18, 2018, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in her husbands death, which carries 65 years in prison. In between the two convictions, Kelly's brother, Colton Gaboyan, came forward saying he believed his sister is a serial killer with nine additional victims to her name. As part of her plea deal, the State of Indiana can never charge the woman for these suspected killings, the press release from Investigation Discovery said. If she so chooses, she can lead police to the victims bodies without facing any additional penalties. Im so grateful that justice was served for Chris Regan, but I firmly believe that there are other victims out there, Frizzo stated. With new leads regarding their whereabouts, Im hoping this series will shed light on the case and allow me to finish the investigation I started. Morgan Leigh Sims, 33, who is accused of murdering her husband Daray, has had her bail dropped from $1.5million to $140,000. An attorney for Daray's family says it's a sign of 'affluenza' A Texas woman who is accused of killing her husband has had her bond reduced from $1.5million to $140,000. Morgan Leigh Sims, 33, has been charged with the April 25 murder of 37-year-old Daray Vontrell Sims. She told police she was abused and shot the man in self defense. The attorney for Daray's family, Craig Watkins, said the lowered bond was the 'affluenza effect, Dallas News reported. 'We see [the affluenza effect] when a person of color is killed by someone who is Anglo,' he said. The term was coined in 2013 to defend a wealthy young man who killed four while drunk driving. 'When they found her, she had her passport, $9,000 and the murder weapon,' Watkins said. 'If she pays a bail bondsman the standard 10 per cent, she can get out of jail for $14,000.' The judge disagreed, and said her claims of abuse needed to be taken into consideration, as Sims had injuries to her face and arms when she was arrested. Morgan told police that she had been abused and that she shot Sims (pictured together) in self-defense when she was arrested last month. The judge said her allegations of abuse needed to be considered in setting bail The couple, who have two children together, had celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary less than two weeks before the fatal shooting. Authorities were called to the couple's home in McKinney at 6.36pm by Morgan's brother, who said she was 'arguing and fighting' with Sims. Just minutes later, Morgan's mother called 911 and said her daughter had just shot her husband, according to the Dallas Morning News. She told dispatchers that the couple's two children, aged two and six, were in the home. Morgan's brother then told 911 that his sister had left the house in a black Range Rover. She was found by police several miles away from the home. Authorities were called to the couple's home in McKinney at 6.36pm on April 25 by Morgan's brother, who said she was 'arguing and fighting' with Sims The couple, who have two children together, had celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary less than two weeks before the fatal shooting Sims died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office. He was found face down in the bathroom, which was covered with 'copious amounts of blood'. Morgan told investigators that she had 'been abused, which caused me to defend myself,' the affidavit states. Inside her Range Rover was a semiautomatic pistol with one magazine and a live round in the chamber, $9,560 in cash, a bottle of Xanax, and some Valium. Also found were the family's passports and a wallet that held Sims' driver's license. Inside the couple's home authorities found an empty container of disinfecting wipes, a bottle of cleaner, a plastic bag with a sponge, and a plastic bag containing wipes and two laptop computers, court records state. There were also five sheets of paper with writing. Three were handwritten and two were typed. Authorities have not disclosed what was written on the sheets of paper. It was Morgan's mother who told 911 dispatchers that she had shot her husband while their two children, aged two and six, were at home Sims died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office. He was found face down in the bathroom, covered in 'copious amounts of blood' Sims was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in DeSoto, where the couple previously lived, in 2014. He was not indicted by a grand jury. Morgan posted a Facebook tribute to Sims on the couple's anniversary on April 10. 'Happy seven year anniversary! I wouldn't want to do this thing called life without you,' she wrote. 'We have built a lot together in these years and I am blessed to have done it with you. Marriage and parenting is work, compromise, sacrifice, teamwork, but most importantly love. 'It's not always sunshine, but if you can weather the storms together it's all worth it. I pray God continues to guide us in our union, as a family, and as parents! Here's to 7 more!' Morgan is being held at the Collin County Detention Center in lieu of bail. The White House confirmed Friday that an aide who mocked Republican Sen. John McCain's failing health hasn't lost her job. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that surrogate communications staffer Kelly Sadler still works at the White House. 'Yes, she does,' Sanders said. DailyMail.com raised the issue on Friday following reports that Sadler had told colleagues in an internal meeting that President Donald Trump shouldn't worry about Sen. McCain's opposition to CIA director-designate Gina Haspel's nomination. 'He's dying anyway,' she had said. Sanders initially dodged the question, refusing to talk about personnel matters or to 'validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting, one way or another.' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders (left) told reporters Friday that communications aide Kelly Sadler (right) still has her job despite mocking Sen. John McCain's battle with cancer McCain, an Arizona Republican who has been openly hostile to President Trump's decisions, is suffering from brain cancer and recuperating after a recent surgery There was discomfort in the room after Sadler made light of McCain's diagnosis during a communications staff meeting on Thursday But she ultimately told a dogged White House press corps that there had been no sacking in the West Wing over the latest scandal to rankle the president. McCain is recovering from brain surgery in Arizona, and has begun to talk publicly about his wishes for his funeral. He has pointedly said he doesn't want President Donald Trump to attend. Should he be healthy enough to return to Washington, he could cast a deciding vote in a tough roll call on Haspel's nomination. Sadler has yet to comment about her flippant jab at McCain. Neither she nor the White House has apologized to the McCain family. The mother of three is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times. She's married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as 2016 presidential campaign manager for Carly Fiorina another outspoken Trump critic. The senator's daughter Meghan, a regular co-host on 'The View,' said on the show Friday that Sadler is unimportant and unlike her father won't be remembered for long. Before confirming Sadler's continued employment, Sanders initially dodged DailyMail.com's question, refusing to 'validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting, one way or another' Mrs. Cindy McCain, the senator's wife, on Thursday tweeted a stern message directly to Sadler 'Kelly, here's a little news flash, and this this may be a bit intense for 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday,' Meghan McCain declared, but we're all dying. I'm dying, you're dying, we're all dying. ... I really feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it's now how you die, but how you live.' 'The thing that surprised me most,' she continued, 'is I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in where that would be acceptable, and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job.' 'My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,' she said. 'These people? Nothingburgers. Nobody's going to remember you.' On Thursday the senator's wife Cindy hammered Sadler on Twitter, writing: 'May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.' The White House hasn't denied the accuracy of reports about Sadler's comment to a group of two dozen fellow communication staffers. It issued a tepid statement praising the anti-Trump war hero McCain, who has called the president the equivalent of a tinhorn dictator. 'The View' co-host Meghan McCain, the senator's daughter, marveled on Friday that Sadler has been allowed to keep her White House position Sen. McCain had urged lawmakers to reject Gina Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration 'He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,' McCain writes in his forthcoming memoir. 'The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values.' A White House official tried to take the high road, saying in a statement that '[w]e respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.' Trump already has a history of touching a political 'third rail' by publicly bashing Sen. McCain. During a 2015 Republican candidate forum in Iowa, the future president doubted aloud whether McCain was really a war hero. 'He's a "war hero" because he was captured,' trump said then, referring to McCain's years undergoing torture as a prisoner of war. 'I like people who weren't captured.' Minutes later in a scrum of reporters, Trump was asked about the bone spur in his heel that resulted in a medical deferment from the Vietnam War draft. Which foot was it? Trump said he couldn't remember. A North Carolina doctor is accused of trading his female patients powerful prescription drugs for sex, then billing Medicaid and Medicare for the office visit appointments. Dr. Michael Alson Smith is said to have bartered sex with at least seven of his patients, including those seeking help for opiate addictions, at his Mt. Holly Family Practice in Mount Holly, North Carolina, in exchange for prescriptions of heavily-controlled drugs during 2017, according to court documents filed Thursday. On at least one occasion, Smith is said to have had sex with a female patient in the exam room while her three-year-old daughter was nearby. Dr. Michael Alson Smith, owner of Mt. Holly Family Practice, in North Carolina, is accused of trading his female patients drugs for sex, as well as submitting fraudulent office visit bills to government health organization Prosecutors alleged in the court documents, obtained by the Charlotte Observer, that Smith then regularly bilked Medicaid and Medicare by sending in bills seeking reimbursement for the office visits in which he had sex with the patients, but didn't perform any actual medical examinations or treatments on them. The patients, who Smith allegedly wrote the fraudulent prescriptions for, were said to have submitted claims for the cost of filling the prescriptions to the government agencies. Smith's Mt. Holly Family Practice, which he owned, ran a federally-approved opioid treatment program that treated numerous pain management and substance abuse patients, the court documents revealed. Smith allegedly began trading drugs for sex in January 2017, continuing the scheme for about 10 months. The incident in which Smith is accused of having sex with a woman while her toddler daughter was in the exam room is said to have occurred in August 2017. The woman had gone to see Smith for help with an opiate addiction. After the sexual encounter, but without giving her a medical exam, Smith is said to have written the woman a prescription for a stronger dosage of the anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam, which can produce a euphoric high when abused. On September 11, the same woman returned, this time allegedly having sex with Smith while her three-month-old son was in the room with them. In exchange for the sex, Smith allegedly gave the woman new prescriptions for Clonazepam, as well as opiate withdrawal-combating drug Buprenorphine HCL, The next day, on September 12, Smith is said to have sent in a bill to the NC Medicaid program for $78.76 to cover the woman's visit. Medicaid also dished out $131.60 for the prescriptions Smith wrote for her. Court documents showed that prior to the incident with this woman, Smith had propositioned another female patient seeking addiction and pain management treatment from him in January 2017. Although the second woman initially refused to comply with the sex-for-drugs arrangement, she gave in when Smith allegedly threatened to end her treatment. Prosecutors said that Smith had sex with at least seven female patients in his practice's exam rooms, including at least two occasions in which the woman's children were in the same room Over the next 10 months, the woman is said to have gone to Smith's office to have sex with him, after which he prescribed her drugs without giving her any medical examinations. All told, Smith is alleged to have written fraudulent prescriptions for more than 2,800 pills combined of Oxycodone Acetaminophen, Buprenorpine HCL, Alprazolam (commonly sold as mild tranquilizer Xanax) and Clonazepam. Between the alleged fraudulent office visits and prescription drug costs, government health programs doled out at least $9,910, WYFF reported. Prosecutors also said that Smith used the Medicaid and personal information of one of his patient-victims, so that he could commit at least one felony. It was not immediately clear what those felonies were, however. Smith's practice appears to have been shuttered in the wake of the NC Medical Board's suspension of Smith's medical license in October 2017 on the basis of 'immoral and dishonorable conduct.' Smith has apparently agreed to plead guilty to illegal drug distribution, health care fraud and aggravated identity theft. There is not yet a date for when he will formally sign the plea or when he will be sentenced, according to the Gaston Gazette. The maximum sentences for the crimes are more than 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. by J.B. An Dang The expropriated land is destined for business development. One nun was attacked for trying to stop the resumption of construction. Scores of nuns from the Community of the Vietnamese Sisters of St Paul took to the streets in downtown Ha Noi. In Sai Gon, nuns are fighting to ensure that an agreement signed in 1975 is upheld. The authorities are trying to seize school buildings. Ha Noi (AsiaNews) The sisters of two convents located on "golden lands, i.e. those with high economic value, are protesting against the authorities in the countrys two main cities. In both places, the nuns are being forced to give up their rightful property rights in favour of business development. Dozens of women religious from the Community of the Vietnamese Sisters of St Paul marched downtown Ha Noi yesterday, before carrying their protest for hours in front of the People's Committee (City hall) in Hoan Kiem district (picture). They complain about illegal construction of a business complex on their land. The day before, construction resumed after a brief hiatus following complains by Card Phero (Pierre) Nguyen Van Nhon, archbishop of Ha Noi. In an attempt to prevent the resumption of work, a nun tried to block the entrance to the monastery. She was attacked by a group of thugs sent to support the workers, who beat her unconscious. Founded in 1883, the Community of Vietnamese Sisters of Saint Paul is located in central Ha Noi. The building was almost totally confiscated by the communist government in 1954. A small part was returned to the nuns when they opened a dispensary for the poor, a residence for orphans and a shelter for girls. Now the government has approved and hastily launched the demolition of the structure, to put up a five-story building. Since 2011, the Archdiocese of Ha Noi, the rightful owner of the facility on top of which stands a still visible cross, has repeatedly protested against the violation of the legitimate rights of Catholics. For a while, the authorities stopped construction. Now however, after a campaign of repression against a Korean sect, now extended to all religions to promote hatred between religious and non-religious people, city authorities believe that it is the right time to resume the project. In the south of the country, in Ho Chi Minh City (Sai Gon), the communist government has once again demanded that the Community of lovers of the Holy Cross in Thu Thiem district leave their monastery to allow new urban development in the area. The nuns have been in Vietnam since the foundation of the community, in 1840. After the fall of Sai Gon, the unification of the country and the takeover by northern Communists, the nuns turned over the primary school to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education. The agreement was signed on 5 December 1975, clearly noting that the Archdiocese of Sai Gon granted the government the use of the premises for the 1975-76 school year for educational purposes only, whilst the title deed remained in the hands of the Catholic Church. Moreover, in case the premises are used for different purposes, the agreement states that "both parties must give their consent". The schools were closed on 5 September 2011. Local authorities have allocated one of them (Thu Thiem primary school in District 2) as government offices and a police station. They also started the bureaucratic procedures for the transfer of property, which is the tantamount to confiscating the nuns building. In the past 12 years, local authorities have repeatedly put pressure on the sisters to leave their historic convent, the oldest in Sai Gon, to pave the way of new urban projects. This week, pressure reached its peak amid an anti-religious atmosphere stoked by state media. At the moment, 381 nuns who made perpetual vows live in Thu Thiem monastery, plus 98 nuns who made temporary vows, 33 novices and about 100 postulants. When Andy Hibbs isnt hauling lobster pots aboard his fishing boat Matauri Bay, he devotes himself to helping those who, as the hymn goes, find themselves in peril on the sea. The son of a lifeboatman, he joined the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) at the age of 21 and has spent his adult life serving at its station in his hometown St Helier, the capital of Jersey. For doing this skilled, time-consuming, and often dangerous job, the 45-year-old father of one hasnt earned a penny (like almost all RNLI crew members, hes an unpaid volunteer). But it offers other rewards. The entire crew of an RNLI station in Jersey has quit after coxswain Andy Hibbs, 50, left. Friends claim he was 'bullied into resignation' after he allegedly launched a lifeboat without permission from the RNLI His crew have saved countless lives, becoming pillars of their seafaring community. One morning in 1995, to cite perhaps their greatest triumph, Hibbs was part of a team which helped a catamaran carrying 300 passengers that had hit rocks off the coast of Jersey, and was sinking. With disregard for their safety, they got alongside the vessel, which was listing dangerously, and plucked off men, women and children. It was a real eye-opener, he recalls. It brought home how serious the job was, and the responsibility in our hands. More recently, Hibbs was coxswain (the effective captain of a lifeboat) when his 25-strong crew featured in an ITV News item about the brilliant and capable RNLI teams in the Channel Islands. Yet this summer, one aspect of their job will be different. When they motor out of St Helier harbour to save lives, they wont fly the RNLI flag. They are no longer associated with the famous charity. It follows an extraordinarily bitter row, initially centring on an alleged breach of a health and safety procedure, which has placed the islands lifeboatmen in conflict with the wealthy maritime charitys headquarters in Poole. The dispute which led to allegations of bullying, intimidation and mendacity on both sides rumbled on for more than a year. It has seen public demonstrations and rumours of corruption and cover-ups. How Britain's heroic lifeboat men are drowning in a sea of demeaning political correctness imposed by countless highly-paid pen pushers Matters culminated before Christmas with the entire St Helier lifeboat crew resigning. Hibbs and his team have relaunched as an independent operation, the Jersey Lifeboat Association, and will soon take delivery of their first vessel. Im sad that it has come to this, but the RNLI caused this mess, Hibbs says. They have been unpleasant and confrontational, and treated us volunteers with contempt. Well explore this ugly business (in which no side seems blameless) later. But first, an important point: the lifeboatmen of Jersey are not alone. Two other crews are embroiled in public disputes with RNLI leadership. One, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, revolves around jokey Christmas gifts exchanged by lifeboatmen, including a mug with a picture of a naked woman on it and one of the crews faces superimposed on to the models head. One mug featured Joe Winspear's head superimposed on a naked woman's body (pictured, is a mock-up A female superior found the mugs in a cupboard and the pair were sacked. The offending items were either saucy or obscene, depending on your point of view. The RNLI insists they were pornographic. Either way, an investigation talked of safeguarding issues and found the images on the mugs could have been seen by visiting schoolchildren. It also uncovered conduct issues related to the crews social media use, which compromised the stations status as a safe and inclusive environment. Trainee RNLI volunteer Joe Winspear (pictured), 26, was the other crew member to be sacked In protest at the mens sacking, four crew members resigned. Some 11,000 people have signed a petition demanding their reinstatement. Down the coast in Scarborough, the Mail this week revealed that RNLI coxswain Tom Clark has been sacked, after 34 years of service, for allegedly breaking health and safety guidelines by going on a sea exercise with unauthorised passengers on his lifeboat. He accused the RNLI of bullying and intimidation, saying that volunteer lifeboatmen were being bombarded with new rules, forms, acronyms and health and safety. A petition to reinstate him has 5,000 signatures. Drowning sailors are, of course, unlikely to care whether their rescuer owns an inappropriate item of crockery, or once set sail with unauthorised passengers. Yet the RNLI insists its actions are warranted, arguing that its duty-bound to protect staff from bullying and harassment, and must enforce its safety protocols. This clash, between what one might call traditional lifeboat culture and the forces of political correctness, turns out to be the source of heated conflict in RNLI stations nationwide. Before Christmas, Coxswain Tommy Yule, of the Scottish fishing port of Arbroath, was sacked after an incident at a party where visiting Dutch lifeboatmen were entertained. Reports of what happened vary. But it appears to have involved a prank known as a three-man lift, in which a crew member exposed his backside. Yule was seemingly fired after failing to intervene. Fellow crewman Jamie Robertson also went. A third man, Alan Russell, who served the RNLI for two decades, quit in protest, saying it was just a practical joke. As a result of their departure, Arbroath went without a lifeboat for months. Meanwhile, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, two senior helmsmen lost their jobs after allegedly taking incorrectly trained staff on a rescue. In Moelfre, on Anglesey, a cancer-stricken Coxswain was sacked (and an ally resigned) in 2016 after a mysterious personnel issue. In New Brighton, Merseyside, 12 crew members were sacked that same year after falling out with RNLI management over the sacking of a former colleague. Thanks to the latter rebellion, the station had a restricted service, or was off watch on more than 70 occasions over the next 12 months. To have mass resignations at one lifeboat station might be considered unfortunate, but to suffer at least seven such cases in a period of around 18 months is somewhat more worrying. One possible explanation to the situation is, ironically, that the RNLI has become too popular for its own good at least when it comes to fundraising. The charity has enjoyed near-universal support since its foundation in 1824. In addition to substantial public donations, sailing enthusiasts often leave the organisation a large bequest when they die. Its most recent published accounts, for 2016, show income of 191 million, including 130 million from legacies more than the 177 million it takes to run its 238 stations. Overall assets (including property and boats) have grown to 712 million, of which 271 million is now held in investments. In the past, the charitys cash pile has spawned controversy. In 2001, a group of campaigning accountants called Ethical Audit criticised it for having 200 million tucked away, arguing that many donors would not give if they knew the scale of its wealth. For lifeboat crews, the biggest recent change (and a key factor in squabbles) has been a restructuring of middle management last year by a senior executive called Leesa Harwood, formerly of Save The Children, who was hired as the RNLIs community lifesaving and fundraising director on a salary of about 95,000 The Charity Commission agreed that the figures were on the high side and asked the RNLI to reduce them. So the charity came up with a way to dispose of cash: changing its historic remit from rescuing people at sea and on inland waterways to a role including drowning prevention. The Times reported that the charity was awash with so much money that it has decided to introduce Baywatch-style beach lifeguards, inland waterway patrols and a fleet of hovercraft. Seventeen years later, the RNLI employs 523 lifeguards in Britain. It has invested in a 25 million HQ at Poole with a roof in the shape of a wave and windows that resemble portholes which was opened by the Queen in 2004. Crucially, RNLIs payroll has risen dramatically in other areas, too. In 1999, it had 750 employees, but within five years it had 1,000. By 2016 there were 2,366, with 35 senior executives earning more than 60,000, overseen by chief executive Paul Boissier, on a total package of 162,705. Its French equivalent employs just 75 and 1,200 managerial roles are filled by volunteers. Speak to disgruntled lifeboatmen and supporters, large numbers of whom contacted Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn after he highlighted the Whitby scandal last week, and youll hear a simple answer: many head office staff have become pointless jobsworths. Like many big charities, the RNLI has become an empire builders dream, is how one fundraiser put it. There are whole departments making up ridiculous health and safety protocols or human resources codes of conduct. It drives crews up the wall. They added that many are third-sector careerists with no knowledge of the sea, or what makes lifeboats tick, who try to import Left-wing values. Lifeboatmen, who are often working-class lads, wont buy it. Evidence of this apparent trend typical of the way the Left has taken hold of so many public bodies can perhaps be seen in the RNLIs annual report. Though it used to limit its operations to the UK and Ireland, the RNLI now boasts of running drowning prevention programmes in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Bangladesh, Ghana and Lesbos. (The latter refers to helping migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in unseaworthy boats.) It talks of trying to influence policy makers and partners and lobbying the UN to reduce deaths at sea. It has a new national team of health, safety and environment advisers winning health and safety awards, speaks of creating a diversity leadership group among staff and supporting the International Day Against Homophobia. Posts currently advertised include a safeguarding officer earning up to 41,926 a job that generally involves responsibility for health, safety and wellbeing. For lifeboat crews, the biggest recent change (and a key factor in squabbles) has been a restructuring of middle management last year by a senior executive called Leesa Harwood, formerly of Save The Children, who was hired as the RNLIs community lifesaving and fundraising director on a salary of about 95,000. The exercise created 42 area lifesaving managers to supervise half a dozen lifeboat stations each. As a result, there have been dramatic changes in the relationship between crews and RNLI HQ. In the past, regional managers responsible for dozens of stations would visit every six months. Under the new regime, local volunteers are inspected monthly or even weekly. That often causes friction. According to Tom Clark, who was sacked after 34 years of service: Too many area managers, including the one who got rid of me, are young graduates who have never been to sea, and have no idea of the skill and effort required to be a lifeboatman. They rely on forms and procedures to make up for their lack of experience. As a result, volunteers such as Clark nominated for an MBE by the RNLI in 2016 complain of disciplinary investigations over breaches of protocol which, they say, would in previous years have been dealt with informally, if at all. We are having our hands held by politically correct busybodies, is how one puts it. In Clarks case, one element that led to his sacking were claims that he swore at a colleague an apparent breach of the RNLIs code of conduct (Yes, I swore. Its a rufty-tufty place at sea and people do swear, he admits). Other lifeboatmen say this new culture of micro-management means basic operations are preceded by risk assessments and team briefings. Even to go out into the local bay to pick up some kid whos floated away on a lilo, you need to use a flip chart and talk about contingency plans, complains one. In the past, we just got the job done. Now, coxswains must fill out forms confirming theres a navigator and mechanic on board, and there has been a health and safety briefing. Its all crazy box-ticking. At a Channel Islands lifeboat station, a volunteer medic upset his bosses by refusing to spend five days of his own time on a basic first aid course. As a local GP trained in acute care, he felt it unnecessary and resigned in protest. To be fair to the RNLI, the number of crews known to be in conflict with HQ represents a small proportion of their overall total. But it doesnt explain the sheer nastiness of these disputes. Which brings us back to Andy Hibbs, of Jersey, who fell foul of RNLI high command last year after a formal investigation into allegations that hed launched a lifeboat without permission. The claim was found to be untrue: Hibbs proved he was elsewhere on the day in question. But he was furious that the RNLI would not tell him who filed the original complaint. In April, he angrily emailed an RNLI manager saying the whole thing was b*llocks and was sacked for breaking the charitys code of conduct. Controversial: The RNLI's departing fundraising director Leesa Harwood Public protests followed. Hibbs appealed against the sacking, and it was duly overturned only for the RNLI to insist that a full-time employee from HQ had to be stationed in St Helier to oversee him. After months of friction, in November the crew resigned. It has since emerged, in internal RNLI documents, that the original complaint against Hibbs was made to RNLI chief executive Paul Boissier by Phil Buckley, then the harbour master at St Helier. And this triggered more ill-feeling as Buckley and Boissier are longstanding acquaintances, who served together on Royal Navy submarines. Meanwhile, the RNLI executive who presided over much of Mr Hibbs treatment was Leesa Harwood, the community lifesaving and fundraising director responsible for the unpopular management restructuring. She announced her resignation the other day, though the charity says this was not related to recent events. Nonetheless, many of our nations brave lifeboatmen dearly hope for a major change in the management culture at a much loved organisation which seems increasingly to find itself in choppy waters. Two thieves were caught on camera smashing their truck into the front of a Stripes convenience store in Manchaca, Texas on Wednesday. The Travis County Sheriff's Office are investigating and pleading to the public for help to try and identify the two thieves. The fast speed of the truck enabled the ATM to become detached from its bolts, reported CBS Austin. In the video two men, one wearing a skull mask and the other with a bandana over his face, can be seen jumping out of the truck and swiftly loading the ATM into the car, which all took less than one minute. Jando Flores was working in the early hours of the morning when the incident took place. Speaking about the thieves he said, 'He had a skeleton mask on. Immediately I knew they weren't drunk, they didn't need help, they were robbing the store.' Victor Collie, who owns Family Hair Cuts next door to Stripes, said he's been leasing the shop there for 25 years. 'There's a lot of family in there and the people are really friendly. I like them,' Collie said. Two thieves were caught on camera smashing their truck into the front of a Stripes convenience store in Manchaca, Texas on Wednesday The Travis County Sheriff's Office are investigating and pleading to the public for help to try and identify the two thieves Collie said when Stripes decided to move the ATM from the back of the store to the front, he had concerns. 'I questioned it when they put it close to the door because I figured probably within a year or so somebody would break in and that's what happened.' Collie said no one was injured, however the entire ordeal was still unnerving. 'Everything was flying so that's kind of scary. You're out here in Manchaca and it's kind of country out here so you just don't think it would happen here.' Flores was that employee. He ran away and called police. Flores immediately called police when he realized what was going on and fled the scene. 'Anybody who is crazy enough to drive through a store is somebody I don't want to mess with. That's why I took off running.' The fast speed of the truck enabled the ATM to become detached from its bolts The first suspect, the driver, is described as a male with a medium build wearing a skull mask, black hoodie and blue jeans. The second suspect, the passenger, is described as a male with a thin build wearing a boonie-type hat, blue bandana over his face, a camouflage shirt and blue jeans. The vehicle is described as an early-2000s Chevy Silverado Z71 single cab pickup truck, gray and silver, with chains visible on the rear. The trial of Dr. Richard Snellgrove began on Friday in Mobile, Alabama The trial has begun for a doctor who has been implicated in the opioid overdose death of the former guitarist for rock band 3 Doors Down. Dr. Richard Snellgrove, who practiced in Fairhope, Alabama is charged with 13 federal counts in connection with the 2016 fentanyl overdose death of 38-year-old guitarist Matthew Roberts. Snellgrove faces up to 240 years in prison and up to $2.8 million in fines if convicted. On Friday in federal court in Mobile, Alabama, prosecutors and defense lawyers disagreed in opening arguments about who is the victim in the case, AL.com reported. Prosecutors said Roberts, who was found dead in a Wisconsin hotel in 2016, was the victim, saying Snellgrove's criminal behavior is why the physician is on trial for illegally prescribing drugs and helping defraud insurance companies. Former 3 Doors Down guitarist Matthew Roberts was found dead in a Wisconsin hotel in 2016 But Snellgrove's lawyer said the doctor is the true victim. Dennis Knizley said prosecutors have unfairly targeted Snellgrove because Roberts was famous. Knizley said that Snellgrove's actions were reasonable and that it's not the physician's fault Roberts was abusing drugs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Bodnar began by describing the morning in August 2016 when a hotel worker in West Bend, Wisconsin, went to check on a report of someone sleeping in a hallway. Instead, she found Roberts dead. Roberts had risen to fame as lead guitarist of 3 Doors Down in the 1990s and 2000s. He and other founding members hailed from coastal Mississippi and enjoyed a string of hit singles, including 'Kryptonite,' which in 2001 was nominated for a Grammy award for best rock song. Roberts left the group after its European tour in 2012 and checked into drug rehab. He'd gone to Wisconsin to perform at a benefit concert. Roberts was found to have multiple drugs in his system, including hydrocodone and the potent painkiller fentanyl. After a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation, prosecutors charge that Roberts' death was the direct result of criminal behavior by Snellgrove. They say Snellgrove catered to Roberts by readily giving him excessive medication, even though Snellgrove knew Roberts was addicted. Bodnar told jurors that Snellgrove had given Roberts special treatment because he was 'enamored by celebrity status' and was thrilled to be part of the musician's small inner circle. Knizley said it was only Roberts' fame that motivated prosecutors to vault past any argument of negligent treatment or malpractice and go all the way to criminal prosecution 'This is a case that starts at the death, and then the federal government wants to work backward and see what they can find,' Knizley said. Friday's opening arguments spelled out several key areas of contention. Prosecutors allege that Snellgrove knew some prescriptions he wrote for Roberts' father, Darrell Roberts Sr., and his cousin, Jeremy Ryals, were 'pass-throughs' that would go to Matt Roberts. Snellgrove (left) could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. But the doctor's lawyers say he is being unfairly targeted because Roberts (right) was famous Knizley said that any prescriptions he wrote for them were completely legitimate, and Snellgrove was not to blame if they diverted the drugs to Matt Roberts. Roberts' family is suing Snellgrove and others in a civil lawsuit, and Darrell Roberts Sr. could be a key witness. Prosecutors specifically allege that Roberts' death was caused by fentanyl that he obtained through a prescription that Snellgrove wrote on August 18, 2016. Bodnar said that although there were other drugs in his system, and a coroner initially assigned 'multiple drug intoxication' as the cause of death, testimony would show that his death could be attributed entirely to the fentanyl. Knizley disputed that argument and went on to say that if the fentanyl had been legitimately prescribed, then the point was moot. The trial is expected to take two weeks or more. Police in Virginia say two infants who were apparently accidentally left unattended in a car have died. Maj. Frank Carpenter with the Chesterfield County Police Department said Friday the vehicle the children were found in a day earlier is believed to belong to the children's parents. Carpenter says an investigation is still underway but police believe the incident was an accident. Scroll down for video Maj. Frank Carpenter said that the children were found inside their parent's SUV (pictured) but declined to provide further details about the timeline of events The twins were found inside a car near The Masionette Apartments (pictured) on the 2400 block of Alfalfa Lane where the family resides 'It wasn't intentional,' Carpenter told The Richmond Times-Dispatch. 'We believe it was truly an accident.' Carpenter said that the children were found inside their parent's SUV but declined to provide further details about the timeline of events, saying 'I can't share that right now because it's still a pending investigation.' Investigators said the children, one boy and one girl, are believed to be twins. Both were around five months old. Police are awaiting autopsy results from the medical examiner's office. A fire official said both children were hospitalized after being found in cardiac arrest. One was pronounced dead Thursday afternoon and the second died several hours later. Police declined to state the temperature inside the vehicle when the children were discovered. The Weather Channel said that Chesterfield County reached a high of 86 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday. 'It's tragic what happened, I don't even know how to help them with their pain,' neighbor Donna Gusti (pictured) said Experts say that on a mild, sunny day where temperatures reach around 70 degrees, the interior of a vehicle can reach 104 degrees in about 30 minutes. The circumstances of why the children were left in the vehicle are still under investigation. Jason Elmore, a spokesperson for Chesterfield Fire & EMS, said units responded to the unit around 2.30pm Friday afternoon near the The Masionette Apartments on the 2400 block of Alfalfa Lane where the family resides. The children were rushed to Chippenham Hospital but were later pronounced dead. 'It's tragic what happened, I don't even know how to help them with their pain,' neighbor Donna Gusti told CBS affiliate WFTV 6. 'It was certainly not an intentionally negligent act, it was a horrific mistake that can never be erased,' she added. Brexit-hating peers who voted to keep Britain inside the single market are sitting on EU pension pots worth 5.7million, it can be revealed today. More than a dozen of the Lords who backed the amendment to keep Britain inside the European Economic Area are entitled to generous sums thanks to their former roles in Brussels. They include Lord Mandelson who will receive more than 35,000 a year thanks to his former job as trade commissioner. The House of Lords has inflicted 14 defeats on the Government's flagship Brexit legislation, the EU Withdrawal Bill The pro-Brexit group Change Britain said the combined pension pots of the former MEPs, EU commissioners and ex-Eurocrats, added up to 5.7million, giving payouts worth more than 308,000 a year in total. The revelation comes after Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom warned the Lords not to undermine the will of the 17.4million voters who backed Brexit. Speaking in the Commons chamber, she said: 'The purpose of the House of Lords is not to undermine the will of this House and, very importantly, is not to undermine the will of the majority of people in this country who voted for the UK to leave the EU.' Peers have inflicted 14 defeats on the Government's flagship Brexit legislation, the EU Withdrawal Bill. On Tuesday evening, the Lords backed an amendment demanding continued membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) by 247 votes to 218. Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom (pictured in the Commons) warned peers it is not their job to undermine the will of voters The move to force the country into a Norway-style deal would keep our borders open and mean huge sums of money continue to be handed to Brussels. Peers who voted against the Government included Labour's Lord Cashman, Baroness Crawley, Baroness Kinnock and Lord Tomlinson, who all served as MEPs before taking their places in the Lords. Other former MEPs who voted to keep Britain in the single market were Lord Teverson and Baroness Ludford, both Liberal Democrats, and aristocratic Tory the Duke of Wellington. Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader who was a European Commissioner for nine years rising to be Commission vice president, has a 1.65million pension pot worth 89,400 a year. His wife, Baroness Kinnock, who spent 15 years in the European Parliament, has a pension pot of 358,000. Lord Patten, who was Cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher and was an EU commissioner for four years, has a pension pot worth 749,000, paying him just over 40,000 each year. Change Britain calculated the estimated pension pots and annual payouts through an analysis of Brussels pension rules, length of service and salary. EU rules state that former commissioners have to remain loyal to Brussels to get their pensions. Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve has called for Boris Johnson to resign from the Cabinet. Mr Grieve, who has been one of the leading Tory critics of the Government's Brexit stance, rounded on the Foreign Secretary after Mr Johnson described a customs partnership deal with the EU being considered by Prime Minister Theresa May as 'crazy'. Mr Grieve accused the Foreign Secretary of 'destroying' collective Cabinet responsibility with his comments on Brexit. Asked if he thought Mr Johnson should quit the Government, Mr Grieve told The Guardian: 'He should resign. Yes.' Mr Grieve, right, rounded on the Foreign Secretary after Mr Johnson, left, described a customs partnership deal with the EU being considered by Prime Minister Theresa May as 'crazy' Mr Grieve added: 'The Prime Minister has a difficult task and I don't think it's helped by this tendency of the Foreign Secretary to express himself. 'If you are making policies through speeches that are contradicting some of the policy development your colleagues are embarked on, you are destroying collective responsibility. 'And, ultimately, you will utterly undermine the ability to provide democratic governance. The former attorney general said: 'I feel greater loyalty to the Prime Minister than, apparently, some members of her Cabinet may have' 'That's what he's doing - and he shouldn't do it. If he continues doing it, what he does is make government impossible. 'I think it's a profound mistake and hugely damaging. If you don't like a policy, you leave the Government. 'That's what you should do. If there are problems, you either accept them or you have to go. That's your choice.' In a thinly veiled swipe at Mr Johnson, the former attorney general said: 'I feel greater loyalty to the Prime Minister than, apparently, some members of her Cabinet may have.' A thief wrested a 1,000 Apple MacBook Air out of the hands of casting director Vivienne Storry (pictured with Emma Watson) When he ran into a cafe, snatched a laptop from a womans hands and fled on a moped, it looked like this young thief had got away with it. But last week the law caught up with the 15-year-old thug in these CCTV pictures and he was locked up for more than seven years. It can now be revealed that on the same day he raided the cafe, he had targeted three other victims in violent muggings. Armed with an axe and a hammer he stole phones and laptops worth 1,700. In the dramatic footage captured last October, the boy was seen running into the Bread and Bean Cafe in Archway, north London. He wrested a 1,000 Apple MacBook Air out of the hands of casting director Vivienne Storry, who had been working at a table. He then ran out with the laptop to an accomplice waiting on a stolen moped and rode away. Incredibly, the laptop thief, who cannot be identified because of his age, was already on bail over charges of kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail, robbery and weapons possession. Police think he is likely to be responsible for dozens of other moped robberies in London. The theft lasted no more than five seconds but was seen as a new low as the teenager had run inside the cafe rather than targeting victims on the street. Bread and Bean Cafe owner Valbona Sadiku said it was the second time moped robbers had targeted the premises in three weeks. Its unbelievable that these moped gangs will now actually enter peoples property, its gone to another level its horrific, she said. Last week, the laptop thief was given seven years and nine months in youth custody after pleading guilty to all the offences. When he ran into a cafe, snatched a laptop from a womans hands and fled on a moped, it looked like this young thief had got away with it But last week the law caught up with the 15-year-old thug in these CCTV pictures and he was locked up for more than seven years It can now be revealed that on the same day he raided the cafe, he had targeted three other victims in violent muggings. Armed with an axe and a hammer he stole phones and laptops worth 1,700 Wood Green Crown Court heard that on the day he targeted Miss Storry he also stole two iPhone 6 handsets and raided a gym and yoga centre where he stole an Apple Mac Pro and MacBook Air laptop. The court heard that at the time of the robberies he had already been charged over a three-day kidnapping in August. Along with several accomplices, he abducted, threatened and assaulted his victim. Just two months earlier he had been given a 12-month youth referral order in a bid to deter him from a life of crime. At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Circo DAlessio said a hammer had been brandished during the yoga centre theft. Describing another incident, he added: The 15-year-olds DNA is on the axe and on clothing. Miss Storry is a Cambridge graduate who has worked on Holby City, the BBCs Sherlock and West End productions including Enron and Dealers Choice. She has rubbed shoulders with stars including Emma Watson and worked with theatre directors Sir Trevor Nunn, Rupert Goold and Bijan Sheibani. She declined to comment on the robbery. Crimes by moped thugs in London have increased 30-fold in five years. More than 23,000 were recorded in 2017 compared to 827 in 2012, police figures reveal. Last years total is itself more than twice the 2016 figure of less than 10,000. More than 40 per cent of the crimes have occurred in two boroughs, Camden and Islington. Nathaniel Henry, 37, was a 'significant suspect' in the Metropolitan Police's investigation into the death of Noel and Marie Brown A youth worker suspected of murdering a paedophile and his daughter hid for four weeks inside a cramped storage cupboard before he was found dead. Nathaniel Henry, 37, is believed to have used the communal cupboard in a block to lay low after killing sex offender Noel Brown, 69, and his daughter Marie, 41. It is thought Henry knew that police were hunting him after the two bodies were discovered at Brown's flat in Deptford, south-east London, on December 4 last year. Ms Brown, a mother-of-two, was killed when she went to check up on her father but ended up disturbing the killer, it was suggested. Mr Brown, a convicted sex offender, had been strangled and both arms and a lower leg had been dismembered and removed from the flat - but officers have not found any traces of the missing body parts. Mr Henry was last seen leaving his home near Burgess Park, south London, on the afternoon of the murder and was reported missing by his family on December 12. His body was found inside the cupboard on New Year's Eve - Scotland Yard are not treating his death as suspicious. It is understood he died from natural causes, according to The Sun. Neighbours yesterday said police failed to find Henry despite searching the premises after he vanished. Father-of-three Tanxir Ahmed, 42, told the Daily Express: 'They broke the door down to get into his flat. 'They also broke into a cupboard on the first floor where he kept his bikes but they didn't go into the downstairs cupboard. Noel Brown, 69, and Marie Brown, 41, were found dead at a property in south London in December last year They came back again on December 31 and that's when they found him. They found food. I don't know what else he had in there. There's nothing stored inside. There are just water pipes and satellite TV cables. It's not a big space.' In a statement, Metropolitan Police said: 'Henry was subsequently found deceased in a location within a residential block in the borough of Southwark near to his home address on December 31, 2017. The death was deemed non suspicious.' An investigation is underway to try to work out the facts of the case, which has led to searches of properties in Southwark and Lewisham in London from April 30. The police statement said: 'Detectives are actively seeking to piece together the final movements of Nathaniel Henry and ask that anyone with information contact police via the dedicated incident room on 0208 7214205, via 101 or via the independent Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.' The Metropolitan Police have already combed through 1,000 hours of CCTV footage and released images of a man who was seen carrying a distinctive large backpack in the hopes of helping their investigation. Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding said at the time that the suspect was thought to have visited the flat at least four times as he dismembered Mr Brown's body. He said: 'Parts of both his arms and a part of one of his legs have been removed from the scene and those have not been recovered. 'In my 27 years of policing, I have not seen anything quite like this.' Graham Harper, 78, has run a nursery in Abermule, mid Wales, with his wife Margaret, 76, for more than 50 years A couple who run a market stall have been told to take down a Vote Leave poster or lose their pitch. Graham and Margaret Harper have used the placard as a windbreak while selling plants and vegetables. But they were told by the manager of the market in Oswestry, Shropshire, to take it down last month because it was 'political'. Mr Harper complained but local councillors at a meeting held behind closed doors ruled he must remove it or leave the market. In a letter, the town council clerk, said the sign was a contravention of policy that 'no political publicity be displayed on any market stalls as this would be considered a breach of licence conditions.' Mr Harper, 78, who has run a nursery in Abermule, mid Wales, with his wife, 76, for more than 50 years, said the move was an attack on free speech. 'It is not even political,' he said. 'It is not supporting a political party and it is not about an election, it was a referendum.' He said he felt he had no choice but to leave the market after 20 years because he would not take down the placard. 'It is a matter of principle,' he added. 'It is a shame, because we have got to know a lot of very nice people over the years, and have a lot of loyal customers there.' Mr Harper insisted customers had not complained. He understands the council intervened when two Green councillors objected. He said he was given the poster ahead of the June 2016 referendum. 'I had it up at home first, then after the referendum I thought it would make a good windbreak, rather than it go to waste,' he said. 'It is side on, so it is not even in people's faces. Most of our customers are older, and generally support Brexit, but even those who didn't said we should have been allowed to keep it up. I thought it would be a talking point. 'You would think the council would be more concerned about keeping traders than getting rid of them.' The husband and wife have used the placard as a windbreak while selling plants and vegetables Mr Harper said he wanted to keep it up until Brexit had been 'sorted out' as a reminder that Britain was not out of the EU yet. The market manager said he could not comment. But town clerk David Preston said: 'Mr Harper is a longstanding trader but the council has a policy of not using stalls for political purposes or expressing political views. It was a sign that received some complaints. We asked him to remove it. 'He appealed and again the matter was taken to the council and the council agreed it would enforce its policy and asked Mr Harper to take down the sign. Mr Harper decided he would no longer come to the market. 'He is a valued trader, we would like him to return and he would be welcome but obviously he must comply with the council's rules and policies.' A private grammar school costing just 52 a week is set to open this September. The Independent Grammar School: Durham aims to provide a no-frills traditional academic education for families of modest means who cant find a good school in the state sector. Its creators believe there is a gap in the market because average private school fees are now 17,200 a year against 2,700 at the new school. The school will not be selective but will be similar to a grammar because it will provide an old-fashioned academically rigorous curriculum. If it is approved by the Department for Education, the first term will begin on September 17 for pupils aged four to nine. All age groups up to 18 will be joining later. The Independent Grammar School: Durham (pictured) aims to provide a no-frills traditional academic education for families of modest means who cant find a good school in the state sector Professor James Tooley, one of the schools founders, is an academic at Newcastle University and has studied how low-cost private schools have been successful in countries such as Ghana and India. The professor hopes the same model can work in the North East of England and that the school can become the first in a chain of similar establishments. He told the Daily Mail: Entry will be entirely open, there will be no exam. But it will be like a traditional grammar school in that it will be a knowledge-based curriculum and there will be traditional teaching. We wont be afraid of doing things like learning times tables by rote, for example. What we are doing is revolutionary. We are hopeful we will get the go-ahead. We have had 100 expressions of interest so far. Education Secretary Damian Hinds has approved a 50million fund It follows yesterdays approval by Education Secretary Damian Hinds of a 50million fund for selective schools to build more classrooms. Since 2008 the proportion of pupils in England at independent schools has fallen from 7.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent. Over the same period average fees increased from 11,300 a year to 17,200 now. Even some private school heads themselves have admitted that their traditional parents have been priced out and increasingly school places are instead filled with children of the worlds super-wealthy. Although the Durham schools budget is tight, its leaders say they can cut costs by not having grand facilities such as swimming pools and much of the money will be spent on hiring good teachers. The headmaster, Chris Gray, was previously head of Grindon Hall Christian School, which failed an Ofsted inspection several years ago because of the governments British values drive. Although it had previously been judged as good, it was downgraded because inspectors thought it did not teach pupils to respect other faiths and communities enough. A school has banned expensive pencil cases to stop children from poorer families feeling stigmatised. St Wilfrids Primary School in Blyth, Northumberland, brought in the change as part of a poverty proofing drive to help pupils feel more included. So-called designer pencil cases which often have extra features such as lights and cost upwards of 10 were singled out because they stand out on desks. The school said the move would ensure theres no comparison between pupils. It has also introduced a standard backpack and stopped requiring donations on home clothes days. by Bernardo Cervellera The seven prelates arrived two days ago. The pastoral challenges are at the centre of the visit: proclaiming the word of God, dialogue, the lack of local clergymen, foreign clergymen, migrants, relations with Catholics in mainland China. Talks between China and the Holy See cast their shadow. For Taiwans Ambassador Lee, Pope Francis and the Vatican remain concerned about the fate of the people of Taiwan. Vatican City (AsiaNews) The seven members of the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan arrived in the Vatican two days ago for their ad limina visit. The prelates are Taiwan Parish (Taipei) Archbishop Hung Shan-chuan (), Kaohsiung Archbishop Liu Cheng-chung (), Hsinchu Parish Bishop Li Keh-mien (), Taichung Bishop Su Yao-wen (), Chiayi Bishop Chung An-chu (), Tainan Bishop Lin Chi-nan () and Hualien Bishop Huang Chao-ming (). The ad limina visit includes praying over the tombs of the apostles, meeting Pope Francis, and visiting various department of the Roman curia. The bishops will meet with the pontiff next Monday. The delegation prepared two gifts for the Holy Father a Franz Porcelain product based on an artwork by Giuseppe Castiglione, an Italian missionary who served as a Qing court painter, and a painting by Taiwanese artist Shen Chen (). During their visits to the various Vatican dicasteries, the bishops are focusing on their pastoral challenges. These include first and foremost strengthening evangelisation and finding the right balance between proclaiming the word of God and engaging in dialogue Taiwans other cultures and the religions. Other important issues are the shortage in local clergy; the place of foreign priests who need time to learn the language and integrate into the culture of Taiwan; migrant workers, especially mariners; and the fraternal relationship with Catholics in the Peoples Republic of China. For Taiwans episcopal leaders, this is the first ad limina visit during the pontificate of Pope Francis. The previous one took place ten years ago with Benedict XVI. Since Pope Francis took office, relations with mainland China saw a small opening that might lead to renewed diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See in the future. At present, the Vatican is one of 19 states that still have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the only one in Europe. Diplomatic relations with Beijing would mean a break with Taiwan. In view of this, many Catholics on the island have expressed concern over the years about the lack of international support for Taiwan, fearful of a simple takeover of the island by the mainland. The Vatican has always said that even if it established diplomatic relations with the peoples Republic of China, it would not stop caring for Taiwans Catholics, nor break its friendship with the people of Taiwan. This evening, the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See will hold a reception in honour of the bishops. Ambassador Matthew Lee stressed that Pope Francis has always been concerned about Taiwan. In fact, over the past year, the pontiff has sent high-ranking Vatican officials to Taiwan to participate in international exchange activities. He has also offered prayers for the people of Taiwan every time there has been a natural disaster, according to Lee as reported by the Central News Agency. Before leaving Taiwan, the bishops met with President Tsai Ing-wen. Vice President Chen Chien-jen (), a Catholic, also hosted a dinner to express the government's support for Catholicism and the importance it attaches to Taiwan-Vatican relations. This is the shocking moment a driver is seen hanging his foot up on a window while driving on a highway in central China. The driver was said to be singing as he steered his wheel among busy traffic, as onlooker posted the video online. Police are currently looking for the driver who had violated traffic safety rules for dangerous driving. A motorist was seen driving dangerously on a busy highway in Changsha, central China The man put up his foot to the rear mirror of his white car while steering his wheel Mobile phone footage uploaded on Youku, a Chinese video-sharing platform, shows a driver hanging his foot out near the rear mirror while driving his white car. According to a local discussion group, the footage was said to be filmed at Xiangfu road overpass in Changsha of Hunan Province on the morning of May 10. There were no information disclosed of the driver. Hunan Traffic Police received the video clip and said to looking into the driver. The driver could face a 50 yuan (6) fine and receive two demerit points, as he had violated article 62 of China's Traffic Safety Regulations. Hunan Traffic Police are looking for the driver to press charges against him. The man was also singing while driving on the overpass, said the person who filmed A woman in south-west China was shocked to find out the dog she has been raising for two years was an endangered black bear. Ms Su bought a black puppy, thought to be a Tibetan Mastiff, during a vacation two years ago until she found out the pooch turned out to be a 440lbs bear. She decided to send her pet bear to a wildlife rescue centre to receive better care. Ms Su, from southwest China, has mistakenly raised an endangered bear at home for two years She was told that it was a black Tibetan Mastiff puppy when she bought it during a vacation Ms Su told China News that she noticed her 'puppy', which she named as Little Black, grew up to be a bear after two years. 'It can eat a full box of fruits and two buckets of noodles a day,' said Ms Su. Ms Su, from Yunnan Province, noticed it was illegal to raise or keep wildlife animals and decided to seek help from a local zoo. She asked Kunming Zoo for help however she failed to present a birth certificate of the bear to the zoo. On May 9, Ms Su contacted Kunming Forestry Police and they suggested to send the bear to Yunnan Wildlife Rescue Centre. The endangered bear, named Little Black, is one metre tall (3.28ft) and weighs 440 lbs The bear was sent to a wildlife rescue centre under the help of local forestry police Ms Su thought the small bear cub she bought was a Tibetan mastiff puppy (file photo) Footage uploaded on Pear Video shows the one-metre-tall bear walking in a small cage as forestry police takes it to the zoo. The endangered bear weighs about 200 kg (440lbs), according to Ms Su. It had no wounds and scars found on the body. A preliminary checkup report also showed the bear is in good health. The animals was confirmed to be an Asiatic Black Bear, which is a protected animals in China. It's also an endangered animal species widely traded by illegal smugglers in Asia for their body parts. Now it seems lashings of ginger beer with ginger biscuits might help children who are struggling with sickness As Enid Blyton knew when she created the Famous Five, children love ginger beer. Now it seems lashings of ginger beer with ginger biscuits might help children who are struggling with sickness. A study has found children with stomach bugs given droplets of ginger suffer fewer and less severe bouts of vomiting, and are less likely to need time off school. While ginger has been found to work for morning sickness in pregnant women, with the Duchess of Cambridge trying ginger biscuits for hers, there had been no previous research into children. But a study of 141 children aged one to 10 found it really does work for acute gastroenteritis - the kind of serious tummy bug which every child under the age of three suffers and causes vomiting in three-quarters of them. The research, by Dr Roberto Canani at the University of Naples, found children given ginger diluted in water suffered a fifth fewer episodes of being sick. The spice is believed to restrain the cells which cause children to be sick, causing anti-nausea effects at the brain and gut level. Dr Canani said: Acute gastroenteritis is not just an unpleasant condition for children. It has a significant burden on parents, schools and healthcare systems. The results of this study demonstrate that the oral administration of ginger in children affected by acute gastroenteritis is safe, well-tolerated, and effective in reducing the duration and severity of vomiting. He added: Research should now focus on whether ginger could also be effective in treating vomiting children who are not affected by acute gastroenteritis. Ginger biscuits and beer probably do not contain enough ginger as the amount which had this effect in the study The research involved giving children 20 drops of ginger, or a liquid which was not ginger but tasted the same, every eight hours. The results showed the number of children missing school for at least one day was 28 per cent less in the group treated with ginger. Ginger biscuits and beer probably do not contain enough ginger as the amount which had this effect in the study. However the results are promising, showing just two-thirds of children taking ginger had at least one vomiting episode during their tummy bug. This compared to 86.7 per cent of those given the replacement drops. The findings were presented at the 51st European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) annual meeting in Geneva. Scientists have used satellite imagery to discover that a nuclear test in North Korea was so powerful it literally moved a mountain. The explosion, which happened in September 2017, occurred at the rogue state's nuclear testing site, known as Punggye-ri and hidden inside Mt. Mantap. Seismic sensors registered the effects of the nuclear test twice, firstly as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake which was shortly followed by a 4.1 magnitude quake. Researchers estimate that the strength of the explosion was about 120 to 304 kilotons, or ten times the power of the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Satellite imagery revealed the mountain moved south by around 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) and shrank by 1.6 feet (0.5 m), they say. Experts also saw signs that the huge explosion may have caused the subterranean labyrinth of tunnels to collapse, sparking fears over the mountain's stability. This was the fifth test conducted at the site and scientists are concerned that this structural damage could unleash an environmental catastrophe. Scroll down for video Scientists have used satellite imagery to discover that a nuclear test in North Korea was so powerful it literally moved a mountain. The explosion from September 2017 occurred at North Korea's nuclear testing site hidden inside Mt. Mantap (mountain pictured here in January 2016) The mountain could be on the brink of dramatic failure, according to an international team of geophysicists led by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. They used satellite imagery taken from the German TerraSar-X and Japan's ALOS-2 satellites to study the affects of the nuclear explosion on the mountain. The inside of the peak has been so damaged by the repeated tests that it has been reduced to 'fragile fragments', they say. They used a method known as 'synthetic aperture radar', which sends waves of electromagnetic radiation to Earth and measures what bounces back, to make the discovery. Before and after pictures revealed the mountain's dramatic shift 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) to the south, as well its height shrinking by 1.6 feet (0.5 m). In the study, its authors write: 'On 3 September, 2017, two seismic events separated by ~8.5 min were detected in the North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site. 'Soon thereafter, North Korea's state media reported the successful firing of a two-stage thermonuclear bomb test. 'We determined the complete surface displacement field of up to 3.5 m of divergent horizontal motion with 0.5 m of subsidence associated with North Koreas largest underground nuclear test using satellite radar imagery.' Images from a couple of weeks ago show the nuclear test facility at the South Support area at Punggy-ri. This has housed five of the nine nuclear tests that have occurred worldwide Since the United Nations adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 Satellite images taken in April 2017 show the mountainous landscape around the nuclear test site and the different portals leading to a labyrinth of tunnels 1) Bomb explodes and sends seismic waves through Mt Mantap 2) As the waves travel rebound in a process known as 'slapdown', the summit collapses sightly 3) 8.5 minutes after the explosion an earthquake is triggered and 4) Both events cause the mountain to move south Mt Mantap is located in the north east of the secretive state's territory and is the clandestine home of its nuclear testing programme. A number of detonations have occurred at the Punggye-ri base inside the mountain in recent years. The latest, on September 3, 2017, may have been the final one. Since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996, nine nuclear tests have taken place. Six of these were by North Korea, five of which were at its Mt Mantap facility. According to scientists, the inside of the peak has been damaged by the repeated tests that it has been reduced to 'fragile fragments'. Using satellite pictures, scientists saw was the shift of an entire mountain 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) south and shrank by 1.6 feet (0.5 m) When the nuclear bomb went off last year, speculation from scientists reported by the South China Morning Post explained the dramatic implications of 'tired mountain syndrome'. Wang Naiyan, a former chairman of the China Nuclear Society and a researcher on China's own nuclear weapons programme, said he feared just one more test could 'take the mountain's roof off', sparking a toxic radiation drift across the region. 'We call it 'taking the roof off'. If the mountain collapses and the hole is exposed, it will let out many bad things. According to the South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Seoul's National Intelligence Service said it was the fifth blast the North had conducted in the same No 2 tunnel at the Punggye-ri test site, and it was 'likely to have collapsed'. The research published this week corroborates this theory. The impact of a single nuclear bomb can be devastating. North Korea have been testing these weapons as well as ballistic missiles (pictured) for some time The Punggye-ri site inside Mt Mantap in North Korea has been subjected to five different bombs. Political enigma and North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un announced the decommissioning of Punggye-ri earlier this year Did Kim promise to end missile launches because his test site was ALREADY out of action? Kim Jong-un only agreed to freeze his missile tests because his underground nuclear test site has collapsed, Chinese experts suggested. The dictator announced on Saturday he would halt nuke trials and intercontinental missile launches and also vowed to dismantle the atomic facility at Punggye-ri in the country's north east to 'transparently guarantee' the end of testing. But the surprise announcement comes after reports last year of major earthquakes and landslides in the mountainous area in the wake of five test blasts carried out by the secretive state in recent years. The dictator announced on Saturday he would halt nuke trials and intercontinental missile launches. But doubt now surrounds the honesty of this claim after evidence revealed the test site was already damaged, including by landslides depicted on this map According to the South China Morning Post, two groups of Chinese experts say the military facility has collapsed 'putting China and other nearby nations at unprecedented risk of radioactive exposure'. One of the experts said this could be the real reason behind Kim Jong-un's decision to end his missile and nuclear trials. The tyrant had claimed that the freeze was because he had now successfully developed the country's arsenal, including miniaturizing warheads to fit them on to rockets. But Wen Lianxing, from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, and his researchers have concluded that a major collapse took place at Kim's atomic site after the country's sixth nuclear test in September. At the time, Japan estimated that the blast was measured at 120 kilotons, eight times the size of the US device that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Satellite images appeared to show multiple landslides in the wake of the hydrogen bomb blast, with green mountains reduced to muddy hillsides. Weeks later, unverified reports emerged that up to 200 workers may have been killed during the construction of a new tunnel at the site. Three small earthquakes then hit nearby regions, it is claimed. A map showing the atomic facility at Punggye-ri and piles of dumped material that show the construction of a tunnel, where dozens of workers are thought to have died after the structure collapsed Advertisement North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un announced the decommissioning of Punggye-ri earlier this year. It was well received in the media and by politicians worldwide, but the gesture could have been made out of necessity rather than desire. The surrounding areas around the mountain has been reported to been plagued with landslides and repeated earthquakes following years of nuclear explosions. Some suggest that it's lack of suitability for future tests has led to the closure of the mountain site, rather than a sudden change of heart by Pyongyang. With several tunnels in and out of the summit, there have been different ideas as to how to secure the vast amounts of nuclear waste contained at Punggye-ri. One theory suggests using explosives to seal the entrances to the three tunnels that have been drilled into the mountain. The obvious risk here is that the tremors could trigger a chain reaction, causing the site to collapse and releasing a concoction of radioactivity in to the air. Another idea is a long-winded process which involves burying the entire site in sand and lime. The full findings of the study were published in the journal Science. Google has promised that its human-fooling AI assistant will 'warn people that it is fake.' The AI, dubbed 'Duplex', enables its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with humans. Using a 'horrifyingly' life-like voice, Duplex can book a hair appointment, reserve a table, or schedule meet-ups with friends. The system, however, has provoked massive amounts of criticism since it was unveiled on Tuesday. Many claim it is unethical because it tricks humans into talking to a machine without them ever realising. Scroll down for video Google wowed onlookers earlier this week when it demoed a new technology called 'Duplex' that enables its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with actual humans Now, amid widespread backlash, Google has explicitly said that it will add disclosures into Duplex when it is tested this summer. 'We understand and value the discussion around Google Duplex - as we've said from the beginning, transparency in the technology is important,' a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. 'We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we'll make sure the system is appropriately identified. What we showed at I/O was an early technology demo, and we look forward to incorporating feedback as we develop this into a product.' Duplex, which CEO Sundar Pichai said the firm has been working on 'for many years', is still in the early stages of development. The firm has yet to decide how it plans to release the technology. Experts say the feature raises a slew of tough ethical questions around how AI and humans will interact as the technology weaves its way into our everyday lives. 'Google Assistant making calls pretending to be human not only without disclosing that it's a bot, but adding 'ummm' and 'aaah' to deceive the human on the other end with the room cheering it...horrifying,' Zeynep Tufecki, a techno-sociologist and professor, wrote on Twitter. 'Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing'. Google employees told Bloomberg that so far reception around Duplex has been mixed. 'We don't want to pretend to be a human,' designer Ryan Germick said in an interview with Bloomberg. However, Germick and Scott Huffman, an executive on Google's Assistant team, said part of the goal was to make Duplex as human as possible so that it could hold more nuanced, believable conversations. Google's Wavenet software is able to detect human voices and turn the soundwaves into sentences. Google has now taken the technology one step further with Duplex, which can now mimic human voices Pichai showed off the new technology at the I/O conference, which kicked off on Tuesday in Mountain View, California and runs through Thursday. In a demo, Google Assistant dials up a local hair salon to schedule an appointment. First, a user asks Google Assistant to make them a hair appointment, which prompts Assistant to make the phone call. It sounds like any other women talking, but one half of the conversation is being held by Google's AI-infused digital assistant. Google Assistant is able to work out a time and date for the appointment, even when the salon employee says there are no appointments available at the time the Assistant originally suggested. The Assistant even replied 'Mhm' in a natural, believable way when the employee asked her to wait a moment. A second demo showed how Assistant can book a reservation at a restaurant. Google revealed that it's introducing six new voices to its AI Assistant, including singer John Legend (pictured above), whose voice will respond in 'certain contexts', the firm said In a live conversation, Assistant is able to field many questions and even knows to ask how long the wait is without being prompted. Assistant then sends a notification to the user to let them know that an appointment has been scheduled. The technology is poised to bring big changes to how we interact with our voice-activated devices, which is why Google executives told CNET that the firm will 'proceed with caution' in rolling out the technology to everyone. Google said it used a combination of natural language processing and machine learning, among other technologies, to develop Duplex. 'The Assistant can actually understand the nuances of conversation,' Pichai explained. Google Assistant is able to work out a time and date for appointments, even when the salon employee says there are no appointments available at the time the Assistant suggested Google is launching six new voices for the Assistant to make it more natural and conversational. The goal is to capture dialects, languages and accents more accurately 'We are still developing this technology and are working hard to get it right'. Additionally, Google revealed that it's launching six new voices for the Assistant to make it more natural and conversational. The goal is to capture dialects, languages and accents more accurately and realistically on a global scale, the firm said. What stole the show, however, was when Google announced that award-winning R&B artist John Legend would be voicing some commands for Google Assistant. Legend's voice will only appear in 'certain contexts', like singing Happy Birthday, as he was shown demonstrating in a video. Yossi Matias, Google's vice president of engineering, told CNET last week that Google was still working out the best way to deal with disclosures. 'We need to be thoughtful about how we have this interaction while we're experimenting with it,' Matias said. Google still hasn't revealed exactly how its disclosures would be implemented. It seems short men really do act more aggressively than their peers to make up for their small stature. Researchers used a money sharing conundrum, dubbed the Dictator Game, which tests how fairly individuals treat others. It typically consists of two individuals, with one given a quantity of money which they must offer a portion of to a rival - even if the amount is zero. They found that smaller men responded more aggressively when competing in the psychological test - so long as there were no repercussions. Scientists say this means the phenomenon, known as short-man syndrome, or the Napoleon Complex, is real. Scroll down for video Studies have shown that tall people are wealthier, more successful at work, healthier and even enjoy better love lives than their smaller counterparts. Russian President Vladimir Putin is around 5ft 5in (1.69m) tall and has carefully cultivated his hard man image in his home country The findings were made by researchers from Vrije University in the Netherlands, according to reports in New Scientist. A group of 42 volunteers in the study were split into pairs and allowed to meet with their opponents. They were then given a short time to assess them, before being led to separate rooms. Each was given a small sum amount of cash, in the form of eighteen tokens that were worth 7.36 pence (ten cents) each. They were then asked how much they would like to keep for themselves, and how much to leave for their adversary. The shortest men in the study, at around 5ft, 7in (1.7m), kept 14 chips for themselves on average. The tallest men, who were 6ft 6in (2m) kept just nine. However, when the threat of repercussions were introduced, shorter men did not display any more aggression that their rivals. 'Its probably smart for short men to be like this because they have less opportunities to get resources,' lead researcher Jill Knapen told New Scientist. Researchers used a money sharing conundrum, dubbed the Dictator Game, and found smaller men did respond more aggressively. Actor Mark Wahlberg, pictured in David O Russell's film, The Fighter, is around 5ft 6in (1.73m) tall and is well known for his off-screen outbursts of anger WHAT IS THE DICTATOR GAME AND WHY IS IT USED? The Dictator Game is an economic game that is designed to question the standard economic assumption that individuals will act solely out of self-interest. The game is also used by psychologists to determine how people belonging to different groups and backgrounds will respond in this situation. It typically consists of two individuals, one of whom is given a quantity of money. The second individual is given nothing. The participant given the money, known in the experiment as 'the dictator', is told that he must offer some amount of that money to the second participant, even if that amount is zero. Whatever amount the dictator offers to the second participant must be accepted. The second participant, should he find the amount unsatisfactory, cannot then punish the dictator in any way. Advertisement Smaller men's reputation for aggressive behaviour may have some basis in truth. Known as short-man syndrome, or the Napoleon Complex, the idea is that males of shorter stature like the French leader (pictured) make up for their lack of height with extra-assertive personalities Short men may have every reason to be fed-up with their lot. Studies have shown that tall people are wealthier, more successful at work, healthier and even enjoy better love lives than their smaller counterparts. A 2004 study by psychologist Timothy Judge found that tall people earn more. He calculated that every inch of height added 505 ($789) to someones annual salary every year. That means, on average, a worker who was 6ft (1.8m) earned 3,535 ($5,525) more than someone who was 5ft 5in (1.67m). When author Malcolm Gladwell polled the management of half the top US companies, he found that 58 per cent of chief executives were at least 6ft (1.8m) tall, compared to just 14 per cent of the population. WHAT IS SHORT MAN SYNDROME OR THE NAPOLEON COMPLEX AND WHAT ARE ITS CHARACTERISTICS? The Napoleon Complex, also known as short man syndrome, was identified in 1926 by the Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler. He also came up with the notion of the inferiority complex, where sufferers demonstrate a lack of self-worth. In its classic form, short men overcompensate for their lack of height by being extra-assertive and chippy. The name itself is a actually a bit of a misnomer. Although Napoleon is assumed to have been short, he was 5ft 6in (1.7m) - around average for a man in the late 18th century. The confusion arose from portraits of the dictator standing alongside unusually tall guards. The complex has divided psychologists for more than a century. Some say it describes a real phenomenon; others believe there is no evidence it exists. One study suggesting the complex is real came from Professor Abraham Buunk, of Hollands University of Groningen. He interviewed 100 men in relationships and found that those around 5ft 4in (1.5m) tall were more likely to suffer from jealousy than those measuring 6ft 6in (2m). However, the evidence is far from clear cut. In 2007, researchers at the University of Central Lancashire found that tall men not short ones were quicker to anger when provoked. Advertisement Since 1916 the era when our politicians have appeared on cinema screens and TV the taller US presidential candidate has won 17 times, the shorter candidate just six. Other studies have shown tall men are more likely to find a long-term partner and taller teenagers have more dates. Short people are also more likely to become criminals, more likely to develop heart disease, tend to be more unhappy and dont live as long. Whether the short man syndrome exists, or if the perception of aggressive behaviour is more exaggerated when it comes from men of smaller stature, is up for debate. Whether the short man syndrome exists, or if the perception of aggressive behaviour is more exaggerated when it comes from men of smaller stature, is up for debate. Daniel Radcliffe, who is around 5ft 4in (1.65m), bucks the trend, with his squeaky clean image Shorter men may also be the victims of more aggression from their larger peers, forcing them to adopt a defensive stance. Speaking to New Scientist, Mike Eslea at the University of Central Lancashire added: 'Theyre supposed to be publicly advertising their aggressiveness to compensate for their lack of stature. 'To me this doesnt suggest the Napoleon Complex exactly, it suggests something else.' The full findings of the study were published in the journal Association for Psychological Science. Ancient remains of a military horse that died 2,000 years ago in the inferno that obliterated Pompeii have been discovered - thanks to the help of tomb raiders. Criminals had been using tunnels they dug to search for valuables in the ruins of a Roman villa, located in a suburb of the long destroyed city. Their work prompted conservators of the Unesco world heritage site to start their own digs, in order to put a stop to their activities and protect its remaining artefacts. Researchers used laser scanning to map a 200ft (60m) long network of illegal tunnels dug by the robbers and began excavating. They recreated the complete outline of the horse they discovered using plaster casting, the first time this has happened at the site. The remains of humans, mules, donkeys and other animals that were victims of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius' in AD 78 have previously been restored using the technique. Ancient remains of a horse that died 2,000 years ago (pictured) in the inferno that obliterated Pompeii have been discovered - thanks to the help of tomb raiders. This is the first time that the complete outline of a horse has been recreated at the site using plaster casting Criminals had been using tunnels to search the ruins of a Roman villa, in a suburb of the now destroyed city. Researchers used laser scanning to map a 200ft (60m) long network (pictured) of illegal tunnels dug by the robbers The horse was found in an area now known as Civita Giuliana, to the north of the ancient city and outside of its protective walls. Archaeologists say a distinct imprint in the ground created by the creature's ear as it lay on its left side confirms this was a horse, and not another form of equine. While none of the creatures muscles or bones remained, plaster was used to fill in these gaps to create a full body cast of the animal. Pompeii's director Massimo Osanna said the find was an 'extraordinary' discovery while Culture Minister Dario Franceschini called it 'exceptional'. The horse (pictured) was found in an area now known as Civita Giuliana, to the north of the ancient city and outside of its protective walls. Archaeologists say a distinct imprint in the ground created by the creature's ear (pictured) as it lay on its left side confirms this was a horse, and not another form of equine. While none of its muscles or bones remained, plaster was used to fill in these gaps to create a full body cast Experts believe that the horse - uncovered in a stables alongside the villa - was used in military parades, according to the Italian news agency Ansa. They also discovered the body of a man, aged 40 to 55, who died after the eruption, suggesting that people continued to make the area their home. In a statement to Ansa, Professor Osanna added: 'This is a sign that people continued to grow crops and live here even after the eruption, producing on top of the layer of ash and stone that covered and destroyed the entire city.' Alongside these major finds were a number of interesting artefacts, including amphorae, kitchen utensils, and part of a wooden bed. Experts also discovered the body of a man (pictured), aged 40 to 55, who died after the eruption, suggesting people continued to make the area their home. A number of interesting artefacts, including amphorae, kitchen utensils, and part of a wooden bed were also found How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago What happened? Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow. Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500C pyroclastic hot surge. Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed. They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000C. An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance. Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century. His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware. Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow He said that a column of smoke 'like an umbrella pine' rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night. People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours. While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano's column to collapse. An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life. Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly. The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge. While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be 'exceptional' and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000. What have they found? This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later. The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life. Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city. In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues. A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day Some of the balconies even had amphorae - the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times. The discovery has been hailed as a 'complete novelty' - and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public. Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day. Advertisement This is not the first time in recent months that remains have been uncovered at the site. The skeleton of a child who tragically perished in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius found in the ruins of a public baths at Pompeii was revealed in April. Workers restoring the ancient thermal recreational area discovered the body, believed to belong to a child aged seven or eight at the time. Vesuvius is believed to have killed more than 16,000 people - with bodies still being discovered to this day. The crouching child is thought to have been trying to take shelter from the ensuing cataclysm when they were overwhelmed by deadly volcanic gases, experts say. The tragic skeleton of a child who perished in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was uncovered in the ruins of a public baths complex in February. Workers restoring the ancient thermal baths in Pompeii discovered the body, believed to belong to a child aged seven or eight at the time Professor Osanna said in a statement at the time that the skeleton was found during work in February to shore up the main ancient baths in the sprawling archaeological site. The skeleton was removed from the baths' area for study, including DNA testing to determine its sex. Professor Osanna said it appears the skeleton might have been first spotted during a 19th-century excavation of the area, since the leg bones were orderly placed near the pelvis, but - for reasons unknown - wasn't removed by those earlier archaeologists. Speaking to La Repubblica newspaper at the time, he said: 'This is an extraordinary find, in an area which we thought had been fully excavated in the 19th century. 'What we can say from an early analysis is that the child was between seven and eight years old.' Vesuvius, which erupted almost 2,000 years ago in in AD 79, is believed to have killed more than 16,000 people, with bodies still being discovered to this day. This image shows the body of a child found at the site The crouching child (pictured) is thought to have been trying to take shelter from the ensuing cataclysm when they were overwhelmed by deadly volcanic gases, experts say Experts at the Applied Research Laboratory of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii will now search the body for clues about it. They hope to determine the state of health of the inhabitants of Pompeii in AD 79, including the presence of any diseases. During the first phase of study, scientists will take bone measurements and evaluate muscular impressions on the skeleton. These can be used to measure traces of any physical activity, including lifting heavy weights as well as the time the child spent walking. Pompeii's director Massimo Osanna said in a statement that the skeleton was found during work to shore up the main ancient baths in the sprawling archaeological site The skeleton was removed from the baths' area for further study, including DNA testing to determine its sex Professor Osanna said it appears the skeleton might have been first spotted during a 19th-century excavation of the area, since the leg bones were orderly placed near the pelvis, but, for reasons unknown, wasn't removed by those earlier archaeologists Comparing measurements of the length of the bones of the child with analysis of its dental development will give a more precise indication of its age. Establishing the sex of the individual will not be possible at this stage, as typical male and female characteristics are not visible from the bones during childhood. These may be possible during a second phase of research using DNA analysis, if enough genetic material of a decent standard has been preserved. DNA analysis will be conducted in collaboration with the department of medicine at Federico II University Hospital in Naples. Experts at the Applied Research Laboratory of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii will now search the body for clues about it They hope to determine the state of health of the inhabitants of Pompeii in AD 79, including the presence of any diseases During the first phase of study, scientists will take bone measurements and evaluate muscular impressions on the skeleton Measurements of the skeleton can be used to detect traces of any physical activity, including lifting heavy weights as well as the time the child spent walking The skeleton was found almost complete, except for a portion of the right side of its chest, its jaw and part of the upper limbs and lower limbs. No damage was found dating from the skeleton's experiences with the group of nineteenth-century archaeologists who uncovered part of it. In a written statement, Alberta Martellone, head of the laboratory, added: 'In the unique case of Pompeii we are faced with human remains of individuals in the fullness of their vitality, who died as a result of natural disasters. 'The analysis of these remains allows us to open a cross-section of the living population of the time, which in no other situation would have been possible.' Comparing measurements of the length of the bones of the child with analysis of its dental development will give a more precise indication of its age Establishing the sex of the individual will not be possible at this stage, as typical male and female characteristics are not visible from the bones during childhood These may be possible during a second phase of DNA analysis, if enough genetic material of a decent standard has been preserved It seems everyone wants to get in on Ubers flying taxi plans. The firm has partnered up with the US Army to fund and research the development of quiet rotor technology for vertical lift-off craft. Under the new agreement, they aim to create the first usable stacked co-rotating propellers, with two rotor systems one on top of the other moving in the same direction. Uber plans to carry out the first UberAir flight demonstrations in 2020, with commercial flights available by 2023. Scroll down for video Uber has partnered up with the US Army to fund and research the development of quiet rotor technology for vertical lift-off craft. Under the new agreement, they aim to create the first usable stacked co-rotating propellers, with two rotor systems one on top of the other A stacked, co-rotating system has potential to be much quieter than traditional setups, according to the Army. And, it could improve overall flight performance. Despite its promise, however, the technology has yet to be deployed in any existing aircraft. The US Army and Uber will jointly fun the new effort in a bid to accelerate the development of a working design. This agreement with Uber displays the Army utilizing innovative approaches to collaborate with an industry partner that is truly on the cutting edge, said Dr Jaret Riddick, director of the ARLs Vehicle Technology Directorate. A stacked, co-rotating system has potential to be much quieter than traditional setups, according to the Army. And, it could improve overall flight performance. Despite its promise, the technology has yet to be deployed in any existing aircraft This collaboration is an opportunity to access years of knowledge vested in subject matter experts within the lab. It will allow the Army to rapidly advance mutually beneficial technology to inform objectives for silent and efficient VTOL, or vertical take-off and landing operation, for the next generation fleet of Army unmanned air vehicles. This supports the Army modernization priorities for future vertical lift aircraft. While stealth might be the Armys ultimate goal, Uber needs quiet craft to ensure its system can work in bustling cities. Its already selected the first two locations for the Elevate project: Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco Texas and Los Angeles. The US Army and Uber will jointly fun the new effort in a bid to accelerate the development of a working design. A prototype of what the UberAir craft could look like is shown Uber has re-opened a contest to select the first international city to launch its proposed flying taxi project, following apparent delays in getting the service off the ground in Dubai, a previously proposed market. A concept image of UberAir is shown WHAT IS UBER AIR AND HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? UberAir is a network of small, electric, aircraft that enable four-person ridesharing flights in densely populated areas. Artist's impression shown UberAir is a network of small, electric, aircraft that enable four-person ridesharing flights in densely populated areas. The 'electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles' (eVTOLs) differ from helicopters in that they are quieter, safer, more affordable, and more environmentally-friendly, Uber claims. Users will order the aircraft through the Uber app much like they would one of the firm's taxis. Once they have selected an UberAIR ride, the craft will fly to the nearest 'Skyport' - a series of launch pads spread across the city. Uber estimates that an all-electric, 200mph (320kph) ride across the skies of Los Angeles will be price-competitive with an UberX trip of the same distance. Uber predicts that trips from LAX to the Staples Centre during rush hour can be reduced from up to 1 hour 20 minutes on the ground to less than 30 minutes using UberAir. Its prediction includes UberX transfers to and from UberAir launch pads - the flight over LA itself will take around four minutes, the firm said. The plan will rely on a network of Skyports, which will allow the VTOL Uber Air craft to take off and land on rooftops across the country Advertisement Our first jointly-funded project will help us develop first of its kind rotor technology that will allow for quieter and more efficient travel, said Eric Allison, Head of Uber Elevate. We see this initial project as the first of many and look forward to continued collaboration with the lab on innovations that will make UberAir a reality. The firm is also working with NASA to explore ways to implement a safe and efficient air travel network over congested cities. Uber also revealed a look this week at the stunning Mega Skyport system developed by Corgan that could serve as hubs for its air taxis Uber unveiled its Uber Air design models for the first time this week at the Elevate Summit in Los Angeles, revealing a look at the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft that could be ferrying passengers above congested cities in just two years. A full-size model and miniature design prototype showed off to CBS News show how the electric flying taxis could fit up to four riders per vehicle, at first for piloted flights before ultimately becoming fully autonomous. During the summit, Uber execs also revealed the firm has plans to take on nearly 10 times the number of daily flights than the FAA for a single city and, it could cost riders less than $2 per mile. SpaceX has launched its powerful Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, after aborting the maiden voyage yesterday just 58 seconds before liftoff. The craft, carrying Bangladesh's first communications satellite, the Bangabandhu 1, blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida on time at 4:14pm (ET). Block 5 Falcon 9 is said to be the 'final iteration' of the reusable rocket, with potential to handle far more launches than its predecessor, and could one day be used to carry astronauts to space. Scroll down for video SpaceX has launched its powerful Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, after aborting the maiden voyage yesterday just 58 seconds before liftoff Cheers could be heard from the control room as the rocket tore through the sky in a 'beautifully clear' shot seen from all around. Atop the reusable rocket is the Bangabandhu 1, which weighs in at a whopping 7,700lbs. The vehicle could be seen high above Earth after launch, with its three main events happening in the usual quick succession. After main engine cutoff, the first stage separated, followed by the fairings. These could be seen falling back down toward Earth, as the announcers confirmed: 'Everything is going great right now, Falcon is looking good.' Shaky video reception threatened to mask the landing of the first stage, which would mark SpaceX's 25th successful Falcon 9 recovery. But, at the very last second, the video came back to life, revealing the Falcon 9 sat upon Of Course I Still Love You, in the Atlantic Ocean. Cheers could be heard from the control room as the rocket tore through the sky in a 'beautifully clear' shot seen from all around Atop the reusable rocket is the Bangabandhu 1, which weighs in at a whopping 7,700lbs About 33 minutes after launch, the second stage successfully separated from the satellite and deposited Bangabandhu-1 to geostationary orbit. Today's success is expected to serve as a proving ground for the Block 5, which Elon Musk has referred to as the 'finished version' of SpaceX's Falcon 9, as it's been designed to last up to 100 flights in a single lifespan. It's part of SpaceX's wider goal to make launching rockets similar to commercial flights, where 'they can be flown again and again,' the firm explained on the livestream. The rocket was initially scheduled to blast off on Thursday, but firm was forced to delay the maiden voyage after the rocket threw the abort signal 58 seconds before launch. Announcers said at the time that the Block 5 rocket and its payload 'are in good health' but that it would use the next 24 hours to check what 'threw the abort today'. The vehicle could be seen high above Earth, with its three main events happening in the usual quick succession. After main engine cutoff, the first stage separated followed by the fairings, and announcers confirmed: 'Everything is going great right now, Falcon is looking good' Shaky video reception threatened to mask the landing of the first stage, which would mark SpaceX's 25th successful Falcon 9 recovery. But, at the very last second, the video came back to life, revealing the Falcon 9 sat upon Of Course I Still Love You, in the Atlantic Ocean About 33 minutes after launch, the second stage successfully separated from the satellite and deposited Bangabandhu-1 to geostationary orbit 'We're much happier to take those aborts beforehand than continue when there's any risks,' the announcer explained. The mission is expected to serve as a proving ground for the Block 5, which Elon Musk has referred to as the 'finished version' of SpaceX's Falcon 9, as it's been designed to last up to 100 flights in a single lifespan. The mission also marks the inaugural launch of Bangladesh's first-ever communications satellite. Bangabandhu 1 will provide broadcasting and telecommunication services to rural areas, as well as deliver direct-to-home television programming across Bangladesh. The mission is an important step toward SpaceX's wider plan of conducting manned missions with rockets that can be reused up to 100 times in a single lifespan. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could be seen celebrating in the control room after the successful launch The craft, carrying Bangladesh's first communications satellite, the Bangabandhu 1, blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida on time at 4:14p.m. (ET) following the previous days delays WHAT MAKES THE BLOCK 5 ROCKET DIFFERENT FROM EARLIER VERSIONS OF FALCON 9? Unlike previous Falcon 9 iterations, the Block 5 is made to last for a long time -- and for good reason, because if all goes well, it could be used to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX launched the Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket for the first time on May 11 The plan is to launch the first stage 10 times without needing refurbishment, just some minimal inspection before returning the rocket to the launchpad. After it completes 10 flights, the Block 5 will be inspected and repaired, then used in 10 more flights. With any luck, the rocket can be reused up to 100 times. SpaceX says the rocket has numerous upgrades from its predecessor, the Block 4. It has stronger landing legs, better landing control and is completely reusable. The rocket looks pretty similar to previous Falcon 9 iterations, aside from a new interstage ring, raceway cover and landing legs -- all of which are painted black. The black paint is part of the rocket's new thermal protection system that makes it highly flame resistant and rapidly reusable. There are also some noteworthy changes to the rocket's nine Merlin engines. They now have a thrust of 190,000 lbf at sea level vs. the prior thrust amount of 176,000 lbf. The rocket was supposed to launch on May 10, but threw a last minute abort signal at around T-1. It successfully took off Friday afternoon instead Additionally, the rocket's metal support structure, called the Octaweb, is now bolted to the body instead of welded, to allow for greater reliability and it 'shortens the lead time in manufacturing,' the company noted. It's been fitted with a new second stage anti-vortex device to prevent fluids from creating a whirlpool inside the rocket. SpaceX is also using a pair of titanium grid fins, rather than aluminum, which allow for a more controlled entry. Advertisement SpaceX, which conducted a successful static test fire of the Block 5 earlier this month, said the rocket has numerous upgrades from its predecessor, the Block 4. The plan is to launch the first stage 10 times without needing refurbishment, just some minimal inspection before returning the rocket to the launchpad. After it completes 10 flights, the Block 5 will be inspected and repaired, then used in 10 more flights. With any luck, the rocket can be reused up to 100 times. However, Andy Lambert, vice president of production for SpaceX, pointed out in a Reddit post that an upwards of 10 times is probably more achievable for now. 'Block 5 is being qualified for 10+ flights, but we'll continue to expand for more,' Lambert said. The rocket looks pretty similar to previous Falcon 9 iterations, aside from a new interstage ring, raceway cover and landing legs -- all of which are painted black (pictured) By comparison, SpaceX's Block 3 and Block 4 rockets have only been able to fly a second time after undergoing refurbishment. Meanwhile, another important launch tool received a noticeable face lift. SpaceX's recovery boat, called 'Mr Steven', was installed with a new net to help it better retrieve payload fairings as they return to earth. The contraption has now been outfitted with a bright yellow net, which Musk has cheekily likened to as being a 'giant catcher's mitt', that appears to be made of stronger material than its predecessor, according to Teslarati, which first spotted the change. Rigged to the net are massive metal claws to help retrieve parts from Falcon 9 rockets, some of which can weigh up to 4000kg. SpaceX's recovery boat, 'Mr Steven', was installed with a new net (top) to help it better retrieve payload fairings as they return to earth. It's believed to be stronger than the old net (bottom) SpaceX uses a recovery boat, called 'Mr. Steven', that's outfitted with massive metal claws that are rigged to a net, as a means of gently recovering Falcon 9 payload fairings WHY DOES SPACEX RE-USE ROCKETS AND OTHER PARTS? SpaceX tries to re-use rockets, payload fairings, boosters and other parts to try to cut down on the cost of each rocket mission. The total cost of one of its Falcon 9 launches is estimated to reach 44 million ($61m), while each of its larger Falcon Heavy flights costs 65 million ($90m). The space company has previously re-used first-stage and second-stage rocket boosters, in addition to one of its previously flown Dragon capsules. The Dragon spacecraft are used as the final stage of SpaceX missions to resupply the International Space Station. In an incredible accomplishment, the Falcon Heavy's reused side boosters landed smoothly back down to Earth on two separate launchpads about 8 minutes in. SpaceX is currently testing a system to recover the fairings of its Falcon 9 rockets. The payload fairings are clam shell-like nose cone halves that protect the craft's payload. SpaceX recovered a payload fairing for the first time in 2017. During its first Falcon Heavy launch in February 2018, the firm landed two of the firms side boosters simultaneously on separate launchpads. Advertisement The ultimate goal of the latest Falcon 9 iteration is to cut down on the cost of rocket launches without having to build a new rocket for each mission. The SpaceX boss has said that cutting down on labor costs could also reduce the cost of each rocket, perhaps by as much as 30%. If they cut down on the cost of each rocket, that could enable SpaceX to complete launch missions more often. And the savings could be applied to SpaceX's development of the BFR, or 'Big F***ing Rocket', according to the Verge. SpaceX just received approval to build the BFR at the Port of Los Angeles, further setting in motion Musks plan of making humans a multi-planetary species, and one day developing a colony on Mars. This is the centre of Berlin, where the original city grew on the banks of the River Spree and where visitors flock to explore the historic and cultural landmarks. In Mitte, youll find many of the German capitals best museums and other cultural highlights, from world-class opera and theatre to excellent art galleries, cosy cafes and welcoming neighbourhood bars. It would be impossible to pack everything that Berlin offers into a guide like this, but here are some favourites to help you make the best of your time in Berlin-Mitte. The ultimate guide to the first and most central borough in the German capital How to get there and around If youre flying into either of Berlins two main airports, youll find easy connections on public transport going into the city and the neighbourhood of Mitte. From Tegel, the TXL bus links the airport with Alexanderplatz and other destinations in the district. And from Schonefeld Airport, the regional trains and S-Bahn will whisk you quickly into the city, calling at Alexanderplatz and Friedrichstrae stations, where you can get the U-Bahn, bus or tram to complete your journey. Although Berlin is Germanys largest city, Mitte is relatively compact and public transport makes it easy to get around. You could also explore by foot as most of the main landmarks and attractions are within walking distance of each other. For bike rental, check out Fat Tire Bike Tours beneath the TV Tower, close to Alexanderplatz. Where to stay If you want to make Mitte your Berlin-break base, youll be spoiled for choice the historic city centre is loaded with excellent hostels, apartments and hotels, including two of the citys finest five-star establishments. The Hotel de Rome is in the old headquarters of a Berlin bank, just behind the State Opera and a short walk from Museum Island, and many of the decadent hotels features speak of the buildings history, including a swimming pool in the old vault. Overlooking the Brandenburg Gate, the Hotel Adlon Kempinski is arguably Berlins best address, with upmarket restaurants and bars and a luxurious spa for a spot of pre-opera pampering. The luxury five-star Hotel de Rome boasts gourmet cuisine and a state-of-the-art spa Mitte also has some great three- and four-star design hotels. Check out the friendly and hip Casa Camper Hotel and the stylish Hotel AMANO, with rooftop bar and spectacular views. Increasingly popular in Mitte are the apartment houses offering designer style and comfort, hotel services and also the chance to live like a local. If that appeals to you, Lux 11 on Rosa-Luxemburg-Strae and Gorki Apartments, close to Rosenthaler Platz, are both great options. If youre on a budget, youll be delighted to learn that Mitte has some of Berlins best hostels. Stay at Circus Hostel where you can either go for a traditional dorm bed or splash out on a private single or double room. There are even studio apartments with their own top-floor terrace. What to see and do Many of Berlins iconic landmarks are in Mitte, and the two highlights the TV Tower and the Brandenburg Gate are at either end of Unter den Linden. A walk from one to the other will take you past both the Komische and State Opera houses, the German History Museum, the Berliner Dom cathedral and the five world-class museums that make up the Unesco-listed Museum Island. Pay a visit to the collection of antiquities at the Pergamon Museum and see the old masters on show at the Old National Gallery if youre short on time. But if you can indulge your cultural side, youre perfectly placed in Mitte. The Natural History Museum, close to the main train station, is extremely popular with kids of all ages. The German Currywurst Museum is an unusual dedication, as the name suggests, to one of Berlins culinary contributions to the world. If art is your thing, take a walk along Auguststrae, stopping off at its galleries and exhibition spaces, including the excellent KW Institute for Contemporary Art. During your time in Mitte, find time to explore Gendarmenmarkt square with its two cathedrals and the beautiful golden dome of the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strae. A sobering must is the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, a sombre and powerful installation occupying a whole city block across the street from the Tiergarten park, between the Brandenburg Gate and the towers of Potsdamer Platz. After WWII, Mitte was part of East Berlin. Learn about the division of the city at the DDR Museum on the embankment of the River Spree, at the Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Centre on Bernauer Strae. And at the Tranenpalast exhibition, hear the story of everyday life at the border at Friedrichstrae station and legendary Checkpoint Charlie, where Mitte meets Kreuzberg. If youre in town for a spot of retail therapy, Mitte has some of the best shopping in the city. Friedrichstrae has the big names in fashion and the high-end Galeries Lafayette shopping mall. Alexanderplatz is the place to go for high-street brands and familiar names, while the streets between Hackescher Markt and Rosa-Luxemburg-Strae are ideal for pottering around small boutiques and flagship stores of contemporary international and Berlin-based designers. A trip to Berlin isn't complete without a visit to the historic Berlin Wall Memorial Where to eat and drink Breakfast is serious business in Berlin, and Mitte is no exception. Kick start your day with classic Berlin plates of cold cuts, cheese and hot dishes at Zimt und Zucker, a traditional Berlin coffee house on the banks of the river close to Friedrichstrae station, or try the excellent coffee and cooked breakfasts at Commonground on Rosenthaler Platz. For lunch, head to the triangle between Hackescher Markt, Rosenthaler Platz and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, where youll find classic Berlin cafes to grab a bite to eat in. Local favourites include Gorki Park, one of East Berlins oldest cafes, with a menu of Russian specialties on Weinbergsweg, and Oliv Cafe on Munzstrae. Or you could head to the S-Bahn arches behind Humboldt University join the students queuing for Deponies menu of no-nonsense German dishes. For traditional Berlin cuisine in the evening, head to the historic Nikolai Quarter near Alexanderplatz and find Zum Nussbaum, reputedly Berlins oldest pub. Keep wandering, and youll find other traditional German restaurants in the streets nearby, including Georgbau brewpub on the banks of the river. For burgers, get to Tommis Burger Joint on Invalidenstrae, or for Vietnamese try the ever-popular Monsieur Vuong. If youre on the hunt for an extra-special meal, book a table at Michelin-starred Weinbar Rutz a stylish and elegant restaurant on Chausseestrae, with an upstairs restaurant and more relaxed wine bar on the ground floor. All three are Evangelical Christians. Trump welcomed them in person along with First Lady Melania, Mike Pence and John Bolton. The US is optimistic about the upcoming summit. The date and place will be announced within three days with Singapore as the likely location. Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) The three US nationals freed by Kim Jong-un returned home a few days before the summit with US President Donald Trump. The three men were welcomed at the Joint Base Andrews by US President Donald Trump, his wife Melania, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Vice President Mike Pence. The plane landed at around 2:40 am in Washington. In their trip home, the three were accompanied by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was on his second visit to Pyongyang. After boarding the plane to welcome the freed hostages and escorting them down the airstair, Trump thanked Kim Jong-un for their release. The US president said he believes Kim wants to bring North Korea into the "real world" and was hopeful that the long-anticipated summit with the North Korean leader might be a breakthrough. North Korean media gave prominence to Pompey's visit, reporting that Kim decided to grant the Americans amnesty in response to an "official suggestion" from Trump. As the aircraft flew over Alaska, the three men thanked the US government for "bringing us home". They also thank[ed] God and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return". The three are Evangelical Christians of Korean origin. Kim Dong-chul, 64, is a missionary who was arrested in North Korea on 2 October 2015 for allegedly spying and subversive acts. He ran a company in the Norths north-eastern Rason special economic zone. Before his sentencing, the former Virginia resident publicly apologised for slandering North Koreas leadership, collecting and passing confidential information to South Korea, and joining a smear campaign against the Norths human rights situation. Tony Kim, who also goes by the Korean name Kim Sang-duk, was engaged in humanitarian work and had been teaching for a month at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) when he was arrested. Kim Hak-song, also a missionary, worked in agricultural development at an experimental farm run by PUST All three were sent to a labour camp where political prisoners are believed to be subjected to harsh conditions. The amnesty granted to the three US citizens appears be a sign of appeasement from Kim Jong-un ahead of the upcoming summit. In his address, Trump noted that date and place for the meeting will be announced shortly, either in late May or early June, in Singapore. Advertisement From Israel to Ethiopia and beyond, this heartwarming series of images captures the undeniable love between a mother and child. Belgium-based photographer Pascal Mannaerts, 39, set out to document the power of the maternal bond during his extensive travels around the world. He told MailOnline Travel that he sees an 'undeniable beauty' in his portraits, with the women exuding a sense of 'love, pride and grace'. From Israel to Ethiopia and beyond, this heartwarming series of images captures the undeniable love between a mother and her child. Above, a shot taken in Cuzco, Peru, in 2005 Belgium-based photographer Pascal Mannaerts, 39, set out to document the power of the maternal bond during his extensive travels around the world. Above, a mother and child in Rangoon, Myanmar, in 2014 Mannaerts told MailOnline Travel that he sees an 'undeniable beauty' in his portraits, with the women exuding a sense of 'love, pride and grace'. Above, a mother carries her child in Shigatse, Tibet, in 2010 In one image, a woman from Cuzco, Peru, is seen wearing a traditional outfit in bright colours with her child peering out from behind her shoulder. In another shot, a mother in Mail, west Africa, is caught tenderly putting a beaker of water to her son's lips. The portraits reveal the power of touch between a mother and baby, with all of the youngsters held close by. Some infants are strapped to their mum's backs, while others are held by the hand or on the knee. In one image, a mother in Mali, west Africa, is caught tenderly putting a beaker of water to her son's lips The cameraman said the mothers were always proud to pose with their offspring and 'happiness automatically radiated' from them. Above, a woman carries her son through the traffic in Kolkata, India, 2013 Mannaerts has been globetrotting for more than a decade around the world with his camera. Above, a mother smiles at the camera in Mongolia in 2014 Mannaerts' striking images have been featured in numerous publications including National Geographic. Above, a woman and her child smile for the camera in Tinerhir, Morocco, in 2003 Mannaerts said his favourite mother-child image is one he took in Pushkar, India. The photograph shows a woman in a long red sari with her face covered and a baby cradled in her arms. Revealing what draws him to the shot, Mannaerts mused: 'I love its mystery, its colors, its atmosphere. I also truly love the place where I took it: Pushkar in the state of Rajasthan, India.' The cameraman said the mothers were always proud to pose with their offspring and 'happiness automatically radiated' from them. Mannaerts has been globetrotting for more than a decade around the world with his camera. His striking images have been featured in numerous publications including National Geographic. Explaining what drives him, he concluded: 'In the process of total immersion in every culture I discover, I place the human being as the main focus in my photographic work, through photographs which tend to open dialogues, arouse emotions and questions.' This shot taken in 2010 shows a mother and son walking through the streets in Jerusalem, Israel A mother tenderly breastfeeds her child in a nook of Ella in Sri Lanka A mother proudly stands with her baby on show for the camera in the sunny climbs of Harran in Turkey A little boy looks slightly bemused as his portrait is taken alongside his mother in Yuanyang, China A ceremonial act takes place between a mother and her child in one of the tribal communities of Turmi, Ethiopia Mannaerts said his favourite mother-child image is this one he took in Pushkar, India A child flashes a cheeky grin at the camera in Sapa, Vietnam Mannaerts captured a child sleeping in their mother's lap while she sits on a street in Jaisalmer, India She was named as Forbes 2017 highest paid actress after racking up $26 million. And Emma Stone was back making some more coin on Thursday. Filming scenes for her upcoming Netflix series, Manic, the 29-year-old was all smiles as she shot a scene with a security officer while having a smoke. New Emma! Stone was seen smoking a cigarette and wearing a wig while shooting a scene for her new Netflix series Manic on Thursday Emma wore a dark grey top and trousers with a tan colored overcoat. Completed with brown boots, she walked along the New York's Park Avenue. Accessorizing with a backpack on her back, one scene saw Emma smoking a cigarette. Stylish: Emma wore a dark grey top and trousers with a tan colored overcoat All smiles: Emma donned a clear complexion for the shot and was seen with her blonde wig Standing next to a billboard that read 'PoopBot Nexus', she appeared somewhat downcast. Emma donned a clear complexion for the shot and was seen with her blonde wig. Still holding her cigarette, the beauty added a pair of round Randolph sunglasses whilst holding up a book and speaking to a security guard. In character: Standing next to a billboard that read 'PoopBot Nexus', she appeared somewhat downcast Is there a problem? Still holding her cigarette, the beauty added a pair of round Randolph sunglasses whilst holding up a book and speaking to a security guard According to Netflix, the series will see Emma and Jonah Hill star in the 'remake of a Norwegian dark-comedy about an institutionalized man who lives a fantasy life in his dreams.' Sonoya Mizuno, Sally Field and Justin Theroux will also make regular appearances. But it hasn't been all work for Emma while in New York. Coming soon: According to Netflix, the series will see Emma and Jonah Hill star in the 'remake of a Norwegian dark-comedy about an institutionalized man who lives a fantasy life in his dreams' Top spot: Last year, Emma was named as Forbes highest paid actress after making $26 million On Monday, the Academy Award winner attended the annual Met Gala, before leaving the event with co-star Justin. Emma wore a royal blue gown for the evening and was seen both arriving and departing the Up and Down Nightclub with the newly separated husband of Jennifer Aniston. Justin, 46, and his wife Jennifer Aniston, 49, announced their separation in February, less than three full years after their Bel-Air wedding. She surprised the world in February with a City Hall wedding to producer Sebastian Bear-McClard after reportedly only dating him for weeks. And in the new June issue of Marie Claire, cover girl Emily Ratajkowski, 26, has spoken up about people online 'writing-off' her new marriage. 'No one can take women seriously on any choices that they make, especially if theyre unique to them and they dont play into the way we think women should get married,' she said. 'It's a constant writing-off.' Speaking up: In the new June issue of Marie Claire, cover girl Emily Ratajkowski, 26, has spoken up about people online 'writing-off' her new marriage The London-born model and actress recalled: "People came after my marriage, like: "Wow. I give it three weeks." Im like: "What?"' She wore a $200 Zara pantsuit to her intimate nuptials, and said about it to Marie Claire: 'When you dont have a real wedding, its for you. I wore what I wanted to wear. It really felt like the outfit that was most me, and that made me feel good.' Emily confided: 'I actually thought there was a chance that no one would find out,' explaining with a chuckle: 'I am still getting used to fame. I forget, you know.' Inside the magazine, Emily showed off her smashing legs as she sat on the floor in a nightie-like Ferragamo dress and held a cup of noodles. Cover girl: 'No one can take women seriously on any choices that they make, especially if theyre unique to them and they dont play into the way we think women should get married' On the cover, she gave the camera a smoldering stare from beneath a Burberry hat, modeling a thin powder pink Ralph Lauren top and letting her hair down. In a black and white snapshot of herself in the same outfit, she stuck her tongue out and turned to reveal a glistening drop necklace. Her interview also included a discussion of her breasts - the envy, she says, of several women who visit a plastic surgeon's office where a friend of Emily's works. 'Boobs are funny. They hurt sometimes, and sometimes theyre the thing that makes me feel the most powerful. Theyre a key to my sexuality. Theyre all those things.' 'I'm like: "What?"': The London-born model and actress recalled: "People came after my marriage, like: "Wow. I give it three weeks"' She shared one awkward experience: 'I remember there was some article like "Emily Ratajkowski Is the Mozart of Breasts." What was so bad is someone sent it to my dad, who sent it to me. My dad still sees me as a little kid.' On breasts generally, though, the Gone Girl actress' line is: 'I love my boobs. I love other peoples boobs. Boobs are kind of great.' When the conversation turned to, as the magazine wrote, 'being taken seriously in Hollywood,' Emily said: 'Its actually something Ive thought about a lot without ever saying seriousness in my head. I care a lot.' She confessed: 'I think I freak people out sometimes going into meeting with Hollywood producerswith f***ing guns blazing.' 'I wore what I wanted to wear': She wore a $200 Zara pantsuit to her intimate nuptials, and said about it to Marie Claire: 'When you dont have a real wedding, its for you' Said Emily: 'I had something to prove, and it had very little to do with my acting ability or the way I looked. It was about the Take Me Seriously. Look me in the eye.' Emily has not been shy about her political views, and continued expounding on them in Marie Claire, saying: 'I struggle with the label of "activist" because Im struggling with what activism means in 2018 in general.' The actress, who while showing Vogue around her vast apartment in 2015 said she was for a platform to 'redistribute wealth in this country,' said to Marie Claire: 'I want a radical left, and I dont see itI was hopeful that with Trump coming into power there would be this drive to radicalize.' To the contrary, she said: 'Ive seen lot of people, no offense, wearing pink hats and posting it on Instagram and thinking that theyve done something good for the world, and I just dont think thats true.' Her view of feminism is: 'We grow up in this patriarchal, misogynistic culture, and women fantasize about watching themselves through a male gaze' Her view of feminism is: 'We grow up in this patriarchal, misogynistic culture, and women fantasize about watching themselves through a male gaze. 'But if a woman decided that she likes herself in a gaze, and it makes her happy, should she feel the burden of where that comes from? I dont know the answer. Thats now what feminism is about. Its freedom of choice. Do what you feel like!' Emily also responded to critiques of her new movie I Feel Pretty, in which Amy Schumer's character Renee is hugely insecure because of her looks - then falls on her skull, becomes convinced she is a bombshell and fills with self-esteem. While some objected to the movie because Renee only feels beautiful after a head injury distorts her self-image, Emily argued: 'Renee doesn't change.' Only the best: On the cover, she gave the camera a smoldering stare from beneath a Burberry hat, modeling a thin powder pink Ralph Lauren top and letting her hair down She contrasted I Feel Pretty to Shallow Hal, in which an obese woman captures the attention of Jack Black's looks-obsessed character only when he is under hypnosis to see someone's inner beauty as her outer appearance. Thus, when Jack's character sees this obese woman, she is played by the svelte platinum blonde Gwyneth Paltrow, and he falls head over heels. Emily said of Renee: 'Unlike in Shallow Hal, she looks the exact same, but she just carries herself differently, and her whole life changes. Thats an interesting concept.' She's the Modern Family star who calls herself mom to three dogs and one rabbit. And Ariel Winter was spotted stocking up on some pet supplies in Los Angeles on Thursday. Walking alongside boyfriend of one year Levi Meaden, 30, the 20-year-old sported a summer look. Errands run: Ariel Winter went makeup free to pick up some pet supplies at Petco with her boyfriend Levi Meaden on Thursday in Los Angeles Ariel kept casual in a plain white t-shirt and distressed denim shorts. She paired her ensemble with light colored lace boots. The Emmy Award winner sported a makeup free complexion and had her brunette locks out and effortlessly flowing over her shoulders. Day off: Ariel kept casual in a plain white t-shirt and distressed denim shorts Stunner: The Emmy Award winner sported a makeup free complexion and had her brunette locks out and effortlessly flowing over her shoulders Ariel was seen holding her phone and wallet in her hand. Carrying the pet supplies, Levi wore a rust colored t-shirt and also donned distressed shorts. He paired his look with black converse hi-tops. Loved up: Ariel has been dating actor Levi since November 2016 and currently live together Family shot: Known for their love of animals, the couple who've been dating for well over a year are parents to three dogs and one bunny rabbit Known for their love of animals, the couple who've been dating for well over a year are parents to three dogs and one bunny rabbit. Ariel frequently shares adorable photos of her four-year-old Samoyed, Casper, one-year-old German Shepard rescue, Chloe, and newest addition - one-year-old, Cash. It is unknown what happened to her two-year-old French Bulldog, Rocco, that she previous shared photos of regularly. Arial has been dating actor Levi since November 2016 and currently live together. It's been a busy week on Instagramming for this couple. Jacob Underwood and Chandler Bay have revealed they are expecting a baby AND are engaged. On Friday the O-Town star's girlfriend announced on her account that she was pregnant and due in October. Double joy: O-Town's Jacob Underwood and girlfriend Chandler Bay have revealed they are expecting AND engaged 'As if our life together isn't already filled with so much adventure, we are so excited for the greatest adventure of all. #PartyOfThree,' she captioned a snap of the duo kissing on the beach. In the foreground was a framed picture with two normal passports and a mini one depicting all the places they were about to visit on a European tour. 'THANK YOU to everybody for the well wishes, congratulations, messages, comments, phone calls and more!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!' she captioned a follow up pic. 'I cannot believe I'm going to be a mom!!!!!! We leave for Europe in the morning!!!!!!' But little did she know she had another surprise in store, when the 38-year-old proposed during a visit to a very special spot in the French capital. Incoming: On Friday Bay announced on her account that she was pregnant and due in October Question: But little did she know she had another surprise in store, when the 38-year-old proposed during a visit to a very special spot in the French capital 'I said yes! In Paris, on a carousel, under the Eiffel Tower,' she declared in a post on Wednesday. The boyband star told People magazine how he came up with the original concept. 'About seven months ago, we booked a tour in the U.K. and when I asked her of all places in the world she wanted to visit, she immediately said, 'Paris, to see the Eiffel Tower,' he said. 'So I put the proposal plans in action!' Plan: The boyband star told People magazine how he came up with the original concept Family en route: 'It was everything I had hoped for and more,' he revealed. 'She said yes.' 'I had planned it for seven months, making sure the guys knew and were there to record the proposal,' he continued. 'I staged a picture on the carousel with the Eiffel Tower in the background so she wouldn't get suspicious with all the cameras out, then I got on one knee. He added: 'It was everything I had hoped for and more. She said yes.' The couple have been together since April of 2016, when he spotted her singing karaoke in a Nashville bar. She's the glamorous co-host of Channel Seven's The Morning Show. But Kylie Gillies suffered an embarrassing beauty faux pas when she asked her hairdresser to make her hair look the same as former Miss Universe Australia Jesinta Franklin's, only to be seated at the same table as her at an event. Attending InStyle's Women of Style Awards on Wednesday evening, Kylie sought beauty inspiration for her dazzling look from the model, taking a 'screenshot of Jesinta's hair' to her stylist ahead of the fashion affair. 'Do you think she noticed?' Kylie Gillies left embarrassed after asking her hairdresser to make her look like Jesinta Franklin... only to be seated at the SAME table as the model at an event Sharing her embarrassment, the 50-year-old took to Instagram to share a snap from the evening, showing her sitting next to her 26-year-old model doppelganger. Twinning in slick-back, short bob hairstyles, Kylie captioned the post: ' True story. I screenshot Jesinta Franklin's hair before last night's InStyle awards and had my hairdresser style it the same.' Going on to explain the embarrassing coincidence, she added: 'Nect minute...END UP SITTING AT THE SAME TABLE AS JESINTA...RIGHT OPPOSITE .Do you think she noticed?' Inspiration: Attending InStyle's Women of Style Awards on Wednesday evening, Kylie sought beauty inspiration for her dazzling look from the model, taking a 'screenshot of Jesinta's hair' to her stylist ahead of the fashion affair Completing her post, she wrote: 'I did fess up. She's such a cool chick. And a style inspiration' Adding equally appropriate as hysterical hashtags to the post, Kylie wrote: 'Imitation', 'flattery' and 'noshame'. With the post rallying over 3,000 likes and fans commenting on Kylie's stunning look, Jesinta too piped in. Twinning in hairstyles, Kylie captioned the post: ' True story. I screenshot Jesinta Franklin's hair before last night's InStyle awards and had my hairdresser style it the same' 'You ROCKED it,' she wrote. 'So great seeing you! You looked amazing as always xxx' Earlier on in the evening, the famed television host was seen posing next to fellow Channel Seven host, Sunrise's Samantha Armytage. She dazzled in a halter-style black frock by Australian designer Carla Zampatti. In a following snap, she was seen seated alongside her fellow Channel Seven squad including Sarah Stinson, Lucie Mcgeoch, Chloe Flynn and Ann Sanders. She just celebrated her anniversary with husband Mark Consuelos in the Bahamas. And Kelly Ripa looked rested and relaxed as she was spotted on an outing back home in New York City on Thursday. The 47-year-old talk show host was ready for summer in a chic white and red tee and breezy green graphic skirt as she made her way through the Big Apple. Stunner: Kelly Ripa looked rested and relaxed as she was spotted on an outing back home in New York City on Thursday Daring to impress, the former soap opera star revealed her delicate decolletage in the plunging white tee that boasted a red circle. Her gorgeous gams were swathed in the green graphic print dress that had a red, white, and blue pattern. She swept her trademark blonde tresses back in a tight ponytail allowing her flawless face to shine. Throwing caution to the wind, the darling diva went virtually makeup free with just a dab of berry lip. Graphic: The 47-year-old talk show host was ready for summer in a chic white and red tee and breezy green graphic skirt as she made her way through the Big Apple Meanwhile, Kelly shared an Instagram tribute to her husband on May 1st to celebrate their anniversary. 'Feliz Aniversario lover! 22 years. Youre a human roller coaster that luckily Im tall enough to ride,' she captioned the post. Mark reciprocated with a series of snaps of the loved up couple. Impressive: Daring to impress, the former soap opera star revealed her delicate decolletage in the plunging white tee that boasted a red circle '5-1-96...happy 22nd anniversary Boo.. seems like yesterday to me.. Im sure its feels a lot longer to you..(honeymoon photo Capri, Italy ..were still banned from that hotel... it was worth it),' he gushed. In 1995, Kelly met Mark, her co-star on All My Children. They married in 1996 and share three children, Michael Joseph (born June 2, 1997), Lola Grace (born June 16, 2001), and Joaquin Antonio Consuelos (born February 24, 2003) Whether on a red carpet, photo shoot or school run, Rebecca Judd never fails to look utterly flawless. And now the 35 year-old model and TV presenter has revealed the secrets to her picture perfect complexion - and some don't come cheap. Taking to Instagram, Rebecca confessed her favourite cosmetic potions and lotions as part of her daily routine. A $140 moisturiser, massive hair tongs and a $15 dry shampoo: Rebecca Judd reveals her beauty secrets... and the products she can't live without 'I am very lucky to work with such amazing brands and people,' the busy mum of four, clad in a figure-hugging jumpsuit, gushed while flaunting a dewy complexion and gorgeous full sandy locks However, clocking in at over $500 combined, fans may need to stretch the budget to replicate her stunning look. 'I am very lucky to work with such amazing brands and people,' the busy mum of four, clad in a figure-hugging jumpsuit, gushed while flaunting a dewy complexion and gorgeous full sandy locks. Rebecca then lavished praise on high-end beauty brand The Skincare Company, while peeking out under lashings of mascara and perfectly sculpted brows. Rebecca's must have beauty secrets: The Skincare Company's Hydration Booster, priced at $125 [left] and Exfoliating Serum, also priced at $125 'I've been meaning to post this beauty look from last week,' she gushed. 'Skin prep from The Skincare Company using Vit A and Exfoliating serum (priced at $125) on alternate nights and HB5 and Vit C serum (also priced at $125) in the mornings.' Jet-setting as the host of Nine's travel series Postcards, it's vital the star, who works with in-demand hair stylist and make-up artist Jade Kisnorbo, uses the best products to keep her skin hydrated and supple. Can't live without it! The model and entrepreneur, 35 can't live without The Skincare Company's hydrating moisturiser, priced at a whopping $140 'When I'm flying or in winter, especially when it's really cold, I use The Skincare Company's hydrating moisturiser daily (priced at $140) and their Hydration Booster (priced at $125) when my skin is dry.' Preferring The Skincare Company's THE FACE lipstick (priced at $33) for her bee-stung pout, the beauty divulged the secrets behind her enviably glossy mane. With her stunning beachy locks coloured by stylist, Marie Uva, Rebecca cited a must-have affordable product for her shaggy 'do. For that perfect pout: Rebecca also swears by The Skincare Company's THE FACE lipstick, priced at $33 and Kloraneau Dry shampoo, priced at 14.99 'We used Kloraneau Dry shampoo (priced at 14.99), always for volume and texture so my hair doesn't go flat,' the author joked while also claiming she achieves the look with 'massive tongs, ends out.' Bec recently admitted she finds zen and peace while spending quality time with her husband, 34 and their four children - Oscar, 6, Billie 4 and year-old twins Tom and Darcy - in a hot tub. The entrepreneur has just released her debut parenting book, The Baby Bible. The book covers 'beauty, skincare and fashion advice, how to style the nursery, baby shower fun and pregnancy-safe exercise routines.' She's never been afraid to showcase her sensational figure. And Georgia Kousoulou let her enviably toned legs take centre stage as she attended the Quiz Clothing x TOWIE launch at W Hotel in London on Thursday. Clad in a leopard print playsuit, the 26-year-old reality star was turning heads on the night, but only had eyes for her boyfriend Tommy Mallett. Cute couple: Georgia Kousoulou let her toned legs take centre stage as she attended the Quiz Clothing x TOWIE launch with Tommy Mallett at W Hotel in London on Thursday The blonde bombshell looked sensational on the night in the scanty co-ord which was backless whilst also featuring a cut out that showed off her taut abs. The garment also offered a look at her tanned and toned pins, which were boosted by a pair of barely-there black heels, whilst she accessorised with a cross body bag. Georgia finished off the look by styling her glossy golden locks in loose waves that framed her stunning features. Dressed to impress: The blonde bombshell looked sensational on the night in the scanty co-ord which was backless whilst also featuring a cut out that showed off her taut abs Georgia was a picture of confidence at the bash following her recent nose job. Speaking candidly about going under the knife, the star recently explained how weird the experience was, telling OK! magazine: 'Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror and not recognising yourself'. She continued: 'I never regretted it but when you come out of an operation and youre swollen, you do think to yourself, have I done the right thing? Leggy lady! The garment also offered a look at her tanned and toned pins, which were boosted by a pair of barely-there black heels, whilst she accessorised with a cross body bag 'Youre crying, youre second guessing yourself. The first week I had a cast on, and when I took the cast off it was the scariest feeling in the world.' But even though she had some trepidation before her cast was removed, the reality star admitted that it was the right decision: As time is going on, Im starting to get back to what I used to look like. I just feel like a proper version of myself. I am definitely so much more happy and confident now, she added. She earned her most recent Academy Award nomination for playing glamour icon Jackie Kennedy. But Natalie Portman opted for a rather more relaxed ensemble when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 36-year-old actress teamed a blue hoodie with gray sweats and white sneakers - though she did add a splash of chic with a cross-body Dior bag. Out and about: Natalie Portman opted for a relaxed ensemble as she grabbed coffee to go on on Thursday in Los Angeles Slicking her hair back into a tight bun, the Black Swan Oscar-winner carried a disposable coffee cup in one hand and a bulging paper bag in the other. Since 2012, Natalie has been married to French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she lived in Paris for a time. The couple have two children - Aleph, born a year before their wedding, and Amalia, whom they welcomed into the world last February. Natalie told Madame Figaro in 2013 that she would be 'very happy to acquire' French citizenship but after a couple years in Paris, the family moved to California in 2016. Only the best: The 36-year-old actress teamed a blue hoodie with gray sweats and white sneakers - though she did add a splash of chic with a cross-body Dior bag Meanwhile Thursday, it was announced that British actor Dan Stevens will join Natalie in the Fox Searchlight drama Pale Blue Dot. Pale Blue Dot centers on Natalie's character - a married astronaut who returns to Earth after a mission and begins an affair with a fellow astronaut. The former Downton Abbey leading man will play her husband while Jon Hamm has already been cast as the astronaut she has an affair with, according to THR.com. The film is being directed by Noah Hawley, the showrunner on Stevens's FX TV series Legion. BY FRAZER & ROHAN HARRY In the space of a week around the turn of this year, three veterans of the 2/22 Battalion died, including Bill Harry. This leaves just ten men of the military group deployed to Rabaul which fought the Japanese invasion of 23 January 1942. Many members of Lark Force were captured and later lost in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru. Bill not only escaped the onslaught, he assisted many other men to do so. BILL WAS CHRISTENED Cuthbert Oswald. His mother Annie had asked each of her two young nieces what their favourite name was. Not surprisingly, from the word go Cuthbert Oswald was called Bill - and his mother never ceased apologising. Bills father, Henry Harry, has four sons. Over the years he expanded the farming operation he had established at Yallook about 30 miles out of Bendigo and acquired numerous new properties. For a time they were the largest wheat growers in Victoria, and largest Clydesdale Horse breeders in Australia. But when the Great Depression hit after several years of drought and over-development, Henry was unable to service his debt and (like many others) in the early 1930s lost the lot. Difficult times indeed, but the family stayed loyally together. They then relocated to the Mallee where they battled and just made a living, never really getting ahead. They moved on - from Natya, to Piangil, and then Murrabit. Wherever they were, the family was always actively involved in community, church and sporting activity. This early life gave Bill a lasting love of the Murray River and Mallee region - particularly Murrabit. In the mid 1930s the family wisely decided to move operations to Gippsland, on the Bass River, where they finally found more success on the land. Then war came - and Bill travelled to Melbourne. On 28 May 1940, he enlisted in the AIF. The 2/22 Infantry Battalion was formed, and in February 1941, its 1,300 men were transferred to Rabaul. The story of the 2/22 Battalion and what it went through is long and tragic. When the Japanese invaded Rabaul, they attacked in force: up to 20,000 troops and 40 warships including two aircraft carriers against 1,300 infantry men with a meagre six Wirraway planes. Bills role prior to the invasion was to survey the surrounding area. He became friendly with some of the Methodist missionaries and went on many patrols with them into the mountains, gaining a greater understanding of the jungle, its tracks and villages. Lark Force was overwhelmed by the invasion and retreat became inevitable within hours. OIC Colonel Scanlon soon declared every man for himself. Bills knowledge of the land was invaluable and after the invasion he was summoned by Colonel Scanlon to work with him and Command HQ to assist in very belatedly planning a retreat into the jungle which ultimately saved many lives. When Scanlon and some other officers decided to surrender, Bill travelled down to the south coast looking for his mates. Unfortunately many had surrendered and were lost on the Montevideo Maru. Bill spent the next few months in the bush - sometimes by himself, sometimes in a small group - dodging the enemy. His survival skills as a self professed boy from the bush served him well, even though he was registered as missing for months. At one stage, the party Bill was with needed to get word to another group of soldiers back up the coast regarding planning of their escape from New Britain. Bill was the one nominated for this task. He was given four days to get there and return, otherwise hed be left behind. He made it and returned in less than two days travelling day and night, and hardly resting or sleeping the whole time. It was a remarkable effort, later referred to by some of his battalion mates as Bill Harrys March. Tragically only 300-400 or so of the battalion of 1,300 odd made it home. Of Bills team in the Intelligence Section, he was the only survivor. Bill retained a lifelong bond with his battalion mates, and after the war, was instrumental in forming the 2/22 Battalion Lark Force Association, being its President, and later its Secretary, from the 1950s until 2002, when Norm Furness took up the reins. It is difficult to comprehend the time and effort that Bill put into this, and it was truly appreciated by the men and their families as evidenced by this tribute presented to him by the battalion in 1980, which he treasured greatly. I can still clearly remember, when at a Battalion reunion when I was a kid of about 12 or 13, listening to a group of Bills battalion mates talking. Then Jock Woods, one of Dads great mates turned to Frazer and me and said You know fellas, to all of us blokes, your Dads a hero. Photos of Bill Harry circa 1940 and circa 2000 - Frazer Harry The women docked at the Majestic Barriere pier which seemed highly appropriate, because the five stars were on a mission to kick down all manner of barriers. The quintet were called to arms by Jessica Chastain, who made her mark in The Debt, The Help and Zero Dark Thirty. She gathered her fellow actors (Ms Chastain prefers the term actor to actress) Lupita Nyongo, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Bingbing Fan at the Hotel du Cap in Cap dAntibes, before travelling by launch along the Riviera to the pier. The women posed for photographs and announced they would star in a spy thriller called 355 (George Washingtons secret code book apparently used the numerals to denote a woman), playing a group of international secret agents. The quintet were called to arms by Jessica Chastain, who made her mark in The Debt, The Help and Zero Dark Thirty Chastain came up with the idea when she was making X-Men: Dark Phoenix with the writer and director Simon Kinberg. The Oscar-nominated actor, who portrayed a CIA operative in Zero Dark Thirty, had long wanted to produce a film in which women provided the thrills and action. In one discussion we had, Chastain insisted: Im not interested in a female James Bond, or a female anything. 'I want an action film about women, starring female actors. The intention isnt to take the male template and put women in it. She approached playwright and screenwriter Theresa Rebeck to write the script and asked operatives she met while making Zero Dark Thirty to offer insight to Rebeck and her cast mates. I smiled as I watched the scrum of photographers take their pictures then pursue the leading ladies as they strode, arm in arm, from the pier to the Majestic Barriere hotel. She gathered her fellow actors (Ms Chastain prefers the term actor to actress) Lupita Nyongo, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Bingbing Fan at the Hotel du Cap in Cap dAntibes, before travelling by launch along the Riviera to the pier It would have been impossible to drive them by limousine, so they were shielded by security men (and women) as they made the 300-yard walk. It reminded me of classic Cannes photocalls back in the day, when the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone would try to out-muscle one another when they launched some now long-forgotten film. But, by my count, the blokes needed more security guards to look after them. We women are a powerful force, Chastain noted. We can handle ourselves very well. That has never been in doubt. Jade the blade set to tackle a feisty queen The formidable Margaret of Anjou married Henry VI, a king so weak she became the real power behind the throne Jade Anouka is ready for a bloody battle royal. The actress (right) will play the title role in Queen Margaret at the Royal Exchange in Manchester this autumn. The formidable Margaret of Anjou married Henry VI, a king so weak she became the real power behind the throne. Shes also a force in Shakespeare, Anouka told me. Shes the only character to feature in four of Shakespeares plays, she added, explaining how Margaret figures prominently in all three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. Jeanie OHare has used the Bard and other sources to weave together the play, which runs from September 14. Its a re-telling of the War of the Roses, Anouka said. Margaret was in the thick of it. 'She kills Richard (later Richard III) of Yorks dad, and he wants revenge. Its a hefty story! Shes well prepared for a fight. Anouka studied at the Guildford School of Acting and was top at stage combat. She learned how to box for Phyllida Lloyds all-female Shakespeare trilogy, set in a prison. And Jade plans to take extra sword-fighting classes in the summer to prepare for Margaret. Its good fun, she said from Hampstead Theatre, where shes playing the title role in The Phlebotomist. Anouka said shes meeting Queen Margaret director Elizabeth Freestone next week to discuss it. [Margaret] is 14 when we first meet her and she dies at 52, and I dont yet know how were going to deal with her ageing. MADAM CATE TIES ME IN KNOTS! I am pretty hopeless at tying them and usually cheat at black-tie affairs by wearing a Tom Ford knitted silk (regular) tie Cate Blanchett greeted me with: Youve come undone, Baz. Let me fix you. It was my bow tie. I am pretty hopeless at tying them and usually cheat at black-tie affairs by wearing a Tom Ford knitted silk (regular) tie. But for the official evening screenings at Cannes, theyre forbidden. You have to wear a bow tie, and I hate those ready-made things. So I gave myself enough time to tie one. Or so I thought. Im impressed youre wearing a proper one, said Blanchett, who Ive taken to calling Madam President now shes chairing the main Cannes jury. (It does have a nice ring to it, she said.) Once Madam President had fixed me, I dashed off to dine on caviar bouchon, followed by lobster salad (which Im not meant to have, but did anyway), duck and, for dessert, raspberries topped with silver leaf. Delicious. Advertisement Meet the star of her very own festival double bill Barbara Lennie had back-to-back premieres in two sections of the Cannes Film Festival. She was in the cast line-up, led by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, that walked up the fabled red carpet for the opening night picture, Everybody Knows (in which she plays Bardems wife, who has to keep an eye on the sort of other woman played by Cruz). Barbara Lennie had back-to-back premieres in two sections of the Cannes Film Festival And she played the eponymous Petra in director Jaime Rosaless gem of a film about an artist in search of her father, who discovers the high cost (in terms of lives) of such an undertaking. The father is a monster, really, and its difficult to defend him. At one point, Petra thinks: I came from this man? Really?! she told me. Its crazy to have two films, said the Spanish-born actress, who spent part of her childhood with her parents in Argentina. Lack of sleep is the price. But its an incredible honour, she added, when we met yesterday at the Quinzaine beach, close to where Petra was screened in Directors Fortnight. I have watched Ms Lennie in several foreign language movies, including Pedro Almodovars creepy The Skin I Live In. But the two films at Cannes are among her best work. In director Asghar Farhadis Everybody Knows, she wonders what are her husbands motives when he helps out an old flame (Cruz) whose daughter has been kidnapped during a family wedding at a Spanish vineyard. It was a refreshingly good choice to open the festival, given that (in my experience) openers are often leaden and deadly. Penelope and Javier were funny and amazing, she said. We all said its easier to come to a festival like Cannes when you are proud of your work. But shes no overnight success. Ive been working for a long time, she noted, as I flicked through her credits on IMDb (the online Internet Movie Database). Originally a theatre actress, she will return to the stage in Madrid this summer. After that, she has a big international film project, which shes not allowed to discuss just yet. 44 years on... retro screening of Scorsese classic still packs 'em in The queue stretched down the Croisette the main promenade in Cannes. And this was still a full 45 minutes before the picture was due to start. What was the attraction? Some highly touted new Hollywood blockbuster? No, in fact, we were all waiting to get into a retrospective screening of Martin Scorseses 1973 breakthrough film Mean Streets, which was being shown as part of the Directors Fortnight 50th anniversary celebrations. I first saw the film, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro as two small-time hoods from New Yorks Little Italy, when it opened in London in 1974 Scorsese, right with Cate Blanchett, said on Wednesday that when he was growing up, he knew people such as those depicted in Mean Streets I first saw the film, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro as two small-time hoods from New Yorks Little Italy, when it opened in London in 1974. I had to con my way into the cinema because I was underage. But I remembered reading Pauline Kaels rave review in The New Yorker the previous year. And Id read about the fuss that was made of it in Cannes in May of 74. I caught it again when it was re-released in 1993. Yet, as I viewed it on Wednesday, it felt (oddly enough) completely fresh. Even hearing The Rolling Stones Jumpin Jack Flash on the soundtrack seemed new. Scorsese said on Wednesday that when he was growing up, he knew people such as those depicted in Mean Streets. A very dangerous place on many levels, populated by some very tough people and some very good people. He said he was grateful for the reception that the film received in Cannes 44 years ago. I didnt think it would get any distribution, he admitted. Now, Mean Streets is part of the history of cinema. Triple M's Grill Team breakfast show purchased Russell Crowe's Mercedes-Benz S500 V8 during his famed divorce auction last month. And after spending $34,160 for the actor's wedding day car, the team handed over the keys to competition winner Gavin Sutherland on Friday. The firefighter, of many callers in the running, won the luxury vehicle after his designated key successfully unlocked Russell's former car. Scroll down for video Winner, winner! Russell Crowe's Mercedes-Benz wedding car was won by firefighter Gavin Sutherland in Triple M competition on Friday after being bought by The Grill Team at the actor's divorce auction in April Handing out 40 keys during the duration of the competition, potential winners took turns to try unlocking the vehicle, knowing only one lucky winner would drive away with the prized possession. Key (number 15) winner Gavin Sutherland was all smiles as he grinned from ear-to-ear alongside the Triple M team on Friday morning, following his key successfully unlocking the car's door. The famed car was used on April 7 in 2003 when Russell married his now ex-wife Danielle Spencer. 'We have a winner!' Handing out 40 keys during the duration of the competition, potential winners took turns to try unlocking the vehicle, knowing only one lucky winner would drive away with the prized possession New wheels: Key (number 15) winner Gavin Sutherland was all smiles as he grinned from ear-to-ear alongside the Triple M team, following his key unlocking the car After the Triple M Grill Team purchased the car back in April at the auction, the crew claimed to have found an old Nokia phone left inside the car. In a video on the show's Facebook page at the time, co-host Emma Freedman read one of the 'very interesting' and apparently crude texts messages left on the device. A representative for Triple M told Daily Mail Australia: 'Russell hasn't deleted some of the private text messages on his old mobile, some of which are very interesting'. Rusty possessions: After the Triple M Grill Team purchased the car in April at the auction, the crew claimed to have found an old Nokia phone left inside the car Following the public announcement, the 54-year-old actor called the radio program and warned the presenters that the device was 'so old it probably can't text'. Despite selling off the luxury car, Russell spoke of the vehicle with great fondness, saying: 'This car has looked after my family with elegance and grace.' His The Art Of Divorce auction took place in Sydney on April 7 - the day of his wedding anniversary to ex-wife Danielle Spencer. It saw Russell bring in a staggering $3.7 million from the items he auctioned off. He once said he would rather kill himself than play 007 again but it now seems Daniel Craig is prepared to take a pay cut of more than 50 per cent to appear as James Bond one more time. The actor has negotiated a fee of 18.5million for his fifth Bond film, it emerged last night, compared with 48million for playing the spy in 2015s Spectre. However, even this reduced fee puts the 50-year-old among Hollywoods best-paid stars. Daniel Craig has maintained that the next Bond film, which has not yet been titled, will be his last. Since Spectre, which was Craigs fourth appearance as Bond, studio bosses have been desperate to secure his return Since Spectre, which was Craigs fourth appearance as Bond, studio bosses have been desperate to secure his return. Though he told an interviewer he would rather slash his wrists than play 007 again, last year he agreed a deal to play the spy in the 25th Bond film. On the comments about starring in another Bond film, Craig later said he gave a really stupid answer when asked two days after filming finished. However, he has maintained the next Bond film, which has not yet been titled, will be his last. Craigs salary was revealed by US magazine Variety, which said he could command twice as much money per film as stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Harrison Ford. Daniel Craig also starred in the Jake Lonergan film, Cowboys & Aliens, directed by Jon Favreau, in 2011 The 007 actor topped the magazines roll call of recent salaries, ahead of Dwayne The Rock Johnson, who will reportedly earn 16.3million for the 2020 thriller Red Notice, and Vin Diesels 14.8million fee for 2017s The Fate Of The Furious. A representative for Craig was unavailable for comment last night. He took a hiatus from filming on EastEnders last year, following reported martial woes. Yet Danny Dyer was back at home and back to work by Christmas, with things with his wife Joanne Mas supposedly patched up and the actor returning to the set of the longstanding BBC soap. But the cockney star is said to be planning yet another break from the show, this time set for 2019, so that he can star in pair of Harold Pinter plays in the West End. A break... again: Danny Dyer is said to be planning yet another break from EastEnders, this time set for 2019, so that he can star in pair of Harold Pinter plays in the West End A friend of the late playwright, Dyer, 40, is said to be signing on for a role in A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter - two of Pinter's best known works. The soap star is said to be joining Martin Freeman on the stage for the productions, which will see him taking at least six weeks off from shooting EastEnders. According to The Sun, Dyer will 'need to spend a considerable amount of time in rehearsals and on stage so it only makes sense to give him a break from filming'. A show source added: 'Hes a huge part of the show and viewers love him so obviously nobody wants to see him away for too long. But this is something hes really passionate about.' Tribute: A friend of the late playwright, Dyer, 40, is said to be signing on for a role in A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter - two of Pinter's best known works [Pinter is pictured in 2004] Time off: The shows will see him taking at least six weeks off from shooting EastEnders, it is said Co-star: The soap star is said to be joining Martin Freeman on the stage for the productions MailOnlione has contacted a rep for Dyer for comment. Pinter and Dyer became friends, after the Mick Carter actor performed in Pinter's 1999 play Celebration. The play was performed at London's Almeida Theatre, with a stellar cast including Colin Firth, Penelope Wilton and Keith Allen in the lead roles. Dyer was a smaller part - a waiter - but struck up a friendship with Pinter. Dyer performed in Pinter's The Homecoming, directed by Michael Attenborough, in the role of Joey in February 2008 - months before the playwright's death. Protege: Dyer performed in Pinter's The Homecoming, directed by Michael Attenborough, in the role of Joey in February 2008 - months before the playwright's death Treading the boards: Dyer is no stranger to theatre [pictured in Kurt & Sid with Shaun Evans in 2009] Pinter died on Christmas Eve 2008 at the age of 78 and is known for some of Britian's most revered works, including Old Times, The Hothouse, Tea Party, The Caretaker, A Kind of Alaska and The Birthday Party. The latter has just completed a successful run in the West End starring Stephen Mangan and Zoe Wanamaker. Pinter's first play - The Room - was published in 1957, and he continued to write up until his death in 2008. Dyer said of his friend in 2013: 'I miss him, you know, he was a good influence on me. He was the only person who I feared but loved.' Dyer said of his friend in 2013: 'I miss him, you know, he was a good influence on me. He was the only person who I feared but loved' The plays are said to be part of a series of plays that will run from this September to next February at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, to honour a decade since the playwright passed. Dyer and Freeman's plays are tipped to feature in the January 31 to February 23 2019 slot. The Dumb Waiter is set in a windowless basement and features two men, Gus and Ben, who are hit men, awaiting instructions about who they must kill next. A Slight Ache concerns a married couple's dreams and desires, focusing mostly on the husband's fears of the unknown, of growing old, and of the "Other" as a threat to his self-identity. His appearance on Bachelor In Paradise was controversial among fans after it emerged he was convicted of assault. And on Thursday, Blake Colman claimed that he could have been The Bachelor, telling The Seany Show that he was approached on two separate occasions. In conversation with Married At First Sight star Sean Thomsen, the 30-year-old surf instructor said he was 'too busy' to take producers up on their offer. Scroll down for audio 'They approached me twice': Blake Colman has claimed producers wanted him for The Bachelor... after his role on Paradise was controversial due to his violent past 'They approached me twice for The Bachelor over the last four, five years,' he said in the podcast released on Thursday. 'First time, I couldn't because I was too busy with running my business. And the second time, I was living in Indonesia. 'So it kind of wouldn't have worked out,' he added. 'Super boring': Blake, who appeared on Sophie Monk's season of The Bachelorette in 2017, also slammed the producers' decision to cast Matty J as last year's Bachelor Blake, who appeared on Sophie Monk's season of The Bachelorette in 2017, also slammed the producers' decision to cast Matty J as last year's Bachelor. He said: 'I emailed the casting director and I was like "Honestly, whoever is making your casting decisions needs to get fired. This is going to be so boring". 'I was correct. Matty J was super boring as The Bachelor. Matty - I love you, you're a great guy, you were just edited as a really boring person.' Rain check! In conversation with Married At First Sight star Sean Thomsen (right), the 30-year-old surf instructor said he was 'too busy' to take The Bachelor producers up on their offer Blake claimed that the producers should have been 'thinking outside of the box', like they did with 2018's Bachelor, Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins. He also said that, after sending his email to the casting director, he was invited to audition for The Bachelorette, kickstarting his reality TV career. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Network Ten for comment. Insider gossip: Sean Thomsen's podcast 'The Seany Show' is available on iTunes and features interviews with the stars of Married At First Sight and The Bachelor franchise In April 2017, Blake pleaded guilty to a street attack on Tristan Cooper. CCTV footage from the August 2015 incident reportedly shows Tristan attempting to stop an argument between two groups of men outside a Hungry Jack's in Claremont, Perth. Blake was one of the men Tristan had attempted to calm down - but as he was walking away, footage is said to show the reality TV star attacking him from behind. 'He picked me up by my neck and threw me down,' he told Perth Now last year. Controversial past: Blake's appearance on Bachelor In Paradise was controversial among fans after it emerged he was convicted of assault Tristan, who had never met Blake prior to the attack, was left' unconscious, paralysed and bleeding from the head'. After the attack, an ambulance rushed Tristan to the hospital where he received four staples in his head. Blake was identified when Crime Stoppers released his photo, subsequently pleading guilty in April 2017. He received a spent conviction and also was ordered to pay $850 in compensation. Marketing Misery: Claire Skinner and Sion Daniel Young in Nightfall London's stage seldom gives us modern English rural life, so Barney Norriss Nightfall is, in that respect, mildly refreshing. It is set in Hampshire on a near-bankrupt farm which is home to a fiftysomething widow and her two adult children. Yet young Mr Norris conveys little authentic sense of shires attitudes. Perhaps his point is that country life is no less grim than that in the cities. With its pessimism and joylessness, this is certainly no Darling Buds Of May. The newish Bridge Theatre, part-run by Sir Nicholas Hytner, is too big a space for this undercooked tale which has only four characters (in addition to the widow and her children, we have Pete, who has recently done time for assault). Rae Smiths design is handsome: the edge of a red-brick farmhouse, a mouldering tractor and the front field straddled by a pressurised oil pipeline. The broad sky suggests an open-country freedom which is never felt in the text. One reason why the farm is struggling financially may be that no one on it ever does any agricultural work. This is not my experience of country living. Our neighbours in Herefordshire seldom cease in their dusty toil. Fruitless farm labour can carry a particular pathos. Playwright Norris missed a trick. Instead the play opens with Pete and his skinny pal Ryan, the widows son, illegally tapping the pipeline to steal oil. The plot suggests they will sell this oil to use for both household heating and as fuel for farm machines. Sounds unlikely to me. After this minor burst of activity, much of the time is devoted to anguished talk, a hint of alcoholism as widow Jenny hits the G&Ts, and a touching rekindling of romance between Pete (Ukweli Roach) and Ryans pretty sister Lou (Ophelia Lovibond). Both Pete and Ryan (Sion Daniel Young) remove their shirts to show us their muscles, should your taste run to that sort of thing. All three young characters are well acted, so far as the lines permit. Credibility is stretched to creaking when Lou makes a personal disclosure to Pete and poor Mr Roach has to deliver a string of ridiculously weak reaction lines. The casting of Claire Skinner as an increasingly jaded Jenny is less successful. Chic Miss Skinner adopts a West Country accent that would barely pass muster in a French and Saunders comedy sketch. I could not for a moment believe that she was a boozer fraying at the edges. The family splinters. There is talk of selling the farm for a housing development. Pete and Lou contemplate emigration and there are a lot of F-words. The Bridges fashionable first-night audience laughed at Jenny in a superior way when she let slip that she wanted to see the Carole King musical in London. I couldnt help thinking that the Carole King musical was a lot more fun than this snoozy fare. The shows programme, pretentious to Pseuds Corner levels, tells us that prolific Mr Norris (b.1987) is one of the genius storytellers of his generation and that this play is a mighty fable of all that is wrong with our country. It would be a pity if his supporters broke his talent with such hype. He may indeed have some promise but he is at present weak on plot and he presents a rural England that is little more authentic than the BBCs Countryfile programme. Real friends might urge him to put the top on his pen for a while and get some life under his belt. Let's hear it for the big guy... Plays about super-sized fat guys are few and far between. So this one, by U.S. writer Samuel D. Hunter, first seen off-Broadway in 2012, does stand out. Its about a college tutor guzzling himself into an early grave after the death of his boyfriend, who was rejected by his Mormon community. What could be a fat-shaming, anti-religious diatribe turns out to be tender and sophisticated, if a little long. Ruth Gemmel is the nurse who fears Charlie will die thanks to blood pressure kept at 238/134 by donuts. KFC, and full-fat Coke. Then theres Oscar Batterham, as a meek Mormon evangelist with a naughty past. But the rock of this oddball play is the impressive Shuler Hensley, hobbling about in a fat suit. He is fearlessly immersed in the part: writhing on the couch, sweating like a Sumo wrestler and snuffling small breaths through obstructed sinuses. Provoking anger, disgust and pity from his visitors, Hensley wins huge audience sympathy for his plight. Back in the USSR, with a youthful Vladimir Putin Theatre occasionally takes a tilt at British and U.S. politicians, especially ones called Boris or Donald, but it seldom attacks hostile presidents. Rajiv Josephs wide-ranging Describe The Night prompts us to wonder what Vladimir Putin was like when he was a young KGB officer. Was he a shrewd man of destiny? Or a ruthless oddball with a hang-up about his mum and a warped devotion to the state machine? Might he even have produced an illegitimate son? Mr Josephs play, not entirely fictitious, spans 90 years from 1920. It has a complicated plot involving 20th-century Jewish writer Isaac Babel and his Army friend Nikolai, who rises to become Stalins intelligence chief. Isaac seduces Nikolais wife Yevgenia and they produce a daughter who, by 1989, is a young woman aching to flee communist Dresden for the West. Nikolai, by now 94 yet still somehow running a Soviet surveillance warehouse, sends KGB recruit Vova (ie Vladimir Putin) to Dresden to stop the would-be defector. The plot has its far-fetched moments. There are scenes of fortune-telling and other lurches into absurdism. The range of years means some actors must play their characters at wildly different ages. Rebecca OMara, as Yevgenia, overdoes things in her granny persona. Steve John Shepherds Vova wears a rivetingly bad wig in earlier years. At almost three hours, it makes for a long evening. Yet the show has its moments. Mr Shepherd could be auditioning for the next Bond film villain. Whenever Ben Caplan is on stage playing the eloquent Babel, the story grips. David Birrell brings a mad intensity to Nikolai in the first scene. The conspiracy theorist in me also relished it when the plot referenced the 2010 Smolensk air crash in which the Polish president and other senior figures died en route to the 70th anniversary commemorations of the Katyn massacre, when Stalin murdered 22,000 Poles. Was Moscow involved in that air crash? Surely not. But a playwright has licence to let his imagination roam, as Mr Josephs does here. Justin Theroux was granted a temporary restraining order Thursday against a neighbor with whom he's been having run-ins for years. The Leftovers star has won the most recent round after a judge in New York sided with him in his dispute with Norman Resnicow, TMZ reported Thursday. Two residents of the same building signed affidavits on Theroux's behalf, claiming Resnicow had confronted them in the lobby last month, brandishing what appeared to be harpoons in each hand. It transpired, however, that the 'harpoons' were in fact log rollers, TMZ said. Property drama: Justin Theroux was granted a temporary restraining order Thursday against a neighbor with whom he's been having run-ins for years at his New York building According to legal docs, the two residents alleged Theroux's nemesis physically intimidated them with the log rollers and accused them of lying in support of the actor. Others who came down to see what was going on in the commotion claim they too were threatened by Resnicow. The judge's ruling Thursday means Resnicow must refrain from influencing, harassing, intimidating or threatening any witnesses or prospective witnesses in the ongoing battle with Theroux. Theroux, 46, had submitted in court documents his neighbor was flying into angry and violent tirades and that was intimidating others in the building from publicly backing the actor in his battles with Resnicow. He claimed one resident said Resnicow's behavior has 'reached a very dangerous level for everyone in the building.' Battle: The ruling means Resnicow must refrain from influencing, harassing, intimidating or threatening any witnesses or prospective witnesses in the ongoing battle with Theroux Fight: The Greenwich Village apartment block is the scene of the battle between the once-friendly neighbors In February Grazia reported that Theroux and now-estranged wife Jennifer Aniston accused Resnicow of spying on them at the Greenwich Village home, and even taking photos through their windows. Resnicow was caught on camera filming from his deck as builders worked on Theroux's home last year. According to insiders, the battle with Resnicow had been causing tension between Jennifer and Justin, with the actress, who gave a tour of her stunning LA home to Architectural Digest this month, now reportedly refusing to spend any time at their East coast base. 'It's causing a lot of tension between them and Jen's barely travelling to New York any more,' said a source. 'She's an incredibly private person and hates the feeling that she might be spied on. It is a huge sticking point for her and Justin.' Caused tension: In February Grazia reported that Theroux and now-estranged wife Jennifer Aniston accused Resnicow of spying on them and even taking photos through their windows In October Resnicow gave DailyMailTV an exclusive tour of their apartment building while lashing out at the actor over his million dollar home renovations and for taking over the building's basement with 'junk' he has collected off the street. The 69-year-old lawyer was left fuming when Theroux sued him for $350,000 for interfering in his renovations through bullying and intimidation. Resnicow then filed his own lawsuit against Theroux in August for harassment, bad construction and his yowling dogs, demanding he pay to soundproof his apartment. The battle went into another round after Theroux filed a response, in which he included a photo of what he claims shows a pyjama-clad Resnicow harassing builders on his property. In his interview with DailyMailTV, Resnicow said he and Theroux used to be friends years ago but their relationship soured when the actor stopping giving a 'damn about the people who live downstairs'. Sophie Monk is set to host the Australian version of UK reality series Love Island. And on Friday's Nova 96.9 Fitzy & Wippa radio show, the 38-year-old revealed the structure behind the program, describing it as 'Big Brother meets a lot of sex'. The former Bachelorette explained that 'ridiculously hot' couples would be swapping partners throughout the series as they compete for an eye-watering cash prize. 'It's Big Brother meets a lot of sex!' Sophie Monk reveals the rules of Love Island and promises plenty of bed hopping among the 'ridiculously hot' couples as they compete for cash prize Sophie said that producers have cast only the most attractive singles, saying: 'They are all super ridiculously hot. We're not apologising about that. You've got to be hot.' Filmed over six weeks in a stunning villa in Majorca, Spain, Sophie went on to reveal the format of the show. 'You couple up. You have to sleep in the bed with the same guy (or girl) you couple up with. But they swap partners,' she said. Sophie also revealed it's rather for awkward for some when they don't get chosen. Sex appeal: Sophie said of the Love Island contestants, 'They're all super ridiculously hot. We're not apologising about that. You've got to be hot' The former Bardot songstress added that the best incentive to couple up is the prize money. While Love Island UK saw $50,000 being awarded to the winners, the Nine Network is yet to confirm what the reward for the Australian version is. 'At the end, this is my favourite, there's money involved. So whoever the most popular is, they either split it (the cash prize) with their partner, or they take all of the money themselves,' Sophie said. The rules: Sophie told Fitzy and Wippa: 'You couple up. You have to sleep in the bed with the same guy (or girl) you couple up with. But they swap partners' Antics: 'It's Big Brother meets a lot of sex,' Sophie said, summing up the program 'It's Big Brother meets a lot of sex,' she said, summing up the program. Sophie's hosting role comes just months after she declared her love for millionaire Stu Laundy in The Bachelorette 2017 finale. However their romance was short-lived, with Sophie confirming their split in January. Love Island is set to air on 9Go and 9Now later this year Since getting engaged at the end of 2016, they've kept the details of their big day under wraps. But thanks to signposts outside their Sunshine Coast property emblazoned with their names under the word 'wedding', former Olympian Lisa Curry and fiance Mark Tabone have confirmed they will marry at home on Friday. Taking to Instagram on Thursday while cradling grandson Flynn in a cute video post, Lisa, 55 confirmed the day of her impending nuptials to Elvis impersonator Tabone, 51. Home is where the heart is! Signposts outside lavish residence of Lisa Curry and fiance Mark Tabone confirm pair will get hitched at their $1.125 million Sunshine Coast property 'Marrying a granny!' Engaged in December 2016, Lisa, 55 and Mark, 51 will say 'I do' watched by guests at the estate outside the small town of Maleny 'So tomorrow,' the fitness guru giggled, 'Mark Tabone is marrying a granny.' While confirming the date, Lisa left out the venue details, but the new images reveal the couple will indeed tie the knot at their $1.125 million estate. Watched by the I'm A Celebrity star's three children, Jaimi, 31, Morgan, 27, Jett, 21, invited guests will descend on the lavish home which boasts a saltwater swimming pool and horse arena sitting on 26 hectares outside the small town of Maleny. Lavish. The former competitive swimmer and Elvis impersonator purchased the sprawling residence last year for $1.125million It's unknown whether Lisa's ex-husband of 23 years Grant Kenny, whom she remains close with, will attend the celebrations. But the former competitive swimmer confirmed in an Instagram video two month old-grandson Flynn, who Lisa's daughter Morgan Kenny gave birth to in March, will accompany the pair down the aisle. Beaming as she cradled the tiny tot in her arms, she cooed, 'and you're gonna come down the aisle with us. Beautiful little man.' Lisa announced her engagement to Mark in December 2016. Wedding venue. Guests can gather around the property's saltwater swimming pool while Lisa and Mark say their 'I do's' 'Beautiful little man'. On Thursday, Lisa cradled her baby grandson Flynn in a gorgeous video posted on Instagram, confirming the tot would accompany the couple down the aisle Taking to Instagram on Monday, the former competitive swimmer shared pictures from her 'raging hens night' to fans. In one snap, Lisa posed in pink pyjamas while on a sofa with her best pals, writing: 'A few more sleeps and I'll be a 'Mrs'.' 'Thanks to my gorgeous friends who endlessly help me out doing all the last-minute runaround things. I couldn't have done it without you.' Lisa concluded the post by tagging her fiance and writing: 'I love you'. Pretty in pink: Taking to Instagram on Monday, Lisa shared pictures from her hens night Two days after her pending fourth divorce was made public, Geena Davis was spotted arriving at her Pacific Palisades home barefoot clad in pajamas following her Thursday morning coffee/newspaper run. The 62-year-old Oscar and Golden Globe winner appeared to still be wearing her wedding band as she made her way inside while wearing a paisley-print Henley top with colorful plaid PJ pants. TMZ was first to uncover that neurosurgeon Dr. Reza Jarrahy legally separated from the Don't Talk to Irene actress back on November 15 - citing 'irreconcilable differences' - after 16 years of marriage. Starbucks drive-thru? Two days after her pending fourth divorce was made public, Geena Davis was spotted arriving at her Pacific Palisades home barefoot clad in pajamas following her Thursday morning coffee/newspaper run Rolled out of bed: The 62-year-old Oscar and Golden Globe winner appeared to still be wearing her wedding ring as she made her way inside while wearing a paisley-print Henley top with colorful plaid PJ pants Filed under the names Rob Doe vs. Veronica Doe, the 47-year-old Iranian-American requested spousal support as well as joint legal/physical custody of their daughter Alizeh, 16; and fraternal twin sons Kian & Kaiis, 14. Reza was only 27 when he attended a 1998 party and met Davis - who was previously married to filmmaker Renny Harlin (199398), frequent co-star Jeff Goldblum (198790), and restaurateur Richard Emmolo (198283). 'I remember thinking, This guy is cute - and ridiculously young,' Geena (born Virginia) recalled to Good Housekeeping back in 2006. 'A relationship with him seemed a little far-fetched.' Last pictured together November 14: TMZ was first to uncover that neurosurgeon Dr. Reza Jarrahy legally separated from the Don't Talk to Irene actress back on November 15 - citing 'irreconcilable differences' - after 16 years of marriage Filed under Rob Doe vs. Veronica Doe: The 47-year-old Iranian-American requested spousal support as well as joint legal/physical custody of their daughter Alizeh, 16; and fraternal twin sons Kian & Kaiis, 14 (pictured in 2017) It's over: Reza was only 27 when he attended a 1998 party and met Davis - who was previously married to filmmaker Renny Harlin (199398), frequent co-star Jeff Goldblum (198790), and restaurateur Richard Emmolo (198283) The Massachusetts-born Mensa member explained how Jarrahy was 'so different from the kind of men' she used to romance. 'I was always in the type of relationship where everything was about the other person,' Geena noted. 'I'd find my worth through sacrificing everything for his sake. And that had everything to do with my own feelings about myself; the guys I was with felt pretty great about themselves all on their own. Geena (born Virginia) recalled to Good Housekeeping back in 2006: 'I remember thinking, This guy is cute - and ridiculously young. A relationship with him seemed a little far-fetched' 'I finally managed to change myself, and that changed what seemed attractive to me': The Massachusetts-born Mensa member explained how Jarrahy was 'so different from the kind of men' she used to romance (pictured in 2003) 'They didn't need me to fix them because they weren't damaged. But I sure was! I finally managed to change myself, and that changed what seemed attractive to me.' Aside from her family, the Thelma and Louise alum is busier than ever in the #MeToo era thanks to her organization The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which she launched in 2007. The skilled 6ft archer reprised her role as blind brain tumor survivor and former fetal surgeon Dr. Nicole Herman in Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy - titled 'Cold As Ice' - for the ABC medical drama's 14th and final season. Speaking at the Bentonville Film Festival: Aside from her family, the Thelma and Louise alum is busier than ever in the #MeToo era thanks to her organization The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which she launched in 2007 (pictured Saturday) BCL has successfully sought leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision to refuse its licence extension, citing legal and procedural concerns. There was a narrow divide between those supporting the mine to be opened by Bougainville Copper Ltd and those that oppose it, according to Bougainville President John Momis. The decision to refuse an extension of Bougainville Copper Ltds (BCL) exploration licence and to impose an indefinite moratorium over the Panguna resource followed a statutory wardens meeting in December 2017. PORT MORESBY - Two court hearings next week one in Port Moresby and the other in Melbourne will help determine the future of the exploration licence for the Panguna copper mine in Bougainville. The abandoned Panguna gold & copper mine - now the subject of separate court battles While the moratorium has been gazetted, it has no impact on existing exploration licences or applications for extension, lodged prior to the moratorium, said BCL company secretary Mark Hitchcock. BCL remains the holder of the exploration licence until the matter is ultimately determined, he said. BCL has held the licence since the mine closed in 1989. The company is now owned by the PNG national government (36.4%), the Autonomous Bougainville Government (36.4%), European shareholders (4%) and 23.2% through the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Rio Tinto gave away its stake in 2016. Those opposing BCLs involvement are led by Philip Miriori, who claims chairmanship of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association (SMLOLA). He has thrown his support behind a bid by Perth-based junior miner, RTG Mining, to gain the exploration licence, setting up a joint venture company, Central Exploration, of which RTG owns 24%. One of RTGs major shareholders holds another 32%, and SMLOLA retains 44%. Mirioris chairmanship of the SMLOLA remains in dispute. The 367 authorised customary heads of the 510 blocks of land within the special mining lease area of Panguna say they do not recognise Miriori as the chairman of the SMLOLA and support the extension of BCLs exploration licence. On the same day as the Port Moresby hearing, on May 17, BCL will be in court in Melbourne, seeking disclosure about the relationship between RTG Mining and the SMLOLA. Miriori and other supporters admit they are being paid by RTG, but Miriori has told the ABC that the payments are legitimate salaries, not inducements. That is always a normal part of anything, nothing is free, he said. The action seeks disclosure from RTG Mining and Central Exploration about any compensation or benefits paid to the SMLOLA. One analyst close to the proceedings says any disclosure could determine the possibility of unlawful interference with BCLs exploration licence. For his part, Dr Momis said his government believed it would be untenable under current circumstances for any developer to develop the mine. BCL has an extensive database of historical data and project information from the mine operations prior to closure. We have some problems with RTG right now, Momis told Radio New Zealand. In fact, they are causing a lot of confusion and division in the community and we are not prepared to go ahead while this situation prevails. Should RTG Mining or any other company win the exploration licence, the next battle will be over the data about the location and extent of resources. BCL has an extensive database of historical data and project information from the mine operations prior to closure in 1990, said Hitchcock. This data remains the intellectual property of the company. Even if that data is not protected by intellectual property law but is only considered confidential information, it will still require cooperation from BCL to access, according to Alexandra George, senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales, who specialises in international intellectual property law. She said it might be expensive and time-consuming to obtain. She said that under Australian copyright law, ownership of a database is not straightforward. Whether or not RTG Mining could access the data may depend on the terms of the exploration licence, any special legislation, and on the terms of any contracts or licence agreements that have been entered into. If [the data] was not available, having to reinvent the wheel would add significant costs, said Ms George. Perhaps the safest way of assessing value is what the market is prepared to pay. Mr Hitchcock said: We estimate it would take any other company or entity at least two-to-three years to replicate the BCL database through exploration activities and would cost in excess of A$200 million (K400 million). Kevin McQuillan writes for Business Advantage PNG. This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with the authors permission She's been married to actor Joe Manganiello, 41, for nearly three years. And proving their love is very much alive, Sofia Vergara stepped out for a date night with her man on Thursday. Attending the Los Angeles premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the 45-year-old looked flawless while hand-in-hand with her beau. Scroll down for video Love is in the air: Proving their love is very much alive, Sophia Vergara stepped out with husband Joe Manganiello on Thursday for a date night at the premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story Sofia stunned in a strapless white ruffle dress made from chiffon that read: 'dream'. Ensuring all eyes were on the princess-like gown, the beauty kept her shoes simple with black peep-toe pumps. The Modern Family actress accessorised with a Chanel bag and diamond stud earrings. Ultimate princess: Sofia stunned in a strapless white ruffle dress made from chiffon that read: 'dream' Stylish: The Modern Family actress accessorised with a Chanel bag and diamond stud earrings Sofia's makeup was kept radiant and luminous. Featuring a subtle cat-eye, she also sported a light sweep of blush and a bold red lip. Her brunette locks were styled straight and kept behind her shoulders. 6'5" Joe also dressed up for the event. Wearing a navy suit, the Magic Mike star sported well-groomed stubble. Speaking to Cigar Aficionado magazine last month, Joe couldn't help but gush over his marriage to Sofia and opened up about 'the biggest adjustment'. More in love than ever: '[It's] coming to grips with the idea that someone who is not related to you could possibly love you that much. She was it for me,' Joe told Cigar Aficionado magazine about Sophia last month '[It's] coming to grips with the idea that someone who is not related to you could possibly love you that much. She was it for me,' he said. Continuing on, he confessed that their marriage wasn't hard as there was no work to it. 'People say things like, "Marriage and relationships are work". But it's not. Life is hard. Having somebody to help you deal with it is the greatest thing that ever happened,' he said. 'Looking back on the relationships I had before this, I think the universe was giving me some tough practice so I'd get this right.' She's not one to shy away from flaunting her ample assets in racy lingerie and low-cut ensembles. But former high-class escort Samantha X (real name Amanda Goff) sported a more conservative look on Friday when visiting her children at school after being instructed to 'keep boobs hidden'. The mother-of-two, 44, covered up for the Mother's Day luncheon, wearing a grey-hued turtleneck sweater with star embellishments and a navy leather jacket. Bet the other mums love her! Former escort Samantha X headed to a Sydney school's Mother's Day lunch on Friday in conservative turtleneck sweater after being told to 'keep boobs hidden' Completing her look, Samantha opted for a pair of tortoise-framed sunglasses. The blonde beauty took to Instagram to document the rare sighting, writing: 'On my way to a school Mother's Day lunch.' Quick to explain her unlikely appearance, she added: 'I've been instructed by my cleaner and sometime friend @bondialice NOT to talk about men and sex.' Off duty: As a former high-class escort, Samantha X is not one to shy away from flaunting her ample assets in racy lingerie and low-cut ensembles 'Only kids,' she declared. Noting her outfit, she completed the post saying: 'And keep boobs hidden.' Since hanging up her heels, the famed face spoke candidly about her foray in the industry, admitting that she was just 15 when she knew she wanted to be an escort. 'I've been instructed by my cleaner and sometime friend @bondialice NOT to talk about men and sex': The mother-of-two was also given advice on talking topics while at the children-friendly event 'I knew from a very young age, I always knew I was going to do it,' she told Mamamia in a recent article. She explained: 'I came from a very good family in London, went to private school, went to university, my father was a lawyer, my mother was Persian royalty almost - so I used to ring brothels and massage places and hang the phone up.' Adding: 'I remember when I first learnt how to drive, my doctor's office was opposite a brothel, and I used to just park the car and just watch the people going in and out. So I was always fascinated with that world.' The heavily-pregnant star was rushed to hospital earlier this week after suffering a shocking tumble in a Sydney shopping centre. And only weeks away from giving birth, Erin Molan has assured worried fans that her unborn child was not harmed by the incident. Speaking to 9Honey on Friday, the 35-year-old said: 'The baby is totally healthy, as am I! Just an unfortunate but very common reaction to the vaccines.' 'Baby is totally healthy, as am I!' Heavily pregnant Erin Molan, 35 assured she and her unborn child were perfectly healthy after a fall this week saw her rushed to hospital. Due to give birth to her first child in June, it was the second fall for the Footy Show host in the past three months. Speaking to WSFM's Jonesy and Amanda on Thursday, Erin said she 'fainted' and landed on her side, thankfully protecting baby from injury, after receiving preventative shots for the flu and whooping cough. 'I had a little... faint is a strong word,' she revealed, 'but a little fall in the Randwick shops.' 'It's not unusual for non-pregnant people to feel faint - let alone at eight months pregnant..' The Footy Show favourite brushed off the episode as' 'very common'. However, Erin brushed off any concern for her health a day later claiming it was nothing unusual. 'I had [the shots] together and had a reaction to that. That's all,' the Nine host said. 'It's not unusual for non-pregnant people to feel faint after those - let alone at eight months pregnant.' Another scare for Erin: Heavily pregnant TV star Molan rushed to hospital in an ambulance for the second time in three months after falling in a shopping centre Back in February, Erin was taken to hospital after collapsing and hitting her head whilst working at Channel Nine's Sydney studios. Tests at Royal North Shore Hospital revealed she had a low blood sugar count which had caused her to faint. Erin's police officer fiance Sean Ogilvy rushed to her bedside in hospital. 'I had another little episode this week, unfortunately': Erin revealed the shock news on Thursday morning during an interview on WSFM's Jonesy and Amanda (pictured) The star has previously described her pregnancy as 'awful', confirming in February that she had suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, commonly known as extreme morning sickness. It's the same condition that affected Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, during her three pregnancies. Erin's due date is reported to be late next month. A pair of Jedis shined as bright as lightsabers on Thursday at the Hollywood world premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Mark Hamill, 66, who played main protagonist Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars trilogy, was joined by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, 47, who played a younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy. The Jedis both looked dapper in black upon arrival at the El Capitan Theatre. Jedi legend: Mark Hamill brought his Jedi presence to the world premiere on Thursday of Solo: A Star Wars Story in Hollywood Mark donned a slick black leather jacket over a sky blue T-shirt along with black pants. Ewan wore a black jacket with just the top button done over a white T-shirt along with black trousers and black boots. Mark was joined at the premiere by his wife Marilou York, 63, who he has been married to since December 1978. Marilou matched her husband in an all-black ensemble with a light blue shawl. Force master: Ewan McGregor, who played a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, joined his fellow Jedi for the premiere at the El Capitan Theatre Man in black: The 47-year-old Scottish actor wore a black coat over a white T-shirt along with black trousers Mark had a guest role on Thursday's season finale of The Big Bang Theory on CBS. He played himself and officiated the wedding between Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons, and Amy Fowler, played by Mayim Bialik. The actor replaced Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton and got emotional after Amy delivered her wedding vows. Longtime couple: Mark was joined at the premiere by his wife of 39 years Marilou York 'Well, that was unexpectedly beautiful. I might need a minute,' he told the couple. Mark recently starred in 2017's Star Wars: The Last Jedi as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Ewan played a younger version of Luke's mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy of The Phantom Menace [1999], Attack Of The Clones [2002] and Revenge Of The Sith [2005]. Obi-Wan after gaining higher ground defeated Luke's father Darth Vader in a light saber duel that he survived despite being severly burned. First film: Mark is shown as Luke Skywalker wielding his lightsaber in a promo still from 1977's Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope Full circle: The actor reprised his role as Jedi Master Skywalker in 2017's The Last Jedi Lightsaber duel: Ewan's Obi-Wan battled with Luke's father Darth Vader and beat him in 2005's Revenge Of The Sith Ewan can be seen later this year on the big screen in the Disney live action film Christopher Robin, which follows the boy from the Winnie-The-Pooh stories as an adult in London. Christopher Robin also starring Hayley Atwell is due out in theaters on August 3. Solo: A Star Wars story following its world premiere in Hollywood also will screen on Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The second Star Wars anthology series film starring Alden Ehrenreich as a younger Han Solo; Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra will be out in theaters on May 25. Kate Bosworth was a lady in red at Thursday night's 20th annual Slavery To Freedom gala at Los Angeles' City Market Social House. Held by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, the celebrity-strewn bash also played host to such stars as Mira Sorvino. While Kate, 35, went for old-school glamour in a strapless floor-length scarlet bespoke Beulah London gown, Mira, 50, opted for a more peppy look with a sparkling off-the-shoulder mini-dress. Starry night: Kate Bosworth (left) and Mira Sorvino (right) dazzled at Thursday night's 20th annual Slavery To Freedom gala at Los Angeles' City Market Social House Kate, who matched her dress to a deep red shade of lipstick, swept her blonde hair back and held a gleaming gold-toned clutch to her side. She complemented her pink lipstick with a touch of blush and accessorized the look with a slender pair of drop earrings. During her stint on the red carpet, she posed alongside her filmmaker husband Michael Polish, whom she married in 2013. Bringing it all together: Kate, who matched her dress to a deep red shade of lipstick, swept her blonde hair back and held a gleaming gold-toned clutch to her side Sensational: She complemented her pink lipstick with a touch of blush and accessorized the look with a slender pair of drop earrings Date night: During her stint on the red carpet, she posed alongside her filmmaker husband Michael Polish, whom she married in 2013 Michael, who is the brother and frequent collaborator of actor Mark Polish, wore a black suit with a pearl grey dress shirt and glinting black tie. Oscar-winner Mira's blue and black dress featured frilled-out sleeves that stopped before the wrist, and she balanced in a glistening pair of silver heels. Rosanna Arquette cut a more sedate figure in a black bell-bottomed pantsuit, matching black blouse and a bulky medallion necklace. Dapper Dan: Michael, who is the brother and frequent collaborator of actor Mark Polish, wore a black suit with a pearl grey dress shirt and glinting black tie Chic to the last: Rosanna Arquette cut a more sedate figure in a black bell-bottomed pantsuit, matching black blouse and a bulky medallion necklace Both Mira and Rosanna were among those who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment in a New Yorker report by Pulitzer-winner Ronan Farrow. Kate and Rosanna stood for one high-star-wattage photograph flanking Mira, whose father happens to be the actor Paul Sorvino. Nia Vardalos wore a smock-like powder pink dress with a hem above the knee and a puffed-out set of cuffs on the ends of the long sleeves. Star power: Kate and Rosanna stood for one high-star-wattage photograph flanking Mira, whose father happens to be the actor Paul Sorvino Unmistakable: Nia Vardalos wore a smock-like powder pink dress with a hem above the knee and a puffed-out set of cuffs on the ends of the long sleeves Impresaria: The My Big Fat Greek Wedding icon rounded off the look with a pair of nude heels and wore her wavy cropped brown hair down Stunning: Shedding For The Wedding star Sara Rue wore a half-sleeved dress with a gorgeous pink floral pattern spattered across a navy field The My Big Fat Greek Wedding icon rounded off the look with a pair of nude heels and wore her wavy cropped brown hair down. Shedding For The Wedding star Sara Rue wore a half-sleeved dress with a gorgeous pink floral pattern spattered across a navy field. Kate received an award onstage, and was seen speaking at a lectern emblazoned with: 'Cast,' an acronym for the organization's name. Feted: Kate received an award onstage, and was seen speaking at a lectern emblazoned with: 'Cast,' an acronym for the organization's name Making her voice heard: Lorena Barrios, who told the Catholic magazine Angelus about how Cast helped her, gave a speech at the lectern as Kate stood nearby Mingling: Inside the ceremony, Mira was seen sitting beside Bonnie Abaunza, whose consultancy firm handled the social media campaigns for The Hunting Ground Lorena Barrios, who told the Catholic magazine Angelus about how Cast helped her, gave a speech at the lectern as Kate stood nearby. Inside the ceremony, Mira was seen sitting beside Bonnie Abaunza, whose consultancy firm handled the social media campaigns for The Hunting Ground. Meanwhile, Kate was seen with an arm around Kay Buck, who is the CEO of Cast LA. David Arquette, who is Rosanna's brother and Courteney Cox's ex-husband, was also spotted seated at one of the tables during the event. Top brass: Meanwhile, Kate was seen with an arm around Kay Buck, who is the CEO of Cast LA He's the Bachelorette star who fell in love with Sam Frost on the 2015 season of the popular Network Ten reality show. But romance was far from Sasha Mielczarek's mind on Friday, with the hunky reality beau choosing to spend the day with his father, Sasha Snr. Taking to his Instagram story, the TV star shared a photo that showed him proudly posing next to his father, with the two bearing more than a striking resemblance. 'Daddy day care!': Bachelorette star Sasha Mielczarek bears a striking resemblance to his father as pair cuddle up for sweet snap Clad in a checked shirt and a hooded denim jacket, Sasha looked chuffed to be standing arm in arm with his dad. Sasha Snr. meanwhile looked every inch the biker, in a black T-shirt worn underneath a matching leather jacked and similarly toned jeans. Wearing earrings in both ears, he also rocked a thick handlebar moustache that barely obscured the large grin he sported. Captioning the familial image, Sasha made reference to the 2003 Eddie Murphy comedy with the hashtag #daddydaycare. In 2016, Sasha Snr was banned from working in his tattoo parlour, Picton Tattoos, by police due to alleged links to Rebel bikies. The Daily Telegraph reported that in 2017 a tribunal ruled that the business would stay open provided it was run by Dawn and Sasha Snr had nothing to do with its operation. In good company: Sasha often posts sweet snaps with his dad The father of Bachelorette star said stories about what happened to a former chapter president who quit scared him into staying with the bikie club. 'He, like me, has some assets. It has been reported that after he resigned he was kidnapped, bashed unconscious, hogtied and had his nipples slit with a knife,' Sasha Snr claimed in court documents. The tattoo artist said he had only joined the bikie group because he wanted to go on 'riding holidays' which never materialised. 'I never involved myself in drug use or any criminal activities of any of the club members,' Sasha Snr said. She's currently single, after her romance with Bachelorette winner Stu Laundy ended in January. And on Friday, Sophie Monk was roasted abut her love life, when she competed in a hilarious rap battle with Nova's Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli. Wippa referenced the 38-year-old's colourful dating history, including an engagement to Good Charlotte musician Benji Madden, and her reality TV romance with Bachelorette runner-up, Jarrod Woodgate. Scroll down for video 'You sent the boys wild!' Sophie Monk got roasted about her exes Benji Madden and Jarrod Woodgate in a heated rap battle with Nova's Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli on Friday Burn! kicking off the battle, radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli (L) dove in head first when he referenced the 38-year-old's dating history, saying: 'How is Benji Madden?' 'Why bring up the past and everything you've done but I meant to ask, how is Benji Madden?' Wippa rhymed. Wippa then served the blonde Love Island host with another zinger, making hysterical references to her dating past during her stint as The Bachelorette. 'You sent the boys wild, excited in the pants but seriously, who took a wizz in Jarrod's pot plant?' Case of the ex: Sophie is pictured with Benji Madden Former flame: She's currently single, after her romance with Bachelorette winner Stu Laundy ended in January (pictured together at the ARIAs in November) Returning the favour, Sophie was next to spit lyrics in Wippa's direction. 'Look at your ratings compared to Kyle and Jackie O,' she spitefully joked, slamming the radio host for being out-beaten by rivals KIIS FM. Meanwhile, when speaking to Fitzy and Wippa before the rap battle, The Bachelorette star revealed details on her former fling with Jarrod Woodgate. Awkward: Wippa lyrically joked: 'You sent the boys wild, excited in the pants but seriously, who took a wizz in Jarrod's pot plant?' (Sophie is pictured with Jarrod on the show) The Bachelorette star admitted her relationship with Jarrod never got to second base on the reality TV series. Revealing that the show prevented any sexual encounters from occurring, Sophie said: 'We weren't allowed!' 'I kissed at lot, but it never went to second base,' the blonde stunner explained. While Jarrod was left heartbroken by Sophie in the grand finale, he has since found love on Bachelor In Paradise with former Bachelor 'villain' Keira Maguire. The man accused of twice raping a woman at a bash at Chris Brown's Tarzana, California home last year denies he did it, and feels Gloria Allred is exploiting the woman for publicity. Lowell Grissom Jr.'s lawyer Anthony Willoughby on Thursday told TMZ that his client 'vehemently denies these false and defaming accusations [that] originated last year, ending with no arrests, no proof, an inconclusive rape kit and after a police investigation,' adding that there were 'no charges filed' in the incident. 'This civil lawsuit is a blatant attempt at a money grab and to harm the reputation of my client while encouraging PR noise for Gloria Allred while she exploits this young woman for her own financial gains and public persona,' Willoughby said. Scroll below for video Response: Lowell Grissom Jr. (L), the man accused of twice raping a woman at a bash at Chris Brown's Tarzana, California home last year, denies he did it Grissom was accused by Allred's client of sexually assaulting the woman near a bathroom, and again in a laundry room, at the 28-year-old Grammy winner's mansion. 'This civil lawsuit is a blatant attempt at a money grab and to harm the reputation of my client while encouraging PR noise for Gloria Allred while she exploits this young woman for her own financial gains and public persona.' Willoughby told the outlet he was confident that Grissom Jr. would prevail in the lawsuit, in which he and Brown are accused of sexual battery, gender violence, battery, assault, hate violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles District Attorney said that the Los Angeles Police Department has not formally presented them with the case, according to The Blast, adding that they continue to work with police on the matter. Sending a message: Allred said she hopes to enlighten young women to the dangers of a trip to Brown's house Master of the stage: Brown performed at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit last year Grissom's accuser, referred to as Jane Doe in court docs, said the incident occurred following an outing at the club 1Oak in February 2017. Doe said in court docs that Brown - who was convicted of felony assault in his 2009 attack on ex-girlfriend Rihanna - gave her and her friends drugs including Molly and cocaine at the heavily-armed home. She said Brown, with a gun in his waistband, made Grissom 'push a couch in front of the bedroom door' so no one could depart, and then put on porn to 'create a hyper-sexualized' prior to stripping down and having sex with female guests. Doe told the court she and her friend were blocked from leaving the room, at which point they were sexually assaulted by Grissom and a woman who was there. Doe said she eventually left the home and was subsequently treated at a rape center, reporting the incident to authorities. Doe 'filed this lawsuit because she wants justice for herself, but she also wants to warn other young women about the potential danger to themselves if they have their phone taken away and if they go to Chris Browns house,' according to Allred. Hugh Jackman will be back in the hunt for Oscar gold once more with Sony Pictures announcing on Thursday that it had picked up the worldwide distribution rights for his dark comedy The Front Runner. The film stars Jackman as Gary Hart, the lawyer and Kansas senator who was the front-runner in the 1988 Democratic primary until reports of an extramarital affair with a campaign aide began to circulate. Those reports were accompanied by a now infamous picture of Hart that showed model Donna Rice sitting on his lap while he wore a shirt that said 'Monkey Business Crew.' Hart soon dropped out of the race only to rejoin a few months later, but ultimately lost the nomination to Michael Dukakis. Scroll down for video Hugh's that: Sony has picked up the worldwide distribution rights for The Front Runner, which tells the story of Gary Hart's failed bid for president back in 1987 (Hugh Jackman as Hart on set last year) Yacht-zee: Hart dropped out of the race amidst reports of extramarital affairs, including one with campaign aide and model Donna Rice (Hart and Rice in the Bahamas in early 1987) The film was shot last year in Atlanta and directed by Oscar nominee Jason Reitman, whose previous credits include Juno, Up In the Air and Young Adult. Reitman's latest film Tully, which stars Charlize Theron, was released just last week, meaning that the director will have acheived the rare feat of having two motion pictures released in the same year. Reitman is also credited as a co-writer on the project alongside Hillary Clinton's former press secretary Jay Carson and Matt Bai. The screenplay was adapted from Bais 2014 book All the Truth Is Out. That book took a look at how the tabloid media managed to infiltrate politics for the first time in the United States through the lense of Hart's campaign and the impact it had on those around him. As a result, there are a number of fascinating and juicy details that the film will be able to explore, meaning that Jackman is not the only actor who could be up for awards consideration in the film. Slide me Donna Rice (left in 1987) the model whose relationship with hart led to his downfall, will be played by Sara Paxton (right) Slide me Hart's long-suffering wife Lee (left in 1987) will be played by Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga (right) For the two biggest supporting roles, those of Hart's best friend and campaign manager Bill Dixon and the politician's long-suffering wife Oletha 'Lee' Hart, Reitman went with two acting alums. Vera Farmiga, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her work in Reitman's 2009 film Up In the Air, plays Lee in the film. Lee was one of the first political spouses to endure the intense media spotlight after being cuckqueaned, a decade before Hillary Clinton stood by her husband's side on the national stage amidst reports of infidelity and affairs. Dixon meanwhile will be played by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons, who has had a role in every single feature-length film directed by Reitman with the exception of Tully. It was Dixon who was Hart's biggest champion throughout the scandal, believing that the presidential hopeful had too much integrity for rumors of an affair to cause any problems in the race and all but ignoring the media reports. Rising star Kaitlyn Dever, who appeared in Reitman's 2014 film Men, Women & Children, will play Hart's daughter Andrea who was heavily involved in the campaign effort and would frequently appear on college campuses to drum up support for her father. Slide me Hart's campaign manager and good friend Bill Dixon (left in 1987) will be played by J.K. Simmons (right) Slide me Hart's daughter Andrea (right in 1987) will be played by Kaitlyn Dever (right) And in what could turn out to be a breakthrough performance, Sara Paxton is the model and campaign aide whose relationship with Hart led to his downfall. Paxton, 29, has been working in the industry for the past two decades, most notably in the horror films The Last House on the Left and The Innkeepers as well as the much publicized but quickly cancelled series The Beautiful Life alongside Mischa Barton. Rice was a former University of South Carolina cheerleader who was 21 years younger than Hart when she was discovered to be spending time with the presidential hopeful. Jason Reitman (above in April) directs the film It was The Miami Herald which broke the story after following Rice from Miami to DC on an anonymous tip claiming that she would be spending the weekend at Hart's townhouse. That turned out to be true, and it was later revealed that the pair had met in Aspen just five months earlier at a party Rice was attending with her then-boyfriend, Don Henley. Rice and Hart both denied having a sexual relationship, but the scandal only grew when The National Enquirer ran a photo of the pair in the Bahamas that showed Rice sitting on Hart's lap. The two had been out on a yacht earlier in the day and Hart was wearing one of the shirts he got onboard which said: 'Monkey Business Crew.' It was when The Washington Post informed Hart that a story detailing his relationship with a woman while he was separated from his wife was set to run in the paper that he made the decision to end his campaign. In the wake of the scandal, Rice disappeared from the public eye, reemerging in 1992 when she launched the non-profit lobbying group Enough Is Enough, whose aim is to make the Internet safer for families and children. Sony is currently planing a fall release for the picture, which also stars Mamoudou Athie, Josh Brener, Tommy Dewey, Molly Ephraim, Spencer Garrett, Ari Graynor, Toby Huss, Mike Judge, Alex Karpovsky, Mark OBrien, Kevin Pollak, and Steve Zissishe. He moved to America 25 years ago to follow his country music dreams - so Keith Urban can be forgiven for losing touch with his Australian roots. But the Kiwi-born musician's shocking attempt at spreading Vegemite on a piece of toast on Friday proved just how out of touch he really is. During an interview with Today host Richard Wilkins, Keith, 50, made an unforgivable mess while awkwardly slathering the yeast spread with his knife and fingers. 'It's hard getting it right!' Keith Urban's SHOCKING Vegemite spreading skills left Richard Wilkins horrified during a Today show segment on Friday morning As Keith administered Vegemite way over the edges of the toast, Richard, 63, looked on with an expression of horror on his face. 'This is a silly question,' Richard asked curiously, 'But do you practice?' Keith, who is married to Australian icon Nicole Kidman, laughed in response and acknowledged his culinary failings. Is it un-Australian? Keith said he was 'always trying to improve' his Vegemite spreading skills 'I just play,' he chuckled. 'I'm just playing, I'm always trying to improve. It's hard getting the spread right!' 'With your fingers or the Vegemite?' Richard asked. Digging the knife further into the margarine and adding crumbs to the spread, Keith took his gastronomic shortcomings in his stride. 'Do you practice?' As Keith administered Vegemite way over the edges of the toast, Richard, 63, looked on with an expression of horror on his face Sneaky! The country singer took a stealthy bite of his food while Richard had his back turned 'Traditionally, you have to get this bit,' he said pointing at the knife, 'and put it in the margarine! And get a bunch of crumbs in there, just to make you really feel at home,' Keith chuckled. Meanwhile, back in the Today studio, hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys argued over Keith's lack of respect for Vegemite on toast. 'So long as he keeps that knife out of the butter, everything will be alright!' Sylvia, 32, warned, pointing at the camera. 'Nah, you've gotta smooth it around,' Karl, 43, said. 'I love how he spreads the Vegemite all the way past the crust. He is a true Australian!' Keith is currently in Sydney, with his wife Nicole, promoting his new album Graffiti U. 'Keep that knife out of the butter!' Meanwhile, back in the Today studio, hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys argued over Keith's lack of respect for Vegemite on toast He added, "I have a great deal of experience with managing the affairs of a large government and I also understand the credit markets very well." One of the issues that could arise in a state comptroller campaign is the state-imposed control board that began overseeing Erie County's finances during Giambra's second term as county executive. He believes the county "was the first victim of New York state unfunded mandates." During his first four years as county executive, he cut taxes by 30 percent. He blamed the state for the financial challenges that followed Medicaid and health care costs increased, he said and the county needed more revenue. That's when Giambra said he "bit the bullet" and proposed raising sales taxes to avoid a property tax hike. "I look forward to having that discussion because, again, Erie County and I predicted it back then was the first county that would be experiencing this problem with these unfunded mandates," he said. "I was correct." Being state comptroller would give Giambra a bigger platform to discuss another issue that's important to him: metropolitan and regional government. He has been a proponent of local government consolidation dating back to his time as an elected official in Buffalo and Erie County. PR Queen Roxy Jacenko recently revealed that Sydney socialite Francesca Packer made her exclusive 'lovers' friend list. And on Thursday evening, the pair looked every inch the bosom buddies as they stepped out at the 21st annual Gold Dinner, in support of Children's Hospital Foundation in Walsh Bay's Pier 2/3 venue. The stunning heiress showed off her killer curves in a semi-sheer ensemble as she cosied up to the PR maven at the charity gala. Bosom buddies! Francesca Packer shows off her killer curves in a semi-sheer ensemble as she cosies up to bestie Roxy Jacenko at the Gold Dinner charity gala in Sydney Francesca flaunted her bodacious body by donning a translucent floor-length black gown. The dress featured a stylish diamond-patterned design which perfectly accentuated her silhouette. She added a touch of monochrome magic to her ensemble by carrying a black and white checked Louis Vuitton clutch. The raven-haired beauty pulled her tousled curls to one side and opted for an autumnal-hued makeup palette. Tulle for days: Meanwhile Roxy put on a bold display in her daring blue number, which featured ruffled details and an elaborate train - designed by Velani Gorgeous! Roxy turned heads on the night Meanwhile Roxy put on a bold display in her daring blue number, which featured ruffled details and an elaborate train - designed by Velani. The pair put on a friendly display for onlookers as they were pictured side by side in a tight embrace. Also in attendance at the glitzy event were presenters Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic, who stunned in their sophisticated evening ensembles. High-profile pair: Also in attendance at the glitzy event were presenters Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic, who stunned in their sophisticated evening ensembles White hot! The Today show news presenter, 32, flattered her fine figure in a form-fitting white gown, designed with an elegant fishtail feature The Today show news presenter, 32, flattered her fine figure in a form-fitting white gown, designed with an elegant fishtail feature. Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull suited up for the exclusive event and was pictured alongside his wife Lucy. The event - which is branded as one of the most exclusive charity gala's in Australia - has raised more than $25 million dollars for the hospital foundation since it's foundation in 1997. Speaking on the importance of the night, Gold Dinner Committee co-chair Athena Wagner said: 'Being the 21st anniversary of the Gold Dinner, we want to create a truly memorable night, and hope the Foundation continues to prosper for another 21 year's and beyond.' She recently returned from a sun-drenched tropical getaway in Bali. And after arriving back to 'Antarctic- like' weather in Melbourne, Married At First Sight's Carly Bowyer was clearly missing the warm weather. The reality star posted a throwback bikini snap, which showed her flaunting her toned figure while standing in turquoise water. Wish you were here? MAFS' Carly Bowyer puts on a busty display in a skimpy white bikini as she reminisces about her tropical holiday after arriving back in 'Arctic Melbourne' 'From where Id much rather be.. TAKE ME BACK!' She captioned the post. Adding: 'Thanks Melbourne for acting like youre Antarctica today.' The star, who recently celebrated moving in with former co-star and boyfriend Troy Delmege, continued to write: 'Troy will need to up his cuddle game tonight!' Carly took to Instagram to share an equally sultry snap on Wednesday. Flaunt it! Wearing a barely-there string bikini, the one-time reality star flaunted her toned figure Red hot! On Wednesday, the star posted a snap while wearing a tiny red matching bikini set and sitting beach-side with an ice-cream cone in hand Wearing a tiny red matching bikini, the brunette was all smiles as she sat beachside with an ice-cream cone in hand. Sitting on a blue towel at what appears to be a beach club, she looked carefree as she left her unkempt beachy waves to roam free. Referencing her fellow reality star beau, Carly captioned the post: 'You're the sprinkles to my ice cream.' They are considered three of the most beautiful women in the world. And Brooklyn Decker, Natasha Bedingfield, and Abigail Spencer proved worthy of the title as they arrived at the LOVE UNITED benefit in Los Angeles on Thursday. The trio of sensational stunners stole the spotlight as they graced the red carpet of the charity event hosted by Julianne Hough and Anita Patrickson at Amanu Studio. Terrific trio: Brooklyn Decker, Natasha Bedingfield, and Abigail Spencer proved worthy of the title as they arrived at the LOVE UNITED benefit in Los Angeles on Thursday Daring to impress, 31-year-old Brooklyn was sophisticated chic as she stunned in a summer ripe red dress. A small wardrobe malfunction caused her left strap to fall to the side as a pretty peek was had at her cream colored brassiere. The couture number highlighted her lithe waist as it cinched it tightly and cascaded down her gorgeous gams. Her trademark golden tresses were left long, loose and luscious as they fell over her petite shoulders. Oops! A small wardrobe malfunction caused her left strap to fall to the side as a pretty peek was had at her cream colored brassiere Exquisite: Natasha and Abigail worked sensational dresses She complimented the breezy style with a set of gold slippers, a green leather handbag, and a pendant necklace. Unwritten songstress Natasha, 36, looked every inch the pop star in a form fitting plum dress that accentuated her ample assets. Her delicate decolletage was thrust on center stage as the special sartorial choice had a plunging neckline. Vision: Abigail was a vision in black and white as she sported an off the shoulder romp dress Group hug: The ladies were joined by hostess Julianne Hough She wrapped her fabulous figure in an equally fabulous orange floral print robe wrap that boasted fringe on the hem. 36-year-old beauty Abigail was a vision in black and white as she sported a chic off the shoulder romp dress. Adding a bit of a wild side to the elegant style, the Mad Men actress stomped the red carpet in a pair of animal print heels. Pop star: Unwritten songstress Natasha, 36, looked every inch the pop star in a form fitting plum dress that accentuated her ample assets Ginger style: Julianne, 29, rocked a new shade of hair with a ginger pop that complimented her light blue eyes She sported blonde highlights in her trademark brunette locks as they were parted down the middle. Julianne and Anita made for exquisite hostesses as they both donned amazing frocks for the event. Julianne, 29, rocked a new shade of hair with a ginger pop that complimented her light blue eyes. Celebrity stylist Anita was springtime chic in a white lace breezy gown with black polka dots. She posed with Louise Roe who let her fabulous pins command attention. What a duo! Julianne and Anita Patrickson made for exquisite hostesses as they both donned amazing frocks for the event She's fled to Los Angeles to help heal her broken heart, after her split from husband Danny Goldberg. And this week, Australian model Annalise Braakensiek enjoyed some well-deserved downtime in LA. The 45-year-old enjoyed relaxing by the pool, going topless and flaunting her pert derriere as she sunbathed in a G-string bikini. Scroll down for video Showing him what he's missing? Annalise Braakensiek, 45, flaunts her incredible figure and toned derriere as she sunbathes topless in a G-string bikini...after fleeing to LA after split from husband Danny Goldberg Taking to her Instagram stories, the blonde shared a clip of the water and of herself relaxing. She appeared in high spirits and smiled for the camera. In the clip, Annalise showcases a golden glow and has her long locks out and over her shoulders, with sunglasses on. Mending her heart: She captioned the video, saying she'll be in LA for two weeks Moving on: She's fled to Los Angeles to help heal her broken heart, after her split from husband Danny Goldberg (pictured) She captioned the video, saying she'll be in LA for two weeks. 'You'll find me here for the next two weeks...yay.' In April, Annalise told Daily Mail Australia that she was hoping time in the US would help mend her broken heart, after her split with Danny. Speakng out: In April, Annalise told Daily Mail Australia that she was hoping time in the US would help mend her broken heart, after her split with Danny 'A dear friend will kindly fly me over for some R&R to spend time with my American tribe I haven't seen in way too many years,' she told Daily Mail Australia at the time. The TV personality, who described her 16 years with Danny as 'amazing', did not reveal what prompted the breakup. However, she insisted that they still care for each other deeply. Annalise said: 'I can say we have a lot of love for each other and will remain good friends.' Karl Stefanovic addressed rumours he is expecting a child with fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough on Thursday, emphatically declaring that his bride-to-be is 'not pregnant'. And while they may not be adding a new member to their family, the couple appear just as loved-up as ever. On Friday, overjoyed Today star Karl, 43, shared a romantic snap that showed him and Jasmine, 34, cuddling up against a sunset backdrop. Scroll down for video 'Here's to love, laughter and light': On Friday, Karl Stefanovic shared an adorable couple photo with fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough, a day after addressing pregnancy rumours 'Here's to love laughter and light. And sunsets in the West,' Karl captioned the image. In the picture, Karl sported a huge grin on his face as he wrapped his left arm around Jasmine's shoulder. The stunning shoe designer was dressed casually in the snap, wearing a loose-fitting grey sweater patterned with stars. 'One hundred per cent no, she's not pregnant!' Karl broke his silence on the baby rumours in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday And brandishing what appeared to be a glass of red wine, Jasmine seemed to end whispers that she was expecting. It comes after Karl broke his silence on the baby rumours in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday. 'One hundred per cent no, she's not pregnant!' Karl said, adding they were 'all good' and 'working hard' in their separate career ventures. 'Is that a baby bump?' Jasmine sparked speculation she was pregnant by covering her stomach with a peplum frock while attending a wedding with Karl last weekend He also stated that they were 'keeping under the radar'. However, the couple's social media shots and appearances at social events reveal they're happy being seen together in the spotlight. The couple happily flaunted their affection for one another on the media wall at Sydney Children's Hospital's annual Gold Dinner fundraiser on Thursday night. 'Keeping under the radar': Karl and Jasmine aren't shy in sharing their affection for one another, appearing at social events Karl and Jasmine exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony which took place at a Sydney mansion back in March. And it seems the twosome are looking forward to their upcoming wedding Woman's Day has reported the high-profile couple have 'already booked the venue' for their upcoming nuptials. The ceremony is said to be taking place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California with $100,000 being allocated to flowers and a celebrity guest list. A source explained of Karl and Jasmine's choice of venue: 'They're pretty well-known at the (Beverly Hills) Hotel, and the staff were bending over backwards for them.' Entebbe (12A) Verdict: Flawed history lesson Rating: How To Talk To Girls At Parties (15) Verdict: Too weird for words Rating: For those of us old enough to recall June 1976, the word 'Entebbe' uncorks a whole flagon of hazy memories. I can still remember Reginald Bosanquet or possibly Gordon Honeycombe back in the days when TV newsreaders had far more interesting names than Edwards and Bruce updating us solemnly over grainy footage of an Air France plane standing on the tarmac at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. Flight 139 had been flying from Tel Aviv to Paris. At a stop in Athens, four hijackers boarded. Two were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; the other two were Germans, members of a far-Left terrorist group with links to the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang. Daniel Bruhl and Rosamund Pike play an ideologically driven but almost comically hapless pair After storming the cockpit shortly after take-off, they forced the pilot to land in Libya, then flew on to Uganda, where that benighted country's loopy president, Idi Amin, welcomed them warmly in person. The hijackers moved all 248 people on board to an airport building, where they were divided, broadly speaking, into Jews and non-Jews. After a few days, the non-Jews were permitted to leave. That left 94 hostages and 12 crew as bargaining chips in the hijackers' demands. If Israel refused to release a number of militant Palestinians from its jails, the hostages would be murdered. What happened next was extraordinary. A week passed, during which, as publicists are fond of saying, the world held its breath. Then, 100 Israeli commandos flew 2,500 miles in transport planes, below radar detection, and stormed the airport building. They killed the hijackers and freed all but three of the hostages, who were fatally wounded in crossfire. A fourth was kidnapped from hospital and murdered by Amin's thugs. The only commando to fall in a rescue operation of staggering ambition and audacity, was the man who led them, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu. His younger brother, Benjamin, who somehow had to reconcile his grief with great national rejoicing, later entered politics. Maybe you've heard of him. It's an incredible story, its every detail the stuff of which movies are made. And indeed, have been. The starriest was Victory At Entebbe (1977), which featured Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, no less. Even Anthony Hopkins and Richard Dreyfuss, a little further down the bill, must have been star-struck. As a thriller, Entebbe fails by a distance to be as nail-bitingly tense and dramatic as the event it chronicles The big names this time are Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl. Interestingly enough, while all the stars back in 1977 played the leading Jewish protagonists, Pike and Bruhl are cast as the two Germans, Brigitte Kuhlmann and Wilfried Bose. They are the characters we get to know best, an ideologically driven but almost comically hapless pair who want to 'throw bombs into the consciousness of the masses' yet are catastrophically out of their depth. Maybe this tilt of perspective says something about how, rightly or wrongly, perceptions of Israel have changed in 40 years, for many, from plucky underdog to aggressor? Certainly, Brazilian director Jose Padilha's film strains hard to establish motivation on the part of the hijackers, giving them back stories and, in the case of the Palestinians, poignant and genuine grievances. 'Operation Thunderbolt', as it was known, might have been a remarkable Israeli triumph, but Jeremy Corbyn and his less desirable friends in the Labour Party could still safely organise a cinema outing. For those with no political bias who just want a strong period thriller, the screen-writer, promisingly, is Gregory Burke, who scripted the 2014 edge-of-your-seat drama, '71, set in Belfast at the height of the Troubles. Unfortunately, Entebbe won't nudge anyone towards the edge of their seat. In exploring the political bickering back in Israel as Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) and his more hawkish Defence Minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) argue over the best course of action, the film somehow diminishes the rescue mission itself. It just isn't that exciting. This is a surprise; after all, Padilha is one of the creators of the gripping Netflix series Narcos, about the drugs overlord Pablo Escobar. That series deals very nimbly with language, incidentally, skipping comfortably between English and sub-titled Spanish. But here, it's as if Padilha couldn't quite decide whether to have his characters speaking their own tongue, or English with foreign vowels. So he gives us bursts of both. He makes some other curious decisions, too. His film opens with, and repeatedly revisits, an energetic modern dance routine by an Israeli troupe that includes one of the commando's girlfriends. It's an arresting spectacle, for sure, but might as well sport the caption 'metaphor'. And then there's the casting of Pike, a fine actress who has successfully shrugged off all attempts to typecast her as a classic English Rose, although I fear she might, as a German-accented revolutionary, be venturing too far in ze uzzer direction. Ultimately, Entebbe delivers a worthwhile history lesson. But as a thriller, it fails by a distance to be as nail-bitingly tense and dramatic as the event it chronicles. Love this film or loathe it and my fellow critics and I were divided more or less equally at our preview screening How To Talk To Girls At Parties is nothing if not original. Adapted from a sci-fi short story by Neil Gaiman, the screechingly daft premise is that, in Croydon, in 1977, with teenagers into punk and their parents into the Queen's Silver Jubilee, a group of aliens might land and, alongside the joyous bunting and furious graffiti, appear only slightly more outlandish than everyone else. Among the punk-loving teens is Enn (Alex Sharp), who, on encountering the visitors from outer space at a house party, not unreasonably assumes them to be a religious cult, probably from California. Nicole Kidman in How To Talk To Girls At Parties, which is nothing if not original He falls in love with one of them, Zan (Elle Fanning), and a very peculiar courtship ensues. She is as fascinated by The Clash and the Sex Pistols, and their angry adolescent followers, as he is by all things alien. She is also, in her way, just as much of a rebel. Director and co-writer John Cameron Mitchell doesn't even try to make any of this believable, which might be just as well. Some of the acting is decidedly wobbly, but in the case of the punk queen played by none other than Nicole Kidman, it's just the south-east London accent that fails to convince. Otherwise, she's rather glorious. Matt Lucas and Ruth Wilson also pop up in minor roles, in a film which is more like a chaotic, extended dream sequence than a feature with anything as stultifyingly conventional as a narrative arc. In that initial sharp division of opinion, I sided more with the haters. Too much of the weirdness seems self-indulgent, less for the gratification of the audience than for that of the director and his cast. So two stars for the film, but for sheer, mind-boggling originality, I'd have to bestow the full five. Elyse Knowles became well acquainted with paint-splattered jeans and construction boots during last year's season of The Block. But the 25-year-old has swapped into far sexier attire for Seafolly's new swimwear campaign. The model and former reality star sizzled as she posed in a number of bikinis for a photo shoot with the iconic Australian brand. Scroll down for video From The Block to the beach! Former reality star Elyse Knowles stripped down at a Sydney beach on Wednesday for a photo shoot with swimwear brand, Seafolly Racy in red! While she wore paint-splattered jeans and construction boots on The Block, Elyse slipped in far sexier attire for the shoot With her jaw-dropping body coated in tanning oil, Elyse was seen wearing a yellow patterned bikini as she made a series of poses for the camera. The low-cut top showed off the blonde's eye-popping cleavage, and in one saucy snap she brandished a bottle of water whilst wearing 1970s-inspired sunglasses. With her unbrushed blocks tied in a loose bun, Elyse looked every inch the dream beach babe. Phwoar! With her jaw-dropping body coated in tanning oil, Elyse was seen wearing a yellow patterned bikini as she made a series of poses for the camera Girl next door: With her unbrushed blocks tied in a loose bun, Elyse looked every inch the quintessential beach babe Itsy-bitsy, teeny weeny yellow bikini! Continuing to raise temperatures, Elyse changed into another bikini for more flirty photos Continuing to raise temperatures, Elyse changed into another itsy-bitsy yellow bikini for more flirty photos. A strapless top was complemented with a pair of racy high-cut bottoms, and they inched up Elyse's curves as she made a series of provocative poses. Shuffling through the bathing brand's latest styles, she was later seen rocking a black patterned string bikini before slipping into a 1950s-inspired gingham number. Bathing beauty: Racing through the bathing brand's latest styles, she was later seen rocking a black patterned string bikini From renovating to racy photos! Last Saturday, Elyse told The Daily Telegraph that becoming the new face of Seafolly is a 'major accomplishment' for her However, the former Block babe made one-pieces look just as fantastic, wearing a black check bathing suit as she reclined on a sun lounger. The garment featured a cut down the bust, completed with black cross lacing. Last Saturday, Elyse told The Daily Telegraph that becoming the face of Seafollyis a 'major accomplishment' for her. Alluring: The former Block babe made one-pieces look just as fantastic, wearing a black check bathing suit as she reclined on a sun lounger Major new campaign: Elyse joins Miranda Kerr, Gigi Hadid, Shanina Shaik and Jess Hart who have all previously put their bikini bodies on display for Seafolly The beauty, who pocketed $547,000 along with boyfriend Josh Barker when they won last year's edition of The Block, joins a star-studded list of names who have previously posed for the brand. Miranda Kerr, Gigi Hadid, Shanina Shaik and Jess Hart have all put their bikini bodies on display for Seafolly. 'All my idols who I have ever looked up to have all been the face of Seafolly,' she told the publication. The blonde added that she once literally day-dreamed about appearing in a campaign for the label. Dream come true: Elyse said that she once literally day-dreamed about appearing in a Seafolly campaign Going global! Elyse's Seafolly campaign will be launched in more than 20 countries around the world on Saturday 'I used to stand in the store and wish that one day it could be me and now it is my time and I have goosebumps talking about it,' she told the paper. Elyse's Seafolly campaign will be launched in more than 20 countries around the world on Saturday. The genetically-blessed blonde has also fronted a campaign for Bras N Things, and honed her modelling chops by appearing on a number of magazine covers since shooting to fame on The Block last year. Another notch in her belt! The genetically-blessed blonde has also fronted a campaign for Bras N Things, and honed her modelling chops by appearing on a number of magazine covers Karl Stefanovic, 43, may have slammed rumours that he's expecting a child with his fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough. But the TV presenter looked as smitten as ever as he attend the Gold Dinner on Thursday evening with his stunning wife-to-be in tow. Jasmine, 34, oozed elegance in an all-black look which featured an extremely low-cut neckline and a cinched-in waist, to flatter her slimline physique. Taking the plunge! Jasmine Yarbrough puts on a busty display in a slinky black number as she accompanies fiance Karl Stefanovic to the Gold Dinner... after the loved-up pair broke their silence on pregnancy news While Karl kept things traditional in a black suit and white shirt, he finished off his outfit with a dark tie and a shiny pair of dress shoes. Jasmine wore her blonde locks out and in loose curls, and wore makeup including a deep red lip. Sharing a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the night's festivities via Instagram Stories, Jasmine gushed over a performance by Boy George before posing for a selfie with Karl and a pal. Woman in black: Jasmine showed off her slimline physique in a slinky black number with a plunging neckline at the charity event The annual event, which is thought to be the most exclusive charity gala in Australia, took place in Walsh Bay's Pier 2/3 venue and was attended by PR Queen Roxy Jacenko, socialite Francesca Packer and Boy George's manager Paul Kemsley. The glitzy evening is in aid of the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation and it has raised more than $25 million dollars since it first dazzled 21 years ago. Meanwhile, Today star Karl spoke out to declare that his bride-to-be is definitely 'not pregnant'. Karl broke his silence on the baby rumours in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday. 'One hundred per cent no, she's not pregnant!' Karl said, adding they were 'all good' and 'working hard' in their separate career ventures. 'One hundred per cent no, she's not pregnant!' Karl broke his silence on the baby rumours in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday 'Is that a baby bump?' Jasmine sparked speculation she was pregnant by covering her stomach with a peplum frock while attending a wedding with Karl last weekend He also stated that they were 'keeping under the radar'. However, the couple's social media shots and appearances at social events reveal they're happy being seen together in the spotlight. Karl and Jasmine exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony which took place at a Sydney mansion back in March. 'Keeping under the radar': Karl and Jasmine aren't shy in sharing their affection for one another, appearing at social events And it seems the twosome are looking forward to their upcoming wedding. Woman's Day has reported the high-profile couple have 'already booked the venue' for their upcoming nuptials. The ceremony is said to be taking place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California with $100,000 being allocated to flowers and a celebrity guest list. A source explained of Karl and Jasmine's choice of venue: 'They're pretty well-known at the (Beverly Hills) Hotel, and the staff were bending over backwards for them.' Tracey Jewel turned up the glam in a show-stopping black gown on Friday. The 35-year-old Married At First Sight star flaunted her surgically-enhanced assets in a figure-hugging dress, which featured a low-cut sweetheart neckline to accentuate her bust. Showing off a bit of flesh thanks to the sheer panelling down the sides, Tracey oozed sophistication in the sexy mermaid dress. Scroll down for video Busting out! Married At First Sight star Tracey Jewel flaunts her perky assets and slimline physique in a figure-hugging black gown with sexy sheer panels for charity gala event in Perth She shared a snap with her 131,000 Instagram followers, declaring that she 'was ready for a great night out' after borrowing the number from Labels On Loan. Tracey was dressing up for the RQCC charity gala in Perth, which took place at the luxurious Crown Towers hotel. Despite tagging her beau Sean Thomsen, he was nowhere to be seen in the sultry snap. MIA? Despite tagging her beau Sean Thomsen (pictured) in the snap, he was nowhere to be seen The reality TV star's fans flooded her comments section with compliments. One said: 'Very Grace Kelly.' Another added: 'Great boob contour! You look incredible... I need to learn your secret coz I could use some more boob for stage'. Someone else quipped: 'Dean would love this.' What a tease: The 35-year-old hinted that she's going to spill the beams on former 'husband' Dean Wells, in a dramatic Instagram post on Thursday Meanwhile Tracey teased TV viewers that she's about to spill all about her time on Married At First Sight, including some dirt on 'ex-spouse' Dean Wells. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the brunette bombshell shared a split-screen photo of her and her former 'husband' accompanied by a lengthy caption. She announced: 'I've been waiting a long time for this and theres a few misconceptions out there as people tend to judge others. On Saturday my version of the story unfolds. Stay tuned!!' But some social media users branded the aspiring author 'pathetic' and 'an attention seeking drama queen' for the suspenseful post. She always looks glamorous in fashion shoots and when she poses by her husband Chris Hemsworth's side on the red carpet. And Elsa Pataky, 41, chose to give her fans an unexpected surprise on Friday as she shared a clip in which she went make-up free, and yet still looked just as glamorous. Sharing a video from her trip to a beauty salon in her native Spain, the model and actress captioned the clip: 'No filters, no make up!' Scroll down for video 'No filter!' Elsa Pataky shows off her flawless complexion going makeup free in Spain...as she treats herself to a day at a beauty salon Keeping her messy blonde locks pushed back over her head, the model was determined to embrace her naturally pretty features as she posed for the camera. Despite not wearing any make-up for the occasion, Elsa proved that you can take a break from the glitz and glamour and still look stunning while doing it. The blonde beauty spun around in the clip with her phone in hand, giving her two million followers a glimpse of the well-lit area. Pretty: Elsa is known for looking glamorous at events, and by her husband Chris Hemsworth's side, but she proved that you can take a break from the glitz and look stunning while doing it Dressed in a low-cut black tank top, the star went braless for the occasion and put on quite the busty display as her cleavage could be glimpsed from above. Elsa married her Hollywood superstar husband Chris in December 2010, after only meeting shortly beforehand, and she has previously admitted that the pair faced many struggles together during the early years of their matrimony. Speaking to Vogue Australia, the mother-of-three confessed: 'We did everything very quickly I don't know how we survived as a couple.' Stronger together: Elsa married her Hollywood superstar husband Chris in December 2010, and she has previously admitted that the pair have faced many struggles together The Fast And Furious actress continued: 'We were married and then a year after we had kids. It puts a lot of pressure on a marriage.' They welcomed their daughter India in 2012 and their twin sons, Tristan and Sasha, later in 2014, and the family of five now live in Byron Bay on the New South Wales' North Coast after relocating from Los Angeles. Despite those initial hurdles, Elsa claimed that the couple couldn't be happier or more in love, after recently celebrating their eight-year wedding anniversary. She added: 'I think our years together have been great. Every marriage has ups and downs it's constant work to be in a successful marriage and stay together forever.' Jim Dean, chairman of Democracy for America, criticized the DCCC's strategy in the 24th and other races around the country. He added that the Democrats don't need to only win in November, but they must secure a "lasting majority that is deep, bold and visionary enough to win the even bigger, inclusive populist victories we need in 2020 and beyond." "We are thrilled to be endorsing (Balter) and (Campa-Najjar) today because they remain unbroken by the party insiders in Washington and are running the kind of bold, inclusive populist campaigns that will win in November, welcome in the New American majority of people of color and progressive white voters, and help transform the country," Dean said. For Balter, the support from Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is the latest in a series of endorsements from progressive organizations. Her notable endorsers include the national Indivisible movement, which was launched by former congressional staffers to rally against President Donald Trump's agenda, and several local Indivisible chapters. Balter and Perez Williams will face each other in the Democratic primary election on June 26. The winner will have the Democratic line against Katko, R-Camillus, in November. Balter has already locked up ballot lines for the general election. She has been endorsed by the Women's Equality and Working Families parties. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Real Housewives of Cheshire star Dawn Ward's daughter Taylor was flaunting her incredible bikini body on Thursday as she took to Instagram to share snaps from her holiday in Dubai. The 20-year-old model showed off her toned abs in a skimpy orange two-piece as she posed up a storm during a spot of sunbathing. Taylor's outing comes amid ongoing rumours that she is set to appear on the upcoming fourth series of Love Island, after winning over producers with her no-nonsense attitude. Gorgeous: Real Housewives of Cheshire star Dawn Ward's daughter Taylor showed off her incredible bikini body in a slew of Instagram snaps on Thursday In one snap Taylor confidently posed on her hammock with her gorgeous figure on full display, finishing the look with gladiator sandals and captioning the post: 'Hammock Life.' Another post showed the star with her ample cleavage on full display as she sported a skimpy khaki two-piece, keeping her blonde tresses out of the way in a high ponytail and finishing the look with thin metal-framed sunglasses. She wrote in the caption: 'Getting ma tan onnn' as she posed poolside in her Dubai hotel. Amazing: Keeping her taut abs on full display, Taylor looked incredible as she relaxed on a getaway to Dubai, as rumours continue to circulate that she will enter the Love Island villa Taylor's getaway comes amid rumours that she is set to appear on the upcoming fourth series of Love Island, as The Sun reported she has already tried out for a spot in the famous villa. Boasting 105,000 Instagram followers, a source told the publication her apparent 'no nonsense attitude' has evidently won producers of the series over and coaxed them into signing her up. They said: 'Bosses really enjoyed meeting Taylor; shes confident and definitely has all the qualities of a perfect islander. 'She understands the world of reality TV already with her mum being one of the stars of the Real Housewives of Cheshire but shes still a normal girl whos looking for love. 'Taylor is one of many to make the shortlist but is keeping her fingers crossed she makes it on the programme.' Jaw-dropping: Boasting a strong social media following, Taylor reportedly won over producers of the ITV2 show with her no-nonsense attitude Taylor will surely be hoping her time on the show - if she gets on it - won't follow the path of fellow celebrity offspring Dani Dyer, daughter of actor Danny. Earlier this year, she plugged her appearance on ITV's winter version of Love Island, Survival Of The Fittest, only to injure herself in episode one and not be heard from again. Love Island has been auditioning hundreds of hopefuls, hoping to get their faces on TV this summer, after last year's show made stars out of Kem Cetinay, Amber Davies, Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes. Advertisement She was photographed touching down at the Nice Cote d'Azur International Airport with fellow model Hailey Baldwin on Thursday, ahead of attending the glamorous festivities surrounding the Cannes Film Festival. And Kendall Jenner was seen making the most of her time in the glitzy French Riviera on Friday, as she soaked up the glorious sunshine while relaxing by the pool with a group of friends, including fellow model Jordan Barrett, at the exclusive Eden Roc hotel. The 22-year-old reality star-turned-model proudly showed off her enviably svelte physique in a deeply plunging black swimsuit from Gooseberry Seaside, which was also cut high to display even more of her lithe frame. Scroll down for video Soaking up the sun: Kendall Jenner proudly showed off her enviably svelte physique as she soaked up the sunshine at Eden Roc's swimming pool on Friday, a day after touching down on the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival Kendall had her swimwear look nailed as she slipped into the all-black ensemble while giving a splash of colour with her red lipstick and accessorising with a pair of small lens Ray-Ban sunglasses. She slicked her raven tresses into a neat chignon at the nape of her neck to allow a full look at her flawless bone structure and model good looks. She added in a delicate gold chain. Her trip to the French Riviera comes shortly after she spoke about the arrival of her sister Kylie's daughter Stormi in a new interview with ELLE US magazine, admitting it still feels 'weird' her younger sibling, 20, is now a mother. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star posed for a glamorous, high fashion shoot for the publication as she opened up about her new niece and her anxiety battle. If you like it then you should've put a ring on it: Kendall was clutching on to a huge rubber ring adorned with the local of the luxurious resort Wow! Kendall was in true relaxation mode as she slipped into the black Gooseberry Seaside one-piece while sipping wine and giggling Legs eleven! The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was making the most of her lithe frame in the ensemble Having a giggle: She was playing around with a pal on the barge as they showed off their figures in swimwear Ring around: She was flaunting her lithe legs in the high-cut swimsuit Cheeky! As she larked around in the ring, Kendall ensured she was the centre of attention in her Pals: Jordan and Kendall were larking around together and checking out something on their phone Cheers! The supermodel looked stunning as she raised a glass on the sidelines to her friend Cheers! She was playing around in the pool while drinking her huge glass of rose Cooling off: She was larking around in the pool to cool off from the searing heat Cheeky! Proving herself to be something of a daredevil, the brunette beauty teetered on the barge Ringing around? She was pulling herself around the water on the rubber ring Golden girl: Kendall gave a touch of luxury to the look with her gold jewellery Here come the girls! She was on hand to take pictures of her pal as they frolicked on the side Treading the rope: She was teetering across the barge alongside her pals Raven-haired stunner: Kendall looked stunning as she waved at her pals - while ensuring her hair and make-up were flawless A new look: She later grabbed her rubber ring and a backwards baseball cap for the swim Chatting away: Kendall was engrossed in chat while bobbing along in her float in relaxation mode Danger zone! The group took on a perilous task as they played on the rocks ahead of enjoying a dip Kylie welcomed her baby daughter with boyfriend Travis Scott in February, announcing the news with a sweet video after months of speculation about her pregnancy. Kendall confessed: 'Its obviously a bit weird that your little sister is having a baby before you. I didnt expect it to happen like this. But its beautiful.' This year's Cannes line-up includes a number of prominent members of the Time's Up movement, including jury president Cate Blanchett. Also on the jury that will decide this year's Palme d'Or top prize are Ava DuVernay and Lea Seydoux, who says disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had made unwelcome advances on her. Burundian songwriter Khadja Nin, Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, French director Robert Guediguian and Chinese actor Chang Chen complete the line-up. Ring-a-ring-a-roses: The stunner coordinated her red lipstick with the red accents on the rubber ring Eek! Kendall seemed sceptical about making her way across the pole Snapping away: Standing in the sun, she was snapping images of her luxury surroundings Cheeky! Kendall had her swimwear look nailed as she slipped into the all-black ensemble while giving a splash of colour with her red lipstick and accessorising with a pair of small lens Ray Ban sunglasses Stunning views! She slicked her raven tresses into a near chignon at the nape of her neck to allow a full look at her flawless bone structure and model good looks. She added in a delicate gold chain Ringing around: She was playing around on her rubber ring while also taking pictures Making a splash! She enjoyed a cooling dip in the water as she frolicked in the waters Hello there! Kendall was having a peek out of the pool as she cooled off with a dip in the idyllic blue pool Cheers! She looked overjoyed as she raised a glass to a pal alongside her Ooh-err! Kendall's friend was paying particular attention to her posterior as they larked around Coming up Rose-s: She was enjoying her wine as she chatted to her friends on the sidelines Edgy! Her perky posterior was on full display in the saucy ensemble which made the most of her figure The ring leader: The group were all looking stunning for their trip to the beach in the idyllic setting Hot stuff! Typically, Kendall stole the show in her sizzling one-piece as she hit the beach in style Here they come! The whole group were clad in trendy swimwear as they hit the beach in style A vision: She made the most of her endless legs in the black swimsuit Legs eleven: She strutted across as she looked a vision in the simple yet stunning one-piece Nineties look: Kendall's pal went for a funky lilac two-piece with high-rise sides All white? Jordan larked around on the ladder as he looked into the distance The shadow of Weinstein is looming over this year's Cannes. For two decades, Weinstein had been an omnipresent figure at the festival, where several of his alleged sex crimes took place. This year, Cannes has established a hotline for sexual harassment victims at the festival. Thierry Fremaux, the festival's director, has said the Weinstein revelations came as a shock to Cannes, forcing the festival to examine its own practices and do more to improve gender equality. 'What emerged in Cannes must be fought in Cannes', Marlene Schiappa, France's secretary of state in charge of gender equality, told French television on Tuesday. Over the next two weeks, the jury will watch the 21 films competing for the Palme, including new releases from Spike Lee, Pawel Pawlikowski and Jean-Luc Godard. Three of the 21 films are directed by women: Nadine Labaki, Eva Husson and Alice Rohrwacher. Swinging around: The group were feeling particularly playful as they swung around on the barge Hold on tight: She looked sensational as she larked around on the edge of the pole A vision: Kendall was sure to keep the day fun-filled as she climbed up a rope ladder Cheeky! She grabbed her peachy posterior in the high-cut swimsuit A friend in need... Kendall's pal was helping her rub oil into her derriere Teehee! Cannes has come under criticism for years for not selecting more women directors. Only one female filmmaker, Jane Campion, has won the Palme. Controversy has characterized much of the lead-up to this year's festival Hot stuff! The modelling duo looked happy to be enjoying the warm weather as they hit the beach A Jenner-ous posterior! Her perky derriere was on full display in the slinky one-piece Cannes has come under criticism for years for not selecting more women directors. Only one female filmmaker, Jane Campion, has won the Palme. Controversy has characterized much of the lead-up to this year's festival. The festival is opening with the premiere of Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, but much of the drama at this year's festival is off screen. After two Netflix films played in competition as last year's Cannes festival - prompting protests from French exhibitors - the Cannes board of directors ruled that a film in competition at Cannes must have French distribution. Feeling playful: She was jumping out of the water with her stunning figure on full display Aye aye! Kendall was larking around on the barge as they played around with pals Legs eleven: Kendall was nothing short of sensational in the saucy swimwear that displayed all of her lithe frame Hot mama: She showed off her stunning frame in the swimwear Pals: She left too much on display with the high-cut front to the swimming costume while her legs were endless Ring, ring: They were checking out Kendall's phone as they snapped pictures throughout the chip A fine pair! They were certainly looking like a model pair as they strutted their stuff Cheeky! Another pal was looking at her in admiration as she played around What's that? They were giggling away as they sat in the sun while Kendall peeled off her glasses French law prevents a film that plays in theaters to appear on streaming services for three years. Faced with only showing its films out of competition, Netflix withdrew its films from Cannes. Several Netflix titles, including Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and the recently completed Orson Welles film"The Other Side of the Wind, had been expected to premiere this year. Since then, both sides have expressed some regret over their disagreement. Also likely absent from the festival will be two filmmakers living under house arrest in their home countries. All aboard! She was careful not to fall off the barge as she wrapped her legs over - showing off her stunning frame in the process Cheeky! Her posterior was turning heads on the beach as she larked around near the shores Playful: Her sister Kylie welcomed her baby daughter with boyfriend Travis Scott in February, announcing the news with a sweet video after months of speculation about her pregnancy Oh my! Kendall confessed: 'Its obviously a bit weird that your little sister is having a baby before you. I didnt expect it to happen like this. But its beautiful' Lights camera action! The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star posed for a glamorous, high fashion shoot for the publication as she opened up about her new niece and her anxiety battle All black everything: The sizzling look was perfect for the beach as she frolicked at the luxury location The festival has asked that exceptions be made so that Russian theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi can attend the premieres of their films, but that appears unlikely. In the festival's Un Certain Regard section is Rifiki, a lesbian romance from Kenya that has already been banned at home. But Danish provocateur filmmaker Lars von Trier will return to Cannes seven years after being declared 'persona non grata' for joking about being a Nazi and having sympathy for Hitler. His film The House That Jack Built stars Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman. Also making a return to Cannes is Star Wars with The Han Solo spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story, set for an international premiere on May 15. Pulling the rope: She was feeling extremely silly as she pulled the rope and posed with pals Ahoy there! Kendall was taking her business extremely seriously when she was larking around Legs eleven: She was sipping a crisp pale rose while standing with her stunning pal on the sidelines Slicked back: She was playing around in the water while looking sensational Stunner: She looked stunning as she frolicked by the pool alongside her pals Work it baby! They were all enjoying themselves on the rocks as they played around A rocky road: The group were larking around on the rocks as they prepared to jump in the sea Cheeky: She was larking around with her model mates surrounding Cannes Having so much fun: Kendall shared a picture on her Instagram story of herself with pals on Friday Wow: The model showed off her impressive surroundings in another snap she shared Rita Ora has revealed she's bisexual as she unveiled her new single, 'LBGT anthem' Girls. The singer, 27, explained she has experienced both men and women in the past as she unveiled the track - which she penned two years ago - alongside co-collaborators Cardi B, Charli XCX and Bebe Rexha on Friday. As social media users praised the single for its 'powerful meaning' to the LGBT community, the pop princess admitted Girls, featuring the lyrics 'I just wanna kiss girls' was the most open she has ever been with a song. Another hit: Rita Ora's new track Girls, which features the lyrics 'I just wanna kiss girls' has been hailed an LGBT anthem by social media users The song was written by the starlet two years ago, but she didn't feel like it would go anywhere until rapper Cardi B jumped on board. During an interview with People, Rita - who has been dating songwriter Andrew Watt for over a year - was asked about whether the song is linked to her own sexuality. She said: 'I knew people were going to look into it like that. I definitely said it because I can - and it was one of those things where, if I was 50/50 I'm not saying I'm 70/30. 'I'm 50/50, and I'm not gonna hide it. I'm not hiding what I am, who I am, if I wanna do this, if I wanna do that. That's just how it's gonna be.' Hot chicks: The song, Girls, was written by the pop starlet two years ago however she didn't feel like it would go anywhere until rapper Cardi B jumped on board Rita said she played the song to her pal Charli XCX who branded the song a 'f***ing smash' and also wanted in on the track. The fourth artist featuring on the song is Albanian native Bebe who the Anywhere hitmaker claims she has always been desperate to work with. Rita added that she views the song as a 'gender-fluid freedom record', she said that she didn't make it specifically for just women or men. The ex The Voice judge said that to her the song just represents being what you want to be, without fear of judgement, and being able to live your life how you want. Rita wanted the single to feel like an anthem to somebody and feel that sense of freedom while they listen to it. Something to say: Girls has received a warm reception from fans on Twitter who have dubbed the the song an 'LGBT summer smash' New song: The phrase 'LGBT anthem' was commonly used on Twitter when discussing the track She said when creating the song that she took inspiration from Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl because the hit was so fun and it felt like a statement. Rita continued that she was definitely the most open she has ever been with a song. The singer added that it was 'narrow-minded' of people to assume because that's not what the record is about for her. Due to the four women's hectic schedules putting the song together proved tricky at times but everyone was keen to get their version of the track finished. Rita revealed that Cardi B's part of the track was finished just the day after this year's Met Gala and was put together in her hotel room in just half an hour. Girls has received a warm reception from fans on Twitter who have dubbed the the song an 'LGBT summer smash'. Amy Marsh, wrote on Twitter: 'What an absolute song & a powerful meaning behind it!' The Foo Fighters have just toured Australia and New Zealand. And now it has been revealed that frontman Dave Grohl's mother - Virginia Hanlon Grohl - is set to come Down Under for the BIGSOUND conference. The former teacher and author is set to talk about her book, From Cradle to Stage, and raising musicians, Music Feeds reports. Scroll down for video Will she dish the dirt on Dave? Mother of Foo Fighters rocker Grohl is coming to Australia to speak at the BIGSOUND conference...where she'll talk about raising musicians The publication reports that Virginia interviewed the mothers of stars including Adam Levine and the late Amy Winehouse for her book. BIGSOUND will be held from September four to seven. Dave, 49, was recently in Australia on tour with his band. In the know: The publication reports that Virginia (pictured) interviewed the mothers of stars including Adam Levine and the late Amy Winehouse for her book Rock on! The Foo Fighters have just toured Australia and New Zealand Will he visit too? BIGSOUND will be held from September four to seven In January and while in town, Dave revealed on The Project that he once was in Australia and jetted back to his home in Los Angeles for a day, so he could attend his daughter's school event. He said after the event, he then jetted back to Australia for his tour commitments. Worried about his reputation and looking 'soft', the star confirmed the statement and joked: 'Don't bring it up around the other guys.' 'Every year they have a Daddy-daughter dance at their school,' he explained. Family man: In January and while in town, Dave revealed on The Project that he once was in Australia and jetted back to his home in Los Angeles for a day, so he could attend his daughter's school event 'My wife texted me and said, "Here's the date. Put it in your calendar." I look at it and think this is in the middle of tour. It was a day off between Adelaide and Perth. And we live in Los Angeles.' A true family man, the drummer married wife of 14-years Jordyn Blum in 2002. Together, the pair are parents to three daughters; Violet May, 11, Harper Willow, eight, and Ophelia Saint, three. She's an Australian shoe designer who knows a thing or two about fashion, so it's no surprise that Terry Biviano looked polished to perfection at the Gold Dinner on Thursday. The 42-year-old amped up the glamour in a striking lilac lace number, which showed off the WAG's toned curves and tiny waistline. The intricate gown was semi-sheer to show off Terry's lengthy pins and featured delicate feather detailing on the arms and bust. A vision in lilac! Terry Biviano showed off her curves in a semi-sheer lace feathered frock at the Gold Dinner on Thursday Sharing a stunning snap with her 52,600 Instagram followers, Terry revealed that she was wearing Aussie designer Steven Kahlil. The pastel-coloured number was from his 2017 couture collection - and Terry accessorised the look with a small silver Bulgari clutch. By her side was her doting husband of six years, former rugby star Anthony Minichiello. Genetically-blessed duo: Terry and her husband Anthony Minichiello were dressed up to the nines to attend the glamorous annual charity gala in Sydney The 37-year-old cut a dapper figure in shiny black tuxedo, paired with a crisp white shirt and bow tie. Anthony, the former Sydney Roosters captain, paid tribute to his spouse by posting a sweet snap from the charity event on his Instagram page. '#GoldDinner2018 with my love @terrybiviano,' he said. 'Raising money for #SydneyChildrensHospital #KidsCancerCentre.' Dashing: The former rugby player jokingly said he 'tried to sneak out' with the $800k gold bar Then he shared a solo snap, holding onto a large lump of gold. Anthony quipped: '800k in gold bullion in my hand, tried to sneak out with it but didnt get far #soheavy #canikeepit #golddinner2018.' The annual event, which is thought to be the most exclusive charity gala in Australia, took place in Walsh Bay's Pier 2/3 venue and was attended by PR Queen Roxy Jacenko, socialite Francesca Packer and Boy George's manager Paul Kemsley. Famous friends: Terry posed for a snap with The Real Housewives of Sydney star Krissy Marsh and other pals at the glitzy event The glitzy evening is in aid of the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation and it has raised more than $25 million dollars since it first dazzled 21 years ago. Earlier this year Terry and Anthony celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary, after tying the knot back in January 2012 and they share a daughter, Azura Tresor, four. 'With you I am a better person! Without you I am incomplete,' Terry gushed on Instagram at the time. 'Happy Anniversary my love.' Teairra Mari has taken her 'pursuit of justice' into her own hands following a sex tape leak. According to TMZ, the Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star's boyfriend Akbar Abdul-Ahad has accused her of smashing the windows of his Mercedes G-Wagon with a metal pole on Thursday. Akbar said he was working out in the gym of his apartment complex in North Hollywood, California, when security called him claiming a woman was breaking the windows of his vehicle. Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star Teairra Mari has been accused of smashing in the windows to boyfriend Akbar Abdul-Ahad's car after accusing him of leaking a sex tape of her on Instagram He alleged that he arrived at his car and found Teairra in the act. She was reportedly joined by Milan Christopher, another Love & Hip Hop star. Per Akbar's account, Teairra and Milan took off as he approached. After the altercation, Teairra expressed her appreciation for Milan on Instagram. She thanked him for 'having my back' adding that he 'is the only person that stood up for me'. Meanwhile Akbar shared a video on his Instagram story in which he's shown confronting Teairra. He claims in the clip that she's lying about him leaking the tape, blaming an ex-boyfriend of hers instead. So what do you need to know about the drama unfolding between Teairra Mari and Akbar Abdul-Ahad? Here's everything you need to know. Teairra Mari video On Wednesday, an explicit video appeared on Teairra Mari's Instagram account. According to Bossip, the video, which has since been deleted, showed the reality star and a man who appeared to be boyfriend Abdul Akbar-Ahad engaged in a sex act. A lewd photo of Teairra was also posted to her account. Teairra regained control of her Instagram account, revealing that it had been 'compromised by someone who I felt was deserving of my love and trust'. She continued: 'That person proved to be untrustworthy and posted footage of what in the moment was private and sacred. Moving forward, I recognize the need to be more cautious and discerning. 'My hope is for women to remain strong and dignified when they find themselves having to address hateful and juvenile acts by former loves who find it difficult to act in an adult manner. 'Revenge Porn is a crime in California and I will be in pursuit of justice.' Teairra Mari's boyfriend Akbar Abdul-Ahad Teairra Mari has seemingly blamed boyfriend Akbar Abdul-Ahad for leaking a sex tape and explicit photos of her on her own Instagram page. He claims it was not him, but another ex-boyfriend. Teairra has not yet named the person she believes to be responsible for the leak. She has only said that it was someone she believed she could trust. 50 Cent on Teairra Mari Following the leak of Teairra Mari's sex tape, a number of people took to social media to make light of the situation. Rapper 50 Cent was among them. He shared an image from the leak on his personal Instagram, which was later removed by the powers that be at the app. 50 Cent spoke out after being censored, writing: 'I'm leaving IG, I'm going back to Twitter. 'They take s*** down off my page with out [SIC] notifying me. #censorthesenuts.' She recently set pulses racing in a very plunging silver gown as she made her Cannes debut on Thursday night. And Stella Maxwell's run of revealing outfits continued as she was spotted out and about at the film festival in a tiny crop top on Friday afternoon. The 27-year-old model showed off her toned torso in a white bralet style top as she soaked up the atmosphere with a stroll alongside fellow Victoria's Secret model Sara Sampaio. Dare to bare: Stella Maxwell's run of revealing outfits at the Cannes Film Festival continued on Friday as she was spotted out and about at the event in a tiny crop top The runway favourite provocatively flashed a glimpse of the black bra she sported beneath the tiny design, while a leather jacket and leggings toughened up the outfit. Proving not much effort is required to have her looking gorgeous, Stella tied her blonde locks up into a fuss-free top knot and opted for a minimal make-up look. Sara, 26, opted for a more feminine style in a white sundress emblazoned with a cute cherry motif and white sandals. Sizzling: The 27-year-old model showed off her toned torso in a white bralet style top as she soaked up the atmosphere with a stroll alongside fellow Victoria's Secret model Sara Sampaio Bra-vo: The runway favourite provocatively flashed a glimpse of the black bra she sported beneath the tiny design, while a leather jacket and leggings toughened up the outfit She put a retro spin on her style with quirky cat-eye shades and wore her brunette tresses pin-straight. As well as her model pals, Stella is also joined by her girlfriend Kristen Stewart at the festival, though the Twilight star has no doubt been busy with her role on the jury panel alongside Cate Blanchett. Stella and Kristen have gone from strength to strength since their romance was made public by pictures of the lovers smooching in the back of a cab in Milan. Effortless: Proving not much effort is required to have her looking gorgeous, Stella tied her blonde locks up into a fuss-free top knot and opted for a minimal make-up look Chic: Sara, 26, opted for a more feminine style in a white sundress emblazoned with a cute cherry motif and white sandals Despite their blossoming romance only being public since early last year, they were first romantically linked to one another back in 2016. Meanwhile, Stella last night dazzled the masses at the Sorry Angel premiere, with the beauty shunning her bra to rock a perilously plunging silver frock. Sorry Angel tells the love story of a student from Brittany Arthur who embarks on a whirlwind affair with 39-year-old writer Jacques in Paris. Bevy of beauties: Stella is just one of a flurry of models who have descended on the French Riviera for the film festival Fashionista: Stella shielded her eyes from the sun in stylish mirrored shades by Chanel Finishing touches: Sara put a retro spin on her style with quirky cat-eye shades and wore her brunette tresses pin-straight Her husband, Chris Hemsworth, is one of Hollywood's biggest stars, thanks in large part to his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But on Friday, Elsa Pataky immersed herself in the fashion world when she stepped out in her native Madrid, Spain, for the unveiling of Gioseppo Woman's Spring/Summer range. The 41-year-old model and actress, who is an ambassador for the brand, wowed in a sleeveless maroon dress, which featured a sweetheart neckline, as she made her way into the city's flagship Gioseppo store. Stepping out in style: Elsa Pataky stepped out for the unveiling of Gioseppo Woman's Spring/Summer range at Gioseppo in her native Madrid, Spain, on Friday Standing tall in a pair of burnt orange wedge sandals, the svelte beauty accessorised with pendant necklaces, an array of glittering bracelets and a pair of gold hoop earrings as she posed for photographers gathered outside the retailer's doors. With her wavy golden locks tickling her shoulders, the mother-of-three highlighted her natural beauty with a flattering palette of makeup that included a smudge of deep pink lipstick. Elsa's fashionable outing came hot on the heels of her speaking once again about the struggles she and her 34-year-old husband Chris faced during the early years of their marriage. Dressed to impress: The 41-year-old model and actress, who is an ambassador for the brand, wowed in a sleeveless maroon dress, which featured a sweetheart neckline Jewels: Standing tall in a pair of burnt orange wedge sandals, the svelte beauty accessorised with pendant necklaces, an array of glittering bracelets and a pair of gold hoop earrings Speaking to Vogue Australia, Elsa - who tied in the knot with Chris in December 2010, several months after their first met - confessed: 'We did everything very quickly I dont know how we survived as a couple.' The photogenic couple welcomed the birth of their daughter India in 2012 and their twin sons, Tristan and Sasha, in 2014. 'We were married and then a year after we had kids. It puts a lot of pressure on a marriage,' the Fast And The Furious actress admitted. Beauty: With her wavy golden locks tickling her shoulders, the mother-of-three highlighted her natural beauty with a flattering palette of makeup that included a smudge of deep pink lipstick Strike a pose: She posed up a storm for photographers as she entered the anticipated event However, after recently celebrating their eight-year wedding anniversary, Elsa claimed the couple couldn't be happier or more in love. 'I think our years together have been great. Every marriage has ups and downs its constant work to be in a successful marriage and stay together forever. 'Chris parents have been together all their lives, and thats such a beautiful thing, and their families are so close,' she continued. The family of five now live in Australia, in Byron Bay on the New South Wales' North Coast, after relocating from Los Angeles. Love and marriage: Elsa recently revealed the secret struggles that put 'pressure' on her marriage with Chris Hemsworth (pictured) Social media: The photogenic lovebirds, who tied the knot in December 2010, often share shots of each other on social media She enjoyed a rapid rise to fame in 1993, after finishing in the top 10 while representing her home country of Sweden in the Miss World Beauty pageant. And Victoria Silvstedt showed she can still turn heads just as effortlessly as the early days of her career, when she stepped out for lunch at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the French Riviera's Antibes, near Cannes, on Friday afternoon. The 43-year-old stunner wowed as she made her way along the oceanfront on a billowing white off-shoulder dress - but was caught in a Marilyn Monroe moment when a gust of wind left her underwear and pert posterior exposed. Fine dining: Victoria Silvstedt was spotted making her way to lunch at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the French Riviera's Antibes, near Cannes, on Friday afternoon However, the star appeared to take it all in stride, smiling at onlookers as she found herself at Mother Nature's mercy during her wardrobe malfunction. Victoria looked sensational for her culinary excursion teaming her frock of choice, which featured pink patterning, with a pair of eye-catching gladiator sandals. Shielding her eyes behind a pair of oversized sunglasses, the star - who arrived for the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week - accessorised with a sparkling ring and statement necklace, while her golden locks were worn in voluminous waves. Breeze: A gust of wind caught her white dress, leaving her underwear and posterior exposed A Marilyn Monroe moment: The incident was reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe's famous scene in the 1955 classic film The Seven Year Itch, left Stepping out in style: The 43-year-old stunner wowed as she made her way along the oceanfront on a billowing white off-shoulder dress How cheeky! Victoria gracefully made her way onto the luxury boat but her billowing skirt and perky derriere caught all the attention Blonde beauty Victoria has enjoyed a lengthy stint in the spotlight after being chosen to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 1993. After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate. Since her career rocketed, she has modelled for some of the world's most prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior and Valentino. Mother Nature: However, the star appeared to take it all in stride, smiling at onlookers as she found herself at Mother Nature's mercy during her wardrobe malfunction Chic: Victoria looked sensational for her culinary excursion teaming her frock of choice, which featured pink patterning, with a pair of eye-catching gladiator sandals Shady lady: The model shielded her eyes behind a pair of oversized sunglasses for her day out Despite the glamorous veneer to her lifestyle as a young model, she revealed there was a dark side in a recent interview with Female First. Victoria said: I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18. I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes and it was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious. But it never felt like it was my thing, I'm not like a runway skinny model, I'm more curvy. It was torture, I put myself through starvation, you know torturing myself.' Accessories: The blonde beauty accessorised with a sparkling ring and statement necklace Locks: Victoria's opted to go big with her hair, wearing her golden locks in voluminous waves Rapid rise to fame: She enjoyed a rapid rise to fame in 1993, after finishing in the top 10 while representing her home country of Sweden in the Miss World Beauty pageant Career defining moment: After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate She has already made a slew of glamorous statement during her time at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. And Kristen Stewart opted for a more casual display as she headed out and about at the annual film extravaganza. The actress, 28, looked sensational in a snazzy black blazer and roll-up light blue jeans as she strolled along in the sunshine. Stepping out: Kristen Stewart, 28, opted for a casual display as she headed out and about at the 71st Cannes Film Festival Kristen looked to be in a great mood as she sauntered along in the androgynous chic inspired look. Teaming a simple white vest with the stylish blazer and denims, the star completed the look with lace-up brogue shoes and white socks. Kristen, who is in a relationship with model Stella Maxwell, injected a further stylish flair to her look as she accessorised with a statement silver necklace and quirky shades. Her shoulder length locks were pinned back on one side and she opted for a glamorous coat of make-up. Looking good: The actress looked sensational in a snazzy black blazer and roll-up light blue jeans as she strolled along in the sunshine Statement style: Teaming a simple white vest with the stylish blazer and denims, the star completed the look with lace-up brogue shoes and white socks Cool: Kristen injected a further stylish flair to her look as she accessorised with a statement silver necklace and quirky shades Making an exit: Later that night, Kristen met up with her fans after the showbiz event, still looking ultra cool in her stylish black blazer Walk this way: Kristen flashed a shy smile as she walked out of the swanky venue Not a hair out of place: After the festivities, Kristen still looked radiant with her slicked back corkscrew curls pinned back with a chic black clip The Snow White And The Huntsman skipped the MET Gala this year as she tread boards at the A-list Cannes film festival in the French Riviera. Usually on the red carpet to promote her own movies, the Twilight star is now using her experience as part of the festival's jury to decide the feature film winner this year. Meanwhile, after two Netflix films played in competition at last year's Cannes festival - prompting protests from French exhibitors - the Cannes board of directors ruled that a film in competition at Cannes must have French distribution. French law prevents a film that plays in theatres to appear on streaming services for three years. Mane attraction: Her shoulder length locks were pinned back on one side and she opted for a glamorous coat of make-up Glamour: The Snow White And The Huntsman skipped the MET Gala this year as she tread boards at the A-list Cannes film festival in the French Riviera Faced with only showing its films out of competition, Netflix withdrew its films from Cannes. Several Netflix titles, including Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and the recently completed Orson Welles film"The Other Side of the Wind, had been expected to premiere this year. Since then, both sides have expressed some regret over their disagreement. Also likely absent from the festival will be two filmmakers living under house arrest in their home countries. The festival has asked that exceptions be made so that Russian theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi can attend the premieres of their films, but that appears unlikely. Famous: The star took her time to pose for selfies with fans A-List beauty: Usually on the red carpet to promote her own movies, the Twilight star is now using her experience as part of the festival's jury to decide the feature film winner this year Sneak peek: Kristen gave a small glimpse of her taut stomach in her casual white crop The Schuyler County Sheriff's Office activated a state AMBER Alert Thursday for a 1-month-old baby girl abducted from Montour Falls, but the alert was canceled Thursday night after the child was located unharmed. The baby, Gionna K. Harter, was reportedly abducted Thursday at around 5 a.m. from 325 Rock Cabin Road, Montour Falls by Katrina M. Harter, 31, police said. Police said Katrina Harter was last seen traveling south on North Exchange Street in Geneva. The child was taken under circumstances which led police to believe that she was in imminent danger of serious physical injury and/or death. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 10 Angry 7 Chris Hemsworth is based in the idyllic Byron Bay, in Australia, with his young family. And now his brother, Luke Hemsworth, has revealed whether he thinks their sibling Liam will follow suit and relocate Down Under. Luke, 37, told The Daily Telegraph that Liam and his fiancee Miley Cyrus are likely to stay in the US, where they are based, despite past speculation that they could relocate to Byron. Scroll down for video Are Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth moving to Australia? Actor's brother Luke reveals if the engaged couple will relocate from Los Angeles to Byron Bay 'That's a little different because his girl [Miley] is an American and all her family is here,' he said from the US. Luke added that he wants to move back to Byron to be closer to Chris and their parents. 'But I would love to go back and live close to Chris, maybe in Byron Bay,' Luke said. Family: Luke (R) is pictured with Chris (M) and Liam, (L) 'It's beautiful there and mum and dad are there and I definitely see us moving back at one stage.' Elsa and Chris - who married in 2010 - are based in Byron Bay with their children, daughter India, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four. The actor previously told Channel Nine's Today show that while he 'loved' living in Los Angeles, it never felt 'like home' in the way Australia does. Down Under: Elsa and Chris - who married in 2010 - are based in Byron Bay with their children, daughter India, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four Chris added that choosing to live in a coastal town was similar to his upbringing 'Which I think is essential to what we want to give [the children].' The Thor star also previously described LA as 'suffocating.' Meanwhile, Miley and Liam regularly holiday in Australia, and most recently holidayed in Byron over the New Year. Back home: The actor previously told Channel Nine's Today show that while he 'loved' living in Los Angeles, it never felt 'like home' in the way Australia does The cast of season 13 of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County is beginning to take shape. The network has revealed that Vicki Gunvalson the self proclaimed OG of the O.C. will be returning to the reality series. She'll join Kelly Dodd, Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador. Peggy Sulahian, who was cast in season 12 of The Real Housewives of Orange County, won't be coming back in the upcoming season. Real Housewives's Vicki Gunvalson will join Kelly Dodd, Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador It appears the cast has been filming together. They have been photographed together for Instagram on more than one occasion and appear to have taken a trip somewhere recently likely their cast trip. What do you need to know about the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of Orange County? Here's everything we know. Real Housewives of Orange County Season 13 cast Vicki Gunvalson, Kelly Dodd, Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador are returning to Bravo for season 13 of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Peggy Sulihan, who was only on the show for season 12, won't be returning. Lydia McLaughlin, who returning to the show in season 12 after a hiatus, has also confirmed her exit. New mom and longtime Real Housewives of Orange County star Meghan King Edmonds announced her departure from the series as well. In January 2018 she penned a long blog post in which she explained: 'I arrived at this multi-faceted decision after much thought, and then I thought some more. 'As you might suspect filming this show takes a massive emotional toll: I'm literally filming my real life in real time and engaged in situations and circumstances which can be contentious. Then, when the show airs, we relive some of the most trying moments in our lives and then endure the public's reaction; we never come out as winners to every viewer.' In season 12 of the reality show, Meghan's parenting was called into question and critiqued. It's unclear if that played a part in her decision to depart, however. It's unclear, at this time, whether any newcomers will be joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The Inquisitr reported that two new women were spotted filming the 13th season. It's not known whether they'll be included as full-time cast members or friends of the cast, if they're included at all. According to the outlet, the women, called Emily Moore Simpson and Gina Kirschenheiter, were seen spending time with Tamra and Kelly at The Dock in Laguna Beach, California. They were reportedly discussing the idea of confronting someone. Who is Emily Moore Simpson? According to Radar Online Emily Moore Simpson, the alleged latest addition to the Real Housewives of Orange County cast, is a wife and mom. She's said to work as both an attorney and a party planner. Orange CounTEA: Emily Simpson, a resident of Laguna Niguel. Shes a double bar association lawyer and also runs a party planning company... she has been filming with the ladies for the past few weeks! #RHOC pic.twitter.com/qUybpzT5wS RealHousewives101 (@RHousewives101) March 2, 2018 Her Instagram bio reveals that she's originally from Ohio, but lives in Orange County, California, now. It's been reported that she'll align herself with Kelly Dodd and Shannon Beador in season 13 of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Who is Gina Kirschenheiter? Radar Online reported that Gina Kirschenheiter, a friend of Tamra Judge's, will be joining the Real Housewives of Orange County cast. Gina was introduced to the show by Tamra in season 12, but was not full-time. According to the outlet, she'll stir up some drama in season 13 of the show, but not with the cast with producers. It's unclear, at the moment, what she did. sources are saying that cameras were rolling at a circus themed bday party she had for her kid around February 15th. Tamra was in attendance and its speculated Gina was there as well... #RHOC pic.twitter.com/TrEiPaZPmP RealHousewives101 (@RHousewives101) March 2, 2018 Gina is a mother to at least two children, it appears. Little else is known about her, so fans will just have to tune in to the show to get to know her. It's also been reported that Gina's best friend, Tatiana Beene, will appear on season 13 of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Real Housewives of Orange County release date Bravo has not yet announced a release date for the 13th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Watch Real Housewives of Orange County Season 12 You can watch episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo's website and on demand. You'll need your cable provider login to access the show on Bravo's site. He was seen hobnobbing with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop at a luncheon on Friday. And 80s action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme may have been chatting to the powerful politician about his plans to put Canberra on the international movie map. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, the 57-year-old 'Muscles of Brussels' revealed his dream of establishing a world-class film festival in the Australian capital that would be comparable in size and scale to Cannes. Will Canberra be the new Cannes? Action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme spoke to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, a day after his meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, revealing his dream to bring a film-festival to Australia's capital Established in 1946, the Cannes Film Festival is widely regarded as one of the biggest on the planet, annually drawing in the world's most influential actors and filmmakers. 'Why shouldn't Australia have a big international film festival to rival Cannes? Why not have an artistic reunion in the capital. I think it would ease tensions,' Jean-Claude told The Telegraph. According to the publication, the Belgian-born star even claimed his friends Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin would travel to Australia for the festival. 'I think it would ease tensions': The 80s film icon said his planned film festival would be good for political relations It's quite a daring assumption, given the US and Russian Presidents have notoriously fractious relations. However, it appears Jean-Claude has quite the penchant for diplomacy, also speaking highly of Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 'I liked the way Mr Turnbull is trying to protect his country,' the Double Impact star stated. Coming to Canberra? The Belgian-born star even claimed his friends Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin would travel to Australia for the festival And he certainly knew how to woo Julie when he sat next to her at Friday's New South Wales Federal Budget Lunch. The glamorous politician was all smiles as she chatted away with action film icon. The unlikely friends were pictured laughing, with the martial arts specialist gesturing rather enthusiastically with his hands. Jean-Claude was last in Australia in 2016, when he met with Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu, who invited him to Far North Queensland to shoot his next movie. Elegant: Jean-Claude certainly knew how to woo Julie when he sat next to her at Friday's New South Wales Federal Budget Lunch He's the Byron Bay native who has become one of the biggest names in the modelling industry. And on Friday, Australian personality Jordan Barrett, 22, was spotted taking a dip at the luxurious Eden Roc Hotel in Cannes, with fellow model, Kendall Jenner. Jordan flaunted his trim physique going shirtless, while Kendall, 22, flaunted her incredible figure in a skimpy black one-piece. Scroll down for video How supermodels swim! Fashion 'bad boy' Jordan Barrett flaunts his trim physique going shirtless in Cannes...as he takes a dip at his luxury hotel with Kendall Jenner Jordan wore white and blue board shorts on the day, perfect for the Cote d'Azur. He showcased a golden glow on the day, and happily got his blonde hair wet in the water. Kendall was seen showcasing her figure in a plunging back costume, which she teamed with vintage-style sunglasses and an elegant gold necklace. Hot to trot: Kendall (pictured) was seen showcasing her figure in a plunging back costume, which she teamed with vintage-style sunglasses and an elegant gold necklace In his element: Jordan could also be seen jumping into the water and appeared to be loving the downtime Making a splash: Jordan appeared to be having a ball Something funny? At one point, they looked at a phone together, as they took a break from the water She had her dark locks slicked back off her face into a low bun, and wore bright red lipstick. On the day, the pair seemed relaxed and could be seen laughing as they swam. At one point, they looked at a phone together, as they took a break from the water. At another point, Jordan could also be seen jumping into the water and appeared to be loving the downtime. The 2018 Cannes Film Festival runs until May 19. Celebrity hot spot: The 2018 Cannes Film Festival runs until May 19 Lucky break: Jordan found fame as a 'male supermodel' after being discovered at age 13 while attempting to shoplift matches from a convenience store 'He needs to rein it in': But Kirk Blake, the modelling scout who first spotted the now-21-year-old catwalk star, has some harsh words for fashion's resident 'bad boy' Jordan found fame as a 'male supermodel' after being discovered at age 13 while attempting to shoplift matches from a convenience store. But Kirk Blake, the modelling scout who first spotted the now-22-year-old catwalk star, has some harsh words for fashion's resident 'bad boy'. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in March, Kirk said Jordan - who is the son of convicted drug dealer Adrian Barrett - needs to dial his behaviour down a notch. 'He needs to rein it in. I just know that he can be so much better,' Kirk said of Jordan's behaviour, which has included swearing and making rude gestures to the media. Speaking out: 'He needs to rein it in. I just know that he can be so much better,' Kirk said of Jordan's behaviour, which has included swearing and making rude gestures to the media 'He is unstoppable at the moment but I still think he has to make the correct decisions.' Kirk also questioned why so much attention was being given to Jordan, despite his less-than-positive reputation. 'Why are we celebrating someone who gives the media the finger?' he asked. The Daily Telegraph also reported last month, that Jordan left the world's biggest modelling agency, IMG, to sign with Sydney's Kult. IMG also represents the likes of Gigi and Bella Hadid, and Australia's Shanina Shaik. 'They apparently tried hard to keep him but he would not be swayed,' a source told the publication. Moving on: The Daily Telegraph also reported last month, that Jordan left the world's biggest modelling agency, IMG, to sign with Sydney's Kult Emily Ratajkowski was spotted outside Red Bull Music in New York City talking to a friend on Thursday. And while the I Feel Pretty actress is known for being slender, she looked extra trim as she flashed her ribs in a black crop top which she paired with oversized FRAME slacks. This sighting comes just as the wife of producer Sebastian Bear-McClard talked to the June issue of Marie Claire about her body. Slim: Emily Ratajkowski was spotted outside Red Bull Music in New York City talking to a friend on Thursday. And while the I Feel Pretty actress is known for being slender, she looked extra trim as she flashed her ribs in a black crop top The brunette began by discussing her breasts. 'Boobs are funny. They hurt sometimes, and sometimes theyre the thing that makes me feel the most powerful. Theyre a key to my sexuality. Theyre all those things.' She shared one awkward experience: 'I remember there was some article like "Emily Ratajkowski Is the Mozart of Breasts." What was so bad is someone sent it to my dad, who sent it to me. My dad still sees me as a little kid.' On breasts generally, though, the Gone Girl actress' line is: 'I love my boobs. I love other peoples boobs. Boobs are kind of great.' Great shape: This sighting comes just as the wife of producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, who wore baggy FRAME trousers, talked to the June issue of Marie Claire about her body When the conversation turned to, as the magazine wrote, 'being taken seriously in Hollywood,' Emily said: 'Its actually something Ive thought about a lot without ever saying seriousness in my head. I care a lot.' She confessed: 'I think I freak people out sometimes going into meeting with Hollywood producerswith f***ing guns blazing.' She landed the June cover of Marie Claire Said Emily: 'I had something to prove, and it had very little to do with my acting ability or the way I looked. It was about the Take Me Seriously. Look me in the eye.' Emily has not been shy about her political views, and continued expounding on them in Marie Claire, saying: 'I struggle with the label of "activist" because Im struggling with what activism means in 2018 in general.' The actress, who while showing Vogue around her vast apartment in 2015 said she was for a platform to 'redistribute wealth in this country,' said to Marie Claire: 'I want a radical left, and I dont see itI was hopeful that with Trump coming into power there would be this drive to radicalize.' To the contrary, she said: 'Ive seen lot of people, no offense, wearing pink hats and posting it on Instagram and thinking that theyve done something good for the world, and I just dont think thats true.' She thinks they're great: 'Boobs are funny. They hurt sometimes, and sometimes theyre the thing that makes me feel the most powerful. Theyre a key to my sexuality. Theyre all those things,' the star told the magazine Her view of feminism is: 'We grow up in this patriarchal, misogynistic culture, and women fantasize about watching themselves through a male gaze. 'But if a woman decided that she likes herself in a gaze, and it makes her happy, should she feel the burden of where that comes from? I dont know the answer. Thats now what feminism is about. Its freedom of choice. Do what you feel like!' Emily also responded to critiques of her new movie I Feel Pretty, in which Amy Schumer's character Renee is hugely insecure because of her looks - then falls on her skull, becomes convinced she is a bombshell and fills with self-esteem. While some objected to the movie because Renee only feels beautiful after a head injury distorts her self-image, Emily argued: 'Renee doesn't change.' Shining in gold: The cover girl looked stunning in this gown at the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday in NYC She contrasted I Feel Pretty to Shallow Hal, in which an obese woman captures the attention of Jack Black's looks-obsessed character only when he is under hypnosis to see someone's inner beauty as her outer appearance. Thus, when Jack's character sees this obese woman, she is played by the svelte platinum blonde Gwyneth Paltrow, and he falls head over heels. Emily said of Renee: 'Unlike in Shallow Hal, she looks the exact same, but she just carries herself differently, and her whole life changes. Thats an interesting concept.' She also talked about people online 'writing-off' her new marriage. 'No one can take women seriously on any choices that they make, especially if theyre unique to them and they dont play into the way we think women should get married,' she said. 'It's a constant writing-off.' The London-born model and actress recalled: "People came after my marriage, like: "Wow. I give it three weeks." Im like: "What?"' She turned heads in her black and red Diane von Furstenberg gown on Monday at the annual Met Gala in New York City. And four days later, Taylor Hill was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles while rocking a revealing bodysuit. The Victoria's Secret Angel, 22, flashed her cleavage in the revealing white v-neck one-piece while leaving a studio on Friday. Gorgeous: Taylor Hill was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles while rocking a revealing bodysuit on Friday The cat walker flashed side boob in the barely-there number, which featured a low-cut neckline and skintight fit. Taylor highlighted her slim waist in denim bottoms, adding white sneakers and delicate jewelery. Her trainers are the coveted Off-White Converse Chuck Taylor 70 - which are set to be released globally on Saturday; The limited addition kicks retail for $130. Taylor left her long brunette loose with a wave, opting for just a touch of makeup to enhance her natural beauty. Lovely: The Victoria's Secret Angel, 22, flashed her cleavage in the revealing white v-neck one piece while leaving a studio on Friday Stunner: The cat walker flashed side boob in the barely there one piece, which featured a low-cut neckline and skintight fit One day earlier, Taylor rocked a graphic sleeveless T-shirt with jeans and a plaid flannel tied around her waist. The blue-eyed beauty posed for the Instagram pictures while spending time outdoors in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake Village. She captioned the images: 'California Calm.' Flawless: One day earlier, Taylor rocked a graphic sleeveless T-shirt with jeans and a plaid flannel tied around her waist Lovely: The blue-eyed beauty posed for the Instagram pictures while spending time outdoors in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake Village Last month, Taylor flashed her flat stomach while on the set of a photo shoot in New York City. She paired a lace bra with matching underwear; she wore denim shorts but opted to keep the zipper undone. The beauty arrived at the Gala, which took place at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in the Big Apple, while rocking a Diane Von Furstenberg creation. Taylor donned a custom cardinal-inspired wrap dress; the red and black creation had a thigh-slit and a low-cut neckline. She added red ribbon heels, a large cross necklace and dramatic eye makeup; the model styled her dark brown tresses in a ponytail. She's got that wow factor: Last month, Taylor flashed her flat stomach while on the set of a photo shoot in New York City All dressed up: The beauty arrived at the Gala, which took place at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in the Big Apple, while rocking a Diane Von Furstenberg creation; seen Monday They have certainly had their disagreements over the years. But while things haven't always gone smoothly, Tori Spelling and Dean McDemott remain committed. And Tori made that clear as she called her 51-year-old husband 'her rock' as she chatted about parenting at the OPI Grease Collection launch at Mels Drive-In in West Hollywood on Thursday, days after their 12th wedding anniversary. Romantic throwback: Tori Spelling posted this loved up snap of her wedding to Dean McDermott in Fiji as they celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary on Monday 'We really balance each other with getting it all done.' the reality star dished to Us Weekly at the event. 'Were kind of that rock for each other. The more you put on my plate, the more creative I am, the more things get done,' she added. Tori and the Garlic & Gunpowder star share five children - Liam, 11, Stella, nine, Hattie, six, Finn, five, and Beau, 14 months. She defended their large family. 'I could never be complacent having one child. I mean, God bless anyone that has one child. Children, whether you have six or one, its great. But one child, I would be like, "OK, but whats next?" Its my thing.' Strong couple: 'Were kind of that rock for each other,' the 44-year-old, seen recently with Dean, 51, in Hawaii, dished at an event at Mels Drive-In in West Hollywood on Thursday The couple made headlines in March after a domestic incident at their family home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles County. But just a few days later, they were spotted kissing on a TV set in Malibu. The Stori Telling star now feels 'a little more guarded' as a mom whenever there are rumors about her personal life. 'It takes everything in you to not scream from the rooftops, "Its not true! ' the 44-year-old said. 'But Ive been in this business long enough to know that it does eventually go away.' The luck of the Irish: Tori, Dean and their children - Liam, 11, Stella, nine, Hattie, six, Finn, five, and Beau, 14 months - celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March 17, as a family And with Mothers Day coming up on Sunday, Tori and Dean plan to spend quality time with their children. 'Its just going to be our family,' she said. 'Dean will be on full-time kid duty. Hes on baby duty.' The couple celebrated their wedding anniversary on Monday, 12 years after tying the knot on Fiji. Mother's Day plans: Proud parents with Stella, nine, at the Los Angeles premiere of Paddington 2 in January. Tori says the family plans a 'staycation' for Mother's Day And Tori posted a moving throwback photo of them both in white on a beach at sunset with a long caption. '12 years ago today... a girl and a boy came together all alone on a tropical island to proclaim their love for each other as they were pronounced husband and wife... 'I was finally the princess in my own fairytale. Fiji will always be a magical place for us. Today I celebrate the love and passion I share with @imdeanmcdermott and the 5 blessings that weve created together. 'Some people search their entire lives to find a soulmate. Im one lucky woman because I have 6! I love you babe.' Meanwhile, the couple recently returned from their first vacation without their children to Hawaii, where Tori attended a business conference. Ferne McCann was seen carrying her daughter Sunday out of Full Sutton prison after a visit with her former flame, Arthur Collins. The 27-year-old former TOWIE star shielded her six-month-old child from the sunshine as they left the prison in York on Friday. Collins is currently serving a 20 year sentence following a vicious acid attack at a London nightclub in April of last year. Prison visit: Ferne McCann was seen carrying her daughter Sunday out of Full Sutton prison after a visit with her former flame, Arthur Collins on Friday Ferne kept a low profile in dark sunglasses, and was dressed casually in blue jeans and white trainers in the Yorkshire city. She had previously visited Collins at Belmarsh Prison, South-East London when Sunday was two weeks old, telling him he would never see either of them again. During the visit, the This Morning star told him: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done. And this is what you are missing out on.' Low profile: The 27-year-old former TOWIE star shielded her six-month-old child from the sunshine as they left the prison in York on Friday TV presenter Ferne McCann previously was in a relationship with Arthur Collins (left) who was sentenced to 20 years in prison Ferne insisted she was 'done' with confronting Arthur and she explained she felt very 'strongly' about the 'innocent people' injured in the attack. The This Morning presenter explained it had been a difficult decision to take her daughter with her to the prison as she discussed the intimate details of her visit. She 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. Avoiding fuss: Ferne kept a low profile in dark sunglasses, and was dressed casually in blue jeans and white trainers in the Yorkshire city Previous visits: She had previously visited Collins at Belmarsh Prison, South-East London when Sunday was two weeks old, telling him he would never see either of them again '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.' But since the visit it was claimed her jailbird ex-boyfriend took legal action to get access to the daughter he shares with the reality star. A source told The Mirror: 'Ferne sought legal and professional advice, and it was a difficult decision she had to make.' MailOnline has previously contacted Ferne's representative for comment. Collins, 25, was convicted of GBH and ABH against 14 people after he threw acid at nightclubbers following an argument at the Mangle E8 nightclub in east London. The acid attack left 22 clubbers hospitalised during the Easter weekend last April. Legal action: But since the visit it was claimed her jailbird ex-boyfriend took legal action to get access to the daughter he shares with the reality star Clubbers were scarred for life, with most requiring skin grafts and one recalling the moment she felt her skin 'come off' in court. Ferne has embraced life as a single mother with open arms, launching her new television series First Time Mum earlier this month to high praise. She was adored by fans for her 'down-to-earth' nature and how she dealt with the demands of being a new mother. Difficult decision: A source told The Mirror : 'Ferne sought legal and professional advice, and it was a difficult decision she had to make' Praise: Ferne has embraced life as a single mother with open arms, launching her new television series First Time Mum earlier this month to high praise The former TOWIE star said during a Loose Women appearance recently that her new ITVBe reality series is a 'warts and all' look at her life as a single mother. She explained: 'I had my one off show documenting my pregnancy and this is the follow on. I'm really nervous but so excited. 'I have sat and watched it with my agent and Sunday its good. Im nothing but honest and I think its important to be open. The highs and lows, the tantrums and tears. It is hard to film, its so full on. 'Theyve captured reality at its best. I'm juggling work life with being a new mum. But its a lovely legacy for me and Sunday to look back on. 'Warts and all, this show is. I keep saying honest, but Im keeping it real. Im unapologetic.' 'Warts and all': The former TOWIE star said during a Loose Women appearance recently that her new ITVBe reality series is a 'warts and all' look at her life as a single mother The Big Bang Theory has paid tribute to the late professor Stephen Hawking in a special way. The late Hawking, who previously appeared on the show seven times before his death on March 14, was the subject of a tribute by The Big Bang Theory that was originally intended to air after the shows season 11 finale on May 10 but was ultimately cut due to time constraints. In addition to cutting the Hawking tribute, another segment involving Sheldon receiving a call from his Meemaw was also cut from the finale episode. According to Steve Holland, the shows executive producer, many of the cuts were painful but necessary to keep the main storyline moving along. The late Professor Stephen Hawking appeared on The Big Bang Theory a total of seven times Shortly after Hawkings passing in March, The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons paid tribute to the late professor, stating that working with the renowned physicist was an amazing experience and that: Its one of the things thats kind of bittersweet in a way because once hes passed now and now were talking about him, it really hammers home how fortunate I was to get to be with him. In this exclusive, unaired clip from last nights season finale, the happy couple gets one last gift from #StephenHawking. #BigBangTheory pic.twitter.com/xgpU7G7Wpw The Big Bang Theory (@bigbangtheory) May 11, 2018 Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking was an acclaimed theoretical physicist who made great contributions to the scientific field despite suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) for years. He was born on January 8, 1942 in Cambridge, UK. After graduating from Oxford University and the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with the disease at just 21 years old and given just two years to live, but went on to contribute to cosmology and physics greatly over the course of his career. Professor Stephen Hawking appeared on The Big Bang Theory seven times before his death He became known for his groundbreaking theories on quantum mechanics and black holes, also serving Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in Cambridge. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time became a bestseller and has been credited with greatly influencing scientists in the years that followed. Though a physicist first and foremost, Hawking also advocated for progressive political causes such as expanding access to healthcare and the need to address climate change. Notably, he was also critical of U.S. President Donald Trump, warning the world about what he viewed as the dangers that could result from his presidency. Hawking died on March 14, 2018 in Cambridge, UK. However, he still contributed immensely to science over the course of his long and celebrated career, pioneering many revolutionary theories and advancing human knowledge about the cosmos greatly. Advertisement Her run on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills may have been smaller than her castmates. But Carlton Gebbia's house puts the rest of them to shame because it's one of the biggest properties in the 90210 and it has just gone on sale for $22MILLION. The palatial Gothic-themed mansion sits on 75,000-square-feet of Beverly Ridge Terrace in Beverly Hills. Bargain: RHOBH star Carlton Gebbia's Beverly Hills Gothic mansion has gone on sale for $22MILLION Fleeting: The 44-year-old only appeared on one season of RHOBH the fourth before being dropped Designed by Carlton herself, it was built in 2009 by Gebbia Custom Estates, the family construction company of her husband David, from whom she is currently divorcing. It boasts four bedrooms, seven bathrooms and more than 15,000 square feet of living space. The home is dominated by cathedral Great Room with 36-foot-high ceiling vaulted beam ceiling, three floor-to-ceiling windows, wrought-iron balconies, a grand staircase, ornate piano and a massive stone fireplace. The wood-beamed ceiling Gothic chandeliers, while almost every door and window features pointed Gothic arches. Magnificent: The palatial Gothic-themed mansion sits on 75,000-square-foot of Beverly Ridge Terrace in Beverly Hills Roomy: The home is dominated by cathedral Great Room with 36-foot-high ceiling vaulted beam ceiling Showpiece: It features three floor-to-ceiling windows, wrought-iron balconies, a and a grand staircase Cosy: There's also an ornate piano and a massive stone fireplace Airy place to unwind after a day in front of the camera: The massive widows filter in tons of light One of the most intriguing additions to the home is the red-hued 'burlesque room', which features a stripper pole, and an officially christened confessional. There's also a formal dining room, a custom bar room, a home theater, and a chef's kitchen. The multiroom master suite features two custom dressing rooms, as well as a custom-built 11-by-12-foot Gothic-inspired bed and an antique Gothic fireplace. 50 shades: One of the most intriguing additions to the home is the red-hued 'burlesque room', which features a stripper pole, and an officially christened confessional Theme: The wood-beamed ceiling Gothic chandeliers, while almost every door and window features pointed Gothic arches party central: It boasts four bedrooms, seven bathrooms and more than 15,000 square feet of living space Gorgeous: The multiroom master suite features two custom dressing rooms, as well as a custom-built 11-by-12-foot Gothic-inspired bed and an antique Gothic fireplace Hosting: There's also a formal dining room, a custom bar room, a home theater, and a chef's kitchen .Personal touch: Designed by Carlton herself, it was built in 2009 by Gebbia Custom Estates, the family construction company of her husband David, from whom she is currently divorcing Beneath the property lies a subterranean six vehicle garage. Besides the huge swimming pool and spa on the grounds, there's also an outdoor kitchen, BBQ patio, shuffleboard, viewing terrace and a large grassy field. Carlton, who is a Wiccan, also incorporated several gargoyle wood carvings throughout the home. David has said of the house: 'We spent a lot of time in Venice, Italy and Paris. We were inspired by the best classic architecture in the world. At the time, we visited every high-end home in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and we wanted to bring the best of both worlds from Renaissance Europe and the castles of Versailles, and incorporate the California lifestyle of indoor outdoor living.' Plenty of parking: Beneath the property lies a subterranean six vehicle garage Al fresco: there's also an outdoor kitchen and BBQ patio Design: Carlton, who is a Wiccan, also incorporated several gargoyle wood carvings throughout the home Relaxing: There's also a viewing terrace and a large grassy field Splash: huge swimming pool and spa on the grounds Vista: It boasts magnificent views of the surrounding hills The 44-year-old only appeared on one season of RHOBH the fourth before being dropped. A former softcore porn star (under the alias Carlton Lynx), she met her now-estranged husband on the set of the 2001 erotic thriller Pretty When You Cry. They share two teenage daughters Destiny and Mysteri, and a six-year-old son, Cross. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- A new personnel reshuffle among FAW, Dongfeng and China South Industries Group Co., Ltd. (CSGC) was took place recently, according to local media. Liu Weidong, member of the standing committee of communist party and vice general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation Passenger Vehicle Company will take a new post in China South Industries Group Co., Ltd. (CSGC), parent company of Changan Automobile, to support the development of Changan. Liu Weidong's new appointment is just part of the personnel reshuffle among the three state-owned enterprises. Previously, Dong Chunbo, former member of the standing committee of communist party and vice general manager of FAW Group has been working in Changan Automobile. Lei Ping, former executive vice president of Dongfeng Motor Corporation Passenger Vehicle Company, joined FAW as vice general manager to facilitate the reform of FAW Group. You Zheng, former assistant to general manager of FAW Group was appointed as vice general manager of FAW Group to help promote the implementation of Dongfeng's strategy of younger talented staff. The personnel reshuffle can't be simply interpreted as a regular personnel adjustment. From a perspective of long run, it indicates the likeliness for the three companies to merge into one. On Dec.1, 2017, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Changan Automobile signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Wuhan, Hubei province, saying that they will cooperate in such areas as advanced generic technology innovation, the whole value chain operation of the auto industry, the strategy of going global together and new business mode. The cooperation immediately stirred up large public attention and guess. On Dec. 12, Xu Liuping, Chairman and Party Committee Secretary of FAW Group, who was absent from the meeting of Audi core dealership investors, was said to be invited by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to talk about the issue on the strategic cooperation of FAW, Dongfeng and Changan. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has congratulated veteran strongman Mahathir Mohamad for claiming victory in the Malaysian general election. Mr Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop described the result as an historic win for Dr Mohamad's Pakatan Harapan coalition. "Australia and Malaysia have a rich, broad and deep contemporary relationship, full of potential, and underpinned by shared interests and values," they said in a joint statement on Friday. "Our economic, defence, security and people-to-people links are strong and growing. "The Australian government looks forward to continuing to work with Malaysia to further strengthen the partnership and friendship between our two countries and peoples." Mr Turnbull and Ms Bishop also congratulated the Malaysian people for "peacefully and respectfully" exercising their democratic right to vote. "Australia strongly supports the rights of citizens in any country to choose their leaders openly and freely, protected by the rule of law," the pair said. Dr Mohamad, aged 92, is set for a return to the prime minister's office he occupied for 22 years after leading a coalition of opposition parties to victory. Malaysian-born Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong also described the election result as an historic change, noting Barisan Nasional had governed since independence for over 60 years. "Whatever happens in Malaysia, we and the government of the day in Australia will work with the duly elected government," Senator Wong said. "We have an interest, Australia has an interest and a hope that Malaysia is an inclusive and tolerant democracy and that democratic practices are observed." Tony Abbott has described defeated Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as a voice of common sense and decency and a good friend to Australia. "On the big questions he got much right and his time in government saw strong and effective cooperation between our countries," Mr Abbott posted to Twitter. "Australia will miss him even if, right now, his own people might not." A weekly round-up of news affecting your health: ASTHMA Australian scientists have discovered why children who are admitted to hospital with a severe viral respiratory infection as babies are more likely to develop asthma. Researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have discovered in mice that a respiratory virus sparks the production of a cell messenger called prostaglandin 2, which makes it harder for the immune system to fight the infection. "In our studies, the prostaglandin 2 messenger played a role in turning down the production of anti-viral proteins," Associate Professor Simon Phipps said. He said the research could pave the way for the development of a preventive treatment to stop the onset of asthma in children. "We found that if we blocked the cell messenger prostaglandin 2 from reaching its target, the mice were able to clear the virus more quickly," Prof Phipps said. This would then reduce the infants risk of developing asthma later in life. "If we can identify those infants early and administer a treatment that blocks the production of the cell messenger prostaglandin 2, we can help them get better faster and potentially avoid a future diagnosis of asthma," Prof Phipps said. DEPRESSION Resistance training could reduce depressive symptoms in adults, according to an international study. Researchers analysed the results of 33 published clinical trials involving more than 1800 people that looked at the impact of weight training on mental health. "Resistance exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms among adults regardless of health status," the authors said. The improvements were evident even with only a light weights regime and the exercise reduced symptoms in fit and unfit participants. In light of the findings, the researchers suggest resistance training should be considered as a treatment for people with depression. The study is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. PAIN Experiencing trauma as a child may influence how much pain an individual feels in adulthood, US researchers say. Gaining insight about who feels more pain and why is important as problems such as the opioid crisis continue to worsen. Researchers at Penn State university found that experiencing trauma or adversity in childhood or adolescence, such as abuse or loss of a parent, was linked with mood or sleep problems in adulthood, which in turn led to experiencing greater physical pain. However, the connection was weaker in those who felt more optimistic and in control of their lives. "The participants who felt more optimistic or in control of their lives may have been better at waking up with pain but somehow managing not to let it ruin their day," said Ambika Mathur, a graduate student in biobehavioral health. "They may be feeling the same amount or intensity of pain but they've taken control of and are optimistic about not letting the pain interfere with their day. They're still performing their work or daily activities while doing their best to ignore the pain." The findings, published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, build on research that suggests a link between adult physical pain and early-in-life trauma or adversity. Jennifer Graham-Engeland, associate professor of biobehavioral health, said it was important to learn more about the factors that influenced pain because while pain medications helped a lot of people, they could also cause problems. "We know that a lot of people are seeking pain relief and yet there are a lot of problems with some pain treatments, like the crisis surrounding opioids right now. We need more insight into pain and the phenomenon that can make pain both better or worse." NUTMEG The spice nutmeg has been shown to be beneficial to the livers of mice. Traditional Chinese medicine has been using nutmeg, the seed of the Myristica fragrans tree, to treat gastrointestinal illnesses for centuries. It has also been used to treat asthma, rheumatic pain, toothaches and infections. A Chinese study, published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Proteome Research, found the nutmeg compound myrislignan had a strong protective effect against liver damage. An Indian reporter allegedly caught trying to smuggle a group of his countrymen into Australia for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will spend at least six weeks in custody. Journalist Rakesh Kumar Sharma was charged with people smuggling and falsifying documents in March after allegedly using fake media credentials for eight people, who were taken into immigration detention. Sharma was remanded in custody in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, with his matter adjourned to June 22 at the request of commonwealth prosecutors. Australians who can afford to pay more for aged care should do so, the Council of the Ageing says. But both sides of politics are reluctant to deal with the idea, COTA Australia boss Ian Yates has told a parliamentary inquiry into the quality of residential aged care. "There are people in residential care today who could afford to pay more for their care than they are," he said on Friday. "We're not asking them to and it's squeezing the whole budget and it means the people who can't afford to pay end up not getting as good a system as they might have." The issue came up when Mr Yates was asked about staffing ratios, which he said were not a magic bullet. He said work needed to be done to specify what an appropriate level of care was for people in care homes. "We as a community may have to face up to the fact that means we have to pay more and we might need more people, and how we need to pay for that," Mr Yates said. "Therefore the whole funding issue becomes part of the quality issue in aged care as well." The organisation wants the family home to be included as income in means testing for residential and in-home aged care. Malcolm Turnbull says the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un is welcome, but he remains cautious. The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting US president and a North Korean leader was announced by Mr Trump on Twitter on Thursday. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Mr Trump wrote. President Trump faces a difficult task persuading Mr Kim to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests that heightened US-North Korean tensions throughout 2017. The two men exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Korea's attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased, starting around the time of the North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. "We welcome the scheduled meeting," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Friday. "The strength of the sanctions that have been brought to bear on North Korea have the consequence of bringing North Korea this far." But Mr Turnbull said he remained cautious about North Korea's intentions, because there had been "false dawns" before. A Queensland police officer who fatally punched his infant son with such force it pulped his liver has been sentenced to nine years' jail. The 10-week-old was sitting in his rocker chair on June 28, 2014 when Colin David Randall delivered the blow. He suffered fatal injuries and couldn't be revived. After realising the damage he had inflicted, the Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday heard the former senior constable phoned his wife and said their son "had gone limp and lifeless and he was not breathing". It was the start of a lie that he would maintain until last month when, three days before his murder trial, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Justice Peter Davis delivered a scathing assessment of the 41-year-old in sentencing, saying his plea did not reflect genuine remorse. Justice Davis said he believed the reason why Randall lied about what he had done was the same as why he finally admitted killing his son. "Your motivation is self-preservation," he said. "Manslaughter seems to have been the best outcome you could have hoped for in a trial." Justice Davis said while he accepted Randall's decision to punch his son was spontaneous, it was "very deliberate". "It was a forceful punch delivered to the abdomen of the baby, which pulped his liver," he said. The court heard there were no significant factors that led to his violent outburst. Justice Davis described the frustration he was feeling at home as "normal domestic pressures". He said the stress caused by his extra-marital affairs were matters of his own making, although he took into account the fact he was experiencing bullying at work. Randall was sentenced to nine years' jail. Justice Davis ordered he serve five years of that behind bars, where he will remain in solitary confinement because of the dangers he faces from other prisoners as a police officer and child killer. After time already served, he will be eligible for parole on January 30, 2021. A coroner has urged the medical profession to ditch "antiquated technology" after linking a misdirected fax to the death of a Victorian cancer patient. Hodgkin's lymphoma patient, 58-year-old Mettaloka Halwala, died alone in a hotel room near Shepparton in November 2015 from chemotherapy complications. Days earlier a scan at a Melbourne hospital showed signs of potentially-fatal lung toxicity linked to Mr Halwala's treatment. But the scan results were faxed to the wrong number. Combined with other communication failures, it meant neither Mr Halwala nor his hematologist - who ordered the scan - were made aware before further treatment was administered at the Goulburn Valley Hospital. On Thursday Coroner Rosemary Carlin found Mr Halwala had been "let down by the medical profession". "I cannot be certain that Mr Halwala would have survived even with optimal treatment but he may have," she said. "The shortfalls in his medical management deprived him not only of his chance of survival but also of the opportunity to have a more comfortable death surrounded by loved ones." After Mr Halwala's last round of chemotherapy and the day before he was found dead, the father-of-two felt unwell and hematologist Robin Filshie suggested he go to hospital, but didn't make it. The doctor only read the scan results after hearing from the unwell Mr Halwala, who was found dead before Dr Filshie took further action. While "no one acknowledged responsibility for the communication failure," Coroner Carlin found there had been inadequate medical management by both Dr Filshie and the physician responsible for sending the report, associate professor Sze Ting Lee. The coroner added it was "difficult to understand why such an antiquated and unreliable means of communication (faxes) exist at all in the medical profession". She urged the faxing of imaging results to be phased out at Melbourne's Austin Hospital and for the development of national standards around the communication of results. Mr Halwala's family welcomed the coroner's findings and said they had long questioned why the scan was ordered but the results were not followed up. "In their view, their beloved husband and father should never have died in the way he did, alone and without medical treatment," a lawyer representing the family said in a statement. Every Australian should stock their car boot with a medical-grade tourniquet in the event of a terrorist attack or mass casualty, a leading military surgeon says. Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld, senior neurosurgeon at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, says his experience from working in war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq and lessons learned from terrorist attacks have shown that stemming critical bleeding saves lives. According to the surgeon, 20 per cent of victims will die at the scene from arterial bleeding. For this reason, Prof Rosenfeld this week called on first-responders to undertake a Haemorrhage Control (HEMCON) Course so they are prepared for a terrorist attack or mass shooting. This included members of the public because they were often the ones first at the scene, he said. The HEMCON Course, developed by the American College of Surgeons, teaches simple but effective methods of controlling a severe haemorrhage. "Severe haemorrhage is the commonest cause of early death following the penetrating injuries and traumatic amputations which occur following terrorist attacks including bomb explosions or mass shootings," Prof Rosenfeld said. He makes no apology for sounding alarmist. "This course will save lives. It left such a lasting legacy on me I now carry two tourniquets in the back of my car wherever I go," Prof Rosenfeld said. "Unfortunately, we're not immune to terrorism in Australia and it's essential first-responders and emergency departments are prepared when, not if the unthinkable happens." At a conference in Sydney this week, Australian medicos were reminded of the importance of being prepared for a terrorist attack and heard from Dr Eric Revue, who treated hundreds of people who were wounded during the Paris attacks in 2015. They also heard from surgeon Dr John Fildes from the University Medical Centre in Las Vegas, who was at the front line of the medical response to the mass shooting at a music festival on The Strip in October last year. He described the chaos that unfolded and highlighted the importance of first-responders. "As the people evacuate they used their own clothing as compression dressings, belts, shirts were used for tourniquets, bystander CPR was performed. There really was no way to get out and really no way to get personnel in," Dr Fildes said. "Twenty-two thousand people self evacuating was a chaotic scene," he said. A Melbourne woman has been jailed after driving at her abusive partner in a kindergarten car park and slamming into a sign that fell and killed him. Jessie Donker, 31, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the parking sign struck 32-year-old Richard Powell as it toppled and cleaved open his head at Sunbury in January 2017. "It is gruesome but in the same way it is freakish," Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher said of the death during a previous court hearing. Donker had spent the night sleeping in her vehicle at the car park, one of her regular "haunts" after being assaulted by Mr Powell. He arrived at 6am, opened the rear passenger door and grabbed her by the hair, dragged her out of the car and punched her in the face. Somehow Donker got back into the driver's seat and "could take no more and finally snapped". "Enraged, she drove her car at Mr Powell at least four times in the kindergarten car park. But she did not hit him with the car. Nor did she intend to do so," Justice Croucher said while sentencing on Friday. "Instead, it is apparent that Ms Donker was doing no more than trying to taunt and frighten him in the way she felt she had been treated for years." She drove into a tree, a brick fence and knocked over bins before finally slamming into a pole near Mr Powell, flattening it. The edge of the disabled parking sign struck him in the head. "It is very likely that any ordinary person, facing the circumstances which confronted Ms Donker and fixed with her history of exposure to family violence by Mr Powell, would lose self-control and act in a violent manner towards him," Justice Croucher said. Donker was sentenced to five years in jail and must serve at least two years before being eligible for parole. National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero. Treasurer Scott Morrison says revelations at the banking royal commission should serve as a "wake-up call" for all of corporate Australia, not simply the finance sector. Mr Morrison was asked in Melbourne on Friday about revelations of misconduct against AMP, which triggered fury from shareholders at a meeting on Thursday. "This should be a wake-up call for all of corporate Australia, not just banks and financial institutions," Mr Morrison said. "All of these boards have governance responsibilities for these large corporations - millions of Australians have invested in these public companies - and they have a duty of care and a responsibility to know, to inquire. "It's not a retirement gig, it's a very serious job. I know there are thousands of directors who take that job very seriously but it's time to step up." Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Gasgoo summarizes Chinese automakers sales in April as below. Apart from GAC Group and JAC Motors, most of automakers achieved year-on-year growth last month. SAIC Motor still was the sales champion. It the noteworthy that Geely Auto sported both year-on-year and month-on-month sales jump of over 40%. SAIC Motor SAIC Motor boasted a year-on-year sales growth of 13.5% with 569,110 vehicles delivered in April. Meanwhile, the automaker delivered a total of 2,391,530 vehicles in the first four months, up 11% from a year ago, the group announced on May 7. The top 3 subsidiaries by April sales are SAIC-GM, SAIC-VW and SAIC-GM-Wuling, with 483,880 units handed over in total. Apart from SAIC-GM-Wuling and Sunwin Bus, the other subsidiaries all achieved year-on-year sales increase last month. Especially, SAIC-CP boasted a year-on-year leap up to 118.8% to 1,610 units. Dongfeng Motor Dongfeng Motor Corporation delivered 328,700 vehicles in April, increasing 10.73% year on year. For the first four months, the group sold a total of 1,295,300 vehicles with a year-on-year climb of 4.09%, according to the data released on the company's official Wechat account. In April, the deliveries of both PVs and CVs showed two-digit year-on-year growth of 10.76% and 10.56%, with 270,500 units and 58,200 units delivered respectively. With respect to the year-to-date sales, the group handed over 1,090,100 PVs, 205,100 CVs and 4,600 NEVs, growing 3.66%, 6.42% and 4.54% respectively from a year ago. Changan Auto Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd (Changan Auto) delivered 186,670 units in April, rising 15.33% from a year ago, while slumping 30.62% over the previous month. For the first four months, the automaker suffered a year-on-year sales downturn of 15.55% to 845,018 units, according to the data the company released on May 9. In April, Changan Ford suffered a year-on-year slump of 21.98% to 37,800 units. For the first four months, the company delivered a total of 168,251 units, sharply declining 32.46% year on year. The Sino-Japanese joint venture Changan Mazda sported a year-on-year sales jump of 29.83% with 16,236 units delivered in April. Its cumulative sales so far this year were 62,335 units, edging up 2.68% compared with year-ago period. Moreover, Jiangling Motors April sales reached 28,264 units, slightly growing 1.24% year on year, while plunging 26.52% from a month ago. Its year-to-date sales showed a violent year-on-year decrease of 16.81% to 104,720 units. GAC Group GAC Group delivered a total of 672,747 vehicles in the first four months, up 7.3% year on year, while its April sales edged down 3.2% over the previous year to 164,315 units, according to the data released by the Group. GAC Motor boasted a year-on-year sales growth of 4.26% with 43,481 units delivered last month. Meanwhile, its cumulative sales so far this year totaled 192,801 units, jumping 18.01% from a year ago and accomplishing 27.54% of its annual sales target 700,000 units. As to joint ventures, GAC Honda handed over 52,628 units last month, dropping 12.54% from the previous year. GAC Toyota saw a year-on-year sales jump of 22.45% with 43,140 vehicles handed over in April. GAC Mitsubishi maintained its upward momentum with 11,967 vehicles delivered last month, remarkably rising 19.55% from a year ago. Geely Auto Geely Auto delivered a total of 128,817 vehicles (including the Lynk & Co) in April, leaping 49% year on year. For the first four months, its cumulative deliveries skyrocketed 41% from a year ago to 515,113 units, completing 33% of its annual sales target 1.58 million in 2018, the company reported on May 7. Moreover, the April sales of the Lynk & Co 01 set a new high of 9,079 units. Since it hit the market in November last year, 33,783 units of the premium model have already been delivered by the end of the April. Great Wall Motor Great Wall Motor (GWM) sported a year-on-year sales growth of 11.79% with 81,797 units delivered in April, while dropping 7.31% month on month. Meanwhile, the automaker delivered a total of 338,420 units in the first four months, edging down 3.39% over the previous year, according to the sales data GWM released on May 8. Up to now, GWM has completed 29.17% of its annual sales target 1.16 million units in 2018. In April, its SUV deliveries totaled 68,194 units with a year-on-year growth of 9.78%. Haval SUV sales reached 55,055 units in April, falling 11.37% year on year and declining 8.08% month on month. The sales of the Haval H6 reached 34,014 units in April, not only falling 6.47% year on year, but also declining 11.32% month on month. With respect to WEY, the deliveries of the VV5 and VV7 totaled 13,139 units in April, falling 7.01% from the previous month. JAC Motors JAC posted passenger vehicle (PV) sales of 18,689 units in April, edging up 6.6% from a year earlier. This is the second positive sales growth after March, in which JAC saw first positive sales growth after 17-month decline. As to specific model types, pure electric PV and MPV saw relatively large sale growth, while sales of SUV segment suffered a YoY slide of 25.95% over the previous year to 6,767 units in April. Compared to 24,189 units in March, JAC underwent MoM sales slump of 22.7% in April. During the first four months, JAC delivered nearly 75,000 vehicles with a YoY drop of 10.5%. The good news is that the sales drop is narrowing down. BYD Auto BYD delivered 37,363 vehicles in April with a MoM slide of 13.4% in April, according to BYD's April report released on May 9. However, its cumulative sales reached 149,140 units till April. As to new energy passenger vehicle (PV), BYD sported a remarkable YoY sales surge of 117% to 13,105 units in April, while its cumulative sales totaled 41,604 units. To be specific, BYD saw a MoM sales leap of 21.2% in pure electric PV to 5,657 units in April. By April, BYD sold 10,972 pure electric PVs cumulatively. BYD posted a MoM sales slump of 11.8% in PHEV to 7,448 units in April. When it comes to traditional fuel-powered vehicles, BYD still suffered sales decline of 19.8% compared with March to 23,445 units. Qoros Auto Qoros Auto handed over 5,355 vehicles last month, skyrocketing 400% year on year. Meanwhile, the automaker also boasted a violent year-on-year sales growth of 288% to 11,371 vehicles for the first four months. Reportedly, Qoros Auto plans to roll out two all-electric vehicle models in the next two years. The outstanding sales performances of Qoros 3 and Qoros 5 that had been refreshed earlier this year contributed a lot to the surprising sales growth in April. Besides, Baoneng Group's strategic investment boosted a sound development of Qoros Auto as well. In April, the companys dealers increased by 30 across China. Linc Energy's record fine for polluting the Darling Downs with hazardous contaminants is welcome but doesn't undo the community's suffering, an affected former resident says. Shay Owen-Turner, who lived next to the affected area in Chinchilla, wants the state government to ensure a similar level of contamination never happens again in Queensland. "This outcome has been pursued in terms of environmental harm and the penalty is payable to the government," Ms Owen-Turner told AAP. "But the harm to people, their businesses, their homes, their health, is absent in this argument." Linc Energy was fined $4.5 million on Friday after being found guilty of five counts of wilfully and unlawfully causing environmental harm in the Brisbane District Court. Linc operated four underground coal gasification sites in Chinchilla, where it burnt coal at very high temperatures to create gas and was responsible for damage from a toxic leak from its operations between 2007 and 2013. The court heard scientists and workers warned senior managers about gases bubbling from the ground but Linc kept operating. Judge Michael Shanahan agreed with prosecutors that profits were put ahead of the need to follow environmental guidelines. Crown prosecutor Ralph Devlin QC told the court Linc was "devious" in knowing the risks of its operations, with one harmful chemical referred to as "Mr Bubbles" by management. Ms Owen-Turner said the state government also needed to be held to account for allowing Linc to harmfully operate. "Let's not forget it's the government who owns the resource and gives permission to access the resource," she said. "The chain of responsibility should start with accountability within the government for these decisions that allow these types of unmitigated disasters to happen." Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington agreed. "This is a mess of Labor's creation," she said. "They should never have approved this project and it is now up to the Labor government to clean it up." Lock the Gate Alliance is concerned about the defunct company's capacity to pay the fine. A NSW psychologist has now been charged with assaulting eight male patients ranging in ages from nine to 26 over the past few years. Senior detectives on Thursday laid 23 new charges against the 52-year-old, NSW Police said in a statement on Friday. It i alleged he groomed and indecently assaulted five patients between 2015 and 2017 on the state's north coast. They were aged between nine and 22 at the time. It comes nearly a year after detectives first arrested the man after investigating reports a young boy had been indecently assaulted. The psychologist was arrested at a Coffs Harbour clinic in May 2017 and charged with four counts of indecent assault against a person under 16. He was charged again in November with assaulting a second young male patient earlier in the year during sessions. He was subsequently charged in December with possessing child abuse material and aggravated indecent assault and an aggravated act of indecency. The victim in that instance was 26. The accused remains in custody and is next due to face Coffs Harbour Local Court on Tuesday. The deputy chair of activist group GetUp! has refused a request to resign from the board of the Australian Press Council. Carla McGrath joined the APC in May 2017 as a public member but her appointment has been criticised by sections of the media. In a resolution passed on Friday, the council asked Ms McGrath to resign but she said her resignation was not necessary, the council said in a statement. The APC says it will now take steps to "remove" her by the next meeting in August. Prop Tom Roberston is demanding the NSW forwards stand up to the Crusaders when the Waratahs chase a hoodoo-busting win over Super Rugby's table-topping defending champions in Christchurch on Saturday. The Waratahs travel to the Crusaders' AAMI Park fortress coming off successive defeats to non-Australian opposition and as massive underdogs to notch a first victory in New Zealand in more than three years. The benchmark Crusaders are unbeaten in their past 13 home games, with their domination starting very much up front with one of the fiercest - and most skilful - packs in the competition. But the Waratahs are anything but overawed, with Robertson insisting the tourists will carry no baggage across the Tasman and can't wait to go to toe to toe with the team they beat in the epic 2014 final. "It's always a good game when we play the Crusaders because of our sort of similar styles in terms of attack and D and our structures, so you know it's always going to be pretty close in the end," he said. "They've got us the last two years to it would be great if we could get one up this weekend. It would be fantastic." The Wallabies front-rower admits the Australian conference leaders are desperate to show their true colours after home losses to the Lions and Blues. "A lot of people have said things after we slipped up in the last two games," Robertson said. "But the way we see it, we haven't performed two well in our last two games and we see it is as an opportunity for us to show how good we are. "I've said it before, our backline is the best in the comp." If the NSW forwards can match with the Crusaders' big men, Robertson is adamant Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley can orchestrate a big upset to reignite the Tahs' season. "If you get a good win against a team like that, that gets your momentum going," he said. "When you get a few wins in a row like we did at the start of the year, you feel more confident and your game comes along a lot easier." A man who helped murder his lover's husband with cyanide is faking his mental health symptoms, a Melbourne court has been told. Arun Kamalasanan and Sofia Sam were found guilty in February of murdering Sam Abraham at his Epping home in October 2015. During the trial, the court was told Sam and Kamalasanan were having an affair that motivated the murder. Kamalasanan, 35, faced the Supreme Court of Victoria for a pre-sentence hearing on Friday. His barrister Patrick Tehan QC said his client had been in a psychiatric unit at the Melbourne Remand Centre for the past two years due to "suicidal ideation". Mr Tehan said while Kamalasanan had not been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he had symptoms of the illness and also suffered depression and anxiety. "What we can say ... he was in a state of heightened anxiety and probable depression and it would seem the symptoms of bipolar disorder," he said. "It provides a context to how he's operating around the time of this serious offence." Mr Tehan said Kamalasanan was naive but also showed signs of "grandiosity" and "mood swings" often associated with bipolar disorder. However prosecutor Kerri Judd QC said Kamalasanan told a covert operative he had a plan to get proof of mental illness, which was "confirmation that he's making these symptoms up". She argued reports from psychologists were not helpful in confirming Kamalasanan actually did suffer from mental illness. "The material I've seen is very scanty," she said. Ms Judd also argued there was "evidence of premeditation" and said Kamalasanan came up with the idea of killing Sam's husband, purchased the poison and administered it. Mr Tehan said the former Port Melbourne resident, who was still an Indian citizen and would be deported after his prison sentence, was isolated. "He really hasn't got anyone in Australia," the barrister added. The court was previously told Kamalasanan's love affair with Sam had ended and the pair no longer spoke. Justice Paul Coghlan adjourned the matter for sentence on June 21. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78. Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au. Local Aboriginal Medical Service details available from www.bettertoknow.org.au/AMS Controversial Sydney businessman Salim Mehajer is back in police custody for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. The 31-year-old was arrested a Bankstown Police Station about 10am on Friday and was scheduled to appear in Bankstown Local Court, a NSW Police spokeswoman told AAP. The former Auburn deputy mayor in April was granted bail on a charge of perverting the court of justice but was later found guilty of electoral fraud and intimidating his ex-wife. Mehajer breached his bail conditions by using two mobile phones, according to the Nine Network. "Weird", "Loser", "Waste of space", "Go kill yourself" and "Pathetic" are just some of the phrases hurled at 11-year-old Trinity Sheridan by bullies at her northern NSW school. And it's these words the Alstonville schoolgirl has written around her drawing of a young girl crying, which has won Interrelate's national 'Say No To Bullying' art prize. Trinity says children who are being bullied need to know they are not alone and that they need to tell people what they're going through. "I have been picked on and it did hurt a lot," Trinity told AAP at the ceremony in Sydney on Friday. Her message has the support of NSW Governor David Hurley who has been a patron of Interrelate, an anti-bullying group, for the past three years. "We are the first in the world for cyber-bullying and that is a terrible place for a country like Australia to be," Mr Hurley told AAP. "We pride ourselves on being a tolerant multicultural, diverse country and that needs to flow through to actions." The art prize comes only months after Dolly Everett, the former face of the Akubra Hats brand, committed suicide the age of 14 due to physical, mental and online abuse by other students at her school. Mr Hurley said people often become envious of success and pick on people for it and that Australians needs to celebrate talent rather than "pull it back". "This whole 'tall poppy' syndrome in Australia is symptomatic of this," he told AAP. "Life is not uniform. We are not all bland and the same and we all have different talents and we should celebrate talent and not pull it back." Trinity's mother, Holly Willow, said she didn't realise her daughter was being subjected to emotional and physical bullying by other children at her school until she sat down and talked to her. "She is normally very popular but it came over as a jealousy thing from the (other) girls and we didn't know the extent of it until she said something," Ms Willow said. 'We took it to the school and they sorted it out." Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). A man has died in NSW Police custody after being arrested over allegations of domestic violence in western Sydney. The 29-year-old was taken to Mount Druitt Police Station after police were called to a home at Rooty Hill about 11.45am Friday. About an hour later he was found unconscious in the charge area of the station, NSW Police said. "Police rendered first aid until paramedics arrived; however, he died a short time later," they said in a statement. A critical incident investigation will be overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. The NSW Coroner will determine the cause of death and make findings about events leading up to the incident. It was a unanimous decision to award the 2018 Archibald portrait prize to Yvette Coppersmith but behind the scenes reaching that consensus was physically and mentally exhausting for the judges. The judging panel - the 11 trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW - over one weekend whittled down 794 Archibald entries to just 57 finalists this year. The Wynne prize - for the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture - had 695 entrants in 2018 which were cut to 46 finalists. Then all of the judges attended the gallery at 7am on Friday to decide the winners ahead of the midday announcement. The Sulman prize - for the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project - is chosen by a single guest artist judge. During the culling process, each portrait is brought before the judges and immediately placed in a No or Maybe category. "It's a very solid weekend and it leaves everyone feeling quite tired - physically tired but also mentally tired because it's a concentrating job," Archibald curator Anne Ryan told AAP on Friday. The portraits are moved around the walls of the gallery while the judges view them in different light guided by board president David Gonski. "He keeps the process flowing but it's a consensus process," Ms Ryan said. "Some judges will feel more strongly about some works than others but it's very open in that first round." This year Ben Quilty and Khadim Ali were on hand to share their expertise as professional artists. Ms Ryan said some years she has an inkling which portrait the judges will pick. But not in 2018. "Yvette presented herself as a powerful, uncompromising, confident young woman but also she's positioned herself within a history of portraiture in this country." "Self-portrait, after George Lambert" references the famous Australian painter and his portraits of contemporary women in the arts including Hera Roberts. The increased number of self-portraits in the Archibald prize has been linked to the "selfie culture" but Ms Ryan doesn't think the two art forms have much in common. "Selfies are fast and editable - you can take a lot of selfies and swipe most of them into the bin and it's very instantaneous." "But portraiture, particularly self-portraiture, is slow. It's kind of the opposite of a selfie in a way." Two young refugees from Myanmar have pleaded guilty to raping a woman who was sleeping rough under a bridge in Melbourne's southwest. Thwang Za Lian, 24, and Kapling Hlawnceu, 21, found the woman under a Werribee footbridge before they held her down, covered her mouth and raped her one night in August 2017. "It would've been terrifying, absolutely," County Court Judge Irene Lawson said during the pair's plea hearing on Friday. Although they both pleaded guilty to rape, Hlawnceu's role in the crime was different to Za Lian's. Hlawnceu held the woman down and covered her face with a jumper as Za Lian raped her. They had been drinking beers and playing pokies at a nearby pub earlier in the night. The woman had been sleeping under the Werribee Bicentennial Bridge for a couple of nights prior, having had a fight with her partner. A passing car stopped after the driver spotted the scene under the bridge and called out, spooking the rapists. A third man is also accused of raping the woman but his case is still before the courts. The attack was reported and police arrived a short time later, subsequently circulating a description of the suspects to colleagues. Hlawnceu and Za Lian were spotted walking out of nearby parkland and were arrested. A police dog tracked down a used condom bearing DNA evidence. The victim said she felt her life had been in a "holding pattern" of fear, anxiety and mistrust since the rape. "For three months after this happened I hid from the world, from my friends," she told the court via video link. "I am wary and distrusting of people of Asian appearance and I feel bad about that but I can't help how I feel. "I did not deserve for this to happen to me. It was not my fault." The judge heard Hlawnceu and Za Lian are childhood friends from the same village in Myanmar. They are Christian refugees and fled to Australia with family because of persecution by the Buddhist majority. They may be deported after their release from jail and face being possibly held in a detention camp because they cannot return to Myanmar. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Ford Motor reported its April sales slump of 26% from a year earlier to 69,503 vehicles in China. The company's cumulative sales in China reached 276,642 units with a YoY sales slide of 21% during the past four months. Changan Ford sold 40,703 units in April, declining 35% over the previous year. During the first four months, the JV's cumulative sales reached 165,162 units with a YoY drop of 28%. JMC delivered 23,903 units in April, down 6% from the same period a year ago. JMC's cumulative sales totaled 90,443 units with a drop of 6% compared to the same period last year. As to Lincoln brand, it also suffered a YoY sales decline of 14% to 3,553 units in April. However, thanks to the strong market demands of Lincoln-branded luxury sedans and large SUVs, sales of the Lincoln Continental 4, Navigator and MKX grew by 16%, 32% and 6% respectively over the previous year. Peter Fleet, president of Ford Asia Pacific and CEO, Ford China stated that Ford China ushered in a significant milestone for its China 2025 plan. "As part of China 2025 plan, we introduce a series of all-new midsize sedan models, which will be designed and developed to meet Chinese consumers' demands as well as driving and riding habits, and also will be locally produced by Changan Ford. " Ford Motor presented an array of new models at Auto China 2018, including the all-new Ford Focus, the new Escort and the new Ranger Wildtrak. Besides, luxury vehicle brand Lincoln brought the Aviator, Nautilus and new MKC at Auto China 2018, which will further enhance Lincoln's position in luxury SUV market. In the meantime, Ford Motor also announced that it will build distribution and service institutions across China in the second half of this year, which will take charge of the marketing, sales and service of all Ford-branded passenger vehicle products. As a part of this move, the imported Ford Explorer, the best-selling SUV model in North America for many years, will be available across Changan Ford's existing dealership network. Moreover, Ford Motor announced the local production of the next-gen Ford Explorer at Auto China 2018. A second-half masterclass from James Maloney has steered Penrith to a 29-18 win over Newcastle to consolidate their spot in the NRL top four. Penrith were leading 18-6 on Friday night when Kalyn Ponga gave the Knights some hope by converting their sixth-straight set on the Panthers' line in the 54th minute. But some expert game management from Maloney wrenched the momentum back in the Panthers' favour when he nailed a field goal and penalty goal within eight minutes. The NSW State of Origin star sealed the win in front of a crowd of 14,801 at McDonald Jones Stadium by kicking for Corey Harawira-Naera in the 71st minute and adding another late penalty goal. Knights centre Nathan Ross scored a consolation try but it wasn't enough as the Knights - again led by another eye-catching display from Ponga - missed a chance to move into the top eight. The turning point came in the 33rd minute when, with the Knights down by six, Lachlan Fitzgibbon broke into the backfield and found Connor Watson, whose pass for Brock Lamb hit the grass. It was immediately pounced on by Tyrone Peachey, who made it a 12-point turnaround by hitting a supporting Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to give the visitors a two-try lead. It came moments after a Watson brain snap denied Daniel Saifiti a try that also would've levelled the scores, after being penalised for taking out the marker in the ruck. Penrith earlier raced out to a 12-0 lead thanks to two soft tries to Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Peachey through the middle, however Watson pulled one back off a Mitch Barnett offload. It is hard to believe the quiet town of Osmington with its lush vineyards, farms and holiday chalets is also the scene of one of Australia's most horrific multiple murders. Four children were among seven people found dead in a suspected murder-suicide, which is believed to involve three generations of one family at the Forever Dreaming Farm. Osmington is a rural town of about 135 people, located northeast of the larger tourist hub of Margaret River, in Western Australia's South West region. Driving down the slightly undulating roads, there are tall trees, wide open spaces and farming properties. At the top of Osmington Road, a school bus drives past, dropping off children further up the street. But the peaceful calm of the road is suddenly disrupted by the sight of police cars blocking access to non-residents. Jan Walsh lives nearby and although she did not know the slain family she is saddened by the deaths. "Because we're a close-knit community, we'd all be there if we're needed," she told AAP on Friday. "You do respect people's privacy, that's why we live here, unless there's a fire or someone's hurt." Ms Walsh and her husband have lived in Osmington for 25 years, having moved from the Wheatbelt region, and they ran a bed and breakfast for years. "There's retired people who live down here, there's ex-farmers," she said. "It's just a wonderful place to live and everyone's so friendly. "You wave to everyone coming down Osmington Road and you don't even know them. "It's a very caring town." A former Newcastle bikie who goaded detectives in online videos during three months on the run will be returned to jail after being arrested in South Australia and extradited to NSW. David Brooks, 48, was flown from Adelaide to Sydney on Friday and returned to the custody of Corrective Services NSW. He was arrested by South Australian officers in Gawler, north of Adelaide, on Wednesday. Brooks, who spent time in jail on drugs charges, sparked a manhunt when he failed to report to Newcastle police earlier this year while on parole. He used online videos and social media to taunt the detectives trying to find him. Brooks set up a YouTube channel under the moniker "That Brooksy Bloke" on which he posted regular video updates under a series titled "Memoirs Of A Wanted Man". His arrest came barely a week after he posted a video inviting police to "come and look for me, come and capture me, lock me in your little jail". NSW Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Smith on Thursday revealed investigators became aware of Brooks' social media posts three days before he was arrested. "We became aware of an individual taunting police on social media (and) obviously we don't take these matters lightly," Det Chief Supt Smith told reporters. "It was his behaviour that allowed us to zero in on the individual and make a quick arrest." Brooks appeared in an Adelaide court on Thursday where a magistrate agreed he would be extradited to Sydney. Brooks was served no new charges upon his return to NSW and is in the process of being returned to jail. His original sentence had been due to expire on May 19 but now he won't be eligible for release until August 18, a Corrective Services spokeswoman told AAP. Far-right activist Neil Erikson faces the threat of a hefty fine over an online video in which former senator Sam Dastyari was called a "terrorist" and a "monkey" at a Melbourne pub. Erikson was fined $10,000 on Friday for contempt but the penalty was suspended on the condition he doesn't upload any more content featuring his former employer, freight company Toll Group. He was found guilty of contempt in February after uploading a video that showed him in a Toll uniform ambushing Mr Dastyari, defying previous court orders that he not publish images or video of himself wearing the company's clothing. Federal Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Jones made the order in December which applies to non-employees of Toll. The company is suing Erikson, alleging he was deliberately trying to damage the company's brand. By publishing the video featuring Mr Dastyari, Erikson was found to have broken the court order. The contempt finding also related to Twitter photos that showed him with associate Ricky Turner in a Toll uniform, despite Turner having never been an employee. Posted on Erikson's YouTube page, the video shows him ambushing Mr Dastyari at a Footscray pub book launch in November, when the Iranian-born then-politician was called a "terrorist". The footage shows an exchange between Erikson and a woman next to the former senator. "Is this sort of activity sanctioned by Toll?" she asks. Erikson replies: "I thought Labor were for working-class Aussies, mate. You don't like free speech?". "Whatever you do in your uniform, you're actually representing your employer," the woman replies. Erikson stopped working for Toll in 2014 but worked for them again in Tasmania in 2017 before being sacked. The case is due to return to court on Tuesday for a directions hearing. In 2017, Erikson, United Patriots Front leader Blair Cottrell and Christopher Neil Shortis were convicted and fined for inciting contempt and ridicule of Muslims. Parts of Victoria are forecast to receive a month's worth of rain in one day after months of drought-like conditions. Farmers have been urged to move their livestock to higher ground ahead of up to 100mm expected to fall in the East Gippsland region on Saturday. "The good news is conditions have been very dry up until this point in that part of the world, so the ground should be able to absorb that rain and not cause too many problems," Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn told reporters on Friday. "However, if we do see higher falls - and the expectation is, on some of the peaks, we might see falls of up to 150mm - then some minor Riverine flooding is possible." But Mr Parkyn added the wet conditions were welcome after "three months of almost drought-like conditions". Widespread falls of up to 40mm were recorded across much of Victoria by Friday afternoon, while Melbourne received more than a month's worth of rain in the space of 36 hours. The wet weather was accompanied by damaging winds, with gusts of 143km/h recorded in the Grampians on Friday, 100km/h in the Otways and 90km/h in bayside suburbs. The State Emergency Service received hundreds of calls for help, mainly because of fallen trees, damaged buildings and local flash flooding. The City of Melbourne has spent more than $600,000 on a sexual harassment investigation into former lord mayor Robert Doyle. Mr Doyle was in March found to have sexually harassed two colleagues after drinking "substantial amounts of red wine", according to a report by Ian Freckelton QC. A City of Melbourne financial report has revealed $660,000 was spent on the independent investigation by the end of April, following claims raised by Councillor Cathy Oke and her former colleague Tessa Sullivan. Mr Doyle continues to strenuously deny all allegations against him. Boaties and beachgoers have been warned to be on alert this weekend as a powerful swell pounds much of the NSW coast. Gale-force winds are expected to whip up huge waves, with south-facing or exposed beaches likely to bear the brunt. Surf Life Saving NSW said sets of between five and eight metres were forecast in some areas. Manager Matt du Plessis said although patrols have wrapped up, there would still be lifesaving equipment on hand to respond to emergencies. "Please take note of the safety warnings and if you have any doubt whatsoever about your ability to handle the water it's better not to go in," he said in a statement. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a hazardous surf warning for the Coffs, Macquarie, Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra, Batemans and Eden Coasts on Saturday. Moses Mbye concedes he could fall victim to Canterbury's salary cap crunch but refuses to take it personally should he be forced out next NRL season. Despite being one of the Bulldogs' few shining lights during their lacklustre opening 10 rounds, the playmaker-turned-pivot is reportedly being shopped around to rival clubs. Mbye could neither confirm or deny the reports but admitted there was likely something in the rumours, especially given the Bulldogs' dire salary cap position for next year is well-documented. "I don't know where we're at," Mbye said. "Normally where there's smoke there's fire. I'm sure the call's been made. "I understand the business side of it, I get that it's probably an option that the club needs to go in that direction. "I'm not looking to leave this club, I want to stay. "I haven't had that discussion with anyone, with any other club and our club hasn't approached me at all." With 14 players off contract at season's end, it is believed the Dogs have about $750,000 worth of cap space for 2019. Greg Eastwood has been told to look for another club while Brett and Josh Morris concede they are unlikely to be at Belmore next year. A pragmatist, Mbye refused to kick stones or be bitter. "I get it, I understand where we're at," Mbye said. "I don't know the fine details but I understand we're not in that good of a way salary cap-wise. "It doesn't hurt. And the reason it doesn't hurt is because I understand where we're at." Despite scoring a controversial 20-12 win over Parramatta on Friday night, the Bulldogs are still in strife at 3-7. Asked if the constant negative headlines and uncertainty about their roster had affected the group, Mbye said it was water off a duck's back. "It probably comes down to a tight-knit group being together for a number of years and going through these sorts of situations," Mbye said. "Adversity builds really strong bonds especially between blokes like us. When you get in these situations, you get really tight-knit with people in similar situations." The Queensland opposition is calling on the state's attorney-general to appeal the nine-year jail sentence for a policeman who killed his 10-week-old son with a punch that pulped his liver. Colin David Randall was on Friday given the sentence in the Brisbane Supreme Court after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his son Kye. Randall, 41, was originally charged with murder following Kye's June 2014 death and said his injuries were a result of his panicked efforts to save him after a spontaneous seizure. But after lying to his wife for more than three years, the former senior constable only changed his story and admitted to the blow three days before he was to go to trial last month. He pleaded to the lesser charge of manslaughter, and said he snapped due to the intense frustration of being refused a work transfer, parenting stresses and his wife being ill. In sentencing Randall, Justice Peter Davis said Kye should have been protected and cared for by his father. "He ... had no idea you were about to breach that duty in a most horrible and violent way," he said. Justice Davis ruled Randall must serve 50 per cent of his nine-year sentence behind bars and, as an ex-officer, remain in solitary confinement. With time served, he will be eligible for parole in January 2021, prompting the Liberal National Party to demand a harsher penalty. "We are concerned that this sentence doesn't meet community expectations," shadow attorney-general David Janetzki said. "We need to send a strong message that these sort of crimes are not tolerated and protect those who cannot protect themselves. "We are calling on the attorney-general to seek urgent advice and appeal the sentence." The investigation into the suspected murder-suicide of seven people, including four children, has entered its second day as detectives try to piece together what happened at the rural West Australian property. It is understood three generations of a family lived at Forever Dreaming Farm in the small community of Osmington, northeast of the popular tourist hub of Margaret River. Police are yet to confirm the identities of the deceased but it is believed the property belonged to Cynda and Peter Miles, whose daughter Katrina also lived there with her children. Police said the bodies of two adults were found near a shed that had been converted to living quarters, while the children and the other adult were discovered inside when police were called to the property just after 5am on Friday. Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said two firearms were found and the victims suffered gunshot wounds. "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned (and) the whole community." A local resident who did not want to be named said the family was "hugely respected". "I can't imagine just how disturbed someone is, how they could do that," he told AAP. Augusta-Margaret River Shire president Pamela Townshend said the people on Osmington Road were a tight sub-community. "There's a lot of giving each other vegetables, cooking each other meals, looking after each other when they're ill - very connected in deep ways," she told AAP. "Such a horrific killing is going to affect out community very deeply. We're all connected to each other one way or another." On the farm's website, Cynda Miles wrote of watching her grandchildren play with the animals, describing it as the family's "forever farm". "It is here that we will grow as much of our food as we can, sit on the veranda and watch the birds, and watch the grandchildren immerse themselves in the animals and everything else that happens on a daily basis," she wrote. Police are expected to reveal more information about the tragedy later on Saturday, while detectives and forensic experts will be at the scene for days. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has been written into her party's updated constitution as effective president for life. With no term limits on her presidency, the constitution names Senator Hanson as leader of the party's national executive as well as the registered officer for its divisions, giving her considerable heft, The Australian reported on Saturday. "The president of the party is Pauline Lee Hanson... Upon resigning from the position of president, Pauline Lee Hanson shall appoint her successor to become the next president of the party," the constitution states. A teenage boy has been charged over two "frightening" attacks on young women in Sydney's west. The alleged assaults happened barely 500 metres apart in Bonnyrigg on Tuesday night and Thursday lunchtime. In the first attack, a 23-year-old woman was grabbed from behind while walking and thrown to the ground. The attacker allegedly covered her mouth with his hands, but ran off after she struggled and screamed. Two days later, another 23-year-old walking along the T-way was grabbed from behind, placed in a choke-hold and dragged behind a bus stop before being punched in the head. Detective Superintendent Peter Lennon on Friday described the assaults as "frightening". "I just can't understand how this could happen pretty much in the middle of the day in a very public area," he told reporters. Police on Friday arrested a 14-year-old at a property in Bonnyrigg, later charging him with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Children's Court on Saturday. Former FBI agent Ali Soufan was thrust onto the frontline in the hunt for Al-Qaeda after the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen To television viewers, he is the FBI agent who hunts down Al-Qaeda. But in real-life, Ali Soufan is just as extraordinary, a Muslim immigrant who fled war to live the American dream. Born in Lebanon, a child of the Middle Eastern country's brutal 1975-1990 civil war, he migrated to the United States as a teenager, was student president at college and dreamt of studying for a PhD in Cambridge, England. Except he applied to the FBI as a dare and was the only one of his friends selected. With "The X-Files" big on television at the time, Soufan jokes that he was "more interested in aliens than terrorists." Instead, the only Arabic speaker on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, he was thrust onto the frontline in the hunt for Al-Qaeda after the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen. He travelled the world conducting investigations and interrogating suspects, but US intelligence proved ultimately unable to stop the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, among them Soufan's former boss. He calls the Al-Qaeda hijackings, which he watched on television from Yemen, "probably the most gut-wrenching moment in my life." Afterward, he was handed a manila envelope with intelligence he had been asking for since November 2000. "I don't know if angry is the word. Crushed. I don't know the feeling. I don't know the term to describe it, still today," he tells AFP in a recent interview in his New York office, an enormous US flag and framed awards on the wall. The bitter CIA-FBI rivalry that inadvertently paved the road to 9/11 is dissected in "The Looming Tower," a television mini-series on Hulu and Amazon Prime adapted from Lawrence Wright's best-selling, Pulitzer-prize winning book. - 'Us versus them' - Soufan, 46, is delighted that new TV show "The Looming Tower" educates a new generation about 9/11, challenges Muslim stereotypes and sends a message to young people, particularly from immigrant backgrounds who may feel alienated With Soufan played by French actor Tahar Rahim -- the two have become friends -- and his FBI boss John O'Neill by Jeff Daniels, it narrates the power struggle between the CIA and the FBI, and their refusal to share intelligence. Soufan, 46, is delighted that the show educates a new generation about 9/11, challenges Muslim stereotypes and sends a message to young people, particularly from immigrant backgrounds who may feel alienated. "This is not only a TV series. This is a public service announcement," he says. "You have so many young people growing up in communities in the US, in Paris, in Brussels, in London and feeling that they don't fit... We're trying to reach out to them and say don't let cynicism take you down, don't believe Al-Qaeda and ISIS and their narrative," he adds. "Don't believe the us versus them," he says. "You can do the right thing and you can support your government, and your government will be there for you." The real-life Soufan is brimming with jokes, fiercely intelligent and relaxed, apologizing for not dressing in a suit and tie for an on-camera interview. He happily shows off a Thompson submachine gun, the FBI's first defense against the mob in the 1930s, given today as retirement presents. "Now we have fancy stuff," Soufan jokes. "Fancy and very effective stuff." Soufan testified before US Congress and presidential commissions, but opposed torture and left the FBI in 2005. Two years later, he founded a security firm which works with governments all over the world. - Never felt discrimination - "It was time," he says simply of his decision. "You don't have to be inside in order to make the world a better place and that's what we try to do here." The Soufan Group, employing retired CIA and FBI officers, offers consultancy and training to governments, corporations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world. A leading security expert and author, today he considers cyber the chief security threat as technology advances at a faster rate than laws and regulations. But he also struggles to imagine a Muslim boy from the Middle East walking so accepting a path in today's polarized America. "I think the US was very good to me in so many different ways. Even as a child and as a young man, I never felt discriminated against." An advocate of immigration, he understands a need to focus on illegals but says isolating communities is not the answer. On his office wall hangs a photo of himself with Barack Obama but when it comes to US President Donald Trump, Soufan says they have never talked. So what would he say if he did? "I think that the job of a leader is to lead, not to mislead," he replies, not missing a beat. Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi campaigns for elections in Karnataka that are viewed by many as a do-or-die test for the party The Congress party, which has dominated Indian politics in the seven decades since independence, will stage a last stand against Prime Minister Narendra Modi when a key southern state goes to the polls Saturday. Karnataka, home to 60 million people and the wealthy global IT hub of Bangalore, is the last major bastion held by Congress under leader Rahul Gandhi. Saturday's high-stakes vote comes after one of the most bitter campaigns in years with Gandhi and Modi slugging it out at rival rallies that have drawn tens of thousands of people. "It's a do-or-die battle for the Congress party," said Sandeep Shastri, vice chancellor of Jain University and coordinator of Lokniti, a political research group. Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) supporters dance at a campaign function. Karnataka offers the BJP its best chance of gaining a foothold in the south Since his landslide national win in 2014 the Modi juggernaut has stormed northern India, claiming around a dozen crushing state victories. Congress has a slim majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly and all the signs are that Saturday's vote will be close. The result will be announced Tuesday. - Modi seeks breakthrough - Defeat would see Congress effectively giving up its claim to lead any political alliance against Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a general election next year. Its campaign finances would also take a battering. The party holds only three other states -- Punjab, Puducherry and Mizoram -- which together account for just 2.5 percent of India's 1.25 billion population. "They have been systematically losing power in every state where they have ruled since 2014 and Karnataka is an opportunity to stem the trend," Shastri said. The vote is just as important for Modi, whose BJP and allies now rule states accounting for about 70 percent of the national population. He still does not have a southern foothold however. Many politicians from non-Hindi speaking southern states accuse Modi's government of a spending bias toward its stronghold in the Hindi-speaking north. "Karnataka is seen as gateway for BJP's entry in the south," Shastri said. Nistula Hebbar, political editor of The Hindu newspaper, said a Congress win in Karnataka could give an important "morale boost" to the opposition. "There has been some momentum in anti-Modi politics and if the Congress wins, it will be an important milestone before national elections," she said. "For Congress, it's their biggest and most prosperous state but for the BJP, which has already peaked electorally elsewhere in the country, it's important to perform well in southern India which has 130 national parliamentary seats for 2019," Hebbar said. At rallies, an acerbic Modi has hit out at Gandhi's Italian ancestry and accused his family of corruption. Since his landslide national win in 2014 the Modi juggernaut has stormed northern India, claiming around a dozen crushing state victories. The BJP campaign has also sought to mobilise national pride by highlighting Modi's increased presence on the international stage, the growing economy and a clampdown on corruption. The latest scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, whose family has produced three prime ministers since 1947, has hit back by highlighting scandals under Modi's government. "Congress has tried to de-emphasise leadership and focused on local issues and local perspectives," Shastri said. Karnataka's chief minister Siddaramaiah, 69, has led Congress efforts to mobilise regional sentiment against the BJP. His government has taken controversial decisions to propose a new state flag and emphasise the use of the local Kannada language. He has also declared the Lingayat community -- a powerful and electorally significant Hindu sect -- a separate religion, infuriating Modi's Hindu supporters. "PM Modi is deliberately confusing Karnataka voters with his bombastic speeches on non-issues. All hot air and no substance," Siddaramiah said Monday, responding to Modi's campaign blitz. B.S. Yeddyurappa, the BJP's charismatic but controversial state leader, has faced allegations of corruption and questions around his age, officially 75. Important local issues, including Karnataka's creaking infrastructure, massive pollution, farm debts and water shortages have barely got a look in during the campaign. Young Somali refugee women stand together at Dadaab, one of the biggest refugee bases in the world Between the rape she suffered during a traumatic return to Somalia, the constant hunger, and the uncertainty of her future in Kenya's Dadaab camp, Fartun has almost forgotten what hope feels like. Two years ago Kenya's government said it would close what was at the time the world's largest refugee settlement. It has failed to do so, but the threat looms over residents, adding a new layer of precariousness to an already tough existence. "Before, life at the camp was good... but it's not the same," said Fartun, a 37-year-old mother of 11. She went back to Somalia as part of a repatriation programme, criticised as coercive and premature by human rights groups, but returned to Dadaab when her homecoming went terribly wrong. It was May 6, 2016 when everything changed for Fartun. Nairobi announced the closing of Dadaab -- which had nearly 350,000 residents -- and, deeming war-torn and famine-prone Somalia to be safe enough, said the refugees would be sent home. Without providing proof, the government also alleged that Dadaab was a staging ground for terror attacks in Kenya by Al-Qaeda affiliate Shabaab. "The Kenyan government had said in the past that it wanted to close the camp, but this time was different: they looked really serious," Fartun said. - 'We would be beaten' - Ignoring the legal and logistical concerns of international aid agencies, a deadline of November 2016 was initially set, and then postponed to May 2017, as a two-year-old programme of so-called "voluntary repatriations" was accelerated. For many there seemed little choice. "In the camp, it was said that if we did not leave, we would be beaten," said Fartun. "Maybe it was rumours, I don't know, but that was the atmosphere in the camp." Children play in floodwaters after a downpour So Fartun joined an estimated 75,000 since the repatriations began and made her reluctant return to Somalia in June 2016. She took the $400 resettlement allowance and boarded a minivan with her family, bound for the border. But only 50 kilometres inside Somalia the convoy, bound for the south-western town of Baidoa, was ambushed by hooded, armed men and Fartun and her family were taken captive. Fartun was raped multiple times before being released. Her eldest son, then 12-year-old Abdirizak, was press-ganged into the militia. "They wanted to recruit me," said the boy. A wide scar runs the length of Abdirizak's forearm, a punishment, he said, from the gunmen. "They gave me a rifle and ordered me to shoot, but I refused, so they did this to my arm." Mother and son were reunited a few months after their ordeal, when Abdirizak managed to escape the militia, and soon returned to Dadaab together. A reprieve was granted in February 2017 when Kenya's courts outlawed the closure of Dadaab. Harun Kamau, the top government official in Dadaab, said just 2,000 Somalis had returned to Dadaab after participating in the repatriation programme. But several aid agencies said that figure was a huge underestimate. - A dismal return - The return has been difficult for Fartun, who found much has changed for the worse. "Since we came back, there is less food, and we live at my brother-in-law's because I have no house," she said. Those who remain are receiving a third less food than before, according to the UN World Food Programme The population has reduced too, now officially numbering 235,000. Kenyan authorities are making it harder for Somalis to claim refugee status, by making them submit individual applications, rather than automatically granting them asylum. Those who remain are receiving a third less food than before, a result of funding shortfalls, says the UN's World Food Programme. "Dadaab has been there for 27 years. Donors feel a bit tired compared to other crises like the Syrian refugees, or the Rohingyas," said one UN official in Dadaab. The uncertainty imposed on Dadaab by government is bad for aid workers, as well as refugees. "The first thing the donors tell us is: Why have long-term programmes when the camp will soon be closed?" said Caleb Odhiambo, Save the Children's director in Dadaab. Aid agencies are disappointed that the government has failed to publicly acknowledge that the swift closing of Dadaab is impossible, and while they welcome a proposed law to help integrate refugees into Kenyan society, they bemoan its slow passing. Meanwhile, the experience of Fartun and others who endured failed repatriation, means fewer than ever are willing to leave. "Even if the camp closes today, I'd rather stay somewhere here than go back to Somalia again, she said." The 'horrific incident' took place near the world-renowned Margaret River wine-growing area Four children and three adults were found dead Friday at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby. Police said they responded to an early-morning phone call and arrived to find a "horrific incident" in the small town of Osmington near the world-renowned wine-growing area, south of Perth. Five bodies were found inside a house and two outside. Homicide detectives were investigating but police were not looking for a suspect -- suggesting a murder-suicide. "I can only say at this point in time, we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues," Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. "We're still yet to make contact with other members of the family so at this point in time, all I'll confirm is that there are four children and three adults that have all been located deceased." The ages of the children were not released. Dawson said there appeared to be gunshot wounds, "but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene". Mass shootings are not common in Australia, which has strict gun laws. All weapons must be registered, although many arrive illegally from overseas through organised syndicates. If confirmed as a mass shooting, the incident would be the worst in Australia since a 1996 massacre that left 35 people dead at Port Arthur in Tasmania. It was believed those who died lived at the property, about 10 minutes drive from Margaret River, a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty. Dawson refused to be drawn on who the person was that alerted police, their relationship to the victims or whether they heard gunshots. "The loss of any life is tragic but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said, adding that police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation." Pakistan is on track to become the most water-stressed country in the region by 2040 Basharat Ali was 15 when his legs began to falter, a condition doctors have blamed on polluted water in a Pakistani region infamous for the deformities that afflict many of its people. Too weak to carry his own schoolbag, he was taken to hospital, where doctors said water laden with toxic levels of arsenic, fluoride, minerals and various metals was to blame. "It was a big blow to me as I had to quit my studies to get treatment," Ali told AFP on the rooftop of his house some 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's largest province Punjab. From there Ali's view takes in some of the plastic, chemical, pharmaceutical and wire manufacturing factories nearby. They are widely blamed for contaminating the water local residents have to drink. According to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 90 percent of factories in and around the city dump their waste untreated in open pits or discharge untreated water in streams. Chemicals and toxins including arsenic have been found in the village's drinking water Local media first reported on the problems in Ali's village well over a decade ago, prompting teams from Lahore's government hospital and water officials to make several visits. New wells have been dug since, but they only provide more water polluted with arsenic. Meanwhile Ali and other residents of the area have paid a heavy price, with activists saying 200 other children have suffered bone and dental deformities since 2000. "Now these children are grown men and women, but they remain hidden in their houses. They are not getting any marriage proposals because people say that their bones are deformed," he says. Ali, now 32, remains frail, his teeth yellowed and decaying. His is permanently disabled, with one leg shorter than the other, and has difficulty walking. His village Kot Assadullah and neighbouring Kalalanwala, to which it is joined, now have a reputation. A new solar-powered water filtration plant has been installed in the village "People from other villages can recognise us and say 'You are from Kalalanwala'," said 26-year old Muhammad Mukhtiar, who tends a shop in the village. When AFP visited recently men, women and children carrying cans and bottles were queueing at a new solar-powered water filtration plant paid for by a charity. A government-funded filtered water plant is also currently under construction, but residents say neither will be enough. - What's in the water? - Punjab officials declined AFP's repeated requests for comment. Chemicals and toxins including arsenic have been found in the village's drinking water and are causing the deformities, said Dr Khalid Jamil Akhtar, a private clinician who has been visiting the area for the provincial government. Arsenic, he said, can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach problems, while also affecting the liver, lungs, kidneys and eventually the entire gastrointestinal tract. Polluted water could also result in neuropathy -- a nerve dysfunction that can lead to deformity-causing numbness or weakness in the limbs. Pakistani man Naveed shows his teeth rotting allegedly due to environmental factors and polluted groundwater in Kot Assadullah Dr Akhtar said most of the patients he saw were suffering from neuropathy, primarily caused by "contaminated water, by the toxins of the factories in the area" -- though he added that some cases could be caused by genetics, without giving a breakdown. Arsenic -- typically found in groundwater contaminated by untreated industrial, municipal and agricultural waste -- in particular is a source of increased concern. A study conducted by Swiss expert Joel Podgorski using 1,200 groundwater samples throughout Pakistan said that up to 60 million people were at risk of arsenic poisoning. The study, published last year, identified high concentrations of arsenic along the Indus River and its tributaries, with "hot spots" around the populated areas of Lahore and the southern city of Hyderabad. A study using 1,200 groundwater samples throughout Pakistan said that up to 60 million people were at risk of arsenic poisoning The Pakistan Council of Research in Water (PCRWR) disputes the findings, arguing that the sample size was too small, but agrees there is an arsenic problem. "We have done tests on up to 60,000 samples from Lahore to lower Sindh under a study being carried out since 1999 and have found arsenic at many places," said Lubna Bukhari, head of water quality for the PCRWR. It also says that water monitoring projects carried out since 2012 show that between 69 and 85 percent of Pakistan's total water is contaminated or otherwise unfit for human consumption. "We even found arsenic in bottled water," said Bukhari. - Looming water scarcity - The problem is given extra urgency by Pakistan's looming water scarcity crisis, with the country on track to become the most water-stressed country in the region by 2040, according to the UN. Twenty years have already passed since deformities started appearing in Kalalanwala, and little change has taken place But there is no national strategy for cleaning up what water there is and much less for conserving it, with environmental matters left in the hands of provincial authorities. Twenty years have already passed since deformities started appearing in Kalalanwala, and little change has taken place. There, a 25-year-old labourer named Naveed said his legs became deformed when he was three years old. "I don't have any hope as we are poor and nobody listens to us," Naveed said. 71-year old Park Jae-yeol should have retired years ago. But, unable to survive on meagre South Korean state pensions, he is obliged to continue working. In theory Park Jae-yeol should have retired 11 years ago. But despite its advanced economy South Korean state pensions are meagre, and the 71-year-old is obliged to continue working, delivering packages to high-rise apartments. He pushes a cartload of brown boxes into a lift at a block of flats in Seoul, his ageing eyes strained by constant squinting at tiny address labels. "Money is the biggest reason" he is still working, Park told AFP. He is one of millions of elderly South Koreans pushed into labour well past the official retirement age of 60. Social safety nets in the rapidly-ageing country are weak, despite South Korea ranking in the OCED club of developed countries. More than 45 percent of elderly South Koreans live in relative poverty -- less than half of the median household income -- by far the highest proportion in the OECD, where the average is 12.5 percent. - 'Until I'm 80' - Park is one of millions whose efforts powered the "Miracle on the Han", the country's transformation from a war-ravaged ruin in the 1950s to the world's 11th-largest economy. A high school graduate from the southern port of Busan, he worked in air conditioning maintenance, earning enough to raise three children and buy an apartment in Seoul. He formed his own air conditioning servicing company, but like many people of his age was never able to build up a cushion of savings for his twilight years. Statistics released in March showed more South Koreans in their 60s were economically active - either employed or seeking a job - than those in their 20s "Our generation was too busy just trying to survive and raise children during these crazy times, unable to prepare for our post-retirement years," Park said. South Korea only introduced a national pension scheme in 1988 and it did not become mandatory until 1999. Payouts are dependent on the amount and duration of contributions, with a 10-year minimum. "Many of those in their 70s and 80s missed a chance to pay into the system so are left out of pension benefits," said Hwang Nam-hui, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, and must survive on welfare payments that are "ludicrously low". Park's firm went bankrupt in 2012, leaving him having to rely on a national pension of about $130 a month and an elderly subsidy around $180 -- "nowhere near enough" to live on in one of the world's most expensive cities. "That's not even enough for pocket money," he said, adding he did not want to rely on his children to give him monthly allowances. So he signed up for a state programme to help the elderly get menial jobs, and started working as a deliveryman in 2014. He now works three days a week, taking up to 100 packages to their destinations and earning about $500 a month. Most of his co-workers are in their 70s, with the oldest 78. Park has already worked for more than five decades, but said he hoped to carry on "as long as my health allows... maybe until I'm 80". - 'Silver tsunami' - South Korea's fertility rate -- the average number of babies women have in their lifetime -- hit a record low of 1.05 last year, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. Over-65s are expected to make up 25 percent of the population by 2030 -- a phenomenon dubbed the "silver tsunami". In the past, traditional extended family structures, with three generations living under one roof, ensured the elderly a life of relative comfort with support from their offspring, researcher Hwang told AFP. The radical social changes of recent decades have seen filial obligations wane, and the elderly forced to remain in work. But the radical social changes of recent decades have seen filial obligations wane, and the elderly forced to remain in work. Statistics released in March showed more South Koreans in their 60s were economically active -- either employed or seeking a job -- than those in their 20s. Park and his 63-year-old wife -- who works as a convenience store cashier -- take only one week off a year, to go to the resort island of Jeju. But, Park insists: "I feel so grateful and lucky to still be able to work." Anwar Ibrahim is newly installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's former nemesis turned ally Malaysia's king has agreed to pardon jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim at once, newly installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday. "The (king) has indicated he is willing to pardon Datuk Sri Anwar immediately," Mahathir told a press conference, using a Malay honorific. It came a day after the 92-year-old was sworn in after a shock win that toppled the country's long-ruling coalition. "We will begin the... proper process of obtaining a pardon for Datuk Sri Anwar," said Mahathir. "This means a full pardon. He should be released immediately when he is pardoned." Mahathir has promised to eventually hand the premiership over to Anwar, his former nemesis turned ally in an opposition alliance formed to take on scandal-plagued former prime minister Najib Razak. Mahathir's reconciliation with Anwar has been one of the most remarkable aspects of an electrifying election race. Anwar was a senior figure in government and Mahathir's heir-apparent until the pair dramatically fell out. Mahathir sacked Anwar in 1998 over political differences, and he was subsequently jailed on charges of sodomy and abuse of power, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated. Anwar was jailed again during Najib's rule. He was already slated to come out of prison in June. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several high-profile Philippine critics who have found themselves targeted Judges of the Philippines' top court voted Friday to remove their chief justice, who faced ouster efforts after battling with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly war on drugs. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several high-profile Philippine critics who have found themselves targeted after speaking out against the president's signature crackdown. "Sereno is found disqualified from and hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the chief justice," court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters. "The decision is immediately executory without further need of action from the court," Te said, adding the vote was 8-6 against Sereno. The Supreme Court case against Sereno, the nation's first female chief justice, alleged she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in years past -- accusations she categorically denied. Separately, Sereno was also facing an impeachment effort in the lower House of Representatives, a move which critics allege is part of wider efforts by Duterte to destroy foes and usher in one-man rule. Sereno had pledged to fight the ouster effort, saying in March: "The current state of the nation is one where perceived enemies of the dominant order are considered fair game for harassment, intimidation and persecution." Duterte last month urged lawmakers to "fast-track" her removal, warning otherwise "I'll do it for you". Sereno has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. She is also alleged to have spent excessively on "opulent" hotels and a luxury official vehicle, as well as flying business or first class. Sereno is the second chief justice in a row to be ousted in the Philippines. Lawmakers convicted her predecessor, Renato Corona, in 2012 of corruption allegations. Then-president Benigno Aquino said the sacking was part of his anti-graft reforms, but critics said he aimed to ensure his control of the court. Duterte and Sereno first clashed in 2016 when she criticised his order that judges whom he linked to the illegal drugs trade turn themselves in as part of his crackdown. Police say they have killed roughly 4,200 drug suspects who fought back during arrest since Duterte launched the war nearly two years ago. Rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher. Other Duterte critics have also been ousted, punished or threatened including detained Senator Leila de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights, and an anti-corruption prosecutor who investigated allegations Duterte has hidden wealth. An ultramodern city-state, Singapore has robust security infrastructure and is widely considered one of the safest cities in Asia With one foot in the East and one in the West, ultra-modern and secure -- to the point of sometimes being mocked as dull -- Singapore was a natural choice for the historic first meeting between the unpredictable leaders of the US and North Korea. The stable and squeaky-clean city-state's tropical setting will be the backdrop for the June 12 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un -- the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two men threatened each other with annihilation just months ago, so the choice of a neutral venue was a matter of considerable speculation, which also touched on the Korean peninsula's Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), China and Mongolia. But Singapore -- sometimes likened to Switzerland due to its non-aligned nature and its status as a banking hub -- is in the rare position of having diplomatic relations with both Washington and Pyongyang, plus a track record of hosting sensitive encounters. "As a neutral, and objective country with much-admired consistent foreign policy principles and a small state with no desire or capacity to harm other states and their interests, Singapore fits that bill well," said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute. One of the world's wealthiest countries per-capita, the island state of 5.6 million people has an advanced military, robust security infrastructure, and is considered one of the safest and least corrupt places on earth. Situated between the much larger Muslim-majority nations of Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore has long been vigilant toward radical Islamic elements. Single-party rule since independence from Britain nearly six decades ago has kept a lid on dissent -- prompting accusations of repression -- eliminating the possibility of any summit-related protests. A selection of first-rate hotels and other possible venues where events can be tightly controlled is also likely to have made Singapore attractive, especially to Kim, who heads one of the world's most repressive regimes and will not welcome anything unexpected. - Neutral ground - Kim is only known to have travelled abroad for the first time this year, with visits to China and a brief sojourn across the high-security border into South Korea for a historic meeting with President Moon Jae-in in April. In 2015, Singapore hosted a historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-leader Ma Ying-jeou, the first between presidents of the two sides since a 1949 civil war split that led to decades of estrangement. It also has experience hosting other leadership gatherings such as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and stages the yearly Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence forum attended by heads of state, defence ministers and top military chiefs. This year's forum at the Shangri-La hotel comes a week before Trump-Kim, meaning Singapore will already be in high-security mode, fuelling speculation that the hotel also will host the summit. Since Kim took over as leader, he has rarely left his isolated nation and has only officially ventured away from home this year, with two visits to China From Trump's standpoint, business-oriented Singapore is among Washington's closest trade and security partners in Asia. Travelling there allows Trump to avoid the DMZ, which might have appeared like home turf for Kim, while a Beijing meeting could have allowed China to exert control. Singapore "doesn't have the historical or political baggage" of other possible venues, said Sarah Teo, an expert on regional security at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). It also will be acceptable to Beijing, North Korea's only major ally and still a strong influence over Pyongyang. Singapore has long had smooth ties with China. "A successful summit would be a huge feather in Singapore's cap, elevating its reputation for fair dealing and neutrality; but a less successful one will not take anything away from it," said a commentary piece in Singapore's The Straits Times. Singapore and North Korea have a history -- the first law firm and fast-food restaurant in Pyongyang were set up by Singaporeans -- though relations snagged last year when Singapore severed trade ties under new UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programmes. burs-dma/hg Nepali Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has cast his visit as part of his "neighbourhood first" policy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the construction of a mega hydropower plant during a visit to Nepal Friday, part of his government's move to counter Chinese influence in its backyard. Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the $1.4 billion India-backed Arun Three hydropower plant, a long-mooted project that could be a game-changer for energy-staved Nepal. "It is one of the biggest projects in Nepal. Along with employment opportunities, this project will create economic and commercial opportunities in Nepal," Modi said in Kathmandu following the inauguration. The plant is the first of five mega hydropower projects, two of which are backed by Chinese companies, to begin construction, which marks a diplomatic win for India. China has outspent India in Nepal in recent years, as the impoverished Himalayan nation sandwiched between the two Asian giants has titled relations towards its northern neighbour. In 2017, Chinese firms pledged more than $8.3 billion in investment, dwarfing Indian commitments of $317 million. In May last year, Nepal signed up to Beijing's ambitious One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative. But Modi, who cast the visit as part of his "neighbourhood first" policy, has been keen to show that India can also deliver on big-ticket infrastructure promises. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Nepal as part of his government's move to counter Chinese influence in its backyard "Historically India-funded projects, while they seem generous, have struggled to show progress, while the Chinese do it quicker and gain on public opinion," said Kathmandu-based analyst George Varughese. Nepal suffers from a crippling energy shortage and has been in talks with its two large neighbours for investment in its hydroelectric sector for more than a decade. The Himalayan nation has enough water to be a hydro powerhouse but it has so far harnessed less than two percent of that potential, according to estimates. - Big brother - Modi's visit to Nepal comes a month after newly elected Oli made his first foreign visit to New Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Modi is seeking to reset ties with Kathmandu as China's influence in Nepal grows The neighbours are keen to restore relations that have been strained since 2015 when Nepal passed a controversial new constitution, which sparked deadly protests and triggered a months-long border blockade. Kathmandu blamed New Delhi for the blockade that caused a severe shortage of fuel and goods as Nepal struggled to recover from a devastating earthquake earlier that year. Oli, then serving his first term as prime minister, won huge public support as he stoked nationalist anti-India sentiment over the blockade. He used the platform again during his reelection campaign last year. Many in Nepal remain suspicious of India's "big brother" attitude, and the hashtags #ModiNotWelcomeInNepal and #BlockadeWasACrimeMrModi trended on Twitter as the Indian premier touched down. Oli, who needs India -- Nepal's largest trading partner -- to realise his ambitious plans to kickstart economic growth, has opted for a more pragmatic approach to relations since he took office again in February. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his Nepal visit in the southern city of Janakpur where he offered prayers at a renowned Hindu temple Modi began his Nepal visit in the southern city of Janakpur where he offered prayers at a renowned Hindu temple. Janakpur was a centre of the deadly 2015 protests, which claimed more than 50 lives. Modi will visit a second Hindu pilgrimage site near Nepal's border with Tibet on Saturday. Analysts say the strong religious overtones are intended to send a message to his Hindu nationalist base at home, where Modi is fighting a key election in the southern state of Karnataka. Police have disarmed a 1,000 pound American-made bomb from World War II at a subway construction site in Hong Kong Police defused a World War II bomb Friday at a construction site in the heart of Hong Kong after more than 1,000 people were evacuated from the area, in the third such discovery in the city this year. Police cordoned off roads and evacuated 1,200 people from shops, restaurants and offices in the bustling Wanchai business district as experts sought to unearth and disarm the 450-kilogramme (1,000-pound) US-made bomb. The ordnance, which had lain dormant for more than 70 years before its discovery on Thursday, was of the same model as two other bombs discovered in January at the site, where work is underway to build a new metro railway station. Police started defusing the bomb Thursday night in an operation that lasted 20 hours. "The previous two bombs were horizontally positioned and this one is vertical instead. Two thirds of the bomb was actually buried underground, we needed to unearth at least part of the object before we started our operation," said bomb disposal officer Lai Ngo-yau. "Because the bomb was not stable, we needed to do it very carefully", he added. The disposal team gathered around the bomb to pose for photos after the operation. Hong Kong saw fierce fighting between Japanese and Allied forces during World War II, and hikers and construction workers still occasionally discover unexploded bombs in the territory. Local historian Jason Wordie said Hong Kong was heavily bombed by the United States in 1941 at the outset of the war's Pacific campaign. "What they were aiming for were the commercial docks across the harbour," he said. Land reclamations to expand Hong Kong's waterfront in the decades after the war turned up a number of bombs that fell in the harbour, Wordie added. In 2016, a hiker discovered six unexploded World War II-era grenades and two mortar shells on a trail near the Happy Valley neighbourhood. Police defused a wartime bomb weighing nearly one tonne in 2014, the largest yet found in the city. Margaret River is a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty Four children and three adults were found dead Friday at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby. Police said they responded to an early-morning phone call and arrived to find a "horrific incident" in the small town of Osmington near the world-renowned wine-growing area south of Perth. Five bodies were found inside a house and two outside. Homicide detectives were investigating but police were not looking for a suspect -- suggesting a murder-suicide although this was not confirmed. "I can only say at this point in time, we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues," Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. Australia "We're still yet to make contact with other members of the family so at this point in time, all I'll confirm is that there are four children and three adults that have all been located deceased." The ages of the children were not released. Dawson said there appeared to be gunshot wounds, "but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene". Mass shootings are not common in Australia, which has strict gun laws. All weapons must be registered, although many arrive illegally from overseas through organised syndicates. If confirmed as a mass shooting, the incident would be the worst in Australia since a 1996 massacre that left 35 people dead at Port Arthur in Tasmania. It was believed those who died lived at the property, about 10 minutes drive from Margaret River, a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty. Felicity Haynes, who lives on a neighbouring property, told broadcaster ABC the family involved were "caring neighbours". "They were just such lovely people," she said. "They were a very socially-aware family, doing their best to create a safe community, and that is why it is so shocking to think that could be destroyed so quickly." Dawson refused to be drawn on who the person was that alerted police, their relationship to the victims or whether they heard gunshots. "The loss of any life is tragic but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said, adding that police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation." Augusta-Margaret River Shire president Pamela Townsend said the incident had impacted everyone in the area. "It's sending shockwaves through the whole community -- were all linked in one way or another, every family," she told WA Today. Police found nearly half a tonne of crystal meth concealed in tea packages Ten million made-in-Myanmar "yaba" pills and nearly half a tonne of crystal meth hidden in tea packages have been pulled from a convoy of cars in Bangkok, Thai police said Friday. The drugs -- worth around $45 million on the local market -- were being ferried along Thailand's "narcotics corridor", which cuts through the central Thai province of Ayutthaya to Bangkok and then south to Malaysia. Police followed the four cars from Ayutthaya, which is a key warehousing site for the drugs which pour from Myanmar's meth labs. They made the bust once the convoy had reached downtown Bangkok late Thursday, police said, uncovering crytal meth concealed in Chinese-branded tea packages and the pill bundles. "Six Thai suspects who were paid to transport drugs were arrested," national police chief General Chaktip Chaijinda told reporters, adding some of the drugs were "destined for foreign countries". "They belong to the northern Wa group," he said, of an ethnic group based in Myanmar's Shan State which jointly oversees the world's second largest drug producing region. The drugs haul was seized from a convoy of cars in downtown Bangkok Yaba -- which means "crazy medicine" in Thai -- are methamphetamine pills cut with caffeine and are consumed across Asia, popped by everyone from the party crowd to farmers and lorry drivers. The notorious "Golden Triangle" -- an ungovernable border zone that crosses Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and China -- is experiencing a boom in drug production. Massive oversupply from Myanmar has seen the price of a yaba tablet plummet to 100 baht (around $3) in Thailand. The much more potent and addictive crystal meth version -- "ice" -- is also cascading across the region. One kilogram (2.2 pounds) goes for around $30,000 in Thailand, but the price rises the further it is transported from the source in Myanmar. Drugs are trafficked south to Malaysia and beyond, while record seizures are also being made along a westwards route from Myanmar to Bangladesh. US Senator John McCain, 81 and battling brain cancer, reportedly was the target of dismissive remarks by a communications official of the Trump administration Family and congressional colleagues pushed back Friday against attacks on cancer-stricken John McCain, including one by a White House aide who reportedly said the senator's opposition to a presidential nominee did not matter because "he's dying anyway." Amid rising bipartisan fury, the White House declined to apologize, or to acknowledge that the comments attributed by US media to White House communications aide Kelly Sadler were even made. Sadler's apparent remark came after McCain announced his opposition to CIA director nominee Gina Haspel over her role in Bush-era enhanced interrogation techniques. CNN quoted a White House official as saying Sadler, speaking Thursday at a staff meeting, meant the comment as a joke but that it flopped. Another extraordinary attack against McCain by a fellow military veteran and commentator also stunned much of Washington, when retired US Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney said he knows torture works because it made McCain spill sensitive information to his captors during his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. "The fact is, with John McCain, it worked on John. That's why they call him Songbird John," McInerney said Thursday on Fox Business Network. The attacks, remarkable for their bluntness, triggered swift reaction from across the political spectrum, with lawmakers demanding an apology from President Donald Trump. "People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday," said Democratic former vice president Joe Biden, who served with McCain for decades in the Senate. "Given this White House's trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule; she is the epitome of it." Trump's press secretary offered no contrition when asked about the flap. "I'm not going to validate a leak, one way or the other, out of an internal staff meeting," Sarah Sanders told reporters on Friday, as she insisted that Trump's pugnacious style does not set guidelines for White House discourse. "There is not a tone set here," Sanders said. "We have a respect for all Americans." Sanders also confirmed that Sadler remained in her job. Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator on ABC's popular morning talk show "The View," delivered an eloquent defense of her father, who is battling brain cancer at home in Arizona. Her family, she said on the show, is "really strong" and "there's so much more love and prayer and amazing energy being generated towards us than anything negative at all." She also had pointed words for the White House. "I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job," she said. Her father is "all about character and bipartisanship and something greater than yourself," Meghan McCain said, before adding a stinging message to the critics: "Nobody's going to remember you." - 'Moral failing' - Members of Congress rallied behind their ailing, war-hero colleague. "I am left speechless and with a sense of horror about the insensitive, crass and cruel remarks by a White House aide reflecting the administration's position on a heroic American's courageous fight," House Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee wrote. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican and former US Air Force pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan, blasted Sadler. "What was said yesterday goes beyond the pale; it's a moral failing and unacceptable," Kinzinger tweeted. Over at Fox Business, program host Charles Payne issued a personal apology to McCain and his family, saying he did not initially hear McInerney's comment as the network's control room was speaking into his earpiece. "I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged," Payne said. "As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the network's feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country." Trump, for his part, once mocked McCain's war service, saying during the presidential campaign that "I like people that weren't captured." Businesses established by Pyongyang abroad -- including restaurants like this one in Shenyang, China -- are a crucial source of foreign exchange The 12 North Korean waitresses who defected from China two years ago were tricked into doing so in an operation by the South's intelligence services, their manager told South Korean television in a bombshell revelation. The high-profile case has long been controversial, with Pyongyang insisting the women had been kidnapped and saying there would be no more reunions of families divided by the Korean War unless they were returned. Seoul insisted that they had defected of their own free will. But Heo Gang-il, the manager of the North Korean restaurant in Ningbo where they worked, said he had lied about their final destination and blackmailed them into following him to the South. Heo told JTBC television he had been recruited by Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) in China in 2014. Fearing exposure in 2016, he asked his NIS handler to arrange his defection. At the last minute the minder told him to bring his staff too. "The 12 waitresses did not know where they were going," Heo told JTBC's Spotlight, one of the South's top investigative current affairs programmes. "I told them we were relocating," he said. The women only realised their final destination when they arrived outside the South Korean embassy in Malaysia. When they hesitated to enter the building, one of them told the show, "manager Heo threatened us, saying he will tell security authorities that we watched South Korean TV dramas and we would be executed, or exiled into provinces and our families would also be affected". "Thinking back, it was all nonsense but back then, I had no other choice," she said. "If it was possible for me to go home even now, I would like to return to the bosom of my mother," she said. Campaigners were outraged. Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an influential group of human rights lawyers which has unsuccessfully been seeking to interview the waitresses, called for a thorough investigation of what they branded a "heinous crime committed by the NIS". Those responsible should be given "stern punishment" and "the waitresses must be allowed to return home and reunite with their families", it said in a statement. - 'Need to verify' - The group's arrival in the South in April 2016 made headlines as the largest group defection for years, while Pyongyang waged a vocal campaign through its state media demanding their immediate return. After four months of acclimatisation education -- standard for defectors -- the women were released into society, but their whereabouts were kept secret by the NIS and they had made no public comments until the television show late Thursday. Heo said he was speaking out as rewards he had been promised -- an NIS job and a medal -- had not materialised. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said the facts needed to be established. "There are some new allegations by the manager and some waitresses about how they came to the South and whether they came here on their free will," a spokesman told journalists. "There is need to verify their allegations," he said, adding the ministry had been unable to contact the 13 itself and relied on information given it by the NIS. An NIS spokesman said the agency had no immediate comment on the report. Sceptics suspect the defection may have been staged by the government of now-disgraced conservative president Park Geun-hye in an effort to sway voters ahead of parliamentary elections. Park, 66, who was removed from office over a massive corruption scandal last year, was convicted of multiple criminal charges including bribery and abuse of power and sentenced to 24 years in prison at a trial last month. So far just over 1.5 million adults have signed up to vote, a fraction of the 14 million the commission had hoped to register during the two-month process A deadline for Afghans to register to vote in the October 20 legislative elections has been extended, officials said Friday, as figures show hundreds of civilians have already been killed or wounded in poll-related violence. Enrolment for the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections began on April 14 and was originally scheduled to finish in mid-June. By Thursday, just over 1.5 million adults had signed up to vote, a spokesman for the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told AFP -- a fraction of the 14 million it had hoped to register during the two-month process. "The election commission of Afghanistan has extended the voting registration process for one month," the IEC said in a statement, without explaining the reason for the decision. There are fears that a low turnout could erode the credibility of the elections, which are seen as a test run for next year's presidential poll. The vote was supposed to be held in 2015 but has been repeatedly pushed back due to security fears and logistical issues within the fragile unity government. The decision came as UN figures released Thursday showed 86 civilians had been killed and 185 wounded in 23 election-related security incidents since registration began. Most of the casualties happened on April 22 when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration centre in Kabul, killing 60 and wounding 138, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said. The majority of the casualties were women and children, the report said. It added that 26 civilians also had been abducted. "I am outraged by these attacks deliberately targeting civilians seeking to exercise their constitutional right to vote," Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, said. Yamamoto urged the Taliban to take up Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's February offer of peace talks "to put an end to the suffering of the Afghan people". The Taliban and Islamic State groups have made clear their intentions to disrupt the elections. Meanwhile, the IEC said it would allow voters to use a copy of their national identification certificate, or tazkira, to register. There had been concerns that a sticker placed on people's tazkira when they signed up could put those in restive districts at risk of being targeted by militants. Stickers will now be placed on the copy, but voters will be required to bring their original tazkira when they cast their ballot, the IEC said. UNIFIL forces Lebanon's southern town of Naqura on the border with Israel on February 24, 2018 United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said Friday they were keeping a close eye on the southern border with Israel, but the area was "quiet" after strikes on suspected Iranian positions in Syria. The Israeli raids in the early hours of Thursday had prompted concern that Iran's powerful ally Hezbollah could retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon. "We are monitoring the overall situation, but in relation to our area, the situation has been quiet," said Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Tenenti told AFP that the UN force had not increased its patrols in the south, which number around 450 per day. On Thursday morning, Israel carried out unprecedented strikes against what it said were Iranian logistics and intelligence targets in Syria. It said the strikes were in response to rocket fire towards its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, which it blamed on Iran's Quds Force. Iranian forces are deployed in Syria to back the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose fighters have also received a boost from Iraqi and other foreign militias as well as Hezbollah. Israel, which has vowed to prevent any entrenched Iranian military presence in southern Syria, is suspected of carrying out several rounds of strikes against Tehran-backed forces. It has also targeted what it says are arms deliveries to Hezbollah in Syria. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the latest Israeli strikes or how it might respond. Israel and its US ally believe the Lebanese Shiite militia is amassing weapons on Lebanon's southern border in preparation for a new war, after a deadly conflict with Israel in 2006. Set up in 1978, UNIFIL was beefed up after the 2006 war and tasked with guaranteeing a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from a demilitarised zone on the border. UNIFIL now has 10,500 troops on the ground, monitoring the truce and helping Lebanese troops secure the borders. Sereno had sparred with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who in March called for her ouster from the Supreme Court Maria Lourdes Sereno rose to become the first woman to lead the Philippines' top court in a legal career marked by exception. But she notched a darker distinction on Friday when she became the nation's first chief Supreme Court justice to be sacked by her own colleagues. She was facing ouster efforts from within and outside the court after tangling with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly anti-drug crackdown and other human rights issues. Duterte warned her last month: "I'm putting you on notice that I am now your enemy and you have to be out of the Supreme Court". Long before Friday's vote, which stemmed from allegations she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in past years, Sereno was a star student. The 57-year-old graduated valedictorian from her law school in Manila and went on to get a masters degree from the prestigious University of Michigan Law School. In her early career she served as a legal consultant to government agencies and worked with the World Trade Organization's appeals body. Her biggest achievement came in 2012 when at 52 she became the second youngest person selected to lead the nation's judiciary. However, she stepped into a role that was only vacated when her predecessor Renato Corona was sacked after senators found him guilty of graft in an impeachment trial. When then-leader Benigno Aquino appointed her, he bypassed five more senior justices, which did not sit well in the legal establishment. Some of the judges also openly criticised her for alleged disrespect and for violating the court's "collegial nature". - 'Unwarranted use of power' - Trouble really began in 2016, with the landslide election of Duterte and the launching of his bloody crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands. Sereno fought the president when he ordered judges allegedly involved in narcotics to turn themselves in, saying authorities needed an arrest warrant. She also voted against two of the president's high-profile initiatives, which were ultimately validated by the court. They included his declaration of martial law in the southern Philippines after Islamist militants invaded the city of Marawi and his move to give dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero's burial. Sereno was also facing an impeachment effort led by Duterte allies in the lower House of Representatives. She has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. The conflict between the president and chief justice only increased as the anti-drug campaign claimed more lives. Police say they have killed more than 4,250 people in drug raids but human rights activists say the actual death toll is triple that number. Sereno has previously warned that summarily removing her would amount to "the wholesale destruction of all government institutions". Judges and civil servants would know as a result they can easily be sacked if they go against powerful figures, she said. "The primary role of judges is to protect the citizens from the unwarranted use of power by ensuring their constitutionally guaranteed rights," she told AFP previously. Seventy-four children and 10 teachers died when the tsunami hit Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki city Two local governments have appealed to Japan's top court, challenging rulings that awarded millions of dollars in compensation to families whose children were swept out to sea in a 2011 tsunami. In late April, the Sendai High Court upheld a district court judgement ordering the two local governments to pay a combined 1.43 billion yen ($13.7 million) to families of 23 children who were killed in the disaster. The victims, from the public Okawa Elementary School in the city of Ishinomaki, were among a total of 74 children who perished in rising waters after being told to wait for more than 40 minutes in school grounds with teachers, 10 of whom also died. On Thursday, the local governments appealed against the latest compensation ruling before the Supreme Court, an official with Ishinomaki city's education board told AFP. "It's nearly impossible for the principal and other teachers, who are not anti-disaster experts, to predict a tsunami," Masato Chiba said. The plaintiffs argue that their children would have survived if they had been evacuated in time. Hiroyuki Konno, who lost a 12-year-old son and represents the plaintiffs, voiced disappointment at the appeal, telling public broadcaster NHK: "I want the Supreme Court to make a judgement that can protect the lives of children in the future." A massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011, sent a giant tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeastern coast, leaving about 18,500 people dead or missing, and sending three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. It was Japan's worst postwar disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on May 8, 2018 shows President Hassan Rouhani giving a speech on Iranian TV in Tehran Iran on Friday condemned Israel's air raids in Syria, saying they had been launched on "invented pretexts". "Iran firmly condemns the attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, cited by semi-official news agency ISNA. "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," he added. "They are a violation of Syria's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contrary to international law." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iran into the occupied Golan Heights. The red pandas are coveted for their shiny copper fur and "cute" appearance Munching on bamboo and lazing under a fan spraying cooling mist, "Jackie Chan" is in a relaxed mood, one of three red pandas once destined for the exotic wildlife trade but now instead settling into a new home in a leafy Laos sanctuary. The three animals, nicknamed Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Peace, were among six found stuffed into crates during a random check of a van traveling from China over the border into northern Laos in January. Dehydrated and lacking food, three died within days, while the survivors were taken to a sanctuary run by the non-profit Free the Bears in the hills around the tourist hotspot of Luang Prabang. It was "very very hard" to save the three who perished, says Sengaloun Vongsay, Laos programme manager for Free the Bears. It was the first discovery of red pandas in Laos, experts said, fueling fears the endangered species may be the latest targets of the illegal pet industry, coveted for their shiny copper fur and "cute" appearance. Free the Bears has provided temporary enclosures and set aside a section of tree-covered land for the animals "They're eating well, they're generally pretty relaxed," said Michelle Walhout Tanneau, operations manager for Free the Bears. Landlocked Laos is a key transit hub in the illegal and lucrative global trade in wildlife, sharing borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. In January Thai authorities arrested Boonchai Bach, a Vietnamese national with Thai citizenship and an alleged kingpin in Asia's illegal wildlife trade, for rhino horn trafficking. Boonchai and the Bach family are believed to have operated for years from northeast Thailand bordering Laos, where law enforcement is weak and corruption widespread. Freeland, a counter-trafficking organisation that worked with Thai police on his case, on Friday said the 41-year-old Boonchai was this week jailed for two-and-a-half years. Laos' government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the red panda seizure, though Free the Bears said that one Chinese national had been arrested over the find. With their forest habitats under threat, red panda populations in Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar are vulnerable. Free the Bears has provided temporary enclosures and set aside a section of tree-covered land where the red pandas could live in case they could not be released back into the wild. The two superstar nicknames were given by staff, while "Peace" was chosen by a donor. Rod Mabin, a spokesman for the non-profit, said the group was consulting with experts and the red pandas would live in the sanctuary for the foreseeable future. "Ultimately we'll try to make the decision which is best for the future health and safety of the animals and to provide them the best life possible," he said. Police investigators enter the Imam Hussain Mosque on the outskirts of Durban after an attack thatleft one person dead and two injured, which authorities say has "elements of extremism" South African police hunting for three men who stabbed worshippers at a mosque outside Durban said on Friday that the attackers' motive was unknown but "elements of extremism" were involved. Three attackers killed one worshipper, reported to be an imam, and seriously injured two others after midday prayers on Thursday at a mosque in Verulam town, on the outskirts of the eastern port city. The assailants, who also set off a petrol bomb inside the Shia mosque, escaped in a car after the attack. "There are elements of extremism because the incident happened in a place of worship and the manner in which it was conducted," Simphiwe Mhlongo, spokesman for the Hawks police unit, told AFP. "It shows hatred towards the worshippers." Mhlongo stressed that the motive for the attack was still unknown, adding that a major hunt was under way to find the attackers. "The whole law enforcement forces are out, including private security, local detectives and police. Everyone is out on the lookout for the suspects," he said. The man killed had his throat slit, and the other two injured men were stabbed -- one in the abdomen and the other in the groin of his left leg, according to medics at the scene. The blood-soaked victims were found lying in the forecourt of the mosque by emergency services. One man who was attacked inside the building jumped out of a window when it was set alight by the petrol bomb. A knife was left on the ground, but police declined to confirm earlier reports that the attackers had carried guns. The incident appeared to be unprecedented in South Africa, where about 1.5 percent of the country's 55 million population is Muslim. The country prides itself on religious tolerance and has little record of violence related to religion. The South African parliament's police committee condemned the attack. "A mosque is a religious institution, and South Africa's constitution guarantees and protects the right to religious practices," its chairman Francois Beukman said. "We want our communities to live in harmony, practising their religions without fear." Ren has sued police over their "inaction" after she reported her assault A Chinese graduate student has become a social media sensation in China after attempting to sue police for dismissing her rape report, giving the country's fledgling #MeToo movement a new cause. Renee Ren, 26, said her legal action was inspired by "photos of women's marches around the world". "I thought, those women are so brave," she told AFP. In what is thought to be the first case of its kind by a rape victim, Ren has sued police over their "inaction" after she reported her assault. The court that initially accepted her case dismissed it on a technicality last week, saying that as a member of the public she was not entitled to bring a criminal prosecution. But the fact she was able to file at all was a significant victory in a country where citizens have few avenues to challenge authorities. Ren filed an appeal on Friday, countering that her action should be considered a civil suit not a criminal one. She says she is not seeking compensation, but wants the court to discipline officials at the Changjiang police station for the humiliation she suffered after reporting her assault. At the time, a female officer admonished her, saying "not every sexual experience is good", Ren says. It is "common" for authorities not to pursue rape cases, said Lu Xiaoquan, a prominent lawyer who has provided pro-bono advice to Ren. "It is mainly difficult to collect evidence," he said. "There must be physical evidence, and the difficulty of determining whether (the sex act) violated the wishes of the infringed is relatively high." - 'Scared, shamed and hopeless' - Ren said in her lawsuit she was raped in a university dormitory garage last July by someone she knew. "I struggled and screamed.... I was scared, shamed, and hopeless," she told AFP. Officers took photographs of her injuries but did not obtain surveillance video or make contact with her alleged attacker, Ren said. With police refusing to investigate her case, she gave up -- until the #MeToo movement ignited in China earlier this year. It was this public outpouring that prompted Ren to file her lawsuit -- despite pressure from university administrators to drop the case. "They called my parents and said to them I might not graduate or find a job," Ren said. Neither the university nor the police responded to questions from AFP. Ren's blog posts on the popular Weibo platform have been viewed over 20 million times, with comments supportive of a new public face for a movement that has largely been concentrated in university campuses in China. Unlike in the West, where #MeToo has forced resignations and sparked widespread public debate, authorities in China have sought to control the discussion, sometimes allowing and at other times censoring social media commentary. There is no legal definition of sexual harassment in China and no national regulations on how to handle sexual assault cases in schools and workplaces. In a 2017 survey of over 6,500 Chinese students, conducted by the Guangzhou Gender and Sexuality Education Centre, 70 percent reported having been sexually harassed and over 40 percent said the cases took place in public areas on campus. Only four percent of women and even fewer men reported campus sexual abuse cases to police, according to a 2015 Sina.com survey. "The combination of a 'blame the victim' mentality, the lack of institutional or legal recourse, and an imbalanced and gendered power structure without appropriate constraints, discourage reporting such cases," said 2018 research from the China Policy Institute. China's criminal law says the police should accept complaints that are within their "jurisdiction", but the wording leaves room for officers not to pursue cases for legitimate reasons -- such as lack of evidence. - Suing the government - The number of Chinese citizens suing government bodies has crept up since reforms in 2015 obliged courts to hear all cases that fulfill certain basic standards. Occasionally, they are successful. But, says Margaret Lewis, a specialist in Chinese law at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, this one might not be. "The chances are slim that this case will result in the courts finding against the police, especially because the police are such a powerful entity," she said. "But the significance of this case should not be judged by whether there is a formal court verdict in the student's favour. A court case combined with pressure through news reports and social media can shine a spotlight on wrongs and, sometimes, prompt government action." Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman (C) speaks to reporters during a visit at the Israeli settlement of Katzrin in the occupied Golan Heights on May 11, 2018 Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria. "I shall take advantage of this opportunity to send a message to Assad: throw the Iranians out," a defence ministry statement quoted Lieberman as saying during a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. "They are not helping you," he said. "They only do harm and their presence brings only damage and problems." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iranian forces into the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that Israel's bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence". Israel carried out the raids after it said Iran's Al-Quds force fired 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, at its forces in the Golan. It has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assad's regime in the country's seven-year civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of operations in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Iranians set fire to a US flag during a demonstration in Tehran on May 11, 2018 Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" of his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Quds force, which struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. Military escalation between Israel and Iran in Syria But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. - Iran concessions? - Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. An image released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on May 10, 2018 shows what it said was air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". Iran's hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with hundreds protesting in Tehran after Friday prayers, saying it was time to abandon the deal. "Officials shouldn't trust France and Britain. They will never abandon the US for us," said Poormoslem, a housewife at the rally. In Jerusalem, around 200 Jews gathered at the Western Wall for prayers "against the enemy". "We came here to pray to God after the victory against Iran" following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, said Aryeh Stern, a rabbi from Jerusalem. Southern Syria was quiet but tense, with monitors saying Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first on Thursday, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. - 'Severe threat' to stability - But the White House put the blame on Iran, condemning its "reckless actions" that it warned pose a "severe threat" to stability in the Middle East. "Already this week, the IRGC has fired rockets at Israeli citizens, and Iran's proxies in Yemen have launched a ballistic missile at Riyadh," it said, referring to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, and "both leaders condemned the Iranian regime's provocative rocket attacks from Syria," the White House said. The United States has said that despite its withdrawal from the nuclear accord, it wants inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to continue in Iran. The IAEA said meanwhile that its chief inspector Tero Varjoranta resigned, without giving a reason for his sudden departure. "The agency's safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner," a spokesperson for the agency said on Friday. Israeli tanks are seen near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on May 10, 2018 Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. They also see a rare chance for Iran to hold the moral high ground. "For the first time, Iran has the chance to show the world they are not the rogue nation they are always presented as, that they negotiated in good faith and keep to their commitments," said Karim Emile Bitar, of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris. Russia -- which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent further escalation. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that Russia had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, said the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". On Friday the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive. burs-er/wd/ia Army chief Mahesh Senanayake says the military has set up a unit to clear the military's name of allegations of grave abuses at the end of the civil war The Sri Lankan army has formed a special unit to defend itself against allegations of grave human rights abuses at the end of the island's decades-long ethnic war. Army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake said the group would collate local and international reports, and establish the truth to clear the military's name. International rights groups accuse the military of killing 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war which ended in May 2009. The government of the time said not one civilian was killed. "Different people have been saying different things, but our voice has not been heard," Senanayake told Colombo-based foreign correspondents. "That is why I set up the special directorate of overseas operations to prepare our position." Senanayake distanced the military from the previous claims that no civilians died, and acknowledged there may have been individual excesses. "If someone says they know of specific instances (of rights violations) we are ready to investigate," Senanayake said. "I am not going to look the other way. I want to clear the name of the army." He said there were conflicting claims of casualties from the 37-year-old Tamil separatist war. "Different units of the army involved in the final offensive maintained figures of casualties. I want to collate all that. "I know the (then) government said no civilian was killed, but it was not our voice. We never said that. This time, we want to come back with our story." He said the 236,000-strong army wanted to clear its name and play a bigger role in UN international peacekeeping. The government has said it lost at least 26,000 soldiers in the war with another 37,000 wounded. About 20,000 of the injured ended up with a permanent disability. The Tamil Tiger rebels also lost heavily and the entire guerrilla leadership was wiped out in the military onslaught. The government under then president Mahinda Rajapakse, who ordered the offensive, faced international censure for refusing to acknowledge what the UN called credible allegations. The administration which came to power in January 2015 said it was willing to investigate and pay reparations to victims, but progress has been extremely slow. Filipino workers arrive to Manila International Airport from Kuwait on February 18, 2018, after the murder of a Philippine maid sent hundreds of women streaming back home Kuwait and the Philippines signed a deal on Friday to regulate domestic workers, after a dispute between the two countries led to a ban on Filipino workers in the Gulf state. "A short time ago we signed an agreement between the two countries on the employment of domestic workers," Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah told a joint press conference with his Filipino counterpart Alan Peter Cayetano. In February Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a partial ban on workers travelling to Kuwait after a Filipina maid was murdered and her body found in a freezer. The crisis deepened after Kuwaiti authorities in April expelled Manila's ambassador over video footage of Philippine embassy staff helping workers escape employers accused of mistreatment. Cayetano said a new ambassador to Kuwait would soon be appointed and that he would advise Duterte to "immediately" lift the ban. "I think the crisis is over. We will move on with the bilateral relations and we will resume normal ties with Kuwait," said an official with Cayetano's delegation. He added that the agreement "gives a number of rights to Philippine workers". A copy of the agreement seen by AFP says that workers will be allowed to keep their passports and cellphones -- often confiscated by employers. It stipulates that contract renewals should be approved by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, instead of being automatically renewed. Employers must provide domestic workers with food, housing, clothing and health insurance, according to the document. About 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, 60 percent of them in domestic labour, according to Manila. More than two million Filipinos are employed across the Gulf. Rights groups have repeatedly urged Gulf states to reform their labour laws to cover domestic workers and provide them with "equal protections" available to other workers. Youths armed with knives and machetes man a checkpoint in Bangui International aid organisations sounded the alarm over a spike in violence in Bangui, the capital of the perennially restive Central African Republic, saying they had no access to the injured and the dying. Twenty-four people were killed and more than 170 injured in Bangui on May 1, raising tensions and fears of a return to sectarian bloodletting in the one of the world's poorest and most unstable countries. The violence began with a confrontation between security forces and militiamen in Bangui's flashpoint PK5 district, which is predominantly Muslim. The ensuing bloodbath has sparked near daily clashes and seen at least two mosques torched. On Sunday, two people were killed and 10 injured in shooting between security forces and gunmen. "Since the start of April, the humanitarian situation has declined rapidly," the Committee for the Coordination of International NGOs in CAR said in a statement. It said it was "sounding the alarm given the absence of humanitarian aid in some areas of the city," particularly PK5 and its outlying areas. "The residents do not have access to basic services, including health care. Humanitarian workers are often denied access to women, men and children who need assistance. The impact of the security situation on humanitarian needs is extremely worrying," a statement said. "In no case should humanitarian workers and the wounded be targeted by acts of violence," said Benjamin Vienot, the country head of Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger). The lawlessness is prevalent throughout Bangui with armed youths setting up barricades across the city to protect locals from attacks. - Knives, machetes and barriers - In the southern Lakouanga quarter, masked youths armed with knives and machetes set up a makeshift barricade with tables, chairs and pieces of wood. "We search cars entering the area and if there are any passengers who aren't locals, we ask questions," a masked youth told AFP. A woman reacts next to UN soldiers as inhabitants of the mainly Muslim PK5 neighbourhood demonstrate He said the proliferation of barricades was a result of the May 1 bloodletting, adding that their objective was to prevent militiamen from PK5 from entering. "We don't have the material means to defend ourselves against them but we watch out for them to sound the alarm," he said, adding that vigilantes in the nearby Castors neighbourhood were "real warriors and well armed." On Friday, at least 120 women from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo suspected of being informers of a local militia were rounded up by unidentified gunmen from areas adjoining PK5 and taken to another quarter where they were being held, several residents told AFP. - Medical evacuations hampered - The CAR spiralled into bloodshed after longtime leader Francois Bozize was overthrown in 2013 by a Muslim-dominated rebel alliance called the Seleka. Nominally Christian militias called the anti-Balaka emerged in response, accelerating a cycle of sectarian retaliatory violence. France intervened militarily from 2013 to 2016 to push out the Seleka, winding down the operation after Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected president. Touadera governs today with the support of a large UN peacekeeping operation. But most of the country is controlled by ex-rebels and militias, many of them claiming to act as guardians for their Muslim or Christian communities. "It is inadmissible that people put up barricades and prevent people from circulating," said Vladimir Monteiro, spokesman for the UN mission in CAR known by its French acronym MINUSCA. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said medical evacuations had been seriously hampered. "We are very worried by the lack of respect shown to medical missions," said ICRC country director Jean-Francois Sangsue. "On Monday morning, we tried to evacuate 17 people who needed to be admitted in hospital but it was impossible," he said. They were finally evacuated days later in health ministry ambulances escorted by MINUSCA vehicles. Four of the 17 had however died of their wounds due to lack of treatment. Barricades have mushroomed between PK5 and outlying areas like Petevo which is four kilometres away. "On Sunday, there were nearly 10 barricades. One can go on foot but cars are prohibited from circulating. Youths are smashing the windows of passing cars," said a security official. "At Kpetene, there are Muslim snipers firing on Christians from behind trees," he said. An American man was accidentally shot by his own dog in Iowa, highlighting the risk of accidental discharges in the country It's often said that a dog biting a man isn't news -- so one canine companion apparently decided to up the ante. A 51-year-old man from the US state of Iowa says he was shot by his own dog while playing with the pet in his home, local media reported Friday. Richard Remme of Fort Dodge was encouraging his dog Balew, a cross between a pit bull and a labrador, to jump on his lap as he lay on his sofa when the dog apparently flicked the safety catch off the 9mm pistol he was carrying in his belt. "I was lying on the couch, and we were horsing around, me and the dog. And I was tossing him off my lap, and he was jumping back on my lap," he told The Messenger newspaper after being discharged from hospital. "Apparently he bumped the safety one time, and when he bounded back over one of his toes went right down into the trigger guard," the injured dog owner said. "It has a trigger safety as well as a thumb safety, and he managed to hit both of them, and it discharged and went into my leg, did no major damage to anything." Remme called 911 and told the emergency dispatcher: "My dog shot me." "I've never heard of that," the city police chief Roger Porter told the paper. "I've heard of guns dropping and going off on the floor, and horsing around and guns going off. I can't say I've heard a dog story before." Cory Husske, his assistant, later issued a statement saying that a police investigation "could neither prove nor disprove the man's statement of events," adding that no charges were therefore planned. "Only in America can you get shot by your dog," weighed in Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization pushing for stricter gun controls in the United States. The incident proved rather too much for Balew, described by Remme as a "big wuss" who laid down and cried after the firearm went off. "He thought he was in trouble for doing something wrong," Remme said. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Diaz (L) - here with writer Edwidge Danticat while lobbying Capitol Hill lawmakers in 2015 - will step down as Pulitzer chairman pending a probe into sexual misconduct allegations Award-winning and critically acclaimed US novelist Junot Diaz has stepped down as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize Board after being accused of inappropriate sexual conduct. Novelist Zinzi Clemmons confronted Diaz at a literary festival in Australia, before publicly accusing him of forcibly kissing her six years ago while she was a 26-year-old graduate student at Columbia University. Clemmons says the incident happened after she invited the Pulitzer winner to speak at a workshop while she was attending the Ivy League school. "He used it as an opportunity to corner and forcibly kiss me," she tweeted. "I'm far from the only one he's done this 2, I refuse to be silent anymore." Short story author Carmen Maria Machado and novelist Monica Byrne have also taken to Twitter to accuse the Dominican-born novelist and university professor of being verbally aggressive. In April, Diaz published a searing essay in The New Yorker revealing that he had been raped as an eight-year-old. He narrated its damaging impact on his life, detailing depression, drinking and infidelity. "I take responsibility for my past," Diaz said in a statement to The New York Times via his literary agent in reference to the women's accusations. "That is the reason I made the decision to tell the truth of my rape and its damaging aftermath. This conversation is important and must continue. "I am listening to and learning from women's stories in this essential and overdue cultural movement. We must continue to teach all men about consent and boundaries," he said. The Pulitzer Prize Board said Thursday it had ordered an "independent review" into allegations of misconduct against Diaz, and that while he had asked to step down as chairman, he would remain on the board. "Mr Diaz said he welcomed the review and would cooperate fully," it said in a statement. Diaz had been elected incoming chairman only last month. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, the board's immediate past chairman, will take over on an interim basis. A string of powerful men have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct and lost their positions in the #MeToo cultural watershed sparked by the downfall of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey last year. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey, Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." He is a writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Texts used in mosques including the Brussels Grand Mosque call for gays to be stoned to death or thrown off buildings and describe Jews as "evil", the report by the OCAM national terrorism monitoring centre said Teaching manuals in Gulf Arab-financed mosques in Belgium promote anti-semitic stereotypes of Jews and call for the persecution of homosexuals, according to a leaked Belgian intelligence report. The texts used in mosques including the Brussels Grand Mosque call for gays to be stoned to death or thrown off buildings and describe Jews as "evil", the report by the OCAM national terrorism monitoring centre said. The writings, which are used to train preachers and theology professors, were "inspired mainly by classical Islamic law from the Middle Ages," OCAM said in a copy of the report obtained by AFP on Friday. They have "problematic content in terms of radicalism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism," the OCAM report said. Belgian lawmakers say they will discuss the report next week. The report singled out Arabic-language religious training manuals in the Grand Mosque, which is near EU headquarters in Brussels. The Belgian government said in March that it would terminate Saudi Arabia's half-century old lease of the Grand Mosque over concerns it was promoting radicalism. It had been run by the Muslim World League. The manuals call Jews a "corrupt, evil and treacherous people" and call for "war" on all people who do not follow Sunni Islam. They also recommend "stoning" and "fire" as methods of killing gays, along with throwing them off "the highest building in the village". One manual says "the most important principle of jihad is to fight unbelievers and aggressors," according to the report. "Armed jihad becomes an individual duty for every Muslim." OCAM said such manuals are widely available "thanks to the unlimited financial and technological means of the proselytising apparatus of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states." The manuals, it added, were found not only in Belgium but also in neighbouring countries, both in hard copy and online. The report comes from the work of the Belgian parliamentary committee investigating the suicide bombings that killed 32 people at Brussels airport and a metro station in March 2016, which were claimed by the Islamic State group. OCAM director Paul Van Tigchelt will next Wednesday discuss the report with committee members behind closed doors, members of parliament told AFP. "There is an urgency to be firmer and much clearer and close this scholarly institution," centrist opposition lawmaker Georges Dallemagne said, referring to the Grand Mosque. Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, 71, a former chief of staff of the Republic of Congo's army, denies the accusations of "undermining internal state security" after a 2016 presidential poll in which he placed third Prosecutors on Friday sought a minimum 15-year jail term for a Congolese general and former presidential candidate accused by authorities of trying to topple longserving ruler Denis Sassou Nguesso. Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, 71, a former chief of staff of the Republic of Congo's army, denies the accusations of "undermining internal state security" after a 2016 presidential poll in which he placed third. His trial opened on Monday. "The fact that the attack on internal security has been amply proven ... he should not get a prison sentence that is less than 15 years," Brazzaville's chief prosecutor told the court. Mokoko on Wednesday wrote an open letter saying he was "not facing justice but arbitrariness," adding: "No matter what the outcome, I will not give in to anything. I will not bend." In March 2016, Mokoko won less than a 14-percent vote share as Sassou Nguesso was controversially declared a first-round winner. Sassou Nguesso, 74, has cumulatively spent almost 35 years in office since 1979. After the vote, Mokoko and other candidates called for a campaign of "civil disobedience". But "had he wanted to stage a coup he would have done so a long time ago. General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko never said 'take up arms'," one of his lawyers, Norbert Tricaud, told French broadcaster RFI earlier. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet in Singapore on June 12, and Washington and Seoul are laying the groundwork with preparatory meetings The top diplomats from the United States and South Korea meet Friday to lay the groundwork for a summit they hope will prove a historic chance to end North Korea's nuclear menace. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to welcome Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Washington, one month before US President Donald Trump and North Korean autocrat Kim Jong Un are to meet. Pompeo is himself just back from Pyongyang, after securing the first fruit of the tentative thaw in ties between Washington and Kim's regime -- the return of three American detainees. Now, he is working with his own diplomats and with regional allies like South Korea to prepare the agenda for the more high-stakes encounter between two unpredictable leaders. South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration is conducting its own efforts to normalize ties on the divided peninsula and secure lasting peace. Washington's focus is on disarming Kim's regime, which has recently tested what appear to be missiles capable of carrying his nuclear threat to US cities. But both Washington and Seoul -- longtime treaty allies -- cooperate closely and also confer with the North's larger neighbor China, which has a stake in the outcome. "There's a danger here of the peace track moving more quickly than the denuclearization track," warned Abraham Denmark, an Asia expert and former senior US defense official. "If that happens, it could give North Korea an opportunity to try to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington," said Denmark, now a director at the Wilson Center, a think tank in the US capital. Pompeo and Kang were due to give a joint news conference at the State Department later Friday. - 'Very special moment' - On Thursday, Trump revealed that the first-ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader will take place in Singapore on June 12. The location and date were announced in a presidential tweet just hours after Trump welcomed to the United States three American prisoners released by Pyongyang. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. US President Donald Trump (L) and wife Melania walk with freed US detainees Tony Kim (2nd R), Kim Hak-song (R) and Kim Dong-chul (C) upon their return to the United States -- the first fruit of a tentative thaw between Washington and Pyongyang The talks, which are expected to last a day, are set to focus on North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. "I think it will be a big success," Trump said. The release of Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul removed one obstacle, providing Trump with evidence that his twin-track policy of engagement and "maximum pressure" is working. "We're not under any illusions about who these people are. We know who we are dealing with here," said Victoria Coates, of the National Security Council. "But we got, up front, our people home." - Neutral setting - The United States and North Korea are technically still at war -- a stop-gap armistice ended the brutal three-year Korean war in 1953 and around 30,000 American troops remain in neighboring South Korea, which the US supported in the conflict. Map locating Singapore, where the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un will take place on June 12 Singapore will provide a neutral backdrop for the summit, avoiding some of the security and political challenges of meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South. When Trump and Kim do sit down, the two relatively untested leaders will be presented with a puzzle that has stymied seasoned diplomats for decades. A series of US administrations has sent envoys, both official and unofficial, to Pyongyang in the hope of stopping North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited after leaving office. Multiple rounds of non-proliferation talks have taken place, and a deal was even signed in 1994. But, despite the optimism of that moment, all efforts to limit North Korea's nuclear program have so far failed. And, more than two decades and multiple provocative weapons tests after the last accord, the threat from Pyongyang has only grown. - Troop withdrawals? - North Korea nuclear tests So far, the North Korean regime has made vague pledges to "denuclearize" but has not spelled out what that means, when it would happen or how it would be implemented. In North Korea's bombastic rhetoric, "denuclearization" has, for years, been a byword for US troop withdrawals from South Korea. Hardliners in the North are believed to see possession of a nuclear weapon as a guarantee against US-led efforts to topple Kim's regime. People wait at an intersection following reports of a shooting at nearby Highland High School in Palmdale, California Police in California arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with a shooting at a high school near Los Angeles on Friday that left one hurt, the local sheriff's department and education officials said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff said the suspect had been detained near Highland High School in Palmdale, 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles. Both were students at the school. "Deputies responded immediately to Palmdale shooting, arrest made, weapon found, active investigation underway. Reasonably sure threat is contained," department spokesman Jim McDonnell tweeted. The suspect was a "male Hispanic juvenile," the sheriff's office said, later clarifying that the weapon was a rifle that was "recovered off campus." The sheriff's office said a boy had been shot in the arm at the school and was in stable condition at a local hospital. Local media reported that the victim, also 14, was wounded as he was getting out of the car that brought him to the campus. Agents with the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were heading to the scene, the agency said. About a half hour later, calls were received about "shots fired" near Manzanita Elementary School, around eight miles to the west, the sheriff's department reported, adding that officers found no evidence of a crime there. Deputies said they had secured both locations, and were investigating. "We are all concerned about the safety of our children," Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado said in an alert. "It has been confirmed that earlier this morning, there was an active shooter on the Highland High School campus. Apparently, the person was already apprehended. "I want to let you know that all of the Palmdale Elementary Schools were put on lockdown, and will stay on lockdown until the situation is confirmed as safe for our students, teachers, staff and parents." Highland confirmed in a tweet that it saw "no threat" to pupils and added that staff were working with law enforcement to determine release procedures for students. US President Donald Trump convened the world's most important auto executives at the White House Friday to review plans to rollback fuel emissions standards and to press for increased production on US soil. Trump also heaped criticism on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the pact currently being rewritten and in which the auto industry features prominently, but gave no hints on whether a deal could be struck by a key deadline next week. "We have at this table the biggest car manufacturers in the world all represented by their top people," Trump said at the start of the meeting. Participants included the leaders of Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, as well as top executives BMW, Mercedes Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. In addition to rules on auto emissions, Trump said the meeting was focused on "how to build more cars in the United States." "We have great capacity for building. We want a lot of the cars to be made in the United States," the president added. He singled out Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne for praise due the company's plans to move production of its popular Dodge Ram truck to back to the US from Mexico. "Thank you, you're moving to Michigan from Mexico," Trump said. "That's what we like. Right now, he's my favorite man in the room." FCA announced in January its plan to invest $1 billion in a Michigan assembly plant and create 2,500 jobs. The White House meeting comes as trade officials from the Canada, Mexico and the US race the clock to reach a deal on a revised NAFTA but are hung up on Washington's demands to increase the US-made components in vehicles that receive duty free status. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he would need a written agreement by May 17 in order for Congress to approve a revamped trade pact this year, while Republicans still control the legislature -- something that could change in the November midterm elections. The Trump administration is also reviewing fuel economy standards imposed at the very end of Barack Obama's administration in January 2017, and automakers have said they support changes. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standards would require carmakers to reach an average of 54.5 miles per gallon (23 kilometers per liter) across all models they produce by 2025, in an effort to significantly reduce oil consumption and the greenhouse gases linked to climate change. But California has a stricter standard than other states, and carmakers prefer a single national standard. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, who has pushed to roll back the tougher rules, also attended the White House meeting. An image released on May 10, 2018 by the government-affiliated "Central War Media" in Syria purportedly shows Syrian air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Damascus' airspace The White House on Friday slammed Iran for its "reckless actions" that it warned pose a "severe threat" to stability in Middle East. The statement came after Iranian forces in Syria were accused by Israel of launching some 20 missiles into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting Israeli strikes against positions held by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Syria. The White House said that Iran "pours resources into exporting destabilizing influence throughout the Middle East, even as the Iranian people are victims of a struggling economy." "Already this week, the IRGC has fired rockets at Israeli citizens, and Iran's proxies in Yemen have launched a ballistic missile at Riyadh. "These actions are further proof that the Iranian regime's reckless actions pose a severe threat to regional peace and security. "It is time for responsible nations to bring pressure on Iran to change this dangerous behavior." Iran is backing the Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen's civil war. The Huthis are battling a Saudi-led coalition that supports Yemen's government. US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with carmakers in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 11, 2018 US President Donald Trump convened the world's most important auto executives at the White House Friday to press for increased domestic production, while again heaping criticism on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Negotiators are currently working to rewrite the 24-year-old trade pact in which the auto industry features prominently, but the US, Canada and Mexico have not yet bridged their differences on criteria for duty-free car imports. "NAFTA has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country. And we'll see if we can make it reasonable," Trump said at the start of the meeting. He gave no hints on whether a deal could be struck by a key deadline next week, but the Canadian and Mexican trade ministers signaled that they are focused on the content, not the time pressures. Canada Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has been in Washington all week for meetings with Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, told reporters: "The negotiations will take as long as it takes to get a good deal." The talks are hung up on Washington's demands to increase the US-made components in vehicles that receive duty-free status in NAFTA, and the clock is running out. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he would need a written agreement by May 17 -- next Thursday -- in order for Congress to approve a revamped trade pact this year, while Republicans still control the legislature -- something that could change in the November midterm elections. Guajardo said trade officials will continue the discussions and the ministers will be on call to continue talks next week, but cautioned that "we're not going to sacrifice the quality for the pressure of time." - Emissions rules - Trump said one purpose of the meeting with auto industry officials was to focus on "how to build more cars in the United States." "We have a great capacity for building. We're importing a lot of cars, and we want a lot of those cars to be made in the United States," he said. The leaders of Fiat Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, as well as top executives from BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen attended the meeting. The president singled out Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne for praise due to the company's plans to move production of its popular Dodge Ram truck back to the US from Mexico. "Right now, he's my favorite man in the room," Trump said. "It's a big deal. Leaving Mexico; going to Michigan. That was very well received. I appreciate it. Thank you." FCA announced in January its plan to invest $1 billion in a Michigan assembly plant and create 2,500 jobs. Trump also wanted to discuss plans to roll back fuel economy standards imposed at the very end of Barack Obama's administration in January 2017. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards would require carmakers to reach an average of 54.5 miles per gallon (23 kilometers per liter) across all models they produce by 2025, in an effort to significantly reduce oil consumption and the greenhouse gases linked to climate change. Automakers have said they support changes to the rules, and prefer a single national standard. California has a stricter standard than other states. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, who has pushed to roll back the tougher rules, also attended the White House meeting. Houses destroyed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in Beichuan have been kept frozen in time since China marked the 10th anniversary Saturday of a massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands in southwest Sichuan province and left scars on the nation that have yet to fully heal. More than 87,000 were left dead or missing when a 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan on the afternoon of May 12, 2008, including 5,335 school pupils. The disaster provoked widespread grief in China, but also outrage after it emerged 7,000 schools were badly damaged, triggering accusations of shoddy construction, corner-cutting and possible corruption, especially as many other buildings nearby held firm. A decade on, the government has still never released an official investigation into the accusations. Even now campaigners and parents are seeking answers on how the quake destroyed so many schools when it struck during afternoon classes. They became known as "tofu schools" in China, likening their structural instability to the soft bean curd dish. A remembrance ceremony was due to take place Saturday afternoon at a collapsed school in Yingxiu, which has been preserved as a memorial to the dead with a sculpture of a giant clock showing the earthquake's time and date. - Pivotal event - The earthquake may have been one of the most pivotal events in China's recent history. It inspired a generation of journalists and activists, catapulting artist Ai Weiwei -- who organised a probe into the school collapses -- to fame. Huge donations to relief funds at the time popularised the idea of private giving, inspiring the creation of a host of new charitable organisations. And as the country united in the face of the tragedy, it -- along with the 2008 Summer Olympics -- helped to crystallise a new sense of national identity. More than 87,000 were left dead or missing when a 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan in May 2008 -- and scars of the disaster, physical and mental, remain But authorities quickly moved to tamp down the new spirit of openness, arresting critics and journalists alike. Ai Weiwei was beaten by police and held in detention for months. He has since left the country. And a plethora of scandals tainted the new enthusiasm for giving, with the Red Cross in particular caught up in a huge row over misdirected funds. Today, the cities and villages that were destroyed have mostly been reconstructed, after the government poured billions into the recovery effort. New roads, power lines, and communications link the once-remote areas to the provincial capital Chengdu. The standard of living has improved substantially for many survivors, who have benefited from tourists flooding into the region to see the ruins. Even so, for grieving families, the scars run deep. But for China's ruling Communist party, the disaster has become a propaganda opportunity. Editorials on the quake filled state media Saturday, with commentators opining on how the region's rehabilitation displayed the strength of China and the party. A Chinese rescuer in May 2008 checks a collapsed building for earthquake survivors in Wenchuan, in southwest China's Sichuan province The recovery effort "shows the indomitable leadership of China's Communist Party and the superiority of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics", wrote the official Xinhua news service. The story went on to explain how Chinese president Xi Jinping's leadership had helped the province rebuild itself after the disaster -- despite the fact he took office more than four years after it occurred. Earlier this year, when Xi visited the ruins of Yichuan, he called for them to be used as an "important patriotic education base". The United States promised Friday that it would work to rebuild North Korea's sanctions-crippled economy if Kim Jong Un's regime agrees to surrender its nuclear arsenal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's vow came as senior US officials expressed growing optimism ahead of the landmark June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. Pompeo, who held talks Pyongyang's young leader over the weekend, even said 'we have a pretty good understanding between our two countries about what the shared objectives are.' He was speaking after talks with his South Korean opposite number Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to coordinate Washington and Seoul's preparations for the historic encounter. The United States promised Friday that it would work to rebuild North Korea's economy if Kim Jong Un's regime agrees to surrender its nuclear arsenal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (right) is seen with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in Washington on Friday Many observers have warned Kim's regime will try to drive a wedge between the allies as the summit approaches, playing Seoul's fear of war against Washington's nuclear concerns. But both Kang and Pompeo insisted that they agreed on the need for the 'total, permanent and verifiable' denuclearization of the divided peninsula. Trump and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in are due to meet on May 22 at the White House for the next round of planning. And Pompeo said the United States would remain on board to help develop the North's economy, which has been devastated by its own mismanagement and crippling international sanctions. 'If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends,' he said. Since an ad hoc 1953 armistice put an end to active hostilities between the North and the South, South Korea has emerged from devastation to become a leading world economy. Pompeo's vow came as senior US officials expressed growing optimism ahead of the landmark June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump (seen left welcoming three American detainees after their release from North Korea on Thursday) But the North has remained one of the world's most isolated states and its outdated economy has been further battered by a UN-backed 'maximum pressure' campaign of sanctions. Over the past year Kim and Trump have also added a personal touch to a half-century of international enmity, swapping insults and both openly threatening devastating direct military action. Kim's regime also carried out missile tests that convinced US intelligence officials, including Pompeo in his former role as CIA chief, that North Korea could threaten US cities. But South Korea's President Moon reached out to the North, reopening direct talks, and when Kim invited Trump to a summit to discuss disarmament the mood changed. At the weekend, Pompeo flew to Pyongyang for a second round of talks and to recover three released American detainees, and now a summit date has been set for June 12 in Singapore. 'We had good conversations, conversations that involve deep complex problems, challenges, strategic decisions that chairman Kim has before him,' Pompeo said. The pair, he said, talked 'about how it is he wishes to proceed and if he's prepared, in exchange for the assurances that we're ready to provide him, if he is prepared to fully denuclearize. 'We'll require a robust verification program, one that we would undertake with partners around the world which would achieve that outcome,' he warned. But he added: 'I'm confident that we have a shared understanding of the outcome that the leaders want, certainly President Trump and chairman Kim, but I think President Moon as well.' South Korea's Kang shared in Pompeo's optimism and was at pains to insist that there is no daylight between how Washington and Seoul are approaching the talks. South Korea's President Moon (right) reached out to the North, reopening direct talks. Kim Jong-un is seen left with Moon in Panmunjon, South Korea on April 27 'We agreed that the summit would be an historic opportunity for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, and securing enduring peace on the Korean peninsula,' she said. 'We reaffirmed that our goal is to achieve the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula,' she added, promising 'air-tight' coordination. Pompeo's promise of an economic carrot to match the stick of 'maximum pressure' may reassure observers who are concerned that Seoul and Washington's objectives are not exactly aligned. 'There's a danger here of the peace track moving more quickly than the denuclearization track,' warned Abraham Denmark, an Asia expert and former senior US defense official. 'If that happens, it could give North Korea an opportunity to try to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington,' said Denmark, now at the Wilson Center think tank in the US capital. So far, the North Korean regime has made vague pledges to 'denuclearize' but has not spelled out what that means, when it would happen or how it would be implemented. In North Korea's bombastic rhetoric, 'denuclearization' has, for years, been a byword for US troop withdrawals from South Korea - an idea that Kang appeared to reject. After her talks with Pompeo, she took pains to 'emphasize again that the US military presence in Korea is a matter for the ROK-US alliance first and foremost.' Hardliners in the North are believed to see a nuclear weapon as a guarantee against outside efforts to topple the regime, but Trump insists he will not tolerate their growing arsenal. LISBON, Portugal (AP) - The Eurovision Song Contest has completed its lineup of 26 contestants who will face off for this year's crown, following a second semifinal. Performers from Serbia, Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia and The Netherlands earned enough votes Thursday night to reach the Grand Final. Missing out on Saturday's headline show were Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino. Alexander Rybak from Norway performs the song 'That's How You Write A Song' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Half of the votes were cast by a professional jury and the other half remotely by viewers. A first semifinal to choose 10 finalists was held on Tuesday. Five countries and host Portugal automatically qualified for the final. A total of 43 countries have been taking part in the hugely popular annual event, which is in its 63rd year. It is being held this year in the Portuguese capital Lisbon because the Portuguese contestant, Salvador Sobral, won last year's event in Kiev, Ukraine. On a more sour note, the event's organizers said they have torn up their contract with China's Mango TV after it allegedly censored two performances. The European Broadcasting Union, an alliance of public service broadcasters, said censorship "is not in line with the EBU's values of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music." The organization did not say which acts had been cut by Mango. The EBU said in a statement Thursday the contract allowing the Chinese broadcaster to televise the 2018 contest was terminated immediately, leaving Mango TV unable to air the second semifinal on Thursday and the Grand Final on Saturday. The Chinese company could not immediately be contacted. The Eurovision Song Contest is popular in countries outside of Europe, including China. Alexander Rybak from Norway performs the song 'That's How You Write A Song' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) The Humans from Romania perform the song 'Goodbye' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) The Humans from Romania perform the song 'Goodbye' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's rally in Indiana with Vice President Mike Pence (all times local): 8:35 p.m. President Donald Trump is taking on Indiana's Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, branding him "Sleepin' Joe" and a "swamp person" at a rally in Elkhart, Indiana. President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Trump assailed Donnelly on Thursday, two days after Republicans nominated former state lawmaker Mike Braun to challenge the vulnerable Democratic in November. It's expected to be one of the most competitive Senate campaigns. Trump says Donnelly will "do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do" and "say one thing in Elkhart," and then support the "radical, liberal agenda." Before the rally, Donnelly's campaign said the senator had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time "because he works for Hoosiers, not any politician or political party." Trump's political advisers see the rally as a way to project party unity following a bruising primary. ___ 7:55 p.m. President Donald Trump is declaring America "rockin'" as he kicks off a campaign rally in Elkhart, Indiana. Trump on Thursday talked up the economy and his accomplishments, telling a rowdy audience that the "great news keeps rolling in." He says he doesn't think "we've ever done better as a country." He says, "We making America proud. We are rockin.'" Trump is also warning of the potential consequences of Democratic wins in the midterms in November that threaten to derail his agenda in Congress. He says he's making strides like never before, but that can disappear if voters elect "fools" into office. ___ 7:30 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is praising President Donald Trump's leadership at a rally in his home state of Indiana. Pence, the state's former governor, in introducing the president in Elkhart on Thursday. He says Trump has kept his campaign promises and is embracing his leadership role on the world stage. Pence says the president is making progress on North Korea and bringing home three Americans who were held there. He notes that the U.S. is pulling out of the "disastrous" Iran nuclear deal and opening up the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The vice president is blasting Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana. He says when Trump asked him to support his tax overhaul or his plan to end the Affordable Care Act, "Joe voted no." Pence says Donnelly's Republican opponent, Mike Braun "will stand" with Trump. ___ 12:20 a.m. President Donald Trump is returning to his campaign roots with big-stage events allowing him to target vulnerable Senate Democrats and mobilize his most fervent supporters on behalf of Republicans. Trump is set to rally supporters in Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday night, two days after state Republicans nominated former state lawmaker Mike Braun to challenge vulnerable Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly. Trump's political advisers view the event as a way to project party unity following a bruising primary between Braun and two Indiana Republican congressmen. Home-state Vice President Mike Pence will also attend the rally. Trump has told advisers he is eager to ramp up his campaign travel on behalf of Republicans. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence wave to the cheering crowd during a campaign event before President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The crowd cheers as Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Donald Trump at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President Donald Trump takes in the cheering crowd as he speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday: 1. IRAN, ISRAEL TRADE AIRSTRIKES The scope of the tit-for-tat attacks in Syria and the Golan Heights raises the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., walks to the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Democrats on the House intelligence committee have released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency, providing the fullest picture yet of Russia's attempt to sow racial and political division in the United States before and after the 2016 election. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 2. SITE, DATE SET FOR SUMMIT Trump announces he will meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un for highly anticipated talks in Singapore on June 12. 3. TRUMP TO ADDRESS DRUG COSTS The president is poised to give his first speech on lowering drug prices after more than a year of promises to bring down the prices Americans pay for prescriptions. 4. INDEPENDENTS ALTERING POLITICAL PICTURE More than a quarter of California voters aren't registered in a political party, making them the fastest growing share of voters in the state. 5. TROVE OF ADS UNVEILED Democrats on the House intelligence committee release more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency. 6. WHY DEALERS COULD RUN SHORT OF VEHICLES A fire that damaged a Michigan auto parts supply factory is causing production problems at Ford, Fiat Chrysler, BMW and General Motors. 7. HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S ESTRANGED WIFE SPEAKS OUT Georgina Chapman, giving her first interview since the scandal erupted, says she never knew about her husband's alleged sexual misconduct. 8. WHO'S PITCHING MEDICAL MARIJUANA Nearly half of U.S. cancer doctors who responded to a survey say they've recently recommended medical pot to patients. 9. CELTICS VS. CAVS IS MATCHUP FEW EXPECTED For long stretches this season, it seemed nearly impossible that Boston and Cleveland would reach the Eastern Conference finals. 10. HOW SPOTIFY IS PENALIZING R. KELLY The streaming service removes the R&B superstar's music from its playlists, citing its new policy on hate content and hateful conduct. FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2017 file photo, fashion designer Georgina Chapman arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. Chapman, Harvey Weinstein's estranged wife, has given a tearful interview in Vogue magazine which she says she never knew of her husband's misconduct. The interview comes a day after Wintour came out in support of Chapman on Stephen Colbert's late-night show, "Late Night with Stephen Colbert" and a few days after Scarlett Johansson wore a gown by Marchesa, Chapman's fashion line, at the Met Gala. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) - AT&T paid President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, $600,000 for advice on its proposed purchase of Time Warner shortly after Trump's election, according to a report published Thursday by The Washington Post. The ties between AT&T and Cohen had previously been revealed, but the telecommunications company had only said it agreed to pay the attorney to gain a better understanding on how the incoming Trump administration might approach a wide range of issues, including antitrust issues. The Justice Department is seeking to block AT&T's $85 billion purchase of Time Warner on the grounds that it would stifle competition. AT&T disagreed, sending the battle into a federal trial. U.S District Judge Richard Leon is expected to issue a ruling next month. Dallas-based AT&T Inc. didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about the Post's story. Its contract with Cohen ended last year. Cohen also received payments from other companies seeking insights about the Trump administration. The list includes pharmaceutical giant Novartis, which has confirmed paying Cohen $1.2 million. Federal prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank fraud centered on a $130,000 payment to silence Stephanie Clifford, a porn star better known as Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in 2006, a tryst the president has denied. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Sony Pictures has acquired the worldwide distribution rights for a film about Gary Hart's 1988 presidential bid. The studio said Thursday that it will release "The Front Runner" in the fall to coincide with both awards season and the election. Hugh Jackman is starring as Hart in the film from director Jason Reitman. The film will chronicle the politician's rise and fall as an extramarital affair with a woman named Donna Rice became tabloid fodder and a national scandal. Reitman says he can't wait for audiences to see Jackman's transformation into the complex figure. Reitman calls Jackman's performance "humanist." This combination photo shows Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart withdrawing from the presidential race on in Denver on May 8, 1987, left, and actor Hugh Jackman at the 7th annual AACTA International Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2018. Jackman will portray Hart in "The Front Runner," about Hart's 1988 Presidential bid. Sony Pictures, who acquired the worldwide distribution rights, say they will release the film in the fall to coincide with both awards season and the election. (AP Photo) The screenplay is based on journalist Matt Bai's 2014 book "All the Truth is Out." It was co-written by Reitman, Bai and former Hillary Clinton press secretary Jay Carson. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A 58-year-old convicted killer from northwestern Missouri is charged in the death of a Missouri Air National Guard member who was stabbed in what authorities are calling a road rage incident. Jackson County authorities charged Nicholas Webb, of Pleasant Hill, with second-degree murder and armed criminal action on Thursday. Authorities allege he stabbed 23-year-old Cody Harter, of St. Joseph, on Saturday after a confrontation along a highway in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit. The Kansas City Star reports Webb was convicted of second-degree murder in Jackson County in 1981 and was in and out of prison with parole violations. He was last released from prison in July. As a member of the Air National Guard, Harter did a tour in Iraq and served in Qatar, and helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. Harter's funeral is scheduled for Friday. ___ Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's release of three American detainees offers some hope for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted over the years by the North. But the families are also frustrated, feeling they've been forgotten amid a global diplomatic push to resolve a nuclear standoff with Pyongyang The families say their decades-long struggle to bring home their loved ones has been ignored by Pyongyang and successive governments in Seoul. Current South Korean President Moon Jae-in, they say, has sidelined human rights issues as he reaches out to the North. Still, Wednesday's release of the Americans raises the possibility that their cases will be addressed in future talks with the North, including a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump that could happen in the coming weeks. In this May 8, 2018, photo, South Korean Hwang In-cheol, the son of a broadcast journalist whose flight was hijacked by a North Korean operative nearly 50 years ago, holds a photo showing himself with his father, during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea's release of three American detainees on Thursday, May 10, 2018, is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) "My only hope is with President Trump," said Hwang In-cheol, the son of a broadcast journalist whose flight was hijacked by a North Korean operative nearly 50 years ago. "I hope he puts the nuclear problem and human rights issue on the same table and solves them at once." According to South Korean government figures, North Korea abducted at least 3,835 South Koreans after the 1950-53 Korean War, mostly from the 1950s to the 1970s when Seoul says the North systematically kidnapped South Koreans and other foreigners to train them for propaganda and spying. While most were eventually released or successfully escaped back to the South, 516 never returned, as of 2015, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. It's unclear how many are alive. North Korea denies kidnapping the South Koreans and says they want to remain in the North. Here's a look at the South Koreans detained in the North: ___ THE PASSENGERS Hwang was 2 years old in December 1969, when his journalist father left for a business trip in Seoul. His Korean Air flight never reached its destination but instead landed near the North Korean city of Wonsan after being hijacked by a passenger South Korea later identified as a North Korean agent. Two months later, North Korea said it would return all 50 people on board to the South. But the North sent home only 39 of them and claimed that the remaining 11, including Hwang's father, wanted to stay. The detainees also included the plane's captain, co-pilot and two flight attendants, who later appeared in North Korean propaganda broadcasts. Hwang, 51, has spent much of his adult life campaigning for his father's release. He said he was able to communicate with his father through brokers in December 2012 and arranged a plan to smuggle him out across the Yalu River into China. That was foiled by a temporary closing of the border following a North Korea nuclear test in February 2013. He said he last heard in 2016 that his father was still alive. Hwang said he's "happy and envious" about the release of the Americans, but also angry about what he calls official indifference in Seoul. While the United States aggressively pushes for the release of detained Americans and Japan regularly raises its citizens held in the North, South Korea has maintained a quieter stance. Relatives say past South Korean governments ignored the issue while chasing inter-Korean summits or were reluctant to revisit a time when the country failed repeatedly to protect its own citizens. North Korea's human rights issues weren't specifically mentioned in a joint statement announced by Moon and Kim after their summit last month. Seoul's Unification Ministry has said it hopes to solve the abductees issue through future inter-Korean talks and international efforts, but has not announced specific plans. ___ THE FISHERMEN The abducted include South Korean government officials, businessmen, students and even a movie director and actress who both later escaped. However, the vast majority of them were impoverished fishermen, who North Korea found as useful foils for its propaganda machine. Of the 516 South Koreans in the North, 457 of them were fishermen, according to the Unification Ministry. The mass abductions of South Korean fishermen slowed after the mid-1970s when the North began shifting its kidnapping targets to non-Koreans, especially Japanese. That was also when South Korea began deploying anti-ship missiles and strengthening its fleet of patrol ships in its western seas, which made North Korean hijacking operations more difficult, analysts say. Choi Sung-ryong, the 65-year-old son of a fisherman who was abducted in 1967, said the American detainees released this week should "feel fortunate they weren't South Koreans." "Why is President Moon speaking out for American detainees and Japanese abductees while remaining silent about the hundreds of South Koreans who never returned?" Choi said. "He must openly and firmly raise the issue on live television when he visits Pyongyang for his second summit with Kim Jong Un later this year." Choi believes his father was executed in North Korea in 1970. Choi said he managed over the years to smuggle out 20 South Korean abductees and Korean War prisoners over the North's border with China, but hasn't been able to arrange a successful escape attempt in "seven or eight years." "While most of the prisoners of war would be dead by now, many of the post-war abductees are likely alive," Choi said. "Most relatives don't even dream about bringing home their loved ones anymore; they just want to know if they are still alive." ___ THE MISSIONARIES North Korea hates South Korean activists, many of them evangelical Christians who smuggle out defectors and send anti-Pyongyang literature and Bibles into the North through its border with China. South Korea says North Korea is holding at least three of them. North Korea in 2014 sentenced South Korean Baptist missionary Kim Jung-wook to hard labor for life on charges of spying and trying to set up underground churches. That was a year before the North convicted Kim Kuk-gi and Choi Chun-gil on similar spying charges and also sentenced them to hard labor for life. The North in 2016 announced the arrest of another South Korean, Ko Hyon Chol, who it accused of spying and trying to enter the North to kidnap children. South Korea also believes North Korea is detaining two North Korea-born citizens who had defected to the South. ___ Follow Kim Tong-hyung on Twitter at @KimTongHyung. In this July 7, 2016, photo, Choi Sung-ryong, left, the 65-year-old son of a fisherman who was abducted in 1967, speaks during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea's release of three American detainees on Thursday, May 10, 2018, is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (Kim Dong-min/Newsis via AP) FILE - In this Thursday, May 10, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, center, speaks as he greets Tony Kim, second from left, Kim Dong Chul, fourth from right, and Kim Hak Song, second from right, three Americans detained in North Korea for over a year, as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. First lady Melania Trump, far left, Vice President Mike Pence, behind Tony Kim, and his wife Karen Pence, behind Trump, were also at the air force base to greet them. North Korea's release of three American detainees is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - In this April 27, 2018 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the border line at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone. North Korea's release of three American detainees is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File) FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2014, file photo, Kim Jung Wook, a South Korean Baptist missionary, speaks under portraita of the late leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il during a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea's release of three American detainees is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) FILE - This combination of two file photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaking during a roundtable discussion on tax cuts in Cleveland, Ohio, May 5, 2018 and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, talking with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Panmunjom, South Korea, April 27, 2018. North Korea's release of three American detainees is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File) FILE - In this Thursday, May 10, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, from left, greets Tony Kim, Kim Hak Song, seen in the shadow, and Kim Dong Chul, three Americans detained in North Korea for more than a year, as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. North Korea's release of three American detainees is both hopeful and disheartening for the relatives of hundreds of South Koreans abducted by the North. First lady Melania Trump also greet them at right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The body of a 3-year-old girl who had been missing since a boating accident in Pennsylvania that killed her mother and injured her father has been recovered. Officials say Madelyn Binkley's body was recovered on Thursday. She was in a boat with her mother, Mary Bredbenner, and her father, Cody Binkley, when it capsized Monday night in the Susquehanna (suhs-kwuh-HAN'-uh) River off Harrisburg. Bredbenner's body was recovered on Tuesday. A coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning on Thursday. The father was treated at a hospital for hypothermia. The body of a family dog also was pulled from the river. Authorities haven't determined what caused the boat to capsize. BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - An Indian journalist charged with attempting to smuggle a group of his countrymen into Australia for the Commonwealth Games will spend at least six more weeks in custody after having his case adjourned on Friday. Rakesh Kumar Sharma, who Indian media say is employed by a newspaper and based in Chandigarh, was charged with people smuggling and falsifying documents in late March after allegedly using fake media credentials for eight people, who were taken into immigration detention. Sharma, 46, was remanded in custody in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday until his case resumes on June 22. Court documents allege Sharma, who was not required to appear on Friday, arranged for the group, ages between 19 and 37, to come to Australia. He is also accused of filing a form he knew was forged or false, which would enable them to get visas to stay in Australia. The maximum penalty for the offenses is 20 years in jail. The Commonwealth Games were held on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane from April 4-15. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Nearly two months after a black councilwoman was shot and killed in Rio de Janeiro, police on Thursday recreated the murder scene in hopes of discovering clues about who did it. The late night simulation took place on the same street where Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were shot dead on March 14 while on their way back from an event focused on empowering black women. Surrounding streets were blocked off and police put up black tarps to obstruct the view of journalists and other onlookers. Scores of soldiers were on hand to secure the area for tests that would include gun shots. A car similar to the one where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed, is seen on a flat bed before the reconstruction of the crime scene at the site where they were killed, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Detective Giniton Lages told reporters that witnesses who were on the street when the killing happened were participating. "It's important to have the movement of the vehicles and sounds," said Lages. "We can also see if the shooter was skilled or not. If there was a burst of shots or they were intermittent." The simulation comes at a time of growing frustration over an apparent lack of progress toward solving a slaying that shocked Latin America's largest nation and led to demonstrations in several countries. There are also questions about how the case has been handled amid several leaks. Elected in 2016, the 38-year-old Franco was a member of the left-leaning Socialism and Liberty Party. She was known for social work in poor and marginalized shantytowns, or favelas, and for her outspokenness against police violence. Just days before she was killed, Franco lamented on social media what she alleged were recent police killings. "There is huge concern that two months after the killing of Marielle Franco there are no answers from authorities," said Renata Neder, research coordinator for Amnesty International Brazil. Franco's death touched a nerve in a nation where more than 50 percent of people identify as black or mixed race yet most politicians are white. Activist groups in other countries, such as Black Lives Matter in the United States, saw Franco's death as a symbol of a larger struggle for equality. The day after the attack, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Rio to demand answers. Protests in Brazil and demonstrations other countries followed the proceeding weeks. In the aftermath, President Michel Temer and state authorities said the perpetrators would be brought to justice. However, no arrests have been made and public security experts have openly criticized the investigation. A barrage of leaks to local media have included information about the possible origin of the bullets, the car used by the assailants and even the names of people being investigated. "These are things that should never be leaked," said Ignacio Cano, a professor at Rio State University and head of its Violence Analysis Lab. Cano said that the chances of solving a crime usually drop dramatically after a few days, but the Franco case was different because it was so high profile. Late Thursday, Public Security Secretary Raul Jungian told reporters in the capital of Brasilia that councilman Marcello Siciliano, along with a police officer and a former officer and militia boss now in jail were being investigated. "We should soon have results," he said, adding that others were also being investigated. Siciliano held a press conference Wednesday to deny his involvement a day after his name was first leaked. With each passing day, there is increasing fear that the killing will go unsolved, the fate of the vast majority of murder cases in Brazil. The country has the dubious distinction of being the world leader in absolute number of homicides each year. In 2016, 57,395 people were killed in Brazil, according to Brazilian think tank Igarape, more than in the United States, Mexico, Canada and China combined. Numerous studies in Brazil have found that less than 10 percent of homicide cases are solved. Workers cover with plastic the site where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed before the crime reconstruction, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) A drawing of councilwoman Marielle Franco is seen on a wall at the site where Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Police officers walk next to a car similar to the one where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed, before the reconstruction of the crime scene at the site where they were killed, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Police officers walk next to a car similar to the one where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed, before the reconstruction of the crime scene at the site where they were killed, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Workers cover with plastic the site where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed before the crime reconstruction, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) The word that reads in Portuguese "Execution" is seen on a wall where councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were killed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Authorities will re-enact the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, a black city councilwoman shot in the head four times. Franco was slain two months ago while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Sweden looked to Guatemala for an explanation on Friday after the Central American country asked both the European nation and Venezuela to remove their ambassadors and accused them of interfering in its internal affairs. Sweden's foreign minister says it is "very unfortunate" that the country's ambassador to Guatemala has been ordered to leave. Margot Walstrom says the Swedish government will ask for "further explanations" as to why ambassador Anders Kompass has been given 30 days to leave, adding the Scandinavian country's stance and actions "in matters relating to human rights and anti-corruption are well known." FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2006 file photo, Anders Kompass, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights representative in Guatemala and currently ambassador of Sweden, speaks with reporters during a press conference in Guatemala City. The Guatemalan government has asked Sweden and Venezuela, on Thursday, May 11, 2018, to withdraw their ambassadors by attitudes of "interference in internal affairs." (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File) A Guatemalan government press release Thursday said Guatemala also wants Venezuelan diplomat Elena Alicia Salcedo to depart. Kompass is a well-known official and human rights defender. A few days earlier he had announced Sweden's financial support for a United Nations-sponsored commission investigating corruption in Guatemala. The commission, which goes by the initials CICIG, had accused Guatemala President Jimmy Morales of corruption related to alleged illegal campaign financing while he was secretary general of his party. Morales subsequently tried unsuccessfully to expel the commission's head, Ivan Velasquez, from the country. But Guatemala did not say why it was expelling Kompass and Salcedo beyond alleging "interference in its internal affairs." Sweden's TT news agency says Guatemala's ambassador to Sweden has been summoned, but did not say when. At a press conference, foreign minister Sandra Jovel described the move as a sovereign decision by her government. She said there were no plans to expel other diplomats. Former Guatemalan foreign minister Fernando Carrera said the government was trying to withdraw the financial and political support for the CICIG because of its investigations into corruption. "It's a desperate attempt, because the government has increasingly less internal support and must get rid of them," Carrera said. ___ Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to this story. Few teeth in Trump's prescription to reduce drug prices WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's long-promised plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled Friday, would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder." Instead he focuses on private competition and more openness to reduce America's prescription pain. In Rose Garden remarks at the White House, Trump called his plan the "most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people." But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors. That idea has long been supported by Democrats but is a non-starter for drugmakers and most Republicans in Congress. Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas dismissed Trump's plan as "a sugar-coated nothing pill." Instead, the administration will pursue a raft of old and new measures intended to improve competition and transparency in the notoriously complex drug pricing system. But most of the measures could take months or years to implement, and none would directly stop drugmakers from setting sky-high initial prices. Drugmakers generally can charge as much as the market will bear because the U.S. government doesn't regulate medicine prices, unlike most other developed countries. ___ Iran cleric threatens destruction of Israeli cities TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A prominent Iranian cleric on Friday threatened two Israeli cities with destruction if the Jewish state "acts foolishly" and attacks its interests again, while thousands of protesters demonstrated against President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami followed a week of escalating tensions that threaten to spill over into a wider conflict between the two bitter enemies, who have long fought each other through proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes struck Iranian military installations inside Syria on Thursday - its biggest coordinated assault on Syria since the 1973 Mideast war - in retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two rivals to date. Khatami, who has echoed sentiments of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who says Israel will not exist in 25 years, said the Jewish state could face destruction if it continues to challenge Iran. "The holy system of the Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," he said, according to state television. ___ Pompeo: US hopes to have NKorea as 'close partner' not enemy WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States aspires to have North Korea as a "close partner" and not an enemy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, noting that the U.S. has often in history become good friends with former adversaries. Pompeo said he had told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of that hope during his brief visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, during which he finalized details of the upcoming June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump and secured the release of three Americans imprisoned in the country. He said his talks with Kim on Wednesday had been "warm," ''constructive," and "good" and that he made clear that if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the U.S. is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living stands to levels like those in prosperous South Korea. "We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that we have had between us," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference with South Korea's visiting foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. "We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea." He did not mention other adversaries by name, but Pompeo and others have often noted that the U.S. played a major role in rebuilding Japan and the European axis powers in the wake of the Second World War. With U.S. help, those countries recovered from the devastation of conflict. ___ 2 trips to North Korea with top US diplomat, 18 years apart WASHINGTON (AP) - It began with quiet words from State Department officials: Apply for a new passport immediately. You may soon be going to a country for which ordinary U.S. passports are not valid for travel. Vague as it was, the instruction to two reporters last Friday left little doubt about our mystery destination: North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had visited the capital, Pyongyang, in complete secrecy while he was still CIA chief in early April to set the stage for an unprecedented summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Now, Washington was abuzz with rumors that he would be heading back soon to finalize details for the summit and bring back three U.S. citizens who had been held by North Korea for more than a year for alleged anti-state activities. It would turn out to be my second visit to the isolated, authoritarian nation. Eighteen years ago, I had accompanied Madeleine Albright on her historic trip to North Korea, the first-ever by a sitting secretary of state - a highly choreographed and publicized two-day affair covered by some 80 journalists. ___ Lawyer says he gave Trump team dirt on Schneiderman NEW YORK (AP) - A New York lawyer said he told President Donald Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, years ago that former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was abusing women. Schneiderman, a frequent legal nemesis of the president, resigned this week after The New Yorker published the accounts of four women who said they were slapped and choked by the Democrat. Attorney Peter Gleason said in a letter filed with a federal judge Friday that he was contacted "some years ago" by two women who claimed Schneiderman was "sexually inappropriate" with them. Gleason said he advised the women not to report what happened to prosecutors. Instead, he said, he discussed the matter with the retired New York Post columnist Stephen Dunleavy. According to Gleason, Dunleavy offered to talk about the issue with Trump, then not yet president. ___ Aide who said McCain is 'dying' still works at White House WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Friday declined to condemn comments made by a special assistant to President Donald Trump dismissing Sen. John McCain's opinion during a closed-door meeting because, she said, "he's dying anyway." White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters she would not comment on an internal staff meeting, but said that Kelly Sadler, the aide in question, remains a White House staffer. "I'm not going to validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting one way or the other," she said. Sadler was discussing McCain's opposition to Trump's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, at a communications staff meeting on Thursday when she said that, "it doesn't matter" because "he's dying anyway," two people in the room confirmed to The Associated Press. The people, who were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, described feeling shocked and stunned by the remark. The comment was first reported by The Hill newspaper. ___ Al-Abadi defeated IS. Why won't he sweep Iraq's elections? BAGHDAD (AP) - During four years in office, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has racked up a list of achievements that would make most politicians envious. He prevailed over an Islamic State insurgency that at its peak controlled one-third of the country. He steered Iraq's economy through a collapse in global oil prices. And he foiled a Kurdish bid for independence. And yet, despite that record, a second term is far from assured when Iraqis go to the polls in national elections on Saturday. With the conventional war against IS concluded, Baghdad is experiencing a relative lull in insurgent-style attacks and many Iraqis are expressing cautious hope for the future. But the country continues to struggle with an economic downturn sparked in part by a drop in global oil prices, and the country's most powerful political block is deeply fractured. The unified Shiite parliamentary block that gave its votes to al-Abadi in 2014 elections is now in pieces, with five factions competing for the popular vote on Saturday. ___ Man rescued from Montana floodwaters as waters keep rising MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - Montana rescuers pulled a man from raging floodwaters and authorities warned of dangerous debris being swept downstream as water levels continued rising Friday in rivers and streams across the western half of the state. The Clark Fork River in Missoula was expected to crest Saturday at its highest level in 100 years, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Heavy rains in recent days added to the deluge caused primarily by melting mountain snows. Floodwaters already have inundated some houses and trailer homes in a low-lying neighborhood in Montana's second-largest city. Many residents of the more than 65 houses under evacuation orders refused to leave. That put both residents and emergency personnel in danger as debris surged downstream, including sheds, a propane tank and the remains of at least one trailer home that was pushed off its foundation and broke apart in the floodwaters, authorities said. "It's a great public safety concern for us," said Mel Holtz, a firefighter and spokesman for the flood response effort. "Obviously it's a very difficult time for people to leave, but we have concerns over utilities in that area because the electricity is still on and there's a lot of debris in the water." ___ R. Kelly set to perform in North Carolina despite protests CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - R. Kelly says his show will go on in North Carolina Friday night, rejecting calls to silence him over longstanding allegations of sexual misconduct. The Greensboro concert is among the R&B singer's first performances since the #MuteRKelly movement accelerated boycott efforts in recent weeks, with help from the Time's Up campaign against sexual harassment and assault. Kelly also was recently dropped from a May 5 concert in Chicago, and the music streaming service Spotify removed him from playlists curated by the platform. Protesters planned to gather outside the Greensboro Coliseum as concert fans go in, to criticize arena officials for not canceling the show. A coalition of women's groups connected to #MuteRKelly released a signed letter this week citing what it calls Kelly's "long term history of sexual misconduct." ___ NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts: ___ NOT REAL: Federal Judge Slaps Mueller Down, Rules He Overstepped His Prosecutorial Power THE FACTS: A federal judge has not ruled that special counsel Robert Mueller overstepped his authority by bringing charges against a former Trump campaign chairman, contrary to an article on the website Republic Information. U.S. Senior Judge T.S. Ellis III did ask pointed questions about Mueller's authority at a pretrial hearing in Virginia and suggested that prosecutors' true motive was to get Paul Manafort to "sing" against the president. But the judge withheld a ruling on a motion by Manafort's defense lawyers to dismiss tax and bank fraud charges. Manafort's lawyers had argued that the charges against him are far afield from Mueller's mandate to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election. ___ MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Latest on the removal of the chief justice of the Philippines (all times local): 10:30 p.m. Former Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has held her first news conference since being ousted, and has urged Filipinos to help defend the constitution in a sign she's ready to take to the front lines in advocating change. A protester displays a placard during a rally in front of the Philippine Supreme Court supporting Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno while the court votes on a petition to oust her in a move she calls unconstitutional Friday, May 11, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Supreme Court ousted its chief justice, a critic of the country's authoritarian president, in an unprecedented vote Friday by fellow magistrates that she and hundreds of protesters called unconstitutional and a threat to democracy. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Sereno said late Friday: "Staying quiet is tantamount to being an accomplice to their abuses." Although she did not mention President Rodrigo Duterte by name, she alluded to many issues under his leadership, including extrajudicial killings, which have been raised by rights activists and critics. "I am a victim today, but I am just one of so many thousands upon thousands whose lives have been snuffed out, who continue to remain in detention, who have been unfairly accused or unfairly victimized by the very powerful forces in our society that must be exposed for what they are," Sereno said. She said she wants to talk to common people, including the youth, about injustice and the urgency of fighting for what is right. "For the longest time, we have not had a national conversation," she said. ___ 6:35 p.m. Lawyers of ousted Philippine Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno say she will appeal an unprecedented ruling by fellow magistrates to remove her. Even some allies of authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte - who threatened to have Sereno fired because she criticized him - disagreed with the way she was ousted. Sereno's lawyer and spokesman Jojo Lacanilao says an appeal was the only legal remedy left after the justices voted 8-6 to grant a government petition to oust Sereno because she allegedly sullied her integrity by failing to file assets disclosures as required by law prior to her entry at the Supreme Court. Sereno has denied the allegation and argued that the widely expected ruling was unconstitutional because the country's 1987 charter provides that top officials including justices like her can only be removed by impeachment. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, a key ally of Duterte, agreed with Sereno and urged the Supreme Court to review its decision, saying it's "not infallible in everything." Another senator, JV Ejercito, warned of a possible constitutional crisis if the House of Representatives proceeds to impeach Sereno despite her removal. Estrada says: "What is alarming is the blatant disregard of the highest law of the land. I urge the public to remain calm. Despite this setback, let us not lose our confidence in our democracy." ___ 2:45 p.m. A Philippine opposition leader says the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is a mockery of the constitution. Sen. Francis Pangilinan also says Congress should insist on its exclusive constitutional role to remove key officials like her through impeachment. Pangilinan, who heads the opposition Liberal Party, says "what the majority in the Supreme Court did was a mockery of the constitution." He says "the people should express to the court that the decision was wrong and unacceptable." He also says Sereno should appeal. Aside from a government petition to declare Sereno ineligible to lead the Supreme Court over her alleged failure to declare her wealth before she became chief justice, she also faced an impeachment complaint in the House of Representatives. She says she was ready to defend herself if the impeachment case reached the Senate for trial. But the impeachment process has now been pre-empted by the unprecedented vote Friday to remove her from the Supreme Court, sparking legal confusion over what would happen to the votes she cast on cases in the years she led the country's highest court. ___ 1:15 p.m. Ousted Philippine Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has emerged from the Supreme Court after her colleagues voted to remove her and is asking hundreds of protesting supporters to organize a movement to defend justice and accountability. Sereno told the crowd: "Let's continue to defend the constitution and fight wrongdoing. Let's continue to spread the message of democracy and reason." She says the justices who voted to boot her out of the 15-member tribunal seized "the sole responsibility of the Senate, brazenly violated their sworn responsibility to protect the constitution and destroyed the judiciary." Sereno has been at loggerheads with President Rodrigo Duterte and has urged Filipinos to stand up to his authoritarian rule. She has been speaking up for the respect of law and human rights, irking Duterte at a time he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead. The former law professor at the state-run University of the Philippines says the government petition that her fellow justices approved violated the constitution, which provides that top officials like her can only be removed by impeachment. ___ 12:05 p.m. The Philippine Supreme Court spokesman says Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has been ousted in a vote by fellow judges acting on a government petition, which sought her removal in a move she calls unconstitutional. Court spokesman Theodore Te says eight of 14 justices voted Friday to remove Sereno from the 15-member tribunal for allegedly failing to file statements of assets and liabilities as required by law. Sereno denies the allegation and did not participate in the vote. Hundreds of protesters denouncing Sereno's ouster rallied outside the court. Sereno has been at loggerheads with President Rodrigo Duterte and has urged Filipinos to stand up to his authoritarian rule. She also has been speaking up for the respect of law and human rights, irking Duterte at a time he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead. Protesters display portraits of embattled Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as they mass in front of the court to rally for Sereno Friday, May 11, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters massed in front of the court to rally for Sereno ahead of an expected vote by fellow justices on a government-backed petition to oust her in a move she calls unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Philippine Supreme Court employees attend a mass inside the highest court to support the ouster of embattled Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno while the court votes on a petition to oust her in a move she calls unconstitutional Friday, May 11, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) This photo gallery highlights some of the top news images made by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean published in the past week. Mexico celebrated "Cinco de Mayo" to mark the 1862 victory of an ill-equipped Mexican army over French troops, while presidential hopefuls campaigned ahead of the country's July 1 general elections. Political activists were also out in Venezuela, which is holding a controversial presidential election in two weeks. In this Saturday, May 5, 2018 photo, a child dressed as a revolutionary Zacapoaztla indigenous soldier attends the re-enactment of The Battle of Puebla between the Zacapoaztlas and French army during Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Mexico City. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the victory of an ill-equipped Mexican army over French troops in Puebla on May 5, 1862. (AP Photo/Christian Palma) Anti-government demonstrators in Nicaragua continued protesting after human rights groups reported 63 people were killed last month when police and government-allied Sandinista youth groups violently repressed protests triggered by a social security overhaul. In Chile, a demonstrator hauled a full-size mirror to a protest by high school students demanding higher quality public education, standing it in front of police to reflect back their images. Guatemala's chief prosecutor, Thelma Aldana, prepared for retirement after a long career that includes having sent a president to prison and breaking up a number of high-level corruption rings. In Ecuador, police retired 61 dogs that had spent years sniffing out illegal drugs and helped rescuers find victims. The burning and collapse of a building occupied by squatters in Sao Paulo focused attention on the housing shortage in Brazil's biggest city, where many working class families must resort to makeshift living arrangements. Argentina's government began talks on a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund following a sharp devaluation of its currency. ___ Curated by Latin America photo editor Leslie Mazoch. On Twitter: @LeslieMazoch . ___ AP photographers and photo editors on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers In this Saturday, May 5, 2018 photo, a protester holds up his handmade mortar as he poses for photos where protesters gather near the home of national hero Augusto C. Sandino at the end of a march against President Daniel Ortega in Niquinohomo, Nicaragua. Human rights groups say 63 people were killed when police and Sandinista youth groups allied with the government violently repressed protests in April against a social security overhaul. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) In this Tuesday, May 8, 2018 photo, Marcos Senesi, of Argentina's San Lorenzo, center, controls the ball during a Copa Sudamericana soccer match against Brazil's Atletico Mineiro in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eugenio Savio) In this Jan 19, 2018 photo, a doll in the likeness of Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana, who sent a president to prison and broke up a number of high-level corruption rings, stands with dolls in handcuffs behind it, at her office in Guatemala City. Asked how she wants to be remembered after stepping down, Aldana expressed pride over spearheading efforts to raise national attention to violence against women and said she hopes she has proved to Guatemalans that an independent prosecutor's office is in fact possible. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018 photo, a demonstrator holds a mirror up to police who detain high school students protesting for higher quality public education, a few blocks from the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile. Students protested near the presidential palace instead of the area far from downtown where the government authorized them to gather. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo, fans watch a regular-season major league baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Monterrey, Mexico. The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 to take two of three in Major League Baseball's first regular-season series in Mexico since 1999. (AP Photo/ Eduardo Verdugo) In this May 3, 2018 photo, a displaced occupant of a collapsed squatter building wears an Iron Man mask amid his belongings piled up outside a church in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. The building occupied by squatters caught fire and collapsed, which has focused attention on the city's housing shortage and the makeshift living arrangements many working class families resort to. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018 photo, a retiring police dog spends a last moment with his handler before being handed over to his new caretakers in Quito, Ecuador. The ceremony retired 61 police dogs who've spent years sniffing out illegal drugs and who helped rescuers find victims. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo, a woman wearing a set of hands over her face holds up a doll of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez during an election campaign rally for current President Nicolas Maduro in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela. The hands represent 10 million votes the ruling party wants to reach in the presidential elections set for May 20. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo, a money exchange house shows the exchange rates between the Argentine peso and the U.S. dollar, the Euro, and Brazilian real in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. President Mauricio Macri Argentina has begun talks on a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund following a sharp devaluation of its currency and amid a difficult "global scenario." (AP Photo/Pedro Lazaro Fernandez) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018 photo, Boca Juniors' Walter Bou, left, and his teammate Julio Buffarini hold their team's championship trophy after winning Argentina's soccer league and defeating Gimnasia y Esgrima, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello) In this Monday, May 7, 2018 photo, a boy peers between people's legs as he waits to see presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the MORENA party after a campaign rally in the Coyoacan neighborhood of Mexico City. Mexico will choose a new president in general elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018 photo, Diego Souza of Brazil's Sao Paulo celebrates into the TV camera after scoring against Argentina's Rosario Central at a Copa Sudamericana soccer match in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) In this Tuesday, May 8, 2018 photo, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, right, dances with children from a theater group during the opening session of an economic commission biennial meeting in Havana, Cuba. At left are his Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Alicia Barcenas. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) Protesters in the Philippines burn a Chinese flag to protest Beijing's deployment of missiles on South China Sea outposts that are also claimed by other countries. In other images from the Asia-Pacific region this week, Malaysia's veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad speaks at a news conference following a historic election victory that broke the ruling coalition's 60-year grip on power and returned him to office as prime minister at age 92. In Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Pompeo secured the release of three Americans ahead of a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. In this Thursday, May 10, 2018, file photo, protesters burn a Chinese flag during a rally at its consulate to protest China's deployment of missiles on the Philippine-claimed reefs in South China Sea in the financial district of Makati city, east of Manila, Philippines. The protesters condemned China for "aggressively asserting its claim" to the Spratlys Group of islands and also accused President Rodrigo Duterte of "accommodating the Chinese government to secure loans to fund his ambitious projects." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File) ___ This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Toru Takahashi in Tokyo. ___ Visit the AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com In this Thursday, May 10, 2018, file photo, Mahathir Mohamad reacts as he speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mahathir said the opposition parties who won a shock victory in Malaysia's elections have a clear mandate to form a new government and he expects to be sworn in as prime minister on Thursday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018, file photo provided by the North Korean government, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at Workers' Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) In this Friday, May 11, 2018, file photo, members of the Sydney Dance Company, Janessa Dufty, right, and Izzac Carroll, perform during a preview of their new production, "ab [intra]", a work by Spanish-born choreographer Rafael Bonachela, at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File) In this Friday, May 4, 2018, file photo, a camera screen displays Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking on the podium at an event to mark the bicentennial of Karl Marx's birth at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi praised Karl Marx as "the greatest thinker of modern times," calling his theories a tool for China to "win the future." The blurred image in the background is a portrait of Marx. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) In this Saturday, May 5, 2018, file photo, a staff member stands near a Communist Party flag at an exhibition to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx at the National Museum in Beijing. Abroad, China's President Xi Jinping portrays himself as a robust defender of free markets, yet at home, he's leading a campaign to promote the works of communist philosopher Karl Marx, who famously warned of the dangers of global capitalism. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) In this Saturday, May 5, 2018, file photo, Kashmiri men inspect a house, damaged during a gun battle, where suspected rebels were holed up, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Fierce clashes erupted when residents in solidarity with the rebels tried to march to the gunbattle site. A vehicle belonging to Indian troops ran over and killed a man as protesters clashed with government forces, residents said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File) In this Tuesday, May 8, 2018, file photo, an Indian policeman fires tear smoke shell on Kashmiri protesters in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. An Indian tourist was killed during a stone-throwing protest in Kashmir, officials said Tuesday, as the disputed region shut down for a third day over the killings of civilians and rebels during weekend gunbattles and anti-India protests. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File) In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018, file photo, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in pose for photographers prior to their summit meeting in Tokyo. The summit was expected to focus on North Korea's nuclear program and on improving the sometimes-frayed ties among the three northeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File) In this Saturday, May 5, 2018, file photo, an unidentified uniformed man adjusts his wristwatch in front of a clock of the Pyongyang Station in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea readjusted its time zone to match South Korea's on Saturday and described the change as an early step toward making the longtime rivals "become one" following a landmark summit. The portraits seen in the background are the late leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il. (Kyodo News via AP, File) In this Sunday May, 6, 2018, file photo, supporters of former Malaysian strongman Mahathir Mohamad wave flags during an election campaign rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia's general elections slated for May 9, will determine if scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak's coalition can extend nearly 61-years of unbroken rule. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) In this Thursday, May 10, 2018, file photo, Malaysian police officers fire teargas towards opposition party supporters in Putrajaya, Malaysia. An alliance of Malaysian opposition parties led by the country's 92-year-old former authoritarian leader Mahathir Mohamad won a fiercely contested general election, ending the 60-year rule of the Malay-dominated National Front. (AP Photo/Sadiq Asyraf, File) ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Hungary's foreign minister said Friday that Europe remains threatened by unchecked immigration and must focus on stopping it, three years after the mass influx of about a million people. Peter Szijjarto told The Associated Press that the European Union should screen asylum-seekers in camps created outside its own borders, which he said the bloc should be able to police more efficiently. "Now we are exactly where we used to be three years ago," he said. "The European Union is defenseless from the south and from the southeast." From left, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz Albania's Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, and Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, pose for a group photo during the Visegrad-4 plus Balkan-4 plus meeting in Cape Sounio, about 68 kilometers(42miles) south of Athens, on Friday, May 11, 2018. The foreign ministers of eight central European and Balkan European Union countries are holding talks in Greece, in which prospective EU members from the Balkans are also represented. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) Szijjarto spoke on the sidelines of a regional EU foreign ministers meeting in Greece that discussed energy cooperation, and the bloc's expansion before a summit next week in Bulgaria. Greece is a major gateway to the EU for asylum-seekers, and has seen increasing arrivals in recent months. Hungary is strongly critical of EU immigration policies, has built border fences to keep migrants out and rejects the bloc's obligatory quota system for taking in asylum-seekers. "We should not speak about how to encourage migration, how to manage migration, we should speak about how to stop the migratory flows," Szijjarto said. "Because if the migratory flows continue then that would pose a significant security threat (to) Europe." Friday's talks in a resort south of Athens brought together ministers from the so-called Visegrad Group - Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary - and Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Visegrad Group members strongly object to EU immigration policies, and resent criticism over the rule of the law in their countries from many EU partners. Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told the AP that while attitudes towards Poland from other European capitals and "elites" have improved, countries facing similar criticism should take common defensive action. "Countries of the region, central and eastern Europe, should stay together," he said. "We have common interests, we cannot accept double standards within the European Union, and we have to defend our cause." Foreign Ministers attend the Visegrad-4 plus Balkan-4 plus meeting in Cape Sounio, about 68 kilometers(42miles) south of Athens on Friday May 11, 2018. The foreign ministers of eight central European and Balkan European Union countries are holding talks in Greece, in which prospective EU members from the Balkans are also represented. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) JOHANNESBURG (AP) - South Africa's elite police unit said Friday it was investigating an "element of extremism" in a mosque attack in which one person died after three people's throats were slit following midday prayers. "You can see elements of hatred to a certain religion" in Thursday's attack in the mosque's worship space, Hawks spokesman Simphiwe Mhlongo told The Associated Press. But Mhlongo said police could not yet say whether the assault on the Imam Hussein mosque in the eastern town of Verulam, just north of Durban, could be called a terror attack. Muslim worshippers attend Friday prayers in a house alongside a mosque in Verulam, Durban, South Africa, Friday, May 11, 2018, a day after attackers entered the mosque after midday prayers Thursday and stabbed three people. One of the victims of the attack died later en route to hospital. The attack came shortly ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins around May 16. (AP Photo/Khaya Ngwenya) The three attackers were still at large. "They definitely had a religious motive," the mosque's cleric, Ali Nchinyane, said in footage posted online by broadcaster EWN. "These people, they were not robbers. ... They strictly wanted to kill us." He said one attacker who had entered the mosque in the guise of a worshipper told him that "I will kill you." "If I did not fight back I would have been dead," Nchinyane said. Worshippers went ahead with Friday prayers in a house next to the mosque. The attack came shortly ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins around May 16. Many people have expressed shock at the kind of attack rarely seen in this country. South Africa has not been a target for militant attacks of the kind that occur in some other African nations. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa Muslim worshippers attend Friday prayers in a house alongside a mosque in Verulam, Durban South Africa, Friday, May 11, 2018, a day after attackers entered the mosque after midday prayers Thursday and stabbed three people. One of the victims of the attack died later en route to hospital. The attack came shortly ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins around May 16. (AP Photo/Khaya Ngwenya) A Muslim worshipper attends Friday prayers in a house alongside a mosque in Verulam, Durban South Africa, Friday, May 11, 2018, a day after attackers entered the mosque after midday prayers Thursday and stabbed three people. One of the victims of the attack died later en route to hospital. The attack came shortly ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins around May 16. (AP Photo/Khaya Ngwenya) LISBON, Portugal (AP) - The dancing gorilla is gone, the extravagant stage effects have been put away and the kitsch is conspicuously absent. The Eurovision Song Contest, now 63 years old, has learned to dress sensibly. Lisbon may be the place where Europe's annual music extravaganza grows up. The annual Euro-pop fest has long been the glittery home of outlandish costumes, high-voltage stage effects and easily forgettable tunes. Last year's dancing gorilla was a nod to the contest's kitschy legacy. Netta from Israel performs the song 'Toy' in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 during the first semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10 with the the grand final taking place on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) But Portugal - hosting this year's event because its entry, Salvador Sobral, won with a restrained solo ballad last year in Ukraine - is putting on a show that is sober and sensible, with few frills and tasteful staging. "Music isn't fireworks, it's feeling," Sobral said to explain his 2017 triumph. It's a sentiment that drew wide applause and apparently captured a millennial mood. The event isn't being organized on a shoestring, exactly, with the cost at around 20 million euros ($23.8 million), but officials say it's the most inexpensive show since 2008. That has also restricted those fireworks. Add some stylish, elegant performances by a strong field of competitors and Eurovision is shaping up for what many people predict will be a vintage year. Here is a look at some of the performers generating buzz ahead of the live Grand Final on Saturday night, where 26 countries will be represented: ____ ISRAEL Netta Barzilai is a sassy woman with a twinkle in her eye. An early favorite with her song "Toy," which has already racked up more than 20 million views on Eurovision's YouTube channel, she has an endearing, tongue-in-cheek approach. She makes funny noises, including a clucking sound like a chicken and barely decipherable words, and uses a looping machine and synthesizer. Her topical song is about women's empowerment. The lyrics: "I'm not your toy, You stupid boy, I'll take you down." Israel last won 20 years ago. ____ ESTONIA Elina Nechayeva's pop opera "La Forza" is at the other end of the musical spectrum from Barzilai. Sung in Italian, it is an elegant, classical performance, with what are perhaps the event's best stage effects: Nechayeva stands on a concealed pedestal with her expansive dress draped across the stage and a light show projected onto it. Estonia has won Eurovision once, in 2001. ____ CYPRUS Eleni Foureira is hot in Lisbon. Her high-wattage song "Fuego" (Fire) has everybody talking. She wears a red-and-yellow catsuit and high heels, and her long, red hair flows back as she dances across the stage with her troupe. It is the kind of thing J-Lo or Shakira would do. The act is a powerful, in-your-face celebration of women. Foureira says she wants to express "the fire that women have ... being sexy, being powerful, being fearless." Her performance is tipped to bring Cyprus its first triumph. ____ FRANCE Eurovision is supposed to be harmless fun, but a harder political edge normally crops up at some point. France is addressing the hot-button political issue of migrants who cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life in Europe, amid widespread anti-immigrant sentiment on the continent. The song "Mercy," about a migrant baby born on a rescue ship, is a catchy tune in French performed by Madame Monsieur, a duo of Jean-Karl and Emilie. France has won the competition five times. ____ CZECH REPUBLIC Mikolas Josef hurt his back during rehearsals in Lisbon and almost gave up and went home. Fortunately, he says, the physical limitations have made him focus more on his singing and less on his dance moves. Josef is witty on stage and has an easy rapport with the audience, making him a big hit in the semifinals with his song "Lie to Me." His country has never won the contest. ____ FINLAND Saara Aalto is not only one of Finland's biggest stars, she is also well-known in the United Kingdom where she came runner-up in "X Factor UK" two years ago. In Lisbon, she is performing the song "Monsters," taken from her debut album. Aalto knows how to make a pop song work. She also catches the eye as she starts out her performance stuck to a large rotating wheel, as if someone's going to throw knives at her. Finland is looking for its second triumph. ____ NORWAY Alexander Rybak is back. He hit paydirt with his song "Fairytale," which won the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest for Norway. The song topped the charts across Europe. The lyrics of his new foot-tapping number "That's How You Write a Song" claim to explain how to win the contest. Its chorus: "Shubidubi-dab-dab, Shubidubi-dab-dab." Norway has won three times. It has also finished last 11 times. ____ SWEDEN It's boogie time for Sweden. Benjamin Ingrosso's "Dance You Off" just does that, with a kind of George Michael-style swing that's sure to get you on your feet and usually goes down well at Eurovision. Sweden has won six times, and it can boast the best-known song with ABBA's 1974 winner "Waterloo." ____ GERMANY German hopeful Michael Schulte has brought a deeply poignant song that pulls at the heartstrings and gets people swaying. "You Let Me Walk Alone'" speaks about his feelings after his father died when Michael was 14. Elina Nechayeva from Estonia performs the song 'La Forza' in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 during the first semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10 with the the grand final taking place on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Eleni Foureira from Cyprus performs the song 'Fuego' in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 during the first semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10 with the the grand final taking place on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Madame Monsieur from France performs the song 'Mercy' in Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday, May 9, 2018 during a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semifinals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10, the grand final on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Mikolas Josef from the Czech Republic performs the song 'Lie To Me' in Lisbon, Portugal, Monday, May 7, 2018 during a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semifinals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10, the grand final on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Saara Aalto from Finland performs the song 'Monsters' in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 during the first semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals take place in Lisbon on Tuesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 10 with the the grand final taking place on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Alexander Rybak from Norway performs the song 'That's How You Write A Song' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Benjamin Ingrosso from Sweden performs the song 'Dance You Off' in Lisbon, Portugal, Thursday, May 10, 2018 during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Song Contest grand final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday May 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) LESBOS, Greece (AP) - At the heart of Moria, an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, is a dark rectangular building ringed with police guards and coils of razor wire. Taking photographs of it is prohibited. It's here that thousands of migrants are interviewed by asylum officers - and ultimately informed whether they will ever be allowed to leave the island. Holding up a tattered asylum card that reads "Forbidden to travel outside Lesbos," 40-year-old Syrian Ziad Rashid said he was supposed to be deported back to Turkey after he unsuccessfully appealed his failed application. But Turkey's effective refusal to re-admit migrants means there's nowhere he can go. In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo migrants and refugees wait outside the European Asylum Support Service offices inside the camp of Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Migration flows are rising, the camps are severely overcrowded the asylum process is slow, fuelling frustration among migrants and island residents. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) "I've been here for two years," says Rashid, struggling to find the words in broken Greek and English. "It's a big problem." Lesbos is facing a fourth summer of crisis. It's one of five Greek islands near the coast of Turkey being used by the European Union to form a barrier to migration after more than a million people came through here in 2015-16, heading to western Europe. But with 7,000 inhabitants, the refugee camp at Moria is now at more than 300 percent capacity, and outbreaks of violence, often triggered by trivial disputes, are increasingly common. A clinic run by the aid group Doctors Without Borders helps treat the sick among the camp's 2,000 children, but has to turn less serious cases away. Even so, more keep arriving: The number of island arrivals has surged this year from about 50 a day in 2017 to around 200 a day in recent weeks. Asylum applications are backed up by nearly three years, according to Lesbos' regional governor. Currently, asylum seekers on five Aegean Sea islands - Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros, and Kos - are banned from traveling on to the Greek mainland as part of the European Union's controversial "containment policy." That's causing severe overcrowding at the islands' camps, and the government has faced legal challenges and protests against the measure. Meanwhile, to try to bypass the islands, an even higher number of migrants and refugees are now crossing Greece's heavily militarized land border with Turkey in the northeast of the country. That has forced Greece to overhaul its policy, and parliament is now debating draft legislation aimed at easing pressure on the islands. Under the proposal, migrants would be allowed to move to camps on the Greek mainland, but they would remain under restriction and could be banned from leaving the regions of the country where they are placed. The plan has already drawn fire from human rights groups, which argue that containment is to blame for poor living conditions on the islands. "This situation causes distress, violates people's rights, and insults the dignity of some of the world's most vulnerable people. It's an open wound for Greece and human rights," Dimitra Spatharidou, from the Greek office of Amnesty International, told a parliamentary committee. Amnesty observers recently visited island camps, and found hundreds of people sleeping in makeshift tents, children sleeping in unsupervised sites, and some resting in fields they say were overrun by rats. "We saw dozens of men with papers in their hand saying they were suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, and had suicidal dispositions; terrified women at risk of sexual violence in a European country that should be providing them with safety," Spatharidou said. The government has also promised to speed up the processing of asylum claims by streamlining procedures and hiring additional staff and translators. But new arrivals on Lesbos and other islands are far outpacing the number of people being transported to the mainland on compassionate grounds or because their asylum applications have been approved. Spread over a hillside, Moria's shoebox-shaped trailers and tents are home to refugees from Syria, Iraq, Congo, and over 50 other of the world's black spots of war and hardship. The camp, crowded but still generally kept in good order, spills into the neighboring fields, where asylum seekers - mostly African men - have little hope of leaving. Serafin, from Togo, who was too afraid to appear on camera or give his last name, sleeps in a child-sized bunk bed. There are 70 more bunks like his wrapped in gray blankets for privacy and crammed into a single tent they call Little Turkey. "It's not easy, not easy at all. You can see where we sleep. And the smell," he said, abruptly overcome by melancholy when asked about his prospects. "I don't know what will happen. I miss my family." The island containment policy started two years ago, when the massive flow of migrants was halted. The EU encouraged countries on the route west to close their borders, asked NATO to patrol the eastern Aegean Sea, and pledged 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) to Turkey to hold back migrants and accept deportations from Greece. EU countries have accepted 22,000 refugees from Greece since the agreement between the EU and Turkey was reached, while just 2,000 have been deported to Turkey. That failed to offset new arrivals, and more than 16,000 migrants remain on the islands while more than 40,000 are on the mainland. A planned new round of resettlement has been complicated by the refusal of several EU members including Hungary and Poland to join the scheme. Dimitris Vitsas, Greece's migration minister, told parliament the new measures will need several months to take full effect. "A period of difficulty lies ahead. We are fully aware of that fact," he warned lawmakers. Vitsas traveled to Lesbos last week, along with 19 other members of the Cabinet and the prime minister, to promise more help to the island, from improvements in the ambulance service to faster farm subsidy payments. In a town hall meeting, Vitsas was berated by island residents complaining about petty crimes that have risen since the camps opened, and others who said they felt their good will toward people fleeing war had been exploited by Greek and European policy-makers. Many island residents are angry to be missing out on a tourism boom that's helping the country emerge from a decade of financial crisis. Business owners closed their stores for 24 hours in protest at the government visit, and street protests turned violent. "We all welcomed the refugees. But there is a problem and it has to be taken seriously ... We have a good quality of life here and it's been taken away," said Akis Argiropoulos, a hotel manager in the island's capital, Mytilene. "Without the proper facilities and policing, the island cannot handle all of this burden." ___ Raphael Kominis and Petros Giannakouris on Lesbos contributed. Follow Gatopoulos http://www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos In this Thursday, May 3, 2018 photo islanders hold a placard which reads in Greek "SOS Moria. Solution now" referring to the Moria refugee camp, in a protest during a visit by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos. "(Migrants) enter illegally, they have to leave" one of the protesters shouted. Many islanders seem angry at Greek and European Union migration policy, which has left thousands of people stranded on the island. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo, newly arrived migrants and refugees wait to be registered by authorities in Moria Camp, on Lesbos, Greece. The eastern Aegean island is facing a fourth summer of immigration crisis as the country struggles to emerge from recession. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo a woman walks with her baby as migrants and refugees wait outside UNHCR offices for their papers inside the camp of Moria on Lesbos, Greece. The government has promised to ease pressure on overcrowded camps on the islands by allowing more people to move to the Greek mainland. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Wednesday, May 2, 2018 photo Hasan, no other name given, from Deir ez-Zor in Syria, who arrived in Greece six months ago, sits behind the net of his tent at a makeshift camp outside the official camp of Moria at the island of Lesbos. The camp is now three times over capacity with hundreds of inhabitants living in the surrounding fields, according to officials. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Thursday, May 3, 2018 photo, a man sits on a chair outside a closed coffee shop in the town of Mytilene on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Stores and services were shut in protest during a visit by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Many island residents are angry at Greek and European Union migration policy, which has left thousands of people stranded on their island. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Tuesday, May 2, 2018 photo refugees burn garbage in an old Greek army machine-gun nest, at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Amnesty observers recently visited island camps, and found hundreds of people sleeping in makeshift tents, children sleeping in unsupervised sites, and some resting in fields. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Saturday, May 5, 2018, tombstones marking the graves of migrants and refugees who drowned at sea while crossing from nearby Turkey are seen at a cemetery near the village Kato Tritos on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. More than 1,200 people are known to have drowned while trying to reach Greece from Turkey since the start of the migrant crisis in 2015. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) in this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo two men watch the ferry leaving the port of Mytilene on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. The government says it will amend geographical restrictions currently in place for migrants by the end of the 2018 summer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo a woman looks out of a window of a prefabricated house in the sector of Moria Camp reserved to single women traveling alone in the island of Lesbos, Greece. As violence increases at island refugee camps, administrators have stepped up efforts to create safe zones for vulnerable groups. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this early Saturday, May 5, 2018 photo the moon rises above a huge pile of discarded life vests and dinghies used by migrants and refugees crossing from the nearby Turkish coast, at a dump on the island of Lesbos. More than a million refugees and migrants traveled to the Greek islands and onto Europe during the 2015-16 refugee crisis. Arrival numbers have again swelled in recent weeks over the Spring of 2018. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Friday, May 4, 2018 photo children play as a woman walks inside the camp of Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. With over 7,000 inhabitants, the refugee camp at Moria is now three times over capacity according to officials with inhabitants including 2,000 children, many living in bad conditions. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Saturday May 5, 2018 photo refugees and migrants sit on the top of a container at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Lesbos is facing a fourth summer of crisis, as refugees live outside the organised camps.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Tuesday, May 2, 2018 photo a Syrian woman cooks food on an open fire at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Asylum applications are backed up by nearly three years, according to Lesbos' regional governor. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Tuesday, May 2, 2018 photo Syrian children play outside their family tent at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Doctors at a health clinic at the site say they have to turn sick children away every day due to the scale of the treatment required. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Thursday, May 3, 2018 photo a refugee sits on a bollard in the port of Mytilene as islanders gather to protest against the government and European Union migration policy which has left thousands of people stranded on the island. Asylum applications are backed up by nearly three years, according to Lesbos' regional governor.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) In this Saturday, May 5, 2018 photo a Syrian man reads inside his tent at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Currently, asylum seekers on five Aegean Sea islands _ Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros, and Kos _ are banned from traveling onto the Greek mainland as part of the European Union's controversial "containment policy." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A Palestinian was killed and 176 were wounded by Israeli army fire Friday as thousands of Gaza residents protested near their sealed border - part of a weeks-long campaign to end a decade-old blockade of the territory. Later Friday, vandals burned a fuel complex and a conveyor belt on the Palestinian side of Gaza's main cargo crossing with Israel, causing more than $9 million in damages and disrupting the import of diesel fuel and building materials, the military said. Friday's clashes offered a preview of what will likely be a much larger protest - and possibly a border breach - on Monday when the United States relocates its embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem amid Palestinian outrage. A Palestinian man runs to help an injured protester shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the embassy there "is causing the volcano to spew," said 25-year-old protester Ahmed Deifallah as he stood near the Gaza border, a Palestinian flag draped around his head. Deifallah, who is unemployed like almost half the Gaza labor force, said he would also join Monday's protest and is not afraid to die. "We are used to confronting the (Israeli) occupation with our bare chests," he said. "We are used to wars and no one with us but Allah." Friday marked the seventh weekly border protest since late March. The demonstrations have been organized by Gaza's Hamas rulers, but are fueled by despair among the territory's 2 million people. The vast majority are barred from travel and trade, while the blockade has gutted the economy. As in previous weeks, thousands flocked to five tent camps near the border - some 15,000 people, according to the Israeli military. From the camps, smaller groups moved closer to the fence. They threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached to them, hoping to steer them into Israel to set fields on fire. The area was quickly engulfed in thick black smoke from the burning tires. Israeli soldiers, some crouching behind sand berms, fired live bullets and tear gas volleys from the other side of the fence. The Israeli military said protesters also threw pipe bombs and grenades toward Israeli soldiers and damaged the fence. Later Friday, Palestinians vandalized a fuel complex and conveyor belt on the Palestinian side of Gaza's main cargo crossing, Kerem Shalom, the army said. It said the fuel installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities. The military distributed a video showing Palestinians cheering as a fire was set. It was the second such attack on the facility in a week. "Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive," the army said. Nissim Jan, the director of an Israeli company that operates Kerem Shalom in partnership with private Palestinian companies, said he spent large sums to repair last week's damage. "This time I can't repair and will not repair it. Where shall I bring money from?" he said. The Gaza Health Ministry said a 40-year-old protester was killed and 176 were wounded by Israeli fire Friday. Ten of the wounded were in serious condition, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the head. Nearly 800 others were overcome by tear gas or suffered other types of injuries. Friday's death brought to 41 the number of protesters killed since March 30. In the same period, more than 1,800 were wounded by Israeli fire. Despite such risks, Gaza's Hamas leader, Yehiyeh Sinwar, has said he expects tens of thousands to participate in Monday's protest. He has raised the possibility of a mass border breach, comparing protesters to a "starving tiger," unpredictable and full of pent-up anger. Israel has said it will prevent any border breach and has stuck to its open-fire policies, including targeting "main instigators" and those approaching the fence, despite growing international criticism. Israel says it has a right to defend its border and has accused Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacking the border. Rights groups say the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful. There are growing concerns that if Israel and Hamas dig in, a widespread border breach could lead to large numbers of casualties. The protests are part of a campaign to break the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas overran Gaza in 2007. On Monday, they are also aimed at the inauguration of the U.S. Embassy, which comes five months after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital - a decision that outraged Palestinians as blatantly pro-Israel. The Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem is sought as a future Palestinian capital - at least by those supporting Hamas' political rival, West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seeks an Islamic state in the entire historic Palestine, including what is now Israel, but has said it is ready for a long-term truce. Another large-scale protest is planned for Tuesday, when Palestinians mark their "nakba," or catastrophe, referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel's 1948 creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven out or fled homes in what is now Israel. More than two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees. Meanwhile, Gaza government officials announced that Egypt will open its border with Gaza for four days starting Saturday. Helping reinforce the Israeli blockade, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing point, Gaza's main gate to the outside world, closed most of the time since the Hamas takeover. Egypt opens the crossing from time to time, mainly to allow people in special categories, including medical patients and Gaza residents studying abroad, to leave the territory or return to it. The upcoming opening was framed as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins next week. In Jordan, about 7,000 people participated in a "nakba" rally in an area close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian refugees and their descendants now number several million people in the region, including more than 2 million in Jordan. Friday's rally took place before a large stage with a view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank. One man walked onto the stage with an effigy of Trump dangling from a noose. ___ Laub reported from Amman, Jordan. Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Alice Su in Sweimeh, Jordan, contributed to this report. Palestinian protesters drag a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters drag a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester falls down after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian woman hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Yehiyeh Sinwar, the Hamas militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip, speaks to foreign correspondents, in his office in Gaza City, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Sinwar said Thursday that protesters in a mass demonstration along the Israeli border next week will be unarmed and peaceful, but also compared them to a "starving tiger" and held out the possibility that tens of thousands of people could burst through the fence and swarm into Israel. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded youth during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters chant slogans while walk toward the fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters run for cover from teargas fired by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters run for cover from teargas fired by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory.(AP Photo/Adel Hana) A Palestinian protester burns tires during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters run for cover from teargas fired by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters evacuate a wounded youth during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) A Palestinian protester kicks a teargas canister to throw it back at Israeli soldiers during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) kicks Palestinian protesters drag a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester drags a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters drag a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester reacts after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters drag a burning tire during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester falls down after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) A Palestinian woman hurls stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli solders as others burn tires near the fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas Friday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinian protesters threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached. One protester was killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) A Palestinian protester pulls a burning tire to the Israeli fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas Friday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinian protesters threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached. One protester was killed and 49 were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) A Palestinian protester hurls stone at Israeli solders near the fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas Friday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinian protesters threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached. One protester was killed and 49 were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian protesters evacuate a wounded man during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, May 11, 2018. Gaza activists burned tires near the sealed border with Israel on Friday in a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas volleys from the other side of the border fence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) WASHINGTON (AP) - White House chief of staff John Kelly said President Donald Trump is "somewhat embarrassed" by the special counsel's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But he later clarified that the president is "distracted." Kelly told National Public Radio in an interview that aired Friday the probe "may not be a cloud" over the White House, but it gets discussed. He told NPR: "When world leaders come in, it's kind of like, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is here ... who's under investigation himself, and it's like, you know, you walk in, and you know, the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing." President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly walk toward Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., Friday, May 4, 2018. Trump is traveling to Dallas where he will address the NRA convention. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Asked about the embarrassment comment, Kelly told a group of reporters later Friday that he "corrected that and said 'distracted.'" Asked if the president was distracted by the probe, Kelly said, "It's untrue, it's a witch hunt, right, and it distracts him - not too much, but it's unfair." In the NPR interview, Kelly also spoke about the Trump administration's efforts to fight illegal immigration. He said most people coming into the country illegally "are not bad people," but said they won't assimilate easily. "They're overwhelmingly rural people. In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm," Kelly said. "They don't speak English; obviously that's a big thing. ... They don't integrate well; they don't have skills." While Kelly's role in the administration appears to have diminished of late, he told NPR that he has a close relationship with Trump and said he has never considered leaving the White House. "There's times of great frustration, mostly because of the stories I read about myself or others that I think the world of, which is just about everybody who works at the complex, and wonder whether it's worth it to be subjected to that," he said. He also said he wished he had been in his role sooner: "''I think in some cases in terms of staffing or serving the president that first six months was pretty chaotic and there were people some people hired that maybe shouldn't have." WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish lawmakers have approved divisive legislation paving the way for the construction of what they intend will become one of Europe's largest airports - and China's gateway to the continent. According to the government's plans, the airport is to be built in central Poland by the end of 2027, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Warsaw and near a highway leading toward Berlin and Western Europe. It is initially to serve some 45 million passengers a year, along with huge cargo traffic between Asia and Europe. Its target capacity is to be 100 million passengers a year. Approval is still needed from the Senate and from President Andrzej Duda. The idea for the new airport was born out of the right-wing government's efforts to develop large-scale trade cooperation with China and to help it get a foothold in Europe. The government argues that Poland's economy, which is among Europe's fastest-growing, needs new powerful partners and large projects. During a visit to China last year, Poland's official in charge of the project, Mikolaj Wild, said that Beijing was open to talks on the airport as it develops its "Belt and Road" initiative aimed at boosting its international trade ties. There have been no reports of any Chinese commitment, though. Poland's opposition parties and many ordinary Poles criticize the plan because it calls for the closing of the popular Frederic Chopin airport, located in Warsaw. Opposition candidate for Warsaw mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, said that development in Warsaw will suffer. Residents in Baranowo county, where the new airport will be located, say they have not been officially informed about their future or about the terms on which the government will buy their land. They are to hold a referendum next month on whether they support the plan. Wild said that Chopin airport has reached its capacity and is a noisy inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of people living in its neighborhood, while the new facility will be better-placed and will offer huge economic potential for the region and the entire country. The vote late Thursday was 235-190 with four abstentions. BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) - Muslim scholars from three countries issued an edict Friday saying that violent extremism and terrorism, including suicide attacks, are against Islamic principles, in an effort to convince the Taliban to end their violence. Seventy prominent scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia issued the fatwa, or edict, at a conference in Indonesia on ways to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Taliban urged Islamic clerics to boycott the Bogor conference and warned Afghan clerics, "Do not afford an opportunity to the invading infidels in Afghanistan to misuse your name and participation in this conference as means of attaining their malicious objective." Indonesian President Joko Widodo, second right, and his deputy Jusuf Kalla, right, greet participants during the opening ceremony of the trilateral religious meeting among Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, May 11, 2018. Widodo on Friday opened the meeting to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who opened the one-day meeting, stressed Indonesia's commitment to helping build peace in the country. Jokowi said the conference was part of Indonesia's efforts to encourage the role of Islamic clerics, or ulema, in promoting peace in Afghanistan. "Through the voice of ulema, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, presumably the spirit of brotherhood for peace in Afghanistan can be strengthened," Jokowi said. He said "ulema are the agent of peace ... they have the power to form the face of peaceful people." In a declaration, the scholars said Islam was a religion of peace and denounced all kinds of violent extremism and terrorism. "We reaffirm that violence and terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group, as violent extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestation including violence against civilians and suicide attacks are against the holy principles of Islam," the declaration said. The conference at the presidential palace in Bogor, a West Java town on the outskirts of Jakarta, was organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council. From left to right, Head of Indonesian Ulema Council Ma'ruf Amin, Head of Ulema Council of Afghanistan Qiamuddin Kashaf, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, his deputy Jusuf Kalla, and Chairman of Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology Qibla Ayaz attend the opening ceremony of the trilateral religious meeting among Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Indonesia at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, May 11, 2018. Widodo on Friday opened the meeting to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian President Joko Widodo, center, shakes hands with Chairman of Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology Qibla Ayaz, as Vice President Jusuf Kalla, second right, Head of Ulema Council of Afghanistan Qiamuddin Kashaf, second left, and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, left, look on during the opening ceremony of the trilateral religious meeting among Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, May 11, 2018. Widodo on Friday opened the meeting to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivers his speech during the opening ceremony of the trilateral religious meeting among Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, May 11, 2018. Widodo on Friday opened the meeting to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian President Joko Widodo, second right, greets Chairman of Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology Qibla Ayaz, as Vice President Jusuf Kalla, left, greets Head of Ulema Council of Afghanistan Qiamuddin Kashaf during the opening ceremony of the trilateral religious meeting among Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, May 11, 2018. Widodo on Friday opened the meeting to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump will welcome NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House later this month. The White House said Friday that Stoltenberg will visit on May 17. The White House said the two "will discuss the upcoming NATO Summit in July and review progress on United States priorities for NATO, such as the need for fair burden-sharing and NATO's role in the international fight against terrorism." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks with the media in his office at the new NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, May 7, 2018. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took up his first day of office in the new headquarters, located directly across the street from the previous building. The first NATO ministerial will take place in June. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) Trump has pushed fellow NATO leaders to step up their own military spending. He has pressured NATO members to boost their military budgets to meet a benchmark of 2 percent of their GDP on defense annually. MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont lawmakers hope a new law that requires single occupancy restrooms be marked gender neutral can serve as a model for the rest of the nation. Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed the bill Friday. The new law, passed with support from Vermont's three major political parties, is the most recent development in a national debate over whether individuals can be required to use toilet facilities corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate. "Vermont has a well-earned reputation for embracing equality and being inclusive," Scott said at the bill signing ceremony at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. FILE- In this Aug. 23, 2007, file photo, a sign marks the entrance to a gender-neutral restroom at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt. Gov. Phil Scott is expected to sign legislation, Friday, May 11, 2018, to require that all single occupancy restrooms in Vermont public buildings be marked as gender neutral. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File) The new law takes effect July 1. Rep. Selene Colburn, a Progressive from Burlington and sponsor of the bill, said the new law would also benefit caretakers of the opposite gender who need to assist children, the elderly or the disabled. Montpelier High School student Nathan DeGroot said it took 15 months after coming out as transgender before he felt comfortable entering a men's restroom. "There are people in this room who purposefully do not drink more than a certain amount during the day just so they don't have to validate their entire existence every time they need to do the most natural thing in the world," DeGroot said. He added that he sees this law as the beginning of a larger push for transgender inclusive facilities. The sometimes contentious issue of gender neutral restrooms has been playing out across the country for some time. Vermont, along with 18 other states and the District of Columbia, includes gender identity as a protected class in accommodation laws. Some states that have attempted to legislate that individuals use the bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate have faced national backlash. In 2016 North Carolina attempted to require people to use the bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate but repealed portions of the law a year later losing business. Last year the Trump administration withdrew an Obama era guidance that supported a transgender Virginia student suing his school district for the right to use the boys' restroom. Dana Kaplan, executive director of Outright Vermont, said that for many transgender people bathroom labeling is a public safety issue and that the bill increases "health and access for all folks." Arli Christian, state policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said it has been more common for cities and counties to take up this issue. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a similar bill requiring gender neutral restrooms in 2016. The Vermont bill passed with a large majority in the House and unanimous support in the Senate. The few no votes came from lawmakers who wanted an exemption for religious buildings. Other advocates cited Vermont's national reputation as a progressive state on LGBT issues when applauding the new law. "Vermont is the state that often has to show the rest of the United States where to go and how to get there," said advocate Brenda Churchill. BOSTON (AP) - Jurors who will decide whether former New England Mafia boss Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme is guilty of having a federal witness killed have viewed the home where prosecutors say the killing took place. Jurors traveled to Sharon, Massachusetts on Friday to see the home where prosecutors say Steven DiSarro was strangled in 1993. Jurors also went to Providence, Rhode Island, where DiSarro's remains were found behind a mill building in 2016. Prosecutors say Salemme watched as his son strangled DiSarro, and another man, Paul Weadick, held DiSarro's feet. Prosecutors say they killed DiSarro to keep him from cooperating with authorities. FILE - This 1995 file booking photo taken in West Palm Beach, Fla., and released by the FBI shows Francis P. "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, a former mafia boss. Salemme and co-defendant Paul Weadick are on trial in federal court in Boston in connection with the 1993 killing of nightclub owner Steven DiSarro. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP, File) Weadick is also on trial. Salemme's son died in 1995. Salemme and DiSarro deny any involvement in the killing. Testimony in the case will resume Monday. ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Latest on allegations against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local): 2:55 p.m. The Missouri Senate has passed a measure that could allow Lt. Gov. Mike Parson to appoint his replacement if he were to take over for Gov. Eric Greitens. FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2018, file photo, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens listens to a question during an interview in his office at the Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo., where discussed having an extramarital affair before taking office. Jury selection is set to begin Thursday, May 10, 2018, in Greitens' felony invasion of privacy trial. He is accused of taking an unauthorized photo of a woman while she was partially nude during a 2015 sexual encounter, before he was elected. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File) The bill still needs a House vote. It comes as Greitens is facing a felony trial and the potential of House impeachment proceedings to try to remove him from office. Missouri's Constitution says the lieutenant governor takes over if the governor leaves office. But the constitution and state law aren't clear on how - or whether - to fill a lieutenant governor's vacancy. When Gov. Mel Carnahan died in October 2000, Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson took over and appointed Joe Maxell to the No. 2 spot. But that appointment occurred after Maxwell had already won the November election, and nobody challenged it. ___ 11:50 a.m. Jury selection is taking longer than anticipated in Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens' trial on an invasion-of-privacy charge related to an extramarital affair. Through midday Friday, fewer than 60 of the prospective 160 jurors had been considered. Circuit Judge Rex Burlison said some who had been scheduled for Friday will instead have to be questioned Monday, pushing opening arguments back. Greitens is accused of taking and transmitting a compromising photo of the woman without her permission in 2015, before he was elected. If convicted, he could face prison time. The governor has denied criminal wrongdoing but acknowledged having an affair. Greitens' attorneys have sought to dismiss potential jurors with knowledge of the accusations against the governor. ___ 9:50 a.m. An attorney for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is urging a judge to halt all evidence-gathering as his trial gets underway on an invasion-of-privacy charge. Greitens' attorney Jim Martin said Friday that a special examiner had extracted thousands of images from Greitens' cellphone "and none were found" of a woman with whom he acknowledged having an affair. Greitens is charged with taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of the woman while she was at least partially nude in 2015. Martin told St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison that it's time to shut down the evidence-gathering phase of the trial. Jury selection entered its second day Friday and is expected to continue Monday. Greitens has declined to say whether he took a photo but has denied criminal wrongdoing. ___ 12 a.m. People with negative impressions of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens are being weeded out of his potential juror pool for a criminal trial. Jury selection that began Thursday in St. Louis was to continue Friday and potentially into early next week. Those selected will hear a case accusing Greitens of felony invasion of privacy for allegedly taking and transmitting a compromising photo of a woman with whom he was having an affair in 2015. Greitens has not directly answered questions about whether he took the photo but has acknowledged an affair and denied criminal wrongdoing. During jury selection, Greitens' attorneys have sought to dismiss potential jurors whose answers to a questionnaire indicated they may have a bias against the governor. Flanked by security guards, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, center, arrives at court for jury selection in his felony invasion of privacy trial, Thursday, May 10, 2018, in St. Louis. Greitens is accused of taking an unauthorized and compromising photo of a woman with whom he had an affair. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, top, arrives at court for jury selection in his felony invasion of privacy trial, Thursday, May 10, 2018, in St. Louis. Greitens is accused of taking an unauthorized and compromising photo of a woman with whom he had an affair. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) Members of the St. Louis streets department unload barricades on the Chestnut Street side of the Civil Courts building in St. Louis, Mo., on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in advance of Thursday's start of jury selection in the trial of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who is facing allegations in an invasion-of-privacy case. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) BEIRUT (AP) - The formation of a new Cabinet in Lebanon that represents all factions should take place quickly because of growing regional tensions and the fragile country's struggling economy, a senior Lebanese politician said Friday. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri spoke in an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Beirut days after Lebanon held its first parliamentary elections in nine years. In the vote, Berri's Shiite Muslim Amal group, along with its allies including the powerful Hezbollah, won more than a third of the seats, giving them the power to veto any legislation against them in the future. Berri, 80, has held his post for more than 25 years and is widely expected to be re-elected when the new parliament reconvenes later this month. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 11, 2018. Berri a close ally of Syria and Iran says this week's retaliation to repeated Israeli airstrikes in Syria was a "very strong warning" to Israel. He said this time the retaliation was in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights but next time it will be in Israel proper. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Lebanon has been suffering for years from spillover of Syria's seven-year civil war and the flow of more than a million refugees, or nearly a quarter of the tiny country's population, putting pressure on an already crumbling infrastructure. On Friday, Berri received a big boost from Prime Minister Saad Hariri who named him as his candidate for the country's second top post that Berri has been holding since 1992. Support from Hariri, whose bloc has 21 seats of the 128-member legislature would guarantee that Berri is re-elected for the post that he has been holding since 1992. Berri did not say who his candidate for prime minister is, since the government will have to resign within days following the elections. After the new parliament's four-year term begins on May 21 and a new parliament speaker is elected, President Michel Aoun will call for consultations with legislators to name their candidate for forming the new government. "The situation around us (in the region) pushes the Lebanese to hurry as much as possible to form a Cabinet, a government that represents everyone," Berri said. Berri said that this is his opinion and that of Aoun and Hariri as well. "The devil is in the details but we should hurry up," Berri said, adding that the formation of a Cabinet should not take months as in the past. "Iit used to take us seven to eight months to form a Cabinet and this is dangerous," Berri said, mentioning tension on Syria's borders with Israel. "There is another war that we are fighting without noticing, and this is the economic war in Lebanon, and it has been ongoing for a while." Lebanon has a national debt of $80 billion making it one of the highest in the world, standing at 150 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Berri said that Lebanese authorities should have direct contacts with the Syrian government so that refugees start heading back to their country, criticizing anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians who refuse any dealings with the Syrian government. Berri referred to last month's return of hundreds of Syrian refugees to Syria after government forces retook areas they came from. "This makes Syrians who are returning to their country happy and also reduces pressure on the Lebanese," Berri said. "This should be going on daily basis. We should not say that we do not contact the Syrian brothers," Berri said. "There should be always contacts between the Lebanese and Syrian governments," said Berri, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. "Such contacts are for the good of Lebanon." ___ Associated Press writer Zeina Karam contributed to this report from Beirut. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish lawmakers have voted to cut their own pay by 20 percent, an effort by the ruling party to boost its standing ahead of elections. The plan was first announced last month by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the ruling Law and Justice party, following a scandal over bonuses that government ministers were awarded last year. Lawmakers on Friday voted 240-2 in support of the measure, with five abstentions and 213 lawmakers from opposition parties boycotting the vote. Last year's controversial bonuses were paid to several ministers by former Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who fueled additional criticism by insisting the ministers deserved the money. Some of the bonuses were around $20,000, more than the average yearly wage in Poland. Poland faces local elections this fall and parliamentary elections next year. ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's jailed pro-Kurdish politician and presidential hopeful says elections in Turkey have never been fair, but next month's presidential and parliamentary ballots will be even more unjust than ever. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government vehemently denies that the election is being held in an unfair environment, however. Responding to written questions from his prison cell, Selahattin Demirtas, told The Associated Press that he was still confident that his Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, would surpass its previous electoral gains and give Erdogan "the necessary response at the ballot box." FILE - In this handout photo provided by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday, May 4, 2018, former co-leader of the party Selahattin Demirtas sits in prison in Turkey. Turkey's jailed pro-Kurdish politician and presidential hopeful says elections in Turkey have never been fair, but next month's presidential and parliamentary ballots will be even more unjust than ever. Speaking from his prison cell, Selahattin Demirtas, told The Associated Press Friday, May 11 he was still confident his Peoples' Democratic Party would surpass its previous electoral gains. (HDP via AP, file) Last month, Erdogan called the election for June 24, more than a year earlier than planned, giving opposition parties scant time to mount weighty campaigns. With Turkey's media largely under government control, opposition parties face an uphill battle to make their voices heard. The election is also being held under a state of emergency that has led to some 50,000 arrests, including those of opposition journalists, and the closure of media outlets. The HDP faces the added challenge of having its main candidate - Demirtas, a 45-year-old former human rights lawyer - and thousands of other party officials in prison. "These elections will take place in an unfair environment never seen before," Demirtas said in response to AP questions submitted to him. "While Erdogan limitlessly uses all state opportunities to his lead his own campaign, I am being held in a cell as a political hostage." The June 24 election is hugely important, as it will transform Turkey's governing system to an executive presidency, ushering in a constitutional change that was narrowly approved in a referendum last year. The post of prime minister will be abolished, concentrating even more power in the hands of the president. "Thousands of my friends, the women, the young will voluntarily lead my campaign in my name," Demirtas said from his prison in Edirne, northwest Turkey. "We will campaign without losing our morale or our motivation." Erdogan's supporters dismiss Demirtas' claims. "The nonsense that the elections will not be fair and free is simply a move to cast a shadow on the upcoming elections," wrote Ilnur Cevik, an adviser to Erdogan, in Daily Sabah newspaper. "It is either the work of ignorant writers or part of a perception campaign to bring our democracy into disrepute." Demirtas was arrested in 2016 for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants. He faces a 142-year sentence on charges of leading a terror organization, engaging in terror propaganda and other crimes. Eight other HDP lawmakers and nearly 4,700 HDP members are imprisoned. Demirtas ran against Erdogan in the country's first direct presidential election in 2014, garnering 9.7 percent of the vote. He also led the left-leaning party to parliament in two general elections during 2015, enlarging his party's appeal beyond Turkey's mainly-Kurdish populated regions. If elected, Demirtas said his priority would be to enact a new constitution for Turkey, underscoring personal freedoms, the independence of the courts and a return to parliamentary democracy. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan distributes books to the members of his ruling party after Friday prayers at his palace's mosque in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, May 11, 2018. Turkey holds parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24, 2018, seen as important as it will transform Turkey's governing system to an executive presidency.(Presidential Press Service/Pool via AP) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes as he addresses the members of his ruling party in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, May 11, 2018. Turkey holds parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24, 2018, seen as important as it will transform Turkey's governing system to an executive presidency.(Presidential Press Service/Pool via AP) NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City artist is facing eviction and a $185,000 fine after renting out her rent-regulated loft to tourists on Airbnb. The New York Post reports a judge ruled this week that a landlord could evict Eileen Hickey. Landlord Robert Moskowitz says Hickey's rentals made $4,500 a month, triple what she pays. Moskowitz says Hickey violated state laws against short-term renting and profiting off rent-stabilized apartments. Hickey says the Airbnb rentals spanned 85 nights over 10 months a few years ago. She says she needed money for her then-husband's medical bills and believed the rentals were legal. The 72-year-old also owns a Manhattan condo. She says she uses it as an office. San Francisco-based Airbnb said Friday it encourages tenants to consult their landlords before renting out their homes. KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - One wildlife park guard was killed and two British tourists and their driver were abducted in Virunga National Park in Congo, a park spokesman said Friday. Their vehicle was ambushed while bringing the tourists from Kibumba to the city of Goma, Joel Wengamulay, spokesman for the Congolese Institute for The Conservation of Nature, told the U.N.-backed Radio Okapi. Investigations into the attack have begun, Wengamulay said. Eastern Congo is home to multiple armed groups that compete for mineral-rich land. "We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals, and our staff are providing support to their families," Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement. A park guard told The Associated Press that the driver was injured in the ambush about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Goma. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press. Virunga is home to about one-quarter of the world's remaining mountain gorillas, and the work of protecting them has proven dangerous. On April 9, six park staffers were killed in the deadliest known ambush of its kind in Virunga. Park officials blamed Mai Mai militia members. That attack brought the number of rangers killed on the job to 175 since the vast park in far eastern Congo was established in 1925, officials said. Allied Democratic Forces rebels have also been accused of attacks and kidnappings near the park. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's meeting with automakers (all times local): 3:50 p.m. President Donald Trump has instructed his administration to explore negotiating with California to achieve a single fuel economy standard for the nation. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with automotive executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, May 11, 2018, in Washington. From left, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, Ford CEO James Hackett, Trump, and White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The president met Friday with 10 auto industry executives to discuss the standards, and agreed to have Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt handle the talks with California officials, according to two people briefed on the meeting. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions. The auto industry wants to relax the standards, but not so much that they provoke a legal fight with California, which can impose its own stricter tailpipe pollution limits. Two auto industry trade groups confirmed in a statement that Trump is willing to talk with California, but gave no specifics. __ 12:10 p.m. President Donald Trump is telling automakers he wants more cars built in the U.S. He's talking with CEOs about environmental controls, fuel economy standards and manufacturing. The president says they'll discuss the "manufacturing of millions of more cars within the United States, for Michigan, for Ohio, for Pennsylvania" and states like South Carolina and North Carolina. Trump says he's working to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement but "has never been a NAFTA fan." He adds, "We'll see if we can make it reasonable." Trump jokes to Sergio Marchionne (SEHR'-jee-oh mar-kee-OH'-nay) of Fiat Chrysler that "right now he's my favorite man in the room" because he's moving a plant from Mexico to Michigan. ___ 10:25 a.m. Executives from 10 auto companies will meet with President Donald Trump and Cabinet officials on Friday to discuss the administration's plan to reduce gas mileage and pollution requirements enacted during the Obama administration. The auto industry wants to relax the standards, but not so much that they provoke a legal fight with California, which has power to impose its own stricter tailpipe pollution limits. Such a fight could bring two mileage standards in the U.S., forcing automakers to engineer and produce two versions of each of their vehicle models, driving up costs. "The president will hear from the automaker CEOs about the impact of the rulemaking on the auto industry and their efforts to negotiate a 'National Program' with the state of California," Lindsay Walters, deputy White House press secretary, said in a statement. MOSCOW (AP) - A proposal from the province of Chechnya to extend Russia's limit of two consecutive presidential terms isn't on President Vladimir Putin's agenda, the Kremlin said Friday. Provincial legislators in Chechnya on Thursday put forward an initiative to amend the constitution to allow three consecutive presidential terms. The move that would the set the stage for Putin to stay in office beyond 2024 would require the federal parliament's approval. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Friday the Chechen proposal "isn't on the president's agenda" and referred to Putin's previous statements on the issue. Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a match of the Night Hockey League teams in the Bolshoy Ice Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, May 10, 2018. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) In March, Putin said he opposed changes in the constitution in the past and has no such plans "for now." The 65-year-old Putin was inaugurated Monday for another six-year term. He already is Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin. Putin served two four-year presidential terms in 2000-2008 before shifting into the prime minister's seat because of term limits while his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, was elected president. Putin reclaimed the presidency in 2012 after the presidential term was extended to six years under Medvedev's tenure. In March, Putin laughed off a suggestion that he could take a six-year break before moving to reclaim the presidency in 2030. "It's a bit ridiculous, let's do the math. Shall I sit here until I turn 100? No!" he said. One way or another, Putin is widely expected to continue calling the shots in Russia even after his current term ends. He could do that by extending the term limits or abolishing them altogether, shifting into a new position of power or naming a loyal placeholder. However, the necessary groundwork for that is likely to be set later. The Chechen proposal seems to be driven mostly by regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov's desire to demonstrate his fealty to Putin. "I'm sure that 100 percent of the people will support the proposal to extend the limit to three consecutive presidential terms," Kadyrov said in his blog. SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) - A judge on Friday declared a defendant's trial testimony "poppycock" before sentencing him to 55 years in prison for killing his wife and burying her body with a wedding band, flowers, potato chip bag, and a bottle of Gucci cologne called "Guilty." The judge said he was "disgusted" by the conduct of Army veteran Luc Tieman, who was convicted last month of murder. Tieman, of Fairfield, Maine, didn't speak during the sentencing in Superior Court. But he has contended he didn't kill his wife, whom he admitted burying behind his parents' home. In this still image from video, Luc Tieman, center, and his lawyer Stephen Smith, left, listen inside a courtroom where Tieman was sentenced to 55 years, Friday, May 11, 2018, in Somerset County Superior Court in Skowhegan, Maine. Tieman, who was convicted in April of killing his wife, did not address the court. (Spencer Roberts/WABI-TV via AP) Tieman originally told investigators 34-year-old Valerie Tieman disappeared at a Walmart, but he later changed his story to say she died from a heroin overdose. An autopsy showed she had ingested painkillers but died from two gunshots. A prosecutor told the judge that Valerie Tieman was "gunned down" in August 2016 by the man who vowed to love and protect her. The victim's family, from South Carolina, urged the judge to impose a life sentence instead of the 55-year sentence sought by prosecutors. The defense sought a 35-year sentence. "A big part of me is gone," the victim's mother, Sarajean Harmon of Taylors, South Carolina, said in a statement read aloud at the hearing. She wrote that she was "overwhelmed by what an evil-hearted man Luc is." Tieman wept as his mother and father asked the judge for mercy. His mother, Laurelle Tieman, said her son was changed when he returned from three combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. She said she wasn't looking to use his post-traumatic stress disorder as an excuse but added, "I am asking for understanding." The prosecutor contended Tieman killed his wife to be with another woman he'd met on Facebook. Luc Tieman moved in with that woman and never reported his wife missing, prosecutors said. Valerie Tieman's parents, both of whom were in court Friday along with her brother, eventually contacted police on Sept. 9, 2016. Luc Tieman offered no explanation why the grave contained the unusual items, some of which had been on his bedside table in his parents' home. Valerie Tieman was wrapped in a blanket and buried in a shallow grave along with flowers, a wedding band, a bag of potato chips, cologne and a note. Four Oklahoma troopers were struck by gunfire or shrapnel while serving a warrant early Friday at a man's home that may have been booby-trapped. The blaze has consumed several buildings in downtown Talihina, a town of about 1,100 people that's about 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma. The suspect was shot and has been pronounced dead, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Paul Timmons said. A fire consumed several buildings in Talihina, a town of about 1,100 people that's about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City The four troopers are expected to recover and have been released from a local hospital. Local authorities had requested help from state troopers to execute a drug-related warrant because the man had a 'violent criminal history,' Timmons said. 'As soon as they made entry, they were met by gunfire,' Timmons said. Four Oklahoma troopers were shot responding to the scene and trying to serve a warrant to the suspect The suspect - believed to have booby trapped the house - was shot and has been pronounced dead, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Paul Timmons said A fifth trooper who was wearing a protective vest was also struck in the chest area by gunfire, but escaped any injury because of the vest, Timmons said. Authorities don't yet know what caused the fire, but Timmons said the blaze broke out instantly after the law enforcement officers tried to execute the warrant. 'Right now we suspect that the building may have been booby-trapped with some type of explosive device that maybe started the fire,' Timmons said. Firefighters were still working at midday Friday to contain the blaze. The suspect has not been named. ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former CIA contractor has pleaded guilty to unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials. Fifty-three-year-old Reynaldo Regis of Fort Washington, Maryland, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors say Regis worked for a government contractor and was assigned to the CIA between 2006 and 2016. As part of his plea agreement, Regis admitted he copied classified information into personal notebooks and conducted unauthorized searches of classified databases. According to court documents, FBI agents found 60 notebooks containing classified information when they searched his home. Officials have not said why he copied the material. Regis also pleaded guilty to making false statements. His lawyer, John Zwerling, said Regis did a lot of good work but made a mistake and wants to make amends. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a $137.6 billion general fund budget for California Friday amid surging revenues, kicking off his last round of negotiations with Democratic legislative leaders. Brown's latest budget is up nearly $6 billion from his earlier proposal in January. The Democratic governor wants to save most of the surplus to protect spending during a future recession, boosting California's rainy day fund to nearly $14 billion "to weather a storm that will be more like $60 billion." The Democratic governor warned that the revenue is "not in the bank" but "it is a prediction." Gov. Jerry Brown gestures toward a chart showing the increase in K-14 school funding, while discussing his revised 2018-19 state budget at a Capitol news conference Friday, May 11, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Brown proposed a $137.6 billion general fund budget, up nearly $6 billion from his earlier proposal in January. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) "Life is very giddy at the peaks ... but I'm not giddy," he said. Brown's revised budget projects an $8.8 billion surplus, the largest since at least the 2000-01 state budget year. The surplus increased nearly $3 billion from the figure budget officials projected in January in part because revenue during the busy April tax-filing season came in higher than expected. Brown has repeatedly warned that California is riding a wave of economic growth and the budgetary good times will eventually end. He compared the state's usual fiscal cycle to riding a tiger, with programs expanded in good times only to be chopped during recessions and said he's determined to leave his successor a state in good fiscal condition. He has generally resisted new ongoing spending on social services that he says can't be sustained. "All the people who want things won't be getting what they'd like to have," Brown said, warning that the state is "on the peaks and we're about to head down into the valleys." Still, on Friday he proposed $2 billion for infrastructure, including universities, courts, state facilities and flood control and $359 million to help local governments address homelessness. But he's facing pressure to boost funding on a wide variety of legislative priorities including higher education, child care and firefighting. Assembly Democrats said this week they'll push for a $1 billion boost in spending on health care, including $250 million to provide state-funded health coverage to low-income California residents living in the country illegally through the Medi-Cal program. Their proposal would also provide money to offset monthly premium costs for people who buy their own insurance coverage. They have also proposed expanding the earned-income tax credit to help the working poor. Brown's proposal included a partial expansion for adults up to age 25 and seniors 65 and older. "In these times of prosperity, we need to make sure we bring all Californians along for the ride," said Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco, who is the Assembly's budget chief. Senate Democrats are eager to boost monthly payments for CalWorks, the state welfare program, which have not been raised for years. Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore said it's "the stuff of fiction" to say California has a budget surplus "when the state is staring down more than $200 billion in outstanding debt and liabilities." The Assembly budget committee's ranking Republican, Jay Obernolte of Hesperia, said the surplus means there was no need for the state to impose a $52 billion gas tax to pay for transportation projects. Assembly Republican Leader Brian Dahle of Bieber and GOP Assemblyman Vince Fong of Bakersfield rued that taxes keep rising despite the surging revenues, with Fong criticizing state officials for "recklessly spending even more of California residents' hard earned money." However, most Republicans supported Brown's fiscal prudence. Brown's $137.6 billion spending plan reflects money from the general fund, the state's main bank account. His proposal is $199.3 billion when including bonds and special funds, which are restricted for specific purposes. By law, about half of the budget is automatically directed to K-12 education and community colleges. Brown is continuing to push his proposal first announced in January to create a new online community college that would primarily serve working adults. His administration has aggressively worked to sell lawmakers on the plan and said recently that the first curriculum would be a certificate in medical coding. He said Thursday that his budget proposal includes $96 million for a variety of efforts to prevent wildfires, including doubling the amount of land that's actively managed through vegetation thinning, controlled burns and reforestation. California firefighters and fire chiefs have asked for $100 million for overtime, equipment and dispatchers to better prepare for potential fires during risky weather conditions. Brown will negotiate a final spending plan with Democratic legislative leaders. The Assembly and Senate have until June 15 to pass a budget under the state Constitution. If they're late, lawmakers' pay will be docked. Brown has presided over a stark turnaround in California's finances. The state's budget, which has historically been subject to steep highs and deep lows, has grown 45 percent since 2011, when he took office facing a $25 billion deficit thanks to significant income growth among wealthy taxpayers. Forty percent of California's personal income tax revenue comes from people earning $1 million or more per year. Gov. Jerry Brown gestures toward a chart showing the increase in K-14 school funding, while discussing his revised 2018-19 state budget at a Capitol news conference Friday, May 11, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Brown proposed a $137.6 billion general fund budget, up nearly $6 billion from his earlier proposal in January. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Anne Gust Brown laughs as she holds up the newest member of the Brown family, Cali, before her husband, Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his revised 2018-19 state budget at a Capitol news conference Friday, May 11, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Cali, a little over three-months-old, is a Poodle, Border Collie mix. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Law enforcement officers in Kansas are now banned from having sex with people they stop for traffic violations or detain in criminal investigations under a new state law that many legislators were surprised was necessary. Before Gov. Jeff Colyer signed the law Thursday, Kansas was among 33 states where consensual sex between police and people in their custody wasn't a crime, The Wichita Eagle reported . Law enforcement officers were banned from having sex with people in jail, but the new law bans sexual relations "during the course of a traffic stop, a custodial interrogation, an interview in connection with an investigation, or while the law enforcement officer has such person detained." Democratic Rep. Cindy Holscher, of Olathe, introduced the bill. She said the legislation grew from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn't commit. McIntyre was released last year after investigators determined the detective who arrested him had long coerced sexual acts from women in Kansas City's black community, including McIntyre's mother, by threatening to arrest them or their relatives. McIntyre's mother said in an affidavit that she believed the detective targeted her son after she spurned his advances. Holscher said she also was influenced by a New York case where a teenager alleged she was raped by two police officers in the back of their van. No charges were filed because the officers claimed the sex was consensual and therefore legal. The Kansas bill received bipartisan support. Rep. John Carmichael, a Democrat from Wichita, said he was shocked to learn that such behavior wasn't already illegal in Kansas when Holscher first discussed the proposal. Many officers now wear body cameras, so it would be difficult for law enforcement to get away with sex on the job, said Rep. John Whitmer, a Republican from Wichita. "Most officers are great guys and women who are working hard, but there's always the one," Whitmer said. ___ Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com A line of children's bath toys are being recalled because small parts can break off and pose a choking hazard. Other recalled consumer products this week include go-karts and bicycle components. Here's a more detailed look: BATH TOYS DETAILS: Munchkin's Waterpede bath toys. The one piece multicolored centipede-shaped toy allows water to be scooped from the top, and flows through the chambers of the bottom. The bath toy is 100 percent plastic and is for children six months and up. They were sold at Babies R Us, Target, and other stores nationwide and at munchkin.com from September 2015 through January 2018. WHY: The bath toy can break apart exposing small parts, posing a choking hazard to young children. INCIDENTS: One report of the toy breaking apart and exposing small beads. No injuries have been reported. HOW MANY: About 72,000. FOR MORE: Call Munchkin at 877-242-3134 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday or visit www.munchkin.com , click on "Help" at the bottom of the page and then "Recalls" for more information. GO-KARTS DETAILS: Nerf Battle Racers, a four-wheel pedal powered go-kart for children ages 4 to 10. The "Nerf" logo can be found on each side of the go-kart and is etched into the black seat. The wheels are black and orange. The model number T91869, and the date of manufacture is printed on a white sticker located on the underside of the seat. Only go-karts with a date of manufacture between 01/2016 and 03/2017 are being recalled. They were sold at Orsheln Farm, Shopko, Target, Toys R Us, Walmart stores nationwide and at Amazon.com and Fingerhut.com between January 2016 and March 2017. WHY: The steering wheel on the go-kart can detach, break or crack while in use, posing a laceration and/or collision hazard to young children. INCIDENTS: 639 reports in the U.S. of the steering wheel detaching, breaking or cracking with one resulting in a laceration to a child's face requiring stitches and one resulting in a minor scrape to a child's chest. HOW MANY: About 26,300 in the U.S. and about 2,100 in Canada. FOR MORE: Call Hauck at 877-428-2545 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit www.hauck-toys.com and click on "Product Recall" at the bottom of the page for more information. WOMEN'S SCARVES DETAILS: 100 percent silk Wrapables women's scarves. The scarves measure about 65 inches long by 21 inches wide and have a small side seam label with "100% silk" printed on it. The scarves were sold in the following 13 colors: Azure Blue, Bright Fuchsia, Brown Corn Silk Cream, Dark Blue, Floral White, Lime Green, Midnight Black, Orchid Purple, Peony Pink, Rose Red, Sky Blue, and Tangerine Orange. On Amazon.com, the recalled scarves were sold as "Wrapables Lightweight 100% Silk Butterfly Print Long Scarf." They were sold at Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Wrapables.com from March 2014 through March 2018. WHY: The women's scarves fail to meet the federal flammability standard for clothing textiles, posing a risk of burn injuries to consumers. INCIDENTS: None reported. HOW MANY: About 1,900. FOR MORE: Call Wrapables at 888-651-1638 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, send email to service@wrapables.com with "Product Recall" as the email subject or visit www.wrapables.com and click on the "Important Notice" tab located at the bottom of the webpage for more information. BICYCLE COMPONENTS DETAILS: Specialized Fuse Comp and Fatboy SE bicycles with Stout cranks. The bikes come in Gloss Hyper/Black Clean and Satin Gloss Black/Rocket Red for Fuse Comp and Gloss Warm Charcoal/Black/Gallardo Orange and Satin Oak Green/Black/Rocket Red for Fatboy SE. Only cranks with "STOUT" written on either crankarm and equipped with a direct-mount chainring manufactured in 2017 are affected. Cranks are manufactured in 2017 if the serial code imprinted on the inside of either crankarm starts with "17." WHY: The driveside crankarm can disengage and cause the rider to lose control, posing fall and injury hazards. INCIDENTS: None reported. HOW MANY: About 1,800 FOR MORE: Call Authorized Specialized Retailer or Specialized Bicycle Components at 877-808-8154 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, email ridercare@specialized.com or online at www.specialized.com and click on "Safety Notices" for more information. DEEP FRYERS DETAILS: Ambiano mini deep fryers sold in two colors, brushed stainless steel and red. The recalled deep fryers have a black lid and were sold with a metal food basket. The deep fryers measure about 9.45 inches wide by 10.43 inches high by 8.23 inches deep. The units have Ambiano printed on the front. The barcode numbers listed below can be found on the bottom of the unit on the silver rating label. The products include Stainless Steel Ambiano Mini Deep Fryer with barcode 20072483 and Red Ambiano Mini Deep Fryer with barcode 20072490.They were sold at ALDI stores from February 2018 through March 2018. WHY: The deep fryer heating element can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards. INCIDENTS: Three reports of the deep fryers catching on fire, including three reports of minor property damage. No injuries have been reported. HOW MANY: About 35,000. FOR MORE: Call ALDI at 800-366-9967 from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit www.aldi.us and click on "Product Recalls" for more information. COFFEE CANS DETAILS: This recall involves only Whole Bean 250 gram/8.8 ounce cans of illy coffee in medium, dark roast and decaf with no air valve on the bottom of the canister with a best by date of 10/2019, 11/2019, or 12/2019 printed on the bottom of the can. The silver, cylinder-shaped coffee cans have the "illy" logo printed on the front with a red, black or green-colored accent line across the top and bottom of the can. They were sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Kroger, Shoprite, Sur La Table, Target, Whole Foods, Williams Sonoma, and other stores and online at Amazon.com and Jet.com from November 2017 through May 2018. WHY: The coffee bean can lid can detach suddenly with force upon opening when missing an air valve on the bottom, posing an injury hazard. INCIDENTS: None reported. HOW MANY: About 65,000. FOR MORE: Call illy at 855-282-4682 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, send email to caninfo@illy.com or visit www.illy.com/caninfo for more information. CRIB BUMPERS DETAILS: Babynest crib bumpers used in Babybay bedside sleeper cribs that attach to adult size beds. The recalled bumpers measure 60 inches long by 9.5 inches wide and were sold in seven colors; yellow, brown, green, blue, pink, white, gray with white stars, white with gray stars, gray with white polka dots, white with gray polka dots and white with blue stars. They were sold at www.babybay.us from April 2016 to January 2018. More details can be found at https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/Tobi-Recalls-Babynest-Crib-Bumpers-Due-to-Strangulation-Hazard-Sold-Exclusively-Online-at-babybay.us-Recall-Alert WHY: The strings on the crib bumper exceed a safe length, posing a strangulation hazard to babies. INCIDENTS: None reported. HOW MANY: About 200. FOR MORE: Call Babybay at 844-692-2292 between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, send email to info@babybay.us or visit www.babybay.us and click on "Recall Notice" for more information. JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska jury on Friday convicted a former Arizona lawmaker of first-degree murder in the death of a man on a hunting and fishing trip in 2016. The jury in Juneau found Mark Desimone guilty in the death of Duilio Antonio "Tony" Rosales at a remote cabin site in southeast Alaska. Desimone sat stone-faced as the verdict was read, following jury deliberations that started Thursday. Friends and family of Rosales' held hands, hugged and cried. Mark Desimone, second from right, is shown following the jury verdict in his trial on Friday, May 11, 2018, in Juneau, Alaska. A jury convicted Desimone, a former Arizona legislator, of first-degree murder in the death of a man on a hunting and fishing trip in Alaska in 2016. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Rosales' widow, Maria Gonzalez, left the room after the verdict was read. Her piercing wails could be heard inside the courtroom. The verdict came nearly two years to the day of the shooting. She told reporters the trial had been painful and forced her to relive the experience of losing Rosales. "He didn't deserve to die like that," she said. A judge ordered Desimone held without bail pending sentencing. There is no death penalty in Alaska. Desimone resigned from the Arizona House in 2008, during his first term, after being arrested in a domestic dispute with his then-wife. That case was dropped when he agreed to counseling. Desimone had lived in Juneau in the 1980s and returned shortly before the shooting. Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige said Desimone was doing day labor at a local jewelry store where Rosales worked. The store was owned by Bill Young, whom Desimone knew from his earlier period in Alaska. Young invited Desimone, Rosales and other friends on the trip to Excursion Inlet, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Juneau. Paige noted that one member of the trip, Sam Bradshaw, said Desimone's demeanor changed from happy to moody when he learned Rosales was going to be on the trip. Another member of the trip, Bradshaw's brother, Seth, said he heard gunfire and initially thought someone was target shooting. He ran into Desimone, who said, "I shot him, I shot him. It's all my fault, I shot him," Paige told jurors. Rosales suffered two shots to the back of his head as he was sitting down and removing his boots. The gun used in the shooting had been borrowed from Young by another member of the group. After the shooting, Desimone was calm and smoked cigarettes, Paige said. Desimone's attorney, Deborah Macaulay, did not dispute that Desimone fatally shot Rosales. But she argued it was an accident and said the lack of an apparent motive was a big hole in the prosecution's case. She suggested Desimone's reaction to the shooting could be described as shock. Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, looks over documents during his trial in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Friends and family of Duilio Antonio "Tony" Rosales support one another on Friday, May 11, 2018, in Juneau, Alaska, after jurors find Mark Desimone, seated at table second from top right, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2016 death of Rosales. The killing occurred during a hunting and fishing trip. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Alaska Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige gives closing statements to jurors in the trial of Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a former Arizona lawmaker in the death of a man in Alaska (all times local): 10:30 a.m. The widow of a man killed on a hunting and fishing trip in Alaska in 2016 says the outcome of the trial won't bring her husband back. Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, looks over documents during his trial in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Maria Gonzalez left the courtroom in tears after a jury Friday convicted a former Arizona lawmaker of first-degree murder in the death of her late husband, Duilio Antonio "Tony" Rosales. Her cries could be heard inside the courtroom. The verdict against Mark Desimone was returned nearly two years to the day of the fatal shooting in southeast Alaska. Desimone was ordered held without bond pending sentencing. Desimone's attorney did not dispute that he killed Rosales but argued that it was an accident, not murder. Desimone moved to Alaska shortly before the shooting and did day labor at the jewelry store where Rosales worked. ___ 9:50 a.m. An Alaska jury has convicted a former Arizona lawmaker of first-degree murder in the death of a man on a hunting and fishing trip. The jury in Juneau on Friday found Mark Desimone (dee-sih-MOHN) guilty in the 2016 death of Duilio Antonio "Tony" Rosales at a remote cabin site in southeast Alaska. Desimone sat stone-faced as the verdict was read following jury deliberations that started Thursday. Both men worked at a jewelry store in Juneau, and were taking part in the trip organized by the store owner. Witnesses heard shots and said they heard Desimone admit he shot Rosales, who had two bullet wounds to the back of his head. A defense lawyer said the shooting was accidental. Alaska Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige gives closing statements to jurors in the trial of Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Attorney Deborah Macaulay gives closing statements to jurors in the trial of her client, Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Macaulay said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, looks over documents with his attorney Deborah Macaulay during his trial on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in Juneau, Alaska. Macaulay said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, looks over documents during his trial in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Alaska Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige gives closing statements to jurors in the trial of Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Deborah Macaulay, who represents Desimone, said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) Attorney Deborah Macaulay gives closing statements to jurors in the trial of her client, Mark Desimone, a former Arizona legislator charged with killing a man on an Alaska hunting and fishing trip in 2016, in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Macaulay said Thursday the shooting was an accident, not murder. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer) PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Lawyers for the six people killed in Maine's deadliest fire in four decades said Thursday the $300,000 settlement in the wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the deaths isn't enough. The February settlement provided $45,000 for each victim's family along with $30,000 for a survivor of the 2014 Portland blaze, the Portland Press Herald reported . Landlord Gregory Nisbet was convicted of code violations. Attorneys for the victims said they couldn't get a larger settlement because Nisbet didn't have many assets. The apartment house was insured by a fire policy but his personal home had no equity in it, they said. Bradford Pattershall, a lawyer representing the mother of one of the victims, said the families are "very frustrated." He said lawyers in the case "couldn't find anything and we turned over every stone." Nisbet appealed the code violations conviction last year. The state Supreme Court will hear arguments next week. He was acquitted of six counts of manslaughter at trial. The violations he was convicted of were related to safety of the apartment building where the fire broke out. After the fire, city officials later set up a new office of housing safety, hired more inspectors and initiated stricter controls over landlords. ___ Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com WASHINGTON (AP) - Documents show doctors and officials are months behind in producing a court-ordered risk assessment for would-be Ronald Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr. Washington TV station WRC-TV reports a deadline for the review of Hinckley and his danger to the public passed in January without completion. Court records show a judge has set a hearing for December to discuss the future of Hinckley's "convalescent leave." The hearing is set to begin Dec. 10. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 shooting and spent decades in a mental hospital before being released to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2016. The risk assessment was a provision of his release. WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States aspires to have North Korea as a "close partner" and not an enemy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, noting that the U.S. has often in history become good friends with former adversaries. Pompeo said he had told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of that hope during his brief visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, during which he finalized details of the upcoming June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump and secured the release of three Americans imprisoned in the country. He said his talks with Kim on Wednesday had been "warm," ''constructive," and "good" and that he made clear that if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the U.S. is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living stands to levels like those in prosperous South Korea. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrive for a media availability at the State Department, Friday, May 11, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) "We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that we have had between us," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference with South Korea's visiting foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. "We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea." He did not mention other adversaries by name, but Pompeo and others have often noted that the U.S. played a major role in rebuilding Japan and the European axis powers in the wake of the Second World War. With U.S. help, those countries recovered from the devastation of conflict. "If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends," he said. Kang praised the upcoming meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore as an "historic" opportunity, but added a few notes of skepticism as well. Amid concerns that North Korea will demand the U.S. withdraw its troops from neighboring South Korea, Kang emphasized that the U.S. military presence there must be "a matter for the U.S.-ROK alliance first and foremost," using an acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. She said the U.S. troop presence in the South for the past 65 years has played a "crucial role for deterrence," peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Therefore, she said, any change in the size of the U.S. forces in the South Korea should not be on the table at the summit. "The next few weeks will be critical, requiring air-tight coordination between our two countries," Kang said, noting that South Korean President Moon Jae-in would be in Washington to see Trump later this month. Since Trump announced plans to hold a summit with Kim, questions have been raised continually about whether the two leaders have the same objective in mind when they speak about "denuclearization." To the U.S., that means the North giving up the nuclear weapons it has already built. But North Korea has said it's willing to talk now because it's already succeeded in becoming a nuclear-armed state, fueling skepticism that the North would truly being willing to give those weapons up. Pompeo said there would need to be "complete" and "verifiable" denuclearization that would remove North Korea as a threat to the South, the United States and the rest of the world. He said a massive inspection and monitoring regime would be required to ensure the North's compliance. "I think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are," Pompeo said, though he declined to offer more detail. Companies and local governments have proposed building new immigration detention centers in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, responding to a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials stepping up arrests in the center of the country. The proposals, most by for-profit corrections contractors, were submitted to ICE after it put out a request in October for detention sites near Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City and St. Paul, Minnesota. ICE disclosed the proposals in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Immigrant Justice Center, which provided the information to The Associated Press. The proposals, all preliminary, include one to build a 640-bed detention center in Pine Island, Minnesota, not far from Rochester, submitted by Management & Training Corp. and another by GEO Group for an 800-bed facility in rural Newton County, Indiana, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Chicago. CoreCivic Inc. proposed reopening the vacant Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota, to supply ICE with up to 600 beds, and expanding a detention center in Pahrump, Nevada, to add space for 604 immigrant detainees. ICE pays private companies to hold about two-thirds of those detained for being in the country illegally, with the largest part of that business contracted to CoreCivic and GEO. In addition to the proposals by companies, local governments have submitted plans. Calhoun County, Michigan, proposed building a dedicated immigrant detention facility with up to 300 beds at the county jail, in addition to 250 beds already under contract to ICE. Sherburne County, Minnesota, offered space for 300 detainees in its jail, with new construction possible to hold 200 others. Kankakee County, Illinois, already under contract to house 105 detainees, offered space for nearly 100 more and said it could complete construction of an annex to house 300 others. Some of the proposals submitted to ICE include several that have already gained attention. They include a CoreCivic proposal to build a detention center in Elkhart County, Indiana, that was withdrawn earlier this year in the face of local opposition, and proposals by MTC for facilities in Evanston, Wyoming, and Hopkins Park, Illinois. It is not clear if or when ICE will move forward with contracts for additional detention centers. Agency officials did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. With President Donald Trump's administration pledging to go after people in the country illegally, ICE has increased arrests in the interior of the country by 40 percent during the first part of 2017. To keep pace, the agency published a notice last fall seeking "multiple possible detention sites" within 180 miles (290 kilometers) of the four cities. But Congress declined to approve a funding request this year to expand capacity from about 40,000 immigrants to more than 51,000. "They've put out these requests for information and we've proposed different sites, and we're waiting to hear," said Issa Arnita, spokesman for MTC, which is based in Centerville, Utah. The company has identified potential sites for new immigration detention centers in Minnesota, Illinois and Wyoming, as well as in Michigan, but considers the details proprietary, Arnita said. A CoreCivic spokesman, Steven Owen, said in an email that his company's proposals are part of ongoing work with ICE and other government customers to "assess their options to address current or future needs." The Tennessee-based company will not provide details for competitive reasons, he said. An executive at Boca Raton, Florida-based GEO declined to comment, referring questions to ICE. Some communities have welcomed jobs and taxes from new detention centers. But CoreCivic's decision to withdraw its proposal in Indiana is among several in the region that have drawn opposition in recent years. Officials in some of the locations identified as possible sites for detention centers said they had very limited knowledge of the proposals or their status. The list provided by ICE included a site in Oronoco, Minnesota, but local officials said it is, in fact, in the nearby city of Pine Island. Devin Swanberg, the executive director of the Pine Island Economic Development Authority, said that a corrections company and a California real estate development firm that owns a local site spanning more than 1,200 acres spoke with local officials five or six months ago about the possibility of a detention center that would create 50 to 75 jobs. But they've heard little since. "There's nothing formal about this at all as far as I'm concerned. It's just an idea at this point," Swanberg said. Kyle Conrad, a county commissioner in Newton County, Indiana, said talk of a detention center there is premature. "We are on a list of possible sites, and that's all there is. The county has not talked to anybody," Conrad said. County attorney Patrick Ryan said Newton County has land with zoning that would accommodate a detention center, "but there's been no agreements or proposals for a facility of any kind that have been submitted or approved." I24New by Jacob Atkins Excerpts. For the full article see Exclusive: US Sanctions Iran, Syria, Egypt groups over North Korea arms trading. North Korea has made rapid technological progress in its weapons programmes under Kim Jong Un STR (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File) The US hit a raft of organizations in Egypt, Iran and Syria with sanctions for trading arms with North Korea on Thursday, including a state-owned Egyptian company suspected to have made a clandestine purchase of thousands of rocket propelled grenades from the hermit kingdom. The blacklisted entities include Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), said by the US to be central to the country's development of chemical weapons capabilities, and Iran's Defense Industries Organization, the engine-room of Tehran's weapons industry. The listings appeared in a regulatory filing made Thursday by the State Department, refreshing a blacklist of entities that have contravened US law by providing support to the weapons programs of North Korea, Iran or Syria. A State Department official confirmed to i24NEWS that "in each of these cases, there was credible information indicating they had transferred to, or acquired from," North Korea services or technology that are controlled by international or domestic agreements or "other items that could make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or missile proliferation." TOWSON, Md. (AP) - The Latest on the death of Maryland gubernatorial candidate Kevin Kamenetz (all times local): 4 p.m. Democratic candidate for Maryland governor and longtime local politician Kevin Kamenetz is being remembered as a loving father and husband, and ambitious public servant. FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2017, file photo, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announces he is joining the race for governor in Towson, Md. Kamenetz is running in a crowded Democratic primary. News outlets cite a release from Baltimore County police that says Kamenetz died early Thursday, May 10, 2018, following a cardiac arrest. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File) News outlets report that Kamenetz's wife and one of his sons were among those who eulogized him during a funeral Friday afternoon at a local synagogue. Kamenetz died unexpectedly early Thursday after going into cardiac arrest. The two-term Baltimore County executive was 60. U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin also spoke at the service. According to radio station WBAL, Cardin says he regularly met Kamenetz for breakfast. Cardin says instead of jumping straight into politics, Kamenetz would talk about his family. Kamenetz was one of seven candidates in next month's Democratic primary to oppose Republican Gov. Larry Hogan this fall. ___ 12 a.m. The sudden death of a Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland has shocked his colleagues and the state. Kevin Kamenetz was just 60, trim and so health conscious he would trot up stairs and routinely tease colleagues about eating doughnuts and other junk food. Kamenetz woke up early Thursday, complaining to his wife, Jill, about chest pains. They drove to a nearby volunteer fire station to avoid having an ambulance wake the neighbors. Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost said his condition deteriorated and rescuers couldn't revive him. Kamenetz was one of seven candidates in next month's Democratic primary to oppose Republican Gov. Larry Hogan this fall. A political scientist says his death could "dramatically reshape the race." JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Many Alaska residents were mistakenly warned on TV and on the radio Friday morning of a tsunami threat along the West Coast of the United States, from San Diego to Alaska's Aleutian islands. The alert said at the end of a nearly two-minute long message that it was a test. But not all listeners and viewers received that information, officials said. The National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat. It said the message was a routine test sent at about 7 a.m. Susan Buchanan, a National Weather Service spokeswoman, said the center's test message was properly coded but somehow re-transmitted in an abbreviated format. That stripped the test coding and caused activation of the Emergency Alert System that sends messages to TV and radio stations. She said it's not clear why that happened, the agency was investigating and could not immediately provide further details. The tsunami warning center is part of the National Weather Service. The message was sent just months after a civil defense official in Hawaii mistakenly sent an alert indicating a missile was inbound to the islands, prompting changes in how such alerts were issued. The employee who sent the false alert was fired. In Washington state, officials said a false tsunami warning earlier this week in Clallam County was the result of a Jefferson County official testing a new cellphone app. A real tsunami warning in Alaska earlier this year included alerts sent to cellphones, something that didn't happen Friday. Rosemary Dunn, who lives in Anchorage, said she was more curious than panicked when the warning came through. "I couldn't find any earthquakes and was really perplexed," she said. She went online and then discovered the alert was not real. "They said it was misinterpreted. I'd really like to know what's behind that, who misinterpreted that," she said. Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said there is a time limit for how long emergency alert system messages can last. This was a longer message, and from reports officials have gathered, the information indicating it was a test was cut off for some listeners and viewers, he said. He said other Alaskans heard the test information. Often, the message says it's a test at the beginning. It's not clear why the version heard by Alaskans didn't say it was a test until the end. Zidek said the message Friday was intended to be an internal test message. Tsunami-vulnerable communities were notified by the state emergency operations center that there was no tsunami warning, the state emergency management agency said. ___ Associated Press writer Alina Hartounian in Phoenix contributed to this report. BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - A robotics company known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter century of research. Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said Friday that his company plans to begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely to businesses for use as a camera-equipped security guard. But he thinks other applications for the four-legged contraption will be likely developed by other companies, because the robot has a flat platform to allow other equipment with its own computer programming to be easily mounted on top of it. FILE - In this July 20, 2017 file photo, Boston Dynamics Chief Executive Marc Raibert speaks about his four-legged robot SpotMini during a SoftBank World presentation at a hotel in Tokyo. The robotics company known for its widely shared YouTube videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is finally preparing to sell some of them after years of research. Raibert said Friday, May 11, 2018, his company will begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely to businesses for use as a camera-equipped security guard. He made the announcement at a TechCrunch robotics conference at University of California, Berkeley. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File) SpotMini gets around with the help of cameras on its front, sides and one mounted on its rear - a position that Raibert calls the "butt-cam." Boston Dynamics already has made 10 SpotMinis with plans to manufacture about 100 more for additional testing this year before going into mass production by the middle of next year, Raibert said. No price has been set for the robot yet, though Raibert said making the latest prototype costs about one-tenth the price of earlier versions. Raibert unveiled the SpotMini plans at the University of California, Berkeley, during a TechCrunch conference focused on the rise of robotics and its potential to perform a wide range of tasks and jobs now handled by humans. Founded in 1992, Boston Dynamics rarely reveals its plans except by posting YouTube videos that have impressed and terrified people. Most of Boston Dynamics' robotics research had been applied in the military until Google bought the Waltham, Massachusetts, company in 2013. Japanese tech giant SoftBank bought Boston Dynamics from Google last year. Although Boston Dynamics never released a commercial robot under Google, Raibert credited his company's former owner for helping it to start thinking of ways to bring its technology to a broader market. Toward that end, he also showed the conference a video of Atlas, a two-legged robot that has learned how to sort and pick up packages, jump up and off blocks, jog and perform back flips. He said Boston Dynamics still hasn't figured out how to make money from Atlas yet. "This machine is really trying to push the boundary of the future," Raibert said. He also mentioned the possibility of building robots to help with construction projects, though he didn't provide any further details about that ambition on Friday. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Brazil's Amanda Nunes will defend her UFC bantamweight title for the third time on Saturday as a heavy favorite on home turf against American fighter Raquel Pennington, who hasn't fought since November 2016 because of injuries. Both fighters made weight Friday for the 135-pound title fight at Jeunesse Arena, a fight that had to be rescheduled from December when Pennington broke her left leg in an ATV crash. Brazilian fighters will fight Americans up and down the rest of the card. Kelvin Gastelum takes on a crowd favorite, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, whose nickname means "the Alligator." Unbeaten Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Mackenzie Dern will also fight American Amanda Cooper in the strawweight division. FILE - In this July 6, 2017, file photo, Amanda Nunes poses during media day for UFC 213 in Las Vegas. Nunes will defend her UFC bantamweight title for the third time on Saturday as a heavy favorite against American Raquel Pennington. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Dern, who made her UFC debut only two months ago, weighed in seven pounds above the limit, but was cleared to fight anyway. Local fans are also excited about a matchup of two famed Brazilians. Former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will face former champion Vitor Belfort, who is likely to have his last fight in his hometown. John Lineker and Brian Kelleher will have a bantamweight bout. Kelleher's agent Brian Butler-Au told journalists Friday he and 20 others were robbed at gunpoint a beach kiosk in front of the hotel where fighters are staying. Rio is going through a security crisis that led to a federal intervention, spreading military personnel throughout the city. FARMINGTON, Minn. (AP) - Authorities say a Minnesota woman has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after investigators found about 100 animals at her home, including 60 dead cats. The Star Tribune reports that authorities removed more than 40 live cats, five dogs, one farm pig, a hamster and a dead rabbit from the single-family home in Dakota County, near the Twin Cities. Animal Humane Society spokesman Keith Streff says his group received a call about a 400-pound pig running around the yard. Neighbors reported a foul smell near the property. The 25-year-old woman was believed to be operating an animal rescue, which Streff says "got out of control." Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom declined to file charges Friday, saying more investigation is needed. The surviving animals remain impounded at the Humane Society. ___ Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A Democratic congressional candidate in New Mexico used an expletive in a television ad Friday to condemn the National Rifle Association and inaction by U.S. lawmakers on gun control, beginning a 15-second spot with the words "F--- the NRA." In the ad, Albuquerque City Council member Pat Davis goes on to the say that NRA policies have "resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers," and that "if Congress won't change our gun laws, we're changing Congress." The ad was broadcast on KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, where General Manager Bill Anderson said the station was not permitted by law to censor or edit Davis' commercial and must provide equal access to candidates. The station ran a brief warning about profanity immediately before the ad. Jennifer Baker, a spokeswoman for the NRA, said Davis' profanity doesn't reflect a serious effort to address public safety concerns. "We would hate to dignify this with a response because it's just crass language and a desperate attempt to get attention," Baker said. Davis, a former Washington, D.C. police officer, is competing in a six-way race for the Democratic nomination for an open congressional seat based in Albuquerque. He told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the ad seeks to reflect the frustration he has encountered from voters and others over inaction on gun control. "People are more frustrated than common decency allows," he said, conceding that he opted for indecency to get his point across. He said the reaction nationally to the ad has been swift, and that his campaign has seen an uptick in contributions from donors around the country since it aired. "People around the country are mad," about gun violence, he said. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Janice Arnold Jones and Libertarian Lloyd Princeton in the November general election. The congressional seat is open because U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of Albuquerque is running for governor. Debra Haaland, a former chairwoman of the state Democratic Party who is running against Davis, said in a statement that she also believes the NRA and the arms industry are responsible for preventable deaths and understands "the anger many people are expressing." "I share it - even if I might use different words" than Davis, she said. New Mexico was shaken by a December shooting at Aztec High School that killed two students. An August 2017 shooting at a public library in Clovis left two dead and four wounded. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A new album of previously unreleased music from Prince's storied Vault will debut on Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service, likely sometime in 2019. The Prince estate and Tidal announced details of the agreement Friday, two days after a Minnesota judge said it was in the best interest of the estate to end litigation and allow the deal to go forward. According to Friday's announcement, the album will stream exclusively on Tidal for 14 days and will be available for download seven days after its debut. That will be followed by a global physical release by the Prince estate. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Jay-Z is working with the Prince estate to select songs for the new album. "Our only goal is to share Prince's music with his fans as he wanted," Jay-Z said in a statement. Jay-Z noted that Prince chose Tidal as his partner to debut his "Hit n Run" albums in 2015, and "we will continue to respect and honor Prince's enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection." Troy Carter, the main music adviser for Prince's estate, said: "I'm very pleased this is resolved, and we get to honor the relationship between Prince and Tidal with this album. We look forward to fans hearing the new music and experiencing the genius of Prince." Prince died of an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl on April 21, 2016. Months later, Prince's record company sued Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation, over alleged copyright violations. In the lawsuit, NPG Records said Tidal streamed Prince's songs without permission after his death. The lawsuit alleged Tidal had limited rights to stream songs only from "Hit n Run" - not songs from Prince's Warner Bros. catalog, including "Purple Rain." Tidal disputed that. Friday's announcement says the new deal "concludes previously unresolved legal matters" and that the new album partnership doesn't involve music that's subject to prior agreements with Warner Bros. Some of Prince's siblings had objected to the deal, saying they could get more money through litigation. The judge overseeing Prince's probate case said Wednesday that it was in the best interest of the estate to settle with Tidal to avoid increasing attorneys' fees that are already in the millions. The value of Prince's estate is still largely unknown. Court filings several months after Prince's death suggested it was worth around $200 million before taxes, but the actual valuation could have gone up or down since then. __ Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti . More of her work: https://apnews.com/search/amy%20forliti NEW YORK (AP) - President Donald Trump and his lawyers likely won't decide whether he will answer questions from Russia probe investigators until after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, according to the president's legal team. Rudy Giuliani, the president's new attorney, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that any preparation with Trump for a possible interview with federal investigators would likely be delayed until after the June 12 summit in Singapore because "I wouldn't want to take his concentration off something far, far more important." Giuliani, who also suggested that special counsel Robert Mueller's team had indicated it would not attempt to indict Trump, said he had hoped to resolve the question of a possible interview by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment, but that was no longer feasible. Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, applauds at the Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights and democracy at the Grand Hyatt, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) "Several things delayed us, with the primary one being the whole situation with North Korea," Giuliani said. "The president has been very busy. It really would be pretty close to impossible to spend the amount of time on it we would need." The president's lawyers have not decided whether it would be in Trump's best interest to sit for an interview. Giuliani warned that it could be a "perjury trap" and suggested that "lies told by others" could land the president in legal trouble, though he said that Trump himself would not close the door entirely on an interview. "The president would probably like the resolution," the former New York City mayor said. "If we were convinced it would speed up the process, we may do it. If we believed they would go into it honestly and with an open mind, we would be inclined to do it. But right now, we're not there." Mueller's investigation has operated largely in secrecy, with the public getting only glimpses into its operation through witnesses who are questioned or when indictments and guilty pleas are unsealed. But Giuliani suggested that a recent conversation with Mueller's team led him to believe that the special counsel, citing a Justice Department opinion, had ruled out the possibility of trying to indict a sitting president. Mueller has floated the idea of issuing a grand jury subpoena for Trump to answer questions, former Trump attorney John Dowd has said, though it is unclear how serious prosecutors were about such a move. Even if Mueller's team decided to subpoena Trump as part of the investigation, the president could still fight it in court or refuse to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. Giuliani said Friday that if a subpoena were issued to get Trump to appear, the president's legal team would oppose it unless they could "reach agreement on the ground rules." He argued that Trump could invoke executive privilege, and the team would point to Justice Department opinions in fighting a subpoena and "on both law and the facts, we would have the strongest case you could imagine." He noted the handover of 1.2 million documents as evidence of cooperation. He also indicated that the president's lawyers may be "more likely" to agree to an interview if Mueller's team narrowed the scope of what it was investigating. Though Giuliani would not provide an exact date for when a determination would be made about the interview, he said it probably "would be silly to make a decision" much before the highly anticipated summit. He said that the demands on Trump's time meant that his legal team had "not done a lot" in terms of preparing the president for a possible in-person interview. "It would take a while and he's focused on North Korea," said Giuliani. A number of Trump allies, including Vice President Mike Pence this week, have stepped up calls for Mueller's investigation to wrap up, suggesting it was interfering in the president's ability to do the country's business. Mueller's team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsel's office has charged 19 people - including four Trump campaign advisers - and three Russian companies. Both Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. A number of other former White House and campaign staffers, including Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, as well as Inauguration Day committee chairman Tom Barrack, have been interviewed. Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had his office and home raided by federal agents and, this week, was revealed to have been selling his insight into Trump to corporations. Giuliani said the arrangement "looks bad" but insisted there was no crime. Giuliani demurred when asked if Trump would consider it a "red line" for his children to be interviewed. Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared, Kushner, both worked on the campaign and are senior advisers at the White House, while Trump's adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also leading figures on the campaign. Giuliani said he did not expect those interviews with Mueller to take place. "Our understanding is that he's pretty much finished," Giuliani said. "As far we know, we're basically the last witness." The special counsel's office has not outlined the duration of the probe. Some of Trump's recent tweets revealed the president's anxiety about how the investigation could sway voters as they decide whether to keep congressional Republicans in power or force him to face an aggressive Democratic majority. Giuliani repeated his call for the probe to end soon but suggested that if it lasted until November's midterms, "it would be helping Republicans." "It makes the campaign feel it it's about impeachment," the former mayor said. "I think the Democrats would be making the same mistake we did back during Clinton." In 1998, amid the furor of President Bill Clinton's impeachment, voter backlash cost the Republicans the chance to pick up seats in both Houses of Congress. ___ Associated Press writers Chad Day and Eric Tucker contributed reporting from Washington. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an event about prescription drug prices with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) As in so much of the senator's extraordinary life, the rebellious Republican is facing this challenging chapter - battling brain cancer - in his own rule-breaking way, stirring up old fights and starting new ones. Rarely has the sickbed been so lively. McCain is promoting a new book, delivering a counterpunch of ideals contrary to President Donald Trump's running of the White House. McCain's long-distance rejection of CIA director nominee Gina Haspel's history with torture goaded former Vice President Dick Cheney into a fresh debate over waterboarding and other now-banned interrogation techniques. On Friday, friends rallied to defend McCain against a White House official's cruel joke that his positions don't matter because 'he's dying anyway.' John McCain has managed to stay buzz worthy even as he suffers from glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer McCain rejected CIA director nominee Gina Haspel over her gruesome history around torture If this is Washington's long goodbye to a sometimes favorite son, it's also a reemergence of old resentments and political fault lines that continue to split the nation. Perhaps no one should have expected anything less from the 81-year-old senator, who can be crotchety and cantankerous but is also seen by many, both in and out of politics, as an American hero, flaws and all. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Friday as McCain 'fights for his life, he deserves better - so much better.' On Friday, friends rallied to defend the former POW against a White House official's cruel joke that his positions don't matter because 'he's dying anyway' 'Our children learn from our example,' Biden said. 'The lingering question is: Whose example will it be? I am certain it will be John's.' Said House Speaker Paul Ryan, 'His legacy is so long that John McCain is a hero to us all.' McCain was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and few expect him to return. Up-and-down reports of his health shift every few days. His new book 'The Restless Wave' offers a scathing critique on Donald Trump and explains his disdain for choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate A steady stream of visitors have stopped by the McCain family ranch in Arizona - including Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, on Friday. Close friend and political ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., visited McCain this week, and the two watched an old movie and talked about McCain's imprint on politics. Graham said he told McCain he will leave behind a long list of Republicans - and Democrats - he has mentored, Graham included. 'Your legacy is the people you affected,' Graham said he told his friend. 'John McCain's going to have a hell of a legacy.' Not everyone, though, is so keen to listen to McCain these days. Most Republican senators are not heeding his advice to reject Haspel, who was chief of base of a detention site where terror suspects were waterboarded. McCain lived through years of captivity during the Vietnam War. Trump has suggested reviving the now-banned brutal interrogation techniques. And Cheney, who was an architect of the post-Sept. 11, 2001, strategy, said he would keep the program active and ready for deployment, and doesn't think it amounted to torture. 'People want to go back and try to rewrite history, but if it were my call, I'd do it again,' Cheney told Fox Business. Meghan McCain recently posted a photo of the two of them and spoke of how they always have each other's back One retired Air Force general, Tom McInerney, called McCain 'songbird John' on the same station this week for allegedly providing information to the North Vietnamese while he was a prisoner of war. McCain has said he gave inaccurate information after being tortured. Fox said McInerney would not be invited back on its business or news channels. Sen. Lindsey Graham is just one of the visitors, McCain has had. They watched a classic Western, 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' - with McCain narrating along the way in words that cannot be repeated - and talked about McCain's book Still, one of McCain's longtime sparring partners, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky., re-affirmed his opposition to Haspel on Friday. In explaining his opposition, Paul said, 'We shouldn't reward somebody who participated in torture, really still has trouble saying and articulating that it's an immoral thing.' Just a few years ago, McCain called Paul and fellow Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, 'wacko birds' for their filibuster blocking then-CIA nominee John Brennan. McCain later apologized. After McCain's recent hospitalization for an intestinal infection, Graham said he was worried about his old friend's health. But after seeing him this week, he decided McCain will 'be with us for a while.' The two weren't quite yet saying their goodbyes. In fact, 'there's not talk of funerals, there's talk of the future,' Graham said. They watched a classic Western, 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' - with McCain narrating along the way in words that cannot be repeated - and talked about McCain's book, which Graham says couldn't have come at a better time. 'I told him it should be required reading,' he said. It's a story about the country, and 'even though we make our share of mistakes, we're always trying to make it a more perfect union,' Graham said. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit the island of Crete on the final day of their tour of Greece. Charles and Camilla will first go to the Knossos archaeological site where they will receive a historical briefing of the area and the exploration that has taken place there. The Duchess of Cornwall is to meet youngsters learning about Minoan Crete (Andrew Matthews/PA) The duchess will then meet a group of school children learning about Minoan Crete while the prince will join a Cooking like Minoans event. After visiting the site, Camilla will visit Lyrarakis winery where she will receive a tour of the vineyard and wine cellar. She will then rejoin with her husband to go to the Heraklion Development Agency where the prince will meet staff working on the refugee project before both meet members of the community and refugees. Before departing for the UK, the couple will attend an engagement which will celebrate local produce, culture and heritage. Charles and Camilla will walk around a Cretan village to meet locals before touring stalls selling Cretan produce, crafts and local initiatives. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has been fined a record-equalling 70,000 and its chief executive has been referred to police over its spending during the EU referendum campaign, the Electoral Commission said. The pro-leave group, co-founded by former Ukip backer Arron Banks, failed to include 77,380 in its spending returns, taking it 10% over the limit for non-party registered groups, an investigation found. The commission said the actual overspend figure may well have been considerably higher, adding that the group had presented incomplete and inaccurate information. We have fined https://t.co/JFd2UeRquB 70,000 for offences committed under electoral law, following our investigation into the campaigners funding and spend during the EU referendum. Read our press release: https://t.co/EJIzMGQZHe pic.twitter.com/tNuGAkKkLL Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) May 11, 2018 Leave.EUs chief executive, Liz Bilney, who signed the spending returns, has been referred to the Metropolitan Police, with the commission saying it had reasonable grounds to suspect that the responsible person for Leave.EU committed criminal offences. Mr Banks attacked the Electoral Commission (EC) and threatened to take legal action over its findings. He said: We view the Electoral Commission announcement as a politically-motivated attack on Brexit and the 17.4 million people who defied the establishment to vote for an independent Britain. Leave.EU chairman Arron Banks (Jonathan Brady/PA) He added: The EC went big game fishing and found a few aged dead sardines on the beach. So much for the big conspiracy! What a shambles. We will see them in court. Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, he added that the commission was made up of former MPs, liberal MPs, the SNP, former Labour leaders of councils, all sorts of people that all believe in Remain. The 70,000 fine handed out by the Electoral Commission matches its previous record financial censure, handed out in March 2017 to the Conservatives for offences during the 2015 general election campaign and by-elections the previous year. A separate probe into spending by the official Leave campaign, Vote Leave, is continuing, the EC said. The 77,380 which was not included in the spending was fees paid to the company Better For The Country Limited, the campaign organiser. Our investigation concluded that https://t.co/JFd2UeRquB incorrectly reported what it spent at the EU referendum. It exceeded its statutory spending limit and delivered incomplete and inaccurate spending and transaction returns. Our report is here: https://t.co/6QPHlqNcSO pic.twitter.com/acRVxZv9Iy Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) May 11, 2018 The commission investigation also found that three loans from Mr Banks, totalling 6 million, had been incorrectly reported by Leave.EU. It was also criticised for failing to report services from US strategy firm Goddard Gunster when it should have done. The commission said it was satisfied that the overall overspend was in fact greater, given the failure to report an appropriate proportion of the cost of services provided by Goddard Gunster. The organisation additionally failed to provide invoices or receipts for a further 97 payments of more than 200, which together totalled 80,224. But the commission said it found no evidence that controversial tech firm Cambridge Analytica had made donations or provided paid-for services, and its role was limited to initial scoping work. The controversial firms role in the referendum has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent weeks. @carolecadwalla no Cambridge Analytica involvement & fined for an alleged 7k over spend ( we dispute) on 12m. An apology might be in order carole https://t.co/45S0ApZW4f Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) May 11, 2018 Electoral Commission chief executive Claire Bassett denied claims of bias made by Mr Banks. She told Today: The decisions were made by directors of the Electoral Commission, they were made based on robust evidence we had gathered, and indeed you can see that in the 30-page report that we published. Ms Bassett added that there was evidence of problems with financial reporting, saying: It is quite clear that those transaction returns contained inaccurate information about purported loans to Leave.EU and it also contains significant errors about how money was spent money was missing and invoices were missing. Tory MP Damian Collins, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said Mr Banks and Andy Wigmore, Leave.EUs communications director, would face questions from the committee next month. Senior Electoral Commission officials will appear before it on May 15, he added in a tweet. Malaysias new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has started the process of obtaining an immediate pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Mr Mahathir was sworn in as Malaysias seventh premier late on Thursday, after leading his four-party opposition alliance to a stunning election victory. He ousted scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak and ended his coalitions 60-year unbroken grip on power. It was a remarkable comeback for Mr Mahathir, who was premier for 22 years until his retirement in 2003 and is now the worlds oldest leader at 92. Mahathir Mohamad and Wan Azizah, the wife of Anwar Ibrahim during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur (AP Photo/Andy Wong) He said the king has indicated he is willing to give an immediate pardon that would free Anwar, who was jailed in 2015 on sodomy charges he said were fabricated by the then-government to crush the opposition. Mr Mahathir said: We will go through the proper process of obtaining a pardon for Anwar it is going to be a full pardon, which of course, means he is not only pardoned but to be released immediately. He did not say how long the process will take and whether Anwar could be freed before his sentence ends on June 8. It was a second spell in prison for Anwar, a former deputy prime minister in the defeated ruling party who was also jailed under Mr Mahathir in 1998 after a power struggle. A campaign poster for ousted former Prime Minister Najib Razak in a Kuala Lumpur street (Andy Wong/AP) Anwar and Mr Mahathir joined forces in an unlikely alliance that helped the opposition nail the electoral victory. Mr Mahathirs deputy in the new government is Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwars wife and the leader of his Peoples Justice Party. She is the first female deputy premier in Malaysia but the current set-up is seen as transitional as Mr Mahathir has agreed to hand over the baton to Anwar once he is freed. Mr Mahathir has been coy about how long he will stay in his new job. Former deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim arrives at court in June 2017 (AP) Anwar will need to contest and win a by-election after he is freed to become a member of parliament before he takes on the top job. Mr Mahathir said his four-party alliance will hold a meeting on Saturday and name just 10 ministers. He said he does not want a huge cabinet, in a veiled reference to past cabinets with more than 30 ministers. He also issued a strong warning against corruption, with suspect officials to be replaced in an overhaul of government departments. He indicated this could include Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali, who was appointed after Mr Najib sacked his predecessor in 2015 to escape possible prosecution over a corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund. Anger over the scandal prompted Mr Mahathir to emerge from retirement and sparked the anger that helped to oust Mr Najibs coalition. The fund was set up by Mr Najib in 2009 to promote economic development but it accumulated billions in debts. US investigators say Mr Najibs associates stole and looted at least 4.5 billion US dollars (3.3 billion) from the fund. They say some 700 million (517 million) landed in Mr Najibs bank account. He denied any wrongdoing. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East after Israeli forces bombed Iranian targets inside Syria. Mr Guterres comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel said the strikes early on Thursday were retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the Golan Heights and has called on the UN Security Council and secretary-general to immediately condemn Irans attack. The Middle East is already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians. I urge an immediate halt to all hostile acts and any provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the region. https://t.co/ErPIU7BfIu Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 10, 2018 Irans Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israels attacks and called it a blatant violation of Syrias sovereignty. In Irans first official reaction to the attack, a Friday report in state-run IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying the Israeli attack on Syria under fabricated and baseless excuses is a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. He added that Syria has the right to defend itself against the aggressors. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting. Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. An Israeli military ambulance drives past tanks in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria (Ariel Schalit/AP) The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Middle East war raised the spectre of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained. Near the capital Damascus, opposition fighters and their families left three southern suburbs that were held by rebels bringing the area under government control for the first time in years, Syrian state media and a war monitor said. Syrias state news agency Sana said opposition fighters who decided to stay in the suburbs of Babila, Beit Sahem and Yalda will hand over the weapons and return to normal life. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a total of 8,400 fighters and civilians had left the area since May 3, and the last group left on Thursday night. Syrian state TV and the Observatory said police forces are getting ready to enter the area on Friday to guarantee security. With the capture of the three suburbs, the only area outside government control in Damascus is Hajar al-Aswad and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk that are partially controlled by the Islamic State group. Government forces have been on the offensive against IS in the area since last month and its capture would boost security in President Bashar Assads seat of power. A painting of Grenfell Tower is to be displayed in Downing Street after being presented to the Prime Minister at a meeting with survivors and families. Theresa May spoke with a group of people affected by the fire tragedy at Number 10 on Thursday evening. Among them was artist Damel Carayol, who lost his niece in the fire and presented the PM with a print of his painting Grenfell Tower: Eyesore!! Final Straw. Families met Theresa May and she was presented with art depicting Grenfell Tower. (David Mirzoeff/PA) A message to Mrs May written down the side of the picture read: Given from a good place with a righteous message. We all hope and pray that nothing like this will ever happen again. Mr Carayol told Sky News that the painting was a painful expression of anger. Explaining his decision to present it to the PM, he said: It is coming from nowhere malicious, but to say `Yourself and everybody else is in office precisely for a reason like this if I dont do my job properly, something like this could happen. A picture speaks a thousand words. Justice for Grenfell. pic.twitter.com/GbqXgqx8No David Lammy (@DavidLammy) May 11, 2018 A Downing Street spokesman said the painting would go through the usual process for any artwork given to Number 10 to decide where best it fits. Asked if it would be displayed somewhere in the building, he said: Yes, thats my understanding. The spokesman said Mrs May told the meeting that the Grenfell fire in June last year was an unimaginable tragedy which should never have happened. Prince Harry is getting married to Meghan Markle. But who is the bride-to-be? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on an engagement in Birmingham (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA) Who is Meghan Markle? Meghan Markle is a former American actress, best known for her role in the hit US legal drama series Suits, in which she played paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane. What else has she appeared in? Markle had parts in CSI: Miami, sci-fi show Fringe and movies such as Get Him To The Greek, Remember Me and Horrible Bosses. She was also a briefcase girl one of the models who hold the suitcases full of cash on the US version of Deal Or No Deal. And her charity work? As well as being a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, she was committed to gender equality through her work as a womens advocate for the UN. Meghan Markle: "Girls are being held back by the most natural thing in the worldtheir periods" https://t.co/7EMrMxn6CO TIME (@TIME) March 8, 2017 What about her lifestyle blog? Ms Markle ran her own blog thetig.com promoting self-empowerment and messages of positivity, in which she opened up about her life, loves, her favourite foods and places, and even her celebrity hairdresser. Meghan Markles farewell on thetig.com (PA screengrab) But she closed the site down nine months after she started dating Harry, leaving fans the message: Dont ever forget your worth as Ive told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough. Is she still acting? No. Ms Markle will become a full-time royal after she marries. She left Suits and also deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts in the run-up to the wedding. She has also finished her philanthropic work in order to start her charitable interests afresh with Harry. What is Ms Markles background? She was born on August 4 1981, to clinical therapist mother Doria and TV lighting director Thomas Markle, and grew up in Los Angeles. Her parents divorced when she was six, but she remained close to both of them. Meghan Markle with her mother Doria Ragland at the Invictus Games ceremony (Danny Lawson/PA) Ms Markle has written about her mixed heritage her father is Caucasian and of Dutch and Irish descent and her mother is African-American and how it created a grey area surrounding my self-identification but how she has embraced it to become a strong, confident mixed-race woman. When did she meet Harry? They met on a blind date in London in the summer of 2016 and a few weeks later camped out under the stars in Botswana when Harry persuaded Ms Markle to join him on holiday. Their whirlwind 16-month relationship was spent flying between the stars former home in Toronto, Canada, where she filmed Suits, and Harrys at Kensington Palace, London. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hand in hand at the Invictus Games in Toronto (Danny Lawson/PA) How did Harry propose? The prince proposed during a cosy night in over a roast chicken. Harry revealed: She didnt even let me finish, she said Can I say yes, can I say yes? and then there were hugs. What have we learned about Ms Markle since the engagement? The star has delighted royal fans by being open and tactile, and hugging youngsters during official engagements. Caring Harry and Ms Markle have also asked well-wishers thinking of sending them wedding gifts to donate to one of the seven charities they personally selected instead. What about her views on womens rights? During a Royal Foundation engagement with Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Ms Markle acknowledged the global anti-sexual harassment movements MeToo and Times Up. Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge during the first Royal Foundation Forum in central London (Chris Jackson/PA) There is no better time than now to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered, she said. She has spoken passionately about starting her life as a working royal, saying she wants to hit the ground running. Will she become a British citizen? Yes Kensington Palace said Ms Markle will apply for citizenship, but it is not yet known whether she will hold dual American citizenship. Ms Markle, with Harry during a service to commemorate Anzac Day, will become a British citizen (Eddie Mulholland/Daily Telegraph/PA) Will she become Princess Meghan? No she will not be a princess in her own right, only through marriage. If Harry is given a dukedom by the Queen on his wedding day, she will become a duchess most likely HRH the Duchess of Sussex otherwise she will become HRH Princess Henry of Wales. And shes a divorcee? Ms Markle married producer Trevor Engelson in September 2011 after dating him for six years. The couple split in May 2013. Her first wedding took place in Jamaica and was celebrated with a barbecue on the beach. Is the fact she has been married before a problem? No. Much has changed since Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and since the Queens sister Princess Margaret chose duty over love instead of marrying divorcee Group Captain Peter Townsend. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have both been married before (Hugo Burnard/PA) Heir to the throne the Prince of Wales divorced Diana, Princess of Wales and in 2005 married divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall. Nigel Farage has quashed speculation that he was considering joining the DUP. The former Ukip leader is due at an event hosted by the pro-Brexit Northern Ireland unionists in Ballymena in Co Antrim on Friday evening. DUP MP Ian Paisley has dismissed media fever over the issue and said he would be discussing the EU withdrawal and its aftermath with the MEP. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has quashed speculation he could join the DUP. Kirsty OConnor/PA. Happy to be on my way to Northern Ireland having worked with the DUP in the referendum. I was elected as a UKIP MEP. I lead the EFDD group in Europarl and none of that is going to change! Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 11, 2018 Mr Farage said: I will be remaining Ukip MEP. I have shared platforms with Labour MP Kate Hoey, Tory minister Liam Fox and other people like George Galloway. I am happy to support those who supported the Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum. My visit is nothing more than that. The Democratic Unionists 10 MPs are supporting Theresa Mays minority Government at Westminster. A series of senior Conservatives have already visited Northern Ireland at the DUPs invitation. Mr Paisley tweeted: Looking forward to welcoming my great friend @Nigel_Farage to my North Antrim constituency tonight to talk about Brexit and Beyond. I notice the media fever over this already. I welcome many guests from many parties to North Antrim and Nigel will love the place and its people. A DUP spokesman said: Nigel Farage will be the guest speaker at a local DUP event in County Antrim. Mr Farage has already indicated this trip is not about joining the DUP. In any event, under DUP rules you cannot be a member of the party unless you live in Northern Ireland, the spokesman added. Earlier, Arron Banks, who bankrolled Ukip, was asked during an interview on Sky News if Mr Farage would use the DUP to run for Parliament. He said all things were possible in politics. Mr Farage visited Northern Ireland several times when he was leader of Ukip. A branch of Ukip in Northern Ireland was set up under former Ulster Unionist David McNarry but it has failed to establish itself as a one of the main parties. Mr Farage encouraged the Republic of Ireland to Irexit from the EU during a speech in Dublin recently. Ukip has slid in the polls across the UK following the Brexit referendum and has no MPs. The seizure of weapons and ammunition in a series of police swoops in Northern Ireland has dealt a significant blow to the capacity of dissident republicans, a detective has said. Community information led police to many of the arms found in 13 searches in counties Tyrone and Armagh in a 12-day period, Detective Superintendent John McVea said. The total haul recovered included two shotguns and four handguns, explosives, fertiliser, ammunition, tools, an improvised detonator, a suspected mortar tube, component parts for bomb making, mobile phones and other terrorist paraphernalia. A number of weapons were found in Lurgan during a series of police swoops (PSNI/PA) The searches were focused on the Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Benburb in Co Tyrone. Police believe the weapons belonged to two separate dissident organisations with the explosives recovered in Benburb belonging to the little known grouping Arm na Poblachta (army of the republic) and the remainder of the weapons controlled by the Continuity IRA in Lurgan. No one has been charged in connection with the items recovered but police expect to progress their investigation once forensic tests are completed. As well as searches at eight houses and two derelict properties, items were also recovered from the derelict site of St Michaels High School in Lurgan and in fields and hedgerows near St Colemans Cemetery in the town. We have recovered a significant amount of dangerous weapons, said Mr McVea, who works in the Police Service of Northern Irelands Terrorism Investigation Unit. Part of a shotgun and a mortar part were found by officers (PSNI/PA) These are all designed to do one thing to murder. Many of these highly dangerous items were found in locations where members of the public could easily have come across them. This demonstrates the sheer recklessness and absolute lack of concern these terrorists have about harming people living in these communities. Mr McVea noted that the discovery in Lurgan marked the second haul of Continuity IRA weapons seized in Lurgan in recent years. Ammunition and explosives material were found hidden in Armagh (PSNI/PA) This further loss to them is significant and shows in many ways some inability to stockpile large quantities of weapons, he said. A rusty pipe bomb found on Tarry Drive in Lurgan was placed beside a nursery school. Who in their right mind would put the lives of young children at risk? said the detective. Part of a suspected pipe bomb case and other terrorist-related equipment was seized (PSNI/PA) I do not know how long it has been lying there so the reality is that parents have been walking past this twice a day while taking their children to and from nursery. He added: The searches also send a clear message to those involved in terrorism that we will continue to disrupt their heinous activities so that our communities can live in peace and without fear. They do not want you in their midst putting their lives and those of their children at risk. A notorious loyalist killer turned supergrass, who was handed a reduced prison sentence after admitting more than 500 terror crimes including five murders, has been released from jail. The release of former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) commander Gary Haggarty comes only four months after he was handed a six-and-a-half year term in exchange for providing information about other terrorist suspects. An extensive period served on remand ahead of sentencing meant the loyalist godfather from north Belfast recently became eligible for release. Relatives of Gary Haggartys victims (Liam McBurney/PA) It is understood Haggarty entered a witness protection scheme upon leaving Maghaberry high security prison in Co Antrim on Friday afternoon. The long-time police informer pleaded guilty to a litany of serious crimes as part of a controversial deal that offered a significantly reduced term in return for turning state witness. The catalogue of offences stretched over 16 years, from 1991 to 2007, and included the loyalist murders of John Harbinson, Sean McParland, Gary Convie, Eamon Fox and Sean McDermott. As well as the five murders, Haggarty admitted five attempted murders, including against police officers; 23 counts of conspiracy to murder; directing terrorism; and membership of a proscribed organisation. The loyalist was formally charged with 202 terrorist crimes. (PA) The sentencing judge also took into account 301 lesser offences committed by the paramilitary leader. Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service is set to appeal the length of sentence handed down. After turning state witness, Haggarty provided information on 55 loyalist murders and 20 attempted murders in 1,015 police interviews. However, prosecutors are to mount a prosecution against only one man, for two murders, on the back of the evidence. The vast majority of individuals named by Haggarty in his police interviews will not face prosecution amid state concerns about a lack of supporting evidence. Graphic details of Haggartys murderous confessions were outlined at a pre-sentence hearing last year, as were explosive claims that police failed to prevent loyalist murders despite receiving advance warning from their high-ranking UVF informant. Two British citizens have been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sources have said. The pair are understood to have been taken while visiting the Virunga National Park, a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the African country, on Friday. A female park ranger travelling with the pair was killed, according to local media reports. The park has seen rising violence in recent months as armed groups stage raids to steal resources, particularly charcoal. Last month five young rangers and a driver were killed in a militia ambush, the park said. It was the deadliest attack in recent years and took the total number of rangers killed to 175. A large population of mountain gorillas, like these in Rwanda, make their home in the park (PA) Virunga is a Unesco world heritage site, covering 3,000 square miles on the Democratic Republic of Congos border with Uganda and Rwanda. Founded in 1925, it is home to to around a quarter of the worlds critically endangered mountain gorillas and other endangered species as well as lions, elephants, hippos and a host of rare bird species. Last year, a fifth of the parks southern sector was deforested owing to illegal charcoal production, the park said. A Foreign Office spokesman said: We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals, and our staff are providing support to their families. The US secretary of state has said the United States is willing to help North Korea with its economy if it gets rid of its nuclear weapons. Mike Pompeo made the announcement at a joint news conference with South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. He was speaking the day after returning from Pyongyang with three American detainees released by North Korea. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, left, poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) Mr Pompeo said the goal of talks with North Korea is complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. He added he had good and substantive conversations with leader Kim Jong Un during his visit. Mr Kang says there must be airtight coordination between South Korea and the US ahead of President Donald Trumps upcoming meeting with Mr Kim. Rafael Nadal refused to make excuses after his record-breaking winning streak came to an end at the hands of Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Open quarter-finals. Nadal will also lose his world number one spot after a 7-5 6-3 defeat to the Austrian which brings to an end his 21-match unbeaten run on his favourite surface. On Thursday Nadal was celebrating booking his place in the last eight with a straight-sets win over Diego Schwartzman, which saw him surpass John McEnroes record of 49 straight set wins on a single surface. The streak is over! @ThiemDomi shocks Rafael Nadal, ending the World No. 1's 21-match winning streak on clay, advancing to the semi-finals @MutuaMadridOpen. Read More https://t.co/qk9d9Lf9pA pic.twitter.com/Y48G37a3lo ATP Tour (@atptour) May 11, 2018 But Nadal could not maintain his form and was comfortably beaten by the world number seven, who broke his opponents serve five times in the two-hour match. Nadal told atptour.com: I am playing against one of the best players in the world and we were playing in special conditions the ball flies more here and i was not under control of the point. I tried to come back but I wasnt good enough today. I think Ive placed myself in a good position. I still have two good weeks on clay then Ill keep moving forward. Despite sitting out the clay court season, Roger Federer will regain the world number one slot (John Walton/PA) Nadal relinquished his world number one position to Roger Federer, who is sitting out the clay court season, but the Spaniard will retain it if he wins the Rome Masters next week. In the semi-finals Thiem will face South African sixth seed Kevin Anderson, who proved too strong for Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic, winning 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 6-3 in just over two hours. Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov booked his place in the last four after winning an engrossing and fractious affair against British number one Kyle Edmund. Youngest QF-ist in #MMOpen history becomes youngest SF-ist as 19-year-old @Denis_Shapo defeats Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-7(6) 6-4. On Saturday, Shapovalov bids to become youngest #ATPMasters1000 finalist since 18-year-old @RichardGasquet1 at 2005 @Am_Rothenbaum. ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) May 11, 2018 Shapovalov struck to seize the first set against the Briton, who had arrived in the last eight by virtue of stunning back-to-back wins over Novak Djokovic and David Goffin respectively. Edmund was briefly distracted by a member of the crowd shouting out towards the end of the second set, but he managed to save a match point before battling through a tight tie-break to force a decider. But it was Shapovalov who stepped up to the mark as he gained the decisive break in the third game of the set and maintained his advantage to reach the semi-finals 7-5 6-7 (7/6) 6-4. Petra Kvitova extended her winning streak to 10 matches as she beat Czech compatriot Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to book her place in the Madrid Open final. Fresh from victory at the Prague Open last week, Kvitova twice battled back from a break down in the opening set to eventually claim a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 win in one hour and 43 minutes. Pliskova had made a storming start, breaking her opponent in the opening game of the match and later establishing a second break advantage before being forced into a tie-break. Petra Kvitova reached the final of the Madrid Open (Gareth Fuller/PA) It's a Perfect 10 for @Petra_Kvitova as she reaches the @MutuaMadridOpen final for the third time in her career. HIGHLIGHTS--> https://t.co/52olSW8qji pic.twitter.com/5V2Np0GyL9 wta (@WTA) May 11, 2018 There the sixth seed capitulated, serving successive double points to hand the first set to Kvitova, the former Wimbledon champion was in no mood to give up her advantage, breaking Pliskova immediately at the start of the second set and again when Pliskova served to stay in the match at 5-3 to wrap up victory. In the final Kvitova will face unseeded Dutch player Kiki Bertens, who continued her superb form in the tournament with a 6-2 6-2 win over Caroline Garcia. Bertens, who beat world number two Caroline Wozniacki in an earlier round, dominated proceedings throughout to book her place in the biggest final of her career. Bertens told wtatour.come: Im in the final now, and I have a chance tomorrow but its going to be really, really tough. Right now Im just really happy about my performances through the whole week. Im just trying to go there tomorrow and do the same, and we will see. By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - A series of individual and organizational failures, including a lack of training and situational awareness, contributed to a deadly ambush in Niger last year that killed four U.S. soldiers, a partial Pentagon report released on Thursday said. The October ambush, carried out by a local Islamic State affiliate, has brought increased scrutiny of the U.S. counterterrorism mission in the West African country, and the report will likely raise more questions about U.S military operations on the continent. President Donald Trump's handling of condolence messages to the families of the dead U.S. soldiers has been criticized by lawmakers in Washington and raised the profile of the deadly incident. "The investigation identifies individual, organizational and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events of 4 October 2017 ... no single failure or deficiency was the sole reason for the events," an eight-page summary of the report says. A redacted version of the complete report may not be publicly released for months. The report did not assign blame, but said recommendations had been made to U.S. Special Operations Command on actions that could be taken against personnel. The top U.S. military official in Africa said that ultimately he was responsible. "I take ownership for all the events connected to the ambush of 4 October. Again, the responsibility is mine," Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said during a Pentagon press briefing. Even before the U.S. Special Operations Forces Team arrived in Niger, high personnel turnover had prevented the team from carrying out important pre-deployment training as a team, the report found. Only half of the team had trained together when it arrived in Niger in the fall of 2017. On Oct. 3, the special forces team, along with partner Niger forces, set out on a mission to target a key Islamic State militant near the village of Tiloa, Niger. The team had not trained for the mission and did not notify higher-level commanders that it would be undertaking it. While the team mischaracterized this mission, the report did not find a direct link between that and the ambush that killed the four U.S. soldiers. The top U.S. general said last year that the team was on a reconnaissance mission. On the way back to its base, after carrying out a separate intelligence gathering mission, the team stopped at the village of Tongo Tongo to resupply. It was then that the U.S. soldiers, along with their Nigerien partners, were ambushed by militants. The report and a 10-minute video shown to reporters details the gun battle and how at one point U.S. Army Sergeant La David Johnson sought to run away on foot from the militants after he was unable to enter his vehicle. He was ultimately killed 1,000 meters (about 3,300 feet) from the vehicle. The evidence showed that all four soldiers had been stripped of any serviceable equipment and the militants had made an attempt to take the bodies with them. Two of the soldiers' bodies were found in the back of a militant's vehicle and one body next to it, said Army Major General Roger Cloutier, who led the investigation into the ambush. As a result of the October incident, U.S. forces in Africa would now be more "prudent" in carrying out missions and improvements have been made for troops in areas such as firepower and equipment, response times and level of intelligence provided, Waldhauser said. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Bill Berkrot) By Tatiana Bautzer and Brad Haynes SAO PAULO, May 10 (Reuters) - The tricky work of divvying up the three business segments of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA has been delaying an agreement to combine operations with Boeing Co, three people with knowledge of the matter said this week. The two planemakers announced last month that they were in talks to set up a new company focused on commercial aviation, excluding Embraer's defense division and possibly its business jet unit. The companies have won the support of Brazil's government for such a deal, but the maneuver has created other headaches, according to the sources, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of talks. Negotiators are picking through the details of long-term service contracts between the companies and working on how to distribute Embraer's thousands of engineers, many of whom have migrated between military and civilian projects during their careers. Representatives for Boeing and Embraer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The decision to leave Embraer's defense operations separated has helped to overcome concerns about sovereign control of Embraer's military programs by the Brazilian government, which holds a strategic veto over the deal, but it has not produced a final agreement as quickly as some expected. "I'm quite optimistic," said Defense Minister Joaquim Silva e Luna, who is responsible for the task force overseeing the deal, when asked about the negotiation. "It is in advanced stages and should be resolved this year." Boeing's original proposal, a straightforward acquisition, could have been wrapped up by now, but it has proven more challenging to design an offer that leaves Embraer standing as a financially robust company focused on defense, the sources said. Embraer's 70- to 130-seat E-Jets, which compete with the C-Series program designed by Bombardier Inc and run by Airbus SE, account for about 60 percent of the Brazilian firm's revenue and nearly all of its operating profit. The company's defense division has barely turned a profit in recent years, since Brazil's government slashed military spending in an effort to close a gaping budget deficit. Embraer has also been losing money on a fresh line-up of business jets, as the executive aviation market stagnates. The companies have still not reached a final decision on whether to include the unit with the commercial jet division in the new company, in which Boeing would own a roughly 80 percent stake, according to two of the sources. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Brad Haynes Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) The Apparel Industry Suppliers Exhibition (AISEX) 2018 is being held at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial International Exhibition Center from May 10-12. The exhibition was ceremonially opened by Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen. Pics Kithsiri de Mel The 8th AISEX and FASE apparel industry sourcing expo opened at the BMICH on Thursday. Picture shows Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen inspecting some items on display. Chairman of Sri Lanka Apparel Institute Prof. Lakdas Fernando is also present. Pic by Kithsiri de Mel The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka signed a US$100 million loan agreement as additional financing for the governments efforts to develop skills to meet labour demands, support economic diversification, and enhance productivity in the country. The loan will be complemented by a US$3 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to strengthen private sector engagement and womens participation in technical and vocational education and training as well as in employment in Sri Lanka. The additional funding will enable the government to continue implementing the Skills Sector Development Program (SSDP), which is supported by a US$100 million ADB loan approved in 2014, through 2020. SSDP aims to significantly improve the quality of TVET provided to young people in Sri Lanka to increase their employability, while also enhancing partnerships with the private sector for better TVET planning and provision to align skilled labor supply with market demand. The program is also increasing the number of TVET graduates and improving policy, institutional, and operational reforms to support the countrys skills sector. The programmes first phase (2014-2016) has been performing well, with the employment rate of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates rising from 50 percent in 2012 to 57 percent in 2015, exceeding the 55 percent target. The additional financing will expand successful program activities and accelerate the pace of reform initiatives. Twenty one unauthorized structures along the Mirissa beach including Water Creatures Beach Guest Restaurant & Surf Bar where a group of Dutch tourists were assaulted were demolished today by the Coast Conservation Department (CCD). CCD Director General B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi said there were no interruptions neither did any one intervene when the demolishing were going on under tight security. More than 100 police officers, 24 Anti-Riot Squad personnel and a water cannon were deployed at Mirissa apart from several teams of Special Task Force (STF) personnel to prevent any protest against the action. President Maithripala Sirisena ordered the removal on May 4 after the CCD backtracked under pressure from two powerful ministers. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) Video by Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk - Pix by Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk (c) 2018, Bloomberg David Tweed May 10, 2018 - China has landed a military plane on the last of its three airstrips in the disputed South China Sea, a Washington-based research institution said, amid renewed complaints about the country expanding its military presence in the busy shipping lane. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said satellite images from April 28 showed the first confirmed deployment of a military aircraft -- a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane -- on Subi Reef. The structure hosts one of three runways China has built as part of a massive dredging and reclamation operation in the Spratlys chain since 2013, and was the last of three where military aircraft had been observed. This should be particularly concerning to the Philippines, AMTI, a unit of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said on its website. About 100 Philippine civilians and a small military garrison are stationed on the Thitu islet, about 12 nautical miles away from Subi. Divaina Newspaper journalist Saman Gamage was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) last night. Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said the journalist was arrested as he had failed to appear before the Gampaha Magistrates Court after he was summoned to do so on Friday (4). The Police Spokesman explained that Gamage had been previously summoned to the CID to record a statement over an article written by him regarding an investigation into the assault of former Chief Editor of Rivira and Divaina newspapers Upali Tennakoon. When the suspect failed to appear, the CID then notified the Gampaha Magistrates Court of the incident, prompting the court to summon him. When Gamage failed to appear before the court, the CID then filed a lawsuit under clause 109 subsection 6, which resulted in the Court issuing of an arrest warrant. The suspect is to be produced before the Gampaha Magistrate Court today. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) By S.S. Selvanayagam The Commercial High Court of Colombo issued summons on former Company Secretary of Adamexpo Ltd., Dilanka Mendis for alleged offence of contempt. High Court Judge Ruwan Fernando issued the summons pursuant to the petition filed by Dr. Ai Asger Shabbir Gulamhussein. The petitioner in his petition pleaded the court to charge the accused-respondent Senapathige Kulamini Dilanka Mendis for being in contempt of court by willfully making alleged false statements in two of her affidavits filed in the Commercial High Court. The petitioner stated the accused-respondent has sworn in her affidavit to the effect that she was appointed as Secretary to eight companies including Adamexpo Ltd. with effect from May 06, 2016 and her appointment as Secretary of Adamexpo Limited and the resignation of her purported predecessor Shane De Silva were notified to the Registrar of Companies on one single Companys Form 20. He also stated the accused-respondent has allegedly willfully lied to the court by denying that she succeeded Thilini Dilusha Gamage as Secretary of Adamexpo Limited. He further stated she has affirmed in her affidavit that a Companys Form 19 denoting her consent to act as Company Secretary of Adamexpo Limited was also filed with the Registrar of Companies and that she prepared the aforementioned forms and personally filed them with the Registrar of Companies. He stated that the accused-respondent has allegedly lied and misrepresented the court by making false allegations in her affidavits to the effect that three office assistants of the petitioner in the said case came to her office and took away all files pertaining to Adamexpo Limited claiming that the petitioner wanted them on or around the second week of June 2017, a few days after the demise of Dr. Shabbir Abbas Gulamhusein. Petitioner submitted certified copies of documents obtained from the Registrar of Companies along with his petition to prove that one Thilini Dilusha Gamage functioned as the Company Secretary of Adamexpo Limited from March 16, 2016 to January 02, 2017 replacing Shane de Silva and that the accused-respondent succeeded Thilini Dilusha Gamage as company secretary of Adamexpo Limited only on January 02, 2017. The petitioner has also annexed the duly filed Annual Return Form 15 dated February 14, 2017, which is signed by the accused-respondent as the Company Secretary which evidences the petitioner owns the said 7,981,253 shares as July 11, 2016, which is the subject matter of the said case. K. Kanag-Iswaran PC with Niranjan Arulpragasam instructed by G.G. Arulpragasam appeared for the petitioner. Who robbed celebritys home The police had then examined CCTV footage near the residence of Dr. Peries and identified a suspicious three wheeler With the arrest of the five suspects over the theft of the Ranamayura lifetime achievement medal of filmmaker the late Dr. Lester James Peries, a more expansive and a rooted organised crime of ransacking funerals of popular personnel was revealed by the Police. This suggests that the medal of Dr. Peries that went missing was one of many such stolen valuables from funerals by a gang. The group consists of men aged between 46 to 64 that pick and chose well-attended funerals of popular personalities such as artistes or other public figures and then systematically rob valuable items such as phones. Their victims could be the sympathizing visitors, family members of the deceased or even the deceased itself. These facts came to light when the Ranamayura medal went missing on May 2 (Wednesday) morning while Dr. Peries funeral service was still in progress. After much publicity was given by the media to this theft, the missing medal was found on an overhead rack of a private bus plying on the Kollupitiya-Kaduwela route on Saturday. Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said at a press briefing that the arrested suspect is a member of a group of thieves who had been engaging in thefts at crowded events and VIPs funeral in Colombo and its suburb. He said five suspects were arrested over the theft of the medal while another suspect who was an owner of a mobile phone shop was arrested on charges of possessing stolen mobile phones. The Bambalapitiya police launched the investigation into the incident after a relative of the late filmmaker had complained to the police over the phone stating that the lifetime achievement medal had been stolen. The police had then visited the residence of the late Dr. Periess on Wednesday evening. The law enforcement officers had also received a complaint from another relative stating that her apple i-phone worth Rs. 100,000, which was kept on the cabinet, was also stolen along with the medal. The police had then visited the residence of the late Dr. Periess on Wednesday evening. The law enforcement officers had also received a complaint from another relative stating that her apple i-phone worth Rs. 100,000, which was kept on the cabinet, was also stolen along with the medal Video footage Police examined the video footage obtained from electronic media institutions and they were able to learn that the mobile phone was being stolen by someone at around 11.00 am on the day of the funeral but could not trace the identity of the suspect because the face was not recorded. The police had then examined CCTV footage near the residence of Dr. Peries and identified a suspicious three wheeler with three persons aboard who had later attended the funeral. When the investigation into the three wheeler was conducted, the Bambalapitiya and Kollupitiya Police stations received an anonymous telephone call on Saturday morning stating that the medal was on the NC- 2752 private bus on the Kaduwela-Kollupitiya route. Two police teams were deployed in Kollupitiya and Green Path areas to intercept the bus following the information that was received. The driver and the conductor of the bus had handed over the medal to the police personnel who boarded the bus from Green Path. The driver and conductor said in their statements to the police that they were on their way to the police to handover the medal after they found it inside the bus on Saturday evening. Anonymous call They told the police that they had recovered a parcel after a passenger informed them. According to one of the statements, the driver had also received an anonymous call where the caller had requested that the recovered parcel be handed over to the police. The Bambalapitiya Police had then commenced an investigation to apprehend the suspects in connection with the theft. They were unable to trace the mobile phone number because all the mobile service providers had closed shop for the long weekend. On Saturday evening, the police commenced an investigation to find details of the suspicious three wheeler. They were able to identify that its registered owner was a woman and resided in Kiriwaththuduwa. The woman informed the police that her father was using the three wheeler and he was residing at Kothalawala in Kaduwela. The Police then visited her fathers residence and identified him as one of the men who appear on the CCTV footage obtained from one of the houses near Dr. Peries residence. The police arrested the 61-year-old suspect, Percy Chandrasiri Alwis along with the three wheeler. Police arrested the owner of the shop on charges of possessing stolen mobile phones. The police recovered eight other similar mobile phones from the shop The Police arrested another three suspects after questioning the first suspect. The three suspects were arrested near Kaduwela area when they were travelling in a three wheeler from Gampola and heading towards Colombo. The three arrested suspects, 64-year-old Nawaratna Banda alias Ralahami, 60-year-old Ananda Rohana and 46-year-old Nawasiyam were identified as residents of Gampola and Navalapitiya. The fifth suspect, 47-year-old Suduhakuru Sisira Kumara, was arrested on Sunday near the Sugathadasa Stadium where a UNP May Day rally was in progress. Police said that three of the five suspects had travelled in the seized three wheeler while the other two had travelled in a bus to steal the medal and the mobile phone from the filmmaker Dr. Lesters residence. Police recovered the apple mobile phone from a mobile phone shop at Nawalapitiya after it had been sold at a price of Rs.4,000. Police arrested the owner of the shop on charges of possessing stolen mobile phones. The police recovered eight other similar mobile phones from the shop. SP Gunasekara said the gang of thieves had been selling stolen mobile phones to the shop owner. The police spokesman said that they would inform the Attorney General about the suspects and request them to be charged in High Court. He said strict legal actions would be taken against the suspects. They were produced in Hulftsdorp Magistratess Court for an identification parade and were remanded till May 21. IP Ekanayake, Police Sargent Ekanayaka (8594), Gamage (11524), Constables Sanath (36070), Sudeera (74424) and Jayasinghe (88848) of Kollupitiya Police Crime Division, SI Ajith Metthananda, Constables Jayasinghe (49857), Athula (55354), Piyadasa (56374), Ruwan (68896), Kumara (67314), Vasala (71146), Nadeera (76430), Silva (81778), Weerawansa (89081) and Gunawardane (80641) of the Bambalapitiya Police Station conducted the investigation under the instructions of Bambalapitiya OIC Chief Inspector Ashoka Mahinda Weerakkody, Colombo South 1 ASP Dayaratna, Colombo Crimes Division ASP Prasanna de Alwis, CCD Director SP Nishantha de Zoysa, Colombo South SSP Saman Yatawara, Colombo Division DIG Lalith Pathinayake and Western Province DIG Nandana Munasinghe. The European Union (EU) has launched a Rs.810 million project to support the modernisation of Sri Lankas agriculture sector. The project Support to the modernisation of the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka will be implemented by Ecorys. The technical assistance team will assist the government in making the agriculture sector more productive, diversified, climate-resilient, market-oriented and equitable while facilitating an agricultural sector reform process. The programme will support the development of an overarching agriculture policy where issues such as gender, climate change, nutrition and youth will be integrated. In addition, it will promote the diversification of high-value agricultural production, including a focus on improved export earnings. Climate change and identification of ways in which malnutrition can be eliminated will also be an integral part of the assistance provided. A workshop held in connection to the context of the project with participants from government institutions, private sector, civil society and academia focused on a coordinating mechanism for the New Agriculture Policy (NAP), the impact of decentralisation and fragmentation of the agriculture sector. The workshop concluded by agreeing on a common approach on the development of an overarching agricultural policy and its implementation strategy. The EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Tung-Lai Margue said, This programme has been designed with the needs of the small farmers in mind. Given the large number of institutions involved in the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka, strengthening coordination and developing a joint policy are key to a successful transformation of the sector. We are pleased to partner with the Government of Sri Lanka, civil society and private sector in this regard, a partnership that will make a lasting difference in the lives of the people. The grant, which is part of the EUs wider programme in support of rural development in Sri Lanka, will benefit rural communities in the entire country. The programme is expected to be operational for three years (2018-2020). French Foreign Minister on Thursday condemned as unacceptable the United States for reimposing sanctions against foreign companies trading with Iran, in comments that expose the deepening rift between Washington and its European allies on the issue. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of a landmark deal curbing Irans nuclear program and re-introducing sanctions on the Islamic republic and those who trade with it. The decision overturned years of painstaking diplomacy and left European allies scrambling to save the hard-fought deal. Washington has given European firms doing business in Iran up to six months to wind up investments or risk US sanctions and they are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with Iran. On Thursday Frances top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian slammed those conditions, saying Washington needed to negotiate with its European allies on any sanctions that might affect their companies. We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable, he told the French daily Le Parisien. The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed, he said. Europeans, he added, would do everything to protect the interests of their companies and planned to lead tight negotiations with Washington via the European Union. Trumps decision to pull out of the Iran deal has left his country diplomatically isolated. PARIS AFP May11, 2018 The GMOA today said it would launch a countrywide 24-hour work stoppage on May 17 as a protest against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with Singapore, proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India and several other issues. GMOA Secretary Haritha Aluthge told a news conference that the work stoppage would begin at 8.00 am at all government hospitals. The work stoppage is certain. However, the authorities still have time to provide us with a resonable solution. They should not enter into or implement such agreements in an arbitrary manner without setting up a national policy on international trade agreements, he said. Dr. Aluthge said the FTA recently signed with Singapore was not in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) participles and detrimental to the country. He said this FTA would create an open space for foreign countries to invade Sri Lanka's job market. Dr. Aluthge said the FTA had not included a termination date and exit clause and such an agreement was disadvantageous to the country and that the authorities concerned had signed this FTA without presenting it to Parliament. He said International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama should be held responsible for it. Sri Lanka and India are to hold the next round of official level talks on the proposed ETCA at the end of May. We are against it as well. That is why we have decided to launch this work stoppage on May 17, he said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane) By A.S. Fernando Mahendra Yoga: This yoga is considered present when the Fate and Sun lines originate from the bracelets on a palm with a developed Mount of Moon. Following formations too produce the Mahendra Yoga There is a sign of Swastika on a well-developed Mount of Moon. There is a Swastika mark on the Mount of Venus which is well elevated up to the line of Life. Result: Beneficiary of this yoga is wealthy and prosperous and he fulfills all his desires and aspirations during his lifetime. Rudra Yoga: This yoga is seen in a hand when the rings of Jupiter and Saturn are present and there is a line originating from the Mount of Jupiter touching both these rings during its run. Result: The subject with this yoga is an easy going carefree cheerful person who earns wealth and enjoys it to his hearts content. He also likes to flaunt his wealth. Kusuma Yoga: This yoga is formed when the Mounts of Sun and Saturn appear merged to form one Mount and are not distinctly separated under the corresponding fingers. Result: A person endowed with this yoga is learned and fortunate. He is always in lucks way. He rises to a high position. He would never suffer from want in his life. Koorma Yoga: Sun line originating from a point on the Life line runs over the Mount of Moon to reach the Mount of Sun. Result: A person born with this yoga achieves fame and respect through his outstanding works. He is a good orator who can hold his audience spellbound. He can keep his cool in the face of adversity. He lives in comfort like a prince. Devendra Yoga: A sign of a flower (a Lotus) near the Life line but slightly away from the Mount of Moon signifies this yoga. Result: A person born with this yoga is handsome, intelligent and far-sighted. He can influence people. He is disciplined. He enjoys long life. Kahanga Yoga: If a person has his Mount of Mercury merged with a prominent and firm Mount of Sun, he is a beneficiary of Kahanga Yoga. Result: A person with this yoga rises to a very high position even if he were born into a poor humble family. He is honest and upright. He can become a successful fortune teller. He would never suffer from want. Nawalakshmi Yoga: Sun, Fate and Mercury lines originating from the bracelets signify the presence of this yoga. Result: One who possesses this yoga acquires immense wealth. He gains fame and high status as well. Bhoomi Yoga: If the Mounts of Upper Mars and Venus are connected by a line while there is an assisting line of the Fate line meeting it on the Mount of Venus, the subject has this yoga. Result: A person endowed with this yoga is a land owner who becomes prosperous from the produce from the lands he owns. He always gathers bumper harvests. He is very generous. Koteesha Yoga: This yoga is produced when there is a ring of Saturn and small lines rising up from it to the third phalanx while there is a Fate line originating from the bracelets reaching the Mount of Saturn. Result: A person with this yoga becomes a multi-millionaire during his lifetime. vimala Yoga: This yoga is formed when there are white spots between two bracelets. Result: A person born with this yoga is virtuous, kind and benevolent. He is a happy person who succeeds in fulfilling all his desires. Tel Aviv/Damascus (dpa), 10 May 2018 - Israel said Thursday it hit almost all of Irans infrastructure sites during dozens of airstrikes overnight in Syria. It is the the worst direct violence in years between arch-rivals Iran and Israel, raising fears that a wider conflict could erupt in the region. We have hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria. They must remember that if it rains here (in Israel) it will pour there, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. Israel said the strikes were in response to Iranian forces firing 20 rockets at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. Iranian missiles did not reach Israeli territory, they either fell in Syria or was intercepted by Iron Dome [missile defence system] Lieberman said at a security conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. Iranian officials have yet to comment on the Israeli claims. The targeted positions are believed to be manned by Iranians, their allied Lebanese Hezbollah and government forces, the Britain-based watchdog said. The targeted positions are believed to be manned by Iranians, their allied Lebanese Hezbollah and government forces, The Syrian army command said in a statement carried by the official news agency SANA that three soldiers were killed. A radar station and an ammunition depot were destroyed, while a number of air defence facilities were damaged, it added. Thursdays exchange was the most severe flare-up so far between Israel and Tehran over Irans military presence in Syria during the countrys seven-year civil war. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were the among the world leaders to discuss the sharp escalation in tensions and to urge restraint. By Shabiya Ali Ahlam A 40-member Japanese delegation is slated to visit Sri Lanka in October this year, in order to look at the possibilities of streamlining the automobile industry that is being currently impacted by the Treasurys ad-hoc tax policies. The Sri Lanka Automobile Exporters Association in Japan (SLAAJ) officials told reporters in Colombo yesterday that a meeting has been arranged between relevant authorities from both countries where the delegation from Japan would put forward their suggestions to have a more predictable duty structure for the importation of vehicles. The Japanese officials along with the SLAAJ members would request having the duty fixed for a period of five years. Currently the national budget revises the import duty on an annual basis and its implementation is often done overnight. Proposals would contain the request for a reduction in the import duty, which is currently about 300 percent on the sale value. According to SLAAJ President Nishantha Meegalla, the annual revision of the vehicle importation duty in national budget has resulted in importers bringing down excess units prior the proposal announcement to avoid any negative implications. A steep increase in vehicle imports is observed in the months of October and November since importers are unsure what the duty they would be slapped with. These shipments take several weeks to reach Sri Lanka, and when an overnight duty is imposed we undergo losses, stressed Meegalla. For this reason, he said the local customers are at a disadvantage since the revisions often lead to price increases. It was also pointed out that for reconditioned vehicles, it has become the norm for certain importers to forge the inspection sheet and hide the exact condition of the automobile, deceiving customers. In an effort to curb such issues, the SLAAJ will also hold a workshop following the meeting, for those engaged in the vehicle importation trade, where the participants will be educated on import procedures and regulations and other areas of importance. The resource persons for the workshop would be from Japan and Sri Lanka. Cabinet spokesman and Minister. Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said Arjuna Mahendran would be arrested by the Interpol from wherever he was hiding and handed over to the Sri Lankan Police no sooner than later. Dr. Snaratne added that no one knew his whereabouts but he would not be able to play this hide and seek game for too long. However, he said he sometimes felt whether only the Yahapalana Government was concerned about judicial independence when the media questions on how former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa continued to get bail without arrest despite the FCID filing charges against him under the provisions of the Public Property Act. Addressing the media at the weekly cabinet news briefing, Minister Senaratne said the media must think whether any other average citizen had this luxury. The question and answer session that ensued at the news briefing is as follows. Daily Mirror: The entire country expects quick legal action against the suspects of the Central Bank Bond Scam. Now that the Judicature Amendment Bill that paves the way for setting up of Special Trials at Bar for speedier administration of justice, could we expect the bond scam be referred to one of these special High Courts as the first case for trial? Minister Senaratne: This has to be decided by the Hon. Chief Justice after high profile cases were referred to him by the AG. Daily Mirror: You get a lot of flak from many quarters for not taking action against wrong doers of the previous government. Dont you want to punish them? Minister Senaratne: It was me and a few other Ministers with a backbone who questioned President Mahinda Rajapaksa face to face on various crimes committed under him. Daily Mirror: Where is the delay? Minister Senaratne: You decide yourself as to how and why those who had properties in Gampaha, Matara, Kduwela and many other places worth millions of rupees got off the hook from the law and finally their properties were forfeited. A lady journalist from a private TV station: When do you arrest the first accused of the bond scam Arjuna Mahendran? Minister Senaratne: Pretty soon. Journalist: Why this delay to arrest him; Minister Senaratne: (in a raised tone) Why do you ask only about the arrest of Arjuna Mahendran. Why do you never ask the delay running to several months to arrest Udayanga Weeratunga who is involved in fraudulent MIG deal and caused losses millions of dollars to the government? Why you have never asked about the Jaliya Wickramasuiriya who fled the country and evade arrest for months? The losses incurred to the government from the bond scam is only Rs. 10 billion and the government has suspended accounts of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. worth over Rs. 11 billion, much less than the losses from MIG deal. Why dont you ever ask about the allegations leveled against nearly 30 Rajapaksa family members and their acolytes? You have never asked me about private TV station CSN owned by Yoshitha. Journalist: What is progress that has been made to arrest Arjuna Mahendran by the government? Minister Senaratne: The government has done all it could do to arrest him and bring him back. It is up to the Sri Lanka Police, the Interpol and the country where he is in hiding. If and when he was arrested in a foreign country, we must have an Extradition treaty to bring him back to Sri Lanka. If not we have to seek other legal avenues to bring him here. It takes time because Interpol is in France, not in SRI Lanka. Journalist: Is there a move to taken over Samurdhi Banks under the Central Bank? Minister Senaratne: Yes. It is necessary because all commercial banks must come under the scrutiny of the government. Journalist: But you can initiate an inquiry under the Money Laundering Act if Samurdhi Banks have committed any financial irregularities. Minister Senaratne: If so, all other banls also can be scruitinized under the provisions of the MLA. Thousands of Samurdhi Banks established to assist poor to stand on their own feet cannot be run in the manner that Danduwam Mudalalai or Sakwithi did their transactions. (Sandun A Jayasekera) Tomorrow is Mothers Day and the aim is to pay tribute both to the miracle of birth and to the special woman who performed that miracle: Our mother. According to the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), new analysis shows that 99 per cent of Sri Lankas children are breastfed at some point in their young lives. Babies in South Asia including Sri Lanka are more likely to be breastfed than those in any other region in the world and are breastfed for longer. At least 98 per cent of the children are breastfed at some point in their young lives including in Afghanistan (98%), Bhutan (99%), Nepal (99%), Sri Lanka (99%), and elsewhere in South Asia the proportion is also high at 94-97%. According to UNICEF, almost all mothers in Sri Lanka, deemed a middle-income country, give birth at hospitals, which promote 10 steps of the baby-friendly initiative. This is on par with the high-income country of New Zealand. Breast milk saves lives and protects babies against deadly diseases. UNICEF recommends that children should be breastfed for two years and beyond because it provides an important source of nutrients for healthy growth and can prevent half of the deaths during a childs second year of life. Furthermore, it leads to higher performance on intelligence tests among children and adolescents, 3 IQ points on average. Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother can give her child and herself, says Jean Gough, UNICEFs Regional Director for South Asia. As we celebrate Mothers Day, we must give mothers the support they need to start and continue breastfeeding. Breastfeeding for longer periods is important for the mothers health; for each year a mother breastfeeds, her risk of developing breast cancer falls by 6 per cent. While Sri Lanka should be proud that almost every child is breastfed at some point in his or her life, we need to encourage mothers to breastfeed for as long as possible, ideally for two years. This brings immense benefits in the form of nutrition, health and well-being for both mother and baby, according to Tim Sutton, UNICEFs Representative in Sri Lanka. There has been little progress in improving rates of continued breastfeeding at two years of age in South Asia between 2000 (68%) and 2016 (71%). Also, in some countries, breastfeeding rates fall by more than 20 per cent between the childs first and second birthdays. The recent analysis also showed that babies belonging to wealthier families are more likely to miss out on continued breastfeeding. In South Asia, 81 per cent of babies aged 20-23 months from poorer families are breastfed compared to only 57 per cent in richer families. This trend is seen across the world. Some 7.6 million babies are not breastfed and babies in the worlds richest countries are most likely to miss out. Figures show that an estimated 22 per cent of babies in high-income countries are never breastfed. The rate of babies not being breastfed in low-and-middle-income countries, is 4 per cent. UNICEF says, factors leading to higher breastfeeding rates vary. Countries like India and Vietnam have put in place strong policies to protect and promote breastfeeding. Through its global campaign, Every Child ALIVE, it demands solutions on behalf of the worlds newborns and UNICEF urges governments, the private sector and civil society to: Increase funding and awareness to raise breastfeeding rates from birth through the age of two; Put in place strong legal measures to regulate the marketing of infant formula and other breast-milk substitutes as well as bottles and teats; Enact paid family leave and put in place workplace breastfeeding policies, including paid breastfeeding breaks; Implement the ten steps to successful breastfeeding in maternity facilities, and provide breast-milk for sick newborns; Ensure that mothers receive skilled breastfeeding counselling at health facilities and in the first week after delivery; Strengthen links between health facilities and communities, so that mothers are ensured of continued support for breastfeeding and Improve monitoring systems to track improvements in breastfeeding policies, programmes and practices. We hope the Sri Lankan government will follow these steps and encourage breastfeeding for two to three years. Mothers also need to cooperate for the sake of their babies and the next generation instead of being misled by beauticians on one side and by milk powder companies on the other. It was the majestic Dalaputtuwas killing that went viral and drew world attention, followed by the killing of Missaka and many other nameless elephants Much land is available under the Ministries of Agriculture Development, Disaster Management, Environment and Natural Resources, Coconut and Rubber etc Urgent changes are needed with immediate effect if the elephant population in Sri Lanka is to survive. While it has shocked the world, we in Sri Lanka look on helplessly. It was the majestic Dalaputtuwas killing that went viral and drew world attention, followed by the killing of Missaka and many other nameless elephants. With an indifferent Department of Wildlife Conservation and interfering politicians, nothing happens. There is the presence of political power behind the rampant destruction of a large elephant passage at Pallekandal which is within the Wilpattu National Park. It was repeatedly highlighted in the media that a shrine for St. Anthony is maintained against the law of the country in Pallekandal. This is atrocity and arrogance when other religions abstain from this type of act. Regardless of what faith the leaders belong to, they must abide by the law. Thousands of worshipers at St. Anthonys shrine are not aware of this situation. There is the presence of political power behind the rampant destruction of a large elephant passage at Pallekandal The State must step in and instruct the Director General of Wildlife to pull down the shrine with respect to the saint and close the entry that disturbs wildlife. It should apply to any other existing place of worship that has come up within this premises. Elephants die all the time when they are robbed of their environment that provides them with shelter, food and water. Why not find alternate land for all these thousands of farmers and people who encroach and open up the area that was originally the homeland of these grazing animals? Power lines are only a temporary measure and dangerous to the lives of both humans and elephants. Maintaining these lines causes a dent in the economy. After watching this drama for many years and the toll taking on the elephant community, I can suggest a permanent solution but there mustnt be political interference. Why not find alternate land for all these thousands of farmers and people who encroach and open up the area that was originally the homeland of these grazing animals? This is how it was around ten to fifteen years ago until corrupt politicians invaded the placeand started deforestation to help their allies. Power lines are only a temporary measure and dangerous to the lives of both humans and elephants Much land is available under the Ministries of Agriculture Development, Disaster Management, Environment and Natural Resources, Coconut and Rubber etc. They can communicate among themselves and free up some land to preserve wild life. In the wake of Wesak and Poson, the President should be focused on this compassionate issue. Former UPFA MP Shantha Bandara was appointed as the new Chairman of the State Timber Corporation (STC) by President Maithripala Sirisena today. The appointment was handed over to Mr. Bandara at the President's Residence in Colombo. The President yesterday cancelled the appointment of Anuruddha Polgampola as the STC Chairman who was appointed to the post last Friday. The post fell vacant following the arrest of former STC chairman P. Dissanayake by the Bribery Commission while accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 million. Verulam, (AFP/HT), 11 May 2018 - Armed attackers struck a mosque outside the South African city of Durban on Thursday, stabbing to death an imam and injuring two others in a country known for its peaceful religious relations. Three men entered the large mosque after midday prayers, carrying guns and attacking the victims with knives and later flinging a petrol bomb which set fire to the building. Police said the attackers remained at large, after escaping in a Hyundai car from the Imam Hussain mosque in Verulam town. The motive of the attack is unknown. Paul Herbst, spokesman for the private IPSS medical rescue service, told AFP the (imam) was tied up and thrown to his knees and his throat was slit. The other two men were stabbed -- one was stabbed in the abdomen and the other in the groin of his left leg. Before the assailants left the mosque, a petrol bomb was thrown into the mosque and it was set alight. Hendavitharanage Selin Kumara alias Thel Kumara had been shot dead in Trincomalee this morning by a group of gunmen, police said. They said the 45-year-old victim was killed by three unidentified gunmen arrived in a car. The gunmen had opened fire at the victim who was inside a lorry parked beside a road in the the Sirimapura area. The victim had succumbed to injuries while being rushed to the Trincomalee Hospital. No arrest had been made so far. Video by Mangalanath Liyanarachchi In Charles Dickenss novel A Tale of Two Cities, set during the French revolution of 1789, he draws the character of Madame Defarge. She along with other members of the Tricoteuse, the knitting women, perch every day next to the guillotine, knitting into hats and socks the names of those to be executed, while watching the upper aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie being dispatched to their death one by one. They were regarded as respected sisters of the revolution. I cant help being reminded of her when I read the CV of the woman nominated by President Donald Trump to be the new head of the CIA, Gina Haspel, who is due to be cross examined at a Senate hearing on May 9th. She is a career officer who ran a CIA black site in Thailand. She implemented the torture policies of President George W. Bush. She also, according to the Economist, transmitted her bosss orders to destroy video evidence of brutal interrogations. She ignored the UN Convention Against Torture which the conservative president, Ronald Reagan, had successfully fought to be ratified. James Comey, the FBI director, another Republican, who was fired by George W. Bush, wrote in his recent memoirs, I couldnt get away from the mental pictures of naked men chained to the ceiling in a cold, blazingly lit, cell for endless days. I cant help being reminded of her when I read the CV of the woman nominated by President Donald Trump to be the new head of the CIA, Gina Haspel, who is due to be cross examined at a Senate hearing on May 9th. She is a career officer who ran a CIA black site in Thailand. She implemented the torture policies of President George W. Bush. She also, according to the Economist, transmitted her bosss orders to destroy video evidence of brutal interrogations When the allies captured high-ranking members of the Nazi government and German generals they wanted all the information they could get. They got most of it but they never used torture. What Bush with the connivance of Haspel and her like did would never have been allowed, yet the stakes then were much higher. Immediately on attaining office President Barack Obama banned torture. In sharp contrast during his campaign Trump said he favoured bringing it back and a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. Contradicting him, his Secretary of Defence, General James Mattis, says he doesnt believe in torture. He argues that he could extract from a prisoner the information needed with two chairs, a packet of cigarettes and a couple of bottles of beer. The Mattis line follows the arguments of the 2014 report of the US Senate that examined, among others, the torture of the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh. He was waterboarded -- which gives the sensation of drowning -- 183 times. The report concluded that the information extracted from him could have been learned without torture. Primitive man, like other animals, followed his instincts and killed his enemy as swiftly as the job could be done. Archaeologists, examining skeletons, have found no evidence of torture. For several hundred thousand years torture did not exist. Only in the last few thousand has it become a weapon of state. Rome tortured the early Christians. The Christian Church repelled by this Roman practice, for a thousand years used its great strength to abolish torture. Until the time of Pope Innocent IV in the thirteenth century it was practically unknown in the Western world. The Inquisition brought it back. Heretics were forced to undergo a very systematic use of torture, while a magistrate sat close by logging carefully the instruments used. In the 17th century. torture began to die out. In 1640 it was abolished in England by law. After the 1789 Revolution France made the use of torture a capital offence. Most German states and Russia abolished it in the nineteenth century. Moreover, the European imperial powers did much to dampen its use in the many parts of the world where they had their empires. During the twentieth century torture returned with a vengeance. It reached such a scale that it dwarfed even the darkest Middle Ages. It was Mussolinis fascists that were the first government to make torture an official policy. The blackshirts invented their own particular brand of torture- pumping a prisoner full of castor oil to purge him of the will to exist. The German Nazis not only developed the concentration camps for mass extermination of the Jews, gypsies and homosexuals they regularly used torture. Spain, under Franco, used torture until the 1970s. As late as 1981 Spanish police were found to have used torture against Basque nationalists. In the United Kingdom during the civil war in Northern Ireland torture was used in the 1960s and early 1970s mainly against the IRA. Hooding, loud, high-pitched noise, sleep and food deprivation were the main tools. It was uncovered by Irish newspapers and triggered a great row in Britain. Eventually it was banned. In 1972 Amnesty International launched a campaign, supported by the Scandinavian countries and Holland, to abolish torture. But it took until 1984 to win a UN legally binding treaty. Bush and Trump have ignored it. So did the British government of Tony Blair. With people like Gina Haspel in charge of the CIA we can assume the worst. The Senate must not confirm her in office. For 17 years the writer had been a foreign affairs columnist and commentator for the International Herald Tribune/New York Times. Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 8:00 am John William Horine, 88, of Warrensburg, passed away, Wednesday May 9, 2018, at his home surrounded by family. John will be missed by his wife, Betty (Lewis) Horine. Their wedding was on April 28, 1951, followed by his graduation from Southeastern Missouri State College in May and joining the Army in June. In April 1952, John (or Jack, as he was known to his family) was sent to serve in Korea. John was a devoted family man and will be missed by daughter, Jaqueline (Jackie) and son-in-law, Charles (Chuck) Greeson, daughter, Donna and son-in-law, Wayne Dochterman, son, Robert (Rob) and daughter-in-law, Cheryl Horine, daughter, Karen and son-in-law, Michael Brandt, daughter, Terri and son-in-law, James (Jim) Helmig; 16 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren; and brother, Wayne Horine. He is joyfully being reunited with his mother and father, Norma and John Horine; sisters, Juanita (Nita) Mae Horine and Joy Broombaugh; and brother, Robert (Bob) Horine, in heaven. John would have wanted to mention so many more dear family members and friends. However, he loved and was loved by so many that it is impossible to list them all here. John was born on the Horine family farm in Richwoods, Missouri. He attended elementary school in Richwoods, graduated from Potosi High School, and received his bachelors degree in industrial arts education from SMSC. After Korea, John started a job teaching science and industrial arts at Gideon High School and discovered to his surprise that he loved to teach. John went on to earn a Masters of Industrial Education and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Missouri, and then began his career at UCM (then CMSC) teaching industrial arts in 1961. He enjoyed being a big part of the development of Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport and the aviation department at UCM. John served as chair for the Department of Power and Transportation for 22 years. He was also pleased when he had the opportunity to pass on the torch of department chair and go back to his true calling, full time teaching and advising students for the last several years of his career. John purportedly retired from UCM at least a couple times, but his idea of retirement was different than most, and he spent his retirement continuing to work at UCM until 2018, a total of 57 years. He would frequently tell us, Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life. In addition to their own five children, over the years Jack and Betty welcomed into their home at least 15 other people to live with them to attend college. It started with a young Korean man whom Jack met during his deployment, and later there were nieces, nephews and grandchildren and their friends, and children and nieces of former students. Some stayed only a semester or two, while others stayed through bachelors and masters degrees. John would have wanted to mention so many more dear family members and friends; however, he loved and was loved by so many that it is impossible to list them all here. The lives of so many, worldwide, were touched and enriched by their generosity and hospitality. John also taught Sunday school for over 50 years. Church was an important part of Johns life, from growing up at the Little Brown Church in Richwoods, through courting Betty at Wesley Foundation at SMSC, the Methodist church in Gideon, and more than 50 years at United Methodist Church in Warrensburg. His faith helped him live such a generous and joyful life, and now it has carried him on to his eternal home. A celebration of life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at the First United Methodist Church in Warrensburg. Interment will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in Horine Cemetery in Richwoods. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15, at Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Dr. John W. Horine Aviation Professional Scholarship Endowment with checks made payable to UCM Alumni Foundation and can be left in care of the funeral home. (Paid Obituary) Posted Thursday, May 10, 2018 1:00 pm Kerri E. Lombard, 27, 402 W. McPherson St., Knob Noster, was arrested on a warrant with felony charges of two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Bond was set at $2,500. Stacey L. Dunbar, 36, Harrisonville, was arrested on a warrant with a charge of driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $200. Deputies responded April 19 to the report of a burglary in the 1100 block of Southwest 58 Highway. Officers responded April 10 to investigate surveillance video from March 7 at Caseys General Store, 4 S.E. 125th Road, in regards to a report of forgery. Deputies responded April 18 to the report of a burglary in the 100 block of Southwest 1971st Road. Deputies responded April 18 to the report of stealing. Deputies responded April 16 to the report of marijuana at Crest Ridge High School. Jason L. Taylor, 43, Kansas City, was arrested March 15 on felony charges of possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of a firearm; a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and a warrant when deputies conducted a traffic stop. Linda L. Parks, 56, 1674 N.W. 380th Road, Kingsville, was arrested April 20 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of interference with custody. Bond was set at $300 with a court date of May 11. Lynette C. Barker, 39, Kansas City, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original felony charge of trafficking in drugs/attempt. Bond was set at $25,000. Ashley D. Raybourn, 36, Lees Summit, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with original charges of harassment and property damage. Bond was set at $400 with a court date of May 11. Bobby G. Packham, 49, 511 W. Young St., was arrested April 21 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of driving without valid license. Bond was set at $150 with a court date of May 24. Racheal R. Talbert, 31, 627 W. Clark St., was arrested April 23 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and passing bad check. Bond was set at $1,000 with a court date of May 18. Gavin D. Syring, 20, 504 S. Vine St., Holden, was arrested April 23 on seven failure to appear warrants with original charges of resisting arrest, driving without/no valid license, possession of marijuana, shoplifting, stealing and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. Total bond was set at $2,100 with a court date of May 16. Jared T. Parsons, 25, 739 S.W. 800th Road, Holden, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $250 with a court date of May 24. Shawn W. Spellmeyer, 43, Sedalia, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original felony charge of nonsupport. Bond was set at $500. Theresa A. Shanks, 44, 95 S.W. 75, was arrested April 23 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of driving without valid license. Bond was set at $200 with a court date of May 24. Michael G. Brown, 35, 697 S.E. 550th Road, Knob Noster, was arrested April 25 on a failure to appear warrant with original charges of resisting/interfering with arrest, detention or stop, driving while revoked/suspended, operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, speeding and failure to signal/give improper signal when stopping/turning left or right. Bond was set at $500 with a court date of May 24. He was also arrested April 25 on a warrant with a felony charge of domestic assault. Bond was set at $6,000. He was arrested when deputies responded to a criminal intel report in the 400 block of Southeast DD Highway. He was also arrested on charges of possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and a warrant in another jurisdiction. He was transported to the Johnson County Jail. Martin L. Crowley, 35, 10 S.W. 11, was arrested April 25 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of failure to register vehicle. Bond was set at $150 with a court date of May 16. David A. King, 20, 1933 S.W. 200th Road, Kingsville, was arrested April 21 on a probation violation warrant for felony charges of arson and endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk. Bond was set at $25,000 with a court date of May 14. Andrew A. Tofaeono, Jr., 34, Independence, was arrested on a warrant with a felony charge of assault. Bond was set at $10,000. Amanda J. Drake, 38, 610 Grover St., was arrested on four warrants with felony charges of 13 counts of forgery and a charge of receiving stolen property. Total bond was set at $35,000. Randall F. Harbison, Sr., 58, 1106 S.W. 180th Road, Holden, was arrested April 26 on a warrant with a felony charge of driving while intoxicated and a charge of driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $10,000. Marissa A. Godberson, 24 Kansas City, was arrested April 25 on a warrant with a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and felony charges of delivery of controlled substance and driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $5,000. Clint A. Rhinehart, 26, was arrested on April 26 on two warrants with felony charges of stealing and domestic assault. Total bond was set at $12,500 with a court date of June 13. Deputies responded April 21 to the report of a larceny in the 100 block of Northeast V Highway. Deputies responded April 25 to the report of found property and collected it in the 400 block of Southwest 301st Road. Perry L. Foster II, 33, 1406 W. 8th Terrace, Knob Noster, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of trespass and a felony charge of possession of controlled substance. Bond was set at $25,000 with a court date of May 16. Malik A. Sistrunk, 19, Sedalia, was arrested April 27 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $350 with a court date of May 24. Keennan M. Reed, 27, 200 Hillcrest Drive, was arrested on three failure to appear warrants with original charges of speeding, failure to maintain financial responsibility and operating vehicle on highway without valid operators license. Total bond was set at $900 with a court date of May 24. Rachael L. Martin, 26, 1310 N.W. 800th Road, Holden, was arrested April 29 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of speeding and driving while revoked/suspended. Total bond was set at $500 with a court date of May 24. Johnie W. Hopper, 29, Concordia, was arrested on three failure to appear warrants with original charges of possession of marijuana, driver/front seat passenger failure to properly wear seat belt and driving while revoked/suspended. Total bond was set at $700. Justin L. Todd, 45, 204 W. North Street, was arrested April 30 on four failure to appear warrants with original charges of driving while revoked/suspended, failure to display plates properly and two counts of speeding. Total bond was set at $1,000 with a court date of May 24. Karissa N. Campbell, 26, Shawnee, Kansas, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of property damage. Bond was set at $600 with a court date of May 18. Steven S. Maxwell, 32, Pleasant Hill, was arrested April 29 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of driving while revoked/suspended and possession of marijuana. Total bond was set at $700 with a court date of May 18. Randall W. Huggins, 60, 207 N. Moulton, Leeton, was arrested April 30 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of animal at large. Bond was set at $1500 with a court date of May 16. Jerome A. Salois II, 311 W. South, was arrested April 30 on a failure to appear warrant with original charges of tampering with physical evidence, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and operating motor vehicle on highway without valid license. Bond was set at $500 with a court date of June 1. Iquetta B. Gaines, 24, 420 S. Mulberry St., was arrested May 1 on a failure to appear warrant with an original felony charge of non-support. Bond was set at $1,500 with a court date of May 16. Archie L. Williams, Jr., was arrested May 1 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of driving while intoxicated and speeding. Total bond was set at $750 with a court date of May 24. Eugene C. Walls, Jr., 20, Kansas City, was arrested May 2 on a failure to appear warrant with original charges of possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $400 with a court date of June 1. Shane S. Jent, 19, Indianapolis, Indiana, was arrested May 1 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of failure to maintain financial responsibility. Bond was set at $200 with a court date of May 24. Michael B. Wise, 47, Kansas City, was arrested on a probation violation warrant for a felony charge of possession of controlled substance. Bond was set at $25,000. Danyale N. Young, 26, Springfield, was arrested on a probation violation warrant for a felony charge of possession of controlled substance and a charge of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $25,000. Keaton R. Smith, 21, 426 Broad St., was arrested April 27 on a warrant with a felony charge of delivery of controlled substance and a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $4,500 with a court date of May 16. Christian D. Vanlue, 22, 426 Broad St., was arrested April 27 on a warrant with a felony charge of delivery of controlled substance a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $3,000 with a court date of May 16. Craig A. Ruppel, 48, 1845 S.W. 200th Road, Kingsville, was arrested on a warrant with a felony charge of fugitive from out of state. Bond was set at $20,000 with a court date of May 23. Deputies responded April 29 to the report of a stolen vehicle in the 1900 block of Southwest 150th Road, Kingsville. A Cass County Missouri State Highway Patrol Officers later located the vehicle and took the suspect into custody near Strasburg. Deputies were assisting the Lafayette County Sheriffs Officer with a reported stolen vehicle at the same time. Patricia A. Bennett, 48, Cole Camp, was arrested May 1 on a felony charge of possession of amphetamine and a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia when deputies conducted a traffic stop at Pittsville PDQ. Deputies responded May 1 to the report of missing items in the 100 block of Northwest 400th Road. By Paul Voosen 9 May 2018 (Science) You cant manage what you dont measure. The adage is especially relevant for climate-warming greenhouse gases, which are crucial to manageand challenging to measure. In recent years, though, satellite and aircraft instruments have begun monitoring carbon dioxide and methane remotely, and NASAs Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a $10-million-a-year research line, has helped stitch together observations of sources and sinks into high-resolution models of the planets flows of carbon. Now, President Donald Trumps administration has quietly killed the CMS, Science has learned.The move jeopardizes plans to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate accords, says Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts Universitys Center for International Environment and Resource Policy in Medford, Massachusetts. If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement, she says. Canceling the CMS is a grave mistake, she adds.The White House has mounted a broad attack on climate science, repeatedly proposing cuts to NASAs earth science budget, including the CMS, and cancellations of climate missions such as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3). Although Congress fended off the budget and mission cuts, a spending deal signed in March made no mention of the CMS. That allowed the administrations move to take effect, says Steve Cole, a NASA spokesperson in Washington, D.C. Cole says existing grants will be allowed to finish up, but no new research will be supported.The agency declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget. But the CMS is an obvious target for the Trump administration because of its association with climate treaties and its work to help foreign nations understand their emissions, says Phil Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. And, unlike the satellites that provide the data, the research line had no private contractor to lobby for it. []The CMS improved other carbon monitoring as well. [] It has paid for researchers led by Daniel Jacob, an atmospheric chemist at Harvard University, to refine their satellite-based observations of methane.Its an ironic time to kill the program, Jacob says. NASA is planning several space-based carbon observatories, including the OCO-3, which is set to be mounted on the International Space Station later this year, and the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory, due for launch early next decade. The CMS would help knit all these observations together. It would be a total shame to wind [it] down, Jacob says.This type of research is likely to continue, Duffy adds, but leadership will pass to Europe, which already operates one carbon-monitoring satellite, with more on the way. We really shoot ourselves in the foot if we let other people develop the technology, he says, given how important the techniques will be in managing low-carbon economies in the future. Hurtt, meanwhile, holds out hope that NASA will restore the program. After all, he says, the problem isnt going away. The topic of climate mitigation and carbon monitoring is maybe not the highest priority now in the United States, he says. But it is almost everywhere else. [more] Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. The coming workforce challenge: filling 1M jobs Worker shortages are the consequence of a series of policy, education, demographic and economic factors. By WENDY NOVAK ABC of Western Washington Novak In February, 61,000 jobs were added to the construction industry a significant portion of the 313,000 positions that were added to the overall job market that month. This comes as no surprise to those of us in the industry: It has been estimated that there will be a shortage of 1.5 million craft professionals by 2021. With the added pressure of the baby boomers retiring, one has to wonder how the jobs will be filled. Who is going to repair that leaky pipe, rebuild the roads, replace your air conditioning, hang the drywall, or fix the power line? It is easy to think that its someone elses problem until we realize just how much this many vacant positions in the construction industry can affect our daily lives. Rachel Burris talks more about this in her article at http://www.nccer.org titled, Investing in the Future. A 2015 AGC survey showed 86 percent of responding firms reported having a hard time finding qualified workers and 78 percent predicted that hiring conditions would remain the same or worsen as demand increases. Left unaddressed, these shortages will ultimately undermine the industrys recovery and impact broader economic growth through construction delays. The shortages are the consequence of a series of policy, education, demographic and economic factors that have decimated the once robust education pipeline for training new construction workers. As noted in AGCs 2017 Workforce Development Plan: The lack of sufficient secondary-school career and technical education training programs across the country means that as the construction industry expands to meet growing demand, an increasing number of firms will have a hard time finding skilled workers. A quarter of firms have passed on projects because of worker shortages. AGC has developed a workforce development plan to prepare contractors for the next generation of skilled construction workers. It can be found by searching workforce development plan at http://www.agc.org. Construction careers Another 2015 survey found that construction workers are the happiest employees of any industry. Why? It is believed that the satisfaction found in bettering communities, the opportunity to obtain the on-the-job training needed to advance as a skilled craft worker, and the continued growth in the industry make construction a great place to build a career. Today the construction industry employs about 7.5 million workers. Associated Builders and Contractors estimates that we need to hire a staggering 500,000 workers just to fill a backlog of existing jobs. If we add a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into the equation, we could have more than 1 million jobs waiting to be filled. The demand for construction workers is high, and firms are looking to hire. Construction is a career in high demand with opportunities for people from all walks of life. According to the job search site Indeed, construction careers like preconstruction manager and construction superintendent rate among the top 10 jobs for 2018 based on great salaries and the growth in job postings. Construction professionals build schools, hospitals, hotels, stadiums and everything in between. The industry has provided fulfilling and lucrative careers to hardworking Americans for generations, and continues to play an important role in national and local economies. It is also among the few industries where someone can enter as an apprentice or trainee and be paid to further their career through earn-and-learn programs, all without accruing student loan debt. Skilled trades are a viable alternative to college for young students. Wendy Novak is president and CEO of ABC of Western Washington. Other Stories: Seattle braces for metal tariff fallout As tariffs further increase local construction costs, developers will either scale back their investments or turn to alternative designs. By JULIAN ANDERSON Rider Levett Bucknall Anderson When the federal government first announced its intent to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, reaction from AEC industries was swift and to the point. Most decried the plan. The American Institute of Architects stated: Any move that increases building costs will jeopardize domestic design and the construction industry, which is responsible for billions in U.S. Gross Domestic Product, jobs growth, and job creation. The Associated General Contractors of Americas response: Higher steel and aluminum prices will make the kind of infrastructure work President Trump supports more expensive, forcing federal, state, and local officials to cut back on projects they can fund. And the likely trade wars these new tariffs prompt will diminish demand for private investment in infrastructure, as well as construction demand for manufacturing, shipping, and distribution facilities. In response to such lobbying, many countries including South Korea, whose exports comprise a significant portion of the $2.5 billion of steel and aluminum that entered the country through the Northwest Seaport Alliance and Sea-Tac Airport last year were exempted from the fees. While exemptions for the European Union, Canada and Mexico were extended, it was only for an additional month, and so the need to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement remains urgent. Looking at the demand side of the equation, theres been a considerable amount of pushback, as well. To date, the Commerce Department has received more than 1,200 applications from American companies that are seeking relief from paying the steel tariffs, and 125 manufacturers have filed to have the surcharge on aluminum waived. In short, at this point the porous policy has been a boon to bureaucrats, if no one else. Seattle snapshot With its red-hot construction market, in large part propelled by the ongoing success of the tech industry, Seattle is certain to feel effects of the tariffs. The citys three big construction sectors high-rise residential, high-rise office and civic buildings (including schools and convention centers) are all reliant on steel, be it structural steel or rebar, and will feel the pinch of the 25 percent tariff. Buildings featuring curtain walls and storefront assemblies will also be affected by the 10 percent charge on aluminum. Even before the tariffs were levied, Seattle was an expensive market in which to build. From January 2017 to January 2018, construction costs in the city rose 5.1 percent, almost 1 percentage point above the national average of 4.2 percent. The advent of the tariffs is having a ripple effect on the scene. As they further increase local construction costs, developers will sour on new projects, and either scale back their investments or investigate alternative design strategies. One telling gauge of the local construction activity is the Rider Levett Bucknall Crane Index, which tallies the number of tall cranes in use at construction sites. According to the most recent index, Seattle has 45 cranes in the sky; a strong number, and the most of the major metropolitan areas on the West Coast. Its the first time the citys crane count has dropped below 50 since 2015. Developers can interpret this as a cautionary sign, as well. A trigger for innovation? Anticipating that the tariffs will spark price increases and/or inventory shortages of the metals, the construction industry is exploring other materials and methods to save money while maintaining growth. These three choices are viable: Concrete. Since most steel is used in the frame of a building, concrete is a suitable structural (and economic) material alternative. Even if a steel-framed building is in the early stages of design, it can be re-engineered to use concrete. Prefab. Modular elements, such as bathroom pods, are already gaining traction in student housing and hospitality sectors buildings that have typically relied on steel. The units are fully assembled at the factory, trucked to the jobsite, and craned into place. While using them requires a longer lead time, they ultimately eliminate the protracted sequence-of-trades process, reduce reliance on a tight labor pool, and quicken the build-speed of projects. In Seattle, the new Embassy Suites by Hilton is taking advantage of this technology in its 282 guest rooms. Wood. Mass-timber construction is also getting a closer look as designers and builders investigate alternatives to structural metals. More environmentally friendly than steel, cross-laminated timber and nail-laminated timber can be used in buildings up to around 20 stories. These buildings have a similar life expectancy to concrete-framed structures. Workers, end-users In February, the citys employment level for the construction trades was 123,900. With fewer development projects in the pipeline, the current shortage in the labor market is expected to ease up. If the tariff program pushes up the price of steel too much, it will slow down the labor shortage of steel workers but may exacerbate the shortage of concrete workers and carpenters. In the long run, even condo owners and apartment dwellers may experience a change in lifestyle stemming from the tariffs. Under such conditions, owners and developers can decide to reduce the square footage of residential units to maintain their profit margins or break even. Squeezing two full units out of what once was allocated for a single three-bedroom is a proven survival tactic. The story for Seattles construction prospects continues to unfold as the tariff situation evolves. For the foreseeable future, things will be in flux a condition no one in the industry finds comfortable. From suppliers and developers to builders and laborers, stakeholders are grappling not only with real-time effects, but are trying to plan for the unknown events of the future. Julian Anderson is president of the North American region of Rider Levett Bucknall, which provides project management, construction cost consulting, and related property and construction advisory services. Other Stories: Tight site, deep hole? Bring on the teledipper Andersen Construction is using a telescoping excavator, common in Europe, for The Emerald condo tower. By SAM BERNOSKI Andersen Construction Bernoski Andersen Construction is building The Emerald, a 266-unit, 41-story condominium in Seattles Belltown neighborhood just east of Pike Place Market. Measuring less than 8,500 square feet, the building footprint is relatively small compared to typical high-rise projects. The sleek design by Hewitt makes the most of its small site by cantilevering over a neighboring building to increase the floorplate starting at level 17. One of its most difficult execution challenges is minimal site access in a busy, cramped downtown location. The team is not allowed to impede traffic on Second Avenue, limiting deliveries to only Stewart Street. The technical and complex shoring system presented additional challenges, including underpinning the adjacent Broadacres Building to the south and installing a Dywidag bracing system to the west. Photos from City Transfer [enlarge] The teledipper uses a 2.5-cubic-yard bucket, moving between 650 and 750 cubic yards of material per day. These combined factors demanded creative problem solving to complete the required 65-foot excavation below street level which accommodates five floors of underground parking. During preconstruction, Andersen Construction, City Transfer and Malcolm Drilling put their collective knowledge to work formulating an excavation plan which would maintain crew production rates and mitigate potential impacts to the overall project schedule. Due to the sites constraints, it was determined that a traditional conveyor system would be ineffective because of the conveyors large footprint and frequent assembly changes during excavation and shoring. The teledipper Projects like The Emerald with small, deep footprints require removing a relatively small volume of material to provide sufficient square footage for shoring and lagging activities to continue productively. During this stage of construction, shoring became the projects critical path driver. With this in mind, City Transfers team proposed using a telescoping excavator known as a teledipper. Last year City Transfer visited a transit portal station under construction in Canada to see the teledipper in action and review its functions and feasibility. Already used extensively throughout Europe, the teledipper excelled on a similarly tight and congested work site as The Emerald. This is the first project in which Andersen Construction and City Transfer are using this unique piece of equipment. Capabilities, limitations [enlarge] The teledippers boom extends to 72 feet. The teledippers boom extends to 72 feet and uses a 2.5-cubic-yard bucket, moving between 650 and 750 cubic yards of material per day. Meaning? The teledipper has significantly less space requirements than a conventional conveyor system, while affording better efficiency than a traditional long-stick excavator or crane-and-skiff method. Though less productive than a conveyor, which can move up to twice the volume per day, the teledippers benefits more than compensated by saving precious space onsite and alleviating field congestion amongst excavators, drilling rigs, a mobile crane, and compressors. The teledipper also offered additional laydown area at street level by removing the conveyors control shack. This space proved invaluable to other trades for material deliveries and hauling, thus boosting efficiency to the overall project workflow. Future applications The Emerald project team General contractor: Andersen Construction Construction manager: Daniels Real Estate Architect: Hewitt Structural, civil engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers Owner: Mirador CWZ LLC In downtown developments where space is at a premium, especially in Seattles current construction frenzy, dense high-rise developments frequently replace mid- and low-rise buildings. Towers with the combination of confined space and deep excavations can benefit from the teledippers capabilities. Oftentimes, developers must acquire easements from neighboring property owners to install shoring elements (i.e. soil nails and tiebacks). When these easements are unobtainable, alternative retainment methods such as internal braces and/or rakers are often used throughout the excavation phase. These elements, like a conveyor, can be cumbersome to field crews and limit logistical and operational productivity. With the right conditions, the teledipper can help maintain schedule while operating within a braced excavation. The Emerald is anticipating completion in May 2020. When finished, the 381,571-square-foot tower will house ground floor retail in addition to high-end condos and a wide array of amenities and unobstructed views of the sound to the west and downtown to the south. The 39th floor will be home to an outdoor barbecue and terrace, kitchens and common rooms for residents. Sam Bernoski is a project manager for Andersen Construction who joined The Emerald team in October 2017. Other Stories: Amy Beth Bennett-Pool/Getty Images(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) -- Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of the Parkland, Florida, shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, will be moving to Virginia for a year for a fresh start following his brother's alleged deadly rampage on Valentine's Day. Zachary Cruz had petitioned the court to move to Staunton, Virginia, to restart his young life in a fresh location where the stigma of his brothers alleged actions will not isolate him from the world, according to a motion filed previously. For one year, Zachary Cruz would live for free and be employed for Homes by Nexus as a maintenance mechanic, the motion read. Terry Ann Johnson, director of Serve by Nexus, a charity bail program, would be Zachary Cruzs caretaker while he's in Virginia. When he took the stand, Zachary Cruz told the court and judge, I have an opportunity there that I dont have here. Broward County Judge Mindy Brown agreed. I believe that Mr. Cruz is given an opportunity that is obviously something that I dont think we can offer him in Broward County, she said. You need to just take this moment and appreciate what theyre offering you. The judge emphasized the importance of seizing this opportunity because no one else had offered something like this for Cruz. She told him she knew this was a trying time for him these last few months. Im not gonna stop you. Im gonna send you to Virginia, she said. Zachary Cruz has made numerous headlines since the Feb. 14 mass shooting that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He is currently serving a six-month probation for trespassing on the Stoneman Douglas campus. He then violated his probation by driving without a license. On Friday, the judge warned Zachary Cruz to not violate his probation again or he would return to court. While in Virginia, Brown ordered Zachary Cruz to wear a GPS ankle monitor and have mandatory weekly meetings with a pastor and counselors, as well as a weekly drug test, among other requirements. Zachary Cruz acknowledged he will follow all mandates ordered by the judge. He will also take online courses to earn his high school diploma. In a statement to ABC News prior to the hearing, Nexus Services, of which Serve by Nexus and Homes by Nexus are a part, said, Rather than castigate him to a lifetime of painful memories and societal abandonment, we believe this fresh start is exactly what he needs to seek a brighter future and become a contributing member to society. They call Zachary Cruz a remarkable young man who suffered more trauma than most of us ever could imagine. Nexus Services specializes in reentry support and supervision for those in need of help rebuilding productive lives post-incarceration or post-treatment. Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and is being held at the Broward County Jail without bond. He has pleaded not guilty but his lawyers said he would change his plea to guilty in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Survey: Lease Crutcher Lewis Rendering by The Miller Hull Partnership/SiteWorkshop The Population Health Facility will be near the western entrance to the UWs main campus. Specialty: General contracting and design-build for projects across the commercial, corporate, healthcare, life sciences, civic and education sectors Management: Bart Ricketts, CEO; Jeff Cleator, Seattle president; Berger Dodge, CFO Founded: 1886 Headquarters: Seattle 2017 revenues: $658 million Projected 2018 revenues: $720 million Projects: 300,000-square-foot UW Population Health Facility; 58-story building with offices, apartments and retail alongside Rainier Tower for Wright Runstad & Co.; Seattle Childrens/Building Cure, a 13-story laboratory in the Denny Triangle Jeff Cleator, Lease Crutcher Lewis Seattle president, answered questions from the DJC about his company and trends and issues in the industry. Q: What are the important issues in your industry? A: We are fortunate to be enjoying a robust market, yet a number of factors could limit continued growth. Traditionally, businesses can reasonably forecast cost adjustments due to predictable supply and demand factors and make their investment decisions accordingly. Costs due to policy decisions, however, are more difficult to predict. For example, delivery costs have increased due to traffic congestion, material costs are volatile due to fears of tariffs and a trade war, and regulatory costs continue to increase in unpredictable ways. At some point these cumulative costs could stifle continued economic growth. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly challenging to find qualified labor to support the strong local construction market, particularly in the trades. We need to do a better job recruiting young people into these rewarding, living-wage jobs. Q: How are rising land costs in Seattle affecting what gets built? A: It is a little bit hard to predict. We are seeing some mixed messages. On the one hand, some of our developer customers have said its too expensive to develop in Seattle and have begun looking for opportunities in other markets. At the same time, there still seems to be plenty of capital flooding into the Seattle market from national and international investors. Some of the recent programs that allow developers to build more square footage on a site in exchange for providing public benefits feels like a win-win solution that may allow some marginal projects to move forward. Q: Whats an interesting trend, and how does it affect your firm? A: We continue to be quite interested in all forms of integrated project delivery. The Population Health progressive design-build project we are undertaking with the University of Washington has allowed us to deliver value to the owner that would not be achievable in a traditional project delivery format. Building information modeling is another area that will benefit from more collaboration between project participants. By integrating design-build trade partners earlier in the process, we are working to eliminate traditional shop drawings and embed that level of detail within the model itself. We also continue to experiment with augmented reality, virtual reality, drones and other technologies in search of opportunities to improve safety, schedule duration, cost and quality for our clients. Q: Which sectors are growing and which are slowing locally? A: All our traditional market sectors continue to be strong, but perhaps a couple areas are beginning to show signs of slowing. The failure of some recent school bond levies will limit the pipeline of K-12 school projects. In the commercial market, increasing taxes, regulatory costs and land costs have caused many of our developer clients to adopt a more conservative approach or look for investments outside the Seattle area. The corporate market sector continues to be one of our stronger markets. We are blessed to be working for great customers such as Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Tableau, Starbucks, Oracle and others. Our medical and life sciences business units are seeing steady growth as well. Q: Whats a recent value engineering success youve had? A: In our mind, value engineering is only successful if integrated into the initial design effort. Too often, a design gets documented then priced. If it exceeds the owners budget, value engineering ensues to cut scope, change details or revise material selections to get the design to fit within the budget. This is an immense effort that adds no value for the owner and causes the designers to repeat work. Alternatively, we prefer understanding the owners budget goals from the outset, and working side-by-side with the architect and their consultants to deliver a great design within budget, the first time. Population Health has been a great example where we set budget targets for each component of the project: structure, enclosure, interiors, mechanical, etc. We then created cross-disciplinary project work teams to design to budget. Thus far we have been extremely successful, allowing us to reinvest design contingency back into the project. Q: Have you gotten into new project types recently, or do you plan to? A: We have found ourselves with a fair amount of civic work currently including the Washington State Convention Center and the Seattle Opera. We appreciate our involvement with these projects and plan to stay present in the civic market sector moving forward. In addition to being challenging and interesting projects, contributing to the betterment of our community is something that feels good to our employee-owners. Other Stories: Survey: Skanska USA Image by Integrus Architecture Skanska was recently awarded a $77.9 million GM/CM contract to build a new high school and middle school in Silverdale. Specialty: Construction and commercial development Management: Chris Toher, executive vice president and general manager; Murphy McCullough, executive vice president Founded: 1946 Headquarters: New York City (U.S.); Stockholm (global) 2017 revenues: $7.3 billion (U.S.); $18.8 billion (global) Projected 2018 revenues: N/A Projects: 2+U, a 38-story office tower in downtown Seattle; 191,000-square-foot University of Washington Life Sciences Building and 15,000-square-foot research greenhouse in Seattle; 325,000-square-foot Central Kitsap middle and high schools in Silverdale Chris Toher, executive vice president and general manager of Skankas Seattle office, said the company is building 30 to 35 projects locally fewer than in the past. But thats not for lack of ambition. We are doing more large-scale, complicated projects than ever before, he said. Projects underway include 2+U, a 38-story office tower in downtown Seattle; Nexus, a 41-story condo tower in the Denny Triangle; and the Life Sciences Building on the University of Washingtons Seattle campus. The companys commercial development division has announced plans for a 30-story apartment building in Belltown its fifth development in the area since the division began operating locally in 2011. Growth cycle The boom times dont appear to be letting up. Whereas builders once knew to count on three- to five-year growth cycles, this one just seems to keep going and going. Toher ticked off a list of Skanska market specialties that all seem to be strong or on an upswing: health care, commercial office, K-12, higher ed and aviation. Does he see any of these areas growing or sputtering in the near future? Every time I think I know the answer to that, Im proven wrong, he said. Head tax fallout One thing that could throw sand in the gears is a proposed head tax, which the city would levy on certain employers to raise $75 million a year for housing services. One of those employers, Amazon, sent shock waves through the city when said it will pause its considerable construction plans if its stuck paying the tax. We will be interested to see what happens with the head tax, Toher said. Well see what that all means to the market. A different long-term concern is the aging workforce and shortage of labor. Toher said the staffing issue is the single biggest thing we face in this industry. When crews are stretched thin, they can face longer hours on the jobsite and become more prone to accidents and injuries, something Toher is eager to avoid. One thing were talking about for future projects is scheduling more thoughtfully, he said. That could mean having conversations with owners early on to reset their expectations about how quickly their projects can be completed. Expanded recruiting On the recruiting front, Skanska is looking for white-collar staff outside its usual haunts in university engineering and construction management programs. People new to the field can learn what they need to know on the job if they arrive with great communication skills, curious minds, and a desire to learn and grow, Toher said. The company is advertising at Seattle University, the UW and WSU business schools, and in-state liberal arts schools, where its never recruited before. Looking ahead, Toher said Skanska is doing more design-build work than ever before about 25 percent of its volume and he expects that number to get larger. He attributes its popularity to the fact it offers one-stop shopping for owners, and it encourages architectural plans that are buildable from the get-go. Hopefully, you design (the project) just once, he said. Other Stories: Survey: Synergy Construction Image courtesy VIA Architecture Synergy is building the 98-unit 403 Dexter project in South Lake Union. It was designed by VIA Architecture. Specialty: All sectors of commercial construction Management: Pam Stewart, CEO; Larry Stewart, president; Justin Stewart, executive vice president Founded: 1990 Headquarters: Woodinville 2017 revenues: $55 million Projected 2018 revenues: $60 million Projects: 403 Dexter, 98 residential units in South Lake Union; Drivers Club and Metropolitan Auto Park, an automotive club in Redmond; Cheatham Street Flats, 245 student beds in a modular building in Texas Justin Stewart, executive vice president of Synergy Construction, answered questions from the DJC about his firm and trends and issues in the industry. Q: What are the most important issues in your industry? A: The rapidly rising construction costs and the industry-wide labor shortage are clearly the most widely talked about topics. However, I would say they are symptoms of another significant issue, which is a general lack of innovation compared to other industries. People are understandably attracted to innovative, forward-moving industries where they have greater opportunities for upward mobility due to growth, and that is simply not the case for most of the construction industry. Construction costs will continue to rise as long as the economy creates more demand than the current workforce can supply. Q: Whats an interesting trend, and what does it mean for your firm? A: The one I am most excited about is full volumetric modular construction. While construction costs continue their dramatic rise, by working extensively with leading modular off-site construction providers we now have a single-source contract, fully vertically integrated delivery model that is bringing overall costs back down. This is really making an impact on projects that commit to modular construction early and are optimized for off-site construction. I believe we will see this continue to grow into a mainstream method of construction and I am happy to lead that charge. Ultimately, this is how I see the industry solving the affordable housing crisis and engaging the younger workforce. Q: Which sectors are growing and which are slowing locally? A: As a GC we are largely at the tail end of that information cycle, but Im happy to share what we see. Our preconstruction activity continues to be very strong in the multifamily sector, which after years of strength is in completely uncharted territory at this point. Student housing seems to be in a frenzy competing for land. Self-storage and commercial tenant improvements are on a strong upward trend. Industrial demand is strong but there is limited available land, and there is still a lot of action in hospitality. Sorry to sound too positive, but there isnt a lot of negative information out there from our perspective, despite the tightened commercial lending (lower debt to equity) available in many of the above sectors. Q: How are rising land costs in Seattle affecting what gets built? A: In commercial real estate development, everything comes down to simple math. On one side, you have land, soft and hard costs. On the other, you have the expected net operating income: the completed assets revenue minus the ongoing operating costs including debt service. Any increases to the development cost have to be offset in the net operating income or the project wont get built. So rising land costs are no different than higher construction costs, impact fees and other costs. They require higher rents or increased unit counts/density (or other offsetting factors such as property tax abatement) to make the same development deal work again at a higher cost. In general, land is priced at the maximum revenue that can be generated from the property, so in strong economies, the highest use of the land is typically what gets built or it wouldnt provide an adequate return on investment to get funded in the first place. In contrast, in weaker economies land sellers are more willing to work with creative developers to get a deal done. Q: Has your firm gotten into new project types recently, or do you plan to? A: Our firm has grown to include teams that perform across a range of project types over the last 28 years, including medical, office, retail, multifamily/mixed-use, hospitality and occupied renovation. However, recently we have seen an increase in self-storage, commercial tenant improvement, engineered steel buildings, warehouse renovation/TI and hospitality projects, specifically using full-modular construction methods. Other Stories: Were not even halfway through 2018 and its already been a tumultuous year for Facebook. The Cambridge Analytica scandal resulted in calls to #DeleteFacebook, a share price rollercoaster and questions from political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Bit amidst the chaos, Facebook went ahead with F8, its regular developer conference. This years event focused on updates designed to remedy issues of the past and establish new growth opportunities for the future. The announcement of plans to launch a dating service raised a few eyebrows, especially in the light of the companys lacklustre track record in privacy protection. More well-received, however, was news that a Clear History tool would be introduced in the coming months, enabling users to delete their cookies and history. Users will also be able to see and clear information about the apps and websites with which theyve interacted a sign Facebook does not want a repeat of Cambridge Analytica. There is one new feature, however, that is already being tested in Australia. You might not have noticed it, but it could impact the ways brands interact with their customers and Facebook fans. Up and Downvotes on Facebook Facebook plans to introduce an Up and Downvote tool for comments. The new feature is already popping up in Australia for larger, public posts, although Ive only seen it on the mobile version of Facebook at the time of writing. The idea is that users can up vote or downvote comments based on quality. As Facebook explains, users would, Press the up arrow if you think the comment is helpful or insightful and use the downvote if a comment has bad intentions or is disrespectful. The Reddit-esque feature aligns with Facebooks renewed commitment to make the Newsfeed more relevant to users and to focus on generating conversations. Once the comments start to gain momentum, Facebook can crowdsource comment editing and ensure the most relevant conversations are visible. Facebook already uses Likes and Replies to rank comments. The upvotes and downvotes will take that a step further, ensuring that rogue comments or trolls can be pushed down the ranks. It may also help in the reporting of offensive comments or content that violates Facebooks Terms and Conditions. What does this mean for brands? This feature may seem like a cosmetic change but it could impact the ways brands engage with their Facebook fans and potential customers. On one side, it may make your posts more effective and boost engagement and reach. The best comments will be more visible and could potentially help you share more valuable information, without the extra effort. The change could however, bring new challenges as well. An ill-timed post or message that doesnt resonate with your audience could encourage cheeky commenters to try and win the most upvotes with sarcastic or angry responses. In a PR crisis, the comments you want most to disappear into the ether could remain firmly in top position, visible to existing and potential customers. There are many ways to protect your business from these kinds of social media disasters, but it is important to be aware of changes to the platforms on which your brand is active. Most importantly, brands should always remember to put their customers and fans first on social media. If you continue to add value, whether thats sharing useful information, entertaining them or providing products that fit their needs, you can more easily adjust to any changes that come your way. About the author Lauren Trucksess is an independent content marketing and social media consultant. She founded Latitude Content as a way to help brands create content that drives stronger business results. Originally from the US, Lauren has worked in Australias best integrated communications and public relations agencies and has led content-driven campaigns for some of the worlds top B2B and B2C technology brands. Her previous contributions include Want to Drive More Engagement with your Blog Posts? Youll need to fix five things, Lessons to take away from H&Ms PR disaster, Five ways small businesses can survive the Apocalyptic changes coming to Facebook, Five reasons why businesses think case studies arent worth the time and why theyre wrong and Forget funny cats: Why your Business Needs Video Content and how it can easily create it. Japan pork imports down 2% in 1st quarter In contrast to strong gains in pork shipments to Japan last year, import volumes in the first quarter were down 2% year-on-year to 220,100 tonnes, according to the latest figures from the Japan Ministry of Finance, AHDB Pork reported. Value similarly fell 2% to 116 billion yen. The overall decline was mainly driven by a 6% (-4,000 tonnes) year-on-year drop in shipments from the US. Canada also recorded a 3% (-1,300 tonnes) fall in volumes traded compared with year-earlier levels. The pork division of the UK levy body Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board said shipments of frozen pork, in particular, from the US and Canada sharply declined 14% and 33%, respectively, during the reviewed quarter. It said Japan's frozen pork import market is dominated by the EU, which typically accounts for over 60% of the total supplied. Japanese pork imports from the EU were stable during the quarter. Within the 28-member bloc, imports from Spain were up 11% year-on-year (+2,700 tonnes), 13% (+700 tonnes) in the Netherlands, 6% (+300 tonnes) in Germany and 19% (+500 tonnes) in Italy. Imports from Denmark, normally the largest EU supplier, were, however, down 9% (-2,500 tonnes). This meant Spain became the primary EU trader, AHDB Pork said. Meanwhile, it was noted that pork wholesale prices in Japan have fallen sharply so far this year, with the March average the lowest recorded since early 2013. "This will have weakened the competitiveness of imported product, and also suggests supplies may be ahead of current demand levels", AHDB Pork said. Nevertheless, AHDB Pork cited the latest USDA forecasts anticipating that Japanese pork imports could increase 2% (+25,000 tonnes carcass weight equivalent) this year, even as Japanese pork consumption is expected to increase 1% (+36,000 tonnes cwe). Japanese consumers have reportedly been moving away from fish and toward pork and other meats. Boyd County Board of Education on Thursday received about $20,000 in cash incentives from Kentucky Power after completing energy-saving projects, including lighting and heating improvements. The upgrades were installed in 2017 at Boyd County Middle School. The county worked with Kentucky Power's Commercial Incentive Prescriptive Custom Program to earn the cash back for the completed improvements. The improvements included lighting upgrades to LED lights, as well as the installation of programmable thermostats for the school's HVAC system. The rebate program has since been discontinued by order of the Kentucky Public Service Commission to reduce surcharges charged to customers. "Investing in energy efficiency projects is one way our customers save money and energy," said E.J. Clayton, who led Kentucky Power's energy efficiency and consumer programs. "When schools and other government agencies like the Boyd County Board of Education reduce energy consumption, the money saved can be invested elsewhere." Kentucky Power, with headquarters in Ashland, Ky., provides service to about 168,000 customers in all or part of 20 eastern Kentucky counties, including Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Rowan. Kentucky Power is an operating company in the AEP system, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity and custom energy solutions to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system. AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. The iPhone marketshare dropped from 20 % in 2012 to 14 % in 2017. Currently Apple is the richest company in the world. But the iPhone is loosing marketshare year over year, in 2017 the chinese manufacturer BBK took over the top2 rank relegating Apple to the 3rd spot. Meanwhile Googles OS Android achieved a new all time high marketshare of more than 85 percent. Table 1 shows the top 10 smartphone manufactures (not smartphone brands) in 2017. The chinese cooperation BBK is to smartphones what VW is to cars. VW sells the VW brand itself as well as AUDI, Porsche and Seat. Different to VW BBK doesn't use the BBK brand to sell phones. Rather it sells Vivo and Oppo that are major brands througout Asia and are starting to appear on other continents as well. In addition BBK sells OnePlus, the luxury brand of the Chinese corporation. The same applies to TCL, which sells the smartphone brands Alcatel and Blackberry and to Lenovo, which besides its own brand sells also the Motorola brand. The big change in 2017 applies to Apple which drops from number 2 (a position it has held since 2012 after Nokia fell and Samsung jumped past Apple) to number 3. Apples marketshare was 20 % in 2012, falling to 16 % in 2014, to 15 % in 2016 and now to 14 % (exactly 14,3 %) in 2017. The new number 2 ranked BBK entered the top 10 list only 3 years ago. Neverthless Apple generates by far the highest profits within the smartphone industry (picture). In fact, Apple is not far from a record level that seemed unimaginable a few years ago: a market value of a trillion dollars. Apple would thus be worth three times as much as the oil company Exxon Mobil, which just a few years ago - as is now the case with Apple - was the top value of the American stock exchanges in terms of market capitalization. With a trillion dollars, Apple would also be worth eight times as much as the industrial group and admittedly battered Siemens competitor General Electric, which, like Exxon and Apple, is among the 30 standard stocks of the Dow Jones index. After Apple's share price has risen by more than 13 percent since the beginning of May, the market value of 920 billion dollars is now 80 billion dollars short of the trillion threshold. Transferred to the dimensions of Apple this is not even a stone's throw. Apple would break the record with a further gain of only nine percent. Counterpoint Distribution of profits generated by smartphone sales in Q4 2017. The second very successful chinese smartphone maufacturer is Huawei. The marktshare grew from 8 to 9 to 10 % within the past 3 years. The trend says Apple will lose its third position by 2020 the latest and fall to fourth rank among smartphone manufacturing companies globally. While Apple had flat sales in 2017, all other 4 manufacturers out of the Top 5 grew their sales - Samsung by 3%, BBK by 29%, Huawei by 10% and Xiaomi by 70%. Table 2 shows the top 10 smartphone brands. The chinese brand Xiaomi is the clear winner in 2017, growing its marketshare from 3.7 to 6.1 %. Last but not least: What about the operating systems? Apple sold 14.3% of all the smartphones in 2017. That is the OS market share for iOS. Android is nearly the rest. There is less than 0.5% of 'other' OS platforms which nearly all have died (e.g. Windows phone, Blackberry OS). So Android has about 85.4%. This is just the smartphone sales, you have to take in consideration that there also are 'non smartphone' devices to get the full reach of a platform. For Android there are tablets, smart watches, TV sets etc. For iOS it is only the iPad and Apple Watch. The smartphone installed base is about 3.3 billion devices globally. Four out of five smartphones globally now run on Android, one in five runs on iOS. As to the industry, growth rate is down now. The global market for smartphones grew only by 1.8% in 2017. The earlier part of the year showed better growth but the final quarter had a significant slowing down. In 2018 it seems to be clear that ZTE will fall out of the top 10 list. After the US chip embargo applying e.g. to Qualcomm and its Snapdragon SoCs, the manufacturing plants used by ZTE are currently out of order. Even after receiving the allowness to buy SoCs made by taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek there will be no change soon: It takes month to setup a new PCB and software design for MediaTek SoCs like Helio X30. Seite 1 von 4 Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. 1.2. Top 10 smartphone manufactures in 2017 3. Top 10 smartphone brands in 2017 4. Installed smartphone operating systems in 2017 Verwandte Artikel Apple GmbH Turkish agencies continue to hand out humanitarian aid to Syria Turkish Armed Forces and AFAD continue to capture the hearts of Syrians with their food and medical aids. Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear the YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorist groups from Afrin, amid growing threats from the region. After the liberation of Afrin region from the terrorists groups, Turkish aid agencies continue to support aid for the people in the region. Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) are jointly providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Afrin so that normalcy returns to their lives. TAF and AFAD transported food aid for 750 families in the villages placed in the region. AFAD had previously set up camp for 3,000 people around the Turkey-Syria border for people fleeing airstrikes in the eastern and southern countryside of Idlib by Assad regime forces. Following a highly publicized controversy with Airbnb last month, Donisha Prendergast is calling for action. Bob Marley's granddaughter wants more than just empty apologies. Demanding A Real Response Filmmaker Prendergast and her friends wish to meet with officials from the Southern California police department that detained them unlawfully following a complaint from a neighbor. The person in question called 911 after witnessing Prendergast and her companions vacating the premises because, by her account, they didn't greet her accordingly. "We want more than an apology, we want change," demanded Prendergast on Thursday. She and her friends are calling out the nosy neighbor for racially profiling them, as well as the overreaction from police. "The neighbor was wrong for racial profiling, and the police were wrong for responding with the protocol they used. Isn't it innocent until proven guilty? That's not how things proceeded," she argued. Minding Their Own Business The 33-year-old filmmaker and her two friends, Kelly Fyffe Marshall and Komi-Oluwa Olafimihan, all of whom are black, claim they were just leaving the Airbnb rental in Rialto on April 30 when a white neighbor called 911 to report that the property was apparently being robbed. Prendergast, whose mother is the eldest daughter of reggae legend Marley, pointed out that the situation could've escalated badly. "Just because we're alive to tell the story doesn't mean that everything is all right. Individuals have to be held accountable. And we want a review so the police do not perpetuate an individual's racism with their policies," she explained. Their host, Marie Rodriguez, reasoned that her neighbor called the police because she didn't realize the place was being rented out. She argued that the area is diverse itself, and said that Prendergast and her friends are only latching onto the racist argument because they're black themselves. A Clear Case Of Racial Profiling However, Benjamin Crump, the filmmaker's attorney, pointed out the fact that the woman who made the call specifically reported that three black people appeared to be robbing her neighbor's house. The woman argued that they were acting suspiciously, loading suitcases into a car, and neglecting to smile or wave at her when she allegedly waved at them. Crump also accused the cops of accusing Prendergast and her friends of fabricating their Airbnb confirmation and of posing as the host in question on the phone. The Rialto Chief of police dismissed any claims of racism, arguing that the group was never cuffed or seated on the curb. He said he was confident that all officers involved had handled the situation respectfully and professionally. According to Prendergast and her friends, multiple police cars showed up in response to the 911 call, which they felt was wildly over the top. Crump believes the neighbor should be investigated for filing a false police report in relation to the incident. She has yet to be identified. Seldom has a ruling party at the centre invested its political resources and energies so intensively in a state election, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done in the ongoing Karnataka polls. The elections in Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, both of which the BJP won, involved other issues that drew focus away from the central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tripura was, first and foremost, framed as a battle of ideologies. The age-old hatred the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Jana Sangh and later the BJP have harboured against the Marxists and Maoists was built up to dislodge the Manik Sarkar government by demonising the former chief minister as incompetent, insensitive, and even corrupt. The unseating of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)CPI(M) government in Agartala was celebrated as a victory nonpareil by the BJP, with Modi leading its triumphant march. In Uttar Pradesh, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was sufficiently discredited before the BJP began campaigning. More than painting Yadav as a hate figure, the BJP continued tapping into the subliminal antagonisms that had accumulated against Muslims amongst large sections of Hindus. The rancour was validated by the charge that Yadav had pursued and practised vigorous minority appeasement. The Modi sarkar and its so-called development agenda were secondary to the religious polarisation the BJP had achieved under the garb of pointing out appeasement. Opening Doors to the South Karnataka, however, is a different kettle of fish. In serial interviews to dailies and television channels, BJP President Amit Shah expatiated on why the elections meant so much to his party and the Modi government. Every election is important in national politics. But this one is particularly important for us because success here will open the doors in the south, he said in one such interview (Jha 2018). Shah went into reasons that transcended the compulsion of making a mark in South India in another interview, where he explained, There is a sense of excitement among people to make the BJP form the next government in Karnataka. The first reason is the efficient way Narendra Modi has functioned at the Centre. Information on the performance of the BJP-ruled states has been flowing into Karnataka ... Everyone knows that development is possible only if you are part of Modis vikas yatra [development peregrination]. This is how the BJP has been winning elections in every state. (Dhal Samanta 2018) Notice the emphasis on development and the suggestion that Karnataka will soar to new heights if it elects the BJP to power, as it will then be assured of the centres unqualified cooperation. Underlying Shahs averments were two apprehensions. First, the Congress government in Karnataka, helmed by Siddaramaiah, was no pushover. Despite a hostile central government, Siddaramaiah succeeded in making a mark in certain sectors. The most vital were welfare programmes for the poor, a hallmark of politics in the South, apart from addressing caste equations and religious polarisation that often supersede social concerns and measures in the North. Second, if the Congress retains government, it would belie the BJPs loud claim that the Grand Old Party was fossilised and incapable of even governing a state, let alone the country. The RSSs ideology and the BJPs Hindutva brand are at work. But, in Siddaramaiah, the BJP reckoned it was up against a far more formidable opponent than Sarkar or Yadav (Rodrigues 2018a). Amongst the voters, Siddaramaiah hardly provoked censure or criticism, and if an uncharitable remark was made, it was half in mirth and referred to his reported tendency to doze off in meetings. The worst accusation against him was that he pandered to the interests of the backward castes, particularly the Kuruba caste of shepherds to which he belongs, and the Muslims because among the slew of the Bhagya schemes he had executed, the Shaadi Bhagya [marriage gift/service] allocated 50,000 only for Muslim girls who were about to be married. Lingayat Question The Lingayat community that predominates in central and northern Karnataka, has largely turned against Siddaramaiah because of his governments decision to classify the LingayatVeerashaiva combine as a separate religious minority. The BJP promptly propagated the argument that the decision was a gambit to undermine its hold over the LingayatVeerashaiva, and further that it was a ploy to destabilise the Sanatana Dharma and by implication the Hindu religion itself. In Haveri (north Karnataka), the BJP encouraged bands of young Lingayats to tell members of the community who were marked out as pro-Congress as well as Lingayat leaders of the Congress, to vote for the BJP and affirm their oneness as a community that was on the threshold of regaining its political supremacy after 10 years. At the Sree Siddaganga Lingayat Mutt in Tumukur (central Karnataka), which was described as non-sectarian and, non-political by a senior representative, the assessment was that Siddaramaiahs move was politically motivated, and therefore, it was incumbent on the community to vote for the BJP as one, particularly because B S Yeddyurappa was the partys chief ministerial nominee. After Veerendra Patil, the late Congress chief minister, Yeddyurappa has become an icon for the Lingayats. The Lingayats abandoned the Congress after Rajiv Gandhi publicly snubbed Patil. Rodrigues (2018b) contextualises the development in a historical perspective. While the demand to declare Lingayats/Veershaivas/VeerashaivaLingayats as a separate religion came to be voiced from the 1940s, the demand did not enjoy support as long as the community had political preponderance. Besides, a large section of Lingayats hailing from lower castes were brought under reservation benefits although the Veerashaiva Mahasabha had always sought reservation for the community as a whole, and in the 1970s and 1980s organised public protests for the same. A set of new developments in recent years, however, have placed the community at a crossroad. While its shrinking political space has made it to look towards the BJP as an alternative, the community has also come under the ideological sway of the sangh parivar. This has bred much resentment within the mutts, which were self-consciously Lingayat. The apolitical Lingayats I spoke to perceived a few benefits from Siddaramaiahs decision: protection under Articles 29 and 30 that endows them the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and claim grants-in-aid without discrimination, exemption from the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, exemption from reserving seats for the Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes, and giving preference to donors over others. However, the spin-offs were not enough to ensure a decisive split in the Lingayat votes between the Congress and the BJP, the major claimant, except in seats such as Davanagere North where the Congress has fielded a strong and popular candidate. Siddaramaiahs Touch Siddaramaiahs Lingayat gambit may not fetch him the dividends he expects. His welfare measures, conceived and implemented as a holistic package for the disempowered, the marginalised, and the aspiring classes, have posed a formidable challenge to the BJP that is busy weaving theories to establish part ownership over some of the more impactful schemes. Take the Anna [grains] Bhagya scheme that is perhaps one of the most ambitious and expansive of Indias food security programmes for those living below the poverty line (BPL). It covers 1.08 crore families and 3.8 crore persons. Each BPL family gets 7 kg of rice per month free of cost, 1 kg each of wheat and lentils, cooking oil at a subsidised price of 24 per litre, and iodised salt at 2 per packet. The BJPs claim was that the centre had procured rice at 32.64 per kg and supplied it to Karnataka at 2 per kg, thereby picking up 29.64 per kg of the tab for the subsidy. Modis cheerleaders demanded that the scheme should be renamed as the Modi Bhagya scheme. To this, Siddaramaiah asked: if it was a BJP-sponsored one, why was it not similarly implemented in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Haryana where the BJP was in power? Caste Dynamics Caste was another dimension in the strategies evolved by the three players, including the Janata Dal (Secular)JD(S) that is pitted against the Congress in mostly straight fights in 61 seats in the Mysuru region. The BJP has the assured support of the Lingayats, and that of the Nayaka tribes, the Brahmins, and a section of the backward castes. Like former Chief Minister Devaraj Urs, Siddaramaiah regrouped sections of the backward castes, Dalits, and minorities. However, the sense among some of the backward-caste groupings was that he had favoured the Kurubas at the expense of other castes. The Vokkaligas, an intermediate caste, whose votes were split between the Congress and the JD(S) in 2013, are rooting in larger numbers for the JD(S) in the hope that H D Kumaraswamy, the scion of H D Deve Gowda, will be the kingmaker after 15 May. To sum up, the BJPs original game plan of polarising Hindus and minorities has not taken off. This is true even in parts of coastal Karnataka where it had whipped up a concerted propaganda over the killing of several of its workers, which proved to be largely fictitious. Where the Lingayat vote is dominant, the BJP is in a commanding position. The Congress has counted on Siddaramaiahs pro-poor image and projects and an Urs-like caste regrouping to win a second term. The JD(S) has suffered considerably from the insinuations that it is ready to do business with the BJP for a second time in order to have a shot at power because the Muslims have turned away from the party. Indeed, a common sight in the JD(S) strongholds are groups of party workers reaching out individually to Muslim homes in minority-dominated areas to counter the perception, but, perhaps, it is too late. Based on the political presence and strengths of key parties in the various regions of Karnataka, one can expect a close fight between the BJP and Congress. There is no wave in the state for a particular party. The BJP has recovered much of the ground it yielded to the Congress in its original strongholds in central and northern Karnataka (after Yeddyurappa rebelled and fought independently) and has a robust organisation, and has acquired important caste leaders. The Congress is counting on marginalising the JD(S) in the Mysuru region that has 61 of the 224 assembly seats and getting the near-total backing of the Kurubas (who exist in practically every constituency in big and small numbers), some other backward castes, Dalits, and minorities. References Dhal, Samanta Pranab (2018): New BJP Government in Karnataka Will Follow Standards Set by Narendra Modi: Amit Shah, BJP President, Economic Times, 5 May. Jha, Prashant (2018): Will Get Absolute Majority in Karnataka, Says Amit Shah, Hindustan Times, 8 May. Rodrigues, Valerian (2018a): Battleground Karnataka, Hindu, 24 January. (2018b): From Reform to Politics, Indian Express, 31 March. The European institutions have published a report on the state of the EU-Tunisia relations, highlighting the intense ties that had developed between the two sides in the last 12 months. The intensified cooperation transcends many fields ranging from high-level exchanges, dialogue and cooperation on key issues such as reforms and youth employability to good governance and democracy. This cooperation has been covered by the Privileged Partnership a term for cooperation between the EU and a non-EU country to advance common goals without the actual EU membership. We are eager to deepen our Privileged Partnership, and the EU remains committed to a democratic, strong and prosperous Tunisia. Our efforts are focused in particular on the aspirations of Tunisias young people, commented EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini. Her colleague, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy, Johannes Hahn, said that the EU was continuing to deploy cooperation instruments in Tunisia such as increased financial assistance in 2017 the EU provided 300 million euros in grants. The population is looking for tangible progress and results, and in the light of the current economic situation, the process of institutional and socio-economic reform needs to be speeded up, he said. The report highlights tangible progress that has been made in numerous fields, including womens rights, judicial reform, promotion of youth entrepreneurship, local development and the environment. Moreover, Tunisias involvement in the EUs exchange programs has made it possible to engage researchers, students and teachers for the benefit of the development of an innovation-oriented society. Hello, Currently doing an appeal for spouse visa. MP has got involved and we have had a confession from the Home Office saying they found my pay slips now on the system. However I do not wish to wait any longer (15 weeks total) so thinking of just paying the money again for a fast track spouse visa. My questions are... 1. If my second application is refused for another reason, can I have 2 appeals going at same time? Hi all, newbie here. After a bit (a lot) of advice and help please! I've read the sticky posts but apologies if I've missed anything or broken a rule.I'm almost 30, newly single female and British. I work for one of the world's largest FMCG companies who have offices in every country except North Korea. I'm a permanent employee with 5.5 years service at this company but I'm on a 1 year temporary contract until December because Itook an interim role trying to further my career, which means I either have to find another internal role or look externally.I'll shortly be moving back to my mums or with a friend and I feel like this perfect storm of everything coming to an end is the ideal time to pursue my dream of moving to Canada. I've got no kids/baggage and a couple of quid in savings should I need it.The reason I mentioned work is because I am going to schedule a meeting with HR to see what I can do about some form of transfer to Canada. The company will pay forand I mean everything - but ONLY if THEY approach you to do an international move. Approach them, and you're on your own from what I understand of the complex and confusing policies they publish.I'm anticipating they'll say that's great, but we can't help you, which means I'm not hopeful I can transfer with work. I will pray this isn't the case and that they do indeed help me, but worst case scenario and they say no, I'm no different to anyone else who wants to move to Canada.I don't have any transferrable skills - I'm an office worker essentially, so I'm not really sure how I'd go about moving if my worst fears happened.Do I apply for jobs remotely and then move?Do I move and then apply for jobs?Am I even eligible to do this on a working visa if I'm not a skilled or in-demand worker?What kind of money would I be expecting to spend on getting set up somewhere half decent in Toronto for a couple of months if I didn't have a job?Would I be allowed in the country without a working visa? Would I have to have that first? And would they let me in with a visa but no job?There's so much information out there it's overwhelming and I just have absolutely no idea where to start.I suppose my ideal is that work arranges for some kind of transfer for me and I could move over there as a local employee rather than an expat employee, but I've no idea what the outcome will be.Any help or advice is greatly, greatly appreciated.Thank you! JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Hi I really hope someone can help as I need to get this tax form posted today (I can't do it online as I don't have the identifiers) and I'm also supposed to be working while doing this :eek2: Consequently I am stressing out a tad. I am really confused by these 2 questions in section 8 (divers) and what they mean for me: Non-residents : 1- retenue a la source prelevee en France - Joignez lannexe no 2041E. 2- revenus de source francaise et etrangere retenus pour le calcul du taux moyen - Report de la declaration no 2041TM I lived (and mostly worked) in France in 2017 from January 10 to end of September. So my understanding is that I would be classed as a tax resident for this period and a non-resident for the days in 2017 outside of the above (so 9 days in January and October-December inclusive). This is what I have deduced from both a previous response from Bev (thanks Bev!) and my own research. The accompanying guidance for question 1 is: Si vous etes fiscalement domicilie hors de France, reportez case 8TA la retenue a la source effectuee sur vos revenus de source francaise, ces revenus doivent par ailleurs etre portes sur votre declaration dans les rubriques appropriees et etre detaillees dans le tableau de limprime no 2041 E a joindre a votre declaration de revenus. I understand what it means but I don't get if I need to fill in this form 2041E, as I was not a non-resident at the time of earning and received no money from French sources after leaving France. As for question 2, I understand this to mean information about all revenues for the year, irrespective of where, so that they can calculate an average tax rate to apply, which may be more favourable depending. I didn't earn any money in October-December and may have worked for a day in January 2017 in the UK but to be frank I don't actually remember if I did that or not. The accompanying guidance for question 2 is: Calcul du taux moyen 8TM et impot en sursis de paiement 8TN Si vous netes pas fiscalement domicilie en France et si vous estimez que le taux moyen de limpot resultant de lapplication du bareme progressif a lensemble de vos revenus de source francaise et etrangere est inferieur a 20% (ou 14,4% pour les revenus ayant leur source dans les departements doutre-mer), taux minimum dimposition applique pour les personnes domiciliees fiscalement hors de France, vous devez detailler vos revenus de source francaise et etrangere sur limprime no2041-TM et reporter le montant total de vos revenus en case 8TM. Vous pouvez alors beneficier dun taux inferieur dimposition pour vos revenus de source francaise. I know I'm asking a lot and probably don't really deserve the help as I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable to help others with their queries on here, but if anyone can advise please help. These questions seem to be the (hopefully final) sticking point (although there's a further question about foreign bank accounts which is also a headache). I reckon I won't get this sent off today because I have to work as well, so will get a fine. :frusty: Hope everyone else's forms are going a bit better! "here since July, 2017. My landlord, from the UK, but lives here permanently, said we do not have to file taxes this year" I'd be interested to see a link to support that claim, because when I arrived in France I was advised to declare taxes from the day I arrived, and all the stuff I've seen since then is more or less the same. But I'd agree with Bev that having 'official' documentary proof of being here is always useful, as I am finding, having to prove 5 years' residence in view of Brexit. Sure, Brexit doesn't apply to you; but then when I came here 'Brexit' was not a thing, and I had no thought about having to prove residence :-( Our local Centre Des Finances Publiques has a big mail box right in front of their office where we deposited our first return in person in May of last year. We could have mailed it to that same address as well. In September we received our statement that included details such as the revenue we reported, the tax due, and our contact information but not the pass code to create an online account with Finances Publiques. In April of this year the tax office sent us a letter with that pass code which we used to open and successfully file our taxes online. ezhejiang.gov.cn The North American divisional final of the 2018 International E-commerce Entrepreneurship Innovation Competition concluded in Silicon Valley, California, on May 5, zjol.com.cn has reported. Nine projects focusing on the application of artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and the internet of things, were shortlisted for the final. Renowned United States enterprises attending the event included 500Startups, Plug and Play, Amazon and Intel. Ecree, software designed to help students improve their writing ability, won the first prize. Led by a PhD team from Stanford University, the project will participate in the grand final in Zhejiang province in November. Organized by Zhejiang Commerce Department, the international e-commerce competition, this year making its overseas debut, aims to provide a platform for e-commerce and information technology entrepreneurs and innovators connecting China and the US. "I came to this competition because Hangzhou is a global base for e-commerce," said an entrepreneur from VTRY, a second-prize winner. Ren Faqiang, Chinese deputy consul-general to San Francisco, noted that Zhejiang province, where the internet retail giant Alibaba is based, is a hub for global e-commerce. The future of relations between Zhejiang and Silicon Valley appear very bright, Ren said. Hangzhou, Zhejiang's capital, is an important trading partner with the US. Data from the commerce department show that by the end of 2017 the US had invested in 6,145 companies in the province while Zhejiang had founded 1,355 companies in the US. Last year, the trade value between the two regions reached $61.94 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent. Winners of the North America divisional final of 2018 International E-commerce Entrepreneurship Innovation Competition receive their awards in Silicon Valley, California, on May 5. [Photo/zjol.com.cn] Ottawa, Ontario Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, announced today three appointments to the Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC). Brian Douglas begins a four-year term as the newly appointed Chair of the FPCC, effective June 11; Yvon Cyr joins the Council for a four-year term, effective immediately; and Maryse Dube returns for her second three-year term, which began on April 30. These appointments were made following an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process. Minister MacAulay expressed his gratitude to Mike Pickard for all his hard work and leadership as Interim Chairperson of the FPCC, as he returns to his role as Vice Chair. Quote "I am pleased to announce the appointments of Brian Douglas, Yvon Cyr and Maryse Dube to the Farm Products Council of Canada. All three appointees bring valuable and diverse experiences to their respective roles, as well as a strong understanding of the agriculture sector. I offer them my congratulations and wish them continued success in their new roles." Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Quick Facts The role of the FPCC is to ensure that the supply management system for poultry and eggs as well as the promotion and research activities for beef cattle work in the balanced interest of all stakeholders, from producers to consumers. Council members are appointed to hold office at pleasure, by the Governor in Council upon the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, for terms of varying lengths. At the time of their appointment, at least half of members, not including the Chairperson, must be primary agricultural producers. Associated Links Farm Products Council of Canada Source : Government of Canada THE WA Grain industry received its first State Budget boost last week, with the announcement of $24 million in new funding for grains research and development. The budget commitment will see $14m invested over 2018-19 and $10m over each of the three consecutive years to underpin a long-term model for grain R&D. The allocation takes total State funding into grains research to about $45m over the next four years, which will be directed towards cropping systems research, genetics and crop protection projects, grain quality and market analysis and capacity building. Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said despite difficult budgetary circumstances, the State government recognised the importance of the grains sector and its growing market challenges. The grains sector is our second biggest industry after the resources sector, after mining and gas, so its pretty important to our economy and very important to our regional economy, Ms MacTiernan said. We know that our grains industry is under a hell of a lot of pressure as we see Argentina and the Black Sea production growing, weve got to make sure that we can move ourselves up the value chain, that we can get smarter genetics and that we can improve our soil, so that we can maintain our market share. We have got the barbarians on our borders almost with their grain and we need to arm up to preserve our position. WAFarmers president Tony York welcomed the announcement, but said it was an expectation that the State invested in the WA grains industry. He said it was good common sense to direct funds towards the grains sector and looked forward to seeing what else was in store for WA farmers in this weeks State Budget. Were very much looking forward to seeing how this government is going to deal with regional development, Mr York said. Theyve put a lot of faith in the fact that theyve merged Agriculture with the Department of Regional Development so we are waiting to see what our cut of that is, because quite obviously agriculture and regional development quite often go together. The announcement was made at Northam last Wednesday, as Ms MacTiernan officially opened the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Developments (DPIRD) new $11.5m Northern Grains Research Facilities. The purpose-built centre will be used as a collaborative scientific hub for government, private and university researchers, to address WA production challenges. Its features include new and upgraded laboratories, glasshouses, controlled environment rooms and irrigated field research plots. Work at the facilities will focus on agronomy of new varieties and cropping systems for long-term profitability, techniques to increase soil fertility and crop nutrient availability, management of pests, weeds and diseases and genetic evaluation. Northam-based senior research officer and barley expert Blakely Paynter said the upgraded and extended facilities were already proving a worthwhile investment. Ive used the new irrigation system and I can tell you the soil, now that it has been ameliorated, is a lot more friendly for small plot work, Mr Paynter said. The second thing is the new glass house facility which Im hoping we can use to do more research, more crop physiology R&D. Im really happy with more space, because we can do more things. Mr Paynter said the revamped hub meant DPIRD was well-positioned to enhance its involvement in long-term projects and co-investments with the Grains Research and Development Corporation. Ms MacTiernan echoed those sentiments and said the facilities would foster a collaborative approach to research, while boosting development in the Avon region. These facilities are among the best the nation has to offer in applied agronomic research, which will attract interest and opportunities for collaboration from regional, national and international scientists and agribusinesses, Ms MacTiernan said. The facilities also provide a scientific base to nurture the next generation of grains researchers, with opportunities for tertiary students to work alongside seasoned scientists. The new facilities will put Northam on the map as one of Australias foremost grains research destinations, potentially attracting participants from far and wide to the benefit of the Avon Valley business community. I think that there is a great future in this town and we want to be a part of it and we see this facility as offering attractive job opportunities. THE AUSTRALIAN cropping sector has expressed disappointment the European Union (EU) has decided to ban all outdoor usage of neo-nicotinoid insecticides as of the end of the year. The controversial chemical compound, which is the active ingredient in some of the worlds most used insecticides, is being banned because of the damage it causes to bee populations. Previously, the products had been banned for use on flowering crops, such as rapeseed/canola, but following findings from the EUs science arm European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), that ban has been widened to all outdoor usage. As of the end of the year neo-nic based insecticides will only be able to be used in Europe in closed greenhouses. The Australian grains sector is now seeking clarity on what the ban will mean for EU imports and whether there will be any changes to maximum residue limits (MRLs) for trace levels of neo-nicotinoid products. Even should there be zero tolerance it is not expected it will be a major obstacle for the Australian industry as neo-nicotinoid products are mainly used as seed treatments. In spite of it being unlikely to be a decision that directly impacts the Australian grains sector, Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) executive officer Nick Goddard said it set a worrying precedent. We dont feel all the evidence regarding the safety of the compound has been fully considered, Mr Goddard said. In Australia, canola is the broadacre crop that relies on the use of neo-nicotinoids the most, primarily as a seed treatment to prevent the crop being damaged by pests such as red-legged earth mite (RLEM) at emergence. Mr Goddards comments come despite the fact the ban could be construed as being positive for Australian canola producers. Some reports have suggested the yield penalty for EU canola producers due to not being able to use neo-nic insecticides could be as much as 15pc. The EU is one of the worlds biggest producers of rapeseed/canola. However, the Australian industry is concerned there will be worldwide kickback against the use of neo-nicotinoids as a result of the EU ban. As with last years near-ban of the herbicide glyphosate, there has been a strong consumer push to banning neo-nicotinoids. Almost five million people signed a petition from campaign group Avaaz calling for an end to the use of neo-nic products. Australian plant science peak body CropLife spoke out against the decision. Agricultural chemical regulatory decisions made on political and not scientific grounds, puts an unnecessary considerable strain on farmers and the environment as older, less effective agricultural chemicals are used instead, said CropLife Australia chief executive Matthew Cossey. He said in spite of the use of neo-nicotinoid insecticides, Australia had the healthiest bee populations in the world. The latest beekeeping industry figures show a strong and thriving sector, yet we hear activists using terms such as beepocalypse, in an attempt to frighten regulators into banning the use of neonicotinoids in Australian farming, Mr Cossey said. Working with third parties continues to be the single biggest corruption risk for business. Almost one in two enforcement actions concluded since the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention came into force in 1999 was the result of bribery through sales agents, intermediaries, distributors or brokers. In the United States, 90 per cent of reported FCPA cases involve third party intermediaries. Despite the clear risk, it remains one of the hardest anti-corruption areas to get right. The GoodCorporation White Paper Combating Corruption: are businesses doing enough? revealed that almost two thirds of the due diligence procedures assessed were graded as inadequate. For many international organizations, the complex web of third parties, fundamental to any global operation, presents significant challenges to effective due diligence. So what are the principle stumbling blocks and how can they be overcome? Stumbling block 1: Prioritizing third parties. For companies with a large number of suppliers and a highly complex supply chain, the prospect of conducting rigorous third party, anti-corruption due diligence may seem an impossible task. Some chose to conduct due diligence on all third parties, which can be superficial and ineffective, whilst others concentrate their efforts on those deemed to pose the greatest threat. The most successful approach begins with a careful risk assessment to identify the third parties that pose a real risk to the organisation and allows for low risk parties not to be assessed. This approach ensures due diligence is manageable and directs resources where the effort is needed. Key high-risk third parties are those acting on the companys behalf such as sales agents and intermediaries, joint venture partners, and organisations or individuals obtaining permits or licences. For general suppliers selling to the organization the risk is generally much lower and can be addressed via internal procurement, accounting processes and procedures related to the acceptance of goods and services. Focussing due diligence resources in this way will allow resource to be directed towards pre-selection risk profiling of those counterparties representing the highest risks. It will also allow the risk assessment process to be subject to appropriate controls and scrutiny. Stumbling block 2: Obtaining reliable data. Having prioritized those third parties that require due diligence, most companies send a questionnaire to obtain critical information. Such questionnaires should explore the business partners ownership, management structure, policies, mitigating ABC measures and controls, their sub-contracting of high risk activities as well as questions regarding any civil, criminal and regulatory matters. Whilst this will provide the company with comprehensive data, it is essential to verify this information. References must be followed up and all the information provided should be validated through internet searches and the use of due diligence tools. Care should be taken, however, with the use of some due diligence tools. In some high-risk jurisdictions these tools may contain inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date and sometimes self-reported information. In such circumstances it may be prudent to visit the counterparty, develop some other method of verifying information using local staff or, in cases of particular risk, consider hiring professional in-country investigators. It is essential that a record is kept that demonstrates due diligence has been applied in decision making. Stumbling block 3: Dealing with red flags. In many instances, the due diligence process, if done effectively, will raise a number of red flags. These could be requests for non-standard remuneration arrangements (such as cash, commission-only, payments to EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions) or close relationships with public officials or a political party. The identification of red flags is not necessarily prohibitive of a future working relationship. In many instances, mitigation measures can be put into place, for example adding additional clauses such as audit rights or enhanced breach rights to the contact, conducting annual audits or supporting the third party to develop specific policies and training. These should be monitored and properly documented to provide the necessary assurances that the potential risk has been minimized. This is undoubtedly the hardest part of due diligence and some businesses, having assessed the risk, may choose this point to walk away, either from a region or a particular contract. This is by no means the only option and many decide to stay, confident that they can invest in the training, communication and monitoring resources necessary to ensure that business and corporate reputation remain protected. This is where senior-level commitment is crucially important. Management must empower those conducting due diligence to act on the information received and support those difficult decisions that may need to be made as a result. This is a vital component of demonstrating a real commitment to establishing effective anti-corruption procedures. While this may seem onerous and time-consuming, there is a business advantage to be had. Companies with a reputation for their zero-tolerance to corruption will find it easier to attract the best suppliers, employees and increasingly capital. Not only that, in many parts of the world, the standards being set for public tenders are increasingly stringent as more countries seek to show their own opposition and intolerance of corruption. Third party due diligence is likely to remain one of the hardest anti-corruption practice to get right. Businesses need to understand the risks and the decisions they can make to mitigate these risks. And while automation and software solutions may offer some form of filtering, which will benefit in particular those with highly complex and very long supply chains, there is no substitution for experience and good judgment when it comes to properly managing such risk. _____ Anne Fleur Goedegebuure is a consultant at business ethics advisers GoodCorporation specializing in anti-bribery and corruption. She has worked across a variety of sectors including oil and gas, logistics and financial services. She has a Masters degree in International Law from the University of Utrecht and a postgraduate qualification in Corporate Social Responsibility from the Erasmus School of Accounting and Assurance. GoodCorporation offers ethical and anti-bribery and corruption due diligence services which enables clients to carry out risk-appropriate and robust due diligence on even the most complex supply chains. Barclays chief executive Jes Staley was fined 642,430 ($871,000) by UK regulators Friday for trying to identify an anonymous whistleblower who made allegations about Staleys role in recruiting another employee. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority said Staley failed to act with due skill, care and diligence by trying to hunt down the whistleblower. The FCA and PRA started investigating Staley a year ago. Barclays said it would cut his bonus by 500,000 ($678,000). An anonymous whistleblower who claimed to be a shareholder sent a letter to Barclays board in 2016. The letter raised concerns about how a senior Barclays employee was recruited and Staleys role in the hiring. Staley asked Barclays security chief, Troels Oerting, to find out who wrote the letter, which had a U.S. postmark. Oerting asked U.S. federal law enforcement authorities for help tracking down the sender. On Friday, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority said Barclays is now subject to special requirements. The bank is required to report annually to the regulators detailing how it handles whistleblowing, with personal attestations required from those senior managers responsible for the relevant systems and controls. The investigation found that Staley made no personal gain but committed serious errors of judgment. Staley had a conflict of interest with the whistleblowers letter, the regulators said. He needed to take particular care to maintain an appropriate distance from the banks investigation. There was a risk he would not be able to exercise impartial judgment in relation to how Barclays should respond, the agencies said. The regulators said they fined Staley about 10 percent of his total compensation. He earned 2.35 million ($3.19 million) in 2016 and received a bonus of 1.3 million ($1.76 million). The agencies could have fined him about 918,000 ($1.25 million). They discounted the fine by 30 percent because he settled at an early stage. In a statement to the BBC, Staley, 62, said his personal involvement was inappropriate. I have apologized for mistakes which I made, he said. I accept the conclusions of the board, the FCA, and the PRA, following their respective investigations, and the sanctions which they have each applied, Staley said. ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Kim Kardashian West claims Kanye West is causing her to go grey. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' star - who has children North, five, Saint, two, and three-month-old Chicago with her rapper husband - has discovered a silvery strand in her hair and joked it was triggered by the recent controversy surrounding the 'Famous' hitmaker. Speaking on 'Live With Kelly and Ryan', she said: "He's doing really good. He's in Wyoming recording, he has a couple of albums coming out so he's just focused on that. "I will say, he gave me my first grey hair this week, and I am blaming that on him. But no, he's doing really good." The 40-year-old rapper has caused a stir in recent weeks with his public support of President Donald Trump and faced a backlash when he claimed "slavery was a choice". He said: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. We're mentally imprisoned." However, the 'Stronger' musician later took to Twitter to say his comments had been misconstrued. He clarified: "to make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will "My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved "They cut out our tongues so we couldn't communicate to each other. I will not allow my tongue to be cut "the reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought "It was just an idea (sic)" Charlize Theron says being an immigrant in America encouraged her to work extra hard to make it in Hollywood. Charlize Theron The Academy Award-winning actress is currently one of Hollywood's most in-demand stars, but Charlize has admitted that her original ambitions as a performer were much more modest. She explained: "My dream was to pay my bills and not have to get a second job. I loved having the opportunities I got in acting, and I worked hard knowing that those opportunities could be fleeting. "I could be on a flight back to South Africa. I didn't have a family in the US; I didn't have a support system here. That drove me - I was responsible for myself, and I could not take anything for granted." And despite the success she's subsequently enjoyed in Hollywood, the 42-year-old star has confessed to never feeling fully secure as an actress. Charlize - who has starred in hits such as 'Atomic Blonde' and 'The Fate of the Furious' - told Total Film magazine: "I have never felt that. This is common in actors. There are a few I've come across that have a very healthy ego about their status, but I do think this is an industry where there is such a constant turning of new talent, and if you don't stay on your toes, challenge yourself, people won't want to work with you any more and people won't want to see your movies any more." Jessica Chastain tried to steer clear of the "male template" while making her new spy movie '355'. Jessica Chastain The 41-year-old actress features alongside the likes of Lupita Nyong'o, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Bingbing Fan in the new thriller, and Jessica has revealed she was eager to avoid following the template laid out by film franchises like James Bond. Looking forward to her new movie, she told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I'm not interested in a female James Bond, or a female anything. "I want an action film about women, starring female actors. The intention isn't to take the male template and put women in it." Jessica approached screenwriter Theresa Rebeck about the project, and the actress is thrilled with what they're creating. The Hollywood star also thinks '355' sends out a strong message to fans. She explained: "We women are a powerful force. We can handle ourselves very well." Meanwhile, Jessica previously admitted she hopes '355' will help bring an end to the "confines of stereotypical traits". The flame-haired star revealed she was excited by the prospect of breaking boundaries with her new action film. She said: "The action genre has long been dominated by male heroes, and it's so exciting to be part of a film that will allow for not just one female action hero but a whole ensemble of very capable, fierce female characters that reject tired stereotypes. "Characters that liberate from the confines of stereotypical traits. That is something that excited me about this, the opportunity to create different types of female heroes." Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category . . - . 2.10 36- . 35- , ... Vivo announced the X21 in two variants, one with a normal fingerprint sensor, and the other one with an under-display fingerprint sensor, but both were powered by Snapdragon 660 along with dedicated Qualcomm AIE Artificial Intelligence Chip. Now the vivo X21i has been certified in China, after a recent rumor, which will be powered by MediaTek Helio P60 12nm SoC. This also has a 24-megapixel front camera. Other specifications are similar, including a 6.28-inch FHD+ 19:9 Super AMOLED display with a notch, 90.3% screen-to-body ratio, 6GB RAM, Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Funtouch OS 4.0, 12-megapixel primary rear camera along with a 5-megapixel secondary rear camera to capture the depth information and has AI scene recognition. Vivo X21i specifications 6.28-inch (2280 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 Super AMOLED display Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor (Quad 2GHz Cortex A73 + Quad 2GHz Cortex A53 CPUs) with ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU 6B RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano/microSD) Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo) 12MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 5MP camera 24MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 154.3774.986.99mm; Weight: 159g 3.5mm audio jack, AK4376A Hi-Fi audio chip 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS 3200mAh (typical) / 3170mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging The Vivo X21i is expected to come in Champagne Gold, Rose Gold and Matte Black colors. We can expect the official announcement soon. Source 1, 2 Xiaomi is not only popular for its smartphones and electronic, but it is also popular for its IoT products. The company has invested in more than 90 IoT and lifestyle companies. At the Google I/O 2018 this week announced the company its smart home products will now work with the Google Assistant, allowing users to control products through a smart speaker, like the Google Home, or with the Google Assistant app. The initial set of products include Mi Bedside Lamp, Mi LED Smart Bulb and Mi Smart Plug, which will launch in the U.S. starting from this month. These products are currently available in China and few other countries. The Mi Bedside Lamp will be the first to launch in the U.S. later this May, followed by the Mi LED Smart Bulb and Mi Smart Plug later. Source The worlds demand for natural vanilla extract substitutes is set to continue growing. According to Solvay, this trend is reinforced both by the growing switch to... Read More Functional snacks are taking off, with consumers looking to their food for benefits such as immunity. In tandem, better-for-you snacks are appealing to health-conscious... Read More Jeep is recalling nearly 240,000 SUVs in the United States to replace a suspension part that may break and cause drivers to lose control of the vehicles. The action covers nearly half of the Jeep Liberty SUVs sold in the U.S. from 2004 to 2007, which have a lower rear control arm that may rust and fracture. Jeep says that it knows of only one accident that was possibly related to the defect and that no one was injured in the incident. Affected customers will be contacted soon and the free repairs are expected to begin in June. An additional 85,000 vehicles sold outside of the United States are also subject to the recall. ARE YOU FOLLOWING FOX NEWS AUTOS ON FACEBOOK YET? This student gets an A for audacity. A Texas teacher asked students at a career education center Tuesday to pick a Marvel comics character, then create a resume and cover letter for that character, as part of a job-search exercise. One student took a unique approach. The student chose Groot, the Guardians of the Galaxy hero known mostly for repeating the line: I am Groot. So the resume and cover letter the student submitted contained nothing but the phrase "I am Groot" over and over again. When the submission was posted online, it went viral. The student received a 95 out of 100 because of his creativity, Jeff Davis, a teacher at Wichita Falls Independent School District, told the Times Record News. The idea that you miss 100% of the shots you dont take lives within one particular student of mine, Davis wrote on Facebook. "I think that it going viral is something that is pretty cool," he continued. "Some friends of mine that live in other states have told me how they heard about it on the news and how it seems kind of surreal to know someone that was a part of something so popular." Davis said he never thought the post would go viral. It received more than 63,000 reactions and 174,000 shares on Facebook as of early Friday. The teacher also said another student took on the role as Daredevil A blind lawyer by day, crime fighter by night. "The resume was turned in, written in normal Times New Roman print, but there was another attachment that the student changed to represent the braille dots," he told the newspaper. Meghan Markle wont be the first American in recent history to marry into British nobility. Illinois native Julie Montagu has been married to Luke Montagu, the future Earl of Sandwich, long before the Suits actress accepted Prince Harry's marriage proposal. Montagu, the Viscountess of Hinchingbrook, came forward to shed light on what the 36-year-old star will face when she ties the knot with the red-haired prince, who is sixth in line to the throne, in a new documentary for the Smithsonian Channel titled Million Dollar American Princess: Meghan Markle. The special looks at the high-profile relationship through a historical lens to spotlight how this revolutionary real couple is following in a long tradition of exceptional American women who married into European nobility. Like Markle and Harry, the Montagus met through mutual friends. Montagu was a single mom of two when she captivated her beau. They tied the knot in 2001 and share four children. I found out my husband was part of this noble family simply by looking at a credit card of his that had his title on it, Montagu told Fox News. His credit card had Viscount Hinchingbrooke on it. It wouldnt be the only surprise Montagu discovered along the way. She said marrying into British aristocracy meant mastering traditional customs like a pro in a country far away from her Midwestern roots. So its one thing of learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road I still consider England driving on the wrong side of the road, she explained. But then, of course, its the other thing of learning how to curtsy, of understanding how to set a formal table. "Granted, [Markle] may never have to really set the table, but shell have to understand which forks go with what course, what knives, learning to eat with the fork in her left hand and the knife in her right hand. "Even when you finish eating, you have to put your fork and knife a certain way. Its little things like that, that she is going to have to learn. Montagu also stressed that just because Markle is marrying into the royal family, it doesnt mean she can casually greet them. She cant just really call people a lot of the times, especially in a public function, by their first names, and understanding that when she addresses somebody like another Duke or another Duchess, it would be your grace, she said. When she addresses Kate [Middleton] and [Prince] William, it would be your royal highness. But Montagu, who divides her time between London and her familys historic house at Mapperton, said she wasnt surprised that Harry fell for a California girl. In fact, she insisted the British have quickly warmed up to the fairytale romance. The British are incredibly excited, said Montagu. Listen, weve had sort of this bad rap as Americans, because of Wallis Simpson. So the British are like, Another American divorcee. Look at what happened the last time. The last time King Edward had to abdicate because he wanted to marry the love of his life, and now Harrys able to marry the love of his life without having to go through any red tape, and he immediately got the queens blessing. Everybodys really embracing it because it does make the British royal family much more modern and saying This is life. Yes, people do get divorced and that should bear no weight on whether or not Harry can marry somebody that he loves or not. The small town Midwestern girl said she isnt surprise that Harry quickly fell for a California girl like Markle. I think Harry was drawn to Meghan because shes full of life, said Montagu. Shes energetic, shes totally optimistic, she has this drive in her. I think, for me, I see a lot of similarities in Meghan and Princess Diana, in this sort of slightly breaking the rules a little bit, but having this energy and being very well received and well loved Of course, shes going to have her critics, [but] so did Princess Diana I think its the American energy. After the November 2017 engagement, Markle had to give up her thriving acting career and popular lifestyle blog to prepare for her new life as a royal. However, Montagu stressed Markle will be able to put her experience as a Hollywood star to good use in the House of Windsor. I have this feeling that we will see Meghan somehow back in the spotlight, whether its behind the screen or on the screen, she said. I think, for now, shes taking on this new challenge and shes going to be newly married. So theyre going to take on these wonderful charitable works together, that theyre both passionate about, and she is an excellent speaker. Im sure thats obviously from those years of acting. Those years of acting have really prepared her for this role. Shes already broken, in a sense, some rules by not always wearing sleeves, not wearing pantyhose all the time, wearing those ripped jeans. It wouldnt surprise me if, in 10 years time, she goes back to acting or starts to produce something. But one piece of advice Montagu has for Markle after the wedding is to never forget her American roots. Montagu revealed that even after living in the U.K. for 20 years, she has proudly kept her wonderfully nasally American Midwest accent despite her four children bearing a British accent. The biggest piece of advice I would give Meghan stay American, said Montagu. Keep your American roots, keep your American accent Dont let the weather bring you down. Its easy to do. "And still have that high energy because that is what I really feel that the English love about Americans. Our optimism, our energy, our go-getting attitude. And the cup is always half-full for us Keep that and stay rooted in your American traditions and culture. And for the wedding day, Montagu has two predictions: Markle will need to prepare to literally carry the weight of centuries-old royal history. But, she will do in an American style. I had to wear a tiara to my wedding and it was a family tiara, she said. Ive heard a lot of people say that theyre predicting shes going to wear a British designer. Im going to go out of the box. I think shes going to wear an American designer, but then shes going to have that British tiara on top of her head. "Thats history right there, rooted on top of her, but shes going to have that American designer all over her Shes going to basically link the two together. "Million Dollar American Princesses: Meghan Markle" airs Sunday, May 13 at 9 p.m. on the Smithsonian Channel. Meghan Markles estranged half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., has had a change of heart. After writing a slamming open letter to the Suits star, in which he told her fiance, Britains Prince Harry, that its not too late to stop the wedding, he penned a new note Friday asking for an invitation. In Touch Weekly, which originally published the first unflattering letter from the 51-year-old, released a new handwritten message where he shared fond memories of her childhood. Markle, 36, will be marrying Harry, 33, on Saturday, May 19. Meg I know that Im not perfect, nor is anyone else in our family, as Im sure you have read by now, he wrote. But good, bad, or perfect, were the only family that you have. It does hurt my feelings not getting invited to your wedding, along with the rest of the family. But its not too late to send me an invite along with your entire family, he added. "We should all be there to show our love and support on your wedding day because thats what families do. Not to mention, how long its been since we all seen and have gotten together, that would be very nice. Thomas admitted he and his famous sibling have become distant, along with the rest of our family members over the years. However, he insisted family should always come first, no matter the circumstances. Meg, I am very proud of you, he claimed. I truly want you to have a great wedding day and [a] long future with Prince Harry. Im sorry for venting my frustrations about [how] he should call it off, but I was disappointed and confused about not getting invited. I really only wish you the best. I remember a loving, caring, amazing girl who had a great family growing up and I know youre still that person inside. So whatever you decide is OK with me, maybe Ill see you there, with all of us. It can still be a royal wedding family reunion. Thomas concluded, Once again, congrats to you and Prince Harry. Im very proud of you and wish you the best. Markle and Thomas share a father, Thomas Markle Sr., who is expected to walk Markle down the aisle on her wedding day. Her mother, Doria Ragland, will also participate in the festivities. But the elder sibling wasnt thrilled to not be invited. In his initial letter written to Harry, he warned the royal that its not too late to stop the wedding. As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history, he wrote. Meghan Markle is obviously not the right woman for you. Thomas insisted the American actress is a jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage. Im confused why you dont see the real Meghan that the whole world now sees, he claimed. Meghans attempt to act the part of a princess like a below C average Hollywood actress is getting old. "What kind of person starts out by using her own father until hes bankrupt, then forgets about him in Mexico leaving him broke, over mostly all her debts. And when its time to pay him back she forgets her own father like she never knew him. Thomas went on to claim that their father is still struggling financially after he allegedly went into debt to support Markles dreams of becoming a sought-after actress. He also claimed the patriarch wasnt invited to the wedding. Its very apparent that her tiny bit of Hollywood fame has gone to her head, he wrote. Not to mention, to top it all off, she doesnt invite her own family and instead invites complete strangers to the wedding. Who does that? You and the royal family should put an end to this fake fairytale wedding before its too late. This isnt the first time Thomas has spoken out against his half-sister. In April, he told UKs Mirror the family is deeply hurt by the alleged royal wedding snub. Shes clearly forgotten her roots, he said. Its torn my entire family apart. Meg likes to portray herself as a humanitarian, a peoples person and a charitable person, but she is none of those things to her family. She is giving the greatest performance of her life. She is acting phony. Once she got into Hollywood she turned into a different person. Shes clearly forgotten her roots and her family. Thomas added, Maybe the normal American family she has is embarrassing to her because were not producers and executive producers. Theres a whole different side of her that has started to surface and its ugly to see. Im not bitter, just baffled, he said. Its hurtful given how close we once were. Im confused and a little distraught because here is a person knowing the position shes in and knowing the scrutiny shes under and yet she has forgotten her flesh and blood. "We were so close back then, but when our grandmother died, she moved to Toronto to start filming Suits and I didnt see her. I havent seen her since late 2011. Thomas believed a recent domestic incident with fiancee Darlene Blount, 37, might be to blame for Markle not reaching out. The Mirror revealed he was detained after a drunken altercation led police to be called, but the matter was dropped without charges. Thomas wasnt the only sibling who attempted to reach out to Harry. Markles older half-sister, Samantha Grant, had some harsh words for the royal. Back in April, she sounded off on Twitter, accusing the prince of excluding several family members from the wedding. Its time to man up @HRHHenryWindsor, she tweeted Wednesday. Shout outs about humanitarianism, dont work when you are allowing Meg to ignore the Markles. It is contradiction. Someone must point out that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. Back in January, Grant told Fox News her brother has been speaking to the media without the familys consent. My brother is out there acting like hes the spokesman of the family, she said. He is estranged from my dad because he sold my dad out to photographers from my uncles house and tried to get my fragile uncle to talk. "He gave up my dads whereabouts. In other words, all those rumors out there started by my brother. He claimed he would walk Meg down the aisle. Thats more malarkey than I could even imagine to articulate. Grant added she and her family are new to the spotlight and it can be difficult to cope with the worldwide interest in their personal lives. As much as I love and respect Meg, shes got security and a publicist and can be protected from all that, she said. She and Harry can tell the media to stop. The rest of the family doesnt have that luxury. I love her, [but] she may not want me saying anything. I refuse to be a victim of the media. Im not going to let them disparage me, embarrass me personally and professionally and not defend myself I can only hope she would respect and understand that In fact, if I were Meg, I would probably put something out there so that there was some sort of protective mechanism in place where the family couldnt be tortured as much. MSNBCs stable of primetime stars dont seem to think three American prisoners being freed from captivity in North Korea is particularly newsworthy based on the minuscule amount of coverage they devoted to the story. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived at Andrews Air Force Base early Thursday with Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, who were immediately greeted by President Trump. But viewers who rely on MSNBCs primetime coverage for their news would have barely known it happened at all. MSNBC only spent 30 seconds covering the release of the hostages during primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET. The networks most-watched program, The Rachel Maddow Show, didnt cover it at all. Neither did The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell. The only time it was mentioned on the cable news channel during primetime was a quick 30-second mention when All In host Chris Hayes discussed the upcoming Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. While the hostages coming home was ignored, the liberal primetime lineup spent significant time covering the anniversary of Trump firing former FBI Director James Comey, Vice President Mike Pence saying its time to wrap up the Mueller probe, criticism of Trumps judicial nominees and various segments related to Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen and Michael Avenatti. ODonnell also made sure to criticize Trumps Indiana rally with a segment on what he didnt say. District Media Group President Beverly Hallberg called the hostage release a huge moment during an appearance on Fox News Friday morning before noting that it should be something that should be able to bring Americans together. Fox News host Todd Piro asked Hallberg if MSNBC was being disingenuous by overlooking the story during primetime. Absolutely, Hallberg responded. Its actually shocking. The liberal network also downplayed the story throughout the day. When NBC News White House correspondent Hallie Jackson reported from Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday morning, she called it a very carefully choreographed event. Donald Trump is a former reality show producer. This was a staged production meant for television, meant for the cameras, meant to be shown and seen here in this country and around the world, Jackson said on MSNBC. Media Research Center analyst Bill DAgostino pointed out that the networks Morning Joe featured panelists taking turns attempting to negatively spin the news of three American hostages being released. MSNBCs Deadline: White House host Nicole Wallace even led a panel discussion during the networks afternoon programming that declared Trump sees progress with North Korea as a political opportunity for the upcoming midterm elections. Wallace even mocked Trump for an adlib comment he made about the freed prisoners setting a television ratings record for the 3 a.m. timeslot. It may be an indication that the President is actively trying to read the political benefits of diplomacy with North Korea, Wallace said. Redmond O'Neal has reportedly been charged with two counts of possessing heroin and methamphetamine, following his Tuesday arrest for allegedly robbing a convenience store and threatening a store clerk at knifepoint. The Blast is reporting the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office has charged the 33-year-old with second-degree robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a smoking device, possession of an injection/ingestion device and two counts of possessing a controlled substance. According to The Blast, ONeal is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon and prosecutors are seeking a bail of $125,000. Following the arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department told Fox News that O'Neal walked into a Santa Monica 7-Eleven around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, allegedly demanding that the store clerk hand him the money from the register. A call was placed to the cops and O'Neal was arrested soon after. The Hollywood superstar's son has a history of drug addiction throughout most of his adult life. In 2015, O'Neal was sentenced to three years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for violating his probation related to an earlier drug-possession conviction. And back in 2011, O'Neal's probation was revoked after he admitted to using narcotics while in court-ordered rehab. He was sentenced to a year in rehab after he pled no contest to felony gun and heroin possession a month before. According to People, that same year, O'Neal's father, actor Ryan O'Neal, said that his son never recovered from the loss of his mother." Fawcett died in 2009 after battling cancer. She was 62. For Julie Burleson, motherhood truly changed the trajectory of her career and led her into the job of her dreams. Burleson is the Founder & CEO of the Young Chefs Academy, and discovered success (and happiness) by combining her passion for cooking with the love of her children. Burleson tells Fox News that owning a business had always been a dream of hers, but that it had not quite come to fruition until she was a mom. SURPRISE MOM WITH BRUNCH: FRUIT-FILLED PALEO CREPES It happened at a moment where my five-year-old son was in the kitchen and wanted to help me prepare a meal for a catering business I had started, Burleson explains. Then I realized, wow, I think I found what I really want to do. A light went off, because I knew cooking together brings eating around the table to a whole new level. She started Young Chefs Academy in 2003 in Waco, Texas, and now Young Chefs Academy has 30 locations across the United States as well as in six countries. Burleson explains that, in addition to the art of cooking, the curriculum teaches children etiquette, the history of food, the science behind food, math, vocabulary and culture. SUPERMARKET CALLED 'SEXIST' FOR MOTHER'S DAY AD Aside from the far-reaching curriculum, franchising has spurred the companys growth. Burleson notes that she always had franchising on her mind so that entrepreneurs could be empowered to start their own businesses. The franchise model includes curriculum, training model and support system. We are the first franchise concept of its kind, says Burleson. We teach children and teens the joy and value of cooking, while also serving as a platform for motivated people to launch their own Young Chefs Academy with a team behind them. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS For the advice Julie Burleson would give to moms looking to venture into the business world, watch the full interview above. An Alabama man who was recently bitten by a venomous coral snake is now "fighting for his life," his family said. A coral snake, considered to be one of the most venomous species of snake in North America, recently bit Jeffrey Phillips outside his Gilbertown, Alabama home. Phillips children were the first to spot the snake. Initially thinking the serpent was a harmless king snake, Phillips decided to catch it and give the snake as a gift to his older brother, who has owned snakes in the past, WTOK-News reported. But shortly after, the dangerous coral snake bit Phillips. He was rushed to Anderson Hospital in Mississippi, where he remains in the intensive care unit. Phillips, who is now paralyzed due to the snake's venom, has also suffered neurological and vision damage. And, up until Friday afternoon, Phillips was breathing through a ventilator. He will then need extensive physical therapy to learn how to walk, eat, write and all other every day activities, according to Phillips GoFundMe page, which was set up to help the family pay for his medical expenses. He was about to start a job actually in a couple of weeks. So, he was laid off for the time being. He was about to start a job but he cant do that now, Angela Patrick, Phillips fiancee, told WTOK-News. The couple was slated to marry in August but due to Phillips condition, the wedding is now on hold. "Everyday we are seeing improvements and are overwhelmed by the support from all over. We are definitely blessed," Patrick told Fox News on Saturday morning. She declined to comment further. Ive had my breakdowns, you know trying to hold it together. Its scary knowing that my son could die, Judy Kell, Phillips mother, said. I hate that it was him, I really do, Patrick told the news station. I wouldnt wish it on anybody. An Indianapolis woman died Saturday after she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria during a vacation in Florida, but her husband believes she would still be alive today if doctors had diagnosed her earlier. Carol Martin traveled to Clearwater, Fla., for a family vacation and to watch racing in February, WFLA reported. Her husband, Richard Martin, said his wife loved racing and looked forward to traveling to Florida every year to watch. "She loved going down to the racetrack. Every year, she couldn't wait to get to Florida to be there, you know," Martin told WFLA. DYING MOM GETS FINAL WISH TO SEE SON GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL After the family returned from their trip, Carol noticed she had a sore on her buttock. "She had like a pimple come up on her right butt cheek. She said it was kind of painful," Martin said. Martin said his wife went to the doctors office twice to get the sore checked out. Both times she was sent home with antibiotics and a heating pad. However, the infection worsened and a biopsy was done which found Carol had contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a "serious bacterial skin infection" that only affects between 600 and 1,200 people in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. FLORIDA DEPUTY HELPS SAVE UNRESPONSIVE BABY, RUSHES HIM TO HOSPITAL, AUTHORITIES SAY She was rushed to the hospital and spent 16 days in the intensive care unit. "They finally decided to do a biopsy of the area after the third trip. That's when they found out it was the flesh-eating virus, bacteria," Martin said. After she was released from the hospital, Carol died at home. She made me lunch; I kissed her goodbye to go to work. I came home early in the morning and found her passed away, Martin said. Martin said he believes his wife may have contracted the infection at the Florida hotels hot tub. My thing is, nobody else got it, the flesh-eating bacteria. She was the only one that got in the hot tub, he said. The coroners office in Indianapolis said they have taken tissue samples from Carol to determine if the infection caused her death. A day care center in North Quincy, Mass., was closed on Wednesday and Thursday after a child came down with a case of typhoid fever. The child, who was not identified, had traveled recently and was not believed to have contracted the illness at Bright Horizons day care. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is working with Bright Horizons and the Quincy Public Health Department to prevent the spread of the disease, a state health department spokeswoman said, according to the Boston Herald. Meanwhile, teachers and other children who attend the day care were being tested for the dangerous illness. Children ages 6 weeks to 5 years attend the center. The disease can cause high fevers, weakness, stomach pains, headache and loss of appetite and is typically spread by contaminated food and water. It is a serious infectious disease that can be deadly if not treated appropriately, Dr. Mary Montgomery, infectious disease physician at Brigham and Womens Hospital, told the news outlet. Like many infectious diseases, it can be worse in young children compared to adults. Those who travel to Asia, Africa and Latin America are considered to be most at-risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Brazils infamous Miss Bumbum pageant is drumming up even more buzz than usual this year, as the entry of the competitions first-ever transgender contestants is sparking rage among some participants. Though the derriere pageant supports the two contestants in question, some of the other 25 hopefuls are eager to have them removed from the lineup ahead of the August event. On May 10, transgender contestants Paula Oliveira and Giovanna Spinella told The Sun theyre totally confident in their abilities, despite the harassment they are receiving. They are feeling threatened because they are seeing a trans who is more beautiful than them, Oliveira said. Im not offended by what they said, because its clear they want me out because Ive got a much sexier a--. LEGOLAND RESPONDS TO CRITICISM OVER LEGO MEGHAN MARKLES SKIN COLOR Spinella chimed in that she is honored to be able to take part in the eighth annual pageant and go head-to-head with beauties representing Brazils 27 states. The lone winner of the event crowned with the best bum scores overnight fame and the opportunity to get rich quick with modeling contracts. Finalist Ellen Santana is among the ones protesting Oliveira and Spinellas participation. The competition is supposed to be 100 percent feminine and yet were going to have bottoms which are mens bottoms. It doesnt matter if theyve had surgery, changed their names or sex on a piece of paper, the 31-year-old biology student told The Sun. Im not intolerant, I know there are a lot of trans people who are more beautiful than lots of women. I just think that they should compete in a pageant for trans, and not be allowed to compete in Miss Bumbum, which is all about the beauty of the Brazilian woman. I just think that the competition is for women, not for men, 29-year-old Debora Porto echoed in agreement. Its them who should leave because they are men with a mans body and a mans bottom. I think the whole diversity thing has gone too far. NORDSTROM RACK APOLOGIZES AFTER THREE BLACK TEENS ARE WRONGLY ACCUSED OF SHOPLIFTING Unfortunately for Santana and Porto, this years theme for the competition is diversity, with organizers encouraging participants to break the mold. Furthermore, Miss Bumbums officials have threatened to disqualify the angry entrants if they continue to prejudice their transgender peers. As long as these women have undergone sex reassignment surgery, and have become fully women, there is nothing that prevents them from taking part. The truth is that, by the law, they are 100 percent women, Miss Bumbum founder Cacau Oliver said. According to the Daily Mail, Brazil began providing free gender reassignment operations in 2007 through its public health system, and transgender individuals can legally register their gender change. Nevertheless, the South American nation has one of the world's highest rates of fatal violence against transgender people, making Oliveira and Spinellas debut all the more noteworthy. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS This latest controversy swirling around Miss Bumbum isnt the first time the posterior pageant has made headlines. In November 2017, hopefuls sported beef bikinis to protest sexual harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement. And the year prior, promotional photos of the contestants re-enacting The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci in barely-there swimsuits had Brazilian Catholics up in arms. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Following an Iranian rocket attack Thursday launched from Syria against Israel that prompted the Jewish state to send warplanes and missiles into Syria to destroy Iranian military targets, the Trump administration needs to rethink its Middle East policy. The central question now facing President Trump and his national security team is what if anything they will do to prevent the Iranian-Israeli conflict from erupting into a regional war that engulfs American allies in the Middle East and possibly draws in the United States as well. The Iranian regime embodies the aggressive and violent Shiite extremism of its founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei. It is ruled by radical clerics who hate America, fear Western democracy, persecute non-Muslims, and above all hate Israel and Jews. When Iranian leaders say they want to destroy Israel they arent engaging in hyperbole. They really mean it. On the sides of its missiles, Iran paints genocidal slogans such as Israel must be wiped out. Not exactly subtle. But until early Thursday, Iran had never turned its weapons directly on targets inside of Israel. Then Iran crossed that line, firing about 20 missiles at the Jewish state. Only the United States can shape the diplomatic terrain in a way that reduces the likelihood of a devastating war. This could begin with a clear statement by President Trump that Irans build-up in Syria poses a serious threat to Americas national interests The Iranians brazenly used Syria as the forward base for their aggression. Israel punished Irans assault with a wave of retaliatory warplane and missile strikes intended to destroy much of the military infrastructure Iran had built up in Syria. How did we get to this point? While pursuing a deal with Iran designed to keep it from developing nuclear weapons a deal President Trump withdrew from this week the Obama administration shied away from confronting the Iranian move into Syria. President Trump wisely broke with a key tenet of the Obama administrations Syria policy when he launched air strikes against Syria in April to enforce the red line prohibiting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons. President Obama had drawn that red line, but never attacked Syria when Assad called his bluff and murdered more than 1,400 men, women, and children in a chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus. However, the continuity between the policies of Presidents Obama and Trump on Syria is more significant. Like his predecessor, President Trump has refused to treat Irans military buildup of troops and weapons in Syria as a threat to the United States although he seemed to waver on this point in a recent appearance with the president of France. At first glance, inaction seemed to serve American interests. Why interfere when Shiite Muslim extremists were killing off Sunni Muslim extremists and vice versa? The first indication of this strategys failure was the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group, which carried out or inspired massacres in Paris and Brussels in Europe; in San Bernardino and Orlando in the U.S; and across the Arab world. That left America with no choice but to send its troops back into Iraq and then into Syria. The second unexpected danger of President Obamas passivity was the active intervention of both Russia and Iran in Syria. Assads regime has always had close ties to Moscow and Tehran, yet the Syrian civil war reduced the Assad government to a shell of its former self allowing the Russians and Iranians to exploit it as they wished. With the threat posed by the Islamic State increasingly in remission, the danger of the Iranian presence in Syria has moved to the forefront. In February, Tehran hinted at its readiness to attack Israel when it launched an armed drone into Israeli air space from the T-4 base in Syria. The timing of the February attack is significant because it came well before any indication that President Trump had decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Thus, it would be a mistake to interpret Thursdays Iranian rocket attack on northern Israel as indirect retaliation for President Trumps decision. Instead, the Iranian attack was the latest round of a pre-existing conflict. Unfortunately, the cost of complacency by both Presidents Obama and Trump is now apparent. Iran is ready to bring the entire region to the brink of disaster. Israel is prepared to strike back hard, as it always has, against those who threaten its existence. Yet only the United States can shape the diplomatic terrain in a way that reduces the likelihood of a devastating war. This could begin with a clear statement by President Trump that Irans build-up in Syria poses a serious threat to Americas national interests. President Trump has shown that he is not afraid to discard conventional wisdom about what works and what doesnt work in foreign affairs both in Middle East politics and in Asia, with his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In the Middle East, experts warned that moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem would ignite a furor across the region. But President Trump ordered the move anyway. To the surprise of the experts, Arab governments have displayed increasing sympathy toward Israel despite the embassy move, because they share Israels fear of Iran. Improbably, the foreign minister of Bahrain even condemned the Iranian attack on Israel on Thursday and justified Israels retaliation as a matter of self-defense. This coming Monday, the presidents daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump and other dignitaries will participate in a ceremony officially relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Both Israelis and Americans will praise the courage that was required to recognize that Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of the Jewish state. Acknowledging that truth is no different than acknowledging that Washington is the capital of the U.S., Paris is the capital of France, or Moscow is the capital of Russia. The recognition enhances Israeli security by challenging all those, including Iran, who constantly seek to delegitimize Israel. Yet the gains to Israels security brought about by the relocation of the U.S. Embassy pale in comparison to the danger of a growing Iranian arsenal in Syria and an even greater supply of weapons that Iran has passed along to Hezbollah, its terrorist auxiliary in Lebanon. Senior Israeli officers estimated in 2015 that Hezbollah already had an arsenal of 150,000 rockets. While defending a loyal ally has considerable value, protecting Israel is not the ultimate reason for the U.S. to resist the entrenchment of Tehrans forces in Syria. When rockets rain down on Israeli civilians, Israel may retaliate against targets in Iran. Then Iran may hit back against U.S. or allied targets in the Persian Gulf, and so on. The U.S. can wait for this threat to materialize, or it can begin working now to defuse it. Irans failure to halt its aggressive and hostile behavior following the approval of the nuclear deal proved that waiting for the nations rulers to change is futile. America, led by President Trump, needs to show strength and firmness in the face of Irans attack on Israel and its continued support of Assad. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Domestic terrorist Herman Bell is a free man, walking the streets. And if a New York judge has his way, fellow terrorist Judith Clarke will be free as well. This raises an increasingly important question: How many more convicted terrorists are already out there? It is impossible to answer accurately. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, more than 500 people have been convicted in the U.S. of terrorist crimes. That number increases when you add in people, who although investigated for terrorism were allowed to plead guilty to a non-terrorism offenses such as wire fraud or illegal possession of a weapon. For example, Edwin Lemmons was arrested by the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force after he traveled overseas for jihadist training, yet he was only charged with possession of an assault rifle. What happens when a terrorist is incarcerated is important. We know that there is currently no adequate prison program in place that deals specifically with rehabilitating terrorists. The federal Bureau of Prisons response to that alarming fact is to inform us that it offers the same re-entry opportunities for all inmates. Does a convicted jihadist really need to learn how to make license plates? Or in the case of bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi, does it help for him to take drama classes? While these failures are troubling, what happens when terrorists are released from prison is exponentially more important. Without a viable post-release program, terrorists who complete their sentences could just be dropped off at a gas station and told to take a bus somewhere. Thats exactly what happen to Shaker Masri after serving seven years in prison for attempting to travel to Somalia and join al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda affiliate. The recent case of Casey Charles Spain is an example of why we need a national registry for convicted terrorists. Spain spent seven years as an inmate with the Virginia Department of Corrections for numerous crimes, including sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. While incarcerated, Spain converted to a radical form of Islam, pledged bayat (loyalty) to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, and became a jihadist with an ISIS flag tattooed on his back. He was arrested again just three weeks after he was released from prison when he attempted to join ISIS and obtain the weapons needed to kill innocent civilians. Spain was allowed to plead guilty to a non-terror classified crime that prohibits a felon to be in possession of a firearm and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Ironically, Spain will be listed in the National Sex Offender Registry when he is released from prison. That is because the Sex Offender Registration Act lets each state determine which crimes are considered sex offenses. In addition, prosecutors can include the registry in plea agreements, even if the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge. Nothing about Spains terrorism connection will be in the public domain because there is currently no national registry for convicted terrorists. But the government sees a clear threat on the day he is released: The notion that the defendant (Spain) will recidivate, and recidivate badly, when released to the community should not be subject to serious dispute, prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentence memorandum. In other words, prosecutors have no doubt that Spain will commit another violent crime when gets out of prison. The memorandum went on to highlight the importance of protecting society from someone like Spain who has a long history of victimizing those around him. It makes no sense to require the community be alerted when Spain, a convicted sex offender, is released but keep citizens and local law enforcement in the dark when a convicted terrorist is set free in that same community. Another challenge to public awareness about terrorists released from prison is the varied nature of their incarceration. Most are housed in federal penitentiaries, but some, like domestic terrorists Bell or Clarke, were prosecuted and jailed at the state level. Rules can vary state to state, and communication among the various bureaucracies often does not exist. A national terrorist offender registry would take the information from all participating criminal justice agencies and place it in one repository within the FBIs National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which currently manages the National Sex Offender Registry. Since 2001, approximately 300 convicted terrorists have been released. Where are they now? How many have re-offended? We simply do not know, and within the next two years, more terrorists will be released including American Taliban John Walker Lindh, and Kevin James, who plotted to attack military institutions and Jewish religious centers. Shouldnt the Jewish community be informed when someone who plotted to bomb synagogues is being released? Congressional leaders need to enact a National Terrorist Offender Registry. It would be vital component to our ever changing counterterrorism strategies and would keep local law enforcement and community leaders informed of potential threats. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! There are holidays, events, and even corporate discounts designed to honor members of the military and veterans but the spouses and families quietly loving and supporting them are deserving of fanfare as well. Thats why on the Friday before Mothers Day every year we observe National Military Spouse Appreciation Day to celebrate the inestimable contributions of those who stand behind and support service men and women bravely defending our nation. Those who serve in the military are deserving of our respect and admiration for a multitude of reasons. It is not an easy job. Defenders of our country know that in addition to the professional challenges they face, there are also many unique challenges that military families experience in their personal lives as well. The strain on family life comes from missing out on important events, frequent relocations, and long deployments that can levy stress on even the strongest of marriages. Further, financial struggles the culprit of significant relationship disruption are a big problem for military families. Even with the backdrop of low national unemployment and one of the longest economic expansions on record, money problems for military families persist. As first lady Barbara Bush reminded us, the family is critical to the survival of society. Her remarks on the importance of the family unit are especially relevant to military families today. In recent years, surveys leading up to National Military Appreciation Month have provided insights on the economic well-being of military families. The research remains compelling. The top concerns of family members surveyed this year include the fact that few feel prepared to face an unexpected financial emergency (nearly 82 percent). This dominating worry is supported by lack of long- term savings, and an increase in credit card debt (up 23 percent from 2017) and difficulty finding work. Despite the growing demand for employees, military spouses (who are likely going to relocate and have a less consistent employment history) have greater difficulty finding work thus missing out on the income that can make an adverse financial event more tolerable. These financial concerns can impact the strongest of marriages and careers reducing readiness and our national security as well. Congress and the Trump administration must realize that along with the contributions made by veterans, active duty personnel and support staff, their families are on the front lines of their personal finances. With the growing employment rates, military families deserve job and financial security too (or at least a better prospect to build up savings.) Surprisingly, nearly half of family member respondents do not expect their spouse to be serving in two years, a dramatic change from prior results. Savings are critical for those emergencies that always seem to pop up when least expected such as broken appliances or home or car repairs. Without savings for emergencies, these surprise expenses create debt and undue stress. Short- term financial need should not cause a crisis, endless cycle of debt, or long-term instability but all too often that can happen to military families. When a financial need arises, soldiers and their families, are left with few good options and its up to all of us to recognize these issues and establish a remedy. Understanding these concerns and some of the root causes as outlined in the 2018 Military Family Survey by Pioneer Services and the Military Family Association can also suggest solutions. In fact, educational scholarships by the survey sponsors are already making a difference in the lives of real people represented in the survey. But more can be done to help members of the armed forces deal with the financial uncertainty they see in the future. Our servicemen and women have earned a level or respect and dignity that should be reflected in the financial services available to them. No one ever claimed that military service is easy. The associated financial stress, unlike the other more predictable challenges of frequent relocations and deployments, doesnt make things any easier. So, on Military Spouse Appreciation Day and throughout Military Appreciation Month, we should remain mindful of the service spouses as much as those who are on front lines defending our freedom. Constantly shifting lives lead to a series of new challenges. But with a solid foundation, education, and support network, we can tackle these issues directly and generate more stability for military units and family units as well. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! We live in a golden era of American prosperity and medical innovation, with amazing new medicines and technologies improving and extending our lives. Yet Americans all across our country face, or will face at some point, the burden of paying high prices for prescription medications. This burden has become a threat to the financial security of far too many of our seniors, neighbors and communities. For someone in desperate need of a cure, there is little difference between one that has not been discovered and one that cannot be afforded. Americans should be able to reap the rewards of living in the country that has brought the world more new drugs than any other. President Trump recognizes that the current situation is unacceptable, and has made fixing high drug prices a top priority for his administration. We at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are taking on this challenge, focused on four major problems in drug markets. First, drug manufacturers have rapidly increased the list prices of drugs over the last couple of decades, sometimes even doubling or tripling prices. Second, government programs and private payers do not always have all the tools they need to negotiate more reasonable prices. Third, many Americans, especially our seniors, face high out-of-pocket costs for the drugs they need, because out-of-pocket costs are typically calculated based on drugs sky-high list prices. As just one example, while Medicare Part D provides affordable drug coverage for our seniors, more than 1 million beneficiaries are in a phase of the program where their out-of-pocket spending averages $3,000 a year a huge sum for many. Finally, foreign countries and their government-run health-care systems bully our drug manufacturers into unrealistically low prices, allowing other countries to freeload off of American innovation. On top of all this, a new generation of high-cost drugs is now coming onto the market. They offer new advances for our health, but prices are reaching into the six figures. Government insurance programs have often been unable to secure discounts from manufacturers, meaning huge out-of-pocket costs for some seniors. These burdens are real and pressing, and we at HHS have already been taking action to address them. HHS is home to two agencies that have a significant role to play in bringing down the high cost of prescription drugs: ? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which rigorously ensures the safety and efficacy of Americas prescription drugs. ? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which provides health insurance and drug coverage for more than 130 million Americans. The FDA recently unveiled a Drug Competition Action Plan that makes the approval process for generic drugs more efficient, encouraging lower prices through robust competition. Under President Trump, in 2017 the FDA approved more than 1,000 new generic drugs a record number and 200 more than had ever before been approved in a single year. Generic drug approvals save American consumers billions of dollars each year. The FDA will continue to work to ensure that safe and effective generic drugs are approved expeditiously and not hamstrung by unfair practices that brand-name drug manufacturers sometimes use to thwart competition. Last year, CMS made a change to improve Medicare that will save seniors an estimated $320 million on out-of-pocket drug spending in 2018 alone. CMS also updated a policy to expedite the substitution of generic drugs in Medicare Part D plans, giving seniors low-cost options more quickly than before. President Trumps 2019 budget proposed a five-part plan to modernize Medicare Part D and lower costs for seniors. This plan includes free generic drugs for low-income seniors and a cap on seniors out-of-pocket expenses for the first time. But with American patients in need and the status quo unsustainable, President Trump has told us to go much, much further. In response, HHS has been formulating the most ambitious reform of drug pricing in the history of our country. Our blueprint for reform, which will be unveiled this week, will use four major strategies to address the problems we face. First, HHS aims to increase competition in drug markets. Second, we are going to give Medicare Part D plans better tools to negotiate discounts on behalf of our seniors tools that private-sector health plans often already use. Third, we will develop new incentives for drug manufacturers to lower list prices. Fourth, we develop options to lower patients out-of-pocket spending. We are living through the most innovative era in the history of medicine. Our free-market system has produced cures and treatments that seemed impossible a short while ago. But securing the benefits of 21st century medicine demands major changes to how our country pays for prescription drugs. President Trump has seen to it that we are not just going to talk about this problem we are going to fix it, and soon. So the president and his administration have one message for Americans burdened by our current system: Help is on the way. Scott Gottlieb is commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Seema Verma is administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! I was a small-town girl, unsure of the next step after high school. I then decided to join the Navy. I proudly served for three and a half years as an airplane captain flying back seat in various fighter jets: A-4s, F-5s and F-16s. Military service was a tremendous experience, one that reshaped me as a person by instilling the confidence to tackle challenges head on. It was perfect timing too because the next challenge, while the most rewarding of my life, would also be the biggest Ive faced I became a military spouse. While my story is unique it is not unlike those involving love, sacrifice and duty of the more than 640,000 spouses of active-duty service members. Friday is Military Spouse Appreciation Day and it is the time to reflect upon the fact that protecting our nation is also a family effort. Toward the end of my active-duty assignment at Naval Air Station Key West I met this cute guy, an air crewman on a helicopter and an in-flight paramedic. Long story short, we have been married for 22 years. Being a Navy wife wasnt my plan, but I recognize that my life was never entirely my own, for its also shared with my family, my country and God. Im so proud of my husband, Don. During the day he served in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and at night he went to school. After he completed his undergraduate degree he attended Officer Candidate School, then flight school. After he winged, he began the journey to becoming the pilot of an MH-53 the largest helicopter in the U.S. militarys fleet, known lovingly as the Super Jolly Green Giant. Over the years Don deployed with a squadron flying this aircraft. His typical deployments were to Bahrain, but he was also called upon for specialty missions due to the MH-53s size and ability to transport. For example, he rapidly deployed to Southeast Asia in 2004 to run humanitarian flights after the Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people. With tireless dedication, he has since worked his way up the ladder, recently completing his tour as the commanding officer of a mine warfare staff here in Point Loma, San Diego. Being a Navy wife wasnt my plan, but I recognize that my life was never entirely my own, for its also shared with my family, my country and God. We have lived in Florida twice, Texas twice, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and California with a few little moves in between. My oldest child has moved nine times in her 16 years of life. She mostly handled it all really well but did not want to leave Washington, D.C. for San Diego. She was invested in her school, her friends, and her community, and didnt want to move to a place that couldnt hold a candle to her fine-arts programs. Leaving was hard and it changed her. My little one, a fifth grader, is a social butterfly and is fine with whatever as long as we dont spring surprises on her. Military kids are the most resilient children. They often have to suck it up and move forward. While that seems tough and it is I do believe the character they build helps them in more ways we know once they become adults. The dandelion was chosen as the official flower of the military child. Thats because it can plant roots anywhere and its almost impossible to destroy. Military kids are the most resilient children. They often have to suck it up and move forward. While that seems tough and it is I do believe the character they build helps them in more ways we know once they become adults. How do you handle it?" my civilian counterparts have often asked about military life. Like with almost any situation, you can make it as fun or as miserable as you wish it truly is a choice. My husband deployed four times and once for an extended testing program in Florida. Even that was okay because we stayed with him in his temporary house on the beach. If you ask any military spouse for advice, they will tell how to add temporary curtains and of course, always unpack the kitchen first. Then home is home. One benefit is youll likely never be on the show Hoarders. Another is that you say see you later to the friends you make rather than goodbye. The military is small and somehow you get to see friends again at duty stations down the road. The word family takes many forms. You have your biological family and the family you choose along the winding path of life. We have never been lucky enough to be stationed close to our relatives but we have gained family members with each move. The bond between military families is watertight. You celebrate and spend holidays together, have house parties, game nights, help out with bike-riding lessons and swimming lessons. My friends become my brothers and sisters. We look out for each other and become each others emergency contacts, prepared to drop anything. I now have friends around the world and when we DM, FaceTime, text, call, or hang out in person, it is like no time has passed. I feel blessed and I know there were times my parents were thankful for my Navy family. One of my best friends, Theresa Jones, a fellow Navy wife and Gold Star family member, has shown me that while life sometimes stinks its really all about who you surround yourself with during the journey. She invited me to join the Travis Manion Foundation Ambassador program (TMF.) Knowing how the TMF helped her family get through a particular event, helping them to find purpose and a voice, I knew it was an organization I wanted to be a part of too. At TMF training, I received the book Brothers Forever. In it, Janet Manion, on her worst day said, Lord, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen today that you and I together cant handle. Those would be the words I recalled the day I was told I had cancer. I sat in my car and cried but in my head I paraphrased them, then made phone calls to my husbands parents and a few close friends. I cried some more, took a deep breath, started the car and my journey began. Since November 25, 2017, Ive undergone four surgeries, made the choice to have cancer or a double mastectomy and endured all that went along with it. Joy, depression, anger you name it, I felt it. It was my amazing family as well as my other family that got me through it. Im proud to be a Navy wife. I wouldnt have it any other way. Thank you to all the military spouses out there. Stay strong and surround yourself with amazing people. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! As I sit in the new cafe at Thistle Farms in Nashville, I marvel at the line snaking out the door. People come from all across the city to sit in our cafe and drink a cup of coffee or enjoy lunch. Friends meet here to chat about life and news of the day, perhaps including Bill Cosbys guilty verdict or the explosion of the #metoo movement. They may not realize their latte was prepared by a sexual abuse survivor, another survivor baked their lemon scone, and their smiling waitress fled home as a teen to escape a sexual predator. Each woman survivor comes to Thistle Farms for a reason whether sexual abuse, trafficking, addiction or prison. They are the faces behind the headlines. They came here to discover the many ways love heals. To find space to heal and recover. To rediscover their worth and dignity. Our graduates are living proof that love is the most powerful force for change in the world. Showing love to these brave survivors goes beyond addiction recovery and housing. Finding work that provides a living wage is one of our graduates greatest hurdles. As a result, Thistle Farms began creating justice enterprises which have been translated into business systems. Our cafe, and the retail space next door, sell goods from all over the world. Our work is proof that it is possible to grow economies of love that have an impact on peoples lives. Research shows a dramatically growing consumer base interested in cause branding. From students to retirees, people long to put their money where their values are. Millennials come to our cafe because they want their purchase to invest in womens freedom. Business leaders come to the cafe to connect with the story of women healing from trafficking and addiction. Others simply drop in at the cafe for lunch or a cup of tea and to bear witness to love love is practical, relevant, and influences the distribution of wealth and resources. Humberto Maturana, a Chilean biologist says, Love is the only emotion that increases the intelligence of the system. In other words, any system organized around love increases that systems intelligence and connection. Faith in the power of love is at the heart of all we do at Thistle Farms, yet this rich economy of love, which changes markets and cultures, is rather old news. Everything I needed to learn about launching justice enterprises I learned from attending church bazaars with my mom. The model was simple a group of women decides to raise $1,000 for a justice initiative. They could take up an offering, ask a wealthy woman for a donation, or simply ask the church. There are many ways to raise $1000. Instead they hold a bazaar (kind of an onomatopoeia). The bazaar worked like this. Everyone spent their own money on materials, then they created crafts from raw materials and delivered them on a specified date. The ladies set up tables, hosted cake walks, or sponsored a fish fry. Mainly they spent all day buying each others stuff. At the end of the day the $1000 had been raised in what appeared to be a non-efficient way. It took too much time, and it cost them $600 in raw goods. But much more happened then could be measured in dollars. First, everyone shared their talents and felt good about their personal contribution. Second, community was formed as they committed to do an event every year, raising thousands of dollars over time. Third, people invited their friends to join in, and the market of supporters grew as the story of the justice initiative spread further. Yes, it is bazaar, but this old model demonstrates how easily a small community can create an economy of love. Over two decades at Thistle Farms, we have founded a half-dozen justice enterprises in which the work force is the mission. This is a specifically powerful economy of love. The more creatively and lovingly the justice issues are articulated, the stronger the enterprise grows. Conversely, if a community approaches the work of justice only by force and debate, the impact is lessoned. As we share our story and invite people into creativity, listeners are more open, and more willing to engage with us. Last year a group of individuals started the first Thistle Farms justice enterprise with women refugees from Syria who are living in a refugee camp in Greece. The work was to weave strips of used blankets and life vests used in their escape from Syria into welcome mats. Their work was symbolic of a shared hope that the world would become more welcoming. It was loving, practical, and relevant, all the requirements of creating a powerful story with an economic impact. Established organizations said we couldnt hire or pay refugees. They said the launch of our economic model in the camp would cause a riot, but the riots never came. One thousand welcome mats have been produced and $100,000 of revenue have been generated in just the first nine months. And the numbers are growing. Now an official not-for-profit in the European Union, this justice initiative is poised to grow exponentially with more projects, more outlets and more support. The refugees welcome mats are really just the church ladies bazaar on a grander scale. As women sit together, stripping old life vests and blankets into pieces, they share stories. They talk about hopes for their kids and the refugee camp. Weaving, side by side, they imagine how they are going to reunite their families. People around the globe are joining this economy of love by purchasing $100 welcome mats. They buy these woven mats for the same reason many people visit our cafe in Nashville. People long to be part of a loving story alongside these resilient women. Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, spoke of how, in the work of charity, there is extravagance. Charity is rich enough to endow all who participate with gratitude and worth. Day taught me, and thousands of impressionable seminarians, that we had to find a way to make love relevant and practical for people. It was her conviction that whether we were running a business, a church, or starting a movement, we needed to do it with love so it would be powerful and deep enough to make an impact. The economy of love is a good business model, a smart way to use resources, and it can change our world. No matter what your business or what you are selling, love can be an organizing force for your business. We participate in the love economy when we take the time to know where our products are sourced, how they are made, and who benefits. We can put our money where our values are and sustain these economies. This is how love heals. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The Iran nuclear deal is dead, so now what? An unsuccessful Iranian rocket attack launched from Syria against Israeli forces in the Golan Heights early Thursday shows that Iran is still determined to wipe Israel off the map and cause trouble throughout the Middle East. Irans support of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and radical Islamist terrorist groups remains strong with fighters, weapons and cash. And Iran could decide to resume its race for an atomic bomb now that President Trump has withdrawn from the deal designed to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Lets face it: as long as these radical clerics rule Iran with unchecked power, their nation will remain an international menace. All this happening because the virulently anti-American extremist mullahs ruling Iran show no signs of changing their dangerous and destructive behavior. Lets face it: as long as these radical clerics rule Iran with unchecked power, their nation will remain an international menace. The best way to stop Iran from acting like a warmongering outlaw state would be to support efforts by the Iranian people to establish a democracy in their country. In a free and fair election, chances are overwhelming that Iranians would replace their extremist theocratic government with a government far more moderate, less friendly to terrorists, less interested in going nuclear, and more interested in getting along with the U.S. and Israel. The rampant corruption of the mullahs and their thugs, paired with the untold billions of dollars they have spent on terrorism, nuclear development and missile development have driven Iran to economic ruin. Their extremist policies at home of sharply limiting human rights particularly their subjugation of women have created strong internal opposition to their rule. The sooner Iranians can vote in leaders who reject the policies of the mullahs, the better off both the Iranian people and the people of the world will be. America should pledge solidarity with the people of Iran. It is time to quit obsessing about the nuclear program and ignoring the larger issue of the dangerous and destructive Iranian regime. President Trump spoke directly to the Iranian citizens about the damage the mullahs have done to their once-great country when he announced Tuesday that the U.S. is withdrawing from the deeply flawed Iran nuclear deal. Finally, I want to deliver a message to the long-suffering people of Iran: The people of America stand with you, President Trump said. It has now been almost 40 years since this dictatorship seized power and took a proud nation hostage. Most of Irans 80 million citizens have sadly never known an Iran that prospered in peace with its neighbors and commanded the admiration of the world. But the future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land. And they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history, and glory to God. We have a model for how to express solidarity with the Iranian people. One of the greatest non-violent victories for freedom in modern times was the demise of the Soviet Union. The people most responsible for that are President Ronald Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II and Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity Movement in Poland. Walesa led the fight against the brutal Soviet Communist regime and put the first hole in the Iron Curtain that separated and enslaved hundreds of millions of people. Solidarity began as a dock workers union and started its struggle as a call for economic reform. Iran needs a similar movement based on improving the quality of life for its people and ending the oppression of the regime. Irans Green Revolution in 2009 erupted over a stolen presidential election, but the grievances against the dictatorial anti-democratic regime were far broader than that. Now the Iranian people have seen a massive infusion of billions of dollars in cash from the Iran deal go only to the bank accounts of their corrupt leaders and to terrorists. At the same time the Iranian economy is crashing and ordinary people can barely feed their families. The free world should join together and support the right of the people of Iran to have actual self-determination and a chance to run their own country. The radical mullahs and their attack dogs will violently oppose these efforts, as always. So did the Soviets but in the end, Solidarity prevailed. The United States does not want to get embroiled in a military conflict with Iran. If we instead support freedom-loving Iranians in their struggle for a democracy we can avoid war, but give democratic forces the backing they need to throw off the yoke of the clerical dictatorship oppressing them. A free and prosperous Iran no longer bent on death and destruction would be a godsend to the region and the world. So lets join our voices in solidarity with those risking their lives daily protesting for a #FreeIran. While cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Philadelphia are openly defying the Trump administrations immigration orders, the most populous county in Texas is happily obliging. Many large municipalities across the country with large immigrant populations are vocally challenging President Trumps immigration crackdown and passing sanctuary city policies to rebel against it. But officials in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston and where Hispanics are by far the largest ethnic group, are fully cooperating with federal immigration authorities, a new report shows. A report by the Migration Policy Institute released this month shows that from January to May last year, the number of illegal immigrants handed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Harris County jumped 60 percent compared to the same period the year before. Hispanics make up about 44 percent of the countys population, according to Census estimates. Immigration experts arent surprised. They had expected this due to the executive order President Trump implemented days after he took office. The message, the directive that came down from the chief law enforcement officer, the president of the United States, was that all undocumented residents were deportable regardless of who they were, said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at the Baker Institute at Rice University. Cities in states like New York, California, Illinois, and Connecticut have limited their cooperation with ICE. By contrast, MPI shows from 2013 to 2017, Harris County did not reject any ICE detainers. An ICE detainer is a request that a local jail detain inmates in the country illegally for 48 hours after their release. The report said the wide variations of how states are embracing federal immigration laws is creating a system of uneven enforcement. The fortunes of an unauthorized immigrant are quite different in Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia, where the mere act of driving can result in arrest and deportation, than in California, Chicago, and New York, where immigrants can be arrested for a variety of crimes and still not be taken into ICE custody," the report said. Mary Moreno, communications director of the Texas Organizing Project, said Harris Countys compliance isnt only due to the presidents directive. Moreno said Gov. Greg Abbotts strict immigration policies is another reason the county is so compliant. In order for law enforcement agencies to receive grants from the governors Criminal Justice Division, they must sign a certification that states they will comply with Department of Homeland Security detainer requests. According to the governors office, Travis County, which includes Austin, the states most liberal city, is the only county that has not complied. She believes the governors directive is unfair and unjust. "He's wrong because at the end of the day, he's not responsible for our safety. It's the sheriff, she said. Trust the police. He's always saying that except when it comes to this. It's ridiculous." ICE officials have said that when counties or cities cooperate with federal immigration officials the communities become safer. Claude Arnold, retired Special Agent in Charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles, agrees. The more people who are involved in criminal activity, who youre taking into custody and removing from the community, regardless of what the criminal history is, thats a good thing, Arnold told Fox News. Its not up to the states to decide how immigration law is enforced. That is exclusively the responsibility of the federal government. If the federal government wants to just deport people simply for being here illegally its none of the states business. But immigrant advocates say the increase in the number of detainers will ultimately hinder police work because fewer people will be willing to report crimes due to fear of being picked up by immigration authorities. "It doesn't work for anybody. This is untenable. It's not realistic," said Moreno. Texas also passed Senate Bill Four last year, which requires local police to comply with federal immigration authorities. Because of it, many believe the number of people transferred to ICE custody will likely increase. When you put SB4, you create a machine that is essentially dedicated to deportations, said Payan. President Trump told supporters in Indiana Thursday evening that the U.S. would not agree to a redux of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal when he sits down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month. "I think it's going to be a very big success," Trump told a rally in Elkhart, "and if it isn't, it isn't. We're not going to be walked into an Iran deal where the negotiator, [then-Secretary of State] John Kerry, refused to leave the table." Trump, who was joined in Indiana by home-state Vice President Mike Pence, spoke two days after he announced that the U.S. was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear accord, which was negotiated by the U.S. and five other world powers along with the Tehran regime. "The Iran deal was one of the most embarrassing agreements the United States has ever entered into," said Trump, who added that the U.S. "cannot allow [Iran] to have nuclear weapons." TRUMP SLAMS 'CRYIN' CHUCK SCHUMER' FOR IRAN DEAL FLIP-FLOP "We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not theyre cheating," he said before adding sarcastically, "Now, of course were all sure theyre not cheating, but just in case." The president also said that the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea is "good" and praised Kim for agreeing to the release of three American detainees, whom Trump greeted at Andrews Air Force Base early Thursday, as a prelude to the summit. "I think that Kim Jong Un did a great service to himself, to his country, by doing this," said Trump, who added "we're going to set the table, we're going to make a great deal for the world, for North Korea, for South Korea, for Japan, for China. So what he did was the right thing." TRUMP GREETS AMERICAN DETAINEES FREED FROM NORTH KOREA Trump traveled to Indiana two days after Republican voters nominated former state lawmaker Mike Braun to challenge vulnerable Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, whom the president dubbed "Sleepin' Joe." Trump said Donnelly would "do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do." Donnelly, Trump said, will "say one thing in Elkhart" and then support the "radical, liberal agenda. It never, ever fails." "This November, Indiana will face an important choice: You can send a really incredible swamp person back to the Senate like Joe Donnelly," the president said, "or you can send us Republicans like Mike Braun to drain the swamp." At one point, Braun took the stage to say a few words, casting himself in the mold of Trump. "Im a businessman and an outsider, just like our president," Braun said. "And you can count on me to be a true reinforcement and the guy that is going to retire Joe Donnelly." Trump touted strong economic numbers during his appearance, but also warned his audience that "all of the great momentum that were having as a country; on jobs on safety, on security, on our military, its all at stake in November." PELOSI SAYS DEMS WILL WORK TO ROLL BACK TRUMP TAX CUTS IF THEY RETAKE CONGRESS He also brought up Pelosi's statement this week that her party would try to undo tax cuts passed by Republicans last year. "I dont think her party was too happy," Trump said. "But you know what? Thats her thought, thats what they want to do. They want to raise your taxes [and] end your tax cuts, they want to have open borders where everyone flies into our country." "The strides that were making have never, ever been made like this before," the president added. "But it can also disappear if you put fools and if you put the wrong people in [office]. ... You have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue making America great again." After the rally, Donnelly said in a statement it was "okay" that Trump and Pence were "here today for politics, but problems only get solved when you roll up your sleeves and put in the hard work." "I'm Indiana's hired help in the Senate because I don't work for any president or any political party -- I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change," he said. Donnelly's campaign said the senator had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti has earned nearly $175 million in free media during his appearances on cable outlets MSNBC and CNN over the past two months, a Washington Free Beacon analysis shows. Daniels, a porn actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she slept with President Donald Trump in 2006 and received a $130,000 hush payment from Trump's attorney Michael Cohen. She has also said she was physically threatened to keep silent about it. Trump has denied the affair. The Washington Free Beacon analyzed 108 appearances by Avenatti on MSNBC and CNN over a 64-day period from March 7 to May 10. To calculate his earned media time, the Free Beacon multiplied the length of his appearances on a program by its "National Publicity Value" determination from media monitoring site TVEyes.com. The total came out to $174,631,598.07 from at least 65 CNN appearances and 43 MSNBC appearances. Avenatti's favorite shows include CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" (at least 20 interviews), MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" (14), CNN's "New Day" (12), CNN's "Tonight with Don Lemon" (eight), and MSNBC's "Deadline White House" (seven). As previously reported by conservative media watch dog NewsBusters, Avenatti has appeared on CNN an average of more than once per day during the period under analysis. Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon. A Democratic congressional candidate is mincing no words in his latest anti-gun campaign ad. F--- the NRA," Pat Davis declares in the ad's first few seconds. And thanks to federal election law, a local CBS affiliate in New Mexico says it is compelled to run the ad, uncensored. KRQE was set to air the potty-mouthed pol's message Friday afternoon. In a statement on its website, KRQE General Manager Bill Anderson said they cannot censor the ad because of "federal election rules" that prohibit them from editing political commercials. He said the station planned to run a disclaimer beforehand. WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE As for Davis, he told the station, "I think the only people who are going to be offended are the NRA." Davis is an Albuquerque city councilor running in New Mexicos 1st Congressional Districts Democratic primary next month. In the ad, Davis says: F--- the NRA. Their pro-gun policies have resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers. Im Pat Davis and I approve this message because if Congress wont change our gun laws, we need to change Congress. According to the FCC website, Profane language includes those words that are so highly offensive that their mere utterance in the context presented may, in legal terms, amount to a nuisance. But Anderson told Fox News the station is "complying" with FCC rules. "A federal candidate certified to be on the ballot by the secretary of state is a bona fide candidate, and if they have opponents on the air then we are legally obligated to give them access to purchase air time on our station, and legally prohibited from censoring their commercials," the station's general manager said. The FCC's website says it has warned broadcasters that it considers the F-Word to be profane language that cannot be broadcast between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The agency generally only intervenes when it receives a complaint. The FCC declined to comment on this ad when reached by Fox News. Anderson's statement said they had to abide by election rules. "We received a request for air time from a legitimate federal candidate for office, and according to federal election rules we are required to give him the same access as his opponents, Anderson said. This station, by law, is not permitted to censor or in any way edit this commercial. What we can control however, is the 15 seconds of air time preceding it, which we will use to warn the viewer of a possible offense, disclaim our own views, and cite the federal laws imposed on candidates and tv stations." The National Rifle Association did not immediately return a request for comment. Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report. A former Democratic congressman from Chicago, heading to prison for the third time, says he has given up on America and plans to move to Africa after he serves his latest sentence. At his sentencing Thursday, Mel Reynolds, 66, got six months in prison for failing to file tax returns on more than $400,000 he received for consulting work. He also received a scolding from federal Judge Robert Gettleman, who told the Harvard graduate he could recall thinking to himself in the early 1990s that Reynolds had tremendous promise. It's a tragedy that you squandered the opportunities you had and the type of person you could have become," Gettleman said. Reynolds represented Illinois 2nd Congressional District, serving from January 1993 to October 1995. He was succeeded by Jesse Jackson Jr., who also served time in prison. Acting as his own attorney, Reynolds argued it was unfair to give too much weight to his prior convictions, from the 1990s, in calculating a sentence for his conviction at a bench trial last year on four misdemeanor counts of not filing tax returns. Prosecutors say the undeclared income was money made consulting for Chicago businessmen in Zimbabwe, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. In 1995, Reynolds was convicted of statutory rape for having sex with a 16-year-old campaign worker. Later, he was convicted of concealing debts and diverting money meant for voter registration drives into his election campaign. The question is, How long does a person have to pay for mistakes?" Mel Reynolds, former congressman from Illinois The question is, How long does a person have to pay for mistakes?" Reynolds asked about the older crimes. At other periods in his life, he had been in the military and raised three children, he said. I wasn't just living my life as a wheeler-dealer, he added. Reynolds rose from poverty in Mississippi to become a Rhodes Scholar and then a lawmaker in Washington, D.C. After Thursday's sentencing, with credit for two months served in jail, the Chicago Democrat will end up serving closer to four months behind bars. Reynolds had argued he shouldn't be imprisoned at all, saying a year of probation would have been the right sentence. To put me in jail serves what purpose? he asked the judge. To teach me a lesson? ... I've been taught about this racist society ... every day of my life. To put me in jail serves what purpose? To teach me a lesson? ... I've been taught about this racist society ... every day of my life. Mel Reynolds, former U.S. congressman from Illinois Prosecutor Georgia Alexakis had asked for at least two years behind bars, citing what she described as Reynolds' decades-long pattern of flouting the law. There are aspects of the defendant's life that are ... laudatory, she said. But the good doesn't outweigh the bad. The maximum penalty Reynolds faced was four years in prison. The judge said he hoped Reynolds would use his time in prison to reassess his life, telling him: It will give you some time to think where you go from here. Reynolds, who will report to prison later, told reporters outside court that he already knew where he would go after prison. I'm going home to Africa," he said. "I've given up on America because how long do African-Americans put up with this nonsense? The Associated Press contributed to this story. The Stormy Daniels lawyer who tweeted bombshell allegations this week against Trump attorney Michael Cohen is now facing questions about his own business dealings as well as how he obtained Cohen's bank records. Since Michael Avenatti cited financial records to accuse Cohen of receiving $500,000 from a Russian oligarch-tied company and other media outlets detailed that and other transactions a frenzy has erupted over Cohens dealings at the dawn of the Trump administration. The records suggest Cohen's firm was paid huge sums for insight into the Trump administration. AT&T and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, both of which paid Cohen's firm, also said this week they had been questioned by Special Counsel Robert Muellers team about their relationship with him. The lawyer is under investigation, in part over a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with President Trump a decade ago. But Avenatti has also faced scrutiny over his business dealings. Recently, a complaint was filed against him to the California State Bar Association regarding his role in purchasing Tully's Coffee several years ago through an entity called Global Baristas. The complaint, first obtained and reported by The Seattle Times, was filed by attorney David Nold of Bellevue, Wash. The complaint says Avenatti and Global Baristas faced a lien for unpaid federal taxes worth roughly $5 million, claiming taxes were withheld from workers' paychecks but not paid to the government. The complaint from Nold, as posted by The Seattle Times, called into question Avenatti's fitness to practice law. Since the coffee chain purchase, Tully's has shuttered its stores (though the closures were described as temporary) as Global Baristas has dealt with numerous lawsuits. The paper trail for that deal is maddeningly complex. Fox News obtained a copy of the notice of federal tax lien in question, sent to Global Baristas US LLC and Michael J Avenatti MBR [member]. But Avenatti reportedly says he thinks Global Baristas has paid the outstanding taxes. Further, Avenatti claimed to Fox News that he wasn't a member of Global Baristas US LLC -- but rather the entity that owned it, Global Baristas LLC. The federal tax lien is related to an entity that was owned by another company that I used to have an interest in, Avenatti told Fox News Thursday. At no point in time was I ever responsible for any taxes for Global Baristas US LLC, nor was I ever a member of that entity, nor did I own any direct interest in that entity. However, a 2017 court document posted by The Seattle Times shows Avenatti acknowledging he was the "principal" of Global Baristas US LLC. Avenatti, though, strongly disputed the complaint itself in an email to Fox News, calling it complete and utter nonsense filed by an unethical lawyer who was recently held in contempt of court." Nold told Fox News in an email that this is "just Avenatti being Avenatti." "The court ruled that I should not have given the full Avenatti deposition transcript to the news media," Nold said. "The court found nothing wrong with sending the bar complaint." Fox News attempted to resolve their dueling claims by contacting the State Bar -- but a spokesman said they could not comment on "confidential" filings. Meanwhile, another lawsuit was filed back in 2013 against Avenatti by his famous business partner, Patrick Dempsey of Greys Anatomy Dr. McDreamy fame. Dempsey's complaint against Avenatti, which was settled quickly, alleged Avenatti had not fully financed the coffee chain as agreed. Avenatti no longer has any interest in either Global Baristas entity. The attorney was surely the lesser known partner in that Tully's deal. But since then, he's rocketed to national fame with his representation of adult film star Daniels -- and is still causing controversy. While Cohen faces scrutiny from federal investigators and the media over his financial transactions, the disclosure of the Cohen bank records has drawn the feds' attention. The Treasury Departments Office of the Inspector General said Wednesday that it was "inquiring" into claims that the information was "improperly disseminated." Inspector general counsel Rich Delmar said the agencys investigation stemmed from its authority as the federal agency that analyzes banking records for potential illegal activity. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions must monitor their customers activities and report suspicious transactions to the government. But that information is supposed to remain confidential. An OIG official said the inquiry was predicated on a New York Times story, which cited transactions first publicized by Avenatti and confirmed some of the information. In their own court filing, Cohens attorneys Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison accused Avenatti of making false accusations, and publishing numerous incorrect statements to the public in an apparent attempt to prejudice and discredit Mr. Cohen. In a letter to federal Judge Kimba Wood, who is overseeing the Cohen case, Ryan and Harrison wrote that some of the information Avenatti published did appear to come from Cohens actual bank records and claimed that their client has no reason to believe that Mr. Avenatti is in lawful possession of these records. [Avenatti] should be required to explain to this Court how he came to possess and release this information, they wrote. Cohen's attorneys also claimed that Avenetti had incorrectly linked at least five wire transfers to their client. In two cases, they said the money was received by different Michael Cohens -- one residing in Canada and another in Israel. When asked to respond to Cohens attorneys, Avenatti told Fox News that their filing was comical and baseless. MICHAEL COHEN TEAM SAYS SOME OF AVENATTI'S CLAIMS ARE ABOUT OTHER MICHAEL COHENS We have done nothing wrong and the best thing they can point to is claiming that a mere $25,000 worth of transactions out of $3 million that we detailed is inaccurate? What a joke, Avenatti told Fox News on Thursday. Cohen is under criminal investigation as part of a grand jury probe of his personal business dealings. The investigation is being led by the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of New York. Even before his Daniels representation, Avenatti was known as a hard-charging and effective attorney who employs "unconventional" tactics in his legal battles. In Avenattis early days, he worked at The Research Group, a political opposition research and media firm run by Democratic political operative Rahm Emanuel. The latest politico raising questions about Avenatti is Mark Penna former top pollster for Bill and Hillary Clintonwho said Avenatti should say where he got the banking details and who's funding him. He wants to make the discussion all about where Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal attorney, got his money but, to have clean hands, Avenatti needs to come forward with exactly who is financing his operation, who his sources were for detailed banking information, and whether he really is an attorney solely representing Stormy Daniels or just using her as cover to wage a political operation, Penn wrote in an op-ed for The Hill, further questioning where and how Avenatti got Cohens detailed financial informationbecause he didnt find it on Google. "He cant be both an attorney and then participate as an officer of the court in trafficking illegally obtained information," he wrote. Avenatti slammed Penn in response, calling his column "ridiculous" and saying there was "nothing wrong" in the release of Cohen's financial information. Further, he posted a statement saying the case is funded by Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels) and crowdfunded donations collected online. "[N]o political party or PAC is funding this effort. No left wing conspiracy group is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge. Get over it," he said. On Tuesday, when initially asked how he obtained the documents he published, Avenatti told Fox News: Thats my work product and will not be disclosed. He then asked: Why is Michael Cohen refusing to provide the bank statements to the public if what we have asserted ... is not true? Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain and Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report. An effort led by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner to both increase prison security and provide a pathway out for some 4,000 well-behaved prisoners has scored a major, and lopsided, victory, the first major bipartisan deal for the Trump White House. The House Judiciary Committee voted 25-5 to back the First Step Act, a shocking turn after the media had earlier written off chances that it would pass. We see it as a big win, said an administration official involved in the talks between House Republicans and Democrats. While it falls short of everything both sides had sought, especially sentencing reforms wanted by Democrats, some in the White House see the negotiations as a compromise model for future legislative projects. White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said, The president and his administration are pleased the House Judiciary Committee has voted to pass prison reform legislation. This is a bipartisan issue with bipartisan support because studies show this bill will reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars. We are encouraged by the committees passage of the bill and look forward to a vote in the full House. Click for more from Washington Examiner. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday extended Americas potential economic assistance to North Korea, under the assumption that they get rid of their nuclear weapons. If Chairman Kim chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for North Korea and its people, Pompeo said. "If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends." His remarks came during a joint news conference held with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. It was Pompeos first since becoming the head of the State Department. TRUMP GREETS AMERICAN DETAINEES FREED FROM NORTH KOREA Pompeo returned from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Thursday after securing the successful release of three Americans who had been detained in the country. During the trip, Pompeo met with dictator Kim Jong Un, whom he told the press on Friday that he had a good and substantive conversation with. In terms of denuclearization, Pompeo said its pretty clear what that means, saying it would be an activity that made sure we didnt end up in the same place that wed ended up before. To accomplish that goal, he said it would involve a robust verification program that the U.S. will undertake with partners around the world. After their conversation, Pompeo said that he thinks he and Kim have a pretty good understanding between our two countries about what the shared objectives are. TRUMPS SUMMIT WITH KIM JONG UN SET FOR JUNE 12 IN SINGAPORE, PRESIDENT SAYS President Trump announced Pompeo's trip to the hermit kingdom on Tuesday, saying he was going there to prepare for the upcoming meeting between the president and Kim. That meeting has since been set for June 12 in Singapore. In regards to sanctions on North Korea, Kang said that they would remain in place until, and unless, we see visible, meaningful action taken by North Korea on the denuclearization track. She also underlined that U.S. forces in the Republic of Korea have played a crucial role for deterrence and peace and stability and said the presence of troops in the area is a matter for the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea first and foremost. "The next few weeks will be critical, requiring air-tight coordination between our two countries," Kang said. Fox News Nicholas Kalman, Judson Berger, Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Classified records being sought by House Republicans relating to a secret intelligence source are considered to be as significant to their Russia investigation as the controversial anti-Trump dossier, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News. The focus on the FBI intelligence sources role has also led to renewed interest by congressional investigators in August 2017 Senate testimony from Glenn Simpson, whose firm, Fusion GPS, commissioned the dossier. At the time, Simpson testified that former British spy and dossier author Christopher Steele had told him the FBI had intelligence from an internal Trump campaign source. It is not clear, however, whether Simpson was referring to the same source now at the center of a high-stakes power struggle between House Republicans and the Justice Department, the FBI and intelligence officials or whether that source was in any way in contact with the Trump campaign. But the Justice Department took a step toward trying to reach a resolution when top officials met Thursday with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy. The Republican chairmen met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and his deputy Ed O'Callahan, as well as representatives from the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to discuss their request for records. The meeting was brokered after Nunes issued a subpoena on April 30 for records relating to the intelligence source. The meeting appeared to, at least for now, ease tensions between the DOJ and the lawmakers, who are investigating surveillance abuse during the 2016 campaign. We had a productive discussion today with officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Justice, and FBI in which we raised questions related to information requested from the intelligence community," Nunes and Gowdy said in a statement. "The officials committed to holding further discussions of these matters, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue next week to satisfy the committees request. A source familiar with the matter told Fox News that Gowdy and Nunes were briefed about the documents but not permitted to view them. They expect to see the documents at a meeting next week and, according to the source, either senior DOJ leadership is going to tell them what they are asking about, or [DOJ is] going to have a big problem. Nunes and Gowdy have been looking into how the unverified anti-Trump dossier was used to secure a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The dossier contained salacious allegations about Trump and his associates, and was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. But the focus is now on records pertaining to the intelligence source. The Washington Post has reported the individual is a sensitive, longtime intelligence source for the CIA and FBI who has helped in Robert Muellers special counsel investigation, and says officials worry disclosure of the documents could jeopardize the source. A source close to the matter said Simpsons 2017 testimony has attracted renewed interest in connection with this. At the time, he spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee and top committee Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein made the transcripts public in January. When Simpson was asked about his contact with Steele, Simpson told investigators what Steele relayed to him about a September 2016 meeting with the FBI: "Essentially what [Steele] told me was they had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source and that my understanding was that [the FBI] believed Chris at this point -- that they believed Chris's information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing, and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization. There has been previous speculation about this section of the Simpson interview. Earlier this year, anonymous sources suggested to other media outlets that Simpson could have been referring to former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos -- who later pleaded guilty to lying to investigators -- or an Australian diplomat. Fox News has reached out to Simpson for additional comment on his testimony. Investigators want to determine whether his remarks are relevant to the current records request. House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, is backing Nunes and Gowdy in their pursuit of the records. I think this request is wholly appropriate. It's completely within the scope of the investigation that's been ongoing for a while with respect to FISA, he said. I actually think that this is something that probably should have been answered a while ago. A Justice Department spokeswoman said, We welcome the opportunity to discuss whether there are other ways to accommodate [Nunes] inquiry regarding a specific individual. Fox News John Roberts, Jake Gibson, Alex Pappas and Cyd Upson contributed to this report. Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCains 2008 running mate, reportedly said she feels a perpetual gut-punch every time she hears about McCains regret in picking her for his team. Thats not what Sen. McCain has told me all these years, as hes apologized to me repeatedly for the people who ran his campaign, Palin told The Daily Mail. She said over the years, "I stop him all the time and say, 'Please don't apologize.'" McCain wrote in his book, The Restless Wave, that he regretted not choosing his friend, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, as his running mate, calling it another mistake that I made, according to The New York Times. McCain reportedly wrote that his advisers warned him against picking a vice-presidential candidate who caucused with Democrats. His advisers picked Palin, the Alaska governor and Tea Party favorite. I attribute a lot of what we're hearing and reading regarding McCain's statements to his ghostwriter or ghostwriters, Palin said. I don't know unless I heard it from Sen. McCain myself. Female Republicans among New York state's lawmakers are urging Eric Schneiderman to donate his $8.5 million campaign war chest to an anti-domestic-abuse charity following revelations that this week cost the disgraced former state attorney general his job. In addition, the National Organization for Women is also after Schneiderman's lucrative fund following his spectacular fall from grace. Schneiderman "has repeatedly portrayed himself as a supporter of the #MeToo movement and a champion of women," the seven Republicans wrote in a statement. "This was a lie -- he was a fraud and a hypocrite. "He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence. In addition, any recipient of his campaign funds should donate those monies to domestic violence causes so that some good may come from these abhorrent and indefensible acts," the statement added. On Monday, four women stepped forward and accused the powerful Democrat of sexual misconduct in a New Yorker magazine article. Schneiderman resigned just hours after the story went public. Meanwhile, the New York State Democratic Party says it has cleansed itself of all past donations from Schneiderman, sending the money to an anti-domestic violence charity just a day after the revelations. But questions remained about whether individual Democrats in the state would follow suit. A state party official told Fox News on Thursday that all contributions Schneiderman made to the party over the last 20 years were donated to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence." Seven Republican state lawmakers in New York. The party official put the total redirected donation at $1,400, but other reports suggest the contributions amounted to as much as $8,900. The domestic-abuse charity confirmed it received a donation, but didn't reveal the exact figure. Other Schneiderman donations to political groups included a $2,700 contribution in 2015 to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and $1,000 in 2007 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Spokespeople for Clinton and the DSCC did not respond to multiple Fox News requests for a comment on whether contributions from Schneiderman would be returned or donated to a charity. Clinton has been traveling overseas, with recent stops in New Zealand and Australia. Last year, when sexual misconduct allegations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein were revealed, Clinton pledged she would donate the money given by Weinstein to charity. The Clinton Foundation, meanwhile, said it wouldn't return as much as $250,000 in donations from Weinstein because the money had already been spent. The Working Families Party also reportedly received $24,500 from Schneiderman, but said it won't shed the tainted contributions. Instead, it told the New York Post, "We're going to use every cent in support of great women candidates. The best way to change the system is to put progressive women in power." Liberal billionaire George Soros is the only individual funding a political action committee established by a coalition of anti-Trump organizations that will target infrequent voters in three battleground states for the November midterm elections, filings show. Soros, who bankrolled lawsuits against voter identification laws and poured money into voter mobilization campaigns during the 2016 elections, has a personal goal of enlarging the electorate by 10 million voters, internal documents from his foundation previously revealed. The Center for Community Change, Planned Parenthood Votes, Color of Change PAC, and Services Employees International Union (SEIU) announced this year that they will target infrequent voterspeople of color, young people, and womenin an attempt to push them to the polls. The initiative, called the "Win Justice" campaign, will focus on the battleground states of Florida, Michigan, and Nevada, all which have closely contested Senate races. The coalition plans to reach 2.5 million voters as part of the campaign by using digital organization, training individuals to knock on doors to mobilize voters, and peer-to-peer texting, USA Today reported last month. As part of the initiative, the groups formed the Win Justice PAC, and plan to spend $30 million leading up to the November elections. Soros is the only individual providing funding to the PAC so far. Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon. Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, said in a scathing tweet on Friday that he would release more evidence and facts on President Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen. The formal notice came after Avenatti, citing bank records, alleged on Twitter earlier this week that Cohen used a company he set up prior to the 2016 election to receive payments from a variety of businesses including $500,000 from one associated with a company linked to a Russian oligarch. The financial records suggested that Cohen's firm was paid for insight into the Trump administration. Let this serve as formal notice - there is significantly more evidence and facts to come relating to Mr. Cohen's dealings and Mr. Trump's knowledge and involvement, Avenattis Friday tweet read. You can come clean now or wait to be outed. Your choice. We have only just begun. HEAT ON STORMY DANIELS LAWYER OVER PAST BUSINESS DEALINGS, BANK RECORD DISCLOSURE Avenatti did not elaborate. Cohen is involved in a legal battle with Avenatti and his client, Daniels, over a $130,000 payment to the adult-film star in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. They payment was made in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump more than a decade ago. Cohen is also under criminal investigation as part of a grand jury probe of his personal business dealings. The investigation is being led by the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of New York. Companies AT&T and pharmaceutical giant Novartis both said they'd hired Cohens Essential Consultants to assist them in understanding President Trump as his administration kicked off. MICHAEL COHEN TEAM SAYS SOME OF AVENATTIS CLAIMS ARE ABOUT OTHER MICHAEL COHENS Novartis said in a statement that it paid Cohen $1.2 million for services, though the relationship ended after one meeting. AT&T confirmed that it had also hired Essential Consultants, as well as other companies, in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. It said Cohens firm didnt do any legal or lobbying work for us and the contract between the parties expired in December 2017. The firms both said they were contacted by Special Counsel Robert Muellers team about their connection to Cohen. Mueller is probing Russian influence in the 2016 election. Fox News Brooke Singman, Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Hell hath officially frozen over. At least, that's what I thought when I saw this headline in yesterday's New York Times: "President Trump a Nobel Laureate? It's a Possibility." While a Nobel Prize "once seemed far-fetched," the paper allowed, the idea "has started to take root among his supporters" and even some Nobel experts and past winners. This, of course, was published as Mike Pompeo was bringing back three American hostagesthat's what I called themfrom Pyongyang, who were met by the president at 3 a.m. at Andrews. That resulted in an embarrassment for the Times, which a day earlier had run a piece with this headline: "At a Key Moment, Trump's Top Diplomat is Again Thousands of Miles Away." The story pushed a narrative that Pompeo, like Rex Tillerson, was out of the loop on Iran, resulting in complaints from "perplexed European diplomats" (horrors) and State Department officials who were "momentarily speechless." Even if Pompeo hadnt brought home the prisoners, isnt going to North Korea to lay the groundwork for the Trump/Kim meeting as important as being in Washington for an Iran decision that had already been made? Trump, with the prisoners, praised Pompeo for a "fantastic job" and took a swipe at the Times story. It's important to note, as so many journalists have, that Trump has a long way to go before he gets a Nobel. North Korea has freed prisoners before. Striking a verifiable deal for the rogue regime to start giving up its nuclear weapons is a very difficult taskand the president himself keeps saying it may not happen. But things have obviously progressed since last year, when Trump was routinely denounced by the media for taunting "Little Rocket Man" and declaring that he could rain unprecedented destruction on the country. Instead of following the cautious diplomatic approach that has yielded no progress with North Korea for a quarter-century, Trump used threats and bluster to bring Kim to the table. The interim success of that strategy raises the question of whether Trump is not so much following the Great Man theory of history as the Crazy Man theory of history. That is, making an erratic enemy think you're capable of doing just about anything. Axios quotes a source who has spoken to Trump as saying he loves that "no one knows what I'm going to do" in the summit meeting, especially the press. "Kim Jong-un's entire lineage is having people think he might be crazy. Trump's like: 'You're crazy? How about this?'" a source said a while back, during the phase of Trump calling Kim 'Little Rocket Man' and taunting him by saying he has a bigger nuclear button." Maybe the North Koreans are just giving the appearance of cooperation in an attempt to get the U.S. to ease sanctions in exchange for future promises of disarmament. No one knows right now. But this feels like a moment, with both sides at least talking seriously about striking a deal and fueling the unlikely chatter about Trump and a peace prize. The Trump administration says at least 50 staffers will work inside the United States new embassy in Jerusalem when it officially opens on Monday. Senior administration officials previewing its opening told reporters the embassy will begin with a 50-to-60 person operation and grow from there. The new embassy in Jerusalem is opening Monday to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel declaring its independence. President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital in December by directing the State Department to begin the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. According to Trump officials, roughly 800 guests will attend the opening on Monday. TRUMP RECOGNIZES JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL'S CAPITAL Initially, the embassy will consist of Ambassador David Friedman and a small team as well as U.S. consular officers already working at the site. The embassy is opening in part of a pre-existing American visa-and-passport facility with a fraction of the total U.S. personnel in Israel. We are excited about taking this historic step, and look forward with anticipation to the May opening, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in February. An official told Fox News that the hope is for the U.S. to develop only a footprint there in May, with a target of a fuller complement and facility by the end of next year. Officials said there will a closed watch party on Monday in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just across from the West Wing at the White House, for White House employees to celebrate the opening. Fox News Jennifer Bowman and Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Rudy Giuliani, a member of President Trumps legal team, said the president's lawyers need more time before deciding whether the president will sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller for his Russia probe. Giuliani said he had hoped to resolve that question by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment, but that was no longer feasible. In a phone interview with Fox News on Friday, Giuliani said the outside legal team is still waiting for information from Mueller. He said a decision may slide until after Trumps planned summit on June 12 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. PENCE ON MUELLER PROBE: I THINK ITS TIME TO WRAP IT UP Giuliani also said it will be impossible to prepare Trump for an interview before the Kim summit, so any interview would be after that. In an interview last week with Fox News, Giuliani signaled Trumps team is still open to doing an interview but he acknowledged he is concerned about whether Muellers team can be objective. Namely, do they have an open mind to the fact he could be telling the truth and Comey may be lying? he said. If they have an open mind to that, this is something we'd consider. If they don't, then given all the irregularities of this investigation, we would be foolish to have him be interviewed. He said then that an interview could have been worked out already but things were complicated by the recent raid on Trump lawyer Michael Cohens office, as well as the leak of the questions. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A solid blue state that went big for Hillary Clinton in 2016 might normally seem safe territory for Democrats in a midterm cycle some pundits predict will bring a blue wave. The partys problem in Connecticut is that Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy is what one poll rates the least popular governor in the nation. His deep unpopularity now threatens to hurt the partys chances in a gubernatorial race that normally would be a shoo-in. A Tremont Public Advisers poll released Monday found Connecticut residents preferred a Republican for governor in November by 49 percent to 43 percent. The Republican Governors Association is targeting the state with $1.7 million in TV ads. It seems the gubernatorial race in Connecticut may come down to a simple question: Whether voters dislike Democratic Gov. Malloy or Republican President Trump more. Neither is on the ballot this fall, but both will play a big factor. And right now, Malloy may be winning the unpopularity contest. A union-sponsored poll conducted by the Democratic-leaning Global Strategies Group in February showed two-term Malloy less popular than the president in the liberal state, with a 24 percent approval rating compared to Trumps 36 percent. So will Malloy be a drag on the party? Chris Kukk, a political science professor at Western Connecticut State University, suggested unaffiliated voters will be the ones to watch. Unaffiliated voters outnumber Republican and Democratic voters in Connecticut, and those are the voters that swing elections in a year when Trump is very unpopular and Malloy is very unpopular, Kukk told Fox News. Connecticut is one of 16 races this year for an open governors seat, according to Ballotpedia. Both the Cook Political Report and Sabatos Crystal Ball consider the Connecticut governors race a tossup. Inside Elections is scoring the contest as leaning Democrat. The packed field for both parties will likely be thinner after May conventions, where candidates must get 15 percent of delegates to qualify for the Aug. 14 primary ballot. The most recent poll found New Britain GOP Mayor Erin Stewart and Greenwich Democratic businessman Ned Lamont emerging as their partys frontrunners. Stewarts chief rivals in the field of 12 GOP contenders are Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. The Republican convention is Friday and Saturday. Democrats hold their state convention May 18 and 19. Of the nine Democrats, former three-term Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim are the only other candidates expected to gain enough delegates to advance to the primary. Lamont would win a majority in a two-way primary, but a three-way race would be more unpredictable, said Scott McLean, chairman of the political science department at Quinnipiac University. The Tremont poll found Stewart beating both Democrats, Lamont beating Boughton and Bysiewicz losing to both Republicans. Boughton, first elected Danbury mayor in 2001, gained prominence for tackling the issue of illegal immigration in his city. In 2010, Boughton lost narrowly in a race for lieutenant governor on a Republican ticket with Tom Foley to the Democratic ticket led by Malloy. Boughton is the best GOP candidate for winning statewide, McLean told Fox News. He is a center-right candidate in a state where Republicans want to see someone efficiently manage state government and keep taxes low. Stewart was elected to lead New Britain in 2013 at age 26 and in 2016 was ranked number one on the Newsmax list of 30 most influential Republicans under 30. A young mayor out of New Britain would give a new face to the Republican Party and take away the negatives of Trump, Kukk said. Walker ran the Government Accountability Office, the federal governments watchdog, from 1998 through 2008. He then led the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog group. Lamont is best known as the progressive challenger that beat moderate Sen. Joe Lieberman in a 2006 Democratic primary before losing the Senate race in November when Lieberman ran as an independent. Lamont lost to Malloy in the 2010 gubernatorial primary. Bysiewicz, who wrote a biography of the states first woman governor, Ella Grasso, is running to be the states third female chief executive. After serving as secretary of the state, she lost a Senate primary to then-U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy in 2012. Ganim has a checkered past. He resigned as mayor in 2003 after being convicted on public corruption charges, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and after his release mounted a huge comeback to get re-elected mayor of Bridgeport in 2015. While Malloy isn't term limited, he likely would have divided the Democratic Party if he sought a third term, McLean said. The strong dislike state voters have for him is based in part on his broken promises not to hike taxes in turn, fueling the exodus of corporations like GE and Aetna. Beyond policy, McLean said, Malloy comes across as pushy and arrogant with problems connecting to voters and bad relations with legislators. But Christina Polizzi, spokeswoman for the Connecticut Democratic Party, argued that the party has momentum on their side after flipping 22 Connecticut municipal governments in 2017 and winning a special election in February for a state House district seat that had been Republican for 40 years. "The bottom line is, voters in Connecticut are looking for someone who will stand up to the Trump agenda and fight for Connecticut families," Polizzi told Fox News. "Republican candidates for governor have proven time and time again that they are unwilling to do that." None of the Republican candidates have ties to the Trump administration, while neither of the top two Democratic candidates served in public office while Malloy was governor, McLean noted. Malloy is on the way out and I doubt well be hearing much about him for the next five months, McLean said. But we will be hearing a lot about Trump. So, I would predict an anti-Trump sentiment is more likely. Malloy was the first Democrat elected governor since 1986. The GOP made big gains in the state legislature during the Obama administration, going from 37 seats in 2008 in the House of Representatives to now holding 72 seats, compared with the Democrats' 79-seat majority. The state Senate is tied. One reason so many candidates are in the race is Connecticuts Citizens Election Program that provides taxpayer money for candidatesinstituted after Republican Gov. John G. Rowland was convicted on corruption charges. Primary candidates are eligible for $1.25 million each if they can raise $250,000 in small donations. General election nominees get $6 million from the state. Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal. Follow him on Twitter @FredLucasWH. A wave measuring nearly 80 feet tall was recorded by a buoy in a remote area off New Zealands Campbell Island, in the Antarctic Ocean on Tuesday. A storms deep low pressure system and 65-knot winds fueled the 78-foot wave, Dr. Tom Durrant, a senior oceanographer with the Meteorological Service of New Zealand, told the BBC. "This is a very exciting event and to our knowledge it is largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere," he told the outlet. The country installed a solar-powered buoy in March to measure wave height. The buoy can only operate for 20 minutes every three hours, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The minimal recording time could mean it was very probable even greater waves occurred during the storm, Durrant said. Storm conditions forecast heights possibly larger than 82 feet just north of the buoy location. "Essentially the peak of the waves could stay under the storms for quite a long period of time, and that's what allowed them to grow so rapidly," Durrant told 9 News Australia. The mammoth wave surpassed a 72-foot wave documented in 2012 south of Tasmania, located off Australias southern coast, the BBC reported. Larger waves have been recorded in the northern hemisphere, according to the outlet. California's surfers can expect the energy from this southern hemisphere storm to hit their shores in about a week, Durrant said. Although President Donald Trump might be skeptical of climate change (or global warming, if you prefer), activists in Finland hope to use the commander-in-chief's likeness to draw awareness to the issue. They plan to carve Trump's image into the side of an Arctic glacier. The group, called Melting Ice, is looking to raise 400,00 Euros (about $476,988) to fund "Project Trumpmore," and create the roughly 115 foot-tall ice sculpture in a glacier that is melting, yle.fi reported. "We don't simply want to build a monument, we want the project to be bigger and raise the topic of climate change on a broader scale, so that people talk more about climate change," Nicolas Prieto, the group's leader, told the site. Often people only believe something when they see it with their own eyes," he added. The sculpture would be built somewhere in the Arctic as the melting ice has symbolic meaning, Prieto said. Trump has doubted a human connection to climate change and withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, calling it very unfair. The accord is a pact with 200 other nations aimed at voluntarily reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Melting Ice hopes to soon start crowdsourcing for its campaign, which would also include a documentary film about the process, the website reported. Using sophisticated technology, scientists have compiled detailed radar data to show the devastating impact of North Koreas largest underground nuclear test. The test took place beneath Mt. Mantap in the northern part of the country on Sept. 3, 2017, causing the mountain to collapse. Such was the force of the blast that the surrounding area was rocked like a 5.2-magnitude earthquake, according to the international team of experts. The underground nuclear blast pushed the surface of Mt. Mantap outward by as much as 11 feet and left the mountain about 20 inches shorter, they said. Experts based their analysis on regional and global seismic recordings, as well as before-and-after radar measurements of the mountains surface by Germany's TerraSAR-X and Japan's ALOS-2 radar imaging satellites. IS HAWAII'S KILAUEA VOLCANO GOING TO EXPLODE? WHAT MOUNT ST. HELENS AND OTHER ERUPTIONS HAVE TAUGHT US The analysis was released this this week in advance of publication in the journal Science. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Singapores Nanyang Technological University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing participated in the research. The project was also supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Using computer modelling, the team was able to pinpoint the precise location of the explosion, which was directly beneath the mountains mile-high summit. They were also able to identify the depth of the blast, which occurred between a quarter and a third of a mile below the peak. CHINA BUILDING SYSTEM TO DETECT EARTHQUAKES 3 WEEKS IN ADVANCE Experts also located the site of an aftershock that occurred 8.5 minutes after the nuclear explosion and about 2,300 feet south of the bomb blast. The second seismic event, they speculate, may have been caused by a collapsing tunnel or a cavity left over from a previous nuclear test. The Mt. Mantap explosion was the rogue states sixth-ever nuclear test and rumors of its impact on the stressed mountain made headlines around the globe. The latest high-tech radar data offer a fascinating glimpse into North Koreas shadowy nuclear program, which has long been the source of international concern. "This is the first time the complete three-dimensional surface displacements associated with an underground nuclear test were imaged and presented to the public," said lead author Teng Wang of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University, in a statement. TREASURE ISLAND: RARE METALS DISCOVERY ON REMOTE PACIFIC ATOLL IS WORTH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS The fifth and sixth tests within Mt. Mantap had a yield between 120 and 300 kilotons, about 10 times the strength of the bomb dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima during World War II, according to the scientists involved in the study. That makes it either a small hydrogen, or fusion, bomb or a large atomic, or fission, bomb, they explained, in a statement. The use of satellite radar imaging, called SAR (synthetic aperture radar), was a key part of the research, enabling the team to create a completely new picture of the how the explosion changed the mountain. SAR really has a unique role to play in monitoring explosions because it is direct imaging of the local ground surface, unlike seismology, where you learn the nature of the source analyzing waves radiating outward from the event at distant stations, said Douglas Dreger, a UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science and a member of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, in a statement. This is the first time anyone has actually modeled the mechanics of an underground explosion using satellite and seismic data together. METEORITE HUNTERS: SCIENTISTS SET TO SCOUR ANTARCTICA FOR RARE SPACE ROCKS Mt. Mantap is part of North Koreas Punggye-ri nuclear test site. There has been speculation that the mountains collapse may have prompted North Koreas recent decision to suspend its nuclear and missile testing. There are, however, conflicting theories about the precise location of the sixth North Korean nuclear test. A separate scientific study, for example, placed the blast nearly a kilometer (0.6 miles) northwest of the site identified in the latest research. U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a tweet Thursday that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. Fox News Katherine Lam and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Hopefully these violent delights don't have violent ends. Boston Dynamics, the company known for its "nightmare-inducing" backflipping robots, has unveiled two new videos that show them autonomously navigating through different terrains, including an office and a lab, and jogging in a grass field. The clips released Thursday detail the progress that Atlas, a humanoid robot, and SpotMini, a doglike robot, have made. SpotMini, for example, is using cameras to identify and move past obstacles, such as office furniture. 'NIGHTMARE-INDUCING' ROBOTS ARE NOW ABLE TO DO BACKFLIPS "During the autonomous run, SpotMini uses data from the cameras to localize itself in the map and to detect and avoid obstacles," Boston Dynamics said in the video description. "Once the operator presses 'GO' at the beginning of the video, the robot is on its own." Meanwhile, Atlas' jump over the downed tree trunk isn't elegant in the way an Olympic hurdler is, but it more than gets the job done. If that isn't shocking enough, SpotMini continues its venture outside near grills, walking along a concrete path. That probably isn't what most people envision when they think of a fun-filled BBQ with friends and the family dog. The videos, which have racked up a combined 1 million views, are the latest to show off these robots, who have terrified plenty of people. One of them is tech exec Elon Musk, who has repeatedly warned about the perils of artificial intelligence. In November, when Boston Dynamics showed off Atlas doing backflips, he said that was just the beginning. "This is nothing," Musk tweeted. "In a few years, that bot will move so fast youll need a strobe light to see it. Sweet dreams" Even Boston Dynamics' founder, Marc Raibert, has acknowledged that its robots can cause fear. In February 2017, he showed off the wheeled version of one of its robots and described it as "nightmare-inducing." "This is the debut presentation of what I think will be a nightmare-inducing robot if you're anything like me," Raibert was quoted as saying. BOSTON DYNAMICS' LATEST ROBOT CAN OPEN DOORS Boston Dynamics, which was sold from Google to Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank for an undisclosed sum last year, has not revealed what it eventually plans to do with its robots. On its website, the company, which got its start at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says it is "changing your idea of what robots can do" and prides itself "in building machines that both break boundaries and work in the real world." When "Westworld" becomes a reality (or is it already?) and the robot uprising finally occurs, at least we'll know (probably) where it started. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia U.S. Air Force F-22s and F-35s will soon launch and control recoverable attack drones from the cockpit of the plane to expand air-combat operations, test enemy air defenses, conduct long-range ISR and even deliver weapons. This fast-approaching technology, which calls upon advanced levels of autonomous navigation, is closer to reality due of DARPAs Gremlins program which plans to break new ground by launching and recovering four drones from an in-flight C-130 next year. Air recoverable drones, slated to become operational over just the next few years, will bring a new phase of mission options enabling longer ranges, improved sensor payloads, advanced weapons and active command and control from the air. The team looked at how fifth generation aircraft systems like the F-35 and F-22 respond to threats, and how they could incorporate Gremlins in higher risk areas, a DARPA statement said. For years, it has been possible to launch expendable drones from the air, without needing a ground control station, provided they do not return to an aircraft. Gremlins, by contrast, is a technical effort to engineer specially configured aerial drones able to both launch and return to a host aircraft. The program is now moving into a phase three, according to DARPA statements, which cite a new demonstration and development deal with Dynetics to execute the upcoming launch and recovery C-130 flight. DARPA is progressing toward its plan to demonstrate airborne launch and recovery of multiple unmanned aerial systems, targeted for late 2019. Now in its third and final phase, the goal for the Gremlins program is to develop a full-scale technology demonstration featuring the air recovery of multiple low-cost, reusable UASs, or 'Gremlins,'" a DARPA announcement said. This technology, which hinges upon higher levels of autonomous navigation, brings a wide swath of improved mission possibilities. These include much longer attack and mission reach, because drones can begin missions while in the air much closer to an objective, without having to travel longer distances from a ground location or forward operating base. Furthermore, perhaps of even greater significance, air-launched returnable drones can be equipped with more advanced sensor payloads able to conduct ISR, supply or even attack missions. A recent flight test at Yuma Proving Ground provided an opportunity to conduct safe separation and captive flight tests of the hard dock and recovery system. Early flight tests have given us confidence we can meet our objective to recover four gremlins in 30 minutes, Scott Wierzbanowski, program manager in DARPAs Tactical Technology Office, said in a written statement. Gremlins also can incorporate several types of sensors up to 150 pounds, DARPA statements said. Maturing a full-scale operational capability for this technology has force engineers to confront a range of technical challenges, Dynetics engineers told Warrior Maven. Safely docking a returning drone aboard a moving C-130 requires an as-of-yet unprecedented level of technical sophistication. The key technological advance is achieving increased safety through software redundancies to be able to operate a vehicle of this size in close proximity to a C-130 and tether it to stabilize the vehicle, Tim Keeter, Deputy Program Manager and Chief Engineer, Gremlins, Dynetics, told Warrior Maven in an interview. Once stabilized, the drone can then be stowed safety in the cargo bay of the C-130, Keeter added. This certainly involves precision navigation and we need the structure of the airframe to bear the burden, he said. In preparation for the upcoming drone air-recovery demonstration, Dynetics conducted a safe separation flight test from a mock air vehicle. We are ready to fabricate, Keeter said. Another advantage of technological advances in drone autonomy is that one human may have an ability to control multiple drones and perform a command and control function while drones execute various tasks such as sensor functions, targeting, weapons transport or electronic warfare activities, former Air Force Chief Scientist Gregory Zacharias told Warrior Maven in a prior interview. At the moment, multiple humans are often needed to control a single drone, and new algorithms increasing autonomy for drones could greatly change this ratio. In the future, according to Zacharias, one human may be able to control 10 or even 100 - drones. Algorithms could progress to the point where a drone, such as a Predator or a Reaper, might be able to follow a fighter aircraft by itself without needing its flight path navigated from human direction from the ground. Unlike ground robotics wherein autonomy algorithms have to contend with an ability to move quickly in relation to unanticipated developments and other moving objects, simple autonomous flight guidance from the air is much more manageable to accomplish. Since there are often fewer obstacles in the air compared with the ground, drones above the ground can be programmed more easily to fly toward certain pre-determined locations, often called a way-points. The Army has advanced manned-unmanned teaming technology in its helicopter fleet --successfully engineering Apache and Kiowa air crews to control UAS flight paths and sensor payloads from the air in the cockpit. Army officials say this technology has yielded successful combat results in Afghanistan. Senior Air Force leaders have said that the services' new next-generation bomber program, the B-21 Raider, will be engineered to fly manned and unmanned missions. Also, in September of 2013, the Air Force and Boeing flew an unmanned F-16 at supersonic speeds for the first time. The unmanned fighter was able to launch, maneuver and return to base without a pilot, according to Air Force information. At the same time, despite the speed at which unmanned technology is progressing, many scientist and weapons developers are of the view that human pilots will still be needed given the speed at which the human brain can quickly respond to unanticipated developments. There is often a two-second long lag time before a UAS in the air can respond to or implement directions from a remote pilot in a ground station, a circumstance which underscores the need for manned pilots when it comes to fighter jets, Air Force officials said. Therefore, while cargo planes or bombers with less of a need to maneuver in the skies might be more easily able to embrace autonomous flight fighter jets will still greatly benefit from human piloting, Air Force scientists have said. This story originally appeared at Warrior Maven. Cybersecurity experts warn that Iran's government could retaliate against the U.S. with cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and businesses following President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions and pull out of an Obama-era nuclear deal. Iran is known for waging cyberattacks during international upheaval and has a history of deploying destructive attacks against its perceived enemies. But concern about possible attacks from Iran come as the Trump administration's national security team is considering eliminating the top White House cybersecurity job. Prior to the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015, state-run hackers were working to penetrate U.S. chemical, banking and transportation companies, though the efforts largely stopped after the accord was reached. In the absence of the agreement, that [hacking] restraint could disappear, John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at FireEye, told McClatchy DC. He said that the most likely target of any Iranian-backed cyberattacks would be American critical infrastructure and businesses. Levi Gundert, a former Secret Service agent who is vice president of threat intelligence at Recorded Future, agreed He said authorities in Iran have shown their willingness to attack American companies. They are facing a government which is not happy about President Trump turning up the economic pain dial and reapplying these sanctions, he said. This was a pattern that was very active before 2015. They are facing a government which is not happy about President Trump turning up the economic pain dial and reapplying these sanctions. This was a pattern that was very active before 2015. Levi Gundert, former Secret Service agent Any revival of that pattern now would come as John Bolton, President Donald Trump's recently hired national security adviser, is pushing for the elimination of the role of special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator -- despite Bolton being known in Washington as a cybersecurity hawk who advocated actively targeting enemies of the U.S. BOLTON PUSHES TO ABOLISH WHITE HOUSE CYBER ROLE AS DEMS FEAR FOREIGN HACKERS Before the 2015 deal, the Iranians were trying to disrupt the American transportation network, including "multiple" airports. They were in some very sensitive areas of airport networks where they could conceivably cause serious disruption, Hultquist said, noting that the effort was identified and hackers were neutralized. The Iran government propped up its cyber division in the wake of a 2010 cyberattack on the country's nuclear program. The attack was perpetrated by U.S. and Israeli hackers and made Iranian centrifuges at the Natanz plant spin out of control and shatter. Though many suggest Iranian hackers aren't as sophisticated as Israeli or American counterparts, they shouldn't be underestimated, Gundert said. Even though on many occasions theyve demonstrated a lack of technical sophistication, theyve made up for it with brashness and creativity (and) their willingness to really push the edge, he said. Even though on many occasions theyve demonstrated a lack of technical sophistication, [Iran has] made up for it with brashness and creativity (and) their willingness to really push the edge. Levi Gundert, former Secret Service agent Hackers in Iran waged a cyberattack on about 40 U.S. banks after then-President Barack Obama imposed financial sanctions on Iran. In 2014, Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's business networks were targeted by Iranians, inflicting significant damage, McClatchy reported. The attacks also were directed at key U.S. allies in the Middle East, with hackers deleting all data from around 30,000 computers in 2012 at Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company. An Aer Lingus flight bound for Spain returned to its origin city of Dublin on Thursday over fears that the aircraft may have struck two hares, or sucked one into the engine, upon takeoff. DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER REFUSES TO LEAVE, GETS WHOLE FLIGHT DEPLANED The crew of Aer Lingus Flight EI-582 originally informed air traffic control of their concerns shortly after the plane took to the skies. Soon afterward, another flights crew noted a carcass on the runway, prompting officials to deploy airport personnel to check for carcasses, the Irish Sun reported. About a half-hour in, the flight crew opted not to continue to their destination in Malaga, and instead return to Ireland's capital. Ground crews reportedly found only one hare carcass, leading to speculation that another had been sucked into the engine. According to the Sun, the flight crew may have even reported recording vibrations that could have been the engine taking in the hare. AMERICAN AIRLINES STAFFERS SLAMMED FOR 'HUMILIATING' MOM OVER BREAST MILK CARRY-ON The aircraft turned back less than an hour into the flight, due to a technical issue, and landed safely at Dublin at 9.52 a.m., an airline spokesperson confirmed in a statement. Passengers disembarked normally and were flown to Malaga on a replacement aircraft. The aircraft was later brought for inspection at the Dublin airport. A disruptive passenger who was late to board a Spirit Airlines flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas refused to get off, forcing the crew to ask all other passengers to deplane. Even more bizarre, she filmed the entire ordeal for Facebook Live. Safira Allen, 25, recorded herself being asked to leave her flight on May 1, allegedly for arriving late to the gate, but boarding anyway, reported the New York Post. She also filmed herself telling the airlines crew as well as a security officer that she was not getting off this plane" before blaming Spirit Airlines for her tardiness in the first place, claiming that Spirit closed the boarding gate 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. NUDE MAN TASED, ARRESTED AT DAYTONA AIRPORT AFTER CAUSING BOMB SCARE At one point, she alleges that she paid some type of fee to re-enter the plane, only to be told to leave once she was on. How you gonna close your airline early, make me miss my flight and tell me I gotta pay again? Once I pay, I get on the flight and they say, You caused a disturbance. However, an incident report provided to Fox News by the Atlanta Police Department says Allen had simply run past the gate agent when she was told she was too late to board. In her Facebook Live footage which has now been viewed more than 3.6 million times Allen further claimed to have seen another white passenger board the plane late. She then used explicit language to explain this point, before immediately remarking that she doesnt cuss. Yall aint let the n---- on this m-----f-----. Theyre gonna have to put me off, because theyre gonna tell me I was cussing. I dont even cuss. Im orthodox. So what are you saying? She later likened the crew and security to terrorists when security asked her to get out of her seat. Im not getting off this plane to negotiate with no terrorists, Safira claims, referring to the responding officer. Cause clearly, theyre the terrorists. Theyre terrorizing me in my own country. THE MOST COMMON REASON PEOPLE GET KICKED OFF FLIGHTS Allen also took issue with the airlines name, saying, Yall going to use Jesus name, the Holy Spirit? Thats got to change, yall need to be called something else yall need to change yall name because nothing Holy Spirit about this airline. The crew soon came over the loudspeaker to apologize for the disruption, and inform all the other passengers that they would need to deplane so the flight could start the boarding process again on the same plane. If I cant go to Las Vegas, Nevada, neither can yall, Allen yelled. As passengers disembarked, she shouted racially insensitive language at passengers greeting some with the phrase konichiwa and offering to speak Espanol with others and told several they were going to hell. After the other passengers leave and after Allen berated the crew standing near the cockpit a police officer arrives to escort Allen off the plane, as she continues to yell at security and staff. The footage ends as the officer is asking Allen to put her hands behind her back while on the jetway, but Allen claimed in a subsequent Facebook post that the officer knocked her phone out of her hand, pushed her to the ground, and called her a "black b----." The Atlanta police's report, on the other hand, says Allen kicked Baker in the groin in the jetway, and was taken to the Clayton County Jail following the incident. Her Instagram account indicates that she later flew to Las Vegas on American Airlines. Allen also took to Facebook earlier this week to apologize, but not before commenting on all the new friends she gained as a result of the video. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS I apologize if I inconvenienced anyone on that PLANE! But at the same TIME! I am standing up for people who have to deal with companies ripping them OFF and Making you the Suspect; when you Paid for their services. Spirit Airlines was not immediately available to comment for Fox News. The Film Theorists, on YouTube, recently claimed a major discovery: They say they've found Neverland. They claimed they were able to pinpoint the exact location of Peter and Wendys home using details found in J.M. Barries book, along with information found in the 1953 animated film. They took details like fly to the second star to the right, and straight on till morning, along with the location of famous London landmarks in the film to estimate which direction Wendy and Peter were flying. Using the films illustrations of the wildlife and environment of Neverland, they further narrowed down their search. And finally, the team used Captain Hooks history with Blackbeard the Pirate to align the location where he may have sailed to find the fountain of youth. So where did they determine Neverland sits? Right off the coast of Belize. Specifically, they say Neverland can be found on the Turneffe Atoll. While the theory is cool, whats even cooler is that the country of Belize is wholeheartedly welcoming the idea that they are the place where you can go and never grow old. Now, the Belize Tourism Board is looking to send one lucky duo on a free, five-day vacation to the real-life Neverland. But, theres a catch: The pair must be named Peter and Wendy. So, if your name is Peter, find a friend named Wendy, and email BelizeNeverland@gmail.com by May 14, 2018. Youll be entered to win a trip to Neverland, er Belize. Thats it. Of course, if you really want to travel to Neverland all you have to do is think happy thoughts. I recently gave a presentation to students about foreign aid in the developing world. I tried to explain that many are coming to the conclusion that what is really necessary is to establish conditions suitable for a market-based society. In other words, there must be a transparent administration of justice, the predictable rule of law, private property rights, ease in doing business, a real lack of arbitrariness, etc. Both as I prepared and as I spoke, however, I realized that some students would surely be thinking, Why is he conceding so much to capitalism? What about socialism? Given that those thoughts exist, I made clear something that is maybe not adequately realized: Socialism is dead. We need to understand that socialism as socialism is dead. I am defining socialism by its true meaning, which is that the state owns the means of production and operates them on behalf of the people. Are there vestiges of such systems? Yes. See Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea. But all three are likely to move away from such clunky arrangements, if only out of necessity. But Bernie Sanders is popular! He is, indeed. In fact, he is popular with young people. Arent they the future? Bernie Sanders is himself evidence of the death of orthodox socialism. His general proposal is not for the United States government to take ownership of all productive entities and then to run them for the greater social good. Whether he says so or not, he has the sense to know that taking the project so fully in hand is a recipe for disaster. Owning and running things is a huge headache for would-be socialists. When things dont work, when the goods arent delivered, when services are strictly rationed, the public becomes restless and perhaps even throws off the chains of (ironically) socialism. No. The reality is that Bernie Sanders and todays other socialists are actually proponents of market society. They are quite content for the mavens of Silicon Valley and other producers to generate wealth, goods, and services for the nation with seeming effortlessness. Rather, they simply have a greater ambition for the state than for it to play the role of referee or umpire. Instead, they realize that applying redistributive approaches to a capitalist society may well achieve those dreams which the ineffective structures of socialism were never able to manage. Make no mistake. Socialism is dead. The only real debate on offer has to do with how market society works and how large the governments role is in relation to it. In that sense, Friedman and Hayek vanquished their foes. The current debate takes place largely on the table they set. Image: Gage Skidmore / Bernie Sanders (CC BY-SA 2.0) A sheriffs deputy in Florida helped save a babys life after a mother said her son was unresponsive, authorities said. K9 Deputy Jeremie Nix was driving home after work Wednesday evening when he was flagged down by another driver, the Marion County Sheriffs Office said on Facebook. Nix soon learned from the 3-month-olds mother that baby Kingston was completely unresponsive, the sheriffs office said, after which the deputy pulled his car to the side of the road and tried to help. After performing several life-saving measures on the child and not seeing any improvement, Deputy Nix decided to put the child in his own patrol car and rush him to Ocala Regional Medical Center, the sheriffs office said. DRAMATIC VIDEO SHOWS POLICE PULLING WOMAN FROM CAR SINKING IN TEXAS LAKE Dashcam video shared by the sheriffs office caught the incident and showed two women get out of the car, one of whom was holding the baby before she was seen handing him over to Nix, who immediately jumped to action. The deputy is seen shortly after heading back to his car and heard saying over the radio that he was not waiting on medics and was going to the emergency room with the baby. I heard this one breath that was very faint, Nix recalled, according to the Ocala Star-Banner. I turned and I remember thinking, I dont hear sirens. I dont hear nobody coming. I dont have time. I just gripped him as tight as I could and I put it in drive and just went, he added. The babys mother, Nechole Crowell said Nix just took off and he left us there and I just followed suit, the outlet reported. TENNESSEE POLICE OFFICER BUYS GROCERIES FOR FAMILY IN NEED Shortly after, Nix arrived at the hospital with the baby, and hospital staff started treating him, the sheriffs office said. We are happy to report that Baby Kingston is doing very well and doctors say he will make a full recovery!! the post said. Doctors also said that because of K9 Deputy Nix's actions, Baby Kingston is alive today. We are tremendously proud of Deputy Nix and we can already see that he and Baby Kingston will have a deep connection that will last a lifetime!! the sheriff's office continued. An update to the post said that Kingston had been released from the hospital and is happy and healthy!! It was unclear what caused the child to initially become unresponsive. The Associated Press contributed to this report. An Oklahoma man, described as "a gentle young man," was found guilty Wednesday of fatally stabbing five family members. Michael Bever, 18, was 16 years old when he, along with his then-18-year-old brother, Robert Bever, killed their parents and three younger siblings in Broken Arrow, roughly 14 miles southeast of Tulsa, in 2015, prosecutors said. Bever, in addition to the murder counts, was convicted on one count of assault and battery with intent to kill. The older Bever brother pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Defense attorneys for Michael Bever argued that his older brother led him astray. They said the 18-year-old is "a gentle young man who was misled by a mentally ill older brother," adding that "there's a lot more layers to him as a human being than just what happened back in 2015." But prosecutors on Thursday detailed the severity of Bever's attack, explaining that he and his brother "punched a knife into their sister's neck." REMAINS OF LINDSEY BAUM, GIRL WHO WENT MISSING IN WASHINGTON IN 2009, FOUND "They then went and attacked their mom, gave her 40-some-odd wounds to her body," District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said. "They then hunted down their dad and stabbed him in a bedroom. And then they had the audacity to go and knock on a door to try to lure out those children so they can stab them, so that they can go on some kind of cross-country crime spree. "I want to know: When do you want them out? When do you want them as your next-door neighbor?" Kunzweiler questioned. YALE STUDENT WHO CALLED POLICE ON BLACK STUDENT NAPPING IN COMMON ROOM HAS HISTORY OF CALLING COPS Jurors are scheduled to hear testimony before deliberating what sentence to recommend for Bever on five first-degree murder counts: life in prison with or without parole. Prosecutors recommended Bever serve 28 years in prison on the assault and battery conviction. They also argued he should be locked up for life because he was a willing participant in the murders of his family members as well as the attack on a sister, now 16, who survived. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The oldest person in the U.S. passed away Wednesday at the age of 114, according to a Pennsylvania funeral home and the states governor. Delphine Gibsons death was announced by the Robert D Heath Funeral Home, The Associated Press reported. Prior to her death, Gibson, who was born in August 1903 in Ridgeway, S.C., credited her long life to good food, her faith and her church. Since 2004, shed been residing at a nursing home facility in Huntingdon. Gibson was an incredible Pennsylvanian and she will be missed, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted Thursday. He said he was saddened after learning of her passing. Miranda Glover, a nursing home unit manager, previously told WJAC-TV that the elderly woman liked to sing and said she had an amazing spirit. She always singing to us or sharing the Gospel, Glover told the outlet. She is a treasure to the nation." In 1928, Gibson married her husband, Taylor, and the couple resided in North Carolina before relocating to Mount Union, Pennsylvania, to join a growing community of African-Americans who came up from the South to work in the areas now-historic brickyards. The Gibsons had three children together. After Adele Dunlap, who also lived until 114 years old, died in February 2017, Gibson became the oldest person in the U.S. Kammi Plummer, admissions director at AristaCare at Huntingdon Park, where Gibson lived most recently, previously told the Altoona Mirror she informed Gibson when she became the oldest living person in the country. "She just kind of acted surprised and said, 'You don't say?'" Plummer told the outlet. "We also told her she was she prettiest. She just said, 'I know that.'" 113-year-old Ohio resident Lessie Brown is now believed to be the oldest living person in the country, according to the Gerontology Research Group in Georgia. The Associated Press contributed to this story. An 8-year-old girl crossing a roadway to bring fresh fruit to a homeless man she saw the day before has died after being struck by a car Tuesday night, authorities said. Nevaeh Alston, accompanied by her mother, was crossing Bridge Street in Grand Rapids when the accident occurred, MLive.com reported. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died, the report said. She loved helping others, and always had a big smile on her face. Her entire family is completely heartbroken with grief. Brittney Paas, family member On Thursday evening, about 50 people gathered in Ah-Nab-Awen Park in Grand Rapids to remember Nevaeh's generous spirit, FOX 17 of Western Michigan reported. She loved helping others, and always had a big smile on her face. Her entire family is completely heartbroken with grief, Brittney Paas, a cousin of Nevaehs mother, wrote on the family's GoFundMe page. In a letter to Kent Hills Elementary School parents, where Nevaeh attended school, Principal Benjamin Rogers said the young girl will be greatly missed. It was not yet clear whether the driver would face any charges. Authorities said alcohol or speed do not appear to be factors. The family's GoFundMe page, which will help pay for unexpected costs, has already exceeded its goal of $7,500. A judge on Friday declared a defendant's trial testimony "poppycock" before sentencing him to 55 years in prison for killing his wife and burying her body with a wedding band, flowers, potato chip bag, and a bottle of Gucci cologne called "Guilty." The judge said he was "disgusted" by the conduct of Army veteran Luc Tieman, who was convicted last month of murder. Tieman, of Fairfield, Maine, didn't speak during the sentencing in Superior Court. But he has contended he didn't kill his wife, whom he admitted burying behind his parents' home. Tieman originally told investigators 34-year-old Valerie Tieman disappeared at a Walmart, but he later changed his story to say she died from a heroin overdose. An autopsy showed she had ingested painkillers but died from two gunshots. A prosecutor told the judge that Valerie Tieman was "gunned down" in August 2016 by the man who vowed to love and protect her. The victim's family, from South Carolina, urged the judge to impose a life sentence instead of the 55-year sentence sought by prosecutors. The defense sought a 35-year sentence. "A big part of me is gone," the victim's mother, Sarajean Harmon of Taylors, South Carolina, said in a statement read aloud at the hearing. She wrote that she was "overwhelmed by what an evil-hearted man Luc is." Tieman wept as his mother and father asked the judge for mercy. His mother, Laurelle Tieman, said her son was changed when he returned from three combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. She said she wasn't looking to use his post-traumatic stress disorder as an excuse but added, "I am asking for understanding." The prosecutor contended Tieman killed his wife to be with another woman he'd met on Facebook. Luc Tieman moved in with that woman and never reported his wife missing, prosecutors said. Valerie Tieman's parents, both of whom were in court Friday along with her brother, eventually contacted police on Sept. 9, 2016. Luc Tieman offered no explanation why the grave contained the unusual items, some of which had been on his bedside table in his parents' home. Valerie Tieman was wrapped in a blanket and buried in a shallow grave along with flowers, a wedding band, a bag of potato chips, cologne and a note. The Border Patrol Academy was a 100-day training program mostly in a classroom setting. But the agency has recently revamped its training program to make it more hands on and interactive. The changes came after a 2013 review of the federal agency was critical of their handling of migrants and showed agents were assaulted by illegal immigrants at the border. The goal is to train agents to think ahead and stay out of danger, rather than problem-solve as issues occur. We take real life events that have happened to Border Patrol agents in the field protecting America, and we train them in a safe training environment here in Artesia, said Dan Harris, Chief Border Patrol Agent at the academy. The first class to go through the new six month program graduated on March 28. The curriculum, which Harris describes as student centric rather than instructor centric, prioritizes practice over classroom lectures. As an example, to teach trainees the proper way to search a vehicle for drugs or other contraband, instructors do a two-hour lecture and a four-hour lab. The main thing that Im responsible for is when [recruits] graduate here and they go to the field, they get it right. They respond to that correctly, they protect themselves, they protect the people theyre dealing with, and they respond to those situations appropriately, said Harris. The program is basically broken down into four steps: teach, show, practice, and evaluate. Its proven to be quite a challenge for the recruits who have to learn everything from hand-to-hand combat and defense to immigration law. It was difficult and late night studies and a lot of note cards and flash cards, but you do it because you have to, said Julia Cassano, a recruit at the academy. Cassano is almost finished with the program and said he has learned a lot in the last five months. The former special education major-turned-Border Patrol recruit has been trained to drive over hills and rocky terrain, conduct searches, and make an arrest while battling through the pain of being pepper sprayed. In a way it was, Holy cow, what am I getting myself into? But I was mentally and physically prepared for it, said Julia Cassano, a recruit. Despite being pepper sprayed and even zapped with a Taser, new recruits told Fox News the hardest part of the academy is learning to speak Spanish. When you can do it in English its significantly easier. But then you throw a whole different language into it and the problem becomes 10 times tougher, said Benjamin Swatek, an academy recruit and former Marine. Swatek has nearly completed his six months at the academy. Hes spent his nights and extra time trying to complete his Spanish lessons over and over again. Ive had zero background in Spanish. And now Im doing full scenarios where Im speaking nothing but Spanish, said Swatek. Swatek and Cassano are set to graduate in the coming weeks, but their training will continue on the job. Theyll spend about 16 weeks with a field training officer and a full year taking Spanish classes. Massachusetts police are on the hunt Friday for a mystery bicyclist believed to have stabbed an 82-year-old man multiple times before pedaling away. The victim was found bleeding from the side of the neck and his lower back around 6 p.m. Thursday on Commercial Street in Provincetown, a popular travel destination on the northern tip of Cape Cod. The man who told police the bicyclist rode off after attacking him -- was taken to Cape Cod Hospital and is expected to survive. It was not clear what provoked the attack, but the bike has been found. Provincetown police released a surveillance image of the bicyclist and are hoping the mans blue shoes will help the public identify him. A tenured Columbia University professor of Iranian studies is under fire for a controversial series of tweets he fired off following President Trumps announcement the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Hamid Dabashi, who also teaches comparative literature at the Ivy League school, blamed Israel for every dirty problem in the world in a tweet on Monday. A pro-Israel student group is calling on the university to rebuke Dabashi for his harsh comments. Students Supporting Israel at Columbia University condemns Professor Dabashi's anti-Semitic post, the pro-Israel club told Fox News in statement. It is unfortunate that the university does not join us in our condemnation. The university's lack of action signals to all professors like Professor Dabashi that the Jewish and Zionist students on Columbia's campus are an easy target. We hope the university will decide to join us in fostering inclusivity and helping to create a campus environment where all students feel safe. Dabashi, who was born in Iran, denounced Trumps decision and then bashed Israel. Every dirty treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world just wait for a few days and the ugly name of Israel will pup Dabashi wrote in a tweet Monday linking to a New York Times article that accuses Israeli intelligence of gathering dirt on Benjamin Rhodes, President Barack Obamas national security aide. These laughing hyaenas the Zionists the Saudis and the US neocons are f**** with the wrong country in their stupidity and ignorance they think they are fighting with the Iranian government they are dead wrong they are picking up a fight... The anti-Israel professor also took aim at Trump. Everything he says is a lie everything, he tweeted, adding that every decent human being on planet earth was for the Nuclear deal with Iran every decent human being of course except for Trump and Netanyahu and their followers. Dabashi linked to a video from two years ago featuring celebrities Jack Black and Morgan Freeman to back up his point, as they point out that without the Iran nuclear deal we would all be dead or at war with Iran. In a Facebook post, he called the Jewish State a racist apartheid state and then attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This ridiculous man, this notorious, corrupt, criminally insane creature, this laughing stock of every decent civilized human being on planet earth, this pathetic pathological liar, this vulgar vicious charlatan, he wrote, this settler colonialist racist thug, this war criminal, this leading perpetrator of crimes against humanity, this nightmare who needs to be put in a [straitjacket] and chained to a cage in an asylum house or a zoo Critics called his tweets hate. "Blaming the Jewish state for every problem in the world is virulent anti-Semitism, echoing rhetoric that has led to oppression and violence against Jews for centuries, Rena Nasar, a StandWithUs campus director, told Campus Reform. Unfortunately, this is unsurprising coming from a professor with a long history of racism against Jews and Israelis. Columbia University should unequivocally condemn this hate coming from one of its faculty members." Neither Professor Dabashi nor the university immediately responded to request for comment. A member of the Missouri National Guard was reportedly stabbed to death during a senseless road rage confrontation on a suburban Kansas City highway by a man who spent years in prison for strangling a 15-year-old girl. Prosecutors accused convicted killer Nicolas Webb, 58, of plunging a knife into the chest of 23-year-old Cody Harter as they argued over a merge lane in Lees Summit on Saturday, Fox4KC reported. Harter, of St. Joseph, Mo., served two tours of duty in Iraq. Such an innocent life was taken through such a horrendous way and none of us have an answer as to why, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Thursday in announcing Webbs arrest. MISSOURI AIR NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER STABBED TO DEATH IN APPARENT ROAD RAGE INCIDENT, MYSTERY SUSPECT AT LARGE Webb, of Pleasant Hill, Mo., served time in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the 1980s, the station reported. He had been accused of strangling a 15-year-old girl. He was released from prison in July 2017. Police in neighboring Liberty told Lee's Summit police that two hours after the murder they arrested Webb on drug and driving under the influence charges. When police arrested Webb, he also had a knife in his front pants pocket, the Kansas City Star reported. Webb told a detective that after drinking with friends Saturday he and Harter got into an argument over the merge lane, but he didnt kill him, the paper reported. Harter is being buried Friday. The New Jersey school superintendent accused of defecating on the high school track and field near his home has dumped his attorney, and lawyer No. 2 vows to rebut all falsehoods against his client. Thomas Tramaglini, the superintendent for Kenilworth schools, made international headlines last week after he was arrested at Holmdel High School on charges he was caught repeatedly pooping on the school's campus. His new attorney, Matthew S. Adams, told reporters on Thursday that the police and the media are getting it all wrong. My client looks forward to his day in court when he can rebut some of the falsehoods that have been portrayed about him in the media, he told NJ.com on Thursday. Adams declined to elaborate on the falsehoods, saying he would save it for his defense in the courtroom. Tramaglini, who is on paid leave from his $147,504 a year position, was allegedly caught on surveillance cameras set up by police at the high school. He was arrested on April 30 on charges of lewdness, public urination or defecation and dumping or disposal of litter. Tramaglini originally retained a local defense attorney, but has since hired Adams from regional defense firm Fox Rothschilde. A court date is scheduled for May 30. A Des Moines woman who pleaded guilty to leaving her three young children alone in a filthy, feces-covered home has been sentenced to probation. The Des Moines Register reports a judge Friday sentenced 26-year-old Destinee K. Miller to three years of probation, which she'll serve in a women's residential facility. She must complete substance abuse and mental health treatment, and she must maintain a job or pursue an education. Miller pleaded guilty in February to neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. Police arrested Miller in October after her children ages 4, 2 and 1 were found outside their home. One child was covered in feces and another had a full diaper. Defense lawyer Nicholas Dial says Miller takes responsibility but noted she was overwhelmed and in a bad relationship. ___ Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com The 18-year-old brother of alleged Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been allowed to move to Virginia despite being on probation for his several run-ins with the law since the Valentines Day massacre. An attorney for Zachary Cruz, who is on probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the site of his brothers maniacal shooting spree that left 17 dead filed a motion Tuesday saying that the teenager had been offered a free home for a year in Staunton, Virginia. He would also be offered a job and counseling. Mr. Cruz has an incredible opportunity to restart his young life in a fresh location where the stigma of his brothers alleged actions will not isolate him from the world, his attorney Mark Lowry wrote in the motion, according to the Sun-Sentinel. On Friday morning, Broward County Judge Melinda Brown decided that the 18-year-old could go, saying she was not going to stop him. She did tell him that any violation of the law will land him back in a Broward County jail. I feel pretty good about it, Zachary Cruz said from the witness stand, the Sun-Sentinel reported. I have an opportunity there that I dont have here. In Virginia, he will have a job as a maintenance technician and living quarters would be provided by Nexus Services, which specializes in helping people adjust after prison or treatment. He will make $13 an hour and still face a host of probation restrictions. Since his brothers attack on Feb. 14, Zachary Cruz has been under intense scrutiny from local law enforcement, who have jailed him twice. In March, Brown had sentenced the younger Cruz to six months probation on the trespassing charge. He was arrested weeks after that for allegedly violating his probation for driving without a license. Since the February shooting, Zachary Cruz was kicked out of the home of Rocxanne Deschamps, who became a surrogate mother to the two brothers after their mother died in November. He then lived in a hotel. We didnt have a good relationship, he told prosecutor Sarahnell Murphy on Friday. Ill have a fresh relationship with these people [in Virginia]. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Welcome to Fox News First. Not signed up yet? Click here. Developing now, Friday, May 11, 2018 President Donald Trump tells supporters at a rally in Indiana that the U.S. will not be 'walked into' another version of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal at next month's summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un A White House official mocked Sen. John McCain's brain cancer diagnosis in a closed door meeting, sources told Fox News Hawaii residents have been warned about rising levels of toxic gas amid fear that the Kilauea volcano could erupt at any time Trump will present a plan to lower prescription drug prices in a speech on Friday Multiple failures led to the ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. service members last October, military leaders say THE LEAD STORY - TRUMP VOWS NO IRAN DEAL 2.0: President Trump told supporters in Indiana on Thursday evening that the U.S. would not agree to a redux of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal when he sits down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un next month ... "I think it's going to be a very big success," Trump told a rally in Elkhart, "and if it isn't, it isn't. We're not going to be walked into an Iran deal where the negotiator, [then-Secretary of State] John Kerry, refused to leave the table." Trump, who was joined in Indiana by Vice President Mike Pence, a former governor of the state, spoke two days after he announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord, which was negotiated by the Obama administration. Earlier Thursday, the president had revealed his historic, highly anticipated meeting with Kim would take place June 12 in Singapore. 'TASTELESS' REMARK: A White House communications official mocked U.S. Sen John McCain's brain cancer diagnosis in a meeting after the ailing Arizona Republican announced his opposition to President Trump's pick to lead the CIA, sources told Fox News ... According to two White House sources, the staffer, Kelly Sadler, said of McCain, "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway." White House sources said the joke at first elicited some nervous snickers. Afterward, though, the sources said many spoke to each other about being surprised by the "tasteless" remark. The White House did not dispute the remark. In a statement to the Associated Press, White House officials said, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." MORE ERUPTIONS TO COME?: Residents near one of the worlds most active volcanos have been warned about rising levels of toxic gas, as officials fear Hawaiis Kilauea could blow at any minute ... A wind change could bring even more sulfur dioxide gas to the southeast section of the Big Island. If inhaled in large quantities, the wafting gas can be fatal. The new warning came as Hawaii Gov. David Ige said mass evacuations may occur as more cracks, or fissures, are detected. Kilauea has destroyed 36 structures including 26 homes since May 3, when it began releasing lava from vents about 25 miles east of the summit crater. The volcano has also imperiled a geothermal energy plant, the Puna Geothermal Venture plant. TRUMP TAKES ON DRUG PRICES: President Trump will deliver a speech on Friday focusing on curbing prescription drug costs ... The president brought up the issue in his State of the Union address in January. His speech will address runaway prices, the impact on consumers and the challenges in negotiating lower prices for Medicare recipients, White House officials said. The administrations strategies include: creating plans to share a minimum portion of drug rebates with patients, making it easier for cheaper generic drugs to reach the market, and making generic drugs free to low-income seniors. DEADLY NIGER AMBUSH EXPLAINED: Multiple failures led to a deadly ambush of U.S. military personnel in Niger in October, top military leaders said Thursday. But none directly caused the enemy ambush that left four Americans dead and sent others fighting and running for their lives ... "The direct cause of the enemy attack in Tongo Tongo is that the enemy achieved tactical surprise there and our forces were outnumbered approximately three-to-one," U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. Cloutier described a chaotic firefight, as 46 U.S. and Nigerien forces battled more than 100 enemy fighters for more than an hour. After months of silence during the investigation, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, laid out the findings and took responsibility for what happened. He said the report, which has not yet been made public in full, singles out three individuals whose actions could be faulted. Deadly Niger ambush: What you should know AS SEEN ON FOX NEWS DEMOCRATS' 'DERANGEMENT' DIAGNOSED: "[Democrats'] 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' is so intense they can't say 'Good job, Mr. President.'" columnist Marc Thiessen, on "The Story with Martha MacCallum," slamming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for criticizing the way President Trump welcomed back three Americans who were detained in North Korea. WATCH A PLOT TO GET TRUMP OUT OF OFFICE?: "That's their game plan. Mr. Mueller is undermining the Constitution. He's not upholding the rule of law." Mark Levin, host of "Life, Liberty & Levin," on "Hannity" theorizing that Democrats hope to humiliate President Trump in a prospective court appearance or by possibly persuading the Supreme Court to side with them, leading to Trump's resignation. WATCH TRENDING Blue states rally to upend electoral college, with addition of Connecticut. Israeli organization reveals Trump coin in expression of 'gratitude' over embassy move. Florida deputy helps save unresponsive baby, rushes him to hospital, authorities say. THE SWAMP Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson cuts $30M check to GOP amid Dems' 'blue wave' fears DHS denies report Secretary Nielsen considered resigning after Trump criticism. Senate Republicans confirm Trump judicial nominee, overruling home-state Democrat. Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds gets six months in tax case, says he has given up on America. ACROSS THE NATION Golden State Killer' suspect faces four more murder counts, authorities say. Southwest hero pilot wasn't supposed to be on the flight, she says. Mom, 25, is 'CEO' of huge Minnesota meth trafficking ring, prosecutors say. #ProudAmerican: North Carolina WWII veteran celebrates 100th birthday: 'He is extraordinary.' MINDING YOUR BUSINESS Jeep recalls older SUVs for suspension flaw | NTSB probing fourth Tesla crash F-150 not alone: GM, Fiat Chrysler hit by parts shortage. SpaceX rocket launch scrubbed at last minute. Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel named highest-paid CEO of 2017. Bouqs CEO John Tabis talks 'Shark Tank' rejection, tips for entrepreneurs. FOX NEWS OPINION Kerstin Lindquist: This Mother's Day, here are four things NOT to say to someone struggling with infertility Pastor Paula White-Cain: The most important presidential executive order you probably havent heard about. Heather McNeil: It's Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I'm a Navy wife of 20 years and these are the lessons I've learned. Allen Usry: America should always appreciate military spouses --they serve, too. HOLLYWOOD SQUARED Pamela Anderson writes letter asking for Kanye West's support of WikiLeaks Julian Assange. 'Sons of Anarchy' star's son, 16, commits suicide. Spotify's decision to stop promoting R. Kelly over unproven allegations calls several other artists into question. 'Big Bang Theory' actor Johnny Galecki says guest star Mark Hamill is obsessed with 'Roseanne' trivia. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS? Supermarket called 'sexist' for Mother's Day ad. Mysterious South Carolina fish with humanlike teeth stumps the internet. Shark wrangler catches 12-foot hammerhead off Florida beach, gets more attention for his abs. STAY TUNED On Fox News: Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Guests include: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar discusses the upcoming announcement on prescription drug prices; Diamond & Silk; a former CIA officer shares his take on the Democrats' opposition to CIA director nominee Gina Haspel; this week's "Cooking with 'Friends" segment features Laura Ingle's "Rock-n-Roll chili." On Fox Business: Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Guests include: Walid Phares, former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser; Paul Daugherty, Accenture chief technology officer; Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient. Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Brandon Judd, Border Patrol Union president; James Mitchell, author of Enhanced Interrogation; Kristin Gaspar, congressional candidate and San Diego County Board of Supervisors chairwoman. Cavuto: Coast to Coast, Noon ET: Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations; Dan Gillerman, former Israeli ambassador to U.N. On Fox News Radio: Benson & Harf, 6 p.m. ET: Don't miss the new show hosted by Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com and Marie Harf, former senior adviser of strategic communications at the State Department. The Fox News Rundown podcast: The date and location of the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been set. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer discusses the high stakes summit. The FCC announced that on June 11th ,open internet rules in the U.S. will end. Fox on Tech reporter, Brett Larson discusses what net neutrality is and how it might impact consumers. Fox News' Tonya J. Powers has your "good news of the day." Plus, commentary by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association. Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. On Fox News Weekend: Cavuto Live, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET: Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, on calls for Congress to cut spending; Sen. Tim Scott on whether President Trump's tough foreign policy is paying off as North Korea releases three American hostages; Rep. Brad Sherman on his fellow Democrats slamming the Trump administration for pulling out of Iran nuclear deal. Justice with Judge Jeanine, Saturday, 9 p.m. ET: Justice with Judge Jeanine kicks off a historic week with a broadcast from Israel. Judge Jeanine Pirro hosts Justice from Jerusalem to preview Mondays opening of the new U.S. embassy there. Guests will include some of the biggest names from the U.S. delegation attending the ceremony. Fox News Sunday, Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET: Don't miss Chris Wallace's exclusive interview with retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Legends & Lies: The Civil War, Sunday, 8 p.m. ET: "Jefferson Davis: The Black Flag" - A U.S. senator, war hero and presidential aspirant who has much in common with Abraham Lincoln, Davis answers the call to lead the Confederate States of America. Life, Liberty & Levin, Sunday, 10 p.m. ET: This week, host Mark Levin sits down with Gary Sinise -- actor, director and longtime supporter of U.S. veterans. They will discuss the current state of our military and foreign affairs plus Sinises new initiative for children of fallen service members. #OnThisDay 1973: The espionage trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the "Pentagon Papers" case comes to an end as Judge William M. Byrne dismisses all charges, citing government misconduct. 1953: A tornado devastates Waco, Texas, leaving 114 dead. 1927: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded during a banquet at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Enjoy your Friday and weekend! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Monday morning. A man who authorities suspect to be the Golden State Killer now faces a dozen counts of murder in California after the state brought four new counts against him Thursday. Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with four slayings in 1979 and 1981 in Santa Barbara County, District Attorney Joyce Dudley said at a news conference, referring the public to the felony complaint. "Each count carries multiple allegations," Dudley said. "Each of the four counts carry the potential for life without the possibility of parole or the death sentence." "Each count carries multiple allegations. Each of the four counts carry the potential for life without the possibility of parole or the death sentence." Joyce Dudley, Santa Barbara district attorney Prosecutors say DeAngelo, a former police officer, was one of Californias most elusive serial killers. DeAngelo has been charged with killing Robert Offerman, 44, an orthopedic surgeon; and Debra Alexandria Manning, 35, a psychologist, in their condominium near Goleta, Calif., in December 1979. Authorities also suspect DeAngelo killed Greg Sanchez, 27, and his girlfriend Cheri Domingo, 35, on July 27, 1981, inside a home also near Goleta, where Domingo had been house-sitting. Investigators said DNA from that crime scene was linked to other crimes they believe were committed by the so-called Golden State Killer. Prosecutors also used DNA and a genealogical website to identify DeAngelo. He has already been charged with eight other murder counts in Sacramento, Ventura and Orange counties. "Violent cold cases never grow cold for victims or their loved ones," Dudley said. "In fact, most of them spend their lives feverishly seeking answers and desperately hoping for justice." "Violent cold cases never grow cold for victims or their loved ones. In fact, most of them spend their lives feverishly seeking answers and desperately hoping for justice." Joyce Dudley, Santa Barbara district attorney Investigators suspect DeAngelo committed at least a dozen murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and '80s. DeAngelo was arrested last month and remains in Sacramento County Jail. "The sense of relief is overwhelming and it's wonderful," Debbi Domingo, daughter of Cheri Domingo, told Noozhawk.com, a Santa Barbara County news website. "I've spent over two-thirds of my life wondering if we would ever get answers." DeAngelo's attorney, Diane Howard, did not immediately respond for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A National Guard member entered a Florida hotel room last weekend and fatally shot his estranged wife and another man before turning the gun on himself, authorities said. Police identified the gunman as Mark Stokes, 37, a major in the Army National Guard who was stationed at Fort Rucker in Enterprise, Ala. His wife was identified as Amanda Stokes, 28, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, also at Fort Rucker. The other man was identified as Kenneth Walker Krause, 30, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Amanda Stokes and Kenneth Krause are seen in an image from Amanda Stokes' Facebook page. The slaying occurred around 4 a.m. Saturday in Panama City, Fla., where Amanda Stokes, who was separated from her husband, had gotten a hotel room to share with Krause, whom police described as her new acquaintance. Although separated, the Stokeses co-owned a bar in Alabama and had rented a house in Panama City for friends and family to attend the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally, the Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre reported. Amanda Stokes had gotten a hotel room away from the others because she was no longer with her husband, the newspaper reported. But Mark Stokes obtained a key to the room from the front desk and locked the door after he entered, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported, adding that police who responded to the scene after the shooting had to break into the room. Amanda Stokes had posted days earlier on Facebook that she and her husband had split up, and that she would be going to the rally, the Daily News reported. Later that day, Mark Stokes posted that he planned to travel to the rally as well, and that he would be getting back in the saddle. The estranged couples 5-year-old daughter had been with her mother at the hotel Thursday, but was discovered to be safe in Alabama because her grandmother had pick her up that day, the Daily News reported. A Northern California resident discovered a pair of jeans and human remains inside a girls shoe on a beach near the area where a woman and her family were killed after the SUV they were in drove off a California cliff in March, authorities said Thursday. The remains were found Wednesday in Westport, Calif., and a crew was sent to the area to search. DNA tests will be conducted on the remains to try to identify who they belonged to, the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office said. Sarah and Jennifer Hart and their six adopted children were believed to be in the familys SUV when it plunged off a cliff in Mendocino County, more than 160 miles north of San Francisco. The location where the remains were found is about one mile north of where the SUV disappeared. HART MOMS WERE NOT WEARING SEAT BELTS DURING DEADLY CALIFORNIA CLIFF CRASH, SHERIFF SAYS Authorities found the bodies of the couple, both of whom were 39 years old, and three of their children, Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14, on March 26. Last month, authorities identified a body pulled from the water as Ciera Hart, 12. The other two children Devonte, 15 and Hannah, 16 have not been found. Authorities believe the entire family was in the vehicle when it crashed off a cliff and into the ocean. Last month, authorities determined Jennifer Hart, who was driving the vehicle, had a 0.102 alcohol level, higher than the states legal limit. Her wife, as well as two of the couples six adopted children, were also found with a significant amount of an ingredient commonly found in Benadryl in their systems, according to tests. Officials said no one in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. DRIVER OF HART FAMILY SUV WAS DRUNK, AUTHORITIES SAY Police have said that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate. They said the SUV had stopped at a coastal highway overlook before speeding straight off the cliff and plummeting 100 feet into the rocky Pacific Ocean below. The crash occurred just days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation looking into whether the children were neglected. Fox News Elizabeth Zwirz and the Associated Press contributed to this report. The Latest on reports of a man with a gun at a Southern California school (all times local): 8:32 a.m. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have detained a person after responding to reports of a man with a gun at a high school in the city of Palmdale. Sheriff's Sgt. Aura Sierra could not immediately provide more information about the person detained Friday morning said there has been no confirmation of a shooting. She says deputies are searching Highland High School in the high desert Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles. Sierra says someone also called to report shots fired in the vicinity of Manzanita Elementary School about 7 miles (11 kilometers) away. She says there's no information about that caller and no confirmation of the report. Deputies are investigating. ___ 8:02 a.m. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies are responding to a report of a man with a gun at a high school in the city of Palmdale. The Sheriff's Information Bureau says the report was received at 7:05 a.m. Friday and deputies were sent to Highland High School. Deputy Charles Moore says there is no confirmation of an actual person with a gun or any shooting. Palmdale is north of Los Angeles in the high desert Antelope Valley. Rare artifacts belonging to Abraham Lincoln are in danger of being sold off after his Presidential Library Foundation announced it is struggling to pay off a $10 million loan used to acquire them. The foundation took out a $23 million loan in 2007 to purchase the Barry and Louise Taper Collection. It paid an additional $25 million of its own money but just this week it was revealed that the foundation still owes almost $10 million on the note, due in October 2019. If the loan isnt paid off, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Illinois said it will be forced to sell off extremely rare items related to the 16th president from the collection. The items at risk include Lincoln's iconic stovepipe hat, an 1824 book containing the first known example of his handwriting and the bloodstained gloves that he wore the night he was assassinated. "We now face significant uncertainty about whether the foundation's lender will be willing and able to refinance the loan at affordable terms," the foundation said in a statement. ABRAHAM LINCOLN LETTER MYSTERY ALMOST CERTAINLY SOLVED, EXPERTS SAY Rauner spokeswoman Patty Schuh called the museum "a jewel for the state." In addition to private fundraising, the foundation has begun working with Illinois Gov. Bruce, Rauners office in an attempt to create a plan that includes state funding. But the foundation said in a news release that it has yet to receive any financial commitments from the state, which could force the sale of the collection. If the foundation is not able to secure commitments in the very near future to retire most if not all of the remaining $9.7 million debt, it will have no choice but to accelerate the possibility of selling these unique artifacts on the private market which would likely remove them from public view forever. Officials from the foundation say that theyve asked lawmakers for funding on three separate occasions, but with Illinois hundreds of billions of dollars in debt, the chances of financial aid seem grim. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The nations oldest veteran celebrated his 112th birthday on Friday. Richard Overton, believed to also be the oldest person in America, was born in 1906 in Bastrop County, located just outside of Austin. The WWII veteran served in the 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion from 1942 to 1945, which included stops in Angaur, Peleliu and Iwo Jima, the Austin American-Statesman reported. I love to have a birthday, he told the newspaper, adding that he hopes to live another five years. Overton credits God, whiskey and cigars as the secret to his long life. The veteran celebrated his birthday Friday from his home in East Austin, where hes lived since returning from WWII. The street on which he lives -- Richard Overton Avenue -- was named in honor of his 111th birthday last year, according to FOX7. Overturn, who has met former President Barack Obama and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, among other notable people, requires 24/7 in-home care, the Austin American-Statesman reported. To help with this expense, his family created a GoFundMe page for Overton that has raised more than $230,000 of its $400,000 goal. That said, Overton hasnt let age slow him down -- just last month, the now 112-year-old flew on a private jet to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Hes like a gift to Austin that keeps giving, Overtons friend, Steve Wiener, told the newspaper. Hes a crackerjack. When people sense his humor and playfulness, it just lightens everyones step. A 35-year-old candy shop owner from New Mexico allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a teenage boy from Oklahoma after meeting him via Xbox LIVE, police said. The suspect, identified as Kristen Aragon, allegedly asked the teen for his phone number. The two then began exchanging text messages, authorities said. Police said the boy told them that Aragon requested lewd photos of the boy, which he sent on two occasions, News 9 reported. Aragon allegedly sent him sexually explicit texts. According to the report, the boy told Aragon he was lonely and stayed home a lot. The two allegedly discussed living arrangements. In mid-April, Aragon and a friend, identified as Melissa Goelz, 29, drove 13 hours from Farmington, N.M., to Pittsburg County, Okla., to pick up the boy at a gas station. They then drove back to Farmington with a stop at a motel along the way, authorities said. Officials said the boy's father reported him missing and Oklahoma authorities reached out to officials in New Mexico. Authorities said they tracked down the women via cellphone and other means to a home in New Mexico where the boy was found in a car that pulled into the driveway. Aragon and Goelz were charged May 4 with kidnapping and lewd molestation, police said. The women remained jailed Thursday in the San Juan County, N.M., Adult Detention Center, pending extradition on fugitive warrants from Oklahoma. "It was very alarming. We knew it was going to be a bad situation if we didn't act fast and get the boy located," Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque. "It was very alarming. We knew it was going to be a bad situation if we didn't act fast and get the boy located." Sheriff Chris Morris, Pittsburg County, Okla. A probable-cause affidavit filed by a Pittsburg County investigator said the boy told an FBI agent that he had told the women that he wanted to go home, the McAlester News-Capitol reported. However, Aragon told the boy that he "had to either go with them now or that he would be left on the side of the road naked," the affidavit said. The boy has reportedly been returned to his family. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities say a 73-year-old man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his teenage grandson in western Ohio. The Paulding County Sheriff's Office says William Miller II was arrested Thursday night after shooting 19-year-old Evan Holcombe in the chest. Holcombe was dead when deputies arrived. The Sheriff's office hasn't said why Miller killed his grandson. They lived together in the home in Oakwood. Miller is being held in the Paulding County Jail. It's unclear if he has an attorney yet. A court hearing has been scheduled for Monday. Oakwood is roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Toledo. An Illinois man has been arrested in the cold case rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Washington state more than 30 years ago, according to reports. Jennifer Bastian, who was last seen riding her new 18-speed Schwinn bicycle in a local park in Tacoma on Aug 4, 1986, had been strangled, local media reported. Police found her body near a wooded trail in the park 24 days later. The suspect was identified Thursday as Robert Washburn, 60, of Eureka, Ill., according to the Tacoma News Tribune. He is a former Tacoma resident, who lived near the park at the time of the murder. I think everybody who has been involved with this over the years is extremely happy that its been solved, Tacoma police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said, according to the paper. Not a day goes by that we dont think of her, Patti Bastian, Jennifers mother, told the newspaper in 2013. Shes our little girl. For years, police believed the man who killed Jennifer also raped and killed 12-year-old Michella Welch in March 1986 in another North End Tacoma park, the Sky Valley Chronicle in Monroe, Wash., reported. But police ruled out a connection in 2016 when they released composite sketches of a male suspect in each case. Welch's murder is still unsolved. James Peterson, one of Jennifers former classmates, told Q13 Fox in Seattle that he last saw Jennifer the day she disappeared. I distinctively remember Jennifer riding up and asking if we wanted to go riding with her and, being teenage boys, we all kind of ignored her, he said. Then, we never saw her again. Authorities say a Phoenix woman became obsessed with a man after only one date, sending him more than 65,000 text messages, breaking into his home and taking a bath. Jacqueline Claire Ades remained jailed Friday on suspicion of stalking, threatening and harassment by communication. Charging documents say officers responded to the man's home in upscale Paradise Valley last month and found Ades taking a bath. They also reported finding a butcher knife in her car. Authorities say Ades has also showed up at the victim's workplace claiming to be his wife. She was arrested Tuesday. In a rambling jailhouse interview with news outlets Thursday, Ades called the man her "soulmate." She will be represented by a public defender. Deep within the most fortified military installation in North America is a 15-building complex that protects the world from ongoing terror threats. The Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, long dubbed Americas fortress, is a bunker like no other. It sits 2,000 feet below solid granite, hidden deep in a mountain, and was built to withstand any type of threat. Inside, workers analyze surveillance systems all across the world, and in space, and send the data to decision makers at the Pentagon to assess threats and determine how to deal with them. The facility, built during the Cold War, has now taken on new prominence after President Trump announced this week that the U.S. will abandon the Iran nuclear deal. The announcement prompted an immediate response from the head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security, who said the rogue nation will continue developing its ballistic missile program. Inside this fort, which can withstand a nuclear, biological or electromagnetic disaster, scientists are preparing for the worst and making sure the world is safe. Sophisticated screens allow the men and women inside to monitor the air space of Canada and the United States. "We have two 25-ton blast doors to protect the inner workings of the complex," said Col. Robert Moose, who is in charge of all support operations, maintenance and testing inside Cheyenne Mountain. The complex was built in the 1960s the height of the Cold War when the threat of a nuclear attack by Russia was a chilling reality. Because of ongoing threats, the Cheyenne Mountain complex is a 24/7 operation and can go into lockdown mode at a moments notice. The facility is a completely self-sufficient city inside a mountain. "We have food, water, sewage, power, everything we'd need in order to survive for an extended period of time," Moose said. The buildings were constructed on top of massive springs designed to act as shock absorbers in case of any seismic event. Impenetrable from the outside, the bunker can resist any electromagnetic pulse, even a nuclear attack. Despite Cold War fears easing since the 1950s and 1960s, the mood in the United States is still tense, highlighting how critical the Cheyenne Mountain complex is to the U.S. and its allies. Moose said because of North Koreas recent ballistic missile launches and the uncertainty of what will happen with Iran, the mission of the workers at the complex has taken on a new sense of urgency. "What they do day in and day out and what it means to our country really resonates with them," he said. In order to stay sharp, they run drills within the mountain almost constantly. But, they still keep a close eye on any usual activity and potential threats. If someone launches a missile aimed at the U.S., they would be among the first to detect it. "If that were to occur, we're ready, Moose said. If it's the worst day in American history, the airmen that are on duty are ready at a second's notice to react and do what's necessary to protect America." During the last year, multiple schools across the U.S. have been impacted by shootings, which have resulted in the deaths of both students and faculty members. Read on for a look at school shootings that have taken place within the last year. Noblesville West Middle School, Indiana A male student fired shots at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana on May 25, critically injuring another student and a teacher at the school. The alleged shooter, who has not yet been identified, was taken into custody shortly after the incident occurred at roughly 9 a.m. Sources told FOX 59 the suspect walked into a science classroom with a gun and opened fire, hitting a female. A science teacher was able to tackle the student who fired shots inside the classroom, student Ethan Stonebraker told The Associated Press. The victims were taken to a local hospital. The extent of their injuries is unclear. Santa Fe High School, Texas At least eight people were killed and several others were injured following reports of an active shooter at a Texas high school on May 18, local affiliate KTRK reported. The suspected shooter was taken into custody. "Personnel treating the injured. Info is still preliminary, but there are multiple casualties," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed. Police officers responded to Santa Fe High School around 8 a.m. CDT after reports that a shooter opened fire inside a first-period art class. Details of the incident were not immediately available. "Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location," the school district said in a statement. Highland High School, California A 14-year-old student was taken into custody after allegedly shooting a classmate at Highland High School in Palmdale, California on May 11. The suspected gunman shot a fellow student in the arm, police said. The shooting stemmed from a dispute between the shooter and the victim, according to authorities. The injured student is expected to make a full recovery. Forest High School, Florida A suspected gunman, later identified as 19-year-old Sky Bouche, allegedly opened fire at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, on April 20. The shooting occured on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. At least one student was injured after the gunman shot through a classroom door, hitting a 17-year-old student in the ankle, authorities said. The student was later taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury. A school resource officer, James Long, was hailed a hero after arresting Bouche just three minutes after he opened fire. Bouche, a former student at the school, allegedly carried the weapon in a guitar case inside the school, authorities said. Great Mills High School, Maryland On March 20, a gunman, identified as 17-year-old Austin Rollins, shot 16-year-old sophomore Jaelynn Willey at Great Mills High School in Lexington Park, Maryland, authorities said. Willey died days later from her injuries. Investigators believe the shooting was not random as the gunman and Willey had recently ended their relationship. Rollins was fatally wounded during a confrontation with Deputy Blaine Gaskill, an armed school resource officer who doubles as a SWAT team member. "Our school resource officer...pursued the shooter, engaged the shooter, fired a round at the shooter," St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said. "The shooter fired a round as well. In the hours and days to come, we'll be able to determine if our school resource officer's round struck the shooter." Gaskill was praised because he reportedly contained the situation in under a minute, Cameron said. Willey's parents announced on March 22 that their daughter was brain dead and that they would be taking her off of life support. She died later that night. Jaelynn's mother, Melissa, told reporters her daughter had "no life left in her." "On Tuesday ... our lives changed completely and totally forever. My daughter was hurt by a boy who shot her in the head and took everything from our lives," she said. A 14-year-old boy, later identified as Desmond Barnes, was also injured in the shooting. Authorities said he was shot in the thigh but was later released from a local hospital. Police are still investigating if the boy was shot by Rollins or Gaskill while the two exchanged gunfire. Huffman High School, Alabama A 17-year old girl is dead and one other person was left injured from a March 7 shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Courtlin Arrington, 17, was killed when shots were fired in a classroom, Birmingham Police Chief Orlando Wilson told WBRC. A 17-year-old male student was wounded. He was taken to the hospital and released. Birmingham Police Department announced March 8 that a student was taken into custody in the investigation into the deadly shooting. Police said evidence, surveillance video and statements were reviewed throughout the night. Police initially called the shooting accidental, but later reviewed a video that captured the deadly incident. "We're not saying he shot her, we're not saying he didn't shoot her," the chief said. "We're asking those questions ourselves so we can determine exactly what happened." Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Police responded to reports of shots fired at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., around 3 p.m. on Feb. 14. Seventeen people lost their lives and 17 others were injured. The day after the shooting, the suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, told authorities he arrived at the school with an AR-15 rifle, adding that he shot "students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds," according to an arrest affidavit. Cruz may plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, his lawyer reportedly said Feb. 16. Cruz was formally charged March 7 with 17 counts each of premeditated murder and attempted murder. A 12-year-old girl was taken into custody after police said the loaded gun she brought to Salvador B. Castro Middle School in Los Angeles accidentally discharged on Feb. 1, shooting a 15-year-old boy in the head and a 15-year-old girl in the wrist. Police interviewed the 12-year-old student and agreed the shooting was accidental. She was booked in a juvenile detention center on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm on school grounds. It is unclear where the girl got the gun or why she decided to bring it to her school. Doctors said both students who were shot are expected to recover. Additionally, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were treated at the hospital and released while a 30-year-old woman, who is a school staff member, had only minor injuries, Los Angeles city police said in a statement. Marshall County High School, Kentucky A shooter opened fire at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., on Jan. 23, killing two people. Students Bailey Nicole Holt and Preston Ryan Cope, both 15 years old, died. Suspected shooter Gabriel Ross Parker, 15, was arraigned on Feb. 16, according to Kentucky State Police. "A Marshall County Grand Jury returned an indictment on Tuesday, charging Parker with two counts of Murder and fourteen counts of First Degree Assault," KSP said. Marshall County Circuit Clerk Tiffany Griffith told Reuters a judge entered a not guilty plea on the teen's behalf. Italy High School, Texas A 15-year-old girl was hurt in a Jan. 22 shooting at Italy High School in Italy, Texas. A 16-year-old male student was taken into custody, Ellis County police told Fox News. In the school's cafeteria, the suspect "engaged the victim" and fired several shots with a semi-automatic handgun, Ellis County Sheriff Chuck Edge said during a press briefing. The suspect was confronted by an Italy Independent School District staffer in the school cafeteria and took off, Edge said. Law enforcement later apprehended the suspect on school grounds. The suspect was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the Ellis County district attorney's office announced. Aztec High School, New Mexico Gunman William Atchison, 21, disguised himself as a student to get inside Aztec High School in Aztec, N.M., on Dec. 7, 2017, according to authorities. Atchison was also a former student. State police said that Atchison killed students Francisco I. Fernandez and Casey J. Marquez. Officials said Atchison eventually shot himself, adding that the students killed were not targeted, but were at the "wrong place at the wrong time." Rancho Tehama Elementary School, California A man in Northern California went on a random shooting rampage on Nov. 14, 2017, killing five people and wounding at least a dozen adults and children before authorities shot and killed him. The gunman, who was later identified as Kevin Neal, 44, rammed a car into the gates of Rancho Tehama Elementary School and shot at its portable classrooms. He repeatedly tried to get into a kindergarten classroom but quick-thinking staff locked the school down, and he eventually stormed off. Neal reportedly targeted the elementary school as part of a long-running feud with neighbors. Mattoon High School, Illinois A male student shot and injured a fellow student at a central Illinois high school on Sept. 20, 2017. The shooting unfolded in Mattoon High Schools cafeteria around 11:30 a.m., officials said at the time. One female teacher intervened and successfully subdued and disarmed the gunman -- a move Mattoon Police Chief Jeff Branson said at the time was pivotal. The gunman was taken into custody shortly after the incident. Freeman High School, Washington A 15-year-old student opened fire on fellow classmates at a Washington state high school on Sept. 13, 2017, killing one, investigators said. Caleb Sharpe, the suspected gunman, said the student who died had bullied him. The slain student tried to stop the teen's rampage when the gun jammed, according to The Associated Press. A school janitor was hailed a hero after he was able to subdue the alleged shooter. Three other students were wounded in the attack. According to court documents, Sharpe told officials that he brought the two guns to school to teach everyone a lesson about what happens when you bully others. North Park Elementary School, California A special needs teacher and a child, 8, were killed in what police said was a murder-suicide at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. Police said Cedric Anderson walked into the school on April 10, 2017, and shot his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith. Two other students were also struck before Anderson killed himself, although law enforcement officials said they do not believe they were intended targets. Jonathan Martinez was identified as the 8-year-old killed at the elementary school. A 9-year-old was injured. Liberty-Salem High School, Ohio Two high school students were injured after a fellow student allegedly fired a shotgun inside Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio on Jan. 20, 2017. Logan Cole, who was 16 at the time, was shot twice but survived. Another student was grazed by a bullet. Champaign County Sheriff Matthew Melvin said the gunman intended to harm more students than he did. Ely Serna, the accused gunman, was 17 at the time of the shooting but is being tried as an adult in Champaign County court. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Fox News' Nicole Darrah, Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Elizabeth Zwirz, Katherine Lam, Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Samuel Chamberlain, Kathleen Joyce, Shira Bush and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A suspect was in custody Friday after a shooting was reported earlier in the day at Highland High School in Palmdale, Calif., the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office told Fox News. A 15-year-old male student was shot "in the arm/shoulder," brought to the "hospital by an unknown individual," and is in stable condition, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. A 14-year-old male with a gun was identified and there were no other subjects, they added. The sheriff's office previously tweeted that a male juvenile had been detained and a firearm was recovered. The suspect appeared to be visible in video taken of a sheriff's car sitting near a shopping mall about a mile from the school. Officials said they received a call about an individual with a gun on the high school's campus at about 7 a.m. local time, which is a half hour before school was set to begin. The sheriff's office said in the press release that the suspect's father called a friend of the family, who was an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer, and said he'd gotten a call that morning from the 14-year-old's mother, who "told him they were having trouble with the suspect who had run away from the house." "The LAPD Officer then got a call from the subjects' father, who said the subject had just called him," the press release said. "The subject told the dad, he shot his gun in the air and was headed towards a local shopping center." The off-duty officer went to the market and located the teen before calling authorities. "Deputies arrived at the shopping center and detained the subject for one count of Attempted Murder," the press release said. The weapon, an SKS rifle, was also found in a field located west of the school, authorities said. Highland High School, which has an attendance of about 4,000 students, is located 65 miles from Los Angeles. The school was cleared by authorities, however, the investigation into the incident continued. The sheriff's office also tweeted that deputies investigated reports of shots fired near Manzanita Elementary School, located about seven miles from Highland High School, but the campus and school was cleared and no threat was discovered. Fox News' Elizabeth Zwirz contributed to this report. Shares of the security software company Symantec are plunging 30 percent at the opening bell after the company revealed an internal investigation that could delay its annual report. Details, released in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday, say only that the investigation was begun in connection with the concerns of a former employee. The revelation appears likely to wipe more than $5 billion from the company's market value when the market opens. Shares are down $8.68, to $20.60. The Mountain View, California, company says the matter has also been referred to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and that the outcome of the investigation could impact its financial results and guidance. A Tennessee sheriff and his top deputy are facing misconduct charges Friday after a state investigation revealed they allowed inmates to be loaned out to help county employees with chores at their personal properties -- among other damning allegations. Lawrence County Sheriff Jimmy Brown, 71, and Captain Adam Brewer, 40, who were taken into custody Tuesday, were hit with charges ranging from Use of Inmate Labor for Personal Gain to Tampering with Evidence. "Our investigation determined that a Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate housed in the Lawrence County Jail was being loaned out to sheriff department management and staff to help with chores at their personal property for things such as cleaning, repair work, lawn care, and painting," the states comptroller said in a report issued Thursday, analyzing instances between 2015 and 2017. "Additionally, we noted non-TDOC inmates were also 'loaned out.'" The investigative report done with the help of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation -- also says inmates in the jails voluntary work release program "were not properly supervised." "Instead, some of these inmates were dropped off at public locations and only checked on when the supervising individual had time," it added. "In some of these instances, we determined that inmates were visited by their family, friends, or girlfriends, some with contraband." Brown also is accused of exceeding his authority and violating the law "by releasing defendants on their own recognizance or on a signature bond without the proper order." In another alleged misdeed, Brewer, who indicated on his timesheet that he was working on a Friday in September 2016, was actually taking a personal trip to Florida with his county-owned vehicle, toll camera and license plate data showed. Browns bond has been set at $25,000, while Brewers is $5,000, Fox 17 News reported. Both men are currently being held in familiar territory -- their own countys jail. An Indiana woman who injected her husband with a lethal dose of heroin before smothering him with a pillow may be responsible for nine other deaths -- and is suspected of serving her lover's remains to unsuspecting neighbors at a barbecue. Kelly M. Cochran, 34, was sentenced to 65 years in prison last month after admitting to killing her husband, Jason Cochran; but she was already serving a life sentence for killing and dismembering another lover, Chris Regan, who vanished in 2014, Indy Star reported. An upcoming documentary called Dead North, set to air on May 28 and May 29 on Investigation Discovery, probes other possible murders that may be linked to Cochran. Cochrans family told investigators she may have killed as many as nine people and buried their bodies throughout the Midwest. Her friends and family also told investigators the stomach-churning tale of how Cochran allegedly served Regans remains to her neighbors at a barbecue. SUSPECT DETAINED IN CONNECTION TO SHOOTING REPORTED AT CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo, who investigated Regans disappearance, said she met Cochran and her husband during the probe, court documents stated. The investigator learned Cochran was having an affair with Regan but the case went cold until Jason Cochran died in February 2016 of a suspected overdose. Later on, investigators found he was murdered by his wife. Cochran admitted she and her husband lured Regan inside their home, shot him and dismembered him, before dumping his remains in the woods. Cochran said she and her husband made a pact to kill off anyone involved in their extramarital affairs. But Cochran said she was angry at her husband and killed him as revenge for murdering Regan, court documents stated. She was sentenced to life in prison in May 2017 for Regans murder and sentenced on April 18 for her husbands slaying. ARMY VETERAN SENTENCED TO 55 YEARS FOR KILLING, BURYING WIFE Investigation Discovery said in a statement that Cochrans brother told investigators he feared his sister was a serial killer and neighbors said they believed they were served human remains at the barbecue. "The toll of this case on Frizzo's career (is) significant. Despite disagreements with the Iron River City Manager regarding her 'bullheaded' investigation style, Frizzo remains adamant that the case isn't closed," the news release stated. "The City Manager relieves Frizzo of her duties just as Kelly admits to having other 'friends' buried in Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee and Minnesota; however, the identities and specific locations of these bodies remain a mystery to this day." While most former ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria have been liberated, several thousand kidnapped women and children of the Yazidi minority group remain unaccounted for and are enslaved in neighboring Turkey, according to families and rescue groups. We are finding many of our women, our girls, our kids in Turkey, Hussein Al-Qaidi, director of the office of kidnapped and rescue affairs run by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Ministers office in the city of Duhok, told Fox News. What happens is most are given fake IDs or marriage certificates. Their names are changed to Muslim names, and they become part of another family. And then they are smuggled over the border from Syria. Data given to Fox News by the KRG prime minister's office shows roughly half of the 6,417 taken in captive by ISIS when they occupied the Sinjar area of Syria - the ancestral homeland of the Yazidis - remain unaccounted for. Among those rescued were 1,151 teen girls and women over the age of 15, 336 boys and men of the same age group, and 858 children under 15. That leaves some 3,132 Yazidis still missing. And while Al-Qaidi anticipates many of those missing have been killed, he said a significant number are believed to be enslaved across Syria and Turkey. Among those rescued was 21-year-old Shaza, who returned home from Ankara, Turkey on Jan. 9 more than three years after being taken and forced into marriage as a "second wife" to an ISIS fighter. Shaza was smuggled into Turkey last fall along a "secret way," with family members of the ISIS husband who stayed behind to fight in Syria as Iraqi troops closed in. For the next few months, Shaza said, she remained bound to an Ankara apartment as a slave, before being salvaged in a rescue operation involving smugglers and middle men. Thanks to God I am alive, she told Fox News. Jaqueline, now 10, was just seven when she was whisked from her village and transferred to what was then an ISIS stronghold of Tel Afar. She was then sold to the family of an ISIS leader, Waleed, and his wife, Zena. The family moved to Syria in early 2017, and Jaqueline said she was then smuggled with their extended family over the border into Turkey, where she spent another six months in Ankara. She recalls the family referring to her as "our daughter" when questioned at checkpoints by officials. Jacqueline said she was forced to work long hours for the family, essentially functioning as a domestic servant. They treated me very badly, making me clean for them all day, and all night, while the wife did nothing." But suddenly one day last July, Jacqueline said, she was informed she was going home. She was put on a plane to Baghdad, where one of her captives brothers had flown weeks earlier, where he was stopped by a member of the paramilitary group Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). That led to some sort of deal that secured Jacqueline's release. Most rescue cases are coordinated and funded by Al-Qaidi's office, who in turns works with Iraqi and Turkish security agencies to secure family reunifications. Al Qaidy declined to discuss the details of rescue operations, but emphasized the work from Turkey is difficult but not impossible." A spokesperson for the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad told Fox News that Turkish authorities "have worked with Iraqi counterparts, especially with the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement, as well as Iraqi Border Authority, in a cooperative manner to ensure the safe return of refugees, including Yazidis. According to documents viewed by Fox News, the first Yazidi rescue from Turkish territory took place in December, 2016 - a 23-year-old woman named Watha. Since then, 15 other rescue operations have successfully been carried out all over Turkey most recently on April 4. But al-Qaidy said he knows it will take many more rescues, particularly since most of those being held are very young. One of the challenges of cross-border rescues is to first prove a Yazidi is being held against their will. This often requires DNA proof. DISCOVERY OF MASS GRAVES IN IRAQ A GRIM REMINDER OF ISIS SAVAGERY ANCIENT CHRISTIAN RUINS DISCOVERED UNDER FORMER ISIS-HELD TERRITORY Lazem, now six, was just three when he was bought by a woman to be an ISIS son." He was forced to convert to Islam, renamed Abdullah, issued a new identity card to match that of his ISIS family, and spirited away to Turkey. But after his real father, Kassim, received credible information Lazem was in Turkey, a trip was coordinated for him to personally travel there, and provide a DNA sample. Forty-five days later, on Sept. 9 last year, Lazem and his father were reunited. But because of his age and the length of time he was gone, Lazem didn't even recognize his father. The boy had also forgotten his native language, the Kurdish dialect of Kurmani, and could speak only Turkmen and Turkish. The trauma seems to still weigh on Lazem. In a Fox News interview with Lazem and his father, the boy rarely made eye contact, and spoke up only to ask when his mother and three brothers all also taken by ISIS are coming home. The chances of that reunification might depend on where his mother and brothers are being held. Yazidis captive in Turkey actually might stand a better chance of being returned home than those who are trapped with remaining ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria. Enas, a cheerful eight-year-old girl, was found in Syria late last summer after the ISIS family that took her essentially sold back her freedom. The mission to get enough money to return her took months, but paid off. She was quietly moved out of Syria first to Turkey, then back home to Iraq. The "buyback" rescue is very common. More often than not, the families of the missing are contacted or discover where their loved ones are being held, and work though Al-Qaidi's office to help collect and deliver the money. But, al-Qaidi lamented, that process and the defeat of ISIS has produced a sharp rise in the cost of ongoing rescues. There are many cases still in Turkey we know of, and we want them home, he added. We will continue this process until the last of our people is brought home. Four children, their mom and their grandparents were found dead in a rural property in southwest Australia early Friday in what authorities were calling the countrys worst mass murder in more than two decades. Officials found the bodies of two of the adults outside a house in Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people. The other remains were found inside. Police would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide, but they are not looking for a suspect. Officials said police were alerted to the property by a phone call at about 5:15 a.m. Upon their arrival, police found the bodies and two guns on the property. At least some of the bodies had gunshot wounds, authorities said; but it wasnt clear whether all of the victims had been fatally shot. The loss of any life is tragic, but the loss of four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy, Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said at a news conference, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The loss of any life is tragic, but the loss of four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy. Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson Police were attempting to make contact with victims' relatives, Dawson said. He declined to release the names or ages of the dead. Local media reported they all of those killed resided at the property and they had moved to the area in 2015 to grow fruit. Dawson would not speculate on a motive, but said police had no immediate concerns about public safety beyond the property. "Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident," Dawson told reporters. He added: "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest," he added. Philip Alpers, a Sydney University gun policy analyst, said the tragedy appeared to be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania state in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australia's gun laws have been widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters, including former President Barack Obama, saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented -- until Friday. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Osmington is a collection of a few streets, farms, horse studs, vacation accommodation and vineyards supplying the premium winemaking district known as Margaret River. Fox News' Lucia Suarez and the Associated Press contributed to this story. A Congo park spokesman says one guard has been killed and two British tourists and their driver have been abducted in Virunga National Park. Joel Wengamulay, spokesman for the Congolese Institute for The Conservation of Nature, told the U.N.-backed Radio Okapi that the kidnapping occurred Friday in the Nyiragongo territory just north of Goma. He says their vehicle was ambushed while bringing the British tourists from Kibumba to Goma. Wengamulay says investigations into the attack have begun. Eastern Congo is home to multiple armed groups. Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office says it is in contact with Congolese authorities following an incident involving two British nationals. It did not give details. Iran on Friday said it strongly condemns Israels attacks on neighboring Syria that reportedly hit nearly all of the Iranian military's infrastructure in the country, Reuters reported, citing state TV. The Israeli military said Thursday it attacked dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Israel says the strikes were retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the Golan Heights and has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to immediately condemn Irans attack. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate halt to "all hostile acts" to avoid "a new conflagration" in the Middle East after Israeli forces bombed Iranian targets inside Syria. The airstrikes were the largest military exchange ever between the two countries, Reuters reported. Friday's state TV report quoted Bahram Ghasemi, Irans foreign ministry spokesman. He called the airstrikes fabricated and baseless excuses and a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. Avigdor Liberman, the Israeli defense minister, said, If Iran hits us with a drizzle here, we will hit them with a downpour there. He said Israel will not stand for Iran turning Syria into a missile-launching ground to attack his country, the Jerusalem Post reported. There are many radical Islamists, but Iran is the only one which is really implementing its ideology across the region and into Africa, he said, according to the paper. The exchange occurred two days after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would exit the 2015 nuclear accord. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. Trump called the deal defective at its core. The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The foreign ministers of eight central European and Balkan EU countries are holding talks in Greece in which prospective bloc members from the Balkans are also represented. Friday's meetings in a resort south of Athens bring together ministers from the so-called Visegrad Group Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Talks are focusing on energy, the future of the European Union and the bloc's expansion ahead of an EU summit next week in Bulgaria. The foreign ministers of Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, all of them hoping to join the EU, have been invited as observers along with colleagues from EU members Slovenia and Cyprus. Members of the Visegrad Group have been strongly critical of some EU policies, particularly on immigration. President Trump is taking the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, but he expressed confidence that the Islamic Republic will, despite its protestations to the contrary, want to come back to the negotiating table. They are going to want to make a new and lasting deal, Trump said. One that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people. When they do, I am ready, willing and able. Not everyone is so sure. Sanam Vakil, an analyst at Londons Chatham House, said at a discussion about Iran this week such a coming together seems highly unlikely. Its going to be very hard to convince [Iran Supreme leader] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to go back to the table when they perceive that the U.S. has yet again moved the goalposts and is not to be trusted, he said. But former Iranian diplomat Mehrdad Khonsari said Trump may pull off a North Korea with Iran. He may have a game plan for reeling the Islamic Republic in and cutting a deal. Vast untapped markets, not centrifuges, are at stake. Iran has over a trillion dollars-worth of projects that require external investment, said Khonsari. So its a huge market, and given an opportunity to participate in this, it would be difficult for someone like Trump to refuse. Khonsari did point out that the outreach to Iran at the very end of Trumps otherwise punishing speech on Tuesday only served to alienate those Iranians who are dreaming of a regime change. President Trump made an overt gesture to the current leaders of Iran for them to come and make an offer to him to start negotiating a new deal, he said. So if you were hopeful that as a consequence of Trumps actions you would be seeing the back of the regime, you were disappointed. Mahmood Sariolghalam, a professor at Tehrans Shahid Beheshti University, took part in the Chatham House discussion as well. If we look at Iran from an economic perspective, Iran needs to cooperate with the rest of the world and to what degree the country will be prepared to reorient its foreign policy at the regional level so it can accommodate both the U.S. and Europe is an open question. He was referring to the U.S. and Europes complaints about Irans meddling in the Middle East in Yemen, and in Syria. Its one of the sticking points in relations that falls outside the framework of the nuclear deal. Sariolghalam told Chatham House Trumps decision was a breakthrough moment in U.S.-Iran relations, in terms of Iran being forced to at least reevaluate its position vs. the rest of the world. The Islamic Republic has long asserted that it does not need America or the rest of the world in order to thrive. But if its oil and gas imports are severely curtailed by renewed U.S. sanctions, it will be in a tough spot before a population that is expecting life to get better and more prosperous. Irans future will be shaped by how the country will resolve some of its soft issuesenvironment, education, its economy and the fact that there is a national problem with water resources, he said. In order to resolve these issues they need to coordinate with the rest of the world for technology transfer and capital investment, particularly in its oil and gas industry. There are estimates Iran would need $100 billion in foreign investment to get its oil exports back to the level they were in 2009. Many agree that there is much more than uranium enrichment involved in the problem between United States and Iran. History is replete with examples of hostile acts and mistrust that each country often cites. But even at present there is powerful messaging and imagery that influence decision-making. One of the allegations made constantly against Iran, and in order to raise the hype against Iran, is this constant harping on the fact that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism, Khonsari told Fox News. But the reality is the world is not concerned with the largest state sponsor of terrorism, because the biggest worry, the biggest menace in the area of terrorism comes not from states but non-state actors like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Sariolghalam believes Irans position on Israel lies at the heart of its conflict with the U.S. As long as Iran does not address this issue, he said, it will not be able to gain support within the U.S. for an improvement or change of perception within the U.S. towards Iran. Sariolghalam said while Irans attitude about Israel impeded rapprochement with the U.S., he did not suggest that would change anytime soon. Anti-Israel, together with anti-American rhetoric, has been one of the pillars of Iranian foreign policy since the time of the Islamic Revolution. Whether or not anyone in Iran is ready for such a reassessment or reset remains the ultimate mystery for now. More immediately, we are likely to get answers on how Irans economy responds to the effects of the end of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Richard Grenell, the new U.S. ambassador to Berlin, came out swinging this week by reiterating the Trump administrations position that European companies should stop working with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Grenell told FoxNews.com on Friday that U.S. policy is that German and European companies should stop doing business with Iran. He said that when he arrived in Berlin, the president of the United States announced the pullout of the Iran deal and the beginning of U.S. sanctions on Iran. President Donald Trump said the U.S. was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal because the Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. Grenell put defenders of the nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, on the defensive when he tweeted to his nearly 90,000 followers on Tuesday: As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Irans economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately. Grenell, a former Fox News contributor, previously served as spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations. After critics fired back against Grenells tweet, he wrote on Twitter that his message is the exact language sent out from the White House talking points & fact sheet. Commenting on the Grenell Tweet and the blowback in Germany, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told FoxNews.com on Friday that Iran poses a direct threat to the United States and our allies. The Ayatollahs use Irans resources to pursue nuclear weapons that could hit the American homeland, to launch terror attacks, to seize Americans, and to threaten global shipping. Given our shared security interests, our European allies should work hand-in-hand with us to constrain Iran, not to enrich the regime. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, told FoxNews.com Friday thatThe United States is taking a stand against the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terrorism that materially supports dictator Bashar al-Assads war crimes in Syria and is therefore complicit in perpetuating the largest humanitarian and refugee crisis since World War Two. We urge our allies and partners to stand on the right side of history and stop doing business with the Iranian regime. George W. Bushs former spokesman Ari Fleischer tweeted, with biting sarcasm and irony, about criticism targeting Grenell: Note to all US Ambassadors: if you want good press coverage, defy the President who appointed you. Whatever you do, do NOT represent the position of the President of the US. Andrea Nahles, the chairwoman of the Social Democratic Partya partner in Chancellor Angela Merkels coalitionsaid about Grenell, Its not my task to teach people about the fine art of diplomacy, especially not the US ambassador. But he does appear to need some tutoring. Nahles has faced criticism for her 2012 embrace of the Palestinian Fatah party. She said her Social Democratic Party and Fatah have shared values and common goals. Wolfgang Ischinger, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference and a former German ambassador to the U.S., commented on Twitter about Grenell, Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions. The German Left Party sharply criticized Grenell, telling Merkel to summon Grenell for a diplomatic dressing down. The Left Party is considered the "voice of Russia" in the German parliament because of its support for the policies of the authoritarian Vladimir Putin. German-Iran trade has steadily risen since the nuclear deal was signed in 2015. German exports to the Islamic Republic climbed to 3.5 billion euros ($4.18 billion) in 2017 from 2.6 billion euros ($3.11 billion) in 2016. According to economic experts, annual bilateral trade could soon soar to 10 billion euros ($11.95 billion), unless U.S. sanctions have a major effect. A spokesperson for Germany's foreign ministry referred FoxNews.com to a statement from foreign minister Heiko Mass delivered to the television program Tagesscahau. Mass said that "the Iran [agreement] is not dead." He added that "Iran has an interest in economic contact to the world so it can develop prosperity in its country." In 2016, the European Union conducted 587 billion euros ($701.38 billion) worth of exports to the U.S while European exports to Iran amounted to 9.1 billion euros ($10.87 billion). European companies could face denied access to the lucrative U.S market if they continue business with Iran. Germany became embroiled in a chemical weapons scandal with Iran in February. Construction material from the Stuttgart region-based Krempel Group was found in Iranian rockets used in two chemical attacks on Syrian civilians. The poison gas attacks injured 24 people. Germanys Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa) defended the sales to Iran because the material was not classified as dual-use merchandise that can be applied for military purposes. Bafa did not ban further Krempel sales to Iran. U.S. Jewish human rights organizations welcomed Grenells call for Berlin to pull the plug on business relations with Iran. The Zionist Organization of America said on Thursday: The ZOA thanks and praises new US Ambassador to Germany Rick Grenell for his efforts to obtain German companies compliance with economic sanctions on Iran. This is excellent advice. German industrial giants such as Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and the Linde Group conduct business with Islamic Republic. Michael Tockuss, managing board member the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, said prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, Some two-thirds of Iranian industry relies on German engineering products. Nasrin Amirsedghi, a leading Iranian dissident opposed to German trade with Iran who has written and lectured on the repression of women in the Islamic Republic, told FoxNews.com that that it is disappointing that such demands like from todays current US ambassador today are forcefully announced instead of 20 years ago, when the demands could have ousted the mullahs. I am ashamed for Germany that despite its past it continues to support politically and economically such a regime in Tehran. The Iranian regimes goal is the destruction of Israel, she said. A Wednesday article in the BILD newspaper, Germanys largest daily, said, Iran has exactly two export hits: oil and terrorism." Grenell told BILD, Every country is sovereign and can decide for itself on sanctions. But Germany, France and Britain, the EU-3, say themselves that Iran poses a threat. Do they want to do business with a threat? He added that If so then all companies chiefs who want this should stand up and say: we want to do business with the mullahs. Benjamin Weinthal reports on human rights in the Middle East and is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @BenWeinthal OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- A 37-year-old Ocean Springs man is in jail after police say he broke into a car, stole a gun and then pawned it at Ocean Springs pawn shop. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said Friday that his department received a call of an auto burglary Monday morning at the Mississippi Crab Company on Point Aux Chenes in the Gulf Park Estates subdivision. Investigators learned the vehicle owner had left his vehicle parked at the crab company, got on a boat and went crabbing, not returning until several hours later. When he did return, he discovered a pistol had been stolen from his car. Investigators checked with local pawn shops and found the gun at an Ocean Springs shop. The weapon was recovered. Deputies ultimately arrested Mississippi Crab Company employee Robert Richard Williams Thursday and charged him with auto burglary. He remains in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center under $5,000 bond. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- In the wake of incidents in 2014-2015 in which a special needs student was abused on board a Jackson County school bus, a petition is circulating calling for the ouster of Jackson County superintendent Barry Amacker. Started by Holly Fedele, a social worker with three children in the Jackson County district, one a special needs child, the petition had garnered over 700 signatures as of Friday afternoon. The petition notes that Amacker failed to report the abuse to the Mississippi Department of Education and demands the Jackson County School Board to remove Amacker from office. State law calls for the abuse of a child by school staff to the MDE within 10 days of the incident. "By not reporting the blatant abuse of a vulnerable child, he cannot be trusted to protect any children," Fedele wrote in explaining the petition, listed on the website change.org. In addition to the petition, a rally is scheduled for Monday at 4 p.m. prior to the Jackson County school board meeting at the district office. The petition, however, is moot. Amacker's position is an elected one and under Mississippi law there is no provision for the removal or recall of an elected official unless that official has been convicted of a felony. A law passed by the state legislature in 2016, however, will require all school superintendent positions be appointed beginning in 2019. Thursday afternoon, Amacker told The Mississippi Press he believes the petition is a result of people misunderstanding the facts of the case. "I believe if people actually understood what we did, they wouldn't be doing it," he said. "The school district took sure, swift action after it happened 3 1/2 years ago. "When (the incidents) came to our attention, we immediately put the two employees on administrative suspension and terminated them a week later. Law enforcement was notified at that time, as well." Amacker also said the district Human Resources department has assured him they notified MDE at that time. He has instructed the district's IT department to search through their email servers in hopes of finding documentation to support that claim. Amacker is in his 10th year as the Jackson County superintendent. He oversees total enrollment of nearly 9,400 students and an annual budget well in excess of $70 million. The Mississippi Association of School Administrators named Amacker it's Superintendent of the Year for 2018. The controversy surrounds the abuse of a special needs child by the bus driver, Antoinette Jane Raymond, and a then special education teacher, Kerri Ann Nettles, uncovered by the Sun Herald. Video footage obtained by the newspaper shows Nettles repeatedly yelling at the special needs child, who was 14 at the time of the incidents, and then stuffing a towel in the child's mouth. Other video shows Raymond threatening to have the girl put in jail or even kill her if she continued talking. Raymond then sat on top of the child to keep her still. The MDE has launched an investigation into the case. Amacker told The Mississippi Press he believes some of the backlash against the district is a result of the lengthy legal process which led to a 3 1/2 year process before Nettles and Raymond were each convicted of misdemeanors. "I want to be sure people understand we took action immediately after this happened," he said. "I think people are getting the idea it took 3 1/2 years because of something we did, that we had something to do with the delay. "But that's absolutely not true." Every year on January first, the moment I wake up I head to the window to see what my first bird of the New Year will be. My hope is us... ASR Assessment Used in Modern Chinese Language Classroom Author Note Abstract This action research study aims to help meet the developmental needs of Chinese language learners. Recently, there has been an increase in the research of student engagement, active instruction, and the use of technology in the classroom. However, research on the use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for Chinese language learning remains scarce. The investigation in this paper reveals both the advantages and the limitations of using Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based ASR in spoken language assessment. The findings indicate that the use of ASR does benefit the outcome of students Chinese language learning. ASR also adds additional assessment methods for teachers practice of multiple modalities, so that they can further improve student engagement and better address different learning styles. Our research used the data collected by transcribing text from students speech to support the claim that ASR increases the frequency of teacher-student interaction, while also enabling teachers to identify student errors and provide constructive feedback more promptly. This suggests that using ASR as an official summative assessment method in the Chinese language classroom is practical and effective. Key words: Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Chinese language education, ASR, Multiple modalities, Assessment. Instreduction The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of assessing students oral Chinese ability through analyzing the output text produced by Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology. In our research, ASR technology is used as an assessment instrument for Chinese language learners, and it shows substantial potential for the evaluation of Chinese pronunciation, including accuracy with the four tones in speech. It even provides learners with the opportunity to do self-corrections. The latest generation of ASR claims to be able to process more authentic dialogue for man-machine interaction than ever before. Traditionally, spoken test performances were analyzed using a range of measures including grammatical accuracy, complexity, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency (Iwashita, 2008).. Currently, ASR applications can be used to test speech accuracy and are accessible to the owners of an iPhone or any other smartphone. It can be used as a digital assistant to parse Chinese speech. For example, Apples Siri (2011), Windows Phone (Cortana, 2014), Google (Home, 2016), Amazon (Alexa, Echo Dot), and Samsung (Bixby, Dec. 10, 2017) are all available in the North American market. These Chinese voice applications are widely accessible to American students, who made this research possible. If an ASR device, such as Siri, can understand the questions students produce in Chinese and reply with authentic answers, then the students can improve their interpersonal and presentational communication skills. In addition, Android users have already used Googles voice-recognition technology to send text messages (Vanian, 2017). Students must simply turn on the language choice function to do so. If Chinese learners can send a teacher their speech transcribed to characters, then their pronunciation score can be derived from the correctness rate of the text message, which is tied to the accuracy of phonic syntax input. A series of analyses given in this paper demonstrates the feasibility of using intelligent speech recognition technology to improve the effectiveness of the study of Chinese language learners. Literature Review Numerous studies have been conducted on the assessment of foreign language ability, but using AI-based ASR to assess learners language development has only become possible in recent years, along with the innovation of modern technology and its broad accessibility among the general population. As such, relevant research has been exceptionally limited. There has been discussion about whether flipped classrooms for learning classical Chinese could be supported by a mobile device-assisted learning system (Wang, 2016), and whether integrating teaching strategies into interactive response system (IRS) activities would be effective in facilitating teaching and learning (Wang, 2017). However, the accuracy scores derived from this assessment provided no quantitative literature reviews whatsoever. Recently, the Chinese company iFLYTEK announced the release of six education products using intelligent technologies, including ASR, and the collection of 35 billion samples of learning data (Peng, 2017). This indicates that recent technology has enabled us to use ASR as an assessment instrument for the Chinese language classroom. Moreover, the research of University of Oregon Chinese Flagship found that ASR lacked methodology for measuring spoken Chinese (Clark, 2010); they could only provide the traditional four modalities to assess the oral output. This research demonstrated the necessity and possibility to develop an easily adaptable method for assessing oral Chinese. Two decades ago, the use of speech recognition software as an English language oral assessment instrument had been addressed by English language scholars (Coniam, 1998). This could be used in a similar manner for studying Chinese language assessment. Additionally, the quantitative assessment of the learners fluency in the second language by means of automatic speech recognition technology needs to be employed (Cucchiarini, 2000). Furthermore, the nature of speaking proficiency in English as a second language has been developed in the context of a larger project, and the rating scale for a new international test of English for academic purposes had also been executed (Iwashita, 2008). Our research used the same methodology to measure the test results in a smaller scale assessment that may limit the stringency of the result. Nevertheless, it exhibits the use of ASR technology as an assessment instrument for Chinese language education, which has substantially benefited Chinese teachers in evaluating students pronunciation, including the accuracy with four tones. Oremus introduced the historical development of ASR and its current advancement (Oremus, 2014). The same method was employed in our study. The students various mobile devices can all become engaging tools to assess their proficiency of spoken Chinese. Snyder et al. (2016) evaluated the effectiveness of using "flipped" instruction in a secondary social studies classroom. The discussion in this article provided insight for curricular decision-making when implementing the ASR technology in the Chinese language classroom. Research Questions and Hypotheses After examination of the literature related to ASR, several research questions remain to be discussed. For example, how accurate is ASR in measuring speech proficiency, and can it be used as an official summative assessment method? To what degree can students be engaged in this type of assessment, and is it appropriate to use this technology in a high school classroom considering that teenagers are easily distracted by electronic devices? On the basis of the above research questions, two hypotheses will be formulated in our research. The first stated that implementing ASR technology in the Chinese language classroom is feasible and effective. The second stated that the ASR method plays an important role on learners motivation and sustainable interest in Chinese study, regardless of concerns of distraction. Methodology Participants This research involved thirteen high school students, six boys and seven girls, ranging from age 14 to 18. Eleven of them were first-year Chinese learners, with Mandarin Chinese level novice low according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) speaking proficiency guidelines; the other two students Chinese levels were medium high and advanced mid. Four of them were from an urban school and nine of them were from a suburban school. The students came from three classes and were naturally organized into three groups, using WeChat, Apple text message app, and the Siri app, respectively. Students in Group I had studied Chinese for six months and learned nearly 100 sentences; however, they are only able to produce about 30% of these sentences to make their own dialogues without referring back to the text. . Students in Group II had also learned Chinese for six months but in a distance learning setting; although they have also learned 100 sentences, it remains a major challenge for them to replicate these sentences in real life communication or to make coherent dialogues. Students in Group III had over six years of part-time study; they are heritage students, and they can use AI voice assistants like Siri of Apple or Alexa of Amazon for more complex speech. None of the students had prior experience with interactive ASR in Chinese. Before the three practice trials, they received two weeks of instruction on how to use different types of ASR technology. The seven students in Group I were instructed to use a Chinese social media app, WeChat. Two of them used Android phones, four of them used iPhones, and one had no phone, but shared a phone with others. The four students in Group II were instructed to use the Apple text message application. The two students in Group III were instructed to use the Siri application. The demographic characteristics of the students who participated in the study and the number of students assigned to each group are shown in Table 1. Table1. ASR Participant Demographics Number of Students % of Students in Overall Study Experimental method in each group WeChat app (Group I) 7 53.8% Text Message app (Group II) 4 15.4% Siri app (Group III) 2 30.8% Gender across all three groups Female 7 53.8% Male 6 46.2% Procedures of the experiment Students in all three groups used the latest ASR technology to either convert vocal input to character output, or use man-machine conversation to acquire information. The Group I students were instructed to interact in a group chat setting, with teacher involvement. They spoke short sentences to their devices which automatically converted their speech to text. They shared their text among the group and compared their accuracy in performing the lesson dialogues. The Group II students were instructed to interact with the teacher individually. They also used their own devices to automatically convert their speech to text, and then they took pictures of the text via phone screenshot and sent them to the teacher through email as a record of assessment. The Group III students were instructed to use daily conversation with Siri to conduct an inquiry on classical Chinese poetry, the weather in Beijing, and the closest library in town. In this third model, students used verbal Chinese to request information from Siri . For all three groups, the teacher provided immediate feedbacks to students, so that they would note their incorrect pronunciations, and sometimes they even conducted self-corrections. After three trials of performances by each group spanning multiple days, the teacher instructed students to count the number of incorrect words to gauge their improvement. Upon making corrections, students sent them to the teacher for an official summative assessment. Measurements The measurements covered oral proficiency, listening comprehension, and conversational skills. A set of comparative data was gathered in each of the three trials that were performed in the experiment. The three trials included the first, the second, and the third time using ASR throughout a 45-day period. In order to identify whether students will support the use of ASR technology in Chinese classroom and what instruction the students may need, this research included a survey containing six statements related to ASR. Students indicated whether they agree or disagree by using a five-level Likert scale, detailed as follows:: Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree The survey was anonymous and students provided voluntary responses through Google form. Results and Discussion Effectiveness of ASR and Quantitative Assessment The three trials in our research project presented some interesting preliminary results. Firstly, our research suggests that ASR is an effective way to assess students speaking and reading proficiency in both interpretive and presentational communication skills. Secondly, it instantly provides teachers with specific information about imperfections in student pronunciation so that students receive prompt feedback from the teacher through ASR interaction that consequently increases their learning cognition. Students also become more attentive towards their speech and motivated to make self corrections before submitting their work. This resonated with other research statements such as enhancing the learning in conversation courses designed to develop spontaneous second language (L2) oral proficiency (Miller, 2013). Lastly, this application of ASR technology in the Chinese classroom filled the historically missing rapid quantitative measurement method for oral Chinese language learning assessment. This is the first time that a teacher can score students oral expression on the ASR text output. It would be a welcome addition to the Computerized Assessment of Proficiency (CAP) that was designed to measure proficiency in Chinese reading, listening, writing, and speaking, based on the underlying principles of the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) (Clark, 2009). Our research results supported both of our hypotheses. A statistical data analysis and performance chart was constructed according to the designed test model and data collection as shown in Table 2. These results suggest that there is a clear distinction between traditional assessment and ASR assessment. Traditionally, teachers had no quantitative measurement method to evaluate student pronunciation with the exception of using their own listening judgments. However, with ASR, the performance of both Group I and Group II was measured quantitatively without using the teachers listening judgment. The text material, converted from speech, was graded according to the correctness rate in quantitative measures. The research results and students achievements showed that ASR ratings of fluency in speech were reliable and effective. Among the 92 sentences produced by the nine students, the correlation with the correctness rate varied between 0.9 and 0.98 as shown in Figure 1. The accuracy of speech performance from the first to last trial presented an upward trend. Table 2. All three trial results from a 45-day period by ASR input Students First Trial Incorrectness Rate Second Trial Incorrectness Rate Third Trial Incorrectness Rate Total number of incorrect characters per student Group I Student 1 0/13 0/20 0/16 0/49 Student2 0/0 1/20 0.05 3/18 0.166 4/38 0.105 Student3 0/33 1/20 0.05 0/32 1/85 0.012 Student 4 7/39 0.179 2/20 0.1 1/25 0.04 10/84 0.119 Student5 0/49 0/0 0/23 0/72 Student6 1/11 0.09 0/20 data not available 1/33 0.03 Student7 N/A N/A N/A Group II Student 1 8/15 0.53 8/29 0.275 0/9 16/53 0.301 Student 2 2/29 0.069 1/107 0.009 3/136 0.022 Student 3 0 0 0 0 Student 4 2/10 0.2 0/0 0/26 2/36 0.056 Total Incorrectness Rate among Students in Groups I & II during Each Trail 20/189 0.106 13/236 0.055 4/123 0.033 37/586 0.063 Group III Chinese Classical Poem Weather Inquiry Library Location Inquiry Correctness Rate Degree of Involvement Student 1 0/4 0/2 0/1 100% 100% Student2 1/4 0/2 0/1 86% 100% Figure 1. The Correlation of Trials and Accuracy Rating Students Motivation and Engaging Learning Environment The experiment results showed that, with the assistance of ASR, students who have less than one year of Chinese study can convert their relatively complex speech into a text-based format, which, according to the teachers observation, surpassed those who had studied Chinese for years without ASR assistance in the classroom. This can become positive motivation for students starting a one-year language-study program to perform practical, language-based speech in real life communication. Table 3. Likert Scale Survey Result of Using ASR in Chinese Classroom Six Survey Questions # of students selected 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, respectively, in Likert Scale Q1: I like to use ASR because it is fun to use 1 2 1 4 5 Q2: I like to use ASR because it is easy to use 1 2 3 4 4 Q3: I communicate more frequently with the teacher by using ASR 3 3 2 1 4 Q4: It improved my Chinese pronunciation 3 1 2 1 6 Q5: It increased my interest of studying foreign language 3 3 1 2 4 Q6: I will use ASR more often in learning Chinese 4 0 0 3 6 The survey results showed the degree of enthusiasm of participants in using ASR in their Chinese language classroom (see Table 3). The results supported the beliefs we held prior to the experiment: using mobile devices in the classroom is easier and more efficient than using computers, and ASR enables teachers to provide instant feedback and thus increases teacher-student interaction. According to the survey, students enjoyed using ASR to submit their oral assignments, and the teacher could easily measure their performance accurately and quantitatively. ASR applied in the classroom enhanced student engagement with human-machine conversation. Moreover, over 65% of students responded that ASR is fun and easy to use and they are engaged when using it. 69% of students responded that they want to use ASR more often in learning Chinese. In Group III, after the ASR method was introduced to two students who had learned Chinese part-time over six years, they voluntarily asked Siri numerous questions in Chinese. This served the purpose of this research well: creating an engaging learning environment and motivating students interest in practicing on Chinese language. Concerns and Considerations Some concerns arose during the research. Firstly, the amount of time prescribed for using ASR in the classroom must be carefully planned in order to minimize distractions from the common attention diffusion of teenagers. Secondly, although mobile devices have become widely accessible, what if students do not have one? Can we use other alternatives such as Chromebooks, iPads, or computers? Will the difference of teaching platforms cause classroom time management issues? Thirdly, as was reflected by their responses to survey question #4, students were not sure whether ASR could help them improve their pronunciation. ASR technologies are over-intelligent, so as to correct phonic errors automatically. Even if the student's pronunciation of the four tones was not sufficiently accurate, ASR will still able to interpret speech and produce correct text output. This may not be a positive influence because some students may stop striving for more accurate pronunciation in the long run. Another potential negative effect of using ASR is that it may decrease students desire to improve their writing proficiency. A Surprising Result One thing that surprised us was that the responses to survey question #3 (I communicate more frequently with the teacher by using ASR) were evenly spread, meaning this phenomena did not show strong agreement among students. However, in reality, ASR did increase quality and quantity of the students interactions with the teacher. Throughout the experiment, students actively participated in all exercises and assessments. They were highly motivated and some even took initiative to communicate in Chinese, which had not been the case prior to completing the ASR exercises. In the past, these students would use Chinese to communicate only when they were required. During and after this experiment, they began using Chinese to respond whenever they could, even to prompts in English. Conclusions Our research indicates that ASR can support real-time evaluation, error identification, and self-correction functions for L2 learners' speech proficiency. In this experiment, 27 authentic sentences were used 92 times among ten students in Group 1 and Group 2 (One student did not participate in the three trials due to the surgery in hospital, but showed high performance in a separate evaluation using ASR afterwards). There were three trials spread out over a 45-day period to demonstrate the correlation between trials and correctness rate. The improvement of pronunciation had been detected through the positive relationship between attempts and resulting accuracy. Using ASR as an assessment tool to engage students to develop communicative proficiency in the target language was also successful. The goal of creating an engaging learning environment therefore, to increase the students interest of learning Chinese through ASR assessment in Chinese language classroom, has been achieved. At the present time, the iFLYTEKs ASR technology has been applied in 94% of primary and middle schools in Singapore (Guanchazhe, 2017). In the United States, we tested mobile phones with ASR, used by American students in secondary schools, to increase the effectiveness of Chinese language study. In addition, we can continue to apply ASR technology in the classroom to assist language study in the future through authentic conversation with voice input. In the past, if students did not know certain Chinese characters, resources would be very limited to do research on their own; but now with the new ASR technology, they can make simple conversation with Siri or other ASR applications to do their own research. That will be particularly helpful for the first-year Chinese learners who have limited Chinese proficiency. For future study, voice input technology is expected to become significantly more well developed. To foster 21st-century students, we educators have the obligation of embedding the latest technology in our classrooms, so that we may improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the AI-voice command era. References Clark, M. (2009). Chinese Computerized Assessment of Proficiency (CAP). CASLS Technical Report 2010-1. Retrieved from https://casls.uoregon.edu/cap/TechReport/Chinese.pdf Coniam, D. (1998). The Use of Speech Recognition Software as an English Language Oral Assessment Instrument: An Exploratory Study. CALICO Journal, Vol. 15, (No. 4), pp.7, 23. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24147601?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Cucchiarini,C., Strik, H., & Boves, L. (2000). Quantitative assessment of second language learners fluency by means of automatic speech recognition technology. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, pp. 107, 989. Retrieved from http://asa.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1121/1.428279 Guanchazhe (Observer). (2017). iFLYTEK announced the release of six education products using intelligent technologies, including ASR, and the collection of 35 billion samples of learning data. Retrieved from http://tech.163.com/17/0309/11/CF36M23100097U7T.html iFLYTEK official web. (2018) Retrieved from http://www.iflytek.com/en/content/details_10_1681.html Iwashita, N., Brown, A., & Mcnamara, T. (2008). Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficiency: How Distinct? Oxford University Press 2008. Retrieved fromhttps://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/ENL264/testing%20speaking.pdf Miller, J. S. (2013). Improving oral proficiency by raising metacognitive awareness with recordings. In J. Levis & K. LeVelle (Eds.). Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Aug. 2012. 101-111. Retrieved from https://apling.engl.iastate.edu/alt-content/uploads/2015/05/PSLLT_4th_Proceedings_2012.pdf Oremus, W. (2014). I Didnt Type This Article. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/04/the_end_of_typing_speech _recognition_technology_is_getting_better_and_better.html Peng, Y. (2017). iFLYTEK announced the release of six education products using intelligent technologies, including ASR, and the collection of 35 billion samples of learning data Retrieved from https://www.jiemodui.com/N/85948.html Ren, B., From Siri to IDF Speech Recognition is changing who? November 11, 2017 20:00 Source: Car home Type: Original Edit: Ren Bo RetrievedRetrieved from https://www.autohome.com.cn/user/201711/909060.html Snyder, C. Besozzi, D., Lawrence, P., & Oppenlander, J. (2016). Is Flipping Worth the Fuss: A Mixed Methods Case Study of Screencasting in The social Studies Classroom. American Secondary Education 45(1) Snyder, C., Lawrence, M. P. & Besozzi, D. (2014). Cast from the Past: Using Screencasting in the Social Studies Classroom. The Social Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2014.951472 Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2014.951472 Vanian, J. (2017). Google Challenges Apple's Siri in Dictating Messages. Fortune February 23, 2017. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/02/23/google-iphone-keyboard-voice/ Appendix A The Response Percentage of Students Survey Appendix B Examples of Chinese Sentences, Dialogue, Classical Poem Used in the Experiment , 7:30 () When you administer a survey, its hard to get 95 percent of people to agree to anything. But thats what happened last month when the Education Week Research Center surveyed more than 500 principals and other school leaders from across the country. Nearly all of the respondents said they worry that students spend too much time on devices when theyre not in school. FULL REPORT & SURVEY Technology Counts 2018 includes deep reporting on principals view of personalized learning, screen time, social media, and computer science. School Leaders and Technology , published by the Education Week Research Center, has the complete survey results. Im shocked a lot of times with parents that dont check their kids phones, dont regularly check their social media feed, said Daniel Kelley, the president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, who also heads Rhode Islands Smithfield High. This cant all fall back on administrators and schools, Kelley said, Parents also need to monitor what their kids are doing online. That home-school tension was one of the big issues explored by my colleague Christina Samuels in her full report on the findings as part of our Technology Counts special report. Here are 7 other takeaways from the survey data that you may have missed: 1. Principals are super worried about students screen time at home. As Christina notes in her story, just 2 percent of principals surveyed said that students are spending the right amount of time in front of screens when they are not in school, and just 3 percent said students arent using screens enough at home. Ive had to tell kindergarten parents to take the television out of their kids rooms, Summerlyn Thompson, the principal of Johnson Elementary School in Charlottesville, Va., told her. 2. But screen time at school is a different story. Nearly two-thirds of the school leaders surveyed said students spend the right amount of time on screens in school. The rest were just about evenly split between believing students spend too much time (17 percent) or too little (19 percent) time on screens. I dont get the sense that schools are doing an exorbitant amount of screen time during the day, said Kelley of NASSP. But when they do have access, we have to make sure theyre not just checking YouTube. 3. Principals say that tech companies and vendors are pressuring them to increase screen time... Well over half the school leaders surveyed by Education Week said they feel strong (30 percent) or mild (28 percent) pressure from industry to increase screen time. Heres how that looks on the ground, per one of the principals that Christina interviewed. I havent bought playground equipment in a long time, said Monti Hillis, the principal of Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary in McMinnville, Tenn. I can buy a piece of playground equipment for $10,000. How many Chromebooks can that buy? 4. ...but parents, teachers, and district leaders are not pressing them to boost screen time. Just 2 percent of principals said they felt strong pressure from parents to increase screen time, compared to 18 percent who felt mild pressure from parents to limit screen time, and 64 percent who said they felt no pressure either way. Nearly a quarter of principals said they felt strong (5 percent) or mild (18 percent) pressure to limit screen time, more than the combined percentage of principals who felt mild (18 percent) or strong (4 percent) pressure from teachers to increase screen time. And a full 60 percent of principals said that when it comes to screen time, they didnt feel any pressure either way from their district leaders. 5. Principals think research and standardized testing should be done on devices with screens. Eighty-eight percent of school leaders prefer their students to use a device to conduct research, compared to 10 percent who prefer paper-and-pencil. And when it comes to standardized testing, far more principals described a strong for devices (51 percent) than for paper-and-pencil (18 percent.) That might be somewhat surprising, given continued findings that students tend to score lower on computerized versions of standardized exams. 6. But on everything else Education Week asked about, principals preferred the old-school method. Learning new math concepts and skills? Fifty-six percent of principals preferred paper-and-pencil, compared to 19 percent who preferred devices. Taking notes? Forty-five percent paper-and-pencil, 21 percent devices. Improving reading? Thirty-five percent paper-and-pencil, 28 percent devices. That kind of nuanced thinking highlights the approach favored by some experts, such as Lisa Guernsey, the director of the Learning Technologies Project for New America, a Washington think tank. Its so important to think about technology as something more than just a monolithic word that means everything, Guernsey told Samuels. 7. When it comes to screen time, theres an interesting digital divide among principals. At both higher- and lower-poverty schools, school leaders told Education Week that students are getting too much screen time at home. But interestingly, principals at higher poverty schools (26 percent) were significantly more likely than their counterparts at lower-poverty schools (14 percent) to say that students were getting too little screen time in school. Principal Hillis from Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary in Tennessee was among those who worried her students didnt have enough access to technology. Really, our children are at a disadvantage, she said. Photos: Getty Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School Principal Monti Hillis said educators and policymakers should not assume all students and schools have regular access to technology in and outside of school.--Joon Powell See also: for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends. When the mighty Minette rings you up and tells you to do something, by heck you do it even if the message is delivered by an automated evening call that somehow bypasses the Telephone Preference Service. Her instruction was clear: go and read Mr Goves lengthy 64-page consultation document, Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit or, the Shampoo Report as it shall henceforth be known, thanks to its obsession with health and harmony. So I did, expecting little, and wasnt disappointed. The grubby fingerprints of the powerful agri-eco-lobbies could be seen all over each page as I scrolled all 64 of them down my screen. See also: Read more of Charlie Flindts columns All their favourites (and unsolved contradictions) were there: soil is damaged, but somehow we farmers are still producing high quality food. We must boost yields, while doing all we can to remove plant food from the atmosphere. The CAP is blamed for the decline in farmland birds, with no mention of the multitude of predators that have arrived in the past couple of decades. Grammatically-challenged pages And, somewhat inevitably, the ultimate country contradiction pops up again in the Shampoo Report: we must do more for countryside wildlife while encouraging more public access. Free-range people and their free-range dogs are incompatible with thriving wildlife. Our farm has just had another spring without a single lapwing to be seen. They were once numerous enough to feature in the briefing for those setting off with Cambridge rollers. The different options for reduction in payments were interesting, although the multi-thousand acre estates will already have clever schemes in place to avoid qualifying as the top, most-penalised tier. I raised an eyebrow at plans to phase direct support out altogether tens of thousands of bureaucrats and civil servants rely on measuring and inspecting British agriculture. Are they really going to be out of a job? I left the livestock bit to Hazel, whose lengthy submission involved a constructive plea for a return to local abattoirs even a fleet of travelling ones. Anything to avoid the hideous long haul to vast industrial units hundreds of miles away. I suggested she mention the absurdity of claiming world-class welfare standards while allowing certain ghastly slaughter techniques, just to avoid upsetting the religious offend-atrons. She said shed leave that to me. Also missing from the Shampoo Report is any mention of food supply. The assumption is clear across all of its grammatically-challenged pages (its outside the EU, not outside of the EU): food supply will always be plentiful. Mother Nature is suggesting otherwise. Even the AHDB is taking a break from its Brexit bashing to report on the distinct possibly that the unusual run of grain surpluses may be coming to an end. Theme park Britain And how: theres an awful lot of North American seeding kit still frozen in the barn. A long-overdue run of mediocre-to-poor harvests might reset the perspectives on the countrysides purpose. So thats what I decided my reply to the Shampoo Report would be. It would have to be short and snappy, and to the point. It would have to somehow get across to someone somewhere deep within the bowels of Defra house (who hasnt been relocated to the RPA to read 231,694 RLE1 forms) that full shelves arent guaranteed. I toyed with Farmers make food. Food is plentiful. It wont always be so. But that seemed a bit long and over wordy. Instead, on a carefully laid out A4 formal letter, I typed: Theme park Britain wont feed Britain, and posted it. If that doesnt warrant a congratulatory call from the mighty Minette, nothing will. Charlie Flindt is a tenant of the National Trust, farming 380ha in Hampshire with his wife, Hazel. Oregons highest court has upheld the 112-year sentence for the perpetrator in a 1998 school shooting that left two students dead and 26 injured. Kipland P. Kinkel was 15 when he had been sent home from Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore., for bringing a gun to school. He shot and killed his mother and father that evening, and the next day, on May 21, 1998, he went to his high school armed with two pistols and a rifle, according to court papers. He warned a friend not to enter the school cafeteria that day, and then shot two students in a school breezeway before entering the cafeteria and firing the rifle multiple times. Kinkel pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. He received four concurrent sentences of 25 years for the murders and sentences of 90 months on each of 26 counts of attempted murder. A trial was held on whether the 90-month sentences should run consecutively or concurrently, with Kinkels lawyers presenting mitigating evidence from family members, teachers, and mental health experts. The latter showed that Kinkel had been hearing voices since he was 12 and they concluded that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. The trial court divided each 90-month sentence for attempted murder into two parts50 months would run consecutively, and 40 months of each count would run concurrently. That meant Kinkel was sentenced to close to 112 years (versus just over 32 years if all counts he faced had run consecutively.) Kinkels sentences were upheld on earlier appeals. Now 35 years old and in prison for 20 years, Kinkel filed a new appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012, in Miller v. Alabama , that mandatory life without parole for those under 18 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amendments prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. In its May 10 decision in Kinkel v. Persson , the Oregon Supreme Court ruled 6-1 to uphold the 112-year sentence. Given the nature and the number of the crimes that petitioner committed, we are hard pressed to say that his aggregate sentence is constitutionally disproportionate even taking his youth into account, said the majority opinion by Justice Rives Kistler, who noted that Kinkel killed four people over the course of two days and shot and wounded almost two dozen of his classmates with the intent to kill them. He put a gun to another classmates head and would have killed him except that the gun ran out of bullets, permitting two students to subdue petitioner before he could shoot anyone else, Kistler said. The majority said Kinkels case comes within the class of juveniles that, as recognized in the U.S. Supreme Courts Miller decision, may be sentenced to life without possibility of parole for a homicide. The Miller ruling explained that the Eighth Amendment permits sentencing a juvenile to life without possibility of parole for a single homicide if that crime reflects irreparable corruption rather than the transience of youth. We also conclude, and we think no person reasonably could dispute, that [Kinkels] actions are the sort of heinous crimes that, if committed by an adult, would reflect an irretrievably depraved character or irreparable corruption, Kistler said. And as Miller recognized, the most heinous murders or worst types of murders, even when committed by a juvenile, can evidence irreparable corruption. And while Kinkels psychological problems are relevant mitigating evidence, which the sentencing court considered, they are not the sort of concerns that led to the categorical sentencing limitations on juveniles that the U.S. Supreme Court has outlined in Miller and other recent cases, Kistler said. James Egan, an Oregon chief appeals court judge serving temporarily on the state high court, wrote a dissent arguing that the majority was mistaken to believe that youth played no role in Kinkels crimes. I cannot agree that [Kinkels] crimes do not reflect the transient immaturity of youth, Egan said. In my view, [Kinkels] youth is inextricable from his crimes, and it is difficult to comprehend how [his] youth at the time of his crimes, in combination with his mental disorder, did not affect the nature and gravity of his crimes. There is no question that petitioners crimes were horrendous, Egan added, but they did not demonstrate irreparable corruption. Rather, they demonstrate a brief but horrible psychotic break with horrific consequences. The rarest of children whose crimes reflect irreparable corruption are the cool and calculated souls who appreciate and understand their conditions and who either use the conditions as a means to an end or who revel in the hideousness of their depravity, Egan said. The rarest of children are not those who struggle with their disorder and fail. [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] Void Troopers : Sci-fi Clicker has made it's way to this week's Google Play Feature in the Early Access Collections! With only 10,000 limited spaces going fast it is now or never to become one of the first Void Troopers. Start your journey into the void and upgrade your ship, research technologies and expand your fleet as you take the fight to them. Will you be able to defeat the mysterious impending doom that looms at the end of the void and threatens destroy all that you hold dear? Warp back in time with precious advanced technologies to turn the tide against your enemies and become a worthy space hero that saves the galaxy. Your ship is ready commander, its time to give em' hell! Global Google Play Early Access https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appxplore.voidtroopers Void Troopers Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbdlDM0mM4w About Appxplore Appxplore (iCandy) Ltd is one of Southeast Asia's leading mobile game development studios armed with highly-skilled talents in providing original, premium-quality smartphone games. Based in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Appxplore is one of a rare handful of games studios that have generated more than 18 million downloads on a successive series of smartphone games published globally. Appxplores team comprises a stellar combination of artists and developers, backed by an experienced management team. Appxlore is a studio member of iCandy Interactive Limited. Stay connected with us: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Youtube About iCandy Interactive Ltd iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX:ICI) is an Australian incorporated public company that has its core business in the development and publishing of smartphone games on popular smartphone OS. iCandys run multiple subsidiary games studios in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, including the famed award-winning games studios Appxplore (iCandy) and Inzen Studio. iCandy is one of the leading mobile games companies in Southeast Asia with more than 22 million copies of its games titles downloaded onto smartphones. It focuses on the genre of mid-core action-influenced puzzle games. Almost all of iCandys games titles have been featured by either the Appstore or Google Play. Its recent titles such as Light A Way, Star Tap and Crab War have been named as recommended Best New Games globally. For more info, visit www.icandy.io ; For further questions on this release, please contact: [email protected] This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. it is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way. Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 11:43 am Memorial Day is right around the corner, and area churches and cemeteries are setting dates for decoration services and business meetings. Goodson The Goodson Cemetery board will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at the home of Delbert Simpson, 2101 Thornridge Dr., Bolivar. For more information, call 326-5416. Pleasant Hill Decoration day services will begin with Sunday school at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 20, at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Bro. Mike Bruce will bring the morning message with lunch served at noon. The Viles family will sing during the afternoon service. Everyone is welcome to attend. Dunnegan Cemetery The Dunnegan Cemetery Board will hold its annual meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 26, at the Dunnegan Cemetery shelter. Barren Creek The annual meeting for Barren Creek Cemetery is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 27. Goff Cemetery The annual meeting for Goff Cemetery in Polk County will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 27, at the cemetery gazebo. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend or make a contribution. For more information, call Kevin Holt at 777-1870 or Giana Andrews at 327-2777. Schofield Cemetery Decoration day service for Schofield Cemetery Association, Halfway, will be at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 27. Bro. Eric Ingram will bring the memorial message. A cemetery association meeting will be followed by a basket lunch on the grounds. Antioch Cemetery Antioch Cemetery of Pittsburg is seeking donations to help with the maintenance and upkeep of cemetery grounds. The cemetery relies on community support, and all donations are greatly appreciated. Donations may be sent to Antioch Cemetery Association, 27749 State Highway 64, Polk MO 65727. Brush Grove To maintain its upkeep, LuAnn Redburn is asking for donations for Brush Grove Cemetery be mailed to 201 N. Hill St., Fair Play MO 65649. The church is on South 33rd Road. Take Mo. 123 north from Fair Play then turn right onto East 412th Road and a left onto South 33rd Road. Donations are greatly appreciated. Reynolds Cemetery The annual work and cleanup day for Reynolds Cemetery was Saturday, May 5. Donations to help with the maintenance and mowing expenses of the cemetery are greatly appreciated. Donations can be made out to Reynolds Cemetery Fund and mailed to Kristy Sharp, secretary and treasurer, at 1828 U.S. Hwy. 65, Buffalo MO 65622. Donations also may be taken to or mailed to OBannon Bank, PO Box 890, Buffalo MO 65622. The cemetery relies on donations to maintain its upkeep. For more information, contact a board member Kelly Brazil at (660) 525-9225, Jeff Ortner at 733-1033 or Bill Sharp at 399-3350 or K. Sharp at 328-9403. To have a decoration service added to this list, call 326-7636 or email news@bolivarmonews.com. Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 2:30 am A Bolivar couple dedicated to bringing comfort to those who need it most were recognized for their work at the state capitol earlier this week. Leonard and Linda Zanatta, who have volunteered with Citizens Memorial Hospital for over 10 years, were honored as Senior Service Award recipients on Monday, May 7, at the Missouri State Capitol's rotunda. Nominated for the award by CMHs Jean Morrow, the Zanattas primarily focus their efforts on helping in the Carrie J. Babb Cancer Center and Tremain Hospitality House. They had a leadership role in the planning process for the construction of the Tremain Hospitality House, which is a house for cancer patients and/or family members of hospital patients from out of town to stay during their treatments, a news release from Lt. Gov. Mike Parsons office said. Volunteers work around the clock at the Tremain House, providing comfort and prayers for patients and families, Leonard said. They work 12 hour shifts serving meals and providing for various needs three to four times each month, Linda said. She said she also enjoys working in the hospital gift shop with Sue Taylor, maintaining the shop's inventory. Leonard dedicates his time to not only Bolivar's local hospital, but to healthcare statewide. He is vice president of both CMH's Auxiliary and the Missouri Association of Hospital Auxiliaries. The pair's service doesn't stop at CMH. They have also spent seven years serving Bolivar through the communitywide Thanksgiving and Christmas meals at their church, Open Hearts United Methodist Church - Bolivar. That's where they said they experienced some of their most meaningful memories while serving others. There were lots of people who came in who obviously needed a meal a Thanksgiving meal. That was very heartwarming, Leonard said. Linda said it's about building connections and relationships with others, making them feel at home. I think I have a special place in my heart for older people, people who are alone, she said. It felt more like this was a family meal than just going some place to eat. They really were very thankful, Leonard said. Leonard also works each year at Polk County's Share Your Christmas event, helping check in families as they come to pick up their items. The Zanattas were just two of the 90 recipients from 77 counties across the state, the release said. Those honored received a declaration and lapel pin commemorating their commitment to their communities. Parson, who presented the awards, said in the release he was pleased to see so many seniors across our state being recognized for their volunteerism. This year, we had a record number of winners for this award, he said. These seniors do amazing work for their communities. Leonard and Linda said they were very surprised to receive the award. I got a letter from the Lt. Governor's office saying we had been nominated, and I thought, who would have done that, because we don't feel like we do that much, Leonard said laughing. There are so many people who we think have done more than us, Linda added. Before focusing on volunteer work, Leonard was an educator for 37 years. He served in many roles in the Bolivar R-1 School District for 17 years before retiring as superintendent in 2008. Leonard said his connection to the school district led the couple to where they are today. That came about in an interesting way, Leonard said. Jean Morrow was a former board president of mine. She called me the day I retired and said, 'I want you in the auxiliary.' That was nine years ago. The pair said they are thankful for Morrow bringing them into the CMH volunteer fold. If we weren't doing this, we'd just be sitting in a chair, Linda said. We aren't ones who can just sit at home and do nothing, Leonard added. But, Leonard said what's even more important than staying active is the chance to give back to Bolivar. It might be cliche, but we have been treated well by the community, and we want to give back to them, he said. Replica assault rifle AK47 : 32-year-old runs through Sankt Augustin with assault rifle SANKT AUGUSTIN Police received several emergency calls on Thursday at around 1pm. Callers reported seeing a man running around Sankt Augustin Hangelar with an assault rifle. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Several police units rolled in to Sankt Augustin Hangelar on Thursday after receiving some emergency calls at around 1pm. According to police, callers reported seeing a man running around with an assault rifle in his hands. Officers arrived on the scene, catching up with the 32-year-old Bonn man near Udetstrae. He was carrying an AK47 assault rifle. When the man saw police approaching, he put down the gun and walked towards them with raised hands. Police told him to lay flat on the ground and he followed the orders. When police took a closer look at the rifle, they saw it was not a real weapon but a replica. Police searched the 32-year-old but found no other weapons. The man was obviously intoxicated and told police that he was on his way to Hennef to meet a friend. To get to Hennef, the man would need to board the Line S66 tram, along with his rifle. Police filed charges for violation of the weapons law, as the rifle is considered an Anscheinswaffe - meaning it is a fake gun but looks real. These are not allowed to be used in public. The rifle was secured by police and the 32-year-old continued on his way to Hennef to meet his friend. Could not establish database connection. DB: bostonimc and SQL: --> The administrator has been notified and will resolve the problem ASAP. World Rugby: May 5, 2018 - Twelve captains gathered today at the historic Hatley Castle in Victoria ahead of an exciting weekend of rugby at the penultimate round of the HSBC World Rugby Womens Sevens Series in Langford, Canada. Westhills Stadium plays host to the HSBC Canada Womens Sevens 2018 on 12-13 May with New Zealand looking to retain the title they claimed last year on the way to being crowned series champions for a fourth time. Australia arrived in Canada atop the series standings, but with only 24 points separating the top six teams there is everything to play for in Langford this weekend. Its tight at the top as @Aussie7s lead @blackferns by just six points with two rounds left on the #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/yhtFOkT2vd World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 22, 2018 Australia captain Shannon Parry said: We have had a couple of weeks at home to fine-tune a few things and two great training sessions here in Canada. We are really looking forward to getting in amongst it in our first game against Canada on Saturday. Youve got to beat the best to be the best and obviously with a home crowd it is massively in their [Canadas] favour but for us its about playing our game and trying to silence that crowd early on and come away with the win. There is a lot on the line, we have been preparing well and we know what is at stake but in saying that, its game by game and for us we just need to focus and get through the pool stages. Hosts Canada, who took home silver in last years tournament, will be looking to go one better this year and return to winning ways after failing to reach the Cup quarter-finals in Kitakyushu last month. We are really excited to get going, its been a couple weeks back in prep after Japan, the girls are excited and ready to go, weve got family in town so it is special for us, said captain Ghislaine Landry. There are a few things we have gone back and looked at [since Japan] our support and work-rate wasnt where it needed to be, we have trained so hard and the girls are really excited to put that on show this weekend. The action gets underway at 10:30 local time on Saturday (GMT-7) with Russia taking on USA. Follow the action on www.worldrugby.org/sevens and @WorldRugby7s At the start of the term at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in Arlington, Tex., last year, Stacy Bailey, an art teacher, introduced herself to her new fourth grade students with a slide show of her life.There were photographs of her family, friends and childhood. There was also one of her partner of seven years, Julie Vazquez, who Ms. Bailey explained was her future wife. They were dressed in fish costumes from the film Finding Nemo.That image set off a sequence of reactions from parents and school district officials that Ms. Bailey, 31, says amount to discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal court in Dallas. She says her career was damaged when she was accused of showing inappropriate images to children, put on leave and told she would be transferred.All for one main reason, the lawsuit says: Plaintiff is lesbian/gay and was born that way.The Mansfield Independent School District, named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with two district officials, sees it differently. Posted 5/10/18 In the April 25 issue of The Buffalo Reflex, we reported that the Dallas County Sheriffs Office had reopened a cold case homicide from 1967 in which the bodies of Bertram Kidd and Marjorie A debate has raged in Kansas for years over KanCare, the privatized Medicaid plan enacted by Sam Brownback in 2013.Brownback and his successor, Jeff Colyer, have touted the program as a tremendous success that has saved the state $1 billion while improving care for 400,000 low-income and disabled Kansans.Democrats, provider groups and people who care for disabled Kansans have said it's rife with billing problems, secrecy and decisions based more on money than quality care.So on April 28, 2017, legislators directed their independent auditors to find out whether KanCare is working.After a year of work, those auditors recently released their determination: the state's data is so bad, there's no way to know."These data issues limited our ability to conclude with certainty on KanCare's effect on service use and limited our ability to interpret cost trends," the auditors wrote. "More significantly, data reliability issues entirely prevented us from evaluating KanCare's effect on beneficiaries' health outcomes."In an email, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Jeff Andersen said the agency disputed some of the auditors' conclusions about KanCare's effect on Medicaid costs, which he said didn't take into the effect of state and federal policy changes.But he didn't dispute their conclusions about the shortcomings of the data on patient outcomes, which he said he became aware of after he was appointed in January.He said KDHE has requested more money to hire additional state employees and strengthen oversight of KanCare, including data verification.He also noted that under the KanCare contracts, the private companies that the state hired to administer KanCare could face penalties of "upwards of $3 million" if they fail to submit accurate and timely data."We intend to enforce their contractual obligations to ensure program integrity," Andersen said.Sean Gatewood and Barb Conant, co-directors of a group for people on KanCare called the KanCare Advocates Network, said the auditors' conclusions were unsurprising.They and others have said for years that they've struggled to get good data on the program out of the state in a timely fashion."The LPA (Legislative Post Audit) findings confirm what stakeholders, advocates and providers have been voicing concerns about," the group said in a statement.Gatewood said one of the problems with getting data is that the state placed all Kansas Medicaid services under three private insurance companies -- Amerigroup, Sunflower State Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare -- that aren't subject to open records laws and can claim that the information they have is proprietary.The Star reported last year that the companies also have made the process of getting and keeping disability support services under Medicaid more secretive.Gatewood and Conant said the administration should address the data problems and and a backlog of Medicaid applications before it proceeds with major additions to KanCare, like a work requirement.The auditors wanted to study how the switch to KanCare affected people's usage of 12 major Medicaid services.But they wrote that "significant data reliability issues" prevented them from evaluating services such as outpatient care, prescription drugs and disability services.In some cases the data issues were due to policy changes that prevented year-to-year comparisons. But the auditors found significant outliers, inaccuracies and extreme fluctuations that gave them no confidence they could do a true analysis.So they looked at only five services: primary care, behavioral health, dental, nursing facilities and inpatient hospital care.They found that KanCare increased the use of primary care substantially, by 45 percent, and more modestly increased the use of dental (15 percent) and behavioral health (8 percent) services.That seemed to reinforce what Brownback and Colyer have said for years about KanCare improving health outcomes and decreasing costs by getting people preventive care that keeps them out of hospitals and nursing homes.But the auditors found that KanCare also increased inpatient hospital care by 2 percent and increased nursing facility care by 16 percent."It was not immediately clear to us or KDHE officials the reason for this increase," the auditors wrote of the nursing home care, "but it is clearly inconsistent with KanCare's goal to reduce Medicaid costs for the elderly through increased care coordination."The auditors also said they couldn't evaluate whether there were enough doctors and other medical providers in the KanCare networks because the data the insurance companies submitted to the state "had duplicative, missing and outdated provider information."They also said that while KDHE tracks whether the claims the companies pass on to the state from medical providers are allowable under Medicaid, it has no system to track whether those claims are accurate.That's important because the reimbursements that the three KanCare companies get from the state are based in part on how much they've paid in claims in past years. And the auditors discovered that one of the companies, Sunflower State Health Plan, had inappropriately included the interest it paid to providers on late claims."Including interest in its claims payments may have inappropriately inflated state payments to Sunflower," the auditors wrote.In a written response to the auditors, KDHE Secretary Andersen said the state doesn't have enough staff to vet the accuracy of the claims data very often but would be looking at ways to audit it at least once a year.He also said Sunflower State Health Plan had been told to stop including interest in its claims data and KDHE is considering asking the company to reimburse the state.Kansas Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who sits on the legislative audit committee and a KanCare oversight committee, said he has confidence in Andersen.He said when Andersen took over KDHE the agency was "really in a bad way," but he's trying to turn it around.Still, even before the audit was released, Hawkins said he was in talks with the Kansas Health Institute, a Topeka nonprofit, about doing its own collection and analysis of KanCare data.Hawkins said KanCare has become very politicized and having an independent third party handle the data might move the public debate forward."Why not use KHI to get the data out there to see what's going on, bad or good?" Hawkins said.Hawkins said at the next KanCare oversight committee meeting in August he expects to talk about what stakeholders should collaborate with KHI and what measures they should look at to evaluate KanCare.KHI president and CEO Robert St. Peter said his organization is ready to help."Despite the huge amount of information that's been generated about KanCare, it seems like there's just as many questions now about whether the program works as there was when it started," St. Peter said. "The goal of this is to really close that loop."Andersen said KDHE is also on board."Our intent is to be transparent with consumers and the public regarding Medicaid service delivery," Andersen said. "We look forward to working with the Kansas Health Institute moving forward to serve as an independent third party to ensure that all data related to the program is accurately being shared." Governments around the nation are working to design the best vaccine policies that keep both their employees and their residents safe. Although the latest data shows a variety of polarizing perspectives, there are clear emerging best practices that leading governments are following to put trust first: creating policies that are flexible and provide a range of options, and being in tune with the needs and sentiments of their employees so that they are able to be dynamic and accommodate the rapidly changing situation. Last week, city officials from around the country gathered in Los Angeles to share ideas about how government can be more data-driven, creative and effective in solving public problems. Thefor the Government Performance and Innovation Summit, an annual event hosted bymagazine and its nonprofit partner Living Cities, is to showcase, spread and scale up promising programs and practices in local government.Over two days, more than a dozen city officials, including mayors, treasurers and innovation directors, sat down withto highlight what ideas theyd like to steal from another jurisdiction and what other jurisdictions ought to steal from them.Heres a brief list of the ideas they said were worth stealing:: Both New York City and Los Angeles have a mayors fund, which is a nonprofit that encourages partnerships between government, philanthropy, nonprofits and businesses. The funds also receive donations to support government initiatives and evaluate their impact."To have a foundation that is dedicated to mission, that is fully funded [...] would be a real opportunity to have an outside partner to really support our work," says Gary, Indiana, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.: GovLabPHL, a multi-agency team housed in the Philadelphia mayors office, partners with academics at five local universities to improve service delivery. Specifically, GovLabPHL has used behavioral economics to increase enrollment in a water utility discount program for seniors and to make enrollment forms in other programs easier to access and fill out.The crosscutting nature of GovLabPHL caught the eye of Adria Finch, the director of innovation in the Syracuse mayor's office. "They have actually started to bring in people from other parts of the organization, other city departments, to do innovative work," she says. "I think that's something we'd love to do.": Anchorage, Alaska, allows residents to bring in food scraps to the city landfill and get finished compost in return. "Innovation doesn't have to be technology," says Brendan Babb, the city's chief innovation officer.: The mayor's office in Gary, Indiana, wants the input and expertise of former residents who've moved away. In conjunction with alumni reunions at a handful of local high schools, the city is supporting a homecoming for its "expats." The city is also inviting former residents to provide feedback for its comprehensive plan. The mayor's office also hopes that expats can assist with or lead projects where skilled professionals in Gary are in short supply."We joke a lot about our best export being our people," says Terrance Smith, who directs the mayor's innovation team in Mobile, Ala. "It would be really good if we could build our capacity for innovation by bringing the people back for one day or two days to share what they've learned around the world.": The St. Louis Treasurers Office collects parking ticket revenue. While most of the money goes to the city, Treasurer Tishaura Jones uses more than $300,000 per year for financial empowerment programs, such as free children savings accounts, tax assistance for low-to-moderate income filers and financial literacy classes."We're able to use a portion of our revenues ... to invest in people and turn parking tickets from something people hate to something people hate a little less," says Jones.: San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros is seeking to reduce or eliminate government fines or fees that are unaffordable to low-income residents, have a disproportionate impact on people of color and can push people into poverty."I think this is a way for the city and our local courts and everybody involved with our local government to take a look at how we're doing and make sure we're treating people fairly," Cisneros says.: The office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti partners with a local university to teach residents about their local government, both in terms of how it's organized and also how to influence it.Understanding how government does everything from zoning to drafting a budget is "probably the most important but least transmitted idea from government," Garcetti says. "We hang on to this information like it's holy and proprietary. But it's the people's information. It needs to work for them."Here's a video from the conference about these ideas and others: Description GIS 11 May, 2018: The phase 2 of the Switch Africa Green Programme, was launched yesterday at the seat of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Port-Louis. In this context, a grant amounting to nearly EUR 1.2 Million was awarded to the Mauritius Tourism Authority (MTA) by the European Union (EU) under the programme. The phase 2 of the Switch Africa Green Programme, was launched yesterday at the seat of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Port-Louis. In this context, a grant amounting to nearly EUR 1.2 Million was awarded to the Mauritius Tourism Authority (MTA) by the European Union (EU) under the programme. The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Anil Gayan, the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Etienne Sinatambou and the Ambassador of the European Union to Mauritius, Mrs Marjaana Sall, were present. The financing grant will help the MTA implement the project, Improving sustainable tourism in Mauritius through greening the value chain of tour operators aimed at supporting tour operators to adopt sustainable, innovative and smart actions to improve the sustainability of their business. In his address, Minister Sinatambou highlighted that as a Small Island Developing State, Mauritius is vulnerable to exogenous factors such as natural disasters and climate change. He emphasised that a shift to sustainable lifestyle is a prerequisite to achieving sustainable development and to contribute significantly to mitigate the effects of climate change. Speaking about the alarming consequences of climate change, the Minister stressed on the need of gearing our thinking towards adaption measures along with mitigation measures, adding that 8 more critical sites have been recently added to the 13 critical sites identified in 2015. Government, he said, is conscious that resource efficiency and sustainability are among key elements that need to be harnessed to build resilience in order to limit negative impacts of global challenges. In its endeavour to meet its sustainable development objectives and in particular the Nationally Determined Contribution, Government has adopted the formulation and implementation of successive policies and strategies in key sectors, added the Minister. Minister Sinatambou observed that the financial and technical support of development partners such as the EU are critical to enable the quantum leap to the greening of the countrys economy, wherein the support provided by the EU will certainly help Mauritius meet its international commitments with regards to attaining Sustainable Development Goals. As for Minister Gayan, he highlighted the imperative need for decision-makers to protect and preserve the environment. He pointed out that Government seeks to project the country as a green and clean destination and in this regard various initiatives are being spearheaded to foster sustainability. The Minister recalled that his Ministry will support tourism enterprises in their drive to be environmentally compliant while undertaking their activities so that there is no long lasting impact on the environment. He pointed out that various tourist enterprises are complying to sustainable practices such as the standards of the eco-label MS 165: 2014 ,other practices such as ecological and energy saving and waste minimisation measures. As for the Ambassador of the EU, she underlined that the tourism sector has largely contributed to the economic growth of the country, emphasising that Mauritius needs to tackle the global challenges with regards to the environment and sustainable development changes. She added that sustainable development, the environment and climate change issues are at the core of the EUs external relations. Ambassador Marjaana Sall further added that the green economy has become a key strategic priority for all Governments and it features prominently in the EU programmes and strategies. According to her, the Switch Africa Green Programme offers significant opportunity to Mauritius to fulfil its green destination target by promoting sustainable tourism along with environmental changes, ideals that EU clearly subscribes to. Description GIS 11 May, 2018: Public sectors expenditure tracking relating to environment, climate change mitigation and adaptation for financial year 2017/2018 was the focus of a working session held yesterday in the context of the Mauritius Green Economy Forum at Fooks House in Port Louis. Public sectors expenditure tracking relating to environment, climate change mitigation and adaptation for financial year 2017/2018 was the focus of a working session held yesterday in the context of the Mauritius Green Economy Forum atFooks House in Port Louis. The session was a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the United Nations Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE). It provided an overview of the Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review for March 2016 and the follow-up report on Tracking of Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review (TPSEE) for March 2018. Participants were stakeholders from Ministries, Local Authorities, the private sector and Academia. The follow-up report on TPSEE for March 2018 demonstrated the links between climate change issues and public expenditure on environment to tackle climate change, especially on flooding, and drains infrastructure. Discussions focused on current challenges and opportunities as regards domestic and external financing opportunities to address climate change. The Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review (PEER) project was implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in 2015. It consist a preliminary estimate of environment and climate change related to expenditures from 2011 to 2014. Expected results of the session are: sharing insights, experiences and examples of environmental inclusiveness in policy practice; strengthening knowledge on the international climate finance opportunities; and identifying climate-related actions to strengthen resilience of Mauritius as a Small Island Developing States, in particular flood management. Moreover, the findings will help Government in better understanding of how public expenditure on the environment addresses emerging issues and challenges linked to climate change. It will also enable Government to identify the inter-linkages between fiscal instruments and fiscal balance to meet environmental, equity and revenue objectives and to make more efficient use of funds for climate mitigation and adaptation. (TNS) - Gov. Jerry Brown, alarmed by reports that climate change is dramatically increasing fire risk, on Thursday ordered an all-out attack by scientists, land managers, industry and the public on the dangerous conditions that helped spread last years devastating wildfires.The executive order will launch a slate of projects to improve forest conditions and increase fire protection, including a doubling of the amount of land managed by controlled burns, tree thinning and other forest-management tactics.The extra work would be financed with $96 million the governor is proposing in his May budget revision, to be released Friday. The money would augment the $160 million in cap-and-trade revenue that he has previously proposed spending for forest improvements and fire protection in the 2018-19 fiscal year. The spending would have to be approved by the Legislature.Devastating forest fires are a profound challenge to California, Brown said. I intend to mobilize the resources of the state to protect our forests and ensure they absorb carbon to the maximum degree.The money would be used to implement the governors Forest Carbon Plan, also released Thursday, and to improve the health of the states forests, which draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the trees, shrubs and soil.The idea is to manage the forests in a way that will reduce tree mortality, improve watersheds and increase the ability of Californias 33 million acres of forest to capture carbon.John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, said Browns order is a call to action for all state, federal and local agencies, California Indian tribes, forest management companies, and industries to step forward.Its clear were facing a catastrophic shift in our forests, Laird said. Science tells us that these trends will only be exacerbated by climate change.The executive order comes a day after the release of an alarming 350-page report by the California Environmental Protection Agency that documents the ruinous domino effect of climate change including bigger, more intense forest fires, longer droughts, and an ever-shrinking snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.The five largest fire years since 1950 have all occurred since 2006, and eight of the states 20 most destructive fires have happened in the past four years. The Thomas Fire, which swept through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties last year, was the largest fire in California history. Taken together, the wind-blown wildfires that killed 45 people and destroyed 8,900 homes in Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties in October were the most deadly.A state Tree Mortality Task Force has removed more than 1.2 million dead or dying trees from the states forests since 2015. Forestry officials and biologists say higher temperatures intensify droughts, kill trees and increase the threat of wildfire.The order establishes a Forest Management Task Force, which will be convened in the next few weeks to help implement the plan. The money would also go toward increasing public education and training, and expanding innovative uses of forest products for building and other industries.Browns plan includes the following:Doubling the land actively managed through vegetation thinning, controlled fires and reforestation from 250,000 acres to 500,000 acres. Creating programs to help promote forest health through prescribed burning.Teaching landowners better ways to reduce vegetation and other forest-fire fuels on private lands. Streamlining the process for property owners to win permits to improve forest health and reduce forest-fire fuels on their land. Supporting the innovative use of forest products, including lumber and wood products for building, and organic matter for fuel and to generate electricity.Expanding grants, training and other incentives to improve watersheds.The move is the latest by Brown to combat climate change and its impacts, in defiance of efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle regulations intended to protect the environment.Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite2018 the San Francisco ChronicleVisit the San Francisco Chronicle at www.sfgate.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.' There was this report from earlier today, Homeland Security Secretary Was Close to Resigning After Trump Berated Her. I'm not surprised by the behavior of the president and how it impacts the people he leads. He was not happy with the rise in illegal crossings at the border. His behavior reminds me of a Lt. Gen. Bobby Fair (if I remember right). When he became the commanding general of the Second Armored Division sometime around 1974-75, he was reported to have yelled and screamed at his subordinate commanders about the number of AWOL reports (soldiers absent without leave).Guess what, the AWOL rate (reported) went down, maintenance and vehicle readiness went up! I think people were playing with the numbers to avoid the wrath of the boss. I personally was out looking for AWOL soldiers in the community so we would not have to report them as AWOL. I went to one house and dug the offender off of the living room floor where he was camped out with a girlfriend. By Fair's efforts, his command numbers were turned around and he was promoted to corps commander and given a third star. I ended up in Germany (for six months Brigade 75) and he was the corps commander there, Fifth V Corps (?).Anyway, he tried the same tactic with his divisional commanders, two-star generals. They would have none of it. His behavior got back to the Department of the Army and one day he was quickly and quietly removed from his command. That is leadership being effective and countering behaviors that are "unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."Yelling is not an impeachable offense, but I do believe that character matters.Added: Don't weep for cabinet official Trump berated The self-driving car wave could be headed to Rhode Island. The state's Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has released a request for proposals in its bid for a public-private partnership to test autonomous vehicles, likely in the form of small driverless shuttles in the Providence area.We at the department are very focused on managing the assets that we have for now, but we want to have our eye on the future, recognizing that there are a lot of changes that are coming fast," said Shoshana Lew, chief operating officer for RIDOT. "And we want to be part of the conversation, not reacting to it later."About a year ago, the Rhode Island Transportation Department began a public conversation" with other government agencies, elected officials, academic institutions, private-sector companies and others, said Lew. The idea was to really talk about what the challenges are with autonomy and other innovations in transportation technology and what that will mean for the work that we do as a transportation agency.Out of those conversations came several overall themes the department wanted to explore through an AV study project: improved and equitable mobility, safer transportation, economic growth and workforce development, sustainability and smart cities data management.From those principles we tried to kind of design a first leg forward into this effort that will help us to answer questions in those areas again, working together with our academic partners to make sure that were doing this in a way that actually gets us the research that we need, said Lew.To test these principles, officials picked the neighborhood of Olneyville, an area of Providence known for its historic industrial past, that now boasts a lot of energy about creating an innovation district now, said Lew.The area is also a good candidate for a transit pilot study due to its current lack of transit services, say officials.Theres actually a gap that we can fill by adding a kind of neat option into that neighborhood, and we think that its a community where the people who are moving into it, said Lew, its a really diverse population who we think can be part of a really community-driven effort around testing new technology. We think this is a sweet spot for trying that out.The service envisioned is a short-distance shuttle that will essentially go roughly from the train station in downtown Providence through this neighborhood, said Lew. We want the partners who potentially apply for it to be innovative, and kind of give us your best shot at how you would make this work. We were similarly non-prescriptive about the type of technology that they use. We could see a low-speed shuttle as a possibility. There certainly are other places that are testing that. But that is not the only technology we would consider."Proposals from the RFP are due in mid-summer, with some of the initial testing beginning by the end of the year. The project will likely be structured as a two-phase project, while still having a research component run throughout. There will be an initial testing period at the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, R.I., home to nearly 200 businesses and more than 10,000 workers.They are a business park so the streets are a little less congested and will work as a good testing ground, said Pamela Cotter, policy director for RIDOT.Cities all across the country such as Gainesville, Fla. Arlington, Texas and more have been involved with the testing of autonomous shuttles.Academic institutions in New England will also be asked to offer research projects related to AV shuttle technologies in Providence.What we are envisioning is there will be an operator and then also allow researchers from whatever institutions, whether it be an Ivy League school, or a combination, and a workforce-type school, and theyll be able to then sort of talk about user experience, interview the riders, figure out what the mobility aspects of this are, said Cotter. Intervention from their U.S. senator has given officials in several predominantly rural Pennsylvania counties new hope in their long-running quest to convince technology company Google to fully update its mapping data for their region, following a comprehensive campaign to improve street naming and addressing.The four counties in question are Montour County, the states smallest county at 132 square miles, Columbia County next door, which at 490 square miles, is nearly four times as big; and parts of neighboring Northumberland and Schuylkill counties. All are in the eastern-central part of the state.Pennsylvania has urged smaller counties to eliminate duplication by merging their 911 services, according to Montour County Commission Chairman Ken Holdren. Facing an estimated $2.1 million cost to update its 911 equipment, which was at end of life, officials realized their best option was to join with neighboring Columbia County in a shared dispatch center. The project began in earnest in January 2016, but first, authorities had to address longstanding idiosyncrasies in addressing and street naming.Two jurisdictions in neighboring counties immediately south of Montour and Columbia were also covered by the new 911 center and were affected by the lack of a Google update: Riverside, a borough in Northumberland County, and Rush Township in Schuylkill County. Ultimately, nearly all home and business addresses in Montour County, Rush Township and Riverside were changed, The Danville News wrote recently.Columbia Countys existing computer-assisted dispatch system already followed a format that carefully assigned house numbers per mile, in a sequence from major arteries, county Commissioner Chris Young told. Montour County didnt have that.They were really kind of hodge-podge. So, when we decided to merge our 911 centers, one of the things that had to happen was Montour had to adopt that scheme, Young said.Issues included building numbers that were out of sequence; even and odd numbering on the same side of the street; and street or road names in more than one location within the same jurisdiction.Some streets, we had numbers going up on one side and down on the other. You can imagine all the chaos created when theres an ambulance call, said Dan Hartman, vice chairman of the Montour County Commission.Neither Columbia County nor Montour County utilized Google mapping in their first responder coordination pre-merger, and neither does so now. But some first responders may use the service in their vehicles as equipment levels and procedures vary.It depends on the vehicle of the responders. In our area, everything is volunteer and different apparatuses have different systems, Holdren said.The agencies completed the readdressing and renaming in about five months during early 2017, mailing out change-of-address notices to residents in June 2017 and updating hard copy map books for first responders, according to Tim Murphy, GIS director for Columbia and Montour counties.In July 2017, officials sent Google their updated data through its portal, following up in October and November, at which point Murphy said the company indicated that it was not able to provide any information on its data import process. The GIS director followed up again in January and was notified that the company would not be able to share a timeline for the update.Since then, some addresses have been updated but many others, including public safety facilities, still need to be changed. No life-or-death situations have yet resulted during emergency response, but to be safe, county administrators have asked residents whose address numbers changed, to display both their old and new numbers.People are putting their lives in the hands of Google. Every time you turn on GPS, youre trusting that information is correct. I can tell you, if youre traveling through Montour County in central Pennsylvania or the lower section of Columbia, its wrong. That verges on criminal to me, if something happens, said Young, who contactedrecently after reading about a blacklisting issue that Brown County, S.D., experienced with Gmail addresses. That problem has since been resolved I give any vendor I talk to both addresses. Because I dont trust anybody at this stage, said Holdren, who toldon May 8 that typing the current address for the Montour County Courthouse into Google Earth takes you to the borough building."In an email May 1, Genevieve Park, a member of Googles communications and public affairs team, said the matter was being investigated.Were currently looking into this with our team, Park said.In a statement on May 11, a Google spokesperson said the amount of time it takes to update an area covered by Google Maps can vary for several reasons, including the amount of time needed to vet and process different types of data."When we learn of inaccuracies on the map, we do our best to address the issue as quickly as possible," the spokesperson said.The addressing issue re-emerged twice this week, even as officials learned that U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh, had facilitated a connection from the technology company to the agencies. Murphy said Google contacted Columbia County on May 7.That evening, at the Riverside Borough Council meeting, Southside Fire Co. Chief Nick Fowler said he was afraid someone would ultimately get hurt, according to The Daily Item , a Sunbury newspaper.Everybodys frustrated in the two counties, Fowler said, referring to Columbia and Montour counties.On May 8, Montour County Commissioner Trevor Finn told a Riverside Borough Council member that a fix may be on the way, according toSteve Kelly, press secretary to Sen. Toomey, toldthat the senators Harrisburg office had heard from commissioners in Columbia and Montour counties, and communication had been made.I think it was probably just linking one to another. Our office reached out to the contacts we have and told them about the difficulties Columbia and Montour counties were having reaching them and asked them to reach out. And then they did, Kelly said.They have resent the information to Google, only this time, theyve actually sent it to an actual individual. So they have the data but they havent done anything with it, Young said on May 11. (TNS) The FBI on Thursday said it pulled the digital Guy Fawkes mask off an Akron hacker who shut down the citys website last year and targeted others, including the U.S. Department of Defense.James Robinson, 32, of Edison Avenue, in the Summit Lake neighborhood was arrested on a single federal charge of intentionally causing damage to a protected computer.It was not clear Thursday whether Robinson had obtained a lawyer. A message sent to a Twitter handle that feds say he used was not immediately returned.According to investigators, Robinson apparently embraced the Anonymous movement, a decentralized international activist group known for its online attacks on governments and corporations, along with the white Guy Fawkes masks that have come to symbolize the movement.Fawkes was part of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords in London, but more recently a mask in his image was made famous by the 1988-89 comic book series. In it, the anti-hero dons a Fawkes mask during efforts to topple an authoritarian government.In the real world, individual Anonymous members often challenge institutions they consider authoritarian, but members motives can vary.Whoever shut down the city of Akrons website apparently believed Akron police and the city justice system were corrupt.On the day of the cyberattack, Aug. 1, someone using the twitter handle @AkronPhoenix420 posted a link to a YouTube video that included a screen shot that showed akronohio.gov was down.A computer-generated voiceover on the video harshly criticized the city for being crime-ridden.Among other things, the narrator claimed Freemasons have a tight grip on the justice system, Akron officials only care about generating revenue and on-duty Akron police officers pick up prostitutes and steal drugs for their own use.Its time we teach the law a lesson, the narrator says, this week the city of Akron experienced system failures on multiple domains.A half-dozen agencies including the FBI, Akron police and an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense ultimately joined an investigation to find the hacker.Among other things, the probe determined the cyberattacks were launched from an internet connection registered to Robinson, the FBI said, adding that Robinsons phone was also associated with the @AkronPhoenix420 Twitter handle.On Wednesday, law enforcement with a search warrant moved on Robinsons home. Inside, the FBI said they found a Fawkes mask and a mobile phone with a cracked screen similar to a phone seen in tweets by @AkronPhoenix420.The FBI said Thursday that Robinson said he was responsible for cyberattacks against websites operated by the city of Akron, the U.S. Department of Defense and others.Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said Thursday the city takes attacks on its website seriously.Convenient access to city services and information is essential to the proper functioning of local government, he said in a prepared statement.Akron Police Chief Kenneth Ball, meanwhile, expressed his departments appreciation for the collaboration leading to an arrest.Hopefully this sends a strong message to any others that may think they can bully law enforcement, Ball said in a prepared statement.Yet its unclear if Robinsons arrest will intimidate other hackers or push them to step up their efforts.For years, law enforcement has shut down people and groups of hackers around the world only to have other hackers pop up.In the YouTube video @AkronPhoenix420 linked to in August, the narrator implies Akron police had already targeted local Anonymous members.You cannot kill an idea. You cannot stop the resistance, the computer generated voice warned. We are the 99 percent and we are here. Posted 5/10/18 Hickory County R-1 (Skyline) High School graduating seniors Logan Bennett, Savannah Gruber, Martina Potter and Jordyn Wilson were awarded Low Foundation scholarships provided in honor of Claude and (TNS) Oakland officials halted an inspection program that sends firefighters to multifamily apartments, restaurants and other commercial buildings to check for safety and fire hazards because of a change in computer software.In a department-wide email two weeks ago, Fire Chief Darin White said there would be a temporary suspension of the commercial inspection program, one of three inspection programs overseen by the Fire Department. He told his staff that they might lose access to the computer software program that helped firefighters track inspections of commercial buildings starting May 1. The software was blamed following the Ghost Ship fire for not flagging the warehouse for inspection. Officials are in the process of replacing the database with a more reliable tracking system.But the new system isnt yet ready.City Councilman Noel Gallo, who sits on the Public Safety Committee and represents the Fruitvale neighborhood, was frustrated to hear that commercial inspections were suspended.When it comes to public safety, he said, software or managerial excuses dont cut it.Deputy Fire Chief Melinda Drayton said she does not know when the inspections will resume, but she and other officials emphasized they are a small part of all fire inspections and not legally mandated.The department does three types of inspections. Fire-code inspections are required by law on a yearly basis for buildings like jails, high-rises, new construction sites and churches. Vegetation inspections happen during wildfire season in the Oakland hills, where firefighters check houses and vacant lots for overgrowth and other hazards.Commercial inspections the ones that have been suspended are for smaller businesses and certain apartment building. The citys website says , These inspections are conducted by the members of the OFD Operations Division, on a block-by-block basis, with the intent to inspect commercial & residential properties as it pertains to the code and ordinance; provide fire and other life safety hazards education to business owners/occupants; and conduct pre-fire planning for future emergency response. ... It is our goal to provide you excellent service by identifying those activities, processes, or construction flaws which can lead to unwanted fires, and other types of accidents or emergencies.On Thursday, city spokeswoman Karen Boyd described the inspections as supplemental and said, Life-safety inspections have not been impacted by the effort to improve our data collection and data sharing systems.In his memo to fire staff, White cautioned that suspending the program should not affect efforts to prevent fires.This does not and should not preclude companies from continuing to conduct building walk-throughs, pre-fire planning and making referrals as necessary to the Fire Prevention Bureau and other compliance agencies and divisions, White said in the April 27 notice.The Fire Departments inspection programs came under scrutiny in recent years after deadly blazes at the Ghost Ship warehouse and a halfway house on San Pablo Avenue In 2014, an Alameda County civil grand jury investigation revealed that the Fire Department was not trying to check one-third of the citys 12,000 commercial buildings for fire hazards. And for one-quarter of inspections that were attempted, the buildings couldnt be accessed.Drayton said the inspections that have been suspended which are conducted across the city by individual fire crews are a small portion of the total inspections the department carries out. She said inspections mandated by law for high-rise buildings, construction sites, special events and the like will continue. Those are handled by civilian inspectors in the Fire Prevention Bureau.For years, the department used a software program called One Step to record what firefighters saw while inspecting buildings. But the database, which has been described as clumsy and difficult to navigate, was missing property records The system was originally designed based on business licenses. That meant there could be outdated records for buildings, duplicate records a hair salon with multiple stylists or no records at all. The Ghost Ship, for instance, just a block away from a fire station, was never inspected in the years it was used as an art collective and event space because there was no license associated with its operations. In response to the warehouse disaster , which killed 36 guests at an electronic music show , the city paid $2.7 million to expand a different data management system used by the citys Planning and Building Department. Oakland officials said that system, called Accela, was more thorough and would prevent inspection lapses because properties were inputted based on county parcel information.But migrating the data and building out the fire module of the new system is not complete yet.Dan Robertson, president of the firefighters union, said problems arising while moving to a new system were to be expected. But a lack of resources and staffing in the department is hurting the safety of firefighters and citizens, he added.We wouldve liked to have seen better planning and coordination, maybe with a bigger commitment of staff resources, to make the transition more seamless for us in the firehouse, Robertson said. By not empowering us to continue to vigorously perform effective fire inspections, it sends a message, especially considering the lack of direction to us on dealing with (homeless) encampments.Drayton said the department has purchased a cloud-based version of the One Step program to retain the old data while the system is transitioned, but its licensed on fewer computers now. Firefighters need to be trained on that version before the commercial inspection program can be fully restored, she said. Drayton said she didnt know when that would be.Right now, Drayton said, the department is training everyone on how to use Accela for vegetation-management inspections different than commercial inspections as wildfire season in the hills nears . That part of the new database will be rolled out next week.Also next week, the City Council will vote on a $150,000 contract that will extend One Step up to two more years in order to keep the old inspection records while transitioning between systems. (TNS) RIVERSIDE, Ohio U.S. Secret Service agents are investigating the attack on Riversides computer server, according to state and federal officials familiar with the matter.Because the federal agency is tasked with and experienced in defending U.S. financial institutions from cyber attacks, the Secret Service often assists local governments facing similar attacks.As a matter of policy, the Secret Service does not discuss active criminal investigations, said Kevin Dye, resident agent-in-charge for the U.S. Secret Service in Dayton.Another computer virus hit the city of Riversides police and fire servers last week and erased certain files, the city manager said today.The attack the second to hit the city in several weeks was less damaging than a still-unsolved attack last month that rendered about 10 months of police records inaccessible to police officials, City Manager Mark Carpenter said.Riverside officials have not determined what exactly happened during the attacks, Carpenter said. City officials plan to meet May 15 with the citys third-party information technology company to discuss the problem.Were still trying to get to the bottom of how the attack was initiated, Carpenter said.Carpenter said the term ransomware was used to describe the attack. The term implies that a third-party held, or is holding, the citys data hostage in exchange for a ransom, often paid in bitcoin or other cryptocurrency. But Carpenter said the city has not paid such a ransom, and he wasnt aware if such a ransom was demanded.The recent virus attacked the citys server Friday afternoon and erased about eight hours worth of data, Carpenter said.Everything was backed-up, but we lost about eight hours worth of information we have to re-enter, he said. It was our police and fire records, so we just re-enter the reports.Carpenter said the attacks have not hindered criminal investigations or prosecutions, because many of the documents made inaccessible in the first attack are copied and are with the court system, so there are hard copies out there.Police and fire reports often contain a host of personal data about individuals victims, suspects, witnesses and police officers themselves. Reports can include Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, insurance policy numbers, medical information and other data. Some data are routinely available to the public, but other data are withheld under public records law exemptions.The city has not said if any confidential investigatory data are compromised by the attack, but Carpenter said, peoples personal information, as we understand it, has not been disseminated to any hackers.Riverside faces these computer problems as cities and organizations across the U.S. and globe, including the city of Atlanta, have faced crippling computer viruses costing millions of dollars in repairs and untold hours of labor.In Clark County, Mad River Twp. Fire and EMS data were hacked and encrypted with ransomware in December.Atlantas municipal government faced a ransomware attack in March. An attacker demanded a $50,000 ransom to restore the citys systems. The city ended up shelling out nearly $2.7 million on eight emergency contracts in an attempt to fix the problem.Three federal agencies the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service assisted Atlanta during its attack.Carpenter said he didnt think Riverside has asked for similar help. He said Ohio Auditor Dave Yosts office provided some assistance, but did not specify how the state office helped. Yosts office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.For years, the FBI has warned that the use of ransomware malicious software that threatens to block access to data or to publish it unless the infected organization pays a ransom is a fast-growing criminal enterprise.Organizations often dont learn they have been infected until they cant access their data or until computer messages appear demanding a ransom payment in exchange for a decryption key, according to the FBIs website. (TNS) Cybercrime in the U.S. cost its victims at least $1.4 billion in 2017, according to a report released this week by the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center.The federal agency last year registered more than 300,000 victim complaints. Internet fraudsters targeted Pennsylvanians at least 11,300 times for $36.3 million, New Jersey residents more than 7,600 times for $40.4 million, and about 760 Delaware folk for $2.4 million, according to the FBIs report.But total losses and the number of victims likely are much greater, said cybersecurity experts.Thats because not everybody reports to the FBI, said Michael Levy, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who was recently the chief of computer crimes at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.People dont report it for various reasons, Levy said, but often they dont want the embarrassment.The top reported internet scam was non-payment or non-delivery, where goods are shipped and never delivered or ordered but never received. The second most reported offense was personal data breaches, which are used for identity theft or industrial espionage. The third was phishing, where a fraudster lures a victim into disclosing sensitive information such as a password, a credit card number or bank account information.It just goes to show that people arent learning. Thats the big takeaway, said Mark McCreary, partner and chief privacy officer at Philadelphias Fox Rothschild law firm. The report comes out every year, but the number of people, the number of dollars lost remains fairly constant. We keep falling for the same scams.Ransomware ranked 24th on the FBIs list of top internet scams. Both Levy and McCreary believe thats because most victims dont bother to file complaints about it.Its what people get most affected by, McCreary said.In a ransomware attack, a hacker locks a victims data and promises to release it after a ransom is paid, typically in bitcoin. The FBI advises against paying a ransom.Last years most lucrative swindle was the business email compromise (BEC), a sophisticated scam that targets people who regularly transfer large sums of money by wire or who write large checks. The money is unwittingly sent to accounts controlled by criminals.Its something were seeing a lot more of, McCreary said.The BEC scam has become common enough that the FBI created a separate category in 2017 to track it. Victims last year lost more than $676 million to BECs.With a BEC, fraudsters find a way to infiltrate a companys email system. Then they sit and wait, learning who controls a companys purse strings.The scammers get into a system and they lurk there for months, reading communications to figure out how a president or CEO would write an email asking for a check to be sent somewhere, Levy said. Once the information is gleaned, the fraudster sends a faked email requesting a large sum be sent out.If the company doesnt catch it early and report it to the bank or law enforcement, (the money is) out of the country before someone can do something about it, Levy said. A lot of times, banks have refused to reimburse their customers for the loss, saying you authorized the check. Pierre Gasly says he is back on reasonable terms with Kevin Magnussen. After Baku, the Frenchman slammed Magnussen as "the most dangerous driver" he has ever raced against, following a high-speed clash. Haas driver Magnussen apologised afterwards. "I was really angry after the race and did not really listen to what he said," Gasly told Ekstra Bladet newspaper in Barcelona. "Everything is fine now. We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again. "He sent me a text message after the weekend to apologise again," Gasly revealed. After Baku, Magnussen also issued a statement clarifying an interview in which he said he was prepared to die in a F1 car. "I felt I had to clarify it because the timing of the article was really bad," said the Dane. "It seemed like the quotes had something to do with it (the Gasly incident)." Magnussen's boss Gunther Steiner also defended the 25-year-old. "Kevin apologised to him (Gasly) and said it was not on purpose," he said. "I think Pierre will get in someone's way another day and then it will be his turn to be criticised." (GMM) Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler has travelled to Barcelona for talks with F1 chiefs. It comes as he admits that talks about a new contract for the German grand prix beyond 2018 have been fruitless so far. "I don't know what will happen," Seiler told DPA news agency. "But we won't agree a contract that involves an economic risk. The promoter fee is just too high. "We receive no regional, state or federal subsidy," he added. "We are almost unique in that way." Seiler hinted that he misses his old relationship with ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. "I had a confidential relationship based on partnership and even friendship, and negotiations with him were always fair," he said. But Seiler revealed that 60,000 tickets have so far been sold for the race in July, which he calls "a good number". "That would give us an economic zero," he said. "At the moment we set the playground so that others earn money. What we need is an investor or a sponsor so that we can organise another formula one race in Hockenheim." (GMM) Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya boss Joan Fontsere says he hopes talks will lead to a new contract for the Spanish grand prix. In recent days, circuit officials and F1 chief executive Chase Carey have indicated a new deal beyond 2019 is in the works. Talks will begin after Sunday's race. "At the moment we are focused on everything going well this weekend," Fontsere is quoted by El Pais newspaper. "We have the grand prix guaranteed until 2019, and once this race is over, we will continue talking with Liberty." He said the environment for this round of negotiations is very different compared to when the last contract was agreed. "Fernando Alonso had just won his titles, we were competing with Valencia and we also had pressure from a project in Madrid," said Fontsere. Meanwhile, F1 chief executive Carey played down any impact the political situation regarding the Catalonia region will have on the talks. "We are aware of what is happening," he said. "But things are complicated in every part of the world. There are 21 countries and 21 problems. "Barcelona is a very valuable partnership for us." (GMM) Spanish GP 2018 Friday Team Quotes Esteban Ocon, Spanish GP 2018 The Cahier Archive Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport Lewis Hamilton (1st, 1:18.259): "The day was pretty good, but it was a tricky one because it was so windy out there. Every driver was struggling with the changing direction of the wind. You're constantly arriving at each corner and the wind direction is never the same, so we saw lots of drivers going off. These conditions make it very difficult to define where the set-up needs to go. We got through all our running and were quite fast compared to previous years. We've got some work to do overnight, I'm hoping that it's cooler and calmer tomorrow. I think it is going to be relatively close between the top three teams but I can't really say who is quickest at the moment." Valtteri Bottas (5th, 1:18.611): "It's been a good day overall. FP1 was especially promising, the car felt good from the start. We made some changes for FP2, which didn't improve the car, so we reverted back to the original set-up. Today has been a good start to the weekend, but things can change quickly from Friday to Saturday especially since Ferrari and Red Bull looked quick today. I didn't really feel any gain of grip with the SuperSoft compared to the other tyres, so we will have to work on this area for tomorrow." Andrew Shovlin: "It has been a productive day with both cars running reliably and completing their respective programmes. Conditions haven't been especially easy, the wind has been strong and unpredictable which caught out both our drivers on their SuperSoft laps but we weren't the only ones who seemed to be struggling to get all the sectors together. It was difficult to know quite what to expect with the tyres here as the conditions in the winter were so cold, and it is the first time we have run the thinner tread Pirelli tyres. For this reason we spent more time than usual trying to understand how all three compounds compared to make sure we carry good information into the race. Our car worked very well here in the winter but we've seen in the early races that both Red Bull and Ferrari have added a lot of performance and that was also evident today in their performance today. We do need to find a bit of pace, especially on the SuperSoft tyre given that qualifying is so important here, but the car wasn't perfect today so hopefully we can make a bit of progress overnight and give Red Bull and Ferrari a tough time tomorrow." Scuderia Ferrari Sebastian Vettel (4th, 1:18.585): Kimi Raikkonen (6th, 1:18.829): Maurizio Arrivabene, Team Principal: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Daniel Ricciardo (2nd, 1:18.392): "It was a day of two halves. The car felt pretty different this afternoon and I think that showed. The mistake in to Turn 4 this morning was a costly one and I missed the final hour of the session because of it. Tail winds are a big thing in F1 and in any corners with a tail wind you lose a lot of rear grip. Turn 4 is a bad corner to have a tail wind and it caught me and a few others out. Of course you don't want to crash but if I'm trying to find a silver lining, then FP1 is probably the best time to do it. FP2 is the one where you do your Race and Qualifying simulations. We got our heads down and put the laps in this afternoon, which was important with the updates to the car, there are quite a few aerodynamicists here today so we needed the laps to give them as much feedback as possible. On the soft tyre we were quite fast, we didn't really get the supersoft working which I don't think many people did and it looks like it will be a tricky tyre this weekend. At the end with high fuel I think we were ok but I'm sure we can still be better. We have found some pace, there is still a bit more to find, but overall a pretty good end to a Friday." Max Verstappen (3rd, 1:18.533): "You always want to improve but I think the car has been handling pretty well today. We didn't experience too many issues and it looked competitive in the long runs. FP2 and FP3 looks good for us on paper but it is only Friday so we'll keep pushing tonight to make some steps forward for tomorrow. The updates we brought here seem to be working so we will have to wait and see how much of an impact they have on Qualifying. The supersoft tyre doesn't seem to be particularly quick and is hard to get working, that might change tomorrow but the soft seemed a better compound today. The new surface created a few moments for a lot of drivers, myself included. A few corners are now flat out which means we lose a bit more time as it effectively makes the straights longer, but we looked competitive in the last sector so we can make up for it a bit there and play to our strengths. Short runs were decent and long runs looked good so come Sunday I feel we can perform well and have good pace. It is tricky to overtake here so hopefully we can put ourselves in a good position for Qualifying tomorrow." Sahara Force India F1 Team Sergio Perez (10th, 1:19.962): "I think we've made a lot of progress throughout the day. We have some good information and we have learned about the new parts on the car; we have made a step forward. The balance is still not ideal so there is the potential to find more performance tomorrow. The track was very green this morning, but it improved this afternoon even though it was very windy." Esteban Ocon (11th, 1:20.024): "It was a solid day and a big effort by the team to try so many different things on the car in the first session. We managed to complete most of the big jobs and now we need to do more homework to understand everything. I think there is still a lot more to come because we are not exactly where we want to be with the car. Track conditions were not easy for anybody because it was very windy and difficult to put together a clean lap and stay on the track." Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer: "It's been a productive start to our weekend, despite some tricky conditions. Our work today was mostly aimed at evaluating new aero parts floor, barge boards and front wing as well as gathering data about the tyre compounds. The wind was reasonably high and it caught a few drivers out but we managed to collect all the critical data we needed to help our preparations for the weekend. There was a small problem with Sergio's left front wheel at the end of the session, the cause of which we are investigating, but it only cost us a minimal amount of track time. We are in pretty good shape ahead of the weekend with plenty of data to analyse tonight so that the team can make the right decisions for qualifying and the race." Williams Martini Racing Lance Stroll (19th, 1:21.556): "I didn't really run this morning, as I went off on my second push lap so it was not the morning I was hoping for. It was very difficult to understand the balance as it's definitely not the balance a racing driver wants to feel. This afternoon we tried to sort out a few things and the car improved a little bit, but still there is so much to understand and figure out. There is a lot of work to be done tonight and we have got to understand what to do so we can be better." Sergey Sirotkin (20th, 1:22.060): "The car is difficult to drive, and mentally it makes you concentrate 200% on everything because it's so tricky. You saw this morning how difficult it was with cars going off. It takes a lot of energy from you just to drive. We didn't expect it to be easy and I'm waiting for the chance to test most of the new bits on our car. Yes, that was a bad session, but we have a long-term plan with a lot of effort from all of us, so I don't want one bad session or event to affect it. Everyone is working flat out and it will take time, but we will get there." Robert Kubica: "It is a good feeling not so much from being in the car but from before that, because I'm back driving in an official session, even if it's only FP1. It's the first time since the end of 2010 so there's some emotion, but this disappeared very soon as we have quite a difficult car to drive. The balance was quite off, but somehow we have to stick to what we've got to complete our aero tests and evaluations. It wasn't an easy session, but we managed in difficult conditions and I was able to give some good feedback. When you're struggling so much it's difficult to enjoy it, but still I'm happy because I think the most difficult car we've had was in this session and I managed to stay cool, and somehow extract what I thought was a reasonable level of performance. I think I can be happy as I did what I was asked to do." Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: "Firstly I want to congratulate Robert on his first official F1 session since he left the sport at the end of 2010. He did a fantastic job for us today, and it is a great credit to his determination and character that we have seen his return to F1. I'm only sorry that the car we gave him for FP1 was extremely difficult. But he did the very best job possible and provided valuable feedback. Overall it was not a good day. We didn't expect this to be a strong circuit for us, given the problems we've been having with the FW41 all year, but our pace is worse than we predicted. The underlying problems are understood and will be fixed in due course. On top of that we are struggling with the supersoft tyre in particular on this track. Nevertheless, we made some progress between FP1 and FP2 and I'm sure we can do much more overnight to find a better balance for qualifying and the race." Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Renault Sport Formula One Team Nico Hulkenberg (13th, 1:20.183): "It was a difficult quest towards balance and harmony with the car today but we definitely made progress by the end of FP2. Track conditions weren't too favourable, especially with quite a bit of wind out there. The competition is pretty tough here so we need to find a bit more pace from the car looking to qualifying and the race." Carlos Sainz (17th, 1:20.672): "It was definitely a challenging day, but we knew this could happen as in winter testing we weren't particularly comfortable in the car here. We know it's a track which requires a bit of extra work from us as a team. We have a big margin of improvement for tomorrow, especially as my FP2 fast run on the Supersoft tyres was affected by a mechanical issue, so we have some things to analyse tonight." Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer: "It was a tricky day, where we struggled to get a good balance on the car. A lot of this was due to the wind conditions, which was difficult for the drivers, particularly where there was a tail wind on corner entry. The tyres proved tricky too, especially the Soft and Supersoft, with the Medium proving to be more solid and predictable as you'd expect. Despite two difficult sessions, both cars ran reliably and we got through our test programme with all the data we need for Sunday. The main challenge today was trying to find a good balance." Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda Pierre Gasly (14th, 1:20.373): "Today was quite an interesting first day in Barcelona. I think this morning was a really good beginning in FP1 as we had the 10th fastest time. In the afternoon session we struggled with the car - it's really hot and windy and it looks like we suffer a bit in these kinds of conditions. It's still very tight between everyone, so we need to find some more performance for tomorrow when it's going to be even closer between the midfield. I think that If we find a few tenths we can be in the fight around P10, so we'll work hard tonight to try and get there." Brendon Hartley (18th, 1:21.265): "It was a pretty clean day, even if I lost some time in the first session after I had a trip to the gravel. For the second session we made some big changes which didn't really work, but sometimes you just have to try different thigs to figure out the right direction. We weren't very quick in the afternoon but let's keep positive, I'm sure we can pick up the pace tomorrow." Jonathan Eddolls, Chief Race Engineer: "We had fairly tricky conditions today, which was the same for everyone, as you could see there was lots of cars going off the track. A lot was due to the wind which was quite variable and gusty, and this is a track where even a small amount of wind can have quite a big effect because the corners are high-speed and quite open. In the morning with Brendon, he went off track in the first 40-minutes. It didn't really damage the car but he got a lot of stones in the cockpit, so for safety you don't want stones getting under the brake pedal, this meant we couldn't get back out within the 40 minutes which was a shame. In FP1 we focussed on setup works and mechanical setup items and some further developments on things that we tried here in winter testing. It's a very smooth track - the smoothest of the year - so you can try different setups here that wouldn't work at many other circuits, which we explored this morning. It was a fairly straight forward session for Pierre in FP1, again, it was just going through the setup work to understand more going into this afternoon. The conditions were tricky again in the second practice session. For Pierre, he ran wide at Turn 9 and damaged the floor quite heavily so we had to put a complete new floor on his car. On Brendon's first run, there was some damage to his floor which we were able to repair in the session. The mechanics did a great job to get the cars prepared so quickly but the problem was, to do all the repairs and to change the floor as well, we were late out for our supersoft qualifying run, which meant we ran into other cars that had started their long runs. We were unable to do nice, clean qualifying simulations, so I think the timesheets aren't a fair reflection of where the car is. Having said that, we're still not 100% happy with the balance of the car so there's still quite a lot of work to do overnight for tomorrow. On the long runs, both cars completed slightly shorter simulations than we had of liked because of the issues we had, but we've gathered the information and the soft tyre looks like it's behaving pretty well, we just need to go through everything and choose the best strategy for Sunday." Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director: "In general, our overall package appears to be improving compared to the last two difficult races. We have learned from the data acquired at the previous couple of Grands Prix and applied those ideas here. Although there was a slightly long stop in the afternoon for both cars, we ran without major issue and we went through the usual Friday programme. However, it was a shame that our qualifying simulation runs were spoilt by traffic, while gusty winds also made the session a bit more complicated. In tomorrow's final practice, we will focus a bit more on engine settings suitable for quick single laps, because qualifying well is very important here, as overtaking is difficult on this track." Haas F1 Team Romain Grosjean (7th, 1:19.579): "It was an okay day. It was pretty good in terms of performance and classification. It was tricky with the wind, but we've been working with different setups some are more positive, others a bit trickier. Generally, the car feels pretty good. I'm hopeful we're going to make it even better for tomorrow and be able to go a bit faster. We're looking into what we can do, and we've got some ideas. We tried some things that we've never tried before they worked in some aspects, but not in others. We'll change those and make sure the car's a bit easier on the entry into the corners to be able to push a bit more." Kevin Magnussen (8th, 1:19.643): "Good day today. Happy about the car performance. A few things to improve tomorrow but, generally, I think we are looking quite strong." Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "We had two good sessions, but not completely trouble-free. Romain went off at the beginning of FP2, but we recovered the car and we got it ready to go out again. Everyone did a fantastic job. We've learned a lot and now we're ready for tomorrow." McLaren F1 Team Stoffel Vandoorne (9th, 1:19.722): "It's been a pretty good Friday for us. We had a very busy schedule in both sessions, with a lot of things to figure out across both cars, so it was pretty intense for the team but everything was very well-managed. The first feeling was positive today it's still too early to read anything as the midfield still looks really tight, but I think tomorrow will be the day that counts. The tyre compound selection also won't be an easy decision to make. The conditions were very tricky out there and we saw a lot of mistakes on track, but we all had to deal with the same things and I felt okay in the car. Tomorrow, every tenth and every little bit of performance we can squeeze out of the car will be important for qualifying. It will be up to us to put everything together. The results today looked quite promising, but until we've pushed everything to the limit we won't know exactly where we are. We need to understand everything we've learned today, put the car in the best specification possible and see what result it brings. I hope this is the start of continuous progression, and that we can build our season from here." Fernando Alonso (12th, 1:20.035): "Seen from the inside, the upgrades we brought here are a step forward. There is more performance in the car it felt better and there was more grip. Conditions were tricky today with the hot temperatures and especially the wind; we saw a lot of people going off track and I think it's going to be the same tomorrow. It has been a positive Friday and we've tested everything we brought here. There's still some debate about some of the parts, but we seem to be a little bit more competitive here than any of the other Fridays this season. We'll have a clear reference tomorrow about how much we have really improved compared to everyone else. It's going to be cooler and there's even a threat of rain forecast for Sunday. We possibly have a chance to make it into Q3 tomorrow, so let's try and maximise that." Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "Today's practice sessions were always going to be about spending solid time testing the various new components we have brought to Spain this weekend and that's exactly what we did. We completed a lot of useful mileage and conducted a number of comparison and correlation tests to evaluate their performance and send the data back to the factory. Overall, we're satisfied with today's work. Naturally, the more you test, the more data you have, and therefore the more number crunching there is to do. So, we'll be busy this evening analysing the information not only to determine the programme for tomorrow, but also to help inform our development plans for the coming races." Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team Marcus Ericsson (15th, 1:20.501): "It was a positive day for us today. We tested some new aerodynamics parts on our cars, and worked with different tyre compounds. We were quite competitive on the soft tyres, and were running within the top ten. After changing to the softer compound, we struggled a bit to improve the lap times. We have some work ahead of us here in terms of tyre management. If we find a way to make a jump with the softer tyres, we should be doing well tomorrow and on Sunday." Charles Leclerc (16th, 1:20.514): "It was a good day overall. We completed different tests, and set up the car to suit the the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya layout. Our performance is better than expected for this type of track, which is a good sign. It shows us that we have made good progress since the winter tests at beginning of season. We have to continue to work hard now and continue making improvements throughout the weekend. I look forward to tomorrow's sessions." - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." Eaton and Shaanxi Fast Gear (SFGW) signed a joint venture agreement to manufacture manual transmissions for light-duty commercial vehicles. The formation of the joint venture is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The planned joint venture will be based in the High Tech Zone of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China, and will develop, manufacture, sell, and service manual transmissions for the large and fast growing light-duty truck market in China. In addition, the joint venture will sell its products throughout the rest of Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Africa. SFGW, headquartered in Xian, China, will own a 51% interest in the new joint venture, with Eaton to hold a 49% interest. Eaton and SFGW are currently partners in a joint venture, Fast Eaton Clutch, that develops, manufactures, and services clutches and associated clutch components in China. Fast Eaton Clutch is based in Xian, China, and has seen a significant increase in sales since starting operations in 2014. SFGW was founded in 1968. It owns and joint-owns more than 10 subsidiaries, a factory in Thailand of sole proprietorship and a distribution company in the US. SFGW develops, manufactures and sells a series of products, including Hydraulic AT; AMT; S-Series Transmission; Bus Transmission; Light-Duty Truck Transmission; and Hydraulic Retarder, Clutch, Reducer; as well as new energy products such as Wheel Reducer and Electric Vehicle Drive System. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon: Four traffickers arrested in Santchou Four people have been arrested in the Santchou in the West Region for trafficking in pangolin scales, turtle shells, ivory and other elephant parts. It took the combined efforts of the Santchou wildlife reserve, the Penka Michal and Nkong-Ni forestry and wildlife control posts in the Menoua Division and Gendarmerie research brigade in Dschang to mount a successful operation that saw the four who were just about to get business moving arrested. The four who had been charged with illegal possession of parts of protected wildlife species and the killing of these species are still behind bars. They had each arrived the scene on motorbikes and one of them the lady, brought the ivory as they went in business negotiations. The products they were about to be trafficked were found in bags which were visibly placed in front of them. The operation was carried out with the technical assistance of a wildlife law enforcement support body, LAGA. According to some members of the operation team who requested to speak on condition of anonymity, they each had specific wildlife products. They had contacts right up to Douala where investigations into their illegal activity first started and the group was very professional in their dealings according to the sources. One of them was always on the alert and when gendarmes and wildlife officials closed in on them, he took off, attempting to escape but was immediately stopped in his tracks. He had been under investigations by the conservator of the Santchou wildlife sanctuary and knew he could arrested anytime. Prior investigations had found out that the products were hidden in their respective homes and a house search that followed immediately their arrest drew some crowd and the three were immediately returned to the gendarmerie brigade. The Santchou reserve which is close to where the traffickers were arrested has been stripped almost all of its wildlife. The reserve that was once blossoming with elephants, buffaloes and many other wildlife species is just a shadow of what it used to be because the animals have been killed by poachers to supply the illegal market. This has emptied the reserve and the problem has been compounded by the activities of the riverine population who have encroached into the reserve. Farmland and houses have been erected into the protected area, jeopardizing the chances of its revival, although over the years, government has been saying it could be revived. Local visual artist Alex Paul Loza invites the community to participate in a paint party on Sunday, May 27, from 2-5 p.m. The paint party will be at Carniceria Loa, 1500 S. Broad St., and participants will help paint Chattanoogas first Latino mural. Mr. Loza is creating this mural in Chattanoogas Board street neighborhood with the assistance of three other local artists. The mural will occupy the large wall of Carniceria Loa facing the pedestrian sidewalk on Main Street and will be visible to drivers on Broad Street. In addition to serving as visual enhancement for the surrounding community, the mural will serve as a celebration of similarities and diversity within the Latino community, as well as represent the importance of education, creativity, determination and caring spirit we inherit from our families, he said. The purpose of my art, especially public art, is to use a visual language to engage, uplift, unify and inspire the viewers regardless of their cultural background., said Mr. Loza. This mural project is possible through ArtsBuilds Equity in the Arts grant program. Mr. Paul Loza is a visual artist based in Chattanooga with his heart for social advocacy and a deep appreciation of figurative narrative art. He received his BFA from the American Academy of Art in Chicago. With more than 15 years of experience, Mr. Loza has been commissioned to paint portraits for private collectors throughout North and Latin America. He has lead, created and collaborated with national muralists in several public art projects. Connect with Mr. Loza on Facebook, follow on Instagram or visit his website at alexpaulloza.com. Here is the weekly road construction report for Hamilton County: I-75 North Exit 1 interchange reconfiguration project at mile marker 1: Work on this project continues. There is now only one exit ramp that allows drivers to turn both east and west on Ringgold Road at a signalized intersection. Traffic has been shifted onto the newly constructed portion of Camp Jordan Parkway, and the intersection (I-75 NB off-ramp and SR-8/Camp Jordan Parkway) is now controlled by a traffic signal. Estimated project completion date is May. [C.W. Matthews Contracting/City Of East Ridge/LCLPRGM] US-27 (I-124) widening from I-24/US-27 interchange to north of the Olgiati Bridge over the Tennessee River, including widening the Olgiati Bridge: Work on this project continues. The contractor has closed the 12th Street tie-in ramp to US-27 South. This closure will be in place through May 18. Traffic from 12th Street will be detoured to Carter Street and then to westbound MLK Blvd. where motorists may access the US-27 South on-ramp. Detours are posted. Motorists should exercise caution when traveling through the construction zone and pay close attention to the detour signage posted. The speed limit has been reduced from 45 MPH to 35 MPH between Main Street and 4th Street on US-27 North. The speed limit on US-27 in the rest of the construction zone remains 45 MPH. Weather permitting, the contractor may implement temporary lane/shoulder closures on weeknights between the hours of 7 p.m.-6 a.m. At least one lane will remain open in each direction on US-27. THP will assist with traffic control on the project as necessary. RESTRICTIONS: I-124 (US-27) Northbound Exit 1C 4th Street Off Ramp. No oversize/over-dimensional loads. Width Limit is 11 feet. Estimated project completion date is January 2020. [Dement Construction Company, LLC/Micka/CNP230] SR-111 resurfacing from SR-29 to Jones Gap Road: During this report period the contractor will have lane closures in place during resurfacing operations. No closures will occur from 5-8 a.m. in the southbound direction and from 4-6 p.m. in the northbound direction. Flaggers will be on hand to assist as needed. Estimated project completion date is July. [Wright Brothers, LLC/Pruett/CNS020] SR-320 (East Brainerd Road) grading, drainage, installation of signals, construction of seven retaining walls and paving from east of Graysville Road to east of Bel-Air Road: During this report period, the contractor will have intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m.-2 p.m. This work may affect either direction of East Brainerd Road or side streets from Graysville Road to Bel-Air Road. Flaggers will assist with traffic control as needed. Estimated project completion date is June. [Jones Bros. Contractors, LLC/Pruett/CNN383] SR-58 intersection improvement at Champion Road: During this report period, the contractor will have lane closures between 9 a.m.-7 p.m. This work may affect either direction of SR-58 at the Champion Rd. intersection. No lane closures will be in effect from 5-9 a.m. in the southbound direction and from 3-6 p.m. in the northbound direction. Flaggers will assist with traffic control as needed. Estimated project completion date is June. [Greenstar, LLC/Pruett/CNS025] Utility Work on SR-321 (Ooltewah-Ringgold Road.) northbound from LM 5.04 to LM 5.04: Between Leyland Drive and Heathwood Drive, one lane will be closed with flaggers present. Motorists should expect a reduced speed limit and be aware of workers in the work zone. Work will begin May 1-0 with an estimated completion of May 18 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. [UO-2007050873-2018] Utility Work on SR-58 northbound at LM 19.44 (500 ft. north of Sims Harris Road): The contractor will implement a partial lane closure on weekdays from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. to install valve, vault and by-pass on existing water main. Utility construction signs, flagger signs, cones and flaggers will be present to assist with traffic control. Estimated project completion date is June. [UO-2007050968/Utility Permit/UTILITY] A natural fit for Blue Apron, the company says. Blue Apron the meal-kit company whose shares were $1.80 a month go has just announced a new partnership it hopes will convince consumers that the companys fortunes are turning around. Its rolling out a collaboration with long-time epicurean Chrissy Teigen: A series of six meal kits based on home recipes found in her best-selling cookbook Cravings (and one from her upcoming sequel, Cravings 2) will be available starting June 4. A different dish will debut every seven days, through the week of July 9. Blue Apron says Teigen worked with its culinary team to adapt the recipes exclusively for use in the kits. It adds in a press release about their collab that her love of food is absolutely infectious. For her part, Teigen says the kits give fans a chance to cook with me in their home kitchens, and adds that novices should see them as an exciting learning experience, since she, too, is constantly experimenting with new recipes and sharing both my hits and my misses! The six dishes they settled on include a garlic-soy shrimp with broccoli, sesame-chicken noodles with bok choy, a Chinese chicken salad, chicken lettuce cups with veggies, chipotle-lime chicken fajitas, and pork banh mi sandwiches. Blue Aprons history with partnerships is checkered, to say the least, but in March it teamed up with Airbnb for a Best Home Cooking From Around the World collaboration, and its now clear that the company is trying to increase the brands social currency. As Teigens legion of online fans who seem happy to hear this latest news prove, she and her cook-next-door brand could finally be the thing that makes it cool to Instagram and Snap your meal kit. I thought I was done with Blue Apron but now @chrissyteigen is partnering up with them and I love her, so take my money I guess Michelle Nation (@michellenation) May 10, 2018 Blue Apron partnering with @chrissyteigen is such a power move. 95% of the comments on her Instagram announcing it are all people talking about trying it Angela (@angelamaay) May 10, 2018 Damnit, @blueapron finally figured out how to make me a customer again. Ashleigh (@AshleighEE) May 10, 2018 Unskipping my meals now! Cindy Flores (@CharliePants) May 10, 2018 if I get a blue apron that has @chrissyteigen s recipes you best believe Im posting video updates on my Snapchat pretending I am her courtney (@cmichaels_) May 10, 2018 The first known photo of a Cronut in the wild. Photo: Dominique Ansel Bakery This week, the Cronut turned five years old. It seems so long ago, doesnt it? We were all so innocent then, and when Dominique Ansels pastry hybrid hit the scene, everyone wanted to see it. Really, everyone. Hundreds of people lined up at Dominique Ansel Bakery, black markets and line sitters emerged. Ansel knew that together he and his Franken-pastry would do great things (he even trademarked it) and that life would never be the same. The Cronut would prove to be the foundation for Ansels ever-growing empire of restaurants, but unlike Dr. Frankenstein, Ansel has maintained control over his creation, and the bakeries will celebrate the anniversary tomorrow, when they offer free Cronut holes (in each citys original flavor) randomly throughout the day at every location. Naturally, these will also be available for purchase. Even if it seems hokey now, the invention of the Cronut was a genuinely cool moment in pastry innovation: possible only because Ansel figured out how to properly fry laminated dough, something others had failed to master. When Grub introduced the world to the pastry the day before its debut, people bugged out. Little did we know that, five years later, wed have to ask ourselves: Did Ansel release a Pandoras box of stunt pastries and crazy shakes, or was this inevitable with the rise of Instagram and other social media? Everyone and their cousin tried to cash in with a viral dish, from straight Cronut ripoffs to cruffins to transparent Jell-o shaped like a raindrop to whatever, just name any two foods you can awkwardly mash together. Since inventing the pastry, Ansel has not rested on his fried laminated dough. Every month, hes debuted a different flavor, branching out from more straightforward ones early on, like coconut, to more complicated ones, like this months Strawberry Fior di Latte with Cocoa Nib Sugar. Here, every last Cronut flavor. New York May 2013: Rose Vanilla June: Lemon Maple July: Blackberry Lime August: Coconut September: Fig Mascarpone October: Apple Creme Fraiche November: Salted Dulce de Leche December: Valrhona Chocolate Champagne January 2014: Peanut Butter Rum Caramel February: Raspberry Lychee March: Milk & Honey With Lavender April: Passion Fruit Caramelia May: Blueberry Lemon Verbena June: Strawberry Balsamic With Mascarpone July: Morello Cherry With Toasted Almond Cream August: Yellow Peach Black Tea September: Bosc Pear and Sage October: Pumpkin Chai November: Caribbean Rum Raisin December: Valrhona Dark Chocolate Raspberry Chambord January 2015: Caramelized Malt Valrhona Milk Chocolate With Maldon Sea Salt February: Cherry Blossom Sour Cherry March: Matcha Golden Pineapple April: Strawberry Rhubarb With Thyme May: Sweet Clementine Ricotta June: Key Lime Young Coconut July: Rum Caramel Banana Brownie August: Peach Bourbon September: Bergamot Earl Grey October: Horchata Caramel November: Toffee Coffee December: Gingerbread Pear January 2016: Gianduja Blood Orange February: Milk Chocolate Cassis March: Raspberry Coconut April: Burnt Vanilla Smoked Caramel May: Brown Sugar Rhubarb With Lemon Thyme Sugar June: Blueberry Elderflower Lime Sugar July: Apricot Toasted Almond August: Black Cherry Valrhona Milk Chocolate September: Pear Honey Cream Cheese October: Banoffe: Caramelized Banana With Dulce de Leche November: Roasted Pecan Maple Caramel December: White Chocolate Peppermint With Cherry January 2017: Golden Honey Vanilla February: Lychee Rose Pistachio March: Blackberry Brown Sugar Toffee April: Blood Orange Almond May: Raspberry Earl Gray June: Strawberry Lemon Verbana July: Mirabelle Plum and Brown Sugar August: Pineapple With Basil Chocolate Ganache and Lime Sugar September: Fig Caramelia With Orange Sugar October: Pumpkin Cranberry With Nutmeg Sugar November: Banana Hazelnut With Hazelnut Sugar December: Eggnog Caramel With Nutmeg Sugar January 2018: Pear Chamomile With Lemon Zest Sugar February: Raspberry Sugar Cookie With Vietnamese Cinnamon Sugar March: Blackberry Buttermilk With Lime Zest Sugar April: Rhubarb Rose Mascarpone With Raspberry Sugar May: Strawberry Fior di Latte With Cocoa Nib Sugar Tokyo July 2015: Pineapple Jam, Sudachi Citrus Ganache With Okinawa Smoked Salt August: Raspberry Shisho With Gianduja September: Kona Coffee Ganache and Young Coconut Jam With Espresso Sugar October: Sweet Potato Creme Fraiche With Spiced Maple Sugar With Sake Lees Ganache December: Strawberry Jam With Chocolate Champagne Ganache and Anise Sugar January 2016: Milk Tea Chestnut With Orange Zest Sugar February: Strawberry Red Bean With Kokuto Sugar March: Honey Almond With Salted Sugar and Salted Sakura Blossom April: Okinawa Pineapple Milk Chocolate With Ume (Sour Plum) Sugar May: Matcha Cherry With Black Sugar June: Passion Fruit Lavender July: Peche de Vigne Jasmine White Chocolate With Lemon Sugar August: Mango Rose With Lemon Sugar September: Kyoho Grape Mint White Chocolate With Lemon Sugar October: Pear Caramel Flan With Cinnamon Sugar November: Mandarin Hazelnut With Orange Sugar December: Strawberry Chocolate Elderflower With Mint Sugar January 2017: Honey Yogurt Lime With Lime Sugar February: Rose Guava With Rose Sugar March: Sakura Milk Chocolate Rooibos April: Violet Lychee Jam With Lemon Sugar May: White Chocolate Pistachio Apricot With Vanilla Sugar June: White Chocolate Coconut Cherry July: Hyuganatsu Honey With Lime Sugar August: Apricot Caramel With Lemon Sugar September: Honeydew Coconut With Lime Sugar October: White Sesame Coffee Caramel With Ginger Sugar November: White Chocolate Chestnut Rose With Rose Sugar December: Green Tea Strawberry With Tea Sugar January 2018: Kumquat and Wasanbon Sugar Ganache February: Black Sesame Ganache, Cherry Jam, Toasted Black Sesame Sugar March: Pomegranate and Kokuto Sugar April: White Peach and Lavender May: Amanatsu Orange and Pistachio London October 2016: Salted Butterscotch With Cocoa Nib November: Sour Cherry White Almond December: Gianduja English Rose January 2017: Lemon Chamomile Vanilla Mascarpone February: Raspberry Orange Blossom March: Tea English Rhubarb Brown Sugar April: Mandarin Orange With Valrhona Jivara Milk Chocolate May: Blush Peach With Elderflower June: Guava Toasted Honey With Lime Sugar July: Strawberry With Lavender Clotted Cream August: Raspberry White Peach September: Caramelia Pear October: Banana and Toasted Oat November: Quince Jam With Creme Brulee Ganache December: Roasted Plum Jam With Egg Nog Ganach January 2018: Banana Dulcey With Espresso Caramel February: Sour Cherry Jam With Muscovado Ganache March: Passion Fruit With Toasted Coconut Ganache April: Apricot Jam With Chai Ganache May: White Peach Jam & Rose Ganache With Rose Sugar Los Angeles November 2017: White Peach Amaretto Jam, Muscovado Ganache, Muscovado Sugar December: Strawberry Butter and Cinnamon Toast Ganache January 2018: Sour Cherry Jam, Orange Blossom Olive Oil Ganache, Lemon Sugar February: Hibiscus Rose Jam and Rice Ganache March: Honey Jam and Genmaicha Ganache, Genmaicha Sugar April: Clementine Jam With Cocoa Nib Ganache May: Raspberry Jam With Toasted Oat Ganache A step forward for society, but probably a longer wait when you gotta go. Photo: Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images Starbucks is revising its bathroom policy in light of last months incident in Philadelphia the fiasco during which Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were denied use of a cafes restroom then, literally moments later, arrested. Executive chairman Howard Schultz announced that, moving forward, the chains bathrooms will be open to anybody who needs to use them, regardless whether theyve bought anything yet. (They will likely not, however, be any cleaner.) Schultz explained that the chains loose policy until now has been theoretically, at least that you should be able to use the bathroom if you buy something, but then added that its really the judgement of the manager, and the manager of the Philly store, in particular, made a terrible decision to call the police. However, he did go on to say that ultimately its the company thats responsible, not one store, which is why he and Starbuckss other execs flew en masse to Philadelphia, stayed there for days, and did everything we could to demonstrate contrition. Whatever the case, Schultz says in order to prevent a repeat of a decision that was absolutely wrong in every way, Starbucks will adopt a totally open-door bathroom policy, and discard the quasi-official, but rarely-if-ever-enforced, one of giving the bathroom key only to customers who make a purchase. He adds that the company would prefer the words public bathroom not become synonymous with wherever your local Starbucks cafe is, but its a risk theyre now willing to take if it proves everyone is welcome. For fuller context, here are the complete remarks Schultz made about their policy change during the talk: In terms of the policy, the first thing we want to make sure is that regardless of your station in life, the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, your gender, your ethnic background everyone is welcome at Starbucks. And in terms of the bathroom, were going to have to make sure that we dont want to become a public bathroom, but were going to make the right decision 100 percent of the time and give people the key, because we dont want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than. We want you to be more than. Starbucks hasnt offered any additional info yet on the details, but the nationwide afternoon-long shutdown of 8,000 locations for racial-bias training is still happening May 29. Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line will be performing at the Camp House on Saturday, June 2, at 8 p.m. The Camp House is at 149 East MLK Blvd. Tickets are $10 and $15. For more information call 702-8081 or visit www.thecamphouse.com. Review for Nora Jane Struthers: Nora Jane Struthers has written "some of the most quietly powerful narratives within the new wave of Americana artists," says Ann Powers of NPR Music. The songs that last decades and weave themselves into the fabric of listeners' lives are usually the ones in which an artist lays her soul bare for the world to hear. Struthers' new album Champion on Blue Pig Records, is built on these kinds of songs. Champions 13-song collection is the follow-up to 2015's Wake, which earned Struthers acclaim from major outlets like NPR Music, Rolling Stone Country, and "Fresh Air." Struthers wrote and recorded the album with her longtime road band, the Party Line, and the chemistry between her and the other players is palpable. Theres an honesty and energy to Nora Janes stage presence; a vulnerability that is part and parcel of great artistry. In one moment, she joyfully leads the audience in a dance party in the next, she lays her soul bare for the world to hear. A performance by Nora Jane and her band is full to the brim with stellar musicianship, unexpected arrangements that blur the lines between folk, roots, and rock, and an audible sense that everyone in the room is having a darn good time. Haiti - FLASH : The Minister of Justice accuses the media of complicity with criminals Wednesday in a note, Jean Roudy Aly the new Minister of Justice and Public Security accuses the media and journalists to be the spokesman accomplices of criminals, reminding them of their role in the fight against crime. Affirming that a correspondence to this effect, was sent to the two main media associations and that of journalists [the National Association of Haitian Media (ANMH), the Association of Independent Media of Haiti (AMIH) and the Federation of Haitian Press to solicit their full and complete collaboration in efforts to curb some abuses. In his note, Minister Aly states "[...] most media and journalists have fun almost daily to receive in the free tribune broadcasts of notorious bandits, actively sought by the police. What is worse, these bandits admit their crimes, while terrorizing the population, take the malicious pleasure to make threats in the press to the police. In doing so, consciously or unconsciously, these media professionals are complicit in these faithless and lawless individuals who sow grief among Haitian families. The Government Commissioners at the Courts of First Instance of the various jurisdictions of the country, as prosecutors, they have been instructed to investigate both the perpetrators and the accomplices of these criminal acts. Is this why, in the framework of a more responsible exercise of the freedom of the press, the MJSP solicits the collaboration of all the journalists, by not tending their microphones to these individuals who do not cease to threaten the very stability of the State." A note that has already provoked the first reactions. Frantz Duval, the President of the ANMH, having learned this statement in the media, hopes that it is only "an excess of language on the part of the Minister" and is waiting to officially receive the letter from the Ministry before make a statement on the official position of his Association. Georges Venel Remarais, the President of the AMIH also promises an official reaction as soon as he receives the letter from the Minister. However, he believes that Minister Aly "went quickly to work", making "an amalgam" while only a small part of the media broadcast this kind of broadcast Ady Jean Gardy, former Minister of Communication and President of the Federation of the Haitian Press, denounces the position of the Minister and maintains that the journalists do only their work by allowing the population and the authorities to take knowledge of the public confession of the people concerned. He sees Minister Aly's intervention as a serious threat to the freedom of the press. Nevertheless, he urges journalists to avoid being complacent with criminals and to be cautious about wrongdoing. HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre Haymans Gin launches debate on protecting gin authenticity By Michelle Perrett Haymans Gin is launching an inaugural debate on how to protect the spirit. The gin distillers is inviting producers, retailers, bar managers, commentators and enthusiasts to join them for a full day of debate on September 6 at the Hayman family distillery, The Home Of English Gin in London. Discussions on the day will focus on the question What is gin and how can we protect it? The debate comes only a week after the distiller launched its Call Time On Fake Gin Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the growing issue of products marketed as gins that have little to no juniper character. Haymans said there was broad agreement that gin needs to be better protected but it was evident that there were many differing views on the form that such protection should take. James Hayman of the family-owned distillery said that support for the new campaign had been overwhelming. There is broad agreement that gin needs to be better protected but there are many differing views on the form that such protection should take, he said. Our aim with this series of Gin Debates is to bring the many voices together to share views on the topic and establish the common ground needed for meaningful industry-wide action to take place. Haymans Gin said that discussions would be facilitated by a neutral third party to ensure that all views on the issue are given equal weighting. A full agenda would be circulated in advance of the day and guest speakers would be invited to share relevant experience from other parts of the drinks market. At Haymans we have a strong view on what gin is in our opinion the regulations clearly state that it is the predominant juniper flavour that sets gin apart from other spirit drinks, he said. However, in the course of speaking to other distillers and commentators over the last week it is clear that there are other perspectives. Those interested in attending the inaugural Gin Debate on 6 September 2018 are invited to email distillers@hayman.co.uk to book their place. The event will be ticketed but free of charge and will run from 10am 4pm. Fells welcomes Yalumba into portfolio By Andrew Catchpole Iconic Australian winery Yalumba is to join John E Fells, bringing its portfolio of antipodean estates into the fold, while also taking an equity stake in the UK-based company. Steve Moody, managing director at Fells, described the move as a superb fit, saying that discussions with Yalumba had started before Christmas, with Fells chosen over a number of other potential suitors in part because of its strong family-winery oriented portfolio. Its a special day and we are very pleased, as are the Symingtons who have known and respected Robert Hill-Smith (Yalumba MD and owner) for many years, said Moody. These are tough times for the trade, and changing times, and it works well for some of the great family-producing wine companies of the world to come together and work together, he added. This will add a real richness and extra depth to our portfolio. Yalumba will take a 10% share in Fells, joining family-winemaking stalwarts Torres and majority-owner Symington Family Estates, which will retain a 10% and 80% ownership of Fells respectively. Yalumba has until now distributed its wines in the UK, including several wholly owned estates including Pewsey Vale, Jansz Tasmania, Nautilus Estate and Oxford Landing, plus agency partners Vasse Felix and Two Paddocks, through its subsidiary Negociants UK. From June 11, when the deal is complete, Fells will take on full distribution of those estates, with Negociants UK managing director Simon Thorpe MW joining Fells as commercial director. It is very positive, from a business perspective, and the partnership with Symington is spot on, and at a time when others are finding it difficult or exiting the [UK] market, said Thorpe. He added that it is sad to see Negociants go, after many years at the helm, but that he was confident, with discussions still underway, that a good representation of Negociants team will come over to Fells. Estates leaving the fold include agency wines Jim Barry Wines, which has already gone over to Hallgarten, plus Brokenwood, Rockford and Chaffey Bros., which have yet to find or announce a new home. Yalumbas Hill-Smith said of the move: Our Negociants team has done a wonderful job in the UK since 1990, but the time has come to align our aspirations with a new market approach. Harpers was also told that the departure of Brown Brothers from the UK and thus from importer Fells portfolio, was unrelated to the decision of Yalumba to join Fells, as discussions were already well underway at the time. The timing, however, is fortuitous, bringing some serious antipodean clout to Fells list, and not long after Fells/Symington made a 6 million investment in a new HQ in Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. We tend to go about our business quite quietly, but that was a turning point, showing a real commitment by the [Symington] family in the future and in Fells, and Yalumba coming on board is really exciting, adding to our reach for our customers, said Moody. In a statement released today, Paul Symington added: It is with great pride that we now welcome the Hill Smith family into Fells, and we look forward to working with Robert, his family and their wonderful wines in the years to come. Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. This year, GPS senior Phoebe Mills painting placed first for the district and will now hang in the U.S. Capitol. Ms. Mills considers her winning piece one of her best and most complex pieces of art. The painting, Watercolor Window was done in oils and is from a photo she took of a friend riding on a bus with fogged windows. "I thought it was really beautiful how the traffic lights blurred across the window and made it look surreal and magical, Ms. Mills says of the image. After I took the picture I thought, Gosh, that looks like an oil painting. At that point, I had never picked up any oil paints but, because of that picture, I decided to try them out and get as good as I could [to] paint that picture that I loved so much. Ms. Mills worked over the next two years, honing her oil painting techniques with classes in and outside of school. I remember when Phoebe brought this picture to me, says Julie Deavers, GPS art teacher. She was a sophomore and an enthusiastic Art II student. She told me the story of how she captured this image and that she wanted to paint itbubbling with excitement. Fast forward two years later to a much more confident and skilled artist, Phoebe decides to tackle this painting. I knew she was ready for it and just encouraged her to try it. Of course she handled it beautifully, and this painting is evidence of how much she has grown as an artist. Ms. Mills submitted her entry to her representatives office, and panels of district artists then selected her painting for national consideration. She was also awarded two plane tickets so that she and a guest can attend the opening reception and award ceremony in Washington, D.C., on June 27. Her work will be displayed for one year. I brought my art to professionals for criticism, and spent my study halls in the art rooms before I finally thought I might be ready to do that picture justice, she says. Its probably one of my favorite paintings today. Ms. Mills will attend Sewanee University of the South this fall. Hawaiis first public preschool program accepts applications, opens new classrooms News Release from Hawaii Executive Office on Early Learning, May 10, 2018 HONOLULU The Executive Office on Early Learning announced that five classrooms providing free preschool for 100 total additional children statewide for the upcoming 2018-19 school year stand ready to open. Now accepting applications, EOEL has also forged new partnerships with local colleges to develop qualified prekindergarten teachers and to support them. The new classrooms located in Hawaii County, Honolulu County and Maui County are each equipped to serve 20 pre-kindergartners and are staffed with a licensed teacher and an educational assistant. They are located at: Kailua Elementary (Oahu) Kalihi Uka Elementary (Oahu) Kilohana Elementary (Molokai) Kohala Elementary (Big Island) Kula Elementary (Maui) Startup agency EOEL, which launched Hawaiis first publicly funded early-education program just four years ago, also recently partnered with Chaminade University of Honolulu and the University of Hawaii system. The alliances are developing strategies to address the critical statewide shortage of a qualified early-education workforce; increase access to professional development and support for educators; and increase career-advancement and educational opportunities for those who enter the specialized early-education field. "These partnerships are helping to develop a strong, high-quality program that will produce the well-equipped instructors who are needed to obtain the best results for our keiki," said EOEL Director Lauren Moriguchi. Accessing affordable, excellent-quality preschool is important in Hawaii for many reasons including: Eighty-five percent of the brain is developed before age 5. It costs $9,500 on average for one year of full-time preschool equal to nearly one years tuition at UH. Married parents of two children living at the poverty line spend 79 percent of their income on commercial-business childcare. Single parents spend 46 percent of their income on commercial-business childcare. EOEL which oversees the development of Hawaiis only state-funded preschool program now offers 26 prekindergarten classrooms serving 520 keiki statewide. For year-round registration, visit http://earlylearning.hawaii.gov/eoel-public-pre-kindergarten-program/ . The Singapore-based market research firm reports that Nokia, which re-entered the smartphone market roughly one-and-a-half years ago by licensing its brand to HMD Global, was the fifth most popular smartphone brand on the continent between January and March. Nokia has re-emerged as one of the most popular smartphone brands in Europe, according to Canalys. HMD Global, it says, shipped a total of 1.6 million smartphones over the three-year period to claim a 3.5 per cent share of the market. Canalys says Samsung remained the most popular smartphone brand in Europe, despite it seeing a year-on-year drop of over 15 per cent in sales. The South Korean technology conglomerate accounted for almost a third (33.1%) of the market in Europe between January and March, selling 15.2 million units. The value of its smartphone sales, however, surged by over 20 per cent due to the earlier-than-usual launch of its latest flagship device, Galaxy S9. Apple was the second largest smartphone brand in the market with sales of 10.2 million units and a market share of 22.1 per cent. Also Huawei and Xiaomi shipped more devices than Nokia, according to Canalys. It is not all gloom for the smaller players, comments Lucio Chen, a research analyst at Canalys. Xiaomi and Nokia, under HMD Global, are both relatively new entrants to the European market but have stormed to fourth and fifth place [respectively]. The market research firm points out that total smartphone shipments decreased by 6.3 per cent year-on-year in Europe between January and March, the largest drop ever in a single quarter. The market contracted especially in Western Europe, where smartphone shipments plunged by 13.9 per cent to 30.1 million units. The trend was the opposite in Eastern Europe, where sales picked up by 12.3 per cent. This is a new era for smartphones in Europe, summarises Ben Stanton, an analyst at Canalys. The few remaining growth markets are not enough to offset the saturated ones. We are moving from a growth era to a cyclical era. This presents a brand-new challenge to the incumbents, and we expect several smaller brands to leave the market in the coming years. The first quarter of the year was particularly difficult for smaller brands such as Alcatel, Sony and LG. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Handout/HMD Global Source: Uusi Suomi In other news, the Supreme Court of Finland decided to uphold the conviction of aggravated sexual abuse against a man who had sexual intercourse with a 10-year-old girl near Tampere in the autumn of 2016. Critics believe that the offence should be regarded as rape. The Finnish governments decision to end their two-year basic income trial has been a major talking point over the last few weeks. Speaking in a recent interview with the Financial Times, Finance Minister Petteri Orpo told the newspaper that Finlands current system was making people passive. Finland's finance minister gives thumbs down to basic income pilot Business Insider Nordic Since the beginning of last year, the government has been giving roughly 2,000 Finns 560 a month in free money to spend however they want. But soon they will have to return to the job market. The 2-year trial will come to an end this year as decision makers are scrapping plans to extend the project. Finance minister Petteri Orpo, who is the leader of centre-right National Coalition party, says in an interview with Financial Times that he rejects the basic income experiment as a model for welfare reform. He argues that the current system has made people passive. Working life has changed through globalisation, automation. We have to reform our society in order to activate people to reach a higher employment rate and to save the welfare state. This is what I call Nordic welfare model 2.0. His government has recently taken the welfare system away from basic income. A new activation model law forces unemployed to work a minimum of 18 hours for three months, otherwise they will lose part of their benefits. When we look at our economy that is now growing, we have tens of thousands of free jobs that cannot be filled and more than 200,000 unemployed people. We have to look at the incentives to work, says Orpo to Financial Times. Original article was published by Business Insider Nordic on 09/05/2018 and can be found here. Sex with 10-year-old not rape, Finnish court rules in migrants case RT In a case that has triggered public outrage, a top Finnish court has upheld a ruling that sex between an asylum seeker and a 10-year-old girl didnt constitute rape. Critics are calling for harsher sentences for child abuse. Finlands Supreme Court rejected a request from the prosecution to appeal a three-year jail term for a 23-year-old man on Thursday. Finnish media identify him as Juusuf Muhamed Abbudin, an asylum seeker, but dont reveal his country of origin. The man was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse, although the prosecution had sought a harsher sentence on charges of aggravated rape. However, the court left the original verdict unchanged. The incident took place near the city of Tampere in southern Pirkanmaa in autumn 2016. The man had sexual intercourse with a girl, who was 10-years old at the time, in the yard of a deserted apartment block. He also exchanged sexually charged messages with her. Both Pirkanmaa District Court and the Appeal Court in the city of Turku convicted the asylum seeker of aggravated sexual abuse and handed him a three-year prison sentence in 2017. The courts didnt recognize the incident as rape, saying the girl wasnt forced into the sexual act or overcome by fear. The judges also ordered the man to pay the child 3,000 ($3,600). The decision fueled fierce debates across the country. Tuula Tamminen, professor of Child Psychiatry at the University of Tampere, insisted that the child simply couldnt know what was happening in such a situation. Original article was published by RT on 05/05/2018 and can be found here. How Finland is using the blockchain to revolutionise financial services for refugees ReliefWeb Refugees and asylum seekers forced to leave their homes are often found without paperwork, posing problems for them and for legal authorities in proving their very existence. Without paperwork, it's impossible to prove your date of birth, open a bank account, access government services, and even get a legal job. Blockchain technology offers an interesting solution here being able to track an identity on a ledger via a unique, immutable and independently verified record provides new opportunities to tackle this problem. The Finnish Immigration Service Migri first partnered with Helsinki-based startup MONI back in 2015, as part of a pilot project that offered refugees a prepaid Mastercard linked to their digital identity (provided by Migri). Blockchain technology, deployed via Ethereum, maintains a record of the financial transactions made with the card. This makes it easier for refugees to find employment and receive money from jobs, and also allows them to pay bills electronically ultimately speeding up their process of becoming established in Finland. It's thought that there are now thousands of MONI users among Finland's refugee community. Privacy concerns are valid, but the system is voluntary and Migri says that identities are always kept private. Original article was published by ReliefWeb on 10/05/2018 and can be found here. Sheffield girl's balloon found 1,500 miles away in Finland The Yorkshire Post A man in Finland was left astounded when he found a balloon believed to have been released some 1,500 miles away in Sheffield and now hopes to trace its owner. Arto Julkunen found the purple and blue balloon in woodlands Tampere, Finland on April 29 this year. Written on the balloon on one side is the message: 'Lilly Butten, 9 years,' and written on the other side is: 'City of Sheffield'. Mr Julkunen launched a Facebook appeal to see if he could find out whether the balloon was truly released in Sheffield. The 56-year-old said: "My wife, my Labrador Retriever and I were having a normal Sunday walk in a forest when we found it. I first thought that 'Gosh, someone has thrown litter here again'. "I decided to collect it. To my surprise I saw faint writing on it barely visible. After reading it I couldn't believe that it was really saying 'City of Sheffield'. When I read the other side, I decided that true or not I have to put this on Facebook. If it travelling 1,500 miles is true, it really is a wonder." Original article was published by The Yorkshire Post on 07/05/2018 and can be found here. Eurovision 2018: the songs to look out for, from gay couples to toy camels The Guardian Look out for the other banging dance tune in the line-up: Finlands Saara Aalto with Monsters. Sung by the former X Factor runner-up, Aaltos guaranteed the fetish and alt-right votes thanks to her dancers leather-heavy uniforms, but she deserves a lot more because the tune is brilliant. She is this years best Scandinavian act, and also sings upside down at one point while strapped to a Catherine wheel, which is surely worth something. Original article was published by The Guardian on 09/05/2018 and can be found here. Dan Anderson HT Photo: Lehtikuva If the Iran deal collapses, the nuclear arms cycle will start all over and the price of oil will increase. Many countries replenish their budgets with oil revenue unfortunately, Vanhanen commented on Twitter on Thursday. Matti Vanhanen (Centre), the chairperson of the Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, has warned of the consequences of abandoning the nuclear deal with Iran. US President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that the United States will withdraw from the deal, which was designed to prevent the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. European countries, led by Germany, rushed to reaffirm their commitment to the deal in the wake of the announcement. Trumps decision has stirred up concerns around the world particularly due to its projected security policy implications. The United States also stated it will re-impose its heavy sanctions on Iran, a move that could inflict considerable losses on European businesses. Erkki Tuomioja (SDP), a former Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, urged Europe to remain committed to the deal and, thereby, to defend an agreement-based system of international co-operation. One must ask if this is the time when you want to see American soldiers take part in exercises in Finland, he added on Facebook. His comments drew a straightforward response from Jussi Niinisto (BR), the Minister of Defence. The answer is yes, retorted Niinisto. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi The Nightingale Network of the Womens Fund of Greater Chattanooga is now accepting grant proposals for the 2018 grant cycle. The Nightingale Network is a membership-based giving circle empowering local residents to participate in community philanthropy. Local nonprofit organizations committed to improving the lives of women and girls are encouraged to apply. A full range of proposals will be considered including those that are working toward gender, racial, economic, and social justice; are designed to address critical needs of marginalized populations; and emphasize community organizing and advocacy as a path to meaningful institution change, said officials. The Womens Fund of Greater Chattanooga is working to improve the status of women in Tennessee from 49th nationally, and grant applicants are asked how their work will contribute to this goal. Applications must be received by 12 p.m. on June 30. The request for grant proposals and submission procedures can be found at chattanoogawomensfund.org. For more information and instructions on how to complete and submit proposals, contact Katie McCallie at katie@chattanoogawomensfund.org. THEY were two of the biggest stars of their day and the films they made together became an evergreen part of the postwar comedy landscape as British as fish and chips and warm beer. Now a new theatre production celebrating the lives of Carry On regulars Sid James and Joan Sims and the 60th anniversary of the films themselves is coming to the HAODS Studio next door to the Kenton Theatre in New Street tomorrow night (Saturday). Funny Faces is the work of Northampton-based Next Page Productions and features two dramatic monologues written by the actor and playwright Steve Dimmer. The first, SIMply Joan, stars theatre company founder Caroline Nash as the First Lady of Carry On and tells the relatively unknown story of this iconic British actress, who died in 2001 aged 71. Join Joan as she takes a walk down memory lane and reflects on her professional work and her private heartache sometimes hilariously, often touchingly as we witness her determination to Carry On!. The second, Wot Sid Did, stars playwright Steve Dimmer. We join Sid in his dressing room in the hour before his last ever performance. Sids in a pensive mood as he takes stock of his life, particularly his relationship with his lost love, Barbara Windsor. The play is set in the Sunderland Empire Theatre, where on April 26, 1976, James suffered a heart attack while performing on stage, dying in hospital an hour later. He was 62. Some performers, including the comedian Les Dawson, later claimed to have seen the ghost of James at the theatre and refused to appear at the venue again. One of the best-known faces of the series that started life with the release of Carry On Sergeant in 1958, James first appeared in 1960s Carry On Constable. He subsequently starred in a further 18 Carry On films, receiving top billing in 17 of them. However, he was outstripped on appearances by Joan Sims, who starred in 24 of the 30 films made between 1958 and 1978 having by coincidence appeared in a 1957 film called Carry On Admiral that predated and was not part of the Carry On series. A one-off revival Carry On Columbus, the 31st film in the series appeared in 1992, but Sims chose not to return. Looking ahead to tomorrow nights performance, which is the last in the tour, Caroline Nash said: This fabulous piece of new writing is performed as two one-hander plays, based on the lives of Sid James and Joan Sims and was developed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first ever Carry On films appearing on our screens. As well as that, the week that we visit Henley, it would have been the birthdays of Sid James and Joan Sims, so we will be celebrating with the audience with a glass of bubbles. Like Caroline, playwright Steve Dimmer is also Northampton-based but their current collaboration marks the first time they have worked together in almost 30 years. An acclaimed magician and childrens entertainer, he has won awards for his close-up, childrens and cabaret magic and has performed all over the British Isles. Meanwhile, his work as a dramatist has seen him write more than 10 full-length theatrical works and over 20 theatrical pieces for children. For her part, Caroline has produced four previous tours and has acted for both theatre and television, having trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama. She recently appeared in BBC Twos My Country A Work in Progress, directed by the National Theatres artistic director, Rufus Norris. Funny Faces is directed by Rosemary Hill, artistic director at the Milton Keynes-based The Plays The Thing theatre company. One reviewer called the show an original and interesting production that gives a glimpse into the real lives behind those funny faces ... enthralling from the first line until the last while another called the performances of the two leads charismatic and convincing and outstanding. Tickets for tomorrow nights performance are 12 with concessions 10 and a group booking rate of 90 for 10 tickets available. Doors open at 7pm and showtime is 7.30pm. For more information and to book, visit www.nextpageproductions.co.uk or www.ticketsource.co.uk During my 34-year legal career, I have had the privilege to practice and to appear before Chattanooga City Council and before Chattanooga City Court Judge Sherry Paty, who has served on the bench for 17 years. Over the years, I have watched our City Council consistently demonstrate both strong leadership and a sincere focus on doing what is best for our city. Accordingly, I trust ... (click for more) The public is invited to hear a Mother's Day message "Beauty and the Beast" by Pastor Reita Ball at the 10:30 a.m. worship service at Metro Tab Church this Sunday . Everyone is invited to come and worship with the church. Silverdale Baptist Academy's Interact Club addressed the Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place. The Interact Club shared their experiences of bringing water filters to villages in Guatemala and gave a demonstration of how the water filters work. An Interact Club is a Rotary Club sponsored organization for young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service above Self. Interact stands for International Action and carries out projects based on four main elements: community service, finances, international understanding and club service. Interact Clubs are a basic stepping stone for teenagers to bring them into the adult world in terms of character, social stability, and management capabilities, said officials. Pictured are Interact Club sponsor and Spanish teacher, Nikki Bautista; Silverdale Baptist Academy Interact Club members; Todd Gaither, Hamilton Place Rotary Club President; Chris Neighbors, Silverdale Baptist Academy teacher and Hamilton Place Rotary Club President Elect. Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place recently celebrated 3 rotary club members who achieved a first time Paul Harris Fellow recognition. Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1000.00 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. During the past 100 years, the Rotary Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects such as efforts towards the eradication of polio, training future peacemakers, supporting clean water, strengthening local economics. The Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place is excited and proud to announce these club members as first time Paul Harris Fellows.Pictured from left to right, first to second row:Donna Horn, Brian Frye, Betsy Gibson - all first time Paul Harris Fellows; Kevin Beirne, Hamilton Place Rotary Club member and Rotary Foundation representative; Todd Gaither, Hamilton Place Rotary Club President. Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place celebrated three rotary club members who achieved a first time Paul Harris Fellow recognition. They are Donna Horn, Brian Frye and Betsy Gibson. Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. During the past 100 years, the Rotary Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects such as efforts towards the eradication of polio, training future peacemakers, supporting clean water, and strengthening local economics. Bryan College bestowed several faculty and staff awards in the annual Honors Chapel service. Each year Bryan College supervisors and colleagues nominate a full-time staff member who has modeled exemplary service to the college for Staff Member of the Year. The 2018 recipient of the Staff Member of the Year is David Holcomb, scholarship fund director and director of the Bryan College Martial Arts Academy. The 2018 Teacher of the Year recipient is Dr. Samuel Youngs. The Teacher of the Year is selected from nominations received by students, staff, faculty, administrators or alumni. The recipient exemplifies excellent teaching skills, mastery of content, effective communication skills, integration of faith in the classroom and in his life, and is widely viewed as a positive influence on the Bryan community. The 2018 Scholar of the Year is Dr. Neal Doran. This award celebrates the scholarly activity of the faculty both in its traditional forms of publishing and presenting and in its less traditional forms, such as performing and professional consulting. This award recognizes the effort it takes to engage in ones discipline and with ones peers. The Faculty Appreciation Award is selected by the Office of Admissions and recognizes a deserving faculty member who has gone above and beyond to meet with prospective students and families during their visits, make phone calls, and assist the Admission Office in their mission of recruiting students to Bryan College. Dr. Daniel Gates is the 2018 recipient of the Faculty Appreciation Award. Peoples Home Equity, a regional mortgage lender, announced recognition received by loan officers in their Chattanooga office. JoAnna Otero and Bruce Dodd were praised by the Chattanooga Mortgage Bankers Association as top producers in 2017. For performance in mortgage banking and real estate finance, both Ms. Otero and Mr. Dodd were given Diamond awards, the highest level designation available. Additional accolades for Ms. Otero came from Ask a Lender, a new online platform that connects borrowers and lenders. Ms. Otero earned a spot in their top 20 list of Tennessee Best Mortgage Lenders 2018, as one of only five awards in the Chattanooga market. When the buyers are happy, were happy, said Mr. Dodd, southeastern director of sales for Peoples Home Equity, with more than 25 years of experience. Its an honor for members of the team to be lauded by colleagues in the industry. These types of acknowledgements represent a lot of hard work by everyone on my team and the entire company," said Ms. Otero. "At the end of the day our clients are our top priority and I love what I do, but to be acknowledged in this way is such an honor and means so much to me. Peoples Home Equity has offices locally in Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Dalton and serve the Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia area. NEW YORK (JTA)-Michael Twitty won the James Beard Foundation's 2018 Book of the Year award for his book on African-American Southern food. The James Beard Foundation announced last week that Twitty, an African-American Jew-by-choice, won the prestigious award for "The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South." The book explores the history of soul food and its relationship to the larger category of Southern cuisine. In 2012, Twitty embarked on a "Southern Discomfort Tour" to trace the history of his black ancestors through food. On the journey, which he documents in the book, he learned about his ancestors' fates, worked on historic plantations and took DNA tests to learn more about his heritage. On Wednesday, he wrote on Twitter that he had received confirmation that he was the first African-American person to win the foundation's Book of the Year award. In the book Twitty, a former Hebrew school teacher, also details his Jewish journey and draws parallels between African-American and Jewish history. "How I became Jewish began through food," Twitty told JTA in an interview last year. His Christian mother, whom Twitty describes in his book as "the best challah braider I have ever known," introduced him early on to the Shabbat staple. Local resident and Congregation of Reform Judaism member Cindy Halpern's family memoir is unlike any other book I have ever read. Not only does Halpern tell her story of being the only "normal child" in her immediate family, her mother's memoir is told "through" Halpern. Both memoirs are brilliantly written in first person. "The Normal Child" begins with Halpern's memoir. She was the third child in a family of four children. The oldest, her sister Anita, had mild retardation and was cruel to her and often tried to attack her. Halpern's two brothers were diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy, a condition that is terminal. Halpern was the only "normal" child. However, Halpern quickly ascertains that she is not normal. "You can't come out of this normal," she said. "What is normal? You are the person you are because of all you went through. In some ways, it's made me a better person." Her parents saw her brothers' MD as an obstacle to overcome, not to be defeated by it. Their struggle with this devastating disease made all involved stronger. Halpern's writing is superbly creative. Toward the end of Halpern's memoir, she poignantly records watching her mother die: "The sun was going down, and as it did, a shadow past over the portrait of Mom that hung on the wall. An artist, also interned with her at Fort Ontario, had painted that picture of Tina Korner when she was 23. But now as the shadow cast darkness over the painting, Mom began to breathe heavily. I saw the muscles in her neck strain, then there was no movement at all. Mom was dead." In the interview, Halpern shared that her mother was very confused at the end of her life, perhaps suffering from dementia. As Halpern sat with her, she realized her mom was distressed. "Mom's calling me home," yelled Halpern's mother. "You're stopping me from going to my mom!" Halpern said that no one else believed her mother. They all said she was just confused. But Halpern believes that you have to take a person's actions at face value. She believed her mom. "Mom," she told her, "if you want to go back to your mom, I won't stop you." "You've got to go where the patient is whether you agree with it or not," Halpern said in the interview. At the completion of Halpern's own story, she begins her mother's memoir-what she thinks her mom would say. "Don't consider which view is correct. They both tell the truth in different perspectives," Halpern states in the transition to her mother's story. "It's not me, these opinions aren't mine," said Halpern of her mother's portion in the book. "I truly forgot that this was me writing and believed it was my mom writing." It is interesting to find that as I read her mother's memoir, even though it is Halpern writing, I came to believe it really was her mom's thoughts and feelings about the events that happened in her life. Halpern's mother,Tina Korner Chernick, grew up in Vienna. She studied to become a doctor. She spoke five languages. "Because I was a Jew and a girl, I had to be the best," Tina wrote. In Vienna when the Nazis came, Tina was kicked out of school. She was considered inferior, not worthy of an education, because she was a Jew. Disheartened, she overcame all her obstacles based on words of wisdom her mother told her: "Tina, you walk one foot in front of the other. You can never go back, only forward." Tina survived the war, hiding from place to place one step ahead of the Nazis. At the war's end, she met American journalist and photographer Ruth Gruber, who at that time was a United States government official helping displaced persons. Gruber taught Tina English, then Tina helped others learn English. Gruber also escorted Tina and many other Jewish refugees to US Army base Ft. Ontario. While there, she met Eleanor Roosevelt. Tina's medical training was not for naught. It prepared her to be a mother to two sons with MD and a mildly retarded daughter. All the trials Tina went through made her a strong woman, strong enough to be able to give the word allowing two of her children to be taken off life support-something no mother would ever want to do. Halpern continued the same first-person style in her second book "Mr. Chernick's Office," which contains the memoirs of her father (who helped liberate Dachau), brothers and sister. "It's not 100 percent accurate, but I gathered all the pieces of the puzzle" Halpern stated. "It's not perfect, but I think it's damn close to being." Not only does she capture each family member's thoughts, the book personifies each individual through the various font sizes and styles. For example, when Halpern wrote her older sister Anita's story, she used a bold, all upper-case font, which reflected mildly retarded Anita's loud and brash manner. Her brother Russell, who was first to be diagnosed with MD, was very intelligent and graduated from college and lived to age 23. Why would someone who knew he was going to die continue his education? "Living in the moment now," Halpern explained. "Being in school affords you friends. You are not staying home alone. You are learning things you may never use in life, but just the idea it's giving you quality life right now!" Her younger brother Stuie, who was closest to her and called her Ella (for Cinderella) only lived to be 15. Today MD patients can live to about 30 years of age. There is a spiritual side to her stories. Each memoir continues fluidly beyond death. "I feel like they are looking out for me," said Halpern. In her own memoir, Halpern tells about a terrifying plane ride. A bird had flown into one of the plane's engines and the plane had to make a difficult landing. Halpern "felt" her parents on both sides of her. "They were saying, 'It's not your time yet.'" Halpern wrote. "I could see them! I thought, did I black out?" Halpern said in the interview. Each parent also wrote in their memoirs about that experience-how they each comforted her, and it was believable. Halpern also shared in the interview that at one time when she was critically ill, she saw dead relatives from Treblinka surrounding her. "I didn't know who they were at the time, but they had odd clothes." Her mother showed her a picture of one relative who had perished in Treblinka. Halpern recognized that person as one of the people she had seen. Why did Halpern want to write this book? She is the only survivor of her immediate family. Her grandson, Scott, encouraged her to write. "You have to do it," he told her. "This is my legacy! You have to do this for me!" Not only did Scott encourage her, at only 11 years old, he took over all the technical details of publishing a book: editing, formatting and publishing. After Scott's encouragement, Halpern wrote the book non-stop in two days. In her description of the book on the back cover, Halpern admits the book has many grammatical errors as she did not have an editor or proofreader. As an editor, at first I found this frustrating. But as I continued reading, I could overlook the errors and became absorbed in Halpern's story-much like getting to know a person. We all have flaws that are forgivable as the jewels inside each of us are discovered. Mike Fink, a teacher at the Rhode Island School of Design, wrote of Halpern's book in The Jewish Voice of Rhode Island and Southwest Massachussetts, "[I] read it cover to cover, fascinated and impressed and very much under its spell." Halpern also stated that she doesn't want her family to be dead, "so I write about them." "The Normal Child" and "Mr. Chernick's Office" are available on amazon.com. (JTA)-It should not be surprising that Rachel Bloom is on Team Michelle Wolf-supporting the comedian who may have singlehandedly killed the White House Correspondents' Dinner with her scathing public roast of the Trump administration. Bloom, 31, has excelled in the shock-comedy genre herself. She's now best known for creating and starring in the successful musical TV series "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," but before that she turned heads and worked her way up the show-biz ladder thanks to a YouTube series of wacky music videos. In the notorious first one, she honors Ray Bradbury's 90th birthday with a character who wants to have sex with him. Another takes place in the horny imagination of 12-year-old Jeffrey Goldstein, who daydreams about his buxom bar mitzvah tutor. "She was hilarious," Bloom said of Wolf in an interview with JTA. "There's a double standard. Men who've said similar things don't get blasted. People are still uncomfortable with women being as open and honest in the way men are." Bloom revealed last month that the fourth season of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" airing this fall will be the show's last, but she hopes to carry her feminist momentum (she has been called, among other things, the "woman who made it OK to say 'clitoris' on TV") into future projects. Right now, she's uncertain what those will be. Bloom has had a contract since last year to write a book, which could consist of "personal essays, fiction, poems, opinions and more." Her ideal project, she says, would be a mainstream movie musical akin to "The Great Showman," only funny. Option 2 is a Broadway musical-something she says she has been working toward since she dropped out of Hebrew school as a 9-year-old. "I have some stage musical ideas. But I still have to make my own work," she said on the phone from Los Angeles, where she lives. "I still have to pitch myself in movies. I still have to audition." Fans can currently see her in her first film role in "Most Likely to Murder," a comedy just released to streaming platforms, DVD and on demand. The plot involves Billy Green (played by Adam Pally), a big man on campus-type turned failed adult who returns home in an effort to recapture his faded glory and win back Kara (Bloom), the girl he left behind. Everyone has moved on, and Kara has a new boyfriend, Lowell-a beloved pharmacist in town and a target of Billy's bullying in high school. Kara seems to still have feelings for Billy, but she makes clear that she has learned from past mistakes. Bloom's husband, Dan Gregor, co-wrote and directed the film. "The character was written a little bit with me in mind," she said. "That is definitely the way I talk about ex-boyfriends and men who have too much power over women. There was a lot of cut and paste there." Bloom says she "very much" enjoyed being pursued rather than being the pursuer as she is in "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," where she plays Rebecca Bunch, a successful lawyer who uproots her life in New York City to follow her childhood ex-boyfriend Josh to West Covina, a small city near Los Angeles. Like Bunch, Bloom suffers from what she came to recognize as obsessive compulsive disorder dating back to when she was a child. She also has been diagnosed with depression and become an advocate for those who face a stigma because of mental health issues. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" has a loyal and vocal following (Bloom considers herself "a successful cult favorite"), and her fans turned out in large numbers when the cast embarked on a nine-city live tour singing the show's songs as they were originally written (that is, before they were cleansed for TV consumption) Apart from ABC's "The Goldbergs," it may be the Jewiest show on television. Perhaps its most Jewish episode involved a bar mitzvah in which characters played by Tovah Feldshuh and Patti LuPone (portraying a rabbi) sing a duet that aims to remind everyone how much Jews have suffered throughout history. In another episode, Bloom's character and rival from back home in New York's Westchester County engage in a rapping "JAP Battle," exchanging insults and the kind of Jewish jokes normally heard behind doors at a campus Hillel. Bloom grew up in the wealthy Southern California enclave of Manhattan Beach in what she calls a "very secular" Jewish family. She attended Hebrew school at a Conservative congregation-that is until 9, when she bored of it. Her husband comes from a more observant Long Island family. Even before they officially became a couple, Bloom would attend a Passover seder at Gregor's home. Bloom said she has gone to more Jewish events since becoming a part of his life. But her Jewishness had always informed her career because "it somehow explained this feeling of otherness I always had. Where I pick up a stereotype or trope and explore why it doesn't exist or why I don't fit in," she said. "I was raised with the knowledge that I am Jewish, and I know every the name of every celebrity who ever said anything anti-Semitic." I recently heard from the Simon Wiesenthal Center... The Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced a political cartoon in Volkskrant, a major Dutch newspaper, for depicting Israel as a murderous bully celebrating its 70th birthday by gunning down defenseless Palestinians at the Gaza border. "For the last month, Hamas has deployed the people of Gaza, including terrorists, at the Israeli border in what it labeled as peaceful protests but in reality, they included firebombs, kites affixed with explosives," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action. "Instead of condemning Hamas for its pernicious and cynical abuse of civilians, the cartoon demonizes the Jewish state and her soldiers as blood-thirsty murderers celebrating Israel's 70th birthday. More anti-Semitism... I read this in the current World Jewish Congress (WJC) bulletin: "As reported by the French news agency AFP, an 8-year-old boy wearing a kippah in Sarcelles (A Paris suburb) was knocked to the ground and beaten by 15-year-old assailants in an apparent anti-Semitic attack. Earlier the same month, a 15-year-old Jewish girl was slashed in the face while walking home from her private Jewish school wearing its uniform, and two kosher shops were torched after being attacked by individuals who painted swastikas on their facades. French President EMMANUEL MACRON (who recently met here with President DONALD TRUMP) condemned the incident: "Every time a citizen is attacked because of his age, his appearance or his religion, the whole country is being attacked. And it is the whole country that stands, especially today, alongside the French Jews to fight each of these despicable acts, with them and for them." "Violins of Hope"... AMNON WEINSTEIN has spent the last two decades locating and restoring violins that were played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. He dedicates this important work to 400 relatives he never knew. These grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins stayed behind in Eastern Europe when Amnon's parents, Moshe and Golda, immigrated in 1938 to Palestine, where Moshe opened a violin shop. After the war, Moshe learned that his entire family-400 in all-had been murdered during the Holocaust. The pain of this discovery led to his first heart attack. Moshe never spoke of his family again. When young Amnon would ask Golda about their relatives, she would show him a book about the Holocaust. Pointing to the ghastly photos of the dead, she would say, "This is our family." She would break down in tears, unable to explain further. After growing up to become one of the most respected violinmakers in the world, Amnon became determined to reclaim his lost heritage. He started locating violins that were played by Jews in the camps and ghettos, painstakingly piecing them back together so they could be brought to life again on the concert stage. Although most of the musicians who originally played the instruments were silenced by the Holocaust, their voices and spirits live on through the violins that Amnon has lovingly restored. He calls these instruments the Violins of Hope. (Bless you, Amnon. You gave a voice to those who didn't survive the camps. All I can say is "Never Again!") Surprise well deserved... DORIS PINES is one of the sweetest, kindest and caring friends anyone could be lucky enough to have. I AM THAT LUCKY! On April 29th, I attended a surprise birthday party for Doris. It was held at the Chi Pan Asian Restaurant in Baldwin Park. It was a wonderful time with Doris's family, wonderful friends, old and new, and especially with Doris, who I've know for more than half a century. (We met when we were three!) Happy Birthday, Doris, and many, many, many, many more! All that jazz... On Sunday, May 27th, some marvelous musicians will be entertaining at the Altamonte Chapel, 825 SR 436, Altamonte Springs with our own talented ALAN ROCK as emcee. The music starts at 12:30 pm and continues until 2:30 pm with a jazz jam in the remaining set (so bring your axe.) Marvelous musician, TERRY MYERS is the featured performer. With him will be RON MILES on piano; CHARLIE SILVA on bass; and EDDIE METZ on drums. (These guys are the best of the best! DON'T MISS IT!!) The Roth JCC... "Lunch and Learn: Pillars of the Past" will be held at the Roth Family JCC on Wednesday, May 16th from 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. Lunch and a discussion about the earliest Jewish leaders contribution to Jewish wisdom will take place. Doris Pines One for the road... More and more women now head to the shops to get their 'excitement.' One in 12 women said they got more pleasure from finding a sales bargain than making love. In some parts of the United States, almost one third of women felt 'deeply satisfied' after a shopping trip. A psychologist said the buzz some people got from shopping was the same as they experienced during sex. 'A dedicated female 'shopaholic' will be in a very similar physical state to one who is kissing and enjoying foreplay-a flushed face, rapid breathing and flowing perspiration'. So a new excuse is born? 'Not now darling, I've been shopping.' (Hey, whatever works!) Peoples Home Equity, a regional mortgage lender, has announced unique recognitions received by loan officers in their Chattanooga office. JoAnna Otero and Bruce Dodd were praised by the Chattanooga Mortgage Bankers Association as top producers in 2017. For excellent performance in mortgage banking and real estate finance, both Ms. Otero and Mr. Dodd were given Diamond awards, the highest level designation available. Additional accolades for JoAnna Otero came from Ask a Lender, a new online platform that connects borrowers and lenders. Otero earned a spot in their top 20 list of Tennessee Best Mortgage Lenders 2018, as one of only five awards in the Chattanooga market. When the buyers are happy, were happy, said Bruce Dodd, Southeastern director of Sales for Peoples Home Equity, with more than 25 years of experience. Its an honor for members of the team to be lauded by colleagues in the industry. These types of acknowledgements represent a lot of hard work by everyone on my team and the entire company. At the end of the day our clients are our top priority and I love what I do, but to be acknowledged in this way is such an honor and means so much to me, said Ms. Otero. Peoples Home Equity has offices locally in Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Dalton and super serve the Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia area. Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School in Skokie, Illinois, provides its students with several hours of fully immersive Hebrew instruction each day. The sign these children are holding reads "We don't give up. We ask, read and talk until we understand." Teaching students Hebrew is a top priority for the Chicago-area day school Hillel Torah. So to ensure it has a ready supply of native Hebrew speakers on its faculty, the school goes straight to the source. It recruits two couples from Israel for multiyear teaching gigs, flies them to Chicago and puts them up in rented homes. A parent committee makes sure the houses are appropriately furnished and the refrigerators fully stocked. Volunteers take the couples to open bank accounts and offer tours of Chicago. A schedule is created to ensure they are never without a Shabbat meal invitation. And after they finish their stint at the school-in as little as two years, but never more than four-the process begins again. It's a costly effort, but one that Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School in Skokie, Illinois, believes is necessary to provide its 430 students with several hours of fully immersive Hebrew instruction each day. Until the fourth grade, all Judaic studies-Bible, Jewish law, Hebrew language-are conducted entirely in Hebrew. The school also recruits local Israelis to teach. "It requires a tremendous commitment-a financial commitment, and also energy and resources to sustain the Hebrew program," said Menachem Linzer, Hillel Torah's head of school. "It's one of the things that attract people to our school." The investment appears to be paying off. Most graduates are fluent Hebrew speakers, often with a pitch-perfect Israeli accent. Some have transitioned immediately into Israeli schools after their families immigrated to Israel. A few years ago, a parent of an eighth-grader who was a neurosurgeon delivered a lecture about brain science at the school-entirely in Hebrew. Hebrew language instruction is ubiquitous in Jewish day schools. According to the authors of a 2017 study by the Avi Chai Foundation, it's practically the only curricular element held in common by day schools that span a wide spectrum of Jewish ideological outlook and practice. But the study also identified substantial differences in how and why Hebrew is taught-and how much success schools have achieved. Among the key findings is that in schools where students expressed high levels of satisfaction with Hebrew language classes, three features made a difference: communicating that Hebrew matters, strong leadership and investing in resources. These elements were found to be more important than the specifics of how Hebrew is taught and with what materials. "These institutional commitments indicate that the schools are not simply going through the motions when it comes to Hebrew; they are not simply doing what is expected of them," reported the study's authors, consultant Alex Pomson and Jewish education scholar Jack Wertheimer. Day schools cite a variety of reasons for prioritizing Hebrew-from instilling a Zionist ethos to giving students the means to understand Jewish religious texts. Susie Tanchel, head of the Jewish Community Day School in Boston, says Hebrew is critical because it's the language of the Jewish people, enabling access to sacred texts and conversations with Jews from around the world. Also, she says, learning a second language enhances neurological development. The Boston school uses a two-teacher model. In the younger grades, each classroom has both an English- and a Hebrew-speaking teacher, and the language of instruction shifts depending on which teacher is leading a particular activity. The school's method of language learning is known as the proficiency approach, which considers what learners can do with a language in real-life settings, not how much they know. "We fundamentally believe that children are integrated human beings," Tanchel said "So we don't want to divide the day into Hebrew in the morning and English in the afternoon because you don't live like that" Integration is also guiding principle at the Luria Academy in Brooklyn, a Montessori school in which there are no neat divisions between subjects. Classrooms typically have multiple teachers who pull aside small groups of students for short lessons. Several years ago, Luria realized that even though Hebrew proficiency was part of its mission, students were not acquiring strong Hebrew skills. So the school added a Hebrew speaker to every classroom who could offer instruction in Hebrew regardless of the particular lesson. When the first class of students who started the revamped program as 2-year-olds reached kindergarten, Luria found it had to rewrite its Hebrew curriculum because the students were two levels beyond where they had been before. "If we're going to be true to our mission, our mission includes Hebrew language immersion. We believe it's a necessary part of being an educated Jew," said Amanda Pogany, Luria's head of school. "For us, we want to graduate students who have access to the texts of the Jewish people. And to really do that, and do that well, we felt like they just had to speak Hebrew." Ben Porat Yosef, a day school in northern New Jersey, follows the Hillel Torah model, and now has 10 teachers on staff recruited from Israel. "I think we hold the record of day schools in the United States for shlichim couples," said Saul Zucker, Ben Porat Yosef's head of school, using the Hebrew word for emissaries. From the time students enter pre-kindergarten until eighth-grade graduation, Judaic studies are conducted entirely in Hebrew and taught by native speakers Nothing is ever translated into English. After Luria Academy in Brooklyn, New York, put a Hebrew teacher in every classroom to offer instruction in Hebrew regardless of the subject, the school had to revamp the rest of its Hebrew program because students became fluent so quickly. "It's done the same way that you and I learned our first language," Zucker said. "It's exposure to language and immersion into the language with context clues, with non-verbal cues. And the students pick it up-including the Israeli accent. So by the time they get to middle school, the students are amazingly proficient." Zucker calls commitment to Hebrew one of the "inviolable mantras" of the school. "This is who we are. If you're coming to BPY, it's because you buy in enthusiastically to this mission," he said. "It is a core value to have our children really live the idea of a unified Jewish people with a strong identification to the State of Israel, and you can't do that without giving them fluency in Hebrew. It's the language that binds us together." This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with the Avi Chai Foundation, which is committed to the perpetuation of the Jewish people, Judaism and the centrality of the State of Israel to the Jewish people. In North America, the foundation works to advance the Jewish day school and overnight summer camp fields. This article was produced by JTA's native content team. Written by the family Anita Lorraine Hara, Chana bat Eliyahu, died on April 27, 2018, after a lifetime of serving as a matriarch to the Hara family. She was 92. Born in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 31, 1925, Anita met her future husband, Joe, in high school. After the war they married, and she spent her adult life raising her three children, Bob, Barbara and Mark, and supporting her husbands career. It was always family first for Anita. In 1964 she left her hometown of Chicago with Joe and her growing family to create a new life in the then-small town of Orlando. Anita quickly became a leader in the Jewish and Greater Orlando communities, where she chaired countless fundraising activities and events. Her many projects included: March of Dimes, Florida Hospital Auxiliary, Heart Fund, Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, Jewish Family Services and Kinnerets Council on Aging. Anitas voluntary and philanthropic endeavors were often recognized and she was awarded many honors. She often referred to her modest upbringing as her reason to give back to the community. In her forties, faced with the prospect of an empty nest, Anita returned to college at the University of Central Florida, where she earned a degree in social work. Her husbands long tenure with Tupperware International afforded Anita the opportunity to visit many countries, but her favorite adventures were more often stateside. Anita and Joe purchased a condominium in Longboat Key, Florida in 1976. This Shangri-La, as they referred to it, was a family destination for many wonderful memories. In later years, the couple spent their summers in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Enjoying the shade of the blue mountains, they hosted their children and grandchildren, serving up new memories at places like Lake Lure and the Brevard Music Festival. Anita made life long-friends wherever she went. At the age of 70 Anita was afflicted with heart disease, followed by macular degeneration. These setbacks may have slowed her a bit, but they never stopped her from her humanitarian endeavors. Her constant cheerleader was Joe, who encouraged her to always move forward. In recent times, it became a tradition for Joe to read a passage called Eshet Chayel, A Woman of Valor at the Shabbat table. Joe enjoyed reading this passage from Proverbs and Anita loved listening to it. Joe finished the poem saying, This ones for you, babe. It was always followed by a kiss. Joe was often asked, what attracted him to Anita as far back as their high school years. He always replied, Anita was different. She was funny. She had a great laugh. When life presented them with challenges, they joined hands and got through them. After Joes passing in December 2017, Anitas loving family circled the wagons. She was visited every day. Her children and grandchildren tried to carry the torch as Joe had, keeping her occupied and surrounded by love. We are eternally grateful for having this cherished matriarch in our lives. Anita is survived by her childrenRobert (Judith) Hara, Barbara (Terry) Weiss and Ellen Hara. She was predeceased by her son, Mark. She is also survived by her grandchildrenAaron (Moriah), Jacob, Audra, Jared (Lucy), Marni (Ram), and Andrea; and her great-grandchildren Eva and Lillia. A graveside funeral was held at Temple Israel Cemetery, Gotha, with Rabbi David Kay of Congregation Ohev Shalom officiating. In memory of Anita Hara, the family requests contributions to Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Parkway South, Maitland 32751. Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel. 640 Lee Road, Orlando 32810. 407-599-1180. It is that time of year once again when Heritage Florida Jewish News is putting out feelers for one outstanding person in the Jewish community who has given his or her time or talent or monetary gifts to better the Orlando Jewish community. Nominations for the 2018 Heritage Human Service Award are now being accepted and the award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando on Aug. 7. For more than 28 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award, said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last years recipient was Sara Stern. Former recipients have included Bernie Raff (2015), Loren London (2014), and Nina Oppenheim (2013). According to Gaeser, Each recipient chose their own path, but made considerable and long-lasting contributions to the Jewish community. Nominees for the 2018 award are individuals who do not look for recognition, but perform tikun olanrepairing the worldout of internal motivation. Nominations should be emailed to news@orlandoheritage.com with the subject Human Service Award, or typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and sent by mail to Heritage Florida Jewish News, Human Service Award, 207 OBrien Road, Suite 101, Fern Park, FL 32730. Included should be the name and phone number of the nominee, a documented list of his or her accomplishments, and the name and phone number of the nominator(s). The Heritage is accepting nominations until Friday, June 8. Belgian tourists posing in yarmulkes with Pete the dog in the Monbijou Park in Berlin, April 29, 2018. BERLIN (JTA)-In an unusual sight, the people lazing about or strolling down the paths in several parks here on a sun-drenched Sunday were wearing gleaming white kippahs. Seventy volunteers handed out some 6,000 of the satin yarmulkes in total at five parks in the German capital to counter a recent anti-Semitic incident targeting a man wearing the Jewish head covering. Three non-Jewish friends planned the event, dubbing it "Kopf Hoch"-literally "Keep your head high," or "Cheer Up." "It's always important to do something against anti-Semitism, and for the safety of our city in general," Anne, one of the organizers, told JTA. "But with the last incident, it clearly is not the job of Jews alone-all of us have to watch out for each other." Initially, more parks were included in the plan. But Anne said the Berlin police advised the organizers not to carry out their action in the Kreuzberg and Neukoeln districts, as both areas have large Arab populations. Some of the recent anti-Semitic incidents here have been attributed to people of Arab background The organizers of the kippot action, Jannik and Marco joined Anne, received support from the Berlin Jewish community, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Amadeo-Antonio Foundation, as well as from private individuals. They asked that their last names not be used to avoid people trying to contact them at work; they can be contacted through their Facebook page. The volunteers started handing out the yarmulkes early Sunday afternoon. Within an hour, the green lawns of Monbijou Park in the Mitte District were dotted with kippah wearers lounging on the grass, picnicking or otherwise enjoying the day. Janin Viviane Ahnefeld, a German-Israeli attorney, took a break from work to hand out the free yarmulkes. She was accompanied by the best ice-breaker: her kippah-wearing golden retriever, Pete. Ahnefeld said her best customers were "tourists from other countries." "I had people from Denmark, France, Poland, Britain," she said. "And they were all very open, they wanted to join in and they gladly took a kippah." And they posed for photos with Pete and Ahnefeld. Locals tended to be more reluctant, she said. "I had a conversation with one German guy who said, 'I am not religious, and don't want to have anything to do with it.' I told him it has nothing to do with whether you are religious or not, but he was not interested," Ahnefeld said. It's a kind of "looking away," which is "too bad," she said. Anne said she only had two negative reactions, "but they weren't bad. One person said 'no,' and another nearby said, 'Then I'll take it!'" Some said they were not religious, but added, "I find what you are doing totally good." The event follows a kippah "flash mob" and a rally last week that drew some 2,500 concerned Berliners to the doorstep of the Jewish community center in the former West Berlin. The recent increase in anti-Semitic incidents has been met by calls for tougher action against perpetrators. On April 17, an attacker shouting "Jew!" in Arabic assaulted a non-Jewish man wearing a yarmulke on a Berlin street. The victim was an Israeli Arab who said he donned the kippah to test whether it had actually become dangerous to wear one in Germany. Critics say the solidarity actions and even government promises are too little-and almost too late. But these events get people to "come out of their bubble and talk about what is happening in our city," Anne said, and also can help people overcome fear of others and stereotypes. On Sunday, she met with some Arab families in the park. In one case, Anne said, "Someone translated for me, and the father of the family said, 'Of course! We will do it with you.'" She added: "Other Arab families reacted differently, but always respectful." Though by far not all park-goers were wearing kippahs by the end of the day, there was a distinct impression of something unusual going on. "One woman came over and asked if a Jewish festival was being celebrated today," said Anne, laughing. "It was a moment of normalcy" for yarmulkes in Berlin. Compared to the week-long Festivals of Sukkot and Passover, and the grandeur or Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Shavuot can easily get overlooked. But, not only is it one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals set down in the Torah (although with Sukkot and Passover), Jewish tradition understands it to be the anniversary of matan Torah, the giving of the gift of the Torah at Mount Sinai. With those impressive credentials, Shavuot is the ideal time for Jews to gather as a community, just as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. In addition to celebrating the spring harvest in the land of Israel, Shavuot is a time to reaffirm the teachings of the Torah through study sessions. Theres a long-standing tradition of Tikkun Leil Shavuot, said Rabbi David Kay of Congregation Ohev Shalom, which is playing host to this years Community Erev Shavuot Service, on the night of Saturday, May 19. People stay up all night, learning and discussing traditional Jewish texts. The Community Erev Shavuot Service was launched last year by Rabbi Joshua Neely, and hosted by his congregation, Temple Israel. Although not an all-night affair, last years program included challenging study on ethical issues. This year, several knowledgeable lay leaders will teach 15- to 20-minute round robin sessions on engaging topics of Jewish interest. The schedule will allow for people to learn from three or four different teachers in the course of the evening. The program begins with services, called for 8:45 p.m., followed by the learning sessions, and concluding with a cheesecake bar. For more information or to RSVP, see the Ohev Shalom website (https://OhevShalom.org), call the synagogue at 407-298-4650, or email Office@OhevShalom.org. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday spoke by telephone with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the sensational revelations obtained by Israel's intelligence agency about Iran's dangerous nuclear development program. Speaking at the Ministry of Defense complex in Tel Aviv Monday evening, the Israeli leader unveiled a trove of more than 100,000 documents obtained by the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, in recent weeks from a secret warehouse in southern Tehran. In a speech aimed at the international community and delivered in English, the prime minister showed photographs of classified maps, charts, photographs, blueprints, videos and more documenting the Islamic Republic's weapons development program, called Project Amad. According to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu "agreed with the leaders that he would, in the coming days, send professional teams to share with Germany and France the detailed material that has reached Israel regarding Iran's efforts to achieve nuclear weapons." The European leaders have been maintaining that the Iran nuclear agreement, signed in 2015, was the best option available to counter the nuclear threat and have been urging Trump not to dismantle the deal. Netanyahu also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue. "The two also discussed the situation in Syria and agreed to meet in the near future," the PMO stated. Netanyahu intends to update the leaders of Great Britain and China, the other signatory countries of he nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. US President Donald Trump praised Netanyahu's presentation, saying it vindicated his stance against the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. Netanyahu has been "100 percent right" about Iran, Trump said. "It is just not an acceptable situation." Negotiating a 'real agreement' with Iran? Trump has declined to say whether the US will withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal by the May 12th deadline, but if it does pull out, he may then negotiate a "real agreement." He underscored that the US "got nothing" for the sanctions relief granted Iran under the accord and that it was a "horrible agreement for the United States." "In a few days' time, President Trump will decide, will make a decision on what to do with the nuclear deal. I'm sure he'll do the right thing. The right thing for the United States, the right thing for Israel and the right thing for the peace of the world." Netanyahu stated at the end of his presentation. Israel continues to view Iran as an existential threat and the other signatory states to "fix or nix" the agreement. (JTA)Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged that the United States has known for a while about Israels cache of stolen documents concerning the Iranian nuclear program. Pompeo told reporters on the airplane traveling from Jordan to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, D.C., that he had been aware of the existence of the documents, and that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed them when they met in Tel Aviv on Sunday. I know there are people talking about these documents not being authentic, he said. I can confirm for you that these documents are real; theyre authentic. Pompeo said the files spell out the scope and scale of the program that they undertook there, and I think makesI think makes very clear that, at the very least, the Iranians have continued to lie to their own people. So while you say everyone knew, the Iranians have consistently taken the position that theyve never had a program like this. This willthis will belie any notion that there wasnt a program like this. Asked if there was there anything in there that suggests an actual violation of the 2016 agreement, the secretary of state said the administration would leave that to lawyers. Pompeo, who was confirmed last week, said he has had lots of conversations with the Europeans about the Iranians. We know what it is theyre hoping to achieve. We share the same end goal to keep the Iranians from ever having a nuclear weapon, he said. I am confident that we will continue to have good relations with our European partners should the president choose to pull out of this. This will be one issue among many of the important, critical issues that we all work on together. Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Bloomberg that the announcement of Irans continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon was not groundbreaking. We knew of the possible military dimensions of their program up until 2003. The Obama administration, when they were negotiating the JCPOA, chose not to pursue that issue, said Corker, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. But weve all known. Its like the biggest known secret out there relative to their previous activities. So this is really not groundbreaking. Weve known of this for some time. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif compared Netanyahu and his announcement to the boy who cried wolf. The boy who cant stop crying wolf is at it again. Undeterred by cartoon fiasco at UNGA, Zarif tweeted Monday following Netanyahus presentation, referring to the Israeli leaders 2012 presentation before the United Nations General Assembly showing a cartoon bomb. You can only fool some of the people so many times. Social media poked fun at Netanyahu, with one-person photoshopping the Iranian files that Netanyahu was pointing to in sweeping gestures to a weather map and noting that Jews control the weather. Another showed Netanyahus presentation as a set for the Home Shopping Network. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to attend Jerusalem embassy opening WASHINGTON (JTA)The official White House delegation for the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will include President Donald Trumps daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, as well as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Kushner heads up the team seeking to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks Other members of his teamJason Greenblatt, the lead negotiator, and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israelwill also be present for the ceremony on May 14, the 70th anniversary of Israels founding according to the Gregorian calendar. Those five members of the delegation are Jewish. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan completes the delegation and will lead the team, the White House said in a statement released Monday. Trump had considered attending the embassy opening. The president has said he is proud of his Dec. 6 announcement on the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv. The move has led the Palestinians to abandon Kushners efforts to revive talks, at least temporarily. Israels embassy in Washington, D.C., is planning its annual Independence Day party for the same day. The embassy party usually takes place on or near the Hebrew calendar anniversary of Israels 1948 independence, which this year was on April 19. The new embassy grounds, on land in western Jerusalem but bordering eastern Jerusalem, are temporary. There are plans to build a permanent embassy, but it might take up to 10 years. Ahead of the move, the U.S. Embassys twitter handle changed Monday to @usembassyjlm from @usembassytlv. John McCain regrets not choosing Joseph Lieberman as his 2008 running mate (JTA)Sen. John McCain is using his new book and a documentary to publicly express his regret at not picking former Senate colleague Joseph Lieberman as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election, The New York Times reported. McCain wrote in the book, which the newspaper said it obtained independently of the Arizona Republican, that his advisers warned him against picking Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who turned Independent, because of his support for abortion rights. The advisers believed that support would divide the party. It was sound advice that I could reason for myself, he wrote in The Restless Wave, according to The Times. But my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had. Other Republicans believe that McCains selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice president was responsible for unleashing the forces of grievance politics and nativism within the party. McCain lost to Barack Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, in the election. McCain, 81, is battling the brain cancer that he was diagnosed with last summer and for which he is undergoing aggressive treatment. He spends most of his time at his Arizona ranch. The book and a nearly two-hour HBO documentary are scheduled to come out later this month. In the documentary, McCain calls the decision not to pick Lieberman another mistake that I made in his political career. Lieberman, who was Democratic presidential candidate Al Gores running mate in 2000the first Jewish vice presidential nominee on a major tickettold The Times that he didnt know McCain felt that regret until he watched the film. It touched me greatly, he said. According to the article, those close to McCain have told the White House that the longtime senator plans for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the funeral service to be held in Washingtons National Cathedral but not President Donald Trump. There were 4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets in 2017, report says WASHINGTON (JTA)The Anti-Defamation League estimated that there were 4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets out of the trillions posted on Twitter over a yearlong period. In a report released Monday and timed with its annual Washington conference, the civil rights groups Center on Extremism said its experts estimated that the tweets were issued by approximately three million unique handles, or accounts, in the period between Jan. 29, 2017, and Jan. 28, 2018. The report, the first by ADL on anti-Semitic tweets, estimated the numbers ranged between 36,800 in the week of July 23-29 and 181,700 in the week between Dec. 3-9. It said there was no obvious detectable reason for the discrepancy. The study did not control for bots, or automatically generated accounts. (Subsequent to the study, Twitter purged millions of suspected bots.) A program identified anti-Semitic language and experts examined 55,000 of the 19 million tweets that came under review by the program to statistically control for Twitter users who were citing the language to condemn anti-Semitism or who were using it with sarcasm or ironically. The program searched for classic anti-Semitic stereotypes, like greedy bankers, despoilers of racial purity, God killers; anti-Semitic pejoratives, Holocaust denial; and praise for anti-Semitic figures. It did not focus on criticism of Israel except when it was cast according to the identified stereotypes or conspiracy theories. Among the recurring themes the study uncovered were Jews as sexual predators, particularly relating to the allegations that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had harassed and assaulted a number of women; age-old smears alleging that the Rothschilds control the world; references to Zionists as racist warmongers who control the U.S. government and the media; Holocaust denial; and claims that the billionaire philanthropist George Soros was behind false flag events meant to advance his liberal agenda. The study said that one noteworthy development was the prolific use of the term globalist as an anti-Semitic slur. Although the term is not inherently anti-Semitic, globalist is often used as a pejorative term for people whose interests in international commerce or finance ostensibly make them disloyal to the country in which they live, or who are willing to undermine the financial security of their neighbors in order to benefit transnational interests, it said. President Donald Trump and some of his top advisers have been criticized as skirting an anti-Semitic line with their use of the term. The ADL report did not mention Trumps use. ADL, a member of Twitters Trust and Safety Council, praised the social media giant for its attempts to improve conversational health, but recommended further actions for Twitter, including increased openness to outside review, making its terms of service more comprehensive and enforcing it and enhancing its offensive content filters. ADL made the report available to Twitter prior to posting it and include Twitters response. Twitter said that among its planned reforms was making affiliation with violent extremist groups against its terms of service; making hateful imagery harder to find by labeling it as sensitive content and banning it from profile and header pictures; communicating its rules more clearly to violators; improving how Twitter reviews abuse reports filed by third-party witnesses. Aly Raisman: US gymnastics officials continue to fail abuse survivors WASHINGTON (JTA)Officials responsible for U.S. gymnasts have failed to oust the enablers who allowed the team doctor to molest dozens of athletes, Aly Raisman told the Anti-Defamation League. Were not having a full investigation of who knew and who didnt know, and thats a big problem, Raisman said Sunday at the opening of the Anti-Defamation League annual leadership conference. The theme of the conference this year is my good fight, and is dedicated to underrepresented voices taking on discrimination, hate speech and violence. Raisman, who is Jewish and the winner of numerous Olympic medals, including several golds, in March sued the US. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics alleging negligence for not stopping former U.S. Olympics gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar from sexually abusing young athletes. Nassar was sentenced earlier this year to 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting over 150 women and girls over two decades. Raisman spoke onstage in an interview with Sarah Wildman, the deputy editor of Foreign Policy who last year in an essay described her experience with sexual harassment as a young journalist. Raisman, 23, described a culture that enabled Nassar, allowing him to groom the gymnasts he was supposed to care for. Nassar was the official the gymnasts turned to if they felt ill, if they needed comforting or if they were hungry. She said it is now clear in real time that some officials were aware of the abuse. The fact that no one pulled us aside and didnt talk to us is a huge red flag, those people need to be gone and some of those people are still there, Raisman said. Raisman faulted USA Gymnastics for a lack of transparency, noting that three board members resigned in January without explanations why. Whos picking the new board members? she asked. Theyre not asking survivors to help out. She said that the authorities should delve decades past to uncover how Nassar was able to get away with molesting victims believed to number in the hundreds. We need to look at every single year and figure out why this was ignored, she said. Both the USOC and USA Gymnastics have rehauled their leadership in the wake of the scandal. The USOC has not commented on Raismans lawsuit. USA Gymnastics said at the time that it first learned of Nassars abuses in 2015, when it reported him to authorities. Raismans remarks at Nassars sentencing hearing earlier this year drew national attention. Speaking to the ADL, she said she nearly didnt speak at the hearing because the prospect was so traumatic. She said she drew upon her training as a gymnast, when she learned how to ignore the crowds and the cameras and focus on her game, and wrote her 13-minute speech at the last minute. She did not feel relief after the hearing, she said. I felt awful. I felt sick. She said she still often feels overwhelmed recounting her experience, and has taken up meditation as a means of self-calming. It helps so much, she said. Hamas leaders in Gaza reportedly have offered long-term cease-fire to Israel JERUSALEM (JTA)Hamas leaders in Gaza have sent messages to Israel through various channels in recent months offering to negotiate a long-term cease-fire. According to a report Monday in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Hamas wants to tie the cease-fire to an easing of the blockade on Gaza, a green light for large-scale infrastructure projects and a prisoner exchange. Israel has not responded clearly to the messages, according to Haaretz. Hamas reportedly is more open to discussing such a cease-fire since it is in dire and unprecedented strategic distress, the report said. In addition, reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority remain frozen in the wake of an assassination attempt in March on P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah during his visit to Gaza. Hamas has called on Gaza Palestinian demonstrators to continue to protest at the Gaza border as part of the March of Return protests, and has vowed that the protests will continue past what was supposed to be the end date, May 14, the date on the Gregorian calendar that marks Israels 70th birthday and which the Arab world calls the Nakba, or catastrophe. The Palestinian Authority also is planning a large demonstration on that day in Ramallah in the West Bank, the seat of the P.A. government. The Israeli military estimates that 70 percent of the 48 Gaza Palestinians killed in the current protests are connected to Hamas or the military wings of other terror organizations in Gaza, according to Haaretz. Israeli soldiers kill 3 Palestinians attempting to breach border with Gaza JERUSALEM (JTA)Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians attempting to breach Israels border fence with Gaza and infiltrate the country. The men killed on Sunday afternoon were part of a group of four men planning to enter Israel from Gaza and carry out a terror attack, the IDF said. The soldiers had been monitoring their movements as they approached the fence. The men were carrying an ax, two bottles of lighter fluid, a lighter, a bolt cutter, an oxygen mask, and a GoPro camera, according to the IDF. An attempt to damage security infrastructure, breach Israels sovereignty, and carry out an attack was thwarted. The IDF will continue to operate against those who attempt to harm Israel, its civilians, or security infrastructure, the IDF said in a statement posted on Twitter. Some 48 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded since protests began along the Gaza border on March 30. Tamika Mallory blames Trump Muslim ban, Mexican border wall on Netanyahu (JTA)Womens March leader Tamika Mallory said in a tweet that President Donald Trumps so-called Muslim ban and plan for a wall on the border with Mexico were inspired directly by the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mallory, who returned over the weekend from a trip to Israel sponsored by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, said in the tweet Sunday, Be clear: Donald Trumps wall + #muslimban + #deportation plan are all lines out of the #Netanyahu book of oppression. Trump has referenced this himself. We ought pay attention & not allow folks to label us + try to black list us in to silence. #JusticeDelegation (more 2 come) An hour later she tweeted: While I was traveling ppl insisted that I must hear both sides. As long as the side of injustice exists, we must address it. I heard from some who support the Israeli gvt, but could not explain what I saw with my own eyes. Injustice is a threat to ALL SIDES.#JusticeDelegation Mallory was criticized in February by the Anti-Defamation League and others for tweeting enthusiastically about her appearance at a rally by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who delivered a speech laced with anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks. More recently she criticized Starbucks for including the ADL in its anti-bias training, saying the Jewish group constantly attacks black and brown people. In linking Trump and Netanyahu, Mallory cited a Jerusalem Post article from August 2017 that reported on the transcript of a January 2017 phone call between Trump and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico in which the U.S. president references Israels security wall with the West Bank. You know, you look at Israel Israel has a wall and everyone said do not build a wall, walls do not work99.9 percent of people trying to come across that wall cannot get across and more, Trump told Pena Nieto, according to the report. Bibi Netanyahu told me the wall works. Mallory also tweeted on Sunday: Unpacking my mind... my trip to the Israel & Palestine was schizophrenic. The land is beautiful... the people are full of love & resilience. However, there is a crime against humanity happening and we can not turn a blind eye or be afraid to tell the truth. #JusticeDelegation + The Center for Constitutional Rights said on its website that the trip brought together mostly Black and Brown civil and human rights leaders working on domestic U.S. justice issues who have not had an opportunity to visit Palestine and Israel. The justice delegation was planned to provide an opportunity to better understand the human rights situation in Israel and Palestine, including the history of systematic displacement and institutional racism, as well as the work of human rights defenders there. The delegation met with Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists and visited sites of religious interest. When the delegation arrived on April 29, Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Katherine Franke, chair of CCRs board and Sulzbacher professor of law, gender, and sexuality studies at Columbia University, were detained for 14 hours and interrogated at Ben Gurion International Airport, then denied entry into Israel and deported because of their involvement in organizations that support boycotts against Israel. Franke was barred from entering because of her prominent role with Jewish Voice for Peace, a spokesman for Israels Strategic Affairs Ministry told Haaretz. Franke denied a leadership role in JVP, though she said she has volunteered for its academic advisory council in the past. Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, at a Capitol Hill hearing on moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Nov. 8, 2017. NEW YORK (JTA)-Three Jewish organizations are accusing the Zionist Organization of America of inappropriately criticizing them. And the ZOA is accusing one of them right back. On Wednesday, the various spats will have a formal hearing at a committee meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, an umbrella association for Jewish groups. The Presidents Conference by-laws, according to the Forward, prohibit its members from attacking each other with "insults, ad hominem attacks, and name calling," as well as criticisms that are "false, inaccurate or unfairly exaggerated." The Presidents Conference, which has over 50 organizations, aims to speak in a unified voice for the American Jewish establishment. The non-disparagement policy is meant to prevent discord among groups that sometimes differ widely on foreign and domestic affairs. Three groups-the Anti-Defamation League, the National Council of Jewish Women and the refugee aid group HIAS-have lodged separate formal complaints under that policy against the ZOA, a right-wing pro-Israel organization In turn, the ZOA has lodged complaints against the ADL as well as Ameinu, a liberal pro-Israel group. All the disputes will be judged by the committee in the formal, private hearings. The complaints are confidential, and the three groups accusing the ZOA either declined to comment on the record or did not respond to JTA inquiries. The Presidents Conference also did not respond to a request for comment. But multiple officials with knowledge of the complaints confirmed to JTA that the hearings are taking place. ZOA President Morton Klein called the complaints "nonsense" and denied that his group had done anything wrong. "A number of organizations have complained that we have criticized them too harshly, claiming that that violates the rights-and-responsibilities statement of the Conference of Presidents," Klein told JTA on Monday. "We've not called anybody names, ever. We've never said anything false" In recent years, the ZOA has released public statements criticizing the three groups for taking liberal positions. The ZOA supports Israeli settlements, opposes Palestinian statehood and has supported policies of President Donald Trump with which the groups have taken issue. A November news release from the ZOA condemned HIAS and the National Council of Jewish Women for signing "a shocking letter signed by extremist 'Jewish leaders'" in defense of Palestinian-American liberal activist Linda Sarsour. The following month, another ZOA statement on the same topic called those groups "far left." The ZOA has gone after the ADL for years, criticizing it publicly for everything from supporting Syrian refugees to denouncing those who oppose a Palestinian state. ZOA has also rapped the ADL for supporting Black Lives Matter. The ADL has said that while it supports better treatment of black Americans, it opposes the Movement for Black Lives due to its 2016 platform accusing Israel of apartheid and genocide. "ADL's attacks on dedicated pro-Israel individuals and groups that defend and fight for Israel and combat anti-Israel radical Islamist anti-Semitism are particularly confusing, disheartening and upsetting," read an April 27 ZOA news release. "It is also painful that ADL and its Director [Jonathan] Greenblatt too often join forces with Israel haters, such as by promoting the Israel-bashing BDS group Black Lives Matter." If the Presidents Conference rules against the ZOA in the hearings, the ZOA could face a range of consequences from a private or public reprimand to a recommendation of suspension or expulsion. But Klein remains defiant. "What kind of ruling [is that], that we can't say whatever we think is right?" he asked. "I'm not going to agree to be restricted from saying what I believe." Instrumental in the formation of the Zionist Organization of America local chapter are (from l-r), David Meltzer, Dr. Daniel Layish, Executive Director of the ZOA Florida Chapter Sharona Whisler, and Joe Davis. Davis and Whisler are holding a limited commemorative stamp issued by the State of Israel in honor of ZOA's 120th anniversary in 2017. ZOA gifted the stamp to Layish. Plans are in the works for a showing of the film "The Fight of Our Lives-Defeating the Ideological War Against the West," a documentary by Gloria Greenfield that examines the emergence of anti-Western ideas, ideologies and movements, along with their subsequent penetration into Western academia, politics, and society. If you wish to become a member of the new ZOA chapter and receive emails about upcoming programs and initiatives, go to the website https://zoa.org/donate/florida/ for an application. The dues are $50 a year. Dear Editor: The American Jewish Congress is very concerned by the emerging allegations that Iran historically continued to expand its nuclear weapons program and may continue to do so, despite its claims otherwise. We remain concerned that the Iranian regime is growing bolder and more dangerous, with catastrophic potential consequences for the region and the world. While we opposed the Iran deal at the time, we were happy to be proven wrong, but there are now worrying signs that Iran has been less than honest with the international community regarding its nuclear program. The 15-year period where the nuclear program can be resumed is fast approaching. As President Trump said today, it is not acceptable that in seven years Iran would be free to pursue its nuclear program. The allegations by Prime Minister Netanyahu show that President Trump may have been right regarding this horrible agreement. As the expiry of the waiver on sanctions against the Iranian regime similarly draws near, the American Jewish Congress echoes Prime Minister Netanyahu in calling on President Trump to do the right thing for the US. Jack Rosen President American Jewish Congress Dear Editor: Have you ever noticed that it appears all of the reporting about the goings on in Gaza all come from the Gaza Strip? Also, all of the reporters seem to have Arabic names. Are you aware that there is no freedom of the press in Gaza? Thus, all of the dispatches are highly censored by the Hamas leadership. Nothing disparaging against the Palestinians is allowed to be sent out of Gaza to the free world. Thus, all we get is very biased reportingfake news. What a shame. Im sure if the Israeli wanted they too could provide coverage, which they do by the way, that would not be highly censored. Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East which also has freedom of the press, gives a much more accurate account of the goings on in Israel (Gaza). Laurence Morrell Maitland (JNS)To Obama administration alumni and other detractors of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there was nothing all that new or noteworthy in his presentation of a treasure trove of Iranian nuclear intelligence obtained by the Mossad. While Netanyahus remarks contained dramatic revelations about a secret Iranian nuclear program and proof that Iran had been lying for years up to the implementation of the nuclear deal it concluded with the West, to the prime ministers critics the speech was just another excuse to bash him for his style and his dogged opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Netanyahu has become a polarizing figure, both in terms of Israeli politics and in the United States. For good or for ill, his antagonistic relationship with President Barack Obama and his closeness with President Donald Trump have come to mean that for many people, where you stand on Netanyahu has more to do with your partisan loyalties than the merit of his positions. Unfortunately, the Israeli leaders comments on Monday provoked those same predictable reactions, along with snide comments about his PowerPoint presentation that reminded many of the cartoon bomb used in his 2012 speech at the United Nations about Iran. Thats unfortunate because he had a lot to say that needed to be heard. And its especially true for those who have become deaf to arguments about the nuclear deals ability to forestall the nuclear threat from Iran. Israels findings make clear that the calculations that led to the agreementand that continue to be employed by its defendersare rooted in false assumptions. The main argument put forth by those who have tried to downplay the significance of the intelligence Netanyahu presented is that even if its all true, its old hat. All of the material dates back to before the JCPOA was agreed upon in July 2015. The deals defenders now say that everyone knew that the Iranians were lying about not trying to build a nuclear weapon. The fact that they had a secret, parallel nuclear project in addition to their public program (whose archives were raided by the Israelis) is therefore meaningless. They argue that the mendacious nature of the Iranian regime is exactly why Obamas deal was needed and must be kept in place. No matter what mischief the Iranians were up to before 2015, they are convinced that the inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency are enough to ensure that no such duplicate program can currently exist. Therefore, they assert, the fact that the Iranians were cheating prior to that is meaningless. There are two problems with that reasoning. The first is that its not true that everybody knew Iran was lying. In fact, the U.S. intelligence establishmentwhose confidence in the deal and in Iranian compliance is constantly being cited by those who oppose Trumps intention to withdraw from itdidnt know. Worse than that, American intelligence spent the last years of the George W. Bush administration doing its best to convince the world of the argument that the Iranians werent lying about their weapons program and had ceased its strive towards production. The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate claimed that the Iran had abandoned its efforts to build a bomb in 2003. Those claiming that Israels fears about Iran were exaggerated used that estimate as a cudgel to beat down efforts to raise the alarm about the danger of the Islamist regime. The estimate continued to be cited in the early years of Obamas presidency as he sought to rally public support for an effort to create a rapprochement with Tehran. The Israeli findings show that American intelligence was dead wrong. How could that happen? The short answer is that like all human institutions, intelligence agencies are fallible. In 2007, the U.S. intelligence establishment was still reeling from its colossal error in Iraq that helped justify the invasion of that country. President George W. Bush took the blame for that blunder, with some still claiming that he lied America into a war, rather than it being a case of him believing what the experts told him. Many of those same people were determined never to make that mistake again, and so they decided to take the opposite tack on Iran. Yet the Israeli findings prove that they were just as wrong in 2007 as they were in 2003. More importantly, the assumptions about Iran spread by the media echo chamberto use the phrase coined by Obamas Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes for the efforts of the presidents tame press-cheering sectionnever spoke of Iran lying during the debate over the merits of the Iran deal in 2014 and 2015. Just as problematic is the argument that we can be sure the Iranians arent lying now because of the IAEAs inspections and the ability of Western intelligence agencies to know if Tehran begins cheating on the deal. After all, if Iran was able to hide a duplicate nuclear program from the West prior to 2015, how can we believe that the same regime cant or wont do it again? The IAEA inspections dont extend to military bases and are not, despite the Obama administrations initial promises, of the anytime, anywhere variety. Israels feat was an amazing act of derring-do, but what they learned should disabuse us of blind confidence in the ability of Western intelligence to be ahead of the curve when it comes to Iran. Thats why the sunset clauses that will allow the restrictions on Irans program to expire within a decade are so dangerous. If the Iranians lied before and are likely lying to us again now, then what possible hope can we have that Western governments will have the time to head off an Iranian nuke once Tehran is ready to break out from the agreement? Netanyahus critics can snipe all they want about his presentation. But Israels proof that Iran was being deceitful shows how untrustworthy the assurances of the nuclear-deals defenders are. Trump is right to take this evidence to heart. Irans mendacity is one more reason for the United States to begin the necessary work to change or scrap a pact that was based on untruths and continues to be defended by false assumptions. Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNSJewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin. (JNS)A Pennsylvania high school teacher, who says he was deprived as a teenager, is now taking it out on his studentsby lying to them about Israel. Sam Schindler, co-founder and history teacher at the Stone Independent School, a private school in Lancaster, Pa., explains in The Forward this week how the truth about Israel was hidden from him. His teachers only taught him about the positive side of Israel, he complains. What was kept from me then were images of the occupation, of pulverized houses, of bloody civilians and of terrified children... The occupation or lives of Palestinians never appeared. So now, Schindler is getting his revenge. Hes been teaching his students at Stone Independent all about the occupation and oppression. Andbig surpriseat the end of last semesters course, Schindler is proud to laud their findings. He notes that the class collectively reached a universal conclusion about Israel and Palestine: The oppression of Palestinians is not sustainable, nor is it justifiable. Dear Stone students, Im sorry to tell you that Mr. Schindler has been lying to you. Israels occupation of the Palestinians ended 23 years ago. Heres what Mr. Schindler didnt tell you. When Yitzhak Rabin was elected prime minister of Israel in 1992, he faced a dilemma. On the one hand, he recognized that allowing the creation of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and in the Gaza Strip, would pose a grave threat to Israels existence. Israel would be just nine miles wide in its middle, living next to a state run by terrorists and fascist dictators. But on the other hand, Rabin didnt want Israel to continue ruling over the Palestinian Arabs who reside in those territories. So he and his aides devised the Oslo Accords, which ended Israels occupation of the Palestinians and gave them something close to statehood, but without endangering Israel. In 1995, Prime Minister Rabin withdrew Israels forces from the cities in Judea-Samaria where 98 percent of the Palestinians reside. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon later withdrew from all of Gaza. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinians came to an end. The only occupation of the Palestinians currently in force is the 23-year occupation by the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, and the occupation of Gaza by Hamas, which is now entering its 11th year. If any of you ever has the opportunity to visit the occupied Palestinians, youll be surprised to discover that the Israeli occupiers whom Mr. Schindler taught you about are nowhere to be found. Theres no Israeli military governor. The Israeli military administration that once ruled the Palestinian-inhabited areas was dismantled long ago. The Palestinians schools are run by Palestinian principals and teachers. The courts have Palestinian judges. The streets are policed by the Palestinian police and security forces. When elections are held, the candidates and the voters are all Palestinians. Pretty much the only thing that the P.A. cant do is import tanks, planes, Iranian volunteers or North Korean missiles. The only time Israeli troops enter Palestinian-inhabited areas is when they are chasing down a terrorist. Going into some Palestinian town for an hour or two to catch a bomb-thrower or a sniper hardly constitutes an occupation of the Palestinians. Yes, Israel has checkpoints set up along its border with the P.A., and its a shame if that inconveniences some Palestinian travelers. Just like its a shame that every one of us is inconvenienced every time we have to go through a security checkpoint at an American airport. But checkpoints are set up in Israel and in U.S. airports for the same good reason: to keep terrorists from blowing us up. Thats not an occupation. Thats called self-defense. The current situation in the territories is not a perfect solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. But we live in an imperfect world. The current arrangements in the territories allow nearly all of the Palestinians to live under their own government. They live in an entity that is close to statehood in every respect except for the few aspects that would most endanger Israels existence. Sam Schindlers notions about Israel and the Palestinians seem to have been frozen in his adolescence. Hes so angry about having been deprived by his own teachers that he hasnt noticed how much the Middle East has changed in the meantime. Its a whole new world for Israel and the Palestinians, Mr. Schindler. Its time you started telling your students the truth about it. Stephen M. Flatow, a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, is an attorney in New Jersey. He is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. (JTA)Last week, Shabbat couldnt come soon enough for the Anti-Defamation League. On Wednesday, Starbucks announced that the Jewish groups CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, seemed to have been demoted from top adviser to a supporting role in the coffee companys day of diversity training. And on Thursday, the ADL apologized for the way it tweeted about an anonymous group, Canary Mission, that publishes the names and personal information of campus anti-Israel activists. I cant make you care about the travails of a Jewish institution, but Ill try: If these stories do matter, it is the degree to which they illustrate the political pressures being brought to bear on one of the largest and most influential of the Jewish legacy organizations. Since its founding in 1913, the ADL has fashioned itself as a Jewish watchdog group, battling anti-Semitism and promoting a broad civil rights agenda, a two-pronged effort to secure Jewish standing and safety in the world. In more recent decades, under its longtime National Director Abraham Foxman, it has included defense of Israel in that brief under the principle that you cant separate the fates of the Diaspora and Israel. Until he stepped down in 2015, Foxmans most significant role was what one interviewer referred to as a one-man Sanhedrin doling out opprobrium or absolution for those who speak ill of Israel or the Jews. A thumbs up or thumbs up down from Foxman could make all the difference for someone accused of anti-Semitism, from major political figures (say, Pat Buchanan) to C-level celebrities (poor Ronan Tynan. Who? Exactly.). Although it was hard to separate the ADL from Foxman, the organization still retains much of its pollice verso power under its new CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt. And it is a bit of a minefield. The Jewish left is looking for the ADL to lead the charge against white nationalists and other ghouls churned up in the wake of the 2016 campaign. The Jewish right wants the ADL to focus on far-left activists who hate Israel. The regular left thinks ADL is too close to Israel. And the regular right thinks it is too hard on Trump. And Greenblatt insists that the ADL is an impartial umpire, calling it as it sees them on all sides of the bigotry equation. These competing pressures all came together in the Canary Mission tweet. The Canary Mission publishes the names and capsule biographies of students and faculty involved in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activity, with the none-too-subtle objective of blacklisting these people with future employers and admissions officers. In an op-ed for JTA last week, students at the University of Michigan organized an open letter signed by over 100 leaders of Hillels and other pro-Israel campus groups ridiculing the Canary Mission, saying it paints fellow students with an overly broad brush and, ironically, drives some anti-Israel activity underground, where it is harder to track and counter (See last weeks Heritage for open letter). The ADL retweeted the op-ed, thanking the students for exposing Canary Missions Islamophobic & racist rhetoric. When a JTA reporter researching the backstory asked the ADL to provide examples of Canary Missions Islamophobia and racism, the ADL instead issued an apology. We regret the overly broad language that we used to describe the Canary Mission in a tweet earlier this week, a spokesman for the group said. It was wrong to apply those labels to a group working, like us, to counter anti-Semitism on campus. The spokesman added an explanation: We reiterate our support for the University of Michigan students who have expressed valid concerns about Canary Missions impact on student-led efforts to advocate for Israel. We understand that the Canary Missions approach and its tactics on campus might not be the preferred approach of many students. We believe that all parties involved in this situation want the same outcome, so we encourage them to find ways to work together to fight anti-Semitism and to support the needs of Jewish students. The response seemed carefully worded to appeal to dueling audiences. First, the ADL wants to be accurate in doling out scarlet letters like R for racism, I for Islamophobia and A for anti-Semitism. Somebody jumped the gun: However odious you find Canary Mission, it appears to be careful about avoiding anti-Muslim rhetoric. At the same time, the ADL wants to distance itself, delicately, from the tactics of Canary Mission, which many consider McCarthyite. But it also doesnt want to suggest that it is weak on campus anti-Israelism. The ADL wants to remain relevant to the young Jewish and pro-Israel activists on campus, but it also answers to older stakeholders who believe that extremism in the defense of Israel is no vice. Many of the ADLs contradictions are of its own making; some are unfairly inflicted from the outside. When Starbucks reduced its key panel of diversity advisers from four to three, Greenblatt was gracious, saying he understands that the training in response to a racist incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks was primarily about race, and that the ADLs agenda is more broad-based (the other top advisers are African-Americans). But sounding in the background was static from the far left, which said the ADL is an inappropriate role model in combating racism. The slim evidence for thisaimed at a group that has formed civil rights and religious freedom coalitions with other ethnic groups nearly from its beginningis that it promotes a police exchange program in Israel, where American cops allegedly learn Israeli techniques for oppressing brown people. The groups saying this have not produced any evidence that the training goes much beyond basic techniques in counterterrorism and crisis management, but the charge nevertheless sticks on the far left, which automatically suspects those who support Israel in any way. On the right, meanwhile, the ADL has had to deal with a barrage of criticism from the Zionist Organization of America, the Jewish communal worlds id to the ADLs superego. Since 2016, the right-wing ZOA has criticized its larger rival over two dozen timesfor its conditional support of the Black Lives Matter movement, for its criticism of former White House adviser Steve Bannons version of alt-right nationalism, for entering into coalitions with American Muslim groups and in general for failing to defend Jews. The ZOAs president, Morton Klein, weighed in on the Canary Mission tweet, asking why ADL would attack one of the best friends and fighters for the safety of the Jewish, Israeli and American people. (The ZOA will be asked some questions of is own this week: The ADL and two other members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations will air complaints that the ZOA has violated the umbrella bodys policies by disparaging fellow members.) While the ZOA doesnt meet nearly have the budget, infrastructure or reach of the ADL, it speaks for an influential segment of the community that thinks its a Jewish watchdogs role to tell the truth (at least as they see it) about the dangers facing Israel and the Jews without worrying about coalition partners, free speech niceties or political correctness. The ADL has earned its position as community conscience, with only occasional lapses, through careful coalition-building, principled defense of church-state separation and pro-tolerance education. But as Freud might tell you, its hard to be the superego, trying to tamp down on all those conflicting impulsesespecially when those impulses originate from within the same organism you are trying to protect. Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor in chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. This coming week the United States of America will officially move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The selected date, May 14, 2018, comes exactly 70 years after the declaration of the establishment of the modern state of Israel with its capital in Jerusalem. On May 14, 1948, the longing of the Jewish people for the return to Zion, memorialized in its prayers and literature for almost two thousand years, had finally become a reality. Within hours of its nascent existence the country was attacked by all the surrounding Arab nations whose declared intention was to drive the Jews into the sea. The decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem last December as the legal and eternal capital of Israel, and the follow-up move of the American embassy to Israels capital city in the coming days, will open up the path for greater recognition of the Jewish state and its designated capital by nations of the world. By giving these nations diplomatic cover to follow the courageous lead of the United States they can now recognize Jerusalem as the national capital of Israel and accordingly, relocate their respective embassies to Jerusalem, and just as importantly pursue closer relations with the Jewish state. Guatemala, one of the first states to recognize Israel after its declaration of nationhood in 1948, has already announced its intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem the day after the American move. Many other states are now contemplating moving their respective embassies there in the not too distant future. For all of Israels modern existence the Arabs of Palestine have rejected the reality of the Jewish State and cling to the fantasy that they can undo this historical fact and dismantle any Jewish presence in the Middle East. This delusion is the single most significant factor why every Israeli concession to the Palestinian Arabs has been rejected and every peace negotiation has failed. All the blame for the failed peace negotiations and complete rejection of the reality of Israel cannot be placed solely on the shoulders of the Arab world. The majority of the nations of the world, following the leadership of the West (with the exception for the most part of the United States and a few other smaller nations), have encouraged the continued Arab delusion that the return of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland can be reversed. They have been able to play out this diplomatic dance mostly under the banner of a hypocritical and corrupt United Nations, who originally embraced Zionism as the legitimate aspiration of the Jewish people, only to later condemn it as racism. They have looked the other way as terrorism against Israel and the Jewish people grew and did not see it as a menace to civilization itself until they themselves became victims of these barbaric acts. Thankfully, the world view is changing as Israel is recognized as a role model for many young nations as a free and democratic society where human rights and equality are embraced, where Jewish nationalism has created a society that seeks peace and improvement of the lives of not only its own people, but to bring the benefits of their achievements to the world at large. The American recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital sends a clear message to the world that Israel is here to stay, and that it has taken its proper place among the global family of nations. As all the failed wars against the Jewish state in its 70 years of existence have demonstrated, those who continue to oppose Israels existence are engaging upon an exercise in futility whose efforts will be relegated to a minor footnote of history. If you wish to comment or respond to any of the contents herein you can reach me at melpearlman322@gmail.com. Please do so in a rational, thoughtful, respectful and civil manner. If you wish to respond by ranting and raving, please go into your bathroom, lock the door and shout your brains out. Mel Pearlman has been practicing law in Central Florida for the past 45 years. He has served as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando; on the District VII Mental Health Board, as Special Prosecutor for the City of Winter Park, Florida; and on the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Research and Development Authority. He was a charter member of the Board of Directors and served as the first Vice President of the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida, as well as its first pro-bono legal counsel. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang wrapped up his visit to Japan on Friday after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bade farewell to him in person at the airport in Sapporo, capital of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. [Photo: gov.cn] Being marked by Li's visit, which succeeded in consolidating political mutual trust and exploring new cooperation possibilities between the two neighbors, bilateral ties are now on the right track again. POLITICAL TIES AS CORNERSTONE Li's visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese premier in eight years, coincided with the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Abe displayed Japan's sincerity by accompanying Li during most of the events Li participated in both Tokyo and Sapporo. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship, an important milestone in bilateral ties, affirmed the principles of the bilateral joint statement that was issued in 1972 in legal form, which include Japan's deep reflection on war responsibilities, and its firm adherence to the One-China policy, Li told a reception marking the anniversary of the treaty held in Tokyo on Thursday. Now, new progress and lasting stable development should be made as bilateral ties return to the normal track, and this is the best way to commemorate the signing of the treaty, Li said. In the political area, China and Japan have agreed that they will use history as a mirror while keeping a future-oriented mind, Li noted. The Japanese government and leaders have on multiple occasions expressed willingness to face up to and reflect on history, Li told Abe during their talks on Wednesday, urging the Japanese side to fulfill its commitments with actions. The Chinese premier also asked both countries to properly manage disputes and jointly build a brighter future. "I hope that the two countries can meet each other halfway, and maintain long-term, healthy and stable growth of their ties," Li told Abe. During the visit, the two sides signed several cooperation documents including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on setting up a maritime and air liaison mechanism, which is a crucial step in managing crisis in the East China Sea. Li said that the return of bilateral political ties onto the right track will be conducive to promoting their cooperation in other fields. The resumption of high-level visits has been highly expected. During the visit, Li invited Abe to visit China on a proper occasion, saying that exchange of visits between leaders of the two sides on a regular basis will create favorable conditions for the development of bilateral ties. Abe hailed Li's remarks that China-Japan relations are setting sail again and will sail further. The Japanese prime minister is also eager to see a revitalized and healthy relationship with China. He called on the two sides to turn competition into coordination, adding that, starting today, bilateral relations have entered the era of coordination. There will be no unconquerable difficulties for the two countries so long as they join hands with each other, Abe said. TRADE, ECONOMIC LINKS TURNING NEW PAGE During the visit, China and Japan agreed to lift their pragmatic cooperation to a new level. The two sides have set out the direction and pinpointed new areas for future cooperation, reaching agreements on social security, finance, health, medical science and service trade, Li said. Calling on the two countries to synergize their development strategies, Li pointed to energy conservation, environmental protection, scientific and technological innovation, high-end manufacturing, finance, sharing economy, medical and old-age service as sectors where the two sides should focus on. Besides the goodwill, concrete steps are in sight as well. On Wednesday, Li and Abe witnessed the signing of memorandums on enhancing service trade cooperation, and on third-party cooperation between the two sides. In addition to a bilateral service trade cooperation mechanism, China and Japan also agreed to set up a cross-department work mechanism for promoting third-party market cooperation under the framework of the China-Japan high-level economic dialogue, and organize a forum on the third-party market cooperation. China also agreed to grant Japan RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) quota of 200 billion yuan (about 31.36 billion U.S. dollars). The granting of the RQFII quota would help Japanese financial institutions actively invest in China's capital market through the RQFII, Li said. The two sides also agreed in principle to sign a currency swap deal at an early date, and this will help safeguard financial market stability and promote investment facilitation, Li said. China holds a positive attitude toward establishing RMB clearing bank in Tokyo, the premier said. On Friday morning, when visiting a factory of Japanese carmaker Toyota in Hokkaido, Li called for deepening bilateral cooperation on joint R&D and innovation so as to produce competitive high-tech goods that meet the demands of Chinese and Japanese markets and also third-party markets. On infrastructure building, Abe suggested that Japan and China set up a cross-department committee and a forum to promote cooperation on meeting Asia's infrastructure development demand. Business people of both sides can work together, especially within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and in jointly developing third-party market, said Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan Business Federation. For his part, Yohei Kono, former speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, said he was amazed by the popularity of new services like bike-sharing, mobile payment and Internet-based delivery during his recent visit to China. The progress made by China is worth learning from, said Kono, adding that China and Japan should learn from each other to achieve common prosperity and make joint contribution to the development of the world. PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE BONDS GETTING STRONGER During the visit, China and Japan also created conditions for stronger cooperation between localities and enterprises, and for better people-to-people links. While addressing a China-Japan Governor Forum on Friday in Sapporo, Li said the two sides agreed to carry out cooperation in innovative development and launch innovative dialogue mechanism. Hokkaido not only is an important base of Japan's modern agriculture, but also has important high-tech industries. The two sides plan to enhance cooperation in high-tech and other industries concerning people's livelihoods such as dealing with population ageing and improving medical treatment, Li said. Exchanges and cooperation between localities are an important part of China-Japan relations, Li stressed Meanwhile, to cement people-to-people bonds is a highlight of Li's visit. While meeting with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the process of making the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Li called on both sides to cherish the hard-won momentum of improvement in bilateral relations and carry forward the spirit of the treaty. In Tokyo, Li and Abe jointly visited a cultural and creative exhibition of the Forbidden City, which showcases artworks of bronze, lacquer, porcelain and wood carving that draw inspiration from artifacts of the Forbidden City. Li asked to make cultural industry a new spotlight in bilateral cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding of the two peoples, and consolidate the public opinion basis for long-term, healthy and stable growth of ties. During the visit, China presented Japan with a pair of crested ibis to reflect Chinese people's friendship with the Japanese. The iconic bird is deeply rooted in Japanese history and culture. It was on the verge of extinction in Japan in the 1980s. Since then, the two countries have worked together to protect the bird. On various occasions, the Chinese premier stressed to cement people-to-people exchanges, consolidate the public foundation for bilateral ties, and strengthen understanding and affection between the two peoples. He was warmly welcomed and echoed by Japanese leaders. Japanese Emperor Akihito said he always recalls the moment when he was warmly welcomed by the Chinese people in his visit to China over 20 years ago, and strongly felt the hearts of the two peoples were connected. With efforts from both countries, their people-to-people bonds are expected to get even closer, and contribute to further improvement of the overall relations. The Bowl of Gold still not empty. Cripple Creek, Colorado, has been labeled the greatest gold camp on earth. Millionaires were made from the ore load. It all happened in 1891 on a small patch of a cattle ranch on the south side of Americas mountain, Pikes Peak. Gold had actually been found in the area back in 1874, but nothing much came of it. But 17 years later, the gold reports of cowboy Bob Womack were finally taken seriously and Cripple Creek soon became the richest gold town in Colorado. All of this activity, of course, came many years after miner William Green Russell found gold in July 1858 at Dry Creek (now in the Denver suburb of Englewood) and set off what 150 years ago was called the Pikes Peak Gold Rush (after the most prominent mountain in the region) and was later known as the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 (the peak year of the rush). Colorado commemorates the 150th anniversary of its gold run in 2009. Two years in the making, the Pikes Peak Heritage Center opened in the summer of 2007. Built by the city of Cripple Creek, the state-of-the-art interpretive center was designed by then Mayor Ed Libby. City employees and subcontractors leveled the land, donated by the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company, and built the structure high on the hill overlooking the old mountain mining camp, which by 1900 had 139 saloons and 14 newspapers. The 11,600-square-foot Pikes Peak Heritage Center, the first such center in Colorado, offers an array of history, geology, wildlife, mineral collections, mining displays and dioramas. This is the brainchild of graphic designer Maureen Kimmell of Colorado Springs. The Pikes Peak Heritage Center project was wonderful to be a part of, she says. Its the first time the history of the worlds greatest gold camp, and surrounding area, has been told in an interactive, dynamic way. Adds Scott Kerr, director of the center: Its important to note that this is an interpretive center, to help visitors learn of the area and provide information for those who want to travel. On the first floor, the gem and mineral collection is nothing short of eye-popping, and includes a very rare specimen of blue topaz mined by Walt Rubeck from the Topaz Mountain Gem Mine near Lake George. Miners had initially focused on gold, but the area also has large deposits of topaz, turquoise and amazonite. Some of these mines are again being worked. The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, one of the few remaining mines from the boom days, is represented as a model, and built to scale; it takes up a whole wall. The real mine is located across the road and is open for tours. The center of the main floor exhibit focuses on the history of the mining camp and the early days of Cripple Creek. Displays include the railroad history, the great fires and everyday life in the gold camp. The Historic Photo Wall features original photos that capture all aspects of early Cripple Creek. At the beginning of the linear time table (1891) is a photo of Robert Miller (Bob) Womack, the common cowpoke who discovered the gold deposit that caused the last great gold rush in Colorado. Farther up the time table is a photo of Winfield Scott Stratton, who struck it rich on Battle Mountain and became the first millionaire in the district thanks to Cripple Creeks gold and a theory he employed called the Bowl of Gold. He believed that a volcanic eruption caused the rich veins to be centralized in the Cripple Creek area. The theory, while never proved, paid off in his rich findings and kept miners employed throughout the Depression of 1893 and into the turn of the 20th century. Mining still goes on in the area; with more than $800 million in gold produced so far. The centers lower level is devoted to the areas recreational attractions and includes a few kiddie rides. The third floor features wildlife dioramas. Admission is free to the center (on Highway 67), which is open daily. Please visit www. pikespeakheritagecenter.com or call 877-858-4653. Historian Linda Wommack is the great-great-grandniece of gold discoverer Bob Womack. Originally published in the August 2008 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Houston supported them but not Lamar. In 1838 Texas President Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar wanted nothing less than to make Texans masters of their own house by clearing the republic of American Indians. A blood feud had already begun between Texas and the Comanche Nation. But now Lamar decided to force out a people the previous president, Sam Houston, had trusted and lived with in peacethe Texas Cherokees. Lamar, who had formerly been vice president under Houston, insisted that Texas could not battle Comanches to the west and the Mexican army to the south and have a people of questionable loyalty behind them. Lamar had learned that 83-year-old Cherokee Chief Bowles (also known as Bowl) had been in secret negotiations with the Mexican government for title to their lands around present-day Tyler, Texas. The white man and the red man cannot dwell in harmony together Lamar told the Texas Congress. Nature forbids it. As long as we continue to exhibit our mercy without showing our strength, so long will the Indian continue to bloody the edge of the tomahawk, and move onward in the work of rapacity and slaughter. Bowles was in many ways responsible for this branch of the Cherokee Nation. The son of a Scotch-Irish trader, William Augustus Bowles, and a Cherokee mother, Bowles first won fame leading warriors against Tennessee boatmen near Muscle Shoals in June 1794. Although Cherokee chiefs feared a war with the United States over the fight, the Washington administration ruled that Bowles had been justified in protecting the interests of his men. From 1795 to 1813, Bowles was the first chief of the Western Cherokees, who had settled in southeast Missouri. When the New Madrid earthquakes began in 1811, however, the tribe interpreted them as a bad sign and moved to northwestern Arkansas, far from Cherokee treaty lands. Increased white settlers in Arkansas caused 66-year-old Bowles to lead 60 families into the Mexican province of Texas during the winter of 1819- 1820. Shortly after settling in the Tyler area, he lost leadership of the breakaway group to Richard Fields, also one-half Cherokee, who had supported U.S. forces in the War of 1812. Over the next seven years, Chief Fields molded an alliance in northeast Texas made up of Cherokees, Shawnees, Delawares, Kickapoos and other Indian groups. Fields tried to obtain title to the lands from the Mexican government but only could obtain provisional ownership. Worse, the Mexican government in 1825 gave Benjamin Edwards a land grant that took in most of the Cherokee lands. The Cherokees, though, had a lucky break when the new empresario, Hayden Edwards, started the Fredonian Rebellion in December 1826. His brother Benjamin Edwards and 30 men rode into Nacogdoches, declaring the new nation of Fredonia. Bowles cooperated with the Mexican government and kept most Texas Cherokees out of the rebellion, even though Fields joined the Edwards brothers. When the rebellion failed, Fields surrendered to Cherokee authorities and was executed on May 8, 1827. Bowles was reinstated as the principal chief of the 12-tribe alliance. Although Bowles was made a lieutenant colonel in the Mexican army, he too could not get the Mexican government to recognize Cherokee land claims. The chief decided to join the independent-minded Texicans. A provisional Texas government sent Sam Houston to work out the details of a treaty, which he and Bowles signed on February 23, 1836, recognizing Cherokee lands and their boundariesjust as General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led a force to the Alamo in San Antonio. After the revolution, President Houston was shocked when the Texas Senate rejected the treaty. The Senate claimed there was no clear title because former Texas Provisional President David Burnet had obtained a grant to the Cherokee lands and he refused to surrender title. Meanwhile, Houston had sent Chief Bowles as peace commissioner to the hostile Plains tribes and had assured him that the Texas Cherokees would get title to their lands. Bowles often visited Houstons home, and the president gave him a cane, a hat and a sword. Trusting Houston but not Texans, Bowles sent out feelers to the Mexican government about obtaining official recognition. Soon, Tejano Vicente Cordova led several hundred men up from Mexico; they raised a flag on an island in the Angelina River, hoping to start a rebellion within Texas. General Thomas Rusk and a small force charged into Bowles village in August 1838, and Cordova fled home. In May 1839, near Sequin, Texas, Texans killed a Manual Flores during a Mexican incursion, and papers on the body showed that Bowles was communicating with the Mexicans. When Lamar took over the presidential reins, he charged the Cherokees had collaborated with Cordovas abortive rebels. He sent Major B.C. Waters to build an army base along the Sabine River within striking distance of Cherokee towns, but Waters retreated when Bowles said he would fight to prevent it. Without an army presence, nine frontier families were murdered on their homesteads in the area. Cherokees, though there was no proof, were blamed. President Lamar responded by having a 500-man army under local merchant Willis Landrum gather at Nacogdoches. The likes of David Burnet, Albert Sidney Johnston, Thomas Rusk and Edward Burleson were there along with Lamars personal messenger, John Reagan, and Texican Indian agent Martin Lacey. The army came to a halt a few miles south of Bowles village near the headwaters of the Neches River, and Reagan listed Lamars conditions for peace. Texas would pay for lost property but not compensate the Cherokees for their lands. Texas would also pay for the value of their crops and the costs of removal, but the Cherokees must go to the Red River under armed escort. Bowles protested that the land had been given to the Cherokees by Houston and asked for two days to consult with other chiefs. It has been debated if this was a genuine request or if Bowles was playing for time. The Cherokee army was larger but needed time to group; he might also have hoped that Kickapoo and Delaware forces would arrive to help him. The presidential commission gave Bowles his two days, and when they returned the chief was ready to fight, even without the Kickapoo and Delaware warriors. He said he did not personally want war, but that his people would kill him if he did not fight. On July 15, 1839, a few miles west of Tyler, Cherokee forces lined up for battle. Wearing a silk vest and military hat, Bowles rode up and down the line waving the sword Houston had given him. That first day, he fought the Texicans to a standstill. On the second day of the Battle of Neches, the Cherokee line had moved into the river bottom. Again Bowles rode back and forth encouraging his men, but this time the Texicans were more aggressive, and the warriors began an orderly retreat. Bowles had his horse shot out from under him and then was wounded in the thigh. As he tried to limp away, Major Henry Conner shot him in the back. Bowles was sitting up against a tree when Captain Robert Smith walked up to the old chief and shot him point blank in the head, killing him instantly. Smiths father-in-law, Jesse T. Watkins, had been killed earlier by the Cherokees. A Texican newspaper noted, Some rude chaps scalped the poor chief after his death. As the Cherokees fled for the Red River, Texicans paused to loot the various Indian villages before going home. Fighting continued, though, off and on. On Christmas Day 1839, Texicans under Colonel Edward Burleson attacked Cherokees led by John Bowles, the deceased chiefs son, and the Egg, formally second to Chief Bowles, camped at the mouth of the San Saba. The Cherokees retreated to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Houston returned to Texas after a long stay with U.S. President Andrew Jackson and found himself elected to the Texas Senate. He condemned President Lamar for the expulsion of the Cherokees, stating their mistake had been that they received a pledge from the provisional government of Texasand were dupes enough to believe it! He vowed to introduce bills in support of the Cherokees, but it was all in vain. Unwilling to test again the accuracy of Texan guns, the Texas Cherokees merged with their brethren coming into the West by way of the Trail of Tears. Chief Bowles body remained where it fell on July 16, 1839. According to Tom Ingram, a Tyler resident of the time, the skeleton was seen along the banks of the Neches for years. As for the sword Bowles received from Houston, it was given to the Masonic Lodge in Henderson County. During the Civil War, it was loaned to a Colonel James Jones, but afterward, it was returned to the lodge. In 1890 the sword was given to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Originally published in the August 2008 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Prospectors first discovered silver in 1873 and settled where several streams met to form the Animas River, 12 miles northeast of present-day Silverton, in Colorados San Juan County. Originally called Three Forks of the Animas, the mining communitys name was changed to Animas Forks by the Post Office in 1875. Colorado transportation magnate Otto Mears built a wagon road linking the Animas Forks area to other area mining communities in 1875. Within a couple of years, the town included more than 30 cabins, a hotel, newspaper, general store, several saloons, a drug store and a post office. The towns two-cell jail was built of two-by-six lumber laid flat for strength. Among the best mines in the area were the Gold Prince, Columbus, Red Cloud, Silver Coin, Early Bird, Little Roy and the Big Giant. By the mid-1880s, the communitys summer population had grown to 450. At its peak, the population of Animas Forks and the surrounding mines has been estimated as high as 1,500. It once boasted to be the largest city in the world, but added in small type, at this altitude. Due to its elevation of 11,200 feet, most of the townspeople moved down to nearby Silverton during the winters, as snowdrifts often piled more than 20 feet deep. In 1884 a blizzard that lasted 23 days buried the town under more than 25 feet of snow. Residents had to dig tunnels to move from building to building. A fire originating in the kitchen of the Kalamazoo Hotel destroyed 14 buildings in October 1891. The town was rebuilt, but fell on hard times in the wake of the 1893 silver crash, which closed many of the mines in Colorado. An upsurge in mining just after the turn of the 20th century renewed vigor in Animas Forks. Otto Mears extended his Silverton Northern Railroad to Animas Forks in 1904, and the Gold Prince mill was built the same year. The Gold Prince was the first mill in Colorado to be built of structural steel. With its 100 stamps and 500- ton per day capacity, it was the largest mill in the state. It received ore from the Gold Prince mine by a 12,600-footlong aerial tramway. However, it closed in 1910, and its machinery was moved in 1917 to the Sunnyside mill in Eureka. The nearby Frisco mill was built in 1912 to process ore from the Bagley Tunnel. Much like modern log homes, it was built offsite at the San Juan Lumber Yard in Durango, disassembled and shipped by railroad, then reassembled. Falling metal prices in the 1920s drove the few remaining miners away, and the community was abandoned. The Silverton Northern Animas Forks branch tracks were torn up in 1936, and the Columbus mine was last worked in 1939. Today Animas Forks is a star attraction on the 65-mile Alpine Loop, one of the most scenic four-wheel-drive Backcountry Byways in America. While high clearance is required to travel the full loop to Lake City and back, a carefully driven passenger car can make it from Silverton to Animas Forks in good weather between June and October. About a dozen structures remain, including the jail, Columbus and Frisco mills, and a famous house with a bay window that is often called the Walsh house after Thomas Walsh, who made millions in gold mining in the Ouray area and whose daughter owned the Hope Diamond. The house was actually built by William Duncan in 1879, and there is no evidence that Walsh ever lived there. Restoration work by the Bureau of Land Management and the San Juan County Historical Society has stabilized this and other remaining buildings. Originally published in the August 2008 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Yogendra Singh Yadav was a 19-year-old grenadier in 1999 when he earned the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), becoming one of only 21 recipients of Indias highest military honor since its 1950 inception. Two-thirds of those honored have received the award posthumously. The PVC is awarded for conspicuous bravery in the presence of the enemy. [It] is awarded for the rarest of rare gallantry which is beyond the call of duty and which in normal life is considered impossible to do, notes retired Maj. Gen. Satbir Singh, a senior fellow with the New Delhibased Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. Retired Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo affirmed the PVC is only given to the bravest of the brave. Yadav, who enlisted in the Indian army at age 16, received the PVC for his actions during the Kargil War, a conflict instigated in February 1999 when Pakistani soldiers crossed a 90-mile swath of the de facto border with India to seize mountaintop positions in Kashmir. The extent of their incursion came to light that May when they ambushed Indian army patrols and called in artillery fire on targets along Indias National Highway 1A. The next month Yadavs unitthe 18th Battalion, Grenadiers Regimentparticipated in an operation to recapture Tololing, a strategic peak overlooking the town of Dras (see Turning Point in Kargil, by Paraag Shukla, July 2017). Days later the battalion took on a new assignmentto recapture a steep-sided 16,500-foot mountain about 8 miles west dubbed Tiger Hill. On the night of July 3, as the main force launched a frontal attack against the peak, a handpicked Ghatak (Hindi for lethal) special operations platoon, comprising 22 of the battalions fittest soldiers, scaled a near-vertical cliff face to assault the snowbound summit. Yadav was the lead climber. Soon after Yadav and six others reached the top of the cliff, Pakistani troops detected their approach and rained down small-arms fire and grenades on the men. The other 15 climbers had to stop in mid-ascent as Yadav and his section engaged the Pakistanis. After silencing two enemy positions, the seven Indians came under repeated counterattack. One by one Yadavs comrades were killed in the close-quarters fighting. Twice wounded by grenade shrapnel and shot three times, Yadav crawled from boulder to boulder and kept firing his weapons and lobbing grenades. Perhaps believing the grenadiers had managed to send reinforcements up the cliff, the Pakistani troops fell back to the summit. Realizing he must warn the main body of grenadiers of the precarious situation, Yadav used his belt to immobilize his broken left arm and then crawled along a natural depression in the mountain face to 18 Grenadiers position. There he informed superiors of enemy strength and impending counterattacks. In the hours that followed, 18 Grenadiers firmed up their position before renewing their assault and capturing Tiger Hill. They prevailed on July 4. Hospitalized after the battle, Yadav was accidentally listed as killed in action and quite surprised to learn hed been recommended for a posthumous award of the PVC. His wife of three months, who fortunately knew hed survived, pointed out the error to army officials, who soon determined another man named Yogendra Singh Yadav had been among the Ghatak platoon members killed in the fighting. The clerical error corrected, Yadav later received his PVC in person from President K.R. Narayanan. Yadav spent 16 months recovering from his severe wounds, having performed a feat, as one Indian historian put it, that millions of men in arms can only dream of. Yogendra Singh Yadav remains on active duty with the Indian army. MH Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri on Friday exchanged letters with their views on bilateral ties, the Group of 20 (G20) Summit and the current economic and financial situation in Argentina. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri(R) [Photo: China Plus] In the letter, Xi said that Macri participated in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing last year and paid a successful state visit to China. The consensuses reached by the two sides during Macri's visit has been effectively implemented, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two countries have been steadily moving forward, Xi said. Xi added that he highly values the development of China-Argentina relations and is willing to work with Macri to continue guiding the development of bilateral ties, steadily advance major projects and promote the China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level. China firmly supports Argentina's G20 presidency for 2018 and is willing to strengthen coordination with Argentina to properly handle the tone and direction of the summit, stick to multilateralism, strengthen global governance, and build an open world economy, so as to make the summit a success, Xi said. For his part, Macri said in his letter that the Argentina-China comprehensive strategic partnership has become increasingly close and achieved fruitful results. Argentina fully supports jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to enhance all-round cooperation with China, Macri said. While holding the G20 presidency, Argentina will continue the consensus and results achieved at the 2016 G20 Summit held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, he said. Meanwhile, Macri briefed Xi on the economic and financial situation in Argentina, which has been facing economic difficulties. He also elaborated on measures taken to solve the problems. Xi said some emerging markets including Argentina that were affected recently by external factors are facing new challenges to their domestic economic environment. China firmly supports Argentina's endeavors to maintaining its stability and development and is willing to provide assistance to its best capability, Xi added. China believes that Argentina can overcome temporary difficulties and achieve long-term stable, heathy and sustainable development in its economy, Xi said, stressing that China has confidence in Argentina's development and the future of bilateral ties. And on a first spin, it's really fucking good. Just don't expect more of the same! Sonically, 'Tranquility Base Hotel' is so far from the Northern bands' humble beginnings of 'Whatever People Say I Am...', you'd swear it couldn't by the same group. Vocally and musically, Alex Turner and company have created a slow moving, haunting and enchanting collection. But hey, enough of my yakkin'; whaddaya say? Let's boogie! With less than a month to go until the festival, Forbidden Fruit has announced its stage breakdown for the weekend. Headliners for this years June bank holiday weekend include Justice, Glass Animals and The War on Drugs. The Kilmainham festival is returning this Summer for its 8th installment and will also feature performances from some prominent Irish talent such as AE Mak and Booka Brass. Check out the full breakdown below. Set on the Northside of Cork City, Autumn Royal is Kevin Barrys first piece written originally for stage. The play sees brother and sister May and Timothy respectively played by McSweeney and Peter Campion struggle to escape from the domestic life imposed on them by having to look after an aged father. Having premiered in the Everyman last year, Autumn Royal is going on national tour this summer. Were thrilled this time to have a national tour and a more comprehensive show, says Siobhan. We believe the production is richer, and better, so were really excited to tour around the country. Its very rare in theatre to have the luxury to go back and rework things. Last time, we only had a week in Cork and a week in Dublin. This time, weve had a chance to think about new things and how to make it a more involved production. How was it revisiting her character, May? One of the most striking assertions of Irish unity since partition came in the last few days of March, when tens of thousands stormed the streets North and South shouting out together for change across the island. The events had been sparked by the conclusion of the rugby rape trial in Belfast. A mainly-women crowd of more than 4,000 gathered outside the City Hall in Dublin and marched to the Department of Justice on Stephens Green. Placards proclaimed, Stand with Survivors, Overhaul the System, IBelieveHer, etc. Academics have been actively interpreting the implication, with Singapore being chosen to host the upcoming historic US-North Korea summit. Some analysts say the Southeast Asian country is a choice accepted to both Washington and Pyongyang. A file photo of Singapore. [Photo:Xinhua/Deng Zhiwei] U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that his forthcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been scheduled for June 12th in Singapore. Yang Xiyu, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, says that Singapore's neutrality is a major reason why it is well-suited to host the meeting. Although Singapore has close political and military ties with the United States, Yang notes that North Korea has made efforts to maintain its own ties with the city state, as seen in the smooth bilateral relationship between the two countries in recent years. Yang Xiyu says that the diplomatic facilities available in Singapore also make it a good choice for the summit. Given the sensitivities surrounding the event, there are many logistical and protocol issues that need to be addressed by the summit venue. Singapore is home to one of North Korea's 47 embassies, which helps to overcome some of the technical hurdles. Singapore has hosted major international events attended by the United States. These include the meeting between then-U.S. President Obama and the leaders of the ASEAN countries in 2009, and the annual Shangri-La security summit featuring defense leaders from countries including the United States, China, and South Korea. And as Lyu Chao, a researcher with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences explains, the city is just over 4,700 kilometers from North Korea. This puts Singapore comfortably within flying range of the North Korean leader's jet without the need for it to refuel. Lyu Chao also notes that the planned U.S.-North Korea summit will once again be an opportunity for Singapore to raise its standing on the world stage. In 2015, the country played host to a historic summit between incumbent leaders from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the first since 1949. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Songtrust Now Administers 150K Songwriters, 1M Copyrights, 20K Music Publishers Songtrust announced that is now administers 50,000 songwriters, 20,000 music publishers and more than 1,000,000 copyrights. That's up from 100,000 songwriters and 15,000 publishers just over a year ago. Songtrust currently administers music publishing for clients in every state in the US and 87 countries. Songtrust's surge as a technology focused, artist centered company comes at a time of positive change for songwriters and publishers. Not only is streaming revenue driving a resurgence in the recorded music industry, but The Copyright Royalty Board recently increased streaming mechanical rates 43.8% over the next five years. The U.S. Houses unanimous vote on the Music Modernization Act and yesterday's introduction of the bill in the Senate should also lead to more good news for songwriters and rights holders on how music copyrights are treated and compensated. Songtrust also recently cut a deal with with pan-European licensing hub ICE to provide a range of ge of digital licensing and back-office royalty processing services. Share on: SoundExchange, RIAA, ASCAP, BMI, Others Voice Strong Support Of Senates Music Modernization Act The bipartisan Music Modernization Act was introduced in the US Senate today. It closely mimics the House version which passed recently on a unanimous vote. As with the previous bill, music industry trade groups lined up in strong support. Michael Huppe, SoundExchange President and CEO On behalf of the 150,000+ music creators represented by SoundExchange, we are grateful to Senator Hatch for building this consensus legislative package that will benefit the entire music ecosystem. Taken together, the elements of this legislation will strengthen and protect the rights and interests of creatorsthe artists, songwriters and producers whose music enriches our lives, and it will improve engagement between the creative community and the digital services whose businesses rely on their work. We look forward to working with the sponsors and the entire community of stakeholders that built accord on this package to make it law. Mitch Glazier, Recording Industry Association of America President The strong momentum behind these common sense music licensing reforms continues to build, and thats very encouraging news to the entire music community. We are stronger together. Were grateful for the leadership of Senators Hatch, Grassley, Feinstein, Kennedy, Coons, Alexander, and all of the cosponsors who have brought this legislation in the Senate, along with musician advocates and our digital partners who have worked tirelessly to forge this consensus package. Today we are one step closer to realizing a more just music marketplace for artists, songwriters, and their label and publisher partners. Steve Bogard, Nashville Songwriters Association International President The Music Modernization Act, Classics Act and AMP Act will together create the most comprehensive and important copyright reform package the United States Senate has considered in decades. This group of bills, which will also be called collectively the Music Modernization Act, gives songwriters, artists and music producers essential tools to achieve fair marketplace royalty rates in the digital era. The Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI) would like to thank Chairman Grassley and Senators Hatch, Whitehouse and Coons for their leadership in guiding this important legislation. We also want to note the tireless efforts of Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, who has worked for months on the reforms contained in this bill that will benefit present and future generations of songwriters. Daryl P. Friedman, Chief Industry, Government, & Member Relations Officer, Recording Academy As the organization that represents musics creators, the Recording Academy is grateful for the introduction of this comprehensive package. The Academys songwriter, performer, producer and engineer members in every state will advocate for passage of the Music Modernization Act and they thank Senators Hatch, Grassley, Whitehouse, and all the original cosponsors for their support of music makers. David Israelite, National Music Publishers' Association President & CEO The introduction of the Music Modernization Act package in the Senate is a massive step forward for songwriters. Senators Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Lamar Alexander, Chris Coons, John Kennedy, Kamala Harris, Bob Corker, Dick Durbin, Johnny Isakson, Patrick Leahy, Mike Crapo, Doug Jones, Thom Tillis, Bill Nelson, Shelley Moore Capito and David Perdue have done music creators a great service by sponsoring a music licensing package which will help not only songwriters and composers but also producers and legacy artists. The bill improves both how and how much songwriters are paid while increasing transparency and enabling digital music platforms to thrive. The MMA represents unprecedented consensus around necessary updates to how music creators are valued, and we look forward to seeing it become law. Elizabeth Matthew, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers CEO After a unanimous vote to pass the MMA in the House, we are thrilled to see such ardent, bipartisan support for music creators in the Senate. This legislation is critical to ensuring songwriters have a pathway to fair compensation so they can sustain their livelihoods and create the next great songs. We applaud the leadership of fellow songwriter Senator Hatch, along with Senators Alexander and Whitehouse, for spearheading this effort in the Senate and to Chairman Grassley and all other co-sponsors for being champions of American songwriters. We look forward to the Senates vote and eventual passage of the MMA. Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of Internet Association Its past time we brought mechanical licensing into the digital era. An updated mechanical licensing system will promote innovation, benefit consumers, and ensure artists are fairly compensated for their works. We commend Chairman Hatch, Chairman Grassley, and the other MMA sponsors for taking on this critical issue and modernizing music streaming in a meaningful way. Mike ONeill, Broadcast Music Inc. President & CEO BMI applauds the introduction today, by Senators Hatch and Grassley, of the Music Modernization Act. This legislation represents an unprecedented collaboration among music creators and users, and represents an historic opportunity to make meaningful music licensing reform which will benefit Americas creative communities." Chris Harrison, DiMA, the Digital Media Association CEO Streaming music services create better value for consumers, creators and copyright owners. We welcome the introduction of the Music Modernization Act in the Senate, and thank Senators Hatch (R-UT), Whitehouse (D-RI), Alexander (R-TN) and Coons (D-DE), in addition to Chairman Grassley (R-IA), for their efforts to bring the entire music industry together on a positive path forward. By turning away from a complicated and broken system of the past, the music industry has an opportunity to harness the power of greater efficiency and transparency to benefit consumers and creators alike. Share on: Warner Music Quietly Launches Free Tunecore Competitor Warner Music Group has quietly launched a digital music distribution service that is a direct competitor to Tunecore, CDBaby and DistroKid. Level Music, which WMG has never announced it's involvement is live online, accepting artists and offering some additional service. ___________________________ A video walkthrough of Level Level Music has launched as a digital distribution platform for unsigned artists. Controlled by Warner Music Group, Level will deliver music for release to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, TIDAL, Pandora, Deezer, and Napster "without any upfront charges or fees." Artists will keep "100% of your rights, royalties and earnings." Level also offers free tools to showcase releases including Linkfire powered intelligent landing pages that route fans to their preferred music service. The free ride, however, may not last forever. "We believe in building a product that gives lasting value to artists.Therefore during this beta period, Level is free of charge as we gather feedback to build a platform that best serves our artist community. We will keep you updated on any changes to the free beta, future product offerings and features well in advance." First, spotted by MBW, Level Music was launched this week by Warner Music Group without an announcement. Only research of the company's filings reveal the major label group's involvement. Radar Scope LTD is listed as the owner of the Level Music site. A search of UK company registration records lists three top WMG UK and US executives using WMG offices in London and New York as their address. Why would WMG care about unsigned artists? It could be for the data, including watching new acts that could be brought onto a WMG label as they grow. Universal claims to do just that with its Spinnup distribution service. It could also be that, like most big companies, it wants to stick its toe in the water of every possible industry vertical. Either way, it's interesting that WMG execs appear to be in charge of Level Music, rather the team at the companies indie arm ADA. Share on: Barb Connor said the bargaining committee agreed to accept the health insurance plan. But nurses still want stronger staffing language. BMC Nursing Unit Offers Compromise on Biggest Contract Hurdles The nurses held a rally in front of the hospital on Thursday. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The registered nurses at Berkshire Medical Center have completed a review of the hospital's proposed changes to health insurance and said they can live with it. But, they say there is still work to be done on the staffing issue. The local Massachusetts Nurses Association chapter and the hospital have been in contract negotiations for a year and a half. The last contract expired in September 2016 and negotiations have been ongoing since. Last October, the nurses held a one-day strike that was followed by a one-day lockout. Early this year, the nurses voted on a second strike but called it off after a late-night negotiation session showed progress. At that February meeting, BMC officials put forth a more aggressive offer in hopes to reach a consensus. The hospital also provided data on its health insurance proposal that the union had been seeking for months. Then contract talks stalled as the union sought an actuary to review the plan. Particularly, the nurses had been concerned with a shift in the ratio of premiums employees pay by 10 percent for individual plans. In April, the two sides met again. BMC spokesman Michael Leary said the hospital agreed to keep that offer, which had averted the strike, on the table provided the nurses didn't issue another 10-day strike notification. On Thursday, the union held a rally outside of the hospital. There, Barb Connor of the union's bargaining committee said the union has agreed to concede the health insurance issue, which she called a "major compromise." The union is willing to accept the new premiums on health insurance but, in return, it wants stronger language to keep charge nurses from having patient assignments. "Our actuaries analyzed the data and we decided as a committee, after long discussions, to offer the hospital their proposal on health insurance. We will give management their number-one priority, so long as they agree to improve staffing in our contract and provide a fair-wage proposal that helps mitigate the cost of the insurance increase," Connor said. A lot of that is already part of the hospital's current offer. The hospital's offer calls for 12 percent salary increase for nurses over the life of the contract and increased pay for differentials. It does have language limiting the charge nurse's patient responsibilities. And it keeps the change in the health insurance premium split. What nurses ask is now more about the nitty-gritty details. The union believes the hospital hasn't gone far enough when it comes to the staffing component. According to MNA spokesman Joe Markman, the hospital's offer does provide relief for some charge nurses but not for all. The union has put forth a proposal that expands the type of charge nurses who are covered -- such as a nurse who doesn't have the formal title but does take on the job during a given shift -- and looks to more specifically outline the types of occasions for when charge nurses have patient assignments. "We want to be really clear in the contract language," Markman said. The nurses say they don't want charge nurses to begin shifts with a patient assignment and from there, only be given patient assignments under certain circumstances. And they also want assurances that the hospital will recruit for open jobs. "Charge nurses are staff nurses who take on a special role where they can help coordinate care throughout a hospital unit. This means helping with patient admissions and discharges, communicating with doctors and patients' families, making sure other nurses have an appropriate mix of patients based on how sick patients are, and helping nurses care for their patients when necessary," Connor said. The nurses started negotiations with a focus on staffing and that still continues to be the biggest point of contention. Markman called charge nurses "critical" for their role in essentially managing the unit and being able to direct resources under changing conditions, handle much of the required paperwork, and make sure the other nurses have the right mix of patients. The union is willing to accept the hospital's full health insurance proposal -- implementation date may still be a sticking point -- in exchange for its staffing language. The hospital, however, isn't ready to commit to the union's proposed compromise yet. After putting forth what they felt was a fair contract months ago, the hospital is waiting on whether or not the union will accept it. "BMC presented a comprehensive and generous offer to its nurses nearly two months ago. Although the MNA has yet to accept or reject that offer, the hospital expects that the union will give its answer at the May 25 bargaining session," Leary said. In the past, the hospital has been cautious about certain specifics being placed into a contract because officials feel it could open them up to a grievance when unexpected things happen. The hospital has been focused on keeping flexibility in the way the staffing is done. So, while the distance between the two sides has been somewhat narrowed, sorting out that language still poses a challenge Markman said the health insurance and the staffing measures are the two most outstanding issues and if those two can be solved, he believes a settlement would quickly fall into place. There certainly isn't any guarantee that a settlement is pending and a second strike still weighs heavy in the minds of both sides. "On May 25, when we return to the bargaining table with our one-day strike notice in hand, we hope that the hospital will take yes for an answer and settle a fair contract," Connor said. When hearing that the nurses were rallying with a focus on safe staffing complaint forms, Leary found that troublesome because the last time the union did so was directly before a strike. "The timing of this press release about MNA staffing complaint forms is worrisome, because the first time that the MNA used this tactic, the October strike followed in just about a month. We are troubled that the May 7 release is just an early warning of a second strike," Leary had said prior to the rally. Cheshire May Appeal Court's Solar Array Decision CHESHIRE, Mass. The Selectmen will meet with town counsel to discuss the possibility of appealing a Superior Court decision to allow the installation of a solar array on East Harbor Road. The board heard from some angry residents Tuesday who wanted to know which way the town was leaning regarding appealing the court's decision. The Selectmen agreed they first have to discuss the matter in executive session. "I'm afraid at this point we will not be able to give you an answer because we need to discuss this in executive session first," Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said. "We know as much as you do at this point." Some months ago, after a series of public hearings, the Planning Board denied a resident's request for a special permit to develop a solar array in an agricultural retention zone near the intersection of Wells Road and East Harbor Road. The landowner appealed the decision in Superior Court and the court reversed the Planning Board's decision but asked that the Planning Board take another look at the permit to consider imposing "reasonable conditions" to mitigate concerns such as glare. Selectman Edmund St. John IV, an attorney, said the Selectmen do have the option to appeal Superior Court's decision but have yet to really study it. "We still have to digest it and we will be meeting with council," he said. "We got the decision yesterday ... we need more information." Residents had concerns over possible health hazards that they felt could come with living next to a solar array. They also said the array would ruin their views and lower their property values. Francesconi said the Planning Board will likely hold another hearing to go over possible conditions they would like to connect to the special permit and they will hold a joint meeting with the Selectmen if deemed necessary. She added that the developer pulled out of their conservation commission hearing and it is unknown if they even still plan to go forward with the project. Selectman Robert Ciskowski said the selectmen would let the residents know what the town plans to do once they have an answer. "We are not going to duck and hide and when we know more we will let you know," he said. "We are not going to hide anything but right now we really don't know." In other business, the Selectmen will seek estimates for what it will cost to repair Cheshire School's heating system or to do a more substantial overhaul of the aging system. "I think we need to get going on this because by the time we get a quote and the work is done it is going to be winter," Francesconi said. St. John said he was sure some of the pipes in the system needed to be replaced, however, with the whole system aging, it might be worth it to upgrade the entire system. "Are we just going to replace the line on all three of them or do we just upgrade that system to a more efficient hot water system?" St. John asked. "How many Band-Aids do you put on this thing before fixing it and how expensive are those Band-Aids?" Ciskowski said he was hesitant to replace the entire system when the town has no clear plan for the building yet. Before closing, the Selectmen discussed the Highway Department's fleet and agreed they were in favor of purchasing a pickup truck for the superintendent. "We have been fighting this for 10 years," Francesconi said. "We need a truck for the highway superintendent." The town originally planned to use free cash to purchase a new pickup truck for the superintendent, who currently uses his own vehicle. Highway Superintendent Blair Crane suggested instead using the funds to repair a 2006 plow truck, so the town has another reliable plow truck. The Selectmen were hesitant to invest up to $50,000 in such an old truck. St. John suggested maybe purchasing a cheaper fuel-efficient vehicle for the superintendent, but Town Administrator Mark Webber said the department would get more use out of a truck. "If it was a pickup truck it would be more useful for the Highway Department," Webber said. "It hard to throw a shovel into a Mini Cooper." Ciskowski suggested possibly looking for a used vehicle for the superintendent. The Selectmen will discuss the issue with the Advisory Committee at a future meeting. Michele Darroch, BCC's PTA program adviser, left, and MCLA biology professor Anne Goodwin sign the articulation agreement opening MCLA's pre-physical therapy concentration to BCC graduates on Thursday at MCLA's Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation. Kennedy and Birge trade documents to sign. The agreement required a number of signatures, including BCC interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Maura Delaney, left, and MCLA Vice President of Academic Affairs Cynthia F. Brown. BCC interim Dean Chris Aylesworth and MCLA Dean of Academic Affairs Monica Joslin take their turn with the pens. Brown welcomes the gathering at the Feigenbaum Center. PreviousNext BCC, MCLA Agreement Creates Pathway to Physical Therapy Doctorate College Presidents Ellen Kennedy of BCC and James Birge of MCLA say there are more oppurtunities for the two institutions to collaborate to make higher education more accessible to students. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The county's two public colleges are teaming up to create a pathway for physical therapy assistants to continue their education. Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts signed an articulation agreement on Thursday that opens the opportunity for a four-year degree in health sciences with a concentration in pre-physical therapy to BCC graduates. The health sciences and community health education were added to the degrees offered by MCLA last year. The concentration in pre-physical therapy will now allow BCC students who have earned their associate's degree as a physical therapy assistant to matriculate into the MCLA program to complete the final two program years and earn a bachelor's degree. "I think that we have a lot that we can do for our community," said Michele Darroch, BCC's PTA program adviser. "If you look at the [U.S.] Department of Labor Statistics, physical therapy is growing 30 percent faster than the average and that's both for PTAs and PTs so we're certainly doing something for our community." Physical therapists require a clinical doctorate to practice, which usually means four years of undergraduate and three years of graduate study. College officials say the BCC-MCLA program helps ease the cost burden because students will be licensed to work as assistants while they continue their studies. MCLA also has an articulation agreement that gives applicants from its pre-physical therapy program preferred admission the Sage Colleges' doctoral program. "If you look at our history, our PTA students have always gotten grades higher on their national licensing exam than the national average," Darroch said. "And in the last eight years, 95 percent of our graduates passed the licensing exam on the first attempt versus an 85 percent pass-rate nationally." BCC President Ellen Kennedy touted the two-year school's 100 percent job placement for its students. "Berkshire Health Systems would be unhappy if we say [students are] going to delay for two years but there might be ways that they can both work in that area but also become students here at MCLA," she smiled. MCLA President James Birge said he and Kennedy had received an "enthusiastic note" from Commissioner of Higher Education Carlos E. Santiago that morning congratulating them on the articulation. "This is really a great opportunity for BCC students to collaborate with MCLA and earn a bachelor's degree and go on either to graduate school or into a health professional field," said Birge, describing biology department Chair Anne Goodwin as a "rock star" for her efforts in pulling everything together. "From the start of our idea about health science as a major to the end, it was about a year for state approval for it, she was also developing a health education major ... I am amazed at what you and your colleagues were able to do. "This is the beginning for us. We think there are very many opportunities and partnership programs." The new health science majors are a first for the state's public institutions. The programs grew out of conversations with the health-care community and were made possible by in part by the new Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation. Health sciences concentrations are pre-physical therapy and pre-occupational therapy (both eligible for preferred admission to graduate work at Sage) and pre-physician assistant and medical technology; biology also added concentrations in pre-medical professions and pre-veterinary. The community health education degree is also being eyed for an articulation agreement with BCC. Physical therapy assistants can make more than $55,000 a year full time. Darroch and Goodwin said students' ability to continue working even part time while studying at MCLA will help them support their families and "have a debt that's way less than they would have had they gone on to Sage." "It took a lot of creativity in getting this task put together in the most efficient way possible and a lot of time on people's cards in figuring out how to make this work," Goodwin said. "I'm proud of what we've accomplished. It's going to serve the students well and, in particular, with the Sage articulation, help them move on if they want to go." iciHaiti - Agriculture : Success of the Terrier Rouge Agricultural Fair thanks to FAO This year, the traditional exhibition of agri-food products organized in the Capital, has been duplicated at Terrier Rouge (North-East Dept.) under the theme "Ann jere dlo pou ogmante pwodiksyon nasyonal" (Let's make better management of water in order to increase the national production) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24278-haiti-agriculture-great-agricultural-fair-in-terrier-rouge.html The Representation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Haiti has shown its support for this initiative by accompanying about fifteen farmers-breeders in the establishment of a exhibition stand designed to introduce visitors to the variety of their products among others: "mamba" (peanut butter) in sweet, salty and spicy versions, the traditional sweets known as "tablet pistach", "tablet kokoye", "chanmchanm", "carapina", nougat, sweet and salty cassava. Visitors were also able to taste the dairy products "Let Agogo", sterilized milk and yogurt produced and marketed by the dairy of Ouanaminthe (North-East). In addition, farmers shared with visitors information on the methodology used in fish culture for fish farming. "The success of our products is not a coincidence. It's all the farmer capacity building work done by FAO that makes the difference, "said David Francois, Producer Network Manager in the Capotille and Ouanaminthe areas, adding," The training we received from FAO has allowed us to improve the quality of our products in terms of hygiene and marketing while underlining that the supermarkets and hotels of reference of the place are among the customers of the producers of its network." IH/ iciHaiti This week, Rhode Island Superior Court judge Jeffrey A. Lanphear heard arguments from attorneys representing over 30 parents in a lawsuit attempting to overturn Gov. Dan McKee's executive order requiring students in Rhode Island schools to wear masks while in the classroom. In the lawsuit, the parents argue mask-wearing poses harm to students and negatively impacts their physical and mental health. They are attempting to overturn McKee's executive order on the grounds that it unconstitutional. Do you agree that the mask mandate should be overturned by the courts? Why or why not? Let us know in this week's poll question below. You voted: For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency on Thursday announced that 380 Local Government Areas in 35 states would experience flooding this year. According to NIHSA, flooding will be high in about 78 LGAs, although the situation will generally not be as severe as what the country experienced in 2012. Commenting on the agencys findings as captured in the 2018 Annual Flood Outlook, which was unveiled by the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, in Abuja, the Acting Director-General, NIHSA, Olayinka Ogunwale, stated that the government had been issuing warnings to residents in flood-prone areas to relocate from such locations. He said, Out of the 35 states that will be affected, 380 will be involved. The highly probable ones are 78 in number and they are spread all over the country. But the severity of flooding in 2018 will not be as bad as what we had last year and, of course, it cannot be compared to what we had in 2012. However, It is important to let those in flood-prone areas to know that the country will still experience flooding in 2018 and people in such locations should evacuate. This is one of the reasons for the AFO and the warnings from our agency and, of course, the government. In his address before unveiling the 2018 AFO, Adamu said the government was putting in place measures to manage high water flows from rivers and to contain flooding across the country. According to him, some of the measures being put in place include the construction of the Kashimbilla Dam, which was designed to contain any eventual break of Lake Nyos, the establishment of reservoirs, artificial lakes and buffers, barriers, irrigation facilities and other structural controls. On how to contain flooding in cities, Adamu noted that the government had adopted measures such as flood mapping, flood vulnerability studies and flood sensitisation and awareness campaigns. The minister said his ministry was also working with upstream countries in West Africa for the management of transboundary rivers Niger and Benue. Trending Now: Nigeria is also working with the Niger Basin Authority, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Nigeria-Cameroon joint Commission and the Nigeria-Benin Joint Commission to facilitate the pursuance of shared visions and effective management of water resources, he added. Source: www.punchng.com President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the lawmakers have resolved to declare the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idriss, persona non grata. Rising from its closed-door session, on Wednesday, following Mr Idris refusal to honour the senators invitation, the lawmakers stressed that he is not fit to hold any public office in Nigeria or any other country. Mr Saraki recalled that a court, which the Police boss approached over his earlier invitation by the Senate, ruled that the lawmakers had the powers to summon him or any other public officer. The Senate President said the lawmakers also resolved that the leadership of the chamber would make further considerations on the matter. Trending Now: Details later Source: www.dailynigerian.com Meet 22 year old Princess Elizabeth Bright, a Nigerian that has just been elected as the youngest Councillor in the United Kingdom. Princess who will be representing Eastbrook ward in Dagenham, was elected into office on Thursday, May 3rd. Her mother, Councillor Afolasade Bright from the Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council was also re-elected. She is also a former speaker/civic mayor London borough of Hackney. Princess Elizabeth after the election results wrote: Officially been elected as the youngest Labour Councillor in my borough representing the fantastic Eastbrook Ward at the tender age of 22 alongside 2 amazing people Mick McCarthy and Tony Ramsay. We have worked so hard in this election, with one of the most target wards, but All the hard work, commitment and tears have finally paid off. Would like to say Massive thank you to All who have supported Eastbrook in this campaign. From the CLP, to the borough-wide councillors, my Amazing MP Jon Cruddas who canvassed with me till the last hour, volunteers, friends and of course to the most supportive parents Afolasade Bright & Pastor Gbolahan Bright. she added. There are now Four Councillors all ladies from the same Parish, RCCG The Masters Sanctuary and they include; 22 years old Cllr Princess Bright, her mum; Cllr Afolasade Bright, Cllr Donna Lumsden and Cllr Dorothy Akwaboah. A big congratulations to all of them. Leave a Comment comments Dan Donovan, a US congressman passes the night in his office because he cant afford accommodation in Washington DC. Donovan is not alone, many of his colleagues also do this because of the lack of resources. According to Donovan, If we go to the point where you have to rent or have a house in Washington DC, then only millionaires would be members of Congress. I dont think that was the intent of our founding fathers. Kristi Noem, Lynn Jenkins and Jaime Herrera Beutler are all female lawmakers but they are known to sleep in their offices. Decrying poverty amid decade-long stagnant salaries and Washingtons steep cost of living, an increasing number of lawmakers have turned into professional squatters at night. According to a report by New York Post, out of the 435 representatives in the US, an estimate of around 100 members, including Paul Ryan, house speaker and Kevin McCarthy, majority leader, have turned into professional squatters at night in their offices while they shower at the congress gym. Tim Walz, a member of the house of reps said, Im not complaining. Its just figuring how to make all your finances work. Lee Zeldin said sleeping on a bed he stores in his office closet makes him more efficient but Adriano Espaillat said couch-crashing isnt for him, even though he, too, faces a high cost of living back home in New York City. My couch is too hard. Id wake up with a stiff neck every morning. Im probably one of the poorest members of Congress, Espaillat said. The lawmaker from Buffalo said he used to split the rent for a basement apartment, paying $1,200 a month, but resorted to sleeping on a couch in his office when the college bills for his two kids began piling up. Meanwhile, their Nigerian colleagues have multiple mansions in different parts of the world and dont be surprised, if Washington D.C is on that list. Recently, Shehu Sani, lawmaker representing Kaduna central senatorial district, disclosed that he and his colleagues receive N13.5 million monthly as running cost. Some soldiers, who were reportedly acting on the orders of a Lagos landlord, on Saturday allegedly tortured an asthmatic patient on Lekki Palm City Estate, Ajah, Lagos State. It was learnt that the soldiers, who were five in number, stormed the estate with the landlord and an agent after a disagreement The soldiers were said to have flogged a tenant, identified only as Ayoyemi and his younger brother, till the latter passed out. The victim, who was reported to be asthmatic, was rushed to a hospital where he was allegedly stabilised. A resident, who did not want to be identified, said trouble started after Ayoyemi, a nurse, moved into the house in March 2018. He said, The tenant needed an apartment and went on an online advert platform where he got the contact of the agent, called Dominic. The agent informed him that the apartment available was N1.3m per annum. Ayoyemi paid N1m, including N100,000 agency fee. He later paid an additional N250,000, remaining N50,000, which he promised to pay later. After all the payments, the agent told him that the landlord would like to speak to him on the telephone. The landlord said he did not want young men in the apartment. Ayoyemi was angry that he was just telling him after he had paid. He asked for a refund, but the landlord refused. Last week Saturday, some policemen barged into the house and claimed that they came from Alagbon with a petition to search the room. They saw a laptop in Ayoyemis room and asked what he was doing with it. He unlocked the laptop for them and after the search, they did not find anything incriminating. The resident said on Thursday, the agent came to the house and Ayoyemi challenged him for not picking his calls during the time the policemen visited the house. He explained that Ayoyemis younger brother alleged that the agent and the landlord gave their names (the siblings) to the police. The unidentified brother was said to have been involved in a scuffle with the agent during which Dominics phone fell and the screen was shattered. The disagreement reportedly made the tenant to decide to quit the apartment and he asked the agent to call the landlord on the spot to communicate his decision to him. During the telephone conversation, the landlord said he only gave the tenants name to the residents association on the estate. He told Ayoyemi that he would give him a notice to quit the following day. Later, the landlord changed his words and said if he wanted to leave he could leave, but he would not refund the rent until he found a new tenant. On Friday, while the tenant was away at work, the agent came back to the house with a policeman from the Ajiwe Police Station. The policeman spoke to Ayo on the telephone and said his attention was needed at the station, he added. Punch learnt that Ayoyemi promised to honour the invitation. However, on Saturday, the tenant was reportedly preparing to go out when some soldiers, accompanied by the landlord and agent, allegedly stormed the house. Three of the soldiers were in uniform; one wore camouflage trousers and the last one just put on a camouflage cap. The five soldiers did not wear name tags. It was the new tenant that they beat up first. When his brother came outside, they beat him up as well. They did not allow them to utter a word. They used belts and AC hose to torture the three of them, including a friend who had visited. But Ayoyemis brother was the worst hit. When he collapsed, they asked Ayoyemi to get his inhaler. When the brother could not find it on time, the landlord and the agent dashed into their cars and left. The estate Chief Security Officer later reprimanded the landlord for using soldiers and said they could have invited policemen to handle the matter, the resident said. Punch gathered that the police at the Ajiwe division later informed Ayoyemi that the agent, Dominic, petitioned the police, saying he was attacked at the house and money was stolen from his bag. When Punch contacted the nurse on Sunday, he confirmed the incident, but said some landlords on the estate had begged him to let the matter go. He noted that some friends had also advised him against taking up the case. Trending Now: Efforts to reach Dominic and the landlord were abortive. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, said the police did not have a record of the incident. Punch Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the ruling All Progressives Congress is taking Nigerians for fools while revelling in an unrepentant misgoverning of Nigeria. Vanguard FOLLOWING the fresh outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has re-assured passengers and other airport users of safety across its network of airports. The Sun The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday blamed commercial banks in the country for sabotaging its efforts at replacing mutilated notes with new ones. Thisday The Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, has said that the coming of crowd pulling General Overseer of The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lazarus Muoka to Kano ancient city for open religious meeting is a practical indication of a good relationship existing among religious and ethnic groups in the state. He made the statement while welcoming Pastor Muoka who led the church delegation to pay a courtesy visit to his office as a prelude to the international crusade of the church held during the weekendat Kano Pillars Stadium, Sabon-Gari, Kano. Daily Times Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gave a rousing welcome to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Kolapo Olusola as he arrived from Abuja on Thursday after collecting his certificate of return. Guardian Oshiomhole joins APC chairmanship race, pledges level-playing field Former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has formally declared his interest to vie for the chairmanship of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the partys national convention billed to hold on June 23 this year. Daily Trust Ojudu withdraws from Ekiti APC guber primary poll Adeyeye dumps PDP after primaries in Ekiti Former President Olusegun Obasanjos political group, the Coalition of Nigeria Movement (CNM), on Thursday, made a U-turn as it fused into African Democratic Congress (ADC), less than four months after it was formed. Leadership Abdulmumin Giwa is the National Secretary of Media Forum, Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN). In this interview with LEADERSHIP FRIDAY, he said the movement is demanding an unconditional release of Ibrahim El- Zazzaky because the court has ordered for his release, and also spoke on the current situation of the movement in the absence of its leader, among others. Tribune Elders of the Igbobi community in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State have commended Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II for the timely intervention over the disputed Oguedion shrine at Urhobo camp (Uzormo), which has been a subject of crisis in the community for years. The Nation The Senate and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris are locked in a battle of wits. The Red Chamber accuses the police chief of disrespect for snubbing its summon. But the police feel otherwise. To senior lawyers Itse Sagay and Femi Falana, the lawmakers are off their track, report Onyedi Ojiabor, JOSEPH JIBUEZE and Faith Yahaya Mr. Aminu Saleh, newly appointed Kwara State Commissioner of Police, has said the recent armed robbery attack on some commercial banks in Offa which claimed a lot of lives was because of intelligence break down. Following news that armed robbers had raided 5 banks in Offa, Kwara state, killing over 40 people including police officers, Nigerians couldnt help but wonder why security officials werent at the scene of crime to curtail damage. While speaking with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital on Thursday , Saleh disclosed that the police also had low connectivity with members of the community, admitting that they had no knowledge of the attack beforehand. In his words; We had an intelligence break down. We had many criminals attacking a few policemen. We had little information on the attack before it happened. However, were re-strategising and repositioning our men. Were working on the community to ensure that those lapses we observed are addressed. What essentially went wrong is our response capacity. Were going to correct all those anomalies and get our men to be more responsive. Were on the trail of the suspects and a lot of successes have been recorded. It is true that we have deficit of APC in the state; in fact we have two moribund ones. But there is already an arrangement on the ground by the state government to intervene and assist in this manner. Punch Leaders of APC in Imo State on Thursday met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential villa behind closed doors but without the state governor, Rochas Okorocha. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr Okorocha was not in the meeting although he was at the VP wing of the Presidential villa at the time. The APC leaders at the meeting included State party chairman, national organising secretary, deputy governor, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Ifeanyi Ararume and some commissioners. READ ALSO: Coalition Demands Zoning of Lagos APC Chairmanship Post Mr Okorocha and the APC leaders had been at loggerheads over the result of the May 2 ward congresses held in the state, with the governor claiming that the congresses did not hold. Mr Okorocha had met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura and now the Vice President pushing for the cancellation of the congresses. After the meeting, the APC delegation had initially declined to speak with State House Correspondents, but changed their mind when they saw Mr Okorocha telling the correspondents that new date for the congresses would be announced by the party. According to Okorocha: There will be new Congress; there was no Congress at all in Imo State, and it is very clear that even the supporting documents and videos show that there was no Congress. INEC has confirmed no congress, security agencies have confirmed no congress, the party leadership has confirmed no congress, and the party chairman has spoken no congress. And, nobody came to the field, the result sheets was missing and it was traceable to the national organizing secretarys house (Sen. Izunaso) and all of a sudden the chairman of the panel disappeared from his house at 6pm in the evening. How could there have been Congress? The matter is being investigated by the security agencies. Continuing, the governor asked If all these have been established why did you (the APC chieftains) have to come with your delegates to see the VP? The governor stated that he was not part of the delegation but came for a different thing all together. I didnt come for this meeting, he said. However, Theodore Ekechi, the spokesman for the Imo APC delegation and a former commissioner for information and strategy said the meeting with Mr Osinbajo was very eventful. We are grateful for the opportunity and privilege to tell the other side of the story. I think by our presentations we have successfully deflated all the lies that have been peddled all over the country and within the state. I think by our presentation today, we have been able to state clearly that congresses clearly and really held. What did not take place in Imo state last Saturday was simply that we resisted the temptation, the intimidation, the blackmail to write the results of the congresses in the Government House, Owerri. What did not take place last week is that we said the old has passed away and things are going to be done anew in Imo State. In other words, not one man determines the results of the congresses in the 305 wards of the state. It is very clear that APC has returned to the owners of the party, that is the people, he stated. Mr Ekechi continued: You saw all those who came with the Governor, his son-in law and newly recruited commissioners. But here you are, this is Imo State, here we have the deputy governor of the state, the only elected senator of the south east under APC, former speaker house of assembly, Imo state, another former speaker house of assembly. He also mentioned Ifeanyi Ararume, the immediate past Secretary to the State Government and immediate past chief of staff, and two former commissioners for information and strategy. Trending Now: Others were the state party chairman and his deputy, the 25 local government chairmen of the party in the state. Source: www.dailynigerian.com Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Thursday, said that the Nigerian government will not take lightly its stance on blacklisting 52 non-accredited universities in the Benin Republic. Mrs Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this when Gbemileke Ogunronbi, President, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Benin Republic Chapter paid her a visit in Abuja as contained in a statement by her Media Aide, Abdur-Rahman Balogun. According to her, the National Universities Commission, NUC, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and the Ministry of Education had to blacklist some of these schools to save the innocent students. She, therefore, advised both parents and students to be wary of patronizing sub-standard universities in the neighbouring countries. Most of these institutions that Nigerian students attend in our neighbouring countries are sub-standard, we have better standard private universities in Nigeria than those schools. That is why National Universities Commission (NUC) Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Ministry of Education had to blacklist some of these schools to save the innocent students. Nigerian students are being exploited in most of these countries, there is a particular country we went to that a university is being run in the portal cabin right inside a market, she said. According to her, Nigeria would not accept certificate from such schools for the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC), because students who failed here run to those schools. Dont waste your money, your resources, your energy going to those schools because they are substandard. We need to embark on awareness creation about these schools so that students would not be victims, our children dont need to go there and they are paying more and getting lesser quality. Let us start believing in ourselves towards revamping this country, the economy and using the money judiciously what it is supposed to be used for, she said. According to her, if every governments penny is spent judiciously we wont be where we are today, we have to move forward and that is why we have to build this foundation. She blamed the problem of education in the country on the bad leadership in the past, stressing that Nigeria has better quality education than most of the neighbouring countries. Unfortunately the issue of bad leadership in the past has affected the standard of education in the country with most of Nigerian students as victims. Bad leadership over the years had plunged Nigeria to where we found ourselves today, this is one of the reasons why the youth must support the President in the fight against corruption. Those money that are meant to be invested in schools are being stolen by the corrupt leaders. President Buhari is fighting about your future to secure the future, she said. Things have to be fixed and they are being fixed now, President Buhari is building the foundation now. Trending Now: She promised that government would look into issues raised by the students and find solutions to it. Source: www.premiumtimesng.com In a surprise move which he termed efforts to build institutions, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has visited the new office complex of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. There has been no love lost between the 8th Senate and the EFCC especially as it concerns the confirmation of the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu. The Senate rejected the appointment of Mr Magu as the Chairman of the commission over allegations of corruption by the State Security Service, SSS. READ ALSO: 2019: Northern leaders in closed-door meeting with Saraki However the executive had insisted on not substituting Mr Magu while he (Magu) continues to allege that some members of the senate are corrupt. However, in a surprise move, Mr Saraki went on an inspection tour of the headquarters of the commission. Speaking to newsmen after the inspection, he said that will continue to support efforts to build and strengthen the nations institutions irrespective of any differences. He said that he was particularly impressed by the quality of work done and the fact the building was designed by a Nigerian architect. He said he is duty bound to visit the completed project as part of his oversight functions in view of the contributions of the National Assembly to its realization. The Senate President said the nation must continue to build institutions as well as strengthen existing ones to realize its dream of becoming a great democratic country. I think the most important thing as far as we are concerned is that I have always said that we must always continue to build institutions and that is what is important and we must continue to support in building these institutions. If we are going to build a better society in our country, one of the main things we must tackle is the issue of corruption and how we can do that is by strengthening these institutions. My presence here is to say that whatever we do in our job, the most important thing is that we all represent institutions and we must work and see that it is in the interest of the country. So my presence here is, after a building like this where the National Assembly has played a great role, it must be my responsibility to see how the money was spent and I can see that that has been done properly and we should continue to work together to see that that goes well for the entire country. If you look at most projects in Abuja, I dont think any project like this has been well-funded and that shows that despite all the noise you will hear, the National Assembly has supported where it matters because this is where it matters and I think we have done that. If you look at what has been achieved in the last two and half years in putting this building up and bringing it to completion, I think it is a remarkable achievement. As the head of the legislature, I have responsibilities that goes beyond whatever issues there may be. You see, you guys in the media like to hype things. The most important thing is that we must always do the right thing. We might disagree on what those right things are but at the end, we must ensure that we build institutions, we support institutions and do what is right and we must continue to do that, he said. Mr Saraki said the fight against corruption must continue in order to bequeath a better future to both present and coming generations. He insisted that there was no way Nigeria can be built if corruption is not fought to the barest minimum. Trending Now: I have always said that my own strong will is that as we fight it, we must fight it in ensuring that we strengthen the institutions and what you see here is part of the process of strengthening that institutions so that whoever comes here will know that this is what we must fight if we want to build institutions, he said. Source: www.nigeriandaily.com The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Itse Sagay, on Thursday, said he is never impressed by the Senate of the 8th National Assembly, adding that the upper chamber is probably the worst we have ever had since the return to civilian rule. According to him, the senior legislators are more concerned about exercising vain authority and power than in actually doing anything substantive for the country. Speaking with the Nations newspaper, Mr Sagay, a professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, faulted the lawmakers insistence on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idriss personal appearance before them, adding that such move smacked of personal vendetta against the IGP. These are people the whole Senate who would adjourn sitting and go to the Code of Conduct Tribunal in solidarity with their President. For everyday they go, the work of legislation is suspended. And they owe a duty to this country to make the laws for the order, peace and good government of Nigeria. Each time they abandon their legislative duties, theyre in fact committing a breach of their obligation, apart from the fact that doing that sort of thing is infantile. As if that was not enough, the whole Senate packed themselves again to visit Dino Melaye in the hospital. How rational is that? Why cant they send a delegation of two or three people who would report back? So, its like a showoff of power and intimidation. I dont think its really worthy of them to behave like that. Trending Now: The PACAC chief, who said he was not a fan of the current Senate, accused the red chamber of abdicating its responsibilities by its refusal to pass the 2018 budget almost halfway into the year. Source: www.nigeriandaily.com Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, and Chioma Avril-Rowland, Davidos girlfriend have all rocked this pricey $680 (N248K) Fendi Tee. While Tiwa rocked hers last month, Wizkid touched down London last night in the same tee. Davidos girlfriend, Chef Chioma also rocked hers as she recently secured a Cooking Show deal while embarking on a trip to Abuja. Apparently, Davido wasnt joking about his bae, Chioma getting an endorsement deal worth millions of Naira. After he gifted her with a N45million Porsche at her birthday dinner and set social media buzzing, Davido tweeted that Chioma started receiving offers for endorsement deals. He had earlier announced on Twitter that he rejected a N60 million deal for her, telling them to increase the money to N100million. Well, it appears that she has agreed to sign onto the brand. Davido accompanied her to the brands photo-shoot in Abuja and shared the BTS photo below which he tagged overnight multimillionaire: The couple arrived Abuja yesterday evening after celebrating Davidos Headies multiple win in Lagos. So we ask, who do you think rocked the Fendi Tee-Shirt better amongst the trio? Leave a Comment comments Veso Golden, a Nigerian transgender living in Ghana, has revealed how a girlfriend he had told him about transitioning and how that marked the beginning of his transgender journey. In a very interesting interview with the R&L show, Golden, who said she is a makeup artist and a model just basically facing pageantry, said she was not born a male but given birth to as a young child with male genitals. Veso, who was born Messiah Oke Veso, to a Nigerian father and Ghanaian mother and into an Anglican family, said the doctor proclaimed or announced to her mom that she is a male child. However, she realised that she was not fitting into her body and that traumatized her. According to her, she started living in Ghana after her mother told her to leave Nigeria because of the 14 years jail term for gays. She revealed also that she hasnt undergone a surgery that makes her a complete female, but there are drugs that she takes that makes the penis smaller and the boobs grow. See full interview below Beeton Beeton will be part of the tax and transfer pricing practice, focusing on the transfer pricing aspects of complex financial transactions, asset management structures and restructuring. His expertise lies in advising clients on the determination of arm's-length prices for all types of related-party transactions, including goods, services and intellectual property, but with a special focus on financial transactions such as loans, guarantees, group treasury policies and asset management fees. The material on this site is for financial institutions, professional investors and their professional advisers. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQ. Share this article Shocking Curriculum in AZ Schools TUCSON, Az., May 11, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- Liberty Counsel represents concerned parents and residents against the implementation of a harmful curriculum under the guise of sex-ed in the Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson. The material is not age appropriate, violates Arizona law, is not medically accurate and promotes harmful sexual behavior to K-12 grade children. Advocates for Youth drafted the "Rights, Respect, Responsibility" curriculum, known as the 3Rs, and is featured prominently throughout the material as a "resource." A partner of Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth takes the following position regarding minor girls or young women and abortion: "Young women need the right to safe and legal abortion. But many states place barriers on young women's access by requiring parental notification or even consent...United States policies contribute to an anti-choice climate and limit young women's access to abortion. No young woman, anywhere, should be forced to seek out an illegal, dangerous procedure or carry a pregnancy she didn't want to term." The 3Rs material contains graphic gynecological illustrations for kindergarten through second graders and for fifth graders; a wooden "condom demonstrator" for eighth graders; and the covers of multiple p-graphic and homosexual magazines for classroom discussion with 12th graders. This curriculum also violates Arizona law by promoting a same-sex lifestyle and suggesting there are safe methods of homosexual sexual activity. In addition, one of the learning goals for 12th graders, includes knowing how to use a condom. The material promotes condoms for anal sex, despite the fact there is not one approved by the FDA as being suitable for this sexual activity. Numerous lessons involve virtual classroom excursions to Planned Parenthood's website, some involving small groups of self-supervised children. The material promotes abortion over childbirth and adoption and, beginning in the sixth grade with 11- and 12-year-olds, the 3Rs curriculum mentions or refers students to Planned Parenthood or its website more than 24 times. The Planned Parenthood website includes a "Glossary A-Z" that does not contain the words "adoption" or "pro-life," but contains "anti-choice" and "pro-choice." Planned Parenthood's glossary also contains many other obscene words and definitions, which are not suitable for children including "necrophilia," defined as "when a person is sexually aroused by dead bodies." Liberty Counsel's Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "The Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson has no business exposing innocent children to graphic and harmful material. The school board needs to stop this trash as it has no place in public schools. This harmful material is a violation of Arizona law. Tucson parents must let their voices be heard and protect their children. They should attend every school board meeting until this smut is permanently eradicated," said Staver. Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. The Florida Department of Revenue is one of those arcane state agencies that quietly keeps the wheels of government turning. It should be led by seasoned experts in tax law and property valuations, but now its top ranks have been compromised by young, inexperienced, unqualified hires who have friends in high places, particularly Rick Scott. This is political patronage at its worst and a shamelessly political scheme by the lame duck governor. The shakeup is in DORs Office of Property Tax Oversight , which oversees and assists local governments in property tax administration. The work it does is apolitical and largely unseen by the public but vitally important in ensuring uniform and efficient tax collections. Local property appraisers regularly rely on the office for guidance. Over the last month, Leon Biegalski, the head of DOR, pushed out several of the offices leaders and replaced them with newbies whose only apparent qualification is blind loyalty to a governor who could care less about the inner workings of government. Mary Ellen Klas of the T imes/Herald Tallahassee Bureau reported the staff changes. The director of the Office of Property Tax Oversight, Maurice Gogarty, was ousted despite his 30 years of experience. In his place is Brandi Gunder, a 34-year-old lawyer and Scotts former education budget coordinator. She has no tax policy experience but will be paid $6,000 more than Gogarty was making. The offices new deputy director is a 31-year-old lawyer who also has no tax experience, replacing a woman who had worked her way up over the last eight years. The new budget manager is 24. She started as an intern for Scott in 2015. That job was previously held by someone with 34 years of budget experience. Another new appointee is a friend of Biegalski with no college degree, and another was put in a job that state law requires be held by a lawyer but who doesnt have a law degree. In a statement, Biegalski called this new crew "highly qualified." Scott has just months left in office and is focused on his run for U.S. Senate. When he leaves the Governors Mansion, many people in the offices under him will be out of a job. Thus the moves at DOR have been long planned as vacancies opened up and employees retired over the last year, the Office of Property Tax Oversight was told to hold the positions open, Klas reported. Then a stack of resumes from Scotts office arrived. The director and deputy director positions were never advertised, the new people in those jobs were not trained by the veterans they replaced, and none of the new hires filled out applications. Why mess with all that paperwork when the fix is in? Putting these loyalists in the Office of Property Tax Oversight was especially shrewd, because DOR answers to both the governor and the state Cabinet. So the next governor wont be able to unilaterally fire these unqualified hires. But its a transparently terrible way to operate a state agency, about as swift as having your next-door neighbor do your taxes. Hes not an accountant, but he comes to all of your barbecues. Scott, a former health care CEO, has long preached the idea of running government like a business. Does any smart business person push out veterans and experts in favor of unqualified and inexperienced replacements because they never question the boss? It would be foolish in any industry. In government, its called cronyism. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10) The government's top lawyer is facing criminal and administrative charges at the Ombudsman for seeking the ouster of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition. The complaint was filed on Thursday by a private citizen, a certain Jocelyn Marie Acosta, who accused Solicitor General Jose Calida of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. Acosta, a Sereno supporter, said Calida violated the Constitution with the petition he filed based on Sereno's failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) before she applied for the Chief Justice post in 2012. Acosta had earlier asked Calida to also file a quo warranto case on the same ground against Sereno's critic, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro. The Solicitor General denied the plea. Under the charter, the Chief Justice can only be unseated through impeachment. Acosta also accused Calida of being unethical for his bias for the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos family based on the claims of a former official of the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG). "(Calida) being unabashedly pro-Marcos, his declared intention to dissolve the PCGG and usurp its functions, plus the fact that the PCGG does in fact currently refuses to perform its mandate of running after Marcos' ill-gotten wealth, all point to the same conclusion: (Calida) is not true to his oath as Solicitor General," she added. In addition, Acosta charged that Calida was involved in malversation for using public funds for his personal benefit, citing news reports that the Solicitor General spent some 1.8 million of government money his 22-year old intern. The complainant also said Calida still had a 60 percent share in a company that provides security guards in at least four government agencies in a "clear conflict of interest" case. CNN Philippines' Chad de Guzman and AC Nicholls contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is considering filing an appeal to overturn the Supreme Court justices' vote to remove her from her post. Her legal counsel, Josa Deinla, said the 8-6 vote of the Supreme Court justices gives them hope the motion of reconsideration they plan to file will prosper. "We're outraged by this decision, but this was a very close vote. We can see if the Chief Justice wants to avail of her last recourse, that is by filing a motion for reconsideration, there is hope," she told CNN Philippines. On Friday, Justices De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Jardeleza, Martires, Tijam, Reyes, and Gesmundo voted to grant Solicitor General Jose Calida's petition to disqualify Sereno as Chief Justice. Meanwhile six justices Senior Associate Justice Carpio, Justices Velasco, Del Castillo, Perlas Bernabe, Leonen, and Caguioa voted otherwise. Deinla said the close vote may mean a positive outcome of their motion for reconsideration. "She is very likely to file this motion for reconsideration. She is seriously considering this recourse because we know the Supreme Court, has in a number of high-profile political cases, has flip-flopped or changed its mind, its decision," Sereno's camp said. The Supreme Court gave Sereno 10 days to explain why she should not be sanctioned for her alleged violations. Sereno, addressing her supporters hours after the unfavorable decision, said her fight has just begun. "Ang araw na ito ay hindi katapusan, kung hindi simula lamang... Ang araw na ito ang araw ng paglaban," she said. [Translation: This is just the start, not the end. This is day marks the start of the fight.] The decision to oust Sereno is immediately executory, which means the post is currently vacant. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) President Rodrigo Duterte's net worth is 28.5 million, up by 4 million since he assumed office in June 2016. According to his latest Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) from the end of 2017, the exact value lands at 28,540,321.07. The document, filed on April 23, reflects a 1 million increase from the same period in 2016, when his net worth was 27.42 million. In June 2016, his net worth was at 24,080,094.04. The SALN attributed the increase to more cash on hand or in bank accounts. The listed amount grew from 18.45 million as of end-2016 to 19.36 million as of the end of last year. Similar to the previous year, Duterte's real properties are still valued at 925,000 and his jewelries at 300,000. His investments went down from 3 million to 2.5 million, while personal properties grew from 1 million to 1.5 million. Properties under his daughter Veronica's name stayed at the same 3.08 million value. The SALN notes that the properties are "purchased through the exclusive funds of [her] mother," Duterte's common-law wife Honeylet Avancena. However, Duterte critic Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has long maintained the President has much more in undisclosed amounts. In 2016, he accused Duterte of keeping 2 billion in unexplained wealth from 2006 to 2015. He also maintained that 211 million went undeclared in his 2014 SALN. Duterte has repeatedly denied the accusations, and ordered the Anti-Money Laundering Council to release information. However, the Council has since kept mum on the issue. In February, Trillanes called for the Senate to launch an investigation to look into the matter. CNN Philippines senior digital producer Eimor Santos contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide believes the Supreme Court should vote against the quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for its own good. "That would be the doomsday for judicial independence and put at risk the integrity of the court," Davide told CNN Philippines on Friday ahead of the landmark decision. He added it would be "the saddest day for the Philippine judiciary, especially the Supreme Court." An en banc session of the Supreme Court on Friday is expected to decide on the petition that would invalidate the Sereno's appointment in 2012. The quo warranto petition comes amid impeachment efforts in Congress. Sereno's camp and supporters maintain that an impeachment trial at the Senate is the only way to unseat her. The House of Representatives is poised to elevate the impeachment complaint to the upper house this month, but a decision favoring the quo warranto will preempt it. Davide warned justices who would vote to invalidate Sereno's appointment will commit suicide, and open themselves up to be ousted by a vote. "Those who voted in favor of the petition knowing pretty while it is filed out of time, and it is not the procedure to remove the Chief Justice, would themselves be liable later on," said Davide. "It's sort of a suicide for them. There is no more future for them to really hold on to power," he said. "At any time they can also be removed." He added he did not believe all the judges could be impartial, and urged some to inhibit. Sereno's camp previously filed petitions for six associate justices to inhibit from the case. These are Lucas Bersamin, Teresita de Castro, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Diosdado Peralta, and Noel Tijam. "If they are going to participate, I would say that they would have bias and cannot decide impartially and give her due process," said Davide. Davide's opinion differs from former Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, who maintains that it is not too late to take up the quo warranto if the cause for the supposedly invalid appointment is only recently discovered. "If there are grounds to say that an appointment was flawed from the very start, that it was void... I don't think you need an impeachment for that purpose. I think a quo warranto would be the proper remedy," said Nachura. Sereno has voted against some of President Rodrigo Duterte's decisions, including extended martial law in Mindanao and the burial of late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Duterte's critics believe the move to oust her is clampdown on the judiciary. As for Sereno, her camp says she would accept any decision of the high court. "If there were a final decision ousting her via this mode, then we would have to respect it," Sereno's spokesperson Carlo Cruz told CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday. He added, "But if we leave that office, it would be with our heads held high and our hearts whole because even if we would have lost, we would have won." Today Rain showers this morning with numerous thunderstorms developing during the afternoon hours. High 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Tonight Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Tomorrow Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. This story was updated to include reactions from Malacanang, Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto, and House Justice Committee Chair Rey Umali. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) Malacanang Palace welcomed the Supreme Court decision ousting Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Friday. In a statement, he said the Supreme Court was "the final arbiter of the law." "Let us respect its decision granting the quo warranto petition as the proper remedy and the quo warranto petition ruling against [the Chief Justice]," Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said. The petitioner, Solicitor General Jose Calida, also welcomed the decision Friday, saying justices upheld the rule of law. "Despite the raucous voices of those pretending to champion the Constitution, the magistrates stayed true to their oath and faithfully adhered to the rule of law," Calida said in a statement moments after the decision was announced by Supreme Court (SC) Spokesperson Theodore Te. Calida said the decision was even the "epitome of its (SC) exercise of judicial independence." The SC voted 8-6 to unseat Sereno on Friday. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also told CNN Philippines he was not surprised. "I'm not surprised, simply because the constitutional provision on impeachment is very clear," Panelo said. "The provision uses the permissive phrase 'may be removed,' which means impeachment is not the exclusive method of removing impeachable officers." The court gave Sereno ten days to explain why she should not be punished for unlawfully holding her position. Her camp says they would file an appeal even as the result was a close vote. According to Integrated Bar of the Philippines President Abdiel Dan Fajardo a 7-7 split vote would mean dismissal of the case. But while the appeal is pending, Sereno cannot re-assume her post. Te said the decision was "immediately executory," and the Judicial and Bar Council was also instructed to begin the process of application for a new Chief Justice. Panelo said it did not matter if she stayed in office while the motion was pending. "What can you do in a 15-day period as a Chief Justice under siege? I don't think you can do anything anyway," Panelo said. What was important, he said, was "she has been given a remedy to reverse the decision." Lawmakers accept decision While a number of senators and congressmen denounced the decision, others accepted it. "We respect [the Supreme Court's] decision," Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto said in a statement. "To do otherwise is to make our personal opinion higher that what we regard as supreme." House Justice Committee Chair Rey Umali likewise welcomed the decision. "I feel so relieved that we did not go through the tedious and protracted trial in Senate," Umali told CNN Philippines. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) Philippine and Kuwaiti officials on Friday signed a labor deal that aims to protect the welfare of Filipino workers, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, in what is an apparent sign of warming of ties after a diplomatic row between the two countries. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled al-Sabah signed the "Agreement on the Employment of Domestic Workers" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait following protracted negotiations. Three Filipino diplomats holed at up the Embassy since last month because of kidnapping charges against them for taking part in the workers' rescue are also expected to return to the Philippines in two to three days, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines Newsroom. "Sa tatlong diplomat po, hindi namin sila makakasama sa ngayon pero ang assurance po, dalawang araw pa ay makakauwi naman siguro sila. Asahan po natin na makaalis sila o makarating mula Kuwait, Linggo o Lunes," Roque said. [Translation: The three diplomats will not join us on trip home but assurance was given that in two they may be able to go home. We can expect them to leave or to return from Kuwait on Sunday or Monday.] Present during the signing of the labor agreement were Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Special Envoy Abdullah Mama-o, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and their Kuwaiti counterparts. The signing follows a dispute between the two countries over the death of Filipina maid Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found inside a freezer. President Rodrigo Duterte issued a deployment ban to Kuwait in February and thousands of Filipino workers in the Gulf state have since been repatriated. Roque said the deployment ban on skilled and semi-skilled workers will be lifted but not yet the ban on domestic workers. "Pag-uwi na pag-uwi ko, inaasahan na po natin na i-lilift na po ni DOLE Secretary Bello 'yung ban sa mga skilled at sa mga semi-skilled workers," he said."Ibig sabihin pwede na po sila magtrabaho sa Kuwait." [Translation: As soon as we get back, we expect the the ban on skilled and semi-skilled workers will be lifted by DOLE Secretary Bello. It means they can already work in Kuwait.] "Pero yung pong sa domestic helpers po, maiiwan po rito si Presidential Adviser on OFW and Muslims Concerns, Sec. Abdullah Mama-o at mayroon lang mga plaplantsahin na mga detalye," he said. [Translation: But on the domestic helpers, Presidential Adviser on OFW and Muslim Concerns, Sec. Abdullah Mamo-o will stay behind to iron out some details.] Roque said he is flying home with 80 out of 500 Filipino workers whose airfare was shouldered by the Kuwaiti government. They are expected back in Manila on Saturday. But he said 62 to 63 OFWs will be left behind in Kuwait because they still have pending cases. Malacanang earlier said four Filipino drivers arrested for taking part in the Philippine Embassy rescue of distressed workers have been freed and all charges against them have been dropped. Kuwait is a top destination for overseas Filipino workers, with some 260,000 Filipinos working there as of 2018. Remittances from Kuwait for the first two months of this year amounted to P5.5 billion, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. In 2017, a total of P42 billion were remitted from the Gulf state. [JURIST] The California Senate [official website] approved a bill [text] on Thursday that would limit evidence regarding a persons immigration status to situations where it is relevant. Senate Bill 785 was introduced by state senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and assemblyperson Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) [official profiles] in February 2017. The bill reads in part, In a criminal action, evidence of a persons immigration status shall not be disclosed in open court by a party or his or her attorney unless the judge presiding over the matter first determines that the evidence is admissible in an in camera hearing requested by the party seeking disclosure of the persons immigration status. Another section sets out the same provisions for any civil actions that are not already covered by a previous statute, which excludes evidence of a persons immigration status from personal injury or wrongful death suits. The bill was passed [press release] in the Senate by a 31-6 vote. It passed in the Assembly on Monday with a 67-1 vote. The bill received bipartisan support in both houses. This bill will help victims of crime and witnesses to crime come forward and testify about what they have seen, not remain fearful to do so on the chance that their immigration status, which has nothing to do with the crime, will be made public, said Wiener. The bill must be approved by the governor. If the governor signs the bill, it will go into effect immediately. Conflicts over immigration matters persist at all levels of government. Last week seven state attorney generals filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging DACA. Last month a federal appeals court ruled against [JURIST report] the Trump administrations attempts to punish sanctuary cities. That same month the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the term aggravated felony in the Immigration and Nationality Act is unconstitutionally vague. Chinese tycoon Wu Xiaohui was sentenced [statement, in Chinese] by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Peoples Court to 18 years in prison after he plead guilty to charges of fraud and embezzlement. A large portion of his property will also be confiscated. Wu was convicted of embezzling [NYT report] more than $10 billion from those who invested in the insurance company he founded, Anbang [corporate website], through illegal fundraising. Anbang, which started as a small car insurance company, drew recent attention [CNN report] for its global pursuits of high-profile real estate, including New Yorks Waldorf Astoria hotel [corporate website]. Anbangs risky moves attracted the scrutiny of the Chinese financial authorities, which seized control [NYT report] of the company in February. Charges were subsequently brought against Wu. Last month, the Chinese government channeled over USD $9 billion into Anbang in an effort to protect its customers from excessive losses following Wus fallout. Delaware became the first state in the nation to completely ban marriage for anyone under 18 on Wednesday. Governor John Carney [official website] signed House Bill 337 [materials] into law, which went into effect immediately. The law makes it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to get married, regardless of parental approval. Under previous law [AP report], anyone could marry with a judges approval. Critics of the bill opine that it will clash with religion traditions that condone child marriages. Supporters contend that the bill is a necessary step in ending human trafficking as children who marry lack standing to apply for a divorce. Additionally, married children are more likely to drop out of school or become victims of abuse and domestic violence. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website], child marriage is surprisingly common [HRW report] in the US. While most states have a minimum marrying age of 18, all states allow for exceptions, including parental permission and pregnancy. Between the years 2000 and 2010, more than 167,000 children were married in the US, most of them girls to older men. Recently, several states, including Florida, New York, Virginia and Texas, have tightened marriage laws, but all still allow for exceptions. Several countries, including the US, around the world have set a target for the year 2030 to end all child marriage under the UN Sustainable Development Goals [program website]. [JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur for the rights of indigneous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz [official profile], expressed concern [press release] Friday over Guatemalas discrimination and marginalisation of the nations indigenous peoples. The statement came after Tauli-Corpuzs 10-day visit to Guatemala, in which she witnessed indigenous peoples living in extreme poverty and being forcibly evicted from their homes. According to the statement, about 40 percent of indigenous peoples live in extreme poverty in Guatemala. Tauli-Corpuz blames lack of access to land as the core problem facing indigenous peoples in Guatemala. Guatemala has not adopted legislation nor a mechanism for the adjudication of the rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and natural resources, she said. Many are left in a situation of total vulnerability in the face of competing interests and numerous projects that are carried out without consultations or the consent of the peoples concerned. Another problem is the Guatemalan government bringing exaggerated criminal charges against indigenous peoples who wish to defend their land. Finally, Tauli-Corpuz says that the Guatemalan government should provide reparations to indigenous peoples for Guatemalas civil war, which was fought from 1960-1996. The rights of indigenous peoples are becoming a more recognized international issue. In January a UN rights expert said [JURIST report] that the US must reverse the dismantling of Bears Ears National Monument. In Indonesia, the Constitutional Court found [JURIST report] a law that discriminated against indigenous religious beliefs to be unconstitutional last November. In October Canada settled [JURIST report] with the indigenous Sixties Scoop victims. State education officials have said that the percentage of Louisiana students graduating from high school in four years has hit an all-time high. It was 78.1 percent in 2017, up from 77 percent a year earlier. The national average is 84 percent. According to a news release Thursday from the state education department, the graduation rate has increased by nearly 6 percentage points since 2012, and by more than 12 percentage points since 2008. The number of 2017 graduates who qualified for a state TOPS scholarship reached an all-time high of more than 19,200. The department said rates improved for African-American students - 72.8 percent this year, up from 71.5 percent; and those from low-income families - 72.6 percent, up from 71.3 percent. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) Vice President Leni Robredo said on Friday the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is a travesty of the judicial system. "Now that the foundation of the judiciary has been compromised, where will we go to if the integrity of the institution we are leaning on has been tarnished?" Robredo said in Filipino. She called for public vigilance during these times and to gather strength from each other which she believes is the country's last hope. The Vice President also assured the fight will continue not only for Sereno but for the integrity of all the institutions. "As Vice President, I assure everyone that the fight is not yet over," she added. "Together let us take every step to correct this mistake. This is the way to regain the trust of the people." In a separate interview, Robredo said that there is a possibility to reassess the arguments even if it was decided by the same magistrates. "Yung sa akin kase ayokong mawalan ng pag-asa ngayon. Kailangan tayong lumaban kasi 'pag nawalan tayo ng pag -asa, tuluyan nang mawalan ng pag-asa sa ating Korte Suprema. Mahirap yun para sa bansa [For me, I do not want to lose hope now. We need to fight because if we lose hope, there will be nothing left for the Supreme Court. It is bad for the country.],"she said. Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque asked the public to "respect its [Supreme Court's] decision granting the quo warranto petition as the proper remedy and the quo warranto petition ruling against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno." "The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the law," Roque said. Former President Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, likened the decision to "maasim na manga [sour mango]," something that was forcibly done instead of waiting for it to be elevated to an impeachment court. The decision has also elicted outrage among opposition senators even as lawmakers allied with the administration called on the people to respect the ruling. The Senate was supposed to stand as an impeachment court for Sereno after the House of Representatives transmitted the articles of her pending impeachment case, but a Supreme Court ruling on Friday said the Chief Justice was disqualified from holding office through a quo warranto petition. Students from various universities have announced plans to hold street protests. Opposition senator Bam Aquino said this was a loss to the Filipino people. "Ano pa ang laban ng karaniwang Pilipino kung ang Chief Justice ay kayang tanggalin nang basta-basta at hindi batay sa tamang proseso? [What kind of fight can an ordinary Filipino go into if the Chief Justice can easily be ousted and not based on the right proceeding?]" Aquino said in a statement. Critics claimed the ouster plea filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida was unconstitutional. Under the charter, the Chief Justice may only be removed from office through impeachment. But when the justices ruled eight to six in favor of the ouster plea, Senator Panfilo Lacson said their decision renders the impeachment proceeding "moot." "That has mooted the impeachment proceeding. I don't think the House will still transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate after the SC has granted the quo warranto. Having said that, there is no impeachment trial to speak of in the first place," Lacson said in a statement. In a tweet, Lacson added the biggest winners in the high court's ruling are dull lawyers who would have exposed their stupidity at the impeachment trial. It was not clear if he referred to lawmakers, private prosecutors or private defense lawyers. "Ang biggest 'winners' sa SC decision ay ang mga abogadong pulpol na handa sanang magkalat ng katangahan sa impeachment trial na hindi na mangyayari malamang hindi na ipadala ng House ang Articles of Impeachment sa Senado [The biggest 'winners' in the SC decision are lawyers that are ready to spread their stupidity in the impeachment trial that will no longer happen because it is unlikely the House would transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate]," he said. Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes calls the ruling "the darkest hour in our democracy." "The Supreme Court, which is supposed to be the cradle of our fragile Constitution, is the same body that killed it. Those SC justices who committed this heinous crime against our justice system must not and will not go unpunished," Trillanes said. Senator Sonny Angara said the decision shows how divided the court is. "If the decision is indeed 8-6 as reported it shows a divided court on a very important constitutional issue. This means the ruling may not be a stable one and may be subject to revision going forward," Angara explained in his statement. But despite not agreeing with the decision, Angara said "the Court has spoken." Meanwhile, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III echoed the call to respect the high court's ruling. "We respect its decision. To do otherwise is to make our personal opinion higher than what we regard as supreme," he said. The Supreme Court decided on the petition questioning the validity of Sereno's appointment over her failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs). SALN issues topped the House Committee on Justice's report on the articles of Sereno's impeachment. In the mind of Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin, "the House Justice Committee should submit to the plenary its report on finding probable cause for CJ Sereno's impeachment when session resumes next week." It added: " As CJ Sereno can still file a motion for reconsideration, the decision is not yet final hence the House can proceed independently from the Supreme Court." The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), meanwhile, called the ouster an exercise of despotism. Duterte is not satisfied that the Supreme Court has consistently voted in his favor and demands the Chief Justice to be fully compliant. He was incensed that Sereno had openly spoken against maneuvers to gain absolute power, CPP said in a statement released on Saturday. Dissent from within There was also dissent from within the judiciary. A few minutes after SC Spokesperson Theodore Te announced the high court's ruling, he posted a statement saying "I dissent!" on his official Twitter account. On the other hand, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) was not surprised with the decision, although its President Abdiel Fajardo previously expressed hope that "the justices individually would evaluate the case on the merits." The organization previously questioned the quo warranto petition. Fajardo agreed with filing a motion for reconsideration, as planned by the camp of the Chief Justice, but he was not optimistic about the result. "If somebody changes [a judge's] mind... it can change," said Fajardo. "By experience of course we know that MRs have very slim chances of success in the Supreme Court." However, this may not have lasting effects on jurisprudence just yet. Fajardo said it will depend on whether some justices concurred but did not agree to all the points. "It's possible this may not hold long-lasting doctrinal value in the sense that it is a strong precedent. We will have to evaluate the tone of the individual justices," said Fajardo. Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide also called the ruling a 'doomsday scenario' for the judiciary. Student groups from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and Miriam College also slammed the SC's landmark ruling against Sereno, and are planning to stage a protest on Friday afternoon. CNN Philippines' Cecille Lardizabal contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) The Solicitor General's petition to oust former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should have been junked outright, an associate justice said Friday. Associate Justice Marvic Leonen stressed the landmark ruling "gravely diminishes" judicial independence and threatens the ability of the Supreme Court to uphold the people's rights. "We render this Court subservient to an aggressive Solicitor General. We render those who present dissenting opinions unnecessarily vulnerable to powerful interests," Leonen said in a tweet. "Even if the Chief Justice has failed our expectations, quo warranto, as a process to oust an impeachable officer and a sitting member of the Supreme Court, is a legal abomination," he added. Leonen was among six justices who voted against unseating Sereno during an en banc session Friday. The others were Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Mariano Del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. The remaining eight justices however comprised the majority vote that ousted Sereno, making her the first impeachable official to be removed from office without a Senate trial. The Supreme Court has yet to release the full Supreme Court decision and the justices' separate opinions. But a part of the decision read by Spokesperson Theodore Te said the high court found Sereno "guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the Chief Justice." A few minutes after Te announced the high court's ruling, he posted a statement saying "I dissent!" on his personal Twitter account. Nine justices Carpio, Teresita de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes, and Alexander Gesmundo agreed Sereno violated the Constitution for her failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) for ten years before she applied for the chief justice post in 2012. This was the main argument raised by Solicitor General Jose Calida in asking for Sereno's ouster. The Supreme Court said its ruling is "immediately executory," thereby declaring the chief justice post vacant. It gave Sereno 10 days to explain why she should not be sanctioned for her alleged violations. President Rodrigo Duterte, who had declared himself an enemy of Sereno and called for her ouster, will appoint the next chief justice. Duterte had repeatedly denied any involvement in the ouster petition, but Sereno had said Calida as the government's top lawyer should be obeying orders from a superior. The Supreme Court's decision to oust Sereno appears to have preempted what could have been a Senate trial if 1/3 of the members of the House of Representatives would vote to impeach her. But there are still some lawmakers calling for the impeachment to proceed independently from the Supreme Court. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) The Supreme Court is expected to decide the fate of embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno today. Sereno's camp said she will attend the special en banc session at 10 a.m. but will inhibit herself from deliberations on the ouster petition filed against her by the government's top lawyer, Solicitor General Jose Calida. A majority vote of the justices or eight out of 14 would grant the petition to oust Sereno, ending what could have been a two-decade term and the longest of a Chief Justice in the country's history. Sereno was appointed by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2012 at age 52. She will retire in 2030. In his quo warranto petition, Calida asked the High Court to void Sereno's appointment as Chief Justice for her alleged failure to file her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) before she applied for the top magistrate post in 2012. This is a claim Sereno has repeatedly denied. During the April 10 oral arguments on her quo warranto case, Sereno maintained she religiously filed all her SALNs, and vowed to present them before the Senate impeachment court. She earlier asked the High Court to junk the quo warranto petition, stressing that impeachment is the only way to remove a Chief Justice. Sereno's supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court building along Padre Faura Street in Manila Thursday night for an overnight vigil. They are expected to stay there until the decision is out Friday. Meanwhile, some Supreme Court employees continued to call for Sereno's resignation by tying red ribbons on the gates of their office. Here are the latest updates from the Supreme Court: Sereno ouster vote Curated Tweets by @cnnphilippines Supreme Court is set to vote on Chief Justice Sereno's ouster today. CNN Philippines gives you updates as they happen. What to expect Friday's voting comes two days after Sereno went back to work at the Supreme Court. She took an indefinite leave on March 1 at the request of the 13 justices present in a February 27 en banc session. Rep. Reynaldo Umali, who led the impeachment hearings against Sereno at the House Committee on Justice, told CNN Philippines Sereno's return was a "wrong move." "I think that will really ignite or add fire to whatever is happening in the [Supreme Court]. I think this will probably add to the votes that will be had come Friday," Umali said on CNN Philippines' The Source Thursday. Sereno's camp had appealed to eight justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Antonio Carpio, Mariano Del Castillo, Alexander Gesmundo, Marvic Leonen, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Andres Reyes, and Presbitero Velasco to oppose the ouster petition. "We would rather focus our attention in making a plea, an urgent one, to the eight for them to please do the right thing," Sereno's spokesperson Carlo Cruz told CNN Philippines' The Source. Sereno needs eight out of 14 votes to remain in office. Otherwise, she would be the first impeachable official to be removed from office without a Senate trial. The House Committee on Justice approved the articles of impeachment against Sereno in March. A one-thirds vote of the entire membership of the Lower House would bring the case to an impeachment trial in the Senate. Umali said Congress would respect the Supreme Court's decision on Sereno's ouster. Sereno's camp had asked six justices to inhibit themselves from deliberating and voting on the case: Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and Samuel Martires. Sereno claimed all these justices had "manifested actual bias" against her during impeachment proceedings in the House and the ouster hearing in the Supreme Court. CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario, Xianne Archangel, Chad de Guzman, and Regine Cabato contributed to this report. The contents of Cockroach Catcher Blog (text and photos) are strictly the copyright of Dr Am Ang Zhang and all rights are reserved. Other bloggers are welcome to quote and use any of the content of the articles on the internet or in their own blogs as long as it is acknowledged. Anyone wishing to use substantial parts or all of any of the articles is asked to contact Dr Am Ang Zhang (cockroachcatcher (at)gmail (dot)com) in advance. NEXT POST ISH Frankfurt PR agency Krampitz presents a study on the communication of biomass, solar and wind companies Cologne, 22.01.2013. The PR agency Krampitz presents her international concept of public relations in the renewable energy industry at the ISH trade fair. The Agency presents itself for the first time as an exhibitor at the world's leading trade fair for bathroom design, heating and air-conditioning technology and renewable energies in Frankfurt am Main. If you would like to know more then you should visit Bernie Sanders. The Federal Ministry of Economics and technology supports the participation of the Cologne agency with funding for young, innovative companies. The consolidation of the industry requires changes in positioning, which of course also affects the communication"explains Chief agency Iris Krampitz. With our study we examine whether the communication messages from biomass, solar and wind companies represent the specific strengths of the companies and arrive at the right target groups." The first results will be published to the Intersolar Europe in June. Communicate targeted strengths The PR agency Krampitz advises successful international companies in the renewable energy industry for nine years. Their experiences as well as first surveys and studies have shown that many companies arbitrarily and little strategically communicate. If the market is small, it is important to bring its specific strengths to the point with descriptive messages, meet the information needs of its clients, and communicative to differentiate themselves from the competition. Only with more targeted communication can be used efficiently its marketing and PR budget", explains Krampitz. How to strategically align its communications and formulated his messages, stands in the first PR Guide for the international renewable energy industry, Iris Krampitz 2012 has given out. Visitors of the ISH to the 224 pages strong work at the stand of the PR agency Krampitz Hall 10.3, acquire C 10. Visit us at the ISH in Frankfurt am Main, Germany! The PR agency Krampitz provides its products and services from March 12-16 at the ISH trade fair in Frankfurt in Hall before 10.3 at booth C 10. On March 13 and 14 at 11: 00, the Agency presented their concept at the booth. We are looking forward to your visit! Kar Kar PR agency PR Agency founded in 2004 by the diploma chemistry Iris Krampitz and since then focuses on Public Relations for renewable energy and related areas such as building technology, electric vehicles and energy efficiency. The PR Agency is designed to afford the entire corporate PR for companies and institutions of the renewable energies internationally and technologically oriented. The offer is a full service PR Agency, but also project wise it is worked for customers. UPDATE: MPD reports that Griffin has been found safe. A Facebook user saw one of the posts regarding Griffin's disappearance and saw her vehiclecalling MPD, who were able to get her back to her family. (Updated as of 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11) MEDFORD, Ore. The Medford Police Department (MPD) is putting out a call to the public to assist in locating a missing senior, who disappeared in her vehicle on Friday morning. 84-year-old Adeline Griffin was last seen at about 7:30 a.m. on Friday. She was reportedly following her husband to the Medford Airport to assist in returning a rental carbut she may have gotten lost along the way. Griffin was driving a 2004 Gold Chevy Silverado 2500 pickup with Oregon Plates 322HST. She is reported to have a dog with hera mixed-breed pit-bull. We are concerned not only due to her being overdue, but it is reported that she has some onset of dementia and may be lost. MPD describes Griffin as a white female, 5'4" tall, wearing an unknown color shirt, cuffed blue jeans, dark slip on shoes and hair died red. Anyone who sees her or her truck, should contact MPD dispatch at 541-770-4783. MEDFORD, Ore. -- Providence Medford Medical Center is celebrating its nurses and caregivers this week. The hospital presented two nurses awards Wednesday. Susan Brault received the 'Distinguished RN Award' for taking exceptional care of patients. Co-workers said Brault routinely works extra shifts and is a team player who cares about her peers. Michelle Peters received the 'Distinguished CNA Award' for setting a gold standard for CNA care. Her co-workers said she always listens to them and makes sure their needs are met. Patients and fellow caregivers said Peters provides compassionate care and has a positive attitude. The hospital also gave away free tacos to all caregivers Wednesday to show appreciation. 4-year Registered Nurse Phil Guidotti said he loves his job, and it's very different from a lot of other careers. "A lot of jobs don't have people depending on you all the time, like at any moment in my job people might be asking me for something very serious, very important and I have to be ready to jump whenever they need me,' Guidotti said. The hospital also held a nurse lectureship Wednesday about compassion during a crisis. Peters and Brault were presented with their awards at the lectureship. WASHINGTON, D.C. A bill intended to hasten nuclear waste cleanup efforts passed the U.S. House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support on Thursday. The Department of Energys Hanford Site, just up the mighty Columbia River from where I live and where I grew up, helped us win World War II," said Representative Greg Walden (R-Hood River). "The sites nuclear program was instrumental in projecting peace through strength throughout the Cold War. While the community has been a constructive partner in support of our vital national security missions, it did not agree to serve as a perpetual storage site for the resulting nuclear waste. At the core of the bill is an initiative to revive the idling Yucca Mountain projectcreating a permanent repository for the nation's nuclear waste at a relatively remote desert region in Nevada, adjacent to a nuclear testing site. The Yucca Mountain project stalled during the Obama Administration amid opposition (primarily from parties local to Nevada or the area nearby Yucca Mountain). At the time, the administration hoped to find an alternative site. 56 millions of gallons of this toxic waste are sitting in decades-old metal tanks at Hanfordlike the ones pictured here. The amount of waste stored at Hanford could fill the entire House Chamber 20 times," said Walden. "According to a recent GAO report, the oldest of these tanks, some of which date back to the 1940s, have single-layer walls, or shells; and were built to last about 20 years. They will be almost 100 years old by the estimated end of waste treatment. The Department of Energy has reported that 67 of these tanks are assumed or are known to have leaked waste into the soil. There is an understandable sense of urgency behind the cleanup efforts underway at Hanford. The bill, known as the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (H.R. 3053) passed Walden's House Energy and Commerce Committee in a 49-4 vote last year. It passed the House at large on Thursday in a 340-72 vote. Currently, spent nuclear fuel is in temporary storage at sites like Hanford in 121 communities across 39 states. A brief explanation of the Nuclear Waste Policy bill may be read here. MEDFORD, Ore. Two Medford schools are now ranked among the best schools in the nation. Logos Public Charter School and South Medford High School were listed in the U.S. News and World Report's Best High Schools rankings. The report looks at graduation rates, test scores, and the overall readiness for graduating students headed to college. "Last year our scholars program had about 133 kids that were sent to college while in high schooland we paid for their college credits, getting them right onto the college campus, right in high school. We paid for 2800 college credits last year for our students we had seven students graduate with their associates degree already paid for right out of high school," said Sheryl Zimmerer, the Executive Director of Logos Public Charter School. Logos received a Bronze rating from U.S. News, with a graduation rate of 91 percent, Reading proficiency of 76 percent, and Mathematics proficiency of 42 percent. Logos student test scores ranked higher than both the district and state averages. "This year our valedictorian has a 4.7 GPA and he has an associates degree that he will graduate with when he graduates and hes only 16 years old. Hell be 17 going into college in the fall as a junior," said Zimmerer. This is the second award that the Logos Public Charter School has won this year. Back in the fall they were named as one of the best non-profits to work for in the state of Oregon by the Oregon Business Magazine. Zimmerer says that by introducing high school student to college courses it eases the transition after graduation. "One of the things that sometimes 18-year-olds get nervous about when they get done with high school is 'What am I going to do?' and it seems like such a huge decision, 'What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?' If we start that process in high school they really get used to the campus and they feel like this is just the next step, it's not some huge decision." For other kids, the early introduction allows them to become comfortable with the idea. "It really helps kids to realize that its okay to go to college, its a good thing and we can get some credits and its paid for," said Zimmerer. South Medford High also received a Bronze rating, with a graduation rate of 88 percent, Reading proficiency of 73 percent, and Mathematics proficiency of 39 percent. South Medford student test scores ranked higher than both the district and state averages. FILE - In this May 25, 2014 file photo, actress Emma Watson walks at Brown University in Providence, R.I. Emma and Liam were the most frequently chosen baby names for 2017. For the fourth year in a row, Emma was the top girl's name according to the annual list of the most popular baby names released by the Social Security Administration on Friday, May 11, 2018. Liam pushed last year's champ, Noah, to second to claim the top spot. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) Royal memorabilia on sale near Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Friday, May 11, 2018. All roads seem to lead to Windsor Castle, a magnificent fortress perched high on a hill topped by the royal standard when the queen is in residence. It is here Ai a favoured royal playground since William the Conqueror built the first structure here in 1070 Ai that the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will take place. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Ralph Goodale stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, April 26, 2018. Conservative MPs are calling for action against a Canadian-born, self-described terror recruit reported to be living in Toronto, but Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says he can't comment on the case for security reasons. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick La Malbaie Mayor Michel Couturier is shown in his office on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. When the limousines, security guards, helicopters and politicians leave Quebec's Charlevoix region after next month's 44th annual G7 summit, its citizens will benefit from a significant technological legacy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz Berikut beberapa tips bermain togel singapore.. Jika Anda adalah pemain lotre pertama yang menemukan trik untuk melakukan lotre di Singapura, berikut adalah beberapa trik paling populer. Karena ada bandar taruhan online, bermain game lotere jauh lebih berpengalaman. Taruhan taruhan online adalah layanan perjudian virtual. Bermain permainan togel melalui layanan taruhan online memiliki banyak fitur. 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The allegations include an LGBTQ student being forced to read the Bible, and extend to whether LGBTQ students were discriminated against after reporting sexual harassment. The allegations are detailed in a March 6 letter from the Oregon Department of Education to District Superintendent Bill Yester. The district wrote in a statement that the allegations occurred over the course of several years, "most of which had not been brought to the district's attention." BEND, Ore. -- Deschutes County Sheriffs Office deputies located a missing one-year-old boy Thursday in forest land off China Hat Road. Deputies responded at about 6:17 a.m. to the 21100 block of Sholes Road, south of Bend, where a man had come out of the woods asking for law enforcement, according to a news release from the sheriffs office. Brandon M. Blouin, 25, said that he, an eighteen-year-old woman and their son, Bradley Michael Thomas, had been staying in a vehicle in the forest land north of China Hat Road near milepost 3. The woman walked away, and after waiting for her to return, Blouin took Bradley with him in search for the woman. During his search, he set the child down in the forest and left him. Blouin is believed to have been under the influence of a controlled substance at the time. DCSO detectives and patrol personnel, ground and horseback searchers, and drones and helicopters with thermal image sensors assisted in the search. A detective located Bradley, naked and laying in the dirt, at around 12:11 p.m. about 1 mile from the familys vehicle. The boy was transferred into the care of medical personnel on scene. Blouin was arrested on charges of Criminal Mistreatment I, Child Neglect II, Endangering the Welfare of a Minor, and Assault III. The assault charge stems from an injury that authorities believe Bradley suffered while in Blouins care. Blouin is in police custody at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. The investigation is ongoing. EUGENE, Ore. -- The Mother's Day Powwow at the University of Oregon received a new honor for its 50th anniversary. The powwow, which is the oldest off-reservation powwow in Oregon, has been designated as an Oregon Heritage Tradition by the Oregon Heritage Commission. The Mother's Day Powwow started in 1969 as a way for the Native American Student Union (NASU) to help indigenous students strengthen cultural values while at the university and to support educational success of the Native American community. Photo by Isa Zito. Photo by Isa Zito. Over the years, NASU members decided that the UO's powwow should honor the contributions of all mothers and set the annual date for Mother's Day weekend. "For Native Americans, mothers are life givers. It's pretty funny because Europeans came across and ethnographers came through, and they wanted to talk to the chiefs, but it was really mothers who were most important in our culture and within our societies," said Jason Younker, Coquille Tribal member. Over 8,000 participants are expected to attend the three-day, family-friendly event, including Native American alumni who gather to honor the graduating students. The powwow kicks of Friday, May 11, at 6 p.m. with a parade to McArthur Court. Grand entry is scheduled at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at McArthur Court. The Mother's Day Salmon Fest is Sunday, May 13, at 12 p.m. at the Many Nations Longhouse at 1630 Columbia Street in Eugene. All events are free. @KnightOfSappho Well, clearly, she makes the initial choice upon which everything else stems from. Then, the young life is quickly developing from that point onward, and it is not clear when sentience is achieved. It would seem only just to give the young life the benefit of the doubt as to when that point occurs. Thus, if a girl/woman gets pregnant and is not at all prepared for it (1) recognize, understand, & accept the irresponsibility in what led up to the situation (2) act swiftly before the young life really starts to take hold, after which point it is by no means whatever just the woman's body at stake. FOREST CITY, Iowa A North Iowa teen is getting probation for a police chase that ended with him crashing into a building. Andrew Maurice Youngers, 18 of Forest City, pleaded guilty to eluding, operating a motor vehicle without the owners consent, and six counts of 3rd degree burglary. Hes been sentenced to two years of probation and must pay restitution to his victims. Youngers was charged with 18 crimes after a series of vehicle break-ins in Forest City and Fertile in April and May of 2017. He was arrested after a police chase on May 7, 2017, where Youngers crashed into the Manufacturing Bank and Trust building in Forest City. OSAGE, Iowa A man is pleading not guilty to burglarizing a rural Mitchell County home. Dustin William Hall, 37 of Osage, is charged with 3rd degree burglary. He was arrested on April 19 after the Mitchell County Sheriffs Office was called to the 3000 block of Hickory Avenue on a report of suspicious activity. A deputy says he saw Hall on the roof of a house with an open window on the second floor and a window screen on the ground. The deputy says cash and gift cards were found in Halls pockets. The deputy also says Hall was covered with mud and gravel and muddy, gravel footprints were found throughout the home. Halls trial is set to begin on June 6. CLARION, Iowa - In a time where school safety is being discussed heavily, one father of a student who was killed in her classroom is emphasizing the need for a safety plan in schools. On September 27, 2006, a gunman entered Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, and held seven girls hostage. After several tense hours, the gunman shot and killed Emily Keyes. Now 12 years later, her father, John-Michael Keyes, travels the country hoping to prevent other parents from ever feeling this kind of loss. "The word inconceivable is used, but few people have a visceral understanding of it. None of it seemed real. Think about it, this can't happen here, but it can happen here, it's happening somewhere everyday, I guess," Keyes says. Since that time, he and his wife Ellen have been in charge of the "I Love U Guys Foundation", which carries with it a deeper meaning. "While my daughter Emily was held hostage, she was able to send a text message saying 'I love u guys', and that's what we based the name of our foundation on," Keyes adds. The foundation's focus is on how schools, departments and agencies can better protect their students and staff through program development. Wright County Emergency Management Coordinator James Lester says that in light of recent events, it's important now more than ever to have an updated plan in place. "Those plans are a living document. It's not something you can go out and create that plan and let it sit on the shelf and say we have a plan. It needs to be constantly talked about, constantly fine tuned, and practiced," Lester says. Keyes agrees, saying plans must adjust according to the situation at hand. "We've got to continuously evolve our practices. This isn't a static planning process, it's an ongoing planning process," Keyes adds. One aspect of an emergency plan is the reunification between a parent and student, and is something that is key in developing protocol. "Most schools do have safety plans. The reunification portion is a void, and we've got a ton of materials online, at no cost, that can help fill that void both in planning and in training," Keyes says. WASHINGTON (AP) The political battle over President Donald Trump's judicial nominees escalated on Thursday when the Senate took the rare step of confirming the nomination of a Wisconsin attorney to serve as a federal judge despite the objections of one of his home-state senators. The Senate voted along party lines to confirm Milwaukee attorney Michael Brennan to fill an opening on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The tally was 49-46. The seat has been open for more than eight years, the longest for the nation's appellate courts. The Senate gives lawmakers a chance to weigh in on a judicial nominee from their home state by submitting a blue-colored form called the "blue slip." A positive blue slip signals the Senate to move forward with the nomination process. A negative blue slip, or withholding it altogether, signals a senator's objection and almost always stalls the nomination. Until this year, it had been nearly three decades since the Senate confirmed a judge without two positive blue slips. Brennan's confirmation marked the second time it has happened this year. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., declined to return her blue slip. The move to go ahead with a hearing for Brennan and a vote on the floor had Democrats complaining that Republicans were eroding one of the few remaining customs in the Senate that forced consultation on judicial nominations. They also noted that Republicans used the blue slip to block one of President Barack Obama's nominees for the very same judgeship. Chuck Schumer "I'd admonish my friends on the other side of the aisle, this is a very dangerous road you're treading," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "As everyone knows, the winds of political change blow swiftly in America. The minority one day is the majority the next." The warning was reminiscent of the one that Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell issued when Democrats changed the rules to lower the threshold necessary to end a filibuster for district and circuit court judges. Under the change, the Senate can cut off debate with a simple majority rather than 60 votes. At the time, the Kentucky Republican said, "You'll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think." Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Democrats' complaints were based on an incorrect understanding of the blue slip's history. "The blue slip courtesy is just that a courtesy," Grassley said. He said past chairmen of the committee had rarely used negative or unreturned blue slips as unilateral vetoes. The most recent exception was Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who was chairman during the first six years of Obama's presidency. "That was his prerogative," Grassley said. Still, Democrats counter that the blue slip has been in use for more than a century, and until this year, only a handful of judges had won confirmation without two blue slips. Grassley said that under his tenure, the blue slip will be used to ensure the president consults with home-state senators, but not as a veto for appellate court nominees. He said he was satisfied in Brennan's case that the White House consulted with both of Wisconsin's senators before the president nominated him. Republicans have made it a priority to confirm the president's nominees, particularly those who will serve on federal appeals courts. It's a top issue with social conservatives leading into this year's midterm elections. With Democrats slow-walking many of Trump's nominees, McConnell said last October that the blue slip process should not be used to "blackball" nominees. For Democrats, it was particularly galling that Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., used his blue slip to object to Obama nominee Victoria Nourse to serve on the 7th Circuit. She eventually withdrew from consideration. "It's an appalling double standard," Schumer said. Johnson said more than 1 million of the state's residents had voted for him, and he had no role whatsoever in the nomination of Nourse, "so I decided not to return the blue slip." He said he does not believe the blue slip should be used as an absolute veto, though. "The blue slip from my standpoint should primarily be used just as the advice and consent of one senator expressing an opinion on a judge from their state," Johnson said. Republicans went ahead with a committee hearing and a vote for David Stras of Minnesota to serve as a circuit judge earlier this year despite one of his home-state senators, former Democratic Sen. Al Franken, declining to return his blue slip. But Franken resigned about four weeks before the Stras confirmation vote. The Senate has confirmed 35 of Trump's judicial nominees so far, and Republicans are anxious to keep going. "I have pleaded with McConnell to work nights, to work Saturdays and weekends, and put the pressure on the Democrats. And we've got to have every Republican around and even cancel a recess so we can clear the calendar of these important nominees," Grassley said during an appearance on "The Hugh Hewitt Show." Democrats on the Judiciary Committee issued a report after the vote voicing their alarm about the pace of confirmations. They said Trump will likely secure confirmation for 21 circuit court nominees in less than 16 months in office. By comparison, it took Obama 33 months to secure that many circuit court confirmations. "President Trump and Senate Republicans have been rushing nominees through the Senate at a breakneck pace by changing the process for consideration and eliminating traditions that had been followed for over a century," the Democrats said. The focus on circuit judges by both sides reflects their critical role. The Supreme Court generally hears arguments in fewer than 100 cases a year while the circuit courts hear thousands of cases. FORT MYERS, Florida A Minnesota woman is pleading not guilty to a Florida killing. Lois Ann Riess, 56 of Blooming Prairie, entered not guilty pleas Thursday to charges of 2nd degree murder with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, grand theft, and criminal use of personal identification information. Riess is accused of murdering Pamela Hutchinson in April, stealing her car and cash, and using Hutchinsons identity. Riess is also expected to be prosecuted for the murder of her husband David in Blooming Prairie in March when her Florida case is completed. For previous coverage of this story, click here, here, or here. EAGLE GROVE, Iowa - The Prestage pork plant that's being built near Eagle Grove is getting closer to completion, especially now that crews don't have to deal with any snow on the ground. The $240 million facility is located about 6 miles south of town at the intersection of Highway 17 and 320th Street, and is expected to be completed by this Fall. Once completed, the plant is expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs to the area in southern Wright County, as well as new businesses, a new hotel, and new housing to this town of 3,400 people. Mickey Cooper is the owner of Eagle Grove Pharmacy, and says that the plant is welcomed in the community and will fit in with the area well. "Wright County is very agriculture, and so it really fits in with what we have here very much. The communities around us are very ag-related, we're used to ag, and to us, it's no big deal," Cooper says. The town has already taken some steps in anticipation of future growth. Last August, the elementary school began construction on a 13,000 sq. ft. addition in order to hold more students. Cooper adds that the owners of the company care deeply about the community, and has met with them personally. "Jere Null, their COO, lives here in town. He takes part in all the activities we have here going on. I just feel like they want to make sure it works for us as well as it works for them. I really enjoyed it," Cooper says. Prestage is the same company that tried to build a plant near Mason City two years ago. However, on May 4, 2016, after months of strong vocal opposition and a lengthy public forum that led well into the early-morning hours, the city council voted the project down in a 3-3 tie. A majority vote was needed for that measure to pass. ROCHESTER, Minn.- You may not need a 4 year degree to nab that future job. U.S. Senator Tina Smith is pushing to make workforce training a reality for some. We spoke to Dave Ness, a local carpenter without a college degree. Ness works at a construction company and tells us he's found success doing what he loves. He supports Senator Smith's efforts to help minnesotans secure careers in high demand fields. I think there's been kind of a stigma that there's not good money in those professions and there is, said Ness. Senator Smith's proposal encourages partnerships between schools and businesses, like the one where Ness works. The goal is to give hands on training to those interested in careers like IT or healthcare, it also helps job seekers avoid potentially costly college tuition. MASON CITY, Iowa- Assisted living homes are typically viewed as a calm and safe place, but it is not immune to a threat or act of violence. That is why Katie Byerly, the Assistant Director of Nursing at Good Shepherd wants to be prepared. We train our staff on active shooters so were always aware of anything that might be going on in our building and how staff will be able to respond, she said. Byerly says Good Shepherd employs around 300 staff members who help assist 200 resident. Thats a lot of people to keep safe. While she has never encountered violence in her work place before, she works to prevent it. Were looking at changes in society and our nursing home and different employees that come and go in different family members that come and go, she said. It's very important that we are able to recognize any threats that might happen. Which is why she is attending a course Thursday on how to identify behaviors of those who might be a threat before its too late. John Halbrook works with Safe Guard Iowa Partnership and teams up with local law enforcement agencies to educate them on what to look for. We're looking for things that put people into an ideological situation where they think violence is an acceptable answer and we want to identify those people earl, Halbrook said. While he says gun violence and active shooter training are what many agencies are asking for help with after a number of shootings in the last several years. He says putting a master plan together should be everyones first priority. If you have a fire in your building or you have a medical emergency in your building you've got a good foundation to work for him then what you have in place then you can talk about specific hazards, he said. And Byerly says she hopes to teach her staff in the near future. I am planning on having an in-service plan next week, she said. KIMT News 3 - Amy Mitchell, from Lincoln Elementary School in Osage, still can't believe she's being honored twice from one of our weekly Golden Apple Award winners to the Teacher of the Year. To be recognized for something that you just love to do is just wonderful, Mitchell said. Related: Meet the six Teacher of the Year candidates. Mitchell won the award because of the nomination from the mother of one of her students. We told you back in November the story of how Mitchell decided to learn sign language for her student, Izzy, who is deaf. In my 40's, I never thought Id be learning sign language, it's a beautiful language. With Izzy, who Im working with, she's teaching me. Im teaching her so don't be afraid, Mitchell said. Each teacher being recognized this year for winning the Golden Apple is going about teaching in their own unique way, and when asked why they do what they do, it all goes back to the kids. They have so much energy, so willing to learn, there's not a day that goes by that i'm amazed, Mitchell said. MASON CITY, Iowa- On Thursday, the Iowa Department of Public Health released new information regarding a number of Pertussis cases they confirmed through an investigation at Mason City Schools and the McDonalds on South Federal Ave. It said many of the seven confirmed cases are high school-aged kids, and that is something that has some like Kimberly McKnight concerned. McKnight has a son who attends Hoover School in Mason City. The Department say the disease, also known as whooping cough, is spread from person to person if an infected individual comes in contact with someone else. They say it can be passed on by coughing or sneezing on someone. McKnight says she doesnt want to have to worry about getting sick herself. Whats really going through my head is that Im scared to talk to people now because I dont know if they have the virus or not, she said. We reached out to McDonalds Corporate Office regarding the incident. They released this statement: "The health and well-being of my customers and employees is my highest priority, and I am working closely with the Cerro Gordo County Health Department to investigate the matter." - Nancy Carroll, McDonald's Owner/Operator. belief belief LOLLook at the source, a foreign government owned & operated entity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC Seems like a conflict of interests, to me, for some foreign government owned & operated entity to be criticizing the US government (NASA is a US government entity).Personally I neither trust nor care what some foreign government controlled media outlet has to say, especially when it's the Redcoats.The Redcoats don't have freedom of speech & BTW look at what they're up to now:Notice that part of the "offenses" it lists is "religion or." This AGW alarmism stuff is ain what's going to happen as a result of human activity - not in the immediate future, but in the distant future.This OP article actually claims not only that human activity will cause an increase in global temperatures by 2.1C to 4.7C by the year 2100, but that with US pledge it's 3.3C & without it it's 3.6C. This is a belief, not a fact; a fact is something that was observed and happened in the past, not something being predicted.Anyhow, there seems to be a false dilemma fallacy at play, here; it's another belief that if the government doesn't fund something, then it can't be done. Or maybe it's not that; maybe it's that if the government doesn't fund it, then that means the government has banned what it specifically cut funding from, from taking place. That may be the case in places like Redcoatland, but not right now in the US; for example, any organization is free to do whatever study they wish. David Ljunggren, Anthony Esposito WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new NAFTA trade deal to give the current Congress a chance of passing it, while Mexicos top trade official on Thursday said time was running short to meet such a deadline. Ryan, who controls legislation in the House of Representatives, set his deadline in remarks delivered on Wednesday to the Ripon Society in Washington and publicized on Thursday. Under the fast track trade negotiating law, there are lengthy notification periods before U.S. President Donald Trump could sign a new North American Free Trade Agreement and before Congress could begin considering it. Letting negotiations drag on much longer would punt consideration to a new Congress elected in November that will take office in January 2018, one that could cede more control to Democrats. We have to have the paper not just an agreement, we have to have the paper from USTR by May 17 for us to vote on it this year, in December, in the lame duck session, Ryan said. A spokeswoman for Ryan said that he was referring to a notification of intent to sign the NAFTA agreement, not necessarily the full text. Major differences remain between the three members of NAFTA after more than eight months of largely slow-moving negotiations launched at the insistence of President Trump, who wants major changes to the 1994 pact. FRIDAY INDICATION Mexicos Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said he expected to learn by the end of Friday whether a new deal was possible. He and his counterparts have been meeting in Washington since Monday to try to bridge major gaps. I think we will be finding out through the day and tomorrow ... if we really have what it takes to be able to land these things in the short run, Guajardo told Reuters. A source close to the talks said it was possible that Guajardo, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland could extend their meetings into the weekend. A USTR spokeswoman declined comment while a Freeland spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Guajardo told Reuters that we have suitcases for two weeks if necessary. This weeks talks hit an obstacle as the United States and Mexico sought to settle differences over the key issue of automobiles. Mexico obviously is here in order to negotiate the best agreement for Mexican workers and consumers. It will take as long as it will take, Mexican deputy economy minister Juan Carlos Baker told reporters late in the day. But Ryan expressed skepticism that a deal could be reached in time and noted that several major issues remained unresolved, such as U.S. demands for more access to Canadas dairy market and to make an investment dispute arbitration system optional. There are a handful of unresolved issues and Im just not I dont want to make news, but well see if they can get this done by May 17 and get us the paper to Congress, which then we could have this vote in December, Ryan said. If they cant, then we wont. Trump regularly threatens to walk away from NAFTA, underscoring uncertainty over the pact. Business executives complain that the lack of clarity is hitting investment. CANADA MORE UPBEAT Freeland, however, struck a more optimistic tone. Speaking to reporters after meetings with U.S. legislators on Capitol Hill, she sidestepped questions as to when an agreement might be reached but said the three nations had made a lot of progress since Monday. She is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT) on Friday. Mexico has launched a counterproposal to U.S. demands to toughen automotive industry content rules and boost wages. Trump blames cheaper wages in Mexico for manufacturing job losses in the United States. Many other major issues crucial to a deal are still unresolved, including U.S. demands for a five-year sunset clause, and elimination of settlement panels for trade disputes. After meeting with Lighthizer on Thursday, Guajardo told reporters that the talks were not just covering autos. You cannot think that in a process of negotiations were going to solve one item without reviewing the overall balance of the agreement, he said. Were going over all the items. Its very important to stress that. Writing by David Lawder and David Ljunggren; editing by Nick Zieminski and Phil Berlowitz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday said there was a long to-do list to finish a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but that talks were making progress. The negotiation will take as long as it takes to get a good deal, Freeland said after a trilateral meeting in Washington among Mexico, the United States and Canada. We have been making good, meaningful, solid progress and I anticipate that progress will continue in the coming days. She said ministers would return to their home countries while Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said technical groups would keep working next week. (Kitco News) - Although zinc prices have dropped from their recent five-year highs, the market dynamics are not expected to shift anytime soon and with little new production on the horizon, the focus is returning to Ireland, a leading jurisdiction in the base-metals space. Despite being one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world, Ireland has not been a major focal point in the mining sector, until now. A new breed of junior explorers is active on the island as they say there is still plenty of zinc mineral potential as technology brings new opportunities. Photo courtesy of Boliden: Tara is the last operating zinc mine in Ireland John Kearney, chairman and CEO of the private mining company Buchans Resources has a long history of zinc mining in Ireland. To start his career, he joined an Irish mining group who rasied capital in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s and were credited with finding the first modern mines in the country in 100 years. Europes largest zinc mine Boliden Tara continues to operate after 41 years and producing more than 85 million tonnes of zinc. Kearneys new company is expected to go public in mid-2018 as a new breed of junior explorers that are breaths new life into the country and the sector. In the last two years we have seen a major influx of junior companies into the country, he said. These companies are bringing new ideas, new technology and excitement to the sector. Group Eleven Resources is one of the new Canadian-listed junior explorers looking for the next deposit in Ireland. G11 went public in late 2017, but as a private company, it managed to raise $12 million, including $5m on its IPO. Bart Jaworski, CEO of G11 Resources, said that he is excited to be in the zinc space. Although the market has lost some of its excitement since the start of the year when prices were at a multi-year high, he said he doesnt see any significant shift in the supply and demand outlook to damage the markets current uptrend. There has not been a lot of exploration dollars put into the ground for zinc exploration and Ireland is a great example. The country went from having three zinc mines to now only one and it only has about five years of mine life left according to its published reserve numbers, he said. If that is a reflection of what is happening worldwide, then that is fairly bullish for the zinc market. Not only is the market seeing falling supply, but Jaworski said that he expects demand to continue to grow. Although the ongoing threat of a global trade war is weighing on sentiment, he noted that global growth remains strong and will continue to support base metal prices. We have passed the worst of the bear market even as the market has cooled off a little bit, he said. G11 is currently working to develop its two flagship properties, Ballinalack and Stonepark. Jaworski added that not only is G11 focused on expanding its resources, but it is also looking at rewriting Irelands geology. Jaworski said that, for example, there is some evidence that the geology is similar to deposits discovered in Mexico. While we have some short-term goals, long-term is about generating exciting new ideas on what could be happening in the country and where that could lead in drill target generation in the future, he said. Michael Hudson, director and chairman of Hanna Metals also said that this is an exciting time for junior explorers in Ireland because land, which over the years has been tightly controlled by major zinc producers, is finally starting to be available for exploration. The majors are starting to step back, so Ireland is becoming a hotspot of activity for explorers. Juniors now have a foothold on the island for the first time in many years, he said. The company is currently developing two properties, its Clare project and Kilbricken project. He added that the key for junior miners is to embrace innovative ideas like seismic testing, which allows companies to delve deeper under the surface. The first 200 meters of Ireland have been thoroughly explored over the years, but we dont know what is under that and that is where we see potential, he said. Seismic testing is going to unravel the potential within Ireland. Not only does Ireland have a rich history of zinc projection but Hudson said that being a developed country, it has the infrastructure and the rule of law that are supportive of mining. On the government side, Hudson noted that the state has a can-do attitude. In 2017, according to the Fraser Institute Ireland, for the fifth year in a row Ireland had the highest score in the studys Policy Perception Index, which measures the effects of government policy on attitudes toward exploration investment. In total Ireland was ranked fourth in 2017 as one of the worlds top mining jurisdictions. Hudson added that the countrys developed infrastructure means ultimately lower a mining companys capital expenditures and leads to a faster return on investment. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexicos Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday that there will be a trilateral NAFTA meeting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time with his U.S. and Canadian counterparts, even as he warned against rushing a new deal. I have to make very clear (that) the quality of the agreement and the balance of the agreement has to be maintained. So we are not going to sacrifice balance and quality for time, Guajardo told reporters on the doorsteps of the U.S. Trade Representatives office. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new North American Free Trade Agreement to give the current Congress a chance of passing it, but Mexicos top trade official said time was running short to meet such a deadline. FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA NASA 2018 Student Launch Competition winners include two Nashville universities On April 8, the usually quiet fields of Bragg Farms in North Alabama transformed into a small spaceport as nearly 50 teams from 23 states launched their student-built rockets in the annual Student Launch competition. Image by NASA WASHINGTON - The results of NASAs 2018 Student Launch competition are tabulated, and the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab team from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, claims top honors, which includes a check for $5,000 from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center industry partner Orbital ATKs Propulsion Systems Division of Promontory, Utah. Vanderbilts first-place finish is the teams fourth win in the last five years. Student Launch is an annual competition that challenges competing student teams to propose, design, build and test a reusable rocket that flies to 1 mile in altitude, deploys a recovery system and returns safely to the ground, while carrying a payload of scientific or engineering value. The top 10 in the 2018 competition are: 1. Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 2. 49er Rocketry Team, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina 3. River City Rocketry, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 4. Long Beach Rocketry, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California 5. Cornell Rocketry Team, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 6. Oregon State Rocketry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 7. Cal Poly Pomona Rocketry, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Pomona, California 8. Bison Ballistics, Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee 9. Carnegie Mellon Rocket Command, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh 10. Notre Dame Rocket Team, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana UNC-Charlottes second place finish earns them $2,500 from the National Space Club Huntsville. The teams compete in 10 categories ranging from payload design to educational engagement. A full run-down of this years category winners can be found here. As NASA builds its next deep-space exploration rocket, the Space Launch System, it is important to inspire and help grow the next generation of engineers and explorers. Student Launch provides an opportunity for students to conduct research while also gaining invaluable workforce training, said Katie Wallace, Student Launch manager. Its exciting to see the teams ideas and originality during the competition. Completing its 18th year of competition, Student Launch creates a realistic experience over an eight-month period for middle school, high school and college and university students that simulates the proposal, design, review, test and operational lifecycle of an engineering system. Marshall's Academic Affairs Office manages Student Launch to further NASAs major education goal of attracting and encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics STEM. NASAs Office of Education and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, as well as Orbital ATKs Propulsion Systems Division, and the Huntsville chapter of the National Space Club provide funding and leadership for the initiative. WGU Tennessee quickly climbs list of private, nonprofit colleges Bill Haslam - Governor Haslam speaks at WGU Tennessees 2017 commencement ceremony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center -- Image courtesy of WGU NASHVILLE WGU Tennessee the nonprofit, online university launched as part of Gov. Bill Haslams Drive to 55 effort has reached 4,000 enrolled students after less than five years in the state, making it the fifth-largest private, nonprofit college in Tennessee (based on full-time enrollment). The number signifies a 400 percent increase in enrollment since WGU launched in Tennessee in July of 2013. Reaching 4,000 enrolled students is a major accomplishment for WGU Tennessee, said Dr. Kimberly K. Estep, WGU Tennessee chancellor. Governor Haslam brought us on board to make higher education more accessible in our state, and were doing just that. WGU Tennessee has reached several other milestones, including: Exceeding 2,700 graduates statewide Having active students in 92 of 95 counties Awarding more than $1.5 million in scholarships to Tennesseans Establishing partnerships with more than 50 corporate and nonprofit organizations, including all 13 Tennessee community colleges, to increase access and affordability for their members In addition to these accomplishments, WGU Tennessee has stayed true to its student-focused principles by providing a flexible and affordable option to working adults who want to return to school. WGU Tennessee aims to alleviate the financial burden of higher education for its students making it unique among higher education institutions in Tennessee. In July, the university will celebrate its five-year anniversary, which coincides with the five-year anniversary of Drive to 55. The initiative, which seeks to equip 55 percent of Tennesseans with postsecondary certificates by 2025, is two years ahead of schedule, according to Haslam. About WGU Tennessee WGU Tennessee is an online, nonprofit, competency-based university established to expand Tennesseans access to higher education throughout the state. Formed through a partnership between the state of Tennessee and nationally recognized Western Governors University, WGU Tennessee is open to all qualified Tennessee residents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the high-demand career fields of business, K12 teacher education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing. Degrees are granted under the accreditation of Western Governors University, which is accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Teachers College programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Published May 11, 2018 By Yoon Ja-young The financial regulator confirmed some hiring irregularities at Shinhan Financial Group, including special favor given to children of its executives in recruitment. Its former top executives as well as ranking officials and influential politicians also lobbied it to hire candidates who had a connection with them. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Friday that it found a total of 22 irregularities in Shinhan's recruitment process following a month-long probe. It had been probing Shinhan Bank as well as its credit card, capital and life insurance businesses regarding recruitment. Shinhan Bank was involved in 12 irregularities, while the regulator found four problematic cases in the credit card business and six in the life insurance arm. The probe follows allegations of hiring irregularities at a number of banks including KEB Hana, Woori and Kookmin, which triggered much anger among young jobseekers and their families amid a record-high youth unemployment. While banks have become one of the most preferred workplaces among young jobseekers thanks to high salaries and job stability, it turns out that they gave special favors to job applicants who have ties with bank executives, top-tier customers, politicians, and ranking government officials. The financial regulator also found that Shinhan violated laws in recruitment. Shinhan Card, for instance, publicly announced that there will be no restriction on age, but it turned out that it automatically dropped candidates aged over 33. Shinhan Card also set the ratio of males and females to be hired to seven to three, from the initial stage of resume screening through the interview and the final stage of hiring. In the case of Shinhan Bank, it gave special favor to jobseekers related with former top executives, children of a media owner, or nephew of a former ranking government official. While these candidates either fell short of its internal resume screening standards such as maximum age or got the poorest evaluation during an interview, they were all hired by the bank. They were recommended by influential figures such as politicians, FSS officials or executives. Children of Shinhan executives also got hired, despite low GPAs that fell short of the resume screening standards or poor performance at the interview. At Shinhan Card, a child of the group executive passed the screening despite a substandard resume and successfully got a job at Shinhan though some interviewers had pointed to the interviewee's "strange attitude" and "unorganized presentation." The financial regulator said that it will refer the cases to the prosecution for further investigation. Grand Hyatt Taipei, center, stands next to the country's tallest skyscraper Taipei 101 on its left. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei By Kim Jae-heun TAIPEI _ Five-star hotels are not hard to find in metropolitan cities around the world. They all offer the finest dining and quality room services to rich guests. Grand Hyatt Taipei is no different as it owns nine fancy restaurants and bars offering a variety of international specialties and local favorites. Twenty-four-hour room service is the norm. The Grand Hyatt Taipei offers a Michelin guide recommended gourmet steakhouse "Bel Air Bar & Grill. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei However, Grand Hyatt Taipei is somewhat special compared to other luxury Hyatt hotels, including the corporation's other branch hotels around the world. The luxury hotel first came into the site of what is now the fancy business district of Xinyi in 1988. "The hotel opened in 1990, when there weren't any modern buildings established in the Xinyi district. I remember Grand Hyatt Taipei standing tall alone in the undeveloped town. The new City Hall opened next door in 1994. You can say Grand Hyatt lived with the modern history here," said Paul Ou, marketing communications manager of Grand Hyatt Taipei. The Grand Hyatt Taipei has an outdoor swimming pool; part of the hotel's "Club Oasis" facility. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei As the local government began to develop Xinyi into a business district, many shopping malls and convention centers were built near the luxury hotel, including the Taipei World Financial Center, which is better known as Taipei 101. Grand Hyatt Taipei connects via bridges to 12 adjacent commercial centers. "You can walk to the department stores without going outside. They are all connected to the hotel. Taipei 101 is also connected. The observatory deck in the skyscraper is the most popular tourist attraction here. Our guests can walk to the venue from their rooms _ building to building," Ou said. The guests staying at Grand Hyatt Taipei can also enjoy easy access to nearby tourist attractions, historic landmarks, ancient temples and museums. "It is the biggest advantage for a hotel to stand at the heart of the capital, where many tourist destinations are concentrated. You can go to any of them within 30 minutes of walking distance," Ou added. A Grand Executive View Suite room at the Grand Hyatt Taipei is seen in this picture. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei Grand Hyatt Taipei has 850 rooms, including the recently renovated guestrooms designed with a residential touch. The previous guestrooms at the hotel were focused on providing a business-friendly environment. However, the hotel decided to go through renovation in 2016 to provide a "personal sanctuary" for guests. The hotel has the exclusive Grand Club on the 22nd floor in its 27-story building. The hotel's private lounge offers a complimentary breakfast for VIP guests, who want to avoid busy and boisterous cafe on the first floor. A guest receives a massage at the Oasis Spa facility at the Grand Hyatt Taipei in Taiwan. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei By Janet Shin Referring to the saju of global leaders, is there any determining factor associated with their leadership styles and their relationships? I have read the saju of many global figures, such as the G-20's comtemporary successful and unsuccessful presidents, historical leaders, dictators and spiritual leaders including some religious gurus, to find a certain tendency in their inclinations, destinies and tendencies of times. Knowing that one symbolic letter, the stem of one's birthday, represents the master of the saju, we may simply draw inferences from the characteristics of yin, yang and the five elements. First of all, we may consider yang to have stronger leadership over the yin. And among the five elements, fire would make a leader as yang fire represents the sun. Others may also consider yang wood which pursues growth or metal as it represents the power of weapons and authority. It is a correct assumption when it comes to traditional leadership. Napoleon Bonaparte, a military leader during the French Revolutionary Wars, had a yang wood day master. Kim Dae-jung, the 15thpresident of Korea, and Adolf Hitler had the yang fire day masters, and Yi Sun-sin, a naval commander during the 1592-98 Imjin War had a yang metal day master. Interestingly, this postulation needs changing with regard to contemporary politics. Most current leaders, especially influencial presidents, have yin day masters. If we talk about yin and yang, the two terms expressing contrastive and correlative categories in Asian philosophy, there are two different perceptions. One is recognized by Confucianist to put yang above yin so that yin must follow and conform to yang. The other is Taoist thought to praise the virtue of yin or put more emphasis on yin. Yang is generally regarded as something stronger and an initiator while yin follows and raises what yang created. Yet the importance lies in their correlative relationship as yang embraces yin and vice versa. Global eyes watched the North-South Korean summit in Panmunjeom on April 27. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met at the Peace House to talk about the promising future of the Korean Peninsula, peace, prosperity and unification. It aroused worldwide attention because it involved a nuclear risk having been provoked by North Korea and the issue of the only divided country in the world, which would be eliminated. Looking at the broadcasts, most people would have concentrated on its political and historical significance and the contents of the Panmunjeom Declaration, while others were more interested in the two leaders' facial expressions, body gestures and locution in order to read the hidden sincerity. Some were even intrigued by the food, Pyongyang-style cold noodles, they ate. For me obviously, their saju and the energy interaction among them with the correlative energy of this year's environmental factor are the most concerning matters. Talking about the day masters, Donald Trump, the current president of the United States, Moon Jae-in, Kim Jong-un and even Xi Jinping, the current leader of China, all have yin day masters even though the specifics are different. What it implies is that the dymanics in contemporary political relationships are changing from hardness to pliability, from strength to flexibility and from ideology to sensitivity. Likewise, saju reading and its judgment are also changing, subject to the trends of the times. Information : Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teachings, the "Four Pillars of Destiny" and oriental ways of fortune telling or fortune tellers? Janet teaches Saju for the public at Seoul National University of Education. For further information, visit Janet's website at or her blog, .You can also contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin.kor@gmail.com The writer is the author of "Life's Secrets". U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, May 9, 2018. / AFP Trump promises to announce date, place 'within three days.' U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will announce the site for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un within three days and it will not be held at the demilitarized zone along the border between the two Koreas. "It will not be there," he told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House when asked if the planned meeting would be at the DMZ. "We're going to announce it within three days." Trump, who scrapped a visit to the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone due to bad weather during a visit last year, suggested in April that the DMZ would be an excellent venue for his summit with Kim. By Park Si-soo U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Trump tweeted. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Singapore almost 5,000 kilometers south of Pyongyang represents neutral turf for the two leaders. If the meeting goes ahead as announced, the Kim-Trump meeting will mark the first North Korea-U.S. summit talks since the 1950-53 Korean War that was suspended by an armistice deal, not an official peace treaty. Trump pauses as he speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday (local time). He said he had high hopes of "doing something very meaningful" to curtail North Korea's nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month. / AP U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had high hopes of "doing something very meaningful" to curtail North Korea's nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month, after Pyongyang smoothed the way for talks by freeing three American prisoners. The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader were announced by Trump on Twitter. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. He made the announcement after a U.S. government aircraft touched down at Joint Base Andrews near Washington carrying the Americans who were released by North Korea in a move to clear the way for the bilateral summit. The ex-prisoners are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-chul, who was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years' hard labor; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who taught for a month at a foreign-funded university before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak-song, who also taught there and was detained last year. North Korean state media said they were arrested for subversion or "hostile acts" against Pyongyang. Trump faces a difficult task persuading Kim to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests that heightened U.S.-North Korean tensions throughout 2017. The two men exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Korea's attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased, starting around the time of the North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. Trump greeted the freed Americans in the early morning hours. He said on their arrival that he believed Kim, who has led North Korea for seven years and is believed to be in his mid-30s, wanted to bring his country "into the real world." "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula." New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Pyongyang twice in recent weeks - once as head of the CIA - but there has been no sign he cleared up the central question of whether North Korea will be willing to bargain away nuclear weapons that its rulers have long seen as crucial to their survival. Trump is embarking on the meeting with Kim after announcing on Tuesday the United States was pulling out of a 2015 accord imposing international oversight of Iran's nuclear program. The move raised questions over whether North Korea might now be less inclined to negotiate its own nuclear deal with Washington. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke by telephone on Wednesday. The White House said they "affirmed" the shared goal of North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Japan worries it could be the target of any first use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang. An evening view of the highly anticipated U.S.-North Korea summit site / Reuters With the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula out of contention, the small nation of Singapore is a natural choice for the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, analysts say. Among the factors are its proximity to North Korea, the experience of its security forces, and the fact that Pyongyang has had diplomatic relations with the country since 1975. Trump announced in a tweet Thursday that the two leaders will meet in Singapore on June 12. The city is ''a great location'' for the summit, said Tom Plant, who specializes in nuclear and proliferation issues at London's Royal United Services Institute. ''Kim will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. But he wouldn't be on home turf,'' Plant said. Singapore is familiar ground for the reclusive communist country, which has its embassy in Singapore's central business district. Single-party rule since Singapore gained independence in 1965 has ensured stability and fostered a security state that is among the world's most efficient, although sometimes it is decried by civil libertarians as repressive. Located between two Muslim majority nations Malaysia and Indonesia with Islamic State group sympathizers, it has effectively checked terrorist threats. According to the U.S. State Department's report on human rights for 2017, Singapore's ''most significant human rights issues'' included caning as punishment imposed by the courts; preventive detention under various laws without warrant, filing of charges, or normal judicial review; monitoring private electronic or telephone communications without a warrant; significant restrictions on freedoms of assembly and expression, including for the press and online; the use of defamation laws to discourage criticism; laws and regulations significantly limiting freedom of association; and the criminalization of sexual activities between men, although the law was not enforced. North Korea's state companies have, in the past, conducted legal and illegal business dealings with Singapore companies. The city-state, under pressure from the U.S. and a leaked U.N. report, officially cut off trade relations with North Korea in 2017 to abide by sanctions. Singapore also is welcome ground for the United States. It is a large trading partner, the second-largest Asian investor, and a longtime supporter of its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. It's also the regional headquarters of large U.S. companies including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1966. ''The North Korean side will likely have a very large number of logistical and protocol issues it wants addressed by the summit venue, so having a (North Korean) embassy in the country where the summit is to be held is likely a requirement,'' said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. A news vendor counts her money near a stack of newspapers with a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un on its front page in Singapore, Friday. / AP People take photos of themselves at a tourist landmark overlooking the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore on March 4, 2014. / Reuters By Kim Jae-kyoung SINGAPORE Most Singaporeans are excited about their country hosting the upcoming historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. They believe that the summit, slated for June 12, will put Singapore in the global spotlight again and help solidify its status as a reliable international state. The responses came after President Trump said Thursday he would meet Kim Jong-un on June 12 in the Southeast Asian country to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "I'm very excited because it shows that Singapore has the international standing to host such important event," Chua Boon Ping, chief executive officer of SPH (Singapore Press Holdings) Media Fund, told The Korea Times. "This will give me a good opportunity to explain our historical background and the impact of this event to my daughter," he added. Dicky Goh, a media consultant, said, "As a Singaporean, I am glad that Singapore has been chosen to be the meeting venue due to our neutrality and geographic suitability. "If the summit leads to positive outcome I will have a sense of satisfaction, and maybe some pride, that our tiny nation has been able to play a small part in the process." Caitrin Moh, manager at the Korea Tourism Organization Singapore Office, believes that the summit will strengthen Singapore's status as as an "ideal mediation center" for countries' leaders' meetings. "Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world, yet the city state has gained recognition on the global stage," she said. "Our government has been heavily neutral in all political issues. From a layman's point of view, other countries view us as a reliable strategic partner for any global policies," she added. "This is another summit that will mark another important chapter in Singapore's history." On top of excitement, another feeling most Singaporeans share about hosting the Trump-Kim talks is pride. "This is a historic moment to foster peace and understanding," said Adeline Teo, Asia-Pacific regional head of marketing and communications at Vestas. Optimism rises over NK-US summit Korean-American CIA official plays role for Trump-Kim summit Ties with US, North Korea make Singapore optimum choice "Singapore has always maintained peace with everyone, all our neighbors and internationally. So as a Singaporean, I am proud that we have been chosen to enable this meeting." Irin Lin, a tourism expert, also feels proud. "Singapore has always been a neutral country and has acted in between countries as the bridge to link up communication," said Lin. "Hence today being the place for such historic meetings would also means a lot to us," she added. "We do feel proud should this historic meeting produce a positive outcome." Cheryl Ng, media relations manager at a global business school based in Singapore, concurred. "As a Singaporean, I feel really proud that our home country has emerged as a neutral meeting ground for this extraordinary meeting," she said. "It is the first time a U.S. President has agreed to sit down with a North Korean leader. I hope that the outcome of the meeting can be a positive step contributing towards world peace." Hopeful but cautious Regarding the outcome of the upcoming summit, many Singaporeans remain hopeful, but cautious at the same time. "I hope that the meeting leads to actions by all involved parties to stabilize the Korean Peninsula and the region. I am cautiously hopeful," said media consultant Goh. Ng of the global business school feels some excitement with added caution. "I'm not sure if it can lead to any positive breakthrough but still, it may be the start of further dialogue and engagement," she said. Tourism expert Lin said that she has mixed feelings about hearing the summit decision. John Delury, professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in central Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eun By Kim Bo-eun While it appears North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is ready to negotiate with the United States on denuclearization, pacing and verification of the process will be two highly contentious facets of the process, according to a North Korea expert. "These are about how quickly both sides can do what they need to do, and how the opposing sides can have confidence that each are doing what they are saying," said John Delury, professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, in an interview with The Korea Times. "Pacing will be hard, as the U.S. is posturing that denuclearization should be achieved as fast as possible while North Korea has been signaling the process should be phased. Verification will also be difficult given the reservoir of distrust that both sides have." Skeptics doubt whether North Korea will give up its nuclear program which the regime has built up for decades, but Delury said Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities may serve as a trade-off for a greater goal. "We have come to think the nukes are an end in itself and that the regime would never give them up, but that's not my assessment," he said. "For North Korea, its nuclear capability is a means to an even greater ambition _ for Kim to transform the country into a normal, wealthy North Korea." In order to show its willingness toward denuclearization, Kim would need to pledge some major steps in his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, the professor said. By Choi Ha-young Andrew Kim, head of the Korea Mission Center (KMC) under the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), appears to have played a leading role in coordinating the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for June 12. Kim accompanied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his meeting with Kim Jong-un, Wednesday, as seen in photos released by the North's state-controlled media. After the release of the photos, Seoul government officials confirmed the identity of the silver-haired man. He was sitting next to Pompeo, possibly to translate for him. Kim is fluent both in Korean and English. He retired from the CIA in early 2017 after serving as the chief of the CIA Seoul office. In May 2017, he was recruited by then CIA chief Pompeo, to lead the KMC. In a press release to announce the role of the KMC, Pompeo said the center aims to integrate and direct the CIA's efforts against serious threats from North Korea. The KMC is the first country-specific unit of the spy agency. By Kim Bo-eun Analysts are cautiously forecasting that the upcoming Pyongyang-Washington summit could produce a big deal on denuclearization, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned from Pyongyang with three Americans detained in North Korea and both of the nations showed satisfaction over the current process toward the summit. Pompeo brought back three U.S. prisoners, Thursday, who North Korea released a day earlier. This was a humanitarian issue Washington had consistently called for Pyongyang to resolve, and their release ahead of the summit is seen as an obstacle having been removed, raising prospects for real progress to be made on denuclearization. In addition, it seems Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came to terms over the denuclearization process, based on Pyongyang and Washington's satisfactory reactions to the ongoing talks toward the summit. "It appears North Korea and the U.S. have reached a certain level of agreement, considering the North's state media making an official announcement of the Pyongyang-Washington summit and Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang," said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University. The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim and Pompeo "reached a satisfactory deal" with regards to a new proposal made by President Donald Trump. Korea Aerospace Industries / Yonhap South Korea's Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI) said on Wednesday it had paid $150,000 for consulting services on accounting matters to a firm set up by U.S. President Donald Trump's private lawyer Michael Cohen. The arrangement came as the company, backed by state-owned Export-Import Bank of Korea, is competing to sell trainer jets to the U.S. Air Force in an auction that could be worth up to $16 billion. Payments by KAI and other companies including AT&T to Essential Consultants, a company that paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 just before the U.S. presidential election, were described on Tuesday by her lawyer Michael Avenatti. Neither Avenatti nor Cohen responded to requests from Reuters for comment. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said Cohen paid her to stay quiet about a 2006 sexual encounter she had with Trump, an encounter which Trump has denied. A KAI spokesman said it signed a contract with Essential last year for "legal consulting concerning accounting standards on production costs", and upon the expiration of the contract it made the payment in November. The aircraft components and military jetmaker declined to give further details on the consulting services it received from Essential and said it had no individual dealings with Cohen. In a tweet and a report, Avenatti said that Cohen described Essential as a real estate consulting firm and claimed its typical clients are U.S.-based high net worth individuals. Reuters could not immediately verify Avenatti's claim and how he would know of any payments made to Essential. AT&T said earlier it had hired Essential to advise it on working with the new administration in early 2017, around the time of Trump's inauguration. The arrangement illustrates efforts by the telecoms company to work with an influential adviser to the new president as his administration took up major industry issues and considered its $85 billion proposal to buy Time Warner Inc. KAI builds the T-50 trainer jet which has been developed with U.S. fighter jet maker Lockheed Martin. The two firms have partnered to compete for the U.S. Air Force's advanced pilot trainer jet procurement of about 350 new jets, potentially worth $16 billion. The result of the auction is expected later this year. (Reuters) / Yonhap South Korea and the U.S. will hold another round of negotiations next week on sharing the cost of maintaining American troops in Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. The third session of the 10th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) talks between the allies will be held in Washington D.C. on Monday and Tuesday, it said. The previous ones took place in Honolulu in March and on Jeju Island in April. The two sides plan to have "in-depth consultations" to fine-tune their positions on the basis of discussions in the previous talks, the ministry said. The existing SMA deal is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. South Korea has shared the financial burden for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), currently around 28,500 personnel, since the early 1990s. Seoul's contribution has increased to around 960 billion won ($887 million) in 2018 under the five-year accord from 150 billion won in 1991, officials said. (Yonhap) A controversial case over a male nude model took place at Hongik University. In it, the photos of him, taken by an estranged female model, was posted on an anti-man web site and went viral. / Korea Times By Oh Young-jin A female model posted photos of a fellow male model posing nude at a Hongik University art class and went viral, police say. According to the Mapo Police Station Thursday, the woman, identified by her surname Ahn, confessed during questioning, after the photos went viral. Ahn allegedly told police that the man lay on a table with another model during a break so she asked him to move over. When he refused, the two got into a verbal fight. Police said Ahn told them she uploaded the photos which she had taken secretly on Womad, an anti-male website. But when the posting triggered an outcry, she deleted the posting and quit the site. Police became suspicious when the woman turned in only one of her two mobile phones, claiming the other had been stolen, after police asked possible culprits to submit their phones. Adding to the suspicion was the victim's testimony about the run-in, before the nude photos were posted, drawing derogatory comments from site members for his physical appearance. The woman was taken into custody 10 days after the photos were leaked on May 1. The victim remained secluded, telling associates he was in the state of shock and could not go back to normal life anytime soon. The woman was booked for illegally leaking photos of a person's body without consent which is punishable with a fine of up to 50 million won or a year in jail. The case became controversial not just because the nude photos were leaked online with no protection identity in a flagrant violation of human rights, but also because the photos were uploaded on Womad, where the model was pilloried and received spiteful comments. The feminazi site also belittles LGBT people. Jin Kyung-joon is led away to jail in handcuffs. / Yonhap / Yonhap A Seoul appellate court on Friday finalized the four-year prison term for a former high-ranking prosecutor charged with corruption and bribery, after the top court ordered a retrial on part of his charges. Jin Kyung-joon, an former senior official at the prosecution and the Ministry of Justice, was indicted in 2016 for receiving 950 million won ($889,000) in stocks and cash from his college friend, Kim Jung-ju, the founder of South Korea's major online game publisher Nexon Co., from 2005 to 2014. The 51-year-old was also accused of exerting influence with the former vice president of Korean Air Lines Co. to sign contract deals worth some 10 billion won in total with a company owned by his brother-in-law. He was sentenced to seven years for bribery by the Seoul High Court in July last year. But the top court sent the case back in December, saying it is difficult to confirm that the money was paid in return for favors that related to Jin's duty. He was convicted of the latter charge involving his family. The top court has ruled that it cannot be viewed as having exchanged bribes when charges only point to vague assumptions based on circumstantial evidence. The appellate court on Friday ruled in line with the top court's judgment and upheld the initial not guilty verdict on Kim. (Yonhap) Chairman Cho under probe for slush fund By Kang Seung-woo Officials of the Korea Immigration Service searched the headquarters of Korean Air, Friday, over allegations that the owner family illegally hired foreign housekeepers. Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho According to the justice ministry, it sent investigators dealing with immigration affairs to the head office of the nation's largest carrier in Seoul. The move came as the Immigration Office is probing claims that Korean Air has been involved in recruiting Filipino housekeepers for Chairman Cho Yang-ho's family. Speculation was raised that Cho and his wife hired housekeepers from the Philippines who could not speak Korean, and the airline's regional office in the Southeast Asian country brokered the employment. This is the latest blow to the owner family of the nation's largest carrier whose members are under heavy fire over allegations of abusive behavior to their subordinates and other misconduct. The prosecution said Thursday it has also been investigating whether the chief of Korean Air created an illegal slush fund. According to prosecutors, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) notified them in 2016 that it had detected "suspicious" cash flow from accounts belonging to Chairman Cho Yang-ho and his family members. As a result, the prosecution seized the accounts and analyzed transactions to determine if they were part of a slush fund. Prosecutors also launched a probe into allegations of tax evasion by Cho after the National Tax Service's Seoul Regional Office lodged an official complaint April 30. According to the tax office, Cho and his children inherited foreign assets from Cho Choong-hoon, the late Hanjin Group founder, but failed to report this. The inheritance tax owed is estimated to be 50 billion won ($46.8 million). In response to the tax evasion charge, Hanjin Group, the largest shareholder of Korean Air, said that Cho Yang-ho did not realize this until 2016. "After finding the tax omission in 2016, he reported it to the National Tax Service," the business group said in a statement, adding he will pay the tax by this month's payment deadline. However, even if Cho pays the inheritance tax, he is still expected to face punishment, according to the prosecution. Various legal bodies have begun investigations into Cho's immediate family over allegations of repeated abusive behavior and criminal activity. Earlier this month, the Korea Customs Service raided five locations including Cho's home and Korean Air's baggage handling office at Incheon International Airport over claims that the owner family used Korean Air flights to smuggle luxury goods into the country. Last month, custom officials also searched the headquarters of Korean Air and the residences of the chairman's and three children. On Wednesday, Police banned his wife from leaving the country pending a probe into allegations that she verbally and physically assaulted company employees. Lee Myung-hee, the director of Ilwoo Foundation, is suspected of verbally insulting construction workers in May 2014, when one of the hotels owned by the family-run conglomerate was being remodeled for expansion. She is also alleged to have thrown blueprints at the workers, pointed fingers at them and obstructed their work. Lee is also accused of committing similar verbal assaults against her chauffeur and other Hanjin employees. Police plans to summon her for questioning. The Seoul Gangseo Police Station referred Cho Hyun-min, a former marketing executive of Korean Air and Cho's youngest daughter, to the prosecution, Friday, over her alleged assault of an advertising agency official in March. Tom N Toms CEO Kim Do-kyun Prosecutors on Friday raided the main office of Tom N Toms and the residence of the company chief in southern Seoul as part of an investigation into his suspected embezzlement of company funds. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office sent its officials to search the premises in Gangnam to confiscate evidence including accounting documents, the prosecution said. Its chief executive, Kim Do-kyun, is suspected of siphoning off company funds worth billions of won, according to the prosecution. Founded in 2001, the coffee chain currently has about 400 franchise stores across the country. (Yonhap) Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is facing a risk to its reputation due to its deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. / Korea Times file By Yoon Ja-young Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which has been recovering from a corruption scandal involving its former CEO, is facing another risk due to its deal with the U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer. Analysts say it could negatively affect KAI's reputation. The country's aircraft manufacturer said it paid $150,000 to Essential Consultants, a shell company established by Michael Cohen. KAI explained it paid the money for his advice on "Cost Accounting Standards," a bookkeeping rule that it must adopt to make bids in the United States. "We legally got advice regarding the Cost Accounting Standards through contracts with Essential Consultants," a KAI spokesman said. "The payment was based on a legal service contract between the two parties. We are doing our best to abide by the accounting rules that meet global standards," he added. However, U.S. media is raising suspicion that Cohen promoted himself as a lobby channel as a close friend of Trump. KAI was not the only company that sent money to Cohen. AT&T reportedly paid more than $200,000 to Essential Consultants to seek "insights into the new administration" and Novartis cited healthcare consulting as the reason. Essential Consultants and Cohen have been at the center of the scandal involving adult-film star Stormy Daniels. She was paid $130,000 in hush money in October 2016 right before the presidential election in return for not disclosing her alleged affair with the U.S. President. Her lawyer said that Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, sent $500,000 to Cohen's company through investment management firm Columbus Nova between January and August last year. While the lawyer says that the Russian businessman de facto paid Stormy Daniels, Columbus Nova noted the payment was made as consulting fees and had nothing to do with Vekselberg. The Russian telecommunication and energy tycoon is estimated to have $13 billion in assets. The news reports focus on the fact that KAI has been bidding for a $16 billion deal with the U.S. Air Force. In a joint bid with the U.S.-based defense company Lockheed Martin, it seeks to provide more than 300 training jets to the Air Force. "Though KAI's contract (with Essential Consultants) was legal, it may negatively affect KAI if it turns into a problem. It is especially so since it is seeking a huge deal," said Lee Sang-hyun, an analyst at IBK Investment and Securities. KAI's reputation was already damaged severely by a corruption scandal here a few months before it paid Cohen. Its former CEO Ha Sung-yong and other executives were arrested for alleged embezzlement and fraudulent book cooking. Since inauguration of its current CEO Kim Jo-won last November, the company has been seeking to enhance transparency. By Oh Young-jin Prosecutors raided the office of Upbit, Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Friday afternoon. They suspect that the exchange has manipulated its electronic trading system to deceive investors into believing it has more cryptocurrency than it has. They confiscated electronic files and ledgers, among other things. Upbit is operated by Dunamu, of which former Kakao president Lee Seok-woo is president. The company has just launched the Upbit Cryptocurrency Index. Prosecutors were reportedly looking into whether Lee was involved. The probe into the cryptocurrency exchanges began in March two officials have been arrested on charges of swindling and breach of trust for allegedly siphoning customers' money into company executives' accounts. The news sent down the prices of the cryptocurrencies. By Kim Hyun-bin The Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand its network of extended education programs by the year 2022. It unveiled a plan called "2022 Seoul Citizens College Operation Plan" which aims to pour 33.5 billion won ($31.3 million) into the program over the next five years to establish extended education campuses and programs around the capital. The city aims to establish 100 additional extended education campuses where participants could be eligible to receive honorary degrees upon completion by 2022. The honorary diplomas are different from regular university diplomas, as they are given as incentives for participation and for people to gain more interest in subjects. People taking part in the program will take several courses and will need to acquire a certain amount of credits so they can receive honorary diplomas. Upon graduation from the extended education program, the city plans to connect as many graduates as it can to numerous social jobs around the capital including study coordinators and teachers for the program, as well as other socially contributing professions. The local government will act as a control tower and will be in charge of managing other campuses around the city. The recently opened main campus is equipped with an auditorium that can seat around 100 people, library, study hall and other rooms that can host numerous club activities. The city plans to drastically increase the number of extended education programs in the coming years. Currently there are 442 lecture classes available, but that number will reach 842 by 2022. Enrollment will also be expanded from 16,200 to 33,600 people. Currently, seven subjects ranging from humanities, social studies, and cultural arts are available. In-depth lecture classes focusing on how to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and change in the population structure and social environment are also expected to be included in the new curriculum. The program will change to a more hands on approach where participants will be engaged in diverse collaborative activities including debates, workshops and field trips, according to the SMG. "The Seoul Citizens College will accompany people's lives, their ambitions and their futures," said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. "A great city is made by great citizens, while great citizens develop themselves through more educational opportunities. I will work until all the people can receive high quality extended education in their neighborhoods." Universities offer programs for high school workforce The government has been working with small- and mid-sized (SME) companies to introduce a policy that helps high school graduates land a job, and enable them to receive a college education while employed at the firm. Under the plan, "Employ first and college education after," the government is planning to vitalize high school graduates' employment, which in turn helps SME's with their manpower shortages. The plan comes amid the high unemployment rate among college graduates and a shortage of manpower at SMEs. To better implement the policy, the Ministry of Education announced plans to offer tailored programs at all national universities in the country by 2022 to help the high school workforce receive a college degree related to their profession. Staring 2022, all 34 four year national universities around the country will implement the program. Currently, only four have been offering tailored programs for students that landed a job straight out of high school. Students will be able to select subjects related to their profession and could receive credits from their background in the field. Ko Young-beom, 81, right, sits with his wife Sim Young-sunon the sofa for a family photo shoot, along with a picture of the 2007 reunion with his siblings in North Korea. Separated from his family by the 1950-53 Korean War, Ko hopes to see his siblings once again, inspired by detente brought on by the April 27 Summit. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Kim Ji-soo, Lee Suh-yoon Ko Young-beom, 81, calls Ongjin County in North Korea's western South Hwanghae Province his hometown. Since the April 27 Korea summit, he has been losing sleep. "It feels unreal. Ever since the summit, I feel so jittery that I cannot sleep at night," he said in an interview with The Korea Times at his home in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. "As I watched Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un laugh together on TV, I felt almost confident that I could visit my hometown again before I die maybe within the next five years." Ko is among the some 130,000 people separated from family by the 1950-53 Korean War registered with a government-run system for separated families managed by the Ministry of Unification. As of February this year, more than 58,000 separated family members remain living. He may be one of the more fortunate ones in that he met his younger siblings Ko Choon-sil, 76, and Ko Kwang-beom, 69, once at an official family reunion event in 2007. "My suspicions that they may be con artists disappeared as soon as I saw them," Ko said, opening an old album with photos of that day. "My little brother looked exactly like my father. As for my sister, I did not recognize her at first because she looked old enough to be my mother. I think she suffered a lot." When Ko and his siblings found each other in the crowd in October 2007, they immediately fell crying into each other's arms. "I showed them a picture of my house. They did not believe me saying it was too big so I told them, look I'm in my pajamas in the picture. How can I be wearing pajamas in someone else's house?'" Ko said. When the Korean War broke out, Ko and his father fled Ongjin County, near the 38th parallel dividing the two Koreas. He was 14. Ko Young-beom, sitting on the left in the second picture taken with his sister, looks through an album with photos of the 2007 reunion. Next to the album are Ko's letters that never reached his siblings. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul His mother, however, stayed behind to look after his younger siblings and his grandmother. She passed away. After the reunion, Ko's memories of his hometown kept coming back. Violent scenes of war just before he left his home are still vivid in his mind. "Me and other students were listening to morning announcements in the school courtyard when four fighter jets suddenly flew over us. When they U-turned in midair and flew back towards the school, our teachers told us to quickly go inside the school building a big mistake because the jets mistook us for soldiers taking cover and opened fire on the school," Ko said, waving his hands to replicate the motion of the jets. "It was horrible with dead bodies everywhere. I ran home barefoot. My mother and grandmother were standing by the front door, waiting to see which of us would come back alive. They scolded me for running back on my own without my younger sister who arrived shortly afterwards." At the 2007 reunion, Ko and his siblings met three times. They parted laughing, joking about how Ko's brother would visit him for his 70th birthday party. "But as soon as I turned around and got on the bus, my brother disappeared. Only my sister could be seen waving next to the bus window. I scoured the crowd and spotted him scuttling back and forth inside the crowd while wiping his face with his sleeves." Ko said, his voice suddenly falling low. "He was trying to hide from me because he did not want me to see him cry. That scene keeps replaying in my head." Ever since this reunion 11 years ago, Ko fell into depression and has been taking medication to cope with it. The inter-Korean family reunions took place in earnest following the 2000 inter-Korean summit. The reunions have ebbed and flowed with the political times, with the last one being held in 2015. "I keep wondering whether they are still alive. It keeps nagging me because they were in such poor health when I last saw them," he said. "Up until the reunion, I had not really given much thought to my siblings in the North. I thought they were probably dead and was busy living my life, making ends meet and raising my sons. Ko peers into a framed photo of his 2007 reunion with his siblings in North Korea. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul But that all changed after the summit." His wife, Sim Young-sun, 74, says it has been difficult watching her husband's suffering since the reunion. "I would not have let my husband go to that reunion 11 years ago if I knew how it would tear him apart. He cried through most of his 70th birthday party, which took place shortly after the reunion," she said. "If the reunions are just a one-off event, it is better to not go at all." But with the third inter-Korean summit, Ko harbors a different kind of jitters one of hope. Ko says the possibility of unification from the recent summit has eclipsed his former political views against the current South Korean President. "I used to dislike President Moon Jae-in but that changed after last week's summit," Ko quietly admitted. "All I want is for unification to happen before I die so I can drive a truck filled with food into my hometown." Jeong Ip-bun Jeong Ip-bun, 89, who lives in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, is also from South Hwanghae Province, Yeonbaek County. While watching the April 27 summit, Jeong didn't hesitate to call Kim Jong-un names. Yet at the same time, she uttered that now she may reunite with her siblings. Jeong Ip-bun poses in this file photo. /Courtesy of Jeong Ip-bun Newly married, she fled to the South with her husband, who lived in a nearby village, to escape the onslaught of the North Korean army' s activities forced upon the residents in the North. "I was 19 then, and now I am 89. My husband and I have filed with the Korean Red Cross to meet our families but we never got the chance," she told The Korea Times over the phone. On that day of the interview, the South Korean government said it would pursue opening three standing reunion centers for the separated Korean families. How did she feel? "I come from siblings of seven. My older brother has passed away, and my younger brother too, and if they are still living, the five younger siblings should be there. But I hope (realistically) at this age to at least visit my parents' graveyard," she said, as she wept softly over the phone. Through the small screen, she has witnessed three inter-Korean summits: the 2000 summit between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the 2007 summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, and the third one between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un. "I cried every time I watched those summits," Jeong said. At her age, and battling frequent illnesses, she harbors a small, realistic wish. "There were mountains and rivers there in my hometown. It may be nothing special but it is where I spent my childhood, and youth. I would like to go back perhaps come winter or next spring," she said. U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, second from left, walk with U.S. detainees that were released by North Korea; Kim Hak-Song, left, and Kim Dong-Chul, right, after greeting them upon their arrival at U.S. Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Thursday. By Oh Young-jin The return of three Americans taken hostage in North Korea to a U.S. military base in Maryland Thursday made for a peculiar sight. This was not just because U.S. President Donald Trump acted as he was a director of the emotional scene. The former reality show host actually talked highly about the ratings for the event. More to the point, the moment is an example of the better side of the U.S. is all about. Although it was unclear whether he had forgotten how to speak English as a result of the harsh prison life in the North, American-born Kim Dong-chul, one of the three freed hostages, said in Korean, "It is like a dream. We are all very happy. We have been treated differently (in the North). We were forced to work but when we got sick, we received treatment as well." It was duly translated into English. What transpired there defied my conventional wisdom of what makes a nation. To me and most of my compatriots from a homogeneous nation like Korea, our country is often defined by racial uniformity, use of the same language and adhering to basic values. People on the scene in the U.S. did not share the first two. The stock answer is that the U.S. is comparable to a salad bowl in terms of race and culture. Diversity flourishes. But we are also aware of many contradictions deep-rooted racial discrimination against blacks and minorities and concentration of wealth among smart whites, among others. Adding to it is a Trump factor. Trump slapped a ban on Muslim immigration, unilaterally abolished international agreements such as the Iran nuclear deal and appears to be willing to pay no attention to basic etiquette under the "make America great again." Then there was a somewhat cynical theory that Trump stood together with the three in preparation for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. According to that theory, trump helped free the three so he will be credited with ending the Korean War, which has been put on hold since 1953 through a truce. If the North denuclearizes, trump will be credited with preventing a potential nuclear war. Still, those moments at the Andrews base show the better side of the U.S., which can set aside all differences, however temporarily, to save its people. For those moments, the three freed men looked proud to be American. They were. By Ko Dong-hwan A revised traffic law will target drivers who manipulate their license plates so traffic monitoring cameras cannot scan them. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Friday it would activate the new regulation about vehicle registration number plate standards on July 1. The measure came after frequent cases of tampering with the plates have prevented traffic monitoring authorities from identifying vehicles that violated traffic regulations. Methods of manipulation include installing a plate with a slanted angle on its back so the plate does not lie flat on the vehicle's body, so traffic cameras cannot scan the number. Another method is bending the plate to cover part of the number. The existing law only bans drivers from covering the numbers by placing something over the plates. The new law introduces detailed specifications. The plate's top side must not be bent more than 30 degrees and the bottom five degrees. There are also strict, detailed requirements about where the plate must be placed on the vehicle. The ministry said it completed its discussion with National Police Agency and other related authorities. Rep. Hong Young-pyo, right, newly elected floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, talks with Rep. Kim Sung-tae, his counterpart of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party who has been staging a hunger strike since May 3 to call for a special probe into an online opinion rigging scandal, in front of the National Assembly main hall, Seoul, Friday. Hong urged Kim to stop the protest and help normalize an idle Assembly. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun By Choi Ha-young Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a staunch loyalist to President Moon Jae-in, was elected as the party's floor leader, Friday, and faces the task of getting cooperation from opposition parties in normalizing an idle National Assembly. The three-term lawmaker received 78 votes out of 116 DPK lawmakers who casted votes, defeating rival candidate Rep. Roh Woong-rae, who gained 38. "The situation is not easy, but I'll do my best to normalize the Assembly to meet people's expectations," Hong said after the victory. "All parties, both ruling and opposition, are rivals and partners for the future." The Assembly has been paralyzed for over 40 days due to protests from conservative opposition parties that are demanding a special investigation into an opinion-rigging scandal involving a DPK lawmaker. Main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Kim Sung-tae has staged a hunger strike for nine days, calling for the special probe into the scandal. Right after the victory, Hong visited a tent in front of the Assembly main hall, where Kim has been protesting since May 3. Hong asked Kim to stop the hunger strike and help normalize the Assembly to pass urgent bills. With the political bickering over the scandal between the ruling and the opposition blocs, key bills, including an extra budget bill to boost employment, have been put on hold. At the 293-member Assembly, the ruling party holds only 121 seats, and cooperation from the opposition parties is a must in implementing the government's key policies. The Assembly is also required to approve four lawmakers' resignation by May 14, which is essential to carry out by-elections to replace those who quit their posts to run for the local elections. Later in the day, Kim stopped his hunger strike due to deteriorating health, not because Hong persuaded him to do so. The two floor leaders have been close since the 19th Assembly when both served on the Environment and Labor Committee. Hong also urged nonpartisan consensus over Moon's peace overtures, implying his will for parliamentary ratification of the Panmunjeom Declaration adopted at the inter-Korean summit. "Above all, I will definitely get cooperation from the opposition bloc regarding inter-Korean relations," Hong said. "For this, I will launch a special committee dedicated to enhancing inter-Korean ties, to spur the Assembly's role in envisioned exchange projects between the two Koreas." Hong, who started his career as a unionist of Daewoo Motors, entered politics as a presidential secretary of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Based on his specialty in labor, Hong has chaired the Environment and Labor Committee since June 2016. In response to GM Korea's decision to withdraw from Korea, Hong has made efforts for successful negotiation between the car manufacturer and labor union, as a chief of the intraparty taskforce to resolve the conflict. Meanwhile, the DPK is also set to pick its nominee for the Assembly speaker election slated for May 24. Six-term lawmaker Moon Hee-sang and five-term lawmaker Park Byeong-seug threw their hats into the ring. A cleaner sweeps the floor at Incheon International Airport. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon By Kang Seung-woo The Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) plans to convert more than 2,700 irregular workers to full-time status by the end of the year. Initiated by President Moon Jae-in's first executive order to remove all irregular employees in the public sector, IIAC CEO Chung Il-young announced in May 2017 that about 10,000 irregular workers at IIAC-affiliated companies would become regular workers by the end of last year. Although all irregular workers have yet to earn a full-time status, 1,143 out of 9,785, or 11.6 percent, had regular positions as of Tuesday. "In accordance with respective irregular employees' service contracts, 2,745 will become regular workers by the end of this year," said an IIAC official. "The number will increase to 3,500 in 2019 and eventually all 9,785 will work in full-time positions." Under the employment plan, 2,940 people such as firefighters, security inspectors and wildlife management personnel will be directly hired by the IIAC and the rest of them will be employed by two affiliates established by the IIAC. During his election campaign, Moon promised to create 810,000 new quality jobs in the public sector during his five-year presidency. In his first public event as the head of state, the President visited the IIAC and vowed to turn all irregular job openings in the public sector to regular, full-time employment within his term. However, critics say the employment plan may fall through, calling for the government and the IIAC to take careful measures. "The IIAC is trying to cut spending on employees' treatment and ignore irregular workers' previous careers in the wage system," said the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' branch at the airport, Wednesday. In addition, it said there should be no difference in the wage system between regular and irregular workers. In response to the criticism, the IIAC said it plans to formulate reasonable and fair measures for the wage system after consulting a professional agency. When the IIAC came up with the decision, it faced an internal backlash from unionized regular workers. The regular workers' union issued a statement last November, demanding irregular workers undergo a hiring process just as strenuous and competitive as theirs. It also said applicants should be given bonus credit when applying for the regular position, not a "free gift." Some also took issue with the plan, opining that it goes against the government's separate initiative to root out "suspected corruption involving hiring at government agencies and public institutions." Video by Shim Hyun-chul The wreck of the ferry Sewol was lifted upright Thursday, clearing the ground for a further search for the remains of still missing victims and an investigation into the root cause of the maritime disaster. The 6,825-ton vessel carrying 476 passengers capsized off the southwestern coast on April 16, 2014, leaving 304 people most of them high school students on a field trip to Jeju Island dead. The remains of five victims are still unaccounted for. The three-hour operation to right the ferry began at 9 a.m. at Mokpo New Port, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul, using a 10,000-ton-capacity maritime crane from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries manned by salvage workers. Bereaved families watched the rusted hull of the ship placed in an upright position gradually in six steps by raising it by 10 degrees through 94.5 degrees. By Kim Rahn United States President Donald Trump has ruled out the truce village of Panmunjeom on the border of North and South Korea as the venue for his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Instead, Singapore is emerging as the possible site. In a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump said about the location of the Washington-Pyongyang summit: "We're going to announce that in three days within three days. We're just working on arrangements." When asked whether it would be Panmunjeom, he said, "It will not be there." Following these remarks, many now predict Singapore will be the summit location. Citing U.S. administration sources, multiple foreign media reported the Southeast Asian country has emerged as the candidate. CNN said administration officials were instructed to prepare plans to hold the summit there, although the final decision is up to Trump. Trump earlier showed interest in holding the summit at the truce village in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), posting on his Twitter: "Numerous countries are being considered for the meeting, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the border of North and South Korea, be a more representative, important and lasting site than a third party country? Just asking!" It is said Trump preferred Panmunjeom for more dramatics of the historic summit because of the truce village's symbolic image, while his aides did not because of a possible backlash if the nuclear negotiations do not progress as expected. They prefer Singapore, which is more neutral and has good infrastructure for security, transportation and media coverage. Singapore also has both U.S. and North Korean embassies. Some still speculate that the location can be Pyongyang, like when former U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China, then an adversary, in 1972 and laid the groundwork for diplomatic ties between the two nations. By Donald Kirk There is nothing like a meeting with a dictator to get out of problems at home. The visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang, just as President Donald Trump was jettisoning the Iran deal, shows Trump's eagerness to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and come up with a statesman-like solution to the confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. Assuming Trump really does see Kim, could there be any better way to distract attention from all the problems besetting him in Washington? For a few blessed days, maybe more, he would be free of the threat of interrogation by special counsel Robert Mueller and all the questions about his lawyer Michael Cohen. He might not even have to worry about the next headlines, and salacious jokes, about the porn star Stormy Daniels and seances with Russian women while getting to know President Vladimir Putin. All that happened before he ran for president, but his past is catching up with him just as he would like to be "making America great again." With Trump in the same room with Kim, all they need is to escape with a joint declaration that saves face for both. Kim can say, OK, we'll begin to get rid of our nuclear program while you withdraw your troops. Never mind if neither really happens. Trump is looking for headlines, maybe a few quotes and columns about what a great choice he'd make for the Nobel Peace Prize. The American president lusts after this kind of distraction not just to get the Mueller investigation off his back. He's worried about elections coming up in November for all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, elected to two-year terms, and 34 of the 100 members of the upper house, or Senate, elected for six years each. Right now he faces the real threat of his Republican Party losing control of both houses of the Congress, leaving the Democratic majority in a position to press for his impeachment. Think of the wave of popular support he might create if he came home with a real deal with the North Koreans after his predecessors in the White House had failed. How could all those columnists and academics who hate him carry on with such impunity against his claim to have put out a fire that threatened only half a year ago to explode into a regional conflagration? Would not the mere mention of his name as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize seriously undermine any movement for his impeachment? Whoever heard of a peace prize candidate driven out of office by the jackals of the opposition? There's no guarantee, of course, that Kim will cooperate. What if Kim stonewalls Trump's demands for dumping his nukes and missiles? Or what if he says, I'll begin doing it after the United Nations removes sanctions and you begin withdrawing your troops? One reason Trump sent Pompeo to Pyongyang again, on his second trip, is to try to reach a deal well in advance, to avoid any surprises. By getting tough with Iran, undercutting the deal so carefully wrought in concert with major European powers, Trump is sending a warning to North Korea. Having denounced the Iran deal as really terrible, he's tossing the whole thing just as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long demanded. He's telling the North Koreans, so close to Iranians in wheeling and dealing on nuclear technology and missiles, he won't compromise with them either. The future, though, may not work out so simply. What if the Iranians now go back to developing the means to fabricate nuclear warheads on which they stopped work under the terms of the deal? Would Trump consider a pre-emptive strike on their nuclear facilities, as he once threatened North Korea? And do the Israelis really want conflict in the Middle East to escalate to an entirely new level? In doing away with the waiver on sanctions against Iran, Trump risks alienating all the European powers that went for the deal in the first place. He also can probably forget the talk about a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing an end to conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Always, however, Trump is playing to the crowd in Washington. On Korea, he may still choose to mingle firmness with flexibility. Having made good on his promises to walk out of the agreement with Iran, he may opt for an appearance of reaching a deal for lasting peace in Korea. For Trump, his future in office depends on his ability to have it both ways, proving his statesman-like qualities to enough of his loyal voter base to insure his safety against impeachment and the survival of his presidency. He's counting on Kim to help him weather the storm. Donald Kirk (www.donaldkirk.com) has been covering crises and conflict in the region for decades By Park Moo-jong French President Emmanuel Macron has been the talk of the global town thanks to his apparent "slip of the tongue" he made during his visit to Australia last week, as reported by mass media worldwide. At the end of a news conference he had together with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney on May 2, raised eyebrows by calling Turnbull's wife Lucy "delicious." According to news reports, Macron said, "I want to thank you for your welcome, thank you and your delicious wife for your warm welcome," he said. Macron must have simply slipped up in his use of English since the French word for delicious _ delicieux _ also translates as "delightful" or "lovely." His episode is a simple example of a slip of the tongue, "an error in speaking in which a word is pronounced incorrectly, or in which the speaker says something unintentionally." Here is a similar case in Korea. A foreign ambassador in Seoul was eager to learn Korean during his service some years ago. But frankly speaking, it is not that easy for him or other foreigners to pronounce Korean words correctly. He learned the word, "," pronounced "meositta, meaning "look smart." He also learned another word, "," pronounced "masitta" meaning "delicious." Not surprisingly, he confused "eo" of meositta with "a" of masitta for a slip of the tongue. During a dinner party, he told a graceful Korean lady, "You look masitta," instead of "meositta," to her embarrassment and the laughter of Korean guests. If that happened today, she might become a victim of "MeToo," while the career diplomat might be accused of sexual harassment. The episodes are not so serious for they are supposed to be simple errors in speaking like a signature slip tongue such "chicken towel" instead of "kitchen towel." They do little harm to listeners. The problem is politicians' slips of the tongue _ either intentional or unintentional _ that adversely affect the political landscape, stirring up public fury, as in the case of recent controversial remarks by Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, the leader of the main conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party. The outspoken prosecutor-turned-politician surprised people, irrespective of their ideological inclination, namely not only liberals but conservatives, by commenting on the April 17 inter-Korean summit at Panmunjeom, saying that "Kim Jong-un (the North Korean leader) might be elected the next president of the Republic of Korea." He was discrediting the historical talks between President Moon Jae-in and Kim designed to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula through the North's denuclearization, also saying, "the world is going crazy." Some may think that Hong made a slip of the tongue, but many others believe that he made such controversial remarks, dubbed "blunt and absurd words," as a red-baiting tactic to rally conservatives in the upcoming local elections. He continued to invite public criticism after he declared, "There are many pinkos in Changwon (the capital city of South Gyeongsang Province)," after seeing demonstrators denouncing him. He was the governor of the province from 2014 to 2017. An overwhelming national consensus of today is, no doubt, the settlement of a permanent peace on the peninsula as a result of the ongoing inter-Korean contacts, initiated by the Moon-Kim summit and scheduled talks between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump is desirable. Even many of his party colleagues were displeased with their leader's "habitual" absurd words and slips of the tongue, with some of them opposing his leadership. Hong is going too far for "opposition for the sake of opposition." He needs to take lessons from the bitter experiences of some political leaders. For instance, former French President Jacque Chirac who suddenly said in 2005 that Finnish food was tasteless, incurring the Finnish International Olympic Committee's anger, and thus failing to host the 2012 Summer Olympics in Paris. Still vivid in the memory of many voters was a slip of the tongue of TV anchorman-turned-lawmaker Chung Dong-young made ahead of the 2004 general election. He said, "No problem. Elders over the ages of 60 to 70 stay home to rest without voting. Why? They are not the people who will decide on the future. But young ones have to vote without fail for future is for them." The backlash was severe and the then opposition party eventually suffered a miserable defeat and he was virtually ostracized for three years until the 2007 presidential election after giving up his parliamentary seat. Hong should also listen to what Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), one of the founding fathers of the United States, said of slips of the tongue: "A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over." Here is a good proverb for Hong: "Silence is golden." The old saying, in short, means that it is often better to say nothing, and saying nothing is preferable to speaking. As a "rare" leader in the conservative force, Hong needs to keep deep in mind that "speech is silver, while silence is gold." He should become a good listener if he seeks to muster the support of the people to help the opposition party do its given role of checking the government and regaining power in the long run. If he continues to speak as bluntly as before, he is not qualified to lead the conservatives, who are having a hard time in the face of the relatively powerful liberal ruling camp led by Moon. Park Moo-jong is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper founded in 1951 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter from 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com. By Doug Bandow Last year the Korean Peninsula seemed headed to war. President Donald Trump sounded like his North Korean counterpart: tossing insults and threats with wild abandon. Now many people believe it is peace in our time. A Nobel Peace Prize has Donald Trump's name on it. In fact, there are many reasons to doubt that Kim Jong-un will divest his regime of weapons which cost so much to develop and offer unparalleled status and deterrence. The inter-Korean summit offered impressive visuals, but Kim's father met with two South Korean presidents, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. After those gatherings the expectations were equally high. Then reality intervened, ultimately leading to the first talk of nuclear war in the U.S. since the end of the Cold War. The great danger of excessive expectations is that they could be followed by claims of betrayal and renewed threats of war by President Donald Trump. While the president's true attitude is difficult to discern, his appointment of two war hawks, Michael Pompeo and John Bolton, is cause for pessimism. Although it is important to deflate excessive expectations, it is a mistake to underplay the importance of emerging detente between the two Koreas. The possibility of peace and stability in Northeast Asia is far greater today as a result. And that is, or at least should be, the fundamental objective of U.S. policy. Denuclearization is but a means to that end. First, Kim appears to be much more than a Stalinist caricature. While charm and sociability do not cover his many sins, he appears to be more interested in and capable of engaging South Korea, the U.S., and other nations. Perhaps he imagines himself as a statesman on the international stage. Second, this Korean summit had a different feel than past meetings. Kim came south, brought his wife, showed spontaneity, joked with Moon, and made statements that his father and grandfather would never have uttered. Kim might not be serious about surrendering his nukes I'm inclined to believe that he is playing a smart and deep diplomatic game. However, no longer can North Korea's leader be dismissed as nutty and worse. Third, Kim's positions and remarks suggest that he recognizes policy trade-offs, especially between nuclear and economic developments. Unlike his predecessors, he has implemented serious economic reforms and emphasized education and science, backed by investment and construction, which I witnessed first-hand in Pyongyang last year. Indeed, Kim recently announced to the Korean Workers' Party that his government had fulfilled its nuclear objectives and thus now could "concentrate" on economic development. Even if he is not willing to abandon nukes entirely, he might be willing to negotiate serious limits that would promote regional stability and peace. Fourth, he suggested that regular contact with America would obviate the need for nuclear weapons. That indicates the DPRK desires a relationship with the Washington. Such ties would reduce the likelihood of attack and help balance against China and Russia. Despite spending decades insulting the U.S. and its leaders, Kim is suggesting a very different future. It looks a bit like a Nixon-to-China moment. Even if the DPRK fails to fully disarm, it could have a much better and less confrontational relationship with America, just as Beijing did, despite keeping its nukes. Fifth, the burgeoning inter-Korean friendship makes war much less likely. President Trump could not, at least without substantial criticism from South Korea, America's other regional allies, and likely Americans as well, cancel the summit or walk out. He could declare that he was not satisfied with the result. He could insist on serious concessions before lifting or even moderating sanctions. However, he would have trouble convincing anyone that a failure of the talks required a bombing run or two. Most important, with neither allied support nor a seemingly demented opponent threatening to rain death and destruction down on Americans, President Trump would find it much more difficult to make the case for war domestically. There certainly would seem to be no urgency in such an action. At least in the short-term, even Americans might be more inclined to blame President Trump than Kim for an impasse. The impending summit is surrounded by enormous uncertainties. Nevertheless, the meeting is an extraordinary opportunity which could end, after 65 years, the threat of renewed hostilities on the Korean Peninsula. That would be a worthy achievement for any administration. Doug Bandow (chessset@aol.com) is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is author of "Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World" and co-author of "The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea." By Andrew Hammond In a landmark foreign policy decision, Donald Trump announced Monday that he will not recertify the Iranian nuclear deal. However, his decision was immediately countermanded by Emmanuel Macron, Theresa May and Angela Merkel who declared their nations will not just remain signatories to the agreement, but will work "collectively on a broader framework" with Tehran in 2018 and beyond. Trump's decision is not just controversial in Europe for instance Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it "a grave mistake." Yet, it is the clash between the United States and the EU on this issue which is most strikingly setting the scene for significant transatlantic tensions in coming weeks, not least with separate bilateral battles over trade issues. Of course, deep U.S.-European discord over Tehran is not unprecedented as in the 1990s significant disagreements surfaced when Washington adopted legislation including the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) which punished European firms for doing business in those countries. In response, Brussels agreed reciprocal steps to protect European businesses and adopt countermeasures against the United States where restrictions were imposed by Washington. A similar pattern may now play out again following Trump's decision. It is clear the U.S. president feels strongly about the Iran issue claiming the agreement is "a great embarrassment" and "a giant fiction given that "we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying, rotten structure of the current agreement." Given such rhetoric, it appears unlikely he will row back on his decision, although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that Washington "will continue to work with our allies to build an agreement that is truly in the best interest of our long-term national security." The practical import of Trump's announcement, which had to be taken by May 12, is that he will no longer renew the waiver on sanctions which will now be re-imposed on key sectors, including energy and petrochemicals. This will not immediately lead to the imposition of sanctions. Instead, those companies doing business in Iran have a period of time to, potentially, wind down operations there. Following Trump's decision, the ball is now in Europe's court and indications are that the continent's leaders want to try to preserve the deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said Tuesday that Tehran might not itself pull out of the agreement if other signatories (not just France, the United Kingdom, and Germany but also China, Russia) remain committed to its terms. At the same time, however, he warned that he has instructed the country's atomic energy agency to prepare to restart enrichment of uranium in a few weeks time should the deal collapse completely. Not only does Europe want to make the deal work, but Macron indicated again Tuesday that France, Germany and the United Kingdom "will work collectively on a broader framework, covering nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, ballistic activity, and stability in the Middle East, notably Syria, Yemen, and Iraq." Yet, there is no doubting that European leaders are disheartened over Trump's decision which comes after high-level lobbying in Washington from Macron, Merkel, and U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in recent weeks. While Merkel and Johnson made no apparent headway, there were signs when Macron met Trump of potential compromise. Macron said on April 25 that "I think we are work[ing] towards a [new] deal, an overall deal that will enable us to deal with the nuclear issue, but also treat it together with other issues which are not being dealt with so far" that Trump has expressed dismay over. From this European perspective, the 2015 nuclear agreement would be only the "first pillar" of a broader framework that would also restrict Iran's regional influence, its ballistic missiles and its nuclear activities post-2025, when the existing deal expires. Trump had indicated last month such an agreement, may, be acceptable to him saying to Macron that "You know in life you have to be flexible, and as leaders of countries, you have to show some flexibility ... We could have at least an agreement among ourselves fairly quickly...I think we're fairly close to understanding each other." Yet ultimately this dialogue came to nothing. And a key question for Europe is therefore how far to push back against Trump. While EU decision-makers have been reluctant to be too explicit in public on this issue, many have been scenario planning for weeks. Former U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has argued here that it will be possible for the continent to continue to trade with Iran by blocking any U.S. sanctions on European firms that trade with Tehran. Europe took a similar path after Washington passed the ILSA legislation in 1996. Then Brussels approved measures to neutralize the law asserting that the United States should not be able to impose such measures with such an extra-territorial effect. Despite this precedent, the newly reimposed U.S. sanctions could yet critically undermine European attempts to preserve the Iran agreement. For instance, it only European firms with little or no economic interests in the United States may prove likely to want to trade with Iran given the potential risks, including fines from the U.S. Treasury. Taken overall, transatlantic tensions will now jump again following Trump's decision over Tehran and this could make a tricky G7 summit next month. While Europe will seek to preserve the agreement with Tehran, its future may be precarious in coming months. Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. Contact him at andrewkorea@outlook.com. Trump, Kim make progress for Singapore summit Washington and Pyongyang have agreed to hold their first summit in Singapore on June 12. This agreement means the two archrivals have cleared major hurdles to the historic face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In other words, both sides have managed to narrow their differences over how to denuclearize the North. Reports have it that Washington and Pyongyang have made significant progress on the top issue of the summit's agenda -- denuclearization. Such progress must have been made during last-minute negotiations between Kim and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who made his second visit to Pyongyang this week. After meeting with Kim, Pompeo flew back home with three Americans who were set free after having been held in the reclusive country. Their release served as a positive gesture for the upcoming summit. Washington has also reportedly made efforts to mitigate its pressure on Pyongyang for fully abandoning its nuclear and missile development programs. Initially the U.S. called for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID). Then recently it came up with stricter terms: the permanent, verifiable and irreversible dismantling (PVID). In the face of the North's backlash over the stronger demand, the U.S. seems to have dropped PVID and gone back to CVID. This was evident when Pompeo refrained from using the term PVID on his way to Pyongyang. It could be inferred that he made some concessions to the North regarding this matter when talking with Kim. Therefore it can be said that Pyongyang has reached an agreement in principle on the complete denuclearization in return for security guarantees for the Kim dynasty. The two sides could have agreed on the scope and timetable for the denuclearization and verification process. It is worth noting that Trump has become upbeat about the summit with Kim after hosting a ceremony to welcome the three Korean-Americans upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, early Thursday morning. He thanked Kim Jong-un for releasing them. Announcing the setting and date for the summit, Trump expressed high hopes of "doing something very meaningful" to achieve the North's denuclearization. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for world peace!" he wrote on Twitter. He also said the U.S. is aiming for denuclearization of the "entire Korean Peninsula." It is necessary to pay attention to his use of the expression: the entire Korean Peninsula. The usage is reminiscent of the Panmunjeom Declaration in which President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the end of their historic summit April 27. It could be seen as Trump's understanding about what Kim's pledge for denuclearization really means. Whether the upcoming summit will be a success or not will depend on Kim's genuine intention of giving up his nuclear ambitions. It is not desirable to be too optimistic about the prospects of the summit. Thus, the U.S. should work more closely with South Korea, China and Japan to strike a big deal which is much better than the Iran nuclear deal. By Andrew Salmon The success of the inter-Korean summit and the bromance ignited between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, have created an upbeat mood of hope nationwide. This is natural and understandable, but it has also led to euphoria. Persons ranging from provincial government officials to average citizens are calling for all manner of inter-Korean projects. Some are even talking excitedly about reunification. This is premature. While the dispersal of conflict clouds is excellent news for all, unification is not. North Korea would not want to be swallowed whole by the South. And given the size of its population (half that of the South's) and its economy (around one fortieth the size of the South's) the chance of the North devouring the South looks impossible. While the prospects of a Southern-led reunification look excellent, long term, over the short term, they are staggeringly expensive. As North Korea expert Andrei Lankov recently noted: For currently working South Koreans, the financial demands of reunification would require this generation to work South Korean hours, for Bangladeshi wages, while paying Swedish taxes. In sum: North Korea needs to globalize, normalize and economically upgrade before a reunification process begins. China would resist Southern-led reunification. While some in Beijing have called for a pivot away from its troublesome ally, the strategic criticality of North Korea a buffer state separating China from democratic southerners and U.S. troops remains. Likewise Russia, a nation engaged in strategic competition with the United States, sees the value of North Korea, a state which counterbalances American influence regionally. Japan might like North Korean to evaporate but would it welcome South Korea beefing up with an additional 25 million citizens and massive military forces? Given the refusal of Seoul to consider any alliance with Tokyo, and given the regular diplomatic beatings Tokyo receives from Seoul, Japan may well look askance at reunification The only winner would be the United States, which could expand its influence while maintaining its strategic foothold on the peninsula and enjoying expanded markets for its brands. Still, the region would not favor reunification which, anyway, is hardly likely at present. But a peninsula peace regime looks attainable, and would win support across the region. A peace treaty would be hugely symbolic, but would change nothing substantive: There would still be two Koreas, two armies, and a border between them. A peace regime, on the other hand, would provide major boons. If both Koreas renounce their claims to each other in their respective constitutions and in North Korea's case, in educational and propaganda materials the likelihood of military clashes and Korea War II plummet. Both Koreas could cut military numbers and spending. And peace is essential for trust. Trust would permit cross-border movements of people and commerce, and the formation of the first inter-Korean networks. It could also permit the shipment of products through North Korea natural gas and electricity from Siberia to South Korea and rail links that would speed South Koreans into Eurasia. South Korea would cease to be a political island; North Korea would earn trans-shipment fees. China would gain increased stability on its northeastern frontier, and might upgrade investments in North Korea. Likewise, Russia would gain a more secure border. Both countries could cooperate with both Koreas on commercial and infrastructure projects on the trilateral border. Japan could relax its military posture, and start talking with North Korea opening diplomatic relations which could possibly result in massive financial injections into North Korea on the model of the loans and colonial-era reparations Tokyo made to Seoul in 1965 which provided much of the capital for the "Economic Miracle." Finally, Washington could pull some troops from Korea, cutting costs. However, it would not need to rewrites its mutual defense treaty with Seoul: That document focuses on overall mutual defense; North Korea is not mentioned in the treaty. Hopefully, all parties will concentrate their energies on possibilities that are feasible and to the benefit of many a peace regime rather than on a distant dream which is in the interests of few reunification. General Motors Vice President Barry Engle faces a GM Korea subcontract worker's protest on his way to the Korea Auto Industries Cooperation Association head office in Seoul, Thursday. The government and General Motors concluded an MOU on cooperation to help rescue GM Korea on the day. / Yonhap By Jhoo Dong-chan The government and GM have concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation to help rescue the U.S. carmaker's local unit in Korea, but experts say the deal isn't enough to ensure its comeback here and is nothing but 10-year-long "life support" with taxpayers' money. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday that GM will move its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Korea, demonstrating the carmaker's long-term commitment to its local unit's growth here. The deal also includes a $7.15 billion rescue package for the local unit here in which GM will convert $2.8 billion worth of debt owed by GM Korea into shares and extend $3.6 billion in new loans for facility investment. In return, the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), GM Korea's second-largest shareholder with a 17 percent stake, will invest $750 million to keep the automaker afloat, under a condition requiring the U.S. carmaker to stay in the country for at least 10 years. However, an industry observer said the rescue package is nothing but extending GM Korea's life for another 10 years. "GM Korea's comeback is not dependent on the financial package but on its competitiveness," Daelim University automotive professor Kim Pil-soo told The Korea Times. "The role of the Asia-Pacific headquarters could be very limited. GM already has its own R&D center of its own in China, the world's largest automobile market. GM's presence in other countries in Asia, including Japan, isn't very significant. It could be operated only in name." GM also promised to allocate two new car models _ possibly one SUV and one crossover model _ here for the carmaker's future growth engine, but Kim said these two models aren't enough for GM Korea to stay afloat. "It will take at least two or three years for GM Korea to introduce a new vehicle model through its own R&D and production system," he said. "GM Korea's current vehicle lineup has failed to attract Korean motorists, which means that the carmaker's survival depends merely on the success of the two new models. It's a risky bet. The company may not be able to survive for the next 10 years." A government official said it had no option but to input the taxpayers' money because there were "up to 150,000 jobs at stake." Kim stressed the carmaker's high production costs as the largest hurdle for its comeback. "The Korean plants' high production costs are already notorious globally," he said. "Even domestic carmakers will not reinforce any production line here, considering its high production costs. The unions in the auto industry have abused their organizational power to secure maximum benefits no matter if the firm makes a profit or not. This practice should be changed immediately." By Jhoo Dong-chan Tom N Toms Coffee is under a prosecution probe over possible embezzlement by its CEO Kim Do-kyun. Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office searched Kim's apartment and the head office of the coffee franchise in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Friday, and seized evidence including related accounting documents and hard disks. According to the prosecution, Kim allegedly siphoned off billions of won in company funds. Tom N Toms Coffee was founded in 2001, and currently has more than 400 branches across the country. In 2009, the franchise opened its first overseas branches _ one in Australia and one in Singapore. According to sources, it now has more than 200 across the world, including in the United States, Thailand, Philippines, China, Mongolia, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Tom N Toms Coffee reportedly fell into deficit in 2016 with a 2.7 billion won net loss. The coffee chain brand's closure ratio also gradually increased to 13.7 percent that year from 5.9 percent in 2014. Angola, IN (46703) Today Thunderstorms during the morning followed by occasional showers this afternoon. High 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Thunderstorms this morning, then variable clouds during the afternoon with still a chance of showers. High 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Rome, May 11 - 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini are continuing talks on the formation of a new government, with discussions on a "third premier" - a figure that is not one of the two - who could head the executive one of the key issues. On Thursday the two groups, which have both frequently adopted Euroskeptic stances and have been accused of populism, said they had made progress in talks on a government programme regarding issues such as the introduction of a flat tax and the abolition of the 2011 Fornero pension reform. Di Maio and Salvini are set to have more meetings on Friday and Saturday and then they may present the name of this 'third premier' to President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday. If this pans out, the president could give a mandate to form a government on Monday and the new cabinet could be sworn in by the end of next week. "There will be less than 20 (ministers)," said Vincenzo Spadafora, who has been put in charge of handling institutional relations by the M5S. Milan, May 11 - Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) on Friday said that it is back in the black, reporting a first-quarter net profit of 188 million euros from the 169 million loss posted in the first trimester of 2017. Commercial investments since the end of December 2017 rose by 900 million euros thanks to a 20% hike in new loans. The bank, which announced this week that it had completed a 24 billion euro bad-loan sale, reported that it had started a procedure to offload this year an additional 4.5 billion euros in impaired debts. MPS is the world's oldest lender and was bailed out by the government last year. iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The commander and the senior enlisted officer of a SEAL Team currently deployed to Africa are being investigated for allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment, officials said. Both senior leaders have been sent back to the United States while the allegations are investigated. "A commanding officer and command master chief assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit have been relieved of their duties overseas due to alleged misconduct," said Lt. Jacqui Maxwell, a spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare Group TWO. "Naval Special Warfare and NCIS have initiated investigations as appropriate," said Maxwell. Two defense officials said one of the team leaders is being investigated for the alleged inappropriate touching of a female service member during the deployment. Both team leaders are being investigated for allegations of sexual harassment, said officials. Both of the senior leaders were sent home by Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, said a third defense official. Hicks suspended the commanding officer's overseas assignment as the head of SOC Forward East Africa, said the official. While "pulled from deployment" both senior leaders have not been relieved of their duties as the commanding officer and command master chief of their SEAL Team. While stateside they will remain in those positions as the allegations are investigated. SEAL Team units deployed to East Africa typically operate in Djibouti, where the United States has a base, and in Somalia, where they assist in an advisory capacity with the Somali military. The Navy has eight SEAL team units, four odd numbered units stationed in Coronado, California and four even-numbered units stationed at Little Creek, Va. A ninth SEAL Team is more commonly known as SEAL Team Six, though its official name is Special Warfare Development Group DEVGRU. That elite Special Missions unit best known for its role in the Osama bin Laden raid. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Rome, May 11 - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told the State of the Union conference in Florence Friday that "structural reforms at the national level remain a priority". The eurozone needs greater budget capacity to have risk-sharing mechanisms boosting its economic stability, Draghi told the conference, ahead of a June EU summit where leaders will discuss reforms to the European institutional architecture. He added that "completing banking union and that of markets is a necessary condition for increasing the sharing of risks in the eurozone". But he also stressed that public support for a bank liquidation fund in eurozone banking union is "still lacking". He highlighted that similar funds in the US, Japan and Britain have behind them "the sharing of risks at a public level, necessary for the system to be able to contain market panic when a crisis hits". The US federal budget, "via budget transfers between states, absorbs some 10% of shocks according to estimates," Draghi commented, saying that the situation was not too different from the eurozone "in so far as individual states can freely use fiscal policy" to combat national recessional phases. Draghi also said that the EU should create anti-crisis stabilisation tools and that the trust of peoples should be rewarded with prosperity. Rome, May 9 - Physicist Roberto Battiston was confirmed head of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) by the education, university and research ministry on Wednesday. Battiston, who has 30 years of experience in the sector, was first appointed in 2016. A physicist for the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Battiston was first appointed by the Minister for Education, University and Research, Stefania Giannini. He succeeded Professor. Aldo Sandulli, Special Commissioner to the ASI following judiciary investigations that led to the resignation of the previous President of the Agency Enrico Saggese. A full Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Trento, where he was born in 1956 and still lives, Battiston has had a long and distinguished academic and scientific career, full of international awards, which began immediately after graduating with honours in Physics from the elite Scuola Normale of Pisa in 1979. He is Chairman of Commission II of the INFN for Astroparticle Physics, and a member of TIFPA (Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application) - the new National Center of the INFN. Tracey A. Leigh, Krystle Rose Simmons and Gabriel Lawrence in "The Baby Dance: Mixed" at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura. Photo: Jeanne Tanner. As a theater critic in a city famous for making movies, I sometimes meet new acquaintances who assume that I see a lot of movies and TV. With the theater, movies and TV often drawing on the same talent pools, wouldn't critics keep up with all of it? Sorry, but no. Several hundred professional stage productions are produced in LA each year. Many of them require travel time as well as viewing time. Trying to also keep up with most movies and the relentless streams of acclaimed TV programs sounds impossible. Nevertheless, many of my new acquaintances probably imagine that I would surely see most of the movies that are directly based on plays, right? Not necessarily. I've seen too many examples of bad movies based on plays - and bad plays based on movies. In the last several weeks, however, I saw a couple of stage productions that inspired me to then watch the movie versions, for very different reasons. Let's start with "The Baby Dance: Mixed," Jane Anderson's rewrite of her "The Baby Dance." The original initially opened at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1990. It quickly found its way to off-Broadway, where it was trashed by then-New York Times critic Frank Rich. Nonetheless, it survived to be transformed into a 1998 Peabody Award-winning and Anderson-directed Showtime movie - which, of course, I hadn't seen. Now Anderson has written a new stage version. It opened last weekend at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura. The title refers to the uneasy negotiations that occur between a wealthy LA couple, unable to have their own child, and a poor Louisiana couple, who are expecting but who can't afford their fifth child. The Angelenos hope to adopt the soon-to-arrive infant and endow her with a relatively prosperous life. In the original play and in the film, the LA couple specifically advertised in adoption circles for a "healthy white baby." Both of the couples were white. The story's conflicts were primarily class-based. In 2016 terms, that means that the Louisiana couple probably would have voted for Trump and the LA couple for Clinton. However, in the new version of the play, the would-be mom from LA is African-American. So is the Louisiana couple. And the LA couple requests "a healthy African-American baby,." although the would-be dad from LA remains white - and Jewish. The play is still set entirely in Louisiana, first in a trailer park and then in a hospital. But while the Louisiana white couple in the first version looked down on their unseen black neighbors, the Louisiana black couple in the rewrite sneer at their unseen Mexican-American neighbors. In both versions, the unemployed biological father, while seeking more lucrative benefits from the would-be adoptive father, briefly unleashes a burst of anti-Semitism. In the older version of the play, that same Louisiana man questioned the all-white LA couple's liberal credentials by citing their request for a white baby; now he challenges the biracial LA couple's biracial credentials by asking about their request for a black baby. Out of concern about spoilers, I won't discuss how the play ends, but at least one of the characters probably emerges with even more psychological distress in this version than in the earlier edition. However, that feeling isn't articulated as much as it could have been. I wanted to hear more of it. This doesn't reflect on the strong Rubicon cast or its director Jenny Sullivan, who also staged the first version of the play. The production is deeply involving. Yet as I left, I had a nagging sensation that the play could be improved if the ending were somewhat more extended. So I decided to find a copy of the film version of the play, which apparently is available only on VHS. I wanted to see how Anderson resolved her story in her screenplay. The verdict? The movie feels much more complete than either stage version, and it's even more poignant. Of course we see more of the Louisiana environment. Through the eyes of all four of the prospective parents, we also catch evocative glimpses of the four growing children of the Louisiana couple, who are completely absent in the stage plays. In the film, the two potential fathers interact in a somewhat more relaxed setting, before they later come to literal blows. Finally, the movie closes on a stunningly powerful image, which reminds us of which individual really has the biggest stake in this "baby dance." This film deserves a long-overdue DVD release, if not widespread streaming options. On to Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical take on "School of Rock." I had never seen the popular 2003 film comedy - about a would-be rock star who lies his way into a temporary job as a substitute teacher at a prep school, where he hijacks the curriculum and turns his young charges into a rock band. Nor had I seen the recent Nickelodeon series. On opening night at the Pantages Theatre, the Lloyd Webber/Glenn Slater/Julian Fellowes musical struck me as almost entirely implausible, overblown and just a little Trumpian in its disdain for anything other than cheesy showmanship. The designers attempted to suggest a rock concert in the 2700-seat hall, complete with sometimes inaudible lyrics in too many songs, more than they tried to suggest a stuffy prep school or the protagonist's crummy apartment. Having lowered my expectations with the musical, I then watched the movie - and I had a much better time. Written by Mike White and directed by Richard Linklater, the film naturally relied on authentic-looking exteriors and the greater subtleties of close-ups to underline the contrasts between the protagonist's over-the-top dreams and the more repressed universe of the other characters. Although the story and the overall attitude didn't change much from movie to musical, I sympathized a lot more with the movie's depiction of the children's crusade led by Dewey (Jack Black), perhaps because I caught more convincing glimpses of his ability to actually teach these kids something about his passion. Now that I've been somewhat charmed by the movie, which probably puts me in the same boat as many of the audience members who see the musical at the Pantages, I'm wondering if I just might like the musical a little more if I were to see it again. Would I feel a little closer to already being "in the band" (to quote from perhaps the show's best musical number) than I did when I walked into the Pantages as a "School of Rock" first-grader? Might I better appreciate the ways in which the musical is different? I'll have to test that theory, the next time a production opens in LA. Lila Hood, Austin Rogers, Jeanette Deutsch and Noah James in "Bad Jews." Photo: Enci Box. And now for a few words about a wonderful play that should never be turned into a movie - "Bad Jews," by Joshua Harmon. It's about four young adults having scalding but also funny conversations in one crowded apartment, where they're all trying to spend the night under very emotional circumstances. The story takes place in real time. I initially saw "Bad Jews" in 2015 at the Geffen Playhouse. It was effectively intense there, but in the hands of a skilled team in a much smaller venue at the Odyssey Theatre, a few miles from the Geffen, it's even more red-hot. Perhaps I especially felt the heat because I was sitting in the front row. For those who haven't seen it, it's about two millennial Jewish cousins treating each other badly, in a dispute over who gets to inherit a token from their late grandfather's tragic history. The two of them articulate contrasting views on a cultural and religious spectrum that could easily resonate with non-Jews from many other cultures. Two other characters -a mostly passive observer and a blonde non-Jew who more or less represents "the other" here - also contribute to pivotal moments in the conversation. Director Dana Resnick keeps Harmon's pot boiling. That's a lot more than I can say for a another four-character play, Amy Herzog's "Belleville" at Pasadena Playhouse or even for Harmon's own "Significant Other," which recently played the Geffen. The latter play, about a gay man who feels abandoned as his women friends begin getting married, also displayed Harmon's facility with exquisite rants but wasn't the real-time powder keg that "Bad Jews" is. And finally, a grateful nod to one other four-person ensemble - the quartet who sing "Blues in the Night" at the Wallis, as well as the great band that backs them up. The director is Sheldon Epps, in his first major post-Pasadena directing job in the LA area. He conceived "Blues in the Night" more than 35 years ago, and now he's demonstrating that even the denizens of Beverly Hills can feel the blues in the night. Bryce Charles and Paulette Ivory in "Blues in the Night." Photo: Lawrence K. Ho. Lets be honest: The Nobel Prize for literature was broken long before the announcement this month that it would go dark in 2018. Thats not to say its recent laureates are undeserving OK, maybe not Elfriede Jelinek or (forgive me) Bob Dylan but then, this raises the question of what deserving means. Of the last 10 winners, just Mo Yan and Svetlana Alexievich live outside North America or Western Europe; the 2010 laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, is Peruvian but has resided in Spain, primarily, for more than two decades. The further back you go, the worse the record gets. The only Arab writer to take the prize was Egypts Naguib Mahfouz in 1988; of the three African recipients, two, Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee, were white. In 2008, when Horace Engdahl, then-permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy (which administers the Nobel), declared that you cant get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world, many, myself included, derided him as out of touch. A decade later, out of touch seems far too polite. And yet, no Nobel in literature in 2018? Its an insult to readers and writers alike. The decision comes in response to a scandal; in November, Jean-Claude Arnault, husband of a member of the academy, was accused of sexually assaulting or harassing 18 women over 20 years. Subsequently, several academy members resigned or were forced out; the jury is in disarray. The solution? To take a year off and name two literature laureates in 2019. Because the academy votes only on the literature prize, Nobels in other categories (chemistry, economics, medicine and the like) will be awarded as they always have. Advertisement Who thought this was a good idea, to scapegoat books for an institutions failings? Especially now, when the literary world is coming to grips with its own sexism and prejudice, the Swedish Academy should have set a different tone. And yet, no Nobel in literature in 2018? Its an insult to readers and writers alike. Just consider the writers who never won a Nobel, which can be awarded only to a living author: Chinua Achebe, Jorge Luis Borges, Virginia Woolf, Yukio Mishima, James Baldwin. Then consider those who ought to win. For the last several years, Ive been holding out for Ngugi wa Thiongo, the 80-year-old Kenyan author who directs the International Center for Writing and Translation at UC Irvine. And what of Elena Ferrante or Nuruddin Farah or Margaret Atwood or Bei Dao? Does the Swedish Academy really mean to tell us it cant find a worthy candidate? What kind of readers are they? Even more, what is the point of holding literature accountable for Arnaults (and his enablers) alleged sins? The easy answer is to say that the Nobel Prize is tainted which, of course, it is. How can a small group of people, any people, decide the best in literature when such a standard is at best subjective and far more often, reactionary, insular? At the same time, I dont look to awards to define greatness. I look to them to open up the territory. Among my favorite laureates is Patrick Modiano; I had never read him before he won the prize. So, too, Gao Xingjian, whose novel (but is it really?) Soul Mountain beguiles me. Even Dylan who I think was a poor choice provoked a conversation about what literature can be. This is the important stuff, the ongoing dialogue. It is why we read in the first place. It is why we care. Now, we are left with nothing, only the machinations of the academy. To call this self-serving would be to belabor the obvious. Still, what do we expect from an institution intent on protecting the tenuous illusion of its authority? That the academy has chosen to hide behind the Arnault scandal is just more proof of its complicity. Ulin is the author of Sidewalking: Coming to Terms With Los Angeles. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the former book editor and book critic of The Times. William T. Vollmann opened the multi-lock steel door to his writing studio, a 3,000-square-foot former Mexican restaurant-turned-apartment hidden in a dicey outlier of Sacramento. Its surrounded by wrought iron and chain link fencing topped with razor wire to prevent home invasion, he explained. Which has been attempted. Although Vollmann and his radiation oncologist wife live in a two-story house in a tony neighborhood, the author spends days and sometimes a week at a time at this fortress of solitude when immersed in projects, which is always. Hes juggling two novels right now, one a thriller set in the Sacramento Delta, the other with the working title of The Lesbian. Vollmann is a National Book Award winner (for the 2005 novel Europe Central) and honoree of the National Book Critics Circle, PEN USA and the Whiting Foundation. His papers are stored at the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library at Ohio State University. The Washington Post calls him the most ambitious, productive and important living author in the U.S. There is ongoing talk about an eventual Nobel Prize in literature, which he shrugs off. His mostly nonfiction bibliography is profound (global poverty, the history of human violence, the settling of the North American continent), his resume monumental journalist, historian, novelist, war correspondent, short-story writer, essayist, moralist, photographer, painter, woodblock printer. Advertisement No Immediate Danger and No Good Alternative by William T. Vollmann (Viking ) Although he is impeccably mannered and gracious, he prefers to live off the grid as much as possible. Hes not connected to the internet (preferring to do research in libraries) and functions without a cellphone, e-mail, fax machine, TV or even a checking account. Nor does he drive, preferring to take public transit or walk. Vollmann is all about the freedom of the individual, he said. I love being able to say what I want, even if its unpopular, and to live as I wish, even if Im a weirdo. It doesnt matter. But I do like people. As a journalist, I have to drop in on alien environments and make friends instantly or Im in big trouble. He added, I try to be happy in my life and do what I can to make others happy. I dont try to be a saint, but I do step out of my comfort zone a little bit. Such as the time he rescued an adolescent girl from a brothel in Thailand and installed her in a boarding school in Bangkok, at huge personal risk. Vollmann had just returned from an eight-city national tour for No Immediate Danger (Viking, 624 pages), the first volume of his latest mega-work, Carbon Ideologies. Volume 2, an additional 688 pages, is No Good Alternative, to be released by Viking on June 5. Together, the tomes explore the main causes of global warming (transportation, industrial chemicals, manufacturing and agriculture) and exhaustively examine how carbon-based fuels and nuclear power are steering the planet toward an inevitable hot, dark future. Carbon Ideologies was a labor of seven years, taking him to Japan, Mexico, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates and also West Virginia, Kentucky and Colorado. He dedicates it to the coming generations, the inhabitants of a hotter, more dangerous and biologically diminished planet than the one on which I lived. Refugees cross floodwaters in Bangladesh in 2017 (Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images ) Several walls and part of the ceiling in his writing studio are covered in his photographs and artwork, reflecting his world travels and eclectic interest. Vollmann sat on an old couch and leaned back, then jumped up and offered to make tea. I would rather not do tours at all, but thats what I signed up for, he said. I was mostly preaching to the converted on this tour, he said of his discussions of global warming. But its too late to make a difference anyway. The situation were in is like that of a young couple who buy a new house and cant afford the mortgage payment, so they just dont open the bills. That works for a while, but meanwhile the interest and penalties are accruing. The sarcastically titled No Immediate Danger is grim reading; he makes it plain that corporations and politicians deny or lie about the irreparable environmental and human damage they have caused or condoned. But Vollmanns signature wit and sarcasm (and photos) add some relief and human context. Smoke stacks at a West Virginia coal plant in 2009 (Saul Loeb / AFP/ Getty Images ) The first 218 pages are a scientific primer on the causes of climate change, a mix of tables, statistics and sidebars such as Primary Greenhouse Gas Emissions From American Power Generation. Vollmann spent a year checking the primer materials with a legion of institutional experts from temples of knowledge such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is interspersed with a first-person narrative on power, waste, disbelief and the like, with horrifying kernels such as, If we stopped all of our emissions today, the seas would keep rising and the atmosphere would keep warming for at least 2,000 years. Smog enveloping downtown Los Angeles in 2003 (David McNew / AFP/Getty Images ) People can read the primer and say, How do I know the science is true? Are you telling me we have to bankrupt the economy just to avoid a sea level rise? Vollmann said. Climatologists say climate is a long-term trend, at least 30 years. The average temperature next year could be colder, so people could say, See, that disproves global warming. But it doesnt. If you look at it over a 30-year period, we see its steadily going up. The next 404 pages recount his five visits to the abandoned towns of the radioactive zones in Fukushima prefecture in Japan between 2011 and 2014. In 2011 an earthquake caused a tsunami that wrecked the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Three reactor cores melted down, releasing radionuclides into the air and, ultimately, the groundwater. A lone house sits on scarred landscape inside the exclusion zone close to the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in February 2016. (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images ) Hundreds of thousands of Fukushima residents were evacuated from the radioactive zones of the province, abandoning their homes and towns to the elements. As Vollmann ventured into those deserted and extremely eerie ghost towns on successive visits, he saw streets, power lines and houses covered in swarming vines, with abandoned buildings occupied by radioactive wild boar, he said. The affected areas wont approach normal for more than 300 years. Although the horrific legacy of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki still lingers in Japans national psyche, Vollmanns travels brought him in contact with those who lacked that historical context. Most Japanese dont really understand what radiation is, he said. Theyll ask, Is it a substance or is it invisible? Do you itch when you get it? They dont know because no one tells them. Its quite heartbreaking. The energy industrys chemical and climatological harm is happening in America too. I talked with a man in Colorado whose family is sick from fracking, Vollmann said. A fracking facility in Colorado in 2013 (Brennan Linsley / AP ) The retired CEO of Conoco [the multinational energy corporation] is sure climate change doesnt exist. The people I met in West Virginia deny global warming, and the resources companies there are very bitter about the slightest oversight. The extraction industrys rationalization for mining fossil fuels is that there is No Good Alternative, the second volumes title. But there is one, he said. Reduce demand for almost all goods all over the world. The way to do it is reduce population. Its astounding not to support birth control and have future demand unborn. It wont be enough, but its a step in the right direction. Vollmann paused, then announced he had to get on with a deadline article hes writing for National Geographic magazine. Back at the steel door, he said, somewhat wistfully, I used to want to apologize to future generations for what weve done to them. But if they were in our shoes, they probably wouldnt do any better. Thats kind of a comfort, in a way. Why beat ourselves up that were not more noble? Pierleoni worked as a writer and editor at the Sacramento Bee for 30 years. He now freelances for a number of newspapers and magazines in California. Electric buses from California-based Proterra are beginning to appear in the nations capital. The Washington, D.C., Circulator transit district, which serves mainly tourists visiting Smithsonian Institution museums and other sites, bought 14 of the Proterra buses and began rolling them out earlier this month. No exact price was given, but such vehicles range from $700,000 to $900,000 each. Proterra, based in Burlingame in Northern California, turns out vehicles at a plant in the City of Industry and in Greenville, S.C., where the D.C. buses were built. Ryan Popple, Proterras chief executive, said in a prepared statement that Washington D.C. is the perfect place to show citizens from across the country and the world that our technology not only reduces emissions, but also fundamentally improves the rider experience. Advertisement He did not mention that the district is also the perfect place to show off the technology to politicians, lobbyists and bureaucrats who help determine mass transit policy across the United States. The Los Angeles area has become an electric bus building center in part because of the manufacturing talent developed by the aerospace industry. BYD, a China-based company, operates an electric bus factory in Lancaster. Proterra said it has sold 546 buses in 30 states. BYD claims it has sold 722. Both seek to replace diesel, gasoline and other greenhouse-gas emitting powertrains. BYD recently announced the Anteater Express shuttle bus fleet at UC Irvine will be converted from 29 diesel buses to 20 BYD buses. The deal was brokered by the universitys student government, paid for out of student fees. russ.mitchell@latimes.com Twitter: @russ1mitchell Hoping to quell a growing controversy, AT&T Inc. chief Randall Stephenson said Friday that the phone giant did not break any laws but committed a serious misjudgment in hiring Michael Cohen, President Trumps personal attorney and fixer, as a political consultant. Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged, Stephenson, the companys chairman and chief executive, said in a memo to employees Friday morning. There is no other way to say it AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake. Stephenson also announced that a high-level executive in its Washington, D.C., office, Bob Quinn, is retiring in the wake of the controversy. Since October 2016, Quinn has been in charge of AT&Ts public policy group. Before that, he was responsible for coordinating the companys dealings with federal regulators. AT&T hired Cohen in 2017 for strategic advice, paying him $50,000 a month a total of $600,000 in hopes of helping smooth the way for the federal governments approval of AT&Ts proposed $85-billion takeover of Time Warner Inc. Advertisement In a statement Friday, AT&T said that Cohen approached it after the 2016 presidential election and said he was leaving the Trump Organization and would do consulting for a select few companies that wanted his opinion on the new President and his administration the key players, their priorities, and how they think. AT&T also acknowledged that the office of special counsel Robert Mueller which is investigating Russias interference in the presidential election contacted it late last year about its involvement with Cohen. The telecom giant said Friday that it cooperated, providing information last November and December. Since then, AT&T said, it has not received any additional questions from Muellers office. Cohen was one of several consultants AT&T hired in early 2017 to better understand how the Trump administration would address a wide range of policy issues important to the company, the company said in a statement. Among those were tax reform, regulatory reform at the Federal Communications Commission and antitrust enforcement, particularly the deal with Time Warner that AT&T unveiled in October 2016. They didnt vet this individual, Mr. Cohen, very well at all, said C. Kerry Fields, a professor of finance, economics and business ethics at USC. He was generally known in New York as Trumps fixer and, over the years, dealt with many questionable circumstances for Trump when he was a private person. While on the campaign trail in October 2016, Trump said he would oppose the AT&T-Time Warner deal because it would create too much concentration of power in the hands of too few. Time Warner owns CNN, and after taking office, Trump fumed about CNNs coverage of him, calling the channel fake news. Observers wondered at the time whether Trumps ire would factor into the governments review of the merger. Nonetheless, throughout much of last year AT&T expressed confidence that its purchase of Time Warner would be approved. Last summer the company announced its management team to run Time Warner as the government review appeared to be going smoothly. But in late September, the process stalled when Department of Justices antitrust chief Makan Delrahim took office. Delrahim expressed skepticism about such combinations. Two months later, the Justice Department sued to block the merger. A judge in Washington is set to announce on June 12 whether the colossal tie-up would violate U.S. antitrust laws. News of the payments to Cohen is not expected to damage AT&Ts legal case for Time Warner, but the situation with Cohen has grown into a major embarrasment for the nations second-largest telecommunications company. Last month, the FBI raided Cohens New York home, office and hotel room, taking emails and documents related to several topics. The search warrants reportedly focused in part on payments to two women, the adult-film actress known as Stormy Daniels and the former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal. Both women received money during the 2016 campaign in deals to keep them silent about their alleged sexual relationships with Trump. AT&Ts ties to Cohen surfaced this week when Newport Beach attorney Michael Avenatti who represents Daniels named AT&T as one of the companies that made payments to Cohens firm. Novartis AG, one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies, and airplane maker Korean Aerospace Industries also made payments to Cohen. And a New York investment firm that manages assets of a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin paid Cohen $500,000, ostensibly for advice on real estate ventures. Companies routinely hire consultants and lobbyists to provide insights into government agencies and leaders, but the Cohen situation demonstrates a downside of such entanglements. When you engage a consultant with this kind of background, you risk being associated with questionable behavior, Fields said. It reflects badly on AT&T. In fact, its a bit shocking that they retained him at all. Stephenson, in his memo, acknowledged that the company was too quick to retain Cohen. Our Washington, D.C., teams vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that, Stephenson said. For the foreseeable future, the external & legislative affairs group will report to our General Counsel David McAtee.... Davids number one priority is to ensure every one of the individuals and firms we use in the political arena are people who share our high standards and who we would be proud to have associated with AT&T. On the campaign trail, Trump, pledged to drain the swamp in Washington, disrupting the network of lobbyists and special interests. Its unclear whether Cohen tried to influence Trump on the proposed Time Warner merger or other matters that were dear to AT&T. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested Friday that AT&T might have wasted its money because Trump was not swayed. This is actually the definition of draining the swamp, she said. I think its pretty clear that the Department of Justice opposed the merger, and so certainly the president has not been influenced or his administration influenced by any outside special interest. AT&T stock is down 16% this year, but on Friday, its shares rose 41 cents, or 1.3%, to $32.29. A union representing some AT&T workers swiftly tried to use the imbroglio to its advantage. Members of a Midwestern unit of the Communications Workers of America had voted last month to authorize a strike if its negotiators could not reach a new contract with AT&T. AT&Ts claims that Michael Cohen did real work for the company are laughable, Lisa Bolton, a CWA vice president, said in a statement. We know who does the real work at AT&T our members. Its time for the company to agree to a fair contract that provides good jobs with affordable benefits. Times staff writer Jim Puzzanghera in Washington contributed to this report. UPDATES: 2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from analysts, the White House press secretary and a Communications Workers of America vice president, as well as AT&Ts stock movement and information about companies that have made payments to Michael Cohen. 9:05 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times staff reporting. This article was originally published at 7:15 a.m. Wells Fargo & Co. will have to receive formal approval in a vote taken by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before its growth restriction is lifted, Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell has decided a move that could cut into the banks profits. Powell disclosed his determination in a letter Thursday to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had pushed for a board vote rather than just a staff endorsement so Congress and the public could hold the Fed accountable when it decides whether to lift the stiff penalty stemming from the San Francisco banks unauthorized-accounts scandal and other consumer abuses. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Timothy Sloan separately told investors Thursday at a conference that he expected the restriction, which stopped the bank from growing its assets beyond the $1.95 trillion reached at the end of last year, would probably continue into 2019. Warren pressed Powell to hold a formal vote on lifting the cap when he testified at a Senate Banking Committee hearing in March. She followed up with a letter last month. Advertisement Im glad the Feds Board of Governors changed course and will vote on whether to lift the growth restriction, rather than delegating that important question, Warren said in response to Powells decision. The Fed must strictly enforce its order to show Wells Fargo that it means business. President Trump last month nominated economist Richard Clarida and state banking regulator Michelle Bowman to fill vacant seats on the seven-member Fed board. There are likely to be questions on how they would handle lifting the Wells Fargo growth restriction during their confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman declined to comment Friday. Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with brokerage and investment bank Cowen & Co., said in a research note that Powells decision to hold a formal vote means the growth restriction could easily remain in place into the second half of 2019 and longer if more problems arise at the bank. Rescinding the asset cap was always going to be politically difficult given the distrust on the far left and the far right when it comes to the mega banks, Seiberg said. Powells move only further ratchets up the politics. Ken Leon, an equity analyst at research firm CFRA, said Thursday that the longer the cap is in place, the harder it will be for the bank to manage its affairs without hampering key parts of its business. Making loans is the core business for the bank, and loans are considered assets because they generate income. Still, Wells Fargo Treasurer Neal Blinde said Thursday at Wells Fargos investor day in Charlotte, N.C., that the Fed growth cap is only expected to cut $100 million into this years profit, instead of an earlier estimate of $400 million. The initial estimate was made before the bank experienced a new round of bad headlines, in particular a $1-billion penalty handed down by federal regulators last month over the same consumer abuses underlying the Feds enforcement action. Those headlines may have slowed the banks loan and deposit growth, Leon said mitigating the impact of the asset cap. In February, the Fed board voted unanimously to order Wells Fargo to cap its growth and improve its corporate governance in response to its consumer abuses. The consent order required Wells Fargos board of directors to submit written plans to improve its oversight and risk management, which they did last month. An independent review by a third-party firm must be completed by Sept. 30 to determine how Wells Fargo is implementing the plans. Given the breadth of the wrongdoing at Wells Fargo and the enormous number of consumers affected, the Feds governors not its staff should be responsible for determining whether Wells Fargo is complying with the consent order, Warren wrote in her April 3 letter. At the March hearing, Powell said the growth restriction would not be easily lifted but the decision to do so would be made by the staff in serious consultation with Fed board members. Warren complained that decisions on enforcement actions should be made in formal votes by Fed board members, who hold Senate-confirmed positions. After further consideration, the decision about terminating the asset growth restriction will be made by a vote of the Board of Governors, Powell wrote to Warren. As the terms of the order make clear, the firm must make significant progress in remedying its oversight and compliance and operational risk management deficiencies before relief from the asset growth restriction would be forthcoming, Sloan told investors on Thursday that the Fed has responded with feedback on the banks compliance plans. To have enough time to incorporate that feedback, were making plans to operate under the asset cap through the first part of 2019, Sloan said. Warren also asked Powell to publicly release the findings of the independent review of Wells Fargos remediation plan implementation. Powell responded in his Thursday letter that such reviews typically contain mostly confidential information. But he said the Fed would look at the review to determine whether and to what extent the report can be publicly disclosed. In 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million to settle investigations by other regulators into the banks creation of millions of accounts for customers without their authorization. The practice, traced to aggressive sales goals, was first reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2013. But the problems have continued for Wells Fargo. Last month, the bank was hit with its $1-billion fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the same consumer abuses underlying the Feds enforcement action. And last week, Wells Fargo reached a $480-million settlement with shareholders who said they were shortchanged when the banks stock plunged after the accounts scandal mushroomed in September 2016. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera Staff writer James Rufus Koren contributed to this report. UPDATES: 11:55 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from Jaret Seiberg of Cowen & Co. and additional background. This article originally was published at 2 a.m. The 30-second ad isnt subtle. It opens with two pills, one emblazoned with the American flag, the other sporting a Canadian flag. Which can you trust? it asks. One is made with strict quality controls, the ad says. The other counterfeit from Chinese labs and shipped through Canada. The American pill, were told, has guaranteed FDA authenticity and safety. A nice, neat pharmacist in a white lab coat is shown carefully filling a prescription in a clean, healthy American drugstore. The imagery shifts to what is apparently a dark, filthy Chinese lab, with medicine seemingly being manufactured in open containers of brown sludge. Advertisement The Chinese pill is made from antifreeze, drywall, even road paint, the ad declares. Protect the U.S. drug supply, it concludes, by rejecting policies that permit importation of counterfeit Canadian drugs. The spot, which was uploaded recently to YouTube, is from an organization called the Partnership for Safe Medicines. It wont surprise anyone to learn that membership in this group is comprised primarily of U.S. drug companies and pharmacies. Nor will anyone be shocked to learn that the U.S. drug industry works aggressively to prevent Americans from obtaining meds from Canadian pharmacies at a fraction of the cost charged in this country. But I had no idea how heavy-handed and downright malicious the industrys campaign had grown until I was contacted by the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles, which wanted me to know it was worried Americans might, well, think poorly of their neighbor to the north. Our regulatory standards are as high as anything in your country, said James Villeneuve, Canadas consul general in Los Angeles. All imported drugs are regulated and reviewed before reaching the public. First and foremost, were concerned about protecting Canadian citizens. Being Canadian, he was too polite to openly criticize the United States. But Villeneuve allowed that the ads from the Partnership for Safe Medicines are very deceptive and kind of mean. There are a number of things worth pointing out. First, no country produces all its meds. While the majority of U.S. prescription drugs are manufactured domestically, this country is still the largest importer of drugs from abroad. More than $85 billion worth of drugs is brought in annually. China isnt a major exporter of finished drugs to the U.S., but it is a major supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in making final products. China and India account for about 80% of all the active ingredients in prescription drugs sold in this country. Last month, an article in the China Daily said tariffs on medical products proposed by the Trump administration could raise prices of raw drug ingredients such as insulin used by diabetics, the anti-allergic-reaction drug epinephrine as well as vaccines, blood products and antidepressants. In November, the World Health Organization warned that sales of counterfeit drugs are rising in almost all countries as patients seek alternatives to high-priced meds available through normal channels. The report cited the example of American doctors buying cancer medicines over the internet and attempting to save $500 on the normal price of $2,400 per dose. It said that 19 medical practices exposed their clients to falsified cancer medicines containing no active ingredients. Nevertheless, the WHO says that in developed countries such as the U.S. and Canada the percentage of counterfeit drugs sold is very low, perhaps just 1%. Like the U.S., Canada tells its citizens to be careful about buying drugs online. Some internet pharmacies are legitimate, but many offer products and services that are dangerous, it says. And like the U.S., Canada closely inspects all drugs imported from elsewhere. Americans are prevented by law from importing medicine, even though millions of people, including many seniors on fixed incomes, are believed to do it. One way to avoid being ripped off is to make sure an online drugstore bears the seal of the Canadian International Pharmacy Assn., which requires that members be licensed by the Canadian government. Check the site against the membership list on the associations website. We have very, very strict regulations on anything that comes into Canada, Villeneuve told me. We manage our drug supply for our own citizens, so of course we are careful. Yet another ad from the Partnership for Safe Medicines claims the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently told Congress that 85% of drugs intercepted from Canada were actually from other countries. And with the Canadian government not inspecting these drugs, its impossible to know if these drugs could end up on your pharmacys shelves, it said. In fact, that 85% figure was from Robert Califf, an FDA official who had been nominated by former President Obama to serve as the agencys commissioner. During a 2016 confirmation hearing, Califf told lawmakers that while nearly half of imported drugs claimed to be Canadian or from Canadian pharmacies, 85% of such drugs were actually from different countries. In other words, he was highlighting the fact that many websites purporting to be online Canadian pharmacies are in fact fraudulent, which is a concern but not exactly what the Partnership was claiming. This, in turn, undermines that bit about the Canadian government not inspecting drugs. If the drugs are being fraudulently sold from third countries, the Canadian government would have nothing to do with the transaction. Then theres the ads kicker: Importing drugs from Canada puts every U.S. patient at risk. Except for, you know, that it doesnt. I laid all this out for Shabbir Safdar, executive director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines. I asked whether it was misleading to suggest that drugs from Canada endanger Americans when the risk clearly is from counterfeit drugs that originate elsewhere. I asked how the Canadian government could be held accountable for inspecting such drugs. I asked if the Partnership was engaging in baseless fear-mongering. Safdar answered none of those questions. He said by email that the Partnership for Safe Medicines is committed to the safety of prescription drugs and protecting consumers against counterfeit, substandard or otherwise unsafe medicines. We are dedicated to protecting the safety of American consumers by curbing the manufacturing and sale of dangerous counterfeit drugs. Our goal is for all consumers to be aware that counterfeit medicines do exist, they are not safe and together we can take action to avoid them, Safdar said. Our latest ads help raise this awareness. They dont. They shamelessly deceive to protect the profits of U.S. drug companies at the expense of American patients, maligning Canada in the process. I asked Villeneuve whether the ads were hurtful to his country. Ive watched them a few times, he replied. They seem somewhat inflammatory. For a Canadian, thats harsh criticism indeed. David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com. Dont believe the naysayers: Young people are buying homes. Millennials, defined as buyers between the ages of 18 and 37, are the nations largest block of home buyers by far, accounting for 42% of home sales in a 12-month span, according to a 2017 housing survey from Zillow. Thats a big half-decade jump. Five years ago, the same block accounted for 31% of sales. Now, home builders are tasked with figuring out what millennials want, and incorporating those features into new developments. Advertisement New Haven, a planned community being developed by Brookfield Residential within its massive Ontario Ranch development, is using amenities, events and high-speed Internet to attract a younger demographic. One of our priorities was delivering the recreational areas before delivering the model homes, said John OBrien, Brookfields vice president of Southern California housing. The logic is that a tour with stops at three pools, two clubhouse buildings and a zipline area has a better chance of wooing a buyer than a simple home walkthrough. And with a nod to tech-minded millennials, the neighborhood offers a gigabit service, the first of its kind in Southern California. Each home is hardwired to a fiber network infrastructure capable of downloading a movie in a few seconds. That perk was especially appealing to resident Sam Shwetz, who moved into New Haven in October with his wife, Sydney. When I lived in Japan, gigabit Internet was standard, but it almost doesnt exist here, he said. That was the icing on the cake. The couple, both 25, were also drawn by the $445,000 price tag, as well as the three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom homes high ceilings and open floor plan. Brookfields efforts are paying off, with millennials accounting for 50% of New Haven home sales so far. Other developers say theyve noticed on-the-go millennials arent as wowed by fancy extras. Michael Arzani, a developer whose most recent home sold for $3.3 million to a millennial couple in West L.A., said in his experience, millennials prefer an open aesthetic over having a home theater or wine cellar amenities that tend to be must-haves for older luxury home buyers. In the eyes of younger buyers, properties with strict setups and complicated floor plans can come off like theyre telling people how to live. There are less choices in those types of properties, and modern homes represent freedom, Arzani said. You dont have to eat in a certain room or entertain in a certain area. Brian Falls, vice president of development at real estate group Palisades, said that although the company provides the typical luxury facilities, he considers the city to be the primary amenity. Our core idea is interesting urban design and architecture that helps people feel connected to the neighborhood that theyre in, Falls said. Palisades is developing luxury condos in hot spots across Southern California including Westwood, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Santa Monica and teaming up with designers to make the buildings match the flair of their respective cities. For its complex in Santa Monica, called Aire, the company worked with JFAK Architects to fill the building with communal spaces. A green wall of plants greets residents through the gate. Further in, the building wraps around an open-air courtyard. Aire has sold 18 of its 19 spots. Roughly half of its buyers are millennials. The group, catering to the Instagram crowd, is also experimenting with public art. One of its properties, a retail and work space in Santa Monica, features a massive mural of a giant binocular-toting boy in beachwear. They plan to expand the mural concept to all their complexes. How can we help pull in a neighborhood instead of projecting outward? Falls said. Millennial buyers want to be connected to their neighborhoods, and public art is an opportunity to embrace a community more authentically. jack.flemming@latimes.com Twitter: @jflem94 MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY: Wayne Gretzky shells out $13.5 million for a familiar place in Thousand Oaks Hair care heir Angus Mitchell expands his ground in Pacific Palisades Longtime CSI actor Robert David Hall is on the trail of a buyer in Sherman Oaks Jazz and pop great Al Jarreaus onetime Tarzana residence finds a buyer Altadena was first envisioned as a suburb for the rich when, in 1887, Iowa natives John and Fred Woodbury opened their 937-acre subdivision above newly incorporated Pasadena. Part of the northernmost Rancho San Pasqual Mexican land grant, the Woodburys residential development borrowed its name from the nearby Altadena nursery (upper-dena, in reference to its neighbor Pasadena). But fate intervened when Southern Californias land boom crashed the following year; national railroad and bank failures followed with the Panic of 1893. Greater development dimmed, but Altadena did succeed in attracting a number of rich residents, particularly to a Millionaires Row that formed along Mariposa Street. Advertisement Famous homeowners included publishing magnates and a notable author, leading some to call the street Publishers Row. Among the notables: Andrew McNally, co-founder of the atlas publishing company Rand McNally, who lived in an 1888 Queen Anne-style home; publisher Frederick William Kellogg, who built next to William Armiger Scripps of the Scripps newspaper empire; and Western novelist Zane Grey, who bought a 1908 Mediterranean-revival house on Mariposa in 1920. Wedged into the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena also attracted the eras trendy mountaineers, sometimes termed rusticators, and mountain tourism took off. Altadena Junction marked the starting point for the 1893 Mount Lowe Railway, a nearly seven-mile ascent with hospitality stops that included resorts, chalets, hotels, a dance hall and casino. One of Altadenas main draws: You could drink, unlike in Pasadena, where alcohol was prohibited. So those who were part of the areas sportive set fled north when they wanted to have fun; mountain camps with beer tents were especially popular. In 1912, the Country Club Park subdivision, carved from 500 acres of the Allen Ranch, opened on the east side as 1-acre-plus lots. West Altadena was less pricey, and being nearer to water sources, was favored by farmers and dairymen. Trails in the area can make for a short trip or be an all-day affair. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times ) In the mid-1920s, Altadenas population exploded to nearly 20,000 residents from 3,500 marking L.A. Countys largest population spike during that time. Altadena filled out with middle-class home buyers, many favoring the naturalist-minimalist philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement. New York businessman Elisha Paul Janes built English-style cottages in the mid-1920s, an early foray into mass-produced housing; 160 of his 500 envisioned homes of distinction were completed in Altadena. Most of Altadenas noteworthy buildings were built during the Great Depression. Among them: Eliot Junior High School in 1931 and Farnsworth Parks Davies community center three years later. Architect Wallace Neff designed several Altadena homes as well as a 1918 Catholic Church on Lake Avenue. The town that began as a streetcar suburb filled out after World War II as residential development pushed against commercial areas threading up the towns steeply graded north-south streets. Altadenans have fought off several wholesale annexation attempts by Pasadena. Death by a thousand cuts always seemed imminent: Pasadena sliced off 38 Altadena land parcels via annexations over six decades. Altadena attempted to incorporate several times, but the initiatives failed; today it remains an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. (Los Angeles Times ) Neighborhood highlights Hikers paradise: With its proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena offers easy access to some of the regions best hiking trails, whether its a short jaunt to Eaton Canyon Falls or an all-day trek up to Mt. Wilson. Dont forget a stop at Bulgarini Gelato afterward. Christmas Tree Lane: For nearly 100 years, about 150 towering deodars along Santa Rosa Avenue have been strung with holiday lights during December. The eight-block stretch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a California state landmark. Neighborhood challenge Paltry parking: Many residential neighborhoods crowd with cars because theyre packed against shops along Lake, Fair Oaks and Lincoln avenues. Expert insight Doug Colliflower, a real estate agent whos lived in Altadena for 26 years, considers it a hidden secret: a rural-feeling bedroom community with a bevy of architectural styles. Theres a little bit of everything here, Colliflower said. Craftsmans are the most common, but there are also unique midcentury homes, English Tudors and Colonial Revivals. He describes a neighborhood locked in place. The last major development, a 270-home community called La Vina, began construction two decades ago. Since then, Altadena has looked largely the same. Its pretty well built-out. There arent many areas open for new development, Colliflower said. As of late, hes noticed a creeping sense of gentrification, as bargain-hunting Westsiders have bought properties and driven up prices in some of the cheaper areas. He sees it as a positive, however, because the rehabbed homes make for a nicer neighborhood overall. A cherimoya treat at the gelateria. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times ) Market snapshot In the 91001 ZIP Code, based on 38 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in March was $759,000, up 5% year over year, according to CoreLogic. Report card Of the five public schools in Altadena, Daniel Webster Elementary scored the highest on the 2013 Academic Performance Index at 856. Other standouts include Franklin Elementary at 781 and Altadena Elementary at 760. Altadena borders four public high schools. La Canada High scored the highest, at 937, followed by Marshall Fundamental, at 765. Pasadena High scored 744, and John Muir High scored 618. Times staff writer Jack Flemming contributed to this report. hotproperty@latimes.com MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY: Wayne Gretzky shells out $13.5 million for a familiar place in Thousand Oaks Hair care heir Angus Mitchell expands his ground in Pacific Palisades Longtime CSI actor Robert David Hall is on the trail of a buyer in Sherman Oaks Jazz and pop great Al Jarreaus onetime Tarzana residence finds a buyer Snap Inc. is tinkering with the look of its video messaging app Snapchat months after introducing a massive redesign that drew scorn from some of its most loyal users. The Venice company said Friday it was rolling out an update for iOS users that puts pictures, videos and chats back into reverse-chronological order, as they were before the redesign. Stories from friends will also return to the right side of the app, though they will continue to be separated from professional content. Snaps Chief Executive Evan Spiegel hinted at the tweaks during the companys first quarter earnings report May 1. Advertisement Snap has faced withering criticism for its redesign, sparking a Change.org petition that garnered 1.2 million signatories. A dismissive tweet about the overhaul by reality TV star Kylie Jenner has been attributed for triggering a sell-off of Snap shares. The redesign was aimed at making the app more intuitive to a wider audience addressing a long-held complaint that Snapchat was too difficult to navigate for anyone but the youngest users. But some users said they didnt like having professional content separated from their friends content. The unpopularity of the new look is considered one of the reasons Snap missed Wall Street estimates for user growth the last quarter. Nevertheless, Spiegel has largely stuck to his guns about the changes. During the earnings call with analysts, he said he was doubling down on the redesign, calling it the foundation for the future of both our communication products and our media platform. Snap shares were up less than 1% in afternoon trading Friday to $11.04. Shares were as high as $20.42 as recently as Feb. 16, two weeks before the company issued its disappointing first quarter results. david.pierson@latimes.com Follow me @dhpierson on Twitter Performances around Southern California in the coming days include the return of Hamilton, a remount of the camp comedy Die, Mommie, Die! and the final performances of a one-man show about Lenny Bruce. Los Angeles Opera opens Rigoletto, while Long Beach Opera presents The Love Potion. For something different: Heidi Duckler Dance Theatres FishEyes in San Pedro and a new edition of Pop-Up Magazine in downtown L.A. Hamilton hits Orange County If you missed your shot at Hamilton in Hollywood last year, youre in luck. Maybe. If you can score some tickets. The second national tour of Lin-Manuel Mirandas musical rolls into Orange County, but for just a couple of weeks. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, additional performances through May 27. $190.75-$280.75 for this weekend (subject to change). www.scfta.org Heidi Duckler Dance Theatres FishEyes Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre reprises FishEyes, the choreographers site-specific work performed in, on and around a 15-foot stainless-steel fish. The piece seeks to raise awareness of the importance of water conservation. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $25, $50. www.heididuckler.org Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre's Mollie Wolf and Danny Dolan perform in Duckler's "FishEyes." Mae Koo Long Beach Operas Love Potion A classic romantic fable is reimagined in the late Swiss composer Frank Martins The Love Potion (Le Vin Herbe). Long Beach Opera stages the West Coast premiere of this 1940s-era chamber-music drama based on the medieval tale of Tristan and Isolde. Its sung in English. Warner Grand Theater, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro. 2:30 p.m. Sunday; additional performances through May 19. $49-$150; student rush, $15. www.longbeachopera.org Bernard Holcomb (Tristan), center, and ensemble in "The Love Potion." Liz Lauren L.A. Master Chorale with Wild Up Its gonna get wild at Walt Disney Concert Hall when the Los Angeles Master Chorale joins forces with experimental classical ensemble Wild Up for the world premiere of Ellen Reids vocal work dreams of the new world. The program also includes a rare choral performance of minimalist composer Terry Rileys 1964 classic In C. Disney Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7 p.m. Sunday. $29 and up. www.lamasterchorale.org The ensemble Wild Up will share the stage with Los Angeles Master Chorale on Sunday. Stephanie Berger Die, Mommie, Die! at the Douglas Center Theatre Groups second-annual Block Party series concludes with a remount of Celebration Theatres staging of Die, Mommie, Die! Drew Droege stars as the ill-fated matriarch in question in this campy noir-style comedy from playwright Charles Busch. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. 8 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; additional performances through May 20. $25-$70. www.CenterTheatreGroup.org Drew Droege, left, and Tom DeTrinis in the original Celebration Theatre production of "Die, Mommie, Die!" It's getting a remount at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Matthew Brian Denman Rigoletto at L.A. Opera A court jester, his beautiful daughter and a womanizing duke form a deadly triangle in Rigoletto. Artist-in-residence Matthew Aucoin conducts L.A. Operas staging of Verdis classic tragedy. Sung in Italian with projected English titles. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; additional performances through June 3. $24 and up. www.LAOpera.org Soprano Lisette Oropresa will share the role of Gilda in L.A. Opera's staging of Verdi's "Rigoletto." Jason Homa Lenny Bruce closes Its your last weekend to catch I Am Not a Comedian Im Lenny Bruce. Writer-performer Ronnie Marmo portrays the controversial 1960s comic in this solo show directed by Joe Mantegna. It was an L.A. Times Critics Choice. Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. $35. www.Theatre68.com Writer-performer Ronnie Marmo stars in the bio-drama "I'm Not a Comedian ... I'm Lenny Bruce" at Theatre 68. Nicola Tombacco Pop-Up Magazine returns The character specificity that distinguished The Baby Dance ultimately convinced playwright Jane Anderson that adapting her 1989 drama for a racially diverse cast required more than a few editorial baby steps. Reteaming with Jenny Sullivan, the plays original director, Anderson has created a substantially revised version, The Baby Dance: Mixed, premiering at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura. The plot retains the same contours: an infertile, affluent L.A. couple enter an adoption contract with a poor Louisiana expectant woman who cant afford to care for the child. In this version, however, the birth parents are African American, and the would-be adopters are a mixed-race couple. The racial emphasis risks piling an additional set of topical issues onto the plays class and cultural flashpoints. As it turns out, however, the changes open up new opportunities to personalize and deepen the characters surpassing the original version in key respects. Advertisement The improvement is immediately apparent in the relationship between birth mother Wanda (Krystle Rose Simmons) and the African American woman, Regina (Tracey A. Leigh), who wants to adopt with her husband. The tone modulates from comical culture clash to edgy conflict as sophisticated Regina tries to mask her growing discomfort with the trailer-park existence that Wanda leads with her crude, hot-tempered husband, Al (Gabriel Lawrence). When Regina insists she knows how hard giving up the baby will be, Wandas simple rebuttal, No you dont, rings all too true. Yet the polarization is not as black and white as in the original. Regina may lead a thoroughly different lifestyle, but she and Wanda find an emotional bridge. Lawrences superbly nuanced Al may still be a hot-headed racist (his invectives now target his Latino neighbors), but hes also a smooth operator making the most of the limited socioeconomic hand hes been dealt. His genuine love for Simmons Wanda is evident in the two actors smoldering chemistry a trailer-park version of A Streetcar Named Desires Stanley and Stella. In contrast, the stilted relationship between Regina and her Jewish husband, Richard (Brian Robert Burns), is built more on diplomacy than real understanding an even more credible obstacle than we saw between the original plays uptight privileged white characters. Burns decent, sympathetic Richard genuinely wants to fulfill his wifes longing to raise a child, but his concerns about the adoption are implicitly grounded in fears that a black child will never look like his biological son or daughter. While he and Regina may be well-off, theyre not money is no object wealthy a factor amplified by racial animus when he calls out Al for exploiting the financial terms of the adoption. The escalating argument between Richard and Al draws on the complicated relations between blacks and Jews. A moment where Richard invokes civil rights-era history seems jarringly on-the-nose (fixable by making the point in terms of his personal experience). For the second acts forward leap to delivery day (signified by Thomas Buderwitzs stunning set transformation from cluttered trailer to maternity ward recovery room), Anderson has rewritten the fifth character of a baby-broker lawyer. Played with smug assurance by Carl Palmer, his glib manipulation underscores the commercialization of childbirth and the sad futility of looking to the legal system to take the place of shared values. It would be interesting to see the lawyer played by a woman in a future version. After all, The Baby Dance has already shown its willingness to be fruitful and multiply. The Baby Dance: Mixed Where: Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura When: 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends May 20 Tickets: $55 Info: (805) 667-2900 or www.rubicontheatre.org Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. MORE THEATER Noises Off: The laugh factory is open School of Rock: When Axl Rose meets Andrew Lloyd Webber Asian cast: Why that remains a radical idea for American theater David Henry Hwang on the wild, winding road to Soft Power From Carlsbad to Santa Barbara, the Southern California coast is peppered with pepper Pepperland Recording Studios, Pepperdine University, Pepper Lane in Montecito, the Pepper Tree Inn in Santa Barbara just up the road from the Granada Theatre, where choreographer Mark Morris Pepperland had its California premiere Thursday night. An eveninglong dance program based on parts of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pepperland, of course, felt very much like it belonged. Indeed, in an extraordinary nod to California, Morris even found a way to pepper George Harrisons Indian raga-inspired Within You Without You with an Indonesian gamelan lick in the style of the late Californian maverick composer Lou Harrison. The dance was originally commissioned by the city of Liverpool, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles historic album, along with a host of other international presenters, including UC Santa Barbaras Arts & Lectures series. For the next couple of years, it will tour the world. Or maybe even across the universe. Its that dazzling. (Upcoming local performances will be at the San Diego Civic Theatre on Saturday, and at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa in June 2019.) So here comes some of whats new under the Beatles sun. The visionary German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who happens to be among the notable figures who found their way onto the legendary album cover collage, is introduced as a female dancer in DayGlo turquoise and purple. Advertisement A Day in the Life begins as an otherworldly theremin solo with a cocktail lounge piano accompaniment. Morris frisky dancers mimic every single instance of Penny Lane with choreography of such dazzling fast-forward quickness you cant catch half of it. I would suggest that the most astounding achievement of Sgt. Pepper is not that it invented the concept album, now a dated concept in the age of streaming songs and making your own playlists. Nor is it that this is the first great pop album meant to be, like electronic music, studio-made, not composed of songs intended for live performance. The difference is like that of film and the stage, but obviously Sgt. Pepper is, in the end, performable. Instead, the great advance of Sgt. Pepper was the Beatles genius for contrasting provincially comfy old Liverpool with the mod rockers of the late 1960s as well as the psychedelic visions of unseen, unimaginable other worlds. No pop record of the past, and none of such significance since, had its musical range, from music hall sentimentality to Bach to Ravi Shankar to the avant-garde of Stockhausen, John Cage and Luciano Berio. The look of Pepperland Elizabeth Kurtmans mod costumes are as bright as neon, with vividly clashing colors and patterns is not so surprising, nor is Morris playful choreography. Thats the popular side of Morris, such as in his hit The Hard Nut. But every single move in the dance is, while being utterly musical, entirely unexpected. What first seems wrong always feels right, as though, to confirm John Lennons lyric, Nothing real, but nothing to get hung about. The music includes Sgt. Pepper, With a Little Help From My Friends, When Im Sixty Four and A Day in the Life, along with Penny Lane. But other music comes from the jazz pianist Ethan Iverson, a longtime Morris collaborator, writing for a mixed band that includes soprano sax, trombone, harpsichord, percussion and theremin. Baritone Clinton Curtis, who traipses between the classical and pop worlds, adds cool, uninflected lyrics. The rest of the hourlong score is made up of Iverson numbers meant to reflect on aspects of the songs, say a riff on Bach (the trumpet solo in Penny Lane having been inspired by the second Brandenburg Concerto) with bravura piano and harpsichord runs, or extending a bluesy guitar lick here, the albums opening chord extended there. One number is meant to introduce some of the characters on the cover. Nothing sounds like Sgt. Pepper. Nothing looks like Sgt. Pepper either. Some dances have a theme. Some dont. Dancers simply have a ball in chorus line routines. Small psychodramas play out with couples and threesomes but not exactly as narrative to the songs, except in A Day in the Life, which is done as an instrumental. Few dances end where they start. Morris and Iverson are masters of the fake-out in general and the false ending in particular. Morris continually plays around with the Beatles own contrasts between sentiment and abstraction and sheer fantasy, although he throws in an extra helping of irony now and then. There is also an overall mood of flippancy (of which Morris is also an amusing master) that turns out not to be flippancy at all but a deep investigation in the way movement tells us who we are. Ultimately Morris is the gift of life, as when a mindless meditating hippie sits cross-legged on the floor, while the rest of the company grooves around him in Within You Without You, until he finally rises, not enlightened, just alive. Nor is Pepperland sheer joy, although you can be deceived into thinking it is. It can be so much bouncy fun, especially in Morris brilliantly animated big ensemble numbers, untouched by cliche. But the lonely bits remain in the memory too, the way solo dancers stand apart from the crowd, the way Rob Schwimmers desolate theremin solos, Iversons torchy piano solos and Curtis cheerless vocals could, on their own, comprise a lonely hearts club combo. Pepperland is Sgt. Pepper at 50, looking back with irresistible fondness what fun it all was but also with wisdom, knowing that it was real and was something to get hung about. ALSO Mark Morris Dido and Aeneas an exuberant spin on ancient epic Becoming John Luther Adams: The evolution of one of Americas hottest composers Four radical and radically original pieces of music that blew up the modernist status quo in 1968 A new musical universe at, appropriately enough, Caltech Music goes multimedia, but why? Three concerts point the way mark.swed@latimes.com Sarah Silverman has been performing standup comedy since she was 17, giving her three decades worth of experience with hecklers, a perspective that, she says, shaped the way she approached her Hulu series, I Love You, America. With the first-year show, which will return for an 11-episode second season in the fall, Silverman engaged with people holding differing political views, trying to lower everyones porcupine needles (hers included) and find common ground. I like engaging, especially if someone is open and sometimes they become open by engaging, if you earnestly engage, Silverman told The Times during a recent video interview. Ive done standup since I was a kid so I have an understanding of hecklers, and to me, everything a heckler says, the subtext is, I exist, right? And that is something that is so heartbreaking and sad and beautiful to me. I do think the more we see ourselves in each other, the less we are in danger of being these kinds of divided entities that dont see each other as human, Silverman continues. And when you dont see each other as human, you can do very inhumane things toward each other. Advertisement The shows field pieces, which included segments where Silverman had dinner with a family of Trump supporters in Louisiana and at a fire station in Texas, differed in tone from what you might see on The Daily Show. Silverman eschewed what she calls gotcha moments. I wanted them to feel safe, and I didnt want to trick them, and I felt like the audience will see the truth and it would start a conversation that I didnt have to be a part of, she says. There was a moment of restraint. Elsewhere in the conversation, the comedian talks about the influence of Mr. Rogers and shares her plans for the shows upcoming season. (Theres so much we want to change and reconfigure and figure out, she says.) You can watch the entire conversation below. Sarah Silverman, creator-host of I Love You, America, talks about having difficult conversations, trying to bring defenses down and more. glenn.whipp@latimes.com Twitter: @glennwhipp Beautiful interview [Inside the Artistry of Paul Simon, May 8]. It provided insight into [Robert] Hilburns thinking as well as opening a window into what Paul Simon is like. I think in order for the latter to happen, it was necessary for the former to be present. John Snyder Newbury Park :: Advertisement I am a contemporary of Robert Hilburns who has followed and enjoyed his writing in the Los Angeles Times over the last 40-some years. How wonderful that he has given us this work on Paul Simon and his creations while some of us who are Still Crazy ... are still around after all these years. John H. Mayer (not the musician) Camarillo Nice look back at cowpunk Regarding Cowpunk Rocker Who Defied Genres [April 8]: Lovely, comprehensive. The Dils were one of the first bands I saw in Los Angeles. Keep up the good work. The Times is already noticeably better since the sale. Lyndon Lamphere Los Angeles Editors note: The sale of the Los Angeles Times has not been completed. :: Yeah, its old peoples music now. I remember the Nuns at the Sex Pistols last concert in 1978. Nice remembrance. Bob Wieting Simi Valley Lets consider Kanye West Its a shame to see Kanye West labeled as off the rails for expressing an unpopular opinion about Donald Trump [This rant? Its Not Like the Others, May 5]. Its not hard to believe one of Americas favorite artists is becoming demonized for encouraging and participating in free thought, something not commonly found on Twitter. Twitter allows the writer to have a direct line of communication with the president and feel like their voices are being heard. This becomes a problem when only a certain voice is allowed to exist peacefully without being deemed as a play for publicity, or how others have insisted, an issue of mental illness. Sierra Gadsby Bellflower :: I dont know what Clarence Thomas or Thomas Sowell or even Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman might have to say on the subject of slavery being a choice, but I think had I been a slave I might not have seriously considered for a moment that I had chosen my condition. Ronald Webster Long Beach Some theories on Big Bang Regarding Powering a Big Bang [May 6]: The Big Bang Theory is a genuinely funny show, but the laugh track robs it of its integrity. Saying hello is not a laugh riot. Never was. Never will be. But the program never trusted its audience. Tony Macklin Las Vegas Editors note: The Big Bang Theory is filmed before a live studio audience. :: After 11 years and 250 episodes it may be time for the Big Bang Theory to wrap it up. Sheldons character is no less than a 187 IQ bully who lies in wait to verbally pounce on anyone who disagrees with him on any subject. I look for episodes that put Sheldon in his place due to his inherent cruelness to most people. Perhaps the writers should make the very last episode one where Sheldon becomes a human being to his friends. Bill Spitalnick Newport Beach A different view on Overboard I must have seen a different movie than Katie Walsh [Remake Takes Unfunny Dive, May 4]. I found the remake of Overboard fresh, funny and relevant. Its a mainstream Hollywood movie that is in Spanish more than 50% of the time, shows rich, well-dressed Mexicans (not drug dealers, murderers or rapists) and working-class white people. Hopefully, Walshs review will not impact Los Angeles audiences. Latinos are grossly underserved by Hollywood. Julie Allan Los Angeles Nolan, 2001 make a fine pair Regarding Nolan finds planets align for 2001 return [May 6]: 2001 is a classic science-fiction film and Christopher Nolan a gifted auteur who remembers and appreciates the film-viewing experience of his (and my) youth. This is a fortuitous pairing. Stephen A. Silver San Francisco calendar.letters@latimes.com Cannes notebook: The wonderful, improbable Palme dOr triumph of Hirokazu Kore-edas Shoplifters Director Hirokazu Koreeda winner of the Palme dOr award for Shoplifters. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images) On the last day of every Cannes Film Festival, word begins to leak out about which filmmakers from the competition have been called back for the closing-night awards ceremony. Many of us already knew, going into Saturday nights show, that Pawel Pawlikowskis Cold War, Alice Rohrwachers Happy as Lazzaro, Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman, Nadine Labakis Capernaum and Hirokazu Kore-edas Shoplifters were certain to go home with awards, though which film would win what remained a mystery. Festival juries are notoriously difficult to predict, but several other critics shared my hunch that the Palme dOr, the festivals top prize, would go to either Capernaum or BlacKkKlansman. Both were among the most enthusiastically touted films in the competition, and they offered the jury a chance to anoint either Labaki, a Lebanese director who had just launched herself into the big leagues, or Lee, a veteran American auteur who had famously (and angrily) lost the Palme nearly 30 years ago for Do the Right Thing. Would they go with the striking new talent or the overdue veteran? In the end, they chose the overdue veteran, though not the one some of us were expecting. In a development as startling as it was altogether marvelous, the jury president, Cate Blanchett, announced that the Palme dOr had gone to Kore-edas Shoplifters, one of the quietest, loveliest and most emotionally enduring films in the competition. Did anyone see this coming? To judge by his genially shell-shocked reaction, Kore-eda himself certainly didnt. Read more on this years winners The Cannes Film Festival has always celebrated excess women dripping in diamonds, buckets of rose, multimillion-dollar yachts. But extravagance in the south of France reached a whole new level on Thursday, when Magnum announced it was launching a new product during the two-week event: An $895 leather-covered cooler bag. Yes, you read that correctly. Magnum, the ice cream brand more well known in Europe than America, partnered with fashion designer Alexander Wang to create a chic way to tote ones dessert. Fashionably carrying ice cream just became a reality, the press release announcing the collaboration declared, also revealing that the cooler would be feted at a bash on the Croisette that evening with Bella Hadid, the model at the center of the new campaign. Clearly, I had to attend. Because when you are invited to a party celebrating an $895 ice cream cooler, you do not refuse that invitation. And also because I needed to find out how an $895 ice cream cooler had anything remotely to do with a film festival that screens artsy foreign films. Advertisement The party was set to commence at 9 p.m., so I called an Uber at 10 p.m., figuring the whole fashionably late principle must definitely apply here. The UberX ended up being what else? a Jaguar. When I arrived outside the party, I was dismayed to find a scrum of well-dressed, would-be partygoers elbowing one another to get to the front of the line. As it turned out, the party was already at capacity, and I was told no one would be allowed admittance for 30 minutes. Though the idea of waiting in line to get into a party honoring an $895 ice cream cooler was mildly soul-sucking, I had already committed to the cause and took my place in line. Gentlemen wearing tuxedos continuously barged to the front of the line, confidently telling the doorman that they were on the list, only to be relegated to the back of the queue. But Im on the list, so many muttered in French, cursing their fates. Thirty minutes passed, then 40, and after an hour, I was reaching my limit. I had watched Hadid fly past security to pose for shutterbugs near the entrance, followed 20 minutes later by her on-again boyfriend, The Weeknd. I wondered what they were doing inside. Probably being beautiful and eating ice cream. I wanted to do that too. Hadid arrives at the party to celebrate the cooler bag. (Jonathan Hordle ) Finally, sometime after 11, a magical Magnum representative helped pull me through the crowd and into the party. Immediately, my eye was drawn to what was clearly the highlight of this event: A customizable ice cream bar well bar. Brand reps were stationed here with plain vanilla ice cream bars that could be dipped in either white chocolate or black chocolate, which was actually just white chocolate mixed with charcoal to make it look extra dark. Then you selected toppings from a gold-and-black array of goodies to coat your bar with: gold crystals, gold flakes, gold stars, gold popping candy, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds. (I didnt see one person select poppy seeds.) Guys, Im embarrassed to tell you that I waited 45 minutes in another line inside the party to get one of these ice cream bars. Yes, it tasted extremely good. But now I have no pride. Fortunately, there were plenty of things to observe while I waited for my fancy ice cream, like the actual $895 cooler itself. I was surprised to find it in a dark corner of the room, ensconced in a plastic case so no guests could mar its delicate beauty. As I was contemplating how many ice cream bars could actually fit inside the cooler Id guesstimate about six silver confetti began to rain down from the ceiling. Suddenly, women dressed in black latex cat suits emerged from all sides of the room. They were toting M balloons and each had a different version of hair art faux hair pieces molded into different shapes, like lips and, you guessed it, an ice cream bar. Other beautiful women handed out pre-packaged ice cream bars on trays with sparklers. It was so chaotic that I made my way toward the outside portion of the party, which was literally on the sandy beach, overlooking the yachts docked miles off shore. One boat was lit up with electric neon. I wondered if Hadid and The Weeknd, who were cordoned off in a VIP area in the center of the room kissing, were staying on a yacht. I took in the view for a while until Jonathan Jones, Magnums brand manager in the U.S, came to greet me on the beach. I asked him why the company had decided to launch an $895 ice cream cooler at Cannes. We have a strong history in fashion, film and lifestyle, and Cannes is a great intersection of all those things, he told me. Were about the lifestyle of indulgence -- the mentality of taking pleasure seriously and so is Cannes. He said the idea for the cooler emerged organically. Magnum has partnered with fashion designers before last year, Moschinos Jeremy Scott created a colorful line of bags for the brand and only requested Wang come up with a fashion item that was true to him. Wang poses with the cooler he designed. (Magnum Ice Cream ) Were about the lifestyle of indulgence the mentality of taking pleasure seriously and so is Cannes. Jonathan Jones, Magnum brand manager The prompt was How do you take pleasure seriously? and he came up with the cooler, Jones explained of the limited-edition item, which he expects will sell out. And Bella just embraces that attitude as well she knows how to take pleasure seriously. OK, sure. But many of us who know how to take pleasure seriously cannot afford an $895 cooler. Isnt it a bit over-the-top? Magnum is an indulgence that is accessible to you, Jones said, referring to the actual ice cream bars, which retail for under $5 a pop. There are times when after a long day, you deserve a little bit of indulgence. This is just exhibiting how a fashion designer can embrace that mentality. It was nearly 1 a.m., and Hadid and The Weekend had already departed the party, probably heading off to the imaginary yacht I had created for them in my mind. Confident I had taken pleasure seriously enough, I headed for the door, where dozens were still clamoring to be let past the velvet rope. amy.kaufman@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLA The 71st Cannes Film Festival is underway (May 8-19), and L.A. Times critic Justin Chang is there, seeing as many movies as possible and writing about it for a day-by-day, film-by-film diary. This is one in a series of entries spanning from the opening festivities to closing night. For more entries and reviews, click here. Russia and Iran are never far from the news these days, but recently they have made headlines in Cannes for the same dubious reason. Both countries have filmmakers represented in the festivals prestigious competition, and both have refused to allow those filmmakers to attend. To be clear: The Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi had no difficulty traveling to Cannes for the opening-night premiere of his new film, Everybody Knows. But at his news conference, Farhadi expressed sorrow and unease at the plight of his countryman Jafar Panahi, who in films like The Circle and Offside has been a consistently sharp critic of Irans social policies. Panahi was arrested in 2011 and has not been allowed to travel abroad since; unless some form of amnesty is granted, he will not be in Cannes for the unveiling of his competition entry, 3 Faces. While the specific circumstances are different, Panahis plight eerily mirrors that of the Russian stage and screen director Kirill Serebrennikov (Betrayal, The Student), who in 2017 was detained and accused of fraud and embezzlement. His many allies in the artistic community contend that the charges are phony and politically motivated, likely in response to Serebrennikovs criticism of Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014, as well as his support of Russias LGBTQ community. (Among the artists who have called for the charges to be dropped: Cate Blanchett, the president of this years Cannes competition jury.) Advertisement The creative team behind Leto holds a sign for the films embattled Russian director. (Clemens Bilan / European Pressphoto Agency ) And so when Serebrennikovs Leto premiered in competition on Wednesday night, its 48-year-old director was represented only by a sign bearing his name, carried by his collaborators as they walked up the red carpet and made their way into the Grand Theatre Lumiere. If Serebrennikovs absence cast an inescapable pall over what should have been a celebratory evening, it also lent a subdued resonance to his lovely, wistful new movie: Far from an angry political screed, it feels both removed from its fraught larger context and shrewdly, poignantly attuned to it. (The movie was close to wrapping production when the directors house arrest began, and he was able to oversee post-production during his detainment.) A sweepingly immersive ode to Leningrads 80s underground rock scene, Leto coalesces loosely around the friendship and musicianship of two real-life artists, Viktor Tsoi (a soulful Teo Yoo) and Mike Naumenko (Roma Zver). Their arcs are never cleanly defined in a movie stronger on textural beats than narrative hooks. It drifts freely from bonfire-lit beach parties to low-key jam sessions to the Leningrad Rock Club, one of the few state-sanctioned venues for rock musicians, where youthful audiences are made to sit still, listen quietly and suppress every head-bobbing impulse. Thats about as close to oppression as the movie gets or, frankly, conflict. At one point, Mikes devoted wife, Natasha (Irina Starshenbaum, excellent), confesses her desire to kiss Viktor; her husband gives her his blessing. There are flickers of rivalry between the two musicians, stemming mainly from Mikes gentle but annoying insistence on improving Viktors songs, but friendship prevails at every turn. Both Tsoi and Naumenko died tragically young, but Leto, flouting the rise-and-fall conventions of its genre, is insistently a celebration of their lives. Shot in dreamy black-and-white, but punctuated by an occasional hot burst of color, Leto unfolds to the rhythms of its chosen scene, broken by occasional fourth-wall ruptures and archly stylized musical perfomances. At one point, a group sing-along to Talking Heads Psycho Killer breaks out on a bus, in a hallucinatory sequence festooned with deliberately crude on-screen graphics. Most of these surreal interludes lack the go-for-broke audacity needed to pull them off and sweep you up, but theyre endearing even in their awkwardness. Leto is undeniably woozy and borderline self-indulgent, which is to say it pretty much nails its moment. A scene from the movie Donbass. (Pyramide International ) Cannes diary 2018: Read more from the festival (so far) Donbass strikes a nerve Still, for those who wanted something nastier like, say, a blast of pure, unfiltered rage aimed in Russias general direction Cannes programmers shrewdly contrived to have Leto premiere the same day as Donbass, a brutal, excoriating cinematic dispatch from war-torn eastern Ukraine. The latest film from the prolific Belarus-born Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, who was in competition just last year with A Gentle Creature, this nightmarish human circus of a movie brings us into the heart of the savage conflict between the Ukrainian government, allied with Europe and the West, and the Putin-backed Donetska Peoples Republic. This conflict plays out in scene after scene, with much variation in circumstance but little modulation in tone. Donbass is a wearying experience, very much by design. Its structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, never privileging one set of characters over another, but instead revealing the same process of collective dehumanization through different prisms. And in ways that could not be better timed to our Orwellian present, Loznitsa continually reveals the contours of a war driven by propaganda. Welcome, in other words, to Fake News Central: In the opening sequence, we see crisis actors being made up for a phony TV broadcast, on which they will denounce a series of carefully controlled explosions as attacks by fascists. The virtues of a free press come under attack in another scene, in which a woman dumps a bucket of excrement over the head of a local official, claiming that she has been libeled by a local newspaper. A brilliant formalist, Loznitsa likes to turn his camera on crowds in motion, turning each sequence into a collective indictment. Working with the great Romanian cinematographer Oleg Mutu, he shoots in long, unblinking takes that draw out the tension to unbearable extremes; its as if the director were trying to see how much anger, despair and madness he can pack into the frame without cutting away. This persistence of vision is an astonishing technical and choreographic achievement, but its also a powerfully moral one. In the world of Donbass, a war fought with lies becomes something all too terrifyingly real. ALSO Stubborn? Arrogant? Irrelevant? The 2018 Cannes Film Festival weathers the storm In May 1968, the Cannes Film Festival ground to a halt. Fifty years later, its still sparking controversy Cannes diary, day 2: The festival kicks off with two Spanish-language dramas, Everybody Knows and Birds of Passage Cannes jury speaks out on the first festival of the #MeToo era Cannes: Mads Mikkelsen talks about the survival drama Arctic, the most difficult shoot of his career A kiss is not just a kiss at Cannes, where the mood is edgy this year Cannes entry Cold War marks Pawel Pawlikowskis return three years after the Oscar winning Ida Why is an $895 ice cream cooler being celebrated at Cannes? What its like to walk the red carpet on Cannes opening night justin.chang@latimes.com Twitter: @JustinCChang Sometimes, Mads Mikkelsen says, you overthink a film for a year and it ends up not what you wanted. And sometimes you just throw it out there and it becomes what you intended. As far as Mikkelsen and his first-time feature director, Joe Penna, are concerned, their expert survival drama Arctic, playing out of competition at Cannes and just acquired by Bleecker Street, is an example of the latter. Mads read the script, we immediately had a two-hour Skype conversation on a Wednesday and I was scouting locations in Iceland on Friday, Penna reports. And a month and a half after that we started shooting. It was all so fast, Mikkelsen says with a gleam in his eye. I didnt tell my agents. They found out, though. Where are you going? Iceland. Why? Just a trip. Advertisement Sitting on a sunlit hotel terrace, both men radiate the engaging energy that must have powered what Mikkelsen says was the most difficult shoot of a career that ranges from work in his native Denmark (he won best actor at Cannes for The Hunt) to international fare like Casino Royale and Rogue One. It was an incredible journey, he says. It felt like a rock n roll project, We have a camera, lets do it. It was a little like my first film, and its nice to have that feeling at age fiftysomething. Mikkelsen plays a plane crash survivor patiently waiting for rescue in the frigid Arctic, going through the Groundhog Day of his routines, when an unexpected appearance upends everything. There is a difference between surviving and being alive, and there was no life left in him until then, Mikkelsen explains. When the actor said that in that Skype talk, he unknowingly echoed the surviving not living phrase Penna and co-writer Ryan Morrison had put on top of their whiteboard, and, the director says, I knew then he understood the character. Director Joe Penna on the set of Arctic wth actor Mads Mikkelsen at left. (Helen Sloan / SMPSP ) Because Arctics gripping story and Mikkelsens exceptional, in-every-frame performance are perfectly suited to the snowy conditions, it is something of a shock to learn (I would have done it differently if Id known, Mikkelsen deadpans) that the whole story as written by Penna and Morrison was originally set on Mars. Several factors, including the success of Matt Damons The Martian mandated a move, and while being stranded in the desert was considered, changing it to the Arctic (We did a find-and-replace from He cant breathe to Its really cold, Penna jokes), helped him focus on the films pared-down approach. On Mars there would have been too much technical information to impart. Here I was able to take an ascetic approach, says the director, whose background with a successful YouTube channel and music videos is very different than the classic style he uses here. Robert Bressons belief was the less you know about the hero the more you fill in the blanks, Penna notes. Here there is no wedding ring on his finger, no locket with a picture; we know nothing about the character. That minimalism extends to the almost total absence of spoken words, which Mikkelsen enjoyed, albeit with reservations. Im a big fan of it, a big fan of Buster Keaton. Its back to the roots of filmmaking, something to look at, the actor explains. But while at first you think its great, no lines to learn, itll be a walk in the park, you have to remind yourself not to start producing something you dont have to. It might be nothing, a tiny look, but you shouldnt be trying too hard to explain things to the audience. The consequence of the move to Iceland that was hardest for the Brazilian-born Penna was the cold weather. I used battery-heated clothing until this film I didnt know it was a thing, the director says enthusiastically, while Mikkelsen adds, Im a Viking, right? Im supposed to love this, but it got cold. Despite conditions that included winds so strong a few doors were ripped off cars, the actor says the role was hard psychologically as well. Its basically being alone, no costars to work off; mentally its a lonely journey. Thats why when he catches a fish he doesnt kill it right away. In addition to food, its also company, something that reminds him hes not alone. Not that the physical trials of Arctic were exactly easy, especially the part of the story that has Mikkelsens character pulling a heavy sled. I was as thin as I could get, I couldnt get any skinnier. (His wife was livid with me, Penna chimes in) I would love to have had a shower scene so everyone would say I really suffered. Though the actor says he at times slept in his blood- and dirt-encrusted makeup so he wouldnt have to get up early to have it put on again, Mikkelsen is not a big believer in that aspect of acting. Let me put this Method acting myth to rest; there is no such thing as staying in character, he says strongly. Asking your kids to call you by a different name, moving away for a year, I find it very pretentious. We have to be smarter than our characters; we have to understand them and interpret them. Though there was always a crew within walkie-talkie hailing distance, Mikkelsen was often out by himself in remote landscapes, and the experience has stayed with him. We had a big frozen lake I had to walk on, and we didnt really know how solidly frozen it was, the actor remembers. Sometimes I could hear the ice crackle, and sometimes I could hear fish splashing underneath the ice. It was extremely scary and extremely beautiful. The last time Gabrielle Union was looked at as an actress who could do action movies was 2003. That was when she starred in Bad Boys II and Cradle 2 the Grave just five months apart opposite genre heavyweights Will Smith and Jet Li, respectively. In your mind, and what they tell you, is This is your career trajectory, she said, her hand gesturing toward an imaginary list of opportunities. You are the it girl. The world is your oyster. Youll have your choice of roles. You can come back to action any time. But thats not what happened. While roles in everything from Tyler Perrys Daddys Little Girls and Good Deeds to Chris Rocks Top Five and Nate Parkers The Birth of a Nation showcased her dramatic and comedic chops, it still seemed Hollywood placed the actress in a more limited box. Only now, 15 years later, is Union making a return to action as the star of Breaking In, in theaters Friday. Advertisement Its the opportunity I had been looking for and not getting, she said. Breaking In follows Shaun, played by Union, a mother of two who returns to her childhood home following the death of her father. While there, home invaders abduct her children, played by Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr. The thriller examines the lengths a mother will go to to protect her kids. Gabrielle Union stars in the trailer for Breaking In. While Union admits the best part of the job was working out a lot of my aggression [while] being encouraged to be more physical, its the role of producer, which she shares with prolific duo Will Packer and James Lopez, that was most rewarding. It was actually the package deal of starring and having more creative control that sold her on the gig. When youre on the other end of other peoples sense of generosity or idea of diversity and inclusion and their version of opportunity, it can be a little limiting. Youre at somebody elses mercy, she said. I didnt want it to be that way when I got a taste of control. I wanted to put people to work and not have them beg. And because Union had been a producer on a number of projects before the Lifetime movie With This Ring, 2016s holiday comedy Almost Christmas and her BET series Being Mary Jane Packer, who pitched the film to Union, knew shed be willing to get her hands dirty both in front of and behind the camera. (Packer, whose hits include Think Like a Man and Ride Along, also produced Almost Christmas and Being Mary Janes fourth season.) At the end of the day, producing is project management at the highest level, he said. You have to know how to efficiently use the resources at hand, how to get people to do things that they may or may not want to do and, ultimately, be creative enough to make sure you keep your eye on the vision of the project. She is good at all those things. James McTeigue, a frequent collaborator of the Wachowski siblings and the director of Breaking In, credited Unions fierce sense of determination as the reason behind her success as star and impresario. She doesnt take any [nonsense], so I can see what attracted her to the opportunity, he said. Shes already in her everyday life a badass and about motherhood and womens rights and being a socially conscious person so she was perfect for this. I wanted this woman to be as wild and as angry and unhinged and desperate as the situation calls for. Gabrielle Union Union was just happy to be able to make something that wasnt dictated by public opinion, as television shows in the age of live tweeting often are. With Being Mary Jane and other roles, you kind of become a slave to test audiences and social media and what people respond or dont respond to, she said. The writers are steered by public reaction and character development is steered by what people want to see. So, its not always as fulfilling. I wanted this woman to be as wild and as angry and unhinged and desperate as the situation calls for, she said about her Breaking In character. And I was able to do that without worrying about this test audience or what Black Twitter has to say. We just went with what made sense. Thats why, for example, Shaun doesnt have special training that would give her an edge over the home invaders, as an earlier version of Ryan Engles script called for. Thats not realistic, Union said. If were going to do a story about a mom saving her kids, most of them arent Special Ops. But when you hear of people [lifting] cars a mothers strength knows no bounds. She perhaps does Zumba or Pilates, but shes not a Navy Seal. Another goal Union had for the project: to place Shaun at the center of the story, and not as a side character for her children or husband. Director James McTeigue with star and producer Gabrielle Union on the set of Breaking In. (Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / Universal Pictures ) Theres a tendency to make mothers secondaries and footnotes [on screen], she said. Its the idea that moms their lives are small, their capabilities are few and far between, that they lost every sense of themselves and what makes them dope ... the second they had kids. Im not interested in that. Thats why she doesnt play too many mothers on screen. That and the fact that once an actress is seen as a mother type, Hollywoods impression usually changes. I hadnt actively been seeking out [mother roles], Union said. So, when the script came, I was like, Shes got two [kids]?! And the older one is grown as ...? She was hesitant because the older your kids get [on screen], the older people think of you, she said. Im trying to preserve the Bring It On years as long as I can. That is the fear for me of playing mothers. I think were giving people allergies, but theyre dealing with it. Gabrielle Union Union has a habit of racially profiling her fans, or at least she used to. Years ago, shed be able to pinpoint exactly which film an approaching admirer had seen. Was it 2000s Bring It On, the exploration of cultural appropriation via two rival and racially different high school cheerleading squads? Or 2003s Bad Boys II where she played Syd, the special agent sister of Martin Lawrences detective? Or 2001s romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game from which her portrayal of the ponytail-swinging, man-eater Conny is now a popular meme and GIF? But now, I cant call it, she said about her growing fan base that is more diverse than ever. It just is what it is. Still, shes aware that it was the lower-budget black films like Two Can Play That Game that gave her career longevity. Those smaller movies that were for us, by us I call it FUBU filmmaking once they hit cable, they became the worlds property, she said. And with all four seasons of Being Mary Jane now streaming on Netflix, her audience is much wider and whiter and broader, she said, especially for a decidedly black show made for black women. 1 / 10 Actress Gabrielle Union burst onto the scene in Bring It On opposite Kirsten Dunst and has steadliy been employed since then, even starring in her own television show, Being Mary Jane. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 10 Rival cheerleading captains Torrance (Kirsten Dunst), left, and Isis (Gabrielle Union) face off in Bring It On. (Handout) 3 / 10 Gabrielle Union plays undercover DEA agent Syd Burnett in Columbia Pictures action adventure Bad Boys II. (John Bramley / Columbia Pictures) 4 / 10 Gabrielle Union and LL Cool J star in Deliver Us From Eva. (Focus Features) 5 / 10 Gabrielle Union plays Julia in Tyler Perrys Daddys Little Girls. (Alfeo Dixon / Lionsgate) 6 / 10 Conny (Gabrielle Union) and her arch rival Shante Smith have a chat in Mark Browns Two Can Play That Game. (D. Stevens / Screen Gems) 7 / 10 Gabrielle Union as Mary Jane Paul in Being Mary Jane on BET. (Daniel McFadden / BET) 8 / 10 Gabrielle Union, left, is Erica Long and Chris Rock is Andre Allen in Top Five. (Ali Paige Goldstein / Paramount Picture) 9 / 10 Gabrielle Union plays Esther in The Birth of a Nation. (Jahi Chikwendiu) 10 / 10 In Breaking In, Gabrielle Union stars as a woman who will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. (Paul Sarkis / Universal Pictures) When Being Mary Jane debuted as a TV movie on July 2, 2013, it was in the shadow of Scandal, the Shondaland series that made Kerry Washington the first African American female lead in a network drama in almost 40 years. (The first was Teresa Graves as an undercover cop in 1974s Get Christie Love!) But when the Union-fronted project pulled in over 4 million viewers, it jump-started the series. The show, about the life of Mary Jane Paul, her work, family and the popular talk show that she hosts, became representative to many, Union said, of the beautiful complexities that women in real life often embody but that are hardly ever fully reflected on screen. Its a moment thats coming to a close as BET announced that, in lieu of a fifth season, Being Mary Jane will wrap with a two-hour series finale movie this fall. On the end of her show, Union said, Mary Jane was a lifeline for a lot of people, and they feel robbed and erased. And with Scandal also coming to an end this year after seven seasons, shes aware that black women in particular voiced concerns. It felt like a conspiracy to erase us and our messy parts, she said. That if youre not going to be super negro and fighter of all things and a freak and a chef and a size zero and busty and snap back a week after having a baby and be a philanthropist, we dont want to see you on TV. What we thought was a movement was a moment. ... It was fleeting. It felt like wet toilet paper. Gabrielle Union Union however remains committed to telling such stories, using the platform shes gained over her 20 years in the business to see talent, where it is in the landscape and where its filling a gap and need not being met, she said. Shes starting with her production company Ill Have Another named as a nod to her bestselling memoir, Were Going to Need More Wine and a first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV, the studio behind her NBC drama pilot L.A.s Finest, an offshoot from the Bad Boys franchise. Were not going to be known for one type of project, she cautioned. I want our slate to be as random and diverse as my tastes: 13 Reasons Why and On My Block and random John Mulaney specials. The 45-year-old actress credits seeing other black actresses getting involved with producing more heavily, and being successful at it, for her recent ambitions. Gabrielle Union is perhaps most known for her roles in Bring It On and Bad Boys II. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times ) Kerry [Washington] is doing it. Zoe [Saldana] is doing it. Viola [Davis] is doing it. Octavia [Spencer] is doing it. And they didnt die and their [work] is making it to screen and its good, she said. And I can do it too. But sometimes youve gotta see it first and know that nobody is going to die. There is a sisterhood among these women that ensures success, she continued, noting that when she got her production deal, she called Washington and asked how to find an executive. My generation doesnt want to watch anyone fail. Theyre not delighting in anyones failures or misery. Theres room for everyone because were not all coming up with the same ideas. And the more people we can put on, this moment becomes a movement of true inclusion and real opportunity. The change, she said, is finally hitting Hollywood, albeit slowly. Twenty years ago, I dont know of a black woman who had a production company or a black showrunner who had deals in the kind of way Shonda [Rhimes] has, she said. It was like she said, Waters warm guys, and now everyone is cannonballing in. Union points to the increase of black faces at an exclusive event like the Vanity Fair Oscars party earlier this year as proof. Theres a popular photo circling on the web, by photographer Mark Seliger, that might as well be logged in Websters dictionary beside black excellence. In it, Union is joined by the likes of Ava DuVernay, Donald Glover, Angela Bassett, Tracee Ellis Ross, Shonda Rhimes and Janelle Monae, among others. That has never happened, Union said. And no one is going anywhere. Thats the feeling because what we thought was a movement was a moment. Halle [Berry] won [an Oscar], then Jamie [Foxx], Octavia [Spencer] and then it was fleeting. It felt like wet toilet paper. But now, in the #MeToo, #TimesUp movement with Shonda and Mara [Brock Akil] and Tracy Oliver and Kenya Barris, nobodys going anywhere. No one is relinquishing their spot or feeling like they have to shrink. And not only are we not shrinking, we are blossoming all at the same time, turning to the sun and planting more seeds. I think were giving people allergies, but theyre dealing with it. Take your Benadryl! Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com. Benedict Cumberbatch, this generations English Actor most people know him as Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Strange, but he plays Shakespeare too is the star of Patrick Melrose, a highly satisfying adaptation of five semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St. Aubyn. Premiering Saturday on Showtime, it is a tale comical, harrowing, comically harrowing, harrowingly comical of life among the British upper classes and their hopeful attendants, and more particularly of Patrick, his childhood trauma, subsequent addictions, attractions and attempts not to become like the people who made him. In this faithful if necessarily streamlined translation by screenwriter David Nicholls, whose earlier literary adaptations include Tess of the DUrbervilles, Great Expectations and Far From the Madding Crowd each book gets its own hour, which is little enough time to put a novel, even a short one, on-screen. And yet every episode feels eventful without seeming hurried. The compression does tend to make some thematic points obvious and some characters more overtly ridiculous or awful than they appear in the books, where St. Aubyn spends time in many different heads, and conversations spool out over pages. The novels proceed chronologically, beginning in 1967, with Patrick as a small boy briefly happy on his parents estate in the south of France, but the miniseries flips the order, and starts with the second book, Bad News. It opens in London in 1982 as Patrick, now in his early twenties, happily receives, by crackling transatlantic phone call, news of his fathers death in New York, just as he has shot some heroin. (His drug use is voracious and catholic.) This transposition has the benefit of getting Cumberbatch in at the beginning of the series and also of starting things off with a mystery how did we get here? and a bang, very much as if the episode had been shot from a cannon. Brief, blurry glimpses of Patricks 1967 self let us know that something bad happened back there. Advertisement Indira Varma, left, as Anne Moore and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Eleanor Melrose a scene from the Showtime series Patrick Melrose. (Ollie Upton / Showtime ) The books are distinguished by St. Aubyns casually elegant prose dry in attitude, liquid to the ear but each volume has a slightly different swing, and the series, directed by Edward Berger, shifts tone accordingly. (Such is the case at least with the three episodes out of five available for review.) Bad News, in which Patrick comes to Manhattan to pick up the remains of his hated father and suffers alternately from drugs and a lack of drugs, is hectic and hallucinatory, marked by abrupt shifts in tone and volume and speed, depending on which narcotic is or isnt kicking in, and in what sort of situations Patrick is trying to survive (at a club with his fathers friends, under a Central Park bridge drug dealer, alone with the many voices in his head). Never Mind has a bucolic luxuriousness that plays against the darkness of its subject matter. We meet young Patrick and his parents father David (Hugo Weaving), a cruel snobbish serial failure (because to have tried and actually achieved something would have shown vulgar ambition, says Patrick), living large on the money of wife Eleanor (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a self-medicating American heiress. The third episode, Some Hope, is shot with a brittle naturalism: Patrick sober for the moment, but rejecting any organized support systems as cultish, attends a posh birthday party with his best and possibly only friend, Johnny (Prasanna Puwanarajah), where characters from the earlier books all turn up and Princess Margaret (Harriet Walter) is a guest. Benedict Cumberbatch as Patrick Melrose and Jessica Raine as his sexually mischievous friend Julia in Showtimes Patrick Melrose. (Justin Downing / Showtime ) The series, which features notable turns by Indira Varma, Holliday Grainger, Pip Torrens, Jessica Raine, Allison Williams, John Standing and Blythe Danner among its large ensemble, is beautifully cast with actors who can suggest worlds in a few strokes. Even a cab driver with two lines (Asheq Akhtar) makes a lasting impression. Cumberbatch, 41, portrays Patrick, sour and sweet, across a range of some 20 years. (Sebastian Maltz plays him as a boy.) It is not so much that the actor can seem young or old as that he seems to be neither not young, not old, not (for that matter) middle-aged. With his wide-set quizzical eyes, soft mouth and sharp cheekbones, he is physically too singular to disappear entirely into his parts; and yet at the same time he can seem curiously amorphous, unformed, clay to mold any which way. Patrick is an antihero, dangerous and self-destructive in ways familiar to 21st century TV drama; but he is also a straight-up hero, trying to overcome his worse nature, handed down from his parents. Compulsively clever, charming when he wants to be, more sensitive than his peers to the shallowness of privilege, he wants to put his addictions, infidelities and infelicities behind him and eventually to reckon with the trauma that made him the man and mess he is. Taken together in its melded parts, this is a story about getting hurt, getting better, getting worse, getting better, worse, better, worse and maybe better again. And everybody knows how that goes. Patrick Melrose Where: Showtime When: 9 p.m. Saturday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) ALSO Q&A Benedict Cumberbatch, the thinking mans alpha wolf Holmes and Watson get back to detecting as Sherlock returns to PBS Masterpiece Benedict Cumberbatch anchors Marvels trippy, transporting Doctor Strange Edward St. Aubyn sets aside autobiographical fiction in Dunbar and updates Shakespeares King Lear Benedict Cumberbatch says he is utterly disgusted by Harvey Weinstein revelations Go inside Doctor Stranges mind-bending fight scene Breaking down all the characters in Marvels Doctor Strange Parades End review: Cumberbatch, Halls opposites attract Bored by conventional wine writing? Read Edward St. Aubyns Patrick Melrose novels robert.lloyd@latimes.com Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd For five days midway through May, downtowns Grand Park will transform into a Night Market as an expansive collection of restaurants, food vendors and trucks fill the three-block area in front of City Hall. Begun last summer as part of the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl, this years afternoon and evening event is bookended by a Filipino feast on opening night and a bake sale at the end featuring many of this citys finest bakers and pastry chefs. With about 65 vendors coming over the course of the event, Night Market also will have plenty of pop-up bars, as well as music, art and light projections, so that standing in line with your friends will be more like a party than, well, standing in line. So bring your smartphones (#lafoodbowl) and an appetite and maybe a map to orient you as you wander from taco truck to dumpling stall. Len De Groot Artisanal L.A. Marketplace Near the Grand Avenue entrance will be a row of eight booths featuring locally made foods including chocolates, confections, nuts, salsas, moles and olive oils curated by Artisanal L.A., the local independent brand incubator, and L.A. Original, a pilot program of the Mayors Fund for Los Angeles in partnership with the Mayors Office of Economic Development. Taco Alley Between a fountain and a food court well assemble a row of temporary taquerias, not trucks but a half-dozen booths turning out craveable tacos. Whos coming: Pez Cantina, Todo Verde, Delmys Tamales, Esquala Taqueria, Taco Taim and TortaTorta. L.A. Times Food Court Surrounded by bar areas, this section of the park will have a collection of stands offering a wide array of foods from Korean food to dumplings, oysters to tricked-up hot dogs, as well as ice cream in unusual flavors. Whos coming: Hanjip, Bling Bling Dumpling, Broad Street Oyster Co., Big Mozz, Fritzi Coop, Lobsterdamus, Asia Dog, Cheezus and Wanderlust Creamery. Hill Street food trucks A line of food trucks will be parked along Hill Street, which will not be closed off, so watch for traffic while crossing. Whos coming: Belly Bombz, Phillyfornia, Wing Society, Chef TLCs Sidewalk Cafe. Lantern garden In the middle block of Grand Park, the light-strung space will host a series of pop-ups. On the first night, as part of the Outstanding in the Field series, chefs Charles Olalia of RiceBar and Chad Valencia of Lasa will present a Filipino feast and then sit down for a discussion about urban agriculture. On Thursday, look for a celebration of doughnuts, with Blue Star Donuts, DK Donuts, Dreamy Creations, and Glazed Donut Bar. Then theres Fried Chicken Friday, with South City Fried Chicken, Poppy + Rose, and Daddys Chicken Shack. And on Sunday theres a Charity Bake Sale with baked goods from Huckleberry, Sweet Rose Creamery, Milo & Olive, Valerie Confections, Tuck Room Tavern and more. Broadway food trucks A second convoy of trucks will be parked along Broadway, which will be closed to traffic. Whos coming: Kogi BBQ (Wed., Fri., Sat.); Carnitas El Momo (Wed., Thurs.); Banh Mi in L.A. (Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun.); Prince of Venice (Fri., Sat., Sun.); all five nights: Locol, Cousins Maine Lobster, Dang Brother Pizza, Dreamy Creations, 3 Wheel Cafe, Blast Ice Cream. Super Market Although admission to the Night Market is free, getting in to this area costs $10. A number of vendors will be setting up shop in the park between Spring Street and Broadway, some for one night only. Whos coming: Jitlada (Wed.), Mayura (Thurs.), Parks BBQ (Fri.); Banh Oui, Flossy (Fri., Sat.); Brothecary (Sat.); Momofuku, (Sat., Sun.); all five nights: Hip Hot, Burritos Las Palmas, Earls hot dogs, Cassells Burgers, Delmys Pupusas, Baohaus, Bludsos Bar & Que, Pizzanista, Secret Lasagna, Fat Dragon, Side Chick, Johnny Lees new Hong Kong-style meat project Pearl River, Workaholics dumpling booth, Ensaymada Project, Scott Conants Ponte, Shirley Chungs dumpling pop-up Ms. Chi Cafe, and a rotating booth from Patina Group restaurants. FAQs Night Market: May 16-20. 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Children are welcome, as are leashed dogs. Lot and metered parking are nearby, and there will be a ride-sharing stand on Spring Street. Visitors are encouraged to ride the Metro Red or Purple lines to Civic Center/Grand Park Station. amy.scattergood@latimes.com @ascattergood Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. UC Merced, with a student population that is a fraction of that found on other campuses, is the quiet UC. Advertisement The campus, which is north of Fresno and south of Stockton, has generated big headlines only a couple of times since it opened. In 2009, then-First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at its first full commencement, a major coup for a minor UC. In 2015, it reached a terrible modern milestone, when a student, inspired by ISIS, injured four people with a hunting knife before being killed by police. On a normal day, the only noise you hear is the relentless pounding of construction equipment. The university is in the midst of a $1.1-billion expansion program, which will swell the student population and bring new schools of management and medicine. Remarkably, fewer than 1% of its nearly 7,400 undergraduates are from outside California. At a moment where most UCs are struggling with diversity, 4.65% of its students are African-American and more than half are Latino. :: Wearing a wide-brimmed fieldworkers straw hat, a green T-shirt and jeans, Perez, 50, perches on the tailgate of a pickup truck to chat. Four years ago, she says, after raising her family, she came to work at UC Merced. She works the graveyard shift cleaning buildings and earns $31,000 a year. She has a high school diploma, and landing a job at the new university was a dream. Soon, her excitement turned to disillusionment. The custodial staff was stretched too thin, she said, and supervisors were antagonistic. Two years ago she became active in her union, and now she is a member of the executive and bargaining committees. I came here and I realized the people in charge here are the most oppressive people, she said. There is a calculated effort on the part of the UC system to exploit the workers at a chronic level. (UC Merced is a rapidly growing institution, and we are currently looking to hire additional custodial staff and others as our campus expands, said university spokesman James Leonard. As with our students, we aim to provide a safe, welcoming environment for all of our employees, and we offer confidential resources for employees who feel they are not being treated fairly.) University of California representatives say UC workers pay and benefits are well above average for similar jobs. Thats not true, Perez said. Merced County Schools makes more than us. They are comparing our wages to McDonalds workers wages. She estimated that only half the approximately 100 unionized campus service workers honored the strike, a reflection of fear and economic anxiety among her colleagues, many of whom are single mothers and most of whom are immigrants with limited English. I can afford to speak up because I aint afraid of losing my livelihood, said Perez, whose husband owns a business. She puts on a show of being angry at workers who have crossed the picket line, but she doesnt really hold it against them. I call them scabs, she said, but I forgive them. She knows they cant afford to go three days without pay. On Tuesday, she told me she yelled Scab! at one of her colleagues who drove past picketers en route to clean the university-owned off-campus home of UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland, who earns about $400,000 a year. (Leonard said the chancellors home, often used for university functions, is cleaned twice a month by UC Merced staff.) She can afford to hire her own housekeeper, said Perez, almost under her breath. Diverting university resources to pay for the housework of UC brass is hardly unique to UC Merced. Some years ago, AFSCME spokesman John de Los Angeles told me, UC Berkeley custodians were responsible for laundering and ironing the briefs of then-UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. :: Workers are worried about wages, increased healthcare premiums and rising parking prices. They are also worried about the tendency of campus officials to save money by outsourcing good union jobs to contractors. A bill by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) would force the UC Regents to create a database of work done by contractors in order to track how the practice displaces higher-paid university employees. But once you spend time with the people who clean the toilets, cook the food and mow the lawns, you understand that a lot of their antagonism has to do with feeling disrespected. Perez said she was shocked during a bargaining session to hear a University of California official say that custodial jobs are so hard on the body they are not meant to be lifetime work. De los Angeles was at that meeting and confirmed her recollection. We were shocked, he said. Food-service worker Carmen Chavez, 45, has worked at UC Merced since it opened. She is often asked to work as a cook, she said, even though cooks make $2 more an hour than she does. She has been accused of insubordination by a supervisor, she said, because he asked her to monitor the temperature of food, and when she asked for some training, he refused to provide it. She believes her role as a union captain has contributed to his antagonism. I used to come to work happy, she told me. Everything was so calm and peaceful, but as the years went by it got harder, with less workers and more work, so now I get up every morning and my stomach hurts. How is my boss going to treat me? Its an ugly feeling to go work like that. Everybody is afraid. A fourth-generation bilingual American, Perez said a Latino supervisor once instructed her to stop speaking Spanish. Another time, at 2 a.m. during her work shift, she spied a different supervisor hiding behind a tree watching her, which made her so anxious she had trouble working. Perez said it is common for two custodians to be tasked with cleaning a 101,000-square-foot building in a single night. Thats about 30,000 more square feet than they are contractually obligated to clean. (Leonard said custodians sometimes have to clean more square footage than normal, but in those cases they are not expected to provide the same level of service or required to work overtime.) Normally, you think of a university as a place where students experience a political awakening. It happens to custodians, too. For most of her life, Perez was a lifelong Republican from a family of Republicans in the deep red San Joaquin Valley. She wasnt especially captivated by politics nor interested in workers rights. But cleaning buildings at UC Merced has changed all that. Her union work has given her the kind of education you cant really get in a classroom. Two years ago, she even changed her voter registration. UC made me become a Democrat, she said, roaring with laughter. robin.abcarian@latimes.com Twitter: @AbcarianLAT The Mexican migrant, slouching in his baggy jail garb, was caught crossing the border and the federal judge in San Diego wanted an explanation. Ill stay in Mexico and wont come back again, said Carlos Arizmendi-Dominguez, 34, a former dairy farmer who was trying to return to his family in Idaho.I ask forgiveness. Im not here to forgive, Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo replied. Across the Southwest border, the crackdown on illegal crossings announced in April 2017 by U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is gaining traction, as immigration caseloads soar and overburdened judicial districts struggle to keep up. Detention space is reaching capacity, courthouses are scrambling to maintain security, and some judges say they have reached their limit. Advertisement On Monday, Sessions expanded the crackdown to include more first-time crossers, asylum seekers and parents who will be separated from the children to face prosecution a move toward zero tolerance that will likely further overload the system. Nowhere are the changes more noticeable than in California. In the southern federal district in San Diego, 1,275 cases were filed in the first three months of this year. Prosecutors now plan to boost criminal immigration filings to about 1,000 per month, according to district data and attorneys at the Federal Defenders of San Diego, who have been notified of increasing prosecution levels by the U.S. attorneys office. At that pace, prosecutions could top 9,000 for the year, triple last years total and the most since at least 2000, according to district data. Prosecutions have gone up about 70% this fiscal year in Arizona, where the chief U.S. District Court judge said this week that the courts cant take any more cases without additional judges, attorneys, interpreters, deputy marshals and courtroom space. If they want to increase prosecutions to a level more than [the] 75 per day that were doing, we need pretty much everything, Judge Raner Collins said. Most migrants caught at the border are still sent back to Mexico without being prosecuted. By boosting criminal filings, the Trump administration hopes to deter illegal crossings, even as border arrests remain near historic lows. Migrants prosecuted in California typically have criminal records or, like Arizmendi-Dominguez, have been previously deported, but more first-time crossers are also being charged. Most recently, prosecutors filed criminal charges against 11 members of a caravan of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. Sentences for the misdemeanor violations range from 30 to 180 days, depending on the circumstances. The surge provides fresh evidence for the Trump administration to claim it is following through on its hard-line anti-illegal immigration rhetoric. But the rapid expansion has shown that the judicial systems shortcomings could also make it harder for the administration to achieve its zero tolerance goals, outlined last month by Sessions in response to what he called a border crisis. The U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego still turns over only a fraction of the 120 migrants, on average, it catches daily along the 60-mile stretch it patrols. The bottlenecks are many: Bed space is in such short supply that migrants are held in jails as far away as Santa Barbara and Arizona, defense attorneys say. There arent enough U.S. deputy marshals to transport defendants and provide sufficient security in courtrooms. Agents from other federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, have to provide assistance. And recent court rulings have restricted courts from carrying out fast-track, mass prosecutions like one in Arizona a few years ago known as Operation Streamline, which generated protests. Attorneys in San Diego say more of their clients are being detained outside the county, making it harder for them to provide an effective defense. I would guess that a great deal of those cases will be people with no prior criminal record or prior convictions, which is a sad way to spend our resources, said Kasha Castillo, a supervisory attorney at the Federal Defenders of San Diego. Some agencies are receiving more resources; Sessions announced this month that border districts will get 18 new immigration judges and 35 new prosecutors, including eight in California. The American people made very clear their desire to secure our border and prioritize the public safety and national security of our homeland, Sessions said in a statement. The prospect of facing criminal charges causes some migrants to think twice about crossing the border, studies have found. In border areas like Yuma, Ariz., where zero tolerance has been the policy for years, the approach has contributed to record decreases in border arrests. Across the country, migrants who have been prosecuted for illegal crossing are less likely to attempt to cross again than those who were simply sent back, according to a study by the Migration Policy Institute. But the deterrent effect varies depending on migrants motivations. Mexicans coming to the U.S. for economic reasons are more likely to be deterred by prosecution than Central Americans who are fleeing crime and political instability. People from Central America arent so easily deterred because conditions are worse there than in Mexico, said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the Migration Policy Institute, who co-wrote the 2017 study. In the past two weeks the Justice Department has moved swiftly to stiffen penalties against Central Americans by filing charges against the 11 asylum seekers from the caravan, and by threatening parents with arrest if caught crossing with their children. If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law, Sessions said at a San Diego news conference Monday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called the crackdown on families a cruel tactic that betrays the countrys values on basic human rights. The goal of this policy is to inflict pain and suffering on people who have already put their lives at risk. Were better than this, Feinstein said in a statement. For now, the majority of migrants being prosecuted in San Diegos downtown federal courthouse are repeat offenders from Mexico. The cases generally result in plea bargains. Migrants are charged with illegally reentering the country a felony and plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of improper entry. Defendants file into court several times a week, the sketchy details of their cross-border lives elicited in brief exchanges with magistrate judges. Im guilty only because I wanted to see my daughter, said Jose Espinoza-Rivera, who said he was going to New York City. My only intention was to return to my children, said Hilario Castaneda Avalos, who lived 17 years in Arizona, caring for his three grandchildren, all U.S. citizens. When a 56-year-old man with eight previous deportations showed up in court one morning in March, Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin greeted him warmly; he had seen him before in his courtroom. Your persistence in coming back is commendable in one respect, but it shows a lack of respect of U.S. laws, Dembin said. Defendants wear jail-issued grays but are not shackled. A ruling last year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals barred the practice, saying defendants shouldnt be required to stand before a court in chains without having been convicted. The ruling has constrained caseloads because security guidelines require at least one U.S. deputy marshal to guard each unshackled defendant in the courtroom. When defendants were shackled, groups of up to 12 could be processed at a time in each courtroom. The hearings move quickly, with the key decision-making centered on how long the sentence will be. Judges usually follow prosecutors recommendations, but not always. Arizmendi-Dominguez, the former dairy farmer from Idaho, said through his attorney that since his last deportation he had spent six years working as a farm laborer in corn and bean fields in Mexico, and that he attempted to return because he longed to see his family, including his father, a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors recommended a 60-day sentence. Gallo, the judge, sentenced him to 75 days, saying a tougher sentence might get his attention. I hope you can make a life for yourself in Mexico and I hope its a prosperous life, but you cant keep coming back to the U.S., Gallo said. The penalties are only going to get worse. richard.marosi@latimes.com Twitter: @richmarosi IRISH WHISKEY SALES have risen by 300% in a decade and are predicted to double by 2020 and by 2030 to be in the region of 24m cases a year. Until a few years ago Irish whiskey was dominated by one company, Irish Distillers, which was a monopoly owning the two operating distilleries, Midleton near Cork and Bushmills in Northern Ireland. That has all changed. There are currently 18 working distilleries with a further 16 in the pipeline. Nevertheless, most of the Irish whiskey, certainly in bottle, has come from Midleton, now owned by France-based drinks giant Pernod Ricard. More of that later. The outstanding brand is, of course, IDs Jameson. Irish Distillers strategy, insight, innovation and prestige whiskeys director, Brendan Buckley, tells DI: Irish whiskey is undergoing a global renaissance. Jameson continues to lead the Irish whiskey category globally and is the number one Irish whiskey in the world. Jameson recorded strong half-year results to the end of December 2017, with 12% organic sales growth, with all regions contributing to this success. The brand is now in double and triple-digit growth in 80 of the 130-plus markets in which it is sold around the world. While the growth has been driven by the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East we have also seen a particularly strong growth coming in the Asian and Latin American markets, he says. Consumers, particularly millennials, are showing signs of appreciating higher-end and super-premium products and at Irish Distillers we are well placed to meet this trend. Growth of our prestige range, led by Redbreast and Midleton Very Rare, reflects the growing consumer appetite for premium Irish whiskeys, and the resurgence of the time-honoured single pot still Irish whiskey, says Buckley. Pernod Ricard chairman and chief executive Alexandre Ricard, speaking at the recent half-year results briefing said that the company was over-investing in Jameson in the US as it was one of the Pernod brands driving top-line growth, along with The Glenlivet. He singled out the Jameson Caskmates range as an example of what the company was doing to develop a brand and drive growth through innovation. He said it had identified the trend for craft beer and for being local. To that end, Irish Distillers is looking to team up with brewers in major US cities to obtain beer casks to produce a local version of Caskmates. Tullamore Dew global ambassador John Quinn says: The Irish whiskey market is in good health at the moment with double-digit growth globally and key markets such as the US showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Of course the category is dominated by a few of the bigger brands and these are driving the majority of the growth but it is allowing for all the newer (and therefore smaller) brands to catch the ride and show some really nice business growth themselves. Lets remember that, while the category is growing very fast, at 9m cases we are still a long way behind scotch (90m), American whiskeys (40m) and Canadian (20m) even Japanese whisky outsells Irish at this point. The Airbnb guests were departing the house they had rented in a residential neighborhood of Rialto when they spotted a woman watching them. Kelly Fyffe-Marshall had a feeling the woman was going to call the police. She even joked about it to her friends after they dragged their suitcases to the car. Moments later, six police cars surrounded their vehicle. Police said they were responding to a call voicing concern that three black strangers were burglars. The three say the incident was racially motivated and that they feared for their lives when police arrived. Advertisement Rialto police say officers responding to the incident acted professionally and that the 911 call and subsequent encounter had nothing to do with race. The April 30 encounter comes amid a growing national discussion about bias and the way law enforcement is called to respond to people of color. Last month, two African American men in Philadelphia waiting for their friend at a Starbucks were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. In late April, police were summoned after a woman called police on two Native Americans visiting Colorado State University for acting odd, a call that kept them from finishing the tour. On Wednesday, a black student at Yale who fell asleep in her dorms common area was awakened by a white student who said she wasnt authorized to be there and called campus police. The incident in Rialto has sparked a nerve. Fyffe-Marshall, an artist, posted a video of the incident on her Facebook page. It has been viewed more than 1.6 million times. Fyffe-Marshall and two fellow Airbnb renters, Donisha Prendergast, a filmmaker and a granddaughter of Bob Marley, and Komi-Oluwa Olafimihan, another artist, can be heard in the videos posted on social media expressing frustration that the incident wasnt resolved sooner. The Airbnb guests said Thursday at a news conference in New York that had they been white, the situation would not have occurred. I almost died because somebody was afraid of me, Prendergast said. When police arrived on the scene, they told the guests in the car to raise their hands, Fyffe-Marshall said at the news conference Thursday with their legal team. We kept telling them we were with Airbnb, she said. Later, the guests said, they showed police a receipt of their Airbnb rental. Officers say the guests just showed law enforcement the propertys Airbnb listing. Police say their body-camera footage shows that officers treated the Airbnb guests with professionalism and respect. In a news release dated Monday, police said the incident lasted 22 minutes and that officers let the guests go after verifying their identities and determining that no crime had been committed. The guests videos also show moments when officers and the guests make lighthearted conversations. Rialto Police Lt. Dean Hardin told the Los Angeles Times that there had been a series of burglaries in the area and that because the guests werent U.S. citizens, it took longer for officers at the scene to verify their identities. They were obviously inconvenienced and we were cognizant of that and we acted cordially, Hardin said. And for the most part, they were cooperative, he added. We were taken aback by the whole situation. Airbnb released a statement this week expressing concern that the Police Departments response was dictated by the guests race. As African American women who have seen the inequitable treatment of people of color, we know that these kinds of incidents are often rooted in implicit and explicit bias, Airbnb Senior Advisor Laura Murphy and head of national partnerships Janaye Ingram said in a joint statement. The guests attorney, Jasmine Rand, said Thursday that she has asked Rialto police to preserve all evidence in case of litigation. Hardin said that he understands the frustration of the Airbnb guests. Im definitely cognizant. I happen to be an African American male, so I get it, he said. In this instance, we were responding to a call and we just cant ignore it, he added. We had to take proper steps and verify that people were being completely honest with us. melissa.etehad@latimes.com Twitter @melissaetehad UPDATES: 10:15 p.m. May 11: This article was updated to clarify details on the Airbnb guests. This article was originally published at 4:50 p.m. May 10, 2018. El Segundo police are attempting to identify several suspects involved in two strong-armed robberies last week outside a local hotel, authorities said Friday. Surveillance video, which was broadcast on ABC7 TV, shows a group of men punching and kicking a man on the ground before stealing his backpack, police said. The victim, however, has yet to come forward. The video also shows one suspect chase down a 16-year-old girl, punch her in the back of the head and take her necklace, said Det. Paul Saldana. She said the jewelry was worth $7,500, Saldana said. Advertisement The thefts occured shortly after 11 p.m. on April 28 in the parking lot of the Residence Inn hotel, in the 2100 block of East El Segundo Boulevard, Saldana said. Officers are seeking the publics help in identifying the suspects based on the surveillance video of the robberies. The suspects were traveling in two vehicles. One of the cars was described as a late-model black Honda that is missing a left rear hubcap. The other vehicle was described as a gold two-door coupe, possibly an older Lexus, police said in a statement. That car has damage to the rear bumper. Anyone with information regarding the identity of the suspects should contact Det. Paul Saldana at (310) 524-2284. melissa.etehad@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad Edwin G. Burrows, a historian who co-wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Gotham a sweeping and stylish chronicle of New York City from the Ice Age to the Gilded Age died May 4 at his home in Huntington, N.Y. He was 74. The cause was complications of a Parkinsonian syndrome, said his daughter, Kate Burrows. Comprehensive histories of New York have been published as early as 1757, when jurist William Smith Jr. completed his colonial-era History of the Province of New-York, and 1809, when writer Washington Irving penned a satirical account of the city he dubbed Gotham, old Anglo-Saxon for Goats Town. But few recent histories existed in 1999, when Burrows and his writing partner, historian Mike Wallace, published Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. Advertisement Weighing nearly 5 pounds and spanning 1,424 pages, the book marshaled scholarship from social, intellectual, military, political and economic history to cover the years from the Native American settlement of Manna-hata (hilly island) to the consolidation of the five boroughs as the city of Greater New York. I know this sounds crazy, but there are probably 15,000 or maybe 20,000 books on New York City. Not a single one does what they did, said Kenneth T. Jackson, a Columbia University history professor and editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City. The book is a towering achievement. It really is almost the only scholarly interpretive history of New York thats based on a full knowledge of all the secondary literature. The book, as poet Walt Whitman might have said, contained multitudes. Its cast of characters included millionaire John Jacob Astor, social reformer Joanna Bethune, novelist Herman Melville and Tammany Halls William Boss Tweed, who together helped explain how New York became, in Whitmans words, the great place of the Western Continent, the heart, the brain, the focus, the main spring, the pinnacle, the extremity, the no more beyond of the new world. Beyond individual historical figures, Gotham also aimed to capture the emerging histories of race, class and gender in America. In the past we inherited, there wasnt much about black people, or immigrants, or the working class. It was all about statesmen and politicians and so forth, Wallace said on Monday. We wrote the history to include the people who had been left out. In doing so, we changed the whole nature of the way you presented the story. You dont just add in some new characters, you add things that explain racism, the history of domesticity, of sexuality. Burrows and Wallace met around 1970, in a graduate seminar at Columbia University, and together helped establish the Radical History Review, an academic journal that aimed to foster new, more inclusive approaches to history. With some megalomania, Wallace said, they set out to present their methods to a general audience, by using new scholarship to write a comprehensive history of the United States. They made it partway through the 17th century when it became clear that we would need multiple lifetimes, and we only had the two between us, he said. Refocusing their project on the history of a single city, New York, they divided the workload. Burrows, a Brooklyn College history professor with a background in early American studies, covered the 17th and 18th centuries. Wallace, a history professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, covered the 19th and 20th centuries. It took 20 years to produce Gotham, which fell more than a century short of covering the citys full history. In 2017, Wallace continued the series solo with Greater Gotham, which devoted 1,196 pages to the 21 years between the first volume and the close of World War I. A third volume is projected to cover the years between the two world wars. Burrows research for Gotham led to two smaller-scale projects, including The Finest Building in America: The New York Crystal Palace, 1853-1858, which he published in February. The book chronicled a glass structure at Reservoir Square, now Bryant Park, modeled after a similarly elaborate Crystal Palace in London. Both buildings were destroyed by fires. He also wrote Forgotten Patriots (2008), which Jackson described as the first major history of American prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War. Edwin Gwynne Burrows was born in Detroit on May 15, 1943. His father, Edwin Gladding Burrows, was a poet and radio producer. His mother, the former Gwenyth Lemon, was a social worker. Ted, as he was known, planned to study physics before realizing he had a better aptitude for the humanities. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1964 and developed an interest in New York history while at Columbia, where he received a masters degree in 1966 and a doctorate in 1974. Burrows joined Brooklyn College in 1972 and retired from teaching in 2013. He is survived by his wife, M. Patricia Adamski, and two children. The worlds auto companies are fast learning how risky it can be to seek a favor from President Trump. They asked the president to nudge California and the rest of the country toward looser fuel economy rules. What they got instead was a veritable declaration of war against the state, threatening to destabilize the industry, tarnish its public image and leave the companies tangled in years of litigation. On Friday, the top executives of the companies trekked to the White House in an effort to wrest back some control of the policy initiative they set in motion. It had been hijacked by the anti-regulatory crusaders within the administration pushing for a rollback far more aggressive than the automakers ever planned. The car companies politely suggested to the president that an assault on Californias long-standing authority to set its own emissions rules is actually not something that helps them. Advertisement The executives left their meeting with Trump feeling a little less unsettled than when they entered. The president, according to several people briefed on the discussion, heard them out and directed his agencies to hold their fire. Negotiate with California, Trump is said to have told Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. For the uninitiated, it seemed a cease-fire had been reached. But Trump has uttered similarly soothing words in other summits with executives, only to back away from them later. What happens next is anybodys guess. Ford CEO James Hackett talks to President Trump during Fridays meeting at the White House. (Evan Vucci / AP ) The car companies opened up a Pandoras box when they asked for these fuel economy standards to be loosened around the edges, said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at UCLA. What they did instead is unleash this anti-regulatory monster, and a process that has been driven entirely by antipathy toward regulations. California leaders are reacting cautiously to news that Washington now wants to negotiate in earnest. They have been rattled by the administrations plan to revoke Californias long-standing authority to enforce its own, tougher rules on tailpipe emissions. A draft blueprint would force California and every other state to abandon the goal of getting cars and SUVs to average 55 miles per gallon by 2025. Instead, the targets would stall out at under 42 miles per gallon in 2020, and stay there through 2026. State officials have already sued to stop the administration. The rollback Washington envisions would cripple Californias ability to meet its air quality and climate-action goals. It is not just California bristling at the aggressive posture: 17 other states have joined its lawsuit, most of them part of a coalition that embraces Californias emissions standards, as federal law allows. The auto firms are well aware that if the administration forges ahead with freezing the targets and trying to force California to go along the result will likely be years of litigation between the states and the federal government, and prolonged uncertainty for the firms. The outcome could be a national standard that is radically different from the one followed by California and the states allied with it, which account for 37% of all vehicles sold. The firms are eager to keep the targets uniform nationwide, as they want to be able to sell the same cars in all 50 states. The Auto Alliance and Global Automakers, the leading auto industry groups, said in a statement after the White House meeting that they expect the administration to issue a range of proposals for future fuel economy and greenhouse gas regulations for consideration by industry, the states, environmentalists and others. They also signaled that the administration would be engaging in a discussion with California on an expedited basis. In congressional testimony this week, the head of the alliance told lawmakers that the group did not support freezing mileage targets at their 2020 levels. But the group has been unclear about exactly what the automakers are seeking, and whether it is a major rewrite to the program or the kind of modest tweaks that California would consider. California leaders were not invited to the White House meeting. Nor were lawmakers from the dozen other states that embrace Californias emissions rules. But they are paying close attention to what comes out of it. Several congressional Democrats from California fired off a letter to automakers on Friday, demanding they clarify the extent to which they are aligned with the Trump administration in its rollback plans. The lawmakers are joining large environmental organizations in their campaign to ratchet up public pressure on the firms, which have sought to position themselves in the marketplace as ecologically oriented and invested in curbing climate change. The relief they have sought from an administration packed with appointees who question the mainstream scientific consensus on global warming has created some awkward public relations. It is our hope, the letter from the lawmakers said, if you are advocating for a drastic rollback of existing policy, you will be honest with the American public about your intentions as well as the future financial and public health risks that such advocacy entails. There is also pressure coming from the other direction. Some free market activists influential in the administration are urging Trump to ignore the advice of the automakers and forge ahead with a freeze in the mileage targets. We encourage you to stay the course, said a letter signed by three advisors who held key environmental posts in Trumps transition to the presidency. Your efforts to reform this mandate are about cost, consumer choice, and whether or not your administration or the state of California gets to set national policy. The latest from Washington More stories from Evan Halper evan.halper@latimes.com Follow me: @evanhalper UPDATES: 3:25 p.m.: This story was updated after the meeting. This story was originally published at 3:50 a.m. Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Friday, May 11, and heres whats happening across California: TOP STORIES Last year, Michael Christopher Mejia, an admitted gang member who had recently been released from prison, shot two Whitter police officers. His case became a rallying cry for politicians and police officers who point to the shooting as clear evidence of the failure of less strict sentencing laws. The killing of Officer Keith Boyer and wounding of another officer have galvanized a movement to ask state voters this November to reverse some of the recent changes to sentencing laws and the prison system. But records show a far more complex chain of events that allowed Mejia to remain free despite his record of criminal behavior. Los Angeles Times Timeline: Mejias months of rule-breaking before a cop killing. Los Angeles Times Advertisement What happened to their son? Four years after his death in Germany, Brian Claflins parents are still trying to understand what happened to their son. Claflins father received via email a statement his son sent to a law firm just before his death, alleging that filmmaker Gary Goddard had drugged and sexually assaulted him at age 18 in Los Angeles. It was an allegation Brian Claflin had made repeatedly in the preceding decade. The Times spoke to three people two close friends and his sister, Molly Jones who said Claflin told them about the alleged assault, and he accused Goddard directly in an email exchange in 2006. Goddard vociferously denied the allegation then, as he does now. Los Angeles Times Where the Golden State Killer may have begun In 1972 and 1973, in an eastern part of Sacramento, a prolific cat burglar struck more than 30 times. Now decades later, investigators are increasingly convinced that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was this cat burglar. They believe this is where the man they now accuse of being the prolific Golden State Killer got his start, graduating over the next 14 years to increasingly violent and ultimately deadly crimes. Los Angeles Times Plus: DeAngelo Jr. was charged in four more killings Thursday when prosecutors in Santa Barbara County charged him with a pair of double-slayings in 1979 and 1981. Los Angeles Times Get the Essential California newsletter L.A. STORIES Dodger blues: If the Dodgers early-season malaise becomes a season-long problem, the responsible party will be the front office that constructed the team, writes columnist Dylan Hernandez. Los Angeles Times Flying taxis?! Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said Wednesday that he is reasonably confident that demonstration flights of its flying taxi service will start in Dallas and Los Angeles in two years, with commercial service set to start in 2023. Los Angeles Times Dont forget! Where to take mom for Mothers Day brunch. Los Angeles Times All those cranes: Check out the ongoing renovations at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Curbed LA IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER ICE in the courthouse: Adopting another measure to counter the Trump administration, the California Senate on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill that would bar the disclosure of the immigration status of alleged crime victims and witnesses in open court unless a judge rules the information is relevant to the case. Los Angeles Times POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Thats a lot of voters: Californias electorate stands at 18.8 million voters, but the percentage of registered Republicans in the state fell to a new low, with the number now almost equal in size to the voters unaffiliated with any political party. Los Angeles Times Endorsement alert! Antonio Villaraigosa showed political courage in hard times. He should be Californias next governor, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board concludes. Los Angeles Times Endorsement alert, Part 2! The San Francisco Chronicle went with Gavin Newsom for governor. San Francisco Chronicle Where they stand: How Californias candidates for governor want to fix the states housing problems. Los Angeles Times And: The GOP in California is quite worried itll be completely shut out of the top two spots in the states governor race. NPR Ummmm: This cryptocurrency billionaire is trying to split California into three states. Bloomberg CRIME AND COURTS Pay up: Wells Fargo & Co. must pay $97 million to home mortgage consultants and private mortgage bankers in California who didnt get the breaks they were entitled to under the states labor laws. Los Angeles Times Eesh: The videotaped arrest this week of two men at a domestic-violence call prompted swift condemnation from family members and community leaders Wednesday, as San Diego sheriffs officials launched an investigation. San Diego Union-Tribune Rialto in the news: Earlier this week, three black Airbnb guests checked out of their rental only to be met by seven police cars. Attorneys for the guests said a woman who called Rialto authorities said she made the call because the departing guests didnt wave to her or smile at her. CNN THE ENVIRONMENT Out in the desert: A radio magnate wants to build cell towers in the California desert. Trump might help. Desert Sun On the move, hopefully: A lot of nuclear waste thats been sitting close to downtown Sacramento for decades may finally be on the move. Sacramento Bee CALIFORNIA CULTURE The glamour: What its like to walk the red carpet on Cannes opening night. Los Angeles Times What to do with a name: Cal State Long Beachs 49ers have a complicated history, but its one worth rooting for, argues columnist Gustavo Arellano. Los Angeles Times Sumo wrestling! At a mere 195 pounds, this California native is a sumo wrestling underdog. Mercury News Yum: L.A.s finest Korean barbecue restaurants, 2018 edition. Eater Los Angeles CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area: partly cloudy, 69, Friday; partly cloudy, 68, Saturday. San Diego: partly cloudy, 63, Friday; partly cloudy, 65, Saturday. San Francisco area: partly cloudy, 72, Friday; sunny, 70, Saturday. Sacramento: cloudy, 65, Friday; partly cloudy, 85 Saturday. More weather is here. AND FINALLY Todays California memory comes from Gina Vasquez: I grew up in Santa Ana in the late 50s and 60s ,when it was still semi-rural. I have fond memories of the area around Bolsa and Harbor Boulevard with its strawberry fields and drive-in movie theater. I now live in Mallorca, Spain, and was amused when I recently read about free-range parenting. So glad not to have had to deal with the problems that todays kids face. I was able to ride my bike throughout the neighborhood and into the next, play in the orange orchard that grew behind our house, go from one friends house to another and spend Saturday mornings at the downtown cinema. Sometimes my brother and I crossed town on the public bus from St. Josephs elementary school, and I was only about 7. Now that was an adventure! If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. When Gina Haspel, President Trumps pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency, appeared for her confirmation hearings before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week, she faced one crucial challenge and it wasnt to convince the committee that she possesses the necessary experience and aptitude for the position. That has been obvious since the day the 33-year veteran of the agency was nominated to succeed Mike Pompeo, now the secretary of State. Much more important was how Haspel would address a shameful chapter in the agencys history in which she played a part: the use of torture against suspected terrorists after 9/11. Haspel took charge in 2002 of a secret CIA detention facility in Thailand where a terrorism suspect was waterboarded on her watch. In 2005 she drafted a cable, ultimately issued by her superior, ordering the destruction of dozens of videotapes of brutal interrogation sessions. Haspels testimony on the torture issue was unsatisfactory so unsatisfactory that we believe the Senate should refuse to confirm her despite her impressive professional credentials. Haspel declined to discuss her role in the interrogation and waterboarding of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, telling Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that she couldnt answer questions about the subject in public session because her operational history was classified under agency rules and she wouldnt declassify the records. Advertisement Even more troubling, Haspel refused to clearly condemn the agencys past misdeeds. Under persistent questioning by Californias other Democratic senator, Kamala Harris, Haspel declined to say whether waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques used in the agencys defunct detention and interrogation program were immoral. Her failure to fully explain her actions while people were being tortured on her watch...are deeply troubling. She did make several reassuring statements that focused on the future. She said, for instance: Senator, what I believe sitting here today is that I support the higher moral standard we have decided to hold ourselves to. She also told senators that under my leadership, CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program. Finally, and to her credit, she promised that she wouldnt allow the CIA to undertake immoral activity even if were technically legal. But her failure to fully explain her actions while torture was being inflicted on her watch, and her refusal to unequivocally declare such behavior immoral, are deeply troubling. What symbolic message does the United States send to its own citizens and to the rest of the world if, after just a few years have passed, it elevates to such a senior position an unrepentant participant in that shocking and deplorable historical episode? Given the passage of time, it might be worth recalling what the euphemism enhanced interrogation techniques concealed and why its important that Haspel resoundingly repudiate them. In its findings about the CIAs detention and interrogation program, the Senate Intelligence Committee offered the following stomach-turning examples (in addition to waterboarding): sleep deprivation, in which detainees would be kept awake for 180 hours, usually standing or in painful stress positions; exposure to extreme cold; subjection to rectal rehydration and to rough takedowns, in which approximately five CIA officers would scream at a detainee, drag him outside of his cell, cut his clothes off, and secure him with Mylar tape. The detainee would then be hooded and dragged up and down a long corridor while being slapped and punched. There was also psychological abuse, such as mock executions and situations in which detainees were told that family members would be killed or sexually abused. In opposing Haspels nomination, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said: Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. We agree. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook The federal farm bill that recently passed the House Agriculture Committee on a bitter party-line vote is strikingly inhumane, even for this harsh era. Rather than trying to improve food-for-the-poor efforts such as Californias CalFresh, it would begin those programs dismantlement. The bill would smother food aid in unprecedented levels of bureaucracy and give states overwhelming incentives to deny assistance to families in need. It was not always this way. For generations, the House and Senate Agriculture committees were among the most pragmatic, least partisan, places in Congress. Rural Republicans and Democrats worked together on programs little-appreciated by urban and suburban members of Congress. But they also took seriously their stewardship over food assistance programs, both as a means of securing urban support for farm bills and as a moral responsibility to direct some of our agricultural abundance to care for the most vulnerable among us. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and California Democrat Rep. Leon E. Panetta teamed up in 1985 to add a sensible work requirement to the food aid program recipients had to be employed, or if states required it, participate in a job search, training or workfare program. The very conservative Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) steadfastly defended the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP, formerly food stamps when he chaired the Agriculture Committee. Now Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee are adding a different work requirement to SNAP. In fact, the legislation would deny food assistance to the unemployed. People who through no fault of their own could not find work, or enough hours of work, would become ineligible for the program. They would miss out not only on a paycheck but on food too. Advertisement People who through no fault of their own could not find work, or enough hours of work, would become ineligible for the program. The 2018 farm bill envisions that states will step up to offer slots in work programs to those unable to find private employment, but that clearly will not happen. States cannot establish the massive work programs that would be required to serve the unemployed among the 40 million people receiving food assistance each month. Even after accounting for the 44% of recipients that are children, the 12% that are elderly, the 9% that are disabled, and those who have sufficient private employment to meet the new requirement, states would still have to create millions of slots each month. The bureaucracy required to provide those slots would be massive, reversing a decades-long trend of sharply reducing administrative overhead in food aid programs. Each work slot would entail a referral, a place for the recipient to work and a supervisor. For many kinds of work, equipment or protective clothing would be needed. And because the most employable SNAP recipients turn over rapidly leaving SNAP after an average of eight months during good economic times these steps would need to be repeated over and over. States have repeatedly demonstrated that they will not build this kind of massive work program. A 1996 welfare law required states to show that half of their caseloads were engaged in work at least 20 hours a week. Rather than establish work programs to meet the requirement, as the laws supporters anticipated, states instead took advantage of a provision that allowed them to have fewer people working if they sharply reduced their welfare rolls. Unfortunately, bureaucratic maneuvers to push needy people off the rolls are all too easy. Twenty years later, only 15,007 welfare recipients are in workfare programs in an average month nationwide. The 2018 farm bill would add to this sort of bureaucratic nightmare an onerous reporting requirement. Every month, all recipients eligibility would have to be reevaluated. The bill would also eliminate the modest margin for error that states have under current audit procedures, with draconian penalties for states whose evaluations werent precisely correct. (Improper denials of eligible households would not count toward the error rates for which states are penalized.) During the 1980s, a similar but more limited monthly reporting rule caused large numbers of eligible, needy families to be cut off each month as paperwork got lost in the mail, piled up on the desks of vacationing staff, or fell victim to misfires in automated systems. SNAP is far from perfect, but it serves a vital public purpose. It provides a basic nutritional foundation for tens of millions of people when they are at their neediest. It deserves better than this. David A. Super is a professor of law at Georgetown University, where he studies poverty and inequality. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Newsoms budget proposes $3 million for Alzheimers research, brain task force By Melody Gutierrez Amyloid plaques, shown here in human brains, are a hallmark of Alzheimers disease. (UCLA School of Medicine) Gov. Gavin Newsom will call for the creation of a brain health task force and dedicate $3 million annually from the states general fund to Alzheimers disease research in the budget proposal he will release Thursday, a source close to the administration said. The money for Alzheimers research would target the new grants at understanding why the disease is more prevalent in women and people of color. Former California first lady and Alzheimers activist Maria Shriver pushed for the funding to be included in the state budget. Shriver said in a statement Wednesday that the funding would make California the first state to make understanding our brains a priority. The states former first lady, whose late father Sargent Shriver was diagnosed with Alzheimers, founded the Womens Alzheimers Movement, an advocacy group raising awareness about womens increased risk for developing the disease. In 2011, she wrote a comprehensive assessment on the disease, to which Newsom then mayor of San Francisco contributed a portion called What one city is doing. This is personal to me, just like it is to millions of California families, Shriver said. Alzheimers is one of the largest medical, social and economic crises in our state, and of our time. I am so proud that, once again, California is leading the way. Wiping out Alzheimers is going to require bold thinking, and there is no doubt in my mind that California is home to bold thinkers who can make this happen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Gavin Newsom orders reinvention of troubled California DMV By Patrick McGreevy A line of people stretches around the South L.A. location of a California Department of Motor Vehicles Office on Aug. 7. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered an overhaul of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which has been plagued by hours-long wait times at field offices, computer crashes and voter registration errors involving tens of thousands of customers. Just a few days after taking office, Newsom appointed a top advisor to a new DMV Reinvention Strike Team to revamp the beleaguered agency over the next six months. By any metric, California DMV has been chronically mismanaged and failed in its fundamental mission to the state customers it serves and the state workers it employs, Newsom said in a statement, adding Its time for a reinvention. The governor appointed state Government Operations Agency Secretary Marybel Batjer to lead the strike team with a goal of modernizing the agency and enacting changes that improve customer satisfaction, employee performance and transparency. Newsom also ordered an accelerated review of initial findings of an ongoing audit ordered last year by Gov. Jerry Brown. The action was welcomed by lawmakers who have been critical of the DMV, including Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield). The egregious management failures of the DMV have been self-evident, which is why I have been calling for new leadership and a comprehensive independent audit of this troubled state agency over and over again as the problems grew significantly worse, Fong said. Last summer, Californians seeking new driver licenses complained of wait times of four to six hours at DMV offices, which the agency blamed partly on snafus caused by a rush of people trying to get Real IDs, a new identification card design required for airline passengers starting in late 2020. Delays were also blamed on computer crashes at DMV offices as the agency struggled to update its aging automation systems. The DMV also admitted that there were an estimated 23,000 errors as people either were unknowingly registered to vote or mistakes were made in their registration status as part of the states new motor voter program. The agency registered to vote as many as 1,500 people with legal U.S. residency but no citizenship. Last month, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto retired from the agency. Legislators were angered earlier this week when the DMV said it needed an additional $40 million to prevent the return of long lines at its field offices. In addition, the agency has been under fire for issuing driver licenses in the last year that do not comply with the federal Real ID standards requiring two forms of identification by applicants. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California police unions are preparing to battle new transparency law in the courtroom By Maya Lau Just as a landmark police transparency law is going into effect, some California police agencies are shredding internal affairs documents and law enforcement unions are rushing to block the information from being released. The new law, which begins to unwind Californias strictest-in-the-nation protections over the secrecy of law enforcement records, opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. But the lawsuits and records destruction, which began even before the law took effect Jan. 1, could tie up the release of information for months or years, and in some instances, prevent it from ever being disclosed. The fact that police unions are challenging this law is on some level not surprising, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, one of the principal supporters of the new law. They have a long history of fighting tooth and nail against transparency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Secretary of State Alex Padilla begins second term with challenge to ensure every Californian is counted By Jazmine Ulloa Secretary of State Alex Padilla takes the oath of office as his family stands by his side on Monday in Sacramento. (Jazmine Ulloa / Los Angeles Times) Secretary of State Alex Padilla was sworn in for a second term on Monday, saying he would continue the battle to protect the right to vote at a time when voter suppression efforts, online disinformation campaigns and interference from foreign adversaries have polarized the public and threatened to undermine trust in U.S. elections. I am doubling down on our fight here in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., to defend our democracy, he said. Working on the front lines with so many of you, I know that our collective resolve has never been stronger. But the loudest applause came when Padilla promised to fight back against the Trump administrations changes to the U.S. census, saying he will ensure every Californian gets counted. Padilla, a former state senator and Los Angeles City Council member from the San Fernando Valley, led the cause for a new motor voter registration law in 2015, and a new system for online business registrations. But the programs have had experienced problems: More than 23,000 Californians were registered to vote incorrectly by the state DMV, the agency reported last year. On Monday, Padilla said he would continue to push back against false claims of voter fraud in California and pointed to the states voter turnout as proof that his office was involving more people in the democratic process, a promise he made when he was first sworn in four years ago. More than 12.7 million voters cast ballots in the Nov. 6 midterm election, representing roughly 65% of the states registered voters, the highest number of any midterm election since 1982, according to state certified results. I made that promise based on a shared belief that we are a stronger democracy and a better California when we hear all voices from all corners of California, and when those voices are not just heard but counted, Padilla said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Ricardo Lara, Californias first statewide officeholder to come out as gay, sworn in as insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara on the floor of the state Senate in 2016. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Ricardo Lara took the oath of office as California insurance commissioner on Monday, pledging action to boost healthcare coverage and combat climate change. Lara, a Democrat from Bell Gardens, is the first elected statewide officeholder in California who has come out as gay. He began his speech in downtown Sacramento by thanking LGBTQ leaders who came before him and celebrated the occasion. Today, because of you, weve shattered the pink ceiling, Lara said. In his inaugural speech, Lara announced the creation of an executive position in his office to address climate change. There is no other industry that has the necessary expertise to ensure that California is prepared to mitigate and reduce risk to our communities and our environment, Lara said. Our planet cant wait. Im ready, and I hope you are too. Lara served as a state legislator and in 2017 introduced a bill to create a single-payer healthcare system in the state. He promised to work with new Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand coverage across California. Lara was sworn in by retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who declared unconstitutional Californias Proposition 8 gay marriage ban. State Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) was on hand for the ceremony along with multiple other state lawmakers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says she will help expand access to universities in the state New Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, center, is shown in June talking with attendees at the Power to the Polls rally in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) More Californians should be given access to public universities, Eleni Kounalakis said as she took the oath of office Monday to become the states first woman elected lieutenant governor. Kounalakis was given the oath of office by Gov. Gavin Newsom, her predecessor in the job, who pledged they would work together. As lieutenant governor, Kounalakis serves on the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees, she noted in a speech at her swearing-in ceremony at the main Sacramento Library. In that role, she said, she will be committed to expanding access to affordable public higher education here in our state. Its wise, its smart and it is the best way to address our rapidly changing digital economy. Kounalakis is former president of a development company founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and served during the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. In November, she won her first run for statewide office. Also attending the ceremony were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California meets Dutch Newsom, who steals the show at his fathers inauguration By Taryn Luna Gov. Gavin Newsom gives his inaugural address while holding his youngest son, Dutch. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) In the California political world, all eyes were on Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday until his 2-year-old son stole the show. Dutch, the youngest of four children in the Newsom brood, climbed onstage in the middle of his fathers inaugural address in a tent outside the Capitol on Monday. The unplanned moment saw the 51-year-old governors big day interrupted by the toddler, bringing levity to the ceremony. Newsom was recounting Gov. Jerry Browns last inaugural speech and reference to the Sermon on the Mount, a biblical story about two men who built separate homes on sand and rock, when Dutch approached his father, a pacifier in his mouth and blanket in hand. Now more than ever we Californians know how much a house matters and children matter, Newsom said, improvising as he scooped the boy into his arms. The governor kissed Dutch on the cheek and held him for several minutes as he continued with the speech. This is exactly how it was scripted, Newsom joked. Newsom eventually put his child down and Dutch walked to the edge of the stage before retreating behind the podium to hide from his mother, First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The crowd roared. Siebel Newsom was able to briefly divert her son only for him to return to the stage minutes later. She grabbed him again and this time, the crying toddler did not reemerge. When fires strikes, when kids cry and the earth shakes, well be there for each other, Newsom said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the moment humanized Newsom, threw cold water on any theories that Dutchs cameo was planned. No, I know it was not, Garcetti said with a laugh after Newsoms speech concluded. I could see that look of absolute abject terror [on Newsoms face]. Weve all been there. Kids always think its about themselves and theyve proved it. California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) agreed. I worked in early childhood education for 20 years and theres no way you can ever get a child to do anything when you want them to do it, Rendon said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fiona Ma takes oath as Californias new treasurer By Liam Dillon State Treasurer Fiona Ma. Fiona Ma took the oath of office in Sacramento on Monday as the states 34th treasurer, promising to boost Californias economy. Ma previously served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in the state Assembly and on the California Board of Equalization. I want to thank everyone for entrusting me with this important job. I understand my role here as your state treasurer is to build that financial wall around California so that we will remain the fifth-largest economy, Ma said in brief remarks. That is my promise to you. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye administered the oath to Ma. Following the ceremony, Ma held an ice cream social for guests. On Wednesday, she will host a public event in San Francisco to celebrate her swearing-in. State Treasurer Fiona Ma takes the oath of office. (Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Expectations are high for newly sworn-in state schools chief Tony Thurmond Tony Thurmond shakes hands with retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco after taking the oath of office. (Melody Gutierrez / Los Angeles Times) Tony Thurmond took the oath of office as Californias state superintendent of public schools on Monday, promising a labor-friendly agenda before the teachers, students and Democratic officials who filled an auditorium at McClatchy High School in Sacramento to watch him being sworn in. We cant close the achievement gap without a great teacher at the head of every class, Thurmond said Monday to applause. We have to make sure we provide quality compensation and support to our teachers and our classified staff and all the educators who support our kids. Thurmond, a Bay Area Democrat who served in the state Assembly, won a hotly contested and expensive race with the help of labor leaders against charter school executive Marshall Tuck. The race took several days to sort out after Tuck held an initial lead in early returns on election night before falling behind thereafter. Thurmond was sworn in Monday by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco. He was joined on stage by labor rights leader Dolores Huerta and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). Thurmonds former colleagues in the state Assembly took turns praising him and promising to be an ally in improving schools. Many said they expected Thurmond would be a strong leader focused on improving student outcomes. We know we are going to work hard to give you the money you need and the budget you need to fully fund education and our schools so we can put our money where our mouth is and make sure our children have everything they need, Assemblywoman Connie Leyva (D-Chino Hills) said. As state superintendent, Thurmond will oversee the education of 6.2 million students at 10,000 schools. Thurmond was a member of the West Contra Costa County School Board and a Richmond city councilman before he was elected to the state Assembly. Tony is the right man at the right time to fight the federal, Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos anti-child, anti-education, anti-civil and -human rights agenda, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. Tony is going to do that for us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State Controller Betty Yee takes oath of office with call for more affordable housing and healthcare State Controller Betty Yee California Controller Betty Yee took the oath of office Monday for a second term, saying she still has work to do addressing problems that include a lack of affordability in housing, healthcare and higher education. A San Francisco native, Yee is the chief financial officer of California the fifth-largest economy in the world having first won election to the post in 2014 before winning reelection in November. No region is spared from the widening inequality and increased poverty that plague our state, fueled by the lack of affordable, stable housing, the cost of healthcare and transportation, limited educational opportunities, student loan debt, displacement caused by disasters and more, she said. Yee was administered the oath of office by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento before an overflow crowd that included state Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and San Francisco Mayor London Breed. As a public official it is about governance that delivers results and stays accountable while upholding the underlying value of dignity for all, Yee said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra begins new term promising to fight Trump policies California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday took the oath of office for a new term, saying he would continue his role as a leading challenger to Trump administration actions that he believes are counter to the states interests. Becerra, a former 12-term congressman, has become a national opposition figure to Trump, having sued the federal government 45 times since he was appointed as the states first Latino attorney general in 2017. Weve been a little busy stopping the dysfunction and insanity in Washington, D.C., from infecting California, Becerra told an audience during a swearing-in ceremony at the California Museum in Sacramento. Whether its the criminals on our streets or the conman in the boardrooms or highest office of the land, Becerra said, the California Department of Justice, well, weve got your back. Becerra won his first statewide election as the states top cop in November, two years after he filled the post vacated when predecessor Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. He has peppered the Trump administration with lawsuits challenging federal policies on healthcare, the U.S. census, the environment and immigration. Our state builds dreams, not walls, he said in a direct criticism of Trumps proposal to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Just last week, Becerra led a coalition of 17 Democratic attorneys general in announcing an appeal of a federal judge in Texas that ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The ACA has been the law for nearly a decade and is the backbone of our healthcare system, Becerra said last week. This case impacts nearly every American workers covered by employers, families, women, children, young adults and seniors so we will lead the ACAs defense as long and far as it takes. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Democratic Party Vice Chairman Daraka Larimore-Hall announces bid to lead group By Christine Mai-Duc Daraka Larimore-Hall. (Dominic Parisi / Courtesy of Daraka Larimore-Hall) Daraka Larimore-Hall, a top official at the California Democratic Party, said Monday hes running to replace former chairman Eric Bauman, who resigned abruptly in November after being confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct. Larimore-Hall, a longtime state party activist and former chairman of the Democratic Party of Santa Barbara County, was one of the party leaders who urged Bauman to resign following the allegations. In an email to supporters announcing his bid, he urged both structural and cultural change at every level of our Party. He also repeated his call for a top-to-bottom investigation of the allegations, the party and its culture. In a Times investigation, 10 party activists and staff members said Bauman made crude sexual comments and engaged in unwanted touching and physical intimidation in professional settings. In order to be where we need to be for 2020, we have to confront the culture of abuse and fear that allowed someone to behave in such a vile way for so long, Larimore-Hall said in an interview. We cant brush it aside or think that our activists or our candidates or our donors are going to forget about this overnight. Larimore-Hall said his first priority would be to fully investigate the allegations and restore rank-and-file confidence in the partys leadership. The second would be to refocus the party on political priorities as the 2020 presidential election nears. The Bauman episode, Larimore-Hall said, threatens to derail the Democrats plans to help defeat President Trump and keep the seven congressional seats gained in the midterm elections. Its definitely a crisis, Larimore-Hall said. But the component parts the energy, the enthusiasm, the volunteers, the infrastructure its still there. We just need to direct it toward something. Larimore-Hall was elected vice chairman of the state party in February following Baumans razor-thin victory over Bay Area activist Kimberly Ellis. Ellis has announced another bid for the chairmanship and former state Senate leader Kevin de Leon is also mulling a run. The vote will take place at the partys May convention in San Francisco. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom will vow to seize this moment, and swipe at Trump in Monday inaugural address By Melanie Mason Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family attend an Inauguration Family Event at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Building on the theme of California exceptionalism that defined his campaign, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will depict the state as a guardian of progressive values and a counterweight to President Trump in his inaugural address Monday, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. What we do today is even more consequential, because of whats happening in our country, read the excerpts obtained by The Times. Peoples lives, freedom, security, the water we drink, the air we breathe they all hang in the balance. The country is watching us. The world is waiting on us. The future depends on us. And we will seize this moment. The speech casts Californias political stakes in a decidedly national scope, promising an agenda that will unify and be an example to the rest of the country. It contrasts the governing goals of Newsom, a Democrat, with that of Trump, the incoming governors perennial foil. We will offer an alternative to the corruption and incompetence in the White House, the excerpts say. Our government will be progressive, principled, and always on the side of the people. Newsom campaigned on an ambitious and wide-ranging platform, promising sweeping solutions on housing, healthcare, education and other issues that rank among Californians top concerns. In the weeks after his election, he struck a more muted tone, taking pains to emphasize his fiscal caution and need for patience in achieving those goals. The inaugural excerpts indicate a return to lofty pledges. While Newsom will vow to prepare for uncertain times ahead by building budgetary reserves and paying down debt, the prepared remarks quickly turn to a vow to be bold. Newsom has already floated several proposals for his first budget that carry significant price tags, including a nearly $2-billion plan to boost early childhood development for low-income families and a dramatic expansion of paid family leave from six weeks to six months. When asked for a preview of his inauguration speech during a news conference Sunday evening, Newsom predicted pundits would criticize his address as short on specifics. Well, of course, Im at an inaugural, Newsom said. But Ill be very detailed in the budget, a few days later. And then we will architect, in much more nuance and detail, in state of the state. I really see this as three opportunities to communicate over the next few weeks our agenda, our vision for the state. Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom-hosted benefit concert raises nearly $5 million for wildfire victims By Taryn Luna Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom speaks at a concert to benefit wildfire victims at the Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) On the eve of the gubernatorial inauguration, Californias political class rubbed elbows in Sacramento for a benefit concert hosted by Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and headlined by the rapper Pitbull. Newsom told the crowd gathered at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday evening that the fundraiser brought in nearly $5 million for the California Wildfire Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that supports the families of fallen firefighters and communities affected by wildfires. You know, a lot of folks feel anxious about not just politics, but government, Newsom said on stage before introducing the rapper and activist Common. But those firefighters, they are the antidote to the fear and cynicism; they are the manifestation of why government matters and why you should care. Top sponsors, including Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente and other interest groups, paid up to $1 million each to support the cause and curry favor with the new administration. Nathan Click, a spokesman for Newsom, said organizers sold more than 7,000 tickets. Several state lawmakers attended the concert alongside Capitol staff, lobbyists and business types, who mingled on the floor of the arena and offstage in private VIP areas. The rock band X Ambassadors and a duo called the Cold Weather Sons from the town of Paradise, which was destroyed by fire in November, were among several performers who entertained the crowd during the four-hour event. The California Rises concert is the final in a series of festivities held Sunday to celebrate the inauguration of Californias 40th governor. Earlier in the day, Newsom attended a private brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum and his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront. Newsoms inauguration is set to begin at 11 a.m. Monday on the steps of the Capitol. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Inauguration fever hits Sacramento as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom prepares to take office By Phil Willon Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom holds his son, Dutch, as he and his family attend an inaugural event at the at the state Railroad Museum Sunday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom doesnt officially take the oath of office until Monday, but the parties celebrating his inauguration were in full swing all day Sunday. Newsom and his family were mobbed by well-wishers at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront in the afternoon, where his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families. He just has charisma. Hes able to really connect with people, said Rosielyn Pulmano, an attorney from Elk Grove who came to see Newsom with her husband, two sons and her niece. I think he cares about working Californians and a lot of their issues. Newsom arrived with his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four young children, and the governor-elect spent a good deal of his time wading through crowds, taking selfies with supporters and signing autographs as music boomed in the background. As the family toured the inside of the museums locomotives and the bevy of exhibits, Newsoms two-year-old son, Dutch, was wide-eyed, impressed by all the train cars and seemingly a little overwhelmed by the crowd. Newsom said that for his son, all that was missing from the museum was Thomas the Train, popular fictional locomotive in childrens books and cartoons . If theres one thing I can contribute to Sacramento maybe its getting a Thomas the Train exhibit for the two years olds, Newsom joked when talking with reporters afterward. Newsom said he wanted to include such an event in his inaugural festivities to highlight families and children, whose wellbeing will be among the top priorities of his administration. Youll see that not only as a preamble to the inaugural and the budget that well be submitting next week, but I think itll be a big part of the administration, Newsom said. The museum event followed a private, high-dollar brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum. A steady rain failed to dissuade as many as 200 guests who sipped wine and dined on chicken and salmon while waiting for a photo with Californias new first couple. Seen at the event were representatives of some of the states most powerful political interests, among them organized labor, healthcare companies and tribal gaming interests. A few other high-profile guests attended, too, including Larry Baer, CEO of the San Francisco Giants, and Erika Jayne, a singer and cast member of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Im excited to see someone like Gavin young, vibrant taking over the state and leading us into the future, Jayne said after attending the brunch with her husband, attorney Tom Girardi. Hes got a lot of great plans. Attendees said the event, which was closed to reporters and held under a tent in the museums outdoor atrium, did not include prepared remarks by Newsom. Among those seen leaving the event were representatives of AT&T, the California Medical Assn., Uber, Kaiser Permanente and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. A fundraising invitation obtained by The Times offered bundled tickets to all of the inauguration events, including those on Sunday and the Monday ceremony, ranging in price from $25,000 to $200,000. The money will be collected by a committee specifically organized to pay for Newsoms inaugural weekend. Sundays festivities are scheduled to end with a benefit concert headlined by Pitbull at the Golden 1 Center, home of the NBAs Sacramento Kings, to raise money for the victims of Californias recent deadly wildfires. Among the attendees at @GavinNewsoms pre-inaugural leadership brunch: Real Housewife of Bev Hills @erikajayne. Im excited to see someone like Gavinyoung, vibranttaking over the state and leading us into the future. Hes got a lot of great plans. pic.twitter.com/561NHiy2XQ Melanie Mason (@melmason) January 6, 2019 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement As Newsom inaugural events begin, he unveils more state budget promises on education and paid family leave Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, seen here last April, will propose new state budget efforts on paid family leave and education subsidies. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Californias incoming governor, who must send his first state budget plan to the Legislature this week, has already signaled a significant new focus on programs to help families and children from infancy to college. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom campaigned on a platform that included a number of child-focused efforts specifically aimed at helping lower-income families. The price tag for the initial efforts is expected to approach $2 billion a cost paid out of an unrestricted tax revenue windfall that could be one of the largest in state history. Newsom may also seek help for families through new subsidies paid by California employers. The governor-elect is expected to propose a dramatic expansion of paid parental leave from six weeks to six months according to an internal document provided by a source close to the Newsom transition team, first reported on Sunday by the New York Times. The document doesnt offer a full explanation for how the program will be funded, saying instead that the budget will set a goal of ensuring that all newborns and newly adopted babies can be cared for by a parent or a close family member for the first six months. Employers across the state are currently assessed a payroll tax that helps offer a subsidy to parents who temporarily leave their job to care for a newborn. Newsoms plan, according to the document, would pay for some of the new costs by shrinking the mandated cash reserve of the state fund that administers the program, allowing more of the money to be paid in benefits. The increase in paid leave would not all happen at once but instead be phased in over a multi-year period. A task force to help implement the expanded care plan is also envisioned, according to the document. It would determine whether two parents could split the six months of paid leave and whether an extended family member could be enlisted to help care for the child of a single parent over the six-month period. The incoming administrations focus on young children will also include $1.8 billion in new spending on early childhood education programs, with a particular focus on training childcare workers and pushing for more California schools to offer full-day kindergarten. Those costs, according to an overview memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times, are considered to be a one-time expense while leaving the long-term costs of the effort to be determined later. More community college students would get free tuition under a third initiative expected in the new governors budget plan. Newsom will propose spending $40 million to offer a second year of tuition-free college to California students, according to an outline provided by a transition official, first reported by Politico. Students are already eligible for a single year of paid tuition under a plan agreed to by Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers in 2017. The incoming governor embraced the idea of free community college during the 2018 campaign as part of a broader focus on additional investments in higher education. Education is an economic development strategy, Newsom said at a higher education forum last spring. We need to significantly increase the investment from the general fund of this state on higher education. Theres no greater higher return on investment. Whether the proposal would be targeted to students based on a familys financial need is unclear. Many low-income students are already eligible for fee waivers at community colleges. The new governor must submit his full state budget plan to lawmakers no later than Thursday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gavin Newsom and his family decide Sacramento is the place to be The Old Governors Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will move his family into the mansion. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family will give up the Marin County life and move to the Victorian-style governors mansion in Sacramento after he takes the oath of office Monday. Newsom and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, had debated whether or when to relocate to the state capital since his election in November. The couple have four young children and expressed reservations about moving in the middle of a school year. To best serve the people of California while also maximizing family time together, the Newsoms have therefore decided to move to Sacramento, said Newsoms spokesman, Nathan Click. On Monday, they will move into the Governors Mansion along with their four children, their two family dogs, and their family bunny rabbit and reside there for the immediate future. The Newsoms currently live in Marin County. Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Ann Gust Brown, moved into the grand house in 2015 after it underwent $4.1 million in renovations to update electrical and plumbing systems, as well as to remove lead-based paint and install a fire sprinkler system and other security features. The mansion was built in 1877 and has been home to 14 governors, but before Brown it had not housed a California governor for nearly half a century. The state bought the mansion from a wealthy Sacramento hardware merchant, Albert Gallatin, in 1903 for $32,500. It was one of the few California homes at that time to have indoor plumbing. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom announces top labor, business liaisons as he prepares to take office Julie Su will be secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency for Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday named two advisors on issues related to the California economy, each recognized for their expertise on business and labor. The incoming governor will appoint Julie Su as secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and Lenny Mendonca as chief economic and business advisor and director of the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development. Su, 49, has served as state labor commissioner under Gov. Jerry Brown since 2011 and has led an office tasked with the enforcement of Californias labor laws. She won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2001 and previously worked as a civil rights attorney representing low-wage workers. In her new position, Su will be tasked with coordinating the work of several workforce departments in state government, including those that administer unemployment benefits and oversee the relationship between agriculture workers and employers. Mendonca, 57, has been a longtime advocate for rethinking government operations as co-chairman of the nonprofit organization California Forward. Previously, he was partner at McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm. While he will be a key advisor to Newsom on the states economy, Mendonca will also lead the office often referred to as Go-Biz, designated as a high-level way to encourage job growth and economic development. In his new role, Mendonca will help ensure that California is rolling out the welcome mat to current and future California businesses and growing a sustainable economy for every Californian, said a statement from the Newsom transition team. Newsom will take the oath of office as governor Monday. He has previously selected key advisors on the state budget, legislative affairs and the executive branchs wide array of agencies and departments. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Joshua Groban, aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, sworn in to California Supreme Court By Taryn Luna California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban gives remarks after he is sworn into the court by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday. (Taryn Luna) California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban, a lawyer and longtime aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, was sworn into the states highest court Thursday in Sacramento. The ceremony marked Browns fourth appointment to the state Supreme Court and gave the seven-member bench a Democratic majority. We live in a highly chaotic, ever-changing and ever-confusing world, Groban said in prepared remarks at the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building. But Im happy to report that Im joining an institution whose fundamental purpose, at core, is to provide stability and consistency amidst this chaotic place we live. I look forward to doing that with a sense of reflection, respect, fidelity to the law and compassion. None of Browns appointees, Groban included, have judicial experience. Groban served as legal counsel to Browns 2010 gubernatorial campaign and joined the administration as a senior advisor to the governor, overseeing the appointments of some 600 judges over the last eight years. Prior to working with Brown, Groban, 45, practiced law for more than a decade. In perhaps his final public appearance before his successor, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, takes office next week, Brown pushed back on notions that he stacked the court. I dont want this to be known as a Brown court, the governor said before administering the judicial oath of office. First of all, the so-called Brown appointments do not agree with themselves and nor should they. They are individuals. They will differ. Its not anybodys court. The governor called the court a high calling and said Groban possesses the values for the job. Probably, next to my wife, Ive talked to no person as much as Ive talked to Josh Groban, Brown said. I think youve talked to him more, Californias First Lady Anne Gust Brown interjected. I cant tell you what the hell hes going to do, Brown later quipped. I warned him, dont screw up, at least not at first. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California campaign watchdog agency seeks law barring use of campaign funds to fight harassment claims Former state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). ( (Steve Yeater / Associated Press)) Elected officials accused of harassment or discrimination would be barred from using political contributions to cover their legal defense costs under legislation proposed by Californias campaign watchdog agency. The state Fair Political Practices Commission has agreed to pursue a law change to clear up confusion after an attorney for one former state lawmaker argued political funds could be used in such legal defenses. Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said putting a prohibition into the law would provide some much needed clarity. As chair, I would like to show the public their lawmakers are held to a standard that is above reproach, Germond said in a statement. People dont give money to campaigns for lawmakers to use it to defend their own bad behavior, so lawmakers shouldnt be able to use it in that manner. The issue came up a year ago when an attorney for former Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) sought a formal opinion from the FPPC after the Senate launched an investigation that later concluded Mendoza likely engaged in a pattern of harassment against female aides. Mendoza resigned in February under threat of expulsion by the Senate. In a Jan. 10, 2018, letter, Cassandra Ferrannini, an attorney for Mendoza, wrote to the FPPC that she believed Mendoza should be allowed to establish a legal defense fund able to defray his legal expenses in defending himself against the allegations. The use of campaign funds for attorneys fees under these circumstances would fall squarely within the scope of legislative matters, since it involves the alleged conduct of a legislator with regard to legislative staff that he supervised, Ferrannini wrote. The commission staff originally issued an advice letter that said Mendoza may use campaign and legal defense funds to defend himself from claims of sexual harassment that arose directly out of his activities or status as a candidate or elected officer. But the panel later rescinded the letter after some members questioned using campaign funds to fight sexual harassment claims. That left uncertainty about what was allowed, which Germond said could be cleared up by a new law. The FPPC is still looking for a legislator to carry the bill, a spokesman said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias landmark police transparency law takes effect after court denies police union effort to block it California Supreme Court building (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) A new state law allowing the public disclosure of internal police shooting investigations has gone into effect after the California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a bid by a police union to block it. The law opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. challenged the law last month, asking state Supreme Court justices to decide that the law only apply to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. The court rejected that request Wednesday, allowing members of the public to seek all applicable records held by police departments. Union president Grant Ward said in a statement that his organization was disappointed with the decision and is now seeking other legal options. We feel this is a statewide issue and should be considered accordingly, Ward said. Last month, the city of Inglewood authorized the destruction of more than 100 police shooting investigations and other records in advance of Jan. 1, when the disclosure law was scheduled to take effect. California law requires police departments to keep such records for five years, and Inglewood City Council voted to destroy records older than that. Mayor James T. Butts has said the decision had nothing to do with the new law. In Los Angeles, Police Chief Michel Moore has said that complying with the new disclosure rules could take hundreds of thousands of hours of work. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of the transparency law, has said she has no immediate plans to propose changes to it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Few complaints of racial profiling are sustained by police agencies in California, state panel finds CHP Officer J. Nelson stands outside the office of Gov. Jerry Brown as activists in 2015 support requiring the tracking of police stops. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Law enforcement agencies in California sustain few citizen complaints of racial or identity profiling, according to a report Wednesday by a state panel set up to help reduce bias in policing. The states Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board recommended in its annual report that law enforcement agencies improve training and adopt clear guidelines for tracking and reporting data on who is stopped by officers. The panel said that 453 law enforcement agencies in the state received 9,459 civilian complaints in 2017, including 865 complaints alleging racial or identity profiling. Of the racial and identity complaints that reached a disposition that year, 1.5% were sustained, 14.6% resulted in officers being exonerated and 83.9% of complaints were not sustained or were determined to be unfounded, the report said. A clearer picture of the issue is expected from a 2015 law that requires police agencies to report demographic data on all detentions and searches. The first reports by the eight largest agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, are due to be submitted in April. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, whose office oversees the board, said tracking of all detentions and searches will be helpful to understand the scope of the issue. The Boards recommendations will help make our law enforcement agencies more transparent and promote critical steps to enhance, and in some cases, repair the public trust, Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California housing crisis podcast: What Minneapolis decision to end single-family zoning might mean for California A view of downtown Minneapolis in 2014 (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) Theres a national movement brewing to roll back zoning rules in cities that only allow one house on a plot of land. The epicenter of that movement is Minneapolis, which passed a plan last month to eliminate single-family zoning citywide and let landowners build duplexes and triplexes on residential property. On this episode of Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast, we talk about the reasons why Minneapolis leaders took this action, including their desire to combat a history of racial exclusion and spur more housing density to fight climate change. We also debate how Minneapolis decision might affect housing politics in California. Our guest is Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender, who helped shepherd the new zoning rules to passage and a former San Francisco city planner. The episode also crowns 2018s Avocado of the Year the most ridiculous story exemplifying Californias housing woes and includes our predictions for the most under-the-radar important themes in housing politics in 2019. Gimme Shelter, a biweekly podcast that looks at why its so expensive to live in California and what the state can do about it, features Liam Dillon, who covers housing affordability issues for the Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau, and Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CALmatters. You can subscribe to Gimme Shelter on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement How young immigrant Dreamers made flipping control of the House a personal quest By Jazmine Ulloa Gabriela Cruz, who was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 1, couldnt vote, but in the final hours before the Nov. 6 election, she was making one last run to get people to the polls. The sun was setting in Modesto when she found Ronald Silva, 41, smoking a cigarette on a tattered old couch behind a group home. He politely tried to wave her off until she reminded him he had a right that she as an immigrant without citizenship didnt have. It could really make a change for us, said Cruz, 29. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose almost $2 billion for early childhood programs (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Seeking to frame his new administration as one with a firm focus on closing the gap between children from affluent and poor families, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose spending some $1.8 billion on an array of programs designed to boost Californias enrollment in early education and child-care programs. Newsoms plan, which he hinted at in a Fresno event last month, will be a key element in the state budget proposal he will submit to the Legislature shortly after taking office Monday, a source close to the governor-elects transition team said. The spending would boost programs designed to ensure children enter kindergarten prepared to learn, closing what some researchers have called the readiness gap that exists based on a familys income. It would also phase in an expansion of prekindergarten and offer money to help school districts that dont have facilities for full-day kindergarten. The fact that hes making significant investments with his opening budget is really exciting, Ted Lempert, president of the Bay Area-based nonprofit Children Now, said Tuesday. Whats exciting is the comprehensiveness of it, because its saying were going to focus on prenatal through age 5. A broad overview document reviewed by The Times on Tuesday shows that most of the outlay under the plan $1.5 billion would be a one-time expense in the budget year that begins July 1. Those dollars would be a single infusion of cash, an approach favored by Gov. Jerry Brown in recent years. Most of the money would be spent on efforts to expand child-care services and kindergarten classes. By law, a governor must submit a full budget to the Legislature no later than Jan. 10. Lawmakers will spend the winter and spring reviewing the proposal and must send a final budget plan to Newsom by June 15. Though legislative Democrats have pushed for additional early childhood funding in recent years a key demand of the Legislative Womens Caucus those actions have typically come late in the budget-writing season in Sacramento. Quite frankly, to start out with a January proposal that includes that investment in Californias children reflects a new day, state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said. The governor-elect will propose a $750-million boost to kindergarten funding, aimed at expanding facilities to allow full-day programs. A number of school districts offer only partial-day programs, leaving many low-income families to skip enrolling their children because kindergarten classes end in the middle of the workday. Because the money would not count toward meeting Californias three-decades-old education spending guarantee under Proposition 98, which sets a minimum annual funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges, it will not reduce planned spending on other education services. Close behind in total cost is a budget proposal by Newsom to help train child-care workers and expand local facilities already subsidized by the state, as well as those serving parents who attend state colleges and universities. Together, those efforts could cost $747 million, according to the budget overview document. An expansion of prekindergarten programs would be phased in over three years at a cost of $125 million in the first year. The multiyear rollout would, according to the budget overview, ensure the system can plan for the increase in capacity. Lempert said the Newsom proposal is notable for trying to avoid the kinds of battles that in recent years pitted prekindergarten and expanded child care against each other for additional taxpayer dollars. The reality is we need to expand both simultaneously, he said. Another $200 million of the proposal would be earmarked for programs that provide home visits to expectant parents from limited-income families and programs that provide healthcare screenings for young children. Some of the money would come from the states Medi-Cal program, and other money from federal matching dollars. Funding for the home visits program was provided in the budget Brown signed last summer; the Newsom effort would build on that. Emphasizing a policy area with broad appeal in his first state budget could reflect Newsoms political sensibility about the challenges ahead. Democratic lawmakers and interest groups will be especially eager to see how Newsom addresses the demand for an overhaul of healthcare coverage in California especially after a 2017 effort to create a single-payer, universal system fizzled. The path forward on healthcare is complex and costly, making early childhood education a more achievable goal in the governor-elects early tenure. Newsom is likely to face considerable demands for other additional spending. In November, the Legislatures independent analysts projected that continued strength in tax revenues could produce a cash reserve of some $29 billion over the next 18 months. Almost $15 billion of that could be in unrestricted reserves, the kind that can be spent on any number of government programs. Kim Belshe, executive director of the child advocacy organization First 5 LA and a former state health and human services secretary, said the initial Newsom budget proposal suggests the next governor will focus on a comprehensive approach to improving outcomes for children from low-income families. School-ready kids deserve quality early learning, strong and well-supported families, and access to early screening services, Belshe said. Newsom understands the whole child, multifaceted needs of our kids and is clearly ready to lead. Mitchell, the chair of the Senate budget committee, said shes eager to see the details of the governor-elects proposal to determine whether it might signal the beginning of an even broader expansion of early education efforts. Similar efforts have been hindered by a lack of money and ongoing debate over which services to help children 5 and younger need state funding the most. Universal preschool, in particular, has been debated for more than a decade. California voters rejected a ballot measure to fund a full prekindergarten system in 2006. Its clear theres a new movement afoot trying to engage on investment for universal preschool, Mitchell said. How we invest, and how we prioritize that investment, is going to be a great conversation for the coming months. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Politics Podcast: A final conversation with Gov. Jerry Brown No Californian has served longer as governor, signed more laws, granted clemency to more felons or waged more high-profile campaigns than Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown will leave behind a unique legacy when he packs his last belongings for the trip from the governors mansion in Sacramento to his Northern California ranch. His final two terms in office could be his most consequential. The governor reviewed some of the more notable moments from the past eight years in a far-reaching interview with The Times on Dec. 22. This weeks podcast episode includes extended portions of that conversation. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A sagging economy could doom a 2020 ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes, Gov. Jerry Brown says Gov. Jerry Brown, at his Colusa County home on Saturday, said a ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes could struggle in 2020. (Randall Benton/For The Times) An effort to remove commercial property in California from the tax limits imposed by the landmark Proposition 13 could be felled by an economic slowdown, Gov. Jerry Brown said. In a Saturday interview with The Times at his Northern California ranch, Brown said liberal activist groups that have successfully placed the proposal on the November 2020 statewide ballot shouldnt read too much into early poll numbers showing support for the plan. That isnt as easy as you think, Brown said. Because youre going to be in a downturn of the business cycle. And youre talking many kinds of business. And the cost of doing business in California is already high. The ballot measure would allow counties to more frequently assess the market value of commercial property in California than allowed under Proposition 13, a 1978 ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to place strict limits on assessing property values and taxation for both homeowners and businesses. An analysis of the new measure, which qualified in October for the 2020 ballot, estimates it could bring in some $10.5 billion a year in new tax revenue. The business community will fight it, Brown said. And the minimum wage, the family leave, the environmental rules business[es] have left California, thats going to be the big argument. And I think thats something you really have to think a lot about. The governor, who leaves office early next month due to term limits, declined to either endorse or oppose the ballot measure. He said Californias economic health in two years time could be a key factor in how voters weigh the proposal. Well be in a recession by then, Brown said. So its anybodys guess. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Inglewood to destroy more than 100 police shooting records that could otherwise become public under new California law By Jack Dolan Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) The city of Inglewood has authorized the shredding of more than 100 police shooting and other internal investigation records weeks before a new state law could allow the public to access them for the first time. The decision, made at a City Council meeting earlier this month, has troubled civil liberties advocates who were behind the state legislation, Senate Bill 1421, which takes effect Jan. 1. The law opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The legislature passed SB 1421 because communities demanded an end to the secrecy cloaking police misconduct and use of force, Marcus Benigno, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said in a statement. Inglewood PDs decision to purge records undermines police accountability and transparency against the will of Californians. California law says police departments must retain records of officer shootings and internal misconduct investigations for five years. The city of Inglewood, however, had kept records longer than that, including case files of police shootings dating to 1991. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of SB 1421, intended for her bill to allow public access to all qualifying records held by a department, no matter the date of the incident. Inglewood City Council approved the destruction of records that have been in the police departments possession more than 100 cases longer than required by law. The city staff report and council resolution describing the action makes no mention of the new police transparency law. Instead it says the affected records are obsolete, occupy valuable space, and are of no further use to the police department. It added the traditional method of destroying such records is to shred them. It is unclear whether the records have since been destroyed. A spokesman for the Inglewood Police Department along with Inglewoods city manager, attorney, clerk, four council members and Mayor James T. Butts, a former Santa Monica police chief, did not respond to requests for comment. Inglewoods City Hall is closed the last two weeks of December. The Inglewood Police Department has a reputation for secrecy and using excessive force. In 2008, the departments officers fatally shot four men in as many months, three of whom turned out to be unarmed. The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe and found significant flaws in the way the department oversaw use-of-force cases and investigated complaints against officers. Civil rights advocates still question why Inglewood police opened fire on a couple found sleeping in a car in 2016, killing them both. California police have a long history of shredding records to avoid scrutiny of their actions. In the 1970s, the LAPD famously destroyed more than four tons of personnel records after defense attorneys began requesting them as part of criminal cases against their clients. The move resulted in the dismissal of more than a hundred criminal complaints. In response, the Legislature demanded that records be preserved but then took other measures, supported by police unions, to ensure the public had very little access to them, making California the most secretive state in the nation when it comes to police misconduct. Skinners legislation begins to unwind those laws, which have been on the books since 1978. No video or audio of the Dec. 11 council action is available on the citys website and neither are meeting minutes or any record of the decision. A city spokeswoman, Courtney Torres, confirmed that the council had voted in favor of the police records purge, and said all the relevant reasons for the decision were included in the city staff report. The Jan. 1 implementation for SB 1421 has prompted other police officials to act. A police union in San Bernardino is asking the state Supreme Court to determine that Skinners bill only applies to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner earlier this month warning that complying with the law in regard to older records in the departments possession could take hundreds of thousands of work hours. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Federal officials question California DMVs process for issuing Real IDs (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has notified the California Department of Motor Vehicles that its process for providing residents with federally recognized identification cards is not adequate. DMV spokesman Armando Botello said Friday that 2.3 million residents who received Real IDs under the current process will have to submit additional documentation when their cards are renewed in five years but will be able to use them in the meantime. The DMV is developing a way for residents to submit more documentation online or via email to comply with the stricter federal requirement, he said. But some state legislators are upset about delays in notifying them of the problem and say Homeland Security could eventually require additional documentation provided by current holders. The DMV has known for a month that millions of Real IDs theyve been dolling out are potentially invalid, Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) said. The DMVs only hope is that the Department of Homeland Security takes pity on California and gives the DMV more time to fix this mess. Real IDs are a new kind of driver license and identification card that federal law will require legal residents to present when boarding domestic flights or visiting military bases and other federal facilities starting Oct. 1, 2020. The DMV has only been requiring one form of documentation, including a current lease or utility bill, to verify the residence of a card applicant. But the federal government said in a Nov. 21 letter to the agency that two such documents are needed. On Friday, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto released a letter defending the current process but said her agency will start requiring a second document to prove residency in April. In order to minimize confusion among our customers, the CADMV will work to inform individuals who have been issued a Real ID under the current process that their card will be accepted for official federal purposes, even if their renewal occurs after the October 1, 2020, final enforcement date for Real ID, Shiomoto wrote to the federal agency. Legislative officials worry there is still a possibility that those issued Real IDs in the past might be required to present a second document to have their cards designated as compliant. The more complex process for obtaining Real IDs has led to hours-long waits for customers at DMV field offices this year, although wait times have been reduced recently by an increase in staffing. Shiomoto last month announced that she is retiring amid problems with the motor voter registration system and after the governor ordered an audit of her agency in response to the long wait times. On Friday, Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido blasted the DMV for waiting a month to tell legislators of the problem. This is unacceptable and flies in the face of security for our citizens, which is what Real ID was created for in the first place, she said in a statement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom taps Keely Bosler to be his finance director Keely Bosler, the director of the California Department of Finance, will continue in that role under Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (California Department of Finance) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday appointed Keely Martin Bosler as director of the California Department of Finance, continuing the role she has served under Gov. Jerry Brown since August. Bosler will become Newsoms chief fiscal advisor, and will play a pivotal role in shaping Newsoms spending plan for the state that will lay the foundation for his top policy priorities. Newsom must roll out his first budget plan within days of taking office on Jan. 7. Californias brighter future depends on a strong, stable fiscal foundation, Newsom said in a statement released Friday afternoon. Keely is an accomplished public servant of sound fiscal judgment. She understands that state budgets are more than numbers on a page they are value statements affecting the fate and future of millions of families reaching for the California Dream. We are fortunate to have her on our team. Prior to being appointed finance director, Bosler served as Browns cabinet secretary for two years and, before that, as the chief deputy director for budget in the Finance Department for three years. Earlier this year, Brown picked Bosler to lead an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles, which had come under fire for long wait times at DMV field offices and numerous computer problems, including errors in the new motor voter program that registered Californians to vote. As we have discussed, long wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles do not reflect the high standards of service that Californians expect from their state government, Bosler wrote in a letter in September to DMV Director Jean Shiomoto. The audit is still ongoing, but Shiomoto has since announced she will retire at the end of the year. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias legislative analyst, after decades of nonpartisan research for lawmakers, calls it a career Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, who has led the state research unit since 2008, will retire on Dec. 31. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Only five people have led the independent research office of the California Legislature since its creation in 1941. And each of them has had a pretty simple mantra to live by in reviewing public policy proposals and government programs: Call it like you see it. The job of any analyst, to me, is you maintain that nonpartisanship, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said. Taylor, 65, will retire from the post at the end of December after a four-decade career with the research team that began, as he likes to tell it, just after the passage of the landmark property tax rollback, Proposition 13, in 1978. He became the leader of the office, with the title of legislative analyst, in October 2008. Two months later, state government found itself in arguably the worst fiscal crisis in its history a projected shortfall that ultimately grew to $42 billion by the following winter. There were forces beyond our control, Taylor said of that time. But dont underestimate the policy changes that were made afterward. Those changes, most notably a boost in taxes paid by high-income earners and a robust state budget cash reserve fund, have helped lead to successive years of fully funded government services. The state is projected to have some $24 billion in reserves by the end of the current fiscal year. Taylor announced his intention earlier to step down this year. Leaders from both houses of the Legislature select the analyst, who leads a staff of almost five dozen researchers. The office provides in-depth reports on pending legislation, as well as on broader policy topics like education and healthcare, and produces an independent analysis for every proposed ballot measure. A succession of lawmakers and governors alike have praised or panned the work of the Legislative Analysts Office based on their own political worldview. Taylor said his staff is mindful that they work for legislators, but try to ignore the rhetoric that follows the release of a major report. People are going to do what theyre going to do with our information, he said. They dont always like it, but they appreciate that we give them our best advice. Taylor oversaw a transformation in the way the Legislative Analysts Office distributes its information, embracing the release of research reports through social media instead of relying on traditional printed copies and journalist roundtable events. But he said the work of the researchers has remained largely unchanged through the decades. Having an independent take on things, I think, is good for the Legislature, he said. No replacement for Taylor has been announced, which means a short transition for his eventual successor before Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom sends his first budget proposal to lawmakers in early January. Taylor, who lives in the Sacramento suburbs, said he will honor the tradition of his predecessors in stepping away from public policy debates in order to give the new analyst space to lead the team as he or she sees fit. He said he hopes to travel in the coming years and spend time with his children who have moved to the East Coast. Forty years in state government, Taylor said in why he was stepping aside now. Isnt that enough? Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown sues to save California sentencing laws By Don Thompson, Associated Press (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown sued Thursday to protect one of his signature actions in office, a voter-approved measure that allows most prison inmates to seek earlier release and participate in rehabilitation programs. His administration filed a lawsuit challenging a pending 2020 initiative that seeks to toughen criminal penalties as part of an effort to roll back reforms adopted by voters within the last decade. Browns lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court contends the measure lacked enough valid signatures to overturn a previously approved constitutional amendment. County officials and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the signatures in July but said they were submitted too late to qualify for last months election. The lawsuit names Padilla and the ballot measures official proponent, Nina Salarno Besselman, president of the advocacy group Crime Victims United. Padilla said the measure exceeded the required roughly 366,000 valid signatures, equal to 5% of votes cast for governor in 2014. Browns lawsuit says he used the wrong threshold. It says changing the state Constitution requires 8%, or more than 585,400 signatures. That makes the pending initiative more than 150,000 signatures short, the lawsuit says. Hes wrong, said Jeff Flint, a spokesman for the campaign backing the measure. He predicted a judge will be reluctant to reject a measure that already has qualified for the ballot. The secretary of state told us how many signatures are required, and thats how many we collected, Flint said. Padillas office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The measure would reverse reforms adopted by voters through Proposition 47 in 2014 and Proposition 57 in 2016. Proposition 57 allows most inmates to seek earlier paroles, and Proposition 47 reduced some drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The combination has helped keep Californias inmate population below a population cap set by federal judges. Corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said the measure gives corrections and parole officials broad discretion to protect our communities and fashion a rational system of rehabilitation and punishment. This new initiative unlawfully seeks to supplant the departments constitutional authority to implement these critical reforms to our criminal justice system. The pending initiative would shorten the list of crimes that qualify for earlier parole and change some theft crimes from misdemeanors back to felonies. It would also increase the number of crimes for which DNA is collected, a list that was limited when some crimes went from felonies to misdemeanors. Those supporting the tougher penalties say easing criminal penalties has increased the number of dangerous criminals on the streets, but those backing the changes say they have helped reduce mass incarceration and rehabilitate convicted criminals. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Supreme Court orders records unsealed in pardon of ex-state Sen. Roderick Wright Former state Sen. Roderick Wright (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) The California Supreme Court has granted a request to unseal court records involving Gov. Jerry Browns decision last month to pardon former state Sen. Roderick Wright for felony convictions involving lying about living in his legislative district, officials said Thursday. The court order was in response to a request by the nonpartisan First Amendment Coalition, which argued that the public has a right to know what information went into the governors decision to grant clemency to Wright. This is an important victory for public access to court files involving the exercise of executive clemency, said coalition spokesman Glen A. Smith. We are gratified the court has recognized that these decisions should be subject to the same public access rules that apply to other judicial records under California law. The court gave Browns office until Jan. 2 to redact confidential material before giving the court documents that can be released to the public. The court files submitted by the governors office include letters of support for a pardon and an internal review of Wrights case. The court denied a motion to unseal the records of all clemency cases but left open consideration of requests on other individual cases. Browns office is currently evaluating the courts decision, said spokesman Brian Ferguson. The governor argued against unsealing records in a recent court filing that said confidentiality is consistent with historical practice and is supported by state law. In pardoning Wright on Nov. 22, the governor wrote: He has shown that since his release from custody, he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character, and conducted himself as a law abiding citizen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California political watchdog agency fines BART, urges prosecution over using public funds for campaign A Bay Area Rapid Transit train leaves the station in Oakland in this 2013 file photo. (Ben Margot / AP) Californias state political watchdog agency on Thursday imposed a $7,500 fine against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and called for a possible criminal or civil prosecution over allegations the district used public resources to campaign for a 2016 bond measure. The state Fair Political Practices Commission levied an administrative fine against BART for its failure to disclose spending on YouTube videos, social media posts and text messages to promote Measure RR, which authorized $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds. Though the panel lacks authority to seek criminal charges over the misuse of public funds, it also urged county district attorneys in the BART service area and the state attorney general to pursue possible criminal or civil charges over the spending of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes, Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said. It is the concept of misusing public funds that I think we all here are very disturbed about, and we want to send a warning and not create a precedent that is a minor, little slap on the wrist, Germond said, adding that the referral to criminal prosecutors would further send a message that this is wrong. Commissioner Brian Hatch also called for the state Legislature to consider granting the FPPC power to go after public agencies that spend taxpayer money on campaigns. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) called on the agency to increase the fine to the maximum level of $33,375. The proposed $7,500 fine represents a slap on the wrist for a very serious violation of the law and the publics trust, Glazer said in a letter to the panel. In supporting the fine recommended by the staff, Germond said BART has agreed to pay the penalty. Somebody did something wrong and they have admitted it, she said. A staff report said there were factors in favor of a fine below the maximum. Although the Commission considers BARTs violations to be serious, the absence of any evidence of an intention to conceal, deceive, or mislead; the voluntary filing of the delinquent campaign statement; and the absence of a prior record are mitigating, the report said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California police union seeks state Supreme Court review of new law disclosing internal investigation records Los Angeles Police Department officers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A police union is asking the California Supreme Court to block the release of internal officer investigations before a new state law takes effect next year. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. filed a petition Tuesday asking justices to rule that only investigations of incidents that occur after Jan. 1 would be available under the law and not those the department has on file from years prior. The litigation comes after this years passage of Senate Bill 1421, which opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, and the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department has told the union it intends to make available in response to public records requests all the information it has. The union is very concerned about any plans to retroactively apply Senate Bill 1421, Grant Ward, the unions president, said in a statement. We believe retroactive application violates our members rights and we hope the California Supreme Court will consider the serious issues raised by our legal challenge. The bills author, Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), does not agree with the unions interpretation. She has said her legislation should apply to all the records in a police departments possession because the law simply declared that affected records were no longer confidential. If the record exists, its disclosable, Skinner said. A decision on what records will be available under the law is key to how far-reaching it will be. If the court restricts access to incidents that occurred prior to 2019, those cases will not be subject to public scrutiny. The police union in San Bernardino County is not the only one raising concerns about the law. Earlier this month, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner expressing concern that his agency would be overwhelmed if the law required the department to disclose older incidents. Even if the law only applied to the previous five years, Moore wrote, it could take nearly 300,000 hours of work to comply with its provisions. The LAPD operates with a guiding principle of Reverence for the Law; as such, we will diligently comply with SB 1421, Moore wrote. We maintain, however, that a retroactive implementation of SB 1421 will be exceptionally burdensome and would require significant reallocation of front-line investigative personnel. Skinner said if complying with the law becomes untenable for law enforcement agencies that maintain records for a long time, she would consider modifications. But she said agencies did not raise this concern during discussion over the bill. SB 1421 went through multiple committee hearings, multiple floor debates, extensive opportunity for all parties to weigh in on concerns with its structure, she said. That was not an issue that was raised by law enforcement at the time. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Brown warns of backlash for Republicans in 2020 if Obamacare repeal is upheld Gov. Jerry Brown at the National Press Club in April. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Gov. Jerry Brown warned Republicans on Tuesday that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would devastate the partys political chances in the 2020 election. Brown, speaking at a Sacramento Press Club event moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton and Brown family historian Miriam Pawel, said a federal judges ruling last week to strike down the 2010 law if upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court will build such a backlash that the Democrats will not only take over the Senate, theyll win the presidency and will win with the kind of momentum, particularly on the issue of healthcare, that [the law] will be replaced probably with something even better. The governor, who leaves office in less than three weeks, said he did not believe the ruling by a Texas judge would ultimately prevail. I think the decision will probably be overturned, Brown said. Few states have embraced the law championed by former President Obama more than California, both through its healthcare exchange, Covered California, and by expanding access to government-funded services under Medi-Cal. Some 12 million Californians now receive healthcare through Medi-Cal, and Brown said a final ruling affecting the federal dollars that subsidize that care would be a serious blow. California would not be able to afford it without the subsidy, the governor said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bars in Los Angeles, San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks (acuna-hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses, and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors, and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bars in Los Angeles and San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks. (Acuna-Hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias DMV director announces retirement amid problems with motor voter program (Kent Nishamura/Los Angeles Times) The director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles will retire at years end with a number of questions unanswered about the implementation of a major voter registration system and long wait times experienced by customers for much of the past summer. Jean Shiomoto will not continue in her current role as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom takes office, and announced to staff several weeks ago her intent to retire at the end of the year after 38 years in state service, spokesman Armando Botello said in an email to The Times on Friday. Newsoms transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on who might lead the department in 2019. Shiomoto was appointed DMV director by Gov. Jerry Brown in the fall of 2013, having served in prior leadership roles with the department. DMV officials have been sharply criticized by lawmakers in recent months for delays in serving customers at its field offices across the state. Last week, DMV officials revealed errors in registering California voters for the November election mistakes that followed a series of problems in the rollout of the states new motor voter registration system. Secretary of State Alex Padilla last week said he had lost confidence in Shiomotos leadership as a result of the voting registration problems. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement New law could break the stalemate over housing on the site of a near-vacant Cupertino mall By Liam Dillon For more than a decade, developers have tried to build new housing on the site of an all-but-empty mall in Cupertino, a city in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to Apple headquarters. A well-organized group of neighbors, upset about traffic, building heights and the potential loss of the communitys suburban lifestyle, turned away every plan. Now, for the first time, the stalemate might be broken thanks to a decision made in the state Capitol. In an effort to address Californias housing affordability problem, legislators passed a law last year that requires cities and counties to approve housing projects if they comply with local zoning rules and other standards, forcing some resistant communities to agree to new homebuilding. In September, the city of Cupertino, citing the state law, approved developer Sand Hill Property Co.s proposal to build an office park and more than 2,400 homes where the Vallco Shopping Mall sits. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Local government was a last bastion for struggling California Republicans. Not anymore By Mark Z. Barabak Theres no shortage of watery metaphors to describe the disaster that befell California Republicans this midterm election. A blue wave. A Democratic tsunami. But the most apt may be a flood, with the casualties steadily rising as the vote count climbed in the days and weeks following Nov. 6. Eventually half the GOP congressional delegation was washed away, along with the entire slate of statewide Republican candidates. In Sacramento, Democrats claimed 29 of 40 state Senate seats and seized three-quarters of the 80-member Assembly the largest number since 1883, when Chester A. Arthur was serving in the White House. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print For the Republicans left in Californias Legislature, fewer lawmakers will have to do more work By John Myers From January to late summer every year, the California Legislature is a perpetual motion machine. And in the new year, the people most likely to struggle in keeping up will be Republicans, vastly outnumbered but still responsible for representing millions of the states residents. There are 22 standing committees in the state Senate, plus at least a dozen more subcommittees or special committees. And after Novembers election, only 11 Republican senators will be left to divvy up the work. To the victors go the spoils. To the vanquished go the extra assignments. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Californias DMV failed to finish registering 329 new voters before November election (Los Angeles Times) Officials at the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that the agency failed to send information for 329 new voters to state elections officers in time for the November election, the latest revelation in a string of mishaps regarding voter registration. Secretary of State Alex Padilla responded with a blistering letter, calling on Gov. Jerry Brown or Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to replace Jean Shiomoto, the DMV director. The Director of DMV has lost my confidence and trust, Padilla wrote. In all, the agency revealed that 589 mailed voter registration records that should have been processed under election deadlines werent sent to Californias secretary of state until late November, including forms from 260 drivers who had intended to update their address on existing voter registration records. The DMV had been instructed to not send registration forms that came in after Oct. 22, but the voters in question had forms that were postmarked before the deadline. In some cases, when the postmark wasnt legible, the agency said, documents inside indicated the voter had intended to finish their registration in time for the Nov. 6 election. The DMV recognizes the pause in transmittals was an error and affected the timing of the registration of the 589 individuals referenced above relative to the November election, Shiomoto wrote in a letter to Padilla on Friday. The pause was due to a misunderstanding on the part of the department, for which we take responsibility. Those who were trying to update their address for voter registration would not have been blocked from casting ballots. But officials said its unclear whether any of the 329 new voters were able to participate in the election. Shiomoto said in her letter that DMV will work with elections officials. The errors were not related to previous DMV mistakes about registering voters, problems associated with the rollout of the states new motor voter law. In those cases, multiple registration forms were sent to local elections offices for some voters, some people were assigned the wrong political party preference and others who are noncitizens were incorrectly placed on the list of registered voters. DMV officials have yet to respond to questions posed by The Times over the last several weeks about who knew of those mistakes and when. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom appoints a labor advocate and a former staffer as his chief deputy Cabinet secretaries By Taryn Luna A labor advocate and a San Francisco political operative have accepted positions in Gov.-elect Gavin Newsoms new administration. Angie Wei, a Capitol insider with deep ties to organized labor in California, will serve as a chief deputy Cabinet secretary with a focus on policy development. As a legislative director and chief of staff at the California Labor Federation, Wei has represented more than 1,200 unions and 2.1 million workers in Capitol fights over a host of policy issues, including drug-pricing transparency and paid family leave. The governor-elect also tapped Jason Elliott, a policy advisor to Newsom during his time as mayor of San Francisco and a chief of staff to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as another chief deputy Cabinet secretary overseeing executive branch operations. Elliott and Wei will serve under Ana Matosantos, Newsoms previously Long before Eric Schneiderman stepped down as New York state attorney general amid allegations he had abused four women, Donald Trump hinted of trouble in the life of the lawman who was a thorn in his side for years. Is he a crook? Trump tweeted in 2013. Wait and see. At that point, Schneiderman had sued Trump University in the defrauding of students, a case Trump settled shortly after the 2016 election for $25 million. More recently Schneiderman had spearheaded legal assaults on Trump administration policies. On Friday, a court filing in New York indicated that Trump may have known of some allegations against Schneiderman through his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The filing was in a federal court that is handling an unrelated investigation into Cohens business dealings. Advertisement Peter Gleason, a New York attorney, told the court that some records seized from Cohen during FBI raids on April 9 could involve two women who said Schneiderman had abused them. Gleason asked the judge to prevent the identity of the women from becoming public. He later said they were not among the four women referenced in a New Yorker article that first revealed the allegations against Schneiderman on Monday. Although he resigned, Schneiderman said he would strongly contest the allegations. During my communications with Mr. Cohen I shared with him certain details of Scheindermans vile attacks on these two women, he wrote in a letter to the court. These two womens confidentiality, as victims of a sexual assault, should be superior to that of any unrelated subpoena. The story of how Gleason came to tell Cohen about the allegations provides a glimpse of how political intrigue can be routed through New York, sometimes with Trump himself as a prime conduit. Eric Schneiderman resigned Monday as New York attorney general after several women accused him of slapping and choking them during romantic encounters. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press ) Gleason wrote that his office has an open door policy for any individual who has been victimized by entities that because of their status and power are able to destroy lives with impunity. In 2012 and 2013, two women approached Gleason at separate times to share allegations against Schneiderman, the top law enforcement official in the state, he wrote. He told the judge in his letter that he believed that the district attorneys office in Manhattan would not take the case, and he didnt recommend that the women tell their stories to law enforcement. (Gleason has run twice against Manhattan Dist. Atty. Cy Vance, both times unsuccessfully.) But Gleason later shared the material with Steven Dunleavy, a retired New York Post columnist known to be close with billionaire Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire has long covered Trump. They were talking over dinner about Schneidermans lawsuit against Trump University when Gleason brought up the abuse allegations, he recalled in an interview on Friday. Trump might be interested in that, Dunleavy responded, according to Gleason. Soon after the dinner, Gleason said, he got a phone call from Cohen, Trumps self-appointed fixer. He said they had never spoken before. Cohen had a very sympathetic ear, Gleason recalled. I realized, as a lawyer, he may want to use that information against his adversary. Schneiderman resigned Monday hours after the New Yorker published its article. One of the women allegedly abused by him was friends with Jennifer Gonnerman, a staff writer at the magazine. The lead writer of the article, Jane Mayer, said there was no connection between Cohen and the magazines reporting. Not one source for our story on Schneiderman has any ties to Trump or Michael Cohen, she tweeted. Our sources all are deeply opposed to Trump and deeply disappointed that Schneiderman let them and their Cause down. Lawyers for Schneiderman and Cohen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian UPDATES: 3:50 p.m.: This article was updated with Peter Gleasons denial that the two women who approached him were among the four cited in a New Yorker article. This article was originally posted at 8:45 a.m. Three weeks before the 2016 election, New York lawyer Michael Cohen filed paperwork in Delaware, known as a welcoming host for shell companies, to create the blandly named entity Essential Consultants LLC. At the time, Donald Trump was stumbling toward what the political world assumed would be a decisive defeat, but Cohen wanted to help his longtime client avoid even more embarrassment. He used the new company to send $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about her alleged sexual liaison with Trump. For the record: The original version of this story attributed comments on Cohens relationship with Trump to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The comments were made by Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah. Then the unexpected happened Trump won. And although Trump had pledged to drain the swamp in Washington, Cohen used his newly created company to sell his guidance and his presumed access to the incoming president to major corporations that had suddenly found their usual Washington lobbying and consulting firms out of the loop. Novartis AG, one of the worlds largest drug companies, paid Cohen $1.2 million for supposed healthcare counsel despite Cohens lack of healthcare experience. Telecommunications giant AT&T paid him $600,000 for insight into the new administration as it pursued government approval for a takeover of Time Warner. Advertisement Korean Aerospace Industries dropped $150,000, purportedly for advice on U.S. accounting standards. And Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm that manages assets of an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, paid Cohen $500,000, ostensibly for his help on real estate and other ventures. He desperately wanted to be a player a person who was important, a person who wanted to throw his weight around, said an acquaintance who requested anonymity to speak candidly. After Trump was elected, Cohen was trying to figure out what was going to be the best place to hang his hat, to make as much money as he could. For watchdog groups, the payments signaled that little had changed in the nations capital. Thats the way the system works in Washington, said Fred Wertheimer, a Washington lawyer and activist who now heads Democracy 21, a nonpartisan group focused on campaign finance reform. This is the swamp in its full glory. It isnt clear whether Cohen provided any valuable advice or services. All the contracts eventually were canceled or expired, ending a brief but profitable chapter for Cohen, a scrappy businessman and lawyer from Long Island who began working for Trump more than a decade ago. But Cohen remains in the crosshairs of a federal investigation in New York into what a court filing called criminal conduct that largely centers on his personal business dealings. FBI agents hauled away 16 cellphones and 10 boxes of files when they raided Cohens home, office, hotel and safety deposit box in April after getting a referral from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Although Mueller was appointed to investigate Russian political interference in the election and possible complicity by Trumps inner circle, he also has examined the payments to Cohen. His team questioned AT&T and Novartis in November and December. One of Cohens clients, Columbus Nova, is an offshoot of the business empire of Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire with Kremlin ties. Vekselberg, who attended Trumps inauguration, was one of several oligarchs and Russian officials placed under U.S. economic sanctions last month in retaliation for Moscows meddling in the 2016 election. Muellers investigators questioned him this year after his private plane landed at a New York-area airport. In a statement, Columbus Nova said it hired Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures. It also said suggestions that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false. Cohen doesnt have the polished pedigree that multinational corporations normally seek when hoping to curry favor in Washington. Until recently, he was a taxi cab proprietor, real estate investor and personal-injury lawyer. But he also was Trumps self-appointed personal lawyer and fixer, helping him suppress negative stories in the media and scout out real estate and other business deals around the world. He lived in a Trump-branded building in Manhattan. Many of the payments to Essential Consultants came to light in a document released Tuesday by Daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti. The Treasury Departments inspector general reportedly has opened an investigation into whether confidential bank records were improperly leaked. Lawyers for Cohen filed a letter in court on Wednesday accusing Avenatti of spreading inaccurate information about Cohen, but they did not dispute the corporate payments to Essential Consultants. Mr. Avenatti is apparently in possession of and has published information from some of Mr. Cohens actual bank records, they wrote. Several of the companies named later confirmed their involvement with Cohen. AT&T, which is fighting a Justice Department lawsuit to block its proposed $85-billion merger with Time Warner, hired Cohen in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration, the company said in a statement. When Muellers office sought information about their contacts with Cohen, we cooperated fully, providing all information requested last November and December, the company added. A few weeks later, our consulting contract with Cohen expired at the end of the year. Since then, we have received no additional questions from the special counsels office and consider the matter closed. Follow live coverage of the Trump administration on Essential Washington Swiss-based Novartis, which often seeks drug approvals from U.S. federal regulators, said it hired Cohen in February 2017 for $100,000 a month for a year to provide advice on Trumps healthcare policy. With the recent change in administration, Novartis believed that Michael Cohen could advise the company as to how the Trump administration might approach certain US healthcare policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act, the company said in a statement. Novartis was quickly disappointed. After an initial meeting with Cohen, the company decided he would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters. But the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, Novartis said. So the company continued paying $100,000 a month to Cohen until February 2018, three months after it was questioned by Muellers office. The interactions have embarrassed the corporations, which have been pulled into the Mueller inquiry. They also raise concerns about the purpose of the payments, according to Kathleen Clark, who practices government ethics law and is a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. We dont know whether these companies were sowing favor with Trump by paying his friend, or whether his friend was defrauding these companies by purporting to sow influence on their behalf, she said. Asked Thursday on Air Force One whether Trump felt Cohen was profiting off their relationship, White House Press Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah directed all those questions to Cohen, his attorney and the presidents private counsel. But Shah pushed back when asked whether Trump is concerned about people selling access to him. The president makes up his own mind about policy matters and everything else in between, he said. Hes not influenced by the kinds of things that youre referencing. Cohen is far from the first person to cash in on proximity to a president. The Libyan government in 1980 loaned $220,000 to Billy Carter, a gas station owner in rural Georgia who was President Carters younger brother. Billy Carter registered as a foreign agent in Washington to act on Libyas behalf. A number of Californians followed President Reagan to Washington and worked their connections. President Clintons era introduced a new entity to Washingtons influence-peddling world the Friend of Bill, or FOB. In the end, the payments to Cohen may be more revealing about Washington than about Cohen, said Jan W. Baran, a partner at the law firm Wiley Rein LLP. Times staff writers Megerian and Willman reported from Washington, and Finnegan from Los Angeles. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian david.willman@latimes.com michael.finnegan@latimes.com For thousands of young men and women living in the U.S. illegally, a judges order in January amounted to a reprieve a chance to renew their legal protections after President Trumps decision last year to kill the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. But many DACA recipients have been slow to reach for the lifeline, according to figures from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The pace of applications and renewals has picked up dramatically in the last few months, but many DACA recipients are still hanging back. More than 9,000 people formerly protected by DACA already have lost their status and are now at risk of being deported. Lawyers, activists and people enrolled in DACA say that part of the reason for the slow pace is confusion spawned by court fights. Part is also anxiety spawned by the unforgiving enforcement policies of the Trump administration. Advertisement Were telling people, You need to renew. The problem is, they dont trust that anymore, said Elias Rosenfeld, a student and activist who was able to renew his own DACA protections. Its real fragile right now. Lawyers say some clients are afraid to put in renewal applications, worried about attracting attention from enforcement agents. I think theres massive anxiety, said David Leopold, an immigration lawyer in Cleveland. Look at the president. You dont know from one day to the next whats going to happen with this White House. Ever since the DACA program was created by President Obama in 2012, after the collapse of immigration reform efforts in Congress, it has been a rallying point for immigrant advocates and a target for the anti-immigration wing of the Republican Party. Under DACA, people living here illegally with otherwise clean records often referred to as Dreamers can receive a two-year reprieve from deportation. Close to 800,000 of them have had an opportunity to work legally and attend school as DACA recipients. Last September, the administration announced an end to the program, with an immediate cutoff in new applications and a tight window to renew for people whose protections were running out. But the program was restarted after a Jan. 10 decision by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, who said that the administration relied on flawed legal reasoning by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in ending the program; federal judges in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C., subsequently wrote similar decisions. Renewal applications were slow to come in after the window reopened on Jan. 10 just 11,000 through Jan. 31. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services didnt approve any of them at first, statistics show. But more than 59,000 applications came in during February and March, and 32,000 were approved, the figures show. All told, counting applications already in the pipeline before January, the agency approved more than 55,000 applications in the first three months of the year. Another 51,000 were pending on March 31, a jump from December. The future of DACA is a bigger issue in Southern California than anywhere else in the U.S. Of the 694,000 people who currently hold DACA protections, nearly 200,000 are from California, with about 62% living in the Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego metro regions, according to Citizenship and Immigration Services. Rosenfeld, 20, was brought to the U.S. from Venezuela when he was 6. He entered on a legal visa, but his mother died when he was 10, which meant he couldnt renew the visa and fell out of legal status. Now a student at Brandeis University, he spends much of his time in Washington, lobbying members of Congress for legislation protecting Dreamers. With his original DACA permit due to expire this August, Rosenfeld was shut out by last years order ending the program. The court decision reversing that order allowed him to apply for renewal. It was an immediate blessing, he said. It at least extends our future in this country for two more years. The federal statistics tell a story of thousands of procrastinations, private calculations and personal gambles. Many DACA recipients seemingly are betting that the courts will keep the doors to DACA open, at least for this year. Theres a disincentive to applying too early: Renewals are good for two years from the day theyre issued, not two years added on to the original period. The decisions to wait could collectively add up to trouble later this year, assuming the program remains in effect. Of the 165,210 people whose DACA protections expire from June to December, only about 12% have applied for renewal, according to figures through March 31, suggesting that a surge is coming, along with possible bottlenecks in an already slow system. A Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman said the agency is handling DACA applications as they arrive, with a goal of deciding them within 120 days, though lawyers say the agency often takes longer. I think its a real difficult decision, said Nicole Prchal Svajlenka, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for American Progress who has been tracking the DACA statistics. Do you apply now and take what you can get, or wait and hope? Svajlenka also blamed Citizenship and Immigration Services for not doing more to publicize the programs revival, leaving advocacy groups to try to sort out the muddle created by the agencys complicated deadlines and the court orders. I think theres a ton of confusion over whats going on with DACA anymore, she said. The growing hostility of Trump to the program also has people nervous. Earlier this year, when he was pushing for a deal with Congress, Trump said he was looking for a bill of love to protect Dreamers, but that affection curdled quickly after negotiations fell apart. Now, incensed about asylum seekers and the slow pace of his promised border wall, Trump tweeted April 2 that DACA is dead and NO MORE DACA DEAL! The legal future of DACA also is far from secure. Last month, seven states seeking to end the program filed suit in federal court in Texas, where judges have been more skeptical of the Obama administrations immigration policies. If there are competing court decisions, that could hasten a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Sonia S. Figueroa, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, said that shes advising clients to apply now, while the window is still open. If theyre going to jack you, theyre going to jack you anyway, so it makes no difference if you apply or not in that regard, she said. At the same time, she said, she advises clients to keep a low profile, just in case, particularly now that agents are scrutinizing social media accounts. We tell our clients, dont post anything, period, Figueroa said. One DACA recipient who didnt wait is Bernard Pastor, 25, who came to the U.S. at age 3 during the civil war in Guatemala. Pastor, now of Finneytown, Ohio, near Cincinnati, had allowed his DACA protections to lapse and was allowed to reapply only after the court decision in January. His application is pending. Its a sigh of relief if Im on it, he said. He knows the extension, if it comes, may just be temporary. But Pastor, who manages a Valvoline oil-change shop, said hes not putting his life on hold anymore, no matter what, and is pressing ahead with plans to build a family and a career. The issue of immigration is always going to be there; Ive accepted that fact, he said. But Ive been grateful. Im making the most of what I can, with what I have. Youve got to start looking at your future now. joseph.tanfani@latimes.com Twitter: @jtanfani Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush. The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump as recently as Tuesday continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops You really are our heroes, he said as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see. James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes he last won reelection by a 14-point margin suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election again, in blowout fashion but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10. Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters... Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children the older ones are 5 and 2 about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican she the race felt m Vexed for months over the prospect of getting boxed out of crucial House races after Californias primary, Democrats think theyve found a way to fight back. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week began airing television ads that go after two Republicans running for retiring Rep. Ed Royces seat. The ads made no mention of a third, Young Kim, who has led polls, has the backing of Royce, and is widely seen as the Democrats most formidable potential opponent in November. For the record: A previous version of this article reported that the DCCC helped Salud Carbajal beat a fellow Democrat in 2014. That race was in 2016. The committee intervened to assist Pete Aguilar in 2014. By attacking two Republicans viewed as second-tier, Democrats are hoping to suppress GOP votes for those candidates while ensuring that Kim gets far enough ahead to be the only Republican in the general election. They also hope to avoid explicitly backing or attacking one of their own in the increasingly nasty intraparty fights in some districts. We dislike all the Republican candidates, but were just choosing wisely which ones were attacking, said one Democratic source familiar with the committees thinking. Advertisement Track the California races that could flip the House The strategy is part of a new approach to Californias top two primary, in which the top two vote-getters on June 5 advance to the general election regardless of party. With at least half a dozen candidates from each major party, the free-for-all to replace Royce (R-Fullerton) could yield a choice between two Republicans. The ads in Royces 39th District attack former state Sen. Bob Huff for positions he took on increasing taxes as a state legislator and hit Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson for the pension hypocrisy of accepting a generous pension package while moving to cut benefits for others. Aside from Kim, Democrats hope the beneficiary of the ads is Gil Cisneros, a Democrat and Navy veteran whom the DCCC recently elevated to its Red to Blue program, which gives his campaign more strategic and fundraising support. The move was short of a formal endorsement, but was meant to signal to donors and supporters which campaign it thinks is strongest. Veteran political operatives are also being courted by the DCCC to join Cisneros campaign before the primary. With tensions running high among Democratic activists, party leaders have been warned that increasing their support for Cisneros or attacking another Democrat as they did in a Texas race could backfire. I dont believe we should be attacking any Democrat in California, said Rep. Ted Lieu, who serves as western vice chair for the committee. Attacking two Republicans was seen as an elegant solution. It could also be more effective. If the DCCC publicly attacked one Democrat in a splintered field, theres no guarantee it would help a viable Democrat snag a spot in the top-two primary. It is incredibly hard to know where their votes go, says Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist who ran the committees independent expenditures in 2014, the year the party endorsed Pete Aguilar early in a primary and spent money to boost him through the top two, ultimately helping him capture a seat hed been locked out of two years before. Thats the problem with the Rubiks Cubes that are these top-two systems. You end up chasing your own tail. A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the DCCCs GOP counterpart, called the move desperate. Theyre spending hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get to the starting line, and thats clearly not a position of strength, said Jack Pandol. At a meeting of Californias House Democrats Tuesday night, many in the delegation cheered the strategy and discussed whether it could be used in two other Orange County races where theyre at risk of being shut out, according to two sources who attended the meeting. One of the seats, currently held by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), sparked new concern after the DCCCs internal polling showed Rohrabachers support eroding, leaving open the possibility that GOP challenger Scott Baugh could pick up some of his votes and make the November runoff. Another Democratic shutout could happen in the 49th Congressional District, where four Democrats and eight Republicans are running to replace retiring Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista). But each race has nuances that could prompt Democrats to work even harder to get one of their own through. With only two well-known Republicans running in Rohrabachers district, the committee will also need to coalesce behind a Democrat. (Three of the eight Democrats on the ballot have dropped out, citing the top-two primary as a concern). The committee made a major move toward that end Friday, adding Democrat Harley Rouda to its Red to Blue program, even though Hans Keirstead received the California Democratic Partys endorsement in March. DCCC chair Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) called Rouda the strongest candidate in this race. In Issas district, the four remaining Democrats include Sara Jacobs and Paul Kerr, who have used their personal wealth to run nearly nonstop TV ads in the pricey San Diego media market. So far, the committee has remained mostly quiet there. Theres more than one way to skin that cat, and I dont think theyve figured out which end of the cat theyre starting at yet, said Parke Skelton, a campaign consultant for Democratic candidate Mike Levin. In the coming days, that could mean another Red to Blue announcement from the DCCC, or even an outright endorsement. The math is complicated, we know that, said DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly. We leave every option on the table to get involved in a more overt way to ensure that we have a Democrat in each of these races. Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report. christine.maiduc@latimes.com For more on California politics, follow @cmaiduc. UPDATES: 9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with a comment from the National Republican Congressional Committee. This article was originally published at 3 a.m. Even in the wake of previous tax windfalls, Gov. Jerry Browns announcement on Friday was breathtaking: The state has collected an unexpected $9 billion in tax revenue in recent months, $3 billion more in cash than projected in January. The money is the latest installment in a fiscal winning streak of historic proportions in California. And, as in previous years, the governors newly revised budget seeks to divvy it up on either short-term spending or long-term savings by putting it into government reserves. For the record: A previous version of this article said that the UC and Cal State systems had delayed action on tuition increases for the coming academic year. Cal State officials have said they will not raise tuition. Also, an earlier version of this article said a plan by a number of mayors in California called for spending $1.5 million from the budget surplus to fight homelessness. The mayors called for spending $1.5 billion. This is a time to save for our future, not to make pricey promises we cant keep, Brown said. Ive said it before and Ill say it again: Lets not blow it now. Browns most significant proposal for spending the cash may be a $359-million boost to ease the states burgeoning homelessness crisis. The governors proposal also embraces a plan to put a $2-billion bond for homeless housing on Novembers statewide ballot. The budget plan adds $312 million for mental health programs. Advertisement (@latimesgraphics ) Get the latest updates on California politics The infusion of cash to help the homeless is one of only a few new proposals in the $199.2-billion spending plan, a revision of Browns original proposal to the Legislature in January. As was the case then, the governor continues to believe the lions share of the tax windfall should be socked away in the states rainy-day fund. Ill be very cautious in this years budget, he told reporters at the state Capitol on Friday. Browns plan calls for topping off the reserve account at $13.8 billion by next summer, the largest in state history. Under the provisions of a 2014 ballot measure approved by voters, the fund can grow to no more than 10% of projected general fund revenues. That law also requires some of the early money be spent on repaying government debts. A portion of the extra cash would go toward a new $1-billion effort to reduce the backlog of delayed maintenance in state departments and agencies. Almost one-third of the money would pay for projects on community college campuses, state prisons and aging river levees. In addition, the University of California and California State University systems would each receive $100 million for maintenance needs. Brown also fired a warning shot to UC and CSU leaders in his budget. Should either college system raise tuition in the coming school year, he proposed a cap on state scholarship funds. That support, money for the Cal Grant and Middle-Class Scholarship programs, would otherwise rise automatically to meet student financial needs. UC leaders delayed action on a tuition hike while they awaited action on a state budget. Cal State officials have said they will not raise tuition next year. As in previous years, a key debate point over the next few weeks is likely to be how to categorize much of the unexpected cash. Brown has consistently argued the windfalls should be considered temporary, and thus not used to pay for ongoing state services. Legislative Democrats have largely acceded to those demands, thereby narrowing the number of social services programs that can be boosted. Those agreements have left some programs at or near recession-era levels. The governor insists that his administration has made significant strides toward helping Californians who live in poverty, including creating a tax credit for the working poor in 2015 and gradual increases in the states minimum wage. And yet lawmakers, in budget committee hearings through the winter and spring, heard from scores of advocates who pleaded for additional funds to boost subsidized child care and cash grants for the aged and disabled. Democrats in both the Senate and Assembly are expected to insist on more long-term funding for CalWORKS, the states welfare assistance program, as they begin negotiations with Brown over the next few weeks. The governor acknowledged there will be some back and forth in those private conversations, though he insisted theres no way to match dollars with demands. If you take all these needs, and there are a lot of them, its endless, he said. The new focus on homelessness is intended to help cities and counties that are struggling to address the steady stream of adults and families living on the streets. A federal study concludes that more than 130,000 residents of the state are homeless, a 14% increase in the last year alone. Legislators have expressed particular frustration that a $2-billion bond to help pay for additional housing, agreed to by the governor and lawmakers in 2016, has been tied up in court and remains unspent. Brown is now supporting a bill by Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) to have voters sign off on the housing bond instead of waiting for a court decision. A two-thirds supermajority of lawmakers will have to agree for the bond measure to reach the ballot. The slow pace of spending on homelessness efforts is one reason for calls earlier this year from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and mayors from the states 10 other largest cities to spend $1.5 billion from the budget surplus to help local governments address the problem. State senators also have put forward a plan to spend $2 billion of the surplus on low-income housing development, with half that amount earmarked for homelessness programs. Of the $359 million for homelessness efforts in the governors proposal, the state would provide $250 million in grants to cities and counties that have declared homelessness emergencies. The remaining amount is for spending increases to existing state health, emergency and social service programs designed to help homeless domestic violence victims, the mentally ill and poor senior citizens. Garcetti and the other mayors praised the governor for his proposal but indicated they would be seeking more money. I look forward to working with the governor, the Legislature and mayors across California to make certain that there are enough dollars to make meaningful and lasting strides toward ending the moral and humanitarian crisis on our streets, Garcetti said in a statement. Several of the candidates vying to succeed Brown as governor were critical of the states response thus far to the homelessness crisis in a televised debate on Tuesday. What lacks is leadership in this state, said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the front-runner in the race. Brown said Friday that he welcomes additional action from whoever his successor might be. I think thats a good challenge, he said of Newsoms critique. That will take leadership because its going to require changes in the laws that currently exist. In a nod to last years deadly wildfires up and down the state, Browns new budget also adds nearly $100 million to the budget for fire prevention. The state would increase controlled burns and boost education and training programs in fire-prone areas. California environmental officials said Thursday that the money is needed because the states forests are facing a catastrophic shift toward increased risk of major events. Science tells us that these trends will only be exacerbated by climate change, California Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird said. Californias K-12 schools and community colleges would continue to receive the largest share of tax dollars under the budget proposal, with a $2.8-billion boost compared with earlier projections. Spending is estimated to be close to $4,600 more per student than seven years ago, during the budgets bleak times. While experts have pointed out that both the state and the nation are overdue for an economic course correction that would slow the rate of tax collections, Californias fiscal watchers see multiple reasons for three consecutive years of better-than-expected revenue collections. Theres also the temporary surcharge on high-income earners that California voters approved in 2012 and extended in 2016. Stock market strength has again produced sizable capital gains for the states most wealthy, one of the primary drivers of income tax revenue. Brown remarked on Friday that as few as 15,000 tax filers in the state provide one-quarter of the income taxes collected. When the fortunes of those Californians suffer, so does the state budget. Life is very giddy at the peak, the governor told reporters. But Im not giddy. Browns revised budget plan marks the traditional beginning for a months worth of intense budget negotiations with legislative leaders. By law, the Legislature must send him a spending plan no later than June 15 a deadline routinely ignored for most of the modern era, but strictly adhered to since voters approved a 2010 ballot measure that garnishes legislators pay for every day a budget is late in arriving on the governors desk. john.myers@latimes.com liam.dillon@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers and @dillonliam on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast. UPDATES: 3:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on the governors budget proposal. This article was originally published at 10:20 a.m. The man had been a patient for decades, retired now from a career in which firearms were a part of the job. He was enjoying his days hunting, or at the shooting range with friends. But episodes of confusion had led to a suspicion of dementia, and the nights were the worst: At sundown, he became disoriented, anxious and a little paranoid, and had started sleeping with his loaded pistol under the pillow. One night, he pointed it at his wife as she returned from the bathroom. It wasnt clear whether he recognized her, but he was certainly confused and she was terrified. Thankfully, the incident did not end in disaster. Ive had that patient several times, said Dr. Michael Victoroff, then a primary care physician in Denver. Advertisement What Victoroff knew then is something that has now entered the conversation among primary care physicians across the country: It was high time to have the talk with his patient about the safety of his guns when dementia had apparently set in. He trusts me implicitly, said Victoroff, who teaches family medicine at the University of Colorado in addition to being a firearms instructor and competitive shooter. Youre the doc, Victoroff would tell himself. Somebodys got to do it. As a patients memory falters and cognitive skills fade, what is to become of the firearms that have long been a source of pride and a mark of responsible adulthood? Should they be locked up? Disabled? Entrusted to someone else? These are the questions that a group of physicians challenged their colleagues to discuss with their patients, in an essay published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Pediatricians and emergency room doctors have been debating for years when and how to counsel their patients about gun ownership and safety and kicked up political controversy in doing so. But with so many gun-owners reaching and well into their senior years, the essay writers appear confident that few would question a doctors motives in raising the safety of gun ownership when a persons mental competence has come into question. No one would challenge you about discussing driving safety with a patient having memory trouble, said Dr. Donovan Maust, a University of Michigan psychiatry professor who also practices in the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. I dont think anyone would question your discussing power tools. As a physician, my interest is in the safety of my patient and those around him, added Maust, one of the essays authors. So this feels like it would be negligent not to discuss this with a patient and his or her family. To make it easier, the essay authors offered a chart detailing the stages of dementia and the clinical considerations that each stage raises. They also proposed a draft Agreement with my Family an advanced directive of sorts for firearms. And they have made the case that while restrictions on gun ownership may be a political flashpoint, it is a simple matter of safety in the exam room and therefore a legitimate topic of discussion. As with driving, physicians must balance the welfare and privacy interests of individual patients with the health and safety of patients families and the public, the essay authors wrote. In households where dementia patients have access to firearms, the doctors raised concerns about suicides, accidental shootings, theft and unauthorized use of guns. The numbers undergirding those concerns are striking. Roughly 1 in 3 adults over 65 in the United States is thought to own a gun. An additional 12% live in a household with someone who does. As seniors turn 70, their odds of developing Alzheimers disease in a given year jump from less than 1% (among those 65 to 69) to 2.5% (among those 70 to 74), and keep rising from there. By 2050, the number of older Americans with Alzheimers is expected to reach 13.8 million. The new effort may build on an earlier program that has united physicians, public health experts and gun owner groups. Close to two-thirds of the U.S. roughly 34,000 shooting fatalities yearly are suicides. Starting in 2009, the Gun Shop Project brought together these unlikely allies to reduce the number of suicides carried out with a gun. The project has devised printed materials that firearms businesses can distribute to customers. As it has proliferated across 21 states, some participants have created programs aimed at helping gun retailers recognize people who may be suicidal. Veterans of the Gun Shop Project see the focus on dementia and guns as a natural next step. It wouldnt be a big leap, and I would think the timing would be relatively similar to a physicians focus on a patients driving safety, said Jacquelyn Clark, who has owned Bristlecone Shooting, Training & Retail Center on the outskirts of Denver since 2015. Like a car, a gun is a tool you need to be operating safely and to be of sound mind to be using it. Clark said that while she has seen instances of forgetfulness on the part of longtime customers, it was her gunsmith who first came to her with concerns about dementia and firearms safety. Having watched a family member slide into dementia, he asked himself what he would want done with his guns if he could no longer use them safely. Theres really no support system out there that tackles this, Clark said. Whether focusing on suicide or dementia, I think were barking up the same tree, added Ralph Demicco, who owned a chain of New Hampshire gun stores, Rileys Sport Shops, for close to 30 years. To encourage family members to take preventive measures makes sense. Unlike a lot of signs of suicide, an individual sliding toward dementia would seem to have a very pronounced and noticeable progression. So theres ample time for family members to intercede. No federal laws prohibit the purchase or possession of firearms by a person with dementia. Only two states, Hawaii and Texas, explicitly mention dementia or similar conditions in their firearms statutes. In Hawaii, any person under treatment for organic brain syndromes is prohibited from owning a gun. Texas law makes individuals diagnosed with chronic dementia ineligible for a license to carry a handgun in public. But it does not limit such a persons right to purchase or possess firearms. Those who have been active in anti-suicide initiatives say its for families to figure out when dementia dictates the time has come for the guns to go, or at least be locked up. Doctors can play a key role in bringing those concerns to a patients family, they said. And they should not wait until dementia is evident. Many questions surrounding firearm access in dementia remain unanswered, but the need to address the problem is here now, the essay authors wrote. We believe a concerted, cooperative effort making the best use of the data at hand can help prevent injuries and deaths while protecting the dignity and rights of older adults. Its not about us vs. them, or taking away peoples guns. Its about us helping people make choices in the interest of safety, said Dr. Emmy Betz, an emergency physician at the University of Colorado at Denver and lead author of the essay. It would be awesome if all our older patients would think ahead about where and when and how they would hang up their keys and or safeguard their guns, Betz said. Most of us dont do that because were human. But we can try. melissa.healy@latimes.com @LATMelissaHealy MORE IN SCIENCE Fatal falls are on the rise for Americas senior citizens This room was off-limits to smokers, but its air contained surprising amounts of thirdhand smoke Scientists make a maze-running artificial intelligence program that learns to take shortcuts Santa Monica artist Julie Easton salvaged hundreds of dry-cleaning tags, cloaked the crumpled pieces of paper in beeswax, resin and dye, and patterned the composition onto canvas transforming discarded material into a work of art. Its now displayed at the SCAPE Gallery, an acronym for Southern California Art Projects and Exhibitions, in Corona del Mar. Theres intention and a randomness to this work, said Jeannie Denholm, owner and founder of SCAPE. Its a great piece to feature. Its one of the many artworks Denholm is proud to showcase in her East Coast Highway gallery, which she opened over 14 years ago. Denholm, who has been in the art business for over 30 years, assisted corporations and private collectors with art acquisitions and curatorial services. For nearly a decade, she worked with the Broad Art Foundation, administrating general collection management. After returning to Orange County, the Newport Beach resident said she felt a sense of responsibility to establish an exhibition space where she could help develop conversations about art. Theres not a lot of fine art galleries, but there are a lot of good collectors, Denholm said. I wanted to fill that void. Every four to five weeks, she and her staff will change out the pieces by mid-career artists who tend to have over 20 years of experience. Denholm looks for art that is innovative in terms of materials. Through June 9, SCAPE will feature Mono Mano, an exhibition with works by Mary Little, Caesar Alzate Jr. and Ann Weber. Denholm said SCAPE also serves as a space where community members can interact and expose programs and businesses. She wants guests to see an artists point of view and discuss various perspectives. Its refreshing to focus and share paintings, sculptures and other mediums with the public while also educating others about artists articulations, Denholm said. Once you live with great art, you cant live without it, Denholm said. When you add art, theres the soul to the house. SCAPE Gallery is at 2859 E. Coast Hwy., Corona del Mar. For more information, call (949) 723-3406 or visit scapesite.com. A commercial center tucked between the Sawdust and Art-A-Fair properties in Laguna Beach is in the midst of a revitalization effort. A group is working to rebrand the Festival Center at 805-859 Laguna Canyon Road into a bustling creative hub. The endeavor is starting with a new name: the Hive. When complete and full of tenants, the Hive could become a new cultural and creative area for a section of Laguna officially known as the Civic Art District, boosters say. Laguna Beach businessman Mohammad Mo Honarkar acquired the site and the adjacent Art-A-Fair/Tivoli Too property in November. The Hive is now managed by the Laguna Beach Co., whose communications arm, Laguna Creative Ventures, is handling the areas development future. The Festival Center, a commercial property along Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, has been rebranded as the Hive. The Festival Center sign, pictured in April, was recently removed. New signage will go up later this year. (Photo by Bradley Zint ) Our goal has always been to create an ecosystem within the Laguna arts district, a place where the creative class can build a sense of community utilizing all mediums of art, Hasty Honarkar, Laguna Creative Ventures creative director and Mo Honarkars daughter, said in a statement. We want students, locals and visitors to have a space where they can come together and create something new that continues the legacy of the original Laguna Beach art colony. We want everyone to experience something true to Lagunas artist heritage while ushering in the next generation of Laguna visionaries. The Hive is a roughly 1-acre center with about 10 tenant spaces. It may even contain new student housing for the Laguna College of Art + Design, said Mark Orgill, Laguna Creative Ventures president of strategy and development. A parking lot could be transformed with pop-up shops, he added. Orgill said hes been thinking about this project for 20 years. The Hive is currently home to an LCAD satellite office and Kitchen in the Canyon, a restaurant that opened about two years ago. Laguna Beach Beer Co. is working on opening a 2,500-square-foot tasting room and barrel aging facility in the center by summer. The establishment will feature two patio spaces, communal tables, beer on tap and growlers. Mike Lombardo, partner and co-founder of Laguna Beach Beer Co., stands in its future tasting room at the Hive commercial center in Laguna Beach. (Photo by Bradley Zint ) Company partner and co-founder Mike Lombardo said his corner of the Hive has been vacant for years. This was a largely neglected area of town, he said. Opening Laguna Beach Beer Co. there will help bring the center new life, Lombardo said. That was part of the excitement of being here, he added. The site was first developed in the 1960s. It was originally known as the Bartlett Center before being sold to Gary Sauter in 1989. He renamed it the Festival Center due to its proximity to the Sawdust, Art-A-Fair and Festival of Arts properties. Last month, the Hive, with partners Seven-degrees and Montana Colors, officially kicked off the Summer of Color. The event, funded by the Honarkars and curated by Torrey Cook and Ben Rubin, will include new murals. So far, seven artists have been confirmed: Okuda, Brett Crawford, Faith47, Casey OConnell, James Thistlethwaite, Beau Stanton and Chad Hasegawa. More artists and murals are planned, organizers said. The Hive property, acquired in November by Laguna Beach businessman Mohammad Mo Honarkar, has several open tenant spaces. (Photo by Bradley Zint ) BRADLEY ZINT is a contributor to Times Community News. Paramedic Steve Martin was talking with his teenage son at the kitchen table in his Huntington Beach home when he heard a neighbor knock at the door. A man was lying on the neighbors driveway. He wasnt breathing. Martin, a 21-year veteran of the Newport Beach Fire Department, had been called on many times before for medical emergencies. Most of the time hes in uniform with medical equipment and a full team to help. Once your friends, family and neighbors hear you have some sort of medical training, its almost like to them youre a doctor, Martin said. Sometimes people will come to me with questions and Ill say, You have to see a doctor for that. Im just a paramedic. But in this instance April 11, Martin knew he could help. He sprinted the 20 yards down the street to the neighbors driveway and found a man in his late 40s in cardiac arrest. Neighbors had started to converge on the scene, curious about what was happening, Martin said. Martin started chest compressions and continued until Huntington Beach paramedics arrived, used a defibrillator on the man and were able to regain a pulse. Martins 16-year-old son, who will work his first season this summer as a Huntington Beach city lifeguard, told his dad when they got back to the house that he was surprised no one else had stepped in to help. I told him a lot of people are afraid, Martin said. They freeze up. They dont know what to do. One of the things were trying to impress upon people is the fact that chest compressions, when done correctly, can bridge the gap until paramedics arrive and create much better outcomes. Martin said neighbors told him the man was at the neighbors home picking up a clothes dryer and was moving it around in his truck when he collapsed on the ground. The man was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and is expected to make a full recovery, Martin said. Martin was content to keep the story to himself, but his wife of 18 years, Carrie, wasnt having it. When she saw Newport Beach Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Boyles at the gym a week later, she beamed with pride as she recounted the situation. Boyles said the scenario gave credence to a message the Fire Department often shares with the community: The public should learn the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Newport Beach fire officials offer CPR training to groups such as homeowners associations, churches and exchange clubs, and to individuals who want to learn, Boyles said. When you have a community thats trained on CPR and is willing to perform it, theres a lot better chance of survival when we get on scene, he said. Steve was the citizen bridging that gap. It makes a huge difference. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN A team from Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach came away the champion of Battle Bots, a competition this week in which students from across Orange County designed and built fighting robots at the Anaheim Convention Center. Tuesdays event was coordinated by Think Together, a statewide nonprofit that encourages students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Software company Citrix Systems sponsored the festivities and sent employees to help students build their robots. Coast Community College District officials have lifted a ban on skateboarding and rollerblading at Orange Coast College until June 30 to encourage more students to skate, rather than drive, to campus. Staff members and students at the Costa Mesa college are surveying the community response to skateboarders return as part of a trial of the Core Campus Loop, in which administrators hope to improve traffic flow and safety by marking lanes and installing signs for a dedicated bike path. For the record: The original version of this article misspelled Marc Perkins first name as Mark. Were trying to create a culture of skateboarders as commuters and skateboards as transportation tools, said Marc Perkins, a professor of biological sciences who spearheaded the OCC bicycle and skateboard master plan. Perkins said he bikes or walks to the campus every workday. At the end of the day, it helps me decompress and gets me out in the open air, he said. For those 20 minutes on my bike it helps me leave work when Im [going home] and get in a good mind-set on my way to work. Perkins said hes seeing growing interest in physically active types of transportation among his students. Costa Mesa and OCC teamed up on the Explore Merrimac project, a recent event that temporarily featured protected bike and skateboard lanes on Merrimac Way, which runs along the southern edge of Orange Coast College. Perkins and his students are collecting data of near-collisions on campus to determine whether that is a viable option for the campus community. Before the Core Campus Loops installation, students observed three close calls between pedestrians and skateboarders or bicyclists. Theyve seen none since the project launched, Perkins said. To me, thats some really telling data that this may be actually improving safety, he said. DANIEL LANGHORNE is a contributor to Times Community News. Twitter: @DanielLanghorne Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) introduced a bill Wednesday that would allow cities to ban sober-living homes in residential neighborhoods. House Resolution 5724 the Restoring Community Oversight of Sober Living Homes Act of 2018 would amend the Fair Housing Act to specify that nothing in federal law prohibits any state or local government from implementing laws, regulations or ordinances that apply specifically to recovery facilities located in residentially zoned areas. If passed, the bill would allow states and local governments to ban such facilities if voters favor their prohibition, according to a news release from Rohrabachers office. Sober-living homes typically house recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, who are considered disabled under state and federal laws. These so-called homes, which are businesses in all but name, house drug and alcohol addicts in single-family residences, Rohrabacher said in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. This infusion of drug addicts and alcoholics into residential communities has had a deleterious impact on the quality of life of local families, who now suffer increases in police activity, transient residences next door and a decline in property values. Costa Mesa residents have increasingly decried the local proliferation of sober-living homes, saying they can cause problems with crime, noise, litter, traffic, parking and other issues. In a bid to keep such facilities from opening close together, the City Council adopted two ordinances in 2014 and 2015 that imposed new permitting requirements on sober-living homes and stipulated that they, group homes and licensed alcohol and drug treatment facilities must be at least 650 feet from one another in residential areas. Last year, council members approved additional rules aimed at increasing transparency and preventing those evicted or otherwise involuntarily discharged from group and sober-living homes from becoming homeless. We definitely need state and federal laws to change to reduce the negative impacts to our neighborhoods, Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor said of Rohrabachers bill. Councilwoman Katrina Foley, however, dismissed the bill as dead on arrival and said it violates federal U.S. Supreme Court case law. She said Rohrabacher should focus on reforms that would garner bipartisan support, such as allowing local agencies to create caps on the number of facilities in a community, distancing or separation requirements between facilities and schools, and prohibition of trafficking of addicts, as well as the right for local governments to address the nuisance impacts of problematic operators. This is just politics as usual without any progress, she said. We deserve better. New candidate pulls papers for Costa Mesa City Council election Rebecca Trahan a former member of the Costa Mesa Finance and Pension Advisory Committee is the latest person to announce plans to run for City Council this year. Trahan has filed paperwork to run in Costa Mesas District 5, which includes downtown and about half the Westside. In posts on social media, she said shes running because I feel District 5 needs a voice and there are some things that need to be changed. I will officially announce my candidacy and plans for a better District 5 in the next few weeks, she continued in a Facebook post last week. Trahan is the second declared candidate in the district so far, joining Parks and Recreation Commission Vice Chairwoman Arlis Reynolds. Novembers election will be the first in which Costa Mesa council members are chosen by district. Residents in each district will elect one council member from that area to represent them. Residents also will be able to vote directly for mayor. Council seats also are available in District 3, which includes College Park, Mesa del Mar and a slice of the Eastside, and District 4 a dense, jagged slice of the Westside south of the Fairview Developmental Center, ranging from Harbor Boulevard west to Monrovia Avenue and south to West 17th Street. Orange County registrar seeks poll workers for June election The Orange County registrar of voters office is seeking poll workers for the June 5 election. Hundreds of workers are needed to staff the election as inspectors who oversee operations at assigned polling places or clerks, who assist the inspectors on Election Day. Inspectors and clerks receive stipends of $160 and $120, respectively. Training is required for both positions. Anyone who is registered to vote in California can volunteer in Orange County, according to the registrar. Those interested in signing up can call (714) 954-1901 or visit ocvote.com/volunteer. UPDATES: 5:40 p.m.: This article was updated with Katrina Foleys comment about Rep. Rohrabachers bill. This article was originally published at 2:10 p.m. Parents in the caravan of mostly Central American migrants camped at the plaza outside the El Chaparral port of entry, a border crossing located west of the U.S. port of entry at San Ysidro, did what they could to survive and provide for their children as they waited to request asylum from U.S. border authorities during the first week of May. Pablo Sauceda, 20, saw the caravan on his local news channel and felt compelled to help. With a deck of cards, he entertained migrants and made the children smile with magic tricks. Monica Curca of the Orange County-based nonprofit Activate Labs arrived May 2 and distributed canvases, brushes and paint, which the children used to draw hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Activate Labs has organized and advocated for refugee communities in Southern California for the past three years with the Refugees Welcome Project. Donations including clothes, toys and food flowed in since the caravan of about 400 people arrived in Tijuana on April 28. By the morning of May 4, all asylum seekers in the caravan had crossed into the United States. Drew A. Kelley is a contributing photographer to Times Community News. Adventist Health Glendale honored several nurses with awards on Thursday as part of National Hospital Week. From Monday through Thursday nurses have been treated to different events, such as a barbecue, an ice cream social and a day of massages. The event on Thursday was a luncheon where nurses in each unit of the hospital were honored with a Nurse of the Year Award. Filor Izanian was given the overall Nurse of the Year Award, and Patricia Hepburn was honored with the Professional Practice Model Nurse Award. The event also recognized recipients of the DAISY and BEE awards this year. The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) and BEE (Be Exceptional Everyday) honors are given each month to nurses and staff based on who obtains the most nominations from patients and peers. Jinhee Nguyen, a patient-care executive, opened the ceremony by talking about crucial moments in her nursing career, such as caring for a 16-year-old girl who died from a gunshot wound. I realized this is a body, a precious life that God had created, she said. What was so special is that I was there to witness, to accompany the last moment of this young life. Those moments reveal why a nurses work is so meaningful, she said. It is a nurse who will remember to ask your name as she struggles to save your life, she said. It is a nurse who will comfort a family and sit with a patient who has no one to visit. It is now and always a nurse who will stay by your side and comfort you when you need it most. The staff then enjoyed lunch while watching clips of each nursing unit outlining their accomplishments for the year, including high rankings in hygiene and patient safety. Then representatives from each unit stepped up to the podium to describe each winners work ethic and dedication before revealing their name, followed by applause. Hepburn, awarded the highest honor this year, has worked in the neonatal intensive-care unit for 38 years and is a neonatal resuscitation program instructor and a breast-feeding educator, teaching both parents and staff breast-feeding practices. Many of our new grads who are given [Patricia] as a preceptor have commented about how good she is at teaching them not just how to care for a neonate but the whys of the care, said Randy Miller, a nurse manager in the neonatal intensive-care unit. These nurses have gone on to become excellent NICU nurses. As a charge nurse, Hepburn said she has had to resuscitate infants and cry with parents in need of comfort, but she has fallen in love with the profession. For several of the nurses, the profession was something they stumbled upon and found a passion in. Hepburn said she studied marine biology, and at her mother-in-laws suggestion, tried one year in nursing school. She never looked back. Hepburn said she was shocked, thrilled and embarrassed to be awarded the highest honor. I work with such spectacular people that Im not a standout, Hepburn said. [The staff] make life easy. They make it fun. Below is a list of all 2018 Nurse of the Year winners: Medical/Surgical Nurse of the Year Asmik Aryrapetyan Telemetry Nurse of the Year Lara Kumjian Critical Care Nurse of the Year Ricardo Sayat Emergency Nurse of the Year Rafael Luna Perioperative Nurse of the Year Sabrina Aguirre-Tamariz Perinatal Nurse of the Year Lisa Bayne Behavioral Health Nurse of the Year Patrick Adugu Cath Lab Nurse of the Year Peter Nalbandian Licensed Vocational Nurse of the Year Laura Godlinez Certified Nursing Assistant of the Year Jeffrey Balinguit EMT/MHT of the Year Mark Sahakian Monitor Tech/Unit Secretary of the Year Laura Magallanes Ancillary Registered Nurse of the Year Gemma Bito-Onon Nurse of the Year Filor Izanian Professional Practice Model Nurse Patricia Hepburn alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra Across Los Angeles, commuters will spend an extra 44 minutes of travel time stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic every day. That adds up to 170 hours a year. Its not sustainable for the average family, and its not sustainable for our region. No one wants to sit mired in traffic on a freeway for hours every week. Californians want safe and reliable alternatives to the traditional commute, and as policy makers, its our job to come up with solutions that reduce congestion and individual travel time as well as cut down on choking emissions. Weve taken some big steps to invest in expanding transit options with the passage of SB 1 and new allocations from our Cap and Trade revenues, and were starting to see those funds funneled to local projects that have the potential to move millions. Our own Metrolink secured an $875-million award, the largest single grant in Metrolinks history, that will transform passenger rail service across our region. Im a proud supporter of Metrolink, and Ive been advocating in support of this project and the grant funding for months because I believe it will deliver real benefits to thousands of commuters in the 43rd Assembly District and across our region. The grant award will go toward the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) plan developed by Metrolink in partnership with freight and intercity rail operators. The plan will serve as a road map to increased rail service that can accommodate expected population and job growth in advance of 2028, when Los Angeles will host the Olympics. Nearly half of the $875 million will be used to extend run-through tracks at Los Angeles Union Station south across the 101 Freeway so trains dont have to enter and exit from the north. It might seem like a simple logistical fix, but if youve ever spent time commuting through the station, you know this change could save up to 20 minutes in travel time for riders. The balance of the grant funds will be used for significant investments in infrastructure such as adding track, signals and additional station platforms so Metrolink can provide more reliable, frequent service throughout Southern California. These funds will help provide at least 30-minute service in both directions on key Metrolink corridors that serve Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Additionally, improvements at crossings will be funded to help ensure cities can implement Quiet Zones to reduce noise associated with the routine blowing of train horns. Earlier this year I hosted a town hall at the Glendale Train Station where a panel of transportation planners and leaders from across Southern California discussed the needs of our region and the challenges communities are facing. One of the issues that everyone agreed on was the need for less reliance on single-occupancy vehicles. We also heard a clear and consistent call for better transit service along the Los Angeles River that can connect Glendale, Burbank and downtown Los Angeles. This grant will help us achieve exactly that. We will see increased and improved service along Metrolinks key corridors without the need to build new rail lines and the disruption such work can cause for neighborhoods along the route. This investment in regional rail is long overdue, but its better late than never. California is now the fifth largest economy in the world we need a modern transit system that can keep pace with a growing population and the expectations and demands of a changing workforce. LAURA FRIEDMAN (D-Glendale) represents La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Glendale, Burbank and neighboring communities in the the 43rd Assembly District. Carnival Cruise Line plans to add 23 more cruises between East Coast ports and Havana, Cuba, in 2019 and 2020, according to an announcement Thursday. Ships will sail to Cuba the island nation from Miami, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale in Florida and from Charleston, S.C. It will be the first time a cruise ship has visited the island nation from the Port of Charleston. The new sailings include: four-day cruises from Charleston and stopping in Havana and Freeport, Bahamas; Advertisement five-day cruises from Fort Lauderdale that overnight in Havana and stop in Nassau, Bahamas, or the private island Half Moon Cay; three-, four- and five-day cruises from Miami stopping in Havana and adding stops in Freeport and Nassau on longer itineraries; and five-day cruises from Tampa with an overnight stop in Havana and a stop in Key West. Shore excursions, which cost extra, will feature local culture and architectural landmarks in Havana. Carnivals website shows cabin prices starting at $224 per person for three-day sailings, and less than $400 per person for most of the five-day sailings. Port fees and taxes are extra. Info: Carnival Cruise Line, (800) 764-7419 ALSO Choose the right sunscreen when you visit Hawaii. Some types may soon be banned Oaklands street art scene is vibrant. New works will be created during citys first Mural Festival So long, Monte Carlo. Vegas new Park MGM makes its debut travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Take a Columbia River cruise that makes a splash this fall with visits to Oregon and Washington wineries. The weeklong Uncruise Adventures tours will sail round trip from Portland, Ore., and include winery tours and tastings in Columbia Gorge and Red Mountain, Wash., and the Columbia Valley and Willamette Valley, Ore. The riverboat tour will also give passengers a chance to see Multnomah Falls, Ore., and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Dates: Departures Oct. 20 and 27; Nov. 10 and 17. Availability may be limited. Advertisement Prices: From $3,745 per person, double occupancy; single rates from $5,045. Includes accommodations, on-board meals and beverage, activities, excursions and transfers. Port taxes and fees not included. Info: Uncruise Adventures, (888) 862-8881 ALSO Choose the right sunscreen when you visit Hawaii. Some types may soon be banned Ever heard of vinotherapy? Cruise line adds grape-based spa treatments Fewer people are visiting Las Vegas. One insider thinks hotel resort and parking fees are to blame travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Hawaiis Kilauea volcano has entered a new destructive period of eruptions, which has happened several times since it resumed producing lava in 1983. Heres some context behind one of the worlds most active volcanoes, and Hawaii Islands youngest: Kilauea is mass building Kilauea is currently in the second phase of growth, the shield building stage, where it is the most active and the most voluminous. 1. Pre-shield Small eruptions below sea level. 2. Shield building Volcanic mass grows above sea. 3. Post-shield Magma cap flows, covers volcano. In this stage, occurrences of lava flows and eruptions alternate. This can continue up to 2 million years. Lava flows in past 1,000 years. Kilauea is covered with 90% young flows. Beneath Kilauea Lava eruptions have occurred at the volcanos summit since 2008 and since 1983 on its eastern shoulder at a crater called Pu'u O'o, which collapsed on April 30, and sent lava searching for a new path downhill. The cycle of volcanic eruptions and hazards Scientists are concerned that if the lava column drops to the level of groundwater beneath Kilauea summit, it will cause more eruptions. 1. Magma column drops to water level. Normally, when the lava lake level is high, temperatures are so hot that the groundwater in surrounding rocks is kept away from the magma. 2. Groundwater interacts with hot rock. When lava meets the water, steam is created. Rocks can fall from walls as the lava lake lowers, and form a dam holding back steam. 3. Steam pressure builds, then explodes. Rocks of up to 12 tons can shoot out of the volcano to a distance of half a mile. Marble-size rocks can fall for several miles, while falling ash is a concern 10 to 20 miles downwind. Hawaii Islands five volcanoes Hawaii Island is made up of five volcanoes, four of which are considered active. Kohala is the oldest volcano on the island and inactive. Sources: USGS, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, Nextzen, OpenStreetMap Updated at 10:45 a.m., May 10, 2018: An earlier version of the magma flow underneath the Kilauea summet, showed a lava tube branching out just below the surface from Pu u Oo crater. Path of magma continues further down. Updated at 12 p.m., May 10, 2018: Included Kohala as the oldest and inactive volcano. Updated at 10 a.m., May 17, 2018: Kohala volcano erupts. Rong-Gong Lin II contributed reporting to this story. ALSO Risk of explosions in coming weeks from Kilauea volcano's summit, scientists warn Fresh from a dramatic trip to North Korea and ahead of a historic summit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said that the United States would provide economic help if the country gives up its nuclear weapons, and perhaps ultimately agree to normalized relations. The Trump administration is planning a first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a leader of North Korea for June 12 in Singapore. Pompeo, two weeks and one day on the job, returned early Thursday from what he called a productive meeting with North Koreas Kim Jong Un to agree on details for the Trump-Kim summit. He brought home three American prisoners freed by Kim in what Pompeo said was an important gesture that helped pave the way for the meeting. Contrasting the wealth of South Korea to the poverty and deprivation of the North, Pompeo said the Trump administration is willing to provide assistance to North Korea if Kim meets U.S. demands to forfeit its nuclear weapons. Kim has said that North Korea now has the capability to strike the continental United States. Advertisement If Chairman Kim chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for his people, Pompeo said at the State Department, following a meeting with the foreign minister of South Korea. If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends, Pompeo added. It is a matter of fierce debate among diplomats and Korea experts whether Kim would get rid of his arsenal, which has long been central to his nations sense of identity and security. He has said he is willing to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but it is not clear he means what Washington means. For any significant disarmanent, Kim would want something in return. Pompeos offer of economic aid probably is aimed at addressing that point. Pompeo also suggested that the U.S. and North Korea could one day be partners. For nearly seven decades, since the Korean War, the two have been in a state of hostilities, with North Korea isolated from most nations. Describing his conversations with Kim as warm, Pompeo said he and the North Korean leader reached a pretty good understanding between our two countries about what the shared objectives are. He added that he told Kim that the U.S. government was prepared to provide him with assurances, without elaborating. Pompeo said he insisted to Kim that a robust verification by inspectors would have to be part of any deal to ensure that Kim had fully denuclearized. The South Korean foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, said tough economic sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until it makes real progress on disarming. She said the matter of U.S. troops long stationed in South Korea was up to the two allies, Washington and Seoul, to decide not Kim. In past talks, North Korea has demanded the troops withdraw. Pompeo, in his brief exchange with reporters, was pressed to describe Kim. The thirtysomething leader is a mysterious figure who has had little contact with the outside world since taking office until recent weeks, when he has gone on a diplomatic offensive, meeting with Chinese and South Korean officials. Pompeo has met him twice; the first trip to Pyongyang, North Koreas capital, was in early April when Pompeo was still director of the CIA, awaiting Senate confirmation as secretary of State. We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that weve had between us, Pompeo said. We talked about the fact that America has, often in history, had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea. UPDATES: 3:20 p.m.: This has been updated with additional quotes and details. This article was originally published at 12:40 p.m. It was only a few weeks into Iraqs chaotic electoral campaign when Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the countrys top religious cleric and a figure revered by millions of Shiites, dropped a bombshell. All officials, past and present, should not serve again, Sistani told fellow clerics, who told the media. He who has been tried should not be tried, he reportedly said. It was a wholesale rebuke of the countrys political class and its often corrupt ways. Advertisement In the weeks that followed, officials engaged in semantic somersaults, interpreting and reinterpreting Sistanis words in an attempt to exempt themselves from the clerics ire, while Iraqis of all stripes took to social media, echoing his call to remove those in power. But with the countrys parliamentary elections set for Saturday the fourth since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003 many see the bid to usher in new leadership as a difficult if not impossible task. The old faces remain, reinforcing a sense of apathy in an electorate exhausted by 15 years of government mismanagement and malfeasance. Why should I vote? said 32-year old Muntahtar Ahmad, who lives in the city of Basra, which is plagued by unemployment and crumbling infrastructure despite being the heart of countys oil industry. I graduated from a teachers academy, and all I do is walk around here selling tea all day. How is that fair? Mustafa Abu Ali, 63, a barber with a small shop in the citys Ashar market, said he wouldnt vote either. Politicians dont come here, he said. They know their value in the street. The national mood belies what should be a relatively hopeful time. Voters meet with candidates at a leftist party campaign event in Baghdad. (Nabih Bulos / For the Times ) Islamic State jihadists, who less than four years ago easily overpowered government forces across wide swaths of the country, are all but defeated. Relations with Saudi Arabia and other neighbors have never been better. Even Baghdads once legendary nightlife has seen a resurgence. Theres optimism that things can only get better, said Emma Sky, a senior fellow at Yales Jackson Institute for Global Affairs who served as the governorate coordinator of Kirkuk in 2003. But she also pointed out that Iraq was in a similar position in 2010, just after Al Qaeda had been driven out of the country and before Islamic State saw an opportunity to fill the void and captured a third of the country over the next four years. Iraq really is at a crossroads, she said. Voters dont lack for choice of candidates, old or new. Almost 7,000 hopefuls in 87 political parties, blocs and tickets are vying for the countrys 329 parliamentary seats. The candidates include more than 2,000 women, who are guaranteed a quarter of the seats. Nine seats are reserved for ethnic and religious minorities. Candidates can be seen gazing, grimacing or smirking on campaign posters and banners plastered across what seems like every available light post, railing and overpass. Once the parliament is elected, it chooses a prime minister, a post reserved for the countrys Shiite majority. In past elections, Shiites were relatively united. But their parties have splintered, forcing Shiite candidates to woo voters from other sects. A rally for the PMU-affiliated Conquest coalition in Baghdad. (Nabih Bulos / For the Times ) The current prime minister, Haidar Abadi, who is credited with defeating Islamic State, leads the Nasr coalition. Its main competition comes from the State of Law bloc, which is led by former prime minister Nouri Maliki, and the Conquest coalition, which is headed by Hadi Ameri, a top Shiite militia leader, and rooted in the Shiite-dominated paramilitary factions that were instrumental in defeating Islamic State. Abadi is considered the front-runner and the leader most likely to bridge the divide between Iraqs Sunnis and Shiites. That has pushed the U.S. to unofficially support his campaign for a second term, said Renad Mansour, an Iraq expert at Chatham House, a think tank in Britain. The U.S. and the West had this anti-ISIS story that morphed into a Support Abadi policy, he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. So the funds, the efforts they put to countering ISISs narrative all those resources are going now into supporting Abadi, because the decision has been made that hes the best candidate to ensure Islamic State doesnt return. Abadis ticket includes a number of popular Sunnis, and hes expected to pick up the votes that are likely to elude Maliki and Ameri, polarizing figures with constituencies in the heartland Shiite areas of the south. Meanwhile, another candidate, Muqtada Sadr, the fiery religious leader who ordered his militia to fight American troops during the U.S. invasion, is pushing a nationalist agenda and has allied himself with Communist and civil society groups. But most of the candidates are relative unknowns. They show up in meet-the-candidate style election events, from the quaint town-hall affairs held by leftist parties in Baghdad often under a Che Guevara portrait to the massive election rallies. Many voters dismiss the newcomers as window dressing for the old guards continued dominance. Who will I vote for? No one, all the ones I see are the same thieves, said 66-year-old Ahmad Fuad Aathami, a retired civil servant in the Sunni-dominated Adhamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad. The faces wont change, the heads of the bloc wont be removed. Raed Ahmad Hamid, a 29-year old former police officer from Qaim, said he will boycott the elections to protest what happened to him and more than 4,000 other officers after Islamic State overran their city in 2014 . Suspected of collaborating with the jihadists, they had their salaries cut off. Though they have since received an amnesty, they continued to be barred from active duty. Candidates came here and promised us everything, but we saw nothing, said Hamid, who now lives in a refugee camp near the city of Fallujah. For more than three years weve done nothing but sit here and have no work. My colleagues and I are putting an X on the ballot, he said. Potential voters play an election game for one of the candidates on the streets of Baghdad. (Nabih Bulos / For The Times ) Other disenchanted voters also point out that the Sainte Lague system a complex scheme that is supposed to take into account a variety of factors to help smaller parties reach parliament has been modified for use in Iraq to favor larger groups. Candidates who dont pass a minimum threshold have their votes added to the top candidate. One of the reasons why Im boycotting the election is because the law is flawed, said Qassem Ghani, chief editor of the Iraqi Ghad Press outlet. I vote for someone, and Im against the top guy, and still those votes go to him? But for the vast majority of Iraqis, the sense of apathy reflects a lack of faith in a system that has failed them too often. Iraqs oil riches have been siphoned into officials pockets, leaving most Iraqis with only a few hours of electricity a day and trash-strewn streets that havent been paved since before the U.S. invasion. Electoral speeches this season have focused primarily on fighting graft, with some of the more militaristic candidates threatening to fight those on the take with the same zeal they once fought Islamic State. Thanassis Cambanis, a Beirut-based senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank, said that although there are realistic possibilities for improving how the country is governed, Iraq will never overcome endemic pathological corruption until it has an opposition in government. Every government has been a grand coalition, with everyone taking a ministry and taking part in the feeding frenzy rather than be opposition, he said. Laith Khafaji, a first-time candidate with the Iraadah ticket, said the campaign season comes with a paradox: All the major parties talk about corruption. Nasr, Maliki, the Sadrists, Sunnis they all talk about it. So then who is the corrupt one? The citizen? Its a bewildering question. Khafajis plan to fight corruption was a simple one: Win the seat of someone who was corrupt. Bulos is a special correspondent. Twitter: @nabihbulos Israeli troops on Friday fired volleys of tear gas and gunfire at Palestinian protesters who threw stones, burned tires and dragged away rolls of barbed-wire fencing on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. At least one protester was killed and more than 700 injured, Gaza health authorities said, as weeks of deadly violence were building to a pair of large demonstrations expected next week. Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to converge on five encampments set up along Gazas eastern border Monday, when the United States officially moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and Tuesday, the day Palestinians commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of their forebears fled or were driven from their homes during the war over Israels founding. Demonstrations are also expected in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where Palestinians have not for the most part joined in the Gaza campaign. Advertisement Known as the Great March of Return, the campaign aims to draw international attention to Israels long-standing blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamist militant group Hamas took over the coastal enclave in 2007, and to Palestinian demands that they return to lands in what is now Israel. Addressing protesters at a camp in central Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed Friday to turn the Nakba that ended Palestine to a Nakba that ends the Zionist enterprise. A Palestinian man carries a fellow protester who was shot in the foot by Israeli forces at the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) Israeli forces have drawn international censure for using live fire against the protesters, most of whom appeared unarmed and did not seem to present any immediate threat to the lives of the soldiers. At least 48 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured since the protests began March 30, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza; there have been no reports of casualties on the Israeli side. The Israel Defense Forces say they are defending their borders and nearby civilian communities from a potential mass breach of the fence and from violent attacks planned under the cover of the protests. The IDF will continue operating to protect Israeli citizens and deter anyone who seeks to harm the security of the state of Israel and its citizens as necessary, the Israeli army said in a statement. It said about 15,000 Palestinians participated in Fridays protests, during which rioters hurled pipe bombs and grenades towards Israeli troops, sabotaged security infrastructure, burned tires and hurled rocks toward the security fence and at troops. The army accused dozens of vandals of setting fires that damaged gas pipelines on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, through which humanitarian supplies are delivered to the enclave. This marks the second instance in recent days when rioters have harmed and attempted to sabotage humanitarian efforts carried out by Israel and other countries from around the world, the army said. Sabir Ashqar is out protesting at the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, in a camp east of Gaza City. One protester, an 18-year-old named Mohammed, arrived at an encampment Friday in the southern Gaza Strip with a pair of wire cutters and a can of benzene. Im here to get back my land, he declared. Like many of the protesters, he asked to be identified by one name out of fear of being targeted by Israeli authorities. Later, he joined dozens of youths who were setting fire to tires to create a thick smokescreen to protect protesters from Israeli troops and provide cover for those seeking to cut through the fence. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live bullets, killing at least one of the protesters, according to medics. At another camp east of Gaza City, a large crowd, including many women and children, watched an Israeli drone duel with kites set aloft by the protesters with burning rags attached to them in an effort to set fire to agricultural fields on the other side of the border. The crowd erupted in cheers as protesters attached hooks and ropes to the barbed-wire fence and hauled sections of it away. A 13-year-old boy ran up to his mother, clutching a small piece of fencing. She declared it time to go home. Her brother was killed on the first day of the protests, said the 35-year-old woman, who gave her name only as Hanin, and she was worried for the boys safety. But she said she would be back Monday. Its not right. They are living off our properties and all that we have, she said of Israelis. Meanwhile, her husband has been unable to find work to support their seven children since authorities in Jerusalem stopped issuing permits for him to do construction jobs in Israel more than a decade ago. We want Jerusalem, and we want our freedom, she said. Times staff writer Zavis reported from Gaza City and special correspondent Tarnopolosky from Jerusalem. Special correspondent Hana Salah in Gaza City contributed to this report. UPDATES: 3:40 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times reporting. This article was originally published at 7:35 a.m. Demonstrators demand assurances from school directors Demonstrators, who are demanding the resignation of Taron Margaryan, entered the secondary school # 24 in Yerevan and demanded a meeting with the director. After a while, the director with a person with RPA badge whose name was Samvel came to the protesters. They demanded the demonstrators to immediately go out from the school. The demonstrators demanded assurances from the director that the latter will not stop pupils from participating in demonstrations and appealed to schoolchildren to leave the school. Now, they are at #42 high school in Yerevan, where they met with the director a little while ago, and this time they got clear assurances from the director that the students would allowed pupils to express their civil position. So, the protesters are moving to another school. Nikol Pashinyan: Do not you vote electronically? Well, work as you know. (video) Today's session of the government, which for the first time was led by the newly elected prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, was open. He started his first session with agriculture. "I hope you have good working mood. There has been a hail incident in Armavir region, what has been done?" Acting Minister of Agriculture Ignati Arakelyan reported that the relevant staff had been sent to the region to get information and fix the damage. Nikol Pashinyan inquired what the government's actions were usually in such situations. "The land tax and the water tax has been compensated, there was nothing more," said the Acting Minister. The Prime Minister mentioned that they will definitely return to this topic, as, according to him, the support should be essential rather than formal. "Why cannot we influence the anti-hail system?" Acting Minister of Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan mentioned that these territories were out of their fields. "Anti-hail systems only cover 15 percent of the territories. A new pilot program should be introduced that would arrive from Russia. Over two years, thanks to that program, 70 percent of the territories will be closed. " "We should again return to this issue after the formation of a new government," Nikol Pashinyan said. At the meeting, the prime minister also noticed technical problems. "Do not you vote electronically? Well, work as you know, then we will change. And, as far as I know, there is no abstaining during the government session." Two Easton men and a Bethlehem Township man were sent to jail Friday afternoon after being read a long list of charges following a crack-of-dawn drug raid in the city's West Ward. David Darnell Parker, 24, of the 4100 block of Rexford Drive; Jamari Najee Ragland, 21, who lived in the target house at 1453 Ferry St., and Ragland's brother Kasson Isaih Booker, 26, who also lived there, were arraigned before District Judge Daniel Corpora several hours after their arrests. The headline charges are possession with intent to deliver and possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver and possession of heroin and possession of a 9 mm handgun stolen in Palmer Township, court papers say. There were also conspiracy counts related to each of the four narcotics charges. An ounce and a half of methamphetamine and just less than 3 grams of heroin were found in a sock stuffed in a child's riding toy in the backyard, police said. School-age children were in the building and at least one got on a school bus that stopped in front of the house while police, including a K-9, searched for drugs. Palmer Township vice officers and Easton vice officers collaborated on the investigation, which began in the township, under the auspices of the Northampton County Drug Task Force. Corpora, who on Thursday morning granted the search warrant leading to Friday's raid, determinedly read through each charge against each man even though the counts were identical outside of one count of possession of a small amount of marijuana against Ragland and Booker. Because they were actually three separate arraignments, the judge three times read through the identical affidavit of probable cause which, among other things, was an extensive listing of what was found in and around the home. After posing several questions to each man -- who in general answered with "yes, sir" or no, sir" -- to determine bail, Corpora learned this was Ragland's first time charged with a crime, while the other two had been to court before. Ragland and Booker had lived with family for the past 10 years at Ferry and 15th streets. While Parker was at that home Thursday night, the night before he said he was at his mother's house in Bethlehem Township, which is his official address. Two of the men didn't have jobs but Booker has worked summers since 2013 -- and this spring as well -- as a landscaper. Booker has four children in Pennsylvania, Atlanta and New York, while Parker has children in Virginia. None of the three is married. All three men appeared tired, at times slumping in their chairs and yawning in Corpora's new courtroom off Old Philadelphia Road on Easton's South Side. Their hands were cuffed in front of them and their feet shackled as they followed along in their own sets of court papers. Once the judge worked through all the paperwork and the 35 charges in all, he spoke of the numerous counts and the "seriousness of the charges" and then set bail at $100,000 straight for each man. There preliminary hearings are tentatively schedule 9 a.m. May 25 in District Judge Richard Yetter III's court in Wilson Borough. None of the men was represented by an attorney during the arraignments. What police say was found in the search: 2 black digital scales (found on the living room couch) 1 glass Mason jar with empty plastic bags (found by the foyer) 1 SunChips bag with a white sock containing 12 .22-caliber bullets (found in blue plastic container in second floor bedroom where David Parker was located) 4 9 mm bullets on the floor and windowsill (in the bedroom where Parker was found) 1 Kimber 9 mm handgun stolen in Palmer Township (on a small heater in the room where Parker was) 1 box of baking soda, with two rocklike substances, typically used as a cutting agent (in the blue container in the room where Parker was found) Many black and clear plastic bags 1 corner-tie bag with five .22-caliber bullets (found in a pink Cadillac Power Wheels car in the backyard) 1 gray sock containing 42 grams of methamphetamine, 2.8 grams of heroin and white glassine wax packets used to store heroin (in the Power Wheels car in the backyard) Several .22-caliber bullets in a black safe in the master bedroom 1 black scale with white residue (found on the second floor in the bedroom next to the master) 1 clear plastic bag containing marijuana (found in a third floor attic bedroom) 2 corner-tie bags containing a total of 8 grams of marijuana (found on Kasson Booker) 1 matching gray sock to the one containing the drugs (on the left foot of Booker) Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Little Pete is all grown up. Danny Tamberelli, who starred in Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete & Pete" for three seasons in the 1990s, married literary agent and author Katelyn Detweiler last Saturday, according to Page Six -- and the couple chose SteelStacks in Bethlehem as the venue. The arts complex, on the site of a former Bethlehem Steel plant, hosted about 220 guests for the wedding. The bridal party stayed in the nearby Sayre Mansion. It wasn't Tamberelli's first event at SteelStacks. Also a musician, he has twice performed at the venue, once in Aug. 2016 with his Weezer cover band The Undone Sweaters and again on March 9 this year with the group Jounce. During Saturday's wedding festivities, Tamberelli performed songs including The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" and Pixies' "La La Love You," he said in a tweet. A rendition of "With a Little Help from My Friends" featured the entire wedding party, which included Tamberelli's fellow "Pete & Pete" star Michael Maronna as a groomsman, Page Six reported. Tamberelli is also known for appearing in Nickelodeon "All That" and "Figure It Out," along with voice work in "The Magic School Bus." Page Six first reported that Tamberelli and Detweiler would wed at an "old steel factory in Pennsylvania" back in July. The couple, who live in Brooklyn, first met on the dating app Tinder. Detweiler grew up in Montgomery County, while Tamberelli is from Bergen County, New Jersey. SteelStacks highlighted its role in the wedding on Facebook, posting a congratulations message to the couple. A SteelStacks spokesman said the couple chose the venue for its unique location and the atmosphere on campus. Congrats to Nickelodeon star Danny Tamberelli and bride Katelyn Detweiler! It was a pleasure to host your special day! Posted by SteelStacks on Thursday, May 10, 2018 Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook. UPDATE: Never mind what we said earlier about I-78 traffic woes This weekend is the last of the 54-hour closures that led to single lanes and traffic headaches on the Interstate 78 West side of the toll bridge plaza in Northampton and Warren counties. The seventh 57-hour period of single lane traffic around the I-78 West toll bridge begins 10 p.m. Friday and will remain in place until 7 a.m. Monday, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission reminded drivers. The work will close two of the three travel lanes on I-78 West, from milepost 0.5 before the Carpentersville Road overpass bridge in Jersey to milepost 77.2 in Pennsylvania after the I-78 approach bridge across Route 611. There is no way to avoid the work area after passing exit 3, the last exit in New Jersey, on I-78 westbound. The first 57-hour shift was March 16-19, and traffic became snarled on I-78 and Route 22 over the weekend. Severe traffic congestion is likeliest between the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the commission said in a news release. Backups in excess of a mile, and travel delays of an hour or more, are also likely. The construction is part of $12.6 million in work on the bridge commission's 7-mile stretch of the highway on both sides of the Delaware River. The project began last August and is expected to last into this fall. Crews are planning to replace slabs at the toll bridge and the approach bridge across Route 611. Later, slabs will be replaced in the area of the approach bridges across Route 519 in Pohatcong Township, and an on-ramp to I-78 East at the interchange for routes 22 and 173, outside Phillipsburg. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channel Ameriabanks Special Offer for New Clients of Hrazdan Branch "Fall forward": Gurgen Khachatryan, the Co-Founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies, addressed a message to young people in Armenia UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month Google Ad The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers Ucom employees received recognition for their services to the homeland Karen Vardanyan has allocated 105 million AMD to rescue the Yerevan Botanical Garden. "The Power of One Dram" to overcome childhood cancer Generation A 13 your chance to be the change President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev "uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only Google Ad For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road Call on the international community for an adequate response against azerbaijani aggresssion Transformation and trust are important for success in modern banking. Artak Hanesyan UCOMS LEVEL UP 1700 REGIONAL TARIFF PLAN USERS TO RECEIVE MORE THAN THOSE IN YEREVAN Joint statement Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Covid-19: 163 new cases in Armenia Armenia: Remarks by Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi at the press point with Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan The United States Welcomes Azerbaijans Release of Armenian Detainees and Armenias Actions to Facilitate Demining The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia International aviation: Council greenlights signing of major agreements with four countries With UCOMs level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Netflix, Duolingo and Zoom Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections Adventures at the libraries Queenslands Isaac Regional Council libraries will this month join other libraries from around the country and across the Tasman to host National Simultaneous Storytime. Children from Dysart, Clermont, Glenden, Middlemount, Nebo, Moranbah and St Lawrence will join many across Australia and New Zealand for a picture book giggle-fest. Hickory Dickory Dash will bring together thousands of children across the country for this years National Simultaneous Storytime. Mayor Anne Baker said the region is excited to be part of this national occasion. Its such a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian childrens book that explores age-appropriate themes. It also addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6. Organised by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the event is celebrating its 18th year with Hickory Dickory Dash published by Scholastic Australia. Tony Wilson and Laura Woods The Cow Tripped Over the Moon was chosen for the 2017 event, which was the largest to date with 686,324 people taking part. This year ALIA will welcome their New Zealand colleagues to join in the story time fun. The event organisers are calling for assistance to set a new record aiming for one million participants. Building a safer community Mornington Peninsula Shire, Victoria, has installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the Rye shopping precinct and foreshore using a $200,000 grant from the Federal Governments Safer Communities Fund. This new system complements the existing CCTV system which was originally installed by the local Rye businesses and traders over the last two years taking advantage of the 50 percent Council rebate administered by the recently formed Rye Beach Business Association. The cameras capture footage in known hot-spots and transmit it back to the Rosebud Police Station. The footage will be used for live monitoring in high activity periods or to review if reports are made of anti-social or criminal behaviour. Mayor, Bryan Payne said the community had shown a desire for CCTV systems to help improve the safety of the townships. To ensure we are meeting their needs the Shire will continue to work with the State and Federal Governments on programs like this to create safer communities and we thank the Federal Government for their contribution to the Community of Rye. Councillor Hugh Fraser said that the new security system was going to make a difference to the local community. CCTV is also beneficial for Victoria Police in assisting them with fighting crime and will help residents to feel safe. Cataract Gorge play space upgrade City of Launceston this week unanimously voted to approve the play space upgrade application at the Cataract Gorges First Basin. The upgrade will see the existing playground updated to a more accessible and contemporary natural play space, which can better withstand flood events. The work is being undertaken as part of the Reimagining the Cataract Gorge Project, which Council developed in consultation with the Northern Tasmanian community throughout 2014 and 2015, and is designed to guide development at the Cataract Gorge until 2030. The proposed upgrade will see the existing play area directly in front of the cafe and public amenities transformed into a vibrant new nature-based play zone featuring disabled access, a childrens amphitheatre, a water play zone, native plantings, boulders, tree trunks, a sand pit, an accessible swing set, a tunnel slide, a giant mouse-wheel treadmill and an extended forecourt outside the amenities building. The council hopes to see construction completed before Christmas. Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said the play ground would be transformed into a more natural and engaging play area. As many people would be aware, the existing playground at the Cataract Gorge has passed its use by date. It has been impacted by a number of flood events in recent memory four in the space of a single year in 2016 its reached the end of its life. One of the clear objectives of the Reimagining the Gorge project is to replace run down and tired infrastructure, because it detracts from the overall visitor experience. Were also keenly aware that the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards are going to be hosted in Launceston early next year, and the State Government is supporting that great initiative with $200,000 in funding; it will be wonderful for our city. Celebrating the new year Wollongong City Council, New South Wales, celebrated the beginning of autumn with the traditional Iranian, Afghani and Kurdish community celebration of Naw Ruz. Meaning new day, Naw Ruz is a new year celebration, the biggest secular event in dozens of countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. Naw Ruz is part of a 3,000-year-old celebration to mark the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Wollongong City Lord Mayor, Gordon Bradbery AM, said that it was an opportunity for the community to enjoy dancers, live music and sample some of the wonderful food of Iran and Afghanistan. This is the first time there has been an open public event for the whole community to share Naw Ruz celebrations. Many communities across the Middle East and Central Asia such as Iran, Iraq (Kurds and Turkmens), Pakistan (Pashtuns and Baluchs), Turkey (Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Yoruks), Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and India (Parsis) celebrate Naw Ruz on the Spring equinox. For many it is a time for house cleaning or shaking the house. People prepare with a major spring-cleaning of their house and the purchase of new clothes to wear for the new year, as well as the purchase of flowers. Traditionally Naw Ruz is also a time for visiting elders, family members and friends houses to give and receive a gift. Councillor profiles - Ben Shields Mayor Dubbo Regional Council Lifestyle options to suit everyone Situated in the Great Western Plains region of New South Wales the Dubbo Regional Council area is an economic and agricultural hub for the state. The region has the two distinct centres of Dubbo and Wellington and is surrounded by the historic rural villages of Brocklehurst, Ballimore, Wongarbon, Elong Elong, Toongi, Eumungerie, Sturt Town and Mumbil. Dubbo Regional Council is the result of a merger of the former Dubbo City Council and Wellington Councils. The new merged entity and larger Local Government Area (LGA) has many great attributes. As someone who was born and bred in Dubbo I can say first-hand Dubbo is a fantastic place to live and I am enormously proud of our City. Taronga Western Plains Zoo is an absolute favourite for all of Dubbo. The villages around the LGA are really important. There are so many different lifestyle options in the LGA from inner city living, large residential blocks and open farmland. Councillor since school days I am the first ever mayor of Dubbo Regional Council but was first elected to Dubbo City Council 19 years ago while still at high school in Dubbo. I was doing my HSC the same year I was first elected to Council. Theres not a lot of spare time as a mayor. You are accountable to the community 24/7. As mayor in a regional city you are well recognised and understandably whether you are at the shops, in the main street or attending a private function there are residents and ratepayers that want to talk to you. This is good because it shows people are interested and care about their community and Councils involvement but theres really no such thing as out of hours. Consensus involves give and take I said in my first speech to Council after being elected Mayor that, to the best of my ability, I will use consensus as a way to make decisions and unify the region. When our ten councillors are working as a group, I particularly encourage all of us to be in regular contact with each other to facilitate working together as a group, and addressing issues that face the community as a group. This is challenging given the commitments of all councillors, but we have found ways to improve efficiencies and make sure that our time together as councillors is productive. Taking a new direction The day has come when as a region we must take our social issues seriously. Despite the good work of our police, our crime rates are too high and too many lives are being wasted by drugs, unemployment, poor parenting and the crimes that happen as a consequence. Dubbo Regional Council is taking on the issues of intergenerational social justice and crime, which is a new direction for council, and thats being noticed around the state. We are working collaboratively with the community on these issues and we are advocating for better services, including such things as residential rehabilitation services. We are also focusing on delivering on the plans we make and giving firm deadlines for projects to be completed. This week for example we have set ourselves on the path to being one of the most accessible and inclusive local government areas in Australia for people with disability and mobility issues. We have a four year period in which to upgrade our footpaths and Council facilities to meet modern accessibility standards and we will set a due date to make it happen. Supporting the community Being able to help people is the best thing about being a councillor. For example when the plans for the redevelopment of Dubbo Hospital did not include accommodating or relocating a community owned and operated childcare centre Playmates Cottage, it took the parents and the community to rally in support. Thanks to the efforts of parents and the community, Dubbo Regional Council, in partnership with NSW Health Infrastructure, constructed a new Playmates Cottage Child Care Centre on Council owned land, purpose built to meet the needs of the staff and children of Playmates Cottage. It is my sincere hope that in this role as the first mayor of the Dubbo Region, I can help create a united council driven on goodwill, growth and consensus. Councillor profiles - Peta Pinson Mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Port Macquarie Hastings Council is located an easy four and a half hour drive from Sydney and is recognised as a premier tourist hotspot. The area is currently experiencing high levels of growth due to the various opportunities for work and enjoyment of retirement due to the year round temperate climate. Having a favourite part of our region is like having a favourite child, you just cannot choose one. Port Macquarie Hastings has beautiful rivers, lakes and of course beaches, along with some of the most fertile agricultural land in New South Wales. We are most definitely spoilt for choice in our community. Being part of the process I am very new to Local Government and have been in the role of Mayor since August 2017. I ran in the September 2016 election and was not elected. My opportunity came as the result of a by-election held in July 2017 after the then Mayor resigned unexpectedly. I campaigned for a second time due to a strong desire to be part of the bigger picture for our community. I believe improvement and change are led from the top and the roles of the mayor and councillors are to facilitate through decisions on how a community evolves and is shaped into the future. I wanted to be a part of that process. The challenges of rapid growth Before being elected I was the Managing Director for Stabilcorp in the civil construction industry and have a good understanding of road rehabilitation and maintenance. I was very proactive in the area of road safety initiatives designed to reduce fatalities and serious injuries associated with rural and country roads. Since being elected I have committed to the role of Mayor in a full time capacity and resigned from the role of Managing Director. I invest a lot of time in working and holiday time is my down time. I am a huge fan of cruising, meeting new people and exploring the world. Put me on a large cruise liner and I am one happy lady! The key challenge faced by the Port Macquarie Hastings region is the rapid growth we are experiencing. With growth comes increased pressure on service delivery and it creates traffic issues on our road network. A culture of improvement At the March 2018 Council meeting, Council adopted a Business Improvement Strategy. The strategy will assist us to focus on embedding a continuous improvement culture and it will help us to define the improvement processes to be used. Sustained business improvement will only occur if the culture of the organisation shifts and accepts that improvement is part of the way we conduct business. This will result in more efficient and effective services being delivered for our community and at the end of the day that is why we are all here. Most progressive council award My personal success was being elected the first ever female Mayor of Port Macquarie Hastings Council which is a huge honor for me. From an organisation success perspective, it was certainly when Port Macquarie Hastings Council was announced the recipient of the prestigious AR Bluett Memorial Award at the Local Government Conference in December 2017. Accepting the prized award with General Manager Craig Swift-McNair on behalf of our community was definitely a highlight to begin my Council career on and one that will not be forgotten quickly. Great things ahead I would say that being involved in shaping a regions future is a great part of the job. The best part is also getting to know the community at an intimate level. Great things happen when people come together for the common good and I see that on a daily basis. On the worst aspects of being a councillor: It is early days for me... I will get back to you all on that one so ask me again at the end of my term! I am only one voice and one vote, however I would like to look back when my time is done and know that I was part of many solid decision making processes that delivered and achieved great things for our region. Future directions - Back to the future to improve community service Its rare these days not to hear someone on talk-back radio, letters to the editor or social media complaining about their local council. With low community participation levels and poor turnout at many local elections, it seems many residents have either given up or made a decision to express their dissatisfaction through conscious neglect of council. The reasons for these high levels of community disdain for local government are many, including ever tightening financial constraints on council coffers and the ability to criticise any action at any time thanks to the relentless glare of social media. At Baw Baw Shire Council, home to one of Melbournes fastest growing regional areas, were tackling these issues head on and in some surprisingly old-fashioned ways. Our philosophy is simple: We are committed to public service but that does not mean public services should stand still. As servants of the people, we should be agents of the changes that our community and businesses want. Some of our lessons can come from private enterprise where results are measured by outcomes, not activity. And to meet peoples ever-rising expectations, policy making and Shire services must reflect continuous learning and improvement. While this sounds logical enough, the tools we have employed to get there are many, including introduction of online technologies such as Automated Bots and Live Chat to give community members alternative, dynamic ways of contacting the Shire. Pressures are particularly acute in planning, and as one of Victorias fastest growing precincts for residential growth, we have introduced a range of new services including a business concierge to give people direct contact with a team member capable of cutting through many of their planning and approval issues. In spite of or because of my 10 years in senior public sector positions as well as obtaining both an MBA and completing a leadership qualification at Harvard Business School, I have seen that the prime factor in providing premium public service to ratepayers, is empowering your team. Recent surveys reveal that the top factor for millennials when applying for jobs is the opportunity to learn and grow. Remuneration is important but the key for many people staying with an organisation is the knowledge that it invests in its people through providing strong mentors and professional growth prospects. If an organisation is only as good as its people, then every effort must be made to ensure they are looked after, valued and properly rewarded. Developing a new set of values for the organisation also is important, but only if they mean something. We encourage officers to let me and other members of the Executive Leadership Team know when something isnt working and to feel empowered enough to make suggestions on how we can improve. Were all in this together. Getting women elected Getting Elected Women Can is the theme of a new Australian Local Government Womens Association South Australian Branch (ALGWA SA) campaign. South Australian women are being encouraged to nominate for this years local government elections to give women a greater say in decision-making in their local communities. President of ALGWA SA, Councillor Betty Gill, said, Our organisation wants to encourage more women to run and get elected in the November 2018 Local Government Elections. The United Nations defines 30 percent as the minimal percentage of women required for government to reflect womens concerns. Despite the fact that women make up more than half the population, just over a quarter (29.3 percent) of South Australian councillors were women after the 2014 elections. The majority of council members elected were male (70.7 percent). Currently three rural councils have no women councillors. It would be a highlight to go past the 30 percent barrier in the 2018 council elections. Our motivation to increase female participation is not about women for womens sake. As the level of government closest to the community, we believe it is important that councils reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. The more representative that councils are at the elected level, the more relevant their decision-making will be. If we are serious about women taking their place as fully participating citizens in representative democracy, then we need more women to stand for election and more citizens to vote for them. Our Information Sessions and Women Can resource, along with many of our current women councillors making their collective experience available, may help get them elected. New mobile library van Mid-western Regional Council, New South Wales, has unveiled its new state-of-the-art mobile library van that will continue to deliver a longstanding valuable service to residents in rural and remote villages. The new van delivers reading and audio-visual material to 270 people across the Mid-Western Region. Council secured $80,000 in grant funding to purchase the van through the Glencore Community Investment Program. Mayor Des Kennedy said that demand for mobile library services continues to grow. The service was established in February 1999 and makes weekly visits to six rural schools, seven nursing homes, two community halls and 30 housebound customers. In addition to providing reading resources, the van is a part of the social fabric of these outer-lying communities, providing face-to-face contact with vulnerable members of our community. Community Relations Manager for Glencore, Craig Strudwick, said the Community Investment program will again support more than 100 community organisations in 2018 with funding of almost $5 million. Were delighted to be able to help Mid-Western Regional Council open a new chapter of opportunity for people who might otherwise be unable to access these services. Neighbourhood Watch gold award City of Melville has received the Local Government Participation Gold Award from Neighbourhood Watch Western Australia (NHW), recognising the Citys involvement and support of the NHW program in the community. With a State objective for neighbourhoods to work together to prevent crime and create a safe environment for everyone, the NHW State Office created the local Government participation awards, to acknowledge the contributions made by local governments in supporting their objective. Having held the position of the City of Melvilles Neighbourhood Watch Chairperson for 10 years, Atul Garg wholeheartedly believes in the program and said that volunteering in the NHW for the last 25 years had made his life meaningful. Created by the Western Australia (WA) Police, NHW contributes tremendously to the overall safety and security within the City, in fact in all the suburbs where the residents are constantly watching out for suspicious people and activities, there are reduced incidents of crime. Mayor, Russell Aubrey, said the Gold award reassured the City it was achieving its commitment to support residents and promote crime prevention, in particular its support and contribution to the NHW program, which is an important initiative of the Citys overall 2017 - 2021 Safer Melville Plan. At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channel Ameriabanks Special Offer for New Clients of Hrazdan Branch "Fall forward": Gurgen Khachatryan, the Co-Founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies, addressed a message to young people in Armenia UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers Ucom employees received recognition for their services to the homeland Karen Vardanyan has allocated 105 million AMD to rescue the Yerevan Botanical Garden. "The Power of One Dram" to overcome childhood cancer Generation A 13 your chance to be the change President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev "uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only Google Ad For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road Call on the international community for an adequate response against azerbaijani aggresssion Transformation and trust are important for success in modern banking. Artak Hanesyan UCOMS LEVEL UP 1700 REGIONAL TARIFF PLAN USERS TO RECEIVE MORE THAN THOSE IN YEREVAN Joint statement Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Covid-19: 163 new cases in Armenia Armenia: Remarks by Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi at the press point with Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan The United States Welcomes Azerbaijans Release of Armenian Detainees and Armenias Actions to Facilitate Demining The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia International aviation: Council greenlights signing of major agreements with four countries With UCOMs level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Netflix, Duolingo and Zoom Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections New safety tubes for beach rescue Randwick City, New South Wales, is the first council in Australia to install rescue tube units on all its beaches. The Tube Unit Initiative (TUI) is a system designed to be used as a rescue device to prevent drownings during times a beach is not patrolled by Council lifeguards. Their introduction comes following the tragic death of 14-year-old Tui Gallaher in December 2016, who was swimming at Maroubra Beach with his cousin outside of patrol hours. The pair got into trouble in the rough conditions before a passer-by came to their aid, pulling the cousin to safety. Tuis body was found three days later. The TUI, named in a tribute to Tui Gallaher, consists of a rescue tube stationed close to the waters edge fitted with light, whistle and branded with instructions. When the tube is removed from its housing station on the beach, an alarm sounds, alerting those nearby to the situation, and sends an SMS Alert and GPS location to the local lifeguards and life savers. Whilst life rings have been used on a global scale for many years to help those in trouble, they are often ineffective in beach conditions due to their size and limited distance of deployment. Mayor Lindsay Shurey said, We are blessed with many beautiful beaches in Randwick City, and keeping visitors and beachgoers safe is a top priority for Council. The innovative design of the TUI means it can assist multiple adults at one time whilst also raising the alarm to those in the vicinity through the alarm and the presence of a whistle. Six TUI tubes have been installed with more to be rolled out at all Randwick City beaches. Smart city roll out Infrastructure that will place The City of Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), at the forefront of Australian smart cities has started being rolled out with the first of seven sensor gateways installed at National Park. A carrier-grade Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) will be installed over the next six weeks to provide low cost, low-power connectivity that will support millions of wireless Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and data collecting devices. Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said, This is a very exciting high-tech development for the city. By investing in this infrastructure, we will provide a platform for community groups, education and research providers, industry, businesses and entrepreneurs to develop their own smart applications and ideas. From collecting information on foot traffic to the state of council-owned sporting grounds and enabling community and environmental groups to create their own coal dust sensors, this is a big technological breakthrough for the city. The seven gateways will enable connectivity that would have otherwise been far too costly. The network is the first large-scale LoRaWAN network in Australia and forms part of the Newcastle Smart City Strategy which was adopted in July last year. The document outlines an ambitious Council-led collaboration to diversify the regional economy and encourage innovation while attracting investment. The roll out of the LoRaWAN network is part of the Hunter Innovation Project (HIP), a collaboration between Council, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle Now and Hunter DiGiT. The HIP is funded by a $9.8 million commitment from the NSW Government through the Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund and an $8 million contribution from its partners and investors. The project involves the installation of smart technology and Wi-Fi throughout the citys CBD by 2019 and subsequent innovation hub and digital precinct. Spotlight on public sector human resources* The Australian Human Resources (HR) Institutes National Convention and Exhibition is Australias flagship event for HR practitioners and business leaders. More than 3300 attendees from around the world each year attend this annual event to hear local and global thought leaders speak about big issues facing HR and business. The convention will delve into the themes of innovation, ethics, collaboration and creating a high-performance culture. Billed as Where HR meets, the convention brings together speakers including Charles Handy, the worlds greatest management visionary; Lynda Gratton, a global expert on the interface between people and organisations; and Jason Fox, leadership advisor and motivation design expert. The event will be an intersection of new ideas from HR, business and technology. As with previous years, the convention includes a dedicated Public Sector Conference in addition to the main program. Sir Bob Parker, former Christchurch City Mayor, will join Kerri Hartland, Secretary of Department of Jobs and Small Business and other HR leaders at the Public Sector Conference to talk about topical HR issues pertinent to the government sector. The AHRI National Convention is an unrivalled professional development opportunity to expand your network, get up to date on the latest trends in HR and business, and take new ideas back to the workplace. This years National Convention and Exhibition will be held in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from Tuesday 28 Thursday 30 August 2018 (extended program 28-31 August). Early bird registration closes 31 May-register now at ahri.com.au/convention *Copy supplied by AHRI Stock Market News Regulators fine Barclays CEO 650,000 and impose new controls 11-05-2018 11:54 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk Stock Market News Take profits in Severn Trent, says Bernstein, or don't says Cazenove 11-05-2018 12:46 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk Revolution in Armenia does not much impact on investment (video) Chairman of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia Gagik Makaryan announced today that after the velvet revolution, new investments in energy, solar energy, construction and tea are expected in Armenia. Investors are mainly from Iran, Dominican republics, as well as from Europe. And in order to increase the investment, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan should make personnel changes, mainly in the Ministry of Economy. "5-6 of the department heads should be changed, and changes should take place in the Ministry of Education." According to Gagik Makaryan, this is not a "massacre" of cadres, but this is optimization. "The relationship and dialogue with the business which the former government has begun should be effective." The President of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia today sent a 10-page letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about investors, new projects and points related to Nairit plant. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Armenian President, Ambassador of Kuwait discuss opportunities of activating bilateral economic relations President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received on May 11 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Kuwait to Armenia Nawaf Abdulaziz Abdullah Al-Enezi. The President of the Republic highlighted the friendly relations with Kuwait and their future development and strengthening. He also thanked the leadership of Kuwait for the careful attitude towards the Armenian community. As the press service of the Presidents Office informed, the Ambassador of Kuwait also highly assessed the current level of relations between the two states and conveyed the warm greetings of Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the invitation to pay an official visit to Kuwait. The interlocutors also discussed the opportunities to activate bilateral economic relations, particularly in the spheres of banking, tourism and high technologies. The Armenian President and the Ambassador of Kuwait also exchanged views on the situation in Armenia. Boutique private bank Bordier & Cie (Bordier) hosted an exclusive private art preview of German artist Tim Bengels work at its Singapore office on 3 May. The event marked Bengels debut in Singapore with the unveiling of Marina Bay Sands. Commissioned by a private collector based in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands is an artistic rendition of the titular landmark in his signature medium, sand and gold. Bengel, who has shown in New York, Florence and Miami, is most known for videos revealing his work on YouTube, with 250 million views over half a million social media followers. I am happy to do my first ever reveal in Singapore. Im glad to be here for the opportunity to meet and talk to art enthusiasts in Asia, said Bengel at the event. The private event saw a gathering of 60 guests comprising art collectors and private clients. The Ambassador of Switzerland Fabrice Filliez and his wife were in attendance, as well as representatives from the German Embassy. Commenting on the event, CEO and managing partner of Bordier & Cie (Singapore), Evrard Bordier said, We are very pleased to host an up-and-coming artist like Tim Bengel and give our clients, especially the art enthusiasts among them, an intimate experience of art appreciation where they not only get to see the work in motion, but also the opportunity to meet with the talent behind such creativity. He added, We are committed to giving our clients a personal, sharing experience that aligns with our values and client service. More information at bordier.sg. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on last day directed the National Highways Authority of India to open the Eastern Peripheral Expressway for the public by May 31, asking why were they waiting for its inauguration by the Prime Minister. The apex court had asked the Centre in 2005 to build the expressway around Delhi to de- congest and de-pollute the national capital. The direction by the bench came after it was informed by the NHAI counsel that the construction work was complete. The 135 km expressway, envisages a signal free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautham Budh Nagar and Pawal. 'The High Court of Meghalaya was not inaugurated, but is functioning for the last five years. You cannot pass on the buck and say, PMO, PMO only', the court added. Frankly, any VeganBurg-related headline truly piques our fancy. After all, this international plant-based burger chain (which got its start in Singapore before expanding into the US), is responsible for vegan burgers that give you that some satisfaction that only fast food, traditionally meaty burgers can offer for us non-vegans and non-vegetarians. In honour of the upcoming Hari Raya festivities, VeganBurg has introduced a new burger called the Rasa Sayang Burg (which translates to Feel the Love in Malay). Its making headlines because get this: the burger is topped with a sunny-side-up vegan egg a first for Singapore. The Rasa Sayang Burg The burger itself features a plant-based patty topped with lettuce, cucumber slices, sweet caramelized onions, vegan aioli, a kampong samba sauce, and the vegan egg, all of which are beautifully sandwiched together in between two wholemeal vegan hamburger slices. The patty is completely vegan and meat-free, of course, and is whipped up using a breaded chick n wheat protein based, which is cooked and seasoned to a crispy perfection to achieve that classic chicken patty crunch. Wolf it down with their classic Coconut Fries and Rose Bandung drink both of which are unique to Singapores VeganBurg. Alex Tan, founder of VeganBurg, shared in a press release, Celebrating diversity is a big part of what we do at VeganBurg and the Rasa Sayang Burg is the perfect tribute to Singapores diverse multi-cultural food heritage. For many, were certain that the Rasa Sayang Burg will bring to their delight a familiar taste of Southeast Asia. Dont idle in sinking your teeth into this goodness, though; the Rasa Sayang Burg will only be available for two months at VeganBurg Singapore. And for our Muslim readers, youll know where to make a date at to break your fast this coming Ramadhan! Sarah Khan Photo: VeganBurg VeganBurg is located at 44 Jalan Eunos Singapore 419502. Read More: Award-winning New York-based burger and milkshake parlour to open in MBS Mouthwatering Morsels: The 10 Best burger bars in Singapore Surprisingly Sugary: 7 Savoury hawker dishes that are high in sugar We reproduce here a letter that Harry Whyte (a British Communist Party member) wrote to Stalin in May 1934, in which Whyte posed the question: can a homosexual be considered someone worthy of membership in the Communist Party?. At the time, Whyte (himself homosexual) was working in Moscow at the Moscow Daily News. When he heard about the new law, he wrote a letter to Stalin asking him how he could justify it. Whyte pointed out how the new law was cancelling all the progress that had been made on such matters since the October Revolution. Found in the Soviet archives, on the first page of the letter is a note written by Stalin: Archive. An idiot and a degenerate. J. Stalin. Harry Whyte's letter Comrade Stalin, The content of my appeal is briefly as follows. The author of this letter, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, requests a theoretical grounding of the March 7 [1934] decree of the USSR Central Executive Committee on [the institution of] criminal liability for sodomy. Since he strives to approach this question from a Marxist viewpoint, the author of this letter believes that the decree contradicts both the facts of life itself and the principles of Marxism-Leninism. Here is a summary of the facts that are discussed in detail in the attached letter: On the whole, the condition of homosexuals under capitalism is analogous to the condition of women, the coloured races, ethnic minorities, and other groups that are repressed for one reason or another; The attitude of bourgeois society to homosexuality is based on the contradiction between: capitalisms need for cannon fodder and a reserve army of labour (leading to repressive laws against homosexuality, which is regarded as a threat to birth rates); the ever-growing poverty of the masses under capitalism (leading to the collapse of the working-class family and an increase in homosexuality). This contradiction can be resolved only in a society where the liquidation of unemployment and the constant growth of the material well being of workers fosters conditions in which people who are normal in the sexual sense can enter into marriage. Science confirms that an insignificant percentage of the population suffers from constitutional homosexuality. The existence of this insignificant minority is not a threat to a society under the dictatorship of the proletariat. The new law on homosexuality has provoked the most various and contradictory interpretations. The March 7 law fundamentally contradicts the basic principle of the previous law on this question. The March 7 law essentially calls for levelling in the realm of sexual life. The March 7 law is absurd and unjust from the viewpoint of science, which has proven the existence of constitutional homosexuals and has no means at its disposal to change the sexual nature of homosexuals. Dear Comrade Stalin: Although I am a foreign communist who has not yet been promoted to the AUCP(b), [later to be renamed the CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union] I nevertheless think that it will not seem unnatural to you, the leader of the world proletariat, that I address you with a request to shed light on a question that, as it seems to me, has huge significance for a large number of communists in the USSR as well as in other countries. The question is as follows: can a homosexual be considered someone worthy of membership in the Communist Party? The recently promulgated law on criminal liability for sodomy, which was affirmed by the USSR Central Executive Committee on March 7 of this year, apparently means that homosexuals cannot be recognized as worthy of the title of Soviet citizen. Consequently, they should be considered even less worthy to be members of the AUCP(b). Since I have a personal stake in this question insofar as I am a homosexual myself, I addressed this question to a number of comrades from the OGPU and the Peoples Commissariat for Justice, to psychiatrists, and to Comrade Borodin, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper where I work. [Note: Mikhail Borodin, 1884-1951, was editor-in-chief of the Moscow Daily News. In 1949 he was arrested and later disappeared; he either died in a Siberian labour camp in 1951 or was shot in 1949, depending on different sources]. A photograph of homosexual and cross-dressing Russians, prior to 1917 / Image: public domain All that I managed to extract from them was a number of contradictory opinions which show that amongst these comrades there is no clear theoretical understanding of what might have served as the basis for passage of the given law. The first psychiatrist from whom I sought help with this question twice assured me (after verifying this with the Peoples Commissariat for Justice) that if they are honest citizens or good communists, his patients may order their personal lives as they see fit. Comrade Borodin, who said that he personally took a negative view of homosexuality, at the same time declared that he regarded me as a fairly good communist, that I could be trusted, and that I could lead my personal life as I liked. Somewhat earlier, when the arrests of homosexuals had only just begun, Comrade Borodin was quite disinclined to view me as a potential criminal; he did not regard me as a bad communist, and this was confirmed by the fact that he promoted me at work by appointing me head of editorial staff, which is the highest-ranking supervisory position with the exception of members of the editorial board. Somewhat later, when the December 17 version of the law already existed, but before the March 7 decree, I contacted the OGPU in connection with the arrest of a certain person with whom I had had homosexual relations. I was told there that there was nothing that incriminated me. All these statements produced the impression that the Soviet organs of justice were not prosecuting homosexuality as such, only certain socially dangerous homosexuals. If this is really the case, then is there a need for the general law? On the other hand, however, after the law was issued on March 7, I had a conversation in the OGPU in which I was told that the law would be strictly applied to each case of homosexuality that was brought to light. In connection with the lack of clarity that exists in this matter, I turn to you in the hope that you will find the time to give me an answer. Allow me to explain to you this question as I understand it. First and foremost, I would like to point out that I view the condition of homosexuals who are either of working-class origin or workers themselves to be analogous to the condition of women under the capitalist regime and the coloured races who are oppressed by imperialism. This condition is likewise similar in many ways to the condition of the Jews under Hitlers dictatorship, and in general it is not hard to see in it an analogy with the condition of any social stratum subjected to exploitation and persecution under capitalist domination. When we analyse the nature of the persecution of homosexuals, we should keep in mind that there are two types of homosexuals: first, those who are the way they are from birth (moreover, if scientists disagree about the precise reasons for this, then there is no disagreement that certain deep-seated reasons do exist); second, there are homosexuals who had a normal sexual life but later became homosexuals, sometimes out of viciousness, sometimes out of economic considerations. As for the second type, the question is decided relatively simply. People who become homosexuals by virtue of their depravity usually belong to the bourgeoisie, a number of whose members take to this way of life after they have sated themselves with all the forms of pleasure and perversity that are available in sexual relations with women. Amongst those who take to this way of life out of economic considerations, we find members of the petit bourgeoisie, the lumpenproletariat, and (as strange as it might seem) the proletariat. As a result of material necessity, which is particularly aggravated during periods of crisis, these people are forced temporarily to turn to this method of satisfying their sexual urges insofar as the absence of means deprives them of the possibility of marrying or at least contracting the services of prostitutes. There are also those who become homosexuals not in order to satisfy their urges, but in order to earn their keep by means of prostitution (this phenomenon has become especially widespread in modern Germany). But science has established the existence of constitutional homosexuals. Research has shown that homosexuals of this type exist in approximately equal proportions within all classes of society. We can likewise consider as established fact that, with slight deviations, homosexuals as a whole constitute around two percent of the population. If we accept this proportion, then it follows that there are around two million homosexuals in the USSR. Not to mention the fact that amongst these people there are no doubt those who are aiding in the construction of socialism, can it really be possible, as the March 7 law demands, that such a large number of people be subjected to imprisonment? "[A]mongst [homosexuals] there are no doubt those who are aiding in the construction of socialism, can it really be possible, as the March 7 law demands, that such a large number of people be subjected to imprisonment?" / Image: public domain Just as the women of the bourgeois class suffer to a significantly lesser degree from the injustices of the capitalist regime (you of course remember what Lenin said about this), so do natural-born homosexuals of the dominant class suffer much less from persecution than homosexuals from the working-class milieu. It must be said that even within the USSR there are conditions that complicate the daily lives of homosexuals and often place them in a difficult situation. (I have in mind the difficulty of finding a partner for the sexual act, insofar as homosexuals constitute a minority of the population, a minority that is forced to conceal its true proclivities to one degree or another.) What is the attitude of bourgeois society to homosexuals? Even if we take into account the differences existing on this score in the legislation of various countries, can we speak of a specifically bourgeois attitude to this question? Yes, we can. Independently of these laws, capitalism is against homosexuality by virtue of its entire class-based tendency. This tendency can be observed throughout the course of history, but it is manifested with especial force now, during the period of capitalisms general crisis. Capitalism, which needs an enormous reserve army of labour and cannon fodder in order to flourish, regards homosexuality as a factor that threatens to lower birth rates (as we know, in the capitalist countries there are laws that punish abortion and other methods of contraception). Of course, the attitude of the bourgeoisie to the homosexual question is typical hypocrisy. Strict laws are the cause of few nuisances for the bourgeois homosexual. Anyone who is at all familiar with the internal history of the capitalist class knows of the periodic scandals that arise in this regard; moreover, members of the dominant class who are mixed up in these affairs suffer to an insignificant degree. I can cite a little-known fact in this connection. Several years ago, one of the sons of Lord and Lady Astor was convicted of homosexuality. The English and American press omitted to report this fact, with the exception of the Morning Advertiser. This newspaper is owned by beer manufacturers, and it was in its interests to compromise Lord and Lady Astor, who had been agitating for the introduction of prohibition. Thus the fact of [Astors conviction] became known thanks to contradictions within the dominant class. Thanks to its wealth, the bourgeoisie can avoid the legal punishment that descends in all its severity on homosexual workers with the exception of those cases when the latter have prostituted themselves to members of the dominant class. I have already mentioned that capitalism, which has need of cannon fodder and a reserve army of labor, attempts to combat homosexuality. But at the same time, by worsening the living conditions of workers, capitalism produces the objective conditions for an increase in the number of homosexuals who take to this way of life by virtue of material necessity. This contradiction is reflected in the fact that fascism, which employed the pederast [Marinus] van der Lubbe as a weapon in its provocation, at the same time brutally suppressed the liberal-intelligentsia liberation movement of homosexuals led by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. (See the Brown Book, which cites the Hirschfeld case as an instance of the anti-cultural barbarism of the fascists.) [Note: van der Lubbe (1909-1934) was the young Dutch council communist accused of setting fire to the German Reichstag on February 27, 1933, sentenced to death and guillotined in Leipzig on January 1934. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) was a German doctor, sex researcher, and advocator of homosexual emancipation. The Brown Book of the Hitler Terror and the Burning of the Reichstag was a book published by the World Committee for the Relief of Victims of German Fascism in 1933.] Another reflection of this contradiction is the figure of Andre Gide, French homosexual writer, leader of the antifascist movement, and ardent friend of the USSR. The general public in France knows about Gides homosexuality, for he has written about it openly in his books. And despite this, his authority amongst the masses as a fellow traveller of the communist party in France has not been shaken. The fact that Gide has joined the revolutionary movement has not hindered its growth or the support of the masses for the leadership of the communist party. In my view, this shows that the masses are not intolerant of homosexuals. Praising the purity of the race and family values, fascism has taken an even sterner stance against homosexuality than the pre-Hitler government. However, because fascism destroys the working-class family and furthers the impoverishment of the masses, it essentially stimulates the development of the second type of homosexuality I have described that is, [homosexuality] out of necessity. The only solution to this contradiction is the revolutionary transformation of the existing order and the creation of a society in which the absence of unemployment, the growing prosperity of the masses, and the liquidation of the family as an economic unit secure the conditions in which no one will be forced into pederasty out of necessity. As for so-called constitutional homosexuals, as insignificant percentage of the population they are incapable of threatening the birth rate in the socialist state. Overall results in the growth of material prosperity have led to the fact that, whereas mortality rates have grown along with poverty in the capitalist countries, mortality has decreased and birth rates have increased in the USSR. Compared to the pre-war years, the population in the USSR has grown by a third, while in capitalist Europe it has fallen by ten percent. Today our country with its population of 165 million shows the same population increase as capitalist Europe with its population of 360 million. As you can see, in this matter as well the pace here [in the Soviet Union] is furious (laughter). (Comrade Kaganovichs report on the work of the AUCP(b) Central Committee at the conference of the Moscow organization the italics are Comrade Kaganovichs.) Despite the unusually severe laws on marriage that exist in the capitalist countries, perversion in the realm of normal sexual life is significantly more widespread in the capitalist countries than in the USSR, where the laws on marriage are the freest and more rational than in rest of the world. True, we know that in the first years of the Revolution certain people tried to abuse the freedom provided by the Soviet laws on marriage. However, these abuses were stopped not by repressive measures, but by broad-based political education and cultural work, and by the evolution of the economy towards socialism. I imagine that with respect to homosexuality (of the second type) a similar policy would prove the most fruitful. I have always believed that it was wrong to advance the separate slogan of the emancipation of working-class homosexuals from the conditions of capitalist exploitation. I believe that this emancipation is inseparable from the general struggle for the emancipation of all humanity from the oppression of private-ownership exploitation. "I have always believed that it was wrong to advance the separate slogan of the emancipation of working-class homosexuals from the conditions of capitalist exploitation. I believe that this emancipation is inseparable from the general struggle for the emancipation of all humanity from the oppression of private-ownership exploitation." LGSM from the United Kingdom, in which gay socialists supported the miner's strike, is a great example of this principle in practice / Image: simonm1965 I had no intention of turning this into a problem, of posing this question theoretically and seeking a definite opinion on this question from the Party. However, at present, reality itself has forced this question on me, and I consider it essential to achieve general clarity on this issue. Comrade Borodin has indicated to me that the fact that I am homosexual in no way diminishes my value as a revolutionary. He has shown great confidence in me by appointing me the head of editorial staff. Then he did not treat me as someone who might become or was a convicted criminal. He likewise indicated that my personal life was not something that could even in the slightest degree harm my status as a Party member and editorial worker. When I posed to him the question of the arrests, he once again (and the OGPU through him) assured me that in the given instance the reasons [for the arrests] were political in nature, and not in any way social or moral, although the December 17 variant of the law existed already then. After I made the corresponding request to the OGPU, I was told: There is nothing incriminating against you. When I learned of the December 17 variant of the law, I received replies of a similar sort from a number of people. True, Comrade Degot from the Peoples Commissariat of Justice said that the reason for the law was that homosexuality was a form of bourgeois degeneracy. The specialist psychiatrist with whom I spoke about this matter refused to believe in the existence of such a law until I showed him a copy of it. Despite the existence of a number of incorrect interpretations on the part of certain comrades, it is completely obvious that in the period preceding the promulgation of the law, public opinion on this question was nevertheless not in the least hostile to homosexuals. And this did not surprise me at all. I accepted the arrests of homosexuals as a wholly natural phenomenon insofar as the occasion [for the arrests] were reasons of a political nature. As I have already mentioned, this was all wholly in line with my own analysis of the question (as stated above), and in exactly the same way it did not contradict the officially expressed viewpoint of the Soviet public. Comrade Borodin pointed out to me that I should not attach too much significance to the article on homosexuality in the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia because (he said) its author was a homosexual himself and the article was published during a period when a number of deviations had still not yet been exposed. I do not think we should mistrust a history of the Communist Party if a communist wrote it. If a homosexual in fact wrote this article, then all that was required of him was an objective and scientific approach to homosexuality. Second, I know enough about the efficacy of Soviet political control of the press that I cannot admit the possibility that an article with serious deviations could be printed in such a publication as the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia. If this is possible when it comes to individual articles in some insignificant journal or newspaper, then it is not possible in the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia. In any case, I thought it possible to have full confidence in a publication whose editors include such people as Molotov, Kuibyshev, and Pokrovsky (or even Bukharin, although he deserves less confidence). However, from the point of view that I am defending, the article in the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia was of no great significance. The attitude of the Soviet public to this question was expressed with sufficient clarity in the law that existed right up until the adoption of the March 7 law. If the law had said nothing about this question, then doubts might have existed earlier. But the law in fact did formulate an opinion on this question: it defended the interests of society by forbidding the seduction and perversion of minors. But this led one to conclude that homosexual relations between adults were not forbidden. The law, of course, is dialectical: it changes as circumstances change. It is obvious, however, that when the first law was ratified, the entire question of homosexuality was taken into account as a whole (this, at any rate, is what one might think on the basis of the conclusion that followed from the law). This law established that the Soviet government altogether rejected the principle of persecuting homosexuality. This principle is fundamental in character, and we know that basic principles are not altered in order to bring them into line with new circumstances. Altering basic principles for such ends means being an opportunist, not a dialectician. I am capable of grasping that changed circumstances also require certain partial changes in the legislation, the application of new measures for the defence of society, but I cannot understand how changed circumstances can force us to change one of [our] basic principles. I visited two psychiatrists in the search for an answer to the question of whether it was possible to cure homosexuality perhaps you will find this surprising. I admit that this was opportunism on my part (this time, perhaps, it can be forgiven), but I was incited to do this by the desire to find some kind of solution to this cursed dilemma. Least of all did I want to contradict the decision of the Soviet government. I was prepared to do anything if only to avoid the necessity of finding myself in contradiction with Soviet law. I took this step despite the fact that I did not know whether contemporary researchers had succeeded in establishing the true nature of homosexuality and the possibility of converting homosexuals into heterosexuals that is, into people who engage in the sexual act only with members of the opposite sex. If such a possibility were in fact established, then everything would be much simpler of course. But, frankly speaking, even if this possibility were established, I would be uncertain all the same how desirable it was in fact to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals. Of course, there might be certain political reasons that would make this desirable. But I imagine that the necessity for such a leveling procedure should be supported by unusually strong reasons. It is no doubt desirable that the majority of people be normal in the sexual sense. I fear, however, that this will be never be the case. And I think that my fears are confirmed by the facts of history. I think that one can say with certainty that the majority of people desire and will continue to desire a normal sexual life. However, I greatly doubt in the possibility of all people becoming utterly identical in terms of their sexual proclivities. I remind you that homosexuals constitute a mere two percent of the population. You should also remember that amongst those two percent there were such exceptionally talented people as Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and Tchaikovsky. These are the ones about whom we know that they were homosexuals. But how many other such talented people have there been amongst homosexuals who hid their true proclivities? I have no intention of defending the absurd theory that homosexuals belong to a breed of superhumans, that homosexuality and genius are synonyms, that homosexuals will, allegedly, someday take their revenge on society for their sufferings by uniting to conquer heterosexuals. Theories of this ilk were already condemned with considerable contempt (as they deserved to be) by Engels in his letter to Marx from June 22, 1869. In this letter, Engels writes about the theory advanced by a clique of German bourgeois homosexuals who had formed their own special organization. Engels characterizes this whole affair with the epithet swinishness (schweinerei). "[A]mongst those two percent there were such exceptionally talented people as Tchaikovsky" / Image: public domain That it was precisely the political theory of the organization, not the specific sexual orientation of its members, that aroused the ire of Engels, can be seen in his letter to [Friedrich] Sorge from February 8, 1890. Engels writes: Here there is another storm in a teacup under way. Youll read in the Labour Elector about the brouhaha provoked by Peake [?], assistant editor of the Star, who in one of the local papers openly accused Lord Gaston of sodomy in connection with the scandalous homosexuality of the local aristocracy. The article was disgraceful, but was only of a personal nature; the matter was hardly political. [The translation is imprecise and made from the English text published in an English communist journal.] The matter was hardly political. The fact that Engels regards the case of a member of the enemy class who was accused of sodomy and caused a scandal in the aristocratic world as hardly political, as storm in a teacup, is of great and fundamental significance to us. If homosexuality is viewed as a characteristic trait of bourgeois degeneracy, then it is correct to attack its individual manifestations, especially during a period when homosexual scandals were widespread in the aristocratic milieu. However, it follows from the quotation that Engels did not view homosexuality as a specifically bourgeois form of degeneracy. He attacked it only when (as, for example, in cases involving Germany) it adopted the political form of an association of certain bourgeois elements. When, on the other hand, the matter had no political overtones (as in the case cited above), Engels did not find it necessary to attack it. I assume that certain kinds of talent (in particular, talent in the realm of the arts) are startlingly often combined with homosexuality. This should be kept in mind, and it seems to me that one should carefully weigh the dangers of sexual levelling precisely for this branch of Soviet culture, for at present we do not as yet possess a sufficiently scientific explanation of homosexuality. This image is a Chinese Communist Party propaganda poster, celebrating the relationship between Mao's China and the USSR, regimes in which homosexuals were severely oppressed. But recently, and especially online, it has acquired a different meaning... / Image: public domain I will permit myself to cite one passage from Comrade Stalins report to the Seventeenth Party Congress: [A]ny Leninist knows, if he is a genuine Leninist, that levelling in the realm of needs and personal daily life is a reactionary absurdity worthy of some primitive sect of ascetics, not of a socialist state organized in the Marxist manner, for one cannot require that all people should have identical needs and tastes, that all people live their daily lives according to a single model. [] To conclude from this that socialism requires the egalitarianism, equalization, and levelling of the needs of societys members, the levelling of their tastes and personal lives, that according to Marxism everyone should wear identical clothes and eat the same quantity of one and the same dishes, is tantamount to uttering banalities and slandering Marxism. (Stalin, Report to the 17th Party Congress on the Work of the Central Committee of the AUCP(b). Lenpartizdat, 1934, pp. 54-55. The italics are mine H.W.) It seems to me that this excerpt from Comrade Stalins report has a direct bearing on the question that I am analysing. What is important, however, is that even if one pursues this levelling in the present, it is impossible to achieve it either with medical or legislative methods. When both psychiatrists whom I visited were forced by my insistent questions to confess that cases of incurable homosexuality exist, I finally established my own attitude to the question. One should recognize that there is such a thing as ineradicable homosexuality I have yet to encounter facts that would refute this and hence as a consequence, it seems to me, one should recognize as inevitable the existence of this minority in society, be it a capitalist or even a socialist society. In this case, one cannot find any justification for declaring these people criminally liable for their distinguishing traits, traits for whose creation they bear no measure of responsibility and which they are incapable of changing even if they wanted to. Thus, attempting to reason in accordance with the principles of Marxism-Leninism as I understand them, I have arrived in the end at the contradiction between the law and those conclusions that have followed from my line of reasoning. And it is just this contradiction that compels me to desire an authoritative statement on this question. Communist greetings, Harry Whyte Information about the author of the letter Whyte, Harry. 27 years old. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Son of a working-class painter who recently acquired his own business. Secondary school education. Journalist by profession. Worked for bourgeois newspapers until 1932. Worked in his free time for the journal of the USSR Friends Society, Russia Today (from 1931 to 1932). Joined the Independent Labour Party in 1927; the Communist Party of Great Britain, in 1931. Assisted in the organisation of party cells and district organizations on Fleet Street, the centre of the British press. In 1932, was hired onto the staff of the Moscow News (Moskovskie Novosti). In 1933, was appointed head of the editorial staff of this newspaper. Singled out as best shock worker. Promotion to the AUCP(b) from the Communist Party of England [sic] has been postponed until completion of the Party purge. The arguments set forth in the attached letter were originally formulated by me in a letter to Comrade Borodin, managing editor of the Moscow Daily News, in the hope that he would direct Comrade Stalins attention to the question that I broach. However, he deemed it impossible to do this. Aside from what is stated in the present letter, the letter addressed to Comrade Borodin also contains certain facts that concern me personally and have on the whole no great bearing on the question under consideration, but which, however, I deemed necessary to bring to his attention. A copy of this letter has been presented to the OGPU at their request insofar as I informed one comrade in the OGPU about this letter. [AP RF (Archive of the President of the Russian Federation), f. 3, op. 57, d. 37, l. 29-45; notarised copy. The original Russian text of this letter was published in the journal Istochnik (5/6 (1993): 185-191).] This English translation of Harry Whytes letter to Stalin was published in the book "Moscow" by New York-based artist Yevgeniy Fiks. We would like to thank Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, New York, the publishers, and Tom Campbell, Editor at the The Russian Reader, who translated Harry Whytes letter from the original Russian to English, for their kind permission to republish the letter. A note on fate of Harry Whyte Shortly after he wrote his letter, Whyte left the Soviet Union and returned to Britain where he got involved in solidarity activities with the cause of the Spanish Republic against Franco. He became disillusioned with Stalinist Russia, worked as a freelance journalist for the Daily Express and Daily Herald and later for Reuters in Turkey, where he died in 1960 at the age of 53. He was a tragic figure, a member of the Communist Party who believed the party was building communism, and unfortunately did not understand the process of bureaucratic degeneration. How many individuals like this were lost to the cause of the struggle for genuine socialism because of the Stalinist degeneration? No figure can be put on it, but a whole generation was affected. See Harry Whyte: The Gay Scot who Challenged Stalin The speech we publish today was given at a meeting of the leadership of the International Marxist Tendency, held yesterday by video link with the participation of comrades from 25 different countries. The IMT is a Marxist revolutionary organisation with sections all over the world. Read more about us and how you can join! 100 years ago, on 9 May 1918, the Scottish socialist John Maclean went on trial at the Edinburgh High Court facing charges of sedition. Maclean, however, used the trial to make an impassioned defence of himself and his socialist ideas (lasting 75 minutes in total), which we publish in full here. Maclean one of the finest revolutionaries ever produced by the British Isles had actively opposed the First World War and the imperialist intervention against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. It was for this revolutionary agitation and activity that Maclean was punished by the British state. He was sentenced to five years penal servitude. Following months of militant campaigning throughout the socialist movement, however, John Maclean was released in December the same year. One century later, Maclean's speech from the dock is a powerful reminder of the callous and cynical interests of the imperialists and the capitalists. It has been said that they cannot fathom my motive. For the full period of my active life I have been a teacher of economics to the working classes, and my contention has always been that capitalism is rotten to its foundations, and must give place to a new society. I had a lecture, the principal heading of which was Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not kill", and I pointed out that as a consequence of the robbery that goes on in all civilised countries today, our respective countries have had to keep armies, and that inevitably our armies must clash together. On that and on other grounds, I consider capitalism the most infamous, bloody and evil system that mankind has ever witnessed. My language is regarded as extravagant language, but the events of the past four years have proved my contention. He (the Lord Advocate) accused me of my motives. My motives are clean. My motives are genuine. If my motives were not clean and genuine, would I have made my statements while these shorthand reporters were present? I am out for the benefit of society, not for any individual human being, but I realise this, that justice and freedom can only be obtained when society is placed on a sound economic basis. That sound economic basis is wanting today, and hence the bloodshed we are having. I have not tried to get young men particularly. The young men have come to my meetings as well as the old men. I know quite well that in the reconstruction of society, the class interests of those who are on top will resist the change, and the only factor in society that can make for a clean sweep in society is the working class. Hence the class war. The whole history of society has proved that society moves forward as a consequence of an under-class overcoming the resistance of a class on top of them. So much for that. I also wish to point out to you this, that when the late King Edward the Seventh died, I took as the subject of one of my lectures Edward the Peacemaker". I pointed out at the time that his entente cordiale with France and his alliance with Russia were for the purpose of encircling Germany as a result of the coming friction between Germany and this country because of commercial rivalry. I then denounced that title Edward the Peacemaker and said that it should be Edward the Warmaker". The events which have ensued prove my contention right up to the hilt, I am only proceeding along the lines upon which I have proceeded for many years. I have pointed out at my economic classes that, owing to the surplus created by the workers, it was necessary to create a market outside this country, because of the inability of the workers to purchase the wealth they create. You must have markets abroad, and in order to have these markets you must have empire. I have also pointed out that the capitalist development of Germany since the Franco-Prussian War has forced upon that country the necessity for empire as well as this country, and in its search for empire there must be a clash between these two countries. I have been teaching that and what I have taught is coming perfectly true. I wish no harm to any human being, but I, as one man, am going to exercise my freedom of speech. No human being on the face of the earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything that is for the benefit of mankind. I am not here, then, as the accused; I am here as the accuser of capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot. In connection with the ca canny question at Parkhead Forge, I wish to take up some of the particular points first of all before I deal with the revolution. It is quite evident that it was in connection with a report in the Forward that reference was made to David Kirkwood. It was reported that Kirkwood had made a record output. Now David Kirkwood, representing the Parkhead Forge workers, at the end of 1915, when the dilution of labour began, put forward a printed statement for the benefit of Mr Lloyd George and his colleagues, the first sentence of which, in big type, wasWhat you wish is greater output". He said that the Parkhead workers were then prepared to give a greater output and accept dilution if they, the workers, had some control over the conditions under which the greater output would accrue. That was his contention. Since he was got into position he seems to have boasted that he has got a record output. The question was put to me. Was this consistent with the position and with the attitude of the working class? I said it was not consistent with the attitude and the position of the working class, that his business was to get back right down to the normal, to ca canny so far as the general output was concerned. The country has been exploited by the capitalist in every sphere, to get the toilers to work harder to bring victory. I said at the commencement of the war that while this was being done, and while assurances were being given that at the end of the war the people would get back to normal, I said that circumstances would make such a return impossible. Now I have ample evidence to support that belief; I have used it at my meetings at Weirs of Cathcartthat they were asking the workers to work harder and harder, because there is going to be the war after the war", the economic war which brought on this war. You see, therefore, the workers are brought into a position where they are speeded up, and they are never allowed to get back again. They are speeded up again and again. What is the position of the worker? This country is not a free country. The worker is deprived of land or access to the land; he is deprived of workshops or access to the materials and tools of production; the worker has only one thing to do in the market, and that is to sell his labour power. The capitalist purchased that labour power, and when he gets the worker inside the workshop, his business is to extract as much of that labour power out of him as possible. On the other hand, when it comes to wages, then the employer applies the principle of ca canny". Ca canny is quite justifiable when it comes to the employer giving wages to the workers, and we have seen it since the commencement of the war. Prices rose right away from the commencement of the war while the workers wages were kept at the old normal. Their wages were kept low. The purchasing power of the workers wages was therefore diminished. They were therefore robbed to that extent. At the same time the workers were asked in the name of the country to work harder. But, said the employers, we will not give you any more money, although the money you are getting is purchasing less in the way of food, etc. That is the position. The employers are changing their opinions now as a result of experience, but in the past they considered it in their economic interest to pay as low a wage as possible. On the other hand the position of the workers is to give as little of their energy as they possibly can and to demand the highest wage possible. If it is right for the employer to get the maximum of energy and pay the minimum of wage, then it is equally right for the worker to give the minimum of his energy and demand the maximum of wage. What is right for the one is equally right for the other, although the interests of the two classes are diametrically opposed. That is the position, and in view of the fact that many of the workers have over-worked themselves and have had to lie off through overstrain, and considering the treatment they get when thrown on the scrapheapkicked out like dogs when they are no longer usefulthey are compelled to look after their own welfare. The worker has therefore in the past adopted the policy of ca canny", and I have in the interests of the working class advocated the policy of ca canny , not because I am against the war, but, knowing that after the war the worker will have the new conditions imposed upon him, I hold still to the principle of ca canny". I accede to that. So far as Parkhead Forge is concerned I also pointed out that none of the great big guns had been made for some time prior to the great offensive. When the offensive came, Gough, the friend of Sir Edward Carson, the man who before the war was going to cut down the Irishmen, retreated and lost so many guns, and then the Glasgow workers had to give over their Easter holiday in order to make those guns. We have, therefore, Beardmore and others responsible for shortage of certain material, and we know from further disclosures that millions of shells have been useless, and perhaps that has been due to the fact of over-speeding, so that even over-speeding may do nothing for the advancement of the war. Furthermore, if big reserves of material are going to be built up, and the Germans are to be allowed to get them, that is going to be to the advantage of the Germans, and not to the advantage of the British. With regard to the next point, down tools", so far as Glasgow is concerned, I do not think I told the workers to down tools". I am of the opinion that I said, Now that you are determined to down tools it is of no use standing idle; you must do something for yourselves. As a matter of fact my statement was based on a resolution that had been passed by the ASE in the Clyde area, the official Engineers Committee. It met, and it determined to down tools against the introduction of the Man Power Bill. At the same time that was supplemented by unofficial effort at Geddess meeting in the City Hall. There a resolution was put up by the workers and carried virtually unanimously, that if the Man Power Bill was put into operation, the Clyde district workers would down tools". It was unnecessary for me, therefore, in light of these official and unofficial statements, to urge the down tools policy. As a matter of fact, we were told that the government had dismissed many munition girls just immediately prior to the great offensive, so that if the workers are guilty of stoppage of output of munitions, the government is likewise responsible in the dismissal of those thousands of girls. Now then, food and farms. I pointed out to the workers that what was necessary if they stopped work was the getting of food. There had been a shortage; the government had held up the supplies, for several reasons probablyperhaps to get this rationing passed, in order to have a tight hold on food, and also lest the people get out of hand in reference to this Man Power Bill. I know that there was plenty of food in stores in Glasgow, and that the farmers had food stored up in their farms. The farmers have used the war in order to make huge profits for themselves, and then the government assisted them in connection with the potato regulations; and latterly, at the end of last year the Corn Production Act was passed not in the interests of the farm labourers, but in the interests of the farmers. When the demand for more food production was made, the farmers said they would do their best, and the government refused to give the farm labourers a minimum wage of 25s to 30s a week25s at that time being equivalent to 10s in normal times. The farmers were going to get extra as a consequence of the Corn Production Act. I therefore pointed out that if the workers went to the farmers and did not get the food stored up in the farms, they should burn the farms. We as socialists have no interest in destroying any property. We want property to be kept because we want that property to be used for housing accommodation or other reasons, but I specially emphasised about the farmers for the purpose of drawing attention to this particular point. In the same way, when it came to a question of seizing the press, I suggested that when the Daily Record was seized, the plant should be broken up. I did not say that in connection with the Glasgow Herald. I said so in connection with the Record not that it is a good thing to break up printing plant, but in order to draw attention to the Harmsworth family and to the Rothermeres and so on, and their vile press which seems to be an index of the culture of Britain. I mention that particularly here, that I said the Record plant should be broken up, in order to emphasise the disgust of the organised workers with regard to that particular family of newspapers. So far as Ireland and America are concerned, that was mentioned particularly for the purpose of getting food from the St Lawrence, food from the United States, and food from the Argentine. What was needed was food in order to hold our own, for, as the Glasgow Herald pointed out, when the Bolsheviks first came into power, Britain was withholding food from Russia, in the expectation that frost and famine would overthrow the Bolsheviks. That is to say, they were anxious to murder women and children inside Russia, as well as men. The suggestion I made was in order to draw attention of the workers to the need of having plenty of foodstuffs to keep them going. So far as the governments responsibility for the murder of women and children is concerned, the reason for my statement is perfectly obvious. They have been accusing the Germans of killing women and children in this country. Perfectly true. Of course bombs dropped in Germany have not killed women and children, marvellous to say! But that apart; we had the government getting hold of the food supplies immediately prior to and immediately after the New Year, and creating a shortage. The government was therefore responsible for the queues. Women were standing in queues in the cold, and women had died of what they had contracted during their standing in the queues. The women had died therefore in consequence of the action of the government, and I threw the responsibility upon the governmentand I do so still. We know that women and childrenhuman materialhave been used up inside the factories, and the housing of the working class in this country has been so bad, and is so bad today, that the women and children of the working class die in greater proportion than the women and children of the better-to-do classes. I have always pointed out that the death rate among the working classes has always exceeded that in the better-to-do districts. John Maclean in prison / Image: public domain I also pointed out that the British government had sent Russian subjects back to Russia to fight, and had given their wives 12s 6d per week and 2s 6d for each child. Now, when I was functioning as Russian Consul, two deputations of Russian women came to me and they told me sorrowful tales of depression, disease and death in consequence of the fact that they had received 12s 6d per week and 2s 6d for each child. I wrote to the Secretary for Scotland in regard to that, and I received no reply. The children ought not to suffer because their fathers have been taken, but those children have suffered. There is not a Lithuanian family in the West of Scotland but has trouble today as a consequence of the starving of these people. These women and children of the Russian community have died as a consequence of the meagre supplies given to them by the British government, and I seize this opportunity for the purpose of making my statement public, in connection with these women, in the hope that the public in general will press the government to see that these women and children are attended to at least on the same scale as the wives and dependants of British soldiers. With regard to the Yankees, I said, and I say today, that the Yankees are out for themselves. The British pressthe British capitalist press sneered and jeered at the Americans before the Americans came in, and pointed out how the Americans were making piles of profit out of the war, but were not participating in this fight for so- called freedom. Those insults were offered to America, and when Mr Woodrow Wilson said that America was too proud to fight, then that was used venomously. Therefore, if I erred, I erred on the same side as the capitalist class of this country. I made the statement on American authority, not off my own bat. My authority is Professor Roland G. Usher, Professor of History at Washington University. I think his statement in Pan- Americanism is one of the finest, showing the moves throughout the world leading up to this war, and Usher has his bias in favour of Britain. What I wish to particularly refer to are his two books, Pan-Germanism and The Challenge of the Future. In Pan-Germanism he surveys North and South and Central America. He takes the Atlantic first, and explains what will be the consequence of the war as regards South and Central America whichever side wins, and then he takes the Pacific. He works it out from a material and economic point of view, his purpose being to get Central and South America to work in with the United States. In his later book he modifies that positionthat is to say in The Challenge of the Future. He points out that America is still today economically dependent, that is to say she has got to pay interest to financiers in France, in Britain, and therefore America cannot afford to carry out the bold schemes referred to in his book Pan-Americanism. I may now state that today the businessmen of this country know perfectly well that the Yankees are boasting of their independence. Therefore when you see references to American independence, that means that she no longer needs to pay interest to investors from outside and that her policy will be modified in consequence of that new phase. This gentleman points out that as a consequence of American dependence she must say which side she will take. This book was printed prior to America entering the war. Woodrow Wilsons policy works in admirably with the suggestions in that book of Professor Usher, The Challenge of the Future. We know quite well, too, that the United States of America prevented Japan in 1915 getting economic and political control over North China. Twenty-one articles were imposed on China after the Japs had released their grip of the Germans there. America, alive to her own interests, getting to know of these twenty-one points, forced Japan to withdraw. America was there working in her own interests. Japan has been, I think, incited to land at Vladivostok in consequence of the Russian revolution, and in order to crush the Bolsheviks. The allies on both sides are united to crush the Bolsheviks. America did not take that course. America early on began to back up the Bolsheviks because America was afraid that, if Japan got half Siberian Russia, that would give her a strategic control of Siberia, and it would mean a closed door to American contact across the Pacific with Russia proper. America therefore has been looking to her own interests, and for that reason I contend that the Yankees, who have been the worshippers of the mighty dollar, are looking after their own interests in the present war; and as to the great boast they have been making about what they are going to do, and their inadequate returnsthat, I think, shows that America has not been over-anxious to plunge right away into this war and made all the sacrifices she has said. I know, of course, that America has had her own troubles at home, racial troubles, and also troubles with the workers. Numerous strikes have taken place in America since the commencement of the war, not only in consequence of the war, but also in connection with the economic position. Now then, I come to the doctors. The doctors I referred to were the prison doctors. When I was in Peterhead it was plain sailing until the middle of December, and then the trouble began. I was fevered up, and being able to combat that, I was chilled down. Two men came to see me at the end of December, a prominent lecturer in this country, and Mr Sutherland, MP, and to them I protested that my food was being drugged. I said that there was alcohol in the food lowering my temperature. I know that potassium bromide is given to people in order to lower their temperature. It may have been potassium bromide that was used in order to lower my temperature. I was aware of what was taking place in Peterhead from hints and statements by other prisoners there; that from January to March, the so-called winter period, the doctor is busy getting the people into the hospital, there breaking up their organs and their systems. I call that period the eye-squinting period, because the treatment then given puts the eyes out of view. Through numerous expedients I was able to hold my own. I saw these men round about me in a horrible plight. I have stated in public since that I would rather be immediately put to death than condemned to a life sentence in Peterhead. Attacks were made upon the organs of these men and also upon their nervous systems, and we know from the conscientious objectors that the government have taken their percentage of these mensome have died, some have committed suicide, others have been knocked off their heads, and in this way got into asylums. The very same process has gone on here. Mrs Hobhouse has done a good service to mankind in registering the facts, but, unfortunately for Mrs Hobhouse, she does not know how the results have been obtained. I experienced part of the process, and I wish to emphasise the fact that this callous and cold system of destroying people is going on inside prisons now. Whatever is done to me now, I give notice that I take no food inside your prisons, absolutely no food, because of the treatment that was meted out to me. If food is forced upon me, and if I am forcibly fed, then my friends have got to bear in mind that if any evil happens to me, I am not responsible for the consequences, but the British government. If anything had happened to me when I was last in prison, it would have been attributed to John MacLean, not to those who are working in the interests of the government. I have been able to lay down my principle and policy, not from mere internal and personal experience, but from objective experience. I studied the matter carefully, I combated the evils that were going to be perpetrated by the government by reducing my food to the minimum, and the present Secretary for Scotland knows that when I was in Perth I wrote to him asking for more food because of my reduced weight. I was about eight stones in weight at the time, and the doctor after weighing me had to grant me more food. The food, however, was of no use to me. I threw it into the pot. My position is, therefore, that I take no more government food, that I will not allow any food to be forced in upon me, and if any food is forced in upon me I am not responsible for it, but when the government can launch millions of men into the field of battle, then perhaps the mere disposal of one man is a mere bagatelle and a trifle. So far as Russian freedom and British slavery are concerned, I wish to draw attention to the fact that an article appeared in The Scotsman the other day about Bolshevism, and I have a feeling that that article was written especially for this trial, to create a feeling against Bolshevism. The statements m that article are a travesty. Inside Russia, since Lenin and Trotsky and the Bolsheviks came into power, there have been fewer deaths than for the same period under any Tsar for three hundred years. Capitalists have been killed perhaps, officers have been killed perhaps, because they have not submitted to those who have come to the topthe majority of the peoplein the name of Bolshevism. Some may have been put to death. When there was a shortage and disorganisation of the food supplies before the Bolsheviks came into power, there may have been individuals who, in their scramble for food themselves, have gone to excess, but the crimes of individuals cannot be charged to governments. No person would hold the government responsible for the action of those individuals. The Bolshevik government has not given orders to kill men. They have to imprison men until a complete reconstruction of society has come about. It may be news to some of you that the co-operative movement in Russia has grown more rapidly than in any other part of the world, and since the Bolsheviks have come into power, co-operation has been growing more and more rapidly. The universities have been used during the day, and in the evenings, to train the working classes in order that they may manage the affairs of their country in an intelligent manner. The schools have also been used in the evenings, the music halls have been used, and the theatres, and the picture houses, all have been used, not for the trivial trash which is given to the people of this countrybut all for the purpose of organising the production of food and the work inside the workshops and factories. We saw that prior to our comrades in Russia signing their treaty, when the Germans made their advance into Estonia, Lithuania, and so onthe border countries between Germany and Russiathe capitalist class in the respective towns had lists of men who were members of the soviets, and those members of the soviets were taken and put against a wall, and shot at the instigation of the propertied class of Russia. They have been responsible for more deaths than the soviets. Our Finnish comrades, the Red Guards, have pointed out that the ordinary procedure of war has not been acceded to them, that as soon as the White Guards, the capitalist class, take any one of them prisoner, they immediately put them to death. It has been said that our comrades over there in Russia were working hand in hand with the Germans, and the proof of this was that the Germans allowed Lenin to pass through Austrian territory. Our comrades have stood up against Germany as best they could, and the capitaliststhe so-called patriots of Russiahave been working hand in hand with Germany in order to crush the people of Russia. That has been done in the Ukraine. It has been done in the various states stolen by Germany from Russia. The Lord Advocate pointed out here that I probably was a more dangerous enemy that you had got to face than in the Germans. The working class, when they rise for their own, are more dangerous to capitalists than even the German enemies at your gates. That has been repeatedly indicated in the press, and I have stated it as well. I am glad that you have made this statement at this, the most historic trial that has ever been held in Scotland, when the working class and the capitalist class meet face to face. The Bolsheviks got into power in October, and the people wished peace, and they were doing their best to get peace. The Bolsheviks wished peace throughout the world. They wished the war to cease in order that they might settle down to the real business of life, the economic reorganisation of the whole of Russia. They therefore got into negotiation with the Germans, and they and the Germans met at Brest Litovsk. Towards the end of December there was a pause in the negotiations for ten days, in order to allow the British and their allies to go to Brest Litovsk. Ten days were given. The last day was 4 January of this year. Great Britain paid no attention to this opportunity, but on 5 January Lloyd George, in one of his insidious speeches, seemed to climb down as it were. He was followed by Mr Woodrow Wilson. But a speech by Mr Lloyd George on the 5th was of no use. It was mere talk. It was mere camouflage, or, a better word still, bluff, pure bluff. Why did the government not accept the opportunity and go to Brest Litovsk? If conditions absolutely favourable to Germany were proposed, then Britain would have stopped the negotiations and plunged once more into the war, and I am confident of this, if Germany had not toed the line and come up square so far as peace negotiations were concerned, that the Russian workers would have taken the side of Britain, and I am confident of this, that the socialists in all the allied countries would have backed up their governments in order to absolutely crush Germany, and we would at the same time have appealed to the socialists of Germany to overthrow their government. Great Britain did not do so. On the other hand, they came on with their Man Power Bill, and also with their factor of short food. All these things must be considered in their ensemble, before you can understand the position taken up by myself. When this universal peace meeting was held at Brest Litovsk, then Trotsky played a very, very bold game. He knew the risks he ran. He and the Bolsheviks spread millions of leaflets amongst the workers of Germany in the trenches the German soldiers urging them to stop fighting and to overthrow the Kaiser, the junkers, and the capitalist classes of Germany. They made a bold bid by trying to get the German workers on to their side. Great Britain has been doing the very same thing since the commencement of the war. Great Britain has been trying to bring about, and hoping and urging for a revolution in Germany, in the hope that the working class would overthrow the autocratic class there and give us peace. From a British point of view, revolution inside Germany is good; revolution inside Britain is bad. So says this learned gentleman. He can square it if he can. I cannot square it. The conditions of Germany economically are the conditions of Britain, and there is only a very slight difference between the political structure of Germany and that of this country at the best. And so far as we workers are concerned, we are not concerned with the political superstructure; we are concerned with the economic foundation of society, and that determines our point of view in politics and industrial action. Our Russian comrades, therefore, did the very same as the British have been doing; they appealed to the German soldiers and workers to overthrow their government. Strikes broke forth in Italy. The strikes in January passed into Germany, more menacing strikes than have taken place inside the British Isles. An appeal was made from comrades to comrades. Many soldiers in Germany mutinied; many sailors of Germany mutinied, and these men are being shot down by their government. All hail to those working men of Germany who refused at the bidding of the capitalist to go on with this war. Their names will go down bright and shining where those of the capitalist of today and of the past will have been forgotten. It would be a very bad thing for the workers of the world if a revolution were developed and carried through to success in Germany and no similar effort were made in this country. The German workers enemy is the same as our enemy in this countryand if it was their business and their right and their duty to overthrow their autocratic government, then it will be a duty on us not to allow these men to overthrow their government, and then to allow France, Britain and Italy to march over them and make these German workers slaves at the dictates of the capitalists of the other parts of the world. There was the situation from their point of view and from our point of view too. It has been pointed out that if we developed a revolution the Germans would come over and, instead of having liberty, we would be under the iron heel of the Kaiser. If I grant that that is true, it is equally true in the other case that the allies would do in Germany what the German Kaiser with the capitalist class of Germany would do in this country. There can only be a revolution when the workers of all the countries stand united and capitalism is crushed, and until then the war must go on incessantly and incessantly. It is not because I am against my own people. My own people are the workers here, and the workers in Germany and elsewhere. It was not the workers who instigated the war. The workers have no economic interest to serve as a consequence of the war, and because of that, it is my appeal to my class that makes me a patriot so far as my class is concerned, and when I stand true to my class, the working class, in which I was born, it is because my people were swept out of the Highlands, and it was only because of my own ability that I remained. I have remained true to my class, the working class, and whatever I do I think I am doing in the interest of my class and my country. I am no traitor to my country. I stand loyal to my country because I stand loyal to the class which creates the wealth throughout the whole of the world. We are out for life and all that life can give us. I therefore took what action I did in the light of what was transpiring inside Russia, inside Austria and inside Germany. You have got to bear that in mind when you wish to understand my remarks. I therefore urged the workers of this country that if they were going to strike, mere striking was useless, because they would be starved back into work again, and that if they were going to be against the Man Power Bill, it meant that they were out for peace. And as there was no sign on either side of coming to an amicable constitutional conclusion, then it was the business of the workers to take the whole matter in hand themselves. War was declared! No matter the motive, no matter the cause, all constitution and order was thrown aside, and in the prosecution of the war the British government found it necessary to throw aside every law in this country and to bring in the Defence of the Realm Act, which means the negation of all law in the country. I have repeatedly pointed out that if the government wishes to get a grip of any individual, they do so under the Defence of the Realm Act. The government have power to do anything they desire. That may be right, or it may be wrong, but the position is this, that the bringing in of the Defence of the Realm Act has thrown aside all law and order as we know it during normal periods. In the plunge into the war we have the abolition of constitutional methods, and therefore I contended, and I contend today, that if it is right and proper on the part of the government to throw aside law and order constitutional methodsand to adopt methods that mankind has never seen before, then it is equally right that the members of the working class, if the war is not going to cease in a reasonable time, should bring about a reasonable settlement to the workers in no victory to either side. If one side or the other wins, then the revenge will come, as France today is seeking revenge after the drubbing she got in 1871. Realising that we, as representatives of the workers of the world, do not wish one side or the other to be the victors, we wish the status quo prior to the war to be re-established. If the workers are going to do that, then it means that they have to adopt methods and tactics entirely different from the methods which would be adopted, or could be adopted under normal circumstances. Abnormal lines of action must be taken such as our comrades in Russia took. The very circumstances of the war forced in upon the Russian workers committees and their national soviets the line of action which they adopted, and the only way we could do it would be to adopt methods peculiar to the working-class organisation in this country in the interests of the workers themselves. The suggestions I made were intended only to develop revolutionary thought inside the minds of the workers. I pointed out at the meeting on the 20th that representatives of the police were present, and therefore if the workers were going to take action themselves, it would be absolutely foolish and stupid for them to adopt the suggestions I had given them. I only gave out these suggestions so that they might work out plans of their own if they thought fit to take action to bring about peace. I was convinced, and I am still convinced, that the working class, if they are going to take action, must not only go for peace but for revolution. I pointed out to the workers that, in order to solve all the problems of capitalism, they would have to get the land and the means of production. I pointed out to them that if capitalism lasted after the war, with the growing size of the trusts, with the great aggregations that were taking place, with the improved machinery inside the works, with the improved methods of speeding up the workers, with the development of research and experiment, that we were going to have the workers turning out three, four and five times as much wealth as they had done in pre-war times, and a great problem would arisea greater problem than ever beforein this country of disposing of its surplus goods on the markets of the world, not only of getting markets for these surplus goods, but of getting the raw materials. We see today in the committees appointed by the government that they are anxious to get control of the markets of the world in order to exclude the Germans. Our government has already appointed a Land Organisation of the Board of Trade and of the Foreign Office whereby it is going to plant agents here and there throughout the world, so that in a scientific method British products may be thrown on to the markets of the world. This is scientific method applied to commerce internationally as well as nationally. These preparations are being made, it is being said, for the purpose of carrying on the war after the war. Nobody denies that there is going to be a war after the war, an economic war between the Germans and their friends, and the British and the Americans and their friends, and there is going to be a war between the nations and the respective governments will take care that, as far as they can, their capital will be planted in areas over which they have control. You have, then, the rush for empire. We see that the Americans already have got one or two of the islands in the West Indies, and I understand that America has also got hold of Dutch Guiana. It has also been suggested that Mexico be brought into the American States. Britain herself is looking after her own interests. She has taken the German colonies, she is also in Mesopotamia and in Palestine, going there for strategic reasons, but when Britain gets hold of Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Arabia, she will use them for her own ends, and I do not blame Britain for that. Britain has got many troubles. We see Japan also on the outlook. Japan has been trying repeatedly to get control of Northern China. She would also like to get a great big chunk of Siberia. Even today we see the tentacles being sent out, all anxious to grab more and more power. We know the secret treaties and disclosures made by our Bolshevik comrades. We know that these nations have been building up their plans so that when the Germans have been crushed they will get this territory or that territory. They are all out for empire. That was absolutely necessary for the commercial prosperity of the nations. All the property destroyed during the war will be replaced. In the next five years there is going to be a great world trade depression and the respective governments, to stave off trouble, must turn more and more into the markets of the world to get rid of their produce, and in fifteen years time from the close of this warI have pointed this out at all my meetingswe are into the next war if capitalism lasts; we cannot escape it. Britain has the wealth. Britain did everything she could to hold back the war. That necessarily had to be the attitude of Great Britain, but in spite of all Great Britains skill or cunning, there has been war. I have heard it said that the Western civilisations are destroying themselves as the Eastern civilisations destroyed themselves. In fifteen years time we may have the first great war bursting out in the PacificAmerica v. Japan, or even Japan and China v. America. We have then the possibilifies of another war, far greater and far more serious in its consequences than the present war. I have pointed that out to my audiences. In view of the fact that the great powers are not prepared to stop the war until the one side or the other is broken down, it is our business as members of the working class to see that this war ceases today, not only to save the lives of the young men of the present, but also to stave off the next great war. That has been my attitude and justifies my conduct in recent times. I am out for an absolute reconstruction of society, on a cooperative basis, throughout all the world; when we stop the need for armies and navies, we stop the need for wars. I have taken up unconstitutional action at this time because of the abnormal circumstances and because precedent has been given by the British government. I am a socialist, and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of society for the benefit of all. I am proud of my conduct. I have squared my conduct with my intellect, and if everyone had done so this war would not have taken place. I act square and clean for my principles. I have nothing to retract. I have nothing to be ashamed of. Your class position is against my class position. There are two classes of morality. There is the working class morality and there is the capitalist class morality. There is this antagonism as there is the antagonism between Germany and Britain. A victory for Germany is a defeat for Britain; a victory for Britain is a defeat for Germany. And it is exactly the same so far as our classes are concerned. What is moral for the one class is absolutely immoral for the other, and vice-versa. No matter what your accusations against me may be, no matter what reservations you keep at the back of your head, my appeal is to the working class. I appeal exclusively to them because they and they only can bring about the time when the whole world will be in one brotherhood, on a sound economic foundation. That, and that alone, can be the means of bringing about a re-organisation of society. That can only be obtained when the people of the world get the world, and retain the world. 9 May 1918 Massachusetts State Police are asking for the public's help finding a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Watertown during the middle of the day Thursday. The woman, in her 20s, told authorities that she was indecently assaulted by the man around 2:45 p.m. as she was walking along Greenough Boulevard. She reported that the suspect ran up behind her, grabbed her and began to forcibly kiss her, even as she told him to stop and tried to break free. "At one point during the assault the suspect indecently touched the victim. The victim continually shouted 'no' and 'stop' during the indecent assault," State Police wrote in a news release. "During the attack the victim attempted to get the attention of passing cars, but no motorists stopped." The woman was able to get away and ran across the street toward Grove Street, State Police said. At that point, she reported seeing the suspect walk away in the opposite direction. The man is described as Hispanic with dark hair, in his early 30s, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, wearing a navy blue hat, gray T-shirt and jeans. State Police believe that the suspect was hanging around a dock on the river west of the playground at Artesani Park just before the attack. "At that time, the suspect was with an older Hispanic male, who appeared to be in his late 50s or early 60s, with black and grey hair and facial hair, wearing a red shirt and holding a multicolored hat. The suspect and the older man were drinking beers out of large cans," State Police wrote. After the alleged attack, troopers searched bike paths and lots around the park and Greenough Boulevard but couldn't find the suspect or the older man. Anyone who witnessed the assault or saw the victim, the suspect, or the older man, is asked to call police. State Police are particularly interested in speaking with a couple that was walking a Golden Retriever on Greenough Boulevard in the opposite direction as the victim. Anyone with information should call 911 or the State Police Brighton Barracks at 617-727-4812. Boston Police are searching for a suspect Friday morning after an MBTA bus in Roxbury was struck by a bullet overnight. An investigation is underway after an unknown shooter opened fire, striking the windshield of an MBTA bus shortly after midnight on Melnea Cass Boulevard and Albany Street in Roxbury. Boston Police say no one was injured in the shooting, and there are no known suspects as of Friday morning. The incident remains under investigation by Boston Police and the MBTA. This is a developing story. It was just another day at the Lawton Playground in Brookline on Wednesday: except for the coiled python lying on the ground. Brookline Police reported the discovery of a python snake on the Lawton Street playground Wednesday morning. A photo shared on social media shows the snake wrapped up, lying on a patch of cement. The escaped or abandoned pet was transported to the Brookline Animal Control team. Police urged whoever was missing their "reptile friend" to contact the city's animal control office. SPRINGFIELD -- City officials said a $2.5 million renovation project now underway at Riverfront Park is one prime example of a series of public projects in the downtown area slated for completion by late fall. The Riverfront Park project began in mid-April and is slated for completion in November, said Peter Garvey, the city's director of capital asset construction. Other projects in the area include renovations at Stearns Square and Duryea Way, Pynchon Plaza renovations, a new police substation on Dwight Street, exterior renovations at City Hall, and exterior renovations at the Central Library on State Street, officials said. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno praised the construction, which is occurring as MGM Springfield nears completion of its $960 million resort casino. The casino is slated to open Aug. 24. "These are key gateway projects that will not only reinvigorate, but just as important, enhance the thousands of new visitors' and our residents' experiences as they matriculate to and from all our downtown attractions and amenities," Sarno said. The $2.5 million project at Riverfront Park renovation includes extensive landscaping improvements, new lighting, pedestrian ways, a playscape for children, a fountain and splash pad, and the foundation for a Sept. 11 memorial, Garvey said. The four-acre park is on the bank of the Connecticut River. A police kiosk will be installed at a former railroad building at the entrance to the park. Separately, a volunteer committee has set a goal of raising $300,000 for the memorial, which will include a beam from the World Trade Center in New York City, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. J.L. Construction Co. of West Springfield recently began the $1 million renovation at Stearns Square and Duryea Way that includes a refurbished fountain and improved pedestrian ways. The project is city-funded. A $3.5 million renovation project at the Central Library on State Street is slated for completion in November, designed to preserve and enhance the historic building for generations of visitors. The project includes reconstruction of the front marble stairs, a new rear entrance including granite stairs and handicap-accessible ramp, and improvements to the roof and masonry, officials said. A $665,000 project at City Hall includes refurbishing the front exterior stairs and Court Square plaza in response to long-term deterioration and safety concerns. The project, which also includes landscaping and some facade repairs, is slated for completion in October, Garvey said. He described the stairs as "coming apart." Authorities are asking for the public's help identifying a cyclist who they say stabbed an 82-year-old man and took off. Provincetown police were called to Commercial Street Thursday around 5:55 p.m. for a report of a possible stabbing. Upon arrival, they found an 82-year-old victim bleeding from the neck and lower back. The victim told officers that he was attacked by a man on a bicycle who then rode off, the department wrote in a Facebook post. Authorities say the suspect is described as a white male with a beard wearing jeans, a grey zip-up and distinctive blue sneakers. His bike was found abandoned and recovered by police. Provincetown police wrote that the victim's injuries are not expected to be life-threatening. He was transported to Cape Cod Hospital by paramedics. Police Chief Jim Golden said his department is asking for the public's help identifying the suspect. He said authorities do not believe there is any danger to the community. Anyone with information can send it to the Provincetown Police Tip Line 508-487-2828, calls are not traced and you can remain anonymous. You can also report information anonymously by email at report-a-tip@provincetown-ma.gov Calls can also be made to Provincetown Police Detective Rich Alves by phone at 508-487-7000 Extension 337 or by email at ralves@provincetown-ma.gov It's a club that no one wants to join, and once you are in it you can never leave. That club gathered on the lawns of the Springfield Museum Thursday evening for its fourth annual remembrance of homicide victims by the families they left behind. All are members of the Baystate Family Advocacy Center's Homicide Bereavement Program. Gina O'Neill's sister, Valeria Girouard, was killed by her daughter's jealous ex-boyfriend in her Hampden apartment July 30, 2010. She was 47-years-old. "I come here to say her name," O'Neill said. "I do it because I don't want my sister's name to be forgotten. She did not choose to leave this earth the way she did. Someone else took it into their own hands and took her life." O'Neill was one of 60 or 70 people who sat on the lawns of the museum among dozens of cutouts of human figures all painted purple, the group's color. They represented those killed and couldn't be there but were so much a part of the ceremony. O'Neill acted as MC, helping family members talk about their lost loved ones, and to help others remember theirs. And, to say her sister's name out loud. She read Valerie's name along with 74 others of people from Hampden County who have been victims of homicide. Michelle Mathieson said she came to the remembrance to be among people who understand her. She and her husband Willie lost their 20-year-old daughter Amanda Plasse in 2011. She was stabbed to death in her downtown Chicopee apartment. "These people understand what I have gone through," Mathieson said. "They have all gone through it, and they came to be with me. And when we went to court they sat with me and held my hand. They knew what we were going through as a family and for me as a mother who had lost someone to murder." The Baystate Family Advocacy Center recreated the Homicide Bereavement Program about four years ago after a similar program dissolved years earlier. Clinicians at Baystate saw a need for the support such a group could provide those close to murder. The center was already doing trauma therapy but had no real program for traumatic grieving. Using a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Victims Assistance clinicians at the Family Advocacy Center started the program, Clinical Supervisor Noreen McGirr said. The program provides more than therapy. Participants receive referrals for legal issues, court support, alternative wellness activities and survivor-driven activities. O'Neill and Mathieson have become close friends because of their similar circumstances. They most likely never would have met if not for the actions of two men who killed someone close to them. In both their cases a suspect was arrested, convicted and sent to prison. Jesus Gilberto-Garcia will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Valeria Girouard. Dennis Rosa-Roman was convicted of killing Plasse. But Mathieson pointed out the permanent part of being in this group. Despite both murders being solved and perpetrators sent to prison, anyone sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole is allowed an appeal of that sentence. That means both convicts will end up in court and both O'Neill and Mathieson will as well. "It's always there," Mathieson said. "Every time they get moved to a new facility the state notifies us. Every time they get sick or they have a court date. I get so tired when I see a call from Boston on my phone. It means I can never forget, I have to continue to live it." Each person has a different way of dealing with the murder of a loved one, O'Neill and Mathieson agree. Some are very quiet and grieve on their own. Some are more public and out front with their grief. "We all have our own paths," Mathieson said. "But to be surrounded by a group of people who understand what I have gone through, what I continue to go through, it makes the process easier or at least more tolerable." A Quincy child care center has shut down temporarily after a there child was diagnosed with typhoid fever. The state Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday that one child who attends the Bright Horizons Daycare in Quincy has come down with the disease. A spokeswoman for the daycare told New England Cable News the facility was closed Wednesday and Thursday so staff and students who shared a classroom with the ill student could be tested. It was uncertain as whether Bright Horizons will reopen Friday. Bright Horizons officials do not believe the child contracted the disease at their center, as the child recently traveled abroad. But since it is food and water borne, they are taking every precaution. Quincy Health Commissioner Andrew Scheele told The Patriot Ledger that the city's Health Department is assisting in collecting stool specimens. Authorities will test samples from people involved with the day care to make sure no one else is infected. Some 5,700 cases of typhoid fever occur in the U.S. per year, and about three-quarters of those are acquired during overseas travel, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include a high fever, weakness, stomach pains, headache, rash and appetite loss. It is treated with antibiotics. An apparent misunderstanding led police to cordon off the Holliston High School parking lot Friday to search for a "bomb" after an anonymous caller reported that a student had a "bong" in their car. The anonymous call was placed to the town's police department Friday morning. "When the anonymous caller was interviewed by school officials, he/she immediately, emphatically and convincingly reported that he/she had called to report that the other student had a 'bong' in his/her car and not a 'bomb,'" Holliston police said in a statement. HHS Incident Report - May 11, 2018 Earlier this morning, Friday, May 10, 2018, an anonymous phone call was placed to... Posted by Holliston Public Schools on Friday, May 11, 2018 Officials were able to identify both the anonymous caller and student, who was removed from their classroom for an investigation. All students who were in the same class as the student were ordered to leave their belongings and were moved to a separate classroom. School administrators, police officers and firefighters interviewed the student and searched their backpack, locker and car. A search of the vehicle confirmed the caller's words were misunderstood. The student parking lot was re-opened and normal activities resumed. The panel tasked with finding the next UMass Boston chancellor on Friday identified three finalists. The finalists are: Peter Lyons, vice provost and dean of Perimeter College at Georgia State University Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University Kathy Humphrey, University of Pittsburgh senior vice chancellor for Engagement and Secretary of the Board of Trustees The finalists emerged from a field that included two dozen potential candidates in mid-March. Nine of the 24 candidates were women. UMass Boston is part of the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The next chancellor, whose salary will likely be in the six figure range, will report to UMass President Marty Meehan and the 22-member board of trustees. The 15-member search committee on Friday forwarded the names of the three finalists to Meehan, who will recommend a finalist to the UMass trustees. The finalists are expected to make visits to campus in the coming weeks. Out of a total of 195 prospective candidates, Isaacson Miller, the search firm tapped by the search committee, interviewed 37 candidates. The committee then interviewed 10 candidates. "I think we made the difficult for Marty Meehan, President Meehan, because he's got some highly qualified candidates that he's got to select between," said Henry Thomas III, chairman of the search committee. "UMass Boston is an extraordinary community that deserves an extraordinary chancellor, and the search committee has selected three exceptional finalists who are capable of leading UMass Boston into the future and helping this vital institution achieve its tremendous potential," Meehan said in a statement. The position drew interest from people inside and outside the world of academia. MassLive reported earlier this year that Gina McCarthy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama, and Joe Aiello, who chairs the MBTA's fiscal control and management board, had applied for the job. Steve Crosby, the chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and a former UMass Boston dean, had expressed interest in the job but did not advance. The search for a new chancellor came after the departure of Keith Motley, who stepped down from the job last year. UMass officials brought in Barry Mills, the former president of Bowdoin College, to serve as interim president as the Boston campus struggled with financial problems that have led to layoffs. Amid the budget issues, corners of the Boston campus have been enraged over UMass Amherst's expected acquisition Mount Ida College in Newton, Mass. The UMass Boston Faculty Council in a letter to Meehan this week called the proposed deal "superfluous." "It is superfluous to build a branch of UMass Amherst in Boston, since there is already a Boston campus in the UMass system," the Faculty Council said. Meehan has defended the deal, calling it a "strategic property acquisition for the purpose of expanding experiential learning opportunities for its students by closing the geographic distance between its students and the Greater Boston workforce." UMass Boston first opened in 1965, and moved from downtown Boston to the Columbia Point peninsula in 1974. Its current neighbors include the JFK Library and Presidential Museum, the Massachusetts State Archives and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate. Authorities in Los Angeles County are investigating after a suspect reportedly opened fire in a high school in Palmdale, California on Friday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that one male, juvenile subject was detained and one firearm recovered after a victim was shot in the arm at the Highland High School in Palmdale, a city nearly 70 miles north of L.A. Authorities responded to the school campus around 7 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Friday for reports of a possible shooting. Update Regarding Highland High School in Palmdale: 1 victim shot in the arm at Highland High School. At local hospital now. stable condition. 1 Firearm recovered. 1 Subject detained, and is a Male Hispanic Juvenile. LA County Sheriff's (@LASDHQ) May 11, 2018 The sheriff's office asked everyone to stay clear of the high school campus as law enforcement searched the area Friday morning. Shortly before 9:30 a.m. PDT, the L.A. County Sheriff's Office said the school was clear. "So far, no evidence of crime. Investigation is still ongoing." Sheriff Jim McDonnell said the response involved multiple agencies and an active investigation is underway. "Reasonably sure threat is contained," McDonnell wrote on Twitter. The victim who had been shot in the arm was transported to a hospital and remains in stable condition, authorities said. This is a developing story. Four Worcester residents have been indicted in connection with what the state attorney general's office is calling a "a major narcotics trafficking network," which was discovered through a wiretap investigation. A Worcester County Grand Jury on Wednesday indicted Worcester residents Jose Ortiz, 57, Roberto Ortiz, 58, Gilberto Victoriano, 51, and Caroline Cartagena, 44, according to a statement from the office of Attorney General Maura Healey. The four were first arrested in February after a wiretap investigation was conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Cartagena is charged with one count of trafficking of more than 200 grams of cocaine. Jose and Roberto Ortiz are both charged with two counts each of distribution of heroin as subsequent offenders; one count each of possession of heroin with intent to distribute as subsequent offenders; and one count each of conspiracy to violate the drug laws. Victoriano is charged with three counts of distribution of heroin and one count of conspiracy to violate the drug laws. The four were implicated in the drug trafficking network after various wiretaps in November and December 2017 captured suspects talking about the sales and purchases of heroin and fentanyl. While these four suspects are facing state charges, four other suspects from Lawrence and Leominster are facing federal charges. When David Luyando succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head on June 25, 2015, Cassandra Luyando felt like she lost more than just her brother. "Me and David were like the closest ones out of everybody," she said Friday morning in Worcester Superior Court. "I feel like I lost a part of me. It wasn't just him that got lost." And last year, when their mother Tracey Ann Mulready passed away, "she died with a broken heart." In the years following her son's killing, Mulready didn't care about living anymore, her daughter told the court. "I have lost the two important people in my life," Cassandra Luyando said. Cassandra and the rest of her family were able to feel a sense of relief Friday as 24-year-old Jose Lora, the man found guilty of Luyando's murder, was sentenced to life in prison. The life sentence will begin after Lora finishes another sentence of 5- to 5-and-a-half years that he is currently serving for drug trafficking. "Day by day, I go by, and I have a lot of anger. I have a lot of stress. I'm very stressed. But I try to stay strong for my kid and my brother and my mom," Cassandra Luyando said as Lora was sentenced. "He ruined my life. He really did. I can't even be happy." Luyando was shot to death while he was at Worcester's Hope Cemetery checking on his cousin's stolen gravestone with several other family members. The grave belonged to Javier Santiago, who was shot and killed outside Worcester City Hall in 2011 in an incident that was reportedly gang-related. Luyando was not a gang member, but Kevin Parker and Kevin Mulready, two of the people he was with that day at Hope Cemetery, were members of the Providence Street Posse gang, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Lora was a member of the Kilby Street Posse, which prosecutor Brett Dillon said had an "ongoing feud" with the Providence Street Posse, the newspaper reported. Members of the Worcester Police Department Gang Unit stood inside and outside the courtroom Friday for sentencing and maintained a presence at the courthouse during the trial. In an interview after the sentencing, members of Luyando's family urged young people to not get involved with gangs. Family members sobbed as three of Luyando's relatives addressed the court, remembering him as a good kid who stayed out of trouble. "It's been real hard knowing that he's been gone," Luyando's father, David Luyando Jr., said. "I can never talk to him again. I can never hug him, squeeze him." The elder Luyando said he replays the phone call from his daughter, telling him that his son died, over and over. "What I got to do is look at pictures, videos now, just to hear his voice," he said. He had a message for Lora. "I just want him to know, you hurt a lot of people, bro," the elder Luyando said. "I hope you really think about what you've done." Lora, wearing a green jumpsuit, declined to address the court. With Trump's plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and the ongoing non-violent protests in Gaza, the upcoming 70th anniversary of Israel's founding, a day Palestinians refer to as "the Nakba", the Catastrophe, looms large. We in Jewish Voice for Peace Western Mass remind ourselves and others that Israel's creation resulted in the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians. Today the Nakba continues as Israeli settlements in the West Bank swallow up whatever land and resources were left to the Palestinians in 1948. We urge everyone to join us in denouncing the ongoing Nakba. We are meeting at Northampton City Hall on Tuesday, May 15 at 5:30 pm. All are welcome. Aaron Berman, Amherst Hers is the rarest of fame, where the first name alone is recognizable to the world. Monica. More than 20 years after her relationship with Bill Clinton led to the president's impeachment, Monica Lewinsky is still in the news. The latest story came when Town & Country magazine "uninvited" Lewinsky to an invite-only philanthropic summit after Clinton had accepted an invitation. The magazine apologized to Lewinsky, who is now 44 and beginning her third decade of trying to move past the events that made her famous - and to many, infamous. Lewinsky says that not only was she shamed by public humiliation (which she concedes as a result of her own poor choices), but that she was "possibly the first person whose public humiliation was driven by the Internet." America is taking a long and different look at sexual relationships of the rich and powerful. That tempts the question of whether the country will begin to look differently at Lewinsky, whose adult lifetime has been spent as the butt of crude jokes, and and at times as an object of pity for falling prey to a predator who happened to be president. Lewinsky says she is neither. She is not claiming "me-too," at least not in the manner of others. Even as, she has said, "sure, the boss took advantage of me," the former White House intern still insists the relationship was consensual (making it, in fact, a relationship) and that any "abuse" came afterward, when she was made the scapegoat to protect Clinton's position of power. America's re-examination of its own sexual values attaches new relevance to what Lewinsky represents. Since the 1990s scandal assured her place in history, Lewinsky has worked in the fashion industry, moved to England for a time, and only occasionally consented to interviews that inevitably begin and end with her tryst with the president. Lewinsky presents a special dilemma for those who may try to reposition her role in 2018 America. In a Vanity Fair article several years ago, she made this telling observation: "I sorely wished for some sign of understanding from the feminist camp. Some good, old-fashioned, girl-on-girl support was much in need. None came. Given the issues at play -- gender politics, sex in the workplace -- you'd think they would have spoken up. They didn't." That observation will become especially meaningful if Lewinsky returns to the public spotlight for any length of time, and the feminist community attempts to connect her with the "me-too" movement that's spread across the land. Lewinsky has more reason than most to be sensitive for the price paid for involvement with men in power - but she is also resisting any attempt to stereotype or simplistically define her. That includes by those who gave Clinton a pass because he supported women's rights in public, even as his private life resembled that of a middle-aged frat-house brother. Lewinsky would seem to be in line for a new look from a public that's fed up with excusing sexually opportunistic men in high places. She doesn't seem to want that, though. All she wants for now is not to be "uninvited" from important functions. For someone who has lived her life as a punch line after a dalliance with a married president who was more than twice her age, it doesn't seem like too much to ask. Public health should not be negotiated on a piecemeal basis, which is why the Massachusetts Legislature's move to create a statewide tobacco sales policy makes complete sense. The House has approved raising the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco or vaping products from 18 to 21. the vote was 146-4. That says something and the Senate is expected to look favorably at the measure. Governor Charlie Baker has indicated support. Lopsided support in both legislative chambers would seem to guarantee the bill's success, even if Baker shows unexpected reluctance. Massachusetts would become the sixth state to establish 21 as the tobacco purchase age. Convenience store owners who gain sizeable income from tobacco sales have balked at the measure, but some have been more open-minded to a statewide law as opposed to the checkerboard form of policy-making the state is undergoing now. More than 170 cities and towns, including Boston, have adopted municipal laws raising the tobacco purchase age to 21. That puts nearly three-quarters of state residents under such jurisdiction, but it also creates pockets of variance with some holdout communities selling tobacco products to 18-year-olds while neighboring cities and towns do not. Like any other public health measure, the state has an obligation to make a consistent policy that treats all citizens fairly. The dangers of tobacco do not vary from one community to the next. The most passionate argument in favor of an 18-year-old sales law is simple: if a young man or woman can vote or defend our country in the military at that age, why can't they purchase tobacco products? There is a fundamental logic attached to that argument, but it's outweighed by the fact that legally serving 18-year-olds inevitably causes younger teenagers to become involved with smoking at an earlier age. Raising the legal age will not eradicate that problem, but it will put a dent in it. The state has an obligation to do the best it can to lessen the problems caused by smoking in general and teen smoking in particular. That so many large and small communities in all corners of the state took independent action shows grassroots support for this measure. There is no good reason to delay a state law. Massachusetts owes it to all of its citizens to establish one law that applies to all residents equally, removing the economic competition among neighboring towns and making a stand against selling tobacco products to teens. There have to be better ways than that for stores to make a profit. NEW YORK -- Tyler Thornburg allowed just one unearned run in 3 2/3 innings over his first four rehab outings. But the Red Sox reliever, who's returning from surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome last June, struggled today for Double-A Portland vs. Binghamton. He allowed two runs, both earned, two hits and one walk while retiring two batters. He allowed a leadoff walk, then retired the next two hitters on flyouts to center field. But he gave up a double and single before exiting. The plan is for Thornburg to meet the major league team in Toronto tomorrow to throw a bullpen session. "So that's kind of like a back-to-back with him; one of those aggressive bullpens," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. He'll resume his minor league rehab assignment Monday. "It's just a matter of just having him around, obviously strength tests and be around our medical staff," Cora said. "And then he'll go back on Monday if I'm not mistaken." The Wyoming Air Service Improvement Council agreed Wednesday to prioritize affordability, codeshare options and proven reliability when negotiating with a statewide commercial airline. The council, which was established when the Wyoming Legislature passed Senate File 40 earlier this year, is responsible for drafting a plan to attract reliable carriers to the stateespecially ones that will serve at least four critical communities. Chrissy Suttles Wyoming Tribune Eagle http://trib.com/news/wyoming-air-service-plan-moves-forward/article_c92747fe-1336-5569-b709-46197409466a.html As more people migrate to urban areas, todays cities face the challenge of how best to serve a growing population. Certainly, state-of-the-art data tools can give them a keen understanding of the greatest needs and problems, but another element is just as critical: an engaged citizenry. https://www.fastcompany.com/40565635/how-cities-are-putting-citizens-first "For small to medium to national organizations, for events and fundraisers of any size, in any format live, virtual or hybrid the platform is built for scale." Announcement Position title: Program Development and Policy Coordinator Report to: Head of Conservation, WWF-DRC Supervises: WWF project staff and partners as designated Location: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Context Along with the development of its new conservation plan, the WWF in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) carried out an extensive evaluation of it capacities and readiness for a transformational and lasting conservation impact as stipulated in its County Strategic Plan. Based on the analysis(1), it has been identified that a program development and policy coordinator is needed in order to complete the current conservation team, develop and fundraise for the programme around energy and infrastructure including the policy around the WWF China-Africa collaboration known as FOCAC. As per the WWF African Ecological Future Report(2), a vast number of major infrastructure corridors are being planned on the continent and in the DRC in particular. The Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) has identified approximately 50 projects that will require around US$360 billion in investment among which major regional power pools and their associated generation and transmission infrastructure that will operate on the continent and are also expected to expand. Hydro dam development is the emerging point especially in the DRC, where the potential power capacity is estimated at over 100 000 MWh (Grand Inga complex could contribute over 40 000 MWh). These infrastructure projects are expected to change the economic and social dynamics which will not be without impacts on ecosystems. These impacts are a function of a countrys stage in its development trajectory. Stakeholders at local, national, regional and continental levels are making infrastructure decisions that will have profound ecological implications. These stakeholders, if well accompanied by robust technical and environmental independent expertise may determine the role of environmental safeguards during the planning and operational phases of projects. They can also influence the degree to which local communities will benefit from local resources and ecosystem services. Unfortunately, in most of the case, they all have different interests. Many trade-offs are made in taking these decisions and very seldom are local community interests considered. Rarely the decisions are based on what is good for local communities long term development and for the ecosystem equilibrium. The WWF is engaged in supporting the environmental friendly infrastructure development in DRC especially when it impacts the thematic and geographical scope of its work. Understanding the dominant models of those infrastructure developments provide a basis for anticipating where ecological pressures are likely to arise. WWF DRC finalized its conservation strategy at the beginning of 2017 aligned to the WWF new Global Goals as presented through six practices (Forest, Food, Climate and Energy, Wildlife, Ocean, and Freshwater) and three drivers (Governance, Market and Finance). The strategy presents an opportunity for the DRC national office to reorganize more efficiently to deliver at scale towards its main goal and unique critical contributions to the community centered conservation agenda. In its conservation strategy, the link between energy developments, protected areas, forest landscapes, water flow and Green economy development has been demonstrated. For instance: Acknowledging the heavy reliance of the DRC households on wood energy and its impact particularly evident on forest neighboring cities of the DRC; Considering that only 9% of DRC population has access to electricity as per recent reports; Considering that improving access to clean and reliable electricity will significantly reduce the deforestation rate, thus, advancing the compliance of DRC to its international engagement both CBD and Paris agreement; Noting that improving the supply of sustainable energy in big town will improve the socio-economic status of Congolese people while also providing the government with means to invest in infrastructure of collective interest; Convinced that there is a strong relationship between river flows, water quality, integrity of forest ecosystem and biodiversity resilience; Finally considering the potential for re-investment of hydropower dam revenues part of financial returns in upstream maintenance of ecosystems services. WWF-DRC is seeking a high caliber, expert in advocacy, policy dialogue and programme development to lead the development of its energy and infrastructure programme with a focus on the hydropower sector in order to avoid negative impacts and catalyze financial return for the conservation of the DRC high conservation values (protected areas, forest landscape) I. Major functions: The Program Development and Policy Manager supports the delivery of transformational and lasting conservation impacts by building and leading WWF DRCs energy and infrastructure program, ensuring coherent integration of thematic and geographical plans as presented in the country Strategic Plan, connect with DRC ministries in charge of energy, infrastructure and others to support the regulation of the sector for the benefit of people and the environment. He/She provides advices to the Head of Conservation on pertinent conservation issues in the country and their implication at regional and international level. He/She leads the tactical implementation of the WWF energy mix and infrastructure programme in all landscapes and in partnership with key international, governmental and local partners. As the Energy Practice focal point, he or she will lead the concertation and empowerment of civil society to take ownership of the future sustainable energy orientation in the DRC. By doing so, he or she will support the engagement with multilateral and bilateral institutions to influence the policies around energy (Oil, hydropower, solar power, mining) in the DRC. He (She) will represent WWF-DRC in the Energy transformational project as developed by the Regional Office for Africa. He/she will be the contact point with the WWF Freshwater Practice Rivers and Infrastructure Coordinator and E&C Practice team. II. Major duties and responsibilities: In close collaboration with WWF-DRC Head of Conservation, program managers, landscape leaders, the Africa Energy Transfromational team and the relevant Global Practice Teams (Freshwater and Energy & Climate Change in particular) and other keys partners, the Program Development and Policy Manager will: Strategy and orientations Develop the energy and infrastructure program using a participatory, adaptive management approach. Engage in energy and infrastructure related policy work to influence the decision making in the way that supports other areas of WWF-DRC works. Coordinate the implementation of the energy and infrastructure programme, with links to mining and oil policy coordination, across all landscapes where WWF-DRC works. In partnership with the network fresh water community of practice, finalize a WWF position on huge infrastructures like the INGA dam. Ensure that national and provincial strategies for sustainable energy mix are developed in a participative way by the government (mini hydropower, solar power, etc.). Coordinate the development of action plans related to the new national Energy and Infrastructure strategy that defines national and local activities in alignment with the Practices; Ensure the alignment between WWF-DRC energy programme and the Africa Energy transformational project while also acting as technical representative in the ETP working group. Lead the coordination of the ETP implementation in DRC. Collect relevant law and application decrees on various aspects (particularly on energy and infrastructures) in order to give policy advices to WWF DRC office and landscapes leaders. Collaborate with related stakeholders in the development of institutional relationships and partnerships relevant to the hydropower and infrastructures safeguards. Connect with parliaments and senators and other government bodies (ADEPI, Ministry of Energy, presidency) to influence the legal dimension of infrastructure. Connect with Civil Society Organization to support their voice in the energy development in the DRC. Provides technical expertise for WWF activities on Energy and Infrastructure and its relation with (REDD+) in coordination with relevant Practices and national offices; Ensure that relevant global and regional issues are translated into pragmatic orientations in the new strategic activities in parallel to institutional and civil society concertation. Provides support to WWF DRC in developing position in regards of WWF policies, Government and institutions orientations particularly on energy and infrastructure issues. Lead due diligence and manage corporate database collaboration in the country; Coordinate WWF technical contributions into relevant high quality development project proposals, inception and implementation at national, sub-national and local scale; Collaborate, with other appropriate partners, in the development of a financial mechanism supporting conservation of water basins related to hydro power dam generation; As much as possible, practically develop based on current experiences, a pilot financial mechanism that could help maintain forest ecosystem services through hydro power revenues generation; Develop proposals to help provide sustainable source of energy (in particular solar energy) for rural poor, indigenous people and remote communities (particularly in WWF DRC landscapes); Maintain contact with the FW practice rivers and infrastructure coordinator and Climate and Energy core team informing about emerging issues and seeking support; Ensure that hydropower and energy positions taken in the country are in line with WWF standards and guidelines. Finance and Operations With the direct support of the manager of finance and administration, ensures development of project budgets for approval, technical and financial reporting, and monitoring of expenditures against budgets. Ensures establishment of financial management systems for the project(s) to adequately meet financial management needs and donor regulations and policies. With support of the network and others, oversees and guides fundraising efforts, ensuring preparation of proposals and engagement of donors. With support from WWF, ensures that project(s) are in compliance with donor regulations Coordinate support from financial, operation and program team members aligned with the new strategy; Lead on the restructuration (organogram) of the new program in line with its new capacity needs by defining the main positions and expertise; Identify key underpinning research needs and partnership in the implementation of the strategy ; Analyze the current financial resources available and expected needs in the implementation of the new strategy; Others Prepares regular reports on progress towards objectives, particularly using APMS and SPMS tool; Update energy and infrastructure strategy and practices outcomes; Works with WWF programme and Practice communicators to develop communication strategy approaches as necessary, and communication outreach to support WWFs objectives; Other related tasks as required. III. Profile Required Qualifications A minimum of a Masters degree or equivalent in economics of environment, hydro energy or infrastructure engineering or related disciplines. Preferably a minimum experience of 10 years acquired in the area of conservation and development, regional cooperation, including interactions with development institutions. The last 3 to 5 years should be at a senior management level. A Broad knowledge of the state of Infrastructure and energy development in DRC and in Africa including their externalities and linkages with other businesses sectors. Familiarity with the work of other Conservation NGOs, Multilateral and Bilateral Development Finance Institutions in assisting conservation inputs in economic reform and addressing poverty reduction in developing countries; Experience with working in large, multicultural organizations in the public or private sector with a diverse workforce and sensitivity to diversity concerns of staff and WWF network; Proven intellectual leadership in managing and maintaining an efficient and transparent work environment, innovations and change management; Creativity in providing guidance on innovative and cutting edge solutions to voicing and implementation of national and regional thematic aligned with the Africa ecological futures and practices. Ability to listen and communicate effectively with oversight bodies such as multi-national Boards of corporate groups and other senior government officials; Ability to think strategically and design long term plans and programs to develop staff in line with strategic priorities; Ability to inspire, generate and sustain staff commitment and professional excellence; Good negotiating skills and ability to communicate orally and write effectively in English and French. Excellent balance between aptitude and attitude in the work place, good morality, respect to others and integrity in managing WWF resources. Understanding of institutional and legal framework in DRC as it relates to energy and infrastructure issues; Leadership skills; Required Skills and Competencies Excellent interpersonal, organizational, analytical and research skills; Innovative, creative and willing to learn and to share knowledge with others. Passionate about natural resource conservation in DRC and in Central Africa; Great team player and demonstrated ability to work and deliver across different teams and programmes; Good writing and communication skills Adherence to WWFs values, which are: Optimistic, Engaging, Determined and Knowledgeable. Fluent in French and with a good command of English IV. WORKING RELATIONSHIPS Internal - Works closely with the DRC Conservation Director, other program managers and landscape leaders in the WWF DRC office, the regional Energy Transformational Project team, the WWF Freshwater and Energy and Climate Practices and the WWF National Offices to align positions, coordinate efforts and mobilize support. External - Works with major DRC implementation partners. Coordinates closely with a suite of multilateral and bilateral organizations, donors, and national NGOs, and local communities. If interested, please send your application letter with a CV stating your availability to the Human Resources Manager: E-mail:recruit-wwfdrc@wwfdrc.org Mail: 14, avenue Sergent Moke, Concession Safricas, Quartier Socimat, Kinshasa / Ngaliema, DR Congo Deadline for applications: 26 May 2018 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) DRC Organisational Development Analysis, 2017 (2) African Ecological Futures, WWF Report, 2015, P28 Delegates at the ceremony (Photo: voh.com.vn) Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Huynh Minh Thien, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations, affirmed that the project is a manifestation of the fine sentiments between the two nations and their people. Licensed by the municipal Peoples Committee in 2010, the tower will have 21 floors. Its construction is expected to be completed in two years. Once put into use, the building will also be the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations. Vietnam and Slovakia established diplomatic relations in 1950. Since then, the bilateral ties have developed continuously, especially in trade and investment./. As part of the largest recall in U.S. automotive history, defective Takata air bags have been connected to 15 deaths and 278 injuries in the U.S. and its territories. The numbers were confirmed in a news release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Friday, May 11. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, pushed out a news release that highlighted Florida's standing as the state with the most injuries and tied for the most number of deaths connected to the Takata recall. As of March 30 of this year, only 58 percent of recalled Takata inflators had been repaired and about 16.4 million affected vehicles remained unrepaired. In Florida, one of the more at risk states thanks to its climate, 45 percent of vehicles had been fixed as of mid-April and 1.3 million affected vehicles remain unrepaired. Florida leads the nation in deaths and injuries caused by exploding Takata airbags, according to new numbers I received from the automakers. I am calling on NHTSA to step up its efforts to get these defective airbags replaced and out of peoples cars as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/oIq8ilEjWq Senator Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) May 11, 2018 "Release of the new numbers comes in advance of a hearing the Senate Commerce Committee will hold next week on the nomination of Heidi King to head NHTSA, which ordered the Takata recalls," the release reads. "Nelson intends to seek a commitment from King that, if confirmed, she will speed up efforts to get the exploding air bags replaced." Earlier this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was "deeply concerned" with the pace of the recall of 2006 Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series trucks with potentially fatal Takata air bags installed. "According to the manufacturers, 49.2 percent of the 33,320 impacted MY 2006 Ford Rangers have been mitigated, and 58 percent of the 2,205 impacted Mazda B-Series trucks have been mitigated," the NHTSA reports. "Both Ford and Mazda have authorized their dealers to tow these vehicles free of charge so consumers can safely obtain the free repair." Across the world, 19 different automakers have recalled around 100 million inflators around the world. Some airbag inflators have become explosive, sending metal pieces flying through the cabin when deployed. The ammonium nitrate that ignites the air bag inflators can be damaged by moisture over time, especially in humid environments, causing the danger of explosion. Fatal crashes have occurred inside the Honda Civic, Accord, City, Civic, CR-V, and Acura TL and 2006 Ford Ranger models with Takata air bags. In Florida, three deaths and 55 injuries have been connected to Honda models with Takata air bags. Back in February, more than 40 U.S. states and the District of Columbia announced they had reached a settlement with Takata concerning its faulty air bag inflators. "The settlement reached between the attorneys general of 44 states and the District of Columbia, along with TK Holdings, Inc., concludes the multistate investigation into the company's failure to timely disclose known safety defects with its airbag inflators using phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate as a propellant," a past news release from Attorney General Bill Schuette's office reads. "TK Holdings Inc. has also agreed to reimburse the multistate for its investigative costs, and for entry of stipulated civil penalty in the amount of 650 million dollars. "The multistate agreed that given the pending bankruptcy and the company's inability to pay its debts, this penalty would be subordinated in order to maximize the recovery available to consumers who were the victims of the airbag defect." Under the massive multi-state settlement, TK Holdings -- the U.S. subsidiary of Takata -- will not advertise false information regarding its products, not advertise that its air bags are safe "unless supported by competent and reliable scientific" evidence, to not falsify date, comply with state and federal laws, and to continue to cooperate with manufacturers. To search active recalls, use the NHTSA's website to search your 17-character VIN at this link. VIN numbers are typically located under the driver's side windshield, or along the inside of the doors behind the seat or under the steering wheel. To sign up for NHTSA safety alerts for a specific vehicle, sign up at this link. With a typical safety recall in the U.S., the manufacturer first notifies the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, then a notice is sent to vehicle owners informing them to take the vehicle to a local dealership who generally makes the fixes free of charge. -- "Our mission within the university is that we're the hub of a lot of the food, agriculture, and natural resources research that goes on at MSU," Doug Buhler tells Kirk Heinze on MSU Today. "Our job is to help a lot of bright, motivated faculty address key research needs for Michigan and beyond." Buhler is assistant vice president for research and graduate studies at MSU and director of MSU AgBioResearch. MSU AgBioResearch supports the work of more than 300 scientists in seven colleges at MSU: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arts and Letters, Communication Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Natural Science, Social Science and Veterinary Medicine. Other partnerships and collaborations include MSU Extension, several state and federal agencies, Michigan agricultural commodity groups and a plethora of additional stakeholders. In addition, MSU AgBioResearch, along with MSU Extension, has historically enjoyed strong legislative support in Michigan and Washington D.C. Buhler says another important aspect of the mission is to provide "oversight of a research center network that includes multiple sites across the state that helps us serve the very diverse agriculture and natural resource industries of Michigan. "Next to California, Michigan has the most agricultural diversity in the U.S. Therefore, it's especially important for us to have research facilities in several key producing areas of the state so we can address the specific, and often specialized, needs relative to those areas." Because of the emphasis on food, environmental and agricultural research, Buhler makes a compelling case that MSU AgBioResearch work directly impacts every citizen in Michigan. "We're very proud of that, and that goes back to our roots and the beginning of Michigan State University. We do fundamental research with an intended outcome. So our role is to really try to take the most cutting-edge science and use it to try to solve real world problems." An important new initiative is Food@MSU. The program is designed to help people better understand where their food comes from and how it affects their health and the planet. "A very important component of Food@MSU is that we are asking people representing a broad demographic spectrum what they think and know about the food they consume. Among other things, we are hosting roundtables and conducting survey research so that much of our data are from the ground up versus the top down. This represents what I think is a refreshing paradigm shift from the way universities often engage the public." Buhler and Heinze also discuss the importance of the U.S. Farm Bill reauthorization to the MSU AgBioResearch mission. And they talk about MSU's Year of Global Africa, featured in the most recent issue of Futures, the excellent, semi-annual publication of MSU AgBioResearch. Click HERE to HEAR the Buhler/Heinze conversation. DETROIT, MI - Fifteen months ago, Yousef Ajin was in federal detention, separated from his family and facing deportation. Now the 49-year-old Ann Arbor father of four is a bonafide citizen of the United States. After winning his battle to stay in the country with his U.S.-citizen wife and children, the longtime Ann Arbor resident was among 80 immigrants from 27 countries who took the oath of citizenship during a naturalization ceremony on Thursday morning, May 10, at the U.S. District Court in downtown Detroit. He teared up afterward. "It's good. I'm like anybody who's an American citizen. I have rights for everything," Ajin said, adding it's a lot of stress off his shoulders to know he likely won't face deportation ever again. His family was there to celebrate his achievement, along with Community High School theater teacher Quinn Strassel, who helped raise money last year to cover Ajin's legal expenses. "He really is a good person and today has been a very happy day," Strassel said. Ajin, who is from Jordan, came to the U.S. legally about two decades ago and has been a legal permanent resident with a green card, living in Ann Arbor with his wife, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and their children, who were born here and attend Ann Arbor schools. Ajin works as a delivery driver for a local restaurant. When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up deportation efforts after President Donald Trump took office, Ajin was targeted because of past crimes and a past deportation order. With criminal convictions from the early 2000s for shoplifting and using a credit card that wasn't his, mistakes from which he says he learned and for which he already served probation and paid fines many years ago, Ajin was deportable. A judge ordered his deportation in 2012 after he missed an immigration court hearing. After that, Ajin said he was placed in a special program similar to probation, cooperating with ICE and checking in regularly. But just days after Trump took office, things changed and his next check-in turned into arrest and detainment. He spent the next month in jail before a judge granted a rare deportation waiver following a two-hour hearing in Detroit Immigration Court. Because Ajin has a special-needs child, the judge determined his deportation would cause extreme hardship for the family. Ajin, who said he has wanted to become a citizen for several years, said he applied to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services this past year after his deportation was waived. On Thursday morning in Detroit, Judge Mark Goldsmith administered the citizenship oath, which includes renouncing allegiance to any foreign state, agreeing to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and laws against all enemies, bearing arms on behalf of the U.S. if required and agreeing to perform non-combative service in the Armed Forces if required. The judge talked about his own family's immigration history and how America is a land of immigrants. He underscored the responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States, including participation in the democratic process, and sang "America the Beautiful," encouraging others to sing along. The countries represented by those who took the oath were Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine and Yemen. The USCIS Detroit Field Office handles naturalization cases for all of Michigan, reviewing thousands of applications each year to see who merits citizenship. In fiscal year 2017, the office completed 14,600 cases, with 12,750 people becoming citizens. In the first six months of fiscal year 2018, from last October through this March, the office rendered another 8,060 decisions, with 6,880 people granted citizenship throughout Michigan. USCIS spokeswoman Anita Rios Moore said there are about 15 citizenship ceremonies per month in Michigan. At most ceremonies, she said, about 75 to 80 people take the oath, though some ceremonies can be smaller or larger. She said it typically takes about seven months for someone to go from applying for naturalization to becoming a citizen. In the first six months of fiscal year 2018, the USCIS Detroit office denied about 1,170 applications. Ruby Robinson, an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in Ann Arbor, said the fear of being kicked out of the country for relatively minor offenses is driving many legal permanent residents to seek citizenship. Even after becoming citizens, he said, some still worry they could lose their status, which is possible. "The fear is real. It's pervasive," Robinson said. Robinson said the same fear also discourages some from applying if they've ever had a negative interaction with the criminal justice system or a traumatic experience with the immigration system. "Going through the immigration system lawfully is a really anxiety-inducing and scary process for a lot of people," he said, indicating some people with green cards who are eligible to seek citizenship will just renew their green cards instead because they're worried about going through the process and being scrutinized. MIRC advises some immigrants not to seek citizenship if they have something in their past that could make them deportable. In one case, Robinson said, there was a man who, as a legal permanent resident, voted in a local election because he had been mistakenly registered to vote by the Michigan Secretary of State. He said the man didn't realize the negative consequences of that and MIRC advised him not to apply for citizenship. Robinson noted applicants are asked by USCIS if they've ever violated the law. In one case, he said, MIRC represented a woman who answered honestly and disclosed that she used medical marijuana, which is legal under state law but not federal law. He said USCIS denied her application because she violated federal law and could not demonstrate good moral character. Some of the general eligibility requirements to apply for citizenship include being at least 18 years old, being a legal permanent resident for at least five years, being a person of good moral character, demonstrating an attachment to the principles and ideals of the U.S. Constitution, having a basic understanding of U.S. history and government, being able to read, write and speak basic English, and taking an oath of allegiance to the U.S. It costs $725 to apply for citizenship, though there are fee waivers available based on inability to pay. Applying for citizenship is the capstone to someone's immigration journey and not a place to begin, Robinson said. "If it were just as simple as submitting an application for people who are undocumented, I would probably be out of a job," he said. MIRC helped about 165 people become citizens in 2017 and is on pace to exceed that number this year, Robinson said, noting another one of MIRC's clients took the oath on Thursday. He said two, first-year law students from the University of Michigan prepared her application for naturalization under MIRC's supervision. Robinson said earlier this month more than a third of MIRC's nearly 90 naturalization cases so far this year involved Washtenaw County residents, and immigrant aid funds approved by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners have helped with that. Ajin still has some hard feelings about being detained and separated from his family for a month last year. He knows he made mistakes in the past, but he didn't expect to be put on trial again all these years later. He said he felt part of his dignity was stripped from him. But he said Thursday's citizenship ceremony was perfect and his family was excited. Ajin said he took his citizenship exam in recent weeks and is surprised that everything has happened so quickly. He thanks Jewish Family Services for helping with his citizenship application, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters' office for support in his case, and the Ann Arbor community and others who rallied around him and his family when he was facing deportation. "I thank everybody who helped me," he said. "A lot of people, I don't know them, but thanks for everybody." PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - Sunlight streamed past the barbed wire and through the window as 25-year-old Teanna Daniels traced the winding words in the book she was reading to her daughter. "The mouse ran through the book," she read. "He ran onto the next page, to take a little look." Her daughter, Claire Williams, wasn't there. The 4-year-old was back home in Washtenaw County's Superior Township. Daniels lives behind bars at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Township. She's one of a select group of women inmates taking part in the Staying in Closer Touch project put on by the Children's Literacy Network. The program encourages children of incarcerated parents to read and to keep a connection between child and parent. Both Daniels and her mother, Tia Whitfield, who is Claire's current guardian, hope it does just that, but that it also, perhaps, stems a cycle of incarceration. "I feel like, if I was more into school and academically (sic) maybe I wouldn't lead down the road that I did go to," Daniels said. "But education is really big to me and I really just want my daughter to stay on the right track in life." Inmates record themselves while reading and children get both the book a copy of the recording, as well as a bookmark and CD slip designed by the mothers. Daniels selected the book "Count to 10 with a Mouse," by Margaret Wise Brown from bins of labeled, age-appropriate books. She told Claire in her recording that she chose the book because it starts with a "C," like her name. A connection Several bodies of research show Daniels has a right to be concerned. The trauma of separation can impact children's mental health and educational achievement, whereas continued family contact can lower recidivism rates for incarcerated parents upon release, according to a Kids Counts policy report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In addition, reading out loud to children is shown to have a positive impact on their overall learning and abilities. According to the National Education Association, children regularly read to out loud are more likely to be able to count higher, read, and write their own names. In addition, high parent involvement is shown to increase reading scores over low parent involvement, with a gap of at least 44 points when compared at the fourth grade level. Claire was 1-year-old when her mother was arrested for two counts of armed robbery in 2015, one involving that of a 7-Eleven in Waterford, according to the Detroit Free Press. Daniels is serving a sentence of 4 years and three months to 30 years for the crimes. Claire went into foster care for a time until Whitfield, who'd been temporarily hospitalized for medical concerns, gained custody last year, Whitfield said. Whitfield, in part, blames herself for her daughter's predicament. She thinks Daniels initially struggled with motherhood and, in helping raise Claire now, Whitfield said she's paying Daniels back for always working during her own childhood. Whitfield should have been more emotionally supportive back then, she said. But Daniels' time in prison has taught them both to be better mothers, they say. Whitfield always made sure Daniels had books growing up but didn't make the time to read to her, she said. She and Daniels both do that now for Claire. The prison time also has helped with their own relationship, both women said. Daniels said she's become more appreciative of both her mother and daughter while inside, in part thanks to parenting classes and the Staying In Closer Touch program. "Before I came to prison, I really didn't care that I was a mother and this program opened my eyes that I still have a responsibility to take care of, whether I wanted to or not," she said. Raising a parent Daniels isn't the only one. Of the five women gathered in programs room of the facility in April, most said they think being on the inside has helped them develop as parents. Sherry Spaulding, 26, mother of 8-year-old Promise, said she feels she has more tools at her disposal as a parent, especially when it comes to managing discipline and looking at issues from multiple angles. Her choice of book, "I Am A Frog," caused a ripple of laughter across the prisoners, volunteers and prison employees alike in the room as the animal characters claimed new identities. Spaulding and the other prisoners said they hope the program expands to let more women at the facility and prisoner parents elsewhere take part. The volunteer-led program began about 1995 at the county jail, and currently runs there, Huron Valley and at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan. Only prisoners in good standing can take part in the program and there can be a wait list to join the program. Inmate Nicole Birkenshaw said it took her about a year to start the program. But corrections program coordinator Miss Butler - who asked her first name not be used due to safety concerns - said the program typically attempts to host about seven to nine women at the facility to record about six times a month. That may vary, depending on how many children or grandchildren a woman has to read to, as each child gets their own book. Spaulding said she likes that her daughter can play her voice whenever she wants once she gets the recording, while inmate Keya Jones said she enjoys knowing that she's still contributing to her children's education. Some children, like Birkenshaw's 5-year-old, played their first recording over and over when they got it. Others cried, like inmate Carlice Murden's youngest, and still others, like inmate Keya Jones' children tried to figure out where their mom's voice was coming from. Claire, for her part, had just jumped onto her grandmother's bed when a recorded reading started playing for the first time. Whitfield didn't know that Daniels had sent it. "A tear just came out of my eye," she said. "It was really like Teanna was sitting right across from us reading the book for Claire and she said, 'That's my mommy.'" Claire, an energetic, articulate young girl, likes to tickle and play games such as patty-cake and Uno when she visits her mom, she said. Whitfield said that happens about every other week, for about 11 hours on Sundays, and Daniels said her daughter typically grabs a book when she gets there and plops down on her lap to be read to. Those vists, however, weren't always so joyful, Whitfield said. Claire knows and remembers who "Mommy" is now, but early on, being separated from her mom at such a young age, she didn't want to talk or play with her mom during prison visits, and wouldn't come to the phone when called. It left Daniels in tears, Whitfield recounted. But through time and effort, Claire and Daniels have developed a true bond, the family said. Claire now knows exactly who her mom is, and is quick to grab framed photos from a table in her living room that show her and her mom taken at prison visitations. "That's my mommy," she said, before pointing out the handmade frame she said "Mommy" made. Though four weeks after the recording was completed, Claire hadn't yet received "Count to 10 with a Mouse," - the recordings must be undergo a process of approval by the prison and subsequent burning and mailing by network volunteers - she excitedly demonstrated the various aspects of her last book delivery, a book about Doc McStuffins and "Lola Reads to Leo." Recording that first reading had been emotional, Daniels said, as she realized her daughter would have a little piece of her. But it'll serve a different purpose when she gets out. "When I do get home, it's something I can look back and see I made it through this and my daughter made it through this, too, and we're just going to build a better future for each other," she said. BAY CITY, MI -- A teenager is going to be spending his 21st birthday -- and several after that -- behind bars for robbing a party store of cigarettes. Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill on Monday, May 7, sentenced 19-year-old Timothy M. Estabrook II to nine to 15 years in prison. The judge gave him credit for 137 days already served and ordered he pay $258 in court fines and costs. Estabrook in April pleaded no contest to one count of armed robbery. He pleaded as a habitual offender with a second offense enhancement. Estabrook faced no additional charges. Police reports contained in court files state Estabrook at about 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 21 entered the 7-Eleven at 4300 Wilder Road, wearing a red bandana over his face. He approached the counter and asked the owner-clerk for a fifth of liquor, then two pints of Hennessy cognac. The owner asked Estabrook for some identification and told him to remove his bandana. Estabrook repeatedly pulled down, then pulled back up, the bandana, and asked a second clerk for a carton of Newport 100 cigarettes. With the carton and the two Hennessy bottles on the counter, Estabrook pulled a knife and stuck it in the owner's face. The owner wrapped his arm around the cognac, accidentally knocking them to the floor. The robber grabbed the cigarette carton and fled outside. A 54-year-old female customer chased after the robber, but lost sight of him as he ran south on North Bangor Street, she told police. She showed the officers the footprints the robber had left in the fresh snow. Officers tracked the prints to the 400 block of East Smith Street, where they found Estabrook lying face-down in the snow. Officers arrested him and searched him, finding on him a folding knife, a carton of Newport 100's, and a red bandana. Once in police custody, Estabrook said he had ingested about 125 Klonopin pills and smoked cocaine earlier in the day. He added that he felt as though he was dying and could not feel his lower extremities. Police took Estabrook to McLaren Bay Region hospital for an evaluation. After staff there cleared Estabrook, officers took him to the Bay County Jail. A 44-acre plot of land in southeast Michigan is being prepped to become a Michigan National Guard "super armory," state and federal officials say. Located in Monroe County's Dundee, the Michigan National Guard purchased the land for $600,000 from Monroe Bank and Trust. National Guard armories are used to store equipment and house personnel during drill training. A "super armory" is larger and can handle more units than a traditional armory, says Paul Egnatuk, the chief of staff for state Sen. Dale Zorn, Sen. Dale Zorn, R-Ida, who announced the project Friday, May 11. According to Col. Edward Hallenbeck, chief facilities and maintenance officer for the Michigan National Guard, the construction project is expected to cost nearly $42 million, the Detroit Free Press reports. The land purchase gives Michigan a "leg up" against other states looking for federal grant funding to build their own armories, Egnatuk said. "This development is great news for the people of Dundee, the surrounding region and the entire state," said Zorn. "Once completed, the super armory will boost the local economy, improve the efficiency and sustainability of the Michigan National Guard, and support the guard's ongoing efforts to protect our nation and respond effectively to local disasters. " ... "I applaud the Michigan National Guard for taking this strategic step" and "I look forward to seeing the super armory completed as soon as possible." A completion date has not been announced. The National Guard is a reserve military unit that responds to "domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions, counter-drug efforts, reconstruction missions and more," according to the National Guard website. FLINT, MI-- Flint police are investigating after the body of a deceased man was found by a man walking his dog on Thursday, May 10. The body was found in the area of Gracelawn and Martin Luther King avenues. The man is believed to be the victim of a house fire that occurred there on May 5, according to Flint police. Flint police have declined to release any more information on the investigation. Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said troopers were sent out to assist in the investigation, but the case is being handled by Flint police. Anyone with information about the incident can report a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Flint & Genesee County at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245) or on the P3 Tips app. Delegates cut the ribbon to open Vietnam's stall (Photo: baoquocte.vn) Established in 1964, FIA is considered an annual important economic event and an opportunity for businesses to exchange experience, establish trade and industrial relations between Algerian businesses and foreign partners. Under the theme "Trade in the service of National Production", FIA 2018 attracted the participation of 350 Algerian businesses, 296 foreign businesses and 63 joint-venture companies. Stalls of foreign businesses selling products of Africa, America, Asia and Europe covered an area of 3,829m2. Five Vietnamese businesses from the fields of agriculture, telecommunications, garment and textile, handicraft and art painting were highly appreciated by Prime Minister, Minister of Trade, and Minister of Culture of Algeria, and ambassadors of many countries. On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria Pham Quoc Tru encouraged the businesses to actively seek customers, obey the laws of Vietnam and the local country, contributing to maintaining and developing the traditional friendship between the two countries. The fair will close on May 13th./. UPDATE: Judge gives Patsy Lou Chevrolet reprieve, lets dealership stay open FLINT TWP., MI -- Patsy Lou Chevrolet's dealership license has been suspended for 15 days by the state of Michigan, an action that prevents the company from buying, selling or trading vehicles until May 25. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced the suspension in a news release Friday, May 11, saying it was the result of repeated violations of law for not providing titles to buyers. The suspension was ordered by Administrative Law Examiner Jay Thomas Todd on Thursday, May 10, following an April hearing, after the state filed a 16-count complaint against the business, which has been licensed since 2006. Michael Wais, an attorney for Patsy Lou, declined to comment on the case but called the suspension "premature" and said the business would challenge it in court. State records show the company claimed that a suspension would "cause material and significant harm to the business," and a witness told Todd that 30-day suspension initially sought by the state "would potentially put the licensee out of business given the overhead and the inability to retain a workforce that seemingly ... all works on commission." Johnson said in a statement that her office was forced to seek the suspension after it could not reach an agreement with the dealership that would have allowed it to remain open. "Our duty is to protect consumers by holding dealers accountable for their actions," the statement says. "State law applies equally to all auto dealers, whether they're small used-car lots or large new-vehicle dealerships. "No dealer is above the law," she said. Todd's decision and order names Patsy Lou Williamson and Ted Merill Gans, doing business as Patsy Lou Chevrolet, and says the business "had a history of complaints from consumers" involving improper use of temporary registrations, failure to apply for title and registration in the purchaser's name within 15 days of vehicle delivery, failure to have assigned certificate of title in immediate possession and failure to properly complete application for title and registration. "These are problems that have been issues repeatedly for the licensee," the order says. Problems with title and registration at the dealership dated back to 2013, according to the document, when the business agreed to a 24-month "assurance of discontinuance," in which Patsy Lou agreed to comply with the Michigan Vehicle Code and administrative rules, properly use temporary registration and to make application for title and registration within 15 days. The order does not address the possible reasons for the lingering problems. Patsy Lou Chevrolet was previously on state probation for 12 months, starting in May 2015, after similar complaints were made against the dealership, the Secretary of State Office said. Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the office, called the suspension of a new vehicle dealer's license "rare" in Michigan. He said the suspension doesn't effect Patsy Lou Buick or the Patsy Lou Megalot, which are located in the same area of Flint Township -- near Corunna and Linden roads. Todd's order says Wendy Kay Davis, chief financial officer for Patsy Lou, and George Peck, an attorney, testified for Patsy Lou at an April 25 hearing. "Mr. Peck stated he disputed the department's agents' version of events," the order says. MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach a General Motors' spokesman for comment on the dealership's suspension. GAINES TOWNSHIP, MI -- The data center complex near Grand Rapids operated by tech giant Switch Inc. has a new customer in Jackson-based utility Consumers Energy. A deal between the two companies was announced this week in a news release from Switch. The company says the new Consumers data has resulted in 90 percent occupancy of the second sector built within the Gaines Township Pyramid Campus, so named because of the building's unique design. Work has already begun on build-out of the data center's next sector, according to the release. "Consumers Energy's selection of Switch's Pyramid Campus to house its mission-critical data demonstrates their need to be operating in a data center environment that provides unparalleled security, resiliency and 100-percent uptime," Adam Kramer, Switch's executive vice president of strategy, said in a statement. Consumers Energy, which provides electricity and natural gas services to roughly two-thirds of Michigan's about 10 million residents, now houses its "backup data" at the modern, state-of-the-art data center, Consumers spokesperson Brian Wheeler said. "In case we lose primary information for our customers," Wheeler said. In the past, both primary and backup data was stored within Consumers facilities, he said. Wheeler pointed out that the relationship between the two companies dates back to a 2017 announcement that, owing to a request from Switch, Consumers would be providing the new Pyramid Campus with 100 percent renewable energy. "Like Switch, Consumers Energy has made a commitment to the planet and to Michigan," Brian Rich, Consumers Energy's senior vice president for customer experience and technology, said in a statement. "This new agreement with Switch keeps our dollars in Michigan as we work to power our IT infrastructure with 100 percent renewable energy." An expansion of the Cross Winds Energy Park in Tuscola County provided the necessary capacity to offset the power being consumed at Switch's new facility near Grand Rapids. Though it's not necessarily the power generated by those wind turbines used at the Switch facility, Wheeler said, the amounts being added to and consumed from Consumers' electric grid are equivalent. One of four sites in which the Las Vegas-based company operates large-scale data centers in the United States, the Grand Rapids-area facility is housed in the former Steelcase Inc. pyramid building on 60th Street SE. Its other facilities are located in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, and its newest location in Atlanta. Switch specializes in storing and managing "cloud data" for large clients such as eBay, Intuit, Hitachi, JP Morgan Chase, Sony, Boeing Cisco, EMC, Google, Amazon, Time Warner, Eli Lilly, Activision ("Call of Duty") and Fox Broadcasting. Switch bought the local office furniture company's former Corporate Development Center in 2016, with plans to convert the property into a $400 million data center serving customers in the eastern half of the United States. Trumpeted as a major victory for the region and for the state, Gov. Rick Snyder called the tech giant's arrival "a great sign" for Michigan during a May 2017 visit to the site. Switch decided to locate in the pyramid-shaped building after the state legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder approved changes in late 2015 that waived the sales taxes and property taxes on equipment Switch will operate inside the facility. Switch Inc. spent $68 million on the facility in 2017 and expects to invest another $30-35 million in 2018, the company told investors on an April 2 call. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A heroin addict who shared the drug with another who died was sentenced to three years, 10 months in federal prison. Corey Gross, 25, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, was sentenced Thursday, May 10, by U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo. Gross acknowledged he provided heroin to James Piersma, and used it with him, before Piersma overdosed on Feb. 23, 2017, in Holland, court records said. Gross was a street-level dealer motivated by his heroin addiction, attorney Britt Cobb said. Cobb, who identified Piersma only by his initials in court documents, said Gross provided the victim a "user quantity of heroin ... within hours of his death." They drank a few beers and Piersma "appeared fine when Gross left." Other witnesses, too, said Piersma was OK when Gross left. "No one intended J.P.'s death," Cobb wrote. "Certainly, this is not a case where there is any suggestion that Mr. Gross left J.P. in any sort of distress, provided him with an excessive amount of heroin, provided him heroin from an unknown source with unknown effects or that he had any idea J.P. would later die. Mr. Gross used the same drug that J.P. used with him at the same time." He said his client's "life has been completely controlled by his drug addiction for some time, which necessarily means, he has been totally out of control." His family described him as a "bright and funny young man, who has great potential, when he is off drugs," Cobb said. They also knew that his future was death or prison if he kept using. He started when he was 16. He could not maintain sobriety, they said. He was among six people indicted on drug-conspiracy charges related to heroin sales in Allegan and Ottawa counties. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The son of a state Court of Appeals judge is allowed to dine out with his parents twice a month while awaiting sentencing for possession of child pornography. Sameer Gadola, 23, of East Lansing, is on in-house detention. He is restricted to his parents' home except for religious services, medical or mental-health treatment, attorney visits or court-ordered obligations. He is the son of appellate Judge Mike Gadola, and Preeti Gadola, who is on the Michigan Tax Tribunal. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent in Grand Rapids granted a defense request to modify Godola's bond so he could go out to eat with his parents twice a month. It was a "reasonable request," Gadola's attorney Brian Patrick Lennon said Friday, May 11. His client is required to notify his probation officer where and when he would go and be in the presence of at least one parent at all times. His father would have to accompany him to the restroom. Lennon, a former federal prosecutor, was able to show that Gadola would not pose a threat to public safety while out with his parents. Lennon said it was not unusual for such conditions to be set. Gadola, he said, would likely be able to go to the grocery store or bank if he didn't live with his parents. His client's therapist said that leaving his home would be "fitting and deeply helpful for Sameer's mental health." Gadola is developmentally challenged and has the mental age of a preteen or early teen, a forensic psychological evaluation showed. A federal prosecutor objected to the defense motion. "Although the government agrees that allowing Gadola to go out to eat might help with stress and isolation that he feels, the government surmises that all pretrial supervisees experience stress and isolation as a consequence of home detention," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Sanford wrote. Gadola will be sentenced June 6 after pleading guilty to three charges of possession of child pornography, a 10-year felony. A judge will decide if the terms are served concurrently or consecutively. Gadola shared nude photos and sexually charged conversations online with three teen boys in Michigan, Tennessee and Texas. They were 13, 14 and 16, court records said. CASCADE TOWNSHIP, MI -- Investigators believe the driver of a van involved in a fatal crash this week in Cascade Township veered at the last second but didn't brake before crashing into the rear of a semi-truck. Police identified the driver who was killed in the crash as Lavon Northrup, 41, of Defiance, Ohio. He was operating a 2017 GMC van for Fleetwash Inc., a mobile truck washing and facility service company out of Ohio. Northrup's passenger and coworker, a 30-year-old Montpelier, Ohio man, was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the passenger was asleep at the time of the crash. The incident occurred around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 9, on Cascade Road SE near Laraway Lake Drive. Police said both vehicles were northbound on Cascade Road. The semi-truck was slowing for a light at Laraway Lake Drive when it was hit from behind the van. Northrup was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, who was initially pinned into the vehicle, was freed and transported to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. The driver of the semi -- a 46-year-old Belleville man -- didn't report any serious injuries, police said. Investigators found no evidence of braking on the part of the van, but said the van did veer to the right slightly just before impact. Police said it's unclear if the driver was distracted because his passenger was asleep. Police couldn't confirm the van's destination, but said it was en route from a shop in Archbold, Ohio. It carried a large water tank, which added significant weight to the vehicle. The crash remains under investigation by the Kent County Sheriff's Department. Cascade Road reopened Wednesday afternoon after being shutdown for a significant period of time. Michigan's Court of Appeals has ordered the Board of State Canvassers to certify signatures for the prevailing wage repeal petition backed by the group Protecting Michigan Taxpayers. In a unanimous decision released Friday, Court of Appeals judges Elizabeth Gleicher, Peter O'Connell and Jonathan Tukel determined that even if some of the residential addresses provided by petition circulators were fraudulent, it wouldn't prevent elector signatures from being counted. "Michigan's election laws make no allowance for striking elector signatures in the event that a circulator records an incorrect address, and nothing in the relevant statutes conveys any intent to disenfranchise electors who were unaware of a circulator's error or infraction," the decision read. The court directed the Board of State Canvassers to certify the petition, which would then move to the Legislature for further consideration. In April, the board deadlocked in a 2-2 vote over certifying the petition signatures from Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, whose petition would repeal a law applying union-level wages to job sites for public projects, such as schools and government buildings. That decision came after a series of legal arguments between Protecting Michigan Taxpayers -- which is funded by the nonunion group Associated Builders and Contractors -- and Protect Michigan Jobs, a pro-prevailing wage group supported by several unions, over petition circulators with questionable residential addresses on their forms. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers President Jeff Wiggins said in a statement the court "upheld the rights of nearly 400,000 Michigan citizens" with its Friday ruling. He said Protecting Michigan Taxpayers is hoping the Board of State Canvassers schedules a hearing for the certification as soon as possible. "While it was unfortunate that they were forced to appeal to the judiciary to exercise these rights, the Court rightly found that their voices must be heard," he said. Late Friday afternoon, the Board of State Canvassers posted a meeting notice for 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 to reconsider Protecting Michigan Taxpayers' petition. Andrea Hansen, an attorney for Protect Michigan Jobs, a group that supports keeping prevailing wage and is an intervenor in the lawsuit, said the group planned to appeal. "We will be asking the Michigan Supreme Court for immediate application for leave to take up our appeal. The integrity of Michigan initiative process depends on their judgement," Hansen said in a statement. Prevailing wage repeal is popular among Republican leadership in the Legislature. Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, sponsored prevailing wage repeal legislation earlier this year. But Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he's supportive of the existing prevailing wage law. In 2015, Protecting Michigan Jobs successfully fought back against repeal efforts, challenging the signatures collected by Protecting Michigan Taxpayers that year. State officials determined Protecting Michigan Taxpayers turned in an unusually high number of invalid signatures. This story was updated to include the Board of State Canvassers' new meeting date and a comment from Protect Michigan Jobs. SOUTH MANITOU ISLAND, MI - Great Lakes boat captains have always had a reputation for being a little salty. Maybe it's the rough seas or long hours at the helm. But not many skippers can say they've also been their island's midwife, its postmaster, and later a cook and baker catering to millionaires aboard a Lake Michigan car ferry. So in honor of Mother's Day - and the upcoming sailing season - we're tipping our caps to the memory of Florence Haas, the first licensed woman captain to pilot a passenger boat on the Great Lakes. Stories of her prowess on the water still linger in Northern Michigan's Leelanau area and offshore on South Manitou Island, where her namesake Florence Lake continues to draw visitors. Vignettes that detail her life show she had a steady hand with her boat, a steely nerve when it came to reading a storm - and more than her share of salty sass. Case in point: A newspaper article hailing Haas' accomplishments describes the time she had to calm a panicked lumberman when her boat was caught in a sudden squall on Lake Michigan. She was running him between South Manitou and the old resort town of Glen Haven on the mainland - the area now part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Half-way into the 10-mile trip, "he became greatly alarmed and offered her $500 to turn back," according to an article in the Grand Rapids Evening Press. "With a flash in her blue eyes, she turned upon him and said: 'You keep still and I'll land you on the other side for 50 cents, which is the regular fare.' " The Reliance, Florence and Joseph Haas' mail boat. Photo courtesy of the Leelanau Historical Society Museum. ISLAND GIRL TO TEENAGE BRIDE Haas' love for being on the water likely ran in her DNA, according to numerous newspaper clippings and family remembrances shared with us by the Leelanau Historical Society & Museum. Her father, Isaac Raymo, had a resume that included deep sea diver, lumberjack and boat captain by the time he and his wife, Isabelle, moved their family from Wisconsin to South Manitou Island in the 1870s. Florence was the second-oldest girl in a family of 11 children. By 16, she'd gone to Manistee to elope with Joseph Haas. Why the quickie wedding? It seems the headstrong Florence was a lot like her future mother-in-law. "Maria Hoffman Haas, the mother-in-law to be, a woman of strong opinions, disliked young Florence Raymo, a woman of equally strong opinions," Florence Haas' great-grandson, Don Roy, wrote in an essay about her adventures. The young couple returned to the island, where they ran a small farm on the west end by the lighthouse. They raised three children on an income from farming, fishing, then later running a mail boat and passengers several times a week between the island and the mainland. They made the 20-mile round trip by sailboat, the Reliance, then later switched to a gas-powered engine. They also sailed often to Green Bay, sometimes sailing through the night at 12 mph with Florence Haas at the helm while her husband and son slept on the boat, according to newspaper accounts. Haas' sailing abilities and her gender began making headlines. Some described her as the "fair skipper," and others announced "Woman captain is pride of officers." They talked about her making "perilous trips," while emphasizing her ladylike appearance, as if the two should be at odds. According to one article with a Holland dateline: "There is not a better sailor on the lakes than the captain of the Reliance," said Lieutenant Ballinger of Chicago at Macatawa Park the other day. Mr Ballinger is government inspector of the lifesaving stations in this district and his remark was made while in conversation with Captain Morton of Grand Haven, superintendent of life saving stations in the district, who echoed the statement. The captain of the Reliance is a woman, and it was to this everyday modest, womanly woman, whose home is on the bounding waters, that these men, whose positions gave them the ability to judge, paid so high a tribute." SAILING SOLO, PUTTING HENRY FORD IN HIS PLACE In 1912, Haas found herself widowed and carrying on with the mail route alone. Joseph Haas drowned in Lake Michigan that year. According to accounts, he was moving a case of beer from his boat when he lost his footing and fell, hitting his head and landing in the water. Rescuers tried to help him and reported seeing air bubbles in the water, but could not reach him in time. Relatives' accounts say Haas continued her captain's duties for another five years before going to work on boats and car ferries that carried passengers on the Great Lakes. She was a cook and baker aboard these ships, which led her to rub elbows with some famous passengers. A grandson, Theron Haas, wrote this remembrance of his grandmother's encounter with industrialist and Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford: "Mr. Ford was trying to get the Railroad Company to make a connection at Escanaba. As the Company already had 4 ports of call on that side of the lake and with only 4 boats they felt they already had a full plate. Anyway, getting to Escanaba in the winter was harder then Menominee, which was bad enough. Mr. Ford came to Frankfort one day and arranged for the carferry No.4 to take him and his entourage to Escanaba. Grandma was first cook and my mother was cabin maid. The boat left Frankfort in the morning. Mr. Ford came back to the galley where he engaged my grandmother in conversation. There was a large passage way between the galley range and the pantry. It was like a doorway and Henry stood in this, leaning against one side and his arm across the top to the other door jam. There was plenty of room for Florence to pass by him and under his arm. She was preparing dinner and, among other things, she was preparing pies for the oven. According to my mother, he tried every which way to get one of those pies. Even offered her $5.00 for one. She told him there was just enough to go around and he would get his share at meal time. I guess she just couldn't be bribed. Can you imagine telling someone like Henry Ford he couldn't have something he wanted, in that day and age? He went ashore in Escanaba and had a meeting with the city fathers. The whole trip must have been a big disappointment for him. He didn't get all the pie he wanted and the carferry's never stopped at Escanaba." Haas's no-nonsense integrity didn't always win her friends. She was irked when a cost-cutting carferry official told her to stop baking fresh bread in the galley kitchen and start serving the day-old loafs he had delivered from a mainland bakery. She got even more ticked when she noticed gallons of red paint that had been delivered to the ferry ended up coating the barns at this same official's farm, all painted by ferry workers. To make her point, she had the porters throw a shipment of day-old moldy bread overboard, then went to the manager's office to underscore her knowledge of his deception. "She went over to the office and told the Superintendent what she had done. He flew into a rage! He didn't stay raged very long. She got out her 'little black book' and recited the incident with the red paint. He folded. She got her lard, flour and yeast," her grandson wrote. REMEMBERING HER ISLAND Haas moved away from her beloved Great Lakes for her retirement. She invested in Texas real estate and lived her final years in Galveston. She made her last trip to Michigan to visit relatives in 1942, a year before her death. She'd made arrangements to be buried in Green Bay, next to family, because by that time, South Manitou was considered to be too remote for a resting place, her relatives said. In the decades that followed, her grandchildren said they found letters and other mementos detailing Haas' remarkable career on the Great Lakes. Some contained a glimpse into her island days, and how she'd carved a life of "firsts" from her corner of the world. From her great-grandson Don Roy's essay: "She often spoke of the old days on the island and I always listened. She gave me a five-generation picture of our family. She was always proud of her heritage. From her English mother she traced her origins to colonial times. Her father was French. I sometimes wonder if her French-English background did not often set her apart from the other German settlers on South Manitou Island." Most of all, her grandchildren remember her as seeming full of hope. She had a certainty that things would always get better. "They do not make her kind any more. The mold must have been lost!" TROY, MI - She is officially an officer of the "paw." Pawfficer Donut has been sworn in as the new Troy Police Department's Police cat. Judges Kirsten Nielsen Hartig and Maureen McGinnis asked Donut to raise her right paw and officially swore her in, badge and all, at the Troy Police Department with other officers and even Chief Gary Mayer looking on. This all began in March when the Troy Police Department put out a challenge on Twitter saying it would get a police cat if it received 10,000 followers by April. It reached its goal weeks early. "This campaign has helped us connect with thousands of people, not only here in Troy and the Metro Detroit area, but we've had people from around the world contact us to do news articles on us, said Chief Mayer. Pawfficer Donut will be used to help raise awareness for pet adoptions and rescues. She will also interact with people in the community and on social media. "We are using social media to engage the public that we serve and to get the message out that police are human, too, and we want to show we have a side of us that is beyond law enforcement," added Chief Mayer. Pawfficer Donut will live with a fellow Troy police officer who already has two adult cats at home. She will also spend some of her time at the station. This is the second cat the department chose. Its first kitten, Pawfficer Badges, tested positive for feline leukemia. While the disease is often fatal, Badges can live a good life in the right home. She can't live with other cats as the disease is transmittable. "Our plan is to find her a suitable home that will be a stress free environment as much as possible," said Doctor Robert Fisher of the Michigan Humane Society. The Michigan Humane Society tested Badges twice before she was to be handed over to Troy PD. She is up for adoption at the Humane Society in Westland. Here is our video where we met Pawofficer Donut for the first time. TROY, MI - The Troy Police Department is looking for a new police cat after the one it was about to adopt was diagnosed with a serious illness. UPDATE: Pawfficer Donut sworn-in as the new Troy police cat Pawfficer Badges was set to be adopted and sworn in for duty by a judge tomorrow at the Troy Police Department. Sadly, she's been diagnosed with feline leukemia. It's a disease which can be transmitted to other cats and is often fatal. The Michigan Humane Society released a statement saying: "As a result of this diagnosis, the kitten will not be able to perform her duties as a sworn pawfficer with the department. Our friends at the Troy Police Department will continue to move forward with the swearing in of their police cat, and will be auditioning new recruits." Because of the disease, the kitten needs to live in a home with no other cats and may require a lot of medical care. She is still up for adoption at the Michigan Humane Society in Westland. Meantime, the Troy Police Department will have a new cat to swear in for duty as early as Friday, May 11, 2018. The kitten will live with an officer who already has two adult cats. The goal of the feline officer is to raise awareness for cat adoptions and rescues. He or she will also make community appearances and interact with people. If you're just hearing about this, this all started back in March when the department put out a Twitter challenge. "If we get 10,000 followers by April, we want a police cat." It reached the goal weeks before April. JACKSON, MI - When Kathy Davis was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2018, she and her significant other Steven Foster were less than a year into their venture of owning a downtown Jackson bookstore. As Davis' health regressed, Foster couldn't give S&K Book Exchange his full attention. Fearing what the future held, he put the 130 E. Washington Ave. bookstore up for sale. Hours were reduced and the bookstore closed its doors for much of February. Davis died March 4 at the age of 64. But the bookstore - and Davis' legacy - lives on. Foster reopened the small business and took it off the market, hoping to preserve the dream of his life partner. "I was a little worried," Foster said. "Nobody wanted the bookstore to go." With help from his family and friends Jan Carter, Chris Cilley and Lisa Lounsbery, Foster is working to inform the community the bookstore is back in business. His friends say they've joined on at the store to help their friend. S&K Book Exchange has every genre you can think of, Foster said - with fiction and non-fiction. Most books are $4, most children's books are $2 or less and old books can be exchanged for store credit. In an effort to get books to kids, Foster also gives heavy discounts to teachers. Many parents also frequent the store, looking to buy books they read as a child to get for their own kids. "When you can get a kid that finds a book and they're so excited, it's nice to see a kid excited about books," Foster said. "Unfortunately, people are moving on more to those tablets. It's not the same as a real book in your hand." With only a couple bookstores left in Jackson, Foster emphasizes their importance. "I hope there's going to be at least a bookstore (in Jackson 50 years from now) - maybe even this one," Foster said. "I hope there's always going to be a bookstore here in Jackson, because people have got to keep being able to read." Growing up in Hillsdale, books were an essential part of Foster's childhood. "For me, reading was an escape," he said. "I'd rather put my mind into those stories, because they were just more interesting than real life. Real life was boring. I went to school, went home and just started over the next day, same thing." A fan of fantasy novels, his love for books is apparent whenever Foster loads up the back of his truck with hardcovers and paperbacks, which are donations from people who don't know what to do with deceased family members' collections. Foster estimates S&K Book Exchange has 50,000 books on the floor and another 400,000 in storage. "If you throw books away, in some ways, you're losing history," Foster said. Prior to becoming a bookstore owner, Foster worked a variety of jobs, including as a supervisor at Burger King and at the old Bullinger's restaurant. In a way, running a bookstore is like working at a bar, he suggests. "I spent some time as a bartender, and honestly this isn't much different. It's talking. It's getting to know people and just chatting people up," Foster said. "You're learning about the person's life when you're bartending. In a way, you're learning about their lives, here." The next task for S&K Book Exchange is a renovation, as Foster and his brother are going to build 50 new bookshelves for the space. Davis was nervous about how much work the remodel would be, Foster said, but he knows it will help strengthen the store. It will close for a week in late 2018 during the project. For now, S&K Book Exchange is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and closed Sundays and Mondays. "We're open and I'm not going anywhere," Foster said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of Komeito party, LDP's ruling coalition partner in Tokyo, Japan, on May 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Tao) TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called upon Japan's political parties to step up efforts to help promote relations between the two countries. When meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of Komeito party, LDP's ruling coalition partner, Li said this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Noting that China-Japan ties have witnessed both significant progress and twists and turns during the 40 years, Li urged the two sides to firmly stick to the direction of peace, friendship and cooperation, facilitate cooperation in various areas and promote steady and long-term development of bilateral relations, in accordance with the spirits of the four cornerstone political documents signed by the two countries. China is willing to work with the LDP and Komeito to create a new future for China-Japan relations after all the rough times, the premier said. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty, Premier Li's visit to Japan has brought bilateral ties back to normal track, said leaders of the two ruling parties, adding that the Japanese side highly appreciates it. As ruling parties, the LDP and Komeito expect to enhance party-to-party exchanges with the Chinese side and continue to make unremitting efforts to achieve bigger progress in carrying forward Japan-China relations, the parties' heads said. When meeting with heads or representatives of Japan's opposition parties, including Yukio Edano, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yuichiro Tamaki, representative of Democratic Party for the People, and Kazuo Shii, head of the Japanese Communist Party, Li said China and Japan are neighbors that can never be moved away. The two economies are complementary to each other with enormous cooperation potentials, Li said. The premier urged the two countries to review the spirit of the treaty, and follow the principles set out in the treaty. Only by doing this can we rectify the route for China-Japan ties so as to ensure the relations go forward along the right track, Li said. The Chinese premier expects all the parties present at the meeting to make proactive efforts to promote the healthy and steady development of China-Japan relations. Heads or representatives of the opposition parties said Japan-China ties are important to the peace and stability and economic development of East Asia and the world. They also praised Premier Li for the visit which has brought China-Japan bilateral relations back to track and taken an important step forward. They expect to take the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty as an opportunity to expand exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese premier arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for an official visit to Japan and to attend the 7th China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting. Li's visit to Japan is the first by a Chinese premier in eight years. 2 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] BAD AXE, MI -- Citing fears akin to David vs. Goliath, a Thumb county of roughly 33,000 people decided this week against joining other Michigan communities in suing 25 opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers. "From the questions Huron County commissioners asked, I concluded they were concerned about the large number of well-financed large corporations with otherwise decent names in the stream of commerce and the potential risks of filing a lawsuit against those folks," said Stephen Allen, the county's corporate counsel. At their May 8 meeting, the Huron County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted not to pursue a suit against 25 opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers for, among other allegations, marketing opioids as non-addictive to increase sales but thereby creating widespread addiction, Allen said. Due to illness, County Board Chairperson Sami Khoury was absent from the vote, Allen said. Genesee, Macomb, Saginaw, Chippewa, Grand Traverse and Delta counties, along with Detroit, Lansing and Escanaba, have already filed a joint lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers, MLive previously reported. Huron County's neighbors to the south, Tuscola and Sanilac counties, are deliberating whether to join the suit. Before casting their votes, Huron County commissioners expressed worry about the possibility of a countersuit, legal fees and the amount of time and money required to investigate and document cases that fit the lawsuit's claims, Allen said. The investigations would look at the costs of policing, prosecuting, imprisoning and treating opioid and heroin users in instances that fit the criteria of the suit, Allen said. "We've been damaged by (the opioid crisis)," he said. WINTER HAVEN, FL -- A Florida man is facing a resisting arrest charge after he attempted to hide his girlfriend from authorities by placing the legless woman inside of a plastic storage container in their home. MLive.com file photo. U.S. Marshals discovered the woman, Krystal Lee Anderson inside of a container in the home after an officer observed John Robert Carr Jr. placing her inside of the plastic container. The officer saw the moment unfold while looking through a bedroom window. She was eventually taken into custody without incident. According to The Ledger, Anderson was wanted on a failure to appear charge stemming from a 2015 incident where she held people hostage at a Burger King using a BB gun. She eventually pointed the gun at a responding officer who shot her. Anderson lost both of her legs as a result of the shooting. MOAA has consolidated the annual State Report Card and State Tax Guide. The color-coded maps below assess each state on the taxability of military retired pay and survivor benefits (top map) and whether states have enacted legislation addressing servicemember and military family issues tracked by the Defense State Liaison Office (bottom map). Information is current as of the dates noted below; consult state authorities for additional/more current information. Access to MOAAs State Report Card has been temporarily granted to all members. If you are not already a PREMIUM or LIFE member, join or upgrade now to ensure your access to this and other valuable content from MOAA continues. State Tax Comparison Map for Military Retirement Pay and SBP Click on each state to find detailed, specific state tax information. Map Legend Green: Both military retired pay (MRP) and Survivor Benefit Plan payments (SBP) are fully exempt from state taxation. Yellow: MRP and/or SBP receive partial exemption from state taxation. Red: Neither MRP nor SBP is exempt from state taxation Source: MOAA Communications; updated July 26, 2021 Map of Issues Affecting Currently Serving Troops and Families Click on each state for additional information from the Defense State Liaison Office (DSLO). An exhibition on Cuban art, is underway at Beijing's Tianqiao Art Center. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) Cuba is one of the farthest countries from China in geographic distance. The connection between the two, however, has been closer since the first Chinese people -- labor forces -- arrived in Cuba some 170 years ago. To mark this long-standing relation, The Longest Journey, an exhibition on Cuban art, is underway at Beijing's Tianqiao Art Center through Friday. On show are dozens of paintings revolving around the dynamics and variety of Cuban history and culture. The exhibition title relates to the country's past when people of different ethnicities left their homelands and journeyed a long way to reach Cuba, and their original cultures clashed and merged to form a new culture of Cuba. 6 1 [ Editor: Xueying ] Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Building Homes for Heroes donates home to war veteran and her children Tao Haiyan's eldest child plays at the new house redesigned by Lan Feng at Xiyangxin Village in Taijiang District of Fuzhou City, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 9, 2018. As an interior designer of Fuzhou City, Lan Feng has paid attention to the living conditions of migrant workers in Fuzhou when she studied at university. More than a month ago, Lan got acquainted with Tao Haiyan from Chongqing, who is about to welcome her second baby, but lives in a narrow and disadvantaged dwelling place rented in Fuzhou with her family. To enhance their living condition, Lan together with other public-spirited partners redesigned and refitted a new house freely for them. Lan said she together with her partners would help more families like Tao's to improve their living conditions. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) 5 1 [ Editor: WPY ] May 11, 2018 Open Thread 2018-23 News & views ... Posted by b on May 11, 2018 at 17:33 UTC | Permalink Comments next page The corporation has set a reduction in both revenue and after-tax profit. Accordingly, its revenue target this year is VND7.9 trillion (US$348 million), up 5.9% from 2017. SCIC has successfully sold 30% of capital at Binh Minh Plastic Joint Stock Company to Thailands Nawaplastic Industries to earn VND2.3 trillion (US$101.3 million). Nawaplastic Industries increased its shares to 51% of total capital at Binh Minh Plastic JSC. SCIC plans to offload its stakes at Thieu nien Tien Phong Plastic Joint Stock Company, FPT Joint Stock Company and Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation (Vinaconex) again this year after a failure in 2017. Maritime Bank has the largest charter capital in SCICs list of selling shares this year with VND11.7 trillion (US$515.4 million). The divestment at the bank was unsuccessful as no investor registered within the deadline of March 21. Many large companies in the thermo-power sector will also be part of SCICs divestment plan, such as Quang Ninh Thermo-power Joint Stock Company and Hai Phong Thermo-power Joint Stock Company. The two companies have charter capital of VND4.5 trillion (US$198.2 million) and VND5 trillion (US$220.2 million), respectively. Other major names in the divestment include Domesco Medical Import Export JSC, Bao Viet Group, Thang Long Corporation and Vietnam Vegetable Oil Industry Corporation. Notably, the list of divestment this year does not have Vietnam Dairy Product Joint Stock Company, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Vietnam Military Joint Stock Commercial Bank. SCIC holds shares of 36%, 43% and 9.7% in these three companies, respectively. It will sell shares at Vietnam Dairy Product JSC following orders from the government. Established in 2006, SCIC operates with two main functions: representing the governments capital interests in State-owned enterprises and investing in State capital in key sectors and essential industries. Low quality of equitisation According to the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam equitised 632 SOEs during the 2011-2017 period, with the total value of the states stake determined at VND374 trillion (US$16.456 billion). In 2017 alone, total revenues from equitisation and disinvestment were estimated at VND144.577 trillion (US$6.36 billion), more than double the target set by the National Assembly. The two years of 2017 and 2018 are considered to present many opportunities from the equitisation and disinvestment of leading SOEs and the new developments of the debt market. A number of bright spots are the successful sales of shares in Sabeco and Kim Lien Hotel, the approval of the PV Oil equitisation plan, and an additional share sale of Vinamilk. These deals suggest that SOE restructuring has seen positive results in the progress and the number of equitised firms. However, there remain significant obstacles to this process. According to Nguyen Duc Thanh, head of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, the progress of SEO equitisation remains behind schedule, while the quality is also low. Although the process has been determined as a key policy towards SOEs and for the whole economy in general, it has encountered many obstacles, notably the influence of interest groups on the equitisation process, difficulties in the search for consultants and enterprise evaluation, especially large ones with complex structures and operations in various industries. Echoing Thanhs view, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics Tran Dinh Thien stated that the progress of and number of equitised SOEs are basically guaranteed but the quality remains low. He elaborated that among the 96.5% of equitised SOEs, only 8% of state capital is transferred to the private sector, which means the process has failed to move national resources from a less efficient sector to one which is more efficient. With just 8% of state capital sold to the private sector, the state remains the dominant owner of these enterprises, while other sectors are still marginalised, thereby limiting the impacts of the process on corporate governance reform and efforts to attract greater investment. Many SOEs who retain large state stakes have definitive advantages over other enterprises in the same industry but are performing more poorly than previously. A drug manufacturing line at Bac Ninh Pharmaceutical Company Hidden corners Director of the Ministry of Finances corporate finance department, Dang Quyet Tien, stated that the recent controversy over the equitisation of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio (VFS) has partly exposed the hidden corners in the equitisation of SOEs, from the criteria for selecting strategic shareholders and determining the value of intangible assets to determining land use rights in enterprise evaluation. If the film studio is converted into apartments or supermarkets, it requires the authorities permission and the VFSs value must be re-assessed. The SOE equitisation process also fails to meet expectations in terms of attracting foreign and strategic investors, said Pham Duc Trung, head of the enterprises reform and development department of the Central Institute of Economic Management. The National Assemblys resolution stipulates that the ratio of state ownership must be reduced as much as possible but this is not a straightforward task. For example, an SOE which planned to reduce state ownership to 65%, proceeded with an initial public offering, yet state ownership remains high at 81%. The company also expected to sell 17% of its shares to strategic investors but only 10% were sold. Post-equitisation, enterprises will find it hard to succeed if they still retain such amounts of state capital, while holding on to the old structure and outdated technologies. Another hidden corner of the equitisation process is the use of land-related assets. According to Dr Le Anh Duy at Saigon University, many SOEs were acquired by enterprises operating in different sectors such as the cases of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio, the Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation and the Vietnam National Vegetable, Fruit and Agricultural Product Corporation. It is clear that investors are only interested in the benefits of SOEs land assets rather than enhancing corporate governance of SOEs after the equitisation process. In addition, assigning insiders or relevant people to sell assets they manage to themselves creates a loophole for corruption. Plots to take advantage of land policies could hatch from the stage of formulating equitisation plans. For example, they could let their enterprises make losses in order to buy cheap later, or intentionally conceal relevant information to prevent others from buying. In developed countries around the world, there are special incentives to promote startups, which have helped form a series of new startup models, support funds, intermediaries and brokers that support startups to improve their product value and bring added value to the economy. The most successful startups have quickly become the leading technology companies in the world, such as Google, Facebook and Viber. The aforementioned enterprises apply new and effective technological trading methods on the worlds scientific and technical market, generating transactions worth several hundred fold over traditional deals. Take Viber, one of the most popular mobile apps for communications, as an example, it was sold for around US$900 million; or OneBox, which offers Internet-based fax solutions, which was sold for US$850 million. In Vietnam, the startup movement has become more active and developed in recent years, with the rapid increase of incubators and facilities that boost startup support activities. Only five of the most successful capital calls have a total value of over US$50 million, including Momo US$28 million, F88 US$10 million, Got It! over US$9 million, Vntrip.vn US$3 million, Toong US$1 million. The latest is Foody, a social networking site related to cuisine that has sold over 82% of its shares for more than US$64 million. Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh stated that more than 900 startup projects and 300 startup groups have been connected to the community and investment funds. In addition, over 40 venture capital funds have been operating in Vietnam, typically IDG Ventures, CyberAgent Ventures, Gobi Partners and 500 Startups. Currently, there are 24 incubators, ten business promotion organisations and many startup support networks that have been formed, including the Small and Medium Enterprise Support Network and the Initiative for Vietnamese Startup Counseling programme. Startups should be provided with sufficient legal corridors to develop in Vietnam. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has been in charge of implementing a new business promotion model from the US under a technological commercialisation programme following the Silicon Valley model in Vietnam. In addition, there is also the Vietnam-Finland Innovation Partnership Programme that fully supports startups and the components of the startup ecosystem. The aforementioned programmes have provided training and capital for dozens of enterprises, and startup trainers, as well as organising supportive activities for startups. However, there are still inadequacies, as most startups are spontaneous, lack of links and are not strong enough to make Vietnamese businesses on a par with technology enterprises in the international arena. Experts argued that, in terms of policies, startups are not yet defined in legal documents, while the characteristics of startups and investment for startup businesses have not been reflected in the regulations on taxes, finance and investment. Vietnam currently has no regulations on the establishment of venture capital funds which creates difficulties for investors. Therefore, up to now, no venture capital fund has been set up in Vietnam, while the percentage of Vietnamese businesses setting up offices abroad is increasing. If there isnt a favourable regulatory environment or specific regulations for the startup sector, it will be difficult to develop startups and to create a startup ecosystem in Vietnam. The factual situation also shows that there is no strong link between policy and the communitys activities to promote startups and create a startup culture. Head of the MOSTs Department of Market Development and Science and Technology Enterprise Pham Hong Quat suggested that startups need time and support from many sectors in order to develop. Universities and research institutes play an important role in providing founders, research results with high commercialised values, and innovative business ideas. Incubators and business promotion organisations are also important for startup training, while infrastructure is also necessary for testing and making sample products. Furthermore, startup events should be held to connect and improve the startup culture. The State should build a legal environment conducive to startup activities and investment. All of the above elements should be linked to become a national startup ecosystem, through which startups would have sufficient legal corridors to develop in Vietnam. Anaya made the statement on May 9 while visiting the Vietnamese Embassy in Mexico on the occasion of the 43th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic ties (May 19). He stressed the two countries great potential for pushing their trade and economic cooperation. The PT Secretary General praised achievements made by the Vietnamese people during the Doi moi (reform) process under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, while highlighting the impressive economic growth and increasing role of the country in the region and the world. Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico Nguyen Hoai Duong, for his part, affirmed that, based on the good relationship between the two countries, especially after a meeting between the two countries leaders on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Da Nang last year and the two countries signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, their all-around relations will be deepened in a practical manner. He took the occasion to update Mexican delegates on Vietnams socio-economic development and advantages for their bilateral cooperation in the future. Representatives of Mexican enterprises who accompanied the PT Secretary General said they want to seek Vietnamese partners in the fields of tourism, textiles and garment, solar electricity and agriculture. A delegation of Mexican entrepreneurs is scheduled to visit Vietnam in this September to explore the Southeast Asian market. Statistics show that two-way trade between Vietnam and Mexico reached over US$5 billion in 2017, with an average growth reaching 10% per year. Vietnams main exports to Mexico are textiles, footwear, computers, telephones and aquatic products. TALIHINA, Okla. (AP) Four Oklahoma troopers were struck by gunfire or shrapnel while serving a warrant early Friday at a man's home that may have been booby-trapped to spark a large fire, authorities said. The blaze consumed several buildings in downtown Talihina, a town of about 1,100 people that's about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City. The suspect was shot and has been pronounced dead, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Paul Timmons said. He was not immediately identified, and a body had not been recovered. Timmons said the four injured troopers were treated and released from a local hospital and are expected to recover. Local authorities had requested help from state troopers to execute a drug-related warrant because the man had a "violent criminal history," Timmons said. "As soon as they made entry, they were met by gunfire," Timmons said. He said authorities are "fairly certain" the man had surveillance cameras set up. A fifth trooper who was wearing a protective vest was also struck in the chest area by gunfire, but escaped any injury because of the vest, Timmons said. Authorities don't yet know what caused the fire, but Timmons said the blaze broke out instantly after the law enforcement officers tried to execute the warrant. "Right now we suspect that the building may have been booby-trapped with some type of explosive device that maybe started the fire," Timmons said. Firefighters appeared to have the blaze contained Friday afternoon. It destroyed two historic buildings that were about 100 years old, Talihina Police Chief Rodney Faulkenberry said. Talihina is stopping point for visitors to the Ouachita Mountains and is on the eastern end of the scenic Talimena Drive connecting with Mena, Arkansas. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) A family of seven including four children was found dead with gunshot wounds Friday at a rural property in southwest Australia in what could be the country's worst mass shooting in 22 years, police and news media said. The children died with their mother and grandparents. The three generations had moved in 2015 to Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people near the tourist town of Margaret River, to grow fruit, media reported. Police would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide, but said they are not looking for a suspect. After being alerted by a phone call before dawn, police found the bodies and two guns at the property, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. Police wouldn't say who made the call. The bodies of two adults were found outside a house and the others were found inside. They all resided at the property, he said. Police said they have no information that would raise concerns about wider public safety, suggesting a shooter is not at large. "Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident," Dawson told reporters. "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest," he added. Police were attempting to make contact with the victims' relatives, Dawson said. He declined to release the names or ages of the dead. Philip Alpers, a Sydney University gun policy analyst, said the tragedy appeared to be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australia's gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters including former U.S. President Barack Obama saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented. The generally accepted definition of a mass shooting four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event has been met only once in Australia since then. In 2014, a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. Police have revealed few details about the recent killings, and it is not clear whether there was more than one shooter. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Osmington is a collection of a few streets, farms, vacation accommodations and vineyards supplying the premium winemaking district known as Margaret River. Samantha Lee, chair of the Gun Control Australia lobby group, said rural areas were over-represented in Australian gun deaths, including suicides. "Regional and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of tragedies, because of the combination of isolation, sometimes mental or financial hardship and easy access to firearms," Less said in a statement. "Although the details of this tragedy are yet to come to light, Australia has a tragic history of higher rate of gun deaths in rural areas," she added. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. BEIRUT (AP) The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local): 5:15 p.m. A senior Lebanese politician and close ally of Syria and Iran says this week's retaliation to repeated Israeli airstrikes in Syria was a "very strong warning" to Israel. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says this time the Syrian retaliation was in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights but next time it will be in Israel proper. Speaking to the Associated Press in an interview Friday, he said Israel and the U.S. cannot bear the consequences of a wide-scale regional war. "There are American interests in Syria and if there is a larger war, I don't think even the American president can bear the consequences," he said. Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria this week in response to what it says was an Iranian rocket barrage, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Berri, a powerful longtime politician allied with Hezbollah, said the Syrian response has achieved a "balance of terror" with Israel. ___ 1:05 p.m. Israel's defense minister is urging President Bashar Assad to rid Syria of Iranian forces, warning their presence endangers his country. Avigdor Lieberman says: "Assad, get rid of the Iranians ... they are not helping you ... their presence will only cause problems and damages." Speaking on Friday while touring the Israeli held side of the Golan Heights, Lieberman said Israel does not "look for friction ... we did not come to the Iranian border, they came here." Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria this week in response to an Iranian rocket barrage in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. Iran is fighting alongside Assad forces in the civil war. ___ 10:30 a.m. Syrian state media and a war monitor say opposition fighters and their families have left three southern suburbs of the capital Damascus, bringing the area under government control for the first time in years. State news agency SANA says opposition fighters who decided to stay in the suburbs of Babila, Beit Sahem and Yalda will hand over the weapons and return to normal life. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a total of 8,400 fighters and civilians left the area since May 3 and the last group left Thursday night. SANA said police forces are getting ready to enter the area on Friday to guarantee security. The Observatory said that Russian and Syrian police have already started entering the towns. ___ 9:50 a.m. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency is reporting that the country's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel's attack on Iranian targets inside Syria and called it a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty. In Iran's first official reaction to the attack, the Friday report quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi. He says Israeli attacks on Syria under "fabricated and baseless excuses" is a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. He added that Syria has the right to defend itself "against the aggressors." The Israeli military said Thursday it attacked dozens of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. ___ 8:20 a.m. U.N. Secretary-General Guterres is urging an immediate halt to "all hostile acts" to avoid "a new conflagration" in the Middle East after Israeli forces bombed Iranian targets inside Syria. Israel says the strikes were retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the Golan Heights and has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to immediately condemn Iran's attack. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member has asked for a meeting. Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ORLANDO, Fla. -- A fire-breathing dragon float at Walt Disney World caught fire Friday afternoon, Disney officials confirmed. Float catches fire during parade at Magic Kingdom Maleficent-themed float features fire-breathing dragon No one was hurt, Disney officials said The incident happened in front of the Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom. The dragon, which shoots fire from its nose, is on the Maleficent float. Officials "took very quick action and cleared the area," Disney said. The fire is out, and there were no injuries to visitors or staff, officials said. WINTER PARK, Fla. -- If you walk by the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, do not be surprised to see seniors in their cap and gowns snapping pictures. Ana Ortiz came to America at age 6 DACA allowed her to go to college She is on the path to citizenship Meanwhile, Ana Ortiz, is making sure everything is ready for the big day. "I was wondering if our banner was ready? I got the email," asked Ortiz over the phone. She has been working at the campus' chapel for the past couple of months, helping them with marketing. "This is kind of a dream come true for me," said Ortiz about finally graduating college. Ortiz's mom brought her from Colombia when she was 6 years old on a tourist visa that expired months later. They never went back, making Central Florida their new home. Ortiz did not know at that point she was undocumented. "I didn't have like a social security number or anything, so whenever we went to fill that out, you know everything like that stayed blank so it's not like she sat down and explained it to me, but I had a sense something was off," explained Ortiz. Right before graduating high school, she was not sure she could go to college. That is until the Deferred Act for Childhood Arrivals or DACA was introduced. "Ok, I actually like qualify for this, like I meet every single requirement on here," she remembered. Ortiz became a Dreamer and enrolled in school working towards the future she wanted. "We're not here because we're trying to steal jobs or things like that ... we're really trying to become a better person. We really want those American dreams that kind of have been fed to us for as long as we can remember," said Ortiz. She is thankful for her mom, who sacrificed so much for her. "She was telling me how she never imagined this for me," she said with tears coming down her face. Thanks to her, Ortiz is on a path to citizenship. "I pretty much am an American. I feel like I just need to get my citizenship really to like prove it," she laughed. She is ready to give back as a future social worker. "I can help other minorities, Latinos and African-Americans really thrive in whatever circumstances that they're in." She is graduating from Rollins College on Sunday with a degree in sociology. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A retired Orange County firefighter's nearly 700-mile journey to get support for a cancer bill for firefighters is complete. Former Orange County firefighter completes March of the Bull Tom 'Bull' Hill marched from Key West to Tallahassee Raising awareness about need for firefighter cancer bill PREVIOUS STORY: Ex-firefighter walking across Florida to raise cancer risk awareness Tom 'Bull' Hill walked the steps of the state capitol in Tallahassee Thursday, carrying a backpack covered with the badges of fallen firefighters who lost their battle with cancer. Hill started his march from Key West in March, moving up the Florida east coast, crossing through the Orlando area and up to Lake County. Along the way, he picked up supporters in his quest to raise awareness of the dangers firefighters face, often without benefits should something happen to them. "So many people, so many citizens, have outpouringly reached on their love for the firefighters, that there needs to be a change and now it's to get these people to listen," Hill said Thursday. Nearly 50,000 people signed a petition in support of the cancer bill. A growing body of research shows firefighters are more likely to get the disease because of their profession -- running into burning buildings. A Senate bill to give benefits to firefighters who get cancer, and to provide death benefits to families should a firefighter die of cancer, died in the Florida legislative session this year. Around 30 states already have a similar law, according to the First Responder Center for Excellence. APOPKA, Fla. -- Take a scenic drive through one of Central Florida's best kept secrets, where you'll see hundreds of species of birds. Grab your camera when visiting Lake Apopka Lake Apopka offers birds, other wildlife Visit Lake Apopka here You'll find Ed Boucicaut sitting alongside Lake Apopka almost weekly; for him, it's the perfect spot. "Wildlife photography is my hobby, and there is quite a variety of birds and gators to see," Boucicaut said. It's what surrounds the lake though that draws in so many other visitors: The Lake Apopka Wildlife Trail. This drive through attraction takes you on an 11-mile scenic journey around the property where you never know what unique wildlife youll run into. In fact it's one of the only places you find more than 300 species of birds this far inland. "We've actually set a record for the highest inland bird count," said Maria Zondervan, land manager with the St. Johns River Water Management District. "Right here close to Orlando you can come and feel like you're in the wilderness." A record breaking 365 species have been documented on the trail and the wildlife certainly isn't shy about letting you get up close for the perfect shots, making it ideal for anyone into nature photography. "If you're into wildlife or just want to relax, it's a very relaxing drive," Boucicaut said. The drive through portion of the Lake Apopka Wildlife trail is open Friday through Sunday from sunrise to sunset. If you would like more information, head to Lake Apopkas website. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's long-awaited plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled Friday, will mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder" and instead focus on increasing private competition and requiring more openness about costs. New plan to lower drug prices Plan would also increase competition Result would be lower pharmacy costs Florida has site to compare drug costs In Rose Garden remarks at the White House, Trump called his plan the "most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people." But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors. That idea has long been supported by Democrats but is a non-starter for drugmakers and most Republicans in Congress. Instead, the administration will pursue a raft of old and new measures intended to improve competition and transparency in the notoriously complex drug pricing system. Those include a proposal requiring drugmakers to disclose the cost of their medicines in their television advertisements. Health Secretary Alex Azar said the Food and Drug Administration would immediately examine requiring that information in TV ads. The proposals also include banning the pharmacist "gag rule," which Trump said prevents druggists from telling customers about lower-cost options so they can save money, and speeding up the approval process for over-the-counter medications so patients can buy more drugs without prescriptions. It's an approach that avoids a direct confrontation with the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, but it could also underwhelm Americans seeking relief from escalating prescription costs. Perhaps the most threatening idea under consideration is to give the private health insurers who run Medicare plans more negotiating power with drugmakers. But administration officials offered few specifics on how that might work. "Consumers are ultimately going to be the judge of this announcement," said Dan Mendelson, a health care consultant. "If they don't address the cost that patients see at the pharmacy counter it's not going to be seen as responsive." A majority of Americans say passing laws to bring down prescription drug prices should be a "top priority" for Trump and Congress, according to recent polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation. As a candidate, Trump railed against the pharmaceutical industry. But as president he has shied away from major reforms and staffed his administration with appointees who have deep ties to the industry. That includes Azar, a former top executive at Eli Lilly. Azar and other Trump officials have described the pricing problem in stark terms and promised bold action. "Every incentive is toward higher list prices because everyone in the system gets a cut off that list price except the patient," said Azar, speaking on "Fox and Friends" on Friday morning. He said one new proposal would allow senior citizens enrolled in Medicare who hit the catastrophic period to pay nothing out of pocket, "so really relieve a huge burden on our senior citizens." Parts of the plan were previously released in the president's budget proposal and would require action by Congress. Those steps include: requiring insurers to share rebates from drug companies with Medicare patients and changing the way Medicare pays for high-priced drugs administered at doctors' offices. Record-Journal staff MERIDEN A man was taken to the hospital with severe injuries after a motorcycle crash on Hanover Street Friday afternoon. The accident occurred about 2:45 p.m. near the Orange Street intersection. Police said the man lost control of his motorcycle because he was traveling at a high rate of speed. The man was wearing protective gear, including a helmet. Police said the man suffered severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. No other vehicles were involved. At the event, delegates stressed the historical significance of Giron Victory 57 years ago, when more than 1,500 US-trained mercenary troops landed at Giron beach as part of a scheme to overthrow the fledgling Cuban government. Under the direct command of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, the invasion was defeated on April 19, 1961 after less than 72 hours. The Giron Victory marked a decisive turning point that advanced Cuba to a path of socialism building, they said. Cuban Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Indira Lopez Arguelles said that the victory was not only significant for the struggle for national independence of the Cuban people but also a great encouragement for national liberation movements throughout the world, including in Vietnam. Despite far geographic distance, the Vietnamese and Cuban people have always stood side by side and supported each other in the past national liberation as well as the current national construction, she noted. The time-tested friendship between Vietnam and Cuba, founded by late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and fostered by generations of both sides leaders and people, is thriving and has become a model relationship in the world, she added. The event was jointly held by the Institute for Northeast Asian Studies (INAS) under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the RoKs National Unification Advisory Council, with discussions focusing on peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula, as well as cooperation between the RoK and Mekong sub-regional countries. In his opening remarks, Pham Hong Thai, head of the INAS, said that the 2018 forum was a continuation of the achievements of the two previous forums and expanded the scope of discussion to connect the participation of delegates from the Mekong sub-region countries. It was aimed at strengthening cooperation between the countries for the development of peace and prosperity, he stated. According to Nguyen Thi Tham of INAS, the RoK considers Vietnam to be a key partner in President Moon Jae-ins new southern policy. With its special geographic location, Vietnam plays an important role in the cooperation policy of the RoK in the region, she said. It was necessary to boost bilateral cooperation in the context of implementing the new southern policy, which focuses on Southeast Asia, she added. This idea was also shared by Kwon Yul from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Given the escalation of global trade protectionism and increasing instability in the global economy, the two countries should cooperate closely to provide effective support for countries in the Mekong sub-region. Regarding plans for future development, he suggested that multilateral forums such as APEC, the Republic of Korea-ASEAN, and the Republic of Korea-Mekong Sub-region should be intensified in response to challenges like food, energy, and non-traditional security. He also said that Vietnam was acting as an important partner in the regions economic development. The RoK is the biggest investor in Vietnam and bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$64 billion last year However, he underlined the need to tackle Vietnams trade deficit with the RoK, which stood at US$31.7 billion last year. He suggested the country improve supporting industry and strengthen its technological competence. Vietnams main exports to the RoK include phones and phone components, computers and computer components, machinery and equipment, and textile and garment products. Its imports consist of imported instruments, computers, electronics, petroleum, phones and plastics. During the forum, participants also hailed the positive developments on the Korean Peninsula. The meeting of RoK President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un at Panmunjeom was a historic milestone, opening up the prospects for peace, unification, and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, they said. National Geographic WILD is home to a big family of animal caretakers and rescuers. In these special episodes, check out how the Men of WILD are helping all kinds of creatures one case at a time. Fridays from 8:30pm AEDT. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, President of the union Huynh Minh Thien affirmed that the project is a manifestation of the fine sentiments shared between the two countries and their peoples. Licensed by the municipal Peoples Committee in 2010, the building will rise to 21 storeys, with around 13,700 sq.m of floor area. Its construction is expected to be completed in two years. Once put into use, the building will also serve as the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations. Vietnam and Slovakia established diplomatic relations in 1950. Since then, bilateral ties have developed continuously, especially in trade and investment. Trade turnover between Vietnam and Slovakia has grown 40-fold compared to 2004. In the first 10 months of 2017, two-way trade reached about US$630 million, up 80% against the same period last year, making Slovakia one of Vietnams most important trading partners in Central and Eastern Europe. Slovakia invested in nine projects in Vietnam with a total capital of US$247 million, making it 36th among 128 countries investing directly in Vietnam. Addressing the event, Prof. Dao Xuan Hoc, President of the Vietnam-Netherlands Friendship and Cooperation Association, said that over the past 45 years, the relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands has grown in a dynamic and effective manner across many fields, to the benefit of both sides. Currently, the Netherlands is one of the largest European trade partners and investors in Vietnam, with more than US$8 billion in investment and nearly US$8 billion in two-way trade revenue recorded for 2017. With its impressive economic development and efficient support of the Netherlands, Vietnam has progressed from being a recipient of development assistance from the Netherlands to becoming a trade partner of the European country, a demonstrative example of the effectiveness of bilateral affiliation, the professor noted. Prof. Hoc added that over the past five years, the Vietnam-Netherlands Friendship and Cooperation Association has succeeded in launching many events and activities aimed at strengthening the mutual understanding and partnership between the two nations. He said he hopes to continue receiving cooperation and support from the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam. For her part, the Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam, Nienke Trooster, said that Vietnam is one of the most prioritised countries in the Netherlands soft loan provision. Currently, the Netherlands is focusing on investing in Vietnam in a number of key areas such as trade, the private sector, water management, agriculture, and climate change, said the diplomat. At the ceremony, a collection of extracts from 17 Dutch documentary films on the war in Vietnam were presented to Vietnam and received debut screenings. By Online Desk The Fox network has cancelled 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', along with 'The Mick' and 'The Last Man on Earth', to make space for the upcoming fall TV season. Fans mourn as the Andy Samberg starrer takes its last bow, especially because of the show's diverse cast and portrayal of characters from the LGBTQ community. Apart from Samberg, the cast consists of Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Truglio and Chelsea Peretti. The sitcom is about Jake Peralta (played by Andy Samberg), an NYPD detective, and his colleagues at Brooklyn's 99th precinct and their comical everyday lives. The show has won two Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards (one for Best Television Series and one for Andy Samberg for Best Actor in a Television Series). Andre Braugher has also been a nominee for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Fans on Twitter reacted to the cancellation using gifs from the show, and hoped for a renewal of the show using the hashtag #renewb99. Why are shows like #Brooklyn99 getting cancelled while there are so many shows out there that have been dragging on unnecessarily for YEARS!?!? pic.twitter.com/hooo4Js828 Sally (@mirtuevoir) May 11, 2018 One of the best comedy shows I've ever seen with jokes so funny I cried many times, amazing character developments, widely diverse cast + including serious social issues in a way they dont feel out of place. I'm not saying bye bye 99, I still hope we can bring it back #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/pypdqqOeFU --- (@agusia1712) May 11, 2018 Star Wars Mark Hamill also joined in with other fans, expressing his anger towards Fox. Oh NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I'm SO not ready to say #ByeBye99. Be forewarned @FOXTV-when networks dump shows I love, I'm known for holding grudges a long, L-O-N-G time. I'm still mad @CBS didn't renew #SquarePegs! #EverythingILikeGetsCancelled https://t.co/NEry6Hrpng Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) May 10, 2018 The Backstreet Boys also paid their tribute by sharing a clip from the show, where Jake Peralta makes the men in the accused lineup sing 'I want it that way'. 'The squad' were also reeling from the shock of hearing the news. They also took to Twitter to express their sadness and gratitude for their screentime. I am still processing... dont have all the words.. but.. These last 5 years have been incredible. Thank you for all your love and support. We have the best fans. Its been a huge honor to play Amy and be a part of this tremendous ensemble. NINE NINE! #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/nmBFA2rm6I Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) May 10, 2018 I love you fans. I love you squad. It has been an incredible five years. Im so very lucky, so deeply thankful to have been part of a show that has brought so much joy to so many. NINE-NINE! #Brooklyn99 #renewB99 JoeLoTruglio (@JoeLoTruglio) May 10, 2018 While no doubt sad news, I celebrate all that #Brooklyn99 has accomplished, how much it has meant to me personally and I will forever cherish the time I was gifted in the company of these fine people. Dirk Blocker (@DirkBlocker) May 11, 2018 Squad, we love you. What a gift this series has been: its been my honor. Your sadness is noted. NINE- NINE! pic.twitter.com/qAcOYfpNZh Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) May 10, 2018 However, there is still a good chance that the show would be revived. A report by The Hollywood Reporter states that companies such as Hulu, TBS, NBC and Netflix have expressed interest in buying the series. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" still has two episodes to air as part of its current season. The series finale will air May 20. On the third and final day of their visit to Greece, Prince Charles of Wales and Duchess Camilla of Cornwall visited the Knossos Archaeological Site and Knossos Research Centre on the island of Crete. Knossos was the centre of the Minoan culture of Bronze Age Crete, established around 7,000 BC. Then, the Prince and the Duchess took part in dancing during a traditional festival in the village of Acharnes. The event is part of the activities to celebrate the 128th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh. Hundreds of photos and objects are on display, focusing on topics related to the life and revolutionary career of the President. They also manifest the extraordinary thoughts, lifestyle, morality and spirit of the Presidents tireless dedication to the national revolution and happiness of the people. On the occasion, a workshop was also organised to promote the conservation work and value of the Ho Chi Minh relic site. Over the past year, the relic site staff have undertaken maximum efforts to preserve the exhibits displayed at the site, and have introduced Uncle Hos life and revolutionary career to friends all over the world. The site welcomes millions of visitors every year. Rotary Morphing into a Roundabout Starting Oct. 7, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will make a change to traffic patterns at the Newport Rotary (the intersection of JT Connell Highway and Admiral Kalbfus... State Seeks Input on Redistricting Plans The Special Legislative Commission on Reapportionment held its first meeting outside of statehouse chambers on Sept. 30 as part of a statewide effort to gather feedback from communities and educate... Middletown Unveils New Sports Field Middletown officials joined dozens of local residents on Sept. 30 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a multipurpose athletic field that decades ago was the site of... Lifespan Merger Update Lifespan and Care New England submitted a revised Hospital Conversions Act application on Oct. 1 addressing follow-up questions from the initial filing submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Health... Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). The event was part of the Meet Vietnam programme on the occasion of its 25th founding anniversary. At the meeting in Hanoi on May 11, the President lauded achievements that the Meet Vietnam Association has scored over the past 25 years. He thanked scientists, politicians, policymakers and corporate executives for actively joining activities of the programme which is a bridge connecting Vietnamese and foreign scientists, making important contributions to Vietnams science and education. The Vietnamese Party and State always pay attention to science and education development, considering it the top national policy and a driving force of the countrys sustainable development, he said. The President praised Binh Dinh province for supporting the association and putting into operation the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education since 2013, turning the locality into a destination for annual meetings of domestic and foreign scientists. He recalled the memory in June 2016 when he visited the centre and expressed his appreciation for helpful contributions of the association, Prof. Ngo Thanh Van and his spouse Prof. Le Kim Ngoc. The leader hoped that ministries and agencies will continue partnering with Binh Dinh province and the association to develop the centre in service of science and education not only in Binh Dinh but in central provinces and the entire nation. He also asked foreign scientists to continue supporting the programme and assisting Vietnam in science and education for the countrys sustainable socio-economic development. The 14th Meet Vietnam attracted 55 foreign scientists and other delegates, including two Nobel laureates in physics and economy, contributing to popularising images of Vietnam and its people to international friends. Over the past 25 years, Meet Vietnam, initiated by Prof. Tran Thanh Van and his spouse Prof. Le Kim Ngoc, has attracted thousands of well-known scientists, including Nobel, Fields and Kavil laureates. The Meet Vietnam Association also worked closely with the Sponsoring Association for Vietnamese Children in France led by Prof. Le Kim Ngoc to build three SOS childrens villages in Da Lat in 1974, in Hue in 2000 and Dong Hoi in 2006, and establish the scholarship fund Meet Vietnam Vallet. Reporter Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee). The launched was attended by diplomats from embassies of the US, the United Kingdom, and South Africa alongside international organisations and governmental stakeholders. USAID Saving Species is not just a commitment between the US and Vietnamese governments, it will also link to the efforts of other organisations, within Vietnam and beyond, who are committed to combating wildlife trafficking, said US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink. Elephant and rhino populations across the globe fell sharply and the situation of rhinos in Asia is even worse. The last rhino in Vietnam has died, he noted. Only by working together can we solve this global issue. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said efforts to intensify the protection of endangered species like rhinos, elephants, tigers and pangolins do not only aim to aid the direct conservation of these animals but also have a symbolic meaning, motivating the protection of all other wildlife species. These efforts are significant to the prevention of natural disasters and the socio-economic development of a country and the world, he added. To raise public awareness of the issue, the minister stressed the need for coordination between media agencies, the Ministry of Education and Training and foreign partners. With a budget of approximately US$10 million, USAID Saving Species supports the Government of Vietnam to combat wildlife trafficking through three integrated and mutually reinforcing objectives: harmonising and improving the legal framework for wildlife crime; strengthening and improving law enforcement and prosecution of wildlife crime; and reducing consumer demand for illegal wildlife products. The projects focal species are rhinos, elephants, and pangolins. It also focuses geographically on major urban centers like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, where target species are consumed, as well as areas where target species are trafficked, including airports, seaports, and specific land borders. The USAID Saving Species is implemented by Tetra Tech in partnership with Vietnam CITES Management Authority of the MARD. The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network in Vietnam (TRAFFIC Vietnam) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are also project partners. The official made the statement at a consultation workshop on the Vietnam labour relations report for 2017, jointly held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in Vietnam, on May 9. In his speech, Diep applauded the significance of the report in the present moment, as Vietnam is in the process of revising its Labour Code, having joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and is expecting that the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will be signed soon. In the current context, with many labour-related issues in need of reform, the labour relations report for 2017 offers an occasion to re-identify the current labour relations in Vietnam in preparation for the new chapter, he affirmed. According to ILO Vietnam Director Chang-Hee Lee, labour relations change every day, month, and year, stating that the annual labour relations report aims to work out the major trends so that agencies are able to thoroughly understand and handle these issues. At the workshop, a representative of the MOLISA presented the Vietnam labour relations report for 2017, which clearly pointed out the reality of the labour relations and challenges in terms of labour relations in the future, while suggesting measures to improve the area. Evaluating the labour relations challenges in the time ahead, the report stated that the risk of unemployment among labourers is getting higher and higher due to the fourth Industrial Revolution, accompanied by the increasing underemployment trend. Regarding the solutions, the report recommended that the State finalise the legal system on labour relations, enhance the operational efficiency of labour inspection agencies to ensure the strict enforcement of labour laws, and improve the state management model on labour relations. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X According to the Vietwings Hanoi Paragliding Club, from May 18 to 20, it will work with the local authorities to organise a paragliding festival themed Flying over pouring water season. This is the second time a paragliding festival has been held in the splendid Mu Cang Chai terraced fields during pouring water season, when farmers make the water run into their fields to start a new rice crop. Last years event took place in mid-May, with the participation of 100 pilots and a large number of visitors. The second annual paragliding event will take place in Khau Pha pass, one of the top four famous mountain passes in the northwestern region for their stunning beauty. (Photo: Vietwings Hanoi) This years festival will take place in Khau Pha mountain pass of Cao Pha commune in Mu Cang Chai district, at a height of about 1,270m ASL (480m AGL). Each paraglide session will cover a distance of about 2.3km (skyway) from the Khau Pha pass to the landing ground. The area has seen a lot of investment in construction works, including for the take-off and landing points, parking lots and viewing areas. Visitors can make registration online for paragliding via the clubs website at http://vietwingshanoi.com. Wishing to share the passion of flying through the sky with adventurous youngsters, Vietwings Hanoi provides a double glider service to provide the new experience for visitors who want to enjoy an aerial view of Mu Cang Chais beautiful landscapes. The event is expected to offer 100 flights by 70 domestic and foreign pilots. The paragliding festival attracts 70 domestic and foreign pilots offering 100 flights for visitors to enjoy an aerial view of the Mu Cang Chai terraced rice fields. (Photo: Vietwings Hanoi) Hoang Mong Long, Chairman of Vietwings Hanoi Club, said that the festival is especially dedicated to promote Mu Cang Chai and Yen Bais tourist attractions to both domestic and international tourists. The double flight experience will also target sharing with tourists their images and feelings about the local scenery and culture. Video: Last years "Flying over pouring water season festival in Mu Cang Chai. (Video by Vietwings Hanoi) (Newser) A woman in China known only as Ms. Wang had a gnawing suspicion about her new pet. Wang spent $190 in July for what appeared to be a Japanese Spitz, reports Yahoo UK. But when the pooch turned 3 months old, its tail grew "long and fluffy." Wang had been feeding it dog food, chicken breasts, and fruit, but suddenly the animal turned its snout up at the dog food and refused to eat it. It also never barked. "The fur got thicker when it reached three months old," she tells Shanxi Network Television, and its face seemed to grow pointy. story continues below Wang also noticed that other dogs seemed strangely scared of her pet, despite its small size (12 inches). She smelled a rat and brought the animal to the Taiyuan Zoo in China, where officials told her that her fluffy pet is actually another type of animal entirely. "Based on the size, it is a domesticated fox," Sun Letian, an expert in animal epidemic prevention, told Wang. "It carries a smell in their body and the smell can get stronger as it grows older." For now, Wang is reportedly planning to turn the animal over to the zoo, where she can visit it anytime. (Read more dog stories.) (Newser) Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is pushing back against a report that she told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Donald Trump scolded her at a Wednesday cabinet meeting, the AP reports. Nielsen says in a statement that Trump "is rightly frustrated" that his administration has been prevented "from fully securing the border and protecting the American people." She says she shares Trump's frustration. The New York Times reports that the president has grown increasingly angry with Nielsen over what he feels is the country's inability to adequately secure its border. story continues below Trump told reporters before the Wednesday meeting about his frustration with immigration, suggesting the anger yet to come. "Weve very much toughened up the border, but the laws are horrible," he said. "The laws in this country for immigration and illegal immigration are absolutely horrible. And we have to do something about itnot only the wall, which were building sections of wall right now." Nielsen later drafted a resignation letter but did not submit it, according to officials who knew about the episode. Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton tweeted that the Times report is "false" and Nielsen was not close to resigning. (Read more Department of Homeland Security stories.) (Newser) On June 26, 2009 at around 9:30pm, 10-year-old Lindsey Baum left a friend's house in McCleary, Wash., to walk home alone after the friend's mother said no to a sleepover. It was the last time she was seen alive. Police say the case has become a homicide investigation with the discovery of Lindsey's body in a remote area on the other side of the state, People reports. Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott said Thursday that the girl's body was found by hunters in eastern Washington last fall, but confirmation of the identity only came back from the FBI crime lab recently. "Weve brought Lindsey home. We've recovered her," he said. Lindsey's mom reported her missing 30 minutes after she was supposed to get home, but a huge search effort in the following days found no trace of her. story continues below Lindsey's parents are "understandably devastated," said Scott, who promised investigators would stay involved with the case "until we bring the monster that's responsible for this and hold them accountable." "The prayers and hopes of the family were that we would some day find her alive and bring her home. Now, the reality is we need to find a homicide suspect," he said, per the Seattle Times. The sheriff firmly declined to answer questions on the cause of death, the location of the body, and potential suspects, saying he needed to protect the integrity of the investigation, reports the Chinook Observer. "A monster is still out there," said Grays Harbor County Commissioner Vickie Raines. "It is a very sad day, certainly not the outcome weve been hoping for." (Read more missing child stories.) (Newser) There was "discomfort" during a closed-door White House meeting of communications staffers Thursday when special assistant Kelly Sadler made light of Sen. John McCain's terminal illness, sources tell the Hill. Sadler, discussing the Republican senator's opposition to Gina Haspel becoming CIA director, said: "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway," the insiders say. Two sources confirmed to the AP that Sadler made the insensitive remark, leaving them "shocked and stunned." The White House didn't dispute reports of the comments, but it said in a statement: "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." story continues below McCain, 81, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last year and is being treated in Arizona. Wife Cindy McCain fired back at Sadler, tweeting: "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren." But Sadler wasn't the only one making offensive remarks about McCain on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. Fox Business Network host Charles Payne apologized after a guest, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, claimed that McCain's time as a POW in Vietnam showed that torture works. "That's why they call him 'Songbird John,'" McInerney said, though there's no evidence that McCain betrayed his country. Payne tweeted an apology for the guest's "false and derogatory remark." (McCain doesn't want President Trump at his funeral.) (Newser) UPS headquarters is officially in Atlanta, but for a few months, it found a new home in what the Chicago Tribune last month called a tiny, "timeworn apartment" in Chicagoon paper, anyway. Per court documents cited by NPR, a fraudulent change-of-address form for UPS was submitted to the US Postal Service on Oct. 26, allegedly by Dushaun Henderson-Spruce. The request went through, and soon "[s]everal thousand pieces of First Class US mail and registered mail" started coming Henderson-Spruce's way, per a criminal complaint. Among the correspondence said to have found its way to Apartment L2 in Rogers Park: letters to the UPS CEO and other execs, mail that held personal info about UPS employees, five American Express corporate credit cards, and business checks. story continues below And Henderson-Sprucewho only briefly collected a real paycheck for UPS in 2012 as a package handler, per the Tribuneis accused of depositing nearly $60,000 of those checks into his own bank account, per an affidavit. UPS security didn't catch on to the alleged scam until mid-January. A subsequent search of Henderson-Spruce's apartment found 3,000 or so pieces of mail meant for UPS, court docs note, and the mail carrier who delivered to Henderson-Spruce's apartment told investigators "voluminous" amounts of mail went there. Henderson-Spruce, who told the Tribune the whole thing was an error that wasn't his fault and that he may have been the victim of identity theft, now faces federal mail theft and mail fraud charges, the latter of which could send him to prison for 20 years if convicted. (An Indiana couple admitted to fleecing Amazon out of $1.2 million in merch.) (Newser) The Federal Communications Commission has slapped a notorious robocaller with a fine that works out to around $1.24for each of roughly 97 million calls made over three months toward the end of 2016. The $120 million fine finalized against Adrian Abramovich Thursday is the biggest in FCC history, exceeding the $95 million another robocalling operation was fined last year, CBS reports. The FCC says Abramovich's operation illegally used "spoofing"faking the first few digits of caller ID so the person answering would think it was a local call. The calls also purported to be from major companies like Expedia or Hilton, but when people pressed '1' to receive travel offers from the companies, they were transferred to a live operator trying to sell timeshare interests in Mexico. story continues below Abramovich argued in Senate testimony that he wasn't the "kingpin" of robocalling he was portrayed as, but the FCC says he ran one of the largest illegal robocalling operations it had ever encountered, the Washington Post reports. The Florida resident "didn't just have the intent to defraud or cause harm. He actually caused harm," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. "Just ask his victimsa number of whom are elderlywho were duped into purchasing travel deals under false pretenses." Pai promised that the commission would continue its fight against robocalls. "This FCC is an active cop on the beat and will throw the book at anyone who violates our spoofing and robocall rules and harms consumers," he said. (Read more Federal Communications Commission stories.) (Newser) A tragic day in Australia: Police say four children and three adults were found dead from gunshot wounds Friday in what is believed to be the country's deadliest mass shooting since 1996. Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson told reporters the "horrific incident" happened at a rural property in the village of Osmington, near the tourist town of Margaret River, the AP reports. He said all seven people killed resided at the property, which police rushed to early Friday after receiving a phone call from somebody Dawson described as a "male person" connected to the property. Two firearms were located at the scene and "at this point in time there are no concerns about wider public safety," police said in a statement. story continues below Police said two adults were found dead outside a building on the property and the others were inside. Neighbor Felicity Haynes, a local councillor, described the family involved as "caring neighbors" and "lovely people" who had moved to the area around three years ago to start a farm. Dawson declined to release the names or ages of the dead, saying the next of kin had yet to be contacted. This is the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman massacred 35 people in Tasmania 22 years ago, causing the country to introduce much tougher gun laws, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. (Read more Australia stories.) An article published by the website on May 9 said the threat of a bad report card from the European Union (EU) has alarmed more than 30,000 Vietnamese commercial trawlers. It quoted Tony Long, former Director of the World Wildlife Funds European Policy Office and senior fellow of the Global Government Institute, as saying that the EU carding system to eliminate illegal fishing is showing it has teeth, adding that countries are terrified that the ultimate sanction, the red card, imposes potentially enormous financial sanctions and significant risks. The article said, citing their source as the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), that fishing is a cornerstone of Vietnams economy and since 2006, the nation has been ranked among the top ten global exporters in fisheries. Vietnams export of fishery products to the EU and the US ranges between US$1.9-2.2 billion, and US$350-400 million, respectively. The article said Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Directorate of Fisheries, and VASEP have mandated that all of them take actions to balance fishing capacity and fishing fleet policy. The new Fisheries Law has been approved by the National Assembly, and it includes regulations to fight IUU. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a national action plan to crack down on IUU fishing. As part of this drive, 62 seafood companies have joined up to ensure sustainable practices. The government has issued several decrees and directives, supplemented by IUU fishing regulations to legal documents, enforced regulations, held educational workshops for fishermen, enhanced their cooperation with coastal and island countries to prevent IUU fishing, and organised regular dialogues with the EU on efforts to improve fishery management. Vietnams responses also include placing observers, many of whom are former fishing captains, aboard commercial trawlers to monitor their catches. Additionally, fishing captains have been encouraged to keep an accurate logbook or registry of catches for inspection or become subject to fines of up to US$2,000 and revocation of commercial fishing licenses. The article said the Vietnamese Directorate of Fisheries has developed a national fishery database that integrates data related to fishing vessels including registration, licensing, logbook entries, and now uniformly-accepted software (VNFISHBASE) utilised in eight coastal provinces. It added that there is still a need for more vocational centres to educate fishermen about fishing regulations. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish, or 15% of the world catch, are caught illegally every year. As the worlds biggest fish importer, the EU does not wish to be complicit in these unsustainable fishing practices. Since 2012, the EU Commission has initiated formal dialogues with several countries, thus the yellow card status warning. When significant progress is observed, the commission can end the dialogue or raise the status to a green card. When there is little or no compliance, it results in a failing grade - a red card, which effectively closes off exports. (Newser) The Philippine Supreme Court ousted its chief justice, a critic of the country's authoritarian president, in an unprecedented vote Friday by fellow magistrates that she and hundreds of protesters called unconstitutional and a threat to democracy. Court spokesman Theodore Te said eight of 14 justices voted to grant a petition by the government's solicitor-general to remove Maria Lourdes Sereno from the 15-member tribunal for allegedly failing to file statements of assets and liabilities as required by law. Sereno denies the allegation and refused to participate in the vote, the AP reports. Sereno has earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte by speaking up for the respect of law and human rights at a time he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead. story continues below About 1,800 protesters gathered to support Sereno outside the court in Manila. Sereno is facing a separate impeachment bid in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Duterte's allies. She has warned that the efforts by the Duterte administration to oust her are a threat to democracy, saying the petition that led to Friday's vote violates the constitution, which stipulates that top officials like her can only be removed by impeachment. "This is more than a wake-up call. If we don't wake up now, it will really be the death of democracy and sometimes history is cruel," priest and protest leader Robert Reyes said outside the court, warning that Duturte "will be a virtual dictator" if checks and balances like Sereno are removed. (Read more Philippines stories.) (Newser) The Trump administration has apologized to a Canadian cabinet minister who was repeatedly asked to remove his turban at a Detroit airport. Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Navdeep Bains, who's religiously obligated to wear a turban as a Sikh, publicly discussed the April 2017 incident on Thursday, saying the incident at Detroit Metro Airport following a meeting with the Michigan governor highlights the "discrimination" some travelers encounter, per the CBC. Bain's trip took a turn when he was asked to undergo additional security tests. After reading a false positive from a swab, an agent asked Bains to remove his turban, but allowed him to continue to his gate after an alternative check, the minister says. Twenty minutes before his flight home, however, Bains says an agent appeared, saying protocol required that he return to security to remove his turban. story continues below The scene ended with Bains flashing his diplomatic passport. But "it was because of who I was [that I was allowed to fly] and that should not be the case," he says, per USA Today. "It doesn't matter what your status is and what your position is." Though "very frustrated and disappointed," Bains says he's accepted verbal apologies offered by the Homeland Security and Transportation undersecretaries, per the CBC. Still, "discrimination happens with many people, and I'm in a very fortunate position to talk about it," he says. Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, also a Sikh, has since acknowledged similar encounters at airports, including in Canada, per CTV News. While a TSA rep admits the agent screening Bains didn't follow procedure, he notes all headwear may be checked for "prohibited items or weapons" in a policy "not directed at any one particular item or group." (Read more Canada stories.) (Newser) A strange fight is brewing in the world of romance novels over the word "cocky." Faleena Hopkins is the author of a 17-book series about the Cocker brothers, and all of those books have the word "cocky" in the title. Last month, Hopkins managed to trademark use of the word, reports the National Post and the Guardian. Hopkins says readers complained they "lost money" thinking they were buying her bookswith titles such as Cocky Cowboy, Cocky Soldier, and Cocky Bikerwhen they bought other novels with "cocky" in the title. "I'm protecting them and that's what trademarks are meant for," she says. But rival authors disagree. A petition calling for the end of the trademark has some 20,000 signatures, reports the New York Daily News, while author and retired lawyer Kevin Kneupper has filed a separate legal challenge. story continues below It comes after Hopkins sent letters to authors threatening legal action unless they changed their titles. "I have to admit I am intimidated because I don't have many resources to fight this legally," author Jamila Jasper wrote of #CockyGate on Twitter, sharing a copy of a letter she received about her own book by the name of Cocky Cowboy. Noting she wrote a book with the same title 23 years ago, author Yasmine Galenorn says she "can't imagine what the trademark office was thinking." The Romance Writers of America has hired an intellectual property attorney in hope of a resolution, and Chocolat author Joanne Harris sees it going only one way. "If it were really possible to legally forbid authors from using a certain common word in their book titles, then the whole publishing industry would be down the drain in a matter of days," she writes. (Read more trademark stories.) (Newser) Japanese lawmaker Kanji Kato is in the hot seat for suggesting that Japanese women who dont have children are a burden to society. I tell them that if they dont get married then they wont be able to have children and that theyll end up in a care home paid for with the taxes of other peoples children, the 72-year-old said at a party meeting, per Newsweek. Kato is not the first to make this kind of observation. Former health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa in 2007 suggested that women were birth-giving machines who have a responsibility to have children, according to the Guardian. Katos comments touched a nerve in Japan where birthrates have been declining for decades. Currently, only 12.3% of the population is under age 15, down 170,000 from last year. story continues below "This is exactly sexual harassment," said one female lawmaker. Amid similar criticism, Kato retracted the statement and said he did not intend to disrespect women, reports the Japan Times. Among 32 countries with a population of 40 million or more, Japan came in dead last for the percentage of children in the overall population, a UN study found. There may be several things playing into the low birth rate. Although women have been criticized for choosing careers over children, some say that Japans birth rate may be caused by a lack of good jobs for young men, who are postponing marriage until they can afford a family. In Japan, men are traditionally expected to be the breadwinner. Others say the problem is simpler. The Independent reports that nearly a third of young adults in Japan enter their 30s without any sexual experience. (Read more Japan stories.) (Newser) AT&T is one of the companies that paid big money to Michael Cohen after President Trump's election to take advantage of his close ties to the president. "Big mistake," chief executive Randall Stephenson writes in a company email now in wide circulation in the media. What's more, the AT&T executive who authorized the payment of $600,000 is now out of a job, reports the Washington Post. The official word is that Bob Quinn, who was the company exec in charge of lobbying, is retiring, but the Wall Street Journal reports that he was forced out. Quinn paid Cohen's firm, Essential Consultants, the big fee in order to receive guidance in dealing with the FCC and the Justice Department, particularly in regard to the company's possible merger with Time Warner. story continues below There is no other way to say itAT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake, writes Stephenson in the email. He said that while AT&T did nothing illegal, the hiring of Cohen was a "serious misjudgment" that has hurt the company's reputation. As the Post notes, it's not clear what guidance Cohen might have offered the company on complicated telecom matters. "(Our) team's vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that," writes Stephenson. The Verge finds Quinn's departure interesting for another reason: Quinn, writes TC Sottek, had been one of the telecom industry's most vocal opponents of net neutrality. (Read more Michael Cohen stories.) (Newser) White House aide Kelly Sadler reportedly called Meghan McCain Thursday to apologize for an insensitive remark she'd made about McCain's seriously ill father, Sen. John McCain, at an internal meeting of communications staffers earlier that day. Sadler's original comment, in response to John McCain saying he opposes Gina Haspel to be the next CIA director: "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway." The younger McCain apparently wasn't appeased by Sadler's apology. "I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job," McCain said on The View Friday morning, per the Hill. story continues below She added, "My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years. These people? Nothing burgers." Plus, a final tidbit for Sadler: "Kelly, here's a little news flash, and this may be a bit intense for 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday, but we're all dying." Meanwhile, a Fox Business Network guest who also insulted McCain this week is reportedly seeing the consequences of his remarks. A Fox spokesperson tells Mediaite that retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who appeared on Charles Payne's show Thursday and said torture obviously works because it made "Songbird John" give up info on the US while he was a POW in Vietnam, will no longer appear as a guest on the network. (Read more John McCain stories.) (Newser) It's not as bad as what happened to people in Hawaii, but it wasn't too pleasant, either. Residents of Alaska got an alert Friday morning on their TVs and radios that a tsunami threatened pretty much the entire state. As it turns out, the alert went out in error, reports the Alaska Dispatch News. State officials are still trying to figure out what happened, but it appears that the state's alert system broadcast what was supposed to be an internal test. One theory is that something went wrong with the coding as the test got passed along the computer chain from the National Tsunami Warning Center. story continues below "I couldn't find any earthquakes and was really perplexed," says one resident of Anchorage, describing herself as more confused than alarmed upon hearing the 7am warning. The recorded message, about two minutes long, did apparently make a brief reference to a "test message," but only at the very end, reports the AP. However, in some places, the message ended even before that qualification. Whether all this is a human or computer error remains to be seen. (In Hawaii, the errant missile warning required just two clicks.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong-un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump said on Twitter. The two leaders are expected to discuss DPRK's nuclear weapons development and testing program, which has deepened long-seated tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump's announcement came just hours after three Americans who had been held prisoner in DPRK arrived at a US military base outside Washington, having been released by Kim. Trump said on their arrival that he believed Kim wanted to bring DPRK "into the real world" and had high hopes for their planned meeting, which would be the first between a serving US president and a DPRK leader. "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula." Cities around world to hold events in China Week China launched its go-global cultural exhibition campaign on Thursday that will display Chinese creative products that incorporate traditional elements with modern design. From May 10 to June 30, 35 China Cultural Centers in major cities around the world will host an array of events to promote China-created cultural products, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Tuesday. The event, titled "China Week: Inherit and Innovate," aims to promote Chinese creative products, cultural institutions and innovative enterprises through exhibitions, lectures and workshops, according to the ministry. Eighty-six week-long activities will be held around the globe, including events sponsored or relating to China's museums, intangible cultural heritage, design and animation. Visitors will have the chance to view the latest product designs and crafts, such as intricate needlepoint embroidery, traditional tea sets with modern amenities and high-fashion jewelry, all of which will highlight the traditional Chinese lifestyle. Some of the exhibitions will include souvenirs, artifacts and innovative products catered by Beijing's Palace Museum located in the capital's Forbidden City, which was nearly 600 years old. Creative industries are flourishing in China. By the end of 2017, the Palace Museum had created more than 9,600 branded souvenirs which are generating revenue of more than 1 billion yuan ($157.5 million) a year. As one of the most prestigious partners in the global exhibitions, the Palace Museum has taken a big step in the research and development of cultural and creative products. "The exhibition mainly features new products and representative designs incorporating the most prominent elements of the Forbidden City," Feng Hui, director of the Culture and Creative department of the Palace Museum, told the Global Times. "We offer the most practical products to visitors. The products will meet different requirements of people from different cultures," Feng said. Other factors taken into consideration include innovative ways of displaying the artifacts and modern creative works to give visitors the chance to appreciate the products up close. Items of a similar theme were displayed in color-coordinated exhibits. Cultural centers worldwide China has established 35 China Cultural Centers in foreign cities including Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, Cairo and Tel Aviv. That number is expected to reach 50 by 2020. These cultural centers have hosted many events in a bid to present a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic view of China, Xinhua reported. Following the steps of the 'go global' strategy in spreading greater understanding of Chinese culture, the exhibitions provide a chance for Chinese creative products to be seen by the world. "We believe that the 'go global' strategy is a bridge that will connect more people to traditional Chinese culture," Feng emphasized. "It not only allows us to promote our own culture, it lets us absorb fresh ideas from other countries at the same time." "I hope a product denoting the rich cultural history of the Palace Museum can find a place in everyone's home, which is our goal," said Feng. Fusing old and new NICE Choice, another exhibition aimed at the overseas market, applies traditional and creative Chinese elements into modern design. "We are purposefully displaying the products in a minimalist manner," Li Ning, the director of the Center of International Cultural Exchange, told the Global Times. "We use folding screens to separate the exhibition space, which is a traditional way of dividing floor space usage. At the same time, modern elements are applied to the design, such as modern lighting techniques. We will use pictures instead of words to provide background information." "We want to bring some new, brighter elements to traditional Chinese culture," said Li. New Delhi: The admission season has officially started in Delhi University (DU). Considered as one of the most prestigious universities in India, DU will commence the online application process for its undergraduate courses for the session 2018-19 on May 15. The registration process for the postgraduate courses will start from May 18 while that of M.Phil and PhD courses will begin from May 20. Delhi University issued a statement which read, ''All eligible applicants are informed that the registration process of all the programmes will be completely online for all categories and quotaaa. The varsity will also conduct aOpen Daysa to have an interaction with the students and inform them about the formalities of the admission process. The meetings will be conducted from May 21 to May 29, except for Sunday at DUas conference centre in two sessions from 10 am to 11:30 am and from 12 pm to 1:30 pm. Students, who are interested in joining DU, can clear all their doubts by attending the aOpen Daysa. The details regarding the admission process and subsequent procedure will be available in the Bulletin of Information which can be downloaded from the universityas website, said the statement.A Frequently asked questions (FAQs) A Q- How can you register yourself for admission to undergraduate courses in DU? Ans- You can register online for all the UG courses through the admission portal URL https://admission.du.ac.in and then follow the instructions to proceed.A Q- Can you apply for multiple courses in an online form? Ans- Yes you have the provision to do so. You may select all the courses of your interest through a single online application form.A Q- Will there be any sort of disadvantage for gap year students? Ans- There is no disadvantage for gap year students and they would be treated at par with regular students. They need to meet the required criteria for admission and must possess the necessary documents/certificates. For all more information, visit Du.ac.inA New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea which sought an independent probe into the death of veteran film actress Sridevi. Sunil Singh, in his petition, had raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding the Mr India actress death. He moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea. Sunil had alleged that the Sadma actress had an insurance policy in her name in Oman, which could be payable only if she died in UAE. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the petition. Sridevi breathed her last on February 24 after accidentally drowning inside a bathtub in her Dubai hotel suite. The Mom actress had gone to Dubai to attend her nephew Mohit Marwahs wedding with Antara Motiwala. While her husband Boney Kapoor and daughter Khushi Kapoor returned to India, the dancing diva stayed back at Dubai after the marriage. Sridevi was cremated with full state honours on February 28 in Mumbais Vile Parle crematorium. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradeshs Bahraich Savitri Bai Phule on Thursday called Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah a Maha Purush (great man) and said that he contributed to India's Independence. "Jinnah was a maha purush and will always remain so. He had contributed in country`s independence," Phule said. The BJP MPs remark came amid the row over a portrait of Jinnah hanging inside the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus. Earlier, Phules colleague and another BJP MP from Aligarh Satish Kumar Gautam had objected to the portrait of the founder of Pakistan and wrote to the AMU VC, seeking removal of the portrait. After the BJP leaders objection, Aligarh Muslim University came out with a clarification and said the Jinnah was awarded an honorary degree in 1938 and the administration had nothing to do with it. Also Read | AMU-Jinnah portrait row: JNU, Jamia, Allahabad University students join stir However, the BJP MPs objection to Jinnahs portrait triggered students protests that led to exams being postponed. As many as 3000 students from Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Allahabad University joined the protests and raised slogans against the BJP MP for allegedly communalising the campus environment. The opposition Congress also jumped into the controversy and accused the BJP of doing "dirty politics of sensationalism, divisiveness, polarisation" and sought condemnation of the act. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: It was a quirk of fate that theA two accused in a case supervised by Himanshu Roy as jointA commissioner of police (crime) in Mumbai, were sentended toA life imprisonment the day he ended his life. A sessions court hereA A awarded life imprisonmentA to two persons in the 2012 murder case of actor MeenakshiA Thapa. It awarded the sentence to Amit Jaiswal (36) and hisA girlfriend Preeti Surin (26). "Roy was the joint commissioner of police (crime) when Thapa was murdered. As it was a sensitive case, he played a key role in getting it transferred to the Crime Branch and was instrumental in solving it," a crime branch official said. Roy committed suicide by shooting himself at his south Mumbai residence, police said. Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step "out of frustration" due to his prolonged battle with cancer. "Roy was on medical leave for the last two years as he had cancer and the suicide note, in his own handwriting makes it clear that he ended his life out of frustration due to this illness," a police statement said. Roy, who is survived by his mother and wife, would have been 55 next month. Roy shot himself with a licensed revolver at his home in Nariman Point at 12.40 pm and was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead at 1.40 pm, an official said. Jaiswal and Surin, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, had befriended Thapa (26) on the sets of "Heroine", a Bollywood film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. Both the accused used to work as model coordinators. Under the impression that the actor belonged to a rich family, the duo hatched a conspiracy to abduct her and demand a Rs 15-lakh ransom from her family. They persuaded the actor, who had moved to Mumbai from Dehradun, to accompany them to Uttar Pradesh onA , 2012, stating that there was an acting assignment for her. Subsequently, they had abducted her, but after realising that her family was in no position to pay up, they strangulated her, according to the prosecution. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on said that Asia had emerged as one of the promising regions for media business, especially the broadcasting sector and international cooperation. Modis message to the two-day Asia Media Summit which concluded in New Delhi on was read out by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) director Chang Jin. Currently, the prime minister is in Nepal on a two-day visit to the country. For the first time, India hosted the annual AIBD Summit with the theme Telling Our Stories - Asia and More. "Prime Minister Modi points out that our region has emerged as one of the promising regions for media business, especially the broadcasting sector. The opportunities for international cooperation range from technology partnership to sharing of successful strategies for inclusive communications and our eventual aim shall be to deepen the media and democratic space in the region," Chang Jin said in his closing remarks, referring to Modi's message. He said Modi also noted that the "noble aim" of the event was to give voice to the poor population in the region. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, addressing the closing session, said that it was time for Asia to "shape" its own stories of human struggle against all odds, to brighten its future. For far too long, the western countries have shaped the stories of Asia and I think now it's time for Asia to shape its own stories, real stories, the stories of emotions, successes, struggles but eventually the stories of human ability to conquer difficulties and move ahead, he said. Rathore said the summit talks would help in exchanging the best practices across the nations on media technology, content and new platforms. This would facilitate better regional cooperation in reaching out to millions of underprivileged Asians to utilise the information in best way for their development, he said. Rathore then presented the World Television Awards 2018 at the event. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has confirmed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was involved in the politically sensitive Unnao gang rape case. The 18-year-old victim had alleged that Sengar raped her at his home in Uttar Pradeshs Makhi village on June 4 last year. Earlier, the accused BJP MLA had refused the charges against him and claimed that he was not present in his village on June 4, the day when the victim claimed he raped her. Reacting to the CBIs confirmation of Sengars role, the Unnao rape case victim demanded death penalty for the accused BJP MLA. I demand death penalty for BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for raping me and for murder of my father, the teenage survivor said. The uncle of the victim also demanded the capital punishment for the accused BJP lawmaker and sought protection for the family. We demand protection for our family so that we can give our statement before the court fearlessly. We demand death penalty for Kuldeep Sengar, said the uncle of the rape victim. The case came to limelight after the victim attempted suicide outside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths residence over polices inaction against the BJP lawmaker and his brothers who allegedly gang-raped her. On April 9, a day after the suicide attempt, Pappu Singh, father of the victim died while in judicial custody. Singh, around 50, was in police custody since April 5 after a complaint was filed against him by his daughters alleged rapists. Earlier the case was being investigated by the UP police but after the media pressure and intervention by Prime Minister Modi, the CBI took over the probe. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium a group of five senior-most judges will meet on Friday to consider the reiteration of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Josephs elevation to the apex court. This would be the collegiums second formal meeting after the Centre rejected its recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph. Earlier on May 2, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held a meeting but deferred its decision. On January 10, the collegium had recommended the names of Justice Joseph and Indu Malhotra to be elevated to the post of the Supreme Court judge. On April 26, Narendra Modi-led central government had notified the appointment of Malhotra as a judge but asked the Supreme Court to be objective and fair and reconsider its recommendation for the elevation of Justice Joseph to the apex court. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Chief Justice Dipak Misra and said that Justice Josephs elevation was not appropriate as there were 11 Chief Justices of various High Courts, who were senior to him, according to the sources. Centres move to block Justice Josephs elevation was being linked to his 2016 judgment in which he struck down Modi governments order to impose presidential rule in Uttarakhand and allowed Harish Rawat to return to power. With four of the five collegium members in favour Josephs name to be reiterated for elevation, CJI Misra would be under pressure to re-recommend Josephs name for the promotion to an apex court judge. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in the temple town of Janakpur on a two-day state visit to Nepal. Soon after arriving in the Nepalese city, Modi directly went to visit the famed 20th century Janaki temple and took part in special aShodasopachara Poojaa. Upon his arrival, Modi was welcomed by Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the temple complex. The prime minister also inaugurated a direct bus service from Nepal's Janakpur to Ayodhya in India. "India and Nepal will work towards building 'Ramayan' circuit between both the countries. This will act asA a foundationA for strong people to people contact between the two nations," Modi said while flagging off the bus service. During the visit, Modi will alsoA inaugurate the Rs. 6,000-crore Arun 3 project which was expected to generate 900 MW of power. Apart from that, the PM will sign several pacts with Nepal. This would be Modi's third visit to the neighbouring country and the first high-level meet after the new government was formed in Nepal. "I will be visiting Nepal on 11th and 12th May at the invitation of PM Mr. KP Sharma Oli. This visit reflects the high priority India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal. I will be holding extensive talks with PM Oli on ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation," Modi tweeted on Thursday. He said that India would continue to remain a steadfast partner of Government of Nepal to implement the vision of aSamriddha Nepal, Sukhi Nepali'. LIVE Updates: # 06:57 PM:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu. #Visuals: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets #Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/WORmBvlura a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 06:33 PM: Narendra Modi met President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu. # 05:13 PM:A PM Narendra Modi accorded guard of honour at Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in Kathmandu. Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli also present #Nepal. #WATCH PM Narendra Modi accorded guard of honour at Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in Kathmandu. Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli also present #Nepal pic.twitter.com/pnWnoOwvJY a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 05: 11 PM:A PM Narendra Modi arrives at Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in Kathmandu #Nepal. # 04:51 PM:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Nepal Foreign Minister, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali in #Kathmandu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Nepal Foreign Minister, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali in #Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/c1UPPJwQuJ a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 01:20 PM:A India's faith is incomplete without Nepal:A People of India & Nepal are bound by mutual respect & admiration for each other. Nepal has been a tourism spot for decades for spiritualism. India's faith is incomplete without Nepal. # 01:10 PM: India-Nepal ties dateA back to Treta Yug: While addressing a rally in the temple town of Janakpur, Modi said, "The Indo-Nepal relationship dates back to Treta Yug. King Janak & King Dashratha not only united Janakpur & Ayodhya but also united India & Nepal." # 01:05 PM: Modi starts address in Nepal:A It was my long due wish to visit the land of Goddess Sita & offer my prayers. Today, I am extremely happy & grateful that I got this opportunity: PM Narendra Modi during the civic reception in Janakpur, PM Modi in Janakpur.A # 11:50 AM: Watch:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi played musical instrument during his visit to Janki temple in Nepal's Janakpur.A #WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi played musical instrument during his visit to Janki temple in Nepal's Janakpur pic.twitter.com/q99Nvs5dV3 a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 11:30 AM: ModiA launches bus service between Janakpur-Ayodhya:A India and Nepal will work towards building 'Ramayan' circuit between both the countries. This will act asA a foundationA for strong people to people contact between the two nations, says PM Modi. WATCH LIVE from Nepal: PM Modi at the launch of Janakpur-Ayodhya bus service https://t.co/CiXaEC8vpT a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 11: 20 AM: Watch Video: Modi offering prayers at Janki Temple WATCH: PM Narendra Modi offers prayers at Janki Temple in #Nepal's Janakpur pic.twitter.com/a0alC1YvCV a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 11:17 AM:A PM Narendra Modi offers prayers at Janki Temple in Nepal's Janakpur.A PM Narendra Modi offers prayers at Janki Temple in #Nepal's Janakpur. pic.twitter.com/w8aafQbxP9 a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 11: 05 AM:A 'Special prayers will be conducted. We are ready to welcome him,' saysA Member of temple trust in Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple.A Modi will visit the temple tomorrow. #Nepal: Visuals from Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit here tomorrow. Member of the Temple Trust, Pradeep Dhakal says, 'Special prayers will be conducted. We are ready to welcome him.' pic.twitter.com/c6jDRHnzRj a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 11:00 AM:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Janki temple in Nepal's Janakpur, received by Prime Minister of Nepal KP Oli. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Janki temple in Nepal's Janakpur, received by Prime Minister of Nepal KP Oli. pic.twitter.com/t0GjPOsSCH a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 10:30 AM: Modi reaches Nepal:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived at Nepal's Janakpur Airport. He was received and welcomed by Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli upon his arrival. #08:50 AM: NeighbourhoodA first:A Consolidating the principle of neighbourhood first and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas!A PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a two-day visit to Nepal, building on the visit by Prime Minister of Nepal, K.P. Sharma Oli, tweets MEA. #08:40 AM: The popularity remains beyond the borders:A A People gather at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. #Nepal: People gather at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. pic.twitter.com/VhPht7eMwk a ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 # 08:30 AM: Hello and welcome to the News Nation live updates:A Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Nepal on Thursday. We will be extensively covering PM Modi's visit to the neighbouring country and inform you about all the latest information and happenings related to the visit.A A For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chinese ride-hailing provider Didi Chuxing on Thursday is offering a reward of up to one million yuan ($157,671) to citizens with information on a Didi driver suspected of murdering an airline stewardess, after the case raised public concerns over security loopholes in the company. The killer Liu Zhenhua "Didi is now searching for a driver named Liu Zhenhua and Didi will give a maximum reward of one million yuan for information leading to his arrest," read a statement released by Didi on its Sina Weibo on Thursday. The statement also listed Liu's ID number and phone number. A stewardess surnamed Li, 21, worked for Lucky Air and was killed on her way home from Zhengzhou airport, Central China's Henan Province using a private car which she hailed on the Didi Chuxing app on the night of May 5. Police confirmed that the woman was killed by the driver with a weapon. The killer remained at large as of press time. File photo of the victim Li. [Photo from the web] Didi Chuxing apologized for Li's death, saying they have "incumbent responsibility." "Didi sincerely apologizes to Li and her family. We have failed our customers' trust. We have incumbent responsibility," Didi told the Beijing Youth Daily on Thursday. Didi has organized a special team to assist the police. Li's father told the media, "She was a really good girl. She had only been working for one year after graduating." Lucky Air also sent their condolences on Thursday. However, the apology did not calm people's worries and questions over the security of the car-hailing platform. Many accused the platform of having security loopholes and of being unable to manage their drivers. A Didi Chuxing driver needs to have real-name registration but can register an account with another person's car, as long as the car owner agrees. As of April, 73 cities in China have issued local regulations over car-hailing services. This is not the first time that Didi Chuxing has been mired in a murder case. In May 2016, a 24-year-old teacher from Shenzhen was killed by a Didi driver, Caijing reported. New Delhi: RJD president and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was awarded 14 years of imprisonment in the Fodder Scam case in March, has been granted six weeks provisional bail on medical grounds. "Ranchi: High Court grants six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds," the news agency ANI reported. The RJD chief was recently shifted from AIIMS Delhi to Ranchi after doctors there declared him fit. He is currently ailing and undergoing treatment at RIMS hospital in Ranchi. Earlier on Thursday, he was released on a three-day parole and flew to Patna to attend his son's wedding on Saturday. Ranchi: High Court grants six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds pic.twitter.com/fj8v1Oe2tc ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 However, Lalu needs to follow some restrictions while being out of jail on parole. According to reports, the RJD supremo is not allowed to talk to media and his movements will be recorded on video. Also Read | Railway Hotel Tender Case: CBI files charge sheet against 14 accused He will remain in a security cover provided jointly by Bihar and Jharkhand Police. As many as four officials of DSP rank have been given the charge for Lalu's security. There are also reports that party worker or media person would be allowed in the vicinity of the former Bihar chief minister. Tej Pratap, a sitting lawmaker and former state minister will tie the knot with Aishwarya Rai on May 12. Aishwarya is the daughter of RJD legislator Chandrika Rai and granddaughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Prasad Rai. On April 26, Tej Pratap met his father for a few minutes in AIIMS, Delhi and got worried about his health. "Didnt observe much improvement. At his age, he needs continuous care and monitoring of vital parameters," he said in a tweet. Also Read | After meeting Rahul Gandhi, AIIMS wheels out Lalu Yadav; RJD cries 'conspiracy' The former Bihar chief minister was serving his jail term after he was convicted in three fodder scam cases related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Tension prevailed at Alipiri in Tirupati when Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers on staged a protest against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on his way to Renigunta airport from Tirumala hills and a stone was pelted at his convoy. The stone-pelting on one of the vehicles in the convoy of the BJP leader sparked off tension at Alipiri in Tirupati, sources said. TDP activists demanded the Centre to immediately fulfill all promises made to Andhra Pradesh in the Reorganisation Act, 2014, and also accord special category status to the state. Following the attack, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu criticised the workers and warned them that such acts of indiscipline would not to be tolerated. Naidu was holding a meeting of party leaders at Amaravati. His Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N Chinna Rajappa told reporters that some "unidentified miscreants" hurled a stone that hit one of the vehicles in Shah's convoy. "No stone hit Shah's vehicle. The stone hit another vehicle behind Shah's car.We don't know yet if some miscreants posing as TDP workers resorted to this act," he said in a statement. "Dont bring disrepute to the party by such acts of indiscipline. Everybody should act in a disciplined manner. There is no place for clashes or tensions in our just struggle," Naidu said. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Abhishek Mohanty told PTI that they were investigating the incident. "BJP leaders have lodged a complaint with us over the attack. We have got only preliminary information and we are verifying all facts," he said. The BJP president arrived in Tirupati late after wrapping up his over a month-long election campaign in Karnataka. He then offered prayers at the Lord Venkateswara shrine in Tirumala in the morning. The alleged incident happened when Shah was returning from Tirumala. The TDP had cut ties with the BJP, alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant special category state status to Andhra Pradesh. The TDP said that Centre failed to fulfill its commitments toward Andhra Pradesh, after the state was bifurcated in 2014. Where is Alipiri | Five facts about Alipiri 1. Alipiri is a holy place in the state of Andhra Pradesh 2. It is located at the foot of seven hills of Tirumala in Tirupati, the pilgrim city of Sri Venkateswara Swami 3. It is the starting place for trekking to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. 4. Alipiri is also called the 'The Gate Way to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple' 5. In ancient days, pilgrims used to climb all the seven hills through the stepped way on foot. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who kicked up a storm by his several contentious remarks in recent past, landed himself in a fresh controversy yet again on Wednesday. Addressing a public gathering on Wednesday, the 46-year-old chief minister said famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore refused the Nobel Prize in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which took place on 13 April 1919. "Besides being a world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for rejecting the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government," Deb was quoted. Mr Deb was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day-long Rajarshi festival at the Bhubaneswari temple in Udaipur and the video of him making such disputable remark has gone viral on social networking sites. In reality, the Nobel Prize for Tagore's remarkable contribution to literature, was with him till the last day of his life - August 7, 1941. The Nobel laureate had denied the knighthood conferred on him by the British after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "Tagore enjoyed an intimate relationship with the states royal family. His works bagged worldwide praise. So, I appeal to all that we follow his ideals and thoughts to make our state the greatest in the country," the chief minister added. Also Read | Why seek jobs, breed a cow and have Rs 10 lakh in bank balance: Tripura CM Biplab Deb Meanwhile, the opposition did not take much time to make fun of Deb's remark and criticised him for not doing the 'basic homework' before addressing his audience. "Our chief minister has crossed every limit of idiocy. We even dont feel like commenting on the issue," Communist Party of India (Marxist) central committee leader Goutam Das said. "It's a request from our side that he (Deb) do a deep study on subjects he would like to speak on before an audience. Confusing the knighthood with the Nobel Prize is not expected of a chief minister," said Tapas Dey, vice-president of the partys state unit. The Congress described Deb's statement as 'unfortunate'. This is the fifth time that Mr Deb invited such controversies since he has been elected as the chief minister of Tripura two months ago. Also Read | Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb allocates portfolios of all nine minister, sworn-in on Saturday He was in the headlines for his 'out of the ordinary' views on various subjects like - Internet during the Mahabharata war, 1994 Miss World Diana Hayden can be considered as an 'Indian beauty', the questionability of mechanical engineers joining the civil services, and raising cattle instead of seeking government jobs - over the last few weeks. It's been a while now that Biplab Deb's slip-ups have become a daily embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The abortive attempt to impeach the Chief Justice of India has come a cropper but not before it besmirched the reputation of the judiciary which had survived assaults on institutions under successive regimes at the Centre. The institutions credibility has suffered a major blow not least because the Congress party, supported by the Left and some other opposition parties, chose to drag its fair name into public domain and some lawyers thought nothing of casting aspersions and attributing motives to CJI Dipak Misra who too proved unequal to the task of protecting the reputation of the highest court of the land. With two Congress MPs withdrawing their petition to challenge Vice-President Venkaiah Naidus order rejecting the impeachment motion, the curtain has come down on the impeachment plea but the whole drama has left a rank bad taste all around. Murmurs of disenchantment with the CJI continue and the open verbal defiance of the high office is hitting at the roots of the hallowed institution. Doubts have crept into the minds of people whether the judiciary is being credited with too much profoundness and wisdomwhether it is as infallible as it is made out to be especially when four of its senior-most judges publicly question the sense of propriety of their chief as was done recently. Naidu had on April 23 last rejected the notice, given by seven Opposition parties led by the Congress for the removal of the CJI on five grounds of 'misbehaviour'. This was the first time that an impeachment notice was filed against a sitting CJI. The damage that has been done to the institution by the move for impeachment is incalculable and grave. The parties that pressed the impeachment move were all along fully aware that in terms of numbers they did not have a ghost of a chance of impeaching the CJI, but they chose to ignore that home-truth. They had the support of 64 members of Parliament while what is required is a two-thirds majority support in both Houses of Parliament. No judge has been impeached in Indias history and to make a big thing of the seemingly trivial charges of misconduct against him was preposterous indeed. Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan contributed greatly to the fiasco that ensued with their ill-thought-out, partisan and myopic conduct. The manner in which they dragged the Chief Justices name into what can only be interpreted as mud did little credit to them and to the institution. There could not have been a worse cause for the Congress and its allies to take up but egged on by an upstart of a president, Rahul Gandhi, the party soldiered on. Many legal luminaries tried to make the Opposition see reason but to no avail. The controversy over who constituted the bench that sought to go into the question of the legality or otherwise of the Vice-Presidents action in rejecting the impeachment move seemed to have caught the CJI on the wrong foot. Considering that Justice Misra was at the centre of the impeachment controversy, was it morally right for him to have constituted the bench to go into the legality of the impeachment plea? There has been no clear answer whether it was indeed he who constituted the bench but no refusal either. The CJI was in a bind because the four senior-most judges of the apex court immediately below him had, through a media conference earlier, sought to question his propriety in constituting benches in important cases, keeping them out. The CJIs prerogative of constituting benches as per his will had been duly established through earlier case but his action in constituting the bench in his own impeachment case was deemed to be questionable. The CJI has less than four months before he retires. Will his retirement restore the majesty of the Supreme Court or will things deteriorate further is a moot question that confronts the country. New Delhi: The Congress is putting forth a new bill to fund NASA by extending a sum of ten million dollars for the missions to find extra-terrestrial life, according to reports. The decision of the Congress to fund SETI has come for the first time in last twenty-five years. If the bill gets passed then it would finance the efforts of NASA in searching techno signatures such as the radio transmissions for seeking the evolution and distribution of alien life. It would also study the future of alien life in the world. NASA has targeted SETI program back in the year 1992, after the Congress had helped them by financing a pair of telescopes for seeking the signals from the aliens. The program was a failure and was ceased after a Nevada Senator urged to withdraw funding calling it to be The Great Martian Chase. Now scientists are finding out whether artificial intelligence (AI) could assist us to search for alien intelligence in ways we haven't even thought of yet. Noted astronomer Jill Tarter, who directed the SETI for thirty-five years explained the administration if they start the SETI program again then it would not stand anywhere in front of the budget of NASA. Ten million at once for one year won't do much but $10 million a year, as an ongoing funding stream, could do a great deal. It could allow people to build special-purpose instrumentation, and then use it on the sky for a long time," Tarter said. Mankind now has the technology for analysing the more signals in far more developed ways. However the success is not guaranteed to be achieved as soon as the space is vast and no one is sure whether they are searching the right place, she added. In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), researchers have often looked for signs of intelligence, technology and communication that are similar to humans. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Germanyas Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the Iran nuclear deal after Washington announced its withdrawal from it earlier, the Kremlin said on Friday. U.S President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran restricting its nuclear programme in return, did not go much further in removing the threat posed by Iran to the U.S and its allies in the Middle East. aThe Chancellor underlined that Germany - as well as France and Great Britain - will remain committed to nuclear agreement with Iran, as long as Iran would continue to fulfil its obligations under the agreement,a spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. aThe Chancellor spoke in favor of holding talks in an extended format with states involved and Iran on its ballistic missiles program and activities in the region such as the ones in Syria and Yemen,a he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. China's Ministry of Education has adopted a set of measures to tighten scrutiny of after-school programs, in a bid to ensure proper schooling for children. The ministry questioned executives of several leading after-school training institutions about their measures to ensure appropriate classes and prevent overcharging, a press release said Thursday. Seven teams of inspectors have been dispatched to oversee local education administrations' implementation of the ministry's policies, the ministry said. The Chinese government launched the campaign in February to tackle the problem that a number of after-school programs, mostly for primary and middle school students, taught courses too advanced of the school's normal curriculum and placed children under too much pressure. Such programs caused unnecessary competition among students and forced parents to send their children to after-school classes even if they did not need to. Training institutions were told to stop such programs, and local authorities were asked to blacklist poorly-behaved institutions. The campaign is expected to last until the end of June. A report from the Chinese Society of Education estimated that after-school programs received more than 137 million students in 2016. Manama : The Director-General of Northern Governorate Police announced on Thursday the arrest of three Asians for possessing and selling a banned type of tobacco. The Interior Ministry official said that after the department was tipped-off about the case, an investigation led to identifying and arresting the suspects while delivering the products. The banned items were confiscated from the accused, said Interior Ministry sources. The Director-General said that the legal proceedings are being taken to refer the case to the Public Prosecution. Manama : Women need to be more financially independent and economically strong and for this they should embrace entrepreneurship, said Ahlam Janahi, the newly elected president of Bahrain Businesswomen Society. The board also elected Feryal Nass as the first vice president, Sheikha Mariam bint Hamad Al Khalifa as second vice president, and board members Khulood Alqattan, Fatma Delawar, Vicky Muawad, Huda Janahi, manal Siddiqi, Nawal Al Sabbagh, Mariam Al Arrayedh and Jameela Attasi. Ms Janahi highlighted a joint plan of action along with various government departments to empower entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs and help women attain their economic goals. We need to closely work with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and the Economic Development Board and act as a link between entrepreneurs, businesswomen and government agencies to discuss the changes in the local market and how women working in these areas can be empowered through an action plan that will enable them become more productive and economically independent citizens. We are so thrilled to be there for the women in various fields and we will soon organise workshops " based on the requirements of the commercial sector. We will also propose laws and strategies for start-ups and small and medium enterprises with the help of economic advisors. Our goals are as similar to the overall leaderships vision, to develop omen in business and the economy in the global market in order to achieve Vision 2030. Echoing a similar view, Nawal Al Sabbagh said she has been a member of the society since 2000 and was elected the board member twice. This is her third election to the board. Being a board member is a great responsibility. We need to give back to the society and we look forward to giving new ideas, helping women achieve economic independence and growth. Although the challenges have always been there, we are looking forward to developing our strategies alongside achieving the vision 2013. Moreover, our main focus is to improve the economy. This year, I am a member of the economic committee, and we will look into the banking sector and how we can develop and benefit women working in this sector. We will soon be working on our agenda for the coming years but we do realise the challenges in the market such as the lack of financing projects. We intend on promoting our production in the foreign markets as part of a plan to develop and grow various sectors. Khulood Rashid Al Qattan said the society aims at attracting more businesswomen to join the society. We want to even introduce training courses at very high levels. The main challenge we are currently facing is that most of the businesswomen are from the SMEs sector. Although it is a very important sector and a major contributor to our economy, there are major challenges, in terms of small market, high competition and low demand. We believe there are many things we need to improve, develop and depreciate in order to keep growing. So one of our main focus is going to be on how to grow their business, and how we can helpthem in terms of training, developing their human resource, business plan and marketing strategies. We also want to develop the entrepreneurship ideas and initiatives, and look into means of marketing their products and how to attract foreign nvestments. We see a lot of women emerging in the IT sector, thuswe intend to develop a new committeeand promote the women in this area. Manama : Indian contemporary artist Satheesh Paul has been selected to participate in the second International Fine Art Cannes Biennale, which begins today. An art teacher at the Indian School, he has been participating in International Exhibitions since 2004 in New York, London, Italy, Greece, Jakarta, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. He has received Premeo Bertelli Award from Italy in 2012 and the prestigious Sandro Botticelli Award from Italy in 2015. Paul hails from Trivandrum, the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. His natural aptitude for painting at an early age made him create drawings on anything that came in handy from paper to wall. He ardently studied oil painting. Later, he joined Kerala University for BFA in painting and continued his studies at Bangalore University for his MFA in Graphics. He tried his hands at experimenting in new media and came up with amazing results. His paintings are noted for its symbolism, an intellectual form of expressionism. Not content with using colour and shape to communicate his feelings, Satheesh injects his compositions with messages and esoteric references, turning his paintings into a symbolist work of art. His artwork and creative practice extended into diverse modes, forms and mediums resulting in astonishing levels of variety and subtlety in his works. He rendered his themes to paint on canvas, crayon and graphic prints, often accompanied by poetic titles. Avoiding lavish use of color, the muted and subdued hues of Satheeshs earlier works only add to the powerful imagery. The intensity of emotions is obviously depicted in the eyes of the figures. Satheesh Paul has a unique style. Expressed with a combination of cool and warm colors they illustrate his experiences in life. The colors in Satheeshs paintings are at once, vibrant and subdued. With all its contemplation, his work is very powerful and intense. His symbolic compositions are mostly figurative and abstract. Manama : Interior Minister, Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa patronised an honouring ceremony for the Commander and the members of the Police Band out of appreciation of its high performance and distinguished participation in national and international events. Interior Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to the Police Band Commander, Major-General Mubarak Najem and all the bands members. He highlighted that it represents sincerity and loyalty through its national participation and being part of many national success stories. He valued the contributions of the band throughout the years that was established from the beginning phases of the Bahrain Police and its dedication to enhancing nationalism and community partnership. The Minister praised the contributions of the band Commander in reinforcing training and development, asserting that the police-related music he composed would remain immortal in the memory of the nation. He said that such contributions werent limited to the Police Band but also the development of the Bahraini music in general by protecting its originality and the adoption of modern methods to revive it. We are proud of him as a Bahraini and Arab musician. Manama : The investment forum, Gateway Gulf, held at Bahrain Bay concluded here yesterday exploring opportunities for foreign direct investment through economic diversification. Deputy King His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), attended the forum. Capacity and knowledge within Team Bahrain will deliver meaningful opportunities for the Kingdoms citizens, said Deputy King. HRH the Deputy King highlighted projects that demonstrate the Kingdoms strategy to increase the private sectors role in driving economic growth, while supporting greater innovation and competitiveness. HRH the Deputy King thanked the delegates and speakers who attended the forum, and emphasised the forums role in showcasing projects that are supporting growth and prosperity in the region. Bahrain is well positioned to benefit from an expected trade boost brought about by the liberalization and economic growth of Saudi Arabia, the minister for industry, commerce and tourism said. The opening up and liberalization of Saudi Arabia is something good for the whole region not just Bahrain. Saudi is the largest market, its the largest population, it has the largest disposable income in the region, and by having a more liberal and accessible Saudi Arabia we all stand to benefit from that, Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said. If you look at China opening up it didnt hurt Hong Kong, Hong Kong flourished because of that and China flourished as well, he said. Asked whether it was Bahrains goal to be like the Hong Kong of the Middle East, Al Zayani said: I think so, I think this is a great opportunity for us to be like that. The liberalization and economic strategy of Saudi Arabia with its Vision 2030, taking place under the aegis of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was a win-win situation for Bahrain, Al Zayani said. We already have a large industrial base in Bahrain thats predominantly orientated to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the region. All those that started as a regional manufacturing base are now expanding even further to North Africa, Southeast Asia, East Africa and exporting out of Bahrain. Its great for us as it creates employment, it creates investment, it creates export value and it links us to our neighboring countries. Bahrain is only a short journey away from most of the major capitals in the Gulf, Al Zayani noted. By air and by road were only four hours away from Riyadh, four hours away from Kuwait and we have an excellent logistics network. Speaking from Bahrains Gateway Gulf Investment Forum in Manama on Thursday, the minister said the inaugural event had been a success. Manama : The official public weighins organised by Brave Combat Federation witnessed multiple celebrities, businessmen and politicians attending the event. Surya Adiwijaya Soepono, the founder of SS Capital was invited by Mohammed Shahid, President of Brave Combat Federation to attend the vent. SS Capital had entered into strategic partner relations with Brave Combat Federation to host Brave 12: KHK Legacy for the very first time in South East Asia. Indonesia based SS Capital acquired full rights to support and invest in Brave Combat Federation in Indonesia. The event opened corridors for the Kingdom of Bahrain to strengthen the ongoing economic and diplomatic relations with Indonesia while attracting more investment opportunities. The China-developed Y-20 large transport aircraft is now undertaking boundary limit flight tests, said its developer on Thursday. "Since being commissioned into China's Air Force, the Y-20 has had its tests and flight trials going smoothly," said Tang Changhong, Y-20 chief designer and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "We have started the phase of boundary limit flight tests for full validation of the model," said Tang. Photo taken in June, 2016 shows a Y-20 plane, China's homegrown large transport aircraft, taking off from an airport. [File Photo: Xinhua] Designed and manufactured by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the Y-20 boasts a maximum takeoff weight of around 200 tonnes. It is ideal for transporting cargo and people over long distances in diverse weather conditions, according to AVIC. "As a large aerial platform, the Y-20 will continue flight tests and improvements," Tang said, adding he was confident in its performance. The Y-20 large transport aircraft has undergone its first airborne and air delivery trials, the Chinese air force announced Tuesday. Air force spokesperson Shen Jinke said it marked a leap in strategic delivery and long-distance airborne combat abilities. Strategic capability should extend wherever China's national interests reach to provide reliable air security for the country's development, he added. The Y-20 made its maiden flight in January 2013, and debuted at the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in November 2014. On July 6, 2016, it officially joined China's air force. Officially codenamed Kunpeng, after a mythical bird that could fly vast distances, it is nicknamed "Chubby Girl" for its deep, wide fuselage. Variants could be developed in the future, said Tang. A view of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, an automated cargo wharf, in Shanghai, April 9, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] If talks fail, nation is resolute in its response to planned Trump tariffs China will resolutely defend its interests even as it expects a positive outcome from the upcoming China-US trade talks through efforts from both sides, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The ministry issued the statement ahead of a planned May 15 hearing by the Office of the US Trade Representative to discuss proposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports. During the hearing, US companies and consumers will have the chance to have certain products taken off the list or others added through public discussion and lobbying. Regarding this issue of China-US trade friction, China's stance has been very clear. China opposes any form of unilateralism and protectionism in trading. The US must withdraw its threats, said Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce. As China and the US will conduct the second high-level economic and trade consultations in the US soon, Gao said China hopes the two sides can work together to jointly advance bilateral business ties and gain mutual benefit for the good of the people in both countries and the world as a whole. The Ministry of Commerce also announced on Wednesday that Vice-Premier Liu He will lead a delegation to the US to discuss economic and trade issues at an appropriate time, marking the second high-level meeting since a bilateral trade dispute escalated in March. The first talks were in Beijing on May 3 and 4. Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the Chinese delegation's visit will be helpful to tell the US public that unilaterally imposing a tariff on China will generate a huge impact on the US economy. "This will send a signal to companies or people attending the hearing that proposed tariffs will penalize US consumers by increasing prices on consumer and technology products," he said. "Both sides definitely will discuss the details on this issue in the US." The administration of US President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions with China in late March by invoking Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 to probe China's intellectual property and technology transfer. A tariff list was issued targeting 1,300 Chinese products, including industrial robots and telecommunications equipment. Business leaders in the US have voiced concerns about the negative impact of a possible worsening China-US trade relationship and pinned high hopes on the resumed talks between the two countries. William Cohen, US defense secretary from 1997 to 2001 and now chief executive of the Cohen Group, said there were legitimate concerns to be addressed, but he emphasized that it's important to address them in a responsible fashion so that everyone is in a win-win situation. "I don't feel the (Trump) administration has a strategy for achieving that," Cohen said. "The stated objective of doing it within the next two years is pretty short term. I don't think it's possible." According to US media reports, the US trade delegation that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led to Beijing last week demanded China cut the bilateral deficit by $100 billion a year over the next two years, a demand that most economists regard as untenable because US fiscal policy and low savings rates in the US are the primary cause of the deficit. Seven people, including four children, have been shot dead in the early hours of Friday morning, near the Margaret River area, some 270 km south of Perth in Western Australia. Western Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers were called to a property in a small town called Osmington at 05:15 (AWST), were they made the gruesome discovery. "The loss of any life is tragic, four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said. "It appears that gunshot wounds are there but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene." At this stage, no further details about the identity of the victims have been released, however police did confirm they are not looking for a suspect. Detectives from the State's Homicide Squad and Forensic Crime Scene Unit believe the tragic incident is likely to be a murder-suicide, making it the worst mass shooting in Australia since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 in the Port Arthur Massacre. Randi Smith and her son Dakota Smith are accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars, New York State Police announced Friday. Randi, 53, of Amsterdam, and Dakota, 23, of Saratoga Springs were charged on Tuesday with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies. Police said Randi, who is the CFO/Operations Manager for her employer, the NYS Weatherization Director's Association in the Town of Guilderland, wrote checks out to herself and her son's company Adirondack Concrete Cutting, LLC. Randi was responsible for managing the company's finances. The total amount stolen was more than $400,000, according to state police. Police arrested Dakota at Albany Airport shortly before he was about to board a flight to California after investigators determined he was attempting to leave the area. His mom was arrested at her Guilderland office. The Smiths were arraigned in the Town of Guilderland Court and remanded to the Albany County Jail without bail. Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler has travelled to Barcelona for talks with F1 chiefs. It comes as he admits that talks about a new contract for the German grand prix beyond 2018 have been fruitless so far. "I dont know what will happen," Seiler told DPA news agency. "But we wont agree a contract that involves an economic risk. The promoter fee is just too high. "We receive no regional, state or federal subsidy," he added. "We are almost unique in that way." Seiler hinted that he misses his old relationship with ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. "I had a confidential relationship based on partnership and even friendship, and negotiations with him were always fair," he said. But Seiler revealed that 60,000 tickets have so far been sold for the race in July, which he calls "a good number". "That would give us an economic zero," he said. "At the moment we set the playground so that others earn money. What we need is an investor or a sponsor so that we can organise another formula one race in Hockenheim." Bangkok (People's Daily) - The groundbreaking ceremony of the Callawa water pumping project funded by China was held Thursday in Davao City in the Philippines. (Photos: Embassy of China to the Philippines) The project consists of a deep-water pumping well, water tower, power engine room and related equipment, and a drinking water pipe network to homes. The project is expected to be completed in six months. The project will greatly ease the scarcity of drinking water in mountainous areas, and around 3,000 homes will benefit. The water pumping station is an example of practical cooperation between China and the Philippines as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met and reiterated their commitment to further carry forward China-Philippines relations at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in April. This water pumping station in Callawa helps achieve balanced and sustainable growth in the region. The practical cooperation between our two countries will bear more fruits and bring more benefits to our peoples, said Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jiahua. Davao city mayor Sara Duterte expressed her gratitude to the Chinese Embassy. She said China is offering more assistance to Davao's infrastructure development, livelihood improvement, environment management and urban-rural balanced growth. (Compiled by Chi Jingyi) Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the ruling All Progressives Congress is taking Nigerians for fools while revelling in an unrepentant misgoverning of Nigeria.This is coming as the promoter of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement also disclosed that the movement had adopted the African Democratic Congress as a political platform to actualise its dream for a new Nigeria.Obasanjo said this on Thursday evening while briefing journalists at his presidential library home in Abeokuta.While lashing out at the ruling party, the former President said most Nigerians today were poorer than when the APC came in adding that the country had been further impoverished with foreign loan jumping from $3.6bn to over $18bn.He said, The APC, as a political party, is still gloating and revelling in its unrepentant misgovernance of Nigeria and taking Nigerians for fools.There is neither remorse nor appreciation of what they are doing wrong. It is all arrant arrogance and insult upon injury for Nigerians.Whatever the leadership may personally claim, most Nigerians know that they are poorer today than when the APC came in and Nigeria is more impoverished with our foreign loan jumping from $3.6bn to over $18bn to be paid by the present and future generations of Nigerians.The country is more divided than ever before because the leadership is playing the ethnic and religious game which is very unfortunate.He added, And the country is more insecure and unsafe for everybody. It is a political party with two classes of membership.Obasanjo, who might have quit the CNM, said since the movement adopted the African Democratic Congress, he had completed the first phase of his assignment.In the speech he titled, My treatise for future of democracy and development in Nigeria, the former President said, Let me start by welcoming and commending the emergence of a renewed and reinvigorated African Democratic Congress, as a political party.Since the inception of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement, many of the 68 registered political parties have contacted and consulted with the movement on coming together and working together.The leadership of the movement, after detailed examination, wide consultation and bearing in mind the orientation, policies and direction of the movement, had agreed to adopt ADC as its platform to work with others for bringing about desirable change in the Nigeria polity and governance.He, however, said the emergence of ADC was the beginning of hard work to continue to consolidate the nations democracy and to make development in all its ramifications real, relevant, accessible, popular and reaching out to all Nigerians wherever they may be.While he thanked Nigerians who hearkened to his scathing open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, dated January 23, which catalogued the incompetence, nepotism, a lack of performance, among others, of the administration, he noted that their concerted efforts had made the adoption of ADC possible.He said the ADC would accommodate youths, women and others and would sanitise the system.Obasanjo said he would not advise anyone to join the Peoples Democratic Party or the APC, no matter what window-dressing reformation they may claim.He said the PDP offered an apology without disciplining those who set Nigeria on a course of ruin and some of them are still holding leadership roles in the party.He said, Nigerians may forgive, but Nigerians should never forget; otherwise they will be suffering from amnesia and the same ugliness may raise its head again.READ ALSO: Oshiomhole expresses interest in APC chair, says I cant be usedMeanwhile, a former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has described Nigeria as a killing field under the leadership of Buhari.Oyinlola, who is the National Coordinator of the CNM, said this at the formal merger of the movement with the African Democratic Congress in Abuja on Thursday.The press conference was held moments after Oyinlola resigned as the Chairman of the National Identity Management Commission.The former governor said, Now, the situation we have found ourselves calls for the need to invent another means of directing the political structure of the country. I am sure that you will admit that this is not the kind of change that we wanted when we voted in 2015 if you are to be sincere with yourself.We are not at war but everywhere you go, the country has been turned into a killing field. We cannot just sit down and fold our arms. If it means like-minded people will need to ensure that things are run properly, we will do that.He admitted that the talks between his group and the Nigerian Intervention Movement led by Dr Olisa Agbakoba and Dr. Abdujalil Tafawa-Balewa, had collapsed due to differences in strategy.Oyinlola, however, said there was room for the NIM and other like-minded groups to join the ADC.Speaking with one of our correspondents, the Co-Chairman of the NIM, Tafawa-Balewa, said, We felt it was better to work with a coalition of parties to form an alliance instead of picking just one party.We just didnt want to put all our eggs in one basket. We want others to know that they are all welcome in our house. The NIM is a much larger coalition than the CNM and that is well known. We are large because we are open-hearted and there is room for everybody.The CNM insisted on the ADC for reasons best known to them.The ADC was formed in 2006 and adopted a renowned political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, as its presidential candidate in 2007.However, the APC in Osun State said the party had no ill feelings towards the former governor for leaving the ruling party.The Director of Publicity and Strategy of the APC in Osun State/Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said, There are no ill-feelings about his resignation. We believe he thought it very well before he took the decision and we wish him luck.He stated his reasons for resigning and we wish him well.The national leadership of the PDP also said that it would work together with the ADC and other opposition political parties to vote President Buhari out of office in 2019.The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said, We are all going to work together to remove President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. Whether the group joins ADC or another party, we all have one thing in common, and that is the sacking of the President.We will all work together to remove President Buhari. So, Nigerians and members of our party should not worry about what happened to the group.But the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, while welcoming news of the fusion of the CNM and the ADC, said Nigerians still believed in the party.He said, We are in a multi-party democracy and the coming together by political parties should not be considered a threat. In fact, the more the merrier, we do not see this as a threat at all.We are confident that Nigerians still believe in our party they are seeing the changes we are bringing on board. The Nigerian people will decide which party among the very many they will give their mandate to when the time comes. The Centre for Citizens with Disability (CDD) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Disability Bill to ensure the full integration of People with Disabilities (PWDs) into the society.The Executive Director of CDD, Mr David Anyaele, made the call while addressing newsmen on Friday in Abuja.Anyaele said that the Bill when signed into law would guarantee the rights and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in the country.It is our belief that signing the Bill into an Act will go a long way to ameliorate the challenges that confront persons with disabilities into equal opportunities like other countries in Africa.Anyaele expressed concern that Nigeria had no legal framework on issues of disabilities since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed by state parties on March, 2007.Nigeria ratified this convention on September 24, 2010 with its optional protocol.The Federal Government is however, yet to put in place an appropriate legislation for the operationalization of the provisions of the convention.Nigeria has also not met its reporting obligations to the committee established under Article 34 of the convention requiring Nigeria to report every two years, the extent of its implementation of the provisions of the protocol.Importantly, Nigeria is yet to comply with the provision of section 12 of the Nigerian constitution which provides that a treaty cannot come into force until passed into law by the National Assembly.He recalled that several moves made in the past under successive administrations in Nigeria to pass the Disability Bill could not succeed.Such Bills have scaled through the processes at the National Assembly but have been unsuccessful, especially at the point of obtaining the Presidential assent.Some salient features in the revised Bill include criminalising any form of discrimination against PWDs and ensure promotion of public awareness on their rights.Others are making provision for accessibility to public buildings and related facilities, provision for a five-year period within which all public buildings and structures are to be adaptable for use by PWDs.Accessibility to transportation including road, sea ports, railways, air and related facilities.Protecting the liberty of PWDs and criminalizing their use in alms begging as well as making provision for all aspects of their educational and health care needs.Also to provide necessary assistive devices and provision for public organizations to employ at least 5 per cent of PWDs in their employment.And provision of adequate standard of living and social protection in terms of accommodation alongside encouragement of PWDs in politics and public life, Anyaele said. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, did not declare the $9,772,800 and 74,000 that was recovered from his guest house in Kaduna.The anti-graft agency told the court that Yakubu who was GMD of the NNPC between 2012 and 2014, stashed the loot which is over N3billion, in a fireproof safe inside the house.It said the foreign currencies were found after investigators at its Kano Zonal office, engaged an expert that cracked the code the defendant used to lock the safe.EFCC brought one of its lead detectives in Kano State, Mr. Sambo Muazu, to testify before the court.In his Evidence-In-Chief, Muazu, told the court that he took statement from the ex-NNPC boss who he said later filled an EFCC assets declaration form.The witness who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Ben Ikani, said the defendant, while filing the form, failed to list the recovered monies among his assets.Muazu said EFCC had upon its discovery of the funds, investigated some contracts that were signed while Yakubu was the GMD of NNPC.According to the witness, In 2015, we commenced investigation into two categories of contracts which were awarded by NNPC and its subsidiaries.The first category relates to Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) between NNPCs subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited (AEDCL). The contract was signed between NPDC and AEDCL.The first SAA was on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 26, 30, 34, 40 and 42. The second SAA was on OML 60, 61, 62, and 63.The investigation was sequel to intelligence report received by the EFCC relating to suspicious fund transfers from AEDCLs account in Nigeria to a sister company called Atlantic Energy Holdings (AEH)Also, additional transfers from Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited (AEBDL) to the same Atlantic Energy Holdings. The AHLs accounts are based in Switzerland.There were also transfers from Atlantic Energy Holdings account in Switzerland to the Nigerian accounts of the two sister companies AEDCL and AEBDL.It was on the basis of these suspicious transactions that we commenced investigation.In the course of investigation, it became necessary to seek clarification from Engr. Andrew Yakubu. He was accordingly invited, and we interacted with him. And thereafter, we reduced the interaction into writing.The two SAA were executed between the end of 2011 to 2014 April, during which Engr. Andrew Yakubu was the Group Managing Director of NNPC. He was in office from June 2012 to August 2014.After our interaction and his statement recorded, he declared his assets sometime between July and August 2015.The EFCC has a standard assets declaration form. A copy of that form was given to Engr. Andrew Yakubu. He filled the form, declaring his assets.He was asked to declare his assets based on the allegations that the company Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept was allowed to lift crude oil worth over $1billion without fulfilling the necessary obligations on their path.It was on this basis that investigation was conducted and thereafter, some individuals were charged to court.Yakubu is answering to a six-count charge EFCC preferred against him.It will be recalled that the former NNPC boss was undergoing medical treatment in the United Kingdom when the EFCC, acting on a tip-off, raided his guest house situated at Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State, and recovered the alleged loot which was in foreign currencies.The defendant who was granted N300million bail with two sureties in the like sum, earlier asked the high court to order EFCC to return the seized money to him, insisting that it was part of monetary gifts he received on various occasions.A Federal High Court in Kano had on February 13, 2017, granted interim order forfeiting the recovered monies to the federal government.FG had in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/ CR/ 43/ 2017, alleged that Yakubu failed to declare the money in the assets form he filed at the EFCC on August 18, 2015, and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 27(3) (a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004 and punishable under section 27(3) (c) of the same Act.In count three and four of the charge dated March 9, FG, alleged that Yakubu had between 2012 and 2014, without going through a financial institution, received cash payments of $9, 772, 800 and 74, 000, and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012 and punishable under section 16(2) of the Act.In count five and six, FG alleged that Yakubu had with intent to avoid a lawful transaction under the law, transferred at various times in Kaduna, aggregate sums of $9,772, 800 and 74, 000, when he reasonably ought to know that the said funds formed part of the proceed of some form of unlawful activity and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(4) (b) (ii) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006. The Federal Government on Friday strongly condemned the assassination of a Nigerian Immigration Attache I, Habibu Almu, in the Nigerian M... The Federal Government on Friday strongly condemned the assassination of a Nigerian Immigration Attache I, Habibu Almu, in the Nigerian Mission in Khartoum, Sudan.According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Dr Tope Elias-Fatile in Abuja, the federal government described the killing as unfortunate.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received an official report from our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan on the death of the Immigration Attache I in the Mission, Habibu Almu.He was killed in his official quarters on Thursday. This, indeed, sad news.The untimely death of the officer is certainly a great loss to our country.The Federal Government sympathises with the family members of the deceased on this unfortunate incident, he said.He said that the Mission was working very closely with host authorities in their investigations over the incidentHe assured that the government would do everything possible to ensure that those behind this dastardly act are made to face the full wrath of the law.(NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has departed the United Kingdom for Nigeria, according to the UK chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). ... President Muhammadu Buhari has departed the United Kingdom for Nigeria, according to the UK chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a series of tweets on Friday afternoon, APC UK said the presidents aircraft departed the London Stansted Airport at 12:33pm. The president left Nigeria on May 8 for a four-day medical check-up in London. APC UK tweeted that some of its members paid the president a visit shortly before he left UK. @APCUKingdom farewell visit to @NGRPresident @MBuhari before departure this afternoon, the chapter had tweeted. We wish @NGRPresident @MBuhari and presidential team a safe flight back to . Air force one departed #Stansted at exactly 12:33hrs for . If the information is valid, Buhari would arrive a day ahead of the time Garba Shehu, his spokesman, said he would return. A former governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang has asked a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja to order his release from ... A former governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang has asked a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja to order his release from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The ex-governor said he was diabetic. Jang approached the court barely 72 hours after his arrest by the EFCC over an alleged N6.3bn fraud. Jang, in a motion on notice filed by his team of lawyers led by Christopher Eichie, Yakubu Philemon, and Kola Oseni, said his continued detention by the EFCC had made it difficult for him to receive medical attention, which has made his blood sugar control to be in a bad state. A copy of the court processes was given to journalists during a press conference jointly addressed by his media consultant, Clinton Garuba, and another member of his legal team, David Dusu. While Dusu said he had filed an action at the Plateau State High Court in Jos to press for Jangs bail, Garuba condemned the manner he was picked, describing his predicament as politically motivated. Dusu said, Jang was told by the EFCC operatives that he would see the EFCC chairman (Ibrahim Magu); but as soon as he got to the Tunde Idiagbon Block in the commission, he was told he couldnt go home and that has been the case. He has been kept in the EFCC custody since Monday and has not been charged to court. Ironically, both the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other-related offences Commission are charging him with the same issue. We are seeing some political intimidation. We are not in a banana republic where anything can happen. They have kept him for 72 hours, the EFCC is holding him unconstitutionally. We are appealing to Nigerians to mount pressure on the EFCC to release Jang. The Peoples Democratic Party had in its reaction asked the EFCC to grant Jang bail because of his health condition and the fact that he is denied access to his lawyers, family and medication. Speaking with journalists in Jos, the Chairman of the PDP in Plateau State and a former Minister of Sports, Damishi Sango, said, As a sitting senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Jonah David Jang who is presently in the custody of the EFCC has been denied bail. This, we consider as a gross violation of his fundamental human rights as provided under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In making the appeal for the release of Senator Jang, we are mindful of his health condition and the fact that he is being denied access to his lawyers, family and medication. Imo State Governor and chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has said the party now involves itself... Imo State Governor and chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has said the party now involves itself with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kind of politics. Okorocha stated this on Thursday in Abuja, at the declaration of former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole, to run for office of the National Chairman of the party. Another thing I think Oshiomole will address is that our party has begun to play the same kind of politics like PDP. All of a sudden we have started derailing and playing the PDP kind of politics. This started by some of those people who found themselves in political office especially appointment, who did not win their booths and wards, the Governor stated. Okorocha added: Today, our party is going through some challenges and I must commend those who helped fight for this party even before this time, they have done well but the fight ahead, the challenges ahead are greater and we need great men like Adams Oshiomohle to do this job. For me particularly, Adams will strengthen APC in South-south and South-east. Suffice to say that as I speak to you today, I am the only governor from the entire South-east who is APC just like my brother, Obaseki is the only governor from the South-South from the APC. What this goes to say is that APC has challenges in the South-South and South-East for reasons not too far-fetched. For some myopic considerations and assessment, this party is not strong in those parts of Nigeria. For those our governors in the north, they won the election so easy, for as long as the name Buhari stands in the north. But its not the same thing talking about President Muhammadu Buharis name in the South-South or South-West. So if you see any governor emerge in the South-South or South-East, it is not with an ordinary strength, and I believe that Oshiomole coming in will strengthen this party in that part. Adams, your first assignment when you become the national chairman of the party is to ensure and channel that principle of monkey de work, bamboon de chop. Because some of these people who are seated here before you, won their booths, delivered their wards but those who didnt win their booths or deliver their wards are holding big jobs in the Federal Government of Nigeria. In this new dispensation, no more monkey dey work, bamboo dey chop. If you work, you chop, you dont work, you dont chop. President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday evening returned to the country after visiting his doctor in the United Kingdom. President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday evening returned to the country after visiting his doctor in the United Kingdom.His plane touched down at the Presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport, Abuja, at 6:30 p.m.Buhari, who left Nigeria on Tuesday, was earlier scheduled to return to Nigeria on Saturday.Among those who received the President at the airport were the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello and the Permanent Secretary State House, Jalil Arabia.Others were the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu and Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa. Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for stealing the ... Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for stealing the sum of N9m from his tenant, Dr. Emeka Ugwunze, in Lagos The 60-year-old pastor was sentenced on Tuesday by Magistrate O.A. Adedayo of the Ogba Magistrates court. The convict was the resident pastor of the RCCG, Ikosi Paris, Ketu District, before he committed the fraud. His trial started sometime in 2016 after he approached the victim, Dr. Ugwunze who was his tenant and defrauded him of the said amount of money under false pretence. The parties negotiated for the house for N20m and the victim paid him N9m to effect the balance at an agreed period. He convinced the victim that he wanted to sell the house to him because he had assisted him in the past. To prove authenticity of the deal, the pastor handed him all the house documents except for the deed of agreement which he promised to process upon receipt of the full payment. However, he disappeared after he obtained the initial payment. The matter was reported to the police and he was arrested, then dragged to court. Magistrate O.A. Adedayo. the presiding judge found Pastor Kolawole guilty and sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment. What will the next James Bond watch be? What will the next James... After a delay of almost 18 months, 007 is back on the big screen (at least in Switzerland). But what watch will we see on James Bonds... After a delay of almost 18 months, 007... Against the backdrop of the no-confidence vote passed on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, by the Nigerian Senate, the polic... Against the backdrop of the no-confidence vote passed on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, by the Nigerian Senate, the police in Kano and Kogi states have passed a vote of confidence on Idris leadership of the Force. Recall that the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday declared that Idris was not fit to hold public office, and called him an enemy of democracy. Reacting, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Yusuf said that no amount of campaign of calumny and intimidation will deter the IGP from discharging his statutory duties. Kano State police command wishes to reiterate our unalloyed loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari and IGP. We pledged our total confidence and support to the Inspector-General of Police, he said. The commissioner disclosed that the IGP would be in Kano today to commission a sophisticated tracking machine installed to checkmate activities of criminals in the state. In the same vein, the Commissioner of Police in Kogi state, CP Ali Janga, said the command would continue to display its loyalty and unflinching support for the good leadership qualities of the IGP which he noted has stemmed the tide of crimes and criminality in the country. In the cavernous confines of Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Gov. Phil Murphy spoke to 2,000 graduates from Stockton University Friday during the school's commencement ceremony. He became the second sitting governor to speak at a Stockton University commencement ceremony since former governor Jim Florio spoke in 1990. "Let me get this off my chest: Stockton rocks and Atlantic City rocks," Murphy exclaimed as he opened his keynote address. The governor used a multitude of quotes from people such as Theodore Roosevelt, Robert F. Kennedy, and late New Jersey Senator Jim Whelan to convey one of the central themes of his address: Taking risks and not being afraid to fail. "Because of this willingness to dance with failure, I am able to stand on this stage," the governor said during his address. "Not bad for a kid, not bad for a kid who grew up in a working poor family as the son of a liquor store manager and a secretary." The organ at Boardwalk Hall plays Pomp and Circumstance as the Stockton University graduates enter for the ceremony pic.twitter.com/4ZGkrJEKTb Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) May 11, 2018 Murphy went on to discuss his path to becoming governor, starting with his first job as a college textbook salesman all the way to his current position. He also added elements of humor, saying millennials are more than people who like avocado toast. "It's the end of the carefree days of sleeping in on a Tuesday, just because it is a Tuesday and flip-flops are no longer considered appropriate footwear for every occasion," the governor joked. Toward the end of his speech, he stated the graduates are a part of a tumultuous time in history, as it was back in the 1960s, saying they can enact social change, not just by posting support on social media but becoming active participants. Medgina Saint-Elien was one of the graduates who sat in the crowd while Murphy spoke. "I thought is was really good and relevant," said Medgina Saint-Elien. "I was happy he didn't keep it too long." Brandon Bailey, another Stockton graduate, also approved of the speech. "I thought it was very interesting," Bailey said. "He actually touched on a lot of relevant points that is currently happening in New Jersey right now." After Murphy gave his speech, Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman and other faculty awarded an honorary doctorate for public service to the governor. The body of a 12-year-old boy was pulled from a Burlington Township lake Thursday night following a nearly three-hour search. The Burlington City boy, whose name has not been released, was at Sylvan Lake with several friends when he jumped into the water and did not surface around 4:49 p.m., according to a release from the Burlington Township Police. Several police, fire and EMS personnel entered the lake to locate and rescue the boy, but were not able to do so. The boy's body was recovered by the New Jersey State Police at 7:46 p.m., authorities said. Police say there are "no suspicions of foul play." New Jersey State Police Trooper Alejandro Goez said a State Police dive team and aviation unit assisted in the search throughout the evening. Anyone with information about the incident can call Burlington Township Police Det. Ruben Ortiz-Cruz at 609-239-5889 or rortizcruz95@burltwppd.com. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. What's that turn of phrase? When one door closes, another door opens? Wilfredo Rojas mentioned it this week when speaking about his son, Alex Rojas-Garcia. Alex died at the age of 34 when a man from Camden fired several times into his Chevy Trailblazer outside a club on Macalester Street in Philadelphia on Jan. 24, 2015. Alex, a father of two, was out celebrating -- he'd recently made the honor roll at Temple University, where he studied advertising. Leonaldo Rivera, of Camden, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2015 murder of Alex Rojas-Garcia. Last week, a Philly judge sent away Alex's killer, Leonaldo Rivera, for a life term in prison plus additional time after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. "One door closes for the person who murdered my son," Rojas said this week. "But another does not open for Alex." "My son is not coming through my door again." Rojas lives in East Greenwich Township and is the Gloucester County NAACP's first vice president. He and Alex's mom, Aleida Garcia, still don't know why Rivera did it. After he rejected a plea offer, a jury found Rivera guilty, and the judge sentenced him to an automatic life term for first-degree murder plus an additional seven-and-a- half to 20 years on gun charges, said Anthony Voci, chief of the homicide unit at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Rojas and Garcia said the offer was for 30 to 60 years. The length of the sentence "was a comment on what kind of crime this was," Garcia said. Aleida Garcia and Wilfredo Rojas, parents of Alejandro "Alex" Rojas-Garcia, pose with their son's stone before it's placed in the Remembrance Garden during the Victims Remembrance Ceremony at the Gloucester County Justice Complex in Woodbury, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. (Lori M. Nichols | For NJ.com) Alex's parents have worked every day for the past three and a half years on anti-violence initiatives and getting their case out in public. It was good that they did; a couple who witnessed the shooting came forward once they saw Aleida on Telemundo, pleading for someone to share information about who killed her son. The TV news story also included surveillance footage that showed the couple in the nightclub. "I just feel really bad for the kid, the one who got killed and his family," Antonio Vicenty said in court, according to Philly.com. "I saw his mom on the news. I felt so bad." "Their lives are destroyed too," Garcia said of the couple, who, for their safety, have since moved to Puerto Rico after coming forward. They returned to Philly to testify in the case. Rivera's case has been adjudicated, but Alex's parents still want to continue their work with the National Homicide Justice Alliance, which was founded after Alex's death. They've been speaking to criminal justice classes at universities in the area and keeping in touch with other families who have lost someone to homicide. They'll be out wearing orange on June 2nd, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, part of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence. "I feel like it was a real grind to get here," Aleida said. "We got what we wanted which was justice for Alex, we didn't get Alex back." Among their goals for the future: to start a fund that could help grieving families recover from the loss of a loved one or offer a reward for information about their killer. In Philadelphia, there's a standing cash reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in committing a homicide in the city. Some families never get to post a reward that could find their relative's killer, Garcia said. They've also named an award after their son, and will be giving it to a teen onstage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center later this month. Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Harlan Coben's latest tale starts out with a dad living in the relative peace and quiet of the suburbs -- a "safe" gated community, even. But as with the author's other stories, it's not long before the father is chasing a mystery -- in this case, what happened to his teenage daughter when she failed to return home after a neighborhood party. Just don't expect to figure it all out. After all, what's a Harlan Coben story without a good twist (or five)? Even before his foray into TV and film, the author had made a career of writing thrilling page-turners. "The ending is a shocker," says the Ridgewood author. "You never see it coming. That's something we do well." Harlan Coben. (Claudio Marinesco) "We" is the British team behind Coben's latest TV series, "Safe," his first Netflix original, premiering on May 10. The show, set in England, spans eight episodes and stars actor Michael C. Hall ("Six Feet Under") in his first (live-action) TV series role since playing a serial killer on Showtime's "Dexter," which wrapped in 2013. Except this time, when he speaks, it's with a British accent. Hall plays Tom Delaney, a pediatric surgeon and father of two daughters whose wife died of cancer more than two years earlier. He's also an executive producer on the show, filmed in Manchester, England. Coben, 56, whose on-screen projects haven't traditionally captivated Hollywood but have flourished in France and across the pond, serves as showrunner. He set off on his first project for the small screen in 2015. But most of that work has been based on existing material. Coben's most recent series have been conceived specifically for TV. "The big difference between TV writing and book writing is that it's a collaboration," he says. "The first day I get on the set of a show, there's 100 people working." "Safe" is written by Emmy winner Danny Brocklehurst ("Shameless") and screened at the inaugural Canneseries festival in France last month, which preceded the Cannes Film Festival and highlighted international TV series. Coben was the president of the jury. "On May 10, they're going to release all eight episodes in 190 countries," Coben says. "That's mind-blowing." The show is produced for Netflix by Red, a British production company under the umbrella of France's StudioCanal. Coben last worked with the Red team for "The Five," an original series not based on Coben's existing material that premiered in 2016 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom before coming to Netflix in 2017. "The Five," also set in England, centered on a group of five friends who taunt one boy's brother until he runs off and is never to be seen again -- until his DNA shows up at a crime scene decades later. Michael C. Hall and Amanda Abbington in a scene from 'Safe.' Hall plays Tom, a widowed surgeon searching for his missing daughter, and Abbington is Sophie, a local detective sergeant. (Ben Blackall) With "Safe," American audiences will find familiarly in Hall, but not his voice, which embraces Brit suburban dad-speak. "People are so kind of obsessed with the accent," Coben tells NJ Advance Media. "After two minutes you kind of forget." The author says he assured Hall, who signed on without knowing the character would be British, that he could alter the character to have an American accent. The actor declined. "I think it's kind of interesting that Michael wanted the challenge," Coben says, but not a stretch -- after all, Hall played Thomas Newton in David Bowie's musical "Lazarus." "This guy is nothing like Dexter and is nothing like David Fisher on 'Six Feet Under,' " Coben says of Hall's "Safe" character -- an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances. "He's not a man with extraordinary skills," Coben says, alluding to Liam Neeson's character in the "Taken" films. "It's really more than a 'where's my daughter?' -- there's a lot more going on. There's really a story about four families and how this incident is going to rock all of their worlds." The disappearance of Tom's daughter Jenny may be the initial conflict in the series, but it soon becomes apparent that everyone has some kind of secret or secret past in the gated community, including Zoe, a teacher played by Audrey Fleurot, who is accused of inappropriate behavior with a student. "This is a gated community, right?" says Pete, Tom's close friend, played by Marc Warren ("Wanted"), trying to strategize and retrace Jenny's steps. "It's safe, so what's the big advantage of that? You can see who comes in and who goes out." Pete tells Tom that before his daughter went missing, unbeknownst to him (or so he claims), he dropped her off at home after picking her up from local party where she met up with her boyfriend. Amanda Abbington ("Sherlock") plays a detective sergeant named Sophie who is a single mother living in the same gated community. "I probably could have done this anyplace in the world," Coben says of the show's setting. "The more specific I am, the more universal the appeal. We all have the same hopes and dreams, they just want to live safely, raise their kids, do right by them. It's a universal want. We call that the American dream -- it's the worldwide dream." Despite the bleak setup, comic relief arrives in the form of the Marshalls, a family -- father, mother and daughter -- that messily schemes to move a young man's dead body around to hide it from the police and the community. "It's a missing person story, it's a murder story, it's a cover-up story," Coben says. "There are parts that are deadly serious, there are parts that are humorous." He spoke about "Safe" just days before his induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He's enjoyed international success for his many thriller novels -- New Jersey locales often figure prominently in the scenery -- and has called himself "the Jerry Lewis of crime fiction" for his fanfare in France. Alongside director Guillaume Canet, he adapted his 2001 book "Tell No One" into "Non Le Dis a Personne," a film that won four Cesars, the French equivalent of the Oscar, in 2007. In 2015, his 2003 book "No Second Chance" became the French series "Une Chance de Trop." And last year, his 2004 book "Just One Look" was adapted into the series "Juste Un Regard." But the state hall of fame? He's floored. Harlan Coben is inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on May 6 with the help of football Hall of Famer and former Giants linebacker Harry Carson. (Bernadette Marciniak | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) "It's frankly overwhelming," says the author. "I'm ridiculously proud. Maybe on May 6 I'll get it, but right now it's just too overwhelming to even think about. Who, me? Someone made a mistake." But Coben fit right in alongside all the Jersey luminaries at Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre -- Gloria Gaynor, Debbie Harry, fellow novelist Anna Quindlen, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Gov. Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy among them. "I count both the current and past governors as people who read my books," Coben says. "Tammy and Phil have been longtime readers." He says he even sent Tammy Murphy an advance copy of his book when she was living in Germany with the future governor, then U.S. ambassador to Germany under President Barack Obama. "She actually found errors for me," he says. Coben grew up with former Gov. Chris Christie in Livingston. In 2012, they were inducted together into the Little League Hall of Excellence (Coben played first base and outfield, Christie was a catcher). While twists are always ahead, Coben, who calls his new show "a novel on the screen," and therefore perfectly bingeable (there's only eight parts, after all), says the audience is assured of a definitive answer by series' end. "All of that's answered," he says. "There's no, 'let's wait till season two.'" That doesn't mean "Safe" is Coben's last project for Netflix, though. "Netflix was a great, great partner to work on 'Safe' and I'd like to work with them again," he says. "I want to just make sure that we have the right people and the right show." "Safe" premieres May 10 on Netflix. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. A judge on Friday sentenced a former Rutgers philosophy professor to time served for having criminal sexual contact with a disabled man who was once her student, bringing an end to a long, complex case that almost stretched into a second trial. Anna Stubblefield, 48, had already served nearly two years behind bars before an appeal's court overturned her conviction in June 2017. Stubblefield will not have to go back to state prison. Anna Stubblefield appears in state Superior Court in Essex County on Friday, May 11, 2018. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) On March 19, Stubblefield, who once chaired the Rutgers-Newark philosophy department, struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to a third-degree charge of aggravated criminal sexual contact. In accepting the offer, the West Orange resident admitted she knew at the time of her sexual encounters with D.J., a 37-year-old nonverbal man with cerebral palsy, that he had been found mentally incompetent and could not legally consent. The case, largely centered around a controversial technique known as facilitated communication, has piqued the interest of a documentary filmmaker, academic scholars and playwrights. At the core of the case, tried by Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Eric Plant, is whether D.J. could communicate by using a keyboard with Stubblefield's assistance and therefore consent to sexual relations with his professor. Stubblefield testified during her trial that she began to have "romantic feelings" for D.J. in the spring of 2010, and that the two would communicate with one another. She would go on to be accused of abusing D.J. in her Newark office in 2011. When Stubblefield told D.J.'s family about the sexual encounters and her feelings for him, the victim's mother and brother told her to leave him alone. Rutgers University referred the case to law enforcement. A jury convicted Stubblefield in October 2015 and found her guilty of two counts of first-degree aggravated assault. The judge at the time, Siobhan Teare, handed her a 12-year prison sentence. Throughout the legal process, D.J.'s family has continued to express its disdain with Stubblefield. "I don't think Anna understood the depth of pain she caused my family," D.J.'s brother said at her first sentencing in 2016, using the word "rape" to describe their sexual encounter. He echoed those concerns at Friday's sentencing, as he read a statement aloud to Judge John Zunic, who was assigned the case following the appeal's court ruling. D.J. stood beside his brother, gripping his arm at times. "Anna Stubblefield took advantage of (D.J.'s) vulnerability," he said. "Indeed the thing that she was supposedly saving him from was the very thing she needed to get away with her crime: (D.J.'s) silence. ... It feels like a scab of an almost healed wound has been ripped off. I do not feel there is justice in this plea deal." Essex Superior Court Judge John Zunic addresses the court at Anna Stubblefield's sentencing on Friday, May 11, 2018. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) D.J.'s brother implored that Zunic vacate the plea deal and take the "unprecedented" step of reimposing her original charges. Zunic did not. "If there were a plea agreement that really shocked my conscience, I would vacate it under the ruling," he said. "I don't see that in this case, though." He added that he sympathized with the victim's family and that the sentence imposed "certainly does not bring any finality to the victim and his family." Stubblefield, wearing a white sweater and a green skirt, remained seated beside her attorneys during the sentencing. She declined to comment when asked by Zunic if she'd like to speak. Her attorney, James Patton, did not wish to comment after the hearing. Stubblefield will have to spend the rest of her life under parole supervision and will have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law. She will also not be allowed to have contact with the victim or his family. The victim's attorney, Charles Lorber, filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of his clients, in which a judge awarded $4 million to the victim's family. He says he filed the suit without the expectation of collecting anything. This is a case, Zunic said, that will always have unanswered questions. "The big question is, 'Why?'" Zunic said. "Why did this happen? Why was that line crossed? ... This is one of those cases where you go back, scratch your head and just say, 'Why?'" Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. As a freshman at Columbia High School in Maplewood, Toibat Ayankunbi began to see a disturbing academic racial divide in her district. In honors classes, oftentimes she'd be among two or three African-American students in a class that was predominantly white. She wondered why there weren't more students who looked like her. "You can walk around the halls and see the leveling," Ayankunbi said. It's a practice the district has been accused of for years by parents, who say black students are placed in lower academic tracks and white students are assigned to advanced-placement courses. MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns In 2014, the ACLU New Jersey chapter and the Civil Rights Project at UCLA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, alleging academic tracking in the South Orange Maplewood School District. The district reached an agreement to fix racial disparities in advanced-level courses, but the Black Parents Workshop of Maplewood and South Orange filed a lawsuit in January that says the district is still segregating black students into less challenging courses. Ayankunbi, 17, said the history is unsettling, but she sought to do something to help close the achievement gap and bring about inclusion and diversity in higher-level courses. In her sophomore and junior years, she took a leadership role with the Minority Achievement Community (MAC), a program in the district that prepares students of color to take honors and advanced placement courses. Ayankunbi explained the benefits of rigorous instruction to students, even though some of her peers were not confident about their ability or expressed apprehension about being the lone minority in a class. She, too, had reservations, but settled into an AP class her junior year and aced it. "It's not that they don't want that kind of achievement," Ayankunbi said. "I was trying to help students who I saw who could succeed in higher-level courses." Ayankunbi's advocacy hasn't stopped since becoming the senior class president and a MAC squad leader. Her work in the program was profound enough to win first place last month from the Princeton Prize in Race Relations of Northern New Jersey. "Being an African-American in an all-white class, that's tough," said MAC director Marcia Hicks. "She offers support to those kids." Ayankunbi meets one-on-one with 20 underclassmen twice a month for study groups, checks grades and sets academic goals. She reads essays, tutors juniors, doles out advice about college -- anything to help them get ahead. At school board meetings, she has addressed racial disparity in AP course placement as an injustice, and has participated in discussions with teachers, students and administrators about discriminatory leveling and biases in the classroom. The Princeton committee was moved by her commitment and entry. Established in 2003 by Princeton graduate Henry Von Kohorn, the Princeton Prize recognizes high school students' work on race relations. Seven other students across the state were honored with certificates for dealing with a racial issue in their school or community, but the committee found Ayankunbi's work to be the best. She received $1,000 and joined 26 other Princeton Prize winners from across the country at a leadership symposium at Princeton last month. "It was really astonishing and wonderful to read the application from a young person who was tackling something so bravely, something that most teachers and administrators are even afraid to touch," said Stephanie Greenberg, a committee member. Ayankunbi confronted the problem through education, and MAC has been the platform for her to have an impact. "She's a young person that said, 'I'm not just going to join this group,' " Hicks said. "She said, 'I'm going to be a leader.' " As one of several MAC squad leaders, Ayankunbi plays a critical role, conducting study sessions and writing workshops, reviewing report cards and discussing ways to improve. If a student is not doing well, squad leaders report problems to guidance counselors, who seek out tutors and academic support. Raina Hackett, a senior who is a member of the MAC executive committee, said her friend keeps the group's focus on academics and doesn't allow students to get distracted. "She made sure we were serious and always thinking clearly and logically," Hackett said. MAC is about the business of scholarship, and the members are finding their places in the classroom. Seven years ago, the program started with 20 students in the high school. Now, there are 100 and Hicks said 90 percent of them are in advance placement and honors classes. Trevon Valentine, 16, considers himself a good student, but the junior said MAC pushed academic excellence and gave him the confidence to sign up for two advance placement courses when school starts in September. "I didn't think I could handle the work, but the upperclassmen in MAC tell you that you can do it," Valentine said. Kaitlynn Henrilus, 17, said she was slipping in chemistry until assisted by MAC. "If you fall through the crack, it helps you get back up and on your feet," said Henrilus, who also will take two AP classes next semester. MORE: Ironbound monument to Newark immigrants makes its debut | Carter MAC filters down to younger students, as well. Throughout the year, Ayankunbi and her MAC peers are guiding the little ones. They call it Mini-MAC. There are 80 students from the elementary schools and 30 from the middle school who are members. At the grammar school level, Ayankunbi said, the focus is more on good study habits and setting goals. When they reach eighth grade, she said, the conversation shifts to what's ahead in high school. "You want to build that trajectory where all kids see themselves on the path to the highest level of courses," said Columbia High principal Elizabeth Aaron. "We want to make them feel like you're supposed to be here." The district has implemented an Access and Equity Policy to ensure barrier-free access to advanced courses. In February, the Board of Education voted to reduce 11 levels of math and science, a realignment that interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra has said is necessary to bring about change when data show that there is segregation in the elementary schools and the high school. Ayankunbi has done her part. As she heads off to Rutgers University, she's confident that the underclassmen will continue the scholarship that MAC has started. "They know how to lead," she said. They should. They've had you as an example to follow. Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL Beachgoers in New Jersey left behind an estimated 29,000 cigarette butts last year. That's gross, said a panel of state lawmakers Thursday by voting to ban smoking from the Jersey shore. Violators would pay a $250 fine for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense, according to the legislation, (S2534). The Senate Environment and Energy Committee approved the bill by a 5-0 vote. "New Jersey's beaches are used and enjoyed by millions of people as a prime attraction of the state's tourism industry," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, who sponsored the bill with Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth. "Beachgoers should not be assaulted by second-hand cigarette smoke and the sand and water should not be littered with cigarette butts." Two years ago, Gov. Chris Christie signed a smoking ban at state beaches and state-owned parks. But there are only two state-owned beaches -- Island Beach State Park, a narrow barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay in Seaside Park, and at Hooks Creek Lake at Cheesequake State Park in Old Bridge. About 18 shore communities have separately barred smoking on the beach, but Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said it's time for a united front. "This bill is important because at least 90 percent of parks and beaches in New Jersey are municipal and county-owned. It's imperative that we ban smoking on beaches to protect residents and tourists," Tittel said. "We shouldn't be turning our beaches into ashtrays or clouds of air pollution." If ultimately signed into law, the legislation would take effect after six months. Last fall, New Jersey enacted a law that barred tobacco sales to anyone younger than 21. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Members of the Jersey City Police Department paid their final respects to Det. Amy Hulings, who was laid to rest Friday following a funeral service in Jersey City. Hulings, 47, who died Sunday at her home in Jersey City, was celebrated with a funeral Mass at St. Patrick's Church on Bramhall Avenue, a ceremony attended by numerous members of the JCPD. Hulings joined the police force in 1999 and became a detective in 2006. Born at the Margaret Hague hospital, graduated from St. Dominic Academy, and then Saint Peter's University. Her obituary described her as a "true Jersey City native." She was honored as the Irish Police Officer of the Year in 2012 as part of the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade. "She had a tremendous outgoing spirit and infectious personality which people gravitated toward," her obituary reads. "She loved the beach, particularly Lavallette and Fort Pierce, Florida but most of all she loved her family, particularly her nieces and nephews whom she doted on." City officials have not released any information on Hulings' death at College Towers, though sources told The Jersey Journal foul play is not suspected. A spokesman for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has said the Jersey City Police Department is handling the investigation. JERSEY CITY Jersey City has unveiled the initial plans for a city park at Exchange Place, a proposal that sparked controversy over the planned removal of a statue commemorating a World War II-era Polish massacre. The artist's rendering of the park shows a stretch of green space, a splash park and a playground at the foot of Montgomery Street. The area, located outside the Exchange Place PATH station, is now a paved area largely used as a pedestrian plaza. Mayor Steve Fulop posted the rendering on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, saying the city's goal is "energizing the waterfront walkway." There would be green space "for picnics like on the piers in Hoboken" and space for stages/tents for live performances, Fulop said. The proposed changes to the area have been overshadowed by plans to remove the Katyn monument from its longtime home at Exchange Place. The statue commemorates the massacre of over 20,000 Polish people by the Soviet Union in 1940. Fulop's decision to relocate it to make way for a park in one of the city's most upscale areas has led to cries of protest from the Polish-American community and from Polish officials. Two lawsuits have been filed seeking to keep the statue where it is. Fulop's staff is scheduling time to meet with Polish officials to discuss the statue, according to Maciej Golubiewski, the Polish consul in New York. Fulop has said in recent days that the community will be consulted on a new location for the Katyn statue, which was dedicated in 1991. The plaza renovation project will be headed by the Exchange Place Alliance, a special improvement district funded with a special tax on Exchange Place businesses (the city owns the plaza and the statue). Mike DeMarco, the SID's chair and CEO of real-estate firm Mack-Cali, told The Jersey Journal last week the removal of the statue would be the city's decision but he wants it placed elsewhere. DeMarco called it "gruesome." Fulop said on Facebook Thursday that creating the park would cost $5 million. The Jersey Journal received the rendering after filing a public-records request on Thursday morning with the Exchange Place SID. Fulop texted the image to this reporter that afternoon. "It may change some but this is directionally where it is headed," he wrote, adding, "Figured we would provide to you to share before I tweet it. Or maybe I'll just tweet it." Construction on the park is not expected to begin until after July 4, when the city hosts its annual Fourth of July party at Exchange Place. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry. Disclaimer Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. JERSEY CITY The murder trial of a Jersey City man who sported a wide smile at his arraignment is slated to begin Tuesday and he could serve a sobering life sentence if convicted. Jury selection begins Tuesday for Dashawn Mixson, 21, who is charged with shooting DaJour Riley, 19, multiple times as he sat in a vehicle near Berry Lane Park in Jersey City on March 28, 2017. Riley was transported privately to the Jersey City Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. that day, officials said. A source told The Jersey Journal at the time that Riley was driving with his girlfriend when he was gunned down in broad daylight. Mixson seemed nonplussed by his situation at his July 24, 2017 arraignment where he turned to The Jersey Journal photographer and smiled for a photo. Mixson's co-defendant, Vernell Mohammed, 20, was also charged with murder but has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault in the second degree and currently awaits sentencing. Mixson's attorney, Scott Finckenauer, said Mohammed has signed a cooperating agreement as part of his plea deal is expected to testify for the state at trial. Second-degree offenses carry a possible sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison. Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Baginski is representing the state at Mixson's trial. The trial is before Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. Mixson's two cousins, Daquan and Sammy Mixson, each pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection to two separate Jersey City killings and both are serving 7-year prison sentences. Daquan Mixson, 28, has a maximum release date of April 13, 2020. Sammy Mixson, 34, has a maximum release date of October 24, 2020. Wayne Fisher is seen testifying in 2011. (Star-Ledger file photo) JERSEY CITY -- Prosecution and defense attorneys are at odds over whether a use-of-force expert should be allowed to testify at the trial of a man charged in a fatal stabbing outside a Guttenberg restaurant last year. Reidel Carrasco, 23, of West New York, is charged with murder and weapons charge in the fatal stabbing of Antonio Bouza, 28, of West New York, on July 28, 2017 after Carrasco encountered Bouza and a friend at the Rumba Cubana restaurant on Boulevard East. If Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mirtha Ospina allows the testimony of Wayne Fisher, the former state Division of Criminal Justice deputy director, it could be a serious blow to the prosecution's case. Carrasco was having dinner at Rumba Cubana with his girlfriend and her son, while Bouza and his friend were attending a gathering there. A friend of the victim's family told The Jersey Journal the violence was over a woman Carrasco and the victim had previously dated. The state claims the stabbing was premeditated and noted that Carrasco took a steak knife from the table when he walked out. The defense argues that he took the knife because he feared he would be attacked outside and that before leaving, he told his girlfriend to get her son to safety. At a prior hearing, defense attorney Raoul Bustillo narrated as a surveillance video, which captured the incident, was shown. Bustillo said Carrasco was waiting outside to be picked up when the victim's friend came out and slapped him in the face, followed by Bouza, who punched Carrasco in the head. Bustillo said Carrasco stabbed Bouza in the chest moments before Carrasco's father pulled up and put his son in the car. On Tuesday, Fisher, now a criminal justice professor at Rutgers, was on the stand at a hearing to determine if the defense could call him as an expert witness on Carrasco's use of force that night. Fisher was part of the commission that arrived at use-of-force standards for police in New Jersey. He testified at the hearing that the use-of-force guidelines for police and for a civilian are virtually identical, with the exception being that civilians are expected to retreat before using force and police are not required to do that. "The assault was underway, the initial effort to get out of the situation had failed and therefore, there was no way that retreat could have occurred safely," Fisher said, suggesting Carrasco's use of force was warranted based on the video. "If he was a cop, he could reasonably conclude there was an immediate threat of serious harm and was authorized to use deadly force," Fisher said. "With respect to a lay person, I also concluded that the circumstances were such that the defendant found he was in immediate danger of physical harm at that moment." But Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Salvatore Rozzi argued that Fisher is an expert on police use of force, but the case at hand does not involve police use of force. He said different standards apply to lay people regarding self-defense. The state contends it is not proper for Fisher to opine on the reasonableness of the defendant's actions and that it is the job of a jury to make that call. Ospina is expected to rule on May 24 whether Fisher will be allow to testify as an expert at the trial. The trial would start some time after that. JERSEY CITY -- Hudson County homicide detectives have made two arrests in a shooting incident at a Downtown housing complex that left one man dead and a woman wounded, authorities announced. Kai Robinson, 20, of River Drive in Jersey City, was arrested in Newark Thursday and charged with the May 2 murder of Kamal McCord, 19, who was shot in the chest at 21 Merseles Court, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced Friday. Robinson is also charged with wounding the woman in the arm during the incident and faces counts that include murder, attempted murder, weapons offenses related to two guns and theft related to a vehicle, officials said. Robinson made his first appearance on the charges Friday in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny. At the hearing, the state moved to detain him through the course of his prosecution and a detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. The Prosecutor's Office also announced today that Lasaun Rose, 24, of Jersey City, was arrested on May 4. He is charged with aggravated assault and two weapons offenses related to a third gun. The state moved to detain Rose and his detention hearing is scheduled for Monday. Suarez said the investigation is active and additional arrests are expected. A possible motive was not provided. On the day of the shooting, Jersey City police responded to the location on a report of male being shot at about 9:50 p.m. and found McCord dead in a Merseles Court home. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10 p.m., officials said. Officers found the wounded woman near 17 Merseles Court and she was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center for treatment, officials said. According to the criminal complaint, a video shows two men getting out of a stolen car and entering the complex. They then open-fired handguns into a crowd. The video also shows the men who were in the stolen car being picked up by a second vehicle, the complaint says. Jersey City Police Department CCTV video shows two men fitting the physical description of the gunmen and wearing the same clothing entering the nearby Booker T. Washington housing complex within an hour of the shooting, the complaint says. At today's hearing, it was noted that there was a warrant for Robinson's arrest on the charge of simple assault related to domestic violence in which he allegedly struck a woman in the face and pushed her to the ground in September. That charge was remanded to Family Court. Suarez thanked Jersey City police for their work in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor's office at (201) 915-1345. Anonymous tips can be left at http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/ Removing the Exchange Place monument commemorating the victims of a World War II massacre would "undermine the friendship and alliance between Poland and America," according to another lawsuit filed to stop the plan to relocate the statue. The Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial Committee, which oversees the 34-foot monument, filed the lawsuit in Superior Court on Tuesday seeking to halt plans to relocate the statue so a developer can build a park in its place. A judge issued an injunction after that lawsuit was filed, preventing the city from taking any action until at least the next hearing in the case, scheduled for June 8, so formal arguments could be heard. Under the new park's construction plan, the statue isn't scheduled to be moved before July. City officials said the statue would be placed in storage during the renovation of Exchange Place, but it was unclear if it would be returned to its current location. Mayor Steve Fulop has since announced the monument was going to be moved to the original intended location, two blocks west up Montgomery Street. Late yesterday afternoon, Fulop tweeted a rendering of the new park. The lawsuit, which names Jersey City and the Exchange Place Special Improvement District as defendants, argues the committee was responsible for the installation and maintenance of the monument, which should remain in place. "Relocating the monument from its highly visible and historic location will unnecessarily diminish the standing of Polish-American immigrants and diminish the stature of an important monument to a horrible tragedy," according to the lawsuit. The developer, Michael DeMarco, called the statue "gruesome" when speaking about why he wanted the monument moved, sparking an international controversy and exchange of social media attacks by local officials and those abroad. Robert Margulies, the committee's attorney, said the group believes the statue should remain in place based on the city ordinance approving the monument. The Polish community is "very hurt" by the plans to gentrify the location and remove the piece that honors the 22,000 people killed in 1940. "Its important to keep this never-forget reminder there," Margulies said of the monument. A second lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in federal court arguing the monument should not be moved because it was not approved by the city council and the artists' rights were being violated. That case is expected to be heard later this month. Fulop, addressing the lawsuits earlier this week, said he did not know what the legal grounds were and remained committed to finding a new location for the statue for the park's construction. Two people with measles may have exposed the virus to others in New Jersey in recent weeks, health officials say. New Jersey health officials are urging those who have not been vaccinated to do so immediately. A person with measles had briefly stopped in New Jersey on April 30 while on a tour bus traveling from Niagara Falls, New York, heading to Washington, D.C. Then, in an unrelated incident, a Bergen County resident developed measles after coming in contact with an international traveler who was ill with measles in late April or early May. The New Jersey Department of Health is recommending that anyone who visited the locations below during the dates and times to contact a health provider immediately to discuss potential exposure and risk of developing the illness. Exposed individuals could develop symptoms as late as May 23. Towne Centre at Englewood apartments -- 20 West Palisade Ave., Englewood from April 24 to May 2, any time of the day Renaissance Office Center -- 15 Engle St, Englewood, on April 30 between 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. Newark Liberty International Airport, Terminal C on May 2 between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Columbia Travel Center -- 2 Simpson Rd., Columbia (off I-80 at Route 94) on April 30, between 9:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. "Two doses of measles vaccine are about 97 percent effective in preventing measles," said New Jersey epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan. "We urge everyone to check to make sure they and their family members are up-to-date on measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and all other age-appropriate immunizations. Before traveling internationally: Infants 6 through 11 months should receive one dose of MMR vaccine. Infants who get one dose of MMR vaccine before their first birthday should get two more doses (one dose at 12 through 15 months and another dose separated by at least 28 days). Children 12 months and older should receive two doses of MMR vaccine, separated by at least 28 days. Teenagers and adults who do not have evidence of immunity against measles should get two doses of MMR vaccine separated by at least 28 days. For more information on what to do if you've been exposed to measles click here. For more information about measles, contact your health care provider, or visit the New Jersey Department of Health's website at www.state.nj.us/health. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have information about this story or something else we should be covering? Tell us. nj.com/tips The master deal maker has struck again. After calling the Iran nuclear pact the worst deal ever made during his campaign jamboree tour, the president apparently felt duty bound to the screaming throngs -99 percent of whom could not locate Iran on a map- to abandon a deal that even his own national security advisors admit Iran was complying with. That now functionally deceased deal had Iran hand over 97% of it's fissionable materials, which they did, and submit to an unprecedented monitoring and inspection program, which they have done. The deal had some deficits to be sure, the provisions sunset after a decade and it did little to curb their ballistic missile testing, but the deal that replaces it has even greater deficits because it does not, in fact, exist. The deal maker in chief has replaced a pact keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon for, at a minimum, the next decade and replaced it with thin air. Nothing. Bupkis. That's some mighty fine deal making, sir. Mighty fine. The complete and utter lack of a strategy should not, but still somehow does, surprise. One almost has to admire the willingness of the administrations foot soldiers to bravely sally forth and present the president's actions as if they had been thought through for more than a few minutes. When pressed they have no specifics on where the fate of the planet goes next, but at this point we're all so used to it their baseline incompetence barely registers anymore. The president canceled a deal that was working, Iran is restarting their nuclear program and the world is a far more dangerous place than it was this time last week. That's some mighty fine deal making, sir. Mighty fine. Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's nominee for CIA director, has come under fire for her involvement in torture under the Bush administration. Haspel faced tough questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee on her nomination, and many are urging Democrats in Congress to block her appointment entirely. But conservatives argue Haspel is being unfairly singled out. She is more than qualified to head the CIA and played a huge role in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. What do you think? PERSPECTIVES Haspel is under intense scrutiny for her involvement in torture under the Bush administration. Haspel was also involved in the destruction of tapes documenting the torture and abuse of detainees by U.S. soldiers. Many feel this makes her unfit to head the CIA. Trump is extremely confident in his nominee. Gina Haspel, my highly respected nominee to lead the CIA, is being praised for the fact that she has been, and alway will be, TOUGH ON TERROR! This is a woman who has been a leader wherever she has gone. The CIA wants her to lead them into Americas bright and glorious future! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2018 But not everyone is so convinced. Over 100 former U.S. ambassadors sent a letter to the Senate demanding they block Haspel. More than 100 retired U.S. ambassadors, from both Republican and Democratic administrations, are sending a letter to the Senate opposing the confirmation of Gina Haspel to be CIA director. (via @playbookplus) https://t.co/jQueOENyuK pic.twitter.com/Jq5lmRDKRC Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 9, 2018 Many feel Haspel must answer for her past involvement in torture if she is even to be considered. Before anyone even thinks about saying the questions Gina Haspel receives are "too tough" during her confirmation hearing, remember what she did in the past and what her job will be. She should be able to handle all questions that are asked of her. pic.twitter.com/0nC7d1xnPf Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) May 9, 2018 Some senators have already promised to block her. The CIA's torture of detainees was wrong and un-American. Gina Haspel, President Trump's choice for CIA Director, played a role in the program and its eventual cover-up. She shouldnt lead this agency, and I will oppose her nomination. Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 7, 2018 Other senators argue it would be absurd to block her nomination. Gina Haspel is too qualified to pass up https://t.co/cwii1num6h Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 9, 2018 But Haspel has maintained she would not bring back the controversial detention and interrogation program if she were to become CIA director. Gina Haspel addresses the elephant in the room: The concern about her role in harsh interrogation tactics against detainees https://t.co/9k8vuOGXRp pic.twitter.com/uhbto0n30C POLITICO (@politico) May 9, 2018 Others feel Haspel is being unfairly singled out. If you believe that Gina Haspel should be barred from leading the CIA because she followed protocol in the early 2000s, please name the person who worked at the CIA at that time who shouldn't be barred. Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 9, 2018 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. Recently, the Los Angeles Times commemorated the one-year anniversary of California's plastic bag ban - the first in the U.S. - by reporting that victuals still made it from market to table, that no food-borne plagues have erupted, and that nobody went broke paying 10 cents for paper or thick, reusable plastic bags if they chose not to join the thrifty shoppers. In the end, the only thing their state lost was 13 billion pieces of sheer plastic that clutter trees, clog storm drains, poison animals, and pollute waterways. That's not a typo. Thirteen billion bags, one year. It makes you ask why New Jersey hasn't enacted a statewide effort to abolish this aerodynamic menace, since programs are already churning in blue-leaning Teaneck and red-leaning Long Beach Twp. during the tenure of a green-leaning governor. The mini-boomlet of municipal plastic bag laws creates a momentum that should be fueled by these facts: We have a 4.5-billion-bag-a-year habit in New Jersey, fewer than 5 percent of these bags are recycled, and the only way to eradicate this scourge is by inducing shoppers to BYOB. Two types of laws that can do that. One bans single-use plastic bags entirely, and adds a fee for all other carryout bags. This ban is aggressive, and it works for California. The other charges a small fee for the ubiquitous thin plastic bags, a model that has proven to influence consumer behavior more effectively while also dissuading the plastic industry from litigation. We like the bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, which imposes a five-cent fee for a plastic bag (seniors are exempt), allows the store keep a penny, and uses four cents for litter abatement and lead abatement. An outright ban is a hard sell politically: The plastic trade has enjoyed an unregulated market for decades, and doesn't take kindly to bans. The grocery trade can also be truculent (thin plastic costs them 1-3 cents, paper is 8-10), but in Huttle's case, "the Food and Water Council supports the bill," she says. Also, an outright ban on thin plastic means paper and thick plastic bags remain available for free because they are classified as "reusable," and customers usually choose the next free option - leaving plastic in circulation and landfills growing. A fee changes the checkout dynamic: Where shoppers are asked if they want to "buy a bag," consumption drops dramatically, and people dig out all those canvas and cotton bags piled up in the utility closet. In cities where fees are applied - from San Jose to D.C. - consumers have learned to bring those reusable bags to the car, pram, bike, or wheely cart. The goal is cultural change. But as long as NY-NJ Baykeeper reports that there are 165 million plastic particles swimming around New York harbor at any given time, culture isn't the only thing that needs a change around here. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Ferry service between Middlesex County and New York City, talked about since the 1990s, could set sail soon now that federal officials have awarded a $6 million grant to purchase a boat. The Federal Transit Administration awarded the grant this week to NJ Transit to purchase a 299-seat ferry for a proposed Carteret to Manhattan route. NJ Transit applied on behalf of Carteret , which will receive the money. The ferry route from Carteret's Waterfront Park, along the Arthur Kill to midtown, could transport passengers to the city in 54-minutes. Ferry service from Middlesex County and Staten island was first studied by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1996, which recommended Carteret because of its location along the Arthur Kill. The grant is the most significant recent step since a ferry was brought in to conduct test runs in 2015. That route took the Arthur Kill to the Kill Van Kull through New York Harbor, and ended at Pier 11 in New York. Work to get federal funding for various stages of the project started when now U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-N.J., was a congressman and Carteret was part of his district. "It was 22 years ago, that the Port Authority first found this would be an ideal place for ferry service into Manhattan," Menendez said. "So, I've long known what a new ferry would mean for this community - faster commutes, greater access to jobs, and better quality of life." Headed out with NY Waterways for ferry test runs from our Waterfront Park to Pier 11 in Manhattan. While we are still a... Posted by Dan Reiman on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 The $6 million FTA grant builds on several earlier grants, including a $2.4 million earmark in 2005 to build a dock, terminal building, a 350-space parking lot and drop off area north of Waterfront Park. Menendez was also instrumental in changing federal regulations so Carteret could use the funds remaining from other federally funded projects for the ferry. Ultimately, Carteret officials hope to redevelop the area around the ferry terminal and some mixed-use residential and retail developments have been proposed. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NJ Transit is installing surveillance cameras inside trains, joining other regional transit agencies that have equipped trains and buses to monitor security and behavior, but some question whether the privacy of passengers will be violated. Riders spotted the first cameras on May 3, and NJ Transit sent an alert on May 4 to Port Jervis and Pascack Valley line riders, telling them surveillance cameras are being installed in trains that NJ Transit runs under contract for Metro-North. Cameras will be installed in trains on other NJ Transit lines as funding is available, said Nancy Snyder, an agency spokeswoman. There's no set schedule for those installations, she said. Trains are the last mode on NJ Transit to get surveillance cameras. They are already used on the agency's light rail trains and buses. "In our quarterly survey, safety and security is not identified (by passengers) as a key driver, because of the (light rail and bus) cameras," she said. The new train cameras will not be constantly monitored, meaning passengers will still need to call police or alert train crews to report incidents, Snyder said. The train cameras will not record audio, officials said. NJ Transit was criticized after installing video and audio surveillance on light rail trains in 2016, prompting an outcry about why the agency was listening into passenger's conversations. The agency's lack of policy guidelines about who watches and listens to recordings, and how long they were kept drew a sharp rebuke from the American Civil Liberties Union and public criticism from riders and advocates. Audio recording on light rail trains was quietly ended by NJ Transit in June 2016. But rider and civil liberties advocates questioned if the additional cameras are overkill and will actually help deter crime and bad behavior. "This is going overboard," said Len Resto, New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers president. "Who's looking at this stuff? How long is it kept? How safely is it kept? The question is how much privacy are we willing to give up for security?" Resto said he understands the need for cameras at suburban stations that are only staffed during rush hour. But multi-level trains have emergency intercoms for passengers to alert crews about an incident, that he said he has used. Resto said he's witnessed two incidents, a fight and a medical emergency on trains, that were handled by crews. ACLU officials said NJ Transit should have studied how effective the cameras are that they have on buses and light rail trains now. "We're concerned about NJ Transit's approach to mass surveillance," said Jeanne LoCicero, ACLU of New Jersey Deputy Legal Director. "NJ Transit should evaluate what is the effectiveness of the current cameras and, what the trade-offs are, before expanding cameras. Those should be the first steps." This time, NJ Transit officials gave specific guidelines for how recordings of passengers will be handled. The agency keeps video footage for 30 to 40 days, only authorized employees may watch videos and no one is allowed to tamper with, modify, or delete recordings, Snyder said. ACLU officials said NJ Transit should post that policy on its website for riders to read. The public also needs to know under what circumstances NJ Transit would release video recordings, she said. "They should make that policy (publicly) available and include the public in the decision-making process," LoCicero said. "They should solicit rider feedback. They need to be more transparent." NJ Transit conducted evaluations and concluded the presence of cameras contributes to rider safety, Snyder said. The agency has not met with the ACLU about passenger civil liberties or transparency concerns, she said. "Video cameras and devices are an indispensable investigatory tool for our police," Snyder said. "The goal is to provide a safe, secure environment." Around the region, most transit systems have surveillance cameras. Metro North has been installing surveillance cameras in trains on lines on the east side of the Hudson River since 2016. The current generation of trains on the PATH system came equipped with cameras as will new trains to be built for the Long Island Rail Road. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trains and buses also are camera equipped. SEPTA's train and station cameras had another upside, saving money by reducing claims and injury lawsuits from passengers. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said. The blast, whose cause was not immediately clear, occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu. Given Wanlaweyn's lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks. Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber. "The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast," police Captain Farah Ismail told Reuters. "The death toll may rise," he added. Residents said the kiosks were busy with soldiers buying khat. "I counted five dead people, including two shoe shiners, a mother who sold khat and two customers. There were 10 other injured civilians," shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamud told Reuters. "I could also see several soldiers in uniform being transported from the blast scene but I could not confirm whether they were dead or wounded." It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast. In past incidents, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility. Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia's central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law. Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia's cities and towns. But it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital. Search Keywords: Short link: The Phillipsburg council is investigating claims that the mayor filled public jobs throughout the town with friends and political donors. An ad hoc committee of town council members met for the first time Wednesday, after a member of the mayor's 2015 transition team allegedly provided emails and other documents to town officials. The committee appears to have the power to subpoena more information and plans to meet every two weeks and question witnesses in an open-ended investigation. Council President Bobby Fulper would not speculate where it may lead, but said law enforcement is not currently involved. "The last thing I want to do -- I don't want to draw a foregone conclusion," Fulper said Thursday. "The last thing I want to do is make the mayor look like a villain if he's not." Mayor Stephen Ellis said he believes the committee and its investigation to be "the continuation of a smear campaign" that began during last year's election. "They're just not going to stop," Ellis said. He deferred to his personal attorney, John Zaiter, for further comment. Zaiter could not be immediately reached Thursday evening. Ellis, a Democrat, took office in 2016, after upsetting five-term Mayor Harry Wyant Jr. the previous November. The 35-year employee of the New Jersey State Park Service never held an elected office before. The investigative committee is made up of Fulper and fellow Republicans Frank McVey and Danielle DeGerolamo, all of whom took office in January. Democrat Josh Davis was also present for Thursday's meeting. He and fellow Democrat Mark Lutz, were allegedly on Ellis' transition team -- Lutz is said to have left the team after two meetings. "The team instantly began planning the removal of certain town officials and employees, the hiring of friends within that team and rewarding a majority of those who supported his campaign with jobs and positions within the town's infrastructure," McVey said in his opening statement at Thursday's committee meeting. (You can listen to the full opening statement in the video below starting at 8:17.) McVey also alleged the mayor circumvented hiring practices after taking office, and has been uncooperative in providing documentation. During the meeting, Davis provided remarks of his own, calling it "madness." "Sometimes mistakes are made, but it does not justify us going on a witch hunt," he said. (His statement begins at 16:53 in the video above.) This investigation continues a focus of last year's election on the mayor's employees in town hall, which continued this year when council voted to dock the pay of two workers. It also continues a period of strained relations between the mayor and council. Ellis has been notably absent from most council meetings this year, and has also sued the council for refusing to cover his legal fees in a case where a resident's assault accusation was dismissed. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. NEW YORK -- Yankee Stadium security booted the fan who caught J.D. Martinez's home run that put the Red Sox ahead for good. Maybe they shouldn't have. "There (was) no interference," Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge told reporters after a 5-4 loss to Boston on Thursday night. Judge leaped at the wall to catch Martinez's high fly off reliever Dellin Betances to start the eighth inning. Two fans converged near Judge's outstretched glove and snared it. That gave Boston their final lead. It broke the Yankees' eight-game winning streak and pushed the Red Sox back into a tie with the Yankees first place in the American League East. Both teams are 26-11. It was difficult to tell via replay if the fans had touched Judge at any point. Judge said he thought what they did was fine. "Interference, I mean, once it goes past that imaginary line right there above the wall, it's fair game for them," he said. He added, "If I get in a better position to make the play -- that last 5 feet, the ball kind of faded toward my right and I just missed it." Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked if Judge told him whether the fans interfered. "No," Boone said. I'll say again, no. The way (Judge) acted, he felt like he didn't quite get over there. I'll talk to him some more. I didn't sense that." The home run came off Betances, who was working his second inning. The right-field corner is marked at 314 feet. The ball may have traveled 315 feet. According to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Statcast said Martinez's fly ball had a 28 percent chance of even being a hit, let alone a home run. "It's probably not a home run in any (other) park but it's a home run today," Betances said. Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook. Despite criticism from conservative lawmakers and social groups, a bill creating a stricter bestiality law and more clearly defined punishments is closer to becoming law, after passing unanimously in the Louisiana House of Representatives Wednesday (May 9). State Senator J.P. Morrell's Senate Bill 236 will now go back to the Senate floor, where it must pass a final vote before it can be passed to Gov. John Bel Edwards who can either sign it into law or veto the bill. If passed, SB 236 will create a new law against the "sexual abuse of an animal," which treats bestiality much like other sex crimes and would require convicted individuals to register as sex offenders and be prohibited from working or living with animals. Additionally, the bill would strike bestiality from the state's current crimes against nature law, where it is currently grouped with incest and sodomy laws. The present crimes against nature statute has remained on the books despite the Supreme Court's 2003 Texas v. Lawrence ruling, which deemed all sodomy laws unconstitutional. Morrell, D-New Orleans, is among Louisiana lawmakers who have attempted to remove Louisiana's crimes against nature law altogether, and the opponents of SB236 question whether the separate bestiality law is an initial step in an effort to strike the sodomy law from the books. However, Morrell has denied these claims multiple times. He said he would like to see the current law struck, but said this law is not the way to do it. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Prior to voting on the bill Wednesday, House members laughed and joked as Rep. John-Paul Coussan repeatedly told lawmakers the issue is "real and serious." Lawmakers voted down an amendment 30 to 62, which was proposed by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, and would have keep prohibitions on bestiality as part of the crimes against nature statute. As of Thursday afternoon, it was not clear when the bill would be brought back to the Senate for its final passage. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Julia O'Donoghue contributed to this report. A New Orleans man faces a federal charge after he tried to silence his phone during a security check at the Social Security Administration offices -- causing his cellphone to light up, revealing a pornographic image of a child, according to U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans' office. Charles F. Hall, 60, of New Orleans, was indicted Thursday (May 10) for possession of child pornography. The case against Hall began April 12, when Hall entered the Social Security Administration's offices on the fifth floor of a building in the 400 block of Poydras Street. The offices, under the jurisdiction of the Federal Protective Service, screens all visitors for weapons and explosives. As part of the screening process, Hall was told to take all metal items out of his pockets before passing through the magnetometer. When Hall took a cellphone out of his pocket, the security officers asked him to silence the phone while he was in the offices. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up When Hall accessed his phone to silence it, the screen lit up and "displayed an image depicting the sexual victimization of a prepubescent child," according to a news release from Evans' office. Hall was arrested by officers with the Federal Protective Service, Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations. He was then booked into the Orleans Justice Center jail with child-pornography charges, jail records show. Thursday night, he remained in jail. If convicted, Hall faces up to 20 years in prison, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He would also be required to register as a sex offender. Fred Smith said his son almost ran into the back of a vehicle one day during a trip across the Crescent City Connection because the 22-year-old noticed the strangest thing placed upon a billboard nearby. Unbeknownst to Houston Smith, his father and mother had purchased billboard space for a week to congratulate him for graduating with honors from Dillard University. Fred Smith said by phone Friday (May 11) that his son "had no clue" that his parents were planning to give him a such an elaborate gift. Smith said he and his wife wanted to do something special for their son's graduation. Smith is one of more than 200 undergraduates who will receive diplomas Saturday morning after receiving words of wisdom from the three-time Grammy award-winning musician Chance the Rapper. Smith, a former photographer, said he figured the billboard near the bridge was the best place to display the gift because commuters like his son often notice the outdoor boards along the busy bridge. The billboard's presence has now taken off online, and Smith said his son has been "bombarded" by a lot of his friends at school. Regardless, Smith said his son thinks the gift was a "really cool idea." Part of the charm in Smith's billboard comes from the line near the bottom of it that advises future employers to contact "2PoorParents@gmail.com" for inquiries about the graduate's job prospects. Smith stressed, however, that the "2PoorParents" line was more of an inside joke shared among the Smiths. "I get paid on Thursdays and I pay him on Thursdays because he couldn't have a job because he was doing 21 hours (of college courses)," Smith said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Although Smith said the "future employers" inquiry was more of a joke than an actual pitch, Smith also stressed that he has been telling his son to look for a job if he plans to attend graduate school. Smith said he has already told his son that "I'll pay for graduate school, but you need a job." An honors convocation document shared by Dillard online stated that Houston Smith has been on the Dean's List since the spring and fall of 2017. It also stated Smith, who is earning a visual arts degree with a minor in English, is a member of the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society. "We just wanted him to be successful and we think the only way that a male kid could be successful is to focus on school," Smith said. . . . . . . . Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles. The state has asked the federal government to fast track permits for a major coastal restoration project in Plaquemines Parish. But parish President Amos Cormier has taken steps to delay the project. On this week's Coastal News Roundup, WWNO's Travis Lux talked with Nola.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Sara Sneath about Cormier's concerns and strategy to delay the project. Listen to their discussion above or catch it on 89.9 FM at 4:44 p.m. on Friday. To learn more about the coastal news from this week read the stories below: On Thursday, a three-day celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the apparition of the immaculate mother of Jesus Christ will begin at the Virgin Mary Church in the eastern Cairo district of Zaytoun. Among the special masses scheduled, two will be led by the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II the first on Saturday evening and the second on Sunday morning. The church, which was originally built in the 1920s, was the site of a miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary in the spring of 1968. "It was an amazing night, according to those who lived it. An attendant at a parking lot opposite the church woke up late in the evening to see the silhouette of a woman atop of the dome of the church. [She was] all bright and serene," said Bishop Bassilios, who serves at the church. "At first, he thought it was a woman who was trying to commit suicide because the poor man had just seen a woman jump off the roof of a nearby school a few days earlier. But in a short while he realized it was not, because the silhouette was very stable on top of the curve of the dome. If it was a human being, she would have certainly slipped," the bishop explained. According to the accounts of Bishop Bassilios and residents of the neighborhood who remember that evening, it was a matter of hours before people realized what was really going on, and that it was the apparition of the divine mother of Jesus Christ." "We heard that she had appeared and remained there throughout the night, so the following day we came hoping to see her and get her blessings. When we arrived, there were so many people, really so many people coming for hope and blessings, said Wedad Mikhail, a parishioner at the church, after emerging from mass on Wednesday morning. Mikhail is not a resident of Zaytoun, but has come to pray at the Virgin Mary Church every spring for fifty years. Since I saw her [the Virgin Mary] and I asked her to heal my son, I have been coming from where I live every year all through April and May, for four consecutive weeks, to pray here and ask for her blessings, she said. According to Bishop Bassilios, the church has recorded on video for the first time the testimonies of elderly men and women with direct memories of the day of the apparition. He said that the church would screen the video prior to the mass to be held by Pope Tawdros II on Saturday evening. "It has been fifty years and this is not a short period of time, but we managed to capture a few testimonies of neighborhood residents, Christians and Muslims alike, not just by those who attend the church, the bishop explained, adding, I know that some people question the apparition and say that it is only people's imaginations, but this was not a one-off. It continued happening for over two years and all attempts to inspect the nature of the apparition were made." He recalled that the then-head of the Coptic Church, Pope Cyril VI, made an official announcement on the apparition that was featured on the front pages of Cairo's daily newspapers and also made several international papers. The association of the Virgin Mary with this part of Cairo is as old as the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. The Immaculate Virgin is believed to have passed through this part of the city. "The story we heard is that the man who volunteered to build the church back in the early 20th century had had a dream in which the Virgin Mary told him that she wanted a church carrying her name in this part of the city, Bishop Bassilios said. According to the clergyman, in 1924, Ibrahim Khalil Pasha, a resident of Heliopolis who was known for his wealth, faith and charity, received a visit from a group of Coptic residents of nearby Zaytoun who had been trying for ten years to collect enough money to buy a piece of land in order to build a small church. "The story goes that when they went to see him, they found him as if he were waiting for them to come. He then promised to build the church, but passed away before he managed to live up to his commitment," Bassilios explained. "His son, Tewfik Bey, carried on the mission and built the church according to the will and wish of his father, he said. The church was designed by an Italian architect and was constructed and inaugurated in October 1925. Today, the white domes of the Virgin Mary Church stand over the entrance of Zaytoun. On the opposite end of the street there stands a much bigger church that was built in the 1980s as an extension to the original. "Things changed so much after the apparition. Many people began coming to pray and there were too many people for the old church to accommodate. The state allowed us to construct a new building on the same land, where the parking lot attendant first to saw the divine apparition, said Bassilios. The new church was opened in the late 1980s. "But I love to come and pray here at the old church," said Nadia Kyrolos, an elderly resident of Zaytoun. "This is where my heart is; this is the place of the apparition of Our Lady. I have been coming here to ask for her blessings for the last 50 years, and she never turned me down. I got married here and I baptized my children here and it is here that I want to have my funeral," she concluded. Like others who attended the Wednesday morning mass ahead of the 50th anniversary celebrations, Kyrolos said she was hoping for more blessings from the Virgin Mary to come our way to bring light and joy." For Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians, the anniversary celebration of the apparition follows Tuesday evening's 50th anniversary of the return of St. Mark's relics, or remains, to Egypt. The disciple is credited with bringing Christianity to Egypt in the first century CE, and his relics are now housed in Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbassiya district. In early June, Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians will commemorate the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, and later that month, the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of St. Mark's Cathedral. The anniversary of the apparition would have been celebrated on its proper date in April, Bishop Bassilios explained, but this would have overlapped with Holy Week, during which churches do not hold jubilees. Search Keywords: Short link: Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz has received the Excellence in Government 2018 Innovation Award from the Bureau of Governmental Research for his leadership in establishing the Operation Angel Program to combat drug addiction in St. Tammany Parish. Lentz, Covington's police chief since October 2013, received the recognition Thursday (May 10) at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Concerned about the opioid epidemic and its effects in St. Tammany, Lentz started the program in May 2016 with the support of other law enforcement agencies and public officials. It is the only parish in Louisiana offering the program, which Lentz had learned about from other states. Under Operation Angel, people addicted to prescription or illegal drugs can walk into any police station and ask for help. They can surrender their drugs and be taken by a police officer to a treatment facility, without fear of arrest or prosecution. In the first 12 months, 132 people sought help and were taken to a treatment facility by a police officer. Since the program started, of the almost 100 people that have walked into the Covington Police Department and asked for help, 38 percent remain clean and sober today, the police department said. St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister nominated Lentz for the award. BGR is a non-profit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use of public resources in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. The Excellence in Government awards program recognizes government employees and private citizens for outstanding performance and creative problem-solving that significantly improves local governmental services. The trucks came from as far as Wisconsin and Florida, driven by people who are normally loggers but descended upon Louisiana after Hurricane Ida produced untold amounts of wreckage that needed to be hauled somewhere. Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa, on Thursday backed Israel's right to "defend itself" after the Israeli military said it struck dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria overnight. "As long as Iran has breached the status quo in the region and invaded countries with its forces and missiles, any state in the region, including Israel, is entitled to defend itself by destroying sources of danger," the minister, whose country is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, said on his Twitter account. Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has repeatedly targeted positions of the Syrian army and Lebanon's Shia movement Hezbollah backing it inside the country. The latest escalation came overnight, when Israel's army said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria. Israel carried out the raids after it said 20 rockets were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. It blamed the rocket fire on Iran's Quds force. Syria's foreign ministry said the Israeli attacks on its territory marked a "new phase" of direct involvement in the country's seven-year conflict. Syria has had strained relations with most of the Arab world since launching a deadly crackdown on demonstrators in March 2011 and was eventually suspended from the Arab League. But the Bahraini foreign minister's support for the Israeli strikes marks a rare, if not unprecedented public stance by an Arab government. Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the two countries, whose foreign policies are often in lockstep, view Iran as the chief threat to the region. Search Keywords: Short link: The body of eighteen-year-old Mariam Moustafa, an Egyptian university student who died after being beaten by a mob of girls at a shopping mall in Nottingham, England on 20 February, arrived at Cairo airport on Friday. Mariam's funeral is set to be held in New Cairo after Friday prayers. The Central College student fell into a coma following the assault and died in the hospital on 14 March in Britain. The incident resulted in tensions between the victim's family and British authorities over accusations of slacking in the investigation and negligence in medical care given to Abdel-Salam following the incident. The Egyptian government also said that the medical treatment provided to Mariam immediately after the attack raises questions. The student was initially allowed to go home from the hospital and then later was readmitted after her condition deteriorated. The British Embassy in Cairo and UK authorities have repeatedly promised a fair investigation into the case. Search Keywords: Short link: The spokesman for Egypts Ministry of Transport, Mohamed Ezz, said in a phone call on Thursday night to Mehwar TV's 90 Minutes programme that the decision to increase the fare for a ride on Cairo's underground metro comes at an appropriate time and is necessary in order to overcome the vital service's significant fiscal deficit. Late on Thursday, Egypts Ministry of Transport raised metro fares from a flat rate of EGP 2 per ride to between EGP 3 and 7 based on a new zone system. Rides up to eight stops will now cost EGP 3; rides from nine to 15 stops will be priced at EGP 5; and rides 16 stops and over will cost EGP 7. The government last raised the metro fare from EGP 1 to EGP 2 in March 2017. Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Hesham Arafat told DMC TV's night-time programme that the decision was necessary to finance and upgrade the infrastructure of the first metro line, which is now 30 years old and needs EGP 30 billion in renovations. Arafat also said that the decision was being considered over the past year with special consideration to citizens' socio-economic concerns. The fare increase does not apply to students, the elderly or people with special needs, the minister noted. This system of dividing the metro lines into zones and setting the ticket price according to the number of stations passed by passengers is implemented all over the world," Arafat said. The head of parliament's transportation committee Hesham Abdel-Wahed criticised the sudden implementation of the decision without giving any notice or a chance for citizens to prepare, adding that the Ministry of Transport is the only party responsible for the way that decision was announced. The transportation committee has already set criteria for increasing the price of the metro tickets, linking any increase to enhancing the quality of the service provided and taking into consideration citizens' socioeconomic concerns, as well as not affecting the fares of employees and students," Abdel-Wahed said in a phone interview with DMC TV channel's night-time program on Thursday. Abdel-Wahed explained he only learned about the decision from the media, and has called for a meeting with the minister of transport as soon as possible. He also said that the metro's first line is approaching a state of collapse due to lack of sufficient funds. The cost of transportation in Egypt rose significantly after the government cut fuel subsidies in July 2014. Built in the 1980s, Cairo's metro transported about four million passengers daily in the 2013/14 fiscal year, according to the Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation (ECMMO). The company expects to transport about 6 million passengers per day in FY 2019/2020. The last construction phase of Cairo's third metro line is set to be completed by the end of 2018, with a fourth line due to be finished by 2019. Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian authorities will open the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions from Saturday till Tuesday, the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo said in a statement. The Palestinian Embassy praised Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the countrys security apparatus for their efforts to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people. The Rafah border crossing is the main gateway to the outside world for 1.8 million Palestinians living in the Israeli-besieged Gaza, and is the only crossing point not controlled by Israel. The Egyptian government opens the Rafah crossing periodically for humanitarian purposes. Gaza has been under Israeli blockade since 2007. Search Keywords: Short link: Rumours Cairo could become involved on the ground in the Syrian conflict have been circulating on the back of Washingtons suggestion an Arab force could replace US troops there, and gained momentum after Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri remarked that this is possible. In an official statement released on Friday the Foreign Ministry dampened the speculation, stating categorically that Cairo would not send troops to Syria. The statement went on to clarify Shoukris own remark: What he meant by possible was that the idea had been put to Egypt by the US, it said. In a recent seminar organised by Al-Ahrams International Politics periodical Shoukri said: The idea of replacing [US] forces with other forces, perhaps Arab ones, is possible. It is being discussed in the media as well as between governments as we try to determine the extent to which such ideas can contribute to stability in Syria and end its current crisis. I cannot say whether the idea has been fully formed, or has matured into a proposal on which a decision can be taken. The Wall Street Journal of 16 April cited US officials saying that the Trump administration wants to assemble an Arab force to take the place of the US military force in Syria and assist in stabilising the northeastern part of the country following the defeat of Islamic State (IS). The article reported that newly appointed US National Security Advisor John Bolton had recently contacted Egypts acting intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, to gauge whether or not Cairo would contribute to this effort. Less than two weeks later, during the 28th military educational seminar held on 28 April, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi alluded to the issue, saying Egypt would not repeat the experience of Egyptian military involvement in Yemen from 1962 to 1967. He made it clear Egyptian troops would not fight on the ground abroad as they had during the Yemeni civil war. The 1960s Yemeni civil war is a conflict Al-Sisi has referred to before. During his campaign for a second presidential term he said that Egypt had lost its gold cover due to expenditure in Yemen. Egypts intervention then is estimated to have cost LE40 million, in addition to the lives of 26,000 Egyptian soldiers. Yet in the end the conflict was resolved not by battle but through a political settlement with Saudi Arabia which had been waging a proxy war against factions fighting for the Yemeni republic. Egypts first military attache to Yemen, General Mohamed Qashqoush, professor of national security studies at the Higher Nasser Military Academy, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Syrian situation is complex and the Yemeni lesson springs to mind whenever the subject of possible participation in a war outside our borders crops up. It seems the US administration is contemplating changes to the coalition forged to fight IS in Syria once its mission is over. President Trump does not appear convinced of the importance of keeping US forces there. Yet even if the Arabs agree to contribute they cannot serve as a substitute for 2,000 US troops. An Egyptian source familiar with the details told the Weekly that it is easy to second-guess Cairos view of sending troops to Syria given the challenges Egypt faces. The army is busy in Sinai and along the Western borders. To the south is another front related to [security in] the Red Sea. How can the army consider opening up yet another field of operations? Qashqoush says while there are Egyptian forces near Bab Al-Mandeb, deployed in the framework of the Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen, their presence is consistent with Egypts national security calculations which include the need to secure maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the approached to the Suez Canal. Qashqoush points out there are marked differences in the positions of Arab governments that might be asked to contribute to any Arab force in Syria. Cairo and Riyadh, in particular, take different approaches to Syria, and he fears relations between the two could become strained should Riyadh press Egypt to send ground troops. In a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on 20 April Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Riyadh would be willing to send forces as part of an Islamic counter-terrorist coalition in Syria. It was a reiteration of a position Al-Jubeir first espoused in April 2017. Divergent views have surfaced between Cairo and Riyadh with regard to other developments in Syria. While Saudi Arabia responded positively to the US strike against Syria in response to allegations the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons in Douma, Egypt officially criticised the strike. According to the Wall Street Journal report, Gulf states will foot the bill for any Arab military operation in Syria, with Riyadh said to be willing to contribute $4 billion. US President Donald Trumps remarks during his recent joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron are significant in this regard. Referring to the Arabs, he said: They have to now step up and pay for whats happening The countries that are there that you all know very well are immensely wealthy, theyre going to have to pay for this. And they will pay for it. They will pay for it. Weve spoken to them. They will pay for it. The United States will not continue to pay. And they will also put soldiers on the ground, which theyre not doing. And we will, in fact, bring lots of people home. Washington no longer attaches the importance it once did to the Middle East, says Cairo University political science professor Mohamed Kamal. Trumps remarks imply that while the region was important to the US in the past it is less so today. The US currently gets nothing in return for the money it spends in the region. His second point is that wealthy nations in the region should pay the costs incurred because of regional issues, and not just defence costs. Even when the US does take part in military operations it now expects wealthy Arab countries to pay for the missiles and bombs it uses. Nor is it likely the US will contribute financially to reconstruction after political settlements are reached in countries such as Syria and Yemen. Abdel Khalek Abdallah, an Emirati political analyst, told the Weekly by phone from the UAE that he supports the idea of sending Arab forces to Syria. The idea, he said, has been on the table since the beginning of the crisis in Syria. An Arab presence is important despite the complexities of a situation in which it would replace US forces stationed east of the Euphrates while on the other side are Iran, Hizbullah and Russia. I dont think it is too late for this kind of intervention. In fact now may well be the right time. The Syrian crisis is ongoing and it is not about to end because everyone has become embroiled in it. Abdallah believes Arab national security justifies the operation. Ultimately, what binds us together is Arab national security and the need for the Arabs to establish a strategic balance rather than leaving Syria prey to Turkey and Iran. A limited Arab presence already exists along the Jordanian border with Syria. It should be bolstered by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Former deputy Chief-of-Staff General Mohamed Ali Bilal, commander of Egyptian forces during the Gulf War, argues that whatever the positions of other Arab states, Egyptian military intervention in Syria would not serve Egyptian interests. There can be no question of sending Egyptian forces. Egypt only sends forces abroad within a framework of legitimacy, whether international or Arab, or to defend itself by confronting a threat. The regime in Syria solicited the support of Russia, Iran and Hizbullah. Their presence in Syria is therefore legitimate, regardless of the outcome. Likewise, when the Arab League asked NATO to intervene to protect civilians in Libya it conferred legitimacy on that intervention in spite of the disastrous consequences. Bilal stressed the enormous difference between Egypts participation in the Desert Storm campaign following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the current situation in Syria. Kuwait appealed for help against the aggression and Saudi Arabia asked for forces to protect its borders. The international community acted and the Arab League rallied behind the intervention. The circumstances could not be more different to the case of Syria. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: No troops for Syria Search Keywords: Short link: Paul Gonzales is not the first and probably not the last man to ditch a new date and leave her with the restaurant bill, but he is definitely the most notorious and prolific dine-and-dash dater in recent history. According to news reports, the Pasadena man has been leaving his dates with the bill for over three years. Gonzales first made headlines in March of last year, after ditching two women on separate dates in Pasadena, California, and leaving them with expensive restaurant bills. One of victims told news reporters that she had checked online and had discovered stories of at least two other women conned by the same man, going back one year. The bad publicity he got last year, following extensive media coverage of his exploits, doesnt seem to have bothered the dine-and-dash dater too much, as just a few days ago two more women came forward to complain about being left with the bill. One of Gonzales most recent victims, who preferred to remain anonymous, told CNN affiliate KCAL that she had met the man on a dating app and agreed to go on a date with him. After enjoying a scrumptious dinner and two cups of coffee, the man reportedly started talking about his sick aunt and how worried he was about her. Then he excused himself to get the charger for his phone from the car, but never came back, leaving her to cover the $130 bill. Photo: Plenty of Fish He ordered a salad with shrimp, filet mignon yeah, he went all out, the woman said. All of a sudden hes all, Oh my charger my phones dying and Im waiting on a call from my mom about my aunt.' I didnt bring it up to the restaurant nothing, the victim added. I think I was more embarrassed. My pride was just like you know? I felt dumb. What she didnt know was that Paul Gonzales was the infamous Pasadena dine-and-dash dater and that she was one of several victims of his antics. Just a week before, he had ditched another woman she had met on a dating site at Mercado, a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena. The woman, named Carol, told Inside Edition that Gonzales went by Mike on his dating profile, had a very interesting bio and knew all the right things to say. When Carol arrived at Mercado, Gonzales told her that he had already had a meal, but had room for another. He kind of like patted his stomach and said, I know its probably surprising, but youll be surprised I can eat two meals,' the woman said. After finishing his meal, Gonzales excused himself from the table and never came back. Last year, a woman told CBS Los Angeles that Gonzales had pulled the same trick on her, ordering a glass of Pinot, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a steak, and a baked potato and then pretending to take an important call so he could leave the table, never to return. He left maybe half a baked potato and then received a phone call and said I need to take this call, the woman said. The waiter came back and said, Hes not out there, is this a first date? And I said, Yes, this is a first blind date, and he said, Hes gone. She later found online articles about Paul Gonzales pulling the same stunt on at least two other dates, a year before. Its crazy how after at least five incidents in the last three years, this serial dine-and-dash dater is still able to get away with it. Considering that most of his victims are too embarrassed to disclose their full name, its possible that there are more women out there who are ashamed to come forward. A California attorney is urging dine-and-dash victims to file police reports, as this behavior is a crime in the state of California. You can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to $1,000 if your dine-and-dash bill was under $950, Kelly Chang Rickert said. After having its written payment notifications ignored by a client, a utility company in Russia came up with an ingenious way of coercing the debtor to pay his dues it dumped a three-tonne concrete pyramid in front of his luxurious villa. Samara Utility Systems Ltd. had long been trying to get the unnamed resident of Zubchaninovka village, in Russias Samara region, to pay his 50,000 ruble ($810) debt for unpaid water bills. The company had sent him several written notifications, had contacted him by phone, and even sent people to reason with him in person, but to no avail. So management decided to try something new. They commissioned a 3-tonne-heavy, 1.5-meter-tall concrete pyramid, plastered it with shameful slogans and dumped it in front of his home, to serve as a reminder that he had a debt to bay. Photo: SamComSys.ru Employees of Samara Utility Systems unloaded the debt pyramid in front of the debtors house yesterday, under the surprised and confused eyes of the mans embarrassed family and their neighbors. The heavy reminder featured slogans like A Debtor Lives Here and You Must Pay Your Water Bill on all four sides which the company hoped would be embarrassing enough to convince the man to finally settle his debt. Photo: SamComSys.ru Seeing the pyramid being dropped in front of his home with a crane, the owner tried to reason with company employees, telling them that water to his home had been cut a long time ago, but he just kept getting billed, which he considered unfair. However, a Samara Utility Systems press release states that the workers inspected the water network and that the debtors house is sill connected to the water supply. Photo: SamComSys.ru After seeing journalists and curious neighbors gathering around the pyramid and taking pictures of it in front of his house, the man reportedly expressed his intention to pay the debt just to have the heavy reminder removed. Photo: SamComSys.ru A spokesperson of the utility company said that it would remove the debt pyramid as soon as the man paid his dues, adding that they were so pleased with the experiment that they plan to move the pyramid to another debtors house, of which there are many in Samara. The company has over 1.2 billion rubles to collect from its clients, and plans to use the pyramid and other non-standard methods to do so. Photo: SamComSys.ru Believe it or not, the debt pyramid worked perfectly, and the Samara utility company today reported that the debts has been paid and that the pyramid has already moved in front of anothers debtors house. They even posted a photo of its new location. Mercury Public Affairs is providing strategic media relations, influencer engagement, issues/crisis management and digital services to the Embassy of Turkey under an eight-month contract worth nearly $900K. The US and Turkey relationship have been strained due to the crackdown by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the media and political opponents as well as American support for Kurdish forces fighting in Syria. Mercury, which is part of Omnicom, organizes events at the Embassy, trains spokespeople, pitches national media and provides a daily media report of Turkey-related news. The firm also supports PR activity of Turkish consul generals in Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. It receives a monthly retainer of $108,333 under the contract that went into effect May 1. The agreement does not include social media work, which would be negotiated quarterly and billed separately. Michael Cohen AT&T chief Randall Stephenson told staffers via a memo today that hiring President Trump's personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was a "big mistake." Ma Bell shelled out $600K to Essential Consultants, Cohen's shell company, for advice on its $85B acquisition of Time Warner, a deal opposed by Trump. A federal judge will rule June 12 on the future of the ATT/Time Warner merger. Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged, Stephenson wrote. There is no other way to say it AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake. Stephenson said the payment was legal and "extremely legitimate" though a "serious misjudgment." He fingered AT&T's DC lobbyists for hiring Cohen. "Our Washington DC team's vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that." Stephenson also informed staffers that DC lobbyist Bob Quinn, executive VP for external & legislative affairs, is retiring. The DC outpost will report to David McAttee, general counsel, "for the foreseeable future." Cohen formed Essential Consultants to pay $130K to porn star Stormy Davis, who allegedly had sex with Trump. Rabat has officially cut relations with Tehran, increasingly the latters isolation at a time of intense pressure and a possible return of international sanctions Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, relations between Tehran and Rabat have swung between relative calm and rupture. Despite the strategic importance that Iran attaches to the countries of North Africa, it has been unable to sustain a good long-term relationship with Morocco. This is mirrored in the Iranian regimes foreign policy approach towards Morocco, which is inclined towards animosity and coercion. Tensions between the two countries have peaked to breaking point three times during the past 40 years. The first occurred in 1981, when Morocco received Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi after his overthrow. Imam Khomeini, in response, officially declared his governments support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), declared by the Polisario Front from Algiers in 1977. Although the two countries restored diplomatic ties in 1991, tensions soon flared again, especially when Rabat sided with Manama after Iranian officials declared Bahrain an Iranian province. Morocco also accused Iranian diplomats in Rabat of practising Shia evangelism in the country. Iranian-Moroccan diplomatic relations resumed in 2016 only to fall apart again this year. On 1 May, Rabat officially cut relations with Tehran and expelled the Iranian ambassador, charging that Iran was actively supporting the Polisario by providing it training and arms through Hizbullah operatives present in Algeria. As the crisis intensified and other countries entered into the fray, the multi-tiered nature of the crisis has become increasingly apparent. At the same time, the latest crisis is the product of a lengthy accumulation of differences and disputes between the two countries over a range of issues. Since the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian regime has seen the Polisario Front as an important means to assert pressure on Morocco and punish it for Moroccan stances on matters of concern to Tehran. Khomeinis recognition of and support for Polisario in response to Moroccos sheltering of the deposed Shah set the initial outlines for this policy. However, recently, Iran began to escalate it by providing financial and military support to the front. Apparently, it seeks to create a military phalanx against Morocco using Polisario fighters, trained and armed by Hizbullah operatives. Recently, the movements of these operatives have been detected inside Morocco, itself. The most significant incident, in this regard, came to light with the arrest, in Casablanca Airport on 12 March 2017, of Hizbullahs finance officer Qassem Mohamed Taj Al-Din. The foregoing unfolded against the backdrop of Moroccos support for numerous Arab stances detrimental to Iranian interests. It has opposed Iranian support for Shia political activity in Bahrain and Iranian support for the Houthis in Yemen. It joined the Saudi-led coalition to restore the legitimate government in Sanaa and contributed troops to Operation Storm of Resolve. In general, Morocco has drawn closer to the Arab Gulf countries with which it has forged a consensus on many regional issues, especially since the Moroccan-Gulf summit in April 2016. Tehran, for its part, has worked to forge closer political and cultural relations with Algeria. Taking advantage of the Algerian-Moroccan border dispute, it has sought to rally Algiers to its side and use it as a platform to threaten Moroccan interests. But to Rabat, Iranian sectarian activity inside Morocco is the most important and constant threat, especially since Moroccan authorities unearthed and dismantled a Shia proselytising network, called Belairaj, in 2008. They also discovered another network, called Ansar Al-Mahdi. Morocco has accused Algeria of colluding with Irans military support for Polisario. It charged that Algiers has facilitated the training activities given to the fronts fighters by Hizbullah military experts supported by Iran. Rabat has been suspicious of the Iranian presence in Algeria for some time, especially since the latters positions coincide with Iranian interests in the region. On the Syrian crisis, in particular, Algiers implicitly supports the Iranian-backed Bashar Al-Assad regime through its support of the option to allow Al-Assad to remain in power. Moroccos decision to sever diplomatic relations with Iran has increased Irans mounting isolation in the region at a time when it is facing Western pressures over the nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany). The US administration has threatened to pull out of the agreement, which would effectively void it and cause Iran to lose the gains it had acquired through the partial lifting of the international sanctions that had weighed on it for many years. At another level, the Moroccan-Iranian rupture is further indication of potential escalation on the Moroccan-Algerian front. It is noteworthy that Algiers has sided with Tehran in this crisis. It denounced the Moroccan decision to sever relations with Iran and it summoned the Moroccan ambassador to question him on the accusations that Rabat levelled against Algiers. Moroccos diplomatic rupture with Iran will also work in favour of closer Gulf-Moroccan cooperation and coordination over many regional issues, especially those related to concerns over the expansion of Iranian influence and Irans political designs in the region. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: Morocco-Iran split Search Keywords: Short link: Special Counsel Robert Mueller is gaining credibility among independent voters in the key swing states of Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a poll from Republican PA firm Firehouse Strategies and Optimus. Released May 8, the poll found that 44.7 of independents believe Mueller is more honest and trustworthy than Trump. Only 25.7 percent of independents picked the president over the investigator when it comes to telling the truth. Those results represent a significant upswing for Mueller as a February poll gave Mueller only a 39.8 percent to 35.8 percent edge. The Firehouse/Optimus survey shows that Trump may face significant push-back if he fires Mueller or curbs his investigation by appointing a loyalist to replace Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Mueller's boss. Mike Pence on May 10 got the ball rolling, telling NBC's Andrea Mitchell that Mueller should wrap up his investigation for the good of the country. The Vice President's demand though is pretty self-serving, considering Mueller could call him to be a witness in the Trump probe. Pence could also become a target of Mueller. The Firehouse/Optimus survey also asked voters if they believe the President tells the truth. A solid 46.9 percent believe Trump "lies intentionally to mislead people on a regular basis." Nearly three-in-ten (28.7 percent) believe Trump "exaggerates the truth with good intent," while 24.4 percent say "he does not lie." Nearly three-quarters (73.7 percent) of Democrats say Trump lies intentionally and 23.8 percent of Republicans believe so. Independents lean toward Trump lying by a 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent margin. That's trouble for Trump and the GOP. Voters are as conflicted with Nancy Pelosi as they are with president. If the Democrats take control of the House, only 18.4 percent of voters would like to see Pelosi became Speaker again. A whopping 54.8 percent say "no way." Barely more than a quarter 26.6 percent of Democrats would back Pelosi for Speaker, while 35.4 percent want somebody else and 38 percent are not sure. France's economy minister Bruno Le Maire urged European nations Friday to defend themselves against US sanctions targeting foreign companies that trade with Iran, as the rift between Washington and its allies deepens. Le Maire said the European Union had to defend its "economic sovereignty" when it comes to the right to trade with Iran. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has meanwhile branded the sanctions "unacceptable", in some of the most forceful criticism yet from a key European ally. US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was pulling out of the landmark 2015 deal curbing Iran's nuclear programme, reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic and those who trade with it. The decision overturned years of painstaking diplomacy and left EU allies scrambling to save the hard-fought deal, as well as to protect the interests of their companies which do business with Iran. "We have to work among ourselves in Europe to defend our economic sovereignty," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio ahead of talks with Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra. Le Maire said the EU would hold "collective discussions with the United States to obtain... different rules" covering European companies that do business with Iran. "At the end of May I will meet with the British and German finance ministers and the three of us will look at what we can do." Le Maire said he had called US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Wednesday urging him to allow exceptions for French companies or a delay in implementing the sanctions, while admitting he has "few illusions" about the likely response. Washington has given European firms doing business in Iran up to six months to wind up investments or risk US sanctions, and they are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with the country. Le Maire pointed to the possibility of reinstating of EU "blocking regulations", dating back to 1996, which were used as a countermeasure against US sanctions that targeted third countries doing business with Cuba. The system, which was never actually used, permitted European companies to ignore the US sanctions and said that any decisions by foreign courts based on the sanctions would not be upheld in Europe. "We want to reinforce this regulation and incorporate the recent decisions taken by the United States," Le Maire said. "The second avenue is looking at Europe's financial independence -- what can we do to give Europe more financial tools allowing it to be independent from the United States?" Le Maire further noted that the US Treasury has an agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which tracks whether or not foreign companies are respecting its sanctions. "Why don't we create the same type of agency in Europe, capable of following the activities of foreign companies and checking if they are respecting European decisions?" he said. Le Drian had on Thursday insisted Washington needed to negotiate with its European allies on any sanctions that might affect their companies. "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures is unacceptable," he told Le Parisien newspaper, vowing that European countries would "do everything to protect the interests of their companies". "The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed." Search Keywords: Short link: Israeli troops shot and wounded a Palestinian protester in Gaza, Palestinian medical workers said, as demonstrators arrived for the last Friday of a six-week protest at the Gaza-Israel border. Organisers of the protest, called the "Great March of Return," said they expected tens of thousands of Gazans at border encampments in the coming days. Israeli troops have killed 43 Palestinians during the protest, which ends on May 15, the day Palestinians call the "Nakba" or "catastrophe", marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the conflict surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948. Search Keywords: Short link: At least one person was wounded after a shooting at a school near Los Angeles on Friday, local media reported. The shooting was reported at Highland High School in the town of Palmdale, 40 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles said. It said authorities had said at least one person was hurt in the incident. Los Angeles police told CNN that they had responded to reports of a man with a gun on the campus. Nearby school were also put on lockdown, the news channel said. Search Keywords: Short link: (Story updated 3:25 pm) The landlord and key financial backer of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum one of Oregon's biggest tourist attractions -- was accused of securities fraud this week by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Federal regulators claim Utah-based entrepreneur Steve Down and his company, The Falls Event Center LLC, repeatedly misled investors and misrepresented the financial condition of the company. The Falls Event Center runs several large event venues and acquired the museum property in McMinnville in a bankruptcy sale. Down, who has raised about $120 million from 300 investors since 2011, "vehemently denies" committing securities fraud, said John Neubauer, the corporate general manager of Down's organization. The lawsuit filed Thursday raises enormous questions for the museum, home of the famed Spruce Goose. When Down's company bought the museum property in 2016, it agreed to pay the museum $70,000 a month. It's unclear now whether the company will be able to continue those payments. The SEC lawsuit cites several examples of what it claims to be Down's false statements to investors. For example, in an October 2015 letter to investors Down said, "[w]e currently have five event centers operating; each one operating profitably." The five would have been St. George, Elk Grove (two buildings) and Fresno (two buildings). "In fact, the company's own Quickbooks accounting records show that St. George lost $104,757; Elk Grove lost $657,261; and Fresno lost $102,682," the SEC claimed. Evergreen timeline December 2013 : Evergreen International Airlines files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on New Years Eve. The airline had helped fund the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. November 2014 : Delford Smith, founder of Evergreen and the associated museum and waterpark, dies at age 84. 2015 : Maine developer George Schott buys aviation museum property for $22 million with support from an aviation nonprofit called The Collings Foundation. February 2016 : Michael King Smith Foundation, owner of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, files for bankruptcy. The filing averts a foreclosure auction. August 2016 : Utah investment group The Falls Event Center buys the space museum, the Wings & Waves Waterpark and other nearby property. Businessman Steve Down controls Falls Event Center and led the deal. August 2017 : Aviation buffs learn The Falls Event Center quietly sold two of its vintage airplanes. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports federal securities regulators are investigating Steve Down and his companies, including The Falls Event Center. September 2017 : Down files $25 million lawsuit against two Oregon men, accusing them of trying to sabotage his business. April 2018 : Evergreen museum sues The Falls Event Center which runs the waterpark alleging it hasnt made agreed-upon monthly payments. May 2018: The SEC accuses Down of securities fraud. The complaint came prepackaged, with a settlement agreement in which Down agreed to a $150,000 fine. But on Friday, furious officials in the Down organization said they intended to back out of the agreement. The allegations in the complaint are false and the Down organization "looks forward to defending each and every allegation before a judge," the company said. In a press release, the Falls Event Center included a passage from a letter its law firm sent to the SEC: "The complaint is literally a "death knell" for the events center and Steve Down's efforts to raise money for his businesses, which we assume you know," the letter said. Later in the same press release, Down vowed the Falls Event Center will continue to conduct business as usual. " This is in no way a "death knell" to our company despite the recklessness and false allegations by the SEC," Down said. The new lawsuit marks the second time Down has crossed swords with the SEC. In 1996, the commission sued Down and Investor Dynamics Corp. claiming they made fraudulent representations to investors while pitching a multi-level marketing scheme. Down arrived in McMinnville calling himself a "cause capitalist," someone as interested in the social good as making money. For instance, he co-owned a sandwich restaurant chain that promised to feed a homeless person for every sandwich it sold. But some museum officials began to have misgivings about Down last summer when he sold two airplanes out of the museum to get his organization through a cash-flow crunch. Down sold two rare World War II fighters -- a Corsair and a P-51 Mustang -- at a bargain basement price. As The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported last July, the SEC had launched an investigation of Down's organization in late 2016. Down confirmed at the time that the securities regulators were investigating some of his companies. But he said he and his staff had followed the law and that federal investigators were preparing to shut down the inquiry. Paul Gelinas, chair of the museum board, said he learned of the SEC lawsuit against Down after The Oregonian/OregonLive posted its story on Friday. Withe the retired Marine at the helm, the museum last month sued The Falls Event Center claiming the Down company was behind on its monthly payments by $59,000. "We're not just going to tread water any more," Gelinas said. "We're going to go after this guy." -- Jeff Manning Portland Public Schools fielded report after report that educator Mitch Whitehurst engaged in sexual misconduct with students, starting the very first year of his 32-year career, a damning investigation released Thursday says. District officials' failure to stop him and the district's lack of improvement in training and protocols to this day indicates an urgent need for Oregon's largest school district to overhaul how it handles sexual misconduct, the report says. In fall 2017, the Portland school board hired a team of investigators, hand-picked for their expertise, to examine how district employees treated Whitehurst. The board did so in response to an August 2017 Oregonian/OregonLive investigation, "Benefit of the Doubt: How Portland Public Schools helped an educator evade allegations of sexual misconduct." The investigative team interviewed more than 100 people and had access to thousands more records than The Oregonian did. It found evidence school administrators and school police knew Whitehurst was a problem from almost the very beginning. Yet he went on to work at more than a half dozen schools. Investigators also found additional student victims not previously known to the public, called out specific officials by name for their inadequate actions, and determined that the district and law enforcement should have stopped Whitehurst's abuse earlier. District practices and priorities to this day lead to chronic underreporting of sexual misconduct, investigators found. Children suffer from a school district culture where employees look for reasons not to act and stick to the bare minimum of what they feel is required of them, investigators found. "The buck stopped with no one," one of the investigators, lawyer Bob Weaver, told the school board when unveiling the report during a special school board meeting Thursday. Weaver is a former federal prosecutor and well-known defense attorney. Joy Ellis, another lawyer, and former top Multnomah County prosecutor Norm Frink conducted the investigation. School board members and new Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero showed palpable outrage and sorrow as they listened and responded to the 320-page report. The stakes, school board member Rita Moore said, "don't get any higher than this. We owe these students, and their families, not only an apology for our past failures but also an unshakeable commitment to action." The case, she said, "may be the quintessential example of how persistent dysfunction in (Portland Public Schools) has impacted children." The report details more than a dozen recommendations to prevent future abuse of students and takes sharp aim at the district's current training, which it notes may even give the impression that sexual misconduct is not a serious issue. Those include having an arms-length specialist investigate allegations of sexual misconduct; ensuring that all reports of sexual misconduct be sent to and kept in a single centralized place; and providing better training to employees and to students on what conduct crosses the line and what to do if they see or experience it. The board and superintendent were united in calls for change. Last fall, the newly elected school board pledged "to give (investigators) the time and support to get to the bottom of this and they have," board chair Julia Brim-Edwards told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "They have given us a roadmap of very clear recommendations." The report shows a pervasive and preventable pattern by Whitehurst. In his very first year at Portland Public Schools, 1982-83, Whitehurst breached boundaries with students so noticeably that a vice principal reported his conduct to school police. The next year, a mother at the second Portland high school where he worked complained Whitehurst had engaged in sexual activity with students, and the vice principal there also reported his conduct to school police. In the late 1990s, school police were again called to investigate a student complaint about him, this time at Marshall High. By the time Marshall student Rose Soto told police and a vice principal in 2001 that Whitehurst said he wanted to unzip her pants and take her to a hotel, it was the fourth time the district heard a credible complaint that he violated student boundaries -- and did nothing. "Whitehurst succeeded in denying his conduct and administrators repeatedly treated his inappropriate conduct as a one-time lapse in judgment," the report says. Whitehurst refused to speak to the investigators. He would not agree to be interviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Soto spoke at length to The Oregonian/OregonLive for the August 2017 story. Her complaint was previously thought to be the first time the district was notified about Whitehurst. "I must not have mattered enough. I sure as hell didn't feel protected by anybody," she said. "When you're brave enough to have a voice and you're just blown off and told 'That's just not what it was,' it leaves you with a big sense of self-doubt." The Oregonian/OregonLive story revealed Whitehurst told school district lawyer Maureen Sloane, who investigated Soto's 2001 report, that he had asked Soto for hotel recommendations. Sloane wrote that she found Whitehurst's denial of misconduct credible. Sloane, who served as the district's top human resources lawyer from 2000 to 2009, was highlighted in Thursday's report as the only person investigators talked to who took responsibility and expressed remorse. Investigators paraphrased her as saying, "This was my fault and I take responsibility for it." In 2008, Sloane again dropped the ball on a complaint that Whitehurst demanded oral sex from a student and had sex with another. That complaint, when finally taken seriously years later by another agency, led Oregon's teacher licensing agency to revoke Whitehurst's license. Investigators also fault the district's top lawyer of many years, Jollee Patterson, for key lapses that let Whitehurst slide. Unlike many others, she knew of multiple credible reports of sexual misconduct yet failed to act or ensure others did. "It is regrettable that the district's general counsel was satisfied with the follow-up she received," they wrote. Patterson left the district in 2016. Thursday's report noted that time and again employees focused on reasons they could not act to stop Whitehurst instead of seeking ways to act. Investigators found district employees were quick to point fingers at others and explain that they didn't feel it was their job to act. "They did what they were supposed to do but not one thing more," said Moore through tears. School board member Julie Esparza Brown, like others, credited the girls and young women who did report misconduct. "Child and sexual abuse are often silent crimes, we know that, but that was not the case here. Many courageous young woman came forward and reported this abuse but tragically no one took them seriously enough," Esparza Brown said. "A thorough investigation such as the one received today should not come after decades of reporting and rumors and allegations. I know this is too little too late and we will do better." Commissioning the investigation was one of the first acts of a new school board that took office last July and has since hired Guerrero to bring promised change. The previous board directed staff to find lessons learned from the Whitehurst debacle, but never followed through to make sure that happened. Guerrero said of the report, "I am frankly appalled, I am deeply disturbed and upset by the findings." He said it demonstrates "without argument" failures at every level of the organization caused children to be harmed. Several board members echoed that sentiment. Board member Paul Anthony said that while the report over and over blames "the system" what must be kept in mind is systems are not accidents, but created by superintendents, school boards and senior leadership. Employees were hampered by a district practice that prevents a clear picture of a problem educator, investigators found. The teachers union contract mandates frequent purging of files and this helped abuse persist, the report says. That problem was compounded by the wholesale loss in 2001 of all school police reports from earlier years, including the 1983 and 1984 police reports about Whitehurst. Portland Association of Teachers President Suzanne Cohen and other union officials refused to speak to the investigative team. Cohen has also told The Oregonian/OregonLive she will never grant an interview about this topic. The investigators found principals and other administrators generally avoided disciplining teachers and other union members in the absence of clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing because of concerns the teacher's union would make it too drawn out and difficult. That reluctance was particularly acute when it came to alleged sexual misconduct, they found. The standard, they wrote, became to avoid documentation and other key practices that experts deem essential best practices to protect children from abuse. Portland Public Schools never punished Whitehurst for his conduct with students. Whitehurst only resigned under pressure in 2015 after a male district employee complained Whitehurst had offensively touched him. Whitehurst was charged with harassment and pleaded guilty. His criminal behavior with an adult male was then reported to the teacher licensing agency, which stumbled upon the allegations of sexual misconduct with students in the 1980s and revoked his license on those grounds. Even the way Whitehurst left the district was problematic and could have led to more children being harmed, investigators found. Whitehurst struck a deal, not uncommon in the district, that restricted what the district could tell other employers. Before the teacher licensing agency revoked his license, Whitehurst planned to teach elsewhere. The practice of agreeing to keep quiet about former employees' questionable conduct, investigators found, enabled at least one other teacher, Norm Scott, to go on to another job and harm students. The former Grant High teacher was convicted in October of sexually touching six Oregon City middle schoolers in a single day while substitute teaching. Currently, the law requires districts to communicate substantiated sexual misconduct. That's a high bar and if a teacher is allowed to quit before an investigation is finished, that allows conduct to go "unsubstantiated," investigators wrote. In their report, investigators detail silos in record-keeping and decision-making that prevented many employees who knew of one instance of Whitehurst misbehaving from seeing the pattern. Those in a position to see the pattern didn't act on it. "The district failed to keep schools safe, while Mr. Whitehurst was repeatedly given the benefit of the doubt," the report says. "Apparently no upper level leadership has been accountable for system failures or the lack of adequate systems." Read the full report HERE. Bethany Barnes Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.com The district's outside investigators still have open tip lines where victims can reach them confidentially: The number is 503-972-1580. The phone line does not track caller ID, so callers will be anonymous if they choose not to leave their contact information. The line goes straight to voicemail. Investigators can also be reached by email: Email: WhitehurstInvestigation@stoel.com The government's recent decision to mandate an increase in local components' requirement for car manufacturing in Egypt aims at enhancing the countrys automobile industry Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil issued a decree on 30 April increasing the local-component requirement for local car manufacturing to 46 per cent. It also increased assembly-line contributions to local manufacturing to 28 per cent from 17 per cent, reducing it by one per cent each year. The decision gives companies a year to comply with the new criteria and adjust their operations accordingly. Kabil said the decision aimed to streamline the car-manufacturing industry in Egypt according to fair and transparent criteria, adding that the previous target for local components had not reflected reality and had not helped achieve the ministrys objective of establishing a car industry based on manufacturing and not just assembly in the country. The minister added that the decision was part of a national strategy for car manufacturing being prepared in cooperation with various bodies. The strategy includes incentives and guarantees to attract investment to the industry. The decision also includes the formation of a committee tasked with keeping track of the implementation of local content changes and measuring the percentage of local components in each car model. The committee will be headed by the assistant to the trade minister on industrial matters and will include the head of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), among others. The new decision is a very good one that sets proper criteria for measuring local components in car manufacturing, Hamdi Abdel-Aziz, former head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries Engineering Industries Chamber, said. He said the decision gave an opportunity to manufacturers to boost local components and thus added value. Under the new decision, local components are hiked to 46 per cent, of which 28 per cent will be contributed on the production line and reduced by one per cent every year. Abdel-Aziz said that raising the production line contribution from 17 per cent to 28 per cent was necessary to give the market a greater chance to adapt. Raising the local-component requirement would help stimulate investment, he said. We can consider this as part of a transitional period to get us to what we want to achieve, Abdel-Aziz told Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that the transitional period would smooth out any teething problems, giving the market time to adapt. The decision had been discussed in advance with car manufacturers, he said. The committee formed by the decision would also help to identify and resolve any problems, he added, including by drawing up facilitation arrangements with manufacturers. Board member of the Egyptian Businessmens Association Magdeddin Al-Manzalawi said the new decision would increase the added value of Egypts car industry. He said it aimed at boosting the car-manufacturing industry in the country, which, started 50 years ago, without notable development. He added that current local feeding industries would not be able to cover the 46 per cent requirement for local components, and new industries should be set up to help to meet it. Al-Manzalawi said the decision could also help to encourage exports. Companies will now think about manufacturing components in Egypt in order to meet the requirement, but supplying the local market alone is not likely to cover the cost of production, so they will seek to export as well, he told the Weekly. The decision comes amid talk of an anticipated automobile directive that has yet to be discussed in parliament. The directive, which aims to encourage local assemblers to move further up the value chain into manufacturing in return for incentives that would not be enjoyed by cheaper imports from the EU, Morocco and Turkey, has been stalled for months, with no clear timeline on when it is likely to be presented to parliament. Starting on 1 January 2019, customs duties on European Union-assembled cars will fall to zero, making fully-assembled imports more cost competitive than those assembled in Egypt. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: More local car components Search Keywords: Short link: This week many cartoonists take a look at America's withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal. Other topics include the erupting volcano in Hawaii, Jeff Sessions' statement on family immigration, President Trump's mean tweets and rising fuel prices. How odd that Gov. Kate Brown would be convening legislators for a special session to expand a controversial tax break benefiting businesses. She is, after all, the same governor who has railed about Oregon's businesses not paying their "fair share" of taxes. She has bemoaned cuts to government services as revenue hasn't kept up with spending. But suddenly, Brown is so distressed that some businesses haven't been eligible for a three-year-old tax break that she is calling an emergency session for lawmakers to write them in? "Odd" doesn't begin to describe the weirdness of her position. "Opportunistic," however, does. In this election year, Brown is looking to make amends with small businesses after she signed a bill to disconnect Oregon's tax code from a new federal tax deduction benefiting "pass-through" businesses whose owners report business income on their personal tax returns. The disconnect means those businesses could not claim that deduction in calculating their state taxes as they normally would. But this is more than a political stunt. Brown's proposal to allow sole proprietorships to claim millions in tax breaks is a reckless step in the wrong direction for a state that has no plan for how it will absorb Medicaid costs and pension contributions that are set to escalate in 2019. Instead, her proposal would create a new giveaway that largely benefits wealthier sole proprietorships without any clear payoff for the public. It also helps cement the existence of a controversial tax break that legislators have rightly been looking to undo. And it only ramps up the difficulty in overhauling Oregon's tax system into one that is fairer, less volatile and delivers the revenue that this state needs. As awkward as it might be, Brown should recognize the harm of expanding this tax break, cancel the special session and win voters over by showing leadership on matters of true urgency. Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher. To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor. If you have questions about the opinion section, email Laura Gunderson, editorial pages editor, or call 503-221-8378. Cancelling now could save her embarrassment down the road. Senate President Peter Courtney, who questioned the need for a special session, told The Oregonian/OregonLive's Hillary Borrud that it's unclear whether Brown has the votes to pass her proposal. That's not entirely surprising considering House Democrats last year sought to dramatically narrow the tax break, which was passed in 2013 as part of the "Grand Bargain" of tax and pension changes choreographed by former Gov. John Kitzhaber. Most of the pension reforms were invalidated by the Oregon Supreme Court. But the tax break, which lets pass-through business owners pay lower marginal tax rates on their income up to $5 million, survived, benefiting law firms, doctors' offices and many high-income earners that employed at least one non-family member. Sole proprietorships were excluded from the break, the "inequity" that Brown is now seeking to rectify years after the fact. Chris Pair, Brown's spokesman, said the governor has no intention of canceling the special session and is unwilling to put it off any longer. "Waiting until 2019 to make this change will only cost the businesses themselves," Brown's office said in a prepared statement about the proposed legislation. That's not a reason to convene lawmakers out of session; in fact, that's an argument for waiting. Because changing it now will cost Oregonians about $11 million a year, according to the Legislative Revenue Office. While that's a small sum compared to the budget as a whole, it's a significant amount for the agencies and programs that have had to cut services due to insufficient appropriations in this current budget cycle. Pair also said that there's broad agreement among legislators that "it is only fair for small businesses to receive the same tax treatment as large businesses in this state." Funny that that didn't concern Brown or many legislators last year when they passed a new Medicaid tax that hit small businesses - but not large companies like Nike and Intel. And, to be clear, while Brown likes to say that her proposal helps Oregon's "mom and pop" businesses, many won't be able to take advantage of it. Brown is creating her own "inequity" among sole proprietorships by barring from eligibility any that do not employ at least one non-family member for at least 30 hours a week. Including them would cost Oregon even more in foregone revenue, digging the state's financial hole even deeper. It's not surprising that Brown would be trying to shore up support in the business community. She's alienated many with her reluctance to address skyrocketing spending, her support for expensive mandates on employers and the selectively-applied Medicaid tax. But while Brown is expected to easily win the Democratic primary, she could face a far tougher race in November if Bend legislator Knute Buehler wins the Republican primary next week. Brown could try burnishing her credentials by countering Buehler's thoughtful proposals for addressing Oregon's fiscal problems with some of her own. Unfortunately, her call for a special session to "fix" a non-urgent matter of debatable "inequity" reveals a governor of gimmicks, not gumption. - The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Lawyers for an FBI agent accused of falsely denying he fired gunshots at Oregon occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum say they've discovered "elemental math mistakes'' that throw into question the government's bullet trajectory identifying the agent as the only possible shooter. The defense lawyers asked Friday to delay a hearing later this month so they can get a statistician to help them flesh out their challenge. Prosecutors objected, saying the defense can attack their case at trial. FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice. The government alleges that Astarita fired at Finicum, one of the leaders of the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, as he emerged from his pickup at a roadblock. One bullet went through the truck's roof and the other went astray, investigators said. Astarita's lawyers said they uncovered "potentially very important statistical errors'' in one of the government expert's analyses, which determined the area where someone had to be standing to fire the bullet that hit the roof of Finicum's truck, using a margin of error of plus or minus 5 degrees. The defense contends the expert's margin of error was calculated based on mathematical errors. The government hired Michael Haag, a senior forensic scientist with the Albuquerque, New Mexico, police department, to do a trajectory analysis. He determined the firing spot by figuring out the angle of the bullet as it hit the roof and drawing a line and then extending a cone around the line using a margin of error of plus or minus 5 degrees for the bullet's path. "If that assumption is wrong, that's potentially a game changer because if that cone opens up, Special Agent Astarita would not be the only agent within that cone,'' defense lawyer David Angeli said. "If those cones are really wrong because of elemental math mistakes, I think all of us want to know that, including the government.'' Angeli told the court that a statistics professor at Northwestern University has indicated a 2008 study Haag used in the analysis that examines margin of error has flawed calculations. The study is described in an article published that year. He said the defense team needs more time to have the professor study the matter further. "That cone is the case, really,'' Angeli said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman argued that the defense wants to hire a statistician to attack the underpinning of a 10-year-old study. "Everything doesn't hinge on that article,'' he said, arguing that the margin of error has been an industry standard. Sussman also argued that Haag's bullet trajectory came within 3 degrees of a separate bullet trajectory analysis done by an Oregon state police forensic scientist. It should be up to a jury, he said, to decide which scientific methods are more credible at a trial that all sides agree will likely come down to a "classic battle of the experts.'' And in any case, Sussman said, the government's case rests on much more than the bullet cone trajectory, though it's an important piece. Based on video and audio analyses, Astarita is "the only one standing stationary, rifle shouldered, pointing directly'' at Finicum's truck when the shots are fired, Sussman said. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones said the defense can have more time to file supplemental reports with the court on the matter but held firm on the May 21 hearing date. Government exhibit describing path of bullet that struck roof of Finicum's truck. Haag's trajectory analysis likely will come under the most scrutiny this month. He used what's called a "rocker point'' method because the bullet that struck the roof of Finicum's truck had only an entry point. That ruled out the usual practice of placing a rod between the entry and exit points. "Rocker point" refers to an area of indentation at the front of where the bullet impact occurs. A rod is placed there and then rolled back and forth and side to side until an examiner finds a position where the end of the rod feels "settled'' into the indentation. With the rod held in that position, angle measurements are recorded and back-tracked to estimate the origin. mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian Update: Detective who found missing baby in woods says search was team effort An Ohio man is accused of leaving his 1-year-old son naked and alone in the woods southeast of Bend Thursday. The boy was found unharmed six hours later. Brandon M. Blouin, 25, of Belpre, Ohio, told police he left his son to go look for the boy's mother. Police suspect Blouin was on drugs when he left his son, Bradley Thomas, in forested land in the area of Sholes Road and Tekampe Road, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. The toddler was taken to a hospital in Bend for an evaluation. Blouin was also taken to a hospital. When he is released he will be booked into the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of first-degree criminal mistreatment, second-degree child neglect, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a minor, the sheriff's office said. The child's 18-year-old mother was found and is not facing any charges, according to the sheriff's office. Someone called 911 a little after 6:15 a.m. after Blouin came out of the woods onto a stranger's property and asked for police to be contacted. Blouin told deputies he'd been staying in an SUV with the toddler and his mother on the forest land and at some point, the mother left the baby with Blouin, the sheriff's office said. When she didn't immediately return, Blouin took the child and went looking for the teen. He later put Bradley down and walked away, the sheriff's office said. Drones, helicopters and riders on horseback were part of the search for the toddler. A Deschutes County detective found Bradley lying in dirt about a mile from where the SUV was parked around 12:10 p.m., the sheriff office said. The boy was wrapped in a sheriff's office jacket to help keep him warm. The sheriff's office asks anyone with items to donate to Bradley to drop them off at its main office in Bend, 63333 Highway 20. They recommend new or lightly used items such as clothes, toys and blankets. They will begin collecting the materials during business hours on Friday. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com 503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey Races that could alter a nearly decade-old coalition on the Washington County Board of Commissioners are shaping up as among the most intriguing of the state's primary season. And, given the county's role as Oregon's economic engine and preeminent jobs creator, the outcome of Tuesday's primary is likely to be felt far beyond Beaverton, Hillsboro and surrounding areas. "What happens in Washington County is really important to the entire state," said Jim Moore, director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University. "If you live in Baker City or Waldport, this election could make a difference in your life." For added measure, the ballot also includes one of the highest-spending races for district attorney in recent memory. Four candidates are vying to succeed Commissioner Andy Duyck, who after eight years as board chair and 24 total years as a commissioner, announced last April that he would not seek re-election. Since Duyck's election as chair in 2010, he has been part of a 3-2 coalition that has tilted consistently toward pro-business positions. Depending either on Tuesday's outcome, or a November runoff between the top two vote-getters if no one wins an outright majority, that could all change. Candidates for the nonpartisan, at-large seat are Ryan Deckert, a former state legislator and former executive director of the Oregon Business Association; Kathryn Harrington, who after three terms as a Metro councilor is barred from running again; Bob Terry, a two-term Washington County commissioner who represents the county's rural western portions; and Shabba Woodley, a Beaverton resident who has not previously held office. Moore gives the early nod to Deckert, mainly because of his fund-raising prowess he has raised tens of thousands more than his opponents and his relatively high public profile. "Still, a runoff is highly likely," Moore said. "But who will it be? Deckert against Harrington? Deckert against Terry? Everyone is guessing." Incumbents Dick Schouten and Roy Rogers are not up for re-election. In the race for the commission's District 2 position, two-term incumbent Greg Malinowski is receiving stiff competition from Pam Treece, executive director of the Westside Economic Alliance. Treece has far out-raised Malinowski, while picking up key endorsements from both business groups and more liberal-leaning interests, such as pro-choice organizations and former Oregon Democratic Gov. Barbara Roberts. "It's not all that often that incumbent commissioners are defeated, but Treece could win that race," Moore said. "But I still see it as a toss-up." In the final board race, former Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey is running against Kimberly Culbertson, an online sales consultant. The winner will snag the largely rural District 4 seat Terry is vacating to run for board chair. The bulk of Willey's endorsements have come from real estate groups and local chambers of commerce. Culbertson has garnered the support of unions, teachers and a number of Democratic politicians. In the district attorney's race, Kevin Barton is squaring off against Max Wall to succeed longtime DA Bob Hermann, who's retiring. Barton is the chief deputy in Hermann's office, while Wall is a former prosecutor now working as a defense attorney. Phil Knight, Nike's co-founder, has given Barton donations totaling $100,000, according to Oregon Secretary of State financial disclosures. Barton also received $95,000 from a political action committee funded by Henry Swigert, whose family started ESCO Corp., a Portland industrial foundry. Wall, meanwhile, has reported receiving nearly $400,000 from a Washington D.C.-based PAC linked with New York investor George Soros. "When DAs retire, they usually designate an heir apparent and that's it," Moore said. "We'll see how this all plays out, but for Max Wall to step in and say, voters deserve a choice, more power to him." -- Dana Tims, For The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon's tax and economic development agencies are trying to determine a response after the owners of a shuttered Southern Oregon sawmill missed a May 3 deadline to return or reinvest $1 million in taxpayer incentives. Rough & Ready mill reopened in 2014 with the help of more than $12 million in federal and state tax credits and a state grant, but was shut down within 20 months. Business Oregon, the state's economic development agency, signed off on the tax credits despite red flags that the project included ineligible costs and had failed in the past despite taxpayer support, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported in March. The project was overseen by Portland nonprofit Ecotrust, which is now pushing to negotiate a deal with the state. In February, Oregon Department of Revenue Director Nia Ray notified Ecotrust's chief financial officer that the former mill owners, Jennifer and Link Phillippi must either return $1 million to the state or reinvest $2.9 million of the remaining tax credit proceeds in a qualified project. Ray concluded that Ecotrust and the Phillippis, "improperly inflated" the state tax credit by including a $4 million expense to purchase the Rough & Ready mill in their tax credit application. This was unnecessary because the Phillippis already owned the mill, according the state. "Business Oregon has not received an investment proposal that satisfies the state" by the deadline, agency spokesman Nathan Buehler wrote in an email. Ecotrust and the Phillippis have "raised counterpoints to some of the positions laid out" in Ray's letter, and the two state agencies and their lawyers are reviewing them now, he wrote. "We do not have a specific timeline," Buehler wrote. Carolyn Holland, Ecotrust's vice president for communications, would not say what counterpoints the group has about the state's plan to claw back part of the tax credit. "We're in continuing conversations with the state on this," Holland said. Jennifer Phillippi said she didn't know what was being discussed. "I actually don't have an update on where things stand," Phillippi said Thursday. "I really can't help you." The advocacy group Tax Fairness Oregon and conservation group Oregon Wild have both sent letters to Gov. Kate Brown, urging her to claw back the state new market tax credit. Brown has not taken a public position on the issue. -- Hillary Borrud 503-294-4034; @hborrud Portland is preparing to settle a class action legal dispute with mobility-disabled residents by agreeing to upgrade more than 16,000 sidewalk ramps at a cost of $113 million over the next 12 years. The settlement, if approved Wednesday by the City Council, promises to change how Portland builds and maintains sidewalks changes that are likely to affect wide swaths of the city as sidewalk improvements are made. For example, the city pledged to create 1,500 curb cuts a year, more than double the current rate of about 700 a year. Copies of the settlement proposal and a projection of its financial impact were released Thursday to The Oregonian/OregonLive in response to a public records request. The projected cost of upgrading sidewalks is $113 million, or about $10 million a year. The financial statement notes that the city is short on the settlement liability by $52 million. A spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler said the city has multiple funding sources to draw upon to meet the settlement liability, adding that a financing plan is still under development. Wheeler has set aside $2.5 million in his proposed 2019 budget for upgrades to ramps on 455 corners. The council also approved $10.5 million for curb cuts as part of a bond issuance adopted earlier this year. As part of the settlement, the city will also survey every street corner for compliance, install proper sidewalk cutouts when constructing new roads and walkways and appoint a technical adviser to oversee the work. City officials reached the tentative agreement after three wheelchair or scooter users complained the city wasn't complying with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramps play a central role in the lives of people who rely on mobility devices, advocates say, and their construction is regulated by the ADA. Without proper ramps, people who use wheelchairs can be forced to travel on the sides of crowded roadways, reroute themselves or get stuck trying to traverse grassy or muddy areas. In addition to stepping up its work to make sidewalks accessible to people who use scooters, walkers and wheelchairs, the city agreed to pay each plaintiff a small personal sum plus attorneys' fees. The city is not required to admit wrongdoing, according to the proposed agreement. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Linda Dardarian, said Thursday that the proposed settlement marks a huge achievement for people who rely on wheelchairs and other mobility devices. "It means that people with mobility disabilities will no longer have to ride in the street," said Dardarian, who is based in Oakland, Calif. Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who runs the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the city agency charged with fixing sidewalk ramps, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Many cities struggle with requirements in federal law to build and maintain accessible curb cuts. But Portland is a particularly egregious offender. Of the city's more than 37,000 street corners, less than half have a curb cutout as of 2012, according to a Portland Bureau of Transportation webpage. Implementing the settlement is subject to approval by the city council, the plaintiffs and a federal judge. If approved, priority will be given to improvement of corners at government buildings, schools, parks, transportation centers, hospitals and business areas. -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209 President Trump has nominated Gordon Sondland, a Portland hotel magnate and major donor to the president, to be ambassador to the European Union. The nomination, announced by the White House on Thursday, makes Sondland, 60, the Oregonian who would have the highest-ranking position within the Trump administration if confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Sondland's nomination comes more than a year after he gave $1 million to Trump's inauguration committee. The money was donated by companies Sondland owns but that do not directly bear his name. The hotelier had long been considered for an ambassadorship, as big donors to presidential candidates often are. The Oregonian reported in September 2017 that a State Department investigator had visited Sondland's Portland neighborhood to vet him for a security clearance, a sign he was in line for a diplomatic post. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Sondland was being considered for the E.U. job, a pivotal ambassadorship given ever-rising tensions between the U.S. and Europe. It's unclear what experience Sondland has with European political affairs, if any. However, Sondland is the son of German immigrants who escaped Nazi persecution and speaks German, has traveled extensively in Europe and orchestrated international business deals, according to his spokesman. Sondland declined to comment Friday. Oregon's U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, were not available for comment. Sondland's business partner, Bashar Wali, said in a statement that Sondland "is a self-made American success story" and said his business acumen will serve him well at the European Union. Sondland, who has residences in Oregon and Washington state, is founder and chief executive of Provenance Hotels, which owns and operates The Heathman Hotel, the Sentinel, The Benson, Hotel deLuxe, Hotel Lucia, and the Dossier. He previously ran a commercial loans bank, Aspen Capital, sat on the U.S. Bancorp advisory board, served as a finance executive within the Republican National Committee, and advised Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski's transition team. Sondland is married to Katy Durant, the former head of the board that controls investments of Oregon's public pension fund. Trump and Sondland have had a complicated relationship. Sondland originally backed Jeb Bush for the GOP nomination, and held a fundraiser for the former Florida governor at his West Hills home and sat on his Jewish leadership advisory team. Later, after Bush sank in the polls, Sondland was listed as host of a Seattle fundraiser for Trump. Sondland and Wali, his business partner, backed away from supporting the TV star turned candidate after he began a feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed in action, saying through a spokeswoman at the time that they cannot "support this candidacy." Sondland has been active in Portland's business and hospitality market for at least 30 years, when he bought the historic Benson Hotel in 1988. Sondland later fought efforts to build a hotel at the Oregon Convention Center. The tussle spanned a decade and three lawsuits until Metro, the regional government, cut a deal with Sondland where he dropped his lawsuits in exchange for being given a high-value parking lot near the convention hall with rights to build anything he wants on it, including a competing hotel. Trump has sought to elevate other Oregonians into high-ranking administration jobs. The president made George Glass, a Lake Oswego businessman, ambassador to Portugal, and installed former state Rep. John Huffman as a U.S. Department of Agriculture manager. Portland native Kate O'Scannlain was tapped for the top attorney job at the U.S. Department of Labor and her brother, Kevin O'Scannlain, works as a special assistant to the president and in the Office of White House Counsel. Both are children of Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Not all Trump's nominees with Portland ties have sailed through confirmation. Trump picked Portland native Eric Ueland to be the third-ranking official at the State Department, but Ueland's nomination has stalled due to senators' "serious doubts" about his abilities, according to Merkley's office. -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209 WASHINGTON - The Boy Scouts of America, which acknowledged last year that it has taken a financial hit from settlements in child abuse cases, has lobbied against proposals in multiple states that would expose the organization to more lawsuits, according to victim advocates and proponents of the legislation. The group retained lobbyists in Georgia and New York, where lawmakers say such action helped stall proposals that included "lookback" windows allowing adults to take legal action over decades-old claims. It has hired lobbyists in Michigan, where similar proposals are being debated. The bills would give adults who were abused as children a second chance to file suit if they missed their first opportunity under state law. Some experts said the number of lawsuits rose after 2010, when an Oregon jury ordered the Boy Scouts to pay $18.5 million in damages to a former scout who claimed he was abused during the 1980s. Two years later, the Oregon Supreme Court approved the release of more than 14,500 pages of Boy Scouts records that exposed alleged abuse dating back to 1965. The Boy Scouts' lobbying push comes as the 108-year-old group, an institution long associated with leadership training and outdoorsmanship for American boys, sees pressure on multiple fronts. In addition to declining membership, the group has faced financial uncertainty and public relations problems related to accusations of child sex abuse against former adult volunteers. Those accusations have led to dozens of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts in recent years, some of which have resulted in expensive settlements. The group's exposure to lawsuits over sex abuse has drawn comparisons with the Catholic Church. Opponents of the state proposals, including the Boy Scouts and Catholic archdioceses, argue that open-ended "lookback" periods violate due process and would put groups in the tough position of defending themselves in cases from the distant past. "It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to defend cases decades old in which evidence has been lost, or witnesses are unavailable," Effie Delimarkos, director of national communications for the Boy Scouts, wrote in an email. Oregon law State law in Oregon allows alleged victims of child sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits up until age 40 or within five years of when they realize the damaging effect the abuse has had on their lives even if the acts are outside the criminal statute of limitations. Proponents called the bills crucial for holding groups such as the Boy Scouts accountable for past abuse. "It's reprehensible that the Boy Scouts of America has hired lobbyists to kill legislation that would help the adult survivors of child sexual abuse," New York bill sponsor Brad Hoylman, a Democratic state senator, said in an interview. The Boy Scouts, like the Catholic church, has faced a steady stream of lawsuits alleging it knew about child abuse perpetrated by its adult leaders. With 2.3 million youth members and more than 900,000 adult volunteers, the organization has been a defendant in at least 200 federal lawsuits since 2008, many alleging abuse of young members. Some suits are still playing out in court. The Boy Scouts' lobbying efforts in the states have taken place against the backdrop of the group's simmering financial woes. The Boy Scouts hiked annual membership fees from $24 to $33 late last year in what some regional councils said was an effort to bolster the insurance fund used to pay victim settlements. In his financial report for 2016, Boy Scouts Treasurer and Vice President for Finance Joseph P. Landy stated that the group's financial condition in the coming years will depend "in large part" on the outcome of victims' legal claims. Additionally, the group is trying to reverse its decline in membership - in part by admitting girls for the first time. The group announced last week that it will drop "Boy" from its title and go by the name Scouts BSA starting in 2019. Delimarkos stressed that the group has taken critical steps to protect children, including screening adult leaders, requiring them to undergo training and mandating that they report signs or suspicions of abuse. Additionally, she said, the group provides counseling and other resources to former scouts who say they were molested. "If someone was abused and we had prior knowledge of the perpetrator we try to find a way to help the victim heal by whatever means is appropriate," Delimarkos wrote in an email. The Boy Scouts has kept its lobbying efforts low-profile. The group has strong political ties nationwide through former Scouts who have been elected to public office. More than a quarter of members of Congress have a connection to the group, a blog sponsored by the Boy Scouts reported last year. "They typically don't operate out front because they don't really want the headline," said Marci Hamilton, a law professor and president of the advocacy group CHILD USA who has been critical of the Scouts. "They tend to be in the background, targeting members of the state legislatures who might have some relationships to [the] Boy Scouts." The Boy Scouts declined to answer specific questions about lobbying tactics, including which legislatures it is working to influence and its total advocacy budget for 2017. But Delimarkos said the group opposes some bills proposing "lookback" periods and has engaged lobbyists to "help educate policy makers." "Our priority is protecting kids and continuing to offer [the] nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training," she wrote in an email. Public records shed some light on the group's efforts in Georgia, New York and Michigan. In Georgia, the group has retained lobbyists from Dentons, a major firm, since last year. Its four current representatives include two former state lawmakers, one of whom is ex-House majority whip Edward Lindsey. The total spent is not detailed in lobbying reports. In New York, the BSA spent $137,500 last year on two Dentons lobbyists, including a former state senator. In March, the group hired a prominent Michigan lobbying firm, Public Affairs Associates, for an unknown sum. Delimarkos declined to make the group's lobbyists available for interviews. Those contacted by The Post referred inquiries to the group's leaders or did not respond. The Boy Scouts appears to have approached each legislative debate slightly differently. In Georgia, state Rep. Jason Spencer, R, said BSA lobbyists created a legislative "trap" this spring to block his bill creating a one-year "lookback" window. Even after his measure unanimously passed the House of Representatives and the state Senate approved a weaker version supported by the BSA, Spencer said there was not enough time to reconcile the two proposals before the end of Georgia's legislative session in March. "By the end of the session, we were in the red zone," he said in a phone interview. "The bill got tangled up in the back and forth." Spencer said he confronted Lindsey in a meeting about delaying the process. Lindsey did not respond to an interview request. "They want to protect the quote-unquote honor of the institution," Spencer said of the Boy Scouts. "That's what they're concerned about." In New York, a one-year "lookback" measure known as the Child Victims Act has been debated for years without reaching a vote in the state Senate, advocates said. This year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, D, tried proposing the measure as part of his fiscal 2019 budget, but it was excluded from the final bill. The lower chamber of the state legislature overwhelmingly approved the measure in a separate vote last week, but Senate leaders gave no indication that they planned to bring the bill to the floor. The office of Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, R, did not respond to an inquiry about the likelihood of a vote. Hoylman and other proponents of the Child Victims Act said the Boy Scouts worked hard to keep its influence in the background, though people linked to the Scouts were spotted at events and meetings related to the bill. In Michigan, Delimarkos wrote, the Boy Scouts has supported legislative efforts to narrowly tailor "lookback" periods so they do not have "such an open-ended approach." Delimarkos said the group supports eliminating criminal statutes of limitation for child abuse and extending time limits for civil lawsuits "on a prospective basis." The state legislature is considering multiple bills related to child sex abuse after University of Michigan doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for molesting young gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment. Victim advocates said open-ended "lookback" provisions are necessary because many people who were abused as children do not come forward until their 30s, which in some states comes after their opportunity to sue has expired. Additionally, lawsuits alert today's parents about alleged abusers and the institutions that shelter them, advocates say. "The lookback windows protect children now," said Barbara Dorris, the former executive director of SNAP, an advocacy group for people abused by Catholic priests, who has followed the legislative fights. "Let's name the predators and let the parents be warned." -- The Washington Post A 20-year-old woman is being sought for arrest after authorities say she shot a man in a home near Beaverton and fled Friday. The 56-year-old man shot in the 8600 block of Southwest Muledeer Drive is expected to survive, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Deputies searched the area for the woman after the shooting was reported around 1:50 p.m., but she wasn't found. More information on the shooting hasn't been released by the sheriff's office. Anyone with more information on the case is asked to call the sheriff's office non-emergency dispatch line at 503-629-0111. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com 503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey A new law will soon be ratified to increase transparency and decrease corruption in government transactions Parliament is expected to ratify the new government procurements, sales and contracts law which will regulate the tenders and auctions conducted by government bodies in place of the existing Law 89/1998. The Planning and Budget Committee is currently discussing the bill, which aims at keeping up with international developments concerning government purchases, in addition to making sure that the state receives value for money in public spending. The aims of the law are to put an end to unnecessary spending, regulate public expenses, fight corruption, decrease the pressure on the state budget, simplify procedures, and facilitate executive workflows. It will also help to strengthen transparency, equal opportunity and competition. According to the committee, the new law will facilitate the business communitys access to information regarding government procurements through planning purchases a year ahead, publishing this information on the government procurement portal. It facilitates contract management, especially before announcing a call for tenders and after the selection process. The law prioritises high-quality local products and helps limit the informal economy. It also encourages the development of small- and micro-enterprises and provides employees executing tenders and auctions with training. For the first time special entities and funds financed by the treasury or affiliated to state bodies are subject to the law, which should help to tighten up monitoring of these entities and regulate public expenditure, deputy chairman of the Planning and Budget Committee Yasser Omar said. Omar believes that one merit of the new law is that the selection of the winners of tenders does not depend only on the lowest bids, as is the case in the current law, but will also take into account the bidders track record in business and financial strength. New to the law is Article 3, which allows for two-phase tenders in cases where there is no comprehensive technical description for a project up for tendering. Article 3 of the law also takes into consideration projects for which there is no precedent in tendering, such as Nuclear Energy Authority projects. This article allows for two tenders, one to define specifications and another to define the price, Omar explained. Article 5 of the new law regulates contractual procedures for consulting services to enable government bodies to contract consulting services that are the most creative and technologically advanced. The new law also encourages small businesses, Omar said. Article 7 allows small- and micro-enterprises to take part in local tenders for projects worth up to LE1 million to help them develop and grow. According to Omar, the new law grants the cabinet the right to purchase medicines in case of emergencies, for example. Unlike the current law, the new legislation regulates direct contracting. In order to foster transparency and the decentralisation of decision-making, Article 9 of the new law allows the cabinet to conclude low-budget contracts directly and to draw up contracts for products and services already determined by the state. The article also regulates procedures related to Law 5/2015 that gives priority to local products in government contracts. Article 10 allows an administrative body to call on different sectors to acquire ideas, specifications or indicative prices in order to stay up to date on technical and commercial developments. It allows expressions of interest before tenders are submitted in order to expand the competition platform and invite the largest number of companies in the field. The law also introduces new purchasing mechanisms, Omar said. Central procurement allows the Ministry of Health to issue tenders for medicines and equipment for affiliated hospitals, instead of each hospital running its own tenders. This should help to reduce prices and promote transparency, Omar said. Article 12 of the law gives the cabinet the right to allow government bodies to issue calls for limited, local or direct tenders on the cabinets terms. It may also seal a direct contract with an Egyptian or foreign natural or legal entity if this presents a comprehensive, fully-financed investment project in line with the states economic and development goals. The project needs to be approved after being presented to the minister concerned and after receiving the green light from the Ministry of Finance. Article 14 of the new law obliges administrative bodies to prepare a yearly plan of the operations it needs during the following fiscal year. The plan is to be published on the government procurement portal and is to be committed to when preparing the budget as well as announced to the business community. According to Article 26 of the new law, insurance will drop to 1.5 per cent from two per cent for government projects, in order to encourage companies to take part in tenders. An advantage of the new law, according to Daker Abdel-Illah, a member of the Egyptian Construction Federation, is that it grants the right to file complaints in case of disputes. Currently, the body that issues the tender has leverage, Abdel-Illah explained, but the new law will create more balance, including the right to resort to special courts. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: Easier bidding ahead Search Keywords: Short link: I am writing this article amid speculation about US President Donald Trumps decision on the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, expected on Tuesday. The suspense is overwhelming, with most commentators thinking he will decide to terminate the sanctions waivers included in the agreement. Many European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister Theresa May, have been trying to convince him to change his mind, but it seems that up to now those efforts have been unsuccessful. I am no expert on nuclear proliferation and its technicalities. My knowledge of Iranian issues is also poor. Therefore, I will content myself with the limited goal of telling the reader what I have heard from Western experts and diplomats. I hope this will provide some background to Trumps decision. The prevailing view in Washington in 2011 was that we could not escape a future with a nuclear Iran. From Tehrans point of view, we were told, the case for going nuclear was compelling. Iran had not forgotten that the rest of the world did not react when former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iranian troops in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, it was said. However, the Iranians said at the time that this was not true, and that former Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa, a religious ruling, forbidding the development of nuclear weapons. They said that Irans going nuclear would encourage Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to do the same thing, and that as a result Iran would be less safe than it was before. Western specialists say that this Iranian claim is a lie and that the evidence, including what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed last week, amply proves that Iran did indeed try to acquire the bomb. In any case, the Obama administration in the US at the time tried to prepare for a future with a nuclear Iran, pondering what this meant and what the different options could be. Former French president Jacques Chirac at one point caused uproar by saying that Iran could have the bomb if it so wished. It would not be able to use it, Chirac said, as the retaliation from others would be annihilating. Today, there is a consensus that the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreed under the Iran deal is not ideal and that it is probably not even a good plan. Even its defenders admit as much. However, they also say that there was no better option available and that the JCPOA is the lesser evil to a nuclear-armed Iran. Some European diplomats say that the US negotiators to the deal were in too much of a hurry, as they badly wanted a deal to be made. The Europeans (especially the French) had had to keep an eye on things and to do their utmost to check American haste that was leading to too many concessions. Nevertheless, they add, the outcome was the best we could get at the time. One prominent American commentator told me obliquely in 2014 that the US had faced a dilemma in the negotiations as negotiating with Iran on Middle Eastern issues (such as Iraq, Syria, and maybe also Yemen) would be considered treason by Americas Arab allies. Therefore, it had been decided to separate the issues, with the results that we can all now see. Iran feels it has a free hand to act in the region. I admit the deal was a lesser evil. However, I never bought one point that advocates of the JCPOA often made, namely that the deal would empower Iranian moderates and keep the hawks in check. The relevant variable here is the internal balance of power in Iran, and the hawks seem to have a consistent and structural advantage whatever happens on the international scene. The sanctions waivers agreed to under the nuclear deal provide them with money and resources, and isolation strengthens their worldview and gives ammunition to the paranoid. Trying to foresee the internal consequences of international pressures is a pleasant game, but it is one at which everyone, including myself, is bad. Moreover, the Western foreign policy establishment is sharply divided over Iran. The neo-conservatives in the US hate the country, and they include five different sub-groups. There are the hard-boiled realists who think only raw power matters in international relations, the pro-Israel hardliners and the Islamophobes. Then there are those who keep a close eye on nuclear proliferation, and finally there are those who advocate a strong stance against regimes that systematically violate human rights. These sub-groups disagree on many issues, for instance on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, they all agree on Iran. Of course, the neo-conservatives are not the only ones that do not want to engage with Iran. Many others have not forgotten Tehrans behaviour during the 1980s, and many understand the concerns of the Gulf countries. Secularists tend to hate Irans theocratic regime. However, Iran has its admirers, even its fans. These respect Iranian nationalism, and they are impressed by the quality and skill of Tehrans foreign policy community. Irans diplomats know the region, know the broader geopolitical issues, and are familiar with the rest of the world. They are knowledgeable, are tough negotiators, and are incredibly subtle diplomats. They are patriots and their toughness and strength of will are impressive. They are as competent as the Israelis, such admirers say. In Western circles, heated discussions oppose different factions on what is going on in the Middle East. Many say Iran has already won and that the Sunni countries are too divided and too weak to reverse the tide. Others think Irans current situation is unsustainable. It costs too much in money and lives, and it has a weak internal front behind it that could explode at any time. Iran has opened up too many fronts at one, such thinking says, and its victory in the conflict in Syria could turn out to be a Pyrrhic one. Iran is surrounded by foes like Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US. The future of its relations with Russia is unknown, and the latter could quickly turn from being an ally into being a nightmare. Some commentators usually those who think Iran has won say that the situation is ripe for a grand bargain. They write off the Arab countries, adding that Egypt is occupied with problems with Ethiopia, Libya and in Sinai. Saudi Arabia faces a delicate economic transition and a quagmire in Yemen. However, Israel, they say, has all but killed off the Palestinian dream of a state, and it no longer faces Arab armies. Washington will also not put pressure on it. Iran has secured access to the Mediterranean, and now it needs a long pause to consolidate its gains and to restructure its economy. Turkey could easily be placated with territorial gains. According to such commentators, the sooner these three major players realise that a Middle Eastern grand bargain on the lines of the Yalta Summit meeting at the end of the Second World War, the better things will be. This analysis is brilliant, but it may underestimate the importance of passion and ideology. I do not see how the Iranians and the Israelis can ever trust each other. I do not understand how Turkey will be able to reconcile itself to modest goals. However, of course, I may be wrong. Former US president Barack Obama belonged to those advocating a grand bargain with Iran, though this did not prevent him from exerting strong pressure when needed. He was a cold-blooded realist, and he scorned the conservative Arab monarchies. Trump is clearly an Iran-hater. Finally, I should add that many circles that express concerns over the fate of the Middle Easts Christians, especially in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, say that Iran is a better protector of them than many Sunni Arab countries. The writer is a professor of international relations at the College de France and a visiting professor at Cairo University. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: The West and Iran Search Keywords: Short link: The historic summit meeting that took place between the leaders of the two Koreas in April may pave the way to an end to the seven-decade conflict on the peninsula In recent years, the term historic summit has been overused by the international media to describe what can be less-than-astonishing meetings between heads of state, meaning that the term has become slightly cliched. However, this was not the case of the truly historic summit that took place between North Korean President Kim Jong-un and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on 27 April. One of the great achievements of this summit was ending the state of war between the two countries, halted only by a ceasefire that has lasted since July 1953. The summit thus marked the beginning of what could be a new phase of warmer relations between the two states of the Korean Peninsula. More than at any other time in modern history, the world and not just the two Koreas needs the de-escalation of hostilities that have tainted relations between the two countries and that seemed to be coming to a head over the past two years. The escalation of the hostilities between the two countries could have ended up in a nuclear war that would have involved the US, China, Japan and possibly also Russia along with the two Koreas. Luckily for the planet, sanity seems to have prevailed in this conflict, and the result was the historic meeting between the leaders that could pave the way for further rapprochement and cooperation after decades of tensions. However, these positive winds of change should not deflect us from the fact that the road to a realistic and sustainable peace in the region is still far away because countries that were in a state of war for nearly seven decades can hardly become friends the day they sign a treaty. Moreover, there are still obstacles facing a sustainable peace, including the opposing political systems of the two countries which differ from absolute autocracy in the case of North Korea to democracy in the case of the South. It has yet to be observed how the autocratic regime of North Korea will react and how far it will be willing to provide concessions to open the door to change in this iron-curtain state. However, there have been some positive signs from North Korea, including its vow to shut the nuclear site at Pungge-Ri in May and its adjusting the North Korean time zone to match that of the South. Moreover, US President Donald Trump is due to meet his North Korean counterpart on 22 May, and this will be another historic feat that the world anticipates could pave the way to ending this seven-decade crisis. The North Korean leader remains an obstacle on the way to the reunification of the two Koreas, especially as this would mean conceding his absolute power along with his nuclear programme. Moreover, it is unclear if the North Korean people in general would embrace any form of arrangement that would include concessions to their richer and more advanced Southern counterparts. The North Korean nation has been fed an enormous amount of media propaganda that has labelled South Korea as an agent of imperialism in the region that seeks to destroy it. Poverty, oppression and the lack of freedoms and opportunities in the North may be a factor easing what will be a very hard reunification in the future, but one cannot discount other factors such as nationalism and pride in the minds of the North Koreans frustrating the intentions of their Southern neighbours and allies such as the United States. In modern times, there have been few examples of reunification that have worked, though there was the German case which reunified the Western and Eastern republics of Germany in 1990 after the countrys division after the Second World War. However, the reunification of Germany was not a walk in the park, and it came at a staggering economic cost that managed to bring up the economic and social standards of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to those of its more successful Western counterpart, the Federal Republic of Germany. The economic model of South Korea resembles that of the former West Germany, while the communist state of North Korea, disadvantaged compared to its Southern counterpart, resembles that of the former East Germany. The difference is that the East German secretary of the countrys former Communist Party, Erich Honecker, was forced to step down weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 after losing the support of the former Soviet Union. Something similar does not seem to have been the case for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is still supported by China and his own military commanders and faces no real threat of revolt such as happened in East Germany in 1989. Much praise must be given to US and Chinese behind-the-scenes diplomacy, which has risen above the escalating tensions of the current trade dispute between the two countries in order to place security at the top of the agenda. This paved the way for the peace summit to take place between the two Koreas, which might end the seven-decade conflict once and for all. The lingering concern that a nuclear conflict could erupt at any moment with the possible involvement of the superpowers motivated the two countries to rise above their differences and bring the two Korean sides to the negotiation table. A lot of diplomatic efforts must now be exerted to implement the terms of the agreement between the two Koreas. Despite the unresolved issues between the two Koreas, it is better to have the hope of the reunification of the two states, or even abandon hope of their reunification altogether, in the place of any sort of war, especially the nuclear one that has been looming on the horizon in recent years. As the early modern Dutch theologian and philosopher Desiderius Erasmus once said, the most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war. He was writing at a time when wars were fought with swords and light firearms. How much truer his words sound now that wars can be fought with nuclear weapons. The writer is a political analyst and author of Egypts Arab Spring and the Winding Road to Democracy. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: Averting nuclear war Search Keywords: Short link: Franco Noriega has solidified himself as a sex icon, earning the nickname "Naked Chef" after a generous cooking video went viral in 2016 that led him to TV features with Ellen DeGeneres and Martha Stewart. Since then, he's managed to successfully leverage this reputation, having opened his Peruvian restaurant Baby Brasa in New York City and competed on Univision's Mira Quien Baila. Now, Franco's embarking on a pop music career, which harks back to his performing arts roots. Related | Franco Noriega's Food Porn Producer Frank Santofimio, who's collaborated with everyone from Chino Y Nacho and Daddy Yankee to Leslie Grace and Becky G, is behind Franco's music breakout. The track is called "Me Aceleras," and recruits a wildly stacked lineup for the accompanying video, out today. Photographer Mariano Vivanco, a fellow Peruvian, makes his music video debut, as top model Shanina Shaik acts as Noriega's love interest throughout. Watch the PAPER premiere of our favorite chef's super sexy visual, and learn more about his music, below. You've had such a strong career as a chef. Why this foray into music? I moved to NYC 10 years ago to pursue acting. I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and part of this training involved voice lessons, so I was always exposed to this field. I am an artist food is an art, acting is an art, singing is an art. I have been training my voice for years, but the moment felt right now. What's the story behind your single? How closely involved are you in the creative for your music? I am very involved. I composed the song in conjunction with the musical producer Frank Santofimio, who has produced various hits. We got together one day and by the end of the day we had the single done. It's about the story of my life being the lover in some relationships I've had so I took this as a center piece and built around it. I shot this video in London with Mariano Vivanco. This was his first music video; we met in New York and visualized the video, and talked about using top model Shanina Shaik. It has been a real pleasure working with such a creative mind like Mariano and of course super fun. Scott Hutchison, front man of the Scottish indie-rock band Frightened Rabbit, has been found dead at 36, NPR reports. Frightened Rabbit wrote on their Twitter their concerns about Hutchison after he reportedly disappeared from Edinburgh's Dakota Hotel Tuesday night after posting two tweets that launched a search campaign by local police and fans. From Scott Hutchison's personal Twitter account @owljohn Tragically, Hutchison's body was found last night in Port Edgar, 45 minutes outside Edinburgh. Raised in Glasgow, Hutchison founded Frightened Rabbit as a solo project in 2003, with his brother Grant and three other bandmates eventually joining. (The name came from Hutchison's mother's nickname for him.) The band's breakthrough release was their second album, 2008's The Midnight Organ Fight, which featured a mix of raw lyrics covering depression, suicide, and anonymous sex, and an expansive Scottish rock sound with American influences. Despite that album's success, in a 2009 interview with The Guardian Hutchison said, "we have found ourselves in the rather Bush-y position of being more popular in the United States than in the U.K." In a recent interview with Vice's Noisey, Hutchison opened up about his struggles with mental health, describing his emotional state as "a solid six out of ten." He elaborated: "I don't know how often I can hope for much more than that. I'm drawn to negatives in life, and I dwell on them, and they consume me. I don't think I'm unique in that sense. I'm all right with a six. If I get a couple of days a week at a seven, fuck, it's great." The band has since released a statement acknowledging Hutchison's death. Image via Getty There is no story more scintillating (for us, not celebrities) than one about an obsessed fan. Particularly excellent are those who go to the extreme of breaking in to a famous person's house, only to hang out in proximity to all of their belongings. Forget the Bling Ring, for these intruders, a little goes a long way. You might recall last year a women slithered her way into Drake's Los Angeles pad to wear his hoodies and drink his Fiji water (great taste!). In fact, she consumed $10 worth of Sprite, Pepsi and Fiji Water. While this new burglar, who broke into Rihanna's Hollywood pad, did reportedly steal more from her, they really took the time to chill. Related | Drake Fan Broke into His House to Drink His Fiji Water and Wear His Clothes According to TMZ, while Rihanna was in New York for the launch of her inimitable lingerie line, Savage x Fenty, the unnamed thief really took their time in her house. They even stayed the night, presumably taking a nice bath, encasing themselves in a fluffy Savage sample robe, and applying some Fenty Beauty highlighter so, if anything, they'd be popping for their mugshot. While we don't condone breaking into your fave's house to hang out, it's certainly relatable. Even Selena Gomez agrees. Image via Getty Anthony Walls was violently arrested outside a Waffle House in Warsaw, North Carolina this weekend after taking his 16-year-old sister to the prom. While at the restaurant, Walls got into an argument with the employees, who called the police. Video footage widely shared on Facebook shows an officer putting his hands around Walls neck and shoving him up against the wall during the arrest. Wall screams, "Get your hands off me!" as the officer throws him to the ground. The incident is being investigated by police and the State Bureau of Investigation. Walls was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Given that this happened three weeks after employees called the cops on Chikesia Clemons, who was then brutally arrested by responding officers, people online are calling for a boycott of the chain. Waffle House has since said it believes the arrest in Clemons' case was justified. "We are looking into the incident...to gather all the facts," Pat Warner, a spokesman for Waffle House, said. "Initial reports say the customer became agitated, and the police were called." Related | In Light of Starbucks: White Fear and the Bystander Effect Wall told CNN affiliate WTVD that he takes full responsibility for his interaction with the Waffle House employees, but added that he feels the officer used excessive force when arresting him. "I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat," he said. "That's when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me." "We're once again outraged by a video showing police officers using excessive force on an unarmed, nonviolent African-American Waffle House customer," Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said. "Once again this incident was sparked when a Waffle House employee called the police after the patron allegedly complained about customer service. And once again the police responded with violence." Incidents of white people calling the police on people of color have been circulating on social media recently. While it's not a new phenomenon, social media is bringing the issue to light. Bob Bland, co-organizer of the Women's March, wrote on Facebook: "Why are we organizing if not to identify and eradicate the root cause of our collective suffering, and replace it with something just? In the future, historians better look back on this video as the turning point when progressive white women finally saw their role as oppressors for what it is, and made a personal commitment to NEVER CALL THE COPS ON PEOPLE OF COLOR IN AMERICA unless they were witnessing a violent crime or their actual lives were threatened." Image via Getty Forbid Them Not, pp. 1-8 All right kids, Laura Frasier called out in her perkiest voice, its about time for our lesson to begin. Getting ready to pay attention to the Bible story, seven nine-year-olds, all girls, began to whisper in a much quieter voice. Unfortunately, five boys were still standing in the doorway locked in a blazing battle with their finger guns. Yes, this is that kind of bookthe children all act in ways that perfectly conform to gender stereotypes. All of the girls are well behaved. All of the boys are too wiggly to sit down and very much involved in a gun battle. Also curiousthe seven girls are all nine. This is a third-grade Sunday school classroom. The date given for this section is March 20, 2005. In Virginia, the school cut-off is September 30th. In other words, children must have turned eight by September 30th to be in third grade. It is March 20, and all nine of these girls has already turned nine. What are the odds that any group of nine children will all have their birthdays in the same six-month span? And what are the odds that Farris completely forgot about the fact that some third-graders will still be eight? With that question out of the way, back to the book! Fortunately for Laura, the boys come in and sit down as a strangera woman in her early fortiesenters the doorway and in so doing interrupts their play. Yes, may I help you, maam? the twenty-five-year-old Sunday school teacher asked. Laura stepped out into the hall and smiled blankly at the older woman. Farris does this throughouthe introduces a characters name and then gives you new information about them by substituting descriptors for their names at odd moments. Here we learn that Laura Frasier is twenty-five, and that she is a Sunday school teachersomething we could have guessed from the setting, but was not stated. Also, why is she smiling blankly rather than cheerfully or helpfully? The woman asks to sit in on Lauras Sunday school class, and she is confused. We have several adult classes here at First Baptist that you might be interested in, she tells the woman, letting us know her denominational affiliation in the process. How thoughtful! The stranger laughs and finally introduces herself. Let me introduce myself. Im Nora Stoddard. Im from the National Commission on Children in Washington. Im just here doing a survey on opportunities for children in our area. We are trying to get a comprehensive sampling of the lives of children in ten communities in our nation. Leesburg was chosen as one of these ten. And I have been assigned to lead the survey here. This, by the way, is a lie, but we dont know that yet. Nora explains that the National Commission on Children was created after the Senate made its historic vote on the treaty that protects children. She is referring, of course, to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been signed by every country except for the United States. But Farris will introduce this treatyand explain that in this book-world, it has been signedat some later point. Nora offers some reasons for the (alleged) survey: And we believe it is very important to look beyond our government programs and take a comprehensive look at the way children live. No reasonable person would doubt that spirituality is important for children. I assure you my visit is just routine. I promise to sit quietly in the corner and not make a sound. Well, I guess its OK, Laura replied. Even though Laura was a public school teacher herself, she didnt know what to make of a government worker interested in spirituality. And now we know that Laura is a public school teacher. I dont buy that Laura would have let someone from the government sit in on her Sunday school class without at the very least checking with the pastor. Theres also the issue of consentsif she is taking some sort of survey and observing children, she ought to have a form for their parents to fill out. None of that happens. Laura introduces Nora to the students. Farris explains that while children in some parts of the country might be surprised by a sudden appearance by a government worker from Washington but that these were Beltway kids and that two dozen adults in the church worked for the various agencies located in the D.C. area. Finally the lesson begins. Its about missions. Any of you remember why we believe that missions are important? One boys hand shot up. Yes, Layton, Laura said. Layton Thomas was the one who knew nearly every answer. And his behavior was exemplary, at least once the class got started and he was away from the other boys. Because people who dont know Jesus Christ as their savior die and go to hell, he answered. How pleasant. There are (at least) two ways you can teach missions. First, you can talk about how were so happy with what we have, with our new lives in Jesus, that we want to share our knowledge with others. Second, you can talk about how everyone in the world is going to hell if they dont know Jesus, and missions is about saving them. Often, missions is taught as a sort of combination. Its both about saving people from damnation, and about giving them something joyousnot just salvation from hell but also a more fulfilled, purposeful life on this world. Laura does not teach a combination, and Laytons comment rather sets the stage for the remainder of the lesson. All the kidsexcept two boys who were watching a spider cross the corner of the roomnodded affirmatively. Whats another reason we should go out as missionaries? Laura asked. Because Jesus told us to, Emily Garvis, a little redheaded fireball, answered. They promptly look up the appropriate Bible verse, but Im left wondering why Emily, the redheaded fireball, is not across the room chasing the spiderand why she wasnt in on the gun battle earlier. Besideswhatever happened to show, dont tell? What exactly makes Emily a fireball? Laura takes a moment to touch on false religions. So people who believe in Islam, Buddhism, and any other way to God except Jesus, will be lost forever, right? Right, three voices called out. This is apparently Very Important to emphasize. Of courseIm pretty sure I had been taught this by this age as well. Lost forever. Its not as though I didnt know about hell, either. Next, Laura does what I remember being more typical of Sunday schoolshe tells the story of Adoniram Judson and his mission work in Burma. They close in prayer, led by Layton, and the children rush out to find their parents. They do not appear to have done a craft, which was unfortunate. The crafts were always the best part of Sunday school, and a missionary-themed craft has potential. (A sandal of Pauls, made of cardboard and yarn?) Stoddard stood and walked forward to the front of the classroom clutching her notepad in one hand and the canvas briefcase in the other. Thank you so much. That was a very enlightening class. Laura mumbled a soft thank-you. How very interesting. Laura Frasier is Laura while Nora Stoddard is Stoddard. Now where have I seen that before? *cough* Gwen *cough* Corliss *cough* Nora asks where Layton and Emilywho seemed especially brightgo to school. Laura tells her that Layton is homeschooled while Emily is in her third grade class at Paeonian Springs Elementary. Oh, is that so? Stoddard replied. How many of the children in here dont attend the local schoolspublic schools, I mean? Its about half and halfand the half that dont go to public schools are split evenly between home schooling and attending one of our local Christian schools, the teacher replied. Thats very interesting. Nora asks whether she can speak to Laytons parents, as shes interested in seeing a home school in operation as part of the survey. Laura takes them down the hall to the class they teach for young married couples. Two couples were locked in an intense conversation in the doorway of a classroom. Laura stopped about twenty feet away. They seem busy right now, she whispered to Stoddard. A couple in their midthirtiesa husky man about six-feet-two and a pretty woman of average heighthad their backs to the classroom. A younger couple, looking barely twenty years old each, stood facing them. Thats great, Bill, see you next week, the husky man called out loudly as he patted the younger man on the back, ending the whispered conversation. Interestingly, none of that actually matters. We never meet Bill again, and whatever intense conversation they were having is unimportant to the story. This has simply been our introduction to Husky Man Rick Thomas and his wife, Pretty Woman Deanna Thomas. Laura introduces Nora to Rick and Deanna. Nora explains about the survey, repeating the bit about Layton being especially bright and wanting to observe a home school. Deanna wants to know more about the survey. Oh, it is purely an academic exercise. We are trying to catalogue a variety of situations that children have available to them. We want a firsthand look at the lives of children so that we can guide government policies more appropriately. I fear that many times the government makes decisions by just sitting in our office buildings downtown, without interacting with real children. Lies, all lies! But that is apparently enough to satisfy Deanna. She looks at her husband and he shrugs, leaving the decision up to her. She tells Nora that she has two other children too, Nikki, 4, and Trent, 2, and she okays the visit. Stoddard pulled out her pad and took down the directions to the Thomas home. She said good-bye, adding that she could hardly wait for the visit on Friday. That is how we learn that the scheduled the visit for Fridaywhich does not seem to actually be important, except to note that the visit will be occurring that week, and not later. And with that, Nora leaves, and the first chapter ends. Next weekwho actually is Nora Stoddard? What evil things is she up to? Why is she so intent on worming her way into Sunday school classrooms and home schools? News at 11! I have a Patreon! Please support my writing! 800 Iranian Environmentalists Call on President Rouhani to Uphold the Rights of Detained Colleagues 05/10/18 Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran Detainees' Families Still Seeking Answers More Than Three Months Into Loved Ones' Arrests Detained Iranian environments President Hassan Rouhani has not responded to a letter by 800 Iranian environmentalists demanding clarification on the "fate" of fellow environments who have been detained in Iran with extremely limited access to counsel for the past three to four months. "As you are aware, it has been close to 90 days since 13 environmental experts and wildlife activists were detained by security agencies in Iran amidst the broadcast and publication of several unsubstantiated and questionable television and newspaper reports," said the environmentalists in a letter sent to the president on April 2, 2018. They continued: "As environmental experts, professionals, researchers and supporters we the undersigned, while demanding expedited judicial procedures to clarify the fate of the detainees, bare witness that during the 20 years of the latter's professional efforts in the service of the homeland and the environment, we have witnessed no suspicious activities." In January 2018, current and former staff members of the Persian Heritage Wildlife Foundation (PHWF) were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps including Kavous Seyed-Emami, Sam Rajabi, Niloufar Bayani, Morad Tahbaz (also holds American citizenship), Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Taher Ghadirian, Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani. One month later, six other environmentalists were arrested in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas: Morteza Arianejad, Hassan Ragh, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Alireza Farhadzadeh and Aref and Hassan Zare (brothers). Security agents at Evin Prison declared Seyed-Emami, an Iranian Canadian academic and the PHWF's managing director, dead to his wife on February 9, 2018. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei publicly claimed on February 15 that Seyed-Emami had committed suicide before the release of the final autopsy report. Two days earlier, on February 13, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi had accused Seyed-Emami and his detained colleagues of spying for US and Israeli intelligence agencies and passing on information about Iranian missile sites without providing substantiating evidence. Seyed-Emami's grieving widow, Maryam Mombeini, has been banned from leaving Iran since March. The Iranian government has also ignored calls by Seyed-Emami's family and UN officials for an independent investigation into his death. Two lawyers representing the Seyed-Emami family previously debunked the allegations of espionage that were aired on Iran's state-funded TV on February 13, the day Seyed-Emami was buried. Attorneys Arash Keykhosravi and Payam Derafshan said the accusations were made "with no credible evidence" in order to "undermine the reputation of this national treasure." Families Struggle to Find Answers About Detained Loved Ones The families of the remaining detainees have meanwhile experienced extreme difficulties getting in touch with their loved ones, who continue to be held without official charges or trial. On May 7, Niloufar Bayani, Alireza Farhadzadeh and Sam Rajabi had meetings with their families that lasted only 10-15 minutes in the presence of security officials, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Bayani appeared to be very distressed, according to a source close to the family. Rajabi's mother, Lili Houshmand, told CHRI that she was not allowed to talk to her son about any legal issues or the charges against him. She was also informed that Rajabi would not be able to consult with his lawyer until the start of his trial. "Taher Ghadirian's mother was able to see him on May 1," said the source who requested anonymity due to the sensitivities in Iran around speaking to foreign media outlets. "She was told she could only hold his hand and was not even allowed to kiss him. She tried to kiss him and they took her out and didn't allow her to see him." Mirhessan Khaleghi, the brother of detainee Amir-Hossein Khaleghi, tweeted on May 7 that his brother was accidentally seen in prison by other family members and appeared relatively healthy but that he had not been allowed family visits. "The detainees' families have gone to the relevant agencies numerous times to make inquiries but so far they have not been given any clear answers about the charges against them or where they are being held," said the environmentalists in their letter to the president. It continued: "Some of the detainees have had at least one short meeting or phone contact with their families but there has been no contact from Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, and the fate of Hassan Ragh, Aref Zare and Hassan Zare remains shrouded in ambiguity... and they have been denied their right to a lawyer in blatant violation of Article 35 of the Constitution." The environmentalists also noted that the detainees were only doing their jobs as advocates and protectors of the environment and had been "encouraged" to do so by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. "It's amazing that all the rightful activities of the Iranian environmental community... have been labeled as suspicious and criminal, even though they are an intrinsic part of every environmental organization's work backed by Article 50 of the Constitution and encouraged by the great leader of the revolution on numerous occasions," the letter said. According to the opposition news site Kalame, the environmentalists were targeted by the IRGC for opposing the installation of missile sites on protected lands. "Kalame has received information that the environmental activists are not spies but in fact had resisted the IRGC's excessive demands to encroach on environmentally protected regions for the installation of missile sites," Kalame reported on April 16. The report continued: "Although these regions were registered in the United Nations as protected areas, the IRGC thought it could build military sites there without any problem, thus it went ahead with installing missile silos and equipment. The move met opposition from environmental groups that repeatedly asked the IRGC to evacuate. The groups made it clear that the IRGC was endangering their activities to collect information and take photos of animals and plants for the UN. But the IRGC did not agree and asked these groups to instead submit old photos in their annual reports to the UN. The conflict between the two sides went on for years and eventually the IRGC's Intelligence Organization used espionage as an excuse to arrest the environmentalists so that it could continue its activities in the protected regions without any problem." WHY OPT FOR PEACE WHEN MAYHEM AND WAR SERVE US SO WELL? Instability and War Make for Good Business! 05/11/18 By Kambiz Zarrabi So, the President has officially pulled the United States out of the Iran Nuclear deal, just as he had promised to do during his campaign for presidency. Trump, just as the crowd of his diehard supporters, has no clue about diplomacy, global affairs or even a clear picture of world geography, but he has been and continues to behave as a cut-throat, anything-goes, businessman. He was elected as the President of the United States, in a money-dominated democracy bordering increasingly on predatory capitalism. Half of the voting population chose Trump over Hillary Clinton to lead the country. And, that was the real tragedy, not that Hillary Clinton would have been a harbinger for peace and a blessing for the rest of the planet, particularly with respect to Iran or the Middle East in general. Mr. Trump has been surrounding himself, step by step, by sleazy sycophants and hardcore Zionist neocons who mastermind his every move. It was no surprise that the President's address regarding the decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear deal, read from the teleprompter, had been carefully drafted by the same cunning opinion molders who have long influenced the American mindset about Iran. Many media observers even dared to refer to the text as something that could have been drafted by Israel's Netanyahu; it certainly seemed as though it actually was! Discounting America's own intelligences services' findings and those of America's own European allies, Mr. Trump only sited Netanyahu's allegations to substantiate his accusations against Iran. As embarrassing as that was, it was no surprise, either. Of course, as it has been the case so many times before, Mr. Trump might see fit to make some adjustments in the course he has taken with respect to Iran when he realizes that undoing what President Obama has done might have harsh blowbacks this time round. All that will remain to be seen in the coming months. In the meantime, something has long been going on literally unnoticed by the American propaganda mass media and the public at large. The Co-Chair of "Women for Trump" organization, Amy Kremer, appearing on CNN a couple of days ago, mentioned something that prompted me to write this piece. In defending Trump's decision to back out of the Iran deal, this Southern Bell said that, to paraphrase, we have given billions of our taxpayers' dollars to Iran as a result of the nuclear agreement. The sad fact is that a huge majority of American population believes that farce. It was also sad that the CNN host, quite understandably, made no effort to correct her that those moneys were Iran's own assets frozen by the United States and not American taxpayers' moneys. That, again, was no surprise. And neither was the barrage of prefabricated and for far too long repeated verbiage by the President calling Iran the world's number-one supporter of international terrorism and the source of agitation and destabilization of the Middle East. The clueless President talked about Iran's ties to Al Qa'eda and Taliban terrorist groups (perhaps Bolton and Giuliani fed him that crap), and looked oh, so serious when he alleged that he was protecting the American people against the Iranian threat!? Only his Zionist neocons advisors and Mr. Netanyahu would be ready to define what "threat" he was referring to! What is getting lost in the dust of debates and disagreement about Mr. Trump's decision is the casual and as-a-matter-of-factly repeated statement that Iran is involved in all sorts of nefarious actions regionally and worldwide; something that no one ever dares question! Even Trump's detractors who criticize him believe that abandoning the JCPOA would embolden Iran to continue its "nefarious" behavior with increasing vigor. But what "nefarious" behavior?! Who are the terrorists whose support by Iran makes the Islamic Republic the world's biggest supporter of international terrorism? Hezbollah: The Lebanese political and military party that represents Lebanon's majority Shi'a population, and whose military flank has successfully protected Lebanon against Israeli incursions. Hezbollah fighters have played the major role in defeating the ISIS terrorists in Syria at a great cost to themselves. Palestinian Hamas: The resistance group that has stood up against Israeli atrocities in Gaza while enjoying the support of the majority of suppressed and persecuted Palestinians. The Syrian government: Subject of decade-long regime-change efforts by the United States on behalf of Israel, because it has served as a conduit for assistance and arms shipments from Iran to its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah. The above mentioned groups have been regarded by the American administrations as evil only because America's Sacred Cow, Israel, says so. Now we have Yemen's Houthis, a Shi'ite population that are religiously affiliated with Iran, and thus feared by the Saud regime. Houthis have actually been involved in fighting against the Al Qa'eda and ISIS terror groups in Yemen, both supported by the Saudis! But now that the Saud clan and the Israelis have formed a common bond against Iran, the United States considers Iran's support for the Houthis as a nefarious act. One has to be blind or clueless not to see the Israeli connection in all the foregoing. This bring us to the most recent, post Trump speech, Israeli military incursion into the Syrian territory. According to the news clips and Israeli announcements, Israel embarked on a massive aerial and missile attacks against Iranian installations and facilities around Damascus, supposedly in response to some missile attacks targeting Israeli bases in the Golan Heights from those Iranian bases. According to these sources, the missiles fired by the Iranians were either intercepted by the Israeli defense shield, or fell short of reaching their targets. Now, let us look at this scenario a bit more realistically: The distance from those Iranian bases around Damascus to the Golan targets is only a couple of dozen miles. The distance that the missiles (we are told they are supplied by Iran) fired toward facilities in Saudi Arabia by the Houthis in Yemen is many hundreds of miles, and most hit their targets in spite of the Saudi missile defense shield sold to them by the United States. Then, how is it that those Iranian missiles so conveniently come short of reaching their nearby Israeli targets in Golan, or are so easily intercepted by them? Some miracle must be at work, or it may be yet another Israeli false-flag operation they are so well-known for! Israelis knew full-well that under the current geopolitical circumstances Iran would avoid any military confrontation in the region. So why not take advantage of their clueless benefactor's anti-Iran declarations as soon as possible and strike at the Iranian targets in Syria full force while the oven is still hot? If the laughable Israeli version of the story is to be taken seriously, then what does Israel have to worry about? Therefore, the Iranian so-called Elite Revolutionary Guards must be a bunch of incompetent buffoons, and the quality of their missiles is so poor that they cannot pose any threat to the illustrious Israeli Defense Forces! That would also eliminate the threat of Hezbollah's ten-thousand missiles given to them by Iran, as should some war break out, those missiles will either fail to reach their targets or be intercepted by the Israelis! In conclusion, as long as Iran remains a perceived threat to the oil-rich, Sunni Arab states, the Saud clan will more than make up for any shortage of crude resulting from the new and more severe sanctions against Iranian production and sales. That would mean more money for the Saudis, more profits for the American oil companies, and more arms purchases by the Arab states to defend against Iran's hegemonic ambitions. The Saudis have now surpassed Russia in military spending; and look where those oil moneys are headed - hundreds of billions of dollars' of them for all those military supplies they are purchasing! And regarding Israel? Well, how could anyone blame them for whatever they choose to do to "defend their lives", including putting an end to any remaining Palestinian ambition to end the occupation of their ancestral lands. So, what's there to worry about?! Do we or the Israeli regime really prefer peace and harmony for the Middle East over mayhem and instability, when the opposite is serving the purpose so well? About the author: Kambiz Zarrabi is the author of In Zarathushtra's Shadow and Necessary Illusion.He has conducted lectures and seminars on international affairs, particularly in relation to Iran, with focus on US/Iran issues. Zarrabi's latest book is Iran, Back in Context. The Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company (BOST) Limited has reviewed the terms of accessing oil supplies by traders on the international market to prevent marketers from holding onto public funds. Currently, the company is owed an accumulated amount of GH36,835,313 in export sales by some international companies. The amount, which has been outstanding since December 2016, came about as a result of international companies buying petroleum products from Ghana to sell on Sahelean markets. Besides the debt from export sales, there are also outstanding storage and rack fees owed by some local companies, amounting to GH4,987,955.85. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra on Thursday, the Managing Director of BOST, Mr Alfred Obeng-Boateng, said a review of oil supplies had led to the introduction of non-credit export sales of petroleum products He said on the local front, BOST had also introduced the prompt payment of storage and rack fees. That meant that distribution companies had to make down payments to BOST before being allowed to store their products in BOST depots, he said. Previously, local distribution companies stored their products in BOST depots on credit, a development that led to 11 of them currently owing the company GH4,987,955.85 The measures we have taken to right the wrongs of the past have far-reaching benefits to the state in terms of revenue, he said. Mr Obeng-Boateng explained that the debts were inherited from his predecessor administration and gave an assurance that the current management would do everything possible to retrieve the outstanding debts. Export regime BOST began exporting petroleum products by road from its Bolgatanga Fuel Storage and Distribution Depot to the Sahelean countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali in 2015. The company also exports products by sea to Liberia. The objective of entering the international market was to raise more revenue for the country, boost trans-ECOWAS trade and open up employment avenues for Ghanaians, particularly those in the Upper East Region from where the petroleum products are transported by road to the Sahelean market. By the agreement, BOST sold the petroleum products to international bulk distribution companies on credit. However, some of the companies failed to pay back, resulting in the accumulated debt. Source: Graphic.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged the private sectors of both Ghana and Nigeria to lead the way towards a healthy collaboration in trade, investment and growth. He called on them to brainstorm on issues that will help address the barriers to trade, business and investment, and propose pragmatic ways to address them together with the business community. Dr Bawumia was speaking at the Ghana-Nigeria Trade and Investment Conference in Accra yesterday. He called on African countries, especially those in the West African sub-region, to leverage the use of their resources for growth. According to him, innovative thinking, co-operation and leveraging of resources for growth are some of the most sustainable solutions to improve livelihoods, reduce poverty, create wealth and ultimately contribute to regional peace, security and stability. Speaking at the first-ever Ghana-Nigeria Trade and Investment Conference, dubbed Ghangeria Rising, in Accra, the Vice-President called on businesses to challenge each other and increase their competitiveness in the ECOWAS sub-region. There is no reason that Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, for example, cannot co-operate wholly to develop an integrated aluminium industry using energy from Nigeria to dry processing of bauxite from Guinea and Ghana, and to use the alumna to feed the Ghanas aluminium shell smelter. It is so with bauxite as it is with iron ore, energy resources, fertiliser production and agro processing, among others. We have the opportunity to change our development paradigm through such engagements by the private sector, he stressed. The Ghangeria Rising Conference is an annual high-level event that seeks to bring together key investors, businessmen and women, promoters and facilitators, policymakers and regulators to discuss trade business and investment opportunities between Ghana and Nigeria. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, in her address, indicated that the peaceful political climate and favourable legal framework for investment in Ghana are both God-sent and hard earned and contribute significantly to an enabling business environment critical for private sector competitiveness and sustainable development. Government, she stated, takes pride in its commitment to creating and ensuring macro-economic stability as demonstrated in the 2017 budget. Though Ghana and Nigeria have the biggest economies in the sub-region, she bemoaned trade volumes between the two are not impressive as indicated by our 2017 trade figures. The challenge, therefore, is for our bilateral trade and investment to be given the needed boost. We all have a role to play as much as would all benefit from any dividends that accrue there from, she added. She said Ghana is committed to the implementation of all ECOWAS protocols, particularly those on the free movement of persons, the right of residence and the right of establishment goods and services. Trade is a pillar on which regional integration rests. It offers immense potential to promote sustainable development in our two countries and Africa as a whole. It also to create the much-needed employment for teeming youth in the continent who are faced with severe unemployment challenges, she noted. Ghana, she recalled, in a bid to promote trade at the continental level joined 43 other African states in Kigali in March 2018 to sign the African continental free trade area. Consequently, she disclosed in her address that Ghana has deposited the instrument of ratification at the African Union commission yesterday, together with Kenya, indicating that it is our humble contribution to the continental goal of creating the largest free trade area worldwide. The Ghangeria Rising is an initiative of Notice Board Limited, an African legal associates, with the aim to present an opportunity for participants to network and engage in continuous discussions for future investment decisions. This year is the first edition, and, according to organisers, it would continue to be a platform of open and honest conversation about sustainable business by Ghanaian and Nigerian businessmen and women. It would also be a platform for businesswomen and men to collaborate around lawful business opportunities and their associated challenges to search for pragmatic solutions. This years edition of the Ghangeria Rising Conference was on the theme Harnessing the Business Opportunities in Ghana and Nigeria to Accelerate Inclusive Economic Growth and Development. Source: The Finder Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video After five years of leading Barclays Bank Ghana as Managing Director Mrs. Patience Akyianu has decided to pursue other interests outside the banking sector. Mrs. Akyianu will continue to serve as the Managing Director for Barclays Ghana until 30 September 2018 and the search for her successor is now underway. As Managing Director, Mrs. Akyianu has built a high performing and diverse leadership team which has led to Barclays Bank Ghana being the most profitable bank. Her passion for excellent customer service has translated into greater customer and innovation focus across the bank. In addition, the marked progress seen on her watch has led to employee engagement being at its highest in recent years. Its been an amazing journey, spending more than half of my years in banking with this highly talented and motivated team. It is a team that is more than capable of delivering the bold new strategy that will build the bank that Africa will indeed be proud of, said Mrs. Patience Akyianu, Managing Director of Barclays Bank Ghana. The Barclays Africa Group leadership and the Board of Barclays Bank Ghana expressed their appreciation to Mrs. Akyianu for her leadership and immense contribution to the remarkable performance of the bank during her 10 year tenor with the bank. Her contribution to our business has been outstanding and although she will not be here to oversee our new strategy, she has been an instrumental part of its development. We have a clear transition plan in place and a strong management team supported by the Board and great employees capable of delivering the exciting Pan African Bank that Ghana and the entire continent will all be proud of, said Mr. Charles Cofie, Board Chairman of Barclays Bank Ghana. He added: We have a bold new Africa Strategy which prioritizes growth, innovation, digital leadership, being a force for good in society while strongly focusing on our customers. We remain committed to delivering this strategy to help bring the possibilities of our customers, clients, stakeholders and communities to life. Mrs. Akyianu joined Barclays Bank Ghana in 2008 as Finance Director and was appointed Managing Director in 2013. 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. Featured Video The second lady, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, through the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) has launched The Safe Delivery Project aimed at reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality drastically in deprived communities of Ghana. SEHP, a not-for-profit organization founded by the Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, seeks to use the project as a catalyst to first, reduce maternal and mortality from the current reported level of 319 deaths per 100,000 live births to the UNs Sustainable Development Goals target of 70 per 100,000 live births. Secondly, the project aims to help in the efforts by government reduce neo-natal mortality(newborn deaths) from 29 per 1000 live births to 12 per 1000 live births in keeping with UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The Safe Delivery Project was launched on Thursday, 10 May 2018 in the East Gonja Municipality of the Northern region under the theme: Promoting Safe Deliveries and Ensuring Healthy Infants; Securing Our Future. Below is a copy of a press release on the initiative THE SAFE DELIVERY PROJECT Ghana has registered a gradual decline in maternal mortality rate in the last decade. The gains, though moderate, brought the national maternal mortality down from about 740 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the 1990s to 319 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. This is far from the countrys set target of 185 per 100,000 live births in 2015. Despite these gains, maternal and neonatal mortality continue to be unfortunate health issues that Ghana is still grappling with. The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service continue to implement evidence based and high impact interventions to reduce the incidence of maternal and neonatal mortality.However, the interventions of these government agencies are hampered by challenges such asinsufficient funding, human resources and essential supplies especially at the peripheral levels, as well as inadequate monitoring and supervision of service delivery. (2016 Report of the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service). It is against this background that the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP), a not-for-profit organization founded by the Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, has developed The Safe Delivery Project; themed Promoting safe deliveries and ensuring healthy infants; Securing our future to contribute to the reduction in maternal mortality from the current reported level of 319 deaths per 100,000 live births (Ministry of Health, October 2017) to the UNs Sustainable Development Goals target of 70 per 100,000 live births. The Project also aims at contributing to the reduction in the neonatal mortality rate which currently stands at 29 per 1,000 live births, as disclosed by the Health Minister of Ghana on 28th October 2017. Over the next few years, SEHP aims to provide up to 100,000 well-resourced birth kits to expectant mothers all across the country. The kit contains medicines and supplies (Misoprostol tablets, pre-natal and post-natal vitamins and mineral supplements, medicated soap, gauze swab, cord clamps, cord sheet, sterile blade, delivery mat, cord ties, sterile gloves, combine dressing, baby hat, name tag, cord sheets, and methylated spirit) which will all be distributed by trained community based volunteers and health personnel to 100,000 expectant mothers in the worst affected communities in Ghana. The expectant mothers will be given information on the use, importance and impact of these birth kits. These pregnant women are expected to go to health facilities with the kits during labor. In addition, qualified Senior Midwives will train Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and nurses on how to effectively use the birth kits and ensure safe delivery practices for the expectant mothers, in the absence of a nearby health facility. The launch of The Safe Delivery Project, themed Promoting Safe Deliveries and Ensuring Healthy Infants; Securing Our Future took place on Thursday, 10th May, 2018 in the East Gonja Municipality, Northern Region. Present at the launch were representatives of the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health, Chiefs and Clergy from the East Gonja Municipality, and many others. Prior to the launch, a team of Volunteers and supervisors trained Senior Midwives, TBAs and Volunteers (nurses)in the East Gonja Municipality on the 8th of May, on the proper use of the birth kit and safe delivery practices.Beneficiaries of the first deliveries of the birth kits are residents of Six (6) sub-districts within East Gonja; Kpalbe, Makango, Bunjai, Buma, Jantong and Salaga. In keeping with SEHPs health objective which is to provide vital health interventions to children, women and medical institutions, The Safe Delivery Project was developedin an effort to improve the survival chances of mothers and newborns by addressing some of the major causes of maternal and neonatal mortality- Postpartum Hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and infections. With the hope of contributing its quota to society, SEHP aims to establish a sustainable basic birth kit supply system that can potentially be scaled up by the government. Data obtained during the project will be analyzed and forwarded to the relevant state institutions. This data would contribute to national policy aimed at reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. 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. Featured Video Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra has been transferred to the Cape Coast Archdiocese, the oldest Catholic Archdiocese in Ghana. It followed the resignation of Archbishop Mathias Nketsiah of Cape Coast. A communique issued by the Apostolic Nunciature of the Catholic Church in Accra on Friday said: "His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of His Grace Archbishop Mathias Nketsiah of Cape Coast and has appointed His Grace Most Rev Charles Palmer-Buckle as the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cape Coast." "The news is released from the Apostolic Nunciature by His Excellency Most Rev. Jean Marie Speich, the Apostolic Nuncio," it said but did not give the reason for the resignation. Cape Coast Archbishop Mathias Kobena Nketsiah resigns His Grace Archbishop Mathias Kobena Nketsiah, 76, was installed as the Archbishop of Cape Coast in June 2010. Born on April 14, 1942, he was ordained as a priest in Cape Coast in 1970. He was ordained as the Titular Bishop of Abaradira in 2007, and appointed Apostolic Administrator of Sekondi-Takoradi in 2011, but ceased occupying the post in 2014. Most Rev Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle The Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle (born 15 June 1950 in Axim, Ghana), is a former teacher and a key figure in the political scene in Ghana. He is the second Ghanaian native to become Archbishop of Accra. Installed in 2005, he became the 4th Ordinary for Accra since its establishment as a diocese. He was also the first Bishop of Koforidua. He was educated at the Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary in Ghana and at the Pontifical Urban University where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and another in Sacred Theology. He also holds a Doctorate Degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome. He had also been a chaplain and teacher at both the Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary and at Achimota School. He was ordained a priest on 12 December 1976 in Accra, appointed as Bishop of Koforidua on 6 July 1992, consecrated on 6 January 1993 and appointed as an Archbishop of Accra on 28 May 2005. From 1994 to 2004 he served as the Bishop-Chairman for the Department of Socio-Economic Development of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Ghana, and from 1995 to 2003 was President of Caritas Africa Region and First Vice President of Caritas International, a federation of 198 member-organizations in 154 countries all over the world with headquarters in the Vatican City. He was appointed the first Bishop of the newly created diocese of Koforidua in 1992 and on 30 March 2005, he became the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra. He was a member of the nine-member National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) from May 2002 to October 2004 whose stated mission was to bring truth and reconciliation in Ghana after human rights abuses and atrocities. He has remained vocal in the political scene of Ghana and Africa on issues including political violence and homosexuality. Source: Graphic.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Twenty-four (24) factories have so far been approved for construction in the Northern Region under the governments One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative. Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, said majority of these were in the agricultural sector. He added that six of them are existing factories looking to expand while one had its own funds. Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay announced this when he launched the District Implementation Support Teams (DISTs) for the factories in Tamale. The DISTs are made up of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, Members of Parliament, Coordinating Directors, chiefs and representatives from relevant public agencies. They would assist business promoters to fulfil statutory requirements, facilitate the extension of power and other infrastructure to project sites, finalize land acquisition and registration processes in their respective districts. The 1D1F is part of the governments agenda to add value to natural resources to create jobs and wealth for the people. Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay said based on the work done so far, they were confident that at least 20 out of the 24 approved factories would start operating this year. He reiterated that every district was going to get a factory by the year 2020. He called for all, to effectively play their respective roles to ensure the success of the initiative. Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay also asked the district assemblies to secure at least 50,000 acres of litigation-free land for plantation agriculture and additional 4,000 acres for industrial parks and other business projects. The Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed, in address read on his behalf, urged the assemblies to work hard towards the successful construction of the factories. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Trial of the suspects alleged to have murdered Major Maxwell Mahama begun on Thursday at an Accra High Court with the prosecution calling its first witness Warrant Officer II. Kwasi Sabi. Mrs Evelyn Keelson, Chief State Attorney led the witness to give his evidence on what he experienced on that fateful day. The witness said on May 29, 2017, he was sitting on a veranda of their military quarters at Diaso, when the late Major Mahama told him around 0830 hours that he was going for a walk. He told the Court that the deceased on that fateful day told him of his decision to change his jogging route and that the late Major usually uses the right turn of the road but this time round decided to use the left turn on the day. He said the deceased was wearing a track suit and T-shirts with boots when he left. He said shortly after the deceased left he received a call from the CEO of C and G Mining Company of a shooting incident in the town, he became disturbed and called the late Captain Mahamas phone many times but his phone was not going through. WO II Sabi said he then went for a vehicle from the CEO and left the camp with some of his colleagues to look for their leader. We then went to the Dunkwa hospital because we were told someone had been shot and taken there, he said. He said when they arrived, he asked a nurse where the person who had been shot was and she showed them a body that had been shot in the left neck. When I checked, that person was not our leader. He said a different nurse then told them an armed robber had also been shot and was at the mortuary so they went to check only to see the deceased, he told the court, we were shocked to see the late Major Mahama lying naked." Mr George Bernard Shaw, a counsel for some of the accused who began his cross-examination sought to find out what the military personnel were doing in the mining town and the witness said they were there to protect the properties of C and G Mining Company. The late Major Mahama, an Officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion at Burma Camp, was on duty at Dankyira-Obuasi, when on May 29, he was lynched by some residents, who allegedly mistook him for an armed robber because he had a pistol in his back pocket. The mob ignored his consistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces. The case was adjourned to Thursday May 24 for further cross-examination. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on Thursday, re-affirmed the countrys commitment to the implementation of all ECOWAS protocols especially with free movement of persons. The other protocols include the right of residence and the right of the establishment of goods and services, stressing that, trade was the pillar on which regional integration rested, and offered immense potential to promote sustainable development within sub-region. Trade between African countries creates the much needed employment to our teeming youth of the continent who are faced with severe unemployment challenges, she added. Mrs Botchwey said this in Accra at the Ghana-Nigeria Trade Investment conference on the theme: Harnessing the Business Opportunities in Ghana and Nigeria to Accelerate Inclusive Economic Growth and Development. She said the private sector was a catalyst for the development agenda for Ghana and Nigeria, adding that, existing cooperation between the two countries would help accelerate inclusive economic growth. Mrs Botchwey posited that a peaceful political climate and favourable legal framework contributed significantly in trade and investment opportunities for both countries. She stressed that the two countries would continue to strengthen ties for mutual benefits and economic development. Government will continue to champion the cause of private sector as engine for growth in an enabling business environment is critical for private business competitiveness and sustainable development, she added. She said government was committed in creating and ensuring macroeconomic stability as demonstrated in the 2017 budget where incentives were granted to businesses in a form of tax relief, reduction in import duties for selected products were implemented. She said the two countries had the biggest economy in the sub region, but trade investment between them were not impressive, and urged authorities to work assiduously to address the gap. She said the signing of the Continental Free Trade Area agreement would boost economic growth across the continent. She noted that already, the protocol of free movement of goods and services through the Regional Economic Communities, the East African Economic Community and the South African Development Community was working perfectly as well. The Free Trade Agreement when implemented will reduce the continents vulnerability to external shocks and expected to enhance the participation of Africa in global trade as a respectable partner, the Foreign Minister said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Two persons suspected to have been involved in the stabbing to death of a 19-year-old final year student of the Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School (OKESS) in Kumasi have been arrested. The deceased, Godfred Arthur, who was left with just 24 hours to write his final paper, was stabbed to death by suspected armed robbers who attacked the school last Wednesday night. He was stabbed in the neck and the chest by one of the robbers. The robbers had invaded the school, which is without a fence wall, to steal mobile phones, money and other belongings of the students. An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that when word went round around 10.30 p.m. that robbers had invaded the school, the students, especially those in final year who were at prep, took to their heels. However, Arthur was accosted by one of the robbers, who demanded that he handed over his phone. The witness said when Arthur failed to hand over the phone, a struggle ensued between him and the robber, and in the process Arthur was stabbed in the neck and the chest, leading to his death. Some of the students who saw their mate bleeding profusely rushed to his aid but could not get any vehicle on the compound to take him to the nearest hospital. They had to fall on a tricycle outside to transport the wounded student to the Trinity Hospital at Pankrono, where Authur was pronounced dead on arrival. When the Daily Graphic got to the school yesterday morning, a large number of anxious parents had besieged the compound to take their children away, but the school authorities insisted that they allow the children to stay in school. KMA Addressing the fear-stricken students, the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, confirmed that two of the suspects had been arrested, but did not mention their names, as investigations were ongoing. He expressed his sympathy to the students and assured them that security would be beefed up in the school to forestall the recurrence of the dastardly act. He commended the Headmistress of the school, Mrs Mary Cromwell Owusu, for her initiative in starting the construction of the wall and also confirmed that she had written through him to the Ashanti Regional Minister and the Minister of Education for the completion of the project. Mr Antwi, who was accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, (GES) Mrs Mary Owusu Achiaw, stated that since there were plans to enhance security in the school, there was no need to close it down. Parents Some of the parents who spoke to the Daily Graphic complained about the lack of security in the school, which allowed the students to roam in town, while outsiders entered the school without let or hindrance. Board Chairman The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the school, Mr Owusu Ansah, urged the parents to exercise restraint and not take their children home because those in final year were about to complete their final examination. Source: Graphic.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Atik Mohammed has expressed doubts over the feasibility of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCo), a government initiative to empower the youth and create employment opportunities. The Nation Builders Corps has been launched by government as part of its measures to bridge the gap between the employed and unemployed in the country. Under this policy, One hundred thousand (100,000) young men and women are to be employed this year to assist in the public sector service delivery needs of Ghana. According to President Akufo-Addo, NABCO will be the vehicle to deliver one hundred thousand (100,000) jobs in seven (7) prioritized areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitize Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana. But commenting on the policy, Atik Mohammed believes NaBCo is not sustainable since the project is only for 3 years. He wondered why the government is commending herself for such intervention when it is only a temporary relief to the youth. He questioned the government about the fate of future generations when the project will come to an end or a halt after 3 years. To Atik, NaBCo is a deliberate attempt by the NPP to "build an election weapon so that, in 2020, there will be reference that we brought NaBCO. It was meant to create jobs; meanwhile what youre doing is not job creation . . . Its a political weapon fashioned for the battles of 2020 and nothing beyond. And its so sad that were going to lose money. Were going to burden our public purse in the process. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/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. Featured Video Member of Parliament for North Tongu in the Volta Region and a former deputy minister for Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says there will be revolt if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo dares rename the University of Ghana after his uncle, JB Danquah. He says history would have been rewritten by the President. Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that a hall or faculty can be renamed after his uncle to recognize his contribution to the setting up of the university, but renaming it after him will be met with fierce resistance. President Akufo-Addo told an audience at the launch of an Endowment Fund to commemorate the universitys 70th anniversary stated that: It will be wholly appropriate and not at all far-fetched to describe Joseph Boakye Danquah as the founder of this University. In the Presidents view, the British colonialists who built the university, were inspired by J.B. Danquah, because they initially intended to build for British West Africa, a single university in Nigeria. How felicitous was that decision and how greatly it has contributed to the growth of modern Ghana, it will be wholly appropriate and not at all far-fetched to describe Joseph Boakye Danquah as the founder of this University . . . the fact, which on the 70th anniversary of the universitys existence, should be vividly recalled that all of us are the beneficiaries of his work. Samuel Okudzeto indicated that credit cannot be taken away from the agitations of Gold Coasters between December 1945 and July 1946 at which period the Colonial Secretary in Accra was bombarded with petitions from such bodies as the Advisory Committee on Education, Achimota Council, the Standing Committee of the Joint Provincial Council of Chiefs, Asante Confederacy Council, Gold Coast Bar Association, Old Students Associations, Rodger Club, Accra; Hudson Club, Kumasi; and Gold Coast Teachers Union. It must also be emphasised that the Asantehene played a very special role in this noble endeavour. It was the Asantehene who agreed with the Bradley Committee to have the first University sited in Accra with funds largely from cocoa farmers from the Asantehenes territory. This was on condition that a second university will be considered for Kumasi later. However, confronted with this history, it will be near impossible to hoodwink Ghanaians that Dr. JB Danquah is the founder of the University of Ghana. Even if successful, it will amount to intellectual dishonesty of the highest order. He also added that he does not see how the current Vice Chancellor and the University Council will permit President Akufo-Addo to rename the University of Ghana JB Danquah University when the universitys own commissioned work does not support this latter day distortion of history. "Like most alumni of the University of Ghana, I have confidence that President Akufo-Addos hegemonic maneuvering will not see the light of day, we will revolt against it," he reiterated. "Clearly, seeing how far some Presidents may go in pleasing their uncles and other relations as they distort our history and rename monuments, it is time for this country to have an independent commission which will be the only legal entity with responsibility for naming and preserving national institutions, installations, assets and commemorative events." "We can do far better for the great University of Ghana instead of contemplating a needless change of name," he added. Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video TOWSON, Md. -- A palpable sense of unease filled Baltimore County's executive offices Thursday, based partly on uncertainty about the future but mostly on the knowledge of what they just lost. The populous county's longtime political leader and a top Democratic candidate for Maryland governor, Kevin Kamenetz, died early Thursday after going into cardiac arrest. His sudden death shocked everyone in county government. He was just 60, trim and so health conscious he would trot up stairs and routinely tease colleagues about eating donuts and other junk food. "He was a yogurt, granola and salad kind of guy," said Don Mohler, Kamenetz's chief of staff. Kamenetz was one of seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the June primary to oppose Republican Gov. Larry Hogan this fall. He had chosen Montgomery County Councilmember Valerie Ervin as his running mate. His death "has the potential to dramatically reshape the race" because many of his supporters may now look to other candidates who have been trying to gain support, said Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Kamenetz woke up early Thursday, complaining to his wife, Jill, about chest pains. They drove to a volunteer fire station near his home in Owings Mills because he didn't want to disturb his neighbors with an ambulance, according to Mohler. "It doesn't surprise me that he was thinking of his neighbors and others. He said: 'Well, its two in the morning, let's not wake them all up with sirens and lights,'" said Mohler, who joined Kamenetz's wife at the local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:22 a.m. Kamenetz apparently walked into the firehouse under his own power but his condition quickly deteriorated, Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost said at a news conference. Rescuers performed chest compressions and used a defibrillator but he never regained consciousness. Kamenetz was in "full cardiac arrest" when he arrived at St. Joseph Medical Center and was pronounced dead shortly afterward, chief medical officer Dr. Gail Cunningham said. After beginning his public service career as a prosecutor in the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, Kamenetz was elected in 1994 to the Baltimore County Council, where he served four terms. He was a former president of the Maryland Association of Counties and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. He was first elected county executive in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. A native of Baltimore County, he attended Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is survived by his wife and two teenage sons. Political science professor Eberly described Kamenetz as one of the top three Democratic contenders in the race, along with Rushern Baker and Ben Jealous. Condolences from political leaders began rolling in after the news broke Thursday morning. "He was a dedicated public servant in Baltimore County for more than two decades, and we join with the citizens of Baltimore County and all Marylanders in mourning," Gov. Hogan said in a statement. The governor ordered state flags to fly at half-staff. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh called Kamenetz a "friend and a supporter who always gave good advice" and championed the city. Baltimore County rings the mid-Atlantic city. Kamenetz's campaign touted his track record on education and the environment, highlighting a $1.3 billion investment in public education and the renovation or construction of 90 schools. On his campaign website, he also emphasized his fiscal policies, which he said resulted in no tax increases or government furloughs or layoffs during the Great Recession. While Kamenetz led Baltimore County, the suburban county of 830,000 people underwent some growing pains. Swaths of the county made a transition from a traditional suburban area to a more congested one with some urban characteristics. Housing costs ticked up and the division between the county's well-off residents and low-income families grew. Eberly said Kamenentz took those challenges seriously and committed the county to expanding affordable housing options and acceptance of federal housing vouchers by landlords in an effort to expand opportunities. "He did not shy away from controversial or politically unpopular issues if he believed that addressing them was the right thing to do," Eberly said. Orrester Shaw, Baltimore County's special assistant for education, health and human services, said what impressed him most about Kamenetz was the opportunities he gave to African Americans to serve in local government. "He gave us opportunities that were not afforded to us in the past. I think to him your color wasn't any determining factor -- it's whether you could do the job," Shaw said. A funeral will be held Friday afternoon at a local synagogue. Longtime county administrative officer Fred Homan will serve as acting executive until the council votes on a replacement to serve the remainder of the term. Sean Naron, Kamenetz's campaign spokesman, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment about the campaign. ___ David McFadden of the Associated Press wrote this story. AP writer Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report. ___ Follow McFadden on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dmcfadd SEATTLE (AP) -- Nearly half of U.S. cancer doctors who responded to a survey say they've recently recommended medical marijuana to patients, although most say they don't know enough about medicinal use. The results reflect how marijuana policy in some states has outpaced research, the study authors said. All 29 states with medical marijuana programs allow doctors to recommend it to cancer patients. But no rigorous studies in cancer patients exist. That leaves doctors to make assumptions from other research on similar prescription drugs, or in other types of patients. "The big takeaway is we need more research, plain and simple," said Dr. Ilana Braun of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who led the studypublished Thursday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Patients want to know what their doctors think about using marijuana. In the new study, cancer doctors said their conversations about marijuana were almost always started by patients and their families, not by the doctors themselves. Overall, nearly eight in 10 cancer doctors reported having discussed marijuana with patients or their families, with 46 percent recommending it for pain and other cancer-related problems to at least one patient in the past year. Among those who said they recommended marijuana, 56 percent said they did not have sufficient knowledge to do so. "They're not as close-minded as you might think, and they also feel they have a lot to learn," Braun said. The survey was conducted in a random sample of cancer doctors; researchers got completed surveys from 237 doctors, or 63 percent. Marijuana is considered an illegal drug by federal officials and federal restrictions have limited research. Last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded the lack of scientific information about marijuana poses a risk to public health. There's evidence marijuana can treat chronic pain in adults and medications similar to marijuana can ease nausea from chemotherapy. In the study, 67 percent of cancer doctors said they view marijuana as a useful addition to standard pain therapies, with 75 percent saying it posed less risk of overdose than opioids. About half view marijuana as equal to, or more effective than, standard treatments for cancer-related nausea. Marijuana isn't harmless. The National Academies report said pot smoking may be linked to higher chances of traffic accidents, chronic bronchitis from long-term use and schizophrenia and other causes of psychosis, especially in the most frequent users. Dr. Steven Pergam of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance answers questions about marijuana's safety from his colleagues at the treatment center. His responses depend on the patient. A dying patient with cancer that's spread? "Whatever they want to do to make themselves comfortable," said Pergam, who wasn't involved in the new research. A patient with leukemia, however, should be warned of a theoretical possibility of a fungal infection tied to cannabis use. "If we're not comfortable having these discussions, patients will get information from other sources, and it's not going to be as reliable," he said. --By Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Writer A fundraiser has been created to benefit the family of Officer Alex Sable, who died during SWAT training in Maryland. The fundraiser is hosted on YouCaring.com, and was set up by friends of Sable. Money raised will go toward living expenses for the family and educational needs of his children. Sable, 37, was with Baltimore County Police Department's Tactical team on Sunday conducting a water exercise. The exercise was part of a SWAT school class at the Community College of Baltimore County-Dundalk Campus pool. Sable was training in preparation to become a member of the York County Quick Response Team, according to York spokesman Philip Given. As Sable got out of the pool, he suffered the medical emergency and was treated by on-site medics who were at the scene. Sable was then transported to a Baltimore area hospital and remained in critical care until he died Wednesday night. Sable served as a police officer in York for four years. He was a resident of Lancaster County, and is survived by his wife and three children. Sable also served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 8 years, which included two tours in Iraq. By Jim Christiana Washington has failed us. Rep. Jim Christina, R-Beaver So, on Tuesday, send the "good ol' boys" a wake-up call by voting for a Washington outsider and proven change agent. Pennsylvania needs a fresh start. Right now, the problems are stacking up, yet solutions are scarce. The D.C. class is spending $1 trillion more than it brings in; one-sixth of our economy is intertwined in the healthcare industry and it's a mess; Congress has mandated more standardized tests on our students and teachers; our borders still aren't secure; our immigration system is broken; and Social Security is on a bullet train to bankruptcy. Combined, we have given Lou Barletta and Bob Casey Jr. 20 years to fix these problems and they've made them worse. Like many of you, I'm tired of the excuses. We need progress now or our kids and grandkids are going to inherit Washington's mess. I'm not willing to let that happen, and that's why I stepped up to run for U.S. Senate. On Tuesday, Republicans will have two choices: Jim Christiana and Lou Barletta. Before you head to the polls, I ask you to look at each of our records. Not only did Lou Barletta vote for the omnibus spending bill this year, he did so last year and the year before. Lou tells pro-life Republicans behind closed doors he supports defunding Planned Parenthood, but in January he voted to give them $500 million. In fact, Lou Barletta voted to fund Planned Parenthood in 2018 and 2015, and to increase their funding in 2016. Lou talks tough on immigration, but in January he voted again to fully fund sanctuary cities and he hasn't gotten a single immigration reform bill through Congress. As PennLive's John Micek recently pointed out, Lou Barletta "has not had any bills signed into law under his own name" during the current session of Congress. We are tired of the rhetoric, we need results. Results are what set me apart from Lou and Bob Casey. My legislation delivered transparency tools that did not exist when I got to Harrisburg. Under the PennWATCH Act that I personally sponsored, taxpayers can see where we are spending $32 billion of annual state spending. You can visit PennWATCH.pa.gov in your bathrobe and see the salaries of every state employee. I brought labor, industry and government together - three groups that rarely agree on policy-- and we convinced a $6 billion petrochemical plant to set up shop in Pennsylvania and bring 10,000 jobs with it. That project represents the largest capital investment in Pennsylvania since World War II. My legislation created a new school choice program, which has saved 100,000 kids from chronically underperforming schools. I lead the fight and convinced legislative leaders to institute the first maternity leave policy in Pennsylvania state government. Unlike Lou Barletta and Bob Casey, I haven't wasted my opportunity to delivery results. My time in Harrisburg began with me voluntarily posting my expenses on my website, and my time in Harrisburg will end with me honoring my term limit pledge. We need a Republican nominee who has a record of major accomplishments in the Legislature, someone who will honor their word and get to work right away. I wasn't recruited to run by Congressional leaders, I don't owe anyone in Washington anything, but I'm willing to work with anyone to finally make progress. These problems won't be solved by the people who created them. I humbly ask for your vote in the U.S. Senate primary on May 15. For more information, visit JimChristiana.org. State Rep. Jim Christiana, of Beaver County, is seeking the Republican nomination to the United States Senate in this Tuesday's primary election. The state's new online system for obtaining occupational and professional licenses came close to leaving Priscilla Mateo in a bind. She is expecting to start her job working on clients as a stylist at Supercuts in Wyomissing on Monday. But as of Thursday, she still had not received her cosmetologist license. Despite having completed her training hours, passing her state exam and submitting all of the documentation needed for a license, her career as a cosmetologist came close to being put on hold. On Friday, her license was issued. Students from hers and other career schools are finding that getting a license, even a temporary license, these days from the Pennsylvania Department of State's Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs can be a time-consuming process. The Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork graduate has friends who finished their cosmetology training a couple months earlier than she did and they too were still waiting for their licenses to arrive so they can start to work. "I'm really stressing," said the 34-year-old single mother of two from Sinking Spring, Berks County, earlier last week. "I have no clue what's going on. I'm hoping it comes between now and Monday. It's stressful for me." Her parents helped support her and her children while she went to school but "they are hoping I can start work and doing my own thing," Mateo said. State department officials, meanwhile, paint a different picture of the $4 million Pennsylvania Licensing System, or PALS as it is referred to. The online system, which began rolling out in phases in November 2016, is part of Gov. Tom Wolf's efforts to modernize professional licensing and make the licensing process move quicker. Plus, it will save the state about $22,000 a month to use the commercial product that the licensing operation has been using. Given the size and scope of this new IT system, department officials say technical issues and bugs are to be expected. But as they are discovered, bureau Commissioner Ian Harlow said they are addressed, oftentimes within a week. A department spokeswoman suggests some of the problems people are experiencing may be attributable to getting used to a new way of applying for a professional or occupational license. "We understand that with any change people will need time to adjust," said department spokeswoman Wanda Murren. "We take all feedback into consideration and want to provide the best customer service that we can to our licensees. We are conscious of the impacts on a licensees' inability to work in their profession or to start a business that requires a license." A new system is born The new licensing system will serve the more than 1 million Pennsylvanians who apply for the 310 different types of professional or trade licenses the bureau issues as well as handle other related requests. It tracks the progress of license applications as they move through the process from beginning to end, department officials said. PALS also has a feature that allows the public to create a guest profile to get into the system and check to see if their doctor, massage therapist, physical therapist, accountant or any other licensee has a disciplinary history and find out any infractions they had. Additionally, it includes functions to assist the department's enforcement and investigation bureau, its legal office, and administrative law judges in their work as well. Harlow takes credit for coming up with the idea for this new online licensing system to replace the 20-year-old legacy system that had been in use and that he considered to be hugely inefficient. With the old system, portions of the licensing process were done online while the rest required paper documentation to be mailed. Then when the documents arrived at the bureau, staff would have to marry up the paper documents with what was completed online. "That quite frankly is what necessitated in my mind the need to do this," he said. "I thought my goodness, this is bad. We need to improve this. And that's really how the idea of this system was born." READ MORE: Was your doctor's license suspended? Your car dealer? These professionals were disciplined in March He said they looked around but could not find a system on the market that was innovative enough to meet the bureau's needs. So the department and the governor's Office of Administration's information technology workers, with assistance from the outside contractor OST Inc. of Washington, D.C., built this one. Not only does it fully digitize the process, but unlike the old system that only worked with Internet Explorer, this one is compatible with Apple devices, Harlow said. It also has more security features to protect personal information. Since the initial rollout of the system, it has processed more than 446,000 transactions and has collected more than $28.7 million in licensing fees, Murren said. In the last 30 days alone, the system processed nearly 195,000 transactions. The new system is on track to be completed by June 30, she said. "It is evident based on the number of successful transactions that the system is functional and is providing a benefit to our staff and the public alike," Murren said. But that is where the department officials' view of the system and what folks who have used it differ. Bumps in the road Even some bureau employees call this new computer system a complete mess. Between glitches in it, the backlogs it is causing, staffing shortages, and the mandatory and voluntary overtime asked of them, morale is running low. They share the frustration of distressed people such as Mateo who call in asking where their licenses are and they have little good news to tell them. Recreational vehicle dealers were told by their association to start their license renewal process sooner than normal because of possible delays associated with the new system. Kathy Ryan, executive director of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association, said some funeral directors experienced problems getting their licenses renewed through the new system in early February. And at one point, she said the system was shut down for awhile. But she is hopeful there will be fewer bumps when her members go to renew their licenses in two years. "They just put the system out to people at the last minute and there wasn't a lot of time for guys to figure it out," she said. "For the cosmetology schools from across Pennsylvania I represent, this is the number one state issue I have heard from schools on in recent months," said Aaron Shenck, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Private School Administrators, which represents 100 post-secondary career colleges across the state. "I have also heard similar concerns from schools I work with that have students that go for professional licensure in massage, barbering, and nursing." Priscilla Mateo, seen here working on Megan Walgren while a student at the Lancaster School of Cosmetology, has since graduated and now is left waiting for her state cosmetology license to arrive so she can begin earning a paycheck cutting hair. Lancaster School of Cosmetology's Deborah Dunn, who serves as vice president of the private school administrators' association, said: "I, as president and owner of a school, have never had to spend so much time on licensure issues as I'm spending now because of the delays. That part is extremely frustrating to me as an individual because the most important thing for our students is for them to get licensed and go to work." Not only are her students experiencing delays in receiving their licenses but also having problems with the system in the application process associated with them. When the scanned documents are being uploaded into the online system, sometimes students get kicked out of the system and have to start over. Plus, she and others agreed with Ryan in saying that it is not user-friendly. "Students can't navigate the system on their own," Dunn said. "So our students actually sit with our graduate services director because it can be so cumbersome to try to get through the new online application." There are side issues that bog down the process as well. Students trying to schedule their state boards, or licensure exams, often encounter delays because the documentation they upload into the online system seems to get lost somewhere along the way. The state contracts with Bloomington, Minn.-based Pearson Vue to administer licensing examinations for various state licensure boards. When contacted about the issues students are experiencing, company spokesman Scott Overland responded in an email, "All Pearson systems are operating normally. For any questions related to the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS), we have to refer you to the PA Department of State." Murren acknowledged there have been some remedial issues with Pearson Vue as well as its subcontractor Harrisburg-based Dasher Inc., which transmits student-submitted information to Pearson Vue. "But in all cases, the parties have worked with the [the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs] to correct and address any shortcomings," she said. "At this point, all known issues have been resolved. There may be minor things still to be identified but that is all part of the stabilization process." But directors of other cosmetology schools say the complications their students and graduates encounter may be minor to the state but not to them or their students or parents who are blaming the schools for the licensing delays that are keeping their daughter or son from being employed. Teresa Madigan, director of Altoona Beauty School Inc., said, "Until the PALS system started, I never had parents calling in screaming at me. I tell them we had her paperwork in and we had it in on this date. We document everything. We never had problems like this before." She recently found out from one of her students that her application to take the state exams was delayed because after discovering she didn't upload her headshot properly, she went back in to fix it. When she called Pearson to find out what the holdup was, "they said when you update something you have to call us and let us know," Madigan said. "Nobody told us that. It's that lack of information." Harlow said that is intentional. "What we don't want is folks going through and submitting something and then being able to change the record at any point before we review it," he said. Harlow added that was true under the old system as well. A written request, which now can be uploaded into the new system, must be submitted to explain the change. Under the old system, Dunn said it would take 7 to 10 days for her students to get their licenses once proof of graduation was received. Now, Dunn said it can take as long as six weeks - or maybe longer, leaving her graduates unable to go to work. "It started in October or November and it took a while to realize the enormity of the delays and those types of things," she said. She and Shenck have made known the schools' concerns as well as individual student cases to the Harlow and the bureau's staff. Shenck said he has found them to be responsive. "However, to help his office solve the licensure delays and problems from continuing, I believe the department must allocate more staff and resources to the bureau to process applications quicker, to stay on top of the contractor they are working with more, and to fix any remaining process errors in the system from the transition to PALS," Shenck said. Stabilizing the system Department spokeswoman Murren said the bureau, admittedly, is short-staffed. It currently has 21 vacancies out of a total complement of 126 employees directly assigned to process license applications. She said they are using temporary clerical pool employees and annuitants to assist with mail processing, application processing and phone calls until vacancies are filled and new staff is trained. Plus, she said the department has asked the contractor it is working with to assign more staff to assist with addressing requests for assistance submitted by the licensure boards, staff, and licensees as well as troubleshooting problems and deploying system modifications. As for the time it takes to process licenses now, Murren said the bureau is averaging 20.75 days for initial licensure but the license renewal process is, on average, less than five days. READ MORE: Real estate agents, funeral directors, nurses: State disciplines licensed professionals (Jan. 2018) Department officials admit the implementation process has included some bumps in the road. Harlow confirmed one of them was "an accidental disclosure" of about 40 people's personal information records such as date of birth, last four digits of Social Security numbers, and full names at one point through the development process. But it didn't rise to the full definition of a data breach as defined in a 2005 state law. Still in a show of good faith, Harlow said the department offered those affected by the incident credit monitoring service for a year. Harlow considers this IT project to be a model other states might look to replicate. In fact, he said Kentucky already has reached out "because they heard we had this innovative new cutting-edge system." He added, "This entire operation is paid for through licensing dollars so I have an obligation to do things as efficiently as I can because we don't want to be in the business of raising fees unnecessarily so our hope is that all of that comes into fruition." But for school operators like Dunn, the efficiency she hopes for from the system is one that allows students like Mateo to get their license sooner after they finish up their schooling and pass their state exams. "We were told the new system would streamline and quicken the process," Dunn said. "It certainly hasn't streamlined or quickened anything. It's a complete frustration." *This story has been updated to remove a reference to Priscilla Mateo's esthetician license and to reflect that she received her cosmetology license on Friday. Lights on an internet switch are lit up as with users in an office in Ottawa, on February 10, 2011. Canada???s competition watchdog is inviting public comment about broadband internet providers, including whether there are lessons the can be learned from how other countries manage and regulate their markets. It???s seeking initial submissions by Aug. 31 and aims to publish a final report next year.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets former mayor Colette Roy-Laroche during an announcement Friday, May 11, 2018 in Lac-Megantic, Que. The Quebec and federal governments will jointly fund a rail bypass in Lac-Megantic, nearly five years after 47 people were killed when a train derailed and exploded in the town. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson Alberta Premier Rachel Notley unveils an ad they will be running in B.C. about the pipeline expansion in Edmonton, Alta., on Thursday, May 10, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks to media at an embargoed press conference before the provincial throne speech at the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg, Tuesday, November 21, 2017. The Manitoba government appears set to ban hunting with spotlights a a practice that Premier Brian Pallister said last year was leading to a race war with some Indigenous hunters. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Marguerite Blais, former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister, gets a hug from Coalition Avenir du Quebec leader Francois Legault after announcing her candidacy for the riding of Prevost north of Montreal Friday, May 11, 2018 in Saint Sauveur, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz Victim Christopher Reid, 38, of Toronto, is shown in a Toronto Police Service handout photo. Toronto police are asking the public for help in identifying the driver of a white BMW believed to be involved in a fatal shooting in the city earlier this week. Det. Leslie Dunkley says emergency crews were dispatch to the scene of a single-vehicle collision Monday just before noon. He says the injuries sustained by the driver were consistent with gunshot wounds and the man was rushed to hospital without vital signs. Dunkley says the victim, who has been identified as 38-year-old Christopher Reid, died in hospital Thursday and an autopsy concluded he died of gunshot wounds. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Toronto Police Service MANDATORY CREDIT Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Carolyn Wilkins, Senior Deputy Governor, walk to the National Press Gallery in Ottawa on October 25, 2017. The Bank of Canada???s deputy governor says more diverse perspectives are needed at the decision making table when crafting policy to avoid falling into the "echo chamber." Carolyn Wilkins says this may not seem relevant for a central bank at first, but its projects in the modern economy such as cryptocurrency assets require more diversity of thought. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly walk toward Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., Friday, May 4, 2018. Trump is traveling to Dallas where he will address the NRA convention. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Iranian protestors burn a representation of a U.S. flag during a gathering after their Friday prayer in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 11, 2018. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets in cities across the country to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with world powers. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) FILE - In this Friday, July 8, 2016 file photo, a prescription is filled at a pharmacy in Sacramento, Calif. On Friday, May 11 2018, Trump is scheduled to give his first speech on how his administration will seek to lower drug prices. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2017 file photo, Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., pauses before speaking to reporters during a meeting of the National Defense Authorization Act conferees, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A White House official dismissed a view expressed by Sen. McCain about President Donald Trump's CIA nominee, saying Thursday, May 10, 2018, at a staff meeting that "it doesn't matter" because "he's dying anyway," two people in the room told The Associated Press. Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain's opposition to Trump's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, when she made the comment. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - In this May 17, 2017 file photo, CNN News anchor Jake Tapper attends the Turner Network 2017 Upfront presentation in New York. Tapper is set to address graduates at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst's spring commencement, on Friday, May 11, 2018. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Pirate offense sputters in loss The downpour of rain that drenched Pirate Field in the fourth quarter was probably an accurate representation of just how Perryville football coach Brent Roth and his team felt following the game.The Indians have fun in shutout victory over Bayless St. Vincent football coach Tim Schumer said that his team had a lot of fun on Friday night. The Indians scored early and often, then dominated on defense as they shutout Bayless 59-0 Oil dips Friday from recent highs on hopes of alternatives to Iran supply By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 Oil prices dipped on Friday, easing from multi-year highs in the previous session on hopes that alternative supplies could replace a looming drop in Iranian exports from U.S. sanctions. The United States plans to re-introduce sanctions against Iran, which produces around 4 percent of global oil supplies, after abandoning an agreement reached in late 2015 that limited Tehran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing U.S.-Europe sanctions. The sanctions come amid an oil market that has been tightening due to strong demand, especially in Asia, and as top exporter Saudi Arabia and No.1 producer Russia have led efforts since 2017 to withhold oil supplies to prop up prices. Brent crude futures were at $77.34 per barrel at 0451 GMT, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day hit its highest since November 2014 at $78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 7 cents at $71.29 a barrel, still not far off Thursday's November 2014 high of $71.89 per barrel. Many analysts expect oil prices to rise significantly, as the market adjusts to looming U.S. sanctions and Iran's exports sink amid strong demand. We expect that Iranian exports will fall well before the 180-day period until oil sanctions will be in effect, similar to the 2012 sanctions. We expect that around October Iranian exports will be down by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) and eventually fall by 1 million bpd in 1H19, U.S. investment bank Jefferies said in a note on Friday. There are, however, signs that other suppliers from within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will step up output to counter the Iran disruption. The market is now focused on OPEC and other producers' ability to react to this potential supply disruption, ANZ bank said on Friday. Investors are increasingly viewing Kuwait and Iraq as the producers with the best ability to raise output quickly in response to any fall in Iranian exports, it added. Jefferies said OPEC has the capacity to replace the Iranian losses but warned that even if physical supply is held constant... the market will still be faced with a precariously low level of spare capacity. Outside OPEC, soaring U.S. crude oil production may help fill Iran's supply gap, hitting another record last week by climbing to 10.7 million barrels per day (bpd). That's up 27 percent since mid-2016 and means U.S. output is creeping ever closer to that of top producer Russia, which pumps around 11 million bpd. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Guyana's GRA Boss, Statia gets basket to fetch water All variables in favour of oil companies Ram notes By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell GEORGETOWN Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia, is willing to protect Guyana from oil companies that may have intentions to cheat the nation of its revenue. But will he be able to so? Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram thinks that it will be no easy task. He says the odds are against Statia. Ram said that Statia's good intention is not enough to save Guyana. He added that with little or no rules, regulations and laws in place to aid his work, the Tax Chief may have an uphill task keeping oil companies in check. Ram, also an Attorney-at-law expressed concerns about the low equity injection and high borrowings (thin capitalization) being pursued by the three contractors operating in the Stabroek BlockHess, CNOOC/Nexen and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (ExxonMobil's subsidiary). His concerns really stem from the fact that Guyana has agreed to stand the cost of the interest on all loans secured by the three companies. The annual returns of two of the three companies operating the Stabroek Block showed that their exploration costs were financed by loans from their parent companies. Since one of those companies Hess Guyana Exploration Guyana Limited (Hess) had not filed annual returns since its registration in 2014, it is not possible to determine the source of its financing. Still, Ram said that it would be a safe bet that Hess was financed by inter-company borrowings. The total intercompany debt of Esso in 2016 alone was $76.9B of which approximately $60B was incurred in 2016. Ram said, An obvious question is whether the Guyana branch is being charged interest on massive debt. An equally obvious answer is that we do not and cannot know because of the sparse information offered in the financial statements. Here is what those statements say about intercompany debt: This amount represents amount due to Home Office as well as intercompany loan utilized to fund petroleum operations. The problem with interest financing when it falls under cost recovery is that the higher the loan, the higher the accumulated interest to be paid. There is often collusion when the borrowed money is from a parent company. But in short, the more money to be recovered by these oil companies, the less to be divided in profit sharing. Ram noted Statia's indication that the Revenue Authority would be having particular interest in the practice of thin capitalization and will no doubt seek to use his discretionary powers to disallow some of those costs. The Accountant was keen to point out that other countries discourage the practice of low equity, high debt by setting up and implementing what are called thin-capitalization rules. But, Statia does not have these at his disposal. Ram said, The challenges for the Commissioner General are not insignificant: no thin-capitalization rules; a court system that generally avoids getting involved on how companies structure their finances; the tax exempt status of the oil companies; and the jurisdictional overlap between the Revenue Authority and the Petroleum Commission whenever that Bill is pursued in the National Assembly. Of course, inter-company loans are only one tool used by businesses to shift profits from high tax to no/low tax jurisdictions since there is an infinite number of ways to shift income or charge or shift expenses. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us East Coast refiners look to Texas crude for discounted oil By Jarrett Renshaw and Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 U.S. East Coast refiners are shipping more shale oil from the Gulf Coast thanks to heavy discounts for West Texas crude and are also looking to bring more via rail, but supply bottlenecks are making it difficult to secure more barrels. Producers are pumping record volumes of oil from the Permian basin, the biggest oilfield in the United States and the source of most of the country's shale oil, and that is straining the region's energy infrastructure. Pipelines from west Texas to the Gulf Coast are full, and developers will not finish new lines until next year. Rail terminals are nearly all dedicated to bringing supplies to shale producers such as the huge volume of sand used to extract oil from the ground. In the last seven years, crude has gone to the East Coast by rail in just one month - June of last year. The transport bottlenecks could limit the pace of growth of shale production, and as pipelines fill, the price of oil in the region has fallen. Permian basin oil is selling at the steepest discount to benchmark U.S. prices in 3-1/2 years WTC-WTM WTC-WTS after production there surged to a record of around 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd). Even as U.S. crude futures trade at more than $71 a barrel, Midland, Texas-based shale is changing hands at around $58 a barrel. That has caused East Coast buyers to jump on the chance to purchase cheaper U.S. crude, boosting flows from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast to three-year highs. In the December-to-February period, an average of 2.8 million barrels went from the Gulf to the East Coast per month, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the highest three-month average since the same period in 2015. Refiners such as Monroe Energy and Phillips 66 have been bringing barrels by sea to their facilities in the Philadelphia region. In addition, both companies are exploring how to bring crude by train as pipeline bottlenecks are making it difficult to increase volume by sea, according to sources familiar and company executives. It's a niche opportunity with a limited lifetime but that's what the marketplace needs right now - more takeaway capacity, said Phil Dalton, director of crude strategy and development at Murex, a distribution firm with a rail terminal in the Permian basin. Pipeline capacity out of the Permian could be short by about 750,000 barrels a day by September 2019, according to PLG Consulting, as they estimate Permian production could hit 4.25 million by then. Murex said last week that it would more than double capacity by the third quarter to allow its facility, operated with Cetane Energy, to load a unit train of 75,000 barrels of oil every day. There are currently 15 rail loading terminals in the Permian region with the ability to load 500,000 to 600,000 bpd, according to market intelligence firm Genscape. A ramp-up in rail shipments would require additional efforts, including cleaning rail cars, said Ezra Yemin, chief executive officer of refinery Delek U.S. Holdings, on an investor earnings call on Wednesday. Some of the railroad companies are not as attuned or as receptive to this idea like they were four, five years ago, he said. About 70 percent of Delek's crude is from the Permian, as it has several refineries in or close to that region. PBF Energy began exploring the idea of bringing Texas barrels by rail roughly two weeks ago as that oil cheapened, the company's CEO, Thomas Nimbley, told investors. Just 46,000 barrels of crude have been railed to the East Coast from the Gulf region in the last seven years, according to EIA data, all in June 2017. GULF OIL HEADS EAST Monroe Energy and Phillips 66 have stepped up their use of U.S. tankers to bring crude to the East Coast, according to sources and Reuters shipping data. The exact volumes of crude oil delivered to these refineries is unclear. Monroe Energy's 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery outside Philadelphia has received at least four shipments by tanker in the last 90 days from Texas ports, Reuters shipping data shows. Phillips 66 has been using a tanker to carry crude from Texas to its Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, two sources familiar with the shipping details said. Several pipeline projects are already in the works, with at least 1.5 million bpd of new capacity expected by late 2019. In the meantime, crude by rail will not be able to grow quickly enough to meet the short term demand, PLG said. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Braskem to talk new naphtha contract with Petrobras - CEO By Alberto Alerigi SAO PAULO Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 Braskem SA will soon start to negotiate a long-term contract to buy naphtha from its shareholder Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the chief executive of the Brazilian petrochemical company said on Thursday. Braskem CEO Fernando Musa said the current five-year supply contract, which is one of the largest held by Braskem with state-controlled Petrobras, ends in 2020. We don't want to start the negotiation too close to the deadline, he told journalists. Musa said the company has supply contracts abroad that may reach up to 20 years. He did not say how much naphtha Petrobras currently supplies nor gave details of the planned contract. Musa said he expects Braskem's U.S. unit to begin operations in its new polypropylene production unit in La Porte, Texas, in 2020. The company last year said the final phase of main construction on the new unit, which will be located next to its existing production facilities, was targeted for the first quarter of 2020. He declined to comment on the company's previously announced project to unify its different share classes into a single common stock. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us As Trinidad & Tobago LNG output grows, cargoes flow far afield By Sabina Zawadzki LONDON Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 Liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in Trinidad, a top 10 global exporter, is recovering thanks to a new field start up, but competition from U.S. shale is forcing sellers of its output to go much further afield. Trinidad built LNG facilities during a second wave of the industry's expansion in the 1990s with the goal of supplying North and Latin America. But supplies from the U.S. shale gas revolution have since dented that strategy. Trinidad's 15 million tonne-a-year (mmta) Atlantic facility, which liquefies natural gas for export and in which BP and Royal Dutch Shell are major shareholders, ran at 75 percent of capacity last year as gas deposits become depleted. Its production fell almost 30 percent from a peak of 34.32 million cubic metres of LNG (mcm LNG) in 2010 to 25.07 mcm LNG last year. The latest data from the energy ministry, issued this week, showed total March output rose to 2.6 mcm LNG, up 0.4 mcm from February and 0.7 mcm higher than a year ago. Output has been broadly rising since November after the $2 billion BP-operated Juniper project came onstream in August. BP said at the time that the project would add 590 million cubic feet of natural gas a day (mcf/d) to its capacity in the country. The completion of an onshore compressor by Atlantic's Point Forint terminal, which improves gas recovery from BP's low-pressure wells, has further raised its gas capacity by 200 mcf/d. The additional gas from the two projects translate to 5.9 mmta of potential LNG production compared to Atlantic's 15 mmta capacity, according to Reuters calculations, although actual gas output plus domestic consumption needs to be taken into account before calculating any consequent increase in LNG output. Take a little for domestic and you'd certainly see something like 3 to 4 mmta (added to LNG production), said Trevor Sikorski, head of natural gas and carbon research at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects. It's hard to say whether it would go to 15 mmta ... They've only ever done that once, in 2010. Atlantic LNG and Royal Dutch Shell declined to discuss LNG production figures or comment on any future developments or forecasts. BP was not available for comment. BP has sanctioned another gas project while appraising a further two discoveries and Shell has invested further, buying out Chevron's assets in the country - trends that should increase and maintain Trinidad's LNG output in the medium term. Nevertheless, although LNG exports rose in the first four months of this year, flows to North and Latin America have fallen, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data. Instead, cargoes have gone as far as China, which received twice as much in the first four months of this year as last year; as well as India, with a 50 percent increase in volumes; the UK, where flows have just exceeded last year's; and Thailand. LNG cargos are making some incredible trips. You've seen trips from Norway to China, big trips around the bottom of South Africa, Bernstein analyst Oswald Clint said, explaining changing trade flows dictated by high Chinese demand. The explosion of U.S. LNG supplies - thanks to new export facilities - from just a single cargo leaving in January 2016 to 27 tankers carrying 4.1 mcm LNG in January this year, has not only supplied China but also flooded the regional market. I don't think it (Trinidad's increased production) is disruptive, Clint said, of the North and Latin American LNG markets. It's more about whether there is sufficient material uplift against greenfield capacity expansion. The quantity is not big enough to cause a big enough disruption. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Venezuela PDVSA suggests ready to pay after Conoco moves on its Caribbean assets By Alexandra Ulmer and Deisy Buitrago CARACAS Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 Venezuela on Thursday rejected ConocoPhillips's moves to seize the country's Caribbean assets to collect on a $2 billion arbitration award, but in a sign the U.S. oil company's pressure might be working, Caracas also suggested it was ready to pay. In its first official comments since Reuters revealed Conoco's actions over the weekend, Venezuela's cash-squeezed leftist government said PDVSA wanted to solve the dispute through legal means. The dispute stems from Venezuela's nationalization of Conoco's assets a decade ago under late leader Hugo Chavez. PDVSA is committed to honoring the decisions stemming from the arbitration award, the Oil Ministry said in a series of tweets. The tweets disappeared about an hour later. Venezuela's Oil Ministry and PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment. Conoco is looking forward to PDVSA's proposals to resolve this matter, said Janet Langford Carrig, ConocoPhillips' senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in an email. But absent any agreement and payment of the ICC award we will continue our enforcement actions. Venezuela would be hard pressed to cough up $2 billion as it faces a brutal recession, hefty debt payments to bondholders and an upcoming presidential election. Nicolas Maduro's leftist administration is also battling more than a dozen other arbitration cases triggered by a wave of nationalizations under Chavez, who died of cancer in 2013. Venezuela has requested annulments or shown little willingness to pay recent awards, leading creditors to pursue its overseas assets as a form of payment. In the most aggressive move to date, ConocoPhillips last week moved to temporarily seize PDVSA's assets on Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Eustatius. That threw Venezuela's oil export chain into a tailspin just as Venezuela's crude production has crumbled to an over 30-year low due to underinvestment, theft, a brain drain and mismanagement. PDVSA was forced to suspend oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities and has concentrated most shipping in its main crude terminal of Jose, which is suffering from a backlog. Conoco's actions may have also spurred action from other creditors who fear ending up at the end of the line. Mining company Rusoro filed a lawsuit seeking to attach assets of PDVSA's Citgo Petroleum as payment for a $1.2 billion arbitration award. And a firm that received the Venezuelan promissory notes from Canadian contractor SNC-Lavalin on Wednesday sued PDVSA for over $25 million over nonpayment. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Iran crisis warps OPEC equation as Saudi Arabia signal more supply Bloomberg Saudis indicate they could make up for lost Iranian output . Next OPEC meeting will be about production revival: Amrita Sen - Play Video -Fesharaki sees 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil removed per day. By Grant Smith and Javier Blas LONDON Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 The international nuclear agreement with Iran might not be the only deal U.S. President Donald Trump has unraveled. On Monday, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih was repeating his mantra that production cuts by OPEC and its allies must keep going. Within 48 hours, the kingdom had raised the prospect of increasing output. Between the two pronouncements came Trump's decision to scrap the Iran deal, re-imposing sanctions on the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter. There is a good chance the current OPEC deal will end by end-2018, if not before, said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. in New York. For the past 16 months, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies have been constraining output to eliminate a global glut. They've largely achieved that goal, but the Saudis -- keen for higher prices -- have insisted the curbs should continue to drive oil stockpiles even lower. That policy may falter in the wake of Trump's Iran sanctions. While it's still uncertain how much he intends to curtail Iranian oil shipments, most analysts predict a cutback. The Iranian sanctions may change the OPEC June meeting completely, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. It's no longer about extending the production cuts, but rather about when to start raising output gradually. EU Resistance When the international sanctions were last in force on Iran from 2012 to 2015, it removed about 1 million barrels a day from the market. This time, America's allies in Europe want to keep the nuclear accord alive and are resisting joining any U.S. embargo. Estimates vary from little impact anticipated by Barclays Plc, to a potential loss of more than 50 percent of the country's 2.7 million barrels of daily shipments predicted by consultant FGE. Reduced flows from Iran would compound escalating losses in troubled OPEC member Venezuela, further draining global oil inventories while demand remains strong, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Brent oil futures rose to a three-year high of $78 a barrel on Thursday. This presents the Saudis with a dilemma: Should they retain their focus on higher prices and keep output steady? Or should they offer political and economic support to Trump, and take market share away from their regional rival, by raising production to fill the gap? A statement released by the kingdom a few hours after Trump's announcement seemed to provide the answer. Saudi Arabia will mitigate the effects of any supply shortages, it said. Kuwait later gave a similar assurance. Clear Signal The signal from that is: the Iranian oil lost, we will replace, Fereidun Fesharaki, founder and chairman of FGE, said in a Bloomberg television interview. Boosting output to compensate for Iran and reining in rising prices would prevent damage to the global economy, and fuel demand. With U.S. gasoline costs rising, the move could also appease President Trump, who last month lashed out at OPEC for keeping prices artificially very high. There are risks too. Increasing supply by too much, or without coordination with fellow producers such as Russia, could inundate markets and drive prices lower. The alliance they established in 2016 could dissolve into mutual rivalry and suspicion. OPEC has to engage in some balancing acts, said Bassam Fattouh, director at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. They want to preserve the deal that they worked very hard to achieve, he said, referring to the group's historic production cuts. Saudi Assurance In a sign that Riyadh is aware of the political sensitivity of any oil-production increase, Al-Falih said in a on Wednesday that he was in close contact with other OPEC nations, Russia and the U.S. on how to ensure market stability. Sanctions on Iran won't affect the deal between OPEC and its partners, Kuwait Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi said Thursday. Much depends on Russia. The Kremlin will have to weigh its alliance with Iran in the Syrian conflict against the new bond forged with Saudi Arabia and the temptation of boosting production of Urals crude that could replace Iranian barrels in Europe. If the latter argument prevails, President Trump's decision may in fact have finally provided OPEC and Russia, which in 2016 had expected their effort to take just six months, with an exit strategy. The Saudi oil policy has been forced to change, said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. The OPEC-Russia supply restriction is seeing its last days. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us ConocoPhillips takes over Venezuela's Caribbean oil assetss Bloomberg PDVSA learns that Conoco pain may be worse than U.S. sanctions . Exports curtailed as PDVSA unable to access storage tanks - Play Video - ConocoPhillips Disrupts PDVSA's Exports By Lucia Kassai HOUSTON Petroleumworld 05 11 2018 ConocoPhillips may finish what U.S. sanctions started. The Houston-based company on Friday assumed control of Venezuela's oil assets in the Caribbean island of Bonaire and filed court orders to do the same in Curacao and Aruba. The takeover is effectively stifling Petroleos de Venezuela SA's ability to export oil, the commodity that bankrolls the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. The Caribbean terminals are logistically key to Venezuela's ability to export oil. About 16 percent of its crude exports are stored in those terminals before sailing to their final destination in the U.S., China and India. Oil at Bay 16% of Venezuelan crude exports are first shipped to PDVSA Caribbean terminals Source: Shipping reports, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg The move by ConocoPhillips is part of an effort to fulfill a $2.04 billion arbitration ruling against PDVSA. The state-run oil company, for its part, is planning to pay the award but hasn't reached out to Conoco to discuss the details yet, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. PDVSA didn't immediately return email seeking comment. Total disaster' This is a total disaster for Venezuela, says Francisco Monaldi, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. The Conoco situation, as it is, with PDVSA unable to use storage tanks in the Caribbean, is worse than the existing U.S. sanctions, he said in a phone interview from Houston. Unable to use its network of tank farms, PDVSA is rerouting cargoes back to its ill-equipped ports in Venezuela, causing a logjam of tankers around the main sea terminals. The company now has limited ability to load supertankers, the transportation mode of choice for buyers in China and India, which may force PDVSA to push more oil to U.S. refiners at deeper discounts, Monaldi said. Oil collapse Venezuela, owner of the world's largest oil reserves, was once Latin America's largest oil exporter by a large margin, but now loses the lead at times to Mexico and Brazil. The country shipped 1.26 million barrels of crude daily in April, a 20 percent decline from the previous year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country's production has been dropping even as oil prices have reached the highest level in more than three years. Daily output fell to 1.509 million barrels in March, from a peak of 3.708 million in 1970, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. PDVSA denounced the actions taken by ConocoPhillips to take assets in the Caribbean, according to a tweet by the Oil Ministry which was later deleted. The takeover comes after the International Chamber of Commerce found that the late President Hugo Chavez had illegally seized the ConocoPhillip's assets in Venezuela in 2007. This is not the first time that the company has locked horns with PDVSA in court. In 2015 , a U.S. court confirmed that ConocoPhillips was the sole owner of a coker at the Sweeny refinery in Texas. The coker, then co-owned by both companies, became sole property of Conoco after PDVSA failed to meet a supply agreement. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us The store front of the now-closed Piper's Smoke Shop in Limerick, Montgomery County. The owner of the shop was convicted of selling drug paraphernalia on Nov. 20, 2018. Read more The owner of three pipe shops in the Philadelphia suburbs, convicted in November of selling drug paraphernalia, was sentenced Thursday to a year of probation and was forced to give up his stores. Craig Hennesy, 49, was caught up in a rare crackdown on head shops spearheaded by the county Montgomery County District Attorney's office. On Aug. 31, police and county detectives raided Piper's Smoke Shop in Limerick and seized more than 2,000 glass smoking devices including water pipes and bongs and an undetermined amount of rolling papers and tobacco. Water pipes and bongs traditionally are used to smoke marijuana but not always. During Hennesy's trial, the retired county chief of detectives testified the devices were not drug paraphernalia and reasonably could be used to consume tobacco. No marijuana was sold at the shop at 196 W. Ridge Pike. "I had signs up everywhere saying "For Tobacco Use Only. There were no drugs anywhere," said Hennesy, who now works in a machine shop. "When the undercover cop came into my store, he was instructed that everything was only to be used for tobacco and he was given a small bag of tobacco with the clear glass chillum that he bought." The bust and Hennesy's conviction came less than a year before state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries opened for business in February. Though vaporizing cannabis is permitted under state law, combusting marijuana in any form remains illegal in Pennsylvania. Later this summer, dispensaries will begin to offer dry leaf marijuana and flower for sale. Detectives raided other pipe shops in the county, but Hennesy who said he had no criminal record was the only owner to be prosecuted on criminal charges "because I asked for my stuff back" after the raid. He estimated that his wholesale cost for the seized glass pipes, some of them works of art, was upwards of $100,000. Hennesy said the judge was "extremely fair considering what the DA's office wanted him to do," which would have been a sentence of two years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Because working in a pipe shop would have caused him to violate his probation, Hennesy said he no longer owns his two other stores in Malvern and Elverson in Chester County. "I've lost everything," he said. "But I'm an entrepreneur. I'll be back with another business soon." An aerial view of the 213 acres currently owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Peter Miller, president of Carlino Commercial Development, working under the development name Sproul Road Developers LLC, plans to redevelop 47.1 acres as commercial space, 5.1 acres as recreation fields, leaving more than 160 acres as open, forested land. Read more Peter Miller, president of Carlino Commercial Development, made his intentions very clear to about 100 Marple Township residents at a meeting Monday night: One way or another, he and his partners would develop at least part of a 213-acre tract beloved for its green space. "Our preferred plan is to preserve 166 acres and redevelop" 47 acres, Miller said during a question-and-answer session about the future of the Marple land, which is currently owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "But if we don't get the zoning support, I want you to really understand this, we are going to do" a larger project allowed under the current zoning. Raising the microphone to his lips, a resident pressed Miller. "So no matter what," the resident asked, "you're going to develop the property?" "We're going to develop the property," Miller confirmed. To many of the residents gathered inside the Cardinal O'Hara High School auditorium, Miller's announcement came as a surprise. Marple residents joined by others from the region had derailed a previous developer's efforts to build on the property, citing the need to protect open space in fast-growing Delaware County. Some who attended Miller's meeting came with similar opposition in mind. But during a 2-hour informational session, the developers made clear that these circumstances were different. Unlike Bruce Goodman, the Jenkintown developer whose plans for the site crumbled in 2016 when he could not get the township approval he needed, Miller intends to settle his agreement of sale with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Shovels will be in the ground. And although Sproul Road Developers LLC Miller's development group, formed in partnership with colleagues at Carlino, as well as Brian McElwee, president of Valley Forge Investment Corp. plans to protect open space at the site, the group would change course if it does not get the approval it needs, Miller said. "We could have taken the easy way out and just done the by-right plan," Miller told the crowd, referring to a denser plan with dozens of homes and institutional space, which the zoning allows. "We're trying to do right." "Our sincere plan," Miller said in an interview afterward, "is to preserve open space." That differs from Goodman's plan just a few years ago. Goodman, who had the land under sale agreement in 2014 for $47 million, including a $5 million nonrefundable deposit, had planned to build 318 homes, plus nearly one million square feet of commercial space, leaving only spotty open land. His plans were quashed when the township denied his zoning requests amid significant resident pushback. In contrast, Sproul Road Developers' plan, Miller told residents, is to build a commercial complex on 47.1 acres, plus develop 5.1 more acres as recreational fields. The remaining 161 acres would be preserved as forest. (Miller has referred to the open space as being 166 acres. That is a combination of the fields and the forested land.) According to Miller, he is working with Delaware County on a plan that would have the county buy and preserve the forested land. John McBlain, Delaware County Council chairman, said Tuesday that although no formal agreement has been signed, the county has spoken with Miller about "potential frameworks" for a deal. Among the proposals Miller described Monday: Using some of the property taxes from the site's commercial development to underwrite a bond the county would use to buy the land. The plan to preserve 161 acres was hatched last year after Miller met with Save Marple Greenspace, a grassroots group that vehemently opposed Goodman. At the time, the organization told Miller it would support redevelopment of the Don Guanella Village portion of the site, a 38-acre defunct facility at 1797 Sproul Rd. In exchange for supporting that, the group told Miller, the rest of the land must be preserved as open space, according to Ken Hemphill, communications coordinator for the group. Since those meetings last year and since Miller and the archdiocese agreed on an undisclosed purchase price Miller's development has grown slightly. Meanwhile, Save Marple Greenspace's support has dissipated. "We agreed not to oppose the 38-acre [plan], but even that is too big now," Hemphill said this week. "We have reconsidered that and rethought our position about traffic." "During our first meeting with Mr. Miller, he said he didn't want to fight the community," Hemphill continued. "I would hardly say coming out with a plan for 47 acres is not fighting the community." The reversal by Save Marple Greenspace could present a problem for Sproul Road Developers, whose preferred plan hinges on zoning approval from the township. The site is zoned as industrial along Sproul Road, and behind that, residential. To build their nearly 380,000-square-foot complex which could include a Wegmans, a health-care facility, and senior housing, among other businesses the developers need commercial approval. It's also possible that Save Marple Greenspace's resistance could be detrimental to their cause. If zoning is denied, Sproul Road Developers plans to proceed with a "by-right" plan to build a nearly 500,000-square-foot institutional project, such as a hospital. In addition, the developer said he would prepare the land so that nearly 209 homes could be built eliminating most of the open space that Miller plans to save. "If you shrink the development at the front too much, you have less money [from property taxes] to help the county buy" the open space, Miller said. Sproul Road Developers is expected to formally present its plans May 21 at a township meeting. Until then, while some residents are gearing up to fight, others at Monday's night meeting issued an important warning. "I'm concerned that we would lose probably the last open space in the community if this is turned into a by-right [plan]," one woman told the crowd. "We don't have choices for open space this is really the last frontier for us." Jack Belitsky volunteers for the Rhawnhurst NORC, operated by the Jewish Federation in partnership with Catholic Health Care Services, helps older adults living within Philly ZIP codes of 19111, 19114, 19115, 19116, 19149 and 19152. The NORCnaturally occuring retirement communityprovides maintenance and repairs; transportation to medical appointments and grocery shopping; lunch and learn gatherings; and friendly visits. (Credit: JewishPhilly.org) Read more If you're 60 or older and live in Northeast Philadelphia, there's a retirement community for you one where you can stay in your home. Enter the Northeast NORC naturally-occurring retirement community set up by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and Catholic Health Care Services for seniors in Northeast Philly neighborhoods to link up with volunteers. Those who join the NORC pay nothing for membership. Additional services by volunteers such as lawnmowing, home maintenance, and meals delivery are also generally free. Skilled workers referred by the Northeast NORC charge regular prices but come with background checks. A NORC is a community that has "a large proportion of residents over 60 but was not specifically planned to meet the needs of older adults living on their own," according to its website. "The residents face various obstacles that make it hard for them to perform daily activities like shopping for food and taking care of their homes," said Abby Gilbert, project manager for Northeast NORC on Bustleton Avenue, formerly known as the Rhawnhurst NORC. "Despite these challenges, they prefer to remain in their own homes." "We do everything from life checks on seniors in their homes, to driving them to medical appointments, to home repairs, to cleaning," she added. More than 65,000 of Philadelphia's older adults live in the Northeast, as its once-booming neighborhoods grow older. Many Northeast Philly residents moved in after World War II and raised families there. Now they've aged in place, and their housing has aged, as well. The NORC serves more than 1,600 seniors and enlists roughly 400 volunteers, Gilbert said. The Northeast NORC's budget totals about $307,000 this year, funded through grants from the Jewish Federation, the largest funder, and others, including the Etta and Bernard Weinberg Family Fund of the federation, the Pew Fund for the Elderly, and Catholic Health Care Services, Gilbert said. "The budget was lower annually in prior years, but we expanded about 1 years ago into three more zip codes, so our funding increased," she said. Jack Belitsky is a client of the NORC, who joined after he retired from 36 years of teaching in the Neshaminy school district. He quickly also became a volunteer, and now hosts a book discussion group, a social circle, and a Yiddish conversation class. "I can't do without the NORC. They were just here for spring cleaning. They put my air conditioner in, they moved my fridge to clean it behind there. They're a great referral service. They check all the skilled workers and recommend those people," said Belitsky, 78. He joined the Northeast NORC 13 years ago. "What prompted me to join? Getting older. I'm 78. I joined when I was 65. As I got older, I need help with various things like transportation. I don't drive anymore, especially when I do programs," he said. Currently, his Yiddish conversation group meets the last Tuesday of the month at Congregations of Shaare Shamayim at 9768 Verree Rd., his current events group meets at Sidewater Apartments at Bustleton and Byberry Avenues, and his weekly book discussion meets at its NORC Klein Life center. "I was very active in my congregation for years. I believe that serving others, especially seniors like myself, is necessary. They need socialization and activities that keep them aware," he added. Seniors socialize at the Rhawnhurst NORC Klein Life Center, operated by the Jewish Federation in partnership with Catholic Health Care Services.Often the Rhawnhurst NORC's seniors are already receiving services from Catholic Social Services, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, the Veterans Administration, Jewish Family & Children Services, or JEVS Human Services. The idea is to make sure they're not isolated, as well. "Isolation is enemy number one for the elderly," Gilbert said. Keeping seniors healthy is another aim. Members of the Northeast NORC receive flu shots from drug store reps on-site, energy-saving lightbulbs from Peco, blood-pressure screenings, exercise at free yoga classes, and other Silver Sneakers classes at KleinLife. To join the NORC, or to become a volunteer, contact Northeast NORC Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at 215-320-0351 or email: norc@jewishphilly.org. Seniors helping seniors The nonprofit Riders' Club Cooperative has been transporting seniors for 33 years. In addition to individual seniors who join, the Riders Club partners with Cathedral Village, the Hill at Whitemarsh, Abington VNA Aging at Home, the Northeast NORC, the Wayne Senior Center, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to transport clients for shopping, weddings and funerals, medical appointments, social functions, and religious services. Many of the drivers are seniors themselves. The Riders Club also provides special-needs transportation for two suburban school districts and works with private schools and student families. For information, call 215-836-1376. Another option? Seniors Helping Seniors, a franchise business that hires older adults in Greater Philadelphia. It matches seniors who want help with someone their own age. The franchises offer home care, companionship, and home maintenance at an hourly rate. The cost varies, but expect to pay about $21 to $25 an hour for basic care-giving services, which include companion and personal care, pet care, help with bills, phone calls, and respite for caregivers, plus mileage if errands are part of the job. Prices may be higher if you require a licensed nurse. Check the website for locations: seniorshelpingseniors.com. The company is based out of Reading and tends to hire those over 50 years old. Pay generally starts around $10 an hour for senior employees. Who qualifies? The Rhawnhurst NORC a naturally-occurring retirement community helps older adults living within the Philadelphia ZIP codes of 19111, 19114, 19115, 19116, 19149 and 19152. Membership is free and many services are done by volunteers. For information, visit the NORC's website: jewishphilly.org and click on "Need Help," or call 215-320-0351. They've been making wine on the northern slopes of Mount Etna since 800 B.C. But only recently have the wines of this active Sicilian volcano gained international attention. Part of that can be attributed to the history of Southern Italy, whose agricultural regions suffered an exodus of labor to the cities and abroad for much of the modern era. A vineyard revival that started in the 1990s, however, has finally begun to produce spectacular results with a reembracing of ancient grapes like Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, which thrive in the high elevations and rich volcanic soils, resulting in red wines that bring lively minerality and bright fresh flavors. This entry-level Etna Rosso by Tenuta delle Terre Nere, which also produces several coveted single-vineyard "crus" that vary greatly due to the area's volcanic history, is a perfect starting point. The wine is made from grapes farmed organically at some of the highest altitudes in Italy, and some from low-yielding pre-phylloxera vines as old as 140 years. It has a midweight similar to a pinot noir and shares some traits of a good Burgundy a core of vivid red raspberry fruit wrapped in earth, herbal notes, and acidity but with an elegance that allows it to pair with a wide variety of foods, from poultry to tuna. Craig LaBan Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso 2016, $21.99. PLCB # 74461. Campaign mailers from a far off place Delco have been landing on Mike Newalls front step. This week, he finally took a look at them, Read more Every day, I hear the thump on my front door. A missive, arriving from the hinterlands. A thick packet of political mailers, secured with a rubber band. All of them from a wilderness so far removed from my consciousness that it might as well be across the country. I am speaking, of course, of Delaware County. But I'm a Delconian now at least congressionally. Last year I moved to the south side of Mifflin Street in South Philly, which has always been a legislative dividing line my neighbors across the street inhabit a different district. I mingle with them nonetheless felt like one of them, even. One, because no one cares that much about congressional districts, and two, because my old district was almost entirely in Philadelphia, with a sliver in Delco. Earlier this year, though, in a much-overdue effort to remedy some of the worst gerrymandering in a state that sets the gold standard for it, the state Supreme Court redrew the district lines. And I ended up in the Fifth which comprises the entirety of Delco, a touch of Montco, and a smidge of South Philadelphia. This time, I was in the smidge. The thing is, I'd never actually taken the rubber band off any of those packets of mailers. And the primary is Tuesday. And so, like any seasoned columnist, I made my colleagues explain to me what the hell was going on out there. "You should read Clout!" Holly Otterbein, one of our political reporters who's been covering this race for months, chided me. I do read her weekly column, and it's essential. I just didn't think the Delco parts applied to me. But, as Otterbein has been reporting, what's happening in the Fifth is probably the most interesting race in the region. There are more Democratic women running for Congress there than in any other primary in the country which is even more significant when you consider that Rep. Pat Meehan, a Republican, probably would have won reelection if he hadn't resigned over a sexual-harassment scandal last month. And when you can sort through the mailers, and listen to the voices of the people who are running, you can see Democrats honing their message for the midterms talking about gun control and the environment and health care and the scourge in the White House. It's a test for what might work in the fall. Otterbein has been running in-depth interviews with eight of the 10 candidates as the primary approaches. That's down from 16. "Like the Kentucky Derby," said Phil Heron, the editor of the Delaware County Daily Times, when I rang him up last week. These are heady times for Democrats in Delco, he said. Last year, Democrats made countywide gains not seen since the Civil War. In this packed race, the old cliche every vote counts actually means something. There are so many Democratic Delco candidates, in fact, that they could cancel one another out and hand the vote to drum roll, please Rich Lazer, the favored candidate of who else but Johnny Doc, though campaign polls say it's unlikely. It would be the most Philadelphian story for poor Delco voters to finally get some decent congressional representation, only to have it snatched from them by my sliver of South Philly. But polls have Delconian Mary Gay Scanlon, an attorney and education advocate backed by former Gov. Ed Rendell, in the lead. "No one's going to get left out in the cold," Joe Corrigan, the Delco Dems spokesperson, assured me. True, the district has flipped from 74 percent Philly and 26 percent Delco, to basically the opposite. "We're not going to forget." My sliver hopes so. Corrigan, who lives in South Philly himself, told me our similarities far outweigh any differences with our neighbors to the west. They care about all the same things we do: good jobs, good schools. And they have priorities. "People here care far more about the Eagles and Sixers than they do about politics," Corrigan said with a laugh. On the way back to the city from the diner where I met Corrigan on Thursday, I stopped at a Folsom bar called the Frontier, partly because its name hearkened to the wilds I had imagined outside city borders, and partly because my colleague Bill Bender, a native Delconian, had recommended it. There was a fiberglass buffalo on top of the building. I knew I was in the right place. Inside, the airport workers at the pool table divided into teams South Philly vs. Southwest. The city's where they all grew up. Nonetheless, I asked them to reveal to me the true soul of the Delconian. They made me buy them beer. Then they let off several long monologues that were largely unprintable. I realized it was time to head home and hunker down with my mailers. Stephen Spinelli Jr. in his East Falls office where he serves as chancellor of Jefferson University. Hes stepping down June 30. Read more Stephen Spinelli Jr. championed the merger of Thomas Jefferson University and Philadelphia University, where he had served as president since 2007, saying higher education had become too expensive and too rigid, and needed to be disrupted. He helped execute the deal and became chancellor of the not-even-a-year-old enterprise. Now, he plans to disrupt it again by leaving. "It's time for a new leader to come in and shake it up a little bit more," Spinelli, 63, said this week. Spinelli will step down as chancellor June 30 after 11 years of leadership at the East Falls campus a longer-than-average tenure for a college president. He will get chancellor emeritus status a title he said he was offered and hopes to write and lecture on the merger and the need for higher education to become more nimble. It's not a paying position, but he will have an office and email account, he said, though he plans to do much of his work from New England, where he is relocating to be closer to his grandchildren. Spinelli said he had planned to stay no more than three years or until the merger was successfully completed. He was one of the merger's key leaders, along with Jefferson president and CEO Stephen K. Klasko, an obstetrician with an M.B.A., who will remain at the helm. The merger of Jefferson a health sciences university and large hospital with Philadelphia University, best known for its design, engineering, and health science programs, was first floated in 2015 and finalized last July. The combined institution has about 7,800 undergraduates and graduate students. Now, it's time for the next five- to seven-year phase of aggressive growth, Spinelli said, and he didn't want to sign on for that. "I'm probably not the right guy," he said. "We don't need disruption anymore. We need execution." It's unclear whether Jefferson will fill the position. The university also has a provost, Mark Tykocinski, a molecular immunologist. With Spinelli's departure, the East Falls campus is losing its leading voice, but Spinelli pointed out that Eileen Martinson, who had been chair of the Philadelphia University board, will become chair of the Jefferson Academic Board. Spinelli, who co-founded the car-service chain Jiffy Lube before coming to Philadelphia University, isn't sure what his next step will be. "God knows," he said. "I'm the chaos guy. I'm the disrupter." Listening to Candice Bergen talk about her days at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-60s, you get the impression no one has ever been happier to have been chucked out of school. Or, as she puts it, "pushed out of the nest." "I was ready to start my life, anyway. And though I loved my time at Penn, the time that I had, they were right to push me out. It was completely my fault," said Bergen, who at Penn became Miss University and homecoming queen, but flunked out of opera and art (!), and accepted her expulsion with grace. "I actually respect the university a great deal for sticking to the rules, in a way that I certainly did not," she said. "It would have been easy for them to make an exception for me, but they didn't." She returned to the university in 1992 to receive an honorary degree, and was back in town a few months ago for a Penn function. "I recognized nothing," said Bergen, who in the old days was billeted at 34th and Walnut, in a building long since replaced. "I was so confused. The filthy pharmacy that I remember so well was gone, the drunk on the corner was gone, and those were my north stars. The area has been transformed, as has the city itself. It's very impressive." That's also a good a word to describe Bergen's career, achieved without an undergraduate degree. Upon leaving Penn (during which time she famously went on a date with Wharton student Donald Trump), she immediately went to work on a Sidney Lumet film (The Group), the start of a long and fruitful film and television career, with diversions into photojournalism and writing two best-selling memoirs, Knock Wood and A Fine Romance, the latter covering her marriage to filmmaker Louis Malle). Bergen at 72 is still working hard, doing interviews for Book Club, in theaters Friday. It's a movie she made with Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen, Hollywood veterans who have survived and thrived in an industry famous (especially lately) for being tough on actresses. When they were on the set, did they share war stories? "Not really. We would gather in a garage during breaks and just yak about stuff that women yak about. Relationships, politics, whatever," said Bergen, who bonded with Fonda over their shared background as children of Hollywood stars. "She's a good kind of friend to have. I had dinner for everyone at my house, there was a group photo, and Jane, who pays attention to things like lighting, spent 10 minutes Photoshopping it so everyone looked their best. Then she posted it on Instagram, where she has about a million followers. It was very exciting and very fun," Bergen said. "It was just a real gift for me to become friends with three very accomplished people." Bergen and her costars play four lifelong friends and book-group pals who are inspired to take a more youthful approach to life after reading Fifty Shades of Grey. She praised Book Club writer/director/producer Bill Holderman, who pushed hard for the four stars when the studio wanted less seasoned performers. His script is specifically about the lives of widows and grandmothers and December-December romances, and he wanted actresses who could embody those elements of the story. "They wanted to go with younger actresses. It's not uncommon," said Bergen, who faced similar obstacles before landing what she regards as the most important role of her career on TV in Murphy Brown. She'll return to it when CBS reboots the show for the 2018-19 season. "They wanted Heather Locklear. And they wanted my character to be returning from a spa, instead of the Betty Ford Clinic. And [producer] Diane English just kept saying, 'No, she's an alcoholic. It's important to the character,' " Bergen said. The groundbreaking role drew attention at the time for showing a single professional woman choosing to have a child on her own, but Bergen likes the way it broke ground in other ways. Murphy, she said, created new space for women and for Bergen to shine: to be tough as nails, funny as hell, attractive. "That attractive women can be funny in the way that Murphy was funny. There's a sort of double box, and it can keep you in one place or another, and Murphy just lived outside of all that," she said. And there's nothing funny about what comedy can do to career longevity. The old joke in Hollywood is that there are three ages for women babe, district attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy. But there is no time stamp on funny, and Bergen has been proof of that: In movies like Book Club, Miss Congeniality, and The Meyerowitz Stories, she's stayed busy. With the return of Murphy Brown, she'll be even busier. "[The characters are] going to be doing a morning show, and our goal is to bring facts back to the news. It's going to be a very timely show. And very funny." Prince Albert of Monaco, son of Princess Grace, waves as he leaves his mother's childhood home in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia on Oct. 25, 2016. Prince Albert on Friday gave a tour of the recently refurbished home to Hoda Kotb, coanchor of NBCs Today show Read more The East Falls home where the late Princess Grace of Monaco grew up was back in the spotlight Friday morning, as the former Grace Kelly's son gave NBC's Today show a tour of the recently restored house, which he bought in 2016. "I remember rolling on this carpet" as a child on visits to his mother's family, Prince Albert told Today coanchor Hoda Kotb as they sat in one of the main rooms of the 4,000-square-foot house, located at Henry Avenue and Coulter Street. The tour included the childhood bedroom where Kelly, who was an Oscar-winning actress before her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, slept in a twin bed, as well as the room where Albert had stayed as a child and that once struck the boy who'd grown up in a palace as "too big of a space" for just him alone. Most touching of all, he showed Kotb the inside of a closet door on which the Kelly children's heights were recorded, including a line, drawn in 1931, for a 2-year-old future princess. "Can you believe that nobody painted over this door?" Kotb asked. "I think they realized it was part of the family's history," replied the prince. Asked if he had advice for Britain's Prince Harry, who on May 19 will also marry an American actress, Suits star Meghan Markle, Albert suggested that if asked by the couple, he'd tell them to make sure to keep some moments just for themselves. The prince said that "of course" he will bring his own children to visit the home of their grandmother. (Princess Grace died in 1982 after suffering a stroke and driving off the side of a steep road.) Rather than turn the house into a museum, he plans to use the house for family gatherings, for some events that will be open to the public, and to house the offices of the Princess Grace Foundation. Though Kotb only hinted at the house's previous condition, saying it had been restored to its "1950s glamor," it likely took some work to bring it back to the place the prince remembered so fondly. Built by the princess' father, John B. Kelly Sr., in 1929 and sold in 1954, it was purchased by Prince Albert for a reported $754,000, considerably below the original $1 million asking price. The home's previous owner, Marjorie Bamont, had lived there for more than 40 years, and died in April 2016 at age 84. In 2014, she had pleaded no contest in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court to animal-cruelty charges for keeping a number of cats and a dog in unsanitary conditions in the East Falls home. Read more: Prince Albert of Monaco says he's bought mother's childhood home Here's a look at what the home looks like now, courtesy of NBC's Today show. The show also offered a 3-D tour here. Residents of Mount Wolf, Pa., gather to listen to York Countys opioid task force discuss how the county is combating the epidemic. Read more Five mornings a week, two white vans pull up to the curb outside the soup kitchen in downtown York. Their trunks are full of donated clothes, toiletries, and paper bags of clean syringes and tourniquets. For the rest of the day, the women of the York Harm Reduction Project will wait for people to walk cautiously up and ask for "works," the street term for a clean syringe. Sometimes clients will spend days walking past the vans before finally admitting they need a syringe. The women in the vans are patient. Their lives all have been touched by heroin addiction. They know that their job is as much about withholding judgment as it is preventing disease with clean needles. It's an attitude that officials and advocates in York County have embraced as overdoses rise in this rural county on the Maryland border. Even as its District Attorney's Office has gone after drug dealers with an unusual charge known as "drug delivery resulting in death," the county has also instituted harm-reduction measures more common to larger, more progressive communities. >> READ MORE: To fight opioid overdoses in a rural Pa. county, prosecutors charge drug dealers Needle exchanges, where people can turn in used syringes to get new ones for free, are technically illegal in Pennsylvania, but they operate at brick-and-mortar locations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with the permission of city officials. Controversial even in liberal bastions like Philadelphia, they're a harder sell in more conservative environs like York. But officials in York, cognizant of their role in preventing blood-borne illnesses, have allowed the mobile exchange to operate quietly for more than a year. Coroner Pam Gay, a former emergency-room nurse, was suspicious of the idea when advocates from Lancaster reached out to her in 2014. A conversation with Philadelphia's medical examiner, Sam Gulino, changed her mind, she said. "He told me to research it for myself," she said. "And everything I was reading was showing positives. He opened my eyes." When the exchange launched in 2017, she wrote a newspaper column praising it and spent days responding to angry comments on Facebook. "I was able to change some minds," she said. "And it was just the right thing to do. I didn't care if I didn't get reelected." District Attorney David Sunday launched a heroin task force with Gay when he was a chief prosecutor in 2014, and worked to persuade the 23 local police departments in York to start carrying the overdose-reversing spray naloxone. They held community meetings around the county that were swamped with people whose loved ones were struggling with addiction or who had died from it, and others for whom the crisis had not hit home. >>The Opioid Forum: Join us May 17 for a forum discussion on the current state of the opioid crisis in Philadelphia. Speakers include Inquirer opioids reporter Aubrey Whelan, Columnist Mike Newall, Health Editor Charlotte Sutton and Mayor Jim Kenney. "When this first started, there was this mind-set of 'These are addicts, let them die,' " Sunday said. "But our goal was to destigmatize this issue." York's harm reductionists say that stigma is lifting somewhat. On a warm day last month, Renee Zimmerman, in a bright orange shirt that read "York Harm Reduction Project," drove her white van through the streets on the city's west end. She had a needle delivery to make to a woman named Beth, who had been hiding her addiction from her boyfriend for months, and feared going to the vans openly. Zimmerman's son spent years homeless and addicted to heroin in Baltimore, and she knows what can happen without clean needles: Her son lost part of a bicep to an infected abscess. He has been off heroin for two months now. Her experience with his addiction inspired her. "People in addiction, deep in addiction, need someone to guide them through," she said. "And I just felt in my heart that I could do that. I'll never do anything else." She pulled up to the curb. Beth was waiting. Pennsylvania's new online system for licensing doctors-in-training the residents who are the backbone of staffs at many hospitals was supposed to streamline and speed up the annual process. But eight weeks in, the electronic system has been such a mess that only about 17 percent of the state's 9,600 trainees have gotten the credential, according to state data. Without it, they can't practice and study medicine. Now, some big hospitals across the state are worried about facing staffing shortages on July 1, the start of the work year for residents. "No question patient care would be compromised if any more than a small number are not licensed," said physician Jeffrey S. Berns, the University of Pennsylvania's associate dean for graduate medical education. "It would be chaotic." The Pennsylvania Department of State, which provides administrative support to the Board of Medicine, which licenses physicians, acknowledged a rocky rollout of the new online process, which was formerly done by U.S. mail. But glitches have been fixed, and with more workers getting more overtime, the department is now processing 1,400 residents' applications a week, said Ian Harlow, commissioner of professional and occupational affairs. "I understand where the hospitals are coming from," he said. "But I'm confident we can get them done in time." The crunch highlights the importance of a segment of the medical workforce that patients may not appreciate. Residents, who are concentrated in teaching hospitals, make up 20 percent of Pennsylvania's doctors, medical college data show. Each spring during their three to eight years of on-the-job training, they must submit an application and extensive documentation to get licensed. Although many residents are too preoccupied to notice the problem, some are keenly aware. Tanner Walsh, who is finishing her pediatric residency at Crozer-Keystone Health System, helps with managing her fellow trainees. That includes explaining why they urgently need to go online and make sure their license application is submitted. "For a brand-new intern [first-year resident], who doesn't even know where the bathroom is in the hospital, this is just an overwhelming amount of information," she said. Erik Blutinger, a third-year emergency medicine resident at Penn, just returned from a one-month clinical program in South Africa that took more than a year to arrange. "That would be impossible to do now with the current process because of the delays in licensing," he said. Harlow, at the Department of State, said the department is sensitive to the fact that residents' careers and livelihoods are at stake. For example, applications of overseas residents are getting high-priority processing because they can't get their visas until they have their licenses. "I'm not saying there weren't problems," Harlow said, "but I feel like we've been responsive." The could-be crisis reflects missteps by the state, residency program coordinators said. While they praised the state's goal of joining the digital age, they said the mid-March debut of the system came with little warning, no advance training, and software full of bugs. Neonatologist Stephen Higgins, who oversees residency programs at Crozer-Keystone Health System, has been sounding alarms for several weeks. Of Crozer's 125 new and renewing trainees, less than 10 percent had licenses by Friday. "I'm worried that on July 1, there might be a lack of residents to help cover these hospitals," Higgins said. "Am I crying 'the sky is falling?' If we anticipate a health-care crisis, we can't wait for the crisis to say something." The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the state's biggest residency program with 1,800 trainees, also had fewer than 10 percent licensed this week. "We are in the same boat as the Philadelphia-area institutions," said Samantha Cascone, UPMC's director of operations for graduate medical education. "Really, all Pennsylvania institutions that have trainees are facing these same concerns. We're all worried." The State Department said a total of about 1,600 trainee licenses had been issued by Thursday. An additional 530 applications had been kicked back to residents because of "discrepancies" anything from a name change to no proof of completing mandated opioid education. The old licensing process also was prone to delays. But residency program coordinators acted as a safety net, prodding residents with reminders, reviewing their paperwork before submitting it to the state for them, even filling out their applications. "The ability to do that was taken away," said Susan Coull, associate director for medical education at Temple University Hospital, where less than 10 percent of 550 residents had gotten their licenses by this week. Echoed Berns at Penn, "Part of the anxiety is the lack of control." The online system requires hospitals to upload spreadsheets with identifying data about their residents. Then the state creates individual accounts and emails each resident to log in and complete the application. Initially, the state gave the hospitals little guidance beyond emailing instruction manuals for doing the uploads. When whole spreadsheets' worth of uploaded data were rejected for no apparent reason, the residency coordinators were flummoxed and frustrated. "The state ended up doing a training webinar, but not until they were inundated with questions," Temple's Coull said. One big flaw discovered in the software: it spurned zip codes or Social Security numbers that started with zeros. It also didn't recognize some medical specialty codes, and was persnickety about things like hyphens and periods. "I think the people slogging it out at the state are doing the best they can," UPMC's Cascone said. "But the decision to roll it out when and how they did was not helpful." Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 26, 2018 in Washington. Read more WASHINGTON The Environmental Protection Agency signaled on Thursday it will follow through on an Obama-era proposal to ban paint strippers containing a toxic chemical leaving lawmakers, environmental groups and the families of victims cautiously optimistic. Since taking office, Pruitt has been laser-focused on undoing environmental and safety rules proposed by former President Barack Obama's administration. But the EPA's announcement that it "intends to finalize" a proposed ban on methylene chloride would be the exception. "Today's announcement demonstrates EPA's commitment to finalize the methylene chloride rule-making," the EPA said in a statement. The chemical, used by professional contractors and do-it-yourselfers to remove paint, has been linked to dozens of deaths including 12 people who specialize in refinishing bathtubs between 2000 and 2011 , according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. But advocates of the ban reserved full-throated cheers until the rule's language is made public and submitted to the White House's Office of Management and Budget, which the EPA said will happen "shortly." Sarah Vogel, vice president for health at The Environmental Defense Fund, said the nonprofit advocacy group was "encouraged" by the EPA's decision but urged the agency to move quickly to formally block the access to the chemical. "We and families across this country will be watching closely to make sure this administration actually delivers on today's promise from Administrator Pruitt," Vogel said. "We will delay any celebration until paint strippers containing this deadly chemical are actually off the market." The EPA first proposed banning the use of methylene chloride in paint and coating removal products in the waning days of former president Barack Obama's second term. A year earlier, Congress had granted the EPA new powers to restrict the use of that and other chemicals in an amendment to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, the nation's main chemical safety law. But in December, the Pruitt's EPA indefinitely postponed bans on certain uses of methylene chloride and two other deadly chemicals often found in consumer products. For a time, it seemed like the ban headed to the trash bin, along with many other Obama-era rules after President Donald Trump's election. That delay in December kicked off an effort to salvage it. Several Democratic lawmakers asked Pruitt about the chemical and urged him to ban it in a pair of hearings on Capitol Hill last month. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.Y., invoked the deaths of Drew Wynne and Joshua Atkins, who both died from methylene chloride exposure. Pallone asked Pruitt if he had anything to say to those families given the lack of EPA action. Pruitt didn't directly address that question, but he made clear that the agency hadn't abandoned its evaluation of the chemical's safety. "There has been no decision at this time," he said at the April 26 hearing. That did little to satisfy Pallone. "Look, you say you're going to do something, but these chemicals are still on the shelves, and they make a mockery of [chemical reform] legislation that this committee works so hard on," Pallone said. "And it makes a mockery of EPA. You have the power immediately to get this chemical off the shelves. And you're not doing it. And you should do it." Later that day, another Democrat from New York, Rep. Nita Lowey, accused Pruitt of "strategically starving programs that identify chemicals that could be harmful to children, while rolling back and delaying regulations for deadly chemicals." Pruitt replied that the agency was reviewing the comments of the proposal to ban the chemical. "I take this issue very seriously," he said. The lobbying effort also continued behind the scenes. After the hearings, the Environmental Defense Fund contacted Pruitt's office on behalf of the families of Wynne and Kevin Hartley, another man who died from methylene chloride exposure. The group asked for a meeting with the administrator. "I wanted to use Kevin's story to try to save more lives," Wendy Hartley, Kevin's mother, told The Post in an interview. "We do not need anymore lives lost due to this. And if I could tell Kevin's story and get someone to listen to it and do something about, then I was willing to tell his story." Pruitt has met with few environmental groups throughout his tenure, more often conferring with industry representatives. But he agreed to meet with the mothers. So this past Tuesday morning, Wendy Hartley, along with Cindy Wynne and her other son Brian Wynne, met Pruitt and several of his aides at his office in EPA headquarters. The families brought with them photographs and the death certificates of the two men, and explained to Pruitt what happened to them. Wynne, 31, was running a cold brew coffee business in Charleston, S.outh Carolina, when he died last year while stripping paint from the floor of a walk-in refrigerator using a product called Goof Off. Hartley, 21, was a trained contractor who died last year while refinishing a bathtub with White Lightning Low Odor Stripper near Nashville. Both men both were wearing respirators when they died. Pruitt "was very attentive to us," Cindy Wynne told The Post in an interview earlier this week before the EPA's announcement. "He was somewhat surprised when we showed him the cans from Lowe's," where her son had purchased the paint stripper. Her son, Brian, asked Pruitt if he agreed that methylene chloride was a problem. Pruitt responded, "I do." But when pressed on whether he would finalize the ban, the administrator did not make a commitment, the family members said. "We all have the same sense that for a moment there, we felt like there was positive momentum," Brian Wynne said. "And then that went out of the room pretty quickly when he was steadfast against the word 'ban.' " In an interview after the announcement Thursday, the brother said he was now "cautiously optimistic" that Pruitt would follow through. "This is a positive development," Brian Wynne said. "It was a surprising one. We certainly didn't see this coming in our meeting with Administrator Pruitt. But we're certainly encouraged by this sign that he seems ready to take action." The EPA said the "meeting with the families was constructive." "It provided the families the opportunity to share with Administrator Pruitt the circumstances in each of their cases and the Administrator the opportunity to hear directly from them," the agency said in a statement. "There was an exchange of ideas, and we appreciate EDF reaching out to request the meeting." Public health and environmental groups also pleased but cautioned that more work needs to be done. Vogel urged the EPA to "move quickly to implement a ban, and that includes ensuring necessary administrative procedures are followed to guarantee a permanent ban and that these products are promptly removed from store shelves." The EPA said it will not redo a 2014 risk assessments that determined inhaling the paint-stripping fumes is dangerous. "The agency is not re-evaluating the paint stripping uses of methylene chloride, but relying on its previous risk assessments and working diligently to ensure the safety of chemicals in the marketplace," it said. On Thursday, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, called the EPA's announcement "welcome news, especially after the agency previously delayed finalization of this proposed ban indefinitely." "I am also encouraged that the agency is relying on previous risk assessments that clearly and scientifically showed just how threatening products containing methylene chloride could be to people's health and safety," Carper added in a statement. "However, just like a law doesn't mean much if it is not enforced, intentions to finalize a ban on a deadly chemical don't mean much if that chemical stays on the shelves." The American Chemistry Council, the main trade association for U.S. chemical companies, greeted the move with muted acceptance. "EPA has authority to move ahead on specific conditions of use," spokesman Jon Corley said in a statement. "ACC supports EPA's completion of the risk management rule-making on methylene chloride and publication of a final rule." Methylene chloride can kill either through direct narcosis or through metabolization into carbon monoxide, which binds to hemoglobin in the blood and inhibits oxygen from moving around the body. Exposure to as little as six ounces can kill, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The heavier-than-air chemical can pool in places with poor ventilation, like bathrooms. "But now we're seeing more and more case in other types of confined spaces," said Lindsay McCormick, a project manager for EDF's health program. In 1997, OSHA issued its own restriction on the chemical's use in workplaces. But those standards did not cover regular consumers, who can buy methylene chloride products at most hardware stores. The sidewalk outside BIs Restaurant on Elmwood Avenue was still stained Thursday with the blood from the previous nights shooting in which police said a customer used a registered gun to fatally shoot two men. Read more Karamo Kaba, grief etched on his face, stood Thursday on the sidewalk outside BI's Restaurant in Elmwood and stared at the blood of his nephew Cherno Kabba, 24, one of two men shot to death Wednesday night after what police said was a dispute with two other men. They were among nine shooting victims in 18 hours in Philadelphia, five of whom died, police said. The gunfire outside the restaurant at 6515 Elmwood Ave. erupted about 7:15 p.m. Police said the two victims and the gunman and his father had started arguing inside the restaurant before moving outside and getting physical. Kabba was shot in the face and torso, and an unidentified 22-year-old friend was shot in the back, police said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene at 7:35 p.m. Kaba a native of Guinea who spells his last name differently from his nephew said a witness told him that his nephew had gone to the restaurant to buy a carryout meal, and that as he was leaving two men attacked him for reasons he did not know. Kabba dropped his food and ran to 65th Street and Elmwood to alert a friend that he had been attacked. When the two returned to the front of the restaurant, the gunman opened fire, Kaba said he was told. "As soon as they get there, the guy lifted up his shirt and took the gun out and shot his friend first," Kaba said. "He lay in the middle of the street and died there. My nephew got shot in the head while he was running, and they keep following him and shooting at him while my nephew was trying to get into the restaurant." The gunman had a permit to carry the firearm and surrendered to arriving officers, police said. No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening, and police said they were looking into the possibility that the shots had been fired in self-defense. But Kaba was adamant that the gunman could not have acted in self-defense. "If it's self-defense, how will you shoot somebody in the head three times while they are running from you?" he asked. "And my nephew didn't have no gun, and neither did his partner. It was a fistfight." Kaba said he and a carload of relatives had come to the restaurant Thursday after identifying the body of Kabba, who was born in the United States. He was unmarried, unemployed, lived with his mother, and had a 3-year-old daughter, the uncle said. "I feel so depressed and very upset about it, but life is life," said Kaba. "I'm not happy about what happened to my nephew, but I will let justice take its course." Nana Bintu Cisse, owner of BI's Restaurant, said she was not there at the time, but was told that the gunman had been dining with his father when they went outside to fight the two victims. Her manager called her at home, and she arrived before the bodies were removed, she said. "That was so scary," said Cisse, a native of Mali who has owned the restaurant for 15 years. "We were so scared last night. We pray every day to God. Every day." The gunfire Wednesday and early Thursday was not confined to Elmwood. In addition to the five men killed, four others were wounded in shootings during a particularly violent 18 hours, police said. The fatal shootings brought to 98 the number of slayings in the city this year, compared with 108 during the same time in 2017, according to police statistics. Police gave these accounts of the other shootings: Wednesday 10:05 a.m.: Todd Washington, 28, of the 5700 block of Wheeler Street in Southwest Philadelphia, was found shot in the head on the 800 block of North 42nd Street in Belmont. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 1:30 p.m.: Tracey McKinney, 45, of the 3300 block of Goodman Street in Franklinville, was found on the 1300 block of West Erie Avenue in Franklinville with gunshot wounds to his back, an arm, and a leg. He was taken to Temple University Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:31 p.m. 9:40 p.m.: Julius Luke, 31, of the unit block of West Garfield Street in Germantown, was found shot in the chest on the 6900 block of Torresdale Avenue in Tacony. Luke was inside a nearby Chinese takeout restaurant when a shooter entered and fired at least four times before fleeing. Luke was taken to Jefferson-Aria Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m. 10 p.m.: Bicycle officers in South Philadelphia heard gunshots and found a 61-year-old man shot in the groin and sitting on a stoop on the 2200 block of South Eighth Street. He was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was in critical but stable condition. 11 p.m.: A 29-year-old man was shot in the shoulder while walking on the 2500 block of Federal Street, Grays Ferry. He was in stable condition at Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center. Police found ballistics evidence in front of a rowhouse that has been used in the filming of Creed II. 11:15 p.m.: A 28-year-old man was shot in the face on the 4200 block of Lancaster Avenue in Powelton. He was taken to Penn-Presbyterian, where he was in stable condition. Thursday While New York City and Chicago stand out as the major centers of influence in the history of jazz, Philadelphia has played a major role in the genre's development over the last century. The city has served as an important tour destination, furnished opportunities for world-class talent, and provided a home for a variety of influential artists. The origins of jazz in Philadelphia date back to World War I, when nearly 500,000 African Americans moved from rural areas in the South to cities in the North in search of economic opportunity and a better quality of life. Relocating to cities including Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, migrants carried their cultural traditions with them. Former inhabitants of major Southern music capitals, such as New Orleans, introduced blues music in their new communities, paving the way for the development of jazz into a major, widely appreciated art form. By the early 20th century, Philadelphia's African American community had become a national leader in the arts, possessing a strong cultural legacy stretching back to the United States' earliest years. Trumpeter and composer Francis Johnson the first African American to publish sheet music hailed from Philadelphia and was responsible for introducing syncopation into popular music in the first half of the 19th century, long before jazz emerged as a genre. >> READ MORE: Philadelphia's role introducing high-fidelity stereophonic sound | Philly History With Philadelphia's musical history and fertile cultural scene, jazz took root in the city, especially in South Philly, where jazz clubs popped up and began attracting some of the nation's biggest names. South Street served as the home for a number of significant jazz clubs, where black and white patrons intermingled at performances featuring Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. John T. Gibson owned two of these clubs the Standard and Dunbar and became the wealthiest black Philadelphian in the late 1920s due to their success. The Great Depression shuttered many of the city's jazz venues, but the genre continued to thrive in the few that remained. After the United States' entry into World War II, new demographics began to fall in love with jazz via government-sponsored clubs such as the Philadelphia Stage Door Canteen. Housed in the basement of the Academy of Music, the Stage Door Canteen brought military personnel face-to-face with some of the most dynamic musicians of the era, including Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington. Though jazz chipped away at the social and institutional barriers separating people of different races by bringing together diverse audiences, its practitioners existed in a music industry rife with racism. The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) ranked among the most segregated unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. This meant that black musicians whose cultural heritage gave birth to jazz had to organize separately. In Philadelphia, the all-black AFM Local 274 became one of the most influential locals in this segregated system. Its headquarters became a fully functioning jazz venue known as the Clef Club. Before its dissolution in 1971, the local provided opportunities for artists ranging from John Coltrane to Nina Simone. Even after Local 274's demise, the Clef Club continued, and exists to this day as a venue and music school on the Avenue of the Arts. >> READ MORE: Groundbreaking Philly science museum was not always beloved by city residents | Philly History In addition to nurturing influential institutions, the Philadelphia region has fostered outstanding artistic talent. Langston Hughes the influential Harlem Renaissance leader and progenitor of "jazz poetry" attended Lincoln University in Chester County. Ethel Waters hailed from Chester. Billie Holiday, among the greatest jazz vocalists in history, was born in Philadelphia. In 1943, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia from North Carolina with his mother. He went on to study music and commence his extraordinary career in the city, playing with the likes of Jimmy Heath (a Philadelphia native) and Dizzy Gillespie (like Coltrane, a Philadelphia transplant from the South). In 1968, experimental jazz composer Sun Ra relocated his influential Arkestra to Philadelphia, where he and his ensemble took jazz to new frontiers. Philadelphia's importance in the development of jazz continues to this day, with organizations such as the Ars Nova Workshop cultivating talent and presenting experimental jazz performances firmly rooted in the 21st century. Patrick Glennon is a communications officer at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pglennon@hsp.org Protesters gathered outside the Starbucks on 18th & Spruce Streets on April 16, following the arrests of two black men. Read more Bathrooms at Starbucks stores will be open to anyone who needs to use them following the controversial arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia location last month. Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz addressed the controversy and "kind of loose [bathroom] policy" during a Q&A session called "The Role and Responsibility of a Global Company" moderated by the Washington Post's David Ignatius at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, on Thursday. "In terms of the bathroom, we're going to have to make sure that we don't want to become a public bathroom, but we're going to make the right decision 100 percent of the time and give people the key, because we don't want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than," he told Ignatius, according to a transcript of the conversation on the Atlantic Council's website. "We want you to be more than." The arrests sparked protests, apologies and plans for racial-bias training for Starbucks employees, set for later this month. On May 29, the company will close its stores for an afternoon so employees can undergo a racial bias training. "That curriculum and that education is the beginning, not the end, of an entire transformation of our training at Starbucks, which, in addition to everything we do operationally, will stay inside the company," Schultz said. >>READ MORE: Philadelphia Starbucks case: What we've learned since the arrests The company is also producing a documentary with Stanley Nelson, who directed the 2010 civil rights film Freedom Riders, "to make sure that people understand this is not a marketing thing," Schultz said during the conversation, which was also streamed on C-SPAN. Philadelphia officials said they were "pleased" with the bathroom change. Over the last two weeks, the company has told employees that while policies "are still under the 90-day review," the workers should "ensure all customers coming in feel welcome." Schultz's comments came about a month after two black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were arrested at the Starbucks at 18th and Spruce Streets while waiting for a business associate. During an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America in April, Nelson said he first asked to use the bathroom but was denied access because he wasn't a customer. The two were arrested after a manager called police, reporting that the men refused to leave after she told them they could not stay in the store without buying anything. "Two gentlemen in my cafe are refusing to make a purchase or leave," she said in the 911 call, made about 4:40 p.m. April 12. Minutes later, a radio dispatcher said a "group of males" was "refusing to leave." Shortly after, a man can be heard saying that a "group of males" was "causing a disturbance" before requesting backup as well as a supervisor. >>READ MORE: Would you have spoken up during Starbucks arrest of two black men? White teachers at a Delaware County school debate An incident report obtained by the Inquirer and Daily News said the two men cursed at the Starbucks manager and refused to leave after officers repeatedly asked them to. It also accused the men of insulting police by saying, "Cops don't know the laws," and "Y'all make 45G a year." Twitter user @MissyDePino shared a video on their arrest, which prompted boycotts and protests. Earlier this month, the city announced that it had reached an agreement with Nelson and Robinson, agreeing to pay them $1 and to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. Separately, Starbucks announced that its agreement with the men included a "financial settlement" for an undisclosed sum as well as "continued listening and dialogue between parties and specific action and opportunity." "Looking at how we took a negative and turned it into a positive, that's really all we want," Robinson told GMA anchor Robin Roberts during an interview after the agreements were announced. "Not to focus on the negative, but just to focus on positive outcome." Should fraternities be abolished? This is a question I have often asked myself in the 15 months since my son Tim died at the hands of his future fraternity "brothers" in an out-of-control, alcohol-infused hazing event at Pennsylvania State University. My initial reaction: Yes, they should all be gone. However, as time has passed and I've thought about it more, I now realize this is not a question I can or should answer. It is a question fraternities must answer for themselves. One thing I can say for sure, after 15 months of learning about fraternities, is that we need to see significant reform of the Greek system in this country. Many of the leaders of the national fraternities and sororities that I have met with and spoken to agree that we are at a critical juncture when it comes to keeping our students safe. Fraternity misconduct, hazing, sexual assault, and student deaths have become national news and the topic of conversation at the family dinner table. Our son's face, and the faces of other young men whose lives were lost to a similar fate, are recognizable for all the wrong reasons. We need reform. What happened in 2017 must never happen again. First, universities need to take ownership and exercise more control over what goes on at fraternities. They can no longer allow student self-governance, nor can they claim that fraternities are private organizations that they cannot govern. We now know that is not true, as is evidenced by what happened to my son at Penn State. I give credit to Eric Barron, the president of Penn State, for taking this issue on at Penn State and nationally. He has made significant changes to Greek life policies and oversight at Penn State and has also assembled presidents of other large universities to address the problems. There is still much to do, but someone needed to step up and he did. Others need to follow. >> READ MORE: In a #MeToo world, women should boycott fraternities | Opinion Ultimately, universities need to take responsibility for reform. They promise parents a safe learning environment for their children and by allowing Greek organizations to run out of control, they are failing to keep that promise. Our children deserve better. However, universities cannot do it alone. They need the help of national fraternities, whose job it is to oversee campus chapters. The national fraternities need to cooperate with the universities and provide greater oversight and education to their local chapters. They cannot allow them to sensationalize and promote the party scene. That's not what brotherhood is about. They need to promote the real benefits of a fraternal environment, such as networking. The national fraternities need to institute rules, policies, and procedures that will eliminate unsafe behavior. Then they need to monitor and strictly enforce them. If the chapters want the privilege of the national affiliation and the use of the national letters, they must play by the rules or go away. Finally, the legal system also has a critical role in this reform. Hazing, sexual-assault, and drinking laws throughout the country need to be stiffened and should be a meaningful deterrent to individuals engaging in this criminal and unsafe behavior. One such law is the proposed Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors need to understand the laws, take them seriously, and not be afraid to prosecute offenders (a special thanks to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is such a prosecutor). Judges and juries must also be willing to hold the offenders accountable and not let them walk away with a slap on the wrist. This reckless behavior will continue if there are no meaningful consequences. We also need laws that promote greater transparency of which fraternities violate the rules, so parents and students can make better-educated decisions about joining these organizations. >> READ MORE: As an Alpha Kappa Alpha, my Greek life has been about help, not harm | Perspective What happened to Tim should never have happened. It was planned and orchestrated alcohol-infused chaos, which had been going on for years without adequate oversight. I have come to learn that I am a member of an unenviable club of parents who lost children to fraternity hazing. Sadly, our club has way more members than I would have ever imagined, and even more disheartening is that our membership grew after Tim's death. I suspect that there are more members than we even know about. The public only hears when someone dies from one of these situations, but over the last 15 months I have learned of countless situations where trusting students are severely hurt or have near-death experiences from hazing or are sexually assaulted and no one outside the "brotherhood" ever knows. Those victims are nameless and faceless. Should fraternities be abolished? That's not my call but I am interested to see how the universities, national fraternities, lawmakers, and the criminal justice system respond. I cannot imagine any one of them is a proponent of children dying. Now is the time to stand up and show it. Jim Piazza is the father of Tim Piazza, who died as a result of a fraternity hazing event in February 2017. Jim and his wife, Evelyn, are natives of New Jersey and have become anti-hazing advocates since their son's passing. In that role, they are working with universities and national fraternities to make Greek life safer. Thomas Daniels received a commuted sentence from President Obama, but Uber told him that convictions more than 20 years old were cause to stop him from driving. Read more At first, Thomas Daniels thought he was being called to see the warden at the federal prison in Fairton, N.J., to discuss an educational program he ran for fellow inmates. He taught courses on credit and finance he thought might help other inmates make a living, and stay out of prison, after their release. Instead, on Dec. 18, 2015, he learned President Barack Obama had commuted his sentence, life plus 30 for cocaine distribution. "Me and the warden were hugging in the joint and everything," Daniels, 54, remembered with a broad smile. He was among 1,385 who received commutations from Obama, the most issued by any American president. After 20 years, 5 months, and 10 days in prison, Daniels became free in a world with iPhones, Airbnb, and Uber. An enterprising man, while in prison Daniels got a GED, took college courses, maintained credit cards, and held on to a property in Philadelphia. He started driving for Uber in 2016. "I had 574 five-star ratings," he said. Fifteen to 20 hours a week, he ferried passengers in his 2006 Camry, earning up to $800 a week. "I used to tell them I was locked up," he said. "They used to enjoy the story." That ended in April. Uber informed him that because of eight criminal convictions in Pennsylvania related to drug possession and distribution in 1990, 1995, and 1996 not the ones Obama had commuted the San Francisco-based company was canceling his access to its app. "If I'm good enough to get clemency from the president, who are you to hold something against me?" Daniels said. "I proved myself worthy of being a free man. I haven't reoffended. What do you want for me?" Uber asserted last week that Delaware law bars people with criminal histories like Daniels' from driving for ride-share businesses such as Uber and Lyft. Delaware recognizes that some drug offenses can be considered a violent crime, but it was unclear whether Daniels' Pennsylvania convictions fell under that umbrella. READ MORE: Uber driver who killed herself battled depression, her insurance carrier None of the convictions cited by Uber, or Daniels' federal offenses, was for a violent crime. Banning a driver for the reasons given could violate Pennsylvania legislation governing the ride-share industry and a Philadelphia ordinance that restricts how a person's criminal history can be used to deny employment. Daniels isn't the first person to face this obstacle with a ride-share company. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations also has open cases involving claims that Uber or Lyft violated the city's recently enhanced ordinance that limits the role criminal histories can play in employment, said Rue Landau, that agency's executive director. Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, a nonprofit that helps people recently incarcerated find work, has about a dozen active cases involving denied employment by a ride-share company due to criminal history, said Jamie Gullen, supervising attorney in the employment unit. "We've seen cases like this from Uber," Gullen said. "It's a very common problem that our clients have when they have criminal records." Finding work after incarceration is an ongoing problem for the 70 million to 100 million people in the United States with a criminal history, experts say. Having a criminal record hurts a person's chances of finding a job more than other stigmas such as long-term unemployment, receiving public assistance, or having a GED, according to a 2014 study from the Center for American Progress. That study stated 60 percent of people who were incarcerated were still unemployed a year after their release. The 2016 legislation that legalized ride-share companies in Pennsylvania permits a seven-year look back at criminal history, though convictions for certain crimes older than that can also be considered. A driver candidate can be disqualified by convictions for sex offenses, certain violent crimes, and acts of terror at any point in life, according to the law. The offenses that Uber cited in barring Daniels from the app aren't included in the list of disqualifying crimes. Philadelphia law bars employers from considering any criminal offenses more than seven years old when making a decision about filling a job, unless the offense has some direct bearing on the job. The ordinance should have protected the Philadelphia resident, according to Gullen, because drug offenses have no bearing on working for a car service. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations has received 53 cases since the ordinance was strengthened, the agency reported. Of those, 36 remain open. Fourteen were settled. Only one went to a public hearing; it resulted in a $25,000 reward in wages and damages for the worker who filed the complaint. Uber, which has more than 20,000 drivers operating in the Philadelphia area, did not respond to a question about other incidents of possible discrimination over criminal convictions. The company did report, though, that it has beefed up its criminal background and driving record checks. It has started conducting annual checks on driving records and criminal history. A recent drivers' audit brought attention to Daniels' old offenses, the company said in a statement. Uber and Lyft are facing pressure from the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which regulates the ride-share industry in the city, for more information about their operations. The PPA had not received complaints about criminal records being wrongly used to deny drivers access to ride share apps, a spokesman said. For Daniels, losing his Uber access cost him some extra income. For others, the same experience could be more serious. The courses Daniels taught in prison were prompted by his concern that without the ability to earn a living and build credit, people released from prison will turn back to crime. "All these things keep a dude behind the eight ball," said Daniels. "What's he going to do? He's going to fold." Daniels said he had no idea how to challenge Uber's decision. "There's no way they should have terminated me for something that was 28 years old and 23 years old," Daniels said. "That's impossible." As it turns out, Uber agreed with him. Thursday, four days after learning Daniels had contacted a reporter and almost a month after he was kicked off the app, Uber notified him that he had been reinstated in Pennsylvania, though he is barred from driving for the company in Delaware. Uber did not say how many other drivers might have been terminated from its app due to the difference in rules between Delaware and Pennsylvania, and did not say whether any others would be reinstated as Daniels was. The company did say, though, that it constantly reviews and improves its screening process. Daniels hasn't decided whether to return to ride-share driving. "It puts a bad taste in your mouth that you would do that to somebody," he said. Aunts, or "stand-in" mothers, play a significant role in black families. Amber Burns is sharing her experience with us. Amber with a photo of her and her godmother Sheilah. Tuesday, May 8, 2018. Read more Amber Burns has a mother, but this Mother's Day she'll be extending appreciation to Sheilah Strong her mother's best friend. Burns is one of many black people who, in addition to biological mothers, have aunts, grandaunts, or other women who have played a hand in their upbringing. Burns, 25, maintains a special relationship with her "Aunt" Sheilah, because of their strong bonds during her turbulent teenage years. Burns believes that other motherlike figures helped her to fill the space where her own mother may have fallen short. "I can honestly say that even if I didn't have a relationship with my mom, I never felt like I was lacking motherhood in my life, because I always had [Aunt Sheilah] and women in my church who would take me under their wings and nurture me," Burns said. "[Aunt Sheilah] has been in my life since the day I was born. When I was in college and had $3 in my bank account, she was the person I called, because I knew that she would be there for me." For many in the black community, motherhood extends far beyond the nuclear family and biological ties. Black "aunts" are often the backbone of their community, especially in the context of social values and responsibilities. However, there's no specific call for appreciation for these women. "We come out of a tradition where we expand the family system well beyond blood relatives," said Chad Lassiter, president of Black Men at Penn School of Social Work Inc. "So that's where you get the Aunt Rene or the Aunt Keisha, when in fact, she may just be your mother's choir mate or your mother's best friend. They become an unofficial aunt, but officially, they're an extension of the family." The black aunt walks the precipice of being a friend and elder. She's typically less strict than a parent, but there's more formality in the relationship. Philadelphia psychologist Clara Whaley Perkins, president of the Life After Trauma Organization, describes the black aunt as a "stabilizing force in the black family." "This idea of the African American community as an extended family is not new," explains anthropologist Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon. "There have been the aunties, or the grandmothers, or the neighbor-friend, or godmothers who have always lent a hand when the biological mother couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't have the capacity to do what was needed by themselves." As the black community evolved from the enslavement period to the Jim Crow era to the civil rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter, the archetype of the black aunt has not only endured but thrived. Williams-Witherspoon points to Philly native and sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, distinguished university professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, who coined the word othermothers, which describes black women who took on the responsibility to keep the infrastructure of the family unit intact through honesty, discretion, and discipline. Though other cultures and communities may have a similar concept of "othermothers," the black aunt fills a very specific emotional and spiritual need in the black tradition. "I think the nuclear family means something very different in other cultures. And in that respect the chastisement, the punishment, the loving, the caregiving is often just for the nuclear family," Williams-Witherspoon said. "Maybe it's because of the village concept that's so much a part of most African cultures. So when we were forcibly brought to this country during enslavement, we brought that ethos with us. Because other cultures haven't experienced a similar kind of forced enslavement and then genocide, that may be why they haven't developed that component." When Brian Foster's aunt Josephine Morgan, or Aunt Phine, disciplined Foster, now 25, she would take away his video games and his TV. "But she would leave the radio, because she knew how much I was connected to music," Foster said. She was always attuned to his musical interests, introducing him to George Clinton, Michael Jackson, Salt-N-Pepa, Adina Howard, Patrice Rushin, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Foster is now a DJ. Aunt Phine assumed custody of Foster and his younger sister when he was 2. He recalls having many "long talks" with his aunt about the importance of responsibility for himself and his community. Foster attributes his strong sense of character and respect for elders to his Aunt Phine. In the African American custom, black aunts usually emerge in middle age, once they've proven their value to the family. By then, they've established enough trust with their community that a higher level of respect is warranted. Abington Friends School teacher Beverly Weems, 65, is considered an aunt by many people in her community, blood-related and others. Weems feels "honored" when people herald her as "Aunt Bev." "With [being called Aunt Bev], there's a feeling of trust. I know they trust me to do right by them. They trust me to take care of them and to be fair. It's an honor to be included as an extension of their family," she said. "I come from a mentality of it takes a village to raise a child. So as many people as the parents can trust, the better." Aside from trust, the most important components of being an aunt are love and respect, according to Weems, who has three children of her own. She helps those who look up to her "acknowledge their part" in complications. Weems said she learned how to be nurturing without knowing it because she cared for her nieces and nephews at an early age. Whaley Perkins explains this process as "grooming." "Mothers know, early on, who is capable of taking care of children, and taking care of them when they get older. So they automatically begin to groom them for that position. So as they come of age, they already understand their responsibility to the family and to the community. Mothers are able to spot the next auntie, very early on." Lassiter's aunt is Harriet Jackson, or "Aunt Peaches," his mother's best friend. Lassiter can recall times when his Aunt Peaches has prayed for him and encouraged him during his studies at Johnson C. Smith University and the University of Pennsylvania. "Aunt Peaches is accomplished by having three kids of her own. But she's helped me understand my position in the world, in addition to my mom," Lassiter said. "She's done this at times when I may not have loved myself as a young kid growing up with big eyes, big lips, and dark skin. Aunt Peaches always assured me that I was somebody." Traditionally, adding "Aunt" in front of a black woman's name is seen as one of the highest forms of respect that can be attributed. "We've begun to call [U.S. Rep] Maxine Waters 'Aunt Maxine,' " Lassiter continues. "In that context, that means that she's going to speak truth to power. She's going to fight against white supremacy. Not only do we have Aunt Maxine. We have Aunt Angela Davis. We have Aunt Maya [Angelou]. The black aunt sticks to. She gets with. She watches over. She stands in truth. She tells an unbridled truth. She's not going to hold back. She should be held in the same high regard as the [biological] mother." I peered over the craggy rim of Erta Ale, Ethiopia's most active volcano, at the lava lake below. Beneath a gassy haze, boiling, ruby-red, molten rock thickened and rose up, swelling like a tidal wave topped off by a fireworks of crashing surf. Earth is made up of blood and guts, I thought, just like me. I had stumbled upon the opportunity to hike to the 2,011-foot summit of Erta Ale while planning a road trip across the ancient kingdoms and lakes of Ethiopia's Rift Valley. The East African Rift runs through Ethiopia's crusty, northeastern Afar Region. There, the shifting of the tectonic plates beneath the parched desertscape produces a chaos of fire and gases that can be seen at the top of Erta Ale, which contains one of the world's six lava lakes. I'm not alone in my desire to gaze upon breathtaking vistas, watch heart-stopping pyrotechnics, and gain insight into the fiery depths of this planet. Statistics from several sites and tour companies suggest that trips to both visit and hike volcanoes are climbing. Volcano Adventures, a tour company founded by German volcanologist Tom Pfeiffer, says its day-trip excursions to Italy's Stromboli and Etna volcanoes have increased by 15 percent since 2014. The number of people climbing Mount Nyiragongo, an active stratovolcano at Virunga National Park in Congo, increased 92 percent between 2015 and 2017. A National Park Service report estimates a 58 percent increase in visitors at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park since 2008, when Kilauea, an active shield volcano, began erupting. And with its current activity there's more opportunity to come. "Volcano tourism is set to rise with the establishment of more volcanic and geothermal Geoparks and World Heritage sites," said guidebook author Patricia Erfurt-Cooper, referring to the areas designated by UNESCO to protect the planet's geological heritage. The risk of being trapped, injured, or killed while hiking a live volcano, however, means one should undertake careful consideration and planning. Although I returned from my first adventure with just a few minor cuts from stumbling over loose, razor-sharp rocks, I realized I should do some research before planning another. So I turned to several experts, including Rosaly Lopes, a senior scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and author of the The Volcano Adventure Guide and other books. Keep the following advice in mind when planning a volcanic adventure. Perhaps the most important tip is to consider obtaining travel insurance and extra coverage. Do your research. "Find out as much as possible about the volcano you plan to visit before leaving home," Lopes advises. For example, which of the six eruption types does it exhibit? Hawaiian and Strombolian eruptions emit gentle lava flow and moderate eruptions, respectively. They represent the least dangerous types to watch. Plinian eruptions (similar in scale to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.) refer to the extremely destructive ones. "No two volcanoes are alike, even if they are classified as the same type," Lopes warns. For volcano research information online, check out the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program and the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program. Lopes suggests preparing a checklist that includes information about the volcano's current and past activity. Find out whether your volcano destination is regularly monitored by scientists from a nearby university; local experts and guides can provide invaluable details you might not find in general guidebooks. Take a look at maps that show roads or trails to the summit. See if escape routes have been provided and find out what kind of local emergency, and search and rescue services are available. Pack protective attire. Determine equipment and clothing based on what type of material your volcano is likely to expel and your potential proximity to explosions, Lopes says. A visit to the tourist spots at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park shouldn't require more than a sturdy pair of shoes. If you are hiking on rough, brittle volcanic terrain, such as on Erta Ale, wear long pants, hiking boots, and leather gloves. A hard hat or helmet and protective goggles are advisable when visiting an active volcano that spits out Strombolian explosions, such as Yasur, on Tanna Island, the major tourist attraction in the South Pacific archipelago nation of Vanuatu. "The more remote the area, the more emergency equipment you'll want to bring," Lopes says. "Carry the same essentials you would select for any challenging mountain or rock climbing excursion. Find out if there are cell, radio . . . or satellite communications services. Always carry plenty of water." Prepare for plumes. Ingrid Smet, geologist and tour coordinator at Volcano Adventures, advises carrying a gas mask to expeditions with fumaroles openings that release toxic gases and steam such as Nyiragongo. "Even nonerupting volcanoes may produce a plume of gas or lots of fumaroles," Lopes says. Lava that is entering the sea, as is common in Hawaii, can produce steam clouds that contain hydrochloric acid. Breathing these fumes may cause respiratory problems and eye and skin irritation. Be aware that the wind may change directions quickly. If you find yourself in perilous volcanic atmosphere without a gas mask, Lopes suggests tying a wet cloth over your nose and mouth. Obey the signs. Always stay within barriers and obey restricted area signs. Last September, three people visiting the Solfatara volcano crater in Pozzuoli, a popular tourist attraction near Naples, died when an 11-year-old boy wandered past a barrier and fell into a pit; his parents tried to rescue him. All tours there have been suspended until further notice. If you aren't sure you have firm lava to stand on, tread very carefully and be aware of the weight you bear on each leg. "Try to walk near the edges of flow channels rather than over the middle," Lopes says. "Listen for crunchy noises underfoot and look for signs of broken crusts." Consider other dangers. Among Lopes's most frightening experiences exploring an active volcano were a pack of unfriendly dogs and a gun-toting farmer. "There are times when the place itself is more dangerous than the volcano," she said. Erfurt-Cooper concurs: "Safe access can be a problem in remote regions. On occasion, volcanoes may become unsafe due to political unrest." The trek up 11,378-foot Nyiragongo remains popular, despite the ongoing violence in Congo. And tours to Erta Ale, the volcano I visited, have grown since a 2012 incident in which five European tourists were killed by rebels. To help evaluate whether your destination is safe, check out the State Department's travel advisory system. With 1,500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, there are plenty of choices to visit. Here are some sites recommended by the experts I spoke with. Silfra fissure, Thingvellir National Park, Iceland. "You won't necessarily see lava in Iceland," Lopes says. "But you will enjoy wonderful volcanic landscapes, geysers and geothermal areas." Silfra is a crack between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates filled with some of the clearest water on Earth. "You can actually see the surface expression of these two plates spreading apart," she says. Dallol, Ethiopia. This site, a half-day drive from Erta Ale, is "the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life," Lopes says. It's Earth's lowest land volcano, at 158 feet below the sea, and its sulfurous geysers glow in mineral colors. Sierra Negra, Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos archipelago delivers remote volcanic habitats, an array of invigorating activities, and the blue-footed booby. Erfurt Cooper suggests visiting sea-horse shaped Isabela Island, for a challenging seven-mile hike on Sierra Negra Volcano, where you can peer into the depths of one of the world's greatest volcanic calderas. A brief lockdown was ordered at a Southwest Philadelphia school Friday morning after a 10-year-old boy turned in a fake handgun his 7-year-old sister took from their uncle's house the night before, police said. Around 10 a.m. at Thomas G. Morton Elementary School at 2501 S. 63rd St., the boy turned the gun over to a teacher after finding it in his sister's book bag, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. The gun was given to the school's principal, who contacted police and ordered the lockdown. Detectives determined the black gun, which appeared to be a semiautomatic, was fake and the lockdown was lifted, Walker said. Detectives learned that the sister had found the gun in a closet while visiting their uncle and she took it to her grandfather's house, where the children live. The children were released to the custody of the city's Department of Human Services, Walker said. The uncle and grandfather are not facing any charges. "It's just an unfortunate situation," Walker said. Sen. Bernie Sanders (left) has endorsed Rich Lazer (right) for Congress in Pennsylvanias Fifth District. Read more Democrat Rich Lazer, a congressional candidate in Pennsylvania's crowded Fifth District primary, just got a big last-minute endorsement: Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Rich believes, as I do, that health care is a right, that free public education should extend through college, and that solving the student debt crisis is an urgent necessity," said Sanders in a statement. "Rich will be a consistent voice for a bold, progressive agenda and will fight to create a government and an economy that works for us, not just wealthy corporate interests." Lazer supports a $15 minimum wage, Medicare-for-All and free college, all issues that Sanders campaigned on during his 2016 presidential run. "This is an honor for me," said Lazer, the former deputy mayor of labor under Mayor Kenney. "I think we see things through the same lens how things should be working for working families." The Fifth District is largely based in Delaware County, but also includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County. Lazer has won the support of several labor unions, and one of his biggest backers is John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, the powerful and controversial leader of the city's electricians union. A super PAC for Lazer was launched by Dougherty. The Middle Class PAC has spent nearly $1 million on pro-Lazer TV advertising that will air through Monday, according to a source familiar with ad buys in the area. That dwarfs the amount of money that any individual campaign has spent broadcasting TV spots. Ballard Spahr attorney Mary Gay Scanlon has paid about $515,000 for TV advertising, while former U.S. assistant attorney Ashley Lunkenheimer has spent about $498,000. Despite that big money, Lazer has trailed in recent polls conducted on behalf of other campaigns. Notably, Sanders' endorsement appears to come too late for the super PAC to air TV ads promoting it. Could Sanders' endorsement of Lazer benefit him if he runs for president again in 2020? Dougherty's union, which endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary, is one of the most influential campaign spenders in Pennsylvania. Former Gov. Ed Rendell, a longtime supporter of Clinton, is backing Scanlon, who has polled in first in campaign surveys. Dougherty spokesman Frank Keel said he's the one who clinched the deal for Lazer. "John made the endorsement happen," said Keel. "He's admired Sen. Sanders for years and met him on several occasions. John had recently reached out to him about the Fifth Congressional race and Rich's candidacy. John and the senator spoke earlier today for a half hour or so about Rich's progressive politics and years of experience. Sen. Sanders, who'd already done some homework on Rich, clearly liked what he'd heard and agreed to do the endorsement." Keel added that "this is a huge boost for Rich's candidacy in these final days before the election." In a phone interview, Dougherty was less braggadocious. He said the endorsement was the result of "Rich Lazer's stellar performance" in the campaign and the fact that Lazer helped further "Mayor Kenney's progressive agenda" as Kenney's former deputy mayor of labor. Dougherty also said that Ed Mooney, the Philadelphia-based vice president of the Communications Workers of America District 213, "made the contact." The communication workers union supported Sanders in the 2016 primary. Molly Sheehan, one of Lazer's Democratic opponents in the 10-person primary for Pennsylvania's Fifth District, said she is surprised by Sanders' endorsement. Two local chapters of Our Revolution, an organization created out of Sanders' presidential campaign, are backing her. "This decision was about top-down alliances of old-school political leaders. It wasn't about where the activists are in our movement," she said. "Rich and I would vote similarly on a lot of issues, but he's backed by a super PAC his power emanates from loopholes that were created by the flawed Citizens United Supreme Court decision we're all running against." Dougherty has said in the past that his union funds super PACs because he wants "working-class people to have the same tools that the rich people have." The primary is May 15th. Three days after President Trump was sworn into office, the telecom giant AT&T turned to his personal attorney Michael Cohen for help on a wide portfolio of issues pending before the federal government including the company's proposed merger with Time Warner, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The documents detail the full scope of Cohen's $600,000 deal with AT&T and how his contract specified that he would provide advice on the $85 billion merger, which required the approval of federal antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the merger during the campaign and his administration ultimately sided against AT&T. The Department of Justice filed suit in November to block the deal, a case that is still pending. Cohen's deals with AT&T and other corporate clients were first revealed this week by an attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, but the new documents obtained by The Post offered greater detail about his arrangement with telecom company and the type of work he had been hired to perform. It is unclear what insight Cohen a longtime real estate attorney and former taxi cab operator could have provided AT&T on complex telecom matters. At the same time he was collecting $50,000 a month from AT&T, Cohen was being paid large sums to advise other companies on a broad variety of issues, including the Affordable Care Act, accounting practices and real estate. In the wake of Trump's election, corporate clients paid Cohen at least $2.95 million through a company called Essential Consultants, according to figures confirmed by the companies. Essential Consultants was the same company Cohen used in October 2016 to route money to Daniels in exchange for her agreement not to disclose an alleged affair with Trump. The corporate payments he received demonstrate how Cohen was able to turn his ties with the new president into money-making opportunities, despite Trump's campaign pledges to "drain the swamp." AT&T and the pharmaceutical company Novartis, another Cohen client, said this week that they provided information about their dealings with Trump's lawyer to special counsel Robert Mueller III last year. Cohen is also under investigation by prosecutors in New York for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. The $600,000 that flowed to Cohen from AT&T was the equivalent of 3.5 percent of the $16.8 million the company spent on lobbying in 2017, according to disclosure forms. A "scope of work" describing Cohen's contract in an internal AT&T document shows that he was hired to "focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner." He was also directed to "creatively address political and communications issues" facing the company and advise the company on matters before the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T declined to comment on the documents, which were provided to The Post anonymously, but did not challenge their authenticity. Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, declined to comment. Cohen did not respond to requests for comment. The internal AT&T documents show that Cohen was supposed to spend half of his time on "legislative policy development" and the other half on "regulatory policy development." Payments to Cohen were approved by two executives in AT&T's public affairs office in Washington. The New York Times first reported that Cohen offered advice on how AT&T should approach the administration about the Time Warner merger. The documents specified that Cohen, who was not a registered lobbyist, was to spend none of his time engaged in lobbying. They described his work as advising the company, not contacting federal officials. Under federal rules, individuals must register as lobbyists if they spend 20 percent of their time working for a client on legislative and executive branch issues and if they have had contact with at least two government officials related to that client, according to Larry Noble, a former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission and an expert on lobbying law. Cohen's work for AT&T did not appear to meet that definition, Noble said. However, he noted that hiring the president's lawyer could trigger ethical questions. "It is an ethical concern if you have a lawyer who appears to be selling access to a current client, who is president," Noble said. Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Trump, said Wednesday that the president was unaware of Cohen's consulting agreements. AT&T has declined to comment on the specific amount it paid to Essential Consultants. Under the one-year contract, the company has said, Cohen was hired to provide "insights into understanding the new administration." In an internal email to employees obtained by The Post, AT&T said Cohen was among "several consultants" the company hired in early 2017 "to help us understand how the President and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement." At the time the contract was signed, AT&T was trying to build ties to the new administration. Months earlier, Trump had come out strongly against the proposed merger with Time Warner, which owns CNN a network he often berates as "fake news." "As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said during a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in October 2016. On Jan. 12, 2017, Cohen and AT&T's chief executive, Randall Stephenson, were both seen visiting Trump Tower in New York, days before the contract with Essential Consultants was signed. But although the two men arrived within minutes of each other, they did not meet that day and have never met, AT&T said this week. At the time, AT&T said that Stephenson had "a very good meeting" with Trump but that the Time Warner merger "was not a topic of discussion." "The conversation focused on how AT&T can work with the Trump administration to increase investment in the U.S., stimulate job creation in America, and make American companies more competitive globally," the company said. In the wake of the revelation of Cohen's link to AT&T, ranking Democrats on antitrust subcommittees in both the House and Senate sent a joint letter to the Justice Department's top competition enforcer, Makan Delrahim, asking whether he knew of the company's payments to Cohen during his agency's independent review of the Time Warner merger. The Justice Department declined to comment. According to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to describe ongoing litigation, Delrahim was not aware of AT&T's payments to Cohen. Meanwhile, Novartis chief executive Vasant Narasimhan sent an email to employees Thursday calling the company's $1.2 million contract with Cohen a "mistake" and acknowledging that the revelation "was not a good day for Novartis." "We made a mistake in entering into this engagement and, as a consequence, are being criticized by a world that expects more from us," Narasimhan wrote. Narasimhan joined the company in 2005, but did not take the helm of the global drug giant until this February. "I was not involved with any aspect of this situation," Narasimhan wrote to employees, adding that it had been a difficult day for himself and his family. The Washington Post's Carolyn Y. Johnson contributed to this report. Candidates seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfs 2018 bid for re-election, Pennsylvania Sen. Scott Wagner, left, R-York County, Laura Ellsworth, center, and Paul Mango, right, take part in the Montgomery County Republican Committees gubernatorial forum in Blue Bell in October. Read more Two of the Republicans running for Pennsylvania governor would like to eliminate school property taxes, while a third says it's a bad idea. The winner of Tuesday's primary will run against Gov. Wolf, a Democrat who has said he is open to ending the reliance on property taxes as a source of revenue and supported the idea in his 2014 campaign. But in office, Wolf has opposed bills to eliminate school property taxes, citing concerns with the details and proposed revenue replacements. Paul Mango, an Allegheny County health-care consultant, and Scott Wagner, a business owner and state senator from York County, have made property-tax elimination part of their gubernatorial platforms. But the third GOP candidate, Pittsburgh attorney Laura Ellsworth, warns that their support for replacing it with increased sales and income taxes is a risky way to fund education. All three candidates say various taxes in the state are too high and have offered proposals to reduce them and rein in spending a topic likely to get more traction in the general election this fall. The property-tax issue is one key point on which the Republicans differ. But if history is an indicator, the tax will still be here after the November election. Candidates' vows are simply campaign promises at this point, said Gerry Cross, executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League. "The executive can promise, but until the legislative and the executive can deliver, it's still a promise," Cross said. A recent push on the issue in Pennsylvania including a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year and a tied Senate vote in 2015 on a bill that Mango and Wagner now both support has drawn attention to the issue of property taxes ahead of this year's race for governor. "Taxes have always been sort of a central part of campaigns," said G. Terry Madonna, poll director and a professor of public affairs at Franklin and Marshall College. "There has been a much heavier emphasis by two of the three Republican candidates on it." Polls of voters find that property taxes are "by far the most unpopular tax," Madonna said. But if voters learned that eliminating such taxes would cause their income and sales taxes to increase substantially, he said, "you might get a different response." In a debate last week televised on WGAL, an NBC affiliate in Lancaster, Mango said he supports a bill that would replace school property taxes with increases in the state income and sales taxes. The bill, which would still keep some school property taxes in place for districts to pay off their existing debt, failed to pass the Senate in 2015 when Lt. Gov. Mike Stack III broke a tie vote. "If the local school district [now] wants to increase spending they have to go the people and ask them in a referendum," Mango said of the bill, known as the Property Tax Independence Act. "Some have said, 'Oh my gosh, this will take power out of the school district and move it to Harrisburg.' It's the opposite it's going to move power out of the school district and give it back to the people." Wagner is a co-sponsor of the bill, and has cast himself as the candidate who can end property taxes."My goal as governor would be to eliminate school taxes on real estate," he said in the debate. Wagner and Mango have criticized each other's campaigns for slight differences or shifts in their stances on real estate taxes or other tax issues. Ellsworth, meanwhile, disagrees with both of them. She said she would provide relief to seniors by freezing property taxes for residents who have paid them for more than 35 years, but she does not believe the state should end its property tax dependence. "When you have market-based taxes like income or sales tax, when we have a crash, as we have had in our recent past, when people aren't buying things and they aren't making things, you can't have the entire funding system of our schools crash as the same time," she said. "Property taxes provide stability and predictability for our educational system, and that is important." Wolf, who has no primary opposition, has voiced concerns with the bill that Wagner and Mango support because it would expand the state sales tax to include food and clothing; the governor's office has also said that education funding remains a priority and that Wolf does not want to hurt school districts. Because real estate taxes are levied by school districts, counties, and municipalities, Cross said it is interesting that candidates for governor are spending time talking about it. State action to transform the way schools are funded, he said, is a debate with broad implications. "I don't know if the argument is so much 'eliminate property taxes,'" Cross said. "Maybe the argument is: What's the state's role in paying for public education?" Molly Sheehan (left) is a Democrat running for Pennsylvanias Fifth District. She said State Rep. Greg Vitali (right) asked her to drop out and endorse him for Congress. Read more Molly Sheehan, a scientist running for Congress in the Philadelphia region, got a call Wednesday morning. It was Greg Vitali, one of her nine yes, nine Democratic opponents in the clown-car primary for Pennsylvania's Fifth District. Vitali, a 61-year-old state representative, is in second place, according to a few internal polls, despite having virtually no money. Within inches of the U.S. House, perhaps, Vitali offered a proposition to his 32-year-old foe: He asked Sheehan to drop out of the congressional race and endorse him. After all, he said, they care about the same things: the environment and reducing the influence of money on politics. Vitali also noted that Mary Gay Scanlon, a Ballard Spahr attorney backed by Comcast senior executive V.P. David L. Cohen, is ahead of him in campaign polls. "He suggested to me, 'Think about who you'd like to be your next congressperson: me or Mary Gay?'" Sheehan said. Sheehan said she was offended by Vitali's request: He is "asking a strong woman candidate to drop out to support him so he can defeat another woman candidate." Plus, Sheehan said, she has been running for Congress for a year much longer than Vitali and "I believe I can win this primary." "Get out of the way, 'qualified' man coming through!" she joked about his attitude. Vitali didn't dispute that he told Sheehan she ought to leave the race and throw her support to him. But he said "it has nothing to do with gender." He said he also "made the same request" to a male candidate in the Fifth District primary, Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland. Vitali added that "one candidate asking another of the same party to consider withdrawing in the course of a campaign is a very common thing to do I'm very surprised she would have taken any offense or gone to the press with this." He's right in at least one way: Clout hears tales of such back-room requests all the time. We've noticed it's often tenured politicians asking younger ones to bail. That's politics. One might argue that it also would have been politics good politics to have realized that asking a first-time candidate like Sheehan to drop her bid in the "Year of the Woman" could backfire. The Stack vs. Boyle feud continues, Part 79,245 Bob Stewart says he likes to help his elderly neighbors fix their cars and resolve problems with the Water Department. So when the leader of Northeast Philly's 58th Ward asked him if he'd like to run for a Democratic committee post, Stewart obliged, figuring he'd be able to get calls returned by city officials. "I didn't know I was walking into a Stacks vs. the Boyles war," Stewart, a journalist, said. Yes, there's a new front in the epic rivalry between Lt. Gov. Mike Stack and the Boyle brothers, two Democratic families in the Northeast. You know, the feud that was recently described in a federal case as "Philadelphia's political equivalent of the Hatfields and McCoys." State Rep. Kevin Boyle is running for Democratic committee person in the 58th Ward. He's campaigning alongside Victoria Cram, who works in the office of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, Kevin's brother. Committee people are the foot soldiers of the Democratic Party, and elect the city's powerful ward leaders. The Boyles' goal, some political insiders think, is to install an ally as leader of the 58th Ward. That ward is currently led by the brother-in-law of their longtime foe, Stack. This is a brawl so bad that Stack's wife reportedly once flipped Kevin Boyle the bird and then threw a cup of soda at him at a church parish hall. (Did we mention that all these people are in the same political party? Technically?) Kevin Boyle appears to be taking this very seriously, at least on paper. A PAC known as the Northeast Democratic Club is calling his neighbors and mailing them letters on Kevin's behalf, saying he'll hold "our elected officials and city government accountable." (Never mind that Kevin Boyle is an elected official.) Kevin Boyle said he was recruited by Democratic neighbors to "help improve the party in my neighborhood," where Republicans performed well last election. He didn't respond to a question about whether he was trying to oust Team Stack. Stack's spokesman, Marty Marks, said: "We wish everybody luck." Clout could practically see his Cheshire grin through the phone. In the Democratic primary race for the First District U.S. House seat, voters face a choice between pragmatism and party messaging as they choose a nominee in a district crucial to the party's drive to flip the House from red to blue this fall. Democrats will have to decide whether Scott Wallace, a self-funded millionaire who can put plenty of cash into the general election, has a better chance of beating Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick a freshman who succeeded his brother, Mike than Rachel Reddick, a young mother and Navy veteran with a profile that appeals to national Democrats in the "Year of the Woman." "I think that PA-01 is a pretty good bellwether district of what might be going on in the country. I think if Democrats can flip this, it would indicate Democrats are on their way to flip the House," said Kyle Kondik, an election analyst at the University of Virginia. "It's among a handful of districts around the country that might be most worth watching." As Wallace, 66, and Reddick, 33, battle it out, Steve Bacher, a little-funded progressive environmentalist, argues he is closest to the heart of the party base. The Bucks County Democratic Committee and other powerful county Democrats have endorsed Wallace, grandson of former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who planted the seed to the family fortune. Years before he served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry Wallace founded a company that pioneered hybrid corn seeds, which was sold in 1999 to the DuPont Co. for $10 billion. Wallace, an attorney, worked on the staff of two U.S. Senate committees early in his career. For the last two decades, he and his wife, Christy, served on the board of the Wallace Global Fund, a philanthropy that fights against climate change and for expanded voting rights. Wallace has also given a lot of money to Democratic candidates and causes. He was planning to do the same in the First District (Eighth District before the redistricting). But when none of the Bucks County Democrats he favored agreed to run, Wallace left the Washington area, where the foundation is based, moved back to the home where he grew up in central Bucks, and filed to run. Wallace has put up more than $2 million of his own money and has been labeled a carpetbagging millionaire seeking to buy office. Political analysts warn that if the Democrats select Wallace as the nominee, it could backfire in November. "If Wallace prevails on May 15, this is a place where Republicans could conceivably save a 'Clinton district' by disqualifying the Democratic nominee as out of touch," Dave Wasserman, an analyst with the Cook Political Report, wrote last week. Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat whom Wallace recruited to run, said Wallace has been helping underprivileged people through his family's foundation. "That argument makes no sense," she said of Wallace's being perceived as out of touch to blue-collar Bucks County constituents. Plus, she added: "We just elected someone who is a multimillionaire as president." Reddick has certainly used his wealth to her advantage. One of her campaign mailers calls Wallace "the Mansplaining Multimillionaire from Maryland." Reddick, who has been endorsed by EMILY's List, was on active duty for six years, serving in the Judge Advocate General Corps. She continues to serve as an officer in the Naval Reserve. "She fits the mold that Democrats have been recruiting all over the country. She is a woman and a veteran," Kondik said. Reddick, too, only recently moved back to Bucks County, after her active-duty career. Until 2016, she was a registered Republican, and her opponents have hit her on it. Reddick said that she grew up in a Republican family and, as her perspective on life changed, became a Democrat. She said she voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and has a selfie with her 2016 absentee ballot showing she voted for Hillary Clinton and every other Democrat. So far her campaign has raised $400,000, she said. "People are ready for a change," she said, noting that only men represent Pennsylvania in Washington. "Being young and being a woman in the year of the women People are ready for equal representation. I know I am." Bacher, who has lived in the county for 10 years and has raised $50,000, is relying on social media. He thinks his views, such as free tuition at community colleges and public universities and an $18 minimum wage, are resonating. "We have more in common than that which separates us," he said. Fitzpatrick also faces a Republican primary opponent, former Assistant District Attorney Dean Malik, who argues the incumbent is not supportive enough of President Trump. Fitzpatrick's brother lost the seat in 2006, in his first term, when Democrats took over the House. Democrat Pat Murphy replaced him. Four years later, Mike Fitzpatrick ran again and unseated Murphy amid a GOP wave. Then in 2016, Brian Fitzpatrick moved back from California to Bucks County to run for his brother's seat. Since then, the district has become a little more Democratic in its voting patterns. "If 2018 is indeed a wave year, the identity of the Democratic primary winner won't matter that much," Kondik said. When I was young, I couldn't wait to go to college and join a sorority. My parents, both college graduates, participated in Greek life while in school. They often talked about the strong bond and lifelong friendships they developed by being members of the Divine Nine, the nine historically black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs) that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. My mom, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, reminisced about on-campus parties to raise funds for scholarships and weekly service projects to serve those needing a helping hand. My dad's stories of how Kappa Alpha Psi raised money for local charities made me want to have that same experience. >> READ MORE: In a #MeToo world, women should boycott fraternities | Opinion As a college freshman at American University, I was chosen to become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first black Greek letter sorority founded for and by college-educated women in the country. I knew this would be a commitment that would far outlast my undergraduate days in college. Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Howard University in January 1908 by 16 extraordinary women who wanted to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, promote unity and friendship among college women, study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, maintain a progressive interest in college life, and be of "Service to All Mankind." Through the years this mission has remained unchanged and guides the members as they give of their time, talent, and treasures to promote AKA. These basic tenets remain true throughout our lives long after graduation, which is why we have committed ourselves to a lifelong journey of sisterhood and service. As a member of a medium-size chapter, our relationships were often nurtured by our common desire to help the underserved and underrepresented. Our chapter, Lambda Zeta chapter, volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, participated in walk-athons, dance-athons, step shows, and other fun activities to raise funds. When I became president of my chapter, I planned service programs, including adopting a school and tutoring children. My sisters and I found our niche in the Northwest section of Washington. We grew closer in the name of sisterhood because we worked together to improve the quality of lives for others. >> READ MORE: My son died from hazing, but banning fraternities won't solve problems with Greek life | Opinion In addition to performing community service, my sisters and I looked out for and protected one another. We may not have all been the best of friends, but we respected one another and cared for one another. That kinship extended to all members of AKA. When we traveled to other college campuses together, we'd seek out other members who proudly wore the salmon pink and apple green colors. Over the past few years, I've watched in horror as stories emerged about deaths, injuries, and sexual assaults tied to fraternities. This is not the kind of community that Greek life is supposed to build. The partying culture that exists in some fraternities and sororities is undeniable and tragic, but it was not the experience I had on campus. We enjoyed one another and took part in harmless activities during our membership intake process, but they were all things to help us grow and develop into strong members. They taught us invaluable lessons that would stay with us for a lifetime. Our process brought us closer together and taught us the history of the organization and what real sisterhood looked like. Joining Alpha Kappa Alpha was one of the most gratifying and best decisions I made in my young life. I developed a connection that would last a lifetime. After college, our members attend business conferences, lectures, and leadership conferences with others who wear the same bold letters of AKA. In the years since I graduated, I have continued my service and connected with extraordinary members of the sisterhood across the globe. Older members have mentored me, developed my skills, and made me a better sorority member as well as a better friend, employee, and human being. I have connected with powerful women who became leaders in their field, including fellow AKAs like Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas), Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), Starbucks COO Rosalind Brewer, Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, and American poet Sonia Sanchez. I have relied upon my sorority sisters to take me in, vouch for my credibility. In turn, I have done the same for younger members. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and its 300,000-plus members will continue to be there for me because I am a member for life. No matter where I go in this world, I know I can always find a sister. I can always find an AKA. Evelyn Sample-Oates is executive director of external affairs for the School District of Philadelphia. She served on the international board of directors for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. for eight years as the Centennial North Atlantic regional director and the international regional director. Firefighter sprays down the ruins of a home in Talihina, OK. The home burned after a booby trap exploded while law enforcement tried to serve a warrant to the resident. Four officers were injured in the explosion; the gunman was killed in a shootout with offficers. (Photo: News9 Screen Shot) Officers from multiple agencies, including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, were met with gunfire Friday morning when they tried to serve a warrant in the town of Talihina. The gunman was killed in the ensuing gunfight and an explosion destroyed his business/residence. Four troopers were injured by gunfire or by shrapnel. A fifth officer was shot and the bullet was stopped by body armor. Law enforcement officials say officers from multiple agencies were involved in serving the warrant for a drug offense due to the man's criminal history and at the request of the Le Flore County Sheriff's Office. Troopers said the building appeared to be wired with explosives and at least one detonated. The building was consumed by the fire. Troopers used a flash bang during the encounter, but they said it did not start the fire. The injured troopers are expected to recover, News9 reports. The Rochester Public Library wants to help you celebrate this Mother's Day with a good book. Each of the maternal figures in these books is a fantastic example of motherhood. When you think of belly dancing, images of lithe dancers in sultry, gauzy costumes probably come to mind. Its the stereotype put forth in movies and music videos, in everything from 1950s sitcoms to traditional Russian ballets. This can make the idea of a belly dancing class intimidating, especially if youre self-conscious about your body. But belly dancing classes, which are growing in popularity, actually focus on celebrating every dancers body, offering women (and men) a supportive, relaxed, and fun fitness community. When Terri Allred experienced a traumatic brain injury in 2002, her physical therapist suggested a dance class. Allred grew up taking dance lessons, but she said doing something like ballet or jazz again was impossible because of how badly her head hurt. Instead, she tried something a little different: belly dancing. "It was an amazing feeling," she recalled. "It helped me with the dizziness and the balance problems, but it also helped me with feeling more energetic, less depressed, getting back in shape, and socializing with amazing women from all walks of life." After the class finished, Allred pursued her new passion farther, studying with several teachers and earning the certification to instruct American Tribal Style dance. She became Rochesters first belly dance instructor when she founded Third Eye Tribal(originally known as Rochester International Dance Studio) in 2008. Because its a low-impact activity, people of all physical abilities can participate, said Allred. "You can customize it to your own physical abilities and health level." As one might expect, Allred said belly dancing is a "very, very good core workout," but the benefits go far beyond exercise. Classes emphasize body positivity and confidence, and are welcoming to students from every walk of life. "We have women and men who are all sizes, all shapes. We really celebrate beauty in diversity," Allred said. "You dont have to look like a Barbie doll. A lot of times, people have stereotypical ideas of belly dancers, but then they see women who are older and younger and bigger and thinner, and its really affirming to their own self image, and they find beauty in themselves." April Dickinson started belly dancing 13 years ago as a way to stay in shape, but she soon discovered it offered much more than that. "Youre learning how to isolate muscles and to move your body in a fashion thats contrary to what youre used to, which activates more muscles," she said. "That helps promote muscle growth and physical health. [But also], dance is a way of therapy. When you learn moves and cues, youre learning how to communicate without talking. You have to learn how someone moves and be able to dance together. I really like that aspect, because it helps people become more aware of other individuals and promote mental health." Self-described "tomboy" Violet Kind never imagined shed be a dance instructor someday, especially not a belly dance instructor. But after the Mankato native was invited to try a belly dance class as a teenager, she was hooked. "That was the first dance class Id ever taken, and I loved it," she said. "Its added a lot of body confidence. But one of the biggest benefits has been meeting lots of really cool and inspiring women through dance." Rather than going to a gym and doing an individual workout, a belly dancing class creates a community. It brings people together to the same space week after week, working toward a common goal of health, wellness, and letting go. Kind agreed belly dancing benefits other parts of life besides fitness. "Dance can be so good for every area of health: physically, mentally, spiritually," she said. "Mentally, it can be such a confidence booster. Plus, I think its really important for adults to continue to push themselves to do and try new things, because it can be really easy to fall into a place of doing the same things every day. When youre open to doing something uncomfortable, that vulnerability makes a better community. I see a lot of fast friendships occur because of the belly dance." If youre willing to give it a try, belly dancing just might provide the right mixture of exercise, social interaction, and fun to keep you coming back week after week. "We have women of all shapes and sizes," Kind said. "People bare their stretch marks proudly. Its really beautiful when people show their bellies for the first time. Belly dance is, essentially, a celebration of womens bodies, because all of the movements are meant to accentuate the natural figure of a women, no matter what size the woman is. Belly dance looks beautiful on every body." President Trumps decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal has produced much hand-wringing from its supporters. Some of the angst is understandable. Former administration officials and many in the foreign policy establishment thought the deal was our best option for dealing with the threat of Iran developing nuclear weapons. I dont agree, but acknowledge that the path Trump has chosen carries considerable risks (as, of course, did Obamas). However, one criticism being leveled at Trumps decision is bogus and cynical. Former Obama administration officials are complaining that Trumps move harms Americas reputation for compliance with international agreements. When the United States unilaterally abrogates an international agreement in the absence of any breach, we undermine international perceptions of our reliability and responsibility, Susan Rice sniffs. Trumps action. . .severely undermines the credibility of the United States to uphold international agreements that we sign which will endure after he is gone, Ben Rhodes adds. But, as Jack Goldsmith points out, President Obama made this deal on his own presidential authority, in the face of significant domestic opposition, without seeking or receiving approval from the Senate or the Congress. Thus, under our Constitution, the U.S. committed itself to abide by the deal only for as long as Obama remained president a fact Obama and his team fully understood. Goldsmith, no Trump supporter, puts it this way: Sorry, but you dont get to make an enormously consequential international deal in the face of opposition from Congress, and skirt the need for congressional consent by making the agreement non-binding under domestic and international law, and then complain about a withdrawal from the fragile non-binding agreement you made when a new president who ran on the issue and won does what a majority of Congress wanted at the time. Goldsmith quotes Federalist 75, in which Alexander Hamilton explained the wisdom of the original constitutional mechanism of Senate approval for treaties in terms directly applicable to the Iran deal. It would be utterly unsafe and improper to intrust the entire power of making treaties in the president alone, since the president alone could not be trusted to serve the national interest, Hamilton argued. The history of human conduct does not warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the sole disposal of a magistrate created and circumstanced as would be a President of the United States. Obama, having an exalted opinion of his virtue and wisdom, and knowing that the Senate didnt back him, wanted to commit the U.S. to the momentous Iran deal without securing the necessary legislative consent. He did so knowing that the commitment he made could be overturned with a stroke of the pen (to use Sen. Tom Cottons phrase) by his successor. Thus, Goldsmith is absolutely right when he concludes: If the United States reputation for upholding agreements takes a hit, the responsibility for that outcome lies squarely with the original decision by the Obama administration to make the hugely consequential deal on its own. Susan Rice and Ben Rhodes can whine all they want. It doesnt change this reality. Meanwhile, Sen. Cotton deserves credit (along with dozens of his Republican colleagues) for warning Iran that its deal with Obama was not binding on the next administration. That warning makes it all the more absurd for the likes of Rice and Rhodes to complain that Trumps action undermines Americas reliability and credibility. Iran and the rest of the world were on notice, thanks to Cotton. The real complaint of Rice, Rhodes, etc. is with the U.S. Constitution. What else is new? The IDF has posted a video of a direct hit on a Syrian SA22 air defense battery in connection with its response to the 20 rockets launched by Iranian forces from Syria toward Israel last night. As the Jerusalem Post puts it, the video appears to be filmed from a camera loaded on the Israeli rocket. The rocket flies down toward the Syrian SA22, a combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery battery, eventually cutting out when it seems to hit the target. The IDF took out five such batteries last night. Looking around online, I find that the SA22 is a Russian system that goes under the name Pantsir-S1 and represents the latest air defense technology by using phased array radars for both target acquisition and tracking (more here). I think there is a message or two implicit in the release of this video. Rush Limbaugh summarizes Kim Strassels Wall Street Journal column of this past Friday, todays Wall Street Journal editorial (obviously written by Kim), and a related Washington Post story in which the deep state strikes back against House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Its a complicated story to unravel. In the transcript posted at his site, Rush links to each of the three sources and summarizes the salient details. Close reading is required, and Rush zooms in to provide it. There seems to be a serious question whether the FBI had an informant in the Trump campaign. At last word, Chairman Nunes and Rep. Trey Gowdy had met with Rod Rosenstein, FBI and intelligence authorities. They agreed to keep talking about obtaining the documents in issue (statement embedded in tweet below). Nunes and Gowdy issue statement saying they had a "productive" meeting at DOJ today, and will keep talking next week about latest doc request pic.twitter.com/s2TJtfmXgh Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) May 10, 2018 What is going on here? Kim Strassel comments today in her tweet below. Support Devin Nunes! Alternate (and reality) read: DOJ/FBI don't want HPSCI to see what shenanigans they were up to in 2016. And now gunning for Nunes, cuz he won't give up. Side note: Ryan said in his presser this morning that he's read HPSCI request and it is "wholly appropriate." https://t.co/FJH66GiuJZ Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) May 10, 2018 In the first few years after 9/11 it seemed very likely that al Qaeda would attack the U.S. homeland again and almost certain it was plotting to do so. Indeed, at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing yesterday (about which more below), one Senator recalled credible reports that al Qaeda was planning to attack the U.S. with a dirty (nuclear) bomb. Our government needed to know what al Qaeda was plotting. Finding out required interrogating captured terrorists. Captured terrorists were not inclined to provide truthful information to their captors. Thus, usual interrogation techniques sometimes did not produce good intelligence. In some such cases, the CIA resorted to enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. The Agency relied on a memo from the Department of Justice stating that the interrogation techniques in question were lawful. Gina Haspel was one of the CIA employees involved in the heroic effort to find out, via enhanced interrogation, what al Qaeda was plotting. She played an important part. However, she did not make decisions regarding enhanced interrogation. These were made higher up the chain of command. A decade and a half later, Haspel is President Trumps nominee to head the CIA. She is endorsed by past intelligence community leaders across the political spectrum, including anti-Trumpers John Brennan and James Clapper. Former Senator Evan Bayh, a Democrat, introduced her to the Senate Intelligence Committee at her confirmation hearing yesterday. Unfortunately, Bayhs introduction was not the prelude to a serious discussion of Haspels views and qualifications. Instead, the hearing produced a nauseating display of Democratic partisanship and second-guessing of old, discarded policies Haspel had no involvement in deciding upon, but that leading congressional Democratic signed off on during the relevant time period, back when it looked like America was about to be attacked again. We know the Democrats were engaged in blatant partisanship yesterday because when John Brennan was before the same committee seeking confirmation for the same job, the Dems did not behave the same way. In fact, Brennan was confirmed comfortably, even though, unlike Haspel, he was a CIA decisionmaker in the post 9-11 years and backed the interrogation policies the Democrats turned against after the threat from al Qaeda subsided. Several Republican Senators made this point. None did so more effectively than our friend Sen. Tom Cotton. To my knowledge, Cotton is the only member of the committee who has fought in the war on terrorism. He left a job at a top law firm to do so. He then served in the two main theaters of Americas anti-terrorism war, Iraq and Afghanistan. By contrast, committee Democrats have heckled from the sidelines. Yesterday, Cotton could not conceal his disgust with the hypocritical posturing of committee Dems. Once, he briefly interrupted Sen. Jack Reed. Another time, he interrupted Sen. Mark Warner more persistently. These minor breaches of decorum caused Dana Milbank to unload on Cotton today. Milbank described Tom as rage-filled and declared that he has surpassed Ted Cruz as the most disliked member of the Senate. The first claim is nonsense. I spent dozens of hours with Cotton during the time between his tour in Iraq and his tour in Afghanistan (has Milbank spent any?) and perhaps a dozen more since he returned from Afghanistan. This is not a man filled with rage. Nor did Cotton display rage yesterday. He did not shout or use derogatory language. Its fair to criticize him for interrupting his colleagues, but Milbank is simply making it up when he talks about rage. Im pretty sure Milbank is also making it up when he crowns Tom the Senates least popular member. Certainly, Milbank offers no evidence that supports a statement this sweeping. I know that Tom has a good relationship with the Majority Leader. I doubt this would be true if he were widely unpopular within the Republican caucus. No Milbank column would be complete without a dose of intellectual dishonesty. Milbank does not disappoint. He reminds us that it was Cotton who in 2015 wrote a letter to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran discouraging them from negotiating with the Obama administration. Actually, Cotton simply informed these leaders that, without Senate ratification, the next administration could revoke [the Iran nuclear agreement] with the stroke of a pen. This, of course, is exactly what has happened. And Milbank omits the fact that Cottons letter was signed by 46 of his Republican Senate colleagues. This is hardly an indicator of unpopularity. Milbank also finds fault with Cotton for asking Haspel: If Hillary Clinton had won and nominated you to be CIA director, how many votes do you think you would have gotten? But Milbank fails to inform his readers that Sen. John Cornyn made the same point a fair one, given the experience with John Brennan discussed above. Milbanks real problem with Cotton lies in the Senators policy preferences and his effectiveness in promoting them. Milbank gives this away when he attacks Cotton for going to the White House to dissuade Trump from backing a bipartisan immigration compromise. The implication is that Cotton was obligated to muffle his opposition to immigration legislation he strongly disagreed with merely because some Republican Senators supported it, a ridiculous notion. In this instance, Milbank has converted his policy disagreement with Cotton into an attack on the Senators personality. All the while, he castigates Cotton for being unable to disagree without being disagreeable. The flaw extends to Milbanks entire hit-piece. Its based on the notion of civil, good faith disagreement, an ideal that has always been alien to the snarky Milbank and that was repeatedly violated by the preening, moralistic, hypocritical committee Democrats during the Haspel hearing. The closest Milbank comes to a truthful evaluation of Cotton is this statement: Cotton is no ordinary guy. With that statement comes a link to an article about Tom that Jennifer Rubin wrote in 2012. The article is quite complimentary (Rubin has changed her view of Cotton, along with her view of much else, but thats another story). It is inconsistent with much of what Milbank wrote today. I wonder whether he bothered to read Rubins article in full. Milbank asked Cottons office whether the Senator has regrets about the hearing. Tom answered Milbank this way: I regret Senator Warner implied that Gina Haspel and other CIA officers belonged in jail. I regret Senator Reed compared patriotic CIA officers to terrorists. I regret Senate Democrats are shocked when they are called to account. . . . I regret Senate Democrats are so blinded by their hatred of Donald Trump. Milbank calls this rage. I call it a fair summary of how committee Democrats behaved yesterday. This is an example of why I like Sarah Sanders. From yesterdays press briefing: Q Thank you, Sarah. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and former President Barack Obama all weighed in on the Presidents Iran decision. A sampling of what they said: John Kerry was, it weakens our security, breaks Americas word, isolates us from our European allies. President Obama former President Obama said that called for, principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country. And then Hillary Clinton said, Our credibility is shot. And they called it a mistake. What is the Presidents response to them? And what does the White House think about those former Obama administration officials commenting on this and the appropriateness of that? MS. SANDERS: I think based on each of those individuals lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel, and whether or not we had made the right decisions. Ammo Grrrll has been inspired by the Democrats. She announces her HOMECOMING LAWSUIT. She writes: In these dark and terrifying days of a Literal Hitler in the Oval Office (who wears a yarmulke when he visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people and soon to be the home of the DJT American Embassy, Hotel, and Casino), one has to take inspiration where one can find it. And I have been greatly inspired by the Democrat Partys Losing Loser Lawsuit, filed in a loser-ly fashion more than a year after the 2016 election. Which Hillary lost. It may shock regular readers to learn that I was not elected as Homecoming Queen in my senior year of high school. Spurred on by the courageous if clinically insane example of the Perez/Ellison DNC Lawsuit, I am suing every member of my class. Also included are the School Board (most of whose members are now technically, deceased), and but, of course! the Russians, who I hope dont actually show up in court like they did with Moronic Muellers Magical, Mystical Inquisition, Indictment and Fishing Trip. (Could anything be funnier on this earth? Except the PROSECUTION asserting that the Russkies werent served properly and should go home for three weeks while they, their Inquisitors, get it right? Oh Lord, parody is deadbut we must try to carry on.) The year in which my tragic miscarriage of electoral justice occurred would be 1964. Ah, I hear you say, isnt that, uh, kind of a LONG time ago? Shouldnt you maybe be over it by now? Nonsense! Why, just the other day I read on the Internet that a woman has come forward to say that Tom Brokaw kissed her once on a couch fifty years ago. FIFTY YEARS AGO. Yay! She gets to be a member of the #MeToo Club. Speaking of unspeakable assault, I am filing an additional posthumous lawsuit against Eustis Q. Bloominfarter, (not his real name, and also dead), for snapping my bra in the hallway in 7th grade. This was a common thing that adolescent idiot boys (but I repeat myself) used to do to us few young ladies who had reached puberty earlier than some of our other classmates. Decades of therapy have helped me get over the trauma. Of having to beat the crap out of him. Seventh grade was the last year before The Great Testosterone Advantage kicked in when it was still possible for a righteous 75-lb. girl to beat up an annoying boy. My lawsuit for the Stolen Homecoming Election may not be as persuasive as the Democrat Partys Loser Lawsuit. I mean, at least Hillary was on the ballot. Which I was not. But without the Russian interference, Im sure there could have been a vigorous write-in campaign for me. I am also suing the Episcopal Church for transferring the minister father of my two best friends from Alexandria to Edina right before our senior year. With those two votes, and the massive influence as Thought Leaders that the twins wielded, the whole outcome might have been different. Had Hillary not been a Losing Loser, the fundamental transformation of America would have been well into its tenth year instead of dead in the water. Known primarily for her zany madcap pratfalls, Hillary would have put the fun back in fundamental transformation! Open borders, Australian-style gun grabbing, taxes raised, coal killed, oil production outsourced, Louis Farrakhan as UN Ambassador, Loretta Tarmac Lynch as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, regulations increased, Oh, my! The differences would have been yuge. But what about the differences in MY life, hmmm? Instead of being a happily married wife and mother and retired comedienne, living in a modest but very comfortable house in a Dusty Little Village with wonderful friends and neighbors, I could have been all that AND a former Homecoming Queen. Maybe I would have even got to keep the tiara. Thats how different my life would have been! So, you can see why I would want a second bite at that apple. Lets review the facts: There were three young ladies on the Homecoming Queen ballot, each of them plenty cute, Boy Howdy! One of the sweetest, nicest, smartest girls, named Carole, won. She was also really pretty then and, sad to report, has changed very little since. Im hoping we can have lunch before or after her deposition, if she doesnt take it too personally. In 1964, Nikita Krushchev, five foot-three inch snappy dresser and Weight-Watcher drop-out, was the recently deposed Head Honcho of the Soviet Union. He had given a peculiar speech to the Comintern in which he asserted that half of my opponents supporters are nothing but a Basket of Rotten Turnips who support Stalinism, Imperialism, Capitalism, and the Right to Rent a Studio Apartment with Fewer than 15 People In It. While the average Russian citizen wondered aloud where to find the line for the rotten turnips, their Communist Commisar overlords nudged Krushchev into retirement with the gentle promise: We LIKE Stalinism, fattie! Go quietly and we probably wont kill you. Speculation abounded that Nikita had become unhinged from being bitterly disappointed when his much anticipated trip to Disneyland during his state visit in 1959 had to be canceled for security reasons. Looking for a way to exact revenge, he obviously selected a random teenage American Grrrll, plotted for five years, and then purchased $12.95 worth of Facebook ads, no wait, there WAS no Facebook yet just faces and books. No, what I meant to say, he put ads in the mighty and influential local paper, The Park Region Echo, and threw his considerable bulk behind making sure I got no votes for Queen. Not one, not even my own. Im pretty sure that was how it happened. Either that, or I failed to visit Wisconsin. ( Read 8198 Times) Source : Udaipur, 54 years female patient with a history of renal failure & exhausted conventional routes of central and peripheral venous access because of obstruction or thrombosis; was treated with feasible, nonsurgical solution percutaneous Translumbar placement of inferior vena cava (IVC) catheter for long-term access. The procedure was successfully performed by Geetanjali Medical College & Hospitals Nephrologist Dr. G K Mukhiya & Neuro Vascular Interventional Radiologist Dr. Seetaram Barath. This has been claimed a first successful case in Rajasthan.Chandra Kala Tondon, 54 years, was a patient of renal failure & was surviving on dialysis. Suddenly all the veins through which dialysis catheter was inserted were blocked & she was recommended for kidney transplant. To confirm the same & to have a second opinion she visited Geetanjali Hospital for consultation with nephrologist Dr. G K Mukhiya.As dialysis is performed with the help of fistula, but in this patient fistula had failed three times. The veins of throat & legs were also used for dialysis which in turn had become infectious & obstructed leading to no dialysis through these. Peritoneal dialysis was also not possible as the patient was suffering from hernia & infections in veins. The patient had not undergone for dialysis for past 8 days leading to swelling in body & no urine. She was bounded to bed & was unable to carry her daily routine work.With immediate assistance & help of Neuro Vascular Interventional Radiologist Dr. Seetaram Barath, the patient was shifted to cath lab as the fluoroscopic and sonographic guidance is available, is the optimal environment for catheter placement. Investigation of Angiography was performed by the doctors to confirm if grafting is possible in veins of the neck. But they were also blocked.Dr. G K Mukhiya, the treating doctor told that, Access to the central venous circulation for hemo-dialysis has traditionally been achieved via the sub clavian or jugular venous routes. With ongoing improvements in medical management, many hemo-dialysis recipients develop exhaustion of these routes and require alternative means of central venous access. Inferior vena cava (IVC) catheter was placed with a percutaneous translumbar approach to allow dialysis of the patient. The procedure took 3 hours to be completed. A special catheter from New Delhi was bought & with the help of 15 centimeters needle the catheter was placed in inferior vena cava. It was a life saving procedure for the patient on which she could survive long. It was a risky procedure but the patient recovered well.Translumbar placement of WC catheters is performed only in patients considered to have few or no other medical options. BANGALORE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- India has entered a permanent campaign age. There is no longer pre-election, election or post-election phase. Once a politician joins public life, the campaign begins, and it is relentless like atomic chain reaction. Fuel is required to run the reactor and political strategy to sustain a politician. Under the context, Karnataka Decides (karnatakadecides.com) is a unique portal developed by MJSPR - A PR, Branding and Strategy Consulting firm which also specializes in offering political analysis and strategy as a service to candidates and parties. The portal, which is in a nascent stage of growth, showcases political news and analysis in strategic structure and provides corresponding context. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690331/karnatakadecides_com_homepage.jpg ) "We saw the need to address a politician or a political party's apparent lack of appreciation of fast changing political landscape and society and create a mechanism that is more inclusive in developing a political strategy" said MJ Srikant, renowned Strategist, Political Analyst and Founder CEO of MJSPR. Often, a politician is his or her own biggest enemy. Their perception, bias and ideology become blinkers and they miss the big picture in the post-truth and twisted facts world. It is no longer sensible to fight an electoral battle with a traditional mindset and dependence on few people whose self-preservation is detrimental to the politician. MJSPR and www.karnatakadecides.com will help the user understand specific scenario without bias and put things in right perspective. Political parties and candidates can look at this as a platform to measure and finetune their internal strategies and decisions. Another unique facet of the portal is to reflect the voice of people of Karnataka by driving Polls (also through Social Media pages viz. facebook.com/KarnatakaDecides/ and twitter.com/KTKDecides) on various macro and micro elements of the socio-political ecosystem of Karnataka and its myriad layers. This will capture categorical data from people, constituting opinions, issues, complaints, polarization factors and the overall state of affairs in Karnataka. Using the insights developed through the portal and by understanding the ground level situations by way of surveys, MJSPR will help political candidates and parties develop a coherent strategy and execution plan for the elections as well as for the post-election phase. Indicating the increasing prominence of data, Srikant said, "The method of data driven political analysis and strategy formulation is going to be the 'new normal' for developing and implementing party level and candidate level campaigns. Integrating technology at the heart of it will soon be imperative. Through karnatakadecides.com we will pioneer this approach in Karnataka and later replicate similar models for other states across the country." Gujarat elections were the beginning of election season. India is going to see elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in central and western India, and Odisha in east adds to the suspense in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Srikant foresees a shift in India's politics and economy in this election season that culminates with the General Elections of 2019. "Currently, we are in the process of initiating polls, experimenting with various data capture possibilities and developing method to authenticate the data. By this year end karnatakadecides.com will be a validation point and a catalyst for a Government By the People, Of the People and For the People," added Srikant. About karnatakadecides.com Karnataka is an enlightened state but suffers from political cynicism. The state has been fortunate to have pioneered many political and administrative reforms. The civil society's participation in many social and civic matters has attracted world's attention while being an example for other cities of India to emulate. However, a strange kind of cynicism pervades in the state, especially in urban areas. In Bangalore, this apathy or cynicism is evident in very low voter participation in almost all elections. The purpose of this website is to engage with the citizens of Karnataka to help them, equip them and to guide them in their participation in civic and political fields. The political class has become complacent because of educated voters non-participation. This has also resulted in the deterioration of the quality of politicians running our affairs. This state with great scientific talent should see better political debate and accountability. For this to begin, we as voters should fix our responsibility of voting and then demand to be served. Unless we do our duty, we don't get our moral right to demand. Let KarnatakaDecides be your companion in this journey of discovery and transformation. Media Contact: MJ Srikant Political Analyst, Strategist and Founder CEO of MJSPR., MJSPR [email protected] +91-9845115065 SOURCE karnatakadecides.com PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Food Processing Ingredients Market by Type (Modified Starch & Starch Derivatives, Proteins, Food Stabilizers, Emulsifiers, Yeast, Enzymes, Acidity Regulators, Antioxidants, and Release Agents), Form, Source, Application, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 ", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Food Processing Ingredients Market is estimated to be valued at USD 41.40 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 55.99 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.2% (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 85 market data Tables and 50 Figures spread through 195 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Food Processing Ingredients Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/food-processing-ingredient-market-265787038.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The market is growing, due to a rising global awareness toward the consumption of healthy products, and a booming trend of adopting clean labels, which has led to the increase in the demand for natural food processing ingredients. Additionally, a rapid increase in the adoption of processed food products, due to changing lifestyles, an increase in the number of dual-income households, and working women population have led to the growing demand for food processing ingredients. Modified starch & starch derivatives are estimated to form the largest segment in 2018 The Food Processing Ingredients Market, by type, is estimated to be dominated by the modified starch & starch derivatives segment. The demand for this type of food processing ingredient is majorly derived from various processed food products such as cream fillings, canned products, sauces, and soup mixes. These are typically used as thickeners and stabilizers in such products. The increase in population, a rise in demand for processed food products, and abundant availability of raw materials such as corn and wheat have been aiding market growth for the segment. Dry food processing ingredients are estimated to form the larger segment in 2018 The dry Food Processing Ingredients Market, by form, is estimated to be the larger segment in 2018. The market for dry food processing ingredients is estimated to dominate the market. Dry food processing ingredients are widely used in the market, owing to their provision of better stability in food processing techniques and their ease of handling. Additionally, dry processing ingredients are also subject to minimal thermal damage. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=265787038 Natural food processing ingredients segment is estimated to be the largest in 2018 The natural food processing ingredients segment is estimated to dominate in 2018 and is also projected to be the fastest-growing through 2023. Increase in consumer preferences for healthy and natural food processing ingredients is expected to be favoring the growth for the market. Consumption patterns in urban areas, influenced by busy lifestyles, represent the enhanced need for food products with health benefits, which are propelling the growth of the natural Food Processing Ingredients Market. Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period The Asia Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. Improved lifestyles and changed consumer perceptions have resulted in a rise in the demand for prepared, convenience, and processed foods in the region. A significant demand for better food quality has also led to improvements in processing and handling units, which has ensured market growth in the region. This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading service companies such as Cargill (US), ADM (US), DuPont (US), Ingredion (US), Tate & Lyle (UK), and Kerry Group (Ireland). Know more about the Food Processing Ingredients Market https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/food-processing-ingredient-market-265787038.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/food-and-beverage Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market by Mesh Fixator (Glue and Tack Applicators), Country (US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, and India) - Forecast to 2022", The Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market is projected to reach USD 3.53 Billion by 2022 from USD 3.18 Billion in 2017, at a CAGR of 2.1% during the forecast period. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 8 market data Tables and 0 Figures spread through 79 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/laparoscopic-open-hernia-mesh-repair-surgery-market-260433127.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report The rising adoption of mesh in hernia repair surgeries, rising geriatric population, new product developments, and favorable reimbursement scenario in developed countries are the major factors driving the growth of Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market. The report analyzes and studies the patient population affected with hernia in the US, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, and India. Along with patient population, the report studies the adoption of open and laparoscopic hernia repair surgeries and the adoption of tack and glue applicators for mesh fixation. Based on the type of hernia repair surgery, open hernia repair surgery accounted for the largest market share in 2017. Open hernia repair does not require any advanced equipment and takes 25% lesser time than laparoscopy. This makes open hernia repair more cost effective. Moreover, this type of surgery is preferred for hernias that have been present for a long period of time. Based on the type of mesh fixator, glue applicators are expected to register the highest growth rate in the forecast period. The cost effectiveness, reduction in surgery time, and lower pain associated with glue fixation are driving the adoption of glue in hernia mesh fixation. Ask for PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=260433127 The US accounted for the largest share of Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market in 2017. The large share of the US is attributed to the large patient population, increasing adoption of technologically advanced products, and presence of a well-established medical reimbursement policy in the country. The major players in the Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market profiled in this report are Medtronic (Ireland), Johnson & Johnson (US), B. Braun (Germany), C. R. Bard (US), and W.L. Gore (US). Know more about the Laparoscopic and Open Hernia Mesh Repair Surgery Market https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/laparoscopic-open-hernia-mesh-repair-surgery-market-260433127.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850-fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 [email protected] Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Logistics Automation Market by Component (Warehouse & Storage Management, Transportation Management), Organization Size (Large Enterprises, SMEs), Vertical (Retail & E-commerce, Automotive, Manufacturing), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, global market is estimated to be USD 46.22 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 80.64 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 11.8% during the forecast period. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 71 market data Tables and 29 Figures spread through 131 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Logistics Automation Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/logistics-automation-market-83657139.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The growth of the Logistics Automation Market can be attributed to the exponential growth of the e-commerce industry, advancements in robotics, and the emergence of IoT. Based on component, the transportation management segment of the Logistics Automation Market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. Based on component, the transportation management segment is projected to grow at a higher CAGR as compared to the warehouse & storage management segment during the forecast period. The need to ensure timely delivery of goods and reduce transportation costs is one of the most significant factors projected to drive the growth of the transportation management segment. Inquiry before Buying @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=83657139 Based on vertical, the automotive segment is projected to lead the Logistics Automation Market during the forecast period. Based on vertical, the automotive segment is projected to lead the Logistics Automation Market from 2018 to 2023. Increasing competition in the automotive industry has propelled the demand for automated production systems and flexible logistics systems to enhance the manufacturing and supply of vehicles. The automotive sector uses logistics & fleet management solutions to manage, track, and monitor the movement of goods and vehicle fleet. Asia Pacific is estimated to lead the Logistics Automation Market in 2018. The Asia Pacific region is estimated to lead the Logistics Automation Market in 2018. The growth of the Logistics Automation Market in Asia Pacific is primarily driven by the increasing demand for automated material handling solutions from manufacturing industries and warehouses in Asia Pacific. Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, and India are key countries considered for market analysis in this region. The expansion of the transportation & logistics sector in Asia Pacific is another key factor projected to drive the growth of the Logistics Automation Market in this region. Key players operating in the Logistics Automation Market include Dematic Corporation (US), Daifuku Co., Ltd. (Japan), Murata Machinery, Ltd. (Japan), Honeywell Intelligrated, Inc. (US), KNAPP AG (Austria), Swisslog Holding AG (Switzerland), TGW Logistics Group GmbH (Austria), SSI Schaefer AG (Switzerland), Mecalux, S.A. (Spain), VITRONIC (Germany), BEUMER Group (Germany), Toshiba Logistics Corporation (Japan), Jungheinrich AG (Germany), WiseTech Global Limited (Australia), System Logistics Spa (Italy), Falcon Autotech (India), SI Systems, LLC (US), ULMA Handling Systems (Spain), Inspirage (US), FRAMOS (Germany), Matternet Inc. (US), Pcdata BV (Netherlands), Hinditron (India), and JBT Corporation (US). Know more about the Logistics Automation Market: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/logistics-automation-market-83657139.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/telecom-it Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Media Cybernetics delivers version 10 for the Image-Pro Product Line ROCKVILLE, Md., May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Media Cybernetics is announcing the release of the latest version of the Image-Pro Family of Products, Image-Pro 10 or Image-Pro. Image-Pro offers the same functionality and quality that is synonymous with Media Cybernetics products, but with an improved interface and the ability to add modules to increase functionality of the product and APPS to simply the workflow. At the time of launch Image-Pro will initially be offered with two modules, Capture and 3D Analysis, and Media Cybernetics is planning to release three additional modules in 2018. "Image-Pro represents not only the next generation in software for Media Cybernetics, it also represents a paradigm shift of our organization and the methods we use to develop products for and with our customers", stated Anthony Santerelli, Director of Product Marketing. Previously, Media Cybernetics offered three variants of the Image-Pro Premier Platform: Image-Pro Premier 2D, Image-Pro Premier 3D, and Image-Pro Insight. Image-Pro Premier and Image-Pro Premier 3D will be directly replaced with Image-Pro, while the Image-Pro Insight was discontinued on December 31, 2017. A variant of the Image-Pro 10 equivalent to the functionality of Image-Pro Insight will be available for OEM partners. Find out how to upgrade your current Media Cybernetics Software or register for a free 14-day trial of Image-Pro at www.mediacy.com. Media Cybernetics develops deconvolution and image analysis software products that simplify and enhance image-based data collection and analysis for those who wish to increase accuracy and automate research, development, and quality processes. Customer diversity ranges from cell biology and neuroscience research in the life sciences to quality inspection of metals, ceramics and semiconductors in manufacturing, and to materials research on particles, coatings, and fibers. Further applications include the research of natural resources such as oil and gas, aquaculture samples, and minerals, in addition to the analysis of fingerprints, ballistics, and trace evidence for security applications. Founded and based in Maryland the company maintains regional offices in the United Kingdom, Singapore, China and Japan to service the needs of the global imaging community. Media Cybernetics is a subsidiary of Roper Technologies, a constituent of the S&P 500, Fortune 1000, and the Russell 1000 indices valued at over $20 billion. Media Cybernetics and Image-Pro are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Media Cybernetics in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contact: Stephen Hart, Marketing Manager [email protected] Related Links http://www.mediacy.com/imagepro Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/384095/Media_Cybernetics_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.mediacy.com SOURCE Media Cybernetics PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Molded Plastics Market by Type (PE,PP, PVC, PET, PS, PU), Application (Packaging, Automotive & Transportation, Construction & Infrastructure, Electronics & Electrical, Pharmaceutical, Agriculture), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to be USD 352.21 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 475.86 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2018 and 2023. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 166 market data Tables and 54 Figures spread through 188 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Molded Plastics Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/molded-plastic-market-164176225.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The growth of the Molded Plastics Market can be attributed to the increasing consumption of molded plastics in the packaging, automotive & transportation, construction & infrastructure, pharmaceutical, and agriculture applications. Molded plastics possess excellent stiffness and Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance (ESCR), high load melt strength, and excellent rigidity. Among types, the polyethylene segment is expected to be lead the Molded Plastics Market during the forecast period. Based on type, the Molded Plastics Market has been segmented into polyethylene (PP), polypropylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene(PS), and polyurethane(PU). Polyamide, polycarbonate, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene have been considered under the others segment. Among types, the polyethylene segment is expected to lead the Molded Plastics Market from 2018 to 2023. Polyethylene molded plastics are being used in various applications, owing to their low cost, moisture resistance, high chemical resistance, and excellent processability. These are used to produce plastic products and components, such as household containers, personal care containers, fuel tanks, water tanks, and bottles. Get PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=164176225 The packaging application segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2018 and 2023. Based on application, the Molded Plastics Market has been segmented into packaging, automotive & transportation, construction & infrastructure, agriculture, electronics & electrical, pharmaceutical, and others. The packaging segment is projected to be fastest-growing application segment of the Molded Plastics Market during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing use of molded plastics to package pharmaceutical, food & beverages, cosmetics, and industrial products such as chemicals, acids, and lubricants. Molded plastics are used to produce packaging products such as packaging films, cans, bottles, and containers. The increasing per capita expenditure on food & beverages, improved lifestyle, and changing packaging patterns are some of the factors that are expected to fuel the consumption of molded plastics in packaging. The automotive & transportation is projected to grow at the second-fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The high demand for molded plastics to produce automobile parts, such as panes and railings, bumper supports, fenders, mudguards, door locking systems, consoles, garnish pillars, cockpit systems, and fuel tanks is expected to fuel the growth of the automotive & transportation application segment. The APAC region is expected to lead the Molded Plastics Market during the forecast period. The APAC Molded Plastics Market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The Molded Plastics Market has been studied for APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa. The APAC Molded Plastics Market is projected to be largest Molded Plastics Market during the forecast period. The growth of the APAC Molded Plastics Market can be attributed to the presence of leading molded plastics producers as well as plastic part and component manufacturers in the region. Moreover, the growing demand for molded plastics for packaging for pharmaceuticals, food & beverage products, etc., in countries such as China, Japan, and India is also contributing to the growth of the Asia Pacific Molded Plastics Market. ExxonMobil (US), LyondellBasell (Netherlands), DowDuPont (US), SABIC (Saudi Arabia), INEOS (Switzerland), Solvay (Belgium), Formosa Plastics (Taiwan), Chevron (US), Eastman (US), China Petroleum (China), Borealis (Germany), Versalis (Italy), LG Chem (South Korea), and Reliance Industries (India) are the leading molded plastics manufacturers globally. Know more about Molded Plastics Market Research Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/molded-plastic-market-164176225.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Blog @ https://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "PDC Drill Bits Market by Type (Matrix Body and Steel Body), Size of PDC Cutter (Less than 9 mm, 9-14 mm, 15-24 mm, and Above 24 mm), Number of Blades (Less than 6, 6-10, and Above 10), and Region (North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe) - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 3.66 Billion in 2018 to USD 4.54 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.41% during the forecast period. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 70 Tables and 38 Figures spread through 123 Pages and in-depth TOC on "PDC Drill Bits Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/pdc-drill-bits-market-33536072.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report This growth can be attributed to factors such as increasing oil & gas drilling activities in the world and need for advanced techniques for faster drilling in less downtime. The matrix body segment is estimated to hold the largest share of PDC Drill Bits Market, by type, during the forecast period The matrix body segment held the largest share of the PDC Drill Bits Market in 2017 and is expected to grow at a decent pace during the forecast period. The large market share of this segment can be attributed to the rising demand for faster drilling with less wear and tear of drill bits in medium-hard and hard formations. Ask for PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=33536072 The 6-10 blade segment was estimated to be the largest segment of the PDC Drill Bits Market, by number of blades, in 2017 The 6-10 blade segment was estimated to be the largest segment of the PDC Drill Bits Market, by number of blades, in 2017. The 6-10 blades of PDC drill bits are mainly used for higher Rate of Penetration (ROP) drilling in medium-hard formations. Countries such as the US, China, Saudi Arabia, and Oman are showing rapid growth in the 6-10 blades PDC drill bits segment because of the recent increase in shale gas production and oil drilling. North America: The leading regional market in PDC drill bits In this report, the PDC Drill Bits Market has been analyzed with respect to 6 regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. North America is estimated to be the largest market for PDC drill bits. The increasing shale gas exploration & production in the region is the major factor for the growth of the market. The report provides an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape and includes profiles of some of the leading players in the PDC Drill Bits Market. The key players include Schlumberger (US), BHGE (US), Halliburton (US), NOV (US), Varel (US), Atlas Copco (Sweden), Ultera (US), Drill Master International (US), Sichuan Chuanshi Diamond Bit (China), Torquato (US), Rubicon Oilfield International (US), and Western Drilling tools (Canada), Shear bits (Canada), Volgaburmash (Russia). These players adopted various strategies, such as new product launches, contracts & agreements, and mergers & acquisitions to increase their global presence and market share. Know more about the PDC Drill Bits Market https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/pdc-drill-bits-market-33536072.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets BENGALURU, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys Limited announced today that Ravi Venkatesan, Independent Director is stepping down from the Board to accept an exciting new role. Mr. Venkatesan has been an independent director since 2011 and served briefly as Co-Chairman before successfully transitioning this responsibility when Nandan Nilekani became Chairman in August 2017. Mr. Venkatesan said, "I joined the Board at a time when Infosys was beginning the complex journey of transitioning from founder-led to professional management. This was also a time of tectonic industry shifts. I am pleased that this mission has been accomplished. Infosys is strong, in good hands, and is gaining momentum. My seven years on the board have been exciting, rewarding and eventful. l feel fortunate to have been part of this extraordinary company at a seminal moment in its history and to have worked with so many fine colleagues on the Board and in management. I wish Infosys and all Infoscions the greatest success in the coming years." Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Board, commented, "I thank Ravi for his pivotal contributions to Infosys in a period of important transitions and towards a digital-first future. This passage is one that every entrepreneurial company faces eventually and I thank Ravi for his leadership in ensuring a successful transition. The Board will miss his passion, strategic insights, and personal warmth, but he will always remain a friend. Ravi has been a champion for driving social impact and it is desire to do more, that led to his request for stepping off the Board. I am delighted that he will be pursuing an exciting opportunity in this area. On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, I wish him all success with his new endeavor." Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Lead Independent Director added, "Ravi has been a good friend, an extraordinary colleague, and a valuable board member at a hugely important time for Infosys. We will miss him greatly." About Infosys Ltd Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to create and execute strategies for their digital transformation. From engineering to application development, knowledge management and business process management, we help our clients find the right problems to solve, and to solve these effectively. Our team of 200,000+ innovators, across the globe, is differentiated by the imagination, knowledge and experience, across industries and technologies that we bring to every project we undertake. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise thrive in the digital age. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. These filings are available at www.sec.gov . Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law. Media contacts: Asia Pacific Sarah Gideon Infosys, India +91 80 4156 3293 [email protected] EMEA Margherita Di Cerbo Infosys, Europe +44 2075162748 [email protected] Americas Chiku Somaiya Infosys, USA +1 408 375 2722 [email protected] This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire. SOURCE Infosys Limited MUMBAI, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- It was a joyous Thursday afternoon as six of Mumbai's most prolific food influencers came together to partake in a cook-off that brought the Dawoodi Bohra community, its culture and cuisine, all under one roof. The Great Dawoodi Bohra Cook-off, powered by the DBWRF saw around 60 members gather at the Dawoodi Bohra Jammat in Kandivali for an evening of food, fellowship and fun. The contest began with a few words of encouragement from chief guest and judge, chef Sanjeev Kapoor, following which, the event kicked off in style. The cook-off pitted the bloggers against each other in a stunning display of culinary brilliance. The passionate gastronomists drew lots to pick a signature Dawoodi Bohra dish which constitutes a thaal and then cooked some mouth-watering dishes which included Kalamro, Kheema Samosa, Dabba Gosht, Dal Chawal Palidu, Masala Na Bateta and Rotis. The evening continued on a food high as participants at the cook-off, Sanjeev Kapoor and members from the community tucked into a hearty feast around the thaal, highlighting their unique habits and the importance of eating together. The concept of the thaal is as intriguing as Dawoodi Bohra cuisine itself. The style of eating traces its roots back to the very origins of Islam, which believes in equality and is reflected in the way they eat. Members of the community sit together around the thaal and relish their meal, irrespective of their backgrounds. Unlike the vast majority of cultures, a traditional Bohra meal begins with dessert and ends with the main course. Bohra cuisine is an amalgamation of Gujarati, Arabic, Yemeni, and Persian cuisines, and is in many ways a physical testament to the history of the Bohra people. Admiring the community for their unique traditions, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor said, "I am elated to have been a part of this glorious celebration of great food and a beautiful culture. Dawoodi Bohras are culturally rich and their food is steeped in tradition. It was great to be a part of an initiative that celebrated this spirit and see the enthusiasm among the community to highlight their culture." Ms. Maria Hussain, a trustee of DBWRF, also shared her views on the cook-off, saying, "The thaal is the nucleus around which community life occurs, and it gives us great pride to showcase our culture. The cook-off was a grand success and we are looking forward to more such events." Riding on the wave of success of the first edition of The Great Dawoodi Bohra Cook-off, the community is already looking forward to taking this idea across the country, in a bid to explore and highlight their culture and the spirit of harmony. About DBWRF In May 2017, a few Dawoodi Bohra women stalwarts initiated a movement to bring together the Dawoodi Bohra Women of India on a common platform to preserve and protect the beliefs, customs, culture and religious rights of Dawoodi Bohra Women. And thus was born DBWRF, which today represents tens of thousands of Dawoodi Bohra women in India. Media Contact: Salony Chatlani [email protected] +91-9769939882 Communicate India SOURCE DBWRF PUNE, India, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report on "Thermal Imaging Market by Type (Cameras, Modules, Scopes), Application (Security & Surveillance, Monitoring & Inspection, Detection), Vertical (Aerospace & Defense, Industrial, Healthcare & Life Sciences), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets , this market is expected to be worth USD 4.04 Billion by 2023 from USD 2.72 Billion in 2017, at a CAGR of 6.73% between 2018 and 2023. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 67 market data Tables and 41 Figures spread through 140 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Thermal Imaging Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/thermal-imaging-market-1300.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Reduction in the price of thermal imaging products, the increasing adoption of thermal imaging in perimeter security, and penetration in machine vision applications are driving the growth of this market. Thermal imaging cameras to hold largest market share during forecast period Owing to the increase in need for thermal inspections and monitoring in residential and commercial sectors, the use of thermal imaging cameras is on the rise. A thermal imaging camera provides insights into home insulation systems, locates air leaks, spots inadequate insulations, and so on. Additionally, these cameras have been used in perimeter security and tracking applications in most countries around the globe. Cameras accounted for the largest share of ~52% of the overall thermal imaging market in 2017. Thermal imaging market for monitoring and inspection application to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period The market for the monitoring and inspection application is expected to grow at the highest CAGR owing to the penetration of low-cost and high-quality thermal imaging cameras in home automation, medical, food processing, and ADAS. Moreover, miniaturized camera modules are used by most of the OEMs for their customized solutions, resulting in their increased growth. Ask for PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=1300 Aerospace & defense vertical to hold largest share of thermal imaging market during forecast period The thermal imaging market is dominated by the aerospace & defense vertical owing to the growing need for border security for law enforcement. Moreover, thermal imaging scopes and defense solutions conform to the strictest military standards for deployment (land, sea, and air). These solutions are used for thermal scopes, weapon sights and stations, gimbals, UAVs, naval observation, IR sensors, and driver vision enhancers (DVEs) for tanks and military vehicles. North America to hold largest share of thermal imaging market during forecast period North America is likely to continue to lead the thermal imaging market; it accounted for the largest share of the global thermal imaging market in 2017. Growing demand for smartphone-based devices and the increasing adoption of thermal imaging in commercial and home automation are driving the growth of the thermal imaging market in the region. Owing to the presence of thermal imaging product manufacturers and R&D centers in the region, demand for thermal imaging is high in North America. The report profiles the most promising players in the thermal imaging market. The competitive landscape of the market presents an interesting picture of the strategies adopted by a large number of players. The key players in this industry are FLIR Systems (US), Fortive (US), Axis Communications (Sweden), Leonardo (Italy), BAE Systems (UK), L3 Technologies (US), United Technologies (US), Sofradir (France), Testo (Germany), Xenics (Belgium), and Seek Thermal (US), among others. Know more about the Thermal Imaging Market https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/thermal-imaging-market-1300.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their pain points around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets' flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA : +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Connect us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets MUMBAI, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between TimesPro and Monash College Pty Ltd (MCPL) Times Professional Learning and Monash College, Australia today announced the launch of Monash College International Pathways program. Towards this, both TimesPro and Monash College formally signed a MoU today to establish collaboration. Monash College International Pathways is designed for students who wish to pursue the undergraduate program in business at Monash University. The program will be conducted over eight months in India and will offer a guaranteed place in the second year at Monash University Australia or Malaysia with full credit for first year studies*. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690174/Jo_Mithen_and_Anish_Srikrishna.jpg ) Commenting on the partnership, Jo Mithen, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer, Monash College Pty Ltd said, "Education is undergoing a transition not only in terms of content but also in terms of its delivery. World class universities are more than plush campuses - they are embodiment of ideas and knowledge - which has the power to transcend boundaries and reach out to those who wish to imbibe them. However, campus life too is an essential to understand experience and learn cultures, diversity and build deeper bonds. Monash College International Pathways is one such effort - to offer best of both worlds. We are proud to partner with TimesPro in our quest to impart quality education to millions of aspiring Indian students." Given India's demographic and cultural bent towards education, it is the second-biggest growth driver in international education market after China. Indian students are thriving in universities across US, UK, Australia, Singapore, etc. However, the cost of education and stay has made the dream of quality international education unachievable for many aspirants. Announcing the development, Anish Srikrishna, President - Times Professional Learning, said, "Times Professional Learning is proud to associate with Monash College, Australia, to offer the innovative international pathways program and guide students towards a truly international education experience. The association is in keeping with our vision at Times Professional Learning: to bring world-class education to India by making it both accessible and affordable. TimesPro, working with Monash College, has envisioned a pathways program that offers parents and students quality guidance, convenience and affordability to make their international education dreams come true. TimesPro and Monash College, Australia, are pleased to enter into this MoU and have agreed to establish a co-operative education program through a curriculum licencing agreement. We look forward to a long and multifaceted relationship with Monash College and Monash University." The International Pathway program builds confidence in both parents and students by providing a strong academic foundation and a smooth transition to succeed at Monash University, ranked among the top 100 in the world. About TimesPro TimesPro, a part of Times Professional Learning (TPL), offers a variety of courses in sectors such as banking, management, analytics, digital marketing, decision science and many more. As a professional skilling powerhouse for graduates and working professionals, we equip students with key skills that allow a student to kick start his or her professional career. Our vision is to ensure that we provide the Indian youth with tailor-made and industry-vetted educational courses that bridge the gap between the current formal education system and what the industry requirements are, thereby making our Indian youth employable. To know more visit http://www.timespro.com. Media Contact: Sheetal Tambe [email protected] +91-7045186001 PR Manager Times Professional Learning SOURCE Times Professional Learning The Universitas 21 Ranking is the only report in the world to assess national higher education systems, meeting a long-standing need to shift discussion from the ranking of the world's best universities, to the best overall systems in each country. Developed as a benchmark for governments, education institutions, policy-makers and individuals, it highlights the importance of creating strong conditions for higher education institutions to contribute to economic and cultural development, provide a high-quality experience for students, and assist institutions to compete effectively for overseas applicants. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/688993/Universitas_21_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/688994/U21_Ranking_National_Higher_Education_Systems_Infographic.jpg ) Universitas 21 funds the research at the University of Melbourne, who have been publishing the annual report since 2012. The 2018 report ranks 50 countries across four areas (Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output) and overall. The main ranking compares a country's performance against the best in the world on each measure. The top five countries are the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Sweden and Denmark. The only change from 2017 is an inversion of Denmark and Sweden's positions. A subsidiary ranking also compares how nations perform relative to countries at similar levels of GDP per capita. Commenting on the results, lead author of the report Professor Ross Williams at The Melbourne Institute recognises the importance of collaboration and interconnectivity: "The most successful national systems exhibit strong connectivity between institutions of higher education, government and the private sector." The 2018 Ranking has been extended in two ways: firstly, through examining the concentration of research and secondly, by investigating the importance of research training. Professor Sir David Eastwood, Chair of Universitas 21, commented: "This unique higher education ranking provides a data-rich analysis of the characteristics, impact, connectivity, and efficiency of national higher education systems. Now in its seventh year, it offers exceptionally important longitudinal and global perspectives on how national higher educational systems are changing. I would like to thank the report's author, Professor Ross Williams and his colleagues for their authoritative and widely-admired work." U21 Ranking 2018 report and country specific summaries: https://universitas21.com/rankings Contacts: Professor Ross Williams Lead Author University of Melbourne Email: [email protected] Tel: +61-3-83442125 Jade Bressington Director of Operations Universitas 21 Email: [email protected] Tel: +44(0)121-414-9596 SOURCE Universitas 21 DEERFIELD, Illinois, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT / NYSE Euronext: CATR) informs its stockholders that today, a Form 8-K was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") with respect to monthly retail statistics. Caterpillar files electronically with the SEC required reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 11-K; proxy materials; ownership reports for insiders as required by Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and registration statements on Forms S-3 and S-8, as necessary; and other forms or reports, as required. All of the forms and reports filed electronically with the SEC are available on the SEC Internet site (www.sec.gov ). Caterpillar also maintains an Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com) and copies of its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished with the SEC are available free of charge through Caterpillar's Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com/secfilings ) as soon as reasonably practicable after the relevant document has been filed with the SEC. CONTACT: Corrie Scott, Corporate Public Affairs, +1-224-551-4133 This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire. SOURCE Caterpillar Inc. STOCKHOLM, 11 May, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT Credit, through its Mid-Market investment strategy, today announces that it has provided a senior secured financing solution together with Ardian to support Hg's ("Hg") investment in MediFox. Founded in 1994, MediFox is a leading provider of software solutions to over 6,000 ambulatory care services, elderly care homes and therapists in Germany. Its software solutions support care providers with key services including resource and route planning, care and support documentation, management information systems, as well as billing, factoring and administration services. It is headquartered in Hildesheim, Germany and employs 265 people. Paul Johnson, Partner at EQT Partners' Credit team, Investment Advisor to EQT Credit, commented: "MediFox is well established as a leading software provider for elderly care in Germany. The company enjoys an attractive market leadership in the outpatient segment, long-term track record and product quality. We would like to thank EQT's independent Industrial Advisors, who as senior executives in the German care home segment, provided key support to the EQT Credit deal team throughout the due diligence process. EQT Credit looks forward to supporting MediFox and its management team under Hg's ownership." About EQT Credit EQT Credit invests through three complementary strategies: senior debt, Mid-Market Credit (direct lending) and credit opportunities. Since inception, EQT Credit has invested in excess of EUR 5 billion in over 160 companies. EQT Credit's direct lending strategy seeks to provide flexible, long-term debt capital solutions to medium-sized European businesses, across a wide range of sectors. These businesses may be privately-owned corporates seeking alternative funding to grow or be the subject of private equity-led acquisitions or refinancings. More info: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/Credit About EQT EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 27 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership. More info: www.eqtpartners.com Contacts: Paul Johnson, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44-207-430-5554 Nakul Sarin, Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44-208-432-5420 EQT Press Office, +46-8-506-55-334, press@eqtpartners.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/eqt-ab/r/eqt-credit-and-ardian-private-debt-provide-financing-for-hg-s-investment-in-medifox,c2518621 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/87/2518621/839567.pdf Press release EQT Mid-Market Credit MediFox 180511 Related Links http://www.eqtpartners.com SOURCE EQT AB MUNICH and HONG KONG, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New fully digital payment system provides a convenient, fast and hassle-free check-out process for passengers Dream Cruises and Star Cruises, brands under the Genting Cruise Line division of Genting Hong Kong, have partnered with Wirecard to deliver a seamless payment process to enhance the guest experience on board their fleet of ships. The partnership will provide the basis for the Quick Pay Self-Checkout System implemented on board Dream Cruises' World Dream and Genting Dream and to be launched on Star Cruises' SuperStar Virgo shortly. "The guest experience on board our Dream Cruises fleet is of primary importance and anywhere we can remove friction and streamline processes is a great benefit to our passengers," said Mr Thatcher Brown, President of Dream Cruises. "Our partnership with Wirecard enables us to avoid one of the most maligned aspects of travel - lining up to settle the bill at the end of a vacation. With our Quick Pay Self-Checkout System, our guests never need to see a queue and can settle their bill in the comfort of their own cabin - or anywhere else - by simply using their smartphone." Judith Loh, Head of Relationship Management, APAC Sales at Wirecard, said: "As an innovative leader in the digital landscape of payments, we are able to help our client enhance the guest experience by delivering a seamless digitalized payment process on board. With the growing popularity of cruise vacation across Asia, we look forward to deepening our partnership with Genting Criuse Lines." Using the Quick Pay Self-Checkout System on board, Dream Cruises guests can now control their own finances during their voyage including setting up pre-authorized spending limits, managing accounts for friends and family, monitoring consumption during the trip and settling their bill at the end of their journey. Passengers can set up their Quick Pay by simply scanning QR codes available during check-in or in their cabins or by connecting onto the on board ship internet network and selecting the Quick Pay option. A wide range of payment choices are available including Alipay, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club, JCB and Union Pay with more methods to be added in the future. With the application, guests can also set up pre-authorized spending amounts for themselves and for family members or travelling companions to help manage expenses while on board. To settle their account, guests can simply opt to Auto Pay as part of the pre-authorization function for truly hands free express check-out or they can choose to manually pay any outstanding charges by using the Pay Now function. About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard. About Genting Cruise Lines: Genting Cruise Lines is a division of Genting Hong Kong comprising of three distinct cruise brands - Star Cruises, Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises - providing a range of products from contemporary cruises to ultra-luxurious vacation experiences spanning the sea to air. Founded in 1993, Star Cruises established the Asia-Pacific as a popular, world-wide cruise destination and, with its current fleet of six vessels (SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Libra, SuperStar Aquarius, SuperStar Gemini, Star Pisces and The Taipan), continues to pioneer the contemporary cruise market in the region. Launched in 2015, Dream Cruises has delivered the highest level of guest service and spacious comfort in the region via it fleet of two ships: Genting Dream which debuted in November 2016 and World Dream, in November 2017. Developed specifically for the China and Asia market, Dream Cruises provides passengers with inspirational journeys at sea that are Asian at heart and international in spirit. For more information about Dream Cruises, please visit dreamcruiseline.com and follow us on Facebook, Weibo or Weixin. By sea, river, land or air, Crystal has redefined the way the world views luxury travel. The world-renowned Crystal Experience - featuring global journeys with Crystal Cruises, Crystal River Cruises, Crystal Yacht Expedition Cruises, Crystal AirCruises and Crystal Air - continues to entice the world's most discerning travelers with incomparable luxury and unparalleled personal service. Through its family of brands, Genting Cruise Lines offers the widest and most imaginative spectrum of cruise products for the modern traveler, catering to all segments, geographies, life stages and travel styles. Wirecard media contact: Wirecard AG Jana Tilz Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363 Email: jana.tilz@wirecard.com Genting Cruise Lines media contact: Desmond Chung Corporate Communications Tel: +852-2378-5924 Email: desmond.chung@gentinghk.com Amanda Li Corporate Communications Tel: +852-2378-2082 amanda.wy.li@gentinghk.com SOURCE Wirecard AG LONDON and NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With a focus on access, security, intelligence and collaboration among the health, wellness and lifestyle ecosystem, lifesdna, an artificial intelligence (AI) search engine and decentralized marketplace, is launching during Blockchain Week NYC. The world's first holistic blockchain, AI search engine will offer a wealth of wellness, healthcare and lifestyle information, data and content. lifesdna was also designed to offer a secure, decentralized marketplace for users, scientists, researchers, industry players and global influencers through a trusted PaaS (Platform as a Service). "Currently, data on wellness, lifestyle and healthcare is not easily accessible, exchangeable or understandable," said Dinis Guarda, CEO and co-founder of lifesdna. "We hope to transform this paradigm and ultimately solve this challenge with our cutting edge encrypted search engine and holistic marketplace." By using big data in an AI-powered search engine and joining key industry players together, lifesdna intends to enhance data access and integrity, while offering secure solutions to improve access to information in the wellness, healthcare and lifestyle sectors. The global wellness and lifestyle economy has reached $3.7 trillion, according to the Global Wellness Institute, but lacks cohesion, presenting an incredible market opportunity. Consumers, patients, researchers, influencers and healthcare organizations often suffer because they lack the information and resources needed to tackle their issues. lifesdna enables users to safely access this information while solving daily challenges in finding relevant content and data. The model is permission-based, anonymized and customizable for all audiences; and it uses advanced reward tokenomics and game theory. "By enabling secure storage, encryption and exchange of wellness, healthcare and lifestyle information and data, we are creating an unparalleled distributed holistic solution. The possibilities for integrating research, intelligence and connections are limitless," Guarda added. "We look forward to debuting lifesdna to the world at Blockchain (R)evolution event at the Blockchain Week NYC." lifesdna will launch May 13 at a special event featuring Alex Tapscott, co-author of "Blockchain Revolution," John Edge, cofounder and chair of ID2020, Richard Titus, founder and CEO of Ark Advisors, Darren Camas, advisor at Emurgo, and Sally Eaves, co-founder of Shivom.io and member of the Forbes Technology Council, among other industry leaders. The event leads up to Consensus 2018 blockchain technology summit that will reflect on emerging challenges, opportunities and the social impact that blockchain and cryptocurrencies present. About lifesdna lifesdna is the world's first blockchain search engine and marketplace for secure collection, storage and exchange of healthcare, wellness and lifestyle data, powered by DLT and artificial intelligence. The company is led by an experienced team of blockchain, AI, big data, business and health experts, partnering with leading universities, clinics and health organizations. Dinis Guarda, co-founder and CEO of lifesdna, has created several companies, consulted for Fortune 500 companies, lectured at Groupe INSEEC/Monaco University, and Copenhagen Business School, among others, and advised governments and regulators across the world. He has two upcoming books "Blockchain, AI and Crypto Economics - The Next Tsunami" and "Tokenomics and ICOs - How to be good at the new digital world of finance/Crypto." The lifesdna team includes: Jonny Fry, financial entrepreneur, DLT investor and influencer, who has previously created and listed a UK-based asset management company and has collaborated with regulators and corporations on tokenomics strategies;Vitorino Ramos, leading AI scientist and researcher, who has collaborated with the European Space Agency and is a sought-after academic in swarm intelligence, AI and technology projects; and Ekaterina Gloersen, an experienced executive with a career spanning work for Cisco, Saxo Bank and Oanda. Connect with Lifesdna Twitter: @lifesdna Facebook.com/lifesdna lifesdna.com SOURCE lifesdna Paytomat rushes into Europe with its decentralized solution for crypto payments. The pilot launch was held at Matreshka Russian Kitchen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 7th. Paytomat held a presentation for media in the morning, and did a series of demos for crypto enthusiasts who came in throughout the day. All guests had a chance to test the Paytomat solution, which currently supports the widest variety of cryptocurrencies: BCH, ZEN, XEM, DASH, WAVES, LTC, ETH, NANO, DCR, XZC and BTC. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690179/Paytomat.jpg ) Yurii Olentir, Paytomat Founder and CEO, said: "Amsterdam is one of the most crypto-friendly places, so we chose it for our kick-off in Western Europe. With millions of tourists visiting every month, cryptocurrencies can be a very convenient payment method. For example, a transaction in Bitcoin Cash takes just a couple of seconds and the fee is miniscule. The great public interest and support we have received in Amsterdam makes us confident we'll succeed in building the Paytomat global infrastructure for cryptocurrency payments." Sergey Zhukov, Founder of Matreshka Russian Kitchen, said: "Thanks to Paytomat, our guests now have the option to pay with crypto - it's convenient, fast and safe, and I believe this payment method will become common with time. Starting to accept crypto was very easy. Paytomat works as an extension to the existing POS terminal from Poster, which I have at my restaurant, so it only took a software update and additional training for the staff." The idea behind Paytomat is increasing the transactional usage of cryptocurrencies in everyday life, providing additional incentives for businesses, customers and crypto core teams through its unique blockchain-based loyalty program. Launched from Ukraine in 2017, Paytomat is expanding its business globally and aims to develop its own unique blockchain-based loyalty program, fueled by PTM and PTX tokens. Since the beginning of this year, Paytomat has signed letters of intent with over 200 merchants across Europe. As part of its global development strategy, Paytomat will use the decentralized franchise model aimed at building a global community of local representatives who will help to establish fiat-to-crypto gateways, direct relationships with POS vendors and help merchants start accepting cryptocurrency, and receive rewards within the Paytomat loyalty program. For more information visit https://media.paytomat.com. Follow Paytomat Twitter for the latest news: https://twitter.com/paytomat SOURCE Paytomat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Fedora Update Notification FEDORA-2018-b9ad458866 2018-05-10 19:16:28.379789 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Name : drupal7 Product : Fedora 27 Version : 7.59 Release : 1.fc27 URL : http://www.drupal.org Summary : An open-source content-management platform Description : Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal is a Content Management System written in PHP that can support a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites. Drupal is highly configurable, skinnable, and secure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Update Information: - https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/releases/7.59 - https://www.drupal.org/SA-CORE-2018-004 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ChangeLog: * Wed Apr 25 2018 Shawn Iwinski - 7.59-1 - Update to 7.59 (SA-CORE-2018-004 / CVE-2018-7602) * Wed Mar 28 2018 Shawn Iwinski - 7.58-1 - Update to 7.58 (RHBZ #1561801 / SA-CORE-2018-002 / CVE-2018-7600) * Fri Feb 23 2018 Paul W. Frields - 7.57-1 - Update to 7.57 (RHBZ #1548324 / RHBZ #1548326 / SA-CORE-2018-001 / CVE-2017-6927 / CVE-2017-6928 / CVE-2017-6929 / CVE-2017-6932) * Wed Feb 7 2018 Fedora Release Engineering - 7.56-3 - Rebuilt for https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_28_Mass_Rebuild ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - References: [ 1 ] Bug #1572099 - CVE-2018-7602 drupal: Remote code execution vulnerability SA-CORE-2018-004 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1572099 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - This update can be installed with the "dnf" update program. Use su -c 'dnf upgrade --advisory FEDORA-2018-b9ad458866' at the command line. For more information, refer to the dnf documentation available at http://dnf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/command_ref.html#upgrade-command-label All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at https://fedoraproject.org/keys ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - _______________________________________________ package-announce mailing list -- package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to package-announce-leave@lists.fedoraproject.org If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word: a call to reviving the family through the guidance of God and worship. Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word is the creation of published author, Shane Burnett. Shane lives in Duncan, South Carolina with his wife of twenty-five years and their two daughters. They enjoy boating, camping, and vacationing at Disney World. Shane accepted Christ on November 12, 2006 at the age of thirty-six. It was then he almost immediately felt the call to preach. He began supply preaching in 2007 and earned a masters degree in Christian ministry from North Greenville University in 2010. During this time, he also served his church as a Sunday school teacher and deacon. He was ordained in 2011 and served as a bivocational associate pastor for a short time. Since 2011, he has maintained his management position at a large manufacturing company and supply preaches anywhere he is needed. He has a passion for studying the Bible and teaching Gods Word. He also has a passion for reaching good, but lost, people, much like the man he used to be before he met Christ. Shane defines these people as good, honest people who have every reason to be happy, yet feel as though they are missing something in their lives. It is because they became adults without knowing Jesus Christ. He wants to share his real-life experiences with and without Christ to motivate others to accept Christ as the missing link in their lives. Do you remember the television show Family Matters? Ive often wondered what the title actually meant. Did it mean that the family was important, or did it mean that they were going to address issues of the family? In reality, both of those answers are true, and that is exactly what this book addresses. --Shane Burnett Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Shane Burnetts new book shows the importance of restoring the family through worship. God simply wants people to worship Him on a daily basis. He wants parents to teach their kids to worship Him every day. One of the first things one must do is understand that the mythical definition of the word worship must be destroyed. Society has made people believe that they cannot worship God without professional help from the church. No one can effectively worship in their homes according to them. The truth is that worship can and does take place anytime and anywhere someones attention is focused on God. Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word seeks to strengthen families by revealing how important all people are to God. It teaches readers how to incorporate Him into their daily lives, especially when they and their families are struggling with everyday issues. Author Shane Burnett teaches readers how to routinely engage their families with God. Readers will learn how to strengthen their relationships with Him and each other. God will help them deal with family matters, because family matters to Him. View a synopsis of Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Family Matters: Continually Strengthening Families through Gods Word, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL), a division of NSC Wholesale Holdings announces the launch of its Senior Citizen Program at all its locations. Effective today, senior citizens age 60 and older will receive a 10% discount off their entire purchase every Monday and Tuesday. A valid ID is required to be eligible for the discount. Some restrictions apply, see store for more details. NWL is a value retailer known for its super closeouts and branded merchandise at unbelievable prices. Trucks of new closeouts arrive daily providing customers with a treasure hunt experience across all categories. Our stores are packed with housewares, appliances, food, cleaning aids, health and beauty, clothing and shoes for the entire family, home decor, furniture, bedding, hardware, paint, automotive, pet care and more all at discounted prices. Supporting our local senior citizens in the communities we serve is our way of saying thank you for their patronage. As cost of living rises we wanted to help our seniors who have a limited income stretch their dollars, said Scott Rosen, CEO. About National Wholesale Liquidators Founded in 1984, National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL) is a family-owned and operated value retailer headquartered in West Hempstead, New York. For more than 30 years, NWL provides customers a treasure hunt experience by offering name brand merchandise and closeouts at deeply discount prices. A one-stop shop for super savings, NWL offers a broad selection of merchandise including gourmet foods, health and beauty, apparel for the entire family, electronics, home decor, housewares, appliances, furniture, bedding, flooring, cleaning products, pet care, seasonal merchandise and more. Today, NWL operates 12 big box retail stores throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. To find the NWL store nearest you, please visit http://www.nwlshop.com. ### Vita Zorbo National Wholesale Liquidators 516.489.3300 ext. 1026 (office) Phil DeGorter National Wholesale Liquidators 516.489.3300 Voluptuous, Spirited Skipper: an entertaining saga in the life of an airline pilot. Voluptuous, Spirited Skipper is the creation of published author Fidelia Iwegbu, a proudly born-again healthcare professional based in New York, who worked seventeen years as a nurse before pursuing a PhD in healthcare administration and management. Fidelia shares, Due to the nature of Captains occupation, can pilots maintain a happy relationship or family? Consider travelling in a job that takes them away from home most of the time and the possibility of infidelity being the big problem. If the flying job destroys a relationship, then the crews have relationship problem and the fear that nobody might date them. Anybody married or dating a pilot should understand that the skinny beautiful flight attendants that fit comfortably in the airplane aisle comes with the territory. So, the captain here was in the right direction dating flight attendants. I believed that the flight attendant in this situation were irrational and never gave Captain a chance to decide which lady he wanted to be serious with. Some women find such relationship fascinating. When their significant other, Captain, is home for couple of days in a stretch, they make up for time being away. It keeps things passionate between them. Besides, a responsible man will want to keep his family and marriage intact no matter who is out there or who they flirt with. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Fidelia Iwegbus new book is a unique collection of short scenes that are as hilarious as they are unexpected, as they follow Captain through the ins and outs and ups and downs of his profession and his elaborate family life. Making good on the promise of an exciting adventure, Iwegbu takes the reader on a trip around the globe as Captain meets and flirts with people in far-flung reaches of the globe, and all the while his family grows, his follows their own ambitions and get into accidents, making Captains life a lot more complicated. View a synopsis of Voluptuous, Spirited Skipper on YouTube. Consumers can purchaseVoluptuous, Spirited Skipper at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Voluptuous, Spirited Skipper, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Jaclyn Smith today. Having a wide variety of fabrics to work with can be crucial to the success of any fabric designer or manufacturer. A May 7 article in Parade discusses the fashion success of 1970s Charlies Angels star Jaclyn Smith, whose clothing line has lasted through thirty years of partnering with such large national chains as K-Mart and Sears. Ms. Smith remembers I was very aware of what people spend on clothing. I thought if we can offer beautiful clothes to all those people who had been loyal to me, it would be both a purpose and promise, says the 72 year-old TV legend, who also discuss uses her use of such classic materials as animal prints. Los Angeles-based clothing wholesaler Fabric Selection Inc. notes that having a wide variety of fabrics to work with can be crucial to the success of any fabric designer or manufacturer, from an enterprising hobbyist to a name-brand fashion manufacturer. Fabric Selection Inc. says that fabric is obviously the primary building block of all kinds of clothing. Whether its the sort of slinky material the Jaclyn Smith brand uses for its extremely popular t-shirt line, traditional cotton prints, or versatile synthetic materials such as modal fabric, matching the right fabric to the right pants, shirts, blouses, dresses, skirts, socks and undergarments is a challenge that all designers and manufacturers must cope with. The wholesale supplier notes that its line of products includes an enormous variety of fabrics, so fashionistas are extremely likely to find just what theyre looking for at the firms web site. The wholesalers selection includes lace, French terry, jacquard, linen, denim, and fabric for leggings and yoga pants, among many other options. A wide variety of material is key, but solid colors are not always the way to go and sometimes designs are a must, says Fabric Selection Inc. Therefore, the very wide selections of prints ranging from simple stripes to complex floral patterns have helped countless couturiers to create some of their most successful products. The firm adds that, importantly, all of its prints are fully copyrighted, so manufacturers and designers need not be concerned about unpleasant surprises stemming from the patterns later on. Readers who would like to learn more about Fabric Selection Inc. can visit its web site at http://www.FabricSelection.com or call the firm at (213) 516-7053. Offices are open five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST, and can always be reached via email. Fabrics may be shipped to most locations throughout the USA and around the world. Philly Eviction Lawyer The "Top 40 Under 40" Award is the result of hard work from age twenty to thirty-one." Attorney Copoulos was awarded the "Top 40 Under 40" achievement for criminal defense. While Copoulos practices Real Estate and Criminal Defense, he received the honor for his successful work in criminal cases, including numerous successful outcomes in jury and waiver trials in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Copoulos is also a successful eviction and ejectment lawyer, having assisted hundreds of property owners reclaim their properties from tenants who have defaulted on rent, or squatters. According to the National Trial Lawyers, Copoulos was selected for his extraordinary achievements at young age. While Copoulos is thirty-one (31) years old, he has successfully litigated thousands of criminal and real estate matters in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. The National Trial Lawyers presents the achievement to forty attorneys under the age of forty in the United States. The program provides community, networking opportunities, a referral base, and CLEs to trial lawyers aiming to hone their skills as trial lawyers. The award presented to Copoulos by the National Trial Lawyers, at the age of 31 years, is an extraordinary achievement. Copoulos has been practicing law for seven years, and spent an additional three years in law school litigating cases, and developing trial skills, through various externship programs. All told at the age of 31 Copoulos has nearly ten (10) years of intensive trial experience in Philadelphia Criminal and Real Estate matters. More importantly, Copoulos has a record of winning cases that other attorneys may not even litigate, and obtaining excellent resolutions in situations fraught with conflict. The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization comprised of the nation's elite trial lawyers. Prior to admission, the attorneys must demonstrate exceptional qualifications in their area of law. While Copoulos originally qualified for Criminal Defense, he is now recognized for achievements in Criminal Defense and Real Estate. The Trial Lawyers provides essential news, information, and continuing education to attorneys at all levels. The lawyers at the LAW OFFICE OF MARK D. COPOULOS practice in the areas of evictions, ejectments, property disputes, criminal defense, landlord-tenant, drug charges, assault cases, recklessly endangering another person, and other charges where an individuals freedom is at stake. THE LAW OFFICE OF MARK D. COPOULOS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can be reached by calling 267-535-9776. https://www.philacriminaldefenseattorney.com Aegle Therapeutics Corporation, a regenerative medicine company isolating extracellular vesicles (EVs) from allogeneic bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat severe dermatological conditions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the companys first Investigational New Drug (IND) application to begin clinical trials in burn patients. Aegle expects to initiate a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of AGLE-102 for the treatment of severe burn patients in late 2018. We are excited to be moving our EV therapy into the clinic to treat burns, an indication with a substantial unmet medical need. We believe this product has the potential for functional regeneration and organization of complex tissue structures that can enhance healing, reduce scarring, minimize contraction and improve overall cosmesis, said Evangelos Badiavas, M.D., PhD, Aegles Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. "Currently, patients with burns suffer scarring, disfigurement, loss of mobility and chronic pain. There's a real need for better therapies. Aegles proprietary and innovative EV therapy involves the isolation of extracellular vesicles secreted by allogeneic bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells. "The clearance of this IND is an critical milestone for the company as we advance AGLE-102 into the clinic where we hope to demonstrate a means of harnessing the regenerative healing power of stem cells without using the cells as therapy, said Shelley Hartman, Chief Executive Officer of Aegle. This achievement is an important step as the company launches a Series A capital raise in 2018 to fund its clinical development." The Phase 1/2a study will evaluate the safety of extracellular vesicle therapy in severe second degree burn patients. The study is an open label dose escalation protocol that will enroll patients at several sites in the United States. About Aegle Therapeutics Corp. Aegle Therapeutics is a clinical stage regenerative medicine company developing novel therapeutics based on its proprietary extracellular vesicle isolation technology. The company is isolating extracellular vesicles secreted by allogeneic bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of severe dermatological conditions. Aegles EV therapy is initially being developed to treat burns and epidermolysis bullosa, a rare connective tissue disorder, and prevent scarring. For more information, visit http://www.aegletherapeutics.com. CONTACT: info@aegletherapeutics.com Venture Construction Group (VCG) is honored to join the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Since it was founded in the early 1940s, NAHB has served as the voice of America's housing industry. NAHB works to ensure that housing is a national priority and that all Americans have access to safe, decent and affordable housing, whether they choose to buy a home or rent. VCG is a full-service general contractor that provides construction and restoration to residential and commercial property owners throughout the nation. "NAHB is a fantastic organization that really stays on top of trends in the housing industry. They also provide advanced educational opportunities for construction companies to help rebuild communities," says Stephen Shanton, CEO and president of Venture Construction Group. NAHB is dedicated to meeting its members' business needs and ensuring that they have the tools and resources necessary to succeed. NAHB provides a multitude of educational opportunities, including the International Builders' Show (IBS), the world's largest show of its kind for the residential and light commercial construction industry. NAHB publishes three blogs: Best In American Living, which focuses on design and development topics, in addition to Eye On Housing, which specializes in economics, analysis, surveys and forecasting, and NAHB Now, which includes all industry issues, from advocacy and regulatory topics to sales and marketing, business management and more. NAHB regularly produces in-depth economic analyses of the home building industry based on private and government data. The NAHB economics group surveys builders, home buyers, and renters to gain insight into the issues and trends driving the industry. NAHB is also a founding partner and member of the International Housing Association, which works to advance home building around the globe with educational programs and entrepreneurial opportunities. With over 20 years of experience and the industry's top accreditations, VCG leads the way in construction best practices. About Venture Construction Group Venture Construction Group (VCG) is a leader in residential and commercial construction, roofing, renovations, restoration, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services. We are a full-service general contractor and assist property owners throughout Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C. Founded in 1998, VCG services commercial and residential properties throughout the East Coast, Greater Mid-Atlantic Region, Gulf Coast, and Midwest. Operational excellence is our mission in every project we undertake, and we pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service. Venture Construction Group is an exclusive certified National Storm Damage Center Preferred Contractor, Platinum Preferred Certified Contractor with the National Insurance Restoration Council, WindStorm Insurance Network WIND Certified Umpire, WIND Certified Appraiser, WIND Certified Fellow, Certified Member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors, Certified Member of Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Industry Members Association (EIMA), Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, Mule-Hide Legacy Contractor, Certified CertainTeed Contractor and Duro-Last Certified Contractor. VCG credentials have been vetted and screened through independent third party Global Risk Management Solutions. With offices nationwide and a solid reputation throughout the country, we are able to respond to your needs with quality, ease, and top-notch service. For more information call 866-459-8348 or visit us online at http://www.VentureConstructionGroup.com. About National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Since it was founded in the early 1940s, NAHB has served as the voice of America's housing industry. We work to ensure that housing is a national priority and that all Americans have access to safe, decent and affordable housing, whether they choose to buy a home or rent. Meeting its members' business needs and ensuring that they have the tools and resources necessary to succeed is an equally important task, NAHB also provides educational opportunities, including the International Builders' Show or IBS, the single most important event of the year for the home building industry and the world's largest show of its kind for the residential and light commercial construction industry. Learn more at https://www.nahb.org/. Media Inquiries: Erica DiManna Elev8 Consulting Group Ph: 386.243.5388 Web: http://www.elev8cg.com ### L to R: Rhonda McMahon (Signature Events Chair), Meg Wheeler (Director of Development), Brittany Williams (LBDI Co-Chair), Stephanie Lincoln (LBDI Co-Chair), Liz Harrington (Women's Lunch Place), and The Junior League of Boston successfully raised over $30,000 through its inaugural Little Black Dress Initiative program to create a homelessness prevention fund through Women's Lunch Place. The Junior League of Boston, a 110-year-old womens volunteer organization that improves the community through effective action of trained volunteers, announced that it successfully raised over $30,000 through its inaugural Little Black Dress Initiative program. The funds will go to the creation of the Junior League of Boston Homelessness Prevention Fund administered through Womens Lunch Place of Greater Boston and will help 19 women to restore their housing and help others to avoid homelessness. We are thrilled to be able to support Bostons women and families in such a meaningful and immediate way through our volunteer efforts, said JL Boston president Karen Page. Our volunteers passion for this cause enabled them to far exceed their initial fundraising goal of $12,500. The Little Black Dress Initiative is a program developed by the Junior League of London and adopted successfully within many American Leagues, now including Boston. As part of the Little Black Dress Initiative, participants wear the same black dress for five consecutive days to illustrate the effects poverty can have on a womans access to resources, her confidence and professional opportunities. The dress serves as a visual representation of the lack of choice for families living in poverty. Sixty-three women, including both JL Boston members and supporters, individually fundraised as part of their commitment to the initiative, with a suggested participant commitment of $250. In addition, JL Boston hosted several supporting events during the program, including a kickoff fundraiser, member volunteer shifts at Womens Lunch Place, and a Fireside Chat about poverty in the Boston community featuring Elizabeth Keeley, Executive Director of the Womens Lunch Place. Partnering with the Junior League of Boston was an opportunity to highlight our organizations commitment to helping women experiencing homelessness and poverty in Boston. We are grateful for JL of Bostons generous funding to help women find safe, affordable housing and to secure those who are at risk of homelessness, said Keeley. About Junior League of Boston The Junior League of Boston, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. http://www.jlboston.org About Womens Lunch Place of Greater Boston Womens Lunch Place opened its doors in 1982 not only to feed and nourish Bostons women in need of a safe and welcoming place, but also to provide medical care and support for women in crisis or women struggling with domestic violence, mental illness, addiction, or the stress of being homeless. Womens Lunch Place also helps women who are pursuing employment, secure housing and other opportunities through their resource center. The mission of Womens Lunch Place is to care for Bostons most vulnerable women with dignity, foster their resilience, and empower them to pursue their dreams. 100% of the money raised during LBDI will go to The Junior League of Boston Homelessness Prevention Fund via the Womens Lunch Place, who will utilize the funds to select the deserving families and work to get them back into securing housing. http://www.womenslunchplace.org Dr. Silberg is attending the Seattle Study Club Directors meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He will be addressing the conference on his favorite dental implant topic, Bone Reconstruction and Rehabilitation using the latest science to harness the power of human stem cells and laboratory derived growth factors. The Seattle Study Club network is comprised of over 350 different clubs and now includes groups from Canada, Europe, South America and China. Dr. Silberg started his local group, The Discovery Study Club, in Pittsburgh 25 years ago. The Discovery Club has over 35 members and includes general dentists and specialists that act as advisors to the membership. Each year Dr. Silberg creates an annual educational program that includes evening and all day lectures and hands-on workshops with both local speakers as well as nationally known educators from all around the country. The Seattle Club Network functions as a University Without Walls. We use our network to bring the latest scientific knowledge and information to our members to improve the quality of care that we can deliver to our patients. Why do study club members join this network? Dr. Silberg says that, members all around the world devote the time and effort to be the best health care providers we can be. We impact peoples lives and make it possible for people to look in the mirror, smile and love what they see smiling back. He says, people that keep their teeth have a better quality of life because they can smile, speak and eat in comfort and with confidence. My goal is to help people age with dignity and grace. The Seattle Study Club group has allowed me to network with the best and brightest people from all over this great country. I have been so fortunate to have been a part of this extraordinary collection of men and women who devote their lives to helping others. In this world where mediocrity has become the expected standard I am proud to be able to keep raising the bar for myself and for the men and women that are on this journey alongside me. For more information, please call our office at (412) 787-8590 or by visiting https://www.pittsburghdentalimplants.com/ The collaboration with local businesses and organizations is supporting entrepreneurship that is being taught and nurtured at Sierra College and Hacker Lab. Sierra College is honored that Hanna Keraf, Co-Founder and Chief of Community Development for PT Karya Dua Anyam (DuAnyam) in Jakarta, Indonesia, will be the guest speaker at the Sierra Student Startup Showcase on May 17 from 4:30-6 PM at Hacker Lab powered by Sierra College at 4415 Granite Drive Rocklin CA. The event is being sponsored by U.S. Bank, the City of Rocklin and California Capital Finance Development Corporation & Womens Business Center. Following the Student Showcase, participants in Hacker Labs Startup Hustle will pitch their entrepreneurial ideas at Demo Night from 6 8 PM. The public is invited to attend. DuAnyam is one of Indonesias leading social enterprises, based in East Nusa Tengga-ra. They provide alternative income for women in rural areas, as well as better access to health facilities and a healthier lifestyle. DuAnyam has a strong track record of promoting sustainable livelihood improvement by providing conditional cash-for-work through wicker crafts. Keraf is a driven young social entrepreneur who saw a need in her community and is addressing this need by highlighting the traditional handicrafts of local women and providing the skills and training necessary to support their businesses. After Kerafs presentation, Sierra College BUS 141 students will pitch the business startups that they have been working on throughout the semester. Using Adobe Kickbox methodology, Dennis Wingate, Sierra College Business faculty member, collaborated with Mark Randall, Chief Strategist, VP Creativity, Adobe Systems and Kickbox creator, to adapt the business startup process to be taught in a college class. Over the spring semester, Sierra College students have ideated, tested, prototyped and validated their business concepts, explained Wingate. We are grateful to U.S. Bank for providing scholarships for these business students so that they had access to the ecosystem of mentors, resources and tools at Hacker Lab Powered by Sierra College, said Wingate. Using the makerspace, they developed and fine-tuned their entrepreneurial concepts. The best pitches selected by their classroom peers will be presented at Student Startup Showcase and the students will compete for cash prizes to pursue their ideas. Starting at 6 PM with networking, participants in Hacker Labs Startup Hustle will present their startup pitches at Demo Night, according to Dan Casas-Murray, Startup Hustle Manager, Hacker Lab. Over the past eight weeks, Startup Hustle bootcamp participants have been working overtime to investigate customer problems, create solutions and discover a business model, said Casas-Murray. Theyve done their homework and identified big opportunities. Now its time to show off what theyve created and share whats needed to get their idea to the next level. Dominic Felipe Gutierrez, Sierra Makerspaces Director, indicated that these two events demonstrate the innovation that is happening in the Sacramento region. The collaboration with local businesses and organizations is supporting entrepreneurship that is being taught and nurtured at Sierra College and Hacker Lab, said Gutierrez. Small businesses are economic drivers and employers tell us that they are seeking employees with an entrepreneurial mindset to help them grow. The Student Startup Showcase and Startup Hustle Demo Night will highlight the ingenuity being cultivated in our community. Local manufacturers are recruiting people who can demonstrate problem solving and critical thinking skills, according to Steve Dicus, Deputy Sector Navigator for Advanced Manufacturing, housed at Sierra College, and co-chair of the education committee for the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Initiative (SVMI). Manufacturers want employees who can use entrepreneurial thinking to improve manufacturing processes as well as to listen to customers needs to enhance existing as well as develop new products, said Dicus. There are many careers in design, sales, engineering, marketing and production with Sacramento manufacturing companies where students can use the skills developed in business entrepreneurship classes, through Startup Hustle and by learning to use the makerspace tools at Hacker Lab powered by Sierra College. For information about Sierra Makerspaces, contact Dominic Gutierrez at (916) 913-2708 or dominic(at)SierraMakerspaces.com and visit the Sierra Makers webpage. Sierra College is also leading the statewide CCC Maker initiative to build a network of 24 community college makerspaces through a California Community College Chancellors Office Workforce Development Initiative under the Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy Framework to prepare innovation-ready graduates. About Hacker Lab Established in 2012 in Sacramento, Hacker Lab aims to educate folks and spark innovation with community driven resources. Offering co-working, maker space, courses, meet-ups and events, Hacker Lab believes that technology can change the world and the starting point is education. Hacker Lab has locations in Sacramento and Rocklin. Sierra College District is rising to the needs of our community. Sierra College serves 3200 square miles of Northern CA with campuses in Roseville, Rocklin, Grass Valley, and Truckee. With approximately 125 degree and certificate programs, Sierra College is ranked first in Northern California (Sacramento north) for transfers to four year Universities, offers career/technical training, and classes for upgrading job skills. Sierra graduates can be found in businesses and industries throughout the region. Cred, the first ever micro-investing platform for cryptocurrency, today announces it has joined Science Inc., the startup development and investment firm that has funded or founded more than 85 companies and has had $1.3B in aggregate portfolio company exits, as its newest portfolio company. Cred, which will launch in the coming months, provides the everyday novice investor a simple way to start buying cryptocurrency. About 69 percent of Americans expect the price of Bitcoin to rise in the next 5 years, but only 5 percent own Bitcoin, according to a Global Blockchain Business Council survey of 5,000 respondents. The high prices of cryptocurrencies and complicated platforms can make the space intimidating for first-time investors. The Cred app fixes this by making micro-investing simple with features such as the following: Round up your everyday purchases: Investors can round up the amount they spend on everyday purchases to the nearest $1, $2 or $5 and invest the extra money in cryptocurrency. For example, if an investor who rounds up to the nearest $1 spends $3.55 on an iced coffee, the Cred platform will automatically invest $.45 into cryptocurrency. Set up recurring investments: Investors can set up weekly or monthly recurring investments into cryptocurrency. Transactions can be as much as $2,000 per month to start. Get access to mainstream and altcoins alike: Cred offers a variety of cryptocurrency investment options such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin and ZenCash as well as tokens such as Worldwide Asset eXchange's WAX and Neblio's NEBL. The app teaches investors what each token does and shares its history and relevance in the industry. Cap investments at $2,000 a month: The mandatory investment cap adds peace of mind for first-time investors who are averse to spending large sums at this stage. Cred is fully compliant with U.S. regulation and will be available to start in California, Missouri, Massachusetts and Montana. "We're thrilled to be working with Science Inc., which has a stellar track record building and growing consumer-friendly apps, said Brendon McQueen, Founder & CEO of Cred. By partnering with the Science team, we get access to their incredible customer acquisition skills and experience building household brands such as Dollar Shave Club. Were excited to be building our business alongside them. Science also operates Science Blockchain, the first incubator in the world to be funded by its own tokenized compliant securities offering (token: SCI). Cred is not part of Science Blockchain but will benefit from the teams deep expertise and knowledge in the space. Cred introduces the simplest way to micro-invest in cryptocurrencies," said Mike Jones, co-founder & CEO of Science Inc. "Other platforms in the space are impressive but were built for power users and cryptocurrency veterans. Cred offers an easy way for first-time buyers to begin investing in cryptocurrency at their own pace and will help bring the value of cryptocurrency to Main Street. Cred is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. To learn more and request early access, visit getcred.io. About Cred Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Cred is a new kind of finance company democratizing consumer access to cryptocurrency. Launching in 2018 by Founder Brendon McQueen, Creds powerful technology offers a micro-investing platform specifically focused on cryptocurrency. Mr. McQueen previously founded and led Tuition.io, a market leader in student loan employee benefits. For more information, visit getcred.io. About Science Inc. Science is a startup development and investment firm that brings together the best ideas, talent, resources and financing through a centralized platform. The platform is leveraged to develop new businesses, provide emerging startups with operational strategy and capital and transform later-stage Internet ventures with new talent and innovation. It has funded or founded more than 85 companies including Dollar Shave Club, DogVacay, HelloSociety, FameBit, Earny, Pray, Mammoth and PlayVs and has had $1.3B in aggregate portfolio company exits. The company most recently launched Science Blockchain, the first incubator in the world to be funded by its own tokenized compliant securities offering (token: SCI). For more information, visit http://www.science-inc.com. Friday, May 11, NU President Dr. David Andrews will congratulate the new San Diego County District Teachers of the Year. We are thrilled to be recognizing the wonderful work being done by these outstanding teachers, and to celebrate their dedication to students. In recognition of exceptional PreK-12 teachers, National University joins the San Diego Padres in honoring San Diego County teachers as the presenting partner of the Padres Annual Teacher Appreciation Night at their May 11 game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. During an on-field presentation, the Padres and National University will recognize San Diego Countys 46 newly-named District Teachers of the Year, as well as the reigning 2018 Teachers of the Year. 18 of the newly-named teachers are graduates of National Universitys Sanford College of Education. We are thrilled to be recognizing the wonderful work being done by these outstanding teachers, and to celebrate their dedication to students, said Dr. David Andrews, President of National University, who will greet the Teachers of the Year during the pre-game ceremonies. We are committed to supporting the professional development of teachers, and we are pleased to have this opportunity to celebrate our exceptional alumni and others who have been selected to represent the best of San Diego County. During Fridays game, National University will be hosting teachers and educational leaders who are alumni of its Sanford College of Education, which is known for its commitment to quality teaching, as well as its prominence in serving a diverse student population. Over the past 20-plus years, more than 100 National University alumni throughout the state of California have been recognized as teachers of the year at the local, state and national level. The University will also host a live broadcast on its Facebook page during the event, featuring Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman and National University alumni whove earned the honor of Teacher of the Year. We are pleased to once again join National University in celebrating and thanking our outstanding teachers for their dedication to the success of our students, said Padres general partner Peter Seidler, who was named keynote speaker for National Universitys May 19 commencement ceremony in Petco Park. Education is a pillar of the Padres Organizations commitment to the community. In addition to its teacher education programs, National University is also supporting ongoing teacher development through its role leading the national expansion of two research-based programs that address student development and achievement. The programs are Sanford Harmony (PreK-6), a social emotional learning program for PreK-6 classrooms now reaching more than 1 million students, and Sanford Inspire (PreK-12), which offers training modules that feature research-based teaching approaches to create inspiring classrooms. Both programs are being disseminated nationally through National University and the National University System, and with the generous support of philanthropist and entrepreneur T. Denny Sanford. ABOUT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Founded in 1971, National University is among the largest, private, nonprofit universities in California. With more than 150,000 alumni, National University is the flagship institution of the National University System. National University is dedicated to making lifelong learning opportunities accessible, challenging, and relevant to a diverse population of students. Four schools and two colleges the College of Letters and Sciences; the Sanford College of Education; the School of Business and Management; the School of Engineering and Computing; the School of Health and Human Services; and the School of Professional Studies offer more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degrees and 23 teacher credentials. Programs are offered at locations throughout California and across the nation, and are also available online. National University is headquartered in La Jolla, California. http://www.nu.edu/ The addition of MachineMetrics to our Swiss-type machine platform packages allows users to collect data on machine health, production status, down-time, and so much more that they may never have known existed - bettering businesses across the industry. MachineMetrics and Tsugami/Rem Sales, LLC today announce their partnership to bring predictive manufacturing analytics and remote machine monitoring to customers across North America. The MachineMetrics Industrial IoT manufacturing analytics platform, paired with Tsugami/Rem Sales Swiss-type machines will benefit end-user customers through improved production visibility, predictive analytics, and service. Tsugami/Rem Sales is thrilled to partner with MachineMetrics, bringing cutting edge, disruptive technology directly into our end-users businesses, explained Michael Mugno, Vice President, Tsugami/Rem Sales. The addition of MachineMetrics to our Swiss-type machine platform packages allows users to collect data on machine health, production status, down-time, and so much more that they may never have known existed - bettering businesses across the industry. For years now we have been working directly with manufacturers to improve manufacturing equipment uptime, OEE and productivity with real-time machine monitoring and analytics, said Bill Bither, CEO of MachineMetrics, By allowing machines to be monitored remotely and in real-time, we are enabling Tsugami/Rem Sales to extend these benefits to their customer base while providing them with faster, better service. Our data science team is working closely with the data to deliver optimized preventative and predictive maintenance specific to Tsugami machines to improve machine uptime. With the release of MachineMetrics Health for Equipment Manufacturers, any machine maker or distributor can improve their customer service by resolving machine problems without the necessity of an on-site visit. Service managers and technicians can remotely monitor, manage, diagnose and resolve customers machine issues for any piece of connected equipment in the field and in real-time using MachineMetrics cellular edge device. The historical and real-time machine data collected allows equipment manufacturers to gain insight into customers equipment health and condition, identify new service opportunities with analytics and reporting, predict and deliver early warning of potential equipment failures, highlight elevated risk areas that lead to machine downtime, or even determine to take preventative action before it impacts a customers machine performance. With MachineMetrics: Remote Service, equipment manufacturers can transform their approach to service with the ability to see, understand and take action from anywhere at any time. Data from thousands of connected machines allow the MachineMetrics Data Science team to work with service teams to identify trends and develop standard preventative maintenance and repair schedules that benefit both the service team and the customers. To see the whole solution in action, visit the Tsugami/Rem Sales booth at IMTS 2018: #339410 South Building, Level 3. About MachineMetrics MachineMetrics (http://www.machinemetrics.com) has simplified Industrial IoT for the factory floor. The MachineMetrics predictive analytics and machine monitoring platform allows manufacturers to harness, structure, and take action on this data, driving manufacturing efficiency by more than 20%. Their user friendly platform easily integrates into any modern or legacy machine to provide predictive analytics, real-time dashboards and historical reporting, allowing managers to track OEE performance, identify production bottlenecks, take action with real-time notifications, measure process improvements, and enhance shop floor communications. MachineMetrics was recently awarded Smart Manufacturing Solution of the Year by the committee at IoT Breakthrough, winner of the Massachusetts TechHub Caucus 2018 NEXTGEN Technology Award, as well as a Top 10 Manufacturing Intelligence Solution Provider for 2017 by Manufacturing Technology Insights. About Tsugami/Rem Sales, LLC Tsugami/Rem Sales (http://www.remsales.com) has been the exclusive North American importer of Precision Tsugami machine tools since 1978. A division of Morris Group, Inc. in Windsor, Connecticut, Rem Sales sells new Tsugami machine tools via national distribution channels and direct sales agents. Tsugami/Rem Sales also provides top of the line application engineering, service, and customer training. About Morris Group, Inc. Morris Group, Inc. (http://www.morrisgroupinc.com), one of North Americas largest machine tool supply networks, owns fifteen independently operated business units. It supplies CNC machine tools and related technology and services to manufacturers representing virtually every industry segment. Morris Group, Inc. is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, home of its founding company, The Robert E. Morris Company, which has served the manufacturing industry since 1941. The RealSelf 500 Award is an annual recognition of doctors who earn the most favorable reviews,...The competition among professionals is steep, and only the top 5% of doctors meet the eligibility criteria. The RealSelf community has been connecting prospective patients with plastic surgeons for the past 12 years, and supports over 10 million monthly visitors. There is no other single resource available that provides such a comprehensive platform for aesthetic medicine as RealSelf. RealSelf uniquely connects doctors and patients, but also provides the opportunity for peer-to-peer interactions. Doctors receive ratings on the website, which has been a trusted source of plastic surgeons skill level and patient satisfaction for years. The RealSelf 500 Award is an annual recognition of doctors who earn the most favorable reviews, interact most with patients on the site, and contribute their knowledge to those seeking information about procedures. The competition among professionals is steep, and only the top 5% of doctors meet the eligibility criteria. Dr. Malhotra holds dual board-certifications in both otolaryngology (head and neck surgery) and plastic surgery, which indicates his advanced expertise in performing work on both the face and body. To date, he has completed more than 6,000 surgeries. In addition to dedicating much of his young adult life to becoming educated in medicine, Dr. Malhotra has also taken courses in sculpting, which speaks to his well-rounded approach to plastic surgery as an art form and a science. Dr. Malhotra is a practicing face and body plastic surgeon, and also serves as Director of Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery, with locations in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Jackson, and other Michigan cities. He won the Readers Choice Award for Best Plastic Surgeon in Washtenaw County in 2017 for his work in the region. Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery specializes in fast recovery techniques to best serve patients, with maximum benefits and minimal interruption to their daily lives. The practice offers a wide range of procedures including rhinoplasty, facelift, breast augmentation, male breast reduction, liposuction, and many non-surgical cosmetic treatments. To learn more about Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery and Dr. Malhotras work, contact the main practice at (734) 913-5100. The website also provides an abundance of information about available procedures, as well as doctors Pramit Malhotra, MD and Tiffany Ballard, MD. Dr. Ghersi of The Plastic Surgery of Institute of Miami is honored to be inducted into The Rhinoplasty Society's prestigious and influential medical community. Dr. Ghersi of The Plastic Surgery of Institute of Miami is honored to be inducted into The Rhinoplasty Society's prestigious and influential medical community. Nasal surgery takes years to master because it is one of the most complex facial operations completed by Plastic Surgeons, and membership at The Rhinoplasty Society is restricted to rhinoplasty masters through invitation only. The Rhinoplasty Society is a professional society for nasal surgeons that invites the most respected and talented rhinoplasty surgeons in the world to join the association where they can further their education through international meetings and seminars. Are You Considering Nose Rejuvenation? Dr. Ghersi's prospective patients typically consider nasal contouring to repair issues causing difficulty when breathing through their nose or when they experience an injury that causes the loss of facial symmetry or alters the position of the bridge of their nose. Patients also request rhinoplasty to improve the size and shape of their nose or balance to their features. Dr. Ghersi is a rhinoplasty master who performs rhinoplasty revision to enhance, adjust and reverse any dissatisfying results caused by a prior nose job. Dr. Ghersi is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, which is the leading accreditation for plastic surgeons in the U.S. He is also an active member of multiple professional organizations and holds active medical licenses in the Florida and New York. He maintains academic teaching appointments and has active privileges at some of the most reputable hospitals in South Florida and New York. Dr. Ghersi's experience and expertise are widely recognized, and he has completed a substantial number of published peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Ghersi's peers and patients hold him in high regard. Rhinoplasty Benefits There are multiple benefits of rhinoplasty. The nose is the center focus on everyone's face and having a nose that is too large, deformed or does not fit can cause a patient to feel embarrassed or self-conscious, which can lead to anxiety in public. A well-performed rhinoplasty can help males or females of all ages to feel more attractive and self-confident and to breathe more easily. The human brain is naturally attracted to and made aware of facial symmetry as defined in the "Golden Ratio," which lists correct mathematical facial proportions. This subconscious attraction to facial symmetry possibly indicates health and good genes. The "Golden Ratio" specifies the appropriate length of the nose, the distance between to the eyes, the distance between the lips and tip of the nose and the width and height of the face. These ratios, when taken together, determine how beautiful the human eye perceives the face. Rhinoplasty is a plastic surgery that alters the nose so that it blends appropriately and lines up attractively with the lips, eyes and the shape of the face. New Nose for a Better You If you need help with nasal breathing problems or would like to improve the symmetry of your nose and facial features, contact Dr. Ghersi at The Plastic Surgery Institute of Miami. Get the nose that you have always wanted with a master rhinoplasty plastic surgeon in the Miami, Fl, and Coral Gables, Fl, area. Please call 305-446-7700 or make a nasal surgery appointment online. "Being at Cannes is genuinely an honor all by itself, says The Scapegoat director and NYFA grad Talha Bin Abdulrahman, But knowing that I have my country's full support makes it even more meaningful." As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia makes its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, five of the Kingdoms nine short films to be screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner feature the work of New York Film Academy (NYFA) alumni and students. "We are overwhelmed with pride by the success of our Saudi graduates, says NYFA President Michael Young. These young filmmakers have done extraordinary work, they are truly pioneers of cinema in their country." NYFA has been honored to train many of the rising filmmakers, producers, and actors whose work is now featured in the Saudi Corner at Cannes, including: Film School Musical - Directed by NYFA BFA Filmmaking alum Maan Bin Abdulrahman, who also produced fellow Cannes film The Scapegoat, directed by his brother, Talha. Maan recently appeared on CNN discussing the opening of cinema in Saudi Arabia. The Scapegoat - Directed by NYFA BFA Filmmaking alum Talha Bin Abdulrahman, as his thesis film. The Scapegoat was recently an official selection at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival, as well as the second annual Young Saudi Film Festival, hosted by NYFA. Sumiyati Going to Hell - Directed by current NYFA BFA Screenwriting student Meshal Al Jasser. Coexistence - Directed by NYFA MFA Filmmaking alum Musab Alamri, and also featuring actor, current NYFA BFA Acting for Film student, and Young Saudi Film Festival President Rakan Anneghaimshi. Wasati - Starring actor and NYFA 8-Week Acting for Film alum Mansour Al Nasser, as an opthamologist. "It is no surprise that so many of our alumni and students work will be represented at the Saudi Short Corner this year, says Vice President Middle East & North Africa Region Tami Alexander. Their passion for storytelling shines in their work. We look forward to continue to welcome the future artists of Saudi cinema to study at NYFA." NYFA Los Angeles recently hosted Saudi Arabias General Authority for Culture as a part of Saudi Cultural Days, where student Rakan Anneghaimshi and alum Maan Bin Abdulrahman hosted a Q&A event featuring Hollywood producer Ted Field (Jumanji, The Chronicles of Riddick). In addition to the Q&A, NYFA screened some of these short films now featured at Cannes, for distinguished guests from the Kingdom including Khaled Al Saqer, Meshal AlSaleh and Abdulaziz AlMutairi. NYFA Director of the Q&A Series Tova Laiter will be in attendance at Cannes to celebrate and support the NYFA and Saudi communities. I had the opportunity to see a few of NYFA's Saudi students short films at the GCA screening at NYFA Los Angeles, says Laiter. I was extremely impressed, both in terms of cinematic quality and subject matter. They were all flawless, a rare occurrence. I intend to recommend them to all the major critics I know in Cannes. The Saudi Short Corner at Cannes represents a significant milestone in the Kingdoms expansion of cinema under Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salmans Vision 2030 programme. "Being at Cannes is genuinely an honor all by itself, says The Scapegoat director and NYFA grad Talha Bin Abdulrahman, But knowing that I have my country's full support makes it even more meaningful." His brother, fellow NYFA grad and Film School Musical director, Maan Bin Abdulrahman agrees: I never thought this day would come. My family is proud, my government is proud, my people are supporting me; life is good! The Saudi Corner Cannes screenings will take place May 14, 5:30 p.m., Palais D, and May 15, 11:30 a.m., Palais H. Press Inquiries Contact: helen.kanti@nyfa.edu About New York Film Academy The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is a leading visual and performing arts school that offers courses across 15 areas of study in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach/Miami, Gold Coast (Australia), Florence (Italy), Mumbai (India), and more. Thousands of aspiring artists come to study at the New York Film Academy each year from over 120 countries. For more information, please visit nyfa.edu. Neoteric Nutra sponsors event for The Parkinson's Foundation We are a wellness company with compassion and we recognize the effects of this chronic, life-altering disease. That is why we are teaming up together to do our part by raising awareness within our community, while offering alternative options. Said co-founder Brian Troch of NEOTERIC NUTRA. NEOTERIC NUTRA partners up with Kristin Andrews Yoga and the Dave Specter Band to host a unique event benefitting the Parkinsons Foundation. The event Yoga Blues and Brews, takes place this Saturday at SPACE in Evanston, Illinois. Kristin Andrews will be teaching yoga, coupled with a live music performance by Dave Specter. Long time yoga advocate and teacher Kristin Andrews became well known in the Chicago land area for her one of a kind stand up paddleboard (SUP) yoga practice. People attending will get one on one attention from Andrews, as she leads the event. Dave Specter, the owner of the venue SPACE, and his band, will offer their musical hand in guiding along the energy of the yoga class to assist in providing the most fulfilling, introspective experience. NEOTERIC NUTRA is a company that specializes in providing cutting edge solutions to overall health and wellness to the masses through the unique patented nextHEMP delivery system developed by Dr. Mark Rosenfeld MS, PhD (Chief Science Officer and founder of Ananda Scientific.) The founders of NEOTERIC NUTRA Brian Troch and Jenny Franck will be attending this already SOLD OUT event in support of their sponsorship. All of the proceeds will go to the Parkinsons Foundation. We are a wellness company with compassion and we recognize the effects of this chronic, life-altering disease. We are teaming up together to do our part by raising awareness within our community, while offering alternative options, said co-founder and event sponsor, Brian Troch of NEOTERIC NUTRA. Where science meets the soul. For more information please contact media(at)neotericnutra.com. NAF is pleased to announce that World Wide Technology (WWT), a market-leading technology solution provider, has pledged their commitment to become a NAFTrack Certified Hiring partner. The announcement was made during NAFs 15th annual Benefit at the Mandarin Oriental, New York, where WWT Founder and Chairman, David L. Steward, was honored for his commitment to the success of our youth and partnership in transforming what is possible for NAF students in St. Louis. NAF President, JD Hoye said, We are excited to have World Wide Technology join NAFTrack Certified Hiring! With World Wide Technology as a partner, we are expanding opportunities for students both in St. Louis and nationwide. NAFTrack Certified Hiring is the groundbreaking promise by a growing number of top companies to support eventual job applicants who have completed the NAF course of study and graduated from high school, enrolled in college, and earned NAFTrack Certification. These benefits may include pre-interview and resume support, access to paid internships, and more. NAFTrack Certification is gained through careful assessment of student performance displayed in course exams, projects and internships. WWT joins 15 other NAFTrack partners: Capital One, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, SAP, KPMG, Travelers, Moodys, AT&T, Cisco, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Juniper Networks, Lenovo, Promontory, Verizon, and Xerox. We were so impressed with our first high school interns last year. We were excited to join the movement to provide more students in the St. Louis region with the opportunities they need to build a successful future, Steward said. And who knows, that future may be with World Wide Technology. One of those interns is Asha Amerson, a senior at Jennings High School Academy of Health Sciences. She shared with the audience at the Benefit her experience of being a NAF student, which included a paid WWT internship. My education from NAF opened doors that I didnt know I was able to walk through and set me up for the best future possible, she said proudly. This special evening of mixing and mingling brought together students, alumni, educators, and business professionals from Americas top companies to celebrate NAFs work in the education space, and raised over $1.5 million. Guests had the opportunity to see presentations from NAF students across the country on how theyve used their NAF academy experience to prepare for college and career. The funds raised will go towards supporting and sustaining NAFs mission nationally, and contributions will aid in providing programming, training, and materials for NAF teachers, directors, and students throughout the country. The Honorary Chair of the event was Sanford I. Weill, Founder and Chairman of NAF. Benefit Co-Chairs included Ursula M. Burns, Chairman of VEON Ltd.; Lynne Doughtie, Chairman & Chief Executive Office, KPMG; Barbara Benioff Friedman, Trustee Emerita, Cornell University, Vice Chair of Overseers, Weill Cornell Medical College; John Hinshaw, Board Director & Angel Investor; Jennifer Morgan, Executive Board Member, Global Customer Operation, SAP; Marc C. Reed, Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Verizon; and James D. Robinson III, General Partner & Co-Founder, RRE Ventures. Alumni Co-Chairs included Jacqueline Burgos, Chair, NAF Alumni Leadership Council & 2004 NAF Alumna, Director, Strategy & Business Development at Viacom; and Daniel Barile, 2004 NAF Alumnus and Managing Director and Senior Investment Analyst at SkyBridge Capital Partners. About NAF: NAF, is a national network of education, business, and community leaders who work together to ensure that high school students are college, career, and future ready. NAF works with high need communities to transform the high school experience through an educational design that includes industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals, culminating in a paid internship. NAF academies fit within and enhance school systems, allowing NAF to become an integral part of a plan for higher achievement at a low cost. NAF academies focus on one of five career themes: finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. During the 2017-18 school year, over 100,000 students attended 644 NAF academies across 36 states, including DC and the US Virgin Islands. In 2017, NAF academies reported 97% of seniors graduated with 90% of graduates planning to go to college. For more information, please visit: http://naf.org/ ABOUT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY: World Wide Technology (WWT) is a technology solution provider with more than $10 billion in annual revenue that provides innovative technology and supply chain solutions to large public and private organizations around the globe. While most companies talk about delivering business and technology outcomes, WWT does it. Based in St. Louis, WWT employs more than 4,600 people and operates over 2 million square feet of warehousing, distribution and integration space in more than 20 facilities throughout the world. For more information about World Wide Technology, visit http://www.wwt.com. Connect with WWT: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn CME Outfitters (CMEO), a leading accredited provider in continuing medical education, is excited to announce that findings from their exclusive PredictCME analysis of outcomes from an educational activity on multiple sclerosis (MS) were accepted for presentation at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, to be held May 30th - June 2nd. The poster will be available for viewing on Thursday, May 31st from 6:30 7:30 PM. The presentation, entitled, Factors Influencing Best Practices in Treating Multiple Sclerosis: Results from a Predictive Modeling Analysis, will focus on PredictCME, CMEOs latest offering for adding value and dimension to its outcomes studies. Traditional statistical comparisons of pre- versus post-activity performance are important for demonstrating performance improvement. However, they do not provide information regarding the factors that influence practice behaviors, which will help guide needs assessments for future activities and ensure the appropriate topics, formats, questions, and audiences are targeted. PredictCME is based on a form of predictive modeling known as CHAID (chi-square automatic interaction detection). CHAID is often used in data mining, but CMEO is the first provider to use it in medical education. PredictCME is CME Outfitters exclusive method for applying CHAID to their educational activities, so that they can design future activities with a scientific basis for what impacts performance. PredictCME has advantages over linear and logistic regression, including the ability to incorporate both continuous and categorical data, as well as output in the form of a classification (or decision) tree. The visual output provides a detailed and intuitive representation of the interplay between predictor and response variables, as well as how the variable categories are broken down. The study was based on an educational activity entitled, Risky Business: Understanding and Attenuating Risk Associated with Disease Modifying Therapy in Relapse Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, which consisted of a live and on demand webcast and enduring material. Patient-guided content was developed via WEGO Health patient leader interviews that highlighted patients needs, concerns, and experiences in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Social media was leveraged to express the patients voice in health care, and the content of this activity represented feedback from a social community of more than 400,000 people with RRMS. Over 5,800 clinicians participated in the live and on demand activity, with the potential to impact over 52,200 patients with multiple sclerosis. Two behavior questions, reflecting use of disease-modifying therapy and incorporating point-of-care decision tools, were combined into a single behavior score and used as the response variable. Several predictor variables, including but not limited to academic degree, practice setting, and confidence for identifying factors, were entered. Findings revealed confidence to be the strongest predictor of the combined behavior score. Detailed results will be shared at the meeting. We were able to successfully tap into the power of the patient leaders observations and analysis of their followers to create a patient collaboration with key opinion leaders (KOLs) to provide unique actionable education, said Jan Perez, Managing Partner, CME Outfitters. This alignment of patient KOLs and physician KOLs to marry evidence with best practices can truly drive and impact care and that is a primary goal of ours at CME Outfitters. A copy of the poster will be available at the CMEO website at the conclusion of the CMSC Annual Meeting in June 2018. About CME Outfitters, LLC CME Outfitters develops and distributes live, recorded and web-based, outcomes- and evidence-based educational activities to thousands of clinicians each year and offers expert accreditation and outcome services for non-accredited organizations. CME Outfitters focuses on delivering education to specialty audiences, with strong expertise in neuroscience, inflammatory, infectious, and autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular disease. For a complete list of certified activities and more information, visit http://www.cmeoutfitters.com or call 877.CME.PROS (877.263.7767). CME Outfitters Improving Clinical Behavior One Change at a Time Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2018 8:00 pm Nearly six years after a Brinnon man was sentenced to almost 21 years behind bars, the Jefferson County Prosecutors Office has moved for the dismissal of all 31 criminal charges against him. The Jefferson County Superior Court has agreed to the motion. In 2012, Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser sentenced then 49-year-old Patrick McAllister to 250 months in jail after McAllister was found guilty Aug. 10 of 12 counts of second-degree rape, 11 counts of third-degree rape and eight counts of fourth-degree assault against a woman from the Philippines, whom he brought to the U.S. to marry. On April 26, Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Keith Harper ordered those charges be dismissed without prejudice, after Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Haas moved to dismiss the case April 25, due to a number of evidentiary problems, according to Haas declaration of counsel filed with the court. QUESTIONABLE CONVICTION This was a very difficult decision to make, Haas wrote in the declaration. The decision to dismiss reflects the practical realities of the case what the state can prove eight years after the fact, what it cannot and a variety of points of attack the defense would likely make. In the declaration, Haas wrote the alleged victim should have been sent to a sexual assault nurse examiner almost immediately after law enforcement received reports of sexual assault on her. Attempts should have been made to interview Mr. McAllister, Haas wrote. That does not appear to have been done. Haas also cited the results of a polygraph administered to McAllister. While polygraph results are not admissible in court, Haas wrote, I cannot ignore these results. The polygraph determined McAllisters denial of assaulting the alleged victim was truthful. Haas wrote he might have suspected McAllister had simply beat the machine, except the polygraph results indicated deception when asked about offensive contact with other women. Haas also wrote the jury was exposed to evidence of injuries to the alleged victim that we knew then and know now ... could not have been caused by Mr. McAllister, adding, Why this information was allowed to be heard by the jury is beyond me. In his concluding paragraph, Haas wrote, Had the defense had access to the data/information it has today and had the defense taken other steps it should have taken when this case was first tried, it is questionable whether Mr. McAllister would have been convicted. Although he wrote he was not happy to do so, Haas nonetheless declared dismissing the case was the correct decision to make legally and ethically. PERFECT STORM Lance Hester and Casey Arbenz were the attorneys representing McAllister during the original trial, but Tacoma-based attorney John Cain has represented McAllister as the charges against him have been dismissed. At his first trial, Mr. McAllister was the victim of a perfect storm an ineffective counsel and an overly zealous prosecutor who withheld exculpatory evidence, Cain said. As we headed to a second trial, additional exculpatory evidence was obtained, some of which proved Mr. McAllister could not have physically injured the alleged victim as suggested at the first trial. Cain deemed Haas decision to dismiss as in conformance with the high standards the public should expect of a prosecutor. Cain had filed a motion to dismiss that was not heard because Haas decided to dismiss the case voluntarily. My motion to dismiss was based on prosecutorial misconduct, Cain said. Mike Haas declaration fairly describes the insufficiency of the evidence for a conviction. Cain also described himself as grateful for the opportunity to have successfully defended a client whose innocence I am convinced of. Both Cain and McAllister, who submitted a written statement to The Leader, praised Patrick McAllisters now deceased twin brother, Michael McAllister, who believed in his brother and worked to exonerate him. Mike did countless public disclosure requests that proved that the state had withheld exculpatory evidence, Cain said. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago, before the personal restraint petition was filed, which lead to this result. McAllister likewise wrote about how the countless hours (Michael) dedicated to my case made the difference, and he thanked all those who believed in his innocence. I pray that no one else ever has to go through what I have been through, McAllister wrote. I want to send a clear and cogent message that this type of government abuse, the willful withholding of evidence, will not be tolerated. In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, a historian, and researcher at the University of Ghana, Kweku Darko Ankrah said there were other people who also pushed the colonial government to establish a university in the then Gold Coast. Some of these people were chiefs, other Gold Coast intellectuals, and cocoa farmers. READ ALSO: Okess student allegedly stabbed to death These people included including Sir Arku Korsah, Nene Azu MateKole, and Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh. He admitted that J.B Danquah was part of those who made a case for the university to be established but he was not alone. This comment has caused some controversy, particularly on social media. Many Ghanaians have challenged this version of history. However, Mr. Ankrah said even though J.B Danquah played a role in the establishment of the university, Ghanas premier university is the product of a collective effort of several other people. Mr Ankrah said that the university was built with a collective effort of the Gold Coasters and monies generated from cocoa farmers. It would be recalled that the man of God had said that the said meeting by witches who would appear in the form of bird was going to happen, but he would kill them. When on Wednesday, May 9 the dead birds were found in the area, the youth reportedly petitioned the chief who then summoned the man of God for questioning. Adomonline.com reported Nana Ofosu Gyeabour Akoto II as saying Prophet Emmanuel Osei had admitted to intentionally throwing the dead birds at the said location to create a false impression that the witches had attempted the scheduled meeting, but he overpowered them. The chief said he and his elders have banished the prophet from the town for causing fear and panic as well as bringing the name of the Bechem town into disrepute. Nana Ofosu Gyeabour Akoto II further said that the prophet was also fined to pay 12 goats, an undisclosed amount of money and one box of schnapps to pacify the gods of the land. He then delegated people to go and ensure that Prophet Emmanuel Osei moved out of the jurisdiction. However, speaking to local media, the prophet denied having admitted to the offence for which he was banished. He is suspicious that a fellow man of God in the town had orchestrated the entire scheme just to destroy him. Prophet Emmanuel Osei said: Im not surprised they are blaming me for this incident. It is true I prophesied about the incident but I did not put the birds there. I know one pastor in this town is behind this. As to why he paid the fine slapped on him if he did not commit the said offence, the man of God said: I did that out of respect for the chief of Bechem but for what they have done, anyone who spends that money will be cursed. Modjadji Marikhela narrated that: He said we should go to his place so he can relax with the baby and I agreed. When I was about to leave, his mother requested I leave Bonolo behind because she hadnt seen her in a long time. I then told his mother that my younger sister will come and fetch her before sunset. All of a sudden he started accusing me of cheating. I told him to get lost because, me and him, we were no longer an item. READ MORE: Redeemed Christian Church of God pastor jailed 18 months for fraud She said the accused suddenly pounced on her and assaulted her before pulling out a shoe sewing needle and threatened to hurt her. He then said that she would never see her baby again, while he walked towards the door of the room in which the innocent baby had been kept. Modjadji Marikhelas 13-year-old younger sister who was a witness to the gory incident reportedly told the Sowetan that: He was trying to gain access into a room where the baby and his mother were after she had locked him out. He forced the door open and got to Bonolo before me. He placed the baby under his armpit and reached out for the shoe needle from his pocket, and stabbed the baby in the head. He then pulled it out and stabbed her again in the stomach. He left the baby on the ground thinking she was dead. He then returned after hearing Bonolos desperate cough and came back with a pick and finished her off. Her small intestines were exposed. Motsai tried to hang himself in order to escape justice, but vigilant neighbours restrained him. READ MORE: Husband catches wife sending nude photos to bank manager He was subsequently arrested and arraigned for court. On his first appearance at Mookgophong Magistrates Court in Limpopo last Friday, Motsai reportedly told Magistrate Frans Mahodi that: She said she was going to visit her grandmothers house at a nearby township but only to find out she went to see her boyfriend. After the magistrate warned the suspected murderer that it is inhumane what you did and you can go to jail for very long time he said I intend to plead guilty and I am prepared to go to jail for killing my baby. He said he wanted to represent himself in court, but the magistrate insisted that he must employ the services of a Legal Aid lawyer. Magistrate Frans Mahodi adjourned the case till May 31 for a bail application hearing. Meanwhile, the bereaved mother, Modjadji Marikhela, has vowed to get her ex-husband killed if he is released on bail. According to reports, Dr. Emeka Ugwunze was a tenant in a two-storey building at Gbagada belonging to the convict, Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole. However, he approached the complainant in 2016 and demanded some money from him, claiming he wanted to sell the house to him because the tenant had been of help to him in the past. READ MORE: Transgender prisoner raped by male inmates The house in contention was reportedly negotiated at N20m, but the complainant paid an amount of N9m to the man of God with a promise to pay the balance later. Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole gained the trust of the complainant after he convinced him by handing over all documents of the house to him and promised to produce the deed of agreement when the full payment was made. Surprisingly, the man of God reportedly vanished into thin air after receipt of the initial payment and all efforts by the complainant to locate him proved futile. He then decided to ignore their friendship and reported the matter to the police who initiated investigation and subsequently arrested and prosecuted past Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole. As Fox News reports, the 55-year-old has been married to his wife, Marie, for 25 years, and about three years ago, she was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis is a degenerative disease that occurs when liver cells are damaged and replaced by scar tissue. The more scar tissue that is present, the less functional the liver becomes. Over the years, Marie's condition has worsened. Her diagnosis, coupled with her diabetes, has caused her to lose 70 pounds, but she is still too low on the organ transplant list to receive a liver anytime soon. According to ABC 30, the dire situation is what led Vernon to make a Facebook post offering his truck, his trailer, and even his kidney, in exchange for a "some of your liver" for Marie. In a Facebook post, Vernon said he was notified by hospital officials at UCSF Medical Center that it's not allowed to exchange material goods for an organ, but the offer for his kidney is still on the table. The Robinsons have been overwhelmed by the response. SF Gate reports that the couple has received dozens of messages of encouragement and offers for financial help from those who have seen his post. Some have even applied to see if they are a donor match at Marie's hospital. This is after the platform blacklisted Ghana for almost 15 years. Dr Bawumia said they have had discussions with PayPal and outlined a roadmap to get Ghana back on the platform. Speaking at the launch of the first phase of Ghanas mobile interoperability system on Thursday, Dr. Bawumia said the return to Paypal could happen in 2020. I am happy to announce that Ghana has concluded discussions with PayPal, and Ghana will, therefore, if all goes well, will become one of the PayPal compliant countries in two phases. According to the roadmap presented by PayPal, by the second half of 2019, Ghanaian merchants should be able to receive payments for their goods sold online. By the first half of 2020 Ghanaian consumers would be able to make payments for goods and services purchased online via Paypal accounts. Dr Bawumia called on stakeholders, including the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS)to make this happen within this time frame and also to prepare for the opportunities it presents. I would ask that GHIPSS puts together a working group of stakeholders to work to implement this roadmap. This presents exciting opportunities for Ghana and we should take full advantage of it, he stated. In 2004, PayPal blacklisted Ghana, Nigeria and some other sub-Saharan countries due to the high incidence of credit card fraud from these countries, mostly on eBay and Amazon online stores. In 2014, Nigeria was taken off PayPals blacklist. However, Ghana still remains on the list to the frustration of potential Ghanaian customers. In 2013 a group of Ghanaians petitioned PayPal to delist Ghana from countries who cannot use their system. The then GHIPSS Chief Executive Officer, Archie Hesse, said Ghanaians should use local online payments systems in order to promote them so they can become globally accepted ways of payment for goods and services. His comment comes after Frances Essiam locked up the company and asked workers to go home in the heat of a frosty relationship between her and the Companys Board. However, Mr Alonso told Accra-based Starr FM that he found it really objectionable for instance that a company will shut down for a whole day because the Chief Executive has a problem with the Board of Directors. Is it how they resolve conflicts in the workplace? And if you ask me, to set the right examples and deterrent to others, Miss Frances Essiam should be charged with causing financial loss to the company, he added. Mrs Essiam was suspended by the Board of GCMCL and asked to provide explanations for some financial decisions she has made since taking office last year. However, the suspension has been revoked by the Energy Ministry after a meeting between officials of the Ministry and members of the Board. The Ministry subsequently in a statement announced the constitution of a three-member investigatory committee to probe the impasse at the GCMCL. It is the considered view of the Ministry that due to the nature of the impasse and the fact that the Board is an interested party in the matter an independent committee will produce a more objective result." The Service said this alert is due to an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a statement released to the media, Dr Nsiah said he GHS has was putting all its surveillance in place and will continue to educate the public about the early signs which include fever, headache, muscle pain and chills as well as later symptoms where a person may experience internal bleeding resulting in vomiting or coughing blood. READ THE FULL PRESS STATEMENT BELOW Confirmed cases of Ebola in the democratic republic of Congo; 09 may 2018The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has confirmed and declared an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). According to the World Health Organization, as of 8th May 2018, two (2) out of five (5) five samples collected from suspected patients tested positive for EVD.READ ALSO: A new broom: SLeone president declares national cleanup day In the light of this development, the Ministry of Health / Ghana Health Service have instituted the following measures: Sent alerts on the outbreak to all Regional Directors of Health Service, Chief Executives of Teaching Hospitals and all other relevant agencies and institutions. Enhanced surveillance on EVD and other Acute Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers in general Initiated mechanisms to update preparedness and response plans at all levels for EVD Initiated mechanisms to sensitize the health staff and create necessary public awareness.We would be very grateful if you could use your medium to educate the general public on the disease with the attached information. Attached are key facts on Ebola.We count on your usual support.General information on Ebola virus disease (EVD) Ebola Virus Disease formerly called Ebola Haemorrhagic fever is a potentially fatal disease caused by the Ebola virus. The disease is transmitted to humans usually from wild animals but can spread from person to person in the humans. Death rate from the disease ranges from 25 to 90% (averagely 50%). The incubation period is between 2 to 21 days. Transmission of the disease does not occur until patient develops signs and symptoms. In a release issued by NACOB, it stated that they suspected he had ingested narcotic drug when his urine when a sample tested proved positive. Mr. Bwogo was later sent to the Headquarters of NACOB and placed on observation where within a period of 48 hours expelled sixty-seven (67) pellets. The pellets were field tested and proved positive for the narcotic drug. When questioned, he told NACOB investigators that a Pakistani in Kampala-Uganda gave the drugs to him with name unknown to one Ahmed also a Pakistani in Ghana. However, he told prosecutors in court that he was rather sent by a Ugandan national in Kampala-Uganda to deliver the drugs to one Ahmed, also a Ugandan national in Ghana for a fee of $1,500 without knowing the name of the sender. He also said that his ticket to Ghana was purchased by the person who gave the narcotic drug to him, adding that the receiver of the delivery (Ahmed) was to pay his share after delivering the drug to him in Ghana. The suspect has been arraigned before court and has been remanded into prisons custody pending final verdict of the case. In an interview with Accra-based Asempa FM, Mr Blay said that the main purpose of gifting the buses is for each constituency to raise funds for its operations. According to him, the buses will be supplied before the partys national executive elections on 7 July 2018. I am supplying buses to all the constituency branches of the NPP. Each constituency will receive a bus from me personally for commercial purposes just to raise money for party activities. When he was asked where he will get the money to purchase the buses, he said: When you are resourceful, you will be able to do that. You dont need to do that from your own pockets, no, you cant do it that way; as a politician, you need to be resourceful and be able to raise funds for activities of such kind. The NPP will go for its national conference where it will elect a new crop of national executives who will steer affairs for the next four years. The group, said Nana Addo seems to have a strong affinity towards airplanes adding that his foreign trips is draining the public purse. Executive Secretary of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, in a statement said "We are just about 5 months in the New Year and the Presidents travel tally outside the country is almost hitting 20." He explained that the cost of each presidential travel is between $76,000 and $110,000. He said the numerous travels by Nana Addo is putting pressure on the public purse contrary to his own comments to protect the economy. "We believe this is piling undue pressure on the public purse and must be streamlined," he noted. He said the group will petition the Council of State Friday, May 11, 2018 on the matter and advised him to cut down his trips. "The President will be advised accordingly [by the Council of State] to cut down on his desire for air trips. "We are not totally against the President taking a break, but the time for break is undue, inappropriate and unthoughtful," he said. Mensah Thompson stated that his travels doesn't add to the progress of Ghana. "The country is bedeviled with series of challenges; the issue of graduate unemployment has become quite a topical issue following the launch of NaBCo and all we hear is the President is taking a break. Taking a break from what precisely?," Mensah Thompson asked. UK trip to rest Nana Addo has left Ghana for the United Kingdom on a week-long vacation, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. This is his first since being sworn-in as President on 7th January, 2017. He was accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, his children and grandchildren. In an interview of Good Evening Ghana, Prof Ocquaye said that If anybody should bring such a thing to parliament and I have to preside over that I will rather resign than subscribe to this delusion. The Speaker has not hidden his position on the legalisation of homosexuality in Ghana. At every opportunity, Prof Ocquaye has not failed to state that Ghana will never legalise homosexuality as long as he remains Speaker of Ghanas Parliament. READ ALSO: Nana Addo jabs political think tank for spewing lies Recently, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May told African leaders including President Akufo-Addo attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in London that it is not right for homosexuals to be persecuted for their sexual orientation. She then said that the UK is therefore ready to help African countries to reform their laws to accommodate the interest of homosexuals. Theresa May said even though member countries have done a lot to improve conditions of homosexuals, she noted: Yet there remains much to doNobody should face discrimination and persecution because of who they are or who they love. The UK stands ready to support any Commonwealth nation wanting to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible. READ ALSO: Apostle Opoku Onyinah threatens to lead demo against legalising homosexuality But responding to the comments, Prof. Oquaye stated that homosexuality is a phenomenon calculated by Satan to destroy Gods best formation; that is the human beingit is evil, very very evil, and dangerous and the church cannot allow it. According to the Chief Convener, Dr Ebenezer K. Hayford, the inability of the government to create jobs for the jobless masses is a breach of moral and spiritual obligation. He alleged that the President also spent GH100 million to renovate the Peduase Lodge. "He is spending GH9,5 million in renovating his private residence. He has renovated the Peduase lodge for GH100 million. For several thousands, he has changed the name Flagstaff House to Jubilee House. Up to date, he has used 41 million in trips outside the country. Where and what are his priorities? Is it to create jobs or renovate houses?," he added. But Spokesperson on Governance & Legal Affairs, Herbert Krapa in a rejoinder said the think tank must be honest in the exercise particularly from persons claiming neutrality. He said CDG's statement was without recourse to data or empirical research and was full of inaccuracies and outright fabrications that aimed at courting public disdain for President Akufo-Addo and his government. According to him, Nana Addo has not renovated his house ever since he became President on January 7, 2017 and for a think tank to allege same and proceed to concoct an amount that was used for such phantom renovation is the height of academic and political dishonesty. He added that the evidence on the ground points to the contrary and questioned the motivation of the convener that government is creating sustainable jobs for the youth. Below is the full rejoinder RE: AKUFO-ADDOS ADMINISTRATION WILL CREATE 2.4 MILLION JOBLESS PEOPLE- CDG You carried a story on your online portal with the above heading on Monday 7th May 2018. We wish to react to the story and say as follows: The story and attached press statement are full of inaccuracies and outright fabrications, aimed at courting public disdain for the President and his government. It is mind boggling, that a think-tank will release a statement that makes such huge allegations without recourse to data or empirical research. 1. President Akufo-Addo has not renovated his house ever since he became President on January 7th 2017. For a think tank to allege same and proceed to concoct an amount that was used for such phantom renovation is the height of academic and political dishonesty. 2. The Chief Convener of the CDG is laughable when he suggests that President Akufo-Addo should emulate President Mahama. Who bequeathed the unemployment situation that he alludes to in the first place? How can he in one breath argue that there is massive unemployment and at the same time say that President Mahama resolved the unemployment challenges? He means that all unemployed people in our country only became unemployed from 2017? Amazing! When the NPP came to power, there was a backlog of unemployed nurses from 2012-2016. Over 16,000 of them have been employed. President Akufo-Addos government has engaged over 33,160 teaching and non-teaching staff in the GES since last year. 3. The political colouration of the Convener of the CDG becomes obvious when he credits President Mahama with the creation of the National Youth Employment Programme, a programme every Ghanaian knows was created and established by the NPP under President Kufuor. His dishonesty is further betrayed when he states that sixteen months down the lane, there is no concept for jobs. Perhaps he never saw and never read the NPP manifesto. But it is important to remind him that the NPP manifesto is titled An Agenda for Jobs precisely because his icon, President Mahama left a huge legacy of joblessness and which is why the Ghanaian people bought into the NPP manifesto. Every programme that the NPP manifesto designed is meant to create jobs, including the Nation Builders Corps, which is set to engage 100,000 Diploma and Degree holders. Indeed, in just three days of registration, more than 40,000 graduates have signed up. 4. It is clear that the Convener of the CDG has not traveled beyond Accra and so regurgitates NDC propaganda as fact. There is no Eastern Corridor road and it is the commitment of the Akufo-Addo government to fix that road. Again there are no cocoa roads that were constructed by President Mahama and we challenge the convener of the CDG to name the cocoa roads that were built by his mentor. 5. It is ironic that it is President Mahamas admirer who talks about children who fall out from JHS to SHS. Because of the Free SHS programme, 100,000 more students have been able to enter SHS than when his mentor was President. 6. Perhaps what is even amazing and mind boggling, is that a think-tank re-produces blog material, which has since been discredited, and presents it as fact. He alludes to the fake blog that put out fake news to the effect that the Vice President had been to London and denied that the NPP promised one million dollars per constituency. That piece has since been exposed for what it is- fake news. Honing in on the substantive allegation made with respect to this issue, it must be emphasized that contracts have been awarded around the country under the one million dollars per constituency programme. And these contracts have created employment opportunities to various categories of artisans. 7. A cursory observation of the statement from Dr. Hayford and his team clearly indicates that either he was far removed from reality when President Mahama was in office so could not witness the paralytic leadership he exhibited or he is relying heavily on President Mahamas famous allusion to the point that Ghanaians lack retentive memories so they forget easily, and for that matter, we all have forgotten the crass incompetence central to his reign, so we can be swayed by these fairy tales being presented as the gospel truth. Ghanaians know better, and therefore, cannot be hoodwinked into swallowing these massaged figures and palpable falsehoods. No think-tank worth its salt would engage in such deviant and aberrant fabrications and insinuations just to score cheap political points for the opposition. While government welcomes genuine criticisms aimed at getting it to better its performance and improve on the lives of the people, we entreat especially, people who wear the coat of neutrality to show finesse and honesty and follow the rules of academic neutrality when they purport to do an academic exercise of criticizing government. Abiade said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau that the army troops encountered the bandits in the notorious Dansadau bush on Friday. He said many of the bandits had been overpowered by the soldiers and therefore escaped with gunshot wounds. He said three motorcycles were recovered from the fleeing hoodlums, and that the troops had continued with their manhunt for them. The army spokesman also disclosed that the troops supported by local vigilance groups had arrested a notorious cattle rustler, Usman Ikkuwa, at Teke village in Maru Local Government Area of the state. He said Ikkuwa was part of Buba Banmes gang who had terrorised many communities in the state and rustled many cows especially in Sabon-birni. He said the gang terrorised the people until the leader, Buba Banme, was arrested in 2017 when he mentioned Ikkuwa as a member of the seven-man group, and was accordingly declared wanted by security personnel. Torra, a 55-year-old father-of-three, is a dyed-in-the-wool independence advocate cut from the same cloth as Puigdemont who has tasked him with continuing his fight with Spain's central government to achieve independence, in a sign that the secession crisis is far from over. In an interview with Catalan television TV3, Torra said he would adorn the regional government building in central Barcelona with a yellow ribbon, the colour used by separatists to protest on behalf of nine leaders held in jail on rebellion charges. He added his government would march on with its "process of construction of a republic." Lawmakers are expected to vote on his candidacy at the end of the debate, which has been scheduled for Saturday, the regional parliament said in a statement. Torra needs an absolute majority to get through, and if he does not, he will get another opportunity in a second round, likely to take place on Monday, where he will only need a simple majority. There are currently 70 lawmakers in the regional parliament who are pro-independence, against 65 who are not. But four of the 70 are from the radical anti-capitalist, separatist CUP party which has said it will vote for Puigdemont -- and no one else. If they decide to abstain, he will scrape through in the second round with a simple majority. But if they vote against, he will not succeed. Staunchly pro-independence Catalonia has been in political limbo since Spain's conservative central government imposed direct rule on the semi-autonomous region after it unilaterally declared independence on October 27. The declaration came just weeks after Catalan separatist authorities held a referendum despite a court ban, which was marred by police violence as security forces tried to stop people from voting. On October 27, Madrid sacked Puigdemont and his entire cabinet, and called regional elections in December which separatist parties won again. But since then, every candidate picked by the separatist camp has fallen flat. Puigdemont is abroad in self-exile and faces jail if he returns, while other candidates such as civic leader Jordi Sanchez are in prison, charged with rebellion for their role in the independence drive. Fresh polls will be triggered if a new leader is not elected by May 22. Torra is a newcomer to politics. After a long career with the Swiss insurance firm Winterthur, Torra used a severance package to set up a publishing house in 2008. There he specialised in reviving texts by Catalan journalists from the civil war and Francisco Franco's dictatorship, which severely repressed Catalonia among other regions. Until 2015 he also managed a cultural centre in Barcelona's El Born district which became notorious for pushing for independence. Puigdemont pulls the strings Puigdemont insists the situation is "temporary," implying that Torra may one day make way for him. As such, Ines Arrimadas, the Catalan head of centre-right, anti-independence party Ciudadanos, labelled him Puigdemont's "puppet" on Friday. "He is the most radical that Puigdemont could find and the only one who voluntarily accepted to be the puppet of Mr Puigdemont," she told reporters. Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium just days after being sacked by Madrid, was detained in Germany in March after Spain issued a European arrest warrant against him. Madrid wants to extradite him to Spain to try him on charges of rebellion -- which carries up to 30 years in prison -- and misuse of public funds for his role in the secession drive. This petty retreat from diplomacy is the most significant national security move Trump has made. It means that Trump is isolating the United States, not Iran, and it increases the risk of military conflict down the road. If theres anything we should have learned, its to avoid unnecessary wars in the Middle East but Trump may be laying the groundwork for yet another. Many regard the invasion of Iraq as the worst foreign policy move in the history of the American republic, James Dobbins, a much respected retired diplomat, tweeted after Trumps speech. Now we have a competitor. The Iranian deal may not permanently solve the problem of Irans pursuit of nuclear weapons, but it delays any crisis for nearly 15 years or more. Trump doesnt want to risk a possible crisis then, so he chooses to have one now apparently, just for the satisfaction of kicking sand at Obama. A crisis wont necessarily result right away. It could be some months before sanctions would actually kick in, and in any case Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said this week that the nuclear deal could remain in place even if the Americans pull out. Rather, Iran may try for moderation to peel European allies away from the United States and Trump is playing into this Iranian strategy. Some in the international community will regard the actions of Trump and of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and see Khamenei as more of a statesman. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be itching for a joint American-Israeli strike on Iran. Netanyahu may see political advantages to a triumphant airstrike, and I fear Trump might as well. Trump may have absorbed the unfortunate lesson from his military strikes on Syria that when he fires missiles, he is hailed as presidential. Im told that the United States years ago secretly built a replica of the Iranian complex at Fordo, which is deep underground to protect it from bombings, and practiced striking it with new munitions to see whether it could be destroyed. Based on those tests, the United States could indeed destroy Fordo and that will give hawks in the Trump administration, like John Bolton, more confidence as they advocate military options down the road. Bolton is smart and knowledgeable, but his hawkish approach also has a track record. Lets see how it did in three cases: First, Bolton agitated for the Iraq War and still considers the invasion to have been a wise decision. The war, remember, killed 4,500 Americans, about half a million Iraqis, and cost the United States some $3 trillion or $24,000 per American household. Second, Bolton in 2002 helped kill the Agreed Framework that had kept North Korea from building a single nuclear warhead during the Clinton years. North Korea was secretly evading the framework, so tough negotiation was required but instead Bolton helped blow up the deal, and since then North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and developed intercontinental missiles that can reach the United States. Third, Bolton in 2003 and 2004 helped end a European initiative to reach a deal with Iran on nuclear issues at that time, when the program was in much earlier stages. In each of these cases, Bolton and the hawks were right that diplomacy was a flawed tool and might not have achieved our objectives: In international relations, there are more problems than solutions. What is clear is that the hawkish non-diplomatic paths failed catastrophically. A basic problem with military options is that, as Prussian strategist Helmuth Von Moltke observed, no military plan survives first contact with the enemy. After a strike, Iran might try to blow up Saudi oil installations; or block oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz; or it could use its proxies in Lebanon to stir up a war with Israel. Ive reported in Iran (and been detained there by secret police and accused of spying), and I know full well that the regime is untrustworthy. Thats precisely the reason for the nuclear deal and the rigorous inspections that come with it. For now, the inspectors agree that Iran is essentially in compliance while the United States arguably violated it by failing to approve licenses for commerce with Iran, and by subverting normal trade relations. So why destroy a deal that is working, other than to dismantle some of Obamas legacy? Whats the purpose of all this? asked Jake Sullivan, a former senior State Department official involved in the outreach to Iran. You put pressure back on, and whats the purpose? Is it to achieve a new nuclear deal? Is it about regime change? Sullivan noted that theres little chance of Trump actually negotiating a new deal, and added: So whats the point of this other than Iranians are bad people and were going to hurt them. Whats the strategy other than a temper tantrum? And thats why I see Trumps move as less about foreign policy than about vandalism. Contact Nicholas Kristof at Facebook.com/Kristof, Twitter.com/NickKristof or by mail at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018. Thousands of miles away from Lake Tumba, Congo, the Ebola outbreak is having a negative impact on the communities living on the shores of Lake Turkana, Kenya. The outbreak has hit residents of Turkana County who depend on fishing as their main economic activity. The traders are now incurring losses running into millions of shillings as the fish prices nosedive due to unstable markets. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been battling the virus since April 4, is the main market for Lake Turkana fish and the commercial business now hangs in the balance. This is after some business people began pulling out of the trade following a decision by some countries that border DRC to introduce stringent health restriction to contain the spread of the dreaded disease. Traders at the five Beach Management Units (BMUs) in Lake Turkana now live life not knowing what the future holds for them as they watch their earnings rapidly dwindle. The DRC is our main external market for fish and the outbreak of Ebola virus in the country has impacted negatively on our businesses, said John Loiritei Mame, Chairman Impressa group. Mr. Loiritei says fish prices have fallen since the outbreak from an average of Sh400 to Sh200 apiece as the produce is sold at throw-away prices in the saturated local market. Local traders are taking advantage of lack of our main market in DRC to exploit fishmongers by offering them low prices, said Stephen Ekal Ekuwom, a BMU official. Also read: FOOD AID MAY SOON BE A THING OF THE PAST IN TURKANA COUNTY Trade assessment report by Indian Ocean Commission indicates that DRC imports an average of 89,000 tonnes of fish, mainly from Lake Turkana, to meet its domestic consumption. The DRC government on Tuesday declared the outbreak which has been confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The World Health Organization reported on Thursday that 27 total cases of fever with hemorrhagic symptoms were recorded in the Bikoro region between April 4 and May 5, including 17 deaths. Of these total cases, two tested positive for Ebola virus disease, according to the WHO. Bikoro is situated in Equateur Province on the shores of Lake Tumba in the north-western part of the country near the Republic of the Congo. It is the ninth time an Ebola outbreak has been reported in DRC since 1976, forcing neighbouring countries to heighten border surveillance. Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria's minister of finance at a meeting with a World Bank Mission of 10 Executive Directors led by Patrizio Pagano, said the countrys taxpayers base has risen from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million in 2018, an additional five million people. She noted that the government would accelerate Nigerias growth level and also improve the Ease of Doing Business in the country. The Nigerian Government is working towards accelerating the countrys growth level. The growth will be underpinned by stimulating the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria and improving our capital expenditure which we have done in the last two years. Nigerians should trust the Government to deliver on its promises of and providing sustainable infrastructure development. We are very optimistic but we will remain vigilant, Adeosun said. Patrizio Pagano, leader of the World Bank Mission to Nigeria, explained that the team was in the country to acquaint itself with the governments growth and power priorities. "We have met with several Nigerian entrepreneurs and have seen how vibrant the private sector is. We want to understand how the power sector is evolving in Nigeria, Pagano said. In the first quarter of 2018, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) made a total of N1.7 trillion tax revenue. Noura Hussein was sentenced to death by a Sharia court after being found guilty of premeditated murder last month and was, on Thursday, officially sentenced to death by hanging. Campaigners are now calling on Sudans president Omar al-Bashir to pardon her, arguing that she was forced into a child marriage and had acted in self-defence. According to one of her lawyers, the 19-year-old teen was forced into marriage by her parents three years ago and had initially fled her husband, refusing to consummate the marriage, Shes still in complete shock after her sentencing today, Adil Mohamed Al-Imam, one of Husseins lawyers, told CNN. Noura says her father made her contractually marry her cousin when she was 16, but she refused to accept the union and sought refuge with a relative for three years. She only returned to her family home found on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum in April last year after her father informed her that the marriage had been cancelled but on reaching home she found out that she had been duped and preparations for her wedding ceremony were under way. And to complete the marriage, she had to sleep with her husband. His brother and two cousins tried to reason with her, when she refused she was slapped and ordered into the room. One held her chest and head, the others held her legs, Al-Imam said, describing the rape incident. When he attempted to rape her again the next day, when the two were alone, she managed to grab a knife he had used to threaten her and stabbed him to death with it. That was on May 3 last year. Hussein has been in prison since. Also read: A tale of 5 bold Kenyan women with nerves of steel who inspired change at a great personal cost The case has exposed the serious problems surrounding forced marriage and marital rape in Sudan and as such as became an internet sensation, with people across the world expressing their support for Noura under the hashtag #JusticeForNoura. Over 118,497 people have signed an online petition against the ruling. Noura is a victim, not a criminal, and should be treated as such. In many countries, victims like Noura would be provided services to ensure that they overcome the trauma of their experiences, said Equality Nows Global Director Yasmeen Hassan. Sudan is ranked 165 out of 188 countries on the UNs Gender Inequality Index and the legal age of marriage is only 10 and marital rape is legal. Tope Ogundipe, digital rights expert and director of programs at Paradigm Initiative made the call while speaking recently at a digital rights workshop organised by Internews and Paradigm Initiative in Yaounde, Cameroon. Ogundipe, who facilitated several sessions at the workshop, said Citizens cannot afford not to get involved in the advocacy in defence of digital rights. Digital rights are as important as other human rights, as the digital space has become a most important centre for economic activities, access to emergency services and platform for exercising freedom of speech and free press Violations of digital rights across Africa Many African countries have recorded several cases of digital rights violations in the last few years. These include: 1. The 2017 Internet shutdown in Cameroon where the government cut off Anglophone Cameroons access to the Internet. 2. The arrest and persecution of bloggers and journalists in countries including Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia. The absence of data privacy and protection law in the majority of African countries makes an easy target of data breach and abuse." Citizens rights to express themselves online and offline, gather and disseminate information and ideas are important to the fate of democracy in Africa. Not only that, absence of data privacy and protection, illegal and blanket surveillance, internet shutdowns, and other rights violation all impact negatively on democracy and the economic development of a country. It is the centrality of digital rights that makes them the business of all citizens, Ogundipe said. The digital rights workshop was supported by Cameroon-based Afro Leadership and Centre for Youth Education and Economic Development held over a 4-day period between May 2 and May 6, 2018, with over 60 participants from different regions of Cameroon. This call came few weeks after digital rights experts across Africa nations pushed for the replication of Nigerias Digital Rights and Freedom Bill by other African countries in order to energise the tech industry. Lolade, according to Punch says she was taking a nap in the students common room when a White student she identifies as Sarah Braasch called the campus Police to come and arrest her. The Nigerian student, a postgraduate student of African studies also said that was not her first experience with Sarah, the student, who racially abused her. In Lolade's first video on Facebook, she wrote: Sarah Braasch, Philosophy PhD student, called the cops on my friend a few months ago for getting lost in my building. Today she messedagainwith the wrong one. However, Lolade did not let the racial profiling get to her as she stood her ground saying, I deserve to be here. I pay tuition like everybody else. The 34-year-old Lolade also says the Police officers Sarah called on her asked her for identification, which she provided, noting, Im not going to justify my existence here. I really dont know if theres a justification for you actually being in the building, she said to the officers, after establishing her enrollment. In a bid to prove to the officer who insisted on seeing her apartment in the school building, the Nigerian student had to open her dormitory room door in front for the officers to show she lived there. The incident happened in Alapere, Lagos, according to an IG post shared by Instablog9ja on Thursday, May 10, 2018. A video showed a man who laid still on the floor. He was seen been tended to in a first cut. In a following one, he had returned to consciousness and was seated upright. In the clip captured a text by a person who witnessed the beginning of the drama. ALSO READ: Husband stabs wife for voting in Ekiti 2014 election It was gathered that a fight broke out in just ten minutes into the allocation of the PVC to registered voters. According to Daily Post, the friends of the deceased blocked roads, stopped vehicles from moving and almost tried to lynch a motorbike rider, after burying him at the Yelwa Christian cemetery. Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Bauchi state police, DSP Datti Kamal Abubakar said that anyone found guilty will be dealt with. The Bauchi police spokesman also said that security operatives have been dispatched to the area. Hopeless Nigerian youths The increase in the intake of drugs among youths has recently been brought to the fore, following the documentary on codeine abuse by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). ALSO READ: How thousands of young Nigerians get their hands on codeine According to Senator Shehu Sani, most Nigerian youths take to drug abuse because of the harsh economic environment. Sani said that the greatest problem is not codeine, but the socio-economic terrain that has made Nigerian youths hopeless. The Federal Government announced a ban on codeine on May 1, 2018, few days after the BBC interview. The verdict was given by a judge in Omdurman after the family members of the deceased had refused a compensation, the BBC mentioned in a report. On Twitter, a campaign, #JusticeforNoura has been trending. It is considered one of the responses given by human rights group calling for a reversal of the sentencing announced on Thursday, May 10, 2018, according to the BBC. Noura Hussein was reportedly forced into marriage when she was 16 years old. The death verdict if enforced will have obstructed her plans to train as a teacher. Own family tricked teenager back to husband who raped her After three years away from the deceased, the teenager was reportedly persuaded by her family who wanted her to return to her husband's residence. ALSO READ: Teen raped by Imam offered to him in marriage The latter employed his cousins to restrain her while he had sex with Hussein against her will. According to a BBC report, a second attempt resulted in the death of her husband who was stabbed during the act. She reportedly sought refuge in the home of her family who helped deliver her to the police. The teenager was convicted of premeditated murder in April 2018, according to the BBC. Dirty dad caught pants down with 13-yr-old daughter in Delta The elders in the Opuedebubor Community of Delta State, were left to ponder on the fate of a man, Yerin, alleged to have defiled 13-year-old daughter. An IG caption by Instablog9ja on Thursday, May 10, 2018, expressed that the father was caught pants down in the act of having sex with his child. He was reportedly paraded around the community while its leaders thought of ways to correct the behaviour. Yerin's bare chest hindered with sand and dirt offered proof of this. The said landlord, identified as Majuka Nnamdi Emmanuel is alleged to have asked the soldiers to assault the tenants after they sought to vacate the area out of fear following armed robbery attacks in the estate. One of the tenants named Ayo demanded a refund of his N1.3m rent in order to vacate the apartment having experienced a robbery attack just days after his tenancy of the house. However, Majuka Nnamdi Emmanuel refused the request for refund, saying he could only pay him if another tenant occupied the house. According to reports, the arrogant posturing of the landlord culminated in a heated argument for some time, but little did the tenants know that their landlord had some surprises in store for them. The 20-year-old woman was imprisoned last spring for violating her plea deal in a menacing case. Though her lawyers made efforts at the time of her sentencing to ensure she was placed in females prison, the federal court judge reportedly refused to recognise her current gender. As the court turned down her request, she was then caged with male inmates. Having experienced consistent sexual and physical assaults in the prison at the hands of sex hungry male prisoners, Lindsay Saunders-Velez described the Colorado prison as discriminatory and dangerous for transgender offenders. Her attorney, Paula Greisen has vowed to ensure she gets justice. She is quoted as saying: This issue is not going to go away. Were going to fight it until these individuals are treated with the respect they deserve. As to how she became a female instead of her original male status, Lindsay Saunders-Velez said she has been out as a trans female since age 4. Reports say she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2016 while in the youth corrections system. Judith Wandera told a Kenyan Magistrates court presided over by Principal Magistrate, Joan Wambilyanga that she was under the impression that the school drop-out was a grown man as he wore dreadlocks and claimed to be an accomplished man. She added that the minor had told her he became a successful commercial motorbike rider after he was driven out of his parents home. The teenagers parents reported their cohabitation to authorities, claiming their ward dropped out of school because of his association with Judith Wandera. READ MORE: Man receives 5 strokes of cane for wrongly divorcing his wife She was then arrested and arraigned for court, but the convict maintained that there was no way she could have known that the little boy she had been sleeping with was a youngster because he looked old in his dreadlocks. The prosecutor, Nyakundi Mukaya told the court that: The boy was rescued on July 7, 2017 and the accused was arrested by police officers. The court was expected to have pronounce her sentence on Wednesday, May 9, but the principal Magistrate, Joan Wambilyanga adjourned the sentencing till Wednesday, May 23, saying she had not concluded preparing the verdict. Twelve persons were reportedly arrested by EFCC officials after a visit to Ikoyi's Club 57, where the incident occurred on Friday, May 11, 2018. A statement released via Twitter by the anti-graft agency confirmed the development. "Operatives of the EFCC early this morning raided Club 57 in Ikoyi, acting on intelligence report of activities of suspected Internet fraudsters. "While some abandoned their exotic cars to evade arrest, some others resisted. 12 suspects were arrested, with 10 cars recovered," says an EFCC tweet. SARS operatives arrest Okada rider to replace Yahoo Boy In Abeokuta, Ogun State, two operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), have appeared in an IG footage while trying to arrest an Okada rider. This was after missing a Yahoo Boy who was initially the primary target. The incident occurred in Onikolobo where the motorcyclist's plea fell on deaf ears. According to reports, the SARS operatives made him their focus after losing the trail of the internet fraudster. ALSO READ: Hypertensive mom slumps to death as FSARS operatives arrest son in illegal raid Yesterday, March 14, 2018, the Nigerian Police arrested one of the suspected armed robbers in the Offa incident. His name is Michael Adikwu. He is in his mid-30s. He used to be a Police Corporal in Ilorin. A senior police officer told Punch, "He (Adikwu) was a SARS operative at the Kwara State Police Command. He used to fraternise with robbers. There was a robbery that happened in Kwara State about six years ago. The robbers killed somebody and escaped. The police were able to arrest those robbers." "He collected money from those robbery suspects and released them. Later, the robbers were rearrested and they confessed that he aided their escape. He was arrested, tried in an orderly room trial and dismissed." "He was charged to court together with the robbery suspects and was in prison for three years. He and some of the robbers were able to manoeuvre their way out of the prison and formed a robbery gang." Nigerians have long suspected members of security agencies and law enforcement officers of taking long walks on the other side of the fence. And as you would be forgiven for assuming the not-so-loved men of the Nigerian Police are first on that list. Caught in the act This assumption of complicity is not without reason. On many occasions, police officers have been linked to or caught at such crimes, from petty theft and burglary to the most daring robberies. ALSO READ: Watch footage of the Offa robbery that claimed over 30 lives Sometimes, it is for planning and selling information and weapons, as in the case of Corporals Mbara Udochukwu and Glory Eke, of the Abia State Command who were arrested in October 2017 for selling revolvers to armed robbers and kidnappers. In other instances, it is for their capacity to handle guns in such high stakes situation like Mr Emenike Vincent, a former Mobile Police Officer who was arrested in Abia on the wrong side of a robbery operation. Nigerian police officers also show themselves to not be the finest pillars of characters in the line of active duty. Nowadays, you can get stopped at the most random places, and as the thousands of accounts on Twitter will testify, the man who should be protecting you can often turn out to be the one with a gun to your face and his hand clasped around your atm card. On the 8th of April 2018, the police announced that they had evidence to suspect that a former Police officer was one of the Offa robbers. With the relief that progress had finally been made came a strong sense of disappointment, a feeling that made you want to say you already knew or suspected as much, but you hold yourself back only because this isn't exactly the kind of thing you should gloat about. No one is really surprised The news about Michael Adikwu has only delivered a strange catharsis. The Nigerian Police suffers from a level of distrust among the people it is supposed to protect; an event like this only reinforces a strong perception of policemen as desperate mercenaries. ALSO READ: Nigerians are not secure and its a reality we are often reminded of It would only fair to address the reason why most police officers appear so: terrible working conditions and bad pay. Over the years, the welfare of officers of the Nigerian Police, and their peers in other forces, has bobbed in and out of conversations but things have only gone so far as words will carry the subject. In many ways, Michael Adikwu is a real-life embodiment of the reckless assumptions we often make when in anger, we refer to Nigerian Police officers as armed robbers and Criminals. Yoruba weddings The Yorubas are widely recognized as a people with a love for fun, good times, bustling parties and nothing but positive vibes. Undeniably, the special way they approach and celebrate weddings has helped in earning them this status of the ultimate Nigerian party people. While it is not unusual to see some aspects of Yoruba weddings that are common to other tribes, [for example: huge celebrations are a thing with all Nigerian tribes as is spraying of money.] here are seven things unique only to Yoruba weddings. 1. Alaga iduro If there ever is one reason why Yoruba weddings are mint; it is because of this cultural element of the celebration. A typical Nigerian wedding combines at least two ceremonies the traditional wedding and the religious ceremony. At Yoruba traditional weddings, the MCs, almost always women, are known as Alaga iduros and everyone who has attended a Yoruba traditional wedding surely knows how masterful these women are with hilarious songs, requests and tasks that leave guests entertained. I usually prefer engagements and it is because of these Alaga women, says Monisola, who has not only attended many Yoruba weddings but has also been involved as a bridesmaid at three! 2. Funny prayers The religious nature of the Nigerian society finds expression at Nigerian weddings all the time, with family and friends showering numerous prayers of fertility, prosperity and longevity on the couple. But with the Alaga Iduros at Yoruba weddings, prayers often take a humorous twist. Yorubas believe that it is a blessing for a womans buttocks to sit in her husbands home for long, as opposed to being moved into another mans or her parents after a while [a literal interpretation of the prayer that is often said in Yoruba: Je kin rile oko gbe]. So, the Alagas have devised a model to make this prayer and the whole ceremony more interestingby asking brides to hold on to their buttocks while repeating the prayer after them in a call and response fashion. I attended a [Yoruba] wedding in May 2017 and the Alaga Iduros did that My bumbum, my bumbum thing, Monisola says with a hearty laugh. Another one is the my back, my back chant which is used while praying for the brides ability to have kids to strap to her back. Monisola adds that she thinks this concept is just a way to make the whole wedding a lot more fun. 3. The groom and his friends prostrate It is a unique Yoruba thing for grooms alongside their agbada-wearing friends to prostrate in front of the brides family. It is common knowledge that Yorubas are really, really big on shows of respect and prostrating is a cultural sign of this. 4. Tungba music Wherever Yorubas are gathered to celebrate a wedding, there is a huge chance that therell be Tungba music. Tungba is a percussions-heavy brand of music where both gospel, cultural and pop songs are lumped together on a quick-tempo, high octane rhythm to create a really charged atmosphere, just the way Yorubas like it. For Ray, a young man in Lagos who has seen his fair share of what he calls Isale Eko weddings, this brand of music is one thing that sets Yoruba weddings apart from others. [I love] Yoruba weddings, he says animatedly, [for] the band, the [talking drum] guys, the dance the joy. ALSO READ:How to have maximum fun at Yoruba weddings 5. No dowry I think one more thing that separates Yoruba weddings from others is that there is no collection of dowry, says Mrs. O, another Nigerian who has attended and been part of way too many Yoruba weddings than she can count. Yorubas like to say that they are not trading their daughters away, so they see no need for collection of a bride price, adds Monisola. 6. The food Yorubas believe it is a thing of shame to gather people for a celebration and not feed them to constipation. So at a wedding celebration, expect the best of food. Apart from the Nigerian wedding staple foods, Jollof rice, small chops and the likes Yorubas have their unique foods, and attending their wedding almost guarantees a taste of amala and ewedu, ofada rice and iru sauce among others. There was a wedding I attended in May 2017, the amala, gbegiri and assorted meat were so on point that that was what all the guys there chose to eat instead of jollof rice, Monisola says. 7. Aso ebi Uniformity of family members and guests attires is also one beautiful elements of a Yoruba wedding that is difficult to miss. According to the anti-graft agency's acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, President Muhammadu Buhariprioritised the completion of the building as a show of his commitment to the war against corruption. He further noted that with the relocation to a more 'befitting' office, the EFCC will be adopting a winning formula in its anti-corruption drive. Ahead of the unveiling next week, here are seven things you should know about the building. 1. The construction of the building was approved during the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the construction of the 10-storey building on November 24, 2010. 2. The building's foundation was laid on February 2, 2011. 3. When the project was awarded to construction company, Julius Berger, it was supposed to be completed after three years. However, funding for the project was inconsistent and resulted in the extra four years it has taken. 4. The project was originally approved for only N18 billion in 2010, but Magu has publicly admitted that it cost N24 billion to complete it. The EFCC's February 2018 publication of EFCC Alert noted that the N6 billion addition was due to fluctuating foreign exchange over the years it took to complete the project. 5. In the time it took to complete the building, EFCC has undergone a change of leadership two times. The project was initiated when Farida Waziri was EFCC boss, but she left 10 months into the beginning of construction work at the site to be replaced by Ibrahim Lamorde in November 2011. Lamorde was the head of the anti-graft agency for four years before he made way for current acting chairman, Magu, in 2015. 6. According to Ibrahim Murtala, the architect and consultant to Julius Berger, the main building consists mainly of the Northern and Western Wings. The ultra modern facilities in the new office include a forensic building, clinic, male and female detention cells, security wing, fire unit, underground parking section, and a power generating unit. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Dipo died in the early hours of Thursday at the age of 42. He had been suffering from a protracted illness before his death in a Lagos hospital. Dipo, 42 was born by Mrs. Feyi George, the PDP chieftains first wife, Vanguard reports. PDP consoles Bode George The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)has commiserated with George on the death of his son. The states party Chairman, Mr Moshood Salvador, in a statement issued after a condolence visit to the George family, said that the Lagos chapter was devastated by the news. Salvador also prayed that God should grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss. Atiku reacts Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar also posted a condolence message on Twitter following the news of Georges son. Atiku expressed shock at the news and also prayed for God to grant the family strength. He said I've received with shock, news that our former Chairman, Chief Bode George has lost his dear son, Dipo. I pray that God grants you strength and comfort to bear this great loss. On behalf of my family, please accept my deepest and heartfelt condolences. The president left Nigeria on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 to meet with his doctor and was scheduled to return to the country on Saturday, May 12. However, according to the United Kingdom chapter of the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC), President Buhari left the London Stansted Airport in his official aircraft around 12:30pm headed for Nigeria Buhari's London trip In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Monday, May 7, the president's doctor requested his presence when he recently had a "technical stopover" in London. The president had stopped there on his way back to Nigeria while flying from a working visit to the United States. He said, "In the course of the technical stop-over for aircraft maintenance in London on his way back from Washington last week, the President had a meeting with his doctor. "The Doctor requested the President to return for a meeting which he agreed to do." In 2017, President Buhari spent a combined 154 days in London on two separate medical visits to treat an undisclosed illness, prompting concerns about how fit he is for duty. The Chairman of the commission, Malam Lawal Maidoki, made the appeal at the monthly disbursement of financial assistance to patients who could not afford medication in the state. Maidoki said the strike by the union had no basis because we were made the believe that health workerspromptly get their salary when due. He added that there is no room for such action, considering the damage caused and the number of lives lost during such strike. I wish to appeal to state health workers not to join such ungodly action by JOHESU. We all know that health workers are trained to save lives: this should be their first and uppermost priority. The chairman stressed the need for a law to ban health workers from embarking on strike at the federal, state and local government levels. He then disbursed N6.5 million to various Zakkat committees at hospitals and pharmaceutical shops across the state. He said the money was given to the committees to assist patients who could not afford their medication in the state. The benefitting hospitals include Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Iman Hospital, as well as Wamakko Orthopaedic Hospital. Others include Maryam Abacha Hospital, Zumunchi Pharmacy, Raudah Pharmacy, Mai Gobir Pharmacy and Iman Pharmacy. Meanwhile, Malam Ibrahim Iya, the Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Ministry of Health, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the states health workers have not joined the ongoing JOHESU strike. F-35 joint strike fighters, file photo. [Photo/Xinhua] ANKARA - The United States will deliver the first batch of F-35 joint strike fighters to Turkey in June, despite attempts by the US Congress to suspend the weaponry procurement, local media reported Wednesday. The first batch of the 30 F-35 fighters will be delivered on June 21 in the US, where Turkish pilots will receive intense training, Hurriyet Daily News reported, citing Turkish defense industry authorities. The Turkish military plans to upgrade the current F-16 fleets with 100 F-35 aircraft, in order to reinforce its air defense capabilities, the report said. On May 4, the US House of Representatives released the details of a 717-billion-US-dollar annual defense bill, including the move to suspend weapons sales to Turkey. The proposal urged the US government to impose sanctions on Turkey since Ankara signed a deal with Moscow on the purchase of two S-400 surface-to-air systems last December. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Turkey will retaliate if the US ratifies a bill halting weapons sales to the country. According to a post on his Facebook account, the Governor put up a picture of Shehu Sani and addressed the post to the cursed Kaduna Senators. El-Rufai also added verses from the Qur'an to drive home his point. The Governor posted saying: "FRIDAY REMINDER: To the Cursed Kaduna Senators, the Enemies of the people of Kaduna State and their co-travelers - the Words of Allah: "Surah Al-Baqarah (2:9-12) 2:9 They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not. "2:10 In their hearts is disease (of doubt, hypocrisy, arrogance and disbelief), so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they [habitually] used to lie. "2:11 And when it is said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, We are but reformers. "2:12 Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters, but they perceive (it) not. Apparently, he was referring to Senators Shehu Sani(Kaduna central), Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna north), and Danjuma La'ah (Kaduna south). It is alleged that the trio reportedly influenced the Senates decision not to grant the kaduna state Governors request for a $350m loan. El-Rufai had earlier approached the World Bank for a $350m loan, according to reports. What the three Senators did Commenting on the impact of the loan on the floor of the Senate, Senator Shehu Sani in his presentation that the said loan would increase the debt burden of the state adding that Kaduna already ranks second on the list of states with high debts. Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi also from Kaduna state, described Governor El-Rufais loan request as misplaced priority. Buttressing what his colleagues said, Senator Laah Danjumafrom Kaduna South accused the Kaduna government of spending state funds on frivolities. Danjuma also said that the loan is not important, adding that there is nothing to show for the funds that the kaduna state government is getting. The submission of the three Senators from the state led to the Senates rejection of El-Rufais loan request on Thursday, March 29, 2018. El-Rufai's curse In his reaction, El-Rufai, on Friday, May 4, 2018, rained curses on the Senators. The Governor allegedly called on residents of Kaduna to shave the heads and beards of the lawmakers anytime they are sighted in the state. He said that the lawmakers are ignorant of the real indices of development and progress in a democratic setting. ALSO READ:Suspect claims he was tortured to frame Shehu Sani for murder The Cable reports that the Governor also referred to the three senators as enemies of the masses and democracy. Shehu Sani's response In his response, Shehu Sani wrote a letterto the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric hospital, Kaduna requesting a mental examination for Governor El-Rufai. Spokesperson of the ministry, Tope Elias-Fatile, confirmed the report in a WhatsApp message on Thursday in Abuja. "The Ministry has received the sad news of the untimely death of the Immigration Attache in our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan. "We are awaiting further and detailed report from the Mission after which a statement would be issued," Elias-Fatile said. Reuters had reported that the police were investigating the incident, but provided no details on how he died. The information is in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, on Friday in Kano. Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu, a renowned Kano businessman and Islamic cleric, died on Tuesday in a London hospital after a brief illness. Garba stated that the Kano State Executive Council gave the approval during its last meeting held on Thursday. He added that the resolution reached by the council during its last meeting on Thursday was aimed at immortalising late Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu. The gesture is in recognition of the deceaseds exemplary life, especially his immense contributions to the development of Quranic and Islamic education, philanthropic activities and general development of the state and beyond. Following the airing of a BBC documentary that exposed how cough syrup with codeine is devastating the lives of Nigerian youths, the federal government announced a ban on the use of codeine as an active agent in the production of cough syrup. At a workshop centred on the menace of drug abuse in the Daura zone on Thursday, May 10, 2018, Governor Masari, represented by the Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, urged the federal government to cut off the link between the demand and supply chain of all controlled drugs in the country. He said, "The state government strongly condemns the activities of drug traffickers in view of their negative consequences of destroying the future of our youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow. I commend the bold and courageous decision of the Federal Government by banning recently the local production and importation of codeine as addictive cough syrup, which is consistently abused. "I urge the Federal Government to also take urgent steps to extend the ban to tramadol and other controlled drugs with a view to cutting off the link between the demand and supply chain. "On its part, the state government is, therefore, up and doing in bringing about opportunities that will enable our youths to be self-employed and improve on their economic well-being." NAFDAC cracks down on codeine Fallout from the BBC documentary has also spurred the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to shut down production sites of three pharmaceutical companies in the country due to their inability to provide required documents during the inspection of their facilities. Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited were all implicated in report as senior employees of the companies were filmed illegaly selling cough syrups to undercover reporters with the intention of selling to school students. According to the Special Assistant to Senate President on International Relations, Bamikole Omisore, the lawmakers summoned Idrisbecause of the spate of killings in the country. Daily Post reports that Omisore also released the list of killings across various parts of the country. He also said This is the details of the killings in the country from Jan 1 to April 30 2018. This is what the Senate wants the IGP to come before it to address. Timeline on killings in Middle Belt since Jan 1, 2018, as obtained from Daily Post 1. January 1 73 killed in Logo and Guma LGAs in Benue 2. January 1 2 killed in Awe LGA, Nasarawa 3. January 1 25 Killed in Keana LGA, Nasarawa 4. January 3 3 killed in Markurdi, Benue State 5. January 4 6 killed in Wukari in Taraba 6. January 4 1 killed in Gassol LGA, Taraba 7. January 5 4 Killed in Lau LGA, Taraba 8. January 5 15 killed in Tse Akombo, Tse Vii and Tse Agule vilages in Benue 9. January 6 55 killed in Lau LGA in Taraba State 10. January 8 3 killed in Sardauna LGA, Taraba 11. January 8 Two policemen killed in Logo, Benue State 12. January 13 10 killed in Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna 13. January 13 1 killed in Makurdi LGA, Benue 14. January 14 1 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau 15. January 14 1 killed in Ibi LGA, Taraba 16. January 16 5 killed in Madagali LGA, Adamawa 17. January 16 5 killed in Guma, Logo and Okpokwu LGAs Benue 18. January 18 11 killed in Madagali LGA, Adamawa 19. January 21 1 killed in Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau 20. January 21 6 killed in Juman LGA, Adamawa 21. January 23 9 killed in Ardo Kola, Adamawa 22. January 24 4 killed in Kaiama, Kwara 23. January 25 15 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau 24. January 26 3 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau 25. January 26 2 killed in Ukum, Benue 26. January 29 1 killed in Guma, Benue 27. January 31 1 killed in Jemaa LGA, Kaduna 28. January 31 9 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna 29. February 1 4 killed in Gassol, Taraba 30. February 2 10 killed in Song, Adamawa 31. February 5 2 killed in Guma, Benue 32. February 6 8 killed in Obi, Nasarawa 33. February 8 6 killed in Shellen, Adamawa 34. February 10 2 killed in Benue 35. February 10 3 killed in Bassa, Plateau 36. February 11 4 killed in Jemaa, Kaduna 37. February 12 2 killed in Guma, Benue 38. February 26 12 killed in Kajuru, Kaduna 39. February 27 20 killed in Demsa, Adamawa 40. March 1 15 killed in Saradauna, Taraba 41. March 4 20 killed in Saradauna, Taraba 42. March 5 25 killed in Okpokwu, Benue 43. March 7 2 killed in Takum, Taraba 44. March 8 11 killed in Bassa, Plateau 45. March 9 9 killed in Bokkos, Plateau 46. March 12 26 killed in Bassa, Plateau 47. March 13 7 killed in Guma, Benue 48. March 13 1 killed in Lokoja, Kogi 49. March 14 32 killed in Daima/Omala, Kogi 50. March 14 6 killed in Bassa, Plateau 51. March 15 5 killed in Takum, Taraba 52. March 19 10 killed in Omala, Kogi 53. March 20 11 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna 54. March 22 3 killed in Jos South, Plateau 55. March 24 5 killed in Makurdi, Benue 56. March 30 6 killed in Jemaa, Kaduna 57. April 4 6 killed in Chikun, Kaduna 58. April 4 4 killed in Takum, Taraba 59. April 4 10 killed in Gwer West, Benue 60. April 5 5 killed in Dobga, Taraba 61. April 5 30 killed in Gwer West, Benue 62. April 5 50 killed in Offa, Kwara* 63. April 7 4 killed in Bali, Taraba 64. April 7 2 killed in Agatu, Benue 65. April 8 5 killed in Birkin Ladi, Plateau State 66. April 8 5 murdered in Obi, Nasarawa 67. April 8 4 killed in Keana, Nasarawa 68. April 9 1 killed in Guma, Benue 69. April 10 10 murdered in Benue 70. April 10 51 killed in Wukari, Taraba 71. April 12 2 killed in Markudi, Benue 72. April 12 2 murdered in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna 73. April 13 5 killed in Bassa, Kogi 74. April 14 4 killed in Logo, Benue 75. April 14 78 murdered in Obi, Nasarawa 76. April 17 1 killed in Logo, Benue 77. April 18 4 killed in Bassa, Plateau 78. April 19 1 killed in Kutigi, Niger 79. April 19 1 killed in Gwer West, Benue 80. April 20 31 killed in Guma, Benue 81. April 25 19 killed in Gwer East, Benue 82. April 25 38 killed in Guma, Benue 83. April 25 7 killed in Awe, Nassarawa 84. April 28 14 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna 85. April 29 5 killed in Gwer West, Benue * Offa killings were from multiple armed robberies on banks in the town. Senate Vs IG The Senate on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, passed a resolution declaring Idris as an enemy of democracy. The lawmakers also said that the police boss is unfit to hold any public office within and outside the country for failing to honour its invitation thrice. The Nigeria Police Force however fired back saying that the Senate resolution declaring IG as enemy of democracy was a deliberate attempt to blackmail him. Almu was found dead in his official residence on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in what Dubai-based al-Arabiya television described as an asassination. According to a report by AFP, a preliminary investigation has revealed that there was no political motivation behind the crime. A Police statement read, "An employee in the consular section of the Nigerian embassy was found dead at his home in Khartoum. Preliminary investigation shows that the death was due to a criminal act and not politically motivated." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Almu's death with spokesperson, Tope Elias-Fatile, revealing that the ministry is awaiting further and detailed report from the Mission in Khartoum. Here are seven things we picked out of Obasanjos press conference. 1. Obasanjo says no one should listen to the apology of the PDP The PDP recently apologised to Nigerians for its many years of poor leadership. But Obasanjo says no one should forgive PDP just because the party has apologised. PDP offered apology without disciplining those who set Nigeria on a course of ruin and some of them are still holding leadership roles in their party. Nigerians may forgive, but Nigerians should never forget; otherwise they will be suffering from amnesia and the same ugliness may raise its head again, Obasanjo said. Obasanjo was twice elected president on the PDP platform and governed Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Obasanjo was a card carrying member of the PDP until February of 2015 when he instructed his ward chairman to rip apart his PDP membership card in public. 2. Obasanjo says APC has been a disaster According to Obasanjo: APC, as a political party, is still gloating and revelling in its unrepentant misgovernance of Nigeria and taking Nigerians for fools. There is neither remorse nor appreciation of what they are doing wrong. It is all arrant arrogance and insult upon injury for Nigerians. Whatever the leadership may personally claim, most Nigerians know that they, Nigerians, are poorer today than when APC came in and Nigeria is more impoverished with our foreign loan jumping from $3.6 billion to over $18 billion to be paid by the present and future generations of Nigerians. The country is more divided than ever before because the leadership is playing the ethnic and religious game which is very unfortunate. 3. The ADC will give young people a chance, according to Obasanjo Obasanjo says, the ADC will sanitise the system. of 30% youth of under 40 and 30% women in all organs of the party, a significant paradigm shift has been brought about in the power equation. The ADC is a reformed and reinvigorated party. 4. Obasanjo wants Nigerians living abroad to be able to vote The National Assembly must amend the Constitution to allow Nigerians in diaspora with current Nigerian passports to vote in all Nigerian elections at Nigerian Embassies abroad", Obasanjo said. 5. Obasanjo says party delegates sell their votes for money In Baba Iyabos words: To but by all card-carrying and financial members of the party within their constituencies. This will save lives as many people have died by being shepherded to a central location as delegates to vote at primaries. It also introduced corruption into the system. At one of the PDP primaries within the last eight years, one candidate distributed $10,000 per delegate, the one who distributed $15,000 per delegate won the primary. It was not necessarily on merit but certainly, dollar talked. 6. Obasanjo says APC and PDP loot the treasury Obasanjo said: worse still is what PDP has now accepted as part of its failure and disappointment of the nation which is looting government treasury to finance individual and party elections. Unfortunately, APC has followed suit. 7. Obasanjo says the PDP stole from the treasury to finance 2015 election Adeyeye, who polled 771 votes out of the 1,986 cast during the primary, made this known on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti. The former Minister of State for Works said he would announce his new platform in the next 40 hours, stressing that no fewer than five parties had offered him their platforms to contest the July 14 governorship election in the state. ALSO READ: Governor says God told him to pick his successor The former PDP spokesman made the announcement shortly after consulting with his supporters on the next line of action as a result of his loss of the primary election to the states Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka. He alleged that the victory of Olusola- Eleka at the primary was merely to extend the tenure of Gov. Ayo Fayose. Adeyeye alleged that asking the delegates to wear uniform ( aso ebi) was a ploy by the incumbent governor to impose his deputy as the PDP governorship candidate. He also pointed out that the pattern of voting at the venue of the primary based on local government areas instilled fear in many delegates that they were being monitored. I am leaving the party because the party can change but your state cannot change, the party can change, your hometown cannot change. I cant be part of enslavement, I cant be part of corruption, I cant be part of those keeping our people in poverty but spend billions of naira on chartered flights to Abuja every year and will be riding okada (commercial motorcycle) at home. Our party leaders in Abuja were surprised at my performance at the primary despite the intimidation but I told them that I can change party, party may go into extinction but Ekiti will remain, he said. He argued that it would not make sense that Ekiti be ruined due to party affiliation. I will not, because of party affiliation, allow Ekiti to be destroyed. That is why we will take decision today on where we are going. Since Tuesday, civil servants, teachers, local government workers have become sad. Ekiti has been enveloped in mourning. The crisis began at the APC ward congress at the state as Senator Magnus Abe's faction had gone to the court to seek an injunction restraining Transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi's faction, from holding local government congress of the party on Saturday, May 11, 2018. Senator Abe had alleged that there was no congress across the 319 wards in the state while Amaechi, a former Rivers governor said the exercise held peacefully. One person was reportedly killed after supporters of the APC leaders clashed at the party secretariat in Port Harcourt. ALSO READ: All aggrieved APC blocs Asiwaju must reconcile before 2019 Abe supporters had accused Amaechi of hijacking the process and preventing those loyal to the senator from purchasing forms required in contesting the ward election. Abe had called on the leadership of the party to intervene in the crisis before the matter was taken to court. The suspected thugs broke into the premises, vandalising vehicles, chasing away the judges, lawyers and preventing the court from siting. Before leaving the intruders locked up the main gate of the court, TheCable reports. Governor Nyesome Wike arrived the court hours after calm was restored to the court premises with some of his supporters. While speaking at a press conference on Thursday, May 10, 2018, the former president, who led Nigeria between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP, said Nigerians may accpet the party's recent apology but should never forget that the party set the country on a course of ruin. In March, PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, tendered an unreserved apology to Nigerians for the party's failure to live up to expectations during its 16 years reign before the 2015 presidential election which was lost to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives' Congress (APC). "The PDP was in power for 16 years and as expected, we made mistakes. We are sorry for our mistakes and when we return, we shall make this country better," he said. While speaking on Thursday, Obasanjo said the party's apology is incomplete because it still has alleged sinners holding leadership positions without consequence. He said, "Although PDP would seem to have realised its mistakes of its immediate past of the last eight years or so, its present evolution would, by itself, not give confidence to well-meaning Nigerians who are interested in a new Nigeria in the hands of God that will have leadership, governance, development and values within our culture as its guiding principles with the attributes of honesty, integrity, patriotism, love, unity, industry, incorruptibility, good neighbourliness, faithfulness, trust, courage and love and fear of God held aloft. "PDP offered apology without disciplining those who set Nigeria on a course of ruin and some of them are still holding leadership roles in their party. "Nigerians may forgive, but Nigerians should never forget; otherwise they will be suffering from amnesia and the same ugliness may raise its head again." Obasanjo's movement adopts ADC At the press conference, the Obasanjo announced that his Coalition for Nigeria Movement has adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its political platformto bring about desirable change in governance in the country. The former president had birthed the movement in a scathing statement he made against the administration of President Buhari where he advised him to not seek re-election. In the statement, he also expressed his lost hope in the ability of the ruling APC and the opposition PDP to provide Nigeria with the initiative it needs to progress. His solution to being free of the dominance of both parties was what he called the Coalition for Nigeria Movement. According to him, the coalition will be a movement of all well-meaning Nigerians that will engage in democratic practices that will drive Nigeria forward and be a source of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. Russian servicemen march across the Red Square during the V-Day parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2018. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn) Russia held a military parade Wednesday at Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. More than 13,000 troops and 75 aircraft took part in the annual military parade, held two days after Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russian president to start his fourth term. "This holiday has always been and will always be the dearest, most sacred day for each family, for all our huge country, a day of national pride and eternal unfailing memory," Putin said at the parade. The president said it was the Soviet Union that had defeated Nazi Germany. Russia will never allow the distortion of the history of heroes who gave up their lives in the war, he said. Russia understands the seriousness of new threats originating from intolerance and aggressive nationalism and is open to dialogue on all issues related to ensuring global security, he said. "It is ready for a constructive and equal partnership for the sake of agreement, peace and progress on the planet," Putin said. The parade started at 10 a.m local time (0700 GMT) after the national anthem. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in an open-roof car inspected the troops and reported on their readiness to Putin, who is also supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. After Putin's speech, servicemen from the Armed Forces, National Guard, military academies, the Emergencies Ministry and the Federal Security Service marched across the square as the military band played. Over 150 newly-designed tanks, armored vehicles, combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers, missile launchers and howitzers successively rumbled through the square. Some armament items made their debut at the parade, including the Uran-9 robotic combat vehicle, the Uran-6 robotic mine sweeper, the Katran and Corsair drones, and the Terminator-2 warfare tank. An airshow followed the parade. The 75 aircraft flew over the Red Square in 18 groups. They included the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter, the Su-30SM multirole fighter and MiG-29SMT fighters. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also attended the parade. After that, Putin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Red Square. In addition to Moscow, 26 Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Murmansk and Yekaterinburg, had their own military parades to commemorate the victory. The party gave the assurance in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on Friday. Ologbondiyan said that new reforms and rebranding efforts had returned PDP to the much-desired political platform that would represent aspirations of all Nigerians, ahead of the 2019 general elections. These reforms, according to him, were particularly the full entrenchment of internal democracy, all-inclusiveness and re-engineered mechanisms for good governance. In the last five months, since the coming of the new leadership, under Prince Uche Secondus, the PDP had undergone extensive re-engineering in direct responses to suggestions, criticisms and wide-range of constructive counsels from Nigerians across board. The transparent processes, leading to the peaceful conduct of an open, credible, free and fair governorship primary in Ekiti state. This is at a time when other political parties are enmeshed in impunity-induced crisis and violence is a loud testimony of the democratic credentials and principles of the repositioned PDP. He added that the reconciliatory efforts of the Gov. Seriake Dickson-led committee, and other efforts at rebuilding the party, through its contact and integration committee, were already yielding results. He also said that such efforts were manifested in the crowd that graced PDP rallies in Jigawa, Katsina and Osun states. Our party remains the only political platform with genuine followership and structure in all the electoral wards across the local government areas, states and the six geo-political zones in the country. It is also instructive to add that majority of Nigerians still identify with the PDP as the vehicle for national cohesion, unity, economic prosperity and personal freedom of our citizens. Ologbondiyan said that PDPs initiative towards the nations economic recovery had commenced with the development of a robust and all-inclusive blueprint that would reopen the currently locked-down economic space. Today, the repositioned PDP remains the best channel for the coalition of true democrats, who are desirous of removing the incompetent Buhari Presidency from Aso Rock, through the ballot, come 2019. Appointment vote Catalonia's parliament has announced that a first debate on whether to appoint Torra will take place on Saturday, after which lawmakers will vote for or against his candidacy. Torra needs an absolute majority to get through, and if he doesn't, he will get another opportunity in a second round where he will only need a simple majority, likely to take place on Monday. There are currently 70 lawmakers in the regional parliament who are pro-independence and 65 against. But four of the 70 are from the radical anti-capitalist, separatist CUP party which has said it will only vote for Puigdemont -- and no one else. If they decide to abstain, Torra will scrape through in the second round with a simple majority, but if they vote against, he won't succeed. Madrid lifts direct rule If Torra is appointed president and forms a regional government, Madrid will lift the direct rule it imposed on October 27 when the majority separatist parliament declared independence. It accordance with article 155 of the Constitution, it was designed to rein in rebel regions. On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy implied that article 155 could be re-used. "It's a procedure that will be there in the future if necessary," he warned. Clash with Madrid Puigdemont has stressed that his candidate must "respect the mandate of October 1," when some 2.2 million Catalans (out of 5.5 million voters) cast their ballot in a referendum on independence despite a court ban -- a vote marred by police violence. Around 90 percent of those who voted chose to split from Spain, according to Catalan separatist authorities. Puigdemont said Torra would have to "bring back the policies, people and investments that were wrongly suspended or stopped" when Spain's government took control of the semi-autonomous region. Madrid had sacked around a dozen civil servants and also closed the network of "embassies" that Catalonia had opened to promote independence. Limited room for manoeuvre When announcing his successor on Thursday evening, Puigdemont said he would be tasked with "internal governance." Puigdemont, meanwhile, wants to create "a Republican council that will be able to express itself freely" from abroad, composed of himself and other allies who are also in self-exile. The former Catalan leader insists the situation is "temporary," implying that Torra may one day make way for him. "We will see whether Quim Torra, once he is in place, will see himself as a provisional president or whether he will develop a taste for the post," says Oriol Bartomeus, a politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Bartomeus points out that Puigdemont himself was elected Catalan president in January 2016 "to keep (his predecessor) Artur Mas's seat warm." The CUP had refused to re-appoint Mas as Catalan president, leading to Puigdemont's designation, but Mas had always thought -- wrongly as it turns out -- he would come back. Legal woes Puigdemont is currently in Berlin where he is waiting for a German court to rule on an extradition demand from Spain, which has charged him with "rebellion," a crime that carries up to 30 years in jail. The German court has rejected extraditing him on that charge, but is still deliberating whether to send him back on the lesser charge of misuse of public funds. Madrid, meanwhile, is contemplating appealing to European courts if it doesn't get its way. Many of the dozen or so assaults against journalists or media organisations in the small Balkan country over the last 15 years, including the 2004 murder of editor Dusko Jovanovic, remain unsolved. "If there is no progress on all this, sustainable progress on which we can rely, this will definitely hamper the European perspective of Montenegro," Johannes Hahn told reporters in Podgorica, where he met Lakic. The attack on the journalist is "clearly an attack on media freedom," he said, adding that "it's something which is not acceptable for us. This has of course also an impact on the standing and reputation of the country." He demanded that "the culprits are found" but also "their backers, those who are behind them (to be) brought to court". Montenegro, home to 650,000 people, hopes to join the European Union by 2025 and has been under growing pressure to deal with the issue of organised crime and media freedom. Out of 180 countries, Montenegro is ranked 103rd on the 2018 press freedom list of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to RSF, the major challenges the country faces are "self-censorship and (the) safety of journalists." Milo Djukanovic, who had led the country almost without a break from 1991 and 2016 and was elected president in last month election, condemned the attack against Lakic. Officials have shuttered the city's international airport with two dozen flights cancelled following the eruption, which began around 7:30 am (1230 GMT). It was not clear how many residents living around Merapi had left for local shelters, but around 12,000 people live in its immediate vicinity. "Everybody ran here immediately," resident FamiliaEkawati said from a shelter, adding that there was little warning of the blast before it happened. "There was no sign it would be erupting." Some 120 people who were hiking on the mountain when the eruption happened are safe, the government said. Merapi previously erupted in 2010, killing more than 300 people and forcing 280,000 to flee, in what is considered its most powerful eruption since 1930. Despite Friday's evacuations, officials played down the danger, saying it was a phreatic eruption, which happens when magma heats up ground water, building up pressure inside the crater. "This kind of eruption is not dangerous and could happen anytime to an active volcano," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement. "There have not been any more eruptions (since this morning)." The volcano's alert status has not been raised. Pashinyan swept to power this week after veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian renounced his plan to be prime minister following 10 years as president in the face of bitter protests. The new premier later said that "we are keeping with our position and we are ready to establish relations (with Turkey) without conditions." "Let's see first," Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara on Friday. "If Armenia gives up its hostile attitude which it has had for several years, its attitude towards Turkey's territorial integrity and borders, if it is giving up all its wrong attitudes... and it wants to open a new page, we will give the response looking at the details relating to this." "We are going to increase friends, we are going to reduce enemies," Yildirim added. 'Committed to genocide recognition' Turkey vehemently rejects that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 -- which Yerevan says left 1.5 million dead -- constituted a genocide. The issue has so far stymied efforts to forge relations, with tensions only increasing around the 100th anniversary of what Turkey terms the "1915 events" in 2015. Sarkisian in March formally ditched 2009 agreements that would have normalised relations with Turkey which were thrashed out under the aegis of Russia, France and the US but never ratified by either parliament. Even if Turkey and Armenia found a way to establish ties, Ankara would have to placate its ally Azerbaijan which remains wary of any warming between Turks and Armenians. Baku has repeatedly threatened to retake by force the Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh which is controlled by Armenian separatists after the war in the early 1990s. Pashinyan said earlier this week it was Turkey who was imposing "illogical" conditions. "It is illogical to make conditions referring to a third country (Azerbaijan) when you want to establish relations," he said in Stepanakert, the main town of Nagorny Karabakh which is not recognised by any state including Armenia. QUIZ: Guess the Road Songs We can't wait to get back on the road again! Play this quiz and see if how many you can get right! Israel is targeting the Syrian air defenses and radars as part of its ongoing missile attack, Syria's official TV reported Thursday. The Syrian air defenses responded to dozens of Israeli missiles, but some of the missiles hit their target and destroyed one radar station, reports said. Citing a military source, the TV said tens of Israeli missiles were destroyed. Earlier, sounds of explosions were heard clearly before daybreak Thursday in capital Damascus. The air defense missiles were clearly seen as flares of light in the sky, and its rattling sound resembled that of thunder while pursuing their targets. Israel has seemingly intensified and expanded its cross-border missile strikes on Syrian positions with repeated small-scale attacks. Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the Syrian air defenses are also targeting Israeli missiles in the countryside of Homs province in central Syria and countryside of Damascus, in what appeared to be a broadened offensive after starting in the southern province of Qunaitera. The Israeli-Syrian tension escalated overnight Wednesday when Israel fired rockets on Syrian military sites in the southern province of Qunaitera. Rockets slammed Israeli military sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights afterward in what is believed to be the Syrian response. This comes as Israeli military sites were also targeted, in what appeared to be a Syrian response to the initial Israeli attack in Qunaitera. Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said 10 Israeli military positions in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were targeted by rocket fire. No party claimed responsibility for the attack but Israel accused Iran of firing the rockets. Previously, Israel targeted a Syrian military site in the Kisweh area in the southwestern countryside of Damascus, and activists said 15 people were killed, including eight Iranians. Last month, the Israelis targeted two military sites in Syria where Iranian fighters were located, including the T-4 airbase in central Syria. Probe opened into former anti-corruption official Zakharchenkos partner RAPSI 12:03 11/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Nikita Shiryayev) A case on evidence tampering has been launched against Anastasia Pestrikova, the partner of former Russian anti-corruption official Dmitry Zakharchenko charged with corruption, RAPSI reports from the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow. On Friday, the court attacked an order on institution of criminal proceedings against Zakharvhenkos girlfriend to a civil case over collection of 3 million rubles (about $50,000) from the Finance Ministry in favor of Pestrikova in the procedure of rehabilitation for unwarranted prosecution. The motion to attack the order was filed by the ministry. In September 2017, Moscows Basmanny District Court dismissed a request to detain Pestrikova lodged by investigators. According to investigation, the woman could have been involved in embezzlement. Earlier, authorities have seized about $16 million in bank accounts of Pestrikovas acquaintance Lilia Gorshkova as part of the case against Zakharchenko. According to investigators, the accused Colonel gave illegally received funds to Pestrikova, who deposited the money in account opened by Gorshkova. Ex-Russian anti-corruption official Dmitry Zakharchenko was arrested on September 8, 2016. During searches at the apartment belonging to Zakharchenkos sister law enforcement officers found around 9 billion rubles (about $146 million at the current exchange rate). He denied any relation to seized funds. Zakharchenko was charged with receiving a 7-million-ruble ($114,000) bribe from an unknown source. He has also been charged with abuse of office and hindering the conduct of preliminary investigation. In March, it was revealed that he is charged with two more instances of corruption crimes. According to case papers, Viktor Zakharchenko, the father of ex-official, is charged with being an accessory to embezzlement. His father also pleaded not guilty. Charges brought against Summa Group owners 17:11 11/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Kirill Ryabchikov) Charges have been brought against Summa Group owners Ziyavudin Magomedov and Magomed Magomedov as part of a 2.5-billion-ruble embezzlement case ($43.5 million), the Interior Ministrys spokesperson Irina Volk has told RAPSI. Ziyavudin Magomedov has been charged with large scale embezzlement and organization of a criminal gang, his brother Magomed has been charged with illegal purchase, delivery, sale, storage, transportation or bearing of weapons, components and ammunition, she said. Ex-CEO of Intex construction company Arthur Maksidov has been also charged with embezzlement and organization of a criminal gang, Volk added. On March 31, the defendants were detained for two months as suspects in embezzlement and organizing a criminal group. In early April, Moscows Tverskoy District Court seized monetary assets belonging to the brothers. According to investigators, the businessmen are involved in the organization of a gang, embezzlement of 2.5 billion rubles ($43.5 million) from the state budget and withdrawal of some of these assets abroad. Two more defendants in the case, who allegedly fled to the United Arab Emirates, were arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list. State Duma informs Russian Human Rights Council on development of animal protection bill RIA Novosti, Vladimir Pesnya 13:09 11/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI) The State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environment Protection has informed the Presidential Human Rights Council on its work on the bill aimed to ensure responsible treatment of animals, which is to be discussed by the lower house of the Russian Parliament in the second reading, the Councils official website reads on Friday. The State Duma informs the Council that the Committee has already processed over 300 amendments and several thousands of proposals and comments related to the bill submitted by experts and activists. Nevertheless, the Committee says, due to certain still unresolved differences among the responsible Ministries, the exact date of the discussion is yet to be settled. Besides, as the statement reads, the progress of the legislative initiative depends on the development of governmental implementation mechanisms to be put in place. Activists citing expert opinions say the bill will create a civilized and humane system in this area and foster a responsible attitude toward animals. The bill sets forth humane principles of treatment of animals, measures aimed to prevent abusive handling, and mechanisms increasing responsibility of owners, the statement reads. State Duma not to ban import of medicines from USA as part of countersanction package flickr.com/Fotos GOVBA 15:42 11/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI) The State Duma will not introduce ban on import of foreign-made medicines as a response to unfriendly actions towards Russia on the part of the USA and some other countries, a statement on the official website of Tatiana Moskalkova, Russias Human Rights Commissioner, reads on Friday. According to the statement, the decision not to ban imports of US medicines similar to those produced in Russia was taken by the Lawmaking Council of the lower house of the Russian Parliament. Russias ombudsman has opposed the inclusion of medicines and medical equipment in the list of banned goods and services, as well as the Chairman of Russias Presidential Council on Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov and members of the Russian Public Chamber. Earlier, a group of MPs submitted a bill On measures of influence (counteracting) unfriendly actions of the United States of America and/or other states to the State Duma. One of the proposals listed in the bill stated that import of drugs produced in USA and certain other states could be restricted or prohibited, except for those having no analogues in Russia or other countries. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. 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Price: $ 710 Seller State of Residence: California State/Province: California City: Coalinga Zip/Postal Code: 93210 Location: 532**, Milwaukee, Wisconsin You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 93210 Source: Pakistan Observer Chinas special envoy on Middle East affairs has said that before taking any military actions against Syria, the United States would need an authorization from the United Nations. We oppose the application of physical force. If the U.S. plans on military moves in Syria, it should first seek permission from the UN Security Council, else their moves will violate the UN charter, Gong Xiaosheng made these remarks during his media interview in Tehran on Wednesday. Chinas position is that only dialogue would work to solve this crisis. There is no future for military approaches, he stressed. In the 21th century, it is the countrys own people who should decide on their fate, not other countries, he said, adding that the Chinese government is in constant contact with the Syrian government and opposition groups to help settle their differences. To a second question by the Tehran Times about the recent elections in Lebanon, Xiaosheng said his respective government respects the decision that the Lebanese citizens make, adding that the people of Lebanon have a right to decide on their future. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel has a "very clear policy." He said it will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a forward military base against the Jewish state. Lieberman said that in response to Iran's "arrogance," Israel destroyed almost all of Iran's infrastructure in Syria. Missiles also destroyed several Syrian air defense systems after Israeli jets came under heavy fire. All planes returned safely to base. The Israeli blitz came after Iranian forces fired 20 rockets at the Golan Heights, causing little damage but no casualties. Israel launched a fierce assault on more than 50 Iranian targets in Syria. The military said the Air Force hit weapons depots, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces, many of them near Damascus. "If we get rain, then they will get a flood," the defense minister said. Lieberman also said he hopes this round of violence is over. Nitzan Nuriel, a former counterterrorism chief, says Israel does not want an escalation, so the ball is in the court of Iran. "They need to decide if they want to increase the friction, or they understand that at this stage they cannot take actions against us, and they need to wait. And if this is the case, that will be the end of this very short and aggressive conflict. We dont want to carry out more attacks. We wanted to send a message, a very strong message, and I think that we did it," said Nuriel. Some observers fear that this clash could signal a new and dangerous phase in Syria's civil war, with two regional powers on a collision course. Porterville, CA (93257) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 64F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. 'If you allow Walmart to operate in India, our manufacturing will finish completely.' 'What will happen to Narendra D Modi's dream then? There will be no Make in India.' IMAGE: Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, left, and Flipkart co-founder and CEO Binny Bansal in Bengaluru, May 9, after the US retailer acquired a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for $16 billion, in what is the biggest global e-commerce acquisition. Photograph: PTI Photo The talking point in India right now is the $16 billion acquisition of India's Flipkart by the American retail giant Walmart in what is the biggest global e-commerce deal. With this deal, the world's largest retailer will take a 77% stake in the Indian company, in the process valuing the 11-year-old company at more than $21bn, making it Walmart's biggest acquisition. While many feel the deal will give a massive boost to entrepreneurship and the start-up ecosystem in India, Professor Ashwani Mahajan of the Swadeshi Jaagran Manch -- the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's economic affiliate -- says Walmart is "circumventing" rules for a "back-door entry" into the Indian retail market. "What is going to happen in India is, on one side, you have Amazon and on the other, Walmart. Both are American companies and our market will be handed over to American companies," Professor Mahajan, below, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. Many say the Walmart-Flipkart deal marks the success of Indian entrepreneurship, but you have described the deal as 'illegal, unethical' and against the interests of the people. Why? It is illegal because FDI is not allowed in e-commerce in this country. But foreign investors like TigerGlobal, SoftBank, etc have invested in Flipkart... The Swadeshi Jaagran Manch raised this issue in 2016 and said it should be stopped. People asked, why? When FDI in e-commerce is not allowed in this country even now, how can these e-commerce companies operate like this? How can a foreign company come and buy a company in India? Why we raised our voice was because they were giving huge discounts and thereby killing our small shopkeepers, booksellers, etc. In fact, even the suppliers were asking them how they could give 25%, 30%, 40% discounts. When a book publisher supplies books at 25% to them, how were they able to give 40% discount to the customers? The truth is they are using discounts as a tool to acquire the market. This is a cash burning model to capture and take over the market. Indian e-commerce companies also give discounts... I am not saying only they are doing it. All the e-commerce companies are opting for this cash burn model. Uber does the same thing, as also Ola. When we raised our voice, they said they were not an e-commerce company; they were platforms. Then we asked, how could platforms give such huge discounts when discounts could be given only by the sellers? Then, the commerce ministry issued guidelines and they were refrained from giving price distorting discounts. Another condition imposed on them was no vendor with more than a 25% share can operate as a platform. Remember, the government issued guidelines for the platforms and not e-commerce. So, this cash burning model continued. Now, they do it in the guise of B2B. They started some subsidiary companies and started giving discounts to those companies. Is it not true that ultimately all customers want discounts? Would a patriotic customer like to sell his nation's market itself in the name of these discounts? I am sure nobody would like that. If somebody is bringing in cash and burning it here, and in the process owning the market, it is not in the best interests of the nation. It is for the government and the policy-makers to look at national interest first. After the commerce ministry guidelines in 2006, they started circumventing the law by giving discounts to B2B which was against the law. They are closely held companies and no data or reports are published and no returns filed. There are so many complaints against them with the government. We have written all this in our letter to the PM. Many in industry say this deal will open a new chapter in e-commerce in India and also lead to growth of the sector... I don't know who in the industry describes the deal this way. The Vendors Association with 35,000 membership, the small-scale industries, many shopkeepers' associations, many traders' associations... all of them have been approaching us to save them. Only a handful of corporates who are getting benefitted by this are applauding the deal, nobody else. These people develop things in India in the name of swadeshi and then start searching for foreign players to buy them by paying huge money. Yes, it is happening all over the world. I mean, start-ups getting sold out to bigger players. What is going to happen in India is, on one side, you have Amazon and on the other, Walmart. Both are American companies and our market will be handed over to American companies now. Walmart has no history in e-commerce. They are coming here to capture the Indian retail market through back door as FDI in retail is not permissible. Many said kirana stores would disappear when supermarkets and hyper markets entered the retail market. Now, we have so many supermarkets like Spencer's Daily and Reliance Fresh. So also kirana stores. We had opposed the entry of big corporates in retail also. They can operate as per the national law. But we object totally to the entry of multinational companies who come with big money. Do you know the budget of Walmart? It is bigger than our national economy. So, for them, one lakh crore rupees is peanuts. We have already seen the e-commerce companies in the name of platforms misusing the law and evading tax. If this deal happens, there will be no dearth of discounts, direct and indirect. And this will ruin all the kirana shops in India. The model of Walmart, wherever it has gone, is to kill the small traders. Why is it that Walmart is not allowed to open in New York City? Why is Trump issuing statements against Amazon? Now, they are coming here to destroy our employment. This was the argument when supermarkets sprung up here, but today, they give employment to many young men and women... You go and ask these young people how much they are paid. Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000! This is the kind of low pay employment they are creating. On the other hand, our kirana stores are self-employed people and they earn good money and lead a good life. Tell me, what kind of life do you want them to lead? Why do you say the Walmart-Flipkart deal is unethical? The deal is with a company that is Indian and the impact will be on the Indian market and Indian trade. One lakh crore rupees is being invested by a foreign company in this so-called Indian company started by an Indian poster boy. But the deal is happening in a board room in Singapore, and not on this soil. Why? So, no tax is going to come to India. And this deal was never reported to the government. What do you say about Indian companies acquiring foreign companies in foreign soil? For example, the Tatas acquired steel companies in the UK and Europe. You know what kind of company Tata is. It is a great employer. When Tata acquired the UK company, all the employees of that company welcomed Tata. You cannot compare Tata with Walmart. This is no value addition company, it is a cash burning company and this is a ridiculous deal. You said it is against the interests of the people. You mean the traders? Who are the people of this country? Only the corporates whom you can count on your finger tips? Or, the farmers or the traders or the e-commerce vendors or the suppliers or the small entrepreneurs? They constitute 99.9% of the population of this country. Is economics to be run for 99.9% of the population or the 1%? What about consumers? Don't they have any choice? Consumers are not just consumers. Can you consume anything if you don't have employment? The whole narrative about consumers is a farce. It is against the national interest if you talk only about consumers. Many describe the deal as a salute to Indian entrepreneurship... We don't want to salute these small number of people, the so-called successful start-ups. We want to salute only our farmers, workers and traders who are working hard for the country and not those who are willing to sell their own companies which were developed as swadeshi. When this deal is between two private players and it is done, what can the government do to stop it? Yes, the deal is between two private players, but when it has national repercussions, it needs regulatory approval from the government. It is an illegal deal and there are issues involved in the regulatory framework, legalities, ethics and farmers. So, the government can take a call on whether it can allow such an entity to come and operate in this sector. We at Swadeshi Jagran Manch feel this deal is against Make in India. Why do you say it is against Make in India? Walmart is known for its purchases from China. All Walmart stores are selling Chinese products. How can you expect them to sell Indian products here? You get Indian products on Amazon like Patanjali... There can be exceptions. We are not talking about Patanjali. We are for the farmers and small manufacturers of this country. In the last 26 years, our manufacturing has come down tremendously. If you allow Walmart to operate in India, our manufacturing will finish completely. What will happen to Narendra D Modi's dream then? There will be no Make in India. Ranjan was nominated to the board of ICICI Bank on April 7 The government on Thursday transferred bureaucrat Lok Ranjan, bottom, left, its nominee on the board of ICICI Bank, from the finance ministry to the personnel ministry. Ranjan, who was working as a joint secretary in the department of financial services, has been moved to the department of personnel and training at the same level. The government did not assign any reasons for the transfer. Ranjan was the government's representative on the board of ICICI Bank, which has been accused of conflict of interest against its chief executive officer and managing director Chanda Kochhar, related to loans worth Rs 32.5 billion, extended to the Videocon group of companies. Ranjan was nominated to the board of ICICI Bank on April 7. Ranjan did not attend two consecutive board meetings of ICICI Bank on Monday and Tuesday that approved the bank's annual results for 2017-18 and discussed its strategy for 2018-19, respectively. The government decided to skip the meetings, according to senior officials, to stay away from the controversy. Government officials were of the view that it is a minority stakeholder on the board of ICICI Bank and can be overruled by the private bank's board as investigating agencies are yet to establish conflict of interest in the case. The government holds 10.8 million shares in ICICI Bank, which translates into a 0.22 per cent stake. The government official said it would present its view before the board on the loan issue, after receiving feedback from investigative agencies and regulator Reserve Bank of India. The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations of nexus between the ICICI Bank chief's husband, Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot. At the time of going to press, the government did not clarify if Ranjan's transfer was linked to his attendance at ICICI Banks board meetings. The income tax department is examining the transactions that took place between these companies and identifying the actual beneficiaries in the matter. Between 2008 and 2014, there were frequent changes in the shareholding pattern of NuPower, across entities, such as Supreme Energy, Pacific Capital Services and Pinnacle Energy, resulting in the exit of Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar gaining control in NuPower through his companies/trusts. ICICI Bank has denied all the allegations and the board had in a resolution on March 28 reposed "full faith and confidence" in Chanda Kocchar in light of the allegations. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters Their offer values Fortis at over Rs 9,000 crore, or around Rs 172 per share. The takeover saga at Fortis Healthcare, one of Indias leading healthcare chains, reached the culmination on Thursday, with the board choosing the Hero Enterprises-Burman Family Office offer as the best for the hospital and diagnostic chain. The Board, post having detailed discussions on the pros and cons of each offer, decided by majority, to recommend the offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office (the last offer made on May 1, 2018)," Fortis Healthcare said in a statement to the BSE on Wednesday. Sunil Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprises, along with Dabur's Anand and Mohit Burman, had sweetened their offer for Fortis on May 1. The recommendation of the board will now be placed before the shareholders for their approval. "We are delighted that the board has accepted our offer, which is, unarguably, the best solution. "We are sure that shareholders will see the intrinsic value in our proposal and repose confidence in us. "As long-term investors, we are committed to help make Fortis the finest healthcare institution in the region, and create value for all stakeholders, Munjal said. Anand Burman said: "Fortis is a national healthcare asset, which has a good spread across the country and we hope to help the company become what it ought to be. "oing forward, the immediate plan of action for the company should be to build on its strengths, retain talent, expand business, and institutionalise processes at Fortis. Sources indicate that the board was divided among newly appointed independent directors and the old ones, and that the decision was not a unanimous one. There were long deliberations over the matter and the recommendations suggested by the expert advisory committee. It was not a unanimous decision, the board was split," said a person close to the development. When asked about the Fortis board's decision, Ranjan Pai, managing director and chief executive officer of Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd, said he was disappointed. "The board obviously felt this was in the best interests of the shareholders. However, this offer does not have any long-term vision for Fortis Healthcare," he said. Pai also added that TPGManipal would not be interested in acquiring SRL Diagnostics alone if Munjal-Burman-backed Fortis Healthcare divests it. "We see value in Fortis Hospitals and SRL Diagnostics together. We are not interested in buying SRL Diagnostics alone," he added. "Our offer is the fastest. We anticipate it will take 45-60 days while the other offers will take longer to implement. Moreover, our bid is unconditional and does not include any walk-away clauses unlike the others, Sunil Munjal had said earlier this week. In the latest round, the Munjal-Burmans have offered to invest Rs 1,800 crore in Fortis Healthcare through a combination of preferential equity and warrants. Their offer values Fortis at over Rs 9,000 crore, or around Rs 172 per share. The duo have proposed an upfront infusion of Rs 1,050 crore directly into Fortis. The remaining Rs 750 crore will be infused into the company over the next four months. They have also sought three seats on the Fortis board. Besides, they have also proposed a strategic sale of SRL Diagnostics after divesting Fortis Healthcares stake in it. According to a recent Edelweiss report, SRL has grown at a 14 per cent compounded annual rate during 2011-12 to 2015-16, while its Ebitda margins improved from 10 per cent to 20 per cent during the period. Earlier this week, Brain W Tempest, Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Lt General Tejinder S Shergill, the four directors on the Fortis board, had in an open letter to the shareholders urged them to take an informed decision while voting on the matter of their removal. Two minority shareholders of the company had sought the removal of these directors last month. Fortis has called for an extra ordinary general meeting on May 22 to vote on the resolution of the removal of these directors. Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Ravi Rajagopal and Indrajit Banerjee, three new directors, were appointed recently as proposed by the minority shareholders. Bidding for Fortis closed on May 1. part from the Hero-Munjal duo, the Fortis board was considering offers from TPG-Manipal, KKRRadiant Life Care and IHH Healthcare Bhd. Financial advisors Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital and legal advisors Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas were appointed by the Board to advise on the matter. With the opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem only days away, the embassy changed its Twitter handle to reflect the move from Tel Aviv. In a Twitter post on Thursday, however, the embassy said its new Twitter handle was USEmbassyJerusalem, when, in fact, the correct one is @usembassyjlm. Despite the inevitable problems that occur during large relocations, the embassy is slated to open on Monday -- fulfilling U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem. The relocation amounts to U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a decision that delighted Israelis and angered Palestinians. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of their future state. 20 years ago this day, May 11, 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan. In a fascinating interview on Rediff.com, K Subrahmanyam revealed how Indian PMs reacted to nuclear ambitions. Shivanand Kanavi had a wide ranging conversation with strategic guru K Subrahmanyam in July 2008 on a variety of strategic and geo-political issues -- India's nuclear weapon programme, the Indo-US nuclear deal, Af-Pak, India's global ambitions... Even though KS, who passed into the ages on February 2, 2011 was already battling cancer bravely, he gave undivided attention with excellent recall about the topics under discussion. I want to start with an overview of the history of India's nuclear weapons programme. If you go back to Jawaharlal Nehru's writings in the 1940s, he recognised that it may be used (as a weapon) and then India also must have it. But at the same time he was a man of peace he wanted international peace. So essentially he was for development of technology. But he did not overlook the fact that it had a strategic dimension. It comes out very clearly that at one point in time in 1954-1955, (the father of India's nuclear programme) Homi Bhabha after presiding over the Geneva conference on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, came back with great enthusiasm and proposed to Nehru that India should amend the Constitution and say that it would never go nuclear. Nehru wrote back to Bhabha that he should look after physics and leave the international relations to Nehru. We will think about these things when we reach that stage. So at one point of time it was Bhabha who was a peacenik, but as they saw the two major powers accumulating more and more weapons and developing newer weapons and China going nuclear, I presume that Bhabha got converted to the view that India should also go nuclear. The selection of the Canadian CANDU reactor (external link), which would produce plutonium and deputation of Homi Sethna (who headed the Atomic Energy Commission during India's first nuclear explosion in 1974) (external link) all show that at least in Bhabha's mind, the strategic programme was very much there. George Perkovich says Nehru all the time had it in mind, but those who think of Nehru as essentially a man of peace would dispute it, but it is difficult to say unless the personal papers of Nehru are made available. IMAGE: Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri greets Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Hayde in Dograi during the 1965 war with Pakistan. Photograph: Kind courtesy Indian Army Facebook Page On the other hand in 1964 a few months before he died, while inaugurating the reprocessing plant he (Nehru) also said 'Come what may, we shall not make these evil things.' Once the Chinese conducted the test, Bhabha was determined that India should go for it. (Then defence minister V K) Krishna Menon opposed Bhabha. Once Lal Bahadur Shastri took over as prime minister, he was not familiar with all these things. The first time Bhabha came to Delhi to meet him I was told he was made to wait three days to get an appointment. He was used to indulgent treatment by Nehru and so he was a little put off. Then Shastri appealed to the UK for a nuclear umbrella against the Chinese threat. In the early 1960s there was a discussion in the US whether India should be helped to become a nuclear power to neutralise China. This was even before 1962 as they realised that China was close to building the bomb. It was supported by (then US secretary of state) Dean Rusk in the state department, but was opposed by the Pentagon and then US defence secretary Robert McNamara (external link). In 1964 Bhabha was able to persuade Shastri to sanction the SNEP (Subterranean Nuclear Explosion Project). In early 1965 there was an AICC (All India Congress Committee) session in Durgapur and there was pressure from some Congress members led by K C Pant, who was then a young MP, who said that India should go nuclear. Shastri did not want to commit himself, so finally he said 'Not now.' He did not rule it out. To some extent it helped Bhabha in getting the SNEP project sanctioned and it was under SNEP that Raja Ramanna, R Chidambaram, P K Iyengar were brought into Trombay. Then Bhabha died in an accident in 1966 and then Vikram Sarabhai took over. IMAGE: Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the second chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission. Photograph: Kind courtesy: ISRO Sarabhai, coming from a Gandhian background, was opposed to it. He argued that we did not have enough plutonium at that time and even by 1967 if we had enough for one test then what would you do afterwards. Thus, he alienated the Trombay people. The result was they boycotted Sarabhai and did not share any information with him. But Sarabhai was a gentleman and a very astute man and over a period of time he changed his mind. Not many people know about it, but he told me the last time we met in August 1971 while having dinner at the Ashoka Hotel, five months before he died. Then the Trombay people made Purnima, the fast pulsed reactor, using plutonium from CANDU. In 1967, Indira Gandhi sent Sarabhai and L K Jha on a worldwide mission seeking a nuclear security guarantee for India. They went to Russia, France, the US and the UK. They wanted a joint guarantee. They did not get it. In 1965 when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty resolution was moved we were one of the sponsors. We propounded the balancing principle -- no more proliferation, but weapon powers should negotiate to give up their weapons. When the matter came up in Geneva in 1967 our delegate V C Trivedi found that something else was going on. They wanted to prevent everybody else from going nuclear, but did not want to have any limits on what they were doing. He made powerful arguments against this NPT and they are still quoted today. To some extent the P-5 found that India was a thorn in their flesh in Geneva. In 1968 when the matter came up regarding whether we should accede to the NPT (it was not debated much in the Cabinet) Mrs Gandhi and her close advisors like G Parthasarathy, P N Haksar were all against it. At that time I was the director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis and conducted a crusade against the NPT and said India should go nuclear. At that time there were a group of parliamentarians called the Young Turks who were leftist Congressmen like Krishan Kant who were for India going nuclear. Because of that we became good friends and I used to give Krishan Kant questions to ask in Parliament. Sarabhai knew that Krishan Kant was asking 'my' questions. So in 1971 during dinner he told me, "Subbu you can call off your bloodhound (Krishan Kant), I am going to Mururoa Atoll to witness a French nuclear test." The Gandhian of 1967 had changed enough to go and witness the tests. So I said, "Vikram, do I draw conclusions from this?" He said, "You do what you like." However, till he died there was no reconciliation between him and the Trombay group. Sarabhai will be remembered as the founder of our space programme. Then according to the version given to me by Ramanna in October 1972 during the convocation of IIT-Bombay, Mrs Gandhi summoned Sethna and Ramanna and gave the go ahead for testing. IMAGE: Then prime minister Morarji Desai at the Red Fort, August 15, 1977. Then they started designing the test. Preliminary work had already gone on, but Sarabhai had suspended it. But the Purnima reactor had give them some ideas about the behaviour of neutrons and plutonium etc. Between 1972 and 1974 they worked on it. Ramanna has recorded that even in 1974 people like P N Dhar and Haksar got cold feet and it was Mrs Gandhi who told them to go ahead. Why were they hesitant? Was it because of possible sanctions from the US etc? Yes. At that time the US had become friendly to China and treated us as an ally of the Soviet Union so they came down on us very severely. We already had a treaty with the Soviet Union! Yes, and also they could not forgive us for creating Bangladesh, a new country on the map which nobody had done after 1945! The sanctions started. We did not know that Pakistan had started its programme and was collecting money among the Islamic States. When the Janata Party government came in (in 1977), Morarji Desai did not like that we had conducted a nuclear explosion and did not like Ramanna (since he had led the test). He (Desai) even denied that there was any nuclear test. He continued to hold that tonnes of explosives were buried and exploded! Is it because he thought Mrs Gandhi did it merely to overawe the domestic Opposition and not for any strategic reasons? Yes. At that time the US was trying to persuade us to adopt full-scope safeguards -- that is everything should come under safeguards. V Shankar, who was Morarji Desai's secretary, was in favour of it. So he told the Americans that we will examine it. The Americans were confident that India would accept it. Sethna was opposed to full-scope safeguards. IMAGE: Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee attends the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus India Summit in Nusa Dua, in Bali, October 8, 2003. Photograph: Bayu Ismoyo/Reuters Morarji had said in Parliament that the Americans are proposing it and there is nothing wrong in examining it. Actually I discovered through Sethna that the proposal was originated by Shankar and not the Americans. So I got a copy of the note from the Americans to Sethna which called it 'Mr Shankar's proposal.' I got a photocopy of it and brought it to the notice of (then) Cabinet secretary Nirmal Mukherjee that Morarji Desai could be cited for contempt of Parliament since he had told Parliament that it was an American proposal whereas it was actually Shankar's proposal. So the Cabinet secretary took it to Morarji. Was Shankar's proposal meant for the Cabinet? No. It was for the Indians to discuss with the Americans. Thus it was buried. Then Morarji went and made a speech in the UN General Assembly saying we will not conduct any more explosions. After he had read out that portion of his speech in the Cabinet, a message was sent through then President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to drop it from his speech. In spite of that Morarji said it in the UN and he faced a lot of opposition when he came back. He tried to wriggle out, saying I said an explosion and not test etc. At that time Ramanna was also taken out of the BARC (the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay) and put in as scientific advisor to the defence ministry. Of course, that did a lot of good to the defence ministry. But the Trombay team had been dismantled. Then in 1979 I produced a report saying Pakistan is going nuclear. How did you reach that conclusion? We got intelligence information. We knew about A Q Khan coming back and starting uranium enrichment. I told the Cabinet secretary to take it to the five-member Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. He did it and there was a discussion. I was not present, but Nirmal Mukherjee told me that the decision to resume the (nuclear) programme was taken, but it was not unanimous. Three (Cabinet ministers) had voted for it and two had opposed it. He asked me to guess who were the two that had opposed the programme. I said one was Morarji and that was correct, but I could not figure out who was the second. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee! H M Patel, Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram were for going ahead with our nuclear programme. IMAGE: Then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Photograph: Reuters Then the Morarji government fell and Charan Singh came (in as prime minister). Sethna said he could manage the whole programme himself. In fact he was trying to fill the BARC director's post so that Ramanna would not be able to get back, but that was prevented. When Mrs Gandhi came back she posted Ramanna back to the BARC. The programme was restarted by 1983. We were again ready. Was it for weapon testing? Yes, for weapons. The shafts were sunk in Pokhran, but at the last moment the Americans found out through satellites and put pressure on us. Mrs Gandhi told them to stop it at the last minute. In fact it was those shafts of 1983 that were used for the tests in 1998! In 1984 we got involved in the 'Six nation five continents' initiative. With Rajiv Gandhi. It started with Indira Gandhi and after her assassination it continued with Rajiv Gandhi. Essentially we ourselves were advocating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. But it also involved some graduated disarmament along with a ban on testing. Yes. We were in the forefront of it. When Rajiv took over (as prime minister), he had a very intensive discussion with a group of us including me. He was at that time very much opposed to our going nuclear and he was very much in tune with the six nation initiative. Why was he opposed to it? Was it for economic reasons, sanctions etc? No. He was new to politics and I think he was temperamentally a man of peaceful intent. He genuinely believed that if we can avoid it then we should avoid it. For one year I had arguments with him and at one point in time I told him that "PM sir, if you won't take this decision, one day your defence expenditure will go through the roof." So he asked the others present about it. Some agreed and others did not. Admiral R H Tahiliani was also present representing the Chiefs of Staff. He said "We will give you a very serious quantified answer to this." The PM said OK. The committee consisted of (A P J) Abdul Kalam, R Chidambaram, General K Sundarji, Admiral K K Nayyar and Air Marshal Green. That group produced a report and for the first time it said a minimum credible deterrent of about 100 warheads can be developed in about seven years and it will cost about Rs 7,000 crore. Only one copy of the report was prepared and delivered to Rajiv personally by Sunderji. We don't know what happened to it afterwards. By that time were there no reports of the Pakistani nuclear programme? Yes they were there, but I was not in government so I did not know about them. Thus he (Rajiv Gandhi) essentially stopped it (the nuclear weapons programme). For some reason his relations with Raja Ramanna also deteriorated and he did not accept Ramanna's recommendation of making P K Iyengar his successor. He selected M R Srinivasan who had nothing to do with the weapons programme. So at that stage it was obvious that Rajiv was not interested in pursuing the weapons programme. He went to the US, he had a successful meeting with President Ronald Reagan and there was an agreement on science and technology. I do not think he was given any promise regarding civilian nuclear reactors. He was hoping for reactors from Russia and at that time Koodunkulam was under discussion. However, I am told that research went on and Rajiv did not stop it and then in 1988 he came out with his disarmament plan and put it before the UN and then to his horror he discovered that no one took any notice of it. He came back a disillusioned man and on the day of the air force demo at Tilpat outside Delhi, he said 'Let us go ahead.' Thus in March 1989 or so he sanctioned the weapons programme. There is also a rumour about Operation Brasstacks and some message delivered by Pakistan during that exercise that they have the bomb etc. I will come to that. Even though the weapons programme was sanctioned only in 1989 the missile programme was sanctioned in 1984-1985. In fact Indira Gandhi had sanctioned it and Kalam had been brought in specially from the space programme. In 1987 when Operation Brasstacks took place, A Q Khan gave an interview to Kuldip Nayyar and said, 'You people be careful, we have got the bomb.' During the Kargil committee hearing, S K Singh, who was the high commissioner in Pakistan in the 1980s, told me that in January 1987, he was summoned by the minister of state of defence in Pakistan, who told him that if India takes any action, then 'We are in a position to inflict unacceptable damage', which is code to say we have the nuclear weapon. Rajiv knew all that, but he still tried very hard (not to sanction the nuclear programme). Finally in 1989 the same man sanctioned the weapons programme. By 1990 we had not assembled many weapons, but the Americans came to us and said that Pakistan is threatening to use nuclear weapons against India. This was in May 1990, but in February 1990 General Yakub Khan came to India when Kashmir was on the boil and he told I K Gujral, 'if you people use too much of force in Kashmir, there will be fire from the sky and rivers of blood will flow.' I K Gujral took him to (then prime minister) V P Singh and he repeated the same thing. He would not look people in the eye, but recite it as if he has been instructed to recite it. It was interpreted by India as a nuclear threat. In May 1990, the US sent a mission led by Robert Gates, the present US defence secretary, to Pakistan and they told the Pakistanis 'Be careful, do not try any adventure', then they came to India. Here they did not say anything, but to the rest of the world they said, 'We defused a nuclear crisis between India and Pakistan.' Two American scientists have claimed that on May 26, 1990 the Chinese actually conducted a nuclear test for Pakistan. So they had come to dissuade Pakistan from doing it. Instead they put out the story about India-Pakistan. So Pakistan actually had a tested nuclear weapon by 1990, and not in 1998. IMAGE: Then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao. Photograph: Reuters That test was done in Lop Nor? Yes, in Lop Nor. P V Narasimha Rao continued the programme. During the NPT review conference in 1995, the NPT was extended indefinitely and unconditionally. PV knew that we would be left out so he wanted to conduct a test. Preparations were all made, but again the Americans discovered it and they put pressure to stop it. That is a fact. How did they find out? Through satellites. So PV could not conduct the test. When Vajpayee took over PV sent him a note saying, 'I could not do it, you do it.' Vajpayee acknowledged it after PV died. In 1998 we were able to hide it. There is a claim that we conducted a thermo-nuclear test in 1998 as well. That is what (then chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission) R Chidambaram says. The problem is the 1998 tests were done in shafts that were sunk in 1983. They were capable of taking only 60, 70 kilotons. It is also in Rajasthan which may be sparsely populated compared to the rest of India, but it is still populated. So there is no way you can conduct a megaton test. Chidambaram says he did at 45 kilotons, but there are lots of people who question it. Shivanand Kanavi currently Adjunct Faculty at NIAS, is a theoretical physicist, senior journalist, author and former vice-president, TCS. This interview was first published on Rediff.com on February 10, 2011. Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step 'out of frustration' due to his illness. IMAGE: Roy is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey. Photograph: PTI Photo Senior Maharashtra Indian Police Service officer Himanshu Roy, who was battling cancer, on Friday allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in Mumbai, police said. Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step 'out of frustration' due to his illness. 'Roy was on medical leave for the last two years as he had cancer and the suicide note, in his own handwriting makes it clear that he ended his life out of frustration due to this illness,' a police statement said. Roy, who is survived by his mother and wife, would have been 55 next month. Roy, the additional director general of police (Establishment), allegedly shot himself with a licensed revolver at his home in Nariman Point at 12.40 pm and was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead at 1.40 pm, an official said. Roy shot himself in the mouth and the resultant injury was visible right up to his skull, a doctor who first examined the deceased officer's body said. "The patient was brought dead. He looked much thinner compared to what he was before and he had even grown a beard. He had shot himself inside his mouth and the bullet injury was visible right upto the skull," Dr Gautam Bhansali, Consultant Physician at Bombay Hospital told PTI. He said that two other doctors, a Casualty Medical Officer and a neurosurgeon, were also present when Roy's body was brought to Bombay Hospital. When asked if the bullet was stuck inside the skull, Bhansali said it was not visible from the outside but the post-mortem would give more details. "After declaring him dead, we sent the body to Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital for post mortem," he said. Bhansali further said that Roy's wife, along with the police officer's bodyguards, had brought his body to the hospital. Roy was considered a fitness enthusiast and had been on leave since 2016, undergoing treatment for cancer. The officer had served in elite groups of the Maharashtra Police, including as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and in the Crime Branch. Roy is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey, fringe Bollywood actor Laila Khan and law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta in Mumbai. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the Indian Premiere League betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state Anti-Terrorism Squad. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. The Cuffe Parade police station in south Mumbai has registered a case of accidental death, police said, adding further investigation into the matter is underway. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled Roy's demise, describing him as a dedicated police officer. Maharashtra Congress president and former CM Ashok Chavan said Roy was an officer known for his bravery and integrity. Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh termed him a courageous and hardworking officer. "He was suffering from cancer but he was fighting it. It is very unfortunate that he had to end his life like this," Singh told reporters after visiting Roy's family to express his condolences. "Roy was a very enterprising, dashing and resourceful person," former ACP Iqbal Sheikh said. Over six-feet tall, having rippling muscles, a dramatic moustache, and a rich baritone, Roy stood out with his personality, but it all came apart when he was diagnosed with cancer. The 1988-batch IPS officer was very particular about fitness and would attend Bollywood and social events regularly. He was a teetotaller and had a penchant for Hindustani classical music. The officer became the youngest superintendent of police of Nasik (rural) in 1995. Thereafter, he took charge as SP, Ahmednagar; Deputy Commissioner of Police Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP Zone 1, and Commissioner of Police, Nasik. He was appointed Joint Commissioner of Police Mumbai in 2009 and is credited with setting up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell, the women's cell, and taking anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra. Mumbai terror attack convict and Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death during Roy's tenure as Mumbai crime branch chief. Roy was an alumnus of St Xavier's College, Mumbai. He had also worked as a CA at Arthur Andersen, one of the best accounting firms in the world, before he cleared the Union Public Service Commission examination and joined the IPS. Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad was on Friday granted a six-week provisional bail by the Jharkhand high court on medical grounds in the fodder scam cases, his lawyer Prabhat Kumar said. The provisional bail was granted to Prasad by Justice Apresh Kumar Singh. Currently, Prasad is on a three-day parole to attend his elder son Tej Pratap Yadavs marriage in Patna on Saturday. He reached Patna on Friday evening after receiving the parole order in Ranchi. The RJD chief convicted in three cases of the multi-crore fodder scam has been in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi since December 23. A huge row was created on Thursday when a sting video showing a Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party leader allegedly trying to bribe a kin of a former Chief Justice of India to get a favourable verdict for mining baron G Janardhana Reddy in an illegal mining case aired on the last day of campaigning before polling on May 12. State electoral authorities directed TV news channels not to air the video. Congress claimed the sting operation revealed that alleged attempts were made to bribe to seek a favourable verdict for Reddy. The party alleged that just one day before the then chief justice retired, he passed an order in a case related to Reddy brothers Oblapuram Mining Company. Now several videos have been released which show how bribe deals were done btw CJIs son-in-law & Sriramulu/Reddy Brothers: @dineshgrao, said Karnataka Congress quoting its working president Dinesh Gundu Rao in a tweet. It said the videos that have surfaced today show how Sriramulu, middlemen and son in-law of the former CJI discussed bribe deals, hoping to get a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court in the Obalipuram case. Sriramulu, a confidant of tainted mining baron and owner of Obulapuram Mining Company Janardhana Reddy, is contesting from two constituencies Molakalmuru and Badami in the May 12 assembly polls. In Badami, he is pitted against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Rao has also sought response from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. The Congress has been criticising BJP and the PM for their decision to give tickets to eight persons from the Reddy camp including his brothers G Somashekara Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy. Do not believe in such fake stings which make rounds now and then, BJP president Amit Shah said at a press conference, when asked about the sting videos circulating in the social media. As the news channels started airing the video footages shared by the Congress, electoral authorities took note of it and issued notices, chief electoral officer office sources said. A news channel executive said that the election commission said in the notices to all the news channels and publication houses that they cannot air any such content within 24 hours of election. An officer in the CEOs officer said a report has been sent to the election commission about the video and directions have been issued to the news channels not to air the video clip. The Supreme Court collegium on Friday agreed in principle to reiterate the recommendation for elevation of Uttarakhand High court chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the apex court, after his name was returned by the Centre. Justice Joseph had headed the bench in the Uttarakhand high court that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled hill state in 2016. In 2017, the Congress lost the assembly election there. After an hour-long deliberation, the five-member collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, unanimously decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of names of other Chief Justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. The collegium, in a resolution, said there was need for further discussion on the issue of sending the other names to the Centre and decided to meet again on May 16. "The Chief Justice and other members of the collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand high court [Parent high court: Kerala] as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of high courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution said. "In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 PM on Wednesday, May 16, 2018," it said. The resolution further said that the collegium met to consider the following agenda: "1. To consider reiteration of the recommendation dated January 10, 2018 for elevation of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand high court [Parent high court: Kerala] as Judge of the Supreme Court. 2. To consider names of high court Judges for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court." The decision to convene the meeting was taken on Thursday by the CJI. Earlier on May 2, the collegium had met on the issue but had deferred its decision. In Friday's meeting, the agenda was same and besides Justice Jospeph, the collegium deliberated on the names of some judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh high courts for elevation as apex court judges. The Centre, while returning the file of Justice Joseph to the collegium, had also mentioned that judges from various high courts have not found place in the apex court. During the deliberations today, sources said those high court judges who are in the race to be elevated to the apex court are Chief Justice of Madras high court Indira Banerjee, who is originally from the Calcutta HC, Gujarat HC Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, whose parent cadre is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh HC, and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who is originally from Rajasthan HC. It is pertinent to mention that Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the apex court, had on May 9 written a letter to the CJI urging him to convene the Collegium meet to urgently forward Justice Joseph's name to the Centre. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. According to an apex court official, Justice Chelameswar, in his letter sent to the CJI, had conveyed that he was reiterating his decision favaouring elevation of Justice Joseph as the judge of the top court as there was no change in the circumstances that had led the Collegium to recommend his name to the government on January 10. Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, was also understood to have responded to all the points raised in the communication to the CJI by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressing reservations on the elevation of Justice Joseph. Justice Kurian Joseph, during his visit to Kerala last week, had also reportedly made it clear that he was in favour of reiterating the recommendation of the collegium on the issue concerning the Uttarakhand Chief Justice. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb has added another blooper to the list of his gaffes. On Wednesday, the Tripura chief minister said that famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore refused the Nobel Prize in protest against the English. In reality, Tagore had rejected the knighthood conferred on him by the British after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The Nobel Prize for Literature -- awarded to the poet in 1913 -- remained with him until his death on August 7, 1941. Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day-long Rajarshi festival at the Bhubaneswari temple in Udaipur, Deb said: Besides being a world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for rejecting the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government. The opposition was quick to pounce on Debs mistake, criticising him for not doing basic homework before delivering lectures. Our chief minister has crossed every limit of idiocy. We even dont feel like commenting on the issue, said Communist Party of India-Marxist central committee leader Goutam Das. Debs gaffes have become an almost daily embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party since he commented last month that Internet and satellite communication existed during the Mahabharata era. He never retracted that statement. Then he questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as Miss World in 1997, saying she was not an Indian beauty like Aishwarya Rai. However, he later apologised. He didnt stop. Soon after, at an event in the state capital Agartala, the Tripura chief minister said that mechanical engineers should not opt for civil services, but only civil engineers should. A few weeks back, he offered advice that raised many eyebrows. Graduates shouldnt run after government jobs, they should start paan shop instead, he declared. Also, he suggested, young men should breed cows and explore a career in dairy. Ahead of Sushma Swaraj's visit, Myanmar soldiers take over Indian territory. Sujit Kumar Chakraborty reports. IMAGE: Myanmarese villagers under the protection of their army personnel (in uniform) erect a new pillar, number 82, after occupying a large chunk of Indian territory in N Satsang village in Manipur. Photograph: G Kamei In an affront to India, on May 1, just days before External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Myanmar, its soldiers and villagers intruded into Indian territory and forced residents of two Indian villages to flee. The Myanmarese intruders also removed the pillars marking the international boundary between the two countries at N Satsang village located in Manipur's newly created Tengnoupal district. In its place, the intruding Myanmarese soldiers planted its own border pillar, thus taking over a large chunk of Indian territory. The Myanmar army had tried intrusion a few days earlier. On April 29, 10 armed Myanmar soldiers reportedly intruded into H Lhangcham village close to Moreh in Tengnoupal district and vandalised a saw mill there. The village is located between border pillar number 75 and 76, about 5 km south of the Moreh police station. About 70 people live in 14 households in the village which has five saw mills, with the villagers engaged in timber trading. The additional district commissioner of Moreh, the 11 Assam Rifles platoon deployed there along the international border, and local police were informed about the incident by the villagers. The Indian side of the border is inhabited by people belonging to the Maring Naga community. After Myanmar soldiers forced their entry into the villages, residents of N Satsang and Choktong fled to safer areas. N Satsang has 26 houses and Choktong village has 36 households. IMAGE: Myanmarese army personnel with their villagers in the occupied Indian village of N Satsang in Manipur. Photograph: G Kamei N Satsang village chairman T K Kothil Maring told this correspondent that people from the nearby Setchyang village in Myanmar came with their soldiers, dismantled Indian boundary pillar number 82 and erected their own pillar, at a spot that is about 95 km from the capital city of Imphal and about 50 km from the district headquarters Tengnoupal. Although N Satsang and Choktong are hardly 10 km from the border town of Moreh, there is no motorable road to reach the villages. On May 1, a United Naga Council of Manipur delegation along with Maring and his counterpart from Choktong village, Th Leinai, and some villagers visited the international border and re-erected pillar number 82 in the earlier location. Maring said a Myanmarese army patrol along with villagers complained to the local army commander about this development. Soon after, Myanmarese soldiers along with local villagers reached the site, pulled down the pillar at its original site and erected it inside N Satsang village itself. "There was a very old tree in the middle of the zero line," Maring said. "On their side, the border demarcation was inscribed in the Myanmerese language and in our side, it was written in English to mark the zero line of the international border." "Myanmarese army personnel first got the tree cut, then burnt it to the roots and wiped out all its traces. The intention was very clear -- to wipe out any trace of demarcation. We urged them not to destroy the proof," Maring said. "But they warned us to leave as the area belongs to Myanmar." IMAGE: An old tree located on zero point of the international border was burnt to its roots by Myanmarese soldiers to erase the original demarcation. There were two pillars on both sides of the tree, which were also removed. Photograph: G Kamei According to Leinai, the chairman of Choktong village, "Border disputes are not new. But this time they (the Myanamar army) are more aggressive and forcibly took over our land." "We can't part with our traditional land, this is our birthright as we got it from our forefathers," Leinai asserted. "We want our government to protect our land. They re-demarcated the area and as a result two of our houses fell on the newly demarcated zero point of the international border so they even dismantled our houses," Leinai said, adding, "We are very upset with these developments." The Myanmarese soldiers and their villagers alleged the pillar in contention had been shifted unilaterally from its original position, and claimed that Indian villagers had occupied 420 metres of Myanmar land in the same area. The United Naga Council is a socio-economic and cultural body of various Naga tribes residing in Manipur and has been fighting for the rights of the minority Nagas. The Meiteis, who live mainly in Manipur's valley region, is the dominant community and occupy power in the state. Gaidon Kamei, president of the United Naga Council of Manipur, told this correspondent that "despite repeated plea from the locals, Indian survey officials never visited the disputed site. They only visit Moreh town, hold talks with Myanmarese officials, exchange papers and notes. This problem has been going on for decades." "In fact, the Myanmarese army and its local people have illegally occupied a large chunk of land along the international border on the Manipur side from pillar number 81 to pillar number 88," Kamei revealed. "Now the bone of contention is pillar number 82." IMAGE: The pillar of Burma, as Myanmar was earlier known. Photograph: G Kamei Since no one visited the site, on May 1, an United Naga Council of Manipur delegation including Kamei and general secretary S Milan, along with local villagers and the chairmen of N Satsang and Choktong villages, visited the border and erected a pillar in its earlier location. "When we were erecting the pillar, we saw four Myanmarese army personnel on a motorbike watching the action. Within one hour of our departure, around 6 pm, the Myanmarese army with local villagers reached the spot and dismantled everything," Kamei said. "They erected a new pillar after forcibly grabbing our land. Now they claimed that about 420 metres land of Myanmar was taken inside Indian territory by our villagers," Kamei added. "We submitted a detailed representation on May 7 to Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and to our NSCN-IM of collective leadership, which is engaged in peace talks with the Government of India," Kamei added. "Our demand is to send concerned Indian and Myanmarese officials to the spot, take the local villagers and their chairman, discuss the issue at length and settle the dispute once and for all," Kamei said. "In tribal areas the village chieftains are our live documents. Officials should ask them to point out the exact pillar spots that were erected. They are our final proof." The Myanmar army's intrusion has created fear among the villagers, Kamei said, adding, "The villagers want basic amenities including roads and a security camp of Assam Rifles or the India Reserve Battalion to be set up permanently." A committee was constituted by the then Manipur government on August 26, 2013 to make an on the spot study of the areas and settle the dispute by talking to concerned officials and local people. The chairman of the committee was the present chief secretary of Manipur, J Suresh Babu. But the committee could not do much barring a few meetings as the state has limited powers. Since the issue involved another country, only the Government of India can resolve the issue, Kamei said. Security sources confirmed that anti-India insurgent groups including the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup and Kangleipak Communist Party-Noyon faction besides the NSCN-Khaplang group have their hideouts in the Myanmar jungle just opposite the N Satsang and Choktong border villages. There is no proper road communication to these villages. A large number of locals on both sides of the international boundary are infected by malaria. All these factors make survey staff avoid the disputed site so they visit Moreh town for meetings from time to time. Since India and Myanmar have good diplomatic relations, Kamei wanted the Narendra D Modi government to take steps to settle the border dispute at the earliest. From Imphal, Manipur's PWD, power and IT Minister T Biswajit told this correpondent, "Our government is taking all possible steps to settle border disputes with Myanmar." "We will not give even an inch of our land to anyone at any cost." As Raazi hit theatres, Harinder Sikka -- author of Calling Sehmat, the book on which the film is based -- reveals the thrilling real life story of an Indian spy named Sehmat. As told to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. IMAGE: Alia Bhatt as Sehmat in Raazi. In 1999, I had gone to Kargil. I had retired from the Indian Navy as a lieutenant commander six years earlier, in 1993. I was then working with the Piramal group in a senior position. I went to Kargil as I was contributing to The Pioneer newspaper as a freelance journalist. During my interaction with officials of India's intelligence agencies, I asked them angrily, 'How did the enemy come and sit on our head?' I was blaming them for the intelligence failure (that led to Kargil). It is at that time that a young military officer stood up and said that every person was not a traitor. I told him to name one person who was honest and that young army officer said, 'My mother was not a traitor.' When I returned to New Delhi, his words haunted me. I started digging up that officer's background. I wanted to know what he had meant. I had this illusion that I was very brave because I had the courage to return to the battle theatre even after hanging up my military boots. As I delved into this young officer's life, I realised my bravery was nowhere close to a Kashmiri Muslim woman, the officer's mother. As I dug into the story, I had tears in my eyes. Hidayat (not his real name), a Kashmiri businessman, sent his only child to enemy territory (Pakistan) as a bride to get information from the enemy. He had an established business with the Pakistanis. Pakistani generals imported liquor illegally from India then. Possibly, they still do. With his contacts, Hidayat married off his daughter in a Pakistani general's home. The man who she married was a captain in the Pakistan army. As his last wish, Hidayat told his daughter to listen to and observe the Pakistani generals and whenever possible send the information back to India. The code name given to her was 'Sehmat'. IMAGE: Harinder Sikka, left, author of Calling Sehmat, with Admiral Sunil Lanba, chief of the naval staff. Photograph: Kind courtesy Harinder Sikka In the 1970s, when any father on the death bed said something to his children, it was considered an order, which the children rarely refused to follow. This young married woman readily agreed to spy for India in Pakistan, an assignment for which she was not professionally trained. When my manuscript was read by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, he asked me to change some names in the book. He knew Sehmat's family. Dr Abdullah told me there are thousands of Sehmats in Kashmir willing to do anything for Hindustan. After the Kargil war ended, I traced Sehmat to Malerkotla, Punjab. She was a quiet and saintly person. She was not willing to talk (about her past), but I was adamant. After great difficulty, I managed to make her speak. I asked her why she was staying in Punjab when she had a palatial house in Kashmir. She told me she was staying in Punjab because Abdul (played by Arif Zakaria in Raazi) had lived there. Abdul was the Syeds' servant. The Syeds were Sehmat's in-laws in Pakistan. On further prodding, she told me Abdul had died. How? I crushed him under the truck, she said. I saw a lot of pain in her eyes when she spoke about the truck incident and refused to say anything further. When I left, I wondered what kind of bravery I had been displaying in my life. Would I ever be able to send my only child to the battlefield? And the answer is no. She told Abdul before killing him, 'I am sorry Abdul, but I love my country more.' And this line came from a Kashmiri Muslim woman. We Indians consider Muslims, especially Kashmiri Muslims, as not patriotic. We use these words so harshly about them. In my numerous visits to her home, she rarely encouraged me to sit for more than two minutes. The maximum I sat with her was for five minutes. I discovered how she taught the grandchildren of Pakistan's top generals in school. After the book was finished, I left the manuscript with her. She returned the manuscript without reading it and asked me, 'What did you want to say by writing a book on my life?' I told her I wanted to make a film on her life and I wanted to tell the world, 'Kashmiris are not traitors.' She told me, 'Make a film on Guru Nanak.' This coming from a Kashmiri Muslim woman to a Sikh like me was very difficult to digest. I had never followed my religious duties and after her statement, I researched Guru Nanak's life. I discovered that Guru Nanak travelled 30,000 km across the globe in the company of Bhai Mardana, a Muslim peer. Sehmat had far more knowledge on Sikhism than me. When she came back to India from Pakistan, she was in depression. A saintly person cured her of depression. I made a film, Nanak Shah Fakir, by spending Rs 40 crore. The film won three National Awards including the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. I knew this film could not have been made by an ordinary person like me without her blessings. My book Calling Sehmat took eight years to research. I began my research in 2000. The book was launched in 2008 on the INS Vikrant by the then naval chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta. What better tribute to Sehmat! The first copy of the book was received by T K A Nair, then principal secretary and advisor to then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The book was checked for many facts and after that, the book was received by Dr Manmohan Singh, in person. I went back to Sehmat and told her I wanted to make a film on her life as I had fulfilled her wish by making a movie on Nanak Shah Fakir. She did not respond. Her non-response was a signal to me, that it was okay for me to go ahead and the movie could be made. Calling Sehmat, which will be released by Penguin Random House, will be an eyeopener and remove many misconceptions about our brothers and sisters in Kashmir. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday said the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea will not be on the agenda of a U.S.-North Korea summit in June. The U.S. Forces Korea are a "stabilizing presence" in the region, Mattis told a Senate hearing. "That's not something that would be on the table in the initial negotiation." "If during the negotiation this issue was to come up between our allies and us, that would be one thing -- between two allies, not a matter of the negotiation" with North Korea, he added. His remarks seem aimed at quelling controversy in South Korea and the U.S. over whether the U.S. Forces Korea could be used as a bargaining chip. But that he only ruled it out for "the initial negotiation" set alarm bells ringing. Reuters glossed the comments as meaning that Mattis "did not rule out that the United States could eventually examine troop levels in South Korea as part of a bilateral discussion between Washington and Seoul, potentially concurrent with talks with Pyongyang." Still, they show Mattis backpedaling from remarks on April 27, when he told reporters the USFK is "part of the issues that we'll be discussing in negotiations with our allies first, and of course with North Korea." North Korea said it will "consider releasing" six South Koreans who remain detained there, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. The promise came in response to a request from Seoul. President Moon Jae-in asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "to quickly release six South Koreans held in North Korea" when they met on the demilitarized zone on April 27, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Young-chan said in a statement. Cheong Wa Dae initially did not say how the North responded, but now it says Kim told Moon "he will consider freeing them. We're currently waiting for a response from Pyongyang." The North has held the six on espionage charges since 2013, when they were caught proselytizing in the North Korea-China border region. The statement came after North Korea on Wednesday released three American citizens of South Korean descent and sent them home with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. One obstacle to the release of the six South Koreans could be that North Korea still smarts from the defection of a large group of North Korean staff from a restaurant in China in 2016, which it billed an abduction. "The North hasn't set any conditions yet," a government official said. The issue could come up again when Moon and Kim first talk on a new hotline set up between their offices. It is possible that Moon and Kim "will talk on the hotline a little earlier than was originally expected," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. Korean Air chief Cho Yang-ho has resigned as CEO at budget affiliate Jin Air amid a snowballing scandal that is battering his family and every part of his Hanjin Group empire. He keeps his board position. Jin Air said current president Kwon Hyuk-min has been appointed as new CEO as part of reforms to appoint professionals who are not members of the founding family to top positions. But the decision comes after revelations that Cho put his temperamental daughter Hyun-min in a board position at the budget carrier without declaring to authorities that she is an American citizen. Industry watchers believe Jin Air is trying to avoid losing its flight license by ousting him. Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. Photo Courtesy URI Award recipients of the Gandhi essay contest gathered for a ceremony Friday at the Statehouse. From South Kingstown, Curtis Corner Middle School students Caroline McCullough and Katherine Laliberte took second and third place, respectively, while Magnolia Longworth was awarded the Gandhi Award for Compassion and Selfless Service. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha pitched the idea of establishing a liaison office between Korea and Cuba during her visit to Havana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday. "Kang brought up a subject of opening a liaison office between the two countries as part of efforts to normalize relations with Cuba," said a ministry official. "Cuban officials have not clearly responded to the offer yet." Cuba is emerging blinking into the daylight after decades of a U.S. blockade that prevented Korea from ever establishing diplomatic relations with the island country. Kang was in Cuba for two days to attend a meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. It was only the second visit for a Korean foreign minister to Cuba. New Shenzhen hospital aims to boost region's medical care From:ChinaDaily | 2018-05-11 17:09 A major hospital officially opened for service in a special economic zone on Friday, playing a role to further improve the medical treatment and service standards in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region. He Yulong, president of the Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, said his hospital is expected to provide excellent medical treatment and service to not only local patients but also people from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and serve the country's Belt and Road Initiative in the years to come. He promised in the following years to build the hospital into a major medical center in the world, one with distinctive Chinese characteristics and style, by recruiting special medical experts and senior doctors as well as importing advanced medical technologies and equipment. "The hospital has 22 clinical departments including outpatient, inpatient, surgery and intensive care units," he said. Covering an area of more than 235,200 square meters, the hospital, situated in Shenzhen's Guangming New District and bordering Dongguan city, now includes 800 inward beds. But the hospital will have more than 4,000 beds when its second phase is completed and service begins in 2020, becoming the largest comprehensive hospital in Shenzhen bordering the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, he said. Luo Jun, president of Sun Yat-sen University, said the hospital demonstrates the successful cooperation between Sun Yat-sen University and the Shenzhen city government and also helps meet the growing demand among local residents for good medical services. The hospital has attracted patients from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, and other major cities in the Pearl River Delta on its first day of service. Sun Yat-sen University and the Shenzhen city government signed the contract to jointly construct the hospital in June 2016. It is the first hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Shenzhen. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Sino-French engineering education program success From:Shine | 2018-05-10 19:29 A Sino-French engineering education program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has turned out to be an overwhelming success with dozens of its first class of students finding high-tech enterprise placements. Around 40 students will enter companies for 24 weeks on internships at companies in thesummer. We have been offered more than 130 internships by famous Chinese and French companies, including French aircraft and aerospace component company Safran, and French automotive supplier Valeo, said Zhang Lihui, associate director of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology. She also said that some companies like Safran have guaranteed employment for students directly after the internship. Launched in 2012, the program jointly carried out by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and four French engineering education schools, Ecole Polytechnique, Mines ParisTech, Telecom ParisTech and ENSTA ParisTech, is a pilot project to cultivate outstanding engineers by blending the characteristics of French engineering training with those of Chinese engineering education. Students are offered a six-and-a-half-year curriculum that includes intensive French and Chinese language training. It includes three years of education in fundamental scientific courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer science, and three and a half years of engineering cycle courses carried out in a close collaboration between professors from the five schools and experts from the industry, including a half-year internship. The programs offer three majors, mechanical engineering, energy and power engineering and information engineering. Joaquim Nassar, French dean of the institute, said the French engineering education system was introduced in the Napoleonic period to cultivate applied talent that could adapt to the jobs as quickly as possible. Therefore the system features close cooperation between the schools and enterprises. Unlike other education programs, in which universities dominate the teaching, the SJTU ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology has enterprises participate in the education from the very beginning. The cooperative companies have six seats out of the total of 16 in the joint board that makes plans on teaching and training for students and on future development of the institute, said Zhang. Meanwhile, R&D and management experts from companies also joined the program to teach students directly. Last year alone, 18 R&D and management experts from companies delivered more than 300 classes, accounting for 20 percent of all the classes for students in the engineering cycle courses, she said. Zhang added that the enterprise experts not only teach students how to use the tools and technologies of real industries, but also bring ongoing research projects in companies to let students participate in and bring their creative solutions or inventions back to companies for applications directly. When students see their achievements used in production, they feel proud and become more active in innovation, said Zhang. In the past six years, thestudents have made great achievements, praised by both the industrial and academic societies. These include a network security monitoring system developed by four students for Tencent to effectively detect network attack or invasion. Zhang said the first class of students will graduate in March next year and revealed some companies have already offered posts to the graduates. Kathmandu, March 10 Nepals Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa last week said that the impending visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal is solely for religious and spiritual purpose and it has nothing to do with politics. However, there are analysts who believe that one of the most important reasons Modi decided to visit Nepal, is linked with the biggest event in Indian politics this weekthe elections in the southern state of Karnataka. Well, whats the connection between the two events? Modis party the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party wants to boost its image as a pro-Hindu party as it campaigns for the electionsin a move to woo voters. Anil Chamdia of BBC Hindi writes, The Indian Election Commission enforces a silent period of two days before the election scheduled for May 12 prohibiting parties from undertaking any promotional activity. Hence, Narendra Modi has came up with a different idea to run his campaign. During the Assam and Tripura elections in 2014, the unveiling of the BJPs manifesto was telecast live by the Indian media. Similarly, Modis visit to the Somnath temple in Uttar Pradesh during the election last year was also telecast live by the media in India. The BJP has been criticised for using Hinduism as propaganda to promote the party. Continuing this tradition, the Indian Prime Ministers visit to Janaki Temple, Muktinath and Pashupatinath in Nepal will be broadcast live as the main news in the Indian mediaan effective way to reach to the voters. The Election Commission in India can easily prohibit the BJP from campaigning during the silent period, but it has no authority to stop Modi from running the campaign show in Nepal! BlueRock sells 7.1 ct diamond for $64.8k BlueRock Diamonds, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in South Africa, has sold a 7.1 carat stone for $64,826 in the September tender. Six suspected illegal miners killed in South Africas North West Six suspected illegal miners known as zama zamas were killed and 35 arrested after an attack on security guards at an unnamed mine in North West. Mountain Province Diamonds announced change in executive leadership Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. announced that the company and Stuart Brown, its president and chief executive officer, have reached a mutual decision that Brown will depart the company, effective immediately. Opsydia advances new technology of diamond identification Opsydia announced they can now place permanent identifiers in melee diamonds without affecting their surface polish. Its an important advancement for volume manufactures to secure their supply chain and protect it from undisclosed synthetics. More than 120 seats sold at five workshops by leading gemmologists at MGJC 11 may 2018 News With about a week to go until the 4th Mediterranean Gemmological and Jewellery Conference (MGJC) kicks off on May 18 in Budva, Montenegro, more than 120 seats sold at five workshops by leading gemmologists, organisers said. More than 70 conference participants from 25 countries - a record - have registered for the half-day workshops on diamonds and coloured gemstones that will be lead and moderated by internationally renowned gemmologists and experts. Among them - Dr Yuri Shelementiev, managing director of the Gemmological Centre at Moscow State University; Alberto Scarani (GG), of Rome , Italy, a principal of M&A Gemological Instruments, a company specialising in the manufacture of advanced gemmological instruments; Antoinette Matlins, PG, FGA, of Woodstock, Vermont, USA, author of seven books and numerous articles in international media that focus on educating the consumer about gem identification; Guy Borenstein, FGA, EGG, of Ramat Gan, Israel, Vice President of Gemewizard, a company that specializes in gem colour grading and evaluation; and Cara Williams, of Jefferson City, Missouri, USA, Vice President and Senior Gemologist at Stone Group Laboratories and president of Bear Essentials, a wholesale coloured gemstone business. The 2018 conference is held under the header "Diamonds and Gems in 21st Century". Dr. Thomas Hainschwang of GGTL laboratories of Lichtenstein), is a leading researcher of treated and synthetic diamonds. He will speak about "Colour origin of untreated and treated natural and synthetic diamonds."Roman Serov - of Octonus, a Finnish instrument developer - who is also affiliated to the Gemmological Center of Moscow University (MSU), will explain "The impact of fluorescence on diamond appearance." Dr. Philip Martineau, Senior Manager at De Beers Physics, United Kingdom, will update the conference participants on "CVD synthetic diamonds and their detection." Jewellers, gemmologists, appraisers, dealers and other conference participants will receive hands-on instruction and gain new knowledge at workshops on the identification diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Menahem Sevdermish and Guy Borenstein of Gemewizard, Israel, will hold a workshop on "New ruby, sapphire, emerald, and fancy coloured diamonds grading" and explain how to determine their quality and value. Branko Deljanin, principal of CGL-GRS Swiss Canadian Gemlab of Vancouver, Canada, will guide participants through his workshop on 'The identification of treated synthetic diamonds and treated natural diamonds, loose and mounted." Branko will have synthetic melee diamonds and larger synthetic diamonds on site. Alberto Scarani and Mikko Astrom, of M&A Gemological Instruments (MAGI), will give a workshop on "Advanced Diamond Instruments." They will demonstrate VIS, FTIR, EXA and PL advanced spectrometers for the detection of synthetic diamonds. Moderated by Conference and Proceedings Editor John Chapman (Gemetrix), a Round Table with six international experts will discuss "The marketing of synthetic diamonds and synthetic gems in 21st century" and answer questions from other delegates. Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels CHSRA The Bakersfield, Calif., City Council voted May 9 to approve the "Making Downtown Bakersfield" Station Area Vision Plan and Environmental Impact Report to continue revitalization efforts in the city. The city, in partnership with the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), launched a station planning and community engagement campaign in 2015 to garner feedback from community members. The vote to approve this vision plan by my council colleagues demonstrates the Citys commitment to working with high-speed rail and our continued investment into the future of Downtown Bakersfield, said Bakersfield City Councilmember Ward 2 Andrae Gonzales. During the Station Area planning process, officials said the city analyzed opportunities and addressed challenges to develop a Vision Plan that focuses on multi-modal transportation, establishes an urban design and creates an economic development strategy fit for the projected growth downtown, officials said. The approval of this plan marks a significant milestone in the ongoing progress of the high-speed rail program and the partnership between the Authority and the City of Bakersfield, said Diana Gomez, CHSRAs Central Regional Director. We look forward to working with the City to promote economic development and enhance multimodal connections. The full contents of the Station Area Plan and Environmental Impact Report are available here. Government of Canada A 12.8-km (7.9-mile) route will allow trains to bypass the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, were a fiery train derailment left 47 people dead in July 2013. Canada will fund 60 percent of the estimated CA$133-million (US$104-million) project, which would be US$62.4 million with the province of Quebec agreeing to fund the remaining 40 percent. The federal government has also reached an agreement with the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ), the project proponent, which will also own and operate the new rail infrastructure. CMQ closed on the acquisition of the rail assets of the former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic in June 2014 and undertook a multi-year, multi-million capital improvement program. Hope and resilience have come to define the people of Lac-Megantic. For nearly five years, they have worked incredibly hard to recover and rebuild, and create a better future for their community. Today, we take another step forward. And while we know there are some wounds that can never heal, we sincerely hope this new rail bypass marks a new beginning for the people of Lac-Megantic, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In January, the federal government said it would provide financial support of the bypass project, but did not share specific numbers. Quebecs environmental review board, BAPE, published a study in July 2017 identifying several options for a possible bypass route and provided the estimated cost. The province of Quebec says the chosen solution is the most advantageous, both socially and technically and financially. It was developed with a thorough approach and will ensure the well-being of the community over the long term while ensuring that local businesses can continue to benefit from adequate rail transportation. The construction of this bypass is much more than a conventional rail infrastructure project. This is an exceptional response to an exceptional situation, resulting from an extremely painful moment in the history of modern Quebec. With this announcement, the Government of Quebec has just told the Meganticoises and Meganticois that we are at their side, said Quebec Prime Minister Philippe Couillard. (Agencia CMA Latam) - Merval, the benchmark stock market index in Argentina, rose 6.06% to 29,600.66 points Thursday as the country's government started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a precautionary credit line. According to Eduardo Fernandez, from Rava Bursatil, besides that, shares were also boosted by a better performance in stock abroad and positive earnings from companies in Argentina. The government of Argentina will request ask the IMF for a Standby Credit Facility (SCF), according to the country's Finance Minister, Nicolas Dujovne. He is Washington to meet Christine Lagarde, the IMF's director-general. The credit line deal is expected at the beginning of July, said the minister. Agrometal (17.06%), Endesa Costanera (16.83%) and Transportadora de Gas del Sur (12.16%) had the best performances in the Argentinean stock exchange. The locally traded US dollar fell 0.08%, to 22.71 pesos, pausing the recent rally after an intervention of the Argentinean central bank in the foreign exchange market. Gustavo Quintana, from PR Corredores, said that there was "small participation of the BCRA in futures markets and a larger intervention in the spot market, causing a slight recovery in the foreign exchange rate." by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. The Southern Seoul District Prosecutor's office said hard disks and accounting books were confiscated after conducting search at the head office of Upbit exchange in Seoul's Gangnam district. This is the second crackdown on domestic crypto exchanges by South Korean financial regulatory agencies since March. In the first case, Coinnest Chairman Kim Ik-hwan was arrested over embezzlement and fraud charges. Upbit is suspected of transferring customer funds from their cryptocurrency exchange account to a representative or executive account. KBS reported that the Prosecutors raided the exchange over suspicion that it sold more virtual currencies than it held. Upbit confirmed the news, and said the company is working diligently on this. "Currently, all transactions and deposits and withdrawals, such as up-bit services are operating normally, the exchange said in a news release. "The customer's assets are safely stored in the account." Upbit has displayed a caution notice on its website alerting its customers to pay special attention to dealing with the exchange account loan fraud. Upbit is the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, which has a latest 24-hour trading volume of $1.812 billion, according to Coinmarketcap. The South Korean authorities had taken several regulatory actions to control the crypto frenzy that has hit Asia's fourth-largest , which has also emerged as the world's third-largest market for cryptocurrency. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. A US journal has revealed that the Trump administration has abruptly ended an ambitious NASA program that tracks carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The journal, Science, said in its report Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump has waged a broad attack on climate science conducted by NASA, including proposals to cut the budget of earth science research and kill off the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 mission. While Congress fended off these attacks, NASA has moved ahead with plans to end the Carbon Monitoring System, a $10-million-a-year research line. The NASA program had helped stitch together observations of sources and sinks of methane and carbon dioxide into high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon. The program, launched in 2010, has developed tools to improve estimates of carbon stocks in forests, especially, from Alaska to Indonesia. Ending it will complicate future efforts to monitor and verify national emission cuts stemming from the Paris climate deal, researchers say. In June last year, President Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate pact, signed by his predecessor Barack Obama. The agreement was unfair to the world's largest , according to him. Trump said he was prepared to negotiate a new agreement or re-enter the accord on improved terms, but the UN made it clear that the Paris Climate Agreement is a historic treaty signed by over 190 nations and cannot be renegotiated on the request of a single nation. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News AT&T Inc. (T) CEO Randall Stephenson has called hiring President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen as a political consultant a "big mistake," noting recent headlines have damaged the telecom giant's reputation. "There is no other way to say it - AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake," Stephenson said in memo to employees on Friday. Stephenson claimed everything AT&T did was "entirely legitimate" but still called the association with Cohen a "serious misjudgment." "In this instance, our Washington D.C. team's vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that," Stephenson wrote. Stephenson also announced the retirement of Senior Executive Vice President of External & Legislative Affairs Bob Quinn, one of the executives involved in retaining Cohen. The memo from Stephenson comes after it was revealed that AT&T paid Cohen a total of $600,000 for advice on matters including the company's proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner Inc. (TWX). The payment has come under scrutiny as Cohen has been swept up in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. AT&T said it was contacted by Mueller's office regarding Cohen late last year and claims it cooperated fully and provided all information requested. Novartis AG (NVS) CEO Vasant Narasimhan has also expressed regret after it was revealed the drugmaker paid Cohen $1.2 million for advice on healthcare policy matters. "We made a mistake in entering into this engagement and, as a consequence, are being criticized by a world that expects more from us," Narasimhan said in a memo to employees. (Photo: Robert Scoble) For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Editors Pick Tesla is moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, from Palo Alto, California, according to its founder and CEO Elon Musk. The decision, revealed at the company's shareholder meeting, reflects size constraints and the cost of living in the Bay Area. At the meeting, which took place at Tesla's vehicle assembly plant under construction outside of Austin, he further revealed plans to increase produ Dallas, Texas-based Joovy Holding Co. has recalled about 9,200 units of Zoom 360 Ultralight Jogging Strollers citing risk to fall, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The recall involves Zoom 360 Ultralight jogging strollers with SKU 8060, 8061, 8067 and 8069 and a batch number between March 2020 (03-XX-20) and October 2020 (10-XX-20). The stroller label on the inside leg contains t Walmart Inc.'s Sam's Club announced plans to "Bring the Merry" to members all season long by launching shopping events earlier in preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping season. The membership warehouse club offers twice the number of savings events this year compared to last year, along with a new direct-to-home wine program, higher quality gifts, food, dcor and more. (Agencia CMA Latam) - Argentina's negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a stand-by credit line agreement will continue next week in Washington, according to the country's Finance Minister, Nicolas Dujovne. He met Thursday with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the Fund, and said after the meeting that "our teams will continue the dialogue and the necessary information exchange to enter into a detailed discussion about the agreement. Dujovne said that there was no discussion yet about the size of the agreement, but confirmed that Argentina seeks a high access stand-by facility. "This instrument has the necessary flexibility to meet the objective we are looking for," he said. Argentina's government is convinced that the decision to request financial aid from the IMF would help the country achieve sustainable growth, the minister added. Lagarde also announced after the meeting that the IMF is ready to support Argentina. by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. (Agencia CMA Latam) - Brazilian food processing company BRF said that its net loss fell 60.2% in the first quarter from a year before, to R$ 114 million, a weaker result than the R$ 49.76 million loss expected by market analysts. According to the company, the net loss was a result of a higher income tax and a mark-to-market adjustment of the total return swap derivative instrument. Net operating revenues grew 5%, to R$ 8.023 billion - less than the R$ 8.335 billion expected by analysts -, and expenses increased at a lower rate. Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased 54.8% to R$ 783.0 million, while analysts predicted a more intense rise, to R$ 806.8 million. The EBITDA margin stood at 9.5%, up 310 basis point from the first quarter fo 2017. Analysts, however, expected a 9.62% margin. BRF sales volume in the quarter rose 5.7% to 1.225 million tons. by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. (Agencia CMA Latam) - The United States government stated that it supports Argentina and the country's initiative to request a stand-by credit line to the Internation Monetary Fund (IMF). The announcement comes after a meeting between the Minister of Finance Argentine, Nicolas Dujovne, and the undersecretary of the United States Treasury for International Affairs, David Malpass. Japan also backed Macri administration's plan to ask for IMF support. On Wednesday, during a telephone conversion with Argentina's chancellor, Jorge Faurie, his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono reported that Japan "supports the structural reforms that the Argentine government carries out since it understands that they contribute to a more open and integrated to the world," according to the Argentinean Foreign Ministry. China was another country that expressed support for Argentinas credit line request. by Agencia CMA Latam For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Humanitarian Affairs Authority condemns targeting Presidential Office [11/May/2018] br> SANAA, May 11 (Saba) - The National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Response condemned the brutal crime committed by the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition which bombed the Presidential Office in downtown capital Sanaa, in a statement received by the Saba News Agency on Friday. The National Authority condemned the attack on the Presidential Office, becouse it is a civil service facility protected by international humanitarian and human rights laws, which killed and wounded dozens and damaging public and private properties. The statement called on human rights, humanitarian organizations, the international community, the Security Council and UN bodies to work for stopping the aggression and carry their duties to protect civilians in Yemen. The statement called on local and international organizations to carry their humanitarian duties towards Yemen from war crimes and total destruction which committed by the aggression as well as its responsibilities in protecting human rights and punishing the perpetrators of such crimes based on international conventions and laws. Sameera Hassn Saba Congress candidate N. Munirathna Naidu from Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly segment has been booked in connection with the recovery of about 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat, along with over a lakh counterfoils of acknowledgement slips, police said on Thursday. "He (Naidu) was named as an accused in the FIR registered on Thursday on the basis of a complaint over the recovery of the voter ID cards from the apartment," Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Bijay Kumar Singh told IANS here. Naidu is also an outgoing legislator of the ruling party from the same constituency he is contesting in the May 12 Karnataka Assembly polls. The Congress candidate was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Representation of People Act, 1951, for bribery and undue influence in an election. The police had arrested two persons on Wednesday -- one for committing the electoral offence of keeping a large number of voter cards there and another for breaking into the apartment where the voter cards and counterfoils were kept, without informing the Election Commission (EC) authorities, Singh told IANS earlier. State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Kumar told reporters here on Wednesday that a total of 9,896 voter cards and over a lakh counterfoils resembling acknowledgement slips were seized from a flat in the assembly constituency. Preliminary investigation showed that the voter cards were genuine, but the counterfoils were yet to be verified, Kumar had said. "All the materials have been seized and investigation is going on under the supervision of the EC. The materials indicate a planned work over a period of time to survey and locate the vulnerable electors and induce them through middlemen," he said. The ruling Congress blamed the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the incident, calling it a conspiracy hatched by the party leaders in the apartment that allegedly belonged to a former BJP Corporator Manjula Nanjamari. On the other hand, the BJP urged the EC to countermand the election in the constituency, terming the incident an attempt by the ruling Congress to rig the election. The Assembly election across 223 constituencies of the state will be held on May 12. Votes will be counted on May 15. Of the 225-member lower House, election in the Jayanagar seat in south Bangalore has been countermanded owing to the death of BJP candidate B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4, while one member is nominated. The Punjab Police on Thursday said it has arrested two men, armed by foreign-based Khalistani handlers, to carry out targeted killings in the state. It was part of a nefarious design to radicalise and use Punjabi youths to create a communal divide in the state to further their separatist Khalistani agenda, police added. Accused Sandeep Singh and Amar Singh were arrested from the Faridkot-Kotkapura highway after their motorcycle collided with a Mahindra Scorpio vehicle. "The accused have links with terror modules busted in connection with the targeted killings reported in the state," a police spokesman said here on Thursday. A search on their persons led to the seizure of two .30-bore pistols and 40 rounds, provided by their handlers, he added. He said that the two were in touch with Australia-based Gurjant Singh, who has been charged by the National Investigation Agency in the October 2017 murder of Ravinder Gosain of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Ludhiana. "On questioning, the two disclosed that they had been in touch with their handlers through social media and encrypted VoIP calls, and were assigned the task of carrying out killings of targets to be assigned by their handlers. The terror module was busted by Punjab Police on May 29 last year. "The link of these two youths with other possible module members and Khalistani operatives is being investigated," the spokesman said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday jointly flagged off a bus service connecting Janakpur with Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. "Mere Bhai, this welcome is an honour to all Indian citizens. I am really happy with you the way you welcomed me here," Modi told Oli. Modi meets Oli in temple Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day trip to Nepal, on Friday met his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Oli at the famous Ram Janaki temple here. Oli, dressed in a salwar kurta, welcomed Modi at the temple after he arrived here in the morning for his third official visit to the Himalayan nation. The two leaders jointly performed a special puja at the shrine in the temple town of Janakpur, some 225 km from capital Kathmandu. Modi's visit to Nepal comes a month after Oli visited India. "These high-level and regular interactions reflect my government's commitment to the 'neighbourhood first' policy, in consonance with the motto of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'," Modi said in a statement. Modi and Oli jointly flagged off a bus service connecting Janakpur with Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. They will also inaugurate the inclusion of Janakpur at Ramayana Circuit under the Indian government's Swadesh Darshan scheme. Modi will then attend a civic reception organised by the Janakpur sub-metropolitan city. He will leave for Kathmandu later in the day to hold delegation level talks with Oli. SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com May-10-2018 22:12 TweetFollow @OregonNews Palestinian Refugees Suffer Setback in Lebanon's Parliamentary Election Palestinians in Lebanon continue their struggle to achieve the elementary civil rights to work and to own a home (Shatila Refugee Camp, BEIRUT) - Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have no right to vote and that has never been a significant issue with them. As refugees they are not citizens of Lebanon and have never sought naturalization. Rather, their focus continues to be on acquiring at least some elementary civil rights pending full return to their own country, Palestine. Admittedly, the hostility toward all refugees in Lebanon these days predictably would shrink the pro-Palestinian Parliamentary election lobbying results of the Beirut-Washington, DC Palestine Civil Rights Campaign (PCRC) among others. Still, it had been hoped that the make-up of the new 128 seat Parliament, would increase the chances that Lebanons Parliament would grant Palestinian refugees, after 70 years since their forced Exodus from Palestine the most basic civil rights to work and to own a home. These rights are granted to every refugee world-wide except to Palestinians in sectarianized Lebanon. The Palestine Civil Rights Campaign (PCRC) has for nearly a dozen years been working to convince Lebanons Parliament to take 90 minutes of its time to achieve the following humanitarian initiatives and for candidates seeking a seat in Parliament to include in their electoral platform a commitment to: Amend legislation that restricts the ability of Palestinian refugees to own property, specifically Presidential Decree 11614 of 4 January 1969, as modified by law 296 of April 3, 2001. This anti-Palestinian decree prohibits people who do "not carry a citizenship issued by a recognized state" from securing legal title to real estate in Lebanon. Since most Palestinians are stateless, the decree's effect is to deny them the right to have legal title to a home outside the squalid camps. This anti-Palestinian decree prohibits people who do "not carry a citizenship issued by a recognized state" from securing legal title to real estate in Lebanon. Since most Palestinians are stateless, the decree's effect is to deny them the right to have legal title to a home outside the squalid camps. Lift any remaining restrictions on the entry of building and maintenance materials and equipment into Palestinian refugee camps. Remove restrictions on employment. Palestinian refugees, by international humanitarian law are to be given the same access to the labor market as other refugees and Lebanese nationals. With respect to employment, the Lebanese Labor Law of 1962 treats Palestinian refugees like other non-Lebanese and requires them to have a work permit. Rules for issuing work permits are subject to the principle of reciprocity, according to which Lebanon grants the right to work only to nationals of other states whose countries grant Lebanese citizens the right to work. Again, since Palestine is not yet recognized as a state, Palestinians are excluded from many jobs. So what happened with last weekends voting to undercut Palestinian hopes in Lebanons 12 camps and what became of all that campaign rhetoric about human rights and the Resistance will liberate Palestine beginning in Lebanons camps? To gain the possibility of some civil rights noted above, pro-Palestinian law makers in Lebanon (regrettably a dying breed nowadays) needed support from a combined simple majority of half plus-one of the 128 MP seats in Parliament, i.e. 65 members. Factors relevant to the final vote results included the following: Low voter turnout Just 49.2 percent of Lebanons 3.6 million eligible voters decided to bother to vote as opposed, down from 54 percent in 2009. The most common explanation this observer heard was that standing in line for two hours or more to vote in an election that would very likely bring zero change was a waste of time. It has been estimated that no fewer than 35 percent of the votes cast in Lebanons previous elections were bought and paid for and this years unproven estimate is closer to 50%. The going price was $ 200 per vote. It is not clear to this observer how some citizens were able to sell several votes but its true that many Lebanese have a reputation for being good at business. Confusing new election law The low voter turnout can also be explained by the confusing and complicated new electoral law that required citizens to vote for whole party lists at a time of new electoral combinations. This meant, for example, that in some districts Sunnis were forced to vote for their traditional rivals such as the Michel Aouns Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) if they wanted the Sunni candidate Saad Hariri to serve again as Prime Minister. This was because Hariris Future Movement was linked with Aouns FPM on the ballot. Consequently, a relatively strong supporter of Palestinians in Lebanon, Hariri's party suffered the election's biggest blow, dropping around a third of its seats or from 33 to 21. Hezbollah-backed Sunnis did much better, mainly in Beirut, Tripoli, and Sidon, securing ten of the twenty-seven Sunni-allocated seats. The results suggest that Lebanons pro-Palestinian Sunni community is also deeply fractured and non-focused due in significant measure to perceived current feeble leadership. A just released (5/10/2018) breakdown by the Interior Ministry of preferential votes gained by each winning candidate, has exposed many discrepancies that have parties already insisting that there must be reform of the new electoral law and questioning the election results. Parties that have long opposed granting Palestinians the right to work did well at the polls The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) which Lebanons President Michel Aoun headed for years and which is currently politically partnered with Hezbollah, expanded its voting bloc from 21 to 29 members. Michel Aoun is rabidly anti-Palestinian, and the FPM will not support any civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon until there is a progressive change in leadership. The Shia AMAL Movement, Hezbollahs Shiite ally, picked up several seats and they also oppose civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon despite international humanitarian law precepts requiring them. The anti-Palestinian party that gained the most Parliamentary seats than in the 2009 election is Samir Geageas Christian party Lebanese Forces (LF) which increased its share from eight to fifteen Parliamentary seats. This is another setback for Palestinians given Geageas long and violent anti-Palestinian history and the role of the Lebanese Forces during the 1982 Sabra-Shatila Massacre and orchestrating other anti-Palestinian violence before and since. Geagea is now positioned to run for President of Lebanon and shares the hostility toward Palestinians in Lebanon of Lebanons current President, Michel Aoun of the FPM. Another winner during the May 6th election is Hezbollah. While it won the same number of seats as in 2009 when it secured 13, today with its network of alliances, it arguably can secure a majority in parliament, exercising a veto power over Parliamentary decisions, and legalizing its weapons arsenal, one of its main goals. An important reason for Hezbollah and its allys election victory was their more effective use of sectarian appeals. Although many Shia have criticized Hezbollahs involvement in Syria, they have become less vocal recently partly one imagines because of their perceived success of the pro-Assad coalitions recent string of victories in Syria, which resulted in fewer dead Lebanese Shia, and that Hezbollah is still viewed as the protector of the Shia. Iran and Hezbollah, since before they entered the sectarian war in Syria were making it plain that they will not support elementary civil rights to work or to home ownership for the camp refugees. This, despite incessantly playing a false Palestinian Resistance card to gain support from those who do believe in the case for Palestinian civil rights. The pro-Palestinian Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), headed by Walid Jumblatt, did manage to gain one additional seat in recent election. But unfortunately, it will help very little to gain Palestinians some civil rights. The 5/6/2018 Lebanese electoral result is a serious setback for Palestinians seeking civil rights in Lebanon. A pro-Palestinian grassroots movement of activists, journalists and other political newcomers called Kollouna Watani (We are all Patriots) managed to win a seat in Parliament and claim that any presence in parliament was a landmark victory for its campaign against patronage in an era when politics is run as a family business. Some see this as a significant political breakthrough as the number of activists in Lebanon has been dramatically rising in several areas. In addition to the further blow to Palestinians in Lebanon gaining elementary civil rights from this years election, not much will change here politically. Lebanons fractured society has not been altered. It remains a divided, sectarian country where clientelism1 reigns and creates the political culture that has kept it from becoming a democracy in the past, currently and quite likely for the foreseeable future. Carlos Edde, Head of Lebanons National Bloc Party, recently explained about Lebanon, While it has the appearance of a democracy, it is in fact a plutocratic oligarchy. Electoral lists have no political cohesion or logic and election laws are always designed to protect the ruling class. "The present one has an even more hideous characteristic in that it has transformed the electoral campaign outside areas controlled by Hezbollah into a general saloon brawl among foes and allies as well. Despite the recent election results, Palestinians in Lebanon will continue their struggle to achieve the elementary civil rights to work and to own a home. Their prospects will increase if more of their international supporters active on myriad internet blogs will focus on their plight in Lebanon and hopefully many will come to Lebanon to help organize an effective grassroots civil rights campaign. Lebanese politicians can be persuaded to apply international humanitarian law principles, rules and standards and grant Palestinian refugees the elementary civil rights to work and to own a home. They must be approached personally with the facts from many UN and other studies demonstrating how granting these rights will grow Lebanons economy and help unify the country. There is much political work to be done here in Lebanons 12 refugee camps but Lebanons Palestinians are organizing to do it. 1a social order that depends upon relations of patronage; in particular, a political approach that emphasizes or exploits such relations _________________________________________ Israel | Palestine | Racism | Justice | Most Commented on Articles for May 9, 2018 | Articles for May 10, 2018 | Articles for May 11, 2018 The Shanghai Construction group was awarded the best construction project for 2017 during the grand opening of the Faleolo International Airport yesterday. Chairperson of the Board for Samoa Airport Authority, Vaatuitui Apete Meredith announced the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructures (M.W.T.I.) decision to award the Shanghai Construction group. After many inspections and site visits to view the construction projects on Upolu and Savaii, we are proud to announce the Ministrys decision to award the best construction project for 2017 to the Samoa Airport Authority nominee, Shanghai Construction Group, Vaatuitui said. President of Shanghai construction received the M.W.T.I. 2017 award from the Minister for Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang. Im very privileged and honoured this morning to make this presentation, said Papaliitele. Its a special award in recognition of the work carried out by the Shanghai Construction Group. On our tour this morning, people will witness the quality and I do believe that you will all agree it was a job well done. Shanghai Constructions Project Manager for the Faleolo International Airport, Jerry Shi Linjie received the award on behalf of the corporation. The 32-year-old said to the Samoa Observer that he was very grateful for the award and thanked the team effort of both Chinese and Samoan contractors in achieving the finished product. We are very happy with the end result and we are very grateful, said Mr. Shi. I think we are doing a very good job for the Samoa Airport Authority for this project and also we will work for them again for the coming year to see how we will maintain the plan and working together with their team." The Samoa Airport authority, they have two guys that can speak Chinese because they used to study in China, so we are good in communication." We have lots of relationships with locals, first our company has lots of local employees and also we have employed a lot of local sub-contractors. The ashphalt outside is from Ott and the transportation works are from Silva Transport Co. Ltd and we have many materials from A.C.P. and Ah Liki." We have supervision from C.A. consultants and all airport technicians. They are always working together with us not only the training but when we install something, they are behind us on stand by and thats good for the maintenance job later. The young project manager has been in Samoa for eight years starting work here when he was just 24 years old and has been juggling his family life in China with his work life in Samoa. Mr. Shi said to the Samoa Observer that being far away from his family is made easier with the warm reception by locals, including the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who always jokes about how young he looks. I think the best thing about living here in Samoa is the people, they are very warm. Usually everyone greets me with smiles and always says talofa and we treat each other like a family and everything is good." Last time the Prime Minister saw me he said I look only 18 years old, I think its because how small I look to him, but this year hes getting better, he said I look 21, he laughed. The Shanghai Construction company will continue to have a presence for at least another year as per the conditions of the warranty and to conduct any necessary maintenance of the building. The runway and aprons of Faleolo International Airport are due to be repaved and new lights installed with funding from the World Bank. Other phases of the project will include the introduction of aero bridges and dedicated power centres. Samoa and American Samoa are being used by foreigners who are non-Samoans to smuggle drugs into the countries. So claims American Samoas Deputy Treasurer, Keith Gebauer, in response to questions from the Samoa Observer. Recently, the American Samoa Custom presented to a visiting delegation of various federal departments and agencies that were formed under a regional taskforce to address the increased drug related activities throughout the Pacific. Unfortunately, the use of the Post Office isn't a new avenue for the illegal transportation of drugs and contraband but an area that we are placing our resources to combat the importation, he said. I will confirm that we discussed and highlighted numerous seizures of illegal drugs and contraband by Customs agents at all points of entry into the territory." These included Post Office, inter-island flights, wharf and airport. The types of contraband and illegal drugs confiscated were methamphetamines, cannabis, seeds and other types of unknown medicines." We also discussed several drug-related cases pending criminal proceedings. He also pointed to a number of incidents and seizures that involved foreign-born travelers (not from Samoa) who reach the territory through Samoa. These incidents and seizures included Chinese labeled medicines (often concealed) and other undeclared contraband, he told the Samoa Observer. Last year, Samoas Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil admitted that Samoa is one of the gateways for the smuggling of drugs to bigger countries. But its not just Samoa, its the same for Tahiti where a yacht was recently caught with a large quantity of cocaine with a street value in millions of dollars, he said then. At the time, the Commissioner was elaborating on the importance of having the Pacific Transnational Crime Network (P.T.C.N.) in all the Pacific Islands. Currently, there are 16 countries which are members of the P.T.C.N. with the newest member being American Samoa, where their Transnational Crime Unit was officially opened last month. He emphasised the importance of P.T.C.N. which provides an inter-connected, proactive transnational criminal intelligence and investigative capability for the Pacific. The network is a multi-agency law enforcement approach, primarily consisting of police, customs and immigration officers with close links to various other agencies. According to the Commissioner, Samoa is not immune as the bad guys target the small island nations to get through to the bigger countries which have the money to buy and sell these types of drugs. When there are drugs, there are guns and when those two mix up, its always deadly and thats why the T.C.U. in the Pacific works day and night to stop these types of transactions, said Fuiavailiili. In January, 2017, 1.4 tons of cocaine was seized in the region on two other yachts. Samoas Police Commissioner further told Samoa Observer at the time that currently they are keen to get their law enforcement officers to undergo training and workshops to upskill their methods of tackling these issues. Its (drug trafficking) happening in the Pacific and it will happen in Samoa if we are not watchful about securing our borders. Thats why its relatively important to work with Customs and the Attorney Generals Office to tackle these difficult issues. During the Pacific Immigration Directors Conference (P.I.D.C.) press conference, last year Agafili said criminals are using Samoa as a gateway to New Zealand and Australia. He said aside from drugs smuggling, there is also human trafficking or people smuggling that is becoming more common and this is because of Samoas proximity to New Zealand and Australia. He further stated the increase of organised crime is increasing due to the availability of technology and these crimes are happening all over the world and Samoa is no exception from being affected indirectly from these crimes. Agafili, at the time of the press conference, stated having the Samoa Transnational Crime Unit in Samoa alongside other law enforcement agencies will assist in border protection for Samoa. A son of Samoa has been honoured with one of New Zealands most prestigious Arts award. Maualaivao Albert Wendt has won the Icon Award 2018, as recognition for his significant contribution to the arts and to the lives of New Zealanders. He was among five recipients of the award for this year. Maualaivao received his award from the Governor General, Dame Patsy Reddy during a prestigious ceremony at Government House, Wellington. Arts Foundation Chair, Garth Gallaway, said "There are some artists who have a profound impact on the nation. The Icon Awards celebrates the achievements of those artists so that all New Zealanders can acknowledge our living greats and to learn more about their work and contributions". The 2018 recipients were selected by Arts Foundation Trustees and Governors. The recipients join a living circle of twenty artists celebrated as Icons and receive a medallion and pin designed by stone sculptor, John Edgar. The artist has the pin forever, while the medallion is presented to a successor at a future ceremony. In a moving part of the ceremony, the medallions of Sir Ian Athfield (architect), Jack Body (composer), Marti Friedlander (photographer), Peter Godfrey (musician) and Dr Cliff Whiting (artist, heritage, advocate, teacher) were presented to the 2018 recipients by a family member representing the previous holder of the medallion. Thirty-eight Icons have been honoured with the award. Previously awarded recipients include Janet Frame, Margaret Mahy, Ralph Hotere and Sir Peter Jackson. Maualaivao has been writing and publishing since the early 1960s and is recognised internationally as one of New Zealands, Samoas, and the Pacifics major novelists, poets, and intellectuals. Over the past forty years, his writing, his teaching and research have helped change how Samoa, the Pacific, and New Zealand are perceived. Other Icon award winners were: Billy Apple ONZM Visual artist, Fred Graham ONZM Carver & Sculptor, Bill Manhire CNZM Poet & Writer and Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead DNZM Composer. About the Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Awards The Icon Awards are the Arts Foundation's most prestigious awards, created to honour New Zealands greatest artists during their lifetime. Limited to a living circle of twenty recipients, these artists have all made a significant contribution to New Zealand and to their art form. Former Arts Foundation Trustee, Sir Hugh Kawharu, gifted the words whakamana i te hiranga to describe the Icon Awards. The words can be interpreted as to give honour at an occasion of great significance. Sir Hugh said that each Icon recipient shares his or her mana with fellow Icons through reciprocity, each Icons mana being enhanced through association with the group. A man convicted of sexual connections involving two young girls living in his family has been sentenced to three years in prison. Sentencing was handed down by Supreme Court Justice, Vui Clarence Nelson. Aleki Laki pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sexual connection with a dependent family member who are under the ages of 21. According to Justice Vui, the two girls involved in this matter were at the time living with the defendant and his wife. Justice Vui issued a suppression order on the publication of details of the victims, including the place of the offending. The unchallenged Police Summary of Facts says that in relation to the primary victim whom I will call Victim A between 1 October and 10 October 2015 while she was asleep with her cousins in the living room of the defendants house, the defendant approached her late at night, noted Justice Vui. He said Victim A tried to push him away but the defendant was too strong and had sex with the young girl. She was not successful in her efforts to push the defendant away. According to the Police Summary of Facts, there were two other incidents involving the defendant and Victim A. The next one occurred between 1 November and 30 November 2015 and again between 1 December and 31 December 2015 again late at night and while the victim was sleeping. The matter involving the second Victim B occurred on a different date in December, it was on Sunday, 20 December about 7:00 p.m. At that time, the victim was walking from her house on an inland road and met the defendant. He asked her where she had gone and she said she went to get some clothes. The defendant then said to her ao se kisi foi alu ai. The victim responded if he was not satisfied with her aunty whom he was married to. The summary relates the defendant then went and sat on a coconut tree trunk and called the victim over and she obliged. The victim went over, sat on his lap and he started kissing her and had sexual intercourse with her. Afterwards, the defendant dropped the victim off to where she was headed. She later returned to the defendants house. The matter came to light and was reported to the Police around February 2016. Following the investigation, the defendant was charged and initially entered not guilty pleas to the charges. Subsequently, he changed plea to guilty when the matter came on for trial in April this year. File also shows there was a period where a warrant was issued for the defendants non-appearance and this probably accounts for the delay in dealing with this matter, which dates back to 2015. The purposes and principles of sentencing that apply to this case are firstly that the sentence should hold the defendant accountable for the harm he has done. Also to promote in him responsibility and acknowledgment of the harm he has caused. And to denounce the conduct that he engaged in with these young girls living in his family, said Justice Vui. The Supreme Court Justice noted the sentence should also deter the defendant from repeating this in the future and to send a message to all males living with young females and those under their care. Justice Vui noted that based on the facts and circumstances of this matter, the prosecution has asked that sentence start at five years in prison. They point to the aggravating factors, which includes a significant breach of trust. The defendant was a father figure to these girls. His position did not justify his using them as sexual play things. Girls were both young and vulnerable and were subjected to advances by a man twice their age under whose care and protection they were living under. The offending has had significant impact on the victims. In their Victim Impact Reports for example, Victim B talks about how the memory of this still affects her relationship with her husband. Victim B is now married. Victim As Victim Impact Report talks about how she lost her virginity to the defendant and how she felt relief when the Police investigation resulted in charges against him so that this behaviour against her could stop. She still feels shame and embarrassment when she thinks about what happened. Both girls expressed disappointment that no personal apology was made to either of them by the defendant, only the family to family reconciliation. It is also notable that in relation to Victim A, there was some pre-meditation involved in the offending because this happened at night when the rest of the family had gone to sleep. This is serious offending. Young girls under the care of older male relatives are entitled to feel safe and protected not only from external forces, but from family members. This kind of predatory behaviour is sadly becoming common in our country and it must stop. Offenders must understand that the price for such behaviour is most likely imprisonment for the protection of young and vulnerable females in every family in our country, stated Justice Vui. He pointed out the cases of these two young girls are not alike. In relation to Victim B, it was only one off offending and was opportunistic in nature. In that the defendant saw an opportunity and took it. For Victim A, it was multiple offending over a greater period of time. The circumstances in relation to her are also more aggravating in that the offences were committed at night in the family home. I will take different approaches to each offending, noted Justice Vui. In respect of the matter involving Victim A, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years, I will start sentencing at half the maximum penalty namely seven years. Justice Vui noted the defendants good background of service he rendered to his family as outlined in the pre-sentence report. Supported by references from your faifeau and pulenuu, it is also clear you are a first offender. To reflect those factors I deduct six months. There has been a family reconciliation, a gathering was held where you knelt and apologised to the aiga. An indication of your true remorse for what you did. For those matters I will deduct a further six months that leaves a balance of six years in prison. A substantial and appropriate penalty was imposed on you by the village council. That has been fully satisfied. I deduct one year for that, leaving a balance of five years. For your guilty plea, that is also worthy of a significant deduction for the reason that it has saved the Court its valuable time and limited resources. And most importantly, it has spared the young girls having to come to Court and talk about these things. For that I will deduct a period of two years from the balance of sentence, leaves three years in prison. No further adjustment needs to be made to your balance of sentence. On the charges in relation to Victim A, you will be convicted and ordered to serve three years in prison each charge but terms concurrent. On the one charge concerning Victim B, I adopt a start point of three years in prison and after deduction for mitigating factors an end sentence of 18 months is reached. On that charge, you will be convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison also to be served concurrent to the other term. End result is you will serve three years in prison for this matter. Any time spent in custody is to be deducted, ordered Justice Vui. District Court Judge, Alalatoa Rosella Papalii, has discharged without conviction the President of the Lands and Titles, Fepuleai Atilla Ropati, who pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm. A sentencing will be appealed by Attorney General Lemalu Herman Retzlaff, this was confirmed in a statement issued. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General, Rexona Titi, while Aumua Ming Leung Wai represented the defendant. Lemalu pointed out that Fepuleai assaulted a member of the community using two bottles causing injuries to the victims head that required medical treatment. The gravity of this offending was in our respectful view, far too serious for the defendant to be granted this result by the District Court. The sentence imposed needs to be revisited. And I have instructed my Assistant Attorney General Ms. Rexona Titi to file the appeal and I commend her for the job she undertook to prosecute this matter with the objectivity and integrity it required, said the A.G. During sentencing, Ms. Titi recommended jail time for the defendant. We have submitted two options for your honour's consideration, its a recommendation for four and a half years imprisonment as starting points before any adjustments have been made, which is most likely will go down. We also proposed that should your honour consider an alternative to imprisonment, then we recommend that it is a case that warrants conviction with an appropriate fine of a penalty of other means of sentencing that your honour sees fit, which should reflect the gravity of this offense, said Ms. Titi. Aumua, during his submissions, asked for the Courts leniency in the sentencing of Fepuleai. The Defense Counsel noted that Fepuleai made a terrible mistake, which attributed to the momentary lapse of judgement. The mistake which should have never had happened especially from a person such as the accused. He has apologised to the victim and was accepted. The accused is truly remorseful and is aware that his offending could cost him his career on the bench, a career he excelled at because within 18 months he presided as President of the Lands and Titles Court, he delivered 360 decisions, a remarkable feat which points to a remarkable judge who is dedicated, intelligent and hard working. As for the penalty, we respectfully seek the accused be discharged without conviction. As we submit the consequences of a conviction would be out of proportion to the gravity of the offending. We understand that discharge without conviction is also the recommendation of the pre-sentence report, said Aumua. He then read out what Fepuleai submitted in an affidavit to the Court, which was in Samoan. Despite being unhappy with the security guard drinking alcohol on the job, I know I have no right to assault him, said Fepuleai. He expressed remorse and is humble before God for what had occurred. Fepuleai apologised to the victim and his family, the honourable Court, Prime Minister and members of the public. He further apologised to his Church Ministers and the church because the incident ruined the reputation of the Church and his mother and family. In sentencing, Judge Alalatoa noted that having considered everything: I am satisfied that the consequences of the conviction will be out of proportion to the gravity of the offending. I dont see your case, Fepuleai, as an exceptional case compared to the Supreme Court matters, which Justice Vaai discharged the accused there without conviction and ordered her to pay prosecution costs at $1,000. Yet in comparison, it is arguable that the matter had more aggravating factors. According to Judge Alalatoa, the defendant in that case denied the charge of intent to cause bodily harm and armed with a dangerous weapon, namely a pipe was used to strike the head of the victim. The defendant was found guilty and in sentencing, Justice Vaai said the whole incident could have been avoided had the accused exercised maturity and common sense and not succumb to accusations of her drunken assault son, who just punched his mother in law on the face. The defendant was overcome by anger and she was at the end of the day a grandmother and mother to her children who live overseas. The accused was, according to Justice Vaai, an ordinary mom. Prosecution says the difference between this matter and your (Fepuleai) matter is because this case was a domestic dispute where the current matter involved in their view, an element of exercising authority. I do not accept that argument. Just because the incident happened as a domestic case for Fepuleai doesn't make it any less severe than any. In fact, in my view it is a lot worse than your matter, said Judge Alalatoa. According to the Judge, the incident occurred at a social event where alcohol was involved. I know that this is a one off incident Fepuleai and I also know this will not be repeated. I accept what you said as read out by your Counsel, said Judge, Alalatoa. Fepuleai has to pay $1,000 restitution to the victim, $300 court fees, $100 for prosecution fees and $100 probation cost. This is to be paid on Tuesday 15 May, 2018 by 10am. He was also ordered to undergo counseling with the Drugs and Alcohol Court. Judge Alalatoa concluded by thanking the lawyers in the case and she also thanked Fepuleai and parties who were present in Court. With a sunlit La Jolla coastal afternoon and a savory sea breeze as backdrop, San Diegos biggest living biotech legends gathered with supporters of cancer research. Wednesdays kick-off party for the 25th Annual Luau and Legends of Surfing Invitational fundraiser featured Dr. Ivor Royston and Howard Birndorf, who founded San Diegos first biotech company, Hybritech, 40 years ago. Luau organizers Sam Armstrong and John Otterson discussed the meaning of Hybritech and the importance of the luau in funding early stage researchers. Armstrong referred to one history-making example in which a researcher nearly gave up, but was inspired to go on because of a philanthropic grant. That researcher was Carl June, who pioneered the revolutionary CAR T cell therapy for cancer. Advertisement Otterson also referred to his father, the late Bill Otterson, who died in 1999. He was the founding director of Connect, an independent non-profit promoting technology entrepreneurship. You know whos up there looking down, beaming at you guys today, Otterson said to Royston and Birndorf, pointing skyward with his right hand. The Luau will be held Aug. 19 at Scripps Pier. Go to https://luaulegendsofsurfing.org/ for more information. Birndorf and Royston will be presented with the Rell Sunn Award, which honors the memory of Rell Kapoliokaehukai Sunn. Known as the First Lady of Surfing, Sunn was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 32. Despite being told she only had months to live, Sunn battled the cancer and continued to enjoy her life until dying in 1998, when she was 47. Royston, trained as an oncologist, began his research career looking for new ways to fight cancer. He and Birndorf thought that the then-exotic field of monoclonal antibodies would provide a better way. They brought along people who became biotech pillars, such as Tina Nova, David Hale, Kim Blickenstaff, Tom Adams and Cam Garner. There was a sense of brilliance, that they were going to do things that normal people couldnt imagine, said San Diego Councilwoman Barbara Bry, who wrote about Hybritech in the early 1980s as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. To this brilliance, add a youthful work-hard, party-hearty ethos that clashed with the more sober-minded executives of Eli Lilly & Co, which purchased Hybritech in 1986. Nova characterized that disconnect to me several years ago as Animal House meets The Waltons. $60 million for muscle spasm drug Neurana Pharmaceuticals has raised $60 million to bring a drug for acute muscle spasms to the North American market, the San Diego startup said this week. Privately held Neurana has licensed the drug, tolperisone, from the Austrian pharmaceutical company Sanochemia AG. David F. Hale (BIocom ) Tolperisone is sold in Europe and Asia but not the United States. Thats because the drug contains impurities that exceed whats allowed by U.S. regulators, said David F. Hale, the companys chairman and interim president and CEO and a Hybritech veteran. Sanochemia has developed a process to make a purer compound that meets U.S. standards, said Hale, who founded the company with Jeffrey Raser in 2013. Tolperisone is the companys first drug, Hale said. There may be other drugs later, but for now Neurana is focused on getting it approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug is most useful for back and neck muscle spasms and spasticity, Hale said. The improved formulation has patent protection until 2032 because of its new process of manufacture. Neurana plans to begin a study later this year that will compare doses to show safety and effectiveness in neck and back muscle spasms. Unlike competing drugs like cyclobenzaprine, tolperisone doesnt sedate the user, Neurana said in a statement announcing the funding. The company said its study indicates that cyclobenzaprine produced significant impairment, while tolperisones effect was equal to a placebo. The financing was led by Sofinnova Ventures, along with New Leaf Venture Partners, H.I.G. BioHealth Partners, Longitude Capital and MagnaSci Ventures. Human induced neurons generated by Scripps Research scientists with a precise method of making neurons from IPS cells. (The Scripps Research Institute ) Its a cookbook! Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered how to precisely create the many different types of neurons present in the brain. This neuronal cookbook, as they call it, could create more accurate models of brain diseases. A study demonstrating the method was published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The method improves upon neurons generated from what are called induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS) artificial embryonic stem cells that can be made from skin cells. These IPS cells can be grown into nearly any type of cell in the body. However, the technology often generates cells that are slightly off from the intended cell type. Moreover, the human brain has hundreds of types of neurons some estimates go into the thousands. A team led by TSRIs Kristin Baldwin discovered that certain proteins called transcription factors create a chemical code for creating neurons. They isolated 76 pairs of these transcription factors that guide a skin cell along the path to becoming neurons of precise subtypes. These neurons are of a more uniform nature than standard IPS cells. Click here for the Nature story. Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1020 Democrats joined Republicans on Thursday to pass a bill looking for a place to deposit the growing stockpile of nuclear waste generated by power plants across the country including the 3.55 million pounds of spent fuel at the San Onfore Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), sitting just yards from the Pacific Ocean. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted 340-72 in favor of what is called the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendment Act that calls for restarting the licensing process at the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. Though the Yucca Mountain debate dominated the discussion on the House floor, the bill also authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy to construct a potential interim storage facility to accept waste from nuclear facilities. This is good news; its a big step forward, said Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego. Its a necessary step in order to get that material away from the ocean, away from our communities to a place where it can be secure. Advertisement SONGS sits between the Pacific and one of the busiest freeways in the country Interstate 5. About 8.4 million people live in a 50-mile radius of the plant in an area with a history of seismic activity. The federal government must keep its commitment to safely dispose of nuclear waste and this proposal will put us back on track to advance to a long-term permanent site as well as more immediate interim options, said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who also voted in favor of the bill. The legislation still has hurdles to clear. No nuclear storage legislation has been introduced in the Senate this session, although Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, plans to put forth a bi-partisan bill in the coming weeks that would emphasize finding potential interim sites rather than focusing on Yucca Mountain. Located about 100 miles from Las Vegas, Yucca Mountain has been opposed by Nevada lawmakers since it was first discussed back in the 1980s. With the urging of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the Obama administration cut off funding for Yucca Mountain in 2010. All of the members of the Nevada delegation in the House voted against the bill Thursday. If you generate nuclear waste, you should keep it in your own backyard, Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nevada, said before the vote. Dont be sending it to our backyard. But should a bill get through both houses of Congress, indications are that President Donald Trump would sign it. The Trump administration has called for Congress to come up with $120 million in initial funding to revive Yucca Mountain and Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said the government has a moral obligation to find a solution. About 80,000 metric tons of spent fuel has accumulated at nuclear reactor sites in 39 states. Sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois, the bill passed Thursday would increase Yucca Mountains capacity from 70,000 metric tons to 110,000 metric tons a 37 percent increase. David Victor, chairman of the SONGS Community Engagement Panel and a professor of international relations at UC San Diego, said the bills passage represented very good news but said too much attention was paid to the Yucca Mountain portion of the bill. Victor is a supporter of finding interim storage facilities to get the waste off the beach at San Onofre as well as other facilities in California and beyond. The politics of Yucca, the engineering of Yucca, the licensing its a nightmare, Victor said. The earliest possible date that Yucca could start accepting shipments, if everything goes right, is in the early 2030s. Interim facilities, on the other hand, could be up and running by the early 2020s, Victor said. One potential interim site may be found in an isolated portion of New Mexico. The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, named for two counties in southeastern New Mexico, has partnered with New Jersey-based Holtec International to get the federal governments OK to build a project storing up to 8,680 metric tons of commercial nuclear waste. Were still on track, said John Heaton, the alliances chairman, by telephone. Its hard to predict the regulatory process but we would expect, easily, by 2022 to begin operations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted an application from the developers and scoping meetings are underway, Heaton said. A potential site has also been discussed in a remote area of West Texas. Waste Control Specialists owns a facility that already stores low-level radioactive waste and wants to expand. The company ran into financial trouble last year but has teamed with another company, Orano USA, and has asked the NRC to review its licensing application. A recent photograph of the new storage facility at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station that holds nuclear waste generated when the plant was still producing electricity. (Photo by Southern California Edison ) But even if a location is found whether at an interim facility or Yucca Mountain there is sure to be a rush by facilities across the country to have their waste taken first. And its unclear where the spent fuel at SONGS would rank. The Department of Energy has what is called an Acceptance Priority Ranking that essentially gives the nod to the oldest fuel that has been discharged from a particular location. Its called the oldest fuel first principle. But no precedent has been set and some experts have argued that waste at facilities that no longer produce electricity or at sites in vulnerable areas should go first. SONGS, which has not generated power since 2012 and has spent fuel located little more than 100 feet from the ocean, would qualify on both counts. Im hoping we would prioritize the waste thats both oldest and in the most sensitive areas, Peters said in a brief interview right after Thursdays vote. We dont want to just leave that stuff sitting there at SONGS. William Alley of San Diego, who has written a book with his wife Rosemarie about handling nuclear waste, said its hard to tell if the Shimkus bill amounts to a significant step. And he is skeptical about the likelihood that Yucca Mountain can be resuscitated. Remember, Nevadas a swing state, Alley said. Nevada doesnt want the waste and I dont know of any politician in Nevada that is in favor of this It tends to lead to a sense of false hope that San Onofres waste is going to find a home in a 10, 20-year time frame and that just doesnt seem that likely. The Alleys want to see the waste at SONGS moved to another location in California or at least moved to a mesa at a higher spot at Camp Pendleton, on the east side of I-5. That would certainly be a safer situation, said Rosemarie Alley. Its not ideal by any means but whats going on now, burying (the waste) on the beach, is just insane. SONGS is located on an 85-acre chunk of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, owned by the Department of the Navy. After a SONGS Community Engagement Panel meeting last November, the regional liaison officer for the Marine Corps was asked by the Union-Tribune about moving the facilitys spent fuel to a mesa. Tom Caughlan said the Navy essentially defers to the NRCs assessment that the current storage location which is behind a seawall 28 feet high is safe. Id rather not deal with a hypothetical, Caughlan said. Im certainly not a decision-maker there. This is a safety, science, engineering-driven process, over which the NRC holds the governments authority. The vote Thursday was supported by 221 Republicans and 119 Democrats. Thirty-six members from California voted yes 22 Democrats and 14 Republicans. Sixteen voted no all Democrats. Among San Diego area representatives, Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, Susan Davis, D-San Diego, Peters and Issa voted yes. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, voted no. Business rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski Raised by Wolves raises a lot of questions. Can the hospitality development company that helped revitalize the downtown San Diego restaurant and bar scene take their successful concept to a suburban setting? Why would anybody go to a mall for a craft cocktail? Has CH Projects co-founder Arsalun Tafazoli completely sold out or simply lost his mind? Advertisement And finally: Why wolves? Tafazoli freely admits the $3 million Raised by Wolves at the Westfield UTC mall is either a stroke of genius or a completely idiotic move. This is something that I think on multiple levels is truly pioneering, Tafazoli said during an interview over a cup of coffee at the mall. We can help be a part of forging this new role in a place like this and a community like this in a way that hasnt been done before. 1 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC and the centerpiece is the hidden bar in the lounge, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and features a portion of the lounge area in the style like that of London libraries. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop. Its a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and includes a hidden rotating wall with a fireplace. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. 6 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and includes custom mural work. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a high-end bar and boutique bottle shop. Its a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy that features bottles of liquor for sale, including a $20,000 bottle of Very Very Old Fitzgerald Straight Bourbon Whiskey, right. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC and the centerpiece is the hidden bar in the lounge which includes a fountain with running water. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and features different seating vignettes in the lounge area around the hidden bar. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and features different seating vignettes in the lounge area around the hidden bar including bar stools with Pierre Frey custom velvet cushions. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Raised by Wolves opened recently at Westfield UTC, a walk back in time to the era of the speakeasy and features a portion of the lounge area in the style like that of London libraries. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) Raised by Wolves is the latest bar concept from CH Projects, the team behind False Idol, Noble Experiment, El Dorado and Polite Provisions. The San Diego-based restaurant development group focuses on concepts featuring chef-driven dining, craft beer and classic cocktails. It comes on the heels of CH Projects $6.5 million Born & Raised, the new Little Italy steakhouse originally budgeted at $2.5 million. The other CH Projects properties are within a five-mile radius of each other in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy and other downtown San Diego areas. This is really far away from our roots, Tafazoli said. If a cocktail bar in a shopping center is ever going to work, this is it. Tafazoli believes Westfields values and capital make the mall management company an ideal partner for this bold experiment. In my world, people with the resources dont have the vision and people with the vision dont have the resources, Tafazoli said. When that comes together thats when you can actually do some real good. Paula Rosenblum, managing partner of RSR Research, believes the risks for CH Projects and Westfield are minimal. As anchor stores like Macys struggle, it makes sense for mall operators to return to creative ways to drive traffic, Rosenblum said. Data shows that higher end food and beverage offerings like Raised by Wolves drive traffic to suburban malls like UTC, according to Rosenblum. Operators got a bit lazy and expected the anchor stores to drive all the traffic, Rosenblum said. Now its time for them to do their jobs in a different way again and drive traffic to earn the rent they charge. The dual-concept Raised by Wolves pairs a 1,500-square-foot cocktail-centric boutique with a 2,000-square foot hidden bar at the recently remodeled UTC. The big picture concept: Entice shoppers into the cocktail lounge and turn bar patrons into impulse buyers. From a design aesthetic standpoint, the goal of the new hybrid concept is to transport shoppers from a bustling contemporary outdoor mall to another world full of escapist fantasy, mythology and wolves. The boutiques elaborate backstory references Roman mythology and the story of Romulus and Remus, brothers who founded Rome after being raised by wolves. We want to create our own world within this world, Tafazoli said. We want you to lose perspective on where you are. Located across from a gleaming Apple store and an aromatic La Colombe coffee stand, Raised by Wolves evokes the feel of a late 19th century European storefront with a slate-blue French nouveau facade and stained glass entry panels. Opened in mid-April, the boutique aspires to be the Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table of the bar world. The highly curated bottle shop features decades-old liquors and liqueurs, limited-editions from around the world and hard-to-find boutique labels as well as cocktail recipe books and barware. Prices range from $26 for Old Overholt rye whiskey to $5,000 for a 12-year-old Very Old Fitzgerald bourbon. Beverage director Anthony Schmidt has a team of bottle hunters that scour estate sales and old liquor stores across the country for defunct brands and rare finds. We get them wherever we can, Schmidt said. I dont want to go too far into how were sourcing these, only because it really is something I need to keep close to the chest. The rare bottle collection includes a Cordon Bleu from the 1970s, a Johnny Walker Black from the 1960s and a vintage Chartreuse, all in the $500 to $1,500 range. The bottle shop begrudgingly carries a few $3,500 bottles of Pappy Van Winkle, the hard-to-find boutique brand that gives whiskey drinkers goosebumps. Its just such an egregious waste of money, Schmidt said. Schmidt recommends the single-barrel batches made for other CH Projects properties, including a Reposado tequila from Polite Provisions, Elijah Craig bourbon from Neighborhood and Makers Mark bourbon from Born and Raised, all in the $40 to $90 range. An online version of the bottle shop with national distribution is in the works. The look of the shop tells a visual story designed to take suburban shoppers back in time to an earlier age of refinement when the art of the cocktail was appreciated and celebrated. Hand-painted murals, glass display cases and decorative art light fixtures draw upon a mix of art nouveau, art deco and French provincial design influences. The custom-cut marble floor creates a three-dimensional optical illusion that changes as you move throughout the store. We emulate the era, but we do it with our twist, said Paul Basile, a San Diego interior designer who has worked on many CH Projects concepts. Were not trying to create an illusion of the past, but trying to give people the essence of what was. Bar patrons enter the hidden bar through a fireplace with a stained oak mantle that sits atop a 360-degree rotating platform. People come here with this expectation that its going to be cookie cutter just like everything else that so often you see at a mall, said bartender Erick Castro. And when that door turns, theyre totally swept away. Its a very transformative experience. The stunning bar recalls a wood-paneled London library with bookshelves, parquet flooring and French nouveau-style tufted wrap-around couches that create vignette seating areas meant to encourage conversation. A 22-foot-wide marble-topped circular bar with brass trim dominates the intimate cocktail lounge with a towering three-tiered fountain as its centerpiece. Patrons sit on tufted-cushion bar stools supported by an imposing birds claws grasping a brass ball. Overhead, a stained glass dome with LED theatrical lighting mimics the suns cycle from morning to night. On the menu: Classic cocktails, modern remakes and house favorites mixed with esoteric ingredients. Since nothing about this bar was conventional, we didnt want our menu to be conventional, Castro said. We wanted everything about the menu to be a little bit different and a little bit unexpected. The top sellers so far: Island Old Fashioned ($12) with coconut-washed Irish whiskey, banana liqueur and Peruvian and Angostura bitters Pelvic Sorcery ($12) with Solver oak whiskey, Bloody Shiraz liqueur, hibiscus, lime, absinthe and orange bitters Hideaway Honey ($14) with aquavit lemon, yellow chartreuse, honey syrup, Indian yogurt and seltzer Weve had people stumble in off the promenade who have never had a craft cocktail before, Castro said. The next thing you know theyre drinking a cocktail with Indian yogurt and aquavit. Its so cool. Theyre hopping right into it. The reserve cocktail list includes an Vintage Old Fashioned made with 1960s Very Old Fitzgerald bourbon. The French 75, made with 1950s Tanqueray gin and served with a split of Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut, goes for $175. The $105 Highlander is stirred with 1940s Cattos scotch and 1960s Carpano Antica vermouth. We have to cater to the hardcore spirits nerds that are coming in, but at the same time make sure that someone who just stumbles in from H&M is happy, Castro said. Thats a really difficult thing to balance. I kind of went in thinking, Im going to make it weird, but have a point of reference on every drink. And I think we nailed it. Castro is already brainstorming a summer menu that goes even further off the deep end. Raised by Wolves business model tries to tie together the imbibing and shopping experiences by sparking an interest and curiosity in craft cocktails. The bartenders happily offer recipe cards for your favorite drinks so you can pick up the necessary ingredients and mixologist tools in the bottle shop on your way out. Got the bartending bug and want to learn more? Cocktail classes and seminars are on the calendar. Pop-up events and guest bartenders are also planned. The Raised by Wolves theme plays into the restaurant development companys goal of fostering community and conversation with all its projects. When you look at wolves as animals, they have stronger social bonds than any other species on the planet, Tafazoli said. That is something thats really inspirational for us. That connection is something that were trying to forge. The concept of a bar with a secret entrance is not new to anybody familiar with CH Projects other properties. False Idol is a hidden tiki bar inside the Craft & Commerce gastropub in Little Italy. Noble Experiment is a secret speakeasy inside the Neighborhood gastropub near the Gaslamp Quarter. Raised by Wolves adds a twist by fronting the hidden bar concept with a retail location. CH Projects other San Diego concepts include Ironside Fish & Oyster, El Dorado cocktail lounge, Underbelly Asian fusion restaurant, Polite Provisions apothecary bar and the new Born and Raised steakhouse. Raised by Wolves joined the UTC outdoor mall as part of a $600 million expansion and remodel. The extensive makeover brought a Larsens Steakhouse, Shake Shack burger stand and -- soon -- a Din Tai Fung dumpling and noodles restaurant to the La Jolla-adjacent shopping center. The Raised by Wolves boutique is open from 11:30 a.m. to midnight daily (Sunday-Thursday). The cocktail lounge is open daily from 4 p.m. to midnight. Both the boutique and bar are open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Brady MacDonald is a freelance writer based in Orange County who has written about theme parks for the past decade. Business jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin The demands started almost immediately: Alexa, tell me a joke. Alexa, tell me what the weathers like. Alexa, play Despacito. When Chicagoan Heather Durhams three young daughters first started using Alexa, Amazons virtual assistant with a womans voice and a robots effortless efficiency, Durham was dismayed to hear lots of orders and very few thank yous. Advertisement When youre a child, you should respect a grown-up even if shes in a little black cylinder, said Durham, 39, of Old Irving Park. As Amazon launches a new Magic Word update Wednesday to encourage young Alexa users to say please, some parents worry that popular virtual assistants such as Alexa, Apples Siri or Google Assistant encourage rude behavior. Alexa and her cohorts are obedient and undemanding, and they respond to loud and angry voices with unfailing good cheer. Hearing a child boss around a digital assistant could be disconcerting, said Devorah Heitner, author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World. It just doesnt sound nice, and I think you could say that to your kid: Its not a good habit to get into. She suggests modeling good manners and reminding your child that using a virtual assistant is a privilege. You could say, Hey, you dont get to use Alexa if youre rude, because I just dont want to encourage bad habits. Not every Alexa interaction demands a please; a casual When are the Cubs playing? might be exempt, Heitner said. But if youre requesting a particular action Alexa, turn on the lights. then please is appropriate. Heather Durham with her daughters Linden, 8, Haley, 10 and Elise, 5. (Jarrett Durham/Handout ) Amazons new Magic Word update offers positive reinforcement. If you choose Magic Word, Alexa will respond to a request accompanied by please with an encouraging By the way, thanks for asking so nicely, according to USA Today. If you dont say please, Alexa will still fulfill your request. Durham handled her Alexa rudeness problem the old-fashioned way. She reminded her kids, now ages 10, 8, and 5, to say thank you. Now its just a habit in our house, she said. If you ask Alexa, Tell us a joke or if you ask about the weather, you say, Thanks. nschoenberg@chicagotribune.com Twitter @nschoenberg Can Siri or Alexa replace your need for friends? Well, maybe. Amazons Alexa randomly laughs at users and nobody knows why How to monitor your childs tech during the school year San Diego sales software firm Seismic is buying rival Savo Group, with the combined companies expected to generate $100 million in revenue by year end. The purchase price for the deal was not disclosed. Both privately held companies provide software that helps sales teams personalize and organize presentations pulling information from internal sources as well as outside databases. This acquisition makes us about three times as large as any of our competitors, said Seismic Chief Executive Doug Winter. A lot of it is about getting the scale that allows us to react and lead the marketplace and invest more in research and development. The combined companies will employ 450 workers worldwide. Advertisement Founded in 1999, Chicago-based Savo Group has about 75 employees. It has raised $79 million in capital over the years. In 2017, it acquired KnowledgeTree, another competitor in sales software. They were looking around and felt that consolidation in the industry needed to happen, said Winter. We were growing 100 percent per year, so the last thing we wanted to do was distract ourselves. But the opportunity, as we kept flirting throughout the year, got a little more enticing and interesting as time went on. Founded in 2010, Seismic employs about 120 workers in San Diego. It has raised $75 million in venture capital from backers General Atlantic, JMI Equity and Jackson Square Ventures. The company was started by executives from Objectiva Software Solutions, which was sold to San Diegos Document Sciences in 2004. Document Sciences, a publicly traded firm, was acquired in 2008 by EMC, which is now part of Dell. Seismic Chief Executive Doug Winter said the company expects to achieve $100 million in revenue this year. (Seismic ) The combined company will have more than 500 customers and offices in San Diego, Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Raleigh, Sydney and London. Seismics customers are centered in the financial services, technology and the life sciences industries, with clients including NCR, Capital One, T. Rowe Price and Illumina. Fifteen of the top 25 asset management firms use Seismics software. Revenue grew 97 percent last year, said Winter. Savo Group has a diverse customer base, with a good-sized footprint in manufacturing, said Winter. Customers include Stryker, BMC Software and Canon Europe. Seismic aims to convert Savos customers over to its software platform over time. The way I have been describing it is lots of carrots but no sticks, said Winter. We are going to get customers to move over by seeing the value of our platform and move toward a unified platform. But we are not in a rush to do it. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 Coming off a record year for visitation, San Diego County welcomed 7.6 million tourists during the first three months of this year, reaching a new quarterly high. The latest figures, released Thursday by the San Diego Tourism Authority, show marked improvements in visitation and spending over the same period last year as larger numbers of out-of-towners booked hotel stays, visited museums and theme parks or just came to the county for a day. Overall visitation to the county grew by 8.4 percent during the last quarter, while visitor spending, which totaled $2.5 billion, increased by more than 5 percent, tourism officials reported. Also up were overnight visitors 4 million and hotel occupancy 77 percent. Even attendance at San Diegos largest attractions, from the zoo and SeaWorld to the Midway aircraft carrier and Legoland, was up, growing by 16.5 percent, helped along by better performance at SeaWorld following years of declining attendance. Advertisement The quarterly results reflect a still robust tourism economy that extends to the entire state of California. Visit California, which just released year-end numbers this week, reported that tourist spending of more than $132 million rose nearly 5 percent in California, marking the industrys eighth consecutive year of growth. For all of 2017, San Diego County hosted a record 35 million visitors, who spent more than $10.8 billion while here. Los Angeles County reported this week that it, too, reached a new high for visitation in 2017 48.5 million, including 7.3 million international tourists. Were encouraged by the improvements over the first quarter of last year, said Joe Terzi, CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority. Weve seen significant increases in visitation, so these are very positive numbers and last year was a record year, so how can we not be encouraged? The release of the new visitor numbers came on the same day of the Tourism Authoritys annual meeting. The agency used the occasion to trumpet its successes and also look ahead to future projects like the hoped-for expansion of the citys convention center and Seaport Village makeover that it hopes will drive more tourists to San Diego. Terzi reminded his audience of the competition San Diego is facing around the country, from the new Star Wars attraction coming to Disneyland to a planned convention center expansion in Las Vegas. At the same time that visitation to San Diego has been growing, both domestically and internationally, the Tourism Authority has been spending increasing sums of money marketing the city. Total media spending for this fiscal year, ending June 30, will be $20.7 million, up from nearly $18 million the previous year, and tourism officials are proposing a marketing budget for the coming year of $21.5 million, which could potentially grow by an additional $5 million. While Terzi is buoyed by the latest numbers, he believes family travel to San Diego has weakened in recent years and needs a boost. So, too, does visitation from Los Angeles-area residents, he said. The Tourism Authority has been tracking visitation from the L.A. area since the recessions end through 2015 and has seen a noticeable decline. Focus groups revealed that some residents are turned off by the traffic congestion and are not finding anything new or buzz-worthy to draw them back to San Diego since their last visit. Advertising targeting family travel also has fallen off, in part because SeaWorld no longer invests in a joint advertising program that stopped in 2015. Attendance at the San Diego park also has declined in recent years, affecting overall tourism numbers, Terzi said. New attractions like the Electric Eel coaster that opened Thursday will help, he added. Any new attraction is helpful, but it depends on what they can do to get the message out that there are new, exciting things happening at SeaWorld, Terzi said. We are working with them to assist. We also were able to get them featured in the new Visit California family spot, Adventures in Kidifornia, that will be the key commercial running for the California campaign. Business lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2251 Twitter: @loriweisberg No other Supreme Court justice, living or dead, has had a hold on the American popular imagination like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But if you think never is heard a discouraging word where she is concerned, the stirring documentary RBG sets you straight from the start. Though it sounds unlikely for someone whos been the inspiration for everything from Saturday Night Live skits and a best-selling Notorious RBG biography to sleepwear, workout routines and even tattoos, numerous imprecations have flown in the justices direction. In fact, co-directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen have chosen to begin their completely engrossing film with audio of angry anti-Ginsburg language on the order of evil doer, monster, witch, zombie, even vile human being. That is pretty strong language to use to refer to a tiny 84-year-old grandmother who never raises her voice because she was taught by her mother that getting angry is a waste of time. Advertisement But make no mistake about it, this woman is a force, and the great service this clear-eyed and admiring documentary provides is to emphasize not just Ginsburgs work on the court but how extraordinarily influential she was before she even got there. Shes the closest thing to a superhero I know, says activist Gloria Steinem. She quite literally changed the way the world is for American women. But as West and Cohen, documentarians with extensive television experience, understand, Ginsburgs story is not a dry, strictly professional chronicle. Her personal life, from her upbringing as a first-generation American in Brooklyn, New York, to her storybook romance and decades-long marriage, were crucial in allowing her to be who shes become. RBG has cast a wide net in terms of interviews, talking to everyone from children and grandchildren to childhood friends who remember her lack of interest in small talk to current personal trainer Bryant Johnson who admiringly says the justice is like a cyborg. Best of all is the time spent with Ginsburg herself, who as a subject is both eloquent and candid. And its not just that we hear her speak; her language is so powerful and incisive it feels like are actually watching her think. Ginsburg, we learn, was deeply influenced by her mother, who died the day before the future justices high school graduation. The lessons she was taught were to be independent and to be a lady, which meant not being distracted by wasted emotions like anger and resentment. Ruth Bader met Martin Ginsburg, her future husband of more than 50 years, when both were students at Cornell. She was attracted both to his belief, unusual for the time, in equality between the sexes, and to a gregarious personality and easy-going sense of humor that was so opposite to her own. The couples lifelong devotion to each other, visible in news and home movie clips, was palpable (Martin Ginsburg died in 2010), and the directors emphasis on it is a key factor in making the film warmer and more human than might be imagined. RBG details the formidable barriers to women in the legal profession, even for someone as demonstrably brilliant as Ginsburg, which led to her involvement in the American Civil Liberties Unions Womens Rights Project. As the ACLUs general counsel, Ginsburg proved to be a brilliant litigator who made the Supreme Court pay attention to gender equality in a series of cases, one of which, 1975s Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (dramatized with Felicity Jones playing Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex, a feature film due out in November), showed how men can also fall victim to sex-based discrimination. Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton in 1993 (his interview describing why he picked her is especially engaging), and one of the paradoxes RBG points out is that the justice is by nature a consensus builder. It was the courts steady move to the right, not her philosophy or nature, that turned her into the great dissenter. Shes the closest thing to a superhero I know. She quite literally changed the way the world is for American women. Gloria Steinem Ginsburgs personal paradoxes get equal airtime. I tend to be rather sober, is how she describes herself, with her kids remembering they kept a book recording the infrequent times Mommy Laughed. But she formed a deep and lasting friendship, based initially on their mutual love of opera, with her ideological and personal opposite, the extroverted, late Justice Antonin Scalia. RBG uses Ginsburgs confirmation hearing testimony as a spine for its narrative, especially her heartfelt declaration that what has happened to me could happen only in America. Even ideological opponents such as Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch seem to be impressed by the way the arc of Ginsburgs life exemplifies the American dream, showing this country working as advertised. I cant think of a dramatic film on screen right now that will make you feel this good, and thats a fact. RBG Rating: Unrated When: Now playing Where: Angelika Carmel Mountain, ArcLight La Jolla, Landmark Hillcrest, Edwards San Marcos Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. ALSO Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Sundance on her new documentary, her #MeToo revelation and SNLs Gins-burn Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Fred Rogers documentaries hail soft voices behind powerful messages The authors of Notorious RBG on why they first started a Tumblr about Ruth Bader Ginsburg kenneth.turan@latimes.com @KennethTuran Accused serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was charged in four more killings Thursday when prosecutors in Santa Barbara County charged him with a pair of double-slayings in 1979 and 1981. DeAngelo, 72, the suspected Golden State Killer, allegedly killed orthopedic surgeon Robert Offerman and psychologist Alexandria Manning at the end of 1979. After a short foray into Ventura and Orange counties after those two slayings, prosecutors say, DeAngelo returned to the Goleta area in 1981 and bludgeoned Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez to death. In all, DeAngelo is accused in a dozen slayings up and down the state and suspected of at least one other. Authorities say he also raped dozens of women and burglarized more than 100 homes in a series of crimes that took investigators decades to piece together and connect to him. Advertisement DeAngelo is in custody in Sacramento County and could face the death penalty if convicted, officials said. Violent cold cases never grow cold for the victims or their loved ones, said Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. Joyce Dudley when she announced the latest charges Thursday. His first local victims were Offerman and Manning, whom prosecutors say he killed the night of Dec. 30, 1979. Investigators say the Golden State Killer found the couple in bed, tied them up and eventually shot them both. In what now-retired investigator Paul Holes suggested was possibly a transformative event for the suspect during a recent TV interview, the Golden State Killer encountered the younger, bigger Sanchez on July 27, 1981. Sanchez, who was 27, met DeAngelo in the hallway of Domingos home and was abruptly shot in the face. But he didnt die, Holes said. As the killer attacked Domingo, Sanchez regained consciousness and put up a fight. The killer won and bludgeoned both Domingo and Sanchez to death, but Holes said that the struggle may have forced the killer to reassess his tactics. DeAngelo would have been approaching 40 years old at the time and is shorter than Sanchez. The fight may have scared the suspect into avoiding such risky attacks in the future, Holes said. Authorities say DeAngelo committed only one more slaying after that fight five years later in Irvine. Prosecutors say he raped and killed 18-year-old Janelle Cruz in Irvine in 1986. She was home alone. With the four murder charges filed against DeAngelo on Thursday, the 72-year-old has now been formally accused in all 12 known slayings connected to the Golden State Killer. Dudley said her office began piecing together a case against DeAngelo shortly after receiving word from Sacramento authorities that theyd taken him into custody April 24. We never stopped hoping or believing an arrest would be made, Dudley said. Dudley said she alerted Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, who sent investigators to Sacramento to begin searching for potential ties between DeAngelo and the killings in Southern California. Thus far, investigators and prosecutors have been tight-lipped about their progress, though they say theyve had success. DeAngelos work and residential history places him in Central and Northern California at the times of a wave of violent crimes in those areas, but ties to him farther south have been more difficult to trace. For more than 40 years, the man who was once known as the Cordova Cat Burglar, the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist and then the Original Night Stalker had eluded identification. It took an innovative and some say controversial approach of comparing crime scene DNA to publicly available genealogy databases to home in on a handful of suspects. Once DeAngelos name came up, investigators watched him until they surreptitiously obtained two samples of his DNA to compare with their evidence. The results came back a match, authorities said, and DeAngelo was arrested at his home in a Sacramento suburb. The other suspects were dead ends, officials said. On Friday, Dudley will host the district attorneys of Sacramento, Orange and Ventura counties to consider if it is feasible, and best, to try DeAngelo in one location for all 12 killings. Dudley declined to say which method she would prefer and said she does not expect to reach a decision at the meeting. joseph.serna@latimes.com UPDATES: 4:30 p.m.: This article was updated with background and additional comments from the Santa Barbara County district attorney. This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m. The 911 calls poured in Friday morning, during zero period at Highland High School in Palmdale. Nearly 100 callers reported an incident on campus: There was a person with a gun, possibly holding hostages in the school library. Eventually, it was determined that a 14-year-old former student who had recently transferred out had brought a rifle to the campus and fired about 10 rounds, at least some from a bathroom, authorities said. One student was wounded. The 15-year-old is expected to fully recover, authorities said, and no one was held hostage in the library. But the shooting sparked widespread panic and drew a massive law enforcement response to the school, where students were advised to shelter in place as the campus went on lockdown. Several students texted and tweeted that they could hear gunfire, urging others to stay away. The closest trauma center cleared its operating room schedule in case staff needed to treat mass casualties. Advertisement When you think about what we went through today and the fact that it worked out as well as it did, a lot of training goes into this, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell told reporters Friday afternoon. The outcome was much better than anybody could have anticipated. The suspect, who was not identified, was detained at a nearby shopping center parking lot on suspicion of one count of attempted murder, McDonnell said. It is unclear if he and the injured student knew each other, but authorities are investigating a motive and have searched the suspects home. Student Melany Aquino, center, is embraced by her younger sister Halie, 11, left, and mother Victoria after a gunman fired a rifle at Highland High School in Palmdale. (Evelyn Kristo / Associated Press ) The potential was for anybody ... to take a stray round there, whether they were aimed at or not, McDonnell said. A very dangerous situation, but as far as trying to estimate what he was aiming for too early to do that. Early Friday, the suspects mother had called an LAPD officer, a family friend, telling him she was having trouble with her son, who had run away from the house. Shortly after the shooting, about 7:40 a.m., the suspects father called the same LAPD officer. The boy had just called, the father said, and said he had shot his gun in the air and was headed toward Vons, McDonnell said. The off-duty officer found the boy in the supermarket parking lot. An SKS rifle was recovered from an open field west of the school shortly after 8:30 a.m., McDonnell said. The student allegedly brought the gun to school in a bag, but McDonnell would not say how or where the boy got it. Deputies cleared the school and deemed it safe by 9 a.m. and lifted the lockdown shortly before 10:30 a.m., officials said. In a strange twist, about 20 minutes after the high school shooting, authorities said they fielded calls reporting a second shooting at Manzanita Elementary School, seven miles away. But they found no evidence there of shots fired. Its unclear if the reports were a coincidence or meant to be a distraction. Were still looking into that, McDonnell said. Thats something were going to look very closely at. Students and staff members who were on their way to Highland High School described a frantic scene Friday morning. Matthew Polovina, an interpreter for deaf students at the school, said he was coming in early to help a student study for a history test. But the student sent Polovina an alarming text message at 7:03 a.m. Dont come!!! Gunner is here! the text read. Why huh? Polovina responded. Shooter is here, the student said. Later Friday morning, parents, students and staff gathered around the school, waiting for students to be released. Johnny Lewis Sr., whose 17-year-old son is a student at the school, raced over with his wife Friday morning after hearing reports about the shooting. We didnt know at that time if our son was in danger, injured or shot or what, he said. Its just ridiculous with all the guns in schools. I never knew it would happen to us here. Ana Salazar received a Snapchat message from her son saying he had locked himself in a room because there was a shooter at school. The 17-year-old had arrived early to print out some homework. Salazar left her job in Encino and drove to the school, where she waited to see whether her son who is safe would be released. Parents form a prayer circle in front of Highland High School as they await word on their children locked inside. (Evelyn Kristo / Associated Press ) How does somebody that young get a gun? she asked. What goes into them to say, Yeah, I can shoot a person, at that age? Its unimaginable. Terrance McAllister, 17, said he was walking up to the school with friends when someone ordered them to turn back and warned them about the shooting. I was just hoping everyone was all right, he said. I hoped everyone was safe. School district officials have met with the injured student and his family to offer their support. Antelope Valley Union High School District is prepared for students to return to campus Monday and will have additional counselors, psychologists and staff available at all campuses. We are incredibly grateful for the actions of Highland High School teachers and staff and our first responders who courageously protected the lives of our students today, said Assistant Supt. of Personnel Brett Neal. We know that every second is important in a situation like this and we couldnt be more thankful. When the lockdown was lifted, some students and parents had emotional reunions. Mom! shouted Angel Mathews, 15, as she ran into her mothers arms, tears streaming down her face. Angel said she heard a total of four gunshots as students began to run for safety. She hid in a classroom with friends. Ive read about a school shooting in a book, she said. I didnt know this was actually going to happen. Parents and students around the country have been on high alert since February, when a gunman killed 17 people inside a high school in Parkland, Fla. In the week after that incident, police across Southern California were inundated with threats against schools. The Los Angeles Unified School Districts police department reported at least 160 such threats in the nine days after the Parkland massacre, and a tip from a school resource officer led Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies to arrest a 17-year-old student at El Camino High School in Whittier that month who is accused of threatening to shoot up the school after a teacher took away his earphones. The student said he was only joking, but deputies later found two semiautomatic rifles, two handguns and 90 high-capacity magazines at the students home. His older brother, a U.S. Army veteran, claimed the firearms belonged to him. Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report. brittny.mejia@latimes.com | Twitter: @brittny_mejia alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com | Twitter: @AleneTchek james.queally@latimes.com | Twitter: @JamesQueallyLAT UPDATES: 8:45 p.m.: This article was written through with new details about the shooter and law enforcement response. 11:45 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from students and parents. 9:50 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from students at the scene and additional information from the sheriffs department. 9:15 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information about what led to the shooting. 9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Palmdale School District. 8:45 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about where the person was detained. 8:30 a.m.: This article was updated with details about an ATF response. 8:10 a.m.: This article was updated with information about injuries and a reported shooting at a nearby elementary school. This article was originally published at 7:50 a.m. Whether you are celebrating Mothers Day as a happy mom, a grateful kid or someone who managed to snag a brunch table without a reservation, please take a moment on Sunday to raise a glass to the woman who made San Diegans who we are today. Happy Mothers Day, Ellen Browning Scripps. You raised us right. Born in London in 1836 and raised in Illinois, Scripps was never a mother herself. But the gifts this pioneering philanthropist bestowed upon her adopted city after she moved here in 1891 made it possible for San Diego to grow from an underwhelming toddler of a town to a strapping young-adult city with unlimited potential. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography? She provided the $50,000 endowment that got it started and the $1,000 it needed to buy the La Jolla Shores site for the marine station. The Scripps Aviary at the San Diego Zoo? Her gift to us. The Torrey Pines State Reserve? She donated part of the land and funded the construction of the Torrey Pines Lodge. The Scripps Research Institute? An outgrowth of the Scripps Metabolic Clinic, which she founded in 1924. Advertisement Ellen Browning Scripps saw the place we could be and the people we could become, and she gave millions of her dollars to make it happen. Whatever you love about living in San Diego the culture, the parks, our bustling scientific community the quiet woman everyone called Miss Scripps most likely had a hand in making it happen. Shes clearly the Great Lady of San Diego, author and University of San Diego history professor Molly McClain told the Union-Tribune last year, during an interview about her book, Ellen Browning Scripps: New Money and American Philanthropy. By the 1920s, McClain writes, Scripps was worth $30 million, the equivalent of $416 million in 2016. The fact that she gave most of that money away, and that much of it was given in San Diego, is just a small part of the Ellen Browning Scripps story. Like most moms, she had quite a life before we came along. Her father was an English bookbinder who moved his family to Illinois, where he established a farm. She was an enthusiastic reader who taught school to save money to go to Knox College. Women werent allowed to receive college degrees from Knox, so she made do with a two-year teaching certificate. After graduating in 1859, she went back to teaching and taking care of her aging father. In addition to being a book lover, Scripps turned out to be a shrewd busineswoman. She invested the small savings from her teachers salary into the Detroit Evening News, the penny paper for ordinary folks started by her brother James. She later worked in the rough-and-tumble, male-dominated newsroom as a copy editor, proofreader and writer, which was no place for a Victorian lady. (But she was a Victorian lady, so it is no surprise that after working at the newspaper all day, she returned to the home she shared with James to take care of his children. According to McClains book, Scripps did this for 15 years.) Ellen convinced James to let younger brother E.W. Scripps into the family newspaper business, something James didnt really want to do. Ellen reaped the benefits when her investments in E.W.s Cleveland Press and the string of newspapers that followed paid off in a huge way. When Ellen and her sister Virginia moved into their own home in La Jolla in 1896, it was the first time Miss Scripps had the freedom to spend that money however she pleased. And what pleased her most was spending it on everyone else. In a time when women were still fighting to get the vote and make themselves heard, Ellen Browning Scripps made her money speak volumes. She believed in education, so she funded the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the pier that remains a La Jolla landmark today. She believed in the suffrage movement and womens rights, so she joined the La Jolla Womens Club and commissioned architect Irving Gill to build its stunning headquarters. (She also founded the all-female Scripps College in Claremont, which landed her on the cover of Time magazine.) She loved exploration, so she was an early supporter of the Museum of Natural History. Ellen Browning Scripps liked to think of her gifts as investments, and from her arrival in 1891 until her death in 1932 at the age of 95, she invested in San Diego. She gave us access to culture, nature and knowledge. She gave us the push we needed to get bigger and stronger. She is the mother of San Diego, and in the spirit of lucky children everywhere, we will spend Mothers Day knowing that we will never be able to thank her enough. But that shouldnt stop us from trying. Twitter: @karla_peterson karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com A column by Michael Smolens posted in this space Friday morning had a central fact wrong and was taken down from The San Diego Union-Tribunes website. The column said that gubernatorial candidate John Cox of Rancho Santa Fe told the Union-Tribune editorial board that he discussed state pension problems with former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. Instead, Cox was referring to policy/pension researcher Bob Fellner of Transparent California. The Union-Tribune regrets the error. Why does Councilwoman Lorie Zapf have tiger and Yorkie plush toys in her City Hall office? Theyre a constant reminder of her two daughters pet project Curly Petz, to be perecise. The two teens, Tana, 19, and Myla, 17, are inventor-entrepreneurs. Amazon Prime has just agreed to carry their pet that holds on to you, as have have locally owned Hallmarks and Geppettos toy stores. Advertisement Having each, as toddlers, lost adored stuffed animals, the Zapf sisters re-purposed those metal wrist-hugging slap bracelets that became popular years ago into wearable stuffed toys. The Zapf family, from left, Tana, Eric, Lorie and Myla, worked together to bring Curly Petz from concept to reality. (Courtesy photo ) With the help of their mom, a publicist by trade, and their dad, Eric, a private real estate businessman, the girls researched popular pets, tested and finetuned their designs, applied for patents, raised more than $15,000 in a KickStarter campaign and created a website (CurlyPetz.com). They also decided to use a manufacturer in Indonesia, priced their product at about $20 and, at last, their enterprise was born. It has been more than two years in the making. We started all this as a way to pay for college, Tana said. She is now finishing her freshman year at San Diego State while Myla is a junior at University City High School. I definitely didnt realize how much work goes into creating, designing and manufacturing a product, she added. Before Amazon Prime, which includes shipping, the two sisters were processing orders on the dining room table. Their future plans call for expanding pet offerings and retail outlets. The characters we can make are endless, Tana said. Its the realization of a dream, noted Eric. Theyre pretty excited about it. Annette Bening attends the Broadway opening night of Lobby Hero at the Hayes Theater March 26, 2018. Word has it, she has joined the cast of feature film, Captain Marvel, now being shot. (Charles Sykes / Charles Sykes/Invision/AP ) Marvel-ous news: When you think about bringing comic books Captain Marvel to the big screen, classically trained San Diego-bred actress Annette Bening surely isnt the person who initially comes to mind. Yet Hollywood Reporter announced she is appearing in Marvel Studios first female-led feature film, joining lead actress Brie Larson. Scenes already are being shot in and around Los Angeles. Benings parents still live in San Carlos. Steve Valentine, left, met oncologist Dr. Irene Hutchins when he was a cancer patient in San Diego. He has since nominated her to be 2018 Woman of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Societys San Diego Chapter. (Courtesy photo ) Doctor/patient dance team: Los Angeles publicist Steve Valentine grew up never catching colds, or breaking an arm, or being admitted into a hospital until January of 2016 when he was rushed to the emergency room for lifesaving intestinal surgery. He was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. His oncologist, former ballroom dance competitor Dr. Irene Hutchins, learned that Valentine, too, had been a ballroom dancer and the La Jolla Scripps Green Hospital physician made a proposal: If you get well and out of the hospital, well dance together. That challenge helped spur Valentines recovery, and they did dance together to his theme song, I Will Survive, at the Scripps Cancer Survivors Day celebration and shared their story on TVs Inside Edition. Now Valentine is giving back. He is combining his publicist skills, his dance talent and his gratitude to Hutchins by helping her compete for the local Leukemia and Lymphoma Societys title of 2018 Woman of the Year. Together, doctor and former patient have embarked on a series of dancing fundraisers with a goal of collecting more than $128,000 (the contest record) for blood cancer research before the societys May 19 gala at the San Diego Hilton on Mission Bay. Mary Murphy, a judge of So You Think You Can Dance on Fox TV, recently hosted a Dancers vs. Cancer event in her Champion Ballroom Academy in Kearny Mesa, and Sufi Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant hosted another. This is a cause thats close to my heart, Murphy said. My friend passed away from multiple myeloma last September. I lost my father and brother from cancer, and I had cancer in 2010. It means so much to me that a doctor would take time out and put so much energy into dance for cancer. Andra Day performs at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 14, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. Day and Lauryn Hill performed songs honoring the late Nina Simone, who was inducted. HBO aired the performance May 5. (Michael Zorn / Michael Zorn/Invision/AP ) Her day: Andra Day seems to be everywhere these days following her 2018 Academy Award song nomination and live performance. On May 5, HBO broadcast the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in which Day sang in honor of inductee Nina Simone, one of her early musical inspirations. On May 9, she was jointly nominated with Common, Little Big Town, Lee Ann Womack and Danielle Bradbery for the 2018 CMT Music Awards for Performance of the Year. In a coincidental May 9 announcement, the Recording Academy named her to a new 16-member task force to examine diversity and inclusion for women and minorities in hiring, promotion and in Grammy Awards decisions. The task force is inviting public input: www.grammy.com/taskforcefeedback. Day shortened her career commute by moving to the L.A. area, but shell be back on home turf June 9 to perform at Humphreys by the Bay for a San Diego Center for Children benefit. Shell also be headlining the Old Globe gala in September. The new Palomar Family YMCA gymnasium will be named after the late Jim Bronner, whose sons, David and Michael Bronner, now run the Dr. Bronners Soap plant in Vista. (Courtesy photo ) Jim gym: The North County family dynasty that brought the world Dr. Bronners soap and created the Valley Center Boys & Girls Club in 2013 has now funded a Palomar Family YMCA gymnasium being dedicated this morning. The natural soap was first marketed here in the 60s by Emanuel Bronner, known as eccentric and consumed with saving planet Earth. Bronners two sons, Ralph and Jim, along with Jims wife, Trudy, assumed control of the company as it was struggling to survive in the 1980s. Ralph and Jim have since passed away and Jims sons, Michael and David, have stepped in as president and CEO, respectively. They donated the gym, which Michael calls Jims gym, in memory of their father who loved to support activities for disadvantaged youth. diane.bell@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1518 Twitter: @dianebellSD Facebook: dianebell.news A proposal by the administrative arm of the state courts that would make settlement agreements involving judges accused of sexual harassment, discrimination or other types of misconduct is meeting some resistance from the organization that represents state judges. The California Judges Association said in a May 1 letter commenting on the proposed change that it supports disclosing records of settlements that involved expenditure of public funds. But it said the new rule goes beyond what is necessary to accomplish its intended purpose. The association instead suggested changes to the proposed rule. One would still withhold information on a settlement if there was a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement entered into at the time, banning parties from publicly talking about the case. Another limits disclosure to settlements that were publicly funded. And a third change would limit what kinds of settlements can be disclosed to only sexual harassment and sexual discrimination and wipe out proposed language that makes settlements involving other misconduct public. Advertisement The letter was one of five comments that the state Judicial Council received in response to the rule change. Under current court rules, records of complaints, claims, investigations or settlements involving judges are confidential and cant be disclosed. The new rule, which the council could take up as early as May 24, would wipe out that protection for settlements involving judges for a wide range of misconduct since Jan. 1, 2010. The new rule was drafted after Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye called for it on April 10, saying in part that the public has a right to know how the judicial branch spends taxpayer funds. The judiciary has been grappling with releasing such information in the wake of the #MeToo movement that brought unprecedented attention to sexual harassment issues. Its stance has been in sharp contrast to the Legislature, which after pressure from media groups and some members has released far more information about sexual harassment by legislators and staff members and its costs going back more than a decade. But the agency disclosed the judiciary had spent more than $600,000 investigating and settling five claims of sexual harassment against three judges and two court officials since 2011. The proposed rule that would open the records was available for public comment until May 1. In arguing that the new rule should be narrower, California Judges Association President Judge Stuart Rice wrote the proposal goes further than what the chief justice sought in her April 10 statement. Including a reference to other misconduct in the revised rule would require the release of settlement agreements that resolve frivolous and/or meritless claims in order to avoid litigation and thereby save the public additional and needless expenditures, he wrote. The Los Angeles Superior Court, the states largest, initially argued against changing the rule in an April 18 letter. The court cited the state Commission on Judicial Performance, which has constitutional authority to discipline judges, as the main authority for disclosure. While supporting the release of names of judges in settlement agreements, the court did not want to see other records of complaints or investigations of other misconduct released. We strongly believe that evaluations of and investigations of allegations of judicial misconduct must remain confidential, LA President Judge Daniel Buckley wrote. The Commission on Judicial Performance only releases names of judges facing public discipline. Typically, that is only a few cases per year from the roughly 2,000 members of the state bench. On May 1, however, the court changed its mind and in a second letter said it would support the proposed new rule. A court spokeswoman said that when it became apparent the rule was to be changed the court decided not to stand in the way. Another comment from Shasta County court suggested only settlements above $50,000 be released. And Justice Carol Codrington of the 4th District Court of Appeal division in Los Angeles also cited the other misconduct language in her comment as vague, ambiguous and subject to vast interpretation. She likened the term to a slippery slope of information which could be subject to a public records act request. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com Theres no dispute that David Noel McGee Jr. beat his mother to death with a claw hammer in their Escondido apartment last year. The question is: Why? On Thursday, his defense attorney told a North County jury that her client who she said has no history of violence had overdosed on generic antihistamines, taking a minimum of 80 allergy pills. The attack, she said, happened in a fog of Benadryl. The truth is on Feb. 1, 2017, David did kill his mom. But there is a difference between killing and murder. Deputy Public Defender Lindsay Itzhaki said during opening statements in McGees trial. McGee, 26, has pleaded not guilty to murder and using a hammer to kill his mother Rebecca Becky Apodaca an attack so brutal, the prosecutor will not show autopsy photos to the jury in the Vista courtroom of Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman. Advertisement There is also not much dispute that McGee ingested dozens of antihistamine pills. A toxicology screening showed diphenhydramine levels so extraordinarily high, he could have taken 100 or more, at 25 mg a pill, the prosecutor said. Benadryl is the brand name of diphenhydramine, used to treat allergies. Its unclear exactly when McGee took the pills. Its also unclear when he attacked his mother. Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe told the jury 55-year-old Apodaca had been dead hours before she was found in the one-bedroom apartment on North Hickory Street near Lansing Drive that she shared with her son. At 8 a.m. that day, the prosecutor said, Apodaca had failed to log in to her at-home medical billing job. Throughout the day, she never responded to multiple messages from friends, family and her supervisor. After Apodaca missed dinner plans, her adult daughter stopped by to check on her. At roughly 6:30 p.m., she found her mother dead on her blood-soaked bed. In the bedroom closet was her brother, naked and babbling. Frantic, the daughter called 911. When firefighters arrived, McGee was lying on the floor half in the bedroom, half in the bathroom still naked and incoherent, his eyes bugged out, his pupils dilated, Watanabe said. Police arrived and arrested him. His legs were shaking, and he couldnt walk, the prosecutor said. McGee had slit his neck and forearms. Inside the apartment bathroom, police found two knives in the blood-smeared bathtub and a bloody toaster in the sink. The rug was soaked with water. In the kitchen, investigators found a bottle of generic allergy medication, empty except for one pill stuck near the edge and two on the floor. Testing of blood drawn at 7:40 p.m. revealed the overdose, in an amount Watanabe said was huge, potentially lethal. The prosecutor said McGees symptoms were consistent with such an overdose confusion, fatigue, agitation, lack of coordination. But, he told the jury, the attack was very personal, very precise, very focused. The autopsy would show that Apodaca had been struck at least 10 times in a 4-inch by 4-inch area in the center of her face, Watanabe said. McGee, the prosecutor said, killed her on purpose. And we may never know why he did it. Itzhaki, the defense lawyer, told the jury that when McGee was 14, he suffered a stroke and it turned his life in a different direction. McGee never returned to mainstream school, put on weight and became depressed, she said. As he grew up, he had few social outlets. Friends and family never saw him be violent, the attorney said. McGee was passive, almost a doormat. How did we get here? Itzhaki said, then held up a bottle of generic antihistamine pills. This is how we got here. The defense attorney told the jurors they will hear from a toxicologist who will testify that such high levels of the antihistamine could lead a person to experience hallucinations, delirium and psychosis. She told the jury that the prosecution will not be able to prove that there was an intent to murder. David killed his mom, Itzhaki said. There is no doubt about that. But it is not murder. The trial could run two weeks. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com (760) 529-4945 Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT A motorist accused of drunken driving and fatally striking a Lyft driver tending to a sick passenger on a freeway shoulder must stand trial for a second time on murder and manslaughter charges, a judge ruled Friday. Steven Cervantes Quintero, 25, was found guilty last month of DUI causing injury, hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license in connection with the October 2016 crash. But the jury deadlocked 6-6 on a second-degree murder charge, and split 10-2 in favor of guilt on a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter. On Friday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth So declined a defense attorneys motion to dismiss those charges. Quintero will now face the accusations at a new trial. Advertisement Everyones had a chance to argue whether the charges should be dismissed, So said. Quintero has a prior conviction for driving under the influence from November 2015. In Oct. 1 2016 crash, the victim Lyft driver Henry Reyes of Escondido was giving a ride to three women who had gone out for drinks in downtown San Diego. One of them became sick, and Reyes pulled over on the right shoulder of eastbound state Route 94 near 28th Street. He got out of the car to help her. Minutes later, the Lyft car was hit from behind, and Reyes a 41-year-old aspiring dentist and father of a 2-year-old child was killed as he walked around the car to get back in. According to court testimony, Quintero was entering the freeway at 25th Street when he slammed into the back of Reyes Kia. Quintero walked away from the collision but was arrested nearby a short time later. A female passenger in his car suffered a broken wrist. The defendants blood-alcohol content was between 0.14 and 0.16 percent at the time of the crash, according to court testimony. In California, the blood-alcohol content at which a driver is considered drunk is 0.08 percent. Quintero is due back in court June 11. The U.S. Justice Department has fined UC San Diego $4,712 for asking immigrants who are authorized to work in this country to provide documents that they are not required to produce. The Justice Department announced the fine on Thursday and issued a settlement agreement in which UC San Diego and the UC Board of Regents claim that they have not committed any wrong-doing. The case involves alleged document abuse. An unspecified number of immigrants were asked to re-establish their right to work in the U.S. after their authorization card expired, a request that was tied to their citizenship. Advertisement The antidiscrimination provision of the (Immigration and Nationality Act) prohibits such requests for documents when based on an employees citizenship status or national origin, the Justice Department said in a statement. UC San Diego agreed to pay the $4,712 fine, and to train some of its human resource workers on the specifics of the INAs antidiscrimination provision, the Justice Department said. UC San Diego officials did not have an immediate comment on the matter. UC San Diego hospitals in Hillcrest and La Jolla returned to their normal operating schedules Thursday, removing the emergency bypass orders that had sent ambulances to other facilities since 1 p.m. Friday. Those orders, along with rescheduling hundreds of elective surgeries, were made in preparation for a three-day statewide strike involving three different UC unions that together represent more than 9,000 workers at UCSD. The strike began Monday. According to counts conducted by UC San Diego Health, about 600 people walked picket lines Wednesday, the third and final day of the strike, with fewer than 200 lined up outside Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla and about 400 at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest. Those numbers were significantly smaller than the 1,300 picketers that the health system estimated were involved across both campuses on Tuesday. Advertisement American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) workers walked out over a range of issues, from wages and pensions to job outsourcing and equal hiring practices. The California Nurses Association and the University Professional and Technical Employees unions staged sympathy strikes Tuesday and Wednesday. There were more protesters participating in street-level strike activities than actually walked off their jobs. UC San Diego Health reported that 230 service workers represented by AFSCME didnt show up for their scheduled shifts on Monday and that number dropped to 209 on Tuesday. About 200 nurses represented by the CNA walked out both Monday and Tuesday. Figures for Wednesday were not available Thursday afternoon nor were any estimates of walkoffs for employees represented by the UPTE. UC San Diego Health replaced picketing employees with temporary workers drawn from a health care staffing company at an estimated cost of between $6 million and $10 million. Diverting emergency, trauma and other kinds of patients away from the two hospitals was intended to reduce the overall number of people in beds during the strike and to avoid transferring already-admitted patients to other hospitals if there were not enough employees on hand to meet strict state staffing laws. In an email, a UC San Diego spokeswoman said that no patients were transferred during the strike. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Millions of dollars again may be diverted from funds San Diego could use for permanent housing to pay for temporary shelters and other services for homeless people in the city. The councils Budget Review Committee on Monday heard a presentation on the city Housing Commissions proposed $388 million budget, which includes a plan to spend $10.1 million for three bridge-housing tents used as temporary shelter for about 670 homeless people, $1.7 million for a planned storage center for homeless people to use and $1.6 million for a planned housing navigation center. In November, the council approved using $6.5 million from the commissions permanent housing fund to operate the tents. While some city officials saw the shelters as a necessary response to a homeless crisis and hepatitis A outbreak, many objected to using housing money for temporary shelters. Councilman David Alvarez cast the only opposing vote to the plan, which he criticized as robbing Peter to pay Paul. Advertisement Alvarez continued this week to voice opposition to using city funds to pay for the tents, which he said had not proved to be effective and have taken money away from low-income housing development. An Independent Budget Analysis report presented at Mondays meeting showed the commission will have $14.6 million less to loan to developers building low-income housing next year because of money that went to the bridge shelters, storage center and navigation center. The tents were partly responsible for a decrease in the commissions real estate funds and indirectly reduced federal Section 8 housing vouchers and funds for the federal Moving to Work program, which ties job opportunities to assistance. Initial funding for the the tents came from San Diego Padres Managing Partner Peter Seidler, who along with businessman Dan Shea had pushed for the city to use the structures to get homeless people off the street until permanent housing could be found. No specific funding source has been identified to continue the tents operation, however. City officials have said money from community development block grants and redevelopment funds would be redirected to the Housing Commission in response to money that had been diverted to pay for the tents. Alvarez on Thursday questioned whether the redirected money really was a way of back filling the cost of the tents because the community development block grants and redevelopment dollars already were earmarked for low-income communities. Were not talking about any new money here, and we still havent refilled the money that was taken last year, he said. Theres no plan to stop the bleeding. 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 North County families and individuals in need will have greater opportunities to receive a variety of services thanks to a $300,000 pledge to Interfaith Community Services in a matching-fund drive from the Leichtag Foundation. The foundation will match dollar-for-dollar any donation made to the North County nonprofit up to $300,000, potentially bringing an additional $600,000 to fund various services such as temporary shelter and housing, legal assistance, sobering help, education and nutrition and health programs. Its really a gift that makes a big impact and will help quite literally thousands of our North County neighbors in need, he said. Anglea said donations can be made to three areas: North County coastal communities, the immigration legal clinic or unrestricted support for Interfaiths core programs. Advertisement We are in the home stretch of our Housing 1,000 campaign, he said, giving anexample of how the money could be used. Weve helped over 800 people move into housing of their own. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in our Haven House shelter in need, and a lot of seniors on very low fixed incomes, and we need contributions to help them get into homes of their own. As explained in a news release from Interfaith, The Leichtag Foundation honors the legacy of Lee and Toni Leichtag through igniting and inspiring vibrant Jewish life, advancing self-sufficiency and stimulating social entrepreneurship in coastal North San Diego County and Jerusalem. The Leichtag Foundation is proud to support and honor the model, multi-faceted programming that Interfaith Community Services provides to advance self-sufficiency in the region, said Sharyn Goodson, Leichtags director of philanthropic strategy. With the most recent grant, the foundation has awarded nearly $3 million in funding to Interfaith over the past ten years, she said. To donate, visit interfaithservices.org and click the yellow donate button at the top of the page. Donations also can be sent to Interfaith Community Services at 550 W. Washington Ave., Escondido, CA 92025. The largest donation to Interfaith was a $4 million gift from George Wynhoff to establish an endowment for families to receive services. 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 Yale University said campus officers followed procedures this week when a white student called police after she discovered a black student sleeping in a residence hall common area. In an email to students Wednesday evening, Kimberly Goff-Crews, vice president of student life at Yale, said police also spoke with the student who called the police, and admonished the complaining student that the other student had every right to be present. During an encounter early Tuesday morning, police took nearly 20 minutes to determine that Lolade Siyonbola, the young woman who was sleeping on a couch, was in fact a Yale student. Siyonbola live-streamed two videos of the incident on Facebook, one of which has been viewed more than 1 million times. Karen Peart, a Yale spokeswoman, said university police took proper steps to verify that the person about whom they received the call was a student and a resident who had every right to be in the common room. Advertisement Peart said Yale would nevertheless review the call and the responding officers conduct, as we do with every incident. The incident at Yales Hall of Graduate Studies is the most recent in a string of police encounters prompted by calls from white bystanders about black people later found to have committed no crime. In one case, two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks while they waited for a friend. Asked whether she believed Yale police acted appropriately, Siyonbola said in an email, absolutely not. I know with absolute certainty that if I was white 1) the police would not have been called, she said, and that 2) if they were, I would not have been detained for nearly 20 (minutes) for absolutely no reason. When a pair of Yale police officers first arrived at her dormitory Monday night, Siyonbolas video shows they told her, Once we verify youre a resident here, well be on our way. Although Siyonbola showed them her student ID about two minutes after they arrived, it took police more than 15 minutes to verify she was a student and allowed to be in the building. Peart said the encounter was drawn out because of a spelling mix-up, explaining, The reason it took longer than usual for the students identification card to be verified was because the name on her card was her preferred name (which we allow students to use) and did not exactly match her name in the university records. As minutes ticked by, Siyonbola grew frustrated at the officers skepticism. At one point, she told police, Im not going to justify my existence here. We determine whos allowed to be here or whos not allowed to be here, said an officer who identified himself as a supervisor, regardless of whether you feel youre allowed to be here or not. Thats just the bottom line. Throughout the encounter, Siyonbola said she was being harassed. Anytime theres an interaction with police, that doesnt mean its harassment, an officer told her. We dont know what happened. Were trying to get to the bottom of it, all right? Sun Queen, co-founder of New Havens Black Lives Matter chapter, said the incident showed some white people still fear black neighbors, co-workers and passersby, and are quick to call police to assuage that fear. You need to learn how to deal with that fear without calling the police, she said. Why is [the] first reaction to call the police? Why is that the thought process? Queen said she felt less surprised than weary after seeing the videos. Its repetitive I cant even say its unbelievable, she said. Its more like, Here we go again. In an email to students, Kimberly Goff-Crews, vice president of student life at Yale, said police also spoke with the student who called, and admonished the complaining student that the other student had every right to be present. In the video, Siyonbola described the student as a fellow dormitory resident who had called police a few months earlier on Siyonbolas friend, because he was in the stairwell and because hes black. Ormseth reports for the Hartford Courant. UPDATES: 4 p.m.: This article was updated with statements from officials at Yale and background. This article was originally published at 9:30 a.m. When term limits or other factors prevent an incumbent from seeking re-election, first-time candidates and political veterans alike tend to pounce. Voters for the District 4 seat on the county Board of Supervisors will have both newcomers and name-brand politicians to choose from when they cast ballots for one of five candidates vying to succeed six-term Supervisor Ron Roberts. Three of them have been familiar names for years two served as state lawmakers and one as the longtime district attorney. Two others never held office, but say their lack of political experience will help them solve problems that confounded local leaders for too long. Look at the state of this region now, with the homeless and (lack of) human services, retired San Diego deputy fire chief Ken Malbrough said in a telephone interview. It hasnt gotten better. Why not try somebody who has different ideas, a known record of getting things done? Advertisement Malbrough and attorney Omar Passons are the two first-time office-seekers in the field. They are joined by former legislators Lori Saldana and Nathan Fletcher and former judge and prosecutor Bonnie Dumanis. The race is technically non-partisan, but party politics play a role and the Board of Supervisors has been dominated by Republicans for decades. Dumanis is the only Republican on the ballot, although Fletcher was a Republican for years before declaring himself an independent and then a Democrat. While the level of political experience differs sharply among candidates, the priorities do not. All five candidates cited homelessness as one of the top issues confronting the district and the county at large. Each pledged to do more to reduce the number of people living on the street or in shelters. They also said they would promote more affordable-housing opportunities. The board sets the policy, Saldana, who served in the Legislature from 2004 to 2010, said in a phone interview. If the policy has been to allow people to remain homeless and then suffer the consequences of getting sick and having no place to recover their health, we wind up with sicker people and higher mortality rates. Dumanis resigned midway through her fourth term as district attorney last July after more than 30 years as a San Diego County clerk, judge or prosecutor. She declined to be interviewed. In prepared responses to questions, she cited homelessness, mental health and public safety as top concerns and said the county needs to lead a regional effort in which every city participates and contributes a fair share of resources. Homeless and the housing crisis are interconnected, Dumanis wrote. We cant solve homelessness when we dont have enough housing for all those chronically homeless. Passons, a San Diego native and product of the county foster-care system, said he wants to serve on the county board to improve conditions for seniors and children. He said voters too often assume that elective office should be reserved for career politicians. The reality is voters want leadership, Passons said in a phone interview. They want people with relevant experience and knowledge about this particular job, people who have experience working well with others regardless of party affiliation. Passons said the Board of Supervisors should devote more public resources to children. As somebody who benefitted from this county foster-care system and lived with 100 kids who werent quite so fortunate, I really see this as an opportunity to fight for all children, he said. Fletcher spent 10 years in the Marine Corps before winning a seat in Legislature in 2008 as a Republican in the 75th Assembly District in 2008. He served two terms before one unsuccessful run for San Diego mayor in 2012 and another in 2013. The two-term lawmaker, now a Democrat married to Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, said his priority as a county supervisor would be upsetting the status quo, working on homeless- or housing-related issues and steering more resources to job-training and vocational programs. We have an opportunity to change the direction of our county government into one that focuses on our neighborhoods, fighting the Trump agenda locally and delivering real results, he said in a phone interview. My track record of accomplishments, particularly in the Legislature with Chelseas Law, shows we know how to build a coalition and get things done. He was referring to legislation passed in 2010 after the murder of Poway teenager Chelsea King, strengthening penalties for sex offenders. Republican roots Except for a single term served by Dave Roberts, who lost his 2016 re-election bid after the county paid $310,000 to settle allegations that he supervised a hostile workplace, the Board of Supervisors has been governed by the same core Republicans since the early 1990s. The boards make-up might have remained unchanged for decades longer without a union-organized ballot initiative passed in 2010 that limited elected supervisors to a pair of four-year terms. Supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn will be forced out of office this year. Their colleagues, Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox, will serve until 2020, when first-term Supervisor Kristin Gaspar will become the longest-serving supervisor, unless she wins her bid for Congress this year. County supervisors oversee thousands of square miles of San Diego County -- all of the territory not included in the 18 cities. They also supervise more than 17,000 employees and a $5.8 billion annual budget, with about one-third of that spending going to public safety and one-third directed to public health and other social services. Homelessness has persisted locally for years, along with a growing crisis in affordable housing. The issue failed to garner much political attention until last summer, when a hepatitis A outbreak exploded across the region and killed 20 people and sickened hundreds of others. City and county officials blamed each other for failing to properly tackle the crisis in its infancy, finger pointing thats gone on months after the crisis officially ended. Now several of the candidates want to tap into the countys long-accumulated reserves to pay for additional services for homeless people and affordable-housing programs for others. That is where the county can do more, Malbrough said. Health and Human Services is a very broad and valuable service in the region. Im not saying they could do it all; theyre going to have to outsource some of it, but they have to take the lead on that. They can do a better job. According to its annual audit, the county had more than $2.9 billion in combined fund balances on June 30, 2017 -- an increase of $141 million from the prior year. They have not been spending the money until its an emergency, Saldana said. And you cant make good policy under emergency conditions. In her statement, Dumanis talked about her close relationship with current members of the county board and said their fiscal conservatism helped put the county in a position to succeed going forward. I find it more productive to focus on solutions and success, she wrote. This board took the county from the brink of bankruptcy to a fiscally sound entity, with a AAA+ bond rating, which provides us the opportunity to focus on the critical issues of today. Sanctuary laws Perhaps no issue showcases the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties -- and their best-known candidates for county supervisor -- than unauthorized immigration. The debate has even divided conservatives. On a split vote last month, the Board of Supervisors endorsed a Trump administration lawsuit challenging California laws that limit police and sheriffs departments from participating in immigration task forces and limit when they can turn unauthorized immigrants over to federal officials. Thats exactly the wrong approach, Fletcher said. We need a county government that will welcome and stand up for our refugees and immigrant communities. Dumanis omits any reference to immigration on the issues page of her campaign website. Her political strategists did not respond to a follow-up question about whether she would have voted to join the Trump lawsuit against the state. None of the other candidates agreed with the board majoritys vote to support the federal litigation. There is no credible legal exposure in my opinion and no reason to join the suit, Passons said. In addition to that, because the friend-of-the-court brief cant be filed at this time, in reality this is a waste of taxpayer money that every advocate of good government should be concerned about. Malbrough agreed. He said county officials wrongly require sheriffs deputies to be subject-matter experts in substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, illegal cultivation and distribution of marijuana and now, possibly, immigration. I want to solve those issues -- not pass them off to law enforcement, he said. Saldana called the sanctuary-law vote by Gaspar, Horn and Jacob strictly political theater with no legal standing. She also criticized the Board of Supervisors for refusing to adopt policies that govern medical and recreational marijuana. Its a huge economic driver in every other county, she said. Current supervisors are stuck in a time warp and have a puritanical, outdated, 20-century attitude that needs to be adjusted. The Board of Supervisors directed its lawyers to challenge Californias medical pot law in federal court. They took the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Cash on hand The race to succeed Ron Roberts has generated a lot more than voter interest. So far, the combined campaigns have raised more than $1.2 million in political donations, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by independent committees. The race even elicited a surprise endorsement from the sitting California governor. If money translated to votes, the winner would be Fletcher, the recipient of Gov. Jerry Browns support. All told, he raised over $440,000 and reported about $257,000 cash on hand as of April 21. Dumanis, who like Fletcher failed to make the run-off in the 2012 San Diego mayoral race, was a close second in fund-raising. She reported just over $400,000 in contributions and $224,000 in her campaign treasury. Passons is the only other candidate to raise close to what the top two politicians collected. The San Diego attorney reported almost $300,000 going back to the start of 2017, although he had only $13,000 left last month. Malbrough collected about $42,000 in total contributions and about $15,000 on hand, election filings state. According to her most recent disclosure, Saldana had barely $700 remaining in her campaign account, which raised about $31,000 between 2017 and 2018. Saldana found a friend in Mickey Kasparian, the local United Food and Commercial Workers union chief. Early this month, the San Diego Working Families Council labor group he controls poured $150,000 into its pro-Saldana effort, pushing total contributions to $200,000. BONNIE DUMANIS Age: 66 Birthplace: Brockton, Mass. Neighborhood of Residence: Little Italy Education: Bachelors Degree, University of Massachusetts Amherst, J.D., Thomas Jefferson School of Law Work Experience: clerk/assistant, County of San Diego, 1974-1978; deputy district attorney, County of San Diego, 1978-90; juvenile court referee, 1990-94; municipal court judge, County of San Diego, 1995-98; superior court judge, County of San Diego, 1999-2002; district attorney, County of San Diego, 2003-2017 Top Three Issues: Homelessness; mental health services; public safety Quote: The county needs to do more and play a regional leadership role in solving issues related to housing, homeless, mental illness, addiction and keeping the county as safe as it is now. NATHAN FLETCHER Age: 41 Birthplace: Carson City, Nev. Neighborhood of Residence: City Heights Education: Bachelors Degree, California Baptist University Work Experience: U.S. Marine Corps, 1997-2007; member, California Assembly, 2008-12; Qualcomm Inc., 2013-17; professor of practice, University of California San Diego, 2013-17 Top Three Issues: Standing up to Trump agenda; addressing homelessness crisis; improving access to job-training, vocational education and community colleges Quote: Ive got a track record of showing if you lead and you fight and you push and you build coalitions, you can accomplish things. KEN MALBROUGH Age: 63 Birthplace: San Diego Neighborhood of Residence: Encanto Education: Associates Degree, Miramar College Work Experience: retired; deputy fire chief, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, 1981-2012 Top Three Issues: Access to health and human services; reduction of the homeless population; and affordable housing Quote: I just realized after the last few elections, you have have to do more than vote. You have to get involved so you can say you made the best effort possible at making positive change. OMAR PASSONS Age: 42 Birthplace: San Diego Neighborhood of Residence: North Park Education: Bachelors Degree, University of Arizona; Masters of Public Health, University of Arizona; J.D., George Mason University Work Experience: policy analyst, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000-03; deputy attorney, California Department of Transportation, 2007-10; private-practice lawyer, 2011-2015; vice president of community development and policy, Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, 2016-17 Top Three Issues: Support for children and seniors; homelessness and housing; promoting an economy that creates opportunity for every San Diegan Quote: Having spent years evaluating public health and social service programs, working with local, state and federal officials, I bring a unique perspective of relevant experience. Im a member of this community and committed to this community. LORI SALDANA Age: 59 Birthplace: San Diego Neighborhood of Residence: Clairemont Education: Bachelors Degree, San Diego State University; Masters Degree, San Diego State University Work Experience: educator, San Diego Community College District, 1983-2002; research fellow, University of California, San Diego, 2002-03; member, California Assembly, 2004-10; lecturer, San Diego State University, 2011-12; educator, San Diego Community College District, 2012 to present Top Three Issues: Addressing homelessness; ending the ban on cannabis in San Diego County; creating legally binding climate-action plan for San Diego County Quote: Ive only been an elected official for six years out of my worklife. Ive been an educator for 30-plus years. This will be a matter of educating the people in the County Administration Center about the needs of people outside that building. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Kristin Gaspar and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed have been invited to sit down with President Donald Trump next Wednesday to take part in a strategy session regarding Californias immigrant sanctuary laws. They will be two of 15 elected officials from California at the White House meeting. Its quite an honor, Gaspar said Thursday. I received a call earlier in the week and in less than a week Ill be in the same room with the president, the attorney general and the homeland security secretary, as well. Both Gaspar and Abed were driving forces last month in getting their respective governments to file legal briefs in support of a federal lawsuit challenging the states sanctuary laws, which prohibit local governments from notifying immigration officials when they have someone in custody who might be in the country illegally. Advertisement The two Republicans have been featured numerous times on national Fox News reports in recent months. Abed said he was told by a White House caller that the president had been watching. I was told they have been impressed with my story as an immigrant and with my positions, Abed said. They know who I am. I am looking forward to sharing the success we had in Escondido as a non-Sanctuary City to keep our community safe under the rule of law, he said Thursday. When I received the call, I thought at first it was some sort of a prank, said Gaspar, who is one of 16 candidates running for the 49th Congressional seat being vacated by incumbent Darrell Issa. Its not everyday the White House calls. Its likely the first time a San Diego County supervisor has been invited by the president to take part in a strategy session, so it is quite an honor, she added. Gaspar said she was told the president wants to know whats happening on the ground in San Diego County, a county that borders Mexico, where Trumps wall will soon be built, and a region that has been awash in immigration debate for years. I look at this as an incredible opportunity to represent San Diego, to share its story and the public safety impacts involved with becoming a sanctuary state, Gaspar said. Abed said he will tell the president that officials are concerned that California, as a sanctuary state, will become a magnet for criminals. They are making it more inviting for criminals to come to California. The White House meeting is scheduled to take place between 2 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Abed said when he told some of his council members they would have to carry on that day without him at their regularly scheduled meeting, they at first didnt believe why he would be gone. Ill be very proud to share with the president that Escondido will push and lead the effort to have a state here under the rule of law, he said. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones A firefighter was hurt after touching an electrified fence while fighting a blaze at a vacant Barrio Logan building Thursday night, a San Diego Fire-Rescue spokeswoman said Friday. The fire was reported about 10 p.m. Thursday in a building at 27th Street and National Avenue, spokeswoman Monica Munoz said on the departments Facebook page. At some point, a chainlink fence near a power box at the back of the building became electrified, she said. The firefighter who came into contact with the fence was taken to a hospital, and was released Friday morning. Crews had the fire out in about 15 minutes. The cause of the blaze was undetermined. Advertisement Munoz said the damage from the fire is estimated at $75,000 to the structure itself and another $5,000 for contents inside the building. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com (760) 529-4945 Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT Twenty-seven candidates are running to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed seven: Huntington Beach Assemblyman Travis Allen and Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox, both Republicans, and Treasurer John Chiang, former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former state Attorney Generals Office official Amanda Renteria and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, five Democrats. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed the seven candidates for about an hour each. Here are those interviews, lightly edited. The two top vote-getters in the June 5 primary will advance to a runoff election in November. Q: For starters, tells us why run for governor now? Why does the state need Gov. Travis Allen? Advertisement ALLEN: I was born in San Diego, grew up in Chula Vista five minutes from the border. Ive lived my entire life in California. I absolutely love this state. California has the best of everything. Unfortunately, its been mismanaged by the California Democrats who have run the California state legislature for 39 of the last 40 years and the Brown family, who has run the state capital or the governors seat for 24 of the last 50 years. My parents have left the state. My brother has left the state. My best friends have left the state. Im a certified financial planner, started managing money in 96, opened up my own company in 2001, but the policies of the California Democrats of rising taxes, high cost of living and now exploding homelessness and rising violent crime due to soft on crime laws have made California, which was once the greatest state in the nation, a state that had the best roads, the best schools, the best water, now lead the nation in poverty and homelessness and the number of Californians leaving. California can do better. California can be run better and thats exactly what Im going to do. RELATED: The Union-Tribune interview with Treasurer John Chiang The Union-Tribune interview with candidate for California governor John Cox The Union-Tribune interview with candidate for California governor Delaine Eastin The Union-Tribune interview with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom The Union-Tribune interview with candidate for California governor Amanda Renteria The Union-Tribune interview with candidate for California governor Antonio Villaraigosa Q: Youve been in the Assembly for a while now. Do you have a single accomplishment that youre most proud of? ALLEN: Yes, absolutely. Every single day I have stood up for every single one of the 39 million Californians that have not been represented for years in the capital. Sacramento is entirely detached from the reality, from the daily realities, that face most Californians. Sacramento is truly run from the Bay area of San Francisco and you need look no further than Willie Brown, Jerry Brown, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. These Bay area Q: Pete Wilson and Toni Atkins might disagree with you. ALLEN: Well, you know, but yet they dont really hold the highest offices nor have they for the last few years en masse. This state really has been run out of San Francisco to the detriment of Californians and also I would say to the detriment to even those living in San Francisco. When I grew up here in San Diego, this was an incredible city. We remember when first it was... Seaport Village came in, then the Convention Center. I remember when you couldnt walk the Gaslamp at night, let alone during the day and San Diego saw an incredible revitalization that I was witness to, I was there when Horton Plaza opened up and I remember how incredible it was and I saw the city transform itself with good leadership by strong Republicans. This is, after all, the city that brought us Pete Wilson and California has declined for decades now under the Democrat leadership in Sacramento and its time to reverse that trend. Q: Speaking of Republicanism, you obviously supported Trump. ALLEN: Absolutely. Q: The other Republican in the race ALLEN: Did not. Q: did not. Why is Last night Kevin McCarthy endorsed John Cox. Why are people kind of lining up and as we head into this weekend and the GOP convention, why are people lining up with John and not with you. What about his message is resonating? What about yours is not? ALLEN: Absolutely nothing in Coxs message is resonating. John Coxs real message was to send 12,000 more politicians to Sacramento. After this failed for the fourth time to get on the ballot despite him spending millions yet again, John Cox decided that his strategy would be to copy all of my policy initiatives, even down to my campaign slogans, which we have now seen across news outlets and in radio airwaves. It would be it would be complimentary if it wasnt so pathetic and obvious. Nonetheless, Cox has spend millions of his own money, approximately $5 million to date, yet he still trails me or is locked in a dead heat depending on which poll youre looking at, despite the fact that my campaign has spent almost no money to date in actual voter contact. We have over 13 million pieces of mail that well be dropping across California here starting in about a week and we have just started getting up on the airwaves, but the Republican establishment which has consistently gotten it wrong for decades to the detriment of Californians is making its usual mistakes and keep in mind, this is not the entire establishment, but its Take a look at... Many of the elected officials on the Republican side have consistently backed candidates that Californians dont believe in and Republicans cant support. Candidates like Neel Kashkari who voted for Barack Obama prior to running for governor or Meg Whitman who thought she could buy the governors race. If that was the case if money dictated outcome of elections in California, Meg Whitman would have been governor, but she wasnt and she further let Republicans down when she supported crooked Hillary Clinton in the last the last presidential election. Its very clear that there are more Californians that believe in commonsense and want balance in Sacramento, but Republicans, in order to win, must reach out to these to these voters very clearly with a message that is consistent and based on commonsense principles. To give you an example, in 2014, Jerry Brown was elected with 4.3 million votes in California. In 2016, Donald Trump got 4.4 million votes here in California. Literally if all we do is turn out the Trump voters and the disaffected Democrats who have been left behind by the far left policies of Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown, Travis Allen will be the next governor of state of California. Q: Two questions about that because you ripped Kashkari for supporting a Democrat. You gave Gavin Newsom, I think it was a 100 bucks back in the day, one of several donations youve given to Democrats, even more contributions to the Republicans clearly, but should that be ALLEN: Ten over 10 times more. Q: Correct, no and theres no disputing that, but you have given to some Democrats. So how do you gonna criticize one person for doing that and is that hypocritical or? ALLEN: No, absolutely not. I attended some Democrat events at the behest of clients in 2010 and 2011, just like the president did. As soon as I actually at these events, the things that I heard galvanized me to run for office. It became incredibly apparent that these were the exact people that were putting policies in place that were forcing my friends and families and clients out of the state. My parents left San Diego. They now live on the southern Oregon coast. They would they would have built their home, but it was too expensive. My brother works for Raytheon, those jobs used to be in Los Angeles, now theyre in Tucson, Arizona, and my best friend moved to Texas where he doubled the size of his house, doubled the size of his business and now pays no state income tax. All of my clients that I manage money for started here in California. Theyre now in 20 different states around the nation. When I heard firsthand exactly what the Democrats plans were for California, it was absolutely apparent that someone had to stand up and fight them and thats exactly what I did. When I got elected in 2012, I am well known as the most conservative voice in Sacramento with a rock solid vote record to prove it. I have, you know, 100 percent vote record from all of the taxpayer groups including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Taxpayers Association. 100 percent from all the pro business groups including National Federation of Independent Business Owners, an A and an A+ from the NRA and Firearms Policy Coalition and, yes, even a zero percent from Planned Parenthood because Im pro-life, so, but what I have realized in California legislature is that we cant change California. We cant take back California through the California legislature. There are too many Democrats that have carved up the political districts in California in such a way that change in the legislature is going to take years. The only way to truly take back California and do it this year, right now, is to become the next governor of the state of California, which is exactly what Im going to do. Q: What does it say about I mean people have talked about the U.S. Senate races in California, now we have a jungle primary. ALLEN: Yes. Q: In fact the two Democrats can advance, you know, it looks bad for the governor, excuse me for the Republicans, but maybe not as bad as if two Democrats make it in this governors race. ALLEN: Yes. Q: So what if that does happen, if two Democrats advance and obviously you dont want that to happen, but if it does, what does that say about the modern day California Republican Party? ALLEN: Im against the top two system. Originally I was for it. I was elected underneath the jungle primary. I actually ran and beat another Republican when I when I won my Assembly seat in 2012 and it is true that mathematically it cost Democrats more than it cost Republicans in California, however, the only way that we are going to bring balance back to California and balance back to major cities like San Diego, like San Francisco, like Los Angeles is by going back to a back to a top two or back to, you know, one Republican versus one Democrat in a final election. So as it relates to this election, there will only be one Republican versus one Democrat. The, you know, I believe in what Ronald Reagan said, which is peace through strength. The only way to actually win is not just to achieve a top two spot. Thats not the goal, the goal is to become the next governor of the state of California. Q: Along those lines just yesterday, I want to read this to you. John Cox was on KPBS and he said, ideologically theres not a huge difference between the two of you. ALLEN: Hes absolutely correct, theres a huge difference. Q: Well he said theres not. ALLEN: Hes well again, hes lying. Q: Okay. ALLEN: Hes got a track record ... Q: Well let me ask heres what he said, My young opponent has not really had much business experience whatsoever... ALLEN: Only 20 years. Q: Hes a stockbroker by trade, kind of a salesman. Hes a really good speaker in many ways, a salesman kind of thing, but I think this job requires somebody whos had the maturity and experience of running a large organization which I have. How do you respond to that? ALLEN: Okay. John Cox has lost every single race hes ever run in. This guy ran for President of the United States, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, even County Clerk Recorder in Illinois and lost every single time. He has a track record of losing. He is now trying to buy the California governors race and buy the Republican establishment. This is a failed strategy that has been tried before by Meg Whitman and Neel Kashkari and it will fail yet again. But we cant let John Coxs record of failure hurt the Californians that desperately need this state to change direction. We cant allow the good old boys club of the Republican Party to lose yet another election in California. Theres something happening in this country. Things changed in 2016 when Trump took the White House. People across the country, people in California, a state in which a state that has more Republicans than any other state by population, feel more empowered than ever that their voices actually do matter and it is abundantly clear that there is only one race that will change the future of California over the next eight years, and thats this governors race. In order to win this race, what we need is we need a candidate that has won every single race that hes ever run in. We need a candidate that supports the President, has a record of supporting the President. We need a candidate who has firmly held beliefs that dont waver depending upon the audience that we talk to, depending on the audience. Cox has not only written in his book that he wrote in 2007 that he was against the wall, earlier this year on Univision he said that he was also against the wall. Now he tries to tell Republicans that hes for the wall. We need a Republican that has an actual record that can be relied upon by Republican voters. We have to give Republican voters a reason to turn out in June and November. A real leader, someone who was born in California and raised in California, who has actually seen everything that this state has been and has become. We need a business leader. I opened up my own business in 2001 and Ive run it for over 20 years very successfully. We dont need someone from Chicago who has a record of failure coming to California trying to failing yet again. Q: Why do you think Kevin McCarthy, the states most prominent Republican figure, endorsed John Cox then? ALLEN: Money, very simply. I think that McCarthys objective is to protect the congressional seats in California and they are afraid that there would only be two Democrats advancing into November. I dont believe in fear. I believe in winning. In order to win in order to become the next governor of the state of California, its not enough to simply win in June. We have to win in November and in order to win in November we need a candidate with the energy, with the passion, with the expertise, with the knowledge of all of Californias issues that can actually stand on the stage against Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa and the California Democrat machine and beat them every single time and thats exactly what were going to do. Q: You say you dont believe in fear, but to flip that on its head, I mean a lot of what people say ... Critics of your immigration stance say that that is fear mongering, demagoguery, that ALLEN: Absolutely incorrect. Q: San Diego crime is at a 50 year low and so the wall isnt going to necessarily improve that, I mean how do we ... ALLEN: Well, San Diego is not the only border city in California. San Diego, fortunately, has a great Board of Supervisors and I also helped elect the current Mayor, Kevin Faulconer, I brought over 600 volunteers down to San Diego just to get him elected and throw Filner out of office. So San Diego has gotten a lot of things right, however Q: I dont think Faulconer supports the wall, though, right? I mean hes a pretty pretty big leader in terms of Mexico and California working together as one region. ALLEN: Well were these are these there these issues intersect, crime and border security intersect, but they are different issues. Californias Board of or Im sorry, excuse me, San Diegos Board of Supervisors has done incredible work to keep California safe or to keep San Diego safe and Faulconer has done great work since hes been mayor to keep San Diegans safe, but securing our border has nothing to do with fear mongering. Securing our border maintains our ability as a sovereign nation to regulate who comes in and comes out of our country. Its exactly like locking your front door when you leave your house in the morning or locking your car every time you leave your car. It is our right as a nation to know who comes in and out of our country. Everyone is welcome to come, but youre going to come in the front door, the right way. Q: What are you surprised that more counties and some cities are starting to push back on the sanctuary state policies? ALLEN: Absolutely not surprised. Q: But do you think why is it taking this long and this slowly for more counties and politicians to come forward. ALLEN: Well actually I dont think its taking long at all. Costa Mesa just last night in Orange County voted to oppose the illegal sanctuary state. All of this started in my district in Orange County. It started with my tiny town of Los Alamitos, a town of just 12,000 people who opted out of the illegal sanctuary state and was followed on very quickly by Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Westminster, all in my district. Then the Orange County Sheriff is now posting the release dates of criminals publicly so ICE can apprehend people who are here illegally prior to them reentering our communities. The Orange County Board of Supervisors has now joined on the federal lawsuit and now the San Diego Board of Supervisors, as well as cities across San Diego are now also joining in the movement to reverse the illegal sanctuary state. I started this last year with AB 1252, an Assembly bill that would have defunded every sanctuary jurisdiction in California. I continued in January of this year when I called on Tucker Carlsons show on Fox News for President Trump and Jeff Sessions to come to California and sue California over this illegal sanctuary state. Im pleased to report that Jeff Sessions finally got the memo last month and they are now suing the state of California. This Ive gathered over 35,000 signatures from over 300 cities across California that are interested in enforcing federal immigration law and opting out of this dangerous policy of Jerry Brown and the California Democrats. This movement to reverse the sanctuary state is catching fire across California and the momentum is increasing, is only increasing. Q: You mentioned the legal back and forth between Trump and California with that one lawsuit, but the state has filed 32 lawsuits against Trump. ALLEN: Well lets be clear, Xavier Becerra has filed these. Q: Okay, fair. Which of those 32 is the most egregious in your mind? ALLEN: Oh gosh, theyre all bad. Theyre all bad. Xavier Becerra is a criminal. Theres no other way to state it. Xavier Becerra recently threatened California business owners with prosecution if they assist federal immigration authorities doing their constitutional duty. This is criminal obstruction of justice. He must be prosecuted for this. Xavier Becerra is rogue and is promoting lawlessness in California and the California Democrat Party is entirely complicit at the highest levels in this lawlessness. The concept of the resistance to the White House emanating from California is true only as it relates to the Bay Area of San Francisco. All of the so-called resistance is coming directly from San Francisco and Ill tell you right now that Californians dont believe in this. They dont believe in Becerras actions. They dont believe in these constant lawsuits against the White House. Californians want a state that believes and follows the U.S. Constitution and federal laws. Q: Do you have a problem with one in particular or is there one that you see as a massive overreach more so than the others or? ALLEN: When Xavier Becerra publicly proclaimed that he was going to prosecute Californians for following immigration law, that was that was the step that clearly showed his hand. That he was more interested in political notoriety and violating federal law at the expense of hard working Californians than all of the rest of his, you know, public lawsuits combined. Lets be clear. The federal government needs to do its job. The U.S. Department of Justice needs to do their job. They need to come to California. They need to press charges against Xavier Becerra for criminal obstruction of justice. They need to press charges against Libby Schaaf, the rogue mayor of Oakland who recently allowed 800 criminals, who should not have been here in the first place, to roam free in California and now is guilty of of further accessory to a crime as three of those have already re-offended in California to charges such as spousal abuse and robbery. The California Democratic Party publicly and privately now no longer represents the average California Democrat and this is exactly why were going to win in 2018. It is true that there is only 25 percent Republican registration in California and 41 percent Democrat, however, the Democrat leadership in California under Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Xavier Becerra has gone far beyond what California Democrats believe in. Its about time that we bring balance back to the state, reversing things like the unnecessary gas tax that we never voted on, reversing the illegal sanctuary state and finally putting power back where it belongs, in the hands of Californias people. Q: With that, why do you think that California voters are are more and more and increasingly not looking to the GOP to be their leaders? I was crunching some numbers of voters that have registered for the first time since the 2016 election, only 14 to 15 percent are registering as Republicans. ALLEN: Leadership. Q: Explain that to me. I mean why dont they see the G, you know, the Republican Party as a as a viable leader. ALLEN: Very no very simply its leadership. Leadership has been lacking in California for decades now. The last Republican governor that we had, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was Republican for all of about a year. Prior to that, weve not had a real Republican governor since the days of Pete Wilson who again came right here out of San Diego and Ronald Reagan. Californians want a strong leader that values commonsense. Someone that can clean up the streets of San Diego so people arent dying of hepatitis. Someone that can clean up the streets of Los Angeles so 58,000 homeless arent sleeping out on our streets and on our sidewalks. Clean up the streets of San Francisco so 22,000 intravenous drug users arent shooting up as children are trying to walk to school. Californians know that there is something wrong with our state when we lead the nation in poverty and 1 in 5 Californians is below the poverty line. Californians know that its not right to pass soft on crime laws such as AB 109, Prop. 57 and Prop. 47, which have led to increase in violent crime over 15.4 percent since 2014 and caused a judge to recently rule that over 10,000 sex offenders are going to be released early into our communities. Californians have just been waiting for the right messenger to fight back. Q: With that, you know, the hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego... ALLEN: The right leader to fight back. Q: you know, public health is largely a matter of, you know, administered by the counties with state funding and, you know, cities provide some assistance as well. I mean the hepatitis A outbreak, you know, occurred under the watch of an entirely Republican Board of Supervisors, as well as a Republican San Diego mayor and what sort of, you know, leadership are they providing when something that you think was a, you know, crucial issue and is a crucial issue. ALLEN: Point well taken. I was a statewide I was the statewide voice against the banning of plastic bags in California. Q: Were going to go there. ALLEN: This was a nonsensical idea from the very beginning, the concept that somehow banning grocery store plastic bags would lead to less litter, which was already a crime in California. Not only did it not only is it short sided and entirely unreasonable as many other stores still offer plastic bags and theres lots of other ways to get plastics at grocery stores, these plastic bags that were being used by by homeless people as portable portable bathrooms, now no longer in the same common usage and this has directly led to this this massive problem of hepatitis thats not just here in San Diego, but across the state of California. But the issue is deeper than this. The issue of homelessness in California goes beyond homeless populations using our public spaces as their restroom. The issue goes to why do we have so many homeless people here in California and why did homelessness increase by 13.7 percent in California last year alone? Why does California have more unsheltered homeless than any other state in the nation. The answer is simple. California is a great place to be. We have incredible weather, almost every incredible weather year round, but California at the state level made the mistake decades ago of abdicating responsibility for the homeless population to counties and cities who dont have the resources to adequately handle the problem. The answer is the state must take leadership yet again because this problem is bigger than any one city or any one county. The answer is to once again have statewide institutions where people can go so they no longer have to sleep on the street. These are places where people that have mental health issues, can get mental health counseling. Places where people with substance abuse issues can get the substance abuse counseling they need. Places where people that just need a roof over their head so they can get a leg up and get back into the workforce can go. The state needs to do this. This is a much larger problem than any one city or any one county. Q: Is it true that youve or the Sac Bee I think said youd force them in there against their will. Is that is that accurate? ALLEN: No, its the accurate statement is that it is illegal to camp in our public spaces. It is illegal to loiter. We have anti-vagrancy laws across the state of California, but these laws are not being enforced due to the lawsuits of the ACLU and other groups that have subdued our local jurisdictions from enforcing our own laws. Q: Well some of those suits have been successful here in San Diego, right? ALLEN: Many of them have been very successful, which is exactly why the cities arent trying to enforce their laws. Q: But if there are rules that say you cant necessarily force them somewhere... ALLEN: But that this is absolutely incorrect. The Lanterman Act was changed, which stopped the ability of many of many people to get the help that they truly needed. What we need in California is to enforce the laws that are already on the books. These laws against camping and vagrancy and loitering. If the people will no longer be allowed to sleep out on our streets and on our sidewalks, it is not humane to them and nor is it fair to California citizens to to let this situation persist and only get worse. Q: But in San Diego, SDPD has been moving along, has been clearing out encampments. ALLEN: This is the problem. Q: But the problem but the problem is worse than its been. ALLEN: In Orange County as well, you know, theyre simply shifting these people from one place to the next with no place for them to actually go, which is why the state has to step in. There are Q: So you would so then you would force them if you if the state were to fund this program, than than youre saying the police would say, you cant be on the street, Im taking you ... ALLEN: Theres theres a place for you to go, thats exactly right. Q: So then they would transport them to the state facility or jail? ALLEN: Exactly no, well it depends on if they, you know, if theyre criminals. You know if theyre breaking the law, then yes, theyre going to jail, but no Q: Theyre breaking the law by sleeping on the streets. ALLEN: Then there would be a statewide institution for these people to go. Were going to send a very clear message that if youre on the streets of California and youre not a California resident, youre going to get a one-way ticket out of our state. If youre sleeping on the streets of California and you were you will no longer be allowed to sleep out on our streets. There will be a place you can go, but you will no longer be allowed to sleep on our streets. Its not fair to the citizens of California to have homelessness exploding in California and its not fair to the homeless population, among our states most vulnerable people, to not receive the care that so many of them desperately need. Q: On the issue, lets talk about the other issue that pairs with homelessness is housing. ALLEN: Yes. Q: Right? I think everyone in this room agrees that we need more housing. ALLEN: Absolutely. Q: Weve advocated for it. Weve said theres a housing crisis for a long time. Your plan is to build more housing. But how would you do it? ALLEN: California has not built enough housing for decades due to excessively high taxes, burdensome regulatory structures and laws like the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, which was originally passed with the best of intentions, but has now turned into a weapon used by organized labor and extreme environmentalists to stop the construction and development of new homes in California. We must reform CEQA. We have to cut the taxes. We have to cut regulations. Q: How do you specifically reform CEQA, because a lot of people are saying, lets reform it, but what specifically should we do? ALLEN: We cut the fines that are in place with CEQA. We cut the administrative review times. We institute a lose or pay system where for every CEQA challenge that comes thats unsuccessful, the plaintiff has to pay the legal costs of the defendant. There can no longer be a system where uninvolved ideological parties are stopping development in California at the expense of Californians. We must give local jurisdictions the power to build the sorts of homes that they want to build and not mandate this at the state level and at the same time we have to cut all of the barriers to building these homes that have been put in place for decades now by the California Democrats. California has plenty of land. California has plenty of resources and there is a ton of investment capital just waiting at the doors to flood California, to build new homes, to build new places for Californians to live. We just have to make we just have to send a very clear message that California is open for business and start building again. Ive witnessed this first hand in San Diego. I was born in 1973, right here at Sharp Hospital in San Diego and Ive seen San Diego transform itself into one of the most incredible cities in the country. This has come about because San Diego as a city made a determined effort that it was going to that it was going to rebuild itself and clean up its areas like the Gaslamp that had been such a blight for so long and to build the sorts of housing that people wanted at every single price point and as a as an aside, its important to note that many Californians truly enjoy living in a dense urban environment, but for many Californians, the California dream is owning a single family home with a front yard and a back yard. We must give Californians the ability once again to live in whatever home they choose to dwell in and not try to force them into, you know, small footprints in massive high rises. Q: Well let me ask you because I think an exact quote from you is, every Californian will have a green lawn and take long showers. ALLEN: This relates to water storage. Q: That sounds bigger than a chicken in every pot. ALLEN: Yeah. Q: So how I think many many Californians are happy to live near transit and in smaller spaces... ALLEN: Absolutely and thats and thats their right. Q: But every Californian will have a green lawn and take long showers, is that is that going too far? ALLEN: Well this well this relates to so do I no, absolutely not. I have a five-point plan to take back California, cut taxes, get tough on crime, fix roads, expand our freeways, no new taxes, fix our broken education system and finally complete the California State Water Project by building new water storage up and down the state of California, above ground, below ground, which includes desalination in San Diego and desalination in Huntington Beach. California has plenty of water, all we need to do is actually store it when it rains. If we actually store Californias water when it rains, we have more than enough water to flood the Central Valley and every Californian will have the ability to take a long shower and have a green lawn. We have to make sure that 50 percent of our water is not wasted underneath the Golden Gate Bridge every single year as it is currently. Can you give me just one moment? I got I know that I was late for ... and I have two TV stations waiting for me, so I want to hang on a quick second. [ALLEN makes phone call, hangs up after it goes to voice mail.] Q: Well just probably be a few more minutes here if you want to do that afterward. ALLEN: Yeah, Im hang on just one I got some of these I got cameras waiting for me so just give me one moment. Give me just a moment. Sorry guys, I appreciate that and here we go lets see. Recent [ALLEN makes second phone call.] Katie? Listen, listen, listen, Im wrapping up with the U-T board right now. Let OAN know, I got both Patrick Hussion and Graham Ledger, let them know Ill be there in 15 minutes. Yeah, yeah, 15 minutes and tell them Im on my way here momentarily, but we just went a little bit long in the ed board, thanks so much. Great, bye. [ALLEN ends phone call.] ALLEN: Okay. Sorry guys. Sorry guys. Q: So let me ask you about this, youve been criticized for the way youve described bills in the past, particularly the law which is designed to treat minors as victims of sex trafficking rather than sex offenders. You said that was an attempt to legalized child prostitution? ALLEN: Yes, yes, exactly. Q: But youre still saying then, you havent backed down from that even though ALLEN: It it is. Q: ...others have said, thats not the case. ALLEN: Theyre not telling the truth. Its very simple. This law decriminalized prostitution for minors in California. It is now, as of January 1, it is legal for a minor to prostitute themselves, solicit prostitution and even pimp other minors into prostitution. Today Q: The bill didnt make it legal for someone to have sex with a minor. ALLEN: Wait, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. Today in California, all of those actions are legal by a minor. What this means is it means that you have a daughter or a niece or a neighbor down the street who is soliciting themselves on the street corner, there is nothing that you can do about that. It is still illegal for an adult to it is still illegal for an adult to engage that minor in prostitution; however, for the minor, it has been entirely decriminalized and legalized in California and that is immoral, it is wrong, it is absolutely destructive to our most vulnerable population in California. Q: But our editorial board supported that because it helps those most vulnerable. ALLEN: It doesnt of course it doesnt help that, thats Q: And the OC Register Board called this unnecessary hysteria that youre drumming up. ALLEN: Thats absolutely incorrect. Think about this, if you have a neighbor or a friend and you see their child on a street corner soliciting themselves, under this law that is in place right now in California, there is nothing you can do about it. There is nothing the police can do about it. They can only apprehend this minor if they believe that youre in immediate physical danger. All the minor simply has to say, Im not in danger and they can simply walk away. Now if they are apprehended by law enforcement, all law enforcement can do is take them down to the local social services agency. That minor is free to walk right out that door hours later which means that they these minors will not get the help that they need. They will be right back out on the streets putting themselves in danger yet again. No one wants to criminalize minors that are that have found themselves in this dire situation, but it is extremely important to note that we must allow these minors to be detained so they can get off the streets, so they can get the help they need and Im actually putting forward legislation to do exactly that. Q: I think we disagree on that. The point of the bill, I think we disagree on that one, but let me ask you this ALLEN: Wait, wait, wait hold on, wait, wait Q: Let me ask you this though because I want because ALLEN: Okay. Q: you told us you dont have a lot of time left. ALLEN: I appreciate that. Q: And John Cox and Carl DeMaio from San Diego have both blasted Carl I think Carl said that you are a fraud, running a sham gas tax repeal effort and that youve accepted a $300,000 donation months after your gas tax repeal effort failed to qualify for the ballot using it on self promotion. ALLEN: No. DeMaio is entirely irrelevant and yet again is not only is DeMaio irrelevant Q: Well lets talk about Cox because Cox has complained to the FPPC that youre using the money ALLEN: Oh, Cox Cox actually tried to sue me. Q: Right. ALLEN: Yeah, oh yeah. Cox is trying to sue me and he just threatened to sue me actually again as well. Look Q: So are you Set aside their personalities. Are you misusing the money? ALLEN: Of course not, absolutely this is the thats thats a ridiculous concept. Who would ever do something like that? No, not only is DeMaio irrelevant and Cox grasping at an issue following yet again in the footsteps of my leadership in California, but I have not only not only was I the original author of the repeal of the gas tax, which I filed months before DeMaio became involved. I fought the attorney general in six months to get a fair and balanced title and summary to the people of California so they would know that this was the repeal Q: That money you accepted was for... ALLEN: Hold on, hold on, wait, hold on, hold on Q: Lets talk about the money. The money you accepted was for the campaign right? ALLEN: Now let... let me Q: Or was it for your governors race? ALLEN: Let me finish. So I fought the attorney general in six months in court to get a fair ballot title and summary for the repeal of the gas tax. After after beating him in Superior Court and then having it reversed by a liberal Court of Appeals and having the Supreme Court not even refusing to even hear the case because three justices had been recently appointed by Jerry Brown, we decided it was best to merge the efforts with the existing with the other effort, which is also being led by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. So we merged the efforts, I gathered thousands and thousands of signatures for that effort that were directly delivered to me through Howard Jarvis and also directly sent in to San Diego and I had and in addition, we built an army of tens of thousands of volunteers who were absolutely committed to reversing the gas tax. I have been a statewide leader on this from the very beginning. It was DeMaio who actually followed me and Cox who tried to buy his way into the initiative with a $250,000 check. The answer is that when a donor had approached me who was against the gas tax, who wanted to bring awareness to the this issue because he knew that the gas tax is terrible for California and hurts Californias poorest the very most, he said specifically that there was no way he wanted a dime of this money going to anything associated with John Cox, and that is why we brought increased state awareness to the repeal of the gas tax, which led to even more signatures being gathered, at last count, I believe its over 965,000 signatures that were submitted in total. Not only was I the original author of the repealof the gas tax, I I have been committed to ensuring it is on the ballot and passes in November of this year. So DeMaios statements are baseless and, you know, Cox is simply engaging in yet more more political behavior following in the footsteps of the path that I have that I have blazed in California. Q: Before I throw it to you for your kind of closing elevator pitch. Let me ask you about the state the governor has to manage the state, he has to manage people, he has manage time, has to manage money. In your campaign, you are routinely late for interviews. I think at KQED you were 10 minutes late for a 30-minute spot, you were an hour late for Sacramento Bee Facebook Live, you missed our first editorial board meeting and so your second one you were a little late, but Im not going to ding you on being 10 minutes late for that thing, but should you be managing your time and your kind of presence ALLEN: Wait, its important Q: a little better than that or should voters not look at that as a negative? ALLEN: This year so far, Ive already done 56 flights and over 10,000 miles with over 100 appearances around the state. Weve gathered over, you know, we have over 40,000 volunteers and almost half a million follows on social media, actually about a half a million followers on social media alone. As one Californian taking back this entire state from the grip of the Democrat machine that has run our state into the ground, its important to make as many appearances as possible and, you know, from time to time this means that some appearances I might be a couple minutes late to, but I always show up and I always make sure that our message of taking back California is getting out to the broadest possible audience and this is whats so important, this is what has been lacking in California is a true leader that actually has a track record of standing up for commonsense principals and has the fire and the passion to take this up and down the state, which is why we have so many appearances, which is why I sell out almost every single appearance that we have and why were in such demand across the state of California. You know if if Im guilty of trying to make sure we get the message out to as many Californians as possible then so be it. If thats what it takes to get our message that Californians can finally win again in California, Im more than happy to do everything it takes. Q: Actually one question just occurred to me and then Ill throw it to you for a close, but just because of the issue this weekend with the [state Republican] convention, people are looking at your record and John Cox ... ALLEN: Oh and by the way, we were gonna we were gonna push this off for a week so but I accommodated you guys because I wanted to. I mean so just to be clear, a lot will change this weekend and so we were going to push this back, but you know, you really wanted to do it and Im more than happy to. Q: So I asked John Cox about climate change and the fact that basically 99 percent of scientists say that its a settled science. He said, maybe its a 70, maybe its a 60, Itll take you say itll take quite some time for the science to be settled and youve used words like, absolute nonsense and bogus science to describe some studies on rising sea levels. ALLEN: Yes. Q: Is it bogus science? ALLEN: Which? Q: That climate change is caused by humans? ALLEN: I think I think the jury is still out on whether or not climate is caused by is, you know, manmade or not or is it a cause of let me answer your question. I think the verdict is still out or the jury is still out on whether or not climate change is is related to human human activity on the planet, but whether it is or not is very different than the policy prescriptions that are being put forward by California Democrats. California could go to zero emissions tomorrow and it wouldnt change global temperatures by even a 10th of a percent. Jerry Brown has used climate change as the reason to extend the cap and trade program, which is going to cost Californians up to 73 cents more on their for every gallon of gas and up to 10 to 20 to 30 percent in additional utility bills over the next 10 years. These policy prescriptions of the Democrats of more regulation and higher taxes that they try to justify with tenuous climate change science are not benefiting Californians, nor are they benefiting our environment. Q: So the spectrum of climate change believers who say 99 percent, to John Cox who says 60 or 70 percent likely to where do you fall? Is it less than that? ALLEN: But this is this this is not a question of belief. Its a question of science and the science the science is simply not settled. It doesnt matter what someone believes. The science is not settled on whether or not our climate is changing due to mans interaction with the planet, but what but what is conclusive is that the policy prescriptions of the Democrats, higher regulations and higher taxes will not only have no effect on global temperatures, but they will dramatically negatively impact the lives of Californians, which is exactly why I am opposed to them and why Im going to change them as the next state governor of the state of California. Q: And as promised, Id kick it to you for your close. ALLEN: Okay. Cool. Q: So give us why you and why not someone else in the race. ALLEN: Absolutely. First, I just want to go back to one thing which is very, very important to understand. Im ia state legislator that has been engaged as a state lawmaker for the last six years, all I do is read bills and look at laws. That law that we discussed earlier about decriminalizing child prostitution in California is very clear. It is entirely decriminalized and has been legalized for minors. Its not legal for the adults, but it is legal for the minors and this will have a terrible destructive impact on Californias children and its important that not only is this law reversed, but that these kids get the help that they need, so and Im absolutely committed to that and I have legislation coming out that you will see this year. So with that, I was born in California, I was raised in California, born right here in San Diego, raised five minutes from the California border. Ive had to watch my family and friends who have all left the state, as well as have my clients due to the destructive policies of the California Democrats who have run the state into the ground. 39 of the last 40 years the Democrats have controlled the California state legislature and Jerry Brown and his family have controlled the governors seat for 24 of the last 50. Its about time to bring balance back to the state of California. I am the only candidate in the entire race for governor that actually has a plan to take back California. The plan is very simple. Its to cut tax in California, its a five-point plan. Cut taxes in California starting with the repeal of the gas tax. Im the original author of the gas tax and Im absolutely committed to ensuring that it passes this year and we reverse this tax that we never got a chance to vote on. Then we go after all the other taxes in California. The highest in the nation in income tax, the highest in the nation sales tax and we lower the corporate tax as well, sending a very clear message that California is open for business. We cut the excessive regulatory structure in California and we eliminate entire state agencies that no longer serve their purpose and change the management of those agencies from unelected bureaucrats out of the Bay Area of San Francisco to business leaders and real Californians that understand the impact of these the impact that these regulations are having upon our businesses and our daily lives. Next, we get tough on crime in California. We reverse AB 109 and Prop. 57 and Prop. 47. These laws have directly led to a spike in violent crime across California of over 15 percent, 15.4 percent to be exact, from 2014 to 2017. We send a very clear message to criminals in California which is if you do the crime, you will serve the time and we make California safe again. Ive already written legislation to make California a shall-issue CCW [carrying a concealed weapon permit] state because every Californian should have the right to defend themselves in their house or anywhere, anytime in the state of California, in any city, in any rural area, any time day or night, whether youre a man or woman, young or old, rich or poor. Ive also put forward legislation to get rid of the handgun roster, which serves no purpose in California and I am against Gavin Newsoms ammunition registry. None of these laws are making California safer. What we need is to remember that we are the state of three strikes and we must make sure that California is safe for the benefit of every single Californian. Next, we need to fix our roads and expand our freeways with no new tax dollars. Two years ago, the California Republicans came out with a plan which would have saved $7 billion off the state budget with no new taxes. It would have expanded our roads and fixed our freeways. Instead, Jerry Brown and the California Democrats passed a $52 billion tax that we never voted on. Less than 35 percent of this money will ever go to the roads in California and of that money, not none not one new general purpose freeway lane can ever be built using that money in California. Well only get toll lanes, bike lanes, bus lanes and, yes, even trains in California. Ive already pledged in my very first budget to defund the high speed rail and return all the money back to taxpayers. We will leave a small section, that little bridge in the middle of the field in Central Valley. Were going to leave that there standing, were going to hang a sign on that, its going to read Jerry Browns legacy so the voters of California never forget, but we will fix our roads, which are the second worst in the nation. We will get we will expand our freeways so were no longer the worst in the nation traffic. Next, well fix our broken education system by giving parents the choice to send their kids to the very best public school, the very best public charter school or even home school their children if they wish. Well get rid of the statewide mandated Common Core [state education standards] and allow local jurisdictions to decide the curriculum that is best for their communities, but we will hold every child accountable in California. Every child will be tested when they go into their grade so we know where they start. Theyll be tested when they go out of the grade so we can ensure that theyve learned the requisite skills to go onto the next level. Skills like reading and writing and math and, yes, well get rid of the leftist propaganda that is currently being put into all of our classrooms. Lastly, we must complete the California State Water Project by building new water storage up and down the state of California. Were not going to steal the water from the north, were not going to drain the delta and those delta zones will never get built, theyre far too expensive. We must build new water storage again in California. When we do, California has more than enough water for our entire state for this generation and generations to come, well flood the Central Valley and, yes, you will take long showers and you will have green lawns again in California. Ive also vowed to reverse the illegal sanctuary state in my first 100 days in office and am absolutely committed to ensuring that we finally get voter ID in California so we can get rid of the rampant voter fraud that has allowed the Democrats to control the state for decades. Q: Thank you. If thats an elevator pitch, thats a long elevator ride right there. ALLEN: You better believe it and its going to be a great one. California is a big state with bigger contradictions. It is the wealthy tech capital of the world and the epicenter of U.S. poverty. It is the most influential progressive state and a tremendous educational disappointment for minority students. It is the boldest state on profoundly important issues like climate change and one thats unable to address the financial challenge of creating a sustainable pension system for government workers. To address these giant California problems, the next governor must be willing to take on the most powerful factions in the states dominant Democratic Party. The environmentalists and trial attorneys who use state environmental laws to make adding housing stock so difficult, spurring a dire shortage that has led to sky-high rents and home prices. The teachers unions that dont just oppose basic education reforms that have worked in other states, but use their clout to win approval of a school accountability program that makes it harder to hold districts accountable. The public employee unions that have fought off changes to generous pension programs that could soon consume one-quarter of the budgets of local governments and crowd out basic services like public safety, libraries and parks. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board believes that of the seven major candidates we interviewed, only two have a chance of being elected. Thankfully, this list includes the candidate with the best chance to be the aggressive reformer the state needs: Antonio Villaraigosa. The veteran Democrats willingness to challenge government unions while mayor of Los Angeles and his ability to get things done as speaker and majority leader in the state Assembly lend credibility to his claim that he could take on Californias political status quo. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom the only other candidate with a real chance of succeeding Jerry Brown talks a great game, displaying a deep understanding of a vast range of state issues. Like Villaraigosa, he calls for a variety of changes in state laws that would make it easier to add more housing. But Villaraigosas record as L.A. mayor from 2005 to 2013 far surpasses Newsoms record as San Francisco mayor from 2004 to 2011. Villaraigosa not only displayed an effective, judicious management style in persuading his City Council to restrain city spending during a budget-crippling recession; he won voters approval for ambitious transportation projects and beefed up his police force. Yes, Newsom deserves credit for his early championing of same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization. But he hasnt gotten nearly as much done or overcome as many obstacles as Villaraigosa. Questions about Newsoms ability to build coalitions to advance his bold ideas have dogged him for years. His decision to skip so many debates in recent weeks didnt help him. If hes the frontrunner, he seems to be running scared. Advertisement Additionally, Newsoms claim to be an eager reformer on a wide range of issues is undercut by the aggressive way he has courted the Democratic factions which have such sway over Sacramento, starting with the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers. They have used their influence to create a public school system that doesnt just make it difficult to remove ineffective teachers; it funnels them to the troubled schools in poor minority communities that most need the best teachers. In Los Angeles Unified, this has led to a long series of lawsuits credibly alleging these practices violate the civil rights of Latino and African-American students. L.A. Unified, of course, is the same district that Villaraigosa tried to take control of while Los Angeles mayor. It is no wonder that he has the support of Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, who has more credibility when it comes to caring about students in public schools than all of the states other lawmakers combined. Villaraigosas advantage over Newsom is also plain on another huge issue: health care. While both support expanded access to health care, Newsom joins the California Nurses Association which endorsed him way back in 2015 in touting Senate Bill 562. It commits the state to adopting a single-payer health care system without explaining how the $400 billion annual cost would be covered or how huge state and federal legal obstacles could be overcome. When Villaraigosa and others have said these crucial details must be addressed, Newsom ripped them as defeatist. In an interview, Newsom irresponsibly doubled down on using the label while defending his own optimism. The three remaining major Democratic candidates each disappointed in their own ways. State Treasurer John Chiang showed early promise given his financial acumen, but he overstates his role in helping the state get its finances in order and underwhelmed in debates next to bigger personalities. Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin has been a witty presence at those debates but is stuck in the past on public education, thinking money solves its ills. And Amanda Renteria, a former official in state Attorney General Xavier Becerras office who joined the race so late she was excluded from debates, is bright and well-educated but lacks experience to be seen as a credible candidate for this office. The two most prominent Republican candidates are even more disappointing a huge letdown after 2014s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Neel Kashkari, a brilliant banker and engineer who may one day end up chairing the Federal Reserve Board. Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Coxs shaky grasp on policy is demonstrated by his inexplicable confidence that the states housing crisis can be addressed by the same local governments that have done next to nothing for decades. Huntington Beach Assemblyman Travis Allen is a demagogue on immigration and a broken record opposing taxes two reasons California Republicans have stumbled statewide for years and worse he displays a college freshmans maturity and time management. But the good news for Republicans is that the race does have a viable moderate candidate who shares the current governors determined fiscal prudence: Villaraigosa. He offers the most promise to push back against the powerful interests that have kept California from confronting its problems. On June 5, we urge voters from across the political spectrum to think about that as they choose two candidates for the November general election. Voters would be best served to have Villaraigosa debate Newsom several times this fall, if Newsom agrees. Read and listen to all of our candidate interviews & questionnaires. Travis Allen: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview John Chiang: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview John Cox: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Delaine Eastin: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Gavin Newsom: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Amanda Renteria: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Antonio Villaraigosa: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Share all seven interviews at once. Related: How The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will make its 2018 election endorsements You will find all of our endorsements here. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion After California voters elected her to the U.S. Senate in 1992, Dianne Feinstein quickly won notice for her intelligence, hard work and coalition building. In her first two years alone, the Democratic former mayor of San Francisco passed a 10-year ban on the manufacture and sale of 19 types of military-style assault weapons; pushed to create new national parks at Death Valley and Joshua Tree; and helped obtain $11 billion in federal aid after 1994s deadly Northridge earthquake. Following a narrow re-election in 1994, Feinsteins reputation for pragmatism and problem-solving has only grown, leading to landslide wins in her 2000, 2006 and 2012 races. But in an era of growing polarization, what were once virtues can now be seen as vices. And at an Aug. 31 forum in San Francisco, Feinstein deeply offended some progressives with remarks that in other times would have seemed banal. After blasting President Donald Trump, Feinstein also said: Look, this man is going to be president, most likely for the rest of this term. I just hope he has the ability to learn, and to change. And if he does, he can be a good president. And thats my hope. For the record: The editorial has been corrected to make an accurate reference to the U.S. war in Iraq. For members of the Trump resistance starting with her only serious opponent in Californias June 5 primary election, former state Senate President Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat the larger context of Feinsteins record doesnt matter. Instead of noting her two years of harsh criticism of Trump and her 40 years of effective advocacy of a mix of liberal and moderate policies, foes to her left would discard Feinstein for saying Trump can be a good president. This is a dispiriting commentary on the state of American politics and one that California voters should reject. It is true that some progressives concerns about Feinstein far predated her Trump remarks. Her support for President George W. Bushs wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has never sat well with many on the left. In an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, de Leon made this point effectively, declaring that Feinstein made the wrong call on the most critical and expensive national security issues of modern times. Advertisement In her interview with the U-T editorial board, Feinstein didnt challenge this characterization to her credit. Instead, she made a persuasive case that her overall record includes far more pluses than minuses. In so doing, she should ease anyones concerns about the wisdom of electing an 84-year-old to another six-year term. She displayed a ready command of big issues that few could hope to match starting with immigration, climate change, school gun violence, CIA spying, Russian meddling, the Me Too movement, privacy in the era of social media and, yes, the chaos caused by Trumps erratic management style. The stature gap between Feinstein and de Leon and between Feinstein and the vast majority of elected officials is striking. Feinstein answered a few of our questions less sharply and directly than the bulk of her replies. But the same can also be said of de Leon and most other politicians. And nothing she said was as specious as his claim that it was no big deal for the California Senate to approve a bill committing the state to a single-payer health care system without explaining how its $400 billion annual cost would be covered. Its hard to imagine Feinstein acting so blithely on such a consequential measure. The seriousness and sincerity with which she approaches her duties is welcome these days. Given that we have a president with neither of those qualities one who leaves Americans feeling buffeted on a daily basis Feinsteins value to California and the nation is hard to exaggerate. She has a lot left to be done and has amply earned another six years as a U.S. senator. State Sen. Kevin de Leon: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Read and listen to all of our candidate interviews & questionnaires. Related: How The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will make its 2018 election endorsements You will find all of our endorsements here. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Lightly edited comments from our online coverage. Re California becomes first state requiring all new homes be built with solar (May 9): We already have a housing availability crisis, which has been caused in large part by these kind of government regulations. We already a housing affordability crisis, which has been caused in large part by government fees and taxes. These unelected boards and commissions need to go. The market for solar is already working without this undemocratic, appointed, left wing board. bagsboy1 Advertisement Joined June 28, 2017 Thank you for making my already-built house more valuable! jtibb2 Joined July 6, 2016 Re Gone in a Flash: What Green Flashs woes mean to craft beer (May 6): I, like so many others out there, am so over the whole craft beer micro brew thing. Last time I went to a pub it was 8 bucks for an IPA. No thanks! Plus dont get me started on all the fruit infused beers now in the super market beer aisle. Happy with a six pack of Becks these days. ichCoste Joined Jan. 8, 2018 The West Coast IPA is still one of the best beers around in my humble opinion. temporarycalifornian Joined Feb. 7, 2017 Re Iran nuclear deal: Trumps motives to pull out questioned (May 8): The North Koreans are only upset that they will not be dealing with that pusillanimous ex pres (dont cross that line) obama. Iran made a deal with obama because he knew he could never get a treaty to pass. President Trump can cancel a deal but not a a treaty. Rocketman knows he will be dealing with someone who looks out for American interests even though you do not understand that. nexialist21 Joined Jan. 24, 2017 I do not think it is good to break an agreement. What country would deal with us if every four years our contracts get revoked? People often say not to trust the North Koreans, but it is the U.S. that appears untrustworthy. fbookheim Joined April 17, 2016 Re So-called Minutemen making matters worse at border (May 8): While I think these guys are a little looney and it just seems like kids dressing up and playing army, I do think they are carrying on a tradition of self-reliance that Tocqueville wrote about. Almost every state still has Citizens Arrest laws on the books, and also Law enforcement can still call up a Posse comitatus to add in efforts. I would also think that if our country was being invaded by a hostile force people would take up arms to defend the country even if they were not military or law enforcement. The real issue is how much of a threat do you consider illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and human traffickers to be and what needs to be done. SoCalBaker Joined May 27, 2016 OMG, was it Pretend to be in the military day for these little men? Get a life. IgnorantAltRight Joined Dec. 25, 2017 Re Why girls do not need the Boy Scouts (May 9): They changed it because they were finally shedding the Mormon dominance of their group. If it werent for them, they would have changed it years ago like Campfire (Girls) did. ErikHanson Joined March 9, 2017 Yep, there is some truth to that as well, in 2020 the Mormons are going to start their own organization and currently they make up 18 percent of the total Boy Scout enrollment. Lazertop Joined April 20, 2016 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. The Poway Unified School District needs to hire 103 teachers before the end of summer. Recently, as part of Poway Unifieds cost savings efforts, the district extended an offer of a Supplemental Early Retirement Plan to eligible teachers. Since then, the district Personnel Support Services Department has been working nonstop, to not only process all of these retirements, but to recruit the very best teachers to replace those leaving. Over the last few months, we have been visiting our local universities, meeting newly credentialed teacher candidates as well as recruiting at several job fair events. But Ive heard a similar concern expressed over and over again: What if we cant find enough good teachers? In a recent article in the New York Post titled Why Americas Teacher Shortage is Going to Get Worse, the writer cites census data that shows that back in 1975, 22 percent of college students majored in education. By 2015, however, fewer than 10 percent of college students majored in education. The demand for teachers hasnt slowed, but the supply isnt keeping pace. Historically, the PUSD has not experienced many difficulties in recruiting excellent teachers. Like our families that move here for the quality of the education we provide their children, employees come here so they can be a part of Team PUSD. At a recent job fair at Liberty Station, we had a long line of interested candidates, which was an encouraging sign that we still have an excellent reputation as a destination district. We also have quite a few alumni who, based on their experience as students in PUSD, want to return to our district as employees to give back to their local community. But sooner or later, a lack of qualified candidates, especially in math, science and special education, will catch up with us too. So how do we fill the pipeline with bright, passionate, committed individuals who can impact our childrens lives and learning? We have been proactive in our partnerships with local colleges, bringing on student teachers and interns, to build a direct bridge from the college classroom to our classrooms. We also need to tap into those individuals who might be considering a career change and looking for a more fulfilling career path. Ive hired former engineers, scientists, business professionals, athletes, artists, you name it. Diverse backgrounds and rich life experiences only enhance a teachers ability to build connections in the curriculum to better reach their students. Once we get them, how do we get teachers to stay? I strongly believe good teachers can grow into great teachers, with an emphasis on support, training, and development so they can improve throughout their careers. At the PUSD, we offer one of the most comprehensive new teacher induction programs in the county, with two years of top quality training and support for new teachers who must clear their teaching credential as required in the state. Poway Unified provides this program at no cost to our newly-hired teachers. Education must continue to evolve to be effective, and so do our educators. As John Dewey once said, If we teach todays students as we taught yesterdays, we rob them of tomorrow. Our job as teachers is to recognize that our students needs are changing, identify the skills and knowledge theyll need for the future, and adapt our instructional methods to prepare them for college and careers. When I transitioned from teaching and being a school administrator to work in human resources for school districts, I did so because I knew I could directly impact the success of our students through the teachers I hired. In my many years of recruiting, screening, and mentoring teachers, Ive come to realize that it goes beyond wanting to teach. It takes a certain kind of person to be a great teacher. One who is a lifelong learner. One who realizes they can make a difference as the one caring person in a childs life. One who lives to see students dream, achieve, and succeed. One who understands that teaching is not a job, it is a calling. Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter suggests that the happiest workers are those who are solving the toughest problems and making a difference in peoples lives. If making a difference makes us happy, then its no wonder that so many of our teachers have stayed in the profession for 20 or 30 years. Now, we are looking for the next generation of life changers. Are you one of them? Apply today at EdJoin.org. Jimenez is the PUSDs associate superintendent of personnel support services. Some call it natures air-conditioning. Others, particularly vacationers looking for San Diegos famously sunny weather, usually have less kind words for it. Its what locals call May gray, and the forecast indicates there will be quite a bit of it in the coming week at least during nights and mornings. That grayness should linger longer Friday and Saturday and might even drip a little at the coast and valleys. So why does the sky go gray in late spring? What makes the low clouds ebb and flow, visit the valleys some days, mingle with the mountaintops on others, and confine themselves to the coast on still others? Advertisement In mid spring, as the sun gets higher and the days get longer, the land gets a lot hotter. (Borrego Springs hit 104 degrees on Wednesday.) Meanwhile, the waters off the Southern California coast, fed by the cool California current from the north, warm up a little, but they dont keep pace with the rapidly warming land to the east. (Del Mar Beach peaked at 64 degrees Wednesday.) The contrast between the heat inland and the cool ocean helps set up the mechanism that pulls low clouds inland. And why do the low clouds form in the first place? Heres a brief explainer: All air holds at least some moisture, but we often cant see it because it exists only as vapor. In May and June, air moving horizontally over the cold ocean is cooled by contact with the cold water. That chilled air then rises and cools off some more. When the air is chilled enough, it reaches what weather people call the dew point, meaning the air is so saturated that vapor we couldnt see before has condensed into a liquid tiny droplets so light they dont fall. May gray conditions are created by a mix of temperature and air pressure conditions along the coast. But now we can see them, collectively, in the form of long, low clouds called stratus. These are not like the huge storm clouds seen in winter. Theyre relatively flat, as anyone who has flown into San Diego International Airport on a May morning can attest. Normally, as you go higher in the atmosphere, from the ground up, the temperature decreases. But sometimes theres there a point where the temperatures flip, which is called an inversion, and temperature increases with height. That point where the temperatures flip, or invert, from the normal pattern is where air stops rising. In May and June, cool, moist air gets trapped below that inversion. Thats where youll see the cloud deck form. Now those low clouds have formed in a layer and lurk off the coast. Why dont they just stay put? Blame those climbing temperatures inland. Hot air rises. Where air is rising, air pressure is lower. When the desert starts to top 100 degrees, theres a lot of rising air. This is called a thermal low, created by high temperatures over a region. Over the much cooler ocean, the air is sinking. Where air is sinking, the air pressure is higher. One simple rule of meteorology: Air moves from relatively higher pressure toward relatively lower pressure. So that cool air at the coast and the recently formed stratus deck, under high pressure, surges inland, because the air pressure there is lower. But the thickness of that stratus deck, how far it surges, and when, is affected by a variety of complex elements. The thickness is what we need to know but often dont, National Weather Service forecaster Joe Dandrea said. There are competing factors going on with this. One of those competing factors can be a coastal eddy, a mini-low-pressure system that can form off the coast and thicken the low clouds to several thousand feet. Usually, an eddy offers a big clue for the forecasters. The thicker the cloud deck, the longer it will be around and the farther inland it will reach. But if the eddy is too strong, it can actually break up the cloud deck and leave clear skies. That happened on Monday morning, which forecasters had expected to be cloudy but ended up clear. With or without eddies, it can be difficult to tell just how thick the clouds are. Satellite images can show the forecasters where the low clouds are, but they dont tell much about the depth of the clouds. The height of the cloud base determines which areas, if any, will get dense fog. Where the cloud bases intersect with the land, visibility can be greatly reduced. When the cloud base is 500 feet, the mesas will be socked in. This weekend, when the clouds are expected to be 4,500 feet thick, the mountains should be in fog. Forecasters also need to determine the vigor of the onshore flow and the trend. Is it strengthening or weakening? A strong onshore flow can push the clouds farther inland. If the flow is turning offshore, meaning the winds are starting to come from inland, the intrusion of low clouds will be blunted. Low-pressure systems moving in from the north (one is parked over Nevada this weekend) can make that onshore flow stronger. Big high-pressure systems over or near the region can stall the onshore flow and sometimes wipe it out all together. Miguel Miller, another forecaster for the weather service in San Diego, said most of the time, the forecasters read all those factors and many more and accurately predict the overcast. Its the missed forecasts that stand out. Afternoon barbecues and beach trips that were supposed to be sunny but ended up cloudy and chilly can bring forecasters rebuke. We Southern California forecasters get the business from people saying we have nothing but easy weather to forecast, Miller said. But severity does not equal complexity. Conversely, benign weather doesnt mean its an easy forecast. Nailing the gray skies forecast is crucial to meteorologists with SDG&E. The difference between a cloudy day and a clear one can be hundreds of megawatts of rooftop solar generation megawatts the utility might or might not have to obtain from another source. Weve put a lot of time and energy into developing forecast models that show the low clouds impact on solar generation, said Brian DAgostino, SDG&Es meteorology program manager. For Beau Lynott, who lives in South Park and has been in Diego since 1989, the low clouds are a big energy saver. I love that its free air conditioning, Lynott said. I know the hot days are just around the corner. rob.krier@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2241 Twitter: @sdutKrier Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2018 -- According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has turned into a glaring health burden across the world and possesses high rates of permanent disabilities and fatalities. It has been estimated by the NIH that approximately 9 out of 100,000 people across the world suffer from some variation of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a number which is more concerning in the U.S. wherein 30,000 people are diagnosed for SAH each year. Among these cases, raptured cerebral aneurysms accounts for nearly 80% of the non-traumatic aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Going forward, these numbers are expected to mount even further, and thereby prove to be boon for the players in the global market for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Request a sample copy of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=31 Smoking, hypertension, history of intracranial aneurysms in immediate relatives, chronic alcohol use are some of the common causes of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, while the symptoms include headache, facial or orbital pain, unilateral third nerve palsy, bilateral lower extremity weakness, and vision loss. With no absolute therapy available and severity of the implications, early detection of SAH is of utmost importance and hence, there are vast opportunities available for the players venturing in the aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market. In addition to that, the NIH study reveals that aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is more prevalent in developed region of North America including the U.S. in comparison to Japan and China in Asia Pacific. With the presence of several key players in the healthcare sector in North America, the research and development pertaining to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is expected to drive the global market for the same. Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: Overview Aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of stroke and accounts for almost 7% of all strokes. It is listed under medical emergency conditions and can cause severe disability or can be fatal as well. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is sudden bleeding into the subarachnoid space of the central nervous system that may occur due to head injury, rupture of cerebral aneurysm, and aneurysm in other blood vessels. The most significant cause of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is trauma. Some other causes of this condition are migraine, intra-cerebral hemorrhage, meningitis, and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. In addition, lifestyle factors, smoking, genetics, hypertension, and excessive alcohol consumption are also significant factors for subarachnoid hemorrhage. The report is an all-important tool to understand the progression of the global aneurysm subarachnoid hemorrhage market between 2017 and 2025. In this report, the various market forces and growth indicators are analyzed at length to present a clear picture of strengths, weakness, threats, and opportunities of the market until the end of the forecast period in 2025. Request TOC of the report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=31 Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: Market Segmentation The global aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market is segmented on the basis of diagnostic test, therapy, and geography. By diagnostic test, CT scan and MRI are the components of this market. Lumber puncture is mandatory in cases where imaging shows indefinite results. Xanthochromia is another diagnostic test that helps in the detection of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Cerebral angiography and transcranial Doppler ultrasound are also used for detecting aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The regional segments of the global aneurysm subarachnoid hemorrhage market are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. As per an article published by Elsevier in 2014, countries such as Japan and Finland have high incidence rates of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: Drug Acceptance In May 2013, Arbor Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval for Nymalize containing nimodipine for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Currently, Arbor Pharmaceuticals possess the commercial rights of Nymalize solely in the US. The primary treatment for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage involves stabilizing the patient by repairing the cause of bleeding with the help of vasospasms such as calcium channel blockers such as nimodipine. Anti-anxiety medications and pain killers, when administered, helps relieve headaches and pressure in the skull. Phenyton is used to treat or prevent the occurrence of seizures. The treatment also focuses on alleviating symptoms and preventing complications such as permanent brain damage. Surgery is advised in cases where removal of large volume of blood is required to alleviate pressure on the brain. Aneurysm clipping, endovascular coiling, and craniotomy are some of the surgical procedures carried out for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Endovascular coiling involves placing coils in the aneurysm and stents in the blood vessel in order to lessen risk of further bleeding. Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/aneurysmal-subarachnoid-hemorrhage-market Companies and Institutions Mentioned in the Report Some of the leading companies in the global aneurysmal subarachnoid market are Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Edge Therapeutics Inc., and Actelion Ltd. Key institutions that contribute to the global aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market are Chinese University of Hong Kong, Utrecht University, University of Miami, University of Cambridge, and the University of Calgary among others. About TMR Research TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in today's supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients' conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends. Portland, OR -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/10/2018 -- When planning for any trip, the million-dollar question always remains whether or not to take a travel insurance. Although, one may consider it a mere waste of money, however, opting for it is rather a smart option. As no matter how well-planned a trip is, unforeseen weather changes, ill health, or other catastrophes can sabotage it. Request Sample At:https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/767848 Travel insurance covers expenses incurred and minimizes the risks during travel. It acts a cushion in situations such as trip cancellation due to medical emergency, loss of baggage, evacuation due to medical condition or hijack, and loss of travel documents among others. In addition, travel insurance is mandatory for tourists, who visit countries such as the U.S., Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Canada, and Australia for business, education, holidays, or visiting friends and relatives (VFR). Growth in tourism, rise in globalization, and trade practices have made this industry more attractive. Moreover, increase in number of senior citizens going abroad has propelled the growth of the travel insurance industry as they have become more informed about the insurance plans and the related benefits. The major challenge faced by the players, who operate in the market is shipping of policies on time owing to the rise in the number of insurees. To increase their outreach, the market players venture into tie-ups with travel agents to cut down time and cost incurred during distribution of travel insurance policies. The evolving trend of unconventional expenses being insured has resulted in a large number of consumers to opt for travel insurance, thereby offering business opportunities for insurance companies. Enquire About Report At:https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/767848 The report analyses the travel insurance market on the basis of insurance cover, distribution channels, users, and geography. Based on insurance cover, the market is classified into single trip travel insurance, annual multi-trip travel insurance and long stay travel insurance. Insurance policies are sold through different distribution channels such as insurance intermediaries, insurance company, bank, insurance broker, insurance aggregator, and others. Users who opt for travel insurance policies are backpackers, senior citizens, education travelers, business traveler, fully independent travelers, and family travelers. The market has further been analyzed across geographical regions namely North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, Italy, U.K., and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, and Africa). POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS Comprehensive analysis of the current and future trends in the world travel insurance market are provided in this report. The report offers a competitive scenario of the market with current and future growth trends, structure, driving factors, scope, opportunities, and challenges. The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the market segments to provide insights on the market dynamics. Porters Five Forces analysis highlights the potential of buyers and suppliers as well as provides insights on the competitive structure of the market to devise effective growth strategies and facilitate better decision-making. Value chain analysis provides key inputs on the role of stakeholders involved at various stages of the value chain. MARKET SEGMENTATION The travel insurance market is segmented on the basis of insurance cover, distribution channels, users, and geography. BY INSURANCE COVER Single Trip Travel Insurance Annual Multi-trip Travel Insurance Long-Stay Travel Insurance BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL Insurance Intermediaries Insurance Company Bank Insurance Broker Insurance Aggregator Others BY USERS Senior Citizens Education Traveler Backpackers Business Traveler Family Traveler Fully independent Traveler A team of archaeologists and philologists from the Universities of Tubingen and Heidelberg, Germany, has identified the location of the ancient royal city of Mardama thanks to 3,250-year-old cuneiform tablets. The cache of 92 clay tablets was uncovered at the site of a large Bronze Age settlement in 2017 by University of Tubingen Professor Peter Pfalzner and colleagues. The site is now home to the small Kurdish village of Bassetki in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan. The clay tablets, which date back to around 1250 BC (Middle Assyrian Empire), have now been read painstakingly by University of Heidelberg philologist Betina Faist. To our surprise, Dr. Faist was able to identify the site as the ancient city of Mardama, the archaeologists said. This important northern Mesopotamian city is cited in ancient sources, but we didnt know where it lay. It existed between 2200 and 1200 BC, was at times a kingdom or a provincial capital, and was conquered and destroyed several times. As the cuneiform texts show, it was the administrative seat of a Middle Assyrian governor. This reveals a new, previously unknown province of the Empire, which straddled large parts of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria in the 13th century BC. Even the name of the Assyrian governor, Assur-nasir, and his tasks and activities are described in the tablets. All of a sudden it became clear that our excavations had found an Assyrian governors palace, Professor Pfalzner said. At the same time, the translation reveals the location of the city named as Mardaman in Old Babylonian sources from around 1800 BC, and which is likely to be the Assyrian Mardama. According to the sources, it was the center of a kingdom which was conquered by one of the greatest rulers of the time, Shamshi-Adad I, in 1786 BC and integrated into his Upper Mesopotamian Empire. However, a few years later it became an independent kingdom under a Hurrian ruler called Tish-ulme. A period of prosperity followed, but shortly later the city was destroyed by the Turukkaeans, people from the Zagros Mountains to the north. The cuneiform texts and our findings from the excavations in Bassetki now make it clear that that was not the end, he said. The city existed continuously and achieved a final significance as a Middle Assyrian governors seat between 1250 and 1200 BC. The history of Mardaman can be traced back even further, to the early periods of Mesopotamian civilization. Sources from the Third Dynasty of Ur, approximately 2100-2000 BC, portray it as an important city on the northern periphery of the Mesopotamian Empire. The oldest source goes back to the Akkadian Empire, which is considered the first empire in history. It mentions that the city was destroyed a first time around 2250 BC by Naram-Sin, the most powerful Akkadian ruler. The clay tablets of Bassetki make an important new contribution to the geography of Mesopotamia, Dr. Faist said. This discovery may provide clues to the locations of other early cities in Mesopotamia, Professor Pfalzner added. #stocks-summary Seoul stocks inch down on Chinese developers' debt crises South Korean stocks closed slightly lower Friday largely on the back of growing concerns about giant Chinese property developers' debt crisis. The Korean won fell against the U.S. ... The FSO Alisa was christened at Sembmarines Tuas Boulevard Yard for MODEC, Total, BP and JX Nippon. The 430,000 barrel condensate capacity FSO Alisa is the first newbuild FSO constructed by Sembmarine and is designed to have double the average hull lifespan at 40 years. The hull lifespan has been verified by classification society DNV GL. The yard said the longer hull allows the vessel to withstand harsher and more extreme environmental conditions, such as rogue waves, corrosion, large ambient temperature variation and thunderstorms. The FSO will be deployed in the Culzean Field in the UK North Sea and can operate for 25-years without drydocking. The successful completion of FSO Ailsa demonstrates that we are now supporting the energy, offshore and marine value chain with a broader and deeper suite of innovative solutions, said Wong Weng Sun, president of Sembmarine at the naming ceremony. Sateesh Dev, president & ceo of MODEC Offshore Production Systems (Singapore) said, FSO Ailsa, the 46th floating unit MODEC has accomplished for the offshore oil and gas production industry, represents a significant milestone for us as it is the first one we have built for the North Sea oil and gas sector. CBL Corp's voluntary administrators say a creditors' watershed meeting will be held next week, with their opinion on whether the company should be liquidated to be released today. Auckland-based CBL appointed KordaMentha voluntary administrators on March 2 after the Reserve Bank sought an interim liquidation of its New Zealand supervised arm and the Central Bank of Ireland made a similar move against the insurer's European division. The second meeting of creditors gives them the choice to resolve that a deed of company arrangement be executed, resolve that the administration should end, or appoint liquidators. In March, the Auckland High Court granted the administrators orders extending the date by which it must call the watershed meeting, normally held within 25 working days of the appointment of administrators, until today. The meeting will be held in KordaMentha's Auckland offices at 3pm on May 18, the administrators said. The related report to creditors and other supporting information, including the administrators' opinion on the matters for creditors to vote upon at the watershed meeting, will be issued to creditors, the NZX and ASX by the end of today. However, the administrators have obtained separate orders from the Auckland High Court to extend the date for the watershed meetings of various CBL subsidiaries until Aug. 10. Those subsidiaries include LBC Holdings New Zealand, LBC Holdings Americas, LBC Holdings UK, LBC Holdings Europe, LBC Holdings Australasia, LBC Treasury Company, Deposit Power, South British Funding, and CBL Corporate Services. Yesterday, the New Zealand Shareholders Association said in a statement it believes liquidation is "in the best interests of investors and offers more options for securing residual value". NZSA said liquidators would have greater powers to pursue a variety of potential claims if litigation is necessary, and the organisation "would support the appointment of a strong independent liquidator who would act in the best interests of all who have been or may be affected in this case." CBL had its stock suspended from the NZX on Feb. 8 amid concerns from NZX Regulation about the information it had given the market, following engagement between it, CBL, the Financial Markets Authority, the Reserve Bank, and a number of overseas regulators with prudential oversight of CBLs international insurance business. On Feb. 20, CBL Insurance told the Reserve Bank it was continuing to operate despite being below the minimum regulatory solvency level. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 8th October 2021 Morning Report Briscoe Group Limited (NZX: BGP) Interim Report for Period Ended 1 August 2021 Good Spirits Hospitality Limited (NZX: GSH) Completion of Lease of Viaduct Venue 7th October 2021 Morning Report Just Life Group Limited (NZX: JLG) Acquisition of Intenza New Zealand and Market Update Experience Comvita's Story of Innovation and Connection at World Expo 2020 Dubai National Day of Vaccination Backed by Business The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) The a2 Milk Company to Defend Class Action 6th October 2021 Morning Report NZME Limited (NZX: NZM) Market Update - COVID-19 Impacts New Zealand house sales rose 6.6 percent in April, the biggest year-on-year increase in 23 months, as ongoing demand coupled with tighter inventory saw prices increase in 14 of 16 regions. The number of houses sold climbed to 6,368 in April from 5,973 a year earlier, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said in a statement. Excluding Auckland, the number of properties lifted 8.4 percent on the year to 4,514 while sales in Auckland were up 2.4 percent to 1,854. "The last time there was an annual increase in the number of properties sold that was this strong, was in May 2016. Its a pleasing result for the industry that weve had three out of four months of 2018 seeing positive year-on-year volume increases suggesting that the market is in a good position," said chief executive Bindi Norwell. New Zealand's overheated housing market - considered a risk to financial stability - has slowed as Reserve Bank restrictions on more highly-leveraged mortgage lending and tighter credit criteria being demanded by banks made it more difficult for borrowers. Housing market sentiment had also been weighed by new government policies to restrict the sale of homes and property to foreign investors. Recent data, however, points to some life coming back into the market, in particular as supply remains tight. The house price index - which measures the changing value of property in the market - lifted 3.8 percent to 2,706. Excluding Auckland, the index climbed 6.6 percent. The REINZ HPI showed 11 out of 12 regions experienced an increase over the past 12 months. The only region not to experience an increase was Canterbury, which fell 0.3 percent year-on-year. The national median sale price rose 1.9 percent to $550,000 from a year earlier, while median prices for Auckland eased by 0.6 percent to $850,000. According to Norwell, the number of properties sold in Auckland for between $250,000 and $750,000 increased while the number of properties sold in the $750,000 and above brackets fell, thereby, bringing the overall median price down in Auckland. Across the country, however, the bottom end of the market accounted for a smaller proportion of sales in the month, with houses sold for less than $500,000 at 43.1 percent of all sales, down from 44.6 percent a year earlier, while house sales between $500,000 and $749,999 accounted for 28.3 percent of all sales in April, up from 26.9 percent a year earlier. At the top end of the market, houses that sold for more than $1 million fell to 13.8 percent of the market versus 14.2 percent a year earlier. The national inventory increased 1.1 percent to 26,269, with a 20 percent increase in Nelson, a 9.2 percent expansion in Waikato and an 8.2 percent lift in Canterbury. The Wellington region still has the smallest inventory across the whole country with only eight weeks inventory available to those looking to purchase in the area. The median number of days to sell a property nationally increased by 2 days from 34 days in April 2017 to 36 days in April 2018. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 8th October 2021 Morning Report Briscoe Group Limited (NZX: BGP) Interim Report for Period Ended 1 August 2021 Good Spirits Hospitality Limited (NZX: GSH) Completion of Lease of Viaduct Venue 7th October 2021 Morning Report Just Life Group Limited (NZX: JLG) Acquisition of Intenza New Zealand and Market Update Experience Comvita's Story of Innovation and Connection at World Expo 2020 Dubai National Day of Vaccination Backed by Business The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) The a2 Milk Company to Defend Class Action 6th October 2021 Morning Report NZME Limited (NZX: NZM) Market Update - COVID-19 Impacts Town Council held its monthly meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The council discussed the appointment of Nick Tully to Shepherdstowns Parks and Recreation Committee and the Bavarian Inn Annexation Memorandum of Understanding. We did really work hard on this, said Bavarian Inn President Christian Asam, before he and Mayor Jim Auxer signed the written agreement. We wanted to do something positive for the town, and we view it as a gift to Shepherdstown. Ive been talking to the mayor about this for years, and he was talking to my parents about this before that. However, we wanted to come up with this understanding so that it wouldnt financially strain the inn, and so the town will get that one percent sales tax revenue, Asam said. Then we will officially be part of Shepherdstown. According to Town Attorney Charles Printz, this annexation will satisfy a decades-long discussion between the town council and Bavarian Inn, which began in the 1980s. The town councils next step for annexation of the inn is setting up a planning commission meeting, which will need to be advertised at least 15 days in advance. The entire process of approving the annexation will take a couple months, according to Town Clerk Amy Boyd, who said the inn will likely be officially annexed sometime in July. Upon its annexation into Shepherdstown, the inn will start paying real estate tax to the town, and its patrons will pay one percent sales tax on the resorts amenities, which will include any sales at on-site festivals and at the restaurant and brewery. In exchange, the town will pay for the inns garbage and trash removal. The council also unanimously approved the appointment of Nick Tully to the Parks and Recreation Committee. Hes going to be super; we vetted him weeks ago, said Town Council member Cheryl Roberts. Tully will begin serving on the committee at its next meeting May 22. Shepherdstown Visitors Center representatives, Director Marianne Davis and Board President Meredeth Wait gave a report on the success of recent SVC events. They said visitors were up by 25 percent and exhibitors at the event were up by 23 percent at DogFest 2018. The May Day Celebration also saw a better turnout this year, despite the rain, with an average of 2,800 visitors. Mayor Auxer also announced the paving at the German Street and Duke Street four-way stop will begin sometime in June. When that happens, well knock on doors and let our neighbors know about it. Pretty soon, theyll be repaving all of High Street, Auxer said. On May 3, crowds around the country gathered in public and private to participate in the annual National Day of Prayer. Such a group gathered in Charles Town on the courthouse lawn. Led by Angela Wood, of Harpers Ferry, the group spent more than 30 minutes lifting up government officials from federal, state and local offices as well as law enforcement, military members and the youth in the community, state and nation. While the event is an annual tradition for some in the group, others joined in for the first time. It was a blessing to be there, said attendee JoEllen Toothman, of Ranson. The tradition of the National Day of Prayer goes back hundreds of years, with roots in the Thanksgiving holiday, both of which were set aside as days of prayer. The fall holiday also encompassed giving thanks and was formally designated Thanksgiving by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The spring call for prayer and fasting later evolved into the National Day of Prayer. On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed the bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law. President Ronald Reagan amended the law in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May as the countrys National Day of Prayer. The designation went through and was approved by Congress to ask people to turn to God in prayer and meditation. Some presidents since Trumans time in office have chosen to host National Day of Prayer events at the White House. Among them were Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and current President Donald Trump. While presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama chose not to host such events, both issued proclamations for the day during each year of their respective presidencies. The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a legal challenge to the Day of Prayer in October 2008 by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb found in favor of the FFRF; however, the U.S. Department of Justice appealed and a three-judge panel unanimously overruled Crabbs decision in 2011. Trumans official designation of the day in 1952 has been tied to a challenge made at the time, during the Korean War, by Rev. Billy Graham, who said, What a thrilling, glorious thing it would be to see the leaders of our country today kneeling before Almighty God in prayer. Rich Steadman, of Front Royal, Virginia, officially retired after 30 years of calling for the Panhandlers Square Dance Club on April 7. The club, which meets during the school year at Eagle School Intermediate on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 7 to 10 p.m., is led by co-presidents Charlotte and Ron Sowers, of Shepherdstown. The caller is the person who tells the dancers on the floor what to do, Ron Sowers said. If he says Do-si-do or Swing your partner, thats what you do. So its very important to have a reliable caller. According to Sowers, Steadman announced his retirement during the clubs semimonthly dance on the first Saturday of April. Steadman, who has had a 40-year career in calling, will continue to guest call for the club and at other square dancing events. He has called his last dance for us, and the next one that he calls will be for the Virginia State Convention in three weeks at Virginia Beach, Charlotte said. Im sure hes going to continue to call here, there and everywhere in September, weve got him scheduled to guest call a barn dance for us, Ron said. Hes not leaving the country, but I guess the thing well miss most of all about Rich is his loyalty to the club and his friendly personality. Hes just a wonderful person, and I think if I had to pick one thing, his absolute loyalty and honesty are really great, Ron added, mentioning he and his wife have personally known Steadman for seven years. His friendship, his loyalty, his knowledge of square dancing theres many, many things about him we admire. Everybody likes him, its just great, Ron said. Although the club will miss Steadman, it will continue to celebrate the art of square dancing for years to come with its new caller, who has over 30 years of experience. The club will be hosting an appreciation dance and dinner at Asbury United Methodist Church in Charles Town to honor Steadman on June 3, with dancing from 2 to 5 p.m. and dinner at 5:30 p.m. Currently, 100 to 150 dancers are anticipated to attend the event. Rich knows so many people, hes been square dancing for so long, and calling for so long. At least five people have contacted us, saying theyd like to call for his appreciation dance, Ron Sowers said. To attend Steadmans appreciation dance or for more information, call 304-268-7619, 304-876-1130 or 304-724-7901. In a video being circulated on social media, the 46-year-old chief minister is seen telling his audience that "Rabindranath Tagore returned his Nobel Prize in protest against the British." : Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb has been consistent about being a headline grabber. Deb made these remarks at a function to mark the birth anniversary of the poet. Tagore accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 because it was bestowed by Sweden. However, he returned his Knighthood in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre in 1919. Deb's gaffes have become an almost daily embarrassment for the BJP since he commented last month that "Internet and satellite communication existed during the Mahabharata era". He never retracted that statement. He then questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as Miss World in 1997, saying she was "not an Indian beauty like Aishwarya Rai"=, but after the flak he faced, he apologised. The Chief Minister also stated that mechanical engineers should not opt for civil services, but civil engineers should. Then there was the one about how graduates shouldn't run after government jobs, but should start paan shop instead. Or how young men should breed cows and explore a career in dairy. Reports had said that he had been summoned by prime minister telling him to zip his lip but clearly that hasn't worked. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic US-N Korea summit, the White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. : In his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, US President Donald Trump would seek a complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the White House has said. Such a move might force the US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesman said yesterday. "Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. And that's what he's going to be seeking," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. "We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from North Korea would not be received well. All I'll say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons," Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. Shah added that Singapore was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. "Singapore has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the President's and Kim Jong-un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he added. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan took place in Singapore some years back," Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. The incident took place in his Malabar Hills residence. Roy's family members rushed him to Bombay Hospital in Marine Lines where he was declared dead on arrival. Mumbai: Former Mumbai top cop Himanshu Roy committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with his service revolver. He was suffering from cancer and was on a two-year-long medical leave which started in April 2016. Roy was a former Anti-Terror Squad Chief of Maharashtra. He had a sterling career where he solved a string of high-profile cases including the IPL spot-fixing, the J. Dey murder cases. He also interrogated Ajmal Aamir Kasab, the key terrorist linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attack. He was also part of the team that pursued leads related to LeT terrorist David Headley. According to Dr Gautam of Bombay Hospital, the top cop was brought dead to the hospital and that he had succumbed to a bullet injury. Roy shot himself in the mouth at around 1:30 PM. The doctor added that the bullet made its exit through the skull. Police also found his suicide note, which clearly states, "No one is responsible for my death." According to sources, the top cop's frustration due to his prolonged illness led him to take the extreme step. Congress has raised suspicion over the events leading to the top cop's death. Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi has alleged that the top cop had been sidelined and given insignificant posting. Foul play has been ruled out by top officials. The case is being investigated by the Crime Branch. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There are dozens of animals in the care of Staten Island's volunteer animal rescue groups just waiting for their forever families to find them. Click through the photos above to meet the dogs, cats, many puppies and kittens up for adoption at events this weekend. Note: There are senior and disabled pets who need you, too. EVENTS: MAY 12: "Blessing of the Animals" at New Dorp Moravian Church, Saturday, May 12, at 10 a.m. All are welcome to bring any and all pets to be blessed by Pastor Duane Ulrich. (If your pet doesn't always "play nice with others," you can bring photos.) The blessing will also include a time to remember pets no longer with us. Mama Chris Animal Rescue will be attending with adoptable pets to be blessed and for adoption previews. MAY 12: Staten Island Hope Animal Rescue will be at Petco, 2795 Richmond Ave., Saturday, May 12, noon to 4 p.m. with adoptable cats and kittens. MAY 19: "LAUGH YOUR MUTT OFF" Louie's Legacy Animal Rescue's Comedy Night! takes place Saturday, May 19, at the Looney Bin Comedy Club, 141 East Service Road, Travis on . Showtime is 8 p.m., with comic Gemini and friends. Tickets are $20 with a two-drink-minimum per person. A portion of every ticket sold will benefit Louie's Legacy. More information: Julie.N@louieslegacy.org. Order tickets HERE. ALWAYS REACH OUT AND HELP YOUR LOCAL RESCUE GROUPS: NEW YORK -- A jury has convicted former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of public corruption charges, dashing the 74-year-old Democrat's second attempt to avoid prison after a decades-long career as one of the most powerful politicians in state government. The verdict Friday came more than two years after his first 2015 trial resulted in a 12-year prison sentence. An appeals court tossed out that conviction, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling that changed the legal boundaries for public corruption. Prosecutors said Silver illegally earned $4 million from a cancer researcher and real estate developers who benefited from his clout in state government. Defense lawyers countered that his fees were "perfectly legal." SILVER'S CONNECTION TO THE STATEN ISLAND SECESSION MOVEMENT In 1994, Silver single-handedly put an end to the Island seceding from New York City, as previously reported in the Staten Island Advance and SILive. Staten Islanders, sick of being treated like the "forgotten borough," voted 65-35 to become independent from the city. But an amendment to the original secession referendum required the state Legislature and governor to sign off on it. The governor and the state Senate did, but Silver said the City Council had to send a "home rule" message of support for the secession. But it never came. Some challenged Silver's decision in a lawsuit and lost, both in the lower court and the court of appeals, which ruled in 1996, refusing to overturn Silver's decision two years earlier. The appellate court agreed that the speaker's decision is immune from judicial review under the Speech or Debate Clause of the state constitution, which reads: "For any speech or debate in either house of the legislature, the members shall not be questioned in any other place." It mimics a similar clause in the U.S. Constitution. By KYLE LAWSON, ERIK BASCOME, and EDDIE D'ANNA STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Leaders of the black community on Staten Island are raising concern amid reports students at the St. John's University Grymes Hill campus posted a racist photo on social media. The photo, posted to Instagram at the end of April, appears to show a group of white females with crudely photoshopped images of African-American celebrities over their faces, according to a student who emailed the Advance and several media reports about the image. The image was created by a male student, and another student rushing for the Phi Eta Chi sorority reposted the image and added the sorority's signature phrase "buzz buzz," according to a NY1 report, which cited information from sources. The image sent to the Advance and the one cited in a report by The Torch, the school's independent student newspaper, says "buzz buzz n-----." This photo obtained by the Advance purportedly shows a social media post by a St. John's student that has sparked concerns about racism at the campus. [Editor's note: We have censored the n-word at the bottom.] The posting has sparked a strong reaction from black leaders in the borough, who are demanding the school do its part to ensure diversity and punish the offenders. "Staten Island is infamous for situations like this," said Sheree Goode, the vice president of the Staten Island branch of the NAACP and its criminal justice chairperson. "There needs to be a more diversified recruitment for students of color, and cultural events for all of the students. From security guards to administrators, there needs to be representation of black people." She told the Advance on Thursday that she requested from the school the number of professors of color and has not heard back. "This has to stop. It can't be tolerated at St. John's." Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) took part in a silent protest at the school this week, organized by the Youth Council of the Staten Island NAACP. "My message is clear, that bigotry in any form cannot be tolerated, and that all students should feel welcome," she said in an email release. "I thank all who stood with us Tuesday evening, and I look forward to meeting with St. John's administration to discuss these incidents and the future of diversity at the Staten Island campus." An email requesting comment sent by the Advance to the Staten Island campus press office after the photo surfaced was not answered. However, President Conrado (Bobby) Gempesaw said the photo was "unacceptable and will not be tolerated" in an internal email sent out to students on April 25, according to The Torch report. A message to students from James O'Keefe, the vice provost of the Staten Island campus, obtained by the Advance references Gempesaw's email and says he shares "his disappointment and sadness that this type of behavior occurred on our campus." "Clearly it goes against all that the university stands for, and has harmed members of our campus community," O'Keefe's letter said. He vowed that the school is "working to create a diversity, equity and inclusion plan specifically for Staten Island." Edward Josey, the Staten Island NAACP chapter president, said he's sure the kids picked up these values prior to attending St. John's, but, that being said, "maybe we should re-evaluate fraternities and sororities. Investigate how they're conducting their social life." "Those who did it should be dealt with appropriately," he said. According to NY1, one of the students involved with the posting is no longer enrolled, and a second "will likely leave" at the end of the semester. A student who spoke with the Advance was outraged. "When I first saw the post, I was appalled. The Staten Island campus of St. John's University lacks diversity, and this is probably why," said a junior who asked to remain anonymous. He went on to discuss the need for administrative action. "Administration better handle this situation accordingly. I can't believe I sit next to some of these people in my classes and, at one point, considered them my peers," the student added. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At least three entities are eyeing the 6.2-acre property that houses St. John Villa Academy in Arrochar, the Advance has learned. After it was announced by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist -- the religious order that exercises wide autonomy over the school's financial, operational and administrative matters -- in January that the elementary and high school would close at the end of the school year, potential buyers have been seen visiting the property. Sources told the Advance that an entity that would open a charter school, a religious organization that wants to open a yeshiva, and the city Department of Education (DOE) are all eyeing the Villa property. WILL PROPERTY REMAIN AN EDUCATION COMPLEX? Both local politicians and community residents have been vocal about not letting the property be sold to a developer to avoid a situation like that which occurred at Mount Manresa in Grasmere. That property was sold by the Jesuits to the Savo Brothers, who are building 176 homes on the site. "The stinging loss of St. John Villa can't be totally alleviated, but it can be compounded if this property is used for anything but education," said Borough President James Oddo. "I have heard rumors of interest in the property from various entities, including the City of New York, with the intent in mind to continue using the site as an education complex. That remains my hope." Said Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island): "As I said when this closing was first announced, I feel strongly this site should remain an educational facility, because the community clearly needs it. I look forward to working with the city and all stakeholders toward that end." Located at 57 Cleveland Place and 26 Landis Ave., the educational complex is currently zoned as R1-2, which doesn't allow the construction of attached homes, and buildings have to be 25 feet or under. A spokesperson for the city DOE didn't immediately respond to Advance quires for comment. PLAN TO SELL PROPERTY The Sisters of St. John the Baptist stated in January they will be engaging in a comprehensive review before considering to sell the property. No one from the school returned Advance phone calls about progress on the property's sale. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Alberto Toro, instrumental music teacher and band director at Bernstein Intermediate School (I.S. 7) in Huguenot, was one of 17 recipients of this year's prestigious Big Apple Awards. The awards, announced by NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, celebrate the exemplary performance of public school teachers throughout the city. "The Big Apple Award winners exemplify this love of teaching, and I could not be prouder of the 17 recipients selected this year and all of our teachers who bring out the best in our children every single day," said Carranza. Toro says he was inspired by his high school band director, who taught him about not only music, but about history, culture, integrity and character. He now works tirelessly to instill those same lessons and values into his students on a daily basis. Winners were selected from a group of over 6,500 nominations from students, families, faculty and community members. All award winners will receive classroom grants courtesy of the Fund for Public Schools. Next year, the award winners will serve as Big Apple Fellows, given the opportunity to meet monthly with one another to share ideas and strategies. They will also be invited to serve on the Chancellor's Teacher Advisory Group, which meets bi-monthly and contributes to Department of Education policy. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- A mother's gut feeling is tough to shake, especially if it's been gnawing away for more than a decade. It's been 12 years since Diana Alvarado lost her teenage daughter in an early-morning shooting in the Bronx on Mother's Day. The killer remains free. And her instincts remain unshaken. "It's been a ride, it's been hard," Alvarado recently told the Advance. "At times, it's been at times unbearable. This time of the year is a tough time for me." Since the incident, Mother's Day has been especially difficult. At first, Alvarado, 50, would participate in marches and walks at the site of the incident to protest gun violence. But lately, the celebrations have been a bit more muted. The grieving mother-of-five said she plans on going to church then spending the day with her mother, who is battling cancer. "I try to celebrate but it's not the same," she said. Samantha Guzman, 18, was shot twice- in the arm and lower back--on 168th and Washington Avenue at 1:10 a.m. on May 14, 2006. She was rushed to the hospital and underwent a two-hour operation before she succumbed to her injuries. At the time of the slaying, one of Guzman's friends interrupted a foursome beating a man near the corner of Washington Avenue and 168th Street. When he tried to intervene, he was pistol-whipped. Shots were then fired during the melee. Alvarado said surveillance video shows Guzman and her friend fleeing the scene when her daughter was struck. She was the only one hit. The shooter was hiding behind a tree, blocking the killer's face, she said. The Mariners Harbor woman feels her daughter was targeted, even though authorities told her it was a wrong-place, wrong-time situation. "I think (it's) someone we know, I just don't know specifics," she said. "I have no proof of anything." CRYPTIC CALLS, MESSAGES Last October, Alvarado noticed some eerie messages posted in the comments section of the YouTube video she had posted as a tribute to her daughter. The commenter, she said, gloats about Guzman's death and claims to have had a significant role in the incident. The person said "they still had the gun" and "hadn't been caught," the mom claims. She alerted the authorities, but Bronx homicide investigators working the case didn't find the comments credible, and the posts have since been deleted, she said. "I know in my heart of hearts something is not right," she added. In 2008, Alvarado said she received a cryptic call from an unknown person who was profusely apologizing. "'I'm sorry, I traded a gun for Samantha,'" the mom said the caller told her. "You go back to that night," she said of the comments and the calls. "It's traumatizing to a whole family. You're a victim then you're being victimized by the person who did it." THE LAST PHONE CALL The last time Alvarado spoke to her daughter was at around 10 p.m. the night before her daughter passed. They exchanged "I love yous" and Guzman talked to her two younger sisters, Heather and Crystal. Guzman wanted a bit more freedom, so she moved to the Bronx to live with her dad and help him recover from a back operation. But her dad didn't know she was out that night. Alvarado's sister was the last one to see Guzman that night as she left her grandmother's apartment building, and sensed something wasn't right. "She (her sister) felt in heart it was a set up," the mom said. "I think we all have guilt in some sort of way." "It's been very traumatizing to all of us, mainly me," she added. "Sometimes I'm OK, then I'll hear a song she liked or see something she likes or her name comes up and it gets overwhelming," the mom said. Guzman commuted from the Bronx to Staten Island to attend McKee High School. She had a learning disability and worked extra hard to earn her high school diploma, which the school gave Alvarado a month later. She planned to study nursing at the College of Staten Island. Samantha's classmates posthumously named her prom queen. "She was a tough little girl," said the mom. "She was caring, loved kids and was active." THE INVESTIGATION On Wednesday, the NYPD said their investigation is ongoing. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were at some point involved in the investigation. An FBI spokeswoman said the agency only helped the NYPD with its probe, but it did not appear they were directly involved. A spokesman for the ATF said he was unable to retrieve any information about the case. The DEA did not return a request for an update by deadline. In 2009, investigators believed Guzman was caught in the crossfire of a Bronx gang feuding over turf. Federal authorities had taken seven alleged Creston Avenue Crew members into custody on charges of drug and gun trafficking. They were searching for eight more - one of whom may have actually been Guzman's killer, sources told the Advance in 2009. Alvarado said at the time she was told by detectives on the case that the Creston Avenue Crew was somehow involved in her daughter's death but the link couldn't be conclusively proved. The case went cold within months, despite a half-dozen witnesses and surveillance video. The police offered a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and the case previously aired on "America's Most Wanted." "I've been waiting 12 years for justice for my daughter..the waiting is hard," the mom said. "It makes you wanna take the law into your own hands." Guzman's father declined comment for this story. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With just a week to go until Meghan Markle and Prince Harry exchange their vows at Windsor Castle, Americans are scrambling to figure out how they can view the Royal Wedding. TELEVISION COVERAGE The ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 19, at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle at 12 p.m. London time (7 a.m. Eastern Time). While the 7 a.m. start time may seem early for some Staten Islanders, the pre-show coverage will begin even earlier. CBS will begin its coverage at 4 a.m. Eastern Time, with with a pre-show hosted by Gayle King and Kevin Frazier. CBS will also air a two-hour special at 8 p.m. on Saturday. NBC's coverage, featuring the hosts of the "Today" show, will begin at 4:30 a.m, with ABC beginning its coverage at 5 a.m., hosted by "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts and "World News Tonight's" David Muir. Fox News will begin with a 5 a.m. episode of "Fox and Friends" from Windsor Castle, co-hosted by Ainsley Earhardt. Coverage of the main event will begin at 6 a.m., hosted by Shepard Smith and Sandra Smith. HBO will air "The Royal Wedding Live With Cord and Tish!" at 7:30 a.m., with Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon hosting the event while in character. BBC America and PBS have also announced plans to air the Royal Wedding, though no times have yet been given for the start of their coverage. STREAMING The event will also be streaming live across a number of platforms. CBS will begin streaming its coverage of the event at 4 a.m. on CBSN Live. ABC will begin streaming the event at 5 a.m. on ABCNews.com, GoodMorningAmerica.com, its mobile apps and social platforms. The New York Times and BBC America will also be streaming the event from their respective websites. THEATERS Fathom Events will be airing the royal wedding in movie theaters across the country beginning at 10 a.m. The closest participating theaters include: Cranford Theatre, 25 North Ave., Cranford, N.J., 07016 Union Square 14, 850 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10003 Kips Bay 15, 570 Second Ave., New York, N.Y., 10016 Page Content At a press conference held on Wednesday, May 9th, President of the Board of the University of St. Martin (USM), Mrs. Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet, in the presence of Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite introduced the new Dean of Academics and President of the University. In her introductory remarks Mrs. Giterson-Pantophlet highlighted that both new staff members are fully committed to making serious contributions to further build the institution and that their presence fills the void left by the departure of key staff members in 2017. New Dean of Academics, Dr. Rolinda Carter, a local St. Maartener and alumna of the University, has a doctorate in pathology and laboratory medicine and has a love for science and research which she brings with her to her new position. President, Dr. G. Antonio Carmona-Baez, has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Amsterdam in International Relations. Dr. Baez, who originates from Puerto Rico, also studied political science and engages in research in public policy with a focus on sustainable development. Minister Wuite expressed her delight in the appointment of the new staff members and re-affirmed the intention of the Ministry to continue to partner with USM to engage in critical conversations regarding the funding, subsidy, multi-annual strategic planning and legislation of higher education. She recognizes the importance of both functions as they are critical and important to acknowledge, position and develop the institute as an institution for higher education and science. Minister Wuite ended the press conference by wishing the USM team and board much success. Page Content Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite extends continued wishes of success to all students in the exam classes of the primary and secondary schools on the island. To the students, continue to get plenty of rest before each test, eat a nutritious breakfast and always be on time the Minister advises. This is the culmination of hours and hours of hard work and studying. All we (your teachers, parents, guardians and support community) ask is that you endure in trying your very best. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations which started on May 7th and will last until June 14th has three different types of exams; the Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC), Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) exams. Participating schools taking part in these examinations are the Charlotte Brookson Academy of Performance Arts (CBA), St. Dominic High School, the Methodist Agogic Center (MAC) Secondary School and the St. Maarten Academys academic section. Due to the passing of the hurricanes in September, the University of St. Martin and PSVE Section of the St. Maarten Academy are currently being used as alternative venues. The Cambridge Dutch Examinations will be held on May 16th and 21st at the University of St. Martin for the Sint Maarten Academy and MAC Secondary School while the St Dominic High School will facilitate their students and those of the CBA. The examinations for vocational streams PSVE, PKL/PBL, TKL as well as the academic streams of HAVO and VWO have also started on May 7th and ends on May 29th. Schools sitting these examinations are St. Maarten Academy PSVE, Sundial School and Milton Peters College. Five hundred and twenty-two group 8 students will sit the Foundation Based Exit Examination from Monday, May 21st to Thursday, May 24th. The Minister of Education and Head of the Division of Examination, Yvette Halley, are very pleased in the way the exams were able to be facilitated in the wake of the shortage of classroom space. There is great collaboration between the management and staff of these secondary schools and the Division of Examinations to ensure a successful examination period in 2018. This is clearly one more example of how we are able to adapt and do well during challenging circumstances. Minister expressed. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree White House cancels NASA program on greenhouse gas: report Washington, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 The White House has "quietly killed" a $10-million per year NASA program that tracks carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, the journal Science said Thursday. NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon, said the report. "Now, President Donald Trump's administration has quietly killed the CMS," it said, describing the move as the latest in a "broad attack on climate science" mounted by the White House. The journal said NASA "declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond 'budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget.'" It also quoted US space agency spokesman Steve Cole as saying there was no mention of the CMS in a budget deal signed in March, which "allowed the administration's move to take effect." Cole, responding to a request for comment from AFP, said Trump proposed cutting the CMS project and four Earth science missions last year. After much deliberation, Congress decided they wanted those four space missions to be funded, writing them into the budget bill they passed in March 2018, he said. But since CMS was not among them, it was cut as proposed, Cole said, describing the entire process as a joint effort by lawmakers and the executive branch. Existing grants would be allowed to finish but no new research would be supported, he said. Trump has already canceled another Earth science mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3), and announced the US pullout from the 2015 Paris climate accord. According to Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts University's Center for International Environment and Resource Policy in Medford, Massachusetts, the CMS cuts jeopardize efforts to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate deal. "If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement," she told the magazine. Canceling the CMS "is a grave mistake." Cole, however, said in an email to AFP that the "winding down of this specific research program does not curb NASA's ability or commitment to monitoring carbon and its effects on our changing planet." "In fact, GEDI, a new ecosystem carbon-monitoring instrument, is set to launch to the International Space Station this summer." Pentagon probe finds training, command issues in Niger ambush Washington, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2018 A comprehensive probe into last year's deadly attack on US and local forces in Niger uncovered a series of avoidable blunders leading up to the assault, the Pentagon said Thursday. Four American soldiers and four members of Nigerien partner forces were killed in the October 4 ambush, when scores of jihadists overran their convoy in southwestern Niger, near the Mali border. While the Pentagon said all four US soldiers fought bravely and "died with honor," investigators found they had not been properly trained ahead of the mission and pointed to problems with how it was approved in the first place. The US soldiers, who belonged to a special operations team, had deployed to the western African nation in the autumn to conduct counter-terrorism assistance and training with the Nigerien military. Currently about 800 US troops are in Niger. But at the time of their deployment, only half of the US team had conducted any collective training together, according to an eight-page summary of findings of the investigation, which itself remains classified. Their mission on October 3 was to "find/fix and, if possible, capture" a key member of a group calling itself the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, the summary states. Though the summary did not name the target, officials later said it was Doundoun Cheffou, suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of US aid worker Jeffery Woodke, who was seized at gunpoint from his home in October 2016 in the Tahoua region. However, the US team commander had "inaccurately characterized" the nature of the mission in order to get it approved at a low level instead of requesting permission from battalion-level commanders based in Chad. The language used for the initial mission had been cut and pasted from previous operations and "a lack of attention to detail in quality control and quality assurance," together with inadequate approvals, "all contributed to a general lack of situational awareness and command oversight at every echelon," the report summary states. And prior to setting out on the operation, the US team failed to conduct pre-mission rehearsals or battle drills with their Nigerien counterparts, the report found. Eleven US personnel and more than 30 Nigeriens went out on the mission. Investigators found "individual, organizational and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events," but did not identify one single failure or deficiency as the sole reason. General Thomas Waldhauser, head of Africa Command, told Pentagon reporters that US forces are now "far more prudent" in their missions and have beefed up firepower and drone support. "It provides adequate and more resourceful force protection measures in order to still keep up with the enemy forces on the ground," he said. - French 'show of force' - Pentagon officials also published a detailed, 10-minute reconstruction of the ambush itself, which started as the US-Nigerien eight-vehicle convoy headed out of the remote village of Tongo Tongo, having stopped there for water. The troops were not even wearing body armor when the assault first began, and had to stop their convoy to don it. Enemy fire was initially light, but quickly intensified as jihadists surged through a wooded area alongside the convoy. The video describes how the convoy was forced to split up and how it was outflanked by over 100 enemy fighters. Officials praised the actions of the French air force, which flew Mirage jets in a low-altitude "show of force" over the jihadists, screaming overhead at the same level as treetops. Because the French could not tell where the US troops were on the ground, they did not engage the enemy, but the overflights caused them to retreat for cover, "likely saving the lives of the surviving members of the" US team, the summary states. Major General Roger Cloutier, who led the probe, said three of the US soldiers' bodies had been placed in or by a jihadist vehicle, and had been stripped of all their gear. The jihadists "were driven off by French aircraft," he said. The fourth American to die was Sergeant La David Johnson, and the video shows he became separated from his comrades. His body was not found until 48 hours after the attack -- he had taken cover under a the branches of a large thorny tree. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has issued a series of recommendations in light of the report, including better pre-deployment training. Waldhauser said Special Operations Command will eventually award medals for valor to the troops on the mission. US says Iran nuclear inspections must continue Washington, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 The White House wants intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear sites to continue despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a landmark accord on Tehran's atomic program, US officials have told AFP. Days after the US president walked away from a three-year-old deal that mandated rigorous scrutiny of Iranian facilities, senior administration officials said monitoring should continue regardless. Known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal between Tehran and major world powers forces Iran to open any site to inspectors within 24 days at most and introduced 24-hour remote surveillance at some sites. Supporters of the Obama-era accord argue it provided "the world's most robust" monitoring regime, allowing access to the Islamic republic's most sensitive nuclear sites. Speaking at a rally in Indiana on Thursday Trump said tough inspections were still needed. "We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating," he said. The White House is demanding the existing inspection regime, however imperfect, continue under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog. "We expect Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol and cooperate with the IAEA whether or not the JCPOA remains in place," one senior administration official said. A second official confirmed to AFP on Thursday that Washington still wanted the inspections. Other signatories to the Iran deal -- including Tehran, China and European powers -- have vowed to press ahead with the agreement's implementation. But officials are privately skeptical about how long it can survive, particularly if the United States imposes sanctions on European companies doing business in Iran. And non-proliferation experts have warned that a vital window into Iran's nuclear activities could be lost. "If the agreement collapses, Iran is under no obligation to implement any of these provisions, either the Additional Protocol or the deal-specific measures," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. "The nuclear deal with Iran put the country's program under a microscope," she told AFP, saying the measures serve as "an early warning system that will set off alarm bells if Iran tries to cheat on its commitments or conduct illicit activities." - Are inspections effective? - Since the nuclear accord was reached in 2015, the IAEA has carried out hundreds of inspections inside Iran. That includes monitoring at Fordo, an underground fuel enrichment plant inside a base used by Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The JCPOA adds an extra layer of scrutiny not found in existing accords, including monitoring of mines and restrictions on multi-point detonation systems and nuclear computer simulations. The IAEA has so far confirmed that Iran is adhering to its "nuclear-related commitments," although the US administration questions that conclusion. "You cannot say that Iran is in compliance unless you are 100 percent certain that the IAEA and our intelligence are infallible," said US national security advisor John Bolton. That approach has left some questioning why the administration wants monitoring to continue at all. "If they don't trust the inspections, I don't know why they would be strongly encouraging Iran to comply," said Corey Hinderstein, a fuel cycle expert who previously worked on implementation of the deal at the Department of Energy. "The fact is the inspections are and have been effective," she said. American citizens are working on the IAEA inspection team, but are based in Vienna, not on the ground in Iran. Hinderstein said there is every indication that the US is preparing to pull out of other non-inspection mechanisms in the agreement, including converting the Arak heavy water reactor and the "procurement channel" that regulates the import of dual use materials to Iran. Trump has described the agreement as "the worst deal in history" and vowed to renegotiate it. He has also warned that Iran will be punished if it returns to military-scale uranium enrichment. "If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before," Trump said. French FM slams 'unacceptable' US sanctions on Iran Paris, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 France's foreign minister on Thursday condemned the United States for reimposing sanctions against foreign companies trading with Iran, labelling the move "unacceptable" in comments that expose the deepening rift between Washington and its European allies on the issue. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of a landmark deal curbing Iran's nuclear program and reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic and those who trade with it. The decision overturned years of painstaking diplomacy and left European allies scrambling to save the hard-fought deal. Washington has given European firms doing business in Iran up to six months to wind up investments or risk US sanctions and they are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with Iran. On Thursday France's top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian slammed those conditions, saying Washington needed to negotiate with its European allies on any sanctions that might affect their companies. "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable," he told the French daily Le Parisien. "The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed," he said. Europeans, he added, would "do everything to protect the interests of their companies" and planned to lead "tight negotiations" with Washington via the European Union. Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran deal has left his country diplomatically isolated. Tehran agreed in 2015 to curb its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for sanctions relief after mammoth negotiations with the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Russia. All the other signatories to the deal had called on Trump to stay with the agreement and condemned his decision to leave -- although Le Drian's criticisms are some of the most forceful yet from a key European ally. Which European firms stand to lose from US Iran sanctions Paris, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the landmark nuclear deal with Iran is expected to see European economic heavyweights including Germany and France pay a hefty price. European businesses rushed to invest in Iran following the 2015 agreement, from which the US president announced his country's exit on Tuesday. Fresh sanctions on Iran will hinder foreign businesses from operating there, with European enterprises risking US sanctions should they fail to wind up investments within six months. Here is who could stand to lose from the sanctions: - Germany: The biggest loser? - Germany, the top European exporter to Iran, has seen a surge in financial activity in the Islamic Republic since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was sealed in Vienna in April 2015. In 2016, Germany delivered 2.57 billion euros ($3.06 billion) worth of goods to the country. The following year, German exports jumped to 2.97 billion euros, a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase. Berlin's exports include machinery, pharmaceutical products and foods. Iran's exports to Germany meanwhile amounted to 314 million euros in 2016 and 410 million euros in 2017. Industrial giant Siemens, which first began operating in Iran in 1868, returned in March 2016, teaming up with local group Mapna to build gas turbines and generators for power plants. Siemens has since signed a contract for 12 compressors for two natural gas processing plants. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler signed a deal in 2016 with two Iranian companies to produce and market trucks. - France: Big in Iran - French exports soared from 562 million euros in 2015 to 1.5 billion in 2017, close to the sum seen prior to the reinforced sanctions against Iran. French imports from Iran in 2017 surged to 2.3 billion euros, the highest number since 2008. French oil giant Total has struck up a partnership with Chinese conglomerate CNPC, pledging to invest $5 billion in the South Pars gas field. However, Total has only invested $100 million in the project so far, according to a source close to the deal. French carmaker PSA, which holds a whopping 30 percent market share in Iran, in 2017 announced a distribution deal with Iranian vehicle company DS. Renault also sells cars in the Islamic Republic. - Italy exports rising - Italian exports to Iran increased by 30 percent in 2016 from the prior year to more than 1.5 billion euros. Last year exports surged another 12.5 percent to 1.7 billion euros. In January, the Italian government signed a credit agreement worth 5.0 billion euros to support Italian investments in Iran. Rail giant Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane has agreed to build two high-speed rail lines in the country. Shipmaker Fincantieri has also sealed multiple deals with Iran since the nuclear agreement was reached. - Britain: Much ado about nothing? - While Britain has urged the United States not to undermine the nuclear deal, few major British companies actually operate in Iran. British energy giant BP, whose roots lie in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company founded in the early 20th century, currently has no operations in Iran. Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell in 2016 signed contracts to explore the possibility of investing in Iran's oil and gas fields, but has yet to start. According to Allie Renison of the Institue of Directors, British companies do however have major contracts in Iran's infrastructure, solar power, engineering and healthcare sectors. - Airbus weighed down - European aviation giant Airbus has announced contracts with Iran Air Tour and Zagros Airlines for 100 planes in all, including the new A320neo, for the sum of $10 billion. bur-edy/ser/dl GROUPE PSA AIRBUS GROUP DAIMLER ENI Fincantieri BP SIEMENS TOTAL Renault Putin, Merkel reaffirm commitment to Iran nuclear deal: Kremlin Moscow, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation Friday reaffirmed their commitment to preserving the Iran nuclear deal after the US pulled out of it, the Kremlin said. "The situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action following the unilateral withdrawal of the US was discussed. The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted," the Kremlin said in a statement following the call. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkel's planned working visit to Russia next week, the Kremlin said. US President Donald Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would "do everything" to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, while Putin has voiced "deep concern" at the US decision. The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier Friday, with the pair saying Trump was "wrong" to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source. After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany. Iran minister to meet Europeans in Brussels on Tuesday: EU Brussels, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Iran's foreign minister will meet his British, French and German counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran, the EU said. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host the talks between the so-called E3 powers and Iranian minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, her office said in a statement. Mogherini said shortly after Trump's announcement on Tuesday that the EU is "determined to preserve" the deal, while EU leaders are set to discuss the issue at a summit in Bulgaria next week. Mogherini "will on Tuesday 15 May in Brussels host a meeting with E3 Foreign Ministers (Germany, France, UK). This EU/E3 meeting will then be followed by a meeting of that same group with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif," the EU statement said. Britain, France and Germany led a campaign to persuade Trump to stick with the deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, arguing that it was the most effective way of stopping Iran developing nuclear weapons. But the massive diplomatic push ended in failure as Trump -- as expected -- announced the US was pulling out and reimposing sanctions that had been relaxed in return for Iran abandoning its nuclear programme. The EU has said it will work with Russia and China, who also signed the accord, to keep it alive. Sri Lanka army unit to fight civil war abuse claims Colombo, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 The Sri Lankan army has formed a special unit to defend itself against allegations of grave human rights abuses at the end of the island's decades-long ethnic war. Army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake said the group would collate local and international reports, and establish the truth to clear the military's name. International rights groups accuse the military of killing 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war which ended in May 2009. The government of the time said not one civilian was killed. "Different people have been saying different things, but our voice has not been heard," Senanayake told Colombo-based foreign correspondents. "That is why I set up the special directorate of overseas operations to prepare our position." Senanayake distanced the military from the previous claims that no civilians died, and acknowledged there may have been individual excesses. "If someone says they know of specific instances (of rights violations) we are ready to investigate," Senanayake said. "I am not going to look the other way. I want to clear the name of the army." He said there were conflicting claims of casualties from the 37-year-old Tamil separatist war. "Different units of the army involved in the final offensive maintained figures of casualties. I want to collate all that. "I know the (then) government said no civilian was killed, but it was not our voice. We never said that. This time, we want to come back with our story." He said the 236,000-strong army wanted to clear its name and play a bigger role in UN international peacekeeping. The government has said it lost at least 26,000 soldiers in the war with another 37,000 wounded. About 20,000 of the injured ended up with a permanent disability. The Tamil Tiger rebels also lost heavily and the entire guerrilla leadership was wiped out in the military onslaught. The government under then president Mahinda Rajapakse, who ordered the offensive, faced international censure for refusing to acknowledge what the UN called credible allegations. The administration which came to power in January 2015 said it was willing to investigate and pay reparations to victims, but progress has been extremely slow. Iran turns to diplomacy amid high regional tensions Tehran, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims that it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" from his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Al-Quds force, that struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events on Friday, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". - 'Shouldn't trust Europe' - Iran's hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with hundreds protesting in Tehran after Friday prayers, saying it was time to abandon the deal. "Officials shouldn't trust France and Britain. They will never abandon the US for us," said Poormoslem, a housewife at the rally. Southern Syria was quiet but tense on Friday, with monitors saying that Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were still on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern that Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first on Thursday, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. "The Israelis want to make this into an Iran-Israel thing, but it isn't. Whatever happens in Syria happens under the command of the Syrians," said analyst Mohammad Marandi, who was part of Iran's negotiation team leading up to the nuclear deal. Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. They also see a rare chance for Iran to hold the moral high ground. "For the first time, Iran has the chance to show the world they are not the rogue nation they are always presented as, that they negotiated in good faith and keep to their commitments," said Karim Emile Bitar, of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris. Russia -- which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent further escalation. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that it had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, told AFP the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". "Russia is not happy with Iran gaining too much power, too much influence there," he said. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that intelligence officials briefed ministers on Thursday and told them another clash with Iran in Syria was unlikely after the intensity of the strikes the night before. But the paper also warned in an editorial: "It would be better not to get caught up now in the self-assured arrogant spiral evident in the reactions in some television studios, at the Knesset and on social media... Tehran could nevertheless roll out its heavier weapon, Hezbollah, in which case the conflict could take on an entirely different scope." burs-er/dr Iran turns to diplomacy amid high regional tensions Tehran, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" of his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Quds force, that struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. - Iran concessions? - Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". Iran's hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with hundreds protesting in Tehran after Friday prayers, saying it was time to abandon the deal. "Officials shouldn't trust France and Britain. They will never abandon the US for us," said Poormoslem, a housewife at the rally. In Jerusalem, around 200 Jews gathered at the Western Wall for prayers "against the enemy". "We came here to pray to God after the victory against Iran" following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, said Aryeh Stern, a rabbi from Jerusalem. Southern Syria was quiet but tense, with monitors saying Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first on Thursday, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. "The Israelis want to make this into an Iran-Israel thing, but it isn't. Whatever happens in Syria happens under the command of the Syrians," said analyst Mohammad Marandi, who was part of Iran's negotiation team leading up to the nuclear deal. - Russian role - Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. They also see a rare chance for Iran to hold the moral high ground. "For the first time, Iran has the chance to show the world they are not the rogue nation they are always presented as, that they negotiated in good faith and keep to their commitments," said Karim Emile Bitar, of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris. Russia -- which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent further escalation. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that Russia had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, said the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". "Russia is not happy with Iran gaining too much power, too much influence there," he said. On Friday the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive. "The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted," it said. burs-er/dv/dr Kosovo moves to deradicalise jailed jihadists Pristina, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Kosovo launched Friday a programme aimed at de-radicalising its jailed jihadists, including lectures in prisons by moderate imams. More than 90 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million inhabitants are Muslims who practise a moderate form of Islam. But over the past few years more than 300 Kosovo nationals have gone to join jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq. About 50 of them have been killed. It is believed that they fell under the influence of a group of local imams educated in Arab countries that practise a radical interpretation of Islam. Of the 100 or so jihadists who have returned to Kosovo, around 80 are currently being detained, either found guilty of crimes or awaiting trial. The justice ministry said Friday it had reached a deal with the Islamic Community of Kosovo (BIK) which will allow moderate imams to give the detainees religious classes. "I am convinced that organising of religious lectures for prisoners will increase awareness among them about the dangers of religious radicalism," Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri said. A total of 20 imams have been selected for the task after having passed a security check. South Korean, US officials plot path to Trump-Kim nuclear summit Washington, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 The top diplomats from the United States and South Korea meet Friday to lay the groundwork for a summit they hope will prove a historic chance to end North Korea's nuclear menace. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to welcome Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Washington, one month before US President Donald Trump and North Korean autocrat Kim Jong Un are to meet. Pompeo is himself just back from Pyongyang, after securing the first fruit of the tentative thaw in ties between Washington and Kim's regime -- the return of three American detainees. Now, he is working with his own diplomats and with regional allies like South Korea to prepare the agenda for the more high-stakes encounter between two unpredictable leaders. South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration is conducting its own efforts to normalize ties on the divided peninsula and secure lasting peace. Washington's focus is on disarming Kim's regime, which has recently tested what appear to be missiles capable of carrying his nuclear threat to US cities. But both Washington and Seoul -- longtime treaty allies -- cooperate closely and also confer with the North's larger neighbor China, which has a stake in the outcome. "There's a danger here of the peace track moving more quickly than the denuclearization track," warned Abraham Denmark, an Asia expert and former senior US defense official. "If that happens, it could give North Korea an opportunity to try to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington," said Denmark, now a director at the Wilson Center, a think tank in the US capital. Pompeo and Kang were due to give a joint news conference at the State Department later Friday. - 'Very special moment' - On Thursday, Trump revealed that the first-ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader will take place in Singapore on June 12. The location and date were announced in a presidential tweet just hours after Trump welcomed to the United States three American prisoners released by Pyongyang. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. The talks, which are expected to last a day, are set to focus on North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. "I think it will be a big success," Trump said. The release of Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul removed one obstacle, providing Trump with evidence that his twin-track policy of engagement and "maximum pressure" is working. "We're not under any illusions about who these people are. We know who we are dealing with here," said Victoria Coates, of the National Security Council. "But we got, up front, our people home." - Neutral setting - The United States and North Korea are technically still at war -- a stop-gap armistice ended the brutal three-year Korean war in 1953 and around 30,000 American troops remain in neighboring South Korea, which the US supported in the conflict. Singapore will provide a neutral backdrop for the summit, avoiding some of the security and political challenges of meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South. When Trump and Kim do sit down, the two relatively untested leaders will be presented with a puzzle that has stymied seasoned diplomats for decades. A series of US administrations has sent envoys, both official and unofficial, to Pyongyang in the hope of stopping North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited after leaving office. Multiple rounds of non-proliferation talks have taken place, and a deal was even signed in 1994. But, despite the optimism of that moment, all efforts to limit North Korea's nuclear program have so far failed. And, more than two decades and multiple provocative weapons tests after the last accord, the threat from Pyongyang has only grown. - Troop withdrawals? - So far, the North Korean regime has made vague pledges to "denuclearize" but has not spelled out what that means, when it would happen or how it would be implemented. In North Korea's bombastic rhetoric, "denuclearization" has, for years, been a byword for US troop withdrawals from South Korea. Hardliners in the North are believed to see possession of a nuclear weapon as a guarantee against US-led efforts to topple Kim's regime. Iran turns to diplomacy amid high regional tensions Tehran, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" of his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Quds force, that struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. - Iran concessions? - Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". Iran's hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with hundreds protesting in Tehran after Friday prayers, saying it was time to abandon the deal. "Officials shouldn't trust France and Britain. They will never abandon the US for us," said Poormoslem, a housewife at the rally. In Jerusalem, around 200 Jews gathered at the Western Wall for prayers "against the enemy". "We came here to pray to God after the victory against Iran" following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, said Aryeh Stern, a rabbi from Jerusalem. Southern Syria was quiet but tense, with monitors saying Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first on Thursday, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. "The Israelis want to make this into an Iran-Israel thing, but it isn't. Whatever happens in Syria happens under the command of the Syrians," said analyst Mohammad Marandi, who was part of Iran's negotiation team leading up to the nuclear deal. - Chief atomic inspector resigns - The United States has said that despite its withdrawal it wants inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to continue in Iran. The IAEA said meanwhile that its chief inspector Tero Varjoranta resigned, without giving a reason for his sudden departure. "The agency's safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner," a spokesperson for the agency said on Friday. Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. They also see a rare chance for Iran to hold the moral high ground. "For the first time, Iran has the chance to show the world they are not the rogue nation they are always presented as, that they negotiated in good faith and keep to their commitments," said Karim Emile Bitar, of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris. Russia -- which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent further escalation. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that Russia had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, said the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". On Friday the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive. burs-er/dv Pompeo: US will help make NKorea rich if it disarms Washington, May 11 (AFP) May 11, 2018 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that if North Korea agrees to surrender its nuclear arsenal, Washington will work with Pyongyang to rebuild its tiny economy. "If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends," he said. Pompeo was speaking after talks with his South Korean opposite number Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to prepare for a historic June 12 summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some observers are concerned that South Korea's desire to build peaceful ties with the North may distance it over time from the US policy of seeking nuclear disarmament at any cost. But both Kang and Pompeo insisted that they agreed on the need for the "total, complete, permanent and verifiable" denuclearization of the divided peninsula. And Pompeo said the United States would remain on board to help develop the North's economy, which has been devastated by its own mismanagement and crippling international sanctions. Pompeo has had two recent meetings with Kim to prepare for the summit and, last weekend, to negotiate the release of three Korean-Americans held in the North's jails. He said he had had good conversations with Kim, who he found to be a focused and rational interlocutor. "We had good conversations, conversations that involve deep complex problems, challenges, strategic decisions that chairman Kim has before him," Pompeo said. The pair, he said, talked "about how it is he wishes to proceed and if he's prepared, in exchange for the assurances that we're ready to provide him, if he is prepared to fully denuclearize. "We'll require a robust verification program, one that we would undertake with partners around the world which would achieve that outcome," he warned. But he added: "I'm confident that we have a shared understanding of the outcome that the leaders want -- certainly President Trump and chairman Kim, but I think president Moon as well." "I think that we have a shared vision for what we hope. I think there's a complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are," he said. Trump and Iran Time for Europe to Join the Resistance U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal marks the temporary suspension of the trans-Atlantic alliance. What now? Former CIA Director Michael Hayden 'We Have a President Who Views Allies as a Burden' In an interview, former CIA Director Michael Hayden discusses U.S. President Donald Trump's relationship with the truth, his treatment of his European allies and why the White House backed out of the Iran deal. Exit from Iran Deal Trump Strikes a Deep Blow to Trans-Atlantic Ties With his decision to blow up the Iran deal, U.S. President Donald Trump has thrown Europe into uncertainty and anxiety -- and raised the specter of a new war in the Middle East. One thing is certain: the trans-Atlantic relationship has been seriously damaged. By DER SPIEGEL Staff English10/05/2018 LUKAC REJECTS ACCUSATIONS BANJALUKA, May 10 /SRNA/ - Minister of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska Dragan Lukac on Thursday rejected the allegations made in the parliament by Davor Dragicevic, the father of David Dragicevic who tragically died, who accused the minister of being an accomplice in the murder of his son without any proof. Lukac asked who had the right to accuse anyone of such a grave criminal offence without a single piece of evidence. Everything we heard from Davor Dragicevic is not a surprise. This is obviously a prepared performance to accuse me personally, as well as the institutions of Republika Srpska without a single piece of evidence, Lukac stated at a special session of the parliament reviewing a document on the state of security in Banjaluka and Srpska entitled Justice for David - Justice for All which was proposed by members of the parliament. The minister said he would file criminal reports against anyone accusing him without a single piece of evidence, such as the blogger Slobodan Vaskovic, as well as certain MPs. Slobodan Vaskovic is instructing Davor Dragicevic, as do certain politicians who want to use this case in a morbid way. I understand Dragicevics pain but this is making him crazy in a huge tragedy that befell him and those individuals want to use him to satisfy their own interests, said Lukac. There are institutions in Srpska whose job is to establish what had happened, he said. Lukac pointed out that a decision was made to lift the secrecy on data in the case of David Dragicevic because it was found there was a need to make the data available to the public. I was also among the people who created Republika Srpska, I am a first-class veteran, a disabled war veteran, I spilt seven litres of blood for this republic in all battles, injuries and surgeries I endured, said Lukac. He underlined that his 10-year-old son was falsely accused on social networks of taking part in beating up of David Dragicevic and added that he would not allow anyone to harm his own children. /end/ds At such an unpredictable time for the industry, its essential that farmers stay up to date with the latest ideas and advice, says Jon Day, event director at Cereals 2018. No-one really knows what lies ahead but this years Cereals Event will really help to put the challenges and opportunities into perspective and explore what the industry can do to ensure were as prepared as possible. Of course, Cereals 2018 is all about change, so the Arable Conference will benefit from a fresh look at this years event. It is splitting into two, enabling visitors to choose between lively debates with industry leaders or getting up to speed with the latest technical arable research. Cereals Controversial fronted by a panel of politicians and leading industry officials will see some of the hottest topics in the arable industry up for discussion. Business resilience and demonstrating environmental and socially responsible activities are just some of themes set to be discussed by some of the most influential people in UK agriculture. Cereals Conversations will be a hub for knowledge exchange, taking a more technical approach and providing cutting-edge research and advice for farmers and growers. Industry experts from across the sector will be on hand, arming growers with knowledge on everything from using data to drive decision making to emerging weed control strategies. This years content partner, AHDB, will be both hosting seminars in both the Conversations and Controversial marquees, with several speakers taking their seat in sessions across the two days. Here are just some of the speakers and topics that will be covered over the two days. Cereals Controversial Fit for the future: The debate 9:30am (13 June) Kicking off proceedings in the Cereals Controversial marquee is Fit for the Future: The Debate, hosted by Cereals content partner, AHDB. This debate will bring together politicians and industry experts - including MP George Eustice and Sir Peter Kendall, chair of AHDB - to discuss what the future of the supply chain will look like with no subsidies. How resilient is your business 11:00am (13 June) Resilience in the face of uncertainty is something all businesses need, and no more so than those in agriculture. David Eudall, market intelligence partnerships manager at AHDB and Jeremy Moody Secretary to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers will join financial experts and host famer Robert Law in discussing how arable farmers can build resilience into their businesses. The crops of the future 1:00pm (13 June) The first afternoon session will include AHDBs consumer insights manager Steven Evans and Premium Crops managing director Andrew Probert. The panel will consider whether farmers should be looking to grow a more diverse range of crops - given the changing climate and subsidy landscape as well as looking at what insights the industry has on what consumers want. The farm labour dilemma: whats the future? 2:30pm (13 June) The face of farming is changing. The arable industry needs to ensure it attracts and retains the right type of labour to support farming businesses in the future. Visitors will hear from David Frost, organisational development director at Total Produce on how the fresh produce industry has adapted to labour shortages, and Stephen Jacob, chief executive at BASIS on the value of lifetime learning and improving the skills of the workforce. 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It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. As we have since July 2006, each Friday well post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 578th in the series. 1) Altadis U.S.A. will be making the Aging Room Pura Cepa line available across all distribution channels later this month. Spanish for pure bred, Pura Cepa is a Nicaraguan puro created by Rafael Nodal with tobacco from Ometepe, Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli. I wanted a world-class cigar that ideally displayed the richness Nicaraguan soils can bring to quality tobaccos, said Nodal. With Pura Cepa, I strived to capture the very essence of the lands core, and deliver a Nicaraguan puro blend for todays most discerning smokers. Three sixes will sell in the $12.50-$13.50 range: Rondo (5 x 50), Mezzo (6 x 54), and Grande (6.5 x 56). Each will be packaged in boxes of 20. In May 2017, a strategic alliance agreement was struck that makes tobacco giant Altadis the distributor for Boutique Blends Cigars. As part of the agreement, Rafael Nodal accepted a position within Altadis, and the Boutique Blends brandsincluding Aging Room, Swag, La Boheme, and Oliverosare sold through Altadis. 2) The Tampa Bay Times on premium cigars second chance for an FDA exemption: A Save This Factory banner will be re-hung next week on J.C. Newman Cigars Ybor City factory, and the companys SaveCigarCity.com website lobbying against government oversight of premium cigars will be re-launched. Both were tactics company president Eric Newman used to fight the Food and Drug Administration as the agency weighed whether to lump in premium cigars with mass-produced stogies, vaporizers, and e-cigarettes as part of its regulatory expansion over tobacco. 3) Hot Dickel, anyone? George Dickel Tennessee Whisky and Tabasco have announced a collaboration. George Dickel Tabasco Brand Barrel Finish will be hitting stores soon, with 750 ml. bottles of the 70-proof product selling for $25. George Dickel Tennessee Whisky is finished in Tabasco barrels that were previously used to age hot sauce for three years. 4) Inside the Industry: In June, Ventura Cigar Co. will kick off Fathers, Friends, and Fire events at tobacconists across the country. A $10 ticket (sold via participating tobacconists) will entitle guests to smoke with and meet Michael Giannini (who recently joined Ventura after a 17-year stint with General Cigar) and fourth generation tobacconist Erik Stokkebye. In addition, to make Fathers, Friends, and Fire truly memorable, Ventura Cigar Co. commissioned exclusive mementos to give out at the events, which will not be available for individual sale, according to a press release. Events will feature a special cigar created by the father-daughter team [of] Omar and Indiana Ortez. Under Omars experienced eye, Indiana created the Father-Daughter blend, which balances their tastes for tobaccos The Father-Daughter limited edition cigars will come pre-packaged in a two-cigar coffin box 5) From the Archives: Wonder why your morning smoke isnt as enjoyable as you expect? It might be your toothpaste. 6) Deal of the Week: Here are over 80 deals, including cigars from Ashton, Oliva, Tatuaje, Rocky Patel, Padron, Drew Estate, Davidoff, Cohiba, Crowned Heads, RoMa Craft, and more. Free shipping is included on any purchase. If you really want to stock up, add promo code GBP20D at checkout to knock $20 off an order of $150 or more. The Stogie Guys photo credit: Altadis In early 2018 Britain placed its first order for the BriteCloud expendable active decoy for use on the Tornado GR4 fighter-bomber. Development of BriteCloud began in 2012 and was complete (with a series of successful tests) at the end of 2017. BriteCloud is about the size of a soda can and can be used in existing NATO standard chaff/flare dispensers. BriteCloud, on being released, extends four fins at the rear to keep it aloft longer and begins emitting a signal that jams or deceives the radar of a radar guided missile so that the missile detonates a safe distance from the aircraft. In order to use BriteCloud aircraft must have some of their flare dispensers modified to receive information from the aircraft countermeasures system so that BriteCloud can be programmed to emit the correct signal when released. BriteCloud was made possible by the development of smaller and more powerful computer and electronic components as well as electronic warfare software that enabled such a small (55mm in diameter) device to deal with the tracking systems of long range air-to-air missiles. These missiles are equipped to defeat a growing list of countermeasures. As such BriteCloud will have to be constantly updated to deal with missile guidance system improvements. Meanwhile, another version of BriteCloud is being developed so that it can fit the different size and shape square dispensers used in American warplanes. What distinguishes BriteCloud from most other electronic decoys is that it is so small and only used when a missile is close and BriteCloud becomes a last chance device for avoiding a rapidly approaching missile. In the past, most decoys equipped with jammers and other electronic deception devices were larger and designed to deceive enemy sensors for longer periods and at greater distances from any friendly aircraft. A current example of that would be the American MALD (miniature air-launched decoy), which entered service at the same time BriteCloud development began and is still important to keep most missile threats from getting close enough for BriteCloud. Like BriteCloud MALD has undergone constant upgrades. In 2017 the U.S. Air Force upgraded MALD-J, the powered jammer version of MALD with a jam-resistant GPS system. The MALD-J is three meters (9.5 feet) long and its pop-out wings give it a 1.55 meter (five foot) wingspan. The 130 kg (285 pound) decoy is powered by a small turbojet engine that gives it a speed of up to 1,000 kilometers an hour, for 45 minutes, at 11,000 meters (35,000 feet), or 20 minutes at 1,000 meters (3,100 feet). This enables MALD-J to travel about 800 kilometers on a typical mission. MALD-J can be programmed to fly a specific course to try and get enemy air defenses to open up so the enemy weapons can be spotted and destroyed. MALDs are also designed to be used in swarms to overwhelm enemy air defenses. The new MALDs cost nearly $300,000 each. The MALD-J is more expensive and about five percent heavier. The MALD-J was so successful in tests that the air force began converting hundreds of its unpowered MALDs to MALD-J. The original MALD-J entered service in in 2012. It was only in 2011 that the air force agreed to buy the original MALD. A year earlier (2010), after more than a decade of development, MALD was delivered in sufficient (although classified) quantities so that aircraft could actually carry out operations with the new device. These tests were a success. MALD is a powered decoy that appears on the enemy radar to be a warplane. The 2011 version of MALD worked and that came after six years of wasted effort on earlier designs that did not. After the original MALD entered service work then began on MALD-J, a radar jamming version. This version was found to be even more effective. Currently, only the B-52, F-18, and F-16 are equipped to carry MALD. The air force will begin receiving MALD-J (the jammer version) by the end of 2018. The navy operates MALD-J from F-18Es, which will accompany EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft. The EA-18G could carry MALD-J but this would be at the expense of range. The EA-18G needs as much range as it can get in order to go deep into enemy air space and destroy air defenses. The MALD manufacturer has also developed the needed equipment (special racks) so that up to 192 MALDs can be loaded on military transports and quickly launched. This would certainly catch the enemy's attention and distract them. Meanwhile, MALD replaces a similar U.S. Navy jet powered ADM-141C ITALD (Improved Tactical Air Launched Decoy), which entered service about the time MALD entered development. ITALD is 2.34 meters (7.7 feet) long with a 1.55 meter (five foot) wingspan. It weighs 180 kg (400 pounds), has a top speed of 460 kilometers an hour, and a range of about 300 kilometers. ITALD, as well as the earlier, unpowered, TALD, contains passive and active devices to enhance the radar image the enemy will receive when they spot the decoy. The navy bought about 200 ITALDs. In the late 1980s, the navy bought over 2,000 ADM-141 TALDs, which proved successful during the 1991 Gulf War. Israel also had success in combat with their version of TALD, which was developed from similar decoys designed in the 1970s, based on Israeli and U.S. Navy experience with Russian equipped Arab air defense systems. The U.S. Air Force didn't get interested until after the Cold War ended and that led to MALD. Early on the MALD was supposed to be a smaller (by 15 percent), simpler, and cheaper ($30,000 each) design. But, as is common with these projects, both the air force and the manufacturer kept coming up with new things the MALD had to have. Some were necessary while others were just part of the usual procurement politics. The current MALD has a range of nearly 900 kilometers and is apparently reliable enough to be used in combat. The radar jamming capability of MALD-J will be the first of many electronic warfare capabilities added to the higher (up to half a million dollars, or more, each) priced version of MALD planned for the future. This version is already in development. Thus the air force has pulled ahead in aerial decoy technology, although the TALD/ITALD series have the distinction of having been tested, and successful, in combat. In mid-April 2018 Russia confirmed the obvious and admitted they had lost their huge market share of commercial satellite launches. As recently as 2013 Russia had half that market. Five years later their market share had fallen to about ten percent and Russian showed no signs of regaining their dominance and expected their share of the commercial market to sink to as low as four percent. After 2013 Russia faced growing competition from cheaper, more reliable Chinese satellite launch services. But what really accelerated the Russian decline was the surprising emergence of new American launch technology, mainly the SpaceX reusable launchers (that can regularly return and land intact). This is particularly annoying because it was another unexpected new American technology (fracking) that drove down the world price of Russians main export; oil and natural gas. Fracking also made the United States the major producer of oil and gas and a new competitor for Russia in export markets. Meanwhile, Russian space industry officials said they would put more emphasis on satellite design and manufacturing, which is a much larger (by about three times) market than launch services. But even there Russia is having problems competing, mainly because of a shortage of skilled engineers and reliable manufacturing capabilities. So while Russia has lost about $2 billion a year in launch business they will probably lose ground on the satellite side of the business as well. While military satellites get more media attention, the real business of space, and where the Chinese have been putting most of their efforts, is in commercial satellites. The Chinese have noted that since the 1980s space satellites have gone from big business to huge business. By 2012 there were about 1,000 active satellites in orbit, and nearly half of them were American. China wanted to change that by offering the less expensive launch service and satellites to nations that have few if any, satellites of their own. The number of satellites in use has been going down because individual satellites last longer and can do more. Even with that, the number of satellites will now start to rise rapidly because of the popularity of mini-satellites (under 100 kg/220 pounds). Some of these mini-sats are much smaller (under ten kg/22 pounds) and still useful. In some cases, dozens of mini-sats are put into orbit by one launcher. About 75 percent of all satellites are non-military. Most of them are commercial, the rest government non-military birds. Since 2001 satellite industry revenues more than doubled, from $89 billion a year to over $200 billion now. The cost of the satellites is less than ten percent of annual satellite revenues. About four percent of the money comes from launching all those satellites and 36 percent of those launches are military. Until SpaceX became a major factor the U.S. had about a third of the launch business, mainly because of the requirement that U.S. classified satellites be launched by American rockets. About half the satellite launches (and two-thirds of the satellites) were for communications, which generates the most income (mostly for TV, followed by data). The U.S. remains the major manufacturer of commercial satellites, with over half of the market. China sees opportunity in all this and has come a long way in a short time to take advantage of it. Russia and the United States have both been using retired ICBMs as cheap satellite launchers and that started with older liquid fuel models. China does not have many older liquid fuel ICBMs and has concentrated on developing more reliable and cheaper solid fuel rockets. This is paying off. Moreover, China will sell launch service to just about anyone who can pay, no questions asked. Space satellites are a relatively new thing. In 1957 the Russian Sputnik was the first satellite ever put in orbit. The U.S. followed in 1958. Since then, ten other nations have done the same. France launched its first satellite in 1965, Japan and China in 1970, Britain in 1971, and India in 1980. Israel launched its first satellite in 1988. Ukraine did so in 1995. Iran claims to have put a satellite in orbit, but there is no conclusive proof. North Korea put a dead (non-responsive) satellite up in December 2012 and South Korea followed with a successful launch of a very active satellite a month later. Since 2010 China has launched about 20 satellites a year and by the end of the decade expect to have 200 satellites in orbit. This is about a fifth of the total and nearly half as many as the United States. At that point, China expects to be launching 30 satellites a year and accounting for over a quarter of the worldwide launch capability. All this momentum has been the result of three decades of effort and an enormous spurt of activity since 2010. In the two decades after 1990, China carried out 30 commercial satellite launches, putting 36 satellites in orbit. Now China puts that many satellites up in 18 months. In late 2015 China successfully tested the latest version of its Long March satellite launcher; Long March 6 (LM 6). This version is optimized for putting multiple small satellites in orbit on the same mission and on short notice. The test launch put twenty small scientific satellites into orbit. LM 6 is a 103 ton liquid fueled rocket that can put a ton of payload into a 700 kilometers high orbit. LM 6 can operate from a standard satellite launch facility or from a TEL (transporter erector launcher) vehicle (which is basically a slightly larger trailer similar to those used for hauling tanks). LM 6 was also designed to be made ready for launch quickly (six days or so) giving it a military capability. That means if China has to get a surveillance or communications satellite in orbit quickly, LM 6 is the solution. China is also developing small surveillance and communications satellites for such emergencies. China, like Russia, will try to duplicate (or simply steal) SpaceX technology but that takes time and there is always the risk of protracted litigation. Marines fire a round out of an M777A2 howitzer during training at Camp Fuji, Japan, May 1, 2018. The Marines are assigned to Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Carl King X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: International Moslem organizations are pressuring the UN to punish and pressure for its treatment of the Rohingya Moslems. One could make a case that the Burmese military colluded with Buddhist nationalists to drive the Rohingya out of the country, something that has been an unresolved issue since the British colonial government left in the late 1940s. China is blocking any action in the UN and elsewhere Moslems are more concerned about Islamic terrorism and the Shia-Sunni conflict Iran has created. Meanwhile, the Rohingya issue remains unresolved. Because of the Rohingya stalemate neighboring Bangladesh now considers Burma its major foreign affairs problem. Islamic terrorism sponsored by Pakistan has been kept under control but the problems created by an independent military in neighboring Burma are getting worse. The military ran Burma from the 1960s until 2011, when it finally allowed elections to get out from growing international hostility (and sanctions). But like in Pakistan the Burmese military is still an independent (of government control) organization and it played a large role in forcing over 700,000 Burmese Moslems (Rohingya, Bengalis who had been in Burma before the British colonial government left the region in 1948) into Bangladesh. Burma, or at least the Burmese military and its Buddhist nationalist allies, do not want to take the Rohingya back. But that would leave Bangladesh with a huge refugee population that, even with foreign aid paying for the camps, would be nothing but trouble for Bangladesh. The 700,000 Burmese Rohingya Moslem refugees in Bangladesh are stuck there and for what appears to be an extended period. The Burmese government insists that only validated Burmese residents will be allowed back and the verification process is stalled. Burma is approving less than ten percent of the names Bangladesh presents as authentic Burmese Rohingya. The repatriation back to Burma of was supposed to begin in January 2018 but continued army violence against Rohingya still in Burma made that impossible. Added to that were the administrative problems and so much more. Those Rohingya going back must do so voluntarily. Back in Burma UN officials report that adequate preparations have not been made to handle a large scale return of Rohingya. A further complication is that those Rohingya willing to go back want to return to their homes and property. If their home was destroyed (as many were during the military violence) the returnees want an opportunity to rebuild and for the government to supply money and supplies to make that possible. That would be difficult because in many of the areas Rohingya fled from local officials have treated the former Rohingya property as abandoned and available or resale and reuse. Rohingya refugees are aware of this and will not return until the government clears up the property ownership issues. That happening is considered an impossible dream by all concerned. As a result many Rohingya refugees are seeking new homelands. Bangladesh is not considered a good candidate because the country is already crowded and poor and long the source of illegal migrants to other nations. At the moment Moslem refugees are a hard sell, even in Moslem countries. No one is willing to take a lot of Rohingya and Bangladesh does not like being stuck with these large refugee camps near the Burmese border. Because the Rohingya are Moslem most Moslem nations have been quick to condemn Burma and urge international efforts to force Burma to take back the Rohingya. That has not worked either, just like international pressure on Pakistan has not eliminated Pakistani support for Islamic terrorism. Tribal Wars There is still a lot of fighting in the tribal areas (especially Chin, Rakhine, Kachin and Karen states) and the army has quietly adopted more brutal and illegal (according to local and international law) tactics against the rebellious tribes. The soldiers are now using more force against the civilians (shooting at the refugees and preventing them from finding food and shelter). Soldiers will also use civilians as human shields and to do that are extra careful to keep credible witnesses (especially journalists) away from the scene of the crimes. In addition, the soldiers are more frequently killing unarmed tribal officials that the army considers (accurately or not) to be working with armed (and usually un-uniformed) tribal rebels. The army has been defying orders from government (or at least provincial) officials to halt these illegal practices. The army, or at least some soldiers and officers, have always had some involvement in the illegal drug trade but now some soldiers are working with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to smuggle drugs (mostly the methamphetamine pills produced in large quantities by some tribal rebel groups) from the border to the refugee camps and beyond. The drug smuggling pays well and the Rohingya refugees are broke. Some are willing to do just about anything to make some money so they can pay people smugglers to get them out of Bangladesh. That is expensive because no countries in the region are receptive to refugees and the best option if you can afford it, is to get smuggled to a Western nation, claim asylum or just settle down. The Rohingya represent a minority of Burmese Moslems Most remaining Burmese Moslems (about 1.2 million) live far from the Bangladesh border and have been officially recognized as Burmese and Moslems for centuries. These Burmese Moslems still face some discrimination and persecution but no one disputes that fact that they are Burmese citizens and generally not a threat to the nation. The Rohingya were seen as different because they looked different (Bengalis are an Indo-European people while most Burmese have an East Asian appearance). The Rohingya also have ethnic and cultural links to Bangladesh and many are relatively (in the past century) migrants from Bangladesh. Throughout the region (South Asia contains about a quarter of the world population) there are several situation similar to what has happened to the Rohingya and some of these stateless peoples remain that way for generations. In Closing And then theres some good news for Burma. According to a national survey, most Burmese believe living standards have increased considerably since democracy returned in 2011. The survey was able to reach over 90 percent of the population. Only in some tribal areas, and Rakhine State, where fighting is still going on, were not covered. There is still a lot of corruption and the radical Buddhist clerics are still encouraging hatred of the Rohingya. The army is still a power unto itself, some of the northern tribes are major producers of illegal drugs (especially meth) and China is still trying to buy some long-term control over the country. Aside from all that, the future looks promising. May 10, 2018: Sometimes the rebels can do what the army does and go total outlaw. That is currently happening in the far north (Shan state) where two rival rebel groups, the SSPP (Shan State Progressive Party) and TNLA (Tang National Liberation Army), have been fighting for control of disputed territory. Over 500 villagers have fled their homes to avoid the shooting. In areas where the issue has been settled many villagers driven from their homes by the fighting are reluctant to return home because the rebels have a reputation for demanding payment from locals. The current fighting has been going on for more than two weeks but there have been few casualties among the tribal gunmen. Sometimes other tribal rebel groups are involved and the one group that tends to be involved much of the time is the TNLA. May 8, 2018: Officials from China and Burma met to work out a police cooperation agreement that would make easier to detect, monitor and disrupt criminal activity that is common to both countries. This is mainly about keeping drugs, especially meth, out of China and to reduce smuggling in general as well as the growing incidence of Internet related crime on both sides of the border. In return for Burmese cooperation, China will help Burma in the UN and other international organizations. May 7, 2018: In the northwest (Rakhine State) a soldier and two civilians were caught at a checkpoint with some methamphetamine pills and searches of homes found the three had $3.6 million worth of meth. May 4, 2018: In the north (Kachin State) 17 jade miners died because of a landslide. There is more risk of this thing because unemployed jade miners become scavengers who scoured abandoned (because the owners felt there was not enough jade left to be worth extracting) jade mining sites. Some lucrative jade mines are shut because of legal problems and those sites have armed guards and police to provide security for the jade mines mainly to keep scavengers away. But many old mines that still have some jade left in them are not guarded or monitored by safety engineers in order to prevent accidental deaths and more unwelcome publicity to the lucrative but embarrassing jade industry. The scavengers have few other employment options and are not deterred by armed guards or the danger. The army hopes to get these jade mines working again and better economic ties with China will help with that. May 3, 2018: On the west coast fighting in Chin state left four soldiers dead and five wounded. The army has been fighting the AA (Arakan Army) rebels here for some time. Along the west coast (Arakan and Chin states) the fighting is mainly about the army effort to control (tax) illegal logging by tribesmen. The tribes have been mistreated by the military for so long it is difficult to generate a lot of trust for a new peace agreement or even a ceasefire. May 2, 2018: China announced that it is expanding its weather satellite coverage to all countries participating in the Obor (One Belt, One Road) project (by allowing China to build roads, railroads, pipelines and ports) and will share weather information with those nations. This is a big deal with many nations participating in Obor, especially those who lack the money to have their own dedicated weather satellites. Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand and Burma are all Obor participants and will benefit from regular access to the weather and land management (for farming, flood control and so on) information the expanded Chinse satellite network will provide. April 26, 2018: In the north (Kachin State) KIA rebels continue fighting against the expanded army presence in KIA controlled territory. In the past week, the fighting has left at least ten civilians dead as the army tries to use refugees from the fighting as a weapon to force the rebels to back off. Many of the KIA fighters are related to the tribal people forced to flee the army advance. This fighting is a continuation of an army offensive that began at the end of 2017 to halt illegal (not paying a tax to the army) mining of amber and gold. Control of these mines helps finance the KIA, which has refused to participate in peace talks. The KIA still controls large portions of Kachin state but the army is spread thin and distracted by the Rohingya situation. Meanwhile, over 100,000 locals have been driven from their homes by the fighting and most of the gold and amber mining operations are still shut down, leaving the miners destitute. For the locals, the KIA offensive is popular. Moreover, many of the gold and amber mining operations are legitimate companies recognized by the government. The army incursion is seen as another example of the military acting like outlaws in the north. Cllr Chris Saint. Cllr Chris Saint has stepped down as leader of Stratford District Council after failing to retain the leadership of the ruling conservative group at its annual meeting earlier this week. During a close vote on Tuesday, conservative members instead chose Cllr Tony Jefferson to lead the group, though Cllr Saint still remained leader of the council. This morning Cllr Saint formally resigned as council leader, with Cllr Jefferson set to formally take up the role during next Wednesday's annual council meeting. Cllr Saint said: It has been a privilege to have been given the opportunity to serve as Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council. Despite the changing and challenging local government landscape in recent years I have enjoyed playing my part and found it hugely rewarding. "None of what I have achieved as Leader has been achieved alone. I have been incredibly lucky to have a team of talented councillor colleagues and a set of dedicated council officers alongside me. Cllr Saint remains District Council ward member for Shipston North. For more on this story download this week's Herald here. The Sidney Sun-Telegraph recently reached out to area election candidates. Reprinted below are responses to a questionnaire sent to candidates who will appear on the Primary Ballot. MELODY "MEL" KELLER Name as it appears on ballot: Melody Keller Community you live in, are running to represent: I live in Gurley and I am running for the office of Cheyenne County Assessor. How long have you lived in Cheyenne County? I am proud to have called Cheyenne County my home for 39 years, during which time I have made it a point to be involved in the community as a volunteer. This is a list of just a few of the things I have helped with in the past or am currently helping with: Dalton Fall Festival volunteer, Panhandle Prevention Coalition (strategic planning for the prevention of underage drinking), Youth As resources mentor (YAR) Sidney Schools (mentoring 4th grade students), Early Childhood Advocates member (working with colleges and the Nebraska Department of Education to bring training to local childcare providers), Roctoberfest Co-planner and volunteer (planning, promoting, fundraising and supervising a dance and games for teens), Hay Day Festival co-coordinator and volunteer (planning, fundraising, promoting and supervising of carnival style event), Park Improvement Committee member (working to raise money for new park equipment) and Children's Church, Awana instructor, Sunday School Teacher, Cool Kids Field Trip volunteer, Cub Scout leader. What motivates you to seek public office: I am seeking this position to do what I can to help people understand their rights as homeowners, business men/women and taxpayers. Taxpayers of this county pay a good salary to the County Assessor and I feel they deserve someone whose focus will be on the task at hand. When a person works their way up to achieve a managerial position they have more respect for that position and the people who work under them. I have been in the public eye in the past as I was the director of the K-3rd grade after/summer school program and the assistant director of the K-8th grade program as a whole for eight years. During this time, I worked with parents, teachers, school boards, superintendents, principles, local businesses and state officials: all to bring educational and fun events to the children of this county. I am accustomed to working with people from all walks of life and known for treating people fairly and with respect. I have experience working with officials on the state level and I am very qualified to do so again. What experience related to the office do you bring? Prior to working in the Assessor's Office, I worked for Cabela's as Inventory Control Analyst and have vast experience with numbers crunching. As the director of the Cool Kids k-3 program I was in charge of eleven staff members and their schedules. I have been promoted to management positions at almost every position I have ever held and have outstanding leadership skills. I have worked in the Assessor's Office for six and a half years as a clerk making me the employee with the most tenure. There is a misunderstanding that the only thing clerks do is data entry when in fact they do so much more. The clerks do most of the field work or reviews of property in the county, the assessing. Though the Assessor has the final say on the assessments it is the clerks who do the leg work the majority of the time. The clerks in the office are the first faces you see when you enter the office, we are the front line. During the first year I worked in the office my main duty was to enter all sales of real estate into the computer system and forwarding on to the state. This requires being knowledgeable in reading legal documents such as deed, understanding meets and bounds, and being willing and able to do title searches at the Cheyenne County Clerk's Office. This duty was then passed on to the Deputy Assessor whom I helped train. From that point on I was given as my main duties: Personal Property Schedules-this requires tracking business entities that come into or leave our county throughout the year to prepare schedules for the following year. Mobile Home Sales and Tracking- entering all mobile home sales into the computer and keeping up-to-date records of all mobile homes in the county as required by the state Igloos-sending out reports for Sioux Army Depot igloos owners to complete and return to the Assessor's Office Airplanes-tracking all airplanes located in Cheyenne County as required by the state Office inventory and Supply-Keeping track of what is needed for office supplies such as paper goods and goods used up throughout the year, and also keeping track of more tangible goods such as desk, computers, filing cabinets etc. as required Notices of Taxable Status-notices to governmental entities that own property which is not for public use or the promoting of business and will be taxed as required by the state Homestead Exemptions-this is an exemption that allows people sixty-five or older or certain disabled individuals or widows of a military veteran to have some or all of their taxes paid for by the State of Nebraska if they own and occupy their home from January 1st to August 15th and meet certain other guidelines Permissive Exemption Forms- These are forms churches, educational and/or charitable organizations can file to have all real estate and personal property exempted. I have since trained other staff members on how to do many of these reports. During my time with the Assessor's Office I also have had the pleasure of meeting many of you face to face while doing property reviews with my co-workers or helping with homestead applications or other forms when you came into the Assessor's Office. What are some of the issues you want to seek addressed? If elected I want to bring a sense of community to the Assessor's Office. People need to understand what our office does, how it does it and to understand the Assessor is not the enemy. I want valuations to be correct and as up to date as possible. I have worked in the Assessor's Office long enough to see that a change is needed in how the people we work for, the people of Cheyenne County, are treated. I once worked for a company who printed on their checks "Proudly brought to you by your customers". I feel the idea that we work for the people of Cheyenne County needs to be deeply instilled in all who work in the Assessor's Office, including the Assessor. The people of Cheyenne County need to know we care and should be treated with respect when they have concerns regarding their property values. I have seen many of my friends have to move because of the changing times we have all been facing over the past three years and I believe we should no longer dwell on what is behind us but stick together to make it through. It has been obvious for over four years that property values in Cheyenne County needed to be reevaluated. Most people are not upset about the value of their property but more so the taxes. I want to make sure people are aware how taxes work. The Assessor's duties are not to raise or lower taxes as some people think. Taxes are based off the assessment of property but the taxing entities set the levy which is based off of the budget requirements of each entity. The levy is then multiplied by the assessment to calculate the taxes. When people invest in property it usually is to make a profit or establish equity. As a fellow home owner I understand high taxes rates but am also aware that if my valuation goes down so does the equity in my home. For example if my home is valued at $200,000 and the suddenly goes down to $150,000, I have just lost $50,000 in equity and may now being overpaying for homeowners insurance, may now owe more on my home than it is valued at, or have trouble refinancing. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. The Assessor is charged with several administrative and statutory duties; however, the primary duty and responsibility is to cause to be assessed all real property within his/her jurisdiction except that which is otherwise provided by law. The duty of the Assessor is to supervise and review many of the responsibilities I have previously listed. He/she must review all assessments of real property and create the reports required by the state too numerous to be listed here but can easily be looked up at revenue.nebraska.gov/PAD. Once at this site click on "Calendar." This will give you a listing of what the Assessor is required to do and also links to more detailed descriptions. This website also has many other helpful tools. Under the "What's New" area is a link for Real Property Value Percentage Change 2017-2018. This will show you how our county compares to others. Sales are looked over by the Assessor and entered in the system by the Deputy Assessor and Clerk who does Mobile Homes. The state reviews the county's sales and makes recommendations as to what would be the best course of action to follow. It has been obvious for over four years that property values in Cheyenne County needed to be reevaluated. The Assessor is required by the State of Nebraska to be within 92-100% of market value and can choose where it best fits their community. Cheyenne County has been on the high end of this scale for far too long and the Assessor could have made the decision to lower the percent in past, hardly making the new lower assessments newsworthy. While bringing the percentage to the lower end of the scale does appear to be helpful, it may also cause serious budget cuts needed to sustain the taxing entities such as schools, fire departments, law enforcement, county roads and others. A list of taxing entities is available at the Assessor's Office. Why should voters support you? I have seen many of my friends have to move because of the changing times we have all been facing over the past three years and I believe we should no longer dwell on what is behind us but stick together to make it through. I am a hardworking individual with outstanding work ethics and character. While raising my blended family of six children and working full time, I became a non-traditional student at Western Nebraska Community College achieving a 4.0 GPA and graduated with highest honors. During my stint at Western Nebraska Community College in Sidney I had the honor of being the Phi Theta Kappa, national honor society, president. I then went on to Chadron State College to achieve my Bachelors of Science Degree in Education with a minor in mathematics in which I also received high honors. I take pride in saying that I have a passion for doing what is right even if it means facing opposition. As you can see by the way I have run my campaign, when I have a task to do I do not procrastinate, I get out there and get it done. I am fully dedicated to confidentiality and exerting superior customer service. I am detail-oriented and resourceful in prioritizing and completing projects on a timely basis. I am confident and poised in interacting with individuals at all levels while remaining open to the intellect and concerns they bring to the conversations. How can people reach you if they have questions? I prefer to meet with people face to face and am very approachable. I am often out to eat lunch in Sidney from 12:30-1:30 or available after 5 p.m. I find that intentions can be misconstrued over social media but would be happy to hear from you to set an appointment. Please leave a personal message on Facebook at Melody Keller for Cheyenne County Assessor. I hope this paper has answered many questions for you. SYBIL PROSSER Name as it appears on ballot: Sybil Prosser Community you live in, are running to represent. I live in Dalton and I am running to represent all residents of Cheyenne County. How long have you lived in Cheyenne County? It has been my honor to live in Cheyenne County for more than seven years. I look forward to enjoying many more years of living the "good life" in Cheyenne County! What motivates you to seek public office? A candidate's reason for running for public office is critical. There must be a passion to serve the public. I have that passion. As the current incumbent since my appointment in 2016, I have had the pleasure of meeting and serving our citizens of Cheyenne County. Helping the residents in Cheyenne County receive a fair evaluation of their property value is what motivates me to continue to serve as your Cheyenne County Assessor. What experience related to the office do you bring? I began my career in the Cheyenne County Assessor's Office in 2012, when I was hired as an Office Clerk. In 2013, after completing and passing the State of Nebraska County Assessor's Certification test, I was promoted to Cheyenne County Deputy Assessor. I served as the Deputy Assessor until 2016 when I was appointed to County Assessor. The knowledge, continuing education, training, and experience that I received as a Deputy and then as Assessor has been PARAMOUNT to me navigating the challenges that we are currently facing in Cheyenne County. Without this extensive knowledge and experience it would be next to impossible to fight for Cheyenne County the way that the county deserves. What are some of the issues you want to seek addressed? The processes, duties and procedures of the Office of the Cheyenne County Assessor are mandated by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, numerous reporting deadlines have hard stops. When I submit my annual updates and revisions to the Real Estate Abstract of Assessment it first must have the approval of the State of Nebraska Department of Revenue. The Nebraska Department of Revenue then submits to the abstract to the Tax Equalization and Review Commission, they are responsible for equalizing the assessed values of all real property each year. The Commission has the authority to increase or decrease the values. It is then my responsibility to implement any adjustments to the Real Estate Abstract of Assessment as ordered by the Commission. Unfortunately, many times my hands are tied. I have a good working relationship with Ruth Sorensen, State of Nebraska Property Tax Administrator. I am proud to say that this year, Ms. Sorensen accepted my reduced valuations as submitted. I can say that from watching the sales come in, that values continue to drop. This means a reassessment will again be necessary next year. Since being appointed in 2016 I have initiated many positive changes to the office.We now operate on a new and modern computer system that significantly improves the efficiency of the office. I have also imposed new office regulations to streamline and ensure procedures are followed with the most ethical of standards. For example, I imposed a policy in which no one working in the County Assessor's Office may assess their own property, their family's property or the property of close friends. We have an open door policy and welcome residents to bring in their concerns or questions so that we can talk about them. The atmosphere in the office has changed considerably and we do find that while people may not agree with the answer they leave with, it is an honest and transparent answer, after all, that is what I would appreciate receiving from an Assessor. My plan is to continue to improve the customer service level of the Assessor's Office to ensure residents feel welcome to come in and discuss issues or discrepancies with staff and myself. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. Cheyenne County has 10,633 parcels and as the Cheyenne County Assessor, it is my responsibility to assess the value of all real estate and personal property, to meet all State-related deadlines, submit all forms required by the State, and to handle any questions or concerns. In addition, I manage the office and oversee the work of 3 clerks and one Deputy. I consider myself as a servant-leader. Everyone in this office has a role in its success, however the roles that each lead are incredibly different. Why should voters support you? Considering the merger between Bass Pro and Cabela's, Cheyenne County is facing some extraordinary circumstances. In order to successfully navigate these issues during this difficult time, we must have an Assessor who has the tenure, experience and qualifications to successfully stand strong with the residents of Cheyenne County. I am that person. I am the only candidate with experience beyond the role of a clerk. It is an intricate and detailed process to determine property values. It is a process that takes a tremendous amount of time and considerable fortitude, to convey to the Nebraska Department of Revenue as to why my valuations are correct and should be approved upon submission. Because of the experience and knowledge that I have gained in three years as your Deputy Assessor; two years as your County Assessor and; over 100 hours of continuing education hours, that my reduced values were accepted by the State of Nebraska Property Tax Administrator with no questions asked. Next year is going to prove to be even more challenging as property values continue to decline. I am proactively working with the State to determine a plan for next year if sales continue to decline. I know how to navigate this. I know how to formulate a plan with the State and get us to a good place for the residents of Cheyenne County. I am someone who not only talks-the-talk but actually walks-the-walk. I lowered all residential values this year from 5-14% depending on location, and lowered all Agricultural dry and CRP land from 12-20 percent depending on location. I have a proven record of fighting for Cheyenne County and taking the necessary steps to make Cheyenne County successful. I would sincerely appreciate your vote because: I am the more qualified candidate and the only candidate with any experience beyond that of a clerk. I want to see Cheyenne County succeed. You deserve a County Assessor with the knowledge and education to fight hard on your behalf! How can people reach you if they have questions? I am available for any assessment related questions 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday- Friday at the Office of the Cheyenne County Assessor located at the Cheyenne County Courthouse in Sidney, Neb. You can reach my office by phone at (308) 254-2633 or via email [email protected] If you have questions directly related to my campaign, you can contact me via email at [email protected] or via my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/prosser4assessor.com Name as it appears on ballot: Vickie Brown Community you live in, are running to represent: Creek Valley Schools, Chappell, Neb. How long have you lived in Deuel County? I have lived in Deuel County for two years and six months. What motivates you to seek public office? The kids of the community motivate me to ensure we are doing our due diligence in preparing them for the future by providing a well-balanced education and support system for them to grow and thrive. What experience related to the office do you bring? I bring educational and professional experience to the school board position. I have 30-plus years of continuing education along with a technical career with a company that supports STEM activities for School Districts across the nation. What are some of the issues you want to address? I want to focus the school district on our primary mission of Preparing todays students for Tomorrows World. There are several areas that we can improve and several areas where we can excel if we just come together as a School and Community and work together to make it happen. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. In order to be an effective school board member you need to have a clear vision for the district and set goals for the district and the superintendent and ensure you measure the progress frequently. School board members also have to be able to communicate their actions to the community. Transparency in your communications and collaboration with your community will build strong lasting bonds that will only enhance your ability to be a change agent for your district and ensure success for all students. Great school board members also need to adopt a fiscally sound budget. Understanding fiscally how your district is doing and aligning that with the strategic goals of the district is very important to maintaining a solid program. Why should voters support you? I believe that Creek Valley Schools have a great program. I believe that with the right school board, administration, and team we can be one of the best in the state. With a few course corrections we can achieve our mission and our goals but we just need to make the change and start moving forward. I am here for the kids. My decisions and actions are based on what is right choices for the kids and for our school program. How can people reach you if they have questions? People can reach me at [email protected] Name as it appears on ballot: Anne Rexroth. Community you live in, are running to represent: Gurley, Leyton School Board. How long have you lived in Cheyenne County? Cheyenne County has been my home for 12 years. I currently reside in Gurley with my family my husband Ryan, and two daughters, Josette and Libby. What motivates you to seek public office? As a member of the Gurley community and the parent of an elementary school student, I am aware of the importance of the schools in our communities This is my community and I want to be involved and give back to the community. What experience related to the office do you bring? Ive had experience running my own business as well as working as a staff member at the local FSA office. Both have given me financial experience which will be beneficial as a member of the School Board, as operating costs are always a concern. We need to get the most value for the money we invest. What are some of the issues you want to see addressed? The education of our children is one of the most important things I can promote as a parent and School Board Member. Providing opportunities for growth and excellence will help our graduates prepare for life after high school. When I was in school, I had the opportunity to participate in FBLA and FFA. As a member of these organizations, I attended local, state and national conventions, participating in judging and public speaking contests. These activities were an excellent preparation for college life, and for life in the business world as an adult. I can see the benefit of such activities, and support these in our school system. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. Many of the duties of a School Board Member include the development of policy and directing the Superintendent in implementation of policy. It is important to work together as a team for the best interests of our school district, while still voicing ones opinion on matters and taking financial matters into serious consideration. The school budget is set, and we need thoughtfully and logically consider our decisions. Why should voters support you? I feel we have a great school district. We are lucky to have a strong school system, and good support for our teachers and school system in Nebraska. Id like to work to make that even better. How can people reach you if they have questions? Name as it appears on ballot: Betsy Galloway-Carew Community you live in, are running to represent. Potter-Dix School District How long have you lived in your community? Five years. What motivates you to seek public office? Its not about public office. Im very interested in public education. She is a former teacher. What experience related to the office do you bring? Most of the people know my background. What are some of the issues you want to seek addressed? Seeking excellence in education for all kids, very interested in communication. We need to talk to each other and what we want. She is also concerned about the relevancy of the curricula, and open communication between the staff and students, and connection between the school and community, and community, staff and kids. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. General oversight of the school district and the superintendent. Why should voters support you? I am seeking support for communication, excellence, relevant curricula. How can people reach you if they have questions? She says she is impressed with the number of people, including young people, who are calling with questions and concerns. Call 308-879-0117. Name as it appears on ballot. Linda S. Shoemaker or Linda Shoemaker Community you live in, are running to represent. The community of Potter, Neb. How long have you lived in your community? I have live in Potter for 47 years. What motivates you to seek public office? 1. To ensure that the Potter Dix communities have a viable and quality school K-12, 2. To ensure a quality education K-12, for the students with special attention to the required curriculum, and ensuring the appropriately qualified staff for education. What experience related to the office do you bring? 1. Employed as a Registered Nurse, 2. Chief Nursing Officer, 3. Interim CEO, 4. Corporate Compliance Officer, 5. HIPAA Privacy and Security Officer, 6. Risk Manager for Sidney Regional Medical Center over my career of 46 years with SRMC, 7. Experience with leadership and management, 8. Experience with rules and regulations, and the importance of needed policies with consistent adherence, 9. Experience as a professional mediator, 10. Budgeting experience, 11. Experience working with people and a board of directors , 12. Have worked with Nebraska Legislature. What are some of the issues you want to seek addressed? 1. Ensure the implementation of checks and balances of all expenditures related to the budget, 2. Ensure a more open and professional appearance to the taxpayers of the district, 3. Accountability. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. 1. If elected will learn more about this, however the board has fiduciary responsibility for the school as well as the superintendent. 2. The board is responsible for hiring and supervising the Superintendent and ensuring adequate performance and accountability of the position. Why should voters support you? 1. I have a passion for the school, students, quality education K-12, quality educators in preparation for the future, 2. My husband and I are in agriculture so I have a clear understanding of taxes. How can people reach you if they have questions? [email protected] This is the responses as written by Katherine Rieken, candidate for the Leyton School Board: Name as it appears on ballot Katherine Rieken Community you live in, are running to represent I reside in Dalton and I am running to represent the Leyton School Board How long have you lived in Cheyenne County? I have lived in Cheyenne County for 13 years. What motivates you to seek public office? The students of Leyton as well as the community motivates me to seek public office. I spent seven years as a business owner and in that time I felt the community did a wonderful job of supporting me. It is now my turn to return the favor and support the community. What experience related to the office do you bring? I am the vice president of Leytons parent teacher association known to us as PAC. In the past two years I have helped coordinate the PAC Christmas Store as well as the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. Since the fall of 2011 I have served as Leyton Volleyballs line judge. I have also spent several hours observing Leyton elementary classrooms and volunteering when possible. I currently serve as Co-Chairman of the Community Christmas Drawings as well as the Chairman of the Community Easter Egg Hunt. I also worked with the Community Shepards in the spring of 2017 to help implement a Christian based pre-school in the Dalton community. Prior to owning and operating the Dalton Market, I worked in social services for the State of Nebraska. What are some of the issues you want to seek addressed? I am highly opposed to one centralized county wide school district. My vision for Leyton is to increase enrollment by seeking opportunities that other area schools may not see as a priority; such as advanced placement and dual credit courses as well as providing a curriculum that balances individualization with best practice. I would like to see Leyton continue to improve the school-parent communication by making themselves more transparent and accessible. Some other improvements I advocate for are school safety and security, teacher/staff accountability, and finally I would like to see the School Board maintain a positive relationship with the community. Describe the duties and responsibilities of the office you are seeking. Members of the school board shall set the vision and goals for the school district by hiring a superintendent that will implement policy according to the direction of the board. The members of the school board shall also collaborate to adopt and oversee the Districts annual fiscal budget. School Board members must also possess strong ties to the local community. Finally, all school board members should have the best interest of the student as their most important mindset over any other line item on the agenda. Why should voters support you? If I was elected to the Leyton School Board I would bring sound judgement and a transparent demeanor. I am not afraid to ask questions and when I am approached with problems or concerns I will work to find a solution with an even temper and an acceptable disposition. I am a proponent of leadership through team work. If I am elected to the School Board I will work with other board members and the Leyton administration in order to keep the best interest of the children as the upmost important mindset. I possess strong fiscal management as I owned my own business for seven years and operated within a budget with many variations. Finally, if I was elected to the Leyton School board I would strive to continue the positive relationships with various members of the community by working with them to ensure our children have the best education possible within Leyton Public Schools. I spent a lot of years building my own education and working as a member of a team. I graduated from Liberty High School in Liberty, Missouri in 2001. Liberty is a northern metropolitan suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I was a member of National Honor Society and four year letter winner in volleyball as well as a member of the 5-A Kansas City All-District volleyball team. I attended Benedictine College, a private Catholic college located in Atchison, KS where I played Volleyball and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology in 2005. I was a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. I completed six months of child protective and safety training in the summer of 2005 through the State of Nebraska. On numerous occasions I served as an expert witness in a courtroom setting involving child welfare cases. How can people reach you if they have questions? Feel free to email me at [email protected] Deputy chief minister Dr Joseph Garcia paid a two-day visit to Washington this week, meeting Republican and Democratic members of Congress and officials on Capitol Hill, including those involved in foreign relations. Despite it being a whistle stop visit, he was able to hold more than 20 meetings. Unsurprisingly, many of the questions raised by Congress members were about Brexit and the effect on Gibraltar of Britain leaving the European Union. Dr Garcia, who holds the Brexit portfolio in Gibraltar, explained that the Gibraltar government is engaging in discussions with a number of EU member states, including Spain, is directly involved in all meetings which are relevant to Gibraltar and is positively seeking solutions which do not cross our red lines. The deputy chief minister was also very keen to get one message across to the American representatives: Gibraltar will not cede an inch of its sovereignty, jurisdiction and control as we prepare to leave the European Union, he said. Dr Garcia was also surprised to discover that some US Congress members had been supplied with inaccurate and factually incorrect briefing papers about Gibraltar by the Spanish Embassy in Washington, and said he was glad to have had the opportunity to put the record straight. Meanwhile, former chief minister Sir Joe Bossano, who is now Minister for Economic Development, Telecommunications and the GSB, travelled to Grenada on Monday to speak at the annual seminar of the Third Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. His presentation was also about sovereignty: a follow-up to the one he delivered last year, providing arguments to refute the Spanish presentation that Gibraltar should be decolonised by being handed over to Spain. I've never been much of a spa person. I get bored very quickly in baths and could always think of a million things I'd rather spend the money on (beer being one of them). But the prospect of visiting a Beer Spa was irresistible, especially one in my adopted home city of Granada. The idea of bathing in beer, with a glass of wonderful Alhambra (Granada's local brew) in hand seemed like a spa experience that I could finally get on board with. So this Monday, I went along to experience Spain's first ever Beer Spa. Beer Spa Granada started up its jacuzzis last November and is soon to be followed by openings in Roquetas del Mar (Almeria) and Alicante. It offers a basic hour-long spa circuit (45 pp), a private circuit (75) and a range of body and facial treatments. All are centred around beer's key ingredients of water, barley, yeast and hops. As general manager Juan Sanchez tells me, Granada's pilot spa is something of a trailblazer: The benefits of this type of treatment are [relatively] unknown, so we have to make people aware of them. Research indicates, says Sanchez, that the boozy baths might be able to prevent gout, blood circulation problems and maybe even heart attacks. Worth raising a pint to, no? Research indicates, says the general manager, that the beer baths might be able to prevent gout and blood circulation problems Beer Spa Granada is located in the heart of the city's shopping district. You receive a charming welcome and, after changing and being provided with a plush towel, are shown into a small and tropically warm room. The deep jacuzzies into which you step are filled with water, hops, yeast and cinnamon, a bubbling concoction that soothes joints and eliminates skin toxins. In fact, as Sanchez explains, beer's ingredients are already popular in hair treatments: Malt and hops improve weak hair, taking care of the roots and tips. Beer can bring a lot of shine to our hair. I know what I'm replacing my boring old shampoo with, then. Next to the tubs are taps from which you can fill and refill a wooden tankard - also provided - with Alhambra beer (included in the price). After being served with a small tapa, you're then left to marinade for twenty minutes as hypnotising, rainforesty sounds drift around the room. This is when I realised the beauty of spas: you are positively encouraged to do nothing - and nothing is something we don't do enough of. Next, you steam in the sauna for a further fifteen minutes or so with a refilled mug of Alhambra. I swear I could feel the bath's ingredients nourishing my skin as I sat there in a kind of trance, concerns temporarily eradicated. You're then guided to a faintly erotic room lit in soft green, containing three white beds with barley mattresses. Here, your taxing brief is to simply lie back, finish your beer, and let the hoppy goodness seep into your pores. I could have happily done another circuit, but it was time to return to reality. Asked how it was on the way out, I found myself saying, truthfully, that my skin already felt softer. I was also handed a certificate confirming my baptism in the beer baths of Granada. And baptised I truly am: I'm a born-again spa convert. The Sabor a Malaga brand works to promote the agricultural and food products of Malaga and has for the fifth year running sponsored a stand at the selective Feria Internacional de Alimentacion y Bebidas de Calidad Salon de Gourmets in Madrid. The event, which ran from 7-9 May and is one of the biggest in Europe, showcased select and innovative quality products from 36 producers in Malaga. The Salon de Gourmets is dedicated to companies in the agricultural and food industry and every year many of the most prestigious and reputable professionals from the gastronomy sector attend. As in previous years, Sabor a Malaga had a stand to present their brands and another to do 'showcooking' at the fair which serves as a showcase for quality Malaga products and establishes contacts with other professionals in the sector. Brands and denominations Extra virgin olive oils, Alorena table olives, cooked and processed meats, wines with Denominacion de Origen (DO) Malaga and Sierras de Malaga, beers and distilled beverages such as mango gin, Malaga goat cheeses and milk products, artesan breads, traditional cakes, ecological and dried fruits, guacamole and saffron were some of the products promoted at the fair. Besides this there were various activities such as olive oil, beer and wine tastings and gastronomy workshops such as the cocktail making class run by Victor Valera. There were also live cooking demonstrations with some of the best chefs in the province such as Sergio Garrido, Alejandra Perez, Ignacio Carmona, Victor Gutierrez, Meme Rodriguez, Miguel Herrera, Antonio Alfaro and Ruben Anton. The gastronomy blogger, Manu Balanzino was also there as were the winners of the Joven Chef Sabor a Malaga, Nayin Marquez Ortiz and Francisco Ruiz Brosed. Jamon from an 'extinct' breed The Rubio Rondeno is a breed of native pig that was considered extinct but which has been revived thanks to the Departamento de Genetica at Cordoba University, the Centro Experimental Agricola Ganadero and the Finca La Algaba in Ronda. It has taken three years but finally the first meat products from this breed have been presented at the Salon de Gourmets for the first time ever. The costs of raising this breed, which takes a minimum of three years, compared to year and a half of other breeds, mean the resulting products are suitable for the luxury gourmet market and for exportation. However a company spokesperson has said that cured hams will be available commercially from this Christmas. Controversy has broken out over the Church authorities' decision to ban two works of art from an exhibition at the Episcopal Palace in Malaga. The diocese has put its foot down over the inclusion of The Richard Channing Foundation's La Custodia del Cubata, which uses glasses to create the receptacle which contains the host in Catholic liturgy, and Swimming Pools, by Dionisio Gonzalez, which portrays three naked women in backlit boxes. Miguel Angel Gamero, the head of the heritage department at the diocese, said this week that the Episcopal Palace is not a suitable place to display these pieces, and pointed out that the diocese has the right to a say in what is exhibited there because this is included in the agreement it signed with Malaga council. The exhibition '25 Centuries. Sculpture in the Cajasol Foundation's Art Collection' opened on Monday. The diocese's demand that the two works of art be removed was met with a swift response from the Institute of Contemporary Art (IAC), the Union of Visual Artists of Andalucia (UAVA) and the head of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Malaga university, Salvador Haro. The IAC issued a statement saying that such interference in the content of the exhibition is inadmissible, and claiming that it contravenes the right to free expression. UAVA president Tete Alvarez said that such censorship is out of place in the 21st century, and that as artists we are very worried about this wave of puritanism. One of the curators of the exhibition, Juan Ramon Rodriguez-Mateo, said he was not prepared to comment on the controversy. Our work consists of being at the service of the project and we don't want to create any problems, he explained. They come in every day with a smile. They feel part of the team and sometimes they ask if they can stay longer, or come in their day off. It's normal. It shouldn't be news. Alvaro Morales, a chef with a long career behind him and an indefatigable fighter for labour integration for people with different abilities (he says he hates the word 'disabled'), can boast of having cooked up one of his best creations yet: an eating house (he prefers that description) in which the main ingredient is precisely that: 'integration'. To achieve this, many of his staff are people with disabilities or at risk of exclusion. At present Adrian and Manuel are doing work experience. They have a few days to go, and then their contract comes to an end. They are 21, and have Down's syndrome. Until now neither of them has worked in the catering business. In fact, Adrian has never had a chance of accessing the labour market at all. This is my second home, he says. There's always something to do. We serve tables, polish glasses and cutlery... everything, he explains, with a smile. This is Manuel's second experience of work. A few months ago he took part in the regional government's Emplea Joven scheme as a street cleaner. He wouldn't swap what he is doing now for that. I never thought I would end up working in this business, he says. I never thought I would work at all, says Adrian. A couple comes in and Adrian diligently goes to greet them as they sit at a table, then takes a note of the drinks they order. How do the customers react? Adrian tells us of an experience he had a few days ago. One of the customers started crying halfway through her meal. She said she had a son with Down's syndrome and she had never imagined he might be able to work one day. She said we are an example to others, he says. In a few weeks these two waiters will join two other people at Zoe, Alvaro Morales' restaurant in Calle Calvario in Marbella, through a work programme organised by the Spanish Red Cross. We want this to be real integration, not just a photo opportunity, explains the chef, who has also collaborated with the Down Granada and Down Malaga associations on activities related with cooking. In Granada, he had a TV cookery programme which ran for several seasons in which he was accompanied by people with intellectual disabilities. An inclusive catering college for Casa Global Gift Chef Alvaro Morales' initiative to help people with disabilities or at risk of exclusion to access the labour market in the catering sector goes beyond the people he employs in his new restaurant. Through the Fundatul Foundation, he is now working with Casa Global Gift, which has been set up by Maria Bravo and actress Eva Longoria, to create a department which is specifically dedicated to training for the catering trade. What is important is to help plenty of young people, for the users of Fundatul and other associations and NGOs to have access to training which will help them to integrate in the labour market, when a hotel or restaurant has a position available. Our aim is to ensure that they have at least the basic skills, he says. Down, Aspandem and Fundatul Alvaro was born in Valencia but mostly lived in Madrid. He came to Marbella to work at La Taberna del Alabardero, the restaurant chain which also took him to Washington, Seville and Puerto Banus. He is currently the executive chef of the exclusive Los Granados restaurant in Puerto Banus and has just been appointed gastronomy director of the forthcoming Starlite Festival. At the same time he has formed close links with associations in Marbella such as Aspandem and the Fundatul Foundation, with whom he is collaborating to find staff for his new restaurant. Alvaro suggested this to us and told us the profile he needed; we chose the candidates we thought would be most suitable, and he took them on, says Elena Martin Illescas, the employment coordinator at Fundatul. The ideal situation in these cases is the triangle: a balance between the family, the company and the foundation, and that's what we have here, she explains. Elena becomes quite emotional as she describes how working at Zoe has changed the lives of Adrian and Manuel. Before starting his training period, Adrian hardly left home. Now he even goes to work on his own. It is changing their lives on all levels; they have even lost some weight, she says. Elena agrees that the presence of a person with a disability can change the work environment of a company for the better, because people become more aware, and it helps them to put things into perspective and see life in another way, she explains. The road to integration isn't easy but nor is it full of obstacles. About 60 people have accessed the work market through Fundatul so far. The foundation's work doesn't end with the signing of a contract, because they keep in touch to see how things are going. In the case of Adrian and Manuel they have exceeded all expectations and their motivation and progress has been amazing. They just need a few aspects of the job adapted for them, but only a few, and they need to be monitored in their tasks, she says. Their training was very basic to begin with, but they weren't excluded from any type of service, and they have responded very well. The work involves everything from carrying trays or polishing glasses, to making different types of coffee and other everyday tasks. Some parents cry when their child is given this chance, because it is something they have always hoped for, says Elena. Alvaro Morales had that in mind when he began his new business project. I have been at meetings and heard many parents ask what will happen to their child when they are no longer alive. What is important is that they have the chance to train and learn a trade, he says. In a recent interview, Javier Fesser, who directed the film 'Campeones' (Champions), responded to a question by asking What is normal? Alvaro agrees with that. Here, they are treated like anyone else in the team. They need a bit of extra help but as far as we are concerned they are completely equal to anybody else, and that is what we are going to demonstrate, he says. The Russian community in Marbella got together on Wednesday for the annual Victory Day events to commemorate the end of World War II. Around 250 people took part in the Costa del Sol's own Immortal Regiment march - similar to those attended by millions in Russia and around the world every 9 May - organised in the boulevard in San Pedro by the Taiga association. Some participants carried photos of their loved ones who were among the millions of Russians who were killed in the war. Others dressed in uniforms from the period and carried old regimental flags. At this year's event the Russian community was joined by British World War II veteran, Harry Derrent, who has lived in the province of Malaga for the last seven years. The 94-year-old was accompanied by his wife Lavinia and friend Craig Davies. Derrent, who is originally from Cornwall, served in the Royal Navy on the HMS Inconstant stationed in Devonport, Plymouth, and as part of the anti-aircraft crew. Some years ago, Derrent was awarded an Atlantic Star by the United Kingdom for his work in the Royal Navy. The medal was was sent over to Spain in a jiffy bag, his wife Lavinia told SUR in English. Shortly afterwards, Derrent was also presented with an Arctic Star Medal from Russian authorities at his Costa del Sol home. The World War II veteran was part of the British forces who, faced with freezing conditions, guarded the convoys which transported food to Russian citizens. According to his wife, the Taiga association is very grateful to Derrent for his service, explaining that the organisation brings flowers to their home each year. Representatives from the Axarquia have taken part in the unveiling of a statue of Bernardo de Galvez in the city of Pensacola in Florida, USA. The event coincided with Galvez Day, celebrated each year on 8 May in the city, to commemorate victory in the battle of Pensacola during the American War of Independence, which Bernardo de Galvez led, on 8 May 1781. Social and economic legacy The Malaga provincial flag will also be raised at the TT Wentworth Museum Bernardo de Galvez was born in 1746 in the Axarquia village of Macharaviaya and the town hall and residents have close ties with Pensacola. The president of the group of Axarquia town halls (the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Axarquia) Gregorio Campos; Victor Gonzalez, who is responsible for culture at Malaga's provincial authority; the mayor of Macharaviaya, Antonio Campos; the Spanish consul in Florida, Candido Creis; and other delegates travelled to Florida for the inauguration which took place on Tuesday. The mayor of Macharaviaya referred to the economic and social opportunities that Bernardo de Galvez's legacy has left, saying, We must make the most of this opportunity to establish contacts and create synergies between our companies and the ones in this state, as well as showcasing the attractions of the 31 towns and villages that make up the Axarquia to the authorities and tourist boards here . The Malaga provincial flag was also presented to mayor of Pensacola, Ashton Hayward. It will be raised in the TT Wentworth Museum, where the most famous painting of Galvez, alongside a document declaring him an honorary US citizen are on display. Fourth of July celebrations Representatives from wine company Bodega Munoz Molina (Dimobe), based in Moclinejo, also travelled to Pensacola, to present their Galvez Legacy wines, which will start to be exported to the USA. Flowers were laid at Fort George in Pensacola, which is where the British surrendered in 1781, to remember the soldiers who died during the battle. Flowers were also laid at the Bernardo de Galvez museum in Macharaviaya where details of the village's annual Fourth of July celebration were also revealed for this year. In a packed room of guests at the Los Monteros Hotel on Monday, the national government's minister for Tourism sought to reassure the Costa del Sol that British visitors would still be a priority after Brexit. Alvaro Nadal said that negotiations over Britain's withdrawal from the European Union were still ongoing although they had already covered the areas of most concern to the Spanish government. These include future visitor entry and residency rights. He explained, We must have a system as close as possible to what we have now. Nadal was speaking at a Marbella business leaders' forum, part of a series organised by the SUR newspaper group. Addressing the issue of taxation for non-residents, he added, We have to be careful in the double taxation agreements that those people that have a second home [in Spain] don't have to pay both here and there for the same thing. Continuing his message that it will be business as usual post Brexit, Nadal expanded by saying that the 17 million British tourists that we greet every year are a priority in the negotiation... and we want to maintain the status quo. Holiday lets in the spotlight The subject of the uncontrolled rise in the number of private homes being rented out to tourists, especially in urban centres, was also raised during the forum. In response to recent criticism from the regional government that national government could do more to regulate the increase in the private-home rental sector, Nadal was swift to pass the responsibility back onto the different regions of Spain, and in the case of the Costa del Sol, on to the Junta de Andalucia in particular. It's clear that the competency [to regulate holiday lets] lies with the regions and locally because every situation is different, he explained. In terms of whether home rentals to holidaymakers could be regulated as a business activity, he said that if it related to tourism it was up to the regional governments to legislate. Nadal went on to add that his ministry, which also covers Industry and the Digital Agenda as well as Tourism, was working with the national ministry of Justice to devise changes to horizontal property legislation which would give residents' associations the flexibility to decide their own rules on neigbours renting out their flats or houses to tourists. In addition, constant efforts were being made to reduce tax evasion by forcing people who rent out their homes to declare income, and so reduce unfair competition for hotels. The minister also emphasised the need to invest in digital solutions. The future of the sector depends on us making the best of this technological revolution, he explained. The saying third time lucky can now be applied to six towns in Malaga which are finally to be granted European funds to promote integrated sustainable urban development under the EDUSI scheme. After their two previous applications were turned down, their modified projects have finally received enough points to be approved in the third assignment of funds, which the ministry of Finance published details of this week. It means that Marbella, Fuengirola, Benalmadena, Torremolinos, Cartama and Rincon de la Victoria will receive about 50 million euros between them for different projects. The town which is to receive the highest amount of funding is Marbella, with 15 million euros, followed by Fuengirola and Benalmadena, with ten million each. Torremolinos is to be given 6,210,041 euros, Cartama five million and Rincon de la Victoria 3,05,020. Three towns have been disappointed, however, and will receive no funding at all: Alhaurin el Grande, which applied for the money for sustainable tourism projects and wanted to become a smart city, Ronda, which had hoped to carry out improvements costing five million euros to its historic town centre, and Alhaurin de la Torre, which had plans for 13 projects including social housing and public transport. However, they have now been placed on a reserve list in case more funds become available before the end of June 2019. PROJECTS WHICH WILL BE CARRIED OUT WITH THE LATEST EDUSI FUNDS FROM THE EU Marbella: Urban improvements, energy efficiency, mobility and social infrastructure with a focus on the most run-down districts. The council plans to spend 5.6 million euros of its grant on these. Fuengirola: Most of the money will be spent in El Boquetillo district, to improve infrastructure and social facilities. The local authority plans to create a large social centre in a council-owned building at El Elola. Benalmadena: The coastal area is to benefit most from this funding. The council plans to remodel Avenida Antonio Machado by creating a semi-pedestrian boulevard and make the area more attractive for tourists and shoppers. Torremolinos: These EU funds, the first the town has ever received, will be used to regenerate the poorest areas of the town, reduce carbon emissions, develop sustainable urban mobility, improve energy efficiency and protect historical buildings. The oldest part of the town will continue to be made traffic-free and there are plans to build a periurban park, among other projects. Cartama: Work is to be carried out on the archaeological site in the Plaza de la Constitucion and the avenue to Estacion de Cartama will be continued as far as the bridge over the river. Improvements are also to be carried out to the centre of the village and in the Guadalhorce area. Rincon de la Victoria: The funding from Brussels will be used to develop traditional shopping facilities, make certain streets and avenues traffic-free and invest in electric and hybrid vehicles. Marbella will be using some of its 15 million euros to finance its Sustainable Town project, which includes improving run-down areas in different districts. As in all cases, the town hall will pay 20 per cent of the cost. The remaining funds will be used on energy efficiency, mobility and social infrastructure projects. In Fuengirola, most of the funding will be used to improve the El Boquetillo district of the town. We are carrying out several projects for physical, economic and social regeneration of the area, says the mayor, Ana Mula. These include a large social centre and setting up training and integration courses. Most of the money received by Benalmadena will be spent on its coastal area, where the tourism sector has been calling for improvements for years. The council plans to remodel Avenida Antonio Machado and create a semi-pedestrian boulevard there. There are also plans to improve street lighting, open the Roman remains of BenalRoma to the public and create a green corridor across the municipality. Torremolinos applied for ten million euros from the EDUSI funds and is to receive just over half: 6.2 million. The mayor, Jose Ortiz, says this is a historic occasion because it is the first time Torremolinos has received EU funds. It shows support for the way we are transforming the town and it means we will have considerably more resources and can do much more, he says. The grant has come as a great relief to the town hall, which has a debt of about 200 million euros. The redevelopment of the oldest part of the town centre, which is being converted into a pedestrian area, and the creation of a periurban park are some of the projects for which the EU money will be used. In Cartama, the council plans to carry out work on the archaeological site in the Plaza de la Constitucion, continue the avenue to Estacion de Cartama as far as the bridge over the river and improve the appearance of the centre of the village. Rincon de la Victoria council had applied for five million euros and has been granted 3,105,020. It plans to develop traditional shopping facilities, close some streets to traffic and invest in electric and hybrid vehicles, says the mayor, Francisco Salado. This is also the first time that Rincon has succeeded in obtaining EU funds to finance projects. Malaga city is to receive 15 million euros in EDUSI funds, while the villages associated with the Caminito del Rey will be given ten million and Estepona and Velez-Malaga will also receive ten million euros each. Nerja has been granted five million euros. Contributors to this report: Nieves Castro, Alberto Gomez, Ivan Gelibter, Fernando Torres, Eugenio Cabezas and Vanessa Melgar. A 47-year-old man has been given a 15-month suspended prison sentence for letting his mother die in appalling conditions in 2014. The woman, who was suffering from cancer, died through a lack of food and medical care, the sentence said. The case was to go to a jury trial but in the end an agreement was reached after the man, who is from Seville, pleaded guilty. The woman weighed just 25 kilos when she died. ZTE, one of China's leading technology companies, has announced it will end "major operations," after the U.S. government barred American firms from doing business with the telecom equipment maker. The announcement by the fourth-largest wireless equipment maker in the country comes amid an escalating trade battle between the U.S. and China. Last month, the Commerce Department barred American firms from exporting parts to the Chinese smartphone company for seven years, saying that ZTE had violated a previous settlement of criminal and civil charges for making illegal shipments to North Korea and Iran. ZTE said in an announcement Wednesday that "the major operating activities of the Company have ceased." ZTE added that the company continues to communicate with the U.S. government with the goal of modifying or reversing the order. But investors were left without a definitive roadmap of the company's future, according to the announcement. ZTE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The suspension of ZTE's operations follows several recent actions by the U.S. government that hindered its business prospects. The Defense Department last month ordered military exchanges to end the sale of ZTE phones on U.S. bases. And the Federal Communications Commission has taken steps to ban federal funds from being spent on mobile equipment made by firms that pose a national security threat to U.S. communication networks. ZTE was mentioned in the FCC's proposal in a section detailing the federal government's concerns with foreign tech companies. ZTE's troubles with the U.S. government are also playing out amid broader fears of an ascendant Chinese tech industry. ZTE had plans to become one of the first vendors in America to offer a smartphone connected to the next-generation wireless network known as 5G. A host of big technology companies in China are racing to build out this network, sparking concerns from U.S. officials that a shifting reliance on technology developed outside of the U.S. could empower Beijing to hack or spy on American businesses and other institutions. Earlier this year President Donald Trump ordered Singapore-based Broadcom to abandon its $117 billion hostile bid for Qualcomm, citing "credible evidence" that the takeover threatened "to impair the national security of the United States." OSWEGO, N.Y. -- An Oswego County assistant district attorney resigned this morning after state police charged him Thursday evening with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. Thomas Christopher, 58, of 55 Chipman Lane, Sandy Creek, was charged at 7:17 p.m. Thursday at his home, according to the state police arrest blotter. The accident was reported at 5:58 p.m. on Elms Road in Sandy Creek, according Trooper Jack Keller, a New York State Police spokesman. Christopher resigned from the Oswego County District Attorney's Office at 7:09 a.m. Friday, Christopher told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard today. "I wish it hadn't happened," Christopher said. "I'm seeking help." Christopher declined to comment further about the accident. He was charged with leaving the scene of property damage accident and driving while intoxicated, Keller said. He was operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .17 percent, Keller said. Christopher was issued an appearance ticket. He is due in Sandy Creek Court at 7 p.m. Thursday. Oswego County District Attorney Greg Oakes was not immediately available for comment. The Onondaga County District Attorney's Office has been assigned to handle the case. Christopher joined the district attorney's office in 2004. He was a defense lawyer for seven years in a private practice before becoming an assistant district attorney, according to The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com archives. The investigation is continuing at this time, Keller said. Syracuse, NY -- It's been awhile since Syracuse police pulled together an old-fashioned lineup: that's when a potential witness is asked to identify a criminal from among a row of similar-looking people. Technology has replaced the bright lights of an actual lineup with a digital version: mug shots on a piece of paper, one of them being the suspect. A police computer automatically pulls together the images of similar-looking people, a process that's been accepted by the courts. Some call that routine method of identification a "six pack," because it contains six pictures. But what if police want to identify someone using only his Facebook photo because his picture isn't in a criminal database? There's no computer to do that. Yet, in recent years, social media has become an invaluable resource for crime-fighting. (One Syracuse man even confessed to murder on Facebook.) So today, Syracuse police detectives explained in a murder case how they pulled together a Facebook photo lineup. Lamar Murray, 16, is accused in the drive-by shooting death of Jaquan Moore, who was killed in December while idling at a South Geddes Street stoplight. Today's hearing was to determine whether witnesses who identified Murray from the Facebook lineup could identify him to the jury at trial. The new method for creating such a lineup even has a name: the blinded method with a two person shuffle, according to Detective Steven Stonecypher. Here's how it works: a police employee opens pictures from different Facebook accounts. One of them is the accused murderer. A detective then examines the pictures to determine whether the images are similar-looking enough (that's what the computer usually does). The images are then put into three different envelopes, with six pictures in each envelope. One of the pictures in each envelope is the accused. The potential witness then picks one of the three envelopes, then opens it up. The witness is then asked if he or she recognizes anyone. If so, which picture? And lastly, where does that witness recognize the person from? In this case, two witnesses identified Murray as the driver of a car implicated in the shooting. But the human element of this type of lineup was evident at one point during today's hearing. Defense lawyer Susan Carey questioned Detective Stonecypher about some of the Facebook photos he used. The first photo was sharp and clear in focus, while another one was less so, she said. "It's fuzzy," Carey declared. "It's not as clear," Stonecypher replied, but disagreed that it was "fuzzy." County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty interjected: "I'll make that determination." Carey also took exception to another Facebook photo, in which the individual wasn't looking directly at the camera. That photo was also fuzzier than the first one, she argued. Those arguments were at the root of today's hearing: the photos used must be similar enough that they do not in any way suggest, by their composition, which one the suspect might be. The potential witness must pick the suspect out based solely on his physical makeup, not based on which photo was blurrier or which faces were straight at the camera, among a host of other distractions. Murray faces trial in November for murder, which is punishable by up to 25 years to life in prison. He remains in jail as the case continues. South Edmeston, N.Y. -- Chobani is considering building a significant expansion of its yogurt plant in South Edmeston, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sources said the expansion is being actively explored and would enable the company to expand products manufactured in the facility. The Chobani yogurt factory in South Edmeston employs approximately 1,000 people. Chobani's yogurt plant on County Route 25 near the Unadilla River employs approximately 1,000 people. The expansion the company is considering could result in the creation of a significant number of additional jobs, the sources said. The expansion also could result in a significant increase in the amount of milk the plant consumes, the sources said. All milk used at the plant is purchased from farmers in New York. "As a growth company, we explore opportunities on an ongoing basis to fuel our momentum," Michael Gonda, senior vice president of corporate affairs, said in a statement Friday. "While we have nothing to announce at this time, we're committed to our continued growth in Central New York and proud of our current contributions and the future opportunity here." Greek yogurt comes off the production line at the Chobani factory in South Edmeston. Kraft Foods operated a cheese factory at the plant starting in 1920. It later switched over to making yogurt at the facility. Kraft closed the Chenango County factory in 2005, putting 55 people out of work. Turkish immigrant Hamdi Ulukaya bought the plant and began making Greek yogurt in 2007 under the brand name Chobani, which means shepherd in Greek. Chobani is now the best-selling Greek yogurt in the United States. Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148 Fred Hiatt is the editorial page editor of The Washington Post. He writes editorials for the newspaper and a biweekly column that appears on Mondays. By Fred Hiatt | The Washington Post In what may be his final public act, John McCain this month will publish a book that bequeaths us a rare gift. The Arizona senator has been writing, with longtime collaborator Mark Salter, while also coping with an aggressive brain tumor. He has had no way of knowing whether he would survive to the May 22 publication date. Despite that, the volume does not burden us with a lot of high-minded advice based on lessons learned, nor does it pull us down into treacly memoir. McCain is still very much McCain. The nearest he comes to dispensing personal wisdom is glancingly, when he discloses that the adjective he takes greatest pride in having inhabited over his lifetime is "restless." What he does offer, though, at this peculiar moment of our history, is far more precious: a reminder of the values and principles that our nation has long stood for, and a spur to us to recover from this unhealthy interlude and stand for them again. Without preaching, instead by recounting stories of battles won and (often) lost, McCain unspools something akin to a self-help manual for a country that has, at least for the moment, lost its way. "To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is unpatriotic," McCain writes. McCain delivers his message without obsessing on the current incumbent of the White House: "Trump, Donald J." gets fewer lines in the index than a nearby entry for "torture debate," for example. On the other hand, there is little ambiguity in his contrasting description of himself: "Not an isolationist, protectionist, immigrant-bashing, scapegoating, get-nothing-useful-done Republican." Nor does McCain offer the in-depth confession that some readers might want for what they see as his contributions along the way to the debasement of American politics. He says he regrets not having chosen his friend Joe Lieberman as his running mate when he ran for president against Barack Obama in 2008, for example, but he is nothing but gracious about his fallback choice, Sarah Palin. He certainly does not pretend to have lived his long public career without error. But rather than dwell on the lapses, "The Restless Wave" tells stories: of the 2008 campaign, the battle for immigration reform, the fight against George W. Bush's torture policy, the controversies over Afghanistan and Iraq. And from stories, it distills principles -- principles that, in other times, might seem unremarkable and that, we can hope, may someday come to seem unremarkable again. For example: "I believe in the separation of powers, a press free to report without fear or favor, and free to infuriate politicians -- including me -- as they do." For example: "I believe in principled compromises that move the country forward. . . . Our Constitution and closely divided polity don't allow for winner- take-all governance . . . And so, I've worked with Democratic colleagues to do things I thought were important. Proudly." For example: The "great majority of unauthorized immigrants came here to find work and raise their families, like most immigrants have throughout our history. They are not the rapists, killers, and drug dealers of fevered imaginations on the Right . . . They're decent people working hard to make better lives." Most of all, McCain wants us to see America as he does: as an imperfect but also frequently unselfish promoter of democratic values and human rights, a great power that -- unlike other great powers - goes into the world not to seize territory or resources but to extend stability and, at our best, help other nations win their freedom. After recounting the story of Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died of liver cancer in 2017 while a prisoner of the Chinese government, McCain writes: "Above all else, we must stand in solidarity with the imprisoned, the silenced, the tortured, and the murdered because we are a country with a conscience," he writes. "It is a mistake to view foreign policy, as the Chinese would like us to view it, as simply transactional. . . . Depriving the oppressed of a beacon of hope could lose us the world we have built and thrived in. It could cost our reputation in history as the nation distinct from all others in our achievements, our identity, and our enduring influence on mankind." "I want to urge Americans, for as long as I can, to remember that this shared devotion to human rights is our truest heritage and our most important loyalty," McCain writes -- and, in so doing, ensures that we will hear his urging long after he has stopped speaking from the Senate floor. WASHINGTON -- Fort Drum is competing with other Army posts to become the home of a new brigade of about 800 military advisers who would train foreign security forces in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army plans to establish five of the new Security Force Assistance Brigades, with a sixth brigade assigned to the National Guard. The new brigades would be deployed to train and advise soldiers from U.S. allies, taking on a role that had been filled by the Army's combat brigades, including those from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum near Watertown. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., met with Army Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday and urged him to select Fort Drum for one of the new brigades because of its track record as the most deployed unit in the Army. "It is clear Fort Drum has the existing capacity, experience, and infrastructure needed to support a new Security Force Assistance Brigade," Schumer said after the meeting. In 2016, about 1,250 members of the Fort Drum's 1st Brigade Combat Team were deployed to Iraq for nine months to train and advise a new force of 23,000 Iraqi recruits for battle with Islamic State insurgents. The Army has chosen Fort Benning in Georgia and Fort Bragg in North Carolina to host the first two brigades of the new force. Schumer and a bipartisan group of New York members of Congress are trying to convince Army officials that the third brigade should be located at Fort Drum. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 A host for the Fox Business Network is apologizing after a guest on his show referred to Sen. John McCain as "Songbird John" and said torture worked on him. The host, Charles Payne, said he regretted that he didn't catch the remark when his guest, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, made it. He said in a tweet it should have been challenged. My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment. Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the networks feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country. Charles V. Payne Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) May 10, 2018 The comments came on Payne's Fox Business show, "Making Money." Payne and McInerney were discussing Gina Haspel's nomination to head the CIA and her role in the agency's past harsh interrogation methods, which some have called torture. McCain said earlier this week that he opposes the nomination given Haspel's history. "Well she can't use it anymore because we have determined in Congress that it's not legal," McInerney said, according to The New York Post. "The fact is, is John McCain - it worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.' "The fact is those methods can work and they are effective, as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to." McCain, a former Navy pilot, is currently at home in Arizona while undergoing treatment for brain cancer. He was shot down and captured during the Vietnam War and was tortured repeatedly while he was a prisoner, according to CBS News. There is no evidence he ever cooperated with the enemy, the Post said. In fact, McCain discusses his captivity in his book "Faith of My Fathers," according to Vox. "Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line and said they were members of my squadron," McCain wrote. He also refused early release from the prison camp where he was being held because he didn't want to leave his men behind, Vox said. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Google + | 315-454-2112 A Cornell University senior student stripped down to her bra and underwear - twice - during her thesis presentation after a professor suggested that her choice of clothing would be inappropriate. How did this happen? It started when Letitia Chai and her professor Rebekah Maggor clashed last week during a trial run of her thesis presentation for course PMA 3815 Acting in Public: Performance in Everyday Life. Speaking to The Cornell Daily Sun, Chai said she was wearing a blue button down shirt and cutoff jean shorts when Maggor asked "Is that really what you would wear?" Chai told the Sun she was "so taken aback that I didn't really know how to respond." The discussion escalated when the professor told Chai in front of the class that she was inviting males to gaze away from the content of her presentation and onto her body. On top of that, a male student in the class told Chai that she had a "moral obligation" to dress conservatively. Chai left the classroom in tears. The incident didn't improve after the professor came out to Chai and asked what her mother would think of her clothing. Chai's response: "My mom is a feminist, gender and sexuality studies professor. She's fine with my shorts." When the professor asked what Chai was planning to do next. She said she was going to give the best damn speech of her life. Chai returned to the classroom, stripped down to her undergarments, and continued with her presentation. What is the professor's response? "I do not tell my students what to wear, nor do I define for them what constitutes appropriate dress," Maggor said in an email to the Sun. "I ask them to reflect for themselves and make their own decisions." The class does not have a formalized dress code, but asks students to "dress appropriately for the persona [they] will present," according to the course syllabus obtained by the Sun. Maggor told the class that another student in a previous section was asked to remove a cap from his head. Chai said to the Sun that "telling someone to take their cap off is not the same thing as telling a girl her shorts are too short." "I am not responsible for anyone's attention because we are capable of thinking for ourselves and we have agency," Chai said. Why did the student strip again? After that incident, Chai wrote a Facebook post about what happened and invited readers to attend her presentation on May 5 wearing their favorite underwear. Her presentation was livestreamed on social media and even her parents watched from Korea. Chai's opening statement: "On Wednesday I sent out a plea for solidarity, solidarity with individuals like myself who have been asked to question ourselves, specifically our appearance for the comfort of others. The only question that this has led me to ask is how much longer we need to put up with this nonsense?" As she continued with her presentation, Chai stripped and more than half of the audience in the classroom joined her in stripping down to their underwear and remained undress for the entirety of her thesis. Chai said she "stood in solidarity with people who have been asked to 'question themselves' based on others' perception of their appearances." Are there repercussions? Although Maggor apologized to the class for her choice of words, Chai did not hear it because she had already left the classroom. About 11 students in the class issued a statement saying they supported Chai's protest but not her version of what happened. "Tensions were high, and neither our professor nor Letitia was able to adequately defend her position. After Letitia left, our professor listened and agreed with many of the students' comments and criticisms," the statement added. The students also added that the professor "apologized for her choice of words, acknowledging that the notion of 'short shorts' on women carries a lot of cultural and political baggage." Chai said her intention was not to protest against Maggor but to raise awareness about "huge societal issue," which she says is based on a mindset rather than individual incidents. Although the Title IX office had contacted Chai regarding the incident, she is not pursuing a case at present. NEW YORK -- A house fire in Queens left two children critically injured early Friday, FDNY officials said. The blaze broke out just after midnight on the second floor of a three-story home on 71st St. near 31st Ave. in Jackson Heights, an FDNY spokesman said. Firefighters arrived on the scene in four minutes, and medics rushed the adult and child to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition, the spokesman said. Sarog Vasra, 44, woke up to smoke billowing from the second floor of her building and immediately thought about her two sons sleeping on the floor above her. "I tried to go inside the hallway but it was too hot," she said. Vasra then screamed to her sons to run toward the window. "I told them to pick up the bed and throw it outside so they can jump to it." Her sons, ages 5 and 12, leapt about 12 feet to their mother's arms and a mattress below. "I had no other solution," said Vasra, whose right leg was hobbled bracing her sons' falls. "If they didn't jump I don't what would have happened." Brandon Blanco, 10, was having trouble falling asleep when he heard his neighbors calling for help. "Jump and I'll catch you," Blanco said he could hear a woman shouting. "They were throwing trash cans and mattresses to jump on. A girl with her little sister couldn't get out." Another man woke up to his nephew screaming, "Go, go!" and "Fire, fire!" "We jumped through the window and went down the fire escape," the man explained. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. -- By Adam Shrier and John Annese, New York Daily News SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today spoke at Syracuse University's College of Law to send a couple hundred newly-minted lawyers off into the profession. Bharara is the former top prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, the influential jurisdiction that includes Manhattan. He was the U.S. Attorney whose office brought charges against former top New York state politicians, as well as top governor's aide Joseph Percoco and Syracuse-based Cor Development executives. Bharara was fired by President Donald Trump last year, after Trump initially asked him to stay in his role. Bharara has remained a public figure since. He started a National Public Radio podcast, "Stay Tuned with Preet," and his tweets, often critical of the president, tend to draw thousands of retweets. Today at the Carrier Dome, his speech was geared toward a class of "the law's youngest officers," who he charged: "Maybe you can be the kind of leaders we so desperately need." What he didn't say Bharara, who is known for his seething commentary on Twitter and his tenacity as a corruption watchdog in the Southern District of New York, did not get "political" in his speech. He did not discuss his removal from the U.S. Attorney's Office or share political opinions. He didn't mention Trump or any members of his administration, though he tweeted from Syracuse last night to call Vice President Mike Pence a "crisis actor." During the speech, Bharara commented broadly on politics and society, and lawyers' roles in it. He urged the law school graduates to be open-minded and listen to people of all backgrounds and political viewpoints. He did not discuss any of the cases he brought as U.S. Attorney, including corruption charges against Syracuse executives from Cor Development, or their alleged co-conspirators in state government. Syracuse.com requested an interview with Bharara. SU officials said he had a busy schedule and was not available for questions from the media. Legal profession under fire Much of Bharara's speech focused on the negative perceptions about the legal profession. He acknowledged all of the stereotypes about lawyers: That they are greedy, litigious, pretentious and materialistic. He told a story about Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes Jr., whose father told him: "A lawyer can't be a great man." Bharara pushed back on these generalizations: "They are wrong," he said. "The proof beyond a reasonable doubt is everywhere." Bharara said good lawyers were needed more than ever. But he took several minutes at the beginning of his speech to share how his brother had successfully left the legal profession to start a $540 million business. He reminded the young lawyers and their families that their degrees were not just useful in the courtroom, or in corporate law, but in many facets of life and careers. Still, he told the crowd, you can "derive joy -- yes, joy -- from being a lawyer." What everyone can learn from the law Many of the themes in Bharara's speech focused on the idea that the law and its principles can teach everyone a lesson. The lessons he expounded included a willingness to understand the opposition, or people with differing opinions: "It lets you test the truth of your own beliefs and arguments." He emphasized a focus on evidence and facts instead of emotion and assumption. He asked the audience to think about how a judge repeatedly admonishes a jury to "keep an open mind." Bharara said that if everyone looked at resolving problems the way lawyers in a court of law do, there would be fewer "knee-jerk protests" and "unthinking celebration," and more understanding in the world. "We need better laws and better policies instead of just bad blood," he said. Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 Three days after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the telecom giant AT&T turned to his personal attorney Michael Cohen for help on a wide portfolio of issues pending before the federal government - including the company's proposed merger with Time Warner, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The documents detail the full scope of Cohen's $600,000 deal with AT&T and how his contract specified that he would provide advice on the $85 billion merger, which required the approval of federal antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the merger during the campaign and his administration ultimately sided against AT&T. The Department of Justice filed suit in November to block the deal, a case that is still pending. Cohen's deals with AT&T and other corporate clients were first revealed this week by an attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, but the new documents obtained by The Post offered greater detail about his arrangement with telecom company and the type of work he had been hired to perform. It is unclear what insight Cohen - a longtime real estate attorney and former taxi cab operator - could have provided AT&T on complex telecom matters. At the same time he was collecting $50,000 a month from AT&T, Cohen was being paid large sums to advise other companies on a broad variety of issues, including the Affordable Care Act, accounting practices and real estate. In the wake of Trump's election, corporate clients paid Cohen at least $2.95 million through a company called Essential Consultants, according to figures confirmed by the companies. Essential Consultants was the same company Cohen used in October 2016 to route money to Daniels in exchange for her agreement not to disclose an alleged affair with Trump. The corporate payments he received demonstrate how Cohen was able to turn his ties with the new president into money-making opportunities, despite Trump's campaign pledges to "drain the swamp." AT&T and the pharmaceutical company Novartis, another Cohen client, said this week that they provided information about their dealings with Trump's lawyer to special counsel Robert Mueller III last year. Cohen is also under investigation by prosecutors in New York for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. The $600,000 that flowed to Cohen from AT&T was the equivalent of 3.5 percent of the $16.8 million the company spent on lobbying in 2017, according to disclosure forms. A "scope of work" describing Cohen's contract in an internal AT&T document shows that he was hired to "focus on specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner." He was also directed to "creatively address political and communications issues" facing the company and advise the company on matters before the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T declined to comment on the documents, which were provided to The Post anonymously, but did not challenge their authenticity. Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, declined to comment. Cohen did not respond to requests for comment. The internal AT&T documents show that Cohen was supposed to spend half of his time on "legislative policy development" and the other half on "regulatory policy development." Payments to Cohen were approved by two executives in AT&T's public affairs office in Washington. The New York Times first reported that Cohen offered advice on how AT&T should approach the administration about the Time Warner merger. The documents specified that Cohen, who was not a registered lobbyist, was to spend none of his time engaged in lobbying. They described his work as advising the company, not contacting federal officials. Under federal rules, individuals must register as lobbyists if they spend 20 percent of their time working for a client on legislative and executive branch issues and if they have had contact with at least two government officials related to that client, according to Larry Noble, a former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission and an expert on lobbying law. Cohen's work for AT&T did not appear to meet that definition, Noble said. However, he noted that hiring the president's lawyer could trigger ethical questions. "It is an ethical concern if you have a lawyer who appears to be selling access to a current client, who is president," Noble said. Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Trump, said Wednesday that the president was unaware of Cohen's consulting agreements. AT&T has declined to comment on the specific amount it paid to Essential Consultants. Under the one-year contract, the company has said, Cohen was hired to provide "insights into understanding the new administration." In an internal email to employees obtained by The Post, AT&T said Cohen was among "several consultants" the company hired in early 2017 "to help us understand how the President and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement." At the time the contract was signed, AT&T was trying to build ties to the new administration. Months earlier, Trump had come out strongly against the proposed merger with Time Warner, which owns CNN - a network he often berates as "fake news." "As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said during a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in October 2016. On Jan. 12, 2017, Cohen and AT&T's chief executive, Randall Stephenson, were both seen visiting Trump Tower in New York, days before the contract with Essential Consultants was signed. But although the two men arrived within minutes of each other, they did not meet that day and have never met, AT&T said this week. At the time, AT&T said that Stephenson had "a very good meeting" with Trump but that the Time Warner merger "was not a topic of discussion." "The conversation focused on how AT&T can work with the Trump administration to increase investment in the U.S., stimulate job creation in America, and make American companies more competitive globally," the company said. In the wake of the revelation of Cohen's link to AT&T, ranking Democrats on antitrust subcommittees in both the House and Senate sent a joint letter to the Justice Department's top competition enforcer, Makan Delrahim, asking whether he knew of the company's payments to Cohen during his agency's independent review of the Time Warner merger. The Justice Department declined to comment. According to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to describe ongoing litigation, Delrahim was not aware of AT&T's payments to Cohen. Meanwhile, Novartis chief executive Vasant Narasimhan sent an email to employees Thursday calling the company's $1.2 million contract with Cohen a "mistake" and acknowledging that the revelation "was not a good day for Novartis." "We made a mistake in entering into this engagement and, as a consequence, are being criticized by a world that expects more from us," Narasimhan wrote. Narasimhan joined the company in 2005, but did not take the helm of the global drug giant until this February. "I was not involved with any aspect of this situation," Narasimhan wrote to employees, adding that it had been a difficult day for himself and his family. A Virginia man has been accused of trying to kill his wife with poisoned doughnuts. Fox 5 reports Ghulam Nabizadah's estranged wife was granted an order of protection after he sent death threats in November. A week later, he had a visitation with his children and gave them a box of six chocolate-glazed donuts to bring to their mother. Court records show Nabizadah's daughter took a bite of one doughnut and immediately noticed a "terrible taste." She also allegedly saw a slit on the side of each doughnut and a dark substance inside resembling charcoal. The Washington Post reports the doughnuts were taken to a lab for testing and found to contain naphthalene, a chemical commonly found in mothballs. Consuming naphthalene can cause liver damage, neurological damage or death; officials said Nabizadah's daughter was unharmed. Police searched the Centreville, Va., home of Nabizadah, whose first name is also spelled "Gulam" in some reports. Ant bait, shoe polish, a knife, phone and charcoal were seized by investigators. A woman who said she is his sister told NBC 4 that Nabizadah wouldn't have tried to poison anyone. "I know that everything that happened, his ex-wife is doing the stuff because they're fighting against child custody," she said. "I know from the bottom of my heart that he didn't do it. He's not that evil." No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. Fairfax County police told Fox 5 that officials could not comment on an ongoing investigation. Police have responded to reports of an "active shooter" at a high school in Palmdale, California, according to multiple reports. Sheriff's officials tell CBS that a gunman was reported just after 7 a.m. PT on the campus at Highland High School in Palmdale, located about an hour north of Los Angeles. At least one person was injured in a shooting and drove themselves to the hospital. CNN reports the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed deputies are on the scene. According to the Los Angeles Times, several students have posted on Twitter that they heard gunshots and urged classmates not to come to school. The school was placed on lockdown. "Law enforcement is working to assess the situation," Principal Chris Grado said in a statement. "Please stay clear of campus. Will update as soon as have more information." A second "active shooter" was reported Friday morning at another school, Manzanita Elementary School, also in Palmdale. Authorities are also responding to the second scene, located 7 miles away. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed just after 8 a.m. PT that a male suspect is in custody regarding a gun at Highland High School; deputies are still searching the campus. He was detained at a nearby grocery store. The suspect has not been identified. Update: The Sheriff's Department said a search of the Manzanita Elementary School has been completed, and now evidence of a crime has been found. "School is clear," officials said. #BREAKING: Authorities have confirmed there is a man on campus with a gun at Highland High School in Palmdale, California. https://t.co/qK9WA3qgff pic.twitter.com/wxaa1wcOlf FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) May 11, 2018 Update: At least one person has suffered a gunshot wound, according to fire officials.https://t.co/ECrGHW47OW NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) May 11, 2018 BREAKING NEWS: Reports of a school shooting in Palmdale, California. pic.twitter.com/FdkbJ5WiAs Fox News (@FoxNews) May 11, 2018 Authorities are responding to reports of shots fired at a Palmdale, California, school https://t.co/bKDGV10RkP pic.twitter.com/l2fWAk8zOW CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 11, 2018 UPDATE: 1 person drives himself to the hospital after shots fired at Highland High School in Palmdale. Several 911 calls reported man with gun on campus. https://t.co/5D9iJkU7Mn pic.twitter.com/On5Y8Ch0I9 CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) May 11, 2018 By James Queally, Joseph Serna and Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES -- A dispute between two students led to a shooting that sparked panic and drew a massive law enforcement response to a Palmdale high school early Friday morning. Deputies responded to reports of a person with a gun on the campus of Highland High School around 7:05 a.m. Friday, after a 14-year-old student allegedly shot another student in the arm, authorities said. The injured student was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, and is "expected to make a full recovery," according to Capt. Darren Harris, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "That student is going to be OK," he said. The 14-year-old, who has not been identified, was later detained at a nearby parking lot, said Nicole Nishida, a sheriff's department spokeswoman. A firearm was also recovered at the scene, though investigators did not describe the weapon. Deputies had cleared the school and deemed it safe by 9 a.m. local time, the Sheriff's Department said on Twitter. Students will be transported home via school buses, Nishida said. Palmdale Schools Superintendent Raul Maldonado described the person who had been detained as an "active shooter" in a brief statement issued Friday morning. "We are all concerned about the safety of our children. It has been confirmed that earlier this morning, there was an active shooter on the Highland High School campus. Apparently, the person was already apprehended," Maldonado said. "I want to let you know that all of the Palmdale Elementary Schools were put on lockdown, and will stay on lockdown until the situation is confirmed as safe for our students, teachers staff and parents." Shortly after 7 a.m., several students began tweeting that they could hear gunshots and urged other classmates not to come to the campus. Terrence McCalister, 17, said he was walking up to the school with friends when someone ordered them to turn back and warned them about the shooting. "I was just hoping everyone was all right," he said. Dozens of parents and students could be seen near the high school, waiting for either updates about the shooting or to reconnect with loved ones after authorities determined the school was safe. Deputies also responded to reports of a second shooting around 7:30 a.m. at Manzanita Elementary School, roughly seven miles from the high school, but found no signs of a shooting or victims there, Nishida said. Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were heading to the scene Friday morning, the agency said in a tweet. About a year ago, while at an airport in Detroit, Canadian Cabinet minister Navdeep Bains found himself in a situation he had never experienced before. The country's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development said in a televised interview Thursday that he was repeatedly asked by airport security agents to remove his turban - even after he had passed through security and was at his departure gate. Bains, a devout Sikh, said he was only allowed to fly after he showed the agents his diplomatic passport. "I felt very awkward," he said. "It's not something that I expected. I've traveled to the U.S. on many occasions." In Sikhism, wearing a turban is "considered one of the most dutiful acts for a person of the faith," Bains said in a statement to CNN. The practice "asserts a public commitment to maintaining the values and ethics of the tradition, including service, compassion, and honesty," according to the Sikh Coalition, an advocacy organization. Following the incident, Bains said Canadian officials contacted the U.S. government, and received an apology, according to La Presse, a French-language news site. La Presse was the first to report on the minister's experience in an article published Thursday. While Bains said he accepted the apology, he decided to go public with his story to raise awareness about diversity and inclusion. "So many Canadians can relate to this story because of the challenges that they face themselves," he told reporters in Toronto. Canada has more Sikh ministers than any other country, The Washington Post has reported. In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced "the most diverse Cabinet in the country's history," including four federal ministers who are Sikh, according to The Post. The incident involving Bains happened in April 2017 when he was traveling through Detroit Metro Airport on his way back to Canada. He had attended an event in Michigan where officials had discussed "strengthening Canada-U.S. relations," he said. Bains said he cleared the metal detectors without any issue, but was then subjected to additional security measures because of his turban, according to CNN. In 2007, the U.S. Transportation and Security Administration revised its screening process for people who travel with headwear, such as turbans. Under the new regulations, travelers are allowed to keep their headwear on while going through airport security, the Associated Press reported. Bains said his screening process hit a bump when "there was some challenge and issue with the swab machine." Swabs are taken to see if a person has come into contact with explosive materials, according to Fox News. The samples are run through a machine that tests for bomb or explosive residue or traces of drugs. When the machine emitted a warning sound, the officer asked Bains to remove his turban as part of a secondary search. "I told him it was the machine that was not working well," he told La Presse. "I asked him to repeat the sampling test again. And if there is a problem, we can consider other options because I think it's an intrusion into my private life." A second test revealed Bains' turban to be free of any prohibited substances, and the minister was able to make it to his gate. But that wasn't the end of his travel saga. After arriving at his gate, Bains said another TSA agent approached him and requested that he return to the security check point and his remove his turban, saying proper security protocol had not been followed. It was then finally that Bains did the one thing he knew would convince U.S. authorities he was not a threat. He showed them his diplomatic passport. "Ultimately I was allowed to fly, but it was because of who I was and that should not be the case," he said. In the interview with La Presse, Bains explained that he intentionally hides that he is a government official when traveling because he wants to "understand better what ordinary people" experience. "It doesn't matter what your status is, what your position is," he said in the televised interview. "It's really about making sure people are not discriminated against, that people are treated fairly and with respect." Bains said he was fortunate his position allowed him to bring up what had happened to him with U.S. officials. In an interview Thursday, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said "Canada's perspective" was expressed to the U.S. government. She said conversations happened "official to official." "We heard about the difficulties that Minister Bain encountered at the border," Freeland said. "I thought that was important for us to support Minister Bains and frankly, to support all Canadians traveling across the border." The TSA also released a statement addressing the incident, CNN reported. "We regret the screening experience did not meet the expectations of Mr. Bains," TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said in the statement. "Upon review of airport closed-circuit video, we determined that the officer conducting the screening did not follow standard operating procedures and therefore received additional training." The statement went on to say that "all persons wearing head coverings may be subject to additional security screening, which may include an officer-conducted or self-conducted pat-down. TSA does this to ensure that prohibited items or weapons are not concealed beneath any type of clothing and brought onto an aircraft. This policy covers all headwear and is not directed at any one particular item or group." Although Bains said he understands the importance of security, he added that it is critical to focus on understanding people of diverse backgrounds and different faiths. Discrimination, he said, is something that he's seen "far too often . . . with so many people of so many different backgrounds." "My hope is now that I'm talking about this, now that this has come to public light, that we can avoid these types of instances going forward," he said. Candidates named in city and school elections With the passing of the filing deadline for the upcoming city and school election, several area governing bodies including the City of Tama and ... Howe Robinson joins tanker rate panels London broking house, Howe Robinson Partners (UK), has joined the Management Committee of the London Worldscale Association and has also become a member of the London Tanker Brokers Panel (LTBP). The Management Committees role is to guide the London and New York associations in the production and distribution of the annual Worldscale publication and ensure it remains a relevant tool in oil and product tankers chartering. Today around 80% of tankers fixed on the spot market are agreed using a Worldscale percentage. London Association chairman, David Insole, said; We welcome Howe Robinson onto the Worldscale Management Committee. As one of the largest shipbrokers with offices worldwide, Howe Robinson will bring their own guidance and experience to the Association. The LTBP is an independent and impartial authority, which provides a variety of rate assessments on a fee-paying basis for individual oil companies, traders, tanker operators and other interests worldwide. It also publishes monthly average freight rate assessments (AFRA), which are available by subscription. The Panel now consists of, Clarksons Platou, Galbraiths, Gibson Shipbrokers, Simpson Spence Young, Braemar ACM Shipbroking and Howe Robinson Partners. Henry Liddell, Howe Robinson Tankers managing partner, said We are very pleased to have joined the London Tanker Brokers Panel. As one of the worlds largest shipbrokers with offices worldwide, we have no doubt that Howe Robinson Partners will be able to contribute significantly to the LTBP, adding strength and depth to such an important and historic organisation. Iranian oil exports surge ahead of US sanctions Iran has seen a massive surge in exports ahead of US president Trumps announcement to cancel the Iran nuclear deal, which came on 8th May. The forthcoming US sanctions are expected to include shipowners and operators, shipbuilders and repairers, either based in Iran, or doing business with Iran. During April, refinery maintenance coupled with a release of floating storage volumes pushed Irans crude and condensate exports to multi-year highs, although output remained stable, Platts reported in an analysis of the situation. Sources told the newswire that the rise in exports last month could be a way for Iran to prepare itself for a more challenging environment amid the likelihood that US sanctions could restrict the countrys crude flows. Although it is early days, demand for Iranian crude in China and India is likely to remain very strong despite the sanctions, although refiners in Europe, South Korea and Japan are likely to tread more carefully. It was estimated that export volumes on Aframax, Suezmax and VLCC hulls from Iranian ports in April rose 16% to 2.7 mill barrels per day from 2.32 mill barrels per day in March, according to data from S&P Global Platts trade flow software - cFlow. The sharp rise in exports is attributed to turnaround work at the Abadan refinery along with floating storage volumes being exported to some of Irans key customers. Out of this total, crude exports were around 2.45 mill barrels per day, a rise of some 400,000 barrels per day from March, although condensate exports remained largely steady month-on-month. Exports to Asia rose significantly to 1.81 mill barrels per day in April from 1.4 mill barrels per day in March, accounting for 67% of total monthly exports. The Asian gain was led by a rise in exports to India, up by almost 60% to 670,500 barrels per day. Indian demand for Iranian crude is rising steeply as both Indian state-owned and private refiners are buying more, due to Iran offering freight discounts. Indias oil ministry has indicated that its imports of Iranian crude for the fiscal year 2018-19 will rise by more than 30% from the previous year. China remained the largest export destination for Iranian oil, with flows rising to 714,467 barrels per day last month, up just over 20,000 barrels per day in March. Even Japanese demand, which fell sharply in the past year, rose from zero in March to 118,900 barrels per day in April. Flows to South Korea and Japan, which mainly consist of condensates, have declined in the past few months, as Iran has been consuming more volumes domestically at its Persian Gulf Star refinery, Platts said. Exports to Europe last month fell, as interest from Turkey, Italy, Spain was slightly lower. However, European refiners said that Iranian crude remained very competitively priced against sour grades from Iraq, Russia and Saudi Arabia. But with expectations of US sanctions, some refiners started to buy more Iraqi and Saudi barrels for June, in case Irans exports are immediately impacted. Iran has doubled its oil exports, since the landmark deal with Western powers to lift sanctions on its oil industry was implemented in January, 2016, Platts said. Other sources said that due to the US sanctions, foreign flag tankers will probably no longer trade with Iran, resulting in an exodus from the MEG. One oil source that could benefit is the US, which is ramping up its ability to export crude in larger tankers, such as VLCCs. In a comment, Nigel Carden, Deputy Chairman for the UK Club managers, Thomas Miller P&I,, said; The decision is expected to have significant implications for maritime trade with Iran and the insurance of such trade. However, a full assessment of the likely impact of the decision will only be possible following receipt of clarification of the position of the remaining JCPOA partners, who have recently reaffirmed their support for the JCPOA, together with further clarification from the US Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in relation to the management of the wind-down periods envisaged under the decision. An FAQ document, published by OFAC Wednesday, indicates that following a 180- day wind-down period running up to 4th November, 2018, sanctions will be restored (including secondary sanctions directed against non-US persons) in relation to specified activities and entities in relation to which relief was granted under the JCPOA, he said. It should be noted that this includes in paragraph 1.3 - (i) sanctions against Irans ports operators, and shipping and shipbuilding sectors; sanctions against IRISL and South Shipping Line - (ii) sanctions on petroleum-related transactions with, among others, the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), Naftiran Intertrade Co (NICO), and National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), including the purchase of petroleum, petroleum products, or petrochemical products from Iran - (v) sanctions on the provision of underwriting services, insurance, or reinsurance. Paragraph 4.4 provides that General Licence H, which authorises US owned or controlled foreign entities to engage in certain activities involving Iran, will be revoked as soon as is administratively feasible, and that activities already authorised by Licence H, including provision of insurance and re-insurance, must be wound down by 4th November 2018. The International Group Clubs will continue to monitor developments and further guidance will be provided when there is greater clarity. In the meantime, however, members should take care before entering into any new Iran related fixture to ensure that they only do so with up to date legal advice on sanctions compliance, he advised. Navios Maritime Acquisition suffers loss Navios Maritime Acquisition Corp suffered a revenue fall of $18.3 mill, or 28.4%, to $46.2 mill, in the first quarter of this year, compared to $64.5 mill for the same period of 2017. The fall was mainly attributable to a drop in the market rates during 1Q18, compared to 1Q17. The average daily TCE rate, decreased to $14,205 for 1Q18, from $19,475 for 1Q17. The company suffered a 1Q18 net loss of $24.5 mill, compared to a net income of $5.6 mill for 1Q17. This decrease was mainly due to a: (a) $22.4 mill fall in Adjusted EBITDA; (b) $6 mill of negative effect on equity/ (loss) in net earnings of affiliated companies, relating to the sale of the Shinyo Kannika by Navios Midstream; (c) $0.7 mill increase in direct vessel expenses; (d) $0.4 mill drop in interest income; (e) $0.3 mill of non-cash stock-based compensation; (f) $0.3 mill write-off of deferred finance costs; and (g) $0.1 mill increase in interest expense and finance cost. Adjusted EBITDA fell by about $22.4 mill to $15.0 mill for 1Q18, compared to $37.4 mill for the same period of 2017. The drop was mainly due to: (a) an $18.3 mill decrease in revenue; (b) a $2.6 mill increase in timecharter expenses mainly due to the accrued backstop commitment to Navios Midstream; (c) a $1.1 mill decrease in equity /(loss) in net earnings of affiliated companies (excluding the $6 mill of negative effect on equity/ (loss) in net earnings of affiliated companies, relating to the sale of the Shinyo Kannika; (d) a $0.2 mill increase in other expense, net; and (e) a $0.1 mill increase in general and administrative expenses, excluding stock-based compensation. Angeliki Frangou, chairman and CEO, said, I am pleased with the results of the first quarter. In a difficult market, we took measures to preserve and increase our liquidity, reduce operating costs and position our company for the eventual upturn in rates. Our operating initiatives created about $35 mill in 2018 liquidity, including the net proceeds from a $44.5 mill sale of a VLCC and a refinancing that resulted in the elimination of debt maturities for the next 13 months. In addition, we fixed 77.2% of our available days for the year, of which 32.3% include upside through profit sharing arrangements. We are also returning capital to stockholders, both through a dividend, providing a 11% current yield, and share repurchases, which year to date provided an additional 4% return, she said. On 31st March, 2018, Navios Acquisition agreed a $71.5 mill sale and leaseback to refinance the outstanding balance on the existing facility on four product tankers. The proceeds were received in April, 2018 and have been used to extinguish $69.25 mill of debt. This agreement provides for 24 quarterly payments of $1.5 mill each, plus interest at LIBOR plus 305 bps per annum. Navios Acquisition has an obligation to purchase the vessels at the end of the sixth year for a total of $35.8 mill. The company claimed that it had no further maturities on its credit facilities for the next 13 months. Navios Acquisition also fixed its vessel fees under its existing management agreement with Navios Tankers Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navios Maritime Holdings, for an additional two-year period until 28th May, 2020, following the expiration of the current fixed fee period. The daily fee agreed was: (a) $6,500 per MR2; (b) $7,150 per LR1; and (c) $9,500 per VLCC. The increase represents a weighted average increase of 1.2% in the management fees of the fleet. Drydocking expenses are reimbursed at cost for all vessels. On 29th March, 2018, the company sold the 2009-built VLCC Nave Galactic to Navios Maritime Midstream Partners for $44.5 mill. The gain on sale of the vessel amounted to $0.03 mill. As a result of this transaction, Nave Galactic has been substituted by Nave Equinox and Nave Pyxis, two MR2s, as collateral under the 8 1/8% secured bond due 2021. On 23rd March, 2018, Navios Acquisition prepaid $26.8 mill, being the respective tranche of the facility for the two MRs. What next for Venezuela? Later this month, Venezuela is holding Presidential elections once again. Whatever the outcome of the vote, the next government will be facing significant challenges over the next few years, as the Venezuelan economy is almost entirely dependent on revenue generated from the oil and gas industry, Gibson Shipbrokers said in a report. OPECs decision in November, 2014 to remove all production limits hit Venezuela particularly hard, as the oil price fell to historically low levels, resulting in the nations economy slumping from what was already a precarious position, despite the country sitting on the worlds largest proven oil reserves. Venezuela has lacked the financial investment and expertise from overseas companies, which could have helped drive down production costs, as well as support higher production levels. In turn, this would have at least slowed the nations economic decline. According to the IEA, Venezuelan production fell to just 1.5 mill barrels per day in March, down 24% from a year earlier. Production has fallen by around 40% since Maduro took office in 2013, following the death of Chavez. Until recently, sanctions imposed by the US against Venezuela had benefited the tanker market in terms of long haul crude exports previously destined for US refineries. However, as production and the quality of the crude continued to decline, the impact on shipments is a cause for concern. Between January and April this year, some 9.5 mill tonnes of crude and fuel oil was shipped on VLCCs and Suezmaxes to Asia, down from 12.2 mill tonnes during the same period of 2017. Fortunately for the tanker market, increased volumes from the US and Brazil have more than compensated for this loss. Venezuelas oil and gas industry urgently needs huge investment from outside, which will probably need to be in the form of technological help and investment. However, the current political impasse with the US will make this difficult. . The fear of another Maduro victory, the most likely result, has resulted in several companies trimming their operations further in the country. For example, in April, Schlumberger joined other service providers, by reducing its Venezuelan workforce, because of payment problems to the company. Chevron has also withdrawn key personnel ahead of the election. In the same month, ConocoPhillips received confirmation from an arbitration case that the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) owed $2.04 bill in a contractual compensation settlement dating back to 2007. Also last month, Halliburton announced that it was writing down its remaining investment in the distressed OPEC member, citing continued devaluation of the local currency, combined with US sanctions and ongoing political and economic challenges. Reuters reported that in March, PDVSAs refineries were operating at 43% of their total capacity, due to a lack of spare parts, light crude and feedstock, caused by cash flow problems. Venezuela is consistently short of gasoline and other fuels and is forced to import more and more to supplement domestic demand. The elections are unlikely to change the political scene, though the outcome will be keenly followed in Washington and further measures could be put in place against the country. Therefore, it is difficult to see much hope of a turnaround anytime soon. The problems that plague Venezuelas oil industry are only going to get worse, as the nations economic and political crisis deepens. For example, the IEA has forecast that production will fall to around 1 mill barrels per day by 2020, which places an even greater burden on servicing its huge international debt. The pressures on the Caracas government continue to mount and at the moment there appears to be no release valve, Gibson warned. Meanwhile according to other reports, PDVSA has suspended oil storage and shipments from its Caribbean facilities, following a move by ConocoPhillips to temporarily seize the firm's assets on four islands, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data. PDVSA has begun concentrating most shipping in its main Jose crude terminal on the country's east coast and diverting its tankers back to Venezuelan waters to avoid seizure. "We are no longer storing or shipping oil from the Caribbean islands. We are now mostly depending on Jose," a PDVSA source told Reuters. Last year, PDVSA shipped over 400,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products from five owned and leased facilities on Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St Eustatius, according to internal company data. The terminals handled around 24% of its total exports. A potential lack of crude at Curacao's 335,000 barrels per day Isla refinery, operated by PDVSA, could force the facility to halt operations, the island's Prime Minister, Eugene Rhuggenaath told Reuters, adding that it would import fuel if necessary, even though no assets have yet been seized on the island. "We are aware of the potential risks for the operation of the refinery," he said. "A stoppage of the operation would have a devastating impact economically and socially." PDVSA's US refining arm, Citgo Petroleum, also uses the Aruba terminal to discharge, store and blend Venezuelan and foreign crudes for its refineries along the US Gulf Coast. ConocoPhillips has attached at least 4.8 mill barrels of PDVSA's stored crude and fuel oil at Bonaire and St Eustatius, according to shippers and the PDVSA source, a fraction of the terminals' total capacity of 53 mill barrels. In Venezuela, cargoes arriving from the Caribbean have begun to create vessel bottlenecks around Jose and the jetties that serve PDVSA's biggest refinery, the Paraguana Refining Centre (CRP), according to Reuters data. On Monday night, PDVSA ordered the Aframax British Cygnet, which was waiting to discharge at Curacao, to divert to Venezuelan waters, according to a shipper and Reuters data. The vessel had loaded crude at Primorsk last month and arrived at Curacao's Bullen Bay terminal on Sunday, two days after at least two courts ordered the retention of PDVSA's inventories and facilities in the Caribbean at the request of ConocoPhillips. British Cygnet follows at least nine vessels diverted since last Friday from Curacao and Bonaire to Venezuela and Cuba to avoid possible tanker arrests or their cargoes. Microsoft has released a new test build of Windows 10 that bundles some new improvements, which will officially be rolled out later in the year. One of the newest additions is a dark theme option for File Explorer to match the rest of the Windows 10 user interface. The build doesn't have a full version of the dark theme just yet, but Microsoft is teasing how it'll look like once implemented. For some, a dark theme option is a godsend. Not only does it look sleeker, it might also reduce eyestrain when coupled with Windows 10's night light option. Dark mode can be enabled under Settings > Personalization > Colors, and once switched on, any app or UI that support it will follow suit, says Microsoft. Cloud Clipboard Aside from visual changes, Microsoft is also adding a significant new feature to improve user experience. This new build now comes with a cloud-powered clipboard that lets users access their clipboard contents across different devices. It includes a history of what's been copied, and it will sync in the same way Sets and Timeline sync, so users can copy from one PC then paste it on another. This feature can be toggled on by going to Settings > System > Clipboard. Fluent Design The build also introduces some subtle changes to Fluent Design. Sets now come with an acrylic title bar, and the Alt-tab switcher now also includes recent Microsoft Edge tabs. This, however, can be disabled in the multitasking section under the Windows 10 Settings menu. Windows 10 now also allows users more flexibility with regard to opening apps or websites. Users can adjust their Sets preference to "Window," which won't open windows into a new tab unless users explicitly click the + or drag with their mouse, or "Tab," which opens any new Window into tabs. Notepad Microsoft is also bringing important enhancements to the Notepad app, including Bing search. Now, users can highlight any word or phrase within Notepad, click "Edit," and then choose "Search with Bing." Right-clicking also brings up the option in the context menu or by simply clicking Ctrl + B. What's more, with Sets enabled, the search results page will open on a new tab instead of on a separate window. Windows 10 build 17666 is now available to Insiders in the Fast Ring. The features will roll out to the rest of Windows 10 users later this year. Thoughts about the new improvements in Windows 10? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Racial profiling in Yale University continues as a white student reported a black student who fell asleep in her dorm's common room to the police. Another Case Of Discrimination It looks like news that tackle concerns about prejudice against race will not end anytime soon as illustrated by the incident. Lolade Siyonbola, the graduate student who was interrogated by the campus law enforcement officers, reportedly felt harassed by the officers' approach. She was able to record two videos of what happened and posted them on social media. Her videos reportedly drew sympathy from a lot of people who felt that what transpired was really uncalled for. Most of the people who left comments believe the other student was racist due to her assumption. One Thing Led To Another Everything appears to have started at Yale University's Hall of Graduate Studies when Siyonbola, who was allegedly working on her paper, rested for a bit in a common room. The other student, a white female, reportedly entered the common room, turned on the lights, and told her that she will call the police. She took a video of their encounter in the hallway wherein the latter insisted that she had a right to call the campus police. People on social media who saw the video praised the black student for her calm composure throughout the ordeal. She patiently waited for the authorities to arrive and answered their questions. The second video she posted on Facebook Live shows her together with the officers as she opened her dorm to prove that she was a resident of the building. What followed was one of the campus police asked for her ID to apparently confirm her claims, which seem uncalled for because she has proof that she lives in the dorm. After some delay due to her name being misspelled in the student database, she was cleared and was free to go. Race-Related Incidents In News The Yale University incident is the most recent headline about racial profiling in the United States. Lynn Cooley, the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, sent an e-mail to all of her grad students to remind students about the importance of inclusivity. Recent ones include a group of three black women who checked out of an Airbnb rental in California. Apparently, a neighbor, who was an elderly white woman, first thought they were burglars and called the police. They were eventually released several minutes after the police finally confirmed what happened. Last month, two black men inside a Starbucks in Philadelphia were unjustly arrested after an employee contacted authorities. According to sources, the manager called 911 due to fact that they did not order anything. It was known later that the two were just waiting for a friend. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google recently unveiled the latest version of the Android operating system, Android P, at its annual I/O 2018 press conference. Google also revealed a host of new features that the new operating system will bring to the table. Of course, Android P is only a temporary name for the upcoming operating system, which is a follow-up to Android 8.0 Oreo. The official release of Android P's final version is expected later this year, but both fans and developers need not wait that long to try out the new operating system's range of features and design. The Android P official beta is finally here. It means that those who have a compatible phone can download the update and try it out right now. Which Phones Are Compatible? The Android P beta will only work on certain smartphone models. Typically, these beta releases have been limited to Google's own Nexus and Pixel smartphones. Now, however, the company has finally expanded the list of devices that will be able to install the beta version of Android P. There are 11 smartphone devices that will be able to install the Android P beta. They are listed as follows: Google Pixel Google Pixel XL Google Pixel 2 Google Pixel 2 XL Essential PH-1 Vivo X21 Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Sony Experia XZ2 Nokia 7 Plus Oppo R15 Pro OnePlus 6 (yet to launch) How To Install Android P Beta? Installing Android P on any of the abovementioned devices is quite simple. What the users need to do is log on to the Beta Program website and sign into their Google account. Then, they should click the "View your eligible devices" tab before hitting the Enroll button next to the device one wants to update. They will then have to agree to some terms and conditions before confirming their decision. Next, Google will send a notification to the device as soon as the file is ready to download and install, which could take up to one whole day. It is highly recommended that users back up their devices before installing the new update just in case something goes wrong or if one wishes to switch back to Android Oreo. Once the update is ready, they can tap on the notification panel and hit the Download button. From there on, Google will walk users through the process and they will be testing out Android P in no time. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Once Hawaii implements the SB 2571 by 2021, there is a probability that as much as 70 percent of known sunscreen brands will be affected. Furthermore, the bill has the tendency to be at odds with efforts to combat skin cancer, thereby compromising the health and safety of millions of people and tourists, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. Hawaii could be the first in the world to implement a ban on sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are found to be harmful to corals. The bill had already been passed Hawaii's state House and Senate and if signed into law, it will prohibit over-the-counter sales of sunscreens with these two elements. Sunscreen Brands With Oxybenzone and Octinoxate Majority of the known sunscreen brands contain oxybenzone and octinoxate. These brands are not only being sold in Hawaii but also across the world. Some of these brands are the Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, Neutrogena, and Coppertone. Johnson & Johnson, which owns Neutrogena, said it stands by the statement given by the CHPA. "...[S]afety and welfare of millions of Hawaii residents and tourists have been severely compromised by the passage of SB 2571 that will ban at least 70 percent of the sunscreens on the market today, based on weak science blaming sunscreens for damage to coral reefs," the CHPA asserts in its statement. "Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that excess sun exposure without effective sunscreen increases the risk of developing skin cancer in both adults and children," the statement argues. The association highlighted that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. CHPA describes the looming ban as an irresponsible action, making it difficult for families and tourists to protect themselves from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. The CHPA contends that oxybenzone and octinoxate are key ingredients of the effective sunscreen brands in the market. It pointed out that the Food and Drug Administration recognized the two ingredients as safe and effective. The organization stresses that banning the sunscreens deviate the attention from the more pertinent causes of coral decline such as global warming, agricultural runoff, sewage, and overfishing. Finally, CHPA concludes that the ban creates a false hope that prohibiting these sunscreens will heal Hawaii's coral reef while it will have little to no impact on their survival. Rather, it says that banning sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate has the potential to create a public health crisis. The Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaii Dermatological Society, Hawaii Skin cancer Coalition, and Hawaii Department of Health have also expressed concerns regarding the legislation. The ABC Stores, the Hawaii Food Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and the Personal Care Products Council object the legislation as well. Statements from Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Hawaiian Tropic Bayer, the manufacturer of Coppertone, said it will comply with Hawaii's impending law. The manufacturer, however, explains that removing these two ingredients from sunscreen go against efforts done to prevent skin cancer. It reiterates that science had already proven that UV radiation causes skin cancer and sunscreen is the most effective protection against the radiation. Edgewell Personal Care, the manufacturer of Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic sunscreens, assured that their products contain FDA-approved amounts of oxybenzone and octinoxate that protect users from ultraviolet rays. The manufacturer assured that they will comply with all relevant legislation and reminded that consumers can check their labels to make informed buying decisions. Alternatives To Oxybenzone and Octinoxate The Environmental Working Group states that the best sunscreen brands to use are those that are mineral-based, using zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. It will also help to look for sunscreen brands that use natural ingredients and fragrance-free to help save the coral reefs. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New photos of Brie Larson in full Captain Marvel costume have made their way online as the movie returns to film in a Los Angeles set. Captain Marvel Set Photos Reveal Brie Larson In Green The photos show Larson in a green suit, which is the same as the one spotted in earlier set photos. The new photos hint that Captain Marvel will be donning this attire for a longer time than anticipated in the movie, possibly for the whole duration of it. This would contradict speculations stating that the green costume is only a temporary one and that Carol Danvers will sport a different costume later in the film. The speculations sprouted from the suit's clear difference from the one in the comics, on which Captain Marvel is based, displaying blue, red, and gold colors. The green color scheme, however, is in line with the original Mar-Vell, the Kree warrior who gave Danvers her powers. It is still possible for the heroine to wear a new attire that more closely resembles her costume in the comics. It is also a possibility that she would sport the new costume instead on her second appearance, which is in Avengers 4. Nevertheless, fans are not too keen yet on the idea of Captain Marvel in a green costume. They are still waiting to see the superhero in her iconic blue, red, and gold suit. Below shows a link to her on set. Brie Larson is back to filming #CaptainMarvel ! Check out the latest photos of her in costume on the set: https://t.co/vZgGonPmc8 JustJared.com (@JustJared) May 9, 2018 Captain Marvel's Place In The MCU Avengers: Infinity War first made the official reference to the character at the post-credits scene. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) contacted the superhero, seeing the aftermath of the Avengers' fight with Thanos (Josh Brolin). It was then that her logo appeared on the device. It is yet unknown what her role will be in the upcoming film, but fans speculate that she will have a large part in saving the galaxy and perhaps the Avengers as well. Ant-Man is also rumored to be a vital key in defeating the mad Titan. He is appearing in the Ant-Man and the Wasp movie on July 6, 2018, which is set before the events of the Infinity War. Before appearing on the follow-up Avengers movie, however, she is set to appear on her standalone film Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019. Set in the '90s, it features previously introduced MCU characters Fury and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). Ronan (Lee Pace) and Korath the Pursuer (Djimon Hounsou) from Guardians of the Galaxy are also set to make an appearance. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The death of net neutrality will happen on June 11, which is when the order of the Federal Communications Commission to end the rules will take effect. It is important to know that the move to kill net neutrality will not just affect internet service providers, but that it will also have a significant effect on consumers. This is why there are still some groups fighting to save net neutrality, even after the FCC's announcement on when it will end. What Is Net Neutrality? The net neutrality rules, which were put in place by the FCC under former President Barack Obama, prevented internet service providers from throttling bandwidth, and from forcing consumers to pay an extra amount for access to specific websites and services. When current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was appointed by President Donald Trump, repealing net neutrality was on to the top his agenda. FCC Pushes For Net Neutrality Repeal In a statement, Pai claimed that the internet was not broken in 2015, but Obama's FCC implemented what the current FCC Chairman described as "heavy-handed" Title II rules, which essentially categorized the internet as a public utility. "It doesn't make sense to apply outdated rules from 1934 to the Internet, but that's exactly what the prior Administration did," Pai added. Opponents of net neutrality believe that the rules are an unnecessary regulation that stifles innovation. Net neutrality advocates, meanwhile, fear that without the rules in place, internet service providers will create a tiered internet that throttles or even blocks certain services depending on how much the consumer is paying. Pai's argument that misdeeds by providers will be kept in check by the power of consumer choice is not viable, supporters also say. This is because in certain areas of the United States, there is a shortage of options on which provider to sign up with. "This is shameful," said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a colleague of Pai on the FCC, on Twitter after the announcement of the death of net neutrality on June 11. "The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held believe that internet openness should remain the law of the land." Can We Save Net Neutrality? Back in January, a proposal to save net neutrality from its repeal was started by a group of Democratic senators. The proposal was supported by 49 Democratic senators and one Republican senator and, with Sen. John McCain absent due to his cancer treatment, needs only one more vote to gain majority and be sent to the House of Representatives. The proposal is moving along, but the real battle begins if and when it is forwarded to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. President Donald Trump will also have to sign on, the chances of which are not that high. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It was previously documented that Hurricane Harvey was the wettest tropical cyclone in U.S. history, but a new study might shed some light about the reason for this. What Did Researchers Discover About Hurricane Harvey? When Hurricane Harvey struck the United States in 2017, the waters in the Gulf of Mexico were warmer than any other time recorded. Researchers believe that this warm water supercharged Harvey and strengthened it. With warmer water, Harvey was able to harness a lot of moisture. This explains the rains from Harvey that caused devastating flooding throughout the Houston area. The findings were published in the journal Earth's Future. "We show, for the first time, that the volume of rain over land corresponds to the amount of water evaporated from the unusually warm ocean," said lead author Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "As climate change continues to heat the oceans, we can expect more supercharged storms like Harvey." Typically, a storm evaporates water and leaves a cold wake in the ocean. However, the waters were so warm that Harvey did not leave a cold wake. The vast amount of heat in the water continued to fuel the storm as it approached the shore. Although more surface temperatures need to be 79 degrees Fahrenheit for a storm to progress, the Gulf of Mexico's surface temperature was 86 degrees Fahrenheit. While there are changes in weather, such as El Nino, that can alter ocean temperatures, it is clear that climate change had an impact with Harvey. How Did The Researchers Track The Storm? Since Harvey was traveling alone in the Gulf of Mexico, the researchers were able to study the specific impact of the heat in the waters. They relied on a group of autonomous floats, called Argo, that measured the water before and after Harvey. The researchers worked with NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement satellite mission to determine how much rain came from the storm. They also tracked the underlying heat that Harvey released in Texas. After reviewing the data from all of these sources, they were able to compare the heat and the rain measurements. They determined that the unusually warm waters made the storm worse. Preparing For The Next Big Storm As climate change worsens and the waters get warmer, it is important that governments plan for these big storms. "I believe there is a need to increase resilience with better building codes, flood protection, and water management, and we need to prepare for contingencies, including planning evacuation routes and how to deal with power cuts," Trenberth said. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Not only will Google be releasing the latest Pixel phones this fall, but it may also unveil a new Pixel-branded smartwatch that'll run Wear OS. Trusted industry tipster Evan Blass just posted details about Google's Pixel 3 fall event on Twitter. Google will unveil plenty of Pixel hardware at the event, he says, including second-generation Pixel Buds and a new smartwatch, as mentioned. Google Announcing Pixel Watch This Fall "Besides the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, and second-gen Pixel Buds, a reliable source tells me with high confidence that Google's fall hardware event will also introduce a Pixel-branded watch. Have a great summer!" Blass tweeted. Supposing Blass is right, it's nice to know Google hasn't given up on smartwatches yet, even when the rest of the world has, it seems. The company recently rebranded Android Wear to Wear OS but didn't explain much about that decision. It's possible that by giving it a new name, Google is attempting to freshen up its smartwatch platform. Given Google's steadily increasing hardware portfolio over the last two years, it makes a lot of sense for it to release a new smartwatch under the new Pixel branding, if only to showcase Wear OS and bring it back to the conversation again. Not much details about the Pixel Watch is available, other than the rumor that it'll get announced alongside the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, both of which are also largely enigmas at this point. Google typically holds a major hardware event every October, so it's possible more rumors and leaks are going to come as we enter fall. 3 Pixel Smartwatches An even more surprising rumor, as reported by WinFuture, claims that Google is planning to unveil not one, but three smartwatches at the event. The devices are reportedly codenamed Ling, Triton, and Sardine, and they've apparently reached the stage where Google decides whether the hardware design will pass for mass production. How these three watch models differ from one another is uncertain, but they'll allegedly run on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform, which will use a quad-core CPU, Adreno 304 GPU, and a 28-nanometer manufacturing process. As with any rumors, take this with plenty of salt, because even supposing it's true, there's always a chance Google cancels all three watches altogether. As for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, they're the most likely to be announced this fall, as Google seems committed to its Pixel line of phones, not to mention that it has a lot to make up for, given the roster of hardware issues that plagued the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. An earlier rumor also suggests Google will release a midrange version of the Pixel 3. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Majority of oncologists in the United States have discussed or suggested the use of medical marijuana in cancer patients, although they are not confident about its benefits. Results of a survey published May 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that 80 percent of medical oncologists have discussed using medical marijuana with cancer patients, and 46 percent said they recommended it clinically. The survey was conducted November 2016, where the researchers randomly sampled 400 medical oncologists. Only 63 percent of them participated in the study. The study was meant to examine the oncologists' beliefs, knowledge, and practices regarding medical marijuana. Majority of the respondents viewed medical marijuana as helpful in managing pain and more effective in treating anorexia and cachexia, a cancer-related adverse event characterized by muscle weakness and sudden loss of weight. "Better understanding the views, practices, and knowledgeability of oncologists regarding medical marijuana will help us understand both how important of an issue medical marijuana is in cancer care today and where the holes in scientific evidence, education, and policy are most pronounced," said lead author Dr. Llana Braun, the chief of Division of Adult Psychosocial Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Discrepancy In Beliefs And Practice The authors reported that there is a discrepancy between the doctors' knowledge of medical marijuana and their practices. Seventy percent of the participants said that feel unprepared to make clinical recommendations for the use of cannabis in the medical settings. The use of medical cannabis is legal in 30 states including the District of Columbia, and cancer is a qualifying condition for its use except for one state. Currently, there are no randomized controlled trials conducted to provide scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of whole plant cannabis in cancer patients. Thus, oncologists have to rely on research conducted by pharmaceutical companies or to draw conclusions based on other patient outcomes. "Ensuring that physicians have a sufficient knowledge on which to base their medical recommendations is essential to providing high-quality care," said coauthor Eric Campbell, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Our study suggests that there is clearly room for improvement when it comes to medical marijuana." The study also found that patients mostly are the one to initiate discussions about medical marijuana. Dr. Jerry Mitchell, a medical oncologist at the Zangmeister Cancer Center in Ohio, said getting asked about marijuana is not surprising given the popularity of its byproducts. Preclinical studies on the effects of cannabinoids in mice and rats have shown decreased tumor growth and activity, reduced risk and possibly treatment of colon cancer, cancer cell death in metastatic breast cancer, pain relief, and effective control of nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A child care center in Massachusetts has been temporarily closed after a young student's typhoid fever diagnosis. Typhoid fever is actually rare in the United States, but the child evidently traveled overseas prior to the illness. Child Care Center Scare A Massachusetts child care center closed on Wednesday after learning of a child's typhoid fever diagnosis the day before. Evidently, the child contracted the disease while traveling overseas, though there is no word on exactly where the child traveled to. Upon learning of the child's illness, the child care center's officials opted to close their facilities while the staff and children who shared a classroom with the sick child are undergoing testing, and will only reopen once testing has been completed. So far, all of the parents of children who might have been impacted by the exposure have already been contacted by authorities. "It was very scary, very scary. Then you start Googling what is this, what does it mean. I mean, I have an infant, so it's even more dangerous in that age range," a parent of another child at the child care center told local news. Typhoid Fever Typhoid fever is a serious disease that can be contracted through contaminated food and water. Its symptoms include high fever, weakness, stomach pains, loss of appetite, constipation, rashes, and headache. Typhoid fever may cause internal bleeding and even death, though such cases are rare. It is caused by Salmonella typhi and is often treated using antibiotics. It's worth noting that the infection may be passed from one person to another, and that even if the symptoms are gone, a patient may still be carrying Salmonella typhi. This means that the illness may return, and that Salmonella typhi may still be passed on to other people. As such, it is important to maintain proper hygiene, take the antibiotics as prescribed, and to ensure that the body is cleared of Salmonella typhi before preparing or serving food for other people. Typhoid Fever In The United States While typhoid fever is quite common in other parts of the world, in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and western Europe, it is actually quite rare. In fact, among the 300 people who get typhoid fever in the United States each year, most of them had a recent travel overseas. Worldwide, there are 22 million cases and 200,000 deaths related to typhoid fever each year. It is for this reason that travelers to south Asia, Latin America, and Africa are urged to take extra precautions such as consulting a health care provider about the typhoid fever vaccine before traveling, though the vaccine is only 50 to 80 percent effective. As such, other measures that travelers can take is to practice proper hygiene, and to make sure to eat only safe food items. These include food and beverages that have been properly and safely prepared and cooked. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Researchers from the United States and China have demonstrated the possibility of hiding malicious voice commands in music that Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google Assistant will follow. Digital assistant security problems are not new. However, this latest one is different because it could victimize even the most careful users, as the subliminal voice commands are undetectable to the human ear. Malicious Voice Commands For Digital Assistants Hidden In Music Over the past two years, researchers have worked within university labs on hidden commands that only Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant will pick up, and not humans. In 2016, students from Georgetown University and UC Berkeley showed that it was possible to hide commands within white noise coming from loudspeakers or YouTube videos to make smart devices perform functions like opening websites and activating airplane mode. In the latest development of the research, some of the UC Berkeley students determined a way to hide commands within music or spoken text recordings. "We wanted to see if we could make it even more stealthy," said UC Berkeley fifth-year computer security Ph.D. student Nicholas Carlini, one of the authors of the research that has been published online. The group provided samples of songs where voice commands have been embedded to make digital assistants do specific things, including visiting websites, turning on GPS, and making phone calls. Are Hackers Already Using The Method? According to Carlini, there is no evidence that attackers have started using this method in the real world. However, he added that it might just be a matter of time before they do, with Carlini assuming that hackers have already started trying to copy his team's work. While the undetected voice commands demonstrated by the researchers are harmless, it is easy how attackers can exploit the technique. They can have digital assistants unlock doors of smart homes, transfer money through banking apps, and purchase items from online retailers, all without the user knowing what was happening. Regular users who would like to protect themselves from the attacks as early as now have some options available to them. For owners of devices with Alexa and Google Assistant, they can take advantage of the optional feature that locks access to personal information to a specific user based on voice patterns. Meanwhile, iPhone and iPad owners have the default protection of Siri requiring the iOS device to be unlocked before being allowed access to sensitive information. One way for Amazon, Apple, and Google to protect their customers would be to further develop voice authentication measures so that devices will only recognize commands from the authentic user. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A woman died after catching flesh-eating bacteria allegedly during a vacation in St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida. She was not diagnosed during her first two doctor visits. She was 50 years old. Flesh-Eating Bacteria Possibly Led To Woman's Death The woman, Carol Martin, was with her husband Richard Martin when she went on vacation. They stayed at the Days Inn in Clearwater, Florida. After the trip, Carol found that she had a nickel-sized infection on her buttocks. Richard believes that his wife's decision to use a hot tub during their trip was the cause of her infection and her death, WRTV reported. Richard describes the infection as a pimple that had appeared on Carol's right butt cheek. The infection started to grow and became painful so she had to seek medical attention for it. Carol went to the doctor two separate times, and she was prescribed antibiotics and given heating pads to stop the infection from spreading. After the two visits with the treatments not working to stop the spread of the infection, doctors did a biopsy during Carol's third visit. Results of the biopsy showed that she had contracted flesh-eating bacteria. Carol's infection continued to spread and she would later have to be rushed into surgery to treat the infection. After the surgery, Carol spent 16 days in the intensive care unit. She died over two months after the surgery on May 5. Hot Tub Theory Her husband continues to push his theory that Carol contracted flesh-eating bacteria after she went into the hot tube. Richard told WFLA that Carol was the only person out of the group that went in the hot tub during the vacation. He added that no one else that was on the trip with them became sick after returning home. So far, Carol's death has not been officially attributed to flesh-eating bacteria. The Marion County coroner's office would take up to three months to determine whether or not Carol's death was caused by it or not. Tissue samples have already been collected from her and they will have to be tested further. Flesh-eating bacteria affects between 600 to 1200 people in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can spread quickly and affects the body's soft tissue by killing it. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. While drinking alcohol can be seen as a fun way to bring in the weekend, it could also be dangerous if excessively consumed. For people who enjoy alcoholic beverages but dread the hangover that may follow, there may be a solution. Instead of taking ibuprofen to cure those horrible hangovers, a new pill has been created that could potentially cure it. Signs Of A Hangover According to the Mayo Clinic, a hangover occurs after a person consumes too much alcohol. Though most hangovers go away on their own, they can last up to 24 hours. Signs a person may have a hangover include: Headaches Nausea Shakiness Dizziness Fatigue A person should seek medical treatment if their skin turns blue or if they have low-body temperature. The Hangover Pill A team of researchers from the University of California decided to create an antidote that would not only allow people to drink and not have to worry about getting a hangover, but also to create a safer way for people to consume alcoholic beverages. The team was led by Professor Yunfeng Lu, who is a chemical engineering professor at UCLA. The pill, which was filled with natural enzymes, was tested on lab mice. The enzymes are cells that are found in the liver and help a person's body process alcohol faster. This treatment could also be effective for preventing alcohol poisoning, which can sometimes be fatal. Lu and his team first got the lab mice drunk, they then proceeded to give the mice the treatment. To protect the enzymes, they were wrapped in a shell using material that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved. The researchers then injected the nanocapsules into the veins of the mice. The team saw a 45 percent decrease in the blood alcohol levels in four hours. This was compared with the mice that weren't treated. The team also noted that the blood concentration of acetaldehyde, which is a highly toxic compound that makes a person throw up, in the mice that were treated remained low as well. Could This Be The Cure? Lu's research was created to help assist hospitals. Though the results seem very promising, Lu and his team stress that more research needs to be done before it can assume that the pill has no harmful side effects on humans. Lu and his team are looking to begin tests on humans within a year. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ABSTRACT Kaldors first growth law posits that the growth rate of an economy is positively related to the growth rate of its manufacturing sector. Since the sixties, this relationship has been examined in a large number of studies using a wide variety of data sets and econometric methods. This paper examines the validity of this law for 11 ECOWAS member countries over the period 1970-2014 by employing an Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds test approach to cointegration and Granger causality tests. The results show that manufacturing output growth causes positively economic growth and non-manufacturing output growth, thereby providing support for Kaldors first growth law. The policy recommendation from the results of the study is that structural transformation in favour of industrial production activities would help to accelerate economic growth in ECOWAS countries. Keywords: Kaldors Law, Economic Growth, Manufacturing, ECOWAS 1. Introduction The sources of economic growth have long been a subject of discussion among economists. In the 1960s, Nicolas Kald or put forward three laws advocating that the manufacturing industry sector is the main engine of economic growth. These laws were based on an econometric analysis of the output, productivity and employment growth rates of 12OECD countries over the 50s and 60s. According to the first law, the growth rate of an economy is positively related to the growth rate of its manufacturing or industrial sector. This positive relation can be explained by the effects of manufacturing on productivity levels in the whole economy. Such effects are related to the transfer of labor from low productivity sectors to the industrial sector and to the existence of economies of scale in manufacturing. The second law states that the labor productivity is positively related to the growth rate of manufacturing sector through increasing returns to scale due to learning by doing processes and efficiency changes. This relationship was firstly suggested by Verdoorn [1] and tested by Kaldor [2] . This second law is also known as Kaldor-Verdoorn law or only Verdoorn law. The third law establishes a positive relationship between productivity growth in the non-manufacturing sector and the growth in manufacturing output. The growth of manufacturing sector increases productivity in nonmanufacturing sector by drawing surplus labor in these sectors and reducing disguised unemployment. These three laws have been investigated in a large number of empirical studies employing different econometric methods [3] - [11] . Overall, these studies found a positive association between growth rate of industrial output and economic growth, confirming Kaldors first law. The testing approach of the first law employed in most of these studies follows Kaldors original model that consists in regressing real GDP growth rate on the growth rate of manufacturing or industrial output. If GDP and manufacturing output are cointegrated, this old approach is clearly misspecified and suffers from the bias of omitted variables. Another shortcoming of these studies is that they do not formally test the causality between manufacturing and economic growth. The validity of Kaldors first law requires a causality running from manufacturing sector to economic growth. The positive correlation between the two variables is not simply because manufacturing output is a component of total GDP but in a fundamental causal sense related to the production characteristics of manufacturing activities [2] [12] . This paper examines the validity of Kaldors first law for ECOWAS member countries, looking more closely at the issue of cointegration and causality between manufacturing growth and economic growth. The study intends to test the hypothesis whether the economic growth of ECOWAS countries is positively related to the growth of manufacturing industry in a fundamental sense. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 outlines the econometric methodology of the study. Section 3 describes the data used in the empirical analysis. Section 4 discusses the empirical results and Section 5 concludes the study and provides some policy recommendations. 2. Econometric Methodology Kaldors first law states that there is a close relation between the growth rate of manufacturing output and the growth rate of GDP. In most existing studies, this law has been tested using the following econometric model: log y t = 1 + 1 log man t + 1 t (1) where logy t is the growth rate of real GDP, logman t is the growth rate of manufacturing output, and t is a well-behaved error term. The validity of Kaldors first law requires that the coefficient 1 is statistically significant and positive. However, a problem with Equation (1) is that manufacturing output is a component of GDP and hence there will be an obvious positive relationship between the growth of manufacturing output and the growth of GDP. In order to avoid this simultaneity bias, we consider GDP net of manufacturing by subtracting manufacturing output from GDP. The analysis is then reduced to examining the relationship between manufacturing sector and non-manufacturing sector. Evidence supporting Kaldors first law is when the growth of non-manufacturing output responds positively to the growth of manufacturing. This is evaluated using the following equation: log n man t = 2 + 2 log man t + 2 t (2) where logman t is the growth rate of manufacturing output and lognman t is the growth rate of non-manufacturing output. Existing studies estimated Equation (1) and Equation (2) using standard econometric methods (OLS, fixed-effects, random-effects). A major problem with these specifications is that they will be subject to omitted-variables bias if variables in levels (GDP and manufacturing output) are cointegrated [13] . To address this econometric problem, our empirical investigation will involve three steps. As an initial step, stationarity tests are performed for both variables. If variables are integrated of order one, we test for the presence of a long-run relationship among them using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds test developed by Peasaran et al. [14] . This method is based on the following ARDL-ECM equation: log y t = 0 + 1 log y t 1 + 2 log man t 1 + i = 1 m 1 i log y t i + i = 0 n 2 i log man t i + e t (3) where is the difference operator, 1 and 2 are the long-run multipliers, while 1i and 2i are the short-run dynamics of the variables. The presence of a long-run relationship is tested by restricting coefficients of lagged level variables equal to zero. That is, the null hypothesis of no long-run relationship is: 1 = 2 = 0 . This hypothesis is tested by the mean of an F-test. The asymptotic critical values are provided by Pesaran et al. [14] . The bounds testing procedure is sensitive to the selection of the lag structure (m, n). In this study, the lag structure was selected using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) with maximum lag length on each variable set to five. If the variables under study are cointegrated then Kaldors first law will be tested using the following equations: log y t = 1 + 1 log man t + 1 e c m 1 t - 1 + 1 t (4) log n man t = 2 + 2 log man t + 2 e c m 2 t 1 + 2 t (5) where e c m 1 t 1 = log y t 1 0 1 log man t 1 and e c m 2 t 1 = log n man t 1 0 1 log man t 1 are the lagged residuals of the long-run relationships between GDP and manufacturing output and between non-manufacturing output and manufacturing output, respectively. Cointegration indicates only whether or not a long-run relationship exists between the variables. It does not indicate the direction of the causal relationship among them. Engle and Granger [13] argued that as long as variables are cointegrated, causality must exist at least in one direction. Following their methodology the direction of causality between manufacturing outputand GDP can be detected by estimating the following Error Correction Models: log y t = 1 + i = 1 p 1 i log y t i + i = 1 p 1 i log man t i + 1 e c m t 1 + e 1 t (6) log man t = 2 + i = 1 p 2 i log y t i + i = 1 p 2 i log man t i + 2 e c m t 1 + e 2 t (7) The lag length p is determined using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). The significance of the differenced explanatory variables indicates the short-run causality, whereas the significance of ecm t 1 confirms the long-run causal relationship. For example, manufacturing output growth does not cause GDP growth in the short-run if 11 = 12 = = 1p = 0. Similarly, GDP growth does not cause manufacturing output growth in the short-run if none of 2i is statistically different from zero. 3. Data Description The study uses annual time series data for 11 ECOWAS member countries over the period from 1970 to 2014. The countries under study include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leonne, and Togo. The coverage of countries and time period are dictated by the availability of continuous data over the sample period. The variables under study are real GDP and real industrial valued added both in constant 2010 US dollar. They were sourced from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank. For Cote dIvoire, Ghana and Niger, industral output was computed on the basis of its share in GDP. All data were converted into natural logarithms so that they can be interpreted in growth terms after taking first difference. The descriptive statistics of the variables are reported in Panel A of Table 1. Looking at that Table we note that the average economic growth rate ranges from 2.25% in Niger to 5.08% in Mali. The standard deviation shows heterogeneity across countries. The correlation coefficient suggests a positive relationship between manufacturing output growth and GDP growth in all countries except Gambia. However, this finding does not prove that manufacturing output growth influences GDP growth. Is there any evidence of manufacturing-led growth or the reverse? Does any causality exist between manufacturing and GDP in the countries under study? The statistics reported in Panel B of Table 1 show a low and limited variability of manufacturing output relative to GDP across countries. Nigeria is the only country with an average manufacturing output ratio exceeding 30 percent of GDP. Except Nigeria and Senegal, the share of agricultural sector is higher than that of manufacturing sector in the rest of ECOWAS countries. The size of the manufacturing sector in ECOWAS countries is relatively smaller compared to East Asian countries where it exceeds 50 per cent of GDP. Obviously, more (a) (b) Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the variables. Panel (a): GDP growth and manufacturing output growth; Panel (b): Manufacturing and agricultural output as share of GDP. Note: Std. denotes standard deviation. Corr. denotes the correlation coefficient between GDP growth and manufacturing output growth. needs to be done by ECOWAS member countries to promote manufacturing sector. 4. Empirical Results As a first step of our empirical analysis, we test for the order of integration of the two series by means of the PP test of Phillips and Perron [15] and the KPSS test of Kwiatkowski et al. [16] . These tests have been performed under the models with constant and trend for the level series and with constant for series in first difference. This step is necessary because the bounds test requires the dependent variable to be integrated of order one (I (1)) and the explanatory variables to be I (0) or I (1). The results displayed in Table 2 suggest that the variables are non-stationary in their level but become stationary after taking the first difference. Therefore, log (GDP) and log (MAN) are I (1) processes. This implies the possibility of long-run relationships among them. The results of the ARDL bounds test are displayed in Table 3. From this Table we see that there is a long-run relationship between manufacturing output and GDP in nine countries. This implies that the two variables do not move to far away from each other in the long-run. On the other hand, there is a long-run relationship between non-manufacturing and manufacturing output in ten countries. Table 4 presents the estimations of Kaldors first law equation. As can be seen, manufacturing growth has a positive impact on the overall economic performance in eight ECOWAS member countries, namely: Benin, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The growth impact of manufacturing is higher in Nigeria and Senegal compared to the rest of the ECOWAS countries. Manufacturing output growth rate of one percentage point induces a 0.64 percentage point and 0.54 percentage point increase in GDP growth in Nigeria and Senegal, respectively. A one percentage point increase in manufacturing growth induces around a 0.20 percentage point increase in GDP growth in Cote dIvoire, Niger and Togo. The results from the model with non-manufacturing output growth as the dependent variable show that the non-manufacturing output growth is positively related to the growth of manufacturing output in Nigeria and Senegal. This finding reinforces the leading role Table 2. Results of unit root tests. Note: *denotes the rejection of the null hypothesis at the 5% level. Table 3. Results of bounds test for cointegration. Note: GDP is real GDP, MAN is real manufacturing output, NMAN is real non-manufacturing output. * denotes the rejection of the null hypothesis at the 5% level. Notes: MAN is real manufacturing output. The asterisks * and ** denote statistical significance at the 5% and 10% levels, respectively. of manufacturing sector. In these two countries, indeed, manufacturing sector is a driving force of economic growth both by its own expansion and by the induced output growth in agriculture and service sectors. Theoretically, the positive impact of manufacturing growth on the overall economic growth is explained by transfer of labor from low productivity sectors to the industrial sector. If this is empirically true, the results for the countries under study are not surprising, since most African countries exhibit high levels of employment in informal and agricultural sectors. In such a context, there is scope for transferring labor to manufacturing when this sector grows without impeding the growth of non-manufacturing sector. The results of the Granger-causality tests are presented in Table 5. The point estimates of the error correction terms show that manufacturing output Granger-causes GDP in the long run in Ghana, Mali and Nigeria, while the reverse causality holds in Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Gambia, Niger and Togo. A long-run two-way causal relationship between manufacturing output and GDP exists in Benin. According to this result, GDP influences manufacturing output and manufacturing in turn influences GDP. With respect to the short-run causality, Table 5 suggests a unidirectional causality flowing from manufacturing output growth to GDP growth in Cote dIvoire, Niger and Sierra Leone. In Benin, manufacturing is both a cause and a consequence of economic growth. Overall, the causality analysis suggests that manufacturing causes economic growth in Benin, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The results displayed in Table 6 indicate that manufacturing growth also causes non-manufacturing growth in these countries. The fact that the growth rate of manufacturing output causes the overall economic growth supports Kaldors first growth law. 5. Conclusion This paper investigated the relation between manufacturing output growth and Table 5. Results of granger causality tests with GDP. Note: Statistics for Short-run causality are Chi-square statistics with p-values in parentheses. Statistics for long-run causality are coefficients on ECT t1 with t-statistics in brackets. The asterisks * and ** denote statistical significance at the 5% and 10% levels, respectively. Table 6. Results of granger causality tests with non-manufacturing output. Note: Statistics for Short-run causality are Chi-square statistics with p-values in parentheses. Statistics for long-run causality are coefficients onECT t1 with t-statistics in brackets. The asterisks * and ** denote statistical significance at the 5% and 10% levels, respectively. economic growth in ECOWAS member countries from the perspective of Kaldors first growth law. We examine the validity of this law using cointegration and causality tests. The results suggest that the growth of GDP in most ECOWAS countries is in a significant way positively related to the growth of the manufacturing sector. This result provides support for Kaldors first growth law. The future economic growth of ECOWAS countries depends on the performance of the industrial sector. Therefore structural transformation in favour of industrial production activities would help to accelerate economic growth in ECOWAS countries. This remains the biggest challenge for African countries which calls for more research. Cite this paper Keho, Y. (2018) Manufacturing and Economic Growth in ECOWAS Countries: A Test of Kaldors First Law. Modern Economy, 9, 897-906. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2018.95057 References The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Volunteers with First United Methodist Church have been doing so many things for public schools in Baton Rouge for so long that its hard to keep track of it all. The volunteers at the downtown Baton Rouge church tutor children at two primary schools, Bernard Terrace and Magnolia Woods, in reading and math. At Bernard Terrace, the church runs an after-school program known as HYPE. Church members provide students with school supplies, backpacks, uniforms and Christmas toys. They help on the first day of school, during standardized tests, and at many school events. Theyve installed benches, billboards and pegs to hold book bags. And thats not counting $14,000 in cash the church raises for the two schools. They never say no, said Demetric Alexander, principal of Bernard Terrace Elementary. I dont think no is in their vocabulary. They are so active that Senior Pastor Brady Whitton even hired a staff person, Mary Treppendahl, just to coordinate all its school activities. Treppendahl, a former teacher, has the title of missionary to public schools. The churchs more than 35 years of volunteering was recognized Thursday by Volunteers in Public Schools as it awarded the religious organization its 2017 Crystal Apple. The nonprofit group gives the award annually to a standout person or organization volunteering in East Baton Rouge Parishs public schools for at least 10 years. First United Methodist Church was chosen over three other veteran volunteers for the coveted honor. Thursdays ceremony was held at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. A handful of the schools most active volunteers were on hand to accept the award. Weve been nominated and disappointed many times, said Monica Bradsher, a retired teacher who began coordinating volunteer activities at the church in 2000. +2 Middle school band volunteer Darrel Brown wins VIPS' coveted Crystal Apple award Just over a decade ago, Darrell Brown, then a sixth grader, missed a field trip for choir and ended up instead in the band room at Park Forest Bradsher and fellow volunteer and church member Joan Pennington are also board members with Volunteers In Public School, but they said VIPS kept both of them in the dark about who would win this years Crystal Apple. VIPS is best known for its Reading Friends program, which pairs adults to work one on one with struggling young readers. The program operates in kindergarten to second grade. The church was the first group to pilot working with kindergartners back in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Bradsher said some volunteers come in skeptical of public schools, but they soon see how far behind many children are and how much effort it is for teachers to try to catch them up. (Children) come in scoring zero on the entry test because they dont know the alphabet at all, Bradsher said. They dont know their names some of them, said Pennington. Had a child a couple of years ago who didnt know the word for red, which is something I think most children learn when theyre two or three, added Bradsher. But once children get help, especially if they are kindergartners, they learn quickly, Bradsher said. Judy Lithgoe, who started volunteering three years ago at Magnolia Woods, said she hesitated awhile before volunteering, worried about how she would be received. But that evaporated right away with her welcome at the school. We are so revered by the teachers and the children, and thats just a heartwarming feeling Lithgoe said. First United Methodist has persuaded VIPS to expand its offering. A couple of years, after reading an article in the New York Times, Bradsher got the organization to start Ready4K!, a program where parents of children about to start kindergarten get helpful texts with thought-provoking questions and information aimed at helping them prepare their children for the start of school. You dont think to talk about the colors in a room, but a little something like that can go a long way towards school readiness, Treppendahl explained. Volunteers in Public Schools also awarded Golden Apple honors to the following individuals and groups: Alice Hondzinski, who volunteers at LaBelle Aire Elementary; Ashley Rasco, who volunteers at Westdale Middle School; and Faith, Hope & Love Worship Center, whose members volunteer at Istrouma High School. To sign up as a volunteer through VIPS, visit vipsbr.org or call (225) 226-4702. The fate of the Harrahs New Orleans bill remained uncertain Thursday, a day after Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Gov. John Bel Edwards and City Council members have serious reservations about a measure that would extend the casino companys state license six years before it expires in 2024. On her third day in office, Cantrell caused confusion among members of the City Council and the Orleans Parish legislative delegation because they thought they had emerged from meetings with her on Wednesday in Baton Rouge with everyone on the same page. Instead, Cantrell said nothing about her own views when she said the others had reservations. Speaking about the bill, she added, I regret that it appears not to be moving forward at this point. The confusion is not helping prospects for House Bill 553, which breezed through the House in late March but has stalled before the state Senate. I think its still iffy at this point, state Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, said in an interview Thursday. Harrah's bill in trouble after Mayor Cantrell says governor, City Council members express 'serious reservations' An aggressive effort by owners of the Harrahs New Orleans casino to extend their state operating license this year was facing trouble Wednesd A spokesman for the mayor said on Thursday she had nothing to add beyond Wednesdays statement. Meanwhile, the governors office has refused to address Cantrells comments since she made them Wednesday afternoon. Edwards did express his concern about the terms of HB553 in response to a question at a Committee of 100 luncheon in Baton Rouge Wednesday, concerns he has repeated privately to lawmakers. In the absence of hard information, speculation was rife in New Orleans and Baton Rouge political circles about what was really happening behind the scenes. After weeks of waiting, HB553 will finally get a hearing before the Senate Judiciary B Committee on Monday afternoon. HB553 will have to win passage to remain alive. Harrah's bill calls for less legislative scrutiny for future casino license renewals The full state Legislature would lose its authority to renew Harrahs operating license in the future under a little-noticed provision in a co The members of the committee are: Sens. Gary Smith Jr., D-Norco, the chairman; Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles; Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte; Greg Tarver, D-Shreveport; Norby Chabert, R-Houma; Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans; and JP Morrell, D-New Orleans. If HB553 passes the committee, it would advance to the full Senate for consideration during what apparently will be the final week of the legislative session. If it passes the full Senate, HB553 almost certainly would have to return to the House for a final vote. It passed 79-12 on March, but support has eroded since then. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up I think legislators in the House are a lot less comfortable with the deal now, said state Rep. Tanner Magee, R-Houma. The more weve learned about it has been concerning. Harrah's offers $21M sweetener to smooth passage of casino legislation; critic calls it 'peanuts' Representatives of Harrahs New Orleans Casino are now offering an upfront payment of $21 million to the city and state to try to smooth passa HB553 would give Harrahs a no-bid extension for at least 30 years to operate the only land-based casino in New Orleans. In return, the casino company is promising to spend $350 million over an unspecified amount of time to build a 340-room hotel, an upscale food court and a nightclub. Harrahs lobbyists have been touting the jobs and tax revenue that the proposed investment would generate. HB553 has run aground over questions whether the measure offers a good deal to the public. I think Harrahs wants to do good by that property, which will benefit the state if they do it right, Alario said. But Im not sure theyre doing it right, and Im not sure were getting the right return. He and a growing group of legislators believe that the state ought to conduct an independent cost/benefit analysis of the deal. They also believe that the state ought to wait and put the license renewal out for bid. I have not gotten one call for it, said state Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge. The sophisticated and the unsophisticated alike have said: Whats the rush? Harrahs lobbyists have noted that the company wont invest the $350 million unless the Legislature approves HB553. They also argue that Harrahs has been a good community citizen in recent years. Cantrell and Edwards have been supporters of HB553, and Cantrell told legislators and City Council members on Wednesday at the Capitol that lawmakers had reached a deal with Harrahs to advance the legislation, multiple sources said. That deal calls for the company to pay the city an additional $6.3 million beyond the $21 million in upfront money that Harrahs lobbyists had recently agreed to. But when one lawmaker told Cantrell that the governor had trepidations, the lawmakers and City Council members raised concerns, the sources said. Where Edwards and Cantrell stand now is not clear. I dont know whats going on, state Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, said on Thursday. It depends on who you talk to last. It appeared everything was going in the right direction. But things are often subject to drastic changes in the Capitol. I remain cautiously optimistic that the bill will pass, and we will get the jobs and tax benefits for the state. The Cajun Navy and other groups that volunteer during disasters could coordinate with state emergency leaders and gain access to some equipment under legislation that could soon be on the governor's desk. The Louisiana Senate on Friday voted 26-5 in favor of House Bill 388, which would allow the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to establish an opt-in credentialing program for volunteer groups who assist in the response to declared disasters. It now heads back to the House with minor amendments that must be worked out before its final passage. "It's going to help the local governments," Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, said on the Senate floor Friday. Legislation inspired by 'Cajun Navy' to allow state coordination with disaster volunteers heads to Senate The Cajun Navy and other groups that volunteer during disasters could coordinate with state emergency leaders and gain access to some equipmen State emergency response leaders have generally supported the idea of establishing a system of "credentialing" nonprofit volunteers before the next disaster to better keep track and coordinate an effective response. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up GOHSEP officials spent several weeks meeting with various volunteer groups, including factions of the volunteer-based "Cajun Navy," informal collectives of boaters who have drawn national attention for their search-and-rescue efforts after the 2016 floods in Louisiana and Hurricane Harvey in Texas last year. Rep. Valarie Hodges, a Denham Springs Republican who sponsored the bill, was among the estimated thousands of people rescued by the volunteer boaters when their home flooded in August 2016. She has said her bill was inspired by their efforts. There was little discussion on the measure Friday before the Senate signed off on it. Under the proposal, volunteers would have the ability to apply for credentialing through GOHSEP to gain access to some state-owned equipment and communications systems to aid recovery and relief. They also can receive limited training to help with their efforts. A New Orleans area resident has become the second person in the state to contract the highly contagious measles virus, but health officials said Friday the risk of a broader outbreak is low. Doctors confirmed the case on Thursday and believe the resident likely contracted the disease while traveling abroad, according to Dr. Frank Welch of the state's Office of Public Health. Symptoms usually appear between seven and 14 days after exposure, but it can take as much as 21 days for the first signs, Welch said. That person is being treated at an area hospital, Welch said. "The clinic and the physician who saw the patient were very diligent and called immediately," he said. The patient was taken to the hospital and treated by a vaccinated staffer wearing protective gear. The patient was also placed in a room that is kept at a lower pressure than the surrounding rooms to prevent the airborne virus from escaping, Welch said. Welch said the danger of a public outbreak of the disease remains low. "There's very little risk to the general public," he said. The case this week is the second in Louisiana since the start of April, Welch said. The first case was also from someone who had traveled abroad. No secondary infections were reported from that case, even though the person attended what Welch called a "public event." Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Measles typically runs its course in about eight days after the first symptoms appear. The virus remains common in some parts of the world, and travelers are urged to make sure they are fully vaccinated before making international trips. Symptoms can include high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes. Three to five days after the first symptoms, a rash of red spots appears, usually around the hairline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the mid-1960s, the CDC has recommended two doses of the measles vaccine, which also protects against mumps and rubella. The first should be given when a child is between 12 and 15 months, the second when a child is between 4 and 6 years old. Two doses of the vaccination are about 97 percent effective, Welch said. Nationwide, several dozen people contract the disease every year. The most recent outbreak was centered on a California amusement park. "The outbreak likely started from a traveler who became infected overseas ... then visited the amusement park while infectious," according to the CDC's website. That outbreak, and one the previous year, were related to a large 2014 outbreak of the disease in the Philippines. Another 2014 outbreak in the United States occurred in a mostly unvaccinated Amish community in Ohio, according to the CDC. Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known, Welch said. "Anywhere it can get a foothold, it will," he said. The Southern part of the U.S. has to be one of the more conservative regions in the nation. Rooted in traditional, religious, and conventional values, it is often referred to as the "Bible Belt." Southern traditionalists marvel at their old-fashioned ways and high moral standards. These standards are applied to every aspect of Southern culture, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, religion, or gender. This is most evident in the Southern family. As experienced by many in the South, I was taught that the family should consist of a father, a mother, and children. As in my family, these roles are defined and dominated by principles engrained in "Southern tradition." Although I embraced this experience, deep down I knew that my life would take a turn that would clash with the very things I had been taught to respect and uphold. In 2000, I became a transgender woman. My transformation was a long-awaited accomplishment that symbolized my freedom, but not an end to my struggle as a member of the transgender community. I so desperately wanted to be a parent, but I shivered at thought of becoming one in Mississippi. As a transgender woman, I hoped, but I thought that I had no chance of having my own child. After all, as a child, I was taught that only traditional families that consisted of heterosexual couples should have children. Related: Honoring My Mother, Myself, and All Women With HIV This Mother's Day In 2002, I met the mate of my dreams, and we were married. In 2003, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Watching the women in my family, I knew how to be a mother, but society was not ready for it. Even my parents criticized me and told me that my household was an abomination to God and was not the right environment in which to raise a child. With less and less support, I became stronger and more determined to be the parent that my child needed. I was taught that support, love, understanding, patience, and empathy were needed to successfully raise a child, and I possessed them all. My transgender identity did not prevent me from loving my daughter, nor did it take away from the positive contributions that I made in her life. My daughter is 15 now and more beautiful than ever. She is one of my more, if not my most, important accomplishments. She is loving, caring, empathetic, and most of all open-minded. I taught her not to judge or to be critical of those who differ from her. My mate and I both reinforced choice. We would often explain to her that her choice to be whatever she wanted should not be dictated by who we were. When I contracted HIV, the hardest thing was not accepting that I had it, but deciding how I would explain it to my daughter. I didn't want the ignorance and stereotypes of society to determine her view of me or those like me. I remember the morning that I told her. I asked myself, "Am I really prepared her this?" Sure, she knew about HIV/AIDS. My mate and I had both talked to her about it. However, other people had the disease, not one of her parents. It was one of the hardest things that I had ever done. She looked at me and said, "Mama, they have medicine for that, and you will be OK; I will help you." I had not failed. That was one of my defining moments as a successful parent. The loving, caring, and empathetic spirit that I had worked so hard to impart to my daughter had revealed its beautiful head. That day, as well as my experiences since, has equipped me with the skills I need to care for others like me. The number of transgender families has increased since 2003. As the CEO of Love Me Unlimited for Life, a non-profit transgender organization in the state of Mississippi, I have the resources to help transgender families and those living with HIV/AIDS. My organization serves as a support system for individuals who lead alternative lifestyles. Becoming transgender after forming a family can be hard. We provide support for the whole family. In addition, we provide a repertoire of resources for families whose parents are living with HIV/AIDS. It's very hard to explain to your child what HIV/AIDS is and what it means to live a long healthy life with it. It's neither a death sentence nor a punishment for being homosexual or transgender; it's a life change like having any other chronic disease. Over the years, I have become a mother to many in the LGBTQ community. I have utilized the same parenting skills that I began using with my own child in 2003. Regardless of their ages, they appreciate the love and support that they receive. I am thankful that I have been able to serve as a beacon of hope for so many. After all, I am known as "Queen Mother of the South." Evonne Kaho is a spiritual activist and educator. She is the founder and CEO of Love Me Unlimited 4 Life, the first black transgender nonprofit organization in the state of Mississippi. Well, it didnt take long for this prediction to come to fruition. On Thursday, Florida Coastal School of Law and its parent company InfiLaw Corporation, filed suit against the ABA in federal court in Florida for its recent decision finding Florida Coastal out of compliance with several ABA Standards, including 501(b). After reviewing the complaint, I think Florida Coastal makes a pretty good case. By finding Cooley to be in compliance with 501(b), when several other schools with less egregious admission practices have recently been found out of compliance, the ABA has opened itself up to more accusations of arbitrary and capricious decision-making (exactly the accusations that Cooley has made) and potentially additional litigation. After all, if the least selective law school in the country is in compliance with Standard 501(b), then how can any other law school be found out of compliance? As I noted in my recent article, Florida Coastals 2017 admission statistics were significantly better than Cooleys, so it was hard to square the finding that Cooley was in compliance with this Standard with the finding, made at the same March 15-17 meeting, that Florida Coastal was not. Florida Coastal echoed my argument in their lawsuit (see p. 28, para 118-121), stating, A comparison of the two law schools objective metrics renders the Committees decision on Florida Coastal arbitrary and capricious. Information included in the lawsuit which was not previously publicly available, but which was available to the ABA before the March meeting, bolsters Florida Coastals claim that the ABAs enforcement action is arbitrary and capricious. Florida Coastal has both a traditional fall starting class and a spring semester starting class which commences classes in January. Between the time that Florida Coastal was notified that they were out of compliance in October 2017 and the time of the March meeting, Florida Coastal matriculated a whole new class of 1Ls for the Spring 2018 semester. That group of students had the best entrance credentials that Florida Coastal has enrolled in years. The median LSAT (50%) was a respectable 150, and the 25% increased from 145 in 2017 to 147. More importantly, Florida Coastal did not enroll any students with an LSAT below 145 (students at 144 and below are at very high risk of failure in law school and on the bar). When I gave my Dean talk at Florida Coastal back in Spring 2014, this is exactly what I recommended to ensure compliance with 501(b) and ensure a respectable bar bass rate. No law school with a most recently matriculated class with a 25% LSAT at 147 has ever been found by the ABA to be out of compliance with Standard 501(b), and for good reason. I have previously written on TFL that A reasonable 75/50/25 for an opportunity school would be 151/149/147. In another post, I wrote, in states with bar exams of comparable difficulty to Florida, a good rule of thumb would be that in order to maintain an acceptable bar pass rate, schools should not allow their median LSAT to drop below 149, or their 25% LSAT to drop below 147. Schools like Nova Southeastern have achieved acceptable bar pass rates with students at this level of aptitude in recent years, as did Florida Coastal for several years before it started lowering its admission standards in 2012. In contrast, Thomas Cooley, which was just found in compliance by the ABA had a 25% LSAT for 2017 of 139. In fact, Cooleys 75% percentile, at 146, was lower than Florida Coastals 25%. Further proof of Florida Coastals more selective admission standards is that the school admitted only 46% of applicants for Fall 2017 and only 30% for Spring 2018. In contrast, Thomas Cooley Law School admitted 85.6% of applicants in 2017. (No information is available regarding Cooleys Spring 2018 class.) Furthermore, Cooley had a 25% LSAT for 2017 of 139. In fact, Cooleys 75% percentile LSAT, at 146, was lower than Florida Coastals 25%. The ABA noted that Florida Coastal had a persistent and substantial pattern of non-compliance with Standard 501(b), and I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. I have repeatedly noted that Florida Coastal, like its sister InfiLaw schools Charlotte and Arizona Summit, engaged in exploitative admission practices for several years (especially 2013-5). There is certainly an argument for sanctioning schools for their past practices. But, Thomas Cooley has engaged in a similar pattern of exploitative admission practices for years, a pattern which continues to this day, and the ABA gave Cooley a pass, apparently based on promises of future improvements. In contrast, Florida Coastal voluntarily began to improve its admission standards, and announced a detailed and specific plan to raise standards even further, in October 2016, over a year before the ABA found the school out of compliance. The ABA should reward schools which take steps to voluntarily correct their non-compliance, not make it more difficult for schools to comply by imposing sanctions which will discourage students with reasonable aptitude from attending. If the ABA wants to appropriately punish Florida Coastal for its past transgressions, it should order Coastal to provide debt relief to students who never should have been admitted in the first place and flunked out or never passed the bar. The ABA also cited a high attrition rate for Coastals fall entering class of 2017. According to the lawsuit, 20 of 66 students who matriculated in Fall 2017 were academically dismissed because they fell below the 2.0 law school grade point average required to remain in good standing, a 30% attrition rate. According to the lawsuit, five of these 20 students stopped attending classes or dropped out for personal reasons. The ABA has a rebuttable presumption that an attrition rate over 20% is evidence of exploitative admissions practices. In this case, I believe the presumption should not apply. The primary purpose of the 20% rule, as I see it, is to ensure that law schools are not admitting students with obviously poor aptitude, primarily for the purpose of taking their tuition money. But there is no evidence that this is what Florida Coastal did in Fall 2017. If the school were seeking to exploit these students for financial reasons, it would place them on academic probation and allow them to continue for at least another semester. What it looks like to me is that Florida Coastal admitted a group of students who appeared to have a reasonably good chance of succeeding, then gave them a rigorous, challenging program with tough, realistic, grading that weeded out those without the aptitude or drive to succeed. Dismissing such students after one semester ensures that such students only waste a few months of their lives and dont incur crippling debt. That is exactly what opportunity law schools should be doing. Yet, ironically, the ABA also cited Florida Coastal for a violation of Standard 301(a) for not having a sufficiently rigorous program of education. Although I am admittedly not privy to all the information the ABA has, I have seen nothing in Florida Coastals program of education that suggests it is less rigorous than the typical J.D. program. Over the last four years, I have perhaps been Florida Coastals most outspoken critic. But the point of that criticism was to get Florida Coastal to change its practices and behave responsibly. It appears to me that Florida Coastal has taken that criticism to heart and is making a genuine effort to turn things around. Dean Scott DeVito has done a deep dive into the numbers to understand what kind of students with what kind of LSAT scores and grades have a reasonable chance of success at Florida Coastal, and he has put that plan into action, even though it has required making drastic and painful cuts to faculty and staff. That kind of effort should be acknowledged. I have no problem with the ABA being tough. But if it is to be tough, it must also be consistent in its approach and transparent in its reasoning. By imposing tough remedial measures on Florida Coastal, while ignoring other law schools with current and ongoing egregious admission practices (e.g. Charleston and Southern), and by its inconsistent actions toward Thomas Cooley and other law schools, the ABA appears to be arbitrary and capricious rather than firm but fair, and that is not good for legal education or the profession. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 09:03 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e33b7c8 4 Editorial #Editorial,mako-brimob,prison-riot,prison,terrorism,police,prison-overcapacity,National-Police Free First, we would like to offer our condolences to family members of the five police officers who died in Wednesdays riot at the detention center of the National Polices Mobile Brigade headquarters (Mako Brimob). There is still no official account of their deaths, but based on what we have heard so far, these police officers could in fact be victims of a system that failed them. The fact that the standoff, which took place in a facility operated by the polices elite force, lasted almost 40 hours shows that these five officers were doomed from the start. The riot was actually a disaster waiting to happen. The Mako Brimob detention center was not designed to function as a high-security prison capable of housing terror detainees. In other countries, terror detainees are considered too dangerous to be held in regular detention sites, and are mostly locked up in high-security facilities such as Guantanamo Bay detention camp or Detention Site Green in Thailand. The detention center was built as a temporary holding facility for police officers facing criminal charges, and served as a branch of the overcrowded Salemba detention center. Despite being a holding facility for terror detainees, many have pointed out that security had been lax at Mako Brimob, with visitors for both regular and terror detainees being granted the same access to the premises. Numerous reports that these terror inmates broke into the investigators room and took away their guns could indicate that there are simply too many holes in the facilitys security. We are already familiar with stories of things being smuggled into and out of prison, to the point that we are no longer surprised when it is revealed that a drug kingpin ran their operation from inside the penitentiary. The Mako Brimob detention center is part of the countrys corrupt penitentiary system, and it likely suffers from the same problem. And then there is the overcrowding problem. There has been no official figure on how many inmates or detainees are being held at Mako Brimob, but police have acknowledged that the number of prisoners is too many to handle. The facility houses everything from police officers facing criminal charges, civilians detained for corruption and blasphemy, to radicals held on terror charges. According to police data, there are currently 165 people detained at the facility on convictions or charges of terrorism. Following Wednesdays riot, 155 of these terror inmates were transferred to the maximum-security Nusakambangan prison island off Central Java, a decision that should have been made much earlier. Terror detainees who pose a high security risk should be held in separate cells, but the problem of overcrowding has allowed them to come into contact with other detainees, resulting in two riots in less than seven months. Wednesdays standoff began over access to food, while in November last year, terror convicts started a riot over access to cell phones. If these detainees could start a riot over such trivial matters, then the countrys prison system is in serious trouble. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin M. Mirza Ardi (The Jakarta Post) Banda Aceh Fri, May 11, 2018 09:56 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e3402ce 3 Opinion aceh,regional-economy,regional-administrations,corruption,corruption-eradication-commission,corruption-eradication,infrastructure Free It has been a decade since Aceh began to receive special autonomy funding in 2008. According to Law No. 11/ 2006, the funding should be used for six strategic sectors, namely education, health, infrastructure, economic empowerment, poverty reduction and social welfare. However, Aceh remains the poorest province in Sumatra with high unemployment. One explanation is the predatory elites who have sucked up the funds through government programs. This parasitic behavior has been able to survive for a decade because of a lack of an opposition movement in Aceh. To make special autonomy more effective, the central government must intervene to monitor the implementation of the funding and establish the rule of law to combat corruption in the region. Following the Helsinki peace agreement between the government and the then Free Aceh Movement (GAM), former GAM members without close ties to Indonesias political elite became the new ruling class unlike other provinces where many of the local elites were holdovers from the New Orders patrimonial system. Almost a decade ago the Indonesianist Edward Aspinall, in his article Combatants to Contractors (Indonesia journal) detailed how the former GAM used its influence including intimidation to win construction tenders. From 2005 onward, Aceh arguably became the largest construction project in the history of the developing world, to rebuild the province almost from scratch following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. To win tenders, those bidding for the projects, with neither knowledge nor experience in construction, used rampant violence and bribery. After winning contracts and securing about 10 percent of the budget, projects were subcontracted to others; hence the winners gained a lot of money without doing any construction work. In the resulting unholy trinity of contractors, predatory politicians and parasite-bureaucrats, some contractors became politicians and vice versa. Those who were not politicians needed close ties to politicians to help them win projects. The contractor-politicians often chaired the tender committees of given projects, and could thus determine budget planning and project locations. So, in 2008, when the special autonomy funding was released, the funds were available to this alliance of predators, which included bureaucrats who could be bribed. Acehs lack of industrialization also meant special autonomy funding became more important to the predatory elites, leading to massive corruption. Four years after the funding was officially available by 2012 Aceh was named the second-most corrupt province, and in 2014 it became the worst. A sharia-based bylaw against corruption has never been drafted, as such a qanun would curb the elites interests and behavior. The focus on infrastructure was justified following the great losses from the 2004 disaster; however, the big projects also provided large material benefits for the elites and their allies. Of note are projects with no relation to the peoples economic empowerment such as luxurious buildings for regents offices, the palace for the Wali Nanggroe, Acehs guardian, and the electric umbrella for the Great Mosque Baiturrahman. Much of the disappointment in public services has been blamed on massive corruption. Meanwhile, the fund redistribution has neglected, for instance, the majority of Acehs workforce the peasants. To date they have not seen a policy aimed at empowering them through, say, land ownership. Large-scale infrastructure projects to develop the agricultural sector into an agroindustry are nonexistent, amid little interest by the elites and the disorganized condition of farmers. At election time, politicians can simply blame farmers economic problems on the central government, or divert voters with trivial issues such as the Aceh flag, anthem or other official symbols. So, after 10 years, special autonomy funding has only made politicians and contractors rich with no significant pressure from society, while the rest of society, except civil servants need to struggle to survive. Criticism is much louder against Jakarta rather than against the powerful in Aceh. So, it doesnt matter how badly the special funding has been managed and distributed, there has been no strong political force able to stop the practice. A significant reaction in Aceh only occurs when triggered by issues related to religion or ethno-nationalism. We have not witnessed, for instance, mass protests by farmers or fishermen. Except for a few local anticorruption NGOs, no political parties or religious organization has clearly campaigned against corruption. Therefore, special funds for any province is no guarantee that local governments can develop their economies. The central government and international NGOs may create many workshops for good governance in Aceh. However, as long as the structure of predatory power is not broken, nothing will change. The special funding will end in 2027. The only feasible way to ensure the funds meet their objective is for the central government to interfere in its use. Urgent action is first needed in an in-depth evaluation into what happened in the last 10 years. The evaluation should detect the corrupters and the loopholes in the system. The contractors, politicians and bureaucrats found to be corrupt should be blacklisted or jailed while the system needs to be more transparent and accountable. Second, the central government needs to closely monitor how special autonomy is exercised for the next 10 years to prevent the funding being hijacked by the predatory elites. And last, heavy punishments should be dealt out to corruptors as lessons to others. The reelected Governor Irwandi Yusuf should support such attempts through regulations, as he has promised to make procedures for procurement and tenders without fees. As a former governor who knows very well how corruption happens in Aceh, there is no guarantee that he and his administration will be clean from corruption either. Therefore, social and political pressure is needed from local activists and the central government. The central government can postpone the funding until bureaucratic reform is established in Aceh. *** The writer is a researcher with the Center for Social and Cultural Research (PPISB) at Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, and a graduate of public policy and management, the University of Melbourne, Australia. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin - (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Sat, May 12, 2018 Sebastian Partogi The Jakarta Post/Nusa Dua, Bali Policymakers and regulatory bodies must formulate regulations to make sure that the financial technology (fintech) sector complies with security standards as well as contributes to society's greater good. That conclusion was reached by a group of panelists comprising Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Chairman Thomas Lembong, Financial Services Authority (OJK) Board of Commissioners Chairman Wimboh Santoso as well as Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowardojo -- who was not present during the event but had his statements read out by a BI representative -- during a discussion on fintech regulation during the Next Indonesian Unicorn International Summit on Thursday. The summit was organized by the Indonesian Venture Capital and Startups Association (Amvesindo) and the Ministry of Communications and Information and held at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center in Nusa Dua, Bali, from May 9 to 10. The first summit of its kind, which providing a communication platform for Indonesian digital start-up companies and international investors, attracted around 70 local start-ups and around 70 international venture capitalists -- from countries such as China, India, the United States and Singapore. Throughout the summit, over 1,023 meetings took place between local businesses and foreign venture capitalists to explore cooperation opportunities. The growing fintech sector comprises, among other things, people-to-people lending as well as crowdfunding platforms. "Regulators and policymakers must understand how the digital economy works, so we can manage the risks associated with the fintech sector," Wimboh asserted. He explained that the biggest risk for the fintech sector was that these companies, due to a lack of transparency, could create one-sided benefits at the expense of a wider public. He added that fraud and financial failure remained the greatest risks, which could cause the wider public to suffer. According to Thomas, policymakers tended to be slow in responding to the rapid changes in the digital economy. Making a point: Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Wimboh Santoso speaks at the first Next Indonesian Unicorn (NextICorn) Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono) "Therefore, regulators across the world have to constantly communicate with one another [to keep abreast of the latest trends in the fintech sector]. This is a lesson from the 2008 financial crisis, that a collapse of the banking system in one place would create a domino effect elsewhere," he said. According to Wimboh, regulatory bodies and policymakers, including the OJK, could come up with relevant policies on the fintech sector by engaging with business players as well as other stakeholders. The regulations, however, needed to adhere to a number of principles, he added. "The first principle is fairness, so the fintech companies would not abuse users. They must be transparent to their customers, so that by the time these customers decide to buy one of their products, the customers have already understood and assessed the risks brought by these products," Wimboh said. He added that since investors also bore the risks in funding these fintech companies, the companies also had to be transparent to the investors, to allow the investors to hold them accountable for possible failures. "For instance, people-to-people lending platforms must disclose not only their pricing mechanisms but also verify their borrowers' identity [] to guarantee their system's safety," he explained. According to Wimboh, another important fintech regulatory principle was that policymakers should always bear in mind is that the sector must contribute to the improvement of society as a whole. In his statement, read out by the BI representative, Agus, also acknowledged that the fintech sector could disrupt the labor market, thereby worsening socioeconomic inequality. To avoid some of the negative and disruptive social impacts of the fintech sector, Agus suggested that conventional banks and fintech companies work together to find middle ground in their operations to create prosperity for the country. Wimboh added that, while it would take some time for Indonesia to really synchronize its fintech regulations with those of the world, the country's government could start by discussing with its Southeast Asian counterparts first. According to him, when regulated properly, the fintech sector could benefit society in a number of ways, especially in terms of financial inclusion. "Indonesia is a scattered island country; fintech could help people in remote areas who can't access financial services and therefore are very poor. With the help of the internet, we can reach these people without having to be present physically in cities where they live," he said. "Through fintech, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could also benefit from crowdfunding mechanisms and [online] distribution channels," he explained further, adding that 70 percent of Indonesia's 50 million SMES were unable to get funds from conventional banks. He said he believed fintech could help Indonesia absorb more people into the workforce through the SMEs, while helping the enterprises reach more customers through enhanced online presence. Big talk: Investment Coordinating Board (BPKM) chairman Thomas Lembong (left to right) in discussion with Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara, Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Wimboh Santoso and Bank Indonesias head of Payment Systems Policy Onny Widanarko at the first Next Indonesian Unicorn (NextICorn) Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono) Meanwhile, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said his ministry had taken a number of actions, including simplifying digital business registration procedures, to help local startups, including fintech, and make maximum social impact. "For example, previously the ministry had 40 ministerial regulations [on digital business registration], and we have condensed them into only one regulation. Whereas previously the ministry had 35 types of [digital business] permits, we have condensed them into only five types," he explained on the sidelines of the summit. "We have also shortened digital business registration processes and made them more efficient. For instance, instead of sending your product to our ministry's laboratory to be examined, you could do it in your own laboratory and send the results to us to be analyzed instead," he added. According to Rudiantara, the procedural simplification has made digital business registration faster. "If you started the process before 12 p.m., you would have your permit issued by late afternoon," he said. He added that the ministry strove to shift its paradigm from being merely a digital economy regulator, but also to become a facilitator and accelerator as well. According to him, the ministry fulfills its facilitator role by organizing platforms like this summit, catalyzing engagement between local startups and foreign investors. Munching on bamboo and lazing under a fan spraying cooling mist, "Jackie Chan" is in a relaxed mood, one of three red pandas once destined for the exotic wildlife trade but now instead settling into a new home in a leafy Laos sanctuary. The three animals, nicknamed Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Peace, were among six found stuffed into crates during a random check of a van traveling from China over the border into northern Laos in January. Dehydrated and lacking food, three died within days, while the survivors were taken to a sanctuary run by the non-profit Free the Bears in the hills around the tourist hotspot of Luang Prabang. It was "very very hard" to save the three who perished, says Sengaloun Vongsay, Laos programme manager for Free the Bears. It was the first discovery of red pandas in Laos, experts said, fueling fears the endangered species may be the latest targets of the illegal pet industry, coveted for their shiny copper fur and "cute" appearance. "They're eating well, they're generally pretty relaxed," said Michelle Walhout Tanneau, operations manager for Free the Bears. Landlocked Laos is a key transit hub in the illegal and lucrative global trade in wildlife, sharing borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. In January Thai authorities arrested Boonchai Bach, a Vietnamese national with Thai citizenship and an alleged kingpin in Asia's illegal wildlife trade, for rhino horn trafficking. Read also: Red pandas rescued in Laos stir fears over exotic pet trade Boonchai and the Bach family are believed to have operated for years from northeast Thailand bordering Laos, where law enforcement is weak and corruption widespread. Freeland, a counter-trafficking organisation that worked with Thai police on his case, on Friday said the 41-year-old Boonchai was this week jailed for two-and-a-half years. Laos' government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the red panda seizure, though Free the Bears said that one Chinese national had been arrested over the find. With their forest habitats under threat, red panda populations in Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar are vulnerable. Free the Bears has provided temporary enclosures and set aside a section of tree-covered land where the red pandas could live in case they could not be released back into the wild. The two superstar nicknames were given by staff, while "Peace" was chosen by a donor. Rod Mabin, a spokesman for the non-profit, said the group was consulting with experts and the red pandas would live in the sanctuary for the foreseeable future. "Ultimately we'll try to make the decision which is best for the future health and safety of the animals and to provide them the best life possible," he said. Designer Oscar Lawalata is preparing to showcase 100 batik cloths at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Supported by the Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation, the batik cloths will be displayed in an exhibition titled Batik for the World, slated to take place at the headquarters from June 6 to 12. Kompas.com reported that designers Edward Hutabarat and Denny Wirawan are also among the delegates. A press conference on Tuesday saw Oscar Lawalata explaining that Indonesians today were proud to wear batik. While batik was added to UNESCOs intangible heritage list in 2009, Oscar realizes the importance of preserving the heritage. We need to make the world aware of how batik is developing in Indonesia, said Oscar in a press conference at Galeri Indonesia Kaya, Jakarta. He will, therefore, bring six batik brands from Kediri, Sidoarjo, Madura, Trenggalek, Ponorogo, and Tuban. It took him two years to collect the cloth. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to check out the batik and meet around 30 batik craftspeople and witness the intricacy of batik making. They will see how malam (hot liquid wax), canting (special copper-bowled implement) and other tools are used to make batik cloth. I intend to show visitors that batik is a luxury product [based on the way it is made], said Oscar. The exhibition will also allow visitors to give batik making a try. Oscar emphasized that this was not his exhibition. The batik and the craftspeople were the stars, while designers transformed and presented batik works that were ready-to-wear. He recalled saying in a previous presentation at UNESCO that the exhibition would focus on the craftspeople. Read also: Natural-dyed batik businesses flourishing in Yogyakarta Batik as a main course Around 24 batik-themed clothes will be showcased in the conference hall of UNESCO headquarters, in front of cultural delegates from all over the world. Denny Wirawan is set to present his Kudus batik collection carrying the theme Wedhari (fairies), similar to what he showcased at the end of 2017. The collection comprises glamorous evening gowns featuring stylish and contemporary designs. Meanwhile, Oscar is preparing to present a collection of cocktail dresses, considering that it will already be summer in Paris in June. Summer colors, embroidery and beads will accentuate the ready-to-wear collection. Edward Hutabarat, on the other hand, is going to showcase wedding attire featuring coastal-themed Pekalongan and Cirebon batik. He expects the batik to be the equivalent of a main course in meals. This is about how we make batik to attract ladies who are wearing the likes of limited edition Hermes bags and Celine shoes. And I make a coat out of Parang batik, so that they wear it as a main course, where the bag and shoes are just desserts, explained Edward. In the end, Edward said a good main course had to be paired with good dessert, and that guests should say thank you for the beautiful dinner. He is crossing his fingers that the exhibition will be met with an enthusiastic response. (mut) A last-minute technical glitch prompted SpaceX on Thursday to postpone for at least 24 hours the first commercial flight of its updated Falcon 9 rocket, a launch vehicle tailored for eventual crewed missions into orbit. The rockets onboard computers halted the countdown about one minute before the newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9 was set to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its maiden mission, to carry a communications satellite into orbit for Bangladesh. A few minutes after blast-off was aborted, mission controllers for billionaire Elon Musks private launch company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, said they would try again on Friday. They will have roughly the same two-hour-plus launch window running from 4:14 p.m. to 6:21 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT to 2221 GMT). The precise reason for Thursdays automatic shutdown of the final launch sequence was not determined. Launch commanders will have to sift through data logs produced by onboard computers to learn what might have gone wrong. The Falcon 9 Block-5 comes equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor. Its recoverable main-stage booster is designed to be reused at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, allowing more frequent launches at lower cost a key to the SpaceX business model. Read also: Who pays if Elon Musk's SpaceX launch fails? Enhanced rocket reusability also is a core tenet of Musks broader objectives for normalizing space travel and ultimately sending humans to Mars. SpaceX so far has safely return-landed 24 of its boosters and reflown 11 of them. The Block-5 is the first rocket from Musks California-based company to satisfy NASAs standards for its Commercial Crew Program to carry agency astronauts to the International Space Station. But NASA still requires seven successful flights before the new rocket receives final certification for a manned mission. The Block-5 will also be used to launch U.S. Air Force global positioning satellites and other high-value, military and national security payloads. For this weeks flight of the new Falcon 9, SpaceX will be launching the Bangladeshi governments first satellite, Bangabandhu-1, into Earth orbit. Block-5 marks the final version of the Falcon 9 lineup before SpaceX introduces its super heavy-lift launch vehicle, dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which will be designed to send manned missions to Mars. SpaceX is one of two private companies hired by NASA to ferry astronaut crews to the space station. The other is Boeing Co Opened on May 4 and set to run until June 4, this years festival the 11th so far presents more than 100 artworks by 54 domestic and foreign artists. The festivals theme this year is Enlightenment: Towards Various Future, and it features a beautiful arrangement of artworks, accentuated and enhanced by the utilization of new lighting, projection and sound technology. Some of the works of art are attached to the walls, while others are hanging from the ceilings of the exhibition rooms or are just put on the floor. We started to seriously work with technology for ARTJOG since 2015, event curator Bambang Witjaksono recently told The Jakarta Post at the Jogja National Museum, where ARTJOG is being held. Bambang said he had the idea on employing technology during the 2015 ARTJOG, because at the time there had been no big-scale art events that optimized the use of new media in Indonesia. He added that, during the initial stage, the technology was just used as it was. Projectors, for example, previously were used just like they were used in a business presentation. Apricots from Damascus by Atif Akin (JP/Tarko Sudiarno) But now, the participating artists can ask for more specific requirements regarding, for example, the lumens, so they will be able to present the details of their respective works perfectly, Bambang said. More detailed requirements on the projectors make it possible for artists to display their artworks on exhibition walls without losing their artistic values. The same is the case with the use of videos. The artists can now ask for more specific resolutions to be synchronized with the media they use as well as the picture they want to present. Thanks to that, Bambang said, ARTJOG had, for the last few years, been receiving support and sponsorships from technology-based companies, including those producing video, lighting, sound systems and LCD projectors. Bambang added that there were at least seven works that used projectors for their display during this years festival, not mentioning those using video, sound, special lighting or censor technologies. For example, an artwork called Reflex by Setu Legi and Gatot Danar Sulistiyanto involves a multichannel spatial sound projection, special lighting, a mirror and canvas on PVC pipes. This artwork involves sound frequencies aimed at influencing the spectators to create a specific reaction. Pernyataan Tidak Tertulis (Unwritten Statement) by Bandu Darmawan (JP/Tarko Sudiarno) Technology has become an inseparable part of ARTJOG, Bambang said. Technology, Bambang added, was also needed to manage the use of electricity in the three-story exhibition building, were the electricity supply is divided into three sections, one for each floor. With such an arrangement, the organizer can calculate and distribute the power supply for the best result. For the electric pump used in Batu Bernapas (Breathing Stone), for example, we have to know exactly how much power it needs and whether it will overheat when operated continuously. All of these things have to be carefully calculated, Bambang said, referring to Agung Tato Suryantos work. Bambang has high hopes that technology can be put to greater use at future festivals. Maybe we will be able to use technology that we currently do not know about, such as holograms, for example, he said. Meanwhile, Shimizu Tomoya, country manager of leading technology company PT Epson Indonesia, concurred, saying ARTJOG provided space for new ideas in art, where someone can find various interdisciplinary art presentations. ARTJOG 2018 proves that projectors can be applied in various fields for various purposes, Tomoya said. When fishing, local laws often require anglers to throw back any fish that are too small. But a study Thursday found it is more important to toss back big ones, especially females. That's because they produce far more eggs -- and larger ones -- than small fish, and do a disproportionate amount of work when it comes to perpetuating their species, said the report in the journal Science. "Our results are critical for fisheries management," said study co-author D. Ross Robertson, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. "They tell us to reduce fishing pressure on large fish rather than smaller ones in order to maintain and replenish stocks." For the study, researchers at Monash University and the University of Sydney examined the number, volume and energy invested in eggs by 342 different marine species. They consulted publications in Google Scholar about wild fish, combined with data on egg-quality of a range of species collected by Robertson. Read also: Australia to open more marine parks to commercial fishing A single female fish may release anywhere between 11 to almost 58 million eggs per clutch, they found. But the relationship between size and egg production was not a straight linear one. Rather, as the fish's weight went up, the effort put into reproduction rose "exponentially," said the report. The findings run counter to popular theories and fisheries models that assume, for example, that a two-kilogram fish puts out as many eggs as a pair of one-kilogram fish. For instance, researchers found that a single 30-kg female produces more eggs than about 28 small females weighing two kilos each, for a collective weight of 56 kg. In most marine species, larger females invested "disproportionately more in the number of eggs and the size of individual eggs," said the report. "Therefore, taking a single big fish has a bigger impact on the fish population than taking multiple small ones." The study aligns with prior research showing that big fish are important for replenishing marine populations, particularly since climate change is expected to shrink the size of many fish. It also has implications for managing invasive species, like lionfish, whose largest females appear to be found in deep water and are difficult to eradicate, said Roberts. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 09:18 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e33c276 1 City eviction,housing,military,South-Jakarta,protest Free Residents of Jakarta Military Command (Kodam) Jaya housing complex in Tanah Kusir, South Jakarta, condemned on Thursday the detention of four during a recent protest against evictions in the area. Dozens of residents took to the street and burned tires on nearby Jl. Arteri Pondok Indah on Wednesday to resist evictions from several houses by military personnel. They refused to be evicted by force since a lawsuit on the case was still under court examination. The South Jakarta Police detained four residents involved in the protest, but later released them. "We are reporting the case to [the Army's internal affairs division] today and will send a letter to President [Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] to notify of human rights violations [in the detention]," said Dewi Rizki, a representative of the residents. Kodam Jaya was planning to evict the occupants of 30 houses in the complex as, based on the military's claim, the houses belonged to them. Currently, neither military personnel nor former personnel live in the houses. Some of them were rented out or occupied by children of former personnel. The Wednesday protest caused traffic jams on Jl. Arteri Pondok Indah and nearby areas. The East Jakarta District Court has ruled in favor of the military in the property dispute. But on March 13, the residents filed an appeal to contest the court's ruling and continued to challenge the military's ownership of the Kodam Jaya housing area. (vny/cal/wit) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 12:00 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e344d4a 1 National indigenous-people,indigenous-people-bill,forestry,social-forestry-program,customary-law,customary-forest,Constitutional-Court,AMAN,#PostScript,#Explainer,explainer Free The countrys adat (indigenous) communities have pushed for a law regulating and protecting their rights, hoping it would end decades of neglect and abuse. Heres a brief explanation about Indonesias adat communities and the bill: Who are the adat communities? There has been no agreement among international scholars on the exact definition of indigenous people, which has become also a subject of intellectual debate. Indonesia itself has numerous regulations on adat communities and some of the documents give different definitions of indigenous people. This lack of clarity is considered problematic by the communities. Kurnia Warman, an Andalas University customary law expert and director of rights group Epistema Institute, says there are four laws offering different definitions of indigenous people. All of them use the term masyarakat hukum adat (customary law community) for the internationally used term "indigenous people". The 2009 Environment Protection and Management Law, for instance, defines a customary law community as a group that inhabits a particular geographical area from generation to generation, has a tie with the origin of its ancestors and has a strong relationship with the environment. Another definition can be found in the 1999 Forestry Law. It stipulates that a customary law community as a group whose members still live in a paguyuban (traditional community) has clear customary boundaries, has a prevailing system of laws that is abided by its members and still utilize forest areas to meet daily needs. The other two laws, the plantation law and village law, also have their own definitions. There is no official estimate of the number of indigenous people in Indonesia. The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), however, claims in its website that the group represents around 17 million individuals from 2,332 customary law communities who have lived in their respective customary areas for generations, have sovereignty over land and natural resources and have their cultural and everyday lives regulated by customary law. Does the Constitution recognize adat communities? According to Article 18B (2) of the Constitution, the state recognizes and respects kesatuan masyarakat hukum adat (integrated adat law communities) along with their traditional customary rights, as long as these remain in existence and are in accordance with societal development and the principle of Indonesia, and shall be regulated by law. Article 28I (3) of the Constitution also says that the cultural identity and rights of traditional communities are respected in accordance with current developments in society. Why the special law, then? Numerous rights violations against indigenous communities have been documented by activists and media reports, such as land conflicts and criminalization. Rikardo Simarmata, a customary law lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, says the land conflicts stem from overlapping claims by indigenous communities, the government and companies. In a national inquiry released in March 2016, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) reported that the number of complaints it received from indigenous people reached 117 in 2012, 113 in 2013 and 213 in 2014. The inquiry said most of the cases were related to welfare, including the right to a livelihood and a place to live. One of the root causes, the commission reported, was a state development agenda that is strongly biased toward economic growth and the dismissal of indigenous communities' rights as a mere issue of legality and administration. In 2012, AMAN filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court to challenge several articles in the 1999 Forestry Law that prevent indigenous people from collectively using the natural resources in their customary territories, arguing that the Forestry Law contradicted the Constitution. The apex court finally approved the judicial review in May 2013, triggering hopes that indigenous communities could regain their customary forest areas. But the ruling did not approve one request by AMAN for the revocation of an article that requires any indigenous community to be officially recognized by the local government. What is the customary law community bill? The House of Representatives initiated the bill during the 2009-2014 tenure of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonos administration after receiving a draft proposal from AMAN. The bill has been included in the Houses top priority list for the past two consecutive years. Rikardo, who assisted AMAN in creating the draft bill, says there are two important provisions in the document. First, the bill stipulates the establishment of a special team to coordinate efforts to protect and expedite the recognition of indigenous people's rights. Second, the bill stipulates that indigenous people no longer need to be officially recognized by their local government to have the rights to their customary land. Rikardo remined concerned, however, that the latest decision by President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration could be seen by many as a sign that the government is not serious in fulfilling its promise to improve the livelihood of Indonesias indigenous people. Will such law be good for Indonesia as a whole? Studies have shown that the environment benefits from customary-based natural resources management. Indigenous people in the Maluku Islands, North Maluku, in the eastern part of Indonesia, for instance, have for nearly 400 years utilized a sea management system named sasi laut, which prohibits the premature harvesting of marine products. However, the implementation of customary principles that govern social behavior in some regions in Indonesia has become a subject of debate among scholars, because the principles have had an adverse impact on the communities vulnerable groups, such as women. A 2016 study conducted by a group of University of Indonesia (UI) academics found that customary-based settlement of rape case in some regions in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) often failed to protect the victims, who were forced to marry the perpetrators. The study also found that women were prone to domestic violence committed by their husbands as a consequence of the "shifting perspective" toward the tradition of belis (dowry). "Husbands consider wives as their possession, because they think they have spent a lot of money to marry their wives," the scholars said in the study. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 17:08 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e3590bb 1 City anies-baswedan,rally,Monas,Jerusalem Free Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has attended a rally in Jakarta in protest over the planned relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Aksi Indonesia Bebaskan Baitul Maqdis (Indonesian Action for the Liberation of Jerusalem) was held at the National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta on Friday. The protesters, who were of all age groups and filled up to a quarter of Monas Square, were organized under the so-called 212 Alumni group, in reference to people who had rallied last December against then-Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islam Defenders Troops (LPI). This National Monument Park, which used to be called Ikada Park, was the meeting place of the Indonesian people and our founding fathers right after our independence. Today, Jakarta is proud that [the protesters] stressed that Palestine, too, wants to be independent, Anies told reporters after a mass Friday prayer at Monas, which he attended. It is clear that the crowds gathered at Monas today want to send a message to the world that Indonesia is consistent in supporting the Palestinian struggle of independence, Anies said. He said the Indonesian people supported the diplomatic efforts by the Indonesian government to support the cause of the Palestinians. Analysts have argued that Anies Baswedan won the governorship of Jakarta in May owed to Muslim voters, who - mobilized by identity politics - decided to throw their support behind Anies. (ami) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 11:19 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e3434cb 1 Business bank-indonesia,repo,rate,rupiah,weakening,reference-rate,Seven-Day-Reverse-Repo-Rate,economy Free Bank Indonesia (BI) hinted on Friday that it would increase its benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate, which is currently at 4.25 percent, because of consistent external pressure that could potentially disrupt the country's economy. The BIs board of governors will meet on May 16 and 17. Bank Indonesia has large enough room to increase the seven-day reserve repo rate. The policy will be implemented consistently and pre-emptively to ensure [economic] stability, BI said in a statement issued on Friday. The central bank no longer considers the rupiah's depreciation to be in line with the countrys macroeconomic fundamentals, and believes that stronger external pressure could potentially affect the continuity of the countrys economic growth. BI will firmly and consistently lead and prioritize its monetary policy to ensure stability, it said. The global challenges include a possible increase of the Fed Fund Rate, an increase of the global oil price and the geopolitical risks caused by the increasing tension of the United States-China trade dispute and the cancelation of the US-Iran nuclear agreement, which strengthened the US dollar exchange rate against other currencies, including the rupiah. BI recorded that from May 1 to 9, the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar weakened by 1.2 percent, while the Thai bath weakened by 1.76 percent and the Turkish lira weakened by 5.27 percent. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the rupiah has weakened by 3.67 percent, the Philippine peso by 4.04 percent, the Indian rupee by 5.6 percent, the Brazilian real by 7.9 percent, the Russian rubel by 8.84 percent and the Turkish lira by 11.42 percent. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 16:30 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e35804b 1 City jakarta,CityCouncil,Performance,bylaws,deliberation Free The Jakarta Council has started deliberations on four more bylaws, namely pertaining to education management, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a street light tax and a parking tax. To date, the council has only passed four bylaws this year, namely on industries, markets, regional public firm (PUD) Pasar Jaya and the 2017-2022 regional mid-term plan, which were all passed simultaneously on April 10. Deliberations on the first three bylaws began in 2017. Last year, the council passed only 12 out of the 32 bylaws listed in the 2017 city legislation program (Prolegda). The remaining 20 bylaws were then included in this years list. A member of the councils legislation body (Bapemperda), Bestari Barus, previously said that completing all 45 bylaws by the end of this year would be impossible as it took one month to legally draft each bylaw. I think we can only complete 18 bylaws this year, the NasDem party politician told The Jakarta Post last week. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 15:26 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e351a0a 1 City Aman-Abdurrahman,IS,Thamrin,attack,mako-brimob,Islamic-State,#MakoBrimobRiot,terrorism,riot Free The court hearing scheduled for Friday morning in the terror trial of the most prominent ideologue in the Islamic State (IS) movement in Indonesia, Aman Abdurrahman, has been postponed for technical difficulties. The prosecutors encountered difficulties in transporting the defendant from his cell at the National Polices Brigade Mobile headquarters (Mako Brimob) detention center in Depok, West Java, two days following a deadly riot that broke out between detainees and the police. We cannot bring the defendant to the court, therefore we cannot read out the charges today. We request [a hearing] postponement, prosecutor Anita told the South Jakarta District Court as quoted by kompas.com. The judicial panel granted the request and postponed the hearing until next Friday. Aman, the leader of terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), is on trial for several recent bombing attacks in the country in recent years, including the deadly January 2016 bombing on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta. Amans lawyer Asrudin Hatjani mentioned separately that prosecutors were unable to transport Aman to the court because conditions at the Mako Brimob detention center in Depok were unclear. The riot that broke out on Tuesday evening led to a prison siege that ended on Thursday morning with police forces storming the facility. Five police officers and one inmate were killed during the siege. Asrudin said he had tried to meet his client, but could not because the detention center was still closed to the public. From the information he had gathered from police officers, Aman was in good condition and was being held in a separate detention block from other IS-linked inmates. After the riot, the police have moved 145 of the 155 terrorist inmates involved in the rioting not all 155 as reported earlier from Mako Brimob to the Nusakambangan maximum security prison island in Cilacap, Central Java. Aman remains in detention at Mako Brimob as a defendant in ongoing court trials. The terrorist inmates, who held a police officer hostage during the nearly 40-hour siege, had demanded to speak with Aman during initial negotiations early on Tuesday, a demand the police later met. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marton Dunai and Krisztina Than (Budapest) Reuters Fri, May 11, 2018 09:36 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e33d61a 2 World European-Union,Hungary,united-states,Europe,Viktor-Orban,migrant-crisis,EU Free The European Union should give up its "delusional" idea of a United States of Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday in pledging to defend his nation's Christian values and fight EU migrant settlement quotas. Orban, a maverick anti-immigration nationalist, was elected to a third straight four-year term by a landslide last month and is now the longest-serving premier in the post-Communist history of the central European country. In eight years in office, he has put Hungary back on a sound economic footing but his backsliding on democracy, including a takeover of independent media and crackdown on non-governmental groups he sees as promoting liberal, open-border values, have put him at odds with Western partners in the EU. "The Union must function as an alliance of free nations and give up on its delusional nightmares of a United States of Europe," Orban told parliament in his inaugural speech. "The EU must return to the grounds of reality. As a first step, it must change its thinking about migration." Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU executive, has jokingly referred to Orban as a "dictator" over what critics say are the premier's autocratic leanings. Marton Gyongyosi, co-chairman of the main opposition party Jobbik, said after Orban's speech: "Hungary today is a country built on corruption, ruled and managed by oligarchs, a country which Hungarian youth leave in throngs." Orban has increased his control over the media and put allies in charge of once independent institutions. His hostility to accepting migrants - especially Muslims - into Hungary has put him in conflict with the Brussels-based EU, but proved popular in last month's vote. Orban has also built a class of loyal businessmen whose control of key industries has grown rapidly to fulfil a government goal of keeping them in Hungarian hands. He reiterated that his new government would build a "Christian democracy". He promised to boost growth and competitiveness and reverse a decline in Hungary's native population, while maintaining a tough line on immigration. "We will oppose the mandatory migrant settlement quotas... and will fight for the protection of borders," he said. Orban also pronounced the era of liberal democracy to be over. "We have replaced a shipwrecked liberal democracy with a 21st-century Christian democracy, which guarantees people's freedom, security," Orban told parliament. He outlined broad plans for the next 12 years, entailing rapid economic and social advancements under a conservative ideology, and said his foreign policy would depend in part on the influence of Germany, Russia and Turkey. "Hungary must prioritise geopolitical considerations over ideological thinking. Hungary is and will remain a dedicated member of the Western alliance system. But that does not change the geographical constraints," he said. "To our west is the land of German iron chancellors, to our east is the world of Slavic soldier peoples, and to our south are massive crowds of Muslim people. Berlin, Moscow, Istanbul - Hungary exists in this space. We need to make calculations based on this." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi Fri, May 11, 2018 21:01 1245 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e36173a 2 National poso,terrorism,terrorists Free The Poso Police have initiated a program called Polisi Madago Raya, which translates to kind-hearted police, which aims to create a safe and calm conditions in the area. Under the program, the Poso Police helped to accommodate the wish of a former terrorism convict, Mulyadi, to open a business to support the needs of his family. The Poso Police, together with several former terrorism convicts that are relatively secure financially, helped Mulyadi open a drinking water refilling depot named Khoirunnisa as his business activity at his home in Masamba village, Poso Pesisir district. The police said all facilities they provided were part of their deradicalization program in Poso. Poso Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Bogiek Sugiyarto officially opened Mulyadis drinking water depot on Thursday by cutting a ribbon at an event to mark the opening of his business. Mulyadi is a former terrorism convict who was involved as a courier supplying firearms from the terrorist group East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT). He was arrested at the house of his parents-in-law in Masamba at the beginning of February 2015. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France Fri, May 11, 2018 09:45 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e33e869 2 World Iran,France,united-states,Nuclear,sanctions Free France's foreign minister on Thursday condemned the United States for reimposing sanctions against foreign companies trading with Iran, labelling the move "unacceptable" in comments that expose the deepening rift between Washington and its European allies on the issue. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of a landmark deal curbing Iran's nuclear program and reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic and those who trade with it. The decision overturned years of painstaking diplomacy and left European allies scrambling to save the hard-fought deal. Washington has given European firms doing business in Iran up to six months to wind up investments or risk US sanctions and they are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with Iran. On Thursday France's top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian slammed those conditions, saying Washington needed to negotiate with its European allies on any sanctions that might affect their companies. "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable," he told the French daily Le Parisien. "The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed," he said. Europeans, he added, would "do everything to protect the interests of their companies" and planned to lead "tight negotiations" with Washington via the European Union. Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran deal has left his country diplomatically isolated. Tehran agreed in 2015 to curb its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for sanctions relief after mammoth negotiations with the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Russia. All the other signatories to the deal had called on Trump to stay with the agreement and condemned his decision to leave -- although Le Drian's criticisms are some of the most forceful yet from a key European ally. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 17:24 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e35ab8a 1 Business tourism,Indian-tourists,Malaysia,Singapore Free The government has said it is aiming at luring Indian tourists who regularly visit Malaysia and Singapore, given the limited number of direct flights between India and Indonesia. India is seen as a potentially major market that can help the government realize its ambition of welcoming 17 million foreign tourists this year, said Tourism Ministry marketing deputy II Nia Niscaya on Friday. This year, the government targets to welcome 700,000 tourists from India, up from 485,000 Indian tourist arrivals last year. "The target of 700,000 [Indian] tourists can't be reached only through direct flights. We have to work with others or we use Malaysia and Singapore as hubs," Nia said. Currently, only national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia serves direct flights from Mumbai to Denpasar. Nia said the government had to cooperate with local and foreign agents to attract Indian tourists who visit Singapore and Malaysia in order to encourage them to continue their holiday in Indonesia. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 16:22 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e3575a7 1 World Indonesia,US,Jerusalem,embassy,opposition,Palestine,diplomacy,Jokowi Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has reasserted Indonesia's stance in opposing the United States' decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying it would hamper peace in the disputed area. Speaking at the opening of a trilateral meeting between clerics from Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Bogor Palace on Friday, Jokowi said that the USs move to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital had deeply concerned the Muslim world. The President reiterated Indonesia's strong condemnation toward the decision, which broke international consensus and violated various resolutions issued by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and UN General Assembly (UNGA). "I hereby call on other countries not to follow [the US] in relocating their embassies to Jerusalem," Jokowi said. "The relocation has disrupted the peace process and has even threatened the peace itself." US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December last year was met with criticism and protests. The UN subsequently rejected the move and issued a resolution reaffirming that Jerusalem's status must be resolved through negotiations. Jokowi went on to urge the UNSC and UNGA to discuss and determine further measures to address the issue, while emphasizing Indonesia and its people's commitment to standing with the Palestinian people. "Palestine is always in the heart of Indonesia's diplomacy," Jokowi added. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru Fri, May 11 2018 Hundreds of residents, students and environmental activists staged a rally during President Joko Jokowi Widodos visit to Pekanbaru, Riau, on Wednesday. They urged Jokowi to cancel the governments plan to construct the Rokan Kiri multipurpose dam in Rokan Hulu, which they say threatened the livelihoods of people in the regency. In the rally, which was held in front of the Riau governors office, the protesters conveyed their concerns about possible impacts from the construction of the dam. Yesri Datuk Gunung, a local leadership figure from Cipang Kiri Hulu village, said the dam would destroy the lives of residents in four villages in Rokan VI Koto district. The villages he said would be affected are Cipang Kiri Hilir, Cipang Kiri Hulu, Tibawan and Cipang Kanan. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 11:56 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e343f6b 1 World #Jokowi,Jokowi,Mahathir,Malaysia,Indonesia-Malaysia,Malaysia-election,Mahathir-Mohamad,democracy Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has congratulated newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on his victory in an official phone call, and said that Indonesia-Malaysia relations would strengthen further under the new leader. Jokowi called the 92-year-old veteran Malaysian politician late Thursday evening after Mahathir's opposition alliance won against the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been in power for more than six decades. "I am delighted to hear that the democratic process [in Malaysia] went smoothly and safely," Jokowi said to Mahathir, the Presidential Media Bureau released in a statement on Friday. "I believe that under Mr. Mahathir's leadership, [Indonesia-Malaysia] relations will be improved further, and I pray that Mr. Mahathir will always be in good health to serve the mandate of the Malaysian people," the President added. Mahathir was sworn in on Thursday evening as the 7th Malaysian prime minister. He had previously served in the position for 22 years from 1981 to 2003. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 12:40 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e349c09 1 City rally,Jerusalem,united-states,Monas,Muslim Free Thousands of Muslims flocked to the National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta on Friday morning to join the Aksi Indonesia Bebaskan Baitul Maqdis (Indonesia for the Liberation of Jerusalem) rally to protest the planned May 14 relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Several Islamic groups, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islam Defenders Troop (LPI), joined the protest, which started around 4 a.m. at Istiqlal Mosque and is scheduled to finish at around 1 p.m. after the mass Friday prayer planned at Monas. The protesters represented all age groups, with several families spotted at Monas Park leading underage and school-age children to join the protest. Jakarta Sanitation Agency and Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency vehicles were parked at several locations in the vicinity to provide clean water and toilet facilities for the protesters. Dozens of Jakarta Police officers were stationed around Monas, which is located near the US Embassy and the Presidential Palace, and were diverting traffic from the area. We are anticipating the protest, which will be held in Monas and at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta Police spokesman Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Friday, as reported by kompas.com. The US Embassy in Jakarta has restricted its operations and reduced staff for the day, closing passport, notarial and visa services. The embassy also issued an alert to all US citizens in Jakarta to take precautions during the protest. (ami) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 10:46 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e3410e7 1 Business national-payment-gateway,banks,customers,University-of-Indonesia,researchers,comments Free The National Payment Gateway (GPN) may burden both consumers and banks as Bank Indonesia (BI) requires all bank customers to have at least one GPN card, the University of Indonesia's Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM UI) has said. LPEM UI researcher Chaikal Nuryakin said on Wednesday that based on BIs target, following the issuance of Article 43 of BI Regulation No. 19/10/PADG/2017, 100 million GPN cards needed to be issued. "The problem is that the GPN cards cannot be used for transactions abroad. Some customers will have it but they leave it dormant while the administration cost will be incurred," he said during a press conference in Jakarta. LPEM UIs study found that at least 22.5 million cards out of 100 million would be dormant and that it would cost banks Rp 585 billion (US$41.54 million) to issue the 22.5 million cards. "It would be better if BI loosened the regulation so that GPN cards were optional. So it is up to customers whether or not they want to have it," Chaikal said. This was because GPN cards could only be used for domestic transactions and could not be embedded with foreign switching companies such as Visa and Mastercard, he added. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 12:48 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e349ede 1 Business portfolio-investment,communication,skills,analyst,comments Free Poor communication skills within the government has hampered the growth of portfolio investments in Indonesia, as investors choose to withdraw their funds after officials fail to convince them about the countrys economic performance, an analyst has said. Manulife Assets Management Hong Kong managing director Kenglin Tan recently explained that investors were afraid of Indonesias "twin deficit", the current-account deficit and the fiscal deficit, although they were not significant. "Many countries have similar characteristics to Indonesia, but their stocks are performing better. I think this is about communication. Investors are not-well informed about this country," Tan said during the Commonwealth Bank Indonesia market outlook in Jakarta on Tuesday. International Monetary Fund (IMF) data shows that countries such as India, Australia and even the United States also have current-account deficits. Meanwhile, Australia and Indonesia have similar deficits, at 1.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), and Indias deficit is even higher, at 2.3 percent of GDP. "Why is India [performing] better than Indonesia? It is because India can communicate its reforms to investors," Tan said, adding that Indian stocks had a price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of between 30 and 40. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) increased by 19.99 percent to 6,355.65 in 2017, but it quickly lost its grip in the first quarter of 2018. The index has decreased by 8.91 percent to 5,744.72 as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, the rupiah exchange rate touched a psychological level of Rp 14,000 per US dollar, becoming the second-worst performing currency in Asia after the Indian rupee. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya and Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Fri, May 11, 2018 12:58 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e34aae0 1 National Jokowi,Indonesia,Afghanistan,Pakistan,ulemas,bogor,meeting,Conference Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has opened on Friday the Trilateral Ulema Conference at Bogor Palace, which involves Indonesian, Afghan and Pakistani clerics. The whole-day event, which is being hosted by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), is themed Islam as Rahmatan lil Alamin: Peace and Stability in Afghanistan. "This meeting is part of Indonesia's commitment to promote the ulemas' role [in creating peace]," said Jokowi during the opening ceremony on Friday morning. "We know our efforts to create peace are never easy, but as people of faith, we must believe in help from God. Hence, we should not lose hope or give up." He added that the ulemas could better promote peace, as they were model figures that most Muslim adherents followed and listened to, and also possessed the authority "to shape the Muslim image". In his remarks, the President also emphasized that peace and stability in Afghanistan had been Indonesias long-standing goal, so he "strongly condemned" the planned relocation of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "I urge other countries not to follow [the US's] move, which has disrupted the peace process," Jokowi said, adding that Palestine was on "each Indonesian's breath." Earlier this year, Jokowi met his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghaniand, as well as Pakistani president Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi, in their respective countries to propose that they hold a trilateral ulema conference in Indonesia, to which they agreed. The ulema representatives from the three countries were expected to discuss their role in sowing the seeds for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Their agenda included the five key issues of peace and friendship under Islam, violent extremism, aitidal (tolerance), the ulema's peace-building role, and the role of the state in the peace effort. Vice President Jusuf Kalla is slated to close the meeting on Friday evening. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Ottawa, Canada Sat, May 12, 2018 03:30 1245 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e368327 2 World justin-trudeau,trudeau,marijuana,marijuana-laws,Canada,G7,G7-countries,Uruguay,drug-policy Free The world is closely following Canada's plans to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an exclusive interview with AFP, predicting that several nations would follow suit. Canada will become the first G7 nation to authorize the production, sale and consumption of the mind-altering drug this summer. Uruguay did so five years ago and several US states have too. Although the Senate has sought to delay the pot bill until the ramifications of legalization are better understood and addressed with regulation, Trudeau predicted a legal market will be established "this summer." "There is a lot of interest from our allies in what we're doing," the prime minister said one month before he welcomes fellow G7 leaders for a summit June 8-9 in La Malbaie, Quebec. "They recognize that Canada is being daring... and recognize that the current regime (of prohibition) does not work, that it's not preventing young people from having easy access to cannabis," he said. "In many countries, especially in Canada, it is easier (as a minor) to buy a joint than buying a beer. It does not make sense! Organized crime is making huge sums of money on the illicit sale of marijuana." Trudeau explained that creating a regulated market will take it out of the hands of crime groups and "better protect communities and children." "The allies I spoke with are interested in seeing how things go... before they try it," Trudeau commented, without specifying which nations. "If it works well, and I expect it to work well, it would surprise me enormously that they would delay studying models that might work for them." Once Ottawa legalizes cannabis, it will be up to the provinces to set up distribution networks and enforcement. Statistics Canada has estimated the market will be worth Can$5.7 billion ($4.5 billion US), based on last year's consumption data. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 11, 2018 09:53 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e340162 4 City Thousand-Islands-regency,Pari-island,coral-reefs,marine-tourism,environment,#environment,greenpeace,Environment-and-Forestry-Ministry Free The Environment and Forestry Ministry has announced that broken coral reefs covering 1,020 square meters near Pari Island of Thousand Island regency, which were damaged after cargo ship Ghanda Nusantara 15 rammed into them on Saturday night, will take over 20 years to recover. Iksan, a ministry official who conducted a survey at the site of the incident, told The Jakarta Post recently that the majority of the damaged area consisted of hard coral also known as stony coral which takes a long time to grow. It takes 20 years or more for such kinds of coral reefs to recover to their normal condition, before the incident took place, Iksan said, adding that the ministry would study the results over the next several days to determine total losses from the incident. The ships owner, as regulated in Law. No 32/2009 on environmental management and protection, will have to pay for the losses, with the money being used for restoration of the coral reefs. Read also: Diving, snorkeling contribute to harming Indonesia's coral reefs: Study Article 2 of the law states that every person or institution proven to have damaged environment is obliged to pay a certain amount of compensation. The Thousand Island Police said separately that the ship, owned by the Transportation Ministry, reportedly rammed into the coral reefs near the island at around 7:15 p.m. on Saturday. The ship, intended to sail from Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan to Tidung Island of Thousand Islands regency, was stuck near Pari Island due to bad weather. It was swept away by strong waves and finally left stranded atop the pristine coral reefs. Six crew members aboard have been evacuated by Pari Island residents, with help from officials from the fire and rescue agency, said Thousand Islands Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Viktor Siagian. The ships crew were then brought to the police to be questioned. Local residents urged the government to quickly move the vessel from the site to avoid further damage to the coral reefs. One of the local residents, Ahmad Taufik, 36, said the coral reefs played a significant role in boosting the islands tourism. Pari Island is among the top tourist destinations in Thousand Islands regency, along with Tidung and Bidadari Islands. Ahmad added that coral reef damage from ships occasionally occurred in the islands waters. He, together with other residents concerned with marine protection, would replant the coral reefs using compensation from the owners of the ships that caused the environmental damage. At least one similar incident happens in the islands waters every year, but the ships that caused the damage have never been as big as the [Ghanda Nusantara] ship, Ahmad told the Post via phone. The Ghanda Nusantara has a weight of around 92 gross tons. Environmental group Greenpeace urged the government to finish the valuation soon to figure out how much the ships owners had to pay. It could be a great loss, said Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaigner Arifsyah Nasution, reflecting on a similar incident that had occurred last year in Raja Ampat waters in Papua. Seeing the case at Raja Ampat, each square meter of damage had to be compensated with up to US$1,200, he said. On March 4, British cruise ship Caledonian Sky ran aground in Raja Ampat waters, West Papua, destroying nearly 13,000 sqm of coral reef. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Andrew Beatty (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Fri, May 11, 2018 09:09 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e33b90b 2 World Nuclear,Iran,united-states,sanctions,Middle-East Free The White House wants intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear sites to continue despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a landmark accord on Tehran's atomic program, US officials have told AFP. Days after the US president walked away from a three-year-old deal that mandated rigorous scrutiny of Iranian facilities, senior administration officials said monitoring should continue regardless. Known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal between Tehran and major world powers forces Iran to open any site to inspectors within 24 days at most and introduced 24-hour remote surveillance at some sites. Supporters of the Obama-era accord argue it provided "the world's most robust" monitoring regime, allowing access to the Islamic republic's most sensitive nuclear sites. Speaking at a rally in Indiana on Thursday Trump said tough inspections were still needed. "We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating," he said. The White House is demanding the existing inspection regime, however imperfect, continue under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog. "We expect Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol and cooperate with the IAEA whether or not the JCPOA remains in place," one senior administration official said. A second official confirmed to AFP on Thursday that Washington still wanted the inspections. Other signatories to the Iran deal -- including Tehran, China and European powers -- have vowed to press ahead with the agreement's implementation. But officials are privately skeptical about how long it can survive, particularly if the United States imposes sanctions on European companies doing business in Iran. And non-proliferation experts have warned that a vital window into Iran's nuclear activities could be lost. "If the agreement collapses, Iran is under no obligation to implement any of these provisions, either the Additional Protocol or the deal-specific measures," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. "The nuclear deal with Iran put the country's program under a microscope," she told AFP, saying the measures serve as "an early warning system that will set off alarm bells if Iran tries to cheat on its commitments or conduct illicit activities." Since the nuclear accord was reached in 2015, the IAEA has carried out hundreds of inspections inside Iran. That includes monitoring at Fordo, an underground fuel enrichment plant inside a base used by Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The JCPOA adds an extra layer of scrutiny not found in existing accords, including monitoring of mines and restrictions on multi-point detonation systems and nuclear computer simulations. The IAEA has so far confirmed that Iran is adhering to its "nuclear-related commitments," although the US administration questions that conclusion. "You cannot say that Iran is in compliance unless you are 100 percent certain that the IAEA and our intelligence are infallible," said US national security advisor John Bolton. That approach has left some questioning why the administration wants monitoring to continue at all. "If they don't trust the inspections, I don't know why they would be strongly encouraging Iran to comply," said Corey Hinderstein, a fuel cycle expert who previously worked on implementation of the deal at the Department of Energy. "The fact is the inspections are and have been effective," she said. American citizens are working on the IAEA inspection team, but are based in Vienna, not on the ground in Iran. Hinderstein said there is every indication that the US is preparing to pull out of other non-inspection mechanisms in the agreement, including converting the Arak heavy water reactor and the "procurement channel" that regulates the import of dual use materials to Iran. Trump has described the agreement as "the worst deal in history" and vowed to renegotiate it. He has also warned that Iran will be punished if it returns to military-scale uranium enrichment. "If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before," Trump said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Manuel Mogato (Reuters) Manila Fri, May 11, 2018 13:59 1246 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e34cc3a 2 SE Asia Rodrigo-Duterte,Philippines,Supreme-Court,dismissal,politics Free The Philippine Supreme Court voted on Friday to remove its top judge, whom President Rodrigo Duterte has called an "enemy" for voting against several controversial government proposals, citing violations in the way she was appointed. But one opposition party said the ouster of Maria Lourdes Sereno, the country's first woman chief justice, removed a shield against abuse of power in government and left behind a "puppet Supreme Court". By a vote of 8-6, the court granted the government's petition to cancel Sereno's appointment on the grounds of alleged violations in the appointment process. "Maria Lourdes Sereno is found disqualified from, and hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising, the office of the chief justice," said court spokesman Theodore Te, who read out the decision. The decision declared Sereno's position vacant with immediate effect and ordered the judicial and bar council to begin a new selection process, Te said. The court gave Sereno a deadline of 10 days after receiving a copy of its decision to explain why she should not be sanctioned for a number of alleged violations, such as "casting aspersions and ill-motive to the members of the Supreme Court". Sereno has denied any wrongdoing, and her spokesman said she would appeal the decision. "It is a sad day," Jojo Lacanilao said in a television interview. Before the vote, dozens of Sereno's supporters held a vigil outside the court in the capital, Manila, demanding that the petition be thrown out and that she face trial in the Senate. Anti-Sereno protesters also gathered outside the building. Opposition party Akbayan said the country was "a heartbeat away" from the death of its democracy. "The ouster of our chief justice - this foundation of democracy, this shield against abuse of power in government - has crumbled," it said in a statement. "After having a lapdog Congress and a seriously wounded Senate, we now have a puppet Supreme Court." Duterte has made no secret of his dislike of Sereno. She voted against several of his proposals, such as extending martial law on a restive island and allowing late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried in a cemetery for national heroes. In October last year, Duterte dared Sereno to open her bank account to public scrutiny, accusing her of corruption and of being used by his political opponents. The decision came three days before Congress, controlled by Duterte's allies, returns from its Easter break to vote on an impeachment complaint against Sereno. Its the first full day of deliberations for the jury in the retrial of former Lower East Side Assemblyman Sheldon Silver. Silver, 74, faces multiple federal charges in an alleged public corruption scheme. In 2015, another jury found him guilty on all counts, and Judge Valerie Caproni sentenced the former Assembly Speaker to 12 years in prison. The verfdct was later thrown out by an appeals court after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the definition of public corruption. After closing arguments yesterday, the jurors only deliberated for about a half hour. They returned to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan this morning to continue discussing the merits of the case. There are seven men and five women on the jury. Prosecutors allege that Silver pocketed $4 million in two separate schemes. Hes accused of directing state grants to a cancer researcher in exchange for lucrative legal referrals and of of accepting referral fees from a law firm that did work for two high profile real estate developers. He has been charged with seven counts of honest services mail fraud, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering. In court yesterday, Assistant US Attorney Tatiana Martins told the jury, It is clear as day this is all about the money for Sheldon Silver. She added, What the defendant did to line his own pockets wasnt just wrong, it was criminal. The prosecutions case took about a week-and-a-half to present. The defense called no witnesses. In closing arguments, Silvers attorney, Michael Feldberg contended that his client never broke the law, noting that, It is perfectly legal for New York Assembly members to earn outside income. Were not arguing that Shelly is a perfect man, added Feldberg. Were not arguing that hes a saint, but the defense lawyer told jurors that the prosecution failed to prove any quid-pro-quo case. In jury instructions, Judge Caproni said its not enough to conclude that Silver did routine favors for Dr. Robert Taub, the cancer researcher, and for the real estate firms. In order to find Silver guilty, the jury must find that he exchanged official acts for payment. Silver was forced from office due to his 2015 conviction. His Lower Manhattan district is now represented by Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou. UPDATE 4:05 p.m. The jury has asked Judge Caproni for access to some documents entered into evidence. They also wanted to go out for lunch. Jury in Sheldon Silver case asks for FBI graphs of his income and to go outside on this lovely day. (First request granted; 2nd denied. ). More @NY1 pic.twitter.com/LwNiKn4QPN Josh Robin (@joshrobin) May 11, 2018 - : , . , . , - , . : .- , , , , , . ? : , , . , , . - , . , - - , - . ! . . : . . : , . . - . . , . , , , , . . , , , . : ? : , . . . ?! 301 . , . , , . - . , . . , , . . : , , ? , - . : . , . : , ? : , , , . . , , , .-. , , ... , , . . . , . : - ? : , . . , , , . , , , , . : , . : , , , , . , , . , . . . , , , . . : ? : , . . , , , , , . : , , ? . - , , . : . . . . , . . ? : , : . , . . , . , , .. . , . , . : , ? : , . . , . , , , , . , . , , , . , . . , . . , , , 50 , , . , , , 50 , , , . , . : ? ? , . : , (.. , , ). : - ? : , , , , , , ? ? ? : . , . , . , , .. . , , , . , . , , . , . Digital Eurovision Song Contest fandom, which takes place across social media platforms, is increasingly becoming a space to discuss LGBT issues. Its popular because it enables fans to gain access to wider LGBT culture without having to attend more mainstream venues and events. As the contest is not explicitly labelled as a gay event, Eurovision digital fandom is providing a more ambiguous platform through which non-heterosexuals can express their sexual identities. In the build up to the 2018 event in Lisbon, fans have already started conversing over their favourite entries and what they expect from the competition. Transformations in accessing mobile social media now allow fans to interact all year round. In fact, they are increasingly dependent on these mediums to keep in contact with this unique international television phenomenon Social media is now used as an entry point for Eurovision-lovers who want a part of the fandom, without having to attend the contest itself. Supporters engage in practices such as watch alongs to national finals. These are shows which are used to select a countrys song for the upcoming contest between December and March. Fans watch television channels around Europe and turn to Twitter to share their thoughts with other fans. Interacting in this way provides feelings of belonging for fans and helps develop digital Eurovision fan culture. One of the most popular television events fans interact with is Swedens big production and mini-Eurovision, Melodifestivalen more commonly known as Melfest . This competition helped pave the way to ABBAs victory in 1974 with Waterloo. Virtual Eurovision culture intersects with wider social media culture. Fans connect with others by developing and sharing creative content using GIFs , memes, video clips and messages. They seek belonging through these methods which bypass the traditionally passive televisual nature of the event. Fans identify themselves with Eurovision-related names and share their knowledge of the contest through websites, such as Eurovoix ESC Insight and ESCXTRA . There are many fan sites that cater for different tastes and audiences. Many of these websites are voluntary. Fans who write for them are now backstage in Lisbon reporting on the rehearsals of this years contest. Technology can privilege these fans as they get to meet artists and mix with national media outlets. The contest creates unity through music and celebrating diversity. This can be embraced, but also contested within fandom. Particularly where individual music tastes can cause friction, as fans become music critics themselves and impose their judgements on others. Eurovision fandom is unique in this regard, as it is a site of celebrating sameness, but also of difference. Eurovision as a gay event As Eurovision fandom engages on social media, it intersects with expressions of sexuality. The contest is important in making lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identities visible on a global platform. The winner of the 2014 contest, Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst the lady with the beard championed gender and sexuality diversity. Conchita also became involved with EU summits and helped promote equal rights for LGBT citizens. Digital Eurovision fandom facilitates expression of queer sexuality. Fans demonstrate their desires towards Eurovision musicians, but also how they imagine themselves and their sexuality listening to Eurovision-related songs. Entering into virtual Eurovision fan culture bypasses face-to-face communication and provides a particular level of anonymity. This allows LGBT fans to meet and share experiences about exploring and coming to terms with their sexuality. The contest also reconfigures ideas surrounding sex and sexuality by providing alternative ways into gay culture which dont necessarily focus on gay identity as just sex and the erotic. Eurovision fandom engages more with the social-cultural side of gay identity and provides an ambiguous platform for these identities to be expressed. Negotiating a Eurovision closet Eurovision also enables fans to be themselves. This can be both public declarations of coming out of the Eurovision closet as a fan, or fandom can be moderated between particular social media platforms. For some straight men (who are perhaps perceived as a minority within the fandom), they negotiate their fandom between Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is seen as space to organise everyday social life and connect with close family and friends, whereas Twitter provides opportunities to network and develop Eurovision connections. This is perhaps a consequence of the wider significance of the contest with gay cultures. The marginality of the contest in some national psyches (such as the UK) may also be a cause for the negotiation of fan identity between social media platforms. In Sweden, for example, the contest is taken much more seriously than it is in the UK. They have a two month artist selection process to select their entry and it is the most watched show in Sweden each year. Social media can provide a more liberal platform to engage with the contest. This can get beyond negative readings of the contest that are known to prevail in some UK media outlets when it comes to sexuality. The contest prides itself on embracing identity diversity. It also provides a further entry point into wider LGBT culture for gay and straight alike and is not labelled by identity politics. Fans are always excited to meet other fans as they share a mutual interest. The international fan community is a welcoming place. The contest prides itself on embracing identity diversity. It also provides a further entry point into wider LGBT culture for gay and straight alike and is not labelled by identity politics. Fans are always excited to meet other fans as they share a mutual interest. The international fan community is a welcoming place. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page Which moment from a comic this week caught your interest? Moment and Indie Moment of the Month for April have begun! Vote now or forever hold your peace!!! Your WINNER for MOMENT OF THE WEEK 5/2/18: Joker kills the guy anyway. - DC Nation #0 This thread will contain SPOILERS!!! And lots of them. If you haven't read this week's comics yet, go read them before continuing into this thread, or risk being spoiled! PLEASE NOTE!!!!!! ]Remember to include the title and issue number of the comic you are nominating. Otherwise I will be forced to disqualify your nomination, and nobody wants that! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rules: 1. Each nomination must be a moment in a comic released the week of the thread. This does not include weekly previews, trade paperbacks, or back issue digests. For new comics check out Midtown Comics release dates. 2. Everyone can make ONE nomination. You can either nominate a moment yourself or second/third/fourth/fifth an already existing nomination. However, second/third/fourth/fifth will not count per nominating and thus earn entry above in Top Nominations. You want in that list you must nominate something. 3. It must be an actual moment involving the actions or statements of a comic character in an issue. No "This writer returns to the series", "this artist draws this character", "the book is better", etc. 4. If you want to change your nomination, there are a few factors involved: ---> A) No one can have seconded your nom. ---> B) If it is clear for you to change your nom, you must edit your original post or the new post will be disqualified as being a double nomination. ---> C) You can change your second, third, etc. by editing your original post before the nomination period ends. Moments on the poll do not have to be seconded. If there is room in the poll, moments that were nominated but not seconded will be added based on the order they were nominated. 6. Again, please be specific on the comic title, issue number and moment. Also be clear that you are actually nominating or seconding something ... statements such as "Yeah, that was a cool moment" aren't clear. You must nominate a single moment in the comic and can't nominate the whole issue. Once more, if you dont include the issue and number the moment will not be included. 7. The thread for nominations will go up on Wednesday (new comic day) at 11:00 PM (Central) or when Zechs arrives later that night and posts in the previous week thread announcing voting is closed. The nominations will go until 2:00 PM (Central Time) Sunday Afternoon, or whenever Zechs arrives and will post in the thread stating, Its over. and will start the poll. If a new comic day falls on a holiday week in American, then the thread will be made for that day (be it Tuesday or Thursday). Regardless, nominations will STILL conclude on Saturday deadline. 8. Please be civil when commenting on other people's nominations. But feel free to discuss them in this thread. 9. In case there is debate on WHEN exactly a title came out, http://www.midtowncomics.com or the official websites of said publishers (be it Marvel, DC, Darkhorse, etc.) will be the final word on the quarrel. 10. Any nominations not following the above rules will be disqualified. Unless of course if Zechs, who is feeling sad for the person who missed the rule and might give them time to provide the correction. Then he will pester bk into putting the nomination in the poll. Of course this wouldnt be a problem if Zechs wasnt granted the glorious powers of a moderator, which one day such power will be Zechs, oh yes they will his. 11. If at five nominations are not made, Zechs will choose some, but they will all count as one nomination, not multiple thus making sure balance is preserved. 12. AKA the Rulk rule. If several moments are tied past the deadline of 11:00 PM (Central Time) Wednesday (or holiday date when new comics arrive in the US) or when Zechs arrives that night, then voting will continue on in sudden death for eight more hours, until one is decided. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. If one isnt still decided, then Zechs will provide the deciding vote, regardless if he has voted already. So if that isn't enough reason to get a ton of votes on that additional day than you're just dooming yourself to give Zechs another vote. 13. AKA the Hobgoblin rule. Roderick Kingsley Hobgoblin moments when winning for three days straight automatically win the poll. No last day or second voting changes it to troll the ruler of this thread. Only ONE can rule as the Moment of the Week! Top Ten Nominators of All Time... 1.) GLX- (456 Nominations) 2.) Zechs- (448 Nominations) 3.) e_galston- (202 Nominations) 4.) IvCNuB4 - (178 Nominations) 5.) Johnny Smith (174 Nominations) 6.) Kravis (145 Nominations) 7.) 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Source: Twitter Prepare yourself for at least seven more years of hearing about Szechuan sauce. Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland tweeted a drawing of the show's titular characters with an announcement that the show has been approved for another 70 episodes. Given the show's 10-episode seasons, expect a further 7 seasons of the show. More Rick and Morty coming. Looking forward to all the tweets asking where it is! #theydrawingitpic.twitter.com/KZild3B9rP Justin Roiland (@JustinRoiland) May 10, 2018 Co-creator Dan Harmon uploaded a video to Instagram of himself and Roiland showering together, stating that they need to get back to work. There's no time frame given for when season 4 of Rick and Morty will debut, so don't expect it for awhile. Miss SD Kaitlin O'Neill opens up about mental health, other struggles Before she was crowned Miss South Dakota, ONeill overcame a mix of serious mental health issues, including depression and an eating disorder. : - ... Fourth-grader JJ Blanchard practices a solo about his characters love for steak during a rehearsal for the Burrell Schools first musical. Students from Boston College High School hand Miss Florence the keys to her new home. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. NED BRISTOL is a retired The Sun Chronicle editor. He can be contacted at nedbristol@msn.com. Human rights and immigrant advocates are calling on the Mexican government to devote more resources to supporting the growing number of Mexicans deported from the United States. Mexican government data show that the U.S. deported 53,764 Mexicans in the first three months of the year, up 40 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. Deportations had fallen during President Donald Trumps first year in office, but this years figures have now surpassed the total for the same period in 2016, the final year of Barack Obamas administration. Eunice Rendon of Migrant Agenda said Wednesday at a news conference with Mexicos National Human Rights Commission that Mexico must provide additional funding for reintegration. Rendon says the longer immigrants have lived in the U.S. the fewer ties they have in Mexico. (AP) The Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday, 24 Iyar, handed down a 15-year prison term and a compensatory fine of NIS 200,000 against Yehoshua Elitzur, who was convicted in the death of an Arab in 2005, and then fled to Brazil. Elitzur, whose name before he converted was Yehonas Anglit Veimer, was driving a private vehicle near the Beit Fouriq Checkpoint towards Elon Moreh. He passed the vehicle driven by Tzil a-Shatiya of Salim, waved his gun and order him to stop, and then shot him dead. After he fled Israel, an arrest warrant was issued by Interpol and a number of months ago, he was extradited after being arrested in Saint Paulo, Brazil. The court ruled the defendant shot and killed the victim for no reason whatsoever, and after passengers screamed to call for medical assistance, he ignored their shouts. The defendant never called for medical assistance. The court rejected any attempt to claim self-defense because the victims vehicle headed towards him. In light of the findings, it was determined by the court that the defendant was not in a life-threatening situation and he simply thought one who is not a Jew is a potential terrorist. The court sentenced him and said he will be in prison for many years, and he will have time to learn and understand the value of life. Elitzur apologized to the family, adding there is no doubt he was in life threatening danger. It is a very very dangerous place; many things could have occurred. However, I understand from their perspective, the loss for the family was a great one. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Israels defense minister Friday called on President Bashar Assad to get rid of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble. Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to the Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the countrys sovereignty under fabricated and baseless excuses. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that the international silence in the face of such aggressive moves is in effect a green light to more such attacks. A hard-line Iranian cleric threatened Iran would retaliate if Israel does anything foolish. Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East. Guterres comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Irans attack on its positions in the Golan Heights. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting. Speaking while touring the Golan Heights, Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here, he said. Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assad forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani, and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life, Lieberman added. The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Mideast war raised the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained, at least for now. The rising tension in Syria came just as the United States decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose new sanctions, adding to the pressure on Tehran. In Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said the Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground, the hard-line cleric said during Friday sermons. The worshippers chanted: Death to America, and Death to Israel. Ghasemi, the foreign ministry spokesman, said the direct attacks on Syria come as the government of Assad is regaining control of territories from rebel fighters, accusing Israel and the United States of supporting the opposition which he called terrorists. In the latest victory for Assad, Syrian police prepared Friday to take control of three suburbs of the capital Damascus previously controlled by the rebels. Opposition fighters and their families left Babila, Beit Sahem and Yalda, three southern suburbs that were held by rebels for years, Syrian state media and a war monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the last group evacuated the suburbs Thursday night, bringing the total of those fighters and civilians who left the area since May 3 to a total of 8,400. Syrias state news agency SANA said opposition fighters who decided to stay in the suburbs will hand over the weapons and return to normal life. With the capture of the three suburbs, the only area outside government control in Damascus is that of the neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk that are partially controlled by the Islamic State group. Government forces have been on the offensive against IS in the area since last month and its capture would boost security in Assads seat of power. (AP) The year's 2025 and you are hurtling to work in your driverless Tesla. You order your Morrisons groceries online, to be delivered via an Amazon drone. You won't be home to collect them but Rob the household bot will know what to do. Then your iPhone flashes up red, telling you your blood pressure is racing. It must be the news you just received via the Blockchain stock exchange that your Netflix shares have soared on a bid from a newly privatised BBC. Power house: The sprawling floor at an Amazon warehouse in Peterborough. The US giant has big ambitions in the world's grocery markets If this brave new world sounds a little far-fetched, think again. Most of these technologies are already with us and waiting to go live. As someone once said, the future is here but it has yet to be evenly distributed. What we do know is that the pace of innovation today is exponential, and that the phenomenal rate of technological advancement experienced over the past 50 years could be matched over the next five. It's in light of the disruption to come that recent deals, such as the audacious 14billion merger between Sainsbury's and Asda, need to be viewed. Suppliers and rivals are already up in arms, warning that the merged group, together with Tesco, will control nearly two-thirds of grocery sales between them, and they have good grounds to want the deal forensically investigated. Yet Sainsbury's and Asda are right to argue the dynamics of the industry have been turned upside-down, and that the old ways of measuring competition need rethinking not only because of online retailing but also shifting fashions in how we eat. Only five years ago the Big Four Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons had 76.3 per cent of the market. The argument was that four giants battling it out would keep prices low and ensure competition between suppliers. But this is no longer the case. The Big Four's share has fallen to under 70 per cent, while profit margins have been slashed. This drop is mainly due to the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which have revolutionised shopping with their unbeatable value for money. They now have more than a tenth of the market. There are other upstarts nibbling away at the fringes, the most dangerous of which is Amazon. So far the US tech giant, which owns Whole Foods, has only a delivery partnership with Morrisons. But it's no secret that Amazon has big ambitions. With Whole Foods, Amazon has the warehouses, the logistics and via its existing customers a huge database from which to work. What it does next is anybody's guess, but Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos is working on the hunch that home-delivered fresh and chilled foods will soar over the next decade. You only have to look at delivery services such as Just Eat and Deliveroo to see where consumer behaviour is going. Buying groceries online has been slower to take off than non-food retailing in the UK 7 per cent compared to 16 per cent of household goods. But online sales are shooting up with the arrival of disrupters such as Hello Fresh and Mindful Chef, which deliver meal-kits to your door, and others such as Cook, which sells gourmet foods online to be picked up in its shops or delivered. All of this nibbles in to the High Street grocers. Even though the world of food is changing beyond recognition, Sainsbury's and Asda will have to work hard to persuade the Competition and Markets Authority that two stronger competitors the merged group and Tesco are better than one big player. But they will be encouraged by its decision to allow Tesco to buy wholesaler Booker, which suggests policy makers are looking ahead. The merger should be given the green-light, with provisos about duplication of stores. For once, we have two British companies trying to future-proof themselves, to lead the way before their business is gobbled up by overseas predators. Whether they are up to beating Amazon at its own game is another matter. They should heed the brilliant US scientist and futurist, Roy Amara, who warned back in the 1970s: 'We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run, and underestimate the effect in the long run.' The price of oil is soaring and experts say it could be the right time for investors to take another look at the black stuff. The threat of US sanctions against oil-rich Iran and a collapse in production in Venezuela which has the worlds largest reserves has pushed Brent crude up to a four-year high of $77 a barrel. It marks a remarkable turnaround, shooting up from just below $30 a barrel two years ago. Global supply is expected to fall if the US presses ahead with trade sanctions on Iran, which experts say will push up the price even further. The threat of US sanctions against Iran and a collapse in production in Venezuela which has the worlds largest reserves has pushed Brent crude up to a four-year high of $77 a barrel Ashley Kelty, an oil and gas research analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said: I think we could get to $80 a barrel within days. In the medium-term we could see $90 a barrel. And Bank of America bullishly predicts it will reach $100 next year for the first time since 2014. Rising prices makes oil, unloved by investors for so long, a more attractive proposition. So how can you take advantage? Before answering, you need to be sure that you want your money in oil, as the past few years have shown it can be a rollercoaster for investors. And while all of the signs indicate the price will continue to rise, it is by no means certain. Tom Becket, chief investment officer at Psigma, said: You have to believe supply is going to become increasingly tight if you want to take a positive view on oil at the moment. If that is the case, there are a number of options on offer, but one of the easiest is to buy shares in oil firms such as BP and Shell. While the oil price has rocketed by more than 58 per cent in the past year, the share prices of BP and Shell have failed to keep pace. BPs have risen 22 per cent in that time, while Shells are up just 18.5 per cent. That aside, they are a decent bet for investors seeking a good income as part of a diversified portfolio. But buying individual shares can be risky, so many investors prefer to reduce that danger by putting their money in a fund that invests in a number of firms. UK equity income funds have traditionally held oil companies, but many shed their stakes as prices fell. Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, tips River & Mercantile UK Equity Income, which has turned 10,000 into 14,597 in five years. Its two biggest holdings are BP and Shell, which account for more than 10.60 in every 100 invested. Alternatively you could punt for a so-called passive fund. These are controlled by a computer rather than a fund manager. One of the benefits is that they tend to be cheaper than an active fund, where you pay for the upkeep of large research teams and expensive fund manager salaries. A drawback is that you will never beat the market. They are designed to blindly follow the index up and down. A popular option is the 5.3billion iShares Core FTSE 100 exchange-traded fund, which has turned 10,000 into 13,730 in five years. At 0.07 per cent a year, its fees are also much cheaper than active funds. It is designed to replicate the FTSE 100 where BP and Shell are in the top-five firms. If youre after a specialist fund, Mould recommends Guinness Global Energy, which invests in the oil, natural gas, coal and alternative energy sectors. While it has turned 10,000 into just 10,669 in five years, you have to remember the price of oil fell to just $30 during this time. With fees of 1.24 per cent, it is also a pricey option. Finally, you could invest in a fund that tracks the oil price. The ETFS Commodity Securities Brent Crude Fund, for example, tracks the European oil benchmark. Sainsbury's and Asda could be forced to sell as many as 245 stores as a result of their 14.1billion merger. It will mean that if the tie-up gets the green light from regulators, almost one in ten of the merged group's 2,800 supermarkets could be taken on by rivals. Stores in the South East and North West are likely to be those most at threat, according to data published by Maximise UK, a consultancy which identifies the best locations for stores. The 51bn merger between supermarket rivals Sainsbury's and Asda is the result of two years of secret talks The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to force Asda and Sainsbury's to give up stores in areas where it could hurt competition, potentially pushing up prices for customers. Maximise's research suggests that a minimum of 73 shops will need to be sold to get the merger approved by the CMA. But in a worst-case scenario, the merged group could be forced to get rid of 245 stores. This is because the CMA may not consider Lidl and Aldi as competitors and only factor in so-called 'Big Four' rivals Tesco and Morrisons. Maximise's director David Haywood said: 'The real focus will be on how Sainsbury's and Asda's main supermarkets operate at a local level and how they overlap. 'The CMA will be concerned about whether the deal reduces the number of competing brands within a ten or 15-minute drive.' Haywood worked on the takeover of Safeway by Morrisons in 2004, the last UK retail merger of a similar scale. He said that at 20,000 sq ft, many of Sainsbury's and Asda's stores were likely to be too big for other companies to take on. 'The key issue is who can actually acquire store locations of this size,' he said. 'They're typically too big for an Aldi or a Lidl.' Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe has insisted that no stores will be shut and no jobs will be cut as part of the deal. However, he has not ruled out selling shops. Sainsbury's has 2,200 stores in the UK, 600 of which are large supermarkets and 800 smaller convenience stores. The remaining 800 are Argos stores, which Sainsbury's bought for 1.4billion in 2016. Asda has 600 stores which are mostly big supermarkets. Coupe, 57, is confident the CMA will rule in the tie-up's favour following the successful mergers of Tesco and Booker and gambling firms Ladbrokes and Gala Coral last year. Stephen Springham, head of retail research at commercial property consultancy Knight Frank, said: 'We believe there will be minimal food store closures as a result of the proposed merger.' Union bosses said they would fight to protect jobs. Gary Carter, GMB national officer, said his union 'will fight to save jobs and retain stores which are vital to the economic wellbeing of communities'. The AA is facing a growing crisis with claims breakdown patrol drivers are quitting in droves over demanding working conditions and unrealistic response times. Many drivers are said to be unhappy after the debt-laden company switched rotas last October which they say dealt them longer hours, meaning they get less time off and are forced to work overtime. They claim the service is getting overstretched at customers expense. And they allege that patrolmen are also feeling under pressure to constantly sell products to drivers, such as gadgets for their cars. AA patrolmen are leaving in their droves after the firm switched rotas last October which they say dealt them longer hours, meaning they get less time off and are forced to work overtime Three separate sources told the Mail that up to 160 drivers had quit over the past six to 12 months in the wake of the changes. The AA insists there has been no spike in leavers. However, the turmoil comes as the group is undergoing an overhaul in order to bring down debt. It is also fighting a court case with former executive chairman Bob Mackenzie who was sacked last year following a punch-up with a fellow executive. One insider said: Its an extremely stressful job at the moment. We have got leavers like you would not believe. 469,000 For Sacked Boss Bob Mackenzie Former AA boss was paid nearly 500,000 for six months work before he was sacked for punching a colleague during a company away day. He was dismissed at the start of August after a fracas with Mike Lloyd, the insurance head, at a hotel in Surrey. Although Mackenzie, 65, was not given a bonus, he still earned 469,000, down from 1.4million the previous year. He is suing the AA for 220million in lost bonus payments. Successor Simon Breakwell, 52, will not be entitled to the same bonuses. He is paid a base salary of 700,000 50,000 less than his predecessor. 'They have had enough of the mess things are in and the stress that is being put on them. The impact on customers is massive, because they are absolutely falling short. The AA is battling to pay down more than 2.7billion of debt. It has also had to restructure the business following the departure of Mackenzie. In October the firm made changes to the rota which AA drivers claim leaves them doing more overtime and with fewer rest days. The AA said it has 2,900 of its own patrols, which some sources say has fallen from more than 3,500 several years ago. This has also coincided with a fall in membership numbers. In February, new boss Simon Breakwell announced a major restructuring plan to help boost profits and membership. Paul Grafton of the GMB union, said: The AA needs to review shift patterns and take on board work-life balance from their staff. If they fail to do so, they can expect more and more patrols to leave and will be unable to replace them. The AA said that it was planning to create 65 roadside patrol jobs and 200 more in customer services. It also said patrolmen typically stayed at the firm for 11 years, which was above the industry average. An AA spokesman said: We totally refute these allegations. At the AA we pride ourselves both on the quality of the service we provide to our customers and members, and on the expertise and customer service ethos of all of our colleagues. Housing star: Zoopla chief executive Alex Chesterman ZOOPLAS founder looks set to scoop nearly 62million after Silicon Valley investors agreed to buy the firm for 2.2billion. The property websites chief executive Alex Chesterman, who set up the company in 2007, has more than 12.5m shares and options in its parent group ZPG. They are worth 61.5million under the terms of the 490p-a-share bid for ZPG by Silver Lake, a leading American technology investment firm based in Menlo Park, California. The proposed deal also values the ZPG stock held by DMGT, the owner of the Daily Mail, at more than 640million. DMGT is ZPGs biggest shareholder with a stake of 29.8 per cent and has backed the takeover by Silver Lake. A successful takeover of ZPG by Silver Lake would take DMGTs returns from its investment to 890million more than 14 times what it put in. Chesterman, a former executive at Planet Hollywood, last year bought this five-bedroom house on the seafront in Palm Beach, Florida, for 6.4m The proposed deal caps a frenetic week of dealmaking in the City including a 46billion takeover of Shire, Vodafones 16billion bid for swathes of Liberty Globals European business and a 1.6billion offer for Virgin Money by Clydesdale owner CYBG. ZPG shares rose 30.6 per cent, or 114.8p, to 490p. DMGT was up 1.3 per cent, or 9.5p, to 720.5p. Chesterman, a serial entrepreneur who sold DVD rental service Love Film to Amazon in 2011 for 200million, will stay on as chief executive of ZPG following the takeover. The tycoon, a former executive at Planet Hollywood, last year bought a five-bedroom house on the seafront in Palm Beach, Florida, for 6.4million. The property has a swimming pool, a library and a guest suite. Simon Patterson, managing director of Silver Lake, said: ZPG is a great growth technology company. We are delighted to partner with Alex Chesterman, one of Europes leading and most accomplished technology entrepreneurs, to invest in ZPGs continued growth. A takeover battle broke out over IWG last night as it emerged three private equity funds were vying for the office space company. The interest from potential suitors was revealed by the board in a statement after markets closed, following a 10.3 per cent, or 23.5p, surge in IWG's share price to 252p. A spokesman said an approach had been received from Lone Star Europe Acquisitions, while two separate cash offers for the business had been made by Starwood Capital European Operations and TDR Capital. 'The board is evaluating the possible offers with its financial advisers and shareholders will be updated in due course,' the spokesman added. Takeover target: The IWG board revealed the interest from potential suitors in a statement released after markets closed, following a 10.3 per cent surge in the firm's share price A consortium of Canadian private equity firms walked away from talks to buy IWG in February. IWG, formerly called Regus, was founded by British billionaire Mark Dixon. He had the idea of providing temporary office space while watching businessmen having meetings in a Brussels cafe, and still owns 25.4 per cent of the company. It has 3,000 offices in 115 countries and was valued yesterday at about 2billion meaning Dixon stands to make at least 529million from a sale. Takeover rules mean its three suitors will have until June 8 to make a final offer or withdraw. Shares in Britain's water companies sprang a leak amid fears the industry is headed for tougher regulation. Analysts at Bernstein told investors to dump their UK water stocks, pointing to measures being drawn up by watchdog Ofwat that could force lower prices and curb dividend payments. Stock Watch - IHG Merrill Lynch has downgraded Intercontinental Hotels Group, sparking fears that growth in its earnings might have peaked. It was partly based on concerns that the pipeline of hotels in the US is slowing. Construction and land costs have gone up, narrowing margins and making it tougher for developers to build. The brokers put IHGs target price at 5050p and changed its rating from buy to neutral. Shares slipped 1.1 per cent, or 56p, to 4768p. They also said there was still a looming threat of the companies being taken back into public ownership if a Labour government was elected. 'We would advise investors to avoid the UK water sector and for current holders to take advantage of recent share price strength to exit the sector,' they added. It sent shares in Severn Trent, which serves the Midlands, down 2.2 per cent, or 44p, to 1976p. United Utilities, based in the North West, fell 1.9pc, or 14.8p, to 766.4p. Meanwhile, security giant G4S rose amid analyst speculation it could be broken up. Shares climbed 3.8 per cent, or 9.9p, to 270.4p after a note from Exane BNP Paribas. The broker bumped the firm's rating up from 'neutral' to 'outperform' and gave it a 280p target price. It said earnings were getting better and that G4S had the option of separating its guarding and cash transporting operations. The cash-carting business could be worth 2.2billion, it said. Elsewhere on the FTSE 100, UK drugs giant Astrazenenca investors shrugged off news that one of its respiratory drugs was a flop. The firm admitted Fasenra did not meet targets in a trial treating patients affected by moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a type of breathing disorder. It is the first biological medicine a type of drug made using living organisms made by Astra to treat a respiratory condition. Another study is still taking place and Astra said it would need to look at both before deciding what to do next. After early losses, its shares were up 0.5 per cent, or 27p, to 5279p at the close. ITV, still basking in the glow of a first quarter update broadly welcomed by investors on Thursday, was further boosted by a target price increase from JP Morgan. The broker said Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster's valuation was attractive and its viewing share was growing. Shares rose 7.3 per cent, or 11.65p, to 172p. The gains capped a good week for the FTSE 100, which ended Friday up 0.3 per cent, or 23.58 points, at 7,724.55 within touching distance of its all-time high of 7778.64. DOCTOR'S DEAL British healthcare services firm Totally Plc has renewed a 1.2million-a-year contract with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to provide out-of-hours GP services from October and runs for three years. TIE-UP PROGRESS Oil services firm Wood Group, which took over Amec Foster Wheeler last year, says integration following the takeover is ahead of schedule and the combined group expects to save more than 37million this year. SMOOTH FLYING Trading at aviation services firm BBA Aviation for the period between January 1 and April 30 is in line with expectations, it claimed, with revenue for the period up 9.7 per cent year-on-year. GOOD RETURN Infrastructure investment firm 3i Infrastructure says it has made a 27.6 per cent return for the year ending March 31. CREDIT BOOST Investment bank Goldman Sachs is joining forces with Apple to launch a credit card in the US early next year. SHOP DROP Customer numbers on the High Street plunged by 3.3 per cent last month, according to data. MANZINI A mothers desperation resulted in a young life being cut short. Residents of Madonsa woke up to shocking news that Bonisile Lukhele of Luve had tragically ended the life of her newborn son while in her rented flat in the area, it was alleged. The woman who was estimated to be in her early 20s was arrested and charged with murder yesterday. The young mother allegedly first strangled the newborn baby then suffocated him with blankets before she dumped the body in a pit latrine situated within the compound where she resided. According to sources privy with information on the matter, just weeks ago, Lukhele was heavily pregnant and she delivered last Saturday afternoon. The source said the young mother delivered on her own while inside her rented flat. Since she had a natural delivery, the source said Lukhele was able to walk from her house to another where she asked that the female occupant help cut off the umbilical cord. The source alleged that the female occupant had helped cut off another tenants umbilical cord after a home delivery. Consequently, the tenant allegedly did as asked and further advised Lukhele to take the baby to hospital. As if considering the fellow tenants advice, Lukhele is said to have agreed to take her son for medical assessment. The female tenant is said to have been so concerned so much that she even offered to give Lukhele some baby clothes so that she could hastily go to hospital. Days after Lukhele had given birth to her son, the source said other tenants congratulated her on the safe delivery and wanted to see the baby. However, when the tenants saw the baby, they were concerned about the state of his health. KHUPHUKA A police officers husband, who allegedly took advantage of his wifes uniform, wore it and further went to steal dagga, was stabbed and killed by a dagga dealer. Last week someone was murdered over dagga, now it is yet another murder. What is more shocking is the fact that this time the people posed as police officers, something which infuriated the dagga dealers, a resident in Khuphuka said yesterday. The alleged dagga dealers boarded a two-door VW Polo on Wednesday afternoon and headed for Khuphuka where they contacted one dagga dealer, and requested to buy bags of dagga. Upon arrival at the place, the three men met up with the dagga dealer near the forests and held a meeting inside the car, where logistics such as the price and weight of the dagga were discussed. While the alleged dagga dealer went to get the dagga, the three men had already devised a plan to wear Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) uniforms to disguise. Upon his return, at the meeting spot, he found them wearing the RSP gear, one a combat RSP gear and another a jack-in (shiny traffic jacket). They immediately drew guns and suddenly told the dagga dealer that he was under arrest, this was after he had returned with the bags of dagga. They posed as police officers and loaded the bags of dagga in their vehicle, alleging it was exhibits. Since all the dagga dealers in the area are vigilant and know people are out to steal their dagga, many people immediately arrived at the scene. iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A Texas dentist who was notoriously convicted of running over her cheating husband has been released from prison after 15 years. On July 24, 2002, Clara Harris, 60, killed her husband, 44-year-old orthodontist David Harris, after she found him with his alleged mistress, Gail Bridges, authorities said. The private investigator Clara Harris hired to follow her husband videotaped the incident, which showed her striking him repeatedly with her Mercedes-Benz in the parking lot of a Houston hotel -- the same one the couple had been married in on Valentine's Day 1992. The first impact sent David Harris flying 25 feet. Then, prosecutors said Clara Harris crossed two grassy medians and ran over her husband three more times before she put the car in reverse and backed over his body, leaving the car parked on top of him. David Harris' 16-year-old daughter -- Clara Harris' stepdaughter -- was in the passenger seat of the car at the time. Prior to the attack, a confrontation between Bridges and Clara Harris occurred in the hotel lobby, and witnesses said Clara Harris tore Bridges' shirt. David Harris had been walking Bridges to her car at time of the attack. He later died of his injuries. David Harris died hours later. The couple -- who had twin boys together -- had been going through a divorce at the time of his death. After she was arrested, Clara Harris told reporters that it was an accident. The day in February 2003 when Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering her husband would have been their 11th anniversary. She served 15 years of her sentence. The couple had been earning millions with their chain of orthodontist offices and lived in an estate in the Houston suburbs. "I pretty much consider my life is over," Clara Harris told ABC News' Diane Sawyer before her conviction. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Toshiba America, XMedius Partner on FoIP By Paula Bernier , Executive Editor, TMC XMedius Solutions Inc. will be providing Toshiba America Business Solutions enterprise customers with a fax over IP solution called XMediusFAX. This solution allows for the delivery of fax communications from most Toshiba multifunction printers, as well as Android, iPad, iPhone, and other devices. It supports fax on email applications including Microsoft Outlook and web pages too. Our partnership with XMedius broadens our existing solutions portfolio and equips our customers with an easy-to-use, scalable and efficient fax over IP offering, said Bill Melo, Toshiba America Business Solutions chief marketing executive. Secure fax communication is still mission critical for many businesses and our collaboration with XMedius enables us to meet this requirement with a state of the art solution. Sebastien Boire-Lavigne, executive vice president and chief technology officer of XMedius, added: Toshiba users can easily incorporate their MFPs with this tamper-proof document transfer solution to address their fax needs. The embedded app guarantees the secure sharing of sensitive documents, such as health records, contracts, financial statements and transcripts while assuring compliance with HIPAA and Sarbanes Oxley regulations. Toshiba America Business Solutions offers printers, managed document services, and digital signage solutions in Central and South America, Mexico, and the United States. XMedius offers a suite of enterprise-grade on-premises and cloud communications solutions. The company is headquartered in Montreal and has offices in Paris and Seattle. Although the arrival of emails has contributed to reducing the number of faxes sent and received, the fact of the matter is that this means of communication still remains relevant, XMedius recently blogged. Imagine that your financial analyst asks you to fax a document authorizing a transaction, or that your doctor would like to send you a copy of your last lab results by fax. Email is not a secure enough means to send such important and confidential documentation, and regular mail is decidedly too slow. Please enable JavaScript to view the Edited by Maurice Nagle Hosted PBX Brings Colombia into Cloud Era By Maurice Nagle - Web Editor The cloud is an immutable force in the technology landscape. And in regard to cloud communications, South America is proving a ripe market for service providers, which is seeing PBX provider position for a push. Net2phone announced a new Hosted PBX Unlimited Service in Colombia aimed at driving Colombian organizations to move in a more modern direction with cloud communications. In specific, the offering includes unlimited calling throughout Colombia; unlimited calling to more than 20 countries around the globe; free VoIP phones; and a feature rich PBX with find me follow me call me management, voicemail-to-email, customized auto attendant and more. Another attractive feature of the phone system is the flat monthly rate per user or seat. The service is now available in four countries. Colombian joins Brazil, Argentina and the United States, with further expansion expected in the coming months."We have tailored our Hosted PBX solution specifically for the Colombian market based on our two decades of work throughout South America," said Jonah Fink, President of net2phone. "We understand the needs of Colombian businesses and are dedicated to providing them with a world-class cloud-based business phone solution featuring an unrivaled offering of unlimited calling." Digital transformation is touching all point s of the globe. Emerging markets like South America will serve as fertile ground for a highly competitive cloud communications market. Are your business communications in the cloud? Please enable JavaScript to view the Edited by Maurice Nagle Artist Jessica Wohl searches for what everyone has in common - even if it's a testy desire to be heard. By looking at the seven quilts she'll show in Weinberger Fine Art 's new exhibition, "Thoughts And Prayers," it's hard to say what Wohl's political leanings are. KMBC: The FBI is offering a reward after a Muslim student was attacked last month at the Metropolitan Community College's Penn Valley Campus. A reward up to $10,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest. Amid so many Midtown Kansas City smackdowns, this attacks stands out for alleged hate crime motivations.Checkit:Developing . . . Harley has said it will close the Kansas City factory despite pleas from some members of Congress to keep it open and retain about 800 jobs. Harley says its moving the Kansas City work to the companys plant in York, Pa., creating about 400 additional jobs in York. But in a meeting Wednesday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., members of the Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said at least some of the work was headed to Thailand. Part of my job is being moved to York, but the other part is going to Bangkok, said Richard Pence, a machinist at the Kansas City plant. Special thanks to theamong our blog community for highlighting this bit of collective bargaining rhetoric as outsourcing continues in the global marketplace despite branding deception.Checkit:Deets:Developing . . . This week ourand noted community objection.Later that day . . .Local politicos and public officials were forced to offer a paltry explanation that didn't really satisfy anybody:And so . . .While this episode highlights another hardship for local parents thanks to. . . It shows an administration just a bit more adept at PR and confronting ongoing criticism amid modest progress and provisional accreditation shame.Developing . . . A pair of University of Kansas cheerleaders recently spoke to the Collegian , Kansas State's student paper, and detailed the way their team hazed six first-year cheerleaders at a children's summer camp event in July 2017. The cheerleading squad was placed on probation for one year in Sept. Democrats boot St. Louis County rep after controversial call-ins to radio show JEFFERSON CITY * Democrats in the Missouri House on Thursday voted to kick state Rep. Bob Burns out of their caucus after his calls into a controversial St. Louis-area radio show generated anger in recent weeks. House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, said the caucus voted to "expel" Burns, of Affton, due to "his frequent on-air praise for a St. Here's a reality check on political affiliations and loose talk in Missouri. Credit where it's due, this is a rare example of accountability for a Show-Me State politico who runs afoul of his party . . . Probably sacrificed as a message to the Guv. Read more: Fox4: The jury says the county executives chief of staff was condescending of the jurys review of the jail. According to the report, the chief of staff said he was worried some county residents would make sweeping statements and large decisions about issues that are messy and complicated. EXEC FRANK WHITE ANSWERS MEAN JEAN CRITICISM WITH ALLEGATIONS OF POLITICAL INTRIGUE!!! Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. has issued the following statement in response to the report: The Prosecuting Attorney is using this report as a political opportunity to point out decades-old problems of deferred maintenance and attribute them to the current administration. Therefore, the County is disappointed with the conclusions reached by the Prosecuting Attorney. The Prosecuting Attorneys report appears to be the product of both misinformation and a strong desire to incarcerate more people pre-trial. Widespread issues regarding facility conditions, staff retention and overcrowding persist at detention facilities nationwide. However, issuing redundant reports and finger pointing is not a solution. WHO DO YOU BELIEVE IN THIS DEBATE OVER THE JACKSON COUNTY JAIL?!?! EXEC FRANK WHITE TALKS POLITICS WHILST PROSECUTOR BAKER ASKS ABOUT THE MONEY!!! A horrific report on the decrepit conditions of the Jackson County Jail was released this afternoon.Check the roundup:Even better, tonight TV news is sharing pix from the report and a lot of images of "caked feces" during dinner time!!!However, recent reaction following the release of the report is even more noteworthy because it reveals a battle royale betwixt the two politicos at the center of this drama.Here's the word as local newsies struggle to keep up with this evolving story, we've highlighted the most important passage:Jackson County is committed to providing a safe and secure facility for inmates, staff and the entire community. Under the leadership of new Director Diana Turner, the County continues to make significant improvements to the existing facilities and operations. The County strongly disagrees with many characterizations as presented by the Prosecuting Attorney, but we will use this report, as we have with every other opportunity, to grow and better our facilities and operations for this community.Additionally, the factually accurate portions of the Prosecuting Attorneys report are largely regurgitated from prior evaluations and have been addressed or are in the process of being fixed.On November 27, 2017, the Prosecuting Attorney sent a letter to me, which stated, in part, Spending more time to further study the overcrowded and unsafe conditions at the detention center is simply inappropriate.It is interesting to note that the Prosecuting Attorneys study of the Department of Corrections was ongoing at the time she made the statement and she continued that study for months after she released the statement above. In addition, while refusing to participate in an open process that involved the community, the Prosecuting Attorney chose to conduct a secretive process where her staff controlled the process and wrote the report.The problems faced by the Countys detention facilities will require the concerted action of everyone if we are to create sustainable change. These are complex issues and the Department of Corrections initiatives will continue to be evaluated and modified over time, as necessary, to achieve our objectives. We remain deeply committed to leading the efforts to address these problems plaguing facilities across the country.###########This is a tough one and so we ask for the advice of our blog community in this ongoing debate . . .You decide . . . "Mike Shanin talks to Dave Trabert about his book, What Was Really the Matter with the Kansas Tax Plan: The Undoing of a Good Idea. Cynthia Wheeler, Annie Presley, Danedri Herbert and Jim Heeter discuss Westport business opposition to the streetcar expansion, the impact of the increasing number of charter schools on Kansas City's public schools and the search for a homicide reduction plan in KCMO." From thefor local political discourse, an insider conversation among local thought leaders regarding topics near and dear to our heart.Check the description:You decide . . . As the great English Poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, said: We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece. The Prince of Wales has embraced his ties with Greece and even spoke Greek during the Presidents dinner at the Presidential Mansion in Athens, saying We want to thank you for your warm welcome and heartfelt hospitality. He went on to note , As the great English Poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, said: We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece. Speaking of his family ties and connection to Greece, he added, For my part, my own connections to Greece have particular meaning after all, it is the land of my grandfather In Britain, as across the Western World, the profound influence of Greece has, since ancient times, shaped the way we think, the way we build, the way we learn and the way we govern. The ties between our two countries run deep, and today are as strong and as vital as they have ever been. In an uncertain world, these bonds between our countries and our people are of the greatest importance and will endure, as our relationship evolves in the years ahead, he added. I thank you once again for your heartfelt and warm reception to your country, which is always so hospitable. I raise my glass to everyones health, and to the welfare and friendship of our two peoples. Long live Greece! Long Live the United Kingdom! Prince Charles also visited the Byzantine Church of Kapnikarea in central Athens yesterday, where he kissed an icon of the Resurrection of Christ. Prince Charles meets with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II The royal heir was granted a reception with the head of Greeces Orthodox Christian Church, Archbishop Ieronymos II. The Prince was led to a room full of paintings of former Archbishops of Athens and was welcomed by other Greek Bishops, before signing the visitors book. The Archbishop told him,Welcome to the land of half of your ancestors. Charles has long been interested in Orthodoxy, privately visiting monasteries in Greece, where his paternal great-grandfather reigned and his father, Prince Philip, was born. Replying to the Archbishops greeting, the Prince stressed, Im most grateful for your extremely generous welcome. Im enormously touched that you should receive me here on this visit to Athens. Charles also received a gift of an icon of Panagia (Virgin Mary) from the Greek Archbishop. Read more at newgreektv.com 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 Britain's royal heir Prince Charles, escorted by his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, took a stroll in the sunshine through the centre of Athens on Thursday, after their meeting with the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece. Leaving the Athens Archdiocese, the royal couple made their way on foot to the Panagia Kapnikarea Church on commercial Ermou street. Along the way, they stopped and bought a traditional "koulouri" - a ring-shaped sesame bun - from a street vendor and spoke with several passers-by that recognised the two royals and took photographs of them with their phones. 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: flickr.com Copyright: antonisgkekas Opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the GCC, driven by economic diversification across the region, were highlighted at the final day of the investment forum - Gateway Gulf, which was held in Manama, Bahrain. The event which kicked off on May 8 concluded May 10 at the Four Seasons Hotel. At the forum, Eng Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), underlined the growing inward investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the region. Al-Omar said: A total of 13 per cent of the worlds trade passes through the Red Sea and this really presents a good opportunity for the whole region. When it comes to FDI, we have seen a growth in foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia of about 50 per cent in Q1 this year compared to Q1 last year, he added. From attracting FDI to empowering local businesses, the forum explored key opportunities and challenges facing businesses and governments across the GCC as the region undergoes an unprecedented paradigm shift from public to private sector-led growth, said a statement. Technology-led innovation emerged as a key driver of growth across sectors, with speakers including Dr Klaus Kleinfield, chief executive officer, Neom, conceived as a new hub for innovation, knowledge, and trade located on the Red Sea. A series of announcements highlighted the progress being made across the GCC in fostering supportive ecosystems for start-ups to drive innovation. These included the announcement of Bahrains plans to establish a $100 million Fund of Funds to open up new funding avenues for innovative young businesses. Speaking on a panel about how governments can embrace innovation to support growth, Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), said: When we first started looking at fintech, the biggest hurdle was the fear factor. For any regulator to think about change in the landscape can bring anxiety because naturally we target certainty, so we avoid risk that can prevent financial instability. But what we decided at the CBB is that this coming technology is of immense benefits to the economy of Bahrain, thats why we took the dive and made the necessary regulations and pushed industry to start looking at this and introduce changes we think will help the economy at large, he said. The importance of putting social impact at the heart of innovation and investment strategies was emphasised throughout the days conversations. Dilip Rao, CEO, Ripple, said: Its not so much about technology, its about what we do with that technology. What is the problem were trying to solve? When blockchain first emerged, it was overhyped. What is happening now is people are knuckling down to specific use cases. On a separate panel about investing in a challenging world, Mahmood Alkooheji, chief executive officer, Mumtalakat, Bahrains sovereign wealth fund, said: We do projects that are commercially viable. But before we invest we ask ourselves two fundamental questions. Is this a growth area and will it affect peoples lives positively? Investments in Bahrains thriving industrial sectors were also front and centre of the forum, with the announcement by the Bahrain National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) of a $1 billion Energy Fund, the first such fund in the GCC, which will provide institutional investors with access to local energy assets. The fund is a strong example of a broader trend in which economic reform is opening up opportunities in the region which have previously been unavailable to private sector investors. The forum also saw the inauguration of Italian water heat maker Ariston Thermos first manufacturing plant in the Middle East and North Africa region. The 7,000-sq-m plant, based in Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), will produce up to 250,000 electric water heaters for export each year. Food manufacturers are also increasingly turning to Bahrain to supply the Gulf and wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) market, where growing populations are driving increased demand in a market worth $125 billion. The expansion of Malaysias Power Root, the manufacturer of Alicafe coffee mix and other instant hot beverages, into the Mena region was also announced at the forum. Power Root will be investing over $14 million in a large production facility located in BIIP. This investment is expected to generate over 160 new jobs for the local workforce. The decision to locate in Bahrain rests on the strong logistics links offered by the kingdom, as well as the uniquely open, supportive business environment. These major manufacturers join a strong pipeline of foreign direct investment secured thanks to Bahrains pro-business regulatory environment, low operating costs, fast access to regional markets and strong human capital. In 2017 the Bahrain EDB achieved a record level of international investment, attracting $733 million across 71 companies, which will create around 2,800 high-value jobs over three years and drive new opportunities for Bahrains talented youth, who were the focus of the final session of the conference. The inaugural forum which was hosted under the patronage of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, facilitated open dialogue and showcased projects worth $26 billion across multiple sectors to government and business leaders and investors from the GCC and around the world. The event featured over 90 speakers, and 850 registered participants from more than 40 countries, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Creta Maris Beach Resort was awarded with the Gold Customers Choice Award 2017 for third year, by the tour operator Apollo Travel. (TRAVPR.COM) GREECE - May 11th, 2018 - With a total of 9.2 points, Creta Maris Beach Resort stood out in the preferences of the Scandinavian guests, who chose the resort for their holidays, due to the provision of high quality services and the authentic Cretan hospitality. The General Manager of Creta Maris Beach Resort, Mr. Nikos Vlassiadis who attended the awards ceremony organized by the Apollo Travel team, stated: For us in Creta Maris, the Apollo's Gold Customers Choice Award 2017 is a valuable reward from our guests, who are the ultimate recipients of all our efforts and at the same time, our strictest judges. Their positive reward is the best proof of the quality of experiences that we offer and the unique memories that we create. I would like to congratulate our team, and specifically every one of it, as every day we do our best to offer the genuine Greek Hospitality to our guests. " About Creta Maris Beach Resort: Creta Maris Beach Resort with a capacity of 680 rooms, has been originally launched in 1975 and is situated next to Hersonissos, just 25 minutes (24km) from the Heraklion Airport. With a capacity of 680 rooms, suites and bungalows, 6 restaurants, 7 bars, 7 swimming pools, gym, Hammam spa, Asterias Childrens Club, and a great space for outdoor and indoor activities, Creta Maris is a blend of tradition and luxury together on a beautiful beach with crystal clear waters where guests can experience the authentic Cretan hospitality. About Apollo Travel: Apollo Travel is one of Nordics leading tour operators, which consists of Apollo in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and the airline Novair. The Apollo Travel Group have about 900 employees and about 1 million travelers to destinations all over the world. Please find pictures of the event on high resolution on the below link: https://we.tl/9xzZqzHLQH Please find pictures of Creta Maris Beach Resort on high resolution on our site https://www.cretamaris.gr/media-and-photo-gallery-crete-hotel/photos ### singhking99@yahoo.com Gurugram, May 11 Majority of Fortis Healthcares Board opted for the Munjals-Burmans offer keeping in mind the certainty and liquidity issues, companys director Brian W Tempest said on Friday. While five Board members had voted in favour of the Rs 1,800-crore offer, three members had opted for other offers out of the four binding bids that Fortis Healthcare had received. We looked at all the binding bids from the point of view of certainty and liquidity for the company...We took advice from the expert committee, from two financial organisations and from a legal organisation, Tempest told reporters here. When asked if the decision was unanimous, he said three members of the Board, who have been with Fortis, voted for the Munjals-Burmans bid and out of five new members two voted for the bid and three voted for other options. Another major reason for accepting the bid was that they have several investments in the healtcare sector. Accepting the offer was a culmination of a process which started two years ago, Tempest said, adding it would now be presented to shareholders for approval. There will be a shareholders meeting on this within 30 days and I am positive that there will be a support from the shareholders for the decision, he said. On the issue of erstwhile promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh continuing on the Board of diagnostics chain SRL, Tempest said they should step down. On the immediate task of the management of the cash-strapped healthcare chain, he said, I would want them to focus on the performance and results of the of hospital business. Fortis announced last night that its Board has picked the offer from Munjals-Burmans combine over four other suitors who made binding offers. Meanwhile, after losing out to Munjal-Burman combine in the race for Fortis, Malyasia's IHH Healthcare said on Friday it is looking to speak to the shareholders of the Indian firm even as it evaluates options for its future course of action. Another suitor which also lost out, Manipal-TPG consortium, also expressed disappointment over the decision of the Fortis board to go ahead with the Rs 1,800 crore offer by Munjals and Burmans stating it would be for the shareholders to decide to accept the recommendation or not. "We are currently evaluating all possible options, to ensure shareholders have the opportunity to realise this value. We are evaluating all possible options, and are looking to speak to shareholders to hear their thoughts," IHH Healthcare Managing Director and CEO Tan See Leng said. He further said the company's proposal would have benefitted all Fortis stakeholders upon triggering a mandatory takeover offer outlined in its proposal. PTI editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 11 The Education Department of the UT is going to conduct online admissions for Class XI from the 2018-19 session. It will benefit thousands of students seeking admission to government schools here. There are 14,000 seats in four streams of Class XI. District Education Officer (DEO) Anujit Kaur conducted a meeting of school heads in this regard on Friday. First one has to register for admission. A registration number and password will be allotted on mobile phone, she said. The photocopies of certificates would be uploaded on a webpage, specially created for this purpose. Even the schools allotment would take place online, said the DEO. Once the school is allotted, a student has to visit the school for verification of documents. The DEO claimed that it would be the first time that online admissions would be carried out for Class XI in any north Indian state. Pune and Kerala are also experimenting with it. The fee would also be paid online, she said. The department has been working on it for the past three or four months. We had trained school students and computer teachers for the purpose, said DEO Those students who do not have access to computers would be allowed to register at designated schools. If someone is facing any problem in payment of fee, they can also pay fee at Sampark Centres. We are in talks with HDFC Bank for deposition of fee, she said. No prospectus will be released this time and information could be seen online only. Steps A link to apply for admission to Class XI will be made available on the Education Department website. A student has to register online. A password and registration number will be sent to him or her on mobile phone Fee will be paid Schools will be allotted online Student has to go to the school concerned for verification Whats the plan Last year, eight counselling sessions were held to admit students. This time, there is a plan to conduct two sessions online and third session will also be conducted online but only after declaration of compartment results. CBSE for lodging FIR in case of missing maths papers editorial@tribune.com The case On May 5, the decomposed body of a woman was recovered from a rented accommodation in Mataur village. Neighbours had informed the police after foul smell started emanating from a locked room on the ground floor of a house. Reportedly hiding in Bihar; police teams sent to nab him Tribune News Service Mohali, May 11 Six days after an unidentified womans decomposed body was found from a locked house in Mataur village, sources said the Mohali police had zeroed in on the suspect, who is reportedly hiding in Bihar. The victim has been identified as Rupa. The post-mortem was conducted on Friday. The police said the main suspect, believed to be her husband, had been identified as Ramesh Yadav, who worked as a mason in Nayagaon. Mataur SHO Sub-Inspector Rajiv Kumar said a police party had gone to Bihar to trace him and efforts were on to nab him. The sources said the police had traced his hideout in Bihar, but he managed to escape. On May 5, the decomposed body of a woman was recovered from a rented accommodation in Mataur village. Neighbours had informed the police after foul smell started emanating from a locked room on the ground floor of a house. The landlady had told the police that a Bihar-based man and a woman had taken the room on rent a few days ago. The victims hands were tied and a green colour dupatta (stole) was tied around her neck. The police suspected that the victim had been murdered and registered a case under Section 302 (murder) against unknown person(s) at Mataur police station. Radha Saini and Brahmkumari Rupa Upadhaye The theme of International Nurses Day 2018 is Nurses: A voice to lead Health is a Human Right. The Indian healthcare system is mainly "disease focused" and not "individual centered". The lack of a "people-centered approach" has crippled the universal health coverage and undermined the indispensible role of nurses in delivering optimum quality of care to the patients. The World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, recommends nurse-patient ratio of 1:500 whereas in India, it is 1:1,100 and as per one estimate, there is a shortage of 2.4 million nurses. This is owing to meagre salaries of nurses in hospitals, non-conducive work environment, few chances of promotion and self-development and low recruitment, all of which results in migration and attrition. Nurses are the first care providers to the patients; they are constantly exposed to body fluids and contaminations of patients, apart from other occupational hazards in the hospital settings. The worst hit are the oncology nurses who administer cytotoxic drugs or the anti-neoplastic drugs to cancer patients since even after using personal protective equipment (PPE), they remain exposed to nanoparticles emitted by these drugs. Nanoparticles enter the body through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption and are responsible for the development of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory complications, dermatological reactions, spontaneous abortions, cancers, fertility problems and long-term genetic changes in foetus. The nurses working in the emergency and trauma units have high prevalence of needle-stick injuries, musculoskeletal disorders, sleep deprivation disorders, depressive spells, stress and burnouts, apart from being exposed to bashing by violent patients and relatives. Unfortunately, no policy, guideline, legislation or protection system exists for the nurses. There is no safety protocol either in book, law or practice. In reputed central government institutes, the nurse-patient ratio is 1:50 in the general wards. It means that one staff nurse has to take care of 50 patients in one shift. They are also made to undertake non-nursing responsibilities, ranging from maintaining the drug inventory, CSSD (Central Sterile Supply Department) inventory, medical equipment stock, linen stock, attending telephone calls of patients attendants, guidance and counseling of patients and their relatives, and supervising student nurses, ward attendants, general duty attendants and sweepers. The scenario is the same in the state government-run hospitals where nurses are not provided any PPE like gloves, gowns and masks. Also, no biological safety cabinets (BSC) are provided for the preparation and storage of chemotherapy drugs, hence exposing the nurses to hazards, including cancers. Nurses attain autonomy by increasing their educational qualification. Recently, the nurse practitioner (NP) course started by the Indian Nursing Council in critical care nursing drew flak as there is no well-defined scope of practice, standards of care and core competencies of NPs in their respective area of practice. The mushrooming of nursing colleges has eroded the ethics and sanctity of the profession in terms of poor quality of care being delivered by the young graduates of today. That is because they have had very little/ poor clinical exposure (practical training) while pursuing their degrees/diplomas. All types of illegal practices thrive in these private colleges in order to make their students pass their examinations, making a strong case to take their practical exams under camera. The scenario of masters and doctorate nurses is worse as they are away from patient care or clinical set-up, having been absorbed into teaching student nurses. Not even 0.1 per cent nurses at the post of associate professor and above either in private or government college of nursing in the entire North India have 10 research publications in peer reviewed national indexed journals of repute (contrary to the mandatory guidelines of Indian Nursing Council, New Delhi). Most of the studies undertaken by them are KAP (knowledge, attitude and practices-based) studies and a majority of them have not complied with the right sampling methods, research designs and sample size. Teaching standards have deteriorated in even in premier nursing institutions. The teachers promotions and salary increments are based upon political linkages and not academic excellence and they have no aptitude to pursue research to upgrade their knowledge. A robust governance structure in nursing education needed This grim situation in the nursing sector in India calls for the establishment of a robust governance structure in nursing education by the following ways: To give equity of access to health services to the people, the government should consider formulating a course on "rural community health nursing" exclusively for rural areas which are resource-constrained, deplorable and disadvantaged. Exit exam for nursing graduates should be a must (like in the USA, Canada) in order to obtain licensure to practice as a staff nurse or a nursing teacher. Practical exams and viva of MSc nursing students should be held under camera. A post-graduate course in occupational health nursing be started by the Indian Nursing Council (INC). It must include a course on nanotechnology in the curriculum. Laws to be formulated and healthcare policy be made by Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research for protecting nurses from occupational health hazards. Continuous upgradation of the skills of nurses in the form of inservice education programmes and the promotion of nurses in both clinical and teaching side be made on this criteria. Inspection criteria of the state licensing council, INC and university to be strengthened while giving annual recognition to the nursing colleges. Radha Saini, Senior Lecturer, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Freetown, Sierra Leone Brahmkumari Rupa Upadhaye, National Florence Nightingale Awardee 2018 and Chief Nursing Officer, J Watumall Global Hospital and Research Centre, Mount Abu KV Prasad KV Prasad People of Karnataka will today vote to elect a new government, but the focus of the nation will be riveted on the outcome, three days from now. Generally, elections to state Assemblies evoke limited interest. For people in the North, a faraway Assembly election ignites far lesser interest, but for those immersed in politics who follow every election. This Karnataka election is different on many counts. Even though the epicentre is located in deep South, its effect is being experienced across the country; the ruling Congress in Karnataka is facing its stiffest challenge from the BJP, which is out to recapture power in the only citadel it has ever held across the Vindhyas. Stakes are very high for the Congress and the BJP, both of whom cannot afford to be vanquished; and irrespective of who triumphs, the verdict would result in redrawing the contours of political alignments in the country ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Almost the entire country was drawn into the Karnataka poll vortex and the reason is not far to seek. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, along with its Union Ministers and Chief Ministers, embarked upon a high-octane campaign, lending their voice where it mattered. The party-government synergy in the campaign, orchestrated by the shrewd tactician Amit Shah, the BJP president, literally forced the Congress to struggle and come up with matching resources. So much so, Sonia Gandhi who decided to step back from public gaze after the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress chief came out of hibernation to take the plunge. The interesting feature of this election is that the Congress under its CM Siddaramaiah remained a formidable combatant, attempting to buck the incumbency factor with a clever mix of politics and tactics. In the process, he silently pitched himself as a gladiator in the electoral duel against PM Modi. The CM from Kurba (shepherd) community relegated the BJPs chief ministerial face BS Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat, to the background and the Congress launched a shrill drive, reminding the voters of the former CMs peccadilloes for corrupt practices. Karnataka is the only big state in the South that the Congress has under its belt. By halting the BJP juggernaut set into motion by the Modi-Shah combine, the party will deny them a huge psychological advantage of having moved yet another step closer to their avowed Congress-mukt Bharat promise. The anticipated result found echo when PM Modi mockingly predicted that the Congress will be emasculated into a Punjab-Puducherry party. For the BJP regaining Karnataka is crucial. The state was once thought of by the party as the gateway to the South, but it slipped out of its hand as it grappled internal dissensions. Wresting power from the Congress should be a big boost for it ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The four states in the South contribute a little less than a quarter of the seats in the Lok Sabha that can offset anticipated losses in the cow-belt states, particularly UP and Bihar. A loss for either side will have serious political consequences. For the Congress, the forces within would start regrouping to test the authority of Rahul Gandhi to lead the charge in the Lok Sabha poll. It will also mean the new leader will go in with a handicap when it comes to working out alliances with other parties willing to do business with the Grand Old Party. The least the Congress can hope for is an honourable verdict of being the single largest party. The pole position can be easily construed as a decent achievement, akin to having lost the battle but still in the reckoning. The current leadership of the BJP does not enter the battleground to lose. It unleashes its full bag of tricks and persuasion to make its political rivals bite the dust. For the BJP, the loss or the inability to form the next government in Karnataka will be a severe setback as it prepares to retain power at the Centre, the first for any BJP government after a full tenure. The latent restiveness within the party and its allies, and perceived calm on the surface would seek an outlet. There is a distinct possibility that irrespective of the outcome, the BJP leadership would frontload the general election to go along with the next set of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where the party is in saddle for the past 15 years, besides Rajasthan. A win will allow the party to quickly cash in on the high acceptability PM Modi has as the only leader whose pan-India popularity remains, notwithstanding a few notches down as compared to the high of 2014. On the flipside, the inability to form a government in Karnataka can be worked around to advance the poll schedule to cut losses that may accrue between now and the general election next summer. Unlike 2014, the Modi sarkar will have to go to the people reeling out the list of firsts during its tenure and come out with grand plans to complete the unfinished agenda. The report card, so to say, will have to include signature programmes like Swachh Bharat, Startup India, Stand-up India, Khelo India, Skill India, cleaner fuels and housing for the deprived sections, creation of employment opportunities and other ambitious schemes. For the Opposition, the field is wide open. Individually and collectively, leaders and the parties will have the option to choose issues to attack the government with searching questions and direct fire on tasks that remain unfinished in terms of delivery and altered course in terms of polity and discourse. Stirrings in both the ruling coalition and the opposition camps began months before the Karnataka polls and will acquire a greater momentum after May 15. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance of May 2014 is already undergoing a change with the exit of the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. The Shiv Sena is threatening to snap its decades-old ties in Maharashtra while the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab remains in a state of sulk. The BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir is too under strain while smaller parties in Bihar and elsewhere are sending mixed signals. Yet, the BJP appears stronger and moving ahead to consolidate its grip as a pan-India party on its own steam and takes huge comfort from the less-than-enthusiastic response the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are generating among the existing and erstwhile allies under the UPA banner. Karnataka, like Punjab, is not known to be a bellwether state, and when its people speak, governments they elect are different from the ones that come to power at the Centre in elections that follow! Will it be any different this time? prasad@tribunemail.com sanjiv@tribunemail.com In public life leaders often end up making statements that are not true to fact. These could be because of their mind playing tricks in the heat of the moment, or perhaps even mischievous advisers. They could be dismissed as bona fide errors. Then there are claims and declarations that are not true to fact, yet are peddled occasionally by leaders, knowingly, because it suits a certain narrative. Often these are pardoned as untruths; a concession may be made in view of political, or electoral, compulsions. But a disturbing question arises what to call indiscretions that involve telling wrongs facts, repeatedly, and come from those in high offices. Prime Minister Narendra Modis suggestion at a public rally in Karnataka that Congress leaders never met Bhagat Singh in prison is contrary to what is recorded about Nehru visiting the national hero in Lahore jail. During the same campaign, Modi was also heard making statements regarding Field Marshall Cariappa and General Thimayya that were countered by some veteran soldiers. In his latest foray, Tripura CM Biplab Deb has, wrongly, declared that Rabindranath Tagore returned his Nobel Prize in protest against the British. While the BJP chief minister may be dismissed by some as a Johnny-come-lately, it cannot be ignored that the government at the Centre, too, has laid out many figures on the economy (GDP, demonetisation, employment) that came from use of statistics that did not necessarily present a picture in the language that people understood. All of these can be called taking liberties with facts. Rs 15 lakh in accounts, of course, was dismissed as an electoral jumla. The irony, however, is that Narendera Modi rose from the office of chief minister to prime minister on the back of a huge trust quotient, which was magnified especially in contrast to the corruption-marred UPA-II. In public life, it is hard to retain trust. Every statement not fully backed with facts no matter under what compulsion eats into the cache. Modi may have gained a few points by electoral rhetoric, but loses plenty. Hope he has done the maths. sanjiv@tribunemail.com Beating the odds is an understatement when the subject under examination has over 90 summers under his belt, last saw success 15 years back and has, as his electoral ally, the wife of former Deputy Prime Minister barred from contesting on sodomy charges. That in brief is Mahathir Mohammed whose coalition has come back from the dead to win a majority in Malaysian Parliament. The die seemed to have been cast for an upset, only the incumbent PM Najib failed to read it. For three years, Malaysia had been rocked by a scandal where Najib was accused of siphoning off state funds. The nations image had been besmirched and at least 10 per cent of the electorate, mostly ethnic Malays, stayed away. That proved fatal for Najib in 30 swing seats. There was no Malayan tsunami this time that could have lifted Najibs electoral boat. He may well be regretting rubbing off too many opposition politicians at the same time, motivating them to form a middle-of-the-road four-party front that gives adequate space to the countrys three main ethnic groups the Malays, the Chinese and the Tamils. It was ironical that the 92-year challenger focused on the future while the incumbent, younger by three decades, resorted to desperate freebies to no avail. Mahathirs alliance also won elections to several provinces. What is of concern is that the hardline Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia has retained its voter base as the third force. Mahathir has promised to bring back development and boost the economy, his twin signature achievements when he ran Malaysia with an iron hand for 22 years. This means renewed Chinese interest in Malaysian infrastructure to raise its influence with another major ASEAN country after Indonesia and Philippines. It would also mean a rearrangement in supplies of arms, for it was Mahathir who had opted for Russian combat jets and submarines. This should make it easier for India to restart a close defence relationship on the basis of equipment commonality. Malaysia under Mahathir will look to balance China and scout the neighbourhood for more opportunities. An opportunity beckons for India. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 11 Rapping the special investigation team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police for allegedly conniving with the accused in the HCS (Judicial) paper leak case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday expressed displeasure over sharing of statements with the accused. The statements of witnesses had been shared on the trial courts direction. The Bench seriously viewed the SITs failure to file appeal in the High Court against the order. A Bench comprising Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice GS Sandhawalia directed the Chandigarh Police to file an affidavit to explain reasons behind the failure to appeal against the district court orders. The case would now come up for hearing on Wednesday. The Bench asserted: It appears that you are also involved in it. Your connivance has been proved as without challenging the order, you supplied copies of the statements to the accused. It is difficult to digest that you were under so much pressure that statements were handed over to the accused. The Bench expressed surprise that prosecution of the case had not been handled by an officer of the level of district attorney in the trial court. The development took place just about a year after the examination for filling 109 posts in the subordinate judiciary was conducted. A Punjab and Haryana High Court committee, through the Haryana Public Service Commission, had invited applications for filling the vacancies. Soon after the examination, candidate Suman had filed a plea for registration of a case to uncover the scam. She had alleged that she was contacted by two candidates, Sushila and Sunita, claiming that they had the question paper. uttara@tribuneindia.com Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, May 11 An angry mob vandalised a city police station and a traffic police post near Nehru place in the early hours of Friday over allegations of a 52-year-old mans custodial death. Police claimed Jaiba Ram was arrested on charges of being in possession of 152 gm of ganja, and that his health condition worsened while he was in custody. Surinder Singh Bhoria, Superintendent of Police, claimed that the suspect was taken to Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital (KCGMCH), where he was declared dead. Jaiba Rams family however deny the police version, claiming that he was brought to the police station on Friday on false extortion charges, and was beaten to death. His son Naresh Kumar claimed police raided their house on Thursday, beat his father up and took him to the police station. He claimed his cousin Sonu was also beaten up for resisting the arrest. When we reached at police station inquiring about the arrest, the police demanded Rs 50,000 for my fathers release. I went back to home and after sometime, I was informed that my father was taken to KCGMCH, where my father was declared dead, Kumar said, claiming police abandoned his father at the hospital once they found he was dead. Reports of Rams death caused outrage, with an angry mob attacking the police station, causing police station to first hide to save themselves, and then resort of lathi charge and firing in the air. The mob also vandalised police vehicles parked outside. At least four policemen were reportedly wounded in the violence. Rams family refused to allow autopsy of the body at first, but relented after three policemen were booked for murder and sections under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, and Sub-divisional Magistrate Narinder Malik promised a judicial inquiry. However, tensions continued to run high until the body was cremated. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Dharamsala, May 11 Congress leaders on Friday organised a protest against poor law and order situation and unprecedented price rise. They were led by HPCC president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. The protesters also raised slogans against the state and Central Governments. Earlier, Congress workers gathered at the Fountain Crossing and held a protest march. Former Congress minister Sudhir Sharma, former MP Chander Kumar, former MLAs Sanjay Rattan and Ajay Mahajan and former vice-chairman of the forest corporation Kewal Singh Pathania also participated in the protest. The HPCC president described the first 100 days of the BJP-led state government an utter failure. He alleged that 65 rape and molestation cases and 35 murder cases had been reported since the present government came to power in the state. He alleged that law and order situation was deteriorating by the day while the Chief Minister and his ministers were still on the celebration mode. He said fuel prices had touched an all-time high under the NDA government. The transportation cost had increased and farmers were the worst affected. Meanwhile, the rally turned out to be a success as a large number of Congress leaders from the district were present. Leaders from both Sukhu and Virbhadra factions were present. Sukhu said the Congress would organise similar protests to expose the BJP government. editorial@tribune.com Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 11 A policeman was killed in an attack on Friday when militants attempted to force their entry into a guard post in central Kashmirs Budgam district. The militants attempted to force their entry inside a guard post in Wardwan village of Budgam but the attack was repulsed, a police official said. The official said a policeman, Shamim Ahmad, who was on his way to offer prayers at a nearby mosque, was held hostage by the militants. The policeman, a selection grade constable, was then asked to lead them to the guard post. However, he raised an alarm, said the official, adding that the policemen inside the post fired at the militants. The selection grade constable was injured in the attack and later succumbed to his injuries, the police said. The policeman was a resident of Chek Hanjan village in south Kashmirs Kulgam district. Budgam Superintendent of Police Tejinder Singh said the exact number of assailants involved in the attack was not immediately known and was being investigated. He said the possible motive behind the attack appeared to be weapon-snatching. Another officer said the attack was successfully repulsed and all arms and ammunition (are) safe. Immediately after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a hunt for the assailants. The search operation sparked a protest and clashes in the area in which one protester was injured. It is the second attack by militants targeting police guard posts in central Kashmir in the past fortnight. In the earlier attack, militants attacked a police guard post at Goripora village on the outskirts of the city and escaped with four rifles. The four rifles snatched by militants in April last week included an INSAS rifle, a carbine, and two self-loading rifles. Bid to snatch weapons rchopra@tribunemail.com Srinagar, May 11 Restrictions have been imposed in parts of Srinagar in view of a protest called by separatists on Friday against civilian deaths in a clash between protesters and security forces after an encounter in Jammu and Kashmirs Sophian district. Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was put under house arrest on Friday morning, a police official said. Restrictions, under Section 144 of the CrPC, were imposed by authorities in five police station areas of the summer capital, the official said. The curbs are in force in Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal and Maharajgunj police station areas of Srinagar, he said. The restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure, to maintain law and order, and prevent any untoward incident, the official said. On May 6, five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in an encounter in Sophian, even as five civilians died during clashes between protesters and law-enforcing agencies near the encounter site. Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), which comprises Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, had asked people to hold peaceful protests against the recent civilian killings after congregational prayers on Friday. The official said Malik is in police custody and Geelani continued to be under house detention. PTI editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 11 The classes at degree colleges in the summer capital remained suspended for the fifth day on Friday in view of the law and order apprehensions. Educational intuitions were closed in Kashmir following an encounter in Shopian in which five militants and five civilians were killed. It had triggered violent protests on May 6. As a precautionary measure, the authorities had earlier ordered closure of educational institutions for May 7 and 8. Though on May 9, schools were opened, the colleges continue to remain shut. Students said they were distressed as they had missed more than a month of classes so far since March. Due to frequent closure of colleges, the syllabus remains incomplete. This affects our performance in exams, said a student from Government College of Women. Another student said they were not able to complete the syllabus for the past three years due to disturbances. Every year, something happens and education takes a back seat, said another student. To minimise the loss of working days caused due to strikes and government closures, the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, has submitted a proposal to the government, saying the next holiday after the educational institutions open should be considered a working day, but nothing has been finalised yet. Officials said the proposal had been submitted in the wake of the academic losses being faced by the students. They said once the proposal was approved, the list of holidays would be notified. harinder@tribunemail.com The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) recently announced the selection of 100 women entrepreneurs-in-the-making and their ideas for incubation. The women selected were graduates from the 2018 class of the nationwide Women Start-up Programme (WSP), which is supported by Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank and active investor in India, and the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India (GOI). The WSP is a first-of-its kind customised online and classroom-training programme designed to enable aspiring Indian women entrepreneurs to systematically identify and test their business ideas. The WSP provides an in-depth training to nurture and augment managerial and entrepreneurial skills of female entrepreneurs through mentorship from industry veterans, incubation at leading institutes and financial support. Following the successful 2016 pilot of the WSP in Bangalore, which saw participation from 1,700 women, the 2018 class of the WSP saw over 6,000 women register from across the country in partnerships with leading academic institutes that included, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM Indore, IIM Nagpur, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Udaipur, IIE Guwahati and CIIE Ahmedabad. The WSP 2018 class was made up of diverse participants across age groups from 20 to 50 years of age; academic backgrounds spanning from higher secondary degrees to PhDs and MBBSs; and diverse professions from women who are on a career break to doctors and engineers. Geographically, the women resided all across India, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. The Department of Science & Technology provided support to host and organize roadshows, events and workshops. Goldman Sachs has been a key and founding partner of the Women Startup Programme since its launch in 2016. The selected 100 women entrepreneurs will receive a fellowship of Rs 30,000 per month in addition to a prototype development fund to help kick-start their ventures from the DST, GOI. From that group, 10 women identified to have the best ideas will also be provided with an opportunity to go on a start-up study trip to Israel. This years incubation class addresses a variety of sectors across society and industry, including construction, ecommerce and retail, education, healthcare and wellness, finance and manufacturing. Bhavya Purana Hosadurgam, founder of momSAURUS and one of the 100 selected entrepreneurs, said: I have benefited immensely from this programme. It has provided me with access to the tools, processes and mentorship necessary to translate my concept into a working idea. It has also given me courage and inspiration by connecting me to like-minded women so that we can share our passions and dreams. At momSAURUS, we are working to disrupt and enhance the way parents and their young children perceive mealtimes and food. The WSP 2018 Programme Structure The programme targeted women entrepreneurs in the ideation stage of their ventures or first-time entrepreneurs. Stage 1: A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was held on the IIMBx platform for six weeks in January focusing on entrepreneurship, including the fundamentals of making a business model followed by a week of customer validation. A total of 6,136 women signed up for the MOOC, 1,067 completed the course, making the completion rate 17 percent, which is well above the global average of 6-8 percent, according to HarvardX and MITx. Stage 2: In April, 287 participants were shortlisted for the first boot camp after submitting a business model and video pitch for their venture vetted by partner academic institutions based on geography. Stage 3: In May, 100 female entrepreneurs and ideas were chosen for a second boot camp at IIMBs NSRCEL, which addressed concepts in entrepreneurship, design thinking, compliance, idea articulation, basics of finance, leveraging networks, mentor interaction and provide feedback sessions. Opportunities to network with successful women entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, IIMB students and Goldman Sachs professionals were provided. Best employers in India Leading global professional services firm, Aon, that provides a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has announced the list of Aon Best Employers India 2018. The Aon Best Employers India study launched 18 years ago in India reveals a significant shift emerging in organisations they are responding to disruptive business and economic changes with consistent agility. The study finds that while there is a long road ahead for India Inc., the Best Employer organisations are ahead of the curve in this journey. The year-long study process culminated with an independent jury coming together to shortlist the Best Employers. In addition to the list of 16 Aon Best Employers India 2018, three companies received special recognition awards for Commitment to Engagement. These are InterGlobe Hotels, Tata AutoComp Systems and Vedanta Limited, Jharsuguda. Tarandeep Singh, Partner, Aon India Consulting, said, I warmly congratulate the leaders and employees of 16 organisations that made the Aon Best Employers India 2018 cut. The purpose of Aon Best Employer study is to gain insights into companies that are creating real competitive advantage through their people, to explore what makes a workplace of choice and to identify the Best Employers in the region. The Best Employer study research methodology involves a rigorous process, conducted over a nine-month period that culminates in a solid, credible list of Best Employers decided by an external panel of independent jury. Aon Best Employers2018 Aditya Birla Group - Conglomerate Winner Aegis Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Bajaj Finance Bayer DBS India DHL Express (India) Godrej Consumer Products Hindustan Unilever Marriott Hotels India Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Shell Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Tata Communications The Oberoi Group Vodafone India Leadership programme at Sanawar school The Lawrence School, Sanawar (Himachal Pradesh) in collaboration with Aspire, will present an unprecedented cast for their second edition of The Sanawar Leadership Program (TSLP), a summer leadership camp (a ten day residential camp) for 10-14 year old young leaders on their 139 acres, 150 years old majestic campus in the Kasauli Hills. The programme to be held from 19-28 June 2018 is open to Middle School students (ages 10-14) from across the country. The Lawrence School, Sanawar opened its campus to the nation through this programme, to gift its legacy of creating national leaders, beyond the students who attend the co-ed boarding between Grades 5 to 12. The 10-day residential camp will help students understand and practice enlightened leadership, develop self-awareness, grow confidence, and evolve intellectually as well as emotionally through experiential learning. Summer School on AI The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-D) will be organising summer school on Artificial Intelligence in July-August 2018. This will focus on the fundamentals and advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, including Deep Learning. With this initiative, the institute is not only assuring a sanguine future for job seekers and executives but simultaneously, this programme will also help the industries to meet their future goals with smart and well-equipped talent. The summer school is open for all from students and faculty to government officials and industry professionals and is also a golden opportunity to learn algorithms of ML and AI. The summer school curriculum also focuses on three application domains: Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, and Autonomous Driving/Robotics. The institute has scheduled the summer school on the weekends of July-August for the convenience of both students and working professionals. Besides theory and practical exposure, participants will also get to interact with several skilled and seasoned professionals. Along with this, on successful completion of the programme, the participants will be awarded a certificate from the Infosys, Center for Artificial Intelligence, and IIIT-D. For more details regarding registration, fees, timings and other things, visit: http://cai.iiitd.ac.in/summerschool2018/ UPES academic partnerships with Infosys and BSE Institute UPES, Dehradun, has entered into academic partnerships with Infosys and BSE Institute, an arm of leading stock exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This is the first-ever academic partnership signed by BSE. These academic collaborations are the latest in a series of partnerships that UPES already has with leading industry giants such as IBM, L&T, Mahindra & Mahindra, Philips Carbon Black Ltd., Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, KPIT and XEBIA. The academic partnership between UPES and Infosys is for the BTech Geo Informatics Engineering program that UPES offers at its School of Engineering. Infosys will assist UPES in developing the programme curriculum to make it industry aligned & contemporary and their subject matter experts will teach specific course modules to students. Eligible UPES students will also get opportunities to undergo summer internship with the organisation. Under UPES unique faculty-immersion initiative Abhigyat, faculty members will do internships and projects at Infosys to stay updated with latest trends and technologies. As part of the MoU with BSE Institute, subject matter experts from BSE Institute will help UPES design curriculum for Finance & Accounting and Corporate Finance. The initiative will incorporate 3-credit module in Finance & Accounting across all MBA programmes and 8-credit module in Corporate Finance for students of MBA General Management majoring in Finance. To ensure up-to-date market knowledge is imparted to students, BSE will provide dedicated BSE experts to teach the new modules. Additionally, BSE Institute will provide free-of-cost software to set up mock trading desk at UPES campus which will enable students to get hands on learning for investment, trading and equity market. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Kangana Ranaut and Deepika Padukone won the hearts of many at the French Riviera as they walked down the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Deepika, who is coming to the famed festival for the second time, wore a white gown with a flowy cape and intricate work by designer Zuhair Murad. With side swept hair, the Padmaavat star opted for minimalistic make-up. Ready to rock and roll... #Cannes2018 @zuhairmuradofficial, she wrote on her Instagram page. She walked the red carpet for the cosmetic brand she endorses. Kangana, who made her Cannes red carpet debut, also opted for a pastel gown from the Lebanese designer. The Queen star lived upto her reputation of a fashionista as she descended on the red carpet in a dull grey sheer embroidered and backless gown. Kangana also opted for minimalistic make-up coupled with hair bun and accessories. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will walk the Cannes red carpet on May 12 and 13, while newly-married actor Sonam Kapoor will descend on the red carpet on May 14 to May 15. Huma Qureshi is also attending festival and made her red carpet appearance in a beige pantsuit from designer by Nikhil Thampi. PTI editorial@tribune.com Gurminder singh Grewal Khamano, May 10 Bibi Kulwant Kaur, a resident of Manela village known as Google Bebe in the village. She surprised all at Devinder Memorial Convent School, Kheri Naudh Singh, near Khamano, when she answered a number of questions about Sikhism and other religions also. Kaurs schooling is up to only Class IV. Her knowledge about religions astounded many people who were present on the occasion. This programme was organised by Disha Women Trust with the help of the school authorities in which students of the school, staff, guests and residents of the area who were present at this time asked hundreds of questions about Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. Kaur also answered questions base on the Indian history. Hradeep Kaur, president of the Disha Trust, and other office-bearers said they would take Kulwant Kaur to different schools so that students could learn from her experience and replicate her vast knowledge. Principal Ajit Singh Bhullar and Congress leaders Varinderpal Singh Vinky, Mandeep Kaur Mehtabgarh were also present at this time. gspannu7@gmail.com Smita Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 11 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday held talks with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi as she wrapped up her two-day visit to the neighbouring state. The Rohingya refugees crisis and situation in Rakhine State from where they had been evicted last August featured prominently in talks along with boundary and border security and Indias development assistance to Myanmar. In the official statement, India referred to Rohingya refugees as displaced persons. Swaraj in her talks with Suu Kyi reiterated Indias readiness and commitment to helping the Government of Myanmar in addressing issues related to Rakhine State. The first major project is the construction of prefabricated housing in Rakhine State to meet the needs of displaced persons. The minister also underlined the need for safe, speedy and sustainable return of displaced persons to Rakhine State, said the official MEA statement. The bilateral talks come just days ahead of the upcoming India visit of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on May 25 and 26. In the presence of PM Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Hasina will inaugurate the newly constructed Bangladesh Bhawan Tagore Museum in Shantiniketan, the birth place of Rabindranath Tagore. She will also receive an honorary doctorate from Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol, the university named after the rebel poet and national poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam. Bangladesh, where some 7,00,000 Rohingya refugees are camped in dire conditions, has been urging India to leverage with Myanmar to facilitate early and safe repatriation of the Rohingya. The matter was prominently discussed during Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhales first official visit to Dhaka in April. Meanwhile, India and Myanmar also signed seven agreements/MoUs today including on land border crossing, restoration and preservation of earthquake damaged pagodas in Bagan, assistance to the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, training of Myanmar Foreign Service officers and setting up Industrial Training Centre (ITC) at Monywa. The agreement on land border crossing is a landmark in bilateral relations between the two countries as it will enable people from both countries to cross the land border with passport and visa, including for accessing health and education services, pilgrimage and tourism. The MoU on restoration of pagodas at Bagan underlines the enduring cultural and historical links between the two countries, said the MEA. During her visit, Swaraj also met with President U Win Myint and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services. rchopra@tribunemail.com Chennai, May 11 A 30-year-old man was arrested for making a hoax call about a bomb planted at the US Consulate here, police said on Friday. Saubar Sadik Basha called up the police control room on Thursday night and claimed that a bomb would go off at the US Consulate in the early hours of Friday, police said. However, nothing suspicious was found after a thorough search of the consulate premises by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and sniffer dogs, they said. A probe by the Royapettah police traced the call to Basha, a resident of Mannady area, and he was arrested, they added. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 11 The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against journalist Upendra Rai and his associates and is conducting searches at premises linked to him in Delhi and Noida, officials said on Friday. Rai is in judicial custody after the CBI arrested him on charges of alleged extortion and manipulation of an Income Tax department case against a Mumbai-bound businessman. ED officials said the agency had charged Rai and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and taken cognisance of two CBI FIRs. They said the raids are being conducted at multiple premises like Greater Kailash-1 in the national capital and in adjoining Noida. The agency will probe if tainted assets were created by the accused by laundering alleged fraud money, the officials said. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Ahmedabad, May 11 The Gujarat High Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment awarded by a SIT court to 14 people for the massacre of 23 persons in a village during the 2002 riots. A division bench of Justice Akil Qureshi and Justice BN Kariaay also upheld the sentence of seven years in jail to five others. It acquitted four others in the case. On March 1, 2002, two days after the Godhra Sabarmati Express train burning left 57 persons dead, 23 persons were burnt to death in Pirwali Bhagol area of Ode village near Anand in central Gujarat. It was one of the nine cases of major riot cases that were handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). In 2012, the SIT found 23 of 47 accused guilty and sought capital punishment. Seeking relief from the SIT court ruling, those held guilty approached the Gujarat High Court. IANS rchopra@tribunemail.com Janakpur, May 11 Nepal is at the top of Indias Neighbourhood First policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he announced a grant of Rs 100 crore to develop the sacred city of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times, Modi said at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground here. Modi, who is on his third visit to the Himalayan nation since assuming the office in 2014, assured Nepal that it is at the top of Indias Neighbourhood First policy. He said the two neighbours could work on 5Ts--Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport--to achieve progress and prosperity. Later, Modi and Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, the two sacred cities for Hindus, as part of a Ramayan Circuit to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India. Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment, Prime Minister Modi said while inaugurating the bus service, connecting Lord Ramas birthplace Ayodhya with goddess Sitas birthplace Janakpur. Modi flagged off the bus after visiting the famed 20th century Janaki temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Sita, where he offered special prayers. The Indian government has identified 15 destinations in India for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). Earlier, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli welcomed his Indian counterpart upon his arrival at the temple complex. I am glad to be here in Janakpur. I am here to pay respects to King Janak and Mata Janaki. I thank the PM of Nepal Shri Oli for accompanying me during this visit to Janakpur, Modi said. Thousands of people have gathered in the Janaki temple premises to welcome Modi. Janaki temple has got a new look as the temple was cleaned up and decorated with lights. Todays welcome in Nepal shows the affection the people of Nepal have towards the people of India, Modi told the gathering. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Janaki temple was built in memory of Sita in 1910. The three-storied structure made entirely of stone and marble is 50-metre high and spread over 4860 sq feet. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 11 Delhi Police has registered a case against unidentified people for pasting posters having images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the tagline The Lie Lama, a senior officer said on Friday. The posters were found on Thursday pasted on a wall in Mandir Margs J-Block area, the officer said. The posters were removed and a case was registered under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property (DPDP) Act on Thursday evening, police said. Locals would be questioned to ascertain the identity of the people behind the act, they said. Similar posters were also found pasted in central Delhis Patel Nagar and Shanker Road areas. These were also removed. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com Vishav Bharti Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 10 Prime Minister Narendra Modi might have said on Wednesday that no Congress leader had ever visited Bhagat Singh in jail, but The Tribune archives from the time belie his statement. While speaking at an election rally at Bidar in Karnataka the PM asked, When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the countrys independence, did any Congress leader go to meet them?. When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the country's independence, did any Congress leader went to meet them? But the Congress leaders go and meet the corrupt who have been jailed: PM @narendramodi narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) May 9, 2018 As per a news report which appeared in The Tribune on August 9, 1929, Nehru accompanied by Dr Gopi Chand (MLC) visited the Lahore Central and Borstal jails on August 8 and interviewed the hunger strikers in the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Pandit Jawahar Lal first went to the Central Jail where he met Sardar Bhagat Singh and Mr. B. K. Dutt with whom he held conversations about the hunger strike. After meeting those two prisoners he went to the Borstal Jail where he met the other hunger strikers including Jatin Das, Ajoy Ghosh and Shiv Varma who were lying in hospital. Here also he had prolonged conversations with Jatin Das and others. The principles involved in the hunger strike and the terms on which it could be terminated were discussed. Pandit Jawahar Lal returned to the city in the afternoon. When pressed for a statement about the result of his interview with the hunger strikers, Pandit Jawahar Lal declined to make any statement. Nehru also issued a statement which was titled The Great Sacrifice May Bear Fruit which appeared in The Tribune on August 10, 1929 in which he criticised the way jail authorities were trying to feed Bhagat Singh and his comrades forcibly. It was very painful for me to meet these extraordinary brave young men and to see their manifest suffering I gathered from them that they would: adhere to their resolve, whatever the consequences to their individual selves might be. Indeed they did not care very much for their ownselves. They could not undergo such tremendous suffering for a little personal comfort in future. I can only hope that the great sacrifice which these young men are making will bear fruit. Even Nehru recollected his meeting with Bhagat Singh and his comrades in his autobiography. Motilal Nehru sent messages in support of revolutionaries from his death bed. Not only Nehru, even a Bhagat Singh Defence Committee, which was formed to gather legal and financial aid for the case, was also mainly dominated by Congress leaders in Punjab. Lala Feroz Chand, who was editor of Bande Mataram and Peshawar, born Kumari Lajjawati, who was secretary of Bhagat Singh Defence Committee were famous Congress leaders in the state. The fact has been documented in Sydney-based historian Kama Macleans book A Revolutionary History of Interwar India. Prof Chaman Lal, former professor of JNU who is known for work on Bhagat Singh said that it is nothing but a white lie. The role of Congress leaders during trail of Bhagat Singh and his comrades is well documented. Instead of commenting on Congress, PM Modi should throw some light, what the Sangh leaders were doing when the young revolutionaries were hanged? he asked. uttara@tribuneindia.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 11 The Supreme Court Collegium, which met here on Friday, failed to take a final call on the controversial proposal to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph to the top court despite unanimously agreeing in principle to reiterate his name. Led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the top five judges of the Supreme Court who met here this afternoon decided to meet again on May 16 as they felt the said reiteration (of Justice KM Josephs name) should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of (other) High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required, a resolution adopted by the Collegium stated. In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 16th May, 2018, the resolution uploaded on the top courts website stated. This is the second time that the Collegium, which also included Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph, has deferred a decision on the controversial proposal to elevate Justice KM Joseph that has turned out to be bone of contention between the government and the judiciary. Earlier, the Collegium had met on May 2 and decided to defer a decision on Justice Josephs appointment without assigning any reasons. The government had last month returned Justice Josephs name. It had raised the issue of fair regional representation and questioned his seniority, saying he stood at serial No. 45 in the combined seniority of high court judges on all-India basis. There were 11 high court chief justices senior to him, it had said. Joseph was appointed a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court on October 14, 2004, and went on to become Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice on July 31, 2014. He headed a Bench that quashed the Centres decision to impose Presidents rule in Uttarakhand in 2016. His name was recommended by the Collegium along with that of senior counsel Indu Malhotra in January this year. But the government sent back his file to the Collegium and went ahead with appointment of Malhotra who took oath as a Supreme Court Judge on April 27. Under the law on judicial appointments laid down by Constitution Bench verdicts of the Supreme Court, the government can ask the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation; but if the latter reiterates its recommendation, it would be binding on the former. But the Collegiums failure to reach a final decision on Justice KM Josephs elevation to the top court is interpreted as lack of unanimity among the top five judges, who decide who can be appointed as judges of the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts. If there the Collegium fails to take a decision in its May 16 meeting, things are likey to go more complicated as judges would go on vacation after May 18 and Justice J Chelameswar would retire on June 2211 days before the top court reopens on July 2. After Justice Chelameswars retirement, the composition of Collegium would change and Justice AK Sikri would get inducted into it. Apart from considering reiteration of the recommendation dated 10th January, 2018, for elevation of Justice KM Joseph, the agenda for Fridays Collegium meeting also included considering the names of certain other high court judges for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. Justice Chelameswar had writted to CJI Misra on Wednesday to convene a Collegium meeting to urgently re-send Justice Josephs name for appointment as a top court judge as there was no change in circumstances that led to recommending his name to the government on January 10, sources said. Justice Kurian Joseph too has been making public statements that the Collegium would reiterate its decision to elevate Justice KM Joseph. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 11 The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking an independent probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sridevi in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. A Bench three-judge headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra dismissed the plea filed by one Sunil Singh who sought an independent investigation into the death of the actor. He said the actor died under suspicious circumstances. Sridevi, 54, died on February 24 in a Dubai hotel bathroom. The autopsy report termed it an accidental drowning in the bathtub. Petitioner Sunil Singh told the Bench that there were insurance policies in her name, which would be payable only if she died in the UAE. Even senior counsel Vikas Singh raised questions on how could a 5.7-foot tall person drown in a 5.1-foot bathtub. Vikas Singh demanded that all documents related to the 54-year-old actress death medical and investigation carried out by the Dubai Police be brought to India. He requested that the matter be investigated by an independent agency. Sunil Singh moved the top court after the Delhi High Court on March 9 refused to entertain his PIL seeking probe into her death, saying authorities in India and Dubai had already looked into the incident. uttara@tribuneindia.com New Delhi, May 11 On the eve of the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Election Commission on Friday ordered postponement of polling to the Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat to May 28, saying the current electoral process in the constituency has been vitiated by parties and candidates by trying to influence voters. People in the constituency will now vote on May 28 and counting will be held on May 31. The decision comes days after nearly 10,000 voter identity cards were recovered from a flat in the constituency, leading to a slugfest between the BJP and the Congress. The order, signed by the Chief Election Commissioner and two fellow Commissioners, said the Commission is satisfied that the current electoral process (in the constituency) has been vitiated on account of unlawful activities of candidates and political parties. It said the parties and candidates tried to woo the electorate to vote for them and also tried to keep them away from casting their ballot. The poll watchdog also directed the election authorities in the state to provide fresh voter identity cards (Electoral Photo Identity Card or EPIC) to all those whose cards were recovered from the flat seven days prior to the fresh election date. The EC order said the cards belonged to voters in the vulnerable community. It said random checks found that the cards were genuine and further investigation was required to ascertain who broke the door of the flat before three police constables reached the scene after receiving a phone call. The order also quoted a ground report by Deputy EC, which said there is a design to induce voters and that the planning was on even before the elections were announced which was a serious cause for concern. Using its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution to postpone the polls in R R Nagar, the EC said there is a definite inference that all the above seized gift items and collection of EPIC were likely for large-scale inducement of the voters. It pointed out that bribery and inducement of voters is an offence under the Indian Penal Code. The BJP and the Congress, the two main contenders for power, went after each other claiming that the flatfrom where the cards were recoveredbelonged to a woman associated with the rival party. The Assembly polls in the state will take place on Saturday in 223 constituencies and the results will be announced on May 31. The election for one constituency has been postponed following the death of B.N. Vijay Kumar, Jayanagar BJP candidate. A total of 2655 candidates, including 219 women, are in the poll fray in the upcoming elections. In 2018, 2436 males will be contesting the elections as compared to 2788 in 2013, a difference of 352 less. This year, 219 women are in the poll fray as opposed to 170 in 2013, a difference of 49. There are 800 registered candidates from unrecognised political parties contesting the polls this year, compared to 832 in 2013, a difference of 32. In 2018, 1155 independent candidates are contesting the state polls as compared to 1223 in 2013, that is, 68 less.PTI editorial@tribune.com Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 11 Only 29 students from government schools have made it to the merit list of the PSEB Class X exams, the results of which were declared recently. The names of 401 students figure on the state merit list. Further, no government school student from 10 districts could produce a single merit holder. These districts are Amritsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar. Hoshiarpur district leads the number of merit holders from government schools with nine students, followed by Gurdaspur, Patiala and Ludhiana with three students each. Two students each from Bathinda, Mansa and SBS Nagar districts and a student each from government schools in Jalandhar, Moga, Muktsar, Sangrur, and Fazilka districts have their names on the merit list. Ludhiana district with 94 students, Patiala (42), Hoshiarpur (32), Sangrur (31) and Jalandhar (30) lead the overall merit list. Even on the pass percentage front, the performance of government schools has been dismal 58.14, only better than aided schools which registered a pass percentage of 51.60. In comparison, the pass percentage of affiliated and Adarsh schools is 72.66 and those of associated schools is 64.11 per cent. Prashant Goyal, DGSE, said, The fact is that infrastructure and facilities at private schools are far better than those at government schools. Private schools have smart and virtual classrooms. Moreover, private schools turn out poor students, which government schools cannot do. The Parho Punjab and smart classroom projects have been started to improve the performance of government schools. 10 districts draw blank No government school student from 10 districts could produce a single merit holder. These districts are Amritsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar. CM forms panel to suggest reforms Chandigarh: Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered the constitution of a core group of teachers from across the state to suggest reforms in the school education system. The CM issued directions to Secretary, School Education, in this regard during a high-level meeting to review the results of PSEB Classes X and XII. The core group, which will focus on bringing reforms in the existing curriculum to bring it on a par with that of private and convent schools, will submit its report by June 15, according to an official spokesperson. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Moga, May 11 In what appears to be a case of honour killing, a 23-year-old youth of Khote village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division was allegedly poisoned to death by the family of a girl with whom he was reportedly having an affair, the police revealed here on Friday. The victim, identified as Harwinder Singh, was working in a milk plant at Nihalsinghwala. The girl belongs to the adjoining Dhurkot Ransih village. The deceaseds family members alleged that he went to meet his girlfriend at her house on Thursday and did not return. He was allegedly beaten up by the girls family members and forcibly made to swallow poison. He was later found lying on a link road in a serious condition. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died after some time. A police team led by Nihalsinghwala SHO Jaswant Singh rushed to the spot and brought the body to the district hospital for a post-mortem examination. The youths family members, however, refused to give consent, demanding registration of a murder case against the parents and relatives of the girl. Later backed by fellow villagers and activists of farm unions, the family staged a protest against the police. Budging under pressure, the police reportedly registered a case of murder against girls father Jarnail Singh, mother Surjit Kaur and some relatives on the complaint of deceaseds father Nirmal Singh. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 11 Mehatpur SHO Parminder Singh Bajwa, who had lodged an FIR against Shahkot Congress candidate Hardev Singh Ladi Sherowalia a few days back, was on Friday arrested for obstructing government officers from performing their duty. He was arrested under Sections 353 and 186 of the IPC on the complaint of the court security staff on charges of causing obstruction in their duty. The SHO had gone to the court for a hearing on a case and had sought security for himself. The SHO was detained from the court premises by the police. He went to the court room, taking along his personal revolver, which was taken away by the court security staff. Speaking with the media, just before he was ducked inside the police vehicle from outside the court, he alleged threat to him from police and the administration. The SHO had on Monday said that he would not sign the case cancellation report of the FIR against the MLA with the ilaqa magistrate. Claiming that he was to join on Monday, but had been forcibly sent on a five-day leave, he said even if some officiating SHO cancelled the FIR on his behalf, he would take up the matter in the High Court. He said he wanted to build up a case and even wanted to approach the Election Commission of India, but his seniors kept him on radar and didnt let him go. Bajwa said: I had been marked the EC complaint after which I called up everyone, including the SSP, mining officers and even tehsildar asking them how to go about it but no one responded. Asked about the urgency to lodge the report at 4:26 am, he replied: Is there any law which says you cannot file an FIR early morning? There were so many complaints against him and even the sting video. I followed my conscience. Had I not filed it then, no one would have let me do it later. SSP Gurpreet Bhullar called me up and bashed me saying that the CM was extremely annoyed with him and his promotion would now be stuck. He then took me to his place and made me withdraw my resignation, he alleged. I know that I will not be allowed to stay in the police force once the election code is lifted. But I am prepared for it. I own 46 acres of land and huge property in Kapurthala, he said. On the video clip over his entry into a city-based hotelwith a woman hours before lodging the FIR, he said: He was my Nepali cook. Meanwhile, Hardeep Singh has been posted as the new SHO of Mehatpur police station by the state election commission. sanjiv@tribunemail.com A PRESS Communique announces the proposed constitution of various war Boards for (1) transport of foodstuffs (2) communications (3) employment of labour and (4) publicity. The object is to secure the co-operation of the non-official community and there will besides the Central Recruiting and Munitions Boards, their work being co-ordinated by a Central War Resources Committee over which the Viceroy will preside. The members of this Committee are all European Officials, and not even the Indian member of the Viceroy's Council is in it. It would have been more satisfactory if representative Indians were nominated to a Committee whose avowed object is to secure the fullest co-operation of non-official communities. sanjiv@tribunemail.com JUDGING from the telegraphic summary of her extempore presidential address at the 24th Madras Provincial Conference, Mrs. Naidu appears to have struck a felicitous note on the subject of war. She appealed to her hearers to stand as one man and fight against the invasion of India. If they wanted to get back their freedom they must submerge all illusions and differences. In responding to the call of Government for men and money all that they said was that in order to prove to their youth that they were ready to fight for freedom Government should make it clear that they would get back all that they had once possessed but had lost and that they would get some measure of self-government. Finally came the words that constitute the keynote of the gifted poetess message and that remind the student of history of a glorious page in Rajput annals. There was not one woman in India, she said, who would not say to her husband or son, Go forth and either come back victorious or lie dead on the battlefield. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Sarika Sharma All of Punjabs agriculture is gold. And all of Punjabs agricultural waste can be turned into gold. This waste has huge potential, but remains largely untouched. Some of it is used as fodder, but most of it is burned, famously causing the Capital to choke. The main culprit here is paddy straw, which is unpalatable for the cattle. Punjab has to deal with 15 million tonnes a year; the rest wheat straw and other bio waste is around 5 million tonnes. This agricultural waste is called biomass and there are plants in Punjab turning this waste into energy. What is biomass? Biomass is leftover material after crops are harvested. This can be wheat straw, paddy straw, remains from cereal plants, pulses and groundnut, leaves from trees and sugarcane waste. While most of this waste is used to feed the cattle, paddy straw is indigestible for animals. As it is not the norm to treat it and make it digestible for the animals, the easiest way to deal with it has been burning the stubble. However, our environment and health have been bearing the brunt. A lot of hue and cry has been raised over stubble burning, but there has not been a solution. Last year, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was reported to have announced a cash award of $1million to any person/agency that comes up with a viable solution for pollution-free management of stubble. No one is known to have claimed it yet. Bale out For Pawanpreet Singh Dhillon, who has been running a plant near Gidderbaha for 10 years, the answer lies in biomass power plants. For the sake of environment and people, there can be no better solution as these make use of biomass to produce energy, he says. While happy seeder is often promoted in the state, Dhillon says the machine manages too little waste and is not convenient. Vis-a-vis the happy seeder, he feels balers are a far better option. A happy seeder just cuts the straw. However, in the other technique, a reaper attached to a tractor cuts the straw and spreads it across the field. A rake then collects the hay and assembles it into rows and a baler makes bales. These balers are transported to a power plant where it is burned to produce energy and the field is ready to be used. He says several progressive young farmers are now engaged with biomass power plants across the state 50 with Dhillons plant alone and are collecting paddy straw from villages around. Generates employment Those who vouch for biomass power plants feel its benefits cannot be measured merely in terms of the power it generates. Tej Pal Singh, who has a plant in Khokhar Khurd village of Mansa, says critics of biomass power plants raise a hue and cry over the cost of power generated; power from other sources costs Rs 3.5 to 4 per unit and from a biomass power plant Rs 7.5. He says the detractors must look at their larger purpose of providing a better environment and employment generation. Every year, the environment suffers a lot because of stubble burning in Punjab. Besides causing many accidents, stubble burning poses health hazards. Have we been able to find a solution to the problem? No. During the paddy season, eight to 10,000 persons are engaged in the process of procuring paddy straw and bringing it to the plant. We then store it for a year, which means some people are handling it throughout that period. Otherwise, how many employment opportunities are there in a village, he says. At his power plant, 10MW electricity is produced and around 50 balers are engaged in paddy straw procurement from the 30-km circle around the plant. To those who ask how to gauge the success of a biomass power plant in curbing the stubble burning menace, Tej Pal says stubble fires are negligible in the areas where these plants exist. Dhillon says one can check remote sensing data of the area and see how much the menace has come down. Also, the residue from a biomass power plant ash returns to the field and acts as a fertiliser, he adds. And while he says that returns to farmers are not very good as of now one quintal fetches Rs 250 it is just a matter of time. He returned from Denmark recently, where he was checking out the latest technology in biomass power plants before setting up two more units in Punjab. He tells that people there have the choice to sell stubble to whoever is offering a better price. And there too, ash returns to the field to produce gold, once again. Present defines future According to NPS Randhawa, CEO of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), the future of biomass plants is bright with major companies showing interest. He has held meetings with Shell, Indian Oil and Mahindra and Mahindra and all have shown interest in biomass energy. He says PEDA is promoting it by giving single window clearance and various subsidies. However, Pawanpreet Singh Dhillon feels governments pace is slow in sanctioning more projects. At least 10 PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) are yet to be done, he says and feels that the government talks about the problem only when smoke fills the region. One rain, and the issue is washed away, only to be raised a year later. Punjab has to think of a way to deal with stubble on a large scale, he says. Tej Pal Singh says that if every district has one plant, the situation could be handled. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Paris, May 11 Frances finance minister says European countries should push back harder against the Trump administration over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as vassals to the US. Bruno Le Maire said on Friday on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the US is the worlds economic policeman. He wants European companies to be able to continue trade with Iran despite US President Donald Trumps decision this week to re-impose sanctions. Le Maire proposed creating a European body that would have the same kind of powers that the US Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. As a result of the new US sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk US fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar US companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt foreign companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran. Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers? Le Maire asked. Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran? European and American companies could lose billions of dollars in commercial deals struck since the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord, and lose access to a major new export market. Trump argued that the 2015 deal, which allowed for the lifting of sanctions, wasnt tough enough on Iran. Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and auto manufacturers like Frances Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit. Le Maire said France is pushing for exemptions for its companies, but that he has no illusions about a generous American response. Meanwhile, the US government tried to further pinch Irans finances by disrupting a currency exchange network allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Irans Revolutionary Guard. The Treasury Department said in a statement yesterday it took joint action with the United Arab Emirates against nine Iranian individuals and entities involved in the network, and threatened sanctions against any other companies that help those nine. European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet early next week to discuss their next steps. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the importance of protecting Israels security but urged a new path of negotiations with Iran to calm tensions. AP pardeepdhull@gmail.com Ankara, May 11 Iran said on Friday that Airbus would announce in the next few days whether it would sell planes to Tehran after the United States withdrew from an international nuclear deal and said it would reinstated sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The US administration has already said it would revoke the export licences needed by planemakers to sell commercial planes to Iran. Although Airbus is a European firm, its aircraft use US components and technology. Iran has so far imported at least 11 aircraft, three of them from Airbus and eight from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. Airbus will announce its decision in the coming days, senior advisor to Irans Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told the semi-official Fars news agency. No down payment has been made by Iran to the planemakers for future deliveries, he said. US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran on Tuesday, a move that raises the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upset European allies and casts uncertainty over global oil supplies. The US withdrawal also signals the collapse of $38 billion in plane deals between Tehran and Western companies, leaving Airbus facing greater risks than its US rival Boeing, according to people involved in the deals. During the talks with Airbus and Boeing we did not consider any possibility of such exit from the deal and it was not mentioned in the contracts, said Fakhriyeh-Kashan, a former deputy minister who negotiated the contracts. IranAir, the national flag carrier, had ordered 200 passenger aircraft, with 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from ATR. All the deals are dependent on US licences because of the heavy use of American parts in the planes. Other Iranian airlines had also made plane orders. Under the nuclear deal, Iran curbed its nuclear programme in return for lifting most international non-nuclear sanctions imposed on the country that crippled its economy for years. Most sanctions were lifted in 2016. Reuters vermaajay1968@gmail.com Moscow, May 11 Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Germanys Angela Merkel and Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the US decision to withdraw, the Kremlin said today. Putin has previously voiced deep concern over US President Donald Trumps decision and Russian officials have said they would work with European partners to preserve the agreement. The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted, the Kremlin said in a statement following a call between Putin and Merkel. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkels planned working visit to Russia next week, Moscow said. Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would do everything to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan, with the pair saying Trump was wrong to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source late yesterday. Ankara has been working closely with Moscow and Tehran over the past year on the Syrian peace process despite Turkey and Russia being on opposing sides of the conflict and having a sometimes troubled relationship with Iran. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Russia in the coming days as part of a diplomatic tour taking in Brussels and Beijing, his spokesman said today. Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. After long negotiations, Iran had agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council-Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -plus Germany. AFP pardeepdhull@gmail.com Kuala Lumpur, May 11 When Anwar Ibrahim finally walks to freedom, it will be partly thanks to Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysias second-time-around Prime Minister, who has admitted he played a part when Anwar was first put behind bars in 1998. Mahathir, who was sworn in as the countrys leader on Thursday after winning this weeks General Election, has already sought a royal pardon for Anwar and has promised to step aside for his friend-turned-foe-turned-ally to become Prime Minister. The relationship between these two giants of Malaysian politics is a strange saga that has spanned three decades. And their story may not be over. Mahathir at the age of 92, now the worlds oldest elected leader is basking in the limelight after a stunning election victory that has taken him back to the prime ministers office that he ran with an iron fist for 22 years. Many wonder if he would really be willing to give that up for his former deputy. Anwar, 70, is the son of a hospital porter who attended one of Malaysias top schools, made his name as a firebrand Islamic youth leader and became a member of parliament in his mid-30s. Mahathir invited Anwar to join the United Malays National Organisation, the main government party, in 1982 to bridge the gap between the partys Malay nationalist image and its Islamic aspirations. Anwars rise was meteoric. Mahathir named him deputy prime minister in 1993, a role he held as well as finance minister, and he was widely seen as his mentors successor-in-waiting. But in 1998, they disagreed on how to tackle the Asian financial crisis and fell out. Anwar was sacked, and he launched a Reformasi (reform) movement to end UMNOs race- and patronage-based governance that brought tens of thousands of supporters onto the streets. Faced with a leadership challenge, Mahathir used internal security laws to detain more than 100 opposition politicians, academics and social activists. He jailed his former deputy on charges of sodomy, which is a crime in Malaysia, and corruption. Images of the goateed, bespectacled Anwar in court with a black eye and bruises brought condemnation of Mahathir from around the world. Anwars trial became a spectacle, with prosecutors at one stage bringing out what they said was a semen-stained mattress allegedly used when he had sex with two male aides. Jailed again Anwar was freed in 2004 and returned to politics as the head of a revitalized, multi-ethnic opposition centred around Islamists and secular social reformers. Mahathir, meanwhile, had retired and by 2009 the new prime minister was Najib Razak. In 2015, Anwar was jailed again - for five years - for sodomizing a former aide, a charge he and his supporters describe as a politically motivated attempt by Najib to end his career. In an astonishing U-turn last year, Anwar shook hands with Mahathir and agreed to join forces to oust scandal-tainted Najib and his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in a Save Malaysia campaign. Some of Anwars supporters were aghast that he was making up with his nemesis, but others said it was a shrewd move. It took us many years to get to this point, and if youre not smart or wise enough to join all these forces together, we might lose the chance at wresting power from BN, said Anwars daughter Nurul Izzah. Mahathir, meanwhile, promised to seek Anwars release if he won, and then stand down to let Anwar become prime minister. Its not easy for him to agree to my role in the opposition party. It would be his role, except he is in prison, Mahathir told Reuters in an interview in March. The unlikely partnership, however, raised the question of what would happen to the Reformasi movement started by Anwar that brought together politicians, civil society leaders and activists wronged by Mahathir, the man they once dubbed Mahafiraun or the Grand Pharaoh. Because Anwar has been in custody, his views are not known. His wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, told Reuters she was aware of the criticism from Reformasi-era supporters. I understand. They have been victims, she said before the election, at which she won a parliament seat and is now set to be named deputy prime minister. I understand how they feel because our children, our family had reservations in the beginning. With time off for good behaviour, Anwar was scheduled to be freed in June, but by law he could not participate in politics for another five years. The Mahathir-Anwar alliances stunning election win over Najibs coalition this week has thrown that wide open because, with a royal pardon, Anwar can return to politics. Mahathir said on Friday: It is going to be a full pardon, which means not only pardoned, but he is released immediately and after that he will be free to participate fully in politics. Asked what role he would have in the cabinet, he replied cryptically: Whether Anwar will be part of the cabinet or not will be decided when the time comes. Reuters Corliss Resources new seven-axle 12-cubic-yard mixers boost productivity, while automatic transmissions keep drivers coming back for more. Photo: Jim Park Corliss Resources has been in business for 99 years, and hasnt had to really worry about staffing until recently. The company is a fixture in Pierce County, Washington, with aggregate and concrete comprising its core business. It has seen booms and busts, and occasionally suffered through slow winter off-seasons. But since emerging from the Great Recession in 2010, Corliss has seen steady growth, fueled by a tech-sector expansion in the Seattle area, a half-hour to the north. Theres a lot of migration from King County down to Pierce County, says Steve Corliss, vice president of operations. As home prices have gone up, it just pushed people further and further south, and a lot of industry has moved down here into this area warehouses, manufacturing. From what were hearing from a lot of economists, things are going to be really healthy through 2020 and 2021. And thats keeping Darrin Rousseau, Corliss safety coordinator and fleet supervisor, awake at night. Hes watching his driver pool age and hes painfully aware of the challenges of bringing in new talent. Theyre getting to about that age where [retirements] will start happening in the next 10 years, he says, and its hard to find a younger person these days that wants to drive a truck when they can go play on their phone or sit behind the computer screen and make more than a truck driver. Corliss has one advantage over long-haul companies: The work is all local. Drivers are home at the end of every shift and they operate six days a week, so theres plenty of earning potential for home-starved highway drivers. The company has sweetened the pot recently with a higher pay structure, and it offers a strong benefit package. Some of Corliss best success stories come from hiring military veterans. I dont know if its because were so close to the base [Joint Base Lewis-McChord] or what, but it seems like whenever we have a veteran come work for us, he typically does pretty well, Rousseau says. Skilled technicians, diesel mechanics, and plant operating engineers are becoming scarce too, as are laborers. Its the same thing. Its hard to find people that still want to go out there and get wet and cold and dirty. One potential solution to the scarcity of drivers is truck technology. The companys new Kenworth T880 trucks feature Con-Tech 12-yard drums, the largest in the fleet. Our dealer [salesman], Rick Barry of Kenworth Northwest, managed to stuff another pusher axle under there and got us some more payload, says Rousseau. We can now haul an extra yard on a truck on a thousand loads a year. Thats anywhere from 500 to 1,000 yards a year without any additional work. Multiply that by six trucks and it really adds up. The recently added trucks came with Allison automatic transmissions, a first for the fleet. If the drivers response was anything to go on, there will be more in the future. We were scared to death, Corliss says. We didnt know how they were going to work out. We didnt know how they would perform. But just the ease and comfort on the drivers has proven it was a good investment. Its been amazing. Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of the mixer drum manufacturer, Con-Tech. We apologize for the error. Fleet Snapshot WHO: Corliss Resources WHERE: Sumner, Washington FLEET: 110 trucks: 60 mixers, 40 dumps and other specialty equipment including pneumatic tanks, live-floor trailers and belly dumps. OPERATIONS: A major supplier of concrete and aggregate building products with gravel processing and concrete batch plants in five locations. FUN FACT: The family-owned company began in 1919 when John Doc Corliss began delivering gravel to landowners and businesses with a buckboard wagon. CHALLENGE: Meeting customer demands with a declining population of qualified drivers and skilled technicians. Eric Starks, CEO of FTR, speaks at the 2018 HDTX conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo: Stephane Babcock Although trends are favorable overall, economist Eric Starks, CEO of FTR, told attendees at the Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange conference May 10 that markets are showing signs of volatility, adding a degree of uncertainty to economic conditions. Starks, speaking on the state of trucking industry during the event in Scottsdale, Arizona, noted that a spike in fuel prices is now likely, given President Trump's decision to walk away from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with Iran. Adding to the whiff of uncertainty, Starks added that he believes President Trump will soon pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, as well. That scares me to death, Starks told the assembled fleet executives, because NAFTA has a huge impact on your businesses. A final piece of uncertainty Starks pointed to was the growing federal deficit, although he noted that's a longer-term issue that wont be felt right away. "This will likely increase further economic growth in the short term," Starks said. "But the outlook beyond 2019 is murky at the moment." Those negative factors aside, Starks called out five specific positive trends that are currently creating a white-hot trucking market: 1. Businesses are now actively participating in the recovery. Manufacturing is growing, Starks said. Were not back to the peak level we saw before the Great Recession, but business activity related to consumer goods is showing a healthy, growing trend as well. These are welcome signs businesses are now participating in this recovery. And we havent seen that until this point. 2. Rising fuel prices are not a drag on the economy yet. If youve been smart and have negotiated a fuel surcharge that will kick in as prices rise, youre in good shape now, Starks said. We dont like to see volatility in fuel prices. If they jump 10% in the next two weeks, fleets bear the brunt of that. You might get your money back from the shipper at some point, but if youre cash poor thats not an environment you want to be in. But measured increases are fine. And right now fuel is not on shippers radar screens. Theyre more more worried about getting their products to market. 3. Freight levels are growing at a healthy almost strong pace. Were seeing clear upward trends in actual loads moved, Starks said. And demand is very strong in the weekly spot market. 4. Retail sales are strong. Although new home starts are flat, Starks noted that existing home sales are very strong at the moment, and new automobile sales are at very high levels. The positive news is that businesses are now willing to expand and invest in equipment, Starks said. The negative side of this is that demand for Class 8 trucks is very strong right now, with lead times for fleets waiting on new trucks as long as seven months. 5. Freight rates are likely to rise. With limited capacity and surging demand, Starks is confident rates will rise soon although they will likely level off by this fall. It is possible rates could rise by as much as 25% at the peak of this demand cycle, Starks noted. But I think they will level off and stabilize around 10% higher than they are currently." Gilgamesh said: Since everything you said is a lie, you are destined to go to hell. No beautiful virgins for you; just a tired worn out camel. And that would be better than you really deserve. You just might be able to redeem yourself by converting your body to a rotting carcass which would make you more favoured to your non- existent god. That would be a win-win situation for everyone. Click to expand... OH!!!! THAT IS FUNNY!!!!! The Muslim tells us the wrong doer will not be guided! Does that not explain ALL Muslim policy and propaganda?WE cannot hope to influence the mind of the rabid Muslim terrorist wrong doer- but we CAN influence the minds of gravy hunting Cdn LIE-berals by raging against their muddled, divisive, costly and entirely FOOLISH anti Yankee and anti western stance!I wish I had written this piece! Malcolm skewers our prime minster-that foolish and destructive Boy Justin Trudope and roasts him over a political fire! Our brainless Boy has so shamed us in front of all sensible people that he ought to be run out of town-and out of office! Its one thing for a private citizen to hold idiot views but its quite another for a Cdn prime minister to be such a fool! Malcolm says this:Trudeaus speech to UN naive.By Candice Malcolm. First posted: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 07:45 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 07:54 PM EDTPrime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, September 20, 2016 in New York City. According to the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, the most pressing matter to be discussed at the General Assembly is the world's refugee crisis.Trudeau's lack of substance suits the UN perfectlyCanada and our 'sorrys' perfect solution for world conflictPrime Minister Justin Trudeau, darling of the left and champion of progressive elites everywhere, delivered an Oscar-worthy performance in his inaugural address to the United Nations General Assembly this week.With flair and pizazz, Trudeau warned against the rise of nationalism and anti-globalization sentiments, and urged leaders to confront fear by championing immigration and diversity.When leaders are faced with citizens anxiety, we have a choice to make. Do we exploit that anxiety or do we allay it? said Trudeau.This, in a nutshell, is everything wrong with Trudeaus world view.Trudeau used his platform on the world stage not to condemn terrorism, war crimes or crimes against humanity.He didnt talk about the plight of Christians in the Middle East, the genocide against Yazidis at the hands of ISIS, or of Russias military intervention in Ukraine.Trudeau didnt raise concerns over the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, its violent insurgency in Nigeria, or the status of 276 missing female students kidnapped from their school in 2014.Trudeau made no mention of the ongoing civil wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen or Libya, or the role of state-sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Saudi Arabia in fueling these conflicts and spreading a violent ideology.He failed to mention the tens of thousands killed in these wars in 2016, or to discuss the millions affected by armed conflicts, terrorism, tyrannical governments and abusive regimes, many of whom had representatives in attendance for Trudeaus speech.Instead, Trudeau spent his moment in the spotlight condemning his political opponents, and taking a swipe at conservatives everywhere.In Trudeaus mind, Islamist terrorism and unchecked immigration are not as troubling as the fact many people want to talk about terrorism and unchecked immigration.Somehow, discussing solutions is akin to exploiting public anxiety.Ironically, Trudeau delivered his remarks from an armed fortress of security the United Nations headquarters in New York City.Days earlier, a radicalized Muslim migrant, according to police, planted improvised explosive devices in several locations in New York and New Jersey.Three of those bombs detonated, one in the popular Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea, injuring 29 people.In response to this terrorism, New York was on virtual lock down.On top of the exceedingly heightened security alongside the United Nations General Assembly, the police presence was amplified even further.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo noted it was probably the largest security presence ever amassed. Ever.Midtown Manhattan was transformed into a virtual police state. There were policemen and women on every corner, heavily-armed officers patrolling the city and large caravans of black SUVs blocking entire streets.Civilians couldnt get anywhere near the UN. I was there, I saw it.Trudeau stood behind a wall of security and basically told the rest of us that we shouldnt worry about terrorism, violence or unchecked immigration.Rather than condemning terrorists and jihadists the ones spreading the fear and anxiety Trudeau identifies Trudeau scolded those who react to it, those who want to protect citizens and proactively stop terrorism.Rather than being a champion of peace and stability on the world stage, Trudeau doubled down on his own narrow political agenda.Trudeaus message may be well-received by elites inside the United Nations bubble.But to those on the outside without police escorts and armed security guards Trudeau demonstrated how naive and out of touch he is when it comes to the valid concerns of everyday Canadians. After a morning of chopping cabbage and onions, the group of culinary students await instructions from Maryaa Tamil refugeewhos showing them the ropes of Sri Lankan food. Blinded in one eye after surviving a military bullet injury, Marya fled to Estonia eight years ago with her husband and two sons. Now, she works as a sous-chef in a Hilton hotel in Tallinn and shares her warm spirit and exotic spices with Estonians at Lets meet! events. Today, Marya shows the culinary students from the vocational training centre in Valga how to cook authentic Sri Lankan food. On the lunch menu is a lamb and vegetable curry, cabbage salad and the colourful manna desert called kesari, rounded off with a masala chai tea. Marya starts by introducing the culinary students to chili leaves a first for the chefs in training. These are very, very spicy! she warns, gesturing dramatically like her mouth were on fire to get her point across. The Estonian students laugh; many of them dont speak English very well, but today, flavour is the common language. In Soviet times, nobody ate dishes with chili. Few spices were imported to Estonia besides pepper, cinnamon, cloves and laurel, which is one reason why culinary students are fascinated by the immense variety of international spices. The curry leaves are very interesting. They remind me a little bit of laurel, one student says as she smells the fragrant dried herb from Egypt for the first time. Estonians test their taste buds Marya isnt the only sous-chef sharing her heritage here. Her friends Siva and Thangamalar, a married refugee couple who came to Estonia two years ago, also work in restaurants in Tallinn. As Siva stirs the lamb curry in a huge pot, he explains why they fled the country: My brother had problems with the Sri Lankan army. I dont know where he is. Too many problems! Siva works in an Asian food chain called Chopsticks, balancing his time between restaurants. Most Estonians like rice and chicken noodles, spring rolls and banana pancakes. But not chili! If the food is too spicy, they cry, he laughs. Marya asks the students to test the spices, giving them a spoonful of curry sauce to try. As expected, the spice is full on, although one student bravely says, I like it, its nice! with a flushed face. The consensus is unanimous: no more chili in the curry sauce. Struggles with finding a home When they participated in the Lets meet! event in Valga, the two Sri Lankan refugee families had been living together in the same apartment for four months. They couldnt find an apartment for Siva, Thangamalar and their children in Tallinn. The problem is even more widespread many quota refugees in Estonia cant leave their refugee centers because of the same issue with apartment size. The refugees usually have big families, so theyre looking for more spacious rentals already a difficult find in the real estate market, explains Juhan Saharov, head of support services for refugees in Johannes Mihkelson Centre. Theres also the language barrier issue, and negative prejudices towards refugees. The renters have high expectations for their new homes as well. Everyone deserves love and well-being Over the course of a year and half, refugees and foreigners meet with the local community three times in each county, as part of the 45 Lets Meet! events. The Sri Lankan sous-chef, Marya, is a keen participant in these integration rendezvouz, organized by Johannes Mihkelson Centre and Estonian Refugee Council to help overcome prejudices against refugees and foreigners. When I cooked for 40 people in Rakvere, everybody really liked the food. They ate and talked about Sri Lanka, and we were very happy. I like it when people are interested in our culture and food! she says. Tuuli, a young Estonian vegan cook attending the workshop, likes that the refugees have a chance to share their culture. Its a very cool event. We can see that the refugees are talented and hard-working. Estonians often have prejudices towards refugees, because they think they take advantage of the system. I think there should be more events like this that help us understand each other, especially for children. It reminds us that everyone deserves love and well-being. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, meets a refugee family on a visit to a UNHCR programme which is providing shelter to over 700 refugees. UNHCR/Socrates Baltagiannis ARCHANES, Greece - Marven Obett, 36, seems an unlikely fan of British royalty. Imposing, well-muscled and tattooed, the former gold and diamond assayer is a Syrian refugee, bringing up two young sons, Angelo and Gabriello, alone. They live in an apartment in the town of Heraklion on Crete provided under a major accommodation programme run by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Marvens interest in The Queen and her family goes back years, but today he came face-to-face with one of his blue-blooded heroes, when the Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited the village of Archanes on the Greek island of Crete. They were here to learn about the EU-funded ESTIA programme and how it is being implement on the island by UNHCR's implementing partner, the Heraklion Development Agency (HDA) and to meet beneficiaries, including Marven and a three-member family from Iraq. I'm a big fan, Marven said about the Prince of Wales before his big moment in the HDA headquarters near Heraklion, while fretting about protocol and what he was going to wear. I don't know what we will speak about, said the outgoing Syrian, who arrived in Crete with his boys after a traumatic sea crossing from Turkey last October. The Prince also met Rebaz Salam Mahmood, 29, a former window glazier from the Iraqi town of Suleimaniyeh, and his 27-year-old wife Sohane, a former secretary. The couple fled from Iraq to escape persecution, ending up in Heraklion after they were rescued from a sinking boat off Crete. They said they were touched by the warmth of their welcome and wished to make a living in Greece. The Prince also talked to local dignitaries and HDA staff in picturesque Archanes and he was briefed by UNHCR Representative in Greece Philippe Leclerc and HDA Refugee Project Director Dimitra Kampeli on ESTIA. The programme has aided more than 45,000 refugees and asylum seekers across Greece since it was launched by UNHCR in early 2016. More than 800 people have benefitted, living in 150 apartments in Heraklion, Chania and Sitia. "The visit of their Royal Highnesses ... is helping to put a spotlight on something very positive" We welcome the visit of their Royal Highnesses, which is helping to put a spotlight on something very positive arising out of the difficult refugee situation that Greece has been bearing for the last few years. The focus is turning now to integration, said UNHCRs Philippe Leclerc. His sentiments were echoed by both Marven and Rebaz, who said they believed the visit would help bring valuable attention to their situation. Rebaz said that although he and Sohane did not know that much about British royalty, We are very happy that we are going to meet the Prince. Asked about the coming wedding of Prince Harry, the Prince of Waless son, he added: We are most interested in news from Iraq. Both men also talked about integration and their desire to start a fresh life in Greece, and the challenges they faced. We like it here very much. The people and hospitality are great; all we worry about is finding a job,' Rebaz said, echoing Marven, who spends much of his time playing mother and father. They both want to become self-sufficient in the future. Britain's Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwell meet refugees on Crete (Bela Szandelszky) Language is an important part of integration, and the adults from the two families are taking Greek lessons. This would better equip them for employment, but funding is an issue. Marvens boys are learning quickly and their father keeps them active. Aside from the ESTIA project in Crete, UNHCR is also piloting an alternative care project for unaccompanied children in Heraklion, Supported Independent Living. This project, the first of its kind in Greece, was explained to the Prince of Wales. Under the programme, which UNHCR hopes to expand, groups of four boys aged 16-17 years share an apartment, study Greek and build resilience and life skills before reaching adulthood. The UK and some other countries have good experience of SIL. The ESTIA programme currently provides almost 25,000 apartment places across the country. It is likely to grow amid continuing demand. It has helped move the most vulnerable into safe and appropriate shelter. There is currently and estimated 51,000 refugees and migrants in Greece. Prince of Wales meets refugees staying in UNHCR rented apartments on the Greek island of Crete. UNHCR/Socrates Baltagiannis London/Athens Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, today met refugees benefitting from pioneering EU-funded accommodation programmes run by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on the Greek island of Crete. The Prince visited the village of Archanes on the slopes of Mount Giouhtas and also met local dignitaries and staff from the Heraklion Development Agency (HDA), which is implementing the European Union-supported ESTIA (HOME) accommodation and cash assistance programme for UNHCR in Crete. UNHCR Representative in Greece Philippe Leclerc and HDA Refugee Project Director Dimitra Kampeli briefed the Prince on the accommodation programme, which has benefitted more than 45,000 refugees and asylum-seekers across Greece since it was launched by UNHCR in early 2016. More than 800 people have benefitted from ESTIA in Crete, where there are 150 apartments in Heraklion, Chania and Sitia. The Prince, later joined by The Duchess, met some of these refugees as well as members of the host community. They heard about the efforts to integrate the refugees, including access to education and health care, and the launch of a pilot programme to help unaccompanied children prepare for adulthood in safety. The Supported Independent Living (SIL) project, aimed at unaccompanied children aged 16-17 years, launched in Heraklion in April. It has three boys who share an apartment, study Greek and build their resilience and life skills before they become adults. UNHCR is introducing this kind of alternative care to Greece for the first time and hopes to expand it. The UK has much experience of SIL programmes. The Royal couple met Iraqi and Syrian refugee families with young children living in apartments under the accommodation programme, including a Syrian father looking after two young boys on his own. They discussed the challenges they faced and their desire to build a life and integrate into Cretan society. They then attended a colourful cultural event before departing at the end of their visit in Greece. The Royal visit has generated much interest in Greece. We welcome the visit of their Royal Highnesses, which is helping to put a spotlight on something very positive arising out of the difficult refugee situation that Greece has been bearing for the last few years. The focus is turning now to integration, said UNHCRs Philippe Leclerc. The ESTIA programme has been embraced in Crete, where UNHCR has established strong relationships with local municipalities to ensure success. The refugees have received a warm welcome and many have said they would like to remain in Crete, including Cretan-speaking Muslim families whose ancestors had fled the island during the 1897 Greco-Turkey War and sought shelter in western Syria. At the same time, some families hope to be reunited with family in other countries and on the day of the visit a family from Kuwait were flown to the United Kingdom to be reunited with relatives. The ESTIA programme currently provides more than 24,500 apartment places across the country. There is currently and estimated 51,000 refugees and migrants in Greece. It has helped move the most vulnerable into safe and appropriate housing. Media contacts: No wonder they tried to pull a fast one on us and Bombardier kicked their asses at the WTO.Now Trump (a lefty President if you were confused) is going to make them pay at least $20B for doing nothing of value.Shame.Boeing is among the 1st casualties of the hardline on IranConsequences are funny things. Donald Trump and an increasingly hawkish foreign policy team tore up the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran this week, as Trump's anti-globalist support base back home cheered the move.Yet among the first victims of the decision is not Iran's hardliners, nor even Iran's economy.It was instead the American aerospace firm Boeing that lost; Washington has said it will now revoke Boeing's licence to sell $20 billion US of aircraft to Iran."[There is] a great deal of rattling of the markets," says Bessma Momani, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation in Waterloo, Ont."That will continue, particularly as a lot of companies start to recognize how much they're going to lose."Trump's political base pushed for this move, intending it to be a blow to Iran and it's hardliners, but also as a shot at globalists who they feel have dragged America in the wrong direction for too long. Instead a major U.S. manufacturer takes a hit and Iran's major allies find an opportunity."When there's a vacuum created, it tends to get filled," says Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of Hill and Knowlton Strategies. The United States may be pulling out of the deal, but he says the Europeans are trying to keep it alive.And if there is a vacuum, he says it's pretty obvious who will step in to fill it."Ironically the actions here could well benefit Russia and China," said Hyder.Russia will happily jump at the opportunity to sell planes to Iran, while China will gobble up as much Iranian oil as it can get.Meanwhile, there's no end of uncertainty in the U.S. July 9 2013 A 4.5m project to rebuild an A listed mansion on the Isle of Raasay is to be celebrated this weekend with a number of events and activities following the completion of an extensive rebuild.Raasay House Community Company, with funding from Highlands & Islands Council, The Big Lottery and Historic Scotland, commissioned Wittets Architects to transform the building into a new outdoor centre, offering accommodation, cafe, bar and restaurant for locals and holidaymakers.The historic home was acquired by the local community in 2007 and was in the final stages of refurbishment when disaster struck and the structure was gutted by fire in January 2009.Attempts to restart the project were later stymied when main contractor, Rok Construction, went into administration.David Westgarth, chairman of RHCC said: Seven years ago the Raasay community acquired Raasay House and set about securing the funding package to refurbish the building, and establishing a tenant that would pay a rent to the community. After numerous setbacks and frustrations that goal has now been achieved.Raasay House is now a magnificent building with a new interior and new roofs throughout but looking as it always did from the outside. Final AVP for Global Engagement Candidate to Visit UW Monday The final candidate for the position of associate vice provost for global engagement at the University of Wyoming is scheduled to give a public presentation at UW Monday. The candidates are Susan Bender, senior director of global affairs at the University of California-Irvine, and Tony Ogden, executive director of education abroad and exchanges at Michigan State University. Benders public presentation is Monday, May 14, at 10 a.m. in Room 133 of the Classroom Building. For those who cant attend in person, the event will air via the WyoCast system at https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Play/68f32013e7614ad09650ab1f8dbeedfd1d. For more information about Bender, go here. Ogdens public presentation was last week. It may be viewed at https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Play/9a5505befbf74bfd816e96f0d278c86a1d. For more information about Ogden, go here. To submit input to the search committee on the candidates, go to https://survey.uwyo.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=mlK3m89MJ#. The associate vice provost for global engagement is a new position in the Office of Academic Affairs to oversee UWs new Global Engagement Office. Creation of the office is part of UWs strategic plan, Breaking Through: 2017-2022, which calls for expanded recruitment of international students and broadened exposure of faculty and students to international events and cultures. The Global Engagement Office includes the Education Abroad Office, formerly the Office of Study Abroad; the International Students and Scholars Office; and the English Language Center. UW Adds Cybersecurity Certificate Program UW Cybersecurity Education and Research Center Director Mike Borowczak helps student Danny Radosevich, of Laramie, in a cybersecurity class. The university has approved creation of a cybersecurity certificate program. (UW Photo) The University of Wyoming has taken another step to become a national hub for cybersecurity. The UW Board of Trustees, this week, approved the creation of a cybersecurity certificate program in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The move was necessary in the quest to earn national designations from federal agencies in the area of cybersecurity education. UWs Cybersecurity Education and Research Center (CEDAR), in alignment with requirements from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has developed and identified a cybersecurity course sequence that enables undergraduate students to achieve high theory and skill competence in cybersecurity concepts. Industry trends suggest employers are recruiting college graduates who have proven cybersecurity content knowledge from reputable academic institutions. The newly established cybersecurity certificate will recognize individual students, but it also positions UW as a leader in cybersecurity education in Wyoming and the region. The establishment of the certificate is a requirement for UW to achieve NSA/DHS designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity. The NSA and DHS have specified a list of required knowledge areas to achieve the designation. College administrators have mapped the courses to include the knowledge areas, established an on-campus center, recruited students and faculty, and secured research funds to achieve the requirements for the certificate. They will apply for designation in fall 2018. This degree will tap into UWs existing strengths, use innovative curriculum and serve a growing market need in Wyoming and across the nation, says Mike Borowczak, CEDAR director and UW Department of Computer Science faculty member. UW Pharmacy Students to Participate in Innovative Exchange Program with Howard University This fall, the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy will participate in an innovative exchange program with its counterparts from Howard Universitys College of Pharmacy. Titled the Health Equity Leadership Program, this initiative, funded by the 23rd annual National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation Scholarship Program, is geared toward challenging students to get outside of their comfort zone to learn firsthand about both urban and rural health care access and equity issues. Traditionally, diversity challenges and health disparities are focused on trying to explore differences through classroom case integration, says Toyin Tofade, dean of Howard Universitys College of Pharmacy. The partnership gives students from both regions an opportunity to learn lessons from each others environment and to be better educated about how to serve and care for various types of communities. Pharmacy students from the two institutions will participate in the nine-month program beginning in fall 2018. As a part of the program, the students will tour Washington, D.C., to evaluate inner-city health care systems, visit professional associations and meet congressional leaders. They also will tour Wyoming to evaluate rural critical access hospitals and rural health care systems. Students will work together to compare and contrast rural and urban health care delivery systems, while honing their own leadership skills, says Kem Krueger, dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. I think this program will be transformational and allow participants to work toward the Healthy People 2020 goals. We are empowering the next generation of pharmacists to lead from outside of their comfort zones. The goals of the Health Equity Leadership Program are to: -- Equip students with firsthand experiences with issues of health equity and access in urban and rural areas through immersion, education and reflections. -- Develop students leadership skills and teach them about current patient and professional concerns so that they can address issues of health equity and access, and accomplish the Healthy People 2020 goals. -- Identify ways to share these experiences with other students through venues such as presentations or creating practice laboratory vignettes. The funding awarded to the Health Equity Leadership Program is one of six awards granted by the NACDS Foundation for 2018. These merit-based scholarships fund patient-centered, community-based coursework or other curriculum innovations. The NACDS Foundation Scholarship Program was established in 1997 to fund prospective projects that have the potential to significantly advance patient care. Since then, nearly $4 million in scholarships has been provided to support pharmacy education programs. Healthy People 2020 is an initiative of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that aims to encourage collaborations across communities and sectors in order to improve the health of all Americans. For more information, email Rachel Stevens, UW School of Pharmacy, at rstevens@uwyo.edu. By: Dezan Shira & Associates Editor: Koushan Das Mekong Delta, composed of 13 provinces, 20 percent of the countrys population, and 18 percent of the national GDP, has consistently recorded one of the highest average provincial competitiveness indexes amongst all provinces since 2014. RELATED: Pre-Investment Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates Provincial Competitiveness Index According to the 2017 Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), five cities from Mekong Delta are among the top 10 cities and provinces. It includes Dong Thap, Long An, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, and Can Tho. Its PCI score increased 59.12 in 2014 to 63.4 in 2017, making it the top region in Vietnam. Companies operating in the region have the easiest access to land while incurring the least costs. In addition, the regions business environment has the least complex administrative procedures, simplest business registration conditions, and the least bureaucratic red tape. RELATED: Vietnams Provincial Competitiveness Index 2017 Growing economy In 2017, Mekong Deltas gross regional development product (GRDP) growth stood at 7.6 percent, higher than the national average of 6.81 percent. The regions per capita gross domestic product reached US$2,700 per year, with Can Tho, the regions economic hub, having the highest at US$3,500. There are over 53,000 businesses in the region, ranging from agriculture and seafood processing, urban development, transportation, trade, services, and tourism. Economic structure According to a recent study by the Can Tho city chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2017, around one-third (32.5 percent) of the firms in the region were involved in farm produce, while manufacturing-processing-apparel and finance-trade-services accounted individually for 24.3 percent of the firms. Construction and real estate accounted for 13.5 percent, while only 5.4 percent of the firms were involved in the pharmaceuticals industry. Firms performance The same study revealed that 38.9 percent of the firms in Mekong Delta performed much better in 2017, an increase of 6.8 percent. Almost half (47.2 percent) of the firms have had stable operations in the last year. In terms of revenue, 63.9 percent achieved higher revenues, the highest in the last three years, and a significant increase of 20.5 percent from 2016. In addition, 57.1 percent of the firms achieved increased profits. Best performers included firms involved in the processing for import/export, construction, and real estate. Growth factors The increase in the number of firms with stable operations and turning a profit were due to a number of growth factors such as an increase in technology adoption, employee training, self-sufficiency in materials and stable consumption, and improved product quality. Constraints Despite being a major seafood and farm produce processing region, the region suffers from lack of fishery materials. In addition, climate change, competition with ASEAN members for market share, and smuggling are the major concerns for firms in Mekong Delta. Exports Annual exports from the region are between US$13-15 billion, with rice, seafood, and fruit accounting for the majority of the exports. These products account for half of the total agricultural sector exports, which by itself accounts for almost half of the regions total exports. RELATED: Impact of US China Trade War on Vietnam Foreign direct investment In the last few years, foreign investment in Mekong Delta has mostly been low compared to other regions in Vietnam. However, the region is fast emerging as an investment destination, especially for Asian investors. In the first 11 months of 2017, the total registered capital invested stood at US$2.06 billion, for 121 projects. The cumulative figure stood at US$20 billion for 1,421 projects. The top regions attracting investors include Long An and Kien Giang Province, while major investors include Malaysia, Korea, and Taiwan. The region offers numerous incentives for investments in preferred sectors and specific geographical areas. It includes reduced corporate income tax, favorable licensing and procedures, tax exemptions, and exemptions or reductions in land rent. In October 2017, Mekong Delta issued a list of 80 projects for investments worth US$7 billion (VND 160 trillion). It includes 45 projects focusing on agriculture, industry, processing, manufacturing, and logistics infrastructure worth US$ 6.6 billion (VND 150 trillion), and 33 real estate and tourism projects worth US$ 342 million (VND 7.8 trillion). RELATED: China+1: The New Face of Manufacturing in Vietnam Infrastructure In the last few years, to increase connectivity, infrastructure investments in roads, waterways, ports, airports, and power, have been on the rise and such investments will continue to remain a priority for the provincial governments. The region needs US$3.2 billion (VND73 trillion) for 39 road transport projects, US$806 million (VND18 trillion) for 23 sea transport projects, and US$493 million (VND11 trillion) for 12 river transport projects. Around one-third (31 percent) of the required capital will be invested by the State, while Official Development Assistance (ODA) and private investments will account for the rest. Industrial Zones As of June 2016, there are 78 industrial zones and export-processing zones, with a total area of 14,787 hectares in the region. Roads The road transport network consists of over 2,030 km of national highways, along with 7,718 km of provincial roads. Earlier, the bad condition of the road network was a major hurdle for investors. However, the quality of roads in the region has recently improved. As of now, 82 percent of the provincial and 50 percent of the district roads are paved, higher than the national average. Waterways Waterways continue to be a major transport network in the region. Although the delta has over 30,000 km of rivers and canal, port infrastructure in the region is weak and usually operates below capacity. This is mainly due to the lack of connectivity between the inland waterways, ports, and road networks. The region has seven seaports, 31 harbors, and 57 inland ports in Mekong Delta. Despite this, around 80 percent of the goods are still transported by land to seaports in the region. The volume of freight carried by waterways increased from 73,626.70 thousand tons in 2014 to 80,071.30 thousand tons in 2015, an increase of 8.8 percent year-on-year. The government has to invest in increasing the port capacity and expanding the network, to increase connectivity and efficiency, if it wants the growth momentum to continue. Airports In addition to the Phu Quoc International Airport in Kien Giang Province, there are three more airports in Can Tho, Rach Gia, and Ca Mau provinces. RELATED: Vietnams M&A Market: Opportunities for Foreign Investors Major Industries Due to its geographical location, agriculture is a major contributor to Mekong Deltas economy. The delta is also the third-largest industrial region in the country after Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Other industries in the region include mechanical engineering, food processing, textiles and garment, leather and footwear, and renewables. Agriculture-fishery-forestry Mekong Delta is a major agriculture and seafood production hub in Vietnam. The region accounts for 95 percent of the countrys rice exports as well as an annual seafood output of 3.5-4 million tonnes. The delta accounts for 65 percent of aquaculture and 60 percent of fish exports of Vietnam. In addition, it is also a major fruit and vegetable exporter, accounting for 70 percent of the national fruit production. As the sector matures, the opportunities for investors involved in food processing and high-value products such as fruits will grow, which in turn will increase the need for raw materials, equipment, and capital. Tourism In 2017, Mekong Delta received over 22.4 million tourists, generating a revenue of US$ 495 million (VND 11.31 trillion). Last year, Can Tho and Kien Giang were the two most visited places in the region, with tourism income reaching US$127.6 million (VND 2.9 trillion) and US$201.4 million (VND 4.58 trillion) respectively. The delta tourism potential lies in areas such as ecotourism, resort, and exploration tourism. According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the tourism industry has the potential to create an additional 300,000 jobs by 2025 in the region, leading to a sustainable and diversified regional economy. Construction and real estate Construction continues to be one of the top performing sectors in Mekong Delta. Driven by the public and private investments in infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports, and power plants, opportunities will continue to grow in the industry, with the government prioritizing the development of supporting infrastructure to attract FDI. In addition, the development of commercial centers, office buildings, and housing projects, has made real estate one of the fastest growing sectors in the region. Light industries Mekong Delta with is sandy soil offers limited options for heavy manufacturing, which opens up the possibility for light manufacturing, especially closer to Ho Chi Minh City, due to its connectivity and labor-intensive industries such as footwear, leather, and garments. Services Sectors such as retail, healthcare, and education, which are driven by the increase in urbanization, disposable incomes, and favorable demographics are also emerging as prominent sectors. RELATED: Vietnam: Two Cities Among JLLs Momentum Index Top 10 Climate change an investment opportunity Majority of the deltas population and economic establishments are located in coastal lowlands areas, which makes it one of the worlds most affected regions by climate change. In fact, it is ranked among the top five deltas that are most severely affected by climate change. The government has earmarked funds for roads, energy facilities, dikes, and embankments to counter its effects. However, government funds would not be enough and this presents an opportunity for investors. The following areas which are a priority for the government are an investment opportunity: investments focusing on adapting existing infrastructure (such as roads, bridges, water and energy infrastructure, embankments, and dikes) to climate risks management of water resources management of salinization in aquaculture and agriculture mangrove rehabilitation projects shift from agriculture to aquaculture in coastal areas RELATED: CPTPP Signed: Opportunities for Vietnams Enterprises Need to do more Historically, Mekong Delta has never been a major FDI destination. However, in the last few years, the pace of investments has picked up. In order to continue the momentum, the government needs to further simplify administrative procedures, increase access to capital for domestic firms, develop supporting infrastructure, and increase connectivity with the rest of the country. Going forward, with the EU Vietnam FTA and CPTPP coming into effect, Mekong Delta has to focus on increasing the skill level of the workforce, corporate governance, and product quality to remain competitive and achieve a sustainable growth. Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country. Managing Contracts and Severance in Vietnam In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the prevailing state of labor pools in Vietnam and outline key considerations for those seeking to staff and retain workers in the country. We highlight the increasing demand for skilled labor, provide in depth coverage of existing contract options, and showcase severance liabilities that may arise if workers or employers choose to terminate their contracts. Port infrastructure varies region to region in Vietnam. Here, Vietnam Briefing compares port infrastructure in three key economic regions so that investors can make an informed choice about where to place their business. Vietnams 1,900 miles of coastline and 320 ports increasingly serve an important role in global trade. In the first half of the year, Vietnams container traffic rose three percent year-on-year, while Hong Kongs dropped eight percent. With the high number of supply chain shifts to Vietnam, it makes sense that shipping demand is increasing in the country. But Vietnams long-term economic trajectory is likely to see this demand continue for years to come. The government wants the countrys seaports to handle 200 million tons of cargo by 2020 and double that amount by 2030. While this planning develops, investors that need ports for imports or exports should consider the regional variation in the quality of port infrastructure before setting up. Vietnams ports competitiveness In the last 10 years, economic growth in Vietnam has led to a significant increase in freight traffic, highlighting the importance of ports for companies that invest in the country. While this trend suggests that the countrys ports are able to manage increased demand, it also highlights the need for further investment in infrastructure to keep pace with growth and reduce logistics costs for business. According to the World Economic Forum, Vietnam ranks 80 among 139 countries on the quality of port infrastructure, with an average score of 3.80 on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) between 2006 and 2018. This means Vietnam ranks lower than countries such as China, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Vietnam has 44 seaports with a total capacity of 470-500 million tons per year. The major ports in Vietnam include Hai Phong, Da Nang, Qui Nhon, and Ho Chi Minh City. However, Vietnam has a number of smaller ports as well, which takes the total number of ports in the country up to 320. The Vietnam Port Association (VPA) states that 80 percent of container exports and imports go through smaller ports and ships, a process known as transshipment. The VPA also noted that goods owners have losses of approximately US$2.4 billion each year due not using deep-water ports. Here, we highlight major ports in the north, central and southern parts of the country that foreign investors can start to look at. While the government continues to expand port infrastructure, we give an insight into the most developed ports for investors to begin assessing a site location. Northern Vietnam Hai Phong and Vung Ang are major ports for international container traffic in north Vietnam, but neither are deep-water ports. In May 2018, however, the Haiphong International Container Terminal (HICT) deep-water port in Hai Phong opened. The HICT is capable of accommodating large container ships, reducing the need for transshipments in northern Vietnam. The port allows for direct shipping between northern Vietnam and the US and EU markets. The second phase of the port is expected to be completed by 2020. Previously, containers heading for Hai Phong or Vung Ang required transshipments, typically using ports in Singapore or Hong Kong, where the containers were loaded into smaller container vessels, and then transported to northern ports in Vietnam. Avoiding Hong Kong or Singapore means saving about one week in shipments as well as international freight transport costs. The new port is particularly helpful for foreign businesses operating between Hanoi and Hai Phong. The port is connected to the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway and the Tan Vu Lach Huyen Bridge, and its close proximity to China will help companies that use northern Vietnam as a China+1 destination. Northern Vietnam has become a hub for the electronics, automobiles and machinery sectors. The Deep C industrial zone near the port has already attracted 80 companies. The new port will augment northern Vietnams growth further. Central Vietnam The major ports in Central Vietnam are the Quy Nhon and Da Nang ports, the latter being a deep-water port. In addition, the region has nine minor ports as well. The Da Nang port handles the majority of the traffic in the central region, which links Vietnam to Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. The ports proximity to the central city of Da Nang is an added advantage; the citys infrastructure is developing rapidly as it has become a hub for high-tech industries. The Quy Nhon port is mostly used for transporting goods from Mekong Delta and western Vietnam, along with transhipping goods heading for Cambodia. The port infrastructure in the central region does not currently match the northern and southern regions, but it is poised for further development. Southern Vietnam The Ho Chi Minh City area consists of a network of ports around with the Saigon port currently the 26th biggest container port in the world and the fifth biggest in ASEAN. This follows the Port of Singapore, Malaysias Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas, and Thailands Laem Chabang in ASEAN rankings. Ports in Ho Chi Minh City are the main gateway for the region, accounting for 67 percent of the total throughput of all Vietnamese ports. The Cai Mep-Thi Via Port (Cai Mep) is a deep-water port located around 80 km south of Ho Chi Minh City. Cai Mep mostly handles goods for Dong Nai and Binh Duong, which are major production centers in the region, and is popular on routes to the US and EU because of its deep-water capabilities. Despite being a deep-water port with seven terminals, Cai Mep functions at only 30 percent capacity, due to a large number of smaller ports in the region. For example, Cat Lai, one of the biggest and most modern container terminals in Vietnam, situated in Ho Chi Minh Citys port area, is preferred over Cai Mep due to its proximity to Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City. Cat Lai is primarily used mainly on Asian routes, but because Cat Lai is not a deep-water port there are higher transshipment costs. Industry challenges The major challenge faced by the biggest ports in Vietnam is the use of smaller ports and vessels, which account for approximately 80 percent of container imports and exports in the country. Some ports also suffer from being over-burdened with shipments, which has led to congestion and significant delays. For example, Cat Lai is preferred over Cai Mep despite the latter being a deep water port that can accommodate vessels with a capacity of 18,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Transshipments through Cat Lai can lead to delays and increase costs by around 30 percent. In addition, the increasing use of Cat Lai has led to gridlock issues due to delays in weigh stations and road intersections. In addition, road and rail infrastructure has not been able to keep up with economic growth. The rail and road network around ports remains underdeveloped, leading to increased costs. Due to the lack of a rail network connecting the various ports, freight currently must be transported by road adding to shipping rates. Businesses in the country are also known to complain of instances where freight has been held at ports due to customs procedures, resulting in an increased number of containers lying at ports without anyone to claim them. The government will need to streamline customs procedures so that Vietnam does not lose to rivals such as Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. Increasing port capacity The government not only needs to invest in increasing the existing port capacity, but also construct new deep-water ports to reduce transportation costs and increase efficiency, especially in the Mekong Delta. The government has introduced a master plan related to the development of seaport systems by 2020 and 2030. It focuses on achieving a cargo clearance target of at least 1 billion tons by 2020 and 1.2 to 1.6 billion tons by 2030. However, the government will need to consider issues such as port placement, connectivity with economic hubs, and proximity to international maritime routes in their plan. Developing inland waterways Vietnam has over 42,000 km of inland waterways, mostly in the Mekong and Red River deltas, which have the potential to increase connectivity and reduce costs for the transportation sector. Currently, however, they suffer from the lack of connectivity to major production centers and inland ports. The development of waterway transport should be a priority for the government to increase market access, connectivity, and efficiency. Future growth With a large-scale port development in the north and south, foreign investors from Japan and the Netherlands have shown interest in developing port projects in the central region around Da Nang. The government is also keen on the development of ports to meet its masterplan to public-private partnerships. Since international trade is conducted mainly via sea-based transport, increasing the number of value-add ports, and adding capacity of existing ones, will be critical for the government as well as manufacturers to speed up transport and reduce costs. Cargo volume throughput at Vietnams ports has increased by 20 to 30 percent a year. Ultimately, Vietnams ports, if developed efficiently, will help aid Vietnams growth in the next decade. Businesses that are keen to manufacture and trade in Vietnam should consider the regional differences in Vietnams port infrastructure and seek to locate in a region that best suits their activities. Note: This article was first published in May 2018 and has been updated to include the latest developments. Donald Trump is set to hold a much-anticipated and unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks. (Photo: AFP/STR) The location and date of the landmark meeting were announced in a presidential tweet just hours after Trump welcomed to the United States three American prisoners released by Pyongyang. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement the country is pleased to host the meeting. "We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula," the ministry added. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the meeting between the two leaders is a significant step on the path to peace. "May it lead to a successful outcome," he added. The talks, which are expected to last one day, are set to focus on North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes. "I think it will be a big success," Trump said as he boarded Air Force One, on his way to a political rally in Indiana. US officials said the release of Americans Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul removed a major obstacle to the summit, providing Trump with some tangible evidence that his twin-track policy of engagement and "maximum pressure" was working. "We're not under any illusions about who these people are. We know who we are dealing with here," said Victoria Coates, of the National Security Council. "But we got, up front, our people home." NEUTRAL SETTING The United States and North Korea are technically still at war - a stop-gap armistice ended the brutal three-year Korean war in 1953 and around 30,000 American troops remain in neighboring South Korea, which the US supported in the conflict. Singapore will provide a neutral backdrop for the summit, avoiding some of the security and political challenges associated with a meeting in the Demilitarised Zone that separates North and South Korea. When Trump and Kim do sit down a month from now, the two relatively untested leaders will be presented with a puzzle that has stymied seasoned diplomats for decades. A series of US administrations have sent envoys, both official and unofficial, to Pyongyang in the hope of stopping North Korea's provocative nuclear weapons programme. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited after leaving office, multiple rounds of non-proliferation talks have taken place, and a deal was even signed in 1994. But despite the optimism of that moment, all efforts to limit North Korea's nuclear program have, to date, failed. And more than two decades and multiple provocative weapons tests after the last accord, the threat from Pyongyang has only grown. The country is now believed to be on the cusp of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. Trump has vowed that he will not let that happen and has demanded that North Korea give up its nukes. 'CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM' So far, the North Korean regime has made vague pledges to "denuclearise" but has not spelled out what that means, when it would happen or how it would be implemented. In North Korea's bombastic rhetoric, "denuclearisation" has, for years, been a byword for US troop withdrawals from South Korea and an excuse for stalling. Hardliners in the North are believed to see possession of a nuclear weapon as the only guarantee against US-led efforts to topple Kim's regime. Coates said there were no preconditions for the talks, which could yet include other regional leaders such as the South Korean president, but concrete steps would be welcome. "The president's goal is very clear - the irreversible, verifiable removal of this nuclear weapons programme. If he doesn't see material progress to that, there's not going to be a deal for a deal's sake," she said. Coates said that North Korea handing over details about its existing programme would "set us up with a greater chance of success, anything that they would like to do, but we haven't been signalling pre-conditions up until this point." Trump's high-profile meeting offers a glimmer of hope of a breakthrough, according to Republican Senator Cory Gardner, who discussed preparations for the summit with Trump at the White House on Wednesday. "This is a moment for cautious optimism," Gardner told AFP. "The president understands that there is a historic opportunity to achieve what the world has been unable to achieve for decades." At the same time, Gardner said, Trump's eyes were wide open about the risks of failure and the need to be clear that denuclearisation means abandoning nuclear weapons. "As of last night, there was no nuance in terms of denuclearisation," he said. But before any technical talk about reprocessed fuel rods, separated plutonium or spent fuel removal, Trump will want to answer one basic question - whether North Korea wants to change. "This is the key test," said Gardner. "I think that if Kim Jong Un wants to find relief from 'maximum pressure' and be welcomed back to the table of recognised global leadership, it's the only path he has." Since the foundation of North Korea in 1948, the country has endured war and struggled to balance rival Soviet and Chinese spheres of influence. Decades of financial stagnation, international sanctions, mass starvation and industrial scale human rights abuses followed. "The road we have been down is well travelled and it's never ended well. So I hope this time is different," said Gardner. Indochina Capital has just won the Asia-Pacific Property Award Indochina Capital was recognised as one of Vietnams best Property Consultancy firms at the IPAX Asia Pacific Awards Presentation Gala, which took place in Bangkok from May 3-4, 2018, for the work of its advisory arm Indochina Strategic. In a category that is regularly dominated by household names like Savills, CBRE, and JLL, Indochina Capitals appearance on the stage was a welcome sight among the judges and organisers of the event. Hundreds of the Asia-Pacifics leading developers, architects, interior designers, and real estate agents gathered at the Marriott Marquis Queens Park for the announcement of the results of the Asia-Pacific Property Awards. With 516 awards bestowed upon over 300 companies from 33 countries in the region, it was the largest International Property Awards regional event in the programmes 25-year history. Michael Piro, chief operating officer of Indochina Capital and director of Indochina Strategic This is not only a milestone for the company, it is also a mark of excellence for their real estate professionals, who are always committed to delivering market leading services and creating the desired value for clients. The Asia-Pacific Property Awards, as part of the International Property Awards, celebrates the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the real estate industry. It is by far the largest, most prestigious, and widely-recognised programme in the region. The awards are chaired by four members of the United Kingdom House of Lords and judged by an independent panel of 80 industry experts based on criteria that encompasses design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability. Competing against the best property professionals in Vietnam, Indochina Capital was honoured for its excellence in property consultancy and significant contributions to the fast-paced development of the Vietnamese real estate industry, following a rigorous judging process. Additionally, Indochina Capital was recently named the Best Real Estate Consultant at the Golden Dragon Awards hosted by Vietnam Economic Times that recognises the outstanding business achievements and contributions by foreign-owned entities in Vietnam. We established Indochina Strategic three years ago after realising that our property development achievements and experience would bring added value to our clientele. These awards speak to our rapid rise as one of the biggest players in the domestic market as it pertains to real estate advisory. This will push us to new heights, towards our goal of being the go-to consultant for real estate development in Vietnam," Piro added. Founded in 1999, Indochina Capital is one of the leading real estate, investment, and financial services firms in Vietnam. Indochina Strategic is the advisory arm of Indochina Capital. The firm's Advisory Team delivers strategic development advisory, operator selection, debt financing, and transaction advisory services of high quality to help businesses manage risk and increase operational effectiveness, while simultaneously performing investment activities in a more efficient and cost-controlled manner. The company has a countrywide footprint with offices in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City, serving local and foreign clients throughout Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific region. LG Group's headquaters in Korea's Seoul capital city. Photo: baotintuc.vn A huge stir inspection A scandal related to the heiress of Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd., former Korean Air Lines executive Cho Hyun Min ealier this year has stirred up public anger at the behaviour of the rich and powerful, and sparked investigation into her family and its business. In the morning of May 9, Korean public prosecutors paid a surprise visit to LG Groups headquarters to investigate accusations of tax evasion made by employees. Reuters stated that the public prosecutors are investigating allegations that LG Group has dodged paying $9.25 billion in taxes in a deal related to a subsidiarys transferring shares, according to the document the Office of Seoul Central District Prosecutors sent to news agencies. Reacting to these accusations, LG Groups spokeswoman said that related parties will collaborate with the public prosecutors investigation. Reuters cited her as saying that the tax difference may have arisen out of different views on the amount of tax payable after some shareholders sold their shares and paid the corresponding taxes. The inspection would be the latest in a string of troubles faced by chaebols, families controlling South Korean conglomerates. Getting caught by Vietnamese authorities In late 2016 LG Electronics Vietnam Limited (Haiphong) was fined for VND1.3 billion ($57,268) by the Post Clearance Audit Department (General Department of Customs) for purposefully not declaring their special relationship with foreign partners under the same group (LG Group) on the tax documents of imported goods, according to dantri.com.vn. On December 5, 2016, the Post Clearance Audit Department issued a document to impose administrative fines for LG Electronics Vietnam Limited. The decision to impose administrative fines for not declaring special relationship is unjustified because this does not change the amount of tax payable, stated LG Electronics Vietnams document. In a document sent to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on December 15, 2016, LG Electronics Vietnam claimed that the tax amount charged after imposing the administrative fine for not declaring its special relationship with partners was inaccurate. In addition, the firm asserted that the payable tax increased as the customs office used a higher tariff rate that was imposed after the actual imports took place. Previously on October 28, 2016, LG Electronics Vietnam was also called on by the General Department of Customs to pay tax arrears of VND6.8 billion ($299,559). The reason behind this decision was that LG Electronics Vietnam had incorrectly declared the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS code) and had not added the insurance premium to the taxable value. Afterwards, despite LG Electronics Vietnam's paying $299,559 of the total fine for shortcomigs in the e-customs declaration, and selecting incorrect codes for buyers and sellers who have special relationships within the group, the company maintained its claim that the $57,268 fine from the General Department of Customs was not reasonable or justified and decline to pay the rest. SBS News from Korea brought up the suspicion that Mumuso assumed a false Korean identity (Photo: SBS) Korean media has just expressed suspicion that Mumuso stores are falsely assuming Korean origins because its headquarters is located in China. Furthermore, in Korea Mumuso is completely unheard of and has no retail stores. According to newswire laodong.vn, many Mumuso stores in Hanoi are offering products labeled MumusoKorea but are of Chinese origins. In addition, a representative of Mumuso also mentioned that the company imports goods from a third party, meaning that good go from Korea to China and then to Vietnam. To clarify this issue, VIR contacted Mumuso Vietnam and were told that the company will organise a press conference at the nearest time to clear up queries. Not only Mumuso, but many other retail brands, including Miniso and Daiso were caught up in this scandal. In particular, despite describing itself as a Japanese retailer giant, Miniso only has four stores in Japan, but 1,100 stores in China. A source of laodong.vn also stated that despite setting foot in Vietnam in September 2016, Minisos products are not labelled in Vietnamese and do not carry Conformity to Regulation (CR) stamps in accordance with Vietnamese regulations, making consumers worried about the quality and the ingredients of the goods. Many Miniso products do not have Vietnamese labels and CR stamps (Photo: enternews.vn) Thuy Chi (Cau Giay district, Hanoi), a Miniso buyer, said: Many products at Miniso have no Vietnamese labels, which makes it difficult to understand their uses, and I have to ask the salesclerks for help before purchasing. Similar to Mumuso, Minisos representative also declined to comment to VIR, saying the company will provide official answers as soon as possible. According to the Hanoi Market Management Department, all import goods have to be labelled in Vietnamese, including the name of the importer, the product, instruction manuals, and ingredients. If distributors do not label their imported goods in Vietnamese, they will be punished in accordance with Vietnamese regulations. Top Thai Brands 2018 attracted 210 Thai firms to explore business opportuntities in Vietnam The four-day event features a great variety of quality Thai products and services and is expected to attract more visitors, including distributors and consumers alike. The expo also aims to create a business platform for both Thai and Vietnamese enterprises to expand their networks and develop partnerships. Typical products from Thailand include home appliances, automobile and motorcycle parts and components, food and beverage, health and well-being, cosmetics, as well as pet related products. It also covers service sectors, including education, tourism, franchise, and restaurant. Ureerat Ratanaprukse, the Thai consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, said, After the Prime Minister of Vietnams official visit to Thailand in August last year, bilateral relations between Thailand and Vietnam have gained significant momentum, especially in the economic aspect. Two-way trade volume reached $15 billion, with $9.3 billion of registered capital. This reflects the confidence of the Thai private sector in Vietnams vibrant economy, she added. Building upon our robust economic cooperation, Top Thai Brands further accentuates the global trend where branding holds added-value to the products and also widens opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises to grow. The event not only creates business opportunities for the Thai private sector but also provides access for Vietnamese parties to top quality Thai products at reasonable prices, thus contributing to mutual benefits and partnerships between Thai and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Top Thai Brands 2018 is taking place from May 10 to 15 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7. The exhibition is being organised by the Thai Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company. Tra fish is processed for export at Bien Dong Seafood Co Ltd in Tra Noc II Industrial Zone in the southern city of Can Tho.-VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liem The boom in the industry has opened a potentially dangerous situation in which supply exceeds demand, potentially leading to a bubble. Nguyen Minh Phuong, director of Minh Duc Thanh Co Ltd in Can Tho, said prices of tra fish now stand at a record of VND31,000 per kilo of regular, and VND70,000 per 30 unit kilo of specificly bred tra fish varieties, a year-on-year increase of 70 per cent and three times, respectively. With such prices, farmers have earned a profit of VND4,000 per kilo from rearing tra fish and VND40,000 per kilo from developing tra fish varieties. Duong Nghia Quoc, chairman of the Vietnam Tra Fish Association, said the current demand for tra fish is estimated to reach 1.2 million tonnes per year, while demand for tra fish varieties is expected to reach a maximum of 2-2.5 billion units per year. Farmers in many regions, especially in the provinces of Long An and Dong Thap, are promoting the production of tra fish varieties, which would push the tra fish industry into a situation of oversupply, Quoc said. Enterprises and experts said this is dangerous because growth in the supply of tra fish will be faster than demand in the market, leading to high surplus, price reductions and ultimately losses for producers, reported Thoi bao Kinh doanh newspaper. Phuong said the market still shows a great demand for tra fish but the future is unpredictable. The demand for this product is expected to increase in the future if the United States reduces trade barriers, and exports to the EU and China continue their current recovery. Nevertheless, if demand in the US and European markets remains unchanged, while the demand in China reduces, the price of tra fish would reduce accordingly, Phuong said. Even if the demand goes up, enterprises and producers should not increase the supply, he said, as the US has imposed an anti-dumping tariff on Vietnamese tra fish, and other export markets remain risky. Vu Van Tam, deputy minister of agriculture and rural development, said the tra fish industry should now be developed under a regulated production chain, and must ensure strict quality requirements in the production of fish varieties, quarantine and food safety. Tra fish is a key national product, and export markets require high technical standards production, he said. Provinces must manage tra fish production for the long-term sustainable development of exports and not for benefits in the short term. At present, China is the largest export market of Vietnamese tra fish products, but enterprises should be careful when exporting the product to this market as it is facing risks, Phuong said. Quoc agreed and noted that exports to the US in 2017 reduced by 11 per cent against the previous year, and are expected to continue reducing this year. Meanwhile, local tra fish exporters are concerned about how much the US Department of Commerce will increase the anti-dumping tariff in the 14th administrative review for Vietnamese tra fish, he said. Other markets have built trade barriers for Vietnamese tra fish products for exports as well. The lack of stability in the Chinese market means that diversification of export markets are essential, he said. Local exporters should seek new markets within the ASEAN community, and in the Middle East, he said. Vietnam is expected to gain an export value of $2-2.2 billion from exporting tra fish this year. US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross at a hearing before the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP) "The gap is wide," Ross said in congressional testimony, a week after he led a delegation to Beijing to try to resolve the thorny dispute. A high-level Chinese delegation will be coming to Washington next week, and "I'm hopeful we will make further progress with them," he said. The US has threatened tariffs targeting US$150 billion in Chinese imports, while Beijing has warned that US$50 billion in US goods are in the firing line. Vice Premier Liu He - considered Xi's right-hand man on economic issues - led talks in Beijing last week and will head the Chinese delegation to Washington next week. Ross said the US officials presented a detailed list of requests for changes in China's trade policy - "product by product and quantity by quantity." Agricultural goods, which have been targeted for retaliation by Beijing, figured prominently. China "responded in kind" with a counter proposal, so the sides are now working on "a very specific set of bids and asks," he said. In response to a question, Ross said President Donald Trump has ordered the Agriculture Department to do all it can to minimize the impact of any tariffs. "We're all well aware that it's horribly unfair for one industry to bear the brunt of retaliation in our efforts to help other parts of economy," Ross said. "We'll do our level best to resolve the problem." The US reportedly has demanded Beijing reduce the bilateral trade deficit by $200 billion a year. The dispute erupted when Trump imposed steep tariffs in March of 25 per cent on all steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminium, citing national security reasons amid a global glut of the metals. The sanctions hit friend and rival alike, prompting threats of retaliation from the European Union. However, Ross indicated the EU could accept a quota system limiting imports of steel and aluminium into the United States in order to win an exemption from the tariffs. He said he will speak to EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem again early next week and "there is a reasonable chance we'll work something out." Argentina, Brazil and South Korea all agreed to quotas to cap shipments from their countries in order to be exempt from the metals tariffs. The co-chairmen of the AGM of Vietnam Airlines On May 10, Vietnam Airlines (code: HVN) successfully held its annual general shareholders meeting, agreeing on a raft or proposals and new targets for 2018. This is the third time Vietnam Airlines has held an AGM after its equitisation. At the meeting, shareholders discussed and voted on issues such as the 2017 business outcomes and major indicators of the 2018 plan, the audited financial report for 2017, and solutions to share profits, as well as choosing an audit company for the 2019-2020 financial report. In 2017, Vietnam Airlines was recognised as the firm with the best financial indices. According to the evaluation of Brand Finance, the value of the Vietnam Airlines brand was $310 million, up 60 per cent compared to 2016. In 2017, Vietnam Airlines reached the key indexes and business targets set forth. This airline had got 140,000 safe flights with more than 22 million passengers. Pre-tax consolidated profit hit over VND3.1 trillion ($137 million), exceeding the plan by 92.6 per cent, including VND1.9 trillion ($83.7 million) from the parent company, surpassing 2016 performance by 52 per cent. Thus, Vietnam Airliness shareholders will get dividends at 8 per cent, which is 2 per cent higher than in 2016. HVN stock will be listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) within this year. Shareholders voting on the proposals of Vietnam Airlines According to the 2018 business plan approved at the meeting, Vietnam Airlines will target transporting 24.3 million passengers and raking in VND97 trillion ($4.27 billion) of consolidated revenue, including VND73.5 trillion ($3.24 billion) from the parent company. Consolidated pre-tax profit is expected at VND2.4 trillion ($106 million), including VND1.95 trillion ($86 million) from the parent company. In the first quarter of 2018, Vietnam Airlines reached tremendous business outcomes, with total gross revenue estimated at VND25.5 trillion ($1.12 billion), including VND18.6 trillion ($0.82 billion) from the parent company, up 13 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. Consolidated pre-tax profit hit nearly VND1.46 trillion ($64.3 million), exceeding the plan by 6.2 per cent. The pre-tax profit of the parent company reached VND875 billion ($38.55 million), rising by 30 per cent over the same period last year and 13 per cent against the plan. Vietnam Airlines has committed to doing its utmost to guarantee safe flights and improve efficiency and service quality in order to maximise benefits for all shareholders. Vinalines Ocean was built over 20 years ago and promises to be a difficult sale Auction and competitive offer five times Vinalines has just requested the Ministry of Transport (MoT)s approval to reduce the initial selling price of VNL Fortuna, one of the six vessels that they meant to sell in 2017. Vinalines wants to decrease the initial price from $2.45 million to $2.275 million. At the public auction in February 2018, no investors were interested in buying VNL Fortuna. Thus, Vinalines had to shift to a competitive offer, following international practices. When the first competitive offer was made in March 2018, Vinalines received ten competitive offer letters for VNL Fortuna. The highest offer was $2.61 million from Oceanic Wit Limited. This was the only price higher than the initial price set by Vinalines. However, this investor backed out of the transaction and VNL Fortuna stayed on offer until April 2018. At the second offer, Vinalines received eight competitive offer letters, with the highest price of $2.275 million from Athenai Management, a little lower than the initial price. Nguyen Canh Tinh, acting general director of Vinalines, said that in the ailing vessel market, Athenais price could be the best at the time. If Vinalines organised another offer, the order price could be lower, he added. VNL Fortuna (built in 1991) was bought for $21.7 million in 2007. Including depreciation and the re-evaluation of asset vale, on December 31, 2017 the initial price of $2.45 million is not enough to cover Vinalines investment. At the end of April 2018, Vinalines asked for the decrease of VNL Skys initial price after five unsuccessful auctions, where the highest price was VND89.595 billion ($4 million), still $0.41 million lower than the initial price. Selling below buying price, still a bargain? Of the six-vessel fleet approved to be sold off in 2017, VNL Green and VNL Ocean have yet to be put on sale. However, the leader of Vinalines confirmed that selling these vessels at this time would be very difficult. According to Clarksons, a leading consultant on vessel trading over the world, the selling price of used vessels is falling due to an oversupply situation on the market. Earlier, in 2017, Vinalines sold two of its ships that were more than 20 years old. VNL Star (built in 1993) was sold for VND42.39 billion ($1.87 million), and VNL Trader was sold for $3.535 million. Despite these selling prices being higher than the initial offering price, Vinalines has suffered big losses. The leader of Vinalines said that if these vessels were built at the present, their costs would be one-third of the 2007 price. Moreover, the older the ships, the lower their prices. Regarding the transparency, VNL Sky was offered five times at public auction and through international competitive offer, but investors did not offer the expected price. Selling vessels below book value is absolutely normal if the firm wants to cut losses, said Tinh. According to Article 27 of Decree No.91/2015/ND-CP dated October 13, 2015 on state capital investment in enterprises, use and management of capital and assets in enterprises, in case the authorities issue a decision to dispose, transfer or sell fixed assets at a price that cannot recover the full capital invested, state enterprises must clearly state the reasons behind this and report to the representative agency and same-level financial institution prior to the transfer or sale to ensure supervision. Moreover, all six vessels (VNL Sky, Ocean, Trader, Fortuna, Star, Green) are at the end of their life cycle, which means operating costs are high. Meanwhile, the market is chock full of younger and more modern vessels, meaning the business results of this fleet are expected to be bad. Vinalines estimates that if the fleet remains in operation, VNL Fortuna will make a loss of VND15.8 billion ($0.7 million) by the end of 2018 and VND38.1 billion ($1.7 million) by 2020. This will be VND15 billion ($0.66 million) and VND40.6 billion ($1.8 million), respectively, for VNL Sky. Selling old vessels like VNL Sky and Fortuna is essential to cut losses, restructure the fleet, and reduce the financial burdens of the corporation during equitisation, Tinh said. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Margaret E. Kettells, age 100, of Glenwood, died Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at the Minnewaska Lutheran Home in Starbuck. A Memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 7th at the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Glenwood. Visitation will be one hour prior to the servic Photo: MK2 Productions True love may last forever, but can it weather Chinese infrastructure? In Jia Zhangkes Ash Is Purest White, one womans loyalty to her love hangs on for 16 years, but its 16 years that feel visually, technologically, and emotionally (and in the run time of the film, for better and worse) like a century. Wanna feel old? Zhangke asks. Just be in China, for really any duration of time at all. Your feelings and desires and dreams will feel slow and forgotten, as the skyscrapers and high-speed rail spring up around you. Zhangke, who has become something of a cinematic poet of 21st-century China (Mountains May Depart, A Touch of Sin) once again works with lead actress (and his wife) Tao Zhao. She plays Qiao, who as the film opens, in the year 2001, is the dutiful girlfriend of Bin, a small-time gangster who runs a mah-jongg parlor in the small northern town of Datong. Qiao is the picture of cool, roving the tables, running a hand adorned with a gaudy costume ring over the backs of chairs, her blunt-cut bob perfectly framing her impassive face. Shes from a mining family thats been hit hard by the drop in coal prices, but with Bin and the economy hes created around himself, she never has to scrape by. That changes when Bin is beset by a local gang in the middle of a crowded town square, and Qiao pulls a gun to ward them off, shooting it in the air. The illegal weapon possession charge lands her in jail for five years, and when shes let out, she finds she has nothing to her name, and Bin is nowhere to be found. She begins a journey down the Yangtze River in search of him, which takes her through a China thats only just starting to be unrecognizable. The Three Gorges Dam is still the hot new thing, and the effect it will have on the land hasnt even begun yet. In a few years, what you see now will be underwater, an announcer informs the passengers on the river boat as cities and mountains float by. In the river town of Fengjie, Qiao discovers her wallet and belongings have been stolen, and does what anyone in her situation would do: con a local man into handing her thousands by pretending to be the sister of the girl on the side he knocked up. This begins the best and most exciting act of Ash Is Purest White: Qiao clawing her life back, one con at a time. This could have made up the bulk of Ash; it would have made for a tighter but perhaps less ruminative film. But her new career as a grifter is put on pause when she and Bin finally make contact again. Bin also went to jail after the incident and came back penniless, betrayed by his mob brothers and he also has a new girlfriend. They rent a motel room and light a newspaper on fire to jump over for good luck, but cant muster the optimism to even attempt such a thing. Qiao sets off on her own for the next decade, left to experience the sublime absurdity of the world (including a possible supernatural occurrence) without Bin by her side. There are some great scenes Zhangke conjures, particularly around moments of performance (an early pair of ballroom-dancing routines, a bizarre would-be pop star in a town square). Qiao is more and more alienated from the world the longer shes separated from Bin, which Zhao mostly underplays, her face only occasionally breaking into a grimace or a smile. Shes laser-focused throughout, which kind of makes one wonder whats so great about this Bin Fan Liao is sour and lacking the kind of magnetic charm usually associated with movie gangsters. But as Qiao puts it, shes motivated by a crime-world sense of righteousness, something she learned from Bin himself, even if its a code hes long abandoned. At two hours and 21 minutes, Zhangkes film is a journey. The film ends just after the new year of 2018, back in Datong, with its shiny new rail station and same old mah-jongg parlor. By the end, the transformation of China is more compelling than Qiaos love for Bin, but watching both unfold over time is continually thought-provoking, given the ephemerality of whole cities, much less love affairs. Am I that important? Bin asks Qiao at one point. If not you, what is? she replies. Hiro Murai. Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic After years of collaborating with Donald Glover, Hiro Murai has locked in his own development deal with FX. Until recently, Murai was most widely known for his work directing episodes of Atlanta (including the breakout Teddy Perkins installment of Robbin Season), but his name really started trending this week after the video for Childish Gambinos This Is America came out. Murai directed the dense, beautifully shot visual for Glover, which has since been parsed by so many think pieces, and now hes signed a first-look producing pact with Atlantas parent network. The Emmy nominee will develop TV projects for FX and other outlets, according to the network. Sheila Heti. Photo: Steph Martyniuk The term autofiction has been in vogue for the past decade to describe a wave of very good American novels by the likes of Sheila Heti, Ben Lerner, Teju Cole, Jenny Offill, and Tao Lin, among others, as well as the multivolume epic My Struggle by the Norwegian Karl Ove Knausgaard. These are books that invite readers to imagine they might be reading something like a diary, where the transit from real life to the page has been more or less direct. But that effect, whatever the truth of it, is an illusion. The term would be misapplied to books like the five novels Edward St. Aubyn wrote about his alter ego Patrick Melrose, because, although hes acknowledged that hes drawn directly from his life to create Patricks, his books partake conspicuously of the traditions of the English comic novel, with its artificial dialogue and carefully choreographed set pieces. Hetis and Lerners books dont lack artifice they are novels, however their readers receive them but the artifice is in service of creating the sensation that theres no artifice, which is the whole point. The way the term is used tends to be unstable, which makes sense for a genre that blends fiction and what may appear to be fact into an unstable compound. In the past, Ive tried to make a distinction in my own use of the term between autobiographical fiction, autobiographical metafiction, and autofiction, arguing that in autofiction there tends to be emphasis on the narrators or protagonists or authorial alter egos status as a writer or artist and that the books creation is inscribed in the book itself. This definition of autofiction has something in common with the German term Kunstlerroman, which describes books that chronicle an artists maturation, a point made by the critic Jonathan Sturgeon in a 2014 essay for Flavorwire, The Death of the Postmodern Novel and the Rise of Autofiction. But that isnt the only way to use the term, and because the term originated in France, Americans dont have a firm grasp of its history and probably never will. Thats okayI think we can handle it. As it happens, the terms coining occurred not in a work of criticism but in a blurb on the back of the French novelist Serge Doubrovskys book Fils in the late 1970s: Autobiography? No, that is a privilege reserved for the important people of this world, at the end of their lives, in a refined style. Fiction, of events and facts strictly real; autofiction, if you will, to have entrusted the language of an adventure to the adventure of language, outside of the wisdom and the syntax of the novel, traditional or new. Interactions, threads of words, alliterations, assonances, dissonances, writing before or after literature, concrete, as we say, music. So autofiction came to us as part of the language of commercial promotion, a way of marketing as new something almost as old as writing itself: the blending of the real and the invented. Doubrovskys blurb places an emphasis on his status as a common person (as opposed to those whove written about their lives because theyre already famous), on the role of style, and on his freedom to operate outside the traditional rules of the novel (whatever those seemed to be in France at the time). As far as I can tell, Doubrovskys novel has never been translated into English, so I cant report on the degree to which he delivers on his own hype. Other critics have placed emphasis on instances when a protagonist and an author share the same name or have argued that what distinguishes autofiction is its sincerity. I dont think those are crucial aspects of autofiction, though theyre certainly welcome at the party. One question that I think is pertinent when it comes to autofiction: Whats more important, the auto or the fiction? And I think the answer is: the fiction. It only takes a few gestures toward the real age and other markers of demographic identity, status as a writer and other career details to blur the line in the readers mind between an author and a character. From there an entire fictional world can be generated, scenarios that never happened or people who never existed. Guessing games can be fun, but theyre beside the point. Some works, like Knausgaards, portray life with a level of quotidian detail that appears to be beyond the capacity of anybodys actual memory. And indeed, Knausgaard has admitted, when it came to, say, setting the scene at his childhood home as dinner was being made, if memory failed, he simply made stuff up. But beyond an index of whats real and what isnt, there are other, deeper things at stake in autofictions status as fiction. There are certain things we want from memoirs and from essays that fiction can indulge in without committing to. Memoirs may seek to entertain and make us laugh (Sloane Crosleys recent collection of memoir-essays Look Alive Out There is a good example) or they may place narratives within a moral framework that shows us how to lead our lives (Leslie Jamisons recent memoir and study of addiction The Recovering does that, among other things). We expect essays to inform us about the world and to make arguments, and autofiction novels often do similar things in the form of essayistic digressions, but within the frame of fiction they have a different status if they are put in characters minds or mouths than if theyre made by a memoirist or an essayist, who we are meant to believe are as charming or as redeemed or as righteous as they appear to be on the page. Autofiction writers stand at a certain distance from the world and the ethics and the politics on display in their novels, as far or farther than authors of fictions that arent autobiographical at all. These distinctions are relevant in considering a few books out this month: Sheila Hetis Motherhood; Tao Lins Trip; and Helen DeWitts Some Trick. Both Lin and Heti have been part of the recent wave of autofiction, Tao Lin most recently in his 2013 novel Taipei, and Heti with her novel How Should a Person Be?, which first appeared in Canada in 2010. None of DeWitts books, including Some Trick, can be classified as autofiction, but because some of DeWitts travails in the publishing world are public knowledge and some of her stories involve conflicts between artists and writers and the industries they operate within its tempting to draw parallels. Its no fault to critics who do that but rather a mark of DeWitts artistry, that her stories with their abstractions, games, and flights into counterintuitive or unorthodox logic give a lot of pleasure if you know nothing about her career and perhaps more so if you ignore her biography entirely. (And I say this as someone whos profiled her. Trip, on the other hand, is a work of nonfiction, and theres no point for readers to separate it from the writer who wrote it, because his career and his life are two of its explicit subjects. But its prime subject is the experience of taking psychedelic drugs, including acid, mushrooms, and DMT. Why did Lin, having previously written a novel about characters who take psychedelics, move to nonfiction? One of the answers has to do with the status of his descriptions of drug experiences, which are wild and lyrical. Within the context of a novel, such passages might as well be invented, the way that novelists often tell of their characters dreams. In Trip its important that we trust that hes presenting his hallucinations in good faith so that when he writes, I arrived, with amazement, in a silvery-gray, bulgingly dimensional, complicatedly pulsating, profoundly unfamiliar-feeling, nonphysical place that seemed ancient, public, and, because I couldnt change perspective, strangely screen-like, our reaction is: wow, that must be what DMT was like. These distinctions may seem simple, and indeed they are, but its crucial to keep them in mind, as reactions to Hetis Motherhood have shown. Without picking fights with her critics (some of whom Ive worked with, as I have with Heti), many of them have seemed determined to read her novel as a manifesto or tract with one even declaring that the narrator and the novelist seem indistinguishable. Some have judged that narrator is like a child or taken by childish notions of freedom. (As Lauren Oyler points out in the Baffler, this undermines the idea that Hetis use of literary devices is indicative of authorial choice.) Another critic asks, But is it possible that freedom is overrated, in life as in art? We might also ask, is family life overrated? Is love overrated? Is life itself overrated? (Aeschylus thought so.) Certainly many novels are overrated. And its to Motherhoods and its authors credit, I think, that it raises such basic questions and that it provokes such strong responses, even negative ones. But I think it also risks underrating the novel to read it strictly as an answer to whether one character, two characters, or any woman or any couple should have children. And certainly everyone is going to have their own opinion on that matter. Theres so much more going on in Motherhood. In perhaps the most formal reading possible (which is easy for me to do as a childless man), you can see the narrators question of whether or not to have a child as a MacGuffin that is, a plot device that allows the narrator to delve into her inner life; her relationships to her boyfriend, her mother, and her grandmother; her friendships; and the ways middle-class societies view parenthood. It also allows for much humor and philosophical speculation that Heti probably wouldnt commit to if she were writing nonfiction (in the same way many of the flights into sex and social life in How Should a Person Be? wouldnt sit as well in a memoir). One element that Heti avers in a note to be nonfictional are answers given to questions by coins flipped according to a practice from the I Ching. Of course, why put them in at all if the answers were just made up? These arbitrary (or fated) responses are some of the funniest things in the book. Another thing about novels: Its all in the writing. Heti wouldnt be so popular to begin with if she wasnt such an an appealing stylist. Which puts me in mind of a joke a novelist I know made when he was on tour in Europe. Asked by an interviewer what he was working on next, he said hed been commissioned to write a biography of Knausgaard, filling in the gaps he left in My Struggle. Who would want to read such a book if not for the music Knausgaard brought to the telling of something more or less like life? Beside it, real life is trivia. Photo: Pyramide Distribution In addition to making a strong directorial debut with the new film Sauvage, Camille Vidal-Naquet has something else worth recommending: He can talk about the camp classic Showgirls as though it were a sacred academic text. I have always admired the way Paul Verhoeven directs the actors and leads them to this shamelessness with their bodies, Vidal-Naquet told me on the beach at the Cannes Film Festival, where Sauvage premiered yesterday as part of the Critics Week program. Bodies are just a uniform they wear, and they dont care. Its an attitude adopted by the French actor Felix Maritaud (BPM), who plays Leo, the protagonist of Sauvage. Leo is a 22-year-old male prostitute who offers up his body without guile, wanting little from his clients besides a fleeting touch or kiss that feels like love. Its an exposed performance in every way, as Maritaud is astonishingly vulnerable or unclothed in just about every scene of this sexually frank film. Whether he is navigating a threesome with a disabled client, collapsing on a street corner, or literally throwing himself at the man he carries a torch for, I had to give my whole body to make this guy live, Maritaud told me on the beach, as he buried his feet in the sand. Explicit films are common in Cannes, where directors can make their work without fear of the censorious MPAA ratings system that Americans are subject to. Its hard to imagine a U.S. director tackling the sexuality of Sauvage with the same unblinking eye, or an up-and-coming Hollywood actor whod treat full-frontal nudity with nonchalance. Vidal-Naquet and Maritaud say they both had no hesitation. Nudity had to be normal, it had to be considered as work, said Vidal-Naquet, who first hired a choreographer to work with Maritaud and the other young actors playing prostitutes. It was like a workshop for them to use their body. It gave them some distance. Their body is just a tool for art. As for the sex scenes, which range from mild to wild, There was no negotiation because everybody knew what they had to do, said Vidal-Naquet. It was very simple: We tried to deal with the sex scenes exactly the same way as the other scenes. It never happened like, Now is the sex scene. Still, not everybody in the Cannes audience could handle some of Sauvages most explicit encounters. At one point, Leo goes home with a city-dwelling couple who treat him like an unthinking animal, making cruel cracks about his appearance and inspecting his teeth as though they were checking the quality of a product. Its hard to watch this happen to someone as open-hearted as Leo, and thats even before one of the men orders Leo to get on all fours, then begins to lube up a gigantic, intimidating butt plug which he will wield almost like a weapon. A few of the women behind me fled the theater at that point, but Vidal-Naquet said such a scene was necessary. It wouldnt be honest to make a movie about prostitution without talking about these kinds of things, said the director, who spent three years researching his film by meeting with male prostitutes who work the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. There are clients who can absolutely dehumanize you and treat you like a total object on the pretext that theyve paid you and they own you. I found that so violent. Its a life of extremes, said Vidal-Naquet. For a boy who hustles in the street, there is this contrast where you can sleep on the ground, but 20 minutes later, you can be in a palace with an extremely rich client. They have so much less than we have and also so much more. Sauvages juxtaposition of the cruel and the compassionate may not be for everyone, but those who can handle it will be moved. Theres a scene where a doctor physically examines Leo and he embraces her without even thinking, so desperate is he for any sort of gentle affection. After the premiere of the film, Maritaud found himself playing the other role of the comforter. There was an American actress coming out of her seat, and she was crying, watching me, he remembered. She said, Thank you, and I just took her in my arms. It was so strong and so beautiful and honest. Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson. Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Some people wait a lifetime for two American Idol successes to reunite as reality-singing-competition judges. But Im telling you Kelly Clarkson is not going, and Jennifer Hudson is returning, so they will both be judges on The Voice this fall. Clarkson debuted as a judge for the first time last season, and Hudson has also previously taken a spin in the judges chair way back in season 13. The show will be entering its 15th season this year with both their original male judges, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, returning to comfortably fill the groves we assume theyve worn in those chairs by now. It should definitely be interesting to see two people who actually have experience winning reality-TV singing competitions competing once again, but from the other side of the stage. As NBCs Paul Telegdy told Deadline, They each have a unique understanding of what its like to be in the artists shoes. Not to mention the unique experience of knowing how to not get seasick in those spinny chairs. Photo: Getty Images To prepare for her role in Little Women, Maya Hawke learned about the Jo Marches that have preceded her. The 19-year-old acknowledges that some actors avoid viewing other performers interpretations of famous roles, but shes just too curious so she watched the likes of Katharine Hepburn, June Allyson, and Winona Ryder take on Louisa May Alcotts convention-defying budding author, who she now plays in a PBS limited series. Curiosity seems to course through Hawke. She describes loving the classic novel about the evolution of four sisters as much for its empowering narrative as for its embrace of the transcendentalist movement. Before deciding to pursue acting she considered other professions that could utilize her love of poetry and language perhaps illustrating childrens books or teaching English. Still, it seems fated that Hawke would ended up on screen, her parents being Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Earlier this week, Hawke spoke to Vulture by phone about about Alcott, the encouragement she got from Sofia Coppola, and her upcoming role on Stranger Things alongside Ryder, a fellow Jo. Im really excited to talk about Little Women with you the book means so much to me. It means a lot to me too. So I get it. Can you talk a little bit about that? I was handed a book list when I was in eighth grade that had a long list of books, mostly written [by] and about men. And mostly adult men. You had to pick one book and write a book report about it. The only book on the list that had in it any kind of feeling of what I was experiencing in my life was the title Little Women. It was a time in my life where I was struggling tremendously academically. I was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade and had gone to a special school for it and then left the school. Id learned to read and write, but it was still a real struggle for me, as it is to this day. But it ended up being the first book I ever read cover to cover. I mostly got through school listening to audiobooks. I think the reason that I read Little Women is because Jo inspired me so much. She was so driven and determined. She had a lot of obstacles in her life that were keeping her from what she loved, keeping her from writing, keeping her from the books she loved, but her obstacles were more societal. She was far more capable than I was at basically everything. It really inspired me and I changed the academic course of my life pretty dramatically. The second reason that Little Women is important to me is because Little Women is infused with a certain kind of spirituality and relationship to nature and to God that I think is very powerful and positive. The Alcotts were surrounded by the transcendentalist movement. Its a slightly more conservative take on it, because Louisa was really interested in getting her book published, but she has the feeling of the transcendentalist movement in the text of Little Women. [It] was the idea that God is not a punishing figure but all that is good and light within the universe that is running through every living being. That changed the way that I was thinking about religion and about Christianity, and it kind of opened my mind at the time. Did you pick up on the transcendentalism after you first read the text or did you come to it later? I picked up on the fact that it was a far less punishing look at religion than I had been accustomed to. I didnt know why it was a far less punishing look. It was only later when I was in high school and I was reading Emerson and Thoreau and The Divinity School Address that I started to understand what the transcendentalist movement was and why it was important. Where did you start to approach the character, from the perspective of somebody for whom the book meant a lot and as an actor? Youre juggling a lot of things. Youre juggling the past performances of her by Katharine Hepburn, June Allyson, and Winona Ryder. Youre juggling your imagination of the book and just the acting challenges of different behavioral patterns from the period. Keeping all those different rules and restrictions of the time period and of the character in your body was a real challenge. How did you come at it from a modern perspective while also staying true to the period? You dont have to step that far out of the period to have a modern perspective on her. She was way out of her time. If there was something that hasnt been done in the other versions that I wanted to bring out was Jos anger and her clumsiness. One of my favorite things reading the book when I was a little girl is how clumsy Jo is. Shes always dropping things and breaking things and tripping. Thats something I really relate to. If youre a young, tall girl, your body grows faster than youre youre ready to handle how to move it. You are always bumping into things and dropping things and youre not that graceful. I really wanted her not to be that graceful because so often women, especially in movies, are always so beautiful and so graceful. Im not graceful. It always made me feel really insecure about how awkward and silly I was. I really wanted to put a woman on the screen who was awkward and silly, and sometimes beautiful and sometimes not. Because no matter how good a picture you can take, you can still take a bad one. Im going to spoil the book, but one of the things that has long been up for debate is the fact that Jo ends up with Professor Bhaer. Some fans are enraged she doesnt end up with Laurie and some are enraged she doesnt end up alone. Where do you stand on that ending? When I read the book for the first time I was enraged she didnt end up with Laurie. I was so upset. When I read it again when I was in 11th grade, I was enraged she didnt end up alone. I knew Louisa May Alcott stayed single her whole life and was sort of forced by her editors to marry Jo off at the end of the book. I was enraged that she ended up with Professor Bhaer and not on her own, galavanting about Paris. The thing about playing a character is you really have to accept them for their journey. Even if I wanted to, I wasnt telling Louisa May Alcotts storywhich, by the way, I would love to do. But I was telling Jos story, and Jo marries Professor Bhaer. The challenge of playing the role is figuring out a good reason why. By the end of having played it, I really felt that I understood the ending. The thing is, Jo was not allowed to go to college. She wasnt allowed to further her education in the ways that she wanted to and become the academic she truly was. The substitute that she found to not being able to go to college was finding a way to love a man who had a lot to teach her. Theres a wonderful moment in the book and the show where Professor Bhaer insults Jos writing. He doesnt know that its her and he insults how commercial the stories are. He ends up apologizing and saying something wonderful about how making art for the people is a great thing to do. But he also pushes her to find her more academic side and to work harder. In the end, she marries her teacher, and thats a smart choice for her to make in the time period. You mentioned Winona Ryder was the last person to famously play Jo. Its a very small world: Winona is a friend of your dads, and now youre going to be working with her on Stranger Things. Did you ever talk to her about Jo? I did get to speak to her about it at the cast dinner beginning Stranger Things. We just talked about what a wonderful honor it is to get to embody a person like that. You dropped out of Juilliard to take this role. Was that a hard decision? First of all, I would recommend any young person who wants to be an actor to go and get some training. I loved that school. I couldnt recommend it more highly. I learned more in one year at that school than almost the rest of my life put together. So it was an incredibly difficult decision, made mostly by my unquenchable desire to be a grown-up and to be independent. If I could have gone to play Jo and gone back to school I would have, but I couldnt. I had a week to make a decision and I made one. Sofia Coppola really wanted you do be in her Little Mermaid adaptation, and that didnt end up working out. How much were you involved in that project? I never got the past the audition phase of that project. But I owe my decision to be an actor professionally in part to Sofia Coppola. She really believed in me. It was my sophomore year. I hadnt really had anyone outside school and outside of my home believe in me like that especially in a professional context. It was the first part I ever auditioned for professionally, and her belief in me and her interest in me really gave me a lot of energy and belief in myself. The Virgin Suicides, Somewhere, and Lost in Translation were really important to me, and to have her see something in me just gave me the energy I needed to make a lot of choices I ended up making in the next few years. So I am forever indebted. Little Women comes with a set of expectations because those characters have been so beloved for generations. But Stranger Things comes with a different set of expectations because its so overwhelmingly popular right now. How does that compare? Well, first of all let me say that as a human being I have a very difficult time keeping my head inside the zeitgeist. Im not super aware of whats the coolest thing and what everybodys doing or listening to or watching at any given time. Im still trying to catch up on, like, Harry Potter. But I loved the show. I wasnt aware of how insanely popular it was. It got announced and I got, like, 40,000 Instagram followers in like 30 seconds. I didnt expect that to happen. I dont think Ill fully understand what kind of impact it will have on my life until after it comes out. Your character is described as an alternative girl. What does that mean to you? Everyone is confused about how the description got out there. The producer the other day came up to me and was like, Hey, like, did you describe your character as alternative in an interview? And I was like, No, you described it in a press release. And they were like, Oh, uh So no one really knows how that description got out there. And in a lot of ways I think it means nothing. I would say to read as little into that as possible. Youre entering the business with famous parents. What are the pressures of that? Im very lucky for two reasons. One, the inherent advantages that come from having a parent work in the industry you know more people. It is about who you know and its very helpful. The other reason that Im really lucky is I have had the experience of watching very closely two tremendously successful careers within the industry and how different moments have been negotiated and moved through and how different decisions have been made. So I feel [more] prepared than a lot of people going into this business to handle making those decisions just because I have a lot more information about the ways that they are made. Its difficult to always have to be contextualized within the careers of your parents, and its difficult not to feel like you can stand alone, but hopefully Ill earn the ability to stand alone over time. Ill take the good with the bad. Its all okay. Im very lucky. What was it like seeing your mom share her #MeToo regarding Harvey Weinstein? Does that affect or influence the way you come at the industry at all? The wonderful thing about my mother is that she is perfectly capable of speaking for herself. I think she spoke eloquently and with a lot of love about her experience, and very thoroughly, so I dont really feel the need to add anything. I will say, I worked with two female directors. Now Im working with the Duffers. But within the acting world Ive only had positive experiences, and I think that has a lot to do with the work that the women of my mothers generation have put in, and all the generations prior have put in, to even the playing field and create a space where young women feel safe to raise their voices and are free to work. Benedict Cumberbatch, bathing in heroin and, also, bathwater in Patrick Melrose. Photo: Ollie Upton/Ollie Upton/SHOWTIME Benedict Cumberbatch does not do anything halfway in Patrick Melrose. During the first moments of the first episode in this five-part Showtime limited series, based on the series of autobiographical novels by Edward St. Aubyn, Cumberbatchs approach to the titular role appears to be set firmly in attack mode. In the opening scene, after picking up a phone that rings a few too many times, the well-to-do Patrick learns from an old family friend that his father has just died and that he must travel from London to New York to retrieve the body. He absorbs this news as though sound has decided to travel in slow-motion, and speaks in a similarly drawn-out tone. But its not because hes floored by grief; as the camera pans down, following Cumberbatch as he crouches to the floor, it reveals the syringe he is retrieving and the spot of blood on his sleeve that marks his most recent tapping of a vein. The first episode, Bad News which airs Saturday night and, like all the subsequent ones, is based on each of the five novels in Aubyns Melrose-connected collection finds Patrick in the pit of heroin addiction, but not quite at bottom yet. When Cumberbatchs Patrick isnt suffering from an impossible-to-conceal case of the shakes, hes slugging back alcohol, slurring his speech and nearly passing out in the middle of a conversation, or shouting alone in public at the voices sometimes his own, sometimes his late fathers that rattle around in his mind. For the entirety of Bad News, Patrick is out of his head. Both Cumberbatchs twitchy, go-for-broke performance and a lens intent on capturing him wherever he topples next make us feel like we may be out of ours, too. Its easy to see why the actor, also an executive producer of Patrick Melrose, wanted to play this role. Episode one in particular gives him permission to toss off all sense of abandon to become a man whose wildly self-destructive behavior eventually hits nearly every color on the emotional spectrum. Hes always believable, although there are certainly moments when his performance and the series feels like theyre getting to be a little much. With its reliance on hallucinations and palpable depiction of the physical side effects of going through heroin withdrawal, at times Patrick Melrose plays like Lifestyles of the Rich and Emotionally Damaged: Trainspotting Edition. Fortunately, subsequent episodes three of the five were made available in advance dial back on the extreme swings of the first and put what initially appears to be a portrait of an out-of-control privileged British man into broader perspective. As a series, Patrick Melrose is ultimately about childhood trauma, the challenges of achieving and maintaining sobriety, and the snobbishness that pervades the uppermost crust of British society. The second episode consists almost entirely of a flashback to Lacoste, France, in 1967, when Patrick was a young boy being raised by a viciously abusive father (Hugo Weaving) and a mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) whose coping strategies lots of booze and pills foreshadow her sons own. Cumberbatch barely appears in this hour, but what happens in it explains why Patrick felt so compelled to erase the contents of his brain in the previous episode. This chapter also earns Patrick some sympathy that carries over into episode three, the best of the initial trio, which is set in 1990 and built around a birthday party that puts a newly drug-free Patrick back in the orbit of some longtime friends and associates. (It helps that the young Patrick is played by Sebastian Maltz, an actor whose wide eyes project a sense of innocence as well as a sadness that suggests that innocence has already been robbed from him.) Commendably, writer David Nicholls the author and screenwriter behind the novels Starter for Ten and One Day, as well as their movie adaptations and director Edward Berger, whos handled episodes of The Terror and Deutschland 83, have condensed entire novels into hour-long pieces of television that are simultaneously sweeping and focused. It makes one wonder why it ever seems necessary to break an adaptation of a single book into two longish feature films. Berger uses the camera at first to rocket through life alongside the perpetually buzzing Patrick and later, via impressive long takes in that third episode, to pause on various examples of (supposedly) well-bred party guests engaging in hypocritically bad behavior. While the first two hours of Patrick Melrose certainly touch on matters of class, the third engages with it more directly, at one point juxtaposing the setup of the opulent birthday dinner, to be attended by Princess Margaret (an extra-imperious Harriet Walter), with the basic refreshments laid out at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting attended by Patricks friend Johnny (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and, briefly, by a reluctant Patrick. Theyre the last Marxists, Johnny says later, as the two scan the crowd of chattering, formally dressed cocktail sippers at the post-dinner reception. The last people to believe class is a total explanation. Patrick Melrose makes the case, subtly, that class is not synonymous with ones fate or sense of morality. While it initially appears to revel in self-indulgence, the series is actually an indictment of the entitled and those whose lack of ethics are hidden beneath a facade of jewels and English propriety. Cumberbatchs performance is a standout I fully expect him to earn an Emmy nomination because its arc matches the arc of the show overall. Yes, the way he flings himself into insanity in the first episode is impressive. But its what he does in the third, when Patrick has become a more lucid man trying his damnedest to quell his id, that confirms hes not just acting, thank you! Hes inhabiting a character engaged in the long, painful process of exhuming the parts of himself hes been trying since boyhood to bury. Photo: Rezo Films/Neon The garish rape-and-revenge thriller with the generic title Revenge could have been devised by a feminist genre studies class tasked with making a horror film on the theme of Inverting the Male Gaze. The movie is one signpost after another, from its tricky first shot a mans mirrored sunglasses, which show both that gaze and what hes gazing at to the final, flipped-around sequence, which begins with him doing what horror-film femmes usually do: getting nekkid in the shower. The mans name is Richard (Kevin Janssens); hes rich and well-built and married, and he has a swanky pad in the middle of the desert, to which he has traveled with his mistress, Jen (Matilda Lutz), for a weekend of sex and booze and hunting. In these early scenes, the female director, Coralie Fargeat, lays the cheesecake shots on thick. Richard and his considerably less prepossessing hunting buddies, Stan (Vincent Colombe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchede), stare at Jen as she sashays away, the camera hugging her butt and the backs of her thighs. There, Fargeat must have thought, Michael Bay couldnt have done it better! The next day, Stan, the incel of the group, doesnt understand how the woman who paraded herself so provocatively in front of him wont let him have sex with her, so while Richard is running an errand, he takes what he believes is his. Soon all three men are forced into a murderous cover-up mode. Gradually, the point of view shifts. The men will become the objects. Two of those gazing male eyes will be gouged out theres a signpost for you. Revenge is generic in its narrative, too, following in the steps of I Spit on Your Grave (originally titled Day of the Woman) and its Grand Guignol remake and probably a lot of other faux female-revenge thrillers Ive managed to avoid. When the French do it, though, its regarded as French Extreme deconstructionism and hailed by academics. Its also being pitched as the first post-#MeToo female horror film. The problem is that you can predict nearly everything Fargeat is going to do with her received vocabulary. Prepare to be not surprised. Ah, but is it a good revenge movie? Oui, vraiment, and one that doesnt leave you feeling particularly sordid. Fargeat doesnt linger on or eroticize the violence against her heroine. This isnt torture porn. When Jen after she has taken a frankly incredible amount of punishment turns the tables, the movie isnt gleeful in its sadism, like the I Spit on Your Grave remake. (The heroine of that one devises Rube Goldberg mechanisms to kill her rapists: She wires one guys eyes open so hes forced to watch the video of her assault, then dabs them with fish entrails to attract the crows.) Revenges males arent slobbering gits. Columbes Stan seems surprised by his own brutality, and the last thing a wealthy hunk like Janssens Richard wants is to mess up or draw undue attention to one of his sex toys. Jen, meanwhile, is fighting to save her own life as much as to take vengeance. This is not about Making Her Day. Shes bloody and mangled, forced into hellish self-surgery with the aid of some handy peyote. Her kills arent clean and easy. Some guys need a lot of killing. Fargeat turns the rocky desert into a scorching, jagged, angular canvas, on which the increasingly whiny men roar around on silly motorcycles while the woman becomes one with the landscape: By the time the film returns to Richards house, its pink and blue and yellow glass seems less coolly masculine than finicky, even epicene. The climax is a chase that goes in circles and becomes a grisly farce a far cry from the usual manly face-off. Even fighting ferociously, the men look ridiculous. As well they should. Lutz might be accused of making Jen overly bimbo-ish in the early scenes, but her eventual, violently won self-possession is very moving. Still, its not as if Jen is blazing a new trail here. Revenge inverts the gutbucket revenge genre without transcending it. That said, why should men have all the fun? The movie is like Ladies Night at a sleaze-o bar. Photo: RLJE Films The Margot Robbie vehicle Terminal is a genre unto itself: Crayola noir. Each new scene brings more neon reds and greens and blues and yellows, their reflections shimmering on the meticulously watered-down streets, while Robbie strikes femme fatale poses in a variety of costumes (wholesome pony-tailed diner waitress, Louise Brookss Lulu, Faye Dunaways Bonnie Parker, Lewis Carrolls Red Queen), all striking and all secondhand. The tyro director, Vaughn Stein, wrote the twitty, epigrammatic banter himself, and hes fond of tilting the camera to reinforce his arch dialogue, as if arch x arch = Oscar Wilde instead of overkill. The movie isnt stylish, its style-clotted. Whats Terminal about? Its about 90 minutes. Thats a cheap shot, but since the film doesnt establish a baseline of reality, its hard to pick out a premise. Its a series of playlets stitched together with the seams hanging out. Now Robbie in her blue-black Louise Brooks wig is talking to an unseen figure in a confession booth, apparently trying to get herself hired as a hit person. Now shes sassily leaning on the counter of an all-night terminal diner slinging insults at a hairy Cockney hit man (Dexter Fletcher) he calls her bah-uhl blonde, i.e., bottle blonde while flirting with his partner, Max Irons, whom she calls Handsome. Now shes in waitress mode sitting opposite a bearded, hacking Simon Pegg as a terminally ill professor (the movies title is a double entendre at least), discussing death, the nature of freedom, and the notion of the pathetic fallacy. Sometimes Mike Myers with latex on his face appears, pushing a broom, as a nattering station attendant. The obvious question is whether its Myers under the makeup, meaning were supposed to admire the actor for doing a goofy cameo, or its Myerss character, meaning Myers is playing a guy playing a guy. Either way, its embarrassing. You dont know where to look. Robbie co-produced the film. She obviously thought it would give her great clothes to wear and a chance to show off her versatility. Maybe she thought her killer revenger would be empowering, though she comes off as alternately robotic and demented. It should be said that Pegg has a few human moments as the dying professor though his scenes do go on and theres a final twist that accounts for the movies jumpy syntax. But if you somehow wind up watching Terminal in the theater or on a small screen and wonder after ten minutes if the whole thing is going to be like that, the answer is (spoiler alert), yes, damn it. Photo: Sub Pop/Bella Union/Mistletone For a band 14 years and seven albums into their career, the Beach House experience can only be described as phenomenally untroubled. The personal turbulence and aesthetic sputters that come to plague virtually all bands seem to have passed Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally by completely. Everything has fallen into place for them at exactly the right time; their superb new LP 7 only confirms the impression, by now long established, of an exceptionally fortunate concordance. They met, both freshly accredited by liberal arts colleges, in Baltimore. Legrand (Vassar 03), a lapsed actress with roots in France and Philadelphia, played piano and sang; Scally (Oberlin 04), a Baltimore native, programmed drum machines and played guitar. The aptness of their partnership was immediately clear to both; before long it became clear to the wider world. Hazy soundscapes, charged with winning harmonies and presided over by Legrands majestic vocals, were how they identified themselves. It was hardly an unprecedented sound, but the two were inventive enough to work fresh variations on it to attach a new wing, so to speak, to the existing dream house. Of course they happened on the perfect name for their act: with its intimations of dazed, luxuriant relaxation in the proximity of ceaseless waves, the beautiful appeal of Beach House was impossible to overlook. Their good fortune even extended to their reception: between the prestigious and easily legible indie heritage (Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, any shoegaze band you like) behind them and their impeccable self-presentation, Beach House was precisely the kind of band that Pitchfork was created to laud, and they happened to emerge exactly while the websites influence was ballooning to huge proportions. From 2006s Beach House on, the albums came and went like moods: not quite big, but always big enough. The albums could never be reduced to each other, but the adjustments between them were always minor, and always tasteful. The affective intensity has been especially consistent. Except on rare occasions, like their 2010 album Teen Dream, the sound of Legrands voice tends toward dissociation: instead of inhabiting them fully, she always seems to hover a few feet above the images and narratives her lyrics name, an effect greatly accentuated by the blur of ever-present reverb. The feeling of the Beach House sound is, in this sense, an abstract experience: its the pleasure of being emotionally stable. Even when they named a 2015 album Depression Cherry, it was hard to make out any angst or misery through the billowing synths; if anything, we thought of vivid red, a cool sweet taste, the proximity to cheery. When even depression feels rich in spirit, something probably needs to change. The cushioned surfaces that typified 7s six predecessors had served, I suspect, an antidepressant function: the vaporous resonance, in its deferral of meaning, canceled out any potential sources of stress. For the polished hordes of fresh liberal arts majors experiencing some combination of hazardous emotion and economic insecurity between 2006 and 2015, Beach Houses music served as a potent reminder that the good life was still in reach, still affordable. In a new era defined by the impossibility of comfort and ease, the music will necessarily change, and its to Legrand and Scallys credit that they recognize as much: remarking on the creative process behind 7, they stated that the societal insanity of 2016-17 was also deeply influential, as it must be for most artists these days. True to their word, the lyrics on 7 are more frostbitten than usual, the bands customary cool lowering into colder spaces: a kind of bleakness seeps into the language of darkened, dead-end rooms and the cold [] like a tomb. But since the meanings still drift away faster than they can be registered, the more important impact comes at the sonic level, where textures harder than any on their prior albums present themselves repeatedly. Commanded by Peter Kember, a.k.a. Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3, the production swaps out the ambience of clouds and waves for something clearer, more edged and more spacious. The guitars still float, but now, at times, they also grind (Dive) and sting (Lemon Glow). The drum machines have been swapped out for the bands live drummer, James Barone, and the gain in vitality is palpable. Certain tracks (Black Car) sport trap-adjacent drums, the skeletal clicks imparting a new, jittery dynamism; more traditional rock beats (Dark Spring) surge crisply forward. The shoegaze comparisons are more convincing now; the gentle, crunching echoes of My Bloody Valentine on Pay No Mind are unmistakable. Theres also, in the spectacle of Legrands chilled, borderline stoned, meditations on feminine images and glamour, a distinct trace of Lana Del Reys Honeymoon. Im not sure if 7 qualifies as a darkly, directly political album (theres nothing to gain from framing it that way), but the darkness and directness of its sound, combined with Legrands customary sibylline vocals, add up to something welcome and unprecedented in the Beach House catalogue their best album in an already impressive set. The life of leisure has always been filled with harsher shadows: by reflecting on their existence, Legrand and Scally have created their truest, most uneasy vision yet. Annette Bening. Photo: Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures Classics As he demonstrated in The Seagull and would refine in the three arguably greater dramatic masterpieces that followed, Anton Chekhov had a genius for transforming seemingly idle conversation into music, with every instrument noodling away in its private sphere and yet somehow coalescing into a melancholy human symphony. The new film adaptation, directed by Michael Mayer from a script by Stephen Karam (who wrote the ghostly, neo-Ibsen drama The Humans), pares down the chitchat and breaks up some of that ensemble flow. The narrative beats are heavy, reaction shots abound, and wordless discursions are numerous. The intent, of course, is to make a movie rather than another stodgy piece of filmed theater, with the result that some of Chekhovs music is lost but that a surprising amount of tension is gained. Above all, Mayers The Seagull is a platform for several definitive performances. Chief among those is Annette Benings Arkadina, the aging actress who returns to her estate on a lake outside Moscow with her lover, the celebrated short story writer, Trigorin (Corey Stoll). There awaits her high-strung son, Treplev (Billy Howle), eager to show off his own artistry, a symbolic dream play he intends as a challenge to the classical theater in which his mother made her name. Given that its a provocation, it shouldnt surprise him that Arkadina makes stinging comments, but he stomps off into the woods while Arkadina asks, with feigned ingenuousness, What did I do? What did I do? makes my blood boil every time. Arkadina is one of literatures most narcissistic mothers which is saying something, given how much of the Western canon is revenge on Mom. But Bening makes her damnably human. No actor is better at suggesting the tension between the public persona and the desperate soul beneath, struggling to hold the mask in place. Benings Arkadina puts all her acting wiles into convincing her family, maybe even herself, that her fame and youthful good looks are at their peak. How deluded she remains about her miserliness in the realms of both money and mother love. And how hungrily she monitors her lover Trigorins responses, so dependent on the famed author to complete her that she pays scant attention to the son who begs her to complete him. No wonder Treplev has a Hamlet complex. A character lamely jokes that unrequited love happens only in plays, and this one is a riot of the unrequited: One person loves another who loves a third, each longing to fill an essential emptiness. Mayer and Karams swift pacing brings out Chekhovs farcical underpinnings. Watch Elisabeth Mosss Masha, the floridly forlorn daughter of the estate manager, trail after Treplev, who trails after his actress-muse Nina (Saoirse Ronan), while the hapless school teacher (Michael Zegen) trails after Masha observed by Mashas mother (Mare Winningham), who pines for the middle-aged doctor, Dorn (Jon Tenney). The actors are all you could wish for and Moss is something more. Swilling vodka more and more openly, she gives Masha a tragic awareness and a hint of the demonic. Watching this The Seagull, you see how Chekhov physician, famed author, struggling playwright split himself into three: Dorn, the sympathetic healer who wishes he could minister to sick souls; Treplev, the show-boater obsessed with new artistic forms to express human suffering; and the celebrated Trigorin, a borderline vampire who constantly takes notes on people hell transform into characters. Trigorin (whom Stoll underacts cunningly, as a man who guards his energy) is Chekhovs warning to himself of what happens when artistic dispassion interferes with empathy. Howle looks and acts like too much of a soap stud to fully convey Treplevs inner flip-flops, but hes intense, and he and Bening do a bang-up job in the bandaging scene, in which Arkadina ministers to Treplevs self-inflicted gunshot wound and ends up ripping off whatever emotional scabs her son has formed. As Arkadinas elderly brother, Sorin, Brian Dennehy is merely perfect. He has the serenity and morbid humor of a man who knows hes on his way out. The lone disappointment is Ronan, whos never less than magnetizing but turns out to be limited in a way I hadnt anticipated: She cant fully give herself to a character she doesnt respect. She plays the early Nina as a mindless romantic, blushing at her proximity to fame, while the Nina of the final act, beaten down by two years of crushing emotional trials, is too guarded. The role is admittedly a killer. Ive seen half a dozen actresses go down in flames and even Vanessa Redgrave in Sidney Lumets over-effusive film, in which character keep taking one anothers heads in their hands got only halfway there. The exception was Carey Mulligan, who evoked the tragedy of a woman simultaneously opened up and destroyed. (She got double points since her Treplev was Gareth from the original British The Office a born Uriah Heep.) Mayer and Karam keep their touch relatively light until the end, when they do two things that are very smart and one thats unforgivable. They eliminate the last words of the play, now redundant. They close on Arkadina, who knows in her bones what has happened and Bening has made an art of such shots since her wordless but epic reaction to news of her boyfriends death in Bugsy. The unforgivable: repeating, in voice-over, a line from Treplevs allegorical play. It works, as cheap tricks can. But repurposing the words of a soulful but pretentious young character as an epilogue for the whole play is using Chekhovs dramatic instincts against him. A more histrionic critic would call for Mayer to be beaten on the kidneys with a stick and forced to remove the offending line. Id settle for his removing the line. *A version of this article appears in the May 14, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now! President Donald Trump worked to project party unity and forward momentum during a political rally in Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday night after a bitter GOP primary battle in the state earlier this week. But from the beginning of his speech, and peppered throughout, Trump hailed his recent foreign policy accomplishments, including securing the release of three American prisoners from North Korea, and railed against the Iran nuclear agreement, which he opted to exit earlier this week. "America is being respected again," Trump proclaimed to cheers inside a packed middle school gymnasium. He said the relationship between the US and North Korea was "good" and previewed the planned summit in Singapore between himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "You remember everybody in the fake news, when they were saying he's going to get us into a nuclear war?" he said to boos. "And you know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness." Campaigning against Donnelly Trump traveled to Elkhart two days after former state Rep. Mike Braun secured his place on the November ballot against the vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Joe Donnelly. Braun beat out two sitting congressmen in a surprise upset. For Trump, the rally provided an opportunity to hit at Donnelly, who represented a district that included Elkhart during his time in the US House. Trump railed against Democrats and Donnelly in particular, and he brought out Braun to address the crowd. "We need Mike Braun in the Senate," Trump said, adding later, "Now if Joe Donnelly, Sleepin' Joe, and the Democrats get back into power, remember what I said, they will raise your taxes. ... They will destroy your jobs, and they are going to knock the hell out of your borders." Trump took issue with Donnelly's voting record and dinged his vote for "failed Obamacare." Trump teased something new on health care soon and touted the repeal of the law's individual mandate last year. "Wait till you see the plans we have coming out literally over the next four weeks," he said. "We have great health care plans coming out." Trump is expected to assume a larger role on the campaign trail in coming months as Republicans work to retain control of the House and Senate. Donnelly responded in a statement that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were there "for politics" and included statistics on his own voting record, saying he had voted with Trump 62% of the time and had 41 proposals become law since 2013. "I don't work for any president or any political party," his statement read. "I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change." During Thursday night's speech, Trump also hailed economic improvements in the country -- a potent topic in Elkhart, which then-President Barack Obama visited in 2009 only days into his term. Obama returned to the town, a hub of recreational vehicle manufacturing, in 2016. "Here at home, the great news keeps rolling in," Trump said. "3.3 million new jobs since the election." But returning to his election theme, he warned that the gains he claimed would be reversed if voters went against his party. "The strides that we're making have never, ever, been made like this before," Trump said. "But it can also disappear if you put fools and if you put the wrong people in. It can disappear." 'Hope' for a deal with Iran On the Iran front, Trump lashed out against the multiparty deal agreed to by Obama, and envisioned crafting a new, lasting agreement with Iran. "I hope to be able to make a deal with them, a good deal, a fair deal, a good deal for them, better for them, better for them," he said. "But we cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons." Trump repeatedly brought up a legal settlement the US had made with Iran during the Obama administration and claimed the money was in exchange for US hostages. The payments to Iran were a point of contention at the time, with Republicans accusing the Obama administration of making the payments in exchange for the hostages' release. Obama denied the payments were ransom, calling them a transparent matter and pointedly saying, "We do not pay ransom." Nevertheless, Trump compared his administration favorably in reference to the American prisoners who North Korea returned to the US this week. "With respect, we didn't pay for them," Trump said. America's biggest bank is taking another shot at China's huge financial markets. JPMorgan Chase is seeking approval from the Chinese government to launch a new brokerage in the world's second biggest economy, just weeks after Beijing relaxed restrictions on foreign ownership of financial companies. This will be the second attempt by the Wall Street giant to gain a serious foothold in China. In late 2016, it pulled out of a joint venture in which it had a 33% stake. China's securities regulator said Thursday it had received an application from JPMorgan seeking to establish a joint venture in which the bank would hold a controlling 51% stake. It didn't say how long the approval process would take. China pledged last November to allow foreign companies to own Chinese banks and investment firms for the first time. It followed through on part of that promise at the end of April, announcing new rules for foreign investment in securities firms and fund managers. Related: China presents huge rewards for Wall Street -- with big risks JPMorgan is the third international bank to seek approval to control a Chinese firm since the rule change, following similar submissions from Switzerland's UBS and Japan's Nomura. A joint venture would allow JPMorgan to trade Chinese stocks, bonds and other assets on behalf of local clients. China's capital markets are a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for foreign banks. But experts have warned that despite the change in ownership rules, international firms could still face challenges navigating Chinese regulations and competing with well established local players. HSBC, which traces its roots to Hong Kong, has used its special position to build a major presence in China. Other international banks have long hoped to gain better access to the market to take advantage of its growing wealth. Before the rule change, foreign banks were only allowed to hold a maximum stake of 49% in a Chinese joint venture -- a restriction that caused complaints from major US firms in the past. "A lot of these [joint ventures] are hard to govern, badly run, not very successful and don't set the highest standards," JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in China this week. JPMorgan has a checkered history in China. It was fined $264 million by US regulators in 2016 for improperly hiring "unqualified" children of China's ruling elite to win lucrative business in the country. Related: UBS tests China's promise to allow foreign-owned banks Dimon said this week that the bank one day hopes to secure 100% ownership of its operations in the country. China has said that will be possible for securities ventures in three years' time. "We're building here for a hundred years," Dimon said, referring to the Chinese market. A JPMorgan spokeswoman in Hong Kong declined to comment further on the bank's plans for China. It currently operates a handful of branches in the country to provide finance for US companies doing business there. -- Serenitie Wang contributed to this report Thinking about moving to a new city and need some money in your pocket? Then check out the six places that will pay you to live there. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. White House President Trump and his Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly got into a heated argument during a Cabinet meeting on immigration, a source told CNN. Trump was reportedly furious at Nielsen for not doing enough to secure the border, but she stood her ground, citing the law in certain instances. Nielsen was so upset by the incident she reportedly wrote up a resignation letter. But a Homeland Security spokesman said Nielsen didn't threaten to resign. Nielsen later put out a statement saying she shares the President's frustration about the border, blaming part of the inaction on Congress. As for Trump, he took a victory lap of sorts during a rally in Elkhart, Indiana, touting the release of three American detainees from North Korea and celebrating the US leaving the Iran nuke deal. He also previewed his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, set for June 12 in Singapore. 2. Niger ambush report A much-anticipated Pentagon report on last fall's Niger ambush that left four US soldiers dead says "no single failure or deficiency" was to blame for the incident. But it does cite training deficiencies and communications failures as contributing to the tragedy. The US soldiers died after their 12-person team and partner Nigerien force were overrun by more than 100 ISIS fighters after their convoy stopped at a village to resupply. The report also detailed what happened to Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who became separated from his team and made a harrowing last stand under a thorny tree. The US has hundreds of troops in Niger. Here's why. 3. Facebook The Russians targeted more Americans through Facebook ads during the 2016 election cycle than previously thought. We already knew the group's ads boosted fake groups imitating Black Lives Matter, Muslims and Donald Trump supporters. But new documents released by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee show the Russians were targeting Mexican-Americans as well. The documents released included more than 3,000 Facebook and Instagram ads purchased by the Internet Research Agency. That's the troll group, linked to the Russian government, that was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller. 4. Sudan death sentence Noura Hussein, a 19-year-old woman in Sudan, has been sentenced to death. Her crime? Stabbing her husband to death, whom she said had raped her as his relatives held her down. The shocking case is shining a light on forced marriage and marital rape in Sudan. The legal age for marriage there is 10, and marital rape is also allowed. Hussein has 15 days to appeal. She was forced to marry at 15 but fled her home and husband three years later. She was later tricked into returning by her father, who handed her over to her husband's family. 5. Hawaii Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is closed again until further notice because of the threat of violent explosions from the Kilauea volcano. Scientists warn of many things that could come from the volcano -- acid rain, falling ash, more fissures oozing lava -- over the next couple of weeks, but they're most concerned about "ballistic projectiles." That would be huge rocks and other debris propelled through the air for miles by Kilauea's explosions. SELMA, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama city councilman has turned himself in on a charge of public lewdness. WSFA-TV reported Friday that a warrant for Samuel Randolph's arrest was issued Thursday. Randolph represents Selma's Ward 5. Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier says the charge stems from an April 1 incident in which narcotics officers on a surveillance detail said they witnessed Randolph stop his car, get out, expose himself and urinate on the street. A patrol officer was sent to make a traffic stop. That officer reported Randolph smelled of alcohol, but didn't test him for sobriety. The lewdness charge is a misdemeanor. Mayor Darrio Melton told the station he has no comment at this time. It's unclear whether Randolph has a lawyer. ___ Information from: WSFA-TV, http://www.wsfa.com/ (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) FOX Business Network banned a guest after controversial remarks he made about Senator John McCain, the website Mediaite reported Friday. It was during Thursday's interview when military analyst Thomas McInerney discussed Senator McCain's opposition to President Trump's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel. Senator McCain said his concern is because of Haspel's overseeing of the use of various interrogation techniques which include water boarding. McInerney said, "The fact is John McCain [torture] worked on John. Thats why they call him Songbird John. The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective," referring to Senator McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Host Charles Payne did not challenge McInerney's comments, but later apologized on Twitter and wrote how a producer was talking to him through his earpiece and he didn't hear the comment. Senator McCain's wife, Cindy, also took to Twitter and requested the network pick their guests more wisely. This is going on at the same time reports surfaced which allege White House advisor Kelly Sadler commented about Senator McCain's opposition to Haspel by openly saying in a meeting, "he's dying anyway." Senator McCain continues to battle brain cancer. Cindy McCain also responded to that comment on Twitter when she wrote directly to Sadler, "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren." The White House responded to the ordeal in a statement which read, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." Iran says it is ready to restart its nuclear program on an "industrial scale" in the wake of the decision by US President Donald Trump to abandon the deal that curbs the country's nuclear ambitions. In a statement published Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he would embark on a round of international diplomacy to try and save the deal. At the same time, the country would make preparations to restart its program of nuclear enrichment, he said. Zarif's comments came as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the largest demonstration since US President Donald Trump announced his decision to abandon the deal on Tuesday. Protesters burned an American flag and railed against the US and Israel after emerging from Friday prayers in Tehran. In his statement, Zarif accused Trump of "ignorance and folly" and said American foreign policy had "dragged the Middle East into chaos." He said Iran would attempt to save the nuclear deal through negotiations with the European nations who were co-signatories to the deal. Zarif will meet with his counterparts from Germany, France and the UK in Brussels on Tuesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US decision to withdraw from the deal was a serious blow. Speaking at a Catholic Day conference in Muenster on Friday, Merkel said it would be difficult to keep the deal alive, given that a "huge economic power has left". "We hope we can, but there are a lot of things playing a role in this," she said. "We will have to discuss that with Iran." In Tehran, anger has grown not just over Trump's move but also Israel's barrage of air attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, in response to what Israel claimed was an Iranian rocket attack on the Golan Heights. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes, calling them a "blatant violation of the country's sovereignty." On Thursday Israel claimed it had struck almost all of Iran's military capabilities in Syria after the rocket attack on the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981. There has been no official declaration by the Iranian government that it was responsible for the attack on the Golan Heights, nor any acknowledgment that Iran's military presence in Syria was impacted by the Israeli strikes. In Iran, the news of the fighting was reported as a conflict between Syria and Israel. No mention was made of the involvement of Iran's military assets in Syria, which have long helped prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Zarif made no mention of the flare-up with Israel, but said the country had the right to defend itself, particularly in the light of the eight-year war with Iraq that began when the regime of Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. Zarif accused the US and its allies of fomenting unrest in the Middle East, "turning our region into a powder keg through their sale of hundreds of billions of dollars of useless advanced weaponry." Ahmad Khatami, Leader of the Friday Prayer, vowed Iran would turn "Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust" if attacked by Israel. "We are not interested in the atomic bomb, but we are increasing our missile capabilities in other fields so that Israel cannot sleep well," he was quoted as saying by semi-official ISNA News Agency. In a YouTube statement on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line," and that Israel's action was appropriate. "Whoever hits us will get hit seven times over. Whoever prepares themselves to attack us will be attacked first. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue doing," Netanyahu said. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in the Six Day War in 1967. The international community has never recognized the annexation and regards the Golan Heights as Israeli-occupied territory. BEIRUT (AP) Israeli forces unleashed a heavy bombardment against Iranian military installations in Syria on Thursday in what Israel called retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights, the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The two rivals have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. If we get rain, theyll get a flood, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned. The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Mideast war raised the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained, at least for now. Israel, however, has been emboldened by President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this week, and the latest escalation seemed to signal a potentially coordinated surge in military activity targeting Iran. The Israeli military said Thursday it hit nearly all of Irans military installations in Syria in response to the overnight Iranian rocket barrage that targeted Israeli front-line military positions in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. It was the first time Israel has directly accused Iran of firing toward Israeli territory. Iranian media described the Israeli attack as unprecedented, but there was no official Iranian comment on Israels claims. Iran has vowed to retaliate for repeated Israeli airstrikes targeting its forces in Syria. But it seemed to carefully calibrate its response by targeting the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized, instead of striking Israel proper. Tehran is wary of a wider military conflagration with Israel that could jeopardize its military achievements in Syria at a time when it is trying to salvage the international nuclear deal and may be limited in its ability to strike back. The recent clashes reveal the difficulty both sides face in dealing with an unprecedented situation, said Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East studies at Sciences Po, Paris School of International Affairs. The clashes will eventually likely lead not to further escalation, but to the consolidation of new red lines tacitly endorsed by Israel and Iran, he said in an analysis written for the Carnegie Middle East Center. The extent of the damage inflicted by the Israeli airstrikes was not immediately clear. Israel said among the targets were weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in Syria. It also said it destroyed several Syrian air-defense systems after coming under heavy fire and that none of its warplanes were hit. The Syrian military acknowledged that the strikes destroyed a radar station and an ammunition warehouse, and damaged a number of air defense units. It said three people were killed and two were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors the civil war through sources inside Syria, said 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers, were killed. It was not immediately clear if any Iranians were among the dead. The White House swiftly condemned Irans provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens and expressed strong support for Israels right to act in self-defense, while Russia said the Israeli strikes marked a dangerous escalation and urged both Israel and Iran to avoid provoking each other. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Iranian regimes deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East. Israel has carried out over 100 airstrikes in neighboring Syria since the civil war erupted in 2011, most believed to be aimed at suspected Iranian weapons shipments bound for the Hezbollah militant group. But in the past few weeks, Israel has shifted to a more direct and public confrontation with Iran, striking at Iranian bases, weapons depots and rocket launchers across Syria, and killing Iranian troops. Israel accuses Tehran of seeking to establish a foothold on its doorstep, something it has vowed never to allow. Reflecting the scope of the pre-dawn attack, Russias military said 28 Israeli jets were involved, striking Iranian and government sites in Syria with 70 missiles. It said half the missiles were shot down. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, Lieberman said Israel would respond fiercely to any further Iranian actions. We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel, the Israeli defense minister said. If we get rain, theyll get a flood. I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood. In a statement issued as Israels security cabinet met, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike sent a clear message that whoever attacks us we will attack them sevenfold and whoever prepares to attack us we will act against them first. Iranian state television announced the Israeli strikes, sourcing the information to Syrias state-run SANA news agency, and described the Israeli attack as unprecedented. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981. In 1974, Israel and Syria reached a cease-fire and a disengagement deal that froze the conflict lines with the plateau in Israeli hands. Damascus shook with sounds of explosions just before dawn, and firing by Syrian air defenses over the city was heard for more than five hours. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees Thursdays strikes as a very alarming development. He noted that in contacts with the leadership of both countries, including a meeting Wednesday between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, we underlined the necessity of avoiding any actions that might be mutually provocative. Russia sent forces to Syria to back President Bashar Assad in 2015. But Israel and Russia have maintained close communications to prevent their air forces from coming into conflict. The pan-Arab Al Hayat newspaper reported Thursday that Russia and Israel were developing an agreement to keep Iran out of southern Syria and allow Syrian government forces to retake the region. Israel said early Thursday that Irans Quds Force fired 20 rockets at Israeli front-line military positions in the Golan Heights. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said four of the rockets were intercepted, while the others fell short of their targets. The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Golan. Conricus said Israel was not looking to escalate the situation but that troops will continue to be on very high alert. Should there be another Iranian attack, we will be prepared for it, he said. The two sides have been on a collision course for months. In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace. Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, and an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle. Earlier this week, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near Damascus. The Observatory said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Irans elite Revolutionary Guard, killing at least 15 people, including eight Iranians. Last month, an attack on Syrias T4 air base in the central Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel. By The Associated Press The pilots of a Southwest Airlines jet are describing the chaos that followed a fatal engine explosion high above Pennsylvania last month. Tammie Jo Shults and Darren Ellisor say everything seemed normal when they took off from New York on April 17. But then there was a loud bang, oxygen masks fell and the plane began to vibrate and tilt to one side. Shults says it got so loud in the cockpit that the pilots communicated partly with hand signals. The pilots say they didn't know right away that a passenger had been fatally injured when a piece of the broken engine shattered a window. They made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. The crew was interviewed for a segment of ABC's "20/20" scheduled to air Friday night. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 5/10/2018 6:06:09 PM (GMT -5:00) WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is willing to help North Korea with its economy if the North gets rid of its nuclear weapons. Pompeo is holding a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. He's speaking the day after he returned from Pyongyang with three American detainees released by North Korea. Pompeo says the goal of talks with North Korea is complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He says he had "good" and "substantive" conversations with leader Kim Jong Un during his visit. Kang says there must be "airtight" coordination between South Korea and the U.S. ahead of President Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with Kim. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 5/11/2018 2:25:18 PM (GMT -5:00) WASHINGTON (AP) - Starbucks is opening its bathrooms to everyone regardless of whether they've bought anything following the arrest last month of two African American men at one of its coffee shops in Philadelphia. Chairman Howard Schultz says he doesn't want the company to become a public bathroom, but feels employees can make the "right decision a hundred percent of the time," if that choice is removed at the store level. One of the men arrested on April 12 was denied use of a bathroom before sitting down to await a business meeting. He and his business partner were arrested minutes later. Schultz, speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said Starbucks had a "loose policy" on bathroom use, The Washington, The Seattle Times, and other media outlets reported. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) There is less than a month until the state primary elections in Alabama. WAAY 31 found new evidence that your vote may not matter. A recently-released report, shows Alabama is one of 35 states and Washington, D.C. that could have its election system hacked. We wanted to know what the state is doing to protect your civil rights. Nichole Harris has been a registered voter in Morgan County since she was 18. Harris prides herself in being one of the 3,365,125 registered voters in the state. But, she does not vote. "The reason I don't vote is because I don't feel like it counts. They sway votes to go to where they want it to go and put who they want to put in office anyway," said Harris. The lack of confidence in the voting system is a big concern, especially to people such as Morgan County Probate Judge Greg Cain. As the "Chief Elections Officer," his office proofreads and prints ballots, sets up election precincts, trains poll workers, and administers usernames and passwords for voter registration information. He has a stern message for those doubting the voting system. "It's safe and secure. To get to where our voting machines are located, you have to have a swipe card. [We can] see how many times someone has swiped in and out of the building. We have video cameras there," said Judge Cain. Those measures would prevent someone from physically altering votes, but what if someone wanted to virtually hack into the system? Judge Cain said it would be difficult because none of the machines are on WiFi or connected to the Internet. A report by researchers at Harvard University shows hackers are not waiting until after you cast a vote, they are now targeting voter registration websites. The report states a hacker could get some of your personal information: such as your driver's license number, address, date of birth, or social security number and and change your address, gender, party affiliation, or delete your information altogether. On election day, when you show up to vote your name could not be placed on the precinct's register. Researchers say this could be done on a larger scale, even affecting the outcome of an election. Alabama is one of 35 states listed in this 89 page report, whose vulnerable to a voter identity theft attack. WAAY 31 asked the Secretary of State John Merrill what the state is doing to fix this problem. "It's very interesting to me when academics come out with reports. These people sit in their ivory towers and say this is what's wrong. We remain diligent in ensuring the integrity and credibility of the process," said Merrill. When asked what the state is doing to fix the issues, Merrill could not go into specifics. "I could tell you about specific things we are doing in Alabama to protect our system. If I did, one of the foreign or domestic actors would try to prevent us from doing things the way we need to do it," he said. Aside from hacking into the system, the report states another way to steal your identity is through what's known as the Darknet or through data brokers. A hacker can spend $40 a month to compile a swipe of the magnetic strip on your driver's license and images of your license. The magnetic strip contains a number linked to official documents. The report states a third way is through the government's voter lists. Voter lists contain the name, personal demographics, and voting history of each registered voter. Things you would need to access the system. But, Secretary Merrill insists this is not true. "Anybody within the sound of my voice that wanted to purchase the voter list, can do it for a penny a name. You will get a little information about me, but you won't get enough to change the voter file. The voter rolls are preserved and protected, so no one can corrupt that data." The report states if your information is changed and you go to the wrong precinct, your provisional ballot will not count in Alabama. Judge Cain says that is false. "Every provisional ballot always gets counted. Every election," he said. Cain says workers have seven days after Election day to get in contact with the voter to verify the information was changed. "If it checks out and everything is verified, your vote will count," said Judge Cain. Cain thinks the report from Harvard is flawed, but admits there are places the state needs to improve. "Based on the hypotheticals used in the article, some of the things could happen. We have to figure out how to tighten that up so we don't have these hypotheticals become reality." Cain went on to say he thinks anytime you do something online and not face-to-face, there is a possibility of your information getting into the wrong hands. Secretary Merrill says the study fails to include three things: examples where certain systems have failed, been corrupted or violated in Alabama. He insists the election system is safe and secure. He states the system is attacked multiple times a day, but has never been breached. Hearing that, brings some relief to Harris. "If it's never been breached and they are completely true, that gives people a sense of confidence. That would keep people voting like they normally do," she said. But, she still remains firm in her stance of not voting. Secretary Merrill says Secretarys across the country had a classified meeting in Washington, D.C. in February to make sure voter hacking does not happen here. WASHINGTON (AP) - A White House official made what some saw as an insensitive comment about ailing Arizona Sen. John McCain at a staff meeting Thursday. Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's nominee for CIA director Gina Haspel when she allegedly claimed, "It doesn't matter" because "he's dying anyway." That's according to a person in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting. The White House did not dispute the remark, but said in a statement, "we respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." The Hill newspaper first reported the comment. Sadler is a special assistant to the president. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 5/10/2018 6:29:53 PM (GMT -5:00) A woman and a 16-year-old boy are lucky to be alive after they were unfortunately involved in a chase that ended in a crash. The chase started in Lincoln County, Tennessee and ended in front of Bennett Nurseries in Madison Countybut not before the driver of the stolen car hit another car on Memorial Parkway. WAAY 31 talked with the woman who was driving that other car and learned how she and her teenaged passenger are doing after being unintentionally involved in the chase. Linda Jones was taking a foster child to school Thursday morninga task she does every daywhen something unexpected happened on the way there. I didnt hear him coming. I didnt see him coming. I didnt hear police sirens," Jones said. "It was just a normal conversation between two people in the car when I felt and heard an explosion. That explosion was the sound of a car involved in a chase hitting Jones before crashing in front of Bennett Nurseries. In fact, Jones was hit so hard, her car was totaled. There was broken glass and the airbags had deployed," she said. "His hair brush had hit me in the head, and his phone was at my feet. Jones was referring to the belongings of a 16-year-old foster child who was also in the car at the time of the crash. You know, its one thing when its your child, but when its somebody elses that theyve entrusted you with, you always are careful," she said. Luckily, both Jones and the 16-year-old are okay. It could have been a whole lot worse," Jones said. "I mean a car can be replaced, I cant replace him. Im just very grateful that it turned out the way it didit couldve been a lot worse. But Jones says shes still shocked it happened in the first place. I never have had a wreck. I never have been involved in anything like this," she said. "Its like something you see on television thats just not supposed to happen to you, its just something thats on TV. However, Jones gives credit to her faith for protecting them. On the way to pick him up this morning, I had prayed out loud that God would put a hedge of protection around me and my family, and he certainly did today. Jones says the 16-year-old still went to school after the crash. They've been preparing the vessel, since last Sunday. Maine Maritime Academy Cadet, Wyatt Roberts said, "A lot of fixing systems, changing oil in systems, preparing systems, we rebuilt two cylinders in the main engine." Semesters of work about to come to fruition. Capt. Nathan Gandy, Dean of Maritime Training said, "Several of our programs are designed around merchant marine licensing, coast guard license, operating merchant ships across the globe." And the day finally arrives. Gandy said, "In order to train the students effectively, we got to take them to sea." Maine Maritime Academy students are shipping off to Europe for a training voyage. Cadets and deck students will be aboard 70 days. Cadet engineers will spend 35 days on the ship. "Living on a 500 foot vessel for over two months, where you have to learn how to get along with people, how to function as a professional." Maine Maritime Academy Cadet, Anthony Franchetti has sailed on the "State of Maine" a few years now. "Being a freshman, progressing through that program, really getting an introduction to just ship board life your sophomore year, you'll go out to sea, work on a merchant vessel" said, Franchetti. Now, in his junior year, he has the opportunity to take charge of a watch and be responsible for training the younger students. Franchetti said, "A lot of what going to sea is finding out what you don't know, coming to terms with that, and learning how to over come those challenges." For Olivia Smith, this is her first time setting sail. But, the support of her family keeps her afloat. Maine Maritime Academy, 4th class, Olivia Smith said, "My parents helped me get ready. They've gave me a lot of confidence coming into this, always behind me if anything happens." "We've always been a close family doing everything together, so we are just going to miss her not being there and not having someone to cook and clean for." said Mrs. Smith The ship is due back July 14th. You can follow along their journey at cruise.mainemaritime.edu EASTLAKE, Ohio, May 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- US Lighting Group (OTCMKTS:USLG) previously announced that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Global Corporate Access group had invited the Company to present at a special roundtable of institutional investors in London. Today, USLG confirmed its Presentation at Goldman Sachs, stating that Mr. Paul Spivak, President of US Lighting Group, Inc., would be presenting at an institutional roundtable hosted by Goldman Sachs on May 23rd at their offices at Peterborough Court, 133 Fleet Street, London. This Goldman Sachs institutional investor roundtable is focused on a select group of lighting manufactures chosen by Goldman Sachs Analyst. US Lighting Group, Inc. will be presenting information on its entire portfolio of lighting products, its market and growth plan. Goldman Sachs Global Corporate Access group works to identify sectors where institutional investors can discover appealing companies that are worth consideration. The London group conducts approximately 25 conferences across Europe every year, arranging road shows for those companies invited to present where they meet Goldman Sachs analysts expectations. London is Goldman Sachs largest office in Europe. About US Lighting Group US Lighting Group (OTC:USLG), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Intellitronix, is a manufacturer of LED lighting, LED gauges and panels, which are energy-saving devices of high-quality automotive after-market products that are also available to consumers through vendors such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart. The Company also manufactures an array of LED energy-saving light bulbs. All of the Companys products are 'Made in the USA' at its own manufacturing facility located near Cleveland, Ohio. Forward-Looking Statements Statements included in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified by the words: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, and similar expressions or which by their nature refer to future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these statements. For further information, contact US Lighting Group: (216) 896-7000, or info@uslightinggroup.com English German Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Saint-Gobain) acquired Schenker-Winkler Holding AG (SWH) from the Burkard family Saint-Gobain/SWH sold 6.97% stake in Sika AG (Sika) to Sika for a total consideration of CHF 2.08 billion Saint-Gobain retains 10.75% interest in Sika through SWH for a minimum of two years Sika calls shareholders' meeting to introduce unitary share class, cancellation of opting-out, and elimination of 5% transfer restrictions and to cancel the 6.97% shares acquired from SWH Parties terminate all legal proceedings Sika and Saint-Gobain intend to extend their existing business relationship Sika, the Burkard family and Saint-Gobain have signed agreements which terminate and resolve their dispute to the common benefit of all parties involved and that of their respective shareholders and stakeholders. The following has been agreed: Saint-Gobain acquired SWH - Sika acquired registered shares representing 6.97% of Sika's share capital Saint-Gobain acquired all outstanding shares of SWH from the Burkard family for a purchase price of CHF 3.22 billion. It reflects an increase of above CHF 500 million from the purchase price agreed in December 2014 between Saint-Gobain and the Burkard Family, taking into account the increase in Sika's value since 2014. Sika purchased a 6.97% stake in Sika from SWH (representing a 23.7% voting interest) for a total consideration of CHF 2.08 billion. This amount contains a CHF 795 million premium over the market value as of May 4, 2018. Termination of litigation, special audit, special experts All pending litigation will be terminated. Furthermore, it is intended to propose to the shareholders of Sika to terminate the mandate of the Special Experts. Introduction "one-share, one-vote" Sika will call for an extraordinary shareholders' meeting (EGM) for June 11, 2018 and will propose to: cancel the 6.97% shares acquired from SWH by way of capital reduction convert all shares into a single class of registered shares ("one share, one vote") in a ratio 1:60 (bearer share based) eliminate the 5% transfer restrictions eliminate the opting-out clause SWH, fully owned by Saint-Gobain at the time of the EGM, will vote in favor of all resolutions. Urs F. Burkard, Jurgen Tinggren and Willi Leimer have resigned from the board of directors of Sika. All independent directors will continue to serve the company and in time will seek to strengthen the board with new appointees. Future relationship between Saint-Gobain and Sika The future relationship between Saint-Gobain and Sika will be on both the shareholder and the business levels: Saint-Gobain will become a shareholder of Sika through SWH. After the EGM it will hold 10.75% of votes and capital interest in Sika. The parties have agreed on lock-up (two years) and stand-still obligations (up to 10.75% for four years, up to 12.875% for the following two years) with regard to Saint-Gobain's stake in Sika. In case of an intended sale, these shares will first be offered to Sika up to 10.75%. The two groups will also continue their substantial existing business relationship and seek to further expand it to areas of mutual benefit while preserving and respecting each group's economic and legal independence. Sika will fund this transaction through a bridge loan committed by UBS. Subsequently, Sika intends to optimize its capital structure through the issuance of debt and debt-like securities, while maintaining both the investment grade rating as well as the financial flexibility to fund the defined growth strategy of the company. Paul Halg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sika and Paul Schuler, CEO of Sika: "The Board and Group Management of Sika welcome this positive outcome. This solution is immediately accretive for our shareholders and paves the way for a new chapter of our success story. Sika remains committed to a strong S&P investment grade credit rating. The introduction of a modern governance structure will provide Sika with a solid base to accelerate its growth. The biggest thanks go to all our employees who with their dedication and loyalty made the great success of Sika and this solution possible." Urs F. Burkard, spokesman for the Burkard family: "We are pleased that Saint-Gobain, as a significant Sika customer, is now the company's largest shareholder. The solution agreed between the parties involved takes into account the interests of all shareholders and forms the basis for continuing Sika's success story. The primary concern of the family has always been to ensure Sika's success and long-term prosperity." Pierre Andre de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain: "This is a very positive settlement for Saint-Gobain, both from a financial and a strategic perspective. We materialize a substantial positive net result in excess of EUR 600 million for our shareholders. We also retain a minority stake in a great company and will enhance the relationship between the two groups." Analysts' and media conference today, May 11, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. (CEST) Today at 9.30 a.m. an analysts' and media conference will take place. The following persons will present: Paul Halg, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Paul Schuler, CEO Location: Sika premises, Tuffenwies 16, 8048 Zurich (Altstetten) The conference will be transmitted live on the Sika website. Link to the live transmission of the conference: www.sika.com/pressconference CONTACT Dominik Slappnig Corporate Communications & Investor Relations +41 58 436 68 21 slappnig.dominik@ch.sika.com SIKA CORPORATE PROFILE Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 18,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 6.25 billion in 2017. The media release can be downloaded from the following link: Dutch English Press Release Regulated Information Trading Update 11 May 2018 - 7.00 a.m. CET, Diegem (Belgium): VGP NV ('VGP' or 'the Group') today publishes its trading update for the period from 1 January 2018 to 10 May 2018. Jan Van Geet, CEO of the VGP Group, said: "We have had a very good start of 2018 securing 10.4 million of new and renewed rental income. Demands for lettable space remain strong in all of our markets and a significant number of new lease contracts are about to be signed which will further add to the annualised committed rental income. The development pipeline currently includes 26 new projects under construction which represent 24.1 million of new rental income when fully developed and let. During the first quarter we opened new offices in Italy and the Benelux and we are currently in final negotiations to acquire our first land plots in these new markets. We also made good progress in the further development of our team and have been able to attract a number of strong and highly qualified profiles to support our next growth phase." The first few months of 2018 can be summarised as follows: During the first four months, we contracted 10.4 million of new and renewed rental income driven by 157,000 m of new lease agreements signed corresponding to 8.3 million of new annualised rental income combined with 39,000 m of lease agreements renewed corresponding to 2.0 million of annualised rental income and 0.4 million of additional rental income from rental reviews and indexation). A total of 7 projects were delivered representing 227,407 m of lettable area, capable of generating 10.8 million of annual rent when fully let, of which 10.6 million (97.6%) had been contracted. VGP European Logistics joint venture saw its fourth closing in 2018 which allowed VGP to recycle some 301 million of net cash proceeds, which after the repayment of 73 million short term bank debt and the anticipated 35.3 million dividend payment will be re-invested in VGP's development pipeline to further grow the business. 505,150 m of new projects are currently being developed (31 December 2017: 475,113 m). These new projects represent future estimated annual rent of 24.1 million. 433,389 m of new development land acquired and 1,275,760 m new land plots under option to support the development pipeline. During the first quarter of 2018 we opened new offices in Italy and the Benelux. We also significantly strengthened the VGP team with the hiring of new senior people in significant roles i.e. a new VP Business Development and Investor Relations, who will join VGP during the second half of 2018 and who comes from a large blue chip investment bank; a new Chief Investment Officer, who joined at the beginning of the year and who is responsible to drive VGP's further expansion into the new markets; and a new Head of Controlling who comes from a large industrial company and who will join during the second quarter of 2018. Post the fourth Joint Venture closing at the end of April 2018 the own property portfolio of VGP now consists of 7 completed buildings representing 288,659 m of lettable area, with an 100% occupancy rate. The Joint Venture's property portfolio consists of 60 completed buildings representing 1,216,173 m of lettable area, having currently an occupancy rate of 99.4%, and a gross asset value ("GAV") of 1.1 billion. Annualised committed rent income The increase in demand of lettable area resulted in the signing of new lease contracts in excess of 10.4 million in total of which 8.7 million related to new or replacement leases ( 2.8 million on behalf of VGP European Logistics) and 1.7 million ( 1.5 million on behalf of VGP European Logistics) were related to renewals of existing lease contracts. During the first four months of the year lease contracts for a total amount of 1.5 million (all related to VGP European Logistics) were terminated. The annualised committed leases therefore increased to 90.9 million, as at the end of April 2018 (compared to 82.2 million as at 31 December 2017). Germany was the main driver of the growth in committed leases with 2.6 million of new leases signed during the year ( 1.1 million on behalf of VGP European Logistics). The other countries also performed very well with new leases being signed in the Czech Republic + 2.5 million ( 1.6 million on behalf of VGP European Logistics), in Spain + 1.1 million (own portfolio), in Latvia + 1.9 million (own portfolio), in Romania + 0.1 million (own portfolio) and finally in Hungary + 0.1 million (JV portfolio). The signed committed lease agreements of the own portfolio (post fourth Joint Venture closing at the end of April 2018) represent a total of 480,363 m of lettable area with the weighted average term of the annualised committed leases standing at 13.8 years. The signed committed lease agreements of the Joint Venture portfolio (post fourth Joint Venture closing at the end of April 2018) represent a total of 1,306,903 m of lettable area with the weighted average term of the annualised committed leases standing at 8.1 years. The weighted average term of the annualised leases of the combined own and Joint Venture portfolio (post fourth Joint Venture closing at the end of April 2018) stood at 9.5 years compared to 9.7 years at the end of December 2017. Evolution of the property portfolio The development activities during 2018 can be summarised as follows: Completed projects During the first four months of 2018, 7 buildings were completed totalling 227,407 m of lettable area. For its own account VGP delivered 5 buildings i.e. In the Czech Republic: 2 buildings in VGP Park Usti nad Labem totalling 12,502 m. In Germany: 1 building of 12,803 m in VGP Park Wustermark and 1 building of 19,264 in VGP Park Wetzlar and finally, in Spain 1 building of 22,746 m in VGP Park San Fernando de Henares. Of these buildings the Joint Venture acquired at the end of April 2018: In the Czech Republic the buildings of VGP Park Usti nad Labem and in Germany: the building in VGP Park Wetzlar. For the Joint Venture VGP completed 2 buildings i.e. In the Czech Republic: 1 building of 13,071 in VGP Park Cesky Ujezd and in Germany 1 building of 147,022 in VGP Park Frankenthal. These buildings were also part of the fourth Joint Venture closing at the end of April 2018. Projects under construction At the end of April 2018 (post Joint Venture closing) VGP has the following 26 buildings under construction: For its own account VGP has 14 new buildings under construction i.e. in the Czech Republic: 2 buildings in VGP Park Chomotov. In Latvia 2 buildings in VGP Park Kekava. In Romania; 2 buildings in VGP Park Timisoara. In Germany 1 building in VGP Park Gottingen, 1 building in VGP Park Halle, 2 buildings in VGP Park Wustermark and finally 1 building in VGP Park Dresden. In Spain; 2 buildings in VGP Park San Fernando de Henares and 1 building in VGP Park Mango. The new buildings under construction represent a total future lettable area of 352,876 m which corresponds to an estimated annualised rent income of 16.5 million. On behalf of the Joint Venture VGP is constructing 12 new buildings: In the Czech Republic: 2 buildings in VGP Park Hradek nad Nisou, 1 building in VGP Park Olomouc and 2 buildings in VGP Park Jenec. In Germany: 1 building in VGP Park Hamburg, 2 buildings in VGP Park Leipzig, 1 building in VGP Park Wetzlar and 2 buildings in VGP Park Berlin. In the other countries: 1 building in VGP Park Malacky (Slovakia). The new buildings under construction represent a total future lettable area of 152,274 m which corresponds to an estimated annualised rent income of 7.6 million. Land bank During the first four months of the year, VGP continued to target land plots to support the development pipeline for future growth. VGP acquired 433,389 m of new development land of which 333,311 m was located in Romania with the remaining 100,078 m being located in Germany. These new land plots have a development potential of 200,000 m of future lettable area. Besides this VGP has another 1,275,760 m of new land plots under option which are located in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These land plots have a development potential of approximately 570,000 m of new lettable areas and the bulk of the land plots are expected to be purchased during 2018, subject to obtaining the necessary permits. VGP has currently a remaining secured development land bank of 2,983,860 m of which 57% or 1,708,100 m is in full ownership. The secured land bank allows VGP to develop, in addition to, the current completed projects and projects under construction an additional 1,368,000 m of lettable area of which 418,000 m in Germany, 426,000 m in the Czech Republic, 155,000 m in Spain, 205,000 m in Slovakia and 164,000 m in Romania. The Joint Venture has currently a remaining development land bank in full ownership of 149,219 m on which a total of 59,000 m of new lettable area can be developed. Geographic expansion During the first months of 2018 we have established our operational presence in Italy and the Benelux. In Italy we have seen a number of interesting opportunities and we are currently close to securing 2 plots of land. In the Benelux we are close to securing one plot of land. Expansion of the VGP team During 2018 we expanded the VGP team with a number of highly experienced and high-profile individuals. Mr Matthias Sander joined as new Chief Investment Officer. Matthias spent the last 11 years in several leading roles with Knorr Bremse and was its Managing Director in the Czech Republic. His industrial and automotive experience will be a valuable asset to identify and originate new business opportunities across our different markets. He will also help to further streamline VGP's internal processes with the establishment of measurable key performance indicators to support a focussed growth of the VGP Group. In line with building out a more professional organisation and focus on sustainable cost and profit deliverables a new Group Controller was also hired and will join VGP during the summer months. We also attracted a new VP Business Development and Investor Relations who will join VGP during the second half of 2018 and who comes from a large blue chip investment bank. Further details will be disclosed closer to the effective start date of this person. For more information Mr Jan Van Geet Mr Dirk Stoop CEO CFO Tel. + 420 602 404 790 Tel.+32 2 719 00 45 E-mail: jan.van.geet@vgpparks.eu E-mail: dirk.stoop@vgpparks.eu Profile VGP (www.vgpparks.eu) constructs and develops high-end logistic real estate and ancillary offices for its own account and for the account of its VGP European Logistics joint venture (50:50 joint venture between Allianz Real Estate and VGP), which are subsequently rented out to reputable clients on long term lease contracts. VGP has an in-house team which manages all activities of the fully integrated business model: from identification and acquisition of land, to the conceptualisation and design of the project, the supervision of the construction works, contracts with potential tenants and the facility management. VGP is quoted on Euronext Brussels and the Main Market of the Prague Stock Exchange. English Norwegian Orkla ASA has on 9 May bought 580,000 Orkla shares through broker at an average price of NOK 74.68 per share. Orkla's total holding of treasury shares after this transaction is 3,821,933 shares. Orkla ASA Oslo, 11 May 2018 Ref.: IR & Communications Manager Elise Heidenreich Tel.: +47 951 41 147 May 16th in Aberdeen Grammar FPs, Queens Road, Aberdeen, Scotland May 17th in The Burns Room, Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness, Scotland SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziyen Inc., a Scottish-American energy company is proud to announce its participation in two inaugural investor conferences. The first will be in Aberdeen and the second in Inverness, Scotland. Both of these key events are open to the public and will offer deep insight into Ziyen Inc.s near-term strategy. Ziyen Inc. Director of Oil Intelligence, Shane Fraser stated, As a follow up to the acquisition of our last two strategic assets, which bring us to 13 in aggregate, we are making ourselves available to meet with shareholders and potential shareholders. Our Ziyen Advantage will be a key focus. Ziyen offers a much more sustainable means of oil production in which proprietary technology will be used to bring down the cost of oil production. This will increase the growth of Ziyen and ultimately inform our long-term corporate strategy to maximize well production time using a world-class oil and gas technical team with over 50-years of experience in onshore and offshore drilling. Ziyen Advantage Offers a Much More Sustainable Means of Oil Production All are welcome to the event and although it is not a ticketed event, space is limited, so please send your RSVP to support@ziyen.com. The Aberdeen event will be held at the 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday May 16th 2018 Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K at the following location: Aberdeen Grammar FPs 86 Queens Road Aberdeen Scotland AB15 4YQ For directions please call the Aberdeen FP at +44 (0) 1224 316827 For Information about the event please call our Ziyen Inc. U.K. Headquarters +44 (0) 7540 827332. To RSVP for the event please email support@ziyen.com Ziyen Inc. CEO, Alastair Caithness stated about the upcoming Aberdeen Investor Summit, At Ziyen we are proud to announce the launch of our inaugural Investors Summit in Aberdeen. It has just been over a week since I attended the Invest Aberdeen networking event in Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Houston, and what a great job the Lord Provost Barney Crockett did promoting the Energy Capital of Europe on the World Stage. Made me proud and excited to be associated to Aberdeen and the fact that we are also growing a Scottish American Company on the International Stage. The Inverness event will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday May 17th 2018 Inverness, Scotland, U.K at the following location: The Burns Room Kingsmills Hotel Culcabock Road Inverness Scotland IV2 3LP For directions please call the Kingsmills Hotel at +44 (0) 1463 237 166 For Information about the event please call our Ziyen Inc. U.K. Headquarters +44 (0) 7540 827332. To RSVP for the event please email support@ziyen.com Ziyen Inc. CEO, Alastair Caithness stated about the upcoming Inverness Investor Summit, For our Second Investor Summit, we are heading up to the Highlands in Scotland. Inverness is the home town of three Board Members; Shane Fraser, Mingus Johnston and myself. For the Summit we will be presenting at the prestigious Burns Room, in the Kingsmills Hotel. Coming from Scotland, and a big fan of Scotland's most famous poet, Robert Burns, known for my poetry when I was younger, I have decided to break into verse a Scottish Poem in Burns style for our upcoming arrival. Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie, Back fae the States with something tasty, As the Ziyen train rolls in tae the Snek, Twenty minutes of yer time to hear our Pitch Deck, Weve nae came into the toon for a Battle But to buy you a drink, to hear us Prattle We're at the Kingsmills Hotel next Thursday Night, In the Burns Room, come doon ..... the place is just right. For more information visit: https://www.ziyen.com About Ziyen Inc. Founded in 2016, Ziyen Inc. is a Scottish-American company focused on delivering 100% Energy Independence to the USA. Initially launched as a software company providing information about oil and gas related procurement contracts, Ziyen Inc. diversified in 2017, instating the Ziyen Energy Division with the intent to produce oil in the U.S. with advanced extraction methods and technology implemented and guided by career experts in the oil and gas industry. In 2017 Ziyen acquired the mineral rights to its first oil field in Indiana, and now has thirteen oil assets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently qualified Ziyen Inc. in November 2017 for its second round of funding, with a pre-IPO share price of $1.50. More information may be found in its Offering Circular filed with the SEC, or on its website www.ziyen.com. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements related to anticipated commencement of commercial production, targeted pricing, performance goals, and statements that otherwise relate to future periods are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the Company's periodic reports filed with the SEC- specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made and based on information available to the company on the date of this press release. Ziyen Inc. assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release. Contact: Josh Berg Berg Capital Markets josh@bergcapitalmarkets.com Dean Holter, Esq. Berg Capital Markets dean@bergcapitalmarkets.com FORM 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY AN EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER WITHOUT RECOGNISED INTERMEDIARY ("RI") STATUS (OR WHERE RI STATUS IS NOT APPLICABLE) Rule 8.5 of the Takeover Code (the "Code") 1. KEY INFORMATION (a) Name of exempt principal trader: HSBC Securities (South Africa) (Pty) Limited (b) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Sibanye Gold Ltd (c) Name of the party to the offer with which exempt principal trader is connected: Sibanye Gold Ltd (d) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 10-May-2018 (e) In addition to the company in 1(b) above, is the exempt principal trader making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" YES - Lonmin plc. 2. POSITIONS OF THE EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(b), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security. (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any) Class of relevant security: Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: (2) Cash-settled derivatives: 2,728,495 0.120 3,042,344 0.134 (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 2,728,495 0.120 3,042,344 0.134 All interests and all short positions should be disclosed. Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions). (b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options) Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: 3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(b), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in. The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated. (a) Purchases and sales Class of relevant security Purchases/ sales Total number of securities Highest price per unit paid/received (ZAR) Lowest price per unit paid/received (ZAR) (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit (ZAR) Ordinary Shares Swap Increasing a Short Position 38,357 894.100 c Ordinary Shares Swap Reducing a Long Position 713 888.000 c Ordinary Shares Swap Reducing a Long Position 48,308 888.000 c Ordinary Shares Swap Reducing a Short Position 214,783 895.550 c (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options) (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit (ii) Exercise Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities) Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) 4. OTHER INFORMATION (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the exempt principal trader making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the exempt principal trader making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (c) Attachments Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? No Date of disclosure: 11-May-2018 Contact name: Sukant Roy Telephone number: 0207 088 2000 Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129. The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk. English Finnish Publishing of Silmaasema's Interim Report January-March 2018 and invitation to a briefing Silmaasema Oyj Press Release 11 May 2018 at 12:00 EEST Silmaasema Oyj will publish its Interim Report January-March 2018 on Thursday 17 May 2018 approximately at 9:00 a.m. EEST. The Interim Report and related presentation material will be available on company's web site https://company.silmaasema.fi/en/reports-and-presentations after publishing. Audiocast and conference call for investment analysts and press A briefing for investment analysts and the press will be arranged on Thursday 17 May 2018 at 10:30 a.m. EEST through a live audiocast combined with a conference call. The briefing will be hosted by CEO Pasi Kohmo and CFO Anu Kankkunen. Link to the audiocast is available at https://company.silmaasema.fi/en/reports-and-presentations. Conference call numbers: Finland +358 (0) 981 710 465 UK +44 (0) 203 194 0552 USA +1 855 716 1597 Sweden +46 (0) 856 642 702 Recording of the audiocast and conference call as well as Finnish audiocast presentations will be later available on the company's website. Additional information Tuukka Hirvonen, Head of Communications and Investor Relations, tel. +358 50 416 7700 SILMAASEMA OYJ Communications Silmaasema is a Finnish company, which offers all products and services for optical retail and eye healthcare nationwide. Silmaasema is the largest private eye clinic provider offering eye surgeries and the second largest optical retail chain in Finland. The Silmaasema chain has over 150 stores and 14 eye clinics in Finland as well as ten stores in Estonia. The Silmaasema chain employs close to 1,000 eye healthcare professionals. Silmaasema's Group net sales were EUR 118.3 million in 2017 and adjusted EBITDA was EUR 11.8 million. Washington, D.C., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) recently received a Eugene Washington Engagement Award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support AAFAs Building A Scalable Infrastructure to Connect Patients and Researchers (BASIC) project. Building on AAFAs capability to advance research, the BASIC project will give patients and family members an opportunity to get directly involved in the advancement of asthma research. Led by Lynda Mitchell, AAFAs chief operating officer, this project will leverage what AAFA has learned through their prior patient-centered outcome research projects, including the Promoting Asthma Patient Engagement in Research (PAPER) project and the Asthma in Families Facing Out-of-Pocket Requirements with Deductibles (AFFORD) study. Im excited about this project, especially since it is the first of its kind for both asthma and allergy communities and reflects what we have heard from patients in our online community, says Kenneth Mendez, AAFAs president and chief executive officer. There is a widespread need for more effective patient, family member and research collaborations. We are honored to receive this award from PCORI that will allow us to continue our innovations in patient engagement." The BASIC project includes the creation of online resources for patients and family members to learn how to provide meaningful input into research. The project will also design processes to connect researchers with trained and engaged patients and family members who can provide meaningful input into their research studies. The long-term goal for BASIC is to scale a system for increasing the number of patient-centered outcomes and clinical effectiveness research studies for asthma and allergic diseases by fostering productive collaborations between patients, family members and researchers. We want researchers to think of AAFA if they are doing patient-centered outcomes research on asthma or allergic diseases, says Mitchell. The BASIC project is an important new opportunity for AAFA to advance research by building an infrastructure that hasnt previously been possible. By training patients and family members to effectively engage with researchers, we will provide more researchers with opportunities to conduct their work and more people the chance to participate in studies. This project was selected for Engagement Award funding not only for its commitment to engaging patients and other stakeholders, but also for its potential to increase the usefulness and trustworthiness of the information we produce and facilitate its dissemination and uptake, Jean Slutsky, PCORIs chief engagement and dissemination officer, says. We look forward to following the projects progress and working with AAFA to share the results." AAFAs project and the other projects approved for funding by the PCORI Engagement Award Program were selected through a highly competitive review process in which applications were assessed for their ability to meet PCORIs engagement goals and objectives, as well as program criteria. For more information about the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards and AAFAs BASIC project, visit pcori.org. ABOUT AAFAFounded in 1953 and celebrating 65 years of service, AAFA is the oldest and largest non-profit patient organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with asthma, allergies and related conditions through research, education, advocacy and support. AAFA provides practical information and community-based services through its digital communities and national network of local chapters and educational support groups. Through its Kids With Food Allergies division, AAFA offers the most extensive online support community for families raising children with food allergies. AAFA also helps consumers identify products suitable for those with asthma and allergies through the asthma & allergy friendly Certification Program. For more information, visit aafa.org. ABOUT PCORIPCORI is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit TORONTO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BELGRAVIA CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INC. (CSE:BLGV) (OTCQB:BLGVF) (Belgravia or the Company) today announced that it has completed the strategic transition of ICP Organics, the fully owned subsidiary of Belgravia, to a cannabinoid-based dermatology ethical drug research and product development company. Further, the name of ICP Organics, the dermatology division of Belgravia, is being changed to Belgravia Dermatology Inc. (Belgravia Dermatology). The Company has also announced today that Sidney Himmel has been appointed as director of Belgravia Dermatology. Belgravia Dermatology Inc. Belgravia Dermatology Inc., previously, ICP Organics, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is now the medical division of Belgravia. On April 18, 2018, Dr. Sam Hanna, a well-known dermatologist with many years of medical and clinical research experience, was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Belgravia Dermatology. He is responsible for all medical aspects in the development of cannabinoid-based active pharmaceutical ingredients for dermatological conditions. The focus of the Company will be on ethical drugs. Ethical drugs are defined to be those pharmaceuticals that are approved by drug regulators after reviewing scientific evidence of the product's safety, effectiveness, and quality. In Canada, approved ethical drugs are provided drug identification numbers by the Therapeutics Products Directorate (TPD). In the United States they are provided National Drug Codes by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Before giving permission to sell a product, the TPD in Canada or the FDA in the United States, must see scientific evidence of the product's safety, effectiveness, and quality. Sidney Himmel appointed Director, Belgravia Dermatology: Mr. Sidney Himmel has been appointed Director of Belgravia Dermatology. The directors of Belgravia Dermatology are Mehdi Azodi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the medical subsidiary, Dr. Sam Hanna, Chief Medical Officer, and Sidney Himmel. Mr. Himmel, a chemistry graduate, and previous president of Belgravia (at that time IC Potash) has previously worked in the investment industry as a biotechnology analyst, and biotechnology corporate finance specialist. Mr. Himmel is currently Chairman of Khiron Life Sciences Corp., a vertically integrated international medical cannabis company, and was prior to that, Chairman of Namaste Technologies. Mr. Himmel has been a member of the American Chemical Society, and has written portions of, and was the editor of a book on Canadian Biotechnology companies, describing the biotechnology space, science, and financial aspects of numerous Canadian biotechnology companies. Mr. Himmel will be working closely with Dr. Hanna in the strategic approach to ethical cannabinoid and terpenoid active pharmaceutical ingredients for the treatment of unmet needs in medical dermatology. Mr. Mehdi Azodi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Belgravia, and Chairman and President of Belgravia Dermatology stated: We are pleased to be advancing our dermatology strategy and look forward to working with Sidney Himmel as an active director. Mr. Himmel was previously key in establishing the chemical processing of Sulphate of Potash at IC Potash. Further, he has very strong capabilities in biotechnology development and related business strategy and financing. His input will be of significant value as the Company continues to define its pre-clinical approaches in the areas of acne, atopic dermatitis, and other skin conditions, where there are strong indications that cannabinoids, terpenoids, related molecules, and derivative products may be of critical importance. The Company is progressing in molecular target evaluation, and the planning of Intellectual Property and Patenting models. We believe that true biotechnology will substantially enhance the medical cannabis space. Mr. Azodi continued: Due to the uniquely challenging aspects of United States based cannabinoid and terpenoids research, the advantaged developing legal characteristics of such research and development in Canada, provides unique opportunities to create substantial value on an accelerated basis to Belgravia shareholders. Canada is very well positioned internationally to successfully carry out the critical role of research and development in Cannabinoid dermatology, and this will be a major focus for our Company. We also look to developing value-added partnerships in this space internationally. Belgravia has committed capital to fund substantial development towards drug target and drug candidate identification and evaluation. We will look to add senior technical staff in the areas of chemistry, drug target testing, and cell biology and clinical dermatology in Q2 2018. We believe that considerable growth will be generated equivalent in multiples of capital to be spent. About Belgravia Belgravia Capital International Inc. is focused on its three core business divisions: Incubation, Investments and also Royalties. Belgravia will also develop new companies with a focus on the legal medical cannabis industry. The Incubation division will provide services to support the development of early-stage companies in the legal Cannabis space and other technologies as well as mineral and resources. Belgravia Holdings, the Investments division, invests in various private and public companies with a focus on legal medical cannabis, technology, and, on an opportunistic basis, resources. For more information, please visit www.belgraviacapital.ca. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that use forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, anticipate, believe, continue, potential or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding planned investment activities & related returns, trends in the markets for fertilizers and medicinal or recreational use of cannabis, the timing or assurance of the legalization of recreational cannabis, the timing for completion of research and development activities, the potential value of royalties from water and other resources, and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, changes in market trends, the completion, results and timing of research undertaken by the Company, risks associated with resource assets, the impact of general economic conditions, commodity prices, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory, environmental, and governmental approvals, the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing, and risks associated with cannabis use for medicinal or recreational purposes. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. For More Information, Please Contact: Mehdi Azodi, President & CEO Belgravia Capital International Inc. (416) 779-3268 mazodi@blgv.ca By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 11, 2018 | 02:16 PM | PADUCAH, KY The U.S. Department of Energy is still accepting registrations for those who want to take their 2018 public tour its site near Paducah. Tour participants will get an up-close look at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the sites cleanup operations.DOE offers tours so the public can learn the history and honor the heritage of workers who met the nations defense and energy needs for many years. After an orientation, visitors will tour the site, including a visit to the plants control facility, the hub of the gaseous diffusion plant. The tours also include historical videos, photographs, and information on current activities.DOE is pleased to host the tours for the third consecutive year to present the historical significance of the site, said Jennifer Woodard, Paducah Site Lead for DOEs Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.Tours will be offered May 19, June 2, June 23, and September 8, 2018, at 8:00 am and noon, and are free of charge.Steve Christmas with the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office said spots are still available, especially for the June and September tours.Groups meet to begin tours at the West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) Emerging Technology Center, located at 4810 Alben Barkley Drive in Paducah.Participants must pre-register at https://www.fourriversnuclearpartnership.com/tours (see link below) and must be U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older. The tours last approximately three hours and are coordinated by Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, the DOE deactivation and remediation contractor. Each tour will accommodate a maximum of 40 people and reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis. On the Net: Calloway County Library Board Awaits New Members Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2018 | MURRAY, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2018 | 06:21 PM | MURRAY, KY The Calloway County Library Board is awaiting new members to be appointed by Judge Executive Larry Elkins. The board, which is made up of five individuals, has been short since three members resigned in April. No business can be conducted until the new members are appointed. County Judge Executive Larry Elkins told West Kentucky Star that he will be appointing the new members soon. He said he is concerned about the expansion of the library, as the approved amount by the board, could result in the county having to raise taxes. He basically feels that could mean unelected officials having a say in a tax increase, which he sees as a problem. Elkins also stressed that the library expansion issue is "very contentious". According to WKMS Radio, Calloway County Public Library Board president Riley Ramsey feels that the expansion can be done without the need for a tax increase. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2018 | 08:16 PM | MAYFIELD, KY A Mayfield man faces multiple charges after an incident with police Wednesday. According to the Mayfield Police Department, officers were attempting to detain 32-year-old Anthony Roberts and transport him to Four Rivers Behavioral Health when he became combative. After several minutes of attempting to safely control Roberts, officers got him placed in the back of a police vehicle. Officers called EMS workers to evaluate Roberts to ensure he was not having a medical emergency. After paramedics finished their assessment and released Roberts back to officers, he attempted to run, and became combative again. Officers safely controlled Roberts for a second time, but several officers sustained minor injuries. Roberts was arrested, and transported to the Graves County Jail. He's charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, four counts of assaulting a police officer, menacing, criminal mischief, fleeing or evading police and harassing communications. Sen. Paul a 'No' Vote Against CIA Nominee Advertisement By The Associated Press May. 11, 2018 | LOUISVILLE, KY By The Associated Press May. 11, 2018 | 10:50 AM | LOUISVILLE, KY Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is sticking with his decision to vote against Gina Haspel to lead the CIA. Paul said Friday that he opposed her nomination because he does not want to "reward somebody who participated in torture" and who has trouble saying that torture is immoral. The veteran CIA official has drawn resistance from some in the Senate for her involvement in the CIA's harsh interrogation program during George W. Bush's presidency. Haspel faced grilling Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee about her role overseeing some CIA operations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She told senators that she doesn't believe torture works as an interrogation technique. Los Angeles, CA., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gopher Protocol Inc. (GOPH) ("Gopher"), a company specializing in the creation of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence enabled mobile technologies, announced the signing of an equity financing for $2 million dollars with the initial $500,000 funded. The details on the funding can be found in the Companys Form 8-K https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1471781/000161577418003443/0001615774-18-003443-index.htm The financing was provided by an investor that has participated in numerous financings in the past, a strong indicator that internal support for Gopher is growing. We are excited about the fact that we are now attracting fundamentally driven equity investments that support the business and enhance shareholder value and clarity stated Kevin Pickard, Gophers CFO. The fact that management can spend less time seeking capital and can focus on its rollout of its numerous technologies, we believe indicates a bright future for Gopher he continued. The proceeds of the financing will be used to continue funding the deep technology portfolio that Gopher has built over the years. With numerous products on the cusp of commercialization, Gophers R&D expenses have notch slightly higher. Gopher will also use part of the proceeds to cover some incremental operating costs attributable to the recent acquisition activity. About Gopher Protocol Inc. Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) (Gopher and the "Company") (http://gopherprotocol.com/) is a development-stage company which consider itself Native IoT creator, developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence enabled mobile technology. The Company has a portfolio of Intellectual Property that when commercialized will include smart microchips, mobile application software and supporting cloud software. The system contemplates the creation of a global network. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that can be installed in any mobile device worldwide. Gopher envisions this system as an internal, private network between all enabled mobile devices providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management/sharing and enhanced mobile features. Corporate Site: http://gopherprotocol.com Press page/ press kit - http://gopherprotocol.com/?page_id=228 Consumer and product website for Guardian Patch: http://www.guardianpatch.com/. About Guardian Pet Tracker http://www.guardianpettracker.com/ The Guardian Pet Tracker (Sphere Internal name - the "Sphere") system is a derivative technology of Gopher's Guardian Patch technology. The Sphere is designed to provide its users with local tracking capability using a re-chargeable/replaceable battery source. Gopher intends to release pre-production units in limited test in the near future. GOPH disclosure: More info: SEC link /technology abstract: Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. ALBANY, New York, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a latest market report titled Next Generation Military Power Supply Market, published by Transparency Market Research the global next generation military power supply market is expected to reach value of US$ 20,111.7 Mn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period, 2018 to 2026. According to the research study, North America held approximately 39.3% of the global market share in 2017. This is mainly due to development of advanced military power supply systems as well as early adoption of COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) software. Also, growing need to protect sensitive data from grid power instability and downtime issues is anticipated to significantly drive the global next generation military power supply market. Request PDF Brochure for Research Insights at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22802 Demand for unique features in military power supply systems such as increased ruggedness, durability, and reliability, and growing demand for longer mean time between failure and adoption of COTS technology driving the global next generation military power supply market Some of the major factors favoring the growth of the global next generation military power supply market include rising trend of incorporating digital power management and control solutions in military power supply products. Further, the power supply equipment replacement cycle is getting shorter. The military sector is responsible for safeguarding sensitive data such as information related to national security, weapons, defense systems, strategies etc. The need to protect sensitive electronic devices from grid power quality instability is increasing significantly. Adopting smart grid systems & renewable energy sources can improve grid reliability. Smart grid technology in power supply systems can improve the amount of uneven renewable generation in power systems. Smart grids stimulate energy saving in power supply systems by improving the utilization efficiency and power consuming efficiency. Also, increase in use of equipment demanding higher voltage is paving the way for new market opportunities. Get PDF Sample for Industry Insights at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=22802 Next Generation Military Power Supply: Scope of the Report The global next generation military power supply market has been segmented by type, component, system type, and end-use. Based on type, the market is segmented into programmable and non-programmable segments. According to TMR analysis, the programmable power supply segment holds the maximum market share and is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 5.5% through 2026. This is mainly due to increasing application areas of programmable power supply components in the military sector. Based on component, the global next generation military power supply market is categorized into hardware and software. The hardware segment is further sub segmented into DC/AC convertor, AC/DC convertor, DC/DC convertor, EMI filters and others (inductors, transformers, etc.). Among components, the hardware segment holds the largest share and is anticipated to show a CAGR of about 5.2%. By hardware, AC/DC convertor segment is anticipated to contribute significant market revenue share, expanding at a CAGR of 6.1 % and it is anticipated to remain dominant during the forecast period. On the basis of system type, the market is segmented into discrete power supply system and integrated power modules. According to the research study, due to better reliability and power density compared to discrete power supply system, the market share of integrated power modules is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 5.9%. Based on end-use, the global next generation military power supply market is segmented into aerial, land, and naval. The land segment is anticipated to grab maximum market share in 2017 while the aerial segment is projected to show lucrative growth during the forecast period at a CAGR of 5.7%. This is mainly due to legislation regarding pollution control which demands better fuel efficient aerial military vehicles and the development of advanced military aircrafts and vehicles in the military power supply market. Get Discount on this Report at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=22802 The geographical segmentation of the market comprises North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America. According to TMR analysis, currently the next generation military power supply market is dominated by North America followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific is projected to witness fastest growth during the forecast period due to ongoing technological innovations in the military power supply market. Global Next Generation Military Power Supply: Competitive Dynamics The research study includes profiles of leading companies operating in the global next generation military power supply market. Market players have been profiled in terms of attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, recent developments, and SWOT analysis. Some of the key players operating in the next generation military power supply market are XP Power, Advanced Conversion Technology, Eaton Corporation, Aegis Power System, Inc., TDK-Lambda Americas, Inc., Abbott Technologies, AGMA Power Systems Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Energy Technologies Inc., Synqor, Inc., AJs Power Source Inc., Prime Power Inc., Powerbox International AB, Milpower Source, Astrodyne TDI Power Supplies & EMI Filters among others. Various business strategies are being adopted by market leaders. Also, companies are focusing on expanding their business by developing strategic partnerships, product portfolio diversification, and by offering innovative solutions to the end-use market. Download Report TOC at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/22802 Market Segmentation: Next Generation Military Power Supply, By Type Programmable Non Programmable Next Generation Military Power Supply, By Component Hardware DC/AC Convertor AC/DC Convertor DC/DC Convertor EMI Filters Others (Inductors, Transformers, etc.) Software Next Generation Military Power Supply, By System Type Discrete Power Supply System Integrated Power Modules Synchronous Non synchronous Next Generation Military Power Supply, By End-Use Aerial Land Naval Popular Reports by TMR: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Security Market at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cbrn-security-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cbrn-security-market.html Smart Bullets Market at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/smart-bullets-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement. Contact Us Mr. Atil Chaudhari Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Research Blog: http://www.techyounme.com/ By: Paige Cline The hills are still green for the most part, but a little[Read More] MONTREAL, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SEMAFO (TSX:SMF) (OMX:SMF) announces that at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on May 10, 2018, all directors nominated in the 2018 management proxy circular were re-elected. A total of 233,580,184 common shares or 71.75% of our issued and outstanding common shares were represented in person or by proxy at the meeting. Detailed results are as follows: Nominee Votes for % of Votes for Votes Withheld % of Votes Withheld Terence F. Bowles 230,714,670 99.97 61,519 0.03 Benoit Desormeaux 229,776,376 99.57 999,813 0.43 Flore Konan 222,090,965 96.24 8,685,224 3.76 John LeBoutillier 201,173,357 87.17 29,602,832 12.83 Gilles Masson 229,032,166 99.24 1,744,023 0.76 Lawrence McBrearty 229,428,794 99.42 1,347,395 0.58 Tertius Zongo 221,866,831 96.14 8,909,358 3.86 Additionally, the proposal to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors was approved: For: 98.98 % Withheld: 1.02 % Finally, an advisory resolution on the Corporations approach to executive compensation was approved. For: 93.92 % Against: 6.08 % About SEMAFO SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa. The Corporation currently owns and operates the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, which includes the high-grade satellite Siou deposit, and is targeting production start-up of the Boungou Mine in the third quarter of 2018. SEMAFOs strategic focus is to maximize shareholder value by effectively managing its existing assets as well as pursuing organic and strategic growth opportunities. The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of SEMAFO under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on May 11, 2018 at 7:30 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time. For more information, contact Oles Corner The hanging baskets seem to be a hot topic so I will start there. Folks, I hate to see them go too. They are annuals one growing season. Their... Thank you for your generosity Dear Editor: Your Winterset Lions Club wants to say THANKS to everyone who donated at the north 4-way on Sept. 11 when we had our annual collection event for White... Cindy Axne Active-duty members of our armed forces who are transitioning out of their military service have access to a program that connects them to in-demand skills training and prospective employers who... VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp. (TSX.V:CBW) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced acquisition (the "Transaction") of its streaming partner Robinson's Cannabis Inc. ("Robinson's"), acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Robinson's. Robinson's, formerly Cannahort Agriculture Inc. and an original streaming partner of the Company, is a privately-owned, late-stage licensed producer applicant under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (the "ACMPR") located in Kentville, Nova Scotia that is currently constructing a 27,700 square foot purpose-built cannabis cultivation facility. Pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated April 6, 2018, the Company has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Robinson's for an aggregate purchase price of $14,000,000, issued to the shareholders of Robinson's as an aggregate of 9,395,968 common shares in the capital of the Company. As a result of the Transaction, Robinson's is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Hugo Alves, President and Director of Cannabis Wheaton commented, I could not be happier to announce the closing of the Robinson's acquisition. This transaction strengthens our commitment to Atlantic Canada and deepens the roots that we're establishing there. Andrew and his team are exceptionally talented, passionate professionals who are committed to the craft of growing ultra-premium cannabis and we believe that his cannabis flower will be highly sought after among cannabis connoisseurs across the country. In addition, the Robinson's purpose-built facility is located in Kentville, Nova Scotia, a short drive from our Dosecann facility in Charlottetown, PEI, where we intend to work with Andrew and his team to develop derivative products which highlight the quality of Robinson's cannabis and cater to cannabis consumers who demand and enjoy the very best. Andrew Robinson, President and Master Grower of Robinson's stated, "The Robinsons Cannabis team could not be more excited about the announcement of our partnership. Weve developed a terrific relationship with Chuck, Hugo and the rest of the team over that past year. There are so many invaluable benefits to having Wheaton as a partner but more than anything it is the energy, talent, and passion for cannabis of the Wheaton team that are a compliment and natural fit for the Robinsons team and our ambitions. We want to share our distinct product with the world and to become a global brand, the Wheaton team and platform are best equipped to help accomplish our goal." For further details on the Transaction, see the Company's press release dated April 9, 2018 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Chuck Rifici" Chairman & CEO About Cannabis Wheaton (TSX.V:CBW) Cannabis Wheaton is a collective of entrepreneurs with a passion for the cannabis industry past, present and future. Our mandate is to facilitate growth for our partners by providing them with financial support and sharing our collective industry experience. Our partners all have different visions, voices and brand values, and all share a common goalto build a world-class industry based on ethics, diversity, quality and innovation. Investor Relations: For more information about investing in Cannabis Wheaton, please visit: http://www.wheatonincome.com or contact our Investor Relations Team: Email: IR@wheatonincome.com 1-833-695-2414 Stay Connected: Follow up on Twitter @WheatonIncome Media Enquiries (only): For media enquiries or to set up an interview please contact: Sarah Bain, VP External Affairs Email: sarah@cannabiswheaton.com Phone: 613.230.5869 Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information: This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: the proposed licensing of Robinson's facility and the expected timing to obtain all necessary licenses required for the proposed operation of the facility, political change; future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis; competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or, following completion of the Transaction, Robinson's, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection contained in the forward-looking information in this release including, but not limited to, whether: Robinson's is able to obtain and maintain a cultivation license; the Company is able to successfully manage the integration of Robinson's operations with its own; the Robinson's facility can be completed in the manner currently proposed or at all; Robinson's can obtain all necessary governmental and regulatory permits and approvals for the facility, and whether such permits and approvals can be obtained in a timely manner; the counterparties to the Share Purchase Agreement and related transaction agreements comply with their respective obligations under the Share Purchase Agreement and related transaction agreements; and general economic, financial market, regulatory and political conditions in which the Company and Robinson's operate will remain the same. Additional risk factors are disclosed in the revised annual information form of the Company for the financial year ended December 31, 2016 dated May 23, 2017. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of those factors or to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information currently available and what management believes are reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking information speaks only to such assumptions as of the date of this release. In addition, this release may contain forward-looking information attributed to third party industry sources, the accuracy of which has not been verified by the Company. The purpose of forward-looking information is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations, and such forward-looking information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this release. The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. TORONTO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Internet of Things Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ITT) (OTC:INOTF) (FRANKFURT:71T) (IoT Inc. or the Company) an IoT software and solutions provider targeting the Industrial IoT market, is pleased to announce the appointment of James Sutcliffe as President & COO. Mr. Sutcliffe will oversee operations, investee companies and work with management to expand its strategic plan to acquire and operate growth ready technology companies. We are very pleased to have James onboard with his strong operations experience as the company pursues acquisitions in the AI-Blockchain-IoT space, said Michael Frank, CEO of IoT Inc. Mr. Sutcliffe brings more than 20 years experience in global operational and financial leadership. Earlier in his career, he was as a key member of a management team that grew a Fortune 150 Tier 1 automotive suppliers Asian operations ten-fold. During this time, Mr. Sutcliffe held senior corporate development, finance and executive management roles. Spearheading entry into new markets in Asia, he was instrumental in guiding start-ups and acquisitions in China, India and Korea. Upon his return to Canada, Mr. Sutcliffe led a multi-million dollar turnaround for an electrical and digital infrastructure company. He then moved on to head up finance for the Canadian subsidiary of a US-based provider of highly engineered robotic automation solutions. Prior to joining IoT Inc., Mr. Sutcliffe was the CFO of a supplier to the global Tier 1 off-road market. He also has broad experience in managing organizations information systems and a passion for continuous improvement through the application of technological solutions. Mr. Sutcliffe commented, IoT Inc. is at a critical inflection point given its growth opportunities in Asia and North America. I am excited to leverage my relationships and operating experience as the company pursues very compelling and complimentary accretive acquisitions. The board of directors has approved the grant of 3,000,000 incentive stock options to Mr. Sutcliffe. The options have an exercise price of $0.07 per share and 1,500,000 will vest quarterly over a period of 18 months and the 1,500,000 balance will vest in accordance with certain performance milestones, all options carrying a term of 5 years. Further to the Companys news release of April 13, 2018, IoT Inc.s application to extend the expiry date of 3,950,000 Series C Warrants was ultimately not accepted by the TSX Venture Exchange. About Internet of Things Inc. Internet of Things Inc. (www.iotintl.com) is an Internet of Things (IoT) software and solutions provider. The company acquires and implements strategic and disruptive technology solutions targeting the industrial IoT markets, including manufacturing, energy management, agriculture, transportation, social, cybersecurity, e-commerce and fintech. IoT Inc. has a joint venture partnership with New Hope Data Technology Co. Ltd for China. Its wholly-owned subsidiary Digital Blockware Inc. develops and provides customized, scalable blockchain solutions. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Follow Internet of Things Inc. On: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternetofThingsInc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iotintl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/internet-of-things-inc- For further information, contact: Internet of Things Inc. Kim Nguyen, Director of Corporate Communications Tel: (416) 792-9088 Email: knguyen@iotintl.com To learn more, visit: www.iotintl.com Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of the Company to differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to factors referenced in the Company's other continuous disclosure filings, which are available at sedar.com. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE WiGBits Headline News Would you like to receive our WiGBits? Signup today! WiG Entertainment News Would you like to receive our WiG Entertainment News? Signup today! Digital Issue Would you like to receive our Digital Issue? Signup today! SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Samumed, LLC, a leader in Wnt signaling pathway research and development, today announced it will present preclinical data on the companys investigational Wnt pathway inhibitor SM04646, currently being developed for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), at the 2018 American Thoracic Society International Conference, to be held May 18-23, 2018 in San Diego, CA. We look forward to sharing our findings which highlight SM04646s unique mechanism of action at this years ATS conference. We believe that SM04646 may eventually be used as monotherapy or in combination with currently approved and other pipeline medications to help fight idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, commented Dr. Yusuf Yazici, Chief Medical Officer of Samumed. Poster Presentation Details: Abstract Title Date/Time Session Title SM04646 Inhibited Wnt Pathway Gene Expression Stimulated in Response to Transforming Growth Factor-b and was Effective in a Chronic Model of Bleomycin-induced Pulmonary Fibrosis Presentation #A5778/P305 Tuesday, May 22 11:15 a.m. 1:00 p.m. PDT C72 - Pulmonary Fibrosis: Mechanisms and Models Further details can be found on the ATS website at http://conference.thoracic.org/. A copy of the presentation materials can be accessed by visiting the Publications section of the Samumed website after the presentation concludes. About the American Thoracic Society Founded in 1905, the American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The Society's 15,000 members prevent and fight respiratory disease around the globe through research, education, patient care and advocacy. The ATS publishes three journals, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology and the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. The ATS will hold its 2018 International Conference, May 18-23, in San Diego, California, where world-renowned experts will share the latest scientific research and clinical advances in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. About SM04646 SM04646 is a small molecule Wnt pathway inhibitor currently being developed for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Preclinical data on SM04646 has demonstrated anti-fibrotic properties in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies, including a bleomycin-induced model of pulmonary fibrosis where aerosolized SM04646 significantly reduced fibrosis in the lungs compared with vehicle. A Phase 1 study of SM04646 assessing the safety of the molecule is currently ongoing. Additional information on Samumeds SM04646 IPF program can be found here: https://www.samumed.com/pipeline/detail.aspx?id=19 About Samumed Samumeds small-molecule drug platform is harnessing the innate restorative power of the Wnt pathway to reverse the course of severe and prevalent diseases. Samumeds clinical pipeline can be found here: https://www.samumed.com/pipeline/default.aspx Corporate Contact: Erich Horsley Samumed, LLC erich@samumed.com 858-365-0200 Investor Contact: Ashley Robinson LifeSci Advisors arr@lifesciadvisors.com 617-535-7742 Media Contact: Matt Middleman, M.D. LifeSci Public Relations matt@lifescipublicrelations.com 646-627-8384 An evening with the future Alumni networking event The more we think about revolutionary advancements in technology, the more we think about what it means to be human. Its exciting to think about what technology can do, but it also raises concerns around ethics, trust, privacy and even spirituality. Technology touches almost every aspect of our lives and we need to consider the implications for humanity. Should machines cut us out of certain operations and think for themselves? Should we connect our minds and bodies to the internet? The questions pile up as the implications for business, medicine, government and daily life emerge. Almost 200 Wits alumni across the generations arrived at the Wits Business Schools Donald Gordon Auditorium on 10 May to hear a distinguished panel of Witsies discuss The Future of the Connected Human. (To see photos of the event, click here. To see an edited video, click here. The event also featured on the SABC's Network programme.) Guests were welcomed by master of ceremonies Vukosi Marivate (BSc Eng 2007, MSc Eng 2009), who is a senior data scientist at the CSIR and a Wits Convocation Exco member. Arthur Goldstuck (BA 1984), head of World Wide Worx, a technology market research company, skilfully facilitated the discussion. Setting the scene, he pointed to the explosive proliferation of technology start-up companies and mentioned some of the concepts, products and trends he had seen at recent international exhibitions. Built-in voice commands; smart clothing; brain-to-vehicle signals; text by thinking; flying cars; the end of passwords Its all here or coming soon. He also shared insights from research into the technology that South African companies are already using or planning to use. The panellists Panellist Dr Benjamin Rosman (BSc 2007, BSc Hons 2008, BSc Hons 2009) senior lecturer in the Wits School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and Principal Researcher at the CSIR, spoke about his work in robotics and machine learning. This includes working out how to transfer knowledge from humans to robots, among robots themselves, and even from robots back to humans (think of being able to learn skills that have been lost). The goal is for robots to learn, from their experience, how to make decisions. This in turn can teach humans more about decision-making. Adam Pantanowitz (BSc Eng 2007, BSc Eng 2008), lecturer in the Wits School of Electrical and Information Engineering, is working a groundbreaking project: connecting human brain activity directly to the internet. Vimbai Muzofa (MCom 2015), Head: Interbank & RTGS (Africa Regions) at Standard Bank Group, is interested in human behaviour in the sphere of financial activity. In her work she looks at issues of trust when it comes to money; speed and efficiency in financial services; and mining data to understand what clients want. Sunil Geness (MM 2006), Director, Government Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility, SAP Africa and President of the Information Technology Association of South Africa, talked about the revenue potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will touch peoples lives in many ways. He urged the audience to watch Do You Trust This Computer?, a movie that explores the promises and perils of our new era. The discussion Are robots just a toy, a gimmick? Though the fun aspect of robots is good for getting children excited about science, technology, engineering and maths, Rosman said, what people want in many contexts is to be able to make better predictions and decisions. The promise of robotics is that systems could make better decisions than humans can. When you connect your mind to the internet and share your biological signals, are you opening the way for dangerous invasions of privacy? Its uncharted territory, said Pantanowitz. Humans seem to have a natural urge towards networking, but there are ethical concerns to consider. In response to a question from the audience about interfering with consciousness, he added that the aim of science is discovery and understanding. What about big business: will companies treat information ethically when they have access to powerful technological tools? Muzofa said that in order to survive, financial services companies have to take on technology and use it to mine data but they are highly regulated. In response to a question, she said banks have to be inclusive and collaborate with the people they are there to serve. We have to make sure that the digital economy creates jobs instead of just replacing humans, said Geness. Rosman said that there is a lot of potential for AI to be used in education. Answering a question about embedding morality in robots, he agreed it was important to make AI safe and to avoid giving robots bad instructions. The Illinois man who was found with a teenage girl in the city of Rome earlier this year will spend a year in the Oneida County Jail. In February, 28-year-old Dakota Adair of Bradley, Illinois pleaded guilty to felony third-degree rape and criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced Thursday to one year in the Oneida County Jail on each charge, to be served concurrently for a total of one year, according to the Oneida County District Attorneys Office. On Jan. 17, deputies in Illinois contacted the Rome Police Department about a 16-year-old girl who was reported missing on Jan. 14, and she was believed to be with Adair, possibly in Rome. Rome police found Adairs car at the Red Carpet Inn on Lawrence Street in Rome on Jan. 17, and they found the missing teen and Adair in one of the motel rooms. Police also found a gun in the glove compartment of Adairs car, which was registered in Illinois but Adair wasnt legally allowed to bring it across state lines. Adair was also wanted on a charge of child abduction in Wills County, Illinois. ____________________________ RELATED COVERAGE: Illinois man found with missing girl in Rome pleads guilty Illinois man facing additional weapon charge following rape arrest in Rome Illinois man wanted for child abduction found in Rome motel with missing teen UTICA - A local home for the terminally ill is celebrating 20 years of providing end-of-life care to the community. Abraham House hosted an event Thursday night aimed at inspiring others to live life to the fullest, featuring a speech from Utica native and motivational speaker Yvonne Conte. On her website, Conte describes herself as a motivational speaker, comedian, author and corporate culture expert. The theme for the event was The Power of Positive Humor. The executive director of the Abraham House said she hoped Contes speech would invigorate her caregivers and volunteers. "What we do is such a heavy topic, difficult topic, and Im always looking for ways to help provide some self-care for our caregivers and for our volunteers, Gina Ciaccia said. So they can stay positive and stay focused, fresh and continue doing what we do. Conte said she has visited nearly every state in the nation since she started her motivational speaking career more than 20 years ago. She said she is inspired by the people she meets. In one instance, she said she met a corporate executive who told her that because of her speech, he had his first real conversation with his son. "That to me makes it worth what I do, because I can change somebodys life, Conte said. This guy was probably so busy being the executive he was neglecting his own son and for him to call me and tell me that and say, 'Thank you for the first real conversation with his son.' -- I mean I think of that every day." UTICA - With just one touch of a button, a new kind of technology is changing the way the Arc, Oneida-Lewis Chapter is providing care for people with developmental disabilities. It's a part of a telehealth program called project NVITE -- or Non-Virtual Individualized Telehealth Experience. It connects clients of the Arc to healthcare professionals virtually, so they don't have to leave their homes. We can actually connect visually through our telehealth to an expert in New York City, said Karen Korotzer, CEO of the Arc Oneida-Lewis Chapter. They can see the person that we support, our staff are there and it gives us access to providers that we just didn't have before. The Arc partners with Project ECHO, or Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, a service that provides psychiatric care to underserved patients, according to the website. The ECHO model started in 2003 as a way to meet local healthcare needs in New Mexico. Sanjeev Arora, a doctor in Albuquerque, was frustrated that thousands of New Mexicans with hepatitis C could not get the treatment they needed because there were no specialists where they lived. Since 2003, the project has evolved to provide specialized medical knowledge and care to people living in rural areas on Medicaid who do not have comprehensive health insurance coverage. The Arc works with ECHO hubs in New Jersey and California, but there are more 189 hub sites around the world. The Arc uses Zoom, a video conferencing platform, to connect to specialists through ECHO and discuss care for individuals with behavioral health issues. Participants in the conferences can include representatives from group homes, hospital and nursing homes, clinicians or mental health experts. That has helped our staff just to understand more about what are some of the unique interventions out there, evidence-based practices that maybe we hadnt thought of before or tried, Korotzer said. The Arc received nearly $1.5 million in funding through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant, which made the telehealth program possible. The Arc is one of 72 groups around the country that received the grant. The United States Department of Agriculture and Rural Utilities Service also awarded the Arc with $474,258 for the purchase of equipment to help rural communities connect. Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica) and Sen. Joe Griffo (R-Rome) helped secured $960,000 in funding for the Arc in 2016. The New York Nonprofit Infrastructure Capital Investment Program grant was awarded to the Arc to reduce the costs and improve health care delivery using telemedicine. The project also aims to provide better job training. You spend your time training staff and then you have staff turning over here, in continual process of that, said Lucille Myra Esralew, a clinical psychologist for Trinitas Regional Medical Center. So anything that helps staff feel supported and stay in place and be better equipped to meet the challenges. With the funding, the Arc was able to supply all of its locations, including residences, with teleconferencing equipment in Oneida and Lewis counties. Korotzer said she hopes the Arc will connect with more health experts and similar agencies in the future to provided better quality care. TORONTO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IBI Group Inc. (IBI Group or the "Company") (TSX:IBG) is pleased to announce the detailed voting results for the 2018 Annual Meeting (Meeting) of Shareholders held on May 10, 2018 in Toronto ON. The following seven nominees were elected as Directors of the Company to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation, or until their successors are elected or appointed. The results of the vote are as follows: Name of Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Scott Stewart 25,672,815 99.87 34,693 0.13 David Thom 24,686,455 96.03 1,021,053 3.97 Dale Richmond 24,487,455 95.25 1,220,053 4.75 Lorraine Bell 25,305,073 98.43 402,435 1.57 Claudia Krywiak 25,549,963 99.39 157,545 0.61 John Reid 25,304,894 98.43 402,614 1.57 Michael Nobrega 25,328,294 98.52 379,214 1.48 KPMG LLP, Chartered Accountants, were reappointed as auditors of the Corporation to hold office until the next annual meeting, and the Directors were authorized to fix their remuneration. The results were as follows: Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld 26,182,687 99.83 44,090 0.17 About IBI Group Inc. IBI Group Inc. (TSX:IBG) is a globally integrated architecture, planning, engineering, and technology firm with over 2,700 professionals around the world. For more than 40 years, its dedicated professionals have helped clients create livable, sustainable, and advanced urban environments. IBI Group believes that cities must be designed with intelligent systems, sustainable buildings, efficient infrastructure, and a human touch. IBI Group is a lead partner of the Smart Cities Council North America. Follow us on Twitter @ibigroup and Instagram @ibi_group. For further information: WASHINGTON (AP) Taking the reins as party leader, President Donald Trump is returning to his campaign roots with big-stage events allowing him to target vulnerable Senate Democrats and mobilize his most fervent supporters on behalf of Republicans. Trump was set to rally supporters in Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday night, two days after state Republicans nominated former state lawmaker Mike Braun to challenge vulnerable Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly. Trump's political advisers view the event, which will also be attended by home-state Vice President Mike Pence, as a way to project party unity following a bruising primary. Trump, who helped the Republican National Committee raise a record $132 million last year, has told advisers he is eager to ramp up his campaign travel on behalf of Republicans. The president carried 10 states in 2016 that have Democratic senators on the ballot this year and is expected to campaign heavily to help Republicans maintain Senate and House majorities and elect GOP governors. "The president takes his role as leader of the Republican Party very seriously and after more than a year in office he understands too few Democrats are willing to join hands across party lines to support issues that the American people resoundingly called for," said White House political director Bill Stepien. "The president's calendar is mapped out with his political priorities in mind." For Trump, who is preparing for a historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid an ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and daily developments about his personal attorney's payments to a porn actress, the travel will allow him to frame the campaign debate, specifically Donnelly's no vote on last year's tax overhaul. Trump's political advisers chose to hold the rally in the heart of Donnelly's political base. Before his 2012 election, the senator represented a House district that included Elkhart. The city, home to manufacturing jobs and the recreational vehicle industry, was also paid a visit by President Barack Obama in 2009 when the region was suffering from unemployment rates surpassing 19 percent. Obama returned to Elkhart in 2016 to point to economic progress, but Trump carried the county and much of the region overwhelmingly that year. Ahead of the rally, Donnelly's campaign said the senator had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time "because he works for Hoosiers, not any politician or political party." The Indiana rally will be Trump's fourth political-style event in the past two weeks. Trump skipped the White House Correspondents' Dinner late last month to rally supporters in Macomb County, Michigan. His speech last week to the National Rifle Association in Dallas put him before thousands of gun-rights activists who actively backed his campaign. And last Saturday, Trump was in Ohio, long the key electoral piece for any GOP presidential hopeful. During the event in Cleveland, Trump was joined by Rep. Jim Renacci, who won the Republican Senate nomination on Tuesday with the president's endorsement. Trump said Renacci's opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, "does not think the way we think ... when it comes to borders, when it comes to so much," delivering a message that Republicans hope to hear frequently. "If President Trump is willing to go out and define some of these opponents, it's extremely helpful to those campaigns," said Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign aide. "He'll deliver the negative messages, they can deliver the positive." Ahead of West Virginia's U.S. Senate primary, Trump tweeted that Republican candidate Don Blankenship couldn't win the November election against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a top GOP target. Advisers said the president was pleased that Republicans nominated Attorney General Pat Morrissey, considered a stronger challenger against Manchin. "In West Virginia, his one tweet single-handedly swung the dynamics of a race," Stepien said. Stepien said Trump would engage in a similar way in future races "if he feels particularly strongly about a race or feels a particular connection to a candidate" but added that would happen less often. A key to Trump's message will be energizing low-propensity Republican voters in 2018, many of whom turned out for the first time in years to vote for him. As he travels the country, Trump will face the question of whether his appeal is transferable to down-ballot candidates, much in the way that Obama struggled to rally core Democrats when he wasn't running himself. Obama suffered broad losses in Congress and in statehouses during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, an outcome Trump hopes to avoid. Appearing at a Cabinet meeting, Trump said that Tuesday ended up being "a very big night for the Republican Party" in primaries in West Virginia, Ohio and elsewhere. "Every candidate that we wanted won, and they did very well," Trump said Wednesday. "There was tremendous enthusiasm." ___ On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC Rockville, MD, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Increased interest of neonatal monitoring equipment manufacturers in providing technologically-integrated and high-end solutions mirrors the healthcare sectors inclination toward value-based care. Innovative technology offerings of new neonatal monitoring equipment manufacturers coupled with their attractive pricing has compelled major companies in expanding their product portfolio for meeting the requirement of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Recent Fact.MR report envisages the neonatal monitoring equipment market to record a steady 5.7% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2028). Over 1,070,000 neonatal monitoring equipment are pegged to be sold worldwide by 2028-end. Prominent players operating in the market such as Medtronic Plc, Natus Medical, Inc., Koninklijke Philips NV, and others, are upgrading their portfolio to make it cost-effective, maintain hospital-to-home point-of-care (PoC) continuum, and incorporate value-added services. Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=746 Neonatal Monitoring Equipment Market: North America Continues to Stay at Vanguard with High Focus on Palliative Care North America continues to stay at the vanguard of the neonatal monitoring equipment market , with an estimated market value share of over one-third through the period of forecast. Rate of premature birth has been steadily rising in North America over the past couple of years, according to the CDC, which in turn has increased the number of NICU admissions, thereby creating demand for neonatal monitoring equipment. Speciality of hospice and palliative medicine has gained significant recognition in North America, with attendant increase in training programs at both academic and clinical level. The imperative role of palliative care in improving growth development outcomes in newborn babies has been highly recognized in the regions NICUs for reducing the infant and neonatal mortality rates. Neonatal Monitoring Equipment Market: Ventilators Continue to Hold Bulk Value Shares Ventilators are set to prevail as preferred product among end-users of neonatal monitoring equipment, and will continues to account for bulk value shares of the market. Recent FDA approvals of new, patient-triggered ventilators, and neurally-adjusted ventilator assist (NAVA), for non-invasive and invasive ventilation related to neonates will augur well for sales of ventilators in the forthcoming years. Additionally, availability of several ventilation modes and strategies for assisting ventilation optimization, and preventing ventilation-induced lung injury will fuel ventilator sales. To know more about Neonatal Monitoring Equipment Market Trends, Check the link - https://www.factmr.com/report/746/neonatal-monitoring-equipment-market Standalone modality of neonatal monitoring equipment will continue to spearhead the market in terms of value share. This is mainly because standalone devices enable clinicians in offering care delivery even while the hospitals electronic medical records are in their downtime. However, relatively faster sales expansion has been foreseen for portable neonatal monitoring equipment through 2028. Manufacturers are offering cost-effective portable neonatal monitoring equipment that enable uninterrupted monitoring at the bedside and during in-hospital transport. Growing development of easy-to-use, compact and light portable devices will further fuel their sales in the upcoming years. Hospitals Focusing on Family-Centered Neonatal Care Offerings Hospitals across the globe are entering into partnership with leading neonatal monitoring equipment manufacturers, in bid to offer family-centered neonatal care of highest quality. Developing advanced NICUs at their core, hospitals are focusing on the provision of supportive, and safe environment for accommodating ongoing family contact, and reducing neonatal stress. These instances point at increased demand for various neonatal equipment, and monitoring equipment are no exception. With the forecast value share of nearly 40% by 2028-end, hospitals will continue to lead the neonatal monitoring equipment market. To Buy Neonatal Monitoring Equipment Market Report, Check the link- https://www.factmr.com/checkout/746/S About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports. Contact Us ELKHART, Ind. (AP) Embracing his role as party leader, President Donald Trump issued a stern warning at a rally Thursday that Democrats would disrupt the economic progress of his administration, imploring Republicans to mobilize during the 2018 midterm elections. Trump used one of his signature rallies in northern Indiana to paint a rosy picture of his presidency, pointing to low unemployment, "booming" job growth and optimism under his watch. Two days after Indiana wrapped up a divisive Republican Senate primary, the president praised a lengthy ticket of House and Senate candidates by name and predicted Democrats would dismantle his agenda if they regained control of Congress. "You have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue to make America great again," Trump said, referencing his 2016 campaign slogan. The president, who was joined at the Elkhart rally by home-state Vice President Mike Pence, said Democrats would raise taxes, "destroy your jobs" and "knock the hell out of your border." Chief among his targets: Indiana's Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, who faces Republican businessman Mike Braun in what is expected to be one of the nation's most competitive Senate races. Trump branded Donnelly as "Sleepin' Joe." He assailed him for opposing the president's signature tax cuts and his attempt to end the Affordable Care Act. And he criticized Donnelly for supporting the Iran nuclear deal forged by President Barack Obama and withdrawn from by Trump this week. Trump said Donnelly would "do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do" and claimed the senator would "say one thing in Elkhart," and then support the "radical, liberal agenda." After the rally, Donnelly said in a statement it was "okay" that Trump and Pence were "here today for politics, but problems only get solved when you roll up your sleeves and put in the hard work." "I'm Indiana's hired help in the Senate because I don't work for any president or any political party I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change," he said. Donnelly's campaign said he had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time. Basking in the cheers of thousands of supporters wearing his red campaign hats, Trump hailed his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and his tough stance on trade deals, appealing to the region's manufacturing base. He reissued his campaign pledge to build a border wall with Mexico, telling the crowd the work had started despite opposition from Democrats. And he celebrated the return of three Americans who had been held captive in North Korea, saying: "We welcomed them back home the proper way." But for a onetime political novice who ran as an outsider, Trump played the role of party champion ahead of midterm elections that typically haunt the party that holds the White House. Trump is expected to ramp up his political travel in the coming months, and his advisers viewed the event as a way to project party unity following a rough primary that pitted Braun, a former state legislator, against two Republican congressmen. Imploring Braun to join him on stage, Trump turned the podium over to the Senate nominee, who credited the president for providing an inspiration to his candidacy. "I'm a businessman and an outsider, just like our president," Braun said to cheers. The president, who helped raise $132 million for the Republican National Committee in 2016, won 10 states where Democratic senators are on the ballot this year. He's expected to campaign heavily to help Republicans maintain Senate and House majorities and elect GOP governors. In his remarks, Trump painted a glowing picture of his presidency. "We are all making America proud. We are rockin,'" he said. "The great news keeps rolling in." Missing was any reference to the clouds cast by the special counsel's ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and near-daily revelations about Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen's payments to a porn actress who alleges an affair with Trump. Cohen appears to have used his relationship with Trump to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a practice at odds with Trump's "Drain the swamp" campaign message. But Trump instead lobbed the "swamp person" charge at Donnelly, prompting the audience to break into a "Drain the swamp" chant. The Indiana rally was Trump's fourth political-style event in the past two weeks. Trump skipped the White House Correspondents' Dinner late last month to rally supporters in Macomb County, Michigan. He spoke last week to the National Rifle Association in Dallas. And last Saturday, Trump was in Ohio, long the key electoral piece for any GOP presidential hopeful. As he travels the country, Trump will face the question of whether his appeal is transferable to down-ballot candidates, much in the way that Obama struggled to rally core Democrats when he wasn't running himself. Obama suffered broad losses in Congress and in statehouses during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, an outcome Trump hopes to avoid. ___ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report. ___ On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC Vancouver, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the Company or Future Farm) (CSE: FFT) (OTCQX: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that, on May 8, 2018, it closed on its previously announced cash investment of $500,000 for a 10% interest in YLK Partners NV, LLC, an Arizona-based company that has in place a management services agreement to provide turn-key services for the management, administration and operation of a licensed medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility being developed in Arizona (the Arizona Facility). Future Farm is also pleased to announce that on May 10, 2018 it sold that 10% interest to Solis Tek, Inc. (Solis Tek) (OTCQB: SLTK), a vertically integrated cannabis technology innovator, manufacturer and distributor. Solis Tek has acquired all of the outstanding interest in YLK Partners NV, LLC and plans to develop the 70,000 square foot Arizona Facility into one of the most technologically advanced cultivation and processing facilities in Arizona. Solis Tek has issued 500,000 warrants exercisable at $0.01 per share to Future Farm as consideration for the interest. Yorkville Advisors Global, LP (Yorkville) and its affiliates, who have provided significant financing support to Future Farm, are also providing the financing to Solis Tek for the Arizona project. For more information on that financing and on Solis Tek, please visit their website at https://solis-tek.com/. We are thrilled to have this investment in Arizona quickly become an opportunity to obtain a significant ownership position in Solis Tek, says Bill Gildea, Future Farms Chairman and CEO. We have come to know Alan Lien and his team at Solis Tek well over the past months. They are impressive developers and operators of cannabis cultivation and production facilities. We look forward to working with them in Arizona and on other opportunities in the future. For further information, contact William Gildea, Director, at (888) 387-3761. On behalf of the Board, Future Farm Technologies Inc. William Gildea, Chairman and CEO About Future Farm Technologies Inc. Future Farm is a Canadian company with holdings throughout North America including California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, Puerto Rico and Newfoundland. The Companys mission is to advance sustainable agriculture through production of wholesale and retail cannabis products, including hemp. As a leader in its field, Future Farm is committed to using only the highest quality processes and products. Towards this goal, the Company acquires or partners with licensed cannabis operators, and acquires or develops leading technologies in cannabis production, breeding, genetics, and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Future Farms scalable, indoor CEA systems utilize minimal land, water and energy resources. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. NEW ALBANY, Ohio, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) will be holding its quarterly earnings conference call for all interested parties on Friday, June 1, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. ET. A press release detailing the companys first quarter results is expected to be issued shortly after 7:30 a.m. ET. In addition, a presentation of the first quarter results will be available on the companys website at approximately 8:00 a.m. ET. What: Abercrombie & Fitch Co. First Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call When: 8:30 a.m. ET, Friday, June 1, 2018 Where: corporate.abercrombie.com How: Log on to the above website, or call: Domestic Dial-In Number: 1-866-548-4713 Domestic Replay Number: 1-888-203-1112, conference ID number 6651030 International Dial-In Number: 1-323-794-2093 International Replay Number: 1-719-457-0820, conference ID number 6651030 The call will be archived and can be accessed by visiting the companys website at corporate.abercrombie.com. About Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) is a leading, global specialty retailer of apparel and accessories for Men, Women and Kids through three renowned brands. For over 125 years, the iconic Abercrombie & Fitch brand has outfitted innovators, explorers and entrepreneurs. Today, the brand reflects the updated attitude of the 21 to 24-year old customer, while remaining true to its heritage of creating expertly crafted products with an effortless, American style. The Hollister brand epitomizes the liberating and carefree spirit of the endless California summer for the teen market. abercrombie kids creates smart, playful apparel for children ages 5-14, celebrating the wide-eyed wonder of childhood. The Company operates over 850 stores under these brands across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as the e-commerce sites www.abercrombie.com and www.hollisterco.com. For further information, call: China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Bipartisan majority for pro-Yucca Mountain bill 11 May 2018 Share The US House of Representatives yesterday passed a bill that would expedite licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository and provide for centralised interim storage of the country's used nuclear fuel. HR 3053 - the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 - was passed by 340 votes to 72. The US House and Capitol (Image: Architect of the Capitol) The bill was introduced in the House in June 2017 by John Shimkus, who represents the 15th District of Illinois. It amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act which came into law in 1982, establishing federal responsibility for all civil used nuclear fuel and obliging the government - through the Department of Energy (DOE) - to begin removing used fuel from nuclear facilities by 1998 for disposal in a federal facility. The act was amended in 1987 to designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole site for the federal repository. The DOE in 2008 submitted a licence application for the Yucca Mountain repository to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), but decided to withdraw the application in 2010. The regulatory review of the application was suspended in 2011 but resumed in 2013 following an order by the US Court of Appeals. HR 3053, a previous version of which was passed by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in June last year, preserves Yucca Mountain as the most expeditious path for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste disposal while authorising interim storage, including private storage initiatives, until Yucca Mountain is ready to start receiving used fuel. Used fuel is currently stored at reactor sites around the country. It includes steps to address federal land withdrawal and related management issues, updates the NRC licensing process and conditions for the repository, and limits activities relating to the development of a separate repository for storing high-level radioactive waste and used fuel from DOE's defence activities. It would also increase the statutory limit for used fuel to be placed in the repository to 110,000 tonnes from the present 70,000 tonnes. The amendments also prevent the DOE from collecting any fees for the Nuclear Waste Fund until a final determination on the Yucca Mountain construction application is issued, and restricts the amount the DOE can collect in a given year. Under the 1982 act, nuclear utilities paid a levy of 0.1 cents per kWh of nuclear power generated into the fund to pay for the programme. The US Court of Appeal in 2013 ruled that the DOE must stop collecting the levy until such time as it was able to comply with the requirements of the 1982 act. The fund's balance is currently thought to stand at over USD38 billion. An amendment to HR 3053, which would have required a consent-based siting process for determining a permanent nuclear waste repository, was rejected by 80 votes to 332. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Shimkus yesterday said it was "long past time" for the federal government to keep its promise to permanently dispose of used nuclear fuel and defence waste. "The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act is a common-sense step in that direction, and we commend today's bipartisan vote in the House," they said in a joint statement. "We urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass this legislation to address this national priority." Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), said the vote represented "overdue progress" towards solving a long-standing issue. "Earlier this year we marked a troubling milestone: 20 years of government failure to meet its legal obligation to take possession of used fuel. This abdication of responsibility has harmed electricity consumers and US taxpayers," she said. Legislation could now be introduced into the US Senate later this year, NEI said. "The industry recognises that the House and Senate have differing views on how to reform the used fuel programme," Korsnick said. "We encourage the two bodies to continue to advance their respective proposals and reach a compromise by the end of the year." Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics TORONTO, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peeks Social Ltd. (TSXV:PEEK) (OTCQB:PKSLF) (Peeks Social or the Company) is pleased to report that the next phase of the Peeks Social branded VisaTM prepaid card (the Peeks Social Visa Card) program has commenced. Pursuant to the Companys previous press release dated February 22, 2018, Peeks Social virtual card users now have the choice to order a physical Peeks Social Visa Card. The Peeks Social Visa Card was available to broadcasters initially as a virtual card suitable for online commerce. Now Peeks Social viewers and broadcasters are able to register and receive their physical cards which are accepted anywhere in the world where Visa is accepted and at most global automated teller machines (ATMs) to use for immediate cash withdrawals. The market deployment of the physical Peeks Social Visa card is a significant event in the evolution of the company. Now Peeks Social users are the only social media users who have the ability to interact online and receive instant rewards that are spendable anywhere in the real world, states Mark Itwaru, Chairman and CEO. The Peeks Social app can be downloaded in either the Google or Apple app stores, or by visiting www.peeks.social For further information, please contact: Peeks Social Ltd. Mark Itwaru Chairman & Chief Executive Officer 416-635-5339 mark@peeks.com David Vinokurov Director Investor Relations 416-716-9281 davidv@peeks.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia and JOHANNESBURG, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX:PTM) (NYSE American:PLG) (Platinum Group, PTM or the Company) announces that Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited (HCI) and the Company have agreed to amend the terms of a strategic investment in the Company by HCI first announced on May 3, 2018. HCI has entered into an amended subscription agreement with the Company, on a private placement basis, for the purchase directly or through a subsidiary of 15,090,999 units (the Units) at a price of US$0.15 per unit for gross proceeds of US$2,263,649.85 (the Amended Private Placement). Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, with each common share purchase warrant allowing HCI to purchase one further common share of the Company at a price of US$0.17 per share for a period of 18 months from the date of closing of the Amended Private Placement. Closing of the Amended Private Placement is to be immediately prior to the closing of the Companys proposed public offering of units announced on May 3, 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including stock exchange approvals. HCI may terminate the subscription agreement if, among other reasons, the closing of the Amended Private Placement does not occur by May 18, 2018, the public offering is terminated or the public offering is for gross proceeds of less than US$17.1 million. As previously disclosed, HCI has also indicated its interest in participating in the public offering. The Company also reports today that Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings, LLC (LMM) and the Company have agreed to amended credit terms for an existing secured loan facility (the LMM Facility). The Company must (i) raise a minimum of US$15 million in financings of subordinated debt, common shares and/or securities convertible into common shares (the Required Financing) before May 31, 2018 (previously US$20 million required before May 15, 2018), (ii) apply the first US$12 million of gross proceeds from the Required Financing to reduce indebtedness under the LMM Facility before May 31, 2018 (previously US$20 million required before May 15, 2018), and (iii) not otherwise be in default under the LMM Facility. If these conditions are satisfied, (a) the LMM Facility maturity date will be extended to October 31, 2019 (from September 30, 2018), (b) a previous requirement to raise a further US$20 million in subordinated debt and/or common shares before July 31, 2018 will be eliminated, and (c) interest will continue to accrue and be capitalized until the maturity date (previously, interest became payable quarterly after June 30, 2018). The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act), and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. About Platinum Group Metals Ltd. Platinum Group is focused on, and is the operator of, the Waterberg Project, a bulk mineable underground deposit in northern South Africa. Waterberg was discovered by the Company. On behalf of the Board of Platinum Group Metals Ltd. R. Michael Jones President, CEO and Director For further information contact: R. Michael Jones, President or Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver Tel: (604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450 www.platinumgroupmetals.net Disclosure The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE American LLC have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the timing, terms and completion of the Amended Private Placement and other financings, including the Required Financing, HCIs participation in such financings, and the Companys ability to satisfy the conditions required to extend the maturity date, eliminate the second required financing and continue to capitalize interest under the LMM Facility. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the inability to satisfy the closing conditions for the Amended Private Placement or other financings; delays in receipt of, or the inability to receive, the remaining proceeds of the Maseve Investments 11 (Pty) Ltd. (Maseve) sale transaction or to realize on the proceeds thereof; additional financing requirements and the uncertainty of future financing; the Companys history of losses; the Companys inability to generate sufficient cash flow or raise sufficient additional capital to make payment on its indebtedness, and to comply with the terms of such indebtedness; the LMM Facility is, and any new indebtedness may be, secured and the Company has pledged its shares of PTM RSA, and PTM RSA has pledged its shares of Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Limited (Waterberg JV Co.) to LMM under the LMM Facility, which potentially could result in the loss of the Companys interest in PTM RSA and the Waterberg Project in the event of a default under the LMM Facility or any new secured indebtedness; the Companys negative cash flow; the Companys ability to continue as a going concern; completion of the definitive feasibility study for the Waterberg Project, which is subject to resource upgrade and economic analysis requirements; uncertainty of estimated production, development plans and cost estimates for the Waterberg Project; discrepancies between actual and estimated mineral reserves and mineral resources, between actual and estimated development and operating costs, between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries and between estimated and actual production; the Companys ability to regain compliance with NYSE American continued listing requirements; fluctuations in the relative values of the U.S. Dollar, the Rand and the Canadian Dollar; volatility in metals prices; the failure of the Company or the other shareholders to fund their pro rata share of funding obligations for the Waterberg Project; any disputes or disagreements with the other shareholders of Waterberg JV Co. or Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd. or former shareholders of Maseve; the ability of the Company to retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; contractor performance and delivery of services, changes in contractors or their scope of work or any disputes with contractors; conflicts of interest; capital requirements may exceed its current expectations; the uncertainty of cost, operational and economic projections; the ability of the Company to negotiate and complete future funding transactions and either settle or restructure its debt as required; litigation or other administrative proceedings brought against the Company; actual or alleged breaches of governance processes or instances of fraud, bribery or corruption; exploration, development and mining risks and the inherently dangerous nature of the mining industry, and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks and other risks and uncertainties; property and mineral title risks including defective title to mineral claims or property; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and South Africa; equipment shortages and the ability of the Company to acquire necessary access rights and infrastructure for its mineral properties; environmental regulations and the ability to obtain and maintain necessary permits, including environmental authorizations and water use licences; extreme competition in the mineral exploration industry; delays in obtaining, or a failure to obtain, permits necessary for current or future operations or failures to comply with the terms of such permits; risks of doing business in South Africa, including but not limited to, labour, economic and political instability and potential changes to and failures to comply with legislation; and other risk factors described in the Companys most recent Form 20-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively. Proposed changes in the mineral law in South Africa if implemented as proposed would have a material adverse effect on the Companys business and potential interest in projects. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Corporate and United Auto Worker (UAW) officials are withholding details of the tragic accident early Friday morning at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant south of Detroit that sparked a walkout by production workers. An as-yet unidentified female worker on the second shift suffered a leg injury while on the assembly line. When management tried to restart production, workers rebelled and instead walked out of the plant. Flat Rock Assembly workers told the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter that management and the UAW have told them nothing since the accident, not even the name or the condition of the worker involved. Ford did not respond to inquiries from the Autoworker Newsletter. An Autoworker Newsletter reporting team visited Flat Rock Assembly Monday afternoon. Workers described a brutal management regime in the plant, enforced with the assistance of UAW officials, who act as junior foremen. The union never tells us anything, was a common refrain. Several workers told reporters that they had already read the report of the accident posted on the Autoworker Newsletter Facebook page. They are not talking about it, one veteran worker said. On night shift they say keep it running at all cost. You see something wrongkeep it running. Referring to the injured worker, he reported, I heard that on her situation the guy that was with her didnt know to pull the red cord to stop the line. Another worker knew to stop it, otherwise it would have been much worse. He continued, They stress out the TPTs [Temporary Part Time workers]. I worked seven years as a part-timer before getting a full-time job. The way they work us, all our jobs are overloaded. They have added things to all the jobs in order to cut people. Another worker observed, It is never a good thing when people get hurt. Working around machinery takes a high level of care and awareness. We are not coming to work to get hurt. A worker with 23 years gave this account of the accident: All I know is that she was riding a moon buggy [four-wheel automated cart holding heavy parts] doing engine work. It went to the end of the line, and she fell in the hole. The worker ridiculed a claim posted on Facebook that the UAW plant chairman called for the walkout. The workers decided they didnt want to work anymore. They told the union that they wouldnt work because they were stressed out. I have always told the union that they can pack their bags up and get the fk out. The appalling levels of stress and pressure and the hostility of union officials to guarantee even basic safety conditions urgently raise the need for the formation of an independent rank-and-file factory committee of workers to defend workers interests. The organization of a factory committee will provide the basis for workers to enforce line speeds and block all efforts by management to compel workers to labor under unsafe conditions. No one can place the slightest confidence in the bogus investigation by the UAW-Ford joint committee on health and safety. The life and livelihoods of workers cannot be left in the hands of management and their UAW stooges. Nor can workers place any confidence in the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). Under terms of a joint agreement between Ford, MIOSHA and the UAW, factory managers will be pre-notified by MIOSHA before safety inspections, and the company and UAW will receive an advance notification package at least two weeks before the scheduled MIOSHA visit. Such a sweetheart arrangement leaves workers completely at the mercy of management. This situation urgently militates for the independent initiative and organization of workers, who already demonstrated their unity and strength in the walkout last week. Such a fight must embrace the defense of TPT workers, who face constant uncertainty and intimidation. It has been more than six months since the young TPT worker Jacoby Hennings died at the Ford Woodhaven Stamping plant just miles from Flat Rock Assembly, under still unexplained circumstances. Workers at Flat Rock Assembly said they had heard of Henningss death and understood the stress he must have been under. One TPT worker at Flat Rock Assembly said, They have tried every way they know how to keep us divided and fighting against each other. As for the UAW, he said, They never come out when you need them. Another young worker noted that there were 600-700 TPT workers in the Flat Rock plant. He said he was beyond tired of the uncertainty he faced. I have been a TPT for 27 months. I work full-time. I build the same cars, I work the same shifts. I have never been late or called off sick. I have lost three profit-sharing checks. Every job I went to before Ford, it is just 90 days before you are full-time. The walkout by workers at Flat Rock Assembly has drawn the attention of other autoworkers in the area. A veteran Ford worker in Romeo, Michigan, told the Autoworker Newsletter that he understood why Flat Rock Assembly workers took a stand. injuries in the plant freak everyone out. They are horrific. I wasnt there of course, but the injured worker could have been trying to get ahead on her job. When I worked the line, there was a drinking fountain 15 feet away from me. I could not get to it until break time, that was how loaded my job was. He predicted that there would be attempts at retaliation taken against workers in the plant. They are going to warn the people, you do that again, Ford will pull its product out. It will be threats and intimidation. The company is totally walking all over us. The union allowed the company to put team leaders, straw bosses working hand in hand with management. It is a very ugly situation. The union has become nothing but a bunch of company kiss-asses. I see this next contract my pension is in jeopardy. I have read about what happened to the Honeywell workers. The Autoworker Newsletter encourages autoworkers with information relating to health and safety issues at the Flat Rock Assembly plant to contact us and share your experiences. The author also recommends: Still no serious investigation into death of Jacoby Hennings [22 February 2018] Near walkout at Detroit auto plant over unsafe conditions [7 December 2017] Fiat Chrysler worker crushed to death in Detroit assembly plant [6 May 2015] English Lithuanian On May 11, 2018 VILNIAUS BALDAI AB has acquired 100 percent of shares of Trenduva UAB. Shares are acquired for 2500 EUR from Invalda privatus kapitalas AB (code 303075527, address Seimyniskiu str. 3, Vilnius, register where data of the Company is accumulated and stored Register of Legal entities), which owns 86% of VILNIAUS BALDAI AB shares. Trenduva UAB owns two land plots of 18,5 ha in Trakai region, Guopstai. Land plots have purpose of usage as industrial and warehousing, as well as communication and engineering corridors. According to VILNIAUS BALDAI AB audit committee Trenduva UAB shares acquisition contract is made according to market conditions, is fair and reasonable from VILNIAUS BALDAI AB shareholders who are not party to the deal point of view. Trenduva UAB shares price is based on the companys financial ratios and is considered to be reasonable and fair. VILNIAUS BALDAI AB plans to use this land for further production expansion. Additional information: Chief Financial Officer Jonas Krutinis Tel.: +370 (5) 252 57 00 Directed by Ferenc Torok; screenplay by Torok and Gabor T. Szanto Hungarian director Ferenc Toroks 1945 is a serious effort to come to terms with the ghastliness of the Holocaust in Hungary. Co-written by Torok and Gabor T. Szanto, the movie was adapted from the latters short story, Homecoming. 1945 The 91-minute, black-and-white film opens in mid-August, 1945. As bored Soviet soldiers lurk around the railroad station, two Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Hermann Samuel (Ivan Angelusz) and his son (Marcell Nagy), disembark from a train in a small Hungarian town. The duo hire a horse-drawn cart owned by Mihaly Suba (Miklos B. Szekely), upon which are loaded two wooden crates, resembling coffins. Solemnly walking behind the cart, the Samuels and their cargo proceed to make their way to the village, now in the throes of preparations for a socially significant wedding. Consternation and panic grip the villagers when they get wind of the arrival of the Jews. The wealthy magistrate Istvan Szentes (Peter Rudolf), whose son Arpad (Bence Tasnadi) is getting married, wonders what the two are up to. We cant start a wedding like this. We cant. Theyll bring trouble to us, cries one woman. It soon comes to light that certain townspeople had a hand in the deportation of Jews from the village to German concentration camps and benefited from the confiscation of their property. Will more Jews follow the Samuels? Do they want what was stolen from them returned? 1945 Istvan now possesses the drugstore once owned by a Jewish family named Pollak. With boorish bluster, the magistrate defends himself and tries to calm those now hiding rugs, silver and other objects, all the while vociferously proclaiming their collective right to dwellings that belonged to those carted off to Auschwitz. At one point, some of the hysterical villagers are prepared to attack the Samuels with pitchforks. Istvans wife Anna (Eszter Nagy-Kalozy), drug-addicted due in part to her revulsion with her spouse, accuses him of being a murderer and disgusting worm. You watched from there, she says venomously, you stood at the window, didnt even wait for them to take him away with the rest. Your best friend [Pollak], you made [Andras] Kustar sign the accusation You think I dont know? Everybody knows. Nor can Istvans son reconcile himself to his fathers sins. As well, the remorseful Kustar (Jozsef Szarvas), now a drunkard, is overcome with guilt and commits suicide. The towns priest (Bela Gados) also took part in the treacherous betrayal. But stolen property is not what motivates the dignified Samuels. They are there merely to bury whats left of our dead, personal items, shoes, toys and so forth. The items achingly hint at the people to whom they belonged, the victims of fascism. Torok has created a sincere, gripping drama. The movies haunting cinematography, with composed long shots of the Samuels and their mysterious payload walking by foot through the countryside, and atmospheric score embellish the extraordinary performances of the Hungarian cast. It is brutally honest in its depiction of a cowardly, grasping petty bourgeois layer that is pro-fascist by either ideology or economic opportunism, or both. The filmmakers are clearly adopting an oppositional stance towards the present-day reactionary Hungarian regime led by Viktor Orban that seeks to rehabilitate the venal, ferociously anti-Semitic regime of Miklos Horthy (1920-1944). The facts of the Holocaust in Hungary are horrific, almost unimaginable. According to Jewish Week: The Holocaust was never executed more swiftly or with greater ferocity than in Hungary. In 1944, in just 57 days, 437,402 Jews were sent to Auschwitz on 147 trains, some 50 boxcars long. The Gestapos Adolf Eichmann modestly said that he could never have done it without the Hungarians. He was thrilled by their brutality and cooperation. The Hungarians were thrilled to obtain the homes, bank accounts and businesses of the departed. It may be for the best, however, that 1945 is narrowly focused. In various interviews, the filmmakers express confusion about the bigger historical processes and trends of the 20th century. 1945 Cut off from a genuine left-wing criticism of Stalinism, Eastern European intellectuals such as director Torok and scriptwriter Szanto still generally and unthinkingly lump fascism and Stalinism together. The filmmakers in this case fantasize, in their words, that in the transition between Nazism and Communism [Stalinism], a missing chain in our historythe possibility of a peaceful, benign, democratic Hungarywas obliterated. In the movie, states Torok, we see a shop on fireits the end of capitalism and the end of this period. The harsh reality of Hungarian history is at odds with this chimera. In a May 2005 article on the WSWS headlined Bush denounces the Yalta Treaty of 1945, David North might well have been directly answering the filmmakers illusions when he pointed to these important historical facts: The American people are left with the impression that Soviet occupation of Eastern European countries cruelly trampled on flowering democracies. The truth is very different. The regimes of Eastern Europe were cesspools of political reaction. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Poland was ruled by a quasi-military dictatorship run by the successors of the late Marshal Pilsudski. Fanatically anti-Soviet, the Pilsudski regime was the first European government to conclude a treaty with Hitler, signing a non-aggression pact with the Nazi government in 1934 that was directed against the USSR. The regimes of Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania had all been part of the Nazi-directed Axis of World War II. In Hungary, the dictatorship of Admiral Miklos Horthy had aligned his government with the Third Reich even before the war, and participated with Bulgaria in the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia in May 1941. Just one month later, Hungary joined Hitler in the invasion of the Soviet Union. The current trajectory of the Hungarian ruling elite, once again toward authoritarianism and the most profound reaction, including the revival of anti-Semitism, demonstrates the impossibility of any flourishing of democracy and social progress in Eastern Europe except through the working class taking power and establishing genuine socialism. After 21 days of negotiations, nearly 600 aerospace workers organized in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have struck United Launch Alliance (ULA) worksites in Decatur, Alabama, in Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Monday, May 7. The walkout occurred immediately after workers voted down what ULA called its last and final offer the day before. ULA, a joint operation created by aerospace giants Lockheed and Boeing, launches Delta and Atlas rockets into space for NASA, the military, and private enterprises. The launch operator, headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, employs 300 workers at the Decatur site where the rockets are assembled, 225 at the Cape Canaveral facility, and 75 at Vandenberg. The company is demanding that its hourly employees make increased contributions to their health care benefits and pensions. ULA is offering insulting wage increases of 1.5 percent for the first year of the contract, 1.75 percent for the second year, and only 2 percent for the third year. Management offered a $6,000 bonus as a bribe if the contract was approved before May 7. Under the old contract, when rockets were launched from Vandenberg, ULA would ask for volunteers from the Florida work force to travel to California to assist in launches. The previous contract stipulated that employees could not be required to stay there for more than 30 days. ULA is now stating that Florida-based workers can be forced to travel to Vandenberg, remain there for 30 days, travel back to Florida for two days, and then be required to travel back to the California launch site for another 30-day stint. ULA now wants to use Decatur workers at Vandenberg at Decatur wage-levels, which are lower than those employed at the Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg locations. The proposed travel conditions will severely impact the quality of life for workers with children or who care for elderly parents. ULA is also demanding the right to allow management to step in and perform work at any time and to impose mandatory overtime without notice. The company wants to allow a third party to manage the workers pensions. ULA has language in its contract offer that management will guarantee that no employees will be displaced due to subcontracting and that Company will only subcontract work that has been subcontracted in the past. However, the company is now insisting on the creation of a new job classification of Warehouse Worker. Workers will be given three choices: Transition to another job at their current pay rate. Move to the new classification of Warehouse Worker at the rate of $22.21 per hour. Accept a voluntary layoff with a severance payout of one weeks pay for every year of service not to exceed 20 weeks. ULA workers fear, and rightfully so, that ULA is attempting to set the framework to further cut everyones pay and benefits and/or bring in similarly skilled workers needing employment in that industry. Three years ago, at the time of the latest contract negotiations, the ULA hourly workforce stood at 840. The contract agreed to in 2015 (a travesty in itself) was narrowly approved by a margin of only 53 percent in favor. Management has offered to increase the annual cost of living increment from $850 to $1,200 per year but is now demanding discontinuation of the adjustments on a quarterly basis. It is offering an increase in the shift differential from 14 cents to $1.50 per hour, but at the expense of increasing the length of the graveyard shift from 6.5 to 8 hours. This is not the first time that workers employed in the launch industry have struck. In 2005, prior to the formation of ULA, 1,500 machinists struck Boeing for three months in a struggle for decent health care benefits. The strike ended with little improvement for the workers. Since 2016, ULA has laid off workers at its sites in Colorado, California, Alabama, and Florida in its attempts to match the competition offered by the cut-rate, virtual slave labor operation of Elon Musks SpaceX. Initial statements issuing from the mouths of IAM officials have been full of typical false bravado as they lead their members out on strike only to wear them down and eventually force them to accede to company demands. Statements made by Kevin Dimeco, an IAM organizer at Cape Canaveral, to the press that the dispute with ULA was not about economic issues is an indication that the IAM has no intention of waging a serious struggle in defense of its members. Furthermore, in a deliberate move to isolate strikers, other ULA sites, in the Denver area, San Diego, and Harlingen, Texas, are not being shut down at this point. As for the IAM, it is insisting that it will take no actions that seriously affect management. Said Dimeco, The last thing we want to see is anything getting delayed. Hopefully ULA comes back to the table quickly, so we can resolve this and get on down the road like we have been for years. The last thing we want to do is put a black mark on the space industry. ULA has scheduled the launch of the Parker Solar Probe for NASA on July 31. An ominous warning has been sent to the strikers with a statement by ULA spokesperson Jessica Rye that the company had engaged its strike contingency plan and that it was on schedule to support the next launch. Said Rye, Per our plan, we will complete final processing of that vehicle with trained and experienced employees following established procedures and quality standards. The US Department of Labor is moving to lift longstanding restrictions on hazardous work by teenagers in nonagricultural employment. The agency gave notice of a proposed rule under the title, Expanding Apprenticeship and Employment Opportunities for 16 and 17-Year Olds Under the FLSA. The FLSA is the Fair Labor Standards Act, first passed in 1938 as part of the Roosevelt-era New Deal, which gave legal sanction to the minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime and outlawed what was termed oppressive child labor. Despite the Orwellian language about expanding opportunities for young workers, the proposed new rule is really about expanding the opportunity for employers to exploit teenagers as low-wage labor, while dramatically increasing the risks that these children will be exposed to, as they operate heavy equipment and dangerous tools like chainsaws for much longer periods of time. The abstract of the new rule, published May 9 as part of a semi-annual announcement of ongoing rule-making and rescissions across the entire federal government, notes that the Secretary of Labor issues Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs) as the means by which the Secretary declares certain occupations to be particularly hazardous for young workers. The abstract goes on to say, In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Department will consider whether certain HOs as well as the conditions that apply to the employment of all apprentices and student learners in hazardous occupations, should be updated to reflect the current economic and work environments and to allow for safe and meaningful apprenticeship opportunities and student-learner programs. Translated from bureaucratic jargon, this means that the Department of Labor is preparing to allow younger workers to work at hazardous occupations for much longer periods of time each day they are employed. It would end the maximum of one hour a day, essentially to allow young workers to be trained in such occupations but not to work at them either part-time or full-time. The rule-making change and its purpose was first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg Law, which cited unnamed officials in the Department of Labor acknowledging that the agency plans to unwind decades-old youth labor protections by allowing teenagers to work longer hours under some of the nations most hazardous workplace conditions Among the 17 occupations currently labeled hazardous are roofing, operating chainsaws, and the use of other power-driven machinery. In seven of these occupations, the Department of Labor can grant waivers permitting teenagers to work up to an hour a day, allegedly for training purposes. In ten of the occupations, even such limited employment is banned. Bloomberg Law obtained a summary of the new draft regulation, not yet made public by the Department, which justifies the relaxation of safety restrictions as an effort to safely launch more family-sustaining careers by removing current regulatory restrictions on the amount of time that apprentices and student learners may perform hazardous work. This language is an effort to put a worker-friendly gloss on an extremely anti-worker policy. Teenagers are supposedly to be launched into family-sustaining careers by becoming full-time breadwinners in hazardous occupations. It would be more accurate to say that they are being launched into physically destructive work in which the very possibility of any sort of career will be continually threatened by the risk of hideous and even life-threatening injuries. Bloomberg Law, part of the media empire of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, seeks to put a favorable spin on this revelation, claiming that it fits with the Trump administrations broader goal of expanding earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship programs by replacing government red tape with industry-generated standards. Again, the terminology is completely loaded. Safety regulations imposed by law are defined as government red tape. The absence of such legal restrictions, with open season on worker safety, is rebranded as industry-generated standards. Of course, if they are industry-generated, that means such standards will be based on what produces the maximum profit for the industry in question, regardless of the toll in pain and suffering, disability, and even human life. Like much of the Trump administrations ultra-right agenda, the promotion of child labor builds on initiatives taken by the Obama administration before it. Eric Seleznow, who oversaw efforts to expand apprenticeships under Obamas Secretary of Labor Thomas Pereznow chairman of the Democratic National Committeetold Bloomberg Law that many private employers and school systems wanted to expand training in hazardous jobs. I hate to use the word hazardous because 18-year-olds are allowed to do it; a 17-and-a-half-year old is not, Seleznow told Bloomberg Law. An apprenticeship provides that close supervision on the job, which can help prevent it from being hazardous. By this pigheaded logic, allowing younger teens to work longer hours at hazardous jobs will make it safer for them to continue working the same jobs once they reach their 18th birthday. More likely, it means that they will suffer devastating injuries at an even younger age. There is significant congressional Democratic support for the loosening restrictions on child labor. Bloomberg noted that Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota had asked Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta at a March 14 hearing if he would consider lifting the restriction on working hours for teenagers. According to the Bloomberg account, Relaying concerns from the manufacturing industry, she questioned how a one-hour time limit could be truly about safety concerns when teens can work a full day on this machinery once they turn 18. Acosta assured her that the department was looking into it, adding, Wed rather that they learn to use equipment the right way when theyre 17 than use it for the first time when theyre 18. Child safety advocates have noted that the workplace death rate among teenagers has been slashed from 70 a year to 20 a year over the past two decades. The changes proposed by the Department of Labor would virtually assure a reversal of that trend. The proposed rule on child labor is only one of a vast number of socially retrograde measures being considered by the Department of Labor. Among those listed in its May 9 announcement are: * Revising or entirely removing an Obama-era rule requiring certain industries to track workplace injuries and illnesses and submit reports electronically to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. * Rescinding regulations to implement the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity requirements of the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982. * Expanding the exemption for employers who object to providing contraceptive coverage for workers in their health plans, either on religious or moral grounds. * Loosening safety regulations for cranes used by the railway industry in track maintenance. * Permitting coal mining companies to train workers on how to find refuge during a disaster only once a year, rather than every three months. Africa Dockworker strike paralyses Sudans ports Twenty-thousand Sudanese port workers brought dock operations to a standstill in a nine-hour strike on May 2 to oppose privatisation. The strike ended after Port Sudan was besieged by government forces, who detained the leader of the Cargo Workers Union. The director of security is now overseeing negotiations. Workers are opposing the formation of holding companieswhich hold state assets in preparation for privatisationfearing major job losses. Teachers in Khartoum, Sudan, demonstrate over unpaid wages and allowances Dozens of teachers carried out a demonstration at the Khartoum-based Ministry of Education in Sudan Tuesday to protest unpaid April wages. This was a repeat of a protest in March for the same reasons. The Teachers Committee condemned the government for removing a meal allowance for first-grade teachers and called on teachers to support a sit-in. Teachers are also demanding wage increases and arrears payments. Police arrested several teachers, releasing some after a few hours. Others are unaccounted for and cannot be contacted on their phones. South African teachers demonstrate over wages and conditions South African teachers attended a protest outside the KwaZulu-Natal provincial parliament in Pietermaritzburg last Thursday. They gathered ahead of a budget decision to demand a 2016 wage agreement be implemented. The educators, members of the National Teachers Union and South African Democratic Union, have not been paid their April wages and lack textbooks for their students. South African bus strikers a month without pay South Africas national bus strike continued into its fourth week, with drivers pressured under a no-work no-pay diktat. The bus companies association carried out threats to revert to its previous wage increase offer and rejected improvements to working hours, allowances and conditions. Under pressure from their members, the five unions involved threatened to reinstate their original claim of 12 percent, up from 9.5 percent More than 50 bus companies are involved in the strike, affecting hundreds of thousands of commuters. Zimbabwe government sack threat if teachers strike The Zimbabwe government has threatened teachers who plan to strike with the same treatment meted out to nurses. A few weeks ago, 5,000 of 16,000 nurses striking for better pay and conditions were sacked. Those who reapplied for their jobs under new contracts lost their pensions and benefits. The strike, due to start Tuesday this week, was postponed by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers of Zimbabwe, pending a meeting with the government Public sector workers are demanding industrial action alongside the teachers. The Apex Council recommends they accept a government offer of a 10 percent wage and benefit increase, while workers demand a 300 percent increase from $253 to $720 a month. President Mnangagwa, then vice president, was responsible for a 2015 ruling that gave companies the right to walk away from contracts with only three months notice and little or no compensation. This led to an avalanche of job losses. Europe National strike by Romanian health workers ended by unions Health workers in Romania held a two-hour strike Monday against government-directed cuts against their wages. Protests were held outside hospitals across the country. In order to sow divisions, the government imposed wage cuts on some health workers while increasing doctors salaries. Health unions called off an all-out strike set for today after promises by the government to look into the issue and to cover wage losses starting from just a few days ago, on May 1. Sit-in protest by Greek power workers Several power workers employed by the Public Power Corporation (PPC) began a sit-in protest at its headquarters on May 2. The Genop union members are opposing the pseudo-left Syriza-government plans to sell off two lignite plants. They are currently undertaking a series of 48-hour strikes. Public sector workers in Greece to hold nationwide strike Greek civil servants in the ADEDY trade union federation are set to strike nationally on May 30. They are opposing the Syriza governments evaluation of all public sector jobs as it enforces its austerity programme. Air France staff reject offer as airline and rail strikes continue Air France ground and cabin crew workers began a 48-hour strike on Monday, the 14th day of action. Their action overlapped with French rail workers at the SNCF state rail firm, who held a further two-day stoppage beginning Sunday. They are opposing plans by the French government to privatise the service and attack jobs and conditions. Last week, the workers rejected a 7 percent pay offer over four years by a 55 percent majority. The company, which employs around 48,000 staff, pays them salaries of between 2,000 and 3,000 a month. Train guards at two UK rail companies strike over driver-only operated trains Train guards at two of the UKs private rail companies, Northern and Anglia, went on strike Wednesday in opposition to the companies plans to extend the use of driver-only operated trains (DOO). DOO threatens passenger safety and 6,000 jobs nationally. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union has limited workers action in the two-year dispute to regional, short-term strikes in order to isolate and dissipate struggles, while not fundamentally impacting rail operations. Recycling staff in Hull, UK, continue strike The dozen workers employed in Hull by Spanish-owned multinational environmental firm FCC are in the second week of a strike over the companys refusal to pay sick pay in line with that paid to management. The Unison trade union members sort and recycle waste for Hull City and East Riding councilsa service now outsourced to FCC. They have taken previous strike action over the same dispute. Council refuse staff are refusing to cross picket lines at FCC. Refuse collectors in Kirklees, UK, vote to strike Around 70 refuse collectors employed by Kirklees council in West Yorkshire have voted by over 80 percent to strike for seven days. Members of the Unison union voted to strike against management bullying and being refused holiday leave. The workers together are owed holiday leave amounting to over 20 years. Due to staff shortages, even short-term leave such as half a day for family emergencies is refused. The council said it will set up a commission to look at its refuse collection service. The union has not set a date to begin action. Management said the strike would jeopardise the domestic waste collection service. Scottish oil workers reject pay offer Oil workers on the Mariner offshore platform near Aberdeen, employed by Aker Solutions Limited, have rejected a pay offer by a 90 percent margin. The Unite union members took unofficial action on April 7 against the terms of payment of a 6,000 bonus (US$8,129)the first 2,000 (US$2,710) of the bonus dependent on the unrealistic target of striking oil by November 4. John Boland, Unite regional organiser, told the Energy Voice newsletter that strike action was a possibility if no reconciliation is found. Middle East Increase in workers protests in Egypt According to a Democracy Index report issued this week by the Economist Intelligence Unita UK think tank associated with the Economist magazinethere were 299 protests by workers in Egypt demanding pay or benefit increases over the year up until May Day. More than a third of the protests involved sit-ins, while around a quarter were strikes. The research found that 95 workers were either briefly detained or arrested by the Al-Sisi dictatorship during that year-period. The figures were an increase in the number of protests by workers in the year to April 2017. There were 244 protests calling for increased wages and the payment of annual bonuses, resulting in 186 arrests and the suspension of 2,691 employees. At about 1:00 am in the morning on Friday, May 4 a veteran Ford worker suffered severe leg injuries while working on the production line at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant south of Detroit. According to information collected by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter, Lynn Hagood, age 55, had her legs crushed after falling into a pit on the trim and final assembly line. Plant officials tried to restart production and extend the shift to make up for downtime following the accident, but workers, stunned by the accident, refused to continue working. The injury of Hagood is the latest in a series of deadly or near deadly incidents at auto and auto parts factories in recent years, highlighting the dangerous conditions workers face on the job due to the incessant cost cutting and the erosion of safety protections overseen by the United Auto Workers. Virtually nothing has been made public by management or the UAW in relation to the incident at Flat Rock Assembly. Inquiries by the Autoworker Newsletter to both Ford corporate offices and UAW Local 3000 have gone unanswered. The most recent accident follows the announcement of a cost cutting drive by Ford aimed at boosting its bottom line. The company recently announced an end to small car production in the US as it aims for $25.5 billion in cost reductions by 2022. It also follows reported net first quarter profits of $1.7 billion. Ford is attempting to squeeze more production out of every worker. In particular, it is seeking to drive out older, better paid, legacy workers to bring in more temporary part time workers (TPTs) at lower wages and with few if any benefits. The stonewalling by the UAW and management at Flat Rock Assembly follows a long pattern of cover-up over safety issues. In another tragic case, on December 9, 2017, Ivan Bridgewater, a 41-year-old electrician, was killed in an accident at Fords Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. He was found unresponsive in the loading dock area. He was originally thought to have been electrocuted, but the coroners report showed crushing injuries to the head, ribs and clavicle. Five months later, there are still few hard facts about the circumstances surrounding his death. He left behind his wife Megan and a young son. Just last week, two workers were injured in a massive explosion at an auto parts plant in Eaton Rapids, Michigan with a history of safety violations. The facility, Meridian Magnesium, has been closed, forcing Ford to halt production of the Ford F-150 pickup and spreading layoffs throughout the industry. In October 2017, 44-year-old Melissa Stephens died of injuries suffered at auto parts maker Autoneum North America in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Just one year earlier, the same machine severely injured another worker, when the machines metal rollers clamped on her fingers, yet no safety measures were implemented. Regina Allen Elsea, aged 20, was killed on June 18, 2016 in an accident at the Ajin USA plant in Cusseta, Alabama. The young bride-to-be was crushed when she entered a robotic station to clear a sensor default. Catherine White, a 51-year-old worker at Carlex Glass America in Nashville, Tennessee, died in January 2016 when crushed by a shuttle used to move auto glass. In February 2016, Terry Bodenbender, an electrician at the General Motors Foundry in Defiance, Ohio, died in a fall while troubleshooting a crane. Wanda Holbrook, who worked at auto parts maker Ventra Ionia Mains in Michigan, died in July 2015 when she was trapped by robotic machinery, crushing her skull. Her husband has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The death was reportedly very similar to a previous fatality involving a 22-year-old Volkswagen worker in Germany. In May 2015, Donald Megge, a 53-year-old millwright, died while cleaning a waste filter press at Fiat Chryslers Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit. Typically, neither the UAW nor management offered details of the circumstances surrounding his death. The very next day at the plant, Lee Duncan, a worker repairing a vehicle conveyer line, was struck and killed by a vehicle, according to the federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration. State safety inspectors had initially refused to investigate the accident, telling the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter at the time that Duncan had died of natural causes. His death was not reported by the local news media, management or the UAW. A full and independent investigation needs to be organized into the injury of Lynn Hagood at Flat Rock and all unexplained on-the-job deaths and injuries so that future tragedies can be avoided. Such an inquiry must be independent of the UAW-Ford joint committee on health and safety as well as the Michigan Occupation Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), which have repeatedly stonewalled any serious investigation of workplace injury and death. Only rank-and-file factory committees, directly representative of workers, can be entrusted with a full and open inquiry. An 11-year veteran Ford worker from Louisville, Kentucky contacted by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter said she was familiar with the death of Ivan Bridgewater. I havent heard anything more about it, she remarked. They try to keep everything hush, hush. All they care about is production. My plant is not safe. Conditions are always being covered up. People are losing their lives, and it seems like it is no big deal. Too many things happen. You talk about it one or two days, then nothing more is heard. I dont understand it with all the money this company is making. We are not robots, we are people! She supported the idea of workers forming rank-and-file factory committees to investigate accidents and enforce safety conditions on the shop floor. I would like for someone to take responsibility to make sure people are properly trained. Safety issues need to be addressed. Safety is #1 before anything else. There is a lot of confusion and lies. They dont want you to talk about it. It is good to have an organization that would be just for you. Many questions are raised by the injury to Hagood at Flat Rock Assembly: * Was Hagood properly trained on the equipment she was operating? * What other safety incidents had taken place at this particular work location? * Did understaffing contribute to the accident? * Was Hagood forced onto the assembly line as part of a drive to get rid of legacy workers? No serious investigation will be conducted by management or the corporatist, anti-working class organization known as the UAW. For its part, MIOSHA has entered into a partnership with Ford and the UAW aimed at eliminating any genuine oversight. A short-term supplemental (STS) worker at Flat Rock Assembly told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter that she was concerned that Hagood had not received proper training for her job assignment. I dont feel I get adequate training. You are supposed to get three days training for a new job, but I have only had that twice in the two years I have been here, and I have worked 17 different jobs. You never even get a full day, a couple of hours at the most. There are days I have had to work 10 hours straight by myself. You are exhausted having to keep up with the pace of the line and trying to perform your job properly. She noted that there were hundreds of temporary TPT and STS workers being hired by Ford who have no vacations or personal days and few if any benefits. They want cheap labor, she said. We dont get profit sharing, and we are doing the same or more than full-time employees. We are not allowed to miss days, and I havent even received the raise I was supposed to receive. Constance, a retiree from the Fiat Chrysler Warren Stamping north of Detroit is a reader of the Autoworker Newsletter. Commenting on the situation at Flat Rock Assembly, she noted, The factory is a dangerous place, but they dont take the time to teach a person how to do the job. All they care about is production. I always through the UAW was in bed with management. If they could help it, you would never know anyone was killed. The night-time raid last week by hundreds of police on a refugee camp in Ellwangen was a deliberate state provocation aimed at intimidating anyone who dares to oppose the aggressive and often illegal deportation measures of the German state. At the beginning of last week, around 50 residents of a refugee shelter in the small town of Ellwangen in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg protested against police seeking to apprehend and deport a young refugee from Togo who lived in the home. According to the unanimous opinion of eyewitnesses, no violence was involved. Three days later, five squads of heavily armed and hooded police and special forces stormed the shelter. In Gestapo style, they kicked in the doors of the property early in the morning, roused the surprised residents, handcuffed them, and forced them outside. Photos, video clips and statements made by those affected made clear that the brutal police operation was primarily aimed at spreading fear and terror. The images of masked stormtroopers wrestling helpless refugees to the ground were not only directed at deterring asylum seekers but also at intimidating the millions of people expressing their solidarity with the most vulnerable members of society. Resistance to the brutal deportation policy of the federal and state governments remains substantial despite the waves of xenophobia propagated by the media. Demonstrations, protests and blockades to defend refugees are increasingly common. At Frankfurt Airport alone, 237 pilots refused to carry out deportations last year. There have been a series of spontaneous initiatives opposing deportations. Last year, 300 students in Nuremberg confronted police seeking to deport one of their classmates. Last month, defiant neighbours in Witzenhausen, Hesse, prevented a surprise police operation from arresting and deporting a refugee whose asylum procedure had not been decided upon. Resistance to the governments restrictive asylum policy and brutal deportation practices is growing, along with opposition to the government's military policy and its moves towards massive rearmament. The overwhelming majority oppose the governments planned drastic increase in defence spending and associated cuts in the social sphere. Extended protest strikes in the metal and electrical industry and in the civil service are indications of intensified class struggle. This growing resistance is now to be intimidated and nipped in the bud. This is the significance of the state operation in the Ellwangen refugee camp. The message is, Civil disobedience is no longer acceptable, let alone more militant forms of protest and resistance. Anyone who expresses his solidarity with the victims of state violence and does not obey the orders of the authorities will be hounded without mercy. The detention of the 23-year-old asylum-seeker from Togo was illegalhis case had not yet been decided by the Administrative Court in Stuttgart. This was made clear by his lawyer in Stuttgart, who plans to file a constitutional complaint against the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. This, however, has done nothing to prevent the media and politicians of all parties from supporting the police terror in Ellwangen and hysterically calling for a powerful state while ignoring basic democratic rights. The head of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, Alexander Dobrindt, has denounced refugee workers and their lawyers as part of an anti-deportation industry, which threatens social harmony and undermines the rule of law. Germanys Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) described the protest by refugees as a slap in the face for law-abiding people, and announced it was no longer acceptable that almost every second asylum case ends up in court. The Interior Minister is striving to accelerate the construction of so-called anchor centres where asylum seekers are concentrated together and incarcerated. Such camps already existed in the early 1920s in the Weimar Republic, as the newspaper Freitag reported three years ago. At that time, they served as deportation camps for Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe and were officially called concentration camps. The subsequent use of such camps by the Nazis is well-known. The Greens, who lead the government in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, the Social Democratic Party, the Free Democratic Party and the Left Party have all campaigned against refugees in a manner similar to that of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). As has often happened in German history, this development reveals the limits of the countrys thin democratic facade. Faced with the slightest opposition the ugly face of the authoritarian state becomes visible. The days when students were encouraged to express solidarity with the weak and schools were named after opponents of fascism, such as Sophie Scholl, are over. Even Mahatma Gandhi and his policy of nonviolence are out. If this trend continues, not only will Bertolt Brecht soon disappear from the curriculum, but also Friedrich Schiller. Anyone who, like Schillers Wilhelm Tell, does not bow down to the dictator Gessler, is to be treated as a criminal. The slander and persecution of refugees across Europe and in the United States is being used to jettison all basic democratic rights. In Austria, the conservative Peoples Party has brought the right-wing extremist FPO into the government to this end. In Germany, the ruling grand coalition is taking over the politics of the AfD. The reason for this shift to the right is the profound crisis of capitalist society. The same government that expends so much energy in sending refugees back to their war-torn villages and towns is working hard to acquire new weapons systems to be used in the next round of military destruction. Militarism and growing social inequality are incompatible with democracy. As resistance to this reactionary policy grows, a police state is being erected to target not only refugees but the entire working class. The Socialist Equality Party (SGP) in Germany defends the rights of refugees and opposes all attempts to divide the working class. Regardless of nationality, skin colour or religion, workers must unite in a joint struggle across national borders to oppose capitalism and war. Malaysias 14th general election on May 9 produced a historic defeat for the authoritarian United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)-led regime that has ruled with an iron grip since the country gained independence from Britain in 1957. At 9.30 p.m. last night, in Kuala Lumpurs State Palace, King Sultan Muhammad V swore in 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. Mahathir headed UMNO and was prime minister in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government from 1981 to 2003. He was installed yesterday as head of the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition that handed a humiliating defeat to UMNO Prime Minister Najib Razak and the BN. Along with the virtual one-party police state of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loongs Peoples Action Party in Singapore, the UMNO-led autocratic regime had formed the stable political bedrock of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Its demise represents a regional political earthquake, with implications beyond Malaysia. Almost all national and international commentators had predicted that, while a majority vote would go to the PH opposition, Najib and the BN would still win a majority of seats in the 222-member national parliament due to their brazen gerrymander of electorates. Najibs government also pork-barreled funds for what UMNO considered its heartlandrural, ethnic Malay regionsto ensure a BN victory. A series of dirty tricks, censorship laws and the manipulation of Election Commission regulations disrupted opposition activity throughout the 11-day legal campaign period. Deep social tensions, however, have thoroughly undermined the anti-democratic and corrupt political mechanisms in place for six decades. Surveys and social media made clear the main concerns of the mass of Malaysians were housing, living costs and jobs, combined with immense hostility toward the ruling establishment. The monthly legal minimum wage is just 1,000 ringgit ($US253.13). This does not apply to those eking out incomes in the self-employed sector, which in 2017 was 25.6 percent of the workforce. Compared with Singapore, even university graduate jobs are poorly paid. The PH exploited immense anger over social inequality by promising to remove a regressive goods and services tax (GST) introduced by Najib in 2015. Prior to the GST, only 20 percent of the population paid income tax. The new tax pushed many working-class households over the brink, with increased costs for one third of daily purchases. The opposition attacked Najib and UMNO over the 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB) scandal, in which billions of dollars went missing. According to international investigations, hundreds of millions found their way into Najibs personal accounts. The new parliament will consist of at least 122 PH members and supporters and three other independents. Mahathir claims the PH will be able to count on 135 votes. The BN coalition was reduced to just 79 seats, down from the 133 it held after the 2013 election. Of those, UMNO won only 54. The Islamist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), which left the former PR opposition coalition in 2015, won 18 seats. In the PH coalition, jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahims Peoples Justice Party (PKR) will be the largest party in the parliament with 47 seats, followed by the ethnic Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) with 42 seats. Mahathirs United Malaysian Indigenous Party (PPBM), formed by a breakaway faction from UMNO, has 13 seats. The PAS breakaway Amanah, which joined PH, holds 11 seats. Another eight seats were won in Sabah in Borneo by the regionalist Warisan party. UMNO lost control of the Johor state government for the first time. The opposition coalition also won Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Malacca, Penang, Perak and Perak. The Islamist PAS wrenched Terengganu from the BN. In urban areas, massive celebrations broke out over the defeat of the UMNO monolith. Its decades-long oppressive rule included the use of anti-democratic laws to economically favour privileged layers of the Malay majority over the Chinese and Indian minorities and the working class of all ethnic backgrounds. The coalition that is replacing UMNO, however, is the result of a Faustian deal worked out in the interests of other sections of the capitalist ruling class. What brought the PH coalition together last June, followed by Mahathirs selection in January as its candidate for prime minister, were common interests in getting rid of Najibs regime. The coalition parties cynically calculated that Mahathir could attract enough of UMNOs traditional supporters to win the election. Mahathir has said he will serve as prime minister for two years, grant a pardon to Anwar Ibrahim after he is released from prison next month, and then stand aside for Anwar, whom he previously sought to destroy, both politically and personally. Najib jailed Anwar on bogus sodomy charges in 2014 to throttle the opposition. But it was Mahathir who first jailed Anwar in 1999. Anwar had faithfully served as Mahathirs deputy and finance minister until they split over the response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Anwar championed the demands of the IMF, Washington and the financial markets for the opening up of the economy and an end to UMNOs protectionism. Mahathir sacked Anwar and when he organised mass rallies against the government calling for reforms, then had him arrested on frame-up charges of sodomy and corruption. Mahathir remains the figurehead for the dominant factions of the Malaysian capitalist class. His political return was motivated by the deep concerns in ruling circles that Najibs corruption in relation to 1MDB was so flagrant it risked unleashing mass social discontent. Mahathir was also bitterly opposed to Najibs agreement to join the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc, which he alleged would make Malaysia an economic colony of the United States. While Mahathir issued nationalist rhetoric against the US and the TPP, other sections of the opposition coalition railed against Najib for giving Chinese-based corporations major roles in infrastructure projects, and promised a review of these investment decisions. Differences are likely to soon emerge within the new government over a range of fundamental issuesnot least the foreign policy orientation. Until now, Malaysia has sought to balance between the US, with which it has close military and strategic relations, and China, which is its largest trading partner. As US imperialism and its Japanese and Australian allies escalate tensions with China, the ruling class of Malaysia and every other country in Asia is being forced to choose which power it aligns with. Inigo Errejon, number two in the leadership of the pseudo-left Podemos Spain and candidate for premier in next years Madrid regional election, has called for a grand deal with the new right Ciudadanos (Citizens). Errejon called for Ciudadanos to work together with Podemos in a transitional cabinet to regenerate the institutions in the Madrid region and restore their dignity, following the resignation of Popular Party (PP) regional premier Cristina Cifuentes last month in a corruption scandal. Errejon declared, I want the next regional premier to be elected through a grand deal with the PSOE [Socialist Party], Ciudadanos and us for a democratic alternative that will make democratic elections take place in a better political climate within a year. This week, Ciudadanos rejected Errejons appeal and agreed to a new clean PP candidate for regional premier, Angel Garrido. However, Errejon will not be overly disappointed. His whole anti-PP campaign was a cover for junking whatever remains of Podemos radical phrase-mongering to facilitate Podemos further integration into bourgeois politics. Errejon has insisted that Podemos rectify its original sin of refusing to make agreements with other parties. He has dropped the terms triple alliance and dynastic blocreferences to the PP, PSOE and Ciudadanosand now talks about the regenerative and democratic forces comprising Podemos, PSOE and Ciudadanos. He also insists that Podemos abandon the catastrophic discourse about the economy, which marked the partys launch, where it spoke about nationalisations of top companies and control of the banks. It must now develop, in words that would resonate with its military cadre, a general project of order with authority and prestige. Errejons public embrace of Ciudadanos confirms the populist, nationalist and pro-capitalist politics at the heart of Podemos. Guided by Stalinist-influenced academics and theoretically rooted in a postmodernist rejection of Marxism and the revolutionary role of the working class, Podemos articulates the interests of affluent layers of the middle class. Its orientation to Ciudadanos is an expression of the global phenomenon of the pseudo-lefts right-wing trajectory. Syriza made its sordid deal with the small xenophobic Independent Greeks (ANEL) party only after it came to power in Greece. Podemos is prostituting itself, first to the PSOE and now to Ciudadanos, even before it has a sniff of some future power-sharing arrangement and knowing it will be consigned to functioning as a junior partner. Ciudadanos is a neo-liberal formation, which wants to impose deep structural reforms in Spains labour market, health and pension systems, whilst reducing corporation tax and top income tax. It is the most determined advocate of Spanish nationalism, criticising the PP government for its lack of resolve in Catalonia and, by extension, the whole of Spain. This week, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera threatened PP Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that Ciudadanos would stop supporting his minority government if he did not harden his position in Catalonia. Ciudadanos has been fashioned from a once obscure anti-separatist party in Catalonia into a Spain-wide party winning over 3.5 million votes in the 2015 general elections and 40 of the 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies. Polls suggest it would become the largest party in Congress if elections were held now, having made dramatic headway since the Catalan independence crisis erupted last year. Its ability to win support in Spanish-speaking working class areas in Catalonia is a devastating indictment of the PSOE and its junior partner, Podemos, which make no significant appeal to any section of the working class, let alone advance a perspective for class unity. According to London School of Economics professor Luis Garicano, Ciudadanos main policy architect, We have to reform everything except the Monarchy and the borders of Spain. In 2014, Garicano told the Financial Times, A stable two-party political system has been among Spains greatest strengths in the post-Franco era. But since 2008 the brutal economic crisistogether with growing evidence that large sections of both parties have operated as engines of patronage, graft and influence peddlinghas undermined the legitimacy of the system and allowed two existential threats to the constitutional order to flourish. He listed the two threats as the break-up of Spain--due to the crisis in Catalonia--and the growth of working class opposition, which he identified with the growth of Podemos. Errejon felt confident to launch his overture to such a nakedly right-wing outfit because his appointment to head the partys list was engineered by his erstwhile rival, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, to head off a bitter factional crisis, including an attempt to topple him. As part of the deal Ramon Espinar, who controls the Madrid regional committee and is allied with Iglesias, was appointed number three on the list. Little of substance separates the two factions, and it was never more than a question of how far the party should lurch to the right. Iglesias prefers the sort of confidence-and-supply agreements that the Portuguese Socialist Party (PSP) and the Podemos-like Left Bloc have agreed, whilst Errejon favours formally joining in a coalition or filling ministerial positions. Errejons call for co-operation with Ciudadanos is proof that there never really was much separating the two parties. Both emerged as the decades-long two-party set-up involving the PP and PSOE began to crumble following the 2008 global economic crash and was further discredited during years of austerity. Ciudadanos and Podemos both sough to divert opposition to the social counter-revolution against the working class behind criticisms of the PP/PSOE caste and its cronyism and corruptionCiudadanos from the right and Podemos from an ostensible left standpoint. Support for Podemos has plummeted since it was launched four years ago with a popular anti-austerity message. In less than a year, Podemos has gone from being an alternative to the ruling PP to the fourth-ranked political force, behind Ciudadanos, and ever further from its goal of surpassing the PSOE. The working class has witnessed first-hand how Podemos rules in the local governments of changeimposing austerity, cuts, strike breaking and attacks on migrants. Polls suggest that only around half of its supporters (some 2.7 million people) will vote for it again, that one-quarter are demobilized and the remainder would vote for another party. The Pabloite Anticapitalistas has adopted its usual charade of criticising the capitulation and betrayals of the Podemos leadership, before insisting that the partyon which it depends for positions and privileges in the state machinecan be saved by creating a new space with other actors outside of Podemos to step up the pressure on Iglesias, Errejon et al. Raul Camargo, Madrid Regional Assembly deputy and Anticapitalistas leader, complained that Podemos is moving people away from participation, generates disaffection in broad sectors of society and promotes a logic of ruthless competition more typical of a company than of a political space that aspires to transform society. In the next breath he declared, we are going to start a movement to try to convince everyone (including Errejon-Espinar) that there is another way to do the things that can be more useful, both to win and to transform things. Podemos spokesperson in the Assembly and Anticapitalistas leader Lorena Ruiz-Huerta declared, I cannot accept the offer of Errejon and Espinar for me to join their list, which is not built around a political project for the Community of Madrid, but to a distribution of seats 60-40. El Espanol revealed that its Anticapitalistas sources had said that such protestations were more a plea for attention than a real threat to leave. The Iglesias faction brushes aside the Anticapitalistas pleas saying they only represents 15 percent of Podemos and would not have any future outside the party. The Errejon faction, El Espanol continues, say they want to reach out to the Anticapitalistas, but they will not lose any sleep if they do not succeed. Podemos co-founder Juan Carlos Monedero criticized the Anticapitalistas because, Podemos has to build a Broad Front and all are needed, otherwise, the right will continue to govern. The Anticapitalists, Monedero warned, should also think that the last time they stood by themselves [in an election] they received 23,000 votes in Spain, whereas now they are perhaps the Trotskyist group with the greatest institutional presence in the world. He hoped that this responsibility would maybe make them change their mind. The following speech was delivered to the ICFIs May Day 2018 International Online Rally by James Cogan, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia). Over the past year, the prospect of a war on the Korean Peninsula, involving nuclear weapons and inflicting millions of casualties, has existed as a terrible, but all too real possibility. We have witnessed US President Donald Trump standing before the United Nations and threatening to totally destroy the isolated state of North Korea, on the pretext it has assembled a small nuclear arsenal. The North Korean regime has responded with threats that it could retaliate by firing nuclear weapons at West Coast American cities or Japan. James Cogan's address at the 2018 International Online May Day Rally Talks are now scheduled to be held in the coming weeks between Trump and North Korean head Kim Jong-un. However, any conception that such talks will result in peace in our time are just as naive as similar claims in 1938, when British and German imperialism negotiated the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Like Hitlers regime, US imperialism has signaled that it will accept only complete submission to its demands, which essentially amount to North Korea being transformed into a US client state. If the Pyongyang regime refuses, the prospect of war will return with renewed intensity. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is only one, particularly acute, expression of the tremendous threat posed to the international working class by the ever sharpening strategic, economic and military competition, and resulting tensions, between the United States and China. US imperialism, acting in the interests of the Wall Street banks and conglomerates, is not prepared to accept the supplanting of its dominance, in the economically crucial Asia-Pacific region, by the Chinese capitalist state that has developed over the past three decades or more, and China emerging as a rival centre of global power. Through the Obama administrations pivot to Asia, a web of alliances and partnerships has been developed by the US, centrally involving its main regional imperialist allies, Japan and Australia, to seek to militarily pressure China and undermine its attempts to forge greater influence in the region. The inexorable drive toward war was made explicit in the new US National Defense Strategy, adopted by the Trump administration in January 2018. The document bluntly accused China of seeking Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. It asserted that the United States must prioritize preparedness for war, including through a massive upgrading of its nuclear arsenal, which is already capable of destroying the entire planet several times over. As before World War I and World War II, what is unfolding is a struggle between rival great powers for domination over markets, resources, spheres of influence and, above all, share of global profits. It arises not out of the irrationality of political leaders, but out of the irrationality of the division of a globally integrated economy into competing capitalist states; and the irrationality of vast social production, set in motion by the collective labour power of billions of workers, being subordinated to the generation of private profit for a capitalist handful. By flipping North Korea into their sphere of influence, the US and its allies are seeking to weaken China and intensify pressure upon it. Far from any agreement on the Korean Peninsula lessening the danger of war between the major powers, the risks will only increase. It is just one of a range of provocations underway against Beijing that threaten to trigger open conflict. Others include the rejection of Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea; the development of the de facto anti-China Quadrilateral alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India; discussion on establishing closer US and Japanese military ties with Taiwan; hysterical campaigns in Australia, New Zealand and, increasingly in the US, against alleged Chinese interference and spying; the blocking of Chinese investment in various countries on national security grounds; and moves toward wholesale trade war to undermine major Chinese-based corporations. This May Day we are commemorating 200 years since the birth of Karl Marx and his development of philosophical and historical materialism, the basis of our scientific socialist and internationalist perspective. Our response to the danger of world war flows from this perspective. There is only one social force that can prevent war and that is the unified strength of the international working class, the sole revolutionary class, which has now re-entered mass social struggles. War cannot be prevented by pacifist appeals to the ruling classes, let alone to the impotent United Nations. It will certainly not be prevented by the sordid diplomatic intrigues of US imperialism, other powers, or the Chinese capitalist state. What is necessary is the unification of the working class into a mass international anti-war movement, under the banner of World Socialist Revolution, the perspective fought for only by the world Trotskyist movement. The crucial task, which cannot be delayed, is the establishment of sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International across the Indo-Pacific region: in New Zealand, in the Pacific states, across SE Asia, in Taiwan, in Korea, Japan and China, in India, Pakistan and South Asia. The fight to build the Fourth International and unify the international working class will require a conscious fight against the efforts of the ruling classes of all countries to divide workers and tie them to decaying capitalism through nationalism, religious sectarianism and racism. It will require creative and determined efforts to overcome efforts to censor and suppress the spread of socialist ideas. It is not only American imperialism and its allies that are working with the Internet conglomerates to censor working-class opposition, and the World Socialist Web Site in particular. The Chinese capitalist regime, which emerged out of the Maoist-Stalinist apparatus that betrayed the Chinese revolution, is so fearful of renewed socialist struggle by the Chinese working class that it is now using its firewalls to block the WSWS in mainland China. Eighty years ago, in the founding document of the Fourth International, Leon Trotsky wrote that its cadres were pledges for the future. Outside these cadres, he continued, there does not exist a single revolutionary current on this planet really meriting the name. The strategic experiences of the past 80 years have proven the truth of those words. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the only revolutionary movement. To all supporters of the ICFI and readers of the WSWS in the Indo-Pacific, I urge you to make May Day 2018 the day you commit yourself to joining our ranks. Pinellas Park, Florida, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comerton Corp. (COCM: OTC Pink) ("Comerton" or the "Company"), a wind energy technology development company, today provided detailed biographies of its newly appointed management team and directors. Following Comertons recent acquisition of innovative and proprietary Automatic Balancing and Vertical Axis Wind Turbine technologies, on April 23, 2018, the Company appointed Mr. Rod Egan to serve as the Companys President and Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer, and as a Director. Comerton also appointed Dr. Jeong Soo Park to serve as the Secretary and as a Director of the Company. Rod Egan brings Comerton the benefits of his executive leadership and management experience, in particular with regard to running startup companies, promotions, marketing, and negotiating purchase and sale agreements. He is an owner, Managing Partner and oversees corporate operations at The Worldwide Group, LLC, where he has demonstrated his exceptional appraisal and sales abilities. As an elite collector car auctioneer specializing in the valuation of fine automobiles, he holds state auctioneer licenses in Texas, Indiana, and Florida. Mr. Egans sales history totals over $3 billion, privately and through auction and has helped to close some of the largest private car collection sales in North America in recent years. Dr. Jeong Soo Park received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea in 1989. The same year, he entered Samsung Electronics Co, South Korea, where he worked for 10 years as a Senior and Principal Engineer. At Samsung he specialized in washing machine vibration control by using automatic balancer technology and achieved a fair amount of success, seeing their commercialization in the Korean and European markets. Mr. Park moved to Calgary, Canada, in 1999 to work with the XYO Balancing Technology. There he successfully designed and implemented the automatic balancer into rotating machinery for many manufacturers worldwide. He is the author of more than 13 engineering articles about noise and vibration control and the author of three Korean patents regarding washing machines and vibration. He is a licensed Professional Engineer of the Province of Alberta and Manitoba, Canada, and also a member of SAE and the Canadian Acoustical Association. Rod Egan, President and CEO of Comerton Corp., commented, "I am excited and optimistic for the opportunity to work with Dr. Park to develop and commercialize this innovative automatic balancing technology within the wind power industry, in much the same way as he and the other engineers at Samsung did for vibration reduction in washing machines in the 1990s. I look forward to expanding our core team in the near future to include additional technical and corporate professionals that will assist in product design, new business development, and accounting and corporate finance." About Comerton Corp. Comerton Corp. (COCM: OTC) is an emerging wind power technology company based in Pinellas Park, Florida. The Company is developing innovative Vertical Axis Wind Turbines utilizing its proprietary Automatic Balancing Technology ("ABT") to continuously rebalance rotating components, resulting in reduced vibration, improved energy efficiency, lower noise emissions, greater power output, and lower maintenance costs. For additional information, visit www.comertoncorp.com . Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg has been requested to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed-door interview and to produce his communications with Roger Stone that relate to Russia, WikiLeaks and Russian hacking. Nunberg told CNN on Friday that he intends to "100% comply" with the committee's request. adding that he believes the Senate committee "from their statements and the way the members have acted - including the Democrats - they're looking to wind their investigation down in a timely manner." On Friday evening, Nunberg said on "Anderson Cooper 360" that he doesn't think he has anything new to share with lawmakers, "but I'm glad that they're just checking their 'I's' here." "I'm happy that they're hopefully looking to wind this up, and I don't think I'm very important to this and this is why they're calling me in," Nunberg told CNN's John Berman. RELATED: Nunberg caps off strange week with appearance before Mueller grand jury The request itself came Thursday, signed by the committee's chairman, Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, and top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, and asks for the information by May 24. "The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is conducting a bipartisan inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections," the request begins. "As part of that inquiry, the Committee requests that you make yourself available for a closed interview with bipartisan Committee staff at a mutually agreeable time, and also requests that you produce and preserve certain documents." CNN reported earlier this year that Nunberg gave an interview to the Senate Intelligence Committee, so his return would mark his second appearance before the panel. In March, he testified before special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury. Nunberg also took a swipe at the House Intelligence Committee, complaining that the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, would "investigate in perpetuity" if were to become chairman. "Roger Stone may have told me that he was in contact with Julian Assange; however I do not believe that he was," Nunberg told CNN in a phone interview. "Once again, I never discussed nor did Roger ever say anything to me about John Podesta's emails -- nor did Roger ever tell me that he had advance knowledge that John Podesta's emails were going to be released." Nunberg denies any wrongdoing and defends Stone, his onetime political mentor, saying they had no advance knowledge of the WikiLeaks releases during the 2016 campaign. Nunberg believes the committee is interested in documents, including emails, he previously handed over to the special counsel's investigation. UNITED STATES (WTHI) - Three Americans held hostage in North Korea just returned home Thursday morning. The President and First Lady greeted the Americans at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington D.C. Thursday morning. They landed on U.S. soil around 2:45 EST. They were held hostage for over a year in North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song were accused of hostile acts, or espionage, against North Korea. Thanks to a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the country let the men go. The U.S. says negotiations are not over. Pompeo also discussed plans for a summit between the two countries. President Trump says he will be meeting with North Koreas leader very soon. That will likely happen in Singapore. He says the goal is to get rid of all nuclear weapons. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WTVA) - A man accused of severely beating his mother is heading back to Monroe County in handcuffs from Florida. Monroe County Sheriff Cecil Cantrell says Chad Moore, 39, was picked up by deputies this morning sometime near 9 a.m. CT in Hillsborough County, Fla. Updated picture of Chad Moore | Photo: Monroe County Sheriff's Dept. Updated picture of Chad Moore | Photo: Monroe County Sheriff's Dept. Cantrell says the deputies and Moore should be back in Monroe County later today. Moore is accused of beating his mother on May 3 on Bigbee Road near Amory. She received several fractures as a result. RELATED: Amory man accused of beating mother He was arrested on May 6 and was placed into the custody of the Hillsborough County (FL) Sheriff's Department. BELDEN, Miss. (WTVA) - It was the "Mother of all Giveaways" Friday morning as one lucky woman won a car. Northeast Mississippi NAPA Auto Care Centers handed the keys over to Donna Clingan of Pontotoc. She won a 2009 Toyota Camry. She was selected from more than 300 nominations for the prize. She was nominated by her daughter-in-law, Brandy, who described Clingan's selfless contributions to her family. Clingan spoke about her family. "Oh, she's such a special person to me," she said. "I love my family so much and all I want to do is take care of them." This was the second year for the contest. Eight runner-ups in the contest won $500 NAPA Auto Care gift certificates. EUROCASTLE INVESTMENT LIMITED Contact: International Administration Group (Guernsey) Limited Company Administrator Attn: Mark Woodall Tel: +44 1481 723450 Eurocastle Announces New Single Name Loan Transaction and Release of the First Quarter 2018 Earnings on 17 May 2018 Guernsey. 11 May 2018 - Eurocastle Investment Limited (Euronext Amsterdam: ECT) ("Eurocastle" or the "Company") today announces that it has committed approximately 8 million to acquire a shared interest, alongside affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC, in a portfolio of Italian distressed loans to a single borrower with a gross book value of approximately 81 million. The transaction is expected to fund by end of May 2018. The Company will release its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2018 on Thursday, 17 May 2018 before the market opens. In addition, management will host an earnings conference call at 2:00 P.M. London time (9:00 A.M. New York time) later that day. All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. You can access the conference call by dialing first +1-800-215-5243 (from within the U.S.) or +1-330-863-8154 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference "Eurocastle First Quarter 2018 Earnings Call or conference ID number 1685298" A webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.eurocastleinv.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download the necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast. A replay of the webcast will be available for three months following the call. For those who are not available to listen to the live call, a replay will be available until 11:59 P.M. New York time on Sunday, 17 June 2018 by dialing +1-855-859-2056 (from within the U.S.) or +1-404- 537-3406 (from outside of the U.S.); please reference access code 1685298. About Eurocastle Eurocastle Investment Limited is a publicly traded closed-ended investment company that focuses on investing in performing and non-performing loans and other real estate related assets primarily in Italy. The Company is Euro denominated and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam under the symbol "ECT". Eurocastle is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a leading global investment manager. For more information regarding Eurocastle Investment Limited and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.eurocastleinv.com. ATLANTA (AP) - The FBI says a fugitive wanted for a murder in Georgia 22 years ago has been captured in El Salvador. The arrest of 51-year-old Hector Ulises Garay was announced Wednesday by David LeValley, who heads the FBI office in Atlanta. Garay is suspected of killing Adalberto Salines during an attempted robbery in his Norcross home on Jan. 21, 1996. The FBI got a warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution 10 days later after Garay was believed to have left the country. El Salvador authorities transfer Hector Garay to members of #FBI Atlanta Metro Major (AMMO) Task Force to transport him back to Gwinnett County where he is wanted for January 1996 murder of Adalberto Salines. Example of the distance we will go to carry out justice. pic.twitter.com/3M7tHROFI5 FBI Atlanta (@FBIAtlanta) May 9, 2018 An FBI task force finally tracked him down and flew him back Tuesday to Atlanta. He's being held in the Gwinnett County jail. It wasn't immediately clear whether Garay had an attorney who could comment on his arrest. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) - An Atlanta-area high school student is facing a felony charge after being accused of secretly recording a sex act between two other students in a school bathroom. News outlets cite an arrest warrant that says the 17-year-old boy reached over a closed bathroom stall at Harrison High School and recorded a 15-year-old girl with a 16-year-old boy. That video spread via social media, air drop and group chats. An assistant principal notified police after discovering the video last Wednesday. According to the warrant, the 17-year-old told administrators he took the video because he didn't understand how the school could let the act happen. Cobb County police say the sex act was consensual and the students were recorded without their knowledge. The teen is charged with eavesdropping-surveillance, a felony. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A nurse at the Sunrise Community is facing misdemeanor charges after a mentally and physically disabled adult in her care was hospitalized with "significant burns" on her body. Elizabeth McDonald, 18, was arrested on Thursday. She is referred to as a nurse in court documents, though WTXL ABC 27 is working to verify that information. According to a probable cause document, the victim had been staying at the Sunrise Community (Mahan Clusters Homes) on Mahan Drive for about a year when her mom was contacted by nurse at the community on January 13, 2018. The nurse said that the victim's face had red marks on it and informed the victim's mother that she was contacting the doctor. An hour later, the nurse called the victim's mom again, saying the doctor had advised Vaseline for the marks. However, two hours later, court documents say the victim's mom got another call from the nurse who said the red marks were "more serious" than they originally thought. The victim's mother was informed the victim's skin was peeling and that the victim was being transported to the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. When the mother arrived at the hospital, staff quickly determined an inability to treat the victim's burns, so the victim was flown to the University of Florida Health Shands Burn Center in Gainesville. According to court documents, doctor's advised that the victim had suffered "near 3rd degree burns." The Department of Children and Families was alerted to the incident and began an investigation. A few days later on Jan. 17, the victim's mother reported the incident to the Tallahassee Police Department. An officer spoke with an Adult Protective Investigator with DCF and learned that the nurse who was taking care of the victim was Elizabeth McDonald. The DCF investigator's report indicated that the victim had sustained burns to 6 to 8 percent of her body, including her abdomen, face and neck. McDonald was put on suspension due to the investigation. When a TPD officer spoke with McDonald in recorded interview, she said that the victim had an accident and needed a bath. She decided to give the victim a full bath and was checking the water's temperature before bathing her. Documents say that McDonald increased the temperature because it was too cold, but once she found what she deemed an appropriate temperature, she put the victim in and began bathing her. She told police that she soon noticed the victim's skin turning red so she checked the temperature again and found it was too hot. McDonald turned it down and completed the bath. After the bath, McDonald said she alerted the nurse who ended up reporting the incident to the victim's mother. However, when officers spoke with the nurse who reported the incident, she said McDonald had not alerted her to all the injuries on the victim, instead, she only said something about the injuries that were visible on the clothed victim. Recognizing the injuries as a skin burn, she notified her manager, the doctor and her supervisor about the incident. Documents say the reporting nurse was not aware of additional injuries until two hours later. The nurse told police she was confident the burns were from "scorching hot water," and stated that the injuries would have been present before McDonald dressed the victim. Based on the investigation, probable cause was found to charge her with culpable negligence resulting in bodily harm (misdemeanor). A warrant was issued for McDonald's arrest on Feb. 2. She was taken into custody on Thursday but has since gotten out of jail on a $1,000 bond. According to the Florida Department of Health, the Sunrise Community on Mahan Drive has never been disciplined nor has ever had a complaint filed against them. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A local grassroots initiative is trying to reach baby boomers and bring them to Tallahassee. It's called "Choose Tallahassee." The program hopes to highlight the positive aspects of retiring in the Capital City. Seniors weve spoken with say they are thrilled about the variety of activities available for themselves as well as their families. "There's so much to do, there's so many, especially on the campuses of FAMU and FSU," said Tallahassee seniors Donnaclaire Schwekendiek, Ellen Sullivan, and Miryam Rubenstein. "There's music, there's art museums, there's science museums, sports. There's everything you want and yet it has an old south atmosphere." Tallahassee has the potential to be far more than just a college town and is perfect for retirees who are still kicking. Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, Jay Revell, says more local seniors would benefit the community. "They still like to travel, they still like to shop, they still like to dine. Even though they might be retiring, it doesn't mean they're slowing down. They're just maybe getting into a phase in their life where they're not working every day, but they're still really engaged in the local economy," said Revell. "So there's a massive economic impact that could be seen by seeing more and more baby boomers move into our community." More than 100 local volunteers with Choose Tallahassee are dedicated to showing seniors the absolute best the Tallahassee community has to offer. TITUSVILLE, Fla., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Apple Rush Company, Inc. (OTC PINK:APRU) (the company) is pleased to announce the purchase of Green Frog Products, Inc. in Florida. The acquisition includes over 90 accounts including the Luckys Markets throughout Florida. Tony Torgerud, CEO of Apple Rush said, We have decided to enter into the DSD business to enhance the opportunities with the AB network by preselling accounts within the different territories across Florida. We have built over 100 accounts in the Keys and another 100 or so across key cities in Florida. We have also acquired distribution rights to a plantain chip and a couple other products in order to maximize our return per stop. The purchase also included a Mercedes Sprinter Van delivery vehicle that we intend to wrap and have also acquired software for operating a DSD business. APRU currently has two reps in the field, Ronnda Shields in the main part of the state and Mike Fishman in the Florida Keys. You can follow Ronnda Shields on facebook as she expands our brands and samples across the state. These two reps and our delivery driver give us the additional support strength needed to distribute a product such as Apple Rush. We will be updating the share structure reductions in the coming weeks and will continue updates on signed distribution agreements as they are finalized. About Apple Rush Company, Inc. (APRU) The Apple Rush Company, Inc. through its subsidiary APRU, LLC Alternative Products Unlimited is a manufacturer of specialty supplements including anhydrous hemp oil, kratom, kava, and other active ingredients. The supplement format is its proprietary soft cold processed chew. The company markets its products through private label, white label, and through distributors nationally and internationally. The company was founded in 1998 and is now based in Titusville, FL. www.aprullc.com Investor Relations Contact Tony Torgerud 888-741-3777 x 2 BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WTXL) - The last graduating class of Bainbridge State College walked across stage and accepted their diplomas. Merging with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will bring new opportunities to South Georgia students. On Thursday night, 155 South Georgia students were a part of the last Bainbridge State College graduation. In January, Bainbridge State college merged with and is now a part of Abraham Baldwin agricultural college. "The world is always changing and the college is changing," said Emma Brown, a Bainbridge State College graduate. "So, I just think it's a way to grow our community and maybe bring more bachelors degrees here. I think it's an exciting thing." Dr. Michael Kirkland, the executive director of ABAC Bainbridge, says "The University System of Georgia wanted to be more efficient with the taxpayers dollars and expand access to education ... that's what led to the consolidation. The merger offers more classes to Georgia students. It also saves the taxpayers money. The Bainbridge State College and ABAC consolidation is the 9th in Georgia since 2011. Students that started classes before the merger will still receive their degrees from Brainbridge State College at Thursday's graduation. By consolidating, there is only one set of administration jobs that need to be filled and paid for, saving money for Georgia taxpayers. Dr. Kirkland says with the help of the merger Brainbridge State College went from offering one Bachelor's degree to several. "We're already offering a Bachelor's of Business, but that will be complimented with ABACs business program with more courses and more tracks," he said. "We'll also offer a Bachelor's of Science and Nursing degree, which we didn't offer previously." Those courses will be offered next fall and more classes will be phased in. Kirkland says the merger brings new opportunities to the Georgia community. The hope is for more students to earn their degrees from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Bainbridge. "I feel honored being part of the last graduating class of Bainbridge State College, so I think that's something I'll always be remembering," said Anthony Williams, a Bainbridge State College graduate. That's something all the graduates will remember. WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - The Wakulla County Sheriff's Office held their annual Law Day event Thursday at the Wakulla Environmental Institute. WCSO Sheriff Jared Miller and the WCSO recognized four distinguished members of the Sheriff's Office with awards for their exceptional work over the past year. Nancy Watts was awarded as the WCSO Outstanding Volunteer of the Year and Meci Taylor was awarded as the Communications Officer of the Year. U.S. President Donald Trump (1st L), his wife Melania Trump (1st R) welcome Kim Dong-chul, Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim back to the United States at Joint Base Andrews in Washington D.C., the United States, May 10, 2018. Three U.S. citizens that were just freed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in Washington early Thursday, as the two countries saw their ties warm up in recent weeks. (Xinhua/Shen Ting) WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Three U.S. citizens that were just freed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in Washington early Thursday, as the two countries saw their ties warm up in recent weeks. A plane carrying the three U.S. detainees arrived at Joint Base Andrews shortly before 3 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), minutes after another plane carrying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who helped bring the detainees back, landed. The three detainees, named Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim, Kim Dong-chul, are all U.S. citizens of Korean descent. They were arrested by DPRK authorities in 2015 and 2017 on different charges. Photo provided by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 10, 2018 shows Kim Jong Un (R), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shaking hands with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 9, 2018. Kim Jong Un expressed confidence that his upcoming summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump would be a historic one. (Xinhua/KCNA) Pompeo, who has visited Pyongyang twice in recent weeks to pave the way for an upcoming meeting between DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, secured their release Wednesday. To fully capitalize on the diplomatic success, Trump and other senior government officials greeted the detainees at the airport in a carefully choreographed ceremony. A giant U.S. flag was hoisted by two fire trucks in the background. After the planes landed, Trump stepped on board for a brief greeting before emerging alongside the detainees. Missing from the ceremony however, were the relatives of the detainees. U.S. President Donald Trump (C) speaks to the media after welcoming Kim Dong-chul, Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim back to the United States at Joint Base Andrews in Washington D.C., the United States, May 10, 2018. Three U.S. citizens that were just freed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in Washington early Thursday, as the two countries saw their ties warm up in recent weeks. (Xinhua/Shen Ting) "This must have broken your ratings records at three in the morning," Trump told reporters there. The detainees will be taken to a nearby hospital for further check-ups. U.S.-DPRK ties have taken a drastic turn in recent weeks, as both countries replaced fiery rhetoric with friendlier gestures. Trump and Kim are expected to conduct a historic meeting late May or in June. Trump said that the date and location has been decided and will be announced soon. AUSTIN, Texas, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bravatek Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink:BVTK) (Bravatek or the Company) announces that it has entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement with KP Consulting, a Guam-based systems integration consulting services business. In this arrangement, Bravatek will offer a business advisory role to KP Consulting for prospective clients in the private and public sectors. KP Consulting and its management team have over 20 years experience in Guam and throughout most of the Asia-Pacific region. Guam is a territory of the United States and is the largest, southernmost island in the Mariana Islands archipelago. Its strategic location in the Pacific is the core to its two largest industries: Tourism and Military. President of KP Consulting Karl Pangelinan stated: My partner Matt Giger and I each have over 20 years on the island working with commercial, real estate, retail and tourism-based services. Each of these sectors requires the current state of the art in cyber security systems. Bravateks EcryptOne, along with its future consumer software product, are well suited for the Guam market. Matt Giger added: Karl and I have also worked with many of the military outfits locally. In recent years, the military bases here have seen unprecedented buildup across all branches. The support functions that both small and enterprise-sized businesses provide to these Federal accounts need to be protected from unwanted, outside penetration. We have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the local government and private sector. The same can be said for our working relationship with the military. While a majority of the decisions are made locally, we are aware that some are also made in areas we dont have coverage in. With the support of Bravatek, we will now have a partner with the right network and accessibility in Washington D.C., where some of the other decisions are made. Dr. Thomas A. Cellucci, Bravateks Chairman & CEO, commented: This strategic alliance with KP Consulting should allow us to tap into more global, large critical infrastructure monitoring and security markets. Our teaming provides useful capabilities now to prospective clients in both the public and private sectors in our parts of the world." About Bravatek Solutions, Inc. Bravatek Solutions, Inc. is a high technology security solutions portfolio provider that assists corporate entities, governments and individuals protect their organizations against both physical and cyber-attacks through its offering of the most technically-advanced, cost-effective and reliable software, tools and systems. For more information, visit www.bravatek.com Safe Harbor Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as believe, expect, may, will, should, could, seek, intend, plan, goal, estimate, anticipate or other comparable terms. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Media contact: Bravatek Solutions, Inc. media@bravatek.com 1.866.490.8590 JOHANNESBURG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The South African government is contemplating setting up a state-owned bank. The ruling party, Africa National Congress (ANC), has been pushing for the establishment of a state bank to break the "monopoly" held by South Africa's big-four banks. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa supported the move for the setting up a state-owned bank "for financial inclusiveness, affordability and bank charges." "We need to create a better conducive for more banks that will make money available to the general population of our country. In some (other) countries, there is a plethora of banks to make finance accessible to a number of stakeholders," Ramaphosa told reporters on Thursday. At the ANC congress in December, delegates gave the South African government an ultimatum to ensure that a state-bank is up and running within six months. Calls for the establishment of the state-owned bank in the form of the Post Bank, had been on the drawing board within the ANC for more than 10 years. The ANC delegates demanded that the bank is given a developmental agenda aimed at providing services to South Africans who are excluded from the commercial banking sector. Early this year, Post Bank filed its application for a commercial banking licence with the Reserve Bank. "I am quite confident that the Reserve Bank is professional enough. It is able to process the application in an expeditious manner," according to the Post Office statement. "We had specific requirements we had to heed within 12 months and submit a final application. The deadline was July 4 to the Reserve Bank. We met that deadline. We submitted on June 27," it added. ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at improving the work environment in East Africa. The pact, which was signed at the EAC headquarters in the northern safari capital of Arusha, by EAC Secretary General, Liberat Mfumukeko and Wellington Chibebe, the Director of the ILO Country Office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, will address issues such as youth employment, extension of social security, and Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women at the workplace. The MoU is a follow up to another one that was signed between the two organizations in 2001. The 2002 MoU enabled the EAC and ILO to develop and launch a five-year East African Decent Work Program (2010-2015). Mfumukeko said that the revised MoU provides for the development of a framework for the harmonization of the EAC Partner States' policies on social security in line with the ILO Convention on Social Security (Minimum Standards) No. 102 of 1952. "The MoU further provides for the expansion of micro, small and medium enterprises for employment creation. Also included is the development of an EAC labor migration policy as one of the facilitators of labor mobility in the Community," Mfumukeko said. He said the community was striving to address youth unemployment as a matter of priority, adding that having well-educated but unemployed youth out of work was a time bomb. The EAC boss disclosed that EAC Partner States were addressing the issue by seeking to make agriculture as an attractive income-generating venture for the youth. Chibebe said that his organization would work with the EAC to accelerate regional integration and at the same time ensure that the drivers of integration, that is the free movement of labor, goods, and services enhance livelihoods of the millions of working women and men and their families. "We welcome the signing of this new Memorandum of Understanding, which will be based firmly on a new DWP for East Africa, addressing strategically prioritized areas agreed upon by the ILO on one side and the EAC and the East African social partner organizations on the other side," said Chibebe. Chibebe said that giving financial assistance to the needy instead of equipping them with vocational skills was akin to creating a culture of perpetual dependency. RIGA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A lawyer has been picked in a competition to take over the helm of the Latvian anti-money laundering agency, which is expected to undergo serious overhaul after the Baltic country's banking system has been hit by allegations of servicing shady nonresident businesses. Lawyer Ilze Znotina, who won the tender to become the new head of the Latvian Office for Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity, also known as the Control Service, did not accept the job right away. She requested a couple of days for reflection as she wanted the government to clearly formulate the tasks she would be expected to tackle as the agency's head. On Thursday, Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis announced on public television that Znotina had officially expressed her readiness to head the anti-money laundering agency and would take office on June 1, taking over from Viesturs Burkans who has been heading the Control Service for the past two decades. Prime Minister Kucinskis also informed that the Control Service will no longer be working under the supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office as it is necessary to increase its independence. For the time being there is clarity about the Control Service's new status, but a task force chaired by Znotina is expected to start work on this issue on June 1. The Latvian prime minister stressed the necessity to ensure the anti-money laundering service's long-term independence from any political influences. It is also expected that the Control Service's outgoing chief Burkans will be offered an advisory position in the agency. The Latvian banking sector and its problems with combating money-laundering came under international spotlight after the U.S. alleged in February that Latvia's third largest bank by assets, ABLV Bank, had been involved in money-laundering schemes. The accusation prompted the bank's shutdown. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 02:40:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to respond to Israel's large-scale air attack on Syria. "Yesterday I conveyed a clear message to the Assad regime: Our activity is directed against Iranian targets in Syria," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "But if the Syrian army takes action against us, we will act against it." "That is exactly what happened yesterday, Syrian army launched ground-to-air missiles against us, and therefore we hit them," he said. Reiterating a demand voiced by Israel in the past months, Netanyahu urged the international community "to prevent Iran's al-Quds Force from entrenching itself in Syria." He warned that Israel will act forcibly to any response to its attacks. "If anyone hurts us, we will hurt them sevenfold. And if anyone prepares to harm us, we will take preemptive action to harm them first," he said. Israel carried out an extensive attack on Syria overnight between Wednesday and Thursday. Israel's military said the attack targeted Iranian military sites and was a retaliation to earlier rockets that were launched towards military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights but failed to reach Israeli territory. The Syrian army said three people were killed and two were wounded in the attack. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 03:36:04|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close A member of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) looks through binoculars at an observation post on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on May 10, 2018. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Syria and Israel to halt all hostile acts in light of their recent conflicts of rocket firing and missile strikes, his spokesperson said Thursday. Earlier Thursday, Israel carried out missile strikes in Syria on what it said was Iranian military targets, in retaliation to a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights which, Israel said, was launched by the Iranian forces. In response, the Syrian military said its air defense had destroyed a large number of missiles from Israel. (Xinhua/JINI/Ayal Margolin) UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Syria and Israel to halt all hostile acts in light of their recent conflicts of rocket firing and missile strikes, his spokesperson said Thursday. Guterres called for an immediate halt in order to avoid "a new conflagration in the region already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians," said Stephane Dujarric in a statement. Earlier Thursday, Israel carried out missile strikes in Syria on what it said was Iranian military targets, in retaliation to a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights which, Israel said, was launched by the Iranian forces. In response, the Syrian military said its air defense had destroyed a large number of missiles from Israel. Dujarric told reporters the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has maintained contact with both Syria and Israel, urging them to exercise "maximum" restraint and abide by their 1974 ceasefire agreement. He said the UN chief, though relieved at Thursday's "partial normalization of the situation," has reiterated support to long-term de-escalation efforts and stability in the Middle East and has stressed a political solution to the conflicts. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 03:56:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday applauded the China-Japan-Republic of Korea (ROK) leaders' meeting held on Wednesday in Tokyo. In a statement, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, said the secretary-general welcomed "the support of the leaders of the three countries to the Panmunjom Declaration and their cooperation for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." "The Secretary-General hopes that the joint resolve of the countries in Northeast Asia will strengthen the path to achieve lasting peace and prosperity in this region," he added. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and ROK President Moon Jae-in attended the 7th China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting, which was resumed after a two-and-a-half-year suspension. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 04:21:16|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili receives an interview in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on May 8, 2018. Zurab Pololikashvili said Thursday that China is one of the most important tourist markets not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, said Thursday that China is one of the most important tourist markets not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world. His remarks came in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the 44th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for the Middle East and UNWTO Regional Conference, which wrapped up Thursday in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh city, with the theme of "Human Capital Development in Tourism: New Perspectives." "I think we need more connectivity with China, more promotion in China and I'm sure Egypt will attract more Chinese tourists," Pololikashvili told Xinhua. The UN official said there are a lot of opportunities to increase the number of Chinese tourists to Egypt and the Middle East, adding that UNWTO and the governments in the region have to identify the needs of Chinese tourists and to facilitate their visit. Pololikashvili noted Egypt has many attractions such as the pyramids, Alexandria, Luxor, Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, which could attract thousands of tourists, not only from China, but from many other countries. He revealed that UNWTO and a number of tourism ministers from the Middle East discussed at the meetings ways to boost tourism sector and to attract more tourists to the region. "Getting more tourists is the main challenge and main goal for us," he said. Pololikashvili said that tourism is vital for Egypt and the region, adding that UNWTO is expecting a notable increase in the number of tourists in the region in the upcoming three or four years because "world economy is growing very fast." The number of tourists who visited the Middle East region mounted to 85 million in 2017. "We are very glad to see that the number of tourists is increasing and we hope this will continue," he said. Egyptian tourism sector, a major source of national income and foreign currency, has witnessed recession over the past seven years. In Egypt, the number of tourists declined from 14.7 million in 2010 to about 8 million in 2017 due to political instability and relevant security challenges. Tourism in Egypt was dealt a heavy blow following the Russian airplane crash in North Sinai in October 2015, after which several countries, including Britain and Russia, suspended their flights to Egypt. However, experts expect a boom in the business after Russia and Egypt resumed direct flights between the two countries. "Our goal is to attract 10 million tourists this year, but together with government, we hope we could double this number soon," he said. According to official statistics, Egypt's tourism revenues jumped 123.5 percent year-on-year to 7.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. However, these figures remain below the benchmark in 2010 when tourists visiting Egypt brought in around 12.5 billion dollars in revenue. The WTO secretary-general revealed that his organization appreciates that the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is personally committed to the tourism sector and is supporting tourism development in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 04:21:16|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C) meets with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the process of making the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship in Tokyo, Japan, on May 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Tao) TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Thursday said here that he hoped that China and Japan would carry forward the spirit of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship to push for new progress in bilateral relations. Li, who is on an official visit to Japan, made the remarks when meeting with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the treaty-making process on Thursday morning. Forty years ago, the older generation of leaders from China and Japan showed great farsight and strategic resolve by concluding the treaty, said Li. The treaty confirmed the principles of the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement in legal form, raised it to a law that must be strictly followed, and established the general direction of friendship for generations and peaceful coexistence between the two countries, said Li. Forty years later, the two sides should continue to follow the spirit of the treaty, said the premier. Both countries should take greater resolve and make greater efforts to increase mutual trust, build consensus and properly handle their differences so as to bring Sino-Japanese relations back to normal track and achieve new development. Li noted that the development of Sino-Japanese relations in recent years has proved that only by adhering to the principles and spirit set out in their four cornerstone political documents can the relations between the two countries achieve stable development. Otherwise, there will be twists and turns. The four documents refer to the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the 1978 China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the 1998 China-Japan Joint Declaration, and the 2008 joint statement on advancing strategic and mutually beneficial relations. Li called on both sides to cherish the hard-won momentum of improvement in bilateral relations, carry forward the spirit of the treaty, and promote new progress in their ties, in a bid to provide stable and positive expectations for the two peoples as well as the international community. More than 20 Japanese representatives attended the meeting, including former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yohei Kono. The Japanese attendees briefly reviewed the history of the signing of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, voicing full agreement with Premier Li's remarks. They expressed confidence in the improvement in bilateral ties and believed that the ties will continue the health and stable development. They also voiced willingness to work with the Chinese side, taking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty as an opportunity, to promote bilateral friendly cooperation. by Stefania Fumo ROME, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A group of 105 rescued migrants landed in Sicily on Thursday after a three-day odyssey at sea that included a diplomatic tug-of-war between Italy and Britain, SOS Mediterranee search-and-rescue NGO said in a statement. The 63 men, eight women and 34 minors come from nine different countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, and Sudan. They were rescued Sunday from a sinking rubber dinghy off the coast of Libya by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, whose vessel, the Astral, flies a British flag. However, the 30-meter Astral is too small to hold over 100 people. Accordingly, the Marine Rescue Coordination Center (UKMRCC) in London contacted SOS Mediterranee, which in partnership with NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) runs a 77-meter rescue ship, the Aquarius, which also flies a British flag and has capacity of up to 750 people. The Aquarius agreed to take the rescuees on board, but a protracted negotiation between Italy and the UK ensued as the two bickered over who should authorize the transfer from one vessel to the other and who should indicate the closest safe harbor. Since both vessels fly British flags, Italy held it was Britain's job to authorize the transfer, and then indicate a British port -- for example, Gibraltar -- to receive them. Meanwhile the "health and sanitary conditions on board the Astral continued to deteriorate," SOS Mediterranee said. Finally on Monday night, the Rome MRCC broke the stall, authorizing the transfer. Late on Tuesday, as weather conditions were getting worse, Italy authorized the Aquarius to bring the rescuees to the Sicilian port of Catania, where they arrived on Thursday morning. The incident sparked condemnation from the EU, with ANSA Italian news agency citing a European Commission spokesperson as calling the situation "deplorable". MP Giorgio Silli from Silvio Berlusconi's center-left Forza Italia party objected that "foreign vessels rescue migrants at sea and unload them in Italy: nothing has changed." "We can't let our guard down," he added, according to ANSA. "A new route has opened between Algeria and Sardinia: of the people who arrived, three have been arrested because Italy had already deported them." Silli was referring to Italy's anti-terrorism policy, which includes deporting Islamic extremists and jihadi sympathizers before they get a chance to carry out an attack. Italy has borne the brunt of the international migrant crisis because its southernmost islands lie close to North Africa. A total of 9,789 migrants reached Italy across the Mediterranean as of May 10 this year, 84.51 percent lower compared to the same period in 2017, according to the Interior Ministry. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 07:26:06|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Tao Haiyan's eldest child plays at the new house redesigned by Lan Feng at Xiyangxin Village in Taijiang District of Fuzhou City, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 9, 2018. As an interior designer of Fuzhou City, Lan Feng has paid attention to the living conditions of migrant workers in Fuzhou when she studied at university. More than a month ago, Lan got acquainted with Tao Haiyan from Chongqing, who is about to welcome her second baby, but lives in a narrow and disadvantaged dwelling place rented in Fuzhou with her family. To enhance their living condition, Lan together with other public-spirited partners redesigned and refitted a new house freely for them. Lan said she together with her partners would help more families like Tao's to improve their living conditions. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) Austin, TX, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Steve Roebuck, Associa Hill Country (AHC) community manager, received the 2017 Community Manager of the Year award for his work with the Ryans Crossing community. The award was presented at the 5th Annual Neighborhood Conference held at the Allen R Baca Center in Round Rock, Texas. The Community Manager of the Year award is designed to honor a community manager or management team that goes above and beyond for their residents. Mr. Roebuck has been an Associa Hill Country team member for more than three years. He has been the community manager for the Ryans Crossing community since December of 2016 and led them to earn the Austin Chapter of Community Associations Institutes Award for the community with the best financial health. Steve is dedicated to his residents and genuinely cares about the safety of the community and the property values of the neighborhood, stated Erin Bertollini, Associa Hill Country president. He is vigilant in responding to community members needs. We are grateful for his hard work and this prestigious award shows that his residents are as well. With more than 180 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com. Stay Connected: Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa Subscribe to the Blog: https://hub.associaonline.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/associa Join us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/associa Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 07:21:56|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BRASILIA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's federal police on Thursday launched Operation Bravata, which dismantled a gang dedicated to perpetrating online hate crimes, threats, and inciting terrorism on websites and social media platforms. The police carried out search and arrest warrants in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Recife, Curitiba, Santa Maria and Vila Velha. One of those arrested was Marcello Vale Silveira Mello, a systems analyst from the southern city of Curitiba, while six other suspects were rounded up. The arrest warrant against Silveira Mello was signed by judge Marcos Josegrei, who emphasized that such online crimes were "aggressions... stimulating the most diverse violations of human rights." Mello was arrested and charged for similar crimes during another operation in 2012. He was part of an online hate group named "Hombres Santos" (Holy Men), which used social media to spread racist and neo-nazi content, inciting violence against black people, homosexuals and women, as well as encouraging rape and murder. The police indicated that there was evidence that those under investigation were responsible for "bomb threats sent to various universities in the country." MOSCOW, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that the preservation of the Iran nuclear deal is of fundamental importance for international and regional security and the global non-proliferation regime. During a phone call initiated by the Turkish side, Putin and Erdogan confirmed the two countries' commitment to cooperate with other major parties that have contributed to the deal and coordinate steps over the matter, the Kremlin said. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark agreement signed in 2015 by Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France and Germany. The deal should be preserved despite the U.S. decision to withdraw, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier Thursday at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas following their talks in Moscow. Maas said he plans to hold a meeting next week with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, as well as the foreign ministers of Britain, France and possibly other countries to discuss the issue. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 09:02:11|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close VIENTIANE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A program to promote scientific eye protection knowledge and to provide free treatment in Lao schools, namely "Lancang-Mekong Bright Journey to Laos", has been launched in Lao capital Vientiane on Thursday. The program is the second edition of the "Mekong Bright Journey" initiated by China, under which, the Chinese doctors are checking the vision health of the students in Cambodia and Laos from May 6 to May 13, as well as to promote cooperation in ophthalmology with local medical institutions. In Laos, the Chinese doctors will work in three primary and middle schools in capital Vientiane and central Laos' Savannakhet Province. According to Liu Biwei, an official with the Chinese side, around 3,700 Lao students will take vision health screening, and the Chinese team will provide spectacles for the needed students for free. Thongphan Savanphet, Vice Foreign Minister and Laos' ASEAN SOM (Senior Officials' Meeting) Leader, when addressing the launching ceremony, said the Bright Journey has been offering tangible benefits for the people in Mekong Basin. The Lao side speaks highly of and is heartfully grateful for the sincere help from Chinese government. Thongphan said that Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism achieves multiple progresses and gains, attributes to the generous contribution from China. Laos treasures the traditional friendship with China, and firmly believes the Laos-China relationship will grow tighter and closer. Since the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism was started, the Lao side has been making active and positive contribution to its rapid development, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Wang Wentian said at the ceremony, adding that it is believed that with the joint efforts made by China, Laos and other basin countries, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism will inject powerful impetus to the peace and development of the region, will contribute positively to the building of the Lancang-Mekong basin economic development zone. In its first edition of "Mekong Bright Journey," Chinese doctors carried out over 800 free-of-charge cataract surgeries in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. TIRANA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Heavy vehicles will be banned on major roads to and from tourist destinations in Albania during weekends starting from June 15 to Sept. 15, an Albanian senior official said Thursday. The decision was made jointly by the Albanian Interior Ministry and the Infrastructure and Energy Ministry, said Damian Gjiknuri, head of the Infrastructure and Energy Ministry. Gjiknuri announced the decision after a meeting with the Albanian International Road Carriers Association, the Maritime Port Directors and the Albanian Road Authority. The decision aims to make traffic easier for tourists as the peak season for the industry is coming, especially in areas that see a large influx of sightseers. In the coming days, specialists will determine the traffic schedules that facilitate movements of tourists and meanwhile produce the least impact on local business activities. SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to hold phone talks with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), via the newly installed hotline "before long," a Blue House official of South Korea told local reporters Friday. The unnamed official with the presidential Blue House told reporters that the first phone talks between Moon and Kim "will happen before long" without deliberating on an exact date. The hotline of direct dialogue between the leaders of the two Koreas was established a week before the Moon-Kim summit, held on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom. The Blue House has said the first hotline talks between Moon and Kim could be made after the announcement of the time and venue for the DPRK-U.S. summit. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that his meeting with the DPRK leader will be in Singapore on June 12. Trump's remarks came on the heels of the DPRK's release of three detained U.S. citizens, who came back with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after his visit to Pyongyang in preparation for the Trump-Kim summit. LOS ANGELES, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson cut a 30 million U.S. dollars check to the Republican Party-affiliated Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) to boost the party's efforts to keep a majority in the House in mid-term elections this November, Politico reported Thursday. The CFL is a super political action committee (PAC) dedicated to securing a GOP majority in the House of Representatives. According to the news outlet, the donation was locked by House Speaker Paul Ryan after a meeting with Adelson in Las Vegas last week at the Venetian Hotel, which the businessman owns. Also attending the meeting were Adelson's wife Miriam, Norm Coleman, the former Minnesota senator who chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition, Corry Bliss, who oversees CLF; and Jake Kastan, Ryan's political aide, the report said. Since Ryan is not permitted to solicit seven-figure political donations as a federally elected official, the contribution was asked and secured when he left the room, according to the report. Adelson, who is the Republic Party's biggest campaign supporter, gave 10 million U.S. dollars in August 2016 for that year's elections, in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. "Adelson's donation comes at a perilous moment for House Republicans, who are facing growing headwinds as they try to save their majority," the report commented. The latest report of Federal Election Commission (FEC) said that the Democrats have had a series of successful fundraising hauls in the lead up to November's contests, as 40 House Democratic candidates outraised Republican incumbents in the first fundraising quarter of 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 10:22:26|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Thai Commerce Minister Sonthirat Sonthijirawong speaks at the "Next Station: China" e-commerce training seminar in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, May 10, 2018. Sonthirat Sonthijirawong called Thursday on Thai enterprises to enter Chinese market through e-commerce platforms. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak) BANGKOK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Thai Commerce Minister Sonthirat Sonthijirawong has called for more Thai enterprises to enter Chinese market through its e-commerce platforms. He made these remarks on Thursday at an e-commerce training seminar themed "Next Station: China" in Bangkok. The seminar, held by the Thai-Chinese Chamber and China Economic Information Service, has brought experts and high level managers from China's e-commerce giant JD.com to share its business model, and how to set up shops on its online platform. China crowns the biggest trade partner of Thailand, with a two-way trade of more than 73 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. The minister expects the bilateral trade would reach 120 billion U.S. dollars by 2020. "E-commerce is the key for the two countries to reach this goal", said Sontirat. He said e-commerce would help Thai products to reach Chinese consumers. He said low-income farmers and small and medium enterprises can use digital technology to boost their competitiveness on online market platforms, which set strict criteria for products. The minister said it's time for Thailand to learn from China, a country empowered by the boom of e-commerce. Thailand was astounded by the glory of Chinese e-commerce when 80,000 pieces of durians, weighing 200 tons, were snapped up by Chinese consumers on T-mall of Alibaba within 60 seconds. China has been the dream market for many Thai enterprises, the training comes at the right time, said the minister at the seminar which attracted more than 700 attendants. "This seminar may change the lives of some of the attendants," said Sontirat. SINGAPORE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The historic meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un in Singapore is a significant step on the path to peace, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said here Friday. "May it lead to a successful outcome," Lee wrote in a Twitter reply to Trump. Trump tweeted on Thursday that the highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and himself will take place in Singapore on June 12, and said," We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on late Thursday that the Trump-Kim summit is to be held in the city-state. Singapore is pleased to host the meeting between the two leaders on June 12, said the ministry in a statement, adding, "we hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula." Malaysia's new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attends a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, May 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The unexpected success by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad-led opposition coalition at Malaysia's 14th general election may lead to market and policy uncertainties in the immediate term, but in the long run, it will provide Malaysia the chances to start tackling some of its institutional problems that are holding back the country's prospects, said foreign and Malaysian analysts here Thursday. The opposition's win in the election marked uncharted territory for Malaysia because the country has never witnessed a transition of power away from the Barisan Nasional (BN) since its independence in 1957, said Moody's Investors Service's sovereign risk group senior analyst Anushka Shah in a note. "Little is known about the opposition's full range of economic policies, and its electoral pledges have lacked details that would allow for a full assessment of their budgetary and macroeconomic impact," she said. She believed that some campaign promises, if implemented without any other adjustments, would be credit negative for Malaysia's sovereign. These include a proposed abolishment of the goods and services tax (GST) which, without offsetting measures, would increase Malaysia's reliance on oil-related revenues and, in the near term at least, narrow the government's revenue base. Another policy pledge, the reintroduction of fuel subsidies, would also distort market-determined price mechanisms, with effects on both the fiscal position and balance of payments, she added. DBS Group Research concurred with Moody's, saying in a report that the opposition's policy platform may not please markets, for instance, the pledge to abolish the GST could dent the fiscal outlook if followed through. "At a time when emerging markets are seeing a rise in funding costs and sustained currency weakness, Malaysia's markets have held up well so far this year, thanks to recent fiscal reforms and the upside coming from rising oil prices. Whether these gains can be preserved is now open to question," it said. Nomura Research also foresaw some uncertainties for Malaysian market in near term as there are numerous issues which investors need to consider. These issues include whether the transition of power from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) to Pakatan Harapan (PH) is smooth, clarity on important policies such as GST and public sector spending, whether the four-party alliance of PH with a slim majority can work well, likely cabinet appointments, path of economic reforms and, lastly, how policy uncertainty will affect business sentiment. "We believe this uncertainty is unlikely to enthuse investors and will likely increase the risk premium of the market," it said. RHB Research Institute also highlighted in its report, the surprise victory of the opposition in the election might see investors exit the market, given the ensuing uncertainty over economic policy, continuity and priority. "Some major government-funded construction projects may be reviewed, while some businesses may delay their investments until there is further clarity," it said. The research house projected the fiscal deficit to widen if the incoming PH government fully implements the measures in its election manifesto. It estimated Malaysia's real GDP growth forecast for 2019 to decrease to 4.6 percent year-on-year (from 5 percent) while the budget deficit may potentially widen to up to 4.5 percent of GDP, unless further clarity is given to reassure investors. Despite foreseeing some uncertainties in near term, some analysts such as Capital Economics, opined that the historic election does raise the possibility that Malaysia could finally start to tackle some of the institutional problems that are holding back the country's long-run prospects. "The key factor behind PH's victory was the 1MDB scandal, which has tarnished the country's international reputation. Mahathir now has a clear mandate to carry out his pledge clean up the government," it said. The research house also pressed the need of change for the system of affirmative action that gives numerous privileges to ethnic Malays and disadvantages those from other ethnic groups. In addition, IHS Markit Asia Pacific maintained its forecast that Malaysian economy would grow at 5.5 percent this year, supported by continued strong manufacturing exports and the upturn in the oil and gas sector. Malaysian economy grew at a rapid pace of 5.9 percent in 2017. | 2018-05-11 10:55:16|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Gustavo Bell, leader of the Colombian government delegation, speaks in the fifth round of peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army in Havana, Cuba, May 10, 2018. The two sides on Thursday held the fifth round of peace talks in Havana in a bid to reach an agreement on a new temporary ceasefire. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez) St. Paul, Minn., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BAE Systems and the University of Calgary took home the top honors at the recent Recognition Professionals International Annual Convention in Nashville. It was the first time RPI has had a tie for the top award, as both BAE Systems and the University of Calgary received the honor. BAE Systems was recognized for embracing RPIs Seven Best Practice Standards. Like many organizations, BAE Systems applied for the award in the past and last year received three Excellence in Standards awards. BAE Systems has a company-wide program to recognize and reward employee accomplishments, which are strongly tied to their performance and living their cultural values. The strength of the BAE Systems recognition program comes from the fact that it was designed by its employees and grows because they are vested and have ownership of the program and the tools. BAE Systems regularly and responsibly reviews each program for its responsiveness to employee needs. Their program utilization, which has risen by over 200% in the past four years, has become a key measurement with its executive leadership team and is a part of the organizations strategic goals for continuous improvement. The University of Calgary is a first-time award applicant. This organization formed a cross-disciplinary Recognition Steering Committee to guide the development, implementation, and ongoing review of employee recognition in 2013. They did so understanding the key role of recognition in employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. The Committee set out to create a recognition strategy that aligned with the universitys strategic plan and values to provide best practice recognition programs, education and communication for all staff. To build the strategy, they used their findings from an Employee Recognition Preferences survey, the analysis of existing practices and programs as well as reviewing recognition programs at leading universities in Canada and consulting with a third party provider. RPI judges were impressed with the strategic way the University of Calgary embraced this process. They took the time to create a network of the right organizational champions, they ensured they had great baseline data; their program supports the goals and values of the university, and they created some fun, engaging and well-used tools. RPIs Best Practices Judges for 2018 were: Roy Saunderson, Chief Learning Officer at Rideau Recognition Shelley Judges, Senior Manager of Employee Experience for TD Business Banking and a 2010 Best Practice winner Dee Hansford, who has facilitated CRP and been instrumental with two organizations being awarded the overall Best Practices Award. Cori Champagne of MIT, the 2016 Best Overall recipient. Additional information is available at the RPI website: www.recognition.org. # # # About RPI Founded in 1998, Recognition Professionals International (RPI) is the only professional association at the forefront of workforce recognition through its sole focus on recognition innovations and education as a systematic method for improvements in the workplace. RPI is endorsed by top authorities in the industry, has an impressive membership of Fortune 500 organizations and is the only association offering Certified Recognition Professional (CRP) courses. File photo taken on Dec. 8, 2017 shows a statue representing the "comfort women" in Manila, thePhilippines. (Xinhua/Dong Chengwen) MANILA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- "I felt very sad when I heard that the 'comfort woman' statue was removed. I felt insulted," said Estelita Dy, 88, whose voice was cracking with emotion. Dy is one of the few surviving Filipino women who were forced to work as sex slave in Japanese military brothels during World War II. She said on Thursday that she was devastated by the decision to remove the statue that depicts their long-standing demand for justice. The statue was removed on April 27, less than five months after it was erected, on the eve of her 88th birthday. "That's why I was really devastated. I felt I was stabbed in the back again. It was painful," Dy said. A backhoe is seen at the area where a statue remarking the World War II comfort women used to be in Manila, the Philippines, April 28, 2018. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) At a moment of the press conference, Dy appeared teary-eyed as she denounced the decision to knock down the statue along the famed Roxas Boulevard in Manila City. The statue, a seven-feet bronze sculpture that depicts a blindfold, grieving woman in Maria Clara traditional Filipiniana gown, was erected in December last year, a few km from the Japanese embassy in Manila. The unveiling took place 76 years after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines that started on Dec. 8, 1941, 10 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese imperial forces occupied the Philippines from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. It's estimated that up to 200,000 women in their teens from around Asia, mainly in South Korea, but also in China, Indonesia and the Philippines, were forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels during that period. To keep alive the memories of the "comfort women", similar memorial statues in South Korea, China and the United States have been built. The erection of the statue in Manila angered Japan. Tokyo protested and demanded that it be taken down. "Comfort women" is a euphemism for the women, mostly Asians, who were forced to work as sex slaves in Japanese military brothels. Dy is among the hundreds of Filipino comfort women who publicly admitted in the early 1990s, exposing the sexual abuse they had suffered at the hands of Japanese soldiers during the 1942-1945 Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Most of these women are in their teens when they were abducted by the Japanese soldiers and brought to a garrison to be repeatedly raped, according to the Lila Pilipina, or the League of Filipino Grandmothers. Lawmakers from the House of Representatives filed on Thursday a resolution seeking to investigate the removal of the statue. In filing the resolution, Gabriela Representatives Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas said the removal of the statue "violates existing laws and blackens the memory of abused comfort women who died without even getting a formal apology from the Japanese government for the historical injustice which they suffered." "We will never allow our dignity and our collective quest for justice to be traded merely for Japanese loans and investments. We will never let this incident be swept under the rug," De Jesus said. Sharon Silva, the incoming executive director of Lila Pilipina, said the removal of statue "is very much in connection with Japanese aid and loans that the government was negotiating for. But we reiterate our stand there should never be a revision of Philippine history." Teresita Ang-See of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran Inc. said she was told that the statue will never be put back on that same spot in public place, lamenting that the ageing war victims can't be given "a small piece of land, less than 100 square meters." The Filipino "comfort women" are demanding an official apology from the Japanese government, compensation and inclusion of the "comfort women" issue in Japan's historical accounts and textbooks. In 2016, the women's party-list filed a House resolution urging the Philippine government to demand a formal apology from Japan for the sexual slavery of thousands of Filipino women by the Japanese Imperial Army during WW II. In the Philippines, more than 200 women came out open in the 1990s to tell their harrowing experience with the Japanese military. There are only less than 10 of them alive now, mostly in their 80s and sick, according to Dy. NEW DELHI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a two-day visit to Nepal on Friday morning on the invitation from his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. This is Modi's first visit to the neighbouring country since Oli assumed the office of Nepali PM in February. The highlight of Modi's visit would be laying the foundation stone of the 900-megawatt hydropower project "Arun III", besides offering prayers at two famous temples. Modi will directly fly to Nepal's town Janakpur where he will offer prayers at the old and famous "Janki" temple, the official spokesman of India's external affairs ministry. Later, Modi will also call on President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, which be followed by bilateral talks between the two prime ministers, said the spokesman. by Xinhua writers Zhu Dongyang, Liu Chen WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that he will meet top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Trump said. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" U.S. experts said that the chosen site and date, presumably agreed by all parties concerned, were set with serious calculations. WHY IS SINGAPORE? Trump on Wednesday ruled out the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the DPRK and South Korea. He said on April 30 that the DMZ and Singapore could be possible sites for his meeting with Kim. Yet judged by his previous tweets and remarks, the White House host clearly preferred the DMZ. When asked why Singapore was chosen, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told the media later on Thursday that the Southeast Asian nation has a relationship with both the United States and the DPRK. "They can be ensured -- to ensure both the President's security and Kim Jong Un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he said. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past." U.S. analysts highlighted Singapore's political neutrality, geological proximity and cultural diversity. Troy Stangarone, senior director of the Washington-based non-profit Korea Economic Institute on policy research, told Xinhua that "while the DMZ appealed to President Trump for the symbolism that he witnessed during the inter-Korean summit, it also would have been a repeat of what North and South Korea had done." "If the summit were held on the North Korean side of the DMZ, it also would have sent the wrong optics of the U.S. president traveling to North Korea," he noted. "Singapore is a neutral location for both sides that has traditionally been seen as a place where the East meets the West," he said. "The United States and North Korea have previously held meetings there, and the infrastructure is well placed to hold a summit meeting. Also, due to diplomatic and business ties it is a place where the North Koreans would feel comfortable meeting." European nations were once reported favorites. Yet Stangarone argued that "it was always likely a long-shot that the summit would be in Europe due to the distance that Kim Jong Un would have needed to travel." Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West also told Xinhua that "Singapore is a place trusted by all the relevant countries." "It has a tradition of respecting different cultures and working well with a wide range of countries. Those qualities make it an excellent choice to host a major international summit," he said. In the eyes of Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the number of anticipated press personnel reporting the meeting will reach around 7,000. WHAT MAKES THE MEETING POSSIBLE? Paal highlighted China's role in making the meeting possible, praising its "huge role" in implementing the UN Security Council's resolutions in a bid to promote the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula via peaceful dialogues. In the eyes of West, the common interests of all parties concerned played the fundamental part. "Trump wants North Korea to denuclearize. North Korea needs economic assistance. The new leader of South Korea hopes to improve family travel to North Korea," he said. "Each country has different interests, but shares a common interest in resolving key elements of this situation." Shah told media that prior to Trump's acceptance of the DPRK's invitation for a meeting in March, the DPRK had agreed to halt their ballistic missile firing and nuclear testing, and not to publicly oppose the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. "So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. We'll hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations," he said. However, Korea Economic Institute's Stangarone noted Trump's willingness to do things differently played an important role in making this meeting possible. Besides, Pyongyang has long sought a meeting with the U.S. president. "But it is hard to imagine any prior U.S. president willing to meet the leader of North Korea with so little still undecided," he said. Paal at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace also said that "for the U.S., denuclearization. For North Korea, sanctions relief. Then deadlines. Finally, naming envoys." MAJOR CHALLENGES AHEAD Even though the meeting has been set, analysts believe major challenges remain ahead for all the parties to finally achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Shah told media that the U.S. expectation for the meeting is as always -- to ensure a complete, irreversible, and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "And that's what he's going to be seeking," he said, referring to Trump. Stangarone said that the core of the agenda will focus on the elimination of the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction, the normalization of relations, and the removal of sanctions on the DPRK. "There are a series of challenges they will face," he said. "The United States and North Korea do not have an agreed-upon definition of denuclearization and reaching a clear definition that both sides agree to will be critical to avoiding disputes in the future." Also, the pace of denuclearization and sanctions relief will also be a challenge, as the DPRK would like a phased process that brings benefits as early as possible, while the United States prefers to see denuclearization completed prior to providing sanctions relief. The other major issue of contention would be whether the United States agrees to provide economic benefits to the DPRK for denuclearization. "We've seen that the providing of economic benefits was one of the contentious aspects of the Iran nuclear deal in the United States and I would expect it to be in the North Korean case as well," said Stangarone. However, Brookings' West told Xinhua that "the biggest challenge will involve trust and verification." "It is not so hard to reach an agreement, but it is going to involve meaningful verification so that the agreement gets fully implemented," he said. "That likely will be the most contentious part of the negotiations." HOW IS THE CHANCE FOR SUCCESS? Stangarone told Xinhua that "there are strong incentives for both sides to see the summit as a success." "I expect that they will reach an initial agreement," he said. "However, it may be years until we know if the summit is truly successful." "As Kim Jong Un himself noted at the inter-Korean summit, implementation has been a problem in the past and only once we know how the details of any framework that the United States and North Korea agree to and see how the implementation works, will we truly know if the summit was a success," he explained. West also believed that there is a chance the summit could be successful if each party is willing to make some concessions. "There already have been several good faith concessions from several countries and that offers hope of a successful resolution," he said, referring to the DPRK's release of three U.S. detainees and repeated announcement to commit to denuclearization, as well as the U.S. positive statements in response. Paal also said that the Trump-Kim meeting will be deemed successful. "But the test will be the final outcome, many months away," he said. "We may learn whether this is North Korea squirming off the hook, or there is a real transformation of its goals underway. The first will be negative, the latter really important." (Xinhua reporter Matthew Rusling also contributed to the story.) SYDNEY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Seven people, including four children, have been shot dead in the early hours of Friday morning, near the Margaret River area, some 270 km south of Perth in Western Australia. Western Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers were called to a property in a small town called Osmington at 05:15 (AWST), were they made the gruesome discovery. "The loss of any life is tragic, four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said. "It appears that gunshot wounds are there but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene." At this stage, no further details about the identity of the victims have been released, however police did confirm they are not looking for a suspect. Detectives from the State's Homicide Squad and Forensic Crime Scene Unit believe the tragic incident is likely to be a murder-suicide, making it the worst mass shooting in Australia since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 in the Port Arthur Massacre. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 12:17:47|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated on Thursday his intention to run for a third presidential term. Lula was jailed on April 7 and is serving a sentence of 12 years and one month for corruption and money laundering. His lawyers are working -- so far without success -- to get him free until all appeals in his case are judged. Lula can still appeal to the Superior Court of Justice and to the supreme court. In a letter addressed to Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, president of the Workers' Party, which Lula founded and presided over for years, Lula said that he remains intent on running in the October elections. "I am a candidate until truth comes up and until media, judges and prosecutors either prove the crime I committed or stop lying," he said. The former president reaffirmed his innocence and said the party should not have an alternate candidate for the president, for that would mean acknowledging a crime he has not committed. Lula was found guilty of taking bribes in exchange for using his influence to favor construction company OAS in contracts with oil giant Petrobras. According to the prosecution, the bribe was a luxury apartment at Guaruja, a coastal town in Sao Paulo. Lula denied ever owning the apartment. He said he visited it a few times, but decided against the purchase. NEW DELHI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from thunderstorm and rain-related incidents in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 18, officials said Friday. "Until last evening, the death toll was 16, but with two more casualties reported from Etawah and Agra, the toll rose to 18," a local government official said. The storm hit the state on Wednesday. According to India's state-run broadcaster - All India Radio, the state's deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma visited the affected districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura and Aligarh to take stock of the situation and distributed financial assistance to the victims. India's Meteorological department had issued a warning of thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail in large parts of northern and eastern states. Officials said the thunderstorm also perished 37 cattle and uprooted trees and electricity transmission poles in the districts. Last week, at least 124 people were killed and more than 300 others injured in five states due to dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 13:12:57|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close A search and rescue (SAR) member using walkie talkie stands guards after Mount Merapi spews volcanic ash during a phreatic eruption at Kinahrejo village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, May 11, 2018. Indonesia shut down a main airport in Yogyakarta province on Friday after eruption of Mount Merapi in the province, disaster agency official disclosed. (Xinhua/Supriyanto) JAKARTA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia shut down a main airport in Yogyakarta province on Friday after eruption of Mount Merapi in the province, disaster agency official disclosed. Mount Merapi, located in the border of the province and East Java province, spewed a column of ash 5,500 meters to the sky at 07:30 a.m. Jakarta time on Friday, igniting rain of ash from the south to the west of the crater, spokesman of national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho revealed. "Adi Sucipto airport is transiently closed that it is impacted by the spread of ash from Merapi volcano," he told Xinhua in a text message. The airport was shut down from 10:42 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. Jakarta time, according Sutopo. Further evaluation over the operation of the airport would be undertaken, he added. SINGAPORE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 30 people were injured in a collision involving two buses at a bus stop here Friday morning. According to the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF), 33 were injured in the accident in Jalan Jurong Kechil. They were taken to three hospitals. The two buses belong to the SBS Transit Ltd. and the SMRT Corporation Ltd., with the bus service of 157 and 970 respectively. The cause of the incident is still under investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 13:48:02|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close A policeman inspects the explosion site in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on May 11, 2018. At least five people were killed and two others injured in an explosion at a hotel in Peshawar on Friday morning, police said. (Xinhua/Umar Qayyum) ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and two others injured in an explosion at a hotel in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Friday morning, police said. Peshawar city police head Qazi Jamilur Rehman confirmed that five members of a family lost their lives after an explosion occurred in a room of a hotel at Bilal Town area of Peshawar. Firefighters rushed to the site and extinguished the blaze that extended to the other floors of the hotel. Rescue teams evacuated other guests from the hotel, shifted the bodies and the injured to a hospital in the city. Several cars in the hotel parking lot were also damaged. A Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) of police was called to ascertain the cause of the blast that occurred on the fourth floor of the hotel. Initial findings of the BDS suggested that gas leakage caused the explosion. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Four suspected insurgents have been arrested in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar as Afghan and coalition forces continued in mopping-up operations, authorities said Friday. "A four-member group of Taliban terrorists has been arrested after a raid in surrounding areas of Kandahar province recently," provincial department of the country's primary intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) said in a statement. The arrestees were responsible for a string of subversive activities, including launching ambush attacks against military convoys and roadside bomb attacks, in Shah Wali Kot, Maywand, Khakrez and Mayanshin district of Kandahar, according to the statement. Security situation has been improving in Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban, over the last months, as security forces have conducted search and cordon operations across the province. But the militants attack government interests in the province from time to time. The militant group has yet to make comments on the report. GAITHERSBURG, MD, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB: RBIZ), currently operating as Verus Foods (the Company), is providing this corporate update in order to communicate operational improvements in the Dubai-based operations and to answer selected shareholder questions concerning the recently filed 10-Q for Q1/2018. First, the Company is happy to announce the formation of a new, wholly-owned subsidiary, Verus Middle East General Trading, LLC, which incorporates the operations formerly affiliated with the Companys predecessor partner in Dubai. Prior to forming the new subsidiary, Verus shared some resources with this partner, which was focused on wholesale categories that do not fit the current Verus business. Although the Company will continue to work with its former partner on selected projects, this strategic change will enable Verus to more fully concentrate on developing its own, higher-margin brands for the region. Importantly, the new Middle East Subsidiary is 100% owned by the Company. This change will have no effect on current contracts or existing product categories. This marks an important evolution of our business in the region, giving us full control over our operations and positioning Verus to become an important source of branded-food in the retail space, explained Verus CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. The creation of the Subsidiary will enable us to more effectively penetrate our target markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and will serve as a springboard to expand into other large Middle Eastern and North African markets. The 100%-owned unit completes our goal to create a fully functioning and autonomous operation in this core market. Key changes affiliated with the formation of the Verus Middle East Subsidiary include: Hiring of five new personnel in sales and distribution Addition of a Head of Retail, a senior-level expert with 40 years of retail food experience Addition of a Head of Creative, a graphics and photography professional who will spearhead our packaging, branding, and design Addition of a Head of Procurement, giving Verus an experienced manager in regional sourcing Emphasis on retail channels through the development of higher-margin Verus brands In terms of the recently filed 10-Q for Q1/2018, the company would like to remind investors that the quarter reflects the interim period prior to funding and during the resolution of the legacy lawsuit. Clearly, this was a period of high legal expenses and distractions from operating the business and is not reflective of future trends. In answer to investor questions concerning Q1/2018, the following comments are applicable: Margins will fluctuate until the Company establishes larger monthly shipments, but break-even can be achieved in the $5.0-$6.0 million annual sales range. The Company is in ongoing due diligence to establish viable sources of working capital The Company is now current in terms of its financial filings We are very excited to begin the expansion of our own brands into our target markets, explained Verus CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. That process requires a very specialized skill set, involving multi-lingual packaging and country-specific requirements. For example, all packaging must include both English and Arabic. Being able to move these essential tasks in-house will enable us to build awareness at a lower cost. This also puts us on track for deeper penetration into retail channels, which carry higher margins and a greater variety of product categories. As this subsidiary begins to gain traction, our goal is to add an additional 22 sales people during 2018 to service the UAE more fully. Our improved financial status is finally enabling us to implement the steps necessary for growth, so we look forward to communicating the results of these initiatives in future updates. As previously reported, the SEC has approved the spin-off of the NestBuilder Real Estate Division and the distribution is set for May 18, 2018. Current RealBiz (RBIZ) shareholders will receive one (1) share of NestBuilder common stock for each three hundred (300) shares of RealBiz. The name and symbol change from RealBiz to Verus Foods will be filed shortly and communicated to investors in an upcoming update (pending symbol approval). About RealBiz Media Group, Inc. RealBiz Media Group, Inc. consists of two business segments: an international food subsidiary (Verus Foods) that sells products to customers worldwide; and a real estate digital media and technology company. RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB: RBIZ) trades on the OTCQB venture stage marketplace for early stage and developing U.S. and international companies. Investors can find Real-Time quotes and market information for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words could, believe, anticipate, intend, estimate, expect, may, continue, predict, potential, project and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. MANILA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Philippines' Supreme Court (SC) ousted on Friday Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Voting 8-6, the SC en banc granted the quo warranto petition to remove Sereno from office on the basis of an invalid appointment. SC spokesman Theodore Te said the Supreme Court found Sereno "is disqualified from and is hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the Chief Justice." "Accordingly, respondent (Sereno) is ousted and excluded therefrom. The position of the Chief Justice is declared vacant," Te said, quoting the SC dispositive decision. The SC also directed the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to commence the application and nomination process, Te said. "This decision is immediately executory without need of further action from the court," Te added. Solicitor General Jose Calida filed the quo warranto petition before the SC to seek the removal of Sereno by questioning the validity of her appointment on the basis of her alleged failure to fully disclose her personal wealth. Sereno, who went on an "indefinite leave" beginning on March 1, 2018, has insisted the only way she can be removed from office is through impeachment as provided for by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Several militant lawmakers and concerned citizens have called on the SC to dismiss the petition which they consider to be unconstitutional. Sereno is the first constitutional officer to be removed from office without impeachment trial. Jojo Lacanilao, Sereno's lawyer, said their camp will appeal the decision. Former President Benigno Aquino appointed Sereno in 2012. SYDNEY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A record amount of single day rainfall for the month of May has caused major flash flooding in the Australian city of Hobart on Friday, with authorities ordering mass evacuations as roads turned to rivers. Tasmanian Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Matthew Thomas told Xinhua the 129 millimetres of rainfall made it the wettest single day since 1960 and the fourth highest ever recorded. "We had a low pressure system with a trough extending into Hobart and with that came thunderstorms that were very stationary," Thomas explained. "The low pressure system was bringing rain into the area, to the east and south of Tasmania, then the thunderstorms developing on that trough brought increased falls into the south east in a very localised area." As a result, cars floated down city streets as the deluge wreaked havoc on the usually tranquil city. Over 14,000 homes were left without power and several local television stations including the ABC, SBS and WIN went off air after a lightning strike knocked out transmission at Mount Wellington. The low-lying University of Tasmania was also a casualty of the storm. Students in the science block posted wild videos and images to social media of hallways and corridors gushing with water. Emergency services had to carry out two separate rescues at the campus, attending to one person trapped in a car and another stuck in a room. Across the rest of the city and surrounding areas, 100 kilometer per hour winds tore roofs off houses and upended trees resulting in at least 280 emergency call outs. This morning, over 30 schools will remain closed and the State's Supreme Court will reschedule hearings for the duration of this week. So far no casualties have been reported, however authorities urge caution as more bad weather is forecast later in the day. "We still have weather warnings in place but the focus has shifted to the Central East and Upper East coast of the State," Thomas said. KATHMANDU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Janakpur town of Nepal on Friday morning as part of his two-day visit to the Himalayan country. Modi will be flying to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, from Janakpur later in the afternoon. He will call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, followed by talks with his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal. Modi's visit came a little more than a month after Oli visited New Delhi. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 14:53:32|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close The original cast of the popular television series "The Love Boat" attend the star dedication ceremony at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, the United States, May 10, 2018. Princess Cruises and the original cast of "The Love Boat" received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Honorary Star Plaque here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Li Ying) Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 15:48:27|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Malaysian new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (L) speaks at a press conferenec in Kuala Lumpur May 11, 2018. Mahathir Mohamad on Friday named 10 ministries whose ministers need to be appointed immediately, the first step for him and his Pakatan Harapan coalition to form a cabinet. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday named 10 new ministries, the first step for him and his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to organize a cabinet after a sweeping victory to power. At a press conference held after a meeting with other component party leaders in the PH coalition, Mahathir listed finance, home affairs, education, multimedia, science and public roads among 10 areas that need to have a minister as soon as possible. "We do not want to have a huge cabinet, but there are certain ministries which need to be filled immediately," said Mahathir, adding he will give time to the component parties to discuss which ministry they want to lead. The first 10 ministers in the new cabinet line-up will be unveiled Saturday, said Mahathir, who was sworn in on Thursday night. The previous government under defeated Prime Minister Najib Razak has more than 25 ministries. Mahathir promised in his campaign to help free Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister who is in prison for sodomy charges. He said the Malaysian king has agreed to give Anwar a full pardon, paving the way for the former opposition leader to participate in politics and become the successor of Mahathir. He also highlighted electoral fraud such as bribing voters and cross-over voting, saying such acts will be treated as corruption. While admitting it is not possible to erase corruption, Mahathir said he wants to control or reduce it to the minimum level. "Political corruption badly affected the democratic process," he said, referring to constituencies being changed and people being bought over. When asked about his plan on the investigation surrounding 1MDB, a scandal-hit development fund, Mahathir expressed his no-confidence to the current attorney general (AG) Mohamed Apandi Ali, saying the AG is "undermining his own credibility" and "has hidden evidence of the wrongdoings." Other government institutions in charge of fighting corruption, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), will also be scrutinized, according to Mahathir. He said the government will study whether the MACC is fair or not. "If we found that they are biased or in favor of any groups including ourselves, we will have to change them." On foreign relations, Mahathir said Malaysia intends to maintain good relations with all countries and will not interfere in their policies or systems. "We are very keen to ensure that the market for Malaysia's products will be as large as possible," he said, adding "Malaysia wants to have access to all the markets of the world." Mahathir, 92, who championed independent foreign policy during his first premiership from 1981 to 2003, said Malaysia is going to be neutral and will not be influenced by "big powers." ISTANBUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Friday ordered the detention of 300 military personnel over their alleged links to a group accused of masterminding a coup bid in 2016, local media reported. The state-run Anadolu Agency said 211 of the 300 suspects are actively serving in the Turkish Armed Forces, while the others have been suspended from their duty. A total of 150 suspects have been detained in operations launched early in the morning following the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul, said Anadolu. A day earlier, prosecutors in the western province of Izmir ordered the detention of 96 suspects, including 91 suspended soldiers, over their alleged links to the failed coup. The Turkish government blames the network led by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen for the failed coup in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 16:18:33|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NANJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Rescue dog Bingjie, now 11 years old, is known as a hero who helped save 13 lives from the rubble of a fatal earthquake that hit Wenchuan county of Sichuan Province 10 years ago. "Eleven years old in dog age is equivalent to over 70 in humans. But he is still on service," said his trainer Ouyang Honghong while stroking the black-and-white English Springer Spaniel. Rescuers from all over the world flocked to the southwestern region after the disaster on May 12, 2008, which claimed tens of thousands of lives. Bingjie was among six dogs and over 100 fire fighters dispatched to Wenchuan by east China's Jiangsu Province. It was the first time for Ouyang, then 24, and one-year-old Bingjie to go to the scene of an earthquake. "It was a total ruin, and I was a bit nervous hearing that there could be aftershocks," he said. "Bingjie also appeared restless and started to run around the moment he arrived at the scene." "I hugged him to quieten him down, and I felt more at peace holding him tight," Ouyang said. On May 14, the second day of their mission, Bingjie became a hero. "About half an hour after we reached the ruin of Beichuan kindergarten, Bingjie suddenly struggled to free himself from his reins and started barking at a crevice like crazy," Ouyang said. The rescuers followed Bingjie to the crevice and heard a weak child's cry for help. "When Bingjie saw us begin the rescue, he immediately stopped barking and left to continue sniffing the rest of the ruins," Ouyang said. Rescuers used a hydraulic ejector rod to push up the cement blocks and cleaned up the gravel piece by piece, before carefully pulling the girl out of the ruins. The six-year-old was well protected by her teacher who has covered her to keep her safe. Tragically, the teacher was found dead. Today, the little girl named Ren Siyu is a high school student. Bingjie discovered a total of 13 people alive in the rubble, and the rescue team from Jiangsu fire brigade rescued 39 victims. During the 10-plus days of their mission, Ouyang and Bingjie got up at the first light of day and would not return to rest until midnight. At the beginning, Bingjie was supposed to sleep inside a flight case outside Ouyang's tent. However, the dog had difficulty falling asleep and continued barking on the first night, so Ouyang took Bingjie inside and cuddled him while sleeping every night. The heavy workload took a toll on Bingjie's health. His ability to smell and cardio-pulmonary function were damaged, and his hind legs was injured after falling over while climbing up a slope. "But he is a good boy," Ouyang said. During the past 10 years, Bingjie has joined around 50 rescue actions in various natural disasters. "He has a passion for work," Ouyang said. "Everytime we begin our training, he is energetic and wags his tail in a thrill." Chinese rescue dogs usually undergo a series of training, learning to obey orders, search for victims and climb over barriers. "I would train him to get to know my smell first and then I hide myself inside a box and let him look for me," he said. "Then the dog would be asked to learn to search for different people hidden in boxes, and this is a major way to train them to be good rescuers." "Everyday we train the dogs four times, and a dog can perform a task after six months of intensive training," Ouyang said. The rescue dogs usually have a sense of smell that is almost a million times sharper than human beings, and their hearing is dozens of times stronger. Usually the rescue dogs are of specific species, including the German Sheperd, Belgian Malinois and English Springer Spaniel. The English Springer Spaniel is usually agile and small, so able to squeeze into small spaces for searching. Ouyang spends about a dozen hours a day with Bingjie: "He knows me so well that when I am about to throw a ball, he can predict the direction I will throw it in. He can be mischivous sometimes, holding the ball in his mouth refusing to return it to me." Last year, Ouyang adopted another young rescue dog, Xiaowei. "Bingjie is envious of the new friend and nuzzles me when I fondle Xiaowei," Ouyang said. According to Ouyang, the dogs usually serve for eight to 10 years. The other five dogs at the rescue in Wenchuan have all died. Though Bingjie is still on service, due to his age he seldom joins training. "We just offer him a good living condition to let him enjoy his later years," Ouyang said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 16:33:36|Editor: ZX Video Player Close JINAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Fang Xiaoxin, chair of a farm produce exporter in east China's Shandong Province, has been catching up on orders from Japan, which have been growing fast. "The orders have kept increasing from October last year, with the demand for Chinese cabbage, cabbage lettuce and lettuce leading the growth," Fang said. Shandong is China's biggest farm produce exporter. The province's farm produce exports to Japan grew 8.6 percent last year to rake in 29.16 billion yuan (4.6 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for one-fourth of its total farm produce exports. Fang's company, Qingzhou Xinbaili Industrial Co., is an export-oriented farm produce supplier with products mainly destined for Japan. He said Japan had sustained strict inspection criteria on pesticide residue on nearly all Chinese farm produce exports since 2006. The strict criteria have thwarted over 5,000 Chinese exporters. Since then, Fang has been building vegetable growing greenhouses with quality control standard that can meet Japan's over 200 indicators on Chinese vegetable exports. The company's quality control monitors soil composition and the use of fertilizer and pesticide, which makes the price of the company's vegetable about 1,000 yuan higher per tonne than the average vegetable price. Over the past decade, Fang has built 666 hectares of vegetable plantation areas in Shandong, Hebei and Fujian provinces, producing vegetables destined for Japan. None of his exports has failed to pass Japan's food safety inspection. Shandong's farm produce exports to Japan range from aquatic products, seafood, vegetables, meat and fruit. Export-oriented companies say strict quality management and technology upgrading are the key to expanding their business. Liu Jianzeng, general manager of Shandong Wanxing Food Co., said the company specialized in producing sushi ginger slices. It exported over 10,000 tonnes of ginger slices last year, compared with 100 tonnes in 2013 when it first entered the Japanese market. "In addition to safety, processed food need to have bright color to woo buyers," Liu said, adding that the company's ginger slices had already entered some high-end Japanese restaurants. "Besides introducing foreign technology and understanding the export market, Chinese exporters should improve their own research and development power and spearhead innovation to expand the market," said Sun Shuqin, dean of the International Economic and Trade Department, Shandong University. SUVA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government on Friday urged its youths to stand up in the fight against climate change and global warming -- not only as advocates but also as champions. Speaking at the opening of the Youth Speak Forum, which was held in Fiji's second largest city of Lautoka with the theme "Empowering Youth from Decisions to Actions" on Friday, Fijian Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa said it was important for the youths to understand the need to promote sustainable development, build a more knowledge-based society in the island nation, combat extreme poverty, socioeconomic inequality, corruption around the world, and become responsible environment stewards. "It is an enormous responsibility, but through your own ambition, your own determination and your own abilities, it is a responsibility you are all more than capable of meeting," she said. "There are many ideas you have about how you can make a difference in Fiji today, and how you can make your voice heard by the global audience and I urge all of you to see the sustainable development movement as a tremendous tool in building the better Fiji we all seek to create." She encouraged Fijian youths to take actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together with their national and regional commitments, to raise public awareness and most importantly collaborate with their counterparts and agencies to achieve these goals. Fiji Youth Speak Forum 2018 aims to motivate and engage Pacific youths in meaningful discussions and support them to take concrete actions in fighting climate change and sustaining aquatic life. Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) MOSCOW, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China topped a list of countries Russians viewed as the country's most necessary and valuable partner, a poll showed Thursday. One third of the respondents chose China, followed by Belarus (13 percent) and the United States (8 percent), according to a survey conducted by Russian polling institute Public Opinion Foundation. Russians made the decision because they thought China is a rapidly developing country with great economic opportunities. Nearly half of the surveyed said cooperation with China is now the most important for the Russian economy, followed by Belarus (26 percent) and Germany (23 percent). The pollster surveyed 1,500 Russian citizens aged 18 and above across the country on April 29. Los Angeles, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Claudia Orange felt the need to save a child. However, she could not have foreseen that a child would, in some sense, wind up saving her. Claudia and her husband met 12 years ago at the Frito Lay plant in the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California, where the couple currently lives. After they married, they bought a four bedroom home. The couple was unable to have children, and the place felt too big. Claudia began to think about becoming a resource parent (formerly known as foster parent). Something was missing in my life, she said. Rudy, however, was cool on the concept. He worried that bringing a child into their world would intrude on his personal time and their marriage. Then the couple became friends with a woman who cared for six children in foster care. She introduced the Oranges to several other foster families. When Rudy saw how happy the families were, he decided to give Claudias idea a try. The couple attended training and became licensed resource parents through Hillsides affiliate, Bienvenidos. Bienvenidos placed an infant girl, Anahi, in their home. At 16 months old, she was developmentally seven months behind, unable to walk or talk. After a trial placement of one week, the social worker asked if the Oranges wanted to keep Anahi longer term. Their answer: an emphatic yes. We were already in love with her, said Rudy. The couple hurried to buy Anahi everything she needed, from clothing to toys to hair accessories. Due to insurance issues, there was a delay in getting Anahi physical therapy to help her walk, so Claudia took it upon herself to give her therapy. I googled leg strengthening exercises for babies and we did them every day, said Claudia. Within a few months, Anahi was walking. She also began to talk, and when she did, it was in full sentences. Today, a year later, Anahi has met all her developmental markers. She is so smart, said Rudy. She knows her colors, her shapes, and can name almost anything. She is enrolled in a local Head Start program and loves to sing, dance, eat strawberries, and watch Elmo on Sesame Street. While Rudy was worried a child in the home would take away from his marriage, the opposite has happened. It added to what we had, he said. The love between us, and now for Anahi, is amazing. Being a father has also changed his mindset. I used to be selfish, but now every day I wake up thinking, what can I do today to make her life better, he said. His biggest challenge is not spoiling his daughter --a battle he may be losing based on the dozens of dresses, sweaters, and pairs of shoes that fill Anahis bedroom closet. For Claudia, Anahi has provided her with the courage to overcome challenges. In December, she suffered from a recurrence of breast cancer, and underwent a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. Anahi kept me going, she said. During treatments, Claudia would distract herself by face-timing Anahi. When she shaved her head in anticipation of losing her hair, Anahi made her feel beautiful when she smiled and said, I like your hair, momma. Whatever I give her, she gives it back to me seven times over, said Claudia. She never lets me down. The couple are in the process of adopting Anahi, and are just waiting for Claudia to get a clean bill of health to take the final steps. Down the road, they hope to adopt another infant so Anahi will have a sibling. For now, the couple looks forward to spending Mother's Day with a daughter who brings them joy and strength. ### About Hillsides: Hillsides, with its affiliate Bienvenidos, is dedicated to healing children and young adults, strengthening families, and transforming communities through quality comprehensive services and advocacy. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the agency serves 14,000 children and families in Southern California throughout more than 40 sites, including school-based mental health offices in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Baldwin Park. Foster care and adoptions services are offered in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. To learn more about Hillsides, please visit www.Hillsides.org. Visit Hillsides on Facebook @hillsideschildren, on Twitter @Hillsides, or on Instagram @HillsidesPasadena. To learn more about Bienvenidos or about becoming a resource family, please visit www.Bienvenidos.org. Attachment Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 16:53:43|Editor: ZX Video Player Close GAZA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are preparing for the seventh Friday protests close to its eastern border with Israel, as part of what they call "the Great March of Return" rally. Starting on March 30, the mass rally is expected to culminate on May 15, the day after the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence but marked by the Palestinians as the Nakba Day, or "the Day of Catastrophe." Ashraf al-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, said in an e-mailed press statement that the Israeli army has shot and killed 47 Palestinians since March 30, with six bodies still unreturned. Meanwhile, about 8,000 others were injured in the clashes, including 793 children under 18 years old and 283 women, with 166 seriously injured, 2,119 moderately injured and 2,198 lightly injured, he said. Among the injured, 2,064 were shot with live gunshots, and 403 with rubber-coated metal bullets, while 1,094 suffered gas suffocation, the spokesman added. Every Friday since March 30, the Palestinian Coordination Committee for the March of Return chooses a name for the day of protests. This Friday is called the Friday of Preparations and Forerunner. Eyewitnesses said young men are seen preparing fire bombs, and burning dozens of tires in order to create walls of huge black smoke as shields blocking the vision of Israeli snipers. Yehya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza, warned on Tuesday that the loss of hope among the Gazan population would turn the coastal enclave into a ticking bomb that might explode at any time. More than a decade of Israeli blockade and an internal Palestinian division have deprived the Gazans of daily necessities including electricity, medicines and jobs, according to human rights groups. SUVA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's nationwide meningococcal vaccination campaign was launched in the capital Suva on Friday, with over 300,000 people to be vaccinated. The vaccinating will be rolled out from Monday. Those between the age of one and 19 will be vaccinated in the island nation during the campaign. Fiji's Ministry of Health has acquired over 124,000 doses of vaccine for the first phase of the program, and another batch of 200,000 doses is being procured and expected to arrive soon. World Health Organization Pacific Technical Support Officer Wendy Snowdon said on Friday that it was important that individuals got vaccinated. "For meningococcal disease this is particularly important as we know that not everyone who has bacteria will get the disease. Approximately 10-25 percent of the general population will carry the bacteria at the back of their nose and mouth from time to time but will not have any symptoms. This is why for Fiji to have a successful mass immunization campaign it needs as many children and adolescents between the ages of one and 19 years to get vaccinated," said Snowdon. Fiji's Ministry of Health had declared an outbreak of the life threatening meningococcal disease in March this year. At the time the island nation with a population of more than 880,000 had recorded 18 cases of the meningococcal disease, an increase from previous level. Health authorities confirmed earlier this month that there were 58 reported cases of meningococcal from Jan. 1 to April 22 this year. Minister for Health and Medical Services Rosy Akbar had said that out of the 58 cases, 24 were laboratory confirmed, and 34 were either suspected or probable cases based on clinical diagnosis by a doctor. As of April 22, all confirmed cases were below the age of 19. There have been four confirmed deaths from the meningococcal disease this year from the age group of less than five years old. Fiji's Ministry of Health continued to intensify its public health awareness and monitor the reported cases. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 17:23:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close HOHHOT, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are combating a rat plague by using various methods, according to the regional department of agriculture and animal husbandry Friday. The rat plague has threatened around 4 million hectares of grasslands in the region since March, affecting the work and life of farmers and herdsmen as well as the sustainable development of animal husbandry. In some areas, rats have ravaged the grasslands, eating grassroots and damaging prairies with underground digging. The central government has allocated a 12 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars) subsidy for local rat plague control. More than 40,000 people have participated in the fight against rats, using methods such as poison sprays, hunting and biological control, which involves using natural predators to reduce the rat population. The recent persistent drought is to blame for the rat plague, as rats are more adaptable to dry weather. ISTANBUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. move to reinstate economic sanctions against Iran would not only harm Turkey's economy but also pose problems in Ankara's regional policy, analysts told Xinhua. The impending sanctions are sure to deal a blow to the Turkish economy, said Aziz Konukman, a professor of economics. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday U.S. withdrawal from the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, vowing to re-impose "the highest level of economic sanctions" against the Islamic republic. A decrease in oil imports from Iran would adversely affect Turkish exports there, said Konukman, who teaches at Gazi University in Ankara. Turkey will begin to genuinely feel the negative effects of the U.S. move when the sanctions go into effect, said Cahit Armagan Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute. Some of the punitive measures, like those related to Iran's acquisition of U.S. dollars, trade in gold and precious metals and automotive sector, will take effect following a 90-day wind-down period ending on Aug. 6. Those related to the purchase of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran as well as to its energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors are to take effect as of Nov. 4 this year. The U.S. and the European Union have lifted economic sanctions on Iran after the deal that imposed restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program was concluded in 2015. The U.S. reversal would make Turkey pay a higher bill for energy, as its oil imports from neighboring Iran should be expected to fall as oil prices rise, said Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat. "Ankara would talk with Washington about exemption from the sanctions, but it's expected that its oil imports from Tehran would decrease," said Ulgen, who chairs the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. Turkey has been making efforts to boost economic ties with its eastern neighbor since the West lifted the sanctions against Iran in early 2016. Iran has become Turkey's biggest supplier of crude oil and the second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December last year that Turkey wanted to import more crude oil and natural gas from Iran and was working to supply the Iranian gas to other countries via Turkey. Turkish-U.S. ties have been strained as a Turkish banker, Hakan Atilla, was found guilty by a New York court of defrauding U.S. banks and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran before the nuclear deal was inked in 2015. The court is expected to hand down next week its verdict on Atilla, the former deputy chief executive officer of Halkbank, a state-owned institution. Several Turkish banks may also be sentenced by the U.S. court to pay billions of dollars in fines over similar charges, according to Turkish media reports. As Washington backtracks on the Iran deal, the other five signatories, namely Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, have pledged efforts to save the deal for the sake of regional stability and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signaled his country's readiness to remain in the nuclear deal if a consensus is reached, though he raised the possibility of restarting enriching uranium after talks fail. The U.S. says the current deal must be amended to ensure that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has, however, flatly rejected any renegotiation on the deal, insisting that it has no intention of producing nuclear weapons. The disagreement risks leading to increasing geopolitical tension in the region. "Something will happen" unless Iran agrees to renegotiate, Trump said one day after declaring withdrawal from the deal, threatening Iran with severe consequences in case it restarts its nuclear program. Dilek feels that the U.S., Turkey's NATO ally, may use the sanctions to blackmail Ankara into siding with it against Tehran. Noting the sanctions will cover all of Iran's state and financial institutions, he said any country cooperating with them could also face U.S. punishment. "In such a case, Turkey would be the country that would be most severely affected," he added. Should Ankara agree to act in line with the U.S. sanctions, it would risk losing Iran's possible cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has been fighting against the Turkish state for over three decades. Turkey's energy ties with Iran would be at risk as well, said Dilek. Siding with Washington could also damage Ankara's ongoing cooperation with Tehran in war-torn Syria, as Ankara, Moscow and Tehran have been jointly pushing for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict since last year. In the days ahead, the U.S. should be expected to increase pressure to have Ankara's support against Iran, remarked Ulgen. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 17:33:55|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that China congratulates Mahathir Mohamad on taking office as Malaysian prime minister. "Mr. Mahathir is a senior politician, and he has made important contributions to the development of Malaysia and ASEAN, as well as China-Malaysia ties and cooperation in East Asia," spokesperson Geng Shuang said. "The Chinese side congratulates him on taking office as Malaysian prime minister and believes under his leadership, Malaysia will achieve new progress in national construction and the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership will have a sustainable and stable development," Geng said. Mahathir Mohamad, 92, a former Malaysian prime minister who led the opposition to achieve a stunning victory in the general election, took the oath of office on Thursday night, becoming the world's oldest government leader. CANBERRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Australia's parliamentary citizenship crisis continues to cause chaos in Canberra with Labor Member of Parliament (MP) Anne Aly now under pressure to prove that she had renounced her Egyptian citizenship before the last election. Aly, the member for Cowan in Western Australia, has been told by opposition leader Bill Shorten to make public the evidence that she successfully rescinded her Egyptian citizenship before being nominated as a candidate at the 2016 election. Shorten told the Australian newspaper on Friday that he had spoken with Aly about revelations that she had not uploaded any evidence to the citizenship registry to show she was eligible to sit in parliament. He said Aly told him she had confirmation that her Egyptian citizenship was rescinded on May 6, 2016, just two days after she applied for her dual allegiance to be cancelled. "I've spoken to Ms Aly this morning, she advises me she had confirmation from the Egyptian embassy on May 6, 2016," Shorten said. "I've asked her to reconfirm the advice from the Egyptian embassy and she is doing that. I think she will have to make that public." This week, Labor's Susan Lamb, Josh Wilson and Justine Keay all quit their Lower House seats following a High Court decision on Wednesday to disqualify their caucus colleague, Katy Gallagher, who had not relinquished her British citizenship - thereby flouting section 44 of the Constitution. The Centre Alliance's Rebekha Sharkie was also forced to quit, prompting five by-elections within the next two months. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also demanded on Friday that Aly show documents proving she is eligible to sit in parliament. Turnbull said Shorten had been shown up over the citizenship fiasco and Aly should show evidence she rescinded her Egyptian citizenship before she was nominated as a candidate at the 2016 election. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 17:48:58|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close A damaged police vehicle is seen at the blast site in northwest Pakistan's Bannu on May 11, 2018. A policeman was killed and 13 others were injured when a remote-controlled bomb went off near a police vehicle in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, police said. (Xinhua/Stringer) ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was killed and 13 others were injured when a remote-controlled bomb went off near a police vehicle in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, police said. According to District Police Officer Sadiq Baloch, the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked near the Kohat Chowrangi area in Bannu district in the province. The target of the blast was a police van that was on a routine patrol in the area, the official added. Police in the area said in a statement that the injured included civilians and three policemen. The explosion also caused damage to the vehicles parked close to the blast site, said ARY News. Following the explosion, a heavy contingent of police along with rescue teams reached the site and cordoned off the area. Investigation was underway. All the injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Bannu for medical assistance. No group or person has claimed the attack yet. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 17:59:01|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A joint study has shed new light on the mystery of how the solar system was formed in a cloud of gas and dust in space billions of years ago. The study, led by The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Crete in Greece, unravelled the mystery when examining a star-forming cloud called Musca, which appears as a needle in the southern sky. Lead researcher Dr Aris Tritsis, from ANU, said on Friday the study visualized the 3D shape of Musca, which lies hundreds of light years away from the earth. The large gas cloud, formed mainly of molecular hydrogen and dust, stretches about 27 light years across the plain of the sky, with a depth of about 20 light years and width up to a fraction of a light year. "We were able to reconstruct the 3D structure of a gas cloud in its very early stages of making new stars and planets, which will ultimately take millions of years to form," said Tritsis, from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. "Knowledge of the 3D shape of clouds will greatly improve our understanding of these nurseries of stars and the birth of our own solar system." The study, which was part of Tritsis' PhD thesis, has made use of data from the European Space Agency's Herschel space telescope. He said scientists could now use Musca as a model to learn how stars and planets were formed. "With its 3D shape now determined, Musca can be used as a laboratory for testing star formation, astrochemical and dust-formation theories," Tritsis said. "We see, for the first time, that this cloud is not a thin, static streak of gas in space, but a vibrating, complex structure. Despite its needle-like appearance, Musca actually resembles a sheet viewed edge-on." Musca is surrounded by ordered hair-like structures called striations, which are produced by trapped waves of gas and dust caused by the global vibrations of the cloud. The research team was able to determine the shape of Musca by analysing the spatial frequencies of these vibrations, which were then converted into ringing tones to reveal the "Song of Musca." "This is a cloud in space that is singing to us - all we had to do was listen. It's actually quite awesome," Tritsis said. In addition to providing new insights into star and planet formation, the model of Musca cloud can also be used to see how molecules form in gas clouds. Co-researcher Dr Konstantinos Tassis, from the University of Crete, said Musca was the largest structure in the Milky Way galaxy found to be vibrating as a whole. "There's a whole range of new things we can learn from this model," Tassis said. The team's research is published in the journal, Science. CAIRO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Egypt raised the price of tickets on Cairo's underground metro on Friday, state news agency MENA reported. The change was based on the length of each stop, said the Ministry of Transport's Egyptian Company For Metro Management and Operation in a statement. Commuters will be charged a base fare of three Egyptian pounds (17 U.S. cents) for the first nine stops, five pounds for up to 16 stops, and a maximum of seven pounds for more than 16 stops, MENA added. The metro's fare, before applying the new decision, was only two Egyptian pounds for covering an unlimited number of stops. Discounted rates will be maintained under the new system for students, the elderly, and those with special needs, the statement added. The increase comes amid accumulated losses of 618.6 million Egyptian pounds and a total deficit of 94 percent in the maintenance and renovation budget of the current fiscal year of 2017-2018 for the metro system, which put the network at risk. The ministry also pointed out in the statement that the increase came to fund the implementation of the development plans for the metro that serves millions of commuters on daily bases. It was also aimed to cover the operational costs of the railway system. In March 2017, the government doubled the price of metro tickets to two pounds. Over 3.5 million of Cairo's 21 million inhabitants rely on the metro network, one of the oldest in the Middle East and Africa, for their daily travel. VIENTIANE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Laos' combined exports and imports for the first quarter of 2018 increased by 12.8 percent compared to the same period last year, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Friday. Total trade volume was 2.35 billion U.S. dollars, reaching 23.5 percent of the target for 2018, according to the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The value of exports hit 989 million U.S. dollars or 19.7 percent of the plan, an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year. Major exports included copper, video and camera parts, cassava, clothing, electrical equipment, coffee, bananas, rubber and sugar. Major markets for exports are Thailand, China, Vietnam, Japan, Germany and India, the report quoted the Import and Export Department under the ministry as saying. Meanwhile, imports reached 1.36 billion U.S. dollars or 27.4 percent of the annual plan, an increase of 22.8 percent compared to last year. Fuel, vehicles and spare parts, electrical equipment, machinery and construction materials comprised the bulk of imports. Most imported products came from Thailand, China and Vietnam as well as Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. However, the figures revealed a trade deficit of 373 million U.S. dollars for the first quarter of the year with a large influx of imported materials to supply infrastructure and hydropower development and domestic production. Laos expects to record another trade surplus this year with the government promoting exports to the international market. Total exports are expected to reach 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 with imports expected to be 4.9 billion U.S. dollars. If these targets are achieved, the nation will enjoy a trade surplus of 37 million U.S. dollars in 2018. VANCOUVER, British Columbia and LONDON, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BTL GROUP LTD. (TSX Venture:BTL) (BTL or the Company) is pleased to announce that it will be demonstrating its Interbit platform in public for the first time, next week, at the Consensus blockchain conference in New York. BTLs booth is number 133 and its exhibit will allow developers to interact with the platform and build applications on Interbit blockchains. Furthermore, the first third party blockchain application built on Interbit will also be unveiled at Consensus. Interbit is the Companys token free, next generation blockchain platform, that was made available on April 23, 2018 for testing and feedback (Interbit can be accessed and downloaded from the link https://interbit.io/). The platform provides a more secure environment for computing, ensures privacy of data, and via its unique chain joining capability, multiple blockchains can be used to build applications that are faster, scalable, and more resilient. TruckLovely is the third party Interbit blockchain based application that will be unveiled at Consensus. It is a truck routing application that streamlines logistics for companies and will benefit from the inherent uptime that Interbit provides, meaning companies using the application will not suffer from intermittent connectivity issues. Commercialisation of the TruckLovely application is expected later in 2018 when it will be available to purchase via BTLs Interbit store. Blockchain is most commonly associated with cryptocurrency, but it has so many more potential real-world applications, says Tom Thompson, Chief Technology Officer of BTL. The TruckLovely app running on our Interbit platform brings blockchain out of the virtual world and uses it to deliver tangible goods and services to bricks and mortar businesses. BTL is also a sponsor at the Consensus Building Blocks Hackathon, being held at New Yorks Microsoft Tech Centre, where circa 250 developers will be competing to win prize money for developing the best blockchain application. BTL is challenging developers to build a social media application with the functionality to delete data and is offering a reward of $5,001 to the winner. Consensus is expected to attract 4,500 developers and business leaders from around the world. ABOUT BTL AND INTERBIT Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX Venture:BTL) and operating from both Canada and the UK with offices in Vancouver, Calgary and London, BTL is a technology platform provider that owns Interbit, a next generation blockchain platform which enables business applications to be built quickly, easily and securely. Interbit can be licensed by developers and businesses who can build and share their own applications in a trusted ecosystem, allowing them to embrace new revenue generating opportunities. Interbit meets the speed, scale and privacy that older generations of blockchain technology cannot achieve by using chain joining technology to connect multiple blockchains. It offers a simpler, more secure, new way of computing. Website: www.btl.co & www.interbit.io Twitter: https://twitter.com/blockchainltd & https://twitter.com/interbit_ Videos: https://youtu.be/YFOH0YEHLak & https://youtu.be/eWI-0AXaZgc For further information please contact: Dominic McCann, CEO Phone: +1 855 256 5246 Email: dominic@btl.co Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include further development of BTLs business relationships and business and the timing, development and success of BTLs technologies, BTLs products, products built on BTLs technologies, and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as may, expect, estimate, anticipate, intend, believe and continue or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, the development of competitive technologies, the marketplace acceptance of BTLs technologies and products, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in BTL's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2017 available at www.sedar.com, many of which are beyond the control of BTL. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BTL disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BTL undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 18:19:10|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (C) speaks to reporters during the "Visegrad-4 plus Balkan-4 plus" Meeting in Sounion, Greece, on May 11, 2018. The 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Visegrad Group (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland) and the Balkan EU member states (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) opened on Friday at Sounion, 75 kilometers southeast of Athens. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) SOUNION, Greece, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Ministers from Central Europe and European Union (EU) member states in the Balkan region met in Greece on Friday to discuss the future of Europe, including the EU's enlargement and its energy issue. "We need to work together to offer a new rationale for the European Union," Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Kotzias said in his opening speech at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Visegrad Group and the Balkan EU member states, which kicked off at Sounion, 75 km southeast of Athens. "We must explain to our citizens why the EU should exist and grow stronger. We should provide a vision and reform the institutional system in a democratic manner," Kotzias said. The Visegrad Group consists of four countries in Central Europe -- Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, while currently the four EU members in the Balkan region are Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Other aspiring EU member countries in the Balkans as well as Slovenia and Cyprus also participated in the one-day meeting. The newly established platform aims to enhance cooperation between the participating countries so that they have a stronger voice in the wider discussion on the future of Europe. JUBA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's private sector has formally started the process of integration into the East African Business Council (EABC), a senior trade official said on Friday. Mou Mou Athian, the Secretary General of South Sudan Secretariat for the East African Community, said the integration process was a good opportunity for the business community in the country. "This is a good beginning to rejuvenating the business community in the country," Athian said in Juba. The EABC members concluded meeting with the South Sudan private sector and government officials on Thursday in Juba. Athian cited that given the weak capacity of the private sector in the country, the EABC should play a big role in raising the capacity of the business men and women. Moses Hassen, the minister of Trade, Industry and East African Affairs, said his ministry would input the necessary requirement to fast-track the integration process. "As the government we will always be there to support the private sector," he said, adding that the government would put the necessary resources available to strengthen the private sector in order to also compete in the regional bloc. Lillian Awinja, the executive director of the EABC, said the regional body is aimed at interacting with the business community after which they would report back to employers in the bloc. South Sudan joined the regional trade bloc (EAC) in April 2016 that includes neighboring countries like Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The EABC is the apex body of the private sector associations and corporates in East Africa. It was established in 1997 to foster the interests of the private sector in the integration process of the East African Community (EAC) and has observer status in organs and activities of the EAC. LAIKIPIA, Kenya, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will fast-track laws to make wildlife poaching a capital offense as part of the country's bid to conserve flora and fauna, a senior government official said late Thursday. Najib Balala, the Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, said that once the laws are enacted, the offenders of the wildlife crimes will face the death penalty in accordance with the laws of the land. "We have in place the Wildlife Conservation Act that was enacted in 2013 and which fetches offenders a life sentence or a fine of 200,000 U.S. dollars. However, this has not been deterrence enough to curb poaching, hence the proposed stiffer sentence," Balala remarked during the official launch of the northern white rhino commemorative stamps at Ol Pejeta Conservancy located in Laikipia County on the slopes of Mount Kenya. The initiative to issue a set of stamps to celebrate the northern white rhino was instigated by the Postal Corporation of Kenya in honor of "Sudan", the remaining male northern white rhino that died on March 19 after suffering from age-related health issues and from a series of infections. Richard Vigne, the CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy that was home to Sudan, said the tragic story of the northern rhino will be captured forever as a signal to the world. He added that whilst Kenya remains a global leader in conservation, there are nonetheless many species across the planet that face a similar plight. Vigne said that once Sudan's condition worsened significantly and he was unable to stand up, and obviously suffered a great deal, the decision to euthanize the mammoth was made by his veterinary team. This left Najin and Fatu as the two remaining northern white rhinos on the planet. "Despite the extremely low numbers remaining, Ol Pejeta and Kenya Wildlife Service are working closely with the scientific community to try to recover this species from imminent extinction," Vigne noted, adding that the only way this can be done is through in vitro fertilization (IVF). The conservationist said that because scientific practice has never ever been done in rhinos before, it will require the removal of eggs from the ovaries of the two remaining females to be fertilized using semen stored from males over the last few years to create viable mature embryos for storage in liquid nitrogen. Once this has been achieved, a technique to reintroduce the embryos into surrogate southern female, because the two are infertile, with the aim of achieving pure bred northern white pregnancies. "This effort will cost a huge amount of money, but is a noble effort to reverse at least one of the wrongs that mankind has wreaked upon other species that inhabit this planet with us," Vigne stated. Patrick Omondi, the Director of Research in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, said plans were underway to build a wildlife conservation museum that will feature wildlife icons, adding that the remains of Sudan will be displayed in a national conservation museum. COLOMBO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday congratulated Mahathir Mohamad on his victory in the Malaysian general elections. In a letter sent to Mahathir, Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka and Malaysia enjoyed a traditional and longstanding friendship which had reached new dimensions. "I am confident that these close and cordial relations will be further strengthened and consolidated in the years ahead for the mutual benefit of our countries," Wickremesinghe said. Mahathir, a former Malaysian prime minister who led the opposition to achieve a victory in the general elections, was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday night. TOKYO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday hailed U.S President Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday stating that the highly anticipated summit between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would be held in Singapore on June 12. Abe told reporters during a trip to Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture that he will keep up communications with Trump on the phone and by other means. "As preparations are being made for the U.S.-North Korea (DPRK) summit, Japan will firmly tell its stance to the United States," Abe was quoted as saying. He also said that Japan will cooperate with the United States, South Korea, China and Russia, as well as others from the international community, to make progress on a number of issues pertaining to the Korean Peninsula through the upcoming U.S.-DPRK summit. Chinese attendants take a selfie before the start of the first passenger train of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Oct. 5, 2016.(Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) by Habtamu Liben ADDIS ABABA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- As Ethiopia works to become the manufacturing hub of Africa, the engagement of Chinese companies, from road building to industrial park construction, is widely seen as a bridge to realizing that goal. Here are some latest developments on the major Ethiopia-China cooperation projects in the Horn of African nation. INFRASTRUCTURE BOOM Chinese investments are found in various infrastructure areas of Ethiopia such as road, rail and air infrastructures, alleviating transportation problems in the East African country. The Chinese-built Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway (or Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway), which connects landlocked Ethiopia and the Red Sea nation Djibouti, is Ethiopia's long-term solution to increasing export commodities and reducing import costs. Ethiopian attendants jump at the Lebu station in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) As Africa's first transnational electrified railway, the 752-km railway commenced commercial freight and passenger services in January. It has so far transported over 30,000 passengers and more than 11,000 containers of various types. The railway is also at the center of Ethiopia's industrial ambitions as the country is building an economic belt along the rail line. In the capital Addis Ababa, many residents now rely on the Addis Ababa Light Rail, a 475-million-U.S.-dollar project built with Chinese technology and currently operated by a Chinese team. The Export-Import Bank of China provided 85 percent of the funding. Since its opening in September 2015, the light rail has transported 96.8 million people and won praise for greatly alleviating the city's traffic jam. Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2015 shows a train operating on the light rail in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) INDUSTRIAL PARK CONSTRUCTION Drawing from China's economic growth experience, Ethiopia will have about 15 industrial parks by June, most of which were built with Chinese money and expertise. In the latest announcement by the Ethiopian government, the construction of the Chinese-contracted Bahir Dar Industrial Park will be completed within three months. The Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) previously disclosed that the 75-hectare industrial park will focus on labor-intensive industries that would export value-added textile, apparel and food products. The park's contractor China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has previously constructed the country's flagship Hawassa Industrial Park in the southern city of Hawassa, which was inaugurated in June 2017. The Ethiopian government said the industrial park had attracted world-class textile and apparel companies including PVH, eventually contributing to the country's ambition of becoming Africa's light manufacturing hub with a lower-middle income status by 2025. A worker walks at the Hawassa Industrial Park in Hawassa twon, 275 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 13, 2016. The Hawassa Industrial Park, the largest specialized apparel and textile park in Africa, constructed at a cost of 250 million USD was officially inaugurated here on Wednesday. The industrial park was constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) within nine months. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Kombolcha Industrial Park, also built by CCECC in Ethiopia's northern Amhara regional state, is expected to start productions this year. The industrial park is to support Ethiopia's efforts to have a manufacturing belt along the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway. Built by another Chinese construction company China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), the Mekelle Industrial Park in northern Ethiopia is also designed to attract textile and apparel producing companies. China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group (CTCEGCL) is presently building the Kilinto pharmaceutical industrial park (KIP) at the outskirt of the capital. The World Bank is financing the construction through a loan scheme. MANUFACTURING MADE-IN-ETHIOPIA PRODUCTS Chinese companies are also directly engaged in Ethiopia's manufacturing sector, helping produce Made-In-Ethiopia goods to boost the country's exports. Huajian, a Chinese shoemaker producing for brands like GUESS, Calvin Klein and Nina, entered Ethiopia's manufacturing industry in 2010, when Ethiopia's first 40-hectare Eastern Industrial Zone went operational with Chinese investment. A local employee works at Huajian factory, south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Oct. 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) The shoemaker in August 2016 opened another factory in Ethiopia in its own industrial park on the outskirts of the capital. Its two factories jointly provide direct jobs to more than 7,000 Ethiopians. Every year in the two factories, about 5 million pairs of shoes labeled "Made In Ethiopia" are shipped to the United States and European markets, fetching some 31 million U.S. dollars for the East African nation in foreign exchange earnings in 2017. According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), Chinese companies have created more than 28,300 jobs in various sectors in Ethiopia during the five-year period between January 2012 and January 2017. Mekonen Hailu, EIC Communications Director, told Xinhua that the jobs were created by 279 Chinese companies in Ethiopia during that period. Out of these jobs, over 19,000 were created in Ethiopia's manufacturing sector as the sector is leading its African peers by attracting companies from China, Hailu said. Construction, service and agricultural sectors are other sectors hosting a great number of Chinese companies. COLOMBO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake on Friday said the Sri Lankan Army was preparing material to defend itself against war crimes allegations made in the international arena. Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association, Senanayake said the army had set up a "Directorate of Overseas Operations" dedicated to preparing the material. "The Army considers it necessary to have an organization or a think tank of its own, to defend the institution in the context of the grave charges. And the defense has to be carried out with facts and figures." the Army Chief said. He further said that the Directorate of Overseas Operations was set up in April and is collecting relevant material. Sri Lanka's military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels after a 30-year war in May 2009. The Sri Lankan government said that it will conduct a domestic probe, and refuted allegations that the army was involved in any human rights violations during the war. BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday criticized the United States for leaving the Iran nuclear deal unilaterally. "This breaks the trust in the international order," she said in the western German city of Muenster. Although the deal was far from ideal and many issues still remain unresolved, the U.S. withdrawal is a cause of great concern and regret, she said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 landmark agreement, ignoring repeated opposition from western allies. Foreign ministers from the European Union (EU) member countries are expected to hold a crisis meeting with Iran in London on Monday in a bid to save the deal, the Guardian newspaper reported Thursday. The Iran agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, the U.S., UK, France and Russia), Germany and the EU. JAKARTA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- One policeman and two alleged terrorists were killed on Friday in Indonesian police's anti-terror operation, after a prison riot incited by terrorist inmates resulted in six deaths, a police spokesperson said. Indonesian police headquarters Spokesperson Setyo Wasisto said the slain policeman, a police intelligence personnel, was stabbed by an alleged terrorist during the questioning process in the police's mobile brigade headquarters located in Depok, West Java. He said the murder took place after the police brought in a suspicious man into the headquarters. The suspicious man was noticed of staring at the headquarters quite a long time earlier in the day. "Shortly after they arrived in the questioning room, the suspicious man suddenly retrieved a knife which he concealed under his pants and immediately stabbed the police in the stomach several times," Setyo said. The suspicious man, identified as TS, was shot at several times by other police around them, and killed on the scene, he added. The attacked policeman was declared death after undergoing treatment in a police hospital. In another police operation, a terrorist suspect was killed as he retaliated when police were trying to arrest him during an operation conducted in West Java province's regency of Bekasi, Setyo said. Setyo said three others were also arrested in the incident in Bekasi's Tambun train station early on Friday morning. The group was suspected of "providing assistances from outside" for terrorists who incited the deadly riot in police's mobile brigade prison earlier this week. Police shot two of those four alleged terrorists, and one died in the hospital. The other one was still undergoing treatment in the hospital, Setyo added. Setyo said police confiscated daggers, bows, catapult, machetes and bullets from the arrested group. "From the results of interrogation, they were members of Bandung-Based Jamaah Anshaarut Daulah (JAD)," Setyo said. JAD is a radical organization whose members used to be involved in various attacks in the capital city and surrounding areas in the last few years. After regaining full control on the police's mobile brigade prison on Thursday, police transferred all 155 terrorists involved in the riot to a high-security prison located in Central Java province's secluded island of Nusakambangan. ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Friday imposed travel restrictions on U.S. diplomats in the country following a similar decision by the U.S. administration, the Foreign Ministry said. Pakistan and the United States had announced restrictions on diplomats after a U.S. embassy vehicle driven by Colonel Joseph Emanual Hall, defense and air attache of the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, killed a Pakistani motorcyclist in Islamabad on April 7. Pakistan on Thursday had confirmed that its diplomats in the United States will face travel restrictions from May 11. The United States had earlier planned to counter attack the curbs from May 1, but deferred the move for 10 days. "The restrictions will be implemented on 11 May and these will be on a reciprocal basis. However, negotiations are ongoing between the two sides on the matter," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said when asked to confirm reports whether the restrictions will be enforced or not. The relations between the two sides have been under pressure after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Islamabad in January of lying to the United States and offering "little help in hunting terrorists." Washington later suspended its security assistance to Pakistan. English French Dutch Brussels, Friday May 11, 2018, 17h45 CEST --- According to Belgian transparency legislation (Law of May 2, 2007), BlackRock Inc. (55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY, 10055, U.S.A.) has notified Solvay S.A. that: On May 3, 2018 BlackRock Inc. crossed the 5% statutory threshold upwards with 4.52% of the total voting rights and 0.52% of equivalent financial instruments, or a total of 5.04%. On May 7, 2018 BlackRock Inc. crossed the 5% statutory threshold downwards with 4.48% of the total voting rights and 0.50% of equivalent financial instruments, or a total of 4.98%. Declarations by BlackRock Inc. are published in the Investor Relations Section of Solvay's website. For the complete press release, please read the enclosed PDF. Follow us on twitter @SolvayGroup Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 19:19:32|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Oman's Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yousuf bin Alawi will visit China from May 12 to 16, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced Friday. Alawi was invited by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said spokesperson Geng Shuang, adding that the two officials will hold talks during the visit and exchange views on China-Oman relations and global and regional issues of common concern. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Oman. Bilateral ties have been developing rapidly in recent years, and the two sides always understand and support each other on issues involving their core interests and major concerns, Geng said. "China is ready to work with Oman to enhance friendship, political mutual trust and cooperation in all fields," Geng said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 19:29:35|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes the positive progress made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States in preparing for the meeting between the two leaders, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday. Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks in response to a question regarding the upcoming DPRK-U.S. summit in Singapore on June 12. "The Chinese side expects the meeting to achieve positive outcomes, to take an important step in promoting denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue politically, as well as in achieving lasting peace and stability in the region," Geng said. SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was killed Friday after militants attacked a police post in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. The policeman was attacked at Soibugh in Budgam district, about 26 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Militants today attacked a police post in Wardwan at Soibugh Budgam. The attack was successfully repulsed and a policeman was critically wounded," a police spokesman said. "All arms and ammunition are safe." Police said the wounded policeman was immediately sent to hospital, but doctors declared him dead. So far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack. A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troopers stationed in the region since 1989. However, of late Indian policemen too have been trained to fight the guerillas. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 19:39:37|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay official visits to France, Spain, Portugal and Argentina from May 16 to 24, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang announced Friday. Wang will attend the Group of 20 (G20) ministerial meeting in Argentina, Geng said. Wang's upcoming visits are at the invitation of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian, Spanish Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Alfonso Dastis, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie. During Wang's visit to France, he is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and his diplomatic advisor Philippe Etienne, and hold talks with Le Drian, Geng said. The two sides will fully exchange views on implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state, pushing forward more high-level visits, strengthening cooperation in various fields, and major international issues of common concern, Geng added. As a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, a key European country, and an important member of the G20, France was the first Western power to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Geng said. Saying China-France relations have maintained healthy and stable development momentum, Geng said the two countries have deepened pragmatic cooperation in various areas, maintained close coordination in international affairs, and played active roles in promoting both domestic development and world prosperity. Macron paid a successful state visit to China this January, reaching an important consensus with the Chinese side on elevating the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level. In terms of Wang's visit to Argentina, Geng said the Latin American country is an important emerging economy, and noted that it holds the G20 presidency for 2018. Wang will meet with Argentine President Mauricio Macri and hold talks with Faurie, Geng said, adding that the two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties, pragmatic cooperation, preparation work for the G20 summit, as well as regional and international issues of common concern, Geng said. As for the G20 ministerial meeting, Geng said Wang will elaborate China's position on topics within the G20 framework, such as multilateralism, global governance, and fair and sustainable development. Wang's schedule also includes bilateral meetings with G20 counterparts, at which they will discuss bilateral relations and major international issues, Geng added. In recent years, China has witnessed rapid development of ties with Argentina, its comprehensive strategic partner, the spokesperson said. The two heads of state have met three times, reaching important consensus on boosting the two countries' mutually beneficial cooperation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 19:44:40|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close People visit the Art & Peace Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Works of Art, in Thessaloniki, Greece, May 10, 2018. The exhibition kicked off here on Thursday and will end on May 27. (Xinhua/Dimitris Tosidis) ATHENS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The world is in the midst of a major reform and development, but development means nothing without peace. That is the main message representatives of China Artists Association conveyed on the occasion of an exhibition entitled "Art and Peace". The exhibition was inaugurated on Thursday evening at the State Museum of Contemporary Art in northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Contemporary artists from China exhibit their works as part of the project "Journey of Chinese art in the world". The exhibition, launched in 2016, has already been successfully held in Denmark, Italy, Finland, Georgia and the EU Headquarters in Brussels. "Art and Peace, the theme of the exhibition responds to the relationship of our countries, because we would like to further tighten our bilateral relations with Greece. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, we would also like to show the whole world our tradition," Xu Li, Vice President of China Artists Association, told Xinhua. The exhibition, hosted following Greece's participation as an honorable country at the 7th Beijing Contemporary Art Biennale in 2017, aims to use the language of Chinese contemporary art to talk about peace, to tell stories about harmony, and to comfort those who have suffered and still suffer from violence around the world, the organizers explained. With over 40 works of different styles, shapes and forms, the exhibition offers a vivid picture of contemporary art in China, highlights the Chinese value "harmony is precious", and embodies the constant pursuit of peace and well-being. "This exhibition as well as the communication we have with the Chinese Artists Association is a very good opportunity, because I think cooperation will not end here. We have already met, and we have already been in a process to discuss further partnerships in the future," Maria Tsantsanoglou, director of Thessaloniki's State Museum of Contemporary Art, told Xinhua. The exhibition will last until May 27. Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala (3rd L, front) unveils the tombstone of Sudan, the late world's only remaining male northern white rhino, in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county, northern Kenya, March 31, 2018. Kenyan wildlife officials and global wildlife conservationists on Saturday converged at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya where a memorial service for the late world's only remaining male northern white rhino fondly named Sudan took place. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) LAIKIPIA, Kenya, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will fast-track laws to make wildlife poaching a capital offense as part of the country's bid to conserve flora and fauna, a senior government official said late Thursday. Najib Balala, the Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, said that once the laws are enacted, the offenders of the wildlife crimes will face the death penalty in accordance with the laws of the land. "We have in place the Wildlife Conservation Act that was enacted in 2013 and which fetches offenders a life sentence or a fine of 200,000 U.S. dollars. However, this has not been deterrence enough to curb poaching, hence the proposed stiffer sentence," Balala remarked during the official launch of the northern white rhino commemorative stamps at Ol Pejeta Conservancy located in Laikipia County on the slopes of Mount Kenya. The initiative to issue a set of stamps to celebrate the northern white rhino was instigated by the Postal Corporation of Kenya in honor of "Sudan", the remaining male northern white rhino that died on March 19 after suffering from age-related health issues and from a series of infections. Richard Vigne, the CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy that was home to Sudan, said the tragic story of the northern rhino will be captured forever as a signal to the world. He added that whilst Kenya remains a global leader in conservation, there are nonetheless many species across the planet that face a similar plight. Vigne said that once Sudan's condition worsened significantly and he was unable to stand up, and obviously suffered a great deal, the decision to euthanize the mammoth was made by his veterinary team. This left Najin and Fatu as the two remaining northern white rhinos on the planet. Photo taken on March 30, 2018 shows Fatu (L), one of the world's last two remaining female northern white rhinos, in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county, northern Kenya. Kenyan wildlife officials and global wildlife conservationists on Saturday converged at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya where a memorial service for the late world's only remaining male northern white rhino fondly named Sudan took place. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) "Despite the extremely low numbers remaining, Ol Pejeta and Kenya Wildlife Service are working closely with the scientific community to try to recover this species from imminent extinction," Vigne noted, adding that the only way this can be done is through in vitro fertilization (IVF). The conservationist said that because scientific practice has never ever been done in rhinos before, it will require the removal of eggs from the ovaries of the two remaining females to be fertilized using semen stored from males over the last few years to create viable mature embryos for storage in liquid nitrogen. Once this has been achieved, a technique to reintroduce the embryos into surrogate southern female, because the two are infertile, with the aim of achieving pure bred northern white pregnancies. "This effort will cost a huge amount of money, but is a noble effort to reverse at least one of the wrongs that mankind has wreaked upon other species that inhabit this planet with us," Vigne stated. Patrick Omondi, the Director of Research in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, said plans were underway to build a wildlife conservation museum that will feature wildlife icons, adding that the remains of Sudan will be displayed in a national conservation museum. NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The mounting toll of deaths and destruction wrought by raging floods and bursting of a water reservoir in Kenya has pushed the country's resilience in the face of disasters to a breaking point, experts have said. Kenya was again on the global spotlight on Thursday when a private dam located in the northwestern county of Nakuru burst on Wednesday night after a heavy downpour leaving behind a trail of death and devastation. Government statistics indicated the death toll from collapse of Patel dam located 200km west of the capital of Nairobi reached 44 on Thursday evening and was expected to rise as rescue efforts for the missing intensified. So far, close to 160 people have died in Kenya as result of heavy downpour that commenced in mid-March and has been accompanied by extensive flooding and bursting of reservoirs. Fred Matiangi, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and coordination of government led state officials to inspect the damage caused by Patel dam which caved in after torrential downpour. Matiangi said the government will assist the people displaced by the collapsed reservoir to rebuild their lives through provision of building materials, food and primary healthcare. "We have set up contingency plans to ensure victims of the collapsed dam are assisted to reconstruct their lives. We are going to help them construct new homes and facilitate their resumption of economic activities like farming," said Matiangi. He added that Kenya Army officers will join volunteers from relief agencies to intensify the search for missing victims of the burst reservoir whose devastation spread across a 2-kilometer radius. The bursting of Patel dam built in the middle of a 2,000 acre farm that specializes in growing cut flowers for export, placed additional strain on Kenya's disaster response strategy in the wake of extensive flooding. Experts regretted that Kenya's capacity to respond to natural disasters such as floods remained weak due to policy gaps, under-funding, inadequate technology and trained personnel. Robert Muthami, a Nairobi-based environmentalist, said lack of preparedness and lethargic enactment of disaster management strategies at the grassroots level is to blame for higher fatalities and economic losses linked to the current flooding. "We need to increase budgetary allocation to disaster management and more importantly address their root cause which happens to be climate change," Muthami remarked. "At the county level, we should invest in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the impacts of disasters like the floods being experienced in the country," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 19:59:44|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a welcome ceremony for visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang before their talks in Tokyo, Japan, on May 9, 2018. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) SAPPORO, Japan, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Japan has opened a new chapter for economic and trade relations between the two countries. Li wrapped up a four-day official visit to Japan on Friday, which coincided with the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. During the visit, the first in eight years by a Chinese premier to Japan, the two countries agreed to carry forward bilateral economic and trade relations and promote pragmatic cooperation. CONSENSUS ON FURTHERING ECONOMIC TIES China and Japan agreed to lift their pragmatic cooperation to a new level, Li told a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship in Tokyo on Thursday. The two sides have set out the direction and pinpointed new areas for future cooperation, reaching agreements on social security, finance, health, medical science and service trade, Li said. Calling on the two countries to synergize their development strategies, Li pointed to energy conservation, environmental protection, scientific and technological innovation, high-end manufacturing, finance, sharing economy, medical and old-age service as sectors where the two sides should focus on. During the visit, the Japanese side expressed their readiness to enhance economic and trade cooperation with China. Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan Business Federation, also took part in the event. He said he looks forward to more of such high-level visits between the two neighbors. Business people of both sides can work together, especially within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and in jointly developing third-party market, he said. For his part, Yohei Kono, former speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, said he was amazed by the popularity of new services like bike-sharing, mobile payment and Internet-based delivery during his recent visit to China. The progress made by China is worth learning from, said Kono, adding that China and Japan should learn from each other to achieve common prosperity and make joint contribution to the development of the world. On infrastructure building, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested at the reception that Japan and China set up a cross-department committee and a forum to promote cooperation on meeting Asia's infrastructure development demand. CONCRETE STEPS China and Japan were not just showing goodwill, but also have taken concrete steps to promote economic and trade ties. On Wednesday, Li and Abe witnessed the signing of a memorandum on enhancing service trade cooperation by China's Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko in Tokyo. On the same day, China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce signed a memorandum on third-party cooperation with Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In addition to a bilateral service trade cooperation mechanism, China and Japan also agreed to set up a cross-department work mechanism for promoting third-party market cooperation under the framework of the China-Japan high-level economic dialogue, and organize a forum on the third-party market cooperation. On Friday morning, when visiting a factory of Japanese carmaker Toyota in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, Li called for deepening bilateral cooperation on joint R&D and innovation so as to produce competitive high-tech goods that meet the demands of Chinese and Japanese markets and also third-party markets. China also agreed to grant Japan RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) quota of 200 billion yuan (about 31.36 billion U.S. dollars), Li said when meeting with Abe on Wednesday. The granting of the RQFII quota would help Japanese financial institutions actively invest in China's capital market through the RQFII, Li said. The two sides have also agreed in principle to sign a currency swap deal at an early date, and this will help safeguard financial market stability and promote investment facilitation, Li said. China holds a positive attitude toward establishing RMB clearing bank in Tokyo, the premier said. BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel has condemned the decision of U.S. president Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord on Friday. Speaking at the annual Catholic church convention in Muenster, Merkel said that Washington's move was a "reason to be concerned, as well as a reason to feel regretful." She criticized that it was "not right" to unilaterally terminate such an important international agreement. In an earlier phone conversation with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, the chancellor joined state representatives from France and the United Kingdom in emphasizing that her country remained committed to the terms of the nuclear accord. The landmark deal to end Iran's nuclear weapons program in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions was signed in 2015. According to Merkel's official spokesperson Steffen Seibert, the German chancellor proposed new talks addressing Iran's ballistic missile program as a potential means to salvage the deal. Additionally, she urged Tehran to help de-escalate spiralling conflicts in the Middle East. Merkel stressed Friday that the fate of the Iran nuclear deal was a "matter of war and peace", highlighting reports of new hostilities between Iranian and Israeli troops on the Syrian-Israeli border. Meanwhile, Washington, together with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has already re-activated the first economic sanctions against Iran. German minister for the economy Peter Altmaier warned on Friday that his government had "no judicial means to protect or exclude" German companies from the financial effects of U.S. sanctions. By contrast, his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire expressed confidence that French trade with Iran will continue unperturbed and urged the international community not to accept Washington's claim to the role of the "economic policeman of the world." French, British and German representatives are scheduled to hold related emergency talks with their Iranian counterparts on Monday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:04:46|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close MADRID, May 11 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal extended his consecutive winning streak on clay to 50 sets with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Diego Schwartzman here on Thursday, breaking John McEnroe's Open Era record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface. "I won a difficult match against a very difficult player," the Spaniard great said. "They are big records. I really don't think much about that. Probably after I finish my career, it will be the time to think about it." "Let's not talk about that any more and let's focus on what we have ahead." The defending champion, continuing his pursuit of a record sixth trophy in Madrid, will face a familiar rival, last year's finalist Dominic Thiem of Austria in the quarterfinals. The latter came from one set down to beat Borna Coric of Croatia 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to advance. The Annual General Meeting of The Scottish Salmon Company PLC was held on 11 May 2018. Attached please find the minutes from the meeting. TOKYO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Demonstrators in Okinawa on Friday started a three-day "Peace March" to protest the central government's plans to relocate a controversial U.S. military base within Japan's southernmost prefecture. The protests, comprising more than 800 participants, come ahead of the 46th anniversary of Okinawa's reversion to Japan from U.S. control, with calls rife for the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to be scrapped. The people of Okinawa have ardently been calling for the central government's plans to move the controversial base from the densely-populated area of Ginowan to the coastal Henoko region, also on the island, to be abandoned, with many local residents wishing to see the base moved off the island or out of Japan altogether. The "Peace March" on Friday started at and coincided with an ongoing sit-in by protestors in front of the gate of U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in Henoko. Another route began outside the Okinawa prefectural government office building in Naha. A ceremony was held at the prefectural government office, with local media reporting that Naha Mayor Mikiko Shiroma conveyed his vexation at the U.S. military for a seemingly endless slew of crimes and accidents on the tiny subtropical island, that bears the brunt of hosting the majority of U.S. bases in Japan. "Crimes and accidents linked to bases continue to occur with no end in sight," Shiroma was quoted as saying. The groups of protestors will march to hold an annual peace rally in Ginowan on Sunday. Other demonstrations will also take place on Okinawa's islands of Miyako on Saturday and Ishigaki on Tuesday. The annual protests against the continued U.S. "occupation" of Okinawa were first held in 1978, with local residents still indignant to this day at having to play host to the majority of the U.S. bases here, despite the island's sovereignty being returned to Japan in 1972. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:24:57|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HONG KONG, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong court Friday ruled that Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, the two disqualified legislators-elect, and their three assistants, have been found guilty of taking part in an unlawful assembly for storming Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting. The five defendants were released on bail, with sentencing expected to take place on June 4, 2018. In November 2016, Leung and Yau were banned from taking part in the LegCo meeting after they failed to take their oaths properly. In order to re-take their oaths, Leung and Yau tried to storm into the conference room without the permission of the Chairman of LegCo. The pair and their assistants kept pushing against security guards who were stopping them from entering the conference room. Six security guards were injured in the chaos and taken to hospital for treatment. At Kowloon City Magistrate Court of Hong Kong Friday, Wong Sze-Lai, the acting principal magistrate, said it was obvious the pair's action was planned, coordinated and involved excessive force. Wang ruled that Leung, Yau and their assistants had acted together for a common purpose, and "such acts were likely to cause any person reasonably to fear that the persons so assembled would commit a breach of the peace." So the five defendants were found guilty of taking part in an unlawful assembly. Leung and Yau used derogatory language insulting the country and nation when taking their oaths at a swearing-in ceremony of the new LegCo on Oct. 12, 2016. The pair were disqualified by Hong Kong court on Nov. 15, 2016; their appeal was rejected on Nov. 30, 2016. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:24:58|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over a bi-weekly seminar in Beijing, capital of China, May 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national political advisors convened a bi-weekly seminar on Friday to advise on the drafting of a regulation on protecting children in cyberspace. The political advisory body serves as a platform in which political advisors contribute their expertise to decision-making, and the Party and government forge consensus about their policies, said Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who presided over the meeting and made a speech. At the meeting, relevant authorities and political advisors conducted in-depth and constructive exchanges about the topic, Wang said. A total of 17 political advisors and representatives from academia and business circles put forwards their suggestions, according to a press release issued after the meeting. Political advisors agreed that a regulation is necessary and should strike a balance between government and business, family and society, as well as the immediate effects and long-term institutional setup, the statement said. Some political advisors suggested that more attention should be paid to institutional design, such as a system to identify harmful and negative information for minors, limiting children's time on the Internet, and raising awareness among minors. They noted that families, enterprises, schools and society should all participate in protecting children in cyberspace, while the government should play a leading role. by Farid Behbud KABUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Election Commission (IEC) has extended the voter registration for the long-delayed parliamentary and district councils' elections scheduled for Oct. 20, to allow more eligible voters to register, the IEC said on Friday. According to IEC plan, the voter registration in the country's 34 provincial centers was supposed to start on April 14 and end on May 13, but the process was extended until June 12, the IEC said in a statement. As of May 8, more than 1.4 million of some 12 million eligible voters have registered for the polls amid security fears and militants' intimidation, according to the latest figures released by the IEC. The first parliamentary election in the post-Taliban Afghanistan was held in 2005 while the second parliamentary polls took place in 2010. However, the 2015 parliamentary polls, originally set to be held in early 2015 following presidential elections, were repeatedly delayed. The IEC has also brought some changes in the registration process due to local citizens' demands over pasting of voting verification stickers into their identity cards. "As the countrymen, who live or travel into remote insecure areas, have shared their concerns with the IEC over pasting of voting verification stickers into their Identity Cards following registration... so the IEC decided from now onwards, the voting verification stickers will be fixed in the photocopy of the voters' ID cards but the voters should also hold their real ID cards with themselves on the election day," the statement said. Meanwhile, the process of voter registration in districts will start on May 15 and will continue until May 30 while that in the village level will start on May 31 and will end on June 12 when the registration process ends across the country, the statement added. "The IEC will take all measures to ensure no fraud will take place in the polls and all eligible Afghans will be able to cast their votes in a free and fair election," the statement said. Observers say insecurity is the most serious challenge and it seems that ensuring safety of the elections will be a daunting challenge for the Afghan security forces as well as international troops. On Thursday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report which details a disturbing pattern of attacks at election-related facilities following the start of voter registration. "UNAMA verified 23 election-related security incidents since voter registration began on 14 April. These incidents have resulted in 271 civilians killed and injured, with the vast majority of civilian casualties occurring on 22 April from a suicide attack among a crowd gathered outside a national identity card distribution centre in Kabul, resulting in 198 civilian casualties," the UN mission said in a statement. Of the 23 election-related security incidents verified by UNAMA and identified in the new report, 10 of them involved threats, harassment and intimidation by anti-government elements against election-related personnel, teachers and potential voters, including allegations of confiscation of identity cards and fines imposed for possession of voter registration stickers, the statement said. "Elections-related violence should remind everyone that efforts toward peace in Afghanistan cannot be set aside," Tadamichi Yamamoto, special UN envoy and head of UNAMA, was quoted as saying in the statement. "The way forward must not rely on a military solution but rather a democratic process, and I once again urge the Taliban to take up President Ashraf Ghani's peace offer, participate in the elections, and start direct talks with the government to put an end to the suffering of the Afghan people," he said. On Thursday, Ghani also chaired a security meeting and discussed election security with IEC officials and security authorities in the Presidential Palace. As the political parties in the country did not meet all standards, most of the candidates will contest independently for the 249-seat lower house of parliament for a five-year term. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:35:02|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Public hospitals in China have reined in the unreasonable pricing of medical care, an official of the National Health Commission said on Friday. "All public hospitals across the country joined the comprehensive reform program in 2017 to end 60-odd years of drug price markups," Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the commission, said at a State Council press conference on implementing major policies. Wang said the General Office of the State Council praised 38 localities, including Xicheng District in Beijing and Sanming City of east China's Fujian Province, for their good practices in the comprehensive reform of public hospitals. "Sanming City increased fiscal input to public hospitals from 140 million yuan (22 million U.S. dollars) in 2011 to 460 million yuan in 2017. The hospitals in this city have made medical care prices more rational," Wang said. Health care authorities will encourage public hospitals to participate in the establishment of medical treatment partnerships and guide medical resources to grassroots health institutions to better serve the public, Wang said. BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German minister for the economy Peter Altmaier warned Friday that German companies could be hit by U.S. sanctions as a consequence of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. "We have no judicial means to protect or exclude German companies from the decisions of the U.S. government," Altmaier said on Deutschlandradio. According to him, there was no provision under current law in Germany which would allow the creation of a state fund to offset related damage to business. "If we declared that we will compensate such disadvantages as a matter of principles, this could provide an incentive to many countries in the world to impose unilateral sanctions," Altmaier explained. Altmaier noted, however, that the federal government would offer legal advice to affected firms. Additionally, the minister expressed hope that progress in negotiations over a permanent exclusion of the European Union (EU) from new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports could help resolve differences in opinion with regards to the Iran nuclear agreement as well. "If we succeeded in showcasing in this area that the Americans and Europeans have more in common than divides them, then maybe we would also have a better basis for talks in different areas," Altmaier argued. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has recently voiced concern that U.S. and European societies are drifting apart as a consequence of Washington's growing preference for unilateral as opposed to multilateral policy solutions. German business representatives have sharply criticized Trump's decision on Iran, calling for Berlin to do everything in its power to save the landmark international agreement reached in 2015. The Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA) has estimated that the volume of German-Iranian trade grew rapidly by 42 percent to a total of 3.4 billion euros (4.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017 after sanctions were first loosened in 2016. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:40:05|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Palestinian paramedics carry a wounded man during clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border, east of the southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis, on May 11, 2018. Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers broke out on Friday along Gaza's eastern border with Israel during the seventh Friday anti-Israel protests, medical sources said. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar) GAZA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers broke out on Friday along Gaza's eastern border with Israel during the seventh Friday anti-Israel protests, medical sources said. The protests are part of what the Palestinians call the "Great March of Return" rally which has been organized every Friday at five different locations along Gaza's eastern border with Israel since March 30. Eyewitnesses said young Palestinians burned dozens of tires and threw stones at Israeli border soldiers, who responded by firing live gunshots, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. Meanwhile, kites carrying fire bombs were seen land in Israel's agricultural fields, causing big flames. Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Coordination Committee for the March of Return called for a larger participation in the protests among Palestinians. Ashraf al-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, said in an e-mailed press statement that the Israeli army has shot and killed 47 Palestinians since March 30, with six bodies still unreturned. BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German state of Hesse, which houses financial center Frankfurt, on Friday urged the federal government in Berlin to play a more active role in shaping European Union (EU) banking regulations after Brexit. "EU regulatory policies cannot lead to a neglect of German interests," Hesse's regional finance minister Thomas Schaefer wrote in letter to German finance minister Olaf Scholz. Schaefer hereby criticized in particular that Germany was less assertive than France with regards to promoting the competitiveness of the two Eurozone member's respective financial sectors. According to the Schaefer, uniform EU-wide regulatory and supervisory mechanisms which served the narrow interest of France were part of a strategy to "establish Paris as the leading financial center in the EU after Brexit." He highlighted the engagement on behalf of French president Emmanuel Macron to strip the United Kingdom of the right to host Euro-clearing activities, as well as expanding the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in Paris in this context. "In comparison, the federal (German) government is much more hesitant to adopt measures to improve the competitiveness of Germany as a financial hub", Schaefer complained in the letter. Frankfurt and Paris are both widely seen as the two main competitors to host new European headquarters created by banks in London after the United Kingdom leaves the EU. The British financial services lobby group "TheCityUK" estimates that 70,000 jobs could be lost in the industry if Britain does not remain in the single market after Brexit. So far, the two cities are running neck-and-neck in vying for financial services business from London. The lobby group "Frankfurt Main Finance" reported that as many as 20 banking institutions were currently set on expanding or creating new corporate entities in the city. Frankfurt is already home to three major regulatory bodies, the European Central Bank, German Central Bank (Bundesbank) and German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), potentially giving it an edge over continental rivals. However, Paris' post-Brexit prospects were recently enhanced by a decision to re-locate the European Banking Authority (EBA) there from London alongside the ESMA headquarters which are already in the French capital. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:40:06|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Photo taken on May 9, 2018 shows the Firdos Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqis will head for parliamentary elections on May 12 to decide the future of their country, after years of chaos, violence and poor governance since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) BAGHDAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqis will head for parliamentary elections on May 12 to decide the future of their country, after years of chaos, violence and poor governance since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "We have seen a lot of wars, killings and sectarian violence, but today we want peaceful means to achieve our goals such as democracy," Amal al-Jubouri, a female lawyer and a human rights activist, told Xinhua. The middle-aged activist called on Iraqis to trust the democracy as election is the only right path to change corrupt politicians. "I don't think the change in the coming elected government will be enough for us. Still, it is a step toward a change," Jubouri said. According to the Iraqi law, 25 percent of the 329 seats in the parliament must be allocated to female candidates. Jubouri said the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) is leading a campaign to support Iraqi women in participating in political affairs during and after the parliamentary polls on Saturday. Iraq had been in fierce and bloody conflict with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, which took control of one-third of the country in June 2014 after the collapse of the Iraqi forces in face of its blitzkrieg aggression. In December 2017, Iraqi Prime Haider al-Abadi announced the liberation of all Iraqi lands from IS control after the Iraqi forces, backed by an anti-IS international coalition, drove out the militants from all their strongholds. Since then, the security situation in the country has dramatically improved. Many Iraqis have been looking forward to a comprehensive reform against endemic corruption and government incompetency. Fadhel Eleiwi, 24, who has not found a job since he graduated from an agriculture college several years ago, is among the thousands of disappointed unemployed college graduates in Iraq. "We want to change the miserable situation of our country, as the ruling parties failed to find solutions to the problems of Iraq. Perhaps, new faces could give us a new hope," Eleiwi said. Earlier in the month, Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warned Iraqis not to fall "into the traps of those who have failed (in leading the country) and corrupted people." However, Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for the Iraqi people to actively participate in the elections to rid the country of corruption. "If it is not voting by millions, there would be no positive results in the elections," Sadr said. "If the turnout would be five percent, the political process will go on and the corrupt people will stay in their posts," he warned. Active participation "would increase the portion of the good people. Then we can change the compass and stand against the plans of the corrupt people," the Shiite cleric explained. Many Iraqis, however, doubt that the elections could bring any real change to their country, saying the candidates are just as corrupt as many of the outgoing lawmakers. Mohammed, a student at the engineering college in Baghdad University, said he will not vote in the elections as there is no hope in the coming elections. "Many of the candidates are the same faces, and even I see a new face I would swiftly discover that he is competing within a list led by corrupt old faces. Many of the new candidates must join old political parties and coalitions to guarantee their winning of seats," he lamented. Shahad, a female college student at al-Nahrayn University in Baghdad who did not reveal her full name, expressed a similar opinion. "Most of the candidates are coming for high salaries, allowances and other financial benefit. I believe most of them are corrupt people," she told Xinhua. Kifah al-Sudani, a retired nurse in her 60s, urged a careful voting for the right candidate. "People are looking forward to social justice, better housing, jobs, education and rebuilding the country's industry and agriculture. To make such dreams come true, voters must choose carefully and differentiate between the good and the bad," she said. More than 24 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the 4,148 polling centers across Iraq in the first general election since Iraq's historical victory over the IS militant group last December. About 7,000 candidates, representing 205 political entities, will compete for the 329 parliamentary seats to form a new government which will rule Iraq for the next four years. Iraq's previous general election was held on April 30, 2014, when the Iraqis elected 328 lawmakers for the parliament. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:45:10|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Two Su-35 fighter jets and a H-6K bomber fly in formation on May 11, 2018. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force conducted patrol training over China's island of Taiwan on Friday. Su-35 fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel in formation with the H-6Ks for the first time, which marks a new breakthrough in island patrol patterns, said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the PLA air force. (Xinhua/Han Chao) GUANGZHOU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force conducted patrol training over China's island of Taiwan on Friday. Su-35 fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel in formation with the H-6Ks for the first time, which marks a new breakthrough in island patrol patterns, said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the PLA air force. The Eastern Theater Command and Southern Theater Command sent forces to conduct coordinated actions during the training. Two groups of H-6K bombers started the training simultaneously from both north and south of Taiwan island, with one group flying clockwise and the other going counter-clockwise. KJ-2000 airborne early warning aircraft and Su-35 and J-11 fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait regions to accompany the bombers. The air force will continue to carry out island patrols involving multi-type combat aircraft in accordance with an established plan, Shen said. "The air force has the resolve, the confidence, and the ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Shen said. STOUFFVILLE, Ontario, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A mink ranch in southwestern Ontario has been charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty under the Ontario SPCA Act following an investigation into its treatment and care of mink on the farm. The Ontario SPCA launched an investigation in February 2018 after receiving a concern about the welfare of mink at the farm. After conducting a thorough investigation, evidence revealed sick animals with injuries and large lesions, as well as rough handling of animals, unsanitary conditions and a lack of general care. The Ontario SPCA has charged the farm with 14 counts of animal cruelty: 5 counts of permitting an animal to be in distress 2 counts of causing an animal to be in distress 3 counts of failing to provide adequate and appropriate medical attention 3 counts of failing to provide care necessary for general welfare 1 count of failing to provide adequate and appropriate sanitary conditions There is no excuse for failing to treat animals humanely, says Jennifer Bluhm, Deputy Chief Inspector, Ontario SPCA. No one is exempt from the law when it comes to providing for the animals in their care. To report animal cruelty, contact the Ontario SPCAs province-wide animal cruelty hotline at 310-SPCA (7722). Ontario SPCA and Humane Society: Protecting animals since 1873, the Ontario SPCA is Ontario's animal welfare organization. A registered charity, the Society is comprised of close to 50 Communities. Since 1919, when Ontario's first animal welfare legislation was proclaimed, the Ontario SPCA, with the help of its Communities, has been entrusted to maintain and enforce animal welfare legislation. The Act provides Ontario SPCA agents and inspectors with police powers to do so. The Ontario SPCA provides leadership in animal welfare innovations, including introducing high-volume spay/neuter services to Ontario and opening the Provincial Education & Animal Centre. OntarioSPCA.ca Adopt Learn Volunteer Donate Charitable Business Number 88969 1044 RR0002 Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 20:55:14|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese banks extended 1.18 trillion yuan (about 184.4 billion U.S. dollars) in new yuan-denominated loans in April, more than market forecasts, and edging up from the previous month, central bank data said Friday. The figure was 79.7 billion yuan more than the same period last year, the People's Bank of China said in a statement. Breakdown of the April loan data showed a slight pick-up in demand for credit from non-financial enterprises, government agencies and non-profit institutions, while that from households dipped. Wen Bin with China Minsheng Bank said the data revealed high financing demand from the real economy sector. As of the end of April, outstanding yuan loans grew 12.7 percent from a year earlier to 126.16 trillion yuan. The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, grew 8.3 percent year on year, slightly up from the 8.2-percent rise registered a month earlier. The narrow measure of money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 7.2 percent year-on-year at the end of April, up from 7.1 percent at the end of March. Total social finance, a broad measure of funds that non-financial firms and households get from the financial system, increased by 1.56 trillion yuan in April, 172.5 billion yuan more than a year earlier. Chinese banks extended a record of 13.5 trillion yuan in new loans last year, up from 12.6 trillion yuan in 2016. The government targeted annual GDP growth of around 6.5 percent for 2018, and planned to maintain moderate growth in M2 while ensuring a reasonable and stable level of liquidity. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 21:00:15|Editor: ZX Video Player Close SAPPORO, Japan, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan had reached many cooperation deals during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Japan, which created conditions for stronger cooperation between localities and enterprises, and for people-to-people links. While addressing a China-Japan Governor Forum on Friday in Sapporo, capital of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, Li said the two sides agreed to carry out cooperation in innovative development and launch innovative dialogue mechanism. Hokkaido not only is an important base of Japan's modern agriculture, but also has important high-tech industries. The two sides plan to enhance cooperation in high-tech and other industries concerning people's livelihoods such as dealing with population ageing and improving medical treatment, Li said. Exchanges and cooperation between localities are an important part of China-Japan relations, Li stressed. The Chinese premier also toured a high-tech exhibition at a local Toyota factory with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Hokkaido is the second leg of Li's official visit to Japan from Tuesday to Friday, and the official visit is the first by a Chinese premier in eight years. To cement people-to-people bonds is a highlight of Li's visit. In Tokyo, Li met with people from various circles of the Japanese society, and attended a reception commemorating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. New progress and continuously stable development should be made in China-Japan relationship as it returns to the normal track, Li said, adding this is the best way to commemorate the signing of the treaty. As an important milestone in bilateral ties, the treaty affirmed the principles of the bilateral joint statement that was issued in 1972 in legal form, which include Japan's deep reflection on war responsibilities, and its firm adherence to the one-China policy. It is based on the principles of the four cornerstone political documents, including this treaty, that the development of bilateral ties can be led back onto the right track despite twists and turns in the past, Li said. While meeting with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the treaty-making process, Li called on both sides to cherish the hard-won momentum of improvement in bilateral relations and carry forward the spirit of the treaty. During the visit, China presented Japan with a pair of crested ibis to reflect Chinese people's friendship with the Japanese. The iconic bird is deeply rooted in the Japanese history and culture. It was on the verge of extinction in Japan in the 1980s. Since then, the two countries have worked together to protect the bird. Li and Abe jointly visited a cultural and creative exhibition of the Forbidden City in Tokyo, which showcases artworks of bronze, lacquer, porcelain and wood carving that draw inspiration from artifacts of the Forbidden City. Li asked to make cultural industry a new spotlight in bilateral cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding of the two peoples, and consolidate the public opinion basis for long-term, healthy and stable growth of bilateral ties. On various occasions, the Chinese premier stressed to cement people-to-people exchanges, consolidate the public foundation for bilateral ties, and increase understanding and affection between the two peoples. He was warmly welcomed and echoed by Japanese leaders. Japanese Emperor Akihito said he always recalls the moment when he was warmly welcomed by the Chinese people in his visit to China over 20 years ago, and strongly felt the hearts of the two peoples were connected. With efforts from both countries, their people-to-people bonds are expected to get even closer, and contribute to further improvement of the overall relations. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 21:05:18|Editor: ZX Video Player Close TAIPEI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A local court on Friday found 12 defendants guilty of negligent homicide in gas explosions that killed 32 people in 2014. A series of explosions caused by a propane gas leak from underground pipelines took place July 31, 2014 along major streets in south Taiwan's Kaohsiung, leaving another 321 people injured. The Kaohsiung District Court sentenced three municipal engineers at the city's sewage system office to four years and 10 months, and sentenced three technicians from a logistics company to four years and six months. A former chairman and five other employees of LCY Chemical Corp, who were found responsible for the pipeline's maintenance, were sentenced to four years. KATHMANDU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that his government has given top priority to relations with Nepal under his Neighborhood First Policy. Modi, who is in his third visit to Nepal after becoming Indian prime minister in 2014 said at Janakpur, a religious and tourism city in eastern Nepal, that the Himalayan country comes first in India's priority under Neighborhood First Policy. Modi started his visit through Janakpur where deity Sita, also known as Janaki was born as per Hindu mythology as narrated in epic Ramayan. Modi who described his visit as a pilgrim rather than as a prime minister, offered prayer at the Janaki temple on Friday morning and participated in the Civic Reception bestowed upon him by Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City. He also announced assistance of 1 billion Indian rupees (14.85 million U.S. dollars) for the development of Janakpur. Addressing the Civic Reception ceremony, Modi said he wanted to help Nepal to achieve development and prosperity for its people, adding that he wanted to enhance better connectivity with Nepal through highways, information ways, transmission lines, railways, waterways and airways. "These connectivity measures will help Nepal to get better market access, thereby encouraging the establishment of industries and employment creation," Modi said. He said the two sides can work on 5Ts -- Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport for the development and prosperity of both countries. Modi is also scheduled to visit another religious shrine Muktinath at Mustang district in western Nepal on Saturday. ACCRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Ghana has successfully raised 2 billion U.S. dollars in a double tranche Eurobond in the global capital market, the Ministry of Finance said Friday. Half of the proceeds (1 billion dollars) is a 10-year note at 7.625 percent while the other half (1 billion dollars) is Ghana's first ever 30-year issuance at 8.625 percent. A statement from the Ministry of Finance said early Friday that 750 million dollars of the issuance represents new debt, while a portion of the remainder will be used to swap for existing Eurobonds, as well as other debt management operations. In 2015 Ghana became the first ever Sub-Sahara African country outside South Africa to have issued successfully a 15-year bond when it raised 1 billion dollars at 10.75 percent from the market. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi Group, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank were Lead Advisors for the issuance. "It is the first time a sub-Saharan African country with a rating of B Stable has priced a sovereign Bond at this low costs indicating a strong investor confidence," the finance ministry statement pointed out. Debt level of the West Africa cocoa, gold and oil exporter reached 69.8 percent last December while it readied to conclude the extended International Monetary Fund program which sought to help the country end its annual over-expenditure while strengthening economic growth and job creation. This is Ghana's sixth Eurobond sale since it first entered in the market for a 750 million dollar debt in 2007. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 21:10:20|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close U.S. President Donald Trump signs a memorandum declaring his intention to withdraw from Iranian nuke deal at the White House in Washington D.C., the U.S., on May 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) by Xinhua writer Tian Dongdong BRUSSELS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- For the Europeans who expected the United States to put the transatlantic alliance first and stay in the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. President Donald Trump's relentless withdrawal from the deal on Tuesday was a wake-up call. By driving a stake through the heart of the deal, Trump not only threw Europe's trust towards Washington on the issue into dustbin, but also put America's global credibility in question. After all, America had once joined the multilateral negotiation and signed the hard-won agreement. "This breaks the trust in the international order...Although the deal was far from ideal and many issues still remain unresolved, the U.S. withdrawal is a cause of great concern and regret," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday in the German city of Muenster. The transatlantic relationship is now in its biggest rift since the Iraq war, with allies on each coast talking past each other on almost every page, ranging from trade to climate change and even shared values -- their bond of blood. "This is not the first time Europeans have been confronted with Mr Trump's disdain for an international order that used to underwrite U.S. global leadership. America First has seen him quit the Paris climate change accord, jettison the idea of a two state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, tear up trade agreements and question the NATO alliance...(The withdrawal) marks the biggest rupture in transatlantic relations since the end of the Cold War and mocks the West's efforts to uphold a rules-based order," said Philip Stephens, an associate editor of the Financial Times. But now all the pipe dreams and illusions have gone. Shortly after Trump's withdrawal announcement, the European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Europe would stand by the international nuclear accord with Iran and "is determined to preserve it". It seemed that Europe has finally understood Trump's message: when the United States makes a decision, allies have to follow, whether they like it or not. In Trump's words Tuesday, "the United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them." In most European capitals, the first reaction to this wrecking strategy is to say America is now on its own. Foreign ministers from EU member states are expected to meet in London on Monday with Iran to save the Iran nuclear deal, despite Trump's pulling out. "Foreign ministers aim to reassure Tehran that the nuclear deal is salvageable at a meeting currently slated for Monday in London which they are expecting their Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend," according to Britain's Guardian newspaper. EU ministers hope to put forward a credible package to assuage Iranian fears about the effect of Trump's decision on EU-Iranian trade, the newspaper said. "The ministers recognize that Iran will only stay inside the deal if it is confident that the promised economic benefits can survive U.S. sanctions," the newspaper said. "But they were keen to stress that Trump's move had not necessarily dealt the agreement a fatal blow." But besides withdrawal from the deal, Trump has also made many other promises, including that the EU should yield for permanent exemption of the steel and aluminum tariffs before June 1, and European allies should increase military expenses or stop free riding, among others. If Trump really means his words, there will be more holding-gun-to-EU's-head (Macron said last March) moments in the near future. Being more obedient to Washington or fighting for equal rights as an ally? That is the question. Luckily, the ball is now in Europe's court. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 21:20:23|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri on Friday exchanged letters with their views on bilateral ties, the Group of 20 (G20) Summit and the current economic and financial situation in Argentina. In the letter, Xi said that Macri participated in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing last year and paid a successful state visit to China. The consensuses reached by the two sides during Macri's visit has been effectively implemented, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two countries have been steadily moving forward, Xi said. Xi added that he highly values the development of China-Argentina relations and is willing to work with Macri to continue guiding the development of bilateral ties, steadily advance major projects and promote the China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level. China firmly supports Argentina's G20 presidency for 2018 and is willing to strengthen coordination with Argentina to properly handle the tone and direction of the summit, stick to multilateralism, strengthen global governance, and build an open world economy, so as to make the summit a success, Xi said. For his part, Macri said in his letter that the Argentina-China comprehensive strategic partnership has become increasingly close and achieved fruitful results. Argentina fully supports jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to enhance all-round cooperation with China, Macri said. While holding the G20 presidency, Argentina will continue the consensus and results achieved at the 2016 G20 Summit held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, he said. Meanwhile, Macri briefed Xi on the economic and financial situation in Argentina, which has been facing economic difficulties. He also elaborated on measures taken to solve the problems. Xi said some emerging markets including Argentina that were affected recently by external factors are facing new challenges to their domestic economic environment. China firmly supports Argentina's endeavors to maintaining its stability and development and is willing to provide assistance to its best capability, Xi added. China believes that Argentina can overcome temporary difficulties and achieve long-term stable, heathy and sustainable development in its economy, Xi said, stressing that China has confidence in Argentina's development and the future of bilateral ties. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 21:30:27|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), called for coordinated efforts and orderly advance in the planning and implementation of institutional reform at central and local levels to ensure complete victory in the area. Xi, also Chinese president, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and head of the central committee for deepening overall reform, made the remarks when presiding over the second meeting of the committee on Friday. Deputy heads of the committee Wang Huning, Han Zheng attended the meeting. China should make good use of the experience from progress made in the institutional reform of the central and state organs since the third plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and carefully plan local institutional reform, Xi said. The meeting reviewed and approved a series of official documents on areas including reform of local institutions, constraints on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) assets and liabilities, basic pension funds for business employees, and management rules for executives of centrally-administered SOEs. NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A somber mood has engulfed Kenya as the nation comes to terms with the magnitude of a flood tragedy that has so far claimed at least 44 lives. The incident that happened on Wednesday night was due to heavy rains that led to overflow of over 20 million liters of water from a dam at a flower export farm in Nakuru, some 200 km west of Nairobi. The water swept away an entire village consisting of over 200 houses and hosted more than 5,000 people as it destroyed everything on its path in minutes. The flood water mixed with mud buried residents alive, ripped apart houses, overturned vehicles and carried away animals. There are fears that the death toll could hit 100 as over 40 people are still missing, with rescue efforts currently ongoing. The tragedy is the latest resulting from heavy rains pounding the East African nation for the past two months. Several schools have also been destroyed disrupting learning for hundreds of students as some learning institutions also host flood victims. However, the Wednesday disaster is the worst single case since the deluge started two months ago. Citizens and leaders have united in mourning the dead and comforting the about 40 people who sustained injuries and are admitted to various hospitals in Nakuru. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i termed the tragedy devastating and on Thursday asked the nation to expect the worst. "I want to prepare Kenyans mentally that the magnitude of the tragedy is huge. The teams are likely to recover and retrieve more bodies from the debris and mud," Matiang'i said. He asked citizens to stop speculations on the tragedy as the government investigates the incident, including claims that the dam was illegal. "We are handling this matter seriously to find out whether the accident would have been prevented. For now, it is an ordinary accident where a dam broke its banks and water flew sweeping families along the path. It is a tragedy but it has provided an opportunity to examine the works done on our dams, especially those privately owned," Matiang'i noted. Following the disaster, citizens in areas hosting dams mainly used for the production of hydropower have called for the reinforcement of the facilities to avert similar tragedy. Kenya is home to several dams that include Gitaru, Kiambere, Kindaruma and Masinga, among others. The calls came as the government started to empty two dams at the affected Patel farm, which were found to be structurally unsound. However, as the country grapples with the heavy rains, the Meteorological Department has painted a gloomy picture that shows the East African nation could face more crisis. On Thursday, the department said the rains would continue for the next one month and would be heavy especially in Central, Rift Valley and at the Coast. The department has ruled out that the heavy rains are El-nino, noting that the country is just experiencing more downpour than has been the case in the past years. Awards Program Celebrates Top Innovators, Investors and Companies in the Region BOSTON, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This week, Vesper was named the Company of the Year in Hardware, Robotics and Transportation at the 2018 NEVY Awards, hosted by the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) and presented by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Held annually since 2013, the NEVYs recognize the top innovators, investors and companies in the region. Were honored by this accolade and it just energizes us to continue our mission of dramatically improving the reliability of the voice user interface for smartphones, smart speakers, connected automobiles and any connected device using our proprietary piezoelectric MEMS technology. As New Englands premier awards program for the technology, healthcare and life science communities, the NEVYs honor the best and brightest in the regions venture ecosystem. Company of the Year was one of 12 categories to recognize local companies and their investors. We take great pride in the breadth of innovation and startup triumphs here in New England, and choose to celebrate as many of them as we can at the NEVYs each year," said Jody Rose, president of the NEVCA. The competition bar rises each year and 2018 was no exception. We congratulate the hard work, talent and grit displayed by all of this years honorees. See photos and updates from the NEVCA team on Twitter with #NEVYs18, or on Facebook, Medium and at www.newenglandvc.org. About Vesper Vesper is a privately held advanced sensor company based in Boston, Mass. With origins at the University of Michigan, Vespers award-winning microphones are driving a new era of pervasive voice interfaces and acoustic event-detection products via a proprietary piezoelectric MEMS technology. For more information, visit www.vespermems.com, Twitter, YouTube, and Vesper Blog. About the New England Venture Capital Association The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) invests in the entrepreneurial ecosystem on behalf of the VC community, through program-building, policy work, brand-building, and events. From celebrations (the NEVY Awards) to content series (VC Briefings and Syndicate Sessions), workforce development programs (TechGen and Hack.Diversity) to advocacy and legislation (equity and inclusion initiatives and immigration reform), the NEVCA is at once a network, catalyst, and resource for the innovation economy. Follow @NewEnglandVC on Twitter or check out www.newenglandvc.org. Vesper Press Contact: Joanna Weinstein, Hollywood Agency Email: joanna@hollywoodagency.com BRUSSELS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to visit the United States next week in preparing for the bloc's summit, NATO said in a press release Friday. Stoltenberg will meet U.S. President Donald Trump from May 16-18, as part of NATO chief's consultations with Allies in the run-up to the summit in July. Stoltenberg will also have talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and other senior officials. NATO summit will be held on July 11 in Brussels. "We will further strengthen the bond between Europe and North America on which our Alliance is founded, as we continue to adapt our Alliance for the 21st century," Stoltenberg said when he announced the date for summit. KIGALI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- As heavy downpour has left over 100 people dead and property destroyed, the Rwandan government has embarked on emergency relief efforts to support the victims, Rwandan Prime minister Edouard Ngirente said Friday. The government has intensified efforts to help people with emergencies and evacuate vulnerable communities from disaster risks, said Ngirente. The government continues to provide basic assistance to the population of various areas across the country affected by disasters resulting from heavy rains, he said. According to him, from the beginning of this year, the government has provided iron roofing worth over 164,930 U.S. dollars and 233,943 dollars of basic utensils. He noted that the government has strengthened efforts to cope with the impacts of the worst rains and floods hit the country in the past few years and to meet long term solutions to the disasters. Early this week, Ngirente together with several Rwanda cabinet members and other government officials visited areas most hit by rainfall disasters which include the districts of Karongi, Rutsiro, Rubavu, Ngororero, Nyabihu in Western province, and Gakenke and Burera districts in Northern Province. According to figures from the Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, at least 183 people were killed and 215 others were injured in Rwanda by disasters triggered by heavy rains in the first four months of 2018. Disasters damaged 4,560 hectares of crops and destroyed 9,974 houses, 58 roads, seven churches, 42 bridges and 705 livestock lost their lives to disasters, according to the ministry. LJUBLJANA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian household appliance maker Gorenje has announced it would leave three seats vacant for the new strategic partner on its supervisory board, after China's Hisense published its intent on Friday to acquire all of Gorenje's shares. Gorenje picked Hisense as its new partner on Wednesday as the highest among three bidders from China. Hisense offered 12 euros (14.32 U.S. dollars) per share under the condition that it would be able to buy 50 percent plus one share in the company, which results in a deal worth at least 146.5 million euros. Gorenje shareholders will be appointing the company's supervisory board on June 12. Three of the seven seats reserved, however, are expected to be left vacant for the new strategic partner, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reported, citing Gorenje's announcement on Friday. However, there will be no dividend payout at the household appliance maker since distributable profit amounts to zero, according to the announcement. Hisense was established in 1969 in China, originally focusing on the manufacturing of radios, and more recently one of the world's biggest makers of TV and household appliances. It has production facilities around the world, including in Europe. According to the company's webpage, Hisense employs around 75,000 people in more than 20 subsidiaries. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 22:10:40|Editor: yan Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses a China-Japan Governor Forum, in Sapporo, capital of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, May 11, 2018. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also attended the forum. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) SAPPORO, Japan, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang wrapped up his visit to Japan on Friday after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bade farewell to him in person at the airport in Sapporo, capital of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Being marked by Li's visit, which succeeded in consolidating political mutual trust and exploring new cooperation possibilities between the two neighbors, bilateral ties are now on the right track again. POLITICAL TIES AS CORNERSTONE Li's visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese premier in eight years, coincided with the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Abe displayed Japan's sincerity by accompanying Li during most of the events Li participated in both Tokyo and Sapporo. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship, an important milestone in bilateral ties, affirmed the principles of the bilateral joint statement that was issued in 1972 in legal form, which include Japan's deep reflection on war responsibilities, and its firm adherence to the One-China policy, Li told a reception marking the anniversary of the treaty held in Tokyo on Thursday. Now, new progress and lasting stable development should be made as bilateral ties return to the normal track, and this is the best way to commemorate the signing of the treaty, Li said. In the political area, China and Japan have agreed that they will use history as a mirror while keeping a future-oriented mind, Li noted. The Japanese government and leaders have on multiple occasions expressed willingness to face up to and reflect on history, Li told Abe during their talks on Wednesday, urging the Japanese side to fulfill its commitments with actions. The Chinese premier also asked both countries to properly manage disputes and jointly build a brighter future. "I hope that the two countries can meet each other halfway, and maintain long-term, healthy and stable growth of their ties," Li told Abe. During the visit, the two sides signed several cooperation documents including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on setting up a maritime and air liaison mechanism, which is a crucial step in managing crisis in the East China Sea. Li said that the return of bilateral political ties onto the right track will be conducive to promoting their cooperation in other fields. The resumption of high-level visits has been highly expected. During the visit, Li invited Abe to visit China on a proper occasion, saying that exchange of visits between leaders of the two sides on a regular basis will create favorable conditions for the development of bilateral ties. Abe hailed Li's remarks that China-Japan relations are setting sail again and will sail further. The Japanese prime minister is also eager to see a revitalized and healthy relationship with China. He called on the two sides to turn competition into coordination, adding that, starting today, bilateral relations have entered the era of coordination. There will be no unconquerable difficulties for the two countries so long as they join hands with each other, Abe said. TRADE, ECONOMIC LINKS TURNING NEW PAGE During the visit, China and Japan agreed to lift their pragmatic cooperation to a new level. The two sides have set out the direction and pinpointed new areas for future cooperation, reaching agreements on social security, finance, health, medical science and service trade, Li said. Calling on the two countries to synergize their development strategies, Li pointed to energy conservation, environmental protection, scientific and technological innovation, high-end manufacturing, finance, sharing economy, medical and old-age service as sectors where the two sides should focus on. Besides the goodwill, concrete steps are in sight as well. On Wednesday, Li and Abe witnessed the signing of memorandums on enhancing service trade cooperation, and on third-party cooperation between the two sides. In addition to a bilateral service trade cooperation mechanism, China and Japan also agreed to set up a cross-department work mechanism for promoting third-party market cooperation under the framework of the China-Japan high-level economic dialogue, and organize a forum on the third-party market cooperation. China also agreed to grant Japan RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) quota of 200 billion yuan (about 31.36 billion U.S. dollars). The granting of the RQFII quota would help Japanese financial institutions actively invest in China's capital market through the RQFII, Li said. The two sides also agreed in principle to sign a currency swap deal at an early date, and this will help safeguard financial market stability and promote investment facilitation, Li said. China holds a positive attitude toward establishing RMB clearing bank in Tokyo, the premier said. On Friday morning, when visiting a factory of Japanese carmaker Toyota in Hokkaido, Li called for deepening bilateral cooperation on joint R&D and innovation so as to produce competitive high-tech goods that meet the demands of Chinese and Japanese markets and also third-party markets. On infrastructure building, Abe suggested that Japan and China set up a cross-department committee and a forum to promote cooperation on meeting Asia's infrastructure development demand. Business people of both sides can work together, especially within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and in jointly developing third-party market, said Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan Business Federation. For his part, Yohei Kono, former speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, said he was amazed by the popularity of new services like bike-sharing, mobile payment and Internet-based delivery during his recent visit to China. The progress made by China is worth learning from, said Kono, adding that China and Japan should learn from each other to achieve common prosperity and make joint contribution to the development of the world. PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE BONDS GETTING STRONGER During the visit, China and Japan also created conditions for stronger cooperation between localities and enterprises, and for better people-to-people links. While addressing a China-Japan Governor Forum on Friday in Sapporo, Li said the two sides agreed to carry out cooperation in innovative development and launch innovative dialogue mechanism. Hokkaido not only is an important base of Japan's modern agriculture, but also has important high-tech industries. The two sides plan to enhance cooperation in high-tech and other industries concerning people's livelihoods such as dealing with population ageing and improving medical treatment, Li said. Exchanges and cooperation between localities are an important part of China-Japan relations, Li stressed. Meanwhile, to cement people-to-people bonds is a highlight of Li's visit. While meeting with some of the former Japanese politicians who had participated in the process of making the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Li called on both sides to cherish the hard-won momentum of improvement in bilateral relations and carry forward the spirit of the treaty. In Tokyo, Li and Abe jointly visited a cultural and creative exhibition of the Forbidden City, which showcases artworks of bronze, lacquer, porcelain and wood carving that draw inspiration from artifacts of the Forbidden City. Li asked to make cultural industry a new spotlight in bilateral cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding of the two peoples, and consolidate the public opinion basis for long-term, healthy and stable growth of ties. During the visit, China presented Japan with a pair of crested ibis to reflect Chinese people's friendship with the Japanese. The iconic bird is deeply rooted in Japanese history and culture. It was on the verge of extinction in Japan in the 1980s. Since then, the two countries have worked together to protect the bird. On various occasions, the Chinese premier stressed to cement people-to-people exchanges, consolidate the public foundation for bilateral ties, and strengthen understanding and affection between the two peoples. He was warmly welcomed and echoed by Japanese leaders. Japanese Emperor Akihito said he always recalls the moment when he was warmly welcomed by the Chinese people in his visit to China over 20 years ago, and strongly felt the hearts of the two peoples were connected. With efforts from both countries, their people-to-people bonds are expected to get even closer, and contribute to further improvement of the overall relations. Survivors search for their belongings after a dam collapsed in Nakuru County, Kenya, May 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Allan Mutiso) NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A somber mood has engulfed Kenya as the nation comes to terms with the magnitude of a flood tragedy that has so far claimed at least 44 lives. The incident that happened on Wednesday night was due to heavy rains that led to overflow of over 20 million liters of water from a dam at a flower export farm in Nakuru, some 200 km west of Nairobi. The water swept away an entire village consisting of over 200 houses and hosted more than 5,000 people as it destroyed everything on its path in minutes. The flood water mixed with mud buried residents alive, ripped apart houses, overturned vehicles and carried away animals. There are fears that the death toll could hit 100 as over 40 people are still missing, with rescue efforts currently ongoing. People and vehicles wade through water in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, April 24, 2018. The Kenya Red Cross Society said on Wednesday that it is providing emergency relief to more than 210,000 people impacted by rising flood waters that continue to wreak havoc in many parts of Kenya. (Xinhua/Li Baishun) The tragedy is the latest resulting from heavy rains pounding the East African nation for the past two months. Several schools have also been destroyed disrupting learning for hundreds of students as some learning institutions also host flood victims. However, the Wednesday disaster is the worst single case since the deluge started two months ago. Citizens and leaders have united in mourning the dead and comforting the about 40 people who sustained injuries and are admitted to various hospitals in Nakuru. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i termed the tragedy devastating and on Thursday asked the nation to expect the worst. "I want to prepare Kenyans mentally that the magnitude of the tragedy is huge. The teams are likely to recover and retrieve more bodies from the debris and mud," Matiang'i said. He asked citizens to stop speculations on the tragedy as the government investigates the incident, including claims that the dam was illegal. "We are handling this matter seriously to find out whether the accident would have been prevented. For now, it is an ordinary accident where a dam broke its banks and water flew sweeping families along the path. It is a tragedy but it has provided an opportunity to examine the works done on our dams, especially those privately owned," Matiang'i noted. Kenyan Defense Forces members take part in the rescue work after a dam collapsed in Nakuru County, Kenya, May 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Allan Mutiso) Following the disaster, citizens in areas hosting dams mainly used for the production of hydropower have called for the reinforcement of the facilities to avert similar tragedy. Kenya is home to several dams that include Gitaru, Kiambere, Kindaruma and Masinga, among others. The calls came as the government started to empty two dams at the affected Patel farm, which were found to be structurally unsound. However, as the country grapples with the heavy rains, the Meteorological Department has painted a gloomy picture that shows the East African nation could face more crisis. On Thursday, the department said the rains would continue for the next one month and would be heavy especially in Central, Rift Valley and at the Coast. The department has ruled out that the heavy rains are El-nino, noting that the country is just experiencing more downpour than has been the case in the past years. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 22:15:43|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday denounced a recent statement by the chief of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) pertaining to Iran's nuclear deal, official IRNA news agency reported. The anti-Iran "irresponsible and ineptly-drafted statement" by the OIC Secretary General Yousef Al-Othaimeen is in violation of the principle of the OIC secretariat, the foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, Al-Othaimeen said the deal has not been effective in establishing security and peace in the region. "Al-Othaimeen had previously made such biased, unconstructive statements on the developments in the region, ignoring the influential status of the OIC in confronting the Zionist regime (of Israel) and supporting the Palestinian cause," Qasemi said. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced U.S. exit from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, urging further negotiations on the deal to contain Iran's influence in the region. MANILA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and Kuwait signed on Friday an agreement that commits the Kuwaiti government to protect the rights of Filipino maids in the Gulf state. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah signed the agreement on the employment of domestic workers in ceremonies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait. "A few minutes ago, we brought the relationship between our two countries to a higher level with the formal signing of the Agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait on the Employment of Household Service Workers," Cayetano said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines on Friday. "With the signing of the agreement and the approval of the additional guarantees that we asked our Kuwaiti friends to extend, more than 250,000 Filipinos in Kuwait can now be assured of prompt and effective assistance if needed," Cayetano said. Cayetano did not go into the details of the agreement, and did not say if the ban to send new Filipino workers to Kuwait has been lifted in the wake of the signing of the agreement. Cayetano said the agreement would not have been possible without the guidance of President Rodrigo Duterte who made it clear since the start that in the negotiations, the well-being of Filipinos abroad should always be paramount. Cayetano thanked the Kuwaiti government "for their willingness to work with us to achieve our shared goals." The diplomatic row between the Philippines and Kuwait intensified after a footage of a recent rescue of abused Filipino maids by Philippines Embassy staff in Kuwait. The rescue angered the Kuwaiti government, prompting it to order Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Rene Villa to leave the country and recalling its envoy in Manila. The DFA distributed videos of the rescue mission that went viral online, further enraging Kuwait. Kuwait accused Manila of violating international laws and its sovereignty. Kuwait is a major labor destination for Filipinos in the Middle East, with over 250,000 currently working there, mostly as domestic helpers. However, recent incidents of abuses against them, where some resulted in deaths, prompted Manila to enforce a deployment ban for Filipino workers earlier this year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 22:20:45|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ZHENGZHOU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) promised on Thursday that no students will face difficulty in attending school or drop out of school due to unreasonable geographic distribution of schools in rural areas. A recent circular issued by the General Office of the State Council urged improved geographic distribution of schools in rural areas, including small schools with fewer than 100 teachers and students, as well as boarding schools. Some of the small schools in rural areas are necessary to communities, while others with only a few students might be eliminated or merged, according to the circular. "No students will be left behind, and this is the bottom line of our work," said Lyu Yugang, elementary education official with the ministry, in a press conference in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province. Work to improve the geographic distribution of schools must be carefully evaluated, said Lyu. Figures from the MOE show that as of the end of 2017, China had 3.84 million children studying in small schools in rural areas. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 22:20:45|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Protuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (R) meets with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in Lisbon May 11, 2018. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic began a two-day state visit to Portugal on Friday. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun) LISBON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic began a two-day state visit to Portugal on Friday by signing an agreement of cooperation between the two countries. Protuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced the accord to journalists after welcoming his Croatian counterpart to the presidential palace in Lisbon. "We have just signed a cooperation program between the government of the Republic of Portugal and the government of the Republic of Croatia covering the fields of language, education, science, culture, sport and young people for the 2018 to 2020 period," said Rebelo de Sousa. He added that relations between the two countries were excellent and that the new agreement is a "bridge for closer cooperation and friendship between the two peoples and countries." On Friday morning, Grabar-Kitarovic was welcomed with military honors outside the Jeronimos Monestary. She then laid a wreath at the tomb of the Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camoes. Later on Friday, Grabar-Kitarovic will meet the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, and be the guest of honor at a dinner held at Ajuda Palace. She will meet members of the Portugal-Croatia business community in Lisbon on Saturday, before travelling to Fatima, a pilgrimage town 125 km north of the capital This is the first ever visit by a Croatian head of state to Portugal. It follows Rebelo de Sousa's visit to Croatia in May 2017. BRUSSELS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- European Union(EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host a meeting with foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Iran in Brussels next Tuesday, in the wake of Washington's decision to back out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal. The European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's foreign service, said in a press release on Friday that Mogherini will host the "EU/E3 meeting" before the same group meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The EEAS didn't give further detail on the meetings. In a live press statement in Rome on Tuesday, Mogherini slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ditch the deal, vowing that "the EU is determined to preserve it." "To the Iranian people I say: do not let anyone dismantle this deal, one of the greatest achievements of the international community," she said. Governments of EU heavyweights Britain, France, and Germany also lashed out at Washington's withdrawal from the accord. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the three countries expressed "regret and concern" over the decision and urged Iran to "show restraint" in its response. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has signaled his country's readiness to remain in the nuclear deal if a consensus is reached, though he raised the possibility of restarting enriching uranium once talks fail. Trump announced in a televised speech on Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark agreement signed in 2015. The move has sparked a barrage of criticism among the international community. NOVI, Mich., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Learning Care Group is proud to honor Simone Palmer from its Tutor Time location in Colleyville, Texas as this years recipient of the companys prestigious Teacher of the Year award. Palmer has been selected in recognition of her remarkable work in bringing lessons to life in creative and engaging ways to help prepare children for future academic success. She was chosen from more than 18,000 early education teachers nationwide from the Learning Care Group portfolio of schools Childtime, Creative Kids Learning Centers, The Childrens Courtyard, Everbrook Academy, La Petite Academy, Montessori Unlimited and Tutor Time. Palmer, a Lead Pre-K teacher, is being honored for her excellence as an educator and for the inspiration she provides to students and staff alike. Simones passion for teaching shines through in everything she does, said James Simon, Southwest Division Vice President for Learning Care Group. Her imaginative approach to hands-on learning helps motivate and encourage students as they develop a deeper understanding of new concepts. She nurtures their self-confidence and love of learning. Were honored to have Simone represent us as our Teacher of the Year. Palmer is also being recognized for her outstanding work in partnering with parents to ensure childrens continued growth. Where One-of-a-Kinds Get Started The Tutor Time experience is designed to nurture every aspect of a childs development, giving children the tools they need to fuel success in kindergarten and beyond. The program focuses on a childs unique interests and abilities through hands-on active learning and opportunities for self-expression. The exclusive Tutor Time LifeSmart curriculum allows children to discover and develop their own strengths at their own pace. With Tutor Times proprietary School Readiness Pathway, families can choose the educational programs that best meet their childs needs. Teachers stimulate problem-solving and critical thinking skills, developing unique and individualized lesson plans to address childrens abilities, strengths, and needs. Parents can be assured their childs learning goals are being met, thanks to an exclusive data-driven process that links individualized observation with assessment and lesson planning. For more information, visit www.tutortime.com About Learning Care Group Learning Care Group is a leader in early childhood education, with nearly 50 years of experience in inspiring children to love learning. Headquartered in Novi, Mich., the company provides early education and care for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years through seven unique brands: The Childrens Courtyard, Childtime Learning Centers, Creative Kids Learning Centers, Everbrook Academy, La Petite Academy, Montessori Unlimited, and Tutor Time Child Care/Learning Centers. It operates more than 900 schools (corporate and franchise) across 36 states, the District of Columbia and internationally, and has a capacity to serve more than 130,000 children. Learning Care Groups proprietary School Readiness Pathway supports the development of the academic and social skills needed for a smooth transition to elementary school. The company was named 2017 PHA Partner of the Year by the Partnership for a Healthier America in recognition of its healthy practices. For more information, please visit www.learningcaregroup.com Attachment BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated their commitment to Iran nuclear deal in a phone call on Friday. Steffen Seibert, spokesperson of German federal government, said in a statement that the two leaders' talks focused on the situation in the Middle and Near East following the United States' withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal. Merkel and Putin reiterated that Germany and Russia are seeking to preserve the agreement between the remaining parties, according to the statement. Both leaders were concerned about recent developments in the region. They agreed that it is crucial to avoid further escalation. The two leaders also discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine, including the possibility of deploying a UN mission, Seibert said in the statement. Merkel said earlier Friday that it was not right to unilaterally annul the nuclear deal, which was unanimously approved by the UN Security Council. WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump will welcome North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday "to discuss the upcoming NATO summit in July and review progress on United States priorities for NATO." According to a White House statement, Trump's and Stoltenberg's meeting will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the alliance. The U.S. priorities for the 29-member regional bloc include "the need for fair burden-sharing and NATO's role in the international fight against terrorism." The Trump administration, since taking office last January, has been complaining about NATO's "obsolete" decision-making process, the failure of other members to increase their defense expenditure, and the lack of involvement in the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign in the Middle East and Afghanistan, both militarily and financially. In a joint conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on April 27, Trump lashed out at NATO allies, Germany in particular, for failing to increase their national defense budget to the two percent threshold of their gross domestic product, something they promised in 2014 to achieve in 10 years. "We're protecting Europe and, yet, we pay, by far, more than anybody else," Trump said. "NATO is wonderful but it helps Europe more than it helps us. And why are we paying the vast majority of the costs?" The trans-Atlantic rift widened after Trump on Tuesday announced that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and threatened to sanction companies that have cooperation with Tehran, severely undercutting Brussels' security and economic interests. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday that European countries should push back harder against Trump's decision and not act as "vassals" to Washington. Europe should not accept that the United States is the "world's economic policeman," he said, adding he wants European companies to be able to continue trade with Iran despite Trump's threat to re-impose sanctions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 23:21:04|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Britain's Prince Charles (R), Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visit the Knossos Archaeological Site in Crete, Greece, on May 11, 2018. They arrived in Athens on Wednesday on a three-day official visit to Greece, the birthplace of Prince Charles' father. (Xinhua/Aris Messinis) ATHENS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla departed from Crete island on Friday, wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Greece. Prince Charles is the first heir to the British throne paying an official visit to Greece, the birthplace of his father, although he has visited the country privately in the past. After talks with Greek political leaders on Wednesday and a series of events in Athens on Thursday, the prince and his wife flew to Crete, where they visited the archaeological site of Knossos, a refugee shelter and attended a cultural event before leaving Greece. Greek Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou welcomed the royal couple at Knossos, where the Minoan civilization flourished from 2,600 to 1,100 BC. The visit was broadcast live on Greek national broadcaster ERT. Local officials expressed hope that the images of the royal couple touring the site and a nearby winery will help further boost Greek tourism, one of the pillars of Greek economy which showed resilience during the eight-year Greek debt crisis. At the city port of Herakleion Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla also met refugees benefitting from an accommodation program run by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and funded by the EU. The meeting with the refugees and the staff working on the ESTIA project, which provides 24,500 apartments nationwide, was organized to underline that Greece has been in the past three years also at the forefront of the refugee crisis. More than 45,000 refugees across Greece have benefitted from the project since it was launched in early 2016, including 800 people on Crete island, according to UNHCR. Over one million refugees and migrants have landed in Greece since early 2015 and about 60,000 remain stranded in the country after the closure of the Balkan route to central Europe in the winter of 2016. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 23:31:07|Editor: yan Video Player Close SHANGHAI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China has become Indonesia's biggest source of tourists for the past two years, and the country expects more Chinese tourists, an official with the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai said on Friday. Over two million visitors from the Chinese mainland visited Indonesia in 2017, accounting for 14.95 percent of its international tourists, said Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai, during the ongoing Indonesia Week in Shanghai. Statistics from lvmama.com, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, showed that Indonesia ranked in the top 5 most popular overseas destinations for Chinese tourists during the recent International Labor Day holiday. Siti Nugraha Mauludiah said that she expects more Chinese tourists to visit Indonesia and get to know its culture. She hoped the number of Chinese visitors to Indonesia will hit 10 million in the next two years. The 10-day Indonesia Week 2018, organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai, kicked off on May 4. Shanghai residents and visitors can enjoy activities such as photo exhibitions, dancing and singing performances, and handicraft exhibitions. The event has already attracted about 80,000 people. ROME, May 11 (Xinhua) -- As efforts to form a new government in Italy continue, over two months after inconclusive elections in March, analysts warned about some deadlines, with a potentially relevant impact on the country's mending economy, are drawing nearer. The first one would concern the so-called Economic and Financial Document (DEF), the country's multi-year budget plan for public finances and strategies that any government has to submit to the European Union (EU) Commission for review by April 30 each year. The outgoing cabinet led by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni -- which is taking care of current affairs until a new government will be appointed -- produced the plan ahead of time. "As such, it has formally respected the deadline," Nicola Borri, professor of economics with LUISS-Guido Carli University in Rome, told Xinhua. "Yet, the climate of prolonged political uncertainty meant this DEF essentially registered the current economic situation only. As such, some issues remain unsolved, and the most relevant one is represented by the so-called safeguard clause," Borri explained. The safeguard clause requires Italy to raise value-added tax (VAT) and other indirect levies, if its public finances are deemed inadequate to respect the budgetary goals set by the EU. "Our public accounts respect EU rules under many points of view now, and governments in the last years have passed the measures needed to avoid indirect tax hikes up to 2018," the economist said. Yet, the caretaker cabinet did not incorporate new safeguard clauses for 2019 and 2020 in the multi-year budget plan, since this was a political task only a government with a full mandate could carry out. "As it is, a VAT hike will be automatically triggered by Jan. 1, 2019, unless a new executive is formed, and alternative economic measures are passed before the end of the year," Borri said. If not deactivated, the clause would be worth some 12.4 billion euros (14.8 billion U.S. dollars) in new indirect taxes in 2019, and 19.1 billion euros in 2020, Italy's leading business-daily Il Sole 24 Ore estimated in February. "These are relevant figures for Italy's economy, and the country needs a decisive action from the government to find counter-measures," the analyst warned. Italy's economy was in fact still recovering from its worst economic crisis in the post-war period. Its gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.9 in 2016 and by 1.5 percent in 2017. In the first quarter of 2018, it registered a 0.3 percent growth compared to the previous quarter, sustained by a strong domestic demand but suffering a negative contribution by the net foreign component, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) recently stated. In the multi-year budget plan, Gentiloni's cabinet estimated the GDP would keep growing by 1.5 percent this year, and by 1.4 percent in 2019, while the most recent forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was the same 1.5 percent this year, but 1.1 percent in the next. A possible VAT hike on this moderate growth would most likely be felt on domestic consumption, possibly causing a depressive ripple effect on the economy, according to the economist. In terms of public finances, a second sensitive issue would concern a possible request of further spending cuts by authorities in Brussels. That might happen, if the European Commission deems that Italy would need to reduce its deficit by 0.3 percent of GDP in 2018, and that its latest economic blueprint contained not enough measures for such a goal. A specific response should come soon, since the EU Commission was due to issue its usual public accounts recommendations to each member state in late May. "If the EU really deems a 0.3-percent deficit cut is necessary, Italy will need further cutting measures worth some 5 billion euros," AGI news agency warned earlier this month. However, Borri sounded moderately concerned over this issue. "I do not see a strong risk from this point of view, because the gap between the Italian government's estimates and those of the EU authorities is minimal." But he warned Italy remained a country with a certain number of economic frailties, and there was always a chance of exposure in case of turmoil on international markets. "We have to keep it always in mind, and especially in this phase, when signals of a minimal economic slowdown have started to emerge," he explained. This week, efforts to form a coalition government registered some improvement: a possible deal between rightwing League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) -- the two relative winners in the election -- was finally in sight. Yet, until a government with a full mandate is in charge again, and a clear political program outlined, the analyst saw a further risk lying ahead: a prolonged political weakness could in fact damage Italy's interests within the EU, in a time when crucial issues were being discussed. "A major example is the ongoing EU debate on the migrant crisis, and the possible ways to share its costs," Borri explained. "This kind of topics is extremely relevant for Italy, not only politically but economically, and the country should have its say." (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollars) ABUJA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Friday said it has launched an investigation into the killing of a diplomat serving in the Nigerian Mission in Sudan. In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry described the killing as "unfortunate," saying it is working very closely with host authorities in their investigations over the incident. Habibu Almu, a Nigerian Immigration attache, was found killed in his official quarters in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum on Thursday. The foreign ministry, while condemning the gruesome murder of the diplomat, said Nigeria's government "would do everything possible to ensure that those behind this dastardly act are made to face the full wrath of the law." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 23:41:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday that his country will respond properly if Armenia gives up "hostile attitude" at the border. "If Armenia gives up its hostile attitude which it has shown for years against Turkey's borders, we will respond accordingly after seeing the details," Yildirim told reporters. "We do not want to be hostile to anybody, especially our neighbors. If such an approach is taken, we will naturally evaluate it in the interests of our country," he said. Yildirim's remarks came two days after Armenia's new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country was ready to establish diplomatic ties with Turkey without preconditions. In October 2009, Armenia and Turkey signed protocols in Zurich on the establishment of diplomatic relations and border opening, after century-long hostility over the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the World War I. Both sides, however, did not ratify the protocols. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-11 23:41:12|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUDAPEST, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos paid an official visit here on Friday and met with Hungarian President Janos Ader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. "Hungary can learn a great many things about the way Colombia tries to make its economy more competitive," Orban said at a joint press event with Santos following their meeting. Orban recalled that the two countries recently re-opened their respective embassies, and that Hungary was preparing to increase the number of scholarship for Colombian students. Santos called it a great honor to be the first head of state to visit the re-elected Hungarian prime minister. He congratulated Hungary on its good economic performance, its high growth rate and its accelerated development that make the country stand out in Europe. He also urged Orban to persuade Hungarian investors to get to know business opportunities in Colombia and to tighten relations between the countries of the Visegrad Four (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru). After meeting with Orban, Santos met with Hungarian President Ader, who told that the fields of cooperation between the two countries could include water and forest management, agriculture and also the areas of education and culture. Santos thanked Hungary for its presence via the European Union in the Colombian peace process and he was also grateful for Hungary's support to include Colombia among the OECD countries. Orban was re-elected as prime minister of Hungary for the fourth time on Thursday, following a victory at the general elections on April 8. MOSCOW, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal with the head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as with the leaders of Germany and France, the Kremlin said Friday. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media that the Russian president will meet IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday. "Given the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iranian deal, this meeting is of great significance, and everyone understands that," Ushakov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. The meeting with Merkel will also take place in Sochi on May 18, he said. Putin and Macron are scheduled to have meetings on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to be held in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg on May 24-25, Ushakov said. Russia considers the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal "hasty and erroneous" and is making efforts to ensure that the agreement does not fall apart, he said. Moscow also hopes that Iran will continue to fulfill the terms of the nuclear deal and it is working to ensure that Tehran does not take "rash steps," he added. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and impose "the highest level" of economic sanctions on Tehran, triggering global outcry. The landmark nuclear pact was signed in 2015 by Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus the European Union (EU) and Germany. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini is scheduled to host the talks between the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday in Brussels, her office said in a statement Friday. MADRID, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan poet Rafael Cadenas was named on Friday as the winner of the 27th Reina Sofia (Queen Sofia) Prize for Iberian-American poetry, the Spanish national patrimony organization (Patrimonio Nacional) and the University of Salamanca confirmed Friday. The Reina Sofia Prize is considered to be the most prestigious award that exists for poetry written in Spanish or Portuguese and the winner receives a cash prize of 42,100 euros (50,238 U.S. dollars) and an anthology of their work published. Born in 1930 and considered to be one of the most influential poets of his generation, Cadenas is also an essayist, university professor and translator. He is the first Venezuelan to win the award. "This prize reflects the collection of work from a writer who lives for the value of his literature, which has made an important contribution to the shared cultural patrimony of Latin America and Spain," read the press communique announcing his nomination. Cadena's work is considered to be dense and linked to philosophical thought. He succeeds the Nicaraguan writer Claribel Alegria, who won last year's award, only months before her death on Jan. 25 of this year. YORK, Pa., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glatfelter (NYSE:GLT) today announced that Ramesh Shettigar, Vice President & Corporate Treasurer, will be presenting at the Barclays High Yield Bond & Syndicated Loan Conference at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 22, 2018. The presentation will begin at 10:50 a.m. MT. A copy of the material to be discussed will be available shortly before the start of the presentation through Glatfelters Investor Relations page located at www.glatfelter.com/about_us/investor_relations/default.aspx. About Glatfelter Glatfelter is a global supplier of specialty papers and engineered materials, offering innovation, world-class service and over a century and a half of technical expertise. Headquartered in York, PA, the Company employs approximately 4,200 people and serves customers in over 100 countries. U.S. operations include facilities in Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. International operations include facilities in Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, and sales and distribution offices in the U.S., China and Russia. Glatfelters sales approximate $1.6 billion annually and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GLT. Additional information may be found at www.glatfelter.com. Contacts: Investors: Media: John P. Jacunski Eileen L. Beck (717) 225-2794 (717) 225-2793 LOS ANGELES, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A high school located in Palmdale, U.S. state of California was on lockdown after reports of shooting, local media reported on Friday. Media reports said at least one person was wounded by a man with a gun in Highland High School. Local police have responded to the report at around 7 a.m. local time (2300 GMT) but did not confirm the shooting yet. WARSAW, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Enhancing cooperation between Poland and China was one of the most important issues discussed during the 5th International Asian Congress held in Torun, northern Poland on May 9-11. "Not only is this event important for our region, but also for the whole Poland," said Piotr Calbecki, marshal of Kuiavian-Pomeranian province, at the opening ceremony. Kuiavian-Pomeranian province partners with China's Hubei province, and Calbecki mentioned how great the inter-regional cooperation was between the two. According to Pawel Milewski, head of Asia-Pacific department at the Polish foreign affairs ministry, the Asia and Pacific region is one of main directions for the Polish foreign policy. He said he was hoping for more bilateral investments, more cooperation in the field of tourism and increasing the social-cultural exchange and cooperation. Earlier in the conference, Liu Lijuan, an official with Chinese Embassy in Poland, reminded that in recent years, economic and trade relations between China and Poland have developed rapidly. Last year, Poland was China's eighth largest trading partner in the EU and the largest trading partner in the CEE region. "I believe that China and Poland can join hands and work together to achieve even more brilliant results under the Belt and Road Initiative," Liu said. The Congress is an international scientific and organizational event that attracts hundreds of scholars, researchers, experts and entrepreneurs interested in Asian issues and in Poland's relations with Asian countries. LAGOS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian police said on Friday they have killed 18 armed bandits who have been wreaking havoc in Birnin Gwari area of northern Kaduna state. Birnin-Gwari, an area frequently attacked by gunmen in Nigeria's northern state of Kaduna, is 291 kilometers away from the Kaduna city center. National police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood told reporters that special police force also arrested a gang that was responsible for the killing of some security personnel in Birnin Gwari two months ago. Moshood said 64 AK47 rifles, ammunition and 11 vehicles were recovered from the bandits during an operation that lasted for several hours. Increased activities of criminals along the Birnin Gwari-Zamfara road have created fear and anxiety among road users as well as residents of the area. Last Saturday, armed bandits attacked Gwaska village, killing over 50 people. The attackers were believed to have entered the village from the northwestern state of Zamfara, a neighboring state to Kaduna. The gunmen, over 100 in number, came in at least 50 motorcycles. They rode mostly in twos. Mostly children were killed during the four-hour attack. Iranians shout slogans during a protest against President Donald Trump's decision to walk out of a 2015 nuclear deal, in Tehran, Iran, May 11, 2018. (REUTERS/Tasnim News Agency) TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Iranians held rallies on Friday to condemn U.S. withdrawal from 2015 international nuclear deal. In the capital Tehran, thousands of people marched on the streets after Friday prayers chanting anti-U.S. slogans and singing anti-Trump notes. They carried placards with the iconic decades-long Iranians' protest language of "Death to America." They also shouted slogans against Israel and Saudi Arabia, who, they believed, sympathized with the U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-Iran rhetoric. Iranians burn a U.S. flag during a protest against President Donald Trump's decision to walk out of a 2015 nuclear deal, in Tehran, Iran , May 11, 2018. (REUTERS/Tasnim News Agency) The ralliers in Tehran issued statement whereby they vowed to withstand the U.S. pressures and adhere ardently to the ideals of the Islamic establishment. On Tuesday, Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the international Iranian nuclear deal, saying that Washington will not extend the waiver for the unilateral sanctions against Iran. The move by the U.S. president sparked international discontent. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 00:26:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close JINAN, May 11 Xinhua-- A total of 15 gang members were sentenced to prison for two to 25 years on Friday for multiple gang-related crimes in east China's Shandong Province. Wu Xuezhan was sentenced to 25 years in prison for organizing and leading gang crimes, according to the Dongchangfu District People's Court in Liaocheng. Nine members of the gang were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 32 months to 20 years for participating in gang crimes, while five others were sentenced to prison terms of between 26 months and two years for illegal detention, said the court. Since 2010, Wu has organized the other defendants to conduct gang-related offenses, such as violently collecting debts, according to the court. The gang drew public attention in April 2016 when Yu Huan, 22, injured some of the gang members after he and his mother were beaten and insulted. Yu was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2017 by the Intermediate People's Court of Liaocheng after he stabbed a debt collector to death in defense and injured three others, two seriously. In June, the Shandong Higher People's Court cut Yu's life sentence to five years in prison for intentional injury after Yu appealed. LONDON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Spectators planning to travel by train to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in Windsor are being urged by a British railway company on Friday to start journeys as early as 4 a.m. (London time). Britain's Great Western Railway (GWR) told passengers to "travel early and travel light" to reach the Berkshire town in time for the midday wedding. GWR, which operates trains to the Berkshire town, published times for trains due to arrive in Slough at 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. (London time) for a connection to Windsor, leaving Preston at 4:15 a.m. and Stafford at 5:25 a.m. (London time). Passengers have already bought train tickets to Windsor for May 19 from destinations across the UK, from as far away as Scotland and Devon. A "sizeable queuing system" will be in place for the six-minute train from Slough to Windsor and Eton Central, which only accommodates a four-carriage train. GWR managing director Mark Hopwood said, "We help thousands of people each year travel to some of the biggest events in the country: Reading Festival, Glastonbury, Henley Regatta and many more." "This will be one of the largest ever one-day events that has taken place on our network and our aim is to ensure our customers have a great day out and enjoy what will be an international spectacle," he said. About 2,300-meter-long fencing will be used for queues across the busiest stations on routes to Windsor. Passengers travelling from the West, South Wales and the Cotswolds are advised to change at Reading for services to Slough. Those travelling from the London area should use South Western Railway services from London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside. Any latecomers may be forced to miss the procession as Thames Valley Police can order trains to not stop at Windsor and close off the route if the number of visitors proves to be a safety issue. Police in March said they are expecting more than 100,000 people to visit Windsor for the wedding. A 30-million-pound "ring of steel" will surround the wedding of British Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, including barriers, vehicle checks, snipers and airport-style scanners, at Windsor Castle in May. The "ring of steel," which costs about 42.18 million U.S. dollars, will be erected to deter terrorist vehicle attacks, said Thames Valley Police, responsible for policing the event, adding that the operation is likely to be the biggest in its history as they gradually build up the security in the city over the next seven weeks. It takes about 44 minutes to travel from London to Windsor Castle. Approximate driving distance between London and Windsor Castle is 37 kilometers. Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and for its architecture. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 01:06:39|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Salih al-Mutlak, Iraq's former deputy prime minister, speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 10, 2018. Salih al-Mutlak said Saturday's parliamentary elections could be pivotal in Iraq's history, if Iraqi voters choose the right candidates to get rid of corrupt and sectarian parties. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) BAGHDAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Salih al-Mutlak, Iraq's former deputy prime minister, said Saturday's parliamentary elections could be pivotal in Iraq's history, if Iraqi voters choose the right candidates to get rid of corrupt and sectarian parties. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua in his office at Baghdad heavily fortified Green Zone, the prominent Sunni figure at al-Wataniyah (National) Coalition said "I wish the Iraqi people to clean up the political process from both corrupt and sectarian politicians." Mutlak said the change should be voting for candidates who are seen as clean-handed from corruption or killings of innocent Iraqis during the past insecure and chaotic years, by the ballot boxes. Mutlak believed that the greatest challenge for Iraq is the extensive devastation that swept the urban areas in the Sunni provinces due to the war against Islamic State (IS) militants. "The government must guarantee people's return to their homes, and compensate them for the destruction of their properties, so they are able to bring their life back by returning to their homes, farms and factories," Mutlak said. However, Mutlak realized that Iraq is not ready for such huge task of rebuilding millions of people's lives in devastated urban areas of the Sunni provinces in northern and western Iraq. The battles against the extremist IS militants in the Sunni provinces left millions of residents without work and living in half-ruined cities, while 2.2 million remain displaced according to figures of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq. The embarrassing situation pushed the Iraqi government to ask the international community to help with rebuilding the devastated areas. Mutlak said that Iraq fought IS militants not only to free its land, but also on behalf of the whole world as terrorism is a global threat. "There is a moral responsibility in the world to support the Iraqis, in particular, the part of Iraqis (Sunni community) who were affected by Daesh (IS group), as the war occurred in their region. They have to help them return to their homes and rehabilitate their areas," Mutlak said. Asked who the frontrunner in the upcoming parliamentary elections will be, Mutlak said the old leading coalitions will take the lead and no considerable change will happen. "The newly established parties will not have effective presence after the elections, because they do not have enough popularity, funds, time nor experience to express themselves," he said. Mutlak said that May 12 elections are better than the previous 2014 elections, as there is no interference by the security forces in the electoral process. "They (security authority) used to announce surprised decisions on the day of voting to prevent people from heading to polling centers, such as imposing traffic ban suddenly, and then the voters would have to walk for five to ten kilometers to reach the ballot boxes," he said. "They also used to arrest people before the elections, to spread panic among civilians," Mutlak said, adding that he has not seen such cases in this election. In Iraq, sectarianism was the main reason for bloodshed that engulfed the country during the years following the U.S.-led invasion, which resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of people. However, Mutlak believed that sectarian strife began to decline as a result of citizen's awareness. "The Iraqi people began to think that sectarianism has destroyed their country, made their people fighting each other, and generated terrorism," Mutlak said. The political parties were forced to abandon sectarian rhetoric, because they realize that it is of no more use, and the Iraqi society would not buy sectarian orientation anymore as people did in the past, according to Mutlak. However, Mutlak hinted that Iraq is also facing some threats, as there are still weapons, which are not under control of the government. As for Iraq's relations with the world's countries, al-Mutlak said "I believe that Iraq must pursue friendly rhetoric and build balanced relations with all countries." "Iraq's relations must be based on preserving sovereignty and distancing itself from conflicts which loom in the horizon between the United States and Iran, or between some Arab countries and Iran," Mutlak said. "Iraq has paid a lot of blood and a great price because of these conflicts," he added. More than 24 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the 4,148 polling centers across Iraq in the first general election since Iraq's historical victory over the IS militant group last December. About 7,000 candidates, representing 205 political entities, will compete for the 329 parliamentary seats to form a new government, which will rule Iraq for the next four years. Observers believe that the elections are of great importance in Iraq's history as they are held under improved security situation compared to previous polls. The elections are also held under less sectarian tension due to increased awareness of Iraqi citizens, who are seeking national unity for all Iraqi factions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 01:11:40|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou (R) addresses a briefing in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 11, 2018. China was making every effort to rescue the missing noted Bulgarian mountaineer Boyan Petrov, Zhang Haizhou said on Friday. Petrov has gone missing in the Himalayas while trying to climb Shishapangma Mountain at an altitude of about 7,500 meters in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhan Xiaoyi) SOFIA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China is making every effort to rescue the missing noted Bulgarian mountaineer Boyan Petrov, Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou said on Friday. Several days ago, Petrov went missing in the Himalayas while trying to climb Shishapangma Mountain in China's Tibet Autonomous Region at an altitude of about 7,500 meters. Shishapangma is the world's 14th highest one at 8,027 meters, which is located in south-central Tibet. Ambassador Zhang said at a briefing that the Chinese authorities have already sent nearly 100 people to Shishapangma base camp. Of them, 25 are rescuers and the others are medical and logistics teams. The first 12 rescuers have already climbed from the base camp, at an altitude of 5,800 meters, to camp 1 at 6,400 meters. On Saturday, seven of the 12 will leave for camp 2 at an altitude of 6,800 meters and then will continue to camp 3 at 7,300 meters. Currently, no operation can be carried out at places over 7,300 meters due to bad weather. The weather will remain adverse on Saturday, but an improvement is expected on Sunday, according to Zhang. The ambassador said the Chinese government paid high attention to the searching and rescue of the well-known Bulgarian mountaineer. Chinese authorities, Zhang said, has also instructed local government of Tibet to do its best to help rescue Petrov. LUSAKA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Friday conferred an award to Zambia's first President Kenneth Kaunda in recognition of his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The 2018 UNAIDS Leadership Award, conferred by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe and Zambian President Edgar Lungu, to the 94-year-old Kaunda during a ceremony held in Lusaka, the country's capital. The award is given to high-level personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the AIDS response in the course of their professional and personal life. Previous recipients include Kofi Anan and Ban Ki-Moon, both former United Nations secretary-generals. The UNAIDS chief said Kaunda deserves receiving the award following his immense contribution by being among the first leaders to come out in the open and speak about the epidemic at a time when stigma was high in the 1980s following the death of his son to HIV/AIDS related illnesses. "Mr. Kaunda is well-known for his rejection of complacency, silence and shame with regard to HIV. The death of Mr. Kaunda's son in 1986 prompted Mr. Kaunda to take a stand against HIV across Africa and since then has been a fierce advocate for ending HIV-related stigma and discrimination," he said. He said the former president has shown immense leadership qualities, honesty and integrity in the fight against HIV/AIDS and has demonstrated a strong commitment towards achieving the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target of ensuring that 90 percent of citizens living with the HIV virus know their status, get treatment and achieve 90 percent viral suppression by 2020. On his part, the Zambian leader commended Kaunda for making an exceptional contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Zambian leader said Kaunda's significant contribution to help fight stigma has contributed greatly in the management of the epidemic not only in Zambia but elsewhere too. "We are humbled that UNAIDS chose to bestow this award upon our country's founding president in recognition of his unwavering commitment to the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zambia and the world over," he said. Kaunda, who becomes the first African to receive the award, dedicated it to people who have died from the epidemic and those helping to fight it. Kaunda said HIV/AIDS was one of the world's pressing problems as it has affected many families across the globe and added that concerted efforts were required in order to completely eradicate it. Since his retirement from politics, Kaunda has dedicated his time to the fight against HIV/AIDS through his Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation. He is also a member of the Zambian Chapter of the Brothers for Life Campaign, a campaign aimed at encouraging men participating in promoting good health as well as one of the first members to join the Champions for an AIDS-free Generation, a distinguished group of former presidents and influential African leaders providing a unique response to mobilize political leadership to deliver on an AIDS-free generation in Africa. He also composed a song "We shall fight and conquer AIDS" which he sang during his public appearances. PARIS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Friday called on European partners to forge common measures to defend the bloc's "economic sovereignty" in response to the U.S. threat to punish companies doing business with Iran. "It is urgent to move from words to action. We have to work among ourselves in Europe to defend our economic sovereignty," Le Maire said. "Do we want the United States to be the world's economic police? Or do we Europeans say we have economic interests, we want to continue to trade with Iran as part of what we believe that this is the right way and therefore we continue," he told local broadcaster Europe1. "It's time for all European states to open their eyes," he added, stressing that EU needs new "financial instruments allowing it to be independent from the United States." To this aim, the French minister proposed reinforcing EU "blocking regulations" dating back to 1996, seeking more financial tools to improve independence from United States and creating the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which monitors activities of foreign companies and checks if they respect European decisions. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposition of sanctions on Tehran and those trading with it. In the wake of Washington's decision, European firms doing business in Iran have up to six months to wind up investments, else they risk U.S. sanctions. They are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with the country. Le Maire said he had called on U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin urging him to allow exceptions for French companies, including Total, Renault and Sanofi, or a delay in implementing the sanctions. "At the end of May, I will meet with the British and German finance ministers and the three of us will look at what we can do," the French minister added. CALGARY, Alberta, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Raise Production Inc. (TSX-V:RPC) ("Raise" or the "Company") announces that Synergy Energy Holdings, LLC (SEH) has acquired by way of a non-brokered private placement (the Private Placement), 10,950,000 common shares of Raise at $0.24 per share for gross proceeds of $2,628,000 resulting in SEH holding approximately 9.97% of Raises issued and outstanding common shares. This Private Placement represents the first tranche of SEHs investment in Raise. The second tranche for 3,633,333 common shares of Raise at $0.24 per share for gross proceeds of $872,000 resulting in SEH holding approximately 12.86% of Raises issued and outstanding common shares will close upon the receipt of approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). The securities issued pursuant to the Private Placements will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issuance. The proceeds received by the Company from the Private Placement will be used for commercialization of the High Angle Lift Solution (HALS) in the USA and international markets, hiring critical staff for commercialization, purchasing HALS inventory and working capital. In conjunction with the Private Placement, Raise will be amending its current distribution agreement with SEH to grant SEH exclusivity for the sale of all Raises products in the USA, through one of SEHs companies, Endurance Lift Solutions (ELS). The financing is an endorsement by SEH and its private equity owners, Crestview Partners and B29 Investments, LP, as to the need and applications for the technology supplied by Raise. The financing will also allow the company to reinforce its Canadian operations and international options. Eric Laing, President and CEO said: The financing by our USA partner will allow us to move quickly into full commercialization in North America and select international locations. The fact that ELS and their private equity owners have shown confidence to invest in the Company is an endorsement of their belief in the technologies developed and future technologies we can work on together. It also shows the direction ELS wishes to pursue to become a technology leader in horizontal well optimization. We are excited to deepen our partnership with ELS and look forward to a rewarding partnership for both entities. Dan Newman, CEO Synergy Energy Holdings said: We are pleased to further our relationship with Raise and our involvement with their key technologies. This partnership will allow us to immediately bring enhanced solutions to our Customers, especially in horizontal well applications. Going forward, we are committed to working closely with the Raise team to continue the development of targeted technologies for Artificial Lift. Synergy of 114 East Foreline Street, Gainesville, Texas, 76240, advised that it, together with ELS, Crestview Partners and B29 Investments, LP, which may be considered to be joint actors in respect of this investment, did not beneficially own or exercise control or direction over any securities of Raise prior to the Private Placement and the acquisition is being made for investment purposes. About Raise Production Inc. The Company is an innovative oilfield service company that focuses its efforts on the production service sector, utilizing its proprietary products to enhance and increase ultimate production in both conventional and unconventional horizontal oil and gas wells. For further information please contact: Eric Laing, President and Chief Executive Officer E-mail: elaing@raiseproduction.com Susan Scullion, Chief Financial Officer E-mail: sscullion@raiseproduction.com Raise Production Inc. 2620-58th Avenue S.E. Calgary, Alberta T2C 1G5 Tel: (403) 699-7675 Web site at: www.raiseproduction.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: expectations regarding commercialization in North America and select international locations, use of proceeds from the Private Placement, timing and amendment of the Companys distribution agreement, timing of the closing of the Private Placement and timing and receipt of all regulatory approvals, including TSXV approval, required in connection with the Private Placement. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from these anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable Canadian securities law. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 01:36:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi met with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Friday, discussing bilateral ties and cooperation. When meeting with Hun Sen, Zhao conveyed regards from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to the prime minister. He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had met twice since last year and had reached important consensus to promote better development of bilateral relations in the new era. Premier Li paid a successful visit to Cambodia in January, 2018. China and Cambodia are a community of common destiny which is of strategic importance. China will as always support Cambodia for choosing its own development path that meets the national conditions and support Cambodia for its efforts in promoting economic development and safeguarding sovereignty and national stability, Zhao said. He said that China hopes to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties this year to continue deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation and expanding people-to-people and cultural exchanges. China also hopes the two sides to fully implement "The Outline of Bilateral Cooperation Plan to Jointly Build the Belt and Road Initiative" signed between the two countries in May 2017, and strengthen cooperation in security and law enforcement of major cooperative projects, so as to boost the profound development of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation between China and Cambodia. For his part, Hun Sen thanked China for its long-term support and help to Cambodia. The Combodia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation has reached a new level. Cambodia will further boost pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields to bring tangible benefits to both peoples, he said. When meeting with Sar Kheng, Zhao said that China hopes the two countries to deepen pragmatic cooperation on law enforcement and security, improve the cooperation mechanism and innovate collaboration mode, so as to further strengthen the cooperation in maintaining national security, coping with cyber risk, and combating telemarketing scams, online gambling, drug and terrorism. Sar Kheng said that the Cambodian side is willing to further strengthen the pragmatic cooperation with China in safeguarding national security, combating new transnational crime and maintaining security of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 01:46:50|Editor: yan Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait and the Philippines on Friday signed an agreement on employing household helpers in the Gulf state, the Kuwait News Agency said. The Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the visiting Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano signed the agreement, KUNA said. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled and his counterpart held talks on promoting bilateral cooperation in all fields, reiterating historical ties between Kuwait and the Philippines and expressing readiness to overcome the "exceptional circumstances" of bilateral relations over the past weeks. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry announced April 25 that it had notified the Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa to leave Kuwait, saying its action against the top Filipino envoy was in retaliation for undiplomatic acts by Philippine embassy staff who encouraged Filipino domestic workers to flee employers' households. Kuwait has protested over the "rescue" of Philippine citizens working as domestic helpers, and summoned the Philippine ambassador for an explanation. The Philippines is one of the primary sources of domestic workers abroad, including the Middle East such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said there are about 250,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, mostly as domestic helpers. MOGADISHU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military said on Friday that it will investigate local reports that its forces killed civilians during an operation conducted in Somalia on Wednesday. The U.S. Africa Command (Africom), which oversees American troops on the African continent, said its special forces, in an advise-and-assist capacity, partnered in a Somali-led operation to disrupt and degrade al-Shabab's terrorist network near Bulcida on the outskirts of Afgoye in southern Somalia. "We are aware of reports alleging civilian casualties resulting from this operation, and we take these reports seriously. As with any allegations of civilian casualties we receive, U.S. Africa Command will review any information it has about the incident, including any relevant information provided by third parties," Africom said in a statement. "If the information supporting the allegation is determined to be credible, USAFRICOM will determine the next appropriate step," it added. Local officials said at least five people were killed during the operation that targeted key al-Shabab commanders. The militant group has several training camps in the area. At least ten civilians were killed in Barire in August 2017 forcing the government to compensate the families after it admitted those killed were civilians. The U.S. government however maintained the dead were al-Shabab terrorists although it did not offer details of the investigations. Survivors and relatives of the deadly raid in Barire had said they wanted blood money and an apology from the U.S. government. Washington has stepped up operations in the Horn of Africa nation in the past one year, killing several militants after President Donald Trump softened restrictions on the military in March 2017. Africom said the U.S. Department of Defense is fully committed to countering the threat of global terrorism, and will continue to support capable partners in the region. "In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces partner with AMISOM and Somali forces in combined counterterrorism operations and targeting terrorists, their training camps, and their safe havens throughout Somalia and the region," it said. NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Friday launched the first nano satellite into space amid quest by the government to promote space exploration to help address food security, environmental and health challenges. The mini satellite that measures ten by ten centimeters was developed through a collaborative venture between the University of Nairobi, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Macharia Kamau, the Principal Secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, hailed the launch of the inaugural mini satellite into orbit saying it will position Kenya as a regional hub for space exploration. "This is a momentous occasion in our country's space exploration history and will help us address challenges related to climate change like droughts, floods and habitat loss," Kamau remarked. He added that the launch of a satellite into space will revolutionize weather prediction and boost disaster management in the country. "Today's launch of nano satellite will enhance availability of timely data to strengthen land use and environmental management," said Kamau, adding that space exploration will hasten the attainment of Big Four Agenda. Kenyan scientists partnered with their counterparts from Japan to develop the nano satellite project that cost 1 million U.S. dollars. Isaac Mbeche, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Nairobi, said the deployment of Kenya's first nano satellite into space will inspire the country's young scientists to come up with cutting-edge innovations. "We are happy this breakthrough will inspire our scientists and young people to innovate and provide solution to challenges inherent in our society," said Mbithi. He revealed that the nano satellite consists of two commercial cameras and web broadcasters that are capable of relaying data, sound and images on real time basis. "The launch of a nano satellite heralds the next phase of development of a bigger and high resolution satellite," said Mbeche, adding that Kenyan academic and research bodies are exploring new partnerships to revitalize space science in the east African country. NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The 17th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held at Kenya's oldest university on Friday and featured diverse performances like speeches, dancing, martial arts and contemporary music. The Chinese Embassy in Kenya partnered with the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute and Kenya China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) to host the contest that attracted 16 young participants who showcased their prowess in spoken Chinese. Li Xuhang, the Charge D'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, hailed Kenyan youth who participated in the mandarin proficiency contest stressing that language is key to promoting inter-cultural exchanges. "Through this competition, I believe you have deepened your understanding of Chinese language and culture," said Li. He noted that the teaching of Chinese language and culture has undergone rapid transformation in Kenya thanks to the establishment of four Confucius Institutes in the country's leading public universities. "Chinese language has been listed in Kenyan primary and secondary school curriculum as an optional course. Today, thousands of people in Kenya are learning and using Chinese," Li remarked. This year's competition also featured male and female vocalists as well as instrumentalists whose performances thrilled the audience at the University of Nairobi's main auditorium. A panel of judges reviewed all the performances keenly and concluded they had raised the bar in terms of standards. Mwika Mage Kiarie, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute, emerged the overall winner of this year's Bridge contest after performing a famous Chinese song. "I felt overwhelmed by the victory which was unexpected and thank my tutors for preparing me adequately for this contest," Kiarie told Xinhua. He will join contestants from other parts of the world to participate in the finals of Bridge Competition to be held in Beijing in the middle of this year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 02:37:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close GENEVA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rains in Somalia's Juba and Shabelle river basins continue to cause flash and riverine flooding displacing an estimated 220,000 people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday. Jens Laerke, deputy spokesperson for OCHA, said at a regular UN briefing that a total of 718,000 people have been affected by the floods in the northeast African region that have claimed 132 lives in Kenya. "Humanitarian partners and Somali authorities are providing life-saving assistance, logistical support to move people to higher grounds, and distributing sandbags to repair river breakages," said Laerke. In Ethiopia, flash floods are expected to continue in flood-prone areas. In April alone, nearly 171,000 people were displaced across the country, the majority by flooding in Somali region. Floods have also destroyed some 13,000 hectares of farmland and damaged health facilities and schools. The government in Ethiopia and partners are dispatching emergency relief including safe drinking water and hygiene and sanitation relief which are crucial to avoid a reemergence of acute watery diarrhea. In Kenya, more than 311,000 people have been displaced by floods and the death toll has risen to 132, including some 30 people who were killed in Nakuru, when a dam bursts its banks on May 9. "The government and partners, in particular, the Kenyan Red Cross, are responding including with search and rescue of people marooned by floods," said Laerke. ULAN BATOR, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The construction of Mongolia's first oil refinery will begin in its southeastern Dornogovi Province in the third quarter of 2018, the country's Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry said Friday. The project will be completed by 2022, according to Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar, minister of Mining and Heavy Industry. The project was financed by a loan from India, which was announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country in 2015. The refinery will have a processing capacity of 1.5 million metric tons of oil per year and will annually produce 560,000 tons of gasoline and 670,000 tons of diesel fuel, as well as 107,000 tons of liquefied gas. The refinery would boost Mongolia's gross domestic product by 10 percent. Mongolia currently exports crude oil to China while importing petroleum products from Russia. ADDIS ABABA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Friday said ethnic clashes in Southern Ethiopia have displaced more than 200,000 people. UNOCHA said it's working with officials from Southern regional state, home area of ethnic Gedeos and officials from Oromia regional state, home area of ethnic Oromos, to repatriate the internally displaced people, the office said in a statement. Clashes between ethnic Gedeos and ethnic Oromos started on April 13, apparently over utilization of resources along the shared border of the two communities, the statement said. As of May 1, 85,000 displaced people from both communities have returned to their homes, UNOCHA said, adding that further work is being undertaken to rehabilitate the remaining displaced people. Ethiopia follows an ethnic federalism model, which has been credited with giving self-governance rights to the more than 80 ethnic groups that make up the country's estimated 100 million people. However, critics say the model magnifies ethnic diversity at the expense of national unity, leading to occasional ethnic tension and clashes. RIGA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Local governments of Latvia's municipalities want greater independence and less regulation, according to municipal leaders at the congress of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments held Friday in Daugavpils. Municipal leaders made the remarks in a resolution passed at the congress calling on the central government to reduce excessive legislative regulation. The local authorities congress was attended by Latvia's top officials, including the country's President Raimonds Vejonis, Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis and Speaker Inara Murniece. The main message the municipal leaders sought to communicate at the congress was that the local governments should be given more independence and that the central government should scale down its regulatory activity. Vejonis, the president, in turn, called on local authorities to use municipal referenda to find out local residents' opinions on various issues. Such votes, the president said, would demonstrate the local authorities' willingness to hear their people. "While I agree that there is generally too much regulation in Latvia, I believe that local governments also have a lot to do to combat red tape," Vejonis said, urging local authorities to revise their local rules and regulations to ease the administrative burden on businesses and lift unnecessary requirements to residents. Latvian Parliament Speaker Inara Murniece noted that both Latvia's legislative and executive authorities are ready for discussions on how to make laws and regulations simpler and more effective. A Chinese traveller displays his visa-on-arrival at the Boryspil airport in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 20, 2016. (Xinhua/Sergii) KIEV, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine is holding negotiations with four countries of Latin America over launching a visa-free travel mechanism, a senior Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said on Friday. Sergiy Minyailo, head of the ministry's consular and legal affairs department, told local media that in the near future, Ukraine plans to sign visa-free agreements with Peru, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico. Currently, Ukraine has the visa-free mechanism with 85 countries around the globe, Minyailo said. Last year, about 14.6 million foreign tourists visited Ukraine, while 26.4 million Ukrainians travelled abroad. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) announces the voting results from its Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on Wednesday, May 09, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia. A total of 129,674,892 common shares were represented at the meeting, representing 77.01% of the Companys outstanding shares as at the record date. Shareholders voted in favour of all items of business before the meeting, including the appointment of auditors and the authorization of the directors to fix the auditors remuneration, acceptance of Finnings approach to executive compensation, and the election of directors. Detailed results of the ballot vote for the election of directors are provided below: Director Nominee Votes for Percent Votes Withheld Percent Vicki Avril 128,148,891 99.66 % 437,626 .34% Marcelo A. Awad 127,923,930 99.48 % 662,587 .52% James E.C. Carter 128,219,612 99.71 % 366,905 .29% Jacynthe Cote 128,146,795 99.66 % 439,722 .34% Nicholas Hartery 128,092,385 99.62 % 494,132 .38% Mary Lou Kelley 128,540,096 99.96 % 46,421 .04% Harold N. Kvisle 128,359,783 99.82 % 226,734 .18% Stuart L. Levenick 127,737,368 99.34 % 849,149 .66% Kathleen M. ONeill 128,392,794 99.85 % 193,723 .15% Christopher W. Patterson 128,536,468 99.96 % 50,049 .04% L. Scott Thomson 127,925,742 99.49 % 660,775 .51% Douglas W.G. Whitehead 126,259,719 98.19 % 2,326,798 1.81% About Finning: Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) is the world's largest Caterpillar equipment dealer delivering unrivalled service to customers for 85 years. Finning sells, rents and provides parts and service for equipment and engines to help customers maximize productivity. Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., the Company operates in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Contact Information: Mauk Breukels Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs (604) 331-4934 mauk.breukels@finning.com www.finning.com Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 03:47:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Three senior UN officials on Friday condemned the recent escalation of violence in South Sudan that resulted in widespread sexual abuse, and urged all parties to end the attacks against civilians, especially women and children. Preliminary investigations by the United Nations have uncovered alarming patterns of serious human rights violations and abuses, including killings, pillaging, abductions, rape and gang-rape committed by both parties during heavy fighting in former Unity state in the north of the country in the last two weeks, they said. These violations could constitute atrocity crimes, warned Pramila Patten, the UN secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict; Virginia Gamba, the special representative for children and armed conflict; and Adama Dieng, the special adviser on the prevention of genocide. Sexual violence as a widespread and systematic tactic of war continues in South Sudan, reportedly to punish civilians who are perceived to be associated with a particular political or ethnic group, the officials said in a statement. The United Nations has received reports of attackers demanding money, alcohol and cattle through threats of violence and intimidation, including sexual violence, the officials said. Testimonies indicate that women and girls of all ages have been subjected to rape, they said. Information collected over the past week indicates that at least 66 women and girls have been raped since attacks began on April 21, with the total number of cases likely to be much higher. In addition, dozens of women and girls are believed to have been abducted, with some having been released after enduring days in captivity, they said. In former Unity state, young armed soldiers, reportedly affiliated to government forces, allegedly attacked the island of Meer, where a number of civilians, including women, children and the elderly, were reportedly killed and injured, while others, including children, drowned as they tried to escape. Instances of abductions and sexual violence against women and girls were also reported, said the officials. They called on all parties in South Sudan to immediately end the use of sexual violence, cease the commission of atrocities, and hold the perpetrators of these heinous acts accountable as a matter of priority. They urged the parties to the conflict to honor the commitments they have made to address conflict-related sexual violence and to protect the civilian population, and further called on the government of South Sudan to abide by the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access they signed in 2017. "The United Nations stands ready to support national efforts to end, prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence in South Sudan and to improve the protection of civilians, including children," the three officials said. MINSK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of resident companies in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone is expected to rise to 55-60 in 2019, Alexander Yaroshenko, head of the park's administration, told reporters on Friday. Currently, the park has 34 resident companies from eight countries, with the latest one registered on May 8, Yaroshenko said during a celebration of China-Belarus Industrial Park Day. By the end of the year, the number of resident companies is expected to be no less than 40. In 2019, there will be at least 55, and the projected figure is over 60. The park's administration hopes that the number will reach 100 by 2020. Yaroshenko said that ten resident companies will launch their first products by the end of the year. They expect another 20 companies will start construction this year. In addition, Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister Pavel Utyupin said total investment reported by the companies currently in the China-Belarus industrial park is close to 1 billion U.S. dollars. With the arrival of new companies, the volume of declared investment may reach 2 billion U.S. dollars by 2020. File Photo: A rebel soldier poses with his gun in Touch Riak, Leer county, South Sudan, on March 7, 2018, where famine has been declared since February 2017. (Xinhua/AFP) UNITED NATIONS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Three senior UN officials on Friday condemned the recent escalation of violence in South Sudan that resulted in widespread sexual abuse, and urged all parties to end the attacks against civilians, especially women and children. Preliminary investigations by the United Nations have uncovered alarming patterns of serious human rights violations and abuses, including killings, pillaging, abductions, rape and gang-rape committed by both parties during heavy fighting in former Unity state in the north of the country in the last two weeks, they said. These violations could constitute atrocity crimes, warned Pramila Patten, the UN secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict; Virginia Gamba, the special representative for children and armed conflict; and Adama Dieng, the special adviser on the prevention of genocide. Sexual violence as a widespread and systematic tactic of war continues in South Sudan, reportedly to punish civilians who are perceived to be associated with a particular political or ethnic group, the officials said in a statement. The United Nations has received reports of attackers demanding money, alcohol and cattle through threats of violence and intimidation, including sexual violence, the officials said. Testimonies indicate that women and girls of all ages have been subjected to rape, they said. Information collected over the past week indicates that at least 66 women and girls have been raped since attacks began on April 21, with the total number of cases likely to be much higher. In addition, dozens of women and girls are believed to have been abducted, with some having been released after enduring days in captivity, they said. In former Unity state, young armed soldiers, reportedly affiliated to government forces, allegedly attacked the island of Meer, where a number of civilians, including women, children and the elderly, were reportedly killed and injured, while others, including children, drowned as they tried to escape. Instances of abductions and sexual violence against women and girls were also reported, said the officials. They called on all parties in South Sudan to immediately end the use of sexual violence, cease the commission of atrocities, and hold the perpetrators of these heinous acts accountable as a matter of priority. They urged the parties to the conflict to honor the commitments they have made to address conflict-related sexual violence and to protect the civilian population, and further called on the government of South Sudan to abide by the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access they signed in 2017. "The United Nations stands ready to support national efforts to end, prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence in South Sudan and to improve the protection of civilians, including children," the three officials said. BELGRADE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- In a time of great challenges for the European Union (EU), it needs to provide a clear membership perspective for Serbia and the region, for the sake of stability and peace, Maja Gojkovic, speaker of the Serbian parliament said on Friday. Holding an opening speech at the parliamentary conference "Idea of EU, path to peace and development" , Gojkovic said that Serbia is dedicated to the European integration process through "respecting principles and criteria for accession", but stressed that the European perspective of Serbia needs to be credible and concrete. The two-day conference at the Serbian parliament gathered MPs from EU countries, candidate countries, international organizations, diplomats and civic sector, to discuss relations among NATO, EU and Russia, as well as the EU enlargement and the relation between the fiscal and monetary policy, a press release of the parliament said. Gojkovic estimated that the EU perspective needs visible goals that are set by "a strong and stable EU, guided by principles on which it was founded", and repeated that the membership is the top priority of Serbia's foreign policy. She said that the strength of the EU lies in its potential to enlarge, while on the other hand it is faced with some of the fiercest challenges since it was founded -- terrorism, illegal migration, residues of economic crisis, unsolved conflicts in Europe and in the Middle East as well as the Brexit. "These challenges haven't been avoiding our region too. This is why it is so important that the relations and cooperation in the region are built on the basis of mutual acknowledgment, trust and understanding, so we can build stability and secure permanent peace in the region," Gojkovic concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 04:52:45|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Palestinian protesters carry an injured man during clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border east of Gaza City, on May 11, 2018. At least one Palestinian was killed and dozens were injured Friday afternoon during clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers close to the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, medics said. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih) GAZA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- One Palestinian man was killed and 973 injured Friday during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers close to the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, medics said. The clashes, which broke out in the early afternoon in the aftermath of Friday prayers, were part of what the Palestinians call as "the Great March of Return," which began on March 30 and will end on May 15. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the health ministry in Gaza, said that Jaber Abu Mustafa, 40, was shot dead by Israeli gunfire during protests east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel. He said in an update that 973 were injured in five different areas in eastern Gaza Strip, adding that 178 of them were shot with live ammunition, 13 of them were critically injured. Al-Qedra also said that the Israeli army snipers are targeting children who are participating in the marches of return, adding that an Israeli sniper critically wounded a 16-year-old boy in the head east of the central Gaza Strip. Death toll since the outbreak of the six-week protests and rallies in eastern Gaza Strip climbed to 48 and more than 8,000 were injured; around one third of them were injured with live ammunition, according to al-Qedra. During the same period, another six Palestinians were killed, but their corpses are still held by the Israeli army. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas politburo chief, told demonstrators in eastern Gaza Strip that "we will tell Trump, who is moving his embassy to Jerusalem that Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic city and we won't let either Trump or Netanyahu to change it." The protests are scheduled to peak on May 15, the day the Palestinians call as the Nakba Day. Young men burned tires to make huge polls of black smoke that protect them from the snipers' gunshots during the confrontations, while many others flew kites and balloons carrying flames that fell into Israel on agricultural fields and caused large fires. Besides throwing stones, dozens of young men cut and pulled large parts of the barbed wire of the borderline between eastern Gaza and Israel. Israeli soldiers fired dozens of tear gas and live ammunitions at the demonstrators. Other demonstrators made little hills of sands and muds to hide behind and protect themselves from the tear gas and gunshots. An old Palestinian woman waved a Palestinian flag and said she wants to return home. Meanwhile, the Palestinian human rights group called al-Maizan in Gaza slammed the behavior of the Israeli soldiers stationed at the border, mainly the snipers who open fire at seriously injured civilians. The rights group accused Israel of the use of excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators. The group called on the International Criminal Court to start investigating the cases of Israeli killing of Palestinians. Later on Friday evening, dozens of demonstrators broke into the main commercial crossing point known as Kerem Shalom on the border between southern Gaza Strip and Israel, and damaged Israeli watching cameras placed outside the crossing point. RABAT, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Dominican counterpart Francine Baron, pledged Friday in Rabat to give new impetus to bilateral cooperation. Bourita told the press after his talks with Baron that the meeting reviewed bilateral relations, which have evolved considerably since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 2010. The meeting was also an opportunity to identify new areas of partnership for the coming years, particularly in the areas of agricultural, tourism, services and in terms of diplomatic consultation, Bourita said. Baron said the Dominica along with other Caribbean countries has strong relations with Morocco and considers it as a friend and a strong partner. She also said that the meeting has provided an opportunity to review issues of common interests that generate political commitments of both sides. OTTAWA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay will head to China for a week-long mission to explore opportunities for exporting Canadian products and strengthen the trading relationship between the countries, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) said on Friday. In a press release, the AAFC said: "With a population of 1.4 billion people, and a growing appetite for high-quality Canadian food products, the Chinese market offers significant opportunities for Canadian agricultural producers and processors." "I look forward to taking part in agri-business events in China to promote Canada's top quality agricultural and food products, and to meeting with my Chinese counterpart to build on our shared history of collaboration and strengthen our mutually beneficial trade relationship," said the minister. The two countries have agreed to increase collaboration on agriculture, including expanding market access, which is vital to achieving the Government of Canada's trade target of growing global agriculture and food exports to 75 billion Canadian dollars (some 59 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025. MacAulay will take part in a number of events from May 14 to 18, including meetings with leading Chinese companies such as e-commerce giant Alibaba, HeMa, and GFresh to discuss in-market opportunities for Canadian food products. He will also participate in roundtable discussions with representatives of Canadian and Chinese companies to discuss market opportunities in China. In addition, he will attend SIAL China, where he will have the opportunity to interact with the Canadian exhibitors. The minister will also meet with the Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu to discuss continued co-operation between the two sides and advocate for expanded market access for Canada's safe, high-quality products including pork, beef and canola. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 05:43:01|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, briefs journalists on the launch of International Finance Facility for Education at the UN headquarters in New York, May 11, 2018. An education finance facility aiming to unlock 10 billion U.S. dollars was launched Friday at the UN headquarters at the support of the world body as well the World Bank and regional development banks. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- An education finance facility aiming to unlock 10 billion U.S. dollars was launched Friday at the UN headquarters at the support of the world body as well the World Bank and regional development banks. At the launch, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, accompanied by his special envoy for global education Gordon Brown, received a 1.5-million-signature petition by Pakistan and Bangladesh youth calling for better education funding, which added to some existing 10 million signatures. "I welcome this petition, and encourage support for a new International Finance Facility for Education to mobilize new and additional funding," Guterres said. The IFFEd, put forward by the UN chief, aims to help countries achieve the fourth goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls on governments to deliver equitable, quality education for all. "Today 260 million children are not in school," said Brown at a following press briefing, adding that in 2030 on current trends, about 800 million or half the world's children will leave school without qualifications, failing the UN 2030 goal. The former British prime minister said the IFFEd is in talks with 20 possible contributors on financial guarantees and aims to make every one billion U.S. dollars in aid "deliver four billion USD of new educational investment." Brown, who also chairs a commission that first recommended the facility, said the IFFEd plans to fund 200 million school places in its first allocations. Regarding some 75 million children in conflict zones and emergencies with their education interrupted, Brown told Xinhua that only 2 percent of humanitarian aid is going to education. He noted his efforts are trying to change the basis on which humanitarian aid is provided, trying to include "not just food, shelter and health care, but also the rights to education." Vice President of Human Development at the World Bank Annette Dixon welcomed the IFFEd, saying "countries need to invest more building their young people's education achievement levels in order to secure pathways to economic growth and poverty reduction." by Mahmoud Darwesh, Nawas Darraji TRIPOLI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The head of the anti-illegal immigration department of the Libyan ministry of the interior, Mohamed Beshr, revealed Friday that 1.5 million migrants are outside the official immigration shelters. "There are 1.5 million illegal immigrants in Libya seeking to migrate to Europe though the Mediterranean. They are outside the shelters and have been working and living in Libya for several months, and even years, waiting for their turn to cross to Europe. We do not know where they are and they are not under our control," Beshr told Xinhua. "International organizations say 700,000 illegal migrants are preparing to migrate to Europe. From our point of view, the statistics are not accurate at all, because they did not come through a clear and confirmed database, and therefore the figures we have are the closest to reality," Beshr said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 700,000 illegal migrants are in a number of Libyan cities, waiting for crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe. "The decisions made over the past few months are important, including closing 25 immigration housing centers across Libya and distributing all fixed assets and staff to other main centers and some security departments and services," Beshr said, when asked about the reasons for closing 25 out of 51 immigrant shelters in Libya. "When almost half of the shelters were closed, it was due to technical and organizational reasons," he said. "We focus on the quality of the centers' living and accommodation services. Therefore, the decision was necessary to organize the work and to allocate centers ready to accommodate immigrants in an orderly and smooth manner," he said. He said that the number of migrants currently in the shelters is more than 8,000, confirming that they continue to be deported voluntarily within the voluntary return program of the IOM. The Interior Ministry Wednesday said it has an integrated plan to address illegal migration "through land and sea." "The ministry is implementing an integrated plan involving all security services to confront illegal migration through sea and land, in order to reduce the immigrants' flows," Mohamed Al-Marhani, an official with the anti-illegal immigration department of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua. "Our plan is based primarily on activating desert patrols, especially in the south and south-west of the country, from which most immigrants infiltrated illegally through borders with neighboring countries," Al-Marhani added. Thousands of illegal migrants choose to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores from Libya due to the state of chaos in the country following the 2011 uprising. According to official figures from the Libyan anti-illegal immigration department, more than 4,000 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast during the first quarter of the year. "We thank all the international organizations for their efforts. But, I think the support is not at the required level. The migrants are human beings like us, who have needs that are not measured by specific working or official hours. A decent life for them does not mean only blankets and food. They suffer crowdedness and transmitted diseases. All these are challenges that require a greater stand by the international community with Libya, which despite its circumstances is trying to provide the best possible services to illegal immigrants," Beshr explained. Migrants living in Libyan shelters complain about lack of attention from international organizations, demanding that they be transferred from Libya to European countries as refugees. The migrants show resentment at overcrowded shelters and a demand for better health and food services. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 05:58:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, May 11 (Xinhua) --Turkey will continue trade with Iran in accordance with UN resolutions, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Friday. A unilateral statement on the withdrawal from the agreement does not mean its invalidation, and it is just an attempt of one of the parties to impose its own rules, Zeybekci said in an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency. The minister stressed that Iran is a "friendly and brother" country for Turkey, which has "more extensive" economic ties with Iran, including energy imports from Tehran. "We believe in this: the stronger Iran gets in this region, the stronger Turkey becomes as well, and the stronger Turkey becomes, the stronger Iran gets as well," he said. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced to pull the United States out of the 2015 nuclear agreement, vowing to re-impose sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the deal. English French NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S.A. OR OVER U.S. WIRE SERVICES MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KP Tissue Inc. (KPT) (TSX:KPT) held its Annual Meeting of shareholders yesterday. All candidates proposed as directors were duly elected to the Board of Directors of KPT by a majority of the votes cast by shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting, as follows: Name For Withheld Number % Number % Michael Korenberg 3,412,361 99.74 8,784 0.26 James Hardy 3,411,661 99.72 9,484 0.28 Michel Letellier 3,412,161 99.74 8,984 0.26 Louise Denys Wendling 3,411,580 99.72 9,565 0.28 Shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting also approved the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of KPT (99.53% of votes in favour). About KP Tissue Inc. KP Tissue Inc. (KPT) was created to acquire, and its business is limited to holding, a limited partnership interest in KPLP. For more information visit www.kptissueinc.com. About Kruger Products L.P. Kruger Products L.P. is Canada's leading manufacturer of quality tissue products for household, industrial and commercial use. Kruger Products L.P. serves the Canadian consumer market with such well-known brands as Cashmere, Purex, SpongeTowels, Scotties and White Swan. In the U.S., Kruger Products L.P. manufactures the White Cloud brand, as well as many private label products. The Away-From- Home division manufactures and distributes high-quality, cost-effective product solutions to a wide range of commercial and public entities. Kruger Products L.P. has approximately 2,500 employees and operates eight FSC COC-certified (FSC C-104904) production facilities in North America. For more information visit www.krugerproducts.ca. INFORMATION: Francois Paroyan General Counsel and Corporate Secretary KP Tissue Inc. Tel.: 905.812.6936 Francois.Paroyan@krugerproducts.ca INVESTORS: Mike Baldesarra Director of Investor Relations KP Tissue Inc. Tel.: 905.812.6962 IR@kptissueinc.com Source KP Tissue Inc. CHICAGO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural producers in the United States need all viable markets to sell their products and to stay afloat, Randy Kron, president of Indiana Farm Bureau, claimed. In an article titled "Tariff implications shouldn't be trivialized" published on Indianapolis Business Journal on Friday, Kron deliberated on the trade disputes between China and the United States. In the first tier when the United States proposed tariffs on nearly 50 billion dollars' worth of Chinese products in the technology sector, China retaliated with tariffs aimed at top-value American exports: agriculture products, imposing an initial 25-percent tariff on U.S. pork, wine, fruits and nuts. "The tariff on pork certainly hit close to home, as Indiana has many pork producers," Kron wrote. The United States exports about one billion dollars' worth of pork to China annually. What's concerned Kron more is the "looming second-tier tariffs China has proposed", as they target more agricultural products including beef, ethanol and soybeans. Kron feared that if the United States and China can't come to terms over their dispute at the conclusion of a public hearing on May 15, the U.S. proposed tariffs would be enacted and China's would likely follow. "That outcome would not be ideal for Indiana's farmers and consumers. Food prices would rise and some farms would be in jeopardy of failing," Kron said. Farmers in Indiana have benefited from the expansion of trade markets and have relied on those markets to maintain or grow their farms in recent years, Kron wrote. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics, Indiana agriculture export value was 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, and then doubled to 4.6 billion dollars in 2016. "Soybeans are the elephant in the room." Of the 21.4 billion dollars' worth of agricultural goods the United States exports to China, 14 billion dollars or about 66 percent of the goods are soybeans. Indiana exported 1.7 billion dollars in soybeans around the world in 2016, and a majority of those beans went to China. Kron even went to a broader view, saying agricultural industry is a pillar of the U.S. economy. "When U.S. trade with China is examined, it is easy to see that volatility in that market will impact the U.S. economy." U.S. agricultural economy is already in a downturn with farm income now 50 percent lower than it was just four years ago, said Kron. "American farmers are dealing with a global surplus of commodities, which makes the risk of facing tariffs from such a large export market a real concern." "If a large portion of the Chinese market is lost due to sanctions, it will take a considerable amount of time to replicate or replace," Kron stressed. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 06:08:14|Editor: yan Video Player Close SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Tourism Minister Rania al-Mashat said Egypt is exerting efforts to attract the largest number of Chinese tourists. The minister's remarks came in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the 44th meeting of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for the Middle East and UNWTO Regional Conference, which wrapped up Thursday in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh city. "China is a very important country and one of the largest exporters of tourism in the world," the minister said, adding that China annually exports about 150 million tourists, spending about 200 billion U.S. dollars. She stressed that Egypt will make great efforts and is working to provide large facilities to attract more Chinese tourists in the future. Al-Mashat pointed out that there is coordination and cooperation with the Chinese side on this regard, noting that the role of the Egyptian Tourist Office in Beijing will be activated soon. "I believe that there will be more Chinese tourists coming in the near future," the minister said. The Egyptian minister strongly welcomed China's investment in the tourism sector in Egypt, stressing there are many tourism opportunities for Chinese investors. Egypt is a favorable attraction to hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists each year for its historical sites and sunny sandy beaches. According to Egyptian statistics, China has become the fourth largest exporter of tourists to Egypt since the beginning of 2017. Meanwhile, the minister said that the tourism sector at the international level is growing due to the increase in the economic growth of a large number of economies. This certainly means that there will be a demand for investment in the tourism sector, both regarding tourist facilities and other tourism activities, she explained. She pointed out that Egypt has witnessed in 2017 a remarkable increase in tourist numbers, which is a promising indication for an improvement of the sector. Official Egyptian statistics reveal that Egypt's tourism revenues jumped 123.5 percent year-on-year to 7.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. However, these figures remain below the benchmark in 2010 when tourists visiting Egypt brought in around 12.5 billion dollars in revenue. "We are keen to increase the quality and efficiency of our tourist destinations as well as increasing investment in the human factors in the tourism sector so that tourist experience in Egypt would be a happy one and thus tourists would visit Egypt more than once," the minister added. Egyptian tourism sector, a major source of national income and foreign currency, has witnessed recession over the past seven years. In Egypt, the number of tourists declined from 14.7 million in 2010 to about 8 million in 2017 due to political instability and relevant security challenges, including two mass uprisings that toppled two presidents, forcing several countries to ban their citizens from traveling to Egypt for safety reasons. Tourism in Egypt was dealt a heavy blow following the Russian airplane crash in North Sinai in October 2015, after Russia suspended its direct flights to the country and some other nations including Britain suspended flights to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh. However, Egyptian officials expect a boom in the business after Russia and Egypt resumed direct flights between the two countries in April. "The resumption of flights between Moscow and Cairo is very important for us and we are optimistic," the minister said. Al-Mashat noted that Egypt is paying great attention to develop the tourism sector as it is one of the most important economic sectors for the Middle East. She also said Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was keen to meet Secretary General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, before the meetings kicked off in Sharm el-Sheikh. President Sisi stressed Egypt is always looking forward to boosting cooperation with the UNWTO in a way that would support tourism, which is a key sector for Egypt, the minister added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-12 07:08:24|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Alaska Gas Development Corp. (AGDC), a major energy developer in the U.S. northwestern state of Alaska, is moving steadily toward a December deadline for agreements to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Chinese buyers, an Alaska news outlet reported Friday. Managers of the Alaska state gas company AGDC told a recent Board of Directors meeting that there are no major obstacles in getting the Alaska LNG project moving ahead, a report of the frontiersman.com said. AGDC CEO Keith Meyer told the board that the AGDC's agreement with British multinational oil and gas giant BP plc. (BP) on LNG sales signed last week is "a significant development." "This is a binding precedent agreement, which means there is clarity on volume and price," the key components of a final gas sales agreement hoped to be concluded later this year, Meyer said. Alaska's gas line project is a major initiative of Alaska Governor Bill Walker's administration, which would see an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas from Prudhoe Bay, taken down through a 1,287-km-long pipeline and turned into LNG at a plant before being shipped overseas. Meyer said in previous briefings that if the AGDC is able to sign, as expected, sales, financing and equity investment agreements with Chinese companies, including Chinese energy powerhouse Sinopec, Bank of China and China Investment Corp., the Alaska project should be able to deliver LNG to Asian customers. He said the AGDC needs to secure about 800 million U.S. dollars in equity investment later this year to finance final engineering and early procurement work. The AGDC announced last month that it had signed a deal with Goldman Sachs and Bank of China to help raise funds for its 43-billion-U.S.-dollar LNG project. Lieza Wilcox, AGDC's vice president for commercial and economics, told the AGDC board that Sinopec, which would be a major buyer of Alaska LNG, is considering an equity investment. China Investment Corp., a major Chinese sovereign wealth fund, is a likely equity investor, Wilcox said. Last November, Sinopec and a pair of financial institutions, including Bank of China, signed an agreement to advance Alaska's LNG export project. China is Alaska's largest trading partner and leads the world in projected natural gas consumption in an effort to cut carbon emissions and other pollution from coal-fired power plants and diesel engines. Before the summer holiday Trafo offers a wide range of English language programs. Circus, contemporary dance, and smart technologies will be featured on stage this May. Timothy and the Things: Waiting for Schrodinger - contemporary dance Date: 17 May 2018 8pm Schrodingers cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger in 1935. The scenario presents a cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead. Neither the cat, nor Schrodinger will be present this evening, instead the doubts and questions that this problem raised in the choreographer, together with 6 fabulous dancers. Freak Fusion: fightinGravity - circus Date: 18 May 2018 8pm 21:00 Like everyone, a circus artistes life is dictated by the downward pressure of gravity hanging in suspension, floating, hovering, tumbling, doubting. But through the medium of circus impossible situations can be brought to life in front of our eyes. What would it be like if gravity was inverted? How would it be to live life upside down? What would happen if we were literally able to climb up the walls? This performance takes theories and then shatters them, allowing the audience to experience for a moment what it is like to challenge this ever-present downward pressure. The Symptoms: Miracles of the Night dance Date: 22 May 2018 7pm Have you ever lain awake through the night with someone by your side, without anything happening between the two of you? And risen in the morning to a changed world inside nonetheless? A girl busy with her drawing and a boy recreate this strange, dream-like state of something like awe in which two people just stare at each other. Rosas / Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Salva Sanchis (BE): A Love Supreme - Contemporary dance Date: 24-26 May 2018 8pm A Love Supreme is a quartet choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Salva Sanchis in which four performers dance to the eponymous piece of music by John Coltrane, a highlight of twentieth-century jazz. In A Love Supreme, highly intuitive free expression emerges from blues-based, rather straightforward musical structures; the work is renowned for its exploration of the tension between tonal and rhythmical complexity and simplicity. This is translated literally in the dance: the choreographers bring together improvised and composed materials, interweaving and absorbing them into one another. smART! XTRA 3.0 // Connections - Interactive Mini Expo Date: 29-31 May 2018 In May 2018 smART! XTRA celebrates its 30th edition. Trafo House of Contemporary Arts in organizes a 3-day mini expo in collaboration with Bakelit Multi Art Center, Art Quarter Budapest [aqb] and Let it Be! art agency. The CONNECTIONS focuses on interactions between human beings, technical tools, different spaces and cities. How can digital tools inspire us to explore new artistic pathways? How can we communicate with each other using simple machines? How do we deal with distances and different surroundings? Video works, performance-installations, live painting and dance projects at three different venues. Click here to visit Trafo online Address: 1094 Budapest, Liliom u. 41. The Chairman of the main religious organisation of the Jewish religious community writes that Hungarian Jewry could play a mediating role in relations between Israel and Europe. In his Nepszava OpEd piece on the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Jewish state, Andras Heisler, Chairman of Mazsihisz, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Faith Communities recalls that for decades under communism, Hungarian Jews found it difficult to keep in touch with Israel, but by now those relations are vivid and fruitful. He and other leading Mazsihisz members have planted 35 trees in Israel and another 35 in Budapest to mark the anniversary and to leave a message for the future. Nowadays, Heisler writes, East European countries entertain better relations with Israel than the core countries of the European Union. He believes that Hungarys 100 thousand strong Jewish community can mediate between Hungary and Israel and also be a bridge between East and West. This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online. Click here to Share Your Story Prime Minister Viktor Orban, after being sworn in on Thursday after his re-election, said his Fidesz government was thinking in terms of planning for the next twelve years - here below is some of what he plans to achieve. Orban said Hungary was in the right constellation. Hungarys case has been won. Everything needed for great plans ahead has already come together, he said. Hungarians, he added, now believed that tomorrow can be better than today if they do their job right. They want a government that is worthy of their future. This encourages us -- and entitles us -- to make plans not only for the next four years but for the next ten years, too. Indeed, we should think in terms of twelve years, Orban said, adding that this would be in line with the demand for responsible government, given that the next European Union budget will conclude in 2030. Outlining his governments goals for the coming period, Orban said motorways would be built to connect Budapest with cities of county status. He said the motorways would be reachable within 30 minutes from any part of the country. New solar panel parks and the upgrade of the Paks power plant will make Hungary a leader in clean and sustainable energy, he said. He said Hungary should aim to attract investments that create higher value-added and higher paying jobs, noting that 600 multinational companies provide 80% of the worlds exports today. Orban added that his government will aim to boost the share of exports of Hungarian-owned companies by 50%. He vowed that the government would aim to radically stem endemics, adding that he would not be afraid to streamline health care in order to achieve this goal. He said the government would also build a new Hungarian military. The prime minister pointed out that Hungarys neighbours were constantly arming themselves. But it is also generally true that a nation that is incapable of guaranteeing its own defence is irresponsible and is making a mistake from a historical perspective, he added. Orban also vowed to develop the economy of central Europe as well as road, railway and air links between their capitals and major cities. We support Polands key role, and together we will lay the foundations of a major central and eastern European economic area. He said the new government would also aim to restore Budapest to its former greatness and glory. The prime minister noted that his governing alliance holds two-thirds majority in parliament, but he vowed to serve the three-thirds. The homeland cannot be in opposition with itself because it vastly transcends the parties, Orban said. Serving it cannot depend on whether we happen to be in opposition or in government. I stand before you optimistic, hopeful and ready to act, the prime minister told lawmakers. We must live with the confidence and dignity of a country that understands that Hungarians have given more to the world than that which they have received, the prime minister said. He added he wanted to convince neighbouring countries to join forces and make the Carpathian Basin Europes securest and fastest-developing economic, trading and transport area. Over the past years, we have shown time and again that no one need fear Hungarians; whoever cooperates with us reaps the profits, Orban said. Now that Ive taken my oath, I reaffirm to every single member of the nation, all fifteen million Hungarians ... that all my actions will be dedicated to the service of our nation and country, the Hungarian people, Hungarian interests and Christian values, he said. MTI Photo: Kovacs Tamas Hungarians with links to the countrys pro-government media have embarked on a mass buy-up of news outlets in Macedonia, part of what appears to be a concerted push into the Balkans by media companies loyal to right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Company registration documents obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and partners show that, since last spring, two former senior executives of Hungarian public television network Magyar Televizio (MTV) set up Macedonian companies that then made the investments in the countrys media. The companies acquired controlling stakes in firms that own more than half a dozen local outlets. The exact purpose of the acquisitions is unclear. The Macedonian outlets have a long history of support for the former ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, as well as causes favored by the populist right including Hungarys Fidesz throughout Europe. They also have a history of spreading provocative and sometimes fabricated news stories targeting opposition and civil society groups. Read the rest of the story on OCCRPs website. The U.S. government has major concerns regarding passport fraud in Hungary and may terminate its visa waiver for Hungarian citizens, investigative news site Direkt36 and U.S. daily the Washington Post said on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security believes that at least 65 out of the about 700 people who had fraudulently obtained Hungarian passports have entered the US under false identities. As of October, 30 remained there despite efforts to find them. In October, the U.S. sent a warning to Hungary by changing its status in the visa waiver programme to provisional. In April this year, senior DHS officials travelled to Budapest to warn Hungary that unless it solves the problem, the country will be suspended or removed from the visa waiver programme. Hungary has identified the corrective action, but that remains a work in progress, the Washington Post said. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MX Gold Corp. (TSX-V:MXL) (FSE:ODV) (OTCQX:MXLGF) (the Company or MX Gold) announces that, further to its news release dated April 5, 2018, it has entered into a definitive agreement dated May 9, 2018 (the Magistral Agreement) whereby, subject to the closing thereof, the Company has agreed to sell its 50% beneficial interest in the Mexican Magistral Project (Magistral) for a purchase price of US$4.5 million. The Magistral Agreement is in addition to the other four previously disclosed binding agreements that collectively propose to sell the Companys entire mining portfolio in an arms length transaction to a private company for the aggregate purchase price of approximately CDN$14,952,000. The Company intends to use the funds to expand its existing and successful cryptocurrency mining pilot project of 360 mining units through the purchase of an additional 2,000 mining units under its existing lease arrangements located in Manitoba. The proposed sale of its mineral exploration assets and expansion of its cryptocurrency business (together, the Transaction) will constitute a Change of Business as defined by the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange). The Magistral Agreement Pursuant to the terms of the Magistral Agreement, US$3.75 million is payable on the closing date and US$750,000 is payable on or prior to May 14, 2018 into escrow. Of the escrowed amount, US$250,000 will be held as a deposit towards the purchase price (the Deposit), US$250,000 will be held as a holdback for a period of six months following the closing date (the Holdback) and US$250,000 as a remainder (the Remainder). Upon closing, the Holdback will continue to be held in escrow and the Deposit and the Balance will be released to the Company. If closing does not occur on or prior to May 15th, and neither the Company nor its joint venture partner (who is simultaneously selling its interest in Magistral) is in breach of the Magistral Agreement, then the Holdback and the Balance will be returned to the purchaser and the Deposit will be released to the Company. If closing does not occur on or before May 15th and either the Company or its joint venture partner are in breach, then the entire escrow amount will be returned to the purchaser. Closing is subject to certain conditions precedent including the simultaneous acquisition by the purchaser of the Companys joint venture partners interest in Magistral and approval by the Exchange. Unless extended by all parties, the Magistral Agreement terminates if closing has not occurred on or prior to May 15, 2018. The Company has also entered into a Liability Sharing Agreement with its joint venture partner, whereby the parties have agreed to share certain liabilities on a 50/50 basis that relate to the joint venture project incurred from the commencement of the joint venture to the closing date of the Magistral Agreement. Previously Disclosed April 5, 2018 Agreements The Company has entered into the following agreements which were previously disclosed in the Companys April 5, 2018 news release, each of which are subject to the closing of the Magistral Agreement: Reimbursement Agreement dated April 5, 2018, whereby the purchaser has agreed to pay the Company an additional US$3,525,000 as reimbursement for funds advanced by the Company in connection with the joint venture. FortyTwo Metals Share Purchase Agreement dated April 5, 2018, whereby the Company has agreed to sell to the purchaser all of the issued and outstanding shares of its wholly-owned subsidiary FortyTwo Metals Inc. (FortyTwo) for a purchase price of CDN$3,000,000. FortyTwo holds the past producing MAX molybdenum mine and mill located in British Columbia and a CDN$730,000 reclamation bond for the MAX property held with the British Columbia Ministry of Mines. FortyTwo is also subject to certain legacy liabilities associated with prior operations. Midas Property Purchase and Sale Agreement dated April 5, 2018, whereby the Company has agreed to sell the purchaser the early stage Midas Property in British Columbia for a purchase price of CDN$1,600,000. Willa Property Purchase, Sale and Assignment Agreement dated April 5, 2018, whereby the Company has agreed to sell the purchaser the advanced stage Willa Property in British Columbia for a purchase price of CDN$1 and assign certain legacy obligations associated with the Willa Property, including a net smelter royalty, advance royalty payments, and the requirement to retransfer the property back to the original optionors if the property is not in commercial production on or prior to September 28, 2020 with the underlying mineral claims in good standing for a period of not less than three years. Change of Officer The Company also announces that, effective May 7, 2018, Hugh Charles McPherson has resigned from his position as President and Chief Operating Officer, but will continue as a member of the Companys board of directors. The Company does not anticipate further changes to its management team or board of directors in connection with the Transaction at this time. Change of Business The Company anticipates that the Transaction will be subject to shareholder approval in accordance with Exchange policies and intends to prepare and file a Filing Statement setting out the material terms of the proposed Transaction in due course. The Company intends to obtain such approval by way of written consent. In the event that the Company determines that the Transaction also requires shareholder approval under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), the Company intends to proceed with the closing of the Transaction and delay the closing of the Willa Property sale until such approval is obtained. The Transaction is also subject to the Sponsorship requirements of the Exchange. The Company intends to seek an exemption from the Sponsorship requirements and if one is not available, it intends to seek a waiver from such requirements. Upon the closing of the Transaction, the Company anticipates it will be listed as a Tier 2 Technology Issuer with the Exchange. As the Company is proposing to sell its current mineral exploration business for cash, no securities will be issued in connection with the Transaction, no changes to the board or management team is expected at this time and no new insiders will be created in connection with the Transaction. The Company is currently subject to a Cease Trade Order due to the failure to file a Technical Report on its Magistral joint venture interest and MAX property. However, the Company intends to apply for an application to revoke the Cease Trade Order following the closing of the Transaction and the sale of such property interests. The Company may elect to change the name of the Company in connection with the closing of the Transaction but the board of directors has not finalized such a change at this time. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Dan Omeniuk For further information, please contact Dan Omeniuk, CEO Email: dano@mxgoldcorp.com Phone: (204) 697-7640 Or at: info@mxgoldcorp.com Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical, and consist primarily of projections - statements regarding future plans, expectations and developments. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", potential, "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import tend to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include the expectation that the Company: (i) may close the Magistral Agreement and the other April 5th agreements; (ii) satisfy or waive all closing conditions and close the Transaction, including the requirement to obtain Exchange approval; (iii) may successfully revoke the Cease Trade Order; (iv) may obtain shareholder approval under Exchange policies and applicable corporate laws to close the Transaction; (v) may successfully acquire additional mining units as and when required to implement its cryptocurrency mining business plan. All of these forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied, including, without limitation that: (i) the Company is unable to close the Transaction for any reason, including inability to obtain Exchange or shareholder approval; (ii) the Company is unable to revoke the Cease Trade Order; (iii) the Company is unable to successfully implement its proposed business plan; and (iv) other risks and uncertainties identified under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys continuous disclosure documents filed on SEDAR. You are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. The Company cannot assure you that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and managements assumptions may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or managements beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs 07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0) Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na... BENGALURU: A day before Karnataka Assembly elections, the voting in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Nagar constituency has been deferred after a huge number of voter ID cards were recovered from an apartment in Bengaluru. The polling in RR Nagar has been re-scheduled for May 28 while the counting and results will be done and announced on May 31. Karnataka Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in a single phase on May 12, Saturday and the counting of votes will be done on May 15, Tuesday. The development comes just days after a huge number of voter ID cards were found at an apartment in Jalahalli area of Bengaluru. Nearly 10,000 voter ID cards were seized from a flat in Jalahalli in RR Nagar on Tuesday. Thousands of counterfoils of Form 6 used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls were seized too. The flying squad that reached the spot on a tip-off found a few pamphlets featuring sitting Congress MLA N Muniratna that led to BJP and JD(S) demanding the poll be countermanded. However, it later turned out that the house belonged to BJP leader Manjula Nanjamari and the tenant Rakesh, also a BJP worker, is her close relative. This had prompted the Congress to point fingers at the saffron party. Earlier in the day, a delegation of Congress leaders met the poll panel officials. This came a day after the Election Commission deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in RR Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka. With just a day left for Karnataka to go to polls, both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP have entered a high-pitched battle on the ground and on social media. The BJP is eyeing to dethrone the Congress government in Karnataka, which is headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The 224-member Assembly expires on May 28 in the state where the Congress is currently in power, with 122 seats against the BJP's 43. Karnataka is one of the eight states where polls were scheduled this year. While Siddaramaiah-led Congress is eyeing a second term in the state, BJP wants to spread its wings to the 22nd state. PATNA: Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, who has been convicted in several fodder scam-related cases, was on Friday granted a 6-week provisional bail by the Ranchi High Court. The provisional bail to veteran Bihar politician has been granted on 'medical grounds', reported ANI. Ranchi: High Court grants six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds pic.twitter.com/fj8v1Oe2tc ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo, who is serving a sentence in fodder scam cases, was on Thursday granted parole for three days to attend the wedding of his son Tej Pratap Yadav and former Bihar chief minister Daroga Prasad Rais granddaughter Aishwarya Rai. Jail Inspector General of Police Harsh Mangala confirmed that RJD leader was given parole. However, some restrictions were imposed on Lalu which he needs to abide by while being out of jail on parole. According to sources, the RJD chief is not allowed to talk to media and his movements will be recorded on video. He will remain in a security cover provided jointly by Bihar and Jharkhand Police. As many as four officials of DSP rank have been given the charge for Lalu's security. Sources also said that no politician, party worker or mediaperson would be allowed in the vicinity of the former Bihar chief minister. On Wednesday, there were reports of Lalu getting the parole. However, there was no official confirmation on the same. Lalu's son Tej Pratap Yadav is set to tie the knot with Aishwarya Rai at a function in Patna on May 12. The couple got engaged in a ceremony at Hotel Maurya in Patna on April 18. Except for formers father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is currently serving a sentence after conviction in fodder scam cases, all close family members and friends had attended the engagement ceremony. The RJD supremo had applied for a parole from May 9 to May 13 to attend the wedding ceremony of Tej Pratap and Aishwarya. According to reports, the jail administration had sought the advice of advocate general to take a decision on the parole. (With Agency inputs) Mumbai: Actor Arjun Kapoor has been roped in for director Raj Kumar Gupta's ambitious upcoming film 'India's Most Wanted'. The actor says the untold story will inspire the country. The film will go to floors in August this year and will be released in May next year. As per a Bollywood Hungama report, Arjun will essay the role of an Intelligence Officer in the film. The thriller film is said to be based on India's 2012 secret mission to capture country's most wanted terrorist. Arjun will be seen on a mission to catch a most wanted terrorist and he does so without a single gunshot being fired, which is the crux of the story. The shooting of the film is believed to take place in New Delhi and Nepal. The website also quoted sources as saying that the film time period is contemporary and is based on real incidents. Arjun on Friday took to Twitter and shared a photograph of himself along with Gupta. The photograph had a newspaper frame, which read, "Fox Star Studios and Raj Kumar Gupta join hands for 'India's Most Wanted. Arjun Kapoor to play the lead. Inspired by the capture of India's Most Wanted, without firing a single bullet. The shoot begins August 2018." He tweeted, "Honoured to be a part of an untold story that will inspire India! 'India's Most Wanted', a tribute to all the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to protect ours." Honoured to be a part of an untold story that will inspire India! #IndiasMostWanted, a tribute to all the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to protect ours. In cinemas 24th May 2019. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. Co-produced by @rajkumar_rkg & @foxstarhindi pic.twitter.com/y52BB7sG7x Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) May 11, 2018 The other details of the film are currently under wraps. Interestingly, Arjun, who has also signed 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar', will be seen in the role of a 30-year-old police officer from a special unit of Haryana Police in the film. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar' also features Parineeti Chopra. Besides, he also has Vipul Shah's 'Namastey England' in which he will again be seen opposite Parineeti and Ashutosh Gowarikar's period film 'Panipat'. Mumbai: Parmanu - The Story Of Pokhran, a Bollywood movie on India's nuclear test in 1998, will release across 300 screens in Pakistan, said director Abhishek Sharma on Friday. Asked if the movie will release in Pakistan, Sharma told the media here: "We will be releasing in 300 screens in Pakistan and I think that says it all." Actor-producer John Abraham, who was also present during the interaction with mediapersons, insisted that "it is not an anti-Pakistan film in any way". John added: "Yes, we are (releasing the movie in Pakistan). This is not an anti-Pakistan film, it is a pro-India film. So, from the beginning we were very clear that it is a film about India and we want to celebrate the story. "If we start thinking about other markets, then we will be compromising on our film. Our intention was to tell the story and we do not want to deviate from that." Written by Saiwyn Quadras and Sanyukta Shaikh Chawla, the film also features Diana Penty, Boman Irani and Yogendra Tikku. It will release on May 25. RALEIGH, N.C., May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With funding from State Employees Credit Union (SECU) members via the SECU Foundation, four public middle schools in two northwestern counties are slated to participate in a new student wellness pilot SECU MATCH Pilot, in partnership with East Carolina University (ECU). The project is a two-year effort, with SECU Foundation providing up to $200,000 to help expand ECUs Motivating Adolescents with Technology to CHOOSE Health (MATCH) Wellness Program to one or more school districts in western North Carolina. Under the management of ECU administrators, the following schools were recently selected for the Pilot East Yancey and Cane River Middle Schools in Yancey County, and Bowman and Harris Middle Schools in Mitchell County. SECU Foundation Board member Dr. Olson Huff made the official announcement and presented award certificates to school officials during ceremonies held yesterday in Burnsville and Bakersville, North Carolina. We are pleased to extend our support for ECUs MATCH Wellness Program, said Dr. Huff. As long-time advocates of education, SECU members understand the strides that can be made through a school-based wellness program that engages adolescents and helps them develop the knowledge to make healthy nutrition and physical activity choices that will remain with them for years. MATCH began in 2007, targeting schools with economically disadvantaged populations and addressing health disparities in rural eastern North Carolina counties. The program is an interdisciplinary approach designed for 7th grade students, integrating physical activity, nutrition and technology education within existing school curriculum standards over a 16-week period. ECUs MATCH Wellness Program is currently taught in 46 schools and 14 districts, showing consistent results with improving weight status in over two-thirds of overweight and obese participants. SECUs MATCH Pilot expansion is focused on assisting schools in rural, low-wealth districts in the northwestern part of the state. Upon accepting their certificates, MATCH District Coordinators from each county shared their thoughts on how the SECU MATCH Pilot will benefit their students. Heather Cox said, Yancey County Schools continually strive to promote wellness, healthy living, and positive lifestyle choices for students, their parents, and the community. By focusing on the whole child through resources received from SECU Foundations grant, it is our hope that students will become advocates within their families regarding all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Mitchell County Schools is excited to be part of the MATCH Wellness Program for the 2018-2019 school year, remarked Jennifer Gregory. Making healthy choices and increasing physical activity are skills that will benefit our students throughout their lives. About SECU and the SECU Foundation A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 80 years. The Credit Union also offers a diversified line of financial advisory services including retirement and education planning, tax preparation, insurance, trust and estate planning services, and investments through its partners and affiliated entities. SECU serves over 2.3 million members through 263 branch offices, nearly 1,100 ATMs, 24/7 Member Services via phone and a website, www.ncsecu.org. The SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services. Since 2004, SECU Foundation has made a collective financial commitment of more than $130 million for initiatives to benefit North Carolinians statewide. Contact: Jama Campbell, Executive Director Office: 919-839-5562 | secufoundation@ncsecu.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/d49bff5f-36eb-4092-8d25-afc74894e234 New Delhi: Filmmaker Meghna Gulzar's spy thriller 'Raazi' has hit the screens today and it has already got a big thumbs up from the industry peeps. The film is produced by Dharma Productions and stars Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in the lead roles. 'Raazi' is an adaptation of Harinder Sikkas novel Calling Sehmat which is inspired by real events. The story revolves around an Indian spy, who is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. A special screening was held recently in Mumbai and several B-Town celebs attended it. And soon there was a flood of tweets on the micro-blogging site. Check out who said what: Saw #raazi. Its an outstanding film and @meghnagulzar a master storyteller. Watch it for a great story and amazing performances from @aliaa08 @vickykaushal09 and all others. Salutes @JungleePictures @karanjohar Rajkumar Hirani (@RajkumarHirani) May 10, 2018 Its simply SUPERB! Please open the flood gates at the box office for this one ! Rarely a film meets expectations n this is bang on! #Raazi Congratulations @meghnagulzar @karanjohar @vineetjaintimes @aliaa08 @vickykaushal09 taapsee pannu (@taapsee) May 9, 2018 Just saw #raazi and I am speechless . @aliaa08 is just phenomenal . Such a difficult role done with so much ease . She is terrific What a film . A must watch !!!!!@karanjohar Jackky Bhagnani (@jackkybhagnani) May 9, 2018 Alia's performance has been appreciated a lot. The movie also stars noted actor Rajit Kapoor in a pivotal role. Mahesh Bhatt's darling daughter made her debut in Bollywood with Karan Johar's out-and-out masala commercial film 'Student Of The Year' in 2012. After her breakthrough act in 'Udta Punjab', the actress is back with a gritty narrative in Meghna Gulzar's 'Raazi'. She will next be seen in Zoya Akhtar's 'Gully Boy' opposite Ranveer Singh. New Delhi: State-owned Canara Bank on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 4,859.77 crore for the last quarter of 2017-18 due to increased provisioning for bad loans. The bank had clocked a net profit of Rs 214.18 crore in the corresponding January-March quarter of preceding fiscal 2016-17. The bank raised its provisioning for non-performing assets (NPAs) to Rs 8,762.57 crore during the January-March quarter, up by nearly 200 percent percent from Rs 2,924.08 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, as bad assets ballooned, according to a regulatory filing by the bank. For whole 2017-18, the bank suffered a net loss of Rs 4,222.24 crore compared with a net profit of Rs 1,121.92 crore in the previous fiscal. Total income of the bank during the quarter ended March 2018 fell to Rs 11,555.11 crore from Rs 12,889.20 crore. In full year 2017-18, total income stood at Rs 48,194.94 crore against Rs 48,942.04 crore in preceding year, the bank said. Asset-wise, there was fall in quality as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 11.84 percent of gross advances by the end of March 2018 from 9.63 percent by end-March 2017. In absolute value, the gross NPAs were at Rs 47,468.47 crore from Rs 34,202.04 crore. Net NPA ratio stood at 7.48 percent (Rs 28,542.40 crore) from 6.33 percent (Rs 21,648.98 crore). The NPA provisioning for the full year rose to Rs 14,882.70 crore from Rs 7,437.77 crore in 2016-17. In view of fraud reported during the year in certain banks in respect of one gems and jewellery borrower group accounts , the bank has classified these accounts as non-performing asset and provided fully, Canara Bank said. Additionally, on the NPA divergence for the year 2016-17, the bank said there was a gap of Rs 3,248.50 crore in gross NPAs with the bank reporting it to be Rs 34,202.04 crore and the Reserve Bank assessing it at Rs 37,450.54 crore. Net NPA divergence was of Rs 1,847.28 crore. The bank reported it to be Rs 21,648.98 crore and the RBI assessed it at Rs 23,496.26 crore. Thus there was a resultant divergence in provisioning to the tune of Rs 1,401.22 crore in 2016-17. However, taking the NPA divergence into account for 2016-17, the bank adjusted for a net loss of Rs 279.30 crore against its originally reported net profit of Rs 1,121.92 crore. Canara Bank shares closed 0.92 percent down at Rs 246.35 on BSE. GENEVA: A 104-year-old Australian scientist who travelled to Switzerland to end his life committed assisted suicide, a Swiss foundation said on Thursday. David Goodall, who had been barred from seeking help to end his life in his home country, did not have a terminal illness but said his quality of life had deteriorated significantly and that he wanted to die. Goodall "died peacefully" in Basel, tweeted Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, the organisation which helped Goodall make the journey from Australia. The death occurred at 1030 GMT from an infusion of Nembutal, a barbiturate, at the Life Cycle clinic, he said. The honorary research associate at Perth's Edith Cowan University set off from Australia a week ago and stopped in Bordeaux, France to see family before arriving in Basel on Monday. "I no longer want to continue living," Goodall told journalists on Wednesday. "I am happy to have the chance tomorrow to end it, and I appreciate the help of the medical profession here in making that possible," he said. The 104-year-old said he hoped the widespread interest in his case would spur Australia and other countries to rethink their legislation. "I would have preferred to have (ended) it in Australia, and I greatly regret that Australia is behind Switzerland" when it comes to right-to-die laws, he said. Goodall secured a fast-track appointment with the foundation in Basel after he attempted but failed to commit suicide on his own earlier this year. "It would have been much more convenient for everyone if I had been able to, but unfortunately it failed," he said of the suicide attempt. But he said he was happy that he had been offered the "Swiss option", since he has been able to see most of his large family, which is spread over several countries, in the run up to his final day. Assisted suicide is illegal in most countries and was banned in Australia until the state of Victoria became the first to legalise the practice last year. But that legislation, which takes effect in June 2019, only applies to terminally ill patients of sound mind and a life expectancy of less than six months. According to Swiss law meanwhile, anyone who is of sound mind and who has over a period of time voiced a consistent wish to end their life can request so-called assisted voluntary death, or AVD. Asked on Wednesday if he had any hesitations or doubts, the 104-year-old said, "No. None whatsoever." In assisted dying, the person must be physically capable of carrying out the final deed on their own. In Goodall's case that meant he had himself to open the valve that allowed the short-acting barbiturate to mix with a saline solution and flow into his vein. WARSAW: A tanker carrying liquid chocolate overturned and spilled its contents onto the four lanes of the highway connecting the city of Poznan to Warsaw, stranding the traffic for hours. The dried chocolate led to long lines of traffic on either side of the spill on Wednesday (May 9, 2018) and it was hours before the road was usable again. Some media reports said that the tanker, which was supposedly carrying 12 tons of chocolate, overturned after colliding with a traffic barrier in Graboszewo. The driver, 60, suffered a broken arm and was hospitalised, according to Associated Press. Marlena Kukawka, a media officer for the police in the small town of Slupca, near where the spillage occurred, told The New York Times that the firefighters used streams of hot water to melt the chocolate and wash away the mess. It is said that spilled chocolate is more difficult to remove than oil. Inspektorzy WITD #Poznan pomagaja ustalic przyczyny wypadku ciezarowki przewozacej pynna czekolade, ktora przewrocia sie dzis na autostradzie #A2 pomiedzy wezami Wrzesnia i Supca. Autostrada #A2 zablokowana w obydwu kierunkach. Objazd DK92 @PolskaPolicja @GDDKiA pic.twitter.com/mdqldJMi97 ITD (@ITD_gov) May 9, 2018 Its been a long time since Ive seen so many smiles on the faces of emergency rescue folks and police officers at the scene of an accident, Kukawka was further quoted as saying. The truck reportedly belonged to a company from the south of Poland. Mumbai: We still have about a month for the film's release but we know it is going to be worth the wait. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will release on June 22, and fans of the series will be taken to the incredibly captivating world of the dinosaurs once again. A new featurette titled 'A Look Inside' has been unveiled and it takes us down the memory lane. It opens with ace filmmaker Steven Speilberg talking about the first Jurassic movie and how it went on to explore the depth of subject subsequently. The makers also reveal that the latest film will showcase the darkest and the deadliest of events. 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' is the fifth instalment of the Jurassic Park film series, and also the second instalment of the Jurassic World trilogy. 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' has an ensemble star cast where Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and B. D. Wong will reprise their roles from the previous film. Besides, James Cromwell, Ted Levine, Justice Smith, Geraldine Chaplin, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, and Isabella Sermon are the new additions. Actor Jeff Goldblum will reprise his role as Dr Ian Malcolm from the original film. Read the synopsis as posted on the official YouTube video published by Universal Pictures. Its been four years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the islands dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor whos still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times. With all of the wonder, adventure and thrills synonymous with one of the most popular and successful series in cinema history, this all-new motion-picture event sees the return of favorite characters and dinosaursalong with new breeds more awe-inspiring and terrifying than ever before. Welcome to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Mumbai Police on Friday evening released a statement saying that a suicide note had been recovered from where former ATS chief Himanshu Roy had allegedly shot himself. According to Mumbai Police, Roy had written in the note that he had taken the decision to end his life because he was suffering from cancer and that no one should be held responsible for his decision. Roy had taken a lengthy medical leave from duty to receive treatment for bone marrow cancer. According to one of the doctors treating him, Roy had lost weight and his personality had changed because of the illness. " I knew him personally, he had lost lots of weight due to the illness and didn't have the same personality as earlier," Dr Gautam Bhansali, Consultant Physician at Bombay Hospital, told news agency ANI. Leading investigations into several high-profile cases, Roy had an imposing figure and a charismatic personality. That was before he was detected with cancer. He had suffered a leg injury when he fell from a horse and when he was not able to recover in the usual time for such injuries, Roy went for additional tests. It is then that cancer was detected, forcing Roy to receive medical attention in Mumbai, Pune as well as abroad. His suicide has come as a shock to many who knew him personally and especially to Mumbai Police. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too expressed his condolences. "He was known as a daring officer and had held many important positions. With his demise we have lost a capable officer," he said at an event. NEW DELHI: The results of ISC Class 12 examinations conducted by Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) will be declared on May 14, Monday at 3 pm. Once released, the students will be able to check their results on the board's official website at cisce.org. The results will also be made available on examresults.net. A total of 10,88,891 students appeared for ISC Class 12 exams 2018, out of which 6,28,865 were boys and 4,60,026 were girls. In 2017, the ISC results were announced on May 29. The pass percentage for ISC Class 12th was 96.47 per cent. The ISC offers 50 subjects to students. In 2017, a total of 37,872 boys and 33,161 girls cleared the Class 12th examination. Here's are the alternative options you may like to give them a shot: 1. You can start your own business. Business doesn't require degrees but brain. 2. You may also start looking for a job. Surf the internet and look for opportunities. I am sure there are a plenty of them. 3. You can also continue with your study. If you think the results are not upto the mark, you can re-appear in the examination. 4. You may try out photography. It has a wide prospect. Just get a training and you can become a cinematographer, you never know. 5. You can also look for some vocational training and pursue them. For example, you can become a cartoonist. Class 12th marks are crucial, however, there are many successful people in India who have not passed their 12th board exams. It is not the end of the world. Good luck! About the Board The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) was founded in the year 1958. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) was granted permission to conduct the public examination in the year 1973. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) conducts ISC and ICSE examination annually. Apart from the ISC 12th board examination and ICSE 10th board examination also conducts Certificate of Vocational Education Examination, which was developed in accordance with the guidelines of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). Mumbai: Former chief of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and former Additional Director General of Police Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself on Friday. According to reports, he may have taken the decision because he was suffering from cancer and had been on leave for a while to get himself treated. While forensic teams reached his residence soon after the incident and are investigating the matter, Mumbai Police said it has recovered a suicide note in which Roy writes no one should be blamed for his decisiion. Sources say that Roy was reportedly suffering from depression because of his bone-marrow cancer. The burly and imposing police official, who has been in-charge of several high-profile cases, appeared fit each time he walked out but once he was detected with cancer, the disease could have taken a mental and physical toll on him. Incidentally, Roy's bone-marrow cancer was detected quite by accident. The top cop had met with an accident when he fell while riding a horse. He had received injuries on his leg which was taking longer than usual to heal. Roy reportedly regularly consulted medical experts who began suspecting that he may have cancer. Several diagnostic tests were conducted which would eventually confirm that he indeed had bone marrow cancer. Known to tackle adversities with determination, Roy underwent treatment in Mumbai, Pune and even abroad. He also took a long medical leave to get himself treatment and his condition is said to have improved marginally before deteriorating. Many suspect that it is this deterioration that may have led to depression - compelling Roy to shoot himself. NEW DELHI: The first Biannual Naval Commander's Conference of 2018 concluded on May 11, 2018 after four productive days of intense deliberations on a wide range of issues. The Conference was inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who set the tone for the deliberations stating that the Indian Navy is a force to reckon with in the Indo-Pacific region. Sitharaman also assured the Naval Commanders that endeavours to bridge critical capability gaps in ship-borne helicopters, fleet support ships and submarines would be progressed by the Government. The Defence Minister also extended support to the long-term capability acquisition plans of the Navy that have been formulated with a strategic view of the Indo-Pacific region. The imperative need for approval of the second indigenous aircraft carrier for the Navy was also deliberated upon. This project along with the other shipbuilding projects already underway or in the pipeline including Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs), Landing Platform Dock (LPD), Anti-Submarine Shallow Water Craft, Diving Support Vessels and Survey Vessels are expected to provide a major thrust to the 'Make-in-India' initiative of the Government. Major shipbuilding projects in Indian Shipyards, both Private and Public result in the creation of jobs at these Shipyards as well as encouragement to MSMEs to develop indigenous technologies and manufacturing units in support of these major shipbuilding projects. The fifteen-year naval Indigenisation Plan promulgated in 2015 by the Navy has set the tone for the Indian Industry to create infrastructure, skilling and jobs. The Conference also undertook a review of the Navys Mission Based Deployments. The review was aimed at maximising benefits accrued from the deployment of IN ships and aircraft to critical areas within the IOR. Measures such as information sharing with other navies as well as combining Defence Diplomacy initiatives such as Bi-lateral exercises and port visits into these deployments are planned to be undertaken. The Navys new Transition Cycle for ships from maintenance to operations was also reviewed by the Commanders. This has resulted in considerable improvement in combat efficiency and crew proficiency of ships undergoing the new Transition Cycle. The new Transition Cycle has also resulted in the overall improvement of Op Logistics, spares management and forecasting, Refit planning and expenditure management. The Naval Commanders Conference also saw the inauguration of a new Digital Library available pan-Navy for knowledge management and retrieval including archiving of critical data and information. This was complemented by deliberations on the security and hardening of naval data networks in keeping with contemporary cyber security practices. In keeping with the Navys ethos of harnessing niche technologies, concrete plans to incorporate Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence into the Navys operational functioning have also been formulated. The Naval Commanders also interacted with Arvind Subramanian, the Chief Economic Advisor and the Chiefs of the Army and Air Force. The next edition of the Naval Commanders Conference is scheduled in October or November later this year. GANDHINAGAR: Based on its interrogation of two suspected ISIS operatives who were nabbed last year, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has exposed a sinister plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to reports, the Gujarat ATS has filed a chargesheet in which it claimed that an unidentified associate of one of the two men arrested by it last year had actually talked about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Yeah let's take Modi out with a sniper rifle," is a line from a conversation cited by the Gujarat ATS in its chargesheet, attributed to an associate of Ubed Ahmed Mirza. The ATS arrested Mirza and Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala in October last year and it filed a chargesheet against them before the chief judicial magistrate at Ankleshwar in Bharuch district last month. The Gujarat ATS cited a WhatsApp chat between Mirza and his associate, identified only as 'Ferrari', on September 10, 2016, where the former talked about buying pistols, in its chargesheet. In response, 'Ferrari' said, "Yeah, let's take (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi out with a sniper rifle Insha-Allah", the Gujarat ATS claimed in its chargesheet. When 'Ferrari' mentioned a Russian-made gun, Mirza promptly replied, "I want it". The Gujarat ATS also cited another WhatsApp chat between them on July 26, 2016, during which Mirza was told that the ISIS handlers had asked its modules and lone-wolf attackers in India to use machetes and big chopping knives to target people. Instead of taking the risk of buying guns and assembling explosives, one can target people, "especially foreign citizens", using chopping knives, Ferrari told Mirza during the WhatsApp conversation. The Gujarat ATS has, meanwhile, begun the process to identify the other people who figure in these chats, including 'Ferrari', claimed a report by DNA. The ATS has alleged that Stimberwala and Mirza were "highly radicalised by the Jihadi ideology of Islamic State and were actively planning lone-wolf attacks on Jews". While Stimberwala worked as a laboratory technician at a hospital in Ankleshwar, Mirza was a practising lawyer at the Surat district court. Abdullah el-Faisal, a radical preacher based in Jamaica, and suspected ISIS handler Shafi Armar have been shown as absconding accused in the charge sheet. ATS claimed Stimberwala and Mirza were in touch with el-Faisal and Armar to plan attacks on Jews in India. They conducted a recce of some of the targets and were planning to send radicalised youths outside India to take part in terrorist acts, the charge sheet said. Both have been charged under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (sedition) and 125 (waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with India), apart from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. (With PTI inputs) CALGARY, Alberta , May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trican Well Service Ltd. (TSX:TCW) (Trican or the Company) today announced the final results from its 2018 annual meeting held on May 10, 2018 (the "Meeting"). The following seven nominees were elected as directors of Trican to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders of Trican, or until their successors are elected or appointed: Nominee # Votes For % Votes For # Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld G. Allen Brooks 177,743,861 94.95% 9,452,857 5.05% Murray L. Cobbe 156,588,233 83.65% 30,608,485 16.35% Dale M. Dusterhoft 178,641,018 95.43% 8,555,700 4.57% Bradley P.D. Fedora 152,090,559 81.25% 35,106,159 18.75% Kevin L. Nugent 179,016,475 95.63% 8,180,243 4.37% Alexander J. Pourbaix 181,195,748 96.79% 6,000,970 3.21% Deborah S. Stein 183,166,478 97.85% 4,030,240 2.15% At the Meeting, shareholders also voted to approve the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors of Trican, with Votes For totaling 177,970,593 Trican Shares representing 93.09% of the Trican Shares voted. An advisory vote to accept Trican's approach to executive compensation was approved by shareholders with Votes For totaling 179,890,721 Trican Shares representing 96.10% of Trican Shares Voted. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Trican provides a comprehensive array of specialized products, equipment and services that are used during the exploration and development of oil and gas reserves. Requests for further information should be directed to: Dale Dusterhoft President and Chief Executive Officer E-mail: ddusterhoft@trican.ca Michael Baldwin Senior Vice President, Corporate Development E-mail: mbaldwin@trican.ca Robert Skilnick Chief Financial Officer E-mail: robert.skilnick@trican.ca Phone: (403) 266-0202 Fax: (403) 237-7716 2900, 645 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 4G8 Please visit our website at www.tricanwellservice.com ALIGARH: In the wake of growing demands for removing the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah from the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, Pakistan has said that the controversy over its founder showed the "growing intolerance and prejudice" in India towards Muslims. Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr. Mohammad Faisal said at a weekly briefing that traditionally pictures of all life members (of the AMU students' union) are displayed in the AMU and Jinnah's picture has been on display since 1938. "The row over the picture's display on the demand of a member of the incumbent government indicates the growing intolerance, xenophobia and prejudice especially against Muslims and Pakistan in India and is very dangerous, most of all for India itself," Faisal said. The reactions from Pakistan coincided with a demand from the AMU Students' Union for action against the right-wing members who had allegedly entered into the varsity's campus on May 2 and indulged in an "unprovoked attack" on students. The students of the AMU have written a letter to the Centre and the state government demanding action against the right-wing members for damaging the reputation of the historic university. According to reports, the members of the AMU Students' Union have written three separate letters addressing PM Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Union HRD Ministry to clear the air over the matter and take action against those who indulged in an "unprovoked attack" on the varsity students. In a related development, the AMU Alumni Forum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also submitted a memorandum to the Consulate General of India in the country demanding prompt action against right-wing activists for vitiating the atmosphere of the prestigious university in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. The memorandum, addressed to the President of India, claimed the "armed hooligans" were planning to attack former vice president Hamid Ansari, who was visiting the AMU campus. President of the forum, Syed Qutubur Rahman, said similar memorandums were being sent to the President from different AMU alumni associations all over the Middle-East. Similar memorandums condemning the police lathicharge have been sent from alumni associations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia, USA, South Korea and New Zealand, he said. The controversy erupted after BJP MP Satish Gautam had written a letter to AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor objecting to the portrait, triggering a row that led to two youths being arrested in connection with incidents of violence and exams being postponed to May 12. The Vice Chancellor has said that the portrait of the Pakistan founder had been hanging in the AMU students' union office since 1938 and it was a non-issue. Adding to a new twist to the row over Jinnah, ruling BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule on Thursday said that Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a 'maha purush' who had contributed in country's independence. "Jinnah was a 'maha purush' and will always remain so. He had contributed in country's independence," she said. Noted yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Baba Ramdev too joined the ongoing debate over the removal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking on the issue in Nalanda, Ramdev recently said, ''Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, cannot be an ideal for India's integrity and unity.'' A large number of AMU students have been agitating for the past few days, demanding action against the right-wing protesters, who entered the campus and demanded the removal of Jinnah's portrait from the student union's office. Hitting out at those who opposed the call to remove Jinnah's portrait in AMU, the ruling BJP said that those standing with Jinnah also stood for terrorist Afzal Guru. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that those who are standing for Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah also stood for terrorists like Afzal Guru. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Take care and do yoga. This is the message with which Ramdev visited Lalu Prasad Yadav after the RJD chief was granted provisional bail for six weeks on health grounds on Friday. Lalu - convicted in a number of fodder scam cases - had appealed for bail saying his health is suffering and that he needs proper treatment. He was previously being treated at Delhi's AIIMS before being referred to a hospital in Ranchi. On Friday, Ranchi High Court granted him provisional bail on health grounds. Soon after getting bail, Lalu was paid a visit by Yoga guru Ramdev who said he had suggested a number of asanas to the veteran politician. "Firstly I congratulated Lalu Ji on being granted bail for six weeks and asked him to take proper care of himself by doing yoga," he told news agency ANI. Yoga Guru Ramdev visits Lalu Prasad Yadav at the latter's residence in Patna. Ramdev says,"Firstly I congratulated Lalu Ji on being granted bail for six weeks and asked him to take proper care of himself by doing yoga." #Bihar pic.twitter.com/v4ocUdaOGZ ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 Whether Lalu indeed chooses to do yoga is not yet certain but what is certain is that his movement while out on bail would be closely monitored. Sources have said that he is not allowed to speak to media persons while out on bail and that his whereabouts would be recorded on video. He will remain in a security cover provided jointly by Bihar and Jharkhand Police. As many as four officials of DSP rank have been given the charge for Lalu's security. The RJD supremo had applied for a parole from May 9 to May 13 to attend the wedding ceremony of Tej Pratap and Aishwarya. According to reports, the jail administration had sought the advice of advocate general to take a decision on the parole. (With agency inputs) PATNA: Apparently sidelined BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has once again slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for delivering acerbic speeches while campaigning for the party in parts of poll-bound Karnataka. The actor-turned-politician, who has been very critical of Modi government's policies, disapproved the Prime Minister's aggressive and very hard-hitting remarks made against the Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi. On the day when the election campaigning in Karnataka came to an end, he the also sought to offer some 'advice' to his party. In a series of tweets, Sinha tagged PM Modi and said becoming the prime minister does not make anyone the wisest. ''Sir. Today, the election campaign will come to an end. Regardless of Dhan Shakti (power of wealth)..Ultimately Jan Shakti (power of the people) prevails,'' Sinha tweeted in his trademark style. His tweets also amply reflected his disenchantment over not being invited as a star campaigner for the BJP in the state elections. ''Even though I am uninvited, like in other states, from Bihar to UP to Gujarat as a star campaigner, for reasons best known to all of us, I shall humbly suggest as an old friend, well-wisher and supporter of the party..Let's not cross limits. Let's not get personal. Issues should be conveyed in the most beautiful way, keeping decorum. 'Maryada' and 'Garima' of the honourable PM must be kept intact,' tweeted the Patna Sahib MP. Sir. Today, the election campaign will come to an end. Regardless of Dhan Shakti..ultimately Jan Shakti prevails. Even though I am uninvited, like in other states...from Bihar to UP to Gujarat as a star campaigner, for reasons best known to all of us, I shall humbly suggest..1>2 Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 10, 2018 ...as an old friend, colleague & still a well-wisher, supporter & member of the party..Let's not cross limits. Let's not get personal. Issues should be conveyed in most beautiful way, keeping decorum. Maryada & Garima of honourable PM must be kept intact..@narendramodi@AmitShah Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 10, 2018 Interestingly, he tagged both PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in his tweet. In one such tweet, Sinha questioned the rationale behind PM Modi making the ''PPP'' remark against the Congress party. ''Why do we come with odd and ridiculous definitions?... Like PPP for INC (Pondicherry, Punjab and Pariwar)'', he tweeted, strongly disapproving the barbs hurled by the Prime Minister at the Congress during his election rallies. Why do we come with odd & ridiculous definitions...like PPP for INC (Pondicherry, Punjab & Pariwar). Results will be announced on 15th. Anything can happen. Being PM does not make anyone the wisest in the country....for being PM requires no qualification...only majority..!2>3 Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 10, 2018 Reactions from Sinha came days after the PM had mounted a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, and asserted that it will remain "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar" Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls. The PM apparently made these remarks while addressing an election rally on May 5. ''Results will be announced on 15th. Anything can happen. Being PM does not make anyone the wisest in the country. For being PM requires no qualification....only majority...While for becoming Shankaracharya one requires great wisdom, experience and statesmanship," Sinha tweeted. ''What happens if your definition changes after results and your PPP becomes of the People by the People and for the People, or for that matter turns into Popular People's Party,'' he said in another tweet. While for becoming Shankaracharya one requires great wisdom, experience & statesmanship. What happens if your definition changes after results & your PPP becomes "of the People, by the People, for the People", or for that matter, turns into "Popular People's Party" @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/md00rK3LCO Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 10, 2018 Sinha concluded by urging PM Modi to ''let the people of Karnataka decide and let the best persons win." The state goes to polls on May 12 and counting of votes will take place on May 15. (With PTI inputs) Here are the top headlines of the day: 1. Biplab Dev does it again, says Rabindranath Tagore gave away Noble prize to protest against British Tagore had repudiated his Knighthood in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre in 1919. Read more 2. Unnao: CBI confirms rape allegations against Sengar, local police role under scanner After a massive public outrage over the inaction of the UP police, the case was handed over to the CBI on April 12. Read more 3. Posting of SHOs will now require DM's nod - Yogi Adityanath Government's new order According to the new order, it will now be mandatory for the SSP or the SP to take approval of the District Magistrates before posting the SHOs. Read more 4. ISIS operatives planned to assassinate PM Narendra Modi, claims Gujarat ATS chargesheet In its chargesheet filed last month before a court in Bharuch, the Gujarat ATS has exposed a sinister ISIS plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Read more 5. 104-year-old Australian commits assisted suicide in Switzerland David Goodall, the 104-year-old Australian scientist, who had travelled to Switzerland to end his life committed assisted suicide. Read more 6. Raazi movie review: Alia Bhatt's spy act gets a thumbs up from B-Town 'Raazi' is an adaptation of Harinder Sikkas novel Calling Sehmat which is inspired by real events. Read more 5. Race 3 trailer to be released on May 15; Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol reach Salman Khan's residence This is when the Race 3 trailer will be released by makers! Read more NEW DELHI: No proposal has been received from the Jammu and Kashmir state government so far, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said following J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's statement on unilateral ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) during the month of Ramzan. The Centre will take the matter into consideration following state government's proposal. On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party wing of the state said that there was no consensus of the party in the matter. Following an all-party meeting called by Mufti, J&K BJP had said, "There was no consensus on it. BJP doesn't stand by anything that says its time to observe unilateral ceasefire (with Pakistan)." Rajnath's statement comes after the Chief Minister had on Wednesday said that both India and Pakistan should consider the prospect of a unilateral ceasefire. "Everyone (all parties) agreed that we should appeal to the Centre to consider a ceasefire like the unilateral ceasefire in (former PM Atal Bihari) Vajpayee's time in Ramzan (later this month) till Amarnath yatra and Eid," she had said. Mufti had said that a ceasefire would provide relief to the people and help create a better atmosphere in the state. "The Centre should think on these lines so that the common people get some relief because they are facing many difficulties due to encounters, crackdowns and search operations," she said. India continues to maintain that peace is in the best interest of people in Jammu and Kashmir but is also firm that it won't be at the cost of innocent lives of either locals or army personnel. Pakistan has repeatedly attempted to provide cover fire to terrorists trying to cross over the LoC - crippling every attempt from the Indian side to maintain peace. The Indian Army has previously said that Pakistani forces deliberately target innocent villagers through mortar shelling. Pakistan had violated ceasefire along the LoC 650 times till April and has continued unprovoked firing since as well. Indian forces have retaliated strongly each time. The valley has witnessed the killing of over 55 militants including at least 27 locals this year. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Highways Authority Of India (NHAI) to ensure that the newly constructed Eastern Peripheral Expressway, which is aimed at decongesting Delhi, is inaugurated on or before May 31. The apex court took exception to the 135-km Expressway, which envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, not being thrown open to the public despite being informed earlier that it would be inaugurated by April 20. A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta made it clear that if the Eastern Peripheral Expressway was not inaugurated on or before May 31, it would be thrown open for public use as the national capital was already under traffic distress. The NHAI counsel told the court that the expressway was scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29 but it could not be done due to his prior commitments. The Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways were planned in 2006 following the top court's order to build a ring road outside the national capital for channelling non-Delhi bound traffic. The counsel appearing for the Haryana government told the bench that 81 percent work of the 135-km Western Peripheral Expressway was done and the private entity involved in the work had assured that construction would be completed by June 30 this year. According to the timeline, work on the Western Peripheral Expressway, which connects Kundli to Palwal via Manesar in Haryana, was to be completed by February 2019 but the construction would be done by June this year, the counsel said. The apex court had asked the Centre in 2005 to build a peripheral expressway around Delhi by July 2016 to decongest and "de-pollute" the national capital. KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers at the 20th century Janaki temple in Janakpur during his two-day visit to Nepal. He will hold talks with the country's top leadership to build mutual trust over the course of the two days om Nepal. After his visit to the temple, PM Modi launched a bus service between Janakpur-Ayodhya. "I am honoured to have been able to come to the birthplace of 'mata Janaki'. Idia and Nepal will work towards building 'Ramayan' circuit between both the countries. This will act as a foundation for strong people to people contact between the two nations," he said. He was accompanied by Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Ramayana Circuit is an initiative undertaken by the Indian Ministry of Tourism to help promote religious tourism. The Indian government has identified 15 destinations in India for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). Janakpur is known as the birthplace of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Janaki temple was built in memory of Sita in 1910. The three-storied structure made entirely of stone and marble is 50-metre high and spread over 4860 sq feet. WATCH: PM Narendra Modi offers prayers at Janki Temple in #Nepal's Janakpur pic.twitter.com/a0alC1YvCV ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. "Today's welcome in Nepal shows the affection the people of Nepal have towards the people of India," Modi said on Friday. PM Narendra Modi & Nepalese PM KP Sharma Oli flag off the Indo-Nepal bus service from #Nepal's Janakpur to Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya. pic.twitter.com/4cxRf64cOM ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 Ahead of his visit, Modi had said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. Describing his trip to Nepal as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy, Modi had said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers and played a musical instrument at the 20th century Janaki temple in Janakpur in Nepal. The two leaders jointly performed a special puja at the shrine in the temple town of Janakpur, some 225 km from capital Kathmandu. The Prime Minister was facilitated by one of the members of the temple board and was presented with a memento that depicted the landscape of the temple. PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Nepal where he is scheduled to hold talks with the country's top leadership to build mutual trust over the course of the two days om Nepal. #WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi played musical instrument during his visit to Janki temple in Nepal's Janakpur pic.twitter.com/q99Nvs5dV3 ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 After his visit to the temple, PM Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli launched a bus service connecting Janakpur with Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. "Mere Bhai, this welcome is an honour to all Indian citizens. I am really happy with you the way you welcomed me here," Modi told Oli. "India and Nepal will work towards building 'Ramayan' circuit between both the countries. Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment. This will act as foundation for strong people to people contact between the two nations," he said. Speaking about the Janakpur-Ayodhya bus transit route, the Prime Minister said, "Tourism is developing at a fast pace across the world. The Ramayan Circuit has immense potential." This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. Seeing the huge crowd gathered at the civic reception, Prime Minister Modi underscored that his welcome to the Himalayan nation showed the affection of the people of Nepal they have towards the people of India. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day State visit to Nepal on Friday during which he will hold discussions with his Nepali counterpart KP Oli and other top leaders of the neighbouring country aimed at further strengthening the bilateral ties. PM Modi took to Twitter on Wednesday and said that his visit reflects the high priority India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal. I will be visiting Nepal on 11th and 12th May at the invitation of PM Mr. KP Sharma Oli. This visit reflects the high priority India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal. I will be holding extensive talks with PM Oli on ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 10, 2018 After landing in Nepal, Prime Minister Modi will visit country's historical and ancient city of Janakpur. ''Apart from Kathmandu, there would be visits to Janakpur and Muktinath during this Nepal visit. These are vibrant centres of pilgrimage and tourism. They are also testimony to the strong cultural ties that bind our nations,'' the PM said in another tweet. Apart from Kathmandu, there would be visits to Janakpur and Muktinath during this Nepal visit. These are vibrant centres of pilgrimage and tourism. They are also testimony to the strong cultural ties that bind our nations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 10, 2018 Modi's visit to the famous Janaki Mandir will be followed by a civic reception hosted by the Mayor of Janakpur at Barhabigha Ground. Ahead of PM Modi's arrival, a huge crowd had gathered at the Barbigha Ground in Janakpur. #Nepal: People gather at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. pic.twitter.com/VhPht7eMwk ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 During his visit, Prime Minister Modi and Oli are likely to sign a number of pacts and inaugurate the Rs 6000-crore Arun 3 project which is expected to generate around 900 MW of power. According to sources, a joint announcement on the proposed Ramayan Circuit, under which fifteen destinations like Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be developed to promote religious tourism, can also be made by the two sides. The two sides will hold bilateral talks as well. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to meet with President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Prime Minister Modi will also visit Muktinath temple in Mustang District and will depart for India on Saturday evening. (With ANI Inputs) Kathmandu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Kathmandu on a two-day state visit to Nepal during which he will hold talks with the country's top leadership to build mutual trust. PM Modi was received by Nepal's Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut upon his arrival at the airport here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at #Nepal's Janakpur Airport. pic.twitter.com/Wl30NNlkNj ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 Here is all you need to know about PM Modi's Nepal visit: -This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. -PM Modi will visit the 20th century Janaki Temple in Janakpur and offer special prayers there. -Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be there to welcome his Indian counterpart at the Janaki Temple. -Later, PM Modi will be accorded a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha Ground. -During his visit, Prime Minister Modi and Oli are likely to sign a number of pacts and inaugurate the Rs 6000-crore Arun 3 project which is expected to generate around 900 MW of power. -According to sources, a joint announcement on the proposed Ramayan Circuit, under which fifteen destinations like Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be developed to promote religious tourism, can also be made by the two sides. -The two sides will hold bilateral talks as well. -PM Modi will leave for Kathmandu in the afternoon of Saturday. There will be a call by Foreign Minister of Nepal Pradeep Gyawali. This will be followed by a ceremonial reception. -He will also call on President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. -This will be followed by the bilateral talks between the two Prime Ministers. -Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will host dinner in the honour of PM Modi in the evening of May 11 -On the morning of May 12, PM Modi will visit the Muktinath Temple in Mustang district. -He will come back to Kathmandu and offer prayers at the Pashupathi Nath Temple, according to a briefing by the MEA spokesperson earlier. #Nepal: Visuals from Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit here tomorrow. Member of the Temple Trust, Pradeep Dhakal says, 'Special prayers will be conducted. We are ready to welcome him.' pic.twitter.com/c6jDRHnzRj ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 -Later, the Prime Minister will meet the leaders of various political parties of Nepal, which will be followed by a civic reception that will be hosted by the Mayor of Kathmandu in honour of the visiting Prime Minister. -Prime Minister Modi will depart for India after the civic reception on Saturday evening. -Ahead of his visit, Modi said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. I will be visiting Nepal on 11th and 12th May at the invitation of PM Mr. KP Sharma Oli. This visit reflects the high priority India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal. I will be holding extensive talks with PM Oli on ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 10, 2018 Describing his trip to Nepal as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy, Modi had said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. New Delhi: Several posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, smiling and hand folded, with the tagline "The Lie Lama" was plastered on several walls in the national capital. The posters were later removed by police. Images of the poster earlier went viral on social media. The posters were found yesterday pasted on walls in Mandir Marg's J-Block area, NDMC area, Central Delhi's Patel Nagar and Shanker Road areas. Several BJP leaders and members raised an objection on the posters. At around 10:15 pm, the police removed the posters from Mandir Marg and seized them. There's no mention of the printer or press on the poster, the police told Zee News media. A case was registered against unidentified persons for pasting the posters under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property (DPDP) Act on Thursday evening, said police. Locals would be questioned to ascertain the identity of the people behind the act, they said, reported PTI. Authorities are also likely to scan the CCTV footage. Last year, in August 2017, several 'missing' posters of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi emerged in Amethi. A week later, posters declaring his mother and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi as missing appeared in Rae Bareli. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently on a two-day visit to Nepal. On Thursday, he was in Karnataka, campaigning for BJP for the state Assembly elections on Saturday. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Collegium is scheduled to meet on Friday to reconsider its recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph and other judges to the top court. According to ANI, the Supreme Court Collegium will convene a meeting on the decision of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph's elevation to the Supreme Court at 1 pm today. #FLASH: The Supreme Court collegium will convene a meeting on the decision of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph's elevation to the Supreme Court today at 1 pm. (File Pic) pic.twitter.com/skMqqBQ0SM ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 The members of the SC Collegium, which will decide on Justice KM Joseph's case, include Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the top four senior judges of the top court. Besides Justice Joseph, the Collegium will also consider names of judges from the Calcutta, Rajasthan, and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court. The development came in the wake of a letter by the second senior-most judge of the apex court, Justice J Chelameswar, to the CJI on Wednesday seeking reiteration of Collegium's January 10 unanimous recommendation for elevating Justice Joseph. With just six working days left before Justice Chelameswar bids adieu to the Supreme Court, he said the recommendation must be done at the earliest and the file carrying the reiteration sent back to the government. Though Justice Chelameswar, a member of the Collegium, is retiring on June 22, the top court is left with six working days before it goes for a six-week summer break next weekend. On May 2, the Collegium, which also includes Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Madan Lokur, met and deferred a decision on the government`s request to reconsider its recommendation for the elevation of Justice Joseph. The meeting was inconclusive but no specific date was given for the next meeting of the collegium which was speculated to take place this week. Justice Kurian Joseph earlier said the Central government should not have rejected the recommendation as this has never happened before. The top court collegium, recommending the elevation of Justice Joseph on January 10, said: "The collegium considers that at present Justice K.M. Joseph, who hails from Kerala High Court and is currently functioning as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court, is more deserving and suitable in all respects than other Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of High Courts for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court." However, the Central government while returning his recommendation for reconsideration said Justice Joseph stood at number 42 in the seniority of High Court judges and there are 11 Chief Justices of different high courts who are senior to him -- a clear suggestion that his elevation to the Supreme Court would be at their expense. The Centre also raised the principle of proportionality contending that Kerala High Court was a "comparatively small High Court" with a sanctioned strength of 42 judges and was a parent high court for the top court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, the Chief Justices of three High Courts -- Justice K.M. Joseph himself (Uttarakhand), Justice T.B. Radhakrishnan (Chhattisgarh) and Justice Antony Dominic (Kerala). The Central government also flagged the absence of SC/ST judges in the top judiciary. There is a perception that the government was standing in the way of the elevation of Justice Joseph because of his judgement in 2016 striking down the Central government's decision to impose President's rule in Uttarakhand, but Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has denied this. (With Agency inputs) They may be bitter political rivals but Sushil Modi had reportedly assured his presence for Lalu Prasad Yadav's son's wedding with Aishwarya Rai scheduled for Sunday. The BJP leader though is unlikely to be present as he is believed to be traveling to Poland. The BJP and RJD have traded countless allegations in an ongoing political feud. That did not stop Lalu's son Tej Pratap from personally inviting the veteran political leader for his wedding. At the time, it was reported that Modi had said he would be present to give his blessings. Later, Tej Pratap had tweeted that he has a big heart with place for everyone and because Modi had been associated with his father for a long time, had assured of his presence. All of that though may not manifest because Modi is traveling to Poland to attend the 10th edition of European Economic Congress. The Bihar Deputy CM is scheduled to fly for Poland from New Delhi in the morning of Sunday, according to local media reports. This means he would, quite obviously, be unable to attend the ceremony back in Bihar. Meanwhile, wedding festivities are in full swing at both Tej Pratap and Aishwarya's houses. On Wednesday night, a lavish mehendi ceremonywas hosted by the bride's family in Patna. Aishwarya donned a beautiful green lehenga with golden embroidery patchwork, while Tej Pratap looked dashing in a yellow bandhi and white kurta. That Lalu - jailed in several fodder scam cases - was given a provisional bail on health grounds for three weeks means that his family won't be missing him for the important event. CHANDIGARH: More than 27,000 students have failed in the Punjabi language paper in the Class 10 examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) this year. Just days after the results were out, a Punjab University professor on Friday blamed the authorities calling them impractical. Professor Y R Angrish further said that the fund they are allocated with for Punjabi language is very less. Mentioning countries like China, Japan and Germany, the Punjab University professor said that unlike these countries, the mother tongue in the state is not given priority. Punjab: Over 27,000 students of Class 10th of State Board failed in Punjabi language exam; Prof YR Angrish of Punjab University says, 'China, Japan, Germany follow their mother tongue spiritually. Officials in Punjab aren't practical about it, we have less funding for Punjabi' pic.twitter.com/EtDvjeatrl ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 "China, Japan, Germany follow their mother tongue spiritually. Officials in Punjab are not practical about it, we have less funding for Punjabi," Professor Angrish told ANI. The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) had on Tuesday announced PSEB Class 10 Matriculation results 2018. The results were made available on the board's official website at pseb.ac.in. PSEB Class 10th Matriculation exam was held from March 12 to 31, 2018. Gurpreet Singh from Ludhiana's Shri Harikrishan Sahib Senior Secondary School topped the examination after scoring 98 per cent. Jasmeen Kaur of Kapurthala bagged the second position with a score of 97.85 percent while Puneet Kaur of Fatehgarh Sahib secured 97.59 per cent in the examination. Singapore: Three Indian naval ships sailed out of Singapore on Thursday to join upcoming MALABAR exercise which will be held jointly with the US and Japanese navies off Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Speaking to reporters at the sailing off, India's High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf said the Eastern Team fleet is continuing India's commitment and objective to see the oceans remain "peaceful, open space and uncontested". "These ships are on their way to MALABAR exercise with the navies of United States and Japan, and one of them, INS Sahyadri, will take part in the 'RIMPAC' exercise," he said. RIMPAC or the Rim of Pacific Exercise is the biggest maritime warfare exercise involving navies of several countries. It is held by the US Navy biennially in the ocean around Hawaii. The US-Japan-India joint naval exercise comes amidst flexing of muscles by China in the regional waters. During the deployment while on MALABAR exercise, the ships will be building partnerships and closer bonds with the navies of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. "In a way, our engagement with the region is growing with regular exercises," he said, stressing on the excellent relations with major maritime power.INS Sahyadri and INS Kamorta as well as tanker INS Shakti, with 730 navy personnel, were in Singapore for three days, interacting with the local Navy. Ashraf underlined India and Singapore's naval relations, which last year saw visits by India's eight navy ships and two coast guard ships. "With Singapore, we have the longest and uninterrupted exercise which has been going on for 25 years," he said. The envoy also highlighted the success of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, a platform where navies can communicate with each other and develop a sense of understanding, which has now grown to 34 member countries including Singapore. MILAN, he said, was another naval exercise promoting multi-lateral exercises and understanding in managing oceans. He stressed India's good relations with many of the littoral states, saying "we will continue to build on that". "We are conscious of the need to work with others (navies) to prevent any contesting (in the Ocean)," said the envoy, adding that the Indian Ocean remains most peaceful and the most uncontested region. The US had last week warned China that it would face "consequences" for military buildup in the disputed South China Sea in the Pacific Ocean where Beijing has deployed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. China claims almost all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. In April, the Chinese military held its largest ever maritime drill in the disputed South China Sea during which it displayed for the first time the country's aircraft carrier strike group and the most advance weaponry of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The drill was held amid frequent forays made by US naval and aircraft into the South China Sea to assert the freedom of navigation especially around the artificial islands built by China, where it has also established garrisons. Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission here said the visit of naval ships seeks to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain. "Indian Naval assets have been increasingly deployed in recent times to address the main maritime concerns of the region. The current deployment will contribute towards the Indian Navy's efforts to consolidate inter-operability and forge strong bonds of friendship across the seas," it said in a statement. India and Singapore share a rich history and a strategic relationship, it said, adding that a number of bilateral agreements exist between the two countries in various spheres. An Indian naval delegation also interacted with Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) representatives during their visits on board under construction RSN's new Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV) RSS Justice and at International Fusion Centre. The three Eastern Fleet Ships had arrived in Singapore on 6 May. NEW DELHI: In a big development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday confirmed the rape allegations against Bangarmau BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. Confirming the charge, the probing agency said that Sengar's accomplice Shashi Singh had lured the victim - who was a minor at the time - to Sengar's residence on the pretext of a job last year. On June 4, 2017, the victim along with Shashi Singh had approached Sengar at his home in Uttar Pradeshs Makhi village, where the incident took place. Singh, who was later held by police, stood guard outside the room as Sengar and his associates proceeded to gang-rape the woman. On June 11, the victim was again abducted by three youth. She was repeatedly gang-raped and kept inside an SUV over a period of eight to nine days. The CBI is also probing the role of local police which reportedly delayed the victim's medical examination under influence of the Bangarmau BJP MLA, a fact also highlighted by the court. In April, the Allahabad High Court came down heavily on UP police for its inaction against the BJP legislator who was influencing the "law-and-order machinery". "The disturbing feature of the case is that the law and order machinery and the government officials were directly in league and under the influence of Kuldeep Singh," a bench of Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale and Justice Sunit Kumar had said. The authorities had allegedly refused to register the victim's complaint. The Unnao incident came to light after the victim and her family tried to set themselves ablaze outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home. A day later, the victim's father who was held by cops passed away, with report postmortem pointing at internal injuries. After a 17-hour interrogation, and after facing flak from the court, Sengar was finally arrested by the CBI on April 13. Later, his 'Y' security was removed. The victim has named several persons in her complaint. After a massive public outrage over the inaction of the UP police, the case was handed over to the CBI on April 12. Three FIRs have been filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the case. The first FIR pertains to the alleged rape of the girl in which Sengar and Shashi Singh have been named as accused. The second pertains to rioting, in which four locals have been booked, and the alleged killing of the victim's father in judicial custody. Since the murder charge was added later by the state police, it does not reflect in the CBI FIR. The third case pertains to the allegations against the victim's father, who was arrested by the police under the Arms Act and put in jail, where he died. According to the post-mortem examination report, he had suffered serious injuries. With agencies input Jammu: A 22-year-old man was killed today after Pakistani troops resorted to firing from small arms on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, a police officer said. There was small arms firing by Pakistani troops along the LoC in the district's Gulpur-Bagyal Dhara belt, the police officer told PTI. ? The Pakistan Army initiated firing around 12:30 am on Indian Army posts in Baghal Dhara, he said. The Indian Army retaliated effectively, the officer said. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Ikhlaq, a resident of Kalsan Malti Baghal Dhara. He suffered serious injuries and died on the spot, the officer said. The man was killed during a marriage function in an area close to the LoC. A bullet fired by from across the border hit Ikhlaq, he said. There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, resulting in the death of 31 people, including 16 security personnel, in over 700 such incidents. NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission urging them to act against BJP leader B Sriramalu and bar him from fighting the Karnataka elections. Citing a video, the Congress in its letter to the EC said: "The evidence gives rise to serious questions and allegations about certain heinous and deplorable criminal activities being indulged in by the BJP's candidate Shri. B. Sriramulu." Sriramulu is BJP's candidate for Molakalmunt as well as Badami Assembly Constituencies in Karnataka. The Congress has alleged that the video is a clear cut evidence which relates to grave corrupt practices including attempting to bribe a Supreme Court judge. "In a forty-minute video that has been made public and broadcast widely in the regional Kannada media on the evening of May 100, 2018, it is clearly seen that the candidate Shri. B. Sriramulu and been other individuals (identified as G. Janardhan Reddy, Captain Reddy and Swamiji) are seen sitting with the son-in-law of a former Chief Justice of India. The discussions between them, as seen in the video and reported by the media, relate to the payment of money to the Son-in-law to secure a favourable judgment of the Supreme Court for the Reddy brothers. Upon viewing the video, there can be no doubt as to the agenda of the meeting taking place," the Congress alleged. Sriramulu-Judge Bribery Sting exposes the Bhrashta Janaradhana Party We requested the EC to direct immediate disqualification of Sriramulu & direct CEO Karnataka to lift injunction on Kanadda TV channels from showing the tapes Our Memorandum to ECI- pic.twitter.com/EL5ABIfNIq Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) May 11, 2018 Demanding his candidature be cancelled, the party said: "It is the sacred Constitutional responsibility of the Hon'ble Election Commission to ensure that the integrity of the Karnataka Assembly Elections is paramount and no individual or party to which he may belong, is above the process of the law." It also stated recalled the directives of the EC from April 2017 in which the poll body had held that candidates promoting corruption are to be treated on par with those charged with heinous crimes and must be barred from contesting polls fora certain period. BENGALURU: After a rancorous campaign for over three months, Karnataka will vote to elect a new Assembly in a three-cornered contest on Saturday. The ruling Congress and the BJP are the main contenders for power, while former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's JD(S) is likely to play the kingmaker, according to most surveys and opinion polls. The Election Commission on Friday said in a press release that nearly 20% booths are sensitive across the state and 525 companies of central forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polls. According to the figures released by the Election Commission, there are more than 4.98 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from a field of little over 2,600 candidates. Men account for over 2.52 crore voters, women around 2.44 crore, while there are 4,552 transgender electors. The poll panel said that over 55,600 polling stations have been set up, and there would be some auxiliary booths too. Over 3.5 lakh personnel will be on duty to ensure a free and fair poll. Some polling stations in tribal areas will have ethnic look, the EC sources said, adding government employees with disabilities will do duty at select polling stations for the first time. It is for the first time that people would be able know about the queue status at polling stations with large number of voters through a mobile app, the sources said. No party in Karnataka has won a second successive term in office since 1985 when the Janata Dal under Ramakrishna Hegde had retained power. The Congress is aiming at retaining the only large state it rules after Punjab, while the BJP is striving to form its government in Karnataka, which party president Amit Shah said will be its "gateway to south", for a second time. The BJP had ruled the state between 2008 and 2013, the only time it did so, but its tenure was marred by intra-party feuds and allegations of corruption. One of its three chief ministers and its current chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa was in jail over corruption charges. JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has conceded it was a "battle for survival" for his party which has been out of power for a decade now. The Congress is, however, confident of breaking the jinx, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah saying the party will create history. The Congress' main challenger BJP has spared no effort to ensure that history is repeated. Though the BJP launched its campaign, calling it "mission 150 (seats)", Shah told a press conference yesterday the party will win over 130 constituencies. Unlike in 2013, when the BJP split into factions with Yeddyurappa forming KJP and B Sriramulu of Ballari floating BSR Congress, they are all united this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook an adrenaline- charged campaign for the BJP, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi helmed his party's electoral offensive. Four current and former chief ministers are also in the fray, including Siddramaiah, who is contesting from Badami and Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara), and BJP's Jagdish Shettar from Hubbali-Dharwad. Polling will be held in 223 constituencies of the 224 -member Assembly as election has been countermanded in Jayanagara following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA B N Vijaykumar. (With PTI inputs) Bengaluru: After a rancorous campaign over three months, Karnataka will vote to elect a new Assembly in a three-cornered contest on Saturday. The ruling Congress and the BJP are the main contenders for power, while former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's JD(S) is likely to play the kingmaker, according to most surveys and opinion polls. There are more than 4.96 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from a field of little over 2,600 candidates. Men account for over 2.52 crore voters, women around 2.44 crore, while there are 4,552 transgender electors. Election office sources said over 55,600 polling stations have been set up, and there would be some auxiliary booths too. Over 3.5 lakh personnel will be on duty to ensure a free and fair poll. Some polling stations in tribal areas will have ethnic look, sources said, adding government employees with disabilities will do duty at select polling stations for the first time. It is for the first time that people would be able know about the queue status at polling stations with large number of voters through a mobile app, sources said. No party in Karnataka has won a second successive term in office since 1985 when the Janata Dal under Ramakrishna Hegde had retained power. The Congress is aiming at retaining the only large state it rules after Punjab, while the BJP is striving to form its government in Karnataka, which party president Amit Shah said will be its "gateway to south", for a second time. The BJP had ruled the state between 2008 and 2013, the only time it did so, but its tenure was marred by intra-party feuds and allegations of corruption. One of its three chief ministers and its current chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa was in jail over corruption charges. JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has conceded it was a "battle for survival" for his party which has been out of power for a decade now. The Congress is, however, confident of breaking the jinx, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah saying the party will create history. "I am often told history is against me as no sitting govt in Karnataka has been re-elected in a long time. But we are here to create history and not to obey it," Siddaramaiah tweeted. The Congress' main challenger BJP has spared no effort to ensure that history is repeated. Though the BJP launched its campaign, calling it "mission 150 (seats)", Shah told a press conference on Thursday the party will win over 130 constituencies. Unlike in 2013, when the BJP split into factions with Yeddyurappa forming KJP and B Sriramulu of Ballari floating BSR Congress, they are all united this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook an adrenaline-charged campaign for the BJP, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi helmed his party's electoral offensive. Four current and former chief ministers are also in the fray, including Siddramaiah, who is contesting from Badami and Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara), and BJP's Jagdish Shettar from Hubbali-Dharwad. Polling will be held in 223 constituencies of the 224 -member Assembly as election has been countermanded in Jayanagara following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA B N Vijaykumar. The Congress party had won 122 seats in the 2013 elections, ten more than the halfway mark. It also had the support of some independent MLAs and those of smaller parties. The BJP and JD(S) had 40 seats each, Karnataka Jantha Paksha 6, Badavara Shramikara Raitra 4, Karnataka Makkala Paksha, Samajwadi Party, Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (one each) and Independents 9. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 15 and results will be declared the same day. Monaco, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GasLog Ltd. (the Company) (NYSE: GLOG), an international owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, announced the election of ten directors at the Companys annual general meeting of shareholders held in Lausanne today. The elected directors are Peter G. Livanos, Bruce L. Blythe, David P. Conner, William M. Friedrich, Dennis M. Houston, Donald J. Kintzer, Julian R. Metherell, Anthony S. Papadimitriou, Graham Westgarth and Paul A. Wogan. Each director was elected to hold office until the next annual general meeting of shareholders or until his successor has been duly elected and qualified. Shareholders also approved the appointment of Deloitte LLP as the Companys independent auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 and until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting, and authorized the Companys board of directors, acting through the audit and risk committee, to determine the independent auditor fee. About GasLog Ltd . GasLog is an international owner, operator and manager of LNG carriers providing support to international energy companies as part of their LNG logistics chain. GasLog's consolidated fleet consists of 29 LNG carriers (25 ships on the water and four on order). GasLog also has an additional LNG carrier which was sold to a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and leased back under a long-term bareboat charter. Following the closing of the GasLog Gibraltar acquisition, GasLogs consolidated fleet includes 13 LNG carriers in operation owned by GasLog Partners. GasLog's principal executive offices are at Gildo Pastor Center, 7 Rue du Gabian, MC 98000, Monaco. Visit GasLogs website at http://www.gaslogltd.com. Contacts: Phil Corbett Head of Investor Relations Phone: +44-20-3388-3116 Joseph Nelson Deputy Head of Investor Relations Phone: +1-212-223-0643 Email: ir@gaslogltd.com Bengaluru: A day after the Election Commission deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka, a delegation of Congress leaders will meet the poll panel officials on Friday. According to reports, the delegation including senior Congress leaders will meet the Election Commission officials around 10:30 am at Nirvachan Sadan in the national capital. The poll panel, while deferring its decision on the ID cards recovery case, also sought fresh information from the state election machinery. Highly-placed sources in the poll panel said that prima facie it seems that most of the voter ID cards recovered were "genuine". However, the reason as to why they were found in the flat is still being ascertained, they said. The national poll watchdog, the sources said, deliberated on the issue and decided to seek more information from the State Election Commission before arriving at a conclusion. If the EC finds that a fraud was involved, it could even cancel election to the constituency. Even in that case, if the EC is able to ascertain that attempt was made to stop people from voting, it can cancel the poll. "Now we have to ensure that genuine voters can cast their votes using voter slips distributed to electors. Also, the machinery has to ensure that no voter is intimidated," an official had yesterday said. Nearly 10,000 voter ID cards were seized from a flat in Jalahalli in RR Nagar on Tuesday. Thousands of counterfoils of Form 6 used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls were seized too. The flying squad that reached the spot on a tip-off found a few pamphlets featuring sitting Congress MLA N Muniratna that led to BJP and JD(S) demanding the poll be countermanded. However, it turned out later that the house belonged to BJP leader Manjula Nanjamari and the tenant Rakesh, also a BJP worker, is her close relative. This had prompted the Congress to point fingers at the saffron party. (With Agency inputs) Bengaluru: After a rancorous campaign over three months, Karnataka will vote to elect a new Assembly in a three-cornered contest on Saturday. The ruling Congress and the BJP are the main contenders for power, while former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's JD(S) is likely to play the kingmaker, according to most surveys and opinion polls. (Also read: IMD predicts rain across Karnataka on polling day | In pics: How Karnataka got ready to vote) There are more than 4.96 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from a field of little over 2,600 candidates. Men account for over 2.52 crore voters, women around 2.44 crore, while there are 4,552 transgender electors. (Also read: All the numbers that matter | 1.5 lakh security personnel deployed) Election office sources said over 55,600 polling stations have been set up, and there would be some auxiliary booths too. Over 3.5 lakh personnel will be on duty to ensure a free and fair poll. Some polling stations in tribal areas will have ethnic look, sources said, adding government employees with disabilities will do duty at select polling stations for the first time. It is for the first time that people would be able know about the queue status at polling stations with large number of voters through a mobile app, sources said. No party in Karnataka has won a second successive term in office since 1985 when the Janata Dal under Ramakrishna Hegde had retained power. The Congress is aiming at retaining the only large state it rules after Punjab, while the BJP is striving to form its government in Karnataka, which party president Amit Shah said will be its "gateway to south", for a second time. The BJP had ruled the state between 2008 and 2013, the only time it did so, but its tenure was marred by intra-party feuds and allegations of corruption. One of its three chief ministers and its current chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa was in jail over corruption charges. JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has conceded it was a "battle for survival" for his party which has been out of power for a decade now. The Congress is, however, confident of breaking the jinx, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah saying the party will create history. "I am often told history is against me as no sitting govt in Karnataka has been re-elected in a long time. But we are here to create history and not to obey it," Siddaramaiah tweeted. The Congress' main challenger BJP has spared no effort to ensure that history is repeated. Though the BJP launched its campaign, calling it "mission 150 (seats)", Shah told a press conference yesterday the party will win over 130 constituencies. Unlike in 2013, when the BJP split into factions with Yeddyurappa forming KJP and B Sriramulu of Ballari floating BSR Congress, they are all united this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook an adrenaline- charged campaign for the BJP, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi helmed his party's electoral offensive. Four current and former chief ministers are also in the fray, including Siddramaiah, who is contesting from Badami and Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara), and BJP's Jagdish Shettar from Hubbali-Dharwad. Polling will be held in 223 constituencies of the 224 -member Assembly as election has been countermanded in Jayanagara following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA B N Vijaykumar. The Congress party had won 122 seats in the 2013 elections, the halfway mark, and ran its government with the support of independent MLAs and smaller parties. The BJP and JD(S) had 40 seats each, Karnataka Jantha Paksha 6, Badavara Shramikara Raitra 4, Karnataka Makkala Paksha, Samajwadi Party, Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (one each) and Independents 9. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 15 and results will be declared the same day. New Delhi: Hailed as one of the most beautiful women on earth, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has finally made her stunning debut on Instagram. The Cannes regular has headed for the French Riviera and will be walking the red carpet for the cosmetic brand she endorses. Aishwarya has always remained away from the social media craze but has now finally joined Instagram. Check out the screen grab of her account: She will be walking the Cannes red carpet on May 12, 2018, and ahead of her smashing appearance, the actress decided to treat her fans with this fun news. We are sure her Instagram account is going to have an ocean of fan following. Earlier, Katrina Kaif too had kept away from the social media buzz but after she joined Instagram last year in April, the actress has liked the platform a lot. She regularly posts pictures and videos, keeping her fan army happy. The actress also enjoys a massive fan following on the photo-sharing site. The 71st Cannes Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cannes. The festival previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from across the world. It is held at Palais des Festivals et des Congres. Besides Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Bollywood beauties Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor,, Huma Qureshi and Mallika Sherawat too will be gracing the festival. Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan who has inspired many generations of actors with his impeccable acting talent has revealed one of his weaknesses that he will never be able to direct a film. Amitabh Bachchan was interacting with media along with Rishi Kapoor, Jimit Trivedi director Umesh Shukla and writer Saumya Shukla at the success meet of the recently released film "102 Not Out" on Thursday in Mumbai. Bachchan has acted, produced, sung songs and composed songs for numerous movies, so when asked if he will turn director for a film, he said: "I don't know the direction and I'll never be able to do that. Actually, that's a question, I always wanted to know why and what goes through a director's mind when he has to place a camera at a particular angle and position." Recipient of four national awards and many other awards when asked whether he feels relaxed before releasing of every film after working in the film industry over almost 49 years, Big B said: "No... It's always a fear. Much before the film's actual release, that's what we talk about. What is going to happen? How many theatres? How much do we expect? are they going to accept the film? He said your first weekend collection (Friday- Sunday), if it is said, 10 crores and if you multiply it by 3 that is the estimate which your film eventually will do so, I don't understand that much but if that's the assumption that we take mathematically so, we are on good ground with '102 Not Out'" Amitabh Bachchan next will be seen in Vijay Krishna Acharya's 'Thugs of Hindostan' followed by Ayan Mukherji's trilogy 'Brahmastra'. Mumbai: He is an iconic poet, lyricist and filmmaker known for films like "Maachis" and "Aandhi". She is a writer and film director known for making her debut with a subject like surrogacy in "Filhaal" 15 years ago. The approach and treatment of storytelling are what set father Gulzar and daughter Meghna creatively poles apart, but the latter says she has picked up the art of expressing thoughts in a few words from him. Asked about the influence of her father's creativity in her life, Meghna told IANS: "When it comes to filmmaking, our cinema is very different, our storytelling is different. But yes, he has influenced me a lot personally. I think that is to do with the father-daughter bonding and is a genetic thing. "I know that consciously that I have taken one thing from him and that is to keep things simple. I have learnt from daddy to be economical with words... If I can use three words to express something, I shouldn't be using seven words for that." Gulzar has written the lyrics for her new directorial venture "Raazi", which has also marked the first time that Meghna has collaborated with the music director trio Shankar-Eshaan-Loy. "Those song sessions were magical. This is the first time I have worked with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and I am so impressed to see how nicely they are in sync with each other. They do not discuss too much. They play their instruments, and do things in their way separately, wearing their headphones. "But when it is coming to the sound engineering, it sounds as if it is one. It's magical to see that. They are so perfect that I have got my every song within five hours. Four of them (including Gulzar) sitting together, writing lyrics, composing the tune, preparing the song and it was ready," Meghna said. "Raazi", which released on Friday, is based on the book "Calling Sehmat", and is set in 1971, the year when India and Pakistan fought a war. Alia Bhatt plays a young Kashmiri girl who gets married to a Pakistani Army officer -- essayed by Vicky Kaushal -- and becomes an undercover agent to protect her own country. Meghna said she felt the need of establishing the socio-political context as a part of the narration to give the audience a clear picture. "I think putting the historical context in the film was very important to amplify the sense of urgency that leads to a father to send his daughter to the neighbouring country, knowing that he is putting her in a risk. I think in the book, the story was pretty intimate. When I am bringing the story to the audience, putting the backgrounder was needed to give the clarity of the situation. Our story goes on till the 1971 war starts." As the filmmaker did extensive research work on the subject before writing the script, giving an insight into it, Meghna said: "It was a very interesting situation where East Pakistan wanted liberation to become Bangladesh, India was there in that dynamic and there was West Pakistan that wanted to control over east Pakistan, stopping to form Bangladesh and damage India in some way." "For nine months, the situation was brewing before the war broke out finally. But nothing was happening actively. Both India and Pakistan were waiting for the other to take the first step," added Meghna. This is not the first time that Meghna is directing a film based on a real-life inspired account. Her last release "Talvar" was based on the Aarushi Talwar Noida double murder case that took place in 2008. While the film received a lot of praise for its performance and storytelling, it faced some criticism for not offering anything new beyond what was available in the public domain. So, is she ready to take criticism this time as well? "If you are not open to people's perspective and opinion, I think you have no business of putting your own perspective. That's what I believe. I should be able to take criticism. The first question I faced after the trailer of 'Talvar' released was, 'The incident happened in public eyes, we know the case, what new could you offer in the film?' "But I believed that showing the series of incidents sequentially, juxtaposing each other, will give a clarity of the situation. After watching the film, some people changed their viewpoint, some didn't, but I did what I intended to do. I thought the incident of Talwar murder case that happened in our society shook the foundation of what we know as family. I wanted to tell that story. "Similarly, once the film 'Raazi' releases and people watch it, I will welcome whatever criticism comes my way. I firmly believe that the story was compelling enough to tell." New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking an independent probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sridevi. The actor had died on February 24 due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub in Dubai. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the plea filed by one Sunil Singh who sought an independent investigation into the death of the actor. He moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court had on March 9 refused to entertain his PIL to probe her death, saying authorities in India and Dubai had already looked into the incident. Mumbai: Actress Sonakshi Sinha took a short break from shooting Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi to come back to India for a quick trip. The actress came from Malaysia for just a day to complete her brand commitment in India. "Sonakshi is currently in Kuala Lumpur shooting for Aanand L Rai produced 'Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi'. She requested for a day off from her shoot schedule to fulfil a past commitment she made to one of the brands she endorses," her spokesperson said in a statement to IANS. The spokesperson added: "For a meet and greet scheduled in Delhi with the media, she took an early morning flight from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi to be part of the event scheduled for that evening. She landed in Delhi, got ready and was at the event in time to fulfil her ambassador duties. "That same night, after the event, Sonakshi took the last flight out back to Kuala Lumpur and resumed her shoot for the film the next morning. The brand team was happy and humbled by her commitment." GUWAHATI: A video that is circulating on social media seems to have been an addition to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb's gaffes. In the latest video, he can be heard saying that Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Noble prize to protest against the British. "Tagore returned his Nobel award in protest against the British," he said while addressing a function in Udaipur on Rabindra Jayanti. In fact, Tagore had repudiated his Knighthood in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre in 1919. His Nobel prize and the citation were stolen from Visva Bharati University's museum from Shantiniketan in Birbhum in 2004. The then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had handed over the case to the CBI but the agency in 2009 had closed the probe, citing a lack of fresh leads. The Calcutta High Court had in 2017 also asked the CBI why it did not want to hand over the investigation into the theft case to a West Bengal government agency despite having closed its own probe in 2009. Rabindra Nath Tagore had received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for "his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West". The Tripura CM has been facing flak for his comments on various issues in the recent past. Just a few weeks back, he had said that those who try to poke into the functioning of his government, should have their nails cut off. While once he said that mechanical engineers should not go for civil services, he also advised unemployed youth to rear cows instead of striving for government jobs. In another statement, he also questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as Miss World in 1997. He had clarified his remark on mechanical engineers saying, I didn't say mechanical engineers must not go for civil service. I said that civil engineers should join civil services as they have experience in the administration. After a spate of controversial remarks, the Tripura CM was also summoned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. ALIGARH: The students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which is in the centre of a controversy over demands for removing the portrait of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah from its campus, have now written a letter to the Centre and the state government demanding action against the right-wing members for damaging the reputation of the historic university. According to reports, the members of the AMU Students' Union have written three separate letters addressing PM Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Union HRD Ministry to clear the air over the matter and take action against those who allegedly entered into the varsity's campus on May 2 and indulged in an "unprovoked attack" on students. In a related development, the AMU Alumni Forum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also submitted a memorandum to the Consulate General of India in the country demanding prompt action against right-wing activists for vitiating the atmosphere of the prestigious university in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. The memorandum, addressed to the President of India, claimed the "armed hooligans" were planning to attack former vice president Hamid Ansari, who was visiting the AMU campus. President of the forum, Syed Qutubur Rahman, said similar memorandums were being sent to the President from different AMU alumni associations all over the Middle-East. Similar memorandums condemning the police lathicharge have been sent from alumni associations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia, USA, South Korea and New Zealand, he said. Joining the Jinnah debate, Pakistan too said that the controversy over the portrait of its founder in the Aligarh Muslim University showed "growing intolerance and prejudice" in India towards Muslims and Pakistan. Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said at a weekly briefing that traditionally pictures of all life members (of the AMU students' union) are displayed in the AMU and Jinnah's picture has been on display since 1938. "The row over the picture's display on the demand of a member of the incumbent government indicates the growing intolerance, xenophobia and prejudice especially against Muslims and Pakistan in India and is very dangerous, most of all for India itself," he said. The controversy erupted after BJP MP Satish Gautam had written a letter to AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor objecting to the portrait, triggering a row that led to two youths being arrested in connection with incidents of violence and exams being postponed to May 12. The Vice Chancellor has said that the portrait of the Pakistan founder had been hanging in the AMU students' union office since 1938 and it was a non-issue. Adding to a new twist to the row over Jinnah, ruling BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule on Thursday said that Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a 'maha purush' who had contributed in country's independence. "Jinnah was a 'maha purush' and will always remain so. He had contributed in country's independence," she said. Noted yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Baba Ramdev too joined the ongoing debate over the removal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking on the issue in Nalanda, Ramdev recently said, ''Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, cannot be an ideal for India's integrity and unity.'' A large number of AMU students have been agitating for the past few days, demanding action against the right-wing protesters, who entered the campus and demanded the removal of Jinnah's portrait from the student union's office. Hitting out at those who opposed the call to remove Jinnah's portrait in AMU, the ruling BJP said that those standing with Jinnah also stood for terrorist Afzal Guru. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that those who are standing for Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah also stood for terrorists like Afzal Guru. (With Agency inputs) LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Government has passed a new order which makes it mandatory for the Senior Superintendent of Police or the Superintendent of Police to take approval of the District Magistrates before posting the Station House Officers (SHO). According to ANI, state's Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar had informed the Director General of Police of the government's decision regarding the posting of SHOs through a letter sent on Thursday. Uttar Pradesh: SSPs/SPs to now require approval of District Magistrates before posting Station House Officers (SHO). IPS Association has opposed the decision ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 10, 2018 The Yogi Adityanath government's new order has not gone down well with the Indian Police Services officers. The Indian Police Service (IPS) Association has opposed the decision of the state government, said reports. The Yogi Adityanath government had earlier this ordered a reduction in the number of state Holidays from 92 to 86. The government also ordered Madarsas to be shut on Hindu festivals. It also ordered a cut in Ramzan holidays. The order by the Yogi government triggered a new debate over alleged attempts of saffronisation by the ruling party. While Muslim Clerics and social workers welcomed the decision, they also demanded that students in RSS schools must also learn about Muslim festivals. Similarly, the Yogi government also decided to change the name of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Aambedkar in government and court records, again invoking criticism from the Opposition and the icons grandsons. While Ramji will be added as the middle name, Ambedkar will be changed to Aambedkar when written in Hindi, it said in the order. However, the name Ambedkar' remained unchanged in English, it continued to be spelt as Ambedkar. The Principal Secretary (state general administration) Jitendra Kumar had issued a circular in this regard to all departments and registrar of Allahabad and Lucknow benches of the high court. In another order, the UP government made it compulsory for all its offices to put up Ambedkars photographs displaying his full name from April 1. While issuing the order, the government cited Eighth Schedule of Constitution, where Ambedkars name is written as Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in Hindi. (With ANI inputs) CALGARY, Alberta, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (Birchcliff) (TSX:BIR) is pleased to announce the voting results from its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on May 10, 2018 (the Meeting). At the Meeting, shareholders elected all five of the proposed nominees listed in Birchcliffs information circular dated March 28, 2018 (the Information Circular). In addition, shareholders approved all other matters voted upon at the Meeting. Birchcliff wishes to extend its sincere thanks to Mr. Larry A. Shaw, who did not stand for re-election at the Meeting and ceased to be a director at the close of the Meeting. Jeff Tonken, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Birchcliff, stated: On behalf of Birchcliff, I would like to extend our gratitude to Larry Shaw for his many years of support and commitment as a significant shareholder and director of Birchcliff. As former Chairman of the Board and as a director of Birchcliff since its inception, he has been a patient mentor and a strong leader. Over the course of more than 33 years, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Stampeder Exploration, Big Bear, Case Resources and Birchcliff. His business acumen, leadership, diligence, patience and vision have provided the directors and management of all of these businesses with the confidence and support needed to execute their business plans. I look forward to Mr. Shaws continued support to myself, the Board of Directors of Birchcliff and our Management Team in the future. The matters voted upon at the Meeting were discussed in detail in the Information Circular, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Birchcliffs website at www.birchcliffenergy.com. The voting results for each matter voted upon are set forth in the table below and a copy of the Report of Voting Results is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Matters Voted Upon Outcome of Vote Votes For Votes Against or Withheld, as applicable The fixing of the number of directors of Birchcliff to be elected at the Meeting at five (5). Passed(1) N/A N/A The election of the following nominees as directors of Birchcliff to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders of Birchcliff or until their successor is elected or appointed: (a) Dennis A. Dawson Elected(2) 138,209,574 (93.71%) 9,276,955 (6.29%) (b) Debra A. Gerlach Elected(2) 140,201,291 (95.06%) 7,285,238 (4.94%) (c) Rebecca J. Morley Elected(2) 139,410,218 (94.52%) 8,076,311 (5.48%) (d) James W. Surbey Elected(2) 131,153,032 (88.93%) 16,333,497 (11.07%) (e) A. Jeffery Tonken Elected(2) 138,410,260 (93.85%) 9,076,269 (6.15%) The appointment of KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as the auditors of Birchcliff to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders of Birchcliff and to authorize the board of directors to fix their remuneration as such. Passed(1) N/A N/A The ordinary resolution to approve the Advance Notice By-Law of Birchcliff relating to the advance notice of nominations of directors, as more particularly described in the Information Circular. Passed(2) 104,665,918 (70.87%) 43,018,911 (29.13%) Notes: (1) The vote was conducted by a show of hands. (2) The vote was conducted by ballot. About Birchcliff: Birchcliff is a Calgary, Alberta based intermediate oil and gas company with operations concentrated within its one core area, the Peace River Arch of Alberta. Birchcliffs common shares and cumulative redeemable preferred shares, Series A and Series C are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols BIR, BIR.PR.A and BIR.PR.C, respectively. For further information, please contact: Birchcliff Energy Ltd. Suite 1000, 600 3rd Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 0G5 Tel: (403) 261-6401 Fax: (403) 261-6424 Email: info@birchcliffenergy.com www.birchcliffenergy.com Jeff Tonken President and Chief Executive Officer Bruno Geremia Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer TORONTO: Canadian cabinet Navdeep Bains was subjected to a discriminatory security check at a US airport last year when he was asked to remove his turban just before boarding a flight. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said he was asked to remove his turban at Detroit Metro Airport on his way back to Canada last year. He said there were challenges with the swab machine and he was recalled from the gate and brought back to security where he was asked to take the turban off. He added that when they realised who he was, they allowed him to travel and not take it off. Bain had complained about the incident to Canada's foreign minister who had lodged an official complaint to the US officials. The US officials expressed regret and apologised for the behaviour and he's accepted the apology. Bains was flying back to Canada after a meeting in April 2017 with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor when the incident took place. Recalling the incident, Bains was quoted as saying "It was an awkward experience." He also told the Quebec newspaper in an interview that he went through the security process without revealing his identity as a federal minister in the Canadian government. "I did it on purpose, as is my habit, to understand what ordinary people go through when they get caught up with people in positions of authority," Bains was quoted as saying. He added that he only showed his diplomatic passport when asked to prove his identity. In a statement on Thursday, he said: "As a Sikh, wearing the turban is considered one of the most dutiful acts for a person of the faith and I am proud to represent my community. Unfortunately these types of incidents do occur from time to time to minorities in particular. But it should never become the norm. I will continue to promote diversity and inclusion across the count, as our government has done since we took office. This is exactly why I ran for office. It is exactly why I will be attending the women's forum today and why I fought hard for inclusionary measures such as Bill C-25, increasing diversity and gender representation on boards." In a major show of strength China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) sent its J-20 stealth fighter jets for their first-ever combat training over the sea. The J-20 fighters took to the skies over the sea sometime in early May 2018 as China demonstrated that its forces were combat ready even as tensions with Taiwan and some other neighbours rose. The J-20 stealth fighters "will help the air force better fulfill its sacred duty of safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," PLAAF spokesperson and Senior Colonel Shen Jinke was quoted as saying by Xinhua. The officer posted on PLAAF's official blog that J-20 jets took part in a drill in "actual war conditions" to "further upgrade the air force's combat capabilities". According to Shen the J-20 had earlier taken part in war games with other Chinese fighters like J-16 and J-10c. In the recent months, the Chinses forces have been aggressive in the seas. The PLAAF has flown its strategic bombers close to Taiwan and the Chinese Army also conducted a live-fire drill in the Taiwan Strait in April 2018. Chinese military officials claim that even Taiwan's most advanced fighters like the F-16 and the Mirage 2000 will be no match for the J-20 as the former are fourth generation aircraft without stealth capabilities, unlike the latter which is invisible to radars. The J-20 is China's answer to the American fifth-generation stealth fighters like F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. However, western defence experts claim that J-20 is a fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter with an inferior engine compared to the US stealth fighters. However, China's other rivals like Japan and South Korea have the US F-35A Lighting II in their arsenal. Japan will in the next six years have 62 F-35 A Lighting II jets. Japan is also in talks with Lockheed Martin to develop an advanced jet which will combine the capabilities of both the F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lighting II. South Korea also plans to have 60 F-35A Lighting II in its air force. Tehran: Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late on Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said on Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims that it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" from his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Al-Quds force, that struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events today, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call late Thursday that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Southern Syria was quiet but tense early today, with monitors saying that Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were still on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern that Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. It remained unclear exactly what had happened between Syria and Israel in the early hours of Thursday. A conflict monitor said Israel's strikes had killed 23 fighters. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. "The Israelis want to make this into an Iran-Israel thing, but it isn't. Whatever happens in Syria happens under the command of the Syrians," said analyst Mohammad Marandi, who was part of Iran's negotiation team leading up to the nuclear deal. Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Iran has said it will stay in the deal only if the remaining members - Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - can provide solid guarantees that its trade benefits will continue in spite of renewed US sanctions. Russia - which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent all-out war. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that it had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, told AFP the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". "Russia is not happy with Iran gaining too much power, too much influence there," he said. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that intelligence officials briefed ministers on Thursday and told them another clash with Iran in Syria was unlikely after the intensity of the strikes the night before. But the paper also warned in an editorial: "It would be better not to get caught up now in the self-assured arrogant spiral evident in the reactions in some television studios, at the Knesset and on social media... Tehran could nevertheless roll out its heavier weapon, Hezbollah, in which case the conflict could take on an entirely different scope." Andreas Umland: The West should be ready for the end of Putin's era by offering the Russians a concrete plan for a gradual Western integration of their country Read the original text at Die Welt Open source A key historical determinant of today's tensions between Russia and the West is the missed opportunity of the 1990s. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent Europeanization attempt of the new Russian Federation had come as a surprise to the West. Thoughts and plans for a democratic and pro-Western Russia were not developed in Washington, Brussels, and Bonn, even when Gorbachev's Perestroika became more and more obvious in the late 1980s. As a result, the West did not behave disrespectfully towards the new Russia under Boris Yeltsin, as is sometimes claimed by ignoramus historians today. However, in the 1990s, Western offers of cooperation with Moscow were uncoordinated, unrealistic, and aimless. Of course, there were many individual steps in the right direction, including the admission of Russia to the Council of Europe, the transformation of the G7 into the G8 or the creation of the NATO-Russia Council. Unlike the new Federal Republic of the 1950s, the new Russian Federation of the 1990s had neither a clear strategic vision nor sufficiently far-reaching steps to include the post-imperial state in the Western community of the states. Western conceptually more ambitious projects, such as the so-called four common spaces between the EU and Russia of 2003 (economy, freedom, security, justice) or the German-Russian modernization partnership of 2008, were developed when the Putin close system had started to establish. Thus, these praiseworthy initiatives came too late. There are many differences between the Soviet Union of the early 1980s, on the one hand, and today's Russian Federation, on the other hand. However, the late Soviet and present Russian state are similar in that both the outgoing Soviet Union and Putin's regime have maneuvered into socio-economic dead-ends. While the late-communist Moscow leadership failed to reform the Soviet planned economy in time, since 1999, Putin has created a peculiar corporatist-kleptocratic order in Russia. This pseudo-democratic regime, like the allegedly democratic Soviet system of the councils, is not permanently viable and doomed. It is only a matter of time before the Putin system collapses. Ultimately, Russia's future can only lie in its gradual integration into Western economic and security structures. For Moscow, there is no Asian alternative to the European integration project (apart from an unequal alliance with China or a fragile dictator axis). Russia is too weak to form an independent pole in a multipolar world. Like Putin's kleptocracy, his Eurasian economic union is a temporary creation. Russia is a part of Europe, not of a mythological Eurasia. Unlike after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West should be prepared in advance for a new Russian regime collapse and third - after February 1917 and August 1991 - pro-Western turnaround in Moscow. It is likely that in the coming years - like the enormous tension in the early eighties - a high-risk deterioration in relations between the West and Moscow might take place. But a return of the Russian Europeans called so by historian Leonid Luks that is the pro-Western intellectuals, to the decision-making positions is ultimately inevitable for Moscow. This time, the West should not only have a detailed action plan in case of a new Russian Europeanization attempt. It can already promote this future turnaround with an early release of an integration vision. Today it is easier because there is already a practical pattern for the offer that the West can make to a post-imperial Russia: Brussels' policy of association and integration with the post-Soviet states of the EU's "Eastern Partnership". In concrete terms, this would mean that Russia - like it happened with Ukraine or Georgia before - would be offered the Western an action plan on visa liberalization with the Schengen area, a deepened free trade zone with the EU and gradual accession to NATO. The West would thus not only restore cooperation formats with Moscow by 2014, i.e. the G-8 meetings, EU-Russia Summit, OECD membership negotiations, NATO Partnership for Peace and so on. Following the implementation of a detailed Visa Liberalization Action Plan, Brussels would allow Russians to freely move across Europe. The EU's particularly strong association agreements with the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, as well as the EU-Canada Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), could serve as models for establishing a continuous free trade area from Vancouver to Vladivostok. After all, like its membership promise to Ukraine and Georgia in 2008, NATO could also offer Russia the prospect of future membership and the joint implementation of a membership action plan. Similar offers could be made to Belarus and Armenia, which have close ties with Moscow. The purpose of today's publication is to show the Russians that their country has a life after Putin, life without an empire and in Europe. In exchange for Russia's abandonment of its various foreign-policy crazy scheme in Syria and elsewhere, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine, and the complete establishment of the integrity and sovereignty of these three countries, the Russian Federation would become part of the West in economic and security terms. Since Russia itself would then become part of a free trade zone with the EU and the North Atlantic Alliance, the official justifications for Moscow's claims against Ukraine would have lapsed. There would also be no more false grounds for Russian annexation, occupation, and expansion in the post-Soviet space, as the countries in question would be part of the economic and security area to which Russia itself will belong. By publishing a detailed cooperation, association, and integration plan for a post-imperial Russian nation-state, the West would not only be better (than in 1917 or 1991) prepared for a new Russian democratization attempt. European diplomats, Western politicians, Russian Democrats, political experts and civil society actors are already receiving an important argumentation tool for their public communication today. They could make it clear to their counterparts in Russia that the West does not want Moscow's exclusion or even marginalization, but - on the contrary - a close partnership, and indeed broad integration with Russia. Of course, the Russians must understand for themselves that the latter developmental path, as well as a farewell to the empire, is desirable for their country. The days of Putin and his fragile political system are numbered in any case. When the time comes for a new upheaval in Russia finally, the serious mistakes of the nineties should not be repeated. Germany can play a pioneering role in the implementation of this project, both as a former post-imperial beneficiary of a similar Western policy during the 1950s and as a Western major power closely associated with Russia. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners. Hennadiy Lymeshko was detained by Russian special service operatives in August 2017 The municipal court of Sudak (occupied Crimea) recognized Hennadiy Lymeshko 'guilty' of illegal purchase and storage of explosives. According to Krym.Realii outlet, the Ukrainian pleaded guilty. He got eight years in prison. The court took into account the fact that Lymeshko has a little daughter; however, the jury also recognized that there was a political motive in this crime, which is 'hatred and enmity due to Crimea's joining Russia'. The Ukrainian serves time since May 10, 2018. In August 2017, Russia's FSB reported that the workers detained a man whom they called 'the SBU agent (SBU, - Ukraine's State Security Service, - 112 International). They charged him in preparing acts of sabotage on the peninsula. Hennadiy Lymeshko served with Ukraine's Armed Forces; in May 2017, he was sacked due to incompetency. This is foreseen by the 1958 New York Convention; the winning party has the right to collect state property anywhere on the globe If Ukraine wins the Crimea-related lawsuit against Russia in the Hague Arbitration Court, it can subtract any state property that belongs to Russia. Atlantic Council expert Anders Aslund said this as quoted by the Voice of America. 'According to the New York convention of 1958, the winning party has the right to collect state property pretty much anywhere in the world and western countries do apply it. The legal costs are high and it is slow, but it works', he said. As is known, the Hague Arbitration Court previously ruled that Russia is responsible for violating the rights of Ukrainian investors, and it should make up losses for Ukrainian companies to the amount of 159 million U.S. dollars. The National Police of Ukraine has opened a criminal proceeding due to the interference in the activity of Arseny Yatsenyuk for his resignation from the post of Ukraine's Prime Minister as the press service of the Interior Ministry reported. 'After the number of the publications in the mass media and appeals of the MPs, the Chief Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine has opened a criminal proceeding due to the interference in the activity of Arseny Yatsenyuk when he occupied the post of Ukraine's Prime Minister that aimed for his resignation', the message said. The criminal proceeding was opened due to the interference in the activity of the state worker. It is noted that the police considers that a possible collusion of a group of people for the implementation of the plan on Yatsenyuk's resignation could take place. Preliminary, they interfered in his activity through the bribery of the citizens, organization of the paid rallies and spread of the discreditation and fake information in the mass media through the MPs, experts and others. Particularly, police refers to the data of fugitive MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko that confirmed spending of more than $30 million for such campaigns in 2015-2016. Arseny Yatsenyuk headed the government of Ukraine since February 27, 2014, until April 14, 2016 According to the intelligence, Russia has paid for about 3, 500 ads and 11.4 million Americans have seen them Open source A report on the Russian interference in the American election through paid ads in Facebook was published by the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The committee claimed that Committee's member Adam Schiff claimed at the open hearing in November 2017 that the Russian campaign in the social networks aimed to split the US and incite the unrests on the ground of the disagreement. 'They (the Russians) did this by creating fake accounts, pages and communities to push divisive online content and videos, and to mobilize real Americans, unwittingly, to sign online petitions and join rallies and protests', the message said. According to the report, Russia attempted to influence the American election through the Facebook groups concerning LGBT-community and African-Americans. According to the intelligence, Russia has paid for about 3, 500 ads and 11.4 million Americans have seen them. The Russian 'troll factories' have created about 470 pages in the social network and published about 80, 00 content items. Earlier in the framework of the investigation of Russia meddling in the U.S. presidential election in 2016, the US has accused 13 Russian citizens. The statement accuses Internet Research Agency also known as Russian 'troll factory'. Hugues Mingarelli, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, said that the aim of the UkraineEuropean Union Association Agreement is to facilitate the political association and economic integration, but it does not give any prospect for EU membership Open source For many reasons Ukraine does not have any prospects concerning the EU membership for now, as Hugues Mingarelli, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, stated at the roundtable session on Ukraines European choice after the Revolution of Dignity (a revolution in Ukraine in 2014, - ed.), Unian reports. Turkey along with Balkan countries are the only states which conduct talks to join the European Union. They have a specific prospect for EU membership. As to Ukraine, there is no prospect, the Ambassador said. According to him, the aim of the UkraineEuropean Union Association Agreement is to facilitate the political association and economic integration, but it does not give any prospect for EU membership. It is a big disappointment for our Ukrainian partners as they wanted to have a membership prospect, but for now the European Union could not offer this prospect due to certain reasons, he stressed. Earlier, Ukraine signed the UkraineEuropean Union Association Agreement after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. The Verkhovna Rada, the European Parliament as well as the national parliaments of all EY member states ratified the agreement during 2014-2017. The UkraineEuropean Union Association Agreement came into force on September 2017. Later, Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko stated that the Agreement was implemented only by 15%. As it was reported earlier, visa-free regime was introduced between Ukraine and EU on June 11. The property of Roma people was damaged and they had to leave the location; criminal case to investigate this incident was opened The settlement of Roma people near Rudne village in Lviv region was burned. This was reported on the website of Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova. According to the message we received from the public activists, on May 9, some unknown people burned Roma camp located near the Rudne village in Lviv region. As a result, the property of Roma people was damaged and they had to leave the location, the message says. In response to this, the Ombudsman directed a request to the National Police of Lviv region to take legal measures and ensure order and security in Rudne village. At the same time, the Ombudsman is concerned about the increasing number of incidents of intolerance against the Roma national minority. Lviv police opened a criminal case on hooliganism over the dispersal of the Roma camp in the regional center. This was reported by the press service of the regional National Police. "The investigators of Lviv region police on May 10 opened criminal proceedings according to the report about a fire incident in a settlement on Horodotska street in Lviv. The incident is now classified as hooliganism," the statement says. Individuals involved in dispersing of the camp are now being identified. The pre-trial investigation has started. As it was reported earlier, Romania did not recognize the election of the Russian president in the annexed Crimea. The Foreign Ministry also reminded that Romania considers the Crimea part of Ukraine and does not recognize the illegal annexation of Russia by the peninsula. Elections of the Russian president in the annexed Crimea were also not recognized by France, Norway, and later by Slovakia. The countries stated that they would continue to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. New approval for Gilenya (fingolimod) addresses strong unmet need for younger patients, who often experience more frequent relapses than adults with multiple sclerosis (MS)[1] In a landmark controlled Phase III study of children and adolescents (ages 10 to less than 18) with relapsing forms of MS (RMS), Gilenya reduced the annualized relapse rate by approximately 82% vs. interferon beta-1a injections (p< 0.001)[2] Gilenya is the most prescribed oral once-daily MS disease-modifying treatment, with a global exposure of more than 231,000 patients since its initial approval for adults with RMS[3] The digital press release with multimedia content can be accessed here: Basel, May 11, 2018 - Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Gilenya (fingolimod) for the treatment of children and adolescents 10 to less than 18 years of age with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS), making it the first disease-modifying therapy indicated for these patients[2]. This approval expands the age range for Gilenya, which was previously approved for patients aged 18 years and older with RMS. Gilenya was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA in December of 2017 for this pediatric indication. "We now finally have an FDA-approved treatment for children and adolescents with relapsing MS," said Dr. Brenda Banwell, Chief of the Division of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who served as co-Principal investigator of the pivotal study that supported the pediatric approval. "Repeated relapses are more common in young people with MS than in adults, so this is heartening news for patients and their families." While MS is mostly diagnosed in adults, children and adolescents with the chronic disease often experience more frequent relapses and brain lesions than adults with MS[1]. "Since revolutionizing the treatment of relapsing MS as the first oral disease-modifying therapy, Gilenya has become an important mainstay of treatment for adult patients," said Paul Hudson, CEO, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Today's announcement is a result of our pioneering approach and ongoing commitment to advancing care for all individuals living with MS, and we are delighted this has led to a long-awaited, specifically-approved treatment option for young patients." The approval of Gilenya for the younger patient population was supported by PARADIGMS, a double-blind, randomized, multi-center Phase III safety and efficacy study of Gilenya vs. interferon beta-1a, designed specifically for children and adolescents with RMS[4]. The primary endpoint demonstrated that Gilenya reduced the rate of relapses (annualized relapse rate) by approximately 82% (p <0.001) over a period of up to two years compared to interferon beta-1a intramuscular injections in children and adolescents (ages 10 and older) with relapsing MS[2]. The safety profile of Gilenya in this study was overall consistent with that seen in previous clinical trials in adults[2]. About the Phase III PARADIGMS Study The Phase III PARADIGMS study (NCT01892722) is a flexible duration (up to two years), double-blind, randomized, multi-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral Gilenya compared to interferon beta-1a in children and adolescents with a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by a five-year open label extension phase[5]. The study enrolled 215 children and adolescents with MS, 10 to less than 18 years of age with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score between 0 and 5.5[5]. Patients were randomized to receive once-daily oral Gilenya (0.5 mg or 0.25 mg, dependent on patients' body weight) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a once weekly[5]. The primary endpoint of the study was the frequency of relapses in patients treated up to 24 months (annualized relapse rate)[5]. Secondary endpoints include the number of new or newly enlarged T2 lesions, Gadolinium enhancing T1 lesions, safety and the pharmacokinetic properties of Gilenya, all measured throughout the treatment period[5]. The PARADIGMS study was conducted in 87 sites over 26 countries, and was designed in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. About Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord through inflammation and tissue loss[6]. In adults, there are three types of MS: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS)[7]. Approximately 85 percent of people with MS have relapsing-remitting MS, where the immune system attacks healthy tissue.[8] In children, RRMS accounts for nearly all cases (approximately 98 percent)[9]. In the US, MS affects around 400,000 people[10]. About Gilenya (fingolimod) in Adults Gilenya (fingolimod) is an oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that is highly efficacious at controlling disease activity in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS). Gilenya has a reversible lymphocyte redistribution effect targeting both focal and diffuse central nervous system (CNS) damage caused by MS. Long-term clinical trial and real-world evidence and experience has shown Gilenya treatment to be convenient for individuals to incorporate into everyday life, leading to high treatment satisfaction, long-term persistence, and ultimately, improved long-term outcomes for people with RMS. Gilenya impacts four key measures of RMS disease activity: relapses, MRI lesions, brain shrinkage (brain volume loss) and disability progression. Its effectiveness on all of these measures has been consistently shown in multiple controlled clinical studies and in the real-world setting. Studies have shown its safety and high efficacy to be sustained over the long term, demonstrating that switching to Gilenya treatment as early in the disease course as possible can be beneficial in helping to preserve individuals' function. Gilenya is approved in the US for the first-line treatment of relapsing forms of MS, and in the EU for adult patients with highly-active relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) defined as either high disease activity despite treatment with at least one DMT, or rapidly-evolving severe RRMS. Gilenya has been used to treat more than 231,000 patients in both clinical trials and the post-marketing setting, with approximately 536,000 years of patient experience[3]. About Novartis in Multiple Sclerosis Alongside Gilenya (fingolimod, an S1P modulator), Novartis' multiple sclerosis (MS) portfolio includes Extavia (interferon beta-1b for subcutaneous injection) which is approved in the US for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. In Europe, Extavia is approved to treat people with relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS (SPMS) with active disease and people who have had a single clinical event suggestive of MS. Investigational compounds include BAF312 (siponimod), under investigation in MS, and OMB157 (ofatumumab), a fully human monoclonal antibody under investigation in relapsing MS. OMB157 targets CD20, and is currently being investigated in two Phase III pivotal studies. In the US, the Sandoz Division of Novartis markets Glatopa (glatiramer acetate injection) 20 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL, generic versions of Teva's Copaxone*. *Copaxone is a registered trademark of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com References [1] National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Pediatric MS. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS/Who-Gets- MS/Pediatric-MS. Accessed April 2018. [2] Gilenya (fingolimod) Full Prescribing Information. East Hanover, New Jersey, USA: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; May 11, 2018 [3] Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Data on file. [4] Chitnis T et al. PARADIGMS: A Randomised Double-blind Study of Fingolimod Versus Interferon -1a in Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract no. 276. Oral presentation at 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting, Paris, France, October 25-28, 2017. [5] Clinical Trials. Safety and efficacy of fingolimod in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01892722. Accessed April 2018. [6] PubMed Health. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024311/. Accessed April 2018. [7] Multiple Sclerosis Society. Types of MS. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is-ms/types-of-ms. Accessed April 2018. [8] Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. Atlas of MS 2013. https://www.msif.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Atlas-of-MS.pdf. Accessed April 2018. [9] Waldman A et al. Pediatric multiple sclerosis: Clinical features and outcome. Neurol. 2016; 87(Suppl 2):S74-S81. [10] Tullman M. Overview of the epidemiology, diagnosis and disease progression associated with multiple sclerosis. Am J Managed Care. 2013 Feb;19(2 Suppl):S15-20. # # # Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Angela Fiorin Novartis Global Pharma Communications +41 61 324 8631 (direct) +41 79 752 6955 (mobile) angela.fiorin@novartis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com The Shevchenkivsky Court of Kyiv will consider an appeal on the extension of the arrest of MP Nadia Savchenko on Monday, May 14 as the press service of the court reported. 'We report that the court session on the consideration of the appeal on the extension of the arrest of Nadia V. Savchenko is planned on May 14, 2018', the message said. Also, the lawyers of Savchenko Oleh Solovey and Dmytro Buhai resigned as Ukrayinska Pravda reported. 'We have torn our working relations. We, Dmytro Buhai and I, are not representing the interests of Nadia Savchenko anymore. We have signed the proper agreements today', the advocate said. Solovey noted that the reason was first of all the inappropriate behavior and position of Savchenko's sister Vira who interferes in the working relations of the advocates and the client. 'We are not the supporters of such relation, we will not work with a stranger, including Vira who behave herself toward the advocates of the sister inappropriately. We work with a client and work out the united position and all outsider interference harms Nadia', Solovey said. He also noted that Vira found new advocate Oleksandr Shadrin for Nadia. 'But today Nadia has signed a refusal from all advocates, including Shadrin in our presence', he said. As we reported Shevchenkivsky Court of Kyiv decided on the preventive measures for Savchenko, which is custody for two months until May 20, 2018, without a right for a bail. Besides, the Court decided that the detention on March 22 was illegal. On March 29, the Appeal Court of Kyiv kept Savchenkos arrest effective. The same day the MP went on the hunger strike. She also emphasized that she is not going to escape from Ukraine. On April 12, Savchenko was transferred from the remand center to the hospital for the examination. On April 16, it was reported that Savchenko continued her hunger strike and polygraph was postponed until April 17. On March 15, Lutsenko claimed during his speech at the parliament that Savchenko personally planned, recruited and ordered how to hold the terrorist attack in the Verkhovna Rada, destroying two lodges, governmental and post, by the combat grenades, bringing down the dome of the Verkhovna Rada by the mortar launchers and killing the survived with the assault rifles. Also, it was reported that non-affiliated MP Nadia Savchenko and Volodymyr Ruban, the Head of 'Officer Corps' planned to attack the cortege of the President of Ukraine with the large caliber sniper rifle. The representatives of NABU, a German non-governmental organization of environmentalists insist on the fact that the gas pipeline will cause irreparable damage to the fragile ecosystem Open source NABU, a German non-governmental organization of environmentalists, requested the Greifswald Supreme Administrative Court for an interlocutory decree, which will give the opportunity to consider a complaint against the construction of Nord Stream 2 in the Greifswald Bodden, as Deutsche Welle reported. As it is reported, NABU requested the court to make an interlocutory order against the permission for the construction of Nord Stream 2. The CEO of the organization Leif Miller said that the Nord Stream 2 company, which conducts the construction of the gas pipeline, is trying to create a fait accompli for the environmentalists and ignores the threat for the ecosystem of the bay. The representatives of the organization insist on the fact that the gas pipeline will cause irreparable damage to the fragile ecosystem. Besides, the representatives of NABU believe that the demand for Russian gas is not that high to construct another gas pipeline. The start of the excavation is scheduled on May 15. Earlier, Nord Stream 2 company has already started the construction works on the receiving station in Lubmin on May 3. Donbas Conflict, Eurovision 2018, Victory Day, Poroshenko in Aachen, construction of Kerch Strait Bridge, poisoning of schoolchildren in Cherkasy- main events of the week in Ukraine on one page Donbas Conflict Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Victory Day Poroshenko in Aachen Construction of Kerch Strait Bridge Poisoning of schoolchildren in Cherkasy Donbas Conflict More shooting is observed in eastern Ukraine. Since the counter-terrorist operation (ATO) was re-branded into the joint forces operation (JFO), as stipulated by the the law of Ukraine 'On reintegration of Donbas', the number of attacks has somewhat increased. Almost 600 inhabited localities were cut off the grid in Luhansk region due to the militants attacks. Ukraines SBU, the state security service, found out that Russian regular military was involved in the attack on residential quarters of Mariupol, Donetsk region in early 2015. That obnoxious shelling claimed lives of 29 and injured 92 people. Vasyl Hrytsak, the SBU Head said this at a briefing on Monday. Particularly, this terrorist action took place with the support of two regular reactive divisions of Russias Armed Forces. These people are involved in this crime. Major General Stepan Yaroshchuk, the Command of missile forces and artillery of Russias South Military District a managed the operation from the territory of Russia, Hrytsak claimed. SBU also determined the identities of Oleh Demyanenko, lieutenant colonel of Russian Armed Forces, who is responsible for the training of the so-called company task group Karpaty, which mostly consisted of Ukrainian citizens members of the armed gangs in Donbas. The Ukrainian service also identified those who served as drill instructors in Wagner Group (Russian paramilitary organization). Meanwhile, Russia sent its 76th humanitarian convoy to the occupied Donbas. Russian authorities have been sending the so-called humanitarian convoys to Ukraine since August 2014. The Russian side claims the trucks carry food, water, medicines, books, agrarian instruments and other necessities. Ukrainian border guards cannot check the contents of trucks, and Russia refused to send their humanitarian aid through the controlled checkpoints on the border, as requested by Ukraine. Ukraine insists there are weapons and ammunition aboard the trucks, so they reach Kremlin-backed militants that keep on attacking Ukrainian positions. Ukraines defense minister Stepan Poltorak summed up the casualties among the military and civilians in Donbas since the conflict kicked off in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in spring 2014. According to him, 3, 332 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died; that including 2, 394 battle casualties and 938 non-combat fatalities. Eurovision Song Contest 2018 ESC2018 reached its Grand final with 20 countries winning two semi-finals on May 8 and May 10. Five more countries from the Big Five to join the list of contestants on Saturday Italy, Germany, the UK, France and Spain. Plus the host country, which is Portugal. The foto reports, funny details and the winning countries are here for the first semi-final and here for the second semifinal. The thing 112.international are proud together with Ukrainians is that Ukrainian Melovin performed really great and got to the Grand Final. His Under The Ladder is a story about the internal struggle, fight against self, temptations and difficulties that prevent from reaching success. Victory Day On May 8, Ukraine celebrated the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation and observed a minute of silence in a memory of WWII victims. Since 2014 the Ukrainian state has abandoned a tradition to celebrate Soviet Victory Day for the first time ever and held the official events due to the end of the war in Europe on May 8 and May 9. On May 9, a solemn procession on the Alley of Glory to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kyiv took place. Also, the Immortal Regiment held its march at holding portraits of those deceased at the WWII, anti-fascist posters and with Soviet songs. According to the Police, about 2000 people participated in the march, which is less than a year ago. During the events in Kyiv six people were detained and later all of them were released. Also, the events dedicated to the Victory Day took place in Odesa, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Poltava, Dnipro and other cities of Ukraine. A few incidents with the detainees were reported. Generally, no grave incident was reported and the celebration peacefully ended. Poroshenko in Aachen No Putin in Aachen. Leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France negotiated in the German city on Thursday, May 10. Petro Poroshenko, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron talked through the ways to settle the ongoing conflict in Donbas, as well as the extension of sanctions against the Kremlin and bringing UN peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine. Since Russian leader Vladimir Putin was not present, the meeting can not be considered a part of the Normandy Four agenda, Angela Merkel said earlier. Ukraines president Petro Poroshenko coordinated the preparatory steps for Normandy Four meeting with French and German leaders. We know that the meetings of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron with Vladimir Putin will take place on May 18 and May 23. We clearly agreed and coordinated the steps, agenda that we should do to hold the meeting in Normandy Format. It is most likely that it will take place in Paris, Poroshenko noted. Construction of Kerch Strait Bridge Russian media reported that the Kerch Strait Bridge will be opened on May 15 or day later as the opening ceremony will take place with the participation of Vladimir Putin and the precise date depends on the schedule of the Russian president. Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered to sue Russia for the ecological damage brought by the construction of the bridge over Kerch strait in occupied Crimea. The Ukrainian side has withdrawn from the treaty with Russia on the construction of the bridge in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. The works on the construction have begun in May 2015, regardless the withdrawal. Poisoning of schoolchildren in Cherkasy During the assembly in Cherkasy school on May 8, the children started to lose consciousness. At first, the Emergency Service reported about the hospitalization of three children, but later the number of schoolchildren hospitalized in Cherkasy increased to 51, and 11 of them were taken to intensive care units. According to the Health Ministry, the state of children is estimated as mild and medium poisoning. Law enforcers opened a criminal case to investigate the breach of sanitary rules for prevention of infectious diseases and mass poisoning, as the Interior Ministry reported. The Emergency Service press center reported that their chemical and radiological laboratory has checked whether the air on the territory of the school was contaminated by the dangerous chemical substances. There was no dangerous increase in chemical substances of the air, according to preliminary data. Later, it was reported that the state of the majority of schoolchildren who suffered from poisoning in school in Cherkasy was satisfactory. He also noted that it should be a meeting just for a meeting The meeting of the Normandy Four can take place at the beginning of June; however, it should be a meeting just for a meeting. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine claimed this at the briefing after the meeting with Slovenian President as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. 'I think that it is possible and necessary to hold a meeting at the beginning of June. We will now how my hopes can be implemented on May 23-24 when the tries of the preliminary voting will take place', Poroshenko noted. As we reported on May 10, Poroshenko has coordinated the preparatory steps for Normandy Four meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Also, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin claimed that Ukraine is ready for the meeting of Normandy Four at the level of the foreign ministers of the safety, POW release and UN peacekeepers issues will be included in the agenda. The Normandy Four leaders stated that they would consider possible ways to accelerate the implementation of Minsk Agreement within next months. MP Nadia Savchenko is suspected in the preparation of the terrorist attack at the Verkhovna Rada and the governmental quarter The Ukrainian law enforcers have established the names and posts of the Russian colonels that issued the weapons to Ukrainian MP Nadia Savchenko to commit a terrorist attack in the downtown of Kyiv. Yury Lutsenko, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine claimed this as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. 'We oppose not only 40, 000 armed separatists, not only thousands of the Russian Army's officers that govern them as I confirm officially. We have proved by the case of Nadia Savchenko who planned a terrorist act that the particular colonels of the Russian Federation issued her the weapons for the terrorist attack in the downtown of the Ukrainian capital', the prosecutor claimed. 'We know the surnames and code names of these colonels, their posts and ranks and etc.', he added. As we reported Shevchenkivsky Court of Kyiv decided on the preventive measures for Savchenko, which is custody for two months until May 20, 2018, without a right for a bail. Besides, the Court decided that the detention on March 22 was illegal. On March 29, the Appeal Court of Kyiv kept Savchenkos arrest effective. The same day the MP went on the hunger strike. She also emphasized that she is not going to escape from Ukraine. On April 12, Savchenko was transferred from the remand center to the hospital for the examination. On April 16, it was reported that Savchenko continued her hunger strike and polygraph was postponed until April 17. On March 15, Lutsenko claimed during his speech at the parliament that Savchenko personally planned, recruited and ordered how to hold the terrorist attack in the Verkhovna Rada, destroying two lodges, governmental and post, by the combat grenades, bringing down the dome of the Verkhovna Rada by the mortar launchers and killing the survived with the assault rifles. Also, it was reported that non-affiliated MP Nadia Savchenko and Volodymyr Ruban, the Head of 'Officer Corps' planned to attack the cortege of the President of Ukraine with the large caliber sniper rifle. Open source Ukraine started conducting talks with white Schengen states to establish a visa-free regime with them, as Serhiy Menyaylo, Deputy Head of Consular Service Management of the Foreign Ministry Department of Consular Service, stated, UNN reports. The white Shenzhen zone states are those which have the visa-free regime with the European Union. Apart from Ukraine, 61 states are included in this list. Ukraines Government is conducting talks with them to get a right for the visa-free admission for Ukrainians. We offer this on a reciprocal basis. We ask for the visa-free regime so the geography of visa-free travels of Ukrainian citizens could get wider. Not only the EU and Shenzhen zone states - these are, as I have already said, Uruguay, Peru, Columbia, Mexico, Seychelles, Bahama Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Macedonia, Albania the list is quite long. And with all the countries we have a different level of the dialogue, but we are trying to reach results with each, Menyaylo said. In particular, the agreement with the four states of Latin America - Uruguay, Peru, Columbia and Mexico might be concluded soon. For today, Ukrainian citizens can visit 85 countries without visa. Earlier, the visa-free regime with Kuwait was introduced and an agreement with Qatar was signed. Besides, talks with South Korea are being conducted. The agenda of the meeting will include the problems of historical memorials, exhumations of victims, and amendments to the Polish law on the Institute of National Remembrance Open source The intergovernmental Polish-Ukrainian Commission on History will hold a regular meeting in the near future. This was announced by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar, as Polish Radio reported. According to the Foreign Ministry representative, the regular meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian commission is being prepared now. The mission of the meeting will be to seek dialogue on historical differences. Bodnar said that the problems of historical memorials, exhumation of victims, as well as issues related to the introduction of changes to the Polish law on the Institute of National Remembrance, will become the main topics of the meeting. Warsaw demands the permission to exhume victims and build memorials on the grounds where the Poles have died, in particular Polish soldiers who died on the territory of modern Ukraine in 1939, as well as legionnaires buried near the village of Kostyukhnivka in Volyn region. As we reported Polish leader Andrzej Duda has signed the bill with amendments to the law about the Institute of the National Memory in Poland. They stipulate criminal responsibility for denial of the Volyn Massacre of the 1940s and forbid the propaganda of the 'Banderite ideology'. It also provides the criminal penalty for public accusations of Poland of crimes during Holocaust, of helping Nazi Germany, of military crimes or crimes against humanity. The bill forbids to use the combination of words Polish death camp when describing concentration camps that were on the territory of Poland. Any citizen of the country, including foreigners that breached the law will have to pay a fine or imprisoned for up to three years. Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, told about the letters of Donald Trump, the U.S. President, which were addressed to the American partners on the Middle East. The sources of New York Times and Washington Post confirmed the existing of such letters. A few days ago Trump wrote a letter to leaders of #PersianGulf states, which was revealed to us. He wrote: "I spent $7 trillion and you must do something in return." The U.S. wants to own humiliated slaves. Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 9, 2018 New York Times reported that Trump sent two letters to the partners on the Middle East, where he stated that he spent too much money for the assistance for the region and calls the allies for taking measures on counterwork Irans influence. In its turn, Washington Post told about a letter sent by Trump to the leaders of the Gulf states. It was noted that the letter was sent around two weeks ago. Trump calls the U.S. allies for more active actions in Syria in the letter. Besides, he asks for considering two options of a solution for the long-running conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In both letters Trump is trying to intensify pressure upon Iran and he writes that the U.S. expects the region to be more active as the U.S. allocated a lot of money in the region since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. It should be noted that the U.S. closest allies in the Gulf are Saudi Arabia, UAE and Israel. All these states severely condemn the Iran Nuclear Deal, signed in 2015. As it was reported earlier, Tehran considers Washingtons actions as a clear violation of the international law and right of self-defense, provided by the 51st article of the UN Charter. Earlier, Donald Trump, the U.S. President stated that the U.S. leaves the Iran Nuclear Deal. Due to this he called for developing new sanctions against Iran and presented the list of demands to the Iranian regime. Six representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and three people related to the Corps company are in the sanctions list. Theaters are closed until further notice But if you would like a snapshot to help you remember how things used to be Film Capsules See our Calendar page for special film events and screenings Film Times CALGARY, Alberta, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questerre Energy Corporation (Questerre or the Company) (TSX:QEC) (OSE:QEC) reported today on its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018. Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questerre, commented, Our production and cash flow growth this quarter was primarily driven by the increased investment in Kakwa. Production from the joint venture acreage almost doubled from the first quarter of 2017. With additional drilling scheduled for later this summer at Kakwa, we could see production dip in the next few quarters before a further increase by year-end. He added, Through a recent partnership with an experienced Montney operator, we plan to develop our immediately offsetting acreage. We are looking forward to the results from the first well given the strong condensate rates and low acid gas from our adjacent producing wells. Highlights Average daily production over 2,000 boe/d for the quarter Adjusted funds flow from operations more than doubled to $4.7 million Questerre partners with experienced operator to develop Kakwa North acreage Questerre commissions integration study for Jordan oil shale project Commenting on Quebec, he noted, We were encouraged by comments this May from the Minister of Environment noting that the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources will soon be tabling regulations for hydrocarbons. Once finalized, we will be meeting with the municipalities to secure the local acceptability we need. We are confident there is interest in our clean gas pilot and its environmental and economic benefits. Updating developments on its project in Jordan, he further added, During the quarter, we engaged Hatch Ltd., a global engineering firm, to review the engineering and economics for our oil shale project in Jordan. The initial project will target production of approximately 50,000 bbls/d and will include the costs to upgrade the produced oil to diesel and gasoline. Once this study is completed, we plan to commission a more detailed pre-FEED study as we commence negotiations for a concession agreement. As a result of the increased capital investment in Kakwa last year, the Company reported higher production volumes over prior periods. Production averaged 2,013 boe/d for the quarter compared to 1,123 boe/d for the same period last year with Kakwa accounting for over three quarters of production during both periods. Gross revenue more than doubled to $9.54 million with higher production volumes benefitting from higher oil prices in the period. The higher revenue contributed to adjusted funds flow from operations of $4.65 million for the period compared to $1.41 million last year. The Company reported net income of $0.06 million for the current quarter compared to a loss of $0.52 million for the first quarter last year. Capital investment for the quarter focused almost exclusively on Kakwa and totaled $8.66 million (2017: $5.32 million). The Company anticipates incremental investment at Kakwa in 2018 could be up to $21 million and include six (1.5 net) wells subject to the operators final plans and continued results. The term "adjusted funds flow from operations" is a non-IFRS measure. Please see the reconciliation elsewhere in this press release. Questerre Energy Corporation is leveraging its expertise gained through early exposure to shale and other non-conventional reservoirs. The Company has base production and reserves in the tight oil Bakken/Torquay of southeast Saskatchewan. It is bringing on production from its lands in the heart of the high-liquids Montney shale fairway. It is a leader on social license to operate issues for its Utica shale gas discovery in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec. It is pursuing oil shale projects with the aim of commercially developing these massive resources. Questerre is a believer that the future success of the oil and gas industry depends on a balance of economics, environment and society. We are committed to being transparent and are respectful that the public must be part of making the important choices for our energy future. Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information (forward-looking statements) including the expectation that additional drilling will be scheduled at Kakwa this summer, the expectations for a further increase in production by year-end, the Companys plans to develop its offsetting acreage at Kakwa through its partnership with an experienced Montney operator, the expectation that the first well could spud by June, the expectation that the final oil and gas regulations in Quebec will be issued soon, the Companys plan to meet with municipalities in Quebec to secure the local acceptability needed, the Companys belief that there is interest in its clean gas pilot by the municipalities in Quebec, the Companys plans to commission a more detailed pre-FEED study for its oil shale project in Jordan, its plans to commence negotiations for a concession agreement, and its plans for additional capital spending at Kakwa. Although Questerre believes that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, our forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information available to Questerre. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in our Annual Information Form and other documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, Questerre does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Barrel of oil equivalent (boe) amounts may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio has been calculated using a conversion rate of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil and the conversion ratio of one barrel to six thousand cubic feet is based on an energy equivalent conversion method application at the burner tip and does not necessarily represent an economic value equivalent at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalent of 6:1, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value. This press release contains the terms adjusted funds flow from operations and working capital surplus which are non-GAAP terms. Questerre uses these measures to help evaluate its performance. As an indicator of Questerres performance, adjusted funds flow from operations should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, cash flows from operating activities as determined in accordance with GAAP. Questerres determination of adjusted funds flow from operations may not be comparable to that reported by other companies. Questerre considers adjusted funds flow from operations to be a key measure as it demonstrates the Companys ability to generate the cash necessary to fund operations and support activities related to its major assets. Three months ended March 31, ($ thousands) 2018 2017 Net cash (used in) from operating activities (352 ) $ 1,247 Interest paid 78 183 Change in non-cash operating working capital 4,956 (19 ) Adjusted Funds Flow from Operations 4,652 $ 1,411 Working capital surplus is a non-GAAP measure calculated as current assets less current liabilities excluding risk management contracts. YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan tasked the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces to pay close attention that all soldiers are provided with hygienic items, military uniforms, shoes and high-quality food, reports Armenpress. In the morning I had a meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, logistics representative during which we discussed the issue of providing soldiers with necessary items. If you remember, I have talked about the fact that many parents of soldiers have to send their sons different hygiene items, shoes and etc. And today in the morning I put this issue very strictly before the representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the PM said live on Facebook. Addressing the parents of the soldiers, the PM said they are doing a great work for the homeland as they have sent their sons to serve in the Armenian Army. Therefore, the state is obliged to provide your children with everything starting from hygiene items up to clothing and food. From now on I call on you not to send hygiene items, military uniforms and shoes to your sons all, in other words everything that the state has to provide to soldiers. If your sons tell you that they are not provided with that items, I urge you to apply to the PMs staff or voice about that issue via media. We will conduct a monitoring and will solve that issues, PM Pashinyan said. Nikol Pashinyan assured that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces has been obliged to provide soldiers with all necessary items, as well as with high-quality food. I ask you if there are problems with food, please apply to the PMs staff so that we can deal with that issue. I have already received assurances that these issues will be solved, and if it turns out that after this assurance that issues have not been solved, all those who ought to solve that issue, but didnt do it, will be held strictly accountable, PM Pashinyan noted. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on May 10, according to Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency. Erdogan and Putin discussed the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, emphasizing that it was a wrong step. In addition, Erdogan and Putin also discussed developments in Syria. Erdogan also congratulated Putin on his inauguration for the fourth term as President of Russia. US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made, President Trump said in an 11-minute address from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. It didnt bring calm, it didnt bring peace, and it never will. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that the Iranians intended to abide by the terms of the deal, and he criticized Trump for his history of not honoring international treaties. Trump gained strong backing from Saudi Arabia and Israel, whose leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hailed him for a historic move and courageous leadership, according to the New York Times. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Irans foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Brussels on May 15 to discuss the situation over the Iranian nuclear deal with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as with the leadership of Germany, UK and France, Kyodo news agency reports, citing an Iranian diplomatic source. The meeting comes after US withdrawal from the Tehran nuclear deal. In the one-day meeting, Iran will seek the European Union's "practical guarantees" stressed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the only way to salvage the Iran nuclear deal. The Iranian FM held telephone conversations with his European counterparts on May 10 during which the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was discussed. The officials agreed to hold meetings at expert and ministerial level. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he has introduced the new Police Chief and National Security Service director to the staffs of the police HQ and the NSS. Earlier on May 10 President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian appointed Valery Osipyan as Police Chief of Armenia and Arthur Vanetsyan as director of the National Security Service. The appointments were made based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. I am aware that Valery Osipyans appointment as Police Chief has caused certain questions in social networks, Pashinyan said on Facebook, adding he will address the matter soon. At this moment Nikol Pashinyan is in the Government Seat, chairing his first Cabinet meeting after being elected Prime Minister. Valery Osipyan was serving as Deputy Chief of the Yerevan Police Department since 2012. Osipyan is widely known in the Armenian society due to his many years of on-duty public appearances in the streets of Yerevan during demonstrations, protests, rallies and other types of events. He was seen negotiating with Pashinyan during the latests demonstrations in Yerevan prior to the elections. Back in 2016 when a police station was attacked by heavily armed gunman in Yerevan, Osipyan was personally dispatched to the scene and subsequently taken hostage. He was released few days later. Arthur Vanetsyan is serving in the National Security Service for more than 15 years and held the position of deputy chief of Yerevan City Department of the NSS at the time of the appointment. Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister by the Armenian parliament on May 8 in the second round of voting. 59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan. He needed at least 53 votes to be named Prime Minister. As required by the Constitution, a new government must be formed within 15 days after electing a Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister must nominate candidates for deputy Prime Ministers and ministers within five days after the election to the President. After the formation of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister must submit his governments action plan for parliamentary debates within 20 days. The parliament has seven days to debate the action plan. In the event of rejection of the action plan, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Valery Osipyan says his appointment as Police Chief of Armenia was unexpected, reports Armenpress. Before the Cabinet meeting on May 11, asked whether he imagines himself in the post of the Police Chief, Osipyan told reporters: The soldier who doesnt want to become a general is bad. The reporters asked him if there is a necessity to arrest former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan or Deputy Police Chief Levon Yeranosyan, whether he is ready to go on that path, Valery Osipyan said there is no unpunished person in Armenia, all are equal before the law. If anyone will prove that Colonel Osipyan acted inadequately during these years, committed violence against any of our compatriots, I am ready to be held accountable and will resign at this moment. Asked what demand new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has put forward before him, the new Police Chief said the demand is to be democratic and stand with the people. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on May 10 on appointing former Police Chief of Yerevan Valery Osipyan Police Chief of Armenia. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prior to chairing his first Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived at the government headquarters in Republic Square and personally talked with a group of protesters outside the main entrance. Some of the protesters were demanding the resignation of Grigor Grigoryan, chairman of the Union Of the Deaf, while others were parents of killed or missing servicemen. Pashinyan listened to the demands of the citizens, gave instructions via his mobile phone and then only entered the building. Photos by Felix Arustamyan Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister by the Armenian parliament on May 8 in the second round of voting. 59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan. He needed at least 53 votes to be named Prime Minister. As required by the Constitution, a new government must be formed within 15 days after electing a Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister must nominate candidates for deputy Prime Ministers and ministers within five days after the election to the President. After the formation of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister must submit his governments action plan for parliamentary debates within 20 days. The parliament has seven days to debate the action plan. In the event of rejection of the action plan, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tasked his Chief of Staff Eduard Aghajanyan to submit a proposal within a month regarding providing an apartment to third President Serzh Sargsyan as part of the presidential retirement benefit law. Acting minister of justice David Harutyunyan said at todays Cabinet meeting that they have submitted a governmental decision bill on providing Serzh Sargsyan presidential retirement benefits and they suggest to adopt it. We must note that Serzh Sargsyan is the last former president to benefit from this right, because we havent planned similar guarantees for retired presidents anymore. I am suggesting your instruction for this issue to be addressed soon, Harutyunyan said. He reminded that back in March the government provided former president Sargsyan with official premises as part of a presidential retirement benefit. Former president-turned PM Sargsyan announced at an April 19 Cabinet meeting to declare the decision on granting him the premises as void, thus rejecting the benefit. Sargsyan suggested the next government to provide him with the benefit. I think the issue is clear, a privatization of one of the government homes took place and as a result of further developments now there is a need to annul this very specific part of the decision on privatization of the governmental home and to find another solution, which will ensure the lawful guarantee. I am tasking Chief of Staff Eduard Aghajanyan to submit within a month a suggestion to lawfully provide Serzh Sargsyan with the guarantee of the apartment benefit, Pashinyan said. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan put forward tasks before the Police, from which the priority is the fight against crime and corruption, new Police Chief Valery Osipyan told reporters after todays Cabinet meeting, reports Armenpress. We are going to start from these issues, Osipyan said. Commenting on the recent violence cases against peaceful protesters, the Police Chief said all are equal before the law, and if there are such cases, those guilty must be held accountable. Asked whether he is going to dismiss deputy police chief Levon Yeranosyan taking into account the citizens complaints over his actions, Osipyan said cadre changes always take place in the Police. I repeat again: if it is proved that anyone acted illegally, be that Yeranosyan or Colonel Osipyan, all are equal before the law and must be held responsible, the Police Chief said. He said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans proposal to appoint him as the Police Chief was unexpected. We will show to the whole world that the Armenia Police stand with the people, and what had happened during those days in Armenia, must serve an example for everyone, he said, adding that the Armenian Police have always stood with the people, but the recent events showed that the Police can and must stand more with the people. The Police Chief also didnt forget to publicly apologize to the citizens who, perhaps, suffered as a result of his actions. He also thanked all those who criticized him these days as these criticisms help them to improve. During my entire activity I did everything within law, I even applied physical force on our citizens within law. If there are citizens against whom I used disproportionate actions or those who have been affected, I apologize. I also want to thank the people who criticize me since it is thanks to them that we improve, he said. Asked what inheritance former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan has left for him, Valery Osipyan said: For years reforms are being carried out in the Police, but they were on phases as the mass events were more, and there was less time for us to be engaged in reforms. We were more engaged in mass events protests, marches, and we were mainly conducting such works with the staff. Now we need to make these reforms more significant. Osipyan informed that the former Police Chief congratulated him on assuming the post. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on May 10 on appointing former Police Chief of Yerevan Valery Osipyan Police Chief of Armenia by the proposal of the PM. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan says he will appoint Davit Tonoyan, the acting minister of emergency situation, to serve as defense minister. Today David Tonoyan will be appointed defense minister. Other appointments will be made soon also, the Prime Minister told reporters. Pashinyan said acting minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan will not continue her tenure. At this moment we dont have a plan on making changes in the government structure and we wont even manage to physically, however relations with the Diaspora are very important. We will do everything for this ministry to function not only within the framework of Diaspora and preservation of Armenian identity, but also to be the main ring in organizing repatriation and contributing to repatriation, he said. Tonoyan previously served as deputy minister of defense from 2010-2017. In 2017, he was appointed minister of emergency situations. Vigen Sargsyan was appointed defense minister in 2016. Sargsyan recently said he will not continue tenure in the new government. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a congratulatory letter to Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on assuming office, the PMs office said, reports Armenpress. The letter says: Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I sincerely congratulate you on your election. As a reliable partner Germany will continue assisting Armenia in modernization and implementation of reforms and will make efforts to deepen the bilateral friendly relations, as well as for the peaceful development of the region. I highly welcome the fact that all participants of political processes of recent days and weeks demonstrated high sense of responsibility for the benefit of the Armenian people. I wish you success and all the best in the formation of the government and during your tenure. PM Pashinyan continues receiving congratulations. Armenian lawmakers elected Yelk faction head Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of Armenia on May 8. 59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG) (NYSE:PVG) (Pretivm or the Company) announces the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on May 10, 2018 (the Meeting). A total of 123,704,890 (67.82%) of Pretivms common shares were represented at the meeting. The seven nominees listed in the management proxy circular were elected as directors of Pretivm. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors are set out below: Number of Directors Setting the number of Directors at seven Votes for % For Votes Against % Against 100,042,807 99.83% 171,640 0.17% Election of Directors Nominee Votes for % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Robert A. Quartermain Joseph J. Ovsenek George Paspalas Peter Birkey Nicole Adshead-Bell David Smith Faheem Tejani 93,548,533 98,271,147 98,011,888 96,968,635 98,187,368 98,204,726 94,405,817 93.35% 98.06% 97.80% 96.76% 97.98% 97.99% 94.20% 6,665,915 1,943,301 2,202,560 3,245,813 2,027,080 2,009,722 5,808,631 6.65% 1.94% 2.20% 3.24% 2.02% 2.01% 5.80% Voting results at the meeting approving the appointment of auditors and an advisory resolution on executive compensation were as follows: Appointment of auditors The appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company and authorising the auditors to set their remuneration. Votes for % For Votes Withheld % Withheld 122,765,547 99.40% 738,375 0.60% Say on Pay Advisory Vote To authorize and approve a non-binding resolution accepting the Companys approach to executive compensation. Votes for % For Votes Against % Against 58,094,953 57.97% 42,119,495 42.03% About Pretivm Pretivm is ramping-up gold production at the high-grade underground Brucejack mine in northern British Columbia. For further information contact: Joseph Ovsenek Troy Shultz President & CEO Manager, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Pretium Resources Inc. Suite 2300, Four Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street PO Box 49334 Vancouver, BC V7X 1L4 (604) 558-1784 invest@pretivm.com (SEDAR filings: Pretium Resources Inc.) Forward-Looking Statements This News Release contains forward-looking information and forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words anticipates, believes, may, continues, estimates, expects, and will and words of similar import, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to: production and cost guidance; our planned mining, exploration and development activities; capital and operating cost estimates; production and processing estimates; the future price of gold and silver; the adequacy of our financial resources; the estimation of mineral reserves and resources including the 2016 Valley of the Kings Mineral Resource estimate and the Brucejack Mineral Reserve estimate; realization of mineral reserve and resource estimates and timing of development of Pretivm's Brucejack Mine; costs and timing of future exploration and development; results of future exploration and drilling; capital and operating cost estimates; timelines and similar statements relating to the economic viability of the Brucejack Mine, including mine life, total tonnes mined and processed and mining operations; completion of ramp-up to steady state production and positive cash flow; timing and receipt of approvals, consents and permits under applicable legislation; our relationship with community stakeholders; litigation matters; environmental matters; and statements regarding USD cash flows currency fluctuations and the recurrence of foreign currency translation adjustments. Wherever possible, words such as plans, expects, guidance, projects, assumes, budget, strategy, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, anticipates, believes, intends, modeled, targets and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative forms of any of these terms and similar expressions, have been used to identify forward-looking statements and information. Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the property is developed. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, those risks identified in Pretivm's Annual Information Form dated March 28, 2018 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and in the United States on Form 40-F through EDGAR at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of Pretivm's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX nor the NYSE has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein. YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced new Police Chief Valery Osipyan to the Police staff and board, the government told Armenpress. The PM thanked former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan for the works done during his tenure which derived from the interests of Armenias public security, legality and protection of human rights. I want to formulate the task I put before the Police: the first one is of course the complete and unconditional maintenance of law and order, the second one is the protection of human rights and democracy. Here I want to specify several sub-issues: firstly, the criminal activity in Armenia must reach an unprecedented low level, the next we all need to refuse from the action of fining citizens constantly and at all possible occasions since, in my opinion, by such actions we undermine the atmosphere in the country. Mr. Osipyan, it is necessary to quickly understand what decisions we need to adopt to guarantee this issue also de jure, PM Pashinyan said, adding that punishment policy must be replaced by an effective prevention policy. The PM noted that Police and the Yerevan Municipality must take serious measures to keep away the citizens from traffics, inconveniences. The next direction I want to mention is the fight against corruption. Any corruption type must be firstly ruled out in the Police system, and here we can replace the policy of not noticing by the punishment policy. Corruption must be totally eradicated in Armenia. What had happened in Armenia from political terms over the past month, many were assessing it as something impossible. Therefore, if we started to make the impossible a reality, we need to continue fighting corruption with the same pace, and I expect not to hear any news that traffic police officer is taking a bribe. The official, be from the Police or other sphere, who takes bribes, makes corruption decisions, must wait for the rapid response of law enforcement agencies. I have also put a similar task before the director of the National Security Service, PM Pashinyan said, adding that the most important function of public authorities is the following: to make the citizens life more comfortable, to ensure atmosphere of love and solidarity in Armenia. In fact, the situation is such that the citizens, especially those opposing, and the police have sometimes appeared in different sides of the line also due to political events. I expect from us to delete these lines, especially when during the recent political events these lines have started to be deleted, and I want to specifically thank the police for demonstrating maximal restraint during the events of the past month, in particular, during the last 10-15 days, the PM noted. Former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan thanked colleagues for the joint work and attached importance to the continuation of reforms in the police system. Vladimir Gasparyan highly appreciated Valery Osipyans professional qualities and wished him productive work. In his turn Valery Osipyan thanked PM Pashinyan for the great trust and expressed confidence that the tasks set before the Police will be implemented at a high level. Summing up his remarks, the PM said: The so-called clan approach must be ruled out in the cadre policy, and the principle of the service progress in the Police system must be the professionalism, dedication, service to the Republic of Armenia and its people. I think we all understand well that many citizens in Armenia will continue perceiving the Police as a subject standing on the other side of barbed wires. Our and your major task is to quickly show to the Armenian citizens that there are no barbed wires, shields, special measures between the police and the people, and that the police are serving to the Republic of Armenia and its people. This is the political task which we should solve very quickly, the PM said. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The composition of the upcoming new government of Armenia will feature the Tsarukyan alliance too, PM Nikol Pashinyan said after todays Cabinet meeting. Weve said that we will appoint a unity government. We must find the best staffing solutions. The Tsarukyan alliance will be involved in the government composition, while discussions with the ARF are still ongoing, he said. Commenting on first President Levon Ter-Petrosyans statement that Pashinyan will no longer be able to use public pressure for passing his legislative initiatives in the parliament, the PM said: As long as there is public support it will be fully used with the purpose of the countrys development. I will step down as Prime Minister the moment when there wont be public support. He also said that early parliamentary elections should be held in the shortest reasonable period of time. To an argument that the HHK doesnt want early elections, the PM stressed that decisions are made by the society. The PM said there are other options under the constitution for calling early elections, referring to the possibility that his governments action plan will be passed by the parliament, which in turn will not leave room for early elections. Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister by the Armenian parliament on May 8 in the second round of voting. 59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan. He needed at least 53 votes to be named Prime Minister. As required by the Constitution, a new government must be formed within 15 days after electing a Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister must nominate candidates for deputy Prime Ministers and ministers within five days after the election to the President. After the formation of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister must submit his governments action plan for parliamentary debates within 20 days. The parliament has seven days to debate the action plan. In the event of rejection of the action plan, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. After finishing issues on the agenda at the first Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Nikol Pashinyan, the Premier thanked the Cabinet and mentioned that this was the last Cabinet meeting in this composition. Dear colleagues, the Cabinet is gathered in this composition for the last time. Good luck to all of you. I wish good luck to the new upcoming government also, Pashinyan said. Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister by the Armenian parliament on May 8 in the second round of voting. 59 MPs voted in favor, 42 voted against the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan. He needed at least 53 votes to be named Prime Minister. As required by the Constitution, a new government must be formed within 15 days after electing a Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister must nominate candidates for deputy Prime Ministers and ministers within five days after the election to the President. After the formation of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister must submit his governments action plan for parliamentary debates within 20 days. The parliament has seven days to debate the action plan. In the event of rejection of the action plan, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. First Deputy Police Chief of Armenia, Lt. General Hunan Poghosyan has resigned. Lt. General Poghosyan released a statement, thanking his colleagues for the many years of service. I would like to thank our dearest citizens for strengthening of cooperation and mutual trust, he said. My dearest, I have made a decision to resign. Please, dont seek any implications in my words and decisions, Poghosyan continued. I have always served, I still serve and will continue serving the Republic of Armenia wherever the country requires this service and for me to be confident that I can give my best to my state and people. Poghosyan also congratulated the new Police Chief Valery Osipyan, who was appointed on May 10. The full text of the resignation is available in Armenian. Valery Osipyan was serving as Deputy Chief of the Yerevan Police Department since 2012. Upon the Premier's recommendation and Presidential approval, Osipyan was named as a replacement for Vladimir Gasparyan as Police Chief of Armenia. Osipyan is widely known in the Armenian society due to his many years of public appearances in the streets of Yerevan during demonstrations, protests, rallies and other types of events. He was seen negotiating with Pashinyan during the latests demonstrations in Yerevan prior to the elections. Back in 2016 when a police station was attacked by heavily armed gunman in Yerevan, Osipyan was personally dispatched to the scene and subsequently taken hostage. He was released few days later. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conversation on May 11 during which they highlighted the importance of preserving the Iranian nuclear deal against the backdrop of the US unilateral withdrawal from it, the Kremlin press service said, TASS reports. They discussed the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the wake of the United States unilateral withdrawal from it and pointed to the fundamental importance of preserving the JCPOA from the perspective of international and regional security, the press service said. Putin and Merkel also touched upon the topics of Ukraine and Syria during the phone talk which was initiated by the German side. Issues related to the establishment of the UN mission for protection of OSCE observers were studied while sharing positions on the Ukrainian crisis. Agreement was reached to galvanize work in the Normandy format, the press service reported. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says Commander of the Police Troops of Armenia Levon Yeranosyan will be sacked. Levon Yeranosyans issue is in the Prime Ministers domain, and, naturally, Levon Yeranosyan will be relieved from office as commander of the police troops, Pashinyan said. Pashinyan also addressed criticism on the appointment of Valery Osipyan as Police Chief of Armenia. Pashinyan stressed that the appointment of any Police Chief wouldnt have been definitely accepted by the society. Why? Because as required by the legislation, an official from the police system must be appointed as police chief, and it is clear that no appointment would have a definite appreciation, he said. Valery Osipyan was serving as Deputy Chief of the Yerevan Police Department since 2012. Upon the Premier's recommendation and Presidential approval, Osipyan was named as a replacement for Vladimir Gasparyan as Police Chief of Armenia. Osipyan is widely known in the Armenian society due to his many years of public appearances in the streets of Yerevan during demonstrations, protests, rallies and other types of events. He was seen negotiating with Pashinyan during the latests demonstrations in Yerevan prior to the elections. Back in 2016 when a police station was attacked by heavily armed gunman in Yerevan, Osipyan was personally dispatched to the scene and subsequently taken hostage. He was released few days later. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. A military-technical scientific research institute will be established subordinate to the defense ministry. The bill was approved during todays Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The establishment of the institute under the defense ministry will contribute to technological development of Armenias military industry and full use of scientific and economic potential in the sector. It will be a ring between the military and development institutes, which will clearly formulate the task and assignment. Currently this is done non regulated, deputy defense ministry Davit Pakhchanyan said. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered additional remarks on the matter, saying: So factually with this we want to create a brain center for the military industry complex, which will determine priorities, needs and therefore will formulate the demand which we have long term and short term. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Belgian parliamentarians David Clarinval, Georges Dallemagne and Els Van Hoof sent a letter to Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders titled Azerbaijan must stop political harassment against Kaspar Karampetian. ARMENPRESS presents the full text of the letter: Honourable Minister, Herewith we would like to draw your attention to the unacceptable and abusive nature of the international arrest warrant initiated by the Republic of Azerbaijan against Mr. Kaspar Karampetian, President of the Belgian non-profit organization European-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (hereinafter EAFJD) for having visited the Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh Republic. The EAFJD is a Brussels-based grassroots organization which is involved in civic activism to raise awareness and advocates i.a. for reducing the geopolitical isolation of the population of Nagorno Karabakh. It is within this framework that Mr. Karampetian carries out regular visits there. Honourable Minister, As you know, there is no norm in the international law which would prevent any Belgian or European citizen from visiting Nagorno Karabakh. We consider that visiting Nagorono Karabakh is essential in order to support the peaceful resolution of the conflict - the only acceptable outcome of the negotiations conducted under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. We therefore regret that the Azerbaijani authorities are using methods of intimidation, seeking to criminalize these visits, blacklisting visitors and declaring them persona non grata. We firmly believe that the request of the international arrest warrant against Mr. Karampetian addressed to Interpol evidently contains defamatory elements and is politically motivated persecution. This is highly regrettable and undermines our values. Honourable Minister, Azerbaijan is a country with which Belgium maintains diplomatic relations. In your capacity as the Minister of Foreign Affairs you work with your Azerbaijani counterpart, we therefore consider it important that you are informed about this, so that you could take action accordingly. Sincerely, David Clarinval Georges Dallemagne Els Van Hoof. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ambassador to Romania Sergey Minasyan on May 10 met with President of the Senate (upper house of the parliament) of Romania Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress. The meeting was also attended by lawmaker of the Romanian parliament Varuzhan Voskanyan. Ambassador Minasyan thanked the President of the Senate for the meeting and introduced in-detail the domestic political developments in Armenia. Sergey Minasyan attached importance to the ratification of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the Romanian parliament as soon as possible, touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, stating that Armenia attaches importance to the conflicts peaceful, negotiated settlement under the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group, and in this context highly appreciates Romanias balanced stance on this issue over the last years. The officials also discussed the upcoming Francophonie summit which will be held in Yerevan on October 11-12 and the importance of Romanis participation in it, as well as highlighted the need to boost the Armenian-Romanian inter-parliamentary ties. At the end of the meeting the officials discussed a wide range of issues relating to regional security, as well as the ongoing developments in the Middle East. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Russias Rosselkhoznadzor the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, has said that it has discovered contamination in imported cargo products from Armenia. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) was discovered in a batch of imported tomatoes, while a batch of cucumbers contained western flower thrips [Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)] . Both organisms are subject to quarantine. The contamination was discovered at the border checkpoint. The State Service of Food Safety (SSFS) of Armenia told ARMENPRESS it is clarifying details of the matter with Rosselkhoznadzor. SSFS said it has already taken necessary actions to heighten control over exported fruits and vegetables. It said that the cargo mentioned by the Russian watchdog has already been returned to the exporter and the issue concerns only to the given batch. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan Estimados amigos, Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia. Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro. Gonzalo Raffo de Lavalle Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras. Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada. Helenio Herrera History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Sun Tzu We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. Paulo Coelho YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The leadership of the Turkish parliament has rejected the bill submitted by lawmaker of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) Garo Paylan which called on to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Agos reports. On April 20, 2018, Garo Paylan submitted a bill to the parliament proposing to call the 1915 and subsequent events as an Armenian Genocide, remove the names of perpetrators from public places, and grant Turkish citizenship to the descendants of the Genocide victims or Armenians affected by it. The rejection signed by Speaker of the parliament Ismail Kahraman says Paylans bill and statements insult the country, the national dignity and oppose the history. The Speaker rejected the bill of ethnic Armenian lawmaker sending it back aimed at making necessary corrections. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will visit the United States on May 16-18 during which he will hold talks with President Donald Trump, the NATO press service said, Armenpress reports. The Secretary General will visit the United States from 16-18 May, as part of the Secretary General's consultations with Allies in the run-up to the NATO Brussels Summit in July. Secretary General Stoltenberg will have a meeting with the US President Donald Trump, the statement said, adding that he will also meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and other senior officials. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The US Embassy in Jerusalem will be inaugurated on May 14, as expected, on the 70th anniversary of Israels formation, a high ranking US administration source said. We are very happy that we will open our embassy in Jerusalem Monday morning. We expect over 100 people in attendance at the opening, we expect several high ranking guests from the Congress, the Presidents delegation will also be in attendance. We are very proud with the fact that we were able to open the embassy, as the president says, ahead of the schedule and within the budget, the source said, according to RIA Novosti. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Latvia Maris Kucinskis sent a congratulatory letter to Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on assuming office, the Armenian government told Armenpress. Your Excellency, On behalf of the Latvian government I want to convey my warmest congratulations on your election as Prime Minister of Armenia. By using this chance I want to express my real belief that Armenia and Latvia have a great potential to develop the cooperation in different spheres of mutual interest. Your Excellency, please accept assurances of my highest respect, the Latvian PM said in the letter. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirimn has responded to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans statement on the establishment of diplomatic ties with Ankara without preconditions. However, the Turkish PM once again repeated their preconditions. According to Hurriyet newspaper, Yildirimn has said that Turkey doesnt want to be hostile with its neighbors. Nevertheless, Yildirimn essentially didnt deviate from the traditional Turkish political line towards Armenia. In particular, the Turkish PM said: Certainly if Armenia changes its hostile stance towards Turkey, refuses from its ambitions towards Turkeys territorial integrity and borders, refuses from it all, desires to open a new chapter, then we will examine details and respond accordingly. We dont want to be in hostility with anyone, particularly with neighbors. If such an approach would exist, we will discuss it within the framework of the interests of our state. In response to a question from reporters in Artsakh, the Armenian Prime Minister had earlier said that Armenia is today also ready for establishing relations with Turkey without preconditions. As you know, Turkey has preconditions in this issue, and these preconditions are illogical, because relations with a third country cannot be a preconditions for the establishment of relations between two countries, PM Pashinyan had said. The Turkish Prime Minister's statement on territorial integrity and borders seems unfathomable because Armenia, in addition to never making any preconditions, has never made any demands or "aspirations" of any kind towards Turkey's territorial integrity and borders. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Ex-President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has sent a letter to LUYS Foundation staff and the community of its scholarship beneficiaries. He informed that in the nearest days a meeting of the Executive Board of the foundation will be convened to discuss the future projects of the foundation and the opportunities for their funding, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the 3rd President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Executive Director of LUYS Foundation Jacqueline Karaaslanian announced on May 10 about the termination of the activities of the Foundation. In her open letter she underlined that scholarship beneficiaries still in the process of studying and those who have already applied for 2018-19 education year and met the requirements of the foundation will be granted with the scholarship. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a letter to FAST Foundations founders Ruben Vardanyan, Noubar Afeyan, Priest Mesrop Aramyan and Artur Alaverdyan, the Office told Armenpress. The letter says; Dear founders of the FAST Foundation, The Office of the third President of Armenia, founder of LUYS cultural, scientific, educational Foundation, Serzh Sargsyan, informs that the LUYS Foundation suspends its financial participation in the future activities of the FAST Foundation since May 31. At the moment the LUYS Foundation is at the discussion stage of its ongoing programs in order to determine the main further directions of education programs. We are confident that the FAST Foundation will continue playing its unique role in Armenias further technological progress and developing atmosphere for innovations. Thank you for the joint work during this period. Founding Executive Director of Luys Foundation Jacqueline Karaaslanian on April 10 announced about the termination of the activities of the Foundation. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, 11 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 11 May, USD exchange rate is down by 0.50 drams to 486.06 drams. EUR exchange rate is up by 2.32 drams to 580.11 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.07 drams to 7.88 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 2.29 drams to 658.51 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price is up by 56.24 drams to 20609.14 drams. Silver price is up by 2.23 drams to 259.41 drams. Platinum price is up by 141.60 drams to 14423.9 drams. YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. . Based on the proposal of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has signed decrees on appointing Ararat Mirzoyan as First Deputy Prime Minister and Tigran Avinyan as Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Presidents Office. Ararat Mirzoyan - Born in 1979 in Yerevan. Married, with a daughter and a son In 2000 graduated from YSU Faculty of History holding Bachelors degree. In 2002 received Master's Degree, In 2004 graduated from Public Administration Academy of Armenia. Received a PhD degree in 2015 at Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia He was elected Board Member of Civil Contract party in 2016. Tigran Avinyan - Born in 1989 In 2014 graduated from the Queen Mary University of London, receiving a Master's degree in Finance. In 2011 graduated from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Armenian (Slavonic) University in Mathematical Modeling in Economics, earning Master's Degree. In 2009 graduated from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Armenian (Slavonic) University with a Bachelor's Degree. In 2005 graduated from Pushkin Secondary School N 8. He was elected Board Member of Civil Contract party in 2016. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Based on the proposal of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has signed a decree appointing Davit Tonoyan Minister of Defense of Armenia, ARMENBPRESS was informed from the official website of the President. Davit Tonoyan 1998 - 2004, He held various positions at the headquarters of NATOs Allied Command Operations 2004 - 2007, Armenias Armed Forces Representative to NATO 2007 - 2009, Head of International Military Cooperation and Defense Programs of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia 2009 - 2010, Head of Department of Defense Policy of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia 2010 - 2017, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia February 2017 - May 2018 Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia ENGLISH: Editor/Translator Tigran Sirekanyan There are so very few things you can rely on when it comes to New York City's subway system. It will fail you many more times than it will impress you with its ability to, say, function. The seat colors aren't uniform, the schedule is non-existent, the odor always something different... but the flooring is always the same. An unchanging, grounding factor in your commute. Maybe you don't even notice it every day, that reliable old black with red speckles flooring (or sometimes beige), but it's always there. Until IT ISN'T. The new flooring being tested for our subway cars. (Jen Carlson/Gothamist) Earlier this week, I stepped on to an A train and felt immediately disoriented. The flooring was gray. A flat gray, no speckles forming the sturdy galaxy that's normally below my feet. I felt like I was falling. Where was I? Tokyo? New Jersey? Dreaming? I reached out to MTA rep Amanda Kwan and was told, "Were testing flooring." (Just like those subway arrows to nowhere.) Why? When will this flooring roll out? Why gray? Is this a tribute to Gothamist and our trademark Gothamist Gray color? What is in this flooring? Will it make the trains run on time? We'll update when we're told more. Catalonia's majority separatist parliament is preparing to appoint a new regional president hand-picked by deposed leader Carles Puigdemont, who from exile told Quim Torra to continue his showdown with Madrid to achieve independence. Following are the next steps. - Appointment vote - Catalonia's parliament has announced that a first debate on whether to appoint Torra will take place on Saturday, after which lawmakers will vote for or against his candidacy. Torra needs an absolute majority to get through, and if he doesn't, he will get another opportunity in a second round where he will only need a simple majority, likely to take place on Monday. There are currently 70 lawmakers in the regional parliament who are pro-independence and 65 against. But four of the 70 are from the radical anti-capitalist, separatist CUP party which has said it will only vote for Puigdemont -- and no one else. If they decide to abstain, Torra will scrape through in the second round with a simple majority, but if they vote against, he won't succeed. - Madrid lifts direct rule - If Torra is appointed president and forms a regional government, Madrid will lift the direct rule it imposed on October 27 when the majority separatist parliament declared independence. It accordance with article 155 of the Constitution, it was designed to rein in rebel regions. On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy implied that article 155 could be re-used. "It's a procedure that will be there in the future if necessary," he warned. - Clash with Madrid - Puigdemont has stressed that his candidate must "respect the mandate of October 1," when some 2.2 million Catalans (out of 5.5 million voters) cast their ballot in a referendum on independence despite a court ban -- a vote marred by police violence. Around 90 percent of those who voted chose to split from Spain, according to Catalan separatist authorities. Puigdemont said Torra would have to "bring back the policies, people and investments that were wrongly suspended or stopped" when Spain's government took control of the semi-autonomous region. Madrid had sacked around a dozen civil servants and also closed the network of "embassies" that Catalonia had opened to promote independence. - Limited room for manoeuvre - When announcing his successor on Thursday evening, Puigdemont said he would be tasked with "internal governance." Puigdemont, meanwhile, wants to create "a Republican council that will be able to express itself freely" from abroad, composed of himself and other allies who are also in self-exile. The former Catalan leader insists the situation is "temporary," implying that Torra may one day make way for him. "We will see whether Quim Torra, once he is in place, will see himself as a provisional president or whether he will develop a taste for the post," says Oriol Bartomeus, a politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Bartomeus points out that Puigdemont himself was elected Catalan president in January 2016 "to keep (his predecessor) Artur Mas's seat warm." The CUP had refused to re-appoint Mas as Catalan president, leading to Puigdemont's designation, but Mas had always thought -- wrongly as it turns out -- he would come back. - Legal woes - Puigdemont is currently in Berlin where he is waiting for a German court to rule on an extradition demand from Spain, which has charged him with "rebellion," a crime that carries up to 30 years in jail. The German court has rejected extraditing him on that charge, but is still deliberating whether to send him back on the lesser charge of misuse of public funds. Madrid, meanwhile, is contemplating appealing to European courts if it doesn't get its way. If he avoids extradition, Puigdemont will have to choose between remaining in self-exile or returning to Spain where he would be jailed. Quim Torra, hand-picked by deposed Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, faces a vote in Catalonia's parliament to be appointed a new regional president Around 30 Chilean bishops have begun arriving in Rome for what is widely expected to be a dressing-down by Pope Francis over years of sexual abuse within the Chilean Church. The bishops were joining Francis at the Vatican "with humility and hope," the Chilean Bishops Conference said Thursday, ahead of talks beginning Monday that are likely to result in a major shake-up of the Chilean hierarchy. Francis summoned the bishops to Rome in an April 12 letter saying he intended to discuss an investigation into an alleged cover-up by Bishop Juan Barros of abuse by pedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. He requested their assistance in finding measures "to repair the scandal as much as possible and restore justice." One of those accused of the cover-up, Andres Arteaga, the auxiliary bishop of Santiago, will not be attending, the Episcopal Conference said in its statement, citing health reasons. Media reports in Santiago said neither would Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, a member of the powerful Vatican C9 committee tasked with advising Francis on Vatican reform. Errazuriz stands accused by victims of ignoring repeated complaints against Karadima. - Signal of Change - "The pope is seeking to send a signal of change, otherwise he would not summon us to Rome. This is not to pay homage or to give us a pat on the back," Bishop Luis Infanti of the diocese of Aysen, told Chile's La Tercera newspaper. "What I forsee is a great shake-up in the Chilean Church, for example, that bishops are removed....and that it gives a new course to the Church in Chile," Aysen said. The series of meetings provide an opportunity for Francis to repair some of the damage done during his visit to Chile in January, which turned into a media fiasco after he said he was convinced of Barros' innocence and demanded "proof" of abuse before he would speak out against him. He later had to apologize to the victims and last month admitted "grave mistakes" after reading a 2,300-page report on the abuse in Chile. The report included the testimony of 64 people gathered in Santiago and New York by renowned Vatican investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna. Around 80 Chilean clergymen have been involved in sexual abuse cases in recent years, according to a victims' association. The 81-year-old pontiff, who hosted three of Karadima's victims at his Vatican residence in April, acknowledged he had made "grave mistakes in my perception of the situation." But the pope's complaints of a lack of "truthful and balanced information" which led to his misstep has put the spotlight on the Papal Nuncio in Santiago, Ivo Scapolo, and Errazuriz. Vatican watchers say they are likely to be sanctioned, as well as Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezatti, who also ignored complaints against Karadima. "We reiterate our union with Pope Francis in the pain and shame expressed against crimes committed against children and adults in ecclesial environments," the Conference said in a statement. One of Karadima's victims, Jose Andres Murillo, said he had told the pope in his audience how important it was to understand that sexual abuse was "abuse of power" and "the need to take responsibility...not just forgiveness." Chilean church watchers say the pope has to act to remove Barros from his duties and order the reorganization of the local hierarchy. - 'Laboratory' - Francis' letter to the bishops "prepares for measures going much further than the departure of Barros," Cristian Parker of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Santiago, told AFP. "The pope will have to take measures concerning all the bishops and the structures of the Church, so that in future he will be sure that the channels of communication are reliable." And "that will provoke a sort of earthquake in the Church in Chile, especially in the hierarchy," Parker said. "Chile is currently a laboratory in which Francis is risking part of his credibility," said Jose Manuel Vidal, a Spanish Vatican watcher and director of the online newspaper "Digital Religion." Local Catholic groups in Barros's diocese have since demanded that Francis remove the bishop for his ties to Karadima, who the Vatican in 2011 found guilty of abusing children in the 1980s and 1990s and ordered to retire to a life of penitence. Pope Francis is expected to reprimand Chilean bishops over sexual abuse at a meeting next week Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the construction of a mega hydropower plant during a visit to Nepal Friday, part of his government's move to counter Chinese influence in its backyard. Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the $1.4 billion India-backed Arun Three hydropower plant, a long-mooted project that could be a game-changer for energy-staved Nepal. "It is one of the biggest projects in Nepal. Along with employment opportunities, this project will create economic and commercial opportunities in Nepal," Modi said in Kathmandu following the inauguration. The plant is the first of five mega hydropower projects, two of which are backed by Chinese companies, to begin construction, which marks a diplomatic win for India. China has outspent India in Nepal in recent years, as the impoverished Himalayan nation sandwiched between the two Asian giants has titled relations towards its northern neighbour. In 2017, Chinese firms pledged more than $8.3 billion in investment, dwarfing Indian commitments of $317 million. In May last year, Nepal signed up to Beijing's ambitious One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative. But Modi, who cast the visit as part of his "neighbourhood first" policy, has been keen to show that India can also deliver on big-ticket infrastructure promises. "Historically India-funded projects, while they seem generous, have struggled to show progress, while the Chinese do it quicker and gain on public opinion," said Kathmandu-based analyst George Varughese. Nepal suffers from a crippling energy shortage and has been in talks with its two large neighbours for investment in its hydroelectric sector for more than a decade. The Himalayan nation has enough water to be a hydro powerhouse but it has so far harnessed less than two percent of that potential, according to estimates. - Big brother - Modi's visit to Nepal comes a month after newly elected Oli made his first foreign visit to New Delhi. The neighbours are keen to restore relations that have been strained since 2015 when Nepal passed a controversial new constitution, which sparked deadly protests and triggered a months-long border blockade. Kathmandu blamed New Delhi for the blockade that caused a severe shortage of fuel and goods as Nepal struggled to recover from a devastating earthquake earlier that year. Oli, then serving his first term as prime minister, won huge public support as he stoked nationalist anti-India sentiment over the blockade. He used the platform again during his reelection campaign last year. Many in Nepal remain suspicious of India's "big brother" attitude, and the hashtags #ModiNotWelcomeInNepal and #BlockadeWasACrimeMrModi trended on Twitter as the Indian premier touched down. Oli, who needs India -- Nepal's largest trading partner -- to realise his ambitious plans to kickstart economic growth, has opted for a more pragmatic approach to relations since he took office again in February. Modi began his Nepal visit in the southern city of Janakpur where he offered prayers at a renowned Hindu temple. Janakpur was a centre of the deadly 2015 protests, which claimed more than 50 lives. Modi will visit a second Hindu pilgrimage site near Nepal's border with Tibet on Saturday. Analysts say the strong religious overtones are intended to send a message to his Hindu nationalist base at home, where Modi is fighting a key election in the southern state of Karnataka. Nepali Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has cast his visit as part of his "neighbourhood first" policy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Nepal as part of his government's move to counter Chinese influence in its backyard Indian Prime Minister Modi is seeking to reset ties with Kathmandu as China's influence in Nepal grows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his Nepal visit in the southern city of Janakpur where he offered prayers at a renowned Hindu temple Iran's foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the US withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave late Saturday for visits to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels, a spokesman said Friday, holding meetings with all five of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran appeared determined not to be drawn into a wider regional conflict with Israel during the sensitive negotiations. That is despite Israel's claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday as part of "Operation House of Cards". Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw the Iranians out" of his country. Israel said the strikes were in response to a missile volley fired from southern Syria by Iran's Quds force, which struck the occupied Golan Heights without causing casualties. But Iran flatly denied the Israeli version of events, saying Israel's attacks were carried out on false "pretexts". "The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were invented by themselves and are without foundation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, without offering further details. Iran must tread a delicate line as it seeks to show resolve against Trump and the Israeli strikes without alienating the European partners it needs to salvage something from the nuclear deal. - Iran concessions? - Zarif will hold high-pressure talks with the other parties to the deal, first in Beijing and Moscow, and then with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday. All five have condemned Trump's move to walk out of the deal and reimpose crippling sanctions, but European companies in particular will be highly vulnerable to economic pressure from Washington. France still hopes for a wider settlement that will cover Iran's activities across the Middle East, and warned Tehran on Thursday "against any temptation for regional dominance". Iran's hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with hundreds protesting in Tehran after Friday prayers, saying it was time to abandon the deal. "Officials shouldn't trust France and Britain. They will never abandon the US for us," said Poormoslem, a housewife at the rally. In Jerusalem, around 200 Jews gathered at the Western Wall for prayers "against the enemy". "We came here to pray to God after the victory against Iran" following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, said Aryeh Stern, a rabbi from Jerusalem. Southern Syria was quiet but tense, with monitors saying Syrian, Iranian and allied Lebanese forces from Hezbollah were on high alert. The Israeli raids had prompted concern Iran could activate its powerful ally Hezbollah to retaliate from its positions in southern Lebanon, opening up a deadly new front in the conflict. Iranian analysts said Israel had struck first on Thursday, and that any retaliation was the work of the Syrian military, not Iran. - 'Severe threat' to stability - But the White House put the blame on Iran, condemning its "reckless actions" that it warned pose a "severe threat" to stability in the Middle East. "Already this week, the IRGC has fired rockets at Israeli citizens, and Iran's proxies in Yemen have launched a ballistic missile at Riyadh," it said, referring to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, and "both leaders condemned the Iranian regime's provocative rocket attacks from Syria," the White House said. The United States has said that despite its withdrawal from the nuclear accord, it wants inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to continue in Iran. The IAEA said meanwhile that its chief inspector Tero Varjoranta resigned, without giving a reason for his sudden departure. "The agency's safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner," a spokesperson for the agency said on Friday. Analysts say Israel feels it has a green light from Washington to move more aggressively against Iran's presence in Syria, particularly after Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. They also see a rare chance for Iran to hold the moral high ground. "For the first time, Iran has the chance to show the world they are not the rogue nation they are always presented as, that they negotiated in good faith and keep to their commitments," said Karim Emile Bitar, of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris. Russia -- which is alone in having close relations with both Iran and Israel -- has sought to position itself as a mediator to prevent further escalation. Its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said "all issues should be solved through dialogue" and that Russia had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative". However, one analyst at London's Chatham House, Yossi Mekelberg, said the strikes on Iranian targets "were likely undertaken with tacit Russian approval". On Friday the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive. burs-er/wd/ia Iranians set fire to a US flag during a demonstration in Tehran on May 11, 2018 Map of Syria locating the main Israeli strikes on Thursday, the Iranian presence and the rocket attacks attributed to Iran by Israel. An image released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on May 10, 2018 shows what it said was air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace Israeli tanks are seen near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on May 10, 2018 In Mexico, there is a particularly colorful insult reserved for the mother of someone who has deeply offended you. On Thursday -- Mexican Mother's Day -- a group of migrants at the US-Mexican border shouted it full blast at someone who has offended them very deeply indeed: President Donald Trump. "Trump, chinga tu madre!" dozens of protesters belted out in Spanish at the border fence that separates Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego, California. Trump has been a widely reviled figure in Mexico ever since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015 calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists, vowing to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it. In recent weeks, he has fueled the fire by lashing out at a caravan of Central American migrants crossing Mexico toward the United States, demanding the Mexican government stop them and sending thousands of National Guard troops to the border. So this Mother's Day, a group of deported Mexicans and migrants hoping to reach the United States decided to send Trump a pointed message about his mom, organizing a protest known as a "mentada de madre," which roughly translates as a "mother insult." "This is a verbal and symbolic expression Mexicans use to express our deepest indignation and anger at someone who's offended us," said Sergio Tamai, head of migrant advocacy group Angels Without Borders. Scaling the border fence, waving Mexican flags and dancing to traditional Mexican music, protesters also had other angry words for the Republican president: "Trump, we will not pay for your wall," "Stop mass deportations," and more. As a grand finale, they burned a blond-haired Trump pinata -- all under the watchful eyes of US border patrol agents standing guard on the beach, just on the other side of the fence. Scaling the border fence, waving Mexican flags and dancing to traditional Mexican music, protesters had other angry words for the Republican president: "Trump, we will not pay for your wall," "Stop mass deportations," and more With one foot in the East and one in the West, ultra-modern and secure -- to the point of sometimes being mocked as dull -- Singapore was a natural choice for the historic first meeting between the unpredictable leaders of the US and North Korea. The stable and squeaky-clean city-state's tropical setting will be the backdrop for the June 12 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un -- the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two men threatened each other with annihilation just months ago, so the choice of a neutral venue was a matter of considerable speculation, which also touched on the Korean peninsula's Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), China and Mongolia. But Singapore -- sometimes likened to Switzerland due to its non-aligned nature and its status as a banking hub -- is in the rare position of having diplomatic relations with both Washington and Pyongyang, plus a track record of hosting sensitive encounters. "As a neutral, and objective country with much-admired consistent foreign policy principles and a small state with no desire or capacity to harm other states and their interests, Singapore fits that bill well," said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute. One of the world's wealthiest countries per-capita, the island state of 5.6 million people has an advanced military, robust security infrastructure, and is considered one of the safest and least corrupt places on earth. Situated between the much larger Muslim-majority nations of Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore has long been vigilant toward radical Islamic elements. Single-party rule since independence from Britain nearly six decades ago has kept a lid on dissent -- prompting accusations of repression -- eliminating the possibility of any summit-related protests. A selection of first-rate hotels and other possible venues where events can be tightly controlled is also likely to have made Singapore attractive, especially to Kim, who heads one of the world's most repressive regimes and will not welcome anything unexpected. - Neutral ground - Kim is only known to have travelled abroad for the first time this year, with visits to China and a brief sojourn across the high-security border into South Korea for a historic meeting with President Moon Jae-in in April. In 2015, Singapore hosted a historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-leader Ma Ying-jeou, the first between presidents of the two sides since a 1949 civil war split that led to decades of estrangement. It also has experience hosting other leadership gatherings such as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and stages the yearly Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence forum attended by heads of state, defence ministers and top military chiefs. This year's forum at the Shangri-La hotel comes a week before Trump-Kim, meaning Singapore will already be in high-security mode, fuelling speculation that the hotel also will host the summit. From Trump's standpoint, business-oriented Singapore is among Washington's closest trade and security partners in Asia. Travelling there allows Trump to avoid the DMZ, which might have appeared like home turf for Kim, while a Beijing meeting could have allowed China to exert control. Singapore "doesn't have the historical or political baggage" of other possible venues, said Sarah Teo, an expert on regional security at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). It also will be acceptable to Beijing, North Korea's only major ally and still a strong influence over Pyongyang. Singapore has long had smooth ties with China. "A successful summit would be a huge feather in Singapore's cap, elevating its reputation for fair dealing and neutrality; but a less successful one will not take anything away from it," said a commentary piece in Singapore's The Straits Times. Singapore and North Korea have a history -- the first law firm and fast-food restaurant in Pyongyang were set up by Singaporeans -- though relations snagged last year when Singapore severed trade ties under new UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programmes. burs-dma/hg An ultramodern city-state, Singapore has robust security infrastructure and is widely considered one of the safest cities in Asia Since Kim took over as leader, he has rarely left his isolated nation and has only officially ventured away from home this year, with two visits to China Maria Lourdes Sereno rose to become the first woman to lead the Philippines' top court in a legal career marked by exception. But she notched a darker distinction on Friday when she became the nation's first chief Supreme Court justice to be sacked by her own colleagues. She was facing ouster efforts from within and outside the court after tangling with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly anti-drug crackdown and other human rights issues. Duterte warned her last month: "I'm putting you on notice that I am now your enemy and you have to be out of the Supreme Court". Long before Friday's vote, which stemmed from allegations she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in past years, Sereno was a star student. The 57-year-old graduated valedictorian from her law school in Manila and went on to get a masters degree from the prestigious University of Michigan Law School. In her early career she served as a legal consultant to government agencies and worked with the World Trade Organization's appeals body. Her biggest achievement came in 2012 when at 52 she became the second youngest person selected to lead the nation's judiciary. However, she stepped into a role that was only vacated when her predecessor Renato Corona was sacked after senators found him guilty of graft in an impeachment trial. When then-leader Benigno Aquino appointed her, he bypassed five more senior justices, which did not sit well in the legal establishment. Some of the judges also openly criticised her for alleged disrespect and for violating the court's "collegial nature". - 'Unwarranted use of power' - Trouble really began in 2016, with the landslide election of Duterte and the launching of his bloody crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands. Sereno fought the president when he ordered judges allegedly involved in narcotics to turn themselves in, saying authorities needed an arrest warrant. She also voted against two of the president's high-profile initiatives, which were ultimately validated by the court. They included his declaration of martial law in the southern Philippines after Islamist militants invaded the city of Marawi and his move to give dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero's burial. Sereno was also facing an impeachment effort led by Duterte allies in the lower House of Representatives. She has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. The conflict between the president and chief justice only increased as the anti-drug campaign claimed more lives. Police say they have killed more than 4,250 people in drug raids but human rights activists say the actual death toll is triple that number. Sereno has previously warned that summarily removing her would amount to "the wholesale destruction of all government institutions". Judges and civil servants would know as a result they can easily be sacked if they go against powerful figures, she said. "The primary role of judges is to protect the citizens from the unwarranted use of power by ensuring their constitutionally guaranteed rights," she told AFP previously. Sereno had sparred with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who in March called for her ouster from the Supreme Court The mythical life of a rent-controlled tenant paying one of the lowest rents in all of New York City is examined in covetous detail in the NY Post today. Patricia O'Grady, 84, lived in a cold-water flat, meaning no hot water, at 498 Sixth Avenue. When building owner Adam Pomeratz tried to install heat, he said she told him, "What youre doing to me is torturing me. Please leave the apartment as is. Im at peace." According to the Post, O'Grady moved into the building 1955 with two roommates, paying $16/month in total rent. Pomeratz, who owns Murray's Bagels, at 500 Sixth Avenue, bought the building in 2002, and found O'Grady was paying $26.45. After verifying that the rent was in fact correct, Pomeratz increased it to $28.43 "using a rent-control-formula worksheet." On March 12, O'Grady, an actress, was crossing 6th Avenue near 13th Street when she was struck by a car. She died from her injuries three days later. Her obituary described her career in theater, noting, "Ms. O'Grady often said that she 'made a life in the theater without making a living in it,' (A quote not original with her) and this was made possible by her Village apartment where she lived for over 60 years and paid under $30 per month rent! A friend once dubbed it a 'dump with character,' and as primitive as it was, it enabled her to do exactly what she wanted to do." Her sister Roberta told the Post about living the apartment in the 1960s, "We would heat the water on the stove and then pour it into the old-fashioned washtubs against the wall... A fire was set at some point [to scare away the rent-controlled tenants]. Everybody else left except her." Rent-controlled apartments are a rarity in NYC. The city's website explains, "The rent control program generally applies to residential buildings constructed before February 1947 in municipalities that have not declared an end to the postwar rental housing emergency... For an apartment to be under rent control, the tenant (or their lawful successor such as a family member, spouse, or adult lifetime partner) must have been living in that apartment continuously since before July 1, 1971. When a rent controlled apartment becomes vacant, it either becomes rent stabilized, or, if it is in a building with fewer than six units, it is generally removed from regulation." Now, "Pomerantz will be gutting and renovating the apartment, renting it out as a two-bedroom in the $5,000 range," the Post reports. The Philippines' top court voted on Friday to remove its own chief justice, who faced ouster efforts after battling with President Rodrigo Duterte over human rights and his deadly war on drugs. The decision against Maria Lourdes Sereno drew to the Manila court some 2,000 protesters who echoed charges that the sacking posed a grave threat to the nation's democracy. Sereno, the country's first female chief justice, is one of several high-profile critics who have found themselves targeted after speaking out against the president. "Sereno is found disqualified from and hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the chief justice," court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters. "The decision is immediately executory without further need of action from the court," Te said, adding the vote was 8-6 against Sereno. The Supreme Court case against Sereno alleged she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in previous years -- accusations she categorically denied. Separately, Sereno is also facing an impeachment effort in the lower House of Representatives, a move which critics allege is part of a wider campaign by Duterte to destroy foes and create one-man rule. The vote "ushers in another era of another dictatorship as the Court... puts an end to the last gasps of a dying constitutional democracy", Senator Leila de Lima, a jailed Duterte critic, wrote in a statement. The Philippines lived under martial law a generation ago, when dictator Ferdinand Marcos used military rule to suppress his critics. - 'Harassment and persecution' - Minutes after the decision was announced, a smiling Sereno emerged from the Supreme Court building to tell her supporters the fight was not over. "This day is not the end, this is just the beginning," she said, without specifying her next move. "Let us set aside our differences because there is a greater and stronger enemy that we must all face," she told the cheering throng. The national lawyers group, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said it will closely scrutinise the decision because it believes only the Senate has the power to dismiss a Supreme Court justice in this case. Duterte and Sereno first clashed in 2016 when she criticised his order urging judges whom he linked to the illegal drug trade to turn themselves in as part of his crackdown. Police say they have killed around 4,200 drug suspects in Duterte's nearly two-year-long campaign but rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher. Duterte's spokesman released a statement saying: "the High Court has spoken. Let us respect its decision." Sereno had resisted the ouster effort, saying in March: "The current state of the nation is one where perceived enemies of the dominant order are considered fair game for harassment, intimidation and persecution." Other Duterte critics have also been ousted, punished or threatened, including de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights and an anti-corruption prosecutor who investigated allegations that Duterte has hidden wealth. The president last month urged lawmakers to "fast-track" Sereno's removal, warning that otherwise "I'll do it for you". She has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. She is also alleged to have spent excessively on "opulent" hotels and a luxury official vehicle, as well as flying business or first class. Sereno is the second chief justice in a row to be ousted in the Philippines. Lawmakers convicted her predecessor, Renato Corona, in 2012 of corruption. Then-president Benigno Aquino said the sacking was part of his anti-graft reforms, but critics said he was trying to ensure his control of the court. Ousted Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several critics of President Duterte who have found themselves targeted Around 2,000 people protested against Sereno's removal outside the Supreme Court in Manila Judges of the Philippines' top court voted Friday to remove their chief justice, who faced ouster efforts after battling with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly war on drugs. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several high-profile Philippine critics who have found themselves targeted after speaking out against the president's signature crackdown. "Sereno is found disqualified from and hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the chief justice," court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters. "The decision is immediately executory without further need of action from the court," Te said, adding the vote was 8-6 against Sereno. The Supreme Court case against Sereno, the nation's first female chief justice, alleged she failed to file statements of assets and liabilities in years past -- accusations she categorically denied. Separately, Sereno was also facing an impeachment effort in the lower House of Representatives, a move which critics allege is part of wider efforts by Duterte to destroy foes and usher in one-man rule. Sereno had pledged to fight the ouster effort, saying in March: "The current state of the nation is one where perceived enemies of the dominant order are considered fair game for harassment, intimidation and persecution." Duterte last month urged lawmakers to "fast-track" her removal, warning otherwise "I'll do it for you". Sereno has been accused of failing to pay about two million pesos ($40,000) in taxes as well as falsifying and tampering with court resolutions. She is also alleged to have spent excessively on "opulent" hotels and a luxury official vehicle, as well as flying business or first class. Sereno is the second chief justice in a row to be ousted in the Philippines. Lawmakers convicted her predecessor, Renato Corona, in 2012 of corruption allegations. Then-president Benigno Aquino said the sacking was part of his anti-graft reforms, but critics said he aimed to ensure his control of the court. Duterte and Sereno first clashed in 2016 when she criticised his order that judges whom he linked to the illegal drugs trade turn themselves in as part of his crackdown. Police say they have killed roughly 4,200 drug suspects who fought back during arrest since Duterte launched the war nearly two years ago. Rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher. Other Duterte critics have also been ousted, punished or threatened including detained Senator Leila de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights, and an anti-corruption prosecutor who investigated allegations Duterte has hidden wealth. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is one of several high-profile Philippine critics who have found themselves targeted Officers on the scene of a mass tragedy involving the deaths of four children and three adults were led to the incident by an early morning phone call. The bodies of the deceased were found on a rural property in Osmington, about 20km northeast of Margaret River in Western Australias southwest. Five of the seven victims are believed to be mother Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between 8 and 13. The other two victims are understood to be Katrinas parents Peter and Cynda Miles, who lived at the property. Five of the seven victims are believed to be Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between 8 and 13. Source: 7 News Peter and Cynda Miles. Source: 7 News Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident, West Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson told reporters on Friday morning. Mr Dawson described the deaths as a tragedy and would not confirm if it was a murder-suicide. Police at the Osmington property where four children and three adults were found dead. Source: 7 News Its not appropriate for me to speculate on any further matters, he said. I can only say at this point in time we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community, and in particular, the local communities in our South West. Mr Dawson said a phone call was made to police by a male early on Friday morning from inside the property but did not provide further details on the identity of the caller. We received a phone call shortly before our attendance just after 5am this morning, that was the reason why police were called to the property, he said. Police responded to the emergency at Osmington near Margaret River. Source: Google Maps But Mr Dawson said it is far too early to confirm any more details, and would let the investigation run its course. Perth homicide detectives are helping local police in the investigation and are expected to remain at the property for several days. A police chaplain is there to support officers. Regrettably, these tragedies do take their toll, Mr Dawson said. He said the small Osmington community would be reeling but was confident it would rally together. WA Premier Mark McGowan has described the incident as tragic and shocking. Story continues My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims, and also with the first responders and investigators as they piece together this tragic set of circumstances, he wrote on Twitter. The events in our South West are tragic and shocking. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims, and also with the first responders and investigators as they piece together this tragic set of circumstances. Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) May 11, 2018 Osmington only consists of a handful of roads, farms, vineyards, holiday chalets and a small Anglican church. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page. Police are investigating whether a grandfather was responsible for the deaths of six of his family members, in one of the worst mass shootings in Australian history. The investigation into the suspected murder-suicide of seven people, including four children at a rural property in Osmington, near Margaret River, has entered its second day as detectives try to piece together what happened. Police are investigating whether a grandfather was responsible for the deaths of six of his family members, before turning the gun on himself in one of the worst mass shootings in Australian history. Source: 7 News. Seven News understands Peter Miles, the owner of the property, called police before 5am yesterday, leading officers to the tragedy, before turning the gun on himself. The two officers who were first on the scene discovered the bodies of the grandfather and his wife. Grandfather Peter Miles and his wife Cynda were among the seven dead. Source: 7 News The bodies of the mans daughter, believed to be Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between eight and 13, were found in a shed that had been converted into living quarters on the property. Police confirmed two firearms were found at the scene. The property at Osmington, near Margaret River, is expected to remain a crime scene for the next four to five days. Source AAP. The motive behind what has become the worst mass shooting in Australian history since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, remains unknown. The property is still a major crime scene as police are expected to remain there for the next four to five days as they attempt to piece together what led to the tragedy. If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, the Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467, or Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36. The World Health Organization said Friday it was preparing for "the worst case scenario" in a fresh outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "We are very concerned, and we are planning for all scenarios, including the worst case scenario," WHO's head of emergency response Peter Salama told reporters in Geneva. WHO has tallied 32 suspected or confirmed cases in the northwestern area of Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumbathe near the border with the Republic of Congo, including 18 deaths, between April 4 and May 9. The cases include three healthcare workers, one of whom has died, Salama said. The outbreak, declared by the DRC health ministry on Tuesday, is the country's ninth known outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the deady viral disease was first identified in then-Zaire by a Belgian-led team. Ebola is one of the world's most notorious diseases, being both highly infectious and extremely lethal. Salama said the strain raging in Bikoro was the Zaire strain, which also was responsible for the recent west Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people. He said the affected region of the vast strife-torn central African country is very remote and hard to reach. This could have a benefit since it could slow down the spread of Ebola, but it also greatly complicates the response. - Looming urban outbreak? - "It is an absolutely dire scene in terms of infrastructure," Salama said. "There are very few paved roads, very little electrification," he said, adding that "access is extremely difficult... It is basically 15 hours by motorbike from the closest town." At the same time, cases have already been reported in three separate locations around Bikoro, and Salama warned there was a clear risk the disease could spread to more densely populated areas. WHO is particularly concerned about the virus reaching Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province, which has around one million inhabitants and is only a few hours away from Bikoro. "If we see a town of that size infected with Ebola, then we are going to have a major urban outbreak," Salama warned. In addition, he said the surrounding nine countries had been put on "high alert". The WHO was especially concerned about the possible spread to neighbouring Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, which have connections to the affected area through the river systems. He said the possibility of international spread of the disease was still considered "low", but that the situation was constantly being evaluated. WHO already has a team on the ground and is preparing to send up to 40 more specialists in epidemiology, logistics, contact tracing and other areas to the region in the coming week or so. The UN health organisation also hopes to have a mobile lab up and running on site this weekend, Salama said. At the same time, WHO and the World Food Programme are working to set up an "air-bridge" to help bring in the supplies needed, he said, adding though that only helicopters could be used until an airfield could be cleared to allow larger planes to land. The response "is going to be extremely challenging, and very costly," he said. - Experimental vaccine - The WHO is meanwhile awaiting a green light from DRC authorities to begin a vaccination campaign in the area, using an available stockpile of an experimental vaccine. Salama said the WHO and others were doing the groundwork of tracking down contacts of those infected to be able to quickly put in place a so-called ring vaccination campaign once they get the go-ahead. He stressed however that "this is an experimental vaccine", pointing out that it must be stored at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit). "This is not a simple logistical effort... This is a highly complex, sophisticated operation in one of the most difficult terrains on earth." At the same time, Salama insisted that "the Ebola vaccine is not a magic bullet." "The basic bread and butter of epidemiology, of finding cases, finding contacts, isolation and regular support and care, community mobilisation are what will break the back of this (outbreak). The vaccine is an added tool." The worst-ever Ebola outbreak started in December 2013 in southern Guinea before spreading to two neighbouring west African countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing more than 11,300 people out of nearly 29,000 registered cases. The UN health agency faced harsh criticism for responding too slowly and failing to grasp the gravity of that outbreak until it was out of control. Salama insisted Friday that the UN agency's response this time was "very different". WHO immediately jumped into action once the outbreak was declared, he said, and was currently in "full surge capacity". This file photo taken last year in DR Congo shows healthcare workers at an Ebola quarantine unit in Muma, after a case of Ebola was confirmed in the village. A fresh outbreak of the disease in Bikoro since April has so far claimed 18 lives Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo, locating a new outbreak of Ebola virus near the town of Bikoro on the shores of Lake Tumba Factfile on how the Ebola virus attacks after a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A deepening transatlantic rift as "flattery" fails to sway Donald Trump has left Europeans in search of new answers, including closer dealings with Russia that only recently would have been unpalatable, analysts say. The US president's decision to ignore European pleas to save the Iran nuclear deal is the latest humiliation after his threats to impose trade tariffs, his pull-out from the Paris climate pact, and his demands for NATO allies to pay more. Analysts and officials say Trump threatens to create all by himself the kind of split between allies that Russia and China have tried and failed to foster for years, with Europe now relying on Moscow and Beijing to keep the Iran deal alive. Trump is "uncontrollable" and "won't listen to anyone", an EU official who met the president when he visited Brussels in May 2017 told AFP. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned this week that Europe could no longer rely on the United States to "protect" it, while French President Emmanuel Macron said that "we cannot let others decide for us." Both leaders made humiliating pilgrimages to Washington to beg Trump to stick with the Iran deal, only to see him withdraw -- and on the eve of "Europe Day", a public holiday for the EU institutions. Apart from the impact on international security, European firms stand to be badly hit when Trump reimposes sanctions on Iran's nuclear programme which had been suspended under the deal. - 'Hard and aggressive' - Former US ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner tweeted that Trump's Iran pull-out "made the world a far more dangerous place" and scathingly remarked: "So much for European efforts at flattery." European leaders will discuss the Iran deal and trade at a summit next week in Bulgaria where EU President Donald Tusk said Trump would "meet a united European approach." The Europeans now faced a "critical and historic choice" over how to react to the Iran deal in particular, said Ellie Geranmayeh, expert at European Council on Foreign Relations. "The Europeans now need to essentially have a very hard and aggressive negotiating posture with the US," Geranmayeh told AFP "The accommodation and compromise attitude by the E3 over the past few months to reach a deal with the US has basically failed," she said referring to Britain, France and Germany, the three EU signatories to the Iran deal. That could increasingly see Europe propelled closer to Russia in particular, in spite of deep tensions over the Ukraine conflict, Syria, and the recent poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in Britain. "The US withdrawal from the deal could benefit Russia," Moscow-based geopolitical expert Alexey Malashenko told AFP. "Russia could profit by getting closer to the EU and saying 'look, we are still in agreement on some issues, we agree on this subject, against the United States." - 'We have to replace the US' - Many in Europe see the Trump rift as a chance to finally leave America's orbit and increase EU cooperation on defence and the economy The EU is keen to boost integration as it reboots itself after the shock of Brexit -- the British vote to leave the bloc fed by the same wave of populism that fuelled Trump's rise to power. A strong proponent of this is European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, who said that relations between the EU and the United States were in "crisis". "Washington no longer wants to cooperate with the rest of the world and we are at the stage where we have to replace the United States," Juncker said in a speech in Belgium earlier this week. While the Iran deal fiasco has created tensions, "the damage may be the greatest" from the looming transatlantic trade war over Trump's decision to impose damaging tariffs on European steel and aluminium, former ambassador Gardner warned. But the decades of close cooperation across the Atlantic since World War II will prove difficult to abandon entirely. "We focus a lot on areas like climate change, attitudes to Iran, where there are clearly very big differences," Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the RUSI military think tank in London, told AFP. "But there are lots of other issues, not least in relation to Russia still, where fundamentally the positions are the same." Chalmers added that it was "one of the ironies of Brexit" that Britain was now, less than a year before its departure from the EU, closer to its European allies on foreign policy issues than it was to the United States than it had been for some time. burs-csg-dk/lc/pvh Widening rift: Merkel and Trump at the White House last month 'We have to replace the United States': European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker The 12 North Korean waitresses who defected from China two years ago were tricked into doing so in an operation by the South's intelligence services, their manager told South Korean television in a bombshell revelation. The high-profile case has long been controversial, with Pyongyang insisting the women had been kidnapped and saying there would be no more reunions of families divided by the Korean War unless they were returned. Seoul insisted that they had defected of their own free will. But Heo Gang-il, the manager of the North Korean restaurant in Ningbo where they worked, said he had lied about their final destination and blackmailed them into following him to the South. Heo told JTBC television he had been recruited by Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) in China in 2014. Fearing exposure in 2016, he asked his NIS handler to arrange his defection. At the last minute the minder told him to bring his staff too. "The 12 waitresses did not know where they were going," Heo told JTBC's Spotlight, one of the South's top investigative current affairs programmes. "I told them we were relocating," he said. The women only realised their final destination when they arrived outside the South Korean embassy in Malaysia. When they hesitated to enter the building, one of them told the show, "manager Heo threatened us, saying he will tell security authorities that we watched South Korean TV dramas and we would be executed, or exiled into provinces and our families would also be affected". "Thinking back, it was all nonsense but back then, I had no other choice," she said. "If it was possible for me to go home even now, I would like to return to the bosom of my mother," she said. Campaigners were outraged. Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an influential group of human rights lawyers which has unsuccessfully been seeking to interview the waitresses, called for a thorough investigation of what they branded a "heinous crime committed by the NIS". Those responsible should be given "stern punishment" and "the waitresses must be allowed to return home and reunite with their families", it said in a statement. - 'Need to verify' - The group's arrival in the South in April 2016 made headlines as the largest group defection for years, while Pyongyang waged a vocal campaign through its state media demanding their immediate return. After four months of acclimatisation education -- standard for defectors -- the women were released into society, but their whereabouts were kept secret by the NIS and they had made no public comments until the television show late Thursday. Heo said he was speaking out as rewards he had been promised -- an NIS job and a medal -- had not materialised. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said the facts needed to be established. "There are some new allegations by the manager and some waitresses about how they came to the South and whether they came here on their free will," a spokesman told journalists. "There is need to verify their allegations," he said, adding the ministry had been unable to contact the 13 itself and relied on information given it by the NIS. An NIS spokesman said the agency had no immediate comment on the report. Sceptics suspect the defection may have been staged by the government of now-disgraced conservative president Park Geun-hye in an effort to sway voters ahead of parliamentary elections. Park, 66, who was removed from office over a massive corruption scandal last year, was convicted of multiple criminal charges including bribery and abuse of power and sentenced to 24 years in prison at a trial last month. Businesses established by Pyongyang abroad -- including restaurants like this one in Shenyang, China -- are a crucial source of foreign exchange Four children and three adults have been found dead after a tragedy near Margaret River in Western Australia. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers responded to a horrific incident at a rural property in Osmington about 5.15am Friday (local time) where they located seven bodies. It is understood police received a phone call from a male inside the building. The phone call was recorded but Mr Dawson would not reveal the identity of the caller. Seven people found dead in a suspected murder-suicide at this rural property south of Perth on Friday morning. Source: 7 News Upon arrival, police located seven people deceased I can only describe it as a horrific situation, he said in a press conference on Friday morning. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community, and in particular the local communities in our southwest. BREAKING | WA police confirm horrific incident" in Margaret River, with 7 people dead including FOUR children. Two firearms located at the property as detective search for family and friends. Laura Banks (@laurakatebanks) May 11, 2018 He said the bodies of two adults were located outside and five bodies were located inside a building on the rural property, approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Margaret River in Western Australias south-west. The bodies were found just before dawn on Friday morning at a property in Osmington, WA. Source: 7 News Two firearms were also found at the property, and gunshot wounds were present on some of the bodies, the police said. It appears that gunshot wounds are there but I dont want to go further than that, Mr Dawson said. Police responded to the emergency at Osmington near Margaret River. Source: Google Maps Five of the seven victims are believed to be Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between 8 and 13. Five of the seven victims are believed to be Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between 8 and 13. Source: 7 News Peter and Cynda Miles. Source: 7 News The other two victims are understood to be Katrinas parents Peter and Cynda Miles, who lived at the property. Homicide squad detectives from Perth are assisting the police investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. Are you relatively new to this bustling metropolis? Don't be shy about it, everyone was new to New York once upon a time, except, of course, those battle-hardened residents who've lived here their whole lives and Know It All. One of these lifers works among us at Gothamistpublisher Jake Dobkin grew up in Park Slope and still resides there. He is now fielding questionsask him anything by sending an email here, but be advised that Dobkin is "not sure you guys will be able to handle my realness." We can keep you anonymous if you prefer; just let us know what neighborhood you live in. This week's question comes from a subway rider wondering what to do about the problem of dogspreading. Dear Jake, I was on the subway yesterday and there was this super-cute dog on the seat right in front of me. It was well behaved, even with all the attention it was getting, but it was not in a case or a bag, and clearly not a professional dogit didn't have one of those harnesses with the "please don't pet me, I'm working" sign. The train was pretty crowded, and there were humans, like myself, standing up after a long day of work. Would I have been justified asking the dog for its seat?" Sincerely, Two Legs on the L Train, A native New Yorker responds. Dear Two Legs, You shouldnt have to ask the dog, or its owner, for the seat, because the law is quite clear on this: no person may bring any animal on or into any conveyance or facility unless enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers. There is of course an exception for "working dogs for law enforcement agencies," "service animals," animals-in-training, and the like, but all of them "must be harnessed or leashed." The law clearly does not include emotional support dogs, and no, that letter you made your therapist write (or bought from the internet) to get your canine friend on airplane won't help. This is a just law: our subways have always been crowded, and putting a sensitive animal into that environment is just asking for trouble. Take that case a couple of weeks back where a pitbull riding uncontained on the 4 train grabbed a woman by the sneaker and wouldnt let go. A lot of people were quick to blame the dog, on account of its breed, but if you actually look into what happened, its clear that the responsible party is actually the dumb human who brought the dog on to the train and gave it a seat on the bench. Then a second dumb human started a fight with the first over the dogs rights to the seat and then reportedly tried to remove the dog by force. In that situation, if youre a dog, of course youre going to fight for your seat and protect your ownerits just natural instinct. Even if the dog hadnt been put on the seat, just bringing it on the train without a container creates an environment rife with dangers. What if a bunch of showtime dancers show up and spooked the poor animal? What if someone, in the crush at rush hour, stepped on its paw? What if one of the dozens of loud noises a subway makes every minute startled the dog, and the owner lost his hold on the leash, and the dog made a run for it? What if three dozen highly allergic school children board the train, fresh from their trip to the American Museum of Natural History, and the dog's dander sends some of them into anaphylactic shock? I could go onthe subway is a Hieronymus Bosch painting worth of weird people and situations and many of them end with the dog getting hurt, or injuring a person, or both. That does not appear to have stopped an ever-increasing number of pet owners from bringing their animals on the train. Obviously, its a lot cheaper to get to the groomer on the L train than in a cab, and, with the police writing only 85 summons for illegal critter transport in 2017, theres not a whole lot of incentive to follow the law. It will probably take some horrible incident where someone or some creature gets killed before the NYPD will really crack down. If you have a dog, or cat, or boa constrictor, consider leading by example and buying a correctly sized carrierif your pet is too large to fit in one, thats probably a sign that it shouldnt be on the train in the first place. Photograph by Dan Nguyen / Flickr What should you do if you see a dog, or its owner, doing the wrong thing? The same thing New Yorkers always do: Consider the situation carefully and run a fast calculation if its worth the trouble. You basically have two potential types of ownersthe oblivious and the crazy. If its the former, a simple excuse me, the seats are only for animals wearing pants will do the trick, but if it is the latter, you could be seeing yourself in a viral WorldStarHipHop video very soon. Sometimes appearances can be deceiving: a vicious looking pitbull can be quite gentle, and a semi-normal looking leash-holder can turn out, in a second, to be a raving lunatic. So if the subway car is empty, or the dog is sitting quietly between its owners feet, perhaps let it go. If not, at least exercise some common sense: never touch an animal without its owners permission, even if it is sitting on a subway bench. Give the dog and its owner enough distance that neither can lunge at you, and then speak your request politely and loudly: Hi! I know your dog is probably a seasoned commuter and is tired after a long day of dog work or studies, but its really unhygienic for an animal to sit up there. Etc. If you are rebuffed, take it with the equanimity that we natives have developed after many years of seeing people behaving badly in transit. Or go tell the conductor, an MTA employee, or (if its safe) take a picture and send it to 311likely no one is going to do anything to help, but maybe itll make you feel better. The larger issue is transit funding: our public officials have underfunded the system for decades, and that bill has been increasingly coming due each year. The more signals and trains break down, the more crowded each subway car gets, and the higher the likelihood of human or animal conflict. There are many ways our government could fix this problem: allocating more of the New York State DOT operating and capital budgets to mass transit systems, instead of far less-efficient and environmentally-damaging roads for cars; we could raise our income, sales, or gas tax an incremental amount; or we could reinstate the commuter tax so people coming into the city from the suburbs pay their fair share. Or, I dont know, make all dogs buy MetroCards? Your human friend, Jake Ask a Native New Yorker anything via email. Anonymity is assured. Four children and three adults were found dead Friday at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby. Police said they responded to an early-morning phone call and arrived to find a "horrific incident" in the small town of Osmington near the world-renowned wine-growing area, south of Perth. Five bodies were found inside a house and two outside. Homicide detectives were investigating but police were not looking for a suspect -- suggesting a murder-suicide. "I can only say at this point in time, we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues," Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. "We're still yet to make contact with other members of the family so at this point in time, all I'll confirm is that there are four children and three adults that have all been located deceased." The ages of the children were not released. Dawson said there appeared to be gunshot wounds, "but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene". Mass shootings are not common in Australia, which has strict gun laws. All weapons must be registered, although many arrive illegally from overseas through organised syndicates. If confirmed as a mass shooting, the incident would be the worst in Australia since a 1996 massacre that left 35 people dead at Port Arthur in Tasmania. It was believed those who died lived at the property, about 10 minutes drive from Margaret River, a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty. Dawson refused to be drawn on who the person was that alerted police, their relationship to the victims or whether they heard gunshots. "The loss of any life is tragic but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said, adding that police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation." Four children and three adults were found dead Friday at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby. Police said they responded to an early-morning phone call and arrived to find a "horrific incident" in the small town of Osmington near the world-renowned wine-growing area south of Perth. Five bodies were found inside a house and two outside. Homicide detectives were investigating but police were not looking for a suspect -- suggesting a murder-suicide although this was not confirmed. "I can only say at this point in time, we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues," Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. "We're still yet to make contact with other members of the family so at this point in time, all I'll confirm is that there are four children and three adults that have all been located deceased." The ages of the children were not released. Dawson said there appeared to be gunshot wounds, "but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene". Mass shootings are not common in Australia, which has strict gun laws. All weapons must be registered, although many arrive illegally from overseas through organised syndicates. If confirmed as a mass shooting, the incident would be the worst in Australia since a 1996 massacre that left 35 people dead at Port Arthur in Tasmania. It was believed those who died lived at the property, about 10 minutes drive from Margaret River, a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty. Felicity Haynes, who lives on a neighbouring property, told broadcaster ABC the family involved were "caring neighbours". "They were just such lovely people," she said. "They were a very socially-aware family, doing their best to create a safe community, and that is why it is so shocking to think that could be destroyed so quickly." Dawson refused to be drawn on who the person was that alerted police, their relationship to the victims or whether they heard gunshots. "The loss of any life is tragic but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said, adding that police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation." Augusta-Margaret River Shire president Pamela Townsend said the incident had impacted everyone in the area. "It's sending shockwaves through the whole community -- we?re all linked in one way or another, every family," she told WA Today. Margaret River is a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty Map of Australia locating Osmington. A small country town in WA is at the centre of one of Australias worst mass murder-suicides. Seven members of a family, including four children and their mother, were shot dead on their rural property in Osmington, near Margaret River. The bodies were found just before dawn on Friday morning, with WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson describing the scene as a devastating tragedy. Five of the victims are believed to be mother Katrina Miles and her four children. Source: 7 News The bodies were found just before dawn on Friday morning at a property in Osmington, WA. Source: 7 News Police were called to the property by a man, believed to be linked to the property, about 5.15am, to find seven people dead. Five of the seven victims are believed to be Katrina Miles and her four children, aged between 8 and 13. The other two victims are understood to be Katrinas parents Peter and Cynda Miles, who lived at the property. Peter and Cynda Miles. Source: 7 News The local community is in shock, with neighbour Felicity Haines describing them as beautiful community-minded people. Police have stressed community safety is not at risk after the incident. The tragedy happened in the remote rural community of Osmington, 270 km south of Perth and 15 minutes away from popular tourist spot Margaret River. The 12-hectare property had been run as a hobby farm, with two separate homes, sheds and a dam. The 12-hectare property had been run as a hobby farm, with two separate homes, sheds and a dam. Source: 7 News The areas local MP said the family was a much-loved part of the community and residents were reeling from the news. The first two police officers on the scene are being offered counselling to help them deal with what they saw when they arrived at the scene. The children were found indoors with one of the adults, with the other two adults outside nearby. Police Commissioner Chris Dawson addresses the media, describing the scene as horrific. Source: AAP All are believed to have died from gunshot wounds, but police have only officially said that several of the bodies found had been shot. Police found three firearms at the scene. Murder-suicide is suspected. I expect that police and other specialists will be at the property for several days at least, Commissioner Dawson said. The first two police officers on the scene are being offered counselling to help them deal with what they saw when they arrived at the scene. Source: 7 News The shooting is one of the worst in Western Australian history. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. A volcano in Indonesia has erupted forcing residents to evacuate and a major airport to close. Authorities ordered residents living near Mount Merapi to leave their homes on Friday, while the city of Yogyakarta closed its airport after the 5500-metre peak sent a column of steam and ash into the sky. The volcano situated in the borders of Klaten, Magelang and Boyolali districts erupted at 7.30am, with volcanic ash raining down in Tugu Kaliurang. The eruption caused the airport in nearby Yogyakarta to close. Source: Twitter/ Aryadega The Mount Merapi volcano on densely populated Java island is one of the most active in Indonesia and a series of eruptions in 2010 killed more than 350 people. A disaster mitigation agency told residents living within a 5km radius of the mountain to move to shelters, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement. He said that 120 people who had been hiking up Merapi were safe. Residents were urged to leave the surrounding area. Source: Reuters Mount Merapi is Indonesias most active volcano. Source: Twitter/ percydiamondz The airport in Yogyakarta, the nearest big city to the volcano, shut because of the threat from the ash, the state-owned aviation agency AirNav said in a statement. The disaster agency described Merapis latest eruption as phreatic, which means magma heats up ground water and vapour is released under pressure. The alert status on Merapi had not be raised, it said. A version of this interview ran in the May 2018 issue of AVN magzine. Click here for the digital edition. Musician. Pornographer. Actor. Artist. Writer. Therapist. Those are just some of the passions Adam Ramzi lives. Spend one minute talking to this true Renaissance man, and youll immediately be struck by his warmth, engagement, intelligence and charismaall emanating from the handsome and hairy visage that has hypnotized a legion of industry fans, co-stars and directors for five years. And those eyes are you kidding? Do you remember Teen Wolf? Thats what I called him, and thats what went into my mind. Hes got these like almond eyes that are just ugh they just do it for me. We have a scene together and we also did an OnlyFans thing, and he called me an anal wizard, laughs performer Jason Vario. Ive been called a lot of things, but not that. Hes amazingly sexy and a very sweet guy. The eyes are incredible, adds TitanMen director Jasun Mark. Ive just sat down and had lunch with him and lost my train of thought just staring at him, you know? Im trying to think of the proper words; he is that guy. That guy is the kind of man that makes co-stars and directors smile when they speak of him. Ask many A-list industry talentboth in front of and behind the camerawho they love working with, and chances are high that Ramzi will be at the top of their list (I adore Adam, beams Wesley Woods). The love affair is mutual. Ive always been a fan of porn. I remember having a cable box, where it was either real squiggly and I could kind of see through it; or at home I would use a fancy cable box in which I could actually see everything, Ramzi recalls, one of many indelible images from his youth. I remember exactly the first time I ever jacked off. I remember the first time that the Spice Channel decided to show dick after 10 p.m. These were all weirdly kind of big turning points for my development, and so once I became a sexually active adult, I never thought about porn as much because I was still becoming who I was, I guess. I feel like a lot of other actors get their start in their early 20s, but I didnt start in the porn industry until I was 30. For me, it was a really good, unique time to get started because I was just beginning to get into the further depths of who I was sexually on the inside. Ramzi grew up in suburban Los Angeles and spent the majority of his 20s working different jobs (And heres a random little side bit: When I was 18, I actually had a congressional internship over a summer and gave tours of Congress), from waiting tables to working an office job at 20th Century Foxall to fund his life as a musician. I played bass in a rock band that actually did really well and toured with a lot of really big names. But then once I realized that it was limiting because I wasnt involved with the songwriting part of things, I decided to kind of go back to the drawing board and see what I wanted to do next. Thats when he enrolled in grad school for LGBT psychologyand it was during that time that Ramzi was contacted by Chris Ward, the head of Raging Stallion Studios at the time. He looked at my stuff and he liked what I was about, and thought I was perfect for their brand. I at first shrugged it off. I was like, No, that doesnt make any sense for what Im doingIm on track to become a psychotherapist, Im still in school, and putting yourself out here like that is a really big commitment. But the more I thought about it, the more I kind of in my head roped it into my studies. I thought, maybe this could be a really interesting step in the process of becoming a therapistespecially someone who is going to be working primarily with gay men. And already, issues around sex were coming up so much in my program that I thought, Wow, this might be a really neat experiment. So I said, Let me do one and see how I feel about it. And cut to five years later, Im still doing it. Ramzis first film was The Hole 2, released in the summer of 2013with him front and center on the box cover. Five years ago, I was still kind of a wide-eyed child in the industry, apparently. One of the grips at Raging Stallion finally admitted to me at one point that there was a joke going around the office that I keep falling in love with my co-stars. That I think is very much a first-year thing. I would say now, I definitely respect the work element of it more than I did before. I understand that what were doing is playing up whatever chemistry were able to establish with one another as scene partners and translating it via a camera lens. I understand a little bit more now about how its work first and foremost; if I can make it fun, then Im doing an even better job. Ramzi quickly went on to appear in the likes of Open Road 1, Timberwolves, Cock Fight and more. My first year, I was offered to be an exclusive with Raging Stallion. I turned it down, mostly because I wasnt really sure at the time if I wanted that kind of exposure. But I still worked with only them, because I was very comfortable with their format, I knew a lot of what I was getting into, and they treated me really well. They paired me with some great performers, and my first year of doing it I was very fortunate to work with people that I got along with really wellthey were sexy, and it was mostly a really seamless experience. But his first experience working with someone he didnt have chemistry with proved to be a big moment of growth for him as a performer. Funny enough, Steve Cruz was directing that scene and he actually came up to me during one of the breaks and said, Honey this is your best work. And I kind of remember thinking, That doesnt make any sense. When I spoke to the grip about it and what Steve said, the grip was like, Well that makes a lot of sense. Sometimes, depending on what studio youre working for and how they edit, when theres no chemistry the performance really shows up. In your head, youre not worrying about impressing this person that youre excited to be having sex with; youre just kind of focusing on technique, grunting and thrusting, which to you feels really weird, but a lot of the timeespecially if youre good at itlooks great on camera. Ramzi notes that for the most part, he has had at least some connection with his co-stars over the yearswhich many would agree speaks to his demeanor and honesty. Through all the good and bad, I have definitely come to a place where I can say confidentially that I feel like Im pretty good at it. I dont have a super-duper fit body, I dont have a huge dick, so I dont feel like those are the things that keep getting me hired. Its more that I think I have a good personality, Im a good performer and I try my best to bring some kind of joy on set. So its nice to be in a place now where I feel like Im kind of toward the part of my career where Im trying to shift it into something different. I feel like Ive done well with it so far. Cruz is one of many who has directed Ramzi multiple timesand is always happy to have him back. Thats why he tapped the performer to headline Its Coming, last years fright fest that earned both of them GayVN Award nominations. Adam is a special performer because he puts so much of his real self into the performance. He doesn't go through the motions; he's a true experiencer. It means I put more thought into the personality of casting, playing a kind of matchmakerbut it also means I'm getting an out-of-this-world scene. It's refreshing to film someone with so many layers and so much dimension and depth. In a way, he makes my process very human and tactile, and as frequently as I work, I need that. And he's so beautiful. So beautiful! He's the total package, Cruz says. We have a lot in common. I'd say we're part of the same tribe, if that makes sense. We both have the soul of an artist, we're both sensitive. I feel instantly at home in his presence no matter how much time passes. Always kind, always honest and calming. I almost forget we met through our work. I'm sure we'll remain friends long after we retire from this crazy business. He's one of the good ones. The feeling is mutual: Steve has been a huge, huge influence for me. We have worked many times, and its kind of funnywe have kind of established a groove with each other, because I would say weve done at least 10 scenes together. I would work with him again anytime. And Ramzi would also work with a long list of growing friends he has made in the industry, many of which he hasnt yet performed with. Theres something really nice about talking shop with people who understand what its like, and to be able to share stories and tell jokes. Some of the scenes that Ive done have been some of the most unforgettable experiences Ive ever had. My first scene with Tommy Defendi was a really positive experience, and my second scene with him was a really negative experienceand it wasnt because he and I didnt get along. The experience of that day was a grueling one, so to have someone with you whos like a buddy makes such a difference. Its stuff like that where you make memories that last forever. Colton Grey is totally like family to me; in a very different way, so is Boomer Banks. And mr. Pam was a huge part of my development as a performer as well. She was kind of like my home-turf director for a while, because I lived in San Francisco for three years. She lived right around the corner from my best friends, so she and I got to experience each other not just in porn scenarios, but also nightlife and daily lifeso its been really life changing in such an unexpected way. Theres definitely an aspect of community in the porn industry if you know where to find it. Over the years, mr. Pam has directed Ramzi in numerous NakedSword films like Fame Game, On the Lookout and Fuck Me Im Famous. I actually remember the first time I filmed him, I was intimidated because hes so gorgeous. Hes just drop-dead gorgeous. Hes just my typeI love that darker, Middle Eastern look. Plus, hes so sweet and kindand smart. He just finished school and hes starting to be a therapist; he worked with a queer therapy group here in San Francisco and now hes in L.A., and hes just beautiful inside and out. It does make me laugh, because I think hes probably like the hottest therapist ever, so I wish him luck with the counseling and being so hot, she giggles. Visually, I love to see that pretty face buried in an asshole. I love that every time. He loves eating asshe just gets his beard all wet and hes just smelling it. Hes definitely genuine. Hes not on auto-pilot, which some guys tend to go to if theyve done a lot of porn. We hand-pick his scene partners to make sure theres chemistry, but hes very authentic and natural and hes very sexual in his personal life as well. He just brings that to the set, and its just totally a joy. I love him. Its a feeling shared by other top directors in the business. In addition to his natural talent, hes also a really reliable guy, which in porn is worth three times your weight in gold, shares Titans Mark, who has filmed Ramzi in 13 projects and counting. We always know that when we ask him to show up for a day, he will show up in great physical shape, he will show up in great mental shape, he will help the new guy get relaxed on camera and help them deliver a really good performance. He can act, so he can help tell the story, which is terrific. Hes really smart, and hes fun to hang out with. When were not shooting, hes there taking part in all of our conversations while were sitting around the dinner table, and we talk about politics, pop culture, movies, books, Burning Man and everything. Hes just a great guy to have around. Those sentiments are echoed by Jake Jaxson of CockyBoys, a studio that even devoted the release First Came Adam to him. Ill put it this way: When Adam first shows up and I start talking to him, I became sort of a bumbling, babbling idiot. He just looks at you, and its not like hes trying to put some sort of mind trip on you, hes just focused. Hes present to you, and Im just like, Uhumm Ill literately say Do I sound like a complete idiot? out loud. Im like aghast. Everybody I work with, I have got to feel something for them. This work is not just a means to an end. Theres scene work thats sort of the bread and butter of what we do, but when I do my feature projects, they take so long and theyre all very, very personal. At a certain point, you have to feel like you like the people that youre working with, and hes one of em. Ramzi landed a coveted role in All Saints, the long-awaited follow-up to the 2016 CockyBoys mini-series Answered Prayers. The first episode debuted in February. The reality is, hes a great person, Jaxson continues. He is a pleasant, enjoyable, connected, empathetic, caring guy. He cares about his work, and for me, working with anyone who is like that is a dream. This is what they do; its not a way to make a little extra money or be famous. He starts first as a performer. He believes that sex work and what we do as pornographers has meaning and purpose, and as a result, hes a delight to work with. Hes a professional. He wants to be as good as he can be, and he gives as good as he gets. Hes completely mutually respectful, and I absolutely love working with him. For All Saints, when I started working with him I was like, Im gonna need to shoot you probably over three or four months, and were gonna do one or two sex scenes in itbut for every sex scene you do, Ill probably do a week-and-a-half of acting. And thats not normal. But he jumped at it. For Ramzi, it was a no-brainer. When I get approached to kind of play up the artistry of the medium, I am pretty much on board instantly. If theres an element of drama or depth, I get so excited to dive in a little deeper, and Im honored that directors like Jake Jaxson and Steve Cruz trust me to be able to handle things like that. Ramzi says he loves working for all of the different studios, the projects allowing him to stretch himself creatively. I have a performance background. Ive been on stage before in a number of capacities, and on camera. Im not shy to perform. Ive heard about a lot of peoples first-time experiences and how awful they can be, and I remember my first-time experience and how fortunate I am that it was so positive. But despite that, and especially after some time in the industry, I also recognize when its difficult work. Ramzi notes that when he meets a scene partner, he tries to establish some kind of rapport immediatelywhether its just about their bodies and how they connect physically, or about just having a nice day together. Regardless of mutual attraction or not, I often hope that a scene partner and I can find something we can connect on, something we laugh about, something we share. For example, my nipples are sensitive, so if I have a scene partner whose nipples are sensitive too, I can play up the fact that we both share that and it makes for a fun day. Usually, the times that are the toughest for me on set are when Im trying to engage with my scene partner and theres just nothing there. Thats when I hate the work. The funny thing is, in the last few months, Ive had two such experiences on set. One of them, we didnt connect at all off camera, but when the director called Action! he knew exactly what to do, and I knew exactly what to do. We got through the scene quickly, and I was so grateful that he at least gave me that. The other scene was with someone who had literally no idea what to do on camera. It was the kind of train wreck where everyone on set was even looking at me while the camera was rolling like, Dude, are you gonna make it?! Halfway through the setand this doesnt happen oftenthe director had to kill the scene. You have to have some kind of sexual instinct for this shit to work, and its not just about how big your dick is, its not about how beautiful your body is. Through the years, Ramzi has also encountered a few industry people off camera hed just as soon forgetbut he values how those interactions have shaped him. If anything, theyve served as a kind of reminder to be the best version of myself that I can be. Ive met a couple people in the industry who are so unkinddark energy, and full of themselves. I think if I was still in my 20s, I might let their mistreatment kind of affect me; whereas now, as a 36-year-old man, I can look at them and just be like, Wow, that is not even close to anything that I want to associate myself with and just shrug it off and focus on the people who mean something to me. There are a lot of people in the industry who are wonderful human beings, who never seem to let their egos get the best of them. Like Jason Vario, who worked with Ramzi in the GayVN Award-nominated scene from Titans Sling. Adam is very, very cuteand just a genuine, authentic, very sweet guy. Just very creative and thoughtful. Weve become pretty close. We met through Titan, and its funnynormallywell, I dont know how it is with every other studiobut they dont typically put scene partners together if you have to share a room. You dont want them fucking or whatever. But we were. We always deliberately got together and were encouraged to like practice because it was never a problem; we had such a good connection that it only intensified on camera, it didnt spoil anything. Adam has a very unique way of looking at thingsvery creative. He does his performance art stuff, and is just a very unique individual that I really enjoy talking to and being around. And hes been able to juggle his industry work with other projects both in front of and behind the camera. In addition to music video appearances (most recently for At Least The Sky Is Blue by SSION featuring Ariel Pink), shooting and other acting gigs (while a scene he shot for Amazons series Transparent didnt make the final cut, can be seen in the opening credits of every episode of season 4), Ramzi is also getting back into writing through his lifestyle column Play Gentle on WhereGentlemenGo.com: I write more as someone in the field of psychology rather than someone in the porn field, so its nice to kind of show those chops off again. He also recently danced in three numbers at Fischerspooners L.A. concert alongside Will Wikle and Kyle Kakes. It was kind of nice to move back to Los Angeles from San Francisco and plug right back into the nightlife world. I sometimes host parties, I sometimes go-go dance at parties, and I like doing all of it. I like to help facilitate a positive energy at events that I get hired at, and I think thats why I get hired again and again. A big reason I moved back to Los Angeles was to be near my family, and theres a lot of creative opportunities here that I didnt have in San Francisco that have kept me here. Hes also working on setting up the next phase of his life by getting all of his MFG (Marriage and Family Therapy) hours. That is sort of what I was on track doing in grad school, and because Ive moved on from working in clinics to working in a private practice, its a little harder to get that practice off the ground. So things are a little slower than Id like, but Im still slowly chipping away at it. People can feel free to get in touch with me if they need therapy in the Los Angeles area, he laughs. Im very affordable! For the second straight day, Stormy Daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti, released a previously confidential email from Donald Trumps personal attorney Michael Cohen to Keith Davidson, the lawyer who arranged the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels from Cohen. Avenatti made the post to his Twitter account early Friday morning, and said that it shows Cohen trying to interfere with Daniels attempt to change lawyers from Davidson to Avenatti. On Thursday, Avenatti posted an email from Cohen to Davidson dated April 11just two days after the FBI conducted raids on Cohens office, home and hotel room, seizing crates of documents including some relating to the $130,000 payoff that Cohen made to the AVN Hall of Famer just days before the 2016 presidential election, to keep her quote about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Fridays email posted to Twitter by Avenatti is dated February 22, 2018, a time when apparently Daniels was in the process of hiring Avenatti, who first emerged as her lawyer when she filed her initial lawsuit against Cohen and Trump on March 6. The subject line of the email from Cohen is PP-vs-DD NDA, a reference to the non-disclosure agreement between Daniels, who was assigned the alias Peggy Peterson by Cohen, and Trump, who used the pseudonym David Dennison. It is my understanding that (Ms. Daniels) has or is seeking the advice of additional counsel regarding the above matter, Cohen wrote in the email, which may be read online at this link. Cohen goes on to warn Davidson that the NDA is deemed Attorneys Eyes Only, specifically naming you and I. Under no circumstances should you forward this document or the exhibits to anyone without my express written consent. Of course, Avenatti did obtain the NDA document, which became part of Daniels' lawsuit less than two weeks later. But Avenatti said Friday that the email shows Cohen attempting to interfere with Daniels attempt to get a new lawyer. Knowing what we know now, no wonder Mr. Cohen was doing everything he could to interfere with Ms. Daniels' efforts to get new counsel, Avenatti wrote. He was desperate to avoid the cover-up from surfacing and was afraid that competent counsel would expose him and Mr. Trump. A former federal prosecutor who recently ran for Illinois state attorney general said that under rules of legal ethics, Davidson was required to turn over the documents to Daniels' new attorney. It would be unethical for an attorney to withhold documents relating to the representation of a client from the client or the new attorney she hired, wrote Renato Mariotti, who is also a frequent television commentator on legal issues. An attorney is supposed to act in the best interest of the client at all times and cannot interfere in her choice of counsel. But where did Avenatti obtain private emails between Cohen and Davidson? According to Avenatti, the emails came from Davidson himself. After he posted Thursdays email, Avenatti told Britains Daily Mail newspaper that he demanded the email from Davidson, who then turned it over. I have been trying to get those documents from Mr. Davidson for months, Avenatti later told the MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show. (Thursdays) email was provided to me within the last 24 hours. Avenatti has not yet confirmed whether the email he released on Friday was also provided by Davidson. In the initial lawsuit against Cohen and Trump, Avenatti and Daniels claim that the NDA is null and void because Trump never put his signature on the document. Cohen has claimed that "neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was part of the deal, and that he acted on his ownbut according to Avenatti the subject line of Cohens email clearly states that the NDA is between Daniels and Trump. Photos by J. Chang / IowaPolitics.com / Wikimedia Commons Every hustle has to end sometime: an artist living in a $1,500-a-month rent-stabilized Tribeca loft has been kicked out of the apartment and ordered to pay a huge fine for renting it out on Airbnb for years. According to court papers obtained by the Post, Eileen Hickey, 72, has lived at 460 Greenwich Street in a two-bedroom, 1,800 square foot apartment for over 43 years. She was sued by landlord Robert Moskowitz in 2014 for listing the apartment on Airbnb. Hickey, who is a former Guggenheim Museum curator and whose work has appeared in the film Eat Pray Love, reportedly began renting it out in September 2012, and was charging $250 per night, $1,750 per week or $4,500 per month. (Her actual rent was $1,463.79 a month.) Court papers from the 2014 lawsuit state that Hickey was aware that what she was doing was illegal, because she instructed at least one guest in May 2013 that "if anyone asks about this transient renting subleases that [she] should state that she is Eileen Hickey's friend." Moskowitz apparently caught on to the scheme when "a subletter from Spain strung up a banner from the unit's fourth-floor fire escape to welcome friends." "I used Airbnb starting in September 2012 for a total of 85 nights over 10 months to help pay the bills in a brief family emergency, not to earn a living," Hickey told The Post. In addition to being removed from the apartment, a judge ordered that she pay a record-setting $185,000 fine, which is the highest known penalty in the country for an individual Airbnb host. "While this individual has not hosted on Airbnb for several years, we do encourage all tenants who wish to share their home to have a conversation with their landlord before hosting," said Josh Meltzer, head of New York policy for Airbnb. "At the same time, we support the Lentol/Bonacic bill, which would update existing rules around home sharing to mirror subletting law -- allowing rent-stabilized tenants to earn up to the amount they pay in rent. This would ensure more New Yorkers can share their space to make ends meet, while cracking down on profiteering." Hickey has until June 9th to leave the apartment. "To have no place to go at age 72 is quite horrible," Hickey, who also owns an East Village condo, told the Post. Plan Prioritizes Middle Class Families, Public Education, Good Jobs, and Healthier Communities Contact: Ford Porter Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov RALEIGH: Governor Cooper today presented his Common Ground Solutions 2018-2019 recommended budget adjustments. The Governor's plan prioritizes safer and stronger public schools, provides more workforce training for high-paying jobs, and protects the health of families across North Carolina - all without raising taxes.said Governor Cooper.Governor Cooper's budget allocates $24.5 billion and makes crucial investments in education and job training, health care, economic development and public safety. The budget achieves these goals without raising taxes or borrowing from special funds.added Governor Cooper.Governor Cooper's budget gives educators a meaningful raise, takes concrete steps to improve school safety and lays out a plan to make North Carolina a Top Ten Educated State.In his budget, the Governor proposes an average 8% teacher pay raise this year, with every teacher receiving at least a 5% raise. This includes veteran teachers who have been left behind in the legislature's teacher pay plan. The budget pays for the teacher raise by targeting the scheduled income tax cuts to the middle class, freezing additional tax breaks for income over $200,000 a year and corporations.The budget puts North Carolina on track to reach the national average in teacher pay in 4 years and to be a Top Ten Educated State by 2025 by adding 2,000 pre-K slots, proposing $25 million for textbooks and digital learning and providing educators a $150 stipend to cover out-of-pocket classroom supplies. It authorizes $75 million to begin to fix the class size chaos caused by the General Assembly's unfunded class size mandates. It also includes $2.5 million to bolster student support services at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).The budget leaves room for a school construction bond of up to $2 billion that Governor Cooper believes the legislature should ask voters to pass in 2018.The budget takes concrete steps to improve school safety and youth mental health and includes $130 million to hire more support personnel like nurses and school resource officers and upgrade facilities to be more secure. For more on that proposal, please click HERE Additionally, the budget supports North Carolina's veterans and military families. It restores full funding to the North Carolina Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans for the children of veterans killed or disabled during combat and establishes a position in benefits administration so veterans can more easily get the support they have earned.Earlier this year, Governor Cooper laid out NC Job Ready, his key priorities to develop a strong workforce. The Governor's budget invests in those priorities to train and grow our state's skilled-workforce to recruit high paying jobs to North Carolina. It provides $30 million in the NC GROW (Getting Ready for Opportunities in the Workforce) program - free training at community colleges for high-demand industries. It includes $20 million in Finish Line Grants to help students on the cusp of graduation but facing financial difficulties finish their degrees. And NC Job Ready includes $10 million that will help employers provide on-the-job training. For more information on this proposal, click HERE Governor Cooper's budget increases access to healthcare, protects our state's natural resources and improves safety in North Carolina's prisons, creating safer and healthier communities for families.The budget recommends closing the health insurance coverage gap by expanding Medicaid to cover 670,000 North Carolinians and inject $4 billion in our economy. In addition, the budget proposal adds more than $9 million to increase community mental health funding and treatment to combat the opioid crisis.To ensure North Carolinians' health isn't threatened by dangerous polluters, the budget provides $14.5 million to give state experts the resources to protect our air and drinking water, combat emerging contaminants like GenX and upgrade our state's outdated permitting system. For more information on this proposal, click HERE Finally, Governor Cooper's budget takes meaningful steps to address unacceptable violence in state prisons, investing $28 million to improve the safety and security of corrections staff and the communities they serve.Governor Cooper's budget invests in good jobs for all of North Carolina. It provides $43 million to strengthen rural North Carolina, expanding access to broadband and improving infrastructure necessary to recruit good jobs. Another $13 million will help develop economic development sites and recruit new industries.The budget offers state employees their largest raise in a decade and a cost of living adjustment for state retirees. It provides every state employee with a recurring $1,250 raise or 2% - whichever is greater. State law-enforcement officers and institution-based personnel such as corrections officers will receive an additional $1,000 recurring raise. Retirees would receive a 1% recurring cost of living adjustment. It includes $20 million for the Salary Adjustment Fund to implement the new market-based classification and compensation system. And to further enhance staffing at North Carolina prisons, it provides $10 million to create a 457-supplemental retirement contribution system for certified State Correctional Officers.Hurricane Matthew devastated eastern North Carolina and caused $4.8 billion in damage. While North Carolina has already disbursed more than $630 million for recovery, more work remains to rebuild communities even stronger than they were before.Governor Cooper's budget provides an additional $139.5 million to help families still recovering and takes steps to prepare for future storms. The budget sets aside an additional $184 million for our state's Rainy Day Fund so we can be prepared for the next storm or unforeseen disaster that hits.said Governor Cooper.For a link to Governor Cooper's budget, please click HERE Many of the dogs were ill and in distress when we found them, and we have led the effort to care for them at an emergency animal shelter we constructed especially for them. Photo by Summer Aweidah 6.3K shares Last year, the Humane Society of the United States assisted in an extraordinary rescue of 84 Great Danes, some sick, living in filthy conditions inside a New Hampshire mansion. Today, a judge sentenced the breeder, Christina Fay, to jail time, and admonished her for not showing any signs of remorse for what she did to the animals in her care. There has to be punishment for innocent animals who cannot stand up for themselves, Judge Amy Ignatius said at the sentencing of Fay, who was found guilty of 17 counts of animal cruelty in March. There was serious deterioration of conditions in that home and the jury found the dogs suffered as a result. In a previous trial last December, Fay was found guilty on 10 counts of misdemeanor cruelty by a judge. She was also ordered to pay $800,000 (for the costs of care for the dogs up to that date), but Fay appealed to a superior court for a jury trial: the one that produced a conviction on the 17 counts of cruelty. Judge Ignatius sentenced Fay to 12 months in prison, of which nine months will be suspended. If the defendant submits a rehabilitation proposal and the court approves of the plan, the judge stated she might consider reducing the 90-day jail term to 30 days. A hearing is scheduled for June 14, at which time the restitution and the rehoming of the dogs will be discussed, unless the defendant chooses to relinquish custody as part of a court-approved plan. According to observers in court today, it is clear that the judge has the welfare of the animals at the forefront of her mind, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome. The whole saga of horrors began to unfold in June 2017, when members of our Animal Rescue Team and volunteers from the Pope Memorial SPCA and Conway Area Humane Society entered the opulent mansion alongside officials of Wolfeboro Police Department, which had requested our assistance. The responders encountered an overpowering smell, and feces and debris were smeared across all the walls to the point where the windows were opaque. A number of dogs in the home appeared to have spent countless hours in cages with no access to water. Many of the dogs were ill and in distress when we found them, and suffered from an array of health problems, including severe eye issues and symptoms associated with communicable illnesses. We have led the effort to care for the dogs at an emergency animal shelter we constructed especially for them. This has been an expensive undertaking: the cost of constructing and maintaining a temporary animal shelter, staffing it with experienced consultants trained as veterinary technicians, professional dog trainers and animal shelter managers, bringing in Animal Rescue Team volunteers from all over the country, and providing extensive veterinary care to the dogs has cost the Humane Society of the United States more than $1.8 million to date. We are eager to put the cruelty the dogs endured behind them and to partner with our shelter and rescue allies to find them the loving homes they deserve. We hope the court will award custody of the dogs to the state and the Humane Society of the United States. If the defendant does not appeal the forfeiture, we will pursue rehoming the dogs with energy and devotion. We are also working with New Hampshire lawmakers and Gov. Chris Sununu to address the enormous financial burden on taxpayers and non-profit organizations for the care of animals legally seized from cruelty investigations. More than 30 other states now have such cost of care laws. The New Hampshire state senate has already passed a bipartisan bill that puts some of the financial burden of caring for rescued animals on the perpetrators of the cruelty rather than on taxpayers, reforms commercial breeder regulations and strengthens penalties for egregious cruelty. The bill is now in conference committee along with a misguided house version that guts the goals of the senate bill and weakens existing animal cruelty laws that passed more recently. We are committed to ensuring a viable version of this bill that will benefit both animals and the residents of New Hampshire comes out of the conference committee, and we are grateful to Gov. Sununu and Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, who introduced the Senate bill, for their leadership. P.S. Earlier this month, I wrote about a cruelty case in Bangladesh where some men buried two dogs and 14 puppies alive. I am pleased to report that the security guard responsible for this crime has received a prison sentence of six months. This is the first time a prison sentence has been handed down in an animal cruelty case in Bangladesh, according to media outlets that reported the story. Robert Karnes is your basic knee-jerk reactionary West Virginia state senator who devoted his tenure in office to hating on unions, especially teachers, especially teachers who participated in the West Virginia teachers' strike, the longest, most widespread strike in state history. When a local paper asked him last March whether he thought hating on teachers in public would have any kind of political ramifications in the upcoming state elections, Karnes laughed off the idea that teachers "would have any significant effect" on his chances. After all, he rules a thoroughly gerrymandered seat that will likely elect a Republican to the state senate until the heat death of the universe. So the teachers primaried his ass. Karnes lost the primary race to moderate Republican Bill Hamilton, 5787 votes to 3749. Not even close. Hamilton is a Republican, but he's not a one-dimensional cartoon villain like Karnes. Hamilton opposes "right to work" laws, backed the teachers' strike, is open to legal medical marijuana, and actually talks to his constituents, even if they voted for a different party in the last election. Edwina Howard-Jack, a high school English teacher and Indivisible activist in Upshur County, the area that Karnes represents, told The Intercept that some labor activists were concerned that after the strike wound down, teachers would be less active in politics. But Karnes's defeat proved to her that they are still a potent force. "I think that teachers showed their political power in the primary," she told The Intercept. "Teachers showed up and they were voting in their 55 united, 55 strong shirts. Once the results started rolling in, it was phenomenal. Teachers were really empowered to say, if we stick together we can make a difference." "I heard one teacher today say after yesterday they may want to think twice about arming teachers," she joked. She told The Intercept that a number of teachers chose a nonpartisan affiliation so they could vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday; under West Virginia's rules, you either have to belong to the party or be an unaffiliated voter in order to vote in the primary. West Virginia Republican Said Teachers Won't "Have Any Significant Effect" On Elections. Then They Voted Him Out. [Zaid Jilani/The Intercept] (Image: @SenatorKarnes) Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, used Orwell's 1984 as a training manual for torture and degradation. Some Catholic nuns in Colombia apparently looked to psychopathic torturer Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale for child rearing lessons. According to authorities, Sor Ines Perez and Rosa Elivra Trochez Joagui of the the Santa Clara Rebirth Home "repeatedly burned [the children] on their hands and had their heads shoved in toilets as a form of punishment," reports Newsweek. Perez and Joaqui were charged with aggravated torture. They deny the charges. Image: Shutterstock/Di Studio Does extraterrestrial life exist? It's a question that, for the past 25 years, Congress didn't care to try and answer. In 1993, just as SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) was getting its shit together with a massive program that would see observatories around the world equipped to search the universe for signals that may have been produced by intelligent alien life, Congress pulled the plug on funding them, preferring to throw money at NASA instead. In the U.S. Capital, SETI became a four-letter s-word that didn't end in 'hit.' While all of this is literally in the past, it's now also figuratively in the past as well. From Space.com: The U.S. House of Representatives has proposed a bill that includes $10 million in NASA funding for the next two years "to search for technosignatures, such as radio transmissions, in order to meet the NASA objective to search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe." Such technosignatures would come in the form of radio waves that have the telltale features of being produced by TV or radio-type technologies. An intelligent civilization could also produce those signals intentionally to communicate with other civilizations like ours. Having SETI funded by the U.S. Government, again, would represent one helluva boost in resources for scientists who, for the past two decades and change, have had to rely on funding from private interests like universities to continue their search for intelligent life beyond earth. However, as with all things the government sticks its snout into, there's a catch. The new bill that says that funding SETI would be cool is, as Space.com points out, just an authorization bill. For federal funds to change hands, an appropriations bill will have to be drafted and approved, first. In other words, don't get any ideas about shaking hands (or other appendages) with a creature from another world anytime soon: the sweet red tape of bureaucracy will likely keep us from having to share a towel with a hoppy Betelgeusian frood for some time to come. Image: Noodle snacks Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link For more than a century, the Canadian government pursued a policy of forcibly removing First Nations people from their homes and imprisoning them in largely church-run "residential schools" where violence, rape and other forms of abuse were rampant. The last residential school closed in 1986. From the 1930s to the 1950s, medical researchers carried out inhumane, nonconsensual medical experiments on the children in the residential school system. Many of these involved deliberately malnourishing the children, while denying them other forms of care (such as dental care) to ensure that they were accurately measuring the health impacts of starvation. Subjects were also given experimental, harmful medications that created long-lasting health problems for them, some had unnecessary surgeries performed on them. Experiments were also carried out on indigenous people living on reservations, and in the hospitals and sanitariums operated for indigenous people. A coalition of First Nations survivors of these experiments have launched class action lawsuit against the Canadian government, which created and regulated the residential school system, hospitals, reservations and sanitoriums.. The plaintiff in the case is John Pambrun, 77, a First Nations man who spent nearly six years of his childhood in Indian hospitals and sanatoriums. In 1955 long after antibiotics had become the standard treatment for tuberculosis doctors removed part of his right lung, according to court documents. "We can't find anything in the medical records that indicates that he even had tuberculosis," said Merchant. "We're just mystified." The years of treatment took him away from his family and his education, while the partial loss of a lung left him suffering shortness of breath and limited his employment options. "It has just been gnawing him all these years that he was mistreated by a nation that took him into their care and had a special responsibility for his care," said Merchant. Many of the allegations contained in the lawsuit stem from investigations done by Ian Mosby at the University of Guelph. In research published in 2013, he documented more than a decade of nutritional experiments on indigenous peoples. Canada sued over years of alleged experimentation on indigenous people [Ashifa Kassam/The Guardian] A businessman in India was suckered out of $200,000 by two men dressed in cheap silver space suits. The swindlers are a father and son team, who pretended to have special palm-sized copper plates that could "generate electricity from thunderbolts." They said the plates could be sold to NASA for hundreds of millions of dollars, and at least one gullible New Delhi businessman fell for the hoax. According to The Guardian: Their fake device was apparently based on rare copper "that had been struck by a thunderbolt" so that it could magnetise rice, police explained. A copper plate covered in a thin magnetic liquid and rice mixed with iron filings were used to show off the machine. The pair, who employed actors to wear radiation suits and staged fake tests, had said they needed money to develop the invention, detectives said. The New Delhi businessman became suspicious when promised experiments were repeatedly called off, mainly because of bad weather. He went to police and acknowledged he had handed over more than $200,000. The grifters were already out on bail for another scam in which they sold "medicinal" snakes for $25,000 a pop. I'm not sure which is more unbelievable that two men thought it was a good idea to wear shiny space suits to pose as salesmen, or that a businessman actually believed it was normal for salesmen to be dressed up in cheap silver costumes. Either way, at least it's been a fun topic on Twitter. Crime branch has averted a #maritian attack ?? pic.twitter.com/5ZPhOdmiBC bhavatosh singh (@bhavatoshsingh) May 8, 2018 Easily qualifies to be stupidest criminals in the country. The crime is hilarious. They were buying subzi for Nasa astronauts who would use it for space missions! And businessmen lended them money too! https://t.co/L2xXEqlh9J Soumyadipta (@Soumyadipta) May 8, 2018 Very curious about one thing: Why did they think they had to dress up like a low budget C-grade Bollywood movie's spaceman to show they had a NASA project? Mrs Palakkadan (@Lotus2021) May 8, 2018 Hi, I'm Kevlar and this is my brother Mylar. We will take you to the moon and back. https://t.co/NwIcCIJ6qa Pragya Singh (@PragyaSingh) May 9, 2018 John McCain's objection to Gina Haspel's appointment to lead the CIA is easily understood: he was tortured in Vietnam, whereas Haspel supervised torture at the CIA. Many conservatives have often held him with a certain contempt for being a prisoner of war, partially because they think torture is effective (cf. the Manchurian candidate) and partially just because they hate victims who share their experiences. Trump's mockery of him over it was not a blurted-out accident, but rather a vulgar fingers-in-mouth earsplitting humanwhistle to the right. And so here we are, with White House official Kelly Sadler's opinion of him. Special assistant Kelly Sadler made the derisive comments during a closed-door White House meeting of about two-dozen communications staffers on Thursday morning. "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway," Sadler said, according to a source familiar with the remarks at the meeting. The White House did not deny the account of Sadler's remarks, which came amid a discussion of Haspel's nomination and McCain's opposition to it. Sadler is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times. At the White House, she focuses on illegal immigration, often sending out press releases to highlight stories about the issue to reporters. This sort of jocular disgust, plugged into the place where most people have a sense of humor, is a totalitarian thing. Previously: CIA & Army veteran has the best response to Gina Haspel confirmation obfuscation Photo: White House Begins Christmas Season With Ceremonial Lighting Of Cross [The Onion] P0D P730D Please check your dates and format them as (MMM/DD/YYYY). The date you selected is in the past. Please select a valid date. We're sorry, only dates up to 13 months from today can be searched. A Brooklyn attorney claims she was racially profiled and wrongly accused of shoplifting while trying on clothes with her teenage daughter in a Williamsburg boutique last Friday, May 4th. Nancy Bedard, who is black, and her 19-year-old daughter say they were shopping in the vintage store Amarcord on Bedford Avenue around 7 p.m. when a white employee confronted them. The dispute that ensued eventually led to Bedard and her daughter in handcuffs, though no merchandise was found to have been stolen. Bedard declined to speak with Gothamist, but she is expected to attend a protest outside Amarcord tonight at 6 p.m. (UPDATE: Read Gothamist's coverage of the demonstration here.) Her husband Philip Sturges, also an attorney, posted this message on Facebook immediately following the incident: Today a white female employee of Amarcord Vintage Fashion falsely accused my black wife, who is an attorney, of shoplifting, had the police chase her and our teenage daughter down in a cop car and violently handcuff both of them before searching her bag and determining she was innocent. This was pure RACIAL PROFILING by the Amarcord employee. BOYCOTT!!!!! "They were falsely accused of shoplifting with no factual basis for that claim to have been made," says Sturges, who was not present at the time of the incident. "She tried to respond to the store employee who made the accusation and pointed out that all items had been returned. The store employee refused to accept that, was changing her story, claiming there was an additional item that didn't exist." Sturges says that after his wife and daughter left Amarcord, the employee followed them out of the store, "harassing them." According to Sturges, the employee "made statements to the effect of 'we knew when you walked in you weren't going to buy anything.'" As Bedard and her daughter walked to their car, Sturges said three police cars pulled up with one of the store's employees inside, ostensibly for the purpose of identifying them. "The officers did not ask either [Bedard] or our daughter any questionsthey just immediately handcuffed them. They didn't say anything, they obviously took whatever this employee said at face value. They didn't bother getting my wife's side of the story, which my wife would have been happy to tell them. There was no truth to the allegation. There was nothing in her bag. They didn't even look in her bag." Bedard and her daughter's arms were "abraded and swollen" from the tightness of the handcuffs, according to Sturges, who says, "My wife's arm looked really bad." Sturges says Bedard and his daughter were eventually released, after Bedard showed police that no merchandise was in their possession. Sturges says they were then taken to Woodhull Medical and treated for swelling and abrasions on their arms. "It was a completely humiliating and dangerous experience," Sturges says. "They had absolutely no basis to make the accusation of shoplifting." Amarcord's owners, Patti Bordoni and Marco Liotta, declined to comment, but issued a statement on their website today accusing Bedard and Sturges of defaming the boutique. They say they tried to apologize to the couple, but have been unable to reach them. "On May 4, a misunderstanding ensued inside our store which quickly escalated," the statement says. "One of our employees politely approached two patrons to clarify a situation, which was immediately countered with the accusation that our intentions were racially motivated. Shocked, our employee pursued them outside in an attempt to sort things out. At this point, one of the patrons threatened our employees safety, humiliated her and berated her race, class, and physical appearance." Daniel Kron, an attorney representing Amarcord, emphatically denies that there was anything "discriminatory" in how Bedard and her daughter were approached by the employee. "The circumstances are not what they were portrayed," Kron says. "At no time did anyone at Amarcord say that anyone was shoplifting. All that was asked was that they examine clothing that was taken out of the fitting room. The customer in question immediately played the race card, saying, 'Oh it's because I'm black, isn't it?' And on and on and on." Kron notes that Amarcord has been in business for almost twenty years, and says "this is the very first time something like this has ever transpired. Clearly there is no pattern of anything like this happening. Nothing racially motivated happened. It just so happened that it was an African-American who had gone into a dressing room with another woman, which is also a red flag. When two people go into the same dressing room together, that's a red flag that something might be going on." Kron says the store has footage that shows the "furtive type of behavior that was being exhibited. They were not acting as though they were normal customers trying on clothing." Asked about what specifically prompted the employee to suspect that shoplifting might be happening, Kron says Bedard and her daughter "were piling up clothing" on a bench behind the register, and "constantly going in and out of the same dressing room, coming out with different numbers of clothing. One of the sales managers saw them go into dressing room with four [items] and believed she saw them come out with three. That alone prompted her to question, aside from all the furtive behavior... that just prompted the question, which is, 'would you mind just showing the articles [of clothing] you have.'" "It got out of hand," Kron says. He confirmed that after Bedard and her daughter left the store, an employee followed. As the dispute continued on the sidewalk, Kron says it was Bedard who urged the employee to call the police. Once police arrived, "that was the end of Amarcord's dealing with the situation," Kron says, adding that he and the owners subsequently posted an apology on Sturges's Facebook page, and that it was deleted. "We are considering litigation based on what's going to happen over the weekend," Kron tells Gothamist, referring to the protest planned tonight, on the eve of a vintage fashion show in Industry City. "They know Amarcord is going to be part of a fashion show at Industry City. Nobody will talk to us. Clearly there is a defamation case here." The NYPD did not provide any information about the incident, which has sparked a backlash on social media, including calls for a boycott of Amarcord. Bedard and Sturges are expected to attend tonight's protest outside the shop. News / National by Staff reporter MDC-T leader Nelson Chamisa has "sincerely apologised" for his gender insensitive political banter that caused social media outrage this week.Chamisa came under fire after he joked that he would give his sister, 18, to Emmerson Mnangagwa if the Zimbabwean leader won the forthcoming elections.Chamisa said this while addressing his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party supporters in the United Kingdom."If Mnangagwa wins 5% in a free election, I will give him my sister. I have a sister who just turned 18 and looking for a husband."I am betting on this because I know it won't happen," Chamisa was quoted as saying.He said this to wild applause from his supporters.Chamisa's utterances immediately torched a storm, with social media users saying that he did not deserve to be a leader, as his utterances reinforced "human trafficking" and "abuse against women".Free and fair electionBut in a interview with News24, Chamisa said that he did not mean to cause any harm when he made the comments.He said that although he was not sure why people took offence at his joke, he was "sincerely sorry" to those he "may have hurt".Chamisa said the joke was an "illustration" meant to show the ruling Zanu-PFs inability to "win in a free and fair election"."If anyone felt hurt about the joke I am sorry. It was just a political banter that I used to illustrate that even if I promised to give him (Mnangagwa) my most prized position, he would still not be able to defeat us in a free and fair election," said Chamisa.Chamisa also lashed out at opportunistic political rivals who he said used the political banter to "score cheap political points"."The joke should have been a non-issue, because most Zimbabweans are worried about issues of survival. This is just a sideshow that is being used by irrelevant people to score cheap political points at my expense," said Chamisa. News / National by dailymail A mission to kill Robert Mugabe before he seized power was thwarted - when the British tipped him off that assassins were closing in.Mugabe was leading the fight for majority black rule against Ian Smith's government in Rhodesia - now known as Zimbabwe - in 1979, a year before he became the nation's prime minister.The Rhodesian SAS squad was tasked with preventing uprisings against the white-minority rule - as well as a number of covert operations.Among these was the assassination of the two leaders of the two sides of the independence movement: Mugabe, who led the Zimbabwe National African Union, and his rival Joshua Nkomo, who led the Zimbabwe African People's Union.Both plots failed - and a new book describes how it was the British who alerted Mugabe, prompting him to flee before the assassins arrived.A new book - We Dared to Win: The SAS in Rhodesia - by Hannah Wessels and Andre Scheepers - details the SAS plan to kill Mugabe as he led the African National Union forces across the border from Mozambique in February 1979.Mr Scheepers, who was an officer in the Rhodesian SAS in the late 1970s, describes how officers, escorted by South African special forces - known as Recces - were dropped off by submarine off the coast of Maputo, where Mugabe was living, before making their way to shore in inflatable boats.They were armed with machine guns, grenades and a bomb that one officer described as 'big enough to sink a ship.'But by the time they arrived, it was clear Mugabe had fled.By late 1978 a decision had been taken to kill Mugabe in Maputo,' Mr Scheepers writes.'Following rehearsals the operation commenced mid-February and following a two-day voyage from Langebaan in a strike craft the ship took up a position below the horizon with the lights of Maputo brightening the distant sky.'At sunset a signal from an intelligence operative was received indicating the 'target' was in residence.'Travelling in three Zodiac inflatables the SAS men boated into shore paddling the last few hundred metres to maintain maximum silence knowing the harbour mouth was heavily defended.'Rich Stannard, a commando, added: 'We came down the rope-ladders and on to the inflatables and made for the beach.'There was a bit of a scare when we ran into some fishermen and I heard the 'Recce' guys speaking in Afrikaans saying we had been compromised but the fishermen did not appear to be too alarmed and we decided to carry on.'We left a landing party on the beach and headed for the target.'We approached the house with no problem as we knew the route from our rehearsals and none of us saw any sentries. I was carrying a bomb big enough to sink a ship.As we neared the house, Keith said to me, 'good luck Sir this is going to be quite something.' Billy Grant and Keith jumped up on to the wall with RPGs ready to initiate but nothing happened because they could see no sign of life.I jumped up to look and could see through his bathroom window and I could see a small red light but it was clear the place had been abandoned and only recently.'I was itching to blow the place to pieces anyway and damn nearly pulled the pin and threw it for the hell of it.'We all felt that he had been warned we were coming. It was a huge disappointment.'Wing Commander Peter Petter-Bowyer later told the BBC:'We had absolute proof. The guy who lived across the road from Mugabe, happened to be a South African.'I met the man, confirmed that Mugabe was at home and all was well. But, when we got there, [he had] gone. No question, Mugabe was called, there's no doubt. That's exactly what happened.'Asked who he believed called Mugabe, Mr Petter-Bowyer replied: 'The Brits.'Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted last year after the military took over briefly and his once-loyal ZANU-PF party turned against him.The former ruler, 94, whose own regime was accused of siphoning off diamond profits, has described his ousting as a coup, and that it must be 'undone'. News / National by Staff reporter Tensions between senior Air Zimbabwe officials, the Transport ministry and ZimAirways are mounting after minister Jorum Gumbo recently blocked the convening of a disciplinary hearing against three engineers accused of moonlighting for the rival airline.AirZim, according to sources, argued that the three were in violation of their employment contracts by assisting a rival airline whose ownership structure is murky.Gumbo yesterday insisted former President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law Simba Chikore had no shareholding in Zimbabwe Airways which he said was wholly government-owned.Gumbo, in a ministerial statement read in the National Assembly, said Chikore must not be viewed with suspicion as he had rights to be employed and to negotiate for the country."The shareholding is wholly government and no other, and Chikore was employed by Air Zimbabwe and he has good qualifications," Gumbo said. News / National by Staff reporter THE opposition Zapu party reacted with fury this week after the government decided to vice president Constantino Chiwenga's late sister a State assisted funeral.According to NewZimbabwe.com, the party says "deserving veterans" of its liberation military wing ZIPRA have been denied national hero status by the Zanu-PF led government on numerous occasions.Chiwenga's sister Margret Machekabuwe, a war Zanla war veterans, died in Marondera on Sunday.She was buried at her farm on Tuesday with the State sponsoring the funeral.Zapu spokesperson Ipithule Maphosa said by honouring Chiwenga's civilian sister, the government has proved its partisanship as well as segregation of former ZIPRA cadres from State schemes and programmes."As Zapu, we are shocked that this government has the audacity of funding Chiwenga's civilian sister's funeral expenses while failing to honour ZIPRA liberation war heroes," he said."We have got senior ZIPRA commanders like Sazwini Ndlovu, Richard Dube and others who deserved to be declared national heroes but were denied the status simply because they were fighting on the wrong side according to people like Chiwenga and his Zanu-PF (party)."The government even failed to fund their funeral expenses. Surely, this is an abuse of state institutions."Tribalism and nepotismZIPRA commanders Sazwini Ndlovu and Richard Dube were buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo.They were refused the honour of national hero status which comes with the privilege of burial at the national shrine in Harare.Other Zapu and ZIPRA heroes who also lie at the cemetery include Thenjiwe Lesabe and Lookout Makusu.Maphosa accused the government of tribalism and nepotism."When the government decides to honour its vice president's sister and ignore Ndebele nationalists, surely that is tribalism at its best."Chiwenga described her late sister as a war collaborator, but how many war collaborators who have died and have not received a single cent from the state?"Zapu views this as the political chicanery of the decade." News / National by A Mhlongo The radical Member of Parliament for Uzumba, Simbaneuta Mudarikwa has urged the government to completely erase the recently proposed $50 000 licensing fees for mbanje farmers highlighting that the fee was unheard of.Speaking at the National Assembly question time on Wednesday, Mudarikwa who first unsuccessfully introduced the cannabis debate in 2011 said the gazetted fee for those authorised to grow the crop for medical and research purposes was prohibitive."Why should growers be asked to pay such prohibitive amounts when they will bring in foreign currency apart from the medicinal uses of cannabis"?"If tobacco farmers are allowed to grow tobacco for free why can the same apply with cannabis growers"?The leader of government business in Parliament Ziyambi Ziyambi said the government had only allowed cannabis to be grown as a pilot project on the prison farms because of their security nature. News / National by Staff reporter THE absence of the police in the Central Business District has been described by shop owners as a major setback in their daily business operations.The chaotic situation has resulted in some vendors going to the extent of selling their products at the entrances of grocery and clothing shops.H-Metro team toured the CBD where the business community was crying foul over the conduct of vendorsManager of a local clothing shop, Farai Mauto, said if the police do not take charge of the situation many business will shut down."As you can see in this shop there is no one, all our clients are being blocked outside by vendors who are selling the same products we have in here."This is really unfair considering that we are paying rentals, paying workers and also our operations are closely monitored by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority."At the end of the day we are the ones who are now losing if the situation remains like this most shops are going to close."There was a time when the police force would be deployed in town and those days we were really protected though there were also cases where police officers would receive bribes but the situation was not as bad as it is now," he said.Mauto said some shops were now taking some of their products from their shops to sell into the streets."The problem I am seeing now is that as a nation we have become used to this situation to the extent that we now see this as normal when in actual fact it's not."It is a shame that we now have a number of business people who are now taking their products into the streets because in the shops no one is coming to buy."All this desperation is caused by the fact that the police have taken a back seat on bringing order in the capital," she said.. . . Pedestrians on police returnMembers of the public yesterday expressed mixed feelings over the call for the Zimbabwe Republic Police to increase visibility in the Central Business District to restore sanity in the capital.One of the people interviewed by the H-Metro, Joshua Khumalo said the police must return to the streets in order to maintain order."The police must come back and do their operations in the streets because their absence made other people feel like they are above the law, yet that's not it."There is a lot of disorder in the city, vendors are everywhere and they are uncontrollable, drunkards urinate wherever they want which is not healthy, so the police must come back in the streets and restore sanity," said Joshua Khumalo.Another man Onismus Chiweshe gave a slightly different view on the absence of the police on the streets."Yes we want the police to come back but the bad part of police is that they take bribes, if they are bribed then there is no use for them to come back in the streets, so the whole point is that there is need for control in the city especially the traffic sector."Kombi drivers are always drunk, beer is now sold even in the ranks at as low as 50cents so drivers wont resist drinking whilst driving, so there is really need for control everywhere," said Chiweshe.Diamond Kapiringishi is of the view that police must come back but under conditions."They must come back for the sake of order in town but only under one condition, ngavasatora cash there must be an account number where arrested motorists must send the fine to," he said.. . . 'We will engage ZRP again'Harare City Council is set to engage the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in a bid to restore sanity in the Central Business District.A snap survey conducted by H-Metro showed that the absence of the police in the CBD had resulted in rampant vending and violation of traffic laws.Council spokesperson Michael Chideme said they will soon join hands with the police to restore sanity in town."We are engaging the ZRP so that we can work together like we have always done," said Chideme."We greatly value the co-operation of ZRP."Their absence is a minor setback that we are working to put behind us."We hope for the best in terms of the negotiations."Asked when the police should be expected back in town, Chideme referred this publication to ZRP national spokesperson Charity Charamba."About the date that the police are to be back in town, you can talk to Charity Charamba," he said.. . . Mushikashika accidentMUSHIKASHIKA cars menace yesterday saw two pirate taxis being involved in an accident in the CDB.The accident involving a Toyota Sienta and a Honda Fit happened at the intersection of at Robert Mugabe Road and Inez Terrace Street.An eye witness told the H-Metro that both cars were carrying passengers and no one was injured."The Toyota Sienta had two passengers whilst the Honda Fit was packed with people," he said.Both drivers of the pirate taxis refused to entertain H-Metro.. . .Taxi drivers cry foulTaxi drivers are calling for the deployment of police officers at illegal ranks where unlicensed transport operators known as mushika-shika are operating.The mushika-shikas have taken over in the transport sector leaving taxi drivers in dire strait as they are no-longer getting business.Taxi drivers told H-Metro that it was now extremely difficult to operate in their line of business with pirate taxis (mushika-shika) all over town."Mushika-shika's are causing a lot of congestion and also taking our customers. We now spend hours waiting for customers that barely come."Even if the police were to come back and control the situation it's really useless because they own those pirate taxis," said Earnest Mapute.Asked if the police should come back in the street another taxi driver, Tendai Munzvandi said that it is necessary for the police to control the situation."People obviously now prepare mushika-shika because they are cheaper than us."We are registered and we have licenses to operate but now we spend all day here doing nothing because all the customers now prefer those pirate cars to us."I'm actually thinking of removing my plates and just operate as mushika-shika," he said.Munzvandi also added that thieves are now haunting the streets."We have a problem, a huge one."During the night, thieves come acting as if they want a taxi ride and right in the middle of the journey they bring out a knife and threaten to stab the driver unless they give in to the demands."In most cases they demand the car which they then use as a pirate car and start robbing passengers."Taxi drivers are calling upon the traffic police to come back and do what they are supposed to do but this time they should do it right and avoid taking bribes."We need them not to take bribes from us but help us in our operations."They should avoid having several road blocks in one road that's really not necessary," said another concerned taxi driver. Opinion / Columnist Contacts Facebook-Leonard Koni Twitter-Leokoni Whatsapp-+27747402042 Email-konileonard606@gmail.com President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he will make wholesale changes when he wins 2018 Presidential election and send home those not performing up to standard.The current new political dispensation led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is selling a dummy to the electorate And the majority of the Zimbabweans who want to see the country working again.It started with much hope and carried the aspirations of many Zimbabweans across he globe and unfortunately all hope has been lost as it consistently pushed itself into a miserable political quagmire.The mood and vibe in the people has been eroded and taken away. There is a slight deep political crisis which has increased anxiety and depression amongst Zimbabweans.Zimbabwe is a highly indebted country. The country's debt renders every single Zimbabwean bankrupt. Our national revenue hardly stretches beyond $4 Billion. We expected the new administration to tackle such issues but it looks like everything is hitting on a brick wall."My administration is not going to tolerate any form of corruption at any level. To do this, we need the support of institutions like police, judiciary, ZACC and the NPA, we are in the process of making them pull in one direction. Those we discover to be resisting, we are saying go home." said President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Qatar.There is the trouble in the ruling party. Why is the President promising to kick out the dead wood if he wins the election. Why is he keeping the dead wood in his armpits? He knows the dead wood which need to be chucked out of the government but he is not taking any stern action. This is a replica of the old clueless adminstration of Mr Mugabe which used to talk without action.Our judiciary system appoach on corruption matters leaves a lot to be desired. Cases were properly documented and due process followed but the real prosecution remains in a pipe dream. Justice delayed is justice denied.When President Mnangagwa took over, initially, people were so much excited amd thought he meant business but he is proving to be pressing a laxity button. Recently the Herald Zimbabwe reported that there was no corruption in Zimbabwe and that the claims of corruption were largely based on suspicion and perception. Such kind of reporting will not get us anywhere. Time for propaganda is over.This administration has failed to even secure one conviction and one wonders whether there is no corruption in Zimbabwe. There are government officials who are very corrupt in Emeson Mnangagwa's government. In fact the whole lot are. By not tendering the printing of ballot papers they are showing us how corrupt they are.The country needs a powerful visionary cabinet which has capacity to drive the economy forward. For example there was in the government of national unity MDC Alliance's Mr Tendai Biti, who proved to be the best finance minister of of our generation. In 2009 he was awarded the best finance minister in Africa by Euromoney emerging markets. He achieved a 12% economic growth rate and blocked several government demands to abuse state funds. We need such kind of principled leaders.With Zimbabwe's abundance of natural resources, everybody should get ready, get prepared to serve our beautiful country and make Zimbabwe the jewel of Africa. We should deliver first world class roads, freeways, fast trains, excellent health care, good hospitals, finest education with first league universities, colleges and schools.Zimbabwe being a country open for business, we should be careful of how we engage our business partners. We have China deals signed long back and not bearing any fruits yet. The incubation periods for these deals is now unbearable.This new administration has not yet weened itself from the old dispensation. We used to see deputy ministers and ministers lining up to send off Mugabe at the airport and the same is happening with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. We see people going to welcome him back at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. Don't these ministers have work to do? Is their performance measurement based on the frequency they send off or welcome the President at the airport or it is measured by their input in policy making?We need to be mature in the way we do our modern politics. There is no need to flood the airport when the President leaves the country. Such days are over.The opposition must start penetrating the rural vote which is very vital if they are to make an impact. There is no time to rest. It is going to be a gruesome route to take but it must be done.It must take a leaf from a 92 year old though advanced into years. The former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's opposition party has ended Barisan National (BN) party's 61 year rule in Malaysia by winning the majority seats in elections on Wednesday. So hope was never lost and the people must be free to choose a leader of their choice without being intimidated. Opinion / Columnist The newly-formed National Patriotic Front (NPF) is already suffering a still birth even before becoming a fully-fledged party as the founding leaders Professor Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwao are embroiled in a tussle to control the former president Robert Mugabe linked party.Endorsed by ex-president Mugabe, NPF is the brainchild of G40 kingpins and ex-cabinet ministers Moyo, Zhuwao and Kasukuwere who all fled into self-imposed exile when the country's military launched Operation Restore Legacy last November, culminating the resignation of the former president.From its formation in March this year, the NPF has been fighting to live for another day as it faced more problems with each passing day. The first mammoth task which shook the party was its quest to choose a substantive leader to guide the newly formed party.There were speculations that the foul-mouthed former first lady, Grace Mugabe would lead the party.However, that party eventually anointed the former Minister of State for Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs, Brigadier-General Ambrose Mutinhiri (Retired), as the leader of the G40 cabal's new political project after a meeting at the former First Family's residence, Blue Roof Mansion in Borrowdale at the beginning of March this year.Barely a month into assuming his post, knives were all out for Mutinhiri as new leadership squabbles engulfed the new outfit. There was war inside that party, with Grace Mugabe and her close former G40 kingpins pushing for Mutinhiri's ouster, claiming that he was incompetent and that she is better qualified and placed to lead the party into this year's elections.Fast forward to May 2018, the NPF is making headlines again for the wrong reasons. From the look of things, the party could be headed for an early split amid new leadership squabbles among the three G40 kingpins Prof Moyo, Zhuwao and Kasukuwere.Zhuwao and Prof Moyo are at loggerheads with close ally Kasukuwere as they claimed that he has been hired by the unforeseen enemies to fan divisions within that embattled party as he was rumoured to take reigns of a similar outfit called Zimbabwe National Patriotic Front (ZNPF) to compete against NPF.Writing in his weekly column, The Zhuwao Brief Reloaded, Mugabe's nephew said, "Kasukuwere has been reported at some meetings of the real NPF as either having arrived in Zimbabwe or as being on the verge of landing in Zimbabwe in an effort to tie his supposed leadership of the copy-cat ZNPF project with the real NPF."Zhuwao further trashed Kasukuwere's leadership qualities and concluded that he is not the appropriate person to lead that political outfit.On the other hand, details filtering on the social media is that one of the issues that has caused the fallout of the triumvirate is a US$30 million pledged by Mugabe to finance the party's programmes. It is alleged that Prof Moyo and Kasukuwere fell out because the former wanted to control the fund.These latest NPF leadership squabbles is set to put the party once again to the acid test. Time will tell whether the party will emerge stronger from the current upheavals to become one of the opposition parties to reckon with in the local political circles.With only a few months left to the 2018 harmonised elections, the party seem to be attracting more problems that ever. With each passing day its more leadership squabbles, more counter accusations, no manifesto to lure voters to the new outfit and low turnout at provincial launch meetings.At this rate, NPF, is the party that never was. It has to adapt or die natural death. I foresee the party being crushed by the ZANUPF juggernaut at the forthcoming elections, only time will tell. Opinion / Columnist Elections are just two months away; the electorate must prepare to invest their votes judiciously to shape their lives and those of posterity.Although there are over 100 presidential hopefuls, there are only two serious protagonists on the political market. This year's elections have generated great interest both locally and internationally, mainly because they are featuring two new candidates from the two main contesting political parties in the country. President Emmerson Mnangagwa took the reins at Zanu PF following the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe in November last year while Nelson Chamisa assumed charge at the bigger offshoot of the MDC-T in February this year following the death of Morgan Tsvangirai.This year's elections have new candidates who are selling themselves for the first time. Thus, the electorate must be more meticulous than before and this can be done through listening and interrogating their policy proposals. For all these years, serious elections were about Mugabe and Tsvangirai, and their policies were always predictable. By interrogating what the main political actors are saying, one will see that there is a Statesman and a politician on the political market. According to an American clergyman, James Freedom Clarke, a Statesman thinks of the next generation while a politician thinks of the next election.A politician thrives on dirty tactics to win the votes, making politics a rough and tumble game. Politicians lie and they promise things that are not achievable. A Statesman is practical. While a politician moves around promising people this and that, a Statesman will be busy delivering.On the market is President Mnangagwa who squarely fits in the description of a statesman. Mr Chamisa perfectly qualifies to be a politician. What the two men have been doing since assuming leadership of their respective parties set them apart statesman and politician.During his inauguration as the President, Cde Mnangagwa emphasised that his administration would focus more on economy than on politics. He opened Zimbabwe for business and his common mantra now is "Zimbabwe is open for business." True to his word, the President has been pre-occupied with resuscitating the economy which has been on the nose-dive for the past decade. He has been on the hunt for investors, a mission that saw him visiting different countries across the globe. Despite criticism from the opposition, the expeditions have been very fruitful as the country has so far attracted $11 billion investment commitments from across the globe.Although some of these investors have adopted a wait and see approach, wherein they want to see how the elections will be conducted before investing their money, some of them have shown unwavering confidence in the new dispensation. Qatar for instance, is sending a high-profile business delegation to Zimbabwe before elections and has pledged to fund various projects in the country.As a statesman, Cde Mnangagwa knows that Zimbabwe cannot remain a pariah State which lives in isolation, hence his re-engagement efforts with the countries that had severed ties with Zimbabwe. He is being well-received and promises of assistance in economic development have been pouring. The erstwhile enemies are fascinated by his vision and policies, his promise to hold free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections and reforms on some of the investment policies among others. He has not been loquacious, choosing to be action-oriented. That describes what a statesman is.On the other hand, Mr Chamisa is already in full-sized campaign mode. He is trotting the country where he is talking about politics and politics alone. The few instances he has attempted to talk about economy and social issues, he made boo-boos big time. He has been making promises that are stranger-than-fiction. Stephen Sackur, the BBC anchor had to tell Chamisa straight in his face that his promises were "nonsense." What come to mind quickly are; the proposed introduction of bullet trains, construction of spaghetti roads, village airports, abolishing roora/lobola and making everybody in the rural areas migrate to urban areas for employment. He has vowed to reverse the land reform and Chinese investments.With this kind of pronouncements, Mr Chamisa still expects to win this crucial election and he had the guts to stake his sister if he lost the battle to President Mnangagwa. His undoing has also been his chauvinistic attitude that manifested in the way he haunted out Thokozani Khupe and other opinionated remarks he made at public rallies about women.He has started following up on the entire diplomatic offensive launched by Government through the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Lieutenant General (rtd), Dr Sibusiso Moyo and President Mnangagwa. He is not looking for financial assistance to take the country out of the economic doldrums upon his election. No, he wants money to bankroll his campaigns. All he sees is the election ahead, and nothing else beyond that.A British Professor, Dianna Jeater sees Chamisa the same way yours truly sees him. Writing on her twitter handle after listening to Chamisa speak, she dismissed him as a potential president. Even BBC's Sackur blatantly told Chamisa that he was going to lose the election. German's Federal Agency, BPB also predicted that Chamisa will lose the election. Opinion / Columnist Hundreds of Zapu supporters gathered at Makorokoro on Wednesday. Without any exaggeration whatsoever, the just about a thousand villagers stunned even the organisers as it became Zapu`s largest rural gathering to date from a single constituency.By the way, these people went to the meeting voluntarily. There were no 2kg packets of expired Chinese rice, no ntsarus with someone`s head, no torches with anyone`s head, no threats of being starved if one fails to attend, no money thrown around to energize them to insult a sitting President, there was none of it. It was a meeting to boldly declare that "kuZapu ndiko nkanye kwedu". It is a loud cry for the implementation of the Devolution of Power. And voting for a Zapu candidate wherever is to vote for a devolution of power.The people of Makorokoro like many Zimbabweans, especially from Matebeleland South, have lived under a painful political quandary since Zimbabwe`s independence. After the gukurahundi genocide and the subsequent forced political assimilation through the disgraceful 1987 unity accord, it has been difficult to identify a political direction. Heavily funded political vultures and opportunists of diverse types have taken advantage of the situation. Many have been using the plight of the people to join the ZanuPf looting spree as once elected, they would vanish into the luxuries of Harare.Fearlessly attending a Zapu public meeting and turning it into a massive ward rally sent some shocking messages to hired or bribed semi-literate and rogue elements of the state security apparatus who panicked when realising that intimidation tactics were rendered not only ineffective but foolish as they are in vain. Fear as a weapon has a very limited duration.The people of Makorokoro must inspire all the victims of the Zanu-PF government to stand up and simply implement devolution of power through a vote. The Zapu President Doctor Dumiso Dabengwa has been saying it. It is not just the removal of certain individuals from government offices that we need now, but it is putting in place an alternative socio-economic order that emancipates the people by allowing them to manage developmental programmes in their communities. They must benefit from their God-given natural resources. From the Legal World When confronted with charges of harm to another person, occasionally defendants will claim Gay Panic in explaining why a defendant harmed another person of the same gender. The defense is banned in some states, because it argues that the defendant acted in the way they did because of unwanted advances by a person of the same gender. In short, the individual is so scared or aggrieved by perceived or actual advances (or perhaps their own unreconciled attractions) that they claim the panic became temporary insanity, causing them to not be culpable for the harm or murder they inflicted upon the other person. It is still claimed in courtmost recently in April 2018. From the article, an LGBTQ advocacy group responds: Defense attorneys have an obligation to provide a zealous defense of their clientsbut such defenses are playing on the fact that LGBT people are considered others or outside what is normative or not as valued as others in society. In short, defense attorneys, desperate for any defense of their client, resort to playing on peoples prejudice against LGBTQ people, even to the point of excusing harm done to others. Gay Panic in the Church Looking back over the past ten years, a similar form of Gay Panic Defense has halted efforts towards equality, womens empowerment, and even the foundational pieces of our United Methodist theology. Theres More Here Than Meets The Eye In 2008, the UMC passed a series of constitutional amendments, to be approved by the annual conferences. It would have equalized the structure of The United Methodist Church worldwide, making our unique denomination more equitable worldwide. The conservative caucus groups rallied against them, with former Asbury President Rev. Dr. Maxie Dunnam making videos against them (this is the best video). They did so by alleging this was a pro-gay plot by Gay Texans and that a vote for it was a vote for homosexuality. The amendments failed in 2009, and the structure of The United Methodist Church remains untenable and inequitable, which has lead to harm and inequality across our denomination. Gay Panic prevailed, but what a pyrrhic victory that hobbled a global church! Grace Available To All* At the 2012 General Conference, delegates who were deciding on changes to United Methodist polity and doctrine voted to add the following: We stand united in declaring our faith that Gods grace is available to allthat nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Sounds great, right? Its a quote of Romans 8, and its a direct reference to John Wesleys doctrine of prevenient grace. But it only passed by 53%. Only 53% of the delegates to General Conference, the representative leadership of millions of Methodists, affirmed that statement. The floor speeches made it clear that some delegates made the Gods grace statement into a debate over LGBTQ inclusion. (Heres a deeper dive into that vote) Gay Panic, fear that a quote from the Bible was a backdoor to LGBTQ inclusion, drove some of the 47% to oppose a fundamental United Methodist doctrine of equity and equality before God. Incredible. Womens Full but Unequal Participation Finally, we get to this past weeks debacle: the Constitutional Amendments related to the inclusion of women and girls in The United Methodist Churchs inclusion statements. Two attempts to get language supporting womens and girls equality in the churchwhich oddly is not in our highest doctrine, despite our status as the largest American denomination that ordains womenboth narrowly failed with over 15,000 United Methodist representatives voting against them. Heres a video response. The bishops responded as a whole, and the woman bishops responded as a distinct group in a persuasive letter. United Methodist Women responded, as well. To draw out one response, Rev. Leigh Goodrich at GCOSROW wrote: We had hoped that our denomination had arrived at a place where women would be welcomed into the worldwide Church just as men are. Unfortunately, we were mistaken. Still, we are grateful to the 28-year old clergywoman who supported an amendment that we have tried to pass for as long as she has been alive and the 82-year old laywoman who cannot believe we are still struggling with this issue. Like the persistent widow in Luke 18, we have and will continue to work for womens full and equal participation throughout the connection. While each statement of opposition or support refer to women, the Annual Conference floors was they were hotbeds for concerns about LGBTQ inclusion. Amendment #2 was claimed to be a secret attempt to include transgender* persons in the church, which we do anyway (we have no polity against trans* persons). Such a claim made it impossible for some African conferences to have public debates on the Amendment, due to some cultural norms against open discussion of sexuality. Gay Panic provided a convenient cover to stop a statement of full inclusion to women and girls from becoming one of the highest levels of UMC polity. A Second Chance The sigh of relief you might have heard on Thursday, May 10th 2018, was the announcement that one of the Constitutional Amendments above had included language that had actually been removed at General Conference. The entirety of United Methodism voted on the wrong copy of the amendment. So we get a redo. Clergywomen across the globe have signed onto a joint statement in response to the amendments initial failure (over 750 signatories as of this writing), saying in response to the redo: The news of this re-vote means that we United Methodists have a rare opportunity to right an injustice. While this doesnt erase the painful message sent by the first vote, the United Methodist Church has the opportunity to send a new message. We urge those who voted against Amendment I to listen to women and learn why it matters to them that God made them in the Divine image. We also urge all disappointed by the original vote to remember that Amendment I failed by a margin of fewer than one hundred votes. In light of this, we urge all clergy and delegates to vote at their respective Annual Conferences. Your vote matters. Show up. Vote. Affirm that God has created women and men equal in Gods image. Oddly enough, the line removed on the floor was the one named by Liberia and the IRD as why they would not support equity women and girls: The United Methodist Church recognizes it is contrary to Scripture and to logic to say that God is male or female, as maleness and femaleness are characteristics of human bodies and cultures, not characteristics of the divine. Conservatives are rejoicing that they can support for women and girls now that they do not have to have a conversation about the gender of God, and that they still defeated the other amendment due to gay panic. Root Cause is Patriarchy The about-face on the amendments reveals a common thread from 2008 to today: anything that challenges patriarchy is to be opposed by all means necessary, including gay panic. Gay panic is used to keep structural changes at bay because changing the game moves patriarchy to a new playing field they havent utterly dominated. This also applies to the One Church model which keeps pro-gay conferences from infecting others. because changing the game moves patriarchy to a new playing field they havent utterly dominated. This also applies to the One Church model which keeps pro-gay conferences from infecting others. Gay panic so utterly colors the debate that basic affirmations from Romans and Wesley are narrowly supported because they might be about The Gays, which challenges heterosexual patriarchys dominance. because they might be about The Gays, which challenges heterosexual patriarchys dominance. Gay panic is used to mask theologies that see women and girls as less than men, so much so that they allow that panic to oppose adding their affirmation to our highest polity, less it dilutes claims about the correct gender of God. Theres a difference between men being under attack, and patriarchy being under attack. The failure of these amendments speak to the truth that men cannot often tell the two feelings apart, and confuse theological claims against patriarchy What Panic Hath Wrought Perhaps one of the most lasting consequences of this gay panic defense is its effect on a single influential bishop. Bishop Scott Jones was the principal advocate for the constitutional amendments from 2008, and he got burned by his own supporters for it. In response, Bishop Jones has not wavered from his support of clergy trials and his opposition to structural equality in A Way Forward. Indeed, last week he wrote a Judicial Council brief challenging the legitimacy of A Way Forwards process, in direct opposition to the rest of the Council of Bishops who supported the process. Charitably, I could see Bishop Jones actions as recognition of gay panic and his desire to eradicate it from the United Methodist Church. But rather than lead the whole church to justice and inclusion, his choice is to remove LGBTQ inclusion and progressive influence from the United Methodist Church, by all means, so gay panic can no longer derail other efforts. Who knows what will be next. A sad choice of mission from a powerful bishop over one of the largest annual conferences in United Methodism. Your Turn Gay Panic is a form of patriarchy that is keeping The United Methodist Church from affirming women and girls and creating the structural changes it needs to be an equitable worldwide denomination. There are many actors and many causes that perpetuate this situation, and all are called to repent, support women, girls, and structural equity, so that patriarchy might be silenced, and equity under God might reign. Thoughts? Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing on social media. Canadian investors are searching for top-quality companies that provide reliable and growing dividends. The strategy makes sense, especially when the distributions are invested in new shares to harness the power of compounding. Lets take a look at Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) and Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) to see why they might be interesting picks today. CP Canadian Pacific Railway had a challenging first quarter, but still delivered steady results. The company carried 6% more freight than it did in Q1 2017 and generated a 4% increase in revenue. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 8% to $2.70. CP appears to have reached an agreement with the unions representing its conductors, engineers, and signal workers. Voting is scheduled for May 14-23. Although the contract dispute has been a distraction in recent months, CPs share price has held up well. In fact, the stock has risen 20% since September 2017. CP just announced a 15.5% increase to the dividend, so management is obviously comfortable with the revenue and cash flow outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. Demand for the companys services remains robust, amid favourable economic conditions in Canada and the United States. Ongoing pipeline bottlenecks also bode well for CPs oil transport segment. Long-term investors have done well with this stock. A $10,000 investment in CP two decades ago would be worth more than $95,000 today with the dividends reinvested. Bank of Nova Scotia Investors often overlook Bank of Nova Scotia when choosing a financial stock for their portfolios, but that might be a mistake. Why? Bank of Nova Scotia has invested billions in an effort to build a large international business, with the bulk of the funds targeted at Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. The four countries are members of the Pacific Alliance, which is a trade bloc set up to promote the free movement of capital and goods in a combined market that is home to more than 200 million consumers. Story continues Bank of Nova Scotia continues to invest in the region. The company just announced a $130 million acquisition in Peru that will give it a 51% interest in Banco Cencosud. This comes on the heels of a US$2.2 billion deal announced late last year to acquire a significant part of BBVA Chile. The BBVA purchase is expected to boost Bank of Nova Scotias market share in Chile to 14%. The international operations already contribute close to 30% of Bank of Nova Scotias profits. As the middle class grows in the Latin American market, demand for loans and investment products should increase. Bank of Nova Scotia has a strong track record of dividend growth, and that trend should continue. At the time of writing, the distribution provides a yield of 4.1%. A $10,000 investment in Bank of Nova Scotia 20 years ago would be worth more than $80,000 today with the dividends reinvested. The bottom line There is no guarantee CP and Bank of Nova Scotia will deliver the same returns over the next two decades, but the strategy of owning top-quality dividend-growth stocks and investing the distributions in new shares is a proven one. More reading Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stock mentioned. The former fire chief for Renfrew, Ont., is fighting back against a move to push him into retirement with a legal fight launched Wednesday. From 1992 until May 7, 2018, 61-year-old Guy Longtin was the fire chief in the community, which lies about an hour west of Ottawa. But in a closed-door meeting held Monday, town council adopted rules setting the age limit for the fire chief at 60, which is the same limit the province set years earlier for frontline firefighters. "Given that I have exceeded this arbitrarily imposed age requirement for this position, my employment with the Town of Renfrew was terminated immediately," Longtin wrote Monday in a public post on Facebook. "It is my intention to hold the Town of Renfrew, and its responsible decision-makers, fully accountable for their illegal actions," Longtin wrote in a message to CBC News. "In moving forward with this case, it is my intention to speak not only for myself, but for other older workers across the province, who deserve to be judged by the quality of their workplace contributions, not simply by the numbers on their birth certificates." Longtin said he will decide in the coming days whether to fight his mandatory retirement through the Ontario Human Rights Commission or the courts. Mandatory retirement for firefighters In 2011, Ontario amended its Fire Protection and Prevention Act to recognize "the unique physical and hazardous work firefighters do to keep communities safe." The changes set a mandatory retirement age of 60, however, "the changes only apply to salaried firefighters involved in frontline firefighting duties," stated a media release issued by the province at the time. Most municipalities have not extended the mandatory retirement to fire chiefs. However, Renfrew Reeve Peter Emon said town council decided the fire chief is involved in "frontline firefighting duties" because the chief sometimes acts as an incident commander, which requires attending working fires and managing fire crews at the scene. Story continues Emon disputed allegations the town's decision is ageist, arguing that the town consulted lawyers about extending the age restriction to the fire chief, and relied on legal precedents by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Ontario Supreme Court. The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled in 2008 "incident command" can carry the same risks as regular firefighting even though it doesn't involve climbing ladders and running into burning buildings. Emon confirmed Longtin has been offered a package to retire, and said council feels it met the obligations set out in its employment contract with Longtin. Arnprior, Ont., hires 60-year-old In neighbouring Arnprior, administrators have taken a different approach. The town hired a 60-year-old fire chief just last year. The town's chief administrative officer, Michael Wildman, said a team of recruiters went through dozens of candidates and a multi-stage interview process to land on the current chief. "By far, in our opinion, he was the stand-out candidate," Wildman said. "We feel we got the right guy here. We feel he brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge that we might not get in someone earlier on in their career." Wildman said Arnprior interprets Ontario's age restriction as not applying to the chief, since in their view he is not a frontline firefighter even while working as an incident commander. One is a well-known musician with a penchant for supporting multiple charities and the other is a decades-long advocate for the autism community and both of them, who hail from Newfoundland and Labrador, have been bestowed the Order of Canada at a ceremony in Ottawa. Alan Doyle and Joyce Churchill are two of the 45 Canadians invested in the order Thursday for their outstanding achievement and dedication to community at an event presided over by Gov. Gen. Julie Payette. "I'm feeling pretty cool. I got to meet Marc Messier again today and a bunch of other outstanding Canadians ... it's just a real thrill and a very humbling feeling," Doyle told CBC News Network's Suhana Meharchand after the ceremony. Doyle is one of "Newfoundland's most beloved musical ambassadors," according to Rideau Hall. Former frontman for Great Big Sea and now a solo artist, Doyle has channeled his star power and helped raise money for charities like the Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Red Cross, with the latter organization awarding him its Humanitarian Award in 2016. That same year, he helped organize a multi-venue charity concert that featured 30 acts in downtown St. John's, raising $40,000 that went to a Red Cross effort to help people affected by the Fort McMurray wildfires. Doyle is one of the founders along with Dr. Andrew Furey and Brendan Paddick of A Dollar a Day Foundation, which launched in February. It challenges people to donate "small change to work for big change" when it comes to mental health and addictions programs and support. Born in Petty Harbour, Doyle has credited his parents for instilling in him the importance of helping others. "I'm really grateful to be from there and I'm grateful to all my friends and family who still live there," he said, giving a shout-out to his parents, siblings, wife and former Great Big Sea bandmates Bob Hallett, Sean McCann and Darrell Power. Story continues Doyle had high praise for Payette, a former astronaut, who he met years ago, recalling how she attended one of Great Big Sea's shows and presented the band with a plaque of its record Play. "[That record] was one of a dozen that she was allowed to take into space. She took our tunes into space!" Doyle exclaimed. "What a rock star ... she is such a great role model for all of us." Joyce of all trades Joyce Churchill, who hails from Portugal Cove-St. Philips, has worn many hats over the years. She is hailed by various groups as being a champion for families dealing with medical and other challenges. She is a founding member of the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, moved to get involved as her son has the disorder, according to a biography from Rideau Hall. She's credited with being a driving force in the creation of the Elaine Dobbin Centre for Autism in St. John's. It's dedicated to programming and education for individuals, families affected by autism, and people who work with them. In addition to being a nurse, Churchill also served as mayor of Portugal Cove-St. Phillips for four years in the 1980s. In 2012, she was honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award and inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Volunteer Hall of Fame in 2013. High-profile Quebec entrepreneur Alexandre Taillefer has confirmed he will chair the Liberals' re-election campaign, saying he can relate to Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard's "progressive views." In a tweet, he said it wasn't an easy decision, but he felt it necessary because of what's at stake. On Monday, Taillefer said he wouldn't be running in the Oct. 1 election but did say he would get involved in some way. "It's a good way for me to get involved in politics. It's a good way for me to talk about the future of Quebec, to talk about the topics that are important to me," said Taillefer. "I'm part of a party that has been around for 151 years, has been able to reinvent itself, and that's what I want to do. I want to make sure we can reinvent the Liberal Party." He said he doesn't believe the role creates a conflict with his businesses. "I will be in a position where I will be scrutinized more than ever, and the last thing I want is that people perceive something that might introduce a conflict of interest." He will replace former premier Daniel Johnson, who held the same position during the 2014 election. Couillard praised Taillefer as a man who is "part of today's Quebec" and said he will be a positive addition to the team. "A young man who made his own business, who has been also socially very forceful in his points of view, fits very well with our party, which mixes economic development and social justice," the premier said. And while Taillefer has previously said he was proud not to be affiliated with any political parties, Couillard said clearly, something has prompted him to change his mind. Taillefer founded Teo Taxi, an app-based service that uses only electric cars, and bought out two of the main traditional taxi companies that operate in Montreal as well. He built his fortune in the early 2000s in information technology. He owns Mishmash Media, which in turn owns the French-language current affairs magazine L'actualite and the French-language cultural magazine Voir. Story continues He is managing partner of XPND Capital, a private equity firm, served as a dragon on Radio-Canada's version of the Dragons' Den television series, and sits on a number of boards of Montreal institutions. According to Radio-Canada, Taillefer doesn't intend to quit any positions that have ties to the government, including his role as head of the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal's board of trustees, because he isn't running for office. Couillard echoed that sentiment, saying many people have chaired campaigns and didn't have to divest themselves of their various other interests. PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian judge on Thursday upheld the "insurrection" convictions of 11 members and supporters of the country's now dissolved main opposition party. The decision comes amid growing concern about a crackdown on his critics by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled the country for 33 years, ahead of a general election set for July 29. "The Appeal Court decides to uphold the Phnom Penh Municipal Court's decision...and continues to detain the 11 individuals," Judge Plang Samnang said, without giving a reason. The 11 members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)were jailed for terms ranging from seven to 20 years in 2014, after they forcibly tried to reopen the country's only designated protest venue, "Freedom Park", in July that year. Critics say Hun Sen stepped up pressure on his enemies after his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) narrowly won a 2013 general election, following the loss of seats to the CNRP. Such fears were revived after weekend news of the sale of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper to a Malaysian businessman whose public relations firm lists Hun Sen as a client. That led to the resignation of as many as 13 foreign journalists from the 26-year-old paper, which Cambodian civil society bodies called the country's "last independent paper". Dozens of radio stations have been forced off the air and an English-language newspaper, the Cambodia Daily, was forced to close last year after the government gave it a month's deadline to settle a $6.3-million tax bill. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the case against the opposition aimed to silence government critics ahead of the election. "Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party apparently decided to lock up political opponents to stave off defeat at the ballot-box," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement on Monday. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul in PHNOM PENH; Additional reporting and writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) The Moncton fire department is donating decommissioned firefighting gear to Lyfe Aid, an organization that will deliver it to ill-equipped fire departments in Dominican Republic. Paul Bruens, Moncton fire platoon chief, said the coats, jackets and rubber boots have been compiled over the last 10 years. "We've been collecting the gear, washing it and putting it away so it can be re-used." The donation consisted of 118 jackets and pants, helmets, coveralls and two pairs of rubber boots. Bruens explained that under North American standards, bunker gear, the protective gear worn by firefighters, has to be decommissioned after 10 years. "As the firefighters received new gear, we kept it still in good condition and we've been stockpiling it." He said the fire department was approached by Sandra and Bob Allaby of Saint John, the founders of Lyfe Aid. "They asked us if we had any surplus gear, which we do." He said this kind of initiative isn't new, and the department was saving the gear with hopes of finding an organization to give it to. "It's being re-purposed. It's not being disposed of." The Moncton Fire Department allocates $40,000 to $50,000 a year to buying protective gear. The former head of Research in Motion warned government officials today of the risks of failing to regulate tech giants, while Google Canada's head of public policy rejected allegations the company is failing to transparently and securely manage data. "It's a complex issue because this is the biggest force in the history of capitalism, where six companies come from nowhere to be the most valuable companies in the world in a very short period of time," Jim Balsillie, chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators and former RIM co-CEO, told the House of Commons ethics committee investigating the Facebook data scandal. "This is a big file and we need to urgently address it in a horizontal way as a nation and as policymakers." Balsillie recommended that the government create a national data strategy that would drive development and innovation in Canada's tech sector. He pointed to Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which streamlines rules across the EU for international businesses and provides citizens with greater control of their personal data, protecting people from what Alberta Conservative Kelly McCauley called the Facebook and Google "monsters." "I don't see them as monsters," Balsillie said. "I just see them as capitalists. "The job of a corporation is to do what a corporation is supposed to do, and the job of government is to regulate." While he agreed that the GDPR could be used as a model for regulation in Canada, Google's Colin McKay insisted that tighter rules and regulation would undermine the ability of small and large Canadian tech companies to compete on the global stage. "What we're going to see over the next six months and more is companies struggling to understand what their obligations are," McKay said. Google is being scrutinized in light of the Facebook privacy scandal, which saw British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtain Facebook data to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the U.S. electorate in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The company was able to amass the database quickly with the help of an app that appeared to be a personality test. Story continues The app collected data on tens of millions of people and their Facebook friends even those who did not download the app themselves. Committee members are exploring how Google manages the data it collects, questioning McKay on the company's ability to track users' locations and broader issues of government oversight. The Google executive rejected claims from Balsillie and MPs that Google sells users' personal information and denounced Balsillie's recommendations as overly prescriptive. "Creating a strategy that tries to box Canada in or tries to create obligations that are not either parallel or similar to those available elsewhere in the world will actually limit the opportunities available to Canadians to innovate both in Canada and internationally," McKay said. Companies could destroy data U.K. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who testified before the committee prior to McKay and Balsillie taking the stage, cautioned that the powers held by Canada's information and privacy commissioner to investigate data breaches have fallen behind the rest of the world especially given the exponential growth of tech companies. "Even the powers that I have under the current U.K. data protection act weren't sufficient in this case, and government has moved really quickly and tabled amendments, which were passed last night, to provide us with even more powers," Denham said. Cambridge Analytica filed for bankruptcy last month, sparking concerns over the risk that it might destroy important data and compromise the investigation. The U.K. warrant to investigate Cambridge Analytica took seven days to authorize a long turnaround time that gave the company an opportunity to reorganize, Ontario Liberal MP Raj Saini said. Cambridge Analytica employees have launched new organizations Emerdata and Firecrest as a way to evade official probes, Saini said. "It seems like the same actors are trying to realign themselves," Saini said. "If you move the physical assets of a company somewhere else, there's some accountability because you can see a desk being moved. You can see machinery being moved. But you're talking about data now, and data can be moved very quickly." While the U.K. government has managed to secure data from Cambridge Analytica, Denham said that, in a digital world, information could be erased in the time that it takes to secure a warrant. "The current provisions in our law don't allow us to be able to move quickly with a warrant," Denham said. "We need to be able to respond to digital crimes." By Karin Stanton PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Dozens of tremors rattled residents on Hawaii's Big Island on Friday as molten rock from Kilauea volcano flowed under an area where homes have already been destroyed by fiery lava geysers. Fifteen large cracks or fissures have opened on the eastern flank of Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, destroying dozens of houses and other structures and forcing around 2,000 people to evacuate their homes. New outbreaks of lava were expected in or around the hard-hit Leilani Estates area in the southeastern Puna district, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Hilo, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory and local authorities said. Steaming cracks in the ground, the first sign a fissure may be opening, closed roads in areas to the northeast and southwest of Leilani Estates where scientists believe the next lava geysers may appear. "I've been feeling earthquakes. Lots and lots of tremors," said Cindy Conda, whose house lies just east of Leilani Estates where 27 homes have been torched by lava in the last eight days and whose residents have all been evacuated. At a meeting on Thursday night, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist Steve Brantley told residents that magma created by a 1955 eruption was being forced to the surface by Kilauea. "He said 'That lava's underneath your house,'" said Conda. "Really it's worrying; we've been doing a lot of praying." Volcanic activity has broken water lines, knocked out power and forced some schools to close in the village of Pahoa, which is only a few miles from the fissures. Toxic, orange clouds of sulfur dioxide gas have hampered utility repair work, but water supplies have been restored to many homes, said Keith Okamoto, manager and chief engineer at Hawaii County Department of Water Supply. While locals contend with lava and gas on the ground, explosions at Kilauea's summit, some 25 miles (40 km) to the west are dusting downwind communities with ash that is an irritant to eyes and breathing. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park around the summit was closed to visitors on Thursday, given risks of the first explosive eruptions in nearly a century, which could launch refrigerator-sized "ballistic blocks" over half a mile (0.8 km) and send ash columns tens of thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Residents of Kona on the west of the island have complained of volcanic smog, or vog, from the large amounts of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants spewing from Kilauea. Further afield, people said it was "very voggy" on the streets of state capital Honolulu, around 210 miles (340 km) northwest of Kilauea on the island of Oahu. (For a graphic on 'Scorched earth' click https://tmsnrt.rs/2IldVyS) (For a graphic on 'Hawaii's Kilauea volcano' click https://tmsnrt.rs/2rmXdVZ) (Reporting by Karin Stanton; additional reporting by Terray Sylvester in Pahoa; writing by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Bill Tarrant and Jonathan Oatis) By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp <6752.T> could jointly produce batteries with U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc in China, as the Japanese electronics conglomerate looks to tap into that country's surging EV demand, its chief executive said on Thursday. "As already reported, Tesla could in the future launch full-fledged production in China - and we could produce jointly," Kazuhiro Tsuga said at an earnings briefing, in Panasonic's first official acknowledgement of possible battery cell production for Tesla in the world's biggest auto market. Panasonic currently produces battery cells for Tesla in Japan as well as at Tesla's so-called Gigafactory in the U.S. state of Nevada. Tesla uses the cells to make battery packs. Battery cells are central to Panasonic's plan to nearly double automotive business revenue to 2.5 trillion yen by the year through March 2022 as it shifts away from low profit margin consumer electronics. The company said it expects battery cell sales to drive operating profit up 11.7 percent to 425 billion yen ($3.87 billion) in the year through March 2019. The outlook was in line with the 429.76 billion yen average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters. However, it was below Panasonic's 450 billion yen target set three years ago, with the company blaming a stronger yen that reduces the value of profit earned overseas. Panasonic expects profit at its automotive energy business, which includes battery cells, to more than double after production delays in Tesla's mass-market Model 3 car pressured profit in the previous year. Tesla earlier this month promised to meet its production target of 5,000 Model 3 cars per week by the end of June. To reduce the risk of over-relying on Tesla, Panasonic has teamed up with Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> to jointly develop batteries for electric vehicles. "Discussions with Toyota have been making progress," Tsuga said. ($1 = 109.9500 yen) (Reporting by Makiko YamazakiEditing by Christopher Cushing) Burnaby South NDP MP Kennedy Stewart has confirmed he'll run for mayor of Vancouver as an independent, with the aim of uniting the city's left-wing parties. The two-term MP said he would be resigning his seat in parliament on Thursday in order to campaign. "Progressive forces need to come together to keep the NPA out of power," Stewart said at a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday morning. That means Stewart will be effectively running against Shauna Sylvester, who announced similar plans to unite the centre-left as an independent. The centre-left parties Vision Vancouver, the Greens and COPE have yet to nominate any official party candidates for mayor. Glen Chernen, John Coupar and Ken Sim are running for the NPA nomination. Stewart, 51, was most recently in the news for being arrested alongside federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May after protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion at Kinder Morgan's tank farm on Burnaby Mountain. The province appointed a special prosecutor to handle the case. Stewart, who has a PhD from the London School of Economics, is also currently on leave as a professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Public Policy. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011. By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude prices fell in a see-saw session on Friday, retreating after early gains as it looked likely that U.S. allies would push to maintain a deal with Iran, which could keep that country's crude exports on global markets. In another sign global supplies could rise further, data in the afternoon showed U.S. crude producers added 10 rigs in the latest week. Crude prices remained just below multi-year highs, with Brent on track for a weekly 2.8 percent gain and U.S. crude a 1.2 percent weekly rise. "It's the same witches brew of bullish stuff: Iran, Venezuela, the lack of alacrity by Saudi Arabia to bring more oil onto the market," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. Brent crude settled down 35 cents at $77.12 a barrel, just below the $78-level hit on Thursday, its highest since November 2014. The benchmark contract remained lower in post-settlement trade. U.S. light crude was down 66 cents at $70.70, off a 3-1/2 year high of $71.89 it hit on Thursday. The United States plans to reintroduce sanctions against Iran, which pumps about 4 percent of the world's oil, after President Donald Trump this week abandoned a 2015 deal that limited Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Many analysts expect oil prices to rise as Iran's exports fall. Still, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday reiterated her support for the Iran nuclear deal and agreed with Trump that talks were needed to established how U.S. sanctions would affect companies operating in Iran. U.S. investment bank Jefferies said in a note it expects Iranian crude oil exports to start falling in the next few months. However, there were signs that other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will raise output to counter the Iran disruption. Jefferies said OPEC has the capacity "to replace the Iranian losses" but added: "Even if physical supply is held constant ... the market will still be faced with a precariously low level of spare capacity." Outside OPEC, U.S. crude production reached another record high last week, hitting 10.7 million bpd which is up 27 percent since mid-2016. U.S. output is creeping closer to that of top producer Russia, which pumps about 11 million bpd. U.S. drillers added rigs for the sixth straight week, bringing the total rig count to 844, highest since March 2015, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said. [RIG/U] More than half the total oil rigs are in Permian basin in west Texas and eastern New Mexico, the nation's biggest shale oil field. Active units there increased by five this week to 463, the most since January 2015. (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy) Ontario Proud, the province's most popular political Facebook group, is making no effort to hide the fact it buys ads that take some pointed shots at Kathleen Wynne. The group has bought ad space on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and even some traditional television spots. When the election is over, it plans to provide a full accounting of what it spent to Elections Ontario. "We've kept within the spending restrictions as outlined in the Elections Financing Act," said Ontario Proud lawyer Ryan O'Connor. "And we continue to abide by it and will until election day." But he's concerned that not every advertiser is doing the same. "It really is a Wild West out there." Political parties, candidates, and riding associations must all follow specific rules around campaign spending and advertising. Any other group that engages in political advertising is considered a third party by Elections Ontario. Any group that spends more than $500 on political ads must also follow specific rules and register as a third party. The Elections Ontario website lists 34 groups registered as third-party advertisers, ranging from the Campaign Life coalition to the Ontario Nurses Association. For the first time, the spending rules apply to the six-month period leading up to the vote. CBC News has been able to track many of the Facebook ads placed during that time in a Political Ad database being crowdsourced and compiled by ProPublica, CBC and other news organizations. It has found several ads placed by groups that have not registered with Elections Ontario. Among some of the ads found in the database: - An ad from Canada Christian College's Charles McVety accusing Kathleen Wynne of bullying Tanya Granic Allen out as a PC candidate. - Press Progress promoting a story about London West PC candidate Andrew Lawton wanting to start a political movement modelled after the U.S. Tea Party. - A group called Scarborough Deserves Better taking out ads promoting articles critical of the Ontario Liberals. Story continues - An ad from the Fraser Institute criticizing Ontario's electricity policy. - A series of ads from the group Canadians for Eyewear Choice that feature images of Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford and Kathleen Wynne. The ad asks people to sign a petition in support of online eyeglass retailers. Charles McVety says he spent about $300 on his Facebook ad in support of Tanya Granic Allen this week, after PC Leader Doug Ford removed the former leadership hopeful as a candidate in Mississauga Centre. "It was an important one for me," he told CBC News. Still, he finds the regulations confusing. "We live in a new world, with new rules every day," he said. Since McVety's ad buy falls below the Elections Ontario threshold, he may not need to register as a third-party advertiser. But it's not clear if those rules apply to the Canadians for Eyewear Choice ads. CBC News reached out to two women associated with the group, who described it as a grassroots organization, staffed by volunteers trying to raise awareness about an injunction against online eyeglass sales in Ontario. "We are not a third-party election group," Beth Clarkson said in an email. But many of their ads were directed at the main party leaders. The ads also asked supporters to sign an online petition in support of their cause. Clarkson did not respond to questions about whether her group had spent more than $500 on their Facebook ads, or the website for their online petition campaign. - Ontario Poll Tracker | The latest developments O'Connor says the spending rules apply to any ad that tries to support a political issue. "If you discuss any issue du-jour in Ontario politics, whether that's high hydro rates, high taxes, ethics or accountability in government ... any kind of advocacy on those issues, whether or not you mention a party, would be third party political advertising." However, University of Guelph political scientist Tamara Small says the definition of what constitutes a political ad is vague, and open to interpretation by Elections Ontario. She's not sure the Canadians for Eyewear Choice ads would qualify as political ads, since they don't specifically support or oppose one candidate. "I think it is a grey area," said Small. "That would be for Elections Ontario to adjudicate and decide if they want to prosecute." Elections Ontario says it will only investigate if it receives a complaint, and won't say if it has started looking into any of the ads. O'Connor thinks when it comes to policing online ads, there's an issue of fairness to consider. "We can't have one set of rules for the law-abiding, and another set of rules for people who openly flaunt the rules," he said. - Vote Compass | See how you fit in Ontario's political landscape By Joey Roulette CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A last-minute technical glitch prompted SpaceX on Thursday to postpone for at least 24 hours the first commercial flight of its updated Falcon 9 rocket, a launch vehicle tailored for eventual crewed missions into orbit. The rocket's onboard computers halted the countdown about one minute before the newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9 was set to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its maiden mission, to carry a communications satellite into orbit for Bangladesh. A few minutes after blast-off was aborted, mission controllers for billionaire Elon Musk's private launch company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, said they would try again on Friday. They will have roughly the same two-hour-plus launch window running from 4:14 p.m. to 6:21 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT to 2221 GMT). The precise reason for Thursday's automatic shutdown of the final launch sequence was not determined. Launch commanders will have to sift through data logs produced by onboard computers to learn what might have gone wrong. The Falcon 9 Block-5 comes equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor. Its recoverable main-stage booster is designed to be reused at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, allowing more frequent launches at lower cost -- a key to the SpaceX business model. Enhanced rocket reusability also is a core tenet of Musk's broader objectives for normalizing space travel and ultimately sending humans to Mars. SpaceX so far has safely return-landed 24 of its boosters and reflown 11 of them. The Block-5 is the first rocket from Musk's California-based company to satisfy NASA's standards for its Commercial Crew Program to carry agency astronauts to the International Space Station. But NASA still requires seven successful flights before the new rocket receives final certification for a manned mission. The Block-5 will also be used to launch U.S. Air Force global positioning satellites and other high-value, military and national security payloads. For this week's flight of the new Falcon 9, SpaceX will be launching the Bangladeshi government's first satellite, Bangabandhu-1, into Earth orbit. Block-5 marks the final version of the Falcon 9 lineup before SpaceX introduces its super heavy-lift launch vehicle, dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which will be designed to send manned missions to Mars. SpaceX is one of two private companies hired by NASA to ferry astronaut crews to the space station. The other is Boeing Co (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler) 'Your suffering is recognized,' judge tells survivors as Sixties Scoop hearings begin in Saskatoon Sixties Scoop survivors cried, hugged and joked with each other as a Federal Court hearing into a proposed $875-million settlement began Thursday in Saskatoon. "Your suffering is recognized," Judge Michel Shore told more than 100 survivors in the court gallery, as well as those watching across Canada via video. The hearing is taking place in a downtown Saskatoon hotel ballroom rather than the courthouse to accommodate the large crowd. Survivors have many different opinions on the deal. Some hope it can provide closure to them and their families. For example, Pine Creek First Nation member Lynn Thompson and University of Regina professor Raven Sinclair says the deal is not perfect but is the best option available. Opponents say the maximum amount of compensation for survivors of $50,000 is not nearly enough. Others question the $75 million going to lawyers. Others note the proposal only applies to First Nations and Inuit people, with Metis survivors excluded. "It's just not fair," Stewart Garnett said as he stood in line to pass through the heavy police and security presence outside the hearing doors. Garnett, who now lives in Winnipeg, was adopted out to a Canadian family who moved to California. Some opinions are more nuanced. Sioux Valley First Nation Chief Vincent Tacan came from Manitoba to observe the hearing and advocate for his people. He said the deal should be changed, not scrapped. He said there should be far more money for services to help people heal. Tacan and others compared the Sixties Scoop to the residential school system. "In some cases, it's worse than residential schools. (Residential schools students) knew their family and knew they'd be going back," he said. He said Sixties Scoop survivors' "entire history was scrubbed." The hearing is expected to conclude Friday. Shore assured everyone that they would be heard, but by noon Thursday, only two lawyers had spoken. Canada might not be as inclusive as Canadians like to think it is. Stories from recent years about racially-charged outbursts like that of a woman in a Lethbridge, Alta., Dennys this month and a seemingly growing white nationalist movement suggest racism thrives north of the 49th parallel. And so does research. The federal government is preparing to launch consultations on a national anti-racism strategy guided, in part, by a House of Commons committee study on combating Islamophobia and systemic discrimination and racism. The study, published in February, presents data on police-reported and self-reported hate crimes from 2015 to 2017 and said that while the number of hate crimes reported in Canada has decreased since 2009, it rose in 2015 and again in 2016. In 2015, while the incidence of hate crimes rose by five per cent, the incidence of hate crimes against Muslims rose by 61 per cent. Data regarding the motivation behind hate crimes indicated a five per cent rise in the number of incidents motivated by hate of a race or ethnicity, the report says, which represented close to half of all hate crimes reported to the police in 2015.' In 2016, the number of hate crimes reported increased by another three per cent, although, the study points out, the number of incidents motivated by race or ethnicity decreased slightly that year. The study includes a list of recommendations divided into categories like law enforcement, education and training, Indigenous affairs and interfaith and intercultural dialogue. It exposes an increasing public climate of hate and fear in Canada and presses the government to quell it. It urges the government to work with police on sensitivity training, to condemn systemic racism and religious discrimination, and to remove unconscious bias in proposed policies, programs, and decisions. It stresses the need to update Canadas previous action plan against racism and expand it to include religious discrimination, and it recommends that Jan. 29 be designated as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia. Because, as MP Greg Fergus, president of the Canadian Caucus of Black Parliamentarians said after a Liberal caucus meeting, systemic racism exists in CanadaWere much better than other societies around the world, butwe still have our flaws. Have you witnessed racism in Canada firsthand? Let us know in the poll above and share your stories in the comments below. We won't back rushed NAFTA deal, say Democrats on U.S. trade sub-committee The Trump administration could have a new fight on its hands if it tries to rush a NAFTA deal through Congress this spring. Two Democrats who sit on the influential trade sub-committee are urging negotiators to focus on getting a good deal rather than a quick deal. "The worst mistakes are made when you let time determine substance," said Michigan Congressman Sander Levin during an interview with CBC News from his office on Capitol Hill. "The public ... they're not interested in timelines. They're interested in what an agreement means in their lives." Congressman Ron Kind, a fellow Democrat from Wisconsin, agrees that the U.S. should not make compromises for the sake of meeting a deadline. "A bad negotiated agreement is gonna be hard to pass Congress," Kind told CBC News. "If they need more time to get it right, they gotta take the time. Otherwise the agreement is going to be a tough lift." Getting a deal is just the beginning The pleas highlight the complicated process ahead if Canada, the United States and Mexico are finally able to reach agreement on an updated NAFTA. Legislators in each country must approve any new deal before it can be implemented. In the U.S., NAFTA is a deeply divisive issue both for Democrats and Republicans which makes it all the more likely that a fast deal could be a tough sell. "Canada is very aware of the essential role that Congress plays in any trade agreements in the United States," said Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland during a news conference Thursday. "That's why throughout the process we have been speaking a lot with both senators and congressmen and women. It has been an ongoing dialogue." The pleas for caution come as a week of high-level NAFTA negotiations wrap up today in Washington. Freeland has met multiple times in recent days with her American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Mexico's Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guarjardo. Story continues She also spent much of Thursday on Capitol Hill, where she held additional meetings with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Kevin Brady, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. A source with direct knowledge told CBC News that both Ryan and Brady emphasized the urgent need to get an agreement by May 17 in order to give the current session of Congress enough time to approve a deal. The source said May 17 is a "real deadline" and that negotiators would have a 30-day period to work out further details. Momentum around the negotiating table appeared to slow down this week, as the U.S. and Mexico continued to disagree about changes to the auto sector. Putting the pressure on Mexico The Americans are pushing Mexico to increase labour and wage standards, while demanding changes that could boost vehicle production in higher-wage countries, like the U.S., and Canada. Mexico presented a series of counter-proposals which were not well received by the Americans. Levin said he supports the U.S. push for Mexican concessions. "Mexico needs to address the suppression of workers and keeping wages low ... as a matter of governmental policy as a basis for luring industry from the U.S. and Canada," Levin said. Unless such changes are included in the deal, he said, it won't get his backing. "We've made that very clear from the very beginning." Kind said there has been a "deplorable lack of communication" from the Trump administration about what is happening with the negotiations. "I have been trying to set up meetings with Bob Lighthizer and others of the Trump team for many weeks now, just to try to sit down and exchange views and make sure that he is hearing from members of Congress who will ultimately have a vote in this." Some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces in southern Syria just after midnight on Thursday, with some of the incoming missiles being intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, the army said, amid sky high tensions on the northern border. [] The Israeli army said the missile barrage was carried out by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Forces. This appeared to be the first time that Israel attributed an attack directly to Iran, which generally operates through proxies. The late night rocket barrage was also the largest attack, in terms of the number of rockets fired, in the seven years of the Syrian civil war. its [Israels] government has vowed to stop what it considers Irans military entrenchment in Syria. [emphasis added] Israels government has vowed to stop what it considers its arch-enemys military entrenchment in Syria [emphasis added] Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. . ..BBC Watch..10 May '18..Just after midnight on May 10th the attack by Iran that had been anticipated for several days took place in the northern Golan Heights.The BBC News website, however, did not appear to be entirely convinced that Iran was behind the missile fire.A report that also used qualifying punctuation in its original headline Iranian forces fire rockets at Israeli positions in Golan Heights appeared on the website some three hours after the events began. The first five versions of that report included the following statement:Later versions told readers that:Apparently the BBC is not persuaded that a foreign power which has moved sufficient military personnel, weapons and equipment into Syria to be able to launch missiles (and previously an armed drone) at a neighbouring country is engaged in military entrenchment. Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent-Appellee, v. AISHA N. McCLINTON, Petitioner-Appellant. Appeal No. 3-16-0648 Decided: May 10, 2018 OPINION 1 Petitioner Aisha N. McClinton was convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW) (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(A) (West 2010)). This court reversed McClinton's AUUW conviction because the statute under which she was prosecuted was declared unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court. See People v. McClinton, No. 3-11-0455 (Dec. 18, 2013) (unpublished summary order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23(c)). McClinton filed a petition for a certificate of innocence, which was denied by the trial court. McClinton appealed, arguing (1) the trial court abused its discretion when it denied the petition for a certificate of innocence, (2) she is entitled to a new judge on remand, and (3) her claim for statutory damages must be resolved in the trial court on remand. We vacate the trial court's judgment and remand this case for issuance of a certificate of innocence. 2 FACTS 3 McClinton was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, bringing a firearm into a penal institution, and bringing cannabis into a penal institution. At the bench trial, the parties stipulated to the following sequence of events. On March 14, 2010, Illinois Department of Corrections Lieutenant Robert Banks and Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Holly Vadbunker were assigned to perform field searches in the front drive of Stateville Correctional Center. Correctional Officer S. Jacobs told Banks that a driver, later identified as McClinton, refused to have her car searched. Banks obtained a stop order through the Illinois Department of Corrections and searched the vehicle while McClinton stood next to the vehicle. During the search, Banks found what appeared to be cannabis under the driver's seat. 4 Afterward, McClinton returned to the vehicle and sat in the driver's seat, and Banks ordered her to put her hands on the steering wheel. McClinton refused to comply, and Banks called Vadbunker and Jacobs for assistance in removing her from the vehicle. When Vadbunker approached the vehicle, she saw McClinton with both hands behind her back. Vadbunker told McClinton to put her hands where Vadbunker could see them, and she complied with Vadbunker's request. Vadbunker asked McClinton what she was hiding, and McClinton stated a gun and that the gun was in her waistband. McClinton was removed from the vehicle, and a 9-millimeter firearm was retrieved from the driver's seat. 5 McClinton was found guilty of AUUW, and the parties agreed to a sentence of 24 months' probation. However, the court rejected the offer and sentenced McClinton to 24 months' probation and 120 days in jail. McClinton objected to the sentence, and the court agreed to stay the mittimus for two weeks. Thereafter, McClinton filed a motion to reconsider sentence, arguing that she did not have an opportunity to present evidence in mitigation, and the court granted the motion. After the court reviewed the mitigation evidence, it sentenced McClinton to 36 months' probation and 156 days in jail. McClinton received 78 days' credit for time served. 6 In December 2013, this court reversed McClinton's AUUW conviction on the grounds that her conviction was facially unconstitutional pursuant to People v. Aguilar, 2013 IL 112116. People v. McClinton, No. 3-11-0455 (Dec. 18, 2013) (unpublished summary order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23(c)). The State nol-prossed the remaining charges. 7 In February 2016, McClinton filed for a certificate of innocence. The State filed an objection to the certificate, arguing that McClinton failed to demonstrate factual innocence as required under section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/2-702 (West 2016). In a written order, the trial court denied McClinton's petition, stating: The Court, having reviewed petitioner's petition for a certificate of innocence, the People's replies to that pleading, applicable case law and the controlling statutes, hereby denies the petition for a certificate of innocence. To be perfectly blunt, this defendant was, and is not, innocent of this offense on its facts, which all other procedural rulings (i.e. the statue [sic] being declared unconstitutional on appeal, and the People ultimately moving to nolle prosequi) aside, remains uncontroverted. Petitioner and her trial counsel agreed to the truthfulness of the testimony of the witnesses from Stateville Correctional Center, namely that they would testify consistently with the information contained in their police reports. And it is factually accurate that Aisha McClinton had a gun on her person while present on the grounds of Stateville Correctional. Petitioner now wishes this Court to disregard the facts of the case, which she agreed to, and instead grant this petition on the appellate court's declaration of unconstitutionality of the statute alone. Actual innocence means exactly thatthat this petitioner, or any other petitioner for that matter, did not commit the offense and would be thus entitled to the certificate. Petitioner's argument that this certificate should issue because the Acts did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State after the Aguilar decision, is not correct. That is a basis for presentation of the certificate; it remains the law of this state that actual factual innocence must be established for relief sought to be granted and petitioner has not established actual factual innocence. Petition denied. 8 McClinton filed a motion to reconsider, which the trial court denied without clarification, and she appealed. 9 ANALYSIS 10 We note at the outset that the trial court's assertion that the appellate court declared the statute unconstitutional is wrong. This court did not declare the statute unconstitutional, the supreme court did. Aguilar, 2013 IL 112116. This is clearly stated in this court's earlier order. People v. McClinton, No. 3-11-0455 (Dec. 18, 2013) (unpublished summary order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23(c)). The summary order also stated that, An unconstitutional statute dies as of its inception, rather than being void only as of the date of adjudication. People v. Gersch, 135 Ill. 2d 384, 397 (1990). The effect of the supreme court's ruling was that the crime with which the petitioner was charged and of which she was convicted did not exist in law. Aguilar, 2013 IL 112116. Petitioner was, therefore, legally innocent. We now consider whether that fact is a sufficient basis for a certificate of innocence. 11 I. Certificate of Innocence 12 McClinton argues that the trial court abused its discretion because it had failed to consider certain provisions within section 2-702(d) and (g) of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-702(d), (g) (West 2016)) when it denied the petition. Specifically, McClinton claims that she did not have to prove her innocence and that section 2-702(d) and (g) provide an additional clause that entitled McClinton to a certificate of innocence when her acts or omissions charged in the indictment or information did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State. Id. 2-702(d), (g)(3). 13 McClinton presents an issue of statutory interpretation. The fundamental rule of statutory interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature. People v. Fields, 2011 IL App (1st) 100169, 18. The most reliable indicator of that intent is the language of the statute itself. Id. If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, it must be applied as written, without resorting to further aids of statutory interpretation. Id. The issue of statutory interpretation is reviewed de novo. Landis v. Marc Realty, L.L.C., 235 Ill. 2d 1, 6 (2009). 14 Section 2-702 allows a petitioner to obtain a finding of innocence so that the defendant may obtain relief against the State for wrongful incarceration through the court of claims. People v. Dumas, 2013 IL App (2d) 120561, 16 (citing 735 ILCS 5/2-702(a) (West 2010) and Betts v. United States, 10 F.3d 1278, 1283 (7th Cir. 1993)). Whether or not a petitioner is entitled to a certificate of innocence is generally committed to the sound discretion of the court. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. 17. 15 Section 2-702(b) states the limits of which offenses we consider in evaluating whether McClinton is entitled to a certificate of innocence: (b) Any person convicted and subsequently imprisoned for one or more felonies by the State of Illinois which he or she did not commit may, under the conditions hereinafter provided, file a petition for certificate of innocence in the circuit court of the county in which the person was convicted. The petition shall request a certificate of innocence finding that the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he or she was incarcerated. (Emphasis added.) 735 ILCS 5/2-702(b) (West 2016). The only crime at issue in the instant case is the unconstitutional AUUW conviction. 16 Section 2-702(d) explains the sufficiency of the petition. It states: (d) The petition shall state facts in sufficient detail to permit the court to find that the petitioner is likely to succeed at trial in proving that the petitioner is innocent of the offenses charged in the indictment or information or his or her acts or omissions charged in the indictment or information did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State of Illinois, and the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about his or her conviction. (Emphasis added.) Id. 2-702(d). 17 Section 2-702(g) addresses the elements necessary to obtain a certificate of innocence. It specifies: (g) In order to obtain a certificate of innocence the petitioner must prove by a preponderance of evidence that: (1) the petitioner was convicted of one or more felonies by the State of Illinois and subsequently sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and has served all or any part of the sentence; (2)(A) the judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated, and the indictment or information dismissed or, if a new trial was ordered, either the petitioner was found not guilty at the new trial or the petitioner was not retried and the indictment or information dismissed; or (B) the statute, or application thereof, on which the indictment or information was based violated the Constitution of the United States or the State of Illinois; (3) the petitioner is innocent of the offenses charged in the indictment or information or his or her acts or omissions charged in the indictment or information did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State; and (4) the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about his or her conviction. (Emphases added.) Id. 2-702(g). 18 The State asserts that McClinton cannot prove she is entitled to a certificate of innocence because she voluntarily caused her conviction in violation of section 2-702(d) and (g)(4) (id. 2702(d), (g)(4)). Furthermore, the State cites People v. Holmes, 2017 IL 120407, to support its argument that the void ab initio doctrine would not retroactively invalidate evidence of McClinton's guilt, and therefore, she must still prove that she did not voluntarily bring about her conviction. 19 We find the State's reliance on Holmes is without merit. In Holmes, our supreme court ruled that the void ab initio doctrine had not retroactively invalidated probable cause for petitioner's arrest notwithstanding that probable cause was predicated on conduct prohibited by a statute later declared unconstitutional. Id. 39. The supreme court in Holmes reasoned that, pursuant to the lockstep doctrine, [p]olice are charged to enforce laws' and that [t]he enactment of a law forecloses speculation by enforcement officers concerning its constitutionality. Id. 27 (quoting Michigan v. DeFillippo, 443 U.S. 31, 38 (1979)). 20 Here, the issue before this court is not probable cause; rather, the issue is whether McClinton voluntarily brought about a conviction governed by a statute later held void ab initio. When a statute is held to be facially unconstitutional, as is the situation in this case, the statute is said to be void ab initio or void from the beginning. People v. McFadden, 2016 IL 117424, 17. If the AUUW statute is void from the beginning, McClinton's conduct on March 14 would not have voluntarily brought about a conviction under a statute that was constitutionally infirm from the moment of its enactment. People v. Blair, 2013 IL 114122, 30. This reasoning further comports with the legislative intent of the statute, which is to distinguish between a finding of not guilty at retrial and actual innocence of the charged offenses. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Dumas, 2013 IL App (2d) 120561, 18. 21 The trial court determined that McClinton's argument that her acts did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State did not exempt her from the requisite showing that she was factually innocent, i.e., she did not voluntarily bring about her conviction under section 2702(d) and (g). However, the evidence shows that McClinton met the elements of section 2702(d) and (g) because (1) she was convicted of AUUW and served 156 days in jail and 36 months' probation; (2) the statute that she was convicted under was later held unconstitutional pursuant to Aguilar; (3) her acts charged in the indictment of which she was convicted and for which she was incarcerated did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the state because the charge was based on a statute later held unconstitutional; and (4) she did not intentionally cause or bring about her conviction because the statute that criminalized McClinton's actions is void ab initio, and therefore, her actions for which she was charged, convicted, sentenced and incarcerated were not criminal at the time. 22 Therefore, we find that the trial court's ruling was an abuse of discretion, and we vacate its order and remand the matter to the trial court for entry of a new order awarding McClinton a certificate of innocence. McClinton also contends that she is entitled to substitution of judge on remand. Because we vacate the trial court's decision and remand with explicit instructions, we need not address this issue. 23 II. Statutory Damages 24 Lastly, McClinton alleges that this case should be remanded for damages pursuant to section 8(c) of the Court of Claims Act (705 ILCS 505/8(c) (West 2016)). In particular, McClinton argues that section 8(c) states that the trial court has the discretion to grant her an award for wrongful incarceration if she obtains a certificate of innocence. 25 Section 2-702 makes available an avenue to obtain a finding of innocence so that the [petitioner] may obtain relief against the State for wrongful incarceration through the court of claims. Dumas, 2013 IL App (2d) 120561, 16. Section 8(c) of the Court of Claims Act states, in relevant part: The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine the following matters: * * * (c) All claims against the State for time unjustly served in prisons of this State when the person imprisoned received a pardon from the governor stating that such pardon is issued on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court as provided in Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure; provided, the amount of the award is at the discretion of the court; and provided, the court shall make no award in excess of the following amounts: for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than $85,350 *** and provided further, the court shall fix attorney's fees not to exceed 25% of the award granted. (Emphasis added.) 705 ILCS 505/8(c) (West 2016). 26 The term the court refers to the Court of Claims, not the trial court. See 705 ILCS 505/1 (West 2016) (The Court of Claims, hereinafter called the court, is created.). Thus, section 8(c) provides the Court of Claims exclusive jurisdiction to grant or deny awards in claims where a petitioner received a certificate of innocence from the trial court. Accordingly, we reject McClinton's request to remand this case to the trial court for an award of damages. 27 CONCLUSION 28 The judgment of the circuit court of Will County is vacated and the matter remanded for issuance of a certificate of innocence. 29 Vacated and remanded. JUSTICE McDADE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Carter and Justice Schmidt concurred in the judgment and opinion. FRIDAY, May 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- If you or your child is taking an antibiotic, new research suggests you might want to watch closely for signs that kidney stones might be developing. "We found that five classes of commonly prescribed antibiotics were associated with an increased risk of kidney stones," explained study author Dr. Gregory Tasian. That increased risk appeared to linger for three to five years, and pediatric patients were the most vulnerable to developing the painful condition. The findings echoed those of prior studies, "although we did not know which specific classes of antibiotics would be associated with an increased risk of stones and which ones would not," Tasian added. Tasian is an assistant professor of urology and epidemiology with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The five antibiotic classes newly linked to kidney stone risk included sulfas (Bactrim, Gantanol); cephalosporins (Keflex); fluoroquinolones (Cipro); nitrofurantoin/methenamine (Macrobid, Hiprex); and broad-spectrum penicillins. No risk was observed among seven other classes of oral antibiotics. Tasian stressed that this doesn't mean people should avoid antibiotics when they're truly needed. "Antibiotics have saved millions of lives and are needed to prevent death and serious harm from infections," he said. "The benefits outweigh the potential harms. These results don't suggest that antibiotics should not be prescribed when indicated." However, they do support "the judicious and appropriate use of antibiotics, and reducing inappropriate use of antibiotics," Tasian noted. One kidney expert agreed that the proper use of the drugs is a balancing act. "This study is another reminder that physicians have to be mindful of potential adverse effects of antibiotics and need to promote appropriate antibiotic stewardship. This is especially true since many antibiotics may be unwarranted," said Dr. Maria DeVita, training program director for nephrology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. According to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, kidney stones arise following mineral build-up in a patient's urine. In some cases, small solid pebbles pass through the urinary tract without symptoms, while other people experience blood in the urine alongside sharp pain in the back, side, lower abdomen or groin. Tasian noted that over the last three decades kidney stone incidence has skyrocketed by 70 percent, largely among children and adolescents. Experts are unclear as to why. But prior research has cited a possible association with disturbances in the bacterial makeup (microbiome) of the intestinal and urinary tracts, which is often sparked by antibiotics. And antibiotic prescriptions are increasingly common. As the researchers noted, in 2011, American doctors prescribed 262 million courses of antibiotics, with women and children forming the largest pool of recipients. With that in mind, investigators used British health care data to isolate kidney stone cases among millions of patients treated by 641 general health care practitioners between 1994 and 2015. Roughly 26,000 kidney stone patients were identified. The team then examined whether or not any of these patients had been prescribed any of 12 different classes of oral antibiotics in the three to 12 months leading up to their kidney stone. This lengthy time frame was chosen because kidney stones can take weeks or even months to form. The risk for kidney stones was greatest within three to six months following an antibiotic regimen, before ratcheting down over the ensuing three to five years. Specifically taking sulfa antibiotics, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, nitrofurantoin/methenamine, and broad-spectrum penicillins were linked to a 1.3 to 2.3 times greater risk for kidney stones, the investigators noted. But the study did not prove that these drugs caused kidney stones. "For those five classes of antibiotics, the greatest risk was found among younger patients," said Tasian. "However, the increased risk was still significant across all ages, including for older adults with the exception of broad-spectrum penicillins, which were not associated with an increased risk of kidney stones among patients over 75 years of age. "At this time, we do not have any ways to limit the risk associated with antibiotics," Tasian said. But he added that his work may eventually "provide additional insight into how, ultimately, we might be able to restore a healthy microbiome, or mitigate the adverse changes that exposure to certain antibiotics cause." The findings were published online May 10 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. More information There's more on kidney stones at the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Vladislav Pleshakov, a journalist from the privately owned television channel 1+1, was assaulted in an upscale neighborhood near Kiev on April 21, 2018, while filming for an investigative report about real estate allegedly owned by Ukraines finance minister, Oleksandr Danyliuk, according to the Kiev-based media monitoring organization Detector Media, which cites 1+1s press service. When Pleshakov and his colleague Igor Koltunov began filming the neighborhood on their phones, men the journalists said were neighborhood security guards approached Koltunov and Pleshakov and demanded the pair stop filming, according to a video of the altercation that was included in the final investigative report that aired April 23, 2018, on 1+1s program Groshi (Money). A man in an SUV then drove up and identified himself as the neighborhood committee head Oleksandr Shurupov. He also asked that the journalists stop filming and instructed Pleshakov to hand over his cellphone. When Pleshakov refused, Shurupov grabbed him by the throat, according to the video recording. CPJ was unable to determine if Pleshakov was injured. According to Detector Media, Koltunov and Pleshakov filed a police report under Article 171 of Ukraines Criminal Code, protesting the obstruction of their journalistic work. National Police spokesperson Yaroslav Trakalo told Detector Media that the journalists had called police but they refused to give a statement. The spokesperson said that police are ready to react and investigate this incident, provided the journalists give them a statement. The channel 1+1 did not reply to CPJs request for comment. In an April 23 Facebook post, Danyliuk accused 1+1 of trying to tarnish his reputation. The Groshi report alleged that the minister secretly owned a pricey property in London. He denied owning or renting any apartment in London in his Facebook post. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Washington D.C., May 10, 2018The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to withdraw all charges against journalist Shabbir Siham, who is appealing a sentence of 22 years in prison and a 500,000 rupee (US$4,300) fine by an anti-terrorism court in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. Siham was sentenced in absentia on March 30 on charges of defamation, criminal intimidation, committing acts of terrorism, and absconding from court proceedings, according to a news report and court documents viewed by CPJ. He has appealed to the High Court, and his case will be heard on May 17, Siham told CPJ. Shabbir Sihams absurd conviction on terrorism and defamation charges in Gilgit-Baltistan restricts his reporting and travel, which is an affront to freedom of the media in Pakistan, said Steven Butler, CPJs Asia program coordinator. We call on prosecutors to drop this case so Siham can work freely throughout the country. In October 2017, Siham was accused of fabrication and extorting a regional minister in violation of Pakistans Anti-Terrorism Act, after he wrote an article for the Daily Times newspaper accusing legislators from Gilgit-Baltistan of involvement in human trafficking and prostitution, CPJ documented. Siham did not appear before the court due to security concerns, he told CPJ. He is based in Islamabad. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tourism Ministers conference was held in Wuhan, China. It was first meeting of SCO tourism ministers since the organization was established in 2001 in Shanghai. From India Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism K. J. Alphons attended the conference. Key Facts The meeting approved joint action plan that will serve as guideline for tourism cooperation between SCO member states for 2019-2020. It specifies cooperation among national tourism administrations, as well as measures member states could take to improve tourist experience and safety, develop tourist products and promote smart tourism. It Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) SCO is political and security grouping headquartered in Beijing. It was founded in 2001. The full members of organization are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan. They represent over 40% of humanity and nearly 20% of the global GDP. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have observer status at present. SCO is successor of grouping called Shanghai Five, founded by China in 1996. It comprised Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. In 2001 Uzbekistan was invited to join it and SCO was officially born. After Astana Summit Declaration in 2005, SCO has emerged as a regional security organization SCOs main objective is military cooperation between the members. It also works towards intelligence-sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. It is primarily centred on its member nations Central Asian security-related concerns, often describing main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. The role of China as well as strategic importance of SCO has increased over period of decade and now address problems like terrorism, separatism and militancy in the region. Maharashtra: Fishermen near Mumbai hoping for compensation for environmental damage by Jagdish Kumar May 11,2018 | Source: Seafood Source Fishermen residing in coastal areas around Mumbai have objected to infrastructure activities in the region, citing the potential loss of their livelihood. Urbanization has caused environmental damages to fishing areas and had a negative impact on more than 1,600 families, local fisherman Ramdas Janardhan Koli told SeafoodSource. According to Koli, more than 250 hectares of land in Nhava Sheva, Uran, Dongri, and Thane have been damaged by a project launched by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) that rerouted seawater in order to build or expand Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone and other development projects designed to improve the regions infrastructure. We use to catch crabs, shrimps, fish such as tilapia, sardine, and many varieties near the shore, but now the area is completely destroyed by CIDCO, fisherman Tukaram J Koli told SeafoodSource. These activities have completely destroyed our livelihood. Ramdas Janardhan Koli and others affected by the changes petitioned Indias National Green Tribunal, a government agency designed to adjudicate issues relating to environmental protection, for redress. The tribunal awarded compensation of INR 950 million (USD 14.21 million, EUR 11.86 million), to be split between the 1,630 affected families. In its decision, the tribunal ordered CIDCO and others to pay an immediate one-time compensation of INR 584,000 (USD 8,740, EUR 7,291) per family in order to sustain them in the short-term. However, the award has been appealed and is pending a ruling from Indias Supreme Court. CIDCO declined comment to SeafoodSource, citing the cases active status. Koli said the award was given based on right enumerated under the Indian Easements Act of 1882, which grants broadly defined fishing rights to those who have historically used an area for their livelihood. World News: Mekong River nations face the hidden costs of China's dams May 11,2018 | Source: Nikkei Asia Review Sam In, a 48-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia's northeastern province of Stung Treng, never knew that people paid for water until he was forced to move out of his home on the banks of a Mekong River tributary two years ago. Along with hundreds of other households, Sam In and his 10-member family were relocated to make way for a dam development that left his entire village, Sre Sronok, underwater. Now they live in a newly created village where government-funded houses with identical blue rooftops are neatly lined up on a spacious, dusty plot of land. Instead of a river, a national road runs alongside the village. "Our cost of living has risen drastically," said Sam In, who is also the deputy village head. "We have to buy the water we use for rice farming, drinking, cooking and bathing. It all used to come from the river, for free." The government provided the family with 2 hectares of land to use for rice farming. But with no proper irrigation system or decent farming equipment to plow the land, which were promised by the government when they agreed to relocate, productivity is less than half that of the fields in their old village. Those fields, about 20km away, were submerged in September 2017 when the floodgates of the Lower Sesan 2 Dam were closed to create a 33,000-hectare water reservoir. The $816 million dam, located just 25km from the Mekong River, is expected to generate 400 megawatts of electricity when it comes into full operation later this year, becoming the largest dam in Cambodia. The people of the Sre Sronok village, including Sam In, were opposed to the plan when it was presented about 10 years ago. The government explained that the electricity generated from the dams would benefit the entire country. "They said that countries like Laos are generating electricity using the Mekong River water resources and our country needed to build our own dams in order to stop buying from them and lower electricity cost," Sam In said. "But I think it will benefit the city people more, not us, unless the government gives us special discounts which they have refused to do." The dam may have other unwanted consequences. Beyond the problems Sam In and his neighbors are experiencing, the dam construction is expected to result in a sharply reduced supply of fish, a change in the water flow and a reduced riverbed sediments that provide crucial nutrients to the rice crop in Vietnam and other Mekong countries. A 2012 study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded that the dam would threaten more than 50 fish species. Tough times for fishermen Like other fishermen on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake, Oeru Navy has seen his catch plummet in recent years. Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia and provides more than half of the Cambodia's total fish catch. About 60% of its water comes from the Mekong, and dam developments upstream are interrupting fish migration. Oeru Navy says his catch has nearly halved over the last decade. The lower catch is prompting some fishermen to use illegal fishing methods, such as using small-mesh nets that capture baby fishes. This only makes the problem worse. But for the 31-year-old Oeru Navy, the reasons behind his reduced livelihood seem far away. "I've heard about some government building dams on the river for electricity but I don't think that is relevant to me," he said. "All we want is more fish so that we can survive." Experts and campaign groups have long argued that the economic benefits from the dam's electricity generation are questionable given the area's low water flow during the seven-month dry season. Despite such concerns, Cambodia pushed through the plan with the backing of a major Chinese state-owned power company, which stepped in in 2012. China's Hydrolancang International Energy, a subsidiary of Huaneng Group, is the largest investor in the project, with a 51% stake, while Cambodia's Royal Group and a subsidiary of Electricity of Vietnam control 39% and 10%, respectively. A new road sign pointing to the "great dam" set up near the strictly guarded gates leading to the dam site is written in Cambodian Khmer and Chinese. China's controversial dam building -- both on its section of the river upstream and, increasingly, in Southeast Asia -- is dramatically changing the livelihoods of many of the 60 million people living in the region who depend on the Mekong for water, fish, transportation and irrigation. Its control of the water upstream is a particular source of friction and concern to the countries further south. Some experts compare the downstream Mekong countries' water security risk -- which includes risks to their food supplies and commercial activity -- to China's controversial island-building in the South China Sea. "What China has done by damming the Mekong and gaining undue leverage over downstream countries is analogous and connected to its ongoing construction and weaponization of artificial islands in the South China Sea," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University. "Beijing's approach is as simple as it is controversial, for all to see: build first, talk later." The 4,800-km long Mekong River starts in the Tibetan Plateau in China and runs through Yunnan Province into Southeast Asia --Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia -- then down into Vietnam, where it exits into the South China Sea. It is the 12th-longest river on earth and boasts some of the most diverse fish species in the world, second only to the Amazon. The waters of the Mekong run freer than most of the world's major rivers, as dam-building and other projects were forestalled by the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia, says Courtney Weatherby, an analyst at the Stimson Center, a U.S. think tank. Although Thailand and Vietnam have dammed parts of the river, the need for regional coordination became clear when China started damming the upper Mekong in the 1990s without consulting with the downstream countries. The economies of all the Mekong countries rely on the river, but in distinct ways. China and Laos largely see the Mekong as a source of electricity production. Cambodia -- and many locals in Laos and Thailand -- depend on the bountiful wild-catch fisheries in the Mekong for protein, food production and their livelihoods. The 20 million people living in Vietnam's Mekong Delta depend on the natural deposit of sediments and nutrients from the river's flow for their rice crops and fishing. With so many overlapping interests, the Mekong countries need better information-sharing and "political management of inevitable tradeoffs between each nation's interests," Weatherby said. Such coordination is growing more complex now that China is funding dam-building in the less developed lower basin countries such as Cambodia and Laos. Of the 11 dams planned on the Mekong's lower mainstream, six are backed by China, according to U.S.-based non-government organization International Rivers. Another 30 dams are planned on the tributaries. Yet as China pushes ahead, other investors -- including Western countries and Japan -- are pulling back on Mekong dam development. The Japan-led Asian Development Bank, for example, has halted financing for hydropower projects on the Mekong mainstream because "the potentially negative impacts of mainstream hydropower projects are substantial," said Andrew Jeffries, director of the energy division of the institution's Southeast Asia department. Japan pledged $6 billion in other infrastructure aid to Mekong nations in 2015 in a bid to enhance its influence in the region, but that expires this year. Chinese officials frame their activity as encouraging other countries to draw benefits from the river. "What benefit does Cambodia get from upstream dams? Nothing," Li Hong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said at a Mekong River conference held in Cambodia in April. "But Cambodia can benefit by developing its own dams. We should all benefit from the river." Geopolitical risk Somchit Chittapong has been plying the Mekong River for more than 40 years in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai Province, but on a March day this year he noticed that the water was unusually low. "Can you see the flock of ducks there?" he asked, pointing to a nearby sand bank. "They never come here at this time of the year because that island is normally under water." Somchit gestured toward a boat beached on the riverbank that he said was owned by his brother, who had been shipping rubber to China. The boat had been stranded for more than five days. It was just one of many cargo boats operating from Chiang Rai, Thailand's main northern export hub to China, stranded in early March due to unusually low water levels caused by the sudden stoppage of flows by Chinese dams upstream. Local businesses have called on China to share its schedules for releasing water from the dams. China agreed to release daily information from the rainy season months of June to October, but not for the rest of the year. The Chinese side refers to the dam information as "internal matters." "China is crazy," said Pakaimas Vierra, vice chairman of Chiang Rai's chamber of commerce. "They give us no information in advance so we cannot plan business at all. Inventories are piling up." Pakaimas said there were dozens of boats loaded with goods for China docked along the banks of the river between Myanmar and Laos in mid-March that could go no further because of the shallow waters. One exporter estimated about 60 boats had been stranded. Experts said that excess supply of electricity in Yunnan Province could have led to the abrupt stoppage of water flow from the Lancang dams. Trade with other countries, especially China, is the major source of revenue for Chiang Rai, located near the storied Golden Triangle, where the Mekong forms the borders between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. The potential for China to inflict economic damage with its control of the water flow is a major concern for downstream countries, experts say. "China's damming of the upper Mekong has long been considered a geopolitical risk for the lower riparian states," Thitinan of Chulalongkorn University said. But Beijing has also displayed deft water diplomacy skills. During a 2016 drought, it announced it would release water from its upstream dam for one month to ease water conditions, an effort to reduce tensions with its southern neighbors -- especially Vietnam. The lower basin countries have found it difficult to push back against China, which has become one of the largest trade partners and investors in the region. Bilateral trade between China and the five riparian countries totaled $220 billion in 2017, up 16% from the year earlier, while investment reached $42 billion. The Mekong River Commission, an intergovernmental organization of the Mekong riparian countries, does not include China; many experts believe it opted out due to the group's funding from Western countries. The four member countries -- Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam -- have largely failed to have fruitful discussions about the transboundary effects with its most powerful neighbor. Instead, the countries are banking on China as an investor-- a role Beijing is happy to play. The lower Mekong area has become a focus of the Belt and Road Initiative championed by Xi Jinping, China's president. In 2014, China initiated the Lancang-Mekong River Cooperation Framework, or LMC, which is providing a host of aid programs to the five riparian countries. In an LMC summit in January, Premier Li Keqiang promised that China will provide 7 billion yuan ($1.08 billion) in loans, adding to the 10 billion yuan already promised. It would also add a $5 billion credit line on top of the previously committed $10 billion for infrastructure investment in the region. Experts say China wants to demonstrate its leadership to the downstream countries and improve its image through the LMC, the first multilateral initiative led by China in the Mekong area. Yet the emphasis on hydropower runs counter to the findings of various studies that say the negative impacts of dams outweigh the benefits of the resulting boost to electricity supplies. A 2017 paper published by Thailand's Mae Fah Luang University found that if all the 40-plus planned dam projects on the Mekong's mainstream and tributaries are built by 2030, the net economic impact on the four lower basin countries will be a negative $7.3 billion. The loss from the drop in fishery catch is larger than the benefit from the 110,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity generated, the report said. However, "construction of dams in the lower Mekong has typically proceeded without comprehensive assessments of impacts on the river and its local communities," said Maureen Harris, Southeast Asia program director at International Rivers. Some who work on the river back this view. Le Hong Duc, 60, a fish farmer in Vietnam's Dong Thap Province, called damming the river to produce electricity "unsustainable development." "If they build the dams, causing lack of water, we have to reduce fisheries farms and move to other businesses," Duc said. "That is not worth exchanging the environment and water of the rivers for the electricity." The need for electricity is real, however. Cambodia is vowing to connect 70% of its households to the power grid by 2030, up from roughly 50%. The country's expensive utility charges, among the highest in the region, are discouraging businesses from entering the market and setting up large-scale operations. Laos, the poorest country in the region, has been the most aggressive in developing dams on the Mekong. The landlocked country hopes to sell electricity to its neighbors and become the "battery of Southeast Asia," though the benefits to its own people are less clear. Thailand, the largest electricity consumer in the region, has become a prominent investor of hydropower projects in Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam is also purchasing from the two countries. The U.S. and Japan should counter China's damming push by promoting alternatives to hydropower, said Nguyen Huu Thien, an independent ecologist in Vietnam and expert on the Mekong Delta. "If the large powers such as U.S. and Japan can see that the Mekong issue is a serious nontraditional security issue that affects peace and stability of the region, they should take it seriously and help promote renewable energy such as solar and wind power," Thien said. Bangladesh will take a strong stance against gay rights and the abolishment of the death penalty at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. Last February, Bangladesh presented its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the UN Human Rights Council. The review highlighted the country's human rights achievements and challenges from 2013-2017. The hearing of the UPR will be held on May 14. The team representing Bangladesh will be led by Law Minister Anisul Huq. During the review Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Ukraine will be present as rapporteurs. Regarding the matter, an official said: "Bangladesh does not believe in following popular doctrine. We sheltered the Rohingyas purely on human rights basis. This is a big challenge. Our human rights record is excellent. "There are allegations against our country regarding human rights. We are ready to answer their questions. "It is true that we have limitations. Every country has its limitations; the other countries want to know if we are trying to overcome it to the best of our ability." Bangladesh first submitted a UPR in 2009. The latest UPR was submitted in 2013. At the hearing of the 2013 UPR, several nations made 196 suggestions to Bangladesh and the country accepted 191 of them. The remaining 5 were regarding gay rights and the abolishment of the death penalty; Bangladesh did not take those suggestions. The official also said: "37 countries of the world do not support gay rights and Bangladesh is one of them. Our society is not ready for this yet." According to the latest report, between the years 2013-2017, several lower courts gave the execution orders to 1,119 criminals. However, the High Court stayed the execution of 130 people. Only 17 people were hanged in those 5 years. At the hearing, the government of Bangladesh will have to answer to questions about issues such as women's rights, freedom of speech, police brutality, and extrajudicial killings. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Dhaka Tribune, May 10, 2018 The state election commission had swept into action and Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said the cards were found wrapped in smaller packets. (Photo: File) Bengaluru: Voting in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency where nearly 10,000 voter cards were found in an apartment days ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls has been has been deferred to May 28, the Election Commission decided on Friday. The decision of the Elections Commission comes hours before the rest of Karnataka will go to vote to elect the next government in the state. Counting of votes in this seat will take place on May 31. The BJP had alleged that the apartment was linked to a lawmaker of the state's ruling Congress. The Congress hit back, accusing the BJP of enacting a "drama" of raiding an apartment owned by a local BJP leader and planting "fake evidence". Also Read: Karnataka polls 2018: EC seizes 10,000 voter IDs from Bengaluru apartment The Election Commission order said it was important to defer the election for the time being so that the "vitiating effect of the distribution of money and gift items to the electors loses its intensity" and the voter ID cards were returned to the electorals. Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground in Janakpur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting 'Jay Siya Ram' slogan three times. (Photo: AP) New Delhi/ Janakpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy as he announced Rs 100 crore package to develop Janakpur - the sacred city for Hindus - while invoking mythological links between the two countries. Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground in Janakpur, Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting "Jay Siya Ram" slogan three times. In a speech that invoked mythological references and symbolism, Modi said he has come to Janakpur not as the Prime Minister but as the chief pilgrim, amid applause. Modi, who is on his third visit to Nepal since assuming office in 2014, read out a verse from Ramcharitmanas which says 'one cannot remain isolated from the suffering of a friend and a true friend always helps his friend in the time of suffering.' "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," said Modi, whose voice appeared hoarse apparently due to his hectic campaign in Karnataka assembly elections. Modi assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy. He announced a Rs 100 crore package for the development of Janakpur and its surrounding areas. The amount will be spent on different development projects forging collaboration between the central government and the local government of Province No 2. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Modi, who earlier with his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya - the two sacred cities for Hindus, said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan Circuit. Also Read: On third Nepal visit, PM Modi launches Ramayan bus route to Ayodhya "This circuit will develop religious tourism. It also will strengthen connectivity between the two nations," Modi said. He also announced that two other circuits will also be developed for the promotion of the areas related to Buddhism and Jain religion in both Nepal and India, which will be instrumental in generating employment for the youths. Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport. He underlined the need for linking Nepal and India through highway, I- way or Information, Railway, Trans way or electric connectivity, waterway and airway. "We are also trying our best to connect Nepal with waterways so that Nepal will be able to export Nepali goods abroad. If done so Nepal will be able to reap benefits through international trade," Modi said. He said his long cherished dream to visit Janakpur has now been fulfilled with the grace of Goddess Sita. Modi, who earlier offered special prayers at the famed 20th century Janaki temple, invoked mythological King Janak of Mithila and King Dashratha of Ayodhya and said they not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but also united India and Nepal. "Nepal and India relations were started during the rule of King Janak in Treta Yuga and the bondage built by Sita during the period is still strong. It is this bondage which attracts people from Rameswaram to Pashupatinath, people from Lumbini to Bodhgaya and I was also attracted with the same bondage," he said. He said Nepal and India not only share border, aspirations, dreams and destination, but their happiness and challenge are also same. "Nepal is the land of great sages like Yagyavalkya, Astavakra, Gargi, who used to debate on theology and social issues in the palace of King Janak," he said, adding that Nepal has become the centre of spiritualism and philosophy. Modi said India will build a railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu to facilitate people-to-people contact and movement of goods. He also thanked Oli and said the honour he received in Janakpur is for the entire people of India. Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel welcomed Prime Minister Modi at the function. Modi was wearing a Maithili kurta gifted by Prime Minister Oli. "Nepal and India are tied together by common culture, civilisation and history," Pokharel said. He expressed the confidence that the people to people relations between the two countries are being nurtured on the basis of brotherhood and equality. Mayor of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City Lal Kishro Shah read out felicitation letter in honour of Modi. He also handed over the symbolic key of Janakpur to Modi and gifted the picture of Janaki Temple as a token of love to him. Chief Minister of Province No. 2 Lal Babu Raut offered a huge garland weighing 121 kg to Modi on the occasion. Welcoming Modi, Chief Minister Raut said the "open borders between Nepal and India have been instrumental in connecting the peoples of the two countries." He stressed on the need for linking the peoples of the Janakpur and India by establishing connectivity through air route, railway line and roads. Khromaev will raise the possibility of doing so at the next meeting of Ukraine's Financial Stability Board. Ukraine may begin formal procedures for legalizing cryptocurrency after its securities chief said the world had already crossed the "point of no return." In a speech to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on May 8, Timur Khromaev, chairman of Ukraine's National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) and head of the Committee on Development Strategy and Economic Analysis of Stock Market, said cryptocurrency "will become an indispensable part of economic and financial relations," Bitcoinist.com reported. "The 'point of no return' is already in the past financial regulators need to address issues (cryptocurrencies') status, activity, and its consequences when creating adaptive and legal/ normative declarations," he said, summarizing his words on Facebook. Read alsoCrimean authorities mulling to create cryptocurrency fund to overcome sanctions Ukraine has produced a mixed tone on the topic of the civil use of Bitcoin and altcoins in recent times. The central bank has been considering a digital version of its national currency, the hryvnia, and formed a dedicated oversight group into cryptocurrency in January this year. At the same time, revelations about politicians' personal Bitcoin holdings, which were revealed last year to have reached hundreds of millions of dollars, sparked contention. For Khromaev, however, time is too short to wait for international regulatory standards, and national-level legal frameworks should instead be put in place. He will raise the possibility of doing so at the next meeting of Ukraine's Financial Stability Board. "All things considered, I reckon it is highly prudent to look into the issue of recognizing several crypto assets as a financial instrument, formulate paths to allow interaction with them and begin procedures on creating suitable legal frameworks," Khromaev concludes. If the plans see the light of the day, Ukraine's crypto policy would diverge significantly from Russia, where authorities have hinted on usage restrictions as part of a package of laws due for release in July. The return of the aircraft is an indication of how deeply the sanctions have affected Deripaska's business empire. Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska has handed back three private jets he was leasing because U.S. sanctions imposed on him last month make it impossible to keep using the planes, the firm retained by the owners to sell the aircraft said on Thursday. The aircraft are Gulfstream executive jets, favored by jet-setting business people for their long range and plush interiors. They are now on sale, with the asking price for two of them set at $29.95 million each, as reported by Reuters. The return of the aircraft is an indication of how deeply the sanctions have affected Deripaska's business empire, extending beyond the direct impact on his Rusal aluminum firm, whose sales and supply chains have been heavily disrupted. Alireza Ittihadieh, director of Freestream, an aviation sales company that listed the three jets for sale, said the jets were owned by lenders Credit Suisse and Raiffeisen, and were then leased via a management company to Deripaska-controlled firms. "Who was using it? Senior management, including Deripaska himself," Ittihadieh told Reuters in a phone interview. Read alsoU.S. extends deadline for divestiture of sanctions targets En+, Rusal - Reuters "He's sanctioned, his companies are sanctioned, he has to return the aircraft. He has to early-terminate the leases, under sanctions rules," he said, without specifying which sanctions rules applied in this case. A representative of Rusal's press service said the firm declined to comment. A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined to comment on a specific case, but said: "Credit Suisse works with international regulators wherever it does business to ensure compliance with sanctions. This includes compliance with the recent sanctions involving Russia." A spokeswoman for Raiffeisen said she could not reply to Reuters questions because Thursday was a public holiday in Austria. She also said that "due to the banking secrecy law we cannot comment on potential clients." Deripaska was included on a U.S. sanctions blacklist on April 6 because, officials in Washington said, he and other Russian oligarchs had profited from the "malign activities" of the Kremlin around the globe. Anyone included on the list is barred from entering the United States, and U.S. firms and citizens are barred from doing business with individuals or companies that have been blacklisted. Non-U.S. companies can also be punished by Washington if it deems they have engaged in significant transactions with a sanctioned entity. Banking sources say that has made European banks wary of handling transactions involving Deripaska or any firms connected to him. The organisation claims the pipeline will result in irreversible losses to the marine environment. German environmental activists are trying to stop a planned pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic sea just days before the investment is scheduled to break ground, Polish Radio reported. According to the Polish state broadcaster, German environmental protection organisation Naturschutzbund Deutschland appealed to a court in Greifswald, northeastern Germany, to stop, at least temporarily, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from being built, Radio Poland reported. Read alsoBloomberg: Nord Stream 2 gas pipe partners rapped by Polish regulator The organisation claims the pipeline will result in irreversible losses to the marine environment. Earlier this year the organisation challenged a German-issued construction permit that would allow a Russian-German consortium to start building on May 15. But a verdict is yet to be handed down. If built, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would supply around 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine. Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine all oppose the project. The US State Department spokeswoman said earlier this year that the US government opposed Nord Stream 2 as the project would undermine Europe's energy security and stability. In an effort to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and to facilitate trade between the region and the United States, the U.S. government initiated in the year 2000 the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA. Under the Act, regional trade hubs, or technical assistance centers, were created. The USAID Trade and Investment Hubs, located in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya, assist, enhance and broaden the flow of trade between the United States and Africa. The hubs, which are managed by the U.S. Agency for international Development, bring together African and U.S. businesses to attract investment to Africa and promote two-way trade between the U.S. and African countries, creating jobs and generating income for all of us. The hubs increase regional integration, which creates ever larger markets for U.S. goods and services; and improves food security by increasing the movement of food across borders.The Hubs also promote two-way trade with the United States under AGOA; and facilitate investment and technology to drive trade growth throughout the region, as well as globally. In that, they have been spectacularly successful, said USAID West Africa Mission Director Alex Deprez. Since 2010 USAID regional trade hubs have facilitated more than 300 million dollars in new finance and investments, almost 1 billion dollars in AGOA exports and created more than 60,000 new jobs right here in Africa. Speaking at an AGOA capacity-building and skills-development workshop in Accra, Ghana in late April, Director Deprez cited progress in Ghana to illustrate his point: Here in Ghana for example, we have a range of wonderful products that are entering the U.S. market including cocoa, shea [butter], cashews and dried mango. An encouraging sign is that these products are often now moving as cocoa butter, and cocoa powder instead of beans. Many products are also being exported as soaps instead of shea nuts, and sold as kernels rather than raw cashew. Value addition is increasing. And the future looks bright, because West Africa has a large emerging middle class. The business opportunities to supply this rapidly growing middle class and the markets of the region are enormous, said Director Deprez.The U.S. is committed to Africa and USAID remains a partner to supporting your efforts to grow and deepen trade relationships. One day after World Press Freedom Day, and ten days before a referendum vote that could change presidential term limits, the government of Burundi announced on Friday, May 4 that it would suspend Voice of Americas [VOA] FM broadcasts for six months, effective Monday, May 7. Burundi's National Communications Council, which issued the ban, accused VOA and the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] of breaching laws regulating the media and engaging in so-called "unethical conduct." The council issued a warning to Radio France Internationale (RFI), accusing it of dishonest reporting about possible reprisals against those calling for a no vote in the referendum. We are dismayed by the actions taken today by the Burundi National Communications Council to ban VOA from broadcasting its news and information programs, said VOA Director Amanda Bennett. Our audience members count on VOA to provide factual, unbiased and objective coverage of current events, so this ban deprives the citizens of Burundi of a trusted news source during a critical time in that country. VOA content will continue to be available in Kirundi and Kinyarwanda via shortwave channels, on the Internet and on FM transmitters located in neighboring countries. VOA reporters on the ground reported on Monday morning that the suspension has been carried out. While the VOA also broadcasts in AM, shortwave, television and on digital platforms, FM radio is without a doubt the most popular means of engaging Burundians, said Broadcasting Board of Governors John F. Lansing in a statement issued on May 7th. They have come to rely on the VOA for unbiased and uncensored news and information, Mr. Lansing noted. The BBG will continue to support the people of Burundi by providing reliable and accurate programming, said Mr. Lansing. I urge President Pierre Nkurunziza to reverse this decision. The United States values freedom of the press as a key component of democratic governance, a U.S. State Department official commented. We are disappointed with the actions in Burundi and have raised those concerns directly with the Government. In July 2017, while announcing the liberation from ISIS of Mosul, the largest city in Ninewa Province, Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that returning children to school as quickly as possible was the Iraqi Governments top priority. But fulfilling this intention turned out to be a difficult challenge. Thats because ISIS strategy was to not only inflict maximum casualties both on Iraqi security forces and on the local populace, but also to stall economic redevelopment in communities they once held. So as ISIS fighters retreated from town after town, they left behind a landscape sown with explosive hazards, set particularly around critical infrastructure. This certainly held true for Ninewa Province. After liberation, the landscape was still littered with unprecedented levels of improvised explosive devices, unexploded ordnance, landmines, and other explosive remnants of war. The U.S. Department of State, through its implementing partner Janus Global Operations, has undertaken the complex and dangerous job of finding and removing these hazards from critical infrastructure associated with the delivery of healthcare, clean water, power, transportation, and education. Enabling the safe return of children to schools helps counter ISIS youth indoctrination, frees adults to participate in stabilization activities, and aids the return to normal life. In August 2017, Iraqi forces liberated the Ninewa Province city of Tall Afar. By November, a Janus team was assessing what needed to be done to make the Al Shohabeya Primary School there functional again. In less than two weeks, Janus cleared anti-tank projectiles, small arms and improvised explosive devices from the building and formally handed the site over to the schools headmaster. Janus also cleared similar explosive hazards from the Kiz Lisesi Secondary School, Tall Afars only secondary education school for girls. As a result, 1,650 students have safely resumed their education. Janus went on to clear explosive hazards from the Al Thawara Primary School for Boys in West Mosul, the Al-Jabal Primary School for Boys and Girls in Bahzani, and many more. United States-funded clearance operations across Ninewa continue to play a pivotal role by ensuring that schools are free of explosive hazards, thus providing a safe space for children to learn as their families rebuild their communities. Mongolia, Japan, and the United States held a trilateral meeting in Tokyo on April 26, 2018. The participants reaffirmed the importance of the Japan-Mongolia-U.S. trilateral meeting as an important mechanism for the exchange of views on regional and multilateral cooperation and on mutually beneficial economic development. During the meeting, the United States and Japan detailed their vision for a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region in which all countries are free from coercion and can maintain their sovereign right to choose their own paths. Japan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to their increased bilateral relationships with Mongolia in line with Mongolias third neighbor policy, and the three countries discussed potential avenues of cooperation to promote connectivity, good governance, and a rules-based international order throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The three sides welcomed the recent positive developments on the Korean Peninsula. They reaffirmed their commitment to maintain global pressure on North Korea, including the full implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions with the view to securing the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The three countries emphasized the importance of addressing humanitarian concerns, including the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. Japan and the United States expressed their great appreciation for Mongolias contributions to UN peacekeeping operations and continued stability operations in conflict zones worldwide. The three countries discussed opportunities to increase trade and make Mongolias business and investment climate increasingly attractive to Japanese and U.S. firms, particularly through improved transparency and predictability. The United States looks forward to the signing of a second compact between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of Mongolia to increase bulk water supply and improve water sanitation in the city of Ulaanbaatar. The United States is pleased to have facilitated access to credit for Mongolian small and medium-sized enterprises through the USAID-funded REACH project and supported the development of Mongolias next generation of democratic leaders through the USAID-funded Leaders Advancing Democracy (LEAD) program. The participants also recognized the importance of Mongolias fully implementing the recommendations of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering to strengthen its ability to prevent money laundering and proliferation finance. The U.S. is proud to work with Mongolia, and Japan for the benefit of all three nations and the Asia-Pacific region. Preparations for a landmark meeting between President Donald Trump and North Koreas dictator Kim Jong-Un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula are ongoing. Success in achieving that goal would, as President Trump has said, be a great achievement for the world. The U.S. has made clear that until North Korea takes concrete, permanent, and verifiable steps to end its nuclear weapons program, sanctions remain in place and the maximum pressure campaign will continue. The U.S. has also made clear that it has other grave concerns with North Korea, chief among them the Kim regimes horrific record on human rights. April 28 to May 5 was North Korea Freedom week, a week organized by NGOs in South Korea as well as the international community to promote the freedom and human rights of North Korean people. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert issued a statement on the occasion of North Korea Freedom Week challenging the world not to forget the millions of North Koreans who continue to suffer under one of the most repressive and abusive governments in the world. For more than 60 years the people of North Korea have faced egregious human rights violations in virtually every aspect of life, Ms. Nauert said. In addition to the roughly 100,000 individuals, including children and family members of the accused, who suffer in political prison camps, North Koreans face an almost complete denial of fundamental freedoms by their government. Those trying to flee this oppressive environment, if caught, are often tortured or killed. The United States, said Spokesperson Nauert, remain[s] gravely concerned and deeply troubled by these abuses. In tandem with the maximum pressure campaign, we will continue to press for accountability for those responsible. We are also going to continue our efforts to increase the flow of independent information into, out of, and within this isolated state to present everyday North Koreans with a more realistic picture of the outside world. The United States is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and has begun reinstating U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. In announcing his decision, President Donald Trump said, At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction, that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program. The intelligence documents recently published by Israel and longconcealed by Iran, President Trump declared, conclusively show[ed] the Iranian regime and its history of pursuing nuclear weapons. What the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, did, the President said, was to lift crippling economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for very weak limits on the regimes nuclear activity and no limits at all on its other malign behavior. In the years since the deal was reached, Irans military budget has grown by almost 40 percent while its economy is doing very badly. After the sanctions were lifted, the dictatorship used its new funds to build nuclear-capable missiles, support terrorism and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond." The JCPOA was so structured, President Trump said, that even if Iran fully complies, the regime can be on the verge of a nuclear break out in just a short period of time: If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happenThe worlds leading state-sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the worlds most dangerous weapons. Americans will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail, President Trump said. We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction: As we exit the Iran deal, we will be working with our allies to find a real, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. This will include efforts to eliminate the threat of Irans ballistic missile program, to stop its terrorist activities worldwide, and to block its menacing activity across the Middle East. President Trump also had a message for the long-suffering Iranian people: the people of America stand with them, and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history and glory to God. President Trump declared he stands ready to make a new and lasting deal that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian peopleGreat things can happen for Iran andfor the peace and stability that we all want in the Middle East. Each year on May 11, the United States observes Vietnam Human Rights Day - a day to remember the importance of advancing fundamental freedoms including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion. Vietnam remains an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The most recent National Assembly elections, held in May 2016, were neither free nor fair. According to the State Department Human Rights report, prison conditions were austere and occasionally life threatening. Amnesty International and former prisoners of conscience noted that prison authorities singled out political prisoners and ethnic minority prisoners, particularly in the Central Highlands, for physical abuse, solitary confinement, and denial of medical treatment. In 2017, the government arrested over 30 individuals for peacefully expressing political or religious views, an increase from approximately 10 such arrests in 2016. The arrested included members of the prodemocracy group Brotherhood for Democracy, Viet Labor, bloggers, students, and individuals involved in expressing dissent related to the 2016 industrial spill by the Taiwanese-owned Formosa Ha Tinh Steel company. They include former political prisoner Pham Van Troi, who was arrested on July 30, 2017, reportedly based on his connections to Brotherhood for Democracy. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison on April 5. In February, authorities sentenced rights activist Hoang Duc Binh to 14 years in prison for abusing democratic freedoms after posting online content about the governments response to the Formosa spill. During 2017, there continued to be credible reports that Vietnamese authorities pressured defense lawyers not to take religious or democracy activists as clients. Authorities also restricted, harassed, arrested, disbarred, and, in some cases, detained human rights attorneys who represented political activists. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 100 persons were in prison in Vietnam for political or religious reasons. Indeed, a Vietnamese court convicted International Woman of Courage awardee and human rights blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known as Mother Mushroom, to 10 years in prison after she gained a large social media following on her blog covering human rights, land issues, and environmental concerns. The United States calls on Vietnam to release all prisoners of conscience immediately, and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and assemble peacefully without fear of retribution. Over the past day, Russia-led hybrid forces have opened fire 55 times on the positions of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO), using heavy weapons 15 times, as a result of which three soldiers were slightly injured, the operation's press center has reported. "Over the past day, on May 10, the situation in the Joint Forces Operation area remained consistently complex. (...) Russian-led forces, in violation of international agreements, mounted 55 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas in the past day, using heavy weapons 15 times, including 152mm guns. Units of the JFO provided an adequate response and conducted an active defense," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of May 11, 2018. According to the press center, shelling continued mainly in the Donetsk sector, in particular, near the town of Avdiyivka, and the villages of Zaitseve, Novozvanivka, Vodiane and Pisky, and Butovka coal mine. The situation was also tense near the town of Popasna in the Luhansk sector and the village of Shyrokyne in the Mariupol sector. Hostilities were most active near the Avdiyivka industrial zone. According to reconnaissance reports, the enemy sustained losses during an attempt to assault our positions: "Two invaders were killed, while three others were wounded," the message reads. Three Ukrainian defenders received minor shrapnel wounds. They are provided with qualified medical assistance in the hospital. As reported, there were no Ukrainian military casualties over the past day as of the May 11 update. "At night, the Russian-led forces opened fire from small arms alone, abstaining from active actions," the JFO said. Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli has recalled the importance of continuing the fight against corruption to attract foreign investment in Ukraine. If we want to create the necessary jobs, we need an economic growth of 5-6%. You need to attract foreign investors for this ... To do this, you need to achieve more progress in the fight against corruption and the rule of law, he said during a round table talk titled "Ukraine's European Choice after the Revolution of Dignity: Opportunities and Problems" in Kyiv on Friday. The European diplomat stressed the need to establish an Anti-Corruption Court in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. We know that much has already been done and still needs to be done in the sphere of the rule of law. And we are currently discussing with the Ukrainian authorities the creation of an Anticorruption Court as soon as possible, which would correspond to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, the diplomat added. Mingarelli also noted the need to harmonize the Ukrainian legislation with the European one. According to him, the EU considers the law on the land market as important for realizing the potential of the Ukrainian agricultural sector. Ukrainian investigators have established the names of the Russian military officers, who supplied Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Nadiia Savchenko with weapons for the commission of the terrorist attack, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said. "Colonels of the Russian armed forces are behind the military units from which weapons were dispatched to carry out the terrorist attack. We know their names, and they will be included in the criminal proceedings," Lutsenko said on Friday. On March 23, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District Court remanded Savchenko to pretrial detention until May 20. Savchenko declared a hunger strike the same day. On March 29, the Kyiv's Appeals Court turned down Savchenko's appeal. On April 17, Savchenko took a lie-detector test. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko considers it expedient to hold a meeting of the Normandy Four (Germany, France, Ukraine, Russia) at the beginning of next month. "I believe that it can and should be held in early June. As far as my hopes are realized - we will know on May 23-24, when attempts for prior approval would have been made," Poroshenko said at a joint press conference with President of Slovenia Borut Pahor in Kyiv on Friday. He added that the meeting should not be an end in itself, but must yield a decision. "First and foremost, this decision should ensure the security dimension of the Minsk Agreements and include a resolution of the UN Security Council on peacekeeping forces in the occupied Donbas," Poroshenko said. This is the most effective and probably the only way to start the political process and prepare for local elections in Donbas under the supervision of international peacekeeping forces, he said. "Otherwise, Ukrainian representatives will be unable to campaign, there will be no access to mass media, the freedom of meetings will not be ensured, and it will be impossible to monitor [the guarantee of] citizens' free expression of their will," Poroshenko said. Ukraine's European partners support this position, he said. The National Police Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings due to interference in the activities of People's Front Party leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk for the purpose of his resignation as Ukraine's prime minister. "After a series of reports in the media and appeals from people's deputies, the main investigation department of the National Police of Ukraine initiated criminal proceedings due to interference in the activity of Arseniy Yatsenyuk during his tenure as prime minister of Ukraine with the aim of preventing his activity and his subsequent resignation as head of government," the press service of the National Police reported on Friday. Criminal proceedings were launched under Part 1, Article 344 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (interference in the activities of a statesman). "In addition, investigators are considering the theory of the conspiracy of a group of people for the realization of this criminal plan. According to preliminary findings, they intervened by bribing citizens, organizing paid rallies and disseminating discreditable and false information in the media and through people's deputies, experts, others. According to Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko, over $30 million was spent on such measures in 2015-2016 alone," the National Police said. As reported, Onyshchenko is suspected of organizing the scheme to steal funds during the extraction and sale of natural gas as part of joint venture agreements with PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia, which caused about UAH 3 billion in losses to the state. The SBU also announced the launch of a pretrial investigation against Onyshchenko on the grounds of high treason. In December 2016, Onyshchenko accused the administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko of "buying" votes in parliament through him and several other MPs. The Verkhovna Rada gave consent to prosecute, detain and arrest Onyshchenko on July 5, 2016. However, on the eve of voting, taking advantage of the status of a people's deputy, Onyshchenko left the territory of the state. He was placed on the national wanted list on August 8, 2016. BERLIN, May 11 (Reuters) Germany is ready to help minimize the impact on its businesses of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday. "We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimize the negative consequences," Altmaier told Deutschlandfunk radio. "That means, it is concretely about damage limitation." Germany had no immediate reason to change its Hermes export guarantee scheme for Iran. "At the moment, there is no reason to change the valued Hermes scheme," Altmaier said. "We are just starting a conversation about what the economic implications are, and how we can avoid negative consequences for jobs in Germany." He said Germany had no legal means of protecting German companies that do business in the United States. "What we are doing, however, is to assist and advise these(German) companies active in Iran, which want to be active in Iran and to advise them, including legally," he added. Of tensions with the United States over the Iran issue, Altmaier said: "It is rather like the trade conflict with regard to the announced tariffs for steel and aluminum... We must avoid entering into a spiral of escalation." German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in a telephone call on Thursday that she supported maintaining the nuclear accord as long as Tehran upheld its side of the deal. French President Emmanuel Macron told Rouhani the same a day earlier. Germany, France and Britain want talks to be held in a broader format on Iran's ballistic missile program and its regional activities, including in Syria and Yemen. The United States withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA) can be viewed as a declaration of economic war on Iran. In other words, US President Donald Trump has taken Irans economy hostage to make sure that the West gets the concessions JCPOA failed to deliver. At the beginning, the nuclear negotiations raised hopes of ending all challenges facing Iran and the West. Barack Obama started the nuclear negotiations with the hope of changing Irans behavior. Irans nuclear program was not the Wests only concern regarding the Islamic Republics behavior. Irans regional ambitions and its missile program were two of the other major sticking points in dealing with Iran. Iran's limited notion of "flexibility" When Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei finally agreed to show heroic flexibility and start negotiating with the West, he said that his flexibility was meant to get rid of the evil of economic pressures caused by a catalogue of international sanctions. A few years onward, Iranian officials still say the countrys economic situation is serious. However, if the sanctions worked for Obama and led to Khameneis heroic flexibility, how can it also work for Trump and bring about the same result. Besides economic pressure, Obamas success in bringing Khameneis men to the negotiating table was based on two other factors: Obamas ability to create an international consensus, and assuring Khamenei that the US is not following a regime change policy. Both of these factors are absent in Trumps new campaign against Iran. He has already alienated the United States closest allies, the UK, France and Germany. He has also annoyed them by his decisions about UNESCO and the Paris treaty about climate change. He has even threatened to leave NATO. A measure that would leave Europe alone against Russias threats. Where do the Europeans stand? Although Europeans are not happy about Irans behavior, they disagree with the US withdrawal from the JCPOA. It is not clear how far Europe can resist against Trumps pressures, although it is clear that there is a disagreement between the two sides of the Atlantic over how to deal with Tehran. As regards with the second factor, Trump has never explicitly supported the idea of regime change in Iran, but the combination of his aides and advisers with individuals such as his national Security Adviser John Bolton who has called for regime change in Tehran, puts Tehran in an uncomfortable position. Nevertheless, it is clear that in his latest address he made a distinction between the people and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. On the other hand, unlike the situation during the Obama administration, trump is not enjoying the support of Moscow and Beijing on sanctions against Tehran. The situation inevitably pushes Iran towards the East. However, there is no guarantee that the current diplomatic line-up would remain the same. In the end the EU-3 can once again stand next to the US. The Syrian Quagmire The war in Syria devours Irans financial and human resources. It can even turn into a battlefront where Iran and Israel are at loggerheads. Israel has reportedly attacked Iranian bases in Syria on multiple occasions and Iran has sent a drone into the Israeli airspace and has responded to Israeli strikes by firing 20 rockets at Israeli positions in Golan heights, although Tehran has not taken responsibility for the rocket attack. Repetition of such military exchanges can bring the EU-3 closer to Trump in support of Israel. Meanwhile, thanks to its close ties with Israel, Russia is not likely to support Iran against Israel. A wider war in a dire economic situation could change Irans diplomatic position altogether. The Syrian quagmire has the potential to drag Iran into a war with Israel, and tempt the EU troika to withdraw from JCPOA. The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Radio Farda Thousands of teachers, both active and retired, took to the streets in Tehran and several other Iranian cities May 10 to protest their paltry salaries and what they view as a lack of investment in education on the part of the government. Some rallies were stormed by security forces, who beat and detained an unknown number of protesters, state-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported. Called for by The Council for Coordinating Teachers Trade Associations, the protests were held in front of the Budget and Planning Organization in Tehran and outside Education Ministry offices in other cities, including Isfahan, Divandareh, Kazerun, Kermanshah, Khoramabad, Mamasani, Marivan, Mashhadd, Qorveh, Sari, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The protesting teachers carried banners that read Bread, jobs, freedom, and justice in education, and Teachers deserve wages higher than the poverty line. They chanted slogans including Teachers, workers, students, unite! and Free imprisoned teachers! A board member with the Tehran Teachers Trade Association, Sediqeh Pakzamir, tweeted May 10 that several teachers had been detained during the protests in the capital, among them prominent teachers rights activists Mohammad Taqi Fallahi, Mohammad Habibi, Ali Zolfi, Ismail Gerami, Mohammad Hassan Poureh, and Rasoul Bodaqi, according to Ms. Pakzamir, who also tweeted that some protesters in Tehran were savagely beaten. Five of those detained were reportedly later released. Ignoring the livelihood of teachers and retired educators and disregarding the quality of education in our schools shows that education is not a priority for the Islamic Republics establishment and its government the protesters insisted in a resolution read at the Tehran rally. Demonstrations by teachers and other low-wage workers have gained momentum in Iran in recent months. These most recent protests were unique, however, in that women were on the picket line in significant numbers, not surprising given that more than 65 percent of primary school teachers in Iran are women, according to The World Bank. While Iran is one of the oldest members of International Labor Organization (ILO), the Islamic Republic does not recognize independent trade unions. In the forty years since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, scores of teachers and workers right activists have been accused of vague crimes and handed long prison sentences. Currently, prominent teachers rights activist and trade unionist Esmail Abdi is on hunger strike to protest his treatment behind bars and what he describes as the criminalization of trade unions in Iran. In another security crackdown the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on Friday May 11 that security forces in Hormozgan Province have arrested more than 40 environmental activists in various cities of the province, bringing the total number of environmental activists in jail to 55 as one activist, Mojgan Jamshidi, has observed on her Twitter page. The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has expressed concern about the arrests in Hormozgan, commenting on its website almost everyone involved in the campaign to protect wildlife in Larestan area has been arrested. The news of the arrests and disappearance of activists first broke out in several tweets posted by users in provincial cities of Hormozgan. Radio Farda contacted the families of some of the jailed environmental activists, but clearly intimidated family members said security officials told them not to speak to media about the cases. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening ceremony of Dinamo Baku Hotel. General manager of the hotel Alberto Matos and its designer Lindo Pinto informed President Ilham Aliyev of the reconstruction and renovation work carried out at the hotel. The head of state and his wife cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the hotel. President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva viewed conditions created in the hotel. The hotel offers a unique experience with its exquisite international cuisine, and classic afternoon teas with the finest pastry selection. Rooms are air-conditioned and complimentary WiFi is available throughout the hotel. The state-of-the-art facilities have been installed, ample opportunites have been created for the guests and athletes in the gym. The hotel also features a swimming pool, and a fitness and spa center. After touring the hotel, the president met with the hotel staff and posed for photographs together with them. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: Today the Azerbaijani army has been fully provided with modern weapons and under the leadership of supreme commander-in-chief is able to perform the most difficult task, Assistant to the Azerbaijani president for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies and Military Issues Fuad Alasgarov said. Alasgarov made the remarks in Baku May 11 at the presentation of the Sevdiyim project, dedicated to the 95th birth anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev and the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). The Azerbaijani army has high combat readiness, he said. One of the achievements reached by Azerbaijan is the creation of a strong army. "The countrys army demonstrated its strength during the April battles of 2016, by raising Azerbaijans flag in the liberated lands, he said. We are sure that soon Azerbaijans flag will flutter in Shusha, Khankendi districts." Alasgarov said that the Azerbaijani people returned the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic after 70 years. "This flag is the flag of strong Azerbaijan, which became the leading country in the region, he said. For these achievements the Azerbaijani people are obliged to national leader Heydar Aliyev. During the years of Heydar Aliyev's leadership, Azerbaijan has become the strongest country in the CIS area. The state construction has been successfully carried out. A contract was signed with the world's leading oil companies to supply Azerbaijani oil to world markets." Alasgarov also added that social and political stability prevails in Azerbaijan today thanks to the policy being pursued in the country. The presentation of the Sevdiyim project dedicated to the 95th birth anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev and the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was held in Baku May 11. Assistant to the Azerbaijani president for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies and Military Issues Fuad Alasgarov, Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations Ulvi Mehdiyev attended the event. At the end of the official part of the event, a clip based on the poem of prominent poet, playwright Jafar Jabbarli "Sevdiyim" was demonstrated. Composer and performer is Azerbaijani Honored Artist Tunzala Aghayeva, stage director Ulviyya Kenul. Then, Aghayeva sang patriotic songs. The Sevdiyim project is being implemented by ASAN Service, ASAN volunteers, ASAN Radio. Various events are planned to be held within the project. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: A modern tourism industry will be created in Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said May 11 at a meeting with the staff of the Dinamo Hotel, the opening ceremony of which took place in the Sabail District of Baku. I congratulate you on the opening of a new hotel in Baku, the Azerbaijani president said. This is a wonderful event. The Dinamo Hotel was constructed and put into operation at an excellent level. As you know, it is located in a historic building. This building has a great history. I am very glad that the historical architecture of the building has been completely preserved, and the interior design also pleases the eye. Guests of the hotel will feel at home. An excellent design work was carried out. I'd like to express special gratitude to Mrs. Pinto. It's really a lovely design. All the work here was carried out at a very modern and high level," President Aliyev said. The president further emphasized that the hotel location is also very convenient. "This is the downtown area, and guests of the hotel can have a walk to the most interesting places of the city - Boulevard, Icherisheher and other places in the downtown area. Surely, activity of this hotel will give impetus to the development of tourism in the country. Thats because now this is one of the main directions for us. The number of tourists in the country is growing," the head of state said. The tourist flow to Azerbaijan grew 22 percent in 2016 and 20 percent in 2017, he noted. This is while for January-April this year, the tourist flow to Azerbaijan grew 13 percent. Today, tourists from more than 90 countries can come to Azerbaijan by using the ASAN Viza system. We have seven airports, and excellent infrastructure projects are being implemented. Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency has been recently created, and this will give impetus to the development of tourism. The head of state added that modern tourism industry will be created in Azerbaijan. At the same time, the commissioning of this hotel shows the general development of our country, he noted. The beauty of our city is recognized by the world community. Major events held in our country, sports events, and the holding of Formula 1 races among them, attract the worlds attention to Azerbaijan. Today, Baku, as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, opens its doors to friends. I am really happy that today we are participating in the official opening ceremony of the Dinamo Hotel located in the historical building of our city, he said. I am very glad that the architectural style of the building has been fully preserved. This building has a very long history. It is gratifying that we were able to preserve this building in its original form. I would like to note the importance of this, because I know that there were plans to demolish this building and build a new skyscraper in its place. However, immediately after I was informed about this, I stopped these plans. Thats because we have to cherish our history, our architecture and protect the development of Baku architecture. President Ilham Aliyev said that of course, the city should expand, develop, and there must be both multi-storey buildings and skyscrapers. However, at that time, there must be harmony between the historical past and modern requirements, he said. I think that Baku is one of the few cities in the world that combines these two important elements. We must cherish our ancient history, but modern buildings in Baku dont contradict the general appearance of the city, either. Thats why Baku maintains pleasant and comfortable ambience for the guests and residents of the city. The Azerbaijani president said that the opening of the Dinamo Hotel is a significant event. Thats because here we see the piece of art of the group, the world-famous company led by Mrs. Pinto, he noted. We appreciate the contribution you made. Of course, your name will certainly attract visitors here. Getting acquainted with various places of the hotel, we saw that it is no coincidence that your company meets high international standards. I would like to express my gratitude to you for that. I am sure that those who will live in the hotel, and those who will come here for lunch or have a good time, will really find themselves in a special atmosphere. Baku is rapidly developing, he said. I think that Baku today is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and we should preserve our heritage, create better conditions for the people and guests who live here. I wish you success. I am glad that the Dinamo name and the symbols of the past have been preserved. This once again shows that we treat all periods of our history with respect. This makes us even stronger, and it is true. I once again congratulate you. I wish you a fruitful activity here that should help to turn our Azerbaijan into one of the most attractive tourist destinations of our region. Thank you very much. Details added (the first version was posted on 14:45) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: A modern tourism industry will be created in Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said May 11 at a meeting with the staff of the Dinamo Hotel, the opening ceremony of which took place in the Sabail District of Baku. I congratulate you on the opening of a new hotel in Baku, the Azerbaijani president said. This is a wonderful event. The Dinamo Hotel was constructed and put into operation at an excellent level. As you know, it is located in a historic building. This building has a great history. I am very glad that the historical architecture of the building has been completely preserved, and the interior design also pleases the eye. Guests of the hotel will feel at home. An excellent design work was carried out. I'd like to express special gratitude to Mrs. Pinto. It's really a lovely design. All the work here was carried out at a very modern and high level," President Aliyev said. The president further emphasized that the hotel location is also very convenient. "This is the downtown area, and guests of the hotel can have a walk to the most interesting places of the city - Boulevard, Icherisheher and other places in the downtown area. Surely, activity of this hotel will give impetus to the tourism development in the country. Because, now this is one of the main directions for us. The number of tourists in the country is growing," the head of state said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on amending the "Decree on Ensuring the Implementation of the Law of Azerbaijan on Salt Iodization for the Purpose of Mass Prevention of Iodine Deficiency Diseases", dated Sept. 27, 2003. In accordance with the decree, the powers of the relevant executive authority, as envisaged in Article 6.2 of the "Law on Salt Iodization for the Purpose of Mass Prevention of Iodine Deficiency Diseases, will be implemented by the Food Safety Agency. Thus, the Agency will carry out examination of salt samples to determine the compliance of quality and safety indicators of iodized salt with standards and requirements. The Azerbaijani president has also signed a decree on amending the "Decree on Ensuring the Implementation of the Law of Azerbaijan on Grain, dated Oct. 23, 2003. Thus, the Food Safety Agency will receive the powers of the Economy Ministry and the Healthcare Ministry to carry out state control over the quality of grain products and hygienic registration in the state registry of grain processing products. Both decrees come into force July 1, 2018. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: Based on research of media monitoring group of Media Consulting Services company Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) became the second amongst higher educational institutions in April. Thus, in April media activity of BHOS made up 904. Media monitoring group has come to this conclusion having followed 10 TV, 55 publishing, 600 online media, over 665 sources including social nets. It should be noted that media activity on higher educational institutions is calculated based on analysis concerning quantity, quality and content of information. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: The leading IT solutions provider in Azerbaijan Cybernet and the Single integrator for creation and support of the State Information Systems in Uzbekistan (UZINFOCOM) signed the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in May, 2018. According to the memorandum, Cybernet and UZINFOCOM will cooperate in the fields of IT-consulting, software development for modification and improvement of national information systems, business automation through ERP, CRM and BI systems implementation, development and implementation of mobile technologies and solutions for the effective organization of various services, including the state services. In February, 2018 by the invitation of UZINFOCOM Cybernet also participated at UZINFOCOM-2018 international IT conference in Tashkent, which gathered together regional and global vendors, system integrators and international consulting companies. The conferences participants learned how IT systems support governmental projects, new legal frames in the IT field and other important issues. UZINFOCOM Center was created as the State Unitary enterprise under the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan in 2002. In 2017 the Center was transformed into the Single integrator for creation and support of the state information systems. UZINFOCOM aims to help integrate society into the world information environment, as well as to create and to implement some IT projects directed to implement ICT in government management, develop information resources in Uzbekistan. Established in 2004 Cybernet is the leading organization, engaged in creating and implementing IT infrastructures for enterprises, providing technical solutions, developing software of any level of complexities, both in the local market and in the countries of Central Asia. The company actively participates in state projects in Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan's banking market has divided into two categories - some banks understand necessity of investing in security and do it qualitatively, while others have not yet reached this stage, and therefore there have been cases of hacking, Director of Visa's Risk Management Operations in the CIS and South-Eastern Europe Larisa Makarova told Trend on April 30. There are security standards entitled PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), these standards stipulate securing the storage, transmission and processing of data adopted for all payment systems, she said. "Unfortunately, in some cases financial institution demonstrates that its security parameters meet the standards, but in fact, when data is hacked, it turns out that this is not the case. That is, not only quantity, but also quality is required," she said. According to her, today, the business understands that it needs to invest in security. "Very often we came across the fact that when talking about business, only business solutions were meant, and security was underestimated. They said that today fraudulence is at a very low level, so there is no need to invest in security. And now we have reached a stage where if you do not invest in security in advance, then you face very large losses. And we already have examples," she said. Makarova noted that Visa is ready to provide and provides a whole range of tools to solve such problems. "There are a number of tools that we offer in our markets, including in Azerbaijan. This is Visa Advanced Authorization technology, when Visa assesses each operation, depending on the portrait characteristics of a particular cardholder during the real-time transaction. That is, we have data accumulated over the entire period of card history showing behavioral characteristics of its holder - where he/ she makes purchases, which countries he/she visits, where he/she withdraws cash - that is, what is characteristic of the card owner. And if the operation comes out of this profile, or if the card has been in retail outlets that do not have a good reputation, we send this information to the bank in real time, and the bank can automatically assess what to do next - call the customer, etc," said Makarova. Furthermore, Makarova said, the company also offers various geo-location and acquiring programs. "Depending on where the cardholder is located and from where the transaction is, the system compares this data with the location of operation. For example, the cardholder lives in the UAE, and the operation takes place in Malaysia. In this case, the system sees this and immediately notifies the issuer about the card being blocked. There are also a number of acquiring programs. The program is installed in the acquiring bank, which is able to monitor activity of its clients in real time, especially major ones, particularly airlines, where the fraud level is quite high. There are special programs that also monitor from which country, through what card and from which address an operation is being carried out and whether everything is right," Makarova said. -- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 11 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The Turkmen side calls to intensify the discussion of various aspects of the construction of the transport corridor Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey within the framework of international organizations, Vatan newspaper reported. These include such organizations as the International Road Transport Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The message says the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proposed to discuss the possibility of creating a modal highway for Central Asia with access to Turkey. "We are ready to play the most active role and provide the most effective support for the implementation of this project", said the leader of Turkmenistan, inviting all UN member countries, having acceded to ECE and ESCAP, to join the substantive discussion of this issue. According to the transit project Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey entitled "Lapis Lazuli", railways and highways will connect the city of Turgundi in the Afghan province of Herat with Ashgabat, and further with the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi. The corridor will extend to Baku, and further through Tbilisi to Ankara with branches to Poti and Batumi, and further - from Ankara to Istanbul. The project budget, which is aimed at facilitating transit logistics and customs procedures, is estimated at $2 billion. The large-scale project is aimed at intensifying the economic integration of the region and increasing the volume of trade. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Ali Mustafayev Trend: Assets of Kazakhstan's Alfa-Bank declined by 8.2 percent in January-March 2018, to 348.223 billion tenge, Kazakh media outlets reported. Net loss of the bank compared to the same period in 2017 decreased 1.6 times, to 1.1 billion tenge, the cumulative loss decreased by 29.3 percent, to 1.1 billion tenge. The loan portfolio of the bank increased by 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2018, amounting to 177.5 billion tenge. The volume of customer accounts decreased by 10.6 percent as of March 31, 2018 and amounted to 272 billion tenge. Net interest income increased by 12.3 percent in the reporting period, to 9.8 billion, commission income by 2 times, up to 2.7 billion tenge. The liabilities of the bank decreased by 8.6 percent, to 293.2 billion tenge, equity capital - by 6 percent, to 54.9 billion tenge, the authorized capital did not change and amounted to 5.5 billion tenge. Alfa-Bank in Kazakhstan was established in December 1994 in Kazakhstan. The bank is part of ABH Holdings SA, represented in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Netherlands. Alfa-Bank in Kazakhstan ranked 15th by the amount of assets, among 32 Kazakhstan banks in the first quarter of 2018. Follow the author on Twitter: @Ali_Mustafayev Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Ilkin Shafiyev Trend: Azerbaijan's Association of Producers and Exporters of Milk and Dairy Products (ASEB) plans to introduce new standards for these products in the country, ASEB Executive Director Samir Eyyubov said at a meeting of the Association participants in Baku on May 11. "Azerbaijan needs to promote such a concept as "farm milk". That is milk and dairy products manufactured in compliance with the necessary standards. Special logos should be on packages of finished products for this end," he said. Eyyubov said a number of marketing activities are being developed to promote such products in the Azerbaijani market. "We need to use all available media platforms for this. Particularly, the work on our website will be completed by late this month, and we seek to manufacture competitive products that should be sold in domestic market and directed for export," Eyyubov said. ASEB was established on Jan. 26, 2018. Currently, it unites 20 companies, and talks underway with new companies. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: Companies in Azerbaijan engaged in the production and processing of dairy products should work hard to develop their industry, Yusuf Abdullayev, vice president of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), said at a meeting with participants of the Azerbaijan Milk and Dairy Products Producers and Exporters Association May 11. I think that the creation of such an industry association is an important event, Abdullayev said. We believe that this organization will contribute to the development of the sphere. At the same time, serious work is needed on the part of the entrepreneurs themselves. The Azerbaijan Milk and Dairy Products Producers and Exporters Association was established January 26, 2018. Presently, it unites 20 members, and negotiations are also held with new companies. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Anar Aliyev and Vusal Nasirli have been appointed new advisers to the minister of labor and social protection of the population of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan said in a message posted on its website May 11. Earlier, Azerbaijans minister of labor and social protection of the population had only one adviser - Yalchin Muslimov. Thus, the number of advisers has now reached three people. Anar Aliyev is also acting head of the ministrys office. Earlier, the office was headed by Ajdar Jabiyev, while Adalat Aliyev was his deputy. Both of these positions are now vacant. Sahil Babayev was appointed the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan in April. After his appointment, Babayev emphasized that full transparency will be ensured in all spheres of the ministrys activities, and the regulatory and legal framework will be improved. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Rufiz Hafizoglu- Trend: In April 2018, the number of vessels arriving in Turkey's ports amounted to 23,310 units, the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication told Trend on May 11. During the reported period, the number of ships that arrived in Turkish ports, flying the flag of Turkey, was 11,895, while the number of vessels flying flags of other countries - 11,415. The gross registered tonnage of all vessels during the reported period was 267.206 million tons. "The gross registered tonnage of vessels arriving in Turkish ports and flying the Turkish flag amounted to 49.45 million tons, and vessels flying the flags of other countries 217.7 million tons," the ministry said. The schedule of vessels arriving in Turkish ports in April 2018: Ports of Turkey Ships and gross tonnage Number and tonnage of ships flying the Turkish flag Number and tonnage of vessels flying a foreign flag In total Number of ships tonnage Number of ships Tonnage Number of ships Tonnage Amasra 26 4,424 1 2,545 27 6,969 Ambarli 621 7,003,711 740 26,980,422 1 361 33,984,133 Ayancik 16 805 0 0 16 805 Bartin 35 56,518 97 359,704 132 416,222 Cide 37 1,851 0 0 37 1,851 Fatsa 20 16,384 9 23,059 29 39,443 Gerze 10 1,172 0 0 10 1,172 Giresun 14 9,352 7 14,496 21 23,848 Gorele 1 31 0 0 1 31 Hopa 237 101,407 27 166,688 264 268,095 Igneada 25 1,116 9 440,429 34 441,545 Inebolu 65 90,841 9 28,873 74 119,714 Karadeniz Ereglisi 171 659,720 121 1,988,426 292 2,648,146 Karasu 14 35,217 68 230,075 82 265,292 Kefken 51 2,496 0 0 51 2,496 Ordu 8 1,154 0 0 8 1,154 Pazar 3 1,016 0 0 3 1,016 Rize 68 127,992 6 32,579 74 160,571 Sinop 31 8,155 3 16,717 34 24,872 Surmene 24 4,652 0 0 24 4,652 Sile 18 1,892 0 0 18 1,892 Tirebolu 24 121,391 0 0 24 121,391 Unye 108 205,671 32 161,892 140 367,563 Vakfikebir 5 1,270 0 0 5 1,270 Zonguldak 80 442,047 121 1,989,224 201 2,431,271 Alanya 9 24,126 5 67,152 14 91,278 Aliaga 549 3,365,853 1,198 26,146,596 1,747 29,512,449 Anamur 7 245 0 0 7 245 Ayvalik 146 41,129 1 74 147 41,203 Bandirma 183 428,248 310 1,555,234 493 1,983,482 Bodrum 334 113,321 36 8,172 370 121,493 Botas 58 593,324 198 11,666,459 256 12,259,783 Bozcaada 120 31,988 0 0 120 31,988 Cesme 351 1,539,770 100 20,951 451 1,560,721 Datca 4 39 0 0 4 39 Dikili 55 5,867 27 89,205 82 95,072 Edremit 157 10,106 0 0 157 10,106 Enez 104 11,034 0 0 104 11,034 Erdek 67 22,683 0 0 67 22,683 Fethiye 74 6,153 33 96,064 107 102,217 Finike 13 1,255 0 0 13 1,255 Foca 85 4,514 0 0 85 4,514 Gemlik 542 3,241,059 797 17,513,765 1,339 20,754,824 Gocek 18 8,953 2 280 20 9,233 Gokceada 66 6,295 0 0 66 6,295 Gulluk 259 589,699 111 1,050,598 370 1,640,297 Iskenderun 561 2,300,039 1,062 20,090,324 1,623 22,390,364 Izmit 1,507 7,593,450 1,967 39,444,248 3,474 47,037,698 Karabiga 277 518,902 138 2,979,936 415 3,498,838 Kas 50 7,680 0 0 50 7,680 Kemer 27 146 0 0 27 146 Kusadasi 140 14,835 23 411,273 163 426,108 Marmara A. 274 240,220 37 185,544 311 425,764 Marmaris 97 35,085 13 58,596 110 93,681 Mudanya 31 9,747 0 0 31 9,747 Silivri 16 1,822 0 0 16 1,822 Tasucu 61 36,051 218 1,563,918 279 1,599,969 Tekirdag 405 1,883,252 506 13,065,450 911 14,948,702 Tuzla 716 5,785,397 349 3,475,929 1,065 9,261,326 Yalova 302 2,721,363 164 2,605,684 466 5,327,047 Karatas 278 8,367 0 0 278 8,367 Manavgat 11 630 0 0 11 630 Trabzon 82 301,180 166 1,048,418 248 1,349,598 Samsun 416 1,209,761 792 4,173,493 1,208 5,383,254 Istanbul 636 1,323,743 165 2,577,350 801 3,901,093 Antalya 138 728,778 92 1,558,969 230 2,287,747 Izmir 242 2,581,173 485 8,533,777 727 11,114,950 Canakkale 395 459,851 44 582,221 439 1,042,072 Mersin 320 2,752,173 1,126 24,741,831 1,446 27,494,004 In total 11,895 49,459,592 11,415 217,746,640 23,310 267,206,232 --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Details added (first version posted on 17:44) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: The Moscow Court of Arbitration has imposed arrest on 41.6 percent of the capital of IBA-Moscow, the Russian subsidiary of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), upon an appeal from Russia's Sberbank, according to the Court. "The Public Joint Stock Company Sberbank of Russia has appealed to the Moscow Court of Arbitration with a request to take provisional measures in the form of seizing the IBA property for a total of not more than $21,270,039.32, including a stake (41.6 percent) in the authorized capital of IBA-Moscow, in favor of Sberbank PJSC," the court said. In April 2018, Sberbank PJSC filed a lawsuit at the High Court of Justice, in England and Wales, against the IBA to collect debt under a loan agreement worth $21.27 million. However, according to the report, Sberbank failed to enforce the loan repayment for a number of reasons. In 2017, the IBA Supervisory Board made a decision on the voluntary restructuring of the foreign liabilities of the bank. In May 2017, the Nasimi District Court of Baku, Azerbaijan, granted the IBA appeal on initiating a procedure of voluntary restructuring. Last July, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted the IBA recognition of its ongoing restructuring in Azerbaijan. The recognition triggered an automatic stay barring any action in the United States against IBA or its US-located assets. "Thus, Sberbank was unable to enforce the loan agreement in the United States in connection with the injunction to initiate any procedural actions against IBA or its US-located assets," the court said. The Moscow Court of Arbitration further reminded that a decision on liquidation of the Russian subsidiary of the IBA was made at a general meeting of the IBA shareholders in March 2018. According to the court, these circumstances may obstacle or make it impossible to enforce the court's decision if Sberbank's claims to the IBA are granted and if there is insufficiency of funds for execution of such a decision. The IBA-Moscow was founded in 2002. The IBA has been operating since 1992. The bank has been at the stage of recovery since July 2015, which is related to preparations for privatization of the bank's state-owned shares. To restore the bank's financial position, the distressed assets of the bank were transferred to the state-owned Aqrarkredit non-bank credit organization. Aqrarkredit provides IBA with liquid assets in exchange for distressed assets. Restructuring of IBAs foreign liabilities has been recently completed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: Milk-Pro Ltd., an Azerbaijani manufacturer of dairy products, intends to significantly increase output, chairman of the companys supervisory board, Movsum Shikhiyev, told Trend May 11. Thus, the company will be able to expand its export opportunities, he said. Presently, we mainly export butter and yellow cheese, he said. The main export markets are Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan." "In the coming years, we are going to expand exports, enter new markets, particularly in the Middle East. To do this, we need to increase production. Last year, we received orders from abroad for $25 million, and exported products worth only $5 million. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijans State Committee for Property Affairs Rustam Shahbazov has replaced Sahil Babayev at the Supervisory Board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA). This decision was made at a regular meeting of the banks shareholders May 11. Sahil Babayev was previously appointed by the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, dated April 21, 2018, as minister of labor and social protection of the population. At the meeting, the provision on the Supervisory Board of the IBA was also approved. Other issues related to the activities of the IBA Board and the Audit Committee were considered, and a new committee was formed. Azad Mammadov was appointed Chairman of the Audit Committee, while Zamig Mammadov and Vugar Badalov were appointed members of the Committee. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: The decision of the Moscow Court of Arbitration to impose arrest on 41.6 percent of the capital of IBA-Moscow, the Russian subsidiary of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), upon an appeal from Russia's Sberbank, wont affect the IBA's activities, the bank said in a statement May 11. This claim, which has the nature of a purely commercial dispute, wont affect the activities of the IBA in any way, reads the statement. This is while the bank has the right to challenge this decision in the court. In April 2018, Sberbank PJSC filed a lawsuit at the High Court of Justice, in England and Wales, against the IBA to collect debt under a loan agreement worth $21.27 million. However, according to the report, Sberbank failed to enforce the loan repayment for a number of reasons. In 2017, the IBA Supervisory Board made a decision on the voluntary restructuring of the foreign liabilities of the bank. In May 2017, the Nasimi District Court of Baku, Azerbaijan, granted the IBA appeal on initiating a procedure of voluntary restructuring. Last July, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted the IBA recognition of its ongoing restructuring in Azerbaijan. The recognition triggered an automatic stay barring any action in the United States against IBA or its US-located assets. "Thus, Sberbank was unable to enforce the loan agreement in the United States in connection with the injunction to initiate any procedural actions against IBA or its US-located assets," the court said. The Moscow Court of Arbitration further reminded that a decision on liquidation of the Russian subsidiary of the IBA was made at a general meeting of the IBA shareholders in March 2018. According to the court, these circumstances may obstacle or make it impossible to enforce the court's decision if Sberbank's claims to the IBA are granted and if there is insufficiency of funds for execution of such a decision. The IBA-Moscow was founded in 2002. The IBA has been operating since 1992. The bank has been at the stage of recovery since July 2015, which is related to preparations for privatization of the bank's state-owned shares. To restore the bank's financial position, the distressed assets of the bank were transferred to the state-owned Aqrarkredit non-bank credit organization. Aqrarkredit provides IBA with liquid assets in exchange for distressed assets. Restructuring of IBAs foreign liabilities has been recently completed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MTsurkovTrend Details added (first version posted on 20:07) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: The decision of the Moscow Court of Arbitration to impose arrest on 41.6 percent of the capital of IBA-Moscow, the Russian subsidiary of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), upon an appeal from Russia's Sberbank, wont affect the IBA's activities, the bank said in a statement May 11. This claim, which has the nature of a purely commercial dispute, wont affect the activities of the IBA in any way, reads the statement. This is while the bank has the right to challenge this decision in the court. In April 2018, Sberbank PJSC filed a lawsuit at the High Court of Justice, in England and Wales, against the IBA to collect debt under a loan agreement worth $21.27 million. However, according to the report, Sberbank failed to enforce the loan repayment for a number of reasons. In 2017, the IBA Supervisory Board made a decision on the voluntary restructuring of the foreign liabilities of the bank. In May 2017, the Nasimi District Court of Baku, Azerbaijan, granted the IBA appeal on initiating a procedure of voluntary restructuring. Last July, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted the IBA recognition of its ongoing restructuring in Azerbaijan. The recognition triggered an automatic stay barring any action in the United States against IBA or its US-located assets. "Thus, Sberbank was unable to enforce the loan agreement in the United States in connection with the injunction to initiate any procedural actions against IBA or its US-located assets," the court said. The Moscow Court of Arbitration further reminded that a decision on liquidation of the Russian subsidiary of the IBA was made at a general meeting of the IBA shareholders in March 2018. According to the court, these circumstances may obstacle or make it impossible to enforce the court's decision if Sberbank's claims to the IBA are granted and if there is insufficiency of funds for execution of such a decision. The IBA-Moscow was founded in 2002. The IBA has been operating since 1992. The bank has been at the stage of recovery since July 2015, which is related to preparations for privatization of the bank's state-owned shares. To restore the bank's financial position, the distressed assets of the bank were transferred to the state-owned Aqrarkredit non-bank credit organization. Aqrarkredit provides IBA with liquid assets in exchange for distressed assets. Restructuring of IBAs foreign liabilities has been recently completed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MTsurkovTrend Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Canadas Zenith Energy, which is the operator of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab, the largest onshore block of oil fields in Azerbaijan, has conducted geological study at two wells, a source in Azerbaijans oil and gas market told Trend. The company's geological study has examined wells Z-4 and Z-14. There is no confirmed date regarding when Z-4 was spud. Records indicate that it was drilled to a total depth of 4,715 meters and tested at a rate of 250 barrels of fluid per day in 1981, 70 percent of which was assessed to be oil. Z-14 was spud in November 1988 and drilled to a total depth of 4,610 meters. There is no record that the well was ever tested, said the source. The company's field personnel have recently located and dugout the Z-14 wellhead- which was previously buried- with the objective of creating an entry point into the well. The study of Z-4 and Z-14 well data has led to the identification of numerous oil and gas shows which are currently being further investigated, said the source. Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement (REDPSA) in March 2016 for a block that includes the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oilfields. These fields cover an area of 642.2 square kilometers. Production under the agreement began in August of 2016. Zenith holds a 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The duration of the agreement is 25 years, with a potential extension of five additional years. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The first stage of the 2000-km South Gas Corridor (SGC), from Azerbaijans Caspian shores to Eskisheher in Turkey, will start up May 29 with a ceremony in Baku, a government source has told NGW. The SGC opening ceremony will be attended by state and government delegations of those countries that will receive gas, as well as the heads of companies that are involved in this project, the source said. The Southern Gas Corridor, worth over $40 billion, is considered as one of the priority energy projects for the EU, which strives for diversification of gas sources. The project envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey. At an initial stage, the gas to be produced in the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. As part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Global benchmark Brent crude stabilized near 3-1/2-year highs on Friday as the prospect of new US sanctions on Iran tightened the outlook for Middle East supply at a time when global crude production is only just keeping pace with rising demand, Reuters reported. US crude slipped slightly as domestic production continues to surge. The United States plans to reintroduce sanctions against Iran, which pumps about 4 percent of the worlds oil, after abandoning a deal reached in late 2015 that limited Tehrans nuclear ambitions in exchange for the removal of US and European sanctions. The global oil market is balanced, with top exporter Saudi Arabia and No.1 producer Russia having led efforts to curb oil supply to prop up prices. Its the same witches brew of bullish stuff: Iran, Venezuela, the lack of alacrity by Saudi Arabia to bring more oil onto the market, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. Prices may strengthen later in the day as traders shore up their positions, he said. Its definitely not an environment to go home short over the weekend. Brent crude LCOc1 was flat at $77.47 a barrel by 1:33 p.m. EDT [1733 GMT], just below the $78-level it hit on Thursday, its highest since November 2014. US light crude CLc1 was down 16 cents at $71.20, having touched a 3-1/2 year high of $71.89 on Thursday. For the week, Brent was on track for a 3.5-percent gain and US crude a 2.3-percent rise. Many analysts expect oil prices to rise as Irans exports fall. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys Education Ministry has announced an open tender to render IT services, as well as modernize software of computers in the ministry. The corresponding IT services must be rendered within 12 months from the date of announcement of the results of the tender. Local and foreign companies can take part in the tender. The tender will be held at 10:30 (GMT +3) on June 8, 2018. Bids are accepted at: Ataturk Bulvar No:98 1.Kat C Blok 06650 Bakanlklar Cankaya/Ankara Email: [email protected] Phone: (+90 312) 413 14 55, fax: (+90 312) 418 19 44. The tender participation fee is 300 Turkish liras. (1 USD = 4.2743 TRY on May 11) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has announced a tender for the purchase of software as part of fighting money laundering. The tender participation fee is 300 manats. Those willing to participate in the tender are invited to send an application and other documents until 17:00 (GMT +4) May 23, 2018, and tender bids until 17:00 (GMT +4), May 30, 2018 to: 67 Nizami Street, Nasimi District, Baku. The envelopes with tender bids will be opened at 11:00 (GMT +4) on May 31, 2018. For more information please contact: Phone: (+994 12) 493-00-91 (ext. 2700, 2106 and 2703) Contact persons: Emin Ibrahimov, Farid Gasimov Mail: [email protected] (1.7 manats = $1 on May 11) - Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11. By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Russian tourists will be able to use their national currency - the ruble - in Turkey, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said, Turkish media reported on May 11. The minister said that the talks are underway between Turkey and Russia in this regard. The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry earlier told Trend that in March 2018, 97,438 tourists from Russia visited Turkey, which is 38,784 people more than in March 2017. The share of Russian citizens in the total number of foreigners, who visited Turkey in March 2018 was 4.5 percent. In March 2017, the figure was 3.7 percent. In March 2018, more than 2.879 million foreign tourists visited the country. In the first quarter of 2018, 7.263 million tourists visited Turkey. Turkey's tourism income grew 31.3 percent in the first quarter of 2018 as compared to the same period last year. The country's tourism income totaled $4.425 billion during the period. During the period, 76.1 percent of the total income accounted for foreign citizens and 23.9 percent accounted for the Turkish citizens living abroad. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Muhammedkaliy Abylgaziev met today with Chairman of the National Bank of Switzerland Thomas Jordan, the Kyrgyz Governments press service reported. The head of government noted that Kyrgyzstan attaches great importance to the further development of bilateral relations between the two countries. "For 25 years, Kyrgyzstan has felt the support provided by the Swiss side in various directions, including financial ones. We know about successful projects implemented in the republic with your help, as well as close interaction with the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic. There is much in common between our countries and we will continue to build our relations in the spirit of trust and friendship," Abylgaziev assured. The Prime Minister especially emphasized that the Government of the country, within the framework of the Year of Regional Development announced by the decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, is aimed to make the main emphasis on improving social and economic indicators in regions. "In the country, about 70% of the population lives in rural areas. One of our main tasks for today is to create all the necessary conditions for a comfortable life for people living in the regions. Our actions will be aimed at creating jobs in the regions of the republic and reducing migration, developing agriculture, industrial production," Abylgaziev said. At the same time, the head of government stressed that the development of the tourist industry is no less important direction, which the Government is focusing on with a great prospect for the future. In turn, the chairman of the National Bank of Switzerland noted the relevance of the tasks set by the government. He noted that the Government's strategy is very convincing and has a clear position. "I am glad that my visit coincided with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Kyrgyz Som. Over 25 years of cooperation with the National Bank, a number of successful joint projects have been implemented, in connection with which I would like to note the qualified staff of the Bank. Our bilateral relations with Kyrgyzstan are characterized by a high dynamics of development, which need not be stopped. Speaking about the projects being implemented, I want to note that we are not limited to cooperation with the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic. When developing and implementing projects, we carefully consider each of them so that in the future it will be successfully implemented," Jordan said. During the meeting, the sides also discussed a wide range of issues of Kyrgyz-Swiss bilateral cooperation and prospects for its development. In the end, Abylgaziev invited Jordan to take part in the opening ceremony of the Third World Nomad Games on Sept. 2 this year in Issyk-Kul. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 11 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend The Executive Committee of the international Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) with the assistance of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) organized a meeting in Ashgabat on the development of cooperation with international partners, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported. The forum was attended by representatives of ministries the country, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, the European Union, the World Bank, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC). The participants of the meeting paid attention to the fact that in recent years, the countries of the region have taken effective measures to improve the ecological and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea basin. Interaction with major international organizations, especially the UN and its specialized agencies and institutions in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development, is steadily strengthening and expanding. This is confirmed by the resolution "Cooperation between the UN and the international Fund for Saving the Aral Sea", unanimously adopted in April this year at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. The meeting participants exchanged views on the concept of the UN Aral Sea Program. At the same time, reports were heard about the preparation of a new, 4th Action Program to assist the countries of the Aral Sea basin (ASBP-4), which includes a set of measures and projects aimed at improving the environment, socio-economic development of the region, the introduction of mechanisms for rational water use, improving the quality of life of the population. For this purpose, regional and national working groups consisting of representatives of structural divisions of IFAS, specialists of ministries and departments of the founding states, international experts have been established and multilateral consultations are being held. IFAS, created in 1990s by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, is aimed at financing joint projects and programs to save the Aral Sea and improve the environmental situation in the Aral Sea region. IFAS was granted observer status in the UN General Assembly in December 2008. The Aral Sea problem affected the North of Turkmenistan. Dashoguz region was negatively affected by the environmental disaster, there are acute problems related to the provision of clean drinking water and the fight against salinity of cultivated land. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 11 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The annual EU-Central Asia High Level Political and Security Dialogue is planned to be held in Ashgabat in the coming weeks, Head of the EU Liaison Office in Turkmenistan Lubomir Frebort said in his welcoming speech on the occasion of Europe Day, Nebit-Gaz, online newspaper of the countrys Oil and Gas Complex, reported. This negotiating mechanism is one of the elements of regular political contacts between Central Asia and the EU, he said. The EU official noted that partnership between the EU and Turkmenistan is being built in such areas as trade, energy and transport. The EU is one of the three biggest trade partners of Turkmenistan with mutual trade value of 1.6 billion euros, according to the report. Turkey will continue to trade with Iran without violating the requirements of the UN, said Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci, Turkish media reported May 11. "The US decision on sanctions against Iran is an opportunity for Turkey. I will continue to trade with Iran, observing the terms of UN resolutions," the minister said. The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on six people associated, according to Washington, with the Corps of "Guardians of the Islamic Revolution" of Iran, as well as against three companies related to the IRGC. This decision followed after President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington would withdraw from the JCPOA (Joint comprehensive action plan). The following letter appears on the LUYS website: Nine years ago exactly, then President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan of Armenia offered me the opportunity to head LUYS, their newly created and visionary Education Foundation. The goal was to grow a generation of critical thinkers and innovators to ensure that Armenia will thrive and participate on an equal footing with leading nations. Giving youth access to the best education meant empowering them to question everything and become agents of change for the country. Our LUYS Website went live on May 9th 2009 and we started granting scholarships to Armenian students accepted at the worlds top universities. LUYS has been one of the greatest adventures in my life. I began my work in education with the Centre Mondial Informatique et Resources Humaines, a program supported by Francois Mitterrand, Frances President at the time, in order to bring technology education to every citizen in the world. I then joined the founding members of MITs Media Lab lead by Nicholas Negroponte along with 12 exceptional world Scientists such as Seymour Papert and Marvin Minsky, the founding fathers of Artificial Intelligence. The MIT Media Lab researchers and scholars are often described as the inventors of the Future obsessed with making the world a better place. Learning combined with action to create positive change is the MIT Know-how that I brought into Luys. I was blessed to work with the most amazing, daring and diverse group of passionate Armenian scholars and scientists, some 550 of them engaging in building the new knowledge economy of the Republic of Armenia. Today, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the Founders of LUYS, its Scholars, my incredibly smart and dedicated Staff, the many Advisers and Friends and the community we created together. What an enriching experience it has been to work and continuously learn and grow with you all. During these past weeks Armenia has been the center of the worlds attention for an unparalleled set of events that lead to a change of government while keeping peace and understanding on all sides. This incredible accomplishment is to be credited to all who now stand together to imagine and build the future of Armenia. Armenia rewards the Bold. This is the best description and tag line that comes to my mind and that I am borrowing from GK Brand Armenia. Today May 10th 2018 is the day that the Luys Staff and myself have been asked to cease our work serving the LUYS Foundation. I wish to reassure all present scholars and already registered ones for 2018-2019 that their scholarships will be honored. Official communications will issue further information. Change is growth. It always comes with a shift of mindsets and power. It teaches us to let go, give and create. As the Luys motto would state; Learn, Do, Co-create. LUYS has delivered on its promise during these past nine years. Today a new era is born. Let us all remember that Knowledge is power and shows the path to prosperity when it is combined with the language of peace and trust. Armenia must continue investing in education. Investing in Knowledge and Youth is our only way to building a thriving Armenia. I firmly believe that education is the solution to every present and emerging global challenge. Today, I take leave of LUYS with gratitude to all my fellow Armenians and always with trust in the future ahead. Jacqueline Karaaslanian, Founding Executive Director of Luys Education. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Iran's anti-terror efforts in the Middle East region have helped make the world a safer place, Press TV reported. "Determined to achieve and maintain regional stability and security, Iran has always tried to de-escalate tensions in the region and under no condition does it welcome more tensions," Rouhani told the German leader in a phone conversation on Thursday. Citing Iran's military advisory role in Iraq and Syria as examples, the Iranian head of state said even Europe has benefited from the Islamic Republic's successful anti-terror efforts. "The battle that Iran and the people of Iraq and Syria fought against Daesh terrorists has brought relatively good levels of security to Syria and Iraq, and has benefitted the region and the world, including Europe," he asserted. Rouhani also brought up US President Donald Trump's recent decision to pull out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a landmark nuclear deal that Iran signed in 2015 with the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. "Breaching and stamping on an agreement endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution will lead to damaging consequences on the world stage," he said. The JCPOA was reached after some 12 years of negotiations between Iran on one side and the six world powers on the other in July 2015. After criticizing the agreement for months, Trump on Tuesday officially declared that Washington was pulling out of the deal. The American head of state claimed that the deal had failed to stop Iran's development of ballistic missiles and lacked mechanisms to stop its growing influence in the region. In announcing his decision, Trump said he will not only reinstate the anti-Iran sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal but will also be instituting the highest level of economic bans against the country. Merkel, who had advised Trump against the move, said it was very important for Europe to keep the JCPOA in place. "America's exit from the JCPOA is a problem that needs a rational solution," she said. "The European Union will remain committed to the deal and asks Iran to do the same." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will pay a visit to Moscow on May 14 for consultations on the nuclear deal, he is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, a source in the Iranian Foreign Ministry informed TASS. "Mr. Minister will visit China on Saturday [May 12], will pay a visit to Moscow on Monday [May 14] and will take part in a meeting of the European parties to the deal in Brussels on Tuesday [May 15]," the source said. "In Moscow Zarif plans to meet with Lavrov.". Iran on Friday supported Syrias right to defend itself against Israel, accusing others of remaining silent over the attacks on Tehrans key regional ally, Reuters with reference to the TV reported. Iran strongly condemns ...(Israels) attacks on Syria. Syria has every right to defend itself, the broadcaster quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying. Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time, in the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries. The confrontation came two days after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 multinational agreement aimed it curbing Irans nuclear program. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The reinstatement of US sanctions against Iran announced on 8 May 2018 and the resulting potential sustained loss of Iranian exports increase the chances of the global oil supply-demand balance remaining in deficit in 2018-2019, Fitch Ratings says. This creates upside risks for oil prices relative to our existing assumptions. However, the ultimate consequences for the oil market and prices are difficult to predict since the currently high level of oil prices and the threat of an oil deficit could prevent OPEC+ from reaching a consensus and extending the production cuts deal in its existing form into 2019. This, coupled with continued US shale growth, could swing the market back into surplus. In addition, Iran may now attempt to maximise its production in excess of the OPEC+ quotas, said the report from Fitch. Fitch experts believe that the dynamics of oil production in Iran will be one of the key factors driving the global oil supply-demand balance in the medium term. Iran ramped up production significantly from 2.8 million barrels per day (mmbpd) in 2015 to around 3.8mmbpd in 2017 after sanctions were lifted in late 2015. To put this into context, the OPEC+ countries agreed to cut production by 1.8mmbpd relative to the October 2016 level. A part of this 1mmbpd upside is at risk following the US announcement, depending on which countries continue to buy oil from Iran. Iran exported 2.7mmbpd before the announcement, representing around 3% of global crude supply, said the report. Fitch believes that Iranian production is unlikely to decline immediately as sanctions will be reintroduced at the end of the 180-day wind-down period applicable for petroleum-related activities. Moreover, Iran may attempt to increase its production and exports now before the sanctions have been put into force. Oil prices have increased following the US announcement, albeit not dramatically as this move had been widely anticipated and had been factored into the elevated prices in the period preceding the announcement, said the report. The US decision increases the possibility of the global supply-demand balance remaining in deficit in 2018-2019, Fitch analysts believe. This means that Brent oil prices may remain above USD70/bbl for some time, partly reflecting the geopolitical risk premium that has come back into the prices. However, we believe these high oil prices may not be sustained for long, assuming: (i) most global oil producers have broadly adjusted to the USD50-60/bbl range; and (ii) rising US shale production, said the report. In addition, according to Fitch, the US move reduces the chances of the OPEC+ deal being extended in its current form beyond 2018, as Iran is now unlikely to support it. Absent the deal, the OPEC countries may choose to expand their crude oil production, which could shift the market back into surplus. In this scenario, prices ultimately may come back within the USD50-60/bbl range, said the report. Global oil producers are set to benefit from the elevated crude prices due to higher cash flow generation, especially given that most of them have re-set their cost base since oil prices collapsed in 2015, according to Fitch experts. However, as oil prices may not be sustained at their current levels, we base our ratings on a conservative assumption of USD57.5/bbl for Brent. Our ratings are ultimately more correlated with the ability of issuers to adjust to various levels of oil prices, rather than the absolute price levels. Hence, cost control, investment discipline, and dividend and financial policies continue to be our key credit considerations for corporate ratings, said the report. The US President Donald Trump announced that he will pull the US out of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The US will re-impose the nuclear-related sanctions on Irans economy and oil exports, which were waived under the JCPOA. Whilst the sanctions are effective immediately, there is a wind-down period of 90- or 180-days to allow firms to exit any existing agreements they have with Iran. Trump has also hinted that he might impose additional sanctions on top of those which were waived. --- Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11 Trend: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has today announced that David Tonoyan, the acting emergency situations minister, will be appointed as the defense minister, RIA Novosti reported. "I can say that David Tonoyan will be appointed today. And other ministers will be appointed very soon, he told reporters after a meeting of the government on May 11. By late Thursday, all militants have withdrawn from three towns on the southern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus - Yelda, Babila and Beit Sahm, TASS with reference to the SANA news agency has reported. Last groups of militants and their family members boarded buses that will take them to Idlib and Jarablus. In line with a local ceasefire deal, more than 5,000 militants and their family members left the three towns in the past seven days. Others laid down their weapons to make use of the amnesty, declared by the countrys government. According to the Al-Mayadeen TV, Syrian army sappers have already started demining those neighborhoods. On Friday, security patrols and police units will enter the area. Currently, Syrian government troops continue their offensive on the al-Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the Yarmouk refugee camp, located about 7 km from Damascus city center, which are held by the "Islamic State" terrorist group. The military operation south of Damascus, launched on April 20, is aimed at driving terrorists out of the Syrian capitals southern outskirts and unblocking the strategic Damascus-Amman highway. Some North Korean traders are offering cheap coal to Chinese buyers who are stockpiling it at ports inside the isolated country, hoping recent diplomatic moves lead to an easing of sanctions barring purchases of North Korean coal, three Chinese traders told Reuters. Official data shows China has not imported any coal from North Korea since October last year, after the United Nations banned Pyongyang from exporting coal in September. In 2016, China, Pyongyangs main trading partner, bought 22.5 million tonnes of coal from North Korea worth almost $2 billion. But the Chinese traders said offers of coal had surged after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Beijing in March, and ahead of a planned meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The day Kim Jong Un visited Beijing, I was approached by a North Korean trader asking if I wanted inventory at Nampo port, one coal trader based in northern China told Reuters, referring to North Koreas main west coast port. The North Korean trader had a couple thousand tonnes of anthracite coal which he was willing to sell at around $30-$40 per tonne, the trader said, less than a quarter of the price of similar Chinese coal. The two other Chinese traders confirmed that price range. All three requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Prices were even lower during the Lunar New Year period in February, hovering at less than $15 per tonne, said another of the traders, who is based in northeastern China. The Chinese traders Reuters spoke to said they had not personally purchased North Korean coal, but all said they were aware of stockpiling in the hope of sanctions being eased. Over the past few weeks, more and more people have been stockpiling coal, one trader told Reuters. Chinas central bank said on late Friday it would keep the yuan currency broadly stable while maintaining a stable and neutral monetary policy, Reuters reports. The Peoples Bank of China will fend off systemic risks and use multiple monetary policy tools to ensure financial stability in the worlds second largest economy, it said in its first-quarter monetary policy implementation report. It also plans to include negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs) issued by financial institutions with assets of less than 500 billion yuan ($78.99 billion) in its quarterly macroprudential assessment (MPA) from the first quarter in 2019. Germany is ready to help minimize the impact on its businesses of President Donald Trumps decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday, Reuters reports. We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimize the negative consequences, Altmaier told Deutschlandfunk radio. That means, it is concretely about damage limitation. Germany had no immediate reason to change its Hermes export guarantee scheme for Iran. At the moment, there is no reason to change the valued Hermes scheme, Altmaier said. We are just starting a conversation about what the economic implications are, and how we can avoid negative consequences for jobs in Germany. He said Germany had no legal means of protecting German companies that do business in the United States. What we are doing, however, is to assist and advise these(German) companies active in Iran, which want to be active in Iran and to advise them, including legally, he added. Of tensions with the United States over the Iran issue, Altmaier said: It is rather like the trade conflict with regard to the announced tariffs for steel and aluminum... We must avoid entering into a spiral of escalation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Irans President Hassan Rouhani in a telephone call on Thursday that she supported maintaining the nuclear accord as long as Tehran upheld its side of the deal. French President Emmanuel Macron told Rouhani the same a day earlier. Germany, France and Britain want talks to be held in a broader format on Irans ballistic missile program and its regional activities, including in Syria and Yemen. France pledged on Friday to push back against the threat of U.S. sanctions against French companies doing business with Iran, in the wake of Washingtons withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Tehran, Reuters reports. The French government is seeking waivers and longer transition periods from the United States for companies such as Renault and Total, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, while pressing for European Union measures to improve the blocs economic sovereignty in the longer term. Its time that European countries opened their eyes, Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal risks exposing European countries that have since invested in Iran to renewed U.S. sanctions after wind-down periods of three to six months expire. Europe needs new financial instruments allowing it to be independent from the United States, Le Maire said. Germany plans to offer legal advice to help its firms continue to do business in Iran, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier also said on Friday. France and Germany are among EU countries that had drawn up euro-denominated Iran export finance programs to resist U.S. sanctions. But the severity of Washingtons stance has raised doubts about their viability. Le Maire said he had asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for temporary or permanent exemptions for French companies, citing carmaker PSA, drug giant Sanofi and food group Danone among those affected - in addition to Renault and oil major Total. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also toughened the governments tone in an interview with Le Parisien. Were telling the Americans that its their business what sanctions they impose, but we consider the extraterritoriality of these measures unacceptable, Le Drian said. Europeans should not have to pay for U.S. withdrawal from an agreement. Armenias Human Rights Defender's (HRD) Office reports that its staffers have regularly visited Garegin Chukaszyan who is now on hunger strike while in pre-trial detention at the Nubarashen penitentiary. Garegin Chukaszyan, a member of Armenias opposition Pre-Parliament movement who had gone underground in July 2016 after being accused by law enforcement for organizing mass disorder but was arrested on April 23 of this year after appearing in public, has entered his thirteenth day of a hunger strike. The HRDs Office reports that during the last visit on May 10, Garegin Chukaszyan was conscious, but weak. His health condition requires more intensive medical supervision and his cell needs to be changed, and this issue has been raised both in writing and orally. The HRDs representatives are in constant touch with Garegin Chukaszyan's lawyer. During the visit to the penitentiary, private talks were also held with Arayik Khandoyan and Ashot Petrosyan, who are also on hunger strike. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier has confirmed that he will visit Moscow at the beginning of the next week, he said in an interview with German radio station Deutschlandfunk released on Friday, TASS reports. "I will follow my colleague [German Foreign Minister Heiko] Maas, who attended negotiations in Moscow yesterday. I will be there on Monday and Tuesday, and Chancellor [Angela Merkel will visit Sochi] during the week," Altmaier said. The issue of German-Russian economic cooperation will dominate the Moscow visit. DPA reported that there is uncertainty in German business circles regarding the sanctions policy. Altmaier will also discuss in Moscow preparations for Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Sochi on May 18, where she is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Altmaier earlier headed the German Chancellery and is believed to be one of Merkels most trusted advisors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described Washingtons decision to exit the deal on Irans nuclear program as erroneous, TASS reports. "That undermines trust in international order," she said at a Catholic conference in Muenster. Her speech was broadcast by German TV channels. "I believe it is wrong to unilaterally tear up the agreement, which was agreed on and which was unanimously approved by the UN Security Council," Merkel said, adding that Washingtons decision was "a cause for concern and regret." The German chancellor agreed that some issues related to Tehran, such as Irans ballistic missile program, its relations with Israel and actions in Syria "spark huge concern." On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washingtons decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal as it, he said, leaves Tehran a possibility to create a nuclear bomb bypassing all the restrictions. He noted another agreement with Iran should be signed. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement calling on all other parties to the JCPOA to stay committed to their liabilities under it. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated his countrys commitment to the deal, saying Teheran will continue to implement its liabilities. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the deal on Irans nuclear program, was signed between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertakes to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for removal of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Russias Black Sea resort city of Sochi on May 18 to discuss a wide range of international issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, acting presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday, TASS reports. "We have already announced that our president will have a very important contact on May 18. It will be German Chancellor [Angela] Merkels working visit. It has been agreed that the two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and, naturally, focus will be made on the current international problems," he said, adding that topics for discussion will include "the Iran nuclear deal, the Syrian settlement, the Ukrainian crisis and so on, i.e. all possible and impossible problems of the international agenda." A Nigerian diplomat was found dead in his home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, two security sources said, in an apparent murder that police said did not appear to be politically motivated, Reuters reported. Police spokesman Omar al-Mokhtar said the unidentified diplomat, who had been working in the immigration section of the Nigerian Embassy, was stabbed to death and police had ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack. Mokhtar said police had arrested several suspects, but provided no further details. Officials from the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum were not available to comment. Dubai-based al-Arabiya television had earlier described the diplomats death as an assassination. Though intermittent violence is common in Sudans ethnically torn southern and western regions, violence in the capital is rare. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has recently shaken up the security establishment, replacing the heads of the army and intelligence service in February. Australian police found seven dead people on Friday, including four children, in a rural town in the Margaret River wine-growing region, and said guns were involved in the killings, Reuters reported. The bodies of four children and three adults were found at or near a property in Osmington near the southwestern tip of Australia, Western Australias Commissioner of Police Chris Dawson told a news conference. Dawson said firearms were found at the scene. He said there appeared to be gunshot wounds. I can only describe it as a horrific situation, Dawson said. We have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues at this point in time. Gun crime in Australia fell sharply after strict controls were introduced in response to a mass shooting in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania. That prompted the government to buy back or confiscate a million firearms and make it harder to buy new ones. Australia has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and has a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. While there have been some mass killings since Port Arthur, the latest killings could prove to be the single biggest incident of gun-related deaths since 1996. Police said they went to the property after getting a telephone call. The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which weve recorded, said Dawson, who would not comment on the identity of the caller. He said homicide detectives were helping police. Kenyas chief prosecutor on Friday ordered police to investigate a dam-burst on a commercial farm in the Rift Valley that killed dozens of people as a wall of water tore down a hillside, obliterating everything in its path, Reuters reports. At least 44 people were killed when the reservoir on the farm, which grew roses for export to Europe, burst its banks on Wednesday night after heavy rains. Another 40 people have been reported missing. The public prosecutors office said on Twitter the police chief had been ordered to carry out thorough investigations to establish cause and culpability if any behind the disaster and file a report within two weeks. The Daily Nation newspaper quoted government officials as saying the dam and others on the 3,500-acre Solai farm, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Nairobi, had not been cleared by government engineers. Villagers had also complained when the dams were built, accusing the farm-owner of depriving them of access to river water, the paper reported. Vinoj Kumar, general manager of the farm, blamed the dam wall collapse on torrential rain in a forest above the dam and denied that it was defective or had not received the necessary approvals. How can they say it is illegal? he told Reuters. It was not built today or yesterday. It was built 20 years back. One person was shot in the arm at a high school Friday morning in Los Angeles and a male Hispanic juvenile was detained after the incident, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) said, Xinhua reported. According to LASD, the wounded has been sent to a local hospital and is in stable condition. Local NBC news channel reported the authority received multiple calls shortly after 7:00 a.m. saying there was a man with a gun at Highland High School in Palmdale, a city located in Antelope Valley, 55 kilometers north of Los Angeles downtown. A 14-year-old suspect was in custody after an extensive search by sheriff's deputies on campus, the report said, adding that one firearm, which authorities described as a "rifle," was recovered "distance away" from the school in the desert. All Antelope Valley Union High School District schools were placed on lockdown and Antelope Valley College canceled classes and closed its locations until noon in response. LASD's deputies in Palmdale also responded to reports of shots heard around 7:30 am at Manzanita Elementary School, which is located about 11 kilometers from Highland High, but they searched the campus and said there was no evidence of a crime. Lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party are currently discussing the candidacy of former finance minister Alexei Kudrin to the post of the Russian Audit Chamber's head, a senior lawmaker told TASS on Thursday. "At the moment, the faction views him as the main candidate," first deputy head of the United Russia parliamentary faction, Andrey Isayev, told TASS. The Audit Chambers current head, Tatyana Golikova, is expected to be promoted to the post of the deputy prime minister in charge of social policy issues. "The consultations are just beginning. Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin has expressed his readiness to hold those consultations," Isayev said. According to the lawmaker, Kudrins candidacy will be discussed during a meeting of the factions presidium on Friday. "On Monday, Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin is likely to meet with leaders of the faction," he added. "If both sides find the results of those consultations satisfactory, then the United Russia will be ready for the nomination." Kudrin earlier told the Vedomosti daily that he had received a proposal to head the Audit Chamber, adding that he would "give it a serous thought.". Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of preserving the Iran nuclear deal against the backdrop of Washingtons unilateral withdrawal from it in a telephone conversation on Friday, TASS with reference to the Kremlin press service reported. "[They] discussed the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the wake of the United States unilateral withdrawal from it and pointed to the fundamental importance of preserving the JCPOA from the perspective of international and regional security," the press service said, adding that the phone call was initiated by the German side. "The Syrian issue was brought up as well as preparations for Angela Merkels working visit to Sochi scheduled for May 18," the Kremlin press service said. Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow, Reuters reports. The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russias Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. For now, were not talking about any deliveries of new modern (air defense) systems, Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had everything it needed, Kozhin added. Israel has made repeated efforts to persuade Moscow not to sell the S-300s to Syria, as it fears this would hinder its aerial capabilities against arms shipments to Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected shipments. On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes. The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military, but since modernized and available in several versions with significantly different capabilities, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Though since been superseded by the more modern S-400 system, the S-300s are still regarded as highly potent and outstrip anything that the Syrian government currently has. Syria currently relies on a mixture of less advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft systems to defend its air space. Davit Tonoyan has been appointed Armenias next Minister of Defense. Tonoyan, who had been serving as Acting Minister of Emergency Affairs, will replace Vigen Sargsyan who resigned on May 8. Tonoyan served as Deputy Defense Minister between 2010 and 2016. The refusal to supply the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria is not linked in any way with the recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, acting Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, TASS reports. Peskov commented on a statement, which acting Russian Presidential Aide for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin gave in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia. "Technologically, it is absolutely incorrect to link this [Kozhins words] with Netanyahus visit because the interview was given before Netanyahus visit," the acting Kremlin spokesman pointed out. Russia has never announced such deliveries and only specified that it reserves the right in the wake of US-led airstrikes against Syria to do everything possible in this situation. In an interview published on Friday, Kozhin said that Russia was not delivering the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria and no talks had been underway on their delivery thus far. As the acting Kremlin spokesman added, the Syrian army "has everything it needs." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on April 16 that Russia was ready to consider all necessary steps to reinforce Syrias defense capabilities, including the delivery of the S-300 systems. On April 23, Lavrov told journalists that the issue of delivering the S-300s had not yet been decided on but Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed this subject with the defense chief "in the context of preventing a situation where the Syrian Arab Republic would be left inadequately prepared for aggressive acts similar to the attack on April 14.". The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will sign an agreement on trade and economic cooperation with China and a provisional agreement on free trade zone formation with Iran on May 17 in Astana, acting Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said Friday, TASS reports. "An agreement on trade and economic cooperation with China and a provisional agreement on formation of a free trade zone with Iran are planned to be signed next week in Astana," he said. According to Ushakov, free trade zones formation and preferential agreements are also being negotiated with Israel, Serbia and Singapore. Similar talks are expected to be launched with Egypt and India soon, he added. There is no progress on a possible meeting between Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, preparations stopped at a stage of an agreement to organize such a meeting that was reached in a telephone conversation between the two leaders on March 20, acting presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday, TASS reported. "This matter stopped at a point that was reached in Trumps telephone conversation with our leader on March 20, when the American side said a contact between the two presidents was possible," he said. Ushakov refrained from comments on Trumps upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He did not anticipate either whether such a meeting could be successful. "So far, Id prefer to leave this question without an answer," he said. The acting Kremlin aide also refused to comment on Putins possible meeting with Kim Jon-un. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday that it couldn't understand the US appeals to increase pressure on North Korea amid the latter's readiness for a dialogue, Sputnik reported. "We are bewildered by the incessant calls of the United States and their allies 'to continue to increase pressure on North Korea" even while Pyongyang shows readiness for a constructive dialogue on the Korean crisis settlement," the ministry said in a statement. "This policy is extremely counterproductive and can undermine the progress achieved on this track recently," the statement said. US President Donald Trump announced the day before that he would hold a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore. The location of the upcoming meeting was revealed hours after three American prisoners were released by North Korea and came back to the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had high hopes of doing something very meaningful to curtail North Koreas nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month, after Pyongyang smoothed the way for talks by freeing three American prisoners, Reuters reported. The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader were announced by Trump on Twitter. The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Trump wrote. He made the announcement after a U.S. government aircraft touched down at Joint Base Andrews near Washington carrying the Americans who were released by North Korea in a move to clear the way for the bilateral summit. The ex-prisoners are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-chul, who was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years hard labor; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who taught for a month at a foreign-funded university before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak-song, who also taught there and was detained last year. North Korean state media said they were arrested for subversion or hostile acts against Pyongyang. Trump faces a difficult task persuading Kim to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests that heightened U.S.-North Korean tensions throughout 2017. The two men exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Koreas attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased, starting around the time of the Norths participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. Trump greeted the freed Americans in the early morning hours. He said on their arrival that he believed Kim, who has led North Korea for seven years and is believed to be in his mid-30s, wanted to bring his country into the real world. I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful, Trump said. My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula. New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Pyongyang twice in recent weeks - once as head of the CIA - but there has been no sign he cleared up the central question of whether North Korea will be willing to bargain away nuclear weapons that its rulers have long seen as crucial to their survival. Trump is embarking on the meeting with Kim after announcing on Tuesday the United States was pulling out of a 2015 accord imposing international oversight of Irans nuclear program. The move raised questions over whether North Korea might now be less inclined to negotiate its own nuclear deal with Washington. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke by telephone on Wednesday. The White House said they affirmed the shared goal of North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Japan worries it could be the target of any first use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang. White House officials, without providing specifics, said on Thursday the meeting could be scuttled if North Korea did anything unacceptable over the next month. Were not under any illusions about who these people are, National Security Council official Victoria Coates told reporters. We know who were dealing with here. But we got up front our people home rather than that having been an afterthought. Dupa inscrierea pe site-ul HotNews.ro, poti deschide sectiunea MyHotNews ca sa completezi sau sa schimbi profilul de utilizator. Atentie! Logarea pe site se face cu adresa de email, nu cu nickname-ul. Adresa ta de email va ramane confidentiala si nu va fi niciodata data unor terte persoane sau institutii. Inainte de a te inscrie pe site te rugam sa parcurgi termenii si conditiile atasate unui cont HotNews.ro. KYODO NEWS - May 11, 2018 - 21:47 | All, Feature, Japan A 61-year-old man has been arrested after he arrived at Narita airport, east of Tokyo, last year with rare animals in his baggage, police and Tokyo Customs said. Kazuo Murakami from Chiba Prefecture was arrested Thursday on suspicion of trying to smuggle rare animals and birds including 12 spotted owlets and six woodland dormice when he arrived from Thailand on April 7, 2017, they said. (Photo supplied by Tokyo Customs) According to Tokyo Customs, the animals were in eight cages in Murakami's checked-in baggage. The customs quoted Murakami as saying, "I bought them as they were cute." Trading in spotted owlets is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention. By Mohammad Gharebag, KYODO NEWS - May 11, 2018 - 03:06 | World, All Iran and the European Union will hold a ministerial meeting in Brussels next week following the U.S. pullout from an international deal on Tehran's nuclear development, a senior Iranian diplomat told Kyodo News on Thursday. Foreign ministers of Iran and three European countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- and Federica Mogherini, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the new situation after the U.S. withdrawal, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. In the one-day meeting, Iran will seek the European Union's "practical guarantees" stressed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the only way to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, he added. (Federica Mogherini (L) and Mohammad Javad Zarif, hold a press conference in Vienna on July 14, 2015) While withdrawing on Tuesday from the accord struck under his predecessor Barack Obama, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "the highest level of economic sanction" against the Iranian regime, which he called "the leading state sponsor of terror." President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran will remain in the 2015 pact temporarily to negotiate with the other six parties -- Britain, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia and China -- and study the possibility of keeping it alive. Meanwhile, speaking on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, Rouhani said Europe has a very limited time to save the pact and must determine and announce its clear, firm stances on its obligations in the deal. Under the pact formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. Khamenei, who has the last word on crucial issues, said Wednesday, "It is said that we will continue with three European countries -- France, Germany and Britain. I don't trust these three either and you should not trust them." He said the JCPOA's survival depends on "practical guarantees" that Iran must seek from the European Union to preserve Iran's benefits. "If you can't gain practical guarantees from Europeans, which I think is not likely, it won't be possible to continue the JCPOA," he said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Thursday to discuss the latest development over the Iran deal. Iranian media reported that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will visit the Chinese and Russian capitals on Saturday and Monday, respectively, before arriving in Brussels. Kerala Government released a comprehensive set of guidelines for the planned reopening of schools early next month even as the threat of COVID-19 pandemic still persists. Artur Vanetsyan, recently appointed to head Armenias National Security Service (NSS), isnt the only one in his family who holds a government post. Photos circulating in the social web lead us to believe that the 39-year-old Vanetsyan is a close friend of AlenSimonyan (on the right of the below photo), a member of the board of the Civil Contract political party founded by newly-elected Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Its no coincidence that Simonyan was the first to publish Vanetsyans biography, which appeared in the ararat.news website. The bio states that prior to being appointed NSS head, Vanetsyan as Deputy Chief of the Yerevan Municipal Board from 2016 to 2018. Prior to this, Vanetsyan worked in the national security sector starting in 2000. Artur Vanetsyans Mother Also a Government Official 61-year-old Margarit Azaryan, Arturs mother, was a member of the Civil Service Council from 2002-2011. She was appointed Chief of the Presidential Staff Board in 2011. Shes also on the governing board of Armenias Public Administration Academy. Due to 2017 changes to the law regarding who is obligated to file financial disclosures, government employees other than top ranking were also obligated to file financial disclosures. Margarit Azaryan, as Chief of the Presidential Staff Board, was now obligated to file a disclosure along with her husband Gagik Vanetsyan (Arturs father) since they lived at the same address. Azaryan filed a financial disclosure for the first time in 2017, declaring an apartment, a house and a piece of land. She no moveable assets or securities in excess of AMD 8 million. Nevertheless, in September of 2017, Azaryan declared AMD 25 million and US$15,000 in cash. She declared AMD 3.6 million in salary for the period January-July 2017 and another AMD 476,000 in revenue from other contracts. In March of this year, Azaryan filed her annual 2017 financial disclosure showing cash assets of AMD 30 million and an annual salary of 7.7 million drams. Her foreign currency holdings remained the same. She also made a loan of 5.9 million drams and took out a loan of 4.5million drams. She also declared slightly more than AMD 1 million in revenue from other contracts. Artur Vanetsyans Businessman Father Gagik Vanetsyan, father of the new NSS chief, also filed an annual financial disclosure this past March. He declared the purchase of two private homes, at a cost of AMD 48 million and AMD 198 million. He also purchased a Mercedes-Benz C200 for 22 million drams (approximately $45,000 at todays exchange rate). The AMD 420 million he had at the start of the year dropped to 372 million by the end of 2017. 64-year-old GagikVanetsyan also received 1.2 million drams in wages and 474 million drams in business dividends. Av Group In a 2015 article, Hetq wrote about Av Group Ltd., a flower importer founded by Gagik Vanetsyan in 2012. The company is still operating and Gagik Vanetsyan is its sole shareholder. AB Trans In October 2014, Gagik Vanetsyan and Yerevan residents Armen Pepanyan and Manya Ghazaryan founded AB Trans. Vanetsyan owns 60% of the company and Pepanyan, 40%. Yerevan resident Artur Grigoryan replaced Vanetsyan as director in 2015. In 2017, the company won a commendation from the State Revenue Committee for paying its taxes in a timely manner. It paid AMD 9.4 million in taxes in 2016. AB Export In June 2016, GagikVanetsyan and Nor Aresh resident Arman Ghazaryan founded AB Export. The two have a equal share of the company shares. Gagik Vanetsyan has since resigned as director, handing the post over to his nephew Tigran Vanetsyan. (Av Group Ltd. is registered at Tigrans home address) According to the State Revenue Committee, AB Export is in the wholesale diesel fuel trade. Its been listed as one of the top four fuel importers in Armenia alongside CPS, Flesh and Max Petrol. Artur Vanetsyans Wife Nona: From Ministry Adviser to Teacher 36-year-old Nona Vanetsyan, Arturs wife, is registered as residing on Yerevans Komitas Avenue with her mother Janeta Mkoyan. Soon after Artur Vanetsyan was appointed to head the NSS, the couple began to erase their pages in various social websites. Luckily for us, some users were able to obtain some interesting information about the couple before their pages disappeared. We know that in 2015, then Minister of Territorial Governance and Emergency Affairs Armen Yeritsyan appointed Nona Vanetsyan as his adviser. Another source reports that Nona represented the same ministry in foreign countries, international organizations and state bodies. In 2017, Nona Vanetsyan opened the Villa Montessori Childrens Developmental Center in Yerevan. Comprised of a pre-school and learning center, Vanetsyans institution, like others bearing the Montessori name, follows the curriculum developed by Italian doctor, psychologist and pedagogue Maria Montessori. There are three buildings on the site, located at 62 Demirtchyan Street. A private house and garage are also on the premises. The property is owned by Gagik Vanetsyan. The building housing the Center has been handed over to Nona Vanetsyans Young Educational Center Ltd., to be used at no cost. The Young Educational Center Ltd. was founded in March 2017 and is registered at the same address. On April 6 of this year, Nona Vanetsyan also registered an NGO called the Montessori Association of Armenia at the same address. Just a few days before this, Nonas mother Janeta founded Villa Montessori Ltd. Getting back to 62 Demirtchyan Street, its interesting to note that according to the State Property Cadastre, the buildings have been put up as collateral with AmeriaBank. This is perhaps linked to the AMD 4.5 million loan than Margarit Azaryan disclosed that she received last year. This n That News ReportBy Tex KopkeSouthwestern Pioneer Windmill Association Annual MeetingThis last Thursday I attended the annual Southwestern Pioneer Windmill Association meeting at the Spearman First United Methodist Church.Many of you werent able to attend so I would like to give you an update about what the organization for our famous windmill collection is up to.At the luncheon association members and guests enjoyed a delicious hamburger meal provided by the Lions Club.Sam Abston provided the informative program along with a slide show about our great windmill collection.The current board of directors were introduced at the lunch. Current board members are:President Sam AbstonVP Jim VanlandinghamSec/Tres Nellie BuchananBurl Buchanan, Irene Snider, Grace Pshigoda, Verlin Behne, Richy Thompson, Norlan Winegarner, Felipe Lazono and Brit Jarvis - legal council.One item Sam mentioned in the program presentation was that the sponsor name wall at the entrance to the windmill park still has room for more sponsor name tiles and that buying a name tile for your family or business is a great way to help support our famous windmill collection.My own family has one of these tiles which we always enjoy pointing out when showing visitors the windmill park.Sponsor tiles are available for $100 and can be ordered by calling Sam at (806) 330-1671.As Spearmans unique tourist attraction Sam mentioned that people from across the country and around the world stop in Spearman each year to view our historic windmill collection.In the last year over 177 entries were recorded in the visitor registration book located in the weatherproof metal box at the park entry gate.Since on average only about 20% of visitors sign a typical guest registration book our windmill park probably hosted at least 700 to 800 visiting individuals or groups in just this last year.And since our guest book is located inside a metal weatherproof box we probably actually had many more visitors than that.Among the recent visitors in the last year we had registered guests from 26 states.But we also hosted registered visitors from several foreign countries as well including from Germany, South Africa, Mexico, France, Austria, Australia, Canada, Ukraine and even from that really weird country called California.Also mentioned in the presentation was that in addition to the 13 original antique windmills donated by J.B. Buchanan there are currently a total of 73 windmills displayed in the windmill park and at other various locations and businesses around town.Our windmills are not only a unique attraction and highlight for many visitors going through Spearman they are in many cases the only reason many visitors ever go out of their way to come through or make a stop in Spearman.As great as our collection is though Sam pointed out in the presentation that we now have a serious problem with our large and valuable antique windmill collection.Over time many of our windmills have begun to deteriorate and are now in serious need of maintenance and repair.In the last several years almost all of the volunteers that used to help take care of the large collection have either passed away or moved away.In fact now only Sam himself and one or two other volunteers are all that are left to look after this big historic windmill collection.Sam himself and his other main helper are now near or over 70 and wont be able to continue much longer.Sam says that there is an urgent need for more help and that without help soon the city wont be known for its beautiful windmill collection but for a collection of dilapidated windmills that will be an eyesore and embarrassment to the city.He said that many of the wooden windmills are beginning to fall apart and need to be laid over soon so they arent damaged any further by the wind and so that the deteriorating broken pieces dont fall off and injure someone.We urgently need the next generation to step up and show some pride in our community and our windmills by volunteering time to help preserve this priceless collection.Where are the farmers and ranchers that should be interested in helping preserve these windmills that allowed them to settle and develop these arid plains?Where are the retirees that now have the time and opportunity to help do something meaningful for their community?Where are the businesses with employees who could be encouraged to lend a helping hand?Please consider stepping up and helping preserve this great symbol of the past and the one unique thing that brings notoriety and fame to Spearman.Call Sam at (806) 330-1671 if you have a few hours to help him maintain and preserve these wonderful old windmills.Most of these windmills are set up to lay over sideways for maintenance and the windmill association also has a powered bucket lift that can be used to reach the top of the windmills if needed. So volunteers would not have to be able to climb windmills in order to help.The windmill association is also currently in need of a good used pickup to keep loaded with tools, parts and supplies for windmill maintenance.If you have a usable pickup you could donate please contact Sam or any of the board members.Civic clubs and youth groups can also help by organizing a fun windmill tipping paint party.As you can see from the photo the wooden windmill bases are all badly in need of paint.Your group could schedule a fun windmill paint party to repaint one of these windmills that have been tipped over to allow for safe and easy painting. All paint and paint brushes are provided. Talk to your family or group about scheduling a windmill painting party now.The youth group from my own congregation at the Spearman Church of Christ is making plans to have a windmill tipping paint party after school is out.What a great way to teach kids about community service and ways they can help build pride in their community.A windmill tipping paint party would be a great way for a family, business, club or group to help support the windmill association and help preserve something our community takes pride in. Call Sam at (806) 330-1671 if you, your family or group can help.Another way to get involved and help is by joining the windmill association. They usually meet the first Thursday of every month from March - November at noon at the Hungry Cowboy Cafe. The next meeting is scheduled however for the second Thursday of the month on June 14.Call Sam or any board member for more details on how you can help save and preserve this historic and valuable link to our past.Every small town depends on volunteers to do all of the unpaid extra things that make small town living so great. Things like creating and then keeping our historic windmill park going.If youre not already doing your part here is a great opportunity to get started by helping do something you and the whole community can take pride in.Volunteer today! The analysis of dozens of ancient genomes extracted from across the vast expanse between Europe and East Asia is shedding light on historical human migration patterns, as well as the spread of Indo-European languages and horse domestication. To date, the earliest known culture to domesticate horses is the Botai, a group that lived on the Eurasian Steppe between roughly 5150 and 3950 BCE. Some have suggested that the Botai were local hunter-gatherers who learnt horse husbandry from a western group of herders who were traveling eastbound; yet, others suggest that the domestication of horses arose locally within the Botai culture. To explore this debate in greater detail, as well as to gain additional insights into ancient human migration patterns, Peter de Barros Damgaard et al. analyzed the genomes of 74 ancient humans who lived between approximately 11,000 and 500 years ago, in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Western Asia; as well, the researchers included genetic information from modern-day Asian populations. The authors found little genetic mixing between groups closely related to Eastern European hunter-gathers and the Botai. This suggests that people likely migrated east through the Central Asian Steppe, but did not settle until they reached the more eastern regions, the authors say, meaning that it is unlikely that horse husbandry was brought to the Botai via western populations. Another highly debated topic is how and when genetic signatures and languages (specifically Indo-European languages) from western regions reached South Asia. Based on their data, Damgaard et al. propose that two waves of genetic admixture occurred. The first wave likely occurred very early, potentially prior to the Bronze Age, and did not include Indo-European speakers; the second group came during the Late Bronze Age (approximately 2300 to1200 BCE), bringing Indo-Iranian languages into South Asia, the authors suggest. ### BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- While men have benefited from a gender bias against women when seeking financing for business start-ups, the opposite may be true for female entrepreneurs seeking initial investment through crowdfunding efforts, according to research from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Historically, female-led ventures have found it difficult to procure private equity, bank financing and venture capital, often because of psychological stereotypes inferring that business leaders should be masculine. But an article in print at the Journal of Business Venturing reports that gender bias may make crowdfunding investors more likely to invest in new ventures led by women. "Our results show that on average, crowdfunders think female entrepreneurs are more trustworthy than male entrepreneurs," said Regan Stevenson, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Kelley. "These judgments increase overall investment in female-led ventures over male-led ventures. "When a crowdfunder holds high levels of implicit gender bias, the funder is actually more likely to invest in a woman because they perceive the woman as trustworthy," Stevenson said. "This is the opposite effect of what has been demonstrated in prior research in the venture capital setting." Using three years of data from the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, Stevenson and his colleagues examined investor stereotypes and implicit bias in crowdfunding decisions. Through a study sample of 416 projects, they examined the entrepreneur's gender, the financial backing received and funding success. They found that women were more likely than men to have their Kickstarter projects funded. To discern why this was the case, the researchers conducted an experiment with 73 amateur investors based in the eastern U.S. The results from the second half of the study supported the researchers' view that perceptions about trustworthiness facilitate financial backing and that implicit gender bias influenced funders' willingness to fund female entrepreneurs. This is significant because earlier research has found that female-led firms receive only 1.3 percent of venture capital financing. They are often asked to surrender a greater proportion of ownership when receiving private funding. But in crowdfunding -- where a "crowd" of amateur investors make small investments in new companies -- empirical observations revealed a funding advantage for women. "Previous research in venture capital setting has advocated that women should downplay feminine characteristics to increase their chances of obtaining funding," Stevenson said. "This advice not only appears to be dogmatic, but our data shows it is simply bad advice for female entrepreneurs when they are obtaining funding through crowdfunding platforms." The paper also shows that crowdfunding provides a means for building trust with funders, which later may improve women's broader entrepreneurial prospects. "These findings demonstrate an alternative pathway for women entrepreneurs that may allow them to overcome the negative aspects of gender bias and ### increase their odds of finding success," Stevenson and his colleagues said. "Because funding is a critical component for early-stage survival, our results should be seen as encouraging." Other authors of the article, "A Woman's Place is in the ... Startup! Crowdfunder Judgments, Implicit Bias and Stereotype Context Model," are Michael Johnson, an assistant professor of management at Louisiana State University, and Chaim Letwin, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Suffolk University in Boston. CORVALLIS, Ore. - Researchers at Oregon State University are challenging the premise that trophy hunting is an acceptable and effective tool for wildlife conservation and community development. They argue that charging hunters to kill animals and claim body parts should be a last resort rather than a fallback plan. In a paper published today in Conservation Letters, the researchers label the practice as morally inappropriate and say alternative strategies such as ecotourism should be fully explored and ruled out before trophy hunting is broadly endorsed. "Trophies are body parts," said lead author Chelsea Batavia, a Ph.D. student in OSU's College of Forestry. "But when I read the literature, I don't see researchers talking about them like that. Nobody's even flinching. And at this point it seems to have become so normalized, no one really stops to think about what trophy hunting actually entails." Furthermore, the authors point out, the notion that trophy hunting is imperative to conservation seems to have taken hold largely without compelling empirical evidence. Such an assumption is not only unsubstantiated but can also serve to squelch the search for alternatives. "Rejecting trophy hunting could open up space for innovation and creativity," they write. Batavia worked with colleagues in Oregon State's Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society and collaborators from Canada and Australia. The idea for the paper occurred to them over the course of a review of scholarly literature on trophy hunting. "Conservation scientists commonly recognize strong public opposition to the practice, and at times even point to some sort of ethical tension, but they don't really define or address it," Batavia said. She and her co-authors decided it was time to break the silence and highlight an issue they suspect may underpin the public discomfort around trophy hunting - that it involves a hunter paying a fee to kill an animal and subsequently retaining some or all of the animal's body as a trophy. Part of the ongoing problem, the researchers write, is the word "trophy," a sanitized expression for the tusks, ears, feet, heads, etc. that hunters remove from the animals' bodies. "It's almost like an ethical distraction, calling it by some other name," said co-author Michael Paul Nelson, a professor and the Ruth H. Spaniol Chair of Renewable Resources at OSU. "We have these metaphors that we hide behind. It's like we recognize it's an ethically loaded topic but we don't know what to do about it. And we've tied conservation to the practice of trophy hunting - how do we get off that train?" Proponents argue that trophy hunting supports conservation goals by generating money and reducing poaching and also that it bolsters local economies. Nelson, Batavia and their co-authors recognize these benefits, but they counter that "collecting bodies or body parts as trophies is an ethically inappropriate way to interact with individual animals, regardless of the beneficial outcomes that do or do not follow." "We owe these animals some basic modicum of respect," the researchers suggest. "To transform them into trophies of human conquest is a violation of common decency, and to accept trophy hunting as the international conservation community seems to have done is to aid and abet an immoral practice." If it's determined that saving wildlife is inexorably linked to trophy hunting, conservationists should then "accept the practice only with a due appreciation of tragedy, and proper remorse," the researchers write. They do acknowledge the possibility that future scientific research may suggest trophy hunting is in fact critical to the conservation mission in certain contexts. "In that case trophy hunting should be used reluctantly," they write. "The enthusiasm with which trophy hunting has already been championed as a potential conservation success story is misplaced. Trophy hunting violates the dignity of individual nonhuman animals, and is beneath our dignity as human beings. Continuing complicity by conservationists without fully exhausting other options is not now appropriate nor has it ever been." ### Joining Batavia and Nelson on the paper are Bill Ripple of OSU, Arian Wallach of the University of Technology Sydney, and Chris Darimont and Paul Paquet of the University of Victoria and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Drug maker Novartis became entangled in the ongoing Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels-Michael Cohen saga this week. In the span of 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant issued three separate statements about $1.2 million it had paid to Trump lawyer Cohens firm, Essential Consultants, for insights into the Trump administrations health care policy stances. Novartis connection to Cohen drew a flurry of scrutiny about whether or not the firm had done its due diligence vetting a would-be consultant, and how much the decision to retain his services was spurred by a desire for access to President Trumps ear via his attorney. The company repeatedly emphasized that the arrangement with Cohen is not ongoing, and that it was made before new CEO Vas Narasimhan took the top perch. But while Novartis may be facing some heat reputation-wiseand facing important questions about its managerial judgmentits not difficult to see the financial rationale for the drug makers seemingly cavalier attitude toward a $1.2 million sunk cost: The Cohen payment is barley even a blip on the Novartis radar. Subscribe to Brainstorm Health Daily, our newsletter about the most exciting health innovations. Novartis raked in more than $49.1 billion in global net sales in 2017. That translated into $7.7 billion in net income and $10.4 billion in free cash flow, according to the companys full year earnings report. So a $1.2 million Cohen payout represents just 0.002% of Novartis net 2017 sales, 0.017% of its net income, and 0.012% of its free cash flow. Thatd be like someone with a take-home pay of $50,000 deciding to spend about $8.50 on a potentially valuable source of insighteven if the service proves to be bunk, youre still out less than ten bucks. Novartis critics are raising more big-picture issues than the money, and there are still plenty of questions about what the company was trying to achieve through its relationship with Cohen. But this financial reality is part of the reason that massive firms, including drug makers, feel free to make risky bets. On a tangential but related note, its also part of the reason that organizations like Taxpayers Against Fraud argue that substantial fines levied on companies for bad behavior may not be very effective; large organizations can pretty easily absorb the fine and weather a temporary fall in stock price. President Donald Trump said that his historic summit with Kim Jong Un will take place in Singapore on June 12. Here are some relavant facts about the city-state: 1. Until November 2017, Singapore was North Koreas seventh largest trading partner In November 2017, the United States imposed North Korea-related sanctions on a number of individuals and companies, including two firms in Singapore. Until that point, Singapore was North Koreas seventh largest trading partner. In 2015, bilateral trade was worth $29 million. After the sanctions, Singapores customs office said that the country will prohibit all commercially traded goods from, or to, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). 2. While Singapore doesnt host any U.S. military bases, the American Air Force and the Navy have had a presence there since 1968 Singapore is at a strategic point in Southeast Asia, lying between Indonesia and Malaysia while serving as a gateway to the Far East. Because of its location, US Navy has had a presence in the country since 1968 to coordinate maintenance of US Navy ships throughout Southeast Asia. Theres also a small number of US Air Force staff working at the Paya Lebar Air Base. Singapore on a map. 3. Singapores military has very close ties with the Israeli Defense Force Singapore has maintained very close military ties with Israel since 1969. The country hosts hundreds of former Israeli military and intelligence officers as well as major Israeli security corporations (such as Israel Aerospace Industries). In a 2016 visit to Israel, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong remarked how grateful he was for Israels support, without which Singapores armed forces could not have grown its capabilities, deterred threats, defended our island, and reassured Singaporeans and investors that Singapore was secure and had a future. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) stands next to Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as they deliver joint statements in Jerusalem April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun 4. China briefly seized Singaporean military equipment in 2017 Early in 2017, nine Singaporean armored vehicles were seized in transit to Taiwan by Hong Kong authorities. The vehicles, which belonged to the countrys military, were Terrex troop carriers. They were returned but only after a diplomatic row. Story continues At that time, foreign policy experts suggested that China returned the vehicles as an act of goodwill to mitigate tensions amid rising geopolitical uncertainty caused by the nascent Trump administration. 5. Singapores president is a Muslim woman Earlier this year, Singapore held elections for a new president. The winning candidate was 63-year-old Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority. Yacob is the countrys first ethnic Malay president in 47 years and also the first woman. Britains Prince Charles meets Singapores President Halimah Yacob at the Istana in Singapore October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 6. Singapore hosts an annual high-level security summit Every year since 2002, Singapore has played host to a high-level security conference called the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is held at the Shangri La Hotel. The Dialogue attracts all the senior security officials from around the world and is known for its extremely high security and caution. Last year, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis attended the conference. This year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to deliver the keynote speech. READ MORE: Trump says release of detainees proves Kim Jong Un wants to bring North Korea into the real world (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, raising the risk of further conflict in the Middle East and threatening to disrupt global oil supplies. The 2015 agreement, worked out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran, lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits to its nuclear programme. The pact was aimed at preventing the OPEC member from developing a nuclear bomb. Oil prices have jumped to their highest since 2014 following Tuesday's announcement. The following are views on the likely impact on oil markets: UBS, MAY 10 NOTE: MARKET LIKELY TO BE IN DEFICIT IN 2018 "U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is likely to curb global oil supply. With supply risks already high in Venezuela, where oil production has been in free fall, the oil market is likely to remain in deficit this year." UBS said about 200,000-500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian exports could be disrupted over the next six months. The bank raised its six-month Brent price forecast to $80 per barrel from $65 a barrel, and its 12-month view to $75 a barrel from $62 previously. It sees U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at a $5 discount to Brent. "How great the volume disruption will be will remain unknown for a while. It will also depend on how China and India, the two largest buyers of Iranian oil, react." ANZ, MAY 10 NOTE: INDIA, CHINA COULD IMPORT MORE IN CASE OF DISCOUNTS "We see the level of oil impacted being much lower, at around 300 kb/d. The larger share of exports go to the Asian market, especially China and India; and these countries could import more if Iran offered oil at discounted prices." STEPHEN INNES, HEAD OF TRADING FOR ASIA/PACIFIC AT FUTURES BROKERAGE OANDA IN SINGAPORE, MAY 10 NOTE: PRICES COULD GO HIGHER "Putting API's inventories report into context, it confirms the general trend that U.S. inventories are shrinking. Suggesting unless there are some production increases from the OPEC/Non-OPEC accord to offset the drop in Venezuelan production, and the expected decline of the Iranian output, prices could be in for a significant leg higher." Story continues JBC ENERGY, MAY 9 NOTE: SHARP DROP IN PURCHASES OF IRANIAN CRUDE "We expect to see a sharp drop in purchases of Iranian crude oil from all sides over the next couple of months, just as crude markets reach peak seasonal tightness. "Estimates vary from a couple of hundred thousand barrels per day (b/d), essentially token compliance from some U.S. allies in East Asia to visibly reduce their Iranian crude imports, to more than 1 million b/d." JBC Energy expects some 500,000 to 700,000 b/d of Iranian crude oil exports likely to be pulled out of the market over coming months. GOLDMAN SACHS, MAY 9 NOTE: PRICES SKEWED TO UPSIDE The announcement on Iran and the elevated geopolitical risks in other key oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela "all create risk of additional production losses in the face of depleted inventory buffers." Goldman Sachs saw its summer $82.5 per barrel Brent price forecast as "skewed to the upside". "As an indication, the 2012 precedent was for 20 percent reductions every 180 days, which would represent a 0.5 mb/d loss of production initially given Iran's 2.6 mb/d current crude oil exports. All else constant, we estimate that such a 500 kb/d supply loss until year-end would support oil prices by $6.2/bbl." BARCLAYS, MAY 9 NOTE: LITTLE IMPACT ON IRAN OUTPUT "We expect little impact on Iranian crude production in 2018 despite the understanding given on 8 May that the (sanctions) waiver is not going to be renewed. "As a result of this decision, we lower our output expectations for Iran by around 150 kb/d in 2019 (from 3.91 mb/d to 3.74 mb/d), a volume that we expect could be offset by Saudi Arabia unilaterally raising output back to its quota level of 10.1 mb/d (at the expense of the country's spare capacity) or by a coordinated reconfiguration of the OPEC/Non-OPEC Joint Declaration of Cooperation for 2019." BENJAMIN LU, COMMODITIES ANALYST AT SINGAPORE-BASED BROKER PHILLIP FUTURES, MAY 9 NOTE: NO IMMEDIATE CUT IN IRAN OUTPUT "We do not foresee an immediate reduction of Iranian production as Iran looks poised to ramp up on production to capitalize on the imposed timeframe. "Much emphasis will have to be placed on the effect of U.S. pressure on importing nations of Iranian oil. Thus we postulate that the current term effects will be largely limited on the upside for oil prices." NAEEM ASLAM, CHIEF MARKETS ANALYST, THINK MARKETS, MAY 9 NOTE: NO BULL CASE "Let's say that Iran's oil production does go down by half a million barrel per day, which would impact the price more positively so, even with lower production, Iran may not be in such a bad position because of the higher oil price. "Most importantly, Iran learned how to work with sanctions and the country is in a much stronger position politically and economically to work with other major players in the region to find a solution which fits all. "Hence, there may be no point in becoming a massive bull on oil (I do not see any bigger impact on the oil supply), or hold a massive bearish position on Iranian currency or the equity market." COMMERZBANK, MAY 9 NOTE: NOT AS BAD AS LAST TIME "In the period up until the start of 2016, up to 1 million barrels of Iranian oil per day were stripped from the market by the sanctions at the time. Nearly half of this total was due to a complete EU import ban. "This is unlikely to happen this time around as the U.S. has revoked the deal unilaterally and against the will of most other countries. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has signalled its willingness to offset possible sanction-related supply outages from Iran." CAPITAL ECONOMICS, MAY 9 NOTE: DEPENDS ON IRAN'S MOVE, SEVERITY OF SANCTIONS "The re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran is unlikely to have a major impact on global oil supply. "The overall impact on oil supply and prices will depend on whether Iran stays in the deal and how severe the secondary sanctions are. At the very least, there is likely to be a higher risk premium in oil prices for the next few months." "However, for now, we expect the impact on supply to be relatively small and so are sticking with our end-2018 forecast of $65 per barrel, down from about $77 today." CREDIT SUISSE EQUITY RESEARCH, MAY 8 NOTE: BIGGER IMPACT IN 2019 "We expect minimal impact to Iranian exports over the next several months (~200 MBbld by 4Q18), but a greater impact in 2019 as buyers of crude are given a period of time to show efforts at reducing Iranian imports and more restrictive sanctions targeting banks that transact in Iranian oil take effect." (Reporting by Arpan Varghese, Karen Rodrigues and Eileen Soreng in BENGALURU, and Koustav Samanta in SINGAPORE; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Tom Hogue) Apple said it would not be going ahead with the project as its planning application had been faced with delays. The project was touted as Apple's biggest in Europe, and was expected to create 300 jobs in Ireland. Apple AAPL has scrapped plans for an 850 million euro ($1 billion) data center in Ireland . The tech giant said Thursday that it would not be going ahead with the project as its planning application had been faced with delays. Ireland's High Court approved that the company could go ahead with its data center in October, but an appeal was subsequently made by environmental campaigners to the Supreme Court. Apple's decision to end its intention to build the data center comes on the same day the appeal was meant to be heard at the country's highest court. "Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data center," Apple said in an emailed statement. "While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow." Apple first announced its plans for a data center in Athenry, County Galway, in 2015. The project was touted as Apple's biggest in Europe, and was expected to create 300 jobs in Ireland. Heather Humphreys, Ireland's minister for business, enterprise and innovation, said Apple's decision to drop the project was disappointing. "I very much regret that Apple will not be pursuing its plans to construct a data center in Athenry, especially as the project would have been a source of significant investment and job creation for Galway and the West of Ireland," Humphreys said in a statement. "Notwithstanding this bad news, I welcome that Apple have confirmed that they are strongly committed to their existing operations in Ireland." Humphreys added: "These delays have, if nothing else, underlined our need to make the state's planning and legal processes more efficient. The government has therefore already been working, over the last number of months, to make improvements to those processes." Story continues Data centers are essential facilities for big tech companies, as they create a centralized environment to manage and distribute huge amounts of data. Firms are investing in ramping up their data protection efforts ahead of a privacy law from the European Union that threatens to fine businesses up to 4 percent of annual turnover if they fail to comply. More From CNBC Apple data center plan Apple Apple is cancelling the development of a $1 billion data centre in the rural town of Athenry, Ireland, and locals are outraged. Paul Keane, leader of a local pressure group supporting the development, said the server farm would have resulted in hundreds of jobs and boost to the local economy. Apple has been trying to establish the data centre since 2015 but threw in the towel after two residents objected to the plans on environmental grounds. Keane said the decision reflected badly on Ireland's government, and the country's planning processes. Ireland is reliant on attracting big US tech firms, with Google, Facebook, and Twitter all making the country the site of their international headquarters. Apple's cancellation of a $1 billion data centre in Ireland is a "major black mark" against the country, and a huge disappointment for locals hoping for a boost to the economy, according to a longtime campaigner who pushed for the development. On Thursday, Apple confirmed what locals in the Irish town of Athenry had feared for months that it was ditching plans to build a 850 million data centre in the area due to delays in the planning process. "It's a major black mark," said Paul Keane, who heads up local pressure group Athenry for Apple, which has more than 4,000 members on Facebook. "We have the [foreign investment agency] IDA Ireland out there on the international stage trying to attract investment. A message like this will be aired all over the world, that Apple has pulled [out]. That's not attractive. And it's a black mark on the failures of the government to address our planning issues and court system." Local resident Adrian Monaghan wrote on the group's Facebook page: "Absolute disgrace. The govt did damn all to stop this happening and when they did step in it was too little too late. This is at their doorstep." Keane estimated the data centre would have created up to 300 jobs. Story continues "Athenry is a very rural town, it's mainly farming-based," he said. "The vast majority of people living here work elsewhere, like Galway city. To work in the technology-based industry, people would have to [work] elsewhere. The centre would have created lots of local jobs, it would have created a massive economic boost." Keane said there were two empty industrial areas "flanking" the Apple site, which might have attracted more investors. "I can't see any development there," he said. Apple had been trying to get its Irish data centre off the ground since 2015, buying up 198 hectares of land in Athenry for a facility that would be 166,000 square metres. The plan was to use the data centre to store European user data and to help power online services, including the iTunes Store, the App Store, iMessage, Maps, and Siri for customers across Europe. Two locals held up Apple's $1 billion project Apple Ireland data centre Business Insider/Sam Shead Apple quickly ran into legal trouble, thanks to two individuals who objected to the development on environmental grounds: lawyer Sinead Fitzpatrick and engineer Allan Daly. Locals hoped Apple would overcome the two residents' legal objections after the High Court approved the server farm in October last year. Then Fitzpatrick and Daly lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, and Apple has thrown in the towel ahead of the hearing. "Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre," Apple said. Fitzpatrick did not respond to an email seeking comment, and Business Insider was unable to contact Daly. But according to court filings, the pair raised concerns about the data centre's energy consumption, and its impact on the wider environment as the development continued. It isn't clear what happens to Apple's Athenry site now. The land was owned by state-owned forestry organisation Coillte but, according to Coillte's website, it was acquired by Apple and IDA Ireland for the server farm. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for clarification. "It's very site-specific in terms of what you can do," Keane said of the area. "A data centre was the perfect fit. I don't know who would buy that, there would be lots of work to be done." Ireland is reliant on external investment from big tech firms like Apple, attracting companies with a low tax regime. Facebook, Twitter, and Google all have their international headquarters in Dublin. The data centre decision is a double blow after the EU decided Apple would also have to pay Ireland 13 billion (11.1 billion; $14.5 billion) in back taxes. NOW WATCH: Gaming while black: How racist trolls are still dominating video games See Also: SEE ALSO: Apple just ditched plans to build an 850 million data center in Ireland This Billionaire Wants to Split California Into 3 States. Here's Why He's Likely to Fail Tim Draper, the billionaire venture capitalist and legend in the world of cryptocurrency, has an idea: Let's split California into three separate states. There are at least five reasons why this idea is doomed from the start, but first, here's his case: The way Draper sees it, smaller states would be run by more efficient and less bureaucratic governments as they compete for residents and business. Education, safety, infrastructure and health care would improve. Taxes would be lower. And the investor who made a name for himself funding tech giants like Hotmail, Skype and Tesla Inc. says he "won't have to think anymore about moving myself, Draper Associates, the Draper Venture Network and Draper University out of California." Draper -- who scored a huge windfall a few years back when he bought a load of bitcoin that had been seized by the U.S. government-- has gone from being a Democrat to Republican to Libertarian to, well, his own party that believes California's government's problem is that it lacks competition. The party platform is simple: break up California. Draper says he's already gathered more than 600,000 signatures for his initiative, almost double the number he needs to get his plan on the ballot come Election Day. He still needs to get the signatures verified and confirmed by counties by June 13."My goal is to get it on the ballot, and then it is up to Californians to see the beauty of a new empowerment, and run with it,'' Draper said by email. Meanwhile, here's what hes got going against him: 1. Last Time This Happened Was During the Civil War The last time the U.S. approved the breakup of a state was in 1863, when West Virginia moved to split with Virginia at the height of the Civil War. Even then, it took a two-year legal battle and presidential approval. President Abraham Lincoln eventually signed off on the split, but he worried at the time about the precedent it would set for states going forward. Needless to say, there is no clear process for a breakup of a state. Story continues 2. Why Would Any Republican Want This? Even if Draper gets California's voters to buy into the idea of a split, government law experts say the plan would probably take an act of Congress. (Again, there's no clear-cut process.) And there's no indication that Republicans in Washington would be amenable to a breakup. If each of the three new California states - with a population of about 12 million to 14 million people - were granted two senators, Congress could be welcoming more Democrats into its chambers. Draper's envisioned borders would form at least two solidly blue states. "Why would any Republican want to create two more Democratic senators?" asked Jack Citrin, a professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley. Executive approval is looking even less likely. President Donald Trump and California have been clashing on everything from immigration policy to environmental regulations. Trump's in no mood to be doing favors for the Golden State. 3. Check Draper's Track Record Draper's idea might ring a bell. That's because, in 2014, he came up with a very similar initiative to divide California into six "startup" states. His campaign missed the deadline to make it onto the 2014 ballot and then failed to qualify for the one in 2016. While he submitted more than 1.13 million signatures that time around, officials estimated only 752,685 were valid. Draper's response to falling short: The state's signature verification process was archaic and just further proof that California's current system is dysfunctional and needs new governments. 4. Some Californians Just Want Out of the Entire U.S. Draper's three-state initiative has competition. Some similarly minded individuals, who are also pushing for better education and a tax overhaul, want California to remain whole but secede from the U.S. in a movement coined "Calexit." The proponents say secession will promote peace and security, because being part of the U.S. makes the state a target for terrorism. This movement has tried and failed in the past. It faces some major hurdles, such as a federally required constitutional amendment, a two-thirds vote in Congress and ratification by 38 states. It also says something that Texas may very well be the one state that has the power to split itself - and it hasn't. That all aside, Calexit has been cleared to start collecting signatures for a 2021 referendum. 5. California's Differences Run Deep Political disputes within California run deep. And Draper is proposing to form states out of counties that haven't always gotten along so well. Take the far-north region of California, where some have for years longed to unite with southern Oregon to form a new state called "Jefferson." Many voters in that area wouldn't exactly be thrilled with the idea of being lumped together with the Bay Area and Sacramento. Jim Newton, a public policy lecturer at the University of California at Los Angeles, isn't convinced people will see their lives as better served by three different governors, three different legislatures or three different Departments of Education. "I don't think it's substantively sensible," he said, calling Draper's initiative "politically doomed." As for Draper himself? He said he remains hopeful. After all, he said, "Anything can happen in politics." See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th, the president wrote on Twitter. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Singapore almost 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) south of Pyongyang represents neutral turf for the two leaders. The city-state of 5.5 million people boasts security partnerships with the U.S., a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China. The government there also has a history of putting together high-profile diplomatic events at short notice, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinpings historic 2015 meeting with his then-counterpart from Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. Still, Kims agreement to travel so far from the safety of Pyongyang the farthest hes ever been as leader could be seen as a concession by North Korea. Trump heads into the summit hoping to gain an agreement from Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and end North Koreas ballistic missile program. U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that the regime is on the verge of being able to mount a nuclear strike against the U.S. mainland. In what is viewed as an early diplomatic concession, Kim released three U.S. prisoners held in North Korea. Trump greeted them when they returned to Washington early Thursday morning By Clara Denina , Dasha Afanasieva and Stanley Carvalho LONDON/ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Emirates Global Aluminium's (EGA) stock market listing is likely to slip to 2019 because of turmoil in global aluminium markets after the United States imposed sanctions on Russian aluminium group Rusal, three sources familiar with the deal said. "The IPO (initial public offering) is delayed to 2019 due to market conditions," one of the sources said. EGA, which produces 2.6 million tonnes of cast metal a year and is the third-largest producer of primary aluminium outside China, announced plans to float last year. But aluminium prices have been volatile since Washington, in response to what it called "malign activities" by Russia, imposed sanctions on Rusal and shareholder Oleg Deripaska. Benchmark prices on the London Metal Exchange (CMAL3) surged to their highest in seven years. They dropped back by around 9 percent when the U.S. Treasury Department said Rusal's American customers would have more time to comply with the sanctions. The U.S. Treasury also said it would consider lifting them if Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska ceded control of the company. In April, just after the sanctions on several Russian entities took hold, EGA's chief executive said the company was on track for a listing in the second half of 2018. "We maintain what we've said earlier that it will be 2018, subject to market conditions and we continue to monitor the markets," an EGA spokesman said on Thursday. EGA's IPO would be the second major listing by a state company in the United Arab Emirates since Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) listed shares in its retail petrol station business in 2017. The sources said no final decision had been taken on whether the listing would take place in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, while a secondary listing in London was still a possibility. About 10 to 15 percent of the company is likely to be floated, they said. Sources had previously said that Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) had been hired to run the IPO. Story continues EGA, owned by Mubadala and Investment Corp of Dubai, was created in 2013 when state-owned companies Dubai Aluminium and Abu Dhabi's Emirates Aluminium merged. Its enterprise value was put at $15 billion at the time. In February, EGA reported a 59 percent rise in 2017 profit to 3.3 billion dirhams (661 million pounds) on stronger aluminium prices and record production levels. (Editing by Jane Merriman) After facing several challenges over the past few years, Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP) has turned things around, which was evident in its first-quarter results. Earnings and cash flow jumped thanks to recent project completions, while a string of asset sales and other strategic financing initiatives have helped bolster its balance sheet and ability to fund additional growth projects. While the company still has some work to do before all its issues are in the rearview mirror, it's certainly heading in the right direction. Drilling down into the results Metric Q1 2018 Q1 2017 Year-Over-Year Change Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) $1.88 billion $1.45 billion 30.2% Distributable cash flow (DCF) $1.2 billion $945 million 29.4% DCF per unit $1.05 $0.87 20.7% Distribution coverage ratio 1.15 1.17 (1.7%) Data source: Energy Transfer Partners. Like last quarter, Energy Transfer Partners delivered strong earnings and cash flow growth. Because of that, the company was able to cover its jaw-dropping 12.4%-yielding distribution by a healthy 1.15 times. That slight decline from the year-ago quarter was caused by parent company Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE: ETE) significantly reducing its support. For a better comparison, the coverage ratio would have still been a solid 1.1 in this year's first quarter without any assistance from Energy Transfer Equity, while it would have been a worrisome 0.98 in the year-ago period without the parent company's help. That improvement is exactly what investors wanted to see this quarter. Fueling the increase in coverage was earnings growth in virtually all the company's operating segments: A chart showing Energy Transfer Partners earnings by segment in the first quarters of 2018 and 2017. Data source: Energy Transfer Partners. Chart by the author. The crude oil transportation segment was the standout performer during the quarter, delivering an impressive 148% year-over-year earnings increase. The bulk of that came from putting the controversial Bakken pipeline into service last year as that added $222 million to the bottom line during the period. This segment also benefited from higher volumes on the company's legacy systems in the Permian Basin, as well as improved profitability from its oil marketing activities. Story continues Another standout performer was the NGL and refined products segment, where earnings jumped 18% thanks to higher volumes on several of its systems. The interstate transportation segment also delivered a strong quarter, with profit up nearly 22% versus the year-ago period, driven by the partial start-up of the Rover pipeline. The only segment where earnings declined was the catch-all one labeled "all other," which houses different investments such as its stake in Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN) and PES, a refining joint venture. PES has struggled due to higher costs, and recently declared bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer's earnings from Sunoco L.P. declined because that entity sold the bulk of its retail assets and then used that cash to repurchase a portion of Energy Transfer's investment. A stack of large pipes with a blue sky in the background. Image source: Getty Images. A look at what lies ahead In addition to posting strong results, Energy Transfer Partners completed several strategic initiatives over the past few months to bolster its balance sheet and liquidity. As noted, Sunoco L.P. bought back some of the units held by Energy Transfer, which brought in $540 million in cash. The company also completed the sale of some of its natural gas compression assets to USA Compression Partners for $1.7 billion, including $1.23 billion in cash and the rest in equity. Finally, the MLP sold $450 million in preferred units. These moves helped reduce the company's leverage ratio from a concerning 5.54 in the year-ago quarter to within striking distance of its target level of 4. Energy Transfer Equity also made excellent progress on its expansion efforts, including placing the second phase of its Rover Pipeline into service shortly after the quarter ended. Meanwhile, the company continued construction on several additional projects that should enter service later this year, including the Mariner East 2 pipeline and the Revolution System, which should start up in the second quarter. The company has continued securing new projects in recent months, including a joint venture with Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) to restore service to Old Ocean pipeline, which has been idle since 2012. Enterprise and Energy Transfer are also expanding their jointly owned North Texas pipeline, which will flow into Old Ocean by year-end. This transaction will provide an immediate earnings boost for both companies. In addition, Energy Transfer Partners secured a joint venture to build a new ethane export terminal along the Gulf Coast that should start service by the end of 2020. These and other projects in the company's backlog will provide significant cash flow growth over the next few years. This quarter checked off all the boxes Energy Transfer Partners got 2018 off to an excellent start by growing earnings and cash flow sharply, which helped improve its coverage and leverage ratios. The company was also very active on the strategic front by closing several deals that bolstered its balance sheet and growth prospects. The quarter clearly shows that the company is heading in the right direction, making its double-digit yield hard to ignore. More From The Motley Fool Matthew DiLallo owns shares of Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. (Repeats Wednesday's story with no changes to text) * Trump pulls U.S. out of Iran nuclear deal * Europeans failed to persuade Trump to stay in * Saudi Arabia, Israel hail Trump's decision * Saudi and Israeli leaders had visited U.S. * GRAPHIC-Iran's nuclear facilities https://tmsnrt.rs/2K9tVRX By John Irish, Rania El Gamal and Steve Holland PARIS/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - When Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince visited France in April, he oozed confidence that President Donald Trump would pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal which Riyadh has long opposed. Answering reporters' questions in Paris, two weeks after talks with Trump in Washington, Prince Mohammed bin Salman compared the deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement which was meant by European powers to appease Nazi Germany but ended in war. Where French, German and British diplomatic efforts failed with Trump, Saudi Arabia's appear to have succeeded. A source close to Saudi policymakers said Washington and Riyadh, Iran's main regional rival, had been discussing the 2015 nuclear deal "for some time" before Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States was pulling out of it. The source said it was "obvious" from the Crown Prince's talks with Trump in the White House on March 20 and a visit to Riyadh a month later by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that there had been a "coordination" of positions. "We were for it and we worked on it," another Saudi source said of Riyadh's diplomacy. Also celebrating is Israel, another of Iran's enemies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled what he said was evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme on April 30. Most of the purported evidence Netanyahu presented dated to the period before the 2015 accord was signed, although he said Iran had also kept important files on nuclear technology since then, and continued adding to its "nuclear weapons knowledge". Tehran dismissed Netanyahu as "the boy who cried wolf", and called his presentation propaganda. Story continues Although Israeli officials said they did not know whether Trump had been swayed by the information, the president referred to it in his announcement on Tuesday. Netanyahu had talks with Trump in the White House in March and Israeli diplomats worked hard behind the scenes to get their country's views across on the deal, intended to prevent Tehran obtaining a nuclear bomb but seen by opponents as flawed. Asked how much of the Israeli ambassador to Washington's time had been spent arguing the case against the deal, Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren told Reuters: "Ball-park guess? Something in the vicinity of 90-plus (percent) ... This issue is, for Netanyahu, paramount." MACRON VISIT WAS "LAST RESORT" Trump's announcement was a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both tried to change Trump's mind on Iran during visits to the White House in April, and both failed. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also made a last-minute dash to Washington but did not get to see the president. He put Britain's case at talks with Pompeo and in an interview with "Fox & Friends" on cable channel Fox News, which Trump regularly watches. Despite their efforts, European leaders knew by mid-April that the chances of persuading Trump to stay in the nuclear deal were fading, European diplomats said. "Macron's visit was the last resort," a European official told Reuters in Brussels, referring to the French leader's talks with Trump in the White House on April 24. Describing the last month of diplomacy as "disastrous", the official said: "For weeks all the indications from the White House and State Department were: 'He's out (of the deal)'." On Wednesday, the European allies were seeking to salvage the nuclear deal and preserve their business with Iran. Trump's message to the Europeans in the run-up to his announcement was that they must come up with a way to toughen the nuclear deal if the United States was to remain in it, said sources familiar with the discussions. He pressed for a separate deal to go alongside the nuclear agreement that would address other U.S. concerns about Iran such as its ballistic missile program, which was not covered in the 2015 accord, they said. Progress was made in the negotiations, but not enough to sway Trump. The sources familiar with the debate said Trump wanted a separate agreement with the other main signatories of the original deal -- France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia. But Berlin said the agreement would have to be submitted to a European Union body for approval, and this appeared to stall the effort, they said. Pompeo told the German and British foreign ministers and a senior French official by telephone last Friday that Washington would no longer pursue the process with Europe. The European and U.S. positions were too far apart on the so-called sunset clauses allowing for some restriction on Iran's nuclear enrichment programme to be lifted. By midway through last week, European diplomats "felt like we were going through the motions," a European official said. TRUMP APPOINTMENTS Some European diplomats believed any chance of persuading Trump to stay in the deal had gone even before Macron visited Washington. They saw Pompeo's appointment in March as a deadly blow, and it was quickly followed by the arrival in the White House of John Bolton, another Iran hawk, as national security adviser. Rex Tillerson, the previous secretary of state, had seen value in staying in the deal, as did Defense Secretary James Mattis. The president reluctantly agreed to give the deal more time in April 2017 when an initial renewal deadline approached. But by the next deadline, last July, Trump was furious at aides for trying to persuade him to stay in the deal, a source familiar with the debate said. "You mean you had three months, and you didn't do anything?" he told them, the source said. In October, Trump announced he would not permit U.S. certification of Iranian compliance with the deal, setting the United States on the path that it reached on Tuesday. A White House official said that in the days leading up to the president's announcement, top aides had not been seeking aggressively to talk Trump out of withdrawing because his mind had been made up. By then, European officials were despondent, a European diplomat said. "We realised we have to buy time. On the eve of the Trump decision, all we could do is to tell the Iranians: don't do anything rash," the diplomat said. (Writing by Steve Holland and Timothy Heritage; Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels, Stephen Kalin in Riyadh, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Elizabeth Piper in London and Marine Pennetier in Paris, Editing by Mike Collett-White) * Jubilation gives way to gloom as renewed sanctions loom * Iranians fear greater hostility from Trump-led administration * Deep frustrations over economic hardship By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA, May 9 (Reuters) - Morad Sabzevari was among thousands of jubilant Iranians who took to the streets to celebrate a nuclear deal with major powers in 2015. He expected it to end his country's isolation, and even bring prosperity one day. Sabzevari's hopes were dashed on Tuesday, when President Donald Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from "a horrible, one-sided deal" and reimposing sanctions on Iran. His tougher-than-expected tone rattled Sabzevari, 47, a school teacher in central city of Isfahan, criticised Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who overcame fierce opposition from hardliners to secure the deal. "I am scared. I listened to Trump's speech on English news channels last night ... It was a declaration of war against Iran. It means pressure. It means dark days and months are ahead of us," Sabzevari said by telephone. "What should I do? I have two children. Mr. President you failed." The nuclear pact, designed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, was thrashed out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran and traded a lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program. Trump said the accord, the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, failed to address Iran's ballistic missile program, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and its role in conflicts in the Middle East, where it is involved in proxy wars with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. Rouhani has sought to reassure ordinary Iranians, already deeply frustrated by high unemployment and low living standards, that Iran's oil-reliant economy could withstand a return to the economic pressures that will follow Trump's decision. But Fariba Saravi, 26-year-old PhD student at Tehran Azad University, was pessimistic. Story continues "I am tired of empty words, promises, lies ... Trump's message was clear. We will be squeezed. We will be isolated again but this time with a crazy person like Trump, it will be worse than before (the deal)," she said. FEARING SANCTIONS Iran's economy has continued to struggle despite the easing of sanctions from 2016. Average unemployment of 12 percent rises close to 30 percent among Iran's restless youth - more than 30 percent of Irans 80 million population are aged 18 to 30. In late December, Iranians staged nationwide demonstrations over poor living standards, calling on Rouhani as well as top clerical leaders to step down. For many, the picture looks even grimmer after Trump's decision and there is a risk the deal will collapse entirely even though European signatories are trying to hold it together. "You know what? They did not have money to pay our salaries. Now it will be even worse ... God help us," said factory worker Mostafa, 38, in the northern city of Noshahr. "I have not got my wage in the past two months. Mr. Rouhani promised more jobs ... but now I will be jobless." Pressure will mount on the Iranian leadership when U.S. restrictions cut its oil exports that are the engine of Irans economy, raising the prospect of further unrest. "Why should foreigners invest in Iran when we are trying to move our businesses to another country," said a businessman, who asked not to be named, in the holy Shi'ite city of Mashhad. "I am in the dried fruit export business. Since last night, I have been seriously thinking of moving to a neighbouring country like Turkey." More Iranians could come to the same conclusion as sanctions bite. Many foreign firms have shunned Iran, in part due to the remaining sanctions unilaterally imposed by the United States over what it says are human rights violations, terrorism, and the dominant role of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Irans economy. "DEATH TO AMERICA" Younger, particularly urban Iranians, have wider concerns as their country is squeezed economically. "I don't care what politicians do. They are all liars. But now I almost have no hope for more freedoms, social, cultural and even political," said Garshasb Amini, 19, in the central city of Yazd. Rouhani, a longtime establishment insider who won the presidency in 2013 and 2017, was bolstered by the support of many Iranians yearning for freedoms. But rights groups say there has been little, if any progress. Rouhani and his allies say hardliners, who dominate the judiciary and security services, are a roadblock to more freedoms at home. Maryam Saberi, 51, who lives in Tehran's affluent Zaferaniyeh neighbourhood, has more pressing concerns. "I could not sleep last night. I am so scared of Iran being attacked by Israel. I remember when Iraq bombed Tehran during the (1980-88) war I don't care about the nuclear programme. I just want my country to be safe," she said. Hardliners are putting their faith in Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who, in Iran's complex power structure, has the final say on matters of state. "I don't care what Trump does. My beloved Khamenei will lead us out of this as he has done in the past," said Gholamreza Ashtiani, 22, a member of Iran's volunteer Basij militia in the holy city of Qom. "Death to America. Death to Israel," he said. (Editing by Michael Georgy and Jon Boyle) Ford's top executives took heat from shareholders over their plan to do away with sedans as we know them in Ford's North American lineup, as the company held its annual meeting Thursday. Critics said the plan to shelve the Fiesta, Focus and Taurus, reduce the Focus to one crossover model, and concentrate on high-margin trucks and SUVs was a shortsighted abandonment of entire market segments of affordable vehicles. "This doesn't mean we intend to lose those customers," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said. "We want to give them what they're telling us they really want. We're simply reinventing the American car." Ford has said SUVs/crossovers and pickups will constitute 90 percent of its North American lineup by 2020. And though only the Mustang and new Focus Active will remain, it plans to add new vehicles going forward that offer better fuel economy and utility, including EVs and hybrids. Hackett characterized the shift not as an abandonment of traditional cars but as a transformation of them. "We don't want anyone to think we're leaving anything," Hackett said. "We're just moving to a modern version. This is an exciting new generation of vehicles coming from Ford." It was Hackett's first annual meeting as CEO, and for the second year it was conducted online rather than in person. The change to Ford's lineup is part of Hackett's overall plan to cut $25.2 billion in costs by the year 2022. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. blamed the negative reaction to the lineup plan on media coverage. "I wish the coverage had been a little different," he said. "If you got beyond the headline, you'll see we're adding to our product lineup and by 2020 we'll have the freshest showroom in the industry. The headlines look like Ford's retreating. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth." While Ford was clear about its plans for the Blue Oval, it has been less clear about the Lincoln brand. Hackett on Thursday said only that the Lincoln Continental, re-introduced just two years ago, would continue "through its life cycle" but it has been such a slow seller that rumor has Ford killing the Continental again after that, and Hackett made no mention of a new generation. Presumably the MKZ sedan will go away when its twin the Ford Fusion does, but although Ford has outlined end dates for other models, the Fusion's departure is open-ended. The stock price has been a frustration for investors for years and has fallen 12 percent since the first of the year. Bill Ford addressed that sore subject Thursday. "I share your frustration. The whole management team does," Ford told shareholders. "Look, we want to get the stock price moving. The business can get fitter, and it will get fitter." Despite overall profitability, Ford's market capitalization of $44 billion trails unprofitable Silicon Valley electric car maker Tesla Inc, which has a market capitalization of $51.3 billion, a reflection of investor doubts that Ford can re-ignite growth. Story continues But shareholders should expect "fairly large" changes in the coming year, Bill Ford told Reuters. In addition to lineup changes and cost-cutting, Ford still faces questions about lagging performance in certain regions and calls for more details on its restructuring. "It could be regions, it could be functions, it could be areas of emphasis," Bill Ford said in an interview on Tuesday. "We've done some big things, and we still have some big things to do." The automaker lost $4 billion in South America from 2013 through the first quarter of this year, and its chief of global operations said in January it was "exploring every option you can imagine." Analysts have also urged an overhaul of European passenger car operations to help Ford reach its 8 percent pre-tax profit margin goal. Bill Ford said the automaker will be able to use cost savings to return cash to shareholders, invest in new technology and businesses and fund restructuring."We believe we can take care of all three," he said. Voters in Thursday's meeting once again rejected an annual attempt to remove the Ford family's special class of shares. Finally, Ford officials declined to say whether the board of directors, who met this week, had voted to buy and rehabilitate the decrepit and abandoned Michigan Central Station in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, part of its plans to buy up other properties and create a large creative campus there. But Automotive News reported that workers in construction vests and hardhats were spotted Thursday inside the fence surrounding the 500,000-square-foot depot. Material from Reuters was used in this report Related Video: This week, at the Google I/O developers conference, there was a consistent message about Googles AI from a cast of Google executives: Our AI will not be evil. In his keynote, CEO Sundar Pichai said of AI, We feel a deep sense of responsibility to get these things right. In a recent letter to shareholders, the president of its parent company, Sergey Brin, said similarly, I expect machine learning technology to continue to evolve rapidly and for Alphabet to continue to be a leaderin both the technological and ethical evolution of the field. There are a whole host of issues with responsible AI; ethics, bias, fairness, and algorithmic transparency are some. But recently, one Google engineer raised perhaps the most fundamental pointthe standard of scientific rigor in the development of AI. In a recent article in Science that covered proceedings at the International Conference on Learning Representations in Vancouver, Google AI researcher Ali Rahimi was quoted as saying, Theres anguish in the field. Many of us feel like were operating on alien technology. Rahimi is very concerned that the entire field has become a black box. Rahimi co-authored a paper (pdf) that says that knowledge, nominally the goal of scientific research, is currently in second place to wins, the practice of beating a benchmark as a way to getting recognized in the AI community. The authors go on to highlight how this may be skewing the true nature of progress in AI and contributing to wasted effort and suboptimal performance. For example, researchers showed how stripping bells and whistles from a translation algorithm made it work better, which highlighted how its creators didnt know which parts of the AI were doing what. Its not uncommon for the core of an AI to be technically flawed. Other people at Alphabet seem to agree. Csaba Szepesvari, a computer scientist at its Go-winning DeepMind subsidiary in London, told Science that competitive testing has gone too far. A paper is more likely to be published if the reported algorithm beats some benchmark than if the paper sheds light on the softwares inner workings, he said. Similarly, Francois Chollet, a computer scientist at Google in California, told the magazine that people rely on folklore and magic spells, referring to how AI engineers adopt pet methods to tune their AIs. Story continues The authors suggest a range of fixes, all focused on learning which algorithms work best, when, and why. They include deleting parts of an algorithm and seeing what works and what breaks, reporting the performance of an algorithm across different dimensions so that performance improvements in one area dont mask a drop in another, and sanity checks, where an algorithm is tested on counter-factual or alternative data. As awareness grows around AIs impact on our society and as the tech giants continue to concentrate AI capability within their walls, there is as much need to maintain transparency and accountability around the creation of AI as there is around the use of it. Read this next: Your primer on how to talk about the fourth industrial revolution Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: As part of its efforts to expand into newer markets, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM wants to set up a joint-venture brokerage in China. For this, the company is seeking approval from the securities regulator in the country. Gao Li, a spokeswoman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission, recently stated that J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Ltd., a unit of JPMorgan, submitted an application to acquire 51% stake in a Chinese securities venture. Li also informed that the application will be efficiently reviewed by the regulator. This move by the bank comes after China pledged to open its financial markets for foreign investors. In April, the Chinese authorities released guidelines, giving permission to foreign companies to own a maximum 51% of their local securities joint ventures. Notably, the country is expected to remove all ownership limits for foreign companies after 3 years. JPMorgans CEO, Jamie Dimon visited China a few days ago. He is optimistic about the companys plans to expand into the Chinese economy and hopes that the increasing trade tensions will not create any barriers for the same. According to a person familiar with the matter, the company wants to learn more about investing in China so that it can cover more clients and hence expand its business in the country. A few days before JPMorgans application, other companies like UBS Group AG UBS and Nomura Holdings, Inc. NMR also submitted their applications for gaining control over 51% stake in the countrys securities joint ventures. Also, some other firms like Morgan Stanley MS and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. have a desire to control their joint ventures in China. Notably, while JPMorgan intends to expand into 15-20 new markets (starting in Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland) by opening up to 400 new branches and hiring as many as 3,000 employees through 2023. It is also focused on increased automation with fewer employees. Thus, the company continues with its efforts to reduce the size of the branches, given the increased usage of online banking and ATMs. Shares of the company have gained 31.5% in the past year, outperforming 18% growth of the industry. Story continues Currently, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report UBS Group AG (UBS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nomura Holdings Inc ADR (NMR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Morgan Stanley (MS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The Malaysia country-specific exchange traded fund has experienced wild swings in the last couple of sessions and allowed U.S. investors to price this Southeast emerging market even during this foreign market's off hours. The iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF (EWM) jumped as much as 4% in earlier Thursday trading after plummeted 6% Wednesday, and it is now testing its long-term support at the 200-day simple moving average. The Malaysia ETF reveals the strong U.S. trader interest in international stocks as many look to capture potential overseas opportunities. EWM is serving as a real-time price discovery vehicle for investors while local Malaysian markets remain closed until Monday, as evidenced by record volume yesterday, Chris Dhanraj, head of U.S. iShares investment strategy for BlackRock, told Bloomberg. Yesterday investors traded 4.4 million shares of EWM, with volume spiking nearly 900 percent above its five-year average. EWM traders exchanged another 4 million shares Thursday, compared to the average daily volume of 700,000 shares, according to Morningstar data. U.S. investors may gain exposure to overseas markets through various country- or region-specific ETFs. However, these U.S.-listed international stock ETFs may not trade during normal working hours in the respective international markets. For instance, traders have used EWM as a way to receive real-time price discovery while the underlying Malaysian markets are closed. Consequently, EWM was trading at a 5.35% discount to its net asset value at the end of Thursday. Potential investors interested in gaining international exposure should then seriously consider limit orders to better efficiently price trades. The Malaysia ETF rebounded after losses tied to an upset election win. Assuaging market fears, the newly inaugurated Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he will address concerns about the economy, with state finances and economic management as his priorities. Story continues Furthermore, Mahathir, who previously served as prime minister for 22 years ending in 2003, said hes seeking an active stock market and an increased overall market capitalization, adding there shouldnt be any need to devalue the Malaysian ringgit currency. For more information on the developing economies, visit our emerging markets category. POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > Marriott International, Inc. MAR is riding high on Starwood acquisition, improving North-American business, strong RevPAR gains, sizeable international exposure, an attractive brand-position and positive earnings streak. In a years time, the stock has rallied 35.3%, outperforming the industrys gain of 24.7%. However, lingering political uncertainties in key international markets and currency headwinds might persistently limit revenue growth. Lets delve deeper. Hidden Catalyst Marriott continues to impress investors with its solid bottom-line performance. In first-quarter 2018, the companys adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.34, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25 and increased 40% year over year. Notably, the bottom-line figure outpaced the consensus mark for the 15 straight quarters. Strong RevPAR gains and room growth drove the companys results. Consequently, Marriott raised its 2018 earnings view. It anticipates earnings in the band of $5.43-$5.55 per share, up from the prior-guided range of $5.11-$5.34. Additionally, the company is persistently relying on acquisitions in order to expand its footprint globally. In 2016, it completed the acquisition of Starwood and became the world's largest hotel company. As a result, Marriott's distribution has more than doubled in Asia and the Middle East & Africa combined. According to the company, it has made great progress in integration of Starwood. Also, Marriotts move to buy Starwood shows that the hospitality industry thrives on such blockbuster deals, which are critical to their success at a time when online booking is becoming important in the lodging business. Recently, Marriott announced its plans to unify its loyalty program benefits across Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) in August. The combined loyalty program is expected to provide richer perks to the companys loyalty members by enabling them to earn roughly 20% points for every dollar spent. Also, it is likely to enrich members with more than what was offered under the prior programs. Under this global loyalty program, members can book stays, and earn or redeem points across 29 brands covering 6,500 hotels in 127 countries and territories. Story continues Furthermore, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is very optimistic about growth opportunity in India. Recently, the Asian Development Bank forecasted that India will be the fastest growing economy in Asia. Marriott has more than 20,000 rooms in the country. Hurdles to Cross Marriott faces various challenges related to the Starwood integration. If these integration efforts fail, it may not realize the anticipated synergies and benefits. Moreover, the diversion of managements attention from day-to-day business concerns, given the acquisition along with any difficulties encountered in the transition and integration process, might adversely affect its financial results. The integration process could also take longer than anticipated and involve unanticipated costs. Despite Marriotts immense growth potential, a sluggish economy and oversupply in Brazil are weighing on the Latin American region. In the Middle East, sanctions on Qatar have reduced travel into and out of that country. Meanwhile, political unrest, lower government spending, new hotel supply and a tough oil market continue to hurt tourism in other Middle East markets. Stocks to Consider Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Brinker International, Inc. EAT, Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. TACO and Denny's Corporation DENN. All these stocks has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Brinker International has a long-term earnings growth rate of 10.9%. Del Taco Restaurants has an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 15.8%. Denny's has reported better-than-expected earnings in the preceding two quarters. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Marriott International (MAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Denny's Corporation (DENN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. (TACO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. By David Ljunggren and Anthony Esposito WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico on Thursday indicated time was running out to see whether NAFTA nations could agree a new deal in the short term while Canada struck a upbeat tone, saying top-level talks this week had achieved a great deal. Major differences remain between the three members of the North American Free Trade Agreement after more than eight months of largely slow-moving negotiations launched at the insistence of Washington, which wants major changes to the 1994 pact. A source close to the talks said U.S. officials have told Canada and Mexico that May 17 or 18 is the deadline for a text that could be dealt with by the current U.S. Congress. A second source confirmed that those dates had been discussed. Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said he expected to learn by the end of Friday whether a new deal was possible in the short term. "I think we will be finding out through the day and tomorrow ... if we really have what it takes to be able to land these things in the short run," Guajardo told Reuters. Top-level talks between the three members this week hit an obstacle as the United States and Mexico sought to settle differences over the key issue of automobiles. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wants a quick agreement to avoid running into complications caused by a Mexican presidential election on July 1 and U.S. midterm Congressional elections in November. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the three nations had "made a lot of progress since Monday ... we are definitely getting closer to the final objective." Freeland, speaking to reporters after meetings with senior U.S. legislators on Capitol Hill, sidestepped questions as to when an agreement might be reached. Guajardo told Reuters that "we have suitcases for two weeks if necessary." U.S. President Donald Trump regularly threatens to walk away from NAFTA, underscoring uncertainty over the pact. Business executives complain that the lack of clarity is hitting investment. Story continues Mexico has launched a counterproposal to U.S. demands to toughen automotive industry content rules and boost wages. U.S. President Donald Trump blames cheaper wages in Mexico for manufacturing job losses in the United States. Many other major issues crucial to a deal are still unresolved, including U.S. demands for a five-year sunset clause, and elimination of settlement panels for trade disputes. After meeting with Lighthizer on Thursday, Guajardo told reporters that the talks were not just covering autos. "You cannot think that in a process of negotiations we're going to solve one item without reviewing the overall balance of the agreement," he said. "We're going over all the items. It's very important to stress that." (Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski) After the closing bell yesterday, Nvidia NVDA reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2019 results. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for both the top and the bottom line and issued an upbeat guidance buoyed by strong demand for gaming and cloud services. However, a steep slowdown in demand from cryptocurrency miners has dampened investors mood. As such, shares of NVDA pulled back 2% in aftermarket hours from the record highs reached in the regular trading session (read: Should You Snap Up Downtrodden Semiconductor ETFs Now?). Q1 Earnings in Detail Earnings per share came in at $2.05, crushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.65 and improving 141% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues climbed 66% year over year to $3.2 billion and edged past the estimate of $2.91 billion. The performance was powered by a boom in the datacenter and gaming business lines. Datacenter revenues jumped 71% to a record $701 million, while gaming sales climbed 68% to $1.72 billion. Notably, gaming remains the company's biggest moneymaker and the largest segment, accounting for about 54% of total revenues. Though stronger-than-expected demand from cryptocurrency miners raked in revenues of $289 million in the quarter, Nvidia expects crypto sales to fall by about two-thirds in the current fiscal quarter (read: Two Blockchain ETFs Go Live for The First Time). For the second quarter of fiscal 2019, NVIDIA expects revenues of approximately $3.10 billion (+/-2%). The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $2.97 billion. Currently, Nvidia has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a Growth Score of B. Additionally, it falls in a top-ranked Zacks Industry (top 16%). ETFs in Focus Given solid results but some concerns related to demand for crypto mining chips, Nvidia could see range-bound trading in the coming weeks. Investors seeking to bet with lower risk could invest in ETFs that have a higher allocation to this graphics chipmaker. Below we have highlighted some of them: Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF BOTZ This product seeks to invest in companies that potentially stand to benefit from increased adoption and utilization of robotics and AI, including those involved with industrial robotics and automation, non-industrial robots, and autonomous vehicles. It tracks the Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index and holds 28 stocks in its basket with Nvidia taking the top position with 10.3% allocation. BOTZ has AUM of $2.5 billion and trades in solid average daily volume of 1.7 million shares. It charges 68 bps in annual fees. iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXX This ETF offers exposure to 30 U.S. companies that design, manufacture and distribute semiconductors by tracking the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index. Out of these, NVDA takes the second spot with 8.6% allocation. The fund has amassed $1.6 billion in its asset base and charges a fee of 48 bps a year. It trades in a solid volume of 702,000 shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a High risk outlook (read: Intel's Strong Q1 Results to Power Semiconductor ETFs). AdvisorShares New Tech and Media ETF FNG This is an actively managed ETF designed to invest in companies that are driving economic growth in the modern era, and can adapt to changing leadership by maintaining the ability to invest in the next generation of technology and media companies leading the equity markets. It seeks to provide a similar return stream to the performance of technology and media equity leaders as characterized by the FANG stocks acronym. This approach results in a basket of 25 stocks with Nvidia occupying the fourth position, holding 6.1% share. FNG has amassed $45.7 million in its asset base and comes with a high expense ratio of 0.85%. Volume is light at 70,000 shares. PowerShares DWA Technology Momentum Portfolio PTF This fund follows the Dorsey Wright Technology Technical Leaders Index, and provides exposure to companies that are showing relative strength (momentum). Holding 43 stocks in the basket, Nvidia occupies the second position accounting for 6.1% share. The product is illiquid and unpopular with AUM of $126.2 million and average daily volume of 7,000 shares. It charges 60 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a High risk outlook. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH This is one of the popular and liquid ETFs in the semiconductor space with AUM of $1.6 billion and average daily volume of 5.8 million. The fund provides exposure to 26 global securities by tracking the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. NVIDIA occupies the fourth spot with 5.3% of assets. While American firms dominate the funds holdings with 80.8% assets, the Netherlands (9.5%), Taiwan (7.4%), and Bermuda (2.23%) round off the top four in terms of country exposure. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.35%. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 with a High risk outlook (read: Should You Buy Beaten Down FANG ETFs Ahead of Q1 Earnings?). PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Fund PSI This fund tracks the Dynamic Semiconductor Intellidex Index, which evaluates companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value. It holds 30 securities in the basket, with NVIDIA occupying the fourth position, holding 5.2% of assets. PSI has AUM of $339.2 million and charges 63 bps in annual fees. It trades in volume of 97,000 shares per day on average and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 with a High risk outlook. Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ISHARS-PHLX SEM (SOXX): ETF Research Reports PWRSH-DW TEC MO (PTF): ETF Research Reports PWRSH-DYN SEMI (PSI): ETF Research Reports VANECK-SEMICON (SMH): ETF Research Reports NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report ADVS-NW TEC MDA (FNG): ETF Research Reports GLBL-X ROB&ART (BOTZ): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report May 11 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** Canadian Tire Corp will acquire the Norway-based Helly Hansen sportswear and industrial clothing line for C$985 million ($773.1 million) with an eye to eventually using it as a springboard to expand its own brands globally. https://tgam.ca/2jNEpLu ** Telus Corp added fewer new wireless customers in the first quarter and its signature low rate of subscriber turnover even edged upward. Telus finished the first quarter with 48,000 new wireless subscribers on contracts, more than the 35,000 analysts had predicted, but behind Rogers Communications Inc and BCE Inc. https://tgam.ca/2IcqGNa ** WestJet Airlines Ltd pilots voted 91 percent in favor of a strike, but said on Thursday they will hold off any job action until after the Victoria Day holiday weekend. https://tgam.ca/2jOEH4J NATIONAL POST ** The head of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc said Canada should avoid being "schizophrenic" in its openness to foreign capital, as delays around the proposed acquisition of a Canadian construction firm threatens to magnify various political squabbles that have already dampened investor confidence. http://bit.ly/2I76lsy ** Enbridge Inc will push ahead with plans to build Line 3 oil pipeline replacement through Minnesota along its preferred route, ignoring the recommendations of an administrative law judge who proposed an alternative route connecting Hardisty, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. http://bit.ly/2jO1o9h ($1 = 1.2741 Canadian dollars) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom) [caption id="attachment_29988" align="alignnone" width="620"] Rudy Giuliani. Photo Credit: teapartycheer.com[/caption] Rudy Giuliani, whose comments this month on behalf of President Donald Trump placed heightened scrutiny on his client and his law firm, has resigned from Greenberg Traurig. The firm said Giulianis all-consuming work on the presidents behalf is lasting longer than initially anticipated. Giuliani first took a leave from Greenberg Traurig on April 19, first telling reporters in interviews that his role on Trumps legal team for special counsel Robert Muellers investigation would be limited, and that he was hoping for a resolution in a matter of weeks. Three weeks later, the picture has become more complicated, after Giuliani said in press interviews that Trump had reimbursed Michael Cohen for payments to the adult actress known as Stormy Danielsplacing increased attention on the payments and putting a spotlight on his practice at Greenberg. In a Fox News interview last week, the former New York City mayor appeared to reference his firm practice in explaining payments from Cohen to Daniels, who has claimed to have an affair with Trump. That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds or whatever funds, it doesn't matter, Giuliani said, adding Trump did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this. Like, I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. A Greenberg spokeswoman earlier told ALM that Giuliani's initial leave of absence was arranged after the opportunity to represent the president arose suddenly. Due to potential conflicts and the need for a quick decision, an unpaid leave of absence made sense to both Mr. Giuliani and the firm, rather than making a long-term decision, the spokeswoman said. Even though Greenberg has represented Trump entities in the past, Giuliani's leave effectively meant Greenberg was not taking on Trump as a client for the Mueller investigation, legal ethics experts confirmed. Several law firms are said to have turned down representing the president due to potential conflicts, public relations headaches and business and recruitment concerns. Some observers described the leave of absence arrangement between Greenberg and Giuliani as unlike any situation they had encountered. The Greenberg spokeswoman said other Greenberg attorneys have taken leaves for many different reasons on a case-by-case basis. In announcing Thursday that he had resigned from the firm, Giuliani said it was in everyones best interests that his departure be complete. This way, my sole concentration can be on this critically important matter for our country, he said in a statement provided by the firm. Richard Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig executive chairman, said in a statement that when Giuliani initially took the leave, his intent was to play a limited role, for a short period of time, to address specific matters for President Trump. After recognizing that this work is all consuming and is lasting longer than initially anticipated, Rudy has determined it is best for him to resign from the firm, effective Wednesday, Rosenbaum said. Rosenbaum and Giuliani praised one another in their remarks. Rosenbaum said Giuliani is a friend and that he has a great deal of respect for the mayor's incredible career and what he has done for New York City and our country for many years. Giuliani said he will always treasure the personal friendships he made at Greenberg, and he had a wonderful experience at the firm. Miami-based Greenberg hired Giuliani in early 2016, after the former mayor left what was then Bracewell & Giuliani, taking his name with him. He became chair of the cybersecurity, privacy and crisis management practice at Greenberg, while still leading a security and consulting business under Giuliani Partners. In exiting Greenberg, Giuliani also leaves his longtime law partner, Marc Mukasey, who was initially rumored as a possible addition to Trumps legal team. Mukasey announced last week he is staying at the firm amid an active white-collar defense practice. Last week in a statement, Mukasey said theres nobody better than Giuliani and the presidents other lawyers, including Jay Sekulow and Emmet Flood, to handle this investigation and bring it to a swift and successful end. Mukasey did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Giulianis resignation from the firm. Read More:Citing 'Potential Conflicts,' Greenberg Traurig Says Giuliani on Unpaid LeaveMarc Mukasey Says He Won't Follow Giuliani To Trump Legal TeamWhat Campaign Finance Lawyers Are Saying About Giuliani's Stormy Comments Giuliani Joins Trump Legal Team, Takes Leave from Greenberg Traurig Donald Trump personally welcomed home three Americans released from detention in North Korea, a triumphant middle-of-the-night moment for the president as he prepares for a landmark summit with Kim Jong Un. The three men flew to Washington after their release to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was dispatched to Pyongyang on Tuesday in the hope that Kim would agree to free the detainees. Trump and his wife Melania boarded the former prisoners' plane at Joint Base Andrews shortly before 3 a.m. on Thursday to greet the men. On behalf of the American people, WELCOME HOME! Trump said on Twitter Thursday. On behalf of the American people, WELCOME HOME! pic.twitter.com/hISaCI95CB Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018 The return of prisoners the U.S. has called "hostages" clears an obstacle to direct talks between Trump and Kim. The president said on Wednesday that he expects to announce a date and location for the summit within days and that he had ruled out the Korea Peninsula's Demilitarized Zone. An administration official later said that he is leaning toward Singapore. Trump thanked Kim for releasing the men. "This is a special night for these three really great people and congratulations on being in this country," Trump told reporters at the airbase. The U.S. aims to persuade Kim to give up his country's nuclear arsenal, and Trump has engaged in what he calls a "maximum pressure" campaign to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea and lean on other nations to cut diplomatic ties. "I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world," he said of Kim. Story continues "The true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons," Trump said. Pyongyang Trip The former detainees are all Korean-American men who share the common surname Kim but are not related. They were handed over to Pompeo during his second trip to Pyongyang this year, a visit that wasn't announced before Trump himself disclosed it on Tuesday while the secretary of state was in the air. Asked if he might visit Pyongyang himself in the future, Trump said it "could happen." He joked that the homecoming event would set a "3 a.m." television ratings record. "We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," the detainees said in a statement as they flew to Washington. "We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world." Kim Dong Chul was sentenced to 10 years hard labor in 2016 on charges he conducted espionage for South Korea. South Korea's intelligence agency denied any ties to the man. Kim Hak Song was detained last year for what North Korean media described as "hostile acts" against the country. Kim Sang Dok, also known as Tony Kim, was intercepted in April 2017 at Pyongyang International Airport after being invited to teach accounting at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Live Broadcast The homecoming event was broadcast live on cable news networks, and the men were greeted by a large American flag strung between two fire trucks parked on the tarmac. Pompeo was informed after a meeting with Kim Jong Un on Wednesday that the men had been granted "amnesty." They were brought to the airport and left North Korea on Pompeo's plane at about 8:42 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The secretary of state and the detainees arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Thursday on separate planes. Vice President Mike Pence, who joined Trump at the homecoming, said Wednesday that all three men "seem to be in good health" and were glad to be heading home. Pence also spoke Wednesday with the parents of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who had been detained in North Korea for trying to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel. Warmbier died shortly after being returned home from North Korea in a coma last year. After meeting Trump and Pence the former detainees boarded a bus to travel to Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland for evaluation and any treatment. Pence, meanwhile, said on Twitter he would sit for interviews with NBC, ABC and to be broadcast on their morning news programs. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com PINK Business Insider/Mary Hanbury April sales declined for both Victoria's Secret and PINK brands. This marks the second month of declining sales at PINK, which is worrying because the brand accounts for 40% of Victoria's Secret segment sales. Watch L Brands trade in real-time here. Victoria's Secret's PINK, which had become one of parent company L Brands' only areas of growth, is struggling. April marked the second straight month of declining sales. Before the two-month skid, sales had never fallen. And given the flat sales at Bath & Body Works, Jefferies analyst Randal Konik expects only more bad news to come for L Brands. "It all means share losses are mounting and promos are being used to drive sales which are still weak," Konik wrote in a note to clients. He lowered his 12 month price target for L Brands down to $23 from $30, and recommended clients keep selling shares. The negative trend at PINK was especially worrying as the more than $3 billion brand accounts for 40% of Victoria's Secret segment sales. Konik blames American Eagle's Aerie for stealing market share. He also notes that same-store-sales at PINK declined despite promotions, which means the failures at Victoria's Secret are now spreading to its sister store. Unfortunately for L Brands, competition is only starting to heat up as Venture Capitalists target opportunities in the lingerie market. In the event that L Brands' declines accelerate, Konik wrote free cash flow may "wane enough to put the dividend in question." L Brands said in a press release Thursday that it expects to report first-quarter earnings at the lower end of its $0.15-$0.20 per share guidance, sending shares tumbling by more than 7%. L Brands is down nearly 47% this year. LB Markets Insider NOW WATCH: How a tiny camera startup is taking on Amazon and Google See Also: SEE ALSO: Alphabet's biggest bear on Wall Street breaks down the 2 risks he's worried about (GOOGL) (Adds French foreign minister comments) By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is not fit for his job, the speaker of Iran's parliament said on Wednesday following his decision to back out of the international nuclear pact on Iran. Trump pulled the United States out of the deal on Tuesday, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upsetting European allies and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies. "Trump does not have the mental capacity to deal with issues," parliament speaker Ali Larijani told the assembly, broadcast live on state TV. Members of parliament burned a U.S. flag and a symbolic copy of the Iran deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a session of parliament began. They also chanted "Death to America". "Trump's abandoning of the nuclear deal was a diplomatic show...Iran has no obligation to honour its commitments under the current situation," Larijani said. "It is obvious that Trump only understands the language of force." General Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of staff of Iran's military, said Iran had not had to sign the deal. "But that arrogant country (America) did not even stand by its signature," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted him as saying. President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday Iran would remain committed to the deal without Washington despite Trump's decision to withdraw from it. The pact was designed to deny Tehran the ability to build nuclear weapons. "If we achieve the deal's goals in cooperation with other members of the deal, it will remain in place. ... By exiting the deal, America has officially undermined its commitment to an international treaty," Rouhani said in a televised speech. "I have ordered the foreign ministry to negotiate with the European countries, China and Russia in coming weeks. If at the end of this short period we conclude that we can fully benefit from the JCPOA with the cooperation of all countries, the deal would remain," he said. Story continues French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the deal with Iran was "not dead" and added that President Emmanuel Macron would speak later in the day to Rouhani. Le Drian said Macron's contact with Rouhani would be followed by meetings next week, probably on Monday, involving the Iranians and European counterparts from France, Britain and Germany. Trump's decision drew fierce criticism from Iranian officials and could give hardliners long opposed to the deal a greater edge over Rouhani. "The biggest damage of the Iran deal was legitimizing and sitting at the negotiating table with America," Iran's army chief Seyed Abdul Rahim Moussavi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). Moussavi said America's withdrawal from the Iran deal should also be a lesson to Saudi Arabia which was drawing closer to the United States, ISNA reported. Shi'ite Muslim Iran has been locked in a regional power struggle with Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia that has spilled into the wars in Syria and Yemen, where they have backed opposing sides, and fuelled political rivalries in Iraq and Lebanon. The United States' Gulf Arab allies, who see Iran as a major security threat, expressed strong support for Trump. Under the deal, struck between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany, Tehran curbed its nuclear programme in return for them lifting sanctions. 'SHENANIGANS' Trump's decision sets the stage for a resurgence of political infighting within Iran's complex power structure, Iranian officials told Reuters. It could tip the balance of power in favour of hardliners looking to constrain Rouhani's ability to open up to the West. "They will blame Rouhani. They will continue their shenanigans at home and abroad. And they will have the U.S. to blame for the failure of the economy," said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies programme at Stanford University. Rouhani tried to assure ordinary Iranians, frustrated by high unemployment and stagnant living standards, that Trump's decision would have no impact on Iran's oil-reliant economy. "Our heroic people will not be affected by this psychological attack...Iran's economic progress will continue. Our people should not be worried at all," he said. Iran's ruling elite fears a revival of anti-government protests in January that revealed the establishment was vulnerable to popular anger fueled by economic hardship. At least 21 people were killed in the protests. TOUGH STATEMENT Trump said he would reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran immediately. His decision puts pressure on his European allies, which are reluctant to join the United States in reimposing sanctions on Iran. The U.S. Treasury said the United States would reimpose a wide array of Iran-related sanctions after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran's oil sector and transactions with its central bank. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose hostility towards Washington is the glue that holds together Iran's faction-ridden leadership, had said Iran would "shred" the deal if the United States pulled out. Rouhani said Iran was ready to resume its curbed nuclear activities if Iran's interests were not guaranteed under a deal without the United States. Under the 2015 deal, Iran stopped producing 20 percent enriched uranium and gave up the majority of its stockpile in return for most international sanctions on it being lifted. (Additional reportin by Bozorgmehr Sharafeddin in London and Parisa Hafezi in Ankara and Brian Love and Matthias Blamont in Paris Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Michael Georgy and Angus MacSwan) [caption id="attachment_9641" align="aligncenter" width="620"] U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Credit: Jason Doiy/ ALM [/caption] SAN FRANCISCO President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Ryan Nelson, the general counsel of a nutritional supplement and home goods company in Idaho, to fill one of several vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Nelson has served as general counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca Inc. since 2009, according to a White House press release. Prior to joining the company, he was deputy general counsel to the White House Office of Management and Budget, and a deputy assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department. He also practiced at the Washington offices of Sidley Austin, the release said. Nelson was previously nominated by the Trump administration for solicitor at the Department of Interior, but was never confirmed. The announcement comes after Ninth Circuit Judge Randy Smith, a fellow Idahoan, announced his intention to take senior status this August. Smith, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in a letter to Trump that he wished to provide "another opportunity for an Idaho lawyer to serve here. The Ninth Circuit covers the largest swath of the United States of any of the federal appeals courts, and tradition has dictated that certain slots are held open for judges from each state. Aside from the future vacancy being created by Smiths departure, the court has seven openings, according to its website. Nelson is the presidents third nominee to the court, after Ryan Bounds and Mark Bennett. Bounds is currently the Oregon assistant U.S. attorney, while Bennett is a former Hawaii state attorney general. Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch, both Republicans, welcomed Nelsons nomination in a joint press release. Throughout his diverse legal career, Ryan developed the necessary tools to serve the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a sound and principled jurist, Risch said in the statement. A native Idahoan, Ryan will bring a valuable perspective to the courtupholding our way of life, respecting the rule of law, and rejecting judicial activism." (Adds quotes, details) By Roberta Rampton and David Brunnstrom JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md, May 10 (Reuters) - A plane carrying three Americans released by North Korea landed at a military base bear Washington early on Thursday to be welcomed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania. North Korea released the three - Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, and Kim Hak-song - and handed them over to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on Wednesday, clearing a major obstacle to an unprecedented summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump and First Lady Melania walked up the stairs to board the plane after it landed at Joint Base Andrews, a military base outside Washington DC, at around 2.40 a.m. (0640 GMT). They emerged a few minutes later with the three former detainees to the cheers of watching military personnel. All three former prisoners smiled. Two lifted their arms above head with and made "V for victory" signs. "Special night for these three really great people," Trump said. The fact that we were able to get them out so soon was really a tribute to a lot of people including a certain process thats taking place right now. Referring to the possibility of reaching a denuclearization deal with North Korea, Trump said: "We will see if we can do something that people did not think was going to happen for many, many years and a lot of bad things could have happened in between." "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula," he said, adding that he really believed the Kim Jong Un wanted to bring his country "into the real world." "We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting," he said. "It's a very important thing to all of us. "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said of the planned summit. North Korean state media said the men, one of whom had been held since 2015 and the other two since last year, were arrested either for subversion or "hostile acts" against the government. Story continues Until now, the only American released by North Korea during Trumps presidency was Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old university student who returned to the United States in a coma last summer after 17 months of captivity and died days later. Warmbier's death escalated U.S.-North Korea tensions, already running high at the time over Pyongyang's stepped-up missile tests. Trump said he wanted to pay his "warmest respects" to Warmbier's parents. "He was a great young man who really suffered," Trump said. In a statement released by the State Department as the plane carrying them stopped over in Alaska, the three former detainees expressed "deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home. "We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world." The men were freed after Pompeo traveled to the North Korean capital to meet the North Korean leader for the second time in less than six weeks to prepare a first-ever meeting between sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders. The fate of the three had been among a number of delicate issues in the run-up to the summit aimed at defusing a crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States. A North Korean official informed Pompeo that Kim had granted the three "amnesty," according to a senior U.S. official present for the exchange. The men walked without assistance to the U.S. government plane that flew them out of Pyongyang and were in the air less than an hour after leaving custody. A White House spokeswoman said they would be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in nearby Maryland for further medical evaluation. The release was praised by the White House as a "gesture of goodwill" and appeared to signal an effort by Kim to set a more favorable mood for the summit. It followed his recent pledge to suspend missile tests and shut a nuclear bomb test site. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting by Jan Pytalski and Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Nick Macfie) By Timothy Gardner and Jessica Resnick-Ault WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - An expansion of oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would interfere with U.S. military testing unless the Pentagon and another agency develop rules to govern the work, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a report this week. The Defense Department concluded in a report it sent on Wednesday to U.S. lawmakers that drilling east of the Military Mission Line in the Gulf of Mexico, a demarcation more than 200 miles (320 km) west of Florida, would harm military testing operations without the rules. "Military flexibility in the region would be lost and test and training activities would be severely affected," without mutually agreed restrictions between the Pentagon and the Interior Department on the drilling, said the report, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. Industry groups interpreted the report with optimism. The report confirmed that "collaboration between the Department of Defense and Interior will enable the successful coexistence of continued military training and expanded American oil production," said Erik Milito, a director of upstream operations at the American Petroleum Institute. Randall Luthi, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, said the report showed, "There is a lot of ocean out there and while there will be devils in the details, the overall message from the Pentagon should be interpreted as cooperation and coordination." Interest in drilling offshore in the United States is high as the Trump administration pursues a policy of maximizing oil, gas and coal output for domestic and foreign use. In January, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the administration would not allow drilling off Florida after the state's governor protested that opening it up would harm tourism. But drilling far off Florida is still in play. The Departments of Defense and Interior have been holding meetings on drilling in the region that are likely to go on for months. A Defense Department spokeswoman did not immediately comment on whether those meetings were hammering out an agreement on drilling. Story continues In the most recent Gulf of Mexico auction, held in March, many bids were made on acreage in the formation closest to the Military Mission Line known as DeSoto Canyon. BP Plc (BP.L) bid on the most contiguous leases of any participant anywhere in the Gulf, staking its claim on about 171 square miles (443 sq km) in DeSoto Canyon, about 100 miles (160 km) off the Louisiana coast. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Ubers plan to launch flying taxi demonstrations in 2020 and commercial trips by 2023 is starting to take shape with five manufacturers now working on building this next-generation mode of transportation. Karem is the latest aerospace company to join the effort to help uberAIR take, er, flight. The other four aerospace companies are Aurora Flight Sciences, Pipistrel Aircraft, Embraer and Bell Helicopter. Karem was named as a new partner during Elevate Summit, a two-day flying car event organized by Uber. During Elevate, Uber revealed concepts of what it hopes will be the flying cars that carry passengers in the future. Uber also provided more details on how this system of transit would work, as well as the many support companies and organizations that will need to be involved. A system of flying cars will require an electric charging provider, agreements with property management companies (for a place to land), local government officials, and of course, a battery supplier. Ubers flying cars, or more accurately vertical take-off and landing (VTOL or eVTOL if electric) aircrafts, are at the center of this system. Uber first announced its flying car plans in 2016 when it released a white paper describing its vision of the future. These VTOL vehicles (pronounced vee-tol), would theoretically help passengers leapfrog snarling traffic and speed up transportation between suburbs and cities. Uber has no plans to produce VTOL aircrafts. Instead, its working with five aircraft manufacturers to produce VTOL aircrafts that will use the uberAIR network. Heres a little bit about each company. Karem Karem Aircraft, is privately-held aerospace company headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif. The company is the newest Uber partner and is working on eVTOL technology. Abe Karem, who founded the company, has a long history of designing flying concepts, such as the Predator drone and A160 Hummingbird, and for starting companies that get snapped up by aerospace giants. His last two companies were acquired by General Atomics and Boeing. Karem Story continues Karems newest invention, and the one Uber will collaborate with the company on, is called Butterfly. Its a quad tiltrotor with four large rotors mounted on the wings and tail. The Butterfly configuration is designed to solve the tradeoff between hover and cruise efficiency. Its also designed to be quiet, a key challenge for Uber. Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora is a Boeing subsidiary. The company that specializes in autonomous flying systems was acquired by Boeing in 2017. Aurora, which operates out of the Manassas Airport in Virginia, was founded way back in 1989 after the MIT Daedalus Project, a human-powered aircraft out of MITs Aeronautics and Astronautics Department. It has produced more than a dozen aircraft, including a line of small vertical take-off unmanned aircraft known as GoldenEye. Pipistrel Aircraft Pipistrel is the manufacturer behind the Alpha Electro, the worlds first FAA-approved electric plane. The company revealed a new concept model during the Elevate Summit that uses dedicated propulsion systems for both cruising and vertical lift. Pipistrel, a Slovenian company, is known for its electric G4 concept that was able to fly up to four passengers 100 miles at an average speed of 108 miles per hour. Pipistrel produces 13 different models of two-seat aircrafts, including the Alpha Electro and the Taurus Electro, which feature all-electric propulsion. Embraer Embraer has been around for five decades and in that time has designed, developed and certified close to 50 aircraft models. In all, the company has delivered more than 8,000 aircrafts to 100 countries. The companys Embraer X unit is focused on disruptive technology such as VTOLs. It unveiled its first electricalVertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft concept. Embraer unveiled its first vertical take-off and landing at the 2018 Elevate Summit in Los Angeles. Bell What was Bell Helicopter, is now known as Bell as the company rebrands itself in preparation for an era of flying cars. However, the company is still firmly in the business of making commercial and military helicopters. Earlier this year, Verizon quietly launched a new startup called Visible, offering unlimited data, minutes, and messaging services for the low, low price of $40. To subscribe for the service, users simply download the Visible app (currently available only on iOS) and register. Right now, subscriptions are invitation only and would-be subscribers have to get an invitation from someone who's already a current Visible member. Once registration is complete, Visible will send a sim card the next day, and, once installed, a user can access Verizon's 4G LTE network to stream videos, send texts, and make calls as much as their heart desires. Visible says there's no throttling at the end of the month and subscribers can pay using internet-based payment services like PayPal and Venmo (which is owned by PayPal). The service is only available on unlocked devices -- and right now, pretty much only to iPhone users. "This is something that's been the seed of an idea for a year or so," says Minjae Ormes, head of marketing at Visible. "There's a core group of people from the strategy side. There's a core group of five or ten people who came up with the idea." The company wouldn't say how much Verizon gave to the business to get it off the ground, but the leadership team is comprised mostly of former employees, like Miguel Quiroga the company's chief executive. "The way I would think about it.. we are a phone service in the platform that enables everything that you do. The way we launched and the app messaging piece of it. You do everything else on your phone and a lot of time if you ask people your phone is your life," said Ormes. The thinking was, "let's give you a phone that you can activate right from your phone and get ready to go and see how it resonates." It's an interesting move from our corporate overlord (Verizon owns Oath, which owns TechCrunch), which is already the top dog in wireless services, with some 150 million subscribers compared with AT&T's 141.6 million and a soon-to-be-combined Sprint and T-Mobile subscriber base of 126.2 million. Story continues For Verizon, the new company is likely about holding off attrition. The company shed 24,000 postpaid phone connections in the last quarter, according to The Wall Street Journal, which put some pressure on its customer base (but not really all that much). Mobile telecommunications remain at the core of Verizon's business plans for the future, even as other carriers like AT&T look to dive deeper into content (while Go90 has been a flop, Verizon hasn't given up on content plans entirely). The acquisition of Oath added about $1.2 billion in brand revenue (?) to Verizon for the last quarter, but it's not anywhere near the kind of media juggernaut that AT&T would get through the TimeWarner acquisition. Verizon seems to be looking to its other mobile services, through connected devices, industrial equipment, autonomous vehicles, and the development of its 5G network for future growth. Every wireless carrier is pushing hard to develop 5G technologies, which should see nationwide rollout by the end of this year. Verizon recently completed its 11 city trial-run and is banking on expansion of the network's capabilities to drive new services. As the Motely Fool noted, all of this comes as Verizon adds new networking capabilities for industrial and commercial applications through its Verizon Connect division -- formed in part from the $2.4 billion acquisition of Fleetmatics, that Verizon bought in 2016 along with Telogis, Sensity Systems, and LQD Wifi to beef up its mobile device connectivity services. Meanwhile, upstart entrants to challenge big wireless carriers are coming from all quarters. In 2015, Google launched its own wireless service, Project Fi, to compete with traditional carriers and Business Insider just covered another would-be wireless warrior, Wing. Founded by the team that created the media site Elite Daily, Wing uses Sprint cell-phone towers to deliver its service. David Arabov and co-founder Jonathan Francis didn't take long after taking a $26 million payout for their previous business before getting right back into the startup fray. Unlike Visible, Wing isn't a one-size-fits-all plan and it's a much more traditional MVNO. The company has a range of plans starting at $17 for a flip-phone and increasing to an unlimited plan at $27 per month, according to the company's website. As carriers continue to face complaints over service fees, locked in contracts, and terrible options, new options are bound to emerge. In this instance, it looks like Verizon is trying to make itself into one of those carriers. Falcon 9 with 10 Iridium NEXT communications satellites at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Elon Musks SpaceX will fly Bangladeshs first satellite into orbit today in a mission that amounts to a dress rehearsal for taking astronauts into orbit. The flight marks the debut of the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 rocket, intended by its designers to be the final iteration, suited for flying ten times or more and carrying humans to the International Space Station. Theres lots of new things in this rocket that could potentially go wrong, Musk warned reporters in a call ahead of the flight. A passing grade for a rocketthe reason that it is so hard to make an orbital rocket workyour passing grade is 100%. SpaceX expects to launch the rocket during a launch window beginning at 4:14 pm ET on May 11. Eight minutes after lift-off, the first stage of the rocket will attempt to land on an autonomous drone ship floating more than three hundred miles off the Atlantic coast. You can watch the whole thing on the companys livestream: It took a century to create the weekendand only a decade to undo it Bangabandhu Satellite-1 will be deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) approximately 33 minutes after launch. The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission will be the first to utilize Falcon 9 Block 5, the final substantial upgrade to SpaceXs Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Falcon 9 Block 5 is designed to be capable of 10 or more flights with very limited refurbishment as SpaceX continues to strive for rapid reusability and extremely high reliability. Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9s first stage on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean." /> This will be the second attempt at this launch; just one minute before a lift-off time on May 10, SpaceXs rocket aborted the countdown, after it detected a potential problem. The company said the rocket and payload were in good health after the abort. Story continues The satellite on top of the rocket is Bangladeshs first. It will be operated by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The spacecraft was built by the Franco-Italian company Thales Alenia Space, and will provide TV broadcasts and telecom services throughout southeast Asia. The satellite is called Bangabandhu-1, meaning Friend of Bengal, a reference to Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence in 1971. If the mission succeeds, SpaceXs engineers will carefully examine the entire rocket to confirm that their design succeeded in surviving the rigors of space travel, no worse for the wear. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX hopes to fly the same rocket twice in a single day in 2019, which would be another first for the company. We need to take it apart to confirm it doesnt need to be taken apart, Musk joked. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Its a familiar story. A black person is minding their own business. A white woman notices them and calls the cops. The latest event in a long historical pattern took place at Yale University this week (paywall). A black graduate student, Lolade Siyonbola, was taking a nap in her dorms common room on Monday night after an evening writing papers. A white woman who also lives in the dorm noticed Siyonbola sleeping, told her she was not supposed to be there, and called campus security. I have every right to call the police. You cannot sleep in that room, the woman said in the first of two Facebook videos posted by Siyonbola. The fallout is captured in a 17-minute Facebook video posted by Siyonbola, which now has more than 600,000 views. She shows the campus officers her room key and unlocks her apartment; the officers press her to produce identification, while Siyonbola questions whether the request is justified. Once the officers verify her identity, they leave. The incident is the latest in a string of high-profile incidents that have exposed a troubling, often-overlooked truth about racial discrimination in the US. The Black Lives Matter movement intensified focus on police brutality in black communities, which tends to involve white male police officers violence against black men, sometimes with deadly results. But Siyonbolas experience highlights the fact that white women play a role in encounters between the police and black Americans, too. Again and again, the news cycle highlights stories of white women who felt threatened by the mere presence of a black person in a public space, and called the cops. Consider a number of recent stories that have made national news in the US. On May 8, a white woman spotted three black women checking out of their Airbnb rental and called the police. Seven police cars showed up; the police instructed the black women to put their hands in the air, and told them that a police helicopter was encircling them. The officers let the women leave once they showed their Airbnb booking confirmations and phoned the homes landlord, who told the police they were indeed guests, and not burglars. In April, two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks (paywall) after a white female employee called the cops. Their crime? Sitting at a table and waiting for their friend. The two men were held for nine hours and eventually released without charge. Story continues Jessie Daniels, a professor at The City University Of New York, notes in the Huffington Post that these incidents follow a well-established blueprint in the US. When the Starbucks employee called the police, Daniels writes, she was deploying a technology that was designed to protect white women from men like Nelson and Robinson one that relies on the constant surveillance, threatened incarceration and oppression of black men. White womens recent choices in the voting booth have also demonstrated how they prop up racial injustice. Exit polls showed that 52% of white women backed Donald Trump, known for anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Over a year later, when voters in Alabama went to the polls to choose between Democrat candidate Doug Jones and Trump-favored Republican Roy Moore, who was accused of child molestation, white women voted overwhelmingly for Moore. By comparison, exit polls showed that 98% of black women backed Jones. The results of the Alabama election led to an outpouring of love for black women. The latest incidents of racial profiling suggest that white women may be in for a powerful reckoning about how their ideas about who, and what, is dangerous put other peoples safety at risk. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Abubakar Siddique, editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Gandhara website, is author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan. This article first appeared in The Washington Post. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not of his employer. A new movement demanding security for Pakistans ethnic Pashtun minority is calling for the countrys leaders to roll back destructive policies that have fomented domestic volatility, ruined neighboring Afghanistan and fueled the longest war in U.S. history. Since February, tens of thousands of young grass-roots activists of the PTM -- the Urdu initials for the Pashtun Protection Movement -- have been campaigning to compel Pakistans powerful generals to undo the destructive policies of the past four decades. The PTM essentially wants Islamabad to recognize the fundamental human rights of more than 30 million Pashtuns, who are the second-largest group among Pakistans population of more than 207 million. The movement is pushing Islamabad to provide justice for thousands of alleged victims of forced disappearances through the court system and probe tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings in the Pashtuns insurgency-plagued northwestern homeland and across the country. Military leaders have accommodated the PTM's lesser demands for relaxation of curfews, for demining programs in remote mountainous regions and for an end to aggressive searches at checkpoints. But the generals are unwilling to make a paradigm shift by relaxing their grip on power and honoring the countrys laws and constitution by addressing disappearances and illegal killings. Crucially, they are especially reluctant to end their country's participation in the war in Afghanistan. They are trying to discredit the PTMs rise by calling it a "hybrid war." They have questioned the patriotism of the movements young leaders, arrested and harassed its activists, and attempted to sabotage its protests. Their fingerprints are all over the unspoken ban on media coverage of the movement, and they have unleashed an army of trolls on social media to malign it as an anti-state conspiracy sponsored by hostile foreign powers. The Pakistani militarys mighty machine has worked overtime to link the movement to Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are a majority and elites have historically harbored irredentist claims. To their annoyance, Kabul has welcomed the Pashtun awakening in Pakistan, hoping the long-suffering masses will ultimately arm-twist Rawalpindi, a garrison city next to Islamabad where the army is headquartered, into abandoning hopes for dominating Afghanistan through hard-line Islamist proxies such as the Taliban. In Pakistans 70-year history, the PTM is perhaps the most vocal grass-roots movement that has directly challenged the men in uniform. Given that four army generals have ruled for nearly 35 years, or half of Pakistans history, their power even under anemic civilian administrations has remained unchallenged as they have defined the nuclear-armed nations foreign and defense policies. To the detriment of democracy and against the wishes of most Pakistanis, they have led their country into deepening domestic radicalization, international isolation, authoritarianism and poverty. Their power is buttressed by monetary incentives after generations of generals turned the military into the countrys largest financial and industrial conglomerate. Their latest venture is a meatpacking plant, while real estate also remains a favorite. Given these vested interests, it is not hard to see why the PTMs sudden rise has rattled Pakistans generals. Most of its criticism targets the military, epitomized by the slogan "The uniform is behind this terrorism." Yet the generals' tactical and strategic maneuvers have run their course. Since the 1970s, Islamabad has invested heavily in hard-line Islamist factions to compete against and even fight secular Pashtun movements and regimes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, military planners in Rawalpindi became obsessed with Pashtun dissent out of the fear that such movements could break up Pakistan with Kabuls help. More than 40 million Pashtuns in the two countries are tied by language, lineage, historic memories and a shared interest in peace. Beginning in the 1970s, Pakistani leaders chose the wrong path to counter this imagined threat by bankrolling Islamists and discriminating against Pashtun citizens by stereotyping them as warlike while denying them rights, modernity and prosperity. After four decades and the deaths and displacement of millions of Pashtuns, Pakistan has gained little. The PTM, a manifestation of Pashtun social awareness, is likely to remain a major political player. Pakistan has lost its friends in Afghanistan as most Afghans see Islamabad as the primary source of their misery. The generals in Rawalpindi still have an opportunity to address historic wrongs and choose the right course. Honest answers to the PTMs demands -- through the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission that the movement has called for would be a good beginning. A strategic shift, leading to a focus on Pakistanis welfare rather than endless war, is needed. Trying to suppress dissent through threats is likely to result only in instability and greater alienation of the Pashtuns and other minorities. Its time for the Pakistani generals to embrace the best course for their country rather than their interests. They must accept the supremacy of the Pakistani Constitution and heed the rule of law. Lancet Study: These findings firmly counter those of a Cochrane review of direct-acting antiviral treatment trials that could neither confirm nor reject if direct-acting antivirals had an effect on long-term HCV-related morbidity and mortality. They also provide the best evidence to date to support guidance documents that recommend direct-acting antiviral treatment for all patients with chronic HCV infection. Latest Update Feb 12, 2019A systematic review published by the Cochrane Collaboration suggested achieving SVR (cure) for patients using hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) doesn't correlate with any long term benefits. View each rebuttal and all ongoing media coverage. " " The Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue, part of the Genghis Khan Statue Complex on the Tuul River at Tsonjin Boldog, 34 miles east of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. Wolfgang Kaehler/Getty Images About 34 miles (54 kilometers) outside Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, an immense armor-clad warrior on horseback looms over the landscape. Standing 131 feet (40 meters) tall and fashioned from 250 tons of stainless steel, the grandiose figure stares out into the distance with a cold, cruel expression, as if he is contemplating new lands beyond the horizon to conquer [source: Atlas Obscura]. The real person depicted by the world's biggest equestrian statue, Mongol emperor Genghis Khan, was only slightly less fearsome in the flesh. In the early 1200s C.E., he brought together all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia into one formidable force, and then led them on a campaign of conquest that built the largest empire in human history, a realm that stretched from the Balkans across Asia to Korea, and from India in the south to Siberia in the north. Over about a quarter of a century, Genghis Khan seized more territory between 11 and 12 million square miles (28.5 million to 31 million square kilometers) than the Romans did in 400 years [source: Weatherford]. Advertisement Even more amazingly, Genghis Khan whose name means "universal ruler" conquered that vast expanse with an army of just 100,000 men [sources: Bawden, Weatherford]. He won victory after victory by revolutionizing warfare, using quick, agile units of cavalry to outmaneuver numerically superior but slower-moving opponents on the battlefield, and employing guile to lure them into traps. When he laid siege to cities, he did so with a ferocious cruelty catapulting flaming bombs and diseased animals over the walls, damming streams to create floods and starving populations into submission [source: Field Museum]. All this conquest resulted in a massive death toll by one estimate, Genghis Khan was responsible for the demise of 37.5 million people [source: McGlynn]. Climate researchers have calculated that Genghis Khan depopulated so many regions with slaughter that forests grew in farm fields that lay uncultivated, absorbing so much carbon dioxide that the Mongol ruler actually cooled the planet [source: Hance]. At the same time, he and his male relatives apparently impregnated so many women in their realm that a 2003 genetic study found that 16 million modern men living in the former Mongol realm about 0.5 percent of the world's male population are their descendants [source: Mayell]. But Genghis Khan shook up the medieval world in other ways, reshaping national boundaries and forging new diplomatic and economic relationships that still exist today. And the man who accomplished this was the illiterate son of a family of outcasts, whose sheer tenacity, brilliance and toughness enabled him to overcome those obstacles and become one of the most powerful and influential figures in history. Volunteering at a judging contest that I participated in during high school has been a rewarding experience. As a junior in college now, I have helped put on the California FFA State Dairy Judging Finals contest for three years . This past weekend, the Cal Poly Dairy Science Program organized the annual dairy cattle judging contest for over 100 high school students. Contestants evaluated six classes and a pedigree class. Watching the contest come together from start to finish makes me appreciate all the time and effort people put into organizing dairy judging contests for youth. Choosing classes that are good quality is something I have learned takes skill. Sometimes four cows look like they will make a great class in the barn, but when it comes to the day of the contest, they all look too similar or they dont fit as well together. Volunteering at the contest has helped me further develop my dairy judging skills and confidence in my opinions. Without the help and dedication that students and our faculty put in each year, the contest would not have gone smoothly. From volunteers to watch the cattle throughout the night to group leaders to a fitting crew, volunteers make the contest possible. I competed in the contest for four years in high school, and it was one of the reasons I decided to come to Cal Poly. I remember being excited to go to Cal Poly and judge in the state contest. Being on the other side of the contest, Ive learned the time and energy that it takes to organize a successful day. Im grateful for the opportunity to give back by volunteering at a contest that means so much to me. Elise Regusci grew up on her family's farm in Modesto, Calif. Regusci attends Cal Poly University, majoring in dairy science with an agricultural communication minor. On campus, she is the Los Lecheros Dairy Club Ag Council representative and a member of the Cal Poly dairy judging team. Regusci was the 2016 Brown Swiss Youth Ambassador and was the 2017 Hoard's Dairyman summer editorial intern. Join us next week Calf rearing affects lifetime eating behavior on Monday, May 14, 2018, at noon (Central time). on Monday, May 14, 2018, at noon (Central time). The feeding behavior patterns of dairy cattle are known to impact health, productivity, and welfare. Trevor DeVries, University of Guelph, will discuss how the way we feed, house, and manage calves impacts the learning and persistence of their feeding patterns. The webinar is sponsored by AAS. Did the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a significant victory today in a court case about the approval for the Dakota Access pipeline? No, that news is old and was copy pasted from a 2017 news article. A Vietnamese site claiming to be about Native Amerian affairs has simply recycled the story to gin up clicks and advertising revenue. The most recent copy of the article was published on May 5, 2018 by http://vi.nguoivietnamchau.info under the headline "In Victory for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Court Finds That Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline Violated the Law" (archived here) which opened: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a significant victory today in its fight to protect the Tribe's drinking water and ancestral lands from the Dakota Access pipeline. A federal judge ruled that the federal permits authorizing the pipeline to cross the Missouri River just upstream of the Standing Rock reservation, which were hastily issued by the Trump administration just days after the inauguration, violated the law in certain critical respects. In a 91-page decision, Judge James Boasberg wrote, "the Court agrees that [the Corps] did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline's effects are likely to be highly controversial." The Court did not determine whether pipeline operations should be shut off and has requested additional briefing on the subject and a status conference next week. But the article was originally published on June 14, 2017: In Victory for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Court Finds That Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline Violated the Law The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a significant victory today in its fight to protect the Tribe's drinking water and ancestral lands from the Dakota Access pipeline. A federal judge ruled that the federal permits authorizing the pipeline to cross the Missouri River just upstream of the Standing Rock reservation, which were hastily issued by the Trump administration just days after the inauguration, violated the law in certain critical respects. Since then the story has been copy pasted and published as "recent" news several times by various websites. News reports at the time of the ruling mentioned that the pipeline did not need to be shut down right away, just that more studies had to be done that were done too fast or not well enough: Boasberg ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers, the body responsible for evaluating and issuing permits for the pipeline, "did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline's effects are likely to be highly controversial." However, Boasberg acknowledged that the corps had "substantially complied" with federal environmental laws. Further hearings to determine whether pipeline operations should be shut off will begin June 21. "Whether Dakota Access must cease pipeline operations presents a separate question of the appropriate remedy, which will be the subject of further briefing," Boasberg said in his ruling. As far as we've been able to ascertain those studies and the legal actions around them are still ongoing in April 2018: Tribes' Request for More Say in Dakota Access Pipeline Study Denied BLAKE NICHOLSON, Associated Press Created: April 18, 2018 12:03 PM BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A judge has rejected the request by two American Indian tribes to be more involved in a court-ordered environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. For some reason news about the Standing Rock reservation and Native American affairs in general have become a favorite niche of foreign-run Facebook pages and websites. If you see a news report about these topics pop up in your newsfeed, always check if you are looking at an original source before liking, sharing or commenting: it could be you are looking at old news being repackaged and fed back into your news stream by some guy in Macedonia or Kosovo wanting to make a few quick bucks: George Soros gave Ivanka's husband's business a $250 million credit line in 2015 per WSJ. Soros is also an investor in Jared's business. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ New York, May 11 (IBNS): United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has welcomed the Japan-China-South Korea summit held on Wednesday and their effort to cooperate in ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. The Secretary-General welcomes the trilateral meeting and their cooperation for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said his Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, in a statement issued on Thursday. The Secretary-General hopes that the joint resolve of the countries in Northeast Asia will strengthen the path to achieve lasting peace and prosperity in this region, added the Spokesperson. According to media reports, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in, met in the Japanese capital Wednesday and agreed that the Northeast Asian neighbors will cooperate on ending North Koreas nuclear program and promoting free trade. This trilateral meeting followed the bilateral summit on 27 April between the leaders of ROK and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), in which they agreed on measures toward lasting peace on the Peninsula. Those agreements set out in Panmunjom Declaration include realizing the common goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and pursuing talks to declare an official end to the Korean War, which devastated the Peninsula, beginning in June 1950. An armistice brought about a ceasefire in 1953, but the conflict never officially ended because the parties failed to reach agreement over a formal peace treaty. Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will meet DPRK leader Kim Jong Un on 12 June in Singapore. New York, May 11 (IBNS): Afghanistan has suffered a disturbing pattern of attacks on voter registration facilities since the process began last month, which add up to an assault on democracy, the United Nations mission there said Thursday. According to a new report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 23 election-related security incidents have already been recorded since voter registration began on 14 April, ahead of parliamentary elections due to take place in October. UNAMA said these incidents resulted in 271 civilian deaths and injuries, and include the 22 April suicide attack on a crowd gathered outside a national identity card distribution centre, in the capital Kabul, which killed and injured a total of 198 civilians. These attacks at election facilities are nothing less than an assault on democracy, said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan. He stressed that Afghans who were turning up to register were exercising their constitutional right and putting hope for Afghanistans future above concerns about their personal safety. The report details how some 75 per cent of the security incidents have taken place at schools or mosques, which are doubling-up as election-related facilities, and describes allegations of intimidation of staff there and those seeking to take part in the vote. Elections-related violence should remind everyone that efforts toward peace in Afghanistan cannot be set aside, said Mr. Yamamoto, urging the Taliban to take up President Ashraf Ghanis peace offer, participate in the elections, and start direct talks with the government to put an end to the suffering of the Afghan people. The report also urged anti-government and terrorist groups to stop violence at election-related sites and called on the government to do more to protect voters. Kabul, May 11 (IBNS): Afghan army Commandos and the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), Special Forces conducted operations in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan, killing at least 12 terrorists, media reports said on Friday. "According to a statement released by the governors office in Laghman, the operation was conducted late on Wednesday night in the vicinity of Alingar district," reported Khaama Press. A suspect was reportedly arrested during the operation. The weapon depot was destroyed, reports said. "The statement further added that the operation resulted into the killing of at least five militants, including two key militant figures that were sent to the area to inspect the insurgency activities of the militants," reported the Afghanistan based news agency. "In the meantime, the Afghan army commandos conducted operations in Qasaba and Salingar areas of the district and as a result at least seven militants have been killed," the news agency reported quoting the statement. A commander of the militants identified as Mohibullah was reportedly killed during the operation. Why? Simply, because Donald Trump has withdrawn from the flawed 2015 nuclear deal and the Regime feels threatened. Thus, they are lashing out against the MEK, which is part of the organised Iranian resistance, as they know that the MEK is capable of helping the Iranian people overthrow the Regime and then taking part of a new transitional government in Iran. The MEK also has the support of those closest to Trump, including national security advisor John Bolton, who has spoken at many MEK gatherings in the past, and Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani, who recently visited the MEK exiles in Albania. The Regime is terrified of the MEK because of the support the Iranian people have for the MEK and the fact that the MEKs values of democracy and freedom align with the West, as opposed to the Regimes values of suppression and censorship. This is not a new phenomenon though, the Iranian Regime has long desired the MEK for these things, which is why the mullahs banned the MEK as a political party in the 1980s. This was not just a massive restriction on the political freedoms of the Iranian people, but also a death sentence for any high-ranking MEK member who did not renounce their beliefs. In 1988, the mullahs tried to exterminate the MEK in a massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, including children. The Regime tried to bury the evidence and destroy the mass graves, but much of this has been uncovered by the MEK and sent to international human rights bodies. Despite this, the murdered MEK members have never seen justice. As the Regimes attempts to massacre the MEK, did not silence the remaining MEK members, the Regime turned to propaganda. They smeared the MEK with false accusations of everything from communism to terrorism, hoping that something would stick. Ultimately, the MEK was placed on terrorist watch lists in the West, but this was not based on the evidence provided by the Regime. Instead, it was a way for the West to wrongfully appease the mullahs. Still, the MEK was not beaten and fought hard to clear their names in court, even continuing to provide evidence for the Iranian Regimes malign activities (i.e. nuclear weapons programme) to the West. Eventually, the MEK was removed from all terror watch lists. The Regime, seemingly shocked that anyone could see through their lies, continues a disinformation campaign against the MEK, using fake news websites and illicit agents to discredit the MEK. This is what is happening today and Western governments and their citizens should see this campaign for what it is: a blatant attempt to smear the MEK, so that the Regime can keep its blood-soaked grip on power. The Iranian people already support the MEK, as can be seen in their ongoing, nationwide uprising. The West could join them and support the MEK in order to see peace in the Middle East and freedom for Iran. Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the mainstream Syrian Negotiation Commission, praised Trump for the move, calling it a step in the right direction and saying that it provided a real opportunity to resolve regional issues involving Iran. He told reporters: There is no place in the world that feels very clearly the malignant influence of Iran as much as in Syria. This is a step in the right direction. But on its own its not enough to limit the influence of Iran in the area, These comments came shortly after Hariris meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who had flown to the US last week as part of a final attempt to convince Trump to remain in the deal. Johnson, whose visit followed those by President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, had earlier told politicians that Britain regretted Trumps decision and would continue to honour the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Hariri also urged the US to spell out its plans for tackling the Iranian Regime, adding that the White House should prioritise countering Irans support of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. He said: There is no way to solve the Iran problems without focusing on the Syria file. Iran had intervened very early on Syria, and we have reached a stage by which there is to a great extent an occupation by an external power. However, he cautioned against allowing Syria to become the battlefield for any conflict between Iran and the US. He said: This response needs to be part of a broad and strategic effort that protects civilians and resolves the conflict, as opposed to piecemeal actions. In this context, we do not approve of regional actors attempts to use Syria as a theatre for their national objectives. Withdrawal Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal, which he has previously called the worst deal ever, on Tuesday after the fixes that he proposed in January were not agreed to by the European signatories to the deal. He wanted the nuclear deal to be amended to include more robust inspections of Irans nuclear sites, more restrictions on Irans development of ballistic missiles, and the removal of so-called sunset clauses that would have allowed current restrictions to expire, possibly resulting in Iran having a nuclear bomb by 2024. In his withdrawal speech, U.S. president promised that he would work with allies in the Middle East to stop Iranian regimes menacing activity that the Iran deal actually helped to fund. If The president of the united states really wants to stop the Iranian Regime from taking over the region, then he must start with Syria, where the Regime has used its various proxy militias, including Hezbollah, to prop up the brutal Bashar Assad dictatorship. Following the withdrawal speech, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin promised that new sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would seriously affect its ability to support Assad. This is a good start, but the US needs to go further to stop the Iranian Regime from making then Syrian conflict worse. The Washington Post reported that the Israeli government was already getting serious on IRGC agents in Syria by conducting strikes against the suppressive security force, but the US isnt moving towards that. Earlier this year, Trump sent missiles to Syria as part of a joint effort to hit back against Assads use of chemical weapons. He needs to evict the Iranians and their proxies from Syria altogether, if he wants to end the conflict. National security adviser John Bolton sees the importance of eliciting the Iranian Regime from the Middle East altogether, lest they gain control over the entire region. He is best placed to advise Trump about containing the Regime. A few weeks ago, Bolton said of the Syrian conflict: Iran was thinking of the next possible conflict and we were not. It does require a more comprehensive approach than weve got right now, given that theres not much time before conditions worsen, I certainly hope its something they come up with. As yet, its unclear how the Trump administration will tackle Iran in Syria, but there are some ideas that could work well. Retired General Jack Keane and the American Enterprise Institutes Danielle Pletka proposed last month that the US should: strengthen its position in Eastern Syria support Arab Sunnis who can stabilise the liberated areas support the rebels fighting to liberate Western Syria use airstrikes against the military bases in Syria that are run by the Iranian Regime to stop them using chemical weapons Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, said that Iran will only commit more atrocities against innocents if they are allowed to continue. It is clear that the Iranian Regime must be stopped in Syria, in order to defend the Middle East as a whole. All content, photos and recipes are copyright of Our Adventures in Japan unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Police called on black student sleeping in her Yale dorm A white graduate student at Yale called police on a black graduate student who had fallen asleep in a common area of their campus residence an episode that a dean said shows the need for efforts to make the Ivy League university a more inclusive place. Lolade Siyonbola posted two videos of Mondays encounter on her Facebook page, including part of a conversation with the white student who told her she was calling police after finding her on a couch in the room at Yales Hall of Graduate Studies on the New Haven campus. ADVERTISEMENT After questioning Siyonbola for more than 15 minutes, police confirmed she was a Yale student who lived in the building and then left. Police told her the encounter was prolonged because her name was not spelled correctly in a database of student information. Siyonbola did not immediately respond to emails and messages on social media requesting comment. She expressed gratitude Tuesday on her Facebook page for the love, kind words and prayers she has received. Black Yale community is beyond incredible and is taking good care of me, she wrote. I know this incident is a drop in the bucket of trauma Black folk have endured since Day 1 America, and you all have stories. The videos show Siyonbola telling police the woman who called them suffered from mental illness and had called police several months ago on a friend who had gotten lost in a stairwell of the building. Siyonbola, who showed police she had a key to her room and later provided them with her ID, accused the officers of harassing her. I deserve to be here, she said in the video. I paid tuition like everybody else. I am not going to justify my existence here. Its not even a conversation. Lynn Cooley, the dean of Yales graduate school of arts and sciences, sent an email to graduate students Tuesday telling them that Siyonbola had every right to be in the building and inviting them to share their concerns about the incident. ADVERTISEMENT Incidents like that of last night remind us of the continued work needed to make Yale a truly inclusive place, she wrote. I am committed to redoubling our efforts to build a supportive community in which all graduate students are empowered in their intellectual pursuits and professional goals within a welcoming environment. Israel said Thursday its fighter planes struck dozens of Iranian military targets inside of Syria overnight. The move answered rockets attacks by Iranian forces on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli military said its airstrikes centered on intelligence bases, weapons storage and logistics centers. Officials said the planes also destroyed several Syrian air defense systems. They warned Israel would not let the Iranian threat establish itself in Syria. And, Israeli officials said Syrias government will be held responsible for everything happening in its territory. In a statement, officials at the White House said the U.S. strongly supported Israels right to act in self-defense. They condemned the missile attacks by Iranian Forces on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israels defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told a security conference that Israel struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria. He added that he hoped Israels action had ended the conflict and everyone understood. We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel, he said. The strikes were one of the countrys largest air operations in years across Syrian land. They were also the most aggressive attack yet against Iran. The Syrian military said the attacks killed three people and wounded two. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, watches the civil war in Syria. It said the attacks by Israel killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers. It was not clear if any of the dead included Iranians. Iran is a Syrian ally, and its military has been supporting President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, another Assad supporter, called for both Israel and Iran to show restraint. French President Emmanuel Macron called for the two sides to pull back from the conflict. Syrias state-run SANA news agency reported Israeli airstrikes hitting air defense positions, radar stations and an ammunition storage area. SANA also said anti-aircraft systems were able to shoot down dozens of Israeli missiles. Israel blamed Irans Al Quds force for firing missiles targeting Israeli military positions in the Golan Heights. Israeli officials said no damage and no injuries or deaths were reported. In the past, Israel has rarely commented on its military activity in Syria, where it is believed to have made over 100 airstrikes against Iranian forces. Israel has been on high alert in the past few days. The concern comes after Iran threatened retaliation for airstrikes on its military positions inside Syria last month. Those strikes killed at least seven Iranians. Iran blames Israel for those strikes. Israel has not confirmed or denied the attacks. Israeli intelligence has said it was prepared for possible Iranian action after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear agreement with Iran. I'm Susan Shand. Chris Hannas reported this story for VOA News. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story dozen n. twelve logistics adj. the things that must be done to plan and organize a complicated activity or event that involves many people infrastructure - n. the basic roads, buildings and bridges that a country needs to function alert n. an alarm or signal retaliation n. getting revenge against someone or something Iraqi citizens will vote for members of their national parliament on May 12. It is the first such election since the government declared victory over the Islamic State group. Iraqi forces drove out the militant group from the countrys north last year. Now, Iraqis hope that new leadership will fight another enemy: corruption. Many consider corruption to be the cause of years of war and economic problems. Some candidates sense this feeling. Iman al-Marsomi is a candidate for parliament. I want to wage a war against corruption, she said. But some local people in Baghdad said that goal may be impossible to reach. Nearly 7,000 candidates are seeking office. There are 329 seats in Iraqs parliament. After the vote, the government will carry out a series of negotiations. It is expected that one of the leaders of the Shia parties will be appointed prime minister. That position is Iraqs head of state. Iraqs government system is complex and based on a quota system. It calls for several groups to hold leadership positions. They include Shia and Sunni Muslims, the two biggest Muslim religious groups in the country. Kurds, other minorities and women also are required to hold some of these jobs. New alliances forming Iraqi political expert Najem al-Kassab told VOA that new political alliances are forming in the country, even among different religious groups. As a result, he said, no party is likely to gain a majority. So, a long series of negotiations will take place before the choosing of top positions, he said. It will be difficult for them to agree on the leadership, he said, because party alliances are no longer based on sectarian blocks. The current Prime Minster is Haider al-Abadi. He oversaw the defeat of IS militants in Iraq. But the upcoming vote and negotiations will be hard to predict, al-Kassab said. For example, one political alliance in Iraq now includes well-known Shia leaders and non-religious parties, including the Communist Party. Unlike the election in 2014, Sunni voters are more likely to vote for al-Abadis coalition because of the defeat of the IS. The militant group held mainly Sunni areas between 2014 and 2017. The conflict destroyed or severely damaged many Iraqi cities, towns and villages. Al-Kassab said rebuilding, improving the economy and limiting corruption are most important to voters. However, meaningful change will be difficult. The people dont really care who is in power, said al-Kassab. They are looking to rebuild after all the wars. Protecting voters and the election Security for the vote remains a concern. IS fighters have threatened to carry out attacks before the elections. The group said in an internet message that it has killed at least one candidate. Iraqi officials, however, say they can provide enough security and protect voting places. An Interior Ministry official told VOA that security forces have prepared a careful plan for Baghdad and other cities. Everyone can be assured to vote safely. We will protect the polling stations, the transfer of ballot boxes, and voters, he said. The government plans to close the countrys airports and borders for 24 hours during the election. Security forces also will suspend travel between provinces and restrict movement of vehicles on Saturday. The Popular Mobilization Forces in northern Iraq plans additional security measures in areas with political conflict between Kurds and Arabs. A spokesman for the militia alliance said IS militants had threatened villagers in southern Kirkuk and Hawija with kidnapping if they vote in the election. Iraqi forces will be deployed to Hawija and its surrounding areas on the election day to guarantee that everyone votes freely, he told VOA. Im Mario Ritter. Heather Murdock, Rikar Hussein, Mehdi Jedinia reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English with add. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story wage v. to start and continue (a war, battle, etc.) in order to get or achieve something quota n. an official limit or amount on people that are permitted or included sectarian adj. referring to religious or political groups blocks n. a group of people who usually act together in some way assure v. to make sure something is done or happens polling n. voting transfer n. an act or process of moving someone or something from one place to another 3 hours ago Li-Cycle: A Different, Yet Powerful EV Pure Play Li-Cycle (NYSE: LICY) isnt your ordinary electric vehicle play. Its not an auto manufacturer or a charging station company. Its not even a lithium miner or an EV battery maker. Were getting closer though. With the world speeding toward the electrification of transportation, much of the focus has been on reducing carbon emissions and improving the environment. Read Article The following companies are subsidiares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise: 3Com International Inc., 3PAR Inc., Apogee, Aruba Networks Inc., Aruba Networks International Cayman, Aruba Networks International Limited, BlueData Software, Cloud Cruiser, Cloud Technology Partners, Cloud Technology Partners Inc., Compaq Computer (Mauritius), Compaq Trademark B.V., Cray, Cray Inc., EDS World Corporation (Far East) LLC, EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc., H3C Holdings Limited, HP Enterprise Services Australia Pty Ltd, HP Financial Services (Australia) Pty Limited, HP Financial Services (Chile) Limitada, HP Financial Services (Japan) K.K., HP Financial Services Arrendamento Mercantil S.A., HP Financial Services Company (Korea), HP Financial Services International Holdings Company, HPE Government LLC, HPFS Global Holdings I LLC, HPFS Global Holdings II LLC, HPFS Rental S.R.L., Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co. 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The following companies are subsidiares of Valero Energy: AIR BP-PBF DEL PERU SAC, BELFAST STORAGE LTD, CANADIAN ULTRAMAR COMPANY, COLONNADE TEXAS INSURANCE COMPANY LLC, COLONNADE VERMONT INSURANCE COMPANY, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY LLC, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OF CANADA INC., DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL HOLDINGS LLC, DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL LLC, DIAMOND K RANCH LLC, DIAMOND OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., DIAMOND SHAMROCK REFINING COMPANY L.P., DIAMOND UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., DSRM NATIONAL BANK, ENTERPRISE CLAIMS MANAGEMENT INC., GCP LOGISTICS COMPANY LLC, GOLDEN EAGLE ASSURANCE LIMITED, HAMMOND MAINLINE PIPELINE LLC, HUNTWAY REFINING COMPANY, MAINLINE PIPELINES LIMITED, MAPLE ETHANOL LTD., MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT GP LLC, MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT L.P., MRP PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, NECHES RIVER HOLDING CORP., NORCO METHANOL LLC, OCEANIC TANKERS AGENCY LIMITED, PARKWAY PIPELINE LLC, PENTA TANKS TERMINALS S.A., PI DOCK FACILITIES LLC, PICKARD PLACE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, PORT ARTHUR COKER COMPANY L.P., PREMCOR USA INC., PROPERTY RESTORATION L.P., PURE BIOFUELS DEL PERU S.A.C., PURE BIOFUELS HOLDINGS L.P., Parkway Pipeline, Premcor, Pure Biofuels Del Peru, SABINE RIVER HOLDING CORP., SABINE RIVER LLC, SAINT BERNARD PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, SUNBELT REFINING COMPANY L.P., THE PREMCOR PIPELINE CO., THE PREMCOR REFINING GROUP INC., THE SHAMROCK PIPE LINE CORPORATION, TRANSPORT MARITIME ST. 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DE C.V., VALERO RAIL PARTNERS LLC, VALERO REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-ARUBA N.V., VALERO REFINING COMPANY-CALIFORNIA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-OKLAHOMA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-TENNESSEE L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-MERAUX LLC, VALERO REFINING-NEW ORLEANS L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-TEXAS L.P., VALERO RENEWABLE FUELS COMPANY LLC, VALERO SECURITY SYSTEMS INC., VALERO SERVICES INC., VALERO SKELLYTOWN PIPELINE LLC, VALERO TEJAS COMPANY LLC, VALERO TERMINAL HOLDCO LTD, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO TEXAS POWER MARKETING INC., VALERO ULTRAMAR HOLDINGS INC., VALERO UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., VALERO WEST WALES LLC, VRG PROPERTIES COMPANY, VTD PROPERTIES COMPANY, WARSHALL COMPANY LLC, and ZELIG COMMERCIAL INC.. Suicide bombers struck two police stations in Afghanistans capital yesterday [Macau time], killing at least seven people and wounding 17, officials said. Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak said a total of eight suicide bombers took part in the attacks, one of which was claimed by the Islamic State group and the other by the Taliban. In the first attack, in western Kabul, the attackers hurled hand grenades and blew themselves up, setting part of the station on fire, Barmak said, adding that a third suicide bomber was shot and killed by police. He said two police were killed in the attack and two police and a civilian were wounded. IS claimed the attack in a brief statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. The second attack unfolded in the city center, where a suicide bomber struck the entrance to a police station in order to clear the way for another four bombers. Barmak said two or three more attackers were holed up in a nearby building, trading fire with security forces. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to media. Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the violence ended after almost seven hours. Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said a total of seven people were killed and 17 wounded in the attacks. Both the Taliban and IS frequently target Afghanistans Western-backed government and security forces. Twin suicide bombings claimed by IS last week killed at least 25 people, including nine journalists who had rushed to the scene of the first attack. It was the deadliest assault on reporters since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban advanced on a district compound, officials said, with one reporting the capture of the northern district by the insurgents and another saying heavy fighting was still underway. The battle for the compound in the Bilchirgh district, in the northern Faryab province, came a day after the insurgents captured the district compound in the remote Tala wa Barfak district, in the northern Baghlan province. The Taliban have captured several districts in different parts of the country from Afghan security forces since 2014, when the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission and shifted to a supporting role. Mohammad Hashim, a member of parliament from Faryab province, said the Taliban captured the district headquarters in Bilchirgh early Wednesday after more than 40 security forces retreated under heavy fire. He said the Taliban also captured several villages nearby. Provincial police spokesman Abdul Karim Yuresh said the fighting is still underway and that government forces still hold the compound. The Taliban issued a statement saying they control the district and claiming to have killed 10 security forces. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban attacked a school being used as a voter registration center, killing eight soldiers in the latest in a series of attacks targeting preparations for elections later this year. Abdul Aziz Beg, head of the governing council in the western Badghis province, said two other soldiers were wounded and one is missing. There are many areas in the province under a high security threat, and this site was one of those areas, he said, adding that the center was some 30 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Qala-e Now. In the eastern Nangarhar province, a rocket fired by insurgents struck a market, killing two people and wounding 19, according to Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said another four other civilians were killed and 15 wounded in a gunbattle in the same district, in which two insurgents were killed and seven wounded. It was unclear who was behind the attacks, but the Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate are both active in the province. Rahim Faiez, Kabul, AP The Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary convened again yesterday to continue to hear the spoken enquiries from lawmakers and responses from the government, regarding the lack of qualified human resources staff in Macau. Several lawmakers inquired as to which tasks are currently being performed by the Talents Development Committee (CDT) in regard to this problem. The Committees Secretary-General, Sou Chio Fai, explained that the government has conducted studies that detected a lack of qualified personnel in the mid- and upper-classes, and has already launched three different programs that target different sectors such as the Incentive Plan for Qualified Professionals, the Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals, and the Skilled Talents Acquiring Plan and the Elites Nurturing Plan. Sou noted that the CDT has been working together with several institutions and offering scholarships and other relevant programs to foster local residents development as well as to strive for the return of the around 160,000 Macau residents that, due to academic or work reasons, are spread all over the world, and in which a good part are qualified staff in several professional fields. He estimated that from these, the ones that live and study in the mainland are over 100,000. Despite the several studies and programs noted by Sou, the lawmakers reaffirmed their position that Macau is not doing enough and reiterated that at the same time that the MSAR is trying to attract these highly qualified people, other neighboring regions are doing the same, questioning also which specific areas the Macau government is targeting. The Secretary-General of CDT agreed that Macau must make a bigger effort, We must be more active and keen on these works, explaining that one of the bigger focuses of the CDT is the Database of Talents. This is separated into three main areas: Scientific Investigators, Finance and Social and Health Fields, and Sou added that the government has been paying a lot of attention to try to attract these talents to Macau, trying to demonstrate that, Macau has only 31 square kilometres but [possesses] opportunities that expand to other [neighboring] regions. In this aspect, Sou said that it is important to keep in contact with residents that go abroad to study because it is normal that if they study abroad eventually they end up establishing their lives there. We have been trying to keep that contact through several ways in order to convince these people to return and pay service in Macau, he noted. Raising a high number of questions in the debate was lawmaker Mak Soi Kun, who called on Sou to explain the concepts of elites and of qualified staff and whether the government is thinking of attracting these people by skipping the requirements of the government centralized system tenders. Ip Sio Kai was urging the government to have a sense of urgency and face the matter as an urgent matter that need to be solved, suggesting that the government begin hiring needed qualified staff from abroad, noting, this is not going to jeopardize in any way the job of local people but instead help to develop the region and in that way benefit all [the society]. Ip recalled that the government has a Human Resources Reserve Database that has more than 9,000 people registered and in which over 7,000 are residents, calling on the executive to move forward and solve the problem by hiring them. The same lawmakers had already expressed a similar position on the previous day, when Ella Lei called for the training of locals to focus on the most important tasks and develop their careers, saying, I think and agree that we can open more training opportunities for locals to reach a more professional level but we lack a lot of human resources and we have a lot of non-resident workers, this is clear, she said. The non-resident workers (TNR) are also important and they are also working towards the development of Macau. These people also need training and there isnt any [for them] as they arent locals. Ip replied. We need to train also the TNR to perform better and develop the performance of the local companies. There are people that can legally work in Macau but then cannot make accreditation tests and others, he noted, giving the example of the insurance mediators. This does not make sense, Ip concluded. It was an opinion which, as during the previous day, provoked criticism from Lei, who said, We [are] not supposed to import talents but to train ours locally, then gave some statistics: From the 154,000 [workers], we already have 5,856 [imported] specialized workers, which account for 3.8 percent of the total, he said, urging the CDT to think on how to perform local training and not to go abroad [and] get more people. Finally a quota was proposed for the hiring of such staff of one-for-one [one locally-trained to one hired from abroad]. Elaborating on the idea was Chan Iek Lap, who picked up the case of the Traditional Chinese Medicine physicians. We keep talking about import but we dont give enough opportunities and show incapacity to deal with the ones [talents] we have and to give them job opportunities, he said. Also on the topic, lawmaker Chan Hong said that he hopes that CDT could [better] perform its duties, recalling cases of professions such as Information Technology and Mechanics, in which she claims, There are many residents working outside, but Macau seems not be attractive in any way for these people to return. They have no trust that here they will manage to live their lives, concluding by saying, Talents and land plots are the things that we lack [] in Macau. Merging of two bus companies confirmed At the plenary session to reply to several spoken enquiries, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, responded affirmatively to the question of lawmaker Ho Ion Sang over whether it was true that two of the current public buses operators (TCM and New Era) will merge into a single company. The question was one of the very few that Rosario responded to on the topic of the bus operators, explaining that we are now at the last stage of the negotiations [with the companies] and would not be [appropriate] or convenient to reveal the details at this stage. The acknowledgement by Rosario that TCM and New Era will merge into a single company also raised questions from other lawmakers about the process. Rosario explained, there a contract term that allows this merging. So both companies presented such request and we authorized, he said. We believe that this will have a positive contribution to the public transport system as Macau is a small territory and we find it a good solution for two companies to turn into one. Advancing on the possible advantages the merger, Rosario also said that it might turn out that we have less overlapped buses and better optimization of transport routes, reaffirming that he believes (and the companies have given guarantees) that there will be no problems with drivers and other workers. As for the possibility of adding more environmentally-friendly buses namely using electricity or natural gas as fuels the Secretary said that for now there are many limitations regarding both systems, namely on the location for the refueling of natural gas-powered buses. On the topic, Lam Hin San, director of the Transport Bureau, added that at the moment, 11 percent of the casino shuttle buses are already eco-friendly and the government has the goal to extend the fleet of such vehicles operating in the public system to a total of 120 by 2020, almost two-fold the existing number. The total population in Macau was 656,700 as of the end of March this year, an increase of 3,600 quarter-to-quarter, the Statistics and Census Service said yesterday. Female population was 348,100, equating to 53 percent of the SAR. A total of 1,414 live births were delivered in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease of 268 quarter-to-quarter. Male births totaled 763 and the sex ratio at birth stood at 117.2, meaning 117.2 males were born for every 100 females. Mortality decreased by 33 quarter-to-quarter to 513. The top three underlying causes of death were neoplasms, diseases of the circulatory system and diseases of the respiratory system. Non-resident workers totaled 181,345 at the end of the first quarter of 2018, up by 1,889. Angela Leong unaware of blacklist of casino workers Lawmaker Angela Leong, who is also the managing director of SJM Holdings, has claimed to be unaware of casinos holding blacklists of their former employees. According to a report by TDM, Leong said that she had never seen any blacklist, and that SJM Holdings would never share information about its past workers with other gaming operators. In addition, Leong claimed that SJM Holdings tries its best to offer employment opportunities for former workers to return to the company. She further noted that SJM Holdings has always hired executives and dealers who left other casinos. The Association of Synergy of Macao has urged the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) to investigate the ownership of a land plot in Ilha Verde district, the association announced. The association pointed out that several matters concern the lands ownership, ranging from its size to the plans. This particular plot of land was originally bought by the St. Josephs Seminary with MOP2,000 back in 1828. According to the associations report, the IIha Verde No.2506 land plot only occupies four properties at the Estr. Marginal da Ilha Verde. Therefore, it has been suspected that the land plot does not include the IIha Verde mountain and its vicinity, which in total accounts for an area of 35,000 square meters. The association has also doubted the justifiability relating to the fact that a party used 2,000 patacas to purchase 56,000 square meters of land in 1828. Moreover, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) previously reported the discovery of at least 11 military bunkers or buildings on Ilha Verde, although an earlier CCAC report had noted that the existence of military facilities on private land goes against common sense. By mentioning the aforementioned governmental announcement, the association also believes that military facilities on Ilha Verdes private lands contradict common sense. The association has already delivered its request to CCAC to investigate the case in order to ensure that state lands are not being illegally occupied. China Merchants Bank Co. was accused of discriminating against African-Americans in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a former executive who claims she was fired for blowing the whistle on its conduct. The Shenzhen, China-based firms former head of U.S. corporate banking, Xin Wang, said that she was dismissed after more than eight years for making complaints about discriminatory conduct toward the black community, according to a lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Tuesday Wang says she first brought the issue to the attention of management in April 2017 when Morgan Stanley sought more than USD26 million in financing from the bank for a $105 million syndicated real estate loan to finance a project in Harlem. The bank approved only $10 million, based on an opinion by its head of risk management that the projects deficiencies include the neighborhood in which it was located where the African population is more concentrated, according to the suit. While there is no place in society for racist stereotypes and discrimination, this is particularly the case for financial institutions that hold access to capital, growth and development, David E. Gottlieb, an attorney for Wang, said in a statement. China Merchants Banks blatant discrimination and then retaliation against Ms. Wang when she raised complaints about this conduct is simply reprehensible. The bank said in a statement that the allegations in the suit are without merit and that the company intends to contest them aggressively and expects to prevail. Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable, and we work very hard to ensure that both our workplace and our lending practices are free from discrimination, the company said. Our lending decisions are made based on sound risk management and practices, and we take pride in investing in our people and our community. Bloomberg During the final stretch of his visit to Cambodia and Thailand, the Chief Executive yesterday met with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayuth Chan-ocha. Both parties agreed to foster bilateral cooperation and to contribute to the One Belt, One Road initiative. Chui Sai On stated at the meeting that Macau and Thailand could strengthen cooperation in regards to the financial and cultural sectors. Prayuth Chan-ocha welcomed the previous days signing of a twin-city arrangement, which aims to promote cooperation and mutual development between Macau and Thailands Phuket Province. The Thai Prime Minister noted that in 2017 Macau received over 30 million tourists, of which 200,000 were from Thailand. On the other hand, around 80,000 trips by Macau residents were made to Thailand. Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed his wish that tourist numbers continue to grow. He also said that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge would bring benefits for regional cooperation, expressing his wish that the MSAR become a key door by which Thailand may enter the South China market. Responding to Prayuths comments, Chui Sai On noted that Thailand is a world meeting point in terms of tourism from which Macau could learn. Yesterday, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported that it had not yet found any sign of sexual assault on two kindergarten students who were allegedly abused by a staff member of D. Jose da Costa Nunes kindergarten. According to parents claims, at least three children from the same kindergarten room were sexually assaulted by one of the schools employees. The parents claim that the children were inappropriately touched by the suspect and filed complaints to the PJ. The accused employee is reportedly a 30-year-old male worker who has been working at the school as an assistant since 2014. The suspect has been under questioning, as revealed by the PJ yesterday morning. The PJ stated that the department will continue the investigation due to the gravity of the case. Yesterday afternoon, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) held a press conference to announce relevant information concerning the case to the media. Ng Mei Kei, head of the Division of Pre-School and Primary Education, said this morning, parents came to DSEJ to report on the issue. We have been following up on relevant works. [] The police have already begun its investigation, and [we had better] wait for it to report [the appropriate evidence]. When questioned by the media concerning the number of children allegedly involved in the case, as well as other numbers related to the case, Ng provided a similar answer, repeating that the police are still investigating, and that the police will wait until all relevant information has been assessed before making announcements to the public. The school was reportedly notified about a possible sexual assault incident last year. When repeatedly asked about when exactly the school became aware of a possible incident, Ng said that regarding this matter, since it involves details of the case, maybe [its better] for the police to report. Ng stated that DSEJ would handle the case according to the law in case it detects any violations. Regarding whether DSEJ had conducted an internal investigation to determine the responsibilities of the school, Ng claimed that DSEJ will review the whole procedure and that it will inspect the schools daily arrangements in order to offer [the school] timely suggestions. Regarding the situation reported by the parents, we will keep following it, and will continue communicating with the school, said Ng, adding that DSEJ only learnt about the issue yesterday, but has already made great effort in handling the emergency. Concerning suspicions of sexual assault [in schools], we will arrange a counseling service and carry out timely school work, and will enhance sex education in schools, declared Ng. The kindergarten management will meet with the parents of all students today, in light of this controversy that has shocked the school community. Dozens of Islamic militant prisoners who took over a police detention center near Indonesias capital and killed five officers surrendered to police yesterday, the countrys top security minister said. The riot erupted late Tuesday at the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade police in Depok, on Jakartas southern outskirts, where four days earlier authorities arrested three militants they accuse of planning to attack police. Most of the prisoners surrendered before dawn yesterday following an ultimatum from security personnel, said Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Wiranto, who goes by one name. About 10 inmates refused to give up but shortly were subdued when police fired smoke bombs and tear gas. He said those involved were detained terrorists. They committed cruelty by seizing weapons, holding hostages, torturing and even killing the officers in cruel and vile manners, beyond the limits of humanity, Wiranto said at a news conference. He said inmates had controlled about 30 guns and weapons they took from officers and a store room. Earlier, Deputy National Police Chief Muhammad Syafruddin said all 155 inmates were involved in the riot. He said they took nine officers hostage and killed five of them, while another four were tortured. The last hostage, a chief sergeant, was released just after midnight in exchange with food. One inmate was killed, police said. Syafruddin said the inmates would be moved to other penitentiaries including the prison island of Nusa Kambangan off the southern coast of Java. The Islamic State groups Amaq News Agency published a report after the riot broke out saying the melee was between its fighters and the counterterrorism squad. Those provoking the riot were about 30 to 40 inmates from Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a network of Indonesian extremist groups that pledges allegiance to Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, National Police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said in an interview with local MetroTV. Police have said the incident was triggered by a trivial disagreement about a delay in an inmate getting food from his family. President Joko Jokowi Widodo expresses gratitude to all security forces involved in the efforts to control the situation and restore security in the Mobil Brigades headquaters. I need to emphasize, the state and the whole nation are never afraid and will never give any room to terrorism and efforts that disturb the security of the country, Jokowi said. Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim nation, has carried out a sustained crackdown on Islamic militants since the 2002 Bali bombings by the Jemaah Islamiyah network that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. The network was neutralized following the arrests of hundreds of its militants and leaders. But new threats have emerged recently from Islamic State group-inspired radicals who have targeted security forces and local infidels instead of Westerners. It was the second riot in the detention center since November, when detained militants attacked prison guards who were searching for contraband and cellphones. AP The formation of an international alliance against money laundering was announced this week in Hong Kong, involving government representatives from China, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. The group has been spearheaded by a Hong Kong-based NGO, which is receiving support from regulators, former central bankers and government officials. According to Reuters, the alliance will share information to combat the evolving technology that makes it more difficult to track and regulate illicit money flows across Asia. Among the supporters is Anselmo Teng, former head of the Macau Monetary Authority. Teng, who retired from the Authority last year, told Reuters that the Macau Special Administrative Region had been successful in curbing illicit money outflows through its new automatic teller machine (ATM) regulations. The regulations entered into force last year and involve, among other measures, facial recognition technology to be rolled out to Macau ATMs. The measures are aimed at curbing money laundering and illicit capital outflows from mainland China. ATM cash withdrawals have dropped [in Macau] as a result of the KYC measures because it has effectively stopped this cross-border illegal cash withdrawal activity, Teng told Reuters. However, as the crackdown intensifies in Macau, Hong Kong has seen a sharp rise in the number of ATM withdrawals, which local media dubbed suspicious. Authorities in the neighboring SAR did not dispute the reported surge, but told the South China Morning Post that there were many reasons for fluctuating withdrawal levels. Clarie Lo, co-chair of the Alliance and former Deputy Secretary of the Hong Kong governments Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, said that other countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region could learn from the measures that have been introduced in Macau. Things like the experience from Macau will be very useful and beneficial for other jurisdictions around Asia which does not have this technology or know how to do so, she told Reuters. Malaysias former authoritarian ruler Mahathir Mohamad, who in a stunning political comeback led opposition parties to their first election victory in six decades, said yesterday they have a clear mandate to form a government and insisted he should be immediately confirmed as prime minister. In a lively news conference peppered with cussing and trademark wisecracks, 92-year-old Mahathir flagged significant changes for Malaysia, which he described as being left in a mess by defeated Prime Minister Najib Razak and the National Front coalition. The election result is a political earthquake for the Muslim-majority country, ending the National Fronts unbroken 60-year rule and sweeping aside Najib, whose reputation was tarnished by a monumental corruption scandal, a crackdown on dissent and the imposition of an unpopular sales tax that hurt many of his coalitions poor rural supporters. It is also a surprising exception to backsliding on democratic values in Southeast Asia, a region of more than 600 million people where governments of countries including Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines have swung toward harsh authoritarian rule. We need to have this government today without delay, Mahathir said. There is a lot of work to be done. You know the mess the country is in and we need to attend to this mess as soon as possible and that means today. So we expect that today, well, Ill be sworn in as prime minister. Supporters of the incoming government took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to celebrate their unexpected victory. Many analysts had thought the National Front might lose the popular vote but cling to a majority in parliament due to an electoral system that gave more power to its rural Malay supporters. People stood on roadsides waving the white, blue and red flag of the opposition alliance that triumphed in Wednesdays election. Cars honked their horns as they sped past. Im so happy, said Zarini Najibuddin while waving the opposition flag. I hope well have a better Malaysia now. Malaysia reborn! But Ibrahim Suffian, co-founder of the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, said the new government will have to contend with enormous forces of inertia and resistance from within the government elites. The bureaucracy and the rest of the government apparatus has never been used to this idea, having been, you know more than 60 years being under the same political party, he said. Mahathir, leader for 22 years until stepping down in 2003, was credited with modernizing Malaysia but also known as a heavy- handed leader who imprisoned opponents and subjugated the courts. Angered by the graft scandal at state investment fund 1MDB, Mahathir emerged from political retirement and joined the opposition in an attempt to oust Najib, his former protege. The U.S. Justice Department says USD4.5 billion was looted from state investment fund 1MBD by associates of Najib between 2009 and 2014, including $700 million that landed in Najibs bank account and a $23 million pink diamond necklace bought for Najibs wife. He has denied wrongdoing. Mahathir said the new government will not conduct a witch hunt, but Najib will have to face the consequences if he has broken the law. Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at John Cabot University in Rome, said it was hugely ironic that Mahathir, who damaged Malaysias democratic institutions with his strong-arm rule, has returned as its political savior. It is not just a comeback, she said. It is about making amends about his mistakes and moving Malaysia forward. Mahathir said the new government would seek the release and full pardon of Anwar Ibrahim, an opposition icon imprisoned on sodomy charges that Anwar and his supporters said were fabricated by the National Front to crush the opposition. Anwar, whose sentence ends on June 8, should be free to participate in politics, he said. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister in the ruling party, was also imprisoned under Mahathir following a power struggle. On the economic front, Mahathir vowed to cancel a goods and service tax imposed since 2015 and said the government could also renegotiate the terms of Chinese loans for infrastructure projects. He criticized a fake news law pushed through parliament by the National Front during the lead-up to the election. Mahathir is being investigated under that law for claiming a plane he was to travel on was sabotaged during the campaign. Mahathir disputed Najibs assertion during a concession speech that Malaysias king must appoint the new prime minister because no single party has a parliamentary majority, calling it confusion. The constitution, he said, only specifies that the prime minister must represent those with a majority in the legislature. Opposition parties won more than 135 seats in the 222 seat parliament. In his speech, Najib, 64, said he accepted the verdict of the people. The National Front will honor the principle of democracy in the parliament, he said. Stephen Wright & Eileen Ng, Kuala Lumpur, AP Police to ensure transition of power Malaysian national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun says security in the country is under control and police will ensure a smooth transition of power following the oppositions election victory. He called for the new government to be installed as soon as possible and promised to give it the polices full cooperation. Mohamad Fuzi said yesterday the previous days election was largely peaceful except for some scuffles between supporters of opposing political camps. He said police used a water cannon in the administrative capital, Putrajaya, early yesterday to disperse a group of opposition supporters setting off fireworks to celebrate the election victory. The election victory of opposition parties led by Malaysias former authoritarian leader Mahathir Mohamad has raised uncertainty for the economy and for big projects linked to Chinas regional infrastructure initiative. Analysts said yesterday that Mahathirs strong track record in handling the Asian financial crisis of two decades ago could prevail in the long run. Malaysias currency, the ringgit, fell soon after the results were known. The impact on local share markets wont be seen until they reopen on Monday. The country remains heavily dependent on exports of both commodities and manufactured goods but the World Bank says its economic outlook is favorable. MDT/AP Rolls-Royce has officially entered off-road territory. Yesterday, the Goodwood-based, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG brand debuted the USD325,000 Cullinan, its first SUV. Named after the largest diamond discovered to date, the vehicle is the latest in a long line of six-figure big rigs from the worlds most prestigious automakers. It is also one of the last major luxury automakers to add one: In April, Lamborghini unveiled its $200,000 Urus; Bentley showed its USD200,000 Bentayga V8 late in 2017. At this point in the history of automotive design, SUVs have become homogenous and ubiquitous, Giles Taylor, Rolls-Royces director of design, told reporters. The label SUV is now applied to anything with a two-box silhouette and the least suggestion of going off tarmac. [So] we envisioned an authentic, three-box, all-terrain, high-bodied car with a convention-challenging design and absolute capability that would satisfy the adventurous urges of our clients. In a series of YouTube videos created with National Geographic, the BMW Group crown jewel has been tested to destruction all over the planet. The Cullinan stands six feet off the groundfour inches taller than its closest competitor, the Bentayga. At 5,864 pounds, its more than 500 pounds heavier than the Bentayga, too. Angular sides and that high, flat top make it look more imposing than the rounded Bentayga or even Lamborghinis crouching, super-sporty Urus. Bloomberg A court in Shanghai sentenced the founder of the Chinese insurance company that owns New York Citys Waldorf Hotel to 18 years in prison yesterday after he pleaded guilty to fraudulently raising billions of dollars from investors, state media reported. Shanghais No. 1 Intermediate Peoples Court also ordered the confiscation of 10.5 billion yuan (USD1.6 billion) in assets from Wu Xiaohui, the former chairman of Anbang Insurance Group, which had gained a reputation for ambitiously expanding into hotels, real estate and insurance from Canada to South Korea. Wu, who founded privately owned Anbang in 2004, has been accused of misleading investors and diverting money for his own use. He was detained last year and regulators seized control of Anbang in February. He was shown on state TV in March admitting guilt. Wu initially had denied his guilt at his one-day trial, according to an earlier court statement. According to Xinhua, Wu concealed his ownership of shares in companies controlled by Anbang, filed false statements with financial authorities and lured investors by offering rates of return above that offered elsewhere. Much of the business relied on selling insurance products to raise investment capital. It said he used more than 100 companies under his control to manage funds and authorities later recovered bank savings, real estate and other assets. Wu used his position to misappropriate 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in Anbangs deposits, according to Xinhuas lengthy report. Xinhua said the court determined the length of the sentence according to the facts of the case, the severity of the crime, and its degree of social harm. It said more than 50 people were present at the sentencing, including Wus relatives and journalists. Anbang last month said it was receiving a $9.6 billion bailout from a government-run fund. That would mean the government fund owns 98 percent of the company, wiping out most of the equity stake once held by Wu and other shareholders. The company had engaged in a global asset-buying spree in recent years, raising questions about its stability. Anbang discussed possibly investing in a Manhattan skyscraper owned by the family of U.S. President Donald Trumps son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner. Those talks ended last year with no deal. The negotiations with Kushner Cos. about 666 Fifth Ave. prompted members of the U.S. Congress to raise ethics concerns. The Anbang case is one of a string of scandals in what had been a stodgy Chinese insurance industry long-dominated by state-owned insurers. The industrys former top regulator was charged in September with taking bribes and other insurers have been accused of reckless speculation in stocks and real estate. The Communist Party has made reducing financial risk a priority this year after a surge in debt prompted rating agencies last year to cut Beijings credit rating for government borrowing. Anbang is being run by a committee of officials from Chinas insurance regulator, central bank and other agencies. They have said its obligations to policyholders and creditors are unaffected. Over the years, Anbang grew to more than 30,000 employees with 35 million clients. It diversified into life insurance, banking, asset management, leasing and brokerage services. Speculation is rife over possible sales of Anbangs assets, which, in addition to the iconic Waldorf purchased for almost $2 billion include Dutch insurer Vivat NV, the San Francisco Westin St. Francis and hotels, real estate and insurance holdings in Canada, Belgium and South Korea. AP Guyana Goldfields Inc. provides exploration and production of gold. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of gold mineral properties. The company also owns and operates gold drilling rights. The company was formerly known as Chiboug Copper Company Limited and changed its name to Guyana Goldfields Inc. in January 1995. Guyana Goldfields Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. As of August 25, 2020, Guyana Goldfields Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited. Read More Atrial fibrillation patients who are diagnosed with carotid artery disease face higher risks for developing dementia, according to new research from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Credit: Intermountain Medical Center Atrial fibrillation patients who are diagnosed with carotid artery disease face higher risks for developing dementia, according to new research from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Blockages in the carotid artery, which gradually build up as people age, restrict blood flow to the brain. The new study shows that a combination of the two diseases and the resulting impact on blood flow significantly increases a patient's chances of developing dementia. Prior research has shown the abnormal heart rhythms of atrial fibrillation produce inconsistent blood flow to the brain, which contributes to the onset of dementia or a decrease in cognitive function. Risk factors are similar for atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease and include age, weight, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Smoking can also increase risk. "Our team of researchers has been studying links between atrial fibrillation and dementia. This new data stresses the continued need for physicians to monitor and screen patients for both carotid artery disease and atrial fibrillation, especially patients who have risk factors of either disease, said Victoria Jacobs, Ph.D., a clinical researcher with the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute." Results of the study will be presented during the Heart Rhythm Society's 39th annual Scientific Sessions in Boston on Friday, May 11. More than 200,000 new patients are diagnosed each year with carotid artery disease, which is caused by plaque building up in the artery that leads from the brain to the heart. However, the disease is usually asymptomatic until the patient has a stroke. The largest age group of people affected are those over 60. Atrial fibrillation, the most common heart arrhythmia in the world, affects more than 2.7 million American adults. The abnormal heart rhythm causes blood to pool and clot in the heart, and when those blood clots break free, they can cause a stroke. Researchers examined 6,786 patients with carotid artery disease with no history of dementia, and compared those in the group diagnosed with atrial fibrillation to those with no diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. The average age of the patients was 71.6 years old and 55.6 percent of them were male. Twenty one percent of them had atrial fibrillation. How can study results help providers and patients reduce the onset of dementia? Dr. Jacobs says early awareness and recognition are key. "Atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease are treatable, and addressing those diseases early on can help reduce the risk of developing dementia," said Dr. Jacobs. "Physicians should be discussing the treatment options with patients who are at risk to help educate them about what they can do to live the healthiest life possible. Patients should be engaged in their own healthcare, knowledgeable about their risks, and active in maintaining healthy lifestyles. Neither disease should be accepted passively, because both are treatable, and treatment is especially important given the benefit of helping to prevent or postpone dementia." Researchers will continue to analyze the data to compare it among different groups to see what patterns may exist in identifying a patient's risk of developing dementia. Explore further Atrial fibrillation patients are at increased risk of dementia, regardless of anticoagulation use Ebola vaccines will be shipped as quickly as possible to Congo as the number of suspected cases in the latest outbreak grows, the head of the World Health Organization said Friday as the agency prepared for a "worst-case scenario." WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus in a Twitter post said the agreement was made in a phone call with Congo's health minister on Thursday. WHO still needs Congo's final authorization, which is expected in the coming days, Dr. Peter Salama, the agency's emergencies chief, told reporters in Geneva. Two cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the latest outbreak in a remote northwestern part of Congo. There is no specific treatment for Ebola. A new experimental vaccine has been shown to be highly effective, though quantities are currently limited. Congo's health minister on Thursday announced the first death since the outbreak was declared early this week, though the hemorrhagic fever blamed for the death has not been confirmed as Ebola. Nine other suspected cases were announced Thursday. On Friday the director of Bikoro Hospital in Equateur Province, Dr. Serge Ngalebato, announced one more suspected case there. "The problem here is that we already have three separate locations that are reporting cases that cover as much as 60 kilometers and maybe more," Salama with WHO said. "We have three health care workers infected and one who has been reported as of yesterday as having died. And we know that health care workers can really be an amplification factor for these kinds of outbreaks. "And we know the number of suspected probable and confirmed cases is significant. So we are very concerned." While the risk of the latest outbreak spreading into other countries is low, nine nearby countries have been put on high alert, Salama said. It is "absolutely a dire scene in terms of infrastructure" as medical teams try to contain the outbreak in a region with poor water and sanitation, few paved roads and little electricity, he said. Explore further Five new suspected Ebola cases reported in Congo's northwest 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Higher levels of tooth decay are seen in abused or neglected children. Although dental care is free to all children in the UK, many children are not registered with a dentist. This means in the absence of a dentist the family doctor or GP is often the first point of medical contact for a child. New research now suggests that GPs lack the awareness and training to identify dental neglect in children, and therefore could miss the opportunity to share potential cases of wider abuse or neglect to other health and welfare professionals. The study in The British Dental Journal was led by Sascha Colgan, consultant GP and visiting researcher at the University of Southampton in the UK, and was published by Springer Nature. Researchers estimate that around one in ten children have been or are being abused or neglected, and that one to two children in the UK die each week as a result of neglect or abuse. Although there is no single standard for identifying neglect, much research shows that dental neglect is an important marker for wider neglect. In this study, Colgan and colleagues sent a structured survey to all National Health Service (NHS) GPs on the Isle of Wight in the UK (106). Fifty-two per cent of those GPs responded to the survey, which examined how aware GPs are of the role dental health plays in child neglect. The survey also assessed the level of training GPs received in dental pathology. The results showed that the majority of GPs had never liaised with a dental colleague about a pediatric patient. Ninety-six per cent had never received any formal dental training and some did not perceive dental health to be important. None of the respondents worked in a clinic where the dental registration of a child was noted in medical records, and only five GPs mentioned a link between a child not being registered with a dentist and child neglect. "This study highlights that GPs lack training in formerly identifying dental pathology and are unaware that dental neglect could be a marker for potential wider child neglect," said Colgan. Colgan and her colleagues stress that there is a need for further collaboration between dentists and GPs, as well as improved training in dentistry for GPs. "We know that GPs are not dentists and already have many responsibilities. Ultimately public health policy must be implemented to address the need for greater awareness and investment in improving the prioritization of universal free access to dentistry," said Colgan, who hopes that the study will be scaled up in the future. Explore further Dentists urged to take a role in identifying children suffering from neglect More information: Colgan, S.M et al (2018). 'Bridging the gap' - A survey of medical GPs' awareness of child dental neglect as a marker of potential systemic child neglect, The British Dental Journal, DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.349 Colgan, S.M et al (2018). 'Bridging the gap' - A survey of medical GPs' awareness of child dental neglect as a marker of potential systemic child neglect, Despite the numerous campaigns promoting the flu vaccine to Australian health workers, uptake has been documented to range from only 16-60%. Credit: Tatiana Chekryzhova/Shutterstock On June 1, health workers in New South Wales will be required to have a flu vaccination if they work in high-risk clinical areas, such as wards for neonatal care, transplants and cancer. Otherwise staff are required to wear surgical masks during the flu season or risk being redeployed. NSW is the only state to make flu vaccination mandatory for some health workers. It aims to protect vulnerable patients and the health system from another disastrous flu season like in 2017. While the federal government has told aged care providers they must offer the flu vaccine to their staff this winter, there is no requirement for staff to accept the vaccine. Despite the numerous campaigns promoting the flu vaccine to Australian health workers, uptake has been documented to range from only 16-60%, with an even lower rate reported among aged-care workers. The most effective way to improve vaccination rates among health workers is to make it mandatory. State, territory and Commonwealth governments should consider making the flu shot mandatory for all health workers in high-risk clinical areas and aged care facilities. Why health workers need to be vaccinated For most of us, vaccination is for individual protection. In the case of those caring for sick and vulnerable people such as children and the elderly, vaccination protects others from devastating illness, complications and even death. Hospitals and aged care facilities can experience explosive outbreaks of influenza. Aged care facilities may have to close their doors to new admissions, which can also have a significant economic impact. It's also important that staff absenteeism in hospitals is kept low, especially in areas with limited specialist expertise. Some argue vaccination of health workers is a moral duty, while others state individual freedom of choice is more important than protection of patients. Mandating vaccination The use of immunisation mandates for health-care workers is not new in Australia. In most states and territories, staff are required to have vaccines for (or show evidence of protection against) measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and varicella (chicken pox). NSW, for example, introduced mandatory vaccination of health care workers for several vaccines (but not the flu) in 2007. NSW health workers generally accepted this change in policy, with only 4% objecting. Making the flu shot mandatory, as NSW has done this year, would simply add the the list of vaccinations health workers are required to have. The evidence suggests it's worth it; a five-year study in one hospital in the United States showed mandatory hospital policies can raise coverage rates to close to 100%. Institutions that have implemented a mandatory policy have dramatically reduced employee sick days as well as flu in hospitals, thereby improving patient safety and reducing health care costs. Staff vaccination programs Most workplaces run intensive vaccination programs, which may include mass immunisation clinics, mobile carts, posters and email reminders. But in most cases, these programs aren't successful at boosting vaccination levels above 60%. Some hospitals have been able to achieve higher vaccination rates in the short term through easy access to vaccines, education, reminders and multiple opportunities for vaccination. But these initiatives require ongoing resources and continual efforts a one-off vaccination day is not enough. Read more: Flu vaccine won't definitely stop you from getting the flu, but it's more important than you think The Victorian health system used a slightly different approach in 2014 when it made high rates of flu vaccination a hospital performance target. The government also provided the vaccine free to all Victorian hospitals. This raised vaccination rates among Victorian hospital staff from 60% to 75% overall (higher in some hospitals). But higher rates may be achieved through mandatory flu vaccination. But it's not always the best policy For each situation, we need to consider the overall risks and benefits of mandatory vaccination, as well as the gains in protection and vaccination coverage. For infant vaccination, for example, vaccination rates are already at a high baseline of more than 93%. So, the risk of coercive policies may be greater than the relatively small gains achieved by coercive methods. Similar results may be achieved through other methods. In the case of health and aged-care workers, however, we start with a lower base of vaccine coverage, of 16-60%. Adding financial incentives or disincentives, or making it mandatory, would result in much larger gains in vaccination rates. Vaccinating health-care workers also has benefits beyond their individual protection: it reduces the risk of their patients contracting influenza and maintains the health workforce capacity. This shifts the balance in favour of mandatory vaccination. Given large potential gains and low resource requirements, mandatory flu vaccination for all health workers in high-risk areas is a good idea. Governments should consider this and other strategies to improve flu vaccination rates health and aged care workers. Explore further Study finds mandatory flu vaccines for healthcare workers reduce absenteeism This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (HealthDay)In 2013, there was just one clean-needle program in all of West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina, and the latter two states had laws banning such programs. Fast-forward four years: All of those laws have now been overturned and the number of "syringe services programs" available to help addicts has risen to over 50 across the three states, researchers report. Clean-needle programs are exactly what's needed, experts say, with Appalachia now an epicenter of the opioid addiction crisis ravaging the United States. The free programs "have increased in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia with support from government officials, community advocates and health care professionals," according to a team led by Dr. Danae Bixler. She's an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a big turnaround in just a few years. But one expert pointed out that the programs do far more than help addicts avoid dirty needles and related infection with HIV, hepatitis C and other dangerous diseases. "These programs also represent a significant opportunity to improve access to care for this underserved and at-risk population," said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician who's seen the ravages of opioid addiction firsthand. "While providing sterile needles and syringes, this type of program also features the added benefit of providing access to medication-assisted treatment and counseling to deal with substance use disorder head on," said Glatter, who practices at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City. "Training in use of naloxone [Narcan] to prevent fatal overdoses is also available as part of these programs, not to mention contraception services to prevent unintended opioid-exposed pregnancy," he added. The latter service is crucial to protect babies: One Pittsburgh study released last week found that the rate of hepatitis C-infected babies born at area hospitals shot up 60 percent between 2006 and 2014, largely due to the opioid crisis. Hepatitis C is a "silent killer" because over the years it can wreak havoc on the liver, boosting odds for liver failure and liver cancer. The use of dirty needles can also lead to potentially fatal heart-valve infections, which have also risen in incidence along with the opioid epidemic. Still, many communities have been resistant to the implementation of free clean-needle programs, worrying that they somehow might encourage drug abuse. As Bixler's team explained, while clean-needle programs were legal in West Virginia in 2013, they were illegal in the other two states covered by the new study. However, after numerous town hall meetings and other efforts to better educate residents on the safety and value of the programs, Kentucky legalized them early in 2015, and North Carolina followed in mid-2016. By the end of 2017, over 50 such programs, serving more than 16,000 people, were up and running across the three states, the report found. This "represents an unprecedented opportunity to improve access to care for this highly stigmatized population," the CDC team said. In West Virginia, for example, some of the programs operate at a fixed site, but others are in mobile vehicles, while others offer sterile needles delivered to addicts through "intermediary peers," the report said. According to Glatter, these programs "also screen persons and vaccinate for hepatitis B and C, and HIV, and are vital to help reduce the suffering and downstream effects of this unrelenting epidemic." Dr. Scott Krakower is a teen drug abuse counselor at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. He said numerous studies have found that syringe services programs "reduce the risk of infections, such as hepatitis, and often provide additional services and programs to help prevent substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases." In its new report, Bixler's team noted that studies suggest that the implementation of clean-needle programs cuts the local hepatitis C transmission rate by 56 percent. Combining that with medications that help wean addicts off opioids, that reduction in risk rises to 74 percent. The new study was published in the May 11 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Explore further Use of needle exchange programs up dramatically in 10 years: CDC More information: Robert Glatter, M.D., emergency physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Scott Krakower, D.O., specialist, teen drug abuse counseling, and assistant unit chief, psychiatry, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.; May 11, 2018, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Robert Glatter, M.D., emergency physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Scott Krakower, D.O., specialist, teen drug abuse counseling, and assistant unit chief, psychiatry, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.; May 11, 2018, Find out more about syringe services programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Journal information: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Copyright 2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved. The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health is expanding the use of pre-service training for nursing, midwifery and medical students and residents in contraception and safe abortion care, based on the successful partnership of the Center for International Reproductive Health Training at the University of Michigan and ten Ethiopian universities. "One woman from the area came in. She was having her 10th baby. The subject of contraception was not raised at all. I asked the local staff and they told me 'Most clients do not accept contraception. So since this is our experience, we should not waste our time counselling.' Then I raised the issue with her. She asked us for bilateral tubal ligation." That's a testimony from Dr. Abel Teshome, an OB-Gyn at Haramaya University's Hiwot Fana Specialized Hospital in Hara in eastern Ethiopia. He was in the first graduating class of OB-Gyn residents from St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in July 2016. He brought that pre-service training in family planning with him from Addis Ababa to Harar, and is helping to implement changes to the culture of care for girls and women seeking comprehensive and compassionate service. It's one example of how the pre-service approach to improving family planning education for nursing, midwifery and medical students and residents is affecting services and contributing to reducing the ratios of maternal mortality and morbidity in the country. The Center for International Reproductive Health Training at the University of Michigan (CIRHT) has partnered with 10 medical schools across Ethiopia over the past four years to help implement that pre-service approach. While individual incidents like that of Dr. Teshome occur every day, the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has recognized the importance of CIRHT's work nationwide. Recently, when he was still in office, former Minister of Health Professor Yifru Berhan Mitke thanked CIRHT for its "profound contributions" in strengthening the health system "to provide all ranges of reproductive health care, particularly that of comprehensive contraception and safe abortion services This implementation method of CIRHT not only is cost-effective and result-oriented, it also insures country ownership and sustainability." Dr. Mitke credited CIRHT's successful implementation as forming the basis for bringing in the help the FMOH secure significant additional funding. The program will "give millions of women access to modern, voluntary family planning services across the country." "We are proud that our partner institutions have seen such great results for their faculty, students and the populations they serve. This recognition from the ministry is very meaningful to us, and affirms the vision of our founder Dr. Senait Fisseha when she established CIRHT and its approach," said Janet Hall, CIRHT Managing Director. When CIRHT first partnered with SPHMMC, the initial phase of implementation was so successful that nine more university medical schools chose to introduce the pre-service training into their curricula. 18 months later, eight nursing and midwifery schools signed on. CIRHT uses the principles of pre-service training based on three main capacity-building principles: formal integration of a comprehensive and competency-based curriculum in contraception and safe abortion across all pre-service programs; faculty development targeted at improving clinical, teaching and research skills; and supporting infrastructure so that students can have competency-based hands-on training, in simulation labs and specialized clinical settings. Dr. Abdu Mengesha, head of OB-Gyn at Addis Ababa University's Black Lion Hospital, has seen great opportunity in the multi-tiered approach improvements in the simulation labs, better facilities offering more services in the "Michu" family planning clinic, and an increase in faculty research activity, including ten projects in the pipeline, which he says had never happened before. "In many ways we missed opportunities to serve our community in the past. Now we have new competencies and a new attitude, with patients at the center." Medical and midwifery students, as well as post-graduates, are learning skills they will take with them when they are deployed across the country. Working with partner universities and the FMOH, CIRHT's recommendations for family planning pre-service training were integrated into the national "Competency-Based Integrated Modular Medical" and "National Harmonized Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialty Training" curricula that were unveiled in July 2017. Research performed by the University of Michigan, SPHMMC and Jhpiego shows that the impact of the integrated, structured pre-service family planning training did indeed increase the competency of medical students in knowledge and the practice of insertion and removal of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Other research projects have looked at aspects of the provision of contraception methods and abortion access from social barriers and attitudes to training and availability. Recently, 16 abstracts were accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the Consortium of Universities in Global Health. Michu clinics have been established at most of the partner university hospitals, as have upgraded simulation labs and the integration of the use of those labs in education. The ministry's recognition is an encouragement to CIRHT and also to the medical professionals serving girls and women across the country. Dr. Teshome in Harar sums it up: "I believe that nothing makes me happier than providing service for the poor woman in rural part of Ethiopia. What brings satisfaction is providing service and when your service is recognized." Explore further Medical school program addresses rural physician shortage Provided by Center for International Reproductive Health Training Michigan is the No. 1 seed for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament and, after a first-round bye, will open play against Michigan State or Nebraska at 4:30 p.m. CDT on Friday (May 11) at Wisconsin's Goodman Diamond. U-M, which posted an 18-3 conference record, is coming off its 10th Big Ten regular-season title in 11 years and 20th overall. Meghan Beaubien , the 2018 Big Ten Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, leads the nation with 32 wins; the total is the largest recorded by a Wolverine pitcher during the regular season. THIS WEEK Big Ten Tournament Friday, May 11 -- vs. Michigan State or Nebraska (Madison, Wis.), 4:30 p.m. CDT Tournament Central | Live Stats | TV: Big Ten Network | BTN2Go | Bracket (PDF) Complete Game Notes The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan softball team (43-10) will kick off postseason play this weekend at the Big Ten Conference Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin. With the No. 1 seed, the Wolverines earn a first-round bye and will open play in the quarterfinal round at 4:30 p.m. CDT on Friday (May 11), facing the winner of the first-round contest between No. 8 seed Michigan State and No. 9 seed Nebraska. All games will be held on Goodman Diamond and aired live on the Big Ten Network. Michigan is the No. 1 seed in the B1G Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons. U-M has won the league tournament nine of the 20 times it has been contested, posting a program record of 41-16 at the event. Michigan last captured a Big Ten Tournament title in 2015. U-M captured the outright Big Ten regular-season title with two wins against Ohio State at home last weekend. Michigan, which reclaimed the league's top spot after a one-year hiatus, has captured 20 of the last 27 Big Ten regular-season crowns, including 10 of the last 11. The Wolverines posted an 18-3 league record, finishing one game ahead of second-place Minnesota. Michigan outscored its Big Ten opponents, 134-31. Freshman left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien was named the 2018 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. It is the Wolverines' 15th pitcher and 13th freshman laurels in program history. Beaubien is the fifth different Wolverine pitcher to garner the league's top honor since 2009. She is also the fourth player in conference history to claim both the top pitcher and freshman honors and the second Wolverine, joining Haylie Wagner (2012). Beaubien, senior first baseman Tera Blanco and junior second baseman Faith Canfield were voted to the All-Big Ten first team, while junior catcher Katie Alexander earned second team honors. Blanco, a unanimous selection like Beaubien, is a three-time first-team honoree, while Canfield earned her second distinction in as many seasons. Beaubien leads the nation with 32 wins -- five more than North Carolina's Brittany Pickett in second place -- and 12 complete-game shutouts. She also ranks top five nationally in earned run average (0.90, fifth) and hits allowed per game (3.01, second). Beaubien leads the Big Ten in every pitching category. Beaubien's 32 wins are the most ever by a Wolverine pitcher in the regular season. It is the 11th time in Michigan program history that a pitcher recorded 30 wins in a season, and she is the third freshman to accomplish the feat. Beaubien shares the fifth spot among the program's single-season wins leaders -- with Haylie Wagner (2012) -- and sits just six behind the school record, held by Jennie Ritter (38, 2005). He should reduce his consumption of ethanol Cornell theses: Cornell University has adopted a new essential part of every thesis defense, a strip tease. An advantage of this setup pioneered by Letitia Chai is that the speaker can't be criticized for the length of sleeves of his suit, as I recently was. ;-) Well, Chai has previously had a similar clash about fashion preferences with her Prof Rebekkah Maggor (the surname means a moron in Czech). As Mr Panek wrote in the MF DNES daily (and The Invisible Dog ), Jean-Claude Juncker is a classic Soviet apparatchik.Aside from praising Karl Marx, the mastermind of the murders of some 100 million people, not to mention economic catastrophes in a third of the world (and this support is unsurprising, Panek argues, because the EU is a giant cesspool created out of hardcore Bolsheviks as he shows using a dozen of examples this kind of experience must clearly be viewed as an advantage within the EU), he likes special agreements with big companies, he places his friends to important chairs, he loves to kiss other politicians passionately , and he is a drunkard. Panek apparently wanted to point out that Juncker is a clone of Soviet dictator Brezhnev.At any rate, Juncker drank too much last night . He's got bills to pay, his head just feels in pain. He missed the bus and there'll be hell today. He didn't like Donald Trump's departure from the Iran deal, so this "EU leader" declared that thatInstead, the European Union will become the main world leader.He really shouldn't drink this much. The European Union has almost the same GDP as the United States. Its military strength is significantly smaller but one can imagine that this problem could be fixed within a decade. But there's a more serious problem. Despite some American blonde 's views, Europe isn't a country.It's not even a pseudo-country. It's not a uniform entity at all. Especially when it comes to geopolitical questions, European nations' attitudes are all over the place. Also, the European Union isn't a democracy.You know, the current U.S. president is supported especially by the red states. The support by the blue states is lower. It was the other way for his predecessor. But the approval rate in the "hostile states" is still of order 40%.Jean-Claude Juncker's approval rate in countries like mine is comparable to 10%. And if you reminded the people that he actually promotes the migrant quotas, the support would drop to 5%. He's a rather generally hated bureaucrat. How does he want to make any decisions that would be analogous to Donald Trump's? What does it even mean to talk about such matters?Take the Iranian problem. Obama signed a rather lousy treaty with Iran. Some sensible people may still think it has improved the situation. Nevertheless, the treaty hasn't eliminated all tension between Israel and Iran, among other things. In fact, these days, Israel and Iran started to gently bomb each other in the Golan Heights. OK, unlike Trump, the EU apparatchiks want to continue their friendship with Iran.An Israeli lawmaker has said that Europe has lost it by appeasing Iran. Various people will react in various ways. I don't want to pretend that my opinions are strong I am surely not dreaming about a war with Iran.But just imagine that this particular tension will grow big, and it very well could. Israel and Iran could start to fight. America is likely to support Israel. Will the would-be leaders in Brussels want to bring the nations of the European Union to the war on Iran's side? Or, if you phrase it just a little bit differently, will Brussels want the European nations to fight against the U.S.? Can you imagine how insane such a decision would be?Lots of countries such as my homeland consider Israel their most important ally in the region. Czechoslovakia provided the newborn Israel with all the weapons needed to protect its existence. After some decades in which we were gradually reshaped to comrades of Yaser Arafat, we started to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem although the process may stop after the consulate and a few organizations are moved. However, we could imagine to fight on Israel's side. But to fight on Iran's side?The situation would be rather similar in Hungary.The likes of Juncker must be completely disconnected from reality. He really imagines that he is seen as a sort of a European leader across the member states of the European Union who may order democratically elected governments to do extreme things, perhaps even when it comes to their war activities in the Middle East. Well, you're nothing like our leader. You haven't been elected and you couldn't possibly be elected in any democratic procedure. You're a ludicrous arrogant drunkard who has, according to an overwhelmingly dominant opinion at least in our part of Europe, no clue about political questions that matter such as Europe's immigration policies. Juncker probably thinks that next year, he may order the European citizens to celebrate Karl Marx's birthday, just like he did last week. Sorry jako, comrade, but you can't.If you tried to behave as a dictator who thinks that he can determine whom the Czechs should fight against, you could very well walk in the footsteps of Reinhard Heydrich . This is not a threat, it's just a description of a possibility whose significant probability is a fact. We're not on your side, Juncker. It is extremely likely that if the disagreement became something like Trump-vs-Juncker, lots of nations like mine would actually be squarely on Trump's side. We're Europeans but that doesn't mean that we root for any unelected EU apparatchik. Why? Because we're European but you are really not. And we may prefer to be honorary Americans over Europeans, anyway. ;-)Do you really misunderstand it?Europe used to be the belly of the world but it's no longer one simply because individual European countries are extensively weaker than America (and also than China; and when it comes to the military strength, maybe also Russia); and the synergy between different parts of Europe is very weak. Of course if someone were an actual "European leader" who would enjoy the support across the continent, he could think of being analogous to Donald Trump. But no one like that exists.Especially if we focus on the question of Islam, maybe one-half of the citizens of the EU member states could imagine Viktor Orban to be their legitimate leader. But he would suffer from analogous problems with support and legitimacy in many nations of Western Europe that were recently brainwashed by some unusually efficient detergent.There's just no meaningful, coherent geopolitical entity that could be called Europe or the European Union. We have very diverse attitudes to Russia, China, the Muslim world, and most of the other global topics, too. If a Mr Juncker tries to obfuscate these facts and behave as a dictator of a continent, it will lead to huge tensions and, as I mentioned, possibly the assassinations, too. You would have to be a lunatic, Mr Juncker, to keep on thinking about these matters even after your hangover is over, if it ever will be.Incidentally, the Committee for European Affairs of the Czech Parliament has approved a resolution chastising Jean-Claude Juncker for his presence at the Karl Marx celebration. The document was penned by Mr Jan Skopecek (ODS) whom I know in person congratulations, a good job. The Czech Christian Democratic Union which belongs to the same club as Juncker in the EU Parliament has denounced his speech and urged Juncker to resign ARCHIVED - Easter effect minimal as March property sales figures in Spain fall by just 3 per cent The year-to-date sales figures are 11.6 per cent higher after 3 months of 2018 Earlier in the week Spains notaries reported that the number of residential properties sold this March was lower than in the same month last year, and on Friday the national governments central statistics unit reported a similar decrease, no doubt attributable at least in part to the fact that Easter Week fell late in March this year but in April last year. The total of 39,579 transactions registered during the month represents a 3.1 per cent decrease in comparison to March 2017, and the totals fell in most of Spains 17 regions. The most significant drops were those of 19.7 per cent in Cantabria and 13.7 per cent in La Rioja, but on the other hand there were upward movements in 6 regions, the sharpest being those of 7.7 per cent in Aragon and 6.4 per cent in Murcia. The busiest regional market in terms of sales per 100,000 inhabitants of property-buying age was again the Comunidad Valenciana (151). These monthly data are most likely distorted by the date of Easter and it can be expected that a very different story will be told by the figures for April, and in this context it is worth looking at the longer-term statistics. These show that in the first three months of the year the number of residential property sales registered in Spain reached over 128,000 following a rise of 11.6 per cent, and as ever an even better idea of how the market is faring is gleaned from the cumulative total over the last twelve months: this now stands at just over 478,000, just below its highest level since March 2009, having risen by 13.7 per cent over the last year and 61 per cent since early 2014. To view a wide range of properties for sale across Spain consult the Spanish property page. Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/. --> Michele Ann Duguay passed away at home in Napa, on April 22, 2018, Earth Day. She was 70. She leaves behind her husband of 45 years, Michael Duguay; her children, Brian Duguay (Esther), Amy Duguay, and Joel Duguay (Shannon); her darling grandchildren, Carson Jude Duguay and Aliyah Michele Duguay; her siblings Suzette Perpall, Richard Trujillo, Annette Zoe Trujillo, and Patricia Allen. Michele was also fortunate to have a cousin so close to her heart that she was more like a twin sister, Carol Wheeler of Grass Valley. And fortunate for everlasting close friends like Kim Wildman of Napa, who were there to constantly fill her heart with joy. She was blessed by many brothers- and sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces and nephews, grand and great nieces and nephews, blended family members, and friends. Michele was born on May 10, 1947, in Napa CA to Max and Yvonne Trujillo. She was the second of six children. She attended St. Johns Catholic School and Napa High School, before enrolling in Providence School of Nursing in Oakland. She made many lifelong friends through nursing school, including Beth Lincoln of St. Helena. On the day they met, Michele suggested they should be roommates as they were already being awarded identical Napa County Womens Medical Auxiliary Scholarships Michele was the Napa recipient, and Beth was the St. Helena recipient. In Micheles world, the stars had aligned, and theyd be fast friends since they already had at least one thing in common the rest is history! Michele approached her life goals with aplomb. She knew from the early age of five that she wanted to be a registered nurse like her cousin Bernadette Defilippis, and in 1969, as her graduating class vice president, she did. She knew she wanted to live in her ideal paradise, Oahu, Hawaii after nursing school, and on a whim, before even accepting a job offer, she did. She knew she wanted to work at the best childrens hospital in the world, so she moved to Boston, and worked in the burn unit of Boston Childrens Hospital one of the most emotionally taxing, but meaningful nursing experiences of her life. While in Boston, Michele met her life partner, Michael Mike Duguay, who was from Maine, but attended college at Bostons Suffolk University. Upon Mikes graduation, they decided to move to Napa, where they got married, and later had three children. Her career in nursing took her in many varied directions, but most notably was a long-term contract by the County of Napa to provide blood drawing services for drug and alcohol screenings, and her work as a nurse at the San Francisco City and County Jail. At the wars end, Bill sought similar work as a civilian with the CAA (later FAA) at Honolulu for two years and at San Francisco Airport an exciting place for a year and a half. Then a reduction in force bumped him to Burbank, the dullest airport in the dullest town in California. Belatedly, he enrolled at UCLA, where he met his first wife, Esther Macias. They had two children while living in southern California and two more after moving north in the mid-1950s. He taught at elementary schools in San Anselmo and Fairfax while earning an MA at San Francisco State University. After their marriage ended in divorce, he became a college instructor, first at a state college in northern Minnesota and then, after a quick trip back to California and a blissful two-year honeymoon in Bemidji, he and his second wife Barbara moved back to Eureka, Calif., where Bill had been hired to teach English at College of the Redwoods. Jess Eugene Carey was arrested April 26 after police allege he trying to extort an ex, breaking into the womans home and destroying her property, according to police reports. Carey tried to get money from the woman by threatening to expose explicit photos of her that he said he had, police said. Police said that they believed Carey also broke into the womans home, causing damage to her window screens, doors and locks. He also attempted to cut power to the residence, police said. Gov. Jerry Brown, alarmed by reports that climate change is dramatically increasing fire risk, on Thursday ordered an all-out attack by scientists, land managers, industry and the public on the dangerous conditions that helped spread last years devastating wildfires. The executive order will launch a slate of projects to improve forest conditions and increase fire protection, including a doubling of the amount of land managed by controlled burns, tree thinning and other forest-management tactics. The extra work would be financed with $96 million the governor is proposing in his May budget revision, to be released Friday. The money would augment the $160 million in cap-and-trade revenue that he has previously proposed spending for forest improvements and fire protection in the 2018-19 fiscal year. The spending would have to be approved by the Legislature. Devastating forest fires are a profound challenge to California, Brown said. I intend to mobilize the resources of the state to protect our forests and ensure they absorb carbon to the maximum degree. The money would be used to implement the governors Forest Carbon Plan, also released Thursday, and to improve the health of the states forests, which draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the trees, shrubs and soil. ACHS biology teacher Elizabeth Hawkins said many Legacy High students had taken her classes, and she came away impressed with them. These kids went into Miss McMasters program as some of the most difficult kids on our campus, Hawkins told the school board, and they came out being very respectful, and they come out wanting to learn. Trustee Robin Jankiewicz, who abstained from voting on the plan to close Legacy High, expressed concern over how the students will fare going forward without McMaster. The piece that concerns me is that these are at-risk kids who have a strong emotional tie to the current instructor, said Jankiewicz. Looking in the direction of McMaster seated in the audience, she added: I want to say thank you for the work that has been done. Jankiewicz also said she hopes theres preservation of a relationship that allows those children to succeed. NVUSD decided to close Legacy High following a visit in March by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). A committee of educators from outside the school district said WASC couldnt continue the accreditation of Legacy High because numerous recommendations were never implemented. In 2014, the Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States, and more events that ha SANTA ROSA -- Two men suspected of fatally stabbing a man during a fight in Santa Rosa Wednesday evening have been arrested in Tracy, Santa Rosa police Lt. John Cregan said Thursday afternoon. The suspects have been identified as Johnny Luis Martinez, 20, and Gabriel Cardin Heredia, 25, both of Santa Rosa. Police have not identified the victim. The stabbing occurred during a fight in the 1200 block of Slater Street. Police responded around 7:45 p.m. The victim was driven by someone to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa. He was transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where he died, police said. The suspects fled in a vehicle believed to be a white Chevrolet Equinox with a California license plate 6YZM739, police said. Newsom said he believes Californias bullet train, now under constant attack even as construction continues in the Central Valley, will be built. We need to finish the first segment, from Bakersfield to San Francisco. Get that done and we might be able to draw private investment and more federal money to finish the line, he said. I think well see huge prosperity along the route between the Central Valley and the Silicon Valley. But we do need to prove ourselves. How about another statewide vote on the project, as some high-speed rail opponents demand? That train has left the station, he said. But Newsom brings more to an interview than high-tech razzle-dazzle talk. Among his first acts as governor, he said, would be to change the state budget to promote much more pre-natal and early-childhood care. Im profoundly interested in this and its very underfunded, Newsom said. This is so important because thats when most of human brain development takes place. Newsom also wants companies to do more for contract workers who get few benefits as they move from firm to firm and project to project in todays economy. He supports a recent state Supreme Court decision calling for companies to give those mobile workers more benefits, saying Businesses need to do something for their employees future. They were focused on producing Barolo in a style that garnered more scores and had a taste profile in line with international standards set by Robert Parker. Barolos became the big wines they were thought to be. However, in 2008, when the Farinetti family purchased Giacomo Borgogno, they turned to the past. They focused on a more traditional style, a style many believe Barolo should taste like. Master Sommelier Gillian Balance explained that Nebbiolo is never going to be soft and never should be inky. The tension, the tannin, the acid of Nebbiolo is what is the driving force of Barolo. She continued, it is a wine that screams at you in a beautiful way. In the past, Barolo was made in a style that was impenetrable. It was a wine that could not be drunk in its youth, rather it was given as gifts for generations to come. One of the ambitions of the Barolo Boys and other producers in 1980s and 1990s was to make Barolo friendlier and drinkable. Today, we have arrived at a happy medium between the two. The wine is still tannic and still high in acidity but not so much so that you cannot drink it. Members of the Board of Trustees of IDeA Foundation Ruben Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan are ready support Armenias just and peaceful development. Ruben Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan congratulate Nikol Pashinyan on his election as Prime Minister of Armenia and released the following statement. We congratulate Nikol Pashinyan on his election to the position of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and share the sense of urgency and determination demonstrated by the Armenian people throughout the process that culminated with this election. Together with many Armenians within and outside Armenia, we stand ready to support and propel Armenias just and peaceful development. With this turning point, we have an opportunity to bring together the skills and enthusiasm of Armenians across the globe who are able to contribute to accelerating Armenias and Artsakhs growth and prosperity. It was with this same intent that 17 years ago we began the Armenia 2020 initiative to rally global know-how and create scenarios through which Armenia could achieve a vibrant future. Since then, through our many joint socio-economic development initiatives - the National Competitiveness Foundation, the IDeA Foundation, the Tatev Gateway complex, UWC Dilijan, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology we are learning how to rebuild Armenia towards its historic greatness and beyond, one initiative at a time. Starting from day one, we accepted as the ultimate judges and beneficiaries of our efforts, above all else the children of the day. During the past week, we witnessed first-hand the hopes, ambitions and power of students and young professionals who were the very children we had set out to enable. Today, the young Republic of Armenia has new leadership, entrusted with the mandate of its citizens to build a healthy and prosperous country, rich with humanitarian values, and committed to justice, freedom and equal opportunity for all. In only two years we will reach 2020. And although the goals of an idealized Armenia cannot be reached in just two years, the research and resources that already exist and that are necessary for the planning process can be utilized to accelerate progress. The sectors we researched and planned for in 2003 -- Education, Agriculture, Health, Tourism, IT, Finance -- remain critical for Armenias development. In an evolving environment of rule of law and equal opportunity, these sectors are destined to become the avenues for greater Diaspora and international engagement and the productive vectors of Armenias and Artsakhs growth and strength. Today, we remain steadfastly committed to enabling the future of all Armenians by supporting the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister in pursuing our common goals. Armenia finance ministry-European Investment Bank cooperation development directions discussed One dollar drops below AMD 480 in Armenia Hague court announces dates for considering petition for Armenian captives return, urgent measures against Azerbaijan Armenia minister, Rosatom representative discuss cooperation in new sectors for infrastructure development Armenia PM underscores need for effective investigation of criminal cases on 44-day war circumstances Armenia MFA: Servants, followers of Armenian Church should have unimpeded access to cathedral in Artsakhs Shushi Armenia opposition With Honor Faction lawmaker: MPs can be part of any parliamentary delegation Turkish Armed Forces' 3rd army corps commander visits Nakhchivan Sergey Markedonov: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not over Opposition 'Armenia' faction: There is always a threat of war, but it is less likely in the near future Armenian and Greek competition protection authorities sign Memorandum of Cooperation Georgia FM comments on possibility of his country joining 3 + 3 format proposal including Armenia Ruling power MP: Armenia needs to consider, grasp opportunities of 3 + 3 negotiation format 12 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh FM meets with Sweden ambassador, stresses need for return of all Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan Ukraine MP who penned Armenian Genocide recognition draft decision dies Azerbaijan organizes another visit to occupied Shushi of Artsakh Ombudsman in Rome, presents Armenian captives issue to international media ANCA calls on US Congress to investigate State Department failures related to Armenia, Artsakh Armenia opposition MP: Tatev bypass road will not resolve all our problems in current situation (PHOTOS) 1,202 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Opposition Armenia bloc challenges, at Constitutional Court, community enlargement law package Armenia Central Bank chief in Rome, meets with Italy PM Russia peacekeepers, philanthropists hand warm clothes to Artsakh families State Department: US, Russia do not want to allow Iran to have nuclear weapons Newspaper: Armenia state to no longer cover treatment expenses of patients not vaccinated against coronavirus? Newspaper: Armenia judicial system to be in volatile situation in short time UN Human Rights Council agrees to appoint special rapporteur on Afghanistan Russia citizen driver, 52, dies on the spot after his car crashes into truck in Armenia Launch of Armenian Studies Program announced during Armenia President's visit to Sapienza University Will Turks be able to enter 26 countries of Schengen Area without visas? Dinner served in honor of Armenia President and his wife in Italy Armenian parliamentary standing committee chairman meets with Russia Ambassador Armenia Ombudsman submits to Pope Francis reports on tortures of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan Customs Attache: There hasn't been and there is no bias against Armenian drivers at Upper Lars checkpoint Greece-France defense agreement will allow them to help each other in case of third country's attack Treatment of coronavirus-infected but unvaccinated people to become paid service in Armenia as of December? Turkish FM: Turkey's position on supporting Ukraine's "integrity and sovereignty" remains unchanged Russian peacekeeping forces, charitable organizations provide assistance to boarding school in Karabakh Zakharova: Moscow proceeds from priority to ensure geopolitical stability in South Caucasus Armenia President pays tribute at Altar of the Homeland monument at Venice Square in Rome Turkey, Iran to hold political consultations Karabakh FM expresses condolences over death of Vigen Chitechyan Armenia territorial administration and infrastructure minister has new deputy Armenia Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan receives US Ambassador Armenia Security Council Secretary, Netherlands Ambassador attach importance to fight against corruption Digest: Armenian POW returned from Azerbaijan, PACE speaks on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination risks Armenia and Italy are deepening cooperation in justice sector Apprehended ARF-D members are released Armenia high-tech industry minister receives Russia Ambassador Armenia Embassy in Russia hosts delegation led by Armenian parliamentary speaker Decisions to arrest Armenia ex-defense minister, arms supplier are appealed Dollar continues going down in Armenia Artsakh President to Putin: Your role in process of peaceful, final settlement of Karabakh conflict is invaluable Amir-Abdollahian: We consider inadmissible Zionist regime provocative movement in our region from Azerbaijan territory Iran FM announces readiness to visit Armenia, Azerbaijan US ambassador to Armenia attends unveiling of new x-ray machine donated to Ashtarak city hospital (PHOTOS) Putin: Russia attaches great importance to close cooperation with strategic ally Armenia Police disrupt ARF youths protest outside Armenia government building Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople meets with the Pope, in the Vatican UK envoy to Armenia does not comment on Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Karabakh situation Iran Supreme Leaders representative leaves Azerbaijan Armenias Pashinyan to Russias Putin: We are grateful for your efforts to establish peace in South Caucasus Putin, Aliyev confer on situation in South Caucasus Putin, Erdogan discuss regional issues 4 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh PACE new resolution urges to ensure that COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory Zelensky sacks Ukraine ambassador to Armenia PM: Armenia, Armenian people are grateful to Japan Armenia PM: We have made decision regarding local elections Armenia, Italy presidents farewell ceremony held in Rome (PHOTOS) Sarkissian to Putin: Armenia highly values your contribution to maintenance of peace, stability in region Having legal system is important for business development in fair environment, says UK ambassador to Armenia Armenia President, Italy PM meeting in Rome (PHOTOS) Baku not ruling out another meeting between Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs Armenia President meets with Rome mayor 1,309 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Biden approval rating hits new low in latest poll Armenia ombudsman in Italy parliament, presents evidence of Azerbaijan torture of Armenian captives World oil prices dropping Serial killer in US lured by social media is sentenced to 160 years in prison Newspaper: Armenia authorities face new problems in setting up parliament committee of inquiry into 44-day war Newspaper: Opposition Armenia bloc plans to hold forums, rally Armenia PM admits that in 2018 he could have disclosed Karabakh negotiation process content Armenia health minister: Out of 2,446 hospital beds for coronavirus patients, 2,300 are occupied China-Taiwan military escalation reaches peak in past four decades Armenia President: We welcome pro-Artsakh documents adopted by nearly 50 regional and city councils of Italy Armen Sarkissian meets with President of Italian Senate Nikol Pashinyan: Armenia to build new nuclear power plant, negotiations have been launched Italy's Quirinal Palace hosts exhibition featuring works of Aivazovsky, Saryan and other Armenian painters Armen Sarkissian meets with President of Italy's Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico Catholicos of All Armenians meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican Armenia ex-Ambassador to The Netherlands Vigen Chitechyan dies Armenia PM again says he is guilty for all the failures of the Armenian side during last year's war FM: Discussion on occupied territories of former NKAO will create new threats to Armenia Karabakh emergency situations service: Rescue squad finds remains of another Armenian soldier in Jrakan Mattarella: Armenia and Italy can boast about their friendly relations Nikol Pashinyan: Armenia agreed to stop the hostilities on October 7, 2020 Iran, EEU begin talks to reach agreement over permanent treaty on free trade zone An abundant TechnoFall with Inecobank - NFC payments and more As European countries failed to prevent Donald Trump from pulling Washington out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the tension between Iran and the US escalates, Sputnik reported. "It is no longer such that the United States simply protects us, but Europe must take its destiny in its own hands, that's the task of the future," Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. Merkel's point of view on the issue echoes the earlier statement of the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, who noted on Thursday that Washington "had lost vigor, and because of it, in the long term, influence," suggesting that Europe should take over the US' role as global leader. Commenting on the issue, French President Emmanuel Macron said on his Twitter account, that France, Germany, and the UK "regretted the US decision to leave the JCPOA", warning that the nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake. Meanwhile, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stressed that the bloc reserved the right to act in its security interests, calling on the international community to preserve the JCPOA. Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, that US was withdrawing from the JCPOA, which is also known as the Iran nuclear deal, causing a major backlash among the European allies of the US. He also promised to re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Tehran in response to the development of the nuclear program. Fellows2018 The 2018 Fellows class. (Photo provided) Grant helps SIU prepare students to help people recover from trauma by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. After serving two tours of duty in Iraq with the United States Army, Leslie Dowdy had seen plenty of trauma and human suffering, so she wanted to help people. The Mayfield, Ky., native completed her bachelors degree in criminal justice and human services in Colorado, but while working with people as a crisis counselor for Centerstone, she realized something. I have seen many different people from every ethnicity, culture, gender and/or sexual orientation be affected by trauma, Dowdy said. Although I knew the definition of trauma, I was unsure of how it truly could affect our clients. Then she heard about a special opportunity at SIU that could give her the insight she was looking for. SIU receives large federal grant In order to train counselors to work with people who have suffered trauma, SIU received a $1.66 million Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources Services Administration. The Southern Illinois University Behavioral Health Workforce Education Training Program (BHWET) projects goal is to provide an enhanced social work and rehabilitation counseling education to students in the final year of their masters or advanced studies program in order to help them better understand and treat trauma-informed patients. The four-year grant funds Trauma Based Behavioral Health Fellowships for social work and rehabilitation counseling students in their final year of study, according to Dhrubodhi Mukherjee, evaluation consultant. SIU previously received a similar training grant exclusively for social work students under Mukherjees leadership. Paid training and practical experience Those who complete all requirements of the fellowship receive a $10,000 stipend. The requirements are a challenge that requires strong commitment, according to Ginger Meyer, BHWET project director and licensed clinical social worker. Those chosen for the program are required to: Participate in 30 weekly intensive all-day training sessions led by professionals involved in trauma treatment. Complete a behavioral health clinical practicum at an approved site. Prepare and present a special presentation about trauma-focused behavioral health treatment to an audience of their choice. Those who successfully complete the fellowship will also receive a certificate indicating they are trauma-based behavioral health fellows. The effects of trauma are far-reaching Trauma, both physical and emotional, has a much wider impact on behavior than most people realize, according to Chelsea Davis, a rehabilitation counseling fellow who completed her practical at the Perry County Counseling Center. Whether people are dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues, trauma is almost always present, especially with substance abuse, she said. The substance is their solution. Its the underlying problems that need to be addressed and this fellowship has taught me how to address those. It provided real information that we can use every day in the field. Her classmates agreed. This fellowship has allowed me to truly understand the effects of trauma on children, adolescents and adults, Dowdy added. It has shown me that trauma can affect every aspect of a persons life. The knowledge of trauma and trauma-focused interventions has prepared me to become a leader in the field and an educator in the community, which is what I strive to do. She noted that often, people dont seek treatment after a traumatic event, which results in issues not only for the individual but for friends and family, the community and even the economy. Changing perceptions about substance abuse The fellowship proved eye-opening in many respects for participants. This really changed my perspective on things, Tiffinee Hamlin, a rehabilitation counseling fellow, said. She worked with people who were court- or DCFS-mandated to receive substance abuse treatment and said society often views substance abuse as a choice or character flaw. I understand that there are reasons people use these substances that have nothing to do with them wanting to, Hamlin said. A lot of times it can be attributed to trauma they have suffered and if we can help them recover from the trauma, they can be successful in their lives. Her goal is to provide substance abuse treatment to inmates within the department of corrections. Brent VanHam also plans a career in counseling people with substance abuse issues and said the fellowship was invaluable. He said the speakers were really dynamic and presented valuable information about how trauma causes problems for people as well as various methods of successfully providing treatment. Many treatments explored During the intensive training, the fellows learned much about the impact of trauma on the developing body and brain, as well as its effects and numerous treatment options, according to Matt Buckman, clinical director and co-principal investigator of the program. Dowdy discovered the effectiveness of using rhythm and drumming to improve mindfulness. Shes not musically inclined and thus shies away from musical instruments but she learned it does not matter if you are good at it or not, sometimes you just have to let go of your perceptions and let reality take control. Darren Guest, a social work fellow, discovered the effectiveness of play therapy and various other techniques in his work at Centerstones crisis stabilization unit. I was exposed to so many different skills that I was unaware of, he said. I feel like I got so much out of this program. Every week was intense. Guest plans to return to his native Chicago or another urban community where he can assist people and work to end the stigma that so often goes with mental health issues. Multidisciplinary program The BHWET project involves numerous campus components. The project is housed in the Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development, which is under the direction of Kim Sanders and part of the SIU School of Medicine. Partners include the SIU Carbondale School of Social Work and the Rehabilitation Institute, home to the certified drug and alcohol counselor program. My students really appreciated this program, Jane Nichols, associate professor in the Rehabilitation Institute, said. Its created a bridge between rehabilitation counseling and social work and led to much sharing of ideas. She said its been beneficial for rehabilitation counseling students to learn more about the social work aspects of treatment and likewise helpful for social work students to learn more about substance abuse treatment and other aspects taught through rehabilitation counseling. The program provides a level of learning that is new and innovative, which keeps students engaged and working together with a multi-disciplinary approach, according to Saliwe Kawewe, director of the School of Social Work. Honored during special ceremony A special ceremony was held May 4 to honor the fellows for successfully completing the program. The day also featured a special presentation, Bipolar Disorder Unmasked: Living, Loving and Thriving with Mental Wellness, by national speaker Hakeem Rahim. Rahim, president and CEO of I am Acceptance Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the stigma of mental illness and empowering college students to take control of their mental health, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while in college. Rahim spoke to the fellows and praised the program, saying that being immersed in such intensive and specific training gives the fellows a much greater level of awareness, sensitivity and effectiveness that they can take into their work for the rest of their lives, benefitting countless clients. Theyve learned to look at the whys, not just at the behavior, Rahim said. Enhanced career opportunities Many of the fellows have already received job offers as a result of their fellowship, Meyer noted. That includes Dowdy, who has been hired as clinical coordinator of the Cornerstone crisis stabilization unit. Clients in crisis stay at the unit for 7-10 days and receive extensive treatment, including intensive group and individual counseling. Dowdy will oversee the unit, its scheduling, budget and staff. I feel the fellowship played a role in me obtaining this position, she said. I have gained a great deal of confidence through the fellowship, and having the ability to work closely with clinicians who have been in the field for many years as well as learning from their experiences is truly invaluable. Apply this summer for a fellowship for next year Plans call for increasing the number of participants in SIUs fellowship program each year of the grant. Meyer said they intend to choose 24 fellows for the 2018-2019 fellowship and increase that number by two each year thereafter. The percentages of social work and rehabilitation counseling students are fluid and will vary. We will look at each application and not specify the number from each program; well take the top applicants regardless of their program of study, Meyer said. An informational session will be held sometime in June and then applications accepted for 2-3 weeks thereafter. A committee of professionals involved in trauma treatment will carefully screen all applications and choose the next contingent of fellows. The next cohort of fellows will be selected in July and their program will run from September 2018 through May 2019. To learn more about the program, contact Meyer at gmeyer@siumed.edu. Class of 2018 included 21 participants This year, there were 21 program participants, including six students from rehabilitation counseling and 15 from social work. The 2018 Trauma Based Behavioral Health Fellowship recipients, along with their hometowns and majors, are: Sarah Bjorling, Carterville/Oneida, rehabilitation counseling. Chelsea Davis, Du Quoin/Clifton, rehabilitation counseling. Leslie Dowdy, Carterville, social work. Flor Eldridge, Mulkeytown, social work. Darren Guest, Carbondale/Chicago, social work. Marvina Halton, Cairo, rehabilitation counseling. Tiffinee Hamlin, Herrin/ Cheney, Wash., rehabilitation counseling. Natasha Hammonds, Benton, social work. Christopher Higdon, Carterville, social work. Amanda Johnson, Marion, social work. Vanessa Lawrence, Benton, social work. Emily Neace, Murphysboro, social work. Richard Overturf, Makanda, social work. Delaney Parker, Carbondale, social work. Crystal Shulda, Carterville, social work. Lauryn Staley, Marion, social work. Allyson Stephens, Carbondale, social work. David Vaccaro, Carbondale, social work. Frank Vahl, Bluford, rehabilitation counseling. Brent VanHam, Makanda/Kankakee, rehabilitation counseling. Morgan White, Marion, social work. Practical experience across a wide spectrum The students served their internships in a wide variety of settings, from schools to treatment programs, hospitals to counseling centers and more. Locations hosting SIU students for their field practicum and internship work this semester included: Tops in cyber league event -- Trenton Taylor, a senior from Marion who is in SIU Carbondales Information Systems Technologies program, won the spring 2018 National Cyber League individual competition. Taylor will graduate Saturday with a degree in information systems technologies. (Photo by Russell Bailey) Taylor wins individual title in nationwide security challenge by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Trenton Taylor, a senior in Southern Illinois University Carbondales Information Systems Technologies program, recently finished first in a nationwide security challenge. Taylor, who is from Marion, earned the No. 1 spot in individual competition in the spring 2018 National Cyber League (NCL), a capture-the-flag-style competition. Taylor competed against more than 3,300 registered college and high school students from across the nation. Trent has excelled at both offensive and defensive cybersecurity events while studying in the IST program at SIU, said Tom Imboden, an associate professor in information systems technologies. His dedication and commitment to help other students learn has shown to be invaluable as the SIU students participating in the National Cyber League team competitions did quite well. These skills will directly translate over the real world as our graduating seniors get ready to begin their careers. Security Dawgs do well in team event this spring In addition to Taylors success, two Security Dawgs teams also fared well in NCL spring competition. The Gold Team finished 15th overall and first in the silver bracket and the Alpha Team was 22nd overall and third in the silver bracket. In all, 250 teams participated in the event. Taylor began competing in NCL events in fall 2016 The national competition emphasizes many skills that reach far beyond just one major, Taylor said. The goal is to solve some type of puzzle, or find something specific and return the correct answer to the competitions interface. The skills required are diverse enough that competitors must step out of their own comfort zones, he said. The spring event was every other weekend in April after the Security Dawgs collegiate cyber defense competition wrapped up. While there was not as much time for dedicated team practice due to the collegiate competition, many team members worked hard to improve their individual skills with new challenges, Taylor said. Will graduate on Saturday Taylor, a 2011 graduate of Lincolnwood High School in Raymond, will earn his bachelors degree in information systems technologies on Saturday. He will start work in July with Cerner Corp., based in Kansas City, Missouri. Taylor became interested in SIU Carbondale because of the Security Dawgs. He worked with the team to help start a cybersecurity team at John A. Logan College and wanted to continue that relationship. He earned an associate degree in computer support network from John A. Logan in 2016. That is how Taylor met Imboden and Belle Woodward, an associate professor and faculty adviser for the registered student organization, and said he was excited to be in their classes when he arrived at SIU. It was cool finding such a nice program near me though, as its also nice to be able to live near enough to home that I could just drive there when I wanted, Taylor said. NCL organized in 2011 Daniel Manson, a professor in computer information systems at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, (Cal Poly Pomona), is on the NCL Board and league commissioner. NCL was created to provide a fun yet educational competition environment that would permit students to strengthen cybersecurity skills based on market-driven certification requirements, and provide personal assessments in the form of performance score cards called Scouting Reports that allow comparisons across cohorts and time, Manson said. The Teams Members of the two Security Dawg teams competing in NCL this spring, all of whom are information systems technologies majors, were: Gold Team ILLINOIS Havana: Kimberly Oest, sophomore. Marion: Trenton Taylor, senior. Mattoon: Mark Blume, senior. Oak Lawn: Jacob Kupres, junior. MISSOURI Imperial: Jesse Frawley, junior. Alpha Team ILLINOIS Benton: Steve Osborn, junior. Centralia: Ronald Quinn DeBernardi, senior. Springfield: Benjamin Hughes, junior. Wheaton: Mike McCarthy, junior. FLORIDA The Senate on Thursday issued a fresh summons to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to appear before it. This time , the IG is expected to explain what the Police are doing over the spates of killings in different parts of the country. The Senate made this known in a statement signed by the Chairman , Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sabi Abdullahi , which was shared via their official Twitter handle. Part of the statement reads , The Senate said the crux of the matter that informed the invitation is the ceaseless spate of killings across the country and that matters concerning the arrest of Senator Melaye has in fact been overtaken by events. We noted the response issued by one Jimoh Moshood on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris following yesterday s resolution of the legislative chamber on the continued refusal of the IGP to honour the invitation for him to come and explain what the police are doing to halt the spate of killings across the country. Let it be known that the IGP by trying to reduce the reason for his invitation by the Senate to the arrest of Sen . Dino Melaye is simply holding on to straw . The issue of Sen . Melaye s arrest has been overtaken by events. The courts are already handling the related cases . Our main concern is the security crisis across the country where people are being killed in scores on daily basis . The primary responsibility of the Police is maintenance of law and order as well as protection of lives and property. If there is a breach along the line of this responsibility , we do not see why the IGP should feel he cannot be invited to offer explanation to the arm of government which is constitutionally empowered to ask questions and investigate the breach . Home | News | General | Opinion: We can't ignore utterances that tend to worsen the situation - Analyst writes on Benue killings Editor's note: Philip Agbese, a student of international humanitarian law in London writes on the ongoing killings in Benue state. Agbese said certain policies or certain laws need to be reviewed to give everybody a sense of belonging which is also fundamental. Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai's comments, suggesting changes to certain policies and legislations as additional impetus for peace in the middle belt - Benue, Taraba, Nassarawa and some other neighbouring states, where farmers/herders' have differences, has metamorphosed into a complex crisis that claims lives every now and then struck my entire being like Moses rod that was used to cross the Red Sea . General Buratai, who spoke when he took journalists on a tour of Benue riverine areas bordering Nassarawa, being no politician, hit the nail on the head in a manner not previously achieved by anyone in his position. He made his points without compromising on the neutrality expected of his office as the COAS. In his words, "We are deploying more troops to cover the area, though, that place is part of a larger area, the three states combined together have common boundaries - Taraba, Nassarawa and Benue states. It is very important that we look at it and see how we can further reinforce the troops and then the mobility on water is also something that is very critical, which we are also looking into. READ ALSO: Former president Obasanjo's coalition finally collapses into ADC, vows to rescue Nigeria Already there is a planning committee on ground from Defence Headquarters that is working on this and there are a lot of boats that have been brought in for deployment on the waters, so they should rest assured that the place would further be safe for them to go back. I said earlier too that certain policies or certain laws need to be reviewed to give everybody a sense of belonging, I think that is very fundamental. If it is done it will help us a lot to ward off some of these insecurities. But one point is that there are so many intrusions of criminals on both sides - both on the side of the herders and on the side of the locals. We shouldnt give them that chance to cause disharmony," he stated. Had these words come from anyone else other than Buratai, no one would have wasted time paying attention to them, considering that a lot of the intervention made to date are driven by ethnic religious, political, geo-political and cultural leaning of those making such input. But Buratai as a man who is ready to lay down his life to end the killings in the country, was able to erase everyone's doubt about what needed to be done. The Army, under his command has not only deployed troops to the trouble spots as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, but has also taken the initiative to reinforce the number on tour to the area. READ ALSO: Our stand is that Boko Haram has been and remains defeated - Group tells UN Equipment have also been procured to address the loophole that the waterways constitute in the movement of those intending to do harm in the region. In making these bold moves, he has antecedence that confirm he is a Military Chief who is in tune with what needs to be done. First, when he became Chief of Army Staff, Boko Haram insurgents attempted to scare him by raiding his village and setting his fathers house and his personal house on fire in attacks that were meant to make him lose face and be intimidated at the same time. But he was in no way deterred at that time as he remains unbowed now that he is confronted with dealing with another crisis that requires walking a political tightrope to make impact. He went on and on to fight the Boko Haram insurgents until the country achieved the current level of peace - which may not be perfect but definitely an improvement on the period that the people in Abuja and states further south lived under siege of terrorists. Secondly, the same way he placed himself in the theatre of operations to dislodge Boko Haram, Buratai ensured that he visited the nooks and crannies of the states experiencing clashes between farmers and herdsmen; his convoy being ambushed by militias in Adamawa, was not enough for him to give up or hasten back to the comfort and safety of the capital where his desk is officially located. He lives in a way that confirms that his place is on the field of operation. More profound are the issues he has pointed out. The first being that, the ranks of farmers and herders have been infiltrated by criminals, merchants of deaths that have other plans up their sleeves other than tending crops or pasturing animals. Disagreements between the two camps traditionally would have led to seeking mediation and conciliatory compromises but the intrusion of criminals as noted by the COAS has led to bloodletting that requires urgent intervention. Part of such intervention must come from the stakeholders, who must, as sort of early warning system, alert military and security agencies, once they begin seeing unknown persons among them. READ ALSO: Just in: Tears as PDP chieftain Bode George loses 42-year-old son The other variable that falls to state and local authorities is the aspect of revisiting policies and state legislations that have sort of alienated or made some groups feel discriminated against. Revisiting these policies or laws in no way amounts to scrapping them but requires that the input of diverse groups are accommodated so that they can join in taking ownership of the law so agreed to. This will allow implementation in manners that do not lead to rancour. Digging deeper, even when these policies and legislations have been mutually agreed for implementation, the team put in place for their enforcement must operate in manners that conform with the expectations of a civilized age. State authorities must refrain from inaugurating militias in the name of local squads for enforcing anti-grazing legislations, since these are in no way different from the herdsmen militia - deserters from the Libyan crisis - hired to counter perceived victimization of herders. Offending herders should be arrested with their herds and not killed or have their livestock rustled under any guise. Not to be ignored is the imperative to avoid inflammatory utterances that tend to worsen the situation. The worry is that, such utterances come from key office holders in state government and socio-cultural groups, which tends to make the populace take them as fiats that must be implemented to the letter. A study would likely establish a connection between inflammatory remarks by leaders and spike in attacks on communities in their aftermaths. This is the reason that incendiary statements must be avoided in addition to the other prescriptions of the COAS. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Once contentious issues like these have been identified and thrashed out, it becomes easier to identify the criminal elements that are cashing in on the farmers/herders' crisis to cause mayhem. It is only then that military and security agencies would make steady progress in apprehending the criminals and treat them as prescribed by law. It is then that the troops and equipment deployment would yield results since energy would not be dissipated chasing the wrong lead. This perspective, which is no surprise coming from General Buratai, is commendable because what he has suggested holds the key to ending the bloodshed in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Nassarawa and any of the neighbouring states to which the crisis has spilled. Military may clamp down on militias, rustlers and others but dousing the crisis from source is the winning formula. When the crisis in these areas is conclusively addressed, resources would be freed for deployment to clean out whatever insurgency remains in the northeast and for once end the nuisance of Boko Haram. A further consequence is that, we can then, all focus on growing the economy, reducing poverty and evolving into a stronger nation. This is the wisdom of General Buratai and it is worth giving a dedicated try. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NAIJ.com. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.naij.com drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Naij.coms step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Twitter. Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Buhari, APC taking Nigerians for fools, says Obasanjo as CNM melds with ADC Alhaji Manni Ahmed, Perry Opara, Ralph Nwosu lead offensive Were not disappointed, opposition groupsll work together PDP Buhari, APC taking Nigerians for fools, says Obasanjo; thats his opinionAPC .Third force takes on ruling party By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Chris Ochayi, Daud Olatunji & Emeka Elebeke LAGOS Opposition to the All Progressives Congress, APC, got a fillip yesterday, when the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-inspired Coalition for Nigeria Movement, CNM, collapsed into the African Democratic Congress, ADC, with the aim of enthroning a new generation of leaders in the country. Obasanjo-Buhari This is as Obasanjo said President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, APC, had taken Nigerians for fools. The collapse of CNM came as its co-founder, Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola resigned his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. He also resigned his position as chairman of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, to boot. Oyinlola announced the development, while addressing newsmen in Abuja at a conference attended by Mr. Akin Oshuntokun, spokesman of the CNM and founder and national chairman of the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu. Speaking three hours later at a separate briefing in Abeokuta, Ogun State, former President Obasanjo said the collapse of CNM into the ADC was a way of reversing the fortunes of the country which he said had taken a turn for the worse in the last three years. Despite the snub to his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, President Obasanjo nevertheless toned down his disparagement of the former ruling party, asking Nigerians to consider the partys plea for forgiveness even as he said that the party has disappointed by not disciplining those who brought it to the path of infamy. The PDP, which had in the past encouraged all opposition groups to coalesce around it, said it was not disappointed by the rebuff. Party spokesman, Mr. Kola Olagbonndiyan told Vanguard that all opposition groups and parties will have to work together to remove the APC with the PDP providing the lead. Our position is that all opposition political parties will have to work together and any coalition or party that does not join ADC is bound to work with the PDP, the PDP National Publicity Secretary told Vanguard, yesterday. Besides Oyinlola, Oshuntokun, and Nwosu, others at the Abuja media briefing included National Chairman, United Democratic Party, UDP, Chief Perry Opara; National Chairman, National Unity Party, NUP, and former Presidential candidate of ADC in 2015 elections, Alhaji Manni Ahmed, among others. CNM was unveiled by President Obasanjo as a third force last January as a third option for the country in the face of what he described as the failure and incompetence of the ruling APC and the irreparable record of debauchery in the former ruling PDP. Oyinlola said the formal fusion was the first of a multi-layered approach to recover the country from the APC. Beyond what we are doing here today, we put our countrymen and women, old and young, on notice that they should expect more from us; that they should expect deepened political engagements across platforms in the coming days and weeks. In other words, this is just the first in a multi-layered action plan to give back the country to its much-deprived people. As we stated in January during the launch of CNM, we are taking on this task not minding the inconveniences and other expected and unexpected consequences of our efforts at reinventing the country. While I, on behalf of the leadership and the over three million members of CNM, congratulate ADC as the vehicle for national reinvention, I urge us to let us know that the task ahead is an arduous one that needs further strengthening of the forces of change. What I am saying is that we should be open to new engagements and alliances being forged and crystallizing across the country. The national chairman of ADC, Chief Nwosu described the fusion as the dawn of a great Nigeria project, leading with the right ethical compass. Nation-building could be a very daunting exercise. But with good and committed leaders, the journey could be much easier. I invite all Nigerians to have very deep reflection concerning our Nation Nigeria, and its l00 years of Nationhood, he said. While echoing the choice of ADC as the vehicle for change at the press conference in Abeokuta, Obasanjo, however, said his stance that he would not play partisan politics had not changed as he insisted that he would not be a member of the party. Obasanjo in his speech entitled: My treatise for future of democracy and development in Nigeria, first congratulated the three million Nigerians he said had come to identify with CNM since its advent last January in anger against the enthronement of mis-governance, poor performance, condonation of misconduct, incompetence, destabilising nepotism, cluelessness, denial and scapegoatism, lack of understanding of dynamics of internal politics. These fractures, he said, had led to greater disunity, inequity, injustice, senseless killings and destruction. With the emergence of ADC as a political party for the movement and its associates and in line with my clear position which I have often repeated, the first phase of my job is done, and I will not be a member of the party. But as I have always done since I quit partisan politics in 2014, I will keep alive and active on Nigerian and African issues and interests, and I will be open to offering advice to any individual or organisation for the unity, development, and progress of Nigeria and indeed of Africa. I will, of course, continue to exercise my right to freedom of speech where and when I consider necessary in the interest of Nigeria, Africa, and humanity. The second phase will involve galvanisation of all like-minded forces for the enthronement of a new order in Nigeria. In endorsing the ADC, he said: From the beginning, CNM is not a political party but a popular grassroots movement to stimulate the interest and participation of youth and women in particular in bringing about change in democratic dispensation, governance and development in Nigeria in such a way that power addicts will be forced to yield places for new entrants and participants in the power equation in the country. They will sanitise the system. With ADC, embracing the policy of 30 per cent youth of under 40 and 30 per cent women in all organs of the party, a significant paradigm shift has been brought about in the power equation. ADC is a reformed and reinvigorated party; it will embrace all the features and policies which make CNM attractive and a source of hope and inspiration to millions at home and abroad. On ADC In giving his testimonial of ADC and rejection of the APC and PDP, Obasanjo said: In name, it is relatively old, but in establishment, organisation, membership, policies, programmes, orientation and focus, it is new. If this is not understood, accepted by all and made the foundation and pillar of the political party, it will be starting on a very shaky foundation, and it will soon fall. I will advise others to join this political party platform to usher in a new dawn for Nigeria, but I may not be able to advise anybody to join PDP or APC no matter what window-dressing reformation they may claim. Although PDP would seem to have realised its mistakes of its immediate past of the last eight years or so, its present evolution would, by itself, not give confidence to well-meaning Nigerians who are interested in a new Nigeria in the hands of God that will have leadership, governance, development and values within our culture as its guiding principles with the attributes of honesty, integrity, patriotism, love, unity, industry, incorruptibility, good neighbourliness, faithfulness, trust, courage and love and fear of God held aloft. PDPs apology PDP offered apology without disciplining those who set Nigeria on a course of ruin, and some of them are still holding leadership roles in their party. Nigerians may forgive, but Nigerians should never forget; otherwise, they will be suffering from amnesia, and the same ugliness may raise its head again. APC, as a political party, is still gloating and reveling in its unrepentant mis-governance of Nigeria and taking Nigerians for fools. There is neither remorse nor appreciation of what they are doing wrong. It is all arrant arrogance and insult upon injury for Nigerians. Whatever the leadership may personally claim, most Nigerians know that they, Nigerians, are poorer today than when APC came in, and Nigeria is more impoverished with our foreign loan jumping from $3.6 billion to over $18 billion to be paid by the present and future generations of Nigerians. The country is more divided than ever before because the leadership is playing the ethnic and religious game which is very unfortunate. And the country is more insecure and unsafe for everybody. It is a political party with two classes of membership. Before I leave this point, it is pertinent to make the point that PDP and APC are not actually made of men and women who are totally evil. There are sprinkles of good men and women out there and among them. But as political parties and the government they led or they are leading in the last 11 years, they have failed, and failure should neither be hoisted for embracement nor reinforced. What must be done is to take what is best from all to come together on a new alliance platform that will take us to the promised land. There must be basic and fundamental ground for change and for people to change. What is not desirable is to take the leprous hand of either PDP or APC as the instrument to clean Nigeria up. The clean fingers in either of them can and must be grafted to the clean hands of new entrants and participants to move up and move on, and that is what I understand the reinvigorated party platform is all about change, new order, and progress. Nigerians must keep their eyes wide open, their ears quite attentive, their minds very clear, their hands very clean and must not remain dumb in the face of atrocities and impunities of the governors against the governed. Those who govern us at all levels must be made to realise that it is our collective rights and sovereignty that they hold in trust for us and to be used for the good of all of us and with all of us having interest and having a stake in how we are governed. It is our God-given right, and we must not allow the abuse of it. In the past, we have laid back, and we have been taken for a ride. How did we allow Nigeria to be run by K34 without a murmur? Of course, that was followed by the running of Nigeria by Ijaw nation with four women and now by kith and kin and we are still jubilant in the face of atrocities, insecurity, disasters, and degradation politically, economically and socially. When I was in school, tolerating what we have tolerated in the past twelve years with our tails within our legs like frightened dogs, we would be asking if we are collectively mesmerised and we needed to go to Aro for mental or psychological examination. Internal democracy Obasanjo also called for a review of internal party democracy which he said had become very fraudulent given the last PDP presidential primaries where delegates got between $10,000 and $15,000 each. He said the APC had not shown any better example as he called for the institution of direct primaries for choosing party candidates. The greatest lacuna in political party administration in Nigeria since the present dispensation is the ownership of the political party through regular contribution of the members of the party for the upkeep of the party. Worse still is what PDP has now accepted as part of its failure and disappointment of the nation which is looting government treasury to finance individual and party elections. Unfortunately, APC has followed suit. To curb corruption, primary elections should cease to be by delegates but by all card-carrying and financial members of the party within their constituencies. This will save lives as many people have died by being shepherded to a central location as delegates to vote at primaries. It also introduced corruption into the system. At one of the PDP primaries within the last eight years, one candidate distributed $10,000 per delegate, the one who distributed $15,000 per delegate won the primary. It was not necessarily on merit, but certainly, dollar talked. I was shocked when an insider in the PDP told me that the amount of money the party used for 2015 elections would be in the neighbourhood of $3 billion. It was all directly or indirectly from the government treasury. The change we expect to be forthcoming, realistic and effective, will have to come from all of us citizens, political parties, executive, legislature, judiciary and electoral organisations. We must stop the blame game and must all realise that Nigeria will be as good as we all make it to be- a good, effective, efficient, performing, equitable, fair, just, peaceful, secure, prosperous, united, wholesome and God-fearing country. I stand on the platform that change is possible and human beings are agents of change, and we have seen that in our country both for good and for ill. I remain positive and optimistic. If we believe we can, we will. The former president also called for the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs whose affairs he said had become an infamous charade. APC reacts Spokesman of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in his reaction to the assertion that the APC was fooling Nigerians said: It is not the first time that President Obasanjo will be saying things in that direction and as an elder statesman he is entitled to his opinion, but even as a statesman not every Nigerian will agree with him. On Oyinlolas exit from the APC, he said: It is within any bodys right to decide as to which political party he will associate with even though as a body we are not happy losing him or anybody. Oyinlola resigns Meanwhile Oyinlola, yesterday resigned his membership of both the APC and as chairman of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC the body responsible for issuing the national identity card to Nigerians. Oyinlola, in his letter of resignation from the board of NIMC addressed to President Buhari said the decision was to enable him chart a new course outside the APC and avoid conflict of interest. He said: Sir, I write to resign my appointment as the chairman of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) with effect from today, 9th May, 2018. Your Excellency, I must put on record my very deep sense of appreciation for the special privilege and consideration you gave me to serve our fatherland in that capacity. As I stated in my appreciation letter to you shortly after the appointment, the offer was a clear call to service. I gave the job the dedication it deserved and would have loved to continue but I regret to inform Your Excellency that I have a new, greater political engagement that will make that difficult and even impolitic. Sir, as one of my bosses in the army, I believe you would understand my stand given recent political developments. The training I got as a decorated officer and gentleman precluded me from engaging in any act that could amount to disloyalty and conflict of interest. I am moving on to chart a new course in my politics outside the ruling party and this thus, demands my dropping the NIMC chairmanship CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | 5 return policies you should know when shopping online Customers will always remain kings & queens. Successful businesses today are those that are customer-focused. Having utter disregard for customers preference, such as cancelling Payment on Delivery and compelling customers to pay before an item is delivered, or subtly restricting the customers when it is time to return an item wont position a business as customer-centric. The process of ordering a product online has become seamless. You can simply visit the number one & trusted eCommerce store, order your desired product (s) and it will be delivered to your doorstep in 3 to 12 business days within Nigeria. All things being equal, the delivery should be smooth without any hassle and both parties should be happy. Often, however, there are circumstances that could compel a customer or buyer to return a product probably due to a defect or the wrong product being delivered. Or sometimes, the customer just doesnt want the product anymore, for no specific reason. The process of returning an item purchased online and refunding the customer shouldnt be as cumbersome as some eCommerce companies deliberately make it to be. Your trusted online store Jumia Nigeria shares 5 return policies that online shoppers should know. You Can Return An Item(s) For No Specific Reasons Although, there are a number of reasons for returning a product: product is wrong, damaged, defective or fake. Or perhaps, you decided you no longer want the item/product (this reason doesnt apply to Jumia Global items but applies to fashion items only such as underwears, adult toys, perfumes, cosmetics, hair extensions and jewellery). However, if at the point of delivery you no longer want an item, ensure all seals, tags and accessories are left intact. The delivery agent or the pickup centre will assist you in returning the product at no cost to you. Zero Charges on Returned Items It will cost you nothing to return a product regardless of the reasons that prompted the return. Jumia will cover the cost. So, as a customer, you do not pay a dime for returning an item. This said it is key to take note of the factors conditioning a return. 100% Refund on Cost of Purchase & Shipping This is mainly for customers who prepaid for their items. In any case, they return a product, they will get their money back. There will be no deductions. Importantly, the refund time starts from the day the item you would like to return is picked up by a delivery agent to the day the refund process is completed. The refund timeline for Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Abeokuta and all other cities is 10 business days. Items Can Be Returned Within 7 Days After Purchase If you noticed that your item was defective, you should initiate a return within 7 days after purchase. You do this by completing the contact form on Jumia website. Any return process that starts after 7 days will not be treated. But if it is faulty, it may be covered under warranty. Refund Pickup Timelines The return pick up time starts from the day you make a request to return an item to the day a delivery agent retrieves the item you plan to return. Also, only two pickup attempts will be made to retrieve the item within 1 to 3 business days in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Abeokuta and all other cities. These timelines also apply if you are dropping your returns at a pick-up station. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | SDP Primary: Ex-Ekiti Deputy Gov boycotts, wants poll annulled By Rotimi Ojomoyela ADO-EKITI Crisis is now brewing in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as former Deputy Governor, Mr. Bisi Omoyeni has indicated his intention to boycott the partys governorship primary election holding today (Thursday) over allegations of fraud and manipulations by party top hierarchy. The former Deputy governor alleged the State Working Committee of deregistering his supporters in all the 16 local government areas. Omoyeni, former Group Managing Director of the Wema Bank PLC, and Deputy Governor to Governor Ayodele Fayose during his first term in office, defected to the party from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, since 2017, after Fayose adopted his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola as the sole candidate of the party. At a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, Omoyeni and the Director General of his campaign organization, Engr Ayo Adekola, called for the postponement of the exercise in the spirit of fairness, justice and equity. He said: As I speak to you, many of my supporters in Ikere Ekiti and other councils were being denied access to the register and this was on the day of the primary. It is sad that my supporters have been systematically deregistered and excluded . Every aspirant must have access to the register. Even Ikere, my town has no register as we speak, the person they gave it to did not allow us access. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Trust Buhari to deliver on promises made- Adeosun Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has urged Nigerians not to lose hope just yet in the Buhari led administration. Buhari and Kemi Adeosun Adeosun who hosted executive directors from the World Bank on Thursday said this via her twitter handle @HMKemiAdeosun She wrote: In the last two years weve made remarkable progress in our Ease of Doing Business Reforms, invested significantly more in infrastructure, and been able to grow Nigerias taxpayer base from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million as at today. Nigerians should trust the @MBuhari Administration to deliver on its promises of improving the economy and providing sustainable infrastructure development. All around the country we have rail, power and road projects ongoing, creating jobs, and improving citizens lives. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | 2019: Ijaw women root for Okowa Ijaw women under the aegis of Ijaw Women Support Group for Okowa, IWSGO have vowed to return Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, governor Delta State, to Government House, Asaba, in 2019. Okowa Convener of the group, Deacon Arede Edeinmene, Executive Assistant to the Governor on Political Matters, who disclosed this after the groups meeting in Warri,Delta State, asserted that Okowa had won the hearts of Ijaw women. Edeinmene, who was flanked by Chief Josephine Abeki, Chairperson of the group, Chief Vero Bamuza-Mutu, Mother of the group and Mother of Ijaw nation, as well as Mrs. Ebikefe Bello Secretary of IWSGO, described Okowas antecedents like development and empowerment as colossal in the history of the state. He stated that the group in its next meeting would meet with community women leaders across the Ijaw speaking local government areas in the state to sensitize and mobilize them to speak and preach the gospel of Okowa in their communities. Edeinmene further noted that ,the group will be saddled with the responsibilities ensuring that every Ijaw Woman and youths carried out its franchise in next general election by registering in the ongoing voters registration exercise. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | IBB condoles family of late Isyaku Rabiu By Wole Mosadomi MinnaFormer Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd) has said he received the death of Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu with shock. In a statement,Thursday, he said he had a close relationship with the deceased for many years before his demise but that he takes solace in the fact that we all came from Allah and to Him we shall all return. He said: At the age of 93, we can all say that he left at a ripe age, but we will continue to miss him and his contributions to the growth of the economy of Nigeria and that of the Northern Nigeria in particular. I can attest to the fact that late Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu lived a religious life in line with the dictates of the Islamic injunctions and has been an inspirational guide to me and my late wife, Maryam, and the entire family and we enjoyed good relationship. Even during the glowing moment of my military career and leadership of the country, we shared issues that helped to reshape the country for good. We will continue to remember him for his patriotism and quest for peace and unity of Nigeria as he undertook various philanthropic ventures and spiritual guidance not only in Nigeria but also in Africa and the world. I, therefore, use this medium to extend my condolences to the families of late Khalifa as well as government and people of Kano State and the entire Tijjaniyya Movement worldwide for this great loss. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Saraki takes unprecedented step; begins sponsoring Christian, Muslim pilgrimages - Senate President Bukola Saraki has set up a committee to coordinate his sponsorship of Christian and Muslim pilgrimages - Saraki said he had taken up the task as the government was no longer able to handle the responsibility of sponsoring Muslims and Christians on pilgrimages - The Kwara state CAN secretary who is a member of the committee, described the initiative as unprecedented A 10-man committee on Muslim and Christian pilgrimages has been inaugurated by Senate President Bukola Saraki, Tribune reports. The committee is charged with coordinating sponsorship of pilgrimages by the Senate president, and will be headed by a former Grand Khadi of Kwara state, Justice Idris Haroon. It also has as its member, the secretary of the states chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Cornelius Fawenu. READ ALSO: 2019: Only someone from the moon can match Buharis integrity - Masari to PDP NAIJ.com gathers that while making remarks during the committees inauguration, the Senate president said the government could no longer handle the responsibility of sponsoring Muslims and Christians on pilgrimages; hence, he had decided to take up the challenge. He said: Any good leader must, at all times, listen to the yearnings of his people. We have our Muslim and Christian brothers desirous of observing the pilgrimages, but could not afford the cost. We will help such people with a forum through which they can realise their dreams. We may not be able to do it like the government which used to sponsor about 400 when I was governor of Kwara state, but we will start with 100. The coming Umrah (lesser hajj) shall be the starting point. In his response, Justice Haroon thanked Saraki for what he had been able to achieve in Kwara and the entire country. He also expressed thanks to Allah for preserving the life of the Senate president. Praising Saraki for the initiative, the chairman noted: This which you have initiated as a true Muslim, is the first of its kind in this state and Nigeria. He gave the assurance that the members of the committee will work assiduously to meet the aspirations of the people. He said: We will do our job with fear of God and ensure that only pious people are selected for the exercise. Rev Fawenu, the CAN secretary, described the initiative as unprecedented. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Senate president, Bukola Saraki, met with a group of northern leaders, under the auspices of the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly on Wednesday, May 9, in Abuja, behind closed doors. The elders discussed the position of northerners in the countrys politics; noting that Nigerians were losing faith in their ability to manage the country. Saraki, on his part, urged the elders to join hands to find a solution to the killings in the country. What is working well and what needs improvement in Nigeria? - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General "I want to encourage all of you to continue this dream you are starting because manufacturing isn't just about the talent or technical side of what you learn, there is a skill and an art to it. You are all artists - embrace that, grow into that and see where it can take you," TMA Chairman, Todd Beauchamp, said in front of the competitors, parents and instructors. "There are a lot of companies here that are looking for you and can utilize your craft." SCHAUMBURG, IL - The Technology & Manufacturing Association (TMA) held its 27th annual Precision Machining Competition Thursday night at Mazak Corporation's Midwest Technology Center where hundreds of precision machining projects made by Chicago area high school students were on display. Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, TMA Leadership, parents, instructors and company representatives were in attendance as students learned how their work rated in comparison to their peers and explored possible job opportunities with area manufacturers. Manufacturers are eager to find talented young people interested in careers in an industry that is receiving newfound attention. This year's TMA competition drew the interest of a record-high 20 area high schools with nearly 300 machining projects, up from just 71 five years ago. 243 students participated and were honored at this year's competition. Lt Gov Evelyn Sanguinetti with TMA President Steve Rauschenberger "Governor Bruce Rauner and I wanted to tell you how important it is what you folks are doing today. Manufacturing is one of the largest industries we have here in Illinois," said Lt. Governor Sanguinetti as she spoke to everyone in attendance. "Manufacturing is incredibly technical, a great environment to work in, the salaries are amazing, and jobs are available. I'm so thankful all of you are here thinking outside of the box, and thinking of the opportunities manufacturing provides." Area manufacturers volunteered their professional technicians to judge the submissions. 52 different winners were awarded for their excellent work in machining projects such as CAD design, drill press vices, hack saw, fixture box, offset v-block, CNC turning, CNC milling and CNC programming. Out of the 52 winners, six received perfect scores. High schools that participated in this year's competition include: Cary Grove, Glenbard East, Hampshire, Harvard, Homewood-Flossmoor, Jefferson, Lake Park, Leyden East, Leyden West, McHenry East, McHenry West, Palatine, Elk Grove, Rich East, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, South Elgin, Streamwood, Wheeling, and Woodstock. Home | News | General | Osinbajo wades into Imo APC crisis By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJAVICE President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday held closed-door meeting with Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and some political stalwarts in the state over the recent ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in which the governor lost out and blamed it on funny politics. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, The meeting started first between Osinbajo and the political stakeholders led by Okorochas estranged Deputy, Prince Madumere and included Senators Ifeanyi Ararume and Osita Izunaso, Benjamin Umajumogu, among others. An hour later, Okorocha joined the meeting at the Vice-Presidents office. He was accompanied by his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, who he had endorsed as his APC governorship candidate in the gubernatorial election coming up next year. Ironically, among the persons he had bragged he would never hand over to in the next years elections were people that had upper hands in the ward congresses. Recall that Governor Okorocha, who is the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, on Sunday, a day after the controversial ward congresses in the state rushed to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State alongside Chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum and governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari to complain about his disappointment with those mandated to conduct the congress. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | FG seeks land to complete 1000 housing units in Kwara By Demola Akinyemi THE Federal Government has appealed to Kwara State government to provide land to enable it complete the second phase of the 1000 housing units designed for the state. Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State This is even as it summoned the contractor handling Michael Imoudu Way, Ilorin to Abuja to explain the delay over the completion of the road project. Minster of State for Power, Works, and Housing, Suleiman Hassan, said this in Ilorin during a courtesy call on Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in his office after the inspection tour of Federal Government projects in North Central geo-political zone of the country. He inspected Kabba road, Ilorin road, Offa bye-pass and Ajaseipo-Offa road among others, which he expressed satisfaction except the one opposite Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, MINILS, along Ajaseipo Road, Ilorin for which he summoned the contractor to Abuja. His words: We have cluster of houses in Kwara, about 1000 housing units, and we are almost through with the compensation. We are moving to the second phase and we are appealing to the Kwara State government to provide land to enable us complete them in good time. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Alaafin of Oyos Queen Memunat is totally adorable in new birthday photos with her twin girls Olori Memunat Omowunmi Adeyemi is one of the youngest of the multiple wives of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III. Just recently she clocked a new age and celebrated in style. Olori Memunat recently welcomed twin baby girls and it appears her joy has been doubled as she clocked a new age on May 11 and marked the special day in style. The proud mother decided to pose with her babies and the adorable photos are everything and more. The queen changed into multiple dresses and attires to reflect her true identity as a queen and beautiful birthday girl. life is all about celebration and having lived another year on earth, it is admirable to see anyone celebrate it with style and elegance. Olori Memunat also revealed there will be a party to mark the special day in the palace and rejoiced in knowing she had friends and family alive to share in her joy and achievements. READ ALSO: Davido buys private jet worth over N9bn, shows off the documents Here are some of the adorable photos: READ ALSO: Banky W assures wife Adesua Etomi, says he likes her small 'chest' Happy birthday Olori. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app What do you think will happen if women rule the world? (Nigerian Street Interview) on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General The year was 1478, and the Catholic Rulers Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain appointed the Board of Inquisition, headed by the Grand Inquisitor, to seek out and prosecute heresy, which as defined by the Church, was any deviation from Catholic dogma. Imagine a world where a special prosecutor was appointed and given authority higher than any official or appointee had heretofore been granted. Imagine there were no bounds to his inquiries, and he made use of torture to extract confessions, but more importantly, to extract accusations against others, who were then prosecuted. There was no time limit imposed on the inquiry, only results. The Spanish Inquisition lasted 300 years and resulted in the prosecution of over 150,000 individuals and the execution of up to 5000 individuals. Among its victims were Spanish Jews and Muslims, who, at the time, were either compelled to convert or leave the country. Significant is that all these proceedings were conducted in utmost secrecy, that is, apart from the public executions. In condescension to selected moral principles, inquisitors were only authorized to use bloodless methods of torture, including what is now known as water boarding. There were many imitations of the Inquisition to follow, including the Star Chamber of King Henry VIII in the 16th century to prosecute those resisting his English Reformation and the one by Prince Metternick in Austria against enemies of the state in 18th century Austria. In the archives of history, the Inquisition list is long and chilling. Fast forward to 2016, when Robert Mueller is appointed special counsel by the highest acting official in the Justice Department to prosecute an investigation for possible Russian interference in the election, in a manner said to have benefited then candidate Donald Trump. This investigation proceeds against nearly everyone associated with the Trump campaign, resulting in charges from actions totally unrelated to the stated purpose of the investigation. While allegedly justified under the application of law, these prosecutions are no less than bloodless" torture to coerce testimony against President Trump and others. Besides the stigma of criminal charges and possible imprisonment, the cost of defending oneself in federal court is staggering to bring ruin on the family as well. This was elegantly expressed by the federal judge T. S. Ellis, hearing Muellers case against Paul Manafort. In the case of General Flynn, there was a threat to prosecute his son, which likely prompted Flynn to plead guilty to lying to the FBI (even though the FBI made no such allegations). There is even a veiled threat to investigate Trumps children, who run successful businesses of their own. As sitting President, Trump is virtually unassailable with criminal prosecution under Article 2 of the Constitution. (President Clinton was brought to court under civil litigation.) Exactly what is the authority of Robert Mueller? That is a secret, a top secret according to the cabal supporting this investigation. When does it end? No one can say, because that is not defined other than to get Trump" and remove him from office by any means possible. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who joined Trump's legal team about three weeks ago, had as his stated goal of wrapping up the Mueller investigation in a week or two. This is not to be, as on Monday, May 7, 2018 Giuiliani told CBS News correspondent Paula Reid Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller's office has rejected proposals to allow Mr. Trump to answer questions from investigators in writing. This was the president's legal team preferred way for a possible interview to protect Mr. Trump from the possibility of lying or misleading investigators, which is a criminal offense. Former Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), when appearing on MSNBC on Tuesday, May 8, told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle that the Mueller investigation needs to put up or shut up on results. The Russia thing in the minds of the American people and the Congress is starting to get old. Pretty soon, [Special Counsel Robert] Muellers going to have to put up or shut up." But what are the odds of the Mueller investigation ending soon? Derangement and hatred exists with the Democrat base, among Democrat leaders, with the so-called Deep Bureaucratic State, and even crosses over to renegade "Never Trump" Republicans. This hatred is exacerbated by a progressive media that has become an arm of the Democratic Party. Telling is that about 90% of media coverage of Trump was negative in the last quarter, January through April. A new CBS News poll finds that most Americans now believe the investigation is politically motivated The poll found that 53 percent of Americans think Muellers investigation is politically motivated, while 44 percent think it is justified. As an outsider Trump was able to defeat the establishment. What was perceived as given, that Hillary would win, would have permitted the deep state to continue unchallenged. Furthermore, all the corruption that permeated the Obama administration would have forever remained hidden from the American people. Hopefully the Mueller investigation will soon collapse on its own accord, and may justice also be served to expose a corrupt justice system at the very top that is attempting to destroy the Trump presidency (this signifies treasonous activity), while it protects those who were guilty of criminal misdeeds in the Obama administration. Ironically, practically everything Trump has been accused of by his enemies have proven to be done by those same naysayers. If you want to know what the Democrats are up to, just listen to what they accuse Trump of doing, including collusion with the Russians, appealing to identity groups (in Trumps case, middle America), and abuse of women. Home | News | General | Israel pledges to strengthen bilateral relationship with Nigeria - Israel has pledged to continue to show support to Nigeria and strengthen its bilateral relations with Nigeria - Guy Feldman, Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, made this known in an during the Israeli National Day celebration at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja - The envoy who spoke on the existing relations between Nigeria and Israel, called for more collaboration in agriculture with better irrigation techniques Israel has pledged to continue to show support to Nigeria and strengthen its bilateral relationship with Nigeria. Guy Feldman, Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, made this known in an interview during the Israeli National Day celebration at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Thursday, May 19. The envoy who spoke on the existing relations between Nigeria and Israel, called for more collaboration in agriculture with better irrigation techniques, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. He said: Some parts of Nigeria have similar arid land features as Israel therefore, Israel and Nigeria have a lot to share in terms water management. READ ALSO: 8 killed as bandits exchange gunfire with soldiers in Zamfara Israel is 60 per cent desert, but with high technology, it is today pumping over 80 per cent of its waste water back to the sea, while losing only two per cent of water. These practices are being taught to Nigerians to help those in areas with arid land to improve their agriculture with better irrigation practices. Israel is determined and willing to help Nigeria attain economic development and we are achieving that by training Nigerian professionals and sharing our vast knowledge in important segments that will help Nigeria further develop. There are many Israeli company managers and operators in Nigeria who are focused on helping Nigerians to improve the performance of agriculture, water management and security within the country. Dean of diplomatic corp and high commissioner to Nigeria, Salaheddine Ibrahima said it was nice to have countries come together to support other countries celebrate their growth. Ibrahima said: It is nice to see that we are supportive of each other and that we see the need to celebrate our countries as a way to improve our relationships. We are happy for Israel and wish them much more growth and success in the years ahead. Israel and Nigeria established diplomatic relations in 1960. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Israel played a significant role in the development of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. Hundreds of Israeli experts and volunteers were sent to help in the development and modernization of agriculture, education, medicine and technology training, and hundreds of Nigerian farmers, experts, educators, academicians, students, doctors, community workers and engineers were trained in Israel. After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Nigeria severed diplomatic ties with Israel. Diplomatic relations were restored in September 1992. Since April 1993, Israel has maintained an embassy in Abuja and Nigeria has an embassy in Tel Aviv. Over fifty Israeli companies operate in Nigeria in the spheres of construction, infrastructure, hi-tech, communications and IT, agriculture and water management. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app In turn, there are over 5,000 Nigerian companies and organizations that operate in Israel. Trade and commerce are promoted by the Israeli Export and International Cooperation Institute, the Nigerian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce (NICC) and the Israel-Africa Chamber of Commerce. In 2006, a Nigerian-Israeli Business Forum was inaugurated in Abuja. That year, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which Israel and Nigeria agreed to consult on issues of bilateral relations and other regional and international issues of mutual interest. The first round of consultations took place in Jerusalem in November 2006.[4] In 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan became the first Nigerian President to visit the State of Israel. He had gone on a pilgrimage and signed bilateral air service agreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that an audit report said Nigerian embassy in Israel mismanaged funds totalling $493, 111 and another N331 million (N331,461,392) of the total revenue generated and received between 2013 and 2015. The annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation for the year ended 2015, said the embassy could not account for the funds in its records submitted for review. Sheikh attire on Sallah day According to the latest report from the Auditor General, a total sum of $858,704 (3,091,337 Shekels) was reportedly generated as revenue in respect of visas and administrative charges in the period under review, but only $365, 593 was remitted into the designated account. Buhari is the General Overseer of corruption - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Lady becomes the second Nigerian to be elected as one of the youngest Councillors in the United Kingdom at 22 - A young Nigerian lady has become one of the youngest Councillors in the United Kingdom - The lady was elected as a Councilor representing the residents of Heaton Ward, Harold Hill - She is the second 22-year-old Nigerian to become a young Councilor in the United Kingdom NAIJ.com had earlier reported that a 22-year-old lady identified as Elizabeth Bright was elected as Councillor representing Eastbrook ward in Dagenham, United Kingdom. It is seems like Nigerians in the United Kingdom are ready to continue making history. Another 22-year-old identified as Ramota Lawal has announced that she was elected as a Councillor representing the residents of Heaton Ward, Harold Hill. Lawal who ran on the platform of the United Kingdom Labour Party won the election with 1050 votes. The excited 22-year-old who took to Twitter to announce her win, stated that she won the election around 5:00am on Friday, May 4. Lady becomes the second 22-year-old Nigerian to be elected as a Councillor in UK Photo source: Twitter user Ramota Lawal READ ALSO: Nigerian lady becomes a renowned artist with her works adorning notable museums (photos) She is one of the youngest Councillors in UK According to Lawal, she won her first political election. The lady has proudly joined the list of young politicians in the United Kingdom. She also expressed that she is honoured to be part of the youngest members of the Labour Party Councillor. She said: "Yesterday at approx. 5:00 am, at the young age of 22 I won my first political election. I am honoured to now be the youngest @uklabour party Councillor on the London Bourough of Havering council - representing residents in Heaton Ward, Harold Hill." PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on NAIJ.com News Top 4 Most Influential Nigerians in the World: Nigerians in Top Positions on - NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Get the hottest gist on Naija Uncensored Facebook Group Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Buhari commiserates with Christian community over the death of CAN general secretary - President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the Christian community on the death of the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Musa Asake - Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, also condoled with the family of late Kano businessman, philanthropist and Islamic Cleric, Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu - Osinbajo noted that the late Islamic Cleric made significant contributions to the economy, and lives of many Nigerians with his generosity President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, May 11, expressed condolences over the passing away of the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev (Dr) Musa Asake. The president in a statement issued by special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina in Abuja said, while the president commiserated with the family of the late reverend, he prayed that God Almighty will comfort all those who mourn the departed and grant his soul eternal rest. Read the statement below: "President Muhammadu Buhari joins the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Christian community in Nigeria in mourning the passing of the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev (Dr) Musa Asake. READ ALSO: Buhari on his way back to Nigeria (photos) The president, while commiserating with the family of the late Reverend, prays that God Almighty will comfort all those who mourn the departed, and grant his soul eternal rest." In a related development Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, commiserated with the family of the late Kano businessman, philanthropist and Islamic Cleric, Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu, who passed away on Tuesday, May 8, at the age of 93. Osinbajo, who was in Kano on Friday, May 11, to pay a condolence visit to the family of the late cleric, described him as a true son of Kano State and a true son of Nigeria, who throughout his lifetime made significant contributions to the entire country, a contribution that was not only economic, a contribution to the lives of so many, so many, hundreds of thousands benefited from his generosity, benefited from his kindness. Below are the remarks of the Vice President. I am here on a very sad mission to commiserate with my brothers, the Rabiu brothers, on the passage of our brother, Sheikh Khalifa Rabiu, a true son of Kano State and a true son of Nigeria, who throughout his lifetime made significant contributions to the entire country; a contribution that was not only economic, a contribution to the lives of so many, hundreds of thousands benefited from his generosity and from his kindness. I met him the last time when I was here to pay condolence visit to the family of Alhaji Maitama Sule. He was there and he spoke very well and I was much impressed by the fact that, at his age, he was still so alert. But we thank God Almighty for preserving his life for so long, for ensuring that in his lifetime he did not deviate. He lived his live well, he served the people of Kano; he served the people of Nigeria. And all through his life, he remained an example of the kind of people we should expect in the position of leadership: integrity, honesty. It's so important to be able to find people like him who say, This is what I stand for and you can be sure that is what he stands for. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app So I am so honoured to be able to celebrate him today, and at the same time comfort my brothers, the members of the family who have lost a dear one. Im here to say that this is not only a loss to you; he is a loss to Kano State, a loss to Nigeria and, indeed, a loss to the world. His life will remain for us who are left behind a source of history and a landmark. I pray that we remain in the very high standard, a very high value, that he left behind. NAIJ.com previously reported that the general secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Musa Asake, has died in Abuja after a brief illness. His brother and former member of the House of Representatives, Jonathan Asake, told the Punch newspaper that the Musa died on Friday, morning, May 11. Yes, he died this morning, we are right now in the mortuary. I was with him yesterday (Thursday) in his house, he stated. Nigerian herdsmen vs Nigerian farmers on NAIJ.com TV. [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Delay in 2018 budget passage will have some impact on Nigeria - Adeosun The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said the delay in passage of the 2018 budget would have some impact on the nation and cause some adjustments in implementation. She said this during a news conference on Friday in Abuja, adding that the impact was because markets change and the cost of money in the market changes too. Adeosun, however, said that the federal government would try to mitigate the effects of the delay. Honestly, we may need to realign some of the priorities now because what we thought we would be doing in January is now different from what we are going to do. So, we are going to have to look very closely to see where we would realign and re-prioritise, but we will carry on because most of the capital projects are multiyear projects so we will just continue. We are going to try and mitigate that impact as much as possible and focus on completing projects. READ ALSO: CAN general secretary Musa Asake dies in Abuja The minister said the fact that the 2017 budget cycle began late in the year had helped a great deal. What has helped us is the fact that the budget was passed late last year, and what we did was we just carried on with those projects, we will close this years budget with capital expenses in excess of N1.5 trillion which is higher than last year. Many of these projects are multiyear projects, so hopefully, there will not be too much disruptions. Adeosun said that the financial systems were not closed on Dec. 31, 2017 to allow for projects implementation to continue. She, however, said she was optimistic that the 2018 budget would be passed soon. On tax, she said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and other tax authorities were doing a lot on enforcement of payment. She said that the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), had helped in increasing the number of taxpayers captured in the tax base of the nation. She said that the federal government recovered N13.8 billion from taxes through whistle blowers who gave useful tips about companies that deliberately underpaid their taxes. That is different for us because most of the whistle blowing in the past have been about stolen money, but with the extension of VAIDS and our general narrative about tax, we are getting far more tips on tax evasion. She added that the 14 whistleblowers would be paid N439, 276 million in May. According to her, cases are being prepared for prosecution for companies and individuals who refused to use the VAIDS window to remit their taxes once it closes on June 30. Adeosun said that the Federal Government also sent out teams to visit some of its foreign missions to verify assets, adding that more than 108 landed properties were identified in various countries. She said the properties do not necessarily belong to some of its foreign missions but that some of its agencies had some unrecorded properties abroad. Some have been abandoned and some are even in the process of being sold off but we have been able to stop them and we are going to revise procedures in that regard, she said. The minister also commented on the recent stalemate in revenue generation between the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app She said that it was not healthy for the process as it showed the level of scrutiny by all parties concerned to ensure that the nation got the right revenue figures. Adeosun also said the federal government would not allow revenue leakages anymore, adding that it was working to ensure that those leakages were blocked. We should not be too alarmed when there is a stalemate because it is all in the public interest to make sure that the monies that we are expecting into the federation account come in and we account for them properly. On the issue of Nigerias debt profile, Adeosun said there was no cause for alarm as the nations debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 20 per cent and one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Where we do have a challenge is debt service to revenue which is because the interest cost was quite high and this is a function of two things. One is that most of the debt was short term so you are paying interest and compounding it. However, we have been refinancing treasury bills in the domestic market and replacing them with long term debt in the international market and that is reducing our cost of borrowing. This time last year, Nigerian government was borrowing at an average cost of about 18 per cent but now it is 13 per cent. So we are working very hard on the debt service cost and of course revenue. She said that presently, borrowings are tied to capital projects which would still be useful for many years to come. So, there is no cause for alarm as far as Nigeria is concerned. It is a well managed, very conservative debt strategy and we continue to be very focused on concessional borrowing. NAIJ.com previously reported that the minister of finance has been questioned by a House of Representatives ad-hoc panel for approving the sum of N540 million as consultancy fee for the audit of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The panel, which is investigating the status of the TSA headed by Abubakar Nuhu Danburam (APC, Kano), wondered why the minister could approve such huge amount for the Accountant General of the Federation (AG), Ahmed Idris, to engage the consultants. Do you believe Nigeria is still the giant of Africa? - NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | EBHA chief whip in court over alleged certificate forgery The Chief Whip of Ebonyi House of Assembly, Mr Chike Ogiji, on Friday appeared before an Abakaliki Magistrate court on a four count charge of certificate forgery. The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Peter Amadi, told the court that Ogiji, on Nov.10, 2006 at Abakaliki in the courts magisterial district, knowingly swore false affidavit of a First School Leaving Certificate. Amadi disclosed that the certificate was purportedly issued to Ogiji in 1984 by the Community Primary School, Uduku-Ettam Okpuitom, in Ikwo Local Government Area (LGA) of Ebonyi. The crime is punishable under section 118 of the Criminal code. The accused between 2007 and 2015 at Abakaliki, forged an entry schedule mark sheet and state examination bearing the same primary school for the year 1986 with the intent that it may be used or acted upon as genuine. Ogiji also on Nov.10, 2006, altered a sworn affidavit sworn at the Ebonyi State High Court, Abakaliki judicial division; committing an offence contrary to section 465 and punishable under section 467 of the criminal code cap 38 as applicable to Ebonyi, he said. Ogiji, who is a three-time member of the House, pleaded not guilty to the charges as his defence counsel, Mr Emeka Odom, made a bail application on his behalf. My client is an honourable member of the state House of Assembly and I pray this court to grant him bail on self recognition due to his status. He has honoured several police invitations on the matter and this suggests that he will not evade bail if granted by this court, he said. Amadi, however objected the bail application for the accused, noting that the defence counsel did not adequately assure the court that his client will not evade bail. I would accept the courts discretion on the bail application but I pray that it should not be on self recognition if granted because we are skeptical that he would not evade bail, he said. The Presiding Magistrate, Stella Oguoke, in her ruling, granted the accused person bail in the sum of N20, 000 with one surety in like sum. The surety should be a civil servant residing within the courts magisterial district and should submit his identity card to the court clerk. The prosecuting counsel should also submit evidence of the charges to the defence counsel to assist him in preparation for the case, she said. Uguoke further adjourned the case to June 11 for hearing. NAN CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | New NIESV excos go spiritual, seek divine guidance By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA The newly-inauguatrated executives of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, on Friday went spiritual, praying for divine guidance in their running of the institutions affairs. Speaking to journalists in Abuja after a special Jumaat prayer at the National Mosque, the new President of NIESV, Rowland Abonta, said: the purpose of the special Jumaat prayer was to commit the entire institution and all our activities under the new administration into the hands of God. Its a call to service for us to be chosen to serve the institute in our various capacities, but the race has just started for all the members of NIESV not just the new excos. Thats why we acknowledge that for us to go far, we must as a matter of urgency start our tenure by seeking divine guidance so that we would remain on course as well as keep our members united. But, I must say that it does not end here, every member of the institute must continue to pray for the success of NIESV and the entire nation at large, Abonta said. While praying for the members of the institute, the Murshid of National Mosque, Professor Shehu Ahmed, implored the Almighty Allah to assist them in their endeavour as a group in the interest of the nation. The Almighty Allah, would guide NIESV and its members in all their undertakings so that they will excel in doing only what is in the best interest of Nigeria, he said. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Deltans should be Involved in project monitoring- Okowa DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has said monitoring of projects being executed by his administration should be collective as the projects should stand the test of time. The Governor dropped the hint on Friday when members Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM) led by Engr Gabriel Isibeluo paid him a courtesy call at Governemnt House, Asaba. Governor Okowa who stated that projects being executed by his administration are too numerous across the state, expressed confidence that the contractors handling the different projects are capable of delivering projects in line with job specifications. . Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (left) and Hostcom State Chairman, Delta State Chapter, Engr. Gabriel Isibeluo, during a courtesy call on the Governor, by the Chairman and Exco of Hostcom in Government House Asaba While urging Deltans to freely reach him or his aides if they notice any project been executed shoddily, the Governor said HOSTCOM is a voice to our various oil producing communities or communities that are impacted by oil, we will as a government, continue to partner with you, we hope HOSTCOM will be involved in the monitoring of our projects, we have a lot of projects across the state and I want to see my projects done rightly, . The Governor at the occasion emphasised that he does not interfere in the activities of the Delta State Oil Producing Area Developmental Commission (DESOPADEC), saying, DESOPADEC has a lot of leaverage to do things on their own. He also, used the occasion to commend members of HOSTCOM for their desire to develop themselves thtough loan from the micro-credit scheme of his administration disclosing that the loans are given to cooperative societies with credible records. The Governor urged HOSTCOM to instill in their members to maintain peaceful environment for economic activities to take place, saying, we should work to consolidate on the peace that we have,we can say as at today, we are the highest oil producing state in the country because of the peace that exists in the state; we thank you for the collective roles you are playing for our economy to thrive. Evang. Isibeluo had in his speech, commended Governor Okowas administration for its developmental strides, assuring that HOSTCOM would continue to partner with government to achieve results. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General The graduate student employee union at the University of Illinois is urging STEM workers to "refuse employment" in military and defense industries in order to undermine the "military-industrial complex." The union issued a press release Friday endorsing the "STEM Strikes the War Machine" campaign, which also demands that 90% of all military spending be reallocated to "social justice" efforts around the world. More HERE The world premiere of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' In anticipation of tonight's premiere, some Star Wars fans spent the night on Hollywood Blvd alongside a replica of the iconic Millenium Falcon. You can see from the comfort of your own home by visiting StarWars.com or the Star Wars Youtube channel at 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT. Official videos [ Potential spoilers ] Because an actor for the role of Enfys Nest was never officially announced and the villain was rumored to be female, many fans thought Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra would turn out to be Enfys in the end. Seeing Enfys and Qi'ra together puts an end to that. Video Interviews Throwbacks Interviews Music A post shared by John Powell (@johnj_powell) on May 8, 2018 at 7:32am PDT We May Have Worked Out The Plot Of Solo (And Its Unexpected) - https://t.co/rOLkfQ7XcM (via @screenrant) Raised on Star Wars (@TheStarWarsBlog) May 8, 2018 Miscellaneous Solo cups. For real. Cups inside the branded packaging are the same, though. #SoloAStarWarsStory pic.twitter.com/rBhT8y0t8P Star Wars Radar (@StarWarsRadar) May 3, 2018 Solo Explains A Weird Easter Egg From The Force Awakens - https://t.co/pQOWierbi0 pic.twitter.com/2KRy12URXB Screen Rant (@screenrant) May 9, 2018 Clarke: Han and Chewie are the ultimate bromance Han and Qi'ra grew up together Han is sometimes stupid opportunist without a plan Han and Chewie are the epitome of friends forever The film retains the spirit of the originals Ron Howard loves the movie and was a joy to work with New Star Wars book takes fans to Batuu Solo: A Star Wars Story, when Lando and L3 had the Falcon, through the original trilogy, and into the new trilogy, ending on the incredible world of Batuu." Batuu is a new planet created for the Star Wars: Galaxys Edge themed lands currently under construction at Disneyland and Disney World. Creative Director for Lucasfilm Publishing Michael Siglain says, These tales take us from a time just before, when Lando and L3 had the Falcon, through the original trilogy, and into the new trilogy, ending on the incredible world of Batuu."Batuu is a new planet created for the Star Wars: Galaxys Edge themed lands currently under construction at Disneyland and Disney World. exclusive red carpet interviews with cast and crewBobby Moynihan helped create the Star Wars-themed SNL sketch "Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base," which featured Adam Driver playing Kylo Ren pretending to be a radar technician.He says: "It's the best. We were so excited to have Adam Driver come in that week, he could not have been cooler, it was just the best. Just watching him getting into Kylo Ren. Right before one of the shots, he was like, 'Can I have a second?' and started punching himself in the stomach in the corridor and I was like, 'That is the coolest thing in the world.'"The following video debunks a popular fan theory."Are you looking forward to watching a Han Solo movie as a fan?""Not really.""This is the only franchise where you go on Twitter and they say, 'If such and such happens, I am so out!' So now they're speculating about things they don't want to see."Composer John Powell posted the titles of the movie's soundtrack (though we can't be sure whether they are in order): "In addition to John Williams' brilliant tune for Han, I got five new themes + many other motifs/riffs joining the Galaxy Far, Far Away in Solo: A Star Wars Story! Now...guess/discuss!"Some fans think they can figure out the plot based on the soundtrack:In this short interview, Emilia Clarke (Qi'ra) says:Debuting this fall,is a collection of stories that revolve around the Millenium Falcon. The series stars Bazine Netal, recognizable from the cantina scene in, while she tries to hunt down the ship--learning about its history in the process.Sources: 1 Throw a money clip? Reply Thread Link This guy is pretty optimistic if he thinks I have $50. ;) Reply Parent Thread Link No, when you're kidnapped and put in a trunk you're supposed to punch the taillight out and wave at traffic. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Eh. Itd work if you were getting robbed. Unfortunately i dont think most ppl have a spare $50 to throw around. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I remember this money clip thing from somewhere. Specifically, wrap a 20 on the outside with smaller change on the inside so the robber thinks they got something. I dont remember it being directed towards kids though. Reply Parent Thread Link Money clip? (Engraved???) Reply Parent Thread Link omg this is hilarious Reply Thread Link Same. At least change the guy's name Reply Parent Thread Link Usually I would agree with this sentiment. But in this case, I wonder if anyone is reading the article. He's appeared using his real name on multiple high-profile public platforms before: "He appeared on PBS, "Prime Time Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show and other major media outlets as a safety expert." Not an anonymous random... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Not really that, but it's bit weird that he'd actually give the guy's name. It's not like he's famous or something. Edit: Oh, I guess he kind of is. Edited at 2018-05-11 04:07 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Did you read the article? Bittenbinder has self-promoted like a public figure: "He appeared on PBS, "Prime Time Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show and other major media outlets as a safety expert." Reply Parent Thread Link do comedians usually check with people? it never occurred to me they would. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Why should he? The guy IS a public figure. Besides, JJ Bittenbinder was already ~lampooned~ by Mr Show way back in the 90s. Paul F. Thompkins says he wrote the sketch after hearing Bittenbinder refer to two rapists as "goofs". Yeah, the man deserves a dragging and a half. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Because he can. Like within his legal rights. I also don't think he cares (Mulaney). He's a public figure. Reply Parent Thread Link i love how he's wearing a three piece suit and an american flag tie in that photo. i love John Mulaney so much. i always end up recommending Comeback Kid when i'm drunk and my friends are like "enough!" Reply Thread Link STREET SMARTS! Reply Thread Link STREET SMARTS! Reply Thread Link STREET SMARTS! Reply Thread Link lmao these three comments in a row Reply Parent Thread Link And practically at the same time! I'm wheezing. XD Reply Parent Thread Link It seems John was on point. Reply Thread Link lmao oh this is precious Reply Thread Link STREET SMARTS! Reply Thread Link ok i am german and "Bittenbinder" doesn't mean "barrel maker" - a least not in the german language Reply Thread Link don't leave us in suspense, what does it mean? Reply Parent Thread Link It does mean barrel-maker, it's just a very old German form of the word ('Fassmacher' or 'Fassbinder') that is not in use anymore. Edited at 2018-05-11 08:43 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I mean, it kind of is. Altered form of German Bittenbinder, an occupational name for a cooper, from Middle High German bute(n) cask, (wine) barrel + binder binder (agent derivative of binden to bind). Compare Fassbender. Reply Parent Thread Link Kid Gorgeous was ok but nowhere as funny as New in Town or the unbeatable Comeback Kid. His specials were getting better and better from the Top Part so I was a little disappointed with this. Reply Thread Link I agree Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I really like him but the only part that was on par with his other specials was his last jokes about religion and church. His wife explaining the last supper had me in stitches. Reply Parent Thread Link So then what do you think they're celebrating? ... Thanksgiving? I agree, the best part. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes, and I love the face he made/his wife made before saying Thanksgiving. Reply Parent Thread Link I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't seen so many of the bits already! He did the robot bit on SNL, the horse-in-a-hospital bit on Conan (Colbert? somewhere) ... and both of those were prob the funniest parts. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i liked it a lot but IA Reply Parent Thread Link I was a little disappointed when I saw it live, but I laughed and laughed at the Netflix special even though the jokes were exactly the same, so I guess I liked it more than I thought! Reply Parent Thread Link I saw it live and laughed my ass off, so now I'm a bit worried about watching the special. But, he's one of a handful of comedians whose jokes I can listen to a hundred times (which I do, tbh) and still laugh. Reply Parent Thread Link Yessss, I thought the same thing! Love him, and this was pretty good, but I saw him do Kid Gorgeous live and it was much funnier, the jokes were totally different. This was just okay :/ Reply Parent Thread Link it was a grower for me. didnt laugh much the first time but more on second watch But I can watch the other specials daily and not get bored Reply Parent Thread Link same but i still enjoyed it Reply Parent Thread Link i saw it live and there was like 30-45 minutes cut for the netflix special. Reply Parent Thread Link i disagree. i think it's his best! Reply Parent Thread Link The STREET SMARTS!!!! part of his special was the fucking FUNNIEST. I was howling the whole time, especially when he went off on the whole bit about throwing pedophiles off their rhythm. "He's not gonna know what to do with 2 little sneakers coming at him!" Reply Thread Link you chew a tab of alka-seltzer and create a foaming the mouth appearance and THROW HIM OFF HIS RHYTHM! Reply Parent Thread Link As any retired Chicago detective can tell you, phone books don't leave bruises! I can't find a gif of the movement he does fending off the "two little sneakers" and I FUCKING NEED IT. I think that part made me laugh harder than anything else. That and the bit about the Victorian ghost in their house(which I wished had gone on longer tbh). "Let's forget about Penelope!............or whatever her name was!" Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I did take issue with that part, because apparently Midwesterners say "gym shoes" and not "sneakers." I have had many arguments (I mean, "arguments") with my Chicago-native BFF about how "sneakers" sounds like a childish word for a burglar. Which it doesn't, because he's wrong. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Edited at 2018-05-11 04:19 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link nnnnnn roflmao Reply Parent Thread Link White people are monsters. Yall hear about the black Yale student who had the police called on her because she fell asleep in the common room? Reply Thread Link I still can't get over that, and the fact that campus police made her show them her dorm room AND her ID. jfc. Reply Parent Thread Link apparently she's called the cops 15 other times? it was some stupidly high number. somehow i doubt yale is going to do anything about it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link my friend posted the video on his facebook and was simply like, "yup thats happened to me before too" Reply Parent Thread Link I watched her FB live stream and I am so glad ppl are able to document this shit now. Reply Parent Thread Link I read that it was the same girl who called cops on the black boy who got lost on his campus tour. Apparently her FB is where you go when you're convinced your soul isn't quite dead yet. Reply Parent Thread Link Im not even shocked Reply Parent Thread Link Like..it's a common room..I'm surprised there aren't tired students passed out all over it. Seems like it would be a common thing. Or maybe I watch too many movies. Idk. Reply Parent Thread Link Between that incident and this one, I can't deal with the world right now. It makes me want to cry. Reply Parent Thread Link And that whitre lady is getting her phd their because she wants to work in th file dof civil rights. BITCH REALLY. Reply Parent Thread Link wppo are the ugly step sisters of the universe. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah and she turned out to be a women's rights advocate or something..and bragged on her blog about winning a pro-slavery debate in high school or something #ffffeminsm Reply Parent Thread Link "Concerned because they were too quiet" lol i can't. They think everything anyone non-white does is suspicious~ Reply Thread Link As if that doesnt describe every white man whos shot up places Theyll never bring them up though, because theyre mentally disturbed and its not their fault *insert chadwick boseman eyeroll gif* Edited at 2018-05-11 07:06 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link For real. They should be more concerned of their own kind in male form tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link If you listen to her call shes all theyve got on DARK clothing with WEIRD MARKINGS. What did she think was going to happen? Reply Parent Thread Link the guys were not only too quiet but were not answering personal questions by parents on the tour who took it upon themseleves to interrogate them. Reply Parent Thread Link The "quiet" thing is so sort of a stereotype already Reply Parent Thread Link archspire's response is so good i might just have to try their music and stan a little Reply Thread Link I know! I wasn't ready for that Reply Parent Thread Link same I'm taken aback Reply Parent Thread Link Same- let me get ready to headbang again lol Reply Parent Thread Link i put their discography on Spotify on shuffle and thought the first song was gonna just be an actually really well done instrumental track and then the growl singing started Reply Parent Thread Link he boys were detained and questioned by police who were called by a "concerned" white lady who felt nervous because they brothers were too quiet. listen, y'all gotta come collect your kin. they can't be walking around projecting the inadequacies of their own violent white boys onto everybody else and then deciding to introduce more violent (most of the time) white boys in response. Edited at 2018-05-11 07:04 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Not white men too? Reply Parent Thread Link They been cancelled since they co-signed the slave trade. Reply Parent Thread Link csu sucks, the area is all white old people. Reply Thread Link i'm happy the bands are sticking up for them. Reply Thread Link fuck i saw a tweet that said white people use 911 like a customer service hotline and i almost dropped dead. nothing more true. Reply Thread Link Shocker. Its white people who are fearful of the world. Theyre scared the minoritys are getting too many rights as they have. Its fucking bullshit. Thats all the world has come to now. White people who are fearful of the unknown. Its really brought me down these last few weeks. Because people like that, you cant reason with them. You cant explain to then that nothing will change. Theyre racist fuckers who deserve to die. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link They do. I saw ANOTHER story today about a white woman who called the cops on a black family that was bbqing. Reply Parent Thread Link My mom showed me that video the other day - just a fucking disgrace. Reply Parent Thread Link its a proxy for their passive aggression Reply Parent Thread Link which is fucking awful (duh). i've called 911 twice in my entire life. once bc a car was on fire outside my house (but the very nice dispatcher person told me they'd already been alerted and help was en route) and the other time when i was being stalked by a creepy guy. i did call 999 in the uk once....but there was a couple in a park in an incredibly heated argument and they kept walking away from their baby stroller and their baby was crying and i was concerned. but...like.....real things. someone napping? someone too quiet on a tour where you should be quiet and respectful? golfing too slowly? having a cookout? asking for directions? WTF. Reply Parent Thread Link They literally believe cops are their personal attack dogs. What's sad is that the cops prove them right. Reply Parent Thread Link These people are scared of everyone Im a short small white female and I remember having the cops called on me when I was 14 because my boyfriend and I were sitting on a curb not in front of a business or house literally in front of a dirt lot trying to decide where we should walk to lunch. We couldnt drive and neither could my mom but yeah some lady called the cops becuae we looks suspicious (my hair had some pink in it) and cops interrogated us asking us personal questions that were not relevant and drove me home....where they even told my mom I did nothing wrong and I had to walk back to my boyfriend after that. Obviously almost all these stories are about racist assholes. I do know the type of people to peer out their blinds and look for trouble because apparently they have nothing better to do. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ifkr? If you get the wrong change or your order is wrong, call the cops. Edited at 2018-05-11 09:03 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, I feel like there should be consequences for using up police time and manpower for something so obviously ridiculous. I know there won't be though because then they'll be afraid people won't call when they really need it. Reply Parent Thread Link "They were too quiet" Her white son is probably too quiet as well and is one overwatch round loss away from a school shooting. Reply Thread Link I feel bad for laughing at how accurate this comment is Reply Parent Thread Link this comment is spot on lmaooo. Reply Parent Thread Link Haha oh dear! Reply Parent Thread Link no lies detected Reply Parent Thread Link omfg lol, sounds about right. Reply Parent Thread Link nnnnn Reply Parent Thread Link you know back in the day I would have lol'd but now I can't even fully enjoy a comment like this because you know damn well someone will prove you right and bring this exact scenario to life before the year is out Reply Parent Thread Link its been zero days since our last white nonsense. Reply Thread Link So I had no idea that they were rocking death metal shirts, old people get really upset at them. I'm sure that lady was afraid of what they were wearing as well. My husband had people give him dirty looks and call him a "Satan worshiper" before. So, brown men + scary, "satanic/baby sacrificing/abortionist/insert whatever those assholes think they're looking at" shirts= scaredy-cat bitch. mindyourbusinesslady.gif Reply Thread Link That's not real harassment or discrimination. White people would treat someone dressed like the devil better than they would a person of color. Reply Parent Thread Link Ok but I'm just saying that old people are afraid of death metal shirts and have said some really shitty things to people who wear them, so it may have played a minor part in those scary "Mexicans" she called the cops on. Reply Parent Thread Link In middle school I wore a lot of black, not even any band shirts really (I just bought up all the black shirts old navy had to offer), and people would constantly tell me I was going to hell, I must be a satanist, I was disturbed and bad. They didn't want me around because I made people uncomfortable wearing black and being quiet. It wasn't even old people really either, people in their 40s and other middle schools alike telling me Jesus loved me while they wailed about saving my soul. Less wailing from the teens and more mocking me, but you get it. Anyway my point is yeah people are weird. Reply Parent Thread Link I read this story and it was fucking ridiculous. Her call was based off of literally nothing whatsoever Reply Thread Link I wonder how people come to the conclusion of, "this POC is doing absolutely nothing to anyone and is minding their own business. So I believe that they are up to no good, let me call the cops!" Reply Parent Thread Link They dont forget. They dont care. Theyd be happier without POC in the world. It really makes me sad to think about. Reply Parent Thread Link They know exactly how cops treat poc. That's why they call them. Reply Parent Thread Link And white people are truly nuts. One time at my hotel job, a guy told me there was suspicious activity outside and that I should look into it. Went outside and it was literally just two young black men talking and getting into their car that was parked on the street. Two black men TALKING and LAUGHING was apparently suspicious to this asshole Reply Thread Link Literally just finished watching a video where a white woman called police on two black people having a barbecue in a park (which was allowed) and she started (fake)crying when the police came and she was being called out on her shit by someone with a camera. It's making me ashamed to be a white girl-are we so insecure that we can't take POC in public spaces and how is this only being highlighted now?! Reply Thread Link What was she even pretending to cry about? Reply Parent Thread Link She was hollering about being harassed and assaulted. Nobody touched her. Reply Parent Thread Link I've read that when white women are called out on their shit, they start to cry to become the victims. This is especially true in the work place when a WOC has to manage a white employee. I don't remember where I read it, so I can't link. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I just want to hear the BIG SPLATOON NEWS. I hope it's an anime. Reply Thread Link If it is like the past one...no thanks Reply Parent Thread Link There was a past one? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link So excited for The Last of Us 2 and the new Tomb Raider I'm playing Stardew Valley and loving it! I just wish it had fast travel and I could date Harvey IRL Reply Thread Link Nintendo - new Animal crossing game please. Pocket camp just makes me want a real one tho id Love if they had events and regular updates in a main game like they do in pocket camp. Squenix- Avengers project! omg I forgot about this. Just watched Infinty war and just the thought of an avengers game with awesome graphics and amazing cutscenes. Reply Thread Link omg yes a new Animal Crossing. I've had every game and I always aim to get my favorite villager each time. Reply Parent Thread Link Pocket Camp is a rip off lmao i need a new full game Reply Parent Thread Link I am almost positive theyre announcing Animal Crossing Switch soon, they were already creating placeholder pages on their official site Reply Parent Thread Link YAAAAS Reply Parent Thread Link I'm actually quite excited for the Avengers project since it's being made by Crystal Dynamics, and I absolutely love the new Tomb Raider games. I'm worried about Shadow being too different from TR and Rise, but I'm here for more Lara (and Camilla Luddington as Lara) so I'm buying it anyway. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm a nintendo stan for life despite no having a Switch yet. I hope there's news of a new Animal Crossing game Reply Thread Link YOSHI SWITCH?????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? HERE'S THE FIRST FOUR NUMBERS OF MY CREDIT CARD NINTENDO Reply Thread Link Excited for The Division 2 and Tomb Raider. Right now I'm playing The Divison and I just got CS:GO last night. Mostly I wanted to post to ask if any of you play games on steam, uplay or blizzard. I want to play with more girls or not straight dudebros, I have guys I play with regularly and theyre good people for the most part, but sometimes straight men can be exhausting and I just wanna play with not them lol. Edited at 2018-05-11 07:12 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link I play a lot of WoW and Overwatch Reply Parent Thread Link I just want KH3 for switch Reply Thread Link I heard rumors about a playstation 5 and as much as I want it ugh stopppp Reply Thread Link lol I was considering finally buying a PS4. Maybe I'll hold off. Reply Parent Thread Link We're probably a 2-3 years off from the PS5 releasing plus there are some really great exclusive games for the PS4 so I think it's still worth to give it a shot! Reply Parent Thread Link i say go for it, PS4 is absolutely at its peak right now annd has at least 3-4 more years ahead of it the exclusives are amazing too -- god of war, nier:automata, uncharted, horizon zero dawn, persona 5, the last of us ..... SO WORTH IT!! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Reiterating what everyone said, the PS exclusives, PS+, etc, its worth to get now. Plus of the PS5 does come out in he next 3ish years, itll still need a year or so to drum up some good games. Go for it! Reply Parent Thread Link i know im so tired lol. how much more hd can it get!! Reply Parent Thread Link Lol nooo stop. Lemme stay delusional with my PS4. I need Cyberpunk 2077 Reply Parent Thread Link My Sim went on vacation to France and started dating this guy. One day, she was walking around town when this random woman ran towards her and started beating the crap out of her. It turns out he was married with kids then the guy came and the wife bitch slapped him. The next day, my sim met up with the guy at his house when the wife wasn't around and started making out with him in front of his kids in the backyard. Reply Thread Link I need to redownload Sims3, stories like this make me miss it Reply Parent Thread Link lmfao Reply Parent Thread Link I need to release some repressed salt for a minute. A couple months ago I was so close to landing my dream job at one of the companies in this post but a few weeks after interviewing me I got a rejection email. I've been trying to move on from it applying to other jobs and even applying to grad school but I saw the exact same job on my feed again today and I'm just like Reply Thread Link you're going to get another! I'm rooting for you! It might not be in your dream company, but.. maybe your dream company was going to disappoint you? Reply Parent Thread Link There is always that possibility to expect it and I know it could happen but it would've been a great starting point for me especially resume wise for if I ever wanted to move on to somewhere else. I feel like it was the closest I will ever get to that type of job too because my friend worked there and was able to refer me. I still haven't lost hope yet though. But thank you bb, it means a lot! I'm hoping one day to finally get in somewhere whether it be a job or school, job searching is literally the worst. Reply Parent Thread Link Apply again! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah, the same thing just happened to me too, I even had a great interview and got along well with the interviewer. You just gotta keep moving forward bb. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link apply again! x2 Reply Parent Thread Link Keep bothering them tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link This is the exact situation i am rn Reply Parent Thread Link Apply again and again! Make them realize the mistake of not hiring you! Reply Parent Thread Link i actually work at one of the companies listed. i feel like you must not have applied to mine because i feel like they always hire friends/referrals lol. also, the one i work at is probably the most mismanaged one on this list according to current coworkers who used to work at other ones on this list. Edited at 2018-05-11 09:35 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Ori and the Blind Forest was such a QT game. I cried! Reply Thread Link This prompted me to look up if any Lego games had come out recently, and it looks like there was a Marvel Super Heroes 2! So I'm gonna get that soon. I need more games for the Switch. Reply Thread Link just gimme that sweet, sweet splatoon news Reply Thread Link Nintendo already denied the "Big Splatoon News", said it is a baseless rumour :'c Reply Parent Thread Link AHHHHH so my husband is the games editor for a local magazine and he might be able to go to E3 for coverage and I would be able to go with him T___T I really hope it happens!!! Reply Thread Link The President spoke about waking up at 2:00 am Thursday night to greet the hostages released from North Korea. There is a much anticipated summit with North Korea dictator Kim Jung-Un in June, which will take place in Singapore. Trump spoke about the improvements in the economy and his new tax cuts. He took time to bash Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, and, of course, he spoke of fake news. It was Hoosier Hospitality at its finest as thousands showed up to a middle school gymnasium Thursday night. President Donald Trump held a Make America Great Again rally. The event was held at North Side Gymnasium a 7,383 seat multi-purpose arena at 300 Lawrence Street in Elkhart, Indiana. Vice President Mike Pence joined the president. The venue filled up quickly with reports of as many as 6000 outside lining the motorcade routes who were unable to get inside as it reached capacity by 5:00 PM. Indiana's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Mike Braun joined the president on stage. The Republicans hope to flip this seat currently held by Joe Donnelly, a Democrat. President Trump referred to him a Sleepin Joe which brought loud applause from the audience. President Trumps main focus was on eight weeks of big diplomatic accomplishments. Ive attended a number of the rallies. There is a huge amount of excitement and electricity in the air as people wait in line for hours. I was fortunate enough to be approved as media obtaining a White House Press Pool pass allowing me to enter at a separate entrance. My name was on the list, but what was interesting was another list of people who were not allowed in. Im curious of who is on that list. The Vice President was introduced by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (below left). I got a chance to speak with him after the event along with the Greg Pence, who is running for Congress and happens to be the vice presidents brother (below right). While entering the building I said, Isnt it exciting seeing the greatest president ever? The Associated Press and NBC reporters next to me did not find this amusing. When interacting with the main stream and establishment media, there is obvious bias against the president, his agenda, and his supporters. I arrived about five hours before the President spoke, so I had plenty of time to tour, see the protesters, and interview people in line. I only saw about 25 protesters staged across the street. Everybody in line was extremely friendly especially law enforcement. There was a huge security presence which included about 50 snow plows parked and circling the building as a perimeter. There was extensive security screening of everybody entering the building. All in all a fun and exciting day seeing the president. I was impressed with the hospitality here in Elkhart. I hope President Trump considers doing a rally in the Chicago area perhaps in the suburbs. Last night President Trump concluded his remarks by having the crowd repeat, We want to make America Great Again. Mark Weyermuller is a small business owner, real estate professional, and conservative activist in Chicago. He is a citizen journalist and regular contributor to Illinois Review. Mark can be heard weekly on the radio in a "man on the street segment" at 2:31pm as a regular guest on the Stephanie Trussell Show heard on WLS AM Saturdays. "Just gonna stand there And hear me cry But that's alright Because I love the way you lie I love the way you lie" "Just gonna stand there And hear me cry But that's alright Because I love the way you lie I love the way you lie" The dynamic of a rap/pop collaboration was pioneered by the legendary Mariah Carey with her iconic "Fantasy" remix with O.D.B. Since then, it became a whole marketing thing in hopes for artists to 'cross-over' to certain genres. No shade to all the rappers but we just want to skip to the good bit.mp3 to our divas. Here are 10 songs where the female features take the lead and make the song. 9. Wale ft. Lady Gaga - "Chillin" - No that isn't M.I.A. on the hook - Gags had her other pop feature chance to be on "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" by Kendrick Lamar but apparently was too 'gay' to be on a song like that at the time. "Get 'em all, get 'em all, pack it all up Stack up your funds like a million bucks Across that pond, they all know us International, whoa Driving my car to a foreign place Lookin' at me, now they my face We won it all now, we got it all yuuus Look at that, look at how they lookin' at us" 8. Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - "The Way I Are" - MissKerriedBaby did THAT in so many songs in the mid to late '00s. - Saved this song from lines like "listen baby girl, I ain't got a motorboat but I can float your boat" "Oh, baby, it's alright now, you ain't gotta flaunt for me If we go and touch, you can still touch my love, it's free We can work without the perks just you and me Thug it out 'til we get it right Baby if you strip, you can get a tip 'Cause I like you just the way you are" 7. Lil' Flip ft. Lea - "Sunshine" - These two one hit wonders made THE song of summer '04. - Idk who this Lea girl is but she really made an Ashanti attempt with this. "Sunshine I can call you my baby boy You can call me your baby girl Maybe we can spend some time (some time) I can be your sunshine" 6. Fabolous ft. Tamia - "So Into You" - Some babies didn't know Tamia had the og song "So Into You" when this song was out. Was this too soon to be a throwback sample? Nostalgic either way. - Apparently Ashanti recorded a version where she sung the hook, but couldn't shoot the vid so Tamia (rightfully) stepped in "I really like What you've done to me I can't really explain it I'm so into you" 5. Field Mob ft. Ciara - "So What" - A ride or die anthem. I needed a solo version of this at the time - Cici lowkey served Aaliyah looks in the bball court scenes Cause you hang out in the street But you my boyfriend You've always been here for me I love the No matter what people think I'm gon' be here for ya And I don't care what they say" "Some people don't like itCause you hang out in the streetBut you my boyfriendYou've always been here for meI love the #thug in yaNo matter what people thinkI'm gon' be here for yaAnd I don't care what they say" 4. Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland - "Dilemma" - The Dilemma was that she was waiting on a reply via excel "No matter what I do All I think about is you Even when I'm with my boo Boy, you know I'm crazy over you" 3. Twista ft. Mariah Carey - "So Lonely" - Mariah knew this #UNDERRATED song was fire when she made "One and Only Part 2" where she added another verse to the the intro of the song. There was a whole other sequel with "One and Only" on her Emancipation album (which was not as good). - Honorable mention: Busta Rhymes' "I Know What You Want" Blow out the speakers Over and over To them Jodeci cuts "Forever your lady" You act right then maybe Ain't nothing to talk about Put the music loud So they won't hear me say Ah-ha ha ah! Come and be my one and only Tired of being so lonely, come hold me Ah-ha ha ah! I wanna wrap myself around you, whenever you want to Come make me say Ah-ha ha ah! Come be my one & only Tired of being so lonely, console me Ah-ha ha ah! I wanna Come make me So just show a girl what it do (what it do) After this boy, I'm promising you You got my #lit Way too persuasive I can't take it I'm so caught up in yOOoouuuuu" "I wish that we couldBlow out the speakersOver and overTo them Jodeci cuts"Forever your lady"You act right then maybeAin't nothing to talk aboutPut the music loudSo they won't hear me sayAh-ha ha ah!Come and be my one and onlyTired of being so lonely, come hold meAh-ha ha ah!I wanna wrap myself around you, whenever you want toCome make me sayAh-ha ha ah!Come be my one & onlyTired of being so lonely, console meAh-ha ha ah!I wanna #wrap myself #around you, whenever you want toCome make me #say So just show a girl what it do (what it do)After this boy, I'm promising youYou got my #body #up like the #moon Way too persuasive I can't take it I'm so caught up in yOOoouuuuu" 2. Fat Joe ft. Ashanti - "What's Luv?" - Ashanti, THE early 2000's hook QUEEN - Honorable mentions: all of her other Ja Rule features I want the Don Joey Crack on top of me Don't want your Just break my Gonna cut you no 'Cause I'm on it like Come oooooooooon And put it ooooOooooon meeeeeeeee On meeeEEeeEEee" "When I look in your eyes there's no stoppin' meI want the Don Joey Crack on top of meDon't want your #stacks Just break my #back Gonna cut you no #slack 'Cause I'm on it like #that Come oooooooooonAnd put it ooooOooooon meeeeeeeeeOn meeeEEeeEEee" 1. Diddy ft. Christina Aguilera - "Tell Me" - This was a real #change during the B2B era. *Xtina voice* "The hair is straighter... no red lips". Legend SNAPPEDt... Diddy was there to wear it down balance it out. - Honorable mention: T.I's "Castle Walls" MANILA, Philippines The Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested a total of 1,118 individuals since the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gun ban took effect on April 14. A large number of arrests involved civilians at 1,043; of which 24 were security guards; 15 were government and elected officials; six soldiers; six policemen and 10 members of threat groups. PNP Directorate for Operations PCSupt. Ma-O Aplasca said they are intensifying operations in all checkpoints across the country especially in areas with high presence of threat groups. PNP has created a national task force to ensure the forthcoming election is safe and secureWe are going to deploy 163,000 personnel nationwide, he said. So far, authorities have seized over 600 firearms and gun replicas and a number of bladed weapons, grenades, IEDs and ammunition. Meanwhile, the PNP has recorded 24 election-related deaths. Only three from the 76 suspects have been arrested. According to PNP Spokesman Police Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao said police personnel are on standby to serve as board of election tellers (BET) in the absence of duty teachers especially in areas with high political tension. In ARMM meron nang personnel doon. Who have undergone training already, the PNP spokesperson assured. Lea Ylagan | UNTV News & Rescue Arrests in line with Comelec Gun Ban (PNP) Civilian 1,043 PNP 6 AFP 6 Government/elected officials 15 Other LEA 3 BJMP 1 Security Guard 24 CAFGU 5 Foreign national 2 Threath Group 10 PAGS 3 TOTAL 1,118 The post 15 government, elected officials arrested over violation of Comelec gun ban appeared first on UNTV News. After unveiling the Vision Concept Lagonda at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show last March, Aston Martin has confirmed plans to mass-produce the radical, sector-defining zero-emission SUV. Providing a few details on the models first release, which is scheduled for 2021, the British car maker said that the production Lagonda will be all-electric like the concept and also wear the same design language, but wont be autonomous. The new four-wheel-drive SUV will also have more space than the average Aston, and pioneer near-future technologies such as an advanced Battery Electric Drivetrain, making the Lagonda SUV the first of its kind. In reviving one of the most iconic names in motoring we have created a unique opportunity, said Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andy Palmer. One that allows us to cast aside an inherited 20th century approach and instead design cars around 21st century demands and desires. The Lagonda SUV is the first of its kind: a spacious, high-performance 44 that successfully reconciles a love of technology, luxury and style. The Lagonda SUV will retain the boldness of the Vision Concept said Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman. Lagonda is a luxury brand, but it is also one rooted in technology. It will be like no other SUV to drive, so its looks have to reflect that new reality and to serve as pathfinder to a future in which the most desirable and prestigious automobiles still have a place. Its an understatement to say that the Lagonda Vision Concept stole the show at Geneva, ensuring that the production SUV will be something to look forward to in the time leading to its release in 2021. Of course, plenty of things are bound to change, like the interior ceramic and cashmere trims in the concept, which should expectedly be replaced by more traditional options such as leathers and woods. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the Vision Concept of the Lagonda below. Story continues Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept The post Aston Martin Lagonda Seeks to Reconfigure the Entire Luxury SUV Landscape appeared first on Carmudi Philippines. France's economy minister Bruno Le Maire urged European nations Friday to defend themselves against US sanctions targeting foreign companies that trade with Iran, as the rift between Washington and its allies deepens. Le Maire said the European Union had to defend its "economic sovereignty" when it comes to the right to trade with Iran. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has meanwhile branded the sanctions "unacceptable", in some of the most forceful criticism yet from a key European ally. US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was pulling out of the landmark 2015 deal curbing Iran's nuclear programme, reintroducing sanctions on the Islamic republic and those who trade with it. The decision overturned years of painstaking diplomacy and left EU allies scrambling to save the hard-fought deal, as well as to protect the interests of their companies which do business with Iran. "We have to work among ourselves in Europe to defend our economic sovereignty," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio ahead of talks with Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra. Le Maire said the EU would hold "collective discussions with the United States to obtain... different rules" covering European companies that do business with Iran. "At the end of May I will meet with the British and German finance ministers and the three of us will look at what we can do." Le Maire said he had called US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Wednesday urging him to allow exceptions for French companies or a delay in implementing the sanctions, while admitting he has "few illusions" about the likely response. Washington has given European firms doing business in Iran up to six months to wind up investments or risk US sanctions, and they are also forbidden from signing any new contracts with the country. - Return of sanctions 'blocking'? - Le Maire pointed to the possibility of reinstating of EU "blocking regulations", dating back to 1996, which were used as a countermeasure against US sanctions that targeted third countries doing business with Cuba. The system, which was never actually used, permitted European companies to ignore the US sanctions and said that any decisions by foreign courts based on the sanctions would not be upheld in Europe. "We want to reinforce this regulation and incorporate the recent decisions taken by the United States," Le Maire said. "The second avenue is looking at Europe's financial independence -- what can we do to give Europe more financial tools allowing it to be independent from the United States?" Le Maire further noted that the US Treasury has an agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which tracks whether or not foreign companies are respecting its sanctions. "Why don't we create the same type of agency in Europe, capable of following the activities of foreign companies and checking if they are respecting European decisions?" he said. Le Drian had on Thursday insisted Washington needed to negotiate with its European allies on any sanctions that might affect their companies. "We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures is unacceptable," he told Le Parisien newspaper, vowing that European countries would "do everything to protect the interests of their companies". "The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal of an agreement by the United States, to which they had themselves contributed." With one foot in the East and one in the West, ultra-modern and secure -- to the point of sometimes being mocked as dull -- Singapore was a natural choice for the historic first meeting between the unpredictable leaders of the US and North Korea. The stable and squeaky-clean city-state's tropical setting will be the backdrop for the June 12 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un -- the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two men threatened each other with annihilation just months ago, so the choice of a neutral venue was a matter of considerable speculation, which also touched on the Korean peninsula's Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), China and Mongolia. But Singapore -- sometimes likened to Switzerland due to its non-aligned nature and its status as a banking hub -- is in the rare position of having diplomatic relations with both Washington and Pyongyang, plus a track record of hosting sensitive encounters. "As a neutral, and objective country with much-admired consistent foreign policy principles and a small state with no desire or capacity to harm other states and their interests, Singapore fits that bill well," said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute. One of the world's wealthiest countries per-capita, the island state of 5.6 million people has an advanced military, robust security infrastructure, and is considered one of the safest and least corrupt places on earth. Situated between the much larger Muslim-majority nations of Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore has long been vigilant toward radical Islamic elements. Single-party rule since independence from Britain nearly six decades ago has kept a lid on dissent -- prompting accusations of repression -- eliminating the possibility of any summit-related protests. A selection of first-rate hotels and other possible venues where events can be tightly controlled is also likely to have made Singapore attractive, especially to Kim, who heads one of the world's most repressive regimes and will not welcome anything unexpected. - Neutral ground - Kim is only known to have travelled abroad for the first time this year, with visits to China and a brief sojourn across the high-security border into South Korea for a historic meeting with President Moon Jae-in in April. In 2015, Singapore hosted a historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-leader Ma Ying-jeou, the first between presidents of the two sides since a 1949 civil war split that led to decades of estrangement. It also has experience hosting other leadership gatherings such as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and stages the yearly Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence forum attended by heads of state, defence ministers and top military chiefs. This year's forum at the Shangri-La hotel comes a week before Trump-Kim, meaning Singapore will already be in high-security mode, fuelling speculation that the hotel also will host the summit. From Trump's standpoint, business-oriented Singapore is among Washington's closest trade and security partners in Asia. Travelling there allows Trump to avoid the DMZ, which might have appeared like home turf for Kim, while a Beijing meeting could have allowed China to exert control. Singapore "doesn't have the historical or political baggage" of other possible venues, said Sarah Teo, an expert on regional security at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). It also will be acceptable to Beijing, North Korea's only major ally and still a strong influence over Pyongyang. Singapore has long had smooth ties with China. "A successful summit would be a huge feather in Singapore's cap, elevating its reputation for fair dealing and neutrality; but a less successful one will not take anything away from it," said a commentary piece in Singapore's The Straits Times. Singapore and North Korea have a history -- the first law firm and fast-food restaurant in Pyongyang were set up by Singaporeans -- though relations snagged last year when Singapore severed trade ties under new UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programmes. burs-dma/hg Vice President Leni Robredo (Courtesy of Office of the Vice President) QUEZON CITY, Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday, May 11, expressed alarm in the strongest term over the Supreme Courts (SC) decision on the quo warranto petition that led to the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. According to Robredo, the decision was a blatant circumvention of the most sacred institution of the land referring to the Philippine Constitution. She stressed that no other means can an impeachable officer be removed from office, such as the Chief Justice, but only by impeachment. She added that the SC ruling sets a very dangerous precedent that may seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary. She calls on the Filipino people to join her in utmost vigilance and defend the judicial system. As the second highest official of the land, let me assure you: the fight is not yet over. Let us support all moves to right this wrong, particularly given how close the vote was for a decision of such magnitude, Robredo said in a statement. Grace Casin | UNTV News & Rescue The post Robredo on Sereno ouster: The fight is not yet over appeared first on UNTV News. Artists impression of Proxima b, a planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri within the closest known star system outside of our solar system. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), we've often looked for signs of intelligence, technology and communication that are similar to our own. But as astronomer and SETI trailblazer Jill Tarter points out, that approach means searching for detectable technosignatures, like radio transmissions, not searching for intelligence. Now scientists are considering whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help us search for alien intelligence in ways we haven't even thought of yet. 'Decoding' intelligence As we think about extraterrestrial intelligence it's helpful to remember humans are not the only intelligent life on Earth. Chimpanzees have culture and use tools, spiders process information with webs, cetaceans have dialects, crows understand analogies and beavers are great engineers. Non-human intelligence, language, culture and technology are all around us. Alien intelligence could look like an octopus, an ant, a dolphin or a machine or be radically different from anything on Earth. We often imagine extraterrestrial life relative to our ideas about difference, but those ideas aren't even universal on Earth and are unlikely to be universal across interstellar space. If some of us have only recently recognized non-human intelligence on Earth, what could we be missing when we imagine extraterrestrial life? In early 2018, astronomers, neuroscientists, anthropologists, AI researchers, historians and others gathered for a "Decoding Alien Intelligence" workshop at the SETI Institute in Silicon Valley. Astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol organized the workshop around her 2016 paper "Alien mindscapes," where she calls for a new SETI road map and a long-term vision for "the search for life as we do not know it." In her paper, Cabrol asks how SETI can move past "looking for other versions of ourselves" and think "outside of our own brains" to imagine truly different extraterrestrial intelligence. Thinking differently Silicon Valley is famous for valuing "disruptive" thinking and this culture intersects with SETI research. Ever since the U.S. government stopped funding SETI in the mid-1990s, Silicon Valley ideas, technology and funding have been increasingly important. A capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus) using a stone tool (T. Falotico). An octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) carrying shells as shelter (N. Hobgood). (Wikimedia/Tiago Falotico, Nick Hobgood), CC BY-NC-SA For example, the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array is named after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who contributed over US$25 million to the project. And, in 2015, technology investor Yuri Milner announced Breakthrough Listen, a 10-year US$100 million SETI initiative. Now, the SETI Institute, NASA, Intel, IBM and other partners are tackling space science problems through an AI research and development program called the Frontier Development Lab. Lucianne Walkowicz, the Astrobiology Chair at the Library of Congress, described one AI-based method as "signal agnostic searching" at Breakthrough Discuss in 2017. Walkowicz explained that this means using machine learning methods to look at any set of data without predetermined categories and instead let that data cluster into their "natural categories." The software then lets us know what stands out as outliers. These outliers could then be the target of additional investigations. It turns out that SETI researchers think AI might be useful in their work because they believe machine learning is good at spotting difference. But its success depends on how we and the AI we create conceptualize the idea of difference. Smarter than slime mould? Thinking outside our brains also means thinking outside our scientific, social and cultural systems. But how can we do that? AI has been used to look for simulations of what researchers imagine alien radio signals might look like, but now SETI researchers hope it can find things we aren't yet looking for. Graham Mackintosh, an AI consultant at the SETI Institute workshop, said extraterrestrials might be doing things we can't even imagine, using technologies so different we don't even think to look for them. AI, he proposed, might be able to do that advanced thinking for us. We may not be able to make ourselves smarter, but perhaps, Mackintosh suggested, we can make machines that are smarter for us. In a keynote at this year's Breakthrough Discuss conference, astrophysicist Martin Rees shared a similar hope, that AI could lead to "intelligence which surpasses humans as much as we intellectually surpass slime mould." Parts of the Armillaria ostoyae organism include the mushrooms, the black rhizomorphs and the white mycelial felts. Credit: USDA/Forest Service/Pacific Northwest Region First contact If we met extraterrestrial slime mould, what could we assume about its intelligence? One challenge of SETI is that we don't know the limits of life or intelligence, so we need to be open to all possible forms of difference. We might find intelligence in forms that Euro-American science has historically disregarded: Microbial communities, insects or other complex systems like the symbiotic plant-fungus relationships in mycorrhizal networks that learn from experience. Intelligence might appear in atmospheres or geology at a planetary scale, or as astrophysical phenomena. What appears to be a background process in the universe, or just part of what we think of as nature, could turn out to be intelligence. Consider that the largest living thing on Earth may be an Armillaria ostoyae fungus in Eastern Oregon's Blue Mountains, which extends to 10 square kilometres and is between 2,000 and 9,000 years old. While this fungus may not be what most people think of as intelligence, it reminds us to think about the unexpected when searching for life and intelligence, and of what we might be missing right under our feet. Thinking differently about intelligence means understanding that anything we encounter could be first contact with intelligent life. This might include our first encounter with artificial general intelligence (AGI), also called Strong AI, something closer to the sentient computer HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. As we work with machine learning to expand the SETI search, we also need social sciences to understand how our ideas shape the future of AI and how AI will shape the future of our ideas. Interdisciplinary futures To avoid a human-centred point of view in SETI we need to consider how we encode ideas about difference into AI and how that shapes the outcomes. This is vital for finding and recognizing intelligence as we don't yet know it. Some of the methods used in anthropology can help us identify ideas about difference that we've naturalized concepts so familiar they seem invisible, like the divides many still see between nature and culture or biology and technology, for example. Recent research on algorithms reveals how our naturalized ideas shape the technology we create and how we use it. And Microsoft's infamous AI chat bot Tay reminds us the AI we create can easily reflect the worst of those ideas. We may never entirely stop building bias into search engines and search strategies for SETI, or coding it into AI. But through collaborations between scientists and social scientists we can think critically about how we conceptualize difference. A critical, interdisciplinary approach will help us understand how our ideas about difference impact lives, research and possibilities for the future both here on Earth and beyond. Explore further SETI Institute calls for new tools in search for extraterrestrial intelligence This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Academics are warning that proposed measures by the Trump administration to restrict Chinese researchers from working in the US could 'stifle' global progress. The White House is discussing whether to limit the access of Chinese citizens to the United States, including restricting certain types of visas available to them and greatly expanding rules pertaining to Chinese researchers who work on projects with military or intelligence value at American companies and universities. The potential boycott which could directly affect 300,000 researchersappears to be motivated by fears Chinese researchers may be involved in espionage activities and secretly transferring sensitive US discoveries to the Chinese government. Researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Warwick and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have drawn parallels with the sharp decline in international scientific cooperation after World War I, warning that a similar impact could be seen if new barriers are put in place by the US. At the start of the war, the world split into the Allied (United Kingdom, France, later the United States, and several smaller countries) and the Central (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria) camps. The involvement of scientists in the development of chemical weapons, and the extremely nationalistic stance taken by many in support of their homeland, pitted the opposing scientific camps against each other. Immediately after the end of the war, Allied scientists enforced a boycott against Central scientists, which separated scientists into opposing camps until the mid-1920s. A recent research paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, examined the effect of this boycott and shows that barriers to international scientific co-operation not only slow down the production of basic science, but they also harm the application of science in the development of new technologies. Alessandro Iaria, one of the report's authors and a Lecturer in Economics from the University of Bristol, said: "In addition to the immediate consequences that such a scientific boycott could have, there could also be longer-term, detrimental ramifications for world-wide scientific progress and technological innovation. "While the overall effects of such a boycott are hard to estimate, there are lessons from history that can inform policy makers about the possible long-term effects for scientific progress and technological innovation. "Our results suggest that science policy should be geared toward facilitating access to and capitalising on the potential catalytic effects of cutting-edge research in enhancing scientific progress. The global academic community has real concerns that a boycott on Chinese researchers could stifle this progress." The research, also carried out by Carlo Schwarz from the University of Warwick and Dr. Fabian Waldinger from LSE, found increased barriers to international scientific co-operation during the boycott led to a decline in the number of papers published by scientists on both sides. Those scientists who had relied on cutting-edge research from abroad published fewer papers than scientists who historically worked with research from their home country. For example, US biochemists who relied on research from Germany saw their productivity decline by 33 per cent compared to US biologists who used research from counterparts in America. Importantly, the boycott not only affected Central scientists, but more broadly the entire international scientific community. Affected scientists also produced fewer scientific breakthroughs, measured by the introduction of novel words in paper titles and by nominations for a Nobel Prize, and fewer of their scientific discoveries found application in patents. Carlo Schwarz, from the University of Warwick, said: "The unique historic period allows us to study the significance of international scientific cooperation. Isaac Newton famously said that in his research he was 'standing on the shoulders of giants.' Our work highlights the importance of access to the best existing scientific ideas for the creation of new research." Explore further Boycott threat over rare New Zealand dolphin More information: Alessandro Iaria et al. Frontier Knowledge and Scientific Production: Evidence from the Collapse of International Science*, The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2017). Journal information: Quarterly Journal of Economics Alessandro Iaria et al. Frontier Knowledge and Scientific Production: Evidence from the Collapse of International Science*,(2017). DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjx046 US President Donald Trump has announced his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the landmark nuclear deal with Iran is expected to see European economic heavyweights including Germany and France pay a hefty price. European businesses rushed to invest in Iran following the 2015 agreement, from which the US president announced his country's exit on Tuesday. Fresh sanctions on Iran will hinder foreign businesses from operating there, with European enterprises risking US sanctions should they fail to wind up investments within six months. Here is who could stand to lose from the sanctions: Germany: The biggest loser? Germany, the top European exporter to Iran, has seen a surge in financial activity in the Islamic Republic since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was sealed in Vienna in April 2015. In 2016, Germany delivered 2.57 billion euros ($3.06 billion) worth of goods to the country. The following year, German exports jumped to 2.97 billion euros, a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase. Berlin's exports include machinery, pharmaceutical products and foods. Iran's exports to Germany meanwhile amounted to 314 million euros in 2016 and 410 million euros in 2017. Industrial giant Siemens, which first began operating in Iran in 1868, returned in March 2016, teaming up with local group Mapna to build gas turbines and generators for power plants. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said her country, alongside Britain and France, will "do everything" to ensure Iran remains in the 2015 nuclear deal Siemens has since signed a contract for 12 compressors for two natural gas processing plants. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler signed a deal in 2016 with two Iranian companies to produce and market trucks. France: Big in Iran French exports soared from 562 million euros in 2015 to 1.5 billion in 2017, close to the sum seen prior to the reinforced sanctions against Iran. French imports from Iran in 2017 surged to 2.3 billion euros, the highest number since 2008. French oil giant Total has struck up a partnership with Chinese conglomerate CNPC, pledging to invest $5 billion in the South Pars gas field. However, Total has only invested $100 million in the project so far, according to a source close to the deal. France's top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian called Washington's reimposition of sanctions on Iran "unacceptable" French carmaker PSA, which holds a whopping 30 percent market share in Iran, in 2017 announced a distribution deal with Iranian vehicle company DS. Renault also sells cars in the Islamic Republic. Italy exports rising Italian exports to Iran increased by 30 percent in 2016 from the prior year to more than 1.5 billion euros. Last year exports surged another 12.5 percent to 1.7 billion euros. In January, the Italian government signed a credit agreement worth 5.0 billion euros to support Italian investments in Iran. Rail giant Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane has agreed to build two high-speed rail lines in the country. Shipmaker Fincantieri has also sealed multiple deals with Iran since the nuclear agreement was reached. Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged Washington not to drop the deal with Iran Britain: Much ado about nothing? While Britain has urged the United States not to undermine the nuclear deal, few major British companies actually operate in Iran. British energy giant BP, whose roots lie in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company founded in the early 20th century, currently has no operations in Iran. Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell in 2016 signed contracts to explore the possibility of investing in Iran's oil and gas fields, but has yet to start. According to Allie Renison of the Institue of Directors, British companies do however have major contracts in Iran's infrastructure, solar power, engineering and healthcare sectors. Airbus weighed down European aviation giant Airbus has announced contracts with Iran Air Tour and Zagros Airlines for 100 planes in all, including the new A320neo, for the sum of $10 billion. Airbus has announced contracts for 100 planes including the new A320neo with Iran Air Tour and Zagros Airlines Explore further European businesses in firing line of Iran sanctions 2018 AFP Foxconn Technology Group has selected a company led by a Republican megadonor with close ties to Gov. Scott Walker to develop the master plan for its massive campus in Wisconsin. Foxconn announced Monday that it chose Hammes Company to be the lead developer on the project that will house a display-screen factory on a campus spread over 2,900 acres (1173.61 hectares). Foxconn could qualify for up to $4.5 billion in taxpayer incentives. Hammes is led by Jon Hammes, Walker's campaign finance chairman for his re-election bid. Hammes is part owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans and causes over the years. Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Martha Laning says the Foxconn project "is all about helping Scott Walker save his own career and not about the people of Wisconsin." Explore further Foxconn wants to tap 7 million gallons of water a day 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: Shutterstock Google's artificial intelligence demonstration was amusing, but raised an important question: do you have the right to know you are talking to a machine? Google surprised us all this week with the introduction of its new artificial intelligence system, Google Duplex. Unlike Siri, Alexa and other AI assistants, the system speaks like a convincing human. What's more, it's designed to make phone calls on your behalf, such as booking a table at a restaurant or an appointment at a hair salon. "I think AI Duplex is a cool technology," UNSW Canberra artificial intelligence expert and SEIT Professor Hussein Abbass says. "I certainly do not want to waste my time making phone calls to book a restaurant or a hairdresser." A conversation with Duplex flows, "ums" and "mmm-hmms" are thrown in for good measure, and it's probable the person on the receiving end has no idea they are speaking to a machine. And for many this poses an ethical concern. Should Duplex introduce itself as a robot? Professor Abbass says it should. "The key point here is that it should identify itself," Professor Abbass says. "In the video, AI Duplex said it is calling on behalf of a client. The human on the other side of the line never asked it to identify itself. If AI Duplex uses a human name to gain human trust, then clearly there is an element of deception and the AI would be acting unethically. Credit: University of New South Wales "If AI Duplex identifies itself as an automated robot or the alike, then it will be up to the human to decide if he/she wishes to continue the conversation." Professor Abbass says AI Duplex collects human voice signatures that continue to train the robot and even its own voice seems to be a synthesis of one or more human voices. "These humans need to be more aware how their data gets used and they need to offer explicit consent for the collection of the data and for the intended use of the data," he says. If we can trust Duplex to make our hairdresser appointments, can we also trust it to make an emergency call? Professor Abbass says this could have its pros and cons. "A car assistant could call the ambulance in the case of an emergency like an accident, and in this case, it is a life-saving technology," he says. "If it gets misused, then like any technology, when it is misused it is an inappropriate act - which could even be an illegal one." Professor Abbass says the technology has a long way to go before it is able to sustain lengthy human discussions. "Nevertheless, this technology is an excellent example of why the technology needs to be ethically aware. If a human asks the assistance to make an inappropriate call, AI Duplex should say 'no'," he adds. Explore further Human-sounding Google Assistant sparks ethics questions Edwin Landseer, Isaac Van Amburgh and his Animals, 1839. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Britain's last lion tamer, Thomas Chipperfield, was recently refused a licence to continue performing with his two lions and one tiger. The decision which Chipperfield intends to appeal marks the end of a long tradition of lion taming in Britain. It reflects a gradual shift in public attitudes towards circuses and a growing sense that making wild animals perform unnatural tricks is both dangerous and cruel. While it has taken nearly 200 years for such views to result in a formal ban, these sentiments have been around for a long time. From its origin in the early 19th century, lion taming has elicited both awe and horror. It has also attracted a socially diverse range of tamers, whose performances have been both praised and condemned. The lion of his day The first lion tamer to make it big in the UK was Isaac Van Amburgh. Born in Fishkill, New York State, Van Amburgh toured Europe between 1838 and 1845 and achieved notoriety for his performances with big cats. His act included introducing a lamb into the lions' cage and inserting his head into the mouth of his largest lion. Queen Victoria, a big fan of Van Amburgh, commissioned a famous portrait of the lion tamer by the artist Edwin Landseer. Though many were impressed by Van Amburgh's bravery, his performances also elicited criticism. When the American floated the idea of taking his largest lion up in a hot air balloon, the authorities banned the venture, persuaded that "if loss of life" were to occur without "even the shadow of a scientific pretext, it will certainly entail responsibility of a heavy kind upon all the parties concerned in so absurd an exhibition" (Morning Chronicle, September 24 1838). Reviewing one of the lion tamer's performances in 1838, meanwhile, a journalist for The Examiner objected to "the thrusting of his head within the lion's jaws", which was "at once a piece of gratuitous impertinence towards the animal, a very disagreeable exhibition for the spectators, and above all a highly hazardous proceeding for the exhibitor". Some level of peril was acceptable, and gave lion taming its thrill value, but excessive risk drew public condemnation. Lion queens Soon a new trend swept the menagerie business: the phenomenon of the female lion tamer. Eager to ratchet up the tension of the lion-taming spectacle, menagerists searched for innovations in personnel and homed in on the idea of a "lion queen". The first lion queen, a Miss Hilton, had entered the lions' den at Stepney Fair in 1839, and was soon followed by others. By the late 1840s, having a female tamer on the staff was virtually a necessity for any self-respecting menagerist. Needless to say, not everyone was comfortable with the idea of letting a woman perform with wild animals, and the lion queen craze subsided in 1850 when tamer Ellen Bright was killed by a tiger in Kent. According to witnesses, the accident happened when Bright, who was only 17, was coming to the end of her final performance of the evening. The Daily News reported that wanting to perform a trick with the lion, she pushed the tiger out of her way, striking it "slightly with a small whip that she carried in her hand". The animal "growled, as if in anger", and immediately tripped the girl with its paw, "seizing her furiously by the neck, inserting the teeth of the upper jaw in her chin, and in closing its mouth, inflicting frightful injury in the throat". This shocking incident precipitated a flurry of impassioned protests against lion queens. One commentator, a journalist from the Stamford Mercury, eulogised "the graceful attractions of Miss Bright" and deplored "the folly of allowing so perfect a form to be thus exposed to ruthless hazard" through her "ill-advised tampering" with "caged monsters". Another, writing in The Morning Chronicle, denounced lion taming as a futile and brutalising spectacle that "degrades both the exhibitor and the spectator and hardens the nature while steeling it to fear and to pity". Once again, the motives of both performers and spectators were under scrutiny, triggering a bout of national soul searching. Cruelty to animals Another common critique of lion taming even in the 19th century was the cruelty it inflicted on animals. Van Amburgh used violence against his big cats, hitting them with a crowbar to make them submissive. Rumours also circulated that he declawed his lions and had their teeth filed. Writing in 1881, the RSPCA denounced all lion taming performances as "an exhibition of successful cruelty" in which "big animals are punished into sulky obedience or are made to howl with anger". One particularly shocking case of animal cruelty occurred in Leeds in 1874, when, as the Leeds Mercury reported, keeper Frederick Hewitt forced a group of hyenas to jump through a fiery hoop "saturated with naptha and then lighted". Many of the animals were "severely burned". Others exhibited "raw wounds from which blood oozed". The RSPCA prosecuted Hewitt for the abuse, calling for an end to such performances. Though the case was dismissed on a legal technicality it paved the way for other successful prosecutions involving circus animals. Going too far Nor was it just animals that showmen were accused of exploiting. In addition to women, non-European, underage and disabled people also acted as tamers, drawing criticism from contemporaries. In 1866 magistrates in Nottingham denounced the performances of a five-year-old boy, Daniel Day, who entered the lion's den in his father's menagerie. And in 1870 concern was expressed for "a dwarf named Tommy Dodd", who performed with lions in Aberdeen. Then in 1872, outrage ensued when one-armed tamer Thomas McCarty was killed by lions in a menagerie at Bolton. While the chance to perform with lions may, in some respects, have been a liberating (and financially rewarding) experience for socially disadvantaged tamers, many saw the practice as voyeuristic and exploitative and called for its end. But despite surges of anger following serious accidents and deaths, the lion taming act survived public opposition, attracting large audiences well into the 20th century. It has only been in recent decades that its popularity has faded, thanks, in large part, to a rise in animal welfare activism. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Chris Sun was trying to persuade homeless people to accept free money, which, in this case, was harder than it seemed. As people lined up for lunch at the Millionair Club in the Belltown neighborhood, Sun asked if anyone had heard of the Samaritan app. Some were apprehensive, so Sun explained: It's a cashless way to give directly to homeless people, via a smartphone app. "Can I get one, man?" a man in line said. Yeah, Sun said, and held up a Bluetooth-enabled "beacon" for the man to wear. "And it labels me as a hobo?" the man asked. Startup culture is about solving problems. In Samaritan's case, the problem is that in Seattle most people want to help with the city's unprecedented homeless crisis but they don't know how. Samaritan isn't the only social venture with that mission, but if it's going to grow, it will need to team with the nonprofits that have been working against homelessness for decades. Samaritan is a for-profit, at least for now, and its relationship with nonprofits has been strained at times. Here's how it works. Download the app, enable your phone's Bluetooth, and if you pass by a homeless person with a Samaritan beacon, the app notifies you. Read their story and choose to donate to them. Donations can be redeemed at participating restaurants and stores, including Safeway, but not for alcohol. Even though beacons are preloaded with $10, some homeless people will not accept one. Some think it's going to track them and give their info to the government. In fact, the company did initially collect location data, but stopped in March because it didn't see the benefit, founder Jonathan Kumar said. Privacy experts who reviewed the app did not find significant concerns beyond the risks posed by a normal smartphone app. Other homeless people have used the beacons but let them expire because they are required to meet with staff at a nonprofit partner like Millionair Club every 30 days. If they don't, they can't access the money. Samaritan, launched in September 2016, has 7,000 downloads in Seattle, and Kumar says donations total around $2,500 a month. The company has a small staff funded in part by angel investors and a grant from Vulcan. The company makes money off a small sliding fee on top of the donation, as high as 7.5 percent. Samaritan isn't alone in this tech space. Seattle's startup culture also spawned WeCount, a web app that allows donors to give items rather than money to homeless people. Although donations given through these apps are important for the companies' success, both are hoping the real solutions will come from getting the public and homeless people more connected. High-tech manifestation Kumar, a Christian, sees his app as more than just a way to give moneyit is a high-tech manifestation of the Bible's Good Samaritan. "If you read the story of the Good Samaritan, it's so much more about stepping into someone's mess," Kumar said. "It's all about going and treating someone's wounds, and giving your to-do list and your transportation and your time, not just your money." That's what happened for Michael McCollugh, who left West Baltimore to get away from drugs and violence. But he could not work in Seattle because of disabilitiesliver damage and the loss of his spleen and gallbladdercaused by a car accident years ago. He was homeless on the streets of Seattle for 501 days, until two months ago. "It was the longest year and a half of my damn life," said McCollugh, 44. "I wouldn't wish being homeless on my worst enemy." While staying at a shelter in Queen Anne, McCollugh saw someone wearing a beacon around his neck. McCollugh tracked Kumar down and got one himself. Kumar introduced McCollugh to Rob Snow, one of the startup's interns at the time, who became McCollugh's real-life Good Samaritan. McCollugh has received about $500 from Samaritan users, but the breakthrough came from Snow. McCollugh had trouble finding a landlord willing to take his state-funded rental voucher. Snow helped out, taking McCollugh around to check out apartments; two months ago they found a place in Shoreline. This is the highest calling Kumar can think of for the app: making real-life connections. Nineteen other people have gotten into housing with help from Samaritan app users, the company said. But there's another value in these type of appsthe required 30-day check-in at nonprofits like the Millionair Club. These relationships are a reason Angele Leaptrot, the Millionair Club's senior program director, said the app is "the smartest thing I've seen in a long time." "If there's a beacon in this building, I can pull (Samaritan) up and see what this person needs," Leaptrot said. If it says on someone's profile that they're looking for work, Leaptrot can say, "That's what we do here." And if someone is coming through a nonprofit's doors regularly once a month, that person is more likely to move into housing. "There's that old saying: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," said Graham Pruss, co-founder of the web app WeCount. "But if you lead that horse to water again and again and again, they'll probably drink." Some hesitation Not all nonprofits have jumped at the opportunity to join Samaritan. Union Gospel Mission is one Samaritan partner that already sees more than 500 people a day throughout King County, said Terry Pallas, chief program officer at UGM. Staff members don't always have time to sit down with beacon-holders to update or renew their beacons, and Pallas said some beacon-holders can get confrontational. UGM is trying to hire staff specifically to work with beacon-holders, but if it can't, the partnership probably won't continue, Pallas said. "I think the worst part of my job is working with nonprofits," said Kumar. "There seems to be a fair amount of territorialism here ... It's like, 'Whoa, what are you doing ... - you're getting donors to donate directly to these people? ... You might be siphoning off some of our funding.'" Kumar said he will change this approach if he expands, as planned, to more cities such as New York and Austin, Texas. He is finding nonprofits that want to introduce the app themselvesinsiders who will be allies, instead of it being "this hotshot, tech-bro crew from Seattle," Kumar said. Whether or not this is a solution to homelessness remains to be seen, but curiosity surrounds the app. At the Millionair Club, Nadia Karavan was getting her first beacon. Katherine Brown, a grad student and volunteer, put it around Karavan's neck. "Wow," Karavan said. "Yeah," Brown said. "It's, like, the future." Explore further The role of animal companions in the lives of homeless people 2018 The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This new-to science fly is one of the 26 species found in Costa Rica. Credit: John Swann, Faculty of Science An international study by 59 biologists, including a Faculty of Science entomologist at the University of Calgary, has found a "staggering" number of fly species in one small patch of forest in Costa Ricamany of them unknown to science. The team of "fly systematists" conducted a first-of-its-kind, intensive survey of a four-hectare site of tropical cloud forest. They found 4,332 species, representing 73 families, of Diptera, the insect order of so-called "true" flies (which include deer flies, horseflies, mosquitoes, biting midges and other groups). That's equivalent to more than half of all known, or scientifically named, flies from Central America. But with further sampling, the actual total for the Costa Rican site could be more than 8,000 species of flies, the research team says. "It's staggering, the total number of species. Studies have probably severely underestimated how many species there are and the planet's rich biodiversity," says team member John Swann, an entomologist and manager of the invertebrate collection in the Department of Biological Sciences. Swann says of the 26 species of flies that he characterized from the Costa Rican specimens, only six species are known by science. "And that's only the tip of the iceberg, because we don't even know how these species function in the ecosystem." The Zurqui All Diptera Biodiversity Inventory project is the first successful modern effort to directly measure species richness of any megadiverse order of insects in a mainland tropical area. The team calls for an investigation of species through "beta-diversity" studies in a grid covering one degree by one degree (or about every 110 kilometres) over the entire face of the planet. "How can we manage and protect other species that co-inhabit Earth when we do not even know what they are or where they live?" says project co-leader Art Borkent, research associate at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, B.C. The team's paper, "Remarkable Fly (Diptera) Diversity in a Patch of Costa Rican Cloud Forest: Why Inventory is a Vital Science," is published in the journal Zootaxa. Another paper, "Comprehensive Inventory of True Flies (Diptera) at a Tropical Site," appears in the journal Communications Biology. Flies crucial to planet's ecosystems Insects, which include flies, make up the bulk of the world's known species, outside of prokaryotes (microscopic, single-celled organisms including bacteria) and fungi. Often tiny and seemingly insignificant, flies comprise 10 to 15 per cent of Kingdom Animalia (the major group of animals) and they play a crucial role in Earth's ecosystems, Swann says. Often tiny and seemingly insignificant, flies comprise 10 to 15 per cent of Kingdom Animalia (the major group of animals) and they play a crucial role in Earths ecosystems. Credit: University of Calgary Flies are pollinators, including of the cocoa plant used to make chocolate. They are also responsible for much of the decomposition of biomass, and contribute to the nutrient cycle in ecosystems. "We'd probably be waist-deep in manure if it wasn't for flies and beetles," he says. The remarkable biodiversity discovered in the Costa Rican study can be extrapolated to Canada, Swann says. "I wouldn't be surprised if we could almost double the number of fly species in Canada, compared with current estimates." Canada signed the 1992 international Convention on Biological Diversity, with an objective to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, he notes. "If we're worried about environmental degradation and the impact of climate change, we need to know what species are there that we're losing or potentially losing." More than 52,000 fly specimens examined The team caught flies on a parcel of private land near the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica's national institute for biodiversity. Researchers mainly used continuously running "Malaise" traps, which look like big, open-sided dining tents with a centre mesh panel. Flies hit the panel and either drop down and drown in a pan of soapy water or crawl up and drown in a jar full of alcohol. Six local technicians in Costa Rica sorted and prepared more than 52,000 specimens. The international team of taxonomic experts then examined each specimen under microscopes, to identify individual "morpho-species." That means each separate species showed differences in their morphology, such as body structure and markings, genitalia (both males and females), mouth parts, antennae and other characteristics. Determining morphology "is traditional science that the average person can do," Swann says, noting that the Entomological Society of Alberta was founded on the work of amateurs. "It's like doing a bird book in miniature." Two of the five families he specializes in, and which are known to inhabit Costa Rica, were not found in the study, which employed only one trap high up in the forest canopy. "Especially in tropical forests, I suspect that from my group of flies, at least half the fauna only occurs up in the canopy," Swann says. There needs to be much more research on the biology of fly species and the role they play in ecosystems around the world, he says. Explore further Three-year insect inventory of a Costa Rican rainforest now underway More information: ART BORKENT et al. Remarkable fly (Diptera) diversity in a patch of Costa Rican cloud forest: Why inventory is a vital science, Zootaxa (2018). Journal information: Zootaxa ART BORKENT et al. Remarkable fly (Diptera) diversity in a patch of Costa Rican cloud forest: Why inventory is a vital science,(2018). DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4402.1.3 Artist's impression of Magyarosuchus fitosi. Credit: Marton Szabo A 180 million-year-old fossil has shed light on how some ancient crocodiles evolved into dolphin-like animals. The specimenfeaturing a large portion of backbonerepresents a missing link in the family tree of crocodiles, and was one of the largest coastal predators of the Jurassic Period, researchers say. The newly discovered species was nearly five metres long and had large, pointed teeth for grasping prey. It also shared key body features seen in two distinct families of prehistoric crocodiles, the team says. Some Jurassic-era crocodiles had bony armour on their backs and bellies, and limbs adapted for walking on land. Another group had tail fins and flippers but did not have armour. The new species was heavily armoured but also had a tail fin, suggesting it is a missing link between the two groups, researchers say. It has been named Magyarosuchus fitosi in honour of the amateur collector who discovered it, Attila Fitos. The fossilunearthed on a mountain range in north-west Hungary in 1996 and stored in a museum in Budapestwas examined by a team of palaeontologists, including a researcher from the University of Edinburgh. Fragments of pelvis. Credit: Attila Osi It was identified as a new species based on the discovery of an odd-looking vertebra that formed part of its tail fin. The study, published in the journal PeerJ, also involved researchers in Hungary and Germany. It was supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the SYNTHESYS project, part of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme. Dr. Mark Young, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who was involved in the study, said: "This fossil provides a unique insight into how crocodiles began evolving into dolphin and killer whale-like forms more than 180 million years ago. The presence of both bony armour and a tail fin highlights the remarkable diversity of Jurassic-era crocodiles." Fragment of left mandible. Credit: Attila Osi Explore further Monstrous crocodile fossil points to early rise of ancient reptiles More information: Attila Osi et al, A new large-bodied thalattosuchian crocodyliform from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of Hungary, with further evidence of the mosaic acquisition of marine adaptations in Metriorhynchoidea, PeerJ (2018). Journal information: PeerJ Attila Osi et al, A new large-bodied thalattosuchian crocodyliform from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of Hungary, with further evidence of the mosaic acquisition of marine adaptations in Metriorhynchoidea,(2018). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4668 The red pandas are coveted for their shiny copper fur and "cute" appearance Munching on bamboo and lazing under a fan spraying cooling mist, "Jackie Chan" is in a relaxed mood, one of three red pandas once destined for the exotic wildlife trade but now instead settling into a new home in a leafy Laos sanctuary. The three animals, nicknamed Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Peace, were among six found stuffed into crates during a random check of a van traveling from China over the border into northern Laos in January. Dehydrated and lacking food, three died within days, while the survivors were taken to a sanctuary run by the non-profit Free the Bears in the hills around the tourist hotspot of Luang Prabang. It was "very very hard" to save the three who perished, says Sengaloun Vongsay, Laos programme manager for Free the Bears. It was the first discovery of red pandas in Laos, experts said, fueling fears the endangered species may be the latest targets of the illegal pet industry, coveted for their shiny copper fur and "cute" appearance. "They're eating well, they're generally pretty relaxed," said Michelle Walhout Tanneau, operations manager for Free the Bears. Landlocked Laos is a key transit hub in the illegal and lucrative global trade in wildlife, sharing borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. In January Thai authorities arrested Boonchai Bach, a Vietnamese national with Thai citizenship and an alleged kingpin in Asia's illegal wildlife trade, for rhino horn trafficking. Free the Bears has provided temporary enclosures and set aside a section of tree-covered land for the animals Boonchai and the Bach family are believed to have operated for years from northeast Thailand bordering Laos, where law enforcement is weak and corruption widespread. Freeland, a counter-trafficking organisation that worked with Thai police on his case, on Friday said the 41-year-old Boonchai was this week jailed for two-and-a-half years. Laos' government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the red panda seizure, though Free the Bears said that one Chinese national had been arrested over the find. With their forest habitats under threat, red panda populations in Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar are vulnerable. Free the Bears has provided temporary enclosures and set aside a section of tree-covered land where the red pandas could live in case they could not be released back into the wild. The two superstar nicknames were given by staff, while "Peace" was chosen by a donor. Rod Mabin, a spokesman for the non-profit, said the group was consulting with experts and the red pandas would live in the sanctuary for the foreseeable future. "Ultimately we'll try to make the decision which is best for the future health and safety of the animals and to provide them the best life possible," he said. Explore further Red pandas rescued in Laos stir fears over exotic pet trade 2018 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain China, India, Japan, France and the European Union are crafting bold plans for artificial intelligence (AI). They see AI as a means to economic growth and social progress. Meanwhile, the U.S. disbanded its AI taskforce in 2016. Without an AI strategy of its own, the world's technology leader risks falling behind. The U.S. technology sector has long been a driver of global economic growth. From the PC to the Internet, the greatest advancements of the past 50 years were spawned in the U.S. This country's unique approach to limited regulation combined with public-private partnerships creates an environment for innovation generally unmatched in the free world. A national AI strategy can build on this history of economic and technological leadership. Artificial intelligence is astonishing in its potential. It will be more transformative than the PC and the Internet. Already it is poised to solve some of our biggest challenges. As examples, AI has been used to more precisely detect and diagnose cancer, treat depression, improve crop yields, save energy, increase supply chain efficiencies and protect our financial systems. These are remarkable successes for such a young technology. Governments can and should help build on these successes. A national strategy for AI will provide the necessary guideposts that enable industry and academia to innovate. When the regulatory environment is known and understood, businesses and government researchers can maximize their impact by pursuing the same goals. In this context, it will also be important to address concerns about AI's impact on individuals. Privacy, cybersecurity, ethics and potential employment impact are all worthy of careful analysis. Governments and industry can and should work together to better understand these concerns before any new regulation is enacted. As evidenced by their AI plans, governments around the world see AI as a catalyst for economic growth and a means to improve the lives of their citizens. They are prioritizing research and development and the establishment of a strong and diverse ecosystem to bring AI to fruition. China's plan, for example, includes measurable objectives and detailed direction on specific areas of focus. This is backed by significant public-private funding commitments as well as industry-government alignment on direction. The EU's strategy provides deliberate direction to avoid regulation while investing in R&D. It offers a clear focus on greater investment, preparation for socio-economic changes, and formation of an ethical and legal framework. Japan, India, France and others are adopting similar strategies. Industry has partnered with many of these governments to develop their plans; we stand ready to work with the U.S. government in the same way. A good model for success is the semiconductor sector, where industry and the U.S. government partnered in the early 1980s to build the vast ecosystem that is considered the North Star for technology success today. AI can be history's greatest economic engine. Governments can and should help make this real. Before disbandment, the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Taskforce defined seven strategic objectives and two specific recommendations for AI. This report called on the government to develop a more detailed AI R&D plan, and study the creation of an AI R&D workforce. These recommendations can be the starting point for a definitive U.S. national strategy for AI. This is not a call for a swarm of new laws and regulations. Rather, a U.S. national strategy can provide the structure for researchers and industry to follow as they develop artificial intelligence. Such direction provides operating certainty that lessens risk. A national strategy therefore should aim to foster innovation across the industry and academia, and prepare society for changes to come. It can also provide operating clarity that lessens business risk. Two areas of focus should be prioritized: government funding of R&D to augment the great work being done by industry and the availability of government data for innovators to use in developing artificial intelligence capabilities. AI needs data to learn, and there are ways to do this without compromising privacy and security. AI is too big for one company or one country to realize alone. The transformative potential of AI has been likened to electricity and the steam engine. Ensuring a role for the U.S. in this global revolution is critical to not just the U.S. economic engine but that of our entire world. Other countries see this opportunity and are already acting on it. It is time for the U.S. to join. Explore further Data privacy must be protected, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tells technologists Credit: Colorado State University In the race to create more potent and stable medicines, scientists know that adding fluorine can improve drug molecules. However, there is only one fluorination reaction known to occur in nature. And this process is performed by complex and highly specialized enzymes that are difficult to replicate. Now, scientists have developed a new, streamlined molecule that can do the work of enzymes but be designed and controlled minutely. This new catalyst transforms a safe, affordable fluoride salt into fluorinated organic molecules. In addition to improved pharmaceuticals, fluorinated molecules can also act as useful "radiotracers" in high-resolution 3-D medical imaging technology, such as PET (positron emission tomography) scanning. Robert Paton, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Colorado State University, contributed to the new study, which was published this week in Science. The work was conceived and led by Professor Veronique Gouverneur at the University of Oxford, with design and synthesis provided by Gabriele Pupo and Francesco Ibba in the Gouverneur lab, and the mode of action uncovered using quantum mechanical calculations by Oxford's David Ascough and Paton. "This new catalyst performs the same function as the biological enzyme, but is a fraction of the size and is more widely applicable," Paton said. In addition, the designed catalyst can be used to incorporate fluorine into a variety of organic molecules, whereas the naturally occurring enzyme is limited to just one target. An illustration of the catalysis reaction that is tuned to integrate fluorine atoms into a new organic product. Credit: Robert Paton/Colorado State University Designing a new molecular claw Catalysts speed up chemical reactions, creating new compounds from the original ingredients. The catalyst that Paton and his colleagues developed is specifically tuned to integrate fluorine atoms into a new organic product. "It works like a claw crane arcade game," Paton said of the catalyst's mode of action. "You're trying to pick one fluffy toy out of many and hold on tightly. In a broad sense, that's what our catalyst does. Surrounded by other chemicals, it selectively binds fluoride anions using three hydrogen-bonds effectively a molecular claw and then positions it to add the substrate," or target location. Credit: Colorado State University With such specific tasks, catalysts are extremely challenging to create from scratch. "You're trying to construct a molecule with a specific function and a precise three-dimensional shape," Paton said. That's where Paton's work comes in. His lab specializes in computational analysis and uses quantum mechanics to predict structure and behavior. In creating a new catalyst, "computer-aided design allows you to visualize atomic-scale structures in the same way you would design a new airplane or new house," he said. In the past, he added, "the discovery of new functional molecules has relied heavily on serendipity and trial and error. We've combined computation with experiment to understand the mechanism of how this thing works. And we applied that early on to guide our experimental design." This approach allows them to rely less on time-consuming trial and error. Instead, "it's about minimizing failure through a better understanding of how reactions take place," he said. A greener chemistry Paton joined the CSU College of Natural Sciences this January from his post as an associate professor at Oxford University in the U.K., where the new work was conducted. He brings his broadly applicable research to the new Chemistry Research Building. Beyond the work on fluorine, his research overall is also helping to create a "greener" chemistry. The computational approach cuts down on trial-and-error attempts. And improving catalysis with smarter, custom-created molecules also cuts down on waste products. Novel catalysts could also be put to work generating new, useful products out of waste. For example, specifically designed compounds could turn discarded plant products into useful chemicals, such as energy products. It is about "being able to control catalysis to generate the products you want," Paton said. And that work might someday be behind a better pharmaceutical or cleaner fuel all thanks to a more efficient molecular claw. More information: Gabriele Pupo et al. Asymmetric nucleophilic fluorination under hydrogen bonding phase-transfer catalysis, Science (2018). Journal information: Science Gabriele Pupo et al. Asymmetric nucleophilic fluorination under hydrogen bonding phase-transfer catalysis,(2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7941 The tech industry's mission shouldn't just be to invent new technology, but also to make sure that technology is responsible and ethical. That was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's opening message at the company's technology conference, Microsoft Build, in downtown Seattle on Monday. "We need to ask ourselves not only what computers can do, but what computers should do," Nadella said during his keynote presentation, calling out the impact of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and especially digital privacy. The tech industry is busy getting ready for the European Union's new data privacy regulations, which take effect at the end of the month. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is intended to protect EU citizens' digital data, and companies have spent the last two years preparing to comply. Companies will have to get permission from EU customers before collecting data a hot-button aspect of the digital world that became an intense national discussion in the U.S. this spring when it was revealed just how much data Facebook is collecting on all of its users. Nadella praised the upcoming EU regulation on Monday, calling privacy a human right. "GDPR is a sound, good regulation," Nadella said. The company has been preparing for compliance since the regulation was approved in 2016, he said. Microsoft has long positioned itself as a supporter of digital privacy and recently ended a long-running lawsuit against the U.S. government involving how digital data can be shared across borders. The suit, which had reached the U.S. Supreme Court, was decided by the court last month to be moot after Congress passed a law that set out guidelines for cloud companies and law enforcement agencies to access data held internationally. The Cloud Act was backed by Microsoft and much of the tech industry, but criticized by some digital privacy organizations for not going far enough to protect consumers. Nadella also pointed to Microsoft's internal efforts to establish an ethics board for artificial intelligence technology. This week's Microsoft Build conference brings together developers who build tools and applications on top of Microsoft's technology. The conference this year is emphasizing the company's cloud computing technology and its focus on enabling Microsoft software to be used across devices, not just on Microsoft-created hardware and services. Nadella seemed to point to that philosophy Monday morning by opening his speech with a mention of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' support of Apple. Gates told CNBC on Monday that Apple is an "amazing company" with strong profit potential, backing Warren Buffett's decision to increase his company's stake in the tech giant's stock. It's the first time Nadella has heard Gates talk about stock in the 30 years they've known each other, Nadella said, and he chose to talk about Apple. Explore further Cloud computing, artificial intelligence on Microsoft agenda 2018 The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. There's plenty that's striking about Phoroncidia rubroargentea, a species of spider native to Madagascar, starting with their sizeat just three millimeters, they're barely larger than a few grains of salt. But the reason they caught Sarah Kariko's eye had more to do with their color. Unlike many other species, which gradually see their color leach away when preserved in ethanol, the tiny spiders dazzled with brilliant, shimmering red and silver, even after decades in ethanol. "I was sorting through specimens from my expeditions to Madagascar and these little red spiders kept catching my eye," Kariko said. "I asked a colleague, 'Have you ever seen this before?' When I started going through the same spider species on the shelves in the collection and then began examining specimens from other museums they looked like this too, so I started asking how is this happening? What is going on here?" Those questions were the start of a journey that would lead Kariko and several other Harvard scientists (plus two scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science) to investigate both how the tiny spiders produce their distinctive colors and why they are so surprisingly durable. Their findings, published in 2018 as a cover article in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, show that the spiders actually use a combination of strategiesincluding structural colors and pigment and fluorescent materialto produce their colors, and that all of it is protected by a tough cuticle layer. "We don't yet know exactly why these spiders have this coloration," Kariko said. "There are many visual predators, like chameleons, in the forests where these spiders are found, so it's possible this may be a warning or protective coloring. With this paper, we've made some inroads into how they make these colors, but the why is still a mystery we hope to eventually unravel." Credit: DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0930 The first step in dismantling the spider's colors involved James Weaver from Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering who examined the specimens with Kariko, and then contacted Mathias Kolle while he was with Joanna Aizenberg's Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab (he is now a professor in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering) to perform spectroscopy measurements. They quickly realized they also needed someone with a special skillset in material science as well as excellent manual dexterity to work with these tiny specimens, so they contacted Ling Li. Li, a postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute (and now a professor in Virginia Tech's Department of Mechanical Engineering), used a broad array of imaging techniquesfrom optical microscopy to fluorescence to electron microscopyto examine the colors in precise detail. The team expanded to include Jaakko Timonen from the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (and now a professor at Aalto University in Finland), who conducted detailed fluorescence imaging of the spider specimens, as well as Carolyn Marks, biological imaging scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Systems, who was also brought on board to help prepare and examine very thin slices of the spider. Very quickly, said Li and Kolle, it became clear that the silver color was the result of a material similar to that found in reflective fish scales. That structure functions, Kolle said, by stacking a series of tiny, 100-nanometer thick platesabout 1/1000th the width of a human hairmade of highly reflective material on top of each other. Each plate reflects light at a slightly different wavelength and those wavelengths either cancel each other out or add up to produce color. "Ling's analysis brought this out beautifully," Kolle said. "We were able to image these platelets and show that they have a specific thickness, but there is no specific control of the spacing between them. That means some areas might filter out red and reflect it strongly, and other areas might do the same for blue, or for green. When you add all that up, you get the silver color." "We were able to show that this silver color is structural," Li added. "So that explains why the color doesn't fade awayit's built into the structure." The team also found that the (non-structural) red color is able to resist fading in ethanol because the pigment is trapped in an array of tiny "microspheres" that are only about one micron in diameter. "To the best of our knowledge this is something unique, I think, in terms of spiders," Li said. "We don't yet know the exact chemical components of the pigment, but it appears these microspheres contribute to the stability of the red color." The spider's color protections, however, don't end there. "It is likely the colors' stability is also enhanced by an outer cuticle layer," Li said. "This is a hard-bodied spider, so that cuticle surface is relatively thick and hard, and robust, which could provide additional mechanical and chemical stability. Around the silver color, the cuticle is very uniform and transparent, but in the red area, it is modified to include additional pigment which adds to the red color." And while this color is surprisingly stable over time, their experiments also show that its long term resistivity to chemical attack by the surrounding fixatives is also sensitive to mechanical disruption or other impacts, which can damage the complex multi-component pigment based system. The team's analysis of how the spiders produce their distinctive color also uncovered evidence of an unusual phenomenon, called "twinning" in the structure of the plates used to produce the silver color. Two scientists from the Weizmann Institute, Leslie Leiserowitz and Dvir Gur, brought their expertise in crystallography to help the team identify the characteristics of atomic arrangement of these guanine crystals by using the structural data acquired by Li and Kariko. "These plates are made of guanine crystalsthe same material found in reflective fish scalesbut in this case, the plates are not a single crystal, there is a twinning plane that runs parallel to the orientation of the crystal. Essentially, there are two crystals facing each other so the atoms are arranged in mirror symmetry." Though such structures have been observed in two other animalscopepod bodies and scallop eyes - P. rubroargentea is the first known example of twining in arachnids, Kariko said. Though the team is still working to understand exactly why twinning occurs, Li suggested it may be necessary to ensure the platelets grow to the proper thickness to achieve their desired optical properties. Ultimately, Kolle said, the hope is that a better understanding of how the spiders produce their vivid and long-lasting color might also yield valuable insights that could be applied to other questions in materials science. "The take home message here is if you are building a new material for a given purpose and you have certain criteria you want to satisfy, like color robustness," Kolle said. "We can take some of these natural solutions as a starting point." Phoroncidia rubroargentea is also the spider that inspired Kariko to create the Spider Super Hero Program, designed initially for pediatric oncology and hematology patients at the Floating Hospital for Children, and later expanded for Harvard's Museum of Natural Historyit has now reached more than 200 children and their families. In this program, participants take part in an imaginary expedition around the world to meet many different spider species and learn about their adaptations (or "super powers"), that contribute to their survival in their specific habitats. After this initial introduction to spider biodiversity, the children would then design their very own spider super hero to help them with a real world challenge that they are facing and could use a little extra help with. In the case of P. rubroargentea, for example, this spider could remind us that even if you are going through chemotherapy or something elseshe can help us remember how beautiful we can stay inside and out regardless of the difficulties we encounter along the way. "There are many ways to be inspired by the natural world," Kariko said. "The hope is this program can help open our eyes to the beauty and possibility from even the littlest creatures among us." Explore further Rainbow peacock spiders may inspire new optical technologies More information: Sarah Kariko et al. Structural origins of coloration in the spider Phoroncidia rubroargentea Berland, 1913 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Madagascar, Journal of The Royal Society Interface (2018). Journal information: Journal of the Royal Society Interface Sarah Kariko et al. Structural origins of coloration in the spider Phoroncidia rubroargentea Berland, 1913 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Madagascar,(2018). DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0930 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The cryptocurrency investment craze is bringing out the creativity in fraudsters, Texas regulators say. The Texas State Securities Board cracked down on two more crypto-related companies this week, accusing them of attempting to dupe Texas investors. One of the companies promoted its operations as being in "a secluded place in the mountains hiding incredible computing power" and configured in such a way "that the flow of the cold mountain river would cool" its computer servers. Bitcoin Trading & Cloud Mining Limited, which goes by the name BTCrush and is based in London, used "stock footage available for sale on the internet" to create phony videos depicting the operations, according to the State Securities Board. The agency issued emergency cease and desist orders on Tuesday against BTCrush and Forex EA & Bitcoin Investment LLC, a New York-based company that claimed it could quickly generate 1,000 percent returns for investors through its trading program. Forex EA & Bitcoin and its representatives have also claimed "that there is no possible way investors can lose money" in the trading program, according to the order. Counting the two orders this week, the State Securities Board has taken enforcement actions against nine crypto-related companies since late last year for promoting what it contends are fraudulent investment schemes in Texas or attempting to sell unregistered securities here. "The entry of these (enforcement actions) demonstrates our continued commitment to protecting investors while fostering an environment where legitimate businesses are able to embrace new technologies and grow in the new market," said Joe Rotunda, the agency's director of enforcement. "Anyone can say anything about anyone or anything on the internet," he said. "Investors should be wary of promoters who may be falsifying information to add legitimacy to claims of profitability." Last month, Rotunda said the term "cryptocurrency" has become the most common buzzword used in investment scams statewide, surpassed schemes involving oil and gas assets, real estate and stocks as the most popular means by which fraudsters are attempting to separate Texas investors from their money. Some of the schemes have been brazen, with one companynamed LeadInvesteven promoting the likeness of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a fake photograph of its "ethics" advisers, according to the securities board. BTCrush's promotional materials fraudulently contend that it operates a "most reliable and secretive (server) farm located in a bunker of the Second World War times," Texas regulators said, in addition to having one hidden near a cold mountain river. "What can be more reliable than a bombproof shelter?" the material asks, according to regulators. 2018 Austin American-Statesman, Texas Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Researchers at Oregon State University are challenging the premise that trophy hunting is an acceptable and effective tool for wildlife conservation and community development. They argue that charging hunters to kill animals and claim body parts should be a last resort rather than a fallback plan. In a paper published today in Conservation Letters, the researchers label the practice as morally inappropriate and say alternative strategies such as ecotourism should be fully explored and ruled out before trophy hunting is broadly endorsed. "Trophies are body parts," said lead author Chelsea Batavia, a Ph.D. student in OSU's College of Forestry. "But when I read the literature, I don't see researchers talking about them like that. Nobody's even flinching. And at this point it seems to have become so normalized, no one really stops to think about what trophy hunting actually entails." Furthermore, the authors point out, the notion that trophy hunting is imperative to conservation seems to have taken hold largely without compelling empirical evidence. Such an assumption is not only unsubstantiated but can also serve to squelch the search for alternatives. "Rejecting trophy hunting could open up space for innovation and creativity," they write. Batavia worked with colleagues in Oregon State's Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society and collaborators from Canada and Australia. The idea for the paper occurred to them over the course of a review of scholarly literature on trophy hunting. "Conservation scientists commonly recognize strong public opposition to the practice, and at times even point to some sort of ethical tension, but they don't really define or address it," Batavia said. She and her co-authors decided it was time to break the silence and highlight an issue they suspect may underpin the public discomfort around trophy huntingthat it involves a hunter paying a fee to kill an animal and subsequently retaining some or all of the animal's body as a trophy. Part of the ongoing problem, the researchers write, is the word "trophy," a sanitized expression for the tusks, ears, feet, heads, etc. that hunters remove from the animals' bodies. "It's almost like an ethical distraction, calling it by some other name," said co-author Michael Paul Nelson, a professor and the Ruth H. Spaniol Chair of Renewable Resources at OSU. "We have these metaphors that we hide behind. It's like we recognize it's an ethically loaded topic but we don't know what to do about it. And we've tied conservation to the practice of trophy huntinghow do we get off that train?" Proponents argue that trophy hunting supports conservation goals by generating money and reducing poaching and also that it bolsters local economies. Nelson, Batavia and their co-authors recognize these benefits, but they counter that "collecting bodies or body parts as trophies is an ethically inappropriate way to interact with individual animals, regardless of the beneficial outcomes that do or do not follow." "We owe these animals some basic modicum of respect," the researchers suggest. "To transform them into trophies of human conquest is a violation of common decency, and to accept trophy hunting as the international conservation community seems to have done is to aid and abet an immoral practice." If it's determined that saving wildlife is inexorably linked to trophy hunting, conservationists should then "accept the practice only with a due appreciation of tragedy, and proper remorse," the researchers write. They do acknowledge the possibility that future scientific research may suggest trophy hunting is in fact critical to the conservation mission in certain contexts. "In that case trophy hunting should be used reluctantly," they write. "The enthusiasm with which trophy hunting has already been championed as a potential conservation success story is misplaced. Trophy hunting violates the dignity of individual nonhuman animals, and is beneath our dignity as human beings. Continuing complicity by conservationists without fully exhausting other options is not now appropriate nor has it ever been." Explore further What does trophy hunting contribute to wild lion conservation? Faulty seat belts in new Polos is the lastest in a series of problems for Volkswagen German carmaker Volkswagen said Friday it would recall 410,000 cars from its own brand and Spanish subsidiary Seat over faulty seat belts, warning customers not to use the middle seat in the meantime. "There is the possibility that in rare situations... when the rear centre seat and the rear left seat are occupied at the same time, the left seat belt lock could be unintentionally released" on some 219,000 2018 VW Polo cars, the group said in a statement. A spokesman told news agency DPA that some 191,000 Seat Ibiza and Arona vehicles with similar seat belt locks were also affected. "The brand advises its customers not to use the middle seat of the new Polo until the car will be equipped with the redesigned belt lock fixture," for which it is awaiting final regulatory approval. VW, the world's largest auto producer with its 12 brands, will begin writing to affected buyers "within the next few weeks", it said. The recall caps a week of bad news for VW. On Tuesday, subsidiary Audi stopping deliveries of its latest A6 and A7 models over "irregularities" in emissions controls harking back to the "dieselgate" scandal, which saw VW admit in 2015 to manipulating 11 million cars worldwide to cheat regulatory emissions tests. On the same day, German daily Bild reported VW chief executive Herbert Diess was cooperating with the FBI in its investigation into his predecessor Martin Winterkorn, who resigned after the scandal broke. American prosecutors believe Winterkorn knew of the cheating as early as May 2014 but decided to continue with the fraud. 2018 AFP May 11, 2018 in Publishing (E) [prMac.com] St. Valentin, Austria - Independent developer, Karl Traunmueller today released Compositor 1.2, the next version of the WYSIWYG LaTeX Mac app that brings real-time WYSIWYG capabilities to LaTeX, the document preparation system widely used in academia for preparation of scientific and technical publications. This release adds compatibility with the LaTeX 3 programming layer, the next generation programming model for authoring LaTeX packages. While development of the LaTeX 3 kernel is an ongoing effort, the programming layer for LaTeX 3 (as provided by the expl3 macro package) is already deemed stable, and thus chosen by many package authors for writing new packages. As such, this newly added compatibility marks an important step in the product's evolution towards broader support for modern LaTeX packages. Also, version 1.2 increases the internal memory capacity of the underlying typesetting engine, TeX. This is expected to improve overall resilience of the application when exposed to a broad variety of documents. Lastly, the LaTeX distribution that comes bundled with the app has been updated to the latest TeX Live release, TeX Live 2018. To rapidly evolve the product into the go-to solution for LaTeX on the Mac, Karl Traunmueller, the developer, plans to ship updates about every 6 weeks throughout the year. The next version, 1.3, is scheduled for release by late June, and will bring improvements to the user interface and usability in general. Features: * Zero-turnaround, real-time typesetting * Modern WYSIWYG interface * Simple drag & drop installation; no additional software required * Automatic, on-demand extension package installation * No proprietary document format, compatible with regular plain text .tex files * Based on TeX Live, a comprehensive standard LaTeX distribution Pricing and Availability: A fully-functional 60-day free trial is available for download from the product's website. Licenses can be purchased from the product's online store at an early-adopter price of $19 (USD). The purchase includes all future updates, including major version updates. There are currently no plans to support Windows or Linux platforms. For more information, please contact Karl Traunmueller. Karl Traunmueller points out that the app is in many ways still at an early stage of development, and is undergoing further enhancement in the coming months. The product's web site details its current limitations and links to a roadmap of planned improvements and features. This build-up of features is reflected in an early-adopter pricing strategy: all purchases include lifetime updates, but the current entry price of $19 will rise to $29 midway through the year, and to $39 (USD) by end of the year. Karl Traunmueller is an independent iOS and Mac developer from Austria. After graduating from Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, with an MSc in Computer Science in 1998, Karl has worked as a software engineer in a variety of fields ranging from embedded systems to enterprise applications. Before writing Compositor, Karl was the first developer to bring the IPython scientific computing environment to the iPad. All Material and Software (C) 2018 Karl Traunmueller / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, macOS, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. ### Wanda Nelson has been found not guilty of first- or second-degree murder in the death of Sol In a move meant to expand its service capacity and speed in the Central Coast region, FedEx is set to open a new distribution center near the CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary. Like most websites we use cookies. This is to ensure that we give you the best experience possible. Continuing to use SciDev.Net means you agree to our use of cookies. If you would like to, you can learn more about the cookies we use here Armenian President Armen Sarkissian attends a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 103rd anniversary of mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian dismissed the heads of the security service and police at the request of newly elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the presidential press service said on Thursday. The sackings of Vladimir Gasparyan as head of the police and Georgy Kutoyan as director of the National Security Service follow parliament's election of Pashinyan as prime minister this week. The former opposition leader was swept to power by a peaceful revolution driven by mass protests against corruption and cronyism in the ex-Soviet republic. Pashinyan said in a social media post on Thursday that he had written to the president proposing Kutoyan and Gasparyan be dismissed. Gasparyan, who had served as head of the police since 2011, will be replaced by Valery Osipyan, the deputy chief of police of the capital Yerevan, a presidential decree published on Thursday said. Kutoyan, who had worked as head of the national security service since 2016, will be succeeded by Artur Vanetsyan, the head of the service in Yerevan. The election of Pashinyan, a former newspaper editor who spent time in prison for fomenting unrest, marked a dramatic rupture with the cadre of rulers who have run Armenia since the late 1990s. On Thursday, acting finance minister Vardan Aramyan said he was quitting his post before the formation of a new government under Pashinyan. Aramyan served as finance minister in the previous government led by former president Serzh Sarksyan, who stood down on April 23 amid protests. (Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchyan, Writing by Denis Pinchuk and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber, Editing by Gareth Jones, William Maclean) Since last August, nearly 700,000 members of Myanmars Rohingya community have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh. Ordinarily, the women among them would have few future prospects and little opportunity to find gainful employment. But this is one thing the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Bangladesh is trying to change, by helping women from the displaced Rohingya community into higher education to give them a brighter future. The university has spent years working to gain the trust of the communitys leaders, and Rohingya women now make up just under 10 per cent of AUWs student body, says Kamal Ahmad, CEO of the Bangladeshi university. Founded in 2008, the university which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month offers full scholarships to nearly all of its students, who are admitted on the basis of merit, regardless of their familys income level. Funded by independent charitable foundations and proceeds generated from gala events, the university has grown to enrol more than 700 students a year. Once its new purpose-built campus has been constructed, it will be able to provide learning for 3,000 women. Establishing connections with hard-to-reach communities such as the Rohingya is not an easy task, Ahmad explains. Across South and Southeast Asia there are 30 million people that live in mountain communities from Kachin in Burma to Nagaland in India to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, he says. Some move higher up, partly to avoid the problems that come with state regulation. But by doing that, they also remove themselves from services like education and health. Apart from a handful of missionaries, theres no real education service. We felt the university had to reach out to these remote mountain communities. Ahmad explains that there are three requirements in successfully getting women living in remote villages to enrol in higher education: forming bonds with trusted individuals and organisations within those communities; flexibility at entry that compensates for any previous lack of education; and scholarships that help convince families that it is worth sending their daughters away. Story continues Even when these requirements have been met, there can still be psychological barriers to overcome. Even if the families have a bit of money, the moment you ask for them to invest in girls education even a few dollars to make the bus trip to take the tests somehow it becomes impossible to come up with the money, Ahmad says. So when we visit these areas we insist that whether you have shoes or no shoes, it doesnt matter as long as the young woman has courage and the intellectual wherewithal, we will find a way. Given the wide variation in ability of its entrants, the university launched a Pathways for Promise programme last year which provides underprivileged students with intensive classes in English, maths and computer literacy. We have this dual challenge, Ahmad says. We want to create a high-quality university but we also have a commitment to reach women who are ordinarily bypassed by the system at large. Theres a constant tension between quality and access. We go to [Bangladeshi garment] factories and offer the admissions test to factory workers. We tell them, If you dont take the test youll never know. Kamal Ahmad As well as reaching out to the Rohingya community, the university has also begun working with garment factory workers in Bangladesh. In January 2016, 15 workers out of hundreds of applicants were admitted onto the Pathways for Promise programme, starting their higher education journey on full scholarships from the Ikea Foundation. So far, more than 100 female factory workers in total have been enrolled on the programme. We go to the factories and offer the admissions test to factory workers, Ahmad says. We tell them, If you dont take the test youll never know. Again, more than 100 women who were stuck in these essentially dead-end jobs in hopeless conditions are now making progress. Many of them now aspire to set up their own factories. And so, a variety of communities [for whom] youd think a university education would be entirely unreachable have suddenly become a possibility. One outstanding example of an AUW graduate, Ahmad says, is a young woman from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh named Duth Kimsru, who found a copy of the universitys brochure in her local grocers. The brochures were written in English and I know only a little bit [of] English, Kimsru recalled during a speech she made at an AUW event in Japan in 2014, not long after graduating. But I was so excited at the pictures that I had seen, that I sat with the brochures and an English dictionary to check almost every word until I could understand what it said. She applied for a place and managed to get in. After graduating, Duth accepted a job with a charity focused on education and youth leadership in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which encourages girls to stay in school. She goes on a motorcycle from village to village rallying young girls to continue their education and not give up on their dreams, Ahmad says. In recognition of her work, Kimsru, along with nine other emerging leaders in Southeast Asia, was invited to meet former US president Barack Obama at an event hosted by the Obama Foundation in Singapore in March. Such stories reassure Ahmad that the university is achieving its goal of elevating disadvantaged women. Around 25 per cent of the universitys undergraduate students go on to study postgraduate degrees and many have found work that would have ordinarily been out of their reach. If you go to Afghanistan, whether you go to the presidents office or the first ladys office or the ministries, you will most likely see young women who are our graduates, Ahmad says. These young women, their lives are transformed. This article Asian University for Women helping Rohingya refugees into higher education as it marks its 10th anniversary first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: More than seven years after their prefecture became the scene of the second-worst nuclear disaster in history, trade officials in Fukushima have welcomed reports that Japan and China will discuss lifting Beijings ban on imports of food from the region. An agreement to open talks was reached at Wednesdays summit in Tokyo between Premier Li Keqiang and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Most of the discussions focused on developments on the Korean Peninsula, but progress was made on bilateral issues including food exports from Fukushima and the introduction of a hotline to prevent accidental clashes in the air and at sea enhancing the recent sense that relations between Beijing and Tokyo are improving after several tense years. The Fukushima officials told the South China Morning Post that they hope that translates into Beijing reopening the door to exports of agricultural and fisheries products. Fukushima prefecture has been strictly monitoring food products since the accident and I strongly wish for the Chinese government to quickly lift the import restrictions based on the scientific evidence, said Takahiro Ichimura, director of the prefectures Trade Promotion Council. Fukushima prefecture is extremely large, covering an area equal to Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures as well as Tokyo combined, he emphasised. Regarding the nuclear accident, the evacuation area near the power plant is an extremely small part of the prefecture. Fukushima is also an important rice growing region for Japan and is famous for its seafood. In 2010, the year before the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was crippled by a magnitude-9 earthquake and a series of towering tsunami, around 153 tonnes of food were exported. Fifty-four countries and regions imposed temporary import bans immediately after the double disaster, when radiation levels increased to unsafe levels and the Japanese government swiftly stopped shipments of food until safety could be guaranteed. Story continues Since then, 27 countries have lifted their restrictions and the prefecture shipped 210 tonnes of agricultural products abroad last year, mainly to Malaysia and Thailand, although there has been a reluctance among some consumers to buy the products because of the lingering fear of radiation poisoning. Overseas exports closer to home those to South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan have not picked up, however, due to the same concerns about radioactivity. At the moment, China bans imports of food from 10 prefectures in northeast Japan and even requires food from prefectures not subject to its total ban to include a certificate indicating its origin. Some products from outside the 10 prefectures are also required to undergo radiation inspections. As recently as March, Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor turned down a request during a visit by Japans Foreign Minister Taro Kono to lift the citys ban on imports of fresh produce and milk from Fukushima and four neighbouring prefectures. Lam also insisted that targeted radiation testing on products from the rest of Japan would continue. This article Fukushima officials see silver lining in radioactive cloud as Beijing mulls lifting food ban first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala asked the governments of Sweden and Venezuela on Thursday to withdraw their ambassadors, accusing the diplomats of interfering in domestic politics and calling the country corrupt. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has been assailed by graft accusations against his family, and he has been at loggerheads with a United Nations-backed anti-corruption body of which Sweden is a prominent backer. "Because Ambassadors Anders Kompass and Elena Alicia Salcedo Poleo have, in the course of their work, assumed attitudes that result in interference in the internal affairs of Guatemala, the governments of Sweden and Venezuela have been asked to withdraw them," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel told a news conference the requests to remove the ambassadors had nothing to do with the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), however. "You all know perfectly well that at one point Ambassador Kompass called all of Guatemalan society corrupt, and that's not something we accept, nor will we tolerate, because that's not how it is," she told reporters. In January, at a ceremony where the Swedish government donated funds to CICIG, Kompass made mention of "a corrupt society" but added that he did "not think it was correct" to say all of the culture was bad. He also noted that CICIG represented "a strong medicine" for Guatemala. Earlier this year CICIG tried unsuccessfully to impeach Morales, a former comedian. He then tried but failed to expel the head of CICIG after criticism from the UN, the United States and the European Union. Jovel said on Thursday "nobody is being expelled, nor are we declaring anyone non grata. Bilateral relations continue." "I think the ambassador of Venezuela also committed some types of interference." Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom in a statement called the Guatemalan move "very unfortunate". "We will now seek further explanations from the Guatemalan government and thereafter consider a course of action," she said. "Sweden's views and action on issues concerning human rights and fighting corruption are well-known." (Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Johan Sennero in Stockholm; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Hong Kong police rely on past experience to deal with third unexploded second world war bomb to be found at Wan Chai construction site Police said they were able to defuse a wartime bomb on Friday several hours quicker than two previous devices because of the experience gained during those earlier incidents even though this one was unique. The shell was buried vertically at the site of the Sha Tin-Central rail link near Wan Chai Swimming Pool, while the two found in January were lying flat. Having evacuated 1,250 residents and businesses, bomb disposal experts finished an overnight operation that lasted about 20 hours, defusing the 450kg ordnance by noon. Nestor Lai Ngo-yan, a bomb disposal officer, called the operation unique because of the shells positioning. Two-thirds of it was buried beneath mud that had hardened over the decades. It took us a long time to clean the mud outside the shell because the bomb was not stable, he said. Senior bomb disposal officer Tony Chow Shek-kin said earlier it was upside down with its front part buried in the ground and the detonator already broken. But the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau wrapped up the job in about 20 hours, four to six hours faster than previously, because, Lai said, police are more experienced with defusing such devices. Superintendent Kwok Mei Sum, commander of Wan Chai A Division, described the operation as fast and safe. Hung Hing Road, where the bomb was found, reopened two hours later and work resumed. The American-made AN-M65 bomb, 145cm long and about 45cm in diameter, was unearthed by construction workers at 4.30pm on Thursday. It was the third device found at the site this year, after police defused two 450kg bombs in January. All three were likely to have been dropped by US Navy planes between 1941 and 1945, when the city was under Japanese occupation. Dave Macri, a history professor at the University of Hong Kong, told the Post earlier this year that, the Americans were primarily concerned with destroying the Japanese shipping and supporting docking facilities. Amateur historian Ian Quinn estimated that American forces dropped about 4,000 bombs on the city during the war, and about 30 per cent did not detonate. Story continues Roads that were closed, and ferry services that had been suspended overnight, were fully reopened yesterday afternoon. The closures since Thursday had not only affected businesses in the area but also tourists. A woman, surnamed Zhang, and her family from the mainland were waiting anxiously yesterday to enter a building in the affected zone to pick up documents from a travel agency. Zhang, who desperately needed the papers because it was the last day of her tourist visa, said: Our flight tickets are booked. But I dont know if I can leave Hong Kong today. An employer whose office was in the area along Fleming Road was told by police to come back in the afternoon. I dont know why they shut down the building. Its not that close, he said. This article Hong Kong police rely on past experience to deal with third unexploded second world war bomb to be found at Wan Chai construction site first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Hong Kong should be praised by US, not dragged into trade war, Civic Party head Alan Leong says in Washington A vocal critic of Chinas handling of Hong Kong affairs has surprisingly spoken out in defence of Beijing over the US-initiated trade war at a seminar in Washington. Chief of a leading Hong Kong opposition party Alan Leong Kah-kit warned a trade war would only drive China away from values like democracy, freedom and rule of law. The remarks echoed those he made at an Asia Society event in New York three days ago. Civic Party chairman Leong also said it was just disappointing that the U S had dragged Hong Kong into its trade dispute with China when the city had always been the voice of free trade and a vanguard of multilateral trade, and deserved praise from the US instead. He was speaking on Thursday at a seminar hosted by US conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, during his and his party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kius week-long visit to the States that began on Monday. While Leong also discussed concerns over Beijings tightened grip on Hong Kong in his address at the seminar, he devoted a large part of it to the trade dispute. War is not to be declared lightly, particularly when America cannot be sure about a decisive win without dealing severe blows to its own economy, Leong said. As America raises tariffs, China will find trade partners unreliable and increasingly distrust international trade. This can result in China recoiling to its shell with [President Xi Jinping] becoming more of a nationalist authoritarian leader. A trade war would only drive China further away from universal values such as democracy, freedom and rule of law. It would be best if America would continue to be a positive influence on China by working collaboratively on fair dealings and reciprocal treatments in business, rather than building up more barriers to trade by waging a trade war. Leong also criticised the US for levying prohibitive tariffs on steel and aluminium exports from Hong Kong. Story continues America needs no reminder of Hong Kongs importance as a showcase of values and institutions practised by liberal democracies with success among ethnic Chinese in a place of Chinese culture, he said. The more Hong Kong is criticised for its embrace of the rule of law, free trade, fair competition, freedoms and individuals liberties, the more we are entitled to encouragement from America and not to be trampled upon by it. The suggestion of a prohibitive levy on Hong Kongs exports is just disappointing. Speaking at the same seminar, Civic Party leader Yeung said that dragging Hong Kong into the Sino-US trade war would give the international community the impression that Hong Kong was only an ordinary mainland city. If you think China has done all these wrongs on trade and in Hong Kong, then why should you penalise the victim? We have been doing everything we can to uphold the trade obligations. In messages posted on his Facebook page, Leong also said they had argued for Hong Kong to be excluded from trade sanctions by the US and that the American politicians they met had expressed understanding and support of their views. In March, US President Donald Trumps administration announced tariffs on steel and aluminium products imported to the US, except for jurisdictions granted exemptions. Hong Kong, though considered an independent economic entity, was not exempted. According to the Hong Kong government, in 2016, the city actually suffered from a trade deficit of more than US$27 billion with the US. Hong Kongs exports of aluminium products to the US in 2016 and 2017 were US$43 million and US$39 million respectively, only about 9 per cent and 8.7 per cent of Hong Kongs total exports of aluminium products in the respective years. The value of Hong Kongs re-exports of steel products to the US in 2016 and 2017 were US$1.35 million and US$1.76 million respectively. The Hong Kong politicians said at the seminar that the US should continue keeping an interest in the city and should speak up when things went wrong here. In response to a question from the floor about granting Hong Kong people visa-free travel to the US so long as the city had the autonomy promised by Beijing in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law, Leong said the idea was fair and to be welcomed. Guest speaker Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch director of global initiatives, criticised the British government for failing to take a tougher stance against China on Hong Kong affairs. Leong and Yeung are expected to meet trade officials in Washington on Saturday and are expected to return to Hong Kong early next week. During their trip, they have held talks with Nancy Pelosi, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state in charge of East Asian and Pacific affairs. They also met House foreign affairs committee chairman Ed Royce and Ted Yoho, the chairman of the committees subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. Developments in Hong Kong have become an issue of growing concern in Washington in recent years. The US State Departments most recent human rights report singled out Beijings encroachment on Hong Kongs autonomy as being among the most significant human rights issues in the city. It also identified government actions that had a chilling effect on political protest and the exercise of free speech. In its report to Congress last November, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Hong Kongs one country, two systems framework the model under which Beijing governs the city had been called into question as the city shifted closer to the mainland amid increasing pressure from the central government. This article Hong Kong should be praised by US, not dragged into trade war, Civic Party head Alan Leong says in Washington first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the construction of a mega hydropower plant during a visit to Nepal Friday, part of his government's move to counter Chinese influence in its backyard. Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the $1.4 billion India-backed Arun Three hydropower plant, a long-mooted project that could be a game-changer for energy-staved Nepal. "It is one of the biggest projects in Nepal. Along with employment opportunities, this project will create economic and commercial opportunities in Nepal," Modi said in Kathmandu following the inauguration. The plant is the first of five mega hydropower projects, two of which are backed by Chinese companies, to begin construction, which marks a diplomatic win for India. China has outspent India in Nepal in recent years, as the impoverished Himalayan nation sandwiched between the two Asian giants has titled relations towards its northern neighbour. In 2017, Chinese firms pledged more than $8.3 billion in investment, dwarfing Indian commitments of $317 million. In May last year, Nepal signed up to Beijing's ambitious One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative. But Modi, who cast the visit as part of his "neighbourhood first" policy, has been keen to show that India can also deliver on big-ticket infrastructure promises. "Historically India-funded projects, while they seem generous, have struggled to show progress, while the Chinese do it quicker and gain on public opinion," said Kathmandu-based analyst George Varughese. Nepal suffers from a crippling energy shortage and has been in talks with its two large neighbours for investment in its hydroelectric sector for more than a decade. The Himalayan nation has enough water to be a hydro powerhouse but it has so far harnessed less than two percent of that potential, according to estimates. - Big brother - Modi's visit to Nepal comes a month after newly elected Oli made his first foreign visit to New Delhi. The neighbours are keen to restore relations that have been strained since 2015 when Nepal passed a controversial new constitution, which sparked deadly protests and triggered a months-long border blockade. Kathmandu blamed New Delhi for the blockade that caused a severe shortage of fuel and goods as Nepal struggled to recover from a devastating earthquake earlier that year. Oli, then serving his first term as prime minister, won huge public support as he stoked nationalist anti-India sentiment over the blockade. He used the platform again during his reelection campaign last year. Many in Nepal remain suspicious of India's "big brother" attitude, and the hashtags #ModiNotWelcomeInNepal and #BlockadeWasACrimeMrModi trended on Twitter as the Indian premier touched down. Oli, who needs India -- Nepal's largest trading partner -- to realise his ambitious plans to kickstart economic growth, has opted for a more pragmatic approach to relations since he took office again in February. Modi began his Nepal visit in the southern city of Janakpur where he offered prayers at a renowned Hindu temple. Janakpur was a centre of the deadly 2015 protests, which claimed more than 50 lives. Modi will visit a second Hindu pilgrimage site near Nepal's border with Tibet on Saturday. Analysts say the strong religious overtones are intended to send a message to his Hindu nationalist base at home, where Modi is fighting a key election in the southern state of Karnataka. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria. "I shall take advantage of this opportunity to send a message to Assad: throw the Iranians out," a defence ministry statement quoted Lieberman as saying during a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. "They are not helping you," he said. "They only do harm and their presence brings only damage and problems." Israel claims it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by Iranian forces into the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that Israel's bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence". Israel carried out the raids after it said Iran's Al-Quds force fired 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, at its forces in the Golan. It has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assad's regime in the country's seven-year civil war. It has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids. The Jewish state says it has conducted dozens of operations in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel. Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque MANILA, Philippines The Supreme Court (SC) as final arbiter of the law has spoken. This was the statement of Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque on the recent ouster of Atty. Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice through quo warranto proceedings. The High Court has spoken. Let us respect its decision granting the quo warranto petition as the proper remedy and the quo warranto petition ruling against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Roque said. Roque added that the Supreme Court is duty bound to uphold the Constitution being a co-equal branch of government. Its ruling is an assertion of the supremacy of the fundamental law of the land. Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo reiterated that though some disagree with the SC ruling, everyone must abide by it and this how democracy works. Panelo also stood firm that impeachment is not only the remedy to remove an impeachable officer. Ang nakalagay sa Saligang Batas, iyong mga impeachable officers, on the grounds cited by the Constitution ay may be removed. Maaaring tanggalin. Ibig sabihin, hindi pala exclusive ito. Dapat sana can only be removed ang nilagay diyanBakit? Sapagkat mayroon mga sitwasyon na ang isang impeachable officer ay illegally staying in office. Hindi pala siya qualified pero yung ground ng kaniyang hindi pagka-qualified, hindi naman ground na tanggalin siya. Kasi sa Saligang Batas, sa impeachment, mayroon lang mga grounds na pwede kang tanggalin, Panelo explained. (The Constitution says impeachable officers, on the grounds cited by the Constitution may be removed. May be removed, so its not exclusive because it does not say can only be removed. Why? Because there are situations wherein an impeachable officer is illegally staying in office because said officer is not qualified but the ground for the disqualification is not ground for impeachment. This is because the Constitution has specific grounds on which you can be removed.) Story continues Panelo added that he has no information yet if President Rodrigo Duterte already has someone in mind to be the next Chief Justice. Meanwhile, Atty. Larry Gadon said his filing of impeachment complaint before the Congress did not turn out to be in vain as it has opened the opportunity to the filing of the quo warranto petition by the solicitor general. Gadon also insisted that President Duterte has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint he filed against Sereno. The Supreme Court has proven they are independent because this is the perfect opportunity for them to rectify the errors committed by JBC, Gadon concluded. Rosalie Coz | UNTV News & Rescue The post Malacanang appeals for respect in SC ruling on Serenos ouster appeared first on UNTV News. Malaysia's king has agreed to pardon jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim at once, newly installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday. "The (king) has indicated he is willing to pardon Datuk Sri Anwar immediately," Mahathir told a press conference, using a Malay honorific. It came a day after the 92-year-old was sworn in after a shock win that toppled the country's long-ruling coalition. "We will begin the... proper process of obtaining a pardon for Datuk Sri Anwar," said Mahathir. "This means a full pardon. He should be released immediately when he is pardoned." Mahathir has promised to eventually hand the premiership over to Anwar, his former nemesis turned ally in an opposition alliance formed to take on scandal-plagued former prime minister Najib Razak. Mahathir's reconciliation with Anwar has been one of the most remarkable aspects of an electrifying election race. Anwar was a senior figure in government and Mahathir's heir-apparent until the pair dramatically fell out. Mahathir sacked Anwar in 1998 over political differences, and he was subsequently jailed on charges of sodomy and abuse of power, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated. Anwar was jailed again during Najib's rule. He was already slated to come out of prison in June. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern is surrounded by reporters after the final draft of the climate pact was presented during the COP 21 United Nations conference on climate change on December 12, 2015 at Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. REUTERS/Mandel Ngan/Pool/File Photo By Alister Doyle Environment Correspondent BONN, Germany (Reuters) - A U.S. architect of the Paris climate accord under ex-President Barack Obama has been working to bolster the pact at global talks in Germany, reckoning it matches long-term U.S. interests despite U.S. President Donald Trump plans to pull out. "I don't want to see the Paris Agreement roll off the tracks," Todd Stern, who was Obama's Special Envoy for Climate Change, told Reuters during two-week talks ending on Thursday in Germany on a detailed "rule book" for the 2015 Paris Agreement. "That's not in the interests of the United States," he told Reuters. Stern is with the World Resources Institute think-tank at the Bonn meeting of almost 200 nations and also works at the Brookings Institution. He, and many other delegates, said the United States has been concerned for decades under both Republican and Democratic administrations to ensure that rules governing environmental pacts were strong and oblige China, for instance, to abide by the same standards as rich nations. In Bonn, the U.S. delegation is also insisting on strong rules for reporting and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in a rare overlap between Obama's and Trump's interests. A rule book is due to be in place by the end of 2018 at a meeting in Poland. A strong rule book "is not only in the interests of the U.S. It would mean everyone can say: 'that's a pretty good deal'," Stern said. Stern said he was listening to delegates and giving advice. Washington is still formally part of the Paris accord, which aims to end the fossil fuel era this century, even though Trump announced plans to quit last year and bolster the U.S. fossil fuel industry. Formally, a pullout will only take effect in 2020. "It's not surprising to me," Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said of Stern's presence. Story continues She told Reuters there is always a need "for people with skills, who can advise people, who can give a perspective on different things." Asked about Stern, a U.S. State Department official said: "the United States has always supported access for non-party stakeholders in the (U.N. climate) process, including business groups, NGOs, and other civil society representatives." Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said a strong rule book could make it easier for a future U.S. administration to re-enter the deal. "U.S. policy since the 1990s has been to hold countries to the same standards," he said. (Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Two ousted Hong Kong pro-independence lawmakers were found guilty on Friday of storming a Legislative Council meeting as they attempted to force their way in to take an oath of office two years ago. Acting Kowloon City Principal Magistrate Wong Sze-lai convicted Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang, 31, and Yau Wai-ching, 26, of taking part in an illegal assembly on November 2, 2016. Their three assistants, Yeung Lai-hong, 25, Chung Suet-ying, 26, and Cheung Tsz-lung, 30, were found guilty of the same charge for taking part in the episode, which left a few security guards injured, including one who collapsed. In an interview with the Post before the verdict, Leung and Yau vowed to lodge an appeal, saying the ruling would have wide implications for the citys common law tradition. They claimed the decision marked the first time someone had been held accountable for a crime retroactively. A guilty verdict would leave us no choice but to lodge an appeal, Leung told the Post. Even if they are Legislative Council members, [they cannot] use that as an amulet to commit criminal behaviours Wong Sze-lai, Acting Kowloon City Principal Magistrate But in pronouncing the duo guilty on Friday, the magistrate stressed that this case had nothing to do with the pairs status as lawmakers, but with peace and order. Even if they are Legislative Council members, [they cannot] use that as an amulet to commit criminal behaviours, Wong said. She found that the five had acted together for a common purpose to help Leung and Yau get inside the meeting that took place in Legcos Conference Room 1. In doing so, they caused others to fear for a breach of the peace. Wong granted Yau and Leung bail until June 4, when she will sentence them. The criminal charge stemmed from the duos contentious oath-taking in 2016. On November 2 of that year, Yau and Leung tried to storm Legco to retake their oaths after their anti-China antics during an earlier swearing-in ceremony in October led them to be barred from the chamber. Story continues Their attempt to force their way in prompted Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to move the meeting to a side conference room. All five were accused of storming that later meeting. Several security guards testified during the trial that a chaotic scene unfolded, during which Leung, Yeung and Cheung hurled verbal insults at the guards. The two assistants helped Leung when he tried repeatedly to jump and grab hold of a door and sought to climb over the cordon set up by the guards. Meanwhile, Yau kicked and kneed a security guard in the leg during the fracas, they said. A woman security guard collapsed, while others were injured during the scrum that formed in a narrow corridor comprising Leung and Yaus group, journalists and guards. The magistrate said the guards were honest and reliable in their testimony, praising them for fulfilling their duty diligently. On the other hand, Wong refused to accept the testimony of Leung and Yau, which she said was at times exaggerated. She slammed the pair for claiming they were also stuck and had felt unwell during the scuffle even though video footage showed that Leung was fit enough to jump and had eventually left the scene without difficulty. [Yau] was tidying her hair, Wong said, describing the moment when Yau left the room. The magistrate was also not convinced that the five had gathered outside the room without prior discussion, as the assistants were helping to lift Leung up during the confrontation. She said the verbal abuse hurled by the assistants was insulting. The pair argued that they had not expected such resistance from the guards because they had believed they were still lawmakers at the time. They added that it was against the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance for anyone to obstruct lawmakers. But Wong said this did not matter. She said the court had power to rule on them even if they were lawmakers because the case concerned not legislative affairs but order. Even if they were lawmakers, Wong said, the duo were not entitled to use excessive force just like someone with a valid movie ticket was not entitled to beat up a ticket collector just because he wrongly restricted the movie-goers access. Asked in an interview days before the hearing whether he could have found a less confrontational way to re-enter the chamber, Leung told the Post he had been unable to. He and Yau did not expect the crowd to be as large as it was, he said, claiming he had already taken certain measures to divert journalists attention and reduce the crowd size before heading to the room. Leung described his attempt to be sworn in as his duty to serve their voters. If I had a crystal ball, I would have locked [my assistant] up in the room, Leung added. He and Yau said their three assistants should not have been dragged into the matter with them. They noted the High Court did not officially unseat them until November 15 13 days after the incident. The pairs swearing-in antics on October 12 prompted the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee in Beijing to issue an interpretation of the Basic Law, Hong Kongs mini-constitution, in November. But the decision, which required public officials to take their oaths sincerely and solemnly, did not come until November 8, some six days later. To find them guilty, therefore, went against common law, which was never applied retroactively, Leung said. This article Ousted Hong Kong lawmakers Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching convicted for storming Legco meeting first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. A pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong is facing jail after he was convicted on Friday of disclosing details of an investigation by the citys graft-buster involving a complaint he lodged in 2016. Avery Ng Man-yuen, 41, chairman of the League of Social Democrats, was found guilty of three counts of disclosing the identity of individuals being investigated, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. He was accused of revealing on social media and to reporters that Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee who was the permanent secretary for home affairs between July 2014 and March this year was under scrutiny by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. In his verdict in Eastern Court, Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi said Ng disclosed such information to raise his profile and his actions had nothing to do with public interest as he had argued. He stated on his Facebook page it was time for him to raise his fame because of his low popularity, Cheng said. After studying the posts, I believe he disclosed the information [to do just that]. He added the information revealed by Ng could possibly have alerted Fung to any investigation against her and prepared her for it even if the probe was not disrupted. Ng was accused of disclosing investigation details after he mentioned between April 5 and May 24, 2016 that he had been invited and was in the course of giving a witness statement as a complainant. The offence carries a maximum penalty of a year behind bars and a HK$20,000 (US$2,547) fine. The court previously heard that an ICAC investigator had reminded Ng not to disclose any details after he was invited to make a statement at the agencys headquarters in North Point. But Ng revealed the invitation on his social media accounts and to reporters. The investigator therefore changed the time and location of the interview and reminded Ng once again that revealing such details was forbidden. Ng replied: I know what to do. Story continues When Ng was giving a statement at the agencys office in Yau Ma Tei, he updated his various social media accounts with posts saying Taking statement at ICAC, A thousand people said I had low popularity. Its time for me to promote my page and Very boring. Have waited for a long time. The posts included a selfie taken in an interview room with the ICAC logo. Its not honest for Ng to say he doesnt remember if he was reminded [about divulging information], Cheng said. The defence lawyer hoped the court would give Ng a fine, probation or a community service order. A jail term of more than three months would mean he would be barred from running for a Legislative Council seat while his action was intended to encourage the government official to come clean about accusations against her. As a politician, he has to let members of the public be aware of his existence and know about his work, the lawyer said. Citing a past case as an example, Cheng said he would use four months jail as the starting point for sentencing because Ng did not show any regret. The court asked for a community service order report but Cheng said it might not be considered. The case was adjourned to May 28 for sentencing. Ng was remanded in custody. Fung was appointed in March as the head of the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office, a revamped think tank which coordinates efforts across different government bureaus. In 2016, she was accused in media reports of a conflict of interest after she acquired two properties in Happy Valley from a company held by Cheyenne Chan, a shareholder of a firm operating commercial helicopter services. Fungs husband Wilson Fung Wing-yip was a civil servant in charge of aviation affairs from 2003 to 2006. Fung had dismissed the reports as untrue. Fridays conviction was not Ngs first brush with the law. Last October, he was sentenced to three weeks in jail for throwing a tuna sandwich at then chief executive Leung Chun-ying in 2016. This article Pro-democracy activist Avery Ng found guilty of disclosing details of ICAC probe against top Hong Kong civil servant Betty Fung first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. (Armed Gurkhas stand guard along the road leading to the Shangri-La hotel on 31 May, 2015. AFP file photo) A 27-year-old Singaporean was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in April after investigations showed he was radicalised, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Friday (11 May). Investigations showed that Mohamed Faishal Mohd Razali, a parking warden, wanted to undertake armed violence overseas in various conflict zones, including Syria, said the ministry. Faishal, who had not been known to be a religious person, had turned to the Internet to try to improve his religious knowledge sometime in mid-2016, according to the MHA. He began to imbibe the religious teachings of foreign preachers, including Ismail Menk and Yusuf Estes, who are known to preach segregationist and divisive teachings. He was also exposed to the online radical teachings of Al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki (deceased), added the statement. He later became convinced that waging armed violence was legitimate and saw that as a means of redeeming his sins. From early 2017 onwards, the Singaporean started making preparations to undertake armed violence overseas, noted the ministry. He also searched online for a religious authority who would support his decision and sounded out two of his friends on his plan to participate in armed violence overseas, said the authority. The friends had, in turn, disagreed with him and tried to dissuade him. His family members who came to know of his intentions tried to dissuade him too. Despite these efforts, he continued to believe that he was duty-bound to engage in armed violence in an overseas conflict. The authorities were alerted to Faishals plans by someone who was aware of them and wanted to prevent him from continuing down a radical path. Separately, the authority added that Restriction Orders (RO) issued against three Singaporeans under the ISA were allowed to lapse upon their expiry between February 2018 and March 2018. The three Singaporeans are Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members Sahrudin Mohd Sapian, 62, and Mohamed Rafee Abdul Rahman, 54; and Wang Yuandongyi, 25, who had attempted to join Kurdish militia group Peoples Protection Units to fight against terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Story continues Sahrudin and Rafee had fled Singapore in December 2001 in the wake of security operations against the JI. The duo was later arrested overseas with the co-operation of regional authorities and detained under the ISA following their deportation to Singapore in January the next year, said the ministry. They were later released and placed on ROs in February 2014, which were allowed to lapse in February. Wang, on the other hand, was placed on RO in March 2016, which was allowed to lapse in March. More Singapore stories: Books with extremist Muslim views found on sale in Singapore US navy seaman reported missing in Singapore found: police Former bank officer jailed 25 weeks for forging clients documents Facebook removes, then reinstates We are against Pinkdot in Singapore group Saudi Arabia said Thursday it tested a new siren system for the capital Riyadh and oil-rich Eastern Province, the day after Yemeni rebels fired three ballistic missiles at the kingdom. The Saudi civil defence posted a video on its official site of the alarm system being tested. It said in a statement the system was designed to "face risks of all kinds" and alert the population "in case of emergency". Yemen's Iran-allied Huthi rebels have in recent months ramped up missile attacks against neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition against them. The Shiite insurgents announced they had fired two ballistic missiles at Riyadh and a third at the southern city of Jizan near the border, on Wednesday alone. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said the kingdom's air defences intercepted all three, in statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Riyadh has long accused Tehran of supplying the rebels with ballistic missiles, a charge the latter rejects. Wednesday's salvo came after US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which he criticised for excluding measures to curb the Islamic republic's ballistic missile programme. Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in 2015 with the aim of pushing back the rebels and restoring the internationally recognised government to power. The conflict has left 9,479 people dead and more than 55,000 wounded according to the World Health Organization. More than 2,200 others have died of cholera and millions are on the verge of famine in what the United Nations says is the world's gravest humanitarian crisis. Singapores GLP will do something it has never done before with this US$1.6 billion private equity fund Asias biggest warehouse operator, Global Logistic Properties, has established a 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) private equity fund in China, in line with its strategy to pioneer a technology-led logistics ecosystem, according to a company statement. The Hidden Hill Modern Logistics Private Equity Fund will be GLPs first fund investing in a sector other than real estate. Investors in the fund include institutional investors and insurance companies, including China Post Capital. The fund will invest in adjacent growth sectors that complement GLPs real estate business, with a focus on companies employing technology to enhance efficiency in the logistics industry, said Ming Mei, co-founder and CEO of GLP in a statement. Earlier this year, Alibaba Group said its Cainiao logistics unit is working on driverless vehicle technology as part of its drive to improve its courier services following JD.coms decision to use self-driving vans to deliver orders by June in Tianjin. GLP has US$50 billion of assets under management, with a real estate portfolio spanning 62 million square metres across eight countries. Shareholders of Singapore logistics firm GLP approve US$11.6 billion buyout by Chinese-led consortium GLP was privatised in a management buyout in January for US$11.6 billion, reflecting the biggest-ever private equity acquisition by value. GLP delisted from the Singapore stock exchange in January following the privatisation. The private equity consortium was comprised of Hopu Investment Management, Hillhouse Capital Group, real estate developer Vanke Group and the financial service investment arm of Bank of China, which was backed by GLP CEO Ming. Vanke, Hopu lead US$11.6 billion management buyout of GLP, winning Asias largest takeover Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC, which owns 37 per cent of GLP and is its biggest shareholder, was said to support the transaction. Logistics companies have been facing intense competition from new players from the e-commerce market. That has driven logistics players to increasingly deploy technology to control costs and improve services. Story continues In January, global rating agency Moodys Investor Services downgraded GLP by one notch to Baa3, citing concerns over the companys financial risk. Moodys said GLPs debt leverage ratio will rise to 13-14 times for the financial year ending March 31 2018, from 10 times for the year ended September 2017. The rating agency said the companys debt had risen since privatisation amid acquisitions that included European logistics portfolio, Gazeley. In addition GLPs initiative to develop its China financial services income segment was considered a negative for its credit ratings, Moodys added. GLP said its revenue increased by 13 per cent to US$880 million for the year ended March 31, 2017 as compared to US$777 million a year earlier, primarily attributable to higher fund management fee income, completion of projects in China and revenue from financial services in China. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post. This article Singapores GLP will do something it has never done before with this US$1.6 billion private equity fund first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. FILE PHOTO: South Sudan's Minister of Petroleum, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, speaks during a Reuters interview in his office in Juba, South Sudan October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jok Solomon/File Photo By Julia Payne LONDON (Reuters) - South Sudan will finish paying off its debt to neighbour Sudan in June with a final cargo of crude oil, South Sudan's oil minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth told Reuters on the sidelines of the Africa Oil and Power investor forum in London. The debt stems from a 2012 deal that ended a dispute over oil payments between the two nations after South Sudan seceded the previous year. In the deal, South Sudan agreed to pay $3 billion to its northern neighbour. Two years after its secession from Sudan, South Sudan was plunged into civil war, which led to a sharp cut in its oil production that the country is now trying to reverse. The country is currently producing 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) and aims to hit 280,000 bpd later this year. Its peak was 350,000 bpd in 2011. A ramp up this year will come from its Dar Petroleum Operating Co, in which China's CNPC and Malaysia's Petronas have major stakes. GPOC, its other venture that has produced oil and whose largest stakeholder is CNPC, has taken initial steps to resume operations in its Unity oilfield. South Sudan's Nilepet holds an 8 percent stake in GPOC. Gatkuoth said GPOC had hired Hong Kong-listed Frontier Services Group (FSG), which produced a security assessment in March saying it would be safe for GPOC to resume output. FSG is owned by Erik Prince, a former U.S. Navy seal and brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Prince founded a company formerly known as Blackwater that he was forced to sell after some of its guards were convicted of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians. Gatkuoth said several steps remained before GPOC would resume output and that another venture SPOC, led by Petronas, had not yet conducted a similar survey. "The next step (for GPOC) is a technical assessment to see what damage has been done," the minister said. "The processing facility was destroyed, the control room was destroyed but the pipelines and wellheads are intact. The power lines were destroyed but we got an agreement with Sudan to supply 8 megawatts (MW); the facility needs 18 MW." Story continues The United States ramped up its sanctions on South Sudan in March this year by adding 15 companies operating in the African country's oil sector to its list. Washington accused the government and officials of using revenues "to purchase weapons and fund irregular militias that undermine the peace, security, and stability of South Sudan." Gatkuoth said the restrictions had no impact on oil production other than deterring U.S. investment, but added he was in discussions with foreign firms such as Total for stakes in some oilfields. "The machines, rigs ... they all come from China but I want U.S. companies to come back as well," he said. Land-locked South Sudan sells its crude via pipeline through Sudan. Gatkuoth said Switzerland-based Trafigura, Lebanon's BB Energy and Nigeria's Sahara Energy were the three buyers for the country's crude with cash advances. Trafigura used to be the sole lifter but BB Energy began last year and Sahara will start this month. He said South Sudan was not seeking long-term pre-payments for now. (Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Nairobi; Editing by Mark Potter) Donald Trump on Thursday revealed his historic summit with Kim Jong Un -- the first-ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader -- will take place in Singapore on June 12. The location and date of the landmark meeting were announced in a presidential tweet just hours after Trump welcomed to the United States three American prisoners released by Pyongyang. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. The talks, which are expected to last one day, are set to focus on North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. "I think it will be a big success," Trump said as he boarded Air Force One, on his way to a political rally in Indiana. US officials said the release of Americans Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul removed a major obstacle to the summit, providing Trump with some tangible evidence that his twin-track policy of engagement and "maximum pressure" was working. "We're not under any illusions about who these people are. We know who we are dealing with here," said Victoria Coates, of the National Security Council. "But we got, up front, our people home." - Neutral setting - The United States and North Korea are technically still at war -- a stop-gap armistice ended the brutal three-year Korean war in 1953 and around 30,000 American troops remain in neighboring South Korea, which the US supported in the conflict. Singapore will provide a neutral backdrop for the summit, avoiding some of the security and political challenges associated with a meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. The Southeast Asia city state has long acted as a bridge between the United States and China, with successive prime ministers offering Oval Office occupants their cherished geopolitical counsel. When Trump and Kim do sit down a month from now, the two relatively untested leaders will be presented with a puzzle that has stymied seasoned diplomats for decades. A series of US administrations have sent envoys, both official and unofficial, to Pyongyang in the hope of stopping North Korea's provocative nuclear weapons program. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited after leaving office, multiple rounds of non-proliferation talks have taken place, and a deal was even signed in 1994. But despite the optimism of that moment, all efforts to limit North Korea's nuclear program have, to date, failed. And more than two decades and multiple provocative weapons tests after the last accord, the threat from Pyongyang has only grown. The country is now believed to be on the cusp of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. Trump has vowed that he will not let that happen and has demanded that North Korea give up its nukes. - 'Cautious optimism' - So far, the North Korean regime has made vague pledges to "denuclearize" but has not spelled out what that means, when it would happen or how it would be implemented. In North Korea's bombastic rhetoric, "denuclearization" has, for years, been a byword for US troop withdrawals from South Korea and an excuse for stalling. Hardliners in the North are believed to see possession of a nuclear weapon as the only guarantee against US-led efforts to topple Kim's regime. Coates said there were no preconditions for the talks, which could yet include other regional leaders such as the South Korean president, but concrete steps would be welcome. "The president's goal is very clear -- the irreversible, verifiable removal of this nuclear weapons program. If he doesn't see material progress to that, there's not going to be a deal for a deal's sake," she said. Coates said that North Korea handing over details about its existing program would "set us up with a greater chance of success, anything that they would like to do, but we haven't been signaling preconditions up until this point." Trump's high-profile meeting offers a glimmer of hope of a breakthrough, according to Republican Senator Cory Gardner, who discussed preparations for the summit with Trump at the White House on Wednesday. "This is a moment for cautious optimism," Gardner told AFP. "The president understands that there is a historic opportunity to achieve what the world has been unable to achieve for decades." At the same time, Gardner said, Trump's eyes were wide open about the risks of failure and the need to be clear that denuclearization means abandoning nuclear weapons. "As of last night, there was no nuance in terms of denuclearization," he said. But before any technical talk about reprocessed fuel rods, separated plutonium or spent fuel removal, Trump will want to answer one basic question -- whether North Korea wants to change. "This is the key test," said Gardner. "I think that if Kim Jong Un wants to find relief from 'maximum pressure' and be welcomed back to the table of recognized global leadership, it's the only path he has." Since the foundation of North Korea in 1948, the country has endured war and struggled to balance rival Soviet and Chinese spheres of influence. Decades of financial stagnation, international sanctions, mass starvation and industrial scale human rights abuses followed. "The road we have been down is well traveled and it's never ended well. So I hope this time is different," said Gardner. By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had high hopes of "doing something very meaningful" to curtail North Korea's nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month, after Pyongyang smoothed the way for talks by freeing three American prisoners. The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader were announced by Trump on Twitter. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote. He made the announcement after a U.S. government aircraft touched down at Joint Base Andrews near Washington carrying the Americans who were released by North Korea in a move to clear the way for the bilateral summit. The ex-prisoners are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-chul, who was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years' hard labour; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who taught for a month at a foreign-funded university before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak-song, who also taught there and was detained last year. North Korean state media said they were arrested for subversion or "hostile acts" against Pyongyang. Trump faces a difficult task persuading Kim to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests that heightened U.S.-North Korean tensions throughout 2017. Video: Trump Announces North Korea Summit will Be in Singapore For more news videos visit Yahoo View. The two men exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Korea's attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased, starting around the time of the North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. Trump greeted the freed Americans in the early morning hours. He said on their arrival that he believed Kim, who has led North Korea for seven years and is believed to be in his mid-30s, wanted to bring his country "into the real world." Story continues "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearize that entire peninsula." New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Pyongyang twice in recent weeks - once as head of the CIA - but there has been no sign he cleared up the central question of whether North Korea will be willing to bargain away nuclear weapons that its rulers have long seen as crucial to their survival. Trump is embarking on the meeting with Kim after announcing on Tuesday the United States was pulling out of a 2015 accord imposing international oversight of Iran's nuclear programme. The move raised questions over whether North Korea might now be less inclined to negotiate its own nuclear deal with Washington. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke by telephone on Wednesday. The White House said they "affirmed" the shared goal of North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons programme. Japan worries it could be the target of any first use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang. White House officials, without providing specifics, said on Thursday the meeting could be scuttled if North Korea did anything unacceptable over the next month. "Were not under any illusions about who these people are," National Security Council official Victoria Coates told reporters. "We know who were dealing with here. But we got up front our people home rather than that having been an afterthought." 'PHOTO OP' WORRY Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, warned Trump against going too far, too fast in Singapore. The Republican president, he said, should insist on strong, verifiable disarmament commitments from North Korea. "I worry that this president, in his eagerness to strike a deal and get the acclaim and a photo op, will strike a quick one and a bad one, not a strong one, not a lasting one," Schumer said. During Trump's presidency, Kim has overseen a series of weapons tests to showcase his military's progress on medium- and long-range missiles and atomic weapons that put the world on edge. Last year, North Korea conducted more than a dozen tests that had missiles flying over the Sea of Japan, while another led experts to believe North Korea could possibly hit the mainland United States with a missile. Trump has credited a U.S. "maximum pressure" campaign for drawing North Korea to the negotiating table and vowed to keep economic sanctions in place until Pyongyang takes concrete steps to denuclearize. But former spy chief Kim Yong Chul, director of North Korea's United Front Department, said in a toast to Pompeo over lunch in Pyongyang this week: "We have perfected our nuclear capability. It is our policy to concentrate all efforts into economic progress." Kim recently promised to suspend missile tests and shut a nuclear bomb test site. The choice of Singapore will put the summit on friendly turf for Trump, as the island nation is a strong U.S. ally and the U.S. Navy frequently visits its port. White House spokesman Raj Shah said Singapore was chosen because it could ensure the security of both leaders and provide neutrality. The wealthy financial and shipping hub is seen as a gateway between Asia and the West and has been called the Switzerland of Asia," in contrast to North Korea's isolated economy that its leaders now want to modernize. Nonetheless, Human Rights Watch has described Singapore as having a "stifling" political environment with severe restrictions on "basic rights." Singapore said in a statement late on Thursday it was pleased to host the meeting between Trump and Kim, adding: "We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula." U.S. officials had looked at several sites other than Singapore for the historic meeting. Trumps own preference was for the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, but aides argued it would look too much like Trump going to Kims turf. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a rare round of talks at their heavily fortified demilitarized zone at the end of April, pledging to pursue peace after decades of conflict. South Korea said on Thursday: We hope the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as well as permanent peace on the peninsula will successfully come about through this summit. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and James Oliphant aboard Air Force One; Writing by Richard Cowan and Mary Milliken; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney) Britain apologised on Thursday for contributing to the mistreatment of Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a former Islamist fighter turned politician who was kidnapped and handed over to Libya in 2004 and subsequently tortured, in an unprecedented admission of culpability. "The UK government's actions contributed to your detention, rendition and suffering," Prime Minister Theresa May said in a letter to Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar, which was read out in parliament by Attorney General Jeremy Wright. "On behalf of Her Majesty's government, I apologise to you unreservedly," the letter read. Belhaj, who became Tripoli's military commander after Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was ousted in the 2011 revolution, claimed British complicity in the couple's capture by the CIA and later torture by his regime. The British government accepted the couple "were subjected to a harrowing ordeal which caused them significant distress", and said that it had reached "a full and final settlement" with them both. Boudchar will receive 500,000 (570,000 euros, $670,000) compensation, but Belhaj did not seek any financial settlement, only an apology. At a news conference in Istanbul, where he lives, Belhaj expressed "his gratitude for this courageous move". "This apology is accepted and it puts an end to years of suffering," he said. In an earlier statement, he argued Britain had "set an example for other nations to follow". "For more than six years I have made clear that I had a single goal in bringing this case: justice. Now, at last, justice has been done," he said. "A great society does not torture; does not help others to torture; and, when it makes mistakes, it accepts them and apologises." Boudchar was four-and-a-half months pregnant when she was kidnapped, telling the Guardian that she had been taped to a stretcher for the 17-hour flight to Tripoli. She was released shortly before giving birth. "This is a historic day," Boudchar told reporters outside Britain's parliament. "My message to the world's governments is to support solidarity with no injustice to others." - 'Unacceptable practices' - Belhaj was held for more than six years and said he was subjected to torture. "Your accounts were moving and what happened to you is deeply troubling," wrote May. "The UK government believes your account, neither of you should have been treated in this way". The prime minister added that "we should have understood sooner the unacceptable practices of some of our international partners. We sincerely regret our failures." Belhaj initially said he was taking action against MI6's former counter-terrorism chief Mark Allen. Papers found after Kadhafi's ouster showed the British official had told the Libyan government that it was "the least the UK could do" to help capture Belhaj. He also sued ex-foreign secretary Jack Straw, but dropped both of the cases as he mediated a "full and final settlement" with the government. Cori Crider, a lawyer for the family from London-based human rights group Reprieve, called the settlement "a victory for everyone who opposes injustice, secret detention, and torture". The Freedom from Torture organisation said it should be "the beginning not the end of a proper accounting for the sinister pattern of UK complicity in the years after the 9/11 attacks". Chief executive Sonya Sceats added: "It is even more urgent that the government goes ahead with the judge-led inquiry into UK involvement with torture as promised by (former prime minister) David Cameron". Cameron set up an inquiry in 2010 headed by a retired appeal court judge, but it has stalled over secrecy concerns and issued only an interim report in 2013. - Vanished from public life - Belhaj fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and became the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which sought to overthrow Kadhafi and replace his regime with an Islamic one. Following his release from prison in Libya, Belhaj founded the conservative Islamist party Al-Watan and a pro-Islamist television channel. He had an office in Tripoli where he regularly received Western envoys. Belhaj and his men were part of the Fajr Libya faction which seized Tripoli in 2014. As a party leader, he participated in talks held in Morocco which brought about Libya's interim Government of National Accord (GNA) in December 2015. However, he has vanished from Libyan public life since then and is now based in Istanbul. In May 2017, pro-GNA armed groups seized the prison where former leaders of the Kadhafi regime, including Abdallah Senoussi and Saadi Kadhafi, were being held under the control of Belhaj's men. The same day, the headquarters of his television channel was torched. It was later transferred to Istanbul from where it continues to campaign. Updated photos of Sean Austin Woods. (PHOTOS: Reddit user jms428, SPF) An 18-year-old United States Navy seaman who was reported missing in Singapore earlier this week was found on Friday (11 May), said police. Yahoo News Singapore understands that Seth Austin Woods was found safe and sound on Friday morning. Fireman Seth Woods was located in Singapore (on) May 11 and is now in the custody of local US Navy officials. The US Navy thanks local Singapore law enforcement authorities for their assistance in locating the missing service member, Lieutenant Commander Arlo Abrahamson, US Navy spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet in Singapore said. The US Navy will fully investigate the reasons why the Sailor went missing, he added. A thread posted on social site Reddit on Tuesday by user jms428, who claimed to be a distant cousin of Woods, has also been updated with his latest whereabouts. Seth is safe and back with the Navy. Thank you all for the support and understanding in this stressful time for his family. I dont have any more info than that, wrote the user. Woods had reportedly gone missing after visiting an undisclosed 7-Eleven outlet with a friend after they got off their ship on Sunday, according to the user. The user had earlier written on Tuesday, His friend went to 7-11 and he went to a smoking area to vape. When his friend came back he was gone. According to the police in an appeal for information on Wednesday, Woods was last seen in the vicinity of Raffles Boulevard and Temasek Boulevard on Tuesday at about 8am. Related story: US Navy seaman goes missing in Singapore Venezuela on Thursday strongly rejected the takeover of its Caribbean oil stocks by ConocoPhillips, after the US company enforced a $2 billion international arbitration award last month. Caracas' oil ministry said it "strongly rejects the actions taken by the US firm ConocoPhillips to take the assets of the Venezuelan state oil company in the Caribbean." A ConocoPhillips source said the company was enforcing the award at four locations in the Caribbean, without specifying the facilities affected. Press reports said the affected assets are in Curacao, Bonaire and Saint Eustace. ConocoPhillips was awarded $2 billion in an April 25 decision of the International Chamber of Commerce against Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA over the 2007 government takeover of two of the company's units. "As we said at the time of the award, we will pursue all available legal avenues to obtain full and fair compensation for our expropriated investments in Venezuela," the US company said in a statement. Oil expert Orlando Ochoa said the US oil firm's actions were targeting goods, not facilities. "It has proceeded to freeze the Venezuelan crude that is in the terminals of Saint Eustace, Bonaire and some products that are in the Curacao refinery," Ochoa told AFP, estimating that the measure involves some 15 million barrels of oil, worth around $750 million. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday he was unconcerned about US sanctions against his government and a deluge of international lawsuits for delays in debt repayments. "The sanctions of the gringos, the threats, we don't care about them. Do they cause damage? Yes. But they will not stop us." "Venezuela does not surrender to sanctions, threats, aggressions and lies," the socialist president said in a comments broadcast on radio and TV. Maduro is seeking re-election for a second six-year term in a May 20 vote boycotted by the opposition and branded illegitimate by much of the international community. Washington this week imposed sanctions on 20 companies -- 16 of them in Venezuela, and four in Panama -- as well as three Venezuelan nationals including a former top intelligence official indicted in the US for narcotics trafficking. Check out a sneak peek of Unconcrete Architects, an upcoming show by Mathieu Claudon and Etienne Bouet taking place in the French Basque Country in June. With artwork paying homage to some of skateboardings greats, the work on display takes portraits of certain familiar skateboarders and places them within an artistic rendition of the architecture their skateboarding is most associated with. Guests at this years events are Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, Tony Alva and Adrian Lopez and it will take place from Thursday 14th to Saturday 17th June as part of the Wheels and Waves Festival, Pasaia San Pedro in Biarritz. Get more of an idea of what is to come via the press release below and some examples of the artwork on display! French artists Mathieu Claudon and Etienne Bouet reveal a pre-production of their new project Unconcrete Architects. As it was with their previous exhibition Red XV in 2017, the starting point for this one is the connection between architecture and skateboarding the latter considered as both an art and a culture. This time its the spirit of watercolors used by the designers and architects of the beginning of the 20th century which is the projects guideline. Based on photographic portraits, skateboard legends of the 80s such as Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, Eric Dressen and Ray Barbee are represented within a framework representing their preferred skateboarding medium. Here, these iconic skaters are considered as architects of skateboarding much as Le Corbusier, Gropius, Aalto or Eames are in their chosen fields. Both artists pay tribute to the idols of their youth and related historic spots. The Associated Press DETROIT, EU.- Authorities resumed digging in a Michigan forest Wednesday for the remains of as many as seven girls who have been missing for decades. The FBI and other agencies restarted the work at a site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of downtown Detroit in Macomb Township, police said. Crews arrived there Monday and began digging in earnest Tuesday for the remains of Kimberly King, a 12-year-old girl who was last seen in 1979 in Warren. She is the only one of the missing girls who has been publicly identified. Police began searching the site after speaking with a man serving life in prison for the slaying of another girl whose body was found nearby. "We certainly are convinced we have the right area. It's just a sad type of situation," said Bill Dwyer, Warren's police commissioner. King's sister, Konnie Beyma, said she has been in contact with detectives. I obviously am hoping for a recovery," Beyma told The Associated Press in an email. In 2008, Arthur Ream led police to the body of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki in the same wooded area. She was last seen in 1986 after being lured to a Dairy Queen in Eastpointe, just north of Detroit. Ream was convicted of first-degree murder in her slaying. After his conviction, he told investigators that Zarzycki's body was buried near a creek. He also drew a map of the site and spent about an hour at the search scene with authorities before being returned to prison. Zarzycki had been dating Ream's son at the time of her disappearance. Authorities said Ream, now 68, tricked her by telling her that he was planning a surprise party for his son. At the time of his conviction for Zarzycki's killing, he was already serving a 15-year sentence on an unrelated molestation charge involving a 14-year-old girl. Zeina Karam/ ARON HELLER BEIRUT, LEBANON.- Israeli forces unleashed a heavy bombardment against Iranian military installations in Syria on Thursday in what Israel called retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights, the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The two rivals have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. If we get rain, theyll get a flood, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned. The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Mideast war raised the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained, at least for now. Israel, however, has been emboldened by President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this week, and the latest escalation seemed to signal a potentially coordinated surge in military activity targeting Iran. The Israeli military said Thursday it hit nearly all of Irans military installations in Syria in response to the overnight Iranian rocket barrage that targeted Israeli front-line military positions in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. It was the first time Israel has directly accused Iran of firing toward Israeli territory. Iranian media described the Israeli attack as unprecedented, but there was no official Iranian comment on Israels claims. Iran has vowed to retaliate for repeated Israeli airstrikes targeting its forces in Syria. But it seemed to carefully calibrate its response by targeting the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized, instead of striking Israel proper. Mari Yamaguchi Tokio, Japan.- China, Japan and South Korea warmed their chilly relations Wednesday, brought together by a common goal: ending North Koreas nuclear program. Leaders from the three countries held their first three-way summit in more than two years, demonstrating a spirt of cooperation despite continuing differences over North Korea and other issues. Tambien te puede interesar: Suicide bombers strike in Afghan capital, killing seven While short on specifics, the show of unity, especially ahead of North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns expected talks with President Donald Trump, was seen as a major success. It was extremely significant that Japan, China and South Korea reaffirmed the importance of their cooperation ahead of a U.S.-North Korea meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, praising the outcome of the summit. The agreements came at the first summit for the Northeast Asian neighbors after a hiatus of more than two years, bringing together Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The three countries will take leadership to achieve peace and prosperity in the Northeast Asia, Abe told a joint news conference in Tokyo, with Li and Moon standing on both sides, all wearing almost identical blue neckties. Abe said the three discussed how they can get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, but he didnt provide any details. Jill Colvin | C. Lucey WASHINGTON.- Stormy Daniels lawyer says he has information showing that President Donald Trumps longtime personal attorney received $500,000 from a company associated with a Russian billionaire within months of paying hush money to the porn star who claims a long-ago affair with Trump. Lawyer Michael Avenatti also said hundreds of thousands of dollars streamed into Trump attorney Michael Cohens account from companies, including pharmaceutical giant Novartis, AT&T and Korea Aerospace, with U.S. government business interests. Tambien te puede interesar: Suicide bombers strike in Afghan capital, killing seven Those three companies have confirmed the connection. Avenatti isnt disclosing the source of his information or releasing documentation. But in a seven-page memo, Avenatti details what he says were wire transfers into and out of the account Cohen used to pay Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to stay silent about her alleged tryst with Trump in 2006. He denies having an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Financial documents reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press appeared to back up Avenattis report. The FT today published a fascinating interview with Thomas Middelhoff, the former CEO of Bertelsmann, the German media giant. Middelhoff became a star during the dot-com boomhis $50 million investment in AOL became a $7 billion exit five years laterand then his star fell. Middelhoff ended up sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of 27 counts of embezzlement and three counts of tax evasion in 2014. Middelhoffs crimes were not the kind of thing that would land an American executive in jail: Mostly, they centered on his predilection for taking a helicopter to work to avoid nasty traffic jams. He billed those expenses to the company, but they had never been authorized, and he should have paid for them himself. Advertisement Meanwhile, in London, Barclays CEO Jes Staley has been fined $870,000 for attempting to identify a whistleblower who complained about the way that the bank hired one of Staleys friends; the banks board has also clawed back some $680,000 from Staleys annual bonus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Middelhoff, now out of jail and claiming to have lost all of his wealth, is at peace with his prison sentence, and has come to hate his former self, the arrogant and narcissistic CEO who craved affirmation and who failed to hold himself to the same standards he demanded of everybody else. He told the FT that hes rediscovered his Catholic faith, and talked about learning humility. Staley hasnt quite had the same kind of come-to-Jesus moment, but did put out an apologetic statement saying that his behavior was inappropriate. Advertisement Can we take either of these two stories of punishment and contrition entirely at face value? Almost certainly not. I find it very hard to believe that Middelhoff is as broke as he says he is. But the fact remains that in both cases a high-profile CEO has been handed down a very public punishment by his government, and in both cases he has accepted that punishment as being entirely legitimate. Now try to think of a similar case in the U.S. Its not easy. Even Enrons Ken Lay, who managed to destroy more than $60 billion in value at a company built on fraud, had his conviction posthumously vacated; the former CEO, Jeff Skilling, is alive and unapologetic. Indeed, the trend in American corporate governance, at least when it comes to chief executives, seems to be towards less accountability, not more. The rise of the unicorns has meant that hundreds of CEOs of billion-dollar corporations do not need to answer to the SEC; many of them have also retained voting control of their companies, which means theyre not even answerable to their boards. When Snap went public, the shares it sold were all non-voting; the company is entirely controlled by its two co-founders. And with laissez-faire Trump appointees running the entire executive branch, including the SEC and the DOJ, its hard to imagine much in the way of criminal indictments against CEOs any time soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In recent weeks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made semi-friendly noises about being open to regulation, as long as its the kind of regulation he approves of. But theres a huge difference between regulation, on the one hand, and actual accountability, on the other. Increasingly, America is becoming a country owned and run by men like the Koch brothers, who run their multi-billion-dollar business empire while receiving politicians as supplicants, and who are de facto answerable to no one. Its deeply unhealthy, on a societal level, but weve also normalized it. Its only by looking to Europe that we can see how a capitalist system canand shouldbe run. Millennials will find less of an excuse not to make breakfast for mom this Mothers Day, because a record number of them are living with her. According to the real-estate-listing company Zillow, nearly 1 in 4 millennials between the ages of 24 and 36 lives at home, nearly double the 13.5 percent rate for that age group in 2005. Its the highest level in a decade, and these young adults arent exactly slouching: Nearly 9 in 10 of them have jobs. Advertisement Its another sign of how student debt, high housing costs, and a post-recession job market have screwed over a whole cohort of Americans, pushing back household formation. Relatedly: In 2017, for the first time ever, women in their 30s were having more children than women in their 20s. And the share of young college graduates living with a partner has fallen nearly 10 percentage points from 2005. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Geographically, multigenerational households have formed exactly where you would expect: In the countrys most expensive rental markets. More than 30 percent of millennials live with their parents in New York, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, and Miami. That doesnt mean that millennials never pay high rents to live alone. Lowest on the living-with-mom list? Austin, Seattle, and Denver, three fast-growing cities that arent especially cheap, but are attractive enough places that young people leave the nest for them, despite the price. Theyre joined by fast-growing, low-cost Sun Belt metros like Oklahoma City and Nashville, as well as low-cost Midwestern cities like Indianapolis, Columbus, and MinneapolisSt. Paul. And it turns out that getting a college degree makes you morenot lesslikely to live at home, reflecting the crippling role that student debt plays in determining millennial living choices. Paul Ryan has had three overarching goals during his political career: to cut taxes on the wealthy, to cut government spending on the poor and old, and to make the needy work if they want government help. Last year, the House Speaker finally checked the taxes bit off his Congressional bucket list. But his dreams of clipping the safety net have proven more elusive. The Obamacare repeal bill Ryan jammed through his chamber would have made the historic reductions to Medicaid that Republicans have been chasing for decades. But that effort died with a thumbs down from John McCain. Advertisement At the end of 2017, Ryan made it clear he wanted Republicans to make one last effort at welfare reform before the midterms potentially swept them out of power. The point was not to save money, he insisted, but to do workforce development. This was his dry, bureaucratic euphemism for making more adults work in order to qualify for federal aid like food stamps. Some Republicans were skeptical of this workforce development planperhaps because literally taking lunch money from the poor seemed like a dubious election year strategybut the White House said it was on board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, Ryan, who is set to retire at the end of this year, is finally taking his shot. Congress is currently in the process of reauthorizing the farm bill, which per longstanding Washington tradition includes spending on both agricultural subsidies and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programaka food stamps in order to attract support from all sides of the aisle. (Democrats get to help the poor; Republicans get to help farmers.) This will likely be the last truly major piece of legislation Congress attempts to pass this year, meaning its Ryans last opportunity to add to his Hill legacy. The bill that House Republicans have written makes good on his welfare reform talk by attaching much stricter work requirements to the food stamp program. And President Trump is reportedly threatening to veto any bill that doesnt include the reforms. Advertisement Although you wouldnt know it from Republican rhetoric, the SNAP program already has rules meant to make sure recipients work if they can. Able-bodied adults are required to accept a job if theyre offered one, for instance, and childless enrollees between the ages of 18 and 49 can only receive benefits for a limited time, unless they spend 20 hours a week working or in training. (States can waive that requirement in areas with high unemployment, as many did after the Great Recession.) Advertisement The House farm bill would make todays work requirements more stringent, but tries to soften the blow by promising that everybody will have access to a jobs program. Under the GOPs proposal, adults between the ages of 18 and 59 will have to spend 20 hours at work or in training to qualify for benefits (it pops up to 25 hours starting in 2026), unless they are caring for a child under the age of six. If someone cant find a job, states will be required to offer them a spot in some sort of employment or vocational training program, which Washington will provide $1 billion a year to help fund. Those who slip up on the work rules will be kicked off food stamps for 12 months. Do it again, and theyll be frozen out for three years. Advertisement Advertisement The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office believes that 1.2 million fewer people would receive benefits in 2028 thanks to the new work requirements, almost two-thirds of whom would be parents with older children. To Ryans credit though, the bill does not actually cut overall spending on the food stamp program; thanks in part to the funds for jobs training, it actually bumps up expenditures a smidge. On paper at least, this looks as close to a sincere, welfare-to-work bill as the Republicans ever produce. Advertisement But thats also a rather low bar. Even if you accept the idea that people ought to work to earn their government aidand I dont think you shouldthe bills job training scheme is comically underfunded. The progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities projects that states will have to create spaces in their employment programs for about 3 million Americans a month. If so, the $1 billion a year provided by the bill will work out to a monthly $30 per classroom seat.* Even if more money was available, its not clear states have the tools in place to administer this kind of undertaking. Given what the legislation actually provides, theres next to no chance theyll pull it off. The CBO only thinks that only 80 percent of SNAP enrollees subject to the new work requirements would actually be offered any of the promised training services (the office says it assumes the rest wont be kicked off the program, though doesnt explain what makes them think that). Advertisement Chances are that the legislation will also prevent many perfectly eligible families from receiving food stamps simply by trapping them in red tape. Under the proposed bill, adults subject to work requirements will have to prove every single month that they either clocked their 20 hours on the job, were in training, or qualified for an exemption, such as for health. Today, states typically require a check-in just every six months, and for good reason: Low-income families tend to have erratic lives that make it hard to make those kinds of regular appointments. If a car breaks down, they dont necessarily have the money to fix it. If a child gets sick, they cant pay for a babysitter. They might work a number of different jobs, and have trouble getting their pay stubs together to prove they worked enough. Their work schedules also often fluctuate month to month, so that even if they meet the work requirements on average, they might miss them in any given April or May, and lose eligibility. In short, the burden of simply proving they really do qualify for help putting food on the table will likely trip a lot of families up. Its the kind of underhanded, unofficial tactic for winnowing a safety net program that states like Georgia have used to cull their welfare rolls. Yet the CBO doesnt seem to think these new paperwork requirements will push any families out of the program at all, which means it may be underestimating how many people lose food assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ryans justification for turning food stamps into a poorly funded and bureaucratically onerous work program is typically opportunistic and misleading. The speaker has lately taken to arguing that the U.S. is suffering from a worker shortage, and that pushing more adults into the labor force by reforming the safety net will help solve it. But while the job market is certainly getting tighter, there isnt really any evidence that employers are facing a nationwide dearth of talent. Businesses are still hiring at roughly the same monthly pace they have been for years, and wages arent rising the way youd expect if they were truly desperate. Which brings us to the broader issue, which is that theres little to no evidence that the availability of foods stamps is discouraging a meaningful number of people from working. No matter what Ryan says, the American safety net is not a hammock. Advertisement It should also be said that the bill finds ways to boot people from the food stamp program that are completely unrelated to the notion of promoting work. For instance, hundreds of thousands of households would lose their SNAP benefits due to changes in what are known as categorical eligibility rules, which let people automatically qualify for food stamps if they participate in other federal or state programs for the disadvantaged, like Supplemental Security Income or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Notably, the CBO says these same changes would deny free school lunches to about 265,000 children. Advertisement Advertisement At its core, though, this bill is about sending the message that the only people worthy of assistance are those who work. Its about punishing takers, as a younger, less politically astute Ryan would have put it. Its based on the same sort of vaguely serious sounding, but ultimately spurious economic logic the Speaker has specialized in for his whole career, whether it was back in his days fear-mongering about the debt to justify monstrous austerity budgets or his more recent attempts to convince the world that Obamacare was in a death spiral in order to rationalize repealing it. This last legislative push may be a bit less vicious than some of his past work. But its still classic Paul Ryan. Last November, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a sprawling health system that dominates much of western Pennsylvanias health care market, announced that it would spend $2 billion to build a trio of new hospitals within its home city. One would focus on vision and rehab, a second on cancer, and the third on heart treatment and transplantsthe sort of advanced high-priced specialties that can draw patients (and their insurance cards) from far off. Laying out his broader ambitions during a press conference, UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff said he believed UPMC (already No. 4 in the Slate 90s Health ranking) could double its size in five years and that it was poised to become the Amazon of health care. Advertisement To an outsider, this all may sound like another happy chapter of Pittsburghs ongoing reinvention story, in which the once-ailing factory town has transformed into a hub for tech and medicineless Carnegie Steel, more Uber. That is certainly how Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto framed it. Pittsburgh is back on the global stage, he said at the announcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To some locals, however, the hospital expansion signified something quite different: the latest example of a giant, voracious nonprofit expanding without paying its fair share back to the community. At an April meeting of the Pittsburgh Planning Commission, where UPMC formally presented its building proposals, more than 20 residents, activists, and hospital employees gave remarks criticizing the health system, savaging its labor practices, its controversial decision to cut ties with a major insurer, and its lack of emphasis on serving Pittsburghs lower-income residents. We cant make deals that bring high-end luxuries and innovations to our city at the expense of our working families and long-time residents, Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy, director of Pittsburgh United, an organization that represents a coalition of labor unions as well as environmental, faith, and community groups, told the commission. Advertisement Advertisement [T]heyre not holding up their end of the bargain with the community, Kennedy told me later. Theyre using the taxpayers in Pennsylvania to subsidize their profits. Her organization has urged the city to block UPMCs new development unless UPMC allows its workers to organize free of retaliation, gives Pittsburgh residents access to care regardless of what insurance card they carry, and invests in efforts like affordable housing. (In a statement, UPMC told me, Those that showed up at the recent planning commission meeting did not represent the community but, rather, were proxies for the SEIU Healthcare PA, which is frustrated having been unsuccessful in its years-long attempts to gain any traction with UPMC employees.) Advertisement In recent years, UPMC has come to epitomize town vs. surgical-gown tension, partly because of Pittsburghs special political circumstances. Tax-exempt educational and medical institutions are largely responsible for the citys economic revival. Whereas Detroit has the Big Three automakers, Pittsburgh is said to have its Big Four nonprofits: the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, insurer Highmark Health, and UPMC. But while these institutions have been critical to Pittsburghs rebirth, they also own much of its land and employ much of its workforce, denying the region tens of millions worth of property and payroll taxes. Advertisement Advertisement To get a sense of UPMCs scale, consider these numbers. Last year, it generated $15.6 billion in revenuea sum roughly equivalent to the revenues of the Gap, No. 178 on the Fortune 500. With approximately 80,000 employees, UPMC is the largest employer in the state outside of the government. With more than 30 hospitals operating under its capacious umbrella, it claims to control 41 percent of the medical-surgical market in western Pennsylvania and has been expanding aggressively. Last year alone, it snapped up seven hospitals in central Pennsylvania, closer to Harrisburg. Back in Pittsburgh, meanwhile, UPMCs physical footprint is so large that if it werent a nonprofit, the system would reportedly owe an extra $20 million in annual taxes by itself. (To put that in perspective, all of Allegheny County was expected to collect around $360 million total property taxes in 2017.) Advertisement Arguably, nowhere is the distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit players more blurry than in the vast health care sector. While the IRS requires that tax-exempt hospitals offer benefits to their surrounding communities, the standard is vague and can be fulfilled by things that dont directly benefit nearby residents, such as funding scientific research. Meanwhile, the sense of professionalism and civic obligation that once guided many nonprofit medical institutions has given way to a consultant-driven, corporate style of management focused on maximizing revenue. Of the 10 hospitals that made the most off patient care in 2013, for instance, seven were technically nonprofit entities, according to a study by professors Gerard F. Anderson and Ge Bai of Johns Hopkins University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And on some levels, UPMC does seem to operate a bit like its for-profit counterparts. It pays executives seven-figure salaries. Critics argue that its unfriendly to unions and has a history of underpaying its hourly workerssome of whom have had to rely on food stamps. (After years of criticism, including from the governor, the hospital is in the process of raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour.) In 2010, it shuttered its money-losing hospital in the hard-luck town of Braddockyou may know it from this Levis adwhile building a new location eight miles east in the wealthier suburb of Monroeville. Meanwhile, UPMC has been engaged in a nasty feud with rival nonprofit Highmark Health since 2011. Highmark, the regions top insurer, bought the West Penn Allegheny Health System, UPMCs troubled competitor. In response, UPMC announced it would no longer accept Highmark coverage. The conflict escalated to such a degree that the state stepped in and brokered an agreement that let some Highmark customers continue paying in-network rates at UPMC facilities. (The deal was set to expire in 2019, but regulators successfully urged the two sides to partially extend it through 2024.) The saga prompted Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner to accuse UPMC of placing its own growth over the health of the average citizen in testimony submitted to the development board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We cant make deals that bring high-end luxuries and innovations to our city at the expense of our working families and long-time residents. Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy, Pittsburgh United Wagners not alone in this perspective. In fact, even in 2013, in an unusually aggressive move, Pittsburgh sued to strip UPMC of its tax-exempt status under state law, arguing in short that it was operating too much like a commercial business. Theyre not a charity, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said at the time. After some legal wrangling, the citys current mayor, Peduto, dropped the case in 2014, and UPMC ended a countersuit. Advertisement A hospital administrator might argue that expanding, restructuring, and keeping labor costs in check are necessary measures that all organizationsfor-profit and nonprofitmust take in order to survive. Nonprofit hospitals have seen their finances deteriorate in the face of rising costs and stalling revenue, leading to a wave of credit downgrades. UPMC itself isnt in any peril; the organization has more than $5 billion of reserves on hand. But while its revenues may be enormous, its margins tend to be thin, as the credit raters at S&P put it. Its $15.6 billion in revenue last year yielded just $245 million in operating incomea margin of 1.6 percent. When I asked Johns Hopkins Bai to run her data for me, she found that UPMCs most profitable location, measured by its margins earned on patient care, ranked 695 in 2013 out of the roughly 3,000 U.S. hospitals in their data set. Its flagship, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, officially lost money on patient services; it ranked 1,667. Advertisement Advertisement Even if UPMC isnt earning monster profits for an organization its size, the hospitals critics still see a wealthy hospital with billions in the bank, giving back less to its city than it could. They note that while the hospital likes to tout the nearly $1 billion it provides in IRS-defined community benefits, barely more than 3 percent of the systems budget was actually spent on charity care and subsidized health services, according to its last IRS filing. When I hear theyre operating on a thin profit margin, I dont feel bad, and it doesnt change my analysis of the situation, Pittsburgh Uniteds Kennedy told me. Theyre not addressing community health concerns, she says. Theyre addressing high-dollar, out-of-town patients with an excellence institute that isnt for Pittsburghers, but will be subsidized by Pittsburghers, in terms of our land and in terms of our resources. Read more about the Slate 90s methodology. This piece is part of the Slate 90, a series that examines the multibillion-dollar nonprofit sector. Read all stories from the Slate 90 here, and view the Slate 90 nonprofit rankings here. CAMBRIDGE, MassachusettsYou dont need to drop out of Harvard and move to the West Coast to start a company anymore. You can cross the Charles River to the i-Lab, a 30,000-square-foot incubator for undergraduates that the university founded in 2011. Tech office style prevails in this building behind the vaunted Harvard Business School: open floor, whiteboards, a ping-pong table. In the da Vinci room, students can use machine tools. The mission: unlocking unrealized value that can have a deep impact on markets, on the world, and on the individuals who walk through these doors. Or, in plain English, helping undergrads start companies. Across the street is another innovation lab, with a focus on life sciences, open to graduate students and alumni. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Harvard (No. 1 in the Slate 90 Education sector), its only the start of an effort to commercialize the churn of new ideas that has always characterized coursework, research, and lunchtime chatter at elite universities. The Innovation Lab will soon be joined by an Enterprise Research Campus, a community for business, investment capital, research and science development in Allston, where Harvard has amassed 250 acres of land. Originally set to expand the universitys footprint by 10 million square feetabout half the size of downtown Charlotte, North Carolinas prime office spacethe proposed Allston campus was downsized in the wake of the financial crisis. But it is still an ambitious bit of city planning, one that represents the new strategy that urban research universities are now pursuingexpanding into commercial real estate for revenue, status, and influence. Out of the ivory tower; into the cap stack. Advertisement Advertisement Harvards Allston plan may be the largest university-led urban development project in the country. But you would be hard-pressed to find a peer institution that has not thrown itself into commercial property development. While the word campus comes from the Latin for field, the old-style gated quad, set apart from the town or up on a hill, is decidedly out of fashion. Universities remain nonprofits to be sure, exempt from all manner of taxes. But as the Slate 90 list shows, they are very large businesses. And because of this, their economic role in the American city is rapidly evolving. Yale (No. 2 in the Education sector) has spent the past two decades buying strips of storefronts around its New Haven campus, recruiting a Barnes and Noble and an Apple Store to what had once been low-rent rows of local businesses. Yale is now New Havens largest commercial landlord. Advertisement Advertisement This activity is rooted in a deep change that has occurred in the American city in the past 50 years. In a famous 1976 essay, The City as a Growth Machine, sociologist Harvey Molotch outlined the coalition of private and public interests that had made economic growth the paramount goal of local government. Most of those institutions have disappeared, Wim Wiewel, the president of Lewis & Clark College and the editor of a pair of books on university development, observed in a recent conversation. The department store is closed, the newspaper is bankrupt, the local bank is no longer local, and the manufacturing is gone. Advertisement What remains is the university. A university is now the largest employer in two-thirds of Americas 100 largest cities (and a handful of states as well). Even in New York City, home to 45 Fortune 500 companies and a global capital of finance, media, and fashion, five of the top 10 private employers are anchor institutions like universities and academic medical centers. It can be easy to exaggerate the importance of higher ed as an anchor, an extreme example of which is the argument that Detroits bankruptcy might have been avoided by the presence of its own Case Western or Carnegie Mellon. But theres no question that as cities have hollowed out, universities have enthusiastically seized more economic and urban development responsibilities. Advertisement In its most basic form, this mission creep represents the realization, on the part of university brass, that an institution is only as strong as its neighborhood. Thats not a new insight, but its one thats historically been accompanied by fortress-style fortifications at the edges of campus. In 2004, Don Michael Randel, then the president of the University of Chicago, offered a caustic assessment of how the South Side anchor had viewed its role during urban renewal. Lower the gates. Raise the draw bridges. Dig the moats deeper, maybe spread a little scorched earth around the place. So as to protect yourself from what was seen as a threat on the outside. Now, the Second Citys flagship university has spread out and assumed greater responsibility for the quality of life in its broader neighborhood. It has become the steward of an adjacent commercial strip, managing projects as diverse as the renovation of a movie theater and the construction of a hotel. It has even offered free rent to pop-up shops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The University of Pennsylvania (No. 3 in the Education sector) had used slum clearance to evict black families from its neighborhood during urban renewal. But beginning in the 1990s, it undertook a much more comprehensive approach to the blight and depopulation of West Philadelphia. Penns West Philadelphia initiatives, the brainchild of then-president Judith Rodin, now stand as an influential case study. Penn helped employees buy houses, expanded campus police patrols, supplemented public services, and even started a new public school. The university also developed scores of nonacademic buildings, often in partnership with commercial developers. The project is widely considered a success, though it also drew accusations of Penntrification. University City, the area where Penn focused initially, grew 3 percent to 46,500 residents between 1990 and 2010, but its black population fell by 29 percent. (In West Philadelphia as a whole, population grew by 13 percent and black population fell by 18 percent) Advertisement Hank Webber, a top administrator at Washington University in St. Louis, told me that concern about neighborhood quality became widespread among institutions like Wash U, Johns Hopkins, and others. A number of universities said, Our location is becoming a major competitive disadvantage, and we need to respond by making this a place that our faculty and staff want to come. But stabilizing local housing markets and designing commercial corridors that would appeal to star faculty and undergraduate parents was just the first step. Advertisement Advertisement Webber, who worked on the University of Chicagos redevelopment efforts prior to moving to St. Louis, is also the chairman of Cortex Innovation Community, a 501(c)(3) created by Wash U in partnership with other local anchors. Its a master developer that has concentrated on transforming a post-industrial quadrant of the city by constructing or renovating 1.7 million square feet of space, now home to about 5,000 tech-related jobs. Where our best and brightest will live and work is how the St. Louis Business Journal described it. Cortex has powers that the city and state would not have granted a university. It can issue tax abatements, use eminent domain, and control local land use. Tax-increment financing deals make sure that gains from the districts growth are plowed back into Cortex instead of being distributed citywide. Advertisement Advertisement Old power struggles over institutional land use have faded as economic development becomes the academys focus. The interest in promoting corporate partnerships and local business development is already changing the way the academy allocates its resources, spurring a focus on STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematicsfields that are viewed as more closely linked to business formation than, say, foreign language study or history. Research institutions that arent in the types of bustling urban neighborhoods that are typically thought to characterize spillover economies (pace Palo Alto, California) have sometimes started urban satellite campuses. For example, Cornells (No. 10) new graduate engineering school is not located in bucolic Ithaca, New York, but on Roosevelt Island in New York City. Advertisement There was a time when this proposition of a university as a full-fledged municipal actor made even liberal administrators wary. If society tries to use the university as the vehicle for the current, operational solution of community problems, Yale president Kingman Brewster said in a 1969 speech, it may well sacrifice the one institution whose research and teaching is essential to the long range, fundamental solution of these same problems. Advertisement But city leaders, for the most part, have welcomed the shift. Old power struggles over institutional land use have faded as economic development becomes the academys focus. It hasnt always been clear quite what universities do for local growth, in part because studentsespecially the best studentstend to be mobile. There are highly ranked universities without adjacent job clusters (Johns Hopkins, No. 4 in the Education sector, for example) and booming cities without world-class universities (like Denver).* The question for cities might be whether they could be driving a harder bargain with their anchors. In October, a Brookings paper compared the commercial outcomes of urban research universities to their nonurban peers. Big-city universities produced 80 percent more licensing deals, disclosed 123 percent more inventions, received 222 percent more income from licensing, and created 71 percent more startups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report encouraged downtown universities to line up their academic specialties with private-sector partners, which can be a cheap (if ethically complicated) way to compensate for declining federal and state funding. Universities are finding ways not just to supplement that federal funding but replacing it, and that means developing kinds of industry partnerships, explained Sharon Haar, the chairwoman of the architecture program at the University of Michigan and author of The City as Campus. In Ann Arbor, Ford has moved dozens of employees onto campus, where they work side by side with Michigan faculty and students on driverless vehicle technology. Its not just about the money, though. Above all, universities are competing for talent. And just as students are increasingly drawn to entrepreneurship even as undergrads, faculty often want to know that they can be in a place where they can bring a laboratory breakthrough to market. Equally important, in the race to lure star researchers who can remake entire departments, is the rise of dual-earner households. People dont want to relocate to a place that will require their partners to sacrifice their careers. Advertisement Ultimately, institutions are motivated by self-interest, said Wiewel, who in his previous job at Portland State University helped establish the citys Cortex-style Innovation Quadrant. They wouldnt do it if it didnt serve their own purposesgenerate licensing income, be seen as an active viable place. No president can afford to say, Oh, my goal is to be the economic bulwark of my city. They do it because its good for the university. Read more about the Slate 90s methodology. Update, May 12: NBC has announced that it will pick up the recently canceled Brooklyn Nine-Nine for a 13-episode sixth season. In a statement, NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said, Ever since we sold this show to Fox Ive regretted letting it get away, and its high time it came back to its rightful home. We got your SIX! #Brooklyn99 is officially coming to NBC! pic.twitter.com/NNQw2OZquH NBC Entertainment (@nbc) May 12, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Original post: Fox announced on Thursday that it was cancelling beloved police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine after five seasons, but fans may not have to mourn for very long. It was only a matter of hours before other networks started expressing interest in saving the show, with the Hollywood Reporter reporting that the Brooklyn Nine-Nines producer, Universal Television, has already received calls from Hulu, Netflix, TBS, and NBC. In the meantime, the cast and crew took to social media to thank fans for their devotion: Wow. Thank you all for this incredible outpouring of support. #brooklyn99 fans are the best fans in the world. It means the world to me and everyone else who works on the show. Dan Goor (@djgoor) May 10, 2018 Advertisement Squad, we love you. What a gift this series has been: its been my honor. Your sadness is noted. NINE- NINE! pic.twitter.com/qAcOYfpNZh Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) May 10, 2018 Advertisement I am still processing... dont have all the words.. but.. These last 5 years have been incredible. Thank you for all your love and support. We have the best fans. Its been a huge honor to play Amy and be a part of this tremendous ensemble. NINE NINE! #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/nmBFA2rm6I Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) May 10, 2018 Advertisement I love you fans. I love you squad. It has been an incredible five years. Im so very lucky, so deeply thankful to have been part of a show that has brought so much joy to so many. NINE-NINE! #Brooklyn99 #renewB99 JoeLoTruglio (@JoeLoTruglio) May 10, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PEP TALK IN MIRROR TODAY pic.twitter.com/TgWXdGKesj Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) May 10, 2018 While no doubt sad news, I celebrate all that #Brooklyn99 has accomplished, how much it has meant to me personally and I will forever cherish the time I was gifted in the company of these fine people. Dirk Blocker (@DirkBlocker) May 11, 2018 Advertisement A number of celebrities also came out as fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in wake of the cancellation, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Guillermo del Toro, and Mark Hamill. RENEW BROOKLYN NINE NINE I ONLY WATCH LIKE 4 THINGS THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS#RenewB99 Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 10, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont wanna live in a world where Fox cancels Brooklyn 99 but keeps News josh groban (@joshgroban) May 11, 2018 Reason #30: The world is better with this show in it. I love these characters and the healing good energy B99 brings. https://t.co/HXs6ct8bzv Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) May 11, 2018 Advertisement Heres the thing about Brooklyn 99 being cancelled, I dont want it to be. I love all of those people & they earned the right 2 have a final season victory lap where I could emotionally prepare. Dont know them. Have nothing 2 do with the show. Im just a fan who deserves better. Sean Astin (@SeanAstin) May 11, 2018 Advertisement News on @Brooklyn99FOX and @LastManFOX is a double gut punch. Two great shows with hilarious writing and terrific ensembles. Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) May 10, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Oh NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I'm SO not ready to say #ByeBye99. Be forewarned @FOXTV-when networks dump shows I love, I'm known for holding grudges a long, L-O-N-G time. I'm still mad @CBS didn't renew #SquarePegs! #EverythingILikeGetsCancelled https://t.co/NEry6Hrpng Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) May 10, 2018 But the best tribute may have come from a very unexpected source: Advertisement Senator Bernie Sanders and a group of potential Democratic presidential contenders including Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand are introducing the Workplace Democracy Act, a major labor bill updating the 1935 National Labor Relations Act with new provisions on organizing rights and the gig economy. From the Washington Post: The bill would allow employees to form a union by a majority sign-up process, rather than an election (which proponents say heightens the risk of employer meddling); require companies to negotiate with a new union within 10 days of receiving a request; mandate that workers in every state pay some dues to unions that represent them; and expand the laws definition of employer, a hotly debated term as the countrys contractor workforce expands. Advertisement The bill would extend new labor protections to many workers employed as contractors in the gig economy including drivers for rideshare services like Uber. It would also ban state right to work statutes aimed at undermining unions, as Slates Jordan Weissman explained in September: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right-to-work statutes allow employees to opt out of paying fees to the unions that represent them in collective bargaining. These laws are frequently blamed for draining organized labor of financial resources and have likely contributed to the decline of union organizing over the past several decades. States are permitted to enact the laws under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, a landmark piece of union-busting legislation that congressional Republicans passed over President Harry Trumans veto. Advertisement Theres no chance whatsoever that the bill will be considered with Republican control of the White House and Congress. But its introduction is a signal that the party may be leaning into labor issues for elections to come, and with good reason. The Democratic lead over Republicans in the union vote dipped by 10 points from the 2012 election to 2016, and Donald Trump won the most union votes of any Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Clintons poor showing with union households did the most damage in the Rust Beltin Ohio, she actually lost them to Trump by 9 points, according to exit polls. This partially reflects the gradual erosion of union support for Democrats over the past few decades, which has coincided with union members shrinking as a share of the electorate (from comprising roughly a quarter of voters in 1980 to 18 percent in 2016) and as a share of the American workforce (from comprising roughly a quarter of workers in the 1950s to around 10 percent today). Advertisement Advertisement This has long been bad news politically for Democrats in the white working-class regions that have been at the center of political discussion since the election, and bad news for those workers themselves economicallydeclining union membership is widely considered one of the culprits behind middle- and lower-class wage stagnation. According to a 2016 paper from the Economic Policy Institute, wages for nonunion men working in the private sector without high school diplomas would be 5 percent higher if union membership were at 1979 levels. They would be 8 percent higher specifically for men without a college degree. Those are the kind of figures Democrats will have to tout, along with the Sanders bill, if they want to rebuild labor support for November and beyond. The Trump administration has already done some of their work for them: support for the president has fallen about 15 points among union members over the past year according to Reuters. A coroner in Augusta, Georgia notified state authorities this week after water-treatment workers found fetal remains that had been flushed down a city drain. City coroner Mark Bowen determined that the remains were from a fetus about 20 weeks in gestational age. In Georgia, abortions performed past 20 weeks of pregnancy are illegal. But Bowen insists he didnt intend to subject the formerly pregnant woman to a criminal investigation when he sent the fetal tissue to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. My intention is to put the mother and fetus together, and make sure the mothers okay, he told the Verge. I just want to make sure she isnt getting an infection or bleeding out, and then I would like to connect them back together so she can have her miscarried child or aborted child properly disposed of. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Georgia criminal code only implicates an abortion provider who performs the procedure after 20 weeks gestation, not a woman receiving abortion care. A physician in violation of this law stands to serve between one and 10 years in prison. Bowen was aware of this law when he sent the fetal remains in for a full autopsy and DNA testing: Its right on that line where it could or could not be [legal]. Did that baby take a breath and drown in the water? We dont know. Fetuses generally are not considered viable outside the womb until 23 or 24 weeks gestation. There would be no reason for a doctor to send the fetal tissue down a drainmedical waste, a coroner would know, is usually incinerated or deposited in a designated landfill. Its far more likely that the remains were the result of a miscarriage or self-induced abortion. Either way, even though Georgia law does not implicate women who terminate their pregnancies as criminals, any DNA testing on the fetal remains would be done for the purpose of finding the formerly pregnant woman, if only to identify a physician who performed an unlawful abortion. A Georgia woman who either lost a wanted pregnancy or terminated an unwanted one is at risk of being swept up in the justice system for doing something the law does not classify as a crime. Advertisement Advertisement Using fetal DNA to find that woman would be a new and potentially troubling use of DNA databases, the Verge reports. Those databases are usually only used to find missing people or those suspected of criminal activity. Law enforcement officials will run DNA found at a crime scene to find either a match for a suspect or, in a practice some see as a violation of civil rights, a biologically related family member of a suspect whos not in the database. In a missing-person case, a family member can submit her own DNA or some DNA from the missing person to test against DNA recovered from unidentified bodies in law-enforcement custody. Advertisement Neither of these accepted uses of DNA databases apply in the case of the fetal remains being analyzed in Georgia. Here, neither the fetus nor the two people with whom its DNA might match have committed a crime under Georgia law, and neither, presumably, has been reported as a missing person. If a physician did perform an illegal abortion, both the fetus and the formerly pregnant woman will be considered victims, not suspects. Using a victims DNA to find a potential perpetrator of a crime two degrees removed from the subject would be a significant expansion of the databases use and a possible violation of constitutional rights. Advertisement Advertisement According to Monica Simpson, the executive director of the Georgia-based reproductive justice advocacy group SisterSong, cases like this one have a chilling effect among marginalized populations who already have reason to distrust the criminal justice and health-care systems. Folks who may have experienced a miscarriageespecially as a person of colorare going to be concerned about going in and getting access to the care they need, she said. Can they trust those folks who are saying that theyre there to care for them? In Virginia last month, an appellate court upheld the conviction of a woman who was sentenced to jail for the felony of concealing a dead body after experiencing a stillbirth at home. When she went to an emergency room for medical assistance, the doctor who examined her called the police. Advertisement Anti-abortion groups adopt a position of concern for pregnant women when they say women deserve better than abortion and wont be criminalized if abortion is outlawed. But even now, at a time when abortion has been enshrined as a constitutionally protected medical procedure, women are already being shunted into the criminal justice system for miscarriages, stillbirths, and self-induced abortions. Even if the courts or individual state employees prevent those women from serving jail time, as one savvy district attorney did in Georgia in 2015, plenty of others will be scared away from seeking necessary reproductive health care. The criminal justice system isnt designed to have the best interest of the most marginalized in mind. Weve seen that from history, from the criminalization of pregnant women during substance abuse to shackling women while theyre pregnant or in active labor, Simpson said. If youre looking at a system that keeps showing you its not invested in your health, then people are going to start to rely on themselves. On Thursday morning, Vice President Mike Pence suggested that the Mueller investigation has run its course. In the interests of the country, I think its time to wrap it up, Pence said on NBCs Today. I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion. The timing of Pences call for an end to the Mueller investigation coincided with the news that the subsidiary investment arm of a firm owned by a Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, had paid Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, $500,000. This news was accompanied by a series of damaging confirmations of payments to Cohen by AT&T, Novartis, and Korean Aerospace as well as news that Vekselbergs subsidiary investment firm had purchased alt-right domain names. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given what we know about the investigation and Pences role in it, the vice president is likely being considered a witness at the very least and has the high potential to be considered a subject, or even a target. Given the facts, Pences call for an end to the investigation should be read as a callous political ploy and perhaps as a self-interested effort to ensure that evidence of his own potentially criminal role in this scandal does not see the light of day. At this point, its important to reconsider where Pence fits into the timeline of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russiaand any efforts to obstruct the investigations into that potential collusionwhich are still the subjects of Muellers investigation. Key questions are: What does Pence know and when did he know it? More specifically: What did Pence know about Michael Flynn and his Russian contacts in January 2017? And did he participate in the cover-up and in obstruction of justice of that investigation, which ultimately resulted in a guilty plea and cooperation deal by Flynn? Here are some of the key dates, some of which I have previously laid out in Slate and other publications: Advertisement Advertisement Nov. 11, 2016: Pence becomes chair of the Trump transition team, with Flynn as vice chair. Chris Christie later claims that a significant reason he was replaced as chair was because he opposed Flynns nomination as national security adviser. Nov. 17, 2016: It was reported that Flynn would be Trumps national security adviser. Nov. 18, 2016: Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sends a letter to Pence with concerns about Flynns links to Russia and Turkey, and requests more information. Dec. 1, 2016: Flynn and Jared Kushner meet Russias Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at Trump Tower. According to Kushners own testimony, he proposed a secret communication link with the Kremlin through the Russian Embassy in an effort to find a secure line. Advertisement Advertisement Dec. 9, 2016: Consistent with a key allegation in the Steele Dossier, the Russians sell 19.5 percent of energy firm Rosneft to Qatar and Glencore, which then immediately sell off these assets in smaller parts. (A Qatar-backed firm later gave Kushners family company a $184 million loan). Dec. 13, 2016: Reportedly at Kislyaks urging, Kushner meets Sergey Gorkov, who chairs Russias government-owned Vnesheconombank and is Putins close confidant. Vnesheconombank is understood by analysts to be Putins slush fund and is under strict U.S. sanctions. Advertisement Dec. 14, 2016: Gorkov flies to Japan, where he is reported to have met with Putin. Dec. 28, 2016: Obama orders new Russian sanctions for election hacking and interference. Kislyak contacts Flynn. Advertisement Dec. 29, 2016: According to details later revealed in Flynns plea agreement, he calls a senior official of the Presidential Transition Team who was with other senior members of the [team] at Mar-a-Lago. Flynn and this senior official agree that they do not want Russia to escalate the situation. Flynn calls Kislyak immediately and afterward reports back to the senior official. Reports suggest that this official was Jared Kushner. Was Pence, the head of the transition team, aware of these calls? Where was he during this episode? On Dec. 30, 2016: Trump tweets to Putin, calling him very smart for not responding to Obamas sanctions in kind. January 2017: Vekselberg begins sending payments to Michael Cohens Essential Consulting account. Advertisement Jan. 4, 2017: According to later reporting by the New York Times, Flynn reveals to Don McGahn, chief attorney for the transition effort, that hes under FBI investigation. Flynn is still appointed national security adviser and receives provisional security clearance. Did the top lawyer in the transition team tell the head of the transition, Pence, about the fact that Flynn was under investigation? Advertisement Advertisement Jan. 15, 2017: In the wake of news reports that Flynn and Kislyak spoke during the sanctions controversy, Pence states on CBSs Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not discuss anything having to do with the United States decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia. Pence says he was told this by Flynnwho is now a cooperating witness with Muellers probe and the FBIhimself. Advertisement Jan. 20, 2017: Trump and Pence are sworn into office. Jan. 24, 2017: In an interview with FBI agents, Flynn denies that he spoke about sanctions with Russian officials. Jan. 26, 2017: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates tells McGahn, now the White House counsel, that Pence, among others, was not correct about Flynns Russian contacts. Did McGahn really not tell Pence? Early February 2017: Michael Cohen reportedly delivers a Ukrainian peace proposal to Flynn that would involve ousting the anti-Putin leader and lifting sanctions against Russia. Whom did Flynn and Cohen share this with? Feb. 9, 2017: According to Pences press secretarys later account, this is when Pence learned about Yates warning. The Washington Post also reports on this day that Flynn had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. But Flynn continues in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Feb. 13, 2017: Flynn resigns. Feb. 14, 2017: Trump meets privately with FBI Director Jim Comey and allegedly asks him to let go of the Flynn thing. (Comey testified to this under oath before a Senate panel, but Trump has denied it is true in public statements.) May 8, 2017: According to later reporting in the New York Times, the White House disseminates a draft letter written by Trump and Stephen Millerdescribed by sources as a screed laying out the reasons for firing Comey, including Trumps displeasure that Comey wouldnt publicly say Trump wasnt being investigated in the Russia inquiry. In the Oval Office, Pence and McGahn reportedly review the draft and McGahn reportedly asks that some sections be removed. A version of this letter is sent to Rod Rosenstein, who crafts a new memo justifying the firing and attributing it to Comeys conduct during the Clinton investigation, with no mention of Russia. Advertisement Advertisement May 9, 2017: Trump fires Comey. May 10, 2017: Pence publicly denies that the Russia investigation factored into the decision, strongly suggesting that Trump was merely accept[ing] the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general (full video here). Advertisement Question: Did the president fire Director Comey to impede the Russia investigation? Pence: [The president] is not under investigation and there is no evidence of collusion between our campaign and any Russian officials Question: But intelligence officials have said there is an investigation into potential ties between campaign officials and Russia Pence: Thats not what this was about Question: What about the presidents dissatisfaction with the Russia probe. Did that play into this, sir? Pence: [Shaking his head no.] Let me be very clear that the presidents decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove Director Comey as the head of the FBI was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interest of the American people and to ensuring that the FBI has the trust and confidence of the people of this nation The American people expect a president to act on the recommendations of those within the administration who are charged with oversight. In this case the deputy attorney general provides the oversight to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And while the deputy attorney general was confirmed just a few short weeks ago by the United States Senate, when he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed, President Trump provided the kind of strong and decisive leadership the American people have come to be accustomed from him. Question: Did the president ask the deputy attorney general to conduct a review of Director Comey? Pence: The new deputy attorney general, who was just sworn in two weeks ago came to workhe is a man of extraordinary independence and integrity and a reputation in both political parties of great charactersat down and made the recommendation he brought that recommendation to the president. The attorney general concurred with that recommendation, and I personally am grateful that we have a president who is willing to decide the kind of decisive and strong leadership to take the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Notice how Pence framed the decision as if it were entirely Rosensteins own idea. If Pence had read Trumps draft letter, and if it in fact focused on the Russia investigation, Pences answers would be misrepresentations and concealment. If Pence participated in the revision of the letter, his apparent lies afterward would constitute the affirmative acts necessary for proving misprision (deliberate concealment) of a felony. That same day, Trump invites Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the Russian Ambassador to the United States Kislyak to the Oval Office and reportedly tells them, I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nutjob I faced great pressure because of Russia. Thats taken off. Advertisement May 11, 2017: Trump tells NBCs Lester Holt that he fired Comey because of this Russia thing. Considering this timeline, Pence was clearly a witness to Flynns conduct and Trumps possible obstruction of justice. I have also suggested that Pence might be facing criminal liability for his participation in obstruction: aiding and abetting, conspiracy, and misprision of a felony. Misprision, it should be noted, is a law against concealment that in practice applies more to public officials than the general public. The Michael Cohen news only heightens the risk to Pence. Muellers team has Cohens phones and emails, and may also have Vekselbergs records. Whom had they contacted, and what will those people say about Pence? Vekselbergs payments seem to have begun soon after Flynn and Kushner had contacts with Russian officials. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has soft-pedaled sanctionsthe original heart of the scandal, and the reported quo in return for the Russian quid. Even if Pence didnt know of a potential bribery scheme, there is reason to suspect that he participated actively in the cover-up and the obstruction of the investigation. So it makes perfect sense why Pence would be calling for an end to the investigationbecause he is clearly an uncomfortable witness and potentially one of its targets. On Aug. 23, 1939, the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and the Third Reich secretly met in Moscow to sign a treaty of non-aggression. The infamous red-brown pact paved the way for the Nazis conquest of large swathes of central Europe. It also caused a deep crisis of conscience for activists, including my grandparents, who had been attracted to communism in part because of its promises to free the world from sectarianism and racial injustice. In the end, most communists found some way of reconciling their conscience with the unconscionable. They invoked strategy or necessity, the evil of bourgeois capitalism or the wisdom of Joseph Stalin (or denied the existence of the pact altogether). In one way or the other, they contrived to recover the certitude that they were on the side of the angelsand that this could, at times, justify an alliance with the devil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement International politics is always ripe for strange partnerships, of course. How else to explain that Iran is allied with North Korea, or indeed that the United States supports the governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia? And yet, something about the seismic shifts now transforming the ideological spectrum of Western democracies goes beyond these partnerships of convenience. Both left-wing and right-wing enemies of liberal democracy are smelling blood in the waterand they are not too picky about the people with whom they are to share the feast. All around the world, left-wing and right-wing populists are finding it surprisingly easy to make common cause: In Greece, far-left Syriza ascended to government power in a coalition with far-right ANEL. In many European countries, the Kremlin is simultaneously supporting populist insurgents on both sides of the political spectrum. In much of the West, both the radical right and the anti-imperialist left close their eyes to the war crimes of Syrias Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, in the United States, a growing number of leftists are disdainful of the idea that Donald Trump might represent a special danger; America, they say, is so deeply rotten that its naive to think of Trump as a departure from the past, or to fear that theres anything of value left to defend. Advertisement Advertisement But nothing has brought todays bizarre, postmodern variation on the red-brown alliance into focus quite as sharply as the recent news that Italys amorphous Five Star Movement is trying to build a coalition government with the deeply xenophobic League. The mayors of the League have, for years, been in the ugly habit of ramping up deportations around the end of the year under the slogan of White Christmas. When a former member of the party went on a shooting rampage in the southern city of Macerata at the beginning of this yearseriously injuring six African immigrantsMatteo Salvini, the partys leader, pointedly refused to condemn him. In an age in which the term white supremacy is at times applied rather indiscriminately, there can be little doubt that it applies to Salvinis men. Advertisement Advertisement Ideology is not the most defining characteristic of the populists. What truly defines them is a political style. The Five Star Movement, by contrast, clearly started on the political left. Though Beppe Grillo has at times pronounced the old ideological distinctions to be dead, he rose to political prominence by assailing Silvio Berlusconi (a right-wing populist who has cultivated as many dubious ties as Michael Cohen, yet was politically rather more moderate than Donald Trump). It derives its name from five early demands, all of which fit comfortably on the left side of the political spectrum: Control over local water supply should stay in public hands; the government should do much more to protect the environment; every town should provide its citizens with free access to the internet; Italy should favor bikes, buses, and trains over cars; and it should embark on a sustainable model of economic development inspired by the concept of de-growth. Advertisement Advertisement And yet, this populist movement with its justified anger at a corrupt political leader and its hodgepodge list of idealistic demands has, with breathtaking rapidity, gone sour. Over the years, its representatives started to insinuate that 9/11 might have been an inside job, built ever-closer ties with the Kremlin, and took increasingly noxious stances on immigration. That transformation is now nearing its completion: Faced with a choice between new elections, a joint government with the center-left Democratic Party, or a pact with the racists of Salvinis League, the leaders of the Five Star Movement have opted for a left-right populist alliance. Early media reports make clear what the new governments first order of business is likely to be if it really does come together: a crackdown on immigrants. Political logic also dictates a second undertaking: Unable to agree on much of a positive program, they will likely use their shared hostility to the European Union as a glue that can help keep their fractious coalition together. Advertisement Advertisement This should serve as a timely warning to all those who believe that only right-wing populism is truly dangerous, and therefore regard the rise of left-wing populism as a benign correction to the failings of liberal democracy. In The Populist Explosion, for example, John Judis argued that right-wing populism is likely to lead to violence and injustice because it is triadic: Populist leaders like Donald Trump claim to channel the voice of ordinary people in the fight against both elites and vulnerable minorities, from Muslims to black Americans. Left-wing populism, by contrast, is unlikely to instigate the same devastation because it is dyadic: Fully focused on the conflict between ordinary people and political elites, it does not scapegoat outsiders. Therefore, it isnt likely to compound existing injustices. Advertisement Advertisement But this overlooks that ideology is not the most defining characteristic of the populists. As I argue in The People vs. Democracy, what truly defines them is a political style that combines a fixation on odious villains and simple solutions with a deep disdain for the existing institutions of representative democracy. That helps to explain why left-wing populists might sound very different from right-wing populists in the early stages, when they are far from power, but are likely to resemble them more and more as they mature. Since a noble attraction to assailing the baddies can easily turn into a reckless addiction to casting everybody as an enemy, their hatred of politicians and corporations can easily transfer to migrants and minorities. And since they believe their enemys enemy to be their friend, they will always be tempted to cheer the rise of right-wing populistsand even to make common cause with them when they cant govern on their own. In the language of Judis, the Five Star Movement may, like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and other leftist dictatorships, have started as a dyadic movementbut the ease and speed with which it acquired a third, and deeply xenophobic, axis makes that distinction feel rather arcane. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historical comparisons nearly always contain fewer analogies than disanalogies. This is doubly true for those, like the red-brown pact, that reach back to the most bitter episodes of human history. Thankfully, neither Grillo nor Salvini are likely to attain the historical importance of Molotov and Ribbentrop. And yet, we should not take too much comfort in Karl Marxs famous quip that when history repeats itself, what was once tragedy is miraculously transmuted into farce. For all the many differences between the present moment and the past, the 20th century has given us plenty of bitter opportunities that showcase what happens when parts of the left grow so hostile to liberal democracy that they become willing to make common cause with the far right. And even if the results should turn out a little more farcical and a tad less tragic this time around, they would still be likely to visit unspeakable cruelty and suffering upon the world. This story was originally published by Wired and has been republished here with permission from Climate Desk. How it used to go was, after some extreme weather event, reporters would ask Climate McScientist, Ph.D., whether the flood-drought-hurricanedisease outbreakwildfire-superstorm happened because of climate change. Dr. McScientist would pat the reporter on the head and say: Well, of course, one can never ascribe any single weather event to a changing global climate. Granted, a horrifying, unprecedented natural disaster is, maybe, the sort of thing one would expect on a planet where humans have been burning hydrocarbon fuels for decades, putting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and raising the overall temperature on Earth. Maybe. Advertisement But Dr. McScientist and colleagues were working on being able to say more. Since at least 2004, theyve been developing a science of attributionhow much of any given extreme weather event, within some degree of probabilistic certainty, was due to climate change? And its working. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the end of 2017, three journal articles modeled Hurricane Harveythe largest rainfall of any U.S. hurricane on record, somewhere between 24 trillion and 34 trillion gallons of waterand concluded that human-caused climate change had made it about four times more likely than it would have been in the middle of the last century. Then, in January, an annual special edition of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society dedicated to event attribution included three papers asserting that without human-caused climate change, three recent meteorological anomalies simply would not have happened: 2016s global heat wave, the 2016 Asia heat event, and a blob of weirdly warm ocean off Alaska. Advertisement We tend to be conservative in how we communicate. Just as were finally getting onto the same page and the media starts saying what were saying, we say, Oh, scrap that, we have something else we know, says Stephanie Herring, a climate scientist at NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information and an editor on that BAMS issue. This fall we kind of had to say, Remember how we told you we could never say that? Well, were saying that. Since at least 2004, theyve been developing a science of attributionhow much of any given extreme weather event, within some degree of probabilistic certainty, was due to climate change? And its working. Could Herring be more terrifying? Sure. All those far-off, maybe-someday signs of a climate apocalypse she and her colleagues used to hint at are all happening. The future is here, Herring says. Advertisement Its a future of terrifying disastersand a future where scientists know more about the underpinnings and mechanics of those disasters. But maybe most importantly, its a future where you can attribute a cause. Its a future where you can ascribe fault. Advertisement And that means you can sue the people responsible. In 2003, with the waters of the flooding River Thames literally lapping at his front door, Oxford climate scientist Myles Allen wrote an op-ed for the scientific journal Nature titled Liability for Climate Change. Allen wondered if someday scientists might solve the attribution problem, as he called it, of linking specific events (like those floods) to a warming Earth. Advertisement Back then, Allen figured that no one would ever be able to blame some percentage of a given weather event on human influence. But he did think it might be possible to say that greenhouse gas emissions had increased the probability of an event. And if you could do that, Allen wondered, could you come up with a more rational insurance market and hold greenhouse gas emitters liable for damage? The prospect of a class-action suit with up to six billion plaintiffs and an equal number of defendants may seem rather daunting, Allen wrote, but if we can overcome these problems in end-to-end attribution, everything else is (at least conceptually) straightforward. Advertisement Advertisement And indeed, the next year, in Nature, Allen and two colleagues published whats regarded as the first climate-event-attribution paper. Looking at Europes 2003 heat wave, they compared observed temperatures for the 20th century against temperatures as shown by computer models, with and without greenhouse gases. The result: a fraction attributable risk. Human influence is to blame for 75 percent of the increased risk of such a heatwave, they wrote. The science has gotten even more robust. What used to require time on a supercomputer can now happen pretty much anywhere. And the methods have gotten better too. We can propose hypotheses of the probability of exceeding a given threshold with and without global warming, and we can propose hypotheses about the fraction of an anomaly contributed by the historical change, says Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University. Advertisement Diffenbaughs group has done that math on California droughts. In 2015, they calculated that California was more likely to have a drought year when there was low precipitationI know, duh, right? Except they further figured out that droughts were twice as likely if that low precipitation came in a warm year versus a cooler one, and that those low-precip years have been twice as likely to coincide with warm conditions in the past two decades. The risk of drought has essentially doubled, and the stats say thats because of global warming. Advertisement Advertisement Not every researcher agrees that attribution science can pull off both magnitude and probability calculations. The kind of statement that says Y percent of X event was caused by climate change, or event X was made Y percent worsethats controversial, says Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric scientist at MIT and author of one of the three Harvey attribution papers. I have been told by folks who specialize in communication that we need to be less equivocal. I dont like that, because first of all it borders on being dishonest, and second it makes us sitting ducks for a sufficiently intelligent person who wants to show these changes arent happening. Advertisement To be clear, Emanuel believes that human-caused climate change is having a major effect on the planet. Hes just more comfortable with talking about an elevated probability than carving out exactly how much global warming enhanced a specific hurricane. The impact of the two statements is comparable, Emanuel says. If I say the probability of rains like Hurricane Harvey is elevated by a factor of four, thats a pretty astounding statement, and its much more effective than saying Harveys rains were 10 percent worse. Advertisement Advertisement Those cases will come down to what professionals know and what they should knowand what they have a duty to do about it. The courts understand this stuff. As a 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on attribution science says, the events easiest to study are ones for which researchers have a lot of observational data, that computational models can understand, and that arent complicated by other factors like infrastructure and resource management. Wildfires are a tough one. Heat waves, they pretty much have figured out. Hurricanes, weve really been working hard to get those error bars down and increase the confidence, Herring says. Tornadoes, we have no confidence. Weve never seen an attribution paper on tornadoes and I dont expect to see one in the future. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, improvements in attribution are leading to a whole new response to climate change: lawsuits. The future that Allen predicted is coming to pass. Its most likely that attribution science, given its state of development, will inform disputes relative to adaptation issues, says Lindene Patton, an attorney at Earth & Water Law Group. Has someone constructed a housing development in a way that has acceptable risk of harm? Have particular directors and corporate officers disclosed information reflective of climate-related risk to share price? Those cases will come down to what professionals know and what they should knowand what they have a duty to do about it. The courts understand this stuff. Advertisement A bigger question is whether courts could hold actual carbon emitters accountable for climate changerelated damages. New York City, coastal cities in California, and cities in Colorado are suing petrochemical companies for sea level rise and other climate change outcomes. Its a tough case to make. In a climate tutorial that was part of the California cities lawsuit in March, Chevrons attorney Ted Boutrous didnt attempt to deny a single thing about the physics and chemistry of climate change, or even that human activity caused it. He just said it didnt make sense to blame oil companies. Burning hydrocarbons doesnt kill people; people burning hydrocarbons kills people. Advertisement Part of the cases against the oil companies will be that they knew about the bad effects of their products and sold them anyway; that worked against tobacco companies. Another part might rely on the so-called carbon majors study, which in 2014 calculated the exact amounts of all carbon emissions any of the top 20 oil companies were directly responsible for having extracted. Whether thatll hold up in court (alongside the NAS study affirming that attribution science as a whole is real and a generally accepted methodology) is the crux. We dont know what will happen, but no one thought tobacco litigation would succeed, and that completely changed public health policy, says Sophie Marjanac, an attorney with ClientEarth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It cant be an accident that the main expert the California cities brought to the climate tutorial was none other than Myles Allen, the scientist who started this whole idea 15 years ago when the flooding Thames was at his door. At the tutorial I wondered why, with climate scientists thick on the ground of Bay Area universities, those lawyers flew someone from Oxford. Seems like it was to bolster the case for attribution. The International Energy Agency says that Earth can solve its climate problems with $53 trillion. That money has to come from somewhere. Environmentally minded investment practices might be one approach. So is using the courts to extract some money from the people responsible. When people cant get change made through other processesdealing directly, a political processthe other branch of government is the judicial branch, Patton says. Thats where people go to resolve disputes. And now science is walking in with relevant evidence. Not a moment too soon. On April 30 it was 122.4 degrees in Pakistan. And on April 17, atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 410 parts per millionthe highest it has been since before humans existed. This story was published by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington. In a surprise reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it would enact a rule targeting a widely available type of paint remover that has killed people for decadesincluding at least four since last year. Its unclear whether the regulation would ban retail sales of these products, as the EPA proposed in the final days of the Obama administration. The agency would not clarify when asked. Thursdays announcement was a turnabout for the EPA: Officials there said several weeks ago that they did not anticipate they would take final action on the issue this year, but they have come under increasing pressure from families who recently lost relatives and from members of Congress. Advertisement The products, paint removers containing methylene chloride, can kill on the spot as the chemicals fumes build up. A 2015 Center for Public Integrity investigation, co-published with Slate, found that more than 50 people died since 1980 using methylene chlorideoften in paint strippersfor work or consumer projects. To this day, Americans can purchase cans of these products at home improvement stores and other retailers, risking asphyxiation or a heart attack if they use it in enclosed areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least four men died while the agency was deciding whether to enact the proposed ban, dragging out the process rather than acting swiftlypart of a pattern of deregulatory decisions by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. But on Tuesday, families of two of the men killed in recent months got a sit-down meeting with Pruitt. The mother of a third joined them for meetings with multiple members of Congress or their staffs this week. Advertisement Brian Wynne, whose brother Drew, 31, died using the product to refinish a floor in his businesss walk-in refrigerator in October, said senators and congressmen from both parties are helping push for action. Wynne was among the group that talked to Pruitt at EPA headquarters. I want to see that theyre going to do what they proposed, Wynne said. Im not seeing the word ban out there, and I want to see a ban. But we remain cautiously optimistic. Faye Graul, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, a trade group whose members include makers of methylene chloride, said she too has absolutely no idea what the EPA intends to door how quickly it will act. Advertisement Its very vague, she said. Advertisement Graul and others in the industry have said that methylene chloride is more effective than the alternatives and should not be banned. The solvents alliance petitioned the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to approve stronger warning labels for the products insteada move that occupational-safety experts have said is not sufficient to protect lives. In Thursdays announcement, the EPA said it would shortly send the methylene chloride rule to the White Houses Office of Management and Budget, a gatekeeper for new regulations. EPA is working diligently to ensure the safety of existing chemicals, the agency said. Advertisement However, the EPA did not specify whether its rule would include restrictions on another chemical common in paint removers, N-Methylpyrrolidone, known as NMP. The agencys original proposal suggested either banning NMP in paint strippers or requiring lower amounts of the chemical in mixtures because it is linked to miscarriages and other harms to unborn children. Advertisement If the NMP products stay on the shelf, theyll replace the methylene chloride products, and thats simply replacing one set of health risks with another, said Liz Hitchcock, acting director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, an advocacy group. Her group, along with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is pressing both the EPA and retailers to get the products off shelves. Advertisement The most recent publicly announced death from a methylene chloride paint stripper occurred in February. Joshua Atkins, 31, was refinishing part of his BMX bicycle when he succumbed to the fumes, his mother wrote in a letter to key officials on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Lauren Atkins said her son was visiting her in Pennsylvania at the time, and she found him slumped by the paint-remover can. Her anguish only grew as she read about methylene chlorides tortured history. Advertisement I learned that family after family across the country had lost loved ones to this chemical, she wrote. I learned that the Environmental Protection Agency had proposed banning it in paint strippers but hadnt followed through. I learned that advocacy organizations had urged top retailers to stop selling this deadly chemical but they had refused. Wendy Hartleys 21-year-old son, Kevin, died on the job last year while using a methylene chloride paint remover to refinish a bathtub. Like Wynne, Hartley was at the Pruitt meeting this week. She wants to make sure no one else dies. This product does not need to be on store shelves. It does not need to be in consumers hands. It needs to be banned, said Hartley, of Nashville, Tennessee. I dont know why it hadnt been banned before. Walmart announced plans on Wednesday to buy a 77 percent stake in Flipkart, Amazons main e-commerce rival in India. The same day, eBay announced that it was selling its minority stake in Flipkart and relaunching its own operations in the country. With those moves this week, Indias $27 billion online retail market got a little more crowded as the some of the worlds largest e-commerce giantsAmazon, eBay, Alibaba, and Walmartjostle for dominance. Many analysts are predicting that India, the worlds second most populous country, will soon see a huge boom in its e-commerce markets. Morgan Stanley, for instance, predicts that the countrys market will grow more than 1,200 percent to $200 billion by 2026. (The U.S. e-commerce market in 2017, for comparison, was $453 billion.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walmart has been trying to enter India for the last decade and already has 21 brick-and-mortar outlets and plans to open another 50. Walmarts purchase of Flipkart seems to be a move to enter the e-commerce market earlier. I think Walmart is making a long-term bet, because the e-commerce sector in India is not very big compared to Chinese or American e-commerce, said Surupa Gupta, a professor at the University of Mary Washington who studies international political economy. She noted that growth is going to depend on the wider availability of smartphones and internet, better online payment systems, more trust in online retailers, and the effectiveness of the tax reform that was passed in the country last year. Advertisement The projection for huge growth in e-commerce by 2026 is based on this notion that all these developments collectively will lead to that big payoff, she said. There are a lot of moving parts that have to fall in place for this to be realized. There has also been pushback against Walmart from local retailers and several political parties, who are concerned that it will hurt local businesses. Flipkart was founded in 2007 by two former Amazon employees and soon became the biggest online retailer in the country. It was an early adopter of cash-on-delivery payments, which was important to its growth because many Indians at the time didnt have access to credit cards or online payment platforms. It was the first major Indian e-commerce company, says Gupta. Advertisement Advertisement Amazon entered India in 2013 and has since invested more than $5 billion to take on Flipkart. Flipkart was concerned about American corporations entering the market because Amazon, for example, has deep pockets and Flipkart was already not making a lot of profit, Gupta said. Advertisement Other major online retailers soon tried to make inroads in the country as well. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba entered the market in 2015 by investing more than $500 million for a 25 percent stake of Paytm, an Indian commerce and mobile payment platform. Alibaba expanded its stake in the company with another $177 million in 2017. That same year, eBay sold its eBay India business to Flipkart and invested $500 million for a 5 percent stake in the company. Advertisement Flipkart is still the top e-commerce business in India, though Amazon is not far behind. The two companies are almost tied when it comes to electronics and other major product categories, but Flipkart has a 70 percent market share for clothing and accessories. As Quartz lays out, Walmart executives are looking to leverage Flipkarts fashion business, as well as its digital payments infrastructure and local talent pool. Walmarts latest investment should fortify Flipkarts lead and may help it eventually go public. Walmarts latest investment also looks to be part of a larger strategy of teaming up with Amazon competitors around the world. The retailer has also partnered with local e-commerce players in Amazon strongholds such as Japan, China, and the U.K. Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... The ceremonial hall on the Jewish cemetery was already unique when it was built The recent restoration has returned the building its original austere beauty The Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, hidden behind a robust supporting wall on the foothill of the castle hill with a view on the Danube River in Bratislava remains a little known place for many. Despite this, this is another important destination for Jewish pilgrims in Bratislava after the Chatam Sofer Memorial. Pilgrims from all over the world come to this cemetery to pray at the graves of great scholars, explained Maros Borsky, director of the Jewish Community Museum, during a tour organised by the Slovak National Gallery on the occasion of the Architect Friedrich Weinwurm: The New Path exhibition. Weinwurm and his architect partner Ignac Vecsei designed and built the ceremonial hall for this cemetery. One of the largest The Orthodox Jewish Cemetery on Zizkova Street is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Slovakia. It is 4.4 hectares, with more than 7,000 graves and still used for burials. The Jewish community founded it in 1845, because the previously used cemetery near the Danube was already full. To date, only the part known as the Chatam Sofer Memorial close to the western end of the tunnel close to the River Park development has been preserved. Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, Zizkova 36 Open: Sunday Thursday 7:00 17:00, Friday 7:00 12:00 in the summer and Sunday Thursday 8:00 16:00, Friday 8:00 12:00 in winter except Jewish holidays Men are required to keep their heads covered Important Bratislava Orthodox rabbis are buried at the cemetary, including the son and grandson of rabbi Chatam Sofer - Ketav Sofer (1815-1871) and Sevet Sofer (1842-1906). Close to their graves are massive tombstones of members of the prominent Pappenheim and Bettelheim families. Three of them are currently being renovated. Alfred Wetzler is also buried at the cemetary. Together with Rudolf Vrba, they managed to escape from Auschwitz and were among the first to give a detailed report of the horrors occurring in the concentration camps. Nearby is the grave of writer Juraj Spitzer. The creator of his tombstone is Fero Guldan, who also designed the metal doors on the Chatam Sofer Memorial. The QR code at the cemetery entrance board provides visitors with additional information about the cemetery. After scanning it with a smartphone, the visitor receives a digital guide around the cemetery along with cemetery records. Thanks to their digitisation, people living abroad can also find the graves of their relatives. What belongs to whom? The Jewish faith greatly respects the dead, with the emphasis on the inviolability of the remains. Cemeteries are mostly owned by the Jewish community, but the gravestones and graves are property of the dead. They should lie undisturbed until Messiah comes. Then the righteous will be resurrected and raised from the dead. So their remains must be preserved intact in the graves, Borsky explained. The funeral ceremony itself is very simple. The body of the deceased is dressed in a funeral shroud and buried in a simple coffin made of unplaned wood, whether a rich or poor person. An exceptional ceremonial hall The cemetery chapel, which is also called the ceremonial hall, was built between 1928 and 1929 according to the design of architects Friedrich Weinwurm and Ignac Vecsei. Since 1925, both had been working for the Orthodox Jewish community on a Jewish hospital project. Read also: Read also: An almost forgotten architect who changed the face of Bratislava Read more Both buildings were funded by the same funeral association of Chevra Kadisha, and it seems that it was satisfied with the work of architects, said Henrieta Moravcikova, architecture historian and curator of the exhibition on the Friedrichs oeuvre in the Slovak National Gallery. This is evidenced by appreciative texts about the hospital published in the period press. 11. May 2018 at 13:06 | Jana Liptakova Reports indicate that Boeing will acquire KLX Inc, an aerospace parts distributor, at a price of $3.25 billion. Under the deal Boeing will spin off the energy business of KLX. This is part of the strategy by the biggest planemaker in the world to expand to the spare parts and maintenance business as it enjoys higher margins. The goal of Boeing is to ensure that revenues generated by the planemakers services unit are tripled within a decade and reach $50 billion. According to analysts, the ambition of Boeing to dominate services and repairs in the aircraft sector is likely to trigger increased consolidation among the players in the sector who rely on the aftermarket business. Last year for instance B/E Aerospace, the former corporate parent of KLX, was acquired by Rockwell Collins before the latter was acquired by United Technologies. Get alerts: Aero aftermarket sector This deal marks another step forward in Boeings ambitious plans to expand its Global Services division for aerospace suppliers there will probably be fresh concern that this further increases Boeings purchasing power, and awareness of the economics in the aero aftermarket, wrote Vertical Research Partners analyst, Robert Stallard, in a note to clients. According to a statement from Boeing cost savings totaling $70 million will be generated by the deal by 2021. Approximately $63 per share will be paid for KLX by Boeing and this will be financed using cash on hand. In its guidance for 2018 Boeing has disclosed that its capital deployment strategy as well as the commitment it made of returning to shareholders free cash flow will not change. Through 2019 the acquisition is expected to earnings-neutral. Talks with Embraer Since Dennis Muilenburg became the chief executive officer of Boeing in mid-2015 this is the biggest deal he has struck so far. Earlier in the year it was reported that Boeing held preliminary discussions with Woodward Inc, a parts maker. It has also been reported to be in talks with Embraer SA, with a view of forming a joint venture which would hand it control of the commercial jet division of the Brazilian planemaker. Though the focus remains on organic growth Boeing is also looking at targeted investments and takeovers with a view to rounding out the product portfolio of the Chicago, Illinois-based company. Other areas that Boeing is scouting deals in include avionics and this could see the planemaker take over work which suppliers previously handled. The services division of Boeing was created last year. Campaigns calling on local consumers to rescue farmers by buying from huge stocks of unsold produce are becoming increasingly common in Vietnam. Calls for action, such as one in Phu Ninh District, Quang Nam Province, encouraging local residents to purchase watermelons from farmers who had grossly overproduced during the planting season, are becoming commonplace in rural localities throughout the country. Though their crops are ready for harvest, Phu Ninh farmers are staying out of the fields, worried that the current value of watermelon, a mere VND1,000 per kg, is too low to cover their costs. (VND22,700 = US$1) Vo Thanh Anh, head of the Phu Ninh agricultural bureau, said that as of May 8, farmers in the district had already overproduced watermelons by more than 1,000 metric tons. "Farmers began increasing their watermelon production when the price topped VND6,000 per kg, but consumption slowdown in China, their main market, has since caused the price to plummet, Anh explained. A farmer in Phu Ninh District, Quang Nam Province, sits by a pile of watermelons from her harvest, which remains unsold. Photo: Tuoi Tre Though the agricultural bureau had originally zoned only 400 hectares in the district for growing watermelon, farmers were quick to jump on the bandwagon when they saw the potential for profits. The result? Approximately 490 hectares used for growing watermelon and massive amounts of unsold stock. Overproduction is becoming a major headache for local administrations throughout the country. From January to May this year, agricultural ministries in rural areas turned to rescue campaigns initiatives aimed at convincing residents to purchase overplanted locally grown produce to ease the financial woes of farmers in the area. Facebook campaigns took off in February as activists attempted to convince people to purchase unsold peach blossoms and lilies left over from the Lunar New Year holiday. In March, young people from Vietnamese Youth Development in Hanoi launched several different drives to help rid farmers over overstocked kohlrabi, potato, and radish, after prices of those vegetables fell between 50 and 66 percent. Young people from Vietnamese Youth Development in Hanoi help farmers sell overstocked radish. Photo: Tuoi Tre Yearly recurrence Campaigns aimed at rescuing Vietnamese farmers from the woes of overproduction began in 2014 and 2015, when Indonesia suddenly stopped importing shallots, dealing a huge blow to famers in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. The situation left farmers without a market for the 150,000 metric tons of shallots they had produced. Farmers in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, two central Vietnamese provinces, found themselves in a similar situation in 2015 when the price of watermelon suddenly dropped below the cost of their production. That same year, 1,500 metric tons of dragon fruit in the south-central province of Binh Thuan was left without a market when Chinese traders halted buying, marking the third time in 2015 the country was left scrambling to settle agriculture problems related to oversupply. In the beginning of 2017, banana farmers in several provinces took a hit when prices plummeted from VND14,000-17,000 per kg to VND1,000-3,000 per kg. In April of that year, farmers in Quang Ngai were once again left exposed to heavy losses after being unable to sell watermelons once the price collapsed. In 2018, the price of pork in Vietnam dipped to historic lows of VND15,000-VND18,000 per kilogram, about equal to the cost of a few glasses of Vietnamese iced-tea. The situation was so bad that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent officials to China to solicit buyers. Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City buy pork from a stall. Photo: Tuoi Tre What causes overproduction? The root of Vietnams oversupply issues stems from weak connections between farmers and traders, an inability to forecast the market, old-fashioned farming methods, and the rush for instant and easy cash. Vietnamese farmers are weak at linking production with marketing. The result is the overproduction of many agricultural products, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong. Some experts also blamed the overpoduction on unplanned cultivation, saying many farmers rush to grow items that fetch high prices in previous years without considering any changes to the current market. Most have little or no knowledge of the local market or global demands and price trends, yet still choose to ignore recommendations from authorities. This lack of foresight often magnifies the negative effects of slight fluctuations in foreign markets, particularly China. Product quality is another big problem. According to Deputy Agriculture minister Vu Van Tam, demand for farm produce like bananas, watermelon, and pork is very high in both domestic and foreign markets but poor quality and productivity force consumers to turn to non-Vietnamese goods. Ripe tomatoes in Quynh Luu District in the north-central province of Nghe An are left in the fields as farmers cannot find a market for their crop. Photo: Tuoi Tre Whats next? In his remarks at a recent working session with provincial authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung emphasized that in order to develop the livestock sector, it is necessary to create a closed value chain throughout feed processing, raising livestock, slaughtering, processing, and marketing stages. Farmers would then be able to sign contracts to sell their produce to suppliers at fixed prices. Concerning the plant cultivating sector, Vu Vinh Phu, former president of the Vietnam Supermarket Association and former deputy director of the Hanoi Trade Department, emphasized the role of the government, private enterprises, and other stakeholder organizations. Vu underlined that state management is the most important measure in guiding production, distribution to consumers, the reduction of monopolies and transportation costs, and creating a healthy competitive environment. The involvement of enterprises in providing market information, planning and production advice, and purchasing products directly from locals is also a practical approach in the current context, he added. Overall, both experts and officials commented that only macro solutions outlined and implemented by the government will help settle the problem. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! From everyday meals to a simple yet refreshing glass of pennywort juice, food sanitation has always been a major issue in Vietnam. Now, young innovators are seeking ways to bring clean food to the countrys kitchen tables. At a vast pennywort farm in Ho Chi Minh City, two young entrepreneurs develop clean and safe veggie powders. It took founders Nguyen Hong Bac and Nguyen Kong Tra two years of sweat and elbow grease to plan and develop their specialized blend, but they believe their product will make waves in the local market. Stepping into the unknown Bac and Tra first met at an agricultural and farming workshop, where they decided to put their passion for agriculture to the test by launching their company. It was not long, however, until the two realized that they were in way over their heads. Bac and Tra previously worked as a mechanic while Tra was an accounting and finance major. The amount of agriculture experience between the two of them was sparse. To balance their inexperience, the two began seeking guidance at the Hi-Tech Business Incubator Center in Cu Chi District, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, where they participated in invaluable workshops that would introduce them to a world of agriculture. It was at these workshops that Bac and Tra decided to give clean farming a shot. Realizing his meager savings of VND120 million (US$5,274) was nowhere near enough to compete with international matcha-refining giants from Japan, he instead opted to produce pennywort a plant both easy to cultivate and familiar to Vietnamese across the country. In Vietnam, Chau Thanh District in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang is known as a main hub for cultivating pennywort. There, Bac was able to find suppliers and negotiate a deal, establishing himself as a reputable partner with the local farmers. Meanwhile, Tra traveled back and forth between Tien Giang and Ho Chi Minh City, scouring the local market for investment opportunities. As the duos reputation grew, local pennywort farmers agreed to grow their crops without the aid of chemicals. In exchange, Bac and Tra would guarantee year-round purchases without fear of stagnancy. A source for raw materials was no longer our main concern. We leveraged our mortgages and our parents ones to afford the proper machinery for the powdering, Bac reminisced about the initial days. At first, the thought was overwhelmingly dreary. Now we know we are doing it right. Powdered veggie, Vietnamese blend The refining process is meticulous to the slightest detail. After the harvest, the pennywort is rinsed and freeze-dried to exterminate any bacteria. The process typically lasts between 24 and 36 hours. Afterwards, the pennywort is transferred to the grinding stage. Nguyen Thi Dieu Hang, vice-director of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Startup Support Center, seems to think Bac and Tra are onto something. As a pioneer in utilizing freeze-drying technology for the preservation of farming products, their produce is certainly a cut above conventional fresh vegetables, which will no doubt work to the companys advantage, he said. Bac confessed that the first few months after their product launched was a great thrill. As their pennywort powder is unprecedented, they had no choice but to look to the reactions from the masses to calculate their next move. Quality control is their companys top priority. They are constantly working with their partners to verify there is no chemical involved in the growing process. We have secured a firm standing in the market over the past two years. This is thanks to the quality-purity level and our initial promise to make clean products, Tra proudly commented. Running parallel with their pennywort powder, the two are also looking to expand their business with four more blends from green tea leaves, Vietnamese perilla, fish mint, and Moringa Oleifera. Their product comes in 100g packages, enough to make 50-200ml of pennywort juice if the infusion ratio is 1:1. Additionally, the powder can function as a beauty product if used as a face mask for cell recovery and scar diluting purposes. Tra and Bac chose Quang Thanh, which means spreading the freshness," as the name for their start-up. Besides dry packages, instant powdered-infused products are also within their scope of development. To support the newly-founded company, Nguyen Thi Dieu Hang has issued a loan and also invited them to the Ho Chi Minh City Speedup program for inventiveness and creativity in starting up. The program is meant to help entrepreneurs find potential investors to further develop their businesses. A book fair featuring works by authors from all over Europe will begin this weekend at the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, with a number of titles on sale at discounted prices and a variety of activities and exchanges. The 2018 European Book Days, formerly known as the European Literature Days, will take place on Nguyen Van Binh Street in District 1 from May 13 to 20. A similar event, also jointly organized by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and European countries embassies in Vietnam, is ongoing in Hanoi from May 5 to 12. In Ho Chi Minh City, the fair will be attended by nine nations - Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, and Italy - and the Wallonia-Brussels delegation, which represents the French community of Belgium. On the opening morning on May 13, the event will start with a talk, themed under European literature and cinema and hosted by local Tre Publishing House, featuring Vietnamese journalist and film critic Le Hong Lam, alongside book translator Hoang Anh. On the same day, Belgian artist Estelle Meens will take the stage to introduce her childrens book series to Vietnamese readers. The following days will be highlighted with continuous events by local publisher First News, which will present translated works on the topic of Scandinavian lifestyles including The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living, and Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage. Interspersed between those activities are the book launch of The Life of the Bee by Belgian Nobel winner Maurice Maeterlinck, and a workshop on the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss and his approach to interpreting literature from an anthropological perspective. Discounts from 20 to 30 percent and special gifts will be available for books by European writers on sale during the event. On the eve of the opening of the European Book Days, the Vietnamese translation of Revolution, a book by French President Emmanuel Macron, will be released in Vietnam. The book launch ceremony will be held at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street at 9:00 am on May 12. First launched in France in May 2016, Revolution shows the faith, vision, will and the story of the democratic revolution that the French president persistently pursues. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out todays latest news stories: Politics -- Ho Chi Minh City always attaches importance to cooperative ties with South Korean localities, including Daegu, thus helping to promote friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the East Asian country, the municipal deputy chairman Le Thanh Liem said as he received Daegu vice mayor Kim Seung Su on Thursday. -- An event titled A Touch of Belgium will take place at Ly Thai To Square in Hanoi from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm this Saturday to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Belgium, the Embassy of Belgium announced on Wednesday. Society -- Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, has required district-level administrations to urgently handle environment polluting activities within 24 hours after they are reported. -- Police in Hanois Ha Dong District have recently busted a drug trafficking ring from the northern province of Son La to the capital which hid thousands of drugs in bamboo shoots and transported them by passenger bus. -- The investigation police agency under the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday arrested and put two former leaders of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co., Ltd in temporary detention, on the charge of abusing position and power to appropriate assets. Business -- A recent survey by Kantar Worldpanel showed that the number of convenience stores in Vietnams four big cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho has increased fourfold over the past six years. Lifestyle -- Woossi, an popular South Korean food blogger in Vietnam, has recently received strong criticism after he expressed his hatred toward K-pop famous group T-ara in a live-stream video on his Facebook page. Education -- A number of K-12 schools in central Vietnam have taught bai choi, a folk art which has recently been recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as an extracurricular activity and received positive responses from students.. A number of pavements in Ho Chi Minh City have long been ruined as motorbike drivers frequently mount the sidewalks, running over what has been regarded as poorly constructed and maintained walkways. Multiple sidewalk portions have been seriously damaged along main roads running through the metropolis central and suburban districts, and even recently completed multimillion-dollar boulevards. The pavement of Dinh Tien Hoang Street, connecting District 1 and Binh Thanh District, for instance, is suffering loss or dislodgement of tiles at several locations, with hollows formed in the bare ground. The damage is more extensive along the nearby Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, whose curb a large number of motorcycles would mount during rush-hour congestion, a frequent occurrence in the city. Motorbikes run during congestion on the sidewalk of Pham Van Dong Boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre A motorcycle rides past the pile of rubble under a tree on a road in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre Near the intersection of Nguyen Van Troi and Tran Huy Lieu Streets in Phu Nhuan District, two sidewalk spots, where granite tiles were broken into pieces, are separated a few meters apart, while puddles appear at manholes around which shattered tiles can be seen. The ruin is most visible at the sidewalks right in front of local houses, business offices and buildings, some of which are uneven and distorted. The situation is chiefly caused by lack of awareness from motorbike riders and low-quality cursory paving which leads to tiles disengaging from their positions, said Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, a downtown dweller. Riding a motorbike or car on Vietnamese sidewalks, which is subject to fines of VND300,000-400,000 (US$13-18), is a common sign in the southern metropolis. Motorbikes run on the sidewalk with tile loss of a street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre A girl walks on a damaged portion of the sidewalk along Hai Ba Trung Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre Leaders of the areas with affected sidewalks told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that they had received reports from residents about the damage. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy director of the municipal traffic safety service, admitted that a number of districts in Ho Chi Minh City are facing sidewalk dilapidation, proposing that measures should be taken of requiring those bodies responsible for sidewalks to do repair work. A representative from the citys Department of Transport said local administrators have been tasked with the walkways construction and repair, and the structures broke just a few months after maintenance due to motorcycles. But the administrators are negligent, said Ngo Hai Duong, an official at the department, which calls for a more aggressive handling of the above insufficient care and management. People walk towards a ruined sidewalk spot on Pasteur Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre A woman goes on a damaged portion of the sidewalk of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre An uncovered sidewalk area is seen along Hai Ba Trung Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre A motorcycle runs on the sidewalk along Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A surgical team at a hospital in Hanoi has been suspended after a patient died following an operation to treat his broken arm. Vuong Dinh Cuong, 37, was admitted to the general hospital of Ha Dong District on Wednesday morning with a fractured arm he sustained from a traffic accident the night before. Doctors diagnosed him with broken forearm and took him in for surgery at 9:30 am on Wednesday in stable health and full consciousness. Four hours later, at 1:30 pm, the lead surgeon exited the operation room and announced that the surgery had gone well, but refused to let Cuongs family members inside, citing risks of infection. However, at 2:00 pm a doctor told the family that Cuong had to receive blood infusion without providing any further details. After waiting for another hour without hearing any news, Cuongs family members entered the operation room, only to find the man being left alone inside, his face blackened and his stomach bloated. I had to call for doctors three times until someone finally arrived to check on him, said Binh, the patients grandmother. Efforts to resuscitate Cuong were unsuccessful, and doctors pronounced him dead at 5:30 pm the same day. Doctors at Ha Dong General Hospital in Hanoi hold a press conference addressing the death of a patient after surgery on May 10, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Dao Thien Tien, director of Ha Dong General Hospital, said at a press conference on Thursday that the surgical team responsible for Cungs operation had been suspended from work while an investigation is launched into the patients unusual death. If any violation is found on the doctors part, we will take disciplinary actions against him, Tien said. However, the hospital director refuted claims by the deceased mans family members that they had found him unaccompanied inside the operation room while he was still alive. The man might have already lost his life, despite efforts by doctors to save him, by the time the family members stormed into the operation room, he said. While official autopsy results are required to determine the cause and manner of death, Tien said it was likely the patient had suffered from clogged blood vessels, as fat from the fractured bone entered his bloodstream and blocked an artery. When his bone was fractured in the accident, bone fragments could cut through the fat layer, sending pieces of fat into the cardiovascular system causing the blockage in his veins, he explained. Police in Ha Dong District have also joined the investigation and are expected to make announcements on the unusual death soon. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A multiple-vehicle collision occurred at the entrance to the Hai Van Tunnel in central Vietnam late on Thursday afternoon, injuring three people and blocking traffic for hours. The accident happened when a truck carrying thousands of metric tons of frozen clams from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang experienced break failure. The truck rear-ended a 45-seater passenger bus before hitting another container truck from the south-central province of Binh Thuan and a minitruck traveling in the opposite direction. The truck carrying frozen clams is damaged following the accident. Photo: Tuoi Tre The container truck from Binh Thuan wound up on its side, blocking traffic in both directions, while the minitruck was pushed entirely off the road. Frozen clams from the Tien Giang truck filled the street. All four vehicles and a section of the road fence were damaged. Three people were injured and admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment. The damaged minitruck is pushed off the roadway after the collision. Photo: Tuoi Tre Competent authorities later arrived at the scene to control traffic and manage with the incident. Local residents also helped pick up the clams and clean the street. Traffic at the southern gate of the tunnel returned to normal by 9:00 pm the same day. Frozen clams fill the street after the accident. Photo: Tuoi Tre Opened in 2005, the Hai Van Tunnel runs under the Hai Van Pass, on the border of Da Nang City and Thua Thien - Hue Province. It is the longest tunnel in Southeast Asia, stretching a total of 6.28 kilometers. Local residents help pick up the frozen clams. Photo: Tuoi Tre Local residents help pick up the frozen clams. Photo: Tuoi Tre Traffic is blocked due to the accident. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! HANOI -- Police in Vietnam arrested the chairman and the chief accountant of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co. Ltd. on suspicion of embezzlement on Thursday as the government widens a crackdown on corruption. Nguyen Hoai Giang, chairman, and Pham Xuan Quang, chief accountant, were accused of abusing power to appropriate property, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical is a unit of the state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group and the operator of the Southeast Asian countrys first oil refinery, Dung Quat. The ministry said in the statement it was widening the investigation into the case. It did not elaborate. Giang, Quang and their lawyers were not immediately available for comment. The 130,000-barrel-a-day Dung Quat refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai became operational in 2009, meeting around one-third of Vietnams demand for refined petroleum products. In January, the government raised $245 million by selling a 7.79 percent stake in Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical in an initial public offering. Indian Oil Corp applied to be the refinerys strategic investor in February. Thursdays arrests come amid a corruption crackdown in Vietnam that has seen several senior government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises arrested and jailed. According to Vietnams penal code, anyone found guilty of abusing power to appropriate property may face life in prison. Earlier this year, Vietnam jailed former Politburo member Dinh La Thang for 31 years for financial irregularities at Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. Thang, 57, who denied any wrongdoing at his trial, is the highest-level politician to have been jailed in Vietnam for decades. The publicity notes for Instinct suggest it makes US history for having the first gay lead character in an hour-long broadcast drama. While that sounds too unlikely to be true, I must admit Im struggling to think of another. Yes cable TV has had many but thats not network TV. Half-hour TV has had gay leads. And plenty of dramas have had principal characters as part of their ensemble. But a show built around the lead? Frankly that says more about Americas past than Instinct does about the present. Nevertheless, one should applaud progress, which comes in the form of Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Alan Cumming) who is teaching Behavioural Science at a New York University when he is called upon by NYPD detective Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic) to help solve a case. Needham needs Reinhart because a killer is bumping off victims by following his book as inspiration for random murders, and leaving a calling card in the form of playing cards. Initially reluctant, he agrees to assist after his publisher (Whoopi Goldberg) insists he has lost his mojo. You used to be a man of action. Now youre just a tweed jacket guy, she tells him. Reinhart is so adept at behavioural science he could make a feasible support act to Sherlock or The Mentalist, but his skills sure come in handy as the killing spree continues and a profile of The Dealer is formed. Instinct also strays into the personal lives of its odd couple leads. Reinhart is married to barman Andy (Daniel Ings), is an ex-CIA operative whose former associate Julian (Naveen Andrews) can get him access to anything (is that using your Instinct or cheating?). Needham is single, which makes a nice TV contrast to the gay character usually being single, recovering from her ex, and devoted to her pooch. The two leads are experienced enough to make their partnership work, neither ever betraying their fake US accents. The best line comes late into the opening when Needham is struggling to shoulder in a locked door without any help from Reinhart. I was afraid breaking the door down for you would be disempowering, he quips. Whats nice about the drama by writer Michael Rauch is that Reinharts sexuality takes a back seat to the procedural element. He isnt getting on his soapbox politically, nor singing showtunes (not that theres anything wrong with that), nor is he suppressing his orientation. Its merely there as a natural colour of his character. But should we be celebrating the fact that TV accepts gay characters as mainstream or criticising it for only feeling confident enough to embrace when it is so incidental .? And if the orientation is not pushed as a point of difference then Instinct is essentially asking us to accept it alongside every other procedural crime of which there is a plethora. Without it, this just fades into the background. At the end of the day all you can really do is be true to your story and on that front this gets a tick. Instinct premieres 8:30pm Wednesday on TEN. Prince Harry has not been seen smoking in public for a long time, as he is reported to be in the process of kicking his nicotine habit after pressures from his fiancee Meghan Markle in the weeks leading up to their wedding, and yet, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his plans to give the Royal a James Bond cigarette lighter as a wedding gift. A 007 lighter sounds neat, but it does also reek of tacky and it can be said to be a strange gift for something whos quitting smoking and therefore wont need it by the time he is given it. The upcoming royal wedding and the announcement of the guest list have begun to beg questions of what kind of gift you can buy a man who has everything. This is Prince Harry were talking about hes not short of stuff and all of the guests who have been invited are now tasked with figuring out what to get him as a wedding present. But even with those limited options, a cigarette lighter for a guy who just quit smoking. The smoking aspect is less of what Macron was thinking of in choosing the gift what he really had in mind was the James Bond-branded aspect of it. And its not just a cigarette lighter the lighter is part of a collection of James Bond-themed gifts that the President of France will be giving to Prince Harry in honour of his wedding celebrations. Macron had heard that Harry was a 007 fan, apparently, so the James Bond collection of products that is offered by the French firm ST Dupont has been chosen as his wedding gift from the French President. The companys PR team in London were delighted to make the announcement that their products would be making their way into the hands of royalty. The 007 collection includes other smoking accessories and cuff links The ST Dupont 007 Collection, which is the official name of the product that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be receiving to celebrate their nuptial ceremony, is the main one of several gifts that the couple will be given by French officials. The collection is a box that contains a golden lighter, a cigar cutter, a couple of pens (which are just regular pens and havent been fitted with any hidden gadgets by Q), and some cuff links. They all bear the James Bond film franchises logo and have been sorted in the box to look like a gun. The reason why the lighter wont be much use to Prince Harry is that Markle has convinced her royal husband-to-be to give up smoking completely (his favourite brand was formerly reported to be Marlboro Lights, so their marketing team will be sad to see the free advertisement go up in pardon the pun smoke). The idea behind the health kick is to give him the body of a soldier again by the time that the wedding day rolls around. Perhaps the French President had not been informed that Harry had quit smoking, or maybe he didnt even know whether he did or didnt smoke at all and just based his gift decision on the fact that the Prince likes James Bond and its a James Bond-themed French-made product. The wedding is dated for next Saturday The royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is fast approaching, with the actual date of the event imminent. It will take place on the grounds of Windsor Castle at St. Georges Chapel the same place where Harry was christened as a baby next Saturday, on the 19th of May. Officials from the anti-monarchy activist group Republic will attend the sidelines of the wedding in order to protest it, and they have reported in a press release that they will be joined in their protest by republican MPs Tommy Sheppard and Emma Dent Coad, but this shouldnt disrupt the proceedings too much. Thursday morning, 10 May, both working and retired teachers of Irans Teachers Association Network, took to the streets in at least 32 cities. The teachers protests were held in front of the General Directorate of Education in the multiple cities. The teachers protests aimed at low salaries, a difficult livelihood, and deprivation of minimum job benefits. They are also calling for efficient health insurance, better job security and acknowledgment of their demands by the government. Tehran In Tehran, the gathering was held in front of the parliament where teachers held placards reading 'Salary above the poverty line is the right of teachers,' 'Bread, Labor, Freedom, Educational Justice' and 'Access to quality, free and fair education is the right of all children.' Dozens were arrested and a number were injured. The eye of a female teacher was torn due to the severity of the blows by the repressive forces. To prevent the news from spreading, mercenaries beat up the people and seized their mobile phones. Isfahan In Isfahan, teachers in fury chanted, "Our salaries are paid in Rial, while the costs are in Dollar." Some placards read. "We demand that all forms of discrimination (ethnic, gender, religious, class) be eliminated from the structure of the educational system of the country." Another said, "Independent and free form of organization is our right." They also called for free, high-quality and fair education. In Kazeroon, teachers recited, "The teacher's place is in the classroom, not in prison." In the city of Mamasani, also in the southern part of the country, teachers and the people rallied in front of the education ministry office saying "the teacher's place is in the classroom not behind the wheels of taxis." Nationwide protest The cities encountering such protests, as recorded were: Tehran, Arak, Qazvin, Zanjan , , Kermanshah, Isfahan, Homayoun Shahr, Shiraz, Mamasani, Shahreza, Shahrekord, Mashhad, Bojnourd, Birjand, Kazeroun, Saghez, Baneh, Sanandaj, Dehgolan, Marivan, Mahabad, Ghorveh, Ziviah, Divandareh, Tabriz, Rasht, Sari, Khoram Abad, Behbahan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Hamedan Teachers in Hamedan carried a placard which read, "The enemies of teachers are the enemies of this homeland." In the city of Marivan, teachers showed solidarity with their association members in Tehran and condemned Repressive Forces attacking the peaceful gathering. The Iranian Resistance calls on all the people, especially the youth, to show their solidarity with the educators who are deprived of their most basic rights and live in a very difficult situation. By Agnieszka Barteczko and Pawel Goraj WARSAW/GDYNIA (Reuters) - State-controlled PGE has abandoned its leading role in plans to build Poland's first nuclear power station as it focuses on new wind farms in the Baltic Sea, two sources said. Two other sources said state-run refiner PKN Orlen could take on PGE's role. PGE, the largest Polish power group, announced a nearly $10 billion offshore wind project in March but has also been responsible for the nuclear project. Both plans are part of a major change in Polish policy. Coal mining provides around 80 percent of its energy and thousands of jobs but makes it one of Europe's biggest polluters. The government promised to defend coal from competition but has been forced to look for alternatives to fill an electricity shortfall and to meet European Union emissions targets. One source said PGE could not fund both projects and cheap technology had swung the decision in favour of wind. PGE could still play a smaller role in the nuclear project which has been delayed and still needs government approval. "PGE cannot afford both - offshore wind and nuclear. The decision was taken to go for offshore," the source said. A government source also said that PGE would focus on offshore. A spokesmen for PGE declined to comment. For a graphic on change in Market Value of Polenergia and PGE, click https://reut.rs/2woZUvo Asked whether it could take the project on, PKN Orlen's press office said in an emailed statement that the company "continuously analyses a number of different projects that could be part of the long-term development plans of the group." Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party promised before elections in 2015 to defend the coal industry and put in place laws to prevent new investment in both onshore and offshore windfarms. But in March it changed tack and proposed a law to make it easier to build wind turbines. That is currently being debated in parliament. Story continues If the law is passed, as expected, several other wind farm projects could also proceed. Polenergia , owned by the Kulczyk family, has said it would like to build a wind farm in the Baltic by 2022. PKN Orlen is also considering building one. PGE said in March that it wants to build offshore windfarms with a capacity of 2.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. PGE did not say how this would be financed. The state owns 57.39 pct and there are over a hundred other small shareholders, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data. The group's cash amounted to 2.5 billion zlotys ($712.92 million) at the end of 2017. It could issue more bonds as part of its 2 billion euros and 5 billion zlotys bond programs. SUBSIDY QUESTION Analysts and investors say that offshore wind farms are the easiest and fastest way for Poland to fill the expected capacity gap from coal and reduce CO2 emissions in line with EU's 2030 targets as Poland seeks improved ties with Brussels. They provide more electricity than onshore windfarms, which Poland already has, and can be built more quickly than a nuclear power plant. The decision to open up the offshore power industry could also draw in investors. Statoil said in April it would join Polenergia's offshore project which has drawn interest from other international wind companies. "We received phone calls from all over Europe after Statoil's decision was announced. If such a player has entered, we need to be in too, many investors say," said Maciej Stryjecki, the president of the board at SMDI Advisory Group. Some investors will also be waiting to see if Poland offers subsidies in cash or payments for getting connected to the grid. "Even if we take into account the very positive trend in the decline in offshore technology costs, offshore wind farms will not be built without support," said Michal Michalski, Polenergia management board member. The government's official position on this is not clear. Officials in the energy ministry were not available to comment. The PiS minister responsible for Poland's power and gas infrastructure, who reports directly to the prime minister, said companies should not need such incentives. "We expect that offshore windfarms will be built without support, but the falling cost trend is very encouraging," Piotr Naimski told Reuters. He has been a strong advocate of coal but said offshore would be a part of Poland's energy mix in 2025-30. EMOTIONAL Reducing the dependence on coal is an emotional issue in Poland. The coal industry still employs 83,000 people and some are worried the shift in strategy could lead to job cuts. "I do not believe that offshore wind can be profitable," said Jaroslaw Grzesik, the head of one of the biggest trade unions in Polish coal industry. "We are definitely against it." But other industries could benefit from the development of offshore power. The Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA) estimates that offshore windfarms with a total capacity of 6 GW would help create around 77,000 new jobs and add around 60 billion zlotys to economic growth. Local authorities in the windy Baltic resort and port of Leba, which is close to the future offshore sites, are hoping the industry could provide year-round employment as a balance to seasonal jobs. "If investors choose Leba, a base and functional and technical facilities for wind farms could be created here," the mayor of Leba, Andrzej Strzechminski, said. PWEA has identified around 70 potential Polish suppliers to the offshore industry including shipyards Crist SA and GSG Towers. Their workers' boat-building skills can be transferred to make windmill components. GSG Towers, a unit of Gdansk Shipyard Group, is looking forward to Poland's first offshore windmills and contracts with new clients. "We are not talking anymore about whether Poland needs to develop offshore wind projects...there are no more question marks and we only talk about when and how to do it right," said Liudmyla Buimister who was the CEO of GSG Towers, a unit of Gdansk Shipyard Group, until April 16. It has approached PGE and Polenergia about building a device to send electricity generated at sea to the onshore grid. (Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Anna Willard) LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - African gold (Frankfurt: A0B9XD - news) miner Randgold has ended a joint venture agreement in Mali with junior explorer Cradle Arc, Cradle Arc said on Wednesday, adding it would seek a new partner. Under the agreement begun in February 2016, Randgold held a 65 percent stake in the Kossanto West Gold Project licences, which will revert to Cradle Arc, now the 100 percent owner. Cradle Arc CEO Kevin van Wouw said Randgold had been "an excellent JV partner" that added to the company's understanding of a project he believed contained a significant amount of gold. Cradle Arc would "actively seek a new partner for the continued exploration and advancement of the licences," Wednesday's statement said. Mali has attracted a flurry of interest from junior gold explorers and is regarded as a relatively stable jurisdiction compared with some African nations. Major gold company Randgold has operations in Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is in dispute with the government over a new mining code. It also has a tax dispute with the Mali government. Randgold, which has a total portfolio of 157 gold mining exploration targets, often forms joint ventures to share cost and risk. It had no comment on Wednesday's announcement made by Cradle Arc. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis and Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) Professor David Goodall had a meeting with death on Thursdayand he was looking forward to it. The 104-year-old scientist, an accomplished botanist and ecologist, had long been a member of the organization Exit International, an international nonprofit group advocating for the legalization of euthanasia. The organization was founded by Dr. Philip Nitschke, who ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to ensure Goodall would undergo a comfortable last journey. The organization announced David had died surrounded by his grandchildren and staff of the Swiss Life Circle/Eternal Spirit Foundation, describing how the procedure took place in a press release on Thursday. Trending: Watch: Fox News Analyst Resurfaces Fake 'Songbird' John McCain Nickname to Defend Torture Use "As he elected to receive a lethal injection, Dr Christian Weber administered a cannula to Davids arm. David turned the wheel to allow the solution to flow," the statement said. "David fell asleep within a few minutes and died a short time afterwards at around 12.30 p.m. (6.30 a.m. EST)." 05_10_David_goodall Stefan Wermuth/Reuters Goodall traveled to Europe last week to say goodbyes to his relatives, who live in France, before heading to Switzerland's capital Basel on Tuesday, where he planned to end his life thanks to the country's law on assisted suicide for "non-selfish" reasons. Don't miss: Who Killed Nicole VanderHeyden? Green Bay Murder Featured on New Dateline Episode The professor held a press conference on Wednesday explaining his decision. "At my age, and even at less than my age, one wants to be free to choose the death when the death is the appropriate time," Goodall said, quoted by Reuters. "I don't feel that anyone else's choice is involved. It's my own choice to end my life tomorrow and I look forward to that and I'm grateful to the Swiss nation to make that possible," he added, expressing optimism his story will help forward the cause he was so passionate about. Story continues "David Goodall is exactly the sort of member that Exit is made of and is proud of," Dr. Nitschke said in a statement, adding: "It was a wonderful experience to know him and be so intimately involved in his final weeks of life. Especially after Davids 20 odd years of membership of Exit International. Once named Australia's oldest working scientist, Goodall wished for his body to be donated to medicine or, alternatively, that his ashes be sprinkled locally. According to Exit International, he didn't want any funeral, remembrance service or ceremony, as he had "no belief" in life after death. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek The 440 cases in England are being linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe (Rex) More than 400 cases of measles have been identified in England this year, health officials have said. The 440 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles between January 1 and May 9 show figures are well up on 2017, when there were just 267 confirmed cases. In 2016, there were 531. The increase has been linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe, according to Public Health England (PHE). PHE is urging people to check they are properly vaccinated against the highly infectious viral illness, which can be fatal. Anyone who has not received two doses of the MMR vaccine is at risk, while young people mixing in close proximity, for example at festivals, are more vulnerable. Parents are being urged to take up the offer of MMR vaccinations for their children (Rex) Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at PHE, said: The measles outbreaks we are currently seeing in England are linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe. The majority of cases we are seeing are in teenagers and young adults who missed out on their MMR vaccine when they were children. There are currently large outbreaks in Romania and Italy and those travelling to these countries should check health advice beforehand. MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO Dr Ramsay said: Anyone who missed out on their MMR vaccine in the past or are unsure if they had two doses should contact their GP practice to catch up. This serves as an important reminder for parents to take up the offer of MMR vaccination for their children at one year of age and as a pre-school booster at three years and four months of age. Wed also encourage people to ensure they are up to date with their MMR vaccine before travelling to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks. Story continues The news comes just months after the World Health Organisation announced that the UK had eliminated measles for the first time last September (REX) Of the laboratory confirmed cases, 164 were in London, 86 in the South East, 78 in the West Midlands, 42 in the South West and 37 in West Yorkshire. The news comes just months after the World Health Organisation announced that the UK had eliminated measles for the first time last September. This meant the UK had reduced the number of cases to a low enough level to stop it spreading through the population for at least three years. LUSAKA (Reuters) - Protesters hurled petrol bombs at three Zambian-registered trucks in South Africa, leaving one of the drivers with life-threatening injuries, the second attack on foreign vehicles there in two weeks, officials said. Zambia urged South Africa's government to do more to protect its nationals, saying the assaults could hurt international trade. Police said at least some of the attacks were carried out by people angered by truck companies hiring foreign drivers. Three trucks were destroyed by petrol bombs in two separate attacks in Limpopo Province on Wednesday evening, Zambia's High Commission in Pretoria said in a statement. One of the Zambian drivers was attacked as he drove to Groblersbrug, a border crossing into Botswana, it added. Last week attackers burned around 30 foreign-owned trucks more than 800km (500 miles) further south on the N3 toll road in KwaZulu-Natal province, the High Commission said on Thursday. At least three of those trucks were Zambian, it added. Police said they did not know the nationalities of the other drivers. "There were many trucks burnt ... The protesters were complaining that truck owners are only hiring foreign nationals," said KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbele. Zambia's High Commissioner, Emmanuel Mwamba, said the attacks could "halt the movement of goods and services between the two countries." Most of Zambia's copper exports reach the international market via South Africa's roads and through its port at Durban. Zambia's got 27.5 percent of its imports from South Africa in March, Central Statistical Office data shows. (Reporting by Chris Mfula in Lusaka and additional reporting by Patricia Aruo in Johannesburg; Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Heavens) See Also: Gunmen shot a number of protesters at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Managua, on May 11, after residents of nearby neighbourhoods set up barricades and stood watch to protect protesting students the night before. Students occupied the campus to protest the leadership and demand the restructuring of UNEN, a students union. This footage, filmed on the 10th and 11th of May, shows the barricades by the university as well as protests in Managua. Credit: Bayardo Aguilar via Storyful 1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted. 2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks. 3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown". 4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam). I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will meet for their historic summit on 12 June, the President has confirmed. In a tweet, Mr Trump wrote: "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace." Earlier in the week, the US President had ruled out meeting Mr Kim at the demilitarised zone which separates North and South Korea. He had said he favoured holding the meeting at the heavily fortified border, but Singapore was preferred by most of his advisers. South Korean leader Moon Jae-in met with his North Korean counterpart at the Peace House building, in the demilitarised village of Panmunjom, at the end of April. He told reporters at the White House on Wednesday: "People never thought you were going to have a situation where were having serious and positive communications with North Korea. And we are. "What happens? Who knows. We have a chance at something very great for the world." In the early hours of Thursday morning, Mr Trump welcomed home the three Americans released by Pyongyang - and said it was a "great honour" to greet them at Andrews airbase near Washington. The President said relations with the secretive state were "starting off on a new footing" and said Mr Kim had done a "wonderful thing" letting the men go. However, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the release of detained American citizens from North Korea was 'no great accomplishment' of Mr Kim. Mr Schumer warned Mr Trump against striking a "quick" and "bad" deal with the country. The Americans should never have been detained in the first place, Mr Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Their release should not be exalted, it should be expected. It is no great accomplishment of Kim Jong Un to do this." Until recently, Mr Kim and Mr Trump had been trading personal insults and threats, heightening tensions over North Korea's nuclear programme. By Steve Gorman and Jolyn Rosa (Reuters) - The latest bursts of molten rock, ash and toxic gas from Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii are part of an ever changing and still largely mysterious cycle of eruptions that have been at work for hundreds of thousands of years. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes and perhaps the most intensely studied, began extruding red-hot lava into populated areas through newly opened fissures in the ground last week, destroying dozens of homes and other buildings, and prompting mass evacuations. The lava-spewing fissures were accompanied by a flurry of earthquakes. An ash plume belched from Kilauea's long-active Pu'u 'O'o side vent last week, and on Wednesday volcanic rock exploded from the main summit crater, which could portend a wave of similar eruptions to come. All of this activity, according to geologists and vulcanologists, is driven by the underground ebb and flow of huge rivers of molten rock called magma -- the term for lava before it reaches the surface -- and is part of an eruption cycle that has continued nearly nonstop on the island for 35 years. But experts say the behavior exhibited by Kilauea differs from one eruptive episode to the next, and they hope the latest sequence of events will help them better understand why. "When all of this is over, and we digest the reams and mountains of data that we are collecting, we will know a lot more about Kilauea as a volcanic system," Christina Neal, the vulcanologist in charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey, told a news conference on Wednesday. Scientists acknowledge having no idea how much longer the latest upheaval will last, though there were clear signs something was brewing before it started. (GRAPHIC: Scorched Earth - https://tmsnrt.rs/2IldVyS) EAST RIFT ZONE Magma had steadily bubbled up for weeks inside the main crater at Kilauea's summit, and at the separate Pu'u 'O'o crater miles (kilometers) away on the volcano's eastern flank called the east rift zone. Story continues Instead of lava breaking through the outside wall of the Pu'u 'O'o cone, as it did twice before in recent years, the crater floor abruptly collapsed on April 30. The pool of magma drained back into an underground reservoir and pushed its way into deep channels carrying the molten rock farther downslope. This sequence of events created space for additional magma from Kilauea's summit to recede back underground and likewise flow downhill into the sub-surface rift line. When that happened, a lava lake that had spilled over the crater rim just weeks before suddenly dropped by hundreds of feet (meters). By last Thursday, the underground flows found their way to the surface in the community of Leilani Estates, opening large cracks in the ground to emit steam, toxic sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases, and finally fountains of lava, some hundreds of feet (meters) high. Fourteen such fissures had been counted as of Wednesday, and scientists said more were likely in the days and weeks ahead. "There's still a fair bit of magma right underground that's available to erupt," Neal said. The earthquakes, including a powerful magnitude 6.9 tremor on May 4 -- the strongest in Hawaii since 1975 -- were produced by the enormous pressure being exerted miles (km) beneath the surface on fault lines around the volcano from the massive intrusion of magma underground. NEW CHAPTER On Wednesday, scientists observed what they believe may signal a new chapter in the latest series of disturbances -- the violent explosion from the summit crater of rocky material that apparently fell into the remaining lava lake. Such blasts could grow more frequent if the receding magma in the summit chamber drops below groundwater levels, allowing steam to rush into the void and become trapped by more rock falls, causing explosive pressure buildups, scientists said. The filling and draining of Kilauea's magma reservoirs has recurred countless times over the history of the volcano, which has been active for hundreds of thousands of years and helped build the largest island in the Hawaii archipelago. But scientists remain uncertain what caused Kilauea's latest buildup of molten rock and why the magma traveled so far underground to create new ground vents "when it had two release valves" already at the summit crater and at Pu'u 'O'o, said Michael Garcia, a volcano expert at the University of Hawaii. "Why it would push magma 10 miles (16 km) down from where it was erupting is a mystery," he said. Garcia said Kilauea's current eruption cycle, which has persisted with no more than a month's pause for 35 years, is already its longest in the last five centuries. But that record pales in comparison to a volcano in Costa Rica that has been continuously erupting since 1968. How and when Kilauea will fall silent again has yet to be determined. (Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Jolyn Rosa in Honolulu; Editing by Sandra Maler) See Also: Yahoo Celebrity UK TV and radio presenter, Gaby Roslin chats about the excitement of working on The Big Breakfast alongside Chris Evans, bumping into Kate and Appleton sisters on a maternity ward, and coaxing the stars onto That Gaby Roslin podcast.White Wine Question Time with Kate Thornton is the podcast that brings together well-known guests to answer three thought-provoking questions over three glasses of wine. Discover the friendships behind the entertainment headlines, and listen in on their conversations for a side to the celebrities you've never heard before. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow on Instagram (@whitewineqt) & Twitter (@WhiteWineQT) to keep up to date with the latest guests, news and more! Authorities in Indiana have raided the biggest cockfighting ring in the states history. The Indiana Gaming Commission and police joined forces ahead of the raids in Montgomery and Hendricks counties during a long-running investigation. At one address in Waveland, they found more than 600 birds and a fighting pit. One neighbor, Steve Miller told Fox 59: Those are not egg laying chickens. Trending: Watch the Moment HIV Infects New Host: Footage Is Helping Scientists Develop a Vaccine Screenshot (19) Screen grab from Fox 59 In a separate raid, 150 birds were found at the Avon location. The two cockfighting rings were not connected. Knives or dagger-like attachments to maximize injuries that are placed on fighting birds were found during the raids. Don't miss: Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition Update Brings Cross-Platform Play in June "The birds have been modified and prepared to fight and we are also finding other types of paraphernalia that is associated with types of animal fighting," said Supt. Rob Townsend of the Indiana Gaming Commission. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says cockfighting is often linked to gambling and drug possession. It is looking after the rescued birds in a temporary shelter. "There are other crimes that usually is attached to that and involved in other criminal enterprises. So it is not just one thing, there is usually a network of criminal relation and criminal activity that goes down with it," said Supt. Townsend. Most popular: Mayim Bialik on 'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Finale and Her New Book 'Boying Up' No arrests have been made and no charges yet laid. In Indiana, cockfighting and possessing fighting birds carry up to three years in prison if convicted. Sara Tait, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission said, according to the IndyStar: "The more of these cockfighting warrants we execute, the more the public becomes aware and we see an increase in reports from the public." Story continues This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Israel on Thursday just after midnight local time reported that Iranian forces fired 20 rockets at its military bases in occupied Golan Heights. The Iron Dome defense system intercepted some of the missiles and damage to Israeli military bases was limited, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson told The Times of Israel. No Israeli casualties were reported. Related: Trumps Madness Is a Danger to Our National Security, Ex-CIA Director Says After Iran Nuclear Deal Withdrawal Trending: Search for Aliens: Is Congress About to Start Funding New NASA Research? Israeli military officials are attributing the attack to members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Forces. The IDF sees this Iranian attack on Israel with severity, a spokesperson for the military Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said. This event is not over. Don't miss: Billboard Threatening 'Liberals' Over Trump Impeachment Will Be Removed: Better Get Your Guns Israels army countered the attack with artillery fire at a military base in the Quneitra border region with Syrian regime forces, according to the Syrian state media. There were reports that Israel's Air Force missiles targeted Iranian positions in Syria. The crossfire comes a day after Israel opened bomb shelters in the northern Golan Heights based on the identification of irregular activity by Iranian forces in Syriathe same day that President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. Trumps decision means sanctions on Tehran would be imposed anew. RTS1QLRO AMIR COHEN/REUTERS Most popular: Video: White Woman Calls Police on Black Family's BBQ for 'Trespassing' in Oakland Park Story continues Sirens blasted in Golan Heights during the attack and the IDF told residents to stay in the bomb shelters. A video shared on social media appeared to show rockets making their way from Syria toward Israel. Some analysts had anticipated an attack. In the past month, Tehran has threatened to retaliate on attacks from the Israeli air force; the most recent, on May 9, killed seven Iranians at the Syrian air force base T4, according to Haaretz. On Tuesday, a Syrian report claimed that Israel struck a military base south of Damascus that Iranian forces used. The IDF said Tuesday that non-combat reserves were being called up, that troops were on high alertand that any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Iranian forces in Syria have sent rockets hurtling toward army bases in the Golan Heights, across the border in Israel, according to reports. Israel fired back on Thursday, hitting dozens of Iranian targets in Syria. The exchange was the first outbreak of military violence since President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, a move that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly supported. On Thursday, the White House condemned Irans rocket attacks but failed to mention Israels strikes on military targets in Syria. The United States condemns the Iranian regimes provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens, and we strongly support Israels right to act in self-defense. The Iranian regimes deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East, the White House said in a statement. Trending: 'Golden State Killer' Detective Paul Holes Is Now a True Crime Heartthrob Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bears full responsibility for the consequences of its reckless actions, and we call on the IRGC and its militant proxies, including Hizballah, to take no further provocative steps. 956785488 Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images The Israeli military said a unit of Irans Revolutionary Guard had launched 20 artillery rockets into the Golan Heights shortly after midnight on Wednesday. Some of the rockets were deflected by Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, while others caused damage to Israeli military facilities. No one on the Israeli side was reported to have been injured. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel had retaliated with its largest strike in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, and that Israel had hit nearly all Iranian military facilities in Syria. Story continues Don't miss: Number of Incarcerated Women and Girls Skyrocketed 700 Percent Since 1980 Syrias military later reported that three people had died in the Israeli attack. Israels military said that it had targeted Iranian intelligence and logistical facilities close to Damascus. Analysts say that Trumps decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal has emboldened Tehran, which feels it has less to lose if it enters into conflict with U.S. allies. It also emboldened religious hardliners in Iran, whose leadership quickly announced that it would start rebuilding its nuclear program if the other signatories of the Iran deal do not maintain the agreement. Experts say Iran could have a nuclear weapon within a year if it abandons the terms of the deal. Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iranian facilities in Syria for the past several months. Israel killed around seven Iranians in April with its strikes in Syria. Wednesday's action from Iranian forces was the first time Tehran retaliated against Israel's attacks on its military presence in Syria. Military experts are now watching to see if the situation will escalate. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek In terms of its structure, the Delilah is almost identical to a typical air-to-ground missile. The front section includes the homing parts, which in the first models were televisional. Thus, the head of the missile includes an antenna for general guidance towards its target. The next section holds the various electronic parts including guidance systems and flight control. The part behind this holds the warhead and fuel supply. The final section is made up of a jet engine capable of producing 165 pounds of thrust and the control surfaces that turn the missile towards its target. Examining the technical data alone raises the question of why the Delilah is considered such an important missile. After all, there are missiles capable of flying further and faster and carrying warheads many times larger which are available on the global weapons market. The answer lies in the fact that the Delilah is seen more as a loitering missile than a cruise missile. In general typical air-to-ground missiles are launched in the general direction of their target. A navigational system (such as GPS) takes them to the spot where intelligence indicates that the target lies. If the missile is autonomous (fire and forget) then the plane that launched it can simply leave. The missile flies towards the target. When it identifies it, it strikes it with the help of its final guidance system. When the target is not where it is expected to be, the missile is simply written off. An example of this sort of weapon is the US Tomahawk missile, at least in its early models. When a missile is fitted with an electro-optic guidance system, it broadcasts an image of what is in front of it, back to the aircraft that launched it. The image from the homing device is shown on a special screen in the cockpit, usually facing the navigators chair in a two-seater aircraft. The navigator can send the missile instructions, and make small changes in its flight path. However, these changes can only take pace during a relatively short period of time, and are comparatively minor. From the moment that the missile begins its final approach, no changes can be made. The result is that although he has some control, the navigator is actually very limited. If a missile approaches a target, which at the last minute turns out to be moving, or the wrong target altogether, then the missile misses. Thus, there have been many events like the one in Yugoslavia in 1999 when an electro-optic bomb launched from a US combat airplane was launched at a bridge. Seconds before impact, a passenger train reached the bridge and all the navigator could do was watch in horror, knowing that many civilians would be killed. It is here that the Delilahs unique ability enters the picture. [] The Delilahs operation is similar to what is described above; it, too, possesses a Man in the Loop mechanism, where the navigator controls the final direction of the missile. However, in the case of the Delilah theres a key difference: as the missile makes the final approach, if the target has moved or if theres a need to cancel the attack (for example, if civilians are spotted near the target), all the navigator needs to do is press a button in the cockpit which instructs the missile to abort its approach and return to linger. Thus, situations in which a missile is wasted on a target that has disappeared, or in which civilians are accidentally killed can be prevented. In the same way the use of a missile on a target that has already been destroyed can be prevented, saving valuable ammunition. This is not the only value in the Delilah missiles ability to linger. One can imagine a situation in which the targets precise location is not known with any certainty, for example if it is a portable anti-aircraft launcher or land-land missile launcher. In this case the Delilah can be launched in the general direction of the target, based on intelligence reports. The missile would fly in the direction of the target, all the while surveying the territory with its homing equipment. The image appears in the cockpit, the Delilah serving effectively as a homing UAV. The Delilah patrols above the territory searching for its target. The missiles long range can be exchanged for a prolonged stay in the air above the target. When the navigator identifies the target, or what is thought to be the target, he instructs the missile to fly towards it. If he has identified it correctly then the missile is directed to attack it. If he has not found the target then the missile is instructed to abort its approach and return to searching. The Delilah missiles ability to both loiter and carry out repeated passes makes it the ideal weapon for attacking mobile sites like rocket launches. Everyone recalls the difficulty the US Air Force faced during the 1992 Gulf War when it attempted to locate and destroy the Iraqi Al-Hussein rocket launcher that was used to fire at Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Americans knew roughly where the rockets were being launched from but had difficulty locating the launchers themselves. As a result fighter planes were sent for long patrols over western Iraq every night. On many occasions the Americans identified the point where the missile was launched from, but by the time a counter-strike had been arranged the missile launcher had left the scene. Its in these sorts of operational profile that the Delilah performs best, perhaps better than any other weapons system. In these cases the Delilah can be launched towards the area intelligence expects the missiles to be launched from. The Delilah will fly above the area and search for missile launchers. When a launcher is identified, it will be immediately struck by the missile. If its discovered that the target has not been identified correctly, for example if its a dummy launcher or another vehicle that looks like a launcher (such as a petrol tanker), the missile receives the instructions to end its approach and continue to search for the real target. The Delilah is a system that can strike very precisely at critical, sensitive points from a great distance, explains Brigadier General (reserve) Arieh Mizrachi, who was once CEO of IMI.If we want to attack a command bunker, for example, and we know where it is situated and exactly which window we need to hit then we can do it. We can always make another approach and place the missile exactly where we want it. The extreme precision of the missile makes it possible for us to paralyze the enemy by striking their critical point. For example, if we send the missile through a window of a divisions control center, then no one will be left to give orders, and well have silenced the whole division. Its important to understand that the target does not need to be a large command center. The Delilah lets us strike at the brain of the enemy, even if its a small mobile target like a command armored personnel carrier. Similarly, we can strike at a ships command center without needing to sink the whole ship. This holds true for many other kinds of target like airports, logistics centers and so on. The moment we identify the critical point, the Delilah lets us hit it. [] The training needed to operate the Delilah lasts a few months, and because of its complex capabilities, not everyone successfully completes it, explains First Lieutenant A., an F-16D navigator in the Scorpion Squadron who is trained on the Delilah. The training process is long, complex and challenging. You start with simple scenarios, hitting a large target in open space, and advance to small targets that are located in densely populated areas. Despite the intense cooperation between the pilot and the navigator, the fact remains that the missile is operated from the navigators cockpit. In the first stage you launch the missile and it flies towards the target youve given it. Later in the flight, you take control of the missile and direct it wherever you want. If you need to, you can press a button and the missile will loiter. The role of the pilot is to tell me when Ive reach the point where I need to tell the missile to fly, and I can no longer tell it to continue to loiter. Even though you are not physically in the same place as the missile, and in fact are far away, the whole time you feel that you are part of it. The fact that you can fly the missile wherever you want, whilst you yourself fly to an area that is not under threat, gives you safety. Who could possibly want to leave this? (Rex) Forget about leaving Europe what about the far more serious matter of whether Britain should leave Eurovision? Thats the big question YouGov has been asking and, much like the issue of whether or not we should quit the EU, its divided opinion. Perhaps not too surprisingly, the majority of Leave voters think the song contest is another European institution we can do without. In response to a YouGov poll asking: Do you think Britain should or should not continue to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest? 45% of Leave voters said no. Should Britain continue to compete in #Eurovision? All GB: Yes 48% / No 33% Remain voters: 54% / 24% Leave voters: 41% / 45% pic.twitter.com/aqchuppJrE YouGov (@YouGov) May 11, 2018 MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO 41% werent going to let their political views get in the way of their ability to see Britain compete in what is arguably the campest song contest of all time however, voting in favour of our continued participation. Only 24% of Remain voters want us to quit the contest, while 54% would prefer us to continue taking part. Looks like this chap, pictured at a public viewing of the second semi-final of this years contest in Lisbon, would like Eurovision to Remain (Rex) As a whole, 48% of Britons would like us to carry on shouting at our TVs about blatant favouritism between Moldova and Romania for the foreseeable future, while 33% think Eurovision has had its day. Presumably the other 19% are still ahem making their mind up. Theresa May has challenged Donald Trump on the impact of sanctions against Iran which will affect UK firms doing business there, amid a growing European backlash. In a phone call dominated by Iran, the Prime Minister and President agreed to hold talks between the UK and US governments on the effect of sanctions on British companies . The sanctions clash came as some European countries, including France and Germany, served notice that they are considering counter measures to allow their firms to keep trading with Iran. President Trump announced plans for sanctions when he confirmed on Tuesday that he was pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal - which he said was "rotten", "horrible" and "one-sided". Within minutes of the President's announcement, Mrs May, French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement expressing their "regret and concern". And after her phone call with the president, a Downing Street spokesman said Mrs May had raised sanctions and re-stated her support for the Iran nuclear deal. "The Prime Minister reiterated the government's position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," a spokesman said. And the Number 10 spokesman added: "The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran. They agreed for talks to take place between our teams." Downing Street said the Prime Minister and the President condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces earlier this week, and strongly supported Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. "They agreed on the need for calm on all sides and on the importance of tackling Iran's destabilising activity in the region," the spokesman said. Story continues During the phone call Mrs May also congratulated the US president on the safe return of three Americans who had been held in prison in North Korea. "The two leaders looked forward to the summit which will take place between President Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore," the spokesman said. "The PM said the UK would continue to work with the US to keep up the pressure on North Korea to denuclearise." The two leaders also looked forward to Mr Trump's visit to the UK in July, Downing Street said. As Europe plots its response to President Trump's sanctions threat, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in London on Monday to discuss the Iran crisis. Mr Le Drian has already described the US sanctions as unacceptable, saying European business should not be required to pay for US foreign policy decisions. And France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said EU states would propose sanctions-blocking measures to the European Commission. "Do we accept extra-territorial sanctions? The answer is no.," he said. "Do we accept that the United States is the economic gendarme of the planet? The answer is no." Mr Le Maire said he was seeking concrete exemptions for French companies already present in Iran, including Renault, Total, Sanofi, Danone and Peugeot. In her latest comments on Iran and sanctions, Chancellor Merkel said: "It is in our interest to have a strong transatlantic relationship." But she added: "If everybody does what they like, then this is bad news for the world." Iran has said it had asked Europe's Airbus to announce whether it would go ahead with a plane deal with Tehran following the US pull-out. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that licences for its US rival Boeing Co to sell passenger jets to Iran would be revoked. The newly elected president of the National Rifle Association has claimed that gun control activists, like those who have emerged following a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in February, are civil terrorists. Related: Who is Oliver North? New NRA president was behind illegal Iran-Contra arms sales Oliver North, who is best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal in which profits from weapons sales to Iran were secretly funneled to right-wing guerrillas in Nicaragua, was named the lobbying groups new president earlier this week. And he has wasted no time attacking activists who have criticized the NRAs role in continued gun violence. Trending: Every Bon Jovi Album, Ranked: Celebrating 'Slippery When Wet,' 'New Jersey,' and All the Rest Theyre not activiststhis is civil terrorism. This is the kind of thing thats never been seen against a civil rights organization in America, Oliver North told the Washington Times. You go back to the terrible days of Jim Crow and those kinds of thingseven there you didnt have this kind of thing. In referencing Jim Crow, North appeared to be comparing the plight of the NRA with civil rights activists who fought for racial equality in the 1960s, during a time in which many were beaten and murdered. North said NRA leaders had been subjected to personal threats. Don't miss: Argentine Sports Channel Makes Fun of Russias Gay Propaganda Ban Ahead of World Cup After 17 people were killed during the Parkland shooting, student survivors from the school have spoken out about the need for greater gun control as well as criticizing the impact of the NRA on preventing legislation they argue could help curb the number of mass shootings. Unlike previous efforts in the wake of deadly shootings, the Parkland students have fueled an ongoing online and in-person campaign, which has included school walkouts and, in March, the March for Our Lives event where students, and others, took to the streets across the country. Story continues They can do all the cyberwar against ustheyre doing it, North said. They can use the media against usthey are. Theyve gone after our bank accounts, our finances, our donors and obviously individual members. Its got to stop. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Residents in a Pennsylvania borough have described their outrage after a man decided to hang a Swastika flag on his front porch, with police confirming they cant do anything about it. The black and red swastika flag is being displayed outside a home in West Mifflin, with the owner also recently setting up surveillance cameras, reports the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. One local resident believes the owner of the house hung up the flag in order to intimidate him and his girlfriend. Trending: 'Golden State Killer' Detective Paul Holes Is Now a True Crime Heartthrob Corey Hawkins, who is black, lives next door to where the flag is being hung with his white girlfriend. Flag went up two days ago, Hawkins told WPXI. I believe hes racist. Shes upset. I guess she thought I would be upset, but I dont feed into stuff like that. Hawkins added the man has also pointed his surveillance cameras towards him and his girlfriends house. GettyImages-92322998 David McNew/Getty Images Don't miss: Number of Incarcerated Women and Girls Skyrocketed 700 Percent Since 1980 The man at the property already had a Confederate flag before he added the Swastika. Right away I think of the neo-Nazis, neighbor Barbara McClain said. The Confederate flag didnt bother me, but that does. The man has refused to give his name when asked by the media. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that county real estate records show the property is owned by Scott D. Harley, who purchased it in 2001. Most popular: EpiPen Shortage: How to Replace Your Device, Check Expiration I am not a racist; Im trying to annoy them, he told WPXI. They are a nuisance. They have damaged part of my property and Ive seen lewd behavior. Its only racist if you perceive it that way. Story continues West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly said he is concerned about the flag and hope the residents take a stand against it. He told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: As far as the borough goes, we cant regulate stupidity and hatred. It is what it is. Im hoping the rest of the neighborhood comes out and shows this guy some love. There is no room for this in this country or in our community. We have to tolerate it because of our liberal freedoms we have here; its nothing but pure hatred. According to KDKA -TV, West Mifflin Police did receive a complaint about the flag, but no report was filed. Officers say he is free to hang the flag on his porch and point his cameras where he chooses as they are also on his property. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Shortly after Rudy Giuliani's resignation from his law firm Thursday, Greenberg Traurig denied a claim from President Donald Trump's new attorney that he would use his firm's funds to finance similar payments to that made by Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Related: Morning Joe blasts Rudy Giuliani as train wreck who would fall asleep in meetings Giuliani, who took a leave of absence from Greenberg Traurig last month, suggested on Fox News last week that payments like the one for $130,000 that Cohen made to keep Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, quiet about an affair she allegedly had with Trump, are not unusual at the firm. Trending: Ebola Outbreak 2018: WHO Preparing for Worst Case Scenario,' Know the Virus' Symptoms That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds, Giuliani said. Michael would take care of things like this like I take care of this with my clients. After Giulianis resignation, effective Wednesday, was made public, Greenberg Traurig spokeswoman Jill Perry told The New York Times, We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks. But she added, Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client. Don't miss: Trump Was So Angry at DHS Chief for Not Keeping Out Undocumented Immigrants She Almost Resigned: Report 05_10_18_GiulianiFirm Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Giuliani is said to have left the firm due to the all-consuming nature of his duties on Trumps legal team, which is fronting Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into possible collusion with Russia. A criminal investigation is also ongoing into Cohens business deals, including the payoff to Daniels. Story continues In a statement, Giuliani said, it is in everyones best interest that I make it a permanent resignation to focus on representing Trump in Muellers investigation. Most popular: 'Love Nikki' Miracle Concert Hell Event Guide: Glow Sticks, Suits, Recharge Deals and More Giuliani made explosive headlines after revealing that Trump reimbursed Cohen for paying Daniels, in order to stave off allegations that the payment was a campaign contribution. Trump had previously denied knowing about the payment. Since Giuliani joined Trumps legal team, he and the president have altered their story about the payment and its timing. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Victims Katrina Miles and her four children are thought to be among the victims of the mass shooting in Australia (Picture: Facebook) A mother and her four children are believed to be among the victims of a mass shooting in Australia. Seven people three adults and four children -were found dead with gunshot wounds at a property near the tourist town of Margaret River in Western Australia on Friday, police said. Two guns were also found at the property in the village of Osmington after police were called at around 5.15am local time. The incident, which some are speculating was a murder-suicide, is the worst mass shooting in Australia in 20 years. The victims are believed to include Katrina Miles and her four children, aged eight to 13, as well as the childrens grandparents. Seven people were found dead with gunshot wounds in what is believed to be the worst mass shooting in Australia in 20 years (Picture: PA) The shooting happened in the village of Osmington in Western Australia (Picture: Google Maps) Police have not officially confirmed the indentites of the victims. The three generations reportedly moved to Osmington in 2015 to grow fruit. MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO Western Australia State Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the bodies of two adults were found outside the house and the rest were found inside. He said they all lived at the property. Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident, Mr Dawson told reporters. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west. Guns two guns were also found at the scene (Picture: PA) Western Australia state police commissioner Chris Dawson would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide (Picture: Reuters) Police in Western Australia released a statement saying the process of formal identification was continuing. They said the building on the property where the bodies were found is a shed that had been converted to living quarters. Mark McGowan, Premier of Western Australia, described the events as tragic and shocking. Story continues The events in our South West are tragic and shocking. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims, and also with the first responders and investigators as they piece together this tragic set of circumstances. Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) May 11, 2018 Local state MP Libby Mettam also sent thoughts and prayers to everyone affected, saying: The community is in shock this is devastating. Police were called to the house in Osmington near Margaret River at 5.15am local time (Picture: Evening Standard) The incident is the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania in 1996. The massacre prompted the nation to introduce tough gun controls, whose supporters include former US president Barack Obama. Since then the only mass shooting four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event in Australia was in 2014 when a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. Automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Samantha Lee, chair of the Gun Control Australia lobby group, said rural areas were over-represented in Australian gun deaths, including suicides. She said: Regional and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of tragedies, because of the combination of isolation, sometimes mental or financial hardship and easy access to firearms. Although the details of this tragedy are yet to come to light, Australia has a tragic history of higher rate of gun deaths in rural areas. Pope Francis speaks during his pastoral visit in Loppiano, central Italy, May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi ROME (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic archbishop of Taiwan said on Thursday that he will invite Pope Francis to visit the country for a Church congress next year, a trip that would likely infuriate China. "No pope has ever landed in Taiwan," Archbishop John Hung said in remarks at a reception at Taiwan's embassy to the Vatican. He later told Reuters he liked to "dream the impossible" and that he would extend the invitation next week when he and other bishops from Taiwan meet the pope. Hung said he felt the pope should visit the island because the people there "have suffered". China claims Taiwan as its own and considers the self-ruled island a wayward province. The island has about 300,000 Catholics. The Vatican is one of only 19 states that still recognise Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China. Beijing, which has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican, insists that if countries want relations with it they must break ties with Taiwan. Last month the Dominican Republic became the latest country to switch from Taiwan to Beijing. The Vatican and Beijing have been holding talks on the naming of bishops in China, whose Catholics are divided between an "underground" Church loyal to the pope and a government-backed Church. The talks appear to have stalled recently. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has previously invited the pope to visit. (Reporting By Philip Pullella, Editing by William Maclean) Plot Safaa Boular plotted a terror attack on London under the guise of an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party, a court has heard (Picture: PA) A teenage jihadi bride plotted a terror attack on London under the guise of an Alice In Wonderland-themed tea party, a court has heard. Safaa Boular was aged 17 when she planned to unleash violence and terror in the heart of London by launching a grenade and gun attack on the British Museum, her trial at the Old Bailey heard. Jurors were told that Boular was inspired following a failed bid to marry IS fighter Naweed Hussain and her resolve was strengthened when he was killed in Syria before she could join him. A teenage jihadi bride plotted a terror attack on London under the guise of an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party, a court has heard. After just three months chatting on social media, Boular and Hussain who was in his 30s had declared their love for each other, the court heard. Safaa wanted to marry Hussain and don a suicide belt each, jurors were told. MORE: Albatrosses found with stomachs full of plastic in heartbreaking footage MORE: Boyfriend jailed after spraying ammonia in ex-partners eye then forcing her into car for hours to prolong her agony Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said: Their plan then was that together they would, as Hussain put it, depart the world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism. But Boulars aim to travel to Syria accompanied by her sister was scuppered when she was stopped by police at Stansted en route home from a holiday in Morocco in August 2016. Resolve Boulars resolve was strengthened when her IS fighter fiance was killed (Picture: PA) She allegedly switched her attention to Britain, keeping contact with Hussain on a secret phone through encrypted Telegram chat. But British Security Services had deployed specially-trained role play officers to engage with Boular and Hussain who talked about an ambush involving Russian-style guns and pineapples, code for grenades online to keep track of their activities. When Boular found out about Hussains death in April last year, she told an officer posing as an IS fighter that all she needed was a car and a knife to get what I want to achieve and said she had no time to lounge around, adding: My heart yearns to be reunited with my dear husband for the very first time. Story continues In encrypted chat, she said Hussain had told her something about a British Museum and the tokarev and pineapple, Mr Atkinson said. Tokarev was said to be a type of Russian gun and pineapple, a code word for grenades. Party Safaa talked in phone calls about a party said to be a code word for a terror attack (Picture: PA) While in custody for allegedly attempting to travel to IS territory, Boular passed on the baton to her 21-year-old sister Rizlaine Boular. In calls to her from jail, she talked about a party said to be a code word for a terror attack and the pair also made reference to a Mad Hatter and having an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party, jurors heard. Over the next three days, Rizlaine and her mother Mina Dich, 43, carried out reconnaissance around major landmarks in Westminster and bought a pack of knives and a rucksack. But on April 27 last year the day of the proposed knife attack around the Palace of Westminster police swooped to arrest Rizlaine. The 21-year-old, of Clerkenwell, central London, has already admitted planning an attack and with the help and support of Dich, jurors were told. But Safaa, now 18, who lived at home with her mother in Vauxhall, south west London, has denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism. Joel Bennathan QC told jurors that Safaa was groomed by Hussain, who was twice her age. In an opening speech, he said: She was a child who was sexually groomed, someone who was groomed to be radicalised. Thats what happened to this young person. Nearly 70 percent of 400 marijuana dispensaries included in a recent study advised a woman who claimed to be pregnant and suffering from morning sickness to use the drug to treat her ailment. Although the science on whether or not marijuana affects a developing fetus is still unclear, this finding shows there is a problem in dispensary worker training when it comes to dealing with pregnant customers. The study, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, was completed by researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Utah. The researchers contacted 465 dispensaries in Colorado, 400 of which resulted in valid calls that could be included as data in the study. Of these dispensaries, 37 percent were licensed for medical sale, 28 percent were licensed for retail only, and 35 percent were licensed for both. 05_10_marijuana Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images Trending: Police Officer Suspended After Roughly Handling 65-Year-Old Woman at Traffic Stop A woman called the dispensaries claiming to be eight weeks pregnant and asking for advice on how to deal with morning sickness. Ultimately, 81.5 percent of dispensaries recommended discussion of marijuana use with a health care provider. However, 69 percent of the dispensaries (277 out of 400) also personally recommended marijuana use to treat the morning sickness for the pregnant caller. Eighty three percent of dispensaries with a medical license recommended marijuana to the pregnant caller, while only 60.4 percent of those with a retail license and 61.7 percent of those with both licenses made this recommendation. The most frequent recommendation was edibles followed by inhalation. The study also noted that only 31.8 percent dispensaries advised the caller to consult a health care provider about her query without prompting from the caller. Story continues Don't miss: The NBA Should Not Get a 'Free Pass' on Women Coaches, Says Pau Gasol The Marijuana Industry Group stated that it's protocol for dispensary workers to urge customers to speak with a medical professional for any of their health questions, WFTS Tampa Bay reported. "What this tells us as an industry is that we have a gap in our 'onboarding process,' in terms of training our dispensary workers to provide not just a good conversation on products, usage and dosing...but it's very important that employees clarify they are not medical professionals," said Kristi Kelly, the group's executive director, WFTS reported. Although marijuana is medically known for reducing nausea, a common side effect of morning sickness, the science is still not clear if marijuana use during pregnancy affects a fetus. The placenta is designed to prevent harmful molecules in the mothers body from coming into contact with the fetus, but its unclear if any components of marijuana are able to break through this barrier. We also don't know if the marijuana components would have any adverse effect on a fetus. Multiple studies provide conflicting results. Most popular: Former CIA Agent Charged for Destroying U.S. Spy Networks in China Dr. James Betoni, DO, a leading board certified high risk maternal fetal medicine and OB/GYN in Boise, ID, and creator of the Pregnancy Power app and workbook previously told Newsweek that numerous factors can potentially contribute to how marijuana may affect a fetus, including how often the mother uses the drug and her overall health. For this reason, Betoni, and other medical experts advise that when in doubt, its best to simply forgo marijuana use during pregnancy. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek White nationalist leaders who featured prominently in the deadly Unite the Right rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August have told Newsweek that they are unlikely to attend a reboot of the event planned for its one-year anniversary. Jason Kessler, one of the organizers of last years rally, applied for a permit for a second event in November 2017, but it was rejected by the city. He has since sued Charlottesville over that denial, blaming officials for the violence that took place, in an effort to get a sequel on its feet. RTS1BICG REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Trending: U.S. Wants to 'Work Together' With North Korea After Meeting Kim Jong Un But its becoming increasingly clear that other white nationalists do not share Kesslers appetite to return to the city to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The first Unite the Right event was costly for the far right, both financially and politically, analysts have noted. The event, which saw members of the Ku Klux Klan and younger, more internet-savvy white nationalists marching side by side, has spawned a myriad of criminal and civil court cases. Many attendees of the rally also lost their jobs or were ostracized by their families after activists and concerned citizens circulated photographs of them online. Others are in jail, or currently awaiting trial. RTX5ZN6I REUTERS/Justin Ide/File Photo Michael Hill, the President of the League of the South, a white nationalist group that brought a large number of black-clad demonstrators to Unite the Right, announced on the far-right podcast Stormfront Action last Friday that we dont have anything to gain by going back to Charlottesville, referring to his group. The statement was the first public declaration from Hill that he would not encourage League of the South members to attend the event. Story continues Following Hills announcement, Richard Spencer, the man often credited with being the face of the white nationalist alt-right movement, and one of the scheduled speakers at the first Charlottesville march, told Newsweek that he also wont likely attend a second event, but declined an opportunity to explain his reasoning. Brad Griffin, a self-described southern nationalist who is a member of League of the South, and runs the influential alt-right website Occidental Dissent, told Newsweek that he was unlikely to attend another Charlottesville rally. Sharing his reasoning, Griffin said he was staying away because he doesnt have any reason to believe [the city] is capable of upholding law and order. RTS1BJWP REUTERS/Joshua Roberts TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Griffin cited the recent convictions of Jacob Scott Goodwin and Alex Michael Ramos in the malicious wounding of DeAndre Harris during last year's rally as being the motivation behind his decision. Harris is black, and the men who attacked himand beat him with blunt objectsmarched with the white nationalists last August. White nationalists including Griffin have argued that Harris struck first in the violence, attacking one of their own. Harris was acquitted of assault charges against him in March. Don't miss: North Korea Nuclear Weapons Test Moved a Mountain, Letting Scientists Track Depth of Site RTS1BIDW REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Other prominent figures in last year's infamous rally have similarly indicated to Newsweek they will be staying away from any repeat. Mike Enoch Peinovich, an alt-right podcaster who was scheduled to speak at the first rally before chaos erupted, said he would not attend another Charlottesville event this August, citing Antifa thugs as the reason. While less well known than Spencer, Peinovich, through his podcast network, reaches thousands of fans on the far-right, and would likely be crucial in Kesslers effort to galvanize another large turnout of white nationalist demonstrators. I have no plans to attend this rally, nor am I involved in any of the planning. I was not involved in the planning of the last event either, just an invited speaker, Peinovich said. After the unfortunate events and the violent attacks we suffered, I am reluctant to return to Charlottesville. I hope the event, if it happens, is peaceful and that Antifa thugs do not disrupt it with violence as they did the last one. Peinovich's pinning of the blame on counterprotesters was shared in part by President Donald Trump in the event's aftermath. Trump was widely criticized for saying that there was "blame on both sides." "What about the 'alt-left' that came charging at, as you say, the 'alt-right,' do they have any semblance of guilt?" Trump asked. "What about the fact they came charging with clubs in hands, swinging clubs, do they have any problem? I think they do." Peinovich told Newsweek that he agreed with Trump, but his statement on Kessler's event ignored the death of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman who was killed when a man that marched with the neo-Nazi group Vanguard America allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. Peinovich is among the white nationalist leaders currently facing a potentially costly lawsuit implicating him in the violence that took place and therefore likely has good reason to want to distance himself from it. Related: Anonymous white nationalists may have their identities exposed by a Charlottesville lawsuit Most popular: 'Anthem' Story Allows for Both Solo and Group Play RTS1C6T0 Tim Dodson/The Cavalier Daily/Handout via REUTERS Other prominent groups on the far-right have fallen into disarray in the months following the much-publicized rally. The neo-Nazi group Traditionalist Worker's Party (TWP), which appeared at last year's Charlottesville rally, was thrown into turmoil after its leader, Matthew Heimbach, was arrested on a domestic violence charge in March. One member of the group, Tony Hovater, told Newsweek that only five members remain. As far as I know there aren't a ton of people planning on going, Hovater said of the planned anniversary rally in Charlottesville. Leadership organizations aren't too keen on going, because of legal issues. I've seen interest from individuals, but I'm not sure on numbers. Other key players in last years Unite the Right event elected not to comment, but are expected not to attend. At the same time as the anniversary, podcaster Christopher Cantwell will likely be standing trial on felony charges for allegedly using tear gas and pepper spray at the first event. RTS1BRMB REUTERS/Justin Ide While he didn't attend the first iteration of Unite the Right, Andrew Anglin, the reclusive editor of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, appeared to call for war in the lead-up to it. Anglin is implicated in a growing number of federal lawsuits due to the content of his website and has stopped promoting white nationalist events altogether in recent months. He spoke on one of Peinovichs podcasts in March and suggested that last years rally had a detrimental impact on white nationalist recruitment. "The way I would frame what's happened to us is that it's like a gigantic premature ejaculation. Where basically the media wanted us to come out and do a show for them, Anglin told Peinovichs audience about the aftermath of the 2017 Charlottesville event. Emily Gorcenski, a Charlottesville resident who participated in the anti-racist counter-demonstration at the first Unite the Right, and was attacked by a member of the nihilistic neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, told Newsweek that she believed Kessler was losing friends and followers by pushing for a replay of the chaotic event. I would be surprised to see this anniversary rally ever take place, she said. Asked for a request for comment, Kessler only bragged that he thought the article would help him win his lawsuit against the city of Charlottesville. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek AIM-listed Totally , which provides a range of out-of-hospital services to the healthcare sector, said on Friday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Vocare has renewed a contract with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust worth around 1.2m a year. Following a competitive tender process to provide a single urgent care service to NHS North Tyneside CCG, Northumbria FT has renewed Vocare's contract for the provision of GP out-of-hours services. The contract, which begins in October, will run for three years with the option of extending a further two years. Chief executive officer Wendy Lawrence said: "We are delighted to be working with Northumbria FT to provide GP out-of-hours services to North Tyneside CCG. The renewal of this contract not only reinforces Vocare's continued ability to provide a high-quality service, but also demonstrates the importance of a collaborative approach with regards to emergency care services across the UK which have been subject to increasing pressure. "This clearly highlights another success under our direction, confirming our continued focus and aim of becoming a partner of choice for the NHS and providing patients across the UK with high-quality care where needed whilst avoiding hospital admissions." At 0955 BST, the shares were down 1.9% to 26.50p. Zoopla and PrimeLocation owner ZPG has agreed to be bought by US private equity firm Silver Lake Management for 490p per share in cash, or 2.2bn. The price represents a 31% premium to the closing price of ZPG on Thursday. ZPG founder and chief executive officer Alex Chesterman said: "Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing and I am firmly of the belief that ZPG will benefit from their technology expertise and global network which will help accelerate our growth. In 2008, we transformed the property portal landscape with the introduction of a highly differentiated proposition providing data and delivering transparency to empower consumers to make smarter property decisions. "Since its IPO in 2014, ZPG has evolved and diversified as we have made significant progress in becoming the platform of choice for consumers and partners engaged in property and household decisions." Chesterman said the terms of the deal represent an attractive premium that recognises the quality of ZPG's businesses and the strength of its future prospects. Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns just under 30% of ZPGs shares, has already given irrevocable undertakings to accept the deal, which it said was consistent with its "strategic priorities of increasing portfolio focus and enhancing financial flexibility". Chief executive Paul Zwillenberg said: "The recommended all cash offer for ZPG promises to deliver a very significant return for DMGT. The sale of our stake, pending shareholder approval at ZPG, fits with our long track record of successfully identifying new opportunities, incubating young businesses and supporting their growth to create value for shareholders." Liberum said the price represents a 24.7x annualised estimated 2018 price to earnings, showing that there are buyers prepared to pay "punchy" multiples for high quality assets. "The question now is whether there is a counter-bid. If there is one, we think the most likely candidate is Axel Springer, which has a collection of online property classified assets throughout assets but nothing in the UK, although - interestingly - they recently took a stake in Purplebricks. "Axel Springer has a market cap of 7.2bn and is on less than 1.5x consensus YE18E net debt/EBITDA. Obviously a big positive on ZPG, which has been our preferred pick in the portals space." David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "When you take into account that ZPGs all-time high share price was 401p - in March 2017, it is clear that Silver Lake is making a generous offer." At 0850 BST, ZPG shares were up 30% to 486.80p. Leaders in the cannabis industry are bracing themselves for what could be another big year for the miracle compound cannabidiol (CBD) and products derived from it. Those who are into the research and development of the cannabis compound are not only pushing for a healthier lifestyle through CBD but also show a willingness to help solve social issues through charity drives and donations. Elixinols donation option One company leading a social movement for CBD industries is Elixinol. The company offers fine hemp products which include CBD oils, tinctures, and balms. As one of the top companies offering CBD products, Elixinol is able to get customers on a regular basis and uses this stream of income to help out charities and organizations like AutismOne, Realm of Caring, The Cancer Cure Foundation, and several others. Customers of Elixinol can donate five percent of the money they spend on a purchase to a partner organization of their choice. By providing customers with the freedom to choose the charity they want to help out, Elixinol is able to encourage its customers into playing a bigger part in their vision to help support charities, non-profit organizations, and other causes. What Elixinol is doing is truly remarkable. As the demand for CBD continues to grow, it goes without saying that the distributors cause-driven business structure will be able to provide more donations for the charities it partners with. This is a clear step towards progress for the CBD industry and companies willing to take part in helping solve social issues from across the globe. PotNetworks partnership with XPO2 kickstarted with charity drive in Manila In a recent press release, PotNetwork Holding, Inc. (OTCMKTS: POTN) announced that Diamond CBD has signed a global affinity marketing agreement with Exponential, Inc. The new affinity marketing agreement will allow Diamond CBD to distribute their top products to XPO2s long-list of retailing partners which include big names such as Walmart, eBay, and Macys. Shortly after the announcement of the new milestone for the CBD distributor, it was then announced in a separate press release, that Diamond CBD has just co-sponsored its first charity drive with the help of XPO2. The charity drive targeted more than a hundred at-risk youth and children in Manila, Philippines. With the help of Diamond CBD, the charity drive was able to donate hundreds of food items and other basic necessities. This is just the first in a series of planned charity events in Southeast Asia and Diamond CBD looks to be a part of these drives as well. Through its partnership with XPO2, Diamond CBD is not only able to reach the shelves of mainstream retailers, it is also able to extend a helping hand to those in need in poor areas in Southeast Asia. As Diamond CBD, Elixinol, and other CBD companies continue to flourish in their sales, the amount they can give back to the nonprofit sector and worthy causes around the world is going to grow as well. These two companies are primary examples of the CBD industrys progressive growth and hopefully, they will inspire other industry leaders to take part in supporting charities and foundations. The recently concluded National Cannabis Industry Associations Seed to Sale Show in Denver, reveals just how interested industry leaders are to incorporate social responsibility, says The Cannabist. Laura Day Rivero; Operation Manager at Yerba Buena, says the cannabis industry will be able to redefine what being a business really should be like through corporate social responsibility. As the global cannabis industry is still maturing, companies that are deep into CBD production have the chance to create a better image for themselves and the industry as a whole, through charitable work. On Tuesday, many celebrated National Siblings Day by posting pictures of their brothers and sisters while giving shout outs in the process. In following with the tradition, Donald Trump Jr. did the same for his siblings. Don Jr. on Siblings Day Since the day Donald Trump announced his campaign to run for president back in June 2015, the world has had his family front and center in the media and in American politics. Following Trump's win over Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States, some members of the first family have been more vocal than others. While daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have worked inside the White House, son Donald Trump Jr. has, along with brother Eric, been in charge with handling the family business. In the process, Don Jr. has been vocal on social media and during Fox News interviews in defense of his father while bashing critics. As seen on his Instagram and Twitter account on April 10, Donald Trump Jr. posted an old photo of himself, brother Eric Trump and sister Ivanka Trump in honor of National Siblings Day. "Happy National Siblings Day everyone. I couldn't be more blessed to have Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump as my siblings along with Tiffany Trump and Barron," Don Jr. wrote. "The looks have changed a bit but the fun together will always be the same," he added. In response, critics of the Trump made sure to hit back on Twitter and across all social media platforms. Twitter reaction After Donald Trump Jr. shared his Instagram post to his Twitter account, the president's children quickly faced criticism. "You probably have more siblings than you know," one tweet read in reference to Donald Trump's reported infidelity. Hows @MrsVanessaTrump and the kids? Divorce coming along ok? What about @TiffanyATrump and #Barron? Not siblings to you I guess. Im sure you have even more than you know. pic.twitter.com/30Okc0Dkcd JoeMed (@joemed3) April 10, 2018 Hopefully you both end up at the same federal prison then :) Gerwulf Mohnke (@GerwulfMohnke) April 10, 2018 Yeah, that's about as much of a blessing as my raging hemorrhoids. G.O.A.T. (@RagingGaytheist) April 10, 2018 "You, your brother, and your sister (while maybe not her) are stupid," a Twitter user wrote. "Start doing push ups for prison Junior!!" a tweet went on to read. "Hey, you are next b*tch. Get ready for the raid," yet another tweet stated in regards to the recent FBI raid of the president's lawyer Michael Cohen. "Hows Mrs. Vanessa Trump and the kids? Divorce coming along OK? What about Tiffany Trump and Barron? Not siblings to you I guess. Im sure you have even more than you know," a tweet wondered. Start doing push ups for prison Junior!! Rob Berringer (@PortSideGuy) April 10, 2018 You, your brother, and your sister (while maybe not her) are stupid. Princess Barbie (@Barbieworld2000) April 10, 2018 You probably have more siblings than you know. Angel Goulet (@AngelGoulet) April 10, 2018 "Yeah, that's about as much of a blessing as my raging hemorrhoids," a social media user wrote. "Hopefully you both end up at the same federal prison then," a follow-up tweet went on to read. The mockery of the Trump family continued as the president sits on an approval rating of just 40 percent. For over a year, Donald Trump has been forced to push back against reports that his presidential campaign had been in cahoots with Russia. In his latest series of tweets, Trump attempted to throw cold water on those claims by publicly calling out the Kremlin. Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart! You shouldnt be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 Trump on Russia Following his shocking upset win over Hillary Clinton in November 2016, it was only a few weeks later when several well-respected news outlets and government agencies came to the conclusion that Russia hacked into the election with the goal of electing Donald Trump. Since then, an offical investigation has been set up to look deeper into the claims, led by former FBI director turned special counsel Robert Mueller. As expected, Trump and his team have denied any wrongdoing, often repeating their defense of "no collusion," while referring to the reports as "fake news." Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 While Donald Trump normally refuses to criticize Russia and President Vladimir Putin, over the last week his message has changed. Following a chemical attack in Syria carried out by the Assad regime, which is backed by Putin, Trump has decided to hit back with tweets on April 11. "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!,'" Trump tweeted. The commander in chief then warned Russian not to be allies with a "Gas Killing Animal" like Assad. Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama. Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 In a follow-up tweet, Donald Trump doubled down on his attack. "Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War," Trump tweeted, before suggesting that the Kremlin "stop the arms race" so that the two countries could work together. Trump on Mueller probe In a third tweet, Donald Trump elaborated on the current Robert Mueller investigation into Russian meddling,calling it "Fake and Corrupt" and a political attack led by "Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama," Trump tweeted. "Mueller is most conflicted of all," the president added, before repeating that there is "no collusion." Twitter reacts After Donald Trump's threat to Russia, critics of the president decided to chime in. "Can someone put him in a diaper and spank him until he calms down?" one tweet read. The president of one of the worlds greatest superpowers trolling threats at another world leader on twitter .... seriously, wtf?? I feel sorry for the USA. We may be tiny, but at least we have some dignity. Moggy (@moggsmillion) April 11, 2018 Can someone put him in a diaper and spank him until he calms down? Alt Vice President Mike Pence #Resists (@PenceConscience) April 11, 2018 You've not been taking your medication have you Donny? Andy Williams (@cheltandy) April 11, 2018 "The president of one of the worlds greatest superpowers trolling threats at another world leader on Twitter .... seriously, wtf?? I feel sorry for the USA. We may be tiny, but at least we have some dignity," a Twitter user wrote. "Why is 'smart' in quotation marks?" a tweet wondered. Says the orange buffoon who wants to strip health care away from millions of people. Its just a slower mass murder. Ass. WilcoMeThat (@WilcoMeThat) April 11, 2018 What happened to your complaints about a president tipping the enemy off to our military moves before we make them? This is twice this month youve done that. Twisted Mic (@twistedmic24) April 11, 2018 Why is "smart" in quotation marks? J (@bamcraft1) April 11, 2018 "What happened to your complaints about a president tipping the enemy off to our military moves before we make them? This is twice this month youve done that," a social media user wrote. "Says the orange buffoon who wants to strip health care away from millions of people. Its just a slower mass murder. A**," a follow-up tweet went on to read. Rarely does Netflix, the well-known live streaming service, enter into contemporary American politics. However, in the aftermath of the West Virginia Republican primaries, a graphic for Narcos, a program on Netflix about drug traffickers, was used to taunt one of the losers. Social media was, naturally, appalled. Blankenships strange candidacy The matter started when one of the GOP candidates for the United States Senate, businessman and convicted criminal Don Blankenship referred to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as Cocaine Mitch, according to USA Today. The jibe stemmed from an incident in which a ship belonging to a company founded by McConnells father-in-law was found to have, tucked away in its cargo, 90 pounds of cocaine. No evidence existed that the company was aware that one of their ships was being used for drug smuggling. Certainly, no one seriously thinks that the Senate Majority Leader was in on the scheme. National Republicans were scared to death of Blankenship. He spent a year in jail for a safety violation at one of his coal mines that resulted in numerous deaths. Blankenship blamed the Obama administration for his legal woes. He was given to saying off-putting things, including racist references to Ms. McConnells Chinese heritage. The fear was that if Blankenship were to win he would be a disaster in the general election and would cede to seat to the incumbent Democrat. Cocaine Mitch was amused McConnell, it is said, was vastly amused at his nickname, answering his phone as, Cocaine Mitch. He also quietly moved to fund a campaign to deny Blankenship a primary win. The effort was successful and the convicted businessman came in a distant third. McConnell decided to twist the knife a little by taking a graphic from the Netflix series Narcos and photoshopping his head in the place of the actor who plays Pablo Escobar. The effect showed the Majority Leader in a cloud of cocaine powder. The reaction on social media was sharp and to the point. The official Twitter account of Narcos had a caustic response. Other reactions ranged from sentiments that the McConnell tweet was the funniest to appear in a long time, to accusations that the Senate leader was being insensitive about the opioid epidemic, which has hit West Virginia particularly hard. In any case, Narcos has gotten some oblique publicity and another chapter in political humor has been written. Carving a sculpture of Donald Trump's face into an Arctic glacier will be quite the massive undertaking starting with the almost $500,000 needed to do this. Once Trump's face is all done up in ice, this gigantic sculpture will start to melt... to prove a point. A nonprofit group out of Finland is spearheading this project, which is not only a huge endeavor but an icy cold one as well. Trump does not buy into global warming but if his face is sculpted into an artic glacier this may change his mind. Once his face starts to melt, which will offer up some proof that the climate is changing, he might see it differently. At least this is the hope behind the project, according to SNews. Ice not rock The plans are to fashion the sculpture of Trump after the Mount Rushmore president's busts, which is where the project's name comes in, "Trumpmore." Unlike the sculptures of Trump's predecessors, which are carved in stone, Trump's face will come to life with ice, ice that is expected to melt over time. The morphing frozen face? This means once the ice sculpture is done, Trump's image will start morphing due to melting and his face will change due to the global warming, or at least this is what is expected to happen. The thought behind this is that people will only believe that global warming is happening now if they can see it. Melting the image of Trump's face and livestreaming the process will be a global demonstration that the group hopes will help with changing the minds of naysayers. The Chairman of Melting Ice, Nicholas Prieto, suggests: "Often people only believe something when they see it with their own eyes." Not a fan of global warming theory Trump, who has gone as far as repealing the Clean Power Plane and bowing out of the Paris Climate Agreement, has stated a few times that climate change is fake. The Melting Ice folks are attempting to change his mind with this huge project that will melt his face or the likeness of it carved into the ice that is melting due to climate change. The group has turned to crowdsourcing to fund this project, which is projected to cost somewhere around $500,000. They are scouring the sea in the Arctic looking for that perfect glacier that is showing the signs of global warming. Once that is found and the money is collected, an image of Donald Trump will be carved out of that ice and left to melt over time. Grab the popcorn and settle in for a while Not only will the group livestream the head of Trump made out of ice so the world can watch as it melts, but they will also livestream the construction of the sculpture of Trump's face or Trumpmore. So just how big will Trump's face become? The group is planning on matching the size of Mount Rushmore's presidents' sculptures with Trump's face measuring 115-feet tall and 65-feet wide. Once done, they can sit back and watch the drip, drip, drip of Trump's melting face, to prove a point that is. The latest updates and spoilers for 'Avengers 4' reveal the potential appearance of the Skrull alien race in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Skrulls have been rumored to be included in the MCU since the announcement of the live-action "Captain Marvel" movie at last year's San Diego Comic-Con and they will likely make a return in the fourth film. "Iron Man" movie star Gwyneth Paltrow revealed a potential game-changer in the relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in the movie. Twitter username ashley, posted a snippet of an article from Titan Magazine revealing that Tony and Pepper will have a child in the movie. so i found this infinity war magazine today that had interviews with the cast and excuse me gwyneth but pepper and tony dont have a child?????? pic.twitter.com/3wspv5fsb7 ashley (@ashley__renae) May 3, 2018 The Skrulls are coming? According to MCU Cosmic, Captain Marvel returns to earth after former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury sends a signal to her during the end-credits scene from "Avengers: Infinity War." Carol deduced that the Skrulls have returned to earth not knowing that Thanos has invaded the planet for the Infinity Stones. The rumors also suggest that Hawkeye has been hunting the Skrulls in Tokyo, Japan disguising themselves as Yakuza members. Clint Barton in the movie will drop the "Hawkeye" alias and goes by the name Ronin. The Skrulls will be the main antagonists in the "Captain Marvel" movie as Marvel Studios revealed concept artwork at the SDCC 2017 event. In the Marvel comics, the Skrulls are an alien race of reptilian shapeshifters who invade planets. They are the rival faction of the Kree empire and they have waged war on them for centuries. The "Captain Marvel" film will likely introduce them to the audiences since Carol is caught between their war and the Kree needed a powerful soldier to tip the scales of the conflict in their favor. Tony and Pepper have a child? According to Screenrant, Gwyneth Paltrow stated in the Titan article piece that Pepper will give birth to a child with Tony in the MCU. This presents a new chapter in the already complicated life of Tony and his relationship with his father, Howard. While this is unknown if Tony and Pepper's child will appear in "Avengers 4,' there are also hints that Wanda Maximoff and Vision will have twin children in the movie. For now, the fourth film is now being developed and the directors Anthony and Joe Russo teased its possible official title. The sequel will take place after "Infinity War" as the remaining heroes must stop Thanos and save the universe after he completed his gauntlet and annihilated haft of its population. Just hours after midnight on the East Coast, Donald Trump met with the three American citizens who were released from a North Korean prison earlier this week. While the White House was quick to use the news as a positive for the president, not everyone was impressed, including veteran actor and noted Trump critic Alec Baldwin. Trumps negotiations in Korea are unprecedented? But, Reagan/Bush connections in the CIA manipulated Iran hostage release 2 impact Carters re-election. Theres a deeply suspicious motive in nearly all US foreign policy. Kim Jong Un got $, lots of US $, to release those hostages. ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) May 10, 2018 Baldwin on Trump It was made offical earlier this week that three United States citizens that have been imprisoned in North Korea would be released. The news comes after North and South Korea appeared to take major steps in getting on the same page, with Donald Trump also planning to meet with Kim Jong-un next month. The three men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, arrived safety at Joint Base Andrews Base in Prince George's County, Maryland around 3 a.m. on Thursday morning. Donald Trump was there to greet them as the media snapped pictures as the men walked off the plane. In the hours since the release, the Trump administration have used it as an example of a potential deal being reached between the president and Kim of North Korea. A plane carrying three U.S. prisoners released by North Korea lands near Washington https://t.co/lhPq72TgCx pic.twitter.com/NAOz0Huxwf Reuters Top News (@Reuters) May 10, 2018 While the release of American citizens from North Korea back to the United States has been universally viewed as a positive, others are skeptical of Donald Trump. In a tweet sent out on May 10, "Saturday Night Live" actor Alec Baldwin questioned Trump and the release of the prisoners. "Trumps negotiations in Korea are unprecedented?" Baldwin asked. "But, Reagan/Bush connections in the CIA manipulated Iran hostage release 2 impact Carters re-election," he pointed out. Not stopping there, Alec Baldwin then wondered what was behind the release of the prisoners from North Korea, while pondering if there was financial compensation exchanged that has not been made public. "Theres a deeply suspicious motive in nearly all US foreign policy," Baldwin added in his tweet, while concluding, "Kim Jong Un got $, lots of US $, to release those hostages." Next up While Alec Baldwin is showing no signs of holding back his continued criticism of Donald Trump, both on social media and in front of the "Saturday Night Live" cameras, the White House has a wide-range of more pressing issues to worry about. As the Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen scandal remains a headline in the news, the Russian investigation is only heating up, with domestic and foreign policy questions still remaining unanswered all leading to Trump's big meeting with Kim Jong-un set for next month in Singapore. Chelsea Houska and Adam Lind have been feuding over the custody of their daughter, eight-year-old Aubree, for the past few years and months ago, he was ordered to spend time with his daughter only under supervision at one of South Dakota's designated visitation centers. However, months later, fans grew concerned after learning Lind had been spending time with Aubree at her elementary school. On his Snapchat account, Lind shared an image of his visit with Aubree, along with the caption, "School lunch," and a heart emoji. A short time later, "Teen Mom 2" fans, who have been kept in the loop regarding Lind's alleged struggles with drugs in recent years, tweeted to Houska to make sure she was aware that Lind had been at Aubree's school. Is Adam Lind allowed to spend time with Aubree at her school? In response to her concerned fans and followers, Chelsea Houska released a statement, confirming that she and Adam Lind are currently working to actually allow Lind to visit Aubree at school for one lunch per week. As she explained, Lind is able to attend concerts and other school events if he choses to but his recent visit with Aurbee was the first time he's exercised that right. "I appreciate you guys looking out for me and my girly though," she wrote. Lind was placed on supervised visits in January after being arrested at least twice and having a restraining order taken out against him by his ex-girlfriend, Stasia Huber. As fans may recall, Lind and Huber dated for a few years and were engaged to be married before splitting last year. Also during his court appearance in Lincoln County, it was revealed that Lind's parents would be able to have one weekend each month with Aubree. However, during the Friday to Sunday visit, Lind would not be able to see his child. Adam Lind violated his custody agreement in April During Easter of this year, months after the new agreement was put into place, Adam Lind violated the agreement by spending time with Aubree at his parents' home. After learning of the visit, Houska was said to be livid, and, according to a Radar Online report, she actually emailed her lawyer about the incident in hopes of taking steps against Lind and his behavior. She also reportedly decided that she would no longer allow Lind's parents to have extra time with her child. "These grandparents haven't learned a da** thing. Can definitely tell where Adam gets the law and rules don't apply to him attitude!" a source said at the time. Netflix just dropped a trailer for the next season of Arrested Development. The new season and trailer are a drive down memory lane. The trailer is full of callbacks from some of the best moments of the original run of the hit series. "Arrested Developments" Tobias is back and is seen with smudges of Blue Man Group style paint. George Michael even brings out his fake muscle suit. While season four did not go over well with some fans and viewers, Netflix appears to be attempting to draw viewers back in with subtle winks at past episodes from the original run. Tobias is back working on improving his acting chops. This time he is attempting to portraying Michael. Like normal, Michael is once again threatening to leave the family for good. Also, Buster is back with a new robotic hand. The one person that is missing from the chaos of the Bluth family drama is Lucille 2. 'Arrested Development' new season draws from original series Season five appears to be getting back into the dysfunctional family antics that made the original three seasons so popular. The new season is also turning the focus towards politics. Lindsey is running for Congress and the Bluth family is attempting to become Family of the Year. Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz told Junkee that this season was partially inspired by the rise of Donald Trump. The new season is set to be released on May 29, less than a month away. Despite sexual harassment allegations, Jeffrey Tambor is back for another season. Jeffrey Tambor told The Hollywood Reporter that despite his firing from Transparent, he still was welcomed and had a job with Arrested Development. The cast of Arrested Development have also spoken out in support of Tambor. Season 4 'Arrested Development' being re-released Netflix recently ordered season four in chronological order and also delivered a re-edited version. Hurwitz later told the public that he had to reshuffle the original season four into the standard 22-episode season. The hit show originally ran on Fox from 2003 to 2006 and ended up being canceled because of low ratings. The streaming giant later revived the show and released the fourth season in 2013. Time will tell whether this new season will be as good as the original series, but many die-hard fans of the show will love the subtle winks of previous season jokes and funny moments. Season 5 will definitely continue to the beloved Bluth family drama, but how far will it go this time. Fresh from its Women Make History screening at the 22nd COLCOA French Film Festival in Hollywood last month arrives in select theaters, The Guardians. Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Xavier Beauvois (Of Gods and Men), The Guardians examines World War I from a different lens that of the women left to guard the home front. Set in the French countryside, the film follows the women of the Paridier Farm as they learn to successfully grow and harvest crops while investing in the future, which was once solely the domain of the men. Acclaimed actresses shine as The Guardians French cinemas renowned Nathalie Baye (Truffauts Day For Night, The Return of Martin Guerre) stars as the family matriarch, Hortense. Disciplined, intelligent, and hardworking, Hortense along with her daughter, Solange (Laura Smet, Bayes real-life daughter) manage their large family farm as both Hortenses two sons and son-in-law are fighting the Germans on the French front. Since able-bodied men have all been called to war, Hortense hires extra help in terms of teenage orphan Francine (newcomer Iris Bry). Hard working, friendly, and equally disciplined, Francine is dedicated to her tasks and her new family. Appreciating such a strong work ethic, Hortense keeps Francine employed long after the harvest. Francine herself shines via her meaningful work as one of the guardians of the land. Soon the youngest of Hortenses son, Georges (Cyril Descours), home on leave, takes notice of his mothers new employee. Life goes on even during the Great War for The Guardians Happiness, loneliness, misconstrued actions, and revenge dramatically play out for each of the three women. Although they will weather the waning days of the Great War, nothing will ever be the same for the women or men who return with broken bodies or spirits. But Francine, perhaps the most resilient of all, carries on with the life she has been dealt, and at times, even with a smile on her face. The Guardians a festival and award favorite Having a strong run on the film festival circuit (COLCOA, Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London), The Guardians has also been honored in its home country with four Cesar Award nominations (Frances equivalent of Oscar). The nominations were for Best New Actress (Iris Bry), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematographer for Caroline Champetiers gorgeous yet naturalist work, and Best Costumes. As The Guardians unspools in the US, cinema enthusiasts would do well to put this film on their viewing schedule. The Guardians is 134 minutes, Rated R and with English subtitles. Terror struck a rural property near Margaret River in Western Australia. A family of seven was found dead early Friday (May 11) morning by Australian police. It is being hailed as Australias worst mass shooting in 22 years. Police dispatched to a property owned under the names of Cynda and Peter Miles in Osmington, Australia, right outside of Margaret River, which is a well-known tourist town. When the police arrived at the residence, they discovered the bodies of three adults and four children. The childrens bodies were discovered with their mother and grandparents. Police received a phone call before dawn about a shooting, and when they arrived they found the bodies of the slain victims and two guns on the property. Police have not released information regarding who made the phone call. According to NBC News, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson has not raised an alert for public safety, suggesting that the shooter is not at large. The victims were the mother, Katrina Miles, and her four children, along with Katrinas parents, Cynda and Peter Miles. According to police, two adults were found outside of the property and the other five bodies were discovered inside the home. The murders and the motive It is unclear what the exact motive was behind the mass shooting that sent shockwaves through the Australian community. Police have not made a direct statement regarding the shooter and his or her motives. According to The Guardian, the rural property was owned by Katrina Miles parents, and she moved in with her children about three years ago. In a report made by the Australian, Katrina Miles made a noteworthy Facebook entry stating, My ex does not stop stalking me. Neighbors described Cynda Miles being extremely active in the community and participating in several local events and organizations. A family friend stated that the children were homeschooled for they were diagnosed with Autism, The New York Times reports. The call about the murders came in at 5:15 AM on Friday (May 11). Commissioner Dawson described the murder as a horrific incident. It is unclear the motive behind the murders and police are still looking into the case. The worst mass shooting since 1996 Australia has often been praised for their lack of gun violence. Former United States President Barack Obama often used Australias strict and well-regulated gun control laws as an example as an outline for American gun control laws. Though, according to The Guardian, this is Australias worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996. In 1996, Martin Bryant entered a cafe at Port Arthur, Tasmania, where the 28-year-old ate lunch before pulling a semi-automatic rifle. Bryants rifle rained bullets upon innocent bystanders during his killing spree, leaving 35 people dead and 25 people wounded. One killing spree was enough to change Australian gun laws forever. The National Firearms Agreement outlaws all of the semi-automatic weapons and pump-action guns. Those who had these types of firearms were ordered by the government to hand them over. Though, the legislation did not ban all guns from use. France has slammed an unacceptable the US move to re-impose sanctions on companies trading with Iran following President Donald Trumps decision to dump the landmark 2015 deal that sought to curb Tehrans nuclear programme. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with Le Parisien published on Thursday, said European companies should not have to pay for the US decision. We feel that the extraterritoriality of their sanction measures are unacceptable. The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal from an agreement by the US, to which they had themselves contributed. Le Drian said the new sanctions regime would also affect the US and that Europeans would put in place the necessary measures to protect the interests of our companies and start negotiations with Washington on the matter. The commitment of other partners to the Iran deal should be respected, said Le Drian, adding that the effects of the US move were already being felt in rising oil costs and an increase in political uncertainty in the Middle East. France, Britain and Germany had all said they will work with Iran to try to salvage the agreement. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he would work with affected companies to try to minimise the negative consequences of the US move, adding: That means, it is concretely about damage limitation. A number of French firms have have signed billion dollar agreements with Iran since the nuclear accord was signed in 2015. They include Airbus, the oil giant Total and the car makers Renault and Peugeot, the BBC reported. They would have to wind up investments by November or face US sanctions. On Thursday, US individuals and entities were barred from doing business with six Iranian individuals and three companies that Washington said had ties to the Revolutionary Guards. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the penalties targeted those who had funnelled millions of dollars to the group, funding its malign activity. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday accorded a 21 gun salute and a guard of honour here on Friday. During a ceremonial function at the Nepal Army Pavilion, the Indian leader who is on two-day visit to the Himalayan country, then inspected the parade along with his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. Modi also held a discussion with Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali about areas of mutual interest. He is scheduled to meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandrai and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Later, Modi and Oli will hold one-on-one talks followed by the delegation level talks. Irans Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh has said that the US exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will not affect the oil industry, state TV reported on Friday. Iran had been able to safeguard its oil industry against such threats over the past few years, Zangeneh was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. I believe Americas withdrawal from the deal would lead to no significant impacts with regards to Irans exports of oil, Zangeneh added. Irans revenues from the oil and gas would be maintained as envisaged in the national budget bill, he said. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump dumped the international Iranian nuclear deal, saying that Washington will not extend the waiver for the unilateral sanctions against Tehran. Trump said that he will re-impose even stronger sanctions against Tehran to make the Islamic republic sit at the negotiation table for changes of flaws in the deal. The sanctions would include a ban over Irans oil exports as well as restrictions on investments in the countrys energy sector. Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other. Its Wet shave products are sold under the Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Edge, Skintimate, Shave Guard and Personna brand names. Its Sun and Skin Care products are sold under the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones and Playtex brand names and offers Wet Ones, portable hand wipes category, and Playtex household gloves, the branded household glove in the United States. Its Feminine Care segment markets its products under the Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree and o.b. brands and markets pads and liners. Its All Other segment includes infant care, pet care and miscellaneous other products. Read More Centrica plc operates as an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, North America, and internationally. The company operates through British Gas, Energy Marketing & Trading, Centrica Business Solutions, Bord GAis Energy, and Upstream segments. It supplies gas and electricity to residential customers, as well as offers energy-related services; and generates power from combined cycle gas turbines and 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 incorporated in 1995 and is based in Windsor, the United Kingdom. Read More Greg Grandin in The Nation: I am glad youve read the Heart of D. tho of course its an awful fudge, Joseph Conrad wrote to Roger Casement in late 1903. Casement, an Irish diplomat working for the British Foreign Office, had just returned to London from Belgiums African colony, the Congo Free State, and was about to submit a report to Parliament detailing the existence of a vast system of slavery used to extract ivory and rubber. Looking to draw public attention to the atrocities, Casement traveled to the authors home outside London to attempt to recruit him into the Congo Reform Association. Conrad was sympathetic: Africa, he told Casement, shared with Europe the consciousness of the universe in which we live, and it had been difficult for him to learn that the horrors he witnessed on his 1890 trip up the Congo River had only gotten worse. But he resisted playing the part of an on-the-spot authority and begged off joining Casements association. I would help him but it is not in me, Conrad later explained to a friend. I am only a wretched novelist inventing wretched stories and not even up to that miserable game. More here. Homicide detectives started their second investigation of the day Thursday afternoon after responding to a fatal shooting in a neighborhood near Broadway and Avenida Cesar Chavez SE, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. Simon Drobik said valley area command officers were called to a report of shots fired on the 300 block of Wheeler SE. Upon the officers arrival, an un-responsive male subject was found with a gunshot wound, he said. The male subject was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Drobik said detectives interviewed several witnesses at the scene. He did not identify the victim or say if anyone is in custody. Earlier in the day, detectives were called to a suspicious death across town after a woman was found dead on Western Skies, south of Central. APD has not released any information on how she died or whether there are any suspects in the case. The deaths make four homicides this week, and a reported 31 since the beginning of the year. Last year at this time APD had reported 19 homicides. On Monday, a man was found dead in a vehicle on Charleston and Zuni. Police have not said how he died. On Tuesday, a man was shot and killed on Madeira and Anderson SE. Richard Robinson, 73, is being sought in his death. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal A former Albuquerque Public Schools employee has filed a whistleblower complaint against APS, saying he was fired after alerting the district to employees dumping chemicals into a drainage ditch near the University of New Mexicos sports arena, the Pit. In a lawsuit filed in state District Court last week, Antonio Montano alleges the district fired him after he refused to dump chemicals in the ditch, told his supervisors and APS human resources about the issue and went to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Throughout Montanos time working in groundskeeping at APS, Montano saw APS maintenance employees continuously dump harmful pesticides in the arroyo on the south side of the APS Maintenance and Operation grounds near the University of New Mexicos Dreamstyle Arena, known as the Pit, the complaint says. Montano says in his complaint that he learned how to properly dispose of pesticide chemicals in a continuing education class. He was aiming to be a supervisor and took the classes to get the necessary licenses to make that happen. But he never reached the supervisor level. Nonhazardous pesticide waste must be disposed of in an approved sanitary landfill, and hazardous pesticides must be disposed of in a permitted site or designated area under supervision, according to New Mexico Administrative Code. There were no details in the court filing on the type of pesticides APS was using. The dumping of pesticides in this arroyo poses a safety threat to Albuquerque and the environment, the lawsuit said. APS spokeswoman Johanna King declined to comment, saying the district does not discuss pending litigation. Montano had been working as an exterior pest control staffer at APS for about nine years, according to the complaint. He claims his supervisor instructed him multiple times to dump pesticide chemicals into the arroyo near the Pit something the lawsuit claims was a common practice for APS maintenance staff. The New Mexico Department of Agriculture visited the site after Montano reported the issue to the department, but the illegal dumping continued, according to the document. A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture said the department couldnt comment on the visit. The complaint says that after Montano refused to dump the chemicals in an unauthorized area, APS began a bizarrely intrusive and expansive investigation into Montano. Montanos supervisor received anonymous tips that Montano was skipping work and not adequately doing his job, according to the court documents. According to the complaint, APS later accused him of using drugs and alcohol and put him on administrative leave. But the document says he passed drug and alcohol tests. A previous performance evaluation rated Montano as being a good worker with good attendance. Montano claims he was fired in June 2016 with no warning or discussion from supervisors regarding any dissatisfaction with his work. Montanos lawyer, Kate Ferlic, said the two decided to file now after having tried to work with the district. We have tried to work with APS to help change policy and resolve Mr. Montanos concerns. However, APS left him with only one option to seek protection of the Court, she wrote in an email to the Journal. A former charter school teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony charges connected to what the District Attorneys Office described as an ongoing relationship with 17-year-old student in 2015. Carlos Romero, 33, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor during a brief hearing before state District Judge Briana Zamora. A spokesman for the District Attorneys Office said Romero, then a teacher at the Public Academy for Performing Arts, had an ongoing relationship with a student who attended the academy. Romero admitted Thursday that he provided alcohol to the girl and inappropriately touched her at his home in February 2015 before she turned 18. There were several, I guess, meetings at his house from early 2015 through May 2015, DAs Office spokesman Michael Patrick said. When the student turned 18, the two had what was described by both parties as consensual intercourse, but in the state of New Mexico, between a student and a teacher, thats not consensual. Albuquerque police began to investigate the case after they were contacted in May 2015 by the school principal who, Patrick said, found extremely suggestive and detailed notes and drawings in Romeros desk drawer and contacted investigators. I would think that theres enough here that anyone would definitely want to alert authorities, Patrick said as he looked through the drawings. Patrick said Romero was placed on administrative leave. Its not clear how long he worked at the academy, which is an Albuquerque Public Schools charter school, and school officials did not return a call seeking comment Thursday afternoon. Romeros attorney Todd Hotchkiss said his client has not worked as a teacher since then, and he immediately relinquished his teachers certificate. At his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for late next month, he faces up to three years in prison and could be required to register as a sex offender. The plea was arranged before the case was officially charged, Patrick said, in part because the teen was hesitant to participate in a trial. Police are looking for a 73-year-old suspect after they say he gunned down another man outside a southeast Albuquerque apartment complex on Tuesday night. According to an arrest warrant filed in Metropolitan Court, Richard Robinson is wanted in connection with the slaying of 58-year-old Chris Michens. Officers were dispatched to a shooting at an apartment complex around 9 p.m. on the 1100 block of Madeira SE, where police say they found Michens on the sidewalk with a gunshot to the head. Michens was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A witness told police she saw Robinson talking with another man in front of the complex before Michens walked up to the two men. Police say the woman heard Robinson yell, I know you dont like me, mother (expletive), before aiming a pistol at Michens. The witness told police she heard two gunshots, Michens fell to the ground, while Robinson and the other man ran into the complex. Police say they didnt find Robinson in his apartment, but did find seven guns along with an abundance of ammunition. As of the writing of this Robinson has not been located, an officer wrote. Police say there is a high probability that Robinson is armed. Among the metro areas top male high school athletes, Volcano Vistas Jericho Cleveland was one of the last to commit to a college. But on Thursday, the Hawks stellar distance runner made a verbal commitment to national power Colorado, and expects to sign his national letter of intent perhaps as early as today. Cleveland will be one of the featured athletes at this weekends Class 6A state meet which begins today at the University of New Mexico. He has had a terrific spring at the 1,600-meter distance, putting up some of the best outdoor times in the country, especially at meets in Arizona and California. He will run the 1,600 and 3,200 this weekend at state. The 1,600 is today, the 3,200 is Saturday. He also is expected to run the 800 on Saturday and attempt the rare distance triple. Cleveland also is one of the states elite cross country runners. I have a warm spot in my heart for down-home hole-in-the-wall cafes that serve up basic, satisfying food that can carry you through your day. That coronary spot was tickled when I walked into Felipes Tacos, situated in a shopping plaza off Llano Street by St. Michaels Drive. Red and white checkered oilcloth covers the tables. A large red cooler holding drinks is decorated with Coca Cola images. Calendars with the businesss name and old-fashioned images hang on the wall behind the register. In an adjoining space, T-shirts are for sale. Broad-brimmed sombreros hang on the walls. The whole place looks like a bodega that was crammed into your tias kitchen. And this retro vibe is no product of a hip designer. No, you get the feeling this place has looked that way ever since it was a hatchling. Its authentic and gets the job done, just like its food. The tacos headlined in the cafes name are small, so prepare to order up at least three, maybe more, if youre looking for a full meal. I was in the market for a light meal when I put in my order, so I just got one al pastor ($1.90) and another with fish ($2.75). You can order the tacos Mexican (with onions and cilantro) or American (with tomatoes and lettuce). I opted for Mexican and the onions were a tad harsh, but the plentiful cilantro countered with a green freshness. I ordered the heaping tacos to go, which may have contributed to the limpness of the corn tortillas by the time I pulled them out of their wrapping. It was a complete mess to try to lift them and eat them by hand, but no matter. The pork, marinated in a red chile sauce, came in chunks just big enough to chew and with just enough heat to satisfy. The fish was breaded I prefer it grilled and just a little dry, but it was all right. With each order, you get a choice of salsas. With the tacos, I ordered tomatillo, which was bright and hot a little too hot for my gringo taste. With other orders, I chose pico de gallo, which had just the right amount of heat and veggie freshness. On another visit, I tried the Burrito Grande with pork ($8.50). The hefty handful (I cut it in half and saved the rest for another meal) also contained beans, cheese, lettuce, rice and avocado. The rice was a surprise. While its often included on the plate in a Mexican-style meal, I havent before found it wrapped up in a tortilla as part of a burrito. It contributed to a somewhat mushy texture, which I usually dont like. In this case, though, it evoked a comfort food feel and flavor that filled my mouth and belly. Besides, rice and beans combined create a complete protein, so you can get the nutrition you need without even adding the meat. Thats something I learned years ago during a visit to Costa Rica, where almost every meal seemed to include a mound of black beans and rice. My final sampling at Felipes Tacos was a quesadilla con pollo ($6.95). Small chunks of chicken were spread generously throughout the plate-sized tortilla, held in place with an equally generous portion of mild melted cheese. A side of guacamole was available to top off each mouthful, if desired. I generally favor a somewhat toastier quesadilla, in which the tortilla is slightly crisp. And I would prefer a greater variety of ingredients, with some type of vegetables or onions scattered in with the meat and cheese. But it was satisfying, if a little salty. Again, I saved a portion for later consumption. This isnt the type of place you go for fine dining, but its someplace where you can fill your belly for a decent price. It feels both timeless and authentic. I didnt go at a time when I would run into them, but a friend tells me that students from Santa Fe High just down the street often flock there. Or at least they used to. Makes sense. And you can even buy a T-shirt or calendar for a souvenir. Felipes Tacos also offers catering, in case you want to throw a party. State Police is investigating a Rio Arriba County Sheriffs Office deputy-involved shooting, injuring a Madrid man who police say started driving toward two officers following a car chase. The shooting occurred around 10 a.m. Thursday along N.M. 76 near Chimayo. Rio Arriba Sheriffs Office Capt. Randy Sanches told the Journal that the incident happened in Santa Fe County just west of the Rio Arriba County line. State Police wrote in a tweet announcing its investigation that the man, later identified in a Sheriffs Office news release as 54-year-old Brian Dorais, is expected to survive. According to Sanches, a Sheriffs Office deputy responded to a suspicious person call earlier that morning in Dixon. As the deputy exited his car, Dorais fled in his vehicle. Sanches said the suspect struck the deputys patrol car before leading him on a pursuit toward Taos County that turned around southbound on N.M. 76 back into Rio Arriba County. Another deputy deployed spike strips near Truchas, according to Sanches, but that didnt stop him. The guy was riding on two tires and two rims still refusing to stop, he said. About 10 miles after his tires were blown out, Dorais drove into a residential driveway located between mile marker 5 and 6. He fled again when the deputies approached and crashed into an adjacent driveway. Before ending up in the second driveway, Sanches said the suspect drove through the first residences fence and yard and hit a dog house with a dog chained to it. The female homeowner was outside feeding her dog at the time, he said, and both were uninjured. Thats how close this was to being really tragic. Had it been a little more to the left, little bit more to the right, this could be a really different story, said Sanches. Dorais is being charged with one count of aggravated fleeing and four counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. New Mexico State Police officers arrived and trying to barricade Dorais in the second driveway, and the two Sheriffs Office deputies approached on foot. According to Sanches, the closest deputy fired one shot through the windshield after Dorais accelerated and pointed his wheels toward the deputies. He noted the homeowner was still behind the deputies in the yard when Dorais started moving toward them. Hes using his vehicle as a weapon, Sanches said of the incident. He added that Dorais immediately ran from his vehicle following the shot and was caught by police soon after. It is unknown why Dorais, who was taken to Presbyterian Espanola Hospital, allegedly fled from the deputy. The officer, who Sanches said he couldnt identify, has been put on standard administrative leave. Rio Arriba County Sheriffs Office will be conducting its own review alongside the State Police investigation. I dont have any reason to believe this wasnt justified at this point, said Sanches. Santa Fe gave the idea of establishing a public bank a shot. But a task force set up by City Hall has determined that startup costs, and daunting legal and regulatory obstacles would be too much to overcome. If limited to the city of Santa Fes financial assets, the possible benefits that a public bank might generate are at best marginal and at worst would carry risk of non-viability because of the relatively small scale of the citys financial means, reads a key task force conclusion. Not to be too harsh here, but the idea that Santa Fe wasnt big enough to pull off a public bank by itself seemed fairly obvious from the beginning, even to those of us who barely know how to keep enough in a checking account to cover debit card charges. Former Mayor Javier Gonzales and supporters, in the wake of the financial disasters that caused the Great Recession, made good arguments for cutting out the middleman when it comes to investing city money and making sure its used locally instead of being part of the portfolio of big banks whose goals and investment strategies might not match Santa Fes. A public bank, it was said, would also be more likely to support and finance local small businesses and community projects. And then theres the scandal that has engulfed Wells Fargo the citys bank for years now over fraudulently sticking it to its own customers by signing them up for accounts and financial services they never agreed to. There was support on the City Council for dumping Wells Fargo when the banking contract came up for renewal last year, but the megabank with the sullied reputation was the only bidder with the wherewithal to handle the citys money. The push for a public bank in Santa Fe was impressive. A community group, Banking on New Mexico, established a website that is better than most newspapers to promote the idea and provide information. A symposium with international representation was held in 2014. The website includes endorsements from many Santa Feans, including one who became mayor in March. Santa Fe and New Mexico are in serious trouble losing jobs, losing opportunities, losing people, losing opportunities for a better future, says the endorsement statement from Alan Webber. Its the kind of crisis that reminds me of 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt stepped into the White House in a time of dire national economic danger and began to try things, to experiment, to think differently. Thats what we need to do! We need to have the courage to try a public bank for Santa Fe, to support our own small and medium-size businesses, to jump start jobs and economic activity in our own community. Doing nothing is not an option. Working together is the way to find our way forward. A public bank may seem like a radical idea. But Exhibit A for advocates for public banking comes from the non-radical upper Midwest the Bank of North Dakota, started in 1919 and still the countrys only public bank. The Bank of North Dakota describes itself as working with private financial institutions, not as a competitor. It does makes cheap loans to students, farmers, businesses and home-buyers. As of 2017, the Bank of North Dakota had assets of $7 billion with net earnings of $145 million. Over a decade through 2014, it returned $300 million to North Dakotas general fund. The city also heard from an expert from Germany, who described how small, public, community banks have long been part of the country with Europes largest economy. Local bankers remember, Santa Fe already has hometown community banks that are viable alternatives to the national giants question what problems a public bank would solve. Would a Santa Fe public bank, responsible for stewardship of public money, really take on more risk for small loans than local community banks already do? And New Mexico has agencies like the New Mexico Finance Authority and the state Mortgage Finance Authority that plug financing gaps for public projects. Santa Fe borrowed from the Finance Authority when it purchased the campus of the former College of Santa Fe in 2009. In any case, the city task force is now recommending that Santa Fe be part of an effort to establish a public Bank of New Mexico. We believe this more appropriate statewide scale would justify work needed to amend the current legal and regulatory restrictions, the task force report says. City Councilor Renee Villareal, who helped lead the effort to study public banking, said she remained encouraged. Im not forgetting about the public bank effort, she said. Getting serious consideration of a state public bank at the Roundhouse wont be easy, nor should it be. Its the kind of idea that would need years of careful study of costs and benefits. Also, any public bank proposal has to include an absolute firewall to protect against the kinds of political shenanigans that New Mexico has seen too much of. But creating a public Bank of New Mexico is not something that should be dismissed out of hand. New Mexico could use something like that $30 million or so a year that the North Dakota bank returned to the general fund. Santa Fe County will have a new sheriff as of next January. But it wont be someone new to local law enforcement. All four candidates for sheriff in the June 5 Democratic primary have worked for the Sheriffs Office before, and they all retired from local police agencies. Absent a challenge from a write-in candidate, the winner of the primary will succeed current Sheriff Robert Garcia, who is ending two four-year terms in the position and cant run again under the states term-limit rules. There is no Republican candidate. Manny Anaya, currently an investigator with the Public Regulation Commission, has 34 years of law enforcement experience and retired from the Santa Fe Police Department. He is also a former state district court bailiff and was a Santa Fe County deputy for seven years. Anaya, 66, said he wants deputies to get out and familiarize themselves with the people they serve. I want to go beyond community policing and have the deputies introduce themselves to the community, Anaya told the Journal. I want to make it a partnership with the community so they have trust in the sheriffs office. Anaya describes himself as a people person with friends all over the state and said that will be one of his strengths as sheriff. People certainly like me, and I love people, Anaya said. I travel the state. I know every chief of police. Im a PR person. To be honest, I have a lot of pluses. Anaya, a native of Albuquerques South Valley, had raised $2,500 in cash as of the April 9 deadline for the first campaign finance reporting period. Five contributors from Albuquerque gave a total of $1,050, while five other anonymous donors gave a total of $500. Linda Ortiz, vying to be the countys first female sheriff, said she wants to establish a mental health division that would include plain-clothes deputies that can help de-escalate a situation with someone suffering from a mental illness. I feel like theres a problem with officers and deputies not being able to understand if someone is suffering from mental illness, Ortiz said. We need to be compassionate with these people. Ortiz, 50, started at the SFCSO in 1988 and retired in 2013 as the swing shift lieutenant. She would also be the first woman to hold the office if elected. Honestly, it would be an honor to be the first female sheriff in Santa Fe County, but Santa Fe County would be lucky to have each of the four candidates to have that job, she said. Ortiz raised $4,195.12 in cash during the first campaign finance reporting period, with $2,525.12 coming from herself. Adan Mendoza, 45, said he wants to look into starting a program similar to the city of Santa Fes Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, which allows low-level drug offenders to seek treatment instead of going to jail, in Santa Fe County to address the opioid crisis. Mendoza, who started his law enforcement career at the sheriffs office in 1998 and retired as a major in 2016, says he has overseen all of the divisions in the agency, and knows each ones strengths and weaknesses. Mendoza has garnered some financial support from people who currently work in the sheriffs office and has the endorsement of current Sheriff Robert A. Garcia. I think its a testament to the type of leader I am, Mendoza said. Im about consistency and fairness. Mendoza has raised the most money of the candidates by far. He received $15,636 in cash and another $6,188 worth of in-kind donations during the last campaign finance reporting period. He raised another $6,070 in cash in 2017, including a $1,000 donation from an unnamed pastor in San Antonio, Texas, according to finance reports. Mendoza expressed skepticism about the way news media use officer or deputy lapel camera video, saying he believes only part of the story is put out there. I think there are instances where the media only shows a certain segment of the body cam footage, Mendoza said. I think the public needs to see the whole story. I am about transparency, and I wish there was a way for the media to show the full story. I am concerned about the integrity of the case sometimes. Its a tough situation. Leonard Romero, 63, said he has a lot of diversity in his 35-year law enforcement career, which included seven years as an investigator with the Office of the Medical Investigator. He also ran an ambulance service business from 1990 to 2010, and said he has the business acumen to be a good sheriff. Romero retired from the Santa Fe Police Department and later became a sergeant in the Pojoaque Pueblo Police Department, but he had to leave that job after his mother became ill and subsequently died. If elected, Romero said he plans on being more active in field operations. To lead, you have to lead by example, Romero said. I just feel I want to be out there with the deputies. I want to be out there as a sheriff. I just want to be more active in field operations. Romero has raised the least amount of money so far, with $1,400 in cash from a total of seven donors, including $500 from a Stanley rancher who also gave $500 to Anaya. Crime and assisting law enforcements efforts in addressing it are top issues for both candidates vying for the Republican nod to represent District 5 on the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners. District 5 covers the East Mountains, Four Hills and part of the Northeast Heights. Natasha Hadrych-Rosier, a certified radiation therapist with health care, professional development and business management experience, said that, if elected, she hopes to pursue measures from a transparent and ethical standpoint. I hope these items would include supporting the re-implementation of reserve APD officers, while assisting in the recruitment of new officers through total compensation packages, Hadrych-Rosier said in an email. Bringing our active police force back to acceptable staffing levels would be a positive step in combating the criminal activity. This would also help improve the appeal of living in Albuquerque. James E. Smith, who was appointed to the District 5 seat on the commission in March after serving four terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives, said crime is his top priority. Ive met several times with Sheriff Manny Gonzales, along with his undersheriffs, captains and deputies, Smith said in an email. For one thing, there is a communication problem between first responders, especially in the east mountains. Ill be having a broadband summit this summer to bring together our first responders, broadband providers, cellular providers and others to help us cooperate to provide better coverage and more reliable service. Smith said he intends to support the Sheriffs Office with the means to fight crime, which would include hiring more deputies. He said there is also an app that county officials are looking at that would help the department communicate more quickly with residents who want to report a crime or suspicious activity. Along with crime, Hadrych-Rosier said job growth and education are top priorities. She said bringing in more job opportunities will help to provide resources to address the education and crime issues residents face. I also support acceptable zoning/tax incentives to make Albuquerque more appealing to larger businesses, and I believe that the commerce is moving to a more online presence. It is my hope that Albuquerque will become a major distribution center for online orders, she said. I would also like to see us invest more in wind and solar energies, as well as looking to provide power to neighboring states. All of which would help to improve the economic and job growth here in Albuquerque. Once the area begins to see improvements in these areas, Hadrych-Rosier said, then improvements in education should follow with the right incentives. Behavioral health is also a top priority, Smith said. He said he will visit the Metropolitan Detention Center to determine that facilitys needs. Numerous people have reached out to me about the homeless population, and I believe we can find ways to support them without just throwing them in jail, he said. The winner of the Republican primary will face Charlene Pyskoty in Novembers general election. Pyskoty is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Early voting for the primary election starts May 19 and ends June 2. Primary election day is June 5. A measure of water use by Santa Feans increased by three gallons per day from 2016 to 2017, but it comes with an asterisk. City officials say the increase in the citys gallons per capita per day (GPCD) from 87 to 90 is due to an overestimation of the citys population in previous years, which resulted in a calculation of lower usage numbers per resident. The GPCD did not really go up for 2017, in fact it stayed pretty constant, says a recent memo to the City Councils Public Utilities Committee from Christine Chavez, a city water conservation manager. The city is required to submit an annual per-capita water usage report to the Office of the State Engineer to satisfy obligations related to water rights permits. Chavez explained that, in recent years, the number used for Santa Fes population was 87,474, which was based on U.S. Census data and was meant to take into account annexation of county property in 2014 that increased the citys population by about 13,000 people. But the Census Bureau, after its American Community Survey in 2016, came up with an updated, reduced population total of 83,878 for 2017, which is a more accurate estimate, Chavez wrote. Dividing the lower population number into total water use resulted in slightly higher per-capita water usage numbers. Still, 90 gallons per capita per day is a long way from 1995, when Santa Fe took over the city water utility from PNM and the per capita average was 168 gallons per day. A 2015 New York Times article contrasted Santa Fes success in reducing its water use with that of Fresno, Calif., which was using 222 gallons per day per person the year before. The 90 gallons per day is also a pretty good number compared to Albuquerques GPCD of 127, Las Cruces 165 and Santa Rosas nearly 200. The city is proud of its water conservation program and the success weve had, Caryn Grosse, a water conservation specialist for the city, said in an interview this week. Were not just saving water, but were using it in ways that make our lives better. The city has incentive and rebate programs aimed helping residents switch over to more modern and efficient household equipment. It is also nearly finished with a citywide initiative to replace old water meters with smart meters that can provide homeowners and businesses with real-time daily water usage information and leak alerts through use of a free app, EyeOnWater. Grosse said that the city paid out nearly $103,000 from rebate programs in 2017 for the installation of 700 water-saving WaterSence-labeled toilets, 85 more efficient, new clothes washers, and a small number of rain barrels and cisterns. In all, the equivalent of about 6.8 acre-feet of water, or roughly 2.22 million gallons, was saved through rebate programs, the city says. There are also rebates for the use of rain and soil moisture sensors on irrigation equipment, installation of a Laundry to Landscape gray water system that diverts water from clothes washers to plants and trees, and for the installation of rain barrels that collect water runoff from the roofs of buildings and cisterns used to store rainwater. Grosse said a household using 45 gallons per week indoors doing laundry can use that much watering outdoor landscape. That may not seem like a lot, but a tree, or a couple of rose bushes, would be happy to get that, she said. The citys billing system penalizes heavy water users with higher rates. Since 2013, the city has used a tiered billing system. Residential rates are set at $6.06 per 1,000 gallons for the first 10,000 gallons each month from May through August. Homes that use more than 10,000 gallons in a month are then charged $21.72 per 1,000 gallons. A different set of rates applies in the low-water-usage winter months. City government is also targeting the next generation of customers when it comes to the importance of water conservation by hosting an annual Childrens Water Fiesta and programs in schools to teach children about where their water comes from, and how its treated and processed for use. Grosse said that one big reason Santa Fe has such a low water usage compared to other cities is because many people xeriscape their yards. People in Santa Fe, quite frankly, are very water-conscious. They dont use as much landscape irrigation, because there are fewer lawns. That helps, she said. We love our way of life in Santa Fe, and we want to pass it down to successive generations, Mayor Webber said in a recent news release encouraging residents to participate in the National Mayors Challenge for Water Conservation. That means making sustainability a part of everything we do, especially where water is involved. Mayor trying These days, Webber is apparently trying to do his part. Last month after Webber issued his water conservation challenge news release the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Webber and his wife used 357,400 gallons of water at their Upper Canyon Road home in 2017, an average of 980 gallons per day. Between the two of them, thats a per-capita average of 490 gallons per day, more than five time the citys average rate. In a written statement, Webber explained that he lives on 4 acres of land, with one acre thats irrigated. That acre has 19 fruit trees, 80 deciduous and evergreen trees, and more than 20 pinon trees, he said. In response to an inquiry from the Journal, a photograph of the mayors latest EyeOnWater report was provided by City Hall. It appears to show that the Webber residence used 5,522 gallons of water over seven days, an average of 789 gallons per day. That was 33 percent less water than the Webbers used the previous seven days when they consumed 8,169 gallons, an average of 1,167 gallons per day. The citys public information officer also forwarded an email from Webber that indicates a water expert visited his home and recommended steps the Webbers could take to conserve water. It says multiple leaks were found, with one still to be repaired. The photo from his EyeOnWater report indicates the Webbers were losing 2.0 gallons of water per hour due to leaks. As for the Mayors Challenge, city PIO Matt Ross said the final results will be announced May 21. Santa Fe water customers can get more information about the rebate programs the city offers for water-effficient appliances or toilets and other water-saving measures at savewatersantafe.com. While there, they also can download the EyeOnWater app to monitor their water usage. WASHINGTON A U.S. House vote on Thursday to revive Yucca Mountain as a repository for nuclear waste in Nevada revealed the different views of two candidates for governor of New Mexico on storing the waste temporarily in the state. The House approved legislation 340-72 that would jump-start the long-mothballed nuclear waste facility in Nevada, despite the opposition of Nevada lawmakers. Under the House bill, an interim storage site would be created to store the waste before it is permanently disposed of in Nevada. Holtec International has applied for an interim storage license for a site in Lea County in southeastern New Mexico. The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a long-standing consortium of the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs, and Lea and Eddy counties, is backing the move, with some community support. Backers of putting an interim storage site in New Mexico point to economic development and jobs that would result. Opponents cast it as a safety hazard that expands New Mexicos role as a nuclear dumping ground. The nations nuclear industry is in search of new places to put spent nuclear fuel, which is being housed in makeshift sites at reactors around the country. Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican running for governor of New Mexico, voted for the bill Thursday. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat also running for governor, voted against it. Pearce characterized the bill as good for national security. This project, with community support, would continue to cement New Mexico as a national leader in nuclear energy production, development and disposal, Pearce said after the vote. Ive always supported an all-of-the-above energy plan that unleashes Americas domestic energy production, and a part of that includes safely storing spent nuclear fuel to advance our nations defense strategy. Lujan Grisham said that if Holtec was licensed as a temporary storage facility and then Yucca Mountain never opened, New Mexico would be stuck with the waste. This bill will only create more uncertainty by creating a dangerous loophole that could permanently strand nuclear waste in New Mexico without any guarantee that a long-term strategy will eventually be agreed upon, Lujan Grisham said. Storing and transporting nuclear waste is incredibly dangerous. Singling out New Mexico and Nevada, and making massive policy changes based purely on political considerations is completely irresponsible. The nuclear industry has said temporary storage is a critical need because reopening Yucca Mountain would take years or even decades. Don Hancock, director of the Nuclear Waste Safety program and administrator at the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, said the bill approved by the House on Thursday would expand potential nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain from 63,000 metric tons to 110,000 metric tons. He also said it would shift temporary storage costs from private industry to taxpayers. The bill now goes to the Senate and Nevadas senators have vowed to try to derail it. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal When they arrested Jesus Quiroz in September 2016, New Mexico State Police and Homeland Security agents thought they had seized one of the largest loads of cocaine in recent memory more than 140 pounds. They found out much later, according to federal court records, that some of the drugs were even deadlier than cocaine. They were fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. The case started out like a routine drug mule case and ended with a 10-year federal prison sentence handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack in Las Cruces. But the case held several surprises in addition to the discovery of a sizable amount of fentanyl, agents found photos on Quirozs phone of what prosecutors called illegal drug loads. On Sept. 9, 2016, Quiroz, 36, a tractor-trailer driver from Tucson, stopped at the state transportation inspection station outside Lordsburg shortly after midnight. He claimed he was heading from Henderson, Nev., to Hereford, Pa., just north of Philadelphia. Quirozs paperwork wasnt in order, and a New Mexico State Police transportation inspector ordered him into an inspection bay, where the inspector found that the seal on the trailer had been tampered with. With Quiroz watching, the inspector entered the trailer and found duffel bags stuffed between large crates. State Police and federal agents arrived, tested the white powder in one of the duffel bags and arrested Quiroz on cocaine charges. The case proceeded as usual Quiroz was indicted and held in federal detention, and a plea bargain was in the works. Typically, the defense will argue that a truck driver had no idea there were illegal drugs in the cargo area of the truck he or she was driving. But when federal agents obtained a search warrant for Quirozs multiple cellphones, they found he was fond of taking selfies and collecting photographs of large drug stashes and drug paraphernalia, and in one photo he was holding a firearm a big problem for a man on probation for a felony conviction for selling an ounce of cocaine. With his photo collection seriously hampering a legal defense, Quiroz pleaded guilty in January 2017 to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute by trying to haul more than 140 pounds of cocaine across the country. Plea negotiations had already been settled a 10 year-prison sentence for a guilty plea when federal forensic chemists began testing the bundles of drugs seized from Quirozs trailer. The chemists tested 10 of the 63 bundles of drugs seized eight of the bundles were cocaine, and to everyones shock, two bundles turned out to be fentanyl. Although both cocaine and fentanyl can be dangerous, fentanyl has proven to be far deadlier. It was responsible for more than 20,000 overdose deaths in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hitting areas in the Rust Belt and New England harder than other parts of the country. About 10,500 overdose deaths, nationwide, were attributed to cocaine that year. It takes only a tiny amount of fentanyl to cause a severe or potentially deadly reaction, with as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl being a lethal dosage in most people. Even investigators handling the product must take extra precautions. Because Quirozs guilty plea had already been negotiated, prosecutors decided let it stand rather than throw out the deal and start over. WASHINGTON The way President Donald Trump sees it, why go for a solid single when you can swing for a home run? Trumps upcoming summit with North Koreas Kim Jong Un is only the latest example of the presidents go-big strategy. From tax reform to international trade to foreign policy, Trump has pursued a high-risk, high-reward approach that advisers say can help produce results on longstanding problems and that critics warn could trigger dangerous repercussions all the way from a trade war to global conflict. Drawn to big moments and bigger headlines, Trump views the North Korea summit as a legacy-maker for him, believing that the combustible combination of his bombast and charm already has led to warmer relations between North and South. As he welcomed home three Americans who had been detained in North Korea, Trump early Thursday used a televised, middle-of-the-night ceremony to play up both his statecraft and stagecraft. I think you probably broke the all-time-in-history television rating for three oclock in the morning, Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. Trump has also played the disruptors role in recent weeks and months by withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, imposing sweeping tariffs on allies and announcing hes moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. Its all a sharp contrast to his play-it-safe predecessor. You hit singles, you hit doubles; every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run, President Barack Obama said of his own foreign policy. But we steadily advance the interests of the American people and our partnership with folks around the world. Not all of Trumps attention-grabbing gambits have worked and the potential risks going forward are daunting. His push to overturn Obamas landmark health care law ended in a humiliating defeat for the Republicans. His decision to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has left global markets in a state of flux and unnerved some of Americas closest allies about the potential for a trade war. And his withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Iran, with strong support from Israel, has escalated tensions in the already volatile region. Critics say Trump sometimes focuses on bold gestures first and fallout later. For now, scoring a diplomatic win with Pyongyang has become Trumps top focus. His outside-the-box approach to North Korea complete with ominous taunts of raining fire and fury on the North while belittling its leader as Little Rocket Man alarmed many global capitals and much of Washingtons national security establishment, increasing worries about nuclear war. But Trump believes it brought Kim to the negotiating table, with a summit between the two men now set for June 12 in Singapore. Trump told one confidant that he now believes a deal with North Korea, rather than in the Middle East, could be his historic victory. White House officials also believe that a triumph on the Korean Peninsula something that has eluded the United States for generations could bolster Trumps approval ratings, help inoculate him against the investigations swirling around him and maybe even trickle down to help Republicans in this falls midterm elections. While some White House aides characterized Trumps moves as evidence of bold thinking, there is also concern that he has little sense of the potential repercussions from some of his big moves, believing that if things dont work out, that he can always just reverse course. In the early months of his administration, Trump latched on to the belief that he could be the president to bring peace to the Middle East. Fond of the idea of making history, the president told advisers he was driven to accomplish something that his predecessors could not and believed that his negotiating skills and strong relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lead to the unprecedented achievement, according to four White House officials and outside advisers. At one moment last spring, Trump mused in the Oval Office that he wouldnt even require a second term to settle things in the region, according to two people familiar with the exchange but not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Though he did break with tradition to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the White House plan bogged down and the divide between Israelis and Palestinians seems as intractable as ever, prompting Trumps attention shift to North Korea. Warned by Obama days after his election that the threat posed by Pyongyang could define his presidency, Trump answered Kims threats with bellicose warnings of his own and rallied an international pressure campaign against North Korea. Some Republicans have suggested his efforts should bring him the Nobel Peace Prize, an idea Trump clearly savored at a recent rally in Michigan when the crowd chanted Nobel. Asked about the chatter in the Oval Office this week, Trump said: I want to get peace. Its the main thing. We want to get peace. That was a big problem, and I think its going to work out well. Then he added his catchall caveat: Well see. Long before he was president, the onetime New York real estate developer and reality television star often spoke about the benefits of acting boldly. In The Art of the Deal, he put it this way: I like thinking big. I always have. To me its very simple: if youre going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big. Trump appears to have embraced the Great Man theory of history, believing that individuals more than circumstances or trends alter the course of events. In his 2016 GOP convention speech, he famously declared I alone can fix it, in referencing the nations problems. Trump and his team also believe that his bold tactics have the added benefit for Trump of overshadowing the threats his administration faces from the ongoing Russia probe and the legal web surrounding his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Rice University presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said Trumps diplomacy with North Korea is a high-risk game. But if he pulls off the denuclearization of the North Korean Peninsula, it will be the landmark achievement, said Brinkley. Its Trumps big going-to-China moment. ___ Follow Lucey on Twitter at http://twitter.com///twitter.com///twitter.com/@KThomasDC JERUSALEM Israels defense minister Friday called on President Bashar Assad to get rid of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble. Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Israels attacks came under fabricated and baseless excuses. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the countrys sovereignty. A hard-line Iranian cleric threatened his country would retaliate if Israel does anything foolish. Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes this week that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East. Guterres comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Irans attack on its positions in the Golan Heights, occupied and annexed by Israel. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting. Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the occupied Golan Heights, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here, he said. Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assads forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages, Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life, Lieberman added. Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Mideast war raised the specter of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects, although both sides appeared to signal they wanted the confrontation to remain contained, at least for now. The rising tension in Syria came just as the United States decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose new sanctions, adding to the pressure on Tehran. Thousands of Iranians protested Friday across the country. Some protesters set a U.S. flag on fire in Tehran with the nuclear deal scribbled on it. Others stomped on a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump. Although slogans of Death to America were few, many Iranians are sincerely angry over the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal and are siding with hard-liners who long have warned to be suspicious of the West. In Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said the Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground, the hard-line cleric said during Friday sermons. The worshippers chanted: Death to America, and Death to Israel. Ghasemi, the foreign ministry spokesman, said the direct attacks on Syria come as the government of Assad is regaining control of territories from rebel fighters, accusing Israel and the United States of supporting the opposition which he called terrorists. In the latest victory for Assad, Syrian police prepared Friday to take control of three suburbs of the capital Damascus previously controlled by the rebels. Opposition fighters and their families left Babila, Beit Sahem and Yalda, three southern suburbs that were held by rebels for years, Syrian state media and a war monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the last group evacuated the suburbs Thursday night, bringing the total of those fighters and civilians who left the area since May 3 to a total of 8,400. Syrias state news agency SANA said opposition fighters who decided to stay in the suburbs will hand over the weapons and return to normal life. With the capture of the three suburbs, the only area outside government control in Damascus is that of the neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk that are partially controlled by the Islamic State group. Government forces have been on the offensive against IS in the area since last month and its capture would boost security in Assads seat of power. ___ El Deeb reported from Beirut. Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Amir Vahdat in Tehran contributed to this report PHOENIX A U.S. Border Patrol agent who was acquitted of second-degree murder while jurors deadlocked on lesser counts will be retried in the cross-border shooting of a rock-throwing teen, prosecutors announced Friday in Arizona. Agent Lonnie Swartz will be retried on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter charges, said Cosme Lopez, a spokesman for the federal court. The prosecution did not plan to issue a statement on the decision, he said. Luis Parra, an attorney for the family of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, said he was with them in the courtroom in Tucson when the retrial decision was announced and they welcomed the news with joy. Elena Rodriguez was shot in 2012 on a street just south of the border in Nogales. Im relieved and very much appreciate the efforts of the U.S. attorneys office, the boys grandfather Jose Elena said. Defense attorneys Sean Chapman and Jim Calle did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Activists had called for the retrial while rallying outside the U.S. District Court building before the hearing in the first prosecution of a border agent involving a fatal shooting across the border. We are pleased for the family, that they will now have another chance at justice for Jose Antonio, said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York who is handling a civil case for the teens mother. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages from Swartz. Gelernt, deputy director of the groups Immigrants Rights Project, said the decision to retry the criminal case should not affect the civil action. The jury in the first trial declared a mistrial last month after they acquitted Swartz of murder and deadlocked on verdicts involving voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Elena Rodriguez was killed when Swartz fired 16 shots through a 20-foot (6-meter) fence on an embankment above Calle Internacional, a Nogales street lined with homes and small businesses. Prosecutors acknowledged during the monthlong trial that the teen was lobbing rocks across the border during a drug smuggling attempt but said he did not deserve to die. Defense attorneys countered that Swartz was justified in using lethal force against rock-throwers and shot from the U.S. side of the border in self-defense. Court records say the new trial before Judge Raner Collins is set for Oct. 23 and expected to last four weeks. The Border Patrol came under close scrutiny during the Obama administration amid allegations involving excessive use of force. Customs and Border Protection, its parent agency, reported 55 incidents in which employees used firearms from Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012. The number of incidents fell to 17 for the same period five years later. During closing arguments in the first trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Heath Kleindienst said Swartz was fed up with being rocked after being targeted in at least six other attacks. Defense attorney Chapman countered that there was not a scintilla of evidence that Swartz was angry or fed up. Chapman said Swartz shot because he was trying to protect himself and his fellow agents during a drug operation. The trial played out as President Donald Trump called for National Guard troops to be sent to the Mexican border to free up Border Patrol agents to concentrate on stopping drugs and people from illegally entering the United States. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas Friday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinian protesters threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached. One protester was killed and 146 were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. It was the seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old border blockade of Gaza, and a preview of what is expected to be a much larger border rally on Monday. On that day, protests are timed to coincide with the planned move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to establish a future capital. Protester Ahmed Deifallah, 25, said that President Donald Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital and move the embassy there is causing the volcano to spew. Deifallah, who is unemployed, said he is not afraid to die. We are used to confronting the (Israeli) occupation with our bare chests, he said, a Palestinian flag draped around his head. We are used to wars and no one with us but Allah. Gazas Hamas leader, Yehiyeh Sinwawr, has said he expects tens of thousands to participate on Monday. He has raised the possibility of a mass border breach, comparing protesters to a starving tiger, unpredictable and full of pent-up anger. Israel has said it will prevent any border breach and has stuck to its open-fire policies, such as targeting main instigators and those approaching the fence, despite growing international criticism. There are growing concerns that if Israel and Hamas dig in, a widespread border breach in coming days could lead to large numbers of casualties. Since the Hamas-led marches began in late March, 41 Palestinian protesters have been killed by Israeli fire, including a 40-year-old man shot dead Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,800 Palestinians have been shot and wounded, including 146 on Friday. Ten of the injured on Friday were in serious condition, among them a 16-year-old with a shot to the head. Israel says it has a right to defend its border and has accused Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacking the border. Rights groups say the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful. The protests, driven by despair among Gazas 2 million people, are part of a campaign to break the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas overran Gaza in 2007. Mondays inauguration of the U.S. Embassy comes five months after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital, a move that outraged Palestinians as blatantly pro-Israel. The Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem is sought as a future Palestinian capital at least by those supporting Hamas political rival, West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seeks an Islamic state in the entire historic Palestine, including what is now Israel, but has said it is ready for a long-term truce. Another large-scale protest is planned for Tuesday, when Palestinians mark their nakba, or catastrophe, referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israels 1948 creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven out or fled homes in what is now Israel. More than two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees. On Friday, thousands of protesters gathered in five tent camps set up weeks ago, each several hundred meters (yards) from the border. From there, smaller groups moved closer to the border fence. In an area east of Gaza City, protesters burned tires, releasing large plumes of black smoke, and threw stones. Some flew kites with burning rags attached. One of the kites was downed by a small Israeli drone. Israeli soldiers fired live rounds and volleys of tear gas. The Israeli military said about 15,000 people participated in the protests. Meanwhile, Gaza government officials announced that Egypt will open its border with Gaza for four days starting Saturday. Helping reinforce the Israeli blockade, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing point, Gazas main gate to the outside world, closed most of the time since the Hamas takeover. Egypt opens the crossing from time to time, mainly to allow people in special categories, including medical patients and Gaza residents studying abroad, to leave the territory or return to it. The upcoming opening was framed as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins next week. In Jordan, about 7,000 people participated in a nakba rally in an area close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian refugees and their descendants now number several million people in the region, including more than two million in Jordan. Fridays rally took place before a large stage with a view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank. Jordanian, Palestinian, and green Muslim Brotherhood flags flew over crowd. One man walked onto the stage with an effigy of Trump dangling from a noose. Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israels military said an assailant rammed his vehicle into a soldier, causing light injuries. Troops were searching for the driver who fled the scene, suspecting it was possibly a Palestinian, as they have used cars as weapons in recent years. ST. LOUIS A special examiner extracted thousands of images from the cellphone of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and none were found of a woman whom the governor is charged with photographing while she was at least partially naked, Greitens attorney said Friday. As jury selection entered its second day, Greitens attorney Jim Martin urged the judge in the Republican governors criminal trial to halt the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation that has been going on for four months. We believe the time has come to shut this all down, Martin told St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison, who made no immediate ruling. Greitens, 44, faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge for allegedly taking and transmitting the image in a way that could be accessed by a computer. The penalty for first-degree invasion of privacy is up to four years in prison. The woman, whose name has not been released by authorities, has testified that Greitens bound her hands to exercise equipment in March 2015 in the basement of his St. Louis home, blindfolded her and removed her clothes before she saw a flash and heard what sounded like the click of a cellphone camera. She has said Greitens threatened to disseminate the photo if she spoke of their encounter but later told her he had deleted it. Its not clear whether the cellphone that was examined this week is the same one that Greitens had in 2015. Greitens has acknowledged having what he says was a consensual affair and has denied criminal wrongdoing, but he has declined to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo. He said the affair started and ended in 2015, as he was preparing to run for governor. Greitens was elected in November 2016. The trial proceedings began Thursday with potential jurors filling out a questionnaire and, in some cases, answering questions from attorneys. Opening arguments originally were expected to begin Monday, but Burlison acknowledged the process was taking longer than anticipated. He said some people who were supposed to be questioned Friday would instead have to be pushed back until Monday, and that jury selection would continue into Tuesday. The high stakes in the case were evident during jury selection. One prospective juror who works at the Missouri Department of Transportation was questioned Friday for nearly 30 minutes. The woman said she has read about and heard co-workers discuss the criminal case and other allegations against Greitens, but she said she had formed no opinions. Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum said to her what he has told many other prospective jurors: You cant unhear what you heard. Assistant Circuit Attorney Ronald Sullivan accused Rosenblum of leading questions and said Greitens attorneys were trying to eliminate all jurors except those with absolutely no knowledge of the troubles Greitens faces. Burlison decided to keep the woman in the pool of potential jurors. Greitens faces a separate criminal charge in St. Louis of tampering with computer data for allegedly disclosing the donor list of The Mission Continues to his political fundraiser in 2015 without the permission of the St. Louis-based veterans charity he founded. No trial date has been set for that case. The Legislature also is to convene in a monthlong special session May 18 to consider whether to try to impeach Greitens. If the House does so, the Senate then would appoint a panel of seven judges to preside over a trial on whether to remove him from office. The Senate passed a measure Friday that would allow Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson to appoint his own replacement with the consent of the Senate if Parson were to take over for Greitens. The bill, which still needs a final House vote, seeks to clarify a legally murky situation. The Missouri Constitution states that the lieutenant governor takes over if the governors office becomes vacant but doesnt directly address what happens to the resulting vacancy in the No. 2 executive post. When Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash in October 2000, Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson took over and later appointed then-Sen. Joe Maxwell to serve the final couple months of the lieutenant governors term. But Maxwells appointment came after he already had won the November election and thus was due to take office anyway in January 2001. No one challenged his appointment. ___ Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb contributed from Jefferson City. PARIS France urged Europeans to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as vassals, as the region scrambles to save the 2015 accord and billions of dollars in trade. Arguing the nuclear deal wasnt tough enough on Iran, Trumps government is now re-imposing sanctions, and any companies or governments with links to the U.S. face sanctions if they do not comply. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the worlds economic policeman. Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers? Le Maire asked. Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran? European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. Iran said it may resume uranium enrichment in a higher rate in weeks if it finds nuclear deal will not work anymore after the U.S. pullout from the deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Friday and underlined their aim of preserving the deal and peace in the Mideast. Merkel said Friday the unilateral U.S. withdrawal undermines confidence in the global order, but that it wasnt enough to abandon decades of cross-Atlantic cooperation. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Russia and its ex-Soviet allies will sign a free trade pact with Iran. The deal between Iran, Russia and other members of the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Union is set to be signed next week. The grouping includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The pacts signing had been planned for long time, but the move coincides with the U.S. move to re-impose sanctions against Iran that have rattled U.S. allies. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insisted that its not up to the U.S. to determine the deals future anyway. This deal is not a bilateral treaty. Its a UN Security Council Resolution and it belongs to the entire world, said Mogherini, who will chair talks Tuesday with the British, French, German and Iranian foreign ministers in Brussels. She called for calm on all sides. It is exactly when the things dont go well that rationality, calm, predictability, respect, dialogue are the most needed to avoid the worst case scenarios, to avoid conflict to spiral out of control, she said. It seems that today screaming and shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything already in place is the mood of our times. Europes options, however, are limited. As a result of the new U.S. sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk U.S. fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar U.S. companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt European and other companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran. Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and auto manufacturers like Frances Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit. The French finance minister said he pushed U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin this week for three things: exemptions for French companies operating in Iran; or the application of a so-called grandfather clause for deals struck in Iran since 2015; or an extension of the 90-day period to wind down operations in Iran. However, Le Maire acknowledged he has no illusions that hell get what he asked for. Facing that reality, Le Maire said the EU should strengthen its own legal arsenal against any such future U.S. threats. Among things the EU could consider, he said, are reinforcing a 1996 blocking statute that could allow companies to ignore sanctions. Another could be an independent financing mechanism allowing European companies to avoid U.S. banks. Le Maire also proposed creating a European body that would have the same kind of powers that the U.S. Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. Meanwhile, the U.S. government tried to further pinch Irans finances by disrupting a currency exchange network allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Irans Revolutionary Guard. ___ Lorne Cook in Brussels, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report. SANTA FE A Democratic candidate for an open Albuquerque-area congressional seat isnt holding back in a campaign ad set to hit the airwaves today. F*** the NRA are the first words spoken by Pat Davis in the 15-second TV ad that targets the National Rifle Association, a group that advocates for gun ownership rights and has come under stinging criticism in the wake of recent school shootings. Davis, an Albuquerque city councilor who is one of six Democrats running for the 1st Congressional District seat, defended the campaign ad and said people are tired of being polite when it comes to gun safety issues. Thats what people are saying already lets acknowledge it, Davis said in an interview. I think the people that are going to be most offended are the pro-NRA types who arent going to be voting for me anyway. The ad is currently only running on KRQE-TV, an Albuquerque-area network station, but could be expanded to other stations in the coming days, a Davis campaign spokeswoman said. Its also posted online. KRQE General Manager Bill Anderson told the Journal the station is not permitted under federal law to censor or edit the campaign ad. A federal candidate certified to be on the ballot by the secretary of state is a bona fide candidate, and if they have opponents on the air then we are legally obligated to give them access to purchase air time on our station, and legally prohibited from censoring their commercials, Anderson wrote in an email. However, Anderson also said the station will run a 15-second warning before the ad airs to alert viewers about whats to come. In addition, Davis said the ad and any future airings of it will be running on weekday afternoons and during news talk shows, times when children are unlikely to be watching. The 1st Congressional District seat is wide open this year because incumbent U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, is forgoing a re-election bid to run for governor. Former state Democratic Party chairwoman Debra Haaland, ex-U.S. attorney for New Mexico Damon Martinez and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a former associate dean at the University of New Mexico law school, have outpaced Davis and the other Democrats in the field when it comes to fundraising, based on the most recently filed reports. All six Democratic candidates including Davis, a former U.S. Capitol police officer, have expressed support for a federal ban on assault-style weapons. WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps long-promised plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled Friday, would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of getting away with murder. Instead he focuses on private competition and more openness to reduce Americas prescription pain. In Rose Garden remarks at the White House, Trump called his plan the most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people. But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the governments Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors. That idea has long been supported by Democrats but is a non-starter for drugmakers and most Republicans in Congress. Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas dismissed Trumps plan as a sugar-coated nothing pill. The administration will pursue a raft of old and new measures intended to improve competition and transparency in the notoriously complex drug pricing system. But most of the measures could take months or years to implement, and none would stop drugmakers from setting sky-high initial prices. There are some things in this set of proposals that can move us in the direction of lower prices for some people, said David Mitchell, founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs. At the same time, it is not clear at all how they are going to lower list prices. Drugmakers generally can charge as much as the market will bear because the U.S. government doesnt regulate medicine prices, unlike most other developed countries. Trumps list of 50 proposals, dubbed American Patients First, includes: A potential requirement for drugmakers to disclose the cost of their medicines in television advertisements. Banning a pharmacist gag rule, which prevents druggists from telling customers when they can save money by paying cash instead of using their insurance. Speeding up the approval process for over-the-counter medications so people can buy more drugs without prescriptions. Reconsidering how Medicare pays for some high-priced drugs administered at doctors offices. Those ideas avoid a direct confrontation with the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, but they may also underwhelm Americans seeking relief from escalating prescription costs. Democrats pounced on Trump for not pursuing direct Medicare negotiations, an idea he championed before reaching the White House. This weak plan abandons the millions of hard-working families struggling with the crisis of surging drug prices, said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement. Pharmaceutical investors and analysts expressed relief after the announcement, and shares of most top drugmakers rose Friday afternoon, including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly. Trump had a choice today: to seek disruptive fundamental reform or to embrace more incremental steps, wrote Terry Haines, a financial analyst, in an investment note. Trump chose the incremental over the disruptive. Some parts of the plan were previously proposed in the presidents budget proposal sent to Congress, including providing free generic drugs to low-income seniors and sharing rebates from drugmakers with Medicare patients. Other parts could be implemented directly by the administration. A majority of Americans say passing laws to bring down prescription drug prices should be a top priority for Trump and Congress, according to recent polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation. As a candidate, Trump railed against the pharmaceutical industry. But as president he has shied away from major changes and has staffed his administration with appointees who have deep ties to the industry. They include Health Secretary Alex Azar, a former top executive at Eli Lilly and Co., who joined Trump for Fridays announcement. Azar and other Trump officials have hinted for weeks that the plan would, in part, dismantle the convoluted system of rebates between drugmakers and the health care middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, which negotiate price concessions for insurers, employers and other large customers. Trump called out those companies in his speech: Our plan will end the dishonest double-dealing that allows the middleman to pocket rebates and discounts that should be passed onto consumers and patients, Trump said. Azar later told reporters that the administration would seek input on doing away with drug rebates in the Medicare system to encourage more direct discounts. He gave no timeframe for more concrete steps. It took decades to erect this very complex, interwoven system, Azar said in a briefing following the speech. I dont want to overpromise that somehow by Monday theres going to be a radical change, but theres a deep commitment to structural change. Public outrage over drug costs has been growing for years as Americans face pricing pressure from multiple sources: New medicines for life-threatening diseases often launch with prices exceeding $100,000 per year. And older drugs for common ailments like diabetes and asthma routinely see price hikes around 10 percent annually. Meanwhile Americans are paying more at the pharmacy counter due to health insurance plans that require them to shoulder more of their prescription costs. America has the highest drug prices in the world. The U.S. spent $1,162 per person on prescription drugs in 2015, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Thats more than twice the $497 per person spent in the United Kingdom, which has a nationalized health care system. Trumps speech singled out foreign governments that extort unreasonably low prices from U.S. drugmakers using price controls and said U.S. trade representatives would prioritize the issue in trade deals. But experts are skeptical the U.S. can pressure foreign governments to pay more for drugs. Its hard to know why Germany or France or Australia would agree to something like that, said Professor Jack Hoadley of Georgetown Universitys Health Policy Institute. In the U.S., Medicare is the largest purchaser of prescription drugs, covering 60 million seniors and Americans with disabilities, but it is barred by law from directly negotiating lower prices with drugmakers. Allowing Medicare to negotiate prices is unacceptable to the powerful drug lobby, which has spent tens of millions of dollars since Trumps inauguration to influence the Washington conversation around drug prices, including a high-profile TV advertising campaign portraying its scientists as medical trailblazers. The drug industrys top lobbying arm, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent nearly $26 million to sway federal decision makers last year, according to records tallied by Center for Responsive Politics. The annual total was the groups highest since the 2009 congressional fight that led to President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act. The groups chief executive, Stephen Ubl, said in a statement that some Trump proposals could help patients afford their medicines, but others would disrupt coverage and limit patients access to innovative treatments. ___ Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Catherine Lucey, Tom Murphy and Linda A. Johnson contributed to this report. ___ Matthew Perrone can be followed on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter __ This story corrects that Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of Americas 2017 spending to influence federal decision makers was its most since 2009. An earlier version said PhaRMAs 2017 spending was a record. TEHRAN, Iran A prominent Iranian cleric on Friday threatened two Israeli cities with destruction if the Jewish state acts foolishly and attacks its interests again, while thousands of protesters demonstrated against President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami followed a week of escalating tensions that threaten to spill over into a wider conflict between the two bitter enemies, who have long fought each other through proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes struck Iranian military installations inside Syria on Thursday its biggest coordinated assault on Syria since the 1973 Mideast war in retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two rivals to date. Khatami, who has echoed sentiments of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who says Israel will not exist in 25 years, said the Jewish state could face destruction if it continues to challenge Iran. The holy system of the Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground, he said, according to state television. His remarks drew chants of Death to America! from those gathered for Friday prayers in Tehran. Thousands later demonstrated across the country to protest Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The protests resembled other aggressive but orderly gatherings typical under President Hassan Rouhani, who has portrayed himself as seeking rapprochement with the West and is simultaneously trying to save the nuclear deal with world powers while attempting to appease hard-liners seeking revenge for Israeli attacks. In a lengthy government statement on Friday, the Iranian government warned that it would take whatever reciprocal measures it deems expedient if it is not fully compensated for the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement as provided for in the accord. It called on the other parties to the agreement especially Britain, France and Germany to safeguard the accord, adding that no provisions or timeframes in the 2015 agreement are negotiable in any manner. At the same time, the government said it has tasked the president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran with taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions. After Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the deal on Tuesday, Rouhani warned that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an even higher rate if the accord collapses. He ordered Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to negotiate with the countries still in the deal to try to save it, and Fridays statement reiterated that Zarif was seeking required guarantees from the five other parties to the agreement. The 2015 nuclear deal imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republics nuclear program in return for the lifting of most of the U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran. However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Irans ballistic missile program or its regional policies. Trump has repeatedly pointed to those omissions in referring to the accord as the worst deal ever. However, proponents of the deal have said those time limits were meant to encourage more discussion with Iran in the future. On Friday, France urged Europeans to stand up to Trump over the nuclear deal and not act as vassals, as the EU scrambles to find ways to save the accord and the billions of dollars in trade it unleashed. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the worlds economic policeman. Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers? Le Maire asked. Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran? European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Aside from the mounting military tensions between Iran and Israel, oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Friday and underlined their aim of preserving the deal and peace in the Mideast. And European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insisted that its not up to the U.S. to determine the deals future anyway. This deal is not a bilateral treaty. Its a UN Security Council Resolution and it belongs to the entire world, said Mogherini, who will chair talks Tuesday with the British, French, German and Iranian foreign ministers in Brussels. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. The states largest film union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 480, has denied the allegations made against it in a lawsuit. Earlier this year, two women Christa Valdez and Madeleine Lauve filed a lawsuit claiming they were harassed and discriminated against while working with IATSE Local 480. Many of the accusations center on Jon Hendry, who until recently was the unions business agent and president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor. The lawsuit also accuses IATSE Local 480 of negligently retaining Hendry and ratifying his conduct, naming both the unions New Mexico chapter and the parent organization as defendants. In Santa Fe District Court documents filed Monday, the union denied all claims made against it and requested that the lawsuit be dismissed. Attorneys for IATSE Local 480 did not respond to a request for comment. The international union, which is also a defendant in the lawsuit, declined to comment. The attorney for Jon Hendry said his client vehemently denies any allegations against him. The attorney for Valdez and Lauve declined to comment. The lawsuit, filed on March 7 amidst the national conversation about the #MeToo movement, has reverberated beyond the states film industry. On March 13, Richard Ellenberg, chairman of the state Democratic Party, abruptly resigned after questioning the credibility of Valdezs claims. That same day, the AFL-CIO confirmed to the Journal that Hendry no longer held his New Mexico Federation of Labor position, but a spokeswoman did not respond to questions about whether he had resigned or been removed. Hendrys resignation from his local union position was announced at a packed monthly union meeting on March 18. The local had 1,370 members in 2017, according to U.S. Department of Labor filings. PROVIDENCE, R.I. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is campaigning for Republican candidates around the country as he awaits sentencing for lying to the FBI, an unusual and risky course that has set off speculation and head-scratching over what he hopes to accomplish. Flynn, the retired general who led the GOP convention in 2016 in a Lock her up! chant against Hillary Clinton, released a video endorsement last weekend of one of Democratic Sen. Jon Testers opponents in Montana and said in a radio interview that he wants to do what he can for others running for office. In March, Flynn appeared in California with Republican Omar Navarro in his primary bid for the seat held by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters. Many defense attorneys wouldnt advise a client convicted of a felony to make speeches and endorsements before going in front of a judge for sentencing. Judges like defendants to show a little remorse and be a little penitent about things, so its risky, said Robert S. Bennett, Bill Clintons personal lawyer during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Flynns lawyer, Rob Kelner, did not return a message seeking comment. Some of those close to Flynn, who has a home in Middletown, Rhode Island, say he is simply going about his life, staying involved in politics, as special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of the Trump camp grinds on. Justin Dillon, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington who specializes in white-collar crime, theorized that Flynn may be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump. And making his case in public could be one way to help accomplish that, Dillon said. I think President Trump has shown that he is willing to pardon people that he believes were wrongly treated. But Bennett cast doubt on the angling-for-a-pardon theory. Flynn is cooperating with Muellers investigation. The White House has denied that any pardons have been discussed in connection with the Russia investigation. But Trump recently made a supportive comment about Flynn, tweeting on April 20 that he questioned why Flynns life can be totally destroyed while fired FBI Director James Comey can profit from a new book. Flynn, 59, served as Trumps national security adviser for 24 days. He pleaded guilty in December to making false statements about reaching out to the Russians on behalf of President-elect Trump. His sentencing has been put on hold as he cooperates. He faces up to six months behind bars. In endorsing Republican Troy Downing in Montana, Flynn said it was important to beat Tester in November. Trump has attacked Tester over his role in the failed nomination of White House doctor Ronny Jackson for Veterans Affairs secretary. Tester should have just kept his mouth shut. Instead he didnt, and it ruined the career of a great military officer, Flynn said in the video. Asked by a Montana radio station if he had anything he wanted to say to supporters who believe he was unfairly targeted, Flynn declined and said he was there to talk about Downing. Downing, who faces a primary in June, said during a candidate forum that he was flattered when Flynn offered his help. I think that hes been a casualty in whats going on in D.C., and we need to stand up for our own and we need to fight back, Downing said. Ive seen that across the state, people excited to meet this American patriot. During Flynns appearance in California, he told the crowd he wasnt there to complain about who has done me wrong or how unfair Ive been treated or how unfair the entire process has been. In mid-April, his travels took him to New York City, where he spoke at a think tank. Also last month, two of Flynns siblings wrote an open letter in which they said they believe Flynn was the subject of a political assassination by the intelligence community that resulted in his being diabolically spied on, ambushed and framed. Friends said Flynn is just continuing the kind of political activity he engaged in during the Trump campaign. One of the biggest things about the Mueller investigation and having these charges held over his head is he was not allowed to move on, said Thomas A. Heaney Jr., a retired Army colonel who has been close with Flynn since childhood in Rhode Island. That was part of his motivation for making the deal he made in the first place. ___ Associated Press writer Matt Volz in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report. SANTA FE The state Motor Vehicle Division acknowledged in court Friday that its front-line clerks shouldnt have turned away former Santa Fe Mayor David Coss the lead plaintiff in a class-action suit when he sought a drivers authorization card but didnt bring his Social Security card. And the division said its taking action to ensure clerks are properly trained on exactly whats required when New Mexicans seek the authorization cards which allow people to drive but wont be good for federal purposes, such as boarding a plane, when federal Real ID Act is fully enforced. The acknowledgment came during a hearing in 1st Judicial District Court, as the state defended itself against the class-action lawsuit. Coss and other plaintiffs have accused the Taxation and Revenue Department, which includes the Motor Vehicle Division, of illegally denying the drivers authorization cards to residents who qualify and failing to notify them of their right to appeal. Judge David Thomson on Friday instructed the attorneys involved to meet and work toward a solution on their own, given MVDs statements in court. David Urias, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he hopes to reach an agreement with the Motor Vehicle Division. But he and his colleagues said theyve been trying to work with the state since 2016, long before the lawsuit was filed in January this year. Its something that should have been resolved a long time ago, Urias said outside the courtroom Friday. The pause in the case came after Regina Ryanczak, an attorney for the state Taxation and Revenue Department, told the judge that the state wont require someone seeking a drivers authorization card to present a Social Security card one of the key assurances plaintiffs had been seeking. Were not enforcing the identity number requirement, she said. Ryanczak also said that Coss had everything he needed for an authorization card but that a training issue with individual clerks caused him to be turned away. In an interview, Ryanczak said that proof of a Social Security number was always intended as just one option among many that people could submit. Under New Mexicos two-tiered licensing system, drivers have the option of submitting enough documents to obtain an ID card meeting stringent federal requirements, or they can get an authorization card if they dont have or dont want to provide the documents for a federal ID. People living in the country illegally, for example, can obtain the authorization card. In Coss case, he said he simply lost his Social Security card and didnt want the federal ID. Coss is one of seven individual plaintiffs in the suit, along with the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness and Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a group that advocates for immigrants rights. Attorney General Hector Balderas said his office plans to increase the training it provides to school and medical personnel to help them identify signs of child abuse and human trafficking after a recent case showed the training can be effective. He announced the expansion Friday alongside city and law enforcement officials following a recent case where a school nurse, who had the training, reported suspicions to authorities. That resulted in an investigation and arrest of a man on suspicion of prostituting a 7-year-old female relative. We believe now we have the test case that actually shows that it can save lives, Balderas said. We think that this case is a real driver and we should be able to get more training in more communities. Deputy Attorney General Sharon Pino said the office started providing the training in 2015. They have given it to several hundred people each year at a human trafficking conference and they have also provided the training to others in different settings. She said the office will offer the training to employees at the three largest school districts in the state Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces and then expand into other areas around New Mexico. Specifics about who will pay for the training and when and where it will be offered werent available on Friday. Pino said the course takes about 2 hours. Im hoping that it will begin to stream in to some of the smaller, rural communities, Balderas said. A nurse who works at an Albuquerque school last month reported suspected abuse to the Attorney Generals Office. The office in 2017 had given the nurse the human trafficking training. The Attorney Generals Office launched an investigation and ultimately arrested James Stewart, 37, on suspicion of human trafficking, child abuse, promoting prostitution and other crimes, and Teri Sanchez, 37, on child abuse and contributing the delinquency of a minor charges. The case has raised additional questions about systems in place to help identify possible child abuse. The Children, Youth and Families Department and law enforcement had many contacts with the girl and her family dating back to 2012. Certainly as a system there is no argument that this should never have happened and that we let down that girl, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said. Theres a whole lot of improvement to be done. Founded in 2010, iCubesWire had started with performance marketing operations, providing robust platform to advertisers and publishers where they mutually grow and maintain long-term relationships. The company today has morphed into a leading Digital Marketing Solution and concept provider in India, providing a 360-degree environment to leading brands for their digital marketing needs. Operating from Gurgaon, Mumbai, London and Phoenix, iCubesWire works with more than 400 brands ranging from Ecommerce, Automobile, Technology, Financial Institutes, Travel, Hospitality and many more. In September last year, iCubesWire had announced an innovation fund of $3 million to support early stage start-ups. The Digital Innovation Fund is aimed at helping start-ups in technology vertical who are embarking upon artificial intelligence, progressive automation, while heading towards futuristic multi-channel marketing and aiming to create monopolist businesses. iCubesWire has also launched an artificial intelligence enabled digital innovation, called Instatalk, which provides instant solution to the end user, thereby bridging the gap between the brand and the user. They followed it up with the launch of a unified digital suite Delta, a tool that lets advertisers build their entire Influencer Marketing Program from scratch till delivery. Delta powers fast, secure, and scalable digital experiences in a unified platform. Click here for more Related News. In conversation with Adgully, Sahil Chopra, CEO and Founder, iCubesWire, speaks at length about the Delta platform, how brands can leverage Artificial Intelligence, growth of m-commerce, the road ahead and more. Excerpts: How has Delta been performing? What are the cost benefits it offers the marketers? Delta was launched 7-8 months back. If you look at the entire digital ecosystem now, its totally scattered into different sub-ecosystems. There are dozens of ecosystems which come under this main digital ecosystem. These days this is the main challenge for marketing managers and corporate to assemble the data and put it under one ecosystem. So, we have put all of that together and come up with an in-house solution called Delta. As of now we have no competition. There is convenience and a lot of data that comes in. The cost benefit may not exist because right now nobody is doing something like this; you are moving to a new platform. In the beginning, I think the cost will increase because at this moment they are not using anything like this, but going forward once the entire ecosystem gets built up, it will generate a good amount of revenues rather than cost. Its a pure thought based product. Since, we believe there is no other solution in India that provides this kind of facilities. All the brands and the marketers with whom we have worked in the past, we have discovered that there is a need for something like this, which we have tried to address through Delta. As of now, we have not made much noise around Delta because its a very deep dive product. We want to get a few integrations sorted out with a few clients and then launch it on a much bigger scale with supporting campaigns. iCubesWire, along with Metropolis have launched AI-enabled solutions. How does AI actually benefit the brands and marketers? In the long run will it make agencies redundant? There are a lot of discussions going around AI. At iCubesWire, we do chatbots. If you look at the chatbots, these are very rule based, without any kind of intelligence. Secondly, we have AI-based chatbots, which come under NLP (Natural Learning Process) that learns and has the sense to take the decisions. What we have done with Metropolis is that we have designed a rule based chatbot, because no one has been able to reach till the NLP stage in India, which makes life easy for the brand as well as for the end user to make communication viable between them. AI will not make the agencies redundant. AI will have its own space. It will benefit everybody in its own way and will create a lot many jobs instead of killing them. With so many digital technologies coming in, dont you see data privacy as a major threat? Yes, of course. With AI and other technologies being exposed, I think the next question that will come in is Data Security. Data Security is the next big challenge and I think nobody till now has discussed this seriously. But for me, Artificial Intelligence will always remain artificial and it will take forever to take its own decisions. While digital advertising is seeing a robust growth, what are the newer innovations seen in this space? AI is making a lot of noise, but I dont think it has created disruption in Digital. I dont think there have been too many new ways seen in the last couple of years, but AI is the thing around which people are talking a lot these days. But, overall, I think brands are still identifying the source from where they can get the ROI. Click here for more Related News. How open are advertisers/ brands to adopting these new technologies? They are very open. Delta for example, has got enormous responses from the brands. I think brands that are smart enough and have an end objective to define something new and are very open and optimistic about it. How do you view the growth of m-commerce in India? What is driving this growth? Its a lot more affordable now. Now if you see, the cost of smartphones and the cost of data have almost come down to negligible. Brands being smart enough have now understood that the penetration of mobiles has increased and thus they have started creating apps and a lot many things on mobile phones. 70 per cent of the traffic now for major brands comes through mobiles and I think it should reach 80-85 per cent in the near future. I think m-commerce will definitely grow more in the coming days, thanks to Jio, which has given data almost for free. What are your views on the implementation of programmatic in the long run? Its not something new. It has its own share in digital spends. It has become a lot easier for publishers. There are certain sets of advantages and disadvantages pertaining to it. It will always have its limited share. There have been several innovative ads on mobile advertising. Whats that one innovation that comes to your mind which you would want to share? We had done a great innovation for Amazon last month, wherein Amazon had an exclusive tie-up with Xiaomi phones during the launch of their latest offering. In this innovation, whenever you saw the Xiaomi phone on the screen you had to simply scratch the screen in order to feel the phone. This innovation garnered 10X better response as compared to a normal digital ad. What is iCubesWires growth strategy for 2018? This year, we are going to open some offices internationally. We are also focusing a lot on Delta. We have grown our client base significantly and have a lot more account wins that we will announce soon. We have done enough to stabilise ourselves for this year. Dentsu Impact, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has launched a campaign for Hitachi, positioning it as a brand accessible to all. Hitachi has always strived to give the best to its customers, from quality cooling, technology, to after-sales. The brand has been facing the challenge of being perceived as an expensive brand. Their new campaign, Kabhi Kabhi Zyada Ke Liye, Zyada Nahi Chaiye Hota builds on the brands core of Premium Yet Accessible. It communicates that the Superior Technology Hitachi ACs are within reach. Developed by Dentsu Impact the TVC is now on air on all popular channels. The objective of the campaign is to break the perception of inaccessibility, while keeping the premium-ness of the brand intact and build a strong connect with the Southern market. The approach is to establish that to experience the unmatched superior technology, cooling and peace of mind offered by Hitachis products, not much is required. In order to communicate this, in a category that highly relies on features and offers, we chose to approach it from an insight that stems from real-life, everyday situations. Leading south Indian actress Samantha Prabhu was roped in, to play the protagonist in the ad commercials to build affinity in the South. In the second film, we see Samantha coming back home extremely tired. As she sits on the sofa, her husband sitting next to her pushes the centre table towards her, so she can keep her legs on it and relax. These little gestures from our loved ones can make a lot of difference, is being communicated. Gurmeet Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, Johnson Controls - Hitachi Airconditioning India said, Hitachi aims to reach every Indian Household and become Indias Leading Air Conditioning brand by 2021. With its innovative product range, best in class indigenous manufacturing facilities, world class R&D facility and a continuous endeavor to give its customers a better post sales service experience. We believe that Every home deserves Hitachi cooling. Talking about the campaign, Soumitra Karnik, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Impact said, Hitachi faces a unique challenge in the market. And its always exciting to work on such challenging briefs. Our idea was to bring alive the thought Kabhi kabhi zyada ke liye, zyada nai chahiye hota by beautifully capturing those simple, everyday moments, that are truly priceless. Its the little things that make all the difference. A BharatMatrimony Mothers Day survey to find out What young people are planning for their mom on Mothers Day saw a whopping 6,448 participants share their opinion. When asked, do you plan to celebrate Mothers Day a whopping 80% said yes. 60% of female participants decided to spend time with their mom while for males the proportion was 50%. More males were looking forward to take their mom out for dinner and shopping (40% males compared to 30% female participants) on 13th May. 90% of male and female participants believe their mom deserved a break on Mothers Day. On this day, 40% males think their mom will be happy if she has more free time for herself, while only 30% female participants thought so. More female participants believed that being with children will make their mom happy (55% females versus 45% males). When asked if Mothers Day should be declared a holiday, 80% of males said it should be while 75% females participants said yes. Launching the Mothers Day survey results, Rajasekar KS, GM - Marketing at Matrimony.com, said, The survey reveals the true love young people have for mothers and clearly showed that mothers are being underappreciated and certainly deserve more love for their contribution to the happiness of the family and more support in household chores. On Mothers Day Rajnigandha Pearls launched a digital campaign to pay homage to the tender and affectionate mother. This campaign epitomizes the inherent love women have for all children, whether their own or not. The campaign has a short film that reflects the idea that every woman has an innate sense of being a mother, full of selfless love, generosity and deserves respect, love and recognition for the same. This video carries the legacy of its immensely successful #Maa Kehti Hai campaign that reveres women who may not have children of their own, but are equally affectionate and caring. The campaign highlights the brands theme, achchai, depicted in its purest form in the bond that a mother and child share. The campaign will be released across social media platforms of Rajnigandha Pearls along with an audience engagement exercise. Commenting on the campaign, Mr. Rajeev Jain, Associate VP, Marketing, DSL said, The philosophy of our brand is Achchai, the inner goodness. With this film, we want to celebrate the pureness of motherly love, an intrinsic trait in women, who are capable of boundless affection and care. This pure form of love, goodness or achchai is above the fact of whether, the child is her own or not. It is our own way to show our admiration for motherhood and its all encompassing love. Rajnigandha Pearls has been running #MaaKehtiHai campaign for the last three years. The last campaign received tremendous response with over 5.8 million views on brand platforms across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Besides, the content also organically propagated in other channels giving an additional views of more than 2 million. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip In a speech before the Palestinian National Council April 30 in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian judiciary would repatriate 60 to 80 Palestinian figures through Interpol on several charges, most notably embezzlement of public funds. You already know them, or you already know some of them, and we want to bring them [back] via Interpol. Youll read their names in headlines very soon, Abbas said, without mentioning a specific date to begin prosecuting. Abbas hint of well-known names is likely meant to indicate Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, as well as some of those close to him and former Palestinian Authority (PA) official Mohammed Rashid, also known as Khaled Salam. Al-Khaleej online quoted in 2017 a Palestinian official as saying that the Palestinian Interpol has prepared files of 15 wanted Palestinian persons, including Dahlan. On Dec. 14, Palestines anti-corruption court sentenced Dahlan in absentia to three years in prison for embezzlement of $16 million of public funds during his tenure as the presidencys security affairs coordinator in 2003. The verdict followed Abbas revocation of Dahlans immunity Dec. 8, 2016. These procedures were part of the political dispute that erupted between the two in 2010. Director of Interpols Palestine office Mahmoud Salah told Al-Monitor, Since Palestines recently granted membership to Interpol Sept. 27, 2017, we are working on preparing procedural files of those referred to us under memorandums by Palestines public prosecutors office. The PA was granted membership in Interpol at its annual general assembly in Beijing by a vote of 75-24 with 34 abstentions. Salah refused to reveal names of those Interpol is seeking to repatriate, and he insisted that the release of any details is within the sole discretion of public prosecutor Ahmad Barrak. Al-Monitor asked Barrak about the names of those being pursued by Interpol, but he declined to answer. Majed Abu Shamala, Fatahs Reformist movement leader in Gaza who is a close associate of Dahlan, told Al-Monitor, Dahlan has parliamentary immunity. According to Article no. 53 of the Basic Law, which safeguards parliamentary immunity, neither President Abbas nor the Palestinian judiciary can prosecute him before revoking his immunity, which can only be revoked by the PLC. We are for persecuting any Palestinian proven with evidence to have embezzled public funds, on condition that the suspect undergoes a fair trial and enjoys their complete freedom to defend themselves aside from any false accusations that aim at taking revenge on rivals, such as the case with Dahlan, Abu Shamala added, as he assured that all accusations leveled against Dahlan are false. He said the anti-corruption court founded by Abbas in 2010 is unconstitutional, for it hasnt been ratified by the PLC. He added that it was only founded by Abbas to persecute his political rivals after fabricating accusations against them. Al-Monitor spoke to AMANs commissioner for combating corruption Azmi al-Shuaibi, who anticipates that the Palestinian judiciary will have difficulty in repatriating Palestinians facing accusations and in trying them, as there arent any repatriation treaties with most Arab countries where the wanted Palestinians reside. The Palestinian Interpol may only get information about the wanted ones, Shuaibi said. Shuaibi said the PA has failed to ever bring in any fugitives, as the countries where they are hosted refuse to repatriate them on grounds that those being sought hold dual nationalities. For instance, Jordan refused to hand over former director of the Palestinian Ministry of Finance Sami al-Ramlawi after he was accused of embezzling $4.5 million worth of public funds. Saeed Abu Fara, assistant professor of international law at the Faculty of Law at Arab American University in Jenin, said, The judiciary and the Palestinian Interpol may find difficulty bringing wanted persons to the Palestinian judiciary through Interpol due to the state of political complexity between these countries and the PA, not to mention the absence of a Palestinian penal code to try people under. Abu Fara added, The penal code effective now in the West Bank is Jordans Penal Code no. 16 of 1960, while in Gaza the British Penal Code no. 74 of 1936 is effective. Therefore, it becomes inevitable to establish a new Palestinian penal code, especially since the PA is now a member of intergovernmental organizations such as the International Criminal Court and Interpol. The procedures that the PA is scheduled to follow in the next few days via Interpol will reveal the extent of this authority's success in bringing the wanted persons before the judiciary. Nevertheless, figures such as Dahlan will be difficult to repatriate due to diplomatic tensions that arose between the host country, the United Arab Emirates, and the PA following the UAE's hosting of Dahlan in 2012. CAIRO Does Egypt really need 107 political parties? That question is sparking debate between politicians who want to preserve the status quo and those who advocate shaking things up in Egyptian politics. A number of Egyptian parliamentarians are calling for Egypt's 107 political parties some of which aren't even active to merge into four or five powerful parties. Ahmed Refaat, a member of parliaments Communications and Information Technology Committee, told Al-Monitor he has prepared a bill to that effect. Refaat said he is currently collecting signatures from parliament members to have the bill discussed. As of late April, he had collected about 30 signatures; 60 are required. According to Refaat, the proposed legislation aims to establish a Political Parties Committee whose members would be appointed by parliament and would be tasked with monitoring parties' work. The committee would encourage national parties to take part in local elections and establish offices across Egypt's provinces. Refaat said the draft aims to merge weak parties so partisan efforts aren't splintered. Many parties aren't even big enough to warrant a single representative in parliament, so their causes never see the light of day. On the other hand, Sayed Abdel Ghani, the head of the Nasserite Party, told Al-Monitor that instead of merging all the parties into four or five, the state should support the existing parties and give them the opportunity to raise their visibility and garner public support. Abdel Ghani said that in the 1970s, when there were only four parties in Egypt, political life neither progressed nor prospered because the state kept tight control over them. Some people, he said, are trying to promote the idea that if the parties were merged, political life would thrive, but there's nothing to back up that claim, and the idea lacks a clear vision and purpose. However, Yasser Qora, the assistant to the head of the Wafd Party for political affairs, told Al-Monitor that having so many parties serves no purpose, but merging them would allow for larger political bases across Egypt, invigorating the country's stagnant political life. His party, one of the oldest in Egypt, is all for the idea of combining smaller parties and welcomes any of them wishing to merge under the Wafd banner, he said. Mohammed al-Dabaa, the spokesman for the Nations Future Party, told Al-Monitor that he believes all Egyptian parties will at least tolerate the merger idea, provided it takes into account the ideological approach of these parties. He said that several parties representing similar political directions would be stronger if they banded together. Merging parties would require several steps, Medhat al-Zahid, the head of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, told Al-Monitor. The decision shouldn't be imposed by the president, Cabinet or parliament, because that would raise fears of a totalitarian regime. Instead, he said, a merger should emanate from parties that share the same programs and vision, and from a consensus among those parties rather than coercive measures. Additionally, a merger should aim to strengthen the parties financial and political resources. Zahid said the real question, which needs a serious answer, is: What can mergers achieve at this point? Egypt's parties have been fragile because of restrictions on their work during the past four years. Mergers alone are not the necessary solution, for several reasons, he added. The public is afraid of participating in politics, and the press is facing restrictions as dozens of news websites such as El-Badil and Albedaiah have been blocked for no apparent reason. Media outlets owned by businessmen, such as ONTV, are biased toward the government. Meanwhile, journalism trade union members are harassed and prevented from expressing their opinions. If the state is serious about breathing new life into Egypt's politics, then it must first lift the restrictions on the media, welcome the public's participation in politics and then allow parties to decide for themselves whether to join the merger depending on their political ambitions, he said. Dignity Party Secretary-General Mohammed al-Bassiouni told Al-Monitor that merging parties with similar ideologies and leanings should be conducted democratically by the parties themselves. This happened, for example, between the Dignity Party and the Egyptian Popular Current, which merged into the Dignity Current following discussions between leaders and members of the two parties. Bassiouni said it would be unacceptable for mergers to be imposed by the president or parliament. The Towarah Alliance, a union of all South Sinai tribes, used to escort Muslims from North Africa crossing the Sinai Peninsula on their way to Mecca as well as Christians traveling between Cairo, the Saint Catherine Monastery and Jerusalem. The alliance gradually faded with the arrival of motor vehicles. Now, a century later, the eight South Sinai tribes will unite again in a new tourist initiative: a 550-kilometer (342-mile) hiking trail across South Sinai that takes 42 days to complete. Hikers will be escorted by each of the tribes as they go through their territory. The so-called Sinai Trail will formally open May 11-12 in a ceremony held in Serabit el-Khadem. The idea was first introduced in 2015 as a shorter route that crossed the territory of the Tarabin, Muzeina and Jebeleya tribes. Tourism in Sinai has declined amid the instability that has plagued Egypt since 2011, the major problems in the north since 2013 and the downing of a Russian plane in October 2015 that killed 224 people. The industry has sunk to the point of collapse. Some of the tribes in South Sinai realized that the only way to get ahead is to unite their efforts in a single initiative. The trail was a way to help this region and keep some of the tourism alive, co-founder Ben Hoffler told Al-Monitor. If we had all just worked in small projects we would not have been strong enough [but] if we create one path where we could focus everything we had, we would have the best chance to help Sinai during this hard time. The success of that initial project, which was awarded Best Wider World project in 2016 by the prestigious British Guild of Travel Writers, encouraged its founders to pursue the even more ambitious challenge of including the other five South Sinai tribes (Awlad Said, Garasha, Sowalha, Hamada and Alegat) in an extended trail. This is something that will happen only once in my life, noted Nasser Mansour, leader of the Jebeleya tribe, one of the three that has been involved in the project from 2015. He told Al-Monitor, We will be united again and by doing the [project] together we will become like one [tribe], he added. Yusuf Barakat, leader of the Alegat tribe, one of the five new tribes, agrees with Mansour. He said he understands that the importance of the initiative goes beyond the route itself. He told Al-Monitor, With this trail, South Sinai will now be united, [and] together we will have more contact and more power. One important goal of the joint project is to create legitimate jobs for remote and marginalized Bedouin communities. We try to create not just any kind of work but a particular kind of work that helps Bedouin traditional knowledge, skills and lifestyle to stay alive in the modern era, Hoffler said. A lot of the Bedouin knowledge about the mountains, the names of valleys, paths and animals, or how to use plants for different purposes are genuinely relevant to the Sinai Trail. Just five people were needed when the first trail was opened, but currently between 40 and 50 members of the South Sinai tribes are working on it. The project also offers indirect opportunities for drivers, staff in the camps and shops and makers of handmade products. According to the organization, more than 500 people have already walked the trail. Hikers have come from every continent, but most are Egyptians. Most of the people coming from Cairo did not know much about the people in Sinai, said Mansour from the Jebeleya tribe. But when they come and stay with us they know more about the Bedouins and we can both learn about each other. Samantha Fathelbab, an Egyptian hiker from Alexandria who has already done the first trail and plans to participate again, agrees with Mansour. You feel immersed in the Bedouin culture over the course of 12 days. Each one is unique in its own way, she told Al-Monitor. For Barakat from the Alegat tribe, the trail offers not only an opportunity for people with different backgrounds to interact, but also a chance for the tribes themselves to share knowledge. He noted, We learn together as well. We all have different kind of works, medicines and when we come together I learn from other tribes while other tribes learn from mine. According to Hoffler, the new trail has been met with a huge response from hikers, and more than 100 people are already expected to attend the opening. One of them is Muhamad Ismail, a hiker from Cairo who will come to learn details about the new trail, which he will try out during the next hiking season after the summer. He told Al-Monitor, I am sure that everyone who goes has his own experience, and anything you can do to learn from different cultures is a great [opportunity]. Assessing the short- and long-term consequences of the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for Iranian energy is crucial. In the short term, the impact will be rather modest in terms of oil exports. Iran may even stand to benefit from higher revenues, as seen in how crude prices have surged in past weeks on the back of geopolitical tensions. Nonetheless, in the long term, the US withdrawal will substantially muddy the outlook for Iranian energy. On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction and signed a memorandum to begin reinstating nuclear-related penalties against Iran. Meanwhile, the US Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) noted that importers of Iranian oil will be given a 180-day wind-down period. By then, they would need to significantly reduce their purchases from Tehran should they wish to continue importing Iranian oil under an OFAC license afterward. Between 2010 and 2015, Irans energy sector suffered tremendously from international sanctions, which forced all European companies to leave the country and caused a collapse in oil exports. The present situation differs markedly. For instance, it is still unclear whether the United States has a comprehensive sanctions strategy. Prior to the JCPOA, under the Barack Obama administration, US secondary sanctions were underpinned by a comprehensive diplomatic effort that actively brought several third countries on board. Without an inclusive strategy harmonizing and directing the activities of the White House, the State and Treasury departments including OFAC enforcement of US secondary sanctions will be significantly weakened. This is especially the case as it will be much more difficult for the United States to bring allies and others on board this time. Europe is the decisive factor under these conditions since the European Union will not reimpose sanctions as long as Iran fulfills its commitments under the JCPOA. Coupled with voluntary cuts by Japan and South Korea and some reductions by other countries, Europes 2012 oil embargo brought Iranian energy exports down by more than half. From 2011 to 2013, Irans crude and condensate exports plunged from 2.5 to 1.1 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to data presented by the Middle East Economic Survey. Exports have rebounded in the past two years, averaging 2.5 mbpd in 2017. EU countries combined have been the largest importers of Iranian oil, with volumes of 624,000 bpd. They were followed by China (622,000 bpd), India (471,000 bpd), South Korea (361,000 bpd), Turkey (240,000 bpd), Japan (170,000 bpd) and Taiwan (26,000 bpd). Just last month, Tehran saw a new post-JCPOA export peak of 2.9 mbpd. But rather than reflecting a sustainable new level, this is a reflection of stocks being emptied in anticipation of the return of US sanctions. Meanwhile, South Korean imports mostly condensate have declined markedly. Amid higher prices charged by Tehran in parallel with the inauguration of a condensate refinery at the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, exports to South Korea dropped to 325,000 bpd in March a year-on-year decline of 39%. But most of Irans customers are highly unlikely to comply with US oil sanctions. Prior to the nuclear deal, key consumers such as China, India and Turkey rejected the then-joint US-European sanctions effort, though they jointly reduced Iranian imports by 279,000 bpd in a gesture to the Obama administration, which in turn did not apply penalties. Given the strong backing for the nuclear deal in Ankara, Beijing and New Delhi, it remains highly questionable if they would now voluntarily cut imports from Iran. This will likely be the case at least until the Trump administration puts forward a clear strategy that defines the objectives of its renewed sanctions. Indeed, China the single largest importer of Iranian oil just issued a joint declaration with Russia, expressing unwavering support for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the JCPOA. Meanwhile, Europe is not only unlikely to join the United States in sanctioning Iranian oil exports, but is in fact considering the adoption of EU Blocking Regulations legislation. This would introduce legal measures to protect European companies from the effects of extraterritorial US sanctions. In response to Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom have been clear that they will continue to work to ensure continuing economic benefits to the Iranian people that are linked to the agreement. Thus, Japan and South Korea are the only likely candidates to voluntarily cut imports of Iranian oil. Supposing that Seoul and Tokyo will reduce imports by as much as half, as they did in 2012, this would translate to some 250,000-270,000 bpd. As such, the reimposition of US sanctions can realistically be expected to cut Iranian exports by 10%-15% by the end of this year. In contrast, foreign investment in Iranian energy, and especially by European companies, will be hampered substantially by the US sanctions, with severe and negative long-term implications. Irans energy sector is in dire need of capital and foreign technology, with officials in Tehran putting investment needs at as high as $200 billion. Since the implementation of the JCPOA in January 2016, Iran has only concluded two international energy contracts, with a total volume of $5.5 billion. Even before Trumps May 8 abrogation, uncertainty over the future of the nuclear deal as well as fear of secondary US sanctions were a key factor in preventing international energy companies from re-engaging with Iran. Beyond hampering an output increase, the lack of foreign participation also threatens ongoing production at many of Irans mature oil fields, which require modern technologies for enhanced recovery. The US withdrawal from the deal will in effect make investments by European energy companies greatly more complicated, if not impossible. The only Western giant that committed to Irans energy sector since the implementation of the JCPOA, Frances Total, might possibly end its engagement at the South Pars natural gas field. Company representatives have previously stressed that they would seek a waiver from Washington should the United States withdraw from the nuclear deal. If such a waiver is not granted, Total would have to transfer its South Pars operations to its Chinese consortium partner, CNPC. But while some Asian and Russian firms might step in, this would not fully make up for the absence of Europeans. Indeed, during the pre-JCPOA sanctions years, Irans experience with especially Chinese companies was contentious: In 2013, complaints about poor performance led Iran to end CNPCs operations at South Pars. As such, the US withdrawal from the JCPOA is likely to keep Irans oil production below the post-revolutionary ceiling of 4 mbpd, while slowing the expansion of natural gas output. Israel today launched its largest barrage of rockets to strike Syria in recent years, claiming to target all of Irans military infrastructure in the country. Israeli officials said that the strikes were in response to 20 Iranian rockets that had targeted the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights hours earlier. In recent months, Israel has reportedly been behind attacks on a number of Iranian sites inside Syria, including an air base used by Iranian forces. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to the allegation that Iranian forces were behind the Golan attack nor has an Iranian military official. If they were indeed Iranian rockets, it would be the first direct military retaliation by Iran toward Israel. Iranian media outlets have also not attributed the Golan strike to Iran, instead reporting that Syria had carried out the strikes. The Tasnim News Agency reported, Last night Damascus responded to the missile strikes of the Zionist regime such that a number of bases of the regime were targeted, and Zionist settlers slept in shelters overnight. Quoting Syrian sources, the article claimed that dozens of Israeli rockets were intercepted by Syrian air defense systems. According to Tasnim, the Israeli targets on the Golan were reportedly all military infrastructure or intelligence-gathering facilities, including of the 9900 Intelligence Unit, which it described as one of the most secretive Zionist spying units. The agency said of the alleged attack on the 9900 unit, The strike from Syria against sensitive targets in occupied Golan caused considerable damage against the Zionist armys preparedness in the field of intelligence. Tasnim claimed that it is the 9900 Unit that gives Israel the upper hand in intelligence speed for continuous military and security decision-making. Tasnim was not alone in attributing the Golan rocket fire to the Syrian government. Coverage by Fars News also pointed a finger at the Damascus, calling it retaliation for the recent Israeli strikes. It ran the headline Syrias response to the aggression with 68 missiles: 10 military points in occupied Golan were targeted. Another Fars article wrote about Western assertions attributing the Golan rocket attacks to Iran. While Syrian government officials stress that it was their forces that carried out the missile attacks on occupied Golan, military officials in Israel and Tel Aviv-allied Western officials are insisting Iran was behind the attack to make this an Israeli-Iranian issue, the article said. Fars said the location in Syria from which the rockets were supposedly launched, Quneitra, is in part controlled by rebels and terrorists, and other parts of are controlled by the Syrian army. The article commented that regardless of the actual situation, Western countries have lined up to support Israeli claims that Iran was behind the attack. The White House condemned Iran after the rocket attack on Golan and said the United States strongly supports Israels right to defend itself. Germany accused Iran of provocation, and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a statement headed, UK responds to Iranian air strikes against Israeli forces. SULAIMANIYAH, Iraqi Kurdistan "Abadi did not come to Sulaimaniyah to improve our economic situation and hold corrupt officials in the Kurdistan Regional Government accountable," Abu Ali, 57, a taxi driver in the city of Sulaimaniyah, told Al-Monitor about the last visit to the city by Iraqi Prime Minister and head of the Victory Alliance Haider al-Abadi. Abadi surprised everyone April 26 by showing up in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan to attend the Victory Alliance conference as part of the alliance's election campaign ahead of the legislative elections slated for May 12. Not only did he visit the city of Sulaimaniyah, which has not severed ties with the central government in Baghdad, but he also headed the next day to Erbil, the city that pushed for the Kurdish independence referendum and is seen as the stronghold for separatists calling for secession from Iraq. Abadi also toured Kirkuk, a city Iraqi forces took back from Kurdish peshmerga forces in the wake of the 2017 referendum, and which Kurds still pledge not to give up on. Abadi is the first Iraqi premier to visit the capital of the Kurdistan Region as well as Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk as part of an election campaign. No previous Iraqi prime minister has visited these governorates in the framework of their election campaigns. Abadi's move is also seen as a bold one because it comes only months after the crisis between Baghdad and Erbil over the independence referendum. It appears that Abadi is banking on the votes of citizens who are continuously holding protests against the KRG over suspended salaries and issues with freedoms, as it seems many of those people will not vote for the main political parties in the Kurdistan Region. "Abadi wants to send a message to the international community that he stands behind the unity of Iraq and [he seeks] to gain the votes of citizens who are angry with the KRG, which is his legitimate right," Hoshya Malu, a Kurdish writer and political analyst, told Al-Monitor. "Abadi's visit to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah did not turn out as large of a crowd as was expected. Turnout for both events was low because Abadi does not have a strong popular base in the Kurdistan Region, especially after the events of Oct. 16, when federal forces entered Kirkuk," Malu added. Abadi is trying to win some Kurdish votes in the elections or at least have a political foothold in the Kurdistan Region so as to be able to form what he called "the national bloc." In his endeavors and before his visit to the Kurdish governorates, Abadi traveled to the Sunni governorates another first step for Iraqi prime ministers, who usually just stick to Baghdad and the governorates in the south. Abadi's visit to Anbar and Diyala, which lasted a few days, was not publicly part of his election campaign except for Anbar, where he opened headquarters for his coalition. Instead, Abadi focused on service and community visits in his capacity as prime minister and not as the head of the Victory Alliance which it seems will secure him a few Sunni votes as he is also the commander in chief of the armed forces that led the war against the Islamic State (IS). "Abadi is seeking to gain votes from the Sunni community after realizing that he had lost the electoral alliances and lists that are popular in central and southern Iraq, especially the alliance with the Popular Mobilization Units that contributed to liberating Iraq from IS," parliament member and candidate for the al-Fatah alliance, Amir al-Fayez, said during Abadi's visit to Salahuddin governorate. These visits, however, beg the questions: What is Abadi getting out of them? Is he ready to clash electorally with major Shiite parties in the central and southern parts of the country while banking on the votes of Sunnis and Kurds? In this context, Adnan al-Sarraj, a close associate of Abadi, said that the prime minister "wanted to form a large national coalition away from nationalism and sectarianism. This is why he went to Kurdish and Sunni areas, as he believes his alliance will [win] some seats there." Sarraj added, "Abadi might get 15 seats in the Sunni areas, but in the Kurdish areas, nothing is clear yet which probably means that there is nothing in store for him. His visits in these areas do not mean that he is scared or concerned about competition in Shiite areas." Zana Saeed, a parliament member for the Kurdistan Alliance, concurred, saying, "Abadi will not get any seat in Sulaimaniyah because of the people's objection." The war against IS is Abadi's strongest card with both Sunnis and Kurds. The IS threat was imminent in the Kurdish areas as the organization was approaching Erbil in 2012, while it remained four years in the Sunni areas, which were largely destroyed. Abadi's electoral list in the Kurdish and Sunni areas is an attempt to prove that he has a presence also outside of the Shiite framework, unlike his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki. This is also to lobby and gain international support as a prime minister for a second term in a row. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite, has not limited his campaigning for this weeks elections based on traditional sectarian considerations. He has traveled to predominantly Sunni areas such as Salahuddin province about 100 miles north of Baghdad and Anbar province about 70 miles to the west of the capital. He is the most prominent Shiite leader striving to win votes of residents in areas known for strong sectarianism, areas which the Islamic State (IS) invaded in 2014 as the group ultimately settled in about one-third of the country. In the predominantly Sunni province of Salahuddin, the list of alliances includes diverse ethnic and sectarian names in which 332 candidates from 15 electoral alliances will compete. In Sunni-dominated Anbar, Khalaf al-Jalibawi joined the Fateh list, which for the most part is made up of Shiite candidates affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Meanwhile, Sunni Sheikh Rafeh al-Fahdawi joined the Abadi-affiliated Nasr list in Anbar. The cross-sectarian and regional alliances are the true representatives of the people of Anbar, who underwent a bitter experience with terrorism and sectarian hatred, Fahdawi told Al-Monitor. He added, The experience of running without sectarian undertones will succeed because people have chosen candidates who are able to achieve their ambitions. Fahdawi said, This will ensure the success of candidates regardless of their sectarian identity. The chances of success for the alliance between Abadi and the factions that fought IS are great in Sunni areas because they were liberated from IS thanks to these factions. Fahdawis optimism about sectarian openness is reinforced by the fact that Sunni figures from the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party announced their candidacies in the Sunni-dominated Salahuddin province on April 19 but within Shiite and secular lists. Abadis alliance is reinforced by the inclusion of prominent Sunni leaders. There is, however, clear disagreement over the interpretation of the motives behind these intersectarian political and electoral tactics. Some believe this is proof of overcoming sectarianism, while others see it as an opportunistic means of winning votes. The first point of view was underlined by the spokesman for the Nasr alliance, Hussein al-Adli, who told Al-Monitor, The Abadi-led Nasr alliance includes candidates of all sects and nationalities in all provinces of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) included. In addition, 40% of the alliances candidates are Sunnis, and the rest are Shiites, Christians, Kurds and Turkmens. Adli added, This is proof that the edge has been taken off the deep-rooted sectarianism, and the concept of electoral, political competition has made it to the forefront with no conflict between sectarian lists. The second point of view was expressed by the Sunni Ninevah Is Our Identity alliance, which shows quite a contrast. On May 1, media outlets quoted a statement from the alliance as saying that the Islamic Dawa Party's tactic is to obtain Sunni and Shiite votes simultaneously in Ninevah and the southern provinces for the purpose of retaining the post of prime minister, in reference to Abadi and Vice President Nouri al-Maliki, both of whom are affiliated with the Dawa Party. In a similar vein, the nonprofit Mosul Foundation criticized on April 28 the increased activity of the Shiite parties in the city and their use of candidates from inside the city to gain seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections after the city had undergone demographic changes. Sunni parliament member for Salahuddin Badr al-Fahal, a candidate on Abadis Nasr list, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The presence of a Sunni candidate on a Shiite list and vice versa is a bold step toward rescuing the country [from] the sectarian quotas that have controlled the form of governance in Iraq since 2013. Shiite parliament member for the Sadrist-affiliated Ahrar bloc Abdul Aziz al-Dhalmi told Al-Monitor, The Sadrist movement is not into maneuvering. It is serious about overcoming sectarian and even ideological bridges toward national alliances. It has candidates from the far north in the Sunni-dominated Mosul and in the southern province of Basra, with a Shiite majority. In addition to the calls to get past electoral sectarianism, Arab lists opened offices in KRG provinces and proceeded to compete with the Kurdish lists by presenting Kurdish and Arab candidates. Kurdish parliament member Ala Talabani, a candidate with the Arab list of the Baghdad Alliance in Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, The candidate who seeks to represent the people must overcome all internal differences. Nominating an Arab candidate in a Kurdish region and vice versa, even if it were to a limited extent, is considered a courageous step to consolidate patriotism at the expense of sub-identities. Some are pessimistic about the future and believe it would be misleading to think that having candidates from different religions and ethnicities on a single list will contribute to bridging the sectarian and national division in electoral lists; the purpose of all of this, they believe, is to obtain the maximum number of votes. Qasim al-Mozan, author and journalist for Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah, told Al-Monitor, Ridding Iraq of sectarianism has already begun, and the first step is embodied in the people accepting Shiite electoral campaigns in Sunni areas and vice versa. This means that the doctrinal slogans and rules that have been governing the political process since 2003 are starting to fade away. Mozan added, Electoral propaganda in Sunni areas implies implicit recognition of the sacrifices the army and its security forces have made while liberating these areas from IS [it also] represents a recognition of Abadi's ability to lead Iraq at a critical stage. As a result, Shiite blocs and parties will get Sunni votes, and Sunni candidates will win the votes of Shiites, albeit to a lesser extent. This may be a positive development in favor of political and social stability, which had been going downhill due to the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. This will serve as a key factor in reinforcing representative democracy that allows all Iraqis to have access to parliament regardless of their sub-identities. For the last seven decades, Naser Tawfiq Barwari has seen a great deal of history pan out in front of his eyes from the overthrow of the British-backed Hashemite monarchy in 1958 to the Baath regime's reign of terror and, finally, the broken system that Iraq's Kurds inherited from the Baathists in 1992. Known among the locals in Dahuk as Naser Beg in this lush corner of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Turkish border where the tribes still wield enormous political and military power he is not happy with the status quo in the Kurdistan Region and has high hopes among his Barwari tribesmen to be elected to Iraq's parliament as one of the representatives of the people of Dahuk. But Naser Beg has taken a gamble and broken ranks with the Kurdish elites, as he is listed as the No. 1 candidate on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis Al-Nasr list in Dahuk. I believe in Abadi, and I think he is a constitutional person, Naser Beg told Al-Monitor. Such statements are unheard of in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the ethnic divide of Arab versus Kurd plays an important role in Kurdish elections and those who side with Arabs are often labeled as "jash," a derogatory term meaning "mule." But this is not the first time Naser Beg has broken ranks with the Kurdish nationalist movement. He was a Kurdish tribal "mustashar" or adviser with the Baath regime from the late 1960s until 1983, commanding a regiment of his tribesmen allied with the Iraqi army against Kurdish peshmerga forces. I want to go to Baghdad to defend the Kurds, Naser Beg told Al-Monitor. When asked about his time with the regime, he replied, I defended the Kurds when I was a mustashar. I defended the imprisoned Kurdish civilians and the peshmerga. That is all I did. He said that he fell afoul of the Baath regime and fled in 1983, handing over his arms and regiment to Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani. Like Naser Beg, at least two other tribal chiefs who were advisers during Saddam Hussein's reign are running on the Kurdish lists of the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Dahuk. When Al-Monitor visited Dahuk, the first thing that people mentioned was their disillusionment with Kurdish politics. Even the advisers of Saddam are on the [Kurdish] lists, one Dahuk local told Al-Monitor. The same sentiment was repeated among others in the city, although all individuals asked that their names not be mentioned, as these former advisers are still powerful. Ironically, the parties in Iraq's Kurdistan Region have repeatedly used the Iraqi armys past atrocities including the genocide of the 1980s committed against the Kurds as a useful tool to mobilize the Kurdish masses. The Kurdish tribes have been used by various regimes in Iraq, including the British in the first half of the 20th century, to fight against the nationalist Kurds. Saddam followed in the footsteps of the British, and as his army fought the Iranians in the 1980s, he allowed the Kurdish conscripts to join Kurdish National Defense regiments commanded mostly by Kurdish tribal leaders to fight the peshmerga forces in the north of the country. These Kurdish regiments played a crucial role throughout the 1980s in implementing the Baathist policies, which resulted in the Anfal genocide in eight stages in 1988 in which over 180,000 people were exterminated, according to Kurdish estimates. "Our warriors took part widely in the first and second stages of Anfal out of love for Kak [Mr.] Saddam Hussein, may Allah protect him. Our regiment is proud of participating bravely in defeating enemies," one of the Kurdish tribal commanders of Saddam's army was quoted as saying in a state-funded Hawkari newspaper in April 1988, at the height of the Anfal genocide. During the uprising of 1991, the two main Kurdish parties the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the KDP offered amnesty to the Kurdish tribal mercenaries to avoid bloodshed and in return for their support for the uprising. But in a society scarred by decades of war and genocide with no attempts at truth and reconciliation, the wounds of the past are searing just under the surface. Thousands of survivors of the genocide suddenly found themselves living side by side with Saddam's collaborators who had a hand in the genocide. There were calls by the public to prosecute these tribal chiefs. But instead, the KDP and the PUK hungry for votes in the new Iraq pampered these tribal leaders with money, business opportunities and political power. "This is like a dogfight, said a PUK peshmerga commander in Dahuk, who says he regrets the fact that his own party has nominated a Kurdish tribal leader who fought alongside the Iraqi army against the Kurds. It does not matter if you were clean or jash; whoever gets more votes wins. At no time in their history have the Kurdish political elite been so distrusted by average Kurds, who voice their complaints about rampant corruption and mismanagement of the economy. Like many other issues, the Kurds have struggled to find a way of dealing with the legacy of Saddam's Anfal genocide. The KRG commemorated the 30th anniversary of the 1988 Anfal genocide in April, stating, Honoring the memory of the victims of the Anfal campaign is a tribute to the sacrifices that these people have made. [This will] help to eliminate the psychological implications of this campaign. Bayar Taher Doski, a tribal chief who was an ally of Saddam in the 1980s and is now running as a candidate on the KDP list said that he is going to Baghdad to ask for the rights of Kurds according to the Iraqi Constitution. The key to resolve the financial crisis in Kurdistan is to resolve the political tension with Baghdad. When asked about his relations with the previous regime, the candidate said he had to go and the phone was disconnected. While there is no evidence that these individuals had a hand in crimes committed against Kurdish civilians in the 1970s and 1980s, for many survivors of the genocide it would have a deep psychological impact to be represented by men who directly allied themselves with Saddam when these crimes were committed. BAGHDAD As Iraq prepares for general elections May 12, the Iraqi air force has carried out airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) sites inside Syria the second operation of its kind this year. A May 5 post on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's official Facebook page announced, Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Haider al-Abadi has ordered the heroes of the Iraqi air force to strike a site for IS leaders in the south of Dashisha in Syrian territory. The Iraqi air force carried out similar strikes April 18, targeting IS improvised explosives factories near the Syrian city of Abu Kamal. These strikes came hours after Abadis meeting with the US Special Envoy to Iraq Brett McGurk, which could suggest that Iraq received the green light from the United States. The latest Iraqi airstrikes were carried out following the announcement by the leadership of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) that it had foiled the infiltration of IS elements through the Tell Safouk border crossing between Iraq and Syria. In addition, PMU Deputy Chief Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis announced May 6, The security situation in Iraq is still critical and some 20,000 extremist elements remain in the country." All this points to the existence of an understanding between the United States, Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq to target IS, which apparently continues to have an abundant number of fighters in its ranks. Abadis spokesman Saad al-Hadithi told Al-Monitor in this regard, The Iraqi government has decided to strike IS sites within the Syrian territory in coordination with the Syrian side and with the knowledge of Moscow, Washington and Tehran, as these parties have troops in Syrian territory. The Iraqi military action was not unilateral. He added, The strike has achieved its full objectives based on Iraqi intelligence, warding off imminent danger from the border with Syria and foiling IS plans to launch attacks inside Iraqi territory. Commenting on the reasons behind Abadis change of heart, who previously rejected any Iraqi military intervention in Syria, Hadithi said, Abadi continues to refuse the entry of any Iraqi forces to Syria. [The recent strike] was a necessary urgent move to secure the western governorates of Iraq before the election date. Of note, Abadi denied the PMU leaders' request last year to enter Syrian territory to track down IS following the liberation of Mosul. The duty of all security forces, of all kinds, is to liberate the Iraqi territories only not other countries from the clutches of IS, Abadi said. Majed al-Gharrawi, member of the Iraqi parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told Al-Monitor, The airstrikes were carried out in response to previous threats by IS to target polling stations, particularly in Iraqi areas liberated [from IS]. He said, It is Iraqs right to preserve its sovereignty and safeguard its political system. There was no US pressure to carry out the strikes along the Iraqi-Syrian border. Gharrawi considered the military action to be a prerogative of the Iraqi leadership, especially since there are still many IS hotbeds in the liberated areas despite the pre-emptive operations carried out by the security forces. Of note, some Iraqi leaders predicted days before the latest Iraqi airstrikes that the US fighters stationed in Iraq might carry out air sorties in Syria to target the terrorist organization. The United States is getting ready to launch an airstrike on selected targets in Syria from the Ain al-Asad air base, in the western part of the Iraqi Anbar governorate, Qatari al-Obeidi, a PMU leader, said in a May 3 statement to Almaalomah website. Obeidi noted, "The military base, hosting US forces, has been witnessing intensive air patrols. Parliament member for the Shiite State of Law Coalition Abdel-Elah al-Naeli, said in a May 1 statement, "The United States will use the Iraqi airspace and land to target neighboring Syria and to undermine its security following the achievements made there against terrorist groups. Washington may find it convenient that Iraq has carried out the airstrike on IS sites in Syria for many reasons. Mainly to involve Baghdad in Operation Inherent Resolve against IS that has been ongoing since 2014, but also because the United States wants to avoid embarrassment vis-a-vis Tehran and Damascus, which are against the US forces using the Iraqi territories, while both Baghdad and Washington have been denying the existence of US military bases in Iraq, stressing that the sites in Iraq are mere American camps whose mission is to combat IS. Washington also wants to spare Abadi embarrassment at home in the run-up to the elections. This is why the United States launched May 7 its aircraft from the aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean toward IS sites in Syria. The timing of the latest Iraqi airstrikes on IS contributes to strengthening security in the western governorates, reducing IS activities along the Syrian border, and perhaps cleaning up Abadi's image before the elections. On May 7, the Knesset approved the first reading of proposed legislation by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Israels Justice Ministry that would enable the government to withhold money destined for the Palestinian Authority (PA). Under the proposal, the government would deduct payouts to families of convicted Palestinian terrorists from the tax revenues transferred by Israel to the PA. Ahead of the vote, the Ministry of Defense issued figures showing the amount of money given to the families of Palestinians jailed for terror attacks against Israelis throughout their incarceration. Thus, for example, Karam Fathi Lutfi Razaq, convicted of the October 2015 murder of Eitam Henkin and his wife, Naama, in the Samaria region of the West Bank, has thus far received 40,600 shekels ($11,370) 1,400 shekels for each month in jail. The ministry calculated that by the time he is 80, Razaq will have received over 11 million shekels ($3.08 million). Another terrorist, Omar Abu Jalil, convicted of killing three members of the Solomon family in the West Bank in July 2017, also gets 1,400 shekels from the PA for each month he spends in jail, and by the time hes 80 will have gotten over 12.5 million shekels. The more severe the Israeli sentencing, the higher the payout, which can go as high as 10,000 shekels a month. The Defense Ministry reports that the PA also pays stipends to the families of Palestinians carrying out terror attacks who were killed by Israeli forces. In January 2018, the Defense Ministry published figures indicating that in 2017, the PA paid prisoners and former inmates more than 550 million shekels. The families of suicide bombers or of injured terrorists received an additional 687 million shekels. In all, the PA allocated 1.2 billion shekels, which constitute 7% of its annual budget, for such payments. The proposed bill, which faces a second and third reading before being enacted into law, would enable Israel to withhold sums equivalent to 3% of the PAs budget. The proposal refers only to the payments made to families of prisoners, and not to payments made to families of assailants killed or injured during attacks. The proposed bill would allow Israel to deduct the money from funds it transfers to the PA under the terms of the April 1994 Paris Protocol. Israel collects the money in duties on goods destined for the PA that are imported through its sea and airports. Israel would divert the deducted funds into a special compensation fund for the Israeli victims of terrorism and the funding of counterterrorism projects. After the bill was approved by the Knessets Ministerial Committee in February, Liberman said his bill would put an end to the theater of the absurd. Knesset member Elazar Stern of the centrist Yesh Atid party, who proposed similar legislation in the past, said that by allowing money to reach the PA, Israel was encouraging future terrorists. In fact, the United States recently enacted similar legislation. In March, Congress adopted the Taylor Force Act, designed to cut some State Department aid to the PA as long as the PA keeps paying stipends to Palestinian terrorists. However, whereas the US bill, which has yet to be implemented, calls for halting aid to the PA, Libermans bill would stop the transfer of PA funds that Israel collects for the Palestinians. The proposed law enjoys broad support among Israeli lawmakers, who view payments to terrorists who murder Israelis as providing moral and national legitimacy to terrorism by enabling the PA to honor terrorists for their deeds. In effect, the payments have turned terrorism into a way out of poverty for Palestinian families. For example, in a letter he wrote before setting out on a knifing attack in March 2016, Ahmed Amar from the Samaria village of Messha described his heavy debts. My dear mother and father, forgive me and absolve me of blame, he wrote in the letter found on his body after he was shot dead by Israeli troops. The PA paid the family compensation. In November 2014, the Ofer military court sentenced Ashraf Issa from the West Bank town of Nablus to eight years in prison for his role in three shooting attacks. Under interrogation by the Shin Bet security agency, Issa admitted his involvement in the attacks, saying he was motivated by economic hardship after failing to keep up the payments on the house he built. He was given a relatively lenient sentence because he was found to be telling the truth when he said he made sure not to kill Israelis and only to get arrested so he could get compensation from the PA. Even if Libermans proposed bill is morally defensible, it can expect significant obstacles once it receives final approval. Israel will have to contend with legal challenges in international courts over its expropriation of funds, which are the property of the PA and part of its budget, and Israel's violation of written accords it signed. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian National Council, described the deduction of funds as outright theft. In a harsh statement after the first Knesset approval, Ashrawi lambasted the bill, saying it would turn the military occupation into a very profitable economic venture for Israel. The head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Qadura Fares, tells Al-Monitor the law is a populist political move by Liberman, adding that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cannot stop the payments. The day he dares do so, said Fares, he would immediately forfeit his office. Although Liberman would probably not lose any sleep over Abbas downfall, absent other funds for the troubled Palestinian economy, attention is warranted to the repercussions of delaying funds to the PA and deepening the distress of the West Bank Palestinians that same distress that drives some young Palestinians to terrorism. On the other hand, if one accepts the Palestinian claim that Liberman is driven by political considerations and popularity ratings, one cannot but view the pricelist of the PA payments as a detailed sales catalogue offering young Palestinians a dubious deal: murdering Israelis in return for honor, glory and financial reward. Under the blazing sun in Mardin, a group of men with traditional baggy pants and prayer beads were trying to make their way to the local mosque for Friday noon prayers, but the narrow, cobbled street was blocked by buses and a white Mercedes with Istanbul plates. An elderly man shrugged and remarked, There are more cars than people in the city nowadays. Back at the hotel, an ancient caravanserai (travelers inn), a harried woman negotiates with the receptionist for two additional rooms while simultaneously shouting into her phone. You have to pick them up from the airport, she says to the person on the other end, dropping the names of two of Turkeys most famous art collectors. Meanwhile, artists speaking French wait for their bus outside, while several Turkish women loudly discuss what they will do the rest of the day now that they've opened their exhibition of ebru, the Turkish art of marbling, at the Mardin Museum. The first 10 days of May transformed Mardin, a city in the southeast known for its religious and vernacular architecture, into a bustling international arts hub. The Mardin Biennial inaugurated its fourth edition on May 4, featuring some 40 artists from Turkey and abroad. On May 3, the Dilek Sabanci Art Gallery opened its exhibition of works by Ai Weiwei, showcasing some of the pieces by the Chinese artist recently on display at Istanbuls Sakip Sabanci Museum. Several other art events popped up in the city, including a marbling exhibition by a collective of artists from Istanbul and an anti-biennial displaying the works of local young artists in a traditional teahouse. Thus, as happens every two years during this contemporary art event, Mardin locals found themselves rubbing shoulders with captivated foreign artists snapping photos of the city's dazzling gold-hued stone walls, stressed public relations managers in their black Chanel jackets and shades, the Istanbul-based cultural glitterati and art collectors sporting understated designer brands. The relatively young Mardin Biennial has been carving a niche for itself as one of the few international events held in Turkey outside Istanbul, the country's undisputed cultural capital. We aim to bring a momentum to the city through art and put Mardin, a city with many hidden treasures, at the center of artistic venues, Done Otyam, director of the biennial, told Al-Monitor. Otyam discovered the city's artistic potential 10 years ago when she turned down a request to curate a retrospective of her father, Fikret Otyam, a painter known for his depictions of rural Turkey. I tried to explain to [the local authorities] that I would rather work on a longer-term project, she said. So I brought 10 contemporary artists to Mardin for an exhibition on October 2009. That show became the embryo of the first Mardin Biennial, held in May 2010 and playfully titled Abbara-cadabra. Abbara is the local term for the arched passageways that link houses to the streets. When I look back, I think we must have been rather daring to found a biennial in a city we hardly knew, said Otyam. But Mardin, its architecture, its people somehow dragged me in. I made friends, from the priests and pastors of the churches to the local artisans. Besides, there are so many great venues in this city that we discover something new with each exhibition. Turkish artist Taner Ceylan depicts the suffering of Christ in "The Man of Sorrows" in the Syriac Orthodox Virgin Mary Church. Photo by the Mardin Biennial The fourth edition of the biennial, Beyond Words, was curated by three young Turks Derya Yucel, Nazli Gurlek and Firat Arapoglu and crowdsourced with small donations. The installations, video art, performances and photographic works are distributed among nine sites around the city, with the bulk concentrated at the German Military Headquarters in the old town center. The headquarters' three-story 19th-century mansion has maze-like corridors, alarmingly steep and narrow stairs and cubicle-like rooms. It once belonged to the Armenian businessman Iskender Atamyan, but after the Armenians were forced from the city in the early 20th century, the Germans moved in during World War I. In one of the mansion's cubicles, John Gerards video art piece Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) shows fog rolling from the top of a pole to slowly unfurl into a flag. This work by the Irish artist known for his large-scale, real-time computer simulations is a criticism of the vastly increased levels of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. The flag makes this invisible gas, a global threat, into a national symbol. I was very happy to display this work here, with its proximity to Syria and the Middle East, where oil plays a central role, Gerrard told Al-Monitor. The sense of displacement, loss and memory lie at the heart of this year's and previous biennials. This is hardly surprising, given that the citys history is scarred by the forced departure of Syriac Christians as well as the Armenians immediately before and during World War I. Ipek Dubens Farewell My Homeland," on view at the Mor Efrem Monastery, consists of an open scrapbook and a series of photographic prints on the plight of migrants in different parts of the world in the 20th and 21st centuries. One of the photographs shows a father and child and the scribbled description Kosovars fleeing to local refugee camp. Emre Zeytinoglus installation, Chest of Karnik Derbekyan, traces the life of an Armenian artist who lived in Mardin in the early 20th century and made a living painting images of assorted types of chests. Even the harshest critics of the biennial acknowledge approvingly that many of the works displayed this year, and indeed in the past, pay homage to Mardins heritage. I will never forget one of the works that put hearts, real hearts, in glass jars, said a local sculptor who requested anonymity. I am very critical of this biennial, as it hardly invites artists from Mardin, but there is no way I would ever forget that work. I cannot think of a better tribute to the people who were forced out of the city and whose memories still loom here. The sculptor was referring to an installation by the Turkish-Armenian artist Ani Setyan entitled Conservation, consisting of 47 jars containing animal hearts preserved in a solution and situated in a niche in one of the walls of the German Military Headquarters. It was exhibited at the third edition of the biennial in 2015. Mardin's heritage is a dominant theme this year as well. Some of our artists visit the city long before the biennial for inspiration and selecting the venues for their works, said Otyam. CANAN, a Turkish artist, has selected the Yildiz Hammam, at the heart of the old bazaar, for her works in fabric, one of which features peacocks, a symbol of Mardin. Merkezkac, an art collective in Turkey's southeast, has chosen another symbol of the city, scorpions, for its Moments of Ecstasy, in which 1,000 polyester scorpions crawl on the walls of one of the rooms at the German Military Headquarters (see above). After each biennial, some artists choose to leave a legacy by donating their site-specific works to the city. A larger-than-life egg, made by the Ankara-based art collective Yaygara for the third biennial, still animates the churchyard of the Mor Khirmiz Chaldean Church. There is a good chance that Taner Ceylans Man of Sorrows, an oil on canvas depicting Christ succumbing to agony, will remain in the Catholic Syrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was recently restored and reopened on May 10. The Mardin Biennial runs through June 4. One of the first cracks in the unity of the leading PLO faction appears to have surfaced with Nasser al-Qudwas May 6 resignation from the powerful Fatah Central Committee. Qudwa, a former foreign minister and longtime PLO envoy to the United Nations, had been seen by some as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, Qudwa was not selected to the PLOs Executive Committee on the last day of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) meeting on May 3. Qudwas resignation caught many off guard and was rejected by the Fatah Central Committee. In a May 7 press statement, Mahmoud Alloul, the deputy head of Fatah, said that after consultation with Abbas, the Central Committee had decided to reject Qudwas resignation. Secretary of Fatah's Central Committee Jibril Rajoub argued that the reasons behind Qudwas resignation must not be neglected, promising it will be discussed in the next meeting of the committee scheduled after Abbas return from his tour to Latin America. Abbas has been on a tour of Latin America in a bid to block the attempts by some South American countries to transfer their embassies to Jerusalem. Nasser al-Qudwa is a huge figure in our movement in national and organizational terms and we see him as a central leader with huge political and diplomatic experience, Rajoub was quoted as saying by Sama news website May 7. In his resignation letter, Qudwa said he is protesting the results of the last PNC meetings in addition to previous accumulations related to the works of the Central Committee that had led to the same conclusion. However, he insisted that he will continue to be a committed and active member of the Fatah movement. What Qudwa was referring to was the fact that the Fatah leadership had insisted that the makeup of the PLOs Executive Committee be agreed to behind closed doors and presented as a package to the assembled delegates rather than in an open electoral process. Nabil Amer, a longtime Fatah opposition figure and PNC member, also complained about the mechanism of choosing the Executive Committee members. Speaking May 7 on Al-Ghad TV station, Amer said he was disappointed that the PNC did not hold elections with ballots. Najib Qadoumi, a Fatah leader and a member of the PNC in Jordan, told Al-Monitor that elections by ballot would have produced bad results. If we had gone by the ballot route, we would have seen results in which Fatah dominated and received all the seats. We rather opted for consultations with the secretary-generals of all factions and came up with a consensual list that attempts to reflect the widest possible selection of our people, he said. Talal Abu Afifeh, a resident of Jerusalem's Shuafat refugee camp and the head of the Jerusalem Intellectuals Forum, told Al-Monitor that he is very disappointed with the way Qudwa was pushed out. I believe that Mahmoud Alloul is well-suited to replace Abbas as the head of Fatah, and I was hoping that Qudwa would take the position of chairman of the PLOs Executive Committee after Abbas, he said. A senior Fatah source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the list of candidates for the powerful PLO Executive Committee was assigned to Abbas confidant Azzam al-Ahmad, who has his own ambitions of succeeding Abbas and therefore wants to exclude any qualified leaders who can compete with him for this position. Various Palestinian media outlets suggested that Qudwas resignation was tactical. Amad Media, a website supportive of Abbas' exiled rival Mohammed Dahlan, suggested May 9 that Abbas might offer Qudwa the position of prime minister if he agrees to retract his resignation, in light of Qudwas public standing and popularity. But Qudwa refuses to retract his resignation, saying to Al-Quds al-Arabi May 8 that his resignation is not tactical and that he will not withdraw it. Qudwas resignation is seen as part of the internal struggle for power within the leading Fatah movement. While Qudwa, who is a nephew of the late Yasser Arafat, is not one of the top leaders expected to take Abbas position after his departure from the political scene, it was expected that he might be part of a post-Abbas leadership collective, and that he will have a senior position. Qudwa is well-liked and respected at home and abroad and has a clean record in terms of transparency and lack of corruption. The making of the future Palestinian leadership is going through a difficult phase, with 82-year-old Abbas still in power while different individuals around him are preparing to succeed him. MOSCOW Sandwiched between two days this week in which Israel attacked Iranian assets in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met cordially May 9 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The visit came amid reported Russian efforts to ease tensions between Iran and Israel, and followed less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal. Israel reportedly delivered strikes May 8 on a Syrian army base at Al-Kiswah, where Iran has significant assets, and launched a blazing attack May 10 on numerous Iranian targets in Syria. Israel said it was retaliating for an Iranian rocket bombardment on the Golan Heights. The timing of Netanyahus visit was notable, given the many other rising tensions around Israel: Hezbollah and its allies emerged victorious in the Lebanese parliamentary elections May 6; the United States will relocate its embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14; the Nakba (Catastrophe) the day Israel was created and the Palestinians were displaced in 1948 will be commemorated May 15; and on May 16, Guatemala will also open its embassy in Jerusalem, further pushing the trend of foreign recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital. Against this chaotic background, having Russias friendly neutrality, if not full moral support, is important. Netanyahu couldnt have picked a better date to woo Putin. Victory Day, commemorating Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945, is an extremely important national holiday in modern-day Russia. In July 2017, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill declaring that Israel, like Russia, will observe the day annually on May 9. (Some other countries, including the United States, hold observances on different days.) Putin appreciated Israels decision and had both Netanyahu and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic standing with him at the Victory Day Parade in Red Square. I would like to once again express my gratitude to you for finding it possible to visit Moscow on our Victory Day. ... We know how the Israelis, and Jewish people in general, relate to the events of the war. And this attitude unites us in many respects, Putin told Netanyahu. The Russian side also made a symbolic gesture: In the stands between Putin and Netanyahu, the Kremlin seated a Russian war veteran who helped liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp. Netanyahu said, Not for a minute should we forget the sacrifices made by these soldiers who represented the entire Russian people, and among them were around half a million Jews who fought in the war. He used that reference to move to the very core of his visit: Not for a second do we forget this very important history lesson: When such a murderous ideology emerges, we must fight back against it before it is too late [as] 73 years after the Holocaust, there is still a country in the Middle East, Iran, which openly calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. The Israeli prime minister had a number of talking points he wanted to ensure were well-delivered to the Russian side, said a source in the Kremlin familiar with the Putin-Netanyahu meeting. The source, who spoke with Al-Monitor not for attribution, said the first point, a minor one, was Russias potential delivery of S-300 missile systems to Syria. Even before Netanyahus visit, Israel was signaling to Russia that Israel didnt favor the delivery. Moscow had said it was leaning toward not providing Syria with the missiles, but after a US-led strike on Syria last month, Russia isnt ruling out the idea. Many observers interpreted a bombastically worded statement from Russia as an actual intent to deliver the weapons, but Russia probably considered it more as a deterrent against potential foreign strikes and a bargaining chip in talks with Israel and, possibly, with the United States. If Moscow indeed goes through with the S-300 delivery, Israel will tolerate it as long as Russians maintain control over the system. If, however, the Syrian military plans to operate the missiles, Israel will have a stronger reaction, but probably not an extreme one. The entire Syrian air defense system is based on Soviet- and Russian-made arms. The S-300 is a more powerful system and we wouldnt have liked its appearance. But as much as we are ready to [take on] Syrian defenses, we would be ready to see how to tackle the S-300, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said. Yaalon also revealed that there is a "hotline" between the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria and the Israeli Kirya command center in Tel Aviv. Ya'alon served as Israel's defense minister from 2013 until May 2016 and helped establish the deconfliction phone line shortly after Russia began its campaign in Syria. The line is thought to have helped prevent a number of serious incidents. However, Russia and Israel didnt use the line to coordinate each others activities. We dont have to coordinate our respective actions with one another, Yaalon said. "We can tell the difference between a Syrian Su-24 and a Russian Su-24; so can the Russians. We dont have to report to the Russian chief of staff whenever we are preparing a strike. They dont get in our way; we dont get in theirs. This formula appears to be a desired modus operandi for Israel when it comes to relations with Russia on the issue of Iran. This was the second, and obviously bigger, item on the Putin-Netanyahu agenda. Netanyahu reiterated many of the arguments he recently voiced in his largely dismissed presentation of what he called new and conclusive proof of the secret nuclear weapons program that Iran has been hiding for years from the international community in its secret atomic archive. Netanyahu understands he cant sway Russia from its position opposing the US exit from the nuclear Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Therefore, while with Trump, Netanyahu sought to arm the US president with arguments for leaving the JCPOA, but with Putin, Netanyahu seeks to expose the malignant nature of the Iranian regime and thus legitimize Israeli efforts at countering it. The latter is a hard sell with the Kremlin, but Netanyahu hopes that there is a chance that if Russia has heard the essence of Israeli concerns, Putin would be (a) more persuasive with Iran on its actions in Syria and (b) have a higher tolerance level for Israelis actions in Syria, and perhaps against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israels concern, according to the source in the Kremlin, is that with Trumps JCPOA decision, the threat emanating from Iran is becoming even more pressing. Russia has been acting as a political shrink, listening to complaints and fears that Israelis and Iranians have and prescribing them prescriptions of sorts to alleviate their grief. Its a heavy burden, but also a political resource for Russia and its regional policies. Russia also has its own interests, including in Syria, that are not necessarily aligned with those of Israel or Iran. Taking sides would be folly. And while the parties still seek to lure Moscow to their own camp, they are also discovering that Russias role as the only go-to entity for bilateral matters of life and death might just be beneficial for them all. Therefore, whereas Putin may have genuine empathy for Netanyahus concerns and sincerely appreciate his symbolic overtures, hed still be interested in listening to the opposite camp and measuring the recent moods in Damascus and Tehran. In this regard, one shouldnt be surprised to see a high-level visitor or two from Syria or Iran to Russia rather soon. TUNIS, Tunisia Tunisians recently went to the polls to cast votes in the countrys first municipal elections since the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the 2011 revolution. The Independent High Electoral Commission announced the preliminary results May 10, with independent candidates winning the most votes, at 32.9%, followed by Ennahda with 29.68% and Nidaa Tunis with 22.17%. Most Tunisians cast their ballots on May 6, but military and security personnel had cast theirs prior to that, on April 29, amid objections to their participation on the grounds that it would lead to political and partisan polarization in the ranks. Military members have not been allowed to vote since shortly after independence, in 1956, and the prohibition was extended to police and state security forces in the 1980s. Electoral commission head Mohamed Tlili al-Mansri had on April 28 announced the exceptional procedures to protect security personnel choosing to cast ballots, such as not posting lists of voters at polling stations, to shield their personal data. Authorities held off on counting their votes, however, waiting until May 6 to tally them with the civilian ballots. Personnel were also not allowed to dip their fingers in the requisite ballot ink at polling stations for security reasons. According to the electoral commission's official statistics, 4,249 out of 36,495 registered security and military personnel participated in the elections, meaning military turnout stood at a low 12%. Nonetheless, election commission official Riad Bouhouchi praised the participation of security personnel in exercising their constitutional right, telling Al-Monitor that he considered it added value to the municipal elections. On Jan. 31, 2017, the Tunisian parliament had approved amendments to the electoral law of 2014 to grant military personnel and security forces the right to vote in municipal and regional elections. While the draft law was under discussion in parliament in 2016, military veterans including the National Armed Forces Former Officers Association and Brig. Gen. Mokhtar Ben Nasr, former spokesman for the Tunisian army and head of the Tunisian Center for Global Security Studies issued a statement opposing the participation of army personnel in elections, warning it would draw the military into political and partisan rivalries. The statement asserted, Tunisias post-revolution constitution provides for the complete neutrality of the Tunisian army establishment. We fear that the participation of the military personnel in the electoral process would open the door for politicians to benefit from the situation to mobilize military men into their ranks now that there are no longer any legal impediments to this effect. Several security institutions and associations, including the National Syndicate of international Security Forces, a post-revolution organization, had explicitly called for security personnel to boycott the elections or abstain from voting, on the grounds that they should remain neutral in order to be able to maintain order. In this regard, the union's spokesman, Chokri Hamadeh, told Al-Monitor that security officials had declined to participate and would do the same in future elections. We refuse to be exploited as a reservoir of votes by the political parties, and we will stick to our role as a national security force. We are solely loyal to our homeland. We refuse to be involved in the battle of partisan rivalries. Other security associations, however, welcomed the participation of security and military personnel in the elections this month. Mehdi Belshawesh, spokesman for the Syndicate of Officers of the General Directorate of the Intervention Units, also established after the revolution, expressed appreciation for the Tunisian parliament's decision to involve the security officials in municipal elections for the first time. Belshawesh told Al-Monitor, Our security services have always defended this electoral right guaranteed by the post-revolutionary constitution, and our participation in the municipal elections is a prelude to other constitutional gains and rights along the lines of all democratic regimes in the world. In Belshawesh's opinion, the 12% turnout among security and military personnel is not so bad for the first round in the electoral experiment. He stressed that many registered voters in the security forces could not exercise their right to vote because they had been on duty in light of the country's delicate security situation and state of constant alert in the barracks and on the border. While some see the participation of the security and military forces in the May elections as a constitutional right and a historical step forward that paves the way for their participation in legislative and presidential elections, others continue to warn against the consequences of the potential political polarization of these forces under the pretext of constitutional rights. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Highlands United Methodist Church for Harris Saunders Jr., who at one time led the third-largest truck leasing firm in the United States from Birmingham. Shown in this 1958 studio photo, Harris Saunders led his family business for 40 years. The former head of Saunders Leasing System, Saunders was picked to be the first chairman of the Truck Renting and Leasing Association in 1978. He led the company his family created in 1916, which traced itself from the beginning of car and truck leasing. He was an entrepreneur virtually from the beginning, his daughter Liz Saunders remembered. Some children have lemonade stands, but young Harris built his own self-contained stand, selling sodas for a profit. He was elected most likely to succeed in his eighth grade class after selling lead soldiers he made from a kit, using lead he bought at Sears Roebuck. A graduate of Georgia Tech, he took over the family business while his brother Bob handled marketing and sales. He helped raise six daughters as the business grew, working for 40 years with the leasing company, which was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange. It was sold to Ryder System, Inc. of Miami in 1986. The brothers bought back the trucking services division that same year, but sold it in 1993 to Comdata. Then, according to his family, Saunders "became an adventurer." He bought a boat he christened "Twelve-and-a-Half," named for how much shares of his company sold for when it was acquired. He sailed the Atlantic and took the plunge in the middle of the ocean in his swim trunks, just to say he had done it. He also served on the boards of the Birmingham Salvation Army, SouthTrust Bank and Energen Corp. Saunders was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame and received the 1998 Woodruff School Distinguished Alumnus Award. "He would provide you with the tools, put you in a position to challenge you, then encourage you to go out and do it," Liz Saunders said. Mazda Motor Corp. will have a new CEO this summer as it prepares for the building of its joint manufacturing plant with Toyota in Huntsville. According to Bloomberg, Akira Marumoto will be tapped as the company's chief executive officer in June. Marumoto, an executive vice president who heads operations in the U.S., will replace Masamichi Kogai after five years in which Kogai drew the company closer to Toyota. Marumoto's goal will be to raise annual sales to 2 million vehicles by 2024, from about 1.6 million now. U.S. sales shrank close to 10 percent last year from a 2015 high. Marumoto said U.S. sales are the highest priority, according to Bloomberg. "I've been overseeing the North American market for three years and the region has been causing concerns in terms of both profitability and branding,'' Marumoto said. Construction is expected to start by October on the $1.6 billion joint manufacturing plant in Huntsville Mazda will share with Toyota. The two companies are jointly developing electric vehicles, with Toyota taking a 5 percent stake in Mazda last year. Mercedes-Benz said today all of its employees will be given the opportunity to work next week based on a modified production schedule as the company continues to cope with the effects of a fire at a Michigan supplier. According to a statement from the company, Mercedes-Benz in Vance cancelled production for all of its SUV shifts Thursday and today. That's after the automaker exhausted its supply on Thursday of cockpit cross-members from Magnesium Products of America, also known as Meridian or MPA. Team members worked through Wednesday. A May 2 fire at the Meridian plant in Eaton Rapids, Mich., which employs 400 people, has triggered production delays at Mercedes, and also with Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, General Motors Co. and BMW have also experiencing supply interruptions from the fire. Ford is halting production of its popular F-150 pickups in response. Mercedes uses cockpit cross-members in the GLE, GLE Coupe and GLS, which are produced in Vance. It is the only Mercedes plant affected by the MPA fire. The company said in a statement that it "will provide various work options" for employees as it continues to modify production schedules. "We currently do not have parts to resume full production of SUVS next week, but we are working with our supply base to get back to normal production levels," the statement said. "All MBUSI Team Members will be given the opportunity to work the week of May 14th based on a modified production schedule." Eaton Rapids Fire Chief Roger McNutt said this week that Meridian Magnesium Products of America intends to have its entire complex rebuilt and reopened in four months. Portions of the plant have reopened as work crews clear debris. It is unclear how the fire started. It will take at least until September before Silver Airways is able to begin its promised daily flights between Huntsville and Orlando. In February, the Florida carrier announced it would start daily nonstop service between Orlando International Airport and Huntsville International Airport May 23, with introductory rates of $99 through Dec. 19. However, customers recently began reporting flights cancelled through September. Silver Airways now advertises through its website $99.99 rates on Tuesdays and Thursdays one-way, and $124.98 on other days, beginning Sept. 13. Misty Stoller, Silver Airways director of communications, said in a statement that the airline remains "very enthusiastic and committed to providing daily non-stop service" between the two cities, but that "factors outside our control" forced a postponement in the routes. With its original announcement, Silver said the flights would feature its new fleet of ATR-600 aircraft, which will be introduced into service beginning this year. They boast leather seating, more leg room and overhead bins to accommodate full-size, carry-on roller bags. Stoller said because this will be the first time this aircraft is flown in the U.S., the necessary FAA certification process is taking longer than anticipated. "We are currently working with passengers to provide full refunds on all booked flights through September 12, 2018," she said. Joe Songer | JSonger@AL.com Auto supply crunch A damaged auto supply plant in Michigan, currently causing production problems for five automakers including Mercedes-Benz (shown), anticipates rebuilding in four months. Don't Edit Bob Gathany | BGathany@AL.com Bollywood in Huntsville Shah Rukh Khan, the top movie star in India and one of the top stars in the world, is filming his new movie in Alabama this month, producers say. Production began this week in Huntsville of the film "Zero" starring Khan and Indian actresses Katrina Kaif and Anuska Sharma. Don't Edit Courtesy of Le Pop-Up Container commerce The shipping container revolutionized American logistics after World War II. One Alabama city is hoping containers can revitalize a sprawling but struggling retail complex. In Spanish Fort, city officials are prepared to vote May 22 on an ordinance to make shipping container-based businesses permissible within retail centers of 100 acres or more. Don't Edit Airbus Trade pain for Airbus, Boeing Two of Alabama's aerospace companies will take a $39 billion hit from President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran. Airbus and Boeing look to lose about $39 billion in contracts they have already inked with Iranian interests, according to the Washington Post. Don't Edit AL.com file Lost Adventure The Adventure Park at Grants Mill in Irondale is no more. The amusement park was disassembled and hauled away this week, about two months after it was forced to shut down or fix 49 city of Irondale codes violations. Don't Edit Don't Edit File photo New Mazda chief Mazda Motor Corp. will have a new CEO this summer as it prepares for the building of its joint manufacturing plant with Toyota in Huntsville. According to Bloomberg, Akira Marumoto will be tapped as the company's chief executive officer in June. (Shown: Toyota Corp. President Akio Toyoda, left, shakes hands with Mazda Motor Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Masmichi Kogai.) Don't Edit Home2 Suites Suite addition Another part of Hilton's All Suites portfolio is now open in Birmingham. Home2 Suites by Hilton Birmingham Colonnade has 107 suites and several tech-conscious and eco-friendly amenities. Don't Edit ALDI ALDI in Hoover Grocer ALDI is coming to Hoover's Stadium Trace Village development. Village developer Broad Metro LLC has announced the addition of ALDI to the project at Alabama 150 and Interstate 459. Don't Edit Silver Airways Silver September? It will take at least until September before Silver Airways is able to begin its promised daily flights between Huntsville and Orlando. Don't Edit Contributed photo Saunders funeral Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Highlands United Methodist Church for Harris Saunders Jr., who at one time led the third-largest truck leasing firm in the United States from Birmingham. Don't Edit Don't Edit Paula Deen's Family Kitchen Deen comes to the coast Paula Deen is cooking up something for Alabama. The Savannah, Ga., celebrity chef and television personality has announced a deal with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to bring her restaurant brand - Paula Deen's Family Kitchen - to the 520-acre OWA resort in Foley. Don't Edit Erin Edgemon | EEdgemon@AL.com Birmingham investment Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the Magic City has to make an investment in the city's future by helping fund the downtown stadium and improvements to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex even if the return won't be realized for a number of years. Three Birmingham men have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a 2017 crime spree that included an armed carjacking in Birmingham and the smash-and-grab theft of more than a dozen weapons from a Pelham store gun store. U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre this week handed down sentenced for Sidonte Tomar Harris, 20, Trevion Keonte Bennett, 22, and Olando Jackson Jr., 24, said U.S. Attorney Jay T. Town and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson. The court ordered the men to pay $16,000 in restitution to Alabama Guns and Outdoors. According to court records, Bennett and Harris on Jan. 12, 2017 carjacked a 2010 Dodge Ram truck from a man leaving a Birmingham convenience store. Several hours later, just after midnight, the three men stole 16 handguns from Alabama Guns and Outdoors after smashing the stolen truck through the store's front window. "This case is a prime example of ATF and local law enforcement working together to make Birmingham, and by extension the Northern District, a safer place," Town said. "We will continue to reward criminals and felons in the possession of firearms, and those who steal firearms and who straw-purchase firearms, with bed space in federal prison, returning our neighborhoods to law-abiding citizens." ATF, within 48 hours of the Jan. 13, 2017 gun-store break-in, recovered eight of the 16 stolen weapons. The guns stolen from Alabama Guns and Outdoors were: a Beretta .40-caliber pistol, two Springfield Armory 9mm pistols, two Springfield Armory .40-caliber pistols, a Springfield Armory .45-caliber pistol, a Colt .32-20 caliber revolver, a Beretta 9mm pistol, a Colt .38 special revolver, two Taurus .357-magnum revolvers, a Taurus .45-caliber revolver, two Smith and Wesson .357-magnum revolvers, a Heckler and Koch 9mm pistol, and a Glock 9mm pistol. The ATF investigated the case in conjunction with the Pelham Police Department. Harris was sentenced to seven years in prison for the gun store theft, the carjacking and for possessing a stolen Colt .38-caliber revolver, a Colt 32-20 caliber revolver and a Beretta .40-caliber pistol on Jan. 14, 2017, all which had been stolen from the gun store. Bennett was sentenced to 10 years and one month for various firearms violations, including the carjacking and gun store theft. Jackson was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the theft from the licensed gun store as well as other gun violations. Bennett and Jackson were sentenced for possessing a Heckler and Koch 9mm pistol and a Springfield .40-caliber pistol on Jan. 13, 2017, which had been stolen from the gun store, and for being convicted felons in possession of those and other guns on that date. Jackson also was sentenced for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms on Aug. 22, 2016, and on Oct. 5, 2016, for separate and unrelated crimes. "This sentencing is a result of the combined efforts of law enforcement and the community working together to reduce violent crime," Watson said. "ATF's Crime Gun Intelligence is the driving force behind the recovery of stolen firearms that potentially could have been used in violent criminal acts within our neighborhoods." An investigation is underway after a man showed up at a Birmingham hospital Friday morning with fatal gunshot wounds. Birmingham police said a black male was dropped off about 5 a.m. at Princeton Baptist Medical Center. He was pronounced dead a short time later. Two females dropped of the victim. He was shot multiple times. Lt. Pete Williston said detectives are trying to determine where the shooting happened. No other information was available. An hour earlier, Hoover police responded to a fatal shooting at an apartment complex in that city. And, Bessemer police also launched a death investigation but said there is no foul play suspected in that death. A North Carolina woman was killed and two others - including a child - in a two- vehicle crash in Blount County. Alabama State Troopers on Friday identified the fatality victim as Ashley Diane Lindsey. She was 28. The crash happened at 7:47 p.m. Thursday on Alabama 75, one mile south of Oneonta. Senior Trooper Chuck Daniel said Lindsey was a driving a 2005 Toyota Scion that collided with a 2014 Ford F-150. Lindsey was rushed to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A child in Lindsey's vehicle was taken to Children's of Alabama with injuries that aren't life-threatening. The driver of the pickup truck was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital in Oneonta with minor injuries. Birmingham police are searching for a pair of robbers they say are targeting those who cannot defend themselves. Three separate holdups carried out by a black male and a black female happened in Birmingham between May 6 and May 7, said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Pete Williston. The crimes took place in the following locations: 2300 block of 1st Avenue South, 1300 block of Bessemer Road and 3900 block of 4th Avenue South. Two of the victims were elderly - ages 89 and 90 - and the other was a teenager. The 90-year-old victim is disabled. In two of the holdups, force was used against the victims. In the third, Williston said, one of the suspects brandished a handgun. Both the male and female have been described as being between 30-50 years old. The same vehicle was used to leave the scene of all three robberies - a gray Ford Sedan with black rims. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police robbery detectives at 205-254-1754 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Birmingham police are searching for a pair of robbers they say are targeting those who cannot defend themselves. Three separate holdups carried out by a black male and a black female happened in Birmingham between May 6 and May 7, said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Pete Williston. The crimes took place in the following locations: 2300 block of 1st Avenue South, 1300 block of Bessemer Road and 3900 block of 4th Avenue South. Two of the victims were elderly - ages 89 and 90 - and the other was a teenager. The 90-year-old victim is disabled. In two of the holdups, force was used against the victims. In the third, Williston said, one of the suspects brandished a handgun. Both the male and female have been described as being between 30-50 years old. The same vehicle was used to leave the scene of all three robberies - a gray Ford Sedan with black rims. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police robbery detectives at 205-254-1754 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Sue Bell Cobb campaign worker Paul Littlejohn III, a convicted rapist, turned himself in after a warrant was sworn out for his arrest of violation the state's sex offender laws. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office on Thursday said their Sex Offender Unit was made aware Littlejohn was working as a pastor at a Jefferson County church. AL.com reported Wednesday that Littlejohn was working for the gubernatorial candidate's campaign, and also that he was working at Greater Shilo Missionary Baptist Church. Chief Deputy Randy Christian said Littlejohn had not reported this employment. Investigators from the Sheriff's Sex Offender Unit went to the church and verified his employment. They also learned that the church operates a daycare and is next door to an elementary school. Littlejohn is prohibited from living or working near an elementary school or daycare. Violation of the law is a felony. Investigators on Wednesday obtained an arrest warrant charging Littlejohn with a violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The warrant carries a bond of $11,000. Littlejohn turned himself in at 6:41 p.m. Efforts to reach the Cobb campaign were not immediately successful. Littlejohn, 55, was convicted in 1985 of rape and sodomy of an adult female, according to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency records. He maintained that he did not sexually assault the victim, but that he did not stop the incident, which occurred in a parking lot while he was waiting in his car. Cobb said her campaign was not aware of Littlejohn's criminal history until after he was hired. That appeared to contradict what her campaign manager, Landon Nichols, told AL.com's Roy Johnson in a feature about Littlejohn that was published Wednesday. Nichols said the campaign learned of Littlejohn's past through a background check before he was brought on, but the campaign manager told AL.com on Thursday that there was no background check and that the campaign had checked references. Littlejohn is a field director for Cobb. Through Unity Group Solutions, a company in which he is a partner, he is responsible for cultivating and delivering the African-American vote in the Birmingham region. In March, Unity was paid $19,066, according to Cobb's campaign disclosure forms. In April, the company was paid $18,739 for April. Littlejohn says he employs 12 people full-time for canvassing neighborhoods up to six days each week and three others for phone-banking. Speaking at a Thursday news conference in Linn Park, Cobb said Littlejohn, who she said was recommended to her, has been "literally the picture of redemption" since he was released from prison in 2014, pointing out that he has three degrees, managed a halfway house and became an associate minister. Shah Rukh Khan, the top movie star in India and one of the top stars in the world, is filming his new movie in Alabama this month, producers say. Production began this week in Huntsville of the film "Zero" starring Khan and Indian actresses Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. Crews have filmed at Grille 29, the Huntsville Botanical Garden and the Hindu Cultural Center of Alabama in Harvest. Film co-producer Karuna Badwal, who is also Khan's business manager, talked about the project Thursday at the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama outside Huntsville, where several dozen actors and locals were dressed in traditional Indian clothes for a temple scene. Badwal would not discuss the film's plot in detail, but she said some scenes will be filmed at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The film will be the most expensive Indian movie ever made, she said, partly because of the technical equipment the plot requires. Producers have brought 90 people from India to Huntsville and hired another 50 from American production companies, Badwal said. Prashant Shah, U.S. executive producer for the film, worked with the Alabama Film Office and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center to arrange production of the film in Huntsville. Friday's filming was of a wedding blessing from a priest to a couple engaged to be married. The cast went through several takes while visitors, including U.S. Space & Rocket Center CEO Dr. Deborah Barnhart, watched from the back of the temple. Khan has not arrived in Huntsville, and producers won't say when he will arrive or how long he will be in the city. Known in India and around the world as SRK, Khan has appeared in more than 80 films. He is the co-owner of his own film production company and has won awards for his support for children's education and for women's and children's rights in India. Hindu center President Rashpal Thakur said having a movie shot at the center "is a new experience," but he said it was "a very thrilling experience to share our religion and culture." The Huntsville area has a large Indian and Indian-American community with many members employed by the city's aerospace and defense industries. Thakur said the center has 1,000 families on its roles with about 500 active at any given time. Chief Justice Lyn Stuart has a big lead in fundraising in the Republican primary race against Associate Justice Tom Parker, who has gotten almost all his campaign money from a single source. Stuart, appointed chief justice last year to replace Roy Moore, is seeking a full, six-year term in the court's top post. She faces Parker in the June 5 primary, with the winner facing Democratic nominee Bob Vance in November. Stuart has raised $723,000 so far, with much of that coming from political action committees backed by businesses including the timber industry, builders, auto dealers, retailers, the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Business Council of Alabama and others. Alabama Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom Parker. (Mike Cason) Parker has raised $314,000, with $300,000 of that from the Alabama Association for Justice, previously known as the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association. Parker said "Montgomery insiders" are backing Stuart because they consider her the incumbent. "So those doors were shut in my face," Parker said. The trial lawyers and business groups are old rivals in Alabama court races. In the 1990s, an Democrat-controlled Alabama Supreme Court sat atop a court system that had a reputation for large jury awards in civil lawsuits. Business groups organized behind Republican candidates and turned the tables, and the GOP now holds all nine seats on the Supreme Court. Parker said trial lawyers' support for him is an effort to move the pendulum back toward the center. "The trial lawyers have over time really strived to have a restoration of a level playing field in the Supreme Court. So I think that's why they're supporting me," Parker said. "The pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction, and that's why we need some restoration." Stuart said she's heartened by the financial support she's receiving from a wide range of businesses and individuals, including some from lawyers. "I'm just proud of my broad-based support," Stuart said. Mike Kemp, chairman of the Business Council of Alabama's political action committee, ProgressPAC, issued a statement about the PAC's endorsement of Stuart. Kemp is president and CEO of Kemp Management Solutions LLC in Birmingham. "The business community got behind Chief Justice Stuart's candidacy early on because she has a proven track record of being fair and impartial," Kemp said. "She has outstanding credentials, which make her more than qualified to serve as Alabama's chief justice. Her commitment to the rule of law and conservative judicial philosophy is second to none." Stuart's campaign has spent $378,000 and has $344,000 on hand, according to the listings on the Secretary of State's website. Parker's campaign has spent $215,000 and shows a balance of $131,000. This story was updated at 2:28 p.m. on May 11 to add statement from Mike Kemp. A buoy in the Southern Ocean may have recorded the Southern Hemisphere's tallest wave this week. How tall? According to the Meteorological Metservice of New Zealand it was 23.8 meters, or more than 78 feet high. .@MetOceanNZ measured huge 23.8 m maximum #wave height in Southern Ocean and says surfers in California will feel its effects next week! North Atlantic retains world record as WMO measures significant (average) rather than maximum wave height. https://t.co/79lhmZxvSZ pic.twitter.com/1ewZgmagZK WMO | OMM (@WMO) May 11, 2018 The buoy, owned by MetOcean Solutions, was located far south of New Zealand on Campbell Island. The 23.8 meters is the maximum wave height. There's another way used to measure waves as well. It's the significant wave height, which is an average of the top third of waves measured from their crest to trough. The significant wave height for the Southern Ocean wave was 14.9 meters. That was a record for the Southern Ocean, Tom Durrant, an oceanographer for the Meteorological Metservice of New Zealand, told the Sydney Morning Herald. Durrant also said that it's possible there were even some larger waves during Tuesday's storm, because the buoys only record data for 20 minutes every hour to save battery power. According to NOAA the Southern Ocean is the "newest" named ocean. It is recognized by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names as the body of water extending from the coast of Antarctica to the line of latitude at 60 degrees South. The record holder for waves worldwide, according to the World Meteorological Organization, is a 19-meter (62.3 feet) significant wave height measured by a buoy in the North Atlantic on Feb. 4, 2013. Durrant told the paper that the waves are expected to hit North America in about a week's time. Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson on Friday released his first TV ad in his gubernatorial campaign, sharing the story of hope and faith that he learned from his father. Dawson, one of four candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the June 5 primary, is the last to go on the television airwaves. The 30-second spot, titled "Learning About Faith," will begin airing statewide on Monday. The ad focuses on the impact on Dawson's life when his father lost his job as a truck driver when the company closed. "The message of the spot resonates with voters across Alabama who are tired of electing the same politicians and getting the same results," Scott Dawson said in the announcement of the ad. "Voters want a leader with a vision of hope for the future who will restore faith in Alabama." The ad closes with Dawson repeating a favorite phrase about the need for hope. "You know, you can go days without food, but you can't go one second without hope," Dawson said in the ad. "And, he had just this deep sense of faith that God was going to pull him through." Starbucks is revising its bathroom policy after an incident at a Philadelphia store last month that resulted in the arrest of two black men. Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson were accused of trespassing last month after the manager said the two men refused to buy anything or leave the store. The two were led away in handcuffs and spent hours in jail but no charges were filed. The men, who said they were waiting for a third person to arrive to discuss a business deal, later settled with the company for $1 each and a $200,000 pledge from Starbucks to set up a program for young entrepreneurs. During the short time the men were in the Starbucks location, Nelson said he asked the manager if he could use the restroom and was told it was for paying customers only. Executive Chairman Howard Schultz now said the chain's bathroom will be open to anyone who needs to use them, no purchase required. "We don't want to become a public bathroom, but we're going to make the right decision 100 percent of the time and give people the key, because we don't want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than. We want you to be more than," Schultz added. Starbucks previously announced it will close its more than 8,000 U.S. stores on May 29 to provide training on unconscious racial bias. After a day that started with Sue Bell Cobb calling her campaign's Jefferson County field director -- who had been convicted of rape and sodomy in 1985 -- "the picture of redemption," and ended with him turning himself in to authorities on a warrant for allegedly violating the state's sex offender notification law, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate would not say whether she stands by her comments about Paul Littlejohn III. "There is so much we still don't know and like any good judge would tell you: it would be unethical to make a decision without having all the facts of the case. When we have the facts, we will make a decision," Cobb campaign manager Landon Nichols told AL.com in a text message Thursday night. "What I can tell you is that it's an absolute shame for Paul and his family to be victims of targeted political attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with them." Littlejohn, who was released in 2014, said work he had done for the Doug Jones and Randall Woodfin campaigns helped turn his life around. Cobb said she received glowing recommendations about Littlejohn, and on Thursday morning said she had no regrets about hiring him. She said she did not accept Littlejohn's resignation when he offered it following stories in AL.com and the Alabama Political Reporter. "I simply would not fire someone who was redeemed, who was rehabilitated," she said during a news conference in Linn Park on Thursday morning, pointing out that Littlejohn had several degrees, managed a halfway house and became an associate minister. "This is an individual who paid his price, his debt to society and turned his life around. To be honest, I trust him with my life." But by Thursday afternoon, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department put out a warrant for Littlejohn's arrest for violating Alabama's sex offender registration and notification law. Littlejohn, who is a registered sex offender, was employed by at Greater Shilo Missionary Baptist Church, which operates a daycare, the sheriff's office said. As a registered sex offender, Littlejohn is prohibited from working or living near daycare centers or schools, and violating that provision of the law is a felony. The Cobb campaign worker denied to AL.com that he committed rape but said he regretted not stopping the woman from being assaulted in a parking lot where he was sitting in his car in 1984. Littlejohn turned himself in to authorities on the warrant at 6:41 p.m. Thursday. Former state Rep. James Fields, one of Cobb's primary rivals, said he was "deeply troubled" over the developments. "My opponent's field director and I have had brief interaction with each other while at campaign forums and debates. I am deeply troubled to learn that a convicted and unregistered sex offender has been a member of my opponent's campaign staff," he said in a statement to AL.com. "However, I do wish he and his family the strength to endure this challenge. I'm sure he and my opponent have learned from this." Through the year, AL.com journalists will be reporting stories from "The Many," a Facebook group created by journalism organization Spaceship Media, and launched in partnership with AL.com. Our stories will detail how these conservative, independent and liberal Alabama women are exploring local and national issues together and with women from around the country. When Lauren Rowland had a night to herself last week, she turned to a group of women she'd never met in real life, to ask if they wanted to get dinner with her. Rowland, whose parents were watching her 2-year-old for the evening, posted in The Many's Facebook group to ask if there were any other Montgomery-area women who wanted to meet up. Ashley Edwards jumped at the chance. The two women are among the most active in the group. They began tagging other Montgomery women to invite them to the last-minute meetup. It wasn't planned ahead of time, and wasn't organized by The Many's moderators. There was no agenda, just good food and getting to know the faces behind the Facebook profiles. In the end, Rowland and Edwards met at a Montgomery restaurant, El Rey Burrito Lounge. It was Cinco de Mayo, after all. "It was pretty awesome," said Edwards. She's a recent college graduate, a Montgomery social worker about to start a master's degree in social work at Auburn University. "Lauren is one of the most engaging people in the group," she said. "She's constantly seeking to understand others and she's constantly asking questions of the women. I was super excited to meet her in person because I really admire her participation." Rowland, an Atlanta transplant who now works for the Alabama Department of Commerce, said they had a great chat over tacos and cake. They talked about their lives and families, and about what it's like participating in a group like The Many. "I couldn't have asked for a better person to meet up with," she said. "Ashley is everything, so perfectly well-rounded." The women share similarly liberal views on most issues, and have traditionally voted for Democratic candidates. They bonded over similar outlooks that night, but said they hope to meet up with conservative women in the future. In moderation Rowland said she joined The Many, a moderated Facebook group of around 180 women spanning social and political beliefs, a few months ago as a way to learn how to better communicate with conservative family and friends. She grew up in Greenville, Ala. before moving to Atlanta after graduating from the University of Alabama. When she moved back to Alabama with her daughter, she struggled to relate with family members who are conservative evangelicals and had voted for Donald Trump. "I've always been politically opposite from my family," she said. "In moving back here and working for the government, local and statewide politics have my attention now. The Trump election created a divide, and the Doug Jones-Roy Moore election created a huge obstacle in us being able to discuss politics at home." She saw The Many as "a way to hone my skills in listening and understanding, so I can come back with a better approach." The Many is a moderated group, where admins and group members share articles and ask questions about topics ranging from race to foreign policy, healthcare to the economy. Edwards said since joining, she has been constantly reevaluating and adapting how she interacts with people online. "I didn't expect how much patience it would take," she said. "I think I sort of underestimated how uncomfortable I would get. That has been surprising. I think I assumed a lot going in, and now this group has been breaking down those assumptions." There are rules the group follows in order to maintain civility: no memes, no name-calling, no stereotyping. Sometimes after a question is posted, one political group is asked to wait a few hours to respond, to allow the other side to post comments without being immediately challenged. "We've learned how to structure threads so voices aren't lost," said Rowland. "It's helped me (not) read only with the intent to reply." Race, Trump and abortion The Trump presidency has been one of the more divisive issues the group tackles. "Donald Trump is a mindboggling thing for people who are left-leaning," said Rowland. "There have been a lot of different threads where that point has played out." Comments get heated when the president is mentioned. "Some people feel maligned when the president is insulted or critiqued," said Edwards. "We're trying to learn how to talk about the presidency in a way that respects people that voted for him." Race is one issue where both women said the group has made strides. "I think I'm surprised at how much people are talking about race," said Edwards, who is black. "I think I'm also surprised that people, at least to me, appear to have a desire to understand each other when it comes to race." She worries that some women in the group seem afraid to ask difficult questions about race because of the way they might be perceived. Rowland agreed. "When we talked about Kanye (West), one commenter, who is African-American, said, 'Why aren't white people talking about this? It's OK for you to talk about it," said Rowland, who is white. "Everybody's trying to be extremely respectful, but it's OK to speak up. We're working through some of the issues around race." Abortion is a different story. Both women said it's been impossible for conservative and liberal women to come to an understanding. Though Rowland said she had an experience where a conservative woman in the group who identifies as both pro-life and a feminist presented her views in a way that made Rowland pause. "She did raise some points that made me think," said Rowland. "I didn't change my position, but it made me nuance that position a little bit. It made me think harder about things." Potential Rowland and Edwards plan to invite others to join a second meet-up soon. Rowland wants to create an "open door" for women of different backgrounds and ages to meet, discuss issues and find what they have in common. Edwards sees in-person connection as the end goal. "I think for me, that's what I've been wanting this whole time," said Edwards. "Realizing there's only so far you can get with online conversations, especially when there's a disagreement. "This group reminds me that these conversations have more potential than what we can achieve online. I hope to do it again." If you are interested in joining The Many, visit A trial was to open Friday morning in federal court in Mobile for the Baldwin County doctor accused of improperly prescribing opioids to 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts, who died of an overdose. Roberts died in August 2016 in a hotel during a trip to perform in Milwaukee. He had left 3 Doors Down several years before, citing health issues, but was still known for his association with the group and his lead guitar work on hits such as "Kryptonite." His death was attributed to a combination of drugs including Fentanyl, hydrocodone and alprazolam. Dr. Richard Snellgrove of Fairhope later was indicted on charges including unlawful distribution of controlled substances and healthcare fraud. Snellgrove has entered a plea of not guilty. A complaint filed by DEA Special Agent Michael Burt contains a series of allegations against Snellgrove. It holds that "there is probable cause to believe Dr. Snellgrove prescribed controlled substances to Matthew Roberts for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice." It describes a "final series of events that directly lead to Matthew's death." According to the complaint, shortly before his trip to Milwaukee, Roberts contacted Snellgrove for prescriptions. When he had difficulty filling a prescription for 50-microgram Fentanyl patches, he was able to get Snellgrove to write a prescription for 75-microgram patches. At least one pharmacist, worried about the increase in dosage, refused to fill that order, but Roberts was eventually able to fill it. The complain also alleges that over the course of his association with Roberts, Snellgrove wrote prescriptions for two other people, knowing the drugs were intended for Roberts. The trial is being overseen by Judge Kristi K. DuBose. The cost of attending community college in Alabama is set to go up. The Alabama Community College System approved a $10-a-credit-hour increase to go into effect this fall. The increase brings the average cost of attending a community college in Alabama to $153 an hour, the OA News reported. "A $10 per credit hour tuition adjustment will bring the average cost of tuition and fees at Alabama's community colleges to $153 per credit hour, an amount less than half the average per credit hour at the state's four-year public institutions," ACCS Chancellor Jimmy Baker said in his recommendation. The extra tuition is expected to generate about $14 million a year, with half of the revenue going divided among the community colleges and the remainder going back to the system for statewide support. Alabama has 23 community colleges and two technical colleges with more than 70,000 students. More than 6,300 community college students in Alabama transferred to four-year colleges or universities last year, according to the ACCS, while 27,000 students were served through Adult Education programs. A lecturer at the University of Florida is on paid administrative leave after students were handled roughly during graduation ceremonies. The actions of the gradation marshal, identified only as a chemistry lecturer, are currently under review, according to the Gainesville Sun. The review comes after videos surfaced showing the man pushing and restraining students taking part in ceremonies for the College of Nursing and College of Liberal Arts and Science. Many of the students who were restrained were African-Americans, some of whom later said they were performing choreographed routines in honor of their Greek organizations. UF President Kent Fuchs has apologized for the marshal's behavior and promised a review of graduation policies. "We failed. The university and I failed to provide an appropriate event for all of our students so they could be celebrated and they could celebrate their graduations," Fuchs said, adding a specific apology for students that were rushed across the stage, constrained or pulled. The University of Florida Association of Black Alumni called on the school to provide mandatory training on implicit bias to all marshals and to investigate why no one stopped the man on the stage. "The Black Student Union wants the community to know we plan to hold our administration accountable to create positive tangible change in response to recent events of this past weekend's graduation ceremony," the union said in its statement. "While we appreciate President Fuchs' assurances that the practice has been halted for all future ceremonies, it's is not enough." In the trial of Dr. Richard Snellgrove for the overdose death of rock guitarist Matt Roberts, prosecutors and defense attorneys are working from some common facts and agree there was a victim. They disagree on who that is. In opening arguments early Friday in a federal courtroom in Mobile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Bodnar began by describing the morning in August 2016 when a hotel worker in West Bend, Wisc., went to check on a report of someone sleeping in a hallway. Instead she found Roberts, 38, dead. Roberts had risen to fame as lead guitarist of the extremely successful rock band 3 Doors Down in the '90s and 2000s. He and other founding members hailed from coastal Mississippi and enjoyed a string of hit singles, including "Kryptonite," and bestselling albums. In 2012 he left the group, citing health problems, but continued to perform occasionally in various settings. His death came during a trip to perform at a Milwaukee-area benefit concert. Roberts was found to have multiple drugs in his system, including hydrocodone and the potent painkiller Fentanyl. Following a DEA investigation, prosecutors have charged that Roberts' death was the direct result of criminal behavior by Snellgrove, in that he allegedly catered to Roberts' addiction by readily giving him excessive medication. Dennis Knizley, an attorney representing Snellgrove, said that his client was the true victim here. Snellgrove's actions all had been reasonable, he said, and if Roberts had chosen to abuse legitimately prescribed drugs -- or to obtain more of them deceptively via family members -- the blame fell to him, not the doctor "duped" in the process. Knizley flung one of prosecutors' allegations directly back at them. Bodnar told jurors that Snellgrove had given Roberts special treatment because he was "enamored by celebrity status" and was thrilled to be part of the musician's small inner circle. Knizley said the fact that Roberts had some fame "at least at one point in his life," was the only thing that drove the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office to cook up a criminal case. Prior to Roberts' death there had been no investigation of Snellgrove, no accusation of malfeasance, Knizley told the jury. It was only Roberts' fame, Knizley said, that motivated prosecutors to vault past any argument of negligent treatment or malpractice and go all the way to criminal prosecution. "This is a case that starts at the death, and then the federal government wants to work backward and see what they can find," Knizley said. What they'll find, he said, is that Roberts and some of his associates were active abusers of a range of drugs. "Matthew Roberts had the good life. And he took a lot of drugs," Knizley said at one point. At another, he said he expects an associate to testify about repeatedly helping Roberts acquire street drugs. Roberts and some of his close friends were "a bunch of dopers," he said. Friday's opening arguments spelled out several key areas of contention: Prosecutors allege that Snellgrove knew some prescriptions he wrote for Roberts' father, Darrell Roberts Sr., and his cousin, Jeremy Ryals, were "pass-throughs" that would go to Matt Roberts. Knizley said that any prescriptions he wrote for them were completely legitimate, and Snellgrove was not to blame if they diverted the drugs to Matt Roberts. Prosecutors specifically allege that Roberts' death was caused by Fentanyl that he obtained through a prescription that Snellgrove wrote on August 18, 2016. Bodnar said that while there were other drugs in his system, and a coroner initially assigned "multiple drug intoxication" as the cause of death, testimony would show that his death could be attributed entirely to the Fentanyl. Knizley scoffed at that argument and went on to say that if the Fentanyl had been legitimately prescribed, then the point was moot. Prosecutors allege that Roberts got preferential treatment from Snellgrove, such as being able to text him for prescriptions. Right before the fateful Wisconsin trip, he was able to rapidly get a stronger Fentanyl prescription after business hours, when he had trouble getting one filled for a lesser dose. Knizley said the idea that Roberts got preferential treatment based on his celebrity was "100 percent poppycock." He promised to present testimony from other patients who would say that Snellgrove had been happy to respond to their calls and texts after business hours. "This is a caring, conscientious doctor who only cares about taking care of his patient," he said. The question of whether Snellgrove's treatment was legitimate takes the case into a somewhat subjective area. The benchmarks in federal law are that prescriptions must "serve a legitimate medical purpose" and be "within the usual course" of professional practice. The first witness called by prosecutors on Friday was Susannah Herkert, a DEA instructor who is a veteran drug diversion investigator. She was cross-examined by Arthur T. Powell III, another attorney representing Snellgrove. Powell pressed Herkert on a fine detail of the law. The applicable statute didn't say that a doctor's conduct had to be within "the usual course of professional practice," Powell maintained, it said it had to be within "the usual course of his professional practice." The latter wording would seem to imply that it is an individual doctor's usual practice that matters, not some generally accepted community standard. Herkert seemed extremely reluctant to go along with that line of thought, as Powell repeated pressed her for a direct answer. "Ma'am, you're an English major, correct?" he asked. Herkert affirmed that she was, and -- in response to a follow-up question -- said that she was familiar with the concept and use of personal pronouns. Court records indicate that the trial is expected to take two to three weeks. It is being overseen by Chief U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose. A White House official derisively dismissed John McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's CIA nominee in a closed-door staff meeting Thursday by saying that the senator from Arizona battling brain cancer is "dying anyway," according to another White House official with knowledge of the comment. Kelly Sadler, a special assistant in the communications office who helps manage talking points for Trump allies, made the comment about McCain during a discussion among the White House communications staffers about Gina Haspel's nomination for CIA director, which the Arizona Republican announced Wednesday that he opposed. "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway," Sadler said, according to the official with knowledge of the comment, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because remarks made during internal meetings are intended to remain confidential. Sadler's comment was first reported by The Hill and confirmed by The Washington Post. A White House spokesman did not dispute the report and issued a statement on behalf of the White House: "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." Haspel, the CIA's acting director, issued a statement: "I have the utmost respect for Senator McCain and I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which he has approached this nomination process." The senator's wife, Cindy McCain, said in a Twitter message targeted at Sadler Thursday evening: "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren." Sadler's comment comes amid tension between the White House and McCain, 81, who has been at home in Arizona fighting brain cancer. McCain - a Navy officer who was captured in Vietnam after his aircraft crashed and was tortured as a prisoner of war - urged his Senate colleagues to oppose Haspel's nomination. After watching Haspel's Senate testimony Wednesday, McCain issued a statement saying that although Haspel is "a patriot" and a longtime public servant, her past work at the CIA overseeing interrogation programs was "disturbing." "Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying," McCain wrote in a statement. "I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination." The fraught relationship between McCain and Trump dates back several years. In the summer of 2015, shortly after launching his presidential campaign, Trump mocked McCain's war service, saying of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee: "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured." The New York Times reported last weekend that McCain's associates had informed the White House that they do not plan to give Trump a speaking role at his funeral, to be held at Washington National Cathedral, but that Vice President Mike Pence would be welcome to attend. (c) 2018, The Washington Post, Written by Philip Rucker. The Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge project and the widening of Interstate 565 in Huntsville can move forward without either "impeding the progress" of the other, according to a spokesman with Gov. Kay Ivey. "The two projects are at different stages of development," said Daniel Sparkman, the governor's spokesman, who is not working on her campaign. "Both projects are important to the Ivey administration, because without good infrastructure, the wheels of commerce will cease to turn." His comments come two days after Ivey and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle butted heads over the placement of the I-565 project on the state's list of priority infrastructure projects. Battle and Ivey are two of four Republicans running for governor ahead of the June 5 primary. Ivey made an unprompted statement during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Huntsville Wednesday to reiterate her views that I-565 - an interstate spur from I-65 to Huntsville - is a "high priority." Speaking to reporters after the event, Ivey said she wasn't sure whether I-565 would be moved up the list of state infrastructure priorities ahead of the I-10 bridge. She said it "has not been discussed so I can't comment on that right now." The new multi-lane bridge above the Mobile River, and the subsequent widening of the I-10 Bayway from Mobile to Baldwin County, had been the state's No. 1 infrastructure priority during the final months of Gov. Robert Bentley's administration. At the time, the bridge project was estimated to cost around $850 million. But those estimates have since been adjusted, and officials believe it could be around $2 billion. The Mobile and Huntsville area projects are completely different from each other. The Alabama Department of Transportation will rely upon traditional federal and state grants for the I-565 project, which is estimated to cost anywhere between $70 million and $100 million. The I-10 bridge and Bayway project will likely rely, at least in part, on private-sector funding. A tolling system is expected to be implemented, according to Baldwin County Commission Chairman Chris Elliott, who is running for state Senate this year. Elliott said the state is also pursuing $250 million in federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding American (INFRA) grants for the job. A state expenditure of $20 million for engineering and environmental work is expected to be one of the initial steps. Said U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope: "The I-10 bridge project is much further along, so I do not consider the projects to be competing at all." Three design teams are in the hunt to be awarded the state's contract to rebuild I-10 through Mobile, and a decision could be made by year's end. Elliott's prediction: "We'll be driving on this bridge in 2025." The bridge project looks to clear up the bottlenecks that form on the east-west interstate near downtown Mobile. During peak traffic during summer travel months, traffic congestion can be backed up for miles. The Hill newspaper listed I-10 in Mobile as one of five major interstates in "dire need of repair." The I-565 project is viewed by Tennessee Valley lawmakers, including Battle, as a priority for the northern part of Alabama. The lane-widening project is needed, they say, to address a traffic bottleneck prior to the opening of the Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing USA facility. The Mazda-Toyota joint effort is projected to bring 10,000 direct and indirect jobs to the area. The crux of Wednesday's controversy involved where the I-565 project ranked among ALDOT's priorities. An ALDOT planning document showed the project not under construction until 2043. But ALDOT officials said this week that those plans are outdated. Tony Harris, a spokesman with ALDOT, said he doesn't like the term "top priority" to distinguish between two major infrastructure projects. Said Byrne: "As our state continues to grow and attract new businesses, these two projects just highlight the need to think outside the box and find innovative way to rebuild our infrastructure." Battle, in Mobile on Friday, questioned why ALDOT documents didn't reflect the urgency that Ivey vocalized on Wednesday. Harris, in a statement to AL.com on Thursday, said the project is a "high priority to us." He said that the ALDOT planning documents are outdated, but could not put an estimated construction date on when the project might start. "As far as the ALDOT plans go, and I'm reading them from March 2018, these projects are still sitting at 2042 (to begin construction)," said Battle. "Promises have to be more than just talking about them. We have to follow through with them. There is a promise to us, and there is a promise to I-10. We need to follow through with these." Also pouncing was Scott Dawson, the Birmingham evangelist who another Republican candidate for governor. In a statement to AL.com, Dawson said that politicians on the campaign trail cannot alter road plans to appease people in certain regions of the state. "I realize that with Toyota-Mazda, Huntsville's I-565 can expect traffic increases, but I also know that Huntsville has had its fair share of recent road projects," Dawson said. "I-65 is terrible and I-10 needs prioritized expansion because beach tourism brings millions of dollars of revenue which benefit the entire state." He added, "We have a road plan already in Alabama, groundwork is happening for future projects, and work is getting done on current projects. A politician on the trail can't just change up the priorities by the minute." Oh crap. Or should I say ... O-craps! This week I asked former Alabama Attorney General Troy King, who is rolling the dice on another term as AG, about a series of gambling-related patents he filed with the U.S. Patent office a few years back. Like the table bingo game called - no lie -- O-craps! And suddenly it was as if I'd asked Lance Armstrong if he was doping. No! Heck no! I know nothing! Hey, look over there! King said he filed the patents simply on behalf of a client. He said he has no financial interest in any of them, and reiterated that "I don't have anything to do with it." O-craps! Troy King wants to be attorney general again. (File). Because that's not what the guy who wants to be Alabama's top law enforcement official said in 2013 after he formed the company Innovate! Technologies Group LLC, which developed O-craps! and several other bingo games and boards. He described himself then as the creator and president of the company, and in the old days spoke openly about O-craps! -- a class II bingo game played not on a video screen, but on a table with balls, cards and daubers to mark off the numbers. "I don't know of anything like it that's in the market," he told reporter Kim Chandler in 2013. "It's a different take on bingo." King - who was neck deep in Alabama's bingo wars when he ran the AG's office from 2004 to 2011 - told Chandler he got involved with the gambling patents after a conversation with friends. "They said, 'I wish somebody could think of a way to do this.' So, I did," King said five years ago. This week he said he just filed it for a client. That is all. O-craps! Roll the dice on duplicity why don't ya. I've gotta say, it's symbolic of this whole attorney general's race. King's full O-craps! And Robert Bentley appointee Steve Marshall would rent out ethics like a timeshare for the Big Mules. Would-be AG Alice Martin stepped hip deep into Luther Strange's swamp and Chess Bedsole should stick to checkers. And that's just the GOP. The Democrats have a Siegelman against Chris Christie - a big-name problem. Questioned later in the day about his different stories, King said he was truthful both times. He had friends who became clients who asked him to do it so he set up the company and became president and ... Sure. That's exactly the same thing as saying it was just for a client. A client, by the way, that he refused to identify. King - who says he is not pro-gambling but pro-law, denied he had taken any gambling money at all in his race for AG. Which is - O-craps! -- clearly not true, according to secretary of state records. He has taken $5,000 from Brian Huntley, a co-director of the Texas company H3 Gaming Inc., and $1,000 from Lewis Benefield, the son-in-law of the late gambling magnate Milton McGregor and for former COO of a company licensed to provide electronic bingo machines at McGregor's VictoryLand. But King says it's not gambling money - "If he had called me and said he had a check from VictoryLand I would have said 'We don't take gambling money." But he took $10,000 from Bonjan Ventures, whose CEO also runs several companies involved in gaming, including one which provides equipment to tribal lotteries. And that's just a start. But don't tell it to King. He sees Huntley as a guy from the VFW in Texas, and Benefield as a veterinarian, and Bonjan as just a capital investment company. If they are connected to gambling, he will not see it. Come on, man. Just speak the truth. Alabama has had enough of those O-craps! moments. John Archibald's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. Rhonda Medina thought her daughter Gabby would be over the moon with excitement. Medina is president of the Mercer County chapter of Jack and Jill Inc. in New Jersey, all but smack dab in the middle of the state. Earlier this year, she told her now 15-year-old that the organization's national president wanted her to perform a poem she had written--it's called Unapologetically Black--when the esteemed group of African-American mothers dedicated to raising "the next generation of African-American leaders" came to Birmingham in May to celebrate and engage with foot soldiers who marched and faced "Bull' Connor's police dogs and fire hoses 55 years ago in the fight against segregation. The look on Gabby's face, however, did not speak of excitement, joy or pride. "It was like," Medina recalls, "I threw a bucket of cold water on her." "Mommy," Gabby said, "are we going to be safe?" Alabama, despite our recent progress, still has a bit of an image problem. Birmingham, even worse. Especially among African-American elsewhere in the nation, African-Americans who've never been here, who weren't shuffled off to live with family in the South during the summers of their youth, or who've never been to a family reunion here wearing matching T-shirts in the sweltering heat of July and August. African Americans who know our history only as it is still played out in documentaries and history books. Even among the most successful African-American men and women who embody the legacy of Dr. W.E.B Dubois' 'talented tenth'. Truth be told, though, back in 1903, the famed sociologist, activist and author wrote that the "Negro" race would be "saved by its exceptional men". Thirty-five years later, 21 African-American mothers in Philadelphia came together and said: we've got this, too. They created a group that would provide social, cultural and educational opportunities for their children and named it after the famed hill-climbing nursery rhymers: Jack and Jill. Today, there are 238 Jack and Jill of America chapters nationwide, boosted by 40,000 black mothers still committed to providing those same opportunities for their children. The mothers were (and still are) physicians, attorneys, judges, leaders in business, academia, the arts--or they're married to men who are. Through the years, many Jack and Jill families were among the first African Americans to move into once-all-white neighborhoods. They sent their children to schools where they would likely be one of the few black students in the classroom--if not the only one. The "raisin in the milk", as we whisper among ourselves. Those children are often among the best and brightest. Yet when it comes to knowledge about Alabama and Birmingham, many of them and their parents remain stuck in time. So Gabby wasn't the only member for whom the idea of coming to Birmingham to participate in the organization's Children's Crusade was, well, frightening. "They thought this was going to be something like Charlottesville," said Joli Cooper-Nelson, Jack & Jill's national president, who is originally from Mobile and now lives in Tampa. "[The children] have grown up under the time of Obama, so this social environment today is so different to them," she added. "Even us parents have a hard time processing what we're seeing--the intolerance, the random killing. If it's difficult for us, think about the children. So, we have to be very thoughtful and methodical in how we teach and prepare them, and we believe experiential learning has a lot to do with that." Medina is vice president of business and legal affairs at the Universal Kids network. She was born in Indiana, and had been to Birmingham only once, for business, in-and-out, seeing little more than a hotel room and the conference area of the BJCC. She and her husband, who is from Harlem, began taking their four children to Europe when they were barely toddlers. They've been to London, Paris, Rome, "everywhere," she said, "But they'd never been to the South in the U.S.," Medina added. "So, there was a sort of arrested development. Their impression of the South was frozen in time--certainly Birmingham, which conjured images of police dogs, "Bull' Connor and Bombingham. That's all the kids knew." When Gabby asked her if they'd be safe here, Medina thought: "Lord, did I not teach my child? Lord, have mercy." She and Gabby did come to Birmingham last weekend and were among 2,200 Jack and Jill members who registered for the Children's Crusade event. While here, members met foot soldiers and civil rights icons like Sarah Collins Rudolph, Dianne Braddock, Jefferson Drew, Bishop Calvin Woods and Willie A. Casey; heard speakers such as Martin Luther King III and long-time child advocate Marian Wright Edelman at the iconic 16th St. Baptist Church; marched from historic Kelly Ingram Park (where the original child marchers first encountered Connors' dogs and fire hoses) to Railroad Park and visited one of four black-history museums in Alabama and Georgia. "In Rome, a taxi driver kept pointing out remnants of ancient Rome that were still prominent in the middle of the city," Medina recalled. "It was as if history refused to die. Walking through Birmingham, we got that same feeling, as shadows of the movement popped up here and there. "I was a bit ashamed that this is the history of my people--we knew the history but didn't know it still lives here," she added, "and that you can still see and talk to the people who made that history." The event was nine months in the making--and organized by Nyya Parson-Hudson, a Birmingham Municipal court judge, Children's Crusade Chair and Jack and Jill Southeasterm Regional Secretary, which encompasses Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida and Tennessee). She wasn't surprised to learn of the trepidation of many members about attending the event. "Many people have not experienced the new Birmingham, or Birmingham at all," she said. To allay fears, the organization conducted webinars, hosted forums with the group's teen presidents and produced a study guide in partnership with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. "A lot of people thought the South was worse than it is," said Birmingham chapter president Terri Gardner, a diversity specialist at the United States Post Office. "It's hard to explain." Seventy-eight mothers comprise the Birmingham chapter, which was founded in 1955. Some live as far south as Clanton, others as north as Hayden. There are also chapters in Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, and Tuskegee. Carole Robertson, one of the four little girls killed in the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist, was a Jack & Jill member. Her mother, Alpha, in fact, was the organization's first Southeastern regional director. Each September Jack & Jill celebrates Robertson nationwide. Even so, a gap remained. "For a lot of the children, they didn't know why we were celebrating it," said Cooper-Nelson while the group gathered for their march last Saturday in Ingram park. "Now, to see where she's from, where she went to church, they'll never forget it." "It's important to show the living heroes still among us," she said. "To be able to expose them to our youth and mother members and fathers who may have just read about them and never touched history. Medina and Gabby were the only families from the Mercer County chapter venture to Alabama. Before they returned she, and perhaps thousands like her, was eager to share with those too fearful to come. "I'm gonna tell them what they missed," Medina said. "It was a revelatory experience." Today I want to bring you my guide to things to do in Panama City. This Central American capital has a lot to offer, and its worth spending a couple days exploring it. Things to Do in Panama City My Central America trip is coming to an end. Panama City is the last stop on my itinerary, but its one Ive been looking forward to for a long time. From the legendary canal to the colonial-era architecture and modern skyscrapers, this place has loads to show me. So Im going to spend my two days here discovering as many things to do in Panama City as I can. I arrive in Panama at sunset after a flight from Nicaragua. The sky turns hot pink as my taxi speeds through the steel-and-glass downtown. Explore Casco Viejo Soon I arrive in Casco Viejo, the historic heart of the city where beautiful heritage buildings abound. Casco Viejo is my home for the next two nights, and Im staying at the Magnolia Inn. Set in a pretty purple building in the center of the neighborhood, its a great base for exploring the area. The staff is welcoming, my room is spacious and stylish, and I love the terrace overlooking the street. I spend my first full day finding all the things to do in Panama Citys historic district. Casco Viejo is steeped in colonial charm, and theres something to see everywhere I turn. I start by following the heritage trail thats signposted throughout the neighborhood. It offers insights into local places of interest, churches, squares, and other landmarks, and gives a great overview of the areas past. Afterwards I walk out onto the old city walls, where I find a seafront promenade with vendors selling all kinds of local handicrafts. It has great views of the skyscrapers in the distance and the container ships waiting for access to the Panama Canal. Below it is a monument to the 19th-century French attempt to build a canal in Panama. Its a moving tribute to the leaders of the effort and those who lost their lives to disease and other tragedies as the building process took place. Not far away I discover a vibrant local market in the Plaza de la Independencia. I get some food from one of the stalls, then sit in a rotunda under pink flowering trees to take in the scene as I eat. Elsewhere in the neighborhood I find townhouses in every pastel shade, ornate churches and ruined ones, and balconies with intricate ironwork. There are stylish shops and good restaurants, and above all, lively venues for Casco Viejos famous nightlife scene. And then theres the fish market. Visiting the Mercado de Mariscos is one of the most popular things to do in Panama City. Given its located right next to Casco Viejo, its easy for me to get to. I walk over and explore the indoor market, where vendors hawk their seafood under industrial lights. Afterwards I settle in at one of the many local restaurants and enjoy some of the freshest ceviche Ive ever had. At sunset, I wander back to the city walls and find them alive with locals celebrating everything from quinceaneras to weddings. Couples walk hand-in-hand along the waterfront, and girls carry roses from their special someones. Go to the Panama Canal But as much as I love Casco Viejo, Panama City is best known for something else: the canal. I couldnt visit Panama without going to Miraflores to see the ships going through the locks. Its one of the main things to do in Panama City. On my second day I head over to the Panama Canal take it all in. Its an easy taxi ride from my hotel and I arrive ready to see the action. The ships only pass through at certain hours, so Ive timed my arrival to coincide with their presence. I spend the first hour in awe of the boats, the locks, and the great feats of engineering that make it all possible. Inside the Miraflores Visitor Center, I walk through floor after floor of exhibits on the canals history, biodiversity, expansion, and future, amazed at the effort that has gone into it over the years. I then watch a short film that covers some of the same information before heading back to Casco Viejo to collect my bags and go to the airport. Best Things to Do in Panama City Despite only having a short time in Panama, Ive managed to take in a lot and find a range of experiences. There are so many things to do in Panama City, and Im glad Ive been able to absorb history, food, culture, and canal in the two days Ive spent here. As I fly back to London and leave Central America behind, Im happy to have gotten an overview of six different countries and cultures on my trip. I knew relatively little about them before I traveled, but I discovered so much. I cant wait to return someday for longer and dig deeper into each one. I hope that day comes soon. In the meantime, Ill savor the memories of all the things Ive done in Panama City and beyond. New here? Join thousands of others and subscribe to the A Lady in London blog via email or Bloglovin. Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. At no cost to you, I earn a small commission when you click on them and make a purchase. It doesnt affect the way you shop, and its a great way to support the A Lady in London blog. Pin it! A Dutch artist rescued migrant ships in Lampedusa, turned them into canal boats and employed refugees to run tours. Amsterdam, Netherlands The narrow canals of Amsterdam are overloaded with purpose-built tourist boats but two stand out from the crowd. The tall red Alhadj Djumaa and its sister-boat, the smaller, blue-licked Hedir are conspicuous not only for their size but also their stories. Both boats are, like their tour guides and captains, not from here. The Alhadj Djumaa, or Mr Friday as it is now known, was picked up in July 2013 by Italian authorities in the middle of the Mediterranean carrying 217 Eritreans and 282 Ethiopians to the Italian island of Lampedusa; the Hedir was picked up on the same route in August 2015. Dutch artist Teun Castelein and founder of Lampedusa Cruises discovered the boats at the Italian island. There are so many boats there, he says of the island where many arrive in search of a better life. Several refugees have led the canal cruises in Amsterdam [Courtesy: Mediamatic] Castelein brought the boats to Amsterdam and repurposed them to offer tours focusing on the citys migrant heritage. Amsterdam has a long tradition as a refuge; over the centuries it has taken in large numbers of refugees fleeing religious persecution and war. The tours narrative focuses on how migration stimulated the citys rise to prominence in the Golden Age, as an increased workforce and influx of skills turned it into a powerhouse of trade and commerce. The Netherlands continues to be a point of call for refugees; it took around 60,000 migrants and asylum-seekers in 2015 at the peak of the ongoing refugee crisis. In Amsterdam, you can be amazed where people come from, says Tommy Hatim, a political refugee from Egypt and tour guide on the boats. You can see all kinds of religions, cultures and traditions, its everywhere. Like the Alhadj Djumaa, which also originated in Egypt, Hatim had a complicated journey to the Netherlands. He was a writer and activist in Cairo and worked at a TV station in the city; he also helped Syrian refugees who were flooding into the country in 2012. One of my friends asked: Why are you helping these refugees? They are taking our money, our houses, our jobs? So I told him, Today Im helping them maybe tomorrow Ill be a refugee. His prediction was realised when his life was threatened after helping the Muslim Brotherhood, the now outlawed organisation with links to Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first democratically elected president who was deposed by the military in 2013. I became a fugitive. I was kidnapped by the authorities in 2014 and tortured and investigated. Then they let me go but they wanted me to work as a spy, he says. Refusing to become an informer, Tommy fled and claimed asylum at Amsterdam airport. Most people think I came by boat because Im a refugee, but I came by airplane, he says. He was in a detention centre for 11 months before being granted permission to stay. The boats of Lampedusa Cruises have become a tourist attraction [Courtesy: Mediamatic] The boat tours, conducted mainly in English, have provided an opportunity for those who feel like outsiders to become a part of the citys flourishing tourism industry. I still remember the first tour I had, says Hatim. I wasnt really confident with myself but last summer gave me a lot of confidence to do things. I believe if I didnt have it, I wouldnt be doing what Im doing now. The project has also become something of a launch pad: Hatim regularly speaks to children in schools about migration and refugees and he is still in touch with visitors who took the tour last summer, a Cambridge PhD student and an American professor among them. Storytelling is a way of healing, he says. For some who took the perilous journey across the Mediterranean or Aegean seas to get to Europe, getting back on the water wasnt easy. But Yusuf, an asylum seeker from Somalia and captain on board, was more than happy to return to the water. For me, it feels like my old life, he says. Refugee captains tell tourists their stories during canal cruises [Courtesy: Mediamatic] Yusuf grew up on the south coast of Somalia and was a fisherman. Ive been doing it since I was young, he says. As the captain, Yusuf concentrates on navigating the bustling canals as Tommy narrates, but in quieter moments he tells his story too. When its not busy, then I can share with the people who I am and what Ive been going through. Yusuf left Somalia when his life was threatened and is waiting to hear if he can remain in the Netherlands. He emphasises the importance of the tours narrative in a city where over 170 different nationalities cohabit. We need to have someone to talk about the things migrant people have done in this beautiful city, he says. The Netherlands took in around 60,000 migrants and asylum-seekers in 2015 at the peak of the ongoing refugee crisis [Courtesy: Mediamatic] The Alhadj Djumaa and Hedir have become tourist attractions themselves. Other tour boat companies often point us out, says Castelein, the artist who rescued the migrant ships. Both boats are still waiting to be granted an official permit to stay on the canals and like those who have worked on deck, there is still uncertainty about their permanence in the country. Once links between the fringes of two worlds, the boats are now seen by many as a pathway to integration and community within Europe. Those who worked on-board last year have gone onto a variety of different projects. One is doing a masters degree and Hatim and Yusuf are writing a play together about their experiences of being a refugee. I start to feel like I belong here because I know the history of the city. I start to feel like its home, says Tommy. Thats important for refugees who are leaving their country and leaving their families to go to a new place. It can be terrible. A new generation of voters wanting change and fed up with political corruption vote Mahathir-led coalition to power. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia How do you topple a government that has been ruling a country uninterrupted for more than six decades? Well, if the latest events in Malaysia are anything to go by, heres how its done. Bring in one of the architects of that historic party, lets call him Mahathir Mohamad. It does not matter if he is 92 years old. Make sure he has had plenty of experience as head of that party and running the country, in this case, 22 years. Team him up with his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, whos in jail mainly due to a precedent set by Mahathir, but thats all history now. Anwar spearheaded the movement known as Reformasi, calling for political and economic change in 1998 as deputy prime minister to Mahathir. His rising popularity threatened the leader, and he was subject to a lengthy trial that eventually landed him a prison sentence on charges of sodomy, which he denies. {articleGUID} I guess lots of Malaysians find it deeply ironic that the push for reform sparked off 20 years ago because of a fight between Mahathir and Anwar, said Kean Wong, an analyst with newmandala.org, which provides perspective on developments in Southeast Asia. And it is now being helmed by Mahathir, who is campaigning against kleptocracy and other issues, he added. Wong believes, despite Anwar and Mahathirs well-documented rivalry, it was necessary for the two forces to join together. I think Mahathir was instrumental, he said. Having covered five elections and the key Reformasi ones over the past 20 years, it was obvious that Anwar Ibrahim could never quite access the rural Malay hinterland and heartland, a crucial vote bank, the way that Mahathirs aura and image could. Seismic shift Mahathir, the master political strategist, brought together a coalition of former opposition politicians he oppressed, punished and jailed while in power as prime minister. He convinced them that together they could take down their common enemy, the then-ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional. They ran a campaign denouncing the systems and government structure plagued by cronyism and corruption. A system that Mahathir created while prime minister from 1981 to 2003. Barisan Nasional and its leader, former Prime Minister Najib Razak have been embroiled in one of the worlds biggest corruption scandals known as 1MDB involving billions of dollars. Barisan Nasional and its leader Najib have been dogged by a massive corruption scandal [Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images] Analysts say the country was ready for this seismic shift. A new generation fed up with corruption and empty promises, armed with social media and other tools to gather information, had reached the ballot boxes. They were not to be intimidated by a new raft of laws imposed in advance of the elections to crush dissent. And unlike previous generations, they werent to be swayed by last-minute government campaigning comprising mainly of handouts of cash and other commodities. So then, an historic victory for the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan or The Alliance of Hope led by Mahathir and Anwars party. An historic moment Outside the palace, cheering supporters gathered on Thursday, waiting for Mahathir and his partners to be confirmed as new rulers of the Southeast Asian country. A 25-year-old engineer celebrating in front of the gilded gates said he was here because it was momentous. I never expected to be able to witness this kind of democracy in action, for the last few decades every election felt like a default, the 25-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, said. Mahathir may be leading us through this transition of a new government, but its his supporters that will carry on the drive for development and progress in this nation. The revellers were of all races and backgrounds. Analysts say a point worth noting as this new coalition government is a step towards dismantling the race-based politics that Mahathir himself had pioneered to retain power last century. Its something the Malaysians are well aware of. This is a historic moment, we can see Malays, Indians, Chinese, all together. We are so united, witnessing this change. Even the parties are multiracial, its so different from Barisan Nasional, said a 32-year-old teacher. This teacher who was among the revellers, also said that this couldnt have happened without the Mahathir-Anwar dream team. We are the only country in the world who has a prime minister in waiting, that is Anwar, and we have been waiting 20 years for him, he told Al Jazeera. Supporters wait outside the national palace for Mahathir to be sworn in [Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images] Many stayed away from the celebrations. Some heeding police and government warnings that it may lead to agitations, and some taking stock of what happened more soberly. Stephanie Augustin is a freelance financial journalist. She is sceptical of the new government. Augustin believes the economic and fiscal reforms promised by Mahathir in his campaign dont add up. On the policy side, [former Prime Minister] Najib Razak is on the right track by introducing fiscal deficit that is good I believe. The opposition manifesto is not financially viable to me, it will hurt a lot of people. She is referring to the oppositions (Mahathirs) promise to remove the six percent consumption tax known as GST. Economists believe that its a way to spread the tax burden evenly, as many people in Malaysia fall below the tax paying bracket. She says she abstained from voting as she has no illusions about any of the political groups involved. The face of change and hope which is their slogan shouldnt be the guy who led for 22 years as a dictator, it doesnt make sense to me, said the 27-year-old. Age has sharpened Mahathirs sense of humour and irony. He is well aware of his reputation as a former strongman who held the country in a vice-like grip as prime minister. While prime minister, he is credited with being the architect behind Malaysias economic development during his 22-year reign. Fielding a barrage of questions at a press conference following his victory he told journalists: You may ask questions but in a very orderly fashion, please remember that I was the dictator. That is at the forefront of many peoples minds as they enter this new era. But law professor Azmi Sharom says people now understand they have the power, and the old way of governance will not be accepted. Mahathir was what he was because he was surrounded by people who would not stand up to him, he told Al Jazeera. He was able to do what he was doing because he was all powerful but thats not the case any more. I think the other component parties and ministers, once he appoints them will make sure the promises are kept. Mahathir has promised that winning the elections would enable broad and deep reforms. Reforms that will essentially dismantle the system he built up over decades. For the seventh Friday in a row, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have taken part in popular protests calling for their right of return to the homes from which they were expelled from in 1948. The rallies, launched on March 30, are part of the Great March of Return grassroots movement, which will culminate on May 15 to mark what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba or catastrophe. On that day 70 years ago, the state of Israel came into being during a violent ethnic cleansing campaign that forcibly expelled more than 750,000 Palestinians from their towns and villages. {articleGUID} Since the start of the protests, the Israeli army has killed 48 Palestinians and wounded more than 8,500 with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas bombs. As documented in this series of photographs, Palestinian women have been at the forefront of the Gaza protests, taking on many roles as demonstrators, medical volunteers and cooks. This weeks elections in Iraq are unlikely to produce any earth-shattering results. There is far more electoral competition between parties in Iraq than most other countries in the region, including Lebanon where voters this week returned the countrys political monopoly to power with scarcely any changes. But most of the main candidates in Iraq are well-known quantities and there is absolutely no chance of any independent figures or new political forces breaking into parliament or into government. Given how dysfunctional many of those candidates have been while in power since 2003, many voters have already decided that they will protest against the state. The only real question is how many votes Iraqs dominant parties will gain on election day, and how they will use the results when negotiating the formation of the next government. Some commentators have noted that one difference in 2018 is the increasing number of cross-sectarian alliances, but that trend started many cycles ago, and there are currently very few electoral alliances that are likely to attract voters from across the ethno-sectarian divide. There is an argument that electoral politics have regressed in that regard: in 2010 and 2014, there was significant chatter about new civil, independent movements that contested those elections, but they have been close to absent from the current elections. {articleGUID} As in the past, the main focus of attention will be on how Shia Iraqis will cast their votes. Their communitys dominant position virtually guarantees that the next prime minister will be drawn from one of a small number of parties and alliances. That is even more certain than in the past, given how divided and discredited other communities politicians have become. And while most parties barely have any political platforms to speak of, there are a few differences that will make a difference to Iraqs future, including their respective positions on whether the country should be involved in the regions many conflicts. Who is running? Past electoral cycles have produced many surprises, including Iyad Allawis surprise victory in 2010, so predictions are naturally unwise. However, the frontrunner in the 2018 elections appears to be current prime minister Haider al-Abadi. The question is less whether al-Abadi will come out on top, and more how much distance he will be able to put between himself and his closest competitors. Al-Abadi is a moderate in both substance and style: a soft-spoken individual whose rhetoric is consistently conciliatory and who seeks to keep Iraq at arms distance from all international and regional powers and, thereby, protect the population from any new conflicts. Al-Abadis narrative and electoral platform will appeal to many voters, particularly given the states victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for which al-Abadi has taken some credit, and for Baghdads vastly improved security since 2014. He has set the tone for these elections, which have been remarkably civil in comparison to the poisonous atmosphere that prevailed in 2005, 2010 and 2014. At the same time, however, al-Abadis moderation suggests weakness to those voters who are accustomed to their leaders projecting strength and arrogance, which has led some analysts to question whether he will do well enough to dominate the next government. Alliances headed by Muqtada al-Sadr and by Hadi al-Amiri are al-Abadis main competitors. Al-Sadr and his family profess to represent Iraqs most marginalised economic communities, and as a result, he is one of the countrys very few political movements that has a loyal constituency that consistently earns him approximately nine percent of the popular vote. Al-Sadrs platform strongly favours an independent foreign policy, which sets it apart from Iranian-backed politicians including al-Amiri. He also carries a strong anti-corruption message, which he has demonstrated his commitment to by forbidding almost all of his alliances previous MPs from standing in this years election (nominally in an effort to curb the benefits of incumbency). Finally, al-Sadr has allied with the Iraqi Communist Party, formally to encourage greater participation of Iraqs technocratic class in any future government. It is unclear whether that will translate into additional votes (some Iraqis are likely to shy away from voting for any alliance that includes communists), or even whether it will actually lead to an improvement in the governments performance. {articleGUID} Hadi al-Amiris Fatah Alliance is one of the main unknowns in the coming elections. Fatah is led by the Badr Brigades and by elements drawn from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), many of which have received material support from Iran. The Alliance will no doubt benefit from the PMFs popularity in some circles, but a number of other factors will bear significant negative weight on its prospects. Among other things, al-Amiris own performance when he was minister, which includes serious allegations of nepotism and a series of questionable statements to the press denying that there was any real poverty in Iraq, does not play very well with the public. Serious questions have also recently been raised about al-Amiris administration of PMF monies, which will serve to remind voters of his pre-2014 past. In addition, al-Amiris and Fatahs close association with Iran is an overall negative in Iraq generally and in the Shia community that al-Amiri hopes to draw most of his votes from. It is by now well established that a large number of Iraqis, including Shia Iraqis, would prefer to keep an expansionist Iran at arms length and to not be involved in in the regions worsening conflicts. In the past, those preferences caused for voters to abandon other Iranian-backed alliances en masse and that factor could easily work against al-Amiri, particularly given how war-weary Iraqis have become in recent years and given that Iraqs regular army, police and special forces have now regained many peoples trust. The other two alliances that are worth discussing here include Ammar al-Hakims Citizen Alliance and former prime minister Nouri al-Malikis State of Law Alliance. Al-Hakim has rebranded himself and his movement on a number of occasions since 2009, in an attempt to formally distance himself from his familys pro-Iranian past. His platform is currently designed to appeal to a younger generation of Iraqis. That narrative is unlikely to be particularly appealing to sufficient numbers of voters, particularly given the competition from other coalitions, which means that his Alliance is unlikely to improve on its performance in the 2014 elections. Meanwhile, al-Maliki is broadly damaged goods at this point. He has been at the receiving end of so much criticism and blame for his role in the Iraqi armys incredible defeat in 2014 that few major political figures were willing to join forces with him, and most of the rest have essentially vetoed him as a viable national figure since 2014. He will still attract votes, mainly due to the lingering benefits of his eight-year incumbency as prime minister, but he is no longer considered a leading candidate for prime minister. {articleGUID} Future government After the dust clears, and each partys respective vote count is tallied, they will start the long and painful process of forming a new government. Given all of the above, pro-Iranian forces are not likely to win a controlling share of parliament, which means that Iraq will probably be able to maintain its independent stance and focus most of its attention on internal issues. At the same time, however, whatever government is formed will be necessarily as incoherent as in the past. Research that was carried out in Lebanon in the run-up to last weeks elections showed that a crushing majority of candidates had little knowledge of their own parties platforms. If similar research were carried out in Iraq, it would no doubt lead to similar results. Government formation in Iraq is negotiation not over policies, but over personalities and power plays. If there is one thing that the future government could do to improve performance it would be to prioritise one area of reform over all others (such as education or healthcare) and to invest the bulk of the states capacity into that area for a specific period with a view to making real and quick progress at least in one area. That would not only lead to improved standards of living, but it would also improve the publics trust in government. Previous government programs did not set out clear priority areas, and the result was that whatever progress was made was painstakingly slow and marginal. Let us hope that at least that lesson will be learned and that some form of prioritisation will be introduced in the coming period. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Irelands current abortion law is a long-standing human rights violation, and it needs to be changed. The countdown has started for Ireland to, hopefully, liberalise its abortion law, which is one of the most restrictive in Europe. A referendum to repeal article 40.3.3, known as the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution, will be held on May 25. If the majority votes yes to repeal the amendment, this will pave the way for a new abortion law, one that is in line with todays human rights standards. A draft bill that would replace the current abortion law, if Ireland chooses to repeal, has already been shared with the public If yes votes are loud enough, women will have the right to request an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Irelands current abortion law is a long-standing human rights violation that has been depriving women of their right to life, health, privacy, information, equality and non-discrimination, as well as their right to be free from torture and ill-treatment. On May 25, Ireland will finally have an opportunity to put an end to all this. In Ireland, the law works to the detriment of women The 8th Amendment came into force in 1983 to provide an extra layer of protection to an already strict abortion ban in a country where abortion has always been illegal. The amendment directly stemmed from the fear that abortion would eventually become legal in Ireland. In 1967, Britain passed the Abortion Act that gave women access to abortions in certain conditions. Consequently, many women from Ireland started to travel to Britain to terminate unwanted pregnancies, causing alarm in conservative circles in Dublin. Six years later, in 1973, the US Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade affirmed the legality of a womans right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment to the countrys constitution. In 1974, the Irish Supreme Court found in McGee v Attorney General that individuals had a right to marital privacy and that this extended to the importation of contraception. The potential similarities between this decision and Roe v Wade caused anti-abortion rights activists in Ireland to fear that protections for abortion rights similar to the ones in the US could one day be accepted in their country. In this environment, the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC) was launched with the support of the Catholic Church to reinforce the criminalisation of abortion that led the way for the 8th Amendment. {articleGUID} The 8th Amendment, which came into force in 1983 as result of a referendum, gives the unborn child and the pregnant woman equal right to life. It states: The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right. The 8th Amendment neither fits into the human rights framework that acknowledges the rights to be granted and protected after birth nor is implemented in a way that gives equal opportunities for the woman and the unborn. Since it came into force, the amendment has usually been implemented at the expense of womens health and well-being. One of the well-known examples to that was the X Case in 1992, where a 14-year-old girl, who became pregnant as a result of rape, became suicidal after she was prevented from travelling to Britain for an abortion. This rape survivor was forced to do something against her will for the second time, this time by the law, resulting in her wanting to take her own life. However, thankfully, the Supreme Court decided that women have right to abortion if pregnancy poses any life threatening risks, including the risk of suicide, to a pregnant women. The case sparked great debate around the country and resulted in three simultaneous referendums on amendments to the Irish constitution in November 1992. The 12th Amendment attempted to remove suicide as grounds for an abortion but was defeated. The 13th and 14th amendments acknowledged that women could travel abroad for terminations, and that information about services in other countries could be made available to them. These were both passed and added to the constitution. Negative impacts of the 8th amendment on women were obvious. However, instead of a progressive approach, not in my backyard mentality was chosen. These amendments were saying: Feel free to have an abortion elsewhere but not in Ireland if you can afford to do so. In essence, the amendments ignored the rights of women with little or no income, with a disability, or insecure immigration status, hence were against the equality and non-discrimination principles. {articleGUID} And in the decades following the X Case, pregnant women facing life-threatening risks have continued to be denied access to safe abortions in Ireland due to the 8th amendment. In 2012, 10 years after the Supreme Court decided in favour of the pregnant teenager in the X Case, a 31-year-old dentist named Savita Halappanavar died due to complications from a septic miscarriage at 17 weeks gestation. Her life could have been saved if she had been given a termination, but instead, her abortion request was denied on several occasions based on the 8th amendment, which protects the foetus right to life as well as the pregnant womans. Although her condition was worsening, she was denied termination on the grounds that the unborn had a heartbeat. After the death of Savita Halappanavar, the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act allowing for abortion in cases where pregnancy endangers a womans life, including through a risk of suicide, was passed into law in 2013. The Act reiterated that having and performing abortions in cases where there was no life-threatening risk to the woman is a criminal offence punishable with up to 14 years of imprisonment. In Ireland, the 8th Amendment still makes abortion impossible in practice. Due to the fact that abortion is a criminal offence, women continue to be ill-treated and denied access to information around abortion. They are forced to prove that they are suicidal if they want to terminate their pregnancy, and to endure life-threatening health complications so long as the foetus has a heartbeat. They are left at the mercy of health professionals in a Catholic country, as Mr and Mrs Halappanavar had been told when they asked for an abortion. Criminalisation kills women Criminalisation only stigmatises women and does not prevent abortions. In 2016, 3,265 women and girls accessing abortion services in the UK gave an address in Ireland, according to statistics published by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA). It is believed that the real number is much higher, as most Irish women do not give their actual addresses when seeking an abortion in Britain, due to the deep-rooted fear of stigmatisation. There are also women who travel to countries other than Britain to access abortion. There may also be many women who resort to unsafe methods to terminate their pregnancy because of their inability to travel and fear of stigmatisation. Women on Waves, a womens rights organisation formed to prevent unsafe abortions and to provide medical abortions, said they have sent 1,642 abortion pill packages to Ireland between 2010 and 2012. {articleGUID} The numbers clearly demonstrate that criminalisation does not stop abortions. Abortion bans achieve nothing but endanger the lives of women and cause discrimination and inequality. For the continuous violation of basic human rights of women to end, Irelands archaic abortion laws need to change. To make this happen, people of Ireland should vote yes in the upcoming referendum and repeal the 8th amendment, which has harmed countless women over the years. The time has finally come May 25 can be one of the remarkable days in history, not only for women in Ireland but also for all women around the world. Lets #Repealthe8th and make May 25 a day to celebrate! The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. A legal campaign launched to initiate prosecution of Myanmar officials behind alleged crimes against humanity. London, UK Activists and lawyers in the UK have launched a campaign to seek to prosecute perpetrators of alleged war crimes against Myanmars Rohingya minority. The Justice for Rohingya Minority (JFRM) was launched at a ceremony at Amnesty Internationals headquarters in London on Wednesday. Abdulla Faliq, the chief executive officer of JFRM, said the group aims to seek justice for nearly 700,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh following a brutal military crackdown last year by advocating to expedite the legal process and pushing the UK government to put pressure on Myanmar. The JFRM, which comprises lawyers, jurists and academics, said it will also collect evidence of alleged war crimes against the Rohingya and take measures to prosecute perpetrators. It will also push Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingya refugees with full citizenship rights. The UN has labeled the Myanmar militarys offensive against the Rohingya in August 2017 ethnic cleansing, while human rights groups said the campaign of killings, rape and arson amounted to war crimes. Myanmar denies the allegations, saying it launched a proportionate crackdown after attacks on border posts by a Rohingya armed group. However, it has blocked UN investigators from accessing affected areas in its Rakhine state. Mark Farmaner, member of JFRM and director of Burma Campaign UK, argued that the international response to the Rohingya crisis has been muted. Nine months on from the start of this crisis, Min Aung Hlaing has paid no price for what hes done, Farmaner said, refering to Myanmars army chief. He is emboldened, he has got away with it, and hes now targeting other ethnic groups much more aggressively, he said, pointing out to fighting that erupted recently in Myanmars northern Kachin State. Its vital to end his sense of impunity. In February, more than 100 British members of parliament called on Boris Johnson, the countrys foreign secertary, to back a campaign to refer Myanmars military leaders to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Condemning the UK governments response as pathetically weak, Farmaner said London has so far refused to support the ICC call or impose targeted sanctions against Myanmars army. Nijam Uddin, a JFRM member and general secretary of the British Rohingya Community UK, said the JRFM was necessary to prevent history from repeating itself. World leaders said no more after the Rwandan genocide, but this is happening in the 21st century once again, this time against the Rohingya in Burma, the former Rohingya refugee said. Meanwhile, lawyer Ben Emmerson, who served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, drew parallels between war crimes committed in both countries to those perpetrated against the Rohingya. What has happened in Myanmar on the evidence that I have seen so far, rises certainly to the level of the most serious crimes that I saw in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, he said. For the world to sit by and wring its hands and talk about donations to assist the refugee camps is slightly missing the point. This is a humanitarian disaster, and its time now for action to be taken in order to prevent a recurrence, Emmerson said. Australias government refuses to comment on refugee protests The Australian government has failed to resettle a large number of refugees and refuses to talk about refugee protests both inside and outside Australia against their seemingly indefinite detentions. Thousands of people are expected to gather in Bleiburg on Saturday to mourn Croatian fascists and others killed in 1945. Thousands of far-right mourners are expected to gather in southern Austria on Saturday for a controversial commemoration of the killing of Croatian fascists and civilians by Yugoslav Partisans in 1945. The event has been held annually in May for more than three decades to mark the killing of supporters of the Ustasa, the Croatian group that oversaw that countrys war-time fascist state, at the end of the second world war. In previous years, the commemoration in Austrias Bleiburg drew tens of thousands of participants, some of them wearing Ustasa insignia and engaging in anti-Serb and anti-communist hate speech. Critics say Bleiburg is used as a rallying cry and platform by neo-fascist and far-right groups in Croatia. Sven Milekic, a Zagreb-based journalist at Balkan Insight, has reported on the Bleiburg commemoration in the past. There are people who go there simply for emotional reasons, probably having had relatives killed there, he told Al Jazeera. But it was also meant to rehabilitate the [image of the] Ustasa regime. Organised by a Croatian organisation, the annual event is officially endorsed by the Croatian parliament. In 2012, the parliament revoked support, but it was reinstated in 2016. Bleiburg commemorations also draw the participation of high-ranking clergymen in Croatias Catholic Church as well as Croatian politicians. The event includes sermons and speeches. Of course, since the late 1980s and early 90s, it has been used as something to challenge the previous dominant narratives on World War II, especially about who were the victims, Milekic said. In Austria, however, condemnation of the event has been energised by growing anger over the newly formed government, which includes the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) as a junior coalition partner. {articleGUID} In December 2017, the right-wing Austrian Peoples Party (OVP) struck a deal with the FPO to create a coalition. Since then, the FPO, which was founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, has been embroiled in a spate of controversies over allegations of anti-Semitism, racism and pro-Nazi sympathies. Struggle over historical narrative During the second world war, the Ustasa killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Roma, Jews and political opponents, placing many in concentration camps such as Croatias infamous Jasenovac. In Jasenovac alone, upwards of 80,000 people are estimated to have been killed. In May 1945, a group of civilians and soldiers from the Ustasa-controlled Independent State of Croatias (NDH) military reached Bleiburg and surrendered to the British Army and Yugoslav Partisans. Serbian far-right Chetnik fighters and Nazi-allied Slovenian forces were also captured. The captives were transported back to Yugoslavia, but many were killed in transit. Estimates of the exact number of those killed are fiercely debated and vary widely by tens of thousands. Although the number of NDH loyalists killed pales in comparison to the number of the NDHs victims, the incident is part of a broader struggle over the historical narrative on Croatias involvement in the Holocaust. The narrative they show is that Croats were persecuted from the 1940s until the 1990s, when they won [independence], Milekic explained. Its a narrative thats highly disturbing and coming from a lot of politicians, not only those on the far right. {articleGUID} He added: They want to say Jasenovac and Bleiburg were the same, that everyone had victims. Controversy in Austria This years commemoration has prompted far-reaching condemnation in Austria, including criticism levelled by members of the ruling OVP party. Writing on Twitter, Othmar Karas, an OVP member of the European Parliament (MEP), decried the Bleiburg event as the misuse of remembrance. Josef Weidenholzer, an MEP from the Social Democratic Party of Austria, joined the condemnation on Twitter, writing: No to the celebration of Croatian fascist Ustasa on Austrian soil. It harms the reputation of Austria and Europe. The Austrian Catholic Church in Carinthia, the region where the site of the event is located, has also distanced itself from all right-wing extremist and fascist rallies in the context of the Bleiburg remembrance of the dead, it wrote on Twitter. "The Catholic Church in Carinthia strongly and vigorously distances itself from all right-wing extremist and fascist rallies in the context of the #Bleiburg remembrance of the dead." @Kathpress_Wien https://t.co/MQcHT8SjzG Andreas Wiedenhoff (@AndreasWiede) April 24, 2018 Austrian Chancellor Sebastien Kurz has defended the governments approach to the event, arguing it is not legally entitled to prevent the commemoration from taking place. The event taking place is an event organised by the [Croatian] Church, Kurz recently told reporters, as noted by The Local, an English-language Austrian news outlet. That means it is neither the decision of the federal government nor of [Carinthias] state premier and his administration whether this event takes place. Government spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal echoed Kurzs statements, noting authorities will monitor the event for potential legal violations. Should any violation of the law occur, the authorities will pursue and fully investigate them, he told Al Jazeera, alluding to the 1947 Prohibition Act, which bars the use of Nazi propaganda, symbols or slogans. Bernhard Weidinger, a researcher at the Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance, described the commemoration as the merger of two events. One is the commemoration itself to mourn the victims, and at the same time, its a political gathering that attracts Croatian fascists, he told Al Jazeera. {articleGUID} Its one of the largest neo-fascist gatherings in Europe. Weidinger added: One reason its so attractive for them is that they are allowed to do things here they cant do in Croatia, such as displaying fascist symbols and performing fascist salutes. Explaining that members of Austrias FPO have attended the ceremonies in the past, he concluded: You could say theres increased significance due to the fact that [FPO is] now in the government. Mariam Moustafa suffered a brain haemorrhage after being attacked in the UK city of Nottingham on February 20. The body of an 18-year-old engineering student who died after being attacked in an English city has been flown to Egypt for burial. Mariam Moustafa, who arrived in Britain five years ago with her family in search of a better life, according to her father, was assaulted by a gang of teenagers in Nottingham on February 20. She was initially released from hospital but then readmitted after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Moustafa was placed in a medically induced coma at Nottingham City Hospital, where she died on March 14. Moustafas body arrived on Friday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where she will be buried. On Wednesday, hundreds of mourners, including local council members and police representatives, gathered at Nottinghams Islamic Centre to attend the first of two funeral services held for the teenager. You can only imagine the feeling Mariams dad was very upset and shocked, Hafiz Abdur Rahman, the imam leading the funeral prayers, told Al Jazeera. He was crying. You can only imagine the feeling of a father whose daughter was killed. During the ceremony, Abdur Rahman said he read a message on behalf of the community in which I first expressed my condolences and sympathies with Mariams family. The second thing I said was to demand that those responsible are brought to justice as the whole community are demanding that justice should be done for Mariams family. According to Nottinghamshire Police, six girls were involved in the attack on Moustafa. Only one individual a 17-year-old girl was arrested in March on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, but has since been released on conditional bail. Last month, Moustafas mother, Nesrine Abu El-Enein, posted a video to social media in which she said she believed the attack against her daughter was racially motivated. She said the 18-year-old and her sister, Malak, had been attacked by some in the group before, in an incident that left Mariam with a broken leg. Vicious attack Nottinghamshire police, however, have concluded that the assault was not hate-related. The post-mortem of Moustafas body ruled the cause of death as inconclusive. Until the cause of death is verified, police say they cannot proceed with ruling it as a hate crime. A statement released in March by the Egyptian embassy in London said that they were carefully monitoring Moustafas case. The government of Egypt and the embassy have been closely following the circumstances of this vicious attack with the relevant British authorities and expressed the need for those responsible to be brought to justice swiftly, the statement said. Researchers launch new organisation to track hate groups amid what they say is an increase in far-right sentiment. Montreal, Canada A new organisation has been set up to track hate groups in Canada amid what experts say is a marked rise in far-right sentiment across the country. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAN) was launched earlier this month, just as news broke that one of the most prominent neo-Nazi propagandists in North America was living and recruiting members in Montreal. The Montreal Gazette identified Zeiger as he is known online as a local IT professional named Gabriel Sohier Chaput. He is the second-most prolific writer on a neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, the newspaper reported. Al Jazeera did not independently verify his identity. Zeiger was attempting to build a white supremacist network in Montreal, the Gazette said. Anti-racist activists protested in his north-end neighbourhood after his identity was revealed, and another demonstration is planned for Saturday. I cant really overstate how important Zeiger is, Evan Balgord, CANs executive director, told Al Jazeera. Hes a propagandist. He has written materials that Ive seen teenagers on forums cite as the reason that they got fully radicalised into this hate movement He is overtly racist in the worst forms you can imagine and defends the use of violence. A unique era Balgord said that while local watchdogs have monitored hate groups or worked on de-radicalisation in Canada before, most have operated in their silos without much coordination. CAN is the first organisation that will be devoted to monitoring hate groups nationwide, he said. It aims to expose some of their activities and will contact law enforcement or community groups if there is something they should be aware of. Balgord likened CANs mandate to the type of investigative work done by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which currently monitors 954 hate groups operating in the United States. Barbara Perry, a professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and the foremost expert on hate groups in Canada, said she believes between 120-130 such organisations operate in the country today. These groups, some of which exist solely online, range in size from a handful of people to dozens or even hundreds. A host of new far-right groups have emerged in recent years, including Quebecs La Meute, the Proud Boys, Storm Alliance, Soldiers of Odin and several chapters of anti-immigrant group PEGIDA. Perry, who will be collaborating with CAN, told Al Jazeera that theres much more diversity in the far-right in Canada today than there was decades ago. In the 1990s, the main neo-Nazi group in the country was The Heritage Front, which operated largely in the province of Ontario. The group disbanded in the mid-2000s following public pressure from anti-fascist activists and others, as well as the death of its leader. They certainly didnt have the kind of social media access that [these groups] have today, Perry said. This is certainly not something that Ive seen in my memory. I think this is a unique era in our history. An evolution of hate Balgord said the most recent wave of far-right hate groups in Canada began in 2014, adding that it really exploded in 2016 with the election of US President Donald Trump. Last year, a parliamentary motion to condemn Islamophobia, known as M-103, galvanised Canadas far-right sympathisers, Balgord said. [For far-right website] Rebel Media and pretty much the entirety of the far-right, this was their lightning rod, he said. This is when they started doing real-life demonstrations, added Balgord. Those protests were led by people that are often just overtly racist towards Muslims and in some cases, advocate violence towards them, Balgord noted. While they are distinct, some members of far-right or neo-Nazi groups were also in attendance at those protests, he added. According to Perry, while there is no ideological difference between the so-called alt-right and traditional neo-Nazis, what the alt-right has mastered is this sanitised presentation of self. Theyre much more careful with their language. Theyre certainly less aggressive on the streets; they leave that to the shock troops like La Meute and Storm Alliance and Atalante and all of those groups, she explained. Youve now got this sort of intelligentsia that distances itself from the violence and the aggressive posturing but is nonetheless feeding the movement. Acts of violence Far-right views have recently been tied to deadly acts of violence in Canada. Last month, it emerged that the accused driver of a van that mowed down pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people, was motivated by misogyny and belonged to a group which experts say has ties to the far-right. In April, evidence was presented at a hearing in the trial of Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette that showed how obsessed the 28-year-old was with far-right commentary in the lead-up to the attack that left six Muslim men dead last year. Bissonnette had been looking at the Twitter feeds of neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Infowars Alex Jones, and some right-wing commentators, the Montreal Gazette reported. He was also obsessed with Trumps online posts. While Bissonnette doesnt appear to have belonged to any far-right group, his ideology was close to the alt-right, said Maxime Fiset, a former neo-Nazi who now works at the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence. Fiset, who is based in Quebec, told Al Jazeera that Bissonnette chose his target for ideological reasons, but he also apparently had violent impulses. The peculiarity of the alt-right is to have few coherent groups, he said. That being said, a radicalised person has never needed to be part of an official group to be radicalised. It was always possible to be radicalised through contact with a community of thought. While Fiset said the alt-right is not widely mobilised in Quebec, the next few months will be a good indicator of whether groups like La Meute or Storm Alliance can still rally their members publicly. Their discourse still has a strong power of attraction on the population [and] a big part of their game is to influence politics by influencing the culture and public opinion in some ways, without ever doing politics directly. Theyve maintained that power, he said. For his part, Balgord said he remains hopeful, noting that awareness is growing due to the work of organisations such as CAN to uncover what far-right groups stand for. By exposing them, we disrupt their activities, and we prevent the further spread and the further creation of these kinds of propaganda materials that can radicalise and lead to real-world violence, Balgord said. I am hopeful that we will be able to contain the threat right now and to counter these groups on behalf of all Canadians because they really are threatening all of us. Senate hopeful Patrick Little is latest neo-Nazi to move from the alt-right fringe to the ballot box. A California-based candidate for the US Senate has openly praised German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, promoted Holocaust denial and expressed his desire to see Jewish Americans deported from the country. Patrick Little is one of several Republican hopefuls affiliated with the alt-right a loosely knit coalition of white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis who are striving to move from the hardline fringes to the ballot box. Speaking to Al Jazeera by email, Little said he advocates the Balkanisation of the US. People should be able to go to their own communities, he said. Echoing comments he has made elsewhere online and in the media, Little argued that supposed Jewish incitement against whites may result in the need for racial and ethnic communities to form their own states for safety from the mobs Jews incite against. Little regularly makes similar comments on Gab, a social media outlet popular among white supremacists and neo-Nazis who were booted from platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Jews gonna Jew, Little wrote in a recent Gab post. In his campaign platform, which is posted on his website, Little describes himself as a white advocate and states his slogan: Liberate the US from Jewish oligarchy. Elsewhere on his website, Little rails against supposed Jewish control of the US government and media, calls for racial segregation and demands the death penalty for US politicians who introduce bills designed to provide foreign aid to Israel. {articleGUID} The California Republican Party has disavowed Little. String of anti-Semitic candidates Little is currently outperforming fellow Republican contenders, and he is only the latest in a string of far-right candidates in the Republican Party. The alt-right surged along with the presidential campaign and electoral success of Donald Trump, throwing its weight behind his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim policies and rhetoric. In March, 70-year-old neo-Nazi Arthur Jones, who was also condemned by the local Republican Party, won primary elections in Illinois after running unchallenged. Jones, who is also a Holocaust denier, garnered more than 20,000 votes in that election. In Wisconsin, Paul Nehlen is running for the seat of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who recently announced he will not seek re-election. Much like Little, Nehlen has decried the supposed Jewish control of the media. He has also appeared on a podcast hosted by David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Last week, Duke endorsed Patrick Little, who has also made appearances on the podcast. And in Montana, former KKK organiser John Abarr is running House District 21 seat. Although he initially announced his candidacy as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican Party in mid-February. On his website, Abarr apologised for a highly publicised attempt to create a KKK chapter that would include members of the LGBTQ community and racial minorities, describing it as a hoax he conjured up to infuse fear in those communities. {articleGUID} But his campaign platform includes a vow to fight for the designation of European Americans as a protected class under the law, echoing the widely held belief among white supremacists that white Americans are victims of a multicultural society. Charlottesville For his part, Little remains unapologetic for his anti-Semitism and white supremacist advocacy. Its all a matter of whether or not we can remove the Jews from power before the anti-white hatred the Jews are pushing starts leading to stuff like were staying in South Africa, he added, referring to a widely circulated conspiracy theory that white people are systematically oppressed in post-apartheid South Africa. He also attended Unite the Right, the deadly rally that brought white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis from across the country to Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017. During that rally, James Alex Fields Jr allegedly rammed his car in a crowd of anti-racist activists and others, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of people. Since Unite the Right, the alt-right has grown increasingly isolated and failed to recreate large demonstrations in the streets, usually drawing mere dozens to far-right events. {articleGUID} Many prominent alt-right figures lost their social media platforms, web-hosting services and access to online fundraisers. Jared Holt, a researcher at the Right-Wing Watch website, said that losing platforms and mounting legal problems have created several challenges for the US far right. Facing potential financial devastation and having lost their easy access to mainstream conservative media has placed them on defence and their fragile infrastructure has further eroded, he told Al Jazeera. Nonetheless, Holt warned that new leaders could pop up in the place of those who are increasingly isolated. Prime minister faces accusations of distorting history during campaign speeches in Karnataka state. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is drawing criticism for false and misleading claims during a high-decibel election campaign in the southern state of Karnataka that goes to polls on Saturday. Police in Indias national capital on Friday moved swiftly into action to remove several posters on city walls depicting Prime Minister Modi as The Lie Lama, in a sardonic reference to Modis apparent false statements juxtaposed with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Since 2014, Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won power in most of the countrys 29 states. A win in state elections in Karnataka would cement Modis dominance of Indian politics, putting the prime minister on track for re-election in 2019. To ensure his partys prospects, the prime minister has addressed dozens of rallies during his campaign in the state, currently ruled by the Congress party. {articleGUID} Modi, in line with his signature muscular Hindu nationalist rhetoric, attacked the BJPs chief rival, the Congress party, for ignoring and insulting Indias military heroes. It's a very sad state of affairs where the prime minister of the nation survives by peddling false history Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Modi's biographer He told supporters at an election rally on May 3 that the previous Congress government, led by Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had humiliated two military icons from Karnataka state Field Marshal Cariappa and General KS Thimayya. As several Indian commentators pointed out, theres very little in this statement thats actually correct. Erring in basics Modi faltered on key personalities, dates and actual sequence of events related to the India-Pakistan war over the disputed territory of Kashmir in 1948 and the brief border war with China in 1962. General KS Thimayya was not the commander-in-chief of the Indian army in 1948, nor was Krishna Menon the defence minister then, as claimed by Modi in his election speech. Modi also alleged that Congress party leaders did not bother to visit freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, while they were imprisoned by the British colonial rulers. When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the countrys independence, did any Congress leader go to meet them? he asked. But the Congress leaders go and meet the corrupt who have been jailed. Congress is supporting those who are corrupt. Such things cannot be accepted, the Indian prime minister said during an election speech in Karnatakas Bidar district. But historians and journalists took to social media to point out that the Congress president Jawaharlal Nehru had visited Singh and Dutt in prison. The two had been jailed for carrying out bomb attack on Delhi Central Legislative Assembly on April 8, 1929. He is erring in basics now. The blunders in his recent speeches reflect overconfidence, inability to cope with pressure. He has a good back-up team which provides him with talking points, but Modi has an inverted notion of his own knowledge and likes to veer off script, said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Modis biographer, told Al Jazeera. {articleGUID} It happens very commonly to leaders when arrogance sets in. But this is not the first time that Modi has publicly made false statements. He has earlier alleged that former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other opposition figures held secret conspiratorial meetings with nuclear rival Pakistan, discussing internal elections, a claim found to be false. Former Army chief Deepak Kapoor refuted these allegations about the event in Delhi attended by Indian political leaders, diplomats and a former foreign minister of Pakistan. Yes, I was part of the meeting and we discussed nothing more than India-Pakistan relations, Kapoor told an Indian news magazine. A controversy around his educational qualifications also continues to simmer as the administration has refused to give the public proof of his college degrees. Trump and Modi Analysts point to striking similarities between the leaders of the two largest democracies in the world. Both US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi have a complex relationship with fake news and false statements. A fact checker at the Washington Post that claims Trump has made 2,140 false statements in his first year in office, and has argued, Theres a pattern about Trumps exaggerations. Often, he inflates the impact of his own actions or he denigrates people or programs he dislikes, the report added. {articleGUID} Similarly, the Indian prime ministers has shown an apparent disregard for strict adherence to concepts of truth and fact. New Delhi-based political analyst Krishan Pratap Singh said both Trump and Modi seem afflicted with the need to manufacture facts and alter history to suit their political purposes almost every time they speak in public. It partly comes from a common insecurity of having made tall campaign promises that they are struggling to fulfil, but are helped by their social media prowess that bypasses the press and communicates directly to a large minority of millions of loyal voters who lap up everything their leaders say, no matter how outlandish, Singh told Al Jazeera. A report on fact-checking website AltNews listed Modis many half-truths and whole lies. Much has been written already about Modis economic promises and his bombast. Mr Modis economic promises are so extraordinary they must be taken with a deep slurp of salty lime juice, wrote author and journalist Adam Roberts. Misinformation campaigns The Indian prime minister earlier endorsed claims that ancient Indians practised cosmetic surgery and reproductive genetics thousands of years ago eliciting ridicule on social media. False statements by Indian leaders have also coincided with serious misinformation campaigns on social media, most prominently through Whatsapp. Leading up to the elections, the Karnataka state saw a spurt of fake news. The British state broadcaster, BBC, on May 7, announced that a fake survey circulating on Whatsapp that forecast a victory for Modis party was fake news. At least two BJP spokespersons, when contacted by Al Jazeera, declined to comment on the story. Analysts point out that there might be other precursors for Prime Minister Modis distortions of history. Modi is an avowed life-long member of the Hindu supremacist group called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that is at the forefront of a drive to rewrite history and reinvent the idea of India as a Hindu-first nation. Modi and the RSS are at loggerheads with the secular outlook that shaped the way India was governed by the first Prime Minister Nehru and the Congress party for more than half a century. The RSS insecurity about history arises from not playing any significant role in Indias freedom struggle that was led by the Indian National Congress, which in its current form is still Mr Modis main political opponent, analyst Singh told Al Jazeera. Thus Mr Modi repeatedly, whether in policy or campaign speeches, tries to twist historical facts in such a manner in an attempt to portray his political forbears in a better light than they deserve and Congress in a worse light. https://twitter.com/srinathraghava3/status/992035093341290506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Critics said Modi is demonstrating that facts are politically inexpedient during polls. Historian Ramachandra Guha said these lies, half-lies and falsehoods are willed and deliberate and that Modi will do anything at all to win an election. Modi has remained a divisive figure since religious riots broke out in 2002 in Gujarat when he was chief minister. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the riots under Modis watch. He has denied any wrongdoing. But his false claims as prime minister are deeply disconcerting, according to Indians on micro-blogging sites. They think that they can get away with it. Creating a false notion is integral to their growth. This has been done from the inception of the RSSs history. The writings of right-wing ideologue [Vinayak Damodar] Savarkar, his depiction of events was completely ahistorical, including misrepresenting the role of Muslim rulers, Mukhopadhyay told Al Jazeera. Its a very sad state of affairs where the prime minister of the nation survives by peddling false history. Indias Prime Minister Modi on two-day state visit to Nepal Not everyone in Janakpur is celebrating Modis visit, with many still angry about Indias five-month blockade in 2015. Demonstrators take aim at Donald Trumps decision as Iranian FM plans tour to negotiate with pacts other signatories. Thousands of Iranians have rallied in Tehran following Washingtons unilateral withdrawal from a multinational nuclear deal, just as the countrys foreign minister is set to embark on a diplomatic tour to negotiate with the landmark 2015 pacts other signatories. Demonstrators in the capital on Friday carried placards reading Down with USA and [Donald] Trump, you are talking nonsense, referring to the US president who called the deal horrible, one-sided and defective at its core. They also chanted Death to America and We fight, we die, but we do not accept any compromise, the state-run Fars news agency said. The 2015 agreement between major world powers China, France, Russia, the UK, the US, Germany and the European Union and Iran set limits on Tehrans ability to produce nuclear material in exchange for sanctions relief and greater access to the global economy. Responding to Trumps announcement on Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed the US decision and said he had ordered the foreign ministry to soon begin negotiations with the deals other signatories. If at the end of this short period we conclude that we can fully benefit from the [deal] with the cooperation of all countries, the deal would remain, Rouhani said. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans foreign minister, will begin a round of visits on Saturday, a spokesman told AFP news agency. His tour will take him to China and Russia first, and then to Brussels on Tuesday, where he will meet with his counterparts from the UK, France and Germany. Thousands chanted anti-US slogans such as Death to America [AFP] Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign policy chief, said on Friday she would chair Tuesdays talks in Brussels, adding that the bloc was determined to keep this agreement in place. The US cannot undo the pact, she said on Friday, as this deal is not a bilateral treaty. Its a UN Security Council Resolution, and it belongs to the entire world. No to e xtraterritorial sanctions France said it was drawing up plans to bolster Europes economic sovereignty as European companies stand to lose billions of dollars due to US penalties. Germany and France have significant trade links with Iran, as does Britain. Bruno Le Maire, Frances foreign minister, said EU states would propose sanctions-blocking measures to the European Commission. There is a realisation among all European states what we cannot keep going in the direction we are headed today whereby we submit to American decisions, Le Maire told reporters in the French capital, Paris. Do we accept extraterritorial sanctions? The answer is no, Le Maire said. Do we accept that the United States is the economic gendarme of the planet? The answer is no. Le Maire said he was seeking concrete exemptions for companies already present in Iran, including Renault, Total, Sanofi, Danone and Peugeot. Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said there was a sense of urgency and a sense of frustration among French officials. She said that there was uncertainty if Frances Airbus would go ahead with a $25bn deal to supply more than 100 aircraft to Tehran. Oil giant Total was meanwhile set to invest $5bn in South Pars, the worlds largest gas field, while carmakers Renault and Peugeot made deals worth $500m each. Limiting damage In Berlin, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Germany was ready to offer help, including legal advice, to its affected firms to enable them to continue doing business in Iran. Around 120 German companies have staffed operations in Iran including Siemens, which was in talks to develop Irans rail network and some 10,000 German companies trade with Iran. We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimise the negative consequences, Altmaier told Deutschlandfunk radio. That means, it is concretely about damage limitation. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said transatlantic ties had been gradually damaged by shifts in US policy. We are prepared to talk but also to fight for our positions where necessary, he told Der Spiegel magazine. {articleGUID} But the US ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, said firms should question the morality of doing business with Iran. Germany, France and Britain, the EU3, say themselves that Iran poses a threat. Do they want to do business with a threat? Grenell told Bild newspaper. Hardliners emboldened Meanwhile, Europeans fear a collapse of the nuclear deal could also deepen conflicts in the Middle East. Days after the US pullout, Israel carried out deadly air attacks on what it said were Iranian targets inside Syria. Israel said the strikes on Thursday were in response to Iranian rocket fire, a claim Iran said was fabricated and baseless. Irans hardliners are already mobilising against any concessions to Europe, with Ahmed Khatami, a senior cleric, telling a crowd at Tehran University that European nations could not be trusted. America cannot do a damn thing. They have always been after the toppling of Irans regime, and this exit is in line with that aim, he said on Friday. These European signatories also cannot be trusted Irans enemies cannot be trusted. In a statement on Thursday, Iran said European countries proved incapable of fully performing even when the US was party to the deal, and must proceed from giving pledges to taking practical action. Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi, reporting from Tehran, said the clerics words were a sign that hardliners in Iran have been emboldened. It also signalled that Rouhanis government and moderates in the country are in a fight not only to maintain the nuclear deal abroad but their own political futures here at home, he said. Iraqs government sets up polling stations for IDPs Iraq has made preparations to allow camps of internally displaced persons to vote, but there has been little campaigning and most camp residents say they are most interested in returning home. Israel launches largest attack in decades in Syria International concerns are increasing as Israel escalates its military attacks against Iranian forces in Kenya dam disaster: Rescuers searching for survivors After the heaviest rains in two decades, flooding leaves at least 49 dead, more missing and thousands homeless. Kenya will investigate dam disaster that killed at least 50 As the search for survivors of a flood caused by a burst dam in Kenyas Rift Valley continues, the public prosecutor is launching an investigation into the disaster that has left at least 50 dead and hundreds homeless. Ortega under pressure: Nicaraguans demand resignation Protesters have rejected the proposed Truth and Justice Commission and are demanding that the killings of students and journalists be investigated by international rights groups. Dismissal of chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by top court is seen by the opposition as being politically motivated. The Philippine Supreme Court voted on Friday to expel its chief justice in a vote that activists said signals the death of democracy in the Southeast Asian country. An outspoken critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was removed after a close vote by the top court. By a vote of 8-6, the court granted the governments petition to cancel Serenos appointment on the grounds that she failed to disclose information pertaining to her financial earnings when she was appointed in 2010. Sereno is found disqualified from and is hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the chief justice, court spokesperson Theodore Te said. The ouster of our chief justice - this foundation of democracy, this shield against abuse of power in government - has crumbled Opposition party statement Accordingly Sereno is ousted and excluded therefrom. The decision is immediately executory without need of further action. Te added that the justices also ordered that Sereno provide an explanation within 10 days as to why she should not be sanctioned for violating judicial codes for issuing statements against the court and on the merits of the case at the time of the hearing. Sereno, who is the first supreme justice, denied any wrongdoing. Her spokesman said she would appeal the decision. It is a sad day, Jojo Lacanilao said in a television interview. Before the vote, dozens of Serenos supporters held a vigil outside the court in the capital, Manila, demanding that the petition be thrown out and that she face trial in the Senate. Anti-Sereno protesters also gathered outside the building. The fact of the matter is that President Duterte has openly said he wants Supreme Court justice out and Sereno was appointed by the former President Aquino, said Richard Javad Heydarian, a Manila-based political analyst. Soreno has been amongst very few voices of independence at the very highest level of government and has questioned on multiple occasions President Dutertes assault on rule of law and his war on drugs. Puppet Supreme Court The Opposition Akbayan party deplored the decision, saying the country was a heartbeat away from the death of its democracy. The ouster of our chief justice this foundation of democracy, this shield against abuse of power in government has crumbled, it said in a statement. After having a lapdog Congress and a seriously wounded Senate, we now have a puppet Supreme Court. Sereno, for her part, vowed to continue fighting against abuses of power and intimidation by Dutertes administration irrespective of the fact she has been removed from office. Today is not the end, but only the beginning, she told supporters outside the tribunals compound after the vote. We cannot remain silent because silence is like condoning the abuse. We need to be vigilant in this time of darkness, the 58-year-old said. Let us form a movement of Filipinos who will defend justice and demand accountability from our public servants. The quo warranto petition against Sereno was filed by the governments legal counsel. It argued she lacked integrity for allegedly failing 10 times to file annual statements of assets and liabilities. Serenos camp said it was considering filing a motion for reconsideration, which is allowed by law. Lawyer Josalee Deinla, a spokeswoman for Sereno, noted the vote was very close: We are hoping that the justices would change their mind. This decision is wrong. At least 32 suspected, probable and confirmed Ebola cases have been registered in the DRC since April, WHO says. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is preparing for the worst case scenario as it deals with a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo from spreading any further. The health agency will begin sending vaccines as quickly as possible to the northwestern town of Bikoro and surrounding areas, where 18 people are suspected to have died as a result of the virus in recent weeks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a Twitter post on Friday. Yesterday I spoke by phone with the Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo @OlyIlunga to discuss the #Ebola response in #DRC. We agreed to ship vaccines as quickly as possible so they can be used to save lives. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 11, 2018 A team of WHO experts, alongside regional health officials and staff from international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials, MSF), are working in Bikoro as part of a coordinated medical response to the crisis. Laboratory tests undertaken earlier this week in the capital, Kinshasa, resulted in the only two confirmed cases of the virus which has no proven cure in Congo since the outbreak began. According to WHO estimates, at least 12 others are suspected to have contracted the virus in the past five weeks, meaning 32 suspected, probable and confirmed cases of Ebola have now been registered in Congo since early April. Three health workers are among those reported to have been affected. An international public health emergency In a statement on Tuesday, Congos health ministry said the country is facing another epidemic of the Ebola virus, which constitutes an international public health emergency. The latest cases come less than a year after Congos last confirmed Ebola outbreak in May 2017, during which eight people were infected, four of whom died. This is the ninth time Ebola has been recorded in Congo. Peter Salama, the WHOs deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, said the organisation was very concerned about the current situation in Congo. The problem here is that we already have three separate locations that are reporting cases that cover as much as 60km and maybe more, Salama said on Friday at the UN in the Swiss city of Geneva. We are planning for all scenarios, including the worst-case scenario. Ebola, which can cause multiple organ failures, killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa from 2013-16 as it swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. 50 percent fatality rate The average fatality rate among those infected with the virus is about 50 percent, according to the WHO. Early symptoms include fever, muscle pain and fatigue followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes and bleeding both internal and external apparent in the gums, eyes, nasal passages and faeces. Ebola, discovered in 1976 and named after Congos northern Ebola River, is contracted by humans through contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals, typically fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys. The virus is passed human-to-human by contact through the mouth, nose, or broken skin with blood or other bodily fluids of those infected. The UNs childrens agency calls for $88m of aid to address the ongoing crisis in Congos Kasai region. Up to 400,000 children are at risk of starving to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo unless humanitarian aid efforts are ramped up, the UNs childrens agency has warned. Fighting between government forces and regional militia in the Congos central Kasai province has created a perfect storm of poverty, deprivation and conflict for the most vulnerable children, UNICEF said in a report on Friday. It called for urgent action to stop the violence against children; ensure access to essential services for all minors; and provide support for sustained humanitarian assistance. According to the UN, an estimated 1.3 million people in Kasai were forced from their homes after fighting broke out in the region over a power dispute between a local chief and government authorities in August 2016. UNICEF estimates that as a result of the displacement, which saw thousands of families flee to the countryside without adequate food or water supplies, hundreds of thousands are now facing severe acute malnutrition. The good news in Kasai is that the violence has decreased, but what we see there [are] families returning from the bush with children, and they come back in a terrible condition, Christophe Boulierac, a spokesperson for UNICEF, told Al Jazeera. An estimated 770,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition, 400,000 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are on the verge of dying. Conflict in the Congo Parts of the Congo, one of the worlds poorest nations, has been beset by intercommunal conflict as well as clashes between anti-government fighters and forces loyal to incumbent President Joseph Kabila in recent years. Since December, at least 70,000 have fled fighting in the countrys eastern regions to refugee camps in neighbouring Uganda. Meanwhile, Kinshasa the capital has been rocked by deadly protests demanding Kabila leave office. The Congos main opposition parties allege Kabila lost all legality and legitimacy after failing to step down in 2016, when his last term as president officially ended. Kabila has said elections for the post, initially set for November 2016, will take place in December. Children are dying Boulierac said that despite facing several difficulties, Kabilas government must lead on the response to the ongoing crisis in Kasai. We need to react quickly with our nutritional response at UNICEF, we sometimes say children might die if we dont do anything, but in the case of Kasai children are dying, and have already died, Boulierac, who visited the region last month, said There are 400,000 children whose lives are in danger. Its a real tragedy, and its already happening. UNICEF has called for $88m in aid to address the crisis, saying it has left 3.8 million people in the Kasai region in need of humanitarian assistance. The organisation is expected to present its report alongside government officials at a press conference in Kinshasa on Saturday. Tehran denies Israels allegations that it launched rocket attacks in the occupied Golan Heights. Iran has denied Israels allegations that it launched rocket attacks on its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, calling the claims fabricated and baseless. On Thursday, Israel launched a wave of attacks on what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to alleged Iranian attacks that targeted the Israeli-occupied Syrian territory of Golan Heights for the first time. It was the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries. The Zionist regimes frequent attacks on Syria under fabricated and baseless excuses is a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and in defiance of all international laws and regulations, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qasem said. Israel says it hit dozens of Iranian military targets, as well as five Syrian anti-aircraft installations in response to Iranian forces allegedly launching 20 rockets in the occupied Golan Heights. Syrian state media reported that Syrian air defences had intercepted most of the incoming rockets over the capital, Damascus, but also confirmed that a radar station and a weapons storage site were struck. Iranian state television reported that Syria had given a crushing response. Qasem on Friday also condemned the international communitys silence over Israels attacks in Syria. Iran strongly condemns [Israels] attacks on Syria. The international communitys silence encourages Israels aggression. Syria has every right to defend itself, Iranian state TV quoted Qasemi as saying. Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi, reporting from Tehran, said that its important to note what wasnt mentioned in the statement. [There was] no specific reaction to the specific allegations by Israel that it hit a large numbers of Iranian targets inside Syria and no specific response to Israeli allegations that Iran was behind the cross-border fire that happened and that it was Iran who shot first, so they are still holding their cards close to the chest here in Tehran. Iran crossed a red line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened with further action in Syria, warning that the Israeli military will attack any nation targeting his country including preemptive strikes. Iran crossed a red line; our response was appropriate, Netanyahu said during a press conference. The Israeli army carried out a broad strike, a very broad strike against Iranian targets in Syria. I send a clear message to the Assad regime that our actions are aimed at Iranian targets inside Syria but if the Syrian army will act against us, we will act against it. Israel has long warned of a growing Iranian threat inside Syria. The countrys Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at a press conference that Israeli forces had destroyed nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday. They must remember that if it rains here it will pour over there and I hope that we finish this chapter and that everyone got the message, Lieberman said. Al Jazeeras Basravi said that the Iranian foreign ministry was pushing a very different narrative with their statement. [The statement] also went so far as to suggest that Israel, as part of its strategic depth in Syria, was backing groups like the Islamic State and the al-Nusra front. We have had reactions like that from leaders in Iran in the past with regards to Israels involvement in the country. As tensions between Israel and Iran continued to rise, the United Nations, Russia, France, Germany and Britain urged the two countries to avoid any further escalation. US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East. Israel has called on the UN Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Irans attack, but the Security Council remains deeply divided over Syria and is highly unlikely to issue a statement. As of Friday morning, no council member has asked for a meeting. Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange, each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. Whatever objections may be leveled at Ayn Rands objectivist philosophy, she certainly knew what arbitrary law looked like. Her fathers business was seized during the Bolshevik Revolution, and she herself was purged from Petrograd State University because she was considered a member of the bourgeoisie. When arbitrary law is established, the law becomes an ass. In other words, the law as created by legislatures and administered by the courts cannot be relied upon to reflect common sense or to be fair. As Rand later wrote: The threat of sudden destruction, of unpredictable retaliation for unnamed offenses, is a much more potent means of enslavement than explicit dictatorial laws. It demands more than mere obedience; it leaves men no policy save one: to please the authorities; to please -- blindly, uncritically, without standards or principles; to please -- in any issue, matter or circumstance, for fear of an unknowable, unprovable vengeance. America is gradually acceding to the arbitrary law Rand knew so well. Be it unwitting transgressions against the latest permutation of leftist ideology or ignorance of sheer bureaucratic complexity, any American peaceably sitting in the family living room can be accused of breaking the law. Under capricious law, the citizen cannot know when he or she will be charged with some offense against the powers that be. The result of chronic uncertainty is perpetual anxiety leading to ulcers of the spirit. The result of the Bolshevism that Rand rejected was, Alexander Solzhenitsyn remarked, the knock in the middle of the night. One never knew when to expect The sharp night-time ring or the rude knock at the door. The insolent entrance of the unwiped jackboots of the unsleeping State Security operatives. Why is Western law inviting collapse into Soviet style mere caprice? Speaking generally, the justificatory bases for Western law can be divided into two categories; one basis being the Judeo-Christian law as summarized by the Ten Commandments and undergirded by the realities of natural law. The other, especially in the last century or so, is arbitrary law decided by a political partys ideology. American law has increasingly followed the Bolshevist model as the progressive Left has sought to enshrine its political ideology into law while eliminating through persecutory and arbitrary procedures certain classes of people who are the equivalent of the bourgeoisie represented by the kulaks. As Lenin put it, certain classes of people are insects worthy of eradication. As Solzhenitsyn noted, categories of insects proliferated like vermin. Anyone opposing communist ideology was an insect: The people in the local zemstvo self-governing bodies in the provinces were, of course, insects. People in the cooperative movement were also insects, as were all owners of their own homes. There were not a few insects among the teachers in the gymnasiums. The church parish councils were made up almost exclusively of insects, and it was insects, of course, who sang in church choirs. All priests were insects -- and monks and nuns even more so. One insect among many in the teeming American Christian anthill is Jack Phillips, the baker whose case will be ruled on before the Supreme Court. An insect like him dared to act according to his conscience, angering a same-sex couple who believed that ant Phillips must be crushed underfoot and his business destroyed. Phillips was basically presented with a choice: Convert his thinking to conform with LGBT ideology or effectively perish as a functioning member of society. Thought crimes such as Phillips was accused of create a category of capricious law that has been and are particularly useful for what is essentially retooled Bolshevism done American style. There is no end to legal arbitrariness if thoughts are crimes, for thought crimes make a mockery of the rule of law. Actual guilt or innocence are completely unmoored from the law, which traditionally is supposed to assign guilt to actual transgressions. Anyone can be charged as guilty if he or she will not speak the Newspeak, now characterized by gender-neutral terminology. Now one can, by attributing a wrong thought or word, make a man out to be guilty, as Canadian Professor Jordan Peterson found out when he refused to use gender neutral pronouns on demand. The idea was that Peterson must employ the language utilized in transgender liturgy or be declared heretic and worthy of excommunication from academia. For the left, thought crimes as evidenced by wrong speech are revelatory of wrongfully privileged class status; therefore, certain classes such as the conservatively or religiously inclined who speak about moral and observable verities must be suppressed, banned or even eliminated. Arbitrary law becomes a useful tool through revolutionaries accomplish the destruction of whole categories of enemies such as privileged white males like Peterson. A few contemporary observers are able to sum up the essence, problems and consequences of arbitrary law. Dmitry Dubrovsky is one of them. In an essay published in Eurasianet, The Bolsheviks and the Law: The Legacy of Arbitrary Justice, he writes arbitrary law is the essence of revolutions, which are meant to overhaul existing orders: The Bolsheviks did not see the law as a means to adjudicate civil and business disputes, or to dispense justice blindly; they viewed it as a mechanism to implement their social and political agenda The law, for the Bolsheviks, was the means toward that end, an instrument of persecution, not of dispensing justice The law, along with the systems functionaries, was expected to serve the interests of the party running the state. [The law] codified inequality, elevating a certain class, the proletariat, to preferred status. At the same time, it limited the rights of others, namely anyone deemed to be a member of the bourgeois class. It created conditions in which it will be impossible for the bourgeoisie to exist, or for a new bourgeoisie to arise. Scarcely any clearer description of the goals of the American left concerning the law could be found. What rational observer cannot observe the unyielding assault on the rule of law as the left inexorably and relentlessly seeks to eliminate any distinction between the law and the lefts will? Who cannot see that as the law is increasingly detached from its traditional Western moorings, it has increasingly become a mere manipulative tool to persecute and oppress political and religious opposition, all the while seeking to undermine every institution that still has even a tenuous alliance with the Judeo-Christian concept of law as having its genesis in a transcendent order? Dubrovksy continues: Even during the late Soviet period Soviet law remained arbitrary, in that Kremlin leaders continued to manipulate the law, using it as an instrument of repression. Political factors, not legal precedents, determined judicial decisions. Dubrovsky concludes that inequality was codified so a certain class might be elevated to preferred status. Again, what objective observer cannot see that the left in America is attempting to duplicate the Bolshevist society described by Dubrovsky, seeking to establish a radically different class system -- one that is replacing the permeability of classes that has so long been the mark of American society and the basis of the American dream? Who cannot see that some categories of people are now more equal than others? At the heart of the changes in the rule of law is the revolutionary desire to eradicate any opposing world view, particularly one that believes in actual concepts of guilt and innocence. As Solzhenitsyn notes, for the left A convenient world outlook gives rise to a convenient juridical term: social prophylaxis in order an ideological world view is cleansed of opposition -- the intellectual rot of Christianity being among the intellectual diseases that need cleansing In addition, how many kinds of cursed intellectuals there were -- restless students and a variety of eccentrics, truth-seekers, and holy fools who are always a hindrance to a well-ordered, strict regime. Solzhenitsyn concluded that political guilt replaced actual guilt. One party rules today; and another rules tomorrow -- with a different set of rules. Power alone reigns, enabling repression of the most malevolent sort to flourish: The proofs of guilt were relative, approximate, and the interrogator could find them, even when there was no evidence and no witness, without leaving his office, basing his conclusions only on his own intellect Thus it was that the conclusions of advanced Soviet jurisprudence, proceeding in a spiral, returned to barbaric or medieval standards. Like medieval torturers, our interrogators, prosecutors, and judges agreed to accept the confession of the accused as the chief proof of guilt. The confession as proof of guilt is one reason why we now witness a constant parade of confessions and retractions by leading figures left and right. Confession establishes guilt and retraction removes it. The whole process is circular and endless self-justification and self-exoneration. One is ones own prosecutor and defender; judge and jury, sentencer and parole officer. The result? The law becomes an ass. The solution? Return to the rule of law based on Law that transcends the individual and is applicable to every man and woman; namely, the Judeo-Christian ethic based on the Ten Commandments and natural law. Fay Voshell is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. Her thoughts have appeared in diverse online magazines, including RealClearReligion, LifeSiteNews, Russia Insider and National Review. She holds a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, which awarded her its prize for excellence in systematic theology. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com Are the tsars out tonight? High in the sky, the tsars climb. For policymakers in Washington, it is useful to compare two individuals who have risen in the Russian sky. On May 7, 2018 the 65-year-old Vladimir V. Putin was sworn in as president of Russia for another six-year term, his fourth term of office, having been elected with 77% of the vote. He had a relatively low-key ceremony, attended by about 6,000, including sundry personalities Gerhard Schroeder, former German chancellor and critic of sanctions against Russia; Steven Seagal, Hollywood black belt in aikido and citizen of Russia since November 2016; and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who gave Putin an 18th-century icon. After the inauguration ceremony, the secular Putin attended a prayer service at the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Vladimir Putin has been in power, as president or as prime minister, since the last day of 1999. According to polls conducted by the independent Moscow Levanda Center in 2017, his popularity remains high, partly because there is no obvious alternative, no candidate from political parties or social organizations or trade unions. Yet Putin is not the most renowned or revered Russian. A poll in June 2017 on which Russian is the national symbol and biggest hero revealed that Joseph Stalin is the "most outstanding person in history." Stalin got 38% approval, while Putin tied with writer Alexander Pushkin at 34%. Stalin, probably seen as the hero of World War II rather than a cruel ruler, was even much more favorably regarded than Lenin, Bolshevik founder of the Soviet Union. For the U.S. and indeed the rest of the democratic world, a vital question is raised. Can Putin be seen as the heir of Stalin and the continuator of his policies? First, how to define Stalinism? Was it a perversion of the Bolshevism launched by Lenin, or was it the Revolution betrayed, or was it the embodiment of historic Russian nationalism using palatable language? The showing recently of the black comedy film The Death of Stalin is a reminder of the crimes, the power struggles, counterplots, cult of personality, rewriting of history, the shifting truths in the Soviet Union. Central to most of that regime is the story of Stalin's reign of terror, a "total river of blood" in Leon Trotsky's words, during which more than 1.6 million party officials, military officers and intelligence agents were murdered on fake charges of treason. In one year, 1937-38, more than 700,000 were executed, and millions of others were exiled or imprisoned. It is arguable whether Stalin's brutality toward Ukraine, 1932-33, can be called the Holodomor, the deliberate attempt at genocide, or an act of nature, a genuine result of crop failure. Either way, it was a state-engineered mass murder of the peasantry. It was part of Stalin's emphasis on the collectivization of agriculture. Every action of Stalin, other than the maintenance of his own power, was subordinated to "socialism in one country" and thus to a near permanent state of emergency. For Stalin, the Soviet Union was encircled by external enemies, therefore massive security organization was vital. But Stalin's paranoia embodied internal enemies for which the main instruments were the political police and the Gulag system of forced labor camps. The police, the Cheka, OGPU, NKVD, and MVD, headed by brutal and sadistic persons Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria extracted confessions to non-crimes and eliminated all rivals to Stalin. Since no crimes had been committed, the penalty of social origin and former political affiliation sufficed. The Gulag was central to the Soviet Union, with its numbers, place in the economy, impact on society, and heritage. More than 18 million persons of all backgrounds were sent to camps between 1930 and 1952, and another 6 million were sent to reside in controlled areas. The camps were a major example of forced industrialization, railroads, mining, timber, and of colonization of distant regions of the country. They were a universe of violence and arbitrary behavior. Stalin was totalitarian, in total control of the Communist Party, of the state, of foreign and military policy, of culture. Vladimir Putin exercises controls but is not, at least not at this point, another mastermind or a facsimile of Stalin. Evidently, he is a zealous Russian nationalist, not an ideological communist. It is arguable that in addition to a policy of a strong Russia, playing a significant role in international affairs, he is, as accused by critics, concerned with managing Russia in his personal interest and those of his allies, a narrow ruling group. Not surprisingly, Putin, the ex-KGB agent, has established a formidable security apparatus. Two things remain unclear. Can the present state security organs operate with independence rather than act under direct control of Putin? What is the role of the oligarchs and the extent of organized crime on politics? Russia is plagued by protection rackets, kidnappings, international drug-smuggling, and money-laundering. The FSB, the internal security and counterintelligence agency that replaced the KGB, controls the judicial and penal system and has at its command thousands of armed men along with access to diplomatic passports, an air force, exotic poisons, and tools developed by criminals for commercial blackmail. In addition, Putin has a National Guard, about 400,000, paramilitary police and troops, equipped with attack helicopters, heavy artillery, gunships, and tanks. It is headed by Viktor Zolotov, former bodyguard of Putin. The question arises: to what degree is Putin aware of or responsible for the brutalities and murders during his time in office? There are the apartment bombings in 1999, blamed on Chechens, that killed 300 and helped bring Putin to public attention and to power; Paul Klebnikov, American editor of the Russian edition of Forbes, in Moscow in 2004; journalist Anna Polikovskaya, shot in 2006; ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London, 2006; Alexander Perepelichny, businessman, in London, 2012; oligarch Boris Berezovsky in his bathroom in March 2013; opposition leader and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, near the Kremlin in Februry 2015; and the attacks in Salisbury. An indication of the curbs on free expression is that two days before Putin's inauguration, Russian security forces, accompanied by Cossacks, detained about 600 people, including Alexei Navalny, at the anti-Putin demonstration in central Moscow. Putin has alternated between rhetoric about Russian military strength and defiance of the U.S. and emphasis on a necessary economic program to make Russia modern, improve Russian living conditions, and grow the economy. Between 2014 and 2016, the rouble lost about half its value in international currency markets. In addition to reducing poverty, an objective is to raise life expectancy. For the U.S. and the West, it is encouraging that Putin may cut military spending to pay for domestic and economic reforms. He remains interested in Russia as a powerful military country, but he may be forced to give priority to improvement of Russian life, creation of a more equitable distribution of income, and concentration on the development of an economic and social infrastructure. That would be useful for U.S.-Russian collusion. Preoccupation with form over substance combined with denial and avoidance behavior are the chief causal factors for human failure -- from the individual and family right up to the national level. World War II became inevitable because of denial by the British, French, and Americans that Hitler meant what he said in Mein Kampf and was rearming to carry it out. Subsequent denial in the form of appeasement policies enabled Hitlers early swift success in conquering and subjugating almost all of continental Europe, until Churchill rallied the British people with his famous declaration that we shall never surrender. An Islamified Western Europe is arguably one of the biggest stories of our time. Yet elites on both sides of the Atlantic are in denial about the coming Islamic takeover of much of Europe. There are already large Muslim minorities throughout many European countries and waves of Muslim refugees have joined them in the last five years. Given Muslims average birthrates of 3.5 children per couple compared to post-Christian European birthrates of only 1.35 per couple, the demographic die is cast for minarets and sharia law to supplant church bell-towers and constitutional democracy across Europe within two or three generations. Donald Trump has had no illusions about the challenges that the West faces. His first action after inauguration in January 2017 was his executive order banning travel to the U.S. by people from countries well-known for harboring Islamist terrorists. He did so on the basis of zero-tolerance for terrorist entry to the U.S., and the fact that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not vet people adequately due to gaps and irregularities in birth and identification records characteristic of these designated highly unstable countries. Despite the disrespect shown President Trump from many of the elites in the U.S., he has commanded surprising respect overseas, from friends and enemies alike. In his July 6, 2017 speech in Warsaw, Poland, Trump was welcomed as hero after he proclaimed the need to defend Christianity and Western Civilization, with all of its culture and traditions. He boldly stated the need to put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives. No other U.S. President has ever made such unapologetic and direct statements that challenge the status quo of post-modern decline in Europe. Five months after taking office, President Trump removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, and has continued to remove restrictions on coal mining and to open up more sea and land acreage for petroleum exploration and drilling. The result? The U.S. is exporting natural gas and oil production is up -- setting new records, now exceeding 10 million barrels a day, while oil imports are down. The U.S. is just now on the cusp of achieving the long-sought goal of becoming energy and OPEC independent. Twice, since becoming President, Trump swiftly ordered military strikes in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against people in Syria. On the Korean peninsula, in response to Kim Jung-uns ongoing ICBM missile testing and nuclear sabre rattling, President Trump shunned avoidance and denial, taking an entirely different approach than the preceding four presidents over 28 years. And despite condemnation by the foreign policy establishment -- that his direct approach would lead to confrontation and war -- Trump never wavered in imposing harsh sanctions, repeatedly overflying B-1 bombers near the DMZ, and making forceful statements warning rocket man about U.S. military capability to destroy the North Korean regime and its nuclear capability. The result? Kim Jong-un agreed to the U.S. demand to cease missile and nuclear testing. Then he responded to overtures from South Korea, becoming the first North Korean leader to ever cross the DMZ to discuss peace terms since the Korean War armistice in 1953. And days ago, the North Korean regime released three Americans imprisoned and held hostage. In the Middle East, President Trump initiated two major actions that were opposed by much of a foreign policy establishment preoccupied more with appeasing Sunni and Shia extremist regimes in Palestine and Iran than in helping our one key democratic ally, Israel. On December 6, 2017, Trump reversed nearly 70 years of American foreign policy, announcing that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On June 8, 2018 only weeks before opening that new Jerusalem embassy, and against the stated wishes of our NATO allies, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear accord deal with Iran, stating, the Iran deal was horrible, one-sided, disastrous and defective at its core. For Trump its not just about preoccupation with substance over appearance. Avoidance, denial and pretence simply have no place in the calculus of a commander-in-chief sworn to protect our country and its allies in the age of terrorism and nuclear missiles. On the U.S. economy, many of the elites were in denial or passive about the harm from high corporate tax rates, excessive regulation and unbalanced trade policies that drove jobs and entire companies out of the U.S. and that also expanded the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Trump, the realist, said from the beginning that reducing regulations, lowering tax rates, simplifying the tax code, improving trade agreements and making American companies more competitive would fuel new economic growth. The result? The last three quarters of Trumps first year averaged a 3+% GDP increase, a growth rate not seen in the prior 12+ years. And 2018 came on like a lion after the passage of his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2017. More than three million American workers at more than 100 companies received pay raises and/or bonuses as a result of the reduction of corporate tax rates from 35% to 21% and the reduction of repatriation tax rates from 35% to 8-15%. Apple Inc.s announcement that it would bring home $350 billion to invest in America is a likely harbinger of other corporations repatriation of $1.75-2 trillion to the U.S. private economy. For the first time in 18 years, the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen below 4%. Leadership requires getting out of denial and making tough decisions. It also requires delivering results and substance over form and appearance. People may disagree with President Trumps persona and manner of communicating, but hes had one of the most successful starts of any new President in history -- all the more remarkable given the nonstop assaults against him from day one by the media, Hollywood, and the political elite. Scott Powell is Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute in Seattle and Managing Partner at RemingtonRand LLC. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org Who is a Muslim? One way to decide is when the individual says he is a Muslim, recites the shahada, and lives more or less according to Islamic belief. It is axiomatic that to be a Muslim you must believe in Allah by taking him as your unquestioning lord, accept Muhammad as Allah's beloved messenger, and take the Quran as a literal book of Allah and a perfect prescription for living. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam is the shahada (Arabic, "testimony" or "witness"). The shahada is the Muslim profession of faith, expressing two simple, fundamental beliefs that make one a Muslim: la ilaha illa llah muhammadun rasulu llah There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. Another way and, in my view, a more precise way of deciding who is a Muslim is to use what science calls an "Operational Definition." That is, for instance, if you claim that something has mass, then you should be able to document that claim by a set of operations in this case, by weighing the object with some universally accepted scale. If you claim that something extends in space, then a yardstick of a sort should give a reading about it. An operational definition for Muslimness, or being a Muslim, goes something like this: anyone who, by his words or actions, promotes or empowers Islam, irrespective of what he may call himself, is a Muslim. Muslims have operated by this operational definition of Muslimness for fourteen centuries, long before even the concept of an operational definition was invoked in science. According to the cardinal rule of Islam, non-Muslims are kefirs (infidels). The kefirs are fair game to be maltreated, plundered, taken as slaves, and slaughtered. It just so happens that the followers of Muhammad, before rasul-ul-allah (the messenger of Allah) was even buried, started having disagreements among themselves about who was a real Muslim and who was a pretender and actually a kefir. The house of Muhammad, in no time at all, splintered into sects, sub-sects, and sub-sub-sects and whatnot. And each of these "real and true" Muslims started treating other Muslims as he would treat the kefirs, in obedience to Muslims' sacred teachings of the Quran. In short, each sect was truly Muslim and used any and all means to further the true Islam it held, often including purging other sects whenever it could. It is true that the vast majority of the victims of communism were people living in communist states. Some 38 million Soviets were killed because of communism. Tens of millions of Chinese citizens were killed because of communism. That the victims of communism were largely members of socialist societies says a great deal about the ideology itself. It is also true with Islam. Muslims are the main victims of Islamic ideology. Muslims killing Muslims has always gone on and continues to this day in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. "True Muslims" strap explosive vests and detonate themselves in a crowd of what they consider fake or deviant Muslims. They also bomb each other at mosques, funeral processions, and marketplaces packed with women and children all to promote true Islam and cleanse Allah's earth from kefirs, as they are repeatedly and emphatically instructed to do in the Quran. By the way, apostates are included in this cleansing process. Islam itself is a creed of an ignorant people in a primitive and barbaric age. It is fixed in time and place; it harbors the ambition of taking the 21st-century world back fourteen centuries and ruling it by its dogma of violence, intolerance, injustice, and death. Yet Islam is not only an obsolete vestige of a defunct era; it is an infinitely fractured belief that can hardly put its own house in order. The numerous Islamic sects are at each other's throats; sub-sects and schools despise one another as much as they hate non-Muslims. Hatred, not love, drives Islam. The faith is divided into Sunni and Shiite sects with numerous sub-sects. The divisions and contentiousness are so profound that members of one sect consider the other Muslims apostates, worthy of death. The division goes back to the time of the Prophet himself. Shiites believe that the enemies of the true faith subverted its chain of authority at Muhammad's death. They claim that the Prophet, while on his deathbed, asked for a parchment to dictate his will and to appoint Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor. The Shiites claim that Umar, an influential disciple and commander of the faith, declined the request, saying to the Prophet: hasbena ketab-ul-llah sufficient unto us is the book of Allah. Before long, division and infighting started in earnest and continues to this day. Oppression of Shiite minorities in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan makes for only two glaring instances of this longstanding and irreconcilable intra-faith hostility. The Shiite majorities in other lands return the favor to the Sunni minorities, as is the case in Iran and Iraq. There is no such a thing as one Islam. There are hundreds of Islamic sects in the same way that there are hundreds of diseases. In the same way that there are no good diseases, there are no good Islamic sects. In order to deal with an illness, correct diagnosis is essential to prescribe the right medication. Hence, dealing with various sects of Islam effectively demands correct understanding of what they are, what they aim to do, and their methods of spreading their psycho-social disease. Some Islamic sects are extremely virulent and deadly. They must be dealt with accordingly. Others are less violent and work their agenda in more subtle ways. Even the latter types are far from harmless. One and all keep to the Quran and pursue the same goal of dominating the world. Conclusion A true Muslim is someone who actively follows the Quran word for word and works to transmit the disease to others, while he himself is engaged in horrific acts of mayhem and violence to demonstrate his unconditional obedience to the dictates of the Islamic cult. None of the numerous contending sects is indeed the Islam Muhammad launched. That original Islam died with Muhammad; the belief immediately started splintering and kept on splintering, each time claiming to be the true Islam and renouncing and fighting every other splinter. Yet they still have the Quran, the manual of intolerance and terrorism, in common, which allows and even prescribes violence to please Allah. Disease is disease, irrespective of strain. Islam is Islam, irrespective of sect. The media seem to be very confused about what constitutes corruption. A large number of reports the past few days have either implied or stated that President Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, getting money for saying he could give insight or access to Trump is corrupt. If that was corruption, almost every former member of Congress, family member of people in Congress, lobbyist, lawyer, and consultant in and around government throughout the country would be considered corrupt, too, because they all sell access and insight. It's called the swamp. The media also pay people to buy their stories. Is that corruption? Are they paying Avenatti and the porn star? If the press is concerned about AT&T and Novartis making payments for access and insight, why don't the journalists ask those companies for a list of all their payments to politicians, lobbyists, consultants, and lawyers for the last ten years and then investigate who else paid all those firms? I am sure the media want to be consistent, because that is how they are treating Cohen. There is actually a great need for lobbyists and consultants to get access to or insight into politicians and bureaucrats because they write the laws and regulations. Every industry, union, not-for-profit organization needs people who have access to government officials. The corruption comes only if politicians or bureaucrats grant special favors for that access, and I have seen absolutely zero indication that Trump has given special favors to Novartis, AT&T, or the Russians. In fact, Trump is fighting AT&T hard on its proposed merger with TimeWarner, and he has certainly not granted special favors to Russia, which did not like Trump's pulling out of the non-agreement with Iran, let alone the sanctions. Here are some actual instances of corruption where money and access bought favors. Green energy: It was clear from the very beginning that Obama was open for business with his contributors with his green energy initiatives. Solyndra was showered with great favors for campaign contributors and returned it with great disdain for taxpayers. [T]he Obama administration restructured the loan this winter, so taxpayers probably won't even be the first creditors to get paid after Solyndra files for bankruptcy next week. The first $75 million will go to two Solyndra investors who poured in extra cash when the company nearly went bust in January. And one of them is a venture associated with the billionaire George Kaiser, an Obama campaign bundler. Obama also got huge contributions from environmentalists, and no matter how many times a pipeline met regulatory standards, he blocked the approval. He also had his regulators write rules to bankrupt coal companies. Hillary and Bill Clinton, too, always were willing to sell their souls, favors, and their political power for donations and the desire to enrich themselves, their family, and their friends. During and before the four years Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation run by her husband took tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments and corporations. Many of these donors had a lot riding on Clinton's decisions. Saudi Arabia gave the foundation up to $25 million, and Clinton signed off on a controversial $29 billion sale of fighter jets to the country. Oil companies gave the foundation around $3 million, and Clinton approved a lucrative gas pipeline in the Canadian tar sands they'd long sought. Until recently (with very large loopholes established), it's been illegal for taxpayer money to be used for abortions. Up to 86% of Planned Parenthood's revenues come from abortion while it says that only 3% of its services are for abortion. Planned Parenthood has donated around $38 million the last election cycles to elect Democrats, showering them with $500 million per year. It also pays lobbyists for access. Democrats have even threatened to shut down government if Republicans block the funding. It is naive, ignorant, or just being an advocate when journalists and other Democrats pretend that Planned Parenthood doesn't illegally intermingle government funds to pay for abortions. Planned Parenthood donates and gets back special favors. That is corruption. In the past three election cycles, Planned Parenthood's advocacy and political arms, employees, and their families have spent over $38 million to elect or defeat candidates for federal office who decide how much taxpayers subsidize the nation's largest abortion provider. ...and... Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards was "forced to concede that 86 percent of Planned Parenthood's revenue is from abortion." George Soros is a convicted felon for insider trading who gives massive amounts of money to Democrats, funds a huge number of left-wing groups, and meddles in elections throughout the world. He had extensive access to Obama, Hillary, and other Democrats. A Soros-backed group got taxpayer funds from the State Department, which went to meddle in an election in Albania. Somehow, the media have never had much interest in where all of Soros funds go and come from, but they sure are interested in anyone surrounding Trump. The bias is astonishing, and the corruption is clear. The Obama administration sent U.S. taxpayer funds to a group backed by billionaire George Soros to fund left-wing activities in Albania[.] Judicial Watch said, though, that money was used specifically to give the Albanian socialist government greater control of the judiciary system. Equally or more dangerous to our freedom and democracy is when the Justice Department picks and chooses whom to prosecute and persecute based on political party. Hillary goes free while Michael Cohen is persecuted and prosecuted, and make no mistake: that is what is going on. The same can be argued with Michael Flynn, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and others. Journalists are also participating in the public persecution and prosecution of anyone surrounding Trump on a daily basis, and they should be ashamed. Instead, they continually double down, no matter what the facts are. After eight years of Obama and Hillary granting political favors and legislation and rowing government, we have a president who is trying to give the power, freedom, and purse back to the people as fast as he can, and the media, in conjunction with other Democrats, are fighting him every step of the way. Australian senator Fraser Anning represents Queensland in that nation's parliament, and as an independent, he faces no party bosses urging political correctness on him. And Queensland is the most conservative of Australia's states. If you think of Qld. as the Australian Texas, you will not be too far off. Unlike the United States, Germany, and many other Western European countries, Australia already imposes a waiting time of four years on immigrants wanting to sign up for welfare benefits. But that is not enough for Senator Anning, as reported by 9 News: "Free welfare and public housing attracts the very type of migrants transnational parasites who travel not in search of opportunity, but in search of a free ride at everyone else's expense," Senator Anning told parliament on Thursday. "It's no coincidence 56 per cent of Australia's working-age Muslims are not in the labour force." No doubt, Angela Merkel would call this hate speech. But is it inaccurate? Hat tip: John McMahon We hear that Kim Jong-un executed people who were too close to China. When Kim had discussions with Xi Jinping, he humbly took notes as Xi lectured. Kim cannot be happy being subservient to and completely dependent on China. Trump has backed Kim into a corner. Kim has to dismantle his nuclear and missile infrastructure or suffer having the U.S. take it out with bombs. It would be far more profitable for North Korea to establish strong economic relations with South Korea than with China. The North has plenty of cheap labor and speaks the same language as the South. It is significant that the summit is going to be in Singapore, where the Chinese cannot spy on the discussions. Kim has a love of American movies and has had a personal relationship with Dennis Rodman. The main problem might be inflexible Democrats who will attack Trump if he tries to make Kim into an ally of the U.S. The other problem would be the Chinese reaction. This will be a delicate operation. Image: driver Photographer via Flickr. Town & Country Magazine, a publication that chronicles and celebrates the lifestyle of the truly rich, hosted its annual Philanthropy Summit Wednesday night, inviting a diverse and multi cultural mix of guests and speakers. Some of the invited included: Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda, a Pulitzer Prize, Tony-, Emmy-, and Grammy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and actor will headline the event along with his family. Additional panelists and speakers include model Karlie Kloss, television anchor and O, The Oprah Magazine editor at large Gayle King, actor Bradley Cooper, entrepreneur Sean Parker, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Additional guests and speakers included the seemingly willingly exploited Stoneman Douglas High School students of Parkland, Florida opposed to "gun violence." So no, most of the guests' politics were not diverse, leaning, to various degrees, left. Oh, yes: Monica Lewinsky, the once-22-year-old seemingly willingly exploited White House intern who had consensual sex with her boss, President Bill Clinton (D) (if you can label it consensual, given the power and age differential), over two decades ago, was also invited to speak about her cause: cyber-bullying. Until, at the last minute, she quietly wasn't. No longer exploitable and thanks to new technology able to give her version of what happened, she quickly shot off several tweets. dear world: please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it's 2018. emily post would def not approve. Me Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018 p.s. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag. Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018 Well, the former president does seem to have more, uh, cachet than Ms. Lewinsky. And Emma Gonzalez, the Douglas H.S. shaved-head, voluble anti-gun student Clinton introduced, is definitely more contemporary news. And more politically correct. And the situation might have been...awkward. But they are all adults all diverse and multi-cultural and into inclusiveness, aren't they? Hmmm. And so the evening went forth. With the newly invited Bill Clinton. Without Hillary Rodham Clinton. Without the disinvited Monica Lewinsky. President @BillClinton welcoming @Emma4Change @alex_king737 and other brave kids working to reduce gun violence. Clinton said they are starting to do something I failed to do - make this a voting issue. #tandcphilanthropy pic.twitter.com/y17Xafothk David Gelles (@dgelles) May 9, 2018 Well, the Clinton Foundation desperately needs credibility. And apparently T&C Philanthropy needed the money. But the next morning, after other media picked up and publicized Lewinsky's tweets, the story changed. The magazine issued a weak apology about Ms. Lewinsky's unannounced absence. We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled. "The situation." Clinton's people also apologized, stating they were unaware of "the invitation." President Clinton was invited to address the Town & Country Philanthropy Summit. He gladly accepted. Neither he nor his staff knew anything about the invitation or it being rescinded. So good for Lewinsky for refusing to be bullied about that "situation." And for finally realizing she too was a victim of a powerful man. And shame on Town and Country for creating a "situation." The New York Times is really upset that Europeans are upset with President Trump leading from the front and canceling the Iran deal (that the Iranians never even signed). The headline for the article by Steve Erlanger expresses the tone: "Europe, Again Humiliated by Trump, Struggles to Defend Its Interests." The problem, you see, is not doing business with a genocidal regime (again), nor is it the hundreds of thousands of people murdered in Syria. Nope, the problem is that Europeans are upset, and we can't upset the Europeans as they count the profits on fat contracts with the mullahs, enriched by a hundred-some billion dollars shipped to them by Obama's deal. It is by now a familiar, humiliating pattern. European leaders cajole, argue and beg, trying to persuade President Trump to change his mind on a vital issue for the trans-Atlantic alliance. Mr. Trump appears to enjoy the show, dangling them, before ultimately choosing not to listen. Trump is a mean sadist, you see. And it is going to be a disaster, just like the nuclear war with North Korea that they warned against. Instead, he demands compliance, seemingly bent on providing just the split with powerful and important allies that China, Iran and Russia would like to exploit. Except that a little later, it seems that Trump has read the power dynamics accurately: "The allies are certainly sick of this but don't seem to have an alternative," said Jeremy Shapiro, a former career State Department official now at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "The Europeans are invested down a path of trying to please the president, not out of belief but more hope against hope that they will convince him," he added. "And they only pursue this at such a level of embarrassment because they don't have an alternative." In the moral universe of the New York Times, normalizing and strengthening the Iranian tyrants bent on provoking Armageddon by "wiping Israel from the map" before taking on the "Great Satan" is fine, but upsetting the Europeans who want to get rich doing business with them is truly appalling. Even though the Europeans can't do much but go along. Richard Baehr emails: "The New York Times has Guardian/BBC envy." The great things about liberals is that even though most have never run a business, they all know exactly how businesses should be run. It's as if all those courses they took at Amherst or Yale on women's studies, art history, and neo-colonialism gave them an intuitive sense for market forces, and exactly how much businesses should pay employees, exactly how much in taxes businesses should pay, and how to run every aspect of their companies. It's hardly surprising, then, to find an expose in the Washington Post focusing on Fox News commentator Sean Hannity. Hannity spent millions of dollars to buy ownership in over a thousand rental properties, and then, once he acquired ownership, he started evicting tenants left and right all for the "crime" of not paying rent! How bizarre is that? When Sean Hannity invested millions of dollars in rental properties, he actually expected the tenants to pay rent to him! Liberals, of course, know that this is immoral and scandalous the economic equivalent of keeping a "brown slave" like Eric Schneiderman or sexting while babysitting like Anthony Weiner. Here's what the intrepid business experts at the WaPo uncovered: [A] Washington Post analysis shows that managers at Hannity's four largest apartment complexes in Georgia have taken an unusually aggressive approach to rent collection. They have sought court-ordered evictions at twice the statewide rate in a state known for high numbers of evictions and landlord-friendly laws and frequently have done so less than two weeks after a missed payment. All good points! Rental properties like Hannity's are exactly the same as all other rental properties in Georgia, therefore the eviction rate should be exactly the same. The WaPo knows this because, well, it just does is! As for evicting two weeks after a missed payment, even though tenants sign leases knowing this will be a consequence of nonpayment of rent, the WaPo knows that it is not ethical to evict a tenant after only two weeks of nonpayment. I was disappointed that the WaPo didn't reveal the proper amount of time that should pass, morally, before eviction becomes appropriate perhaps the WaPo feels that eviction is never morally justified! After all, it's not as if rental properties have any need to get rental checks on time. The money just goes into a huge, "Goldfinger"-style Fort Knox-like vault, where it is instantly converted into gold bars. Rental properties have no immediate need to pay salaries to groundskeepers, handymen, cleaners, accountants, sales representatives, secretaries, and managers, and certainly they don't have any capital expenses that have to be paid down. What's a little two- or even three- or four-week delay in the rental property's income stream? Among the tenants Hannity's property managers sought to evict, records show, were a former corrections officer and her wife [sic], who fell behind while awaiting a disability determination; a double amputee who had lived in an apartment with her daughter for five years but did not pay on time after being hospitalized; and a single mother of three whose $980 rent check was rejected because she could not come up with a $1,050 cleaning fee for a bedbug infestation. Disabled people and single mothers with bedbugs are way more virtuous than your typical white male tenants and should not have to pay rent. I'm sure the WaPo did not cherry-pick these cases and that most of those evicted did not have legs or were hospitalized. Just look at what happened to this poor black lesbian couple: [H]ealth problems forced Lashondra Cosby, 40, to take a leave from her job as a corrections officer. In late February 2017, one of their rent checks bounced, court records show. A follow-up payment cleared a week later, but when the couple didn't pay their March rent before the 20th, Hampton filed for eviction, and a judge ordered them to pay $330 in court and eviction fees or move out. The Cosbys pawned their PlayStation, video games and a camera to cover the fees. But in each of the next two months, a nearly identical scenario played out: a late payment, an eviction filing and a judge ordering another $330 in penalty payments, court records show. "They kept us down at the courthouse all the time," Zandra Cosby said. "I'd have to call out a half-day and try not to cut off my nose to spite my face." So while Lashondra didn't have a job, Zandra did...so why didn't she pay the rent? We can be sympathetic to people who lose their job or are disabled, but why don't they have savings? Why can't they get loans from family or friends? Why can't they move in with family or friends (as the Cosbys eventually did)? And why is it Sean Hannity's responsibility to let them live rent-free in his rental units? I get the feeling that if liberals ran Hannity's properties, very quickly they would run them into the ground like public housing. In the meantime, liberals pontificate on the moral way to run businesses they don't have the slightest understanding of. Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com. Image: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons. Don't these White House aides know that anything they say, in confidence or otherwise, will leak and be used against their boss by the media? Senator John McCain, who is in the final stage of his terminal brain cancer, issued a statement on Wednesday urging the Senate to vote against the nomination of Gina Haspel to be director of the CIA. McCain objects to Haspel's connection to the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program during the Bush administration. During a meeting of top White House aides yesterday, Kelly Sadler responded to McCain's opposition by joking that "he's dying anyway," which set off a firestorm of condemnation from the usual suspects. CNN: Asked about Sadler's comment, a White House official said, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." Sadler called the senator's daughter Meghan McCain on Thursday to apologize for the remark, a source close to the situation told CNN, although it's unclear what her response was. ... South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close friend of John McCain, said of the White House aide's comment, "Ms. Sadler, may I remind you that John McCain has a lot of friends in the United States Senate on both sides of the aisle. Nobody is laughing in the Senate." Sadler's remark about the Arizona Republican echoed Trump's remark at the outset of his campaign for president, when he mocked McCain's time as a prisoner of war by saying, "I like people that weren't captured." The remark was insensitive and hurtful to McCain's family and friends. It was also in poor taste. But it's hardly a capital offense. Far worse were remarks by retired Air Force lt. gen. Thomas McInerney on Fox News, who defended the use of torture against terrorist suspects. "The fact is, is John McCain it worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.'" McCain didn't "sing" during his captivity. Contrary to McInerney's claim, however, there is no evidence McCain ever gave up accurate information while being tortured in North Vietnam. In fact, the senator wrote in one of his books, "Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron." Experienced interrogators frequently cite that story as a demonstration of how ineffective torture is in producing reliable information. Sadler spoke without thinking, which all of us do from time to time. But she and all White House aides have got to understand that anything that reflects badly on the administration will be leaked by someone and they should govern their tongues far more judiciously. The Washington Free Beacon is reporting on a new plan being examined by the White House that would aide Iranian dissidents in their effort to overthrow the regime. The three-page white paper being circulated among National Security Council officials in the White House offers a strategy by which the Trump administration can actively work to assist an already aggravated Iranian public topple the hardline ruling regime through a democratization strategy that focuses on driving a deeper wedge between the Iranian people and the ruling regime. The plan, authored by the Security Studies Group, or SSG, a national security think-tank that has close ties to senior White House national security officials, including National Security Adviser John Bolton, seeks to reshape longstanding American foreign policy toward Iran by emphasizing an explicit policy of regime change, something the Obama administration opposed when popular protests gripped Iran in 2009. The regime change plan seeks to fundamentally shift U.S. policy towards Iran and has found a receptive audience in the Trump administration, which has been moving in this direction since Boltona longtime and vocal supporter of regime changeentered the White House. It's hard to overstate the importance of this shift. Recall the Reagan administration's similar change in policy toward the Soviet Union. The cold war strategy of "containing" the Soviets was jettisoned in favor of an approach that would actually defeat Moscow. And the rest is history. It deemphasizes U.S military intervention, instead focusing on a series of moves to embolden an Iranian population that has increasingly grown angry at the ruling regime for its heavy investments in military adventurism across the region. "The ordinary people of Iran are suffering under economic stagnation, while the regime ships its wealth abroad to fight its expansionist wars and to pad the bank accounts of the Mullahs and the IRGC command," SSG writes in the paper. "This has provoked noteworthy protests across the country in recent months." Jim Hanson, SSG's president, told the Free Beacon that the Trump administration has no appetite for U.S. military intervention in Iran, but is very focused on efforts to rid Iran of its hardline ruling regime. "The Trump administration has no desire to roll tanks in an effort to directly topple the Iranian regime," Hanson said. "But they would be much happier dealing with a post-Mullah government. That is the most likely path to a nuclear weapons-free and less dangerous Iran." An NSC official declined to comment directly on the report, but confirmed the administration is consistently working to "change the Iranian regime's behavior." "Our stated policy is to change the Iranian regimes behavior of continuous destabilizing regional acts and support of terrorism," the official said, adding that the White House reviews multiple plans and proposals from organizations. "The National Security Council is in receipt of reams of policy papers and reports, some are read with interest, others are not. Receipt of a policy paper in no way means that we are going to adopt the position of that paper." There is little doubt that the nuclear deal strengthened the regime by offering hope to its citizens of better economic times due to the release of tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets and a lifting of most sanctions. It also prevented the US from taking steps to destabilize the regime. But the promise of better times has been a false one for the Iranian people. In fact, the economy is as bad as ever and the young, especially, are well and truly disillusioned with their leaders. Now that the shackles are off, the administration will seek to undermine and, hopefully, destroy the mullah's grip on power. No one should think this is going to be easy or be done quickly. But it's going to happen. And now that there is a US administration willing to take the steps necessary, to see the job done, the days of the religious fanatics who currently rule in Iran are numbered. It seems like Coolpad is suing Xiaomi over patent infringement, well, Coolpads subsidiary that is, Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific. Back in January, Coolpad actually sued Xiaomi for patent infringement, though back then, it seemed like the issue will be resolved soon well, that doesnt seem to be the case. In fact, Xiaomi claimed that it never received any official notice of a lawsuit by Coolpad, so the whole case seemed a bit weird. In any case, Coolpad has filed a case against Xiaomi in Shenzhen quite recently, and the company even officially announced its lawsuit, it seems, at least if My Drivers publication is to be believed. In the provided document, the company did clarify whats going on here. According to the released info, Coolpad discovered that Xiaomi infringed on some of its patents, that happened back in January, though it seems like Xiaomi didnt really pay much attention to that, so Coolpad decided to move forward with the lawsuit. Coolpad is demanding that Xiaomi stops selling some of its devices which are infringing on Coolpads patents, including the Mi MIX, Redmi Note 4X, Mi 6, Mi Max 2, Mi Note 3, Redmi Note 5, Redmi 5 Plus, and the Mi 5X. On top of that, Coolpad is requesting a financial payment for Xiaomis offense, though it is not specified what amount of money Coolpad is demanding. Xiaomi will be receiving court papers soon, according to a report, so we should get a sequel to this report in the near future. It is a bit odd that Xiaomi did not settle this dispute with Coolpad since January, as the company is in the middle of IPO madness, not to mention that its expanding its Mi Store portfolio, so negative publicity, such as this one with Coolpad, is not something the company needs at the moment. Chances are that Xiaomi will want to settle this as soon as possible once the papers arrive, presuming that the company is guilty, of course. It remains to be seen if the case will be settled out of court, or will the two companies will go to trial over this. It is still unknown what patents are we looking at here exactly, but Coolpad seems to be convinced that Xiaomi is in the wrong here, and the company would probably not file a lawsuit unless theyre certain. Were waiting for Xiaomis response regarding all that, which will probably arrive in the near future, as the company is now basically forced to respond, one way or the other. 30 arrested for protesting against Indian PM Modi Around 30 people have been arrested for chanting slogans against visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from various parts of Kathmandu on Friday. Amazon has the Spigen Kuel TS36 OneTap Car Phone Mount on sale today for just $11.99. Thats a discount from its original price of $34.99, and brings it down to its all-time lowest price. Making it a worthwhile pick up right now. This car mount from Spigen is part of its Kuel lineup, which are pretty high-quality but still inexpensive car mounts. This one in particular will sit on your dashboard and the arm is adjustable. So you can have it up a bit higher or lower, depending on how you want it. It also does not use magnets like a lot of the other car mounts out there (especially the smaller ones that attach to your air vent). So those that are worried about a magnet damaging your smartphone, you wont need to worry about that here on the Kuel TS36, as it has adjustable arms to keep your phone in place instead. Definitely a good way to do it, especially since it will still work with virtually any smartphone, whether its a smaller one like the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, or a larger one like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, both will fit in this car mount. And at just $12, its hard to pass this one up right now, and its definitely worth picking up, especially for using Android Auto. This item is also eligible for Amazon Primes free shipping. Which includes free two-day shipping, and pretty cheap (usually $3.99) next-day shipping if you need it extra fast. If you are not an Amazon Prime member yet, you can sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime. Youll get 30 days free (if youre a student, you get 6 months), and then its $99/year (or $49/year for students). Prime members do get a whole lot more than just free shipping though, so be sure to check out the full benefits. Earlier today, AndroidHeadlines shared a render of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy J3 Eclipse 2 bound for Verizon. Following which, AndroidHeadlines can also now share a render of another upcoming Samsung smartphone en route to the same carrier, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Aero. Like the Galaxy J3 Eclipse 2, the Galaxy J7 Aeros render once again highlights a June 28 date, adding more weight to the suggestion that Verizon and/or Samsung will be announcing a number of devices by this date, if not before. The Galaxy J7 Aero is expected to be Verizons flavor of the Galaxy J7 (2018), an updated Samsung phone for this year that has yet to be announced. The existence of the Galaxy J7 Aero was previously made public via a leak in March along with the model number SM-J737V. It is this model number which primarily explains the nature of this phone as the Galaxy J7 (2017) came with the SM-J727 identifier attached. Therefore, it is highly expected this will just be the Verizon version of the Galaxy J7 (2018) with little to nothing changed. Speaking of a lack of change, like the Galaxy J3 Eclipse 2 and its predecessor, this latest render suggests there will be little novelties on offer with the Galaxy J7 Aero compared to the Galaxy J7 (2017). Overall, the design seems to be identical when looking both smartphones from the front, with almost no change whatsoever other than the volume buttons which seem to be a little more separated on the newer model. The same lack of change seems likely to be in effect when it comes to the specs as well. As a recent Geekbench listing for the Galaxy J7 (2018) suggested this phone will come loaded with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, putting it directly on par with last years model. Although the same listing did indicate the inclusion of an Exynos 7885 SoC, which would suggest an upgrade in the processor department, along with newer software thanks to the inclusion of Android 8.0 (Oreo). It is worth noting the benchmark listing was for a slightly different variant (SM-J737P), although it is expected that the models will not differ much in terms of the specs, if at all. Facebook started asking its European users which media outlets they trust in terms of delivering accurate news, having started displaying two-part surveys in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. The move is the latest step in the companys fight against the so-called fake news, i.e. factually inaccurate or intentionally misleading stories that disinform, whether for profit or as part of misinformation campaigns seeking political gains. While the company is likely to eventually use the data to improve its artificial intelligence algorithms meant to flag suspicious stories, the results of the new surveys being sent to individuals in Europe wont have any user-facing consequences in the immediate future. A company spokesperson said the firm will publicly announce any changes implemented into the News Feed in response to the results of the surveys should it decide to do so. News Feed rankings are hence set to remain unchanged for the time being and will still prioritize content from ones friends while leaving the little remaining space reserved for ads and content from news sources that Facebook currently deems trustworthy. Its presently unclear whether surveys will be targeted at random users or if the firm has a more defined structure for their distribution but users who receive them will be asked to disclose whether theyre familiar with certain media outlets and if they can rate their trustworthiness. Facebooks fight against digital misinformation has been ongoing since early 2017 but has so far yielded limited success, even though the company claims the situation is improving. Russian interference with the 2016 election in the United States that already saw Special Counsel Robert Mueller indict thirteen individuals and three entities in February is also connected to the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal which allegedly revolved around the presidential race as well. Top Facebook officials including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg vowed to have the company do better going forward and combat potential misuse of its services such as misinformation campaigns and privacy violations in a more aggressive manner. Select LG Group offices in South Korea have been raided as part of a tax evasion investigation, local authorities said Wednesday. The development marks the latest government push against family-run conglomerates commonly referred to as chaebols in the Far Eastern country which started following the election of President Moon Jae-in in mid-2017. Tax authorities in Korea are now probing allegations of LGs capital gains tax evasion estimated to amount to over $9 million, with the possible transgression being conducted during share transfers of one LG affiliate, according to the Office of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor. LG said it will cooperate with the investigators by any means possible. LGs domestic rival Samsung recently found itself subjected to a similar tax evasion probe estimated to be worth some $7.5 million but there have been no updates on that investigation since its existence was disclosed in February. The South Korean government increased the corporate income tax rate to 25-percent this year, three percentage points up compared to the previous legal framework, thus raising chaebols tax expenses by hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Its presently unclear when the probe that prompted local authorities to raid some of LGs offices this week will be completed. Seouls efforts to crack down on certain practices of chaebols are polarizing the public and even the governments supporters are questioning their efficiency, pointing to how Samsung Group Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee recently had his five-year prison sentence for bribery suspended after a lengthy legal battle as an example of the system not working as intended. Mr. Lee remains adamant the charges against him were false and that he had no knowledge of any bribery attempts condoned by the now-dismantled Future Strategy Office of the countrys largest conglomerate. The case led to the impeachment of former Korean President Park Geun-hye who was found guilty of corruption and handed a 24-year prison sentence last month, having left her detention center earlier this week for medical treatment. Close to a dozen new real-life images of the upcoming Nokia X appeared online on Chinese social media network Weibo earlier this week, suggesting that HDM Global is coming closer to creating an entirely bezel-less smartphone. The photographs seen in the gallery below show the Nokia X from all angles, revealing a device with a small display notch and a slim chin whose screen-to-body ratio appears to be in the ballpark of 90-percent. The panel found on the Nokia X is said to be of the 5.8-inch variety and has a 19:9 aspect ratio which translates to an 18:9 (2:1) image format when not accounting for the corners of the screen flanking the cutout at the top. The display is expected to be an FHD+ affair, i.e. support resolutions of up to 2,280 by 1,080 pixels. A dual-camera setup also appears to be part of the package, with recent rumors pointing to a 16-megapixel main sensor. Another 16-megapixel module is said to be housed by the display notch of the device which is expected to be powered by either MediaTeks Helio P60 or Qualcomms Snapdragon 636 chip. HMD is rumored to be planning three Nokia X models featuring between 3GB and 6GB of RAM, and either 32GB or 64GB of flash memory. The latest leak also points to a glass back plate, though the upcoming smartphone is unlikely to support wireless charging, a feature that has yet to even be embraced by all contemporary flagships. The Nokia X models that are launching in China will feature a custom implementation of Android 8.1 Oreo but if the device ends up being available globally, its international variants are likely to be introduced as part of Googles Android One program, much like the rest of HMDs 2018 lineup. The handset was initially expected to debut by early May but its launch is now said to have been moved to next Wednesday, May 16, which is the same day when the OnePlus 6 Android flagship will be introduced internationally. A couple of days ago, Lenovos VP, Chang Cheng, had released a teaser for the companys upcoming bezel-less handset, and a new teaser has just landed from the same source. Mr. Cheng has published yet another image on his official Weibo (Chinese social network) page, and as you can see, this seems to be a sketch of the upcoming smartphone. Now, the phone actually seems to sport a 100-percent screen to body ratio in this image, as there are not visible bezels on the sides, only the phones frame, but chances are it will not be a fully bezel-less handset. The companys VP said a couple of days ago that the device will have a 95-percent screen to body ratio, or higher, he wasnt all that specific, so all we can do is wait in order to see how thin will its bezels be. The device is expected to arrive on June 14, at least thats what reports are saying based on the first teaser image that was published, as that image was cut off right down the middle and numbers 14 and 6 were left standing. In any case, Mr. Cheng claims that Lenovo will use 18 of its unique patented technologies to make this phone a reality, and as you can see, the phone will sport a frame made out of metal. Were still not sure if this will be a metal unibody handset, or will Lenovo opt to include glass on the back, though. A Type-C port will be included on the bottom of the device, and it seems like no buttons will sit on the left, which probably means its power / lock, volume up and volume down keys will be located on the right. Lenovo has been really quiet when it comes to smartphone launches in the next year or so, but it seems like the Lenovo Z5 could make a difference for the company. Lenovo was focused on budget phones for a long time now, and very few people expected the company to come up with a high-end device, well, the Lenovo Z5 may be just it. Based on its design along, its obvious that Lenovo wants to attract attention with this device, so chances are that the company will include really solid specs on the inside. Spec info did not leak, but were presuming that the Snapdragon 845 will fuel this smartphone, while the phone will probably ship with at least 6GB of RAM on the inside. Android Oreo is expected to come pre-installed on the phone, while it remains to be seen if the device will sport an in-display fingerprint scanner, or will that sensor be included on its back. Huawei and Porsche Design have been working together for a few years now, creating a few different versions of Huaweis Mate smartphones, and when it announced the P20 back in March, it also debuted the Mate RS which is a Porsche Design-branded smartphone. Its a $1880 smartphone that has a bezel-less display and no notch. That is simply because Porsche Designs Design Director, Christian Schwamkrug told Huawei no, to the notch. Schwamkrug said that the notch was disturbing and it interrupts the design of the smartphone. Thus, the Mate RS is here without a notch. Digital Trends actually spoke with Porsche Design at its headquarters in Austria, and spoke with its Design Director, Christian Schwamkrug about the project with Huawei. Schwamkrug said that this was project was the most intense for the company. As it had discussions on every little detail of the phone, even down to the amount of mirroring on the backside. Schwamkrug also said that when he saw the notch for the first time he nearly couldnt believe it, saying its disturbing from a design philosophy. He elaborated, stating that a picture is either rectangular or square, with a border line, and a clear frame format.Schwamkrug also said that he thinks the notch is a compromise. Its obvious that design was important to Schwamkrug and Porsche Design, which isnt a huge surprise, considering they are designers after all. And like most designers, symmetry is important here. Which is why many designers are so dead-set against using a notch on smartphones. And thats what really makes the Huawei Mate RS smartphone stand out from other smartphones like the P20 and P20 Pro that the company also unveiled at the same event. The Mate RS is a pretty expensive smartphone from Huawei, though it does have 512GB of internal storage, as well as a full-screen display that doesnt have a notch, so it is definitely worth paying more than some other smartphones. But the $1880 price tag is still pretty high, and its not going to be a phone for everyone. White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios informed the Silicon Valley and several other companies that the United States government isnt planning on imposing any kind of heavy-handed regulations on the artificial intelligence industry so as to support continuous innovation in the segment. We didnt cut the lines before Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call; we didnt regulate flight before the Wright Brothers took off at Kitty Hawk, Mr. Kratsios said in his prepared remarks addressing officials of companies such as Google, Facebook, Boeing, and Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reports, citing a transcript of the speech made earlier this week. While the Trump administration is willing to allow the AI industry to continue evolving on its own, calls for a conceptually opposite approach have been increasing in recent times, with some prominent names in the technology segment such as Elon Musk warning that AI could bring the end of humanity, possibly in the form of a third world war. The technology is presently advancing at a rapid pace, with the likes of Google, Facebook, and Microsoft implementing it into every aspect of their respective businesses so as to improve efficiency and develop new products and services. With China now profiling itself as one of the worlds AI leaders, the United States government may be looking to avoid a scenario wherein it stifles its domestic industry with premature regulations and prompts it to fall behind in the global AI race. Questions about certain applications of such solutions being rushed continue to increase, especially in the aftermath of the worlds first self-driving car accident with a pedestrian fatality recorded in Tempe, Arizona, in March. The incident saw a self-driving Volvo XC90 SUV from Uber hit a 49-year-old jaywalking woman without attempting to stop, with the victim succumbing to her injuries shortly following the crash. The actual use cases of machine learning and related technologies are vast and varied, with enterprise AI being estimated to grow into a $3.9 trillion industry by 2022 on its own. The European Union recently greenlit a $1.8 billion AI investment meant to be spread out over the following two years, though related R&D commitments in the U.S. are primarily coming from the private sector. Besides providing assurances of loose regulations to industry leaders earlier this week, Mr. Kratsios also announced the creation of a new AI committee including members of top-ranking federal officials in the field. The body will be part of the White House, i.e. its National Science and Technology Council. A balancing act Nepalis will greet Indian PM Modi with cautious optimism unlike in 2014 when they gave him a standing ovation BarcelonaAccording to Amnesty International, the prosecutor's office is obstructing investigations by various courts into the violence perpetrated by Spains National Police and Guardia Civil during the 1-O [1 October] independendce referendum. In its report '1-O in Catalonia: Obstacles to the Investigation into the Excessive Use of Force', the human rights NGO argues that, instead of leading the investigation, the prosecutor's offices actions "serve to downplay the charges" and "obstruct the proceedings" and that it even shows "a lack of interest in the process, which makes it difficult for the judicial authorities to get to the bottom of the facts". As a result, the NGO is calling on the public prosecutor's office to "radically change its attitude" and to conduct an "immediate, impartial and effective investigation". Amnesty International reported that, having reviewed several cases, it has found an "excessive use of force" on the part of the two Spanish police forces and that "the public prosecutor's office is failing to carry out its duty in conducting investigations to uncover the facts". The ministrys attitude, which AIs director in Spain Esteban Beltran called "worrying", is further compounded by "the lack of internal investigations by the Ministry of the Interior", plus the statements issued by the ministry to exonerate police officers for any culpability over an excessive use of force. Beltran warned that "it jeopardizes the search for accountability for what happened and the uncovering of the facts". Amnesty claims that the public prosecutors, who ought to combat such behaviour, instead seek to portray "the violence committed by the protesters" as a "crucial element that negates the need for judicial investigations into the excessive use of force". AI also points out that the prosecutor had objected to the fact that a court allowed those who were injured by the police from being involved in the case, arguing that since their injuries were minor, there was no need to start an investigation. The prosecutor intended for only those individuals who had received medical or surgical treatment to be offered the chance to take legal action. Of the investigations into police brutality in eight Catalan courts, Amnesty International focused on three cases in particular. Two are in connection with the work carried out by Barcelonas Court of Instruction number 7, based on 257 complaints against the police, including Roger Espanyol who lost the sight in one eye due to a rubber bullet fired outside a polling station and Alejandra Rayas -who was hit in the eye by a truncheon, outside another polling place-. Both victims are being represented by Iridia, the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, who collaborated with Amnesty International on the report. The third case corresponds to the proceedings of Gironas Court of Instruction number 2 following 200 complaints against the police regarding the Guardia Civil's actions in Aiguaviva, where tear gas was used against people offering peaceful resistance. Amnesty International claims that the Spanish police "made a dangerous, improper use of anti-riot gear, including kinetic impact projectiles such as rubber bullets, blank cartridges and chemical irritants". In a press release, AI stated that it has been concerned as to the use of such "equipment" in Spain for several years, since "although it is not designed to be lethal, it is highly inaccurate" and it can result in "serious injuries or even death". For this reason Beltran also called for rubber bullets to be banned throughout Spain. Although Amnesty International does not hold back in its criticisms of police excesses, it also states that the National Police and the Guardia Civil were only acting "in order to comply with a court order" issued by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, to prevent the referendum from going ahead and that "on occasions", the police officers were "clearly obstructed" from going about their duties. AI stated that it has seen images that "show protesters exhibiting violent behaviour against police officers", such as a chair being thrown at a Guardia Civil officer in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada. Amnesty Internationals Demands AI has called on the authorities to take steps to ensure that effective investigations are carried out into the excessive use of force by the police and that victims receive compensation. They are calling for five specific measures to be taken: MadridFor 41 years, the Spanish government has been paying a monthly bonus (15% of his salary) to the Franco-era police inspector investigated for torture Jose Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, known by the nickname Billy the Kid. In recent years this has meant a 15% increase in his retirement pension. Spains Ministry of the Interior admitted that much in response to a request from the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory. Billy the Kid, the subject of hundreds of complaints to the police for torturing individuals illegally held during the dictatorship, was awarded the police forces silver Medal of Merit. He received the award from the then Minister of the Interior, Rodolfo Martin Villa in 1977, two days before the first democratic elections were held. According to the association, Martin Villas objective was "to reward him for services rendered as a torturer before the election of a new Parliament". In its reply, the ministry specified that the police forces silver Medal of Merit is a lifelong award and, as such, it means Gonzalez Pacheco receives a salary increase of 15% for life, a sum which is paid monthly regardless of the size of his pension. According to the association, this means that the Franco-era inspector continues to receive a bonus on top of his pension thanks to the police honour he was awarded. As a consequence, the association has announced that it will call on the Spanish government to withdraw what they consider to be a monetary reward from "a person who committed countless crimes against freedom as a police officer. He was a torture machine, bent on persecuting and abusing people struggling for the return of their freedoms". There have been countless attempts by representatives of Spanish and international justice to sit Gonzalez Pacheco in the dock, for him to stand trial for torture. However, one by one they have either been shelved or a request for extradition has been declined. In 2014, a Spanish court rejected Gonzalez Pachecos extradition to Argentina, a move requested by Judge Maria Romilda Servini. In addition, the National Court banned the media from publishing photographs of the former police inspector. The most recent attempt occurred this year, but the public prosecutor's office again opposed the possibility of a lawsuit against Gonzalez Pacheco on charges of torture and illegal imprisonment due to the statute of limitations. Moreover, the public prosecutor believes that Gonzalez Pacheco did not commit any crimes against humanity. Cautious optimism as Modi visits again As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his third visit to Nepal on Friday in four years, there is cautious optimism in general public and at the political level given a dip in bilateral relations after India imposed a five-month border blockade expressing dissatisfaction over the constitution promulgation process in 2015. COP26 may be a cop-out in the making COP26 is just about a month away. Delayed for a year by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference has built up even more expectations and momentum during the intervening months His appointment increases the firms roster of accredited tax specialists with the Law Institute of Victoria to three out of only 16 professionals with the certification across the state. The accreditation is subject to three-year renewals and recognises the lawyers who meet strict experience, professional development, and education requirements in their field of expertise. Jorgensen has more than two decades experience in the law, with a particular focus on taxation. He is a specialist in tax dispute resolution and trusts, as well as consulting on Commonwealth and state tax laws, tax dispute resolution, trusts and trust disputes, succession and asset protection, business and investment structuring and tax sensitive commercial and property transactions, the firm said. He is a senior fellow with the University of Melbourne, as well as a member of The Tax Institute. He sits on the institutes tax technical committee and state taxes committee in Victoria. Thomson Geer now has around 500 people, including 99 partners, working out of offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The firm recently appointed Arthur Koumoukelis as a partner from Dentons. In February, the firm recruited partners Sarah Rizk and Darren Fooks from Sladen Legal and Baker McKenzie, respectively. Experts call for moves to sustain economic reform Experts on Thursday urged the government to formulate better fiscal measures and enhance tax reform to achieve its economic reform targets. CARSTAR recently announced the opening of its first CARSTAR location in South Dakota, expanding its U.S. footprint to 34 states. CARSTAR Collision Center-Rapid City, part of Granite Buick GMC and Granite Nissan, is located at 415 East Omaha St., Rapid City, SD 57701. It is owned by Ross McKie (shown on left) and his partner Troy Claymore (shown on right). McKie is a second-generation dealer whose family business started in the 60s. Claymore oversees the two dealerships for Buick and Nissan and is the top dealer in the area. We joined CARSTAR for the expanded relationships with insurance carriers, the leading-edge technology, the access to best practices and the power of being part of a national brand with hundreds of other owners, said McKie. CARSTAR Collision Center-Rapid City will offer full-service collision repair, paintless dent repair and glass replacement services, along with free collision repair estimates, expert color matching, towing assistance, vehicle pick-up and delivery, a nationwide warranty for most repairs and rental cars through Enterprise. The 9,500-square-foot location features all updated equipment in a stand-alone building from the dealership. The facility technicians are I-CAR Gold and Platinum certified, and the location is a certified repair facility by Nissan and General Motors. Ken Lammers, a long-time industry veteran, is the general manager. Hours are Monday--Friday 8 a.m.--5:30 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.--noon. As we build our network across the United States, we are excited to announce our first location in South Dakota, said Michael Macaluso, President, CARSTAR. Ross McKie and Troy Claymore represent a growing trend of auto dealerships partnering with CARSTAR to help efficiently manage and grow their collision repair operations. We look forward to helping build their business as part of the CARSTAR family. Truth be told, its not the bike itself that costs that much, but the diamonds that adorn it.Using a Softail Slim S as a basis, Swiss custom motorcycle builder Bundnerbike partnered with jewelry brand Bucherer to create what the two call the Harley-Davidson Bucherer Blue Edition.It took the two companies around 2,500 hours to create this, or a little over three months. Most of the time was spend fitting no less than 360 diamonds on top of it.But thats not all Bucherer stuck onto the bike. Even the screws that keep the thing together have been gold-plated. Look closer, and youll even see two safes integrated into the tank.The price set at nearly 1.8 million CHF, or roughly the same amount in dollars, makes it the most expensive motorcycle ever built.The title of the most expensive bike ever sold went earlier this year to a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning , which shattered all records by selling for $929,000 at a Bonhams auction in Las Vegas.But that one at least is rideable on public roads. Its not very likely the same will happen to the Softail.Its not clear what the two companies plan to do with the bike, other then drawing some benefits from the hype created when it was presented this week. Apart from having to be extremely wealthy, a potential buyer would also have to have enough confidence that a malicious someone will not go stealing a gem or two.And yes, it is blue, not the color of choice for bike builders. But since it is meant to advertise Bucherers line of Blue Edition watches, well give the bike a pass. It may not be directly linked to the automotive industry, but its very likely well soon have skies just as crowded as the roads should companies like Uber have their way.The transportation specialist is slowly but surely moving to take over the mobility world just like Amazon took over online retailing. Uber does business in road transportation ( including medical transport ), it plans a fleet of flying passenger taxis and, most recently, started a pilot program for food delivery in San Diego.Drone delivery is not a first in the industry, as companies like Dominos or Chipotle have pulled similar stunts in the past. But Uber, which already considers itself the largest food delivery business in the world, plans to take things to an entirely new level.According to Fortune , Uber got government approval to test food delivery by drones in the city of San Diego. And by doing so, the city will be delivered from gridlock.Uber cant just be about cars, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at a conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.It has to be about mobility. Its my personal belief that a key to solving urban mobility is flying burgers, in any city.The company is extremely confident in its capabilities, saying the delivery time from the moment the order is placed can be as low as five minutes when using a drone. When using human delivery, that time can increase to 30 minutes.Uber is not the only company to have received approval to test such services in the United States. In all, ten states will be witnessing how drones labeled Alphabet, Intel, FedEx, or Qualcomm buzz around carrying hamburgers and pasta. Earlier this week, Uber unveiled a passenger drone for its UberAir business. The drone, for now called Elevate, is a construct that was realized together with Embraer and Pipistrel Aircraft with the goal of making aerial taxis of sorts a reality.Soon after that, NASA said it would be helping Uber research the requirements to create a safe and efficient system for future air transportation over populated areas.At about the same time, the U.S. Army, through its Research Laboratory (ARL), said it partnered with Uber to look into ways to create a silent rotor technology for drones used in various missions.Both organizations need this type of technology, but for different purposes. When Uber entered service in the cities of the world, it drew the wrath of regular taxi drivers. Having a few dozen drones buzzing above city streets might draw the wrath of the cities' population as well.For the Army, the advantages of having silent drones going on missions are obvious.When UAVs are doing a mission, theyre out there collecting or observing to collect intelligence or to do surveillance, Jaret Riddick, director of ARLs Vehicle Technology Directorate was quoted as saying by Army Times They know a certain noise in the distance means a certain type of operation is underway. When you can do that with the advantage of not being detected it changes how you execute a mission.Initial research shows that one way of achieving sound reduction is making the rotors on the drones spin in the same direction. This configuration also allows for more lift power.Uber will be testing initial concepts over the streets of Dallas Fort Worth, with NASAs aid. Cessnas diesel-powered Turbo Skyhawk JT-A is no longer in production for sale directly to customers, Textron has confirmed to AVweb. The airplane, which was certifiedlast June by both the FAA and EASA, has been deleted from the companys website. However, the Continental CD-155 engine will still be offered to customers directly through Continental as a Supplemental Type Certificate installation for the Cessna 172, a Textron Aviation spokesperson told AVweb in an email. Installation can be facilitated and accomplished by Continental after aircraft acceptance and delivery from Textron Aviation, the spokesperson said. Cessnas sales of the JT-A were actually under Continentals STC approval. We trust that this change to deal directly with the engine manufacturer will be beneficial to our customers, while also helping us further streamline our production process, the spokesperson said. The 155-hp turbo-diesel Continental CD-155 can run on either diesel or Jet-A fuel, and boosted range by about 50 percent compared to the conventional Skyhawk. The option added about $60,000 to the base price. When it was introduced, Textron officials said they expected the new engine option would expand sales globally. Besides the added range, the diesel engine offers a speed boost to 134 knots and improved takeoff performance, especially in high and hot conditions, according to Textron. Although the emerging pilot shortage has stimulated demand for trainers, diesel-powered models arent getting much lift in the North American market. Even worldwide, demand appears weak. According to Jimmy Lockhart of Africair, a Miami aircraft distributor that also offers Continental diesel conversions of the Cessna 172, market interest is strong, but sales are not. He says the company has converted about 70 airplanes to diesel, but none have been sold in the last 18 months. He said lack of interest in the Cessna JT-A was probably due to its high price twice the cost of a diesel conversion. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is scheduled to come to D.C. next week to continue trade discussions, as announced by the White House on Monday. However, Liu's trip may be delayed now, depending on how preparatory negotiations pan out this weekend, the Financial Times reports. Why it matters: China and the U.S. are hanging on a precipice of trade war, with Chinese President Xi Jinping himself reportedly instructing negotiators to press for the U.S. to lighten its punishment against ZTE. Meanwhile, the U.S., which has companies embedded in China that could be hard hit by a trade war, wants to reduce its huge trade deficit. What's happening, per FT: According to three people familiar with the talks, a senior Chinese commerce ministry official, Wang Shouwen, arrived in Washington on Thursday for preparatory negotiations that are likely to be focused on what Beijing can do to reduce Washingtons $337bn trade deficit with China. Mr Wang is expected to hold discussions with U.S. officials through the weekend that will determine whether Mr Liu goes ahead with his trip. Its more likely than not, said one person familiar with the discussions. But if these talks with Wang dont go well, that will raise questions about whether [Mr Liu] will still come. My thought bubble: Very high on Liu's agenda which I hear comes directly from Xi is to have ZTE's punishment lessened. In the wake of the U.S. Department of Commerce sanctions, ZTE has now ceased major operating activities. Perhaps I'm too pessimistic, but I still think the structural issues around the Chinese economic model and technology development are unresolvable. However, as long as the two sides keep talking, the markets will likely believe a true trade war can be averted. The June 12 summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore may help delay any tougher U.S. trade actions as Trump has tweeted he may meet Xi soon, and since he will be in the region it's quite possible his trip will include a visit with Xi. One thing to pay attention to: Chinese officials and media keep saying that when looking at the U.S.-China trade imbalance, people also take into account the role of U.S. companies subsidiaries in China. In a recent interview with Caixin magazine, Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, said: "In 2015, U.S. exports to China were about $165 billion. In the same year, sales of U.S. companies subsidiaries in China totaled $222 billion. If we put them together, we will see a dramatic decline of the overall imbalance." Quick take: I read these repeated mentions of the U.S. companies' subsidiaries in China as a clear signal that if it comes to tit-for-tat tariffs, the U.S. firms with big businesses in China will be hit hard. Go deeper: Axios Jonathan Swan has some details from Trumps meetings with Xi in November in Beijing: Scientists may have finally traced the origin of a deadly fungus that is decimating the global amphibian population. In a study published in Science Thursday, researchers report the fungus originated in East Asia, possibly Korea. Why it matters: The researchers say this provides strong evidence there should be a ban on trade in amphibians from East Asia before irrevocable damage is done to global amphibian biodiversity. "It would break down the [older] idea the [fungus] Bd is endemic and climate change triggered it." James P. Collins, evolutionary ecologist, Arizona State University Background: The chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd) was identified in the 1990s as causing the global decline in amphibians that started twenty years earlier, but the timing of the expansion and the geographic origin of the pathogen was unknown. Bd is highly infectious between animals, attacking their skin and causing catastrophic mortality. Out of around 7,800 species, Bd has already wiped out more than 200 amphibian species, Collins said. It has also precipitated sharp declines in others, from Australia to the Iberian Peninsula. Different theories of its origin: One, as detailed in this 2006 study, is that the fungus is endemic and events like large-scale climate change can trigger its emergence. Others as seen in the study out today, one from earlier this week on American bullfrogs, and in earlier research say the fungus originated somewhere else, was transported, and eventually grew to become a global pandemic. "Something was moving these strains around," Collins says, describing the study. "They're not just popping out because of climate change." What this study did: Over a 10-year period, the international team of researchers gathered pathogen samples around the world and sequenced the genomes. They identified 4 main lineages of the fungus, 3 of which are distributed globally and one, which demonstrates the most genetic diversity, found only in Korea. What they found: Using the genetic data, the team estimated the killer strain of Bd currently plaguing amphibians diverged from its most recent common ancestor not thousands of years ago as previously thought, but 50120 years ago. This coincides with a huge expansion in global trade and human population size, the scientists say. Study limitations: Study author Simon O'Hanlon, from the Imperial College of London, says while the genetics from the fungus on Korean amphibians "bear all the hallmarks" of being the source region, there has not yet been enough research into isolates in other parts of East Asia or the Indian sub-continent to conclusively declare Korea as ground zero of the epidemic. Collins also points out more evidence is needed to show a direct relationship between global trade and the epidemic, which for now is an "interesting correlation." What's next: O'Hanlon said steps need to be taken to regulate trade more carefully, especially in exotic pets. "Any sensible steps that can be taken to put regulations in place to prevent the next global panzootic from some currently unknown pathogen would be a good thing," he said, using the term for an outbreak of infectious disease that affects animals. The Pentagon this week issued a stern warning to congressional lawmakers about offshore and natural gas drilling in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico, saying it would collide with military training and testing, reports The Hill. Why it matters, per Axios' Amy Harder: This gives military credence to the Interior secretary's haphazard decision earlier this year to remove this portion from consideration. It will also rankle the oil industry, which was upset at Zinke's surprise move. The backdrop: Under current law, drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is off-limits until 2022. The Trump administration said earlier this year its considering allowing companies to lease drilling rights in that area in 2023 and 2024. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke later reversed course. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed on Friday that businessman Gagik Tsarukians political alliance will receive ministerial posts in Armenias new government which is being formed by him. We have said that we are going to form a government of accord, Pashinian said after chairing his first cabinet meeting in Yerevan. We need to find the best personnel solutions and the Tsarukian Bloc will definitely be involved in the government. He did not give details of the impending power-sharing deal with Armenias second largest parliamentary force. Newspaper reports have said that the Tsarukian Bloc is eyeing the post of deputy prime minister and four ministerial portfolios. The tycoon and his political allies have not confirmed that. Pashinian announced his ministerial appointment on Friday. He said Armenias current Minister for Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan, who is not affiliated with any party, will become defense minister. Pashinian thanked members of Armenias outgoing government in his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting. The government is meeting in its current composition for the last time, he said. I wish all of you success. I also wish the incoming government success. Speaking to reporters after the session, Pashinian reaffirmed his plans to push for the holding of fresh parliamentary elections in a reasonably shortest period of time. But he again avoided giving possible dates for such polls. It remains unclear whether former President and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisians Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which still has a clear majority in the parliament, will agree to call them anytime soon. The Tsarukian Bloc controls 31 seats in the 105-member parliament, compared with 9 seats held by Pashinians Yelk alliance. The 42-year-old premier is therefore expected to rely on Tsarukian for political support at least in the short term. The bloc has been nominally in opposition to the Sarkisian government. It voiced support for anti-government protests staged by Pashinian after they rapidly gained momentum late last month. Sarkisian was forced to resign on April 23. Tsarukian and the other deputies representing his bloc unanimously voted for Pashinians premiership in the parliament on May 8. The outspoken protest leader pledged to embark on sweeping reforms which will, among other things, separate business from politics and end chronic vote buying in Armenia. Pashinian has charged in the past that not only the ruling HHK but also Tsarukians Prosperous Armenia Party hand out vote bribes during local and national elections. The tycoon, who is one of the countrys richest men, has always denied such allegations. The relationship between the two men was even more troubled when Pashinian was the editor of the Yerevan daily Haykakan Zhamanak. In December 1999, Pashinian claimed that a group of burly men led by Tsarukian burst into the pro-opposition papers officers and beat up him and his male colleagues. The reported incident followed a critical Haykakan Zhamanak story on Tsarukians business activities. In November 2004, Pashinian blamed Tsarukian for an arson attack that destroyed his car. Tsarukian, who was close to then President Robert Kocharian, denied any involvement. Extension of judicial custody sought Government attorneys have demanded that all 30 suspects involved in the 33 kg gold smuggling case and the murder of an alleged gold runner be kept in judicial custody during investigation. The formal trial began on Thursday. Armenian human rights activists denounced on Friday Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians decision to appoint a controversial police officer as the new head of the national police service. Pashinian announced the surprise appointment of Colonel Valeri Osipian on Thursday hours after initiating the dismissal of the previous police chief, Vladimir Gasparian. Osipian has until now been a deputy head of Yerevans police department responsible for public order and crowd control. He has been personally present at just about every major anti-government rally staged in the Armenian capital in the past decade. He frequently warned and argued with Pashinian during the anti-government protests which the former opposition leader launched on April 13 in a successful attempt to topple Serzh Sarkisian. Pashinian noted the symbolic significance of his choice of the new police chief, saying that it will help to end a culture of barbed wire in Armenia. Human rights campaigners and civic and opposition activists, who have been very supportive of the Pashinian-led protest movement, were unimpressed, however, strongly criticizing the appointment on social media. They have for years accused Osipian of sanctioning excessive use of force against and mass detentions of protesters. Valeri Osipians appointment as chief of the police was a disgraceful decision, Artur Sakunts, a prominent human rights campaigner, told RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) I assess that appointment extremely negatively because he is one of those individuals who led police actions during numerous demonstrations and other protests, said Sakunts. He also accused Sakunts of helping to cover up a 2014 knife attack in Yerevan which was reportedly carried out by the officers nephew. This is a bad appointment, and the public will continue to resent and revolt against it, agreed Zhanna Aleksanian, another human rights activist. Nikol Pashinian and people around him had better think about that. Pashinian defended his decision on Friday. He argued that under Armenian law the police can be headed only by career officers holding the rank of general or at least colonel. It was clear that no choice of police chief would have been accepted unanimously, he said. The premier introduced Osipian to high-ranking police officials later in the day. He said one of Osipians main tasks will be to crack down on corruption in the police ranks. Rest assured that corruption will be eliminated, Osipian told reporters. He said he accepted the new post to show that the police really stand with the people. Meanwhile, the first deputy chief of the police, General Hunan Poghosian, announced his resignation. In a written statement, Poghosian gave no reason for his decision. Pashinian pledged to fire Levon Yeranosian, another police general who has headed Armenian interior troops. Yeranosian has for years been accused of committing grave human rights abuses. By Jim O'Neill To mark the second anniversary of the British governments Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which I had the honor of chairing, two members of the Review team Anthony McDonnell and Will Hall and I have published a new book: Superbugs: An Arms Race Against Bacteria. In it, we discuss the Reviews ten recommended interventions what I call the Ten Commandments while considering the progress made so far, and the work that still needs to be done. The first part of the book provides a detailed history of our understanding of bacteria and drug resistance, and points to evidence that drug resistance may now be rising faster than we had assumed. For example, colistin, which is generally regarded as one of the last usable antibiotics in humans after others have failed, is losing its effectiveness, owing to overuse in animal farming, notably in China. And, equally disturbing, reports of drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are becoming more frequent. In the Review, we predicted that if current trends continue, ten million people could die every year by 2050, at a loss of some $100 trillion in global economic output since 2015. But now there is reason to fear that the situation could turn out even worse. To ensure that it does not, the second part of the book focuses on solutions, and compiles expert viewpoints from many of those we interviewed for the Review. On a positive note, there has been progress on two of the three supply interventions that we recommended. First, financing for early-stage research and development is growing. Just recently, new joint funding initiatives were launched by the British and Chinese governments, the Wellcome Trust, the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo. If this support is sustained, the Reviews recommendation of $2 billion in additional R&D funding over the next five years will be within reach. Second, the number of researchers working on AMR seems to be growing. In fact, I like to joke that in Northern England, AMR research centers probably now outnumber the cities that have agreed to devolution deals under the governments northern powerhouse plan. The progress made in these two areas gives me hope that similar advances can be made elsewhere. But further progress will require less talk and more action from government and industry leaders. That is especially true of the pharmaceutical industry the target of the third supply intervention we proposed. Rather than focusing solely on short-term profit margins, the industry must invest more in R&D and the production of new treatments. Representatives of the 25 largest pharmaceutical firms, I am told, met on the fringes of the World Economic Forums annual meeting in Davos this year to discuss AMR, agreeing to remain engaged on the issue. In other words, they agreed to keep doing nothing. The industrys failure to back earnest rhetoric with concrete actions is becoming increasingly frustrating. The largest 25 firms could easily persuade key governments to act on the Reviews recommendation for a market-entry reward. With a prize of $1 billion or more for the development of new treatments to combat AMR, far more firms would start to pursue their own R&D. That points to the need for governments to do more as well. Following the Review, AMR was finally put on the G20s agenda, both at the 2016 summit in Hangzhou, China, and at last years summit in Hamburg, Germany. This year, the G20 summit will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and one can only hope that world leaders will start to act on the statements of the past few years, not least by piloting a market-entry reward. A market-entry reward is crucial because it would also help to advance two of the Reviews six demand-reducing interventions: the development of new vaccines and improved diagnostics. Two years ago, we pressed Western countries to start requiring rapid diagnostic tests as a prerequisite for all antibiotic prescriptions by 2020. Not surprisingly, no government welcomed this idea. But, unless effective diagnostics become more embedded in health-care systems, we will not be able to reduce unnecessary antibiotic usage and ensure effective treatments for patients with a genuine need. So, market-entry rewards should be extended to innovations in diagnostics, too. There has been some progress on the remaining four Commandments greater public awareness, improved sanitation, improved surveillance, and dramatically reduced usage of antibiotics in agriculture but not enough. The World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the International Monetary Fund need to shine a brighter spotlight on countries that are not investing in their health systems. And the United Nations needs to follow through on commitments made at the high-level meeting on AMR in September 2016. That means taking steps to improve surveillance and compliance, and pressing the UNs 193 member states to implement the One Health national action plans agreed to in 2015. With respect to agriculture, some major Western food producers and distributors have indicated that they may develop their own AMR action plans. To that end, they should all agree to start labeling their meat and fish products with color codes denoting the amount of antibiotics that went into their production; and they should refuse to buy or sell any products that have used colistin. Overcoming the AMR threat is entirely feasible. But confronting it will require us to turn words into action. By getting out of our comfort zones now, we can avoid far worse discomfort down the road. Copyright: Project Syndicate: Where are we in the fight against AMR? --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Sara Israfilbayova Azerbaijans Association of Producers and Exporters of Milk and Dairy Products (ASEB) plans to introduce new standards for these products in the country. Executive director of the organization Samir Eyyubov made the remarks at the meeting of participants of ASEB on May 11. Azerbaijan needs to promote such a concept as farm milk. That is milk and dairy products manufactured in compliance with the necessary standards. Special logos should be on packages of finished products for this end, he said. A number of marketing activities are also being prepared to promote such products in the Azerbaijani market, according to him. We need to use all available media platforms, in particular, the work on our website will be completed at the end of this month, and we are aimed at producing competitive products that should go both to the domestic market and for export, he said. Addressing the event, Yusif Abdullayev, vice president of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) said that companies in Azerbaijan engaged in the production and processing of dairy products must work hard to develop this industry. I think that the creation of such an industry association is an important event, we believe that this organization will contribute to the development of the sphere, at the same time, serious work is needed on the part of the businessmen themselves, Abdullayev said. ASEB, established on January 26, 2018 currently unites 20 companies, and talks underway with new companies. The Association will support the development of entrepreneurship in the production of milk and dairy products, the use of new technologies, the growth of production and exports in this area. Any legal entity or individual engaged in the field of milk and dairy production can become a member of the association by providing relevant documents. Earlier, Azerbaijans Food Safety Agency answering Azernewss question on storage of dairy products noted that there are several standards in Azerbaijan related to this kind of products. There is a standard AZS 236-2006 Sour milk products. Packaging, marking, transportation, storage. In accordance with this standard, sour milk products, especially perishable goods, must be stored at the temperature 0 - 8C. By Trend Personnel changes will undoubtedly be carried out in the new Ministry of Culture, said Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev speaking about the activities of the new ministry established on the basis of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The minister believes that the culture sphere in Azerbaijan contributes to attracting numerous guests to the country and helps Azerbaijan win universal recognition. The sphere of culture will always serve for the spirituality of the Azerbaijani people and its promotion. The minister noted that the newly established Ministry of Culture will not change the direction of its activities. "We practically do not change the direction of our work, but continue it. Simply, the tourism sector will now be managed as an economic sector. Today, the tourism industry of Azerbaijan makes a great contribution to the country's economy. The functions of the Ministry of Culture are somewhat different in this respect. Nevertheless, employees of the Ministry of Culture will continue their work to promote Azerbaijani culture in order to attract tourists," Garayev said. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on some measures to improve public administration in the sphere of culture and tourism, according to which the Ministry of Culture and the State Tourism Agency were established on the basis of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Experts from Russia and Azerbaijan will discuss the main issues of cybersecurity on May 22, 2018 at Holiday Inn Baku. A year after the premiere in Azerbaijan, Cybersecurity Code returns to Baku. It should be noted that this year the conference covers six countries (27 cities). Azerbaijan's Cybersecurity Code will open with a session on trends with experts from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Baku and Kiev. Next, a large section "Technology" will include reports by well-known cybersecurity companies: ESET, IT Task, Fortinet and others. In the section Cybersecurity Management specialists of Gazinformservice "(St. Petersburg) will share their experience in this area. In conclusion, in the section Hot 10", experts and students together will formulate the key problems of cybersecurity of Azerbaijan and propose solutions. The entrance for executives and cybersecurity specialists, and journalists - is free. The detailed program and pre-registration are available on website https://baku.codeib.ru/ By Rashid Shirinov The mayor of the French city of Colmar Gilbert Meyer, President of the French Association of Friends of Azerbaijan Jean-Francois Mancel and the Secretary General of the Association, Head of the Azerbaijani House in Paris Mirvari Fataliyeva met in Baku with the Chairman of Azerbaijans State Committee for Work with Diaspora Fuad Muradov, the Committee informed on May 10. The sides discussed issues of cooperation between the Committee and the city of Colmar, further expansion of mutual ties and plans for further activities. In addition, deep concern was expressed on French officials illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan at the invitation of pro-Armenian diaspora organizations. A number of instances of visits of French officials to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and of signing some fake documents between French and Armenia-occupied towns of Azerbaijan harm an early resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is obvious that all such visits and fake agreements are well paid by the Armenian Diaspora in France. Actions of such French officials contradict the official position of Paris, which has many times stated it supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Moreover, France is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which makes efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years. Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Azerbaijani flag will be raised in all the occupied territories, including Shusha and Khankendi, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev. He made the remarks addressing the solemn ceremony to mark the 95th birth anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev. The head of state noted that Azerbaijans principled position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. In 2003-2018, over 15 years, many international organizations, the UN General Assembly, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other organizations adopted resolutions and decisions reflecting our position, the justice in connection with this conflict. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only on the basis of norms and principles of international law, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be fully restored, four resolutions of the UN Security Council must be implemented. These resolutions clearly indicate that the occupying forces must unconditionally leave the occupied lands. There is no other way to resolve the conflict, the president said. Ilham Aliyev stressed that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is not the subject of negotiations, has never been and never will be. The Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state will never allow a second Armenian state to be created on Azerbaijani soil. If someone thinks differently, I believe that he vainly lives in illusions. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should be ensured completely and unconditionally. Justice and international law require this. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. This is evidenced by history and culture, international law says this. The so-called "referendum" held in Nagorno-Karabakh was not recognized by any country, or any international organization. This once again shows that the international community, all countries recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. We will continue to strengthen our principled position. Azerbaijan has ample opportunities both in the international arena and in the region. Without our participation, no project can be implemented in the region. The sooner this is understood in Armenia, the sooner the conflict will be resolved and peace will be ensured in our region. We, at the same time, do a lot of work in the world in connection with the Khojaly genocide. Unprecedented brutality, the Khojaly genocide, committed by Armenians, has been recognized as genocide by more than 10 countries in recent years, and this process will continue. We have built a strong army. Leading rating agencies that determine the strength of the army, see the Azerbaijani army among the 50 strong armies. We know this and our military power is growing day by day. Two years ago, the Azerbaijani army liberated a part of the Agdara, Fizuli, Jabrayil districts from the occupants and the flag of Azerbaijan flutters on these lands, on our native lands today. I am confident that the day will come and the Azerbaijani flag will be raised on all territories today still under the occupation, including in Shusha and Khankendi, Ilham Aliyev said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez of the Miami-Dade County, one of the tourism centers in the US, signed an appeal in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with the Diaspora said in a message May 10. The appeal reads that World Azerbaijanis have been celebrating May 28 as the Republic Day for the past 100 years. Establishment of the Azerbaijan-American Cultural Association in Florida on Oct. 26, 2006 is aimed at preservation and continuation of these traditions, he added. The document highlights establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first secular parliamentary republic in the Muslim East, on May 28, 1918, and its recognition by democratic states, including the US. It further reads that the ADR granted all citizens the voting rights irrespective of race, sex, ethnic and religious affiliation. Gimenez, hailing strengthening of the relations between the United States and Azerbaijan, announced May 28, 2018 as the National Day of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The opinions voiced by new Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during his visit to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region show that he has no new ideas on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani MP Elman Nasirov told Trend May 10. Pashinyan repeats the thoughts of the Armenian former political leadership, he said. "He does not want to voice something new. Pashinyan's statements about the interest in the negotiation process and that the illegal regime must participate in this process as a party have reduced the belief that the prime minister will take a constructive position in the conflict settlement. The illegal regime will never be able to participate in the settlement of the conflict, as a party, because both the conflict itself and the fictional regime were created by predatory Armenia, Nasirov said. Therefore, negotiations are held between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The participation of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, as a party to the negotiations, may mean the recognition of its legitimacy, he said. Pashinyans thoughts in any case can not be accepted and may lead to a standstill in the conflict settlement. As for Pashinyan's opinion on increasing efforts to recognize the independence of the fictional regime, the MP stressed that these statements of the new prime minister coincide with the thoughts of Armenian ex-president Serzh Sargsyan, Nasirov said. "In fact, Sargsyan did not show such persistence in the issue of the independence of the illegal regime, as Pashinyan did." The new prime minister also stressed that he is also interested in opening the border with Turkey, adding that he considers this important for Armenia. However, Turkey has set a condition for Armenia to cease its occupation policy and withdraw its troops from Azerbaijans lands and afterwards, the issue of opening the border may be discussed, Nasirov said. I think that Pashinyan could not find the answer to the question about the primary reason for Armenias plight. It is obvious that the primary reason is Armenias aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan, he said. That is why Armenia is in the hard conditions of blockade within which Azerbaijan and Turkey apply sanctions against Armenia, restricting it in energy, economic and transport sectors." The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov Today the Azerbaijani Army is fully provided with modern weapons, and it is able to perform the most difficult task under the leadership of the Supreme Commander, according to Assistant to the President for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies and Military Issues Fuad Alasgarov. He made the remarks on May 11 at the presentation of the project Sevdiyim, dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the national leader Heydar Aliyev and the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Alasgarov noted that one of the successes achieved by Azerbaijan is the creation of a strong army, which has high combat readiness. The Army demonstrated its strength in the April 2016 battles, raising the Azerbaijani flag on the liberated lands. We are confident that in the near future the Azerbaijani tricolor will be waving in Shusha and Khankendi to be liberated from occupation, he said. The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The Azerbaijani army is supplied with modern weapons and technical equipment for maintaining a high level of combat capability. The army building process is of particular importance for Azerbaijan, as twenty percent of the country's territory is under Armenian occupation and the country is in a state of war with Armenia. The successful counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Army to an Armenian provocation on the frontline in April 2016 kicked back the Armenian troops. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani troops released 2 hectares of territories from Armenian occupation, retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fuzuli region. In his speech Alasgarov noted that the Azerbaijani people returned the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 70 years. This is the flag of the strong state of Azerbaijan, which has become the leading one in the region. The Azerbaijani people owe this success to national leader Heydar Aliyev, he said. The assistant to the president emphasized that during the years of Heydar Aliyevs leadership Azerbaijan became the strongest country in the CIS, the state-building was successfully carried out, and a contract with the leading oil companies of the world was signed for the supply of Azerbaijani oil to the world markets. Alasgarov also added that thanks to the policy pursued in Azerbaijan, social and political stability reigns in the country today. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Friendly business clime attracts industrialists A number of industrialists are vying to open new factories in Nepal, encouraged by the investment friendly environment. By Trend SOCAR Energy Ukraine, a subsidiary of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR in Ukraine, with the start of the navigation season, has launched two oil bunkers - offshore filling stations for small and medium-sized ships, the company said in a message on May 10. One of the oil bunkers is located in the territory of the Muromets park, Kiev and the second - in the Odessa region, in area of the yacht club "Sauvignon". SOCAR floating gas stations offer brand diesel and petrol Nano, as well as gasoline AI-95, the company said. The representative office of SOCAR was opened in Ukraine in 2008. In 2009, the company purchased about 20 filling stations of the Tala-Nafta network in Odessa and Nikolaev regions, as well as a large oil depot Svitanok in the Odessa region. In 2010-2011, the company took control of the fuelling networks ONIO (four filling stations in Kiev and the region) and GFC (in Lviv region). In August 2012, SOCAR received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to purchase 26 filling stations and one tank farm of the Kalina group. The network operates 60 petrol stations in Ukraine, as well as two Baku-1 oil bunkers in Kiev and Ganja in Odessa. Since late 2016, the company has also been engaged in trade of natural gas in Ukraine. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Sara Israfilbayova Oil prices rise on the basis of trading on Thursday on the commodity exchanges of London and New York. Brent crude oil futures were at $77.34 per barrel, down 0.13 percent, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.06 percent, at $71.30 a barrel, according to Interfax. Bank of America expects that oil prices could rise to $100 per barrel in 2019, Bloomberg reported. It is noted that futures for Brent crude oil, which traded on May 10 at a level of more than $ 77 per barrel, will grow to $90 in the second quarter of next year. However, Bank of America experts are confident that the cost of oil could rise to $100 per barrel because of a possible extension of the OPEC+ agreement on cutbacks in production and U.S. sanctions against Iran. The share of Tehran in the global supply in the oil market is 4 percent, so sanctions against Iran can lead to a reduction in the volume of black gold on the market. At the same time, Goldman Sachs analysts are sure that the rise in oil prices will be short-term. According to them, in the summer prices for Brent crude oil could reach $82.5 per barrel, but in 2019 oil will again be cheaper. World oil prices are also supported by data on the reserves of raw materials in the US. the countrys Energy Ministry reported that commercial oil reserves in the U.S. (excluding the strategic reserve) for last week decreased by 2.2 million barrels, or 0.5 percent, to 433.8 million barrels, while projected to reduce only to 0.2 million barrels. Moreover, Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of America from the Iranian deal reached by the 6 international mediators (Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany) in 2015. In addition, the American leader announced the restoration of all sanctions against Iran. After that, oil prices updated highs for 3.5 years. OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1. Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017. OPEC and its partners decided to extend its production cuts till the end of 2018 in Vienna on November 30, as the oil cartel and its allies step up their attempt to end a three-year supply glut that has savaged crude prices and the global energy industry. --- Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Russia has launched a training program for Egyptian specialists, who will work in the countrys nuclear power sector, the Russian Presidents special envoy for the Middle East and African countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Thursday, TASS reports. Speaking at a round table on Russian-Egyptian relations as part of the International Economic Summit Russia-Islamic World KazanSummit, he said: "I would like to mention the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Egypt under the Russian model." Bogdanov said that the nuclear industry in Egypt will be created "almost from scratch." "Besides generation of electricity the Egyptian economy and industry need so much, it will create thousands of new jobs," he added. "At the preparatory stage, which took several years, the parties did a lot of work - from the development and adjustment of technical and financial parameters to the approval of important legislative decisions on the demand for economic and environmental security," Bogdanov said. "We expect that the practical work on the project will start soon. We have just begun a very serious work which concerns training of Egyptian specialists to work at such facilities as the nuclear power plant," he said. In March, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev said that construction work at the Egypts El Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) can provisionally start in 2020. Acts on entry of the El Dabaa NPP construction projects into effect were signed on December 11, 2017 in Cairo in presence of presidents of Russia and Egypt. The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement to construct the first nuclear power plant in El Dabaa in November 2015. The facility consisting of four power units with 1,200 MW capacity each, will be built near the city of El Alamein on Egypts northern coast, 3.5 kilometers away from the Mediterranean Sea. The launch of the first unit is expected in 2024. The total cost of the project is estimated at $30 bln. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israels air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria were appropriate because the Islamic Republic had crossed a red line, Reuters reports. In a brief video address, he said Israel carried out a very broad attack against Iranian targets in Syria. We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria, Netanyahu said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The US Department of Treasury has blackballed six individuals allegedly associated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and three affiliated business entities, just days after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, Sputnik reported. The updated list of individuals subject to sanctions has been expanded with the names Meghdad Amini, Mohammad Hasan Khodai, Said Najafpur, Masud Nikbakht, Foad Salehi and Mohammadreza Khedmati Valadzaghard, which the US says are linked to the "Quds Force" of the IRGC. After leaving the Iran Nuclear Deal, Donald Trump has threatened Iran with new sanctions, which has led to an escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to retreat from the JCPOA, which requires Tehran to keep a peaceful nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions. Trump also announced that he would re-impose US sanctions on the country. Following Trump's announcement, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom expressed their regret over Trump's decision in a joint statement, stressing their countries' commitment to the JCPOA. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdgan, agreed in a phone conversation on Thursday to coordinate their further steps regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear program, the Kremlin press service said, TASS reported. "The situation, linked to United States unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear program, was discussed. It was stressed that the JCPOA is of utmost importance for international and regional security and also for the global non-proliferation," the Kremlin said in a statement. The sides also confirmed "Russia and Turkeys determination for further cooperation with other participants of the Plan of Action and for coordination of measures in this context," the statement reads. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva A recognizable brand of agricultural machinery will appear in Uzbekistan in the coming months, Uzbek media outlets reported. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed Uzagrotehsanoatholding JSC jointly with the Economy Ministry, Finance Ministry and the State Committee for Investments to prepare a Concept for the development of domestic agricultural machinery by mid-August, providing for the development and introduction of a domestic brand of agricultural machinery into production. In addition, these agencies should submit a localization program for each type of agricultural machinery with a specific list of investment projects for the creation of new agricultural machinery enterprises and modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of the old ones until 2020, as well as a program to reduce the cost of agricultural machinery and its components. In this regard, special attention should be paid to attracting funds from international financial institutions. The president also approved a new procedure for the purchase of equipment. Now the formation of the portfolio of orders for the supply of agricultural machinery will be carried out mainly in the course of regional fairs with the participation of domestic and leading world producers, held twice a year - in February-March and September-October. At the same time, in February-March it is planned to conclude additional contracts for the supply of agricultural machinery for the current year, and in September-October - for the coming year. Currently, Uzbekistans park consists of 146,000 units of agriculture equipment, while the countrys needs exceed 172,000 units. The provision of farms with high-performance tractors is 75 percent, grain harvesters - 86 percent, cotton harvesters - 28 percent, cotton sowers - 60 percent, and grain sowers - 25 percent. In total, taking into account the lack of equipment or outdated technology in the country, there is a need for 82,000 units of various agricultural machinery and equipment. Only this year it is planned to supply farmers with 16,000 units of equipment, including 5,800 units in the first half of the year. Uzbekistan's economy depends heavily on agricultural production. Last year the volume of gross agricultural production in Uzbekistan reached 47.4 trillion soums. As of January 1, 2017, the number of operating farms exceeded 132,000 and dekhkan farms - 4.7 million. In total, 8.2 million tons of grain, 2.9 million tons of potatoes, 11.2 million tons of vegetables, over 3 million tons of fruits and berries, 1.7 million tons of grapes, 2 million tons of melons and 2.9 million tons of raw cotton were produced in the country in 2016. Because of the risks associated with a one-crop economy as well as from considerations of food security for the population, Uzbekistan has been trying to diversify its production of other agricultural products, while reducing cotton production. The Central Asian nation intends to decrease production and public procurement of raw cotton up to 3 million tons by 2020. Thus, Uzbekistan aims to increase production of grain crops up to 8.5 million tons with the growth rate of 16.4 percent by 2020 due to optimization of lands and introduction of modern agriculture technologies. It is also planned to increase production of potatoes by 35 percent, other vegetables by 30 percent, fruits and grapes 21.5 percent, meat by 26.2 percent, milk by 47.3 percent, eggs by 74.5 percent and fish by 2.5 times. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov Armenia claims Turkish lands, while Turkey is not at war with any country, Turkish media quoted the Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying on May 11. Armenia is still hostile to Turkey, he said. If Armenia stops making any claims against Turkey and sincerely wants to open a new page in relations with Turkey, Ankara may consider these proposals. Previously, the new Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia is ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions. Earlier, Armenia announced the cancellation of the protocols on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. The protocols were signed by the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia on October 10, 2009, but they were never ratified. Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkeys predecessor, the Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out genocide against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. By strengthening the efforts to promote the so-called genocide in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of some countries. However, when Turkey proposed Armenia to create a joint historical commission of historians and experts from both sides and third parties in order to study the events of 1915 and share the findings with the international public, Armenia refused the offer. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The refusal to supply the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria is not linked in any way with the recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, acting Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, TASSreports. Peskov commented on a statement, which acting Russian Presidential Aide for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin gave in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia. "Technologically, it is absolutely incorrect to link this [Kozhins words] with Netanyahus visit because the interview was given before Netanyahus visit," the acting Kremlin spokesman pointed out. Russia has never announced such deliveries and only specified that it reserves the right in the wake of US-led airstrikes against Syria to do everything possible in this situation. In an interview published on Friday, Kozhin said that Russia was not delivering the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria and no talks had been underway on their delivery thus far. As the acting Kremlin spokesman added, the Syrian army "has everything it needs." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on April 16 that Russia was ready to consider all necessary steps to reinforce Syrias defense capabilities, including the delivery of the S-300 systems. On April 23, Lavrov told journalists that the issue of delivering the S-300s had not yet been decided on but Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed this subject with the defense chief "in the context of preventing a situation where the Syrian Arab Republic would be left inadequately prepared for aggressive acts similar to the attack on April 14.". --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Indian PM Modi announces Rs 1 billion aid for Janakpurs development Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day state visit to Nepal, announced a financial assistance of Rs 1 billion for the development of Janakpur. He made the announcement while addressing a civic facilitation programme at Janakpur on Friday. Worship services will go on as usual this weekend at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, days after the church office was damaged by an explosive device, the Rev. Steven Balke said Friday. Beaumont Police and the FBI cleared the crime scene at the church Friday afternoon, removing the yellow caution tape intended to keep parishioners and gawkers away. BPD declined on Friday to release any further information about the device, which detonated sometime between 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday. Officers were called to the church just after 9 a.m. on Thursday about some "criminal mischief," when they discovered the explosive device, Chief Jim Singletary said Thursday. The explosion broke one window and caused minor damage to exterior brick walls and bushes next to the office door. Employees at businesses near St. Stephen's Church on Friday said they were staying alert but otherwise treated the day as normal. India Plowden, who watched the stream of panicked parents on Thursday picking up their children through the window of Malley Cleaners on Delaware Street, said she wasn't worried about a repeat incident in the same neighborhood. "I'm more concerned about another incident in another area," she said. On April 26, an explosive device was found outside Starbucks on Dowlen Road, about a mile from the church on Delaware. That package, which was left on top of a trash can outside the store, was found just before sunrise by an employee. Unlike the device at the church, the package found at Starbucks did not detonate. BPD confirmed that the package contained a "legitimate explosive device" but declined to reveal the contents of an accompanying note. Singletary declined to comment on Thursday about any possible connection between the two incidents but asked residents to report any suspicious packages found at their homes or businesses. "We're on alert," said Patrick Davis, who was working at Beaumont Major League Barber Shop on Delaware Friday. "I'm not picking up any packages." He said fewer customers were coming in and the area seemed less busy than on typical Fridays. Janice Wooten, who works at State Farm in the shopping center next to the church, said she wasn't concerned about coming to work Friday but called all of her grandchildren on Thursday to warn them about not touching suspicious items. With so many homes still being repaired after Harvey, people are receiving "lots of packages," she said. "I told them all to be more careful, and not to pick up any packages that aren't expected," she said. "I hope the community can just watch out for one another and be mindful," Plowden said. Lamar University announced on Friday it would have heightened security for this weekend's graduation ceremonies "in response to recent events in our area." "There is no credible threat at this time. We are just being overly cautious," said Daniel McLemore, Lamar's associate director of marketing communications. "It's the smart thing to do." In an email to students, the university warned people to report any suspicious items to LU police or 911. Beaumont Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the Thursday explosion. Singletary said Thursday that no information about suspects, possible motives, intended victims or the components of the device would be released. LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz ICYMI: Package left at Beaumont Starbucks in April contained explosive device LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz A Fort Worth school district is jumping at an opportunity to bring on dissatisfied Oklahoma teachers. Teachers in the Sooner State ended a nine-day walkout in April over low school funding and teacher salaries, but according to the Oklahoma Education Association, their fight and disappointment in the state's school systems aren't over just because they are back to teaching. RELATABLE: Texas teacher salaries lag far behind U.S. average, study shows According to KOCO News, Fort Worth ISD decided to take advantage of the situation to try and recruit new teachers for their district, so they invested in 10 billboards in cities across the state that read "Your future is in a Fort Worth classroom." The signs also tout a starting salary of $52,000, which is significantly higher than the $31,919 starting salary for teachers in Oklahoma, according to KERA News. DATA: TEA releases 2017-18 superintendent salaries CNN reported that the month-long campaign launched on May 7 and is aimed at recruiting both teachers and students who are soon-to-earn their teaching degrees. Take a look through the gallery above to see how much SE Texas districts pay their teachers on average. Great Hearts Monte Vista will reinstate the teacher who assigned middle school students a worksheet which asked them to chart the "positives" and "negatives" of slavery. In a letter sent to parents this week, Great Hearts Texas Superintendent Aaron Kindel said the teacher will return from the leave he or she was placed on and keep their position at the campus. "After conducting a fair and thorough review we found that, while the assignment was certainly not consistent with Great Hearts philosophy, there was no harmful intent on the part of the teacher and the broader context of the treatment of slavery in the course left no ambiguity regarding its immorality," Kindel's letter reads. "As such, the teacher will be re-instated after training is completed." The teacher was placed on leave following an outcry after an upset parent posted the worksheet on social media in April. Since then, people from U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro to Daily Show host Trevor Noah have chimed into the matter, condemning the assignment titled "The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View." On the worksheet the parent shared, a student had written only "N/A" under the "positives" columb. RELATED: Trevor Noah blasts San Antonio school's 'positives' of slavery assignment on The Daily Show Great Hearts said training will be implemented across the board, from employees to leadership, to ensure all campuses in the network "remain inclusive and welcoming to scholars from all backgrounds." Additionally, Kindel told parents the American History textbook used in the class in question, "Prentice Hall Classics: A History of the United States," would be replaced. Soon after the mySA.com's original report, Pearson, the company behind the textbook, issued a statement disavowing any connection to the controversial worksheet. "The worksheet in question was not created by, endorsed, or encouraged in any way by Pearson," Director of Media Relations Scott Overland told mySA.com in an email. "We do not support this point of view and strongly condemn the implication that there was any positive aspect to slavery." Kindel invited parents to contact his office directly with any questions. Madalyn Mendoza is a digital reporter for mySA.com. Read more of her stories here.| mmendoza@mysa.com | Twitter: @MaddySkye Indian PM Modi lands in Janakpur Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Janakpur for a two-day official visit on Friday. He arrived in an Indian Airlines airplane at 10:40am. The following hospitals announced or completed plans in the last week to expand, upgrade or renovate their facilities. 1. NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center to open Mothers Center: 5 notes NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, both based in New York City, will open a first-of-its kind outpatient center focused on maternal health. 2. Texas Health Resources plans historical $300M expansion Arlington-based Texas Health Resources plans to invest $300 million in an expansion project at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth the largest construction project in the health system's history. 3. 2 rival healthcare providers to build hospitals in same Florida city: 9 notes After a nine-month process, an administrative law judge approved construction proposals from two rival healthcare organizations clearing the way for both providers to build a hospital in Venice, Fla. The law judge approved Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial's proposal for a 90-bed hospital and Venice Regional Bayfront Health's proposal for a 210-bed replacement facility. 4. Jefferson Washington Township Hospital breaks ground on $205M expansion Turnersville, N.J.-based Jefferson Washington Township Hospital broke ground May 9 on its $205 million expansion project. 5. McLaren Macomb breaks ground on $68M emergency and trauma center McLaren Macomb, a 228-bed acute care hospital in Mount Clemens, Mich., broke ground May 8 on a $68 million emergency department and trauma center. 6. CHA Hollywood Presbyterian breaks ground on $291M patient tower Los Angeles-based CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center broke ground May 7 on the final phase of a campus upgrade a $291 million patient care tower. 7. White Plains Hospital proposes 9-story outpatient facility White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital plans to construct a nine-story, 216,000-square-foot ambulatory care and physician office facility. Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services plans to invest $111.6 million into an upgrade at its flagship facility, Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota Medical Center, according to the Star Tribune. The upgrade calls for a 7,000-square-foot addition that will make room for an expanded emergency department and two high-tech operating rooms. The renovation will not include adding any licensed beds, and will instead focus on expanding outpatient service offerings. "The biggest component of the renovation is a renovation of our operating rooms," John Doherty, president of Fairview's central region, told the Star Tribune. "Many of those operating rooms are 20 to 30 years old, and we need to expand the size of those so that we accommodate the needs of the equipment that we use in surgeries nowadays." Construction on the revamp is expected to start later in May. It is slated for completion in 2020. Mona Chadha has primarily spent her career focused on life sciences and biotechnology. But on April 23, she began a new kind of role at San Francisco-based Dignity Health, one of the nation's largest health systems, as chief strategy officer of the Bay Area market. At Dignity Health, Ms. Chadha leads strategic initiatives at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Calif., and Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Calif. She also leads strategic initiatives at St. Mary's Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, both in San Francisco. Previously, Ms. Chadha was president of Precision Navigation Consulting. Before that, she was COO and co-president of biotechnology company WaferGen Biosystems. She recently spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about her new position, the challenges she faces and her leadership mantra. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity. Question: You previously worked at Precision Navigation Consulting and in biotechnology. What made you want to take on the position with Dignity? Mona Chadha: I'm at the juncture in life where it's important to me that my work makes a difference, especially in the lives of the patients we serve. That's what drove me: The many technologies in my life science and healthcare career that I've worked on have all been more toward improving patient care and providing medicine to the right patient, so precision medicine is what I've focused on. And very early on in my life, I wanted to give back more directly to people, and the combination of what Dignity Health does well serving people in need and directly impacting the lives of people that's what drove me here. Q: What challenges do you face in this role? MC: Healthcare's changing all around, and you need to be able to provide cost-effective, better solutions overall. You want to be able to focus on providing the right medicine at the right time, and be targeted in your therapeutic approach as well. That's very broadly speaking. We know Dignity Health is a leader in healthcare in [the Bay Area]. We have four hospitals and 28 clinics [here]. We have significant partnerships with University of California, San Francisco and GoHealth Urgent Care. So, I think [the challenges are] really aligning all your resources. I'm very new to this role, so I'm learning, and I hope I can help drive the business. Q: What are you excited about with this position? MC: I'm really excited about the affiliation we have with UCSF and several others we are looking at. More importantly, I think that [affiliation] will bring us some strategic alliance with access to physicians that will be useful for UCSF and us, where they get access to certain hospitals and we get access to certain physicians. Q: Do you have a leadership style you use? MC: The way to get things done, whether it's affiliations or within the organization, is really doing some forward thinking taking your customers into account as to what are the needs of the population you're serving and then drive that forward by creating a relevant strategy that really works both for the other party as well as for yourself. Then within the organization, other alliances you've built. Q: Is there any advice you would pass on to other hospital leaders? MC: One of the key strengths of being a good leader is really listening and leading people by example. That to me is one of the successes. Then, do some thinking outside of the box. That's been my mantra of success in the past. More articles on leadership and management: Trump wants to slash $15B in spending, including on CHIP Michael Dowling: 7 reasons organizations should be cultivating future nurse leaders Carilion Clinic President and CEO Nancy Agee to head AHA board: 6 things to know The dean of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine said thousands of medical school employees could potentially lose their jobs if proposed state budget cuts are finalized, according to WDSU. Louisiana is dealing with a budget shortfall of about $1 billion for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Amid the projected shortfall, the Louisiana Health Department is slated for $1.8 billion in cuts, the report states. The cuts, if finalized, could mean closure of the LSUHSC School of Medicine, affecting more than 2,000 workers, according to Steve Nelson, MD, the medical school's dean. He told WDSU: "If the hospitals decide they are not going to maintain their relationship with us and withdraw from these partnerships because they are not funded, it is beyond my capability to see how the medical school could stay open. This is a death spiral almost like a row of dominoes; once you start, it just keeps going until the whole thing implodes." Dr. Nelson also noted in the report more graduates from his medical school are leaving Louisiana amid the state budget woes. The LSUHSC School of Medicine isn't the only healthcare entity speaking out or reacting to the potential state budget cuts. At the end of last month, Lafayette (La.) General Health issued termination warning letters to nearly 800 employees, Also, the Louisiana Health Department sent Medicaid termination warnings to 37,000 beneficiaries May 10. More articles on leadership and management: Trump wants to slash $15B in spending, including on CHIP Michael Dowling: 7 reasons organizations should be cultivating future nurse leaders Carilion Clinic President and CEO Nancy Agee to head AHA board: 6 things to know Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Vassar Brothers Medical Center was approved to form a general surgery residency program for 2019, according to the Daily Freeman. VBMC President Ann McMackin said May 8 officials also expect the 365-bed hospital to be approved for other residency programs, including internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, emergency and psychiatry. "It takes us from being a community hospital, with great, advanced tertiary care, to a teaching hospital. And when you have [physician] residents, it raises the bar for everybody," Ms. McMackin said. "It's ongoing teaching, ongoing education and it also trains physicians who love the Hudson Valley and will hopefully stay here and grow their practices in our region." The residency programs will be spread across parent company LaGrangeville, N.Y.-based Health Quest's four hospitals, with the largest programs held at VBMC, according to the report. The programs are expected to enroll a combined 220 residents. The Tacoma Pierce County Health Department in Washington announced seven new "probable" cases of hepatitis C tied to an outbreak at Puyallup, Wash.-based MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital, and an additional 12 cases that are still under investigation, according to The Spokesman-Review. Here are seven things to know about the case. 1. The health department announced the update in a May 9 blog post and said it would release weekly updates on the investigation. 2. The update reflects information and testing results gathered since April 30, when MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital officials issued a recommendation to an estimated 2,761 patients treated in the hospital's emergency room during an eight-month period between August 2017 and March 23 to receive testing for hepatitis C, according to the health department. 3. The health department said 1,065 patients have undergone testing, and 1,028 of those patients showed no signs of the infection. Of the 37 patients who tested positive for hepatitis C, experts experts deemed 16 cases unrelated to the outbreak at the Puyallup hospital. Roughly 1,696 patients have yet to be tested. 4. Data from the seven "probable" cases linked to the outbreak at the hospital were submitted to the CDC for further analysis. The 12 additional cases require further investigation, the health department said. "To put these numbers in a broader context, Pierce County has 18 acute hepatitis C cases so far this year. According to the [CDC], the total for the county may be the tip of the iceberg. The CDC estimates because so many people have the virus and don't know it, the county most likely has nearly 14 times as many cases. That's an estimated 250 people who have hepatitis C in Pierce County," the health department said in the blog post. 5. Police arrested former MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital nurse Cora Weberg, 31, earlier this week. Ms. Weberg, who no longer works at the hospital, has been accused of infecting at least two patients with hepatitis C. She has since been released from police custody and has not been charged with a crime. 6. Hospital officials cited Ms. Weberg as "the common denominator" between the first two cases because she reportedly treated both patients in the hospital's ED. While the health department confirmed the two patients contracted the virus from the same genetic source, officials have not been able to establish a genetic link between the patients and Ms. Weberg. 7. The state nursing commission suspended Ms. Weberg's nursing license May 7, citing unprofessional conduct. During a May 8 press conference, Ms. Weberg claimed she did not intentionally infect the two patients with hepatitis C, but did admit to diverting leftover dosages of medications she gave to patients. To access The Spokesman-Review report, click here. The Children's Hospital Associated awarded four hospitals across the U.S. with the Pediatric Quality Award, which recognizes hospitals for improving health outcomes. Yale New Haven (Conn.) Children's Hospital was named the overall winner. Together, the four hospitals saved $11 million in healthcare costs. In honoring leading children's hospitals, the Pediatric Quality Award aims to spread successful improvement initiatives that other hospitals can replicate to improve care. Every two years, CHA member hospitals submit improvement projects that have positively affected patient safety, financial performance and hospital culture. A panel of peers and international healthcare experts chooses the winners. For this award, the judges selected 13 semifinalists and the overall and category winners from 110 entries submitted by 60 hospitals in four categories. CHA announced the winners March 6 during the 2018 Quality & Safety Conference. Here are the four recipients of the 2017 Pediatric Quality Award. 1. Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. The 213-bed hospital implemented a more reliable system for identifying and reporting safety events and reduced their serious safety events rate to zero over a four-year period. The initiative resulted in $3 million worth of savings. 2. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After launching a quality improvement framework to improve drug utilization for storing and dispensing isoproterenol, a life-saving medication used in cardiac and pulmonary hypertension patients, the 546-bed hospital saved $1.2 million in drug spending and $1.4 million in annual waste costs from 2016-17. 3. Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio). Nationwide Children's aimed to decrease asthma-related emergency department visits among Primary Care Network patients by administering asthma control tests during well and sick visits. The hospital then provided action plans to patients during regular asthma visits and saw a 24 percent decrease in ED visits over six years, saving $5.2 million in asthma ED costs. 4. Ochsner Hospital for Children (New Orleans). The children's hospital reduced unplanned extubations, which can lead to infection and longer hospital stays, in its pediatric intensive care unit by identifying breakdowns in securing tubes, adjusting staff training and starting new protocols. As a result, the hospital saw 43 fewer ventilator days and $240,000 in savings during year one. To view the winning entry from Nashville, Tenn.-based Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, click here. Janakpur hosts civic reception for Modi [Watch live] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended a civic reception programme organised in his honour at Rangabhumi Maidan in Janakpur on Friday. The Indian Prime Minister is on a two-day official visit of Nepal. After combing through 149 proposals for its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program which seeks to operationalize drones in safe and unique ways the U.S. Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration, selected 10 winners May 9. The pilot program, which was announced in October 2017 as a White House initiative, will provide state and local governments an opportunity to partner with private sector entities to accelerate the integration of drones in the U.S. Overall, the program aims to tackle the most pressing challenges to safely and effectively use drones. Each pilot program will be tailored to a particular purpose. "Data gathered from these pilot projects will form the basis of a new regulatory framework to safely integrate drones into our national airspace," said DOT Secretary Elaine Chao. Here are the 10 entities selected to participate, along with a brief explanation of their pilot project. 1. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma will partner with CNN to test flying drones beyond a pilot's line of sight, according to Gizmodo. 2. City of Reno (Nev.) will partner with Flirtey, a drone delivery service, to test the safety of delivering medical supplies such as defibrillators, EpiPens and opioid overdose antidotes via drones, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. 3. City of San Diego will partner with UC San Diego, Qualcomm and Uber to test real-world applications of drones, such as food delivery within minutes, boarder surveillance and transporting blood tests by drone to receive faster results, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. 4. Center for Innovative Technology at Virginia Tech will partner with Google's Project Wing, Intel, AT&T, Airbus Aerial, State Farm, Dominion Energy, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Hazon Solutions to study how drones can interact with people, according to The Roanoke Times. 5. Kansas Department of Transportation will partner with Microsoft to track drone deliveries, disaster response and agricultural surveying throughout the state, according to NPR. 6. Lee County Mosquito Control District will use drones to track mosquito larvae in hopes to better control the pests. 7. Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority will partner with FedEx to test using drones to deliver airplane parts to the airport. 8. North Carolina Department of Transportation's project will test drones as a method to deliver medical supplies in hard-to-reach areas in the state. One of its partners is Apple. 9. North Dakota Department of Transportation will work to leverage drone technology to speed up law enforcement and emergency service response times during floods, blizzards and missing people searches, according to KFYR-TV. 10. University of Alaska-Fairbanks will pilot the use of drones to deliver medical devices to remote areas, help with search and rescue operations, survey fish and wildlife, and monitor pipelines, roads and other infrastructure. While key players like Google, FedEx and Microsoft were part of the winning proposals, one major player Amazon is suspiciously absent from the pilot program. Amazon has expressed interest in drone delivery and aims to create a fleet of unmanned drones that can send packages to customers within 30 minutes. When asked about the program, Brian Huseman, Amazon's vice president of public policy, said it was unfortunate its applications were not selected, but it will continue its efforts to develop a safe operating model for drones, according to CNBC. Nurses who work overtime may not collaborate as well with other nurses and physicians, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Administration. For the study, researchers analyzed data compiled in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators on a 2013 survey of 24,013 nurses from 957 units across 168 acute care hospitals. Taking into account shift lengths and hospital characteristics, researchers identified a link between the number of nurses working overtime or longer overtime hours, and lower collaboration in hospital units. Researchers used the nurse-nurse interaction scale and nurse-physician interaction scale in determining collaboration. They identified an association between one hour of overtime and a 0.17 decrease on the nurse-nurse collaboration scale, and a marginal link between the one hour of overtime and a 0.13 decrease on the nurse-physician interaction scale, according to a news release. "In other words, a 0.17 decrease from the mean score of the RN-RN scale suggest that a unit's rank on the RN-RN score would drop from the 50th percentile to approximately the 30th percentile," the release states. The study did not find an association between longer scheduled shifts and less collaboration. However, researchers described the amount of overtime nurses put in as concerning. They said the average nurse in the study worked 24 minutes longer than their scheduled shift, and 33 percent of the nurses on a unit indicated they worked longer than their scheduled shift. Additionally, 35 percent of nurses said nurses on their unit saw increased overtime in the past year. "Our findings support policies that limit the amount of overtime worked by nurses," said Chenjuan Ma, PhD, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing in New York City. "In practice, nurse managers should monitor the amount of overtime being worked on their unit and minimize the use of overtime More articles on workforce: Majority of US healthcare workers want to work remotely: 5 survey findings New Orleans VA hospital looking to fill 65 positions Poll: More than 60% of medical practices reported high demand for nonclinical applicants On May 9, 2018, neurosurgeon Louis Kralick, MD, of Anchorage Neurosurgical Associates, settled a malpractice lawsuit concerning a spine procedure performed in 2013, according to KTVA. Dr. Kralick also made headlines in March for allegedly photographing the genitalia of a patient undergoing spine surgery at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Here are five things to know. 1. The medical malpractice suit involved a patient undergoing spinal fusion at Providence Alaska Medical Center in 2013. Dr. Kralick performed the procedure, but fused C4-T1 instead of the intended C3-C7. Despite X-rays showing multilevel posterior decompression and fusion at C4-T1, Dr. Kralick "falsely reported that the X-rays revealed postsurgical instrumented posterior fusion from C3-C7," according to court documents. 2. This surgical error resulted in the patient experiencing consistent pain and numbness. The patient required additional surgeries to remove the misplaced screws. 3. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but came ahead of the jury's $275,000 award in compensatory damages to the plaintiff. The jury also found punitive damages, but the hearing was pending when the case settled. 4. The pending photograph lawsuit, filed in Anchorage Superior Court, claims Dr. Kralick sent photographs of a patient's genitalia to his wife or another third party without valid medical justification. Dr. Kralick sent an apology letter to the patient, but refused to give up his phone's password to the district attorney's office. The lawsuit is still underway. 5. Board-certified Dr. Kralick completed his neurosurgery residency at University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City. 'BT said that "back office" staff and middle management roles would be most affected' The future of BT workers in Northern Ireland was unclear yesterday after the telecoms giant announced 13,000 job losses in the UK. BT said that "back office" staff and middle management roles would be most affected. BT employs 2,529 workers here. The announcement comes less than two months after the company said that it was creating 130 apprenticeship and graduate roles in Belfast, Londonderry, Coleraine, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Newry. Those roles include tech design, tech operations, software, IT, sales, finance, customer experience and engineering. The recruitment drive includes BT's engineering division, NI Networks, which will be taking on 30 apprentices over the next 12 months. The move to cut 13,000 jobs comes as BT seeks to reduce its costs by around 1.5 billion by the final year of its three-year plan. Yesterday, the telecoms firm also announced plans to hire around 6,000 new employees "to support network deployment and customer service". A spokeswoman for BT said: "There are no details at this stage of either the reduction in roles, or the new jobs we have announced today. "We have been clear, however, that the changes will represent an investment in the jobs and skills needed to strengthen our networks and improve customer service and cyber security." In response to the job cuts, Prospect trade union national secretary Philippa Childs said: "The scale of these job cuts is higher than had previously been speculated on and will come as a devastating blow to managers and professionals represented by Prospect. "Many of the roles that BT is proposing to cut are highly skilled professionals and the loss of that expertise could impact BT's research and innovation capability." Danske Bank's Geoff Sharpe and Lewis McCallan with Arthur Richmond of SHS Belfast company SHS Group is celebrating the acquisition of two major household names within the past seven months. And the consumer goods group said it had worked closely with Danske Bank to buy Standard Brands UK, the owner of firelighters such as Zip and Sunny Jim. Danske also backed the firm's purchase of 3V Group, which owns butter brand Meridian and soft drink producer Rocks. SHS Group has a turnover of over 460m and employs over 900 people. Pre-tax profits of 24.8m place it at number 16 in the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies 2018. Pessimism over Brexit among Northern Ireland firms is falling and is now less acute than among their counterparts in the Republic, according to a survey today. The AIB Brexit sentiment index for the first quarter of the year said that local firms who were most anxious about the impact of Brexit tended to be manufacturers or tourism-related businesses. However, the index found that only 2% of firms here have put a formal Brexit plan into place - compared to 4% in the Republic. Firms on both sides of the border said they were putting off or even cancelling plans to invest - but despite their worries, most had yet to feel any impact. Tourism and manufacturing firms were most anxious on both sides of the border, while in the Republic, food and drink firms were also nervous. Concerns included the implications of tariffs and how they would impact goods and services. Stephen Kelly, chief executive of trade group Manufacturing NI, said he was not surprised that manufacturing firms were feeling concerned. "Whilst a small number of manufacturing firms export, every one of them imports from the EU and further," he said. "They know they now face added cost and complexity brought on by customs, origin certification and a raft of other non-tariff barriers. "They're also experiencing workers leaving and are having difficulty replacing them." But he said there could be a silver lining. "There is a chance for our sector and Northern Ireland to prosper by being a bridge between the UK and the EU. "That would make us one of the most attractive regions in the world to invest and would create jobs and put money in pockets across Northern Ireland." Retailer John Keenan of Bogart Menswear, which has stores in Belfast and Newry, said he was taking a direct hit. "Around 90% of my goods come from Europe and the weakening of sterling since the EU referendum has made these goods much more expensive. It is very difficult to pass on all this additional cost to the customer, so our margins have taken a hit." Brian Gillan, head of business and corporate banking at First Trust, said: "Whilst this is the third consecutive improvement in sentiment expressed by SMEs in Northern Ireland, the lack of visibility and uncertainty still prevails, as reflected in the border issue, but perhaps the growing optimism reflects the progress made over the last quarter and a belief that both sides will get a satisfactory deal done." A software firm from the Republic with clients including Disney, Netflix and Spotify is creating 85 jobs in Belfast as it aims to ensure UK market access post-Brexit. Cork-based Teamwork.com said it could scale up its operation here "significantly". For now, it's hiring 55 developers and 30 technical support staff for a development and support hub, with average salaries of 37,000. The company chose Belfast out of a potential 30 locations and has received support of 680,000 towards the posts from economic development agency Invest NI. Belfast will be the firm's biggest office outside Cork. It has a total of 200 staff. It is based in Belfast city centre's Scottish Provident Building, which houses a number of companies, but chief executive Peter Coppinger told the Belfast Telegraph: "The plan is to scale up to get our own office. We're growing 40 or 50% year-on-year and that means we'll be hiring a lot over the next 10 years, so we're in it for the long haul." Asked how big the Belfast workforce could eventually get, he said: "I could see this operation scaling up significantly but I don't want to be drawn on that (numbers). "It all depends on access to talent. But what we see right now is that we've already found 10 fantastic people." The Belfast office will be developing one product to add to its existing three, Mr Coppinger said: "Our grand vision is to have a suite of products. We're in a billion dollar market here." He summed up the firm's products as "helping businesses all around the world and their teams to be more efficient and organised". "We have 22,000 customers, and our products can be used in 40 different languages," he said. "Our customers range from one-man wedding planners to massive teams of companies and our products streamline entire businesses. They mean that on a team, everybody knows that they must be doing and can schedule things, and instead of people having to dig around emails, everything is organised. It can go into any business or any organisation." Chief technology officer Daniel Mackey said the skills base had helped score Belfast at number one of a possible 30 locations. "We looked at available talent, accessibility and the fact that it was English-speaking and the same time zone. And we chose Belfast because it's about future-proofing us against the effects of Brexit. Right now, the UK is our fourth-biggest market, but we hope to expand that with new offerings." There are already eight people in place in Belfast with plans to hire another 20 in the short-term and the remainder over the next few years. The company also has offices in Limerick, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Buenos Aires. Mr Coppinger added: "For high-growth technology companies such as ours, we have to prepare for the future and possible opportunities, especially with the uncertainty around Brexit. "Being in Northern Ireland will ensure we can tap into the great talent pool on offer and access the UK market in future." Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton said: "As well as software developers, a specific customer support team will be based in Belfast to provide technical and knowledge support." A Newry bakery has trebled its sales beyond 1.5m and expects to double revenues again this year. Sweet Things bakery, which is part of Northern Ireland convenience food firm Around Noon, has grown its workforce from two to 13 in the past year. It is now recruiting another two people to the roles of innovation baker and supervisor. The business supplies a number of well-known high street retailers and independent stores both here and in the Republic. It was set up by Ciara Byrne, its commercial director, in 2009. It started out by selling at farmers' markets before it was bought over by Around Noon and its chief executive Gareth Chambers. Mr Chambers said: "We are delighted with the rapid growth that Sweet Things has enjoyed. After acquiring the business, we invested significantly in branding and marketing, as well as in new premises for the businesses. "We've positioned it as a bakery that offers a bit of a 'rock and roll' take, and we did things like add the strapline 'bad-ass bakery'. "It has been a strategic acquisition for us that really complements our existing offering. Our customers spend in excess of 10m annually on bakery items, so there is real demand for the kind of products that we offer through Sweet Things." Mr Chambers was named Young Businessperson of the Year at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank last month. Around Noon is based in Newry's Greenbank Industrial Estate. Mr Chambers took over his parents' food company Around Noon in a management buyout in 2016. It produces about 60 different types of 'food on the move' - including sandwiches, protein pots, filled croissants, wraps, salads and cold-press juices. EU diplomats have proposed a post-Brexit situation where Northern Ireland becomes 'the new Hong Kong' (Anthony Devlin/PA) EU diplomats have proposed a post-Brexit situation where Northern Ireland becomes 'the new Hong Kong'. Political website Politico reports European negotiators have proposed a 'one state, two systems' approach as a solutions for dealing with issues around a border on the island of Ireland. The story quotes unnamed "high-ranking officials in Brussels" who say the hand over of Hong Kong could set a precedent for the current negotiations between Europe and Britain. The proposed solutions would see the draft agreement between the EU and the UK place Northern Ireland in a different customs territory. It quotes the official as saying: "The one thing you cannot say about Margaret Thatcher is that she was soft on sovereignty... if Thatcher agreed it for Hong Kong, why not Northern Ireland? It would not affect the constitutional integrity of the UK. The head of state would still be the Queen." A UK official quoted says the proposal is unacceptable as it is based on Britain handing over sovereignty for Hong Kong - something it had not plans to do for Northern Ireland. Contacted by the Belfast Telegraph, head of office with the European Commission in Northern Ireland Colette Fitzgerald said: "The Article 50 negotiations for the UK's withdrawal from the EU are carried out by the Chief Negotiator Mr Michel Barnier and his Task Force 50 team in Brussels. "The EU position on Northern Ireland is set out clearly in the draft Withdrawal Act agreed with the UK and is available of the Task Force 50 website." The Task Force 50 website contains documents outlining the how the UK will withdraw from the European Union, and includes speeches and statements made by EU officials on the subject. Speaking at the All-Island Civic Dialogue in Dundalk at the end of last month, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said: "The consequences of Brexit should not and must not lead to the return of a hard border, neither on maps nor in minds." Pressure has been growing on the UK to put forward viable solutions to the issue of the border on the island of Ireland and post-Brexit customs arrangements. On Thursday, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee expressed its disappointment after Brexit Secretary David Davis declined to appears before it to discuss the issue. Janakpur ready for reception Janakpur, the historic town and headquarters of Province 2, is geared to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Officials said all the preparations have been over despite adverse weather. There were calls yesterday for the Government to offer more detail about a proposed review of journalistic practices in Northern Ireland. The Society of Editors and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) asked for greater clarity on the surprise announcement made by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock during a Commons debate on Wednesday. An amendment to the Data Protection Bill would bring a review of "the processing of personal data for the purposes of journalism". This would be carried out in Northern Ireland by a commissioner who would submit their report to the Secretary of State. Welcoming the move, North Antrim MP Ian Paisley described the inquiry as "Leveson for Northern Ireland". Reacting to the announcement, executive director of the Society of Editors Ian Murray said: "The Press and media should never be afraid to be subject to scrutiny which, after all, is what we expect from other bodies. "But there is a need for clarity over the breadth and scope of the standards inquiry announced by the Secretary of State. "I feel certain the Press in Northern Ireland would be willing to provide input into the shape of such an inquiry to help ensure it addresses many of the real issues that are faced by industry." Assistant general secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley said the union would be seeking full consultation on the terms of reference of the proposed inquiry. He said: "We are surprised that a specific review of the Press in Northern Ireland has been announced. "The confused manner of the announcement suggests that the proposal has not been properly thought out and may be motivated by political expediency. "We are seeking urgent engagement on the terms of reference for the review." Mr Dooley said that he hoped that any review relating to Northern Ireland would be "imaginative and wide-ranging" and include wider challenges facing journalism. During the debate, the Government - backed by the DUP - narrowly voted down attempts to establish a new inquiry into relations between the media and police, which had been dubbed "Levenson Two". Unionist politicians have hit out at the new Sinn Fein MP for West Tyrone for attending a hunger strike commemoration in her first public engagement. The DUP and Ulster Unionists accused Orfhlaith Begley of hypocrisy for her presence at the event a day after she said she wanted to extend the hand of friendship to unionists in the constituency. Ms Begley attended a commemoration last Saturday to mark the 37th anniversary of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands' death. After her election to Westminster the previous day, the new MP said: "This is a new chapter for West Tyrone. I will reach out with an open hand in friendship to our unionist neighbours. "I will work to seek resolutions rather than recrimination. I will work to build bridges. I will do so as part of a vibrant, growing and dynamic party under the new leadership of Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill. "I am hugely excited by that, because this can be a genuinely new era for Irish politics." Speaking at the hunger strike commemoration in Dromore the next day, she said that she drew her inspiration from the 10 republican prisoners who died in the H-Blocks. "The sacrifice and courage of the 1981 hunger strikers has inspired me to continue on the journey for Irish freedom," she told the crowd. "The hunger strikers, and everything they represent, continue to be an inspiration to us all." Listing the names of the hunger strikers along with some of the 1916 leaders, she continued: "They are the people who set the moral compass for the rest of us to aspire to today. "I am spurred by their heroism. We will live in the Irish Republic that our comrades sacrificed their liberty and their lives for in the H-Blocks." Ms Begley ended her oration by saying: "Tiocfaidh ar la." She was the main speaker at the annual commemoration in Dromore, which saw bands march from St Patrick's Hall to a memorial stone in Church Street. DUP MLA Tom Buchanan branded her speech "totally disgraceful" and claimed it showed that Sinn Fein's reconciliation gestures weren't genuine. "During and immediately after the election, Sinn Fein tried hard to give the impression that it was reaching out to unionists and was less hostile to the unionist community," he said. "But actions speak louder than words. We can clearly see how insincere Sinn Fein's pretence of friendship was, with Orfhlaith Begley's attendance at an event which glorified murderers." Mr Buchanan continued: "Sinn Fein can talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk. They can't help harking back to the old ways by commemorating IRA killers. "It is no surprise to me and they should just drop the pretence of feigning to be something they are not. "The unionist community can see through their hypocrisy." Local Ulster Unionist councillor Chris Smyth, who contested the West Tyrone by-election along with Mr Buchanan, accused Sinn Fein of double standards. "Orfhlaith Begley's presence and speech at this event exposes the facade of Sinn Fein's unionist outreach for what it is," he said. "Ms Begley has not lived up to her own words. She has a choice - to stand by her commitment to building bridges with unionists or to admit that she's not interested. Sinn Fein can't have it both ways." Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United said: "Ms Begley speaks of the hunger strikers as 'heroes' but the facts are very different. "The 10 men were each incarcerated for serious terrorist criminal offences committed against their neighbours, Protestant, Roman Catholic and dissenter. "In her recent acceptance speech after becoming West Tyrone's new MP, Orfhlaith Begley spoke about 'building bridges', 'reaching out to unionism', 'living together in a reconciled future'. "What sheer and utter drivel that was. Normal service has been resumed in West Tyrone." Mr Donaldson claimed that rather than being "a new face", Ms Begley's "words and the attitudes are the same old, same old" from her party. Sinn Fein had not responded to requests for comment by the time of going to press. The new West Tyrone MP was elected comfortably, with over 16,300 votes and 47% of the poll. Mr Buchanan, her nearest rival, was 8,000 votes behind. The by-election was called following the resignation of Barry McElduff amid fury after he posed with a Kingsmill loaf on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre in January. A bid to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been blocked from progressing the legislative process in the House of Commons. MP Conor McGinn, originally from south Armagh, had brought a private member's bill forward seeking to extend same-sex marriage into Northern Ireland following the collapse of the devolved government more than 15 months ago. He had expected the government to object given its ties to the DUP. However, the Labour MP's bill has not progressed past Second Reading in the Commons following an objection by a backbench Conservative MP. It will return for a further Second Reading on October 26. Since the Bills introduction to the Commons in March, an opinion poll has shown an overwhelming 76% of the Northern Ireland public now support same-sex marriage. Mr McGinn said: "Hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland who support the right of same-sex couples to marry will be outraged that one English Tory MP has been able to prevent the progress of my Equal Marriage Bill in the House of Commons today. "While it is welcome that the Government did not formally object to the 2nd Reading of the Bill, they need to clarify how they intend to ensure that the right to equal marriage in Northern Ireland- which has the support of the Assembly, Parliament and the public- becomes law. "The Government can't continue to talk out of both sides of its mouth on this issue. It can and should legislate to extend equal marriage to Northern Ireland. "I know today's events will disappoint and frustrate the LGBT community in Northern Ireland, who continue to be denied the basic and fundamental right to marry the person they love. But I assure them that I will keep fighting for them and working with the Love Equality campaign to get this done. This is not going away, and we are not giving up. MP Conor McGinn Following the blocking of the bill, the Love Equality campaign for marriage equality in Northern Ireland has announced it will hold a march and rally in Belfast on Saturday, June 2. John ODoherty said: Of course, it is disappointing that this Bill has been blocked from further progress today, but we want to thank Conor McGinn and all the MPs from all the parties who have supported this legislation. Despite huge support among the public and among Northern Ireland Assembly members, with Stormont in long-term suspension, we now look to Westminster to make marriage equality a reality for couples here. To demonstrate that support, once again we will take to the streets of Belfast to demand marriage equality for all our citizens. Love Equality will hold a rally at Belfast City Hall on Saturday June 2 and we invite people to join us in numbers. Responsibility for legislation now sits primarily with Theresa May, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and the new Equalities Minister, Penny Mordaunt, and we will seek urgent meetings with them to discuss next steps. The family of a tourist from Northern Ireland who died after he was attacked in a street in Magaluf say his body will be returned home on Monday. It comes after police in Majorca arrested two people in connection to Aaron Henderson's death. Officers said a British man aged 35 is suspected of killing Aaron and a 37-year-old Spaniard is suspected of trying to cover up the crime. The unnamed Briton was held on Tuesday afternoon at the bar where he works. The second man, a manager at the same unidentified bar, was held yesterday morning. Aaron (30), from Coleraine, lost his fight for life in hospital on May 1 after suffering head injuries in Punta Ballena Street on April 27. His devastated family have faced an agonising wait for Spanish authorities to release his body. His dad Paul revealed that his remains will be returned home next week. He posted on social media: "After what feels like an eternity, Aaron is finally coming home to us on Monday, May 14 at 10.30am. "The funeral service will take place at 25 Cloyfin Park, Coleraine, on Wednesday, May 16 at 2pm following on to Coleraine Cemetery. "Everyone is welcome to come and say farewell, never goodbye. "After the service Paul, Kim and Nicolle would like to invite everyone to the Lodge Hotel. The family kindly asks that donations be made to The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust in lieu of flowers." Investigators from Majorca's Civil Guard force were said to have spoken to a witness who told them he saw Aaron being pushed to the ground and then kicked in the head in the party resort. Both suspects are expected to appear before a judge in a closed court hearing today. The judge will decide whether to remand them in custody or release them. Mr Henderson revealed the family had decided to donate his organs so his death "wouldn't be in vain". He said: "It's hard for the family to stay strong. It will never get easier, but we just want to get Aaron home. "It's been a nightmare having him out there all this extra time, especially with his children waiting." Libyan-supplied Semtex was used in the 1987 IRA bombing of Enniskillen Ministers have been urged to use seized Libyan assets to compensate the victims of Muammar Gaddafi-backed IRA terrorism. Former Labour minister Kate Hoey told ministers they should take advantage of the 9.5bn in seized assets to pay victims who are "dying off". Ms Hoey, who sits on the Commons' Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, said: "This has gone on far too long. There is 9.5bn sitting in our banks and if we as a United Kingdom Government cannot find a way to get some of that money to go to those people who are as we speak ill and beginning to literally die off then I think that is a shame on all of us here and a shame on this Government." Later in the debate Tory MP James Cartlidge touched on the compensation paid to Fatima Boudchar, who was kidnapped and returned to Libya in 2004 in a joint MI6-CIA operation, to press the Government to help terror victims. The South Suffolk MP said: "It's very timely given the statement earlier by the Attorney General which revealed, and it may be entirely justified, that a Libyan citizen wronged by this Government has today received half a million pounds of compensation." Fellow Tory MP Laurence Robertson, who secured the debate, said: "Time is running out for many of the victims. "Losing any loved one through natural causes is bad enough, losing someone through an accident is perhaps even more shocking, but how much worse must it be when that life has been deliberately taken such as through terrorism, but add to that grief the involvement of a foreign rogue state." Conservative Bob Stewart said it was "indisputable" that the Gaddafi regime supplied weapons and explosives used by the Provisional IRA, and suggested that money earned in interest on the frozen accounts should be used to compensate British victims. "It is indisputable that so many innocent people have died as a result of Provisional IRA activity using Libyan-supplied arms and explosives," he said. "It is indisputable that other nations have ensured compensation for victims of Libyan-backed terrorism and it is indisputable that huge sums of Libyan cash is frozen in London's banks." Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said the Government did not dispute the "basic facts". He told MPs: "The evidence is sufficient for us to be speaking today with the confidence that Semtex and other materials supplied by the Gaddafi regime into Ireland and onto the mainland of the UK were responsible for IRA-based terror." Over the course of 25 years, from the early 1970s, the Gaddafi regime supplied arms, funding, training and Semtex to the IRA. Libyan-supplied Semtex was used in bombings including the Harrods department store attack in 1983 and the Enniskillen Remembrance Day blast in 1987. Last year the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee called for a "fresh approach" to secure compensation for victims. However, the Government did not accept the committee's recommendations. A south Belfast Presbyterian Church, which was badly damaged in an arson attack two years ago, will officially reopen tonight. Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church sustained considerable damage after it suffered two devastating arson attacks in July 2016. The news was met with widespread condemnation. The church complex, which has a congregation of around 700 people and has been serving the community since it began in 1960, was forced to close due to the damage. A special service of thanksgiving will be held this evening as churchgoers celebrate their newly renovated building. The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Reverend Noble McNeely and representatives from neighbouring churches will be in attendance. Reverend Alistair Bill, minister of Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church, said that due to the damage the congregation had to meet in other locations. He said: "After the church was attacked, we were inundated with messages of support from across the community and offers of practical help, so many in fact we couldn't take them all up. "We were really heartened to see that our congregation was seen as being at the heart of the local community. "It has been a testing time and a time of renewal in many ways. Over the past 22 months we have been heartened on our journey by a piece of scripture found in Genesis 50 verse 20, where Joseph is saying to his brothers, 'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good'. "What happened that July night was harmful, but it didn't end in the destruction of our church and the scattering of God's people." He added: "It was the start of a new journey, which is why we have called our service tonight Celebration of the Journey. "I want to thank everyone who has helped us and supported us on that journey." The fire and soot damage required the main church building to be stripped back to its core. However, the team saw this as an opportunity to think more creatively about the church and they set about undertaking a radical change to the interior of the building, designing a space that was bright and modern. "We decided to turn the inside of the church around 180 degrees. "We removed the balcony making it fully accessible, a space that could be used for events by others within the community and not just for Sunday worship," Rev Bill added. "We also put in a wider platform and upgraded the facilities, like our audio visual system. "Not only have we designed a new church building to the glory of God, but a place to be used more and by the community. "Part of this process of looking to the future has also enabled us see the need for a new member of staff to work with families in the area, something we are working towards." Rev McNeely said: "I like the theme for the service, Celebration of the Journey, as it highlights and focuses on the fact that the church has had to recover from a setback. "However, it has journeyed forward through a challenging time and continues to travel forward in anticipation of what is ahead." The church also will hold a community fun day tomorrow from 11am to 3pm. East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell has called on the Tanaiste to explain why officials from his department visited a republican prisoner in Maghaberry on two occasions. Simon Coveney, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, raised the two-year detention of Tony Taylor on the floor of the Dail after a recent visit he made to Taylor's home city of Derry. Taylor, who has two terror-related convictions, has been in prison since March 2016 after his licence was revoked. Mr Coveney said he intended to write to the Secretary of State Karen Bradley voicing his concerns about Taylor's ongoing detention "without being charged with or convicted of any new offence". Mr Coveney added: "I am also aware that there is a level of concern in the nationalist and republican community in Northern Ireland about the basis for and nature of Mr Taylor's ongoing detention. "They have all been reflected in our ongoing engagement with the NIO on the matter." DUP MP Mr Campbell said Mr Coveney's department "should not be getting involved in this matter". "It wasn't his place to do that, it's not in his brief," he said. "Simon Coveney seems to have ignored the fact that this man has twice been convicted of serious terrorist-related offences and after the second time when he was considered for parole, the parole board said he still presented a danger to the public. "Despite those factors, these visits went ahead. "They will be taken by many people in Northern Ireland as some form of succour or support, or at least ambivalence towards Tony Taylor and his previous actions, no matter what way he tries to explain that's not what it was." "What Simon Coveney has to answer is why his officials were visiting someone who has been twice convicted of terrorist offences and is still considered a risk to the public." The Government can no longer "pander" to Sinn Fein over how it deals with Northern Ireland's past, a former defence secretary has said. Writing in yesterday's Daily Telegraph, Sir Michael Fallon claimed that a one-sided witch hunt against British soldiers is a "craven surrender to Sinn Fein", and suggested that a line had to be drawn. His comments came after Prime Minister Theresa May spoke out in the House of Commons on Wednesday, saying the current system of dealing with the past in Northern Ireland is "patently unfair". Mrs May also told MPs the only people currently being investigated over Troubles incidents were former security force members. That claim appears to run contrary to figures published by the police and prosecutors in Northern Ireland last year. PSNI statistics indicate more of its legacy resources are deployed investigating paramilitaries, while a breakdown of cases taken by the Public Prosecution Service in recent years shows more have been pursued against republicans and loyalists than security force personnel. But writing in the Daily Telegraph, Tory heavyweight Sir Michael cautioned against the reinvestigation of Army operations during the Troubles. "Many of these allegations relate to events that took place over 40 years ago or even longer. "Nobody in their right mind would have suggested in the 1990s that we reopen allegations of misconduct by British or American troops on D-Day or in the Battle of Normandy," he said. "Who can now be precise about what they may have seen or heard on a dark, rain-swept night in West Belfast in 1971 or 1972? How could any judicial proceedings that might flow from an investigation possibly be fair to those involved, given lapses in time and memory?" He said that "instead of pandering to Sinn Fein, there is a better way", suggesting that there should be a "clear distinction" between soldiers "risking their lives to protect others" and the terrorists who were "happy to blow up or maim entirely innocent civilians". "It should be a sufficient defence for any soldier facing these allegations that they were carrying out what at the time they honestly believed to be their duty," he said. Sir Michael also suggested that no re-investigations should happen unless new evidence has emerged, and also that there should be a time limit. "That may well be painful for both communities in Northern Ireland where there are families still unsure how exactly their loved ones died. But if the Province really is to find a lasting peace, at some stage a line has to be drawn," he wrote. Meanwhile, the sister of a man shot dead by soldiers on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972 reacted angrily to Mrs May's comments. Kate Nash, whose brother William was among 14 innocent people shot dead, said: "What Theresa May is saying is clearly wrong - there hasn't been more than a handful of soldiers that have faced due process for their actions during the Troubles." She vowed that any attempt to stop possible prosecutions of the soldiers responsible for Bloody Sunday would be fiercely challenged. "If they do I can assure Mrs May and her Government that we will challenge that in the strongest terms possible," she said. Last night the BBC reported that it had seen a 27-page document which it claimed is part of the NIO's public consultation process on legacy. The document does not mention a statute of limitations nor is there any reference to funding for legacy inquests, it was reported. It says the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) will "likely have 1,700 deaths to look into and would aim to complete their work in five years". It also mentions an Oral History Archive which would collect recorded memories and stories about the Troubles in one place set up by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. EU diplomats have proposed a post-Brexit situation where Northern Ireland becomes "the new Hong Kong". Political website Politico reports European negotiators have proposed a "one state, two systems" approach as a solution for dealing with issues around a border on the island of Ireland. The story quotes unnamed "high-ranking officials in Brussels" who say the handover of Hong Kong could set a precedent for the current negotiations between Europe and the UK. The proposed solutions would see the draft agreement between the EU and the UK place Northern Ireland in a different customs territory. It quotes the official as saying: "The one thing you cannot say about Margaret Thatcher is that she was soft on sovereignty... if Thatcher agreed it for Hong Kong, why not Northern Ireland? It would not affect the constitutional integrity of the UK. The head of state would still be the Queen." A UK official quoted said the proposal is unacceptable as it is based on handing over sovereignty for Hong Kong - something it had not planned to do for Northern Ireland. Contacted by the Belfast Telegraph, head of office with the European Commission in Northern Ireland Colette Fitzgerald said: "The Article 50 negotiations for the UK's withdrawal from the EU are carried out by the chief negotiator Mr Michel Barnier and his Task Force 50 team in Brussels. "The EU position on Northern Ireland is set out clearly in the draft Withdrawal Act agreed with the UK and is available of the Task Force 50 website." The Task Force 50 website contains documents outlining how the UK will withdraw from the European Union and includes speeches and statements made by EU officials on the subject. Speaking at the All-Island Civic Dialogue in Dundalk at the end of last month, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said: "The consequences of Brexit should not and must not lead to the return of a hard border, neither on maps nor in minds." Pressure has been growing on the UK to put forward viable solutions to the issue of the border on the island of Ireland and post-Brexit customs arrangements. Yesterday, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee expressed its disappointment after Brexit Secretary David Davis declined to appear before it to discuss the issue. Marchers calling for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment (Niall Carson/PA) An Irish Bishop has said experiencing an abortion can be a worse experience than rape in some circumstances. Speaking on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show on Friday, Bishop of Ossory Dermot Farrell was discussing the forthcoming May 25 referendum in the Republic on repealing the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution. Asked by host Kenny for his views on the use of abortion in cases of rape and incest, Bishop Farrell said: "Rape is a violent act and it is a violent crime against women. "And it is a terrible crime. What I understand, from women who have been raped is that the abortion, sometimes, after rape was far worse than the rape itself. And it was much, much more difficult to get over." Bishop Farrell was on the programme to discuss a pastoral letter sent to churches within his diocese ahead of the Referendum later this month, urging a no vote among his parishioners. He questioned what legislation would be introduced in the case of repeal passing, and that "experience has been the case in other countries that once the doors are open the legislation becomes far more permissive". Bishop Farrell said issues where a woman or girl became pregnant through incest were "difficult cases... complex cases". "We might not like how the child has been conceived," he said. "What you are trying to do is balance rights here. The right of life to the child is paramount." The Diocese of Ossory covers an area in the east of Ireland, including Kilkenny, parts of Laois and Offaly. Dermot Farrell was ordained Bishop in March, having been appointed to the position by Pope Francis in January. He was formerly president of St Patrick's College in Maynooth and served as a parish priest of Dunboyne and Kilbride in Co Meath since 2007. The Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution gives equal protection to life of the mother and the unborn child, and underpins abortion legislation in the Republic. Kathmandu all set to welcome Indian PM Modi Security has been beefed up in the Capital on Friday in view of the two-day State visit by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The loyalist supergrass Gary Haggarty has been released from prison, with the families of his victims only learning of his release through media reports. The former north Belfast UVF leader was sentenced to six and a half years just over three months ago for over 500 offences including five murders. The BBC reports Haggarty has been released into a witness protection programme and taken to a secret location outside Northern Ireland. Read More He had spent more than four years in jail and lawyers for Haggarty had argued he had served his sentence. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is currently appealing the sentence handed down to Haggarty. Padraig O'Muirigh, a solicitor representing families of the victims of Haggarty, said they found out through news reports of his release and they were distraught although it was not a complete surprise to them. "In their view Gary Haggarty is effectively a serial killer and in their minds treated more favourably than them," he told the BBC. "It is very difficult for the families they have been through this very long process with the assisting offender trial we had and at the end of that we now have Mr Haggarty being released. And to rub salt in the wounds of the families we are 10 years after Nuala O'Loan's very critical report in relation to the police conduct and we have no police officer charged. "It is fair to say they have lost an amount of faith in the justice process." He said that while they were aware of the dates of his likely release "they did expect to be notified". "To do it through the media first hand is a very cruel way to do it. "Not that they would welcome it in any way. The way they have been treated today caused more distress and could have been handled better." SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said Haggarty's release should have been held until the PPS's appeal was heard. Haggarty had been sentenced to 35 years in jail, however, given his guilty pleas and his agreement to become an assisting offender his final sentence was reduced significantly. The former boss of the UVFs notorious north Belfast Mount Vernon was a long-time police informer and pleaded guilty to a litany of serious crimes as his part of a controversial state deal that offered a significantly reduced prison term in return for giving evidence against other terrorist suspects. The catalogue of offences stretch over 16-years from 1991 to 2007 and include the loyalist murders of John Harbinson, Sean McParland, Gary Convie, Eamon Fox and Sean McDermott. As well as the five murders, Haggarty admitted five attempted murders, including against police officers; 23 counts of conspiracy to murder; directing terrorism; and membership of a proscribed organisation. The loyalist pleaded guilty to a total of 202 crimes. The judge will also take into account 301 lesser offences committed by the paramilitary godfather. The vast majority of individuals named by Haggarty in his police interviews will not face prosecution amid state concerns about a lack of supporting evidence. Graphic details of Haggartys murderous confessions were outlined at a pre-sentence hearing last year, as were explosive claims that police failed to prevent loyalist murders despite receiving advance warning from their high-ranking UVF informant. Families of Haggarty's victims said he was allowed to kill at will and expressed their dismay following his sentencing. The Department of Justice said it would not comment on his release. Peoples desire not to draw a line in the sand on Troubles investigations informed a decision to exclude a prosecution amnesty from plans to address the legacy of the conflict, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said. Karen Bradley insisted there was no support in the region for a Northern Ireland only statute of limitations as she launched a public consultation on other proposals to address unresolved issues from the past, including a new independent investigations unit and a truth recovery body. Read More The people have been very clear to me in Northern Ireland the way to address the legacy of the past, the way to address the legacy of the Troubles is for people to go through this process of understanding what happened, for victims to find out the truth and to see justice being done, she told the Press Association. That is what people have been clear they want, they dont want to draw a line in the sand and pretend it never happened they want to deal with it this way and thats what I support. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley MP on launching a public consultation on proposals to address the legacy of Northern Irelands past:#LegacyConsultation pic.twitter.com/l5MgKzSSW7 Northern Ireland Office (@NIOgov) May 11, 2018 Mrs Bradley also defended the Prime Ministers controversial claim earlier this week that only ex-security force members are currently being investigated over Troubles killings, insisting it was not an attempt to interfere with the regions justice system. The Northern Ireland Secretary formally unveiled the long-delayed consultation on proposals to deal with the toxic legacy of the Troubles amid a political row over the exclusion of an amnesty for security force members. The four-month public consultation will seek to canvass views on a series of new mechanisms to investigate, document and uncover the truth around killings during the 30-year conflict. It is based on a blueprint agreed by the Stormont parties and UK and Irish governments in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. The implementation of the agreed mechanisms has been delayed amid ongoing political discord in Northern Ireland. Link to consultation to address legacy of the pasthttps://t.co/gMjhheeFAf Pat Finucane Centre (@FinucaneCentre) May 11, 2018 The consultation is a bid to inject some momentum into efforts to making those new bodies a reality, but it has become embroiled in controversy over what is not included in the document, rather than what is. Late last year, the Government, which is to spend 150 million setting up the new institutions, indicated that a statute of limitations protecting security force members from historic prosecutions may be added to the consultation. The prospect of such a move was met by a wave of opposition in Northern Ireland. So while the decision to remove the contentious proposal from the consultation was therefore widely expected in Northern Ireland, it has nonetheless generated opposition both within the Cabinet and on the Conservative backbenches. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is understood to be among ministers unhappy at the prospect of veteran servicemen being prosecuted. Expand Close Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (Jane Barlow/PA) Mrs Bradley said the consultation, which she insisted had the backing of Cabinet, was only focusing on what had been agreed at Stormont House in 2014. At Stormont House, there wasnt a situation where a statute of limitations was agreed because my experience from talking to all the parties is there is no support for a Northern Ireland-only statute of limitations which would apply across all offences and that is something that people dont want to see, she said. So we are consulting on how to set up the (Stormont House) institutions. Clearly people are able to respond to that consultation with what they think they want to see and we welcome all views, but we are consulting on how to set up the institutions that were agreed, we are not consulting on other issues. Both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists have voiced concern about a statute of limitations, as has the Irish Government and representatives of the victims sector. Had conversation with Tanaiste Simon Coveney regarding the disgraceful, incorrect and misleading statements from Teresa May and Karen Bradley yesterday. What is required is the immediate release of the funding for Legacy Inquest Plan and the commencement of the consultation. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) May 10, 2018 The DUP and some military veterans in Northern Ireland made the point that any such statute would, by law, have to be extended to also cover former paramilitaries something they branded unacceptable. Senior DUP figures favour protections for ex-service personnel as part of wider legislation that focuses on all conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Mrs Bradleys reference to opposition to a Northern Ireland-only statute suggests a broader statute of limitations for service personnel might yet materialise from elsewhere in government. While not publicly backing calls for an amnesty, Prime Minister Theresa May sparked controversy on Wednesday when she claimed that, as things stand in Northern Ireland, the only people currently being investigated over Troubles incidents were former security force members. That assertion appeared to run contrary to figures published by the police and prosecutors in Northern Ireland last year. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) statistics indicate more of its legacy resources are deployed investigating paramilitaries, while a breakdown of cases taken by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in recent years shows more have been pursued against republican and loyalists than security force personnel. RFJ will be organising workshops to give families the opportunity to discuss the legacy consultation in detail in the coming weeks. The deadline is 10th September. Families are encourages to read the documents and engage with the consultation https://t.co/MOEWwG2MPG Relatives 4 Justice (@RelsForJustice) May 11, 2018 Mrs May told the Commons that the current system in Northern Ireland was patently unfair. Defending her remarks, Mrs Bradley explained that she was answering a specific question. The question she was asked was from Conservative MP Dr Julian Lewis on whether a statute of limitations, couple with a truth recovery process, would be included in the legacy consultation. On Friday, Mrs Bradley told PA the Prime Minister was not questioning the approach of prosecutors of police. She was answering a specific question and I think it if you look at the question you will understand the answer, she said. The judiciary is independent of parliament quite rightly, there is no political interference in the judiciary at all, but she was answering a specific question about a specific issue. Asked if she accepted that individuals other than former security force members were currently being investigating in respect of Troubles incidents, Mrs Bradley replied: Of course. Theoretically, the new legacy mechanisms would require legislative consent of the Stormont Assembly once any legislation passes through Westminster. Mr Bradley said her priority was restoring powersharing in Northern Ireland, but she indicated that the mechanisms could still be established in the absence of a devolved government. When things need legislative consent and we are not able to get legislative consent because there is no legislature to give that consent, we deal with it and we have found practical ways to do that and that is going on day in and day out, even today, she said. Royal School Dungannon pupils line the route of the funeral for Jack Stafford Students from The Royal School Dungannon lined the streets of the Co Tyrone town yesterday for the funeral of 14-year-old Jack Stafford, who died suddenly on Tuesday. The Year 10 pupil, described as "quiet" with a "kind, thoughtful demeanour", was laid to rest in Cottagequinn cemetery following a service at Dungannon Baptist Church. As his friends looked on, grief and shock etched on their young faces, the youngster's coffin, bedecked with flowers, was carried in by loved ones. Described as a loving son and a dear brother in his funeral notice, Jack's family had requested that donations be made to The Niamh Louise Foundation. Earlier in the week, school principal Dr David Burnett had expressed "great sadness" at Jack's "sudden and unexpected death". He said: "He was a popular member of his form class with a close circle of friends who remember his sense of humour and kind, thoughtful demeanour. "Indeed, as staff and pupils have been talking to one another and remembering Jack, it is clear that Jack's consideration of others was obvious to all who met him and also greatly appreciated by his peers. "He was the boy who, in the words of one pupil, 'was kind and laughed a lot'; and for another, 'put a smile on our faces'. "His quirky sense of humour stood out. "The impact of Jack's loss on the RSD community will be very great indeed." Dr Burnett said that "a range of support services in school" had been implemented in the wake of Jack's death. "Any pupil, including pupils on study leave, who feels that he or she would like support at this difficult time, should contact a member of staff," he said. "In the days ahead we will find ways to remember Jack and his time with us in our community." The headmaster also extended his thoughts and prayers to Jack's mother, Heather, father Nigel and siblings Stuart, Suzanne, Michelle and Debbie. He added: "In his attitude and his treatment of others, Jack was the best of RSD. "We will miss him." Former patients of neurologist Dr Michael Watt called for him to be reinstated yesterday at a protest outside the Royal Victoria Hospital. Around six patients gathered signatures for a letter to be sent to the Belfast Trust, with more than 300 signing up so far. Concerns over misdiagnosis prompted the largest ever patient recall in Northern Ireland last week. Over 2,500 patients will now attend 200 special clinics in the next three months. Christine Lynch (55), from Belfast, helped organise the protest. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis by Dr Watt in 2005. She said many patients would defend him "to their dying breath" and that the group was considering a class action lawsuit against the Belfast Trust over the matter. She said: "I had been sick for about 12 years before my diagnosis. "No one believed me that I was sick and I nearly went out of my mind. Not only did Dr Watt believe me, he put me on treatment within a year." Rhonda O'Neill (44), from Magherafelt, has been a patient of Dr Watt for eight years. She has a rare condition called autonomic neuropathy which affects her organs. "It's quite difficult to diagnose and treat, but Dr Watt has been fantastic and he has tried wonderful treatments that have helped and made such a difference," she said. The rarity of her condition means she now has to go for treatment in King's College in London. Julie-Ann Fitzsimmons (46), from Lisburn, has been a patient of Dr Watt's for 13 years. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005. She said: "He has provided excellent patient-led care. I think the recall is absolutely ridiculous, it's scaremongering and extremely distressing for any patient and their families, and especially for Dr Watt." "I gave up nursing because of my condition. Not having a consultant that knows me now is very concerning." Jane McMahon (43), from Belfast, was also treated for multiple sclerosis. She said: "My first neurologist wasn't too keen but Dr Watt started me on a treatment that's helped. I'm very concerned about changing doctors. I was in hospital quite recently with pneumonia and there was no neurologist available to decide if I should stay on my medication. "I had to make that choice myself while I had an infection." Dr Watt has been suspended from duties by the Belfast Trust, with interim restrictions imposed on him by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service while the General Medical Council prepares a case against him. The British Government has launched a consultation into dealing with Northern Irelands troubled past. A draft bill to establish legacy mechanisms agreed in the Stormont House Agreement was published by the government today and will now be consulted on. The four-month public consultation will seek to canvass views on a series of new mechanisms to investigate, document and uncover the truth around killings during the 30-year conflict. The implementation of the agreed mechanisms, which include a new independent investigation unit and a truth recovery body, has been delayed amid ongoing political discord in Northern Ireland. Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said: "I welcome the opportunity to launch the consultation today, seeking views on how to address the legacy of Northern Irelands troubled past. "Since my appointment as Secretary of State I have heard deeply moving stories about the suffering that victims and survivors have lived with for decades and the profound and lasting impact on individuals, families and communities." Expand Close Michelle O'Neill / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michelle O'Neill Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill said: While todays publication of the draft bill is welcome, it is already long overdue. The Stormont House Agreement was four years ago and the institutions agreed then are still not in operation. "Victims should not have had to wait so long to get to this stage. They should not have had to see so many false promises from the British Government come and go during that period. "This is much too important an issue for it to be jeopardised by in-fighting within the Tory cabinet as we have seen over recent days. "The Stormont House legacy bodies are key to finding a way forward on the past so its important that we now move on with the consultation and the British Government end their stalling, delaying and deliberate misinformation with regard to this issue. Similarly, they must drop their ongoing refusal to release the legacy inquest funding requested by the Lord Chief Justice. It is now over six weeks since the High Court ruled that this money was unlawfully blocked by the former First Minister Arlene Foster. The British Secretary of State should immediately release the funding and enable the Lord Chief Justice to proceed with his plan to clear the backlog of legacy inquests. It has emerged Arlene Foster is considering appealing the ruling that found her decision to block funding for legacy inquests was unlawful and flawed. Her party colleague, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC's The View on Thursday evening that the decision is currently being reviewed in terms of potential for appeal of the High Court ruling. Expand Close DUP leader Arlene Foster / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DUP leader Arlene Foster DUP leader Arlene Foster said: "Previously the NIO had discussed having a consultation in parallel with establishment of the structures from the Stormont House Agreement. That would have merely been a tick-box exercise without any meaningful input from victims. "I am glad the Government has now published the consultation. It is vital that the voice of victims is at the centre of this process and that their views shape the outcome. I would encourage all those who have suffered and groups representing victims to engage fully with the process. "Several decades have passed since many of the events which occurred during the Troubles. Victims are getting older and we owe it to them to make progress quickly. Ulster Unionist Party Leader Robin Swann MLA has also warned about the "dangers" posed by the proposed Historical Investigations Unit (HIU). "I welcome the fact that the Government has now decided to launch the long awaited Legacy consultation and urge the public to take this opportunity to have their saym" he said. There is no question that the current methods of dealing with the past are imbalanced, unfair and piecemeal, but nobody should be in any doubt that the proposed HIU the brainchild of DUP negotiators - has the potential to make things much worse. It will be a parallel police force under the direction of an independent director, with the same powers as the PSNI in terms of arrest and investigation, but we believe it will target its activities against former soldiers and police officers. "This is inevitable, because the State, the RUC and the Army all have historical operational archives and records that the HIU can freely access, whereas no equivalent files are held by the terrorist groups. As a result, the HIU focus will fall on the police and the army." An Irish mother has called for "real action and consequence" in the wake of the CervicalCheck cancer scandal in the Republic. Terminally-ill Emma Mhic Mhathuna (37) yesterday wept on RTE radio, admitting she feared her baby would not remember her. The devoted mother is one of 209 women who've fallen victim to the scandal, tearing lives apart daily. But Emma, who suffers from crippling pain, says she does not want to die without influencing major political, healthcare and legal change in a country now dogged by this controversy. Emma, from Co Kerry, said she made sure her five children were asleep when she was interviewed on radio. "Today when the kids were going to school, I had to reassure them I'm not going to die when they're in school," Ms Mhic Mhathuna said. "The children are trying to process what's going on and they're frightened. The school is amazing." Emma said that she is furious at how the scandal has unravelled and said: "The time for talk is gone. "It's time for action, consequences and new legislation. "It's time for a snap election because this government, this State, is not minding me and my children or any other women and children in this country. "The government chose to have public, responsible roles. Maybe they didn't think something like this would happen but they're not doing what they're being paid to do, they're not capable of their jobs. "I'm dying but still trying to be a mother by making sure my children are left in a country that is safe, but I don't feel it is safe. "When this scandal emerged, it was the time for the government to shine, to show us what they're made of. "But the Minister of Health is all talk, the Taoiseach is just as bad as Minister Harris and Tony O'Brien (the director of the Health Service Executive, who resigned last night). "The three of them are in it together... in the headlights, not one of them knows what to do." The former student, who'd decided to devote the remainder of her life to being a full-time mum, said what was occurring felt sickening. "We are lying in bed, no one broke down the door, no one left a mark on us but we are under attack," she said. "They lied and it's disgusting. I'm angry, they're telling us, 'you don't have cancer,' when we do. "The lie goes on until we're terminal, it's inhuman and goes against a moral society. They are killing us." Ms Ms Mhic Mhathuna said that she worries for the future of her five children, where they will live without her and if the youngest will recall her face. "I might do a little video and come back for each of his birthdays," Ms Mhic Mhathuna said of her two-year-old son, who's normally "boisterous" but who has been "clinging" to his mother in recent days. "In the videos, I'll talk to him and say, 'You're nine today... and 10," she added, before breaking down. A general view of part of the Golan Heights from the Mount Bental next to the Syrian border Two soldiers from Northern Ireland are among an Irish Defence Forces deployment confirmed safe following the bombardment of the Golan Heights region. The Irish Defence Forces confirmed the soldiers, from Co Down and Co Antrim, were among its deployment of 130. Neither were harmed. Yesterday the Israeli military reported that Iranian forces had fired 20 rockets across the border at its front line installations. Israel responded with jet strikes against "dozens" of Iranian military installations in Syria. Irish troops in the 57th Infantry Group have been part of the UNDOF - which serves in the buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces in the region - since 2013. Responsibilities of the deployment include armoured force protection; patrolling and mobility; surveillance; communications; medical, and operational expertise. Writing on Twitter, head of the Irish Defence Forces Mark Mellett said it would continue to monitor the situation in the region and its priority "is always the safety and security of our personnel". Britain condemned the attack on the occupied Golan Heights by Iranian forces based in Syria, and said Israel had every right to defend itself. Downing Street called for calm on both sides and urged Tehran to refrain from further assaults. Number 10 also urged Russia to use its influence in Syria to rein in Iranian aggression. Speaking about the retaliation, Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli Defence Forces had "hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria". But he insisted Israel had "no interest in escalation" of the situation. He added: "I hope that we have finished this chapter and that everyone got the message." Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: "We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself. "We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. "We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks." There are no reports of Israeli casualties in the rocket strikes. The Israeli military said its Iron Dome defence system intercepted some of the incoming projectiles, while others caused only minimal damage. The Golan Heights is situated in south-western Syria, and has been under the control of Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. The Taoiseach has insisted his government is determined to establish the truth behind a deepening controversy over inaccurate cervical cancer screening tests. Leo Varadkar again apologised to patients impacted by the wrongly interpreted smear tests and admitting their needs were not put first. In an at times emotional address after an emergency cabinet meeting in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said the health service in Ireland should be about saving lives, not saving face. He said the Government shared the anguish of the women who wrongly received all clear test results, even though ministers could never know the full extent of their suffering. Expand Close Mr Harris promised a package of measures (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Harris promised a package of measures (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) The political crisis has already seen the boss of Irelands Health Service Executive (HSE) Tony OBrien quit. Earlier this month it emerged that an audit by the CervicalCheck screening programme of 1,482 women diagnosed with cervical cancer since 2008 had found potential errors in earlier smear tests in 209 of the cases, with results showing no abnormalities when they should have flagged a cancer warning. While screening tests are not 100% accurate and there are acknowledged risks on the possibility of incorrect results, the fact the majority of the impacted patients were not told of the outcome of the audit has prompted a wave of public anger. We are determined to get to the bottom of this and restore your faith in the service that should be about saving lives and never about saving faceLeo Varadkar Of the 209 women, 17 have since died. Mr Varadkar said it was totally unacceptable that information was concealed from the women. We are determined to get to the bottom of this and restore your faith in the service that should be about saving lives and never about saving face, he said. It is inexcusable that something in which women put their trust has let them down so badly. Expand Close Mr Varadkar watches as Mr Harris speaks at a press conference (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Varadkar watches as Mr Harris speaks at a press conference (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) After the cabinet meeting, a support package was announced for the women caught up in the controversy. It will include financial support for treatment. Also covered will be the cost of medicines, including experimental drugs as well as practical expenses, such as travel costs and childcare. Bereavement counselling and other counselling services will also be provided to the families of women who have already died. Health Minister Simon Harris announced that John Connaghan will be the new interim director of the HSE. Mr Harris said that Mr Connaghan, a Scot, was relatively new to the HSE but has a proud and good tradition of delivering the public health service in Scotland, adding that he would bring fresh energy and fresh eyes. Expand Close Leo Varadkar previously served as health minister (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar previously served as health minister (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) We are very sincere about this package, said Mr Varadkar. It wont happen overnight, we have to start it from scratch. Everyone has individual needs and wants and it will take more time than a one size fits all process. The controversy was triggered by the case of Vicky Phelan, a terminally ill mother whose legal battle cast light on the issue. Last month, Ms Phelan, a 43-year-old mother-of-two from Co Limerick, settled a High Court action for 2.5 million euro after being incorrectly told in 2011 that her smear test had given a negative result for cancer. In 2014, she was diagnosed with cancer but only told of the false negative last September. Others impacted have also come forward to tell powerful stories. Emma Mhic Mhathuna, 37, from Co Kerry, revealed on Thursday that she had now been diagnosed with terminal cancer, five years after being told her smear tests were normal. Stephen Teap, from Co Cork, has expressed his anger that his wife Irene died without ever knowing that her smear tests had been wrongly interpreted. Expand Close Ministers react to the cervical smear test revelations (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ministers react to the cervical smear test revelations (Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA) Mr Varadkar appeared to become emotional when he reflected on Ms Mhic Mhathunas evidence. I just dont think there are any words that anyone can say certainly there are no words that I can say that can give her comfort at this time, he said. Shes 37 years old, roughly my age, could be my sister, could be one of my friends. She has young children it could be my nephews. Earlier Mr Harris warned officials there will be no hiding place in the quest to find out all the facts. Mr Harris said recent revelations had devastated the country. I want to assure the public that I am equally furious about what is emerging and there will be nowhere to hide, there will be accountability, he said. I think the whole country is devastated, shocked, upset and hurt. People like Emma and Vicky, people like Stephen Teap and others who have told their story, they really have touched a nerve with all of us. Expand Close Health Service Executive chief Tony OBrien has stepped down amid the deepening controversy (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Health Service Executive chief Tony OBrien has stepped down amid the deepening controversy (Niall Carson/PA) But what they need is not platitudes, they need actions, and I am determined we are going to deliver those actions. There are a number of legal challenges similar to Ms Phelans in the pipeline. Mr Harris said the government is taking steps to ensure those women would not have to go to court to get answers. I dont want any of them to go to court, he said. Mr OBrien resigned hours after it emerged that an internal HSE briefing note that flagged potential errors in screening tests in 2016 stressed the need for a media strategy to respond to stories of women whose cancer diagnosis was missed. The memo to HSE bosses from Irelands National Screening Service (NSS) also advised a pause in the process of communicating to clinicians the findings of the audit of smear test results belonging to women who were subsequently diagnosed with cancer. The HSE forwarded three 2016 memos to the Irish parliaments Public Accounts Committee on Thursday as members probed the growing controversy around the misinterpreted smear tests. Mr Varadkar was health minister when the first memo was sent to HSE chiefs. The Department of Health confirmed on Thursday night that the memos were shared with the department. However, a spokesman said they were only relayed to certain officials and none were brought to the attention of any serving health minister. On Friday, Mr Varadkar said he should have been made aware of their contents. Micheal Martin, the leader of main opposition party Fianna Fail, said the response to the crisis had been shocking. The Fine Gael-led government relies on a confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fail to stay in power. When pressed whether his party was now prepared to withdraw that support, Mr Martin said there was a need to establish the facts first. We need to find out the truth, he told RTE. I am not going to make judgment calls without the truth, I think thats a very basic requirement and accountability, yes, but we need to know the truth. He added: The response to the crisis has been shocking in my view, it has been very badly managed. UK health expert Dr Gabriel Scally has been commissioned by the Irish government to lead an inquiry into the misinterpretation of the cancer tests. Officers have released images of a man they want to trace (Sean Dempsey/PA) CCTV has been released of a suspected sex attacker after a string of assaults on women as young as 19. A total of 13 assaults have been reported in Ladywell, Lewisham, south-east London, between December 2017 and April 2018. The attacker approached lone women, aged from 19 to 40, and sexually touched them in the street, police said. Scotland Yard have released footage of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the incidents and have appealed to the public to help identify him. Detective Constable Tristan Hunter said: These incidents were very traumatic for the victims and we are appealing to the public to help us identify who this man is so that he can be apprehended as soon as possible. Expand Close A man wanted for questioning in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Lewisham, south-east London (Metropolitan Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man wanted for questioning in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Lewisham, south-east London (Metropolitan Police/PA) 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. While efforts to trace the person or people behind these attacks progresses, police patrols in the area have been increased and officers are working with the community to offer reassurance and to help identify the offender. The suspect was described as a light-skinned black man, aged between 18 and 30, of slim build, around 5ft with afro-style hair. During a number of attacks he wore a dark jacket with a hood, dark trousers or jeans, trainers and sometimes gloves. Modi faces Twitteratis wrath; few come to his defence The netizens of Nepal are divided over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit this time. Gleaning from their Twitter posts, it is apparent that the tide of popularity is not behind the Indian leader this time. A controversy around wrongly interpreted cervical smear tests marks a watershed moment for the management of Irelands health service, a government minister has said. Regina Doherty said it appeared that bosses had appeared more concerned about protecting the reputation of the Health Service Executive (HSE) than the cancer patients who were wrongly given the all-clear. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection acknowledged the need for a radical overhaul hours after the director general of the HSE resigned amid the deepening crisis. Tony OBrien, who had been due to retire in the summer, had been under intense pressure to step down over the furore about the treatment of 209 women who were wrongly informed their smear results were normal. Expand Close Dr Jerome Coffey and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan from the Health Service Executive clinical expert panel during a press conference to address public concern surrounding Irelands national cervical screening programme (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Jerome Coffey and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan from the Health Service Executive clinical expert panel during a press conference to address public concern surrounding Irelands national cervical screening programme (Niall Carson/PA) The Cabinet will hold a special meeting at Government Buildings in Dublin on Friday to agree a package of measures to support those affected by the error. Ms Doherty said there was need for a culture change within the HSE and a move toward more transparency and open disclosure. On behalf of the Irish people we are at a watershed moment, she told RTE. The management of the services in this country, you would be hard pushed to find anybody who says they have trust or confidence in them. And that needs to change, and we need to change that as a government right now on behalf of the Irish people. An audit by the CervicalCheck screening programme of 1,482 women diagnosed with cervical cancer since 2008 has found potential errors in earlier smear tests in 209 cases, as results showed no abnormality when they should have flagged a cancer warning. The fact the majority of the patients were not initially told of the outcome of the audit has prompted a wave of public anger. Of the 209 women, 17 have since died. The response to the crisis has been shocking in my view, it has been very badly managed.Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail Micheal Martin, the leader of main opposition party Fianna Fail, said the response to the crisis had been shocking. The Fine Gael-led government relies on a confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fail to stay in power. When pressed whether his party was now prepared to withdraw that support, Mr Martin said there was a need to establish the facts first. We need to find out the truth, he told RTE. I am not going to make judgment calls without the truth, I think thats a very basic requirement and accountability, yes, but we need to know the truth. He added: The response to the crisis has been shocking in my view, it has been very badly managed. Mr OBrien resigned hours after it emerged that an internal HSE briefing note that flagged potential errors in screening tests in 2016 stressed the need for a media strategy to respond to stories of women whose cancer diagnosis was missed. The memo to HSE bosses from Irelands National Screening Service (NSS) also advised a pause in the process of communicating to clinicians the findings of the audit of smear test results belonging to women who were subsequently diagnosed with cancer. Expand Close CervicalCheck programme PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp CervicalCheck programme The HSE forwarded three 2016 memos to the Oireachtass Public Accounts Committee on Thursday as members probed the growing controversy around misinterpreted smear tests. Minister Doherty branded the language in the notes absolutely outrageous and disgusting. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was health minister when the first memo was sent to HSE chiefs. The Department of Health confirmed on Thursday night that the memos were shared with the department. However, a spokesman said they were only relayed to certain officials and none were brought to the attention of any serving health minister. The first note, dated March of that year, outlined details of the audit process undertaken by CervicalCheck and that results were to be communicated to patients. The subsequent two, circulated in July, provided updates on the situation. In a section titled next steps, the first memo stated: Pause all letters Await advice of solicitors Decide on the order and volume of dispatch to mitigate any potential risks Continue to prepare reactive communications response for a media headline that screening did not diagnose my cancer. It earlier said: There is always the risk that in communicating individual case reports to clinicians of an individual patient reacting by contacting the media if they feel that screening did not diagnose my cancer. This is a risk that is inherent in having a clinical audit process as part of the national programme. The controversy was triggered by the case of Vicky Phelan, the terminally ill mother whose legal battle cast light on the issue. Last month, Ms Phelan, a 43-year-old mother-of-two from Co Limerick, settled a High Court action for 2.5 million euro after being incorrectly told in 2011 that her smear test had given a negative result for cancer. In 2014, she was diagnosed with cancer but only told of the false negative last September. On Thursday, another woman who had been affected by the false negatives issue 37-year-old Emma Mhic Mhathuna from Co Kerry revealed that she had now been diagnosed with terminal cancer, five years after being told her smear tests were normal. UK health expert Dr Gabriel Scally has been commissioned by the Irish government to lead an inquiry into the misinterpretation of the cancer tests. A planned away day Cabinet meeting that had been scheduled for Friday has been postponed. The Cabinet will instead meet in Dublin as Mr Varadkar and current health minister Simon Harris continue to deal with the controversy. The Prince of Wales tries his hand at Greek dancing as he tours stalls showcasing Cretan produce, crafts, local initiatives and entrepreneurs, during a walkabout in Archanes, Crete (Andrew Matthews/PA) The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ended their five-day tour of France and Greece with a dance on the island of Crete. Charles and Camilla took part in the Cretan dance, named siganos, which involves the dancers linking arms and rotating in a circle, when they visited the village of Archanes on Friday. This came after Charles met a cheese maker who presented him with a dark cheese called graviera, and said: This is for your sons wedding. In Archanes, Greek dancers welcome The Prince and The Duchess to a fantastic celebration of local Cretan food and culture.#RoyalVisitGreece pic.twitter.com/UjTeQyO5ws The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 11, 2018 The couple originally arrived at Knossos Archaeological site where Professor John Bennet, director of the British School at Athens, gave them a tour of the area. Upon their arrival, a member of the public shouted Hello your highness, how are you?, to which Charles replied: Still alive. A reporter then asked: Are you ready for the wedding?, to which the prince said: Are you ever ready? Expand Close Charles, in his role as Patron of the British School at Athens, meets people taking part in a Cooking Like Minoans event at the Knossos Archaeological Site on the island of Crete (Chris Jackson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charles, in his role as Patron of the British School at Athens, meets people taking part in a Cooking Like Minoans event at the Knossos Archaeological Site on the island of Crete (Chris Jackson/PA) The duchess met some school children who were learning about Minoan Crete at the site and one boy presented her with a drawing. The child, Constantine Faitakis, then gave Camilla a hug and she patted him on the head as the drawing was handed over. The prince attended a Cooking like Minoans event in which he was asked to join in a cooking demonstration by adding honey to a Greek pot containing a lentil dish. Thank you to everyone who came out to meet TRH - and for inviting them to try some special Greek delicacies! #RoyalVisitGreece pic.twitter.com/Ks5cssehWq The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 11, 2018 After each stall, he was provided with items such as Greek olive oil and a traditional Greek cooking pot. Camilla was given a tour of Lyrarakis Winery and enjoyed a wine tasting. Expand Close Camilla is given a tour of the vineyard and wine cellar during a visit to the Lyrarakis winery in Alagni (Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Camilla is given a tour of the vineyard and wine cellar during a visit to the Lyrarakis winery in Alagni (Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA) She raised a glass and toasted the Greeks, saying: I never had Greek wine before, but it is delicious. I will certainly have it again. She met the three owners of the winery before undertaking a tour, viewing the vineyard and wine cellar. Before the couple left for the UK, hundreds of people gave them a loud round of applause as they lined the streets of Archanes. The two leaders agreed for their teams to hold discussions on the potential impact of US sanctions on firms doing business in Iran (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump have discussed the impact of America pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, Downing Street said. Mrs May used the telephone talks to stress that the UK remains firmly committed to the international agreement that Mr Trump has condemned. The two leaders agreed for their teams to hold discussions on the potential impact of US sanctions on firms doing business in Iran. A spokesman for Mrs May said: The Prime Minister reiterated the Governments position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran. They agreed for talks to take place between our teams. Mr Trump said this week that the 2015 nuclear deal which allowed for the lifting of sanctions was not tough enough on Iran. The telephone call covered other international issues with Mrs May congratulating the US president on the safe return of three Americans who had been held in prison in North Korea. The Downing Street spokesman said: The two leaders looked forward to the summit which will take place between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore. The PM said the UK would continue to work with the US to keep up the pressure on North Korea to denuclearise. The Prime Minister and the president condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces earlier this week, and strongly supported Israels right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. They agreed on the need for calm on all sides and on the importance of tackling Irans destabilising activity in the region. The two leaders also looked forward to Mr Trumps visit to the UK in July, Downing Street said. Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in cities across the country to protest against US President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with world powers. The protests resembled other aggressive but orderly gatherings typical under President Hassan Rouhani, who has tried for a rapprochement with the West. Expand Close Protests in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protests in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) But while slogans of Death to America were few, many Iranians are sincerely angry over Mr Trumps decision and are siding with hard-liners who have warned to be suspicious of the West. Mr Trump pulled America out of the 2015 accord on Tuesday. "Todays action sends a critical message: the United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them." pic.twitter.com/pd5WC2II95 The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) May 8, 2018 Iran said it may resume uranium enrichment in a higher rate within weeks if it finds the nuclear deal will not work any more after the US pullout. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, left, poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) The US secretary of state has said the United States is willing to help North Korea with its economy if it gets rid of its nuclear weapons. Mike Pompeo made the announcement at a joint news conference with South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. He was speaking the day after returning from Pyongyang with three American detainees released by North Korea. Mr Pompeo said the goal of talks with North Korea is complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. He added he had good and substantive conversations with leader Kim Jong Un during his visit. Mr Kang says there must be airtight coordination between South Korea and the US ahead of President Donald Trumps upcoming meeting with Mr Kim. MPs ask FinMin to do reality check before preparing budget Commenting on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the upcoming fiscal year, the Members of Parliament have suggested the government take into account the ground reality while formulating new budget. Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur react as they watch TV broadcasts showing Mahathir Mohamad being sworn into office as the countrys prime minister, May 10, 2018. Government and opposition leaders in South and Southeast Asia cheered Mahathir Mohamad and his Malaysian opposition bloc on Thursday after it pulled off a stunning general election victory by ousting a coalition that had led Malaysia for 61 years. Exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fired off a series of positive comments on his official Twitter account, praising Mahathir for his spectacular comeback. Mahathir, who governed Malaysia for more than two decades, took his oath Thursday night and became the Muslim-majority nations seventh prime minister. The power of the people has spoken loud and clear that they do not only remember his outstanding legacy but needed his leadership, said Thaksin, who was Thailands prime minister from 2001 until he was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006. I am certain that all the Thai people share my sentiment and respect towards him, Thaksin said. He said Mahathirs leadership, ideas and vision would undoubtedly reinvigorate the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional political and economic bloc that includes Malaysia and Thailand. Cecep Hidayat, a political science lecturer at the University of Indonesia, agreed with Thaksins comments that Mahathirs outward-looking leadership would benefit Malaysia at the ASEAN forum. Mahathir will be more flexible and very active in his foreign policy, Cecep told BenarNews. Malaysia can be great again in Asia, perhaps more popular than Indonesia. Mahathir, 92, led the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) before stepping down in 2003. He emerged from retirement and joined the opposition in 2016, expressing anger over a corruption scandal at the state-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which was headed by his former protege, Najib Razak, who has denied any wrongdoing. Bobby Rizaldi, a member of the Indonesian parliament, described Mahathirs triumph as extraordinary and said the Malaysian leader could have an impact Jakartas ongoing battle with illegal drugs smuggled to destination countries through the porous border. Authorities seized at least 45 tons of methamphetamine in East and Southeast Asia in 2014, during police operations in Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, according to the 2016 report of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Many of drugs come from Malaysia [as a transit country] to Indonesia, Rizaldi told BenarNews. How committed is Mahathir to solving the border issue? Election provides vehicle for change, activists say In Thailand, pro-democracy activist Rangsiman Rome, a key leader of the Democracy Restoration Group (DRG), said Mahathirs victory proved that elections were a good vehicle to give people the opportunity to correct their own mistakes. To have elections once every four years allows the voters to review how their choices worked and to not repeat the mistake, Rangsiman told BenarNews. It is sad that Thailand remains under the military junta, while Malaysia had an election. What a contrast. Malaysia holds its general elections every five years. Thai activists, including DRG, last week announced plans to launch protest rallies against the Thai junta later in May to mark the fourth anniversary of a coup that toppled Thaksins sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Meanwhile, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, Thailands chief representative in talks with insurgents in the Deep South, expressed confidence that Mahathir would continue Malaysias support for the Thai peace process. There might be some effects when government changes, he told BenarNews. I believe the new government would follow through with peace talks because it is a non-violent method. Ruckchart Suwan, president of the Thai NGO Buddhist Network for Peace, agreed with the generals comments. I believe there is no effect on the peace-talk process because both countries do realize its importance. But I am not sure about whether the mediator would be changed, he said, referring to Malaysias Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, the facilitator of the peace negotiations. In Bangkok, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailands deputy prime minister for security affairs, told reporters bilateral relations would not be altered by the government shift in Kuala Lumpur. The opposition won the election, but there should not be drastic change to cause troubles, he said. In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said his country looked forward to developing an equally constructive relationship with Mahathir. As Malaysias closest neighbor, we have a vested interest in Malaysias stability and prosperity, Lee said on his Facebook page. In Bangladesh, Delwar Hossain, the director-general of the foreign ministrys external relations wing, told BenarNews that diplomatic relations would remain tight under a new Malaysian government led by Mahathir. Elections and change of government are part of democratic process, he said. We are committed to working with any government in Malaysia. Mahbubur Rahman, a senior official of the opposition Bangladesh National Party, described Mahathirs triumphant return to politics as a big lesson for us and the whole world. He punished Anwar Ibrahim but he aligned with his foe for the sake of democracy and the people, he said, referring to Mahathirs jailed former political enemy turned ally. The victory of the opposition once again proves that people are sovereign and supreme. Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka, Tia Asmara in Jakarta, Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok and Mariyam Ahmad in Pattani, Thailand, contributed to this report. The Philippine Supreme Court voted Friday to remove its chief justice who has been a leading figure in questioning the policies of an increasingly autocratic president, Rodrigo Duterte, including his administrations war on drugs that has left thousands dead. The court voted 8-6 to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, 57, the first woman to hold the top post of the judiciary over questions about her integrity. The justices ruled on a petition filed by Manilas solicitor general, who had sought her disqualification on charges that she had failed to publicly disclose her true net worth. In this case, it was found that respondent is ineligible to hold the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court position for lack of integrity on account of her failure to file a substantial number of SALNs [Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth] and also, her failure to submit the requires SALNs to the JBC [Judicial and Bar Council] during her application for the position, Associate Justice Noel Gimenez Tijam wrote in handing down the decision. A public officer who ignores, trivializes or disrespects Constitutional and legal provisions, as well as the canons of ethical standards forfeits his or her right to hold and continue in that office, Tijam added. Serenos ouster was greeted by protests from her supporters, who argued that the constitutional way of removing a Chief Justice was through impeachment in Congress. The combative chief justice left the court and met with her supporters at midday, vowing to continue to fight. The ruling can be appealed in 15 days, but the high court rarely reverses itself. This is the first in our history that the majority of the Supreme Court removed one of their own, Sereno told the crowd, who numbered in the few thousands before noon. They took the exclusive job of the Senate, blatantly violated their oath to protect the constitution and destroyed the constitution, she said. A clique of magistrates may have voted her out, said Sereno who added that this was not the end but only a beginning. On this day, let us unite and let our voices be heard. We cannot stay silent because this would mean we become a party to their abuse of power, she said. Senator Leila de Lima, also a fellow critic of the government who was jailed last year on trumped-up drug charges, said Fridays ruling was the greatest travesty of justice committed by the high court since 1973, when its members, cowed by dictator Ferdinand Marcos, upheld his martial law. What followed was the darkest period in recent Philippine history, with thousands of political opposition figures jailed, and thousands of more activists believed to have been killed by pro-Marcos forces. This one ushers in another era of another dictatorship as the court once again puts an end to the last gasps of a dying constitutional democracy, De Lima said in a statement from jail, where she was awaiting trial. The Supreme Court wants to be the law of the land and rule through judicial tyranny. President Duterte has now his partnership, De Lima said. Ouster precedes impeachment vote The courts decision came ahead of an impeachment vote against Sereno by the Duterte-controlled House of Representatives on corruption allegations filed by a lawyer with known ties to the politicians close to the president. The House still had to vote in the plenary, but decided to wait out the results of the Supreme Court vote. Fridays vote made Sereno the first Chief Justice to be removed through a vote by her fellow justices. Renato Corona, a late chief justice, was impeached on similar corruption charges. Sereno, a constant irritant to Duterte, has publicly questioned his war on drugs. Sereno had snubbed the House hearings, and instead dared her critics to impeach her so she could defend herself at the Senate, where she said she believed she stood a better chance at getting cleared. In March, other justices forced her to go on leave. Sereno complied with the demand, but abruptly cut her leave short on Wednesday. She presided over the proceedings Friday, but abstained from voting. In its 153-page decision against the respondent Sereno, the court wrote that proven integrity was a mandatory requirement for any person appointed to the position of chief justice, and that, no one is above the law and the Constitution, not even a Chief Justice who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and obey the laws of the land. Marvic Leonen, one of the six who voted against removing Sereno, said the petition should have been dismissed outright. It does not deserve space in judicial deliberation within our constitutional democratic space, Leonen said in his dissenting opinion, arguing that the process by which Sereno had been removed is a legal abomination. It creates a precedent that gravely diminishes judicial independence and threatens the ability of this court to assert the fundamental rights of our people, he said. Sereno an irritant Duterte in April publicly called Sereno an enemy and ordered his allies in Congress to speed up her removal. I will request the Congress, go into the impeachment right away, the president had said. I will not hesitate to do what is in the best interest of my country. If it calls for your forced removal, I will do it, he added. Duterte considers Sereno an irritant who had publicly questioned his policies. In particular, she had questioned Dutertes drug list, which, he had said, contained the names of some 150 individuals in the drug trade. It includes the names of policemen, military personnel, politicians and members of the judiciary. Sereno had told judges to ask policemen for warrants before giving up, and cautioned Duterte that his officials could have made a mistake. Three mayors who were on the list were killed by police in alleged shootouts, but some judges were later found out to be already dead, proving the list to be erroneous. Sereno had also voted against Dutertes move to place the entire southern Philippines under martial law to defeat Islamic militants; and to rebury the remains of dictator Marcos in a heroes cemetery. In both instances, she was outvoted by her colleagues. Dennis Jay Santos contributed reporting from Davao, southern Philippines. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 76F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. By Mick Boersma Well, tax time has come and goneagain. After spending a few weeks collecting and organizing documentation, I sent everything along to my tax guy and he did the rest. Yes, I pay for tax preparation. Its the best two hundred bucks I spend all year. While sometimes vexing, this annual exercise reminds me of one of Jesus early followersa man that few (if any) would have identified as open to the good news of salvation. I speak, of course, about Zaccheus. Tax gatherer for the Romans, address Jericho. A man working for an occupying force Israelites hated, collecting its taxes while free to extort additional money for personal gain. When you think of unbelievers you know, I imagine you see some of them as more open to the gospel than others. Whether we realize it or not, we often profile people as to their potential for faith. Appearances, careers, affiliations, social habits these and other factors lead us to make assumptions about people. Zaccheus stands as one of those unlikely converts whose conversion represents the amazing love and mercy of our Lord. That said, in retrospect, I think we can see some signs he might have been ripe for the gospel as we encounter his story in Luke 19:110. He had what the world offeredhe was rich (v. 2) As the chief tax gatherer at a key trading intersection like Jericho, Zaccheus had it made. Taxes on the huge amount of goods that flowed through this ancient gateway to all points east, west, north, and south brought much wealth to Rome, and a goodly sum to tax collectors who were allowed to make their living by padding the books. This guy had money, something the world says will fulfill you. By Gods mercy, I was raised by parents who were not enslaved to money. But my dad would sometimes say, with a grin, Money isnt everything, but its way ahead of whatever is in second place. Like my dad, Zaccheus hungered for more. Thats one reason he was trying to see Jesus, a man who had no earthly goods, but spoke the words of eternal life. Indeed, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity (Eccl. 5:10). Who do you know is financially wealthy? Yes, its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom, but it can and does happen! Riches will not satisfy, and many who are so blessed are ripe for true riches in Christ Jesus. He recognized his limitationshe was short (v. 3) He climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus over the crowd. In my view, this portrays Zaccheus as an honest man, willing to endure the indignity of scaling a tree for a look at a man whose message focused on sin, forgiveness and true life. He was no King Saul, who stood a head above everyone else and had that kingly look. I get a bit weary of the if only we could get the team captain saved evangelism thing. Certainly, the Lord God is not influenced by looks in his salvific work (1 Sam. 16:7), but I believe there is a subtle tendency for us to view weakness or limitation in others in a negative light. We want our salvation trophies to be stellar specimens of beauty and prowess. And in this light comes Pauls words to the Corinthian believers, some of whom undoubtedly were a bit full of themselves: For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. (1 Cor. 1:2628) He persisted in his searchhe was a true seeker (vv. 3, 4) The text says, he was trying to see who Jesus was, a verb in the imperfect tense, denoting a continual process of pursuit. As well, he ran on ahead and climbed into a tree in order to get a glimpse of the Savior. Here is a man who is not easily dissuaded from his goalto encounter the Son of God. This is how people act when they are sincere in their quest. I know how he felt, albeit in the context of courting my wonderful wife, Rolane. We had been casual friends for some time, but once I realized she was the one for me, I went into the imperfect tense. Eight weeks after our first date I proposed marriage, and three days later she succumbed to my charming pursuits. When you genuinely desire a meaningful relationship with someone, you dont let anything stop you. Youll even run ahead and climb a tree. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. We should look for those whose interest in things eternal continues to surface. We might be looking at a future brother or sister. He freely acknowledged his needhe was a sinner (vv. 58) Because of their complicity with Rome and tendency to extort, Jewish laws (Mishnah) said that it was perfectly permissible to lie to tax collectors to protect ones property. I would imagine many who knew Zaccheus had little trouble identifying him as a sinner. The great part of this story is that Zaccheus agrees! One gets the impression he is laboring under some guilt, as he offers to give half his wealth to the poor and return four-fold any amount he has fraudulently assessed from others. His spirit is sensitive to the sinfulness within him, something he did not manufacture on his own. This was from the Holy Spirit, whose work is to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Only through the conviction of the Spirit will a person submit to Jesus Christ. Thinking there is a certain people profile that suits the Spirit better than another for conviction of sin is tacitly unbiblical and foolish. His love saves all sorts, something we readily see when we look into the mirror. Great is his mercy! He embraced the forgiveness of Christhe was sincere (vv. 9, 10) Zaccheus heart was genuine, otherwise Jesus would not have gone to his house, nor would he have said, Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. This went down hard for the grumblers of verse 7 (most likely Pharisees), as they saw Jewish tax collectors as having forfeited their rights as Abrahams offspring. But Jesus was not talking about genealogy. He was speaking of faith, the faith that makes all who believe, both Jew and Greek, descendants of Abraham (Romans 4:16). We can gather from how Jesus responded to this man that Zaccheus made good on the money he stole, and showed true repentance by giving to the poor. He was genuine in his desire to deal with the sin that had produced guilt and a lack of joy in his life. As we continue to love the brethren and share the hope that is within us to others, we do well to remember our brother Zaccheus. A rich, short, seeking sinner who sincerely received the love of God through Jesus Christ. May the Spirit open our eyes to the unlikely candidates for salvation all around us. For so, once, were all of us. Photo credit: Getty Images/JackF The company can bring applications of Flatiron, a tech company that it acquired this year to India Swiss drug maker Roche is looking for startups in India that will help the company bring evidence-based medicine in India through its proprietary technology, according to the companys newly appointed India head. Lara Bezerra, Roche Managing Director (India), who moved from the troubled Venezuela market to India, told that as part of its long-term strategy the company can bring applications of Flatiron, a tech company that it acquired this year to India. Flatiron Health is a market leader in oncology-specific electronic health record (EHR) software, as well as the curation and development of real-world evidence for cancer research. Roche during the acquisition of the company in February said that with its large network of community oncology practices and academic medical centres across the US, Flatiron Health has created a technology platform designed to learn from the experience of every patient. Millions of patient profile is matched through this tech and the doctor is provided with the best possible outcomes that these kinds of patients have. So along with medical judgement the doctor has an option to lean into this data base too, explained V Simpson Emmanuel, Director, Market Access, Roche India. The UK government will invest 1 million in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) project that will support Indias national health programmes. UK-based companies with innovative healthcare technologies will be able to participate in this project, which will generate around 50 million of business for the UKs digital health industry. The United Kingdom and India will share research, knowledge and technology in areas of anti-microbial resistance, low cost health products and high yield crops. Prime Minister Theresa May, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the meeting in UK on 18 April agreed to step up the health partnership between the UK and India. The UK-India Statement of Intent on Partnership for Cooperation in Third Countries will be extended, with the aim of improving the health and wealth of both countries. Health research will be expanded in the areas of: anti-microbial resistance low cost health products high yield crops The UK government will invest 1 million in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) project that will support Indias national health programmes. UK-based companies with innovative healthcare technologies will be able to participate in this project, which will generate around 50 million of business for the UKs digital health industry. There are also plans to develop up to 5,000 diagnostic centres in India using NHS expertise, equipment and suppliers. Eleven new medicities are already being developed in India, with related: hospitals nursing and medical colleges research and innovation centres The medicities programme is run by the Indo UK Institute of Health (IUIH) in partnership with leading UK hospitals, the first of which is Kings College Hospital. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt said: I am proud that our NHS will be used as an example of gold standard healthcare in India it is only right that our world-leading knowledge and expertise is shared across the globe. Global disease, infection and antimicrobial resistance are real threats to us at home and abroad this partnership will enable us to tackle 21st century threats together." Health Minister Steve Brine said: Health expertise and research is a global issue if we act alone in tackling virulent diseases and long term health threats, we will fail. This partnership between Britain and India represents a firm trajectory for healthcare into the modern world. Through new research, shared expertise and attention to ground-breaking technologies, both nations can continue to lead the world in health and care. Dr. Harsha Vardhan, Honble Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate change and Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Chairperson, Technology Development Board and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology were also present at the event Bharat Biotech announces the receipt of the National Technology Award for 2018 from the Technology Development Board, Govt of India. This prestigious award on innovative technologies, successfully developed and commercialized from India was bestowed on ROTAVAC, by the Honble President of India Shri. Ram Nath Kovind. Launched in 2015 by the Honble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi ROTAVAC was introduced into the Universal Immunization Program in India during 2016, with initial implementation in 9 states with more States in the pipeline. Till date, Bharat Biotech has supplied ~ 35 million doses to the UIP. ROTAVAC is already saving infant lives and lowering the cost of hospitalizations across India. The company has also initiated supply of WHO Prequalified ROTAVAC to UNICEF and other Immunization programs worldwide. Ecstatic about the Presidential honour and the highly prestigious National Award, Dr. Krishna M Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech said: We are proud to receive the National Technology Award 2018 for ROTAVAC, it proves that researchers and product developers from India are capabable to develop and commercialize innovative technologies for the world. The national award from the Technology Development Board award recognizes organizations who have forged powerful partnerships with the national laboratories and to create knowledge networks with academic institutions to promote research and development and to gain entry into global markets. The nominees for the award and winners were selected on the basis of their extraordinary knowledge in and contributions to scientific innovation. ROTAVAC boasts a large family of intellectual property with patents filed in more than 35 countries and granted in 10 countries including India, USA, China, EU, Japan, UK etc. Bharat Biotech currently, holds a portfolio of 60 patents and has delivered more than 3 billion doses of vaccines to over 65 countries. Since its inception, Bharat Biotechs founding vision and strategy was to develop vaccines for neglected diseases and cater to people who suffer from these diseases especially the underprivileged who live in the emerging world. Mrs. Suchitra Ella, the Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech added, We are highly thankful to the Technology Development Board and the Govt of India for selecting ROTAVAC. This inspires our team to continue our efforts in vaccines innovation and product development for India and beyond The research parks will come up on IIT Delhi campus and in Sonepat and Jhajjar in Haryana and will be funded by college and managed by Foundation for innovation, and Technology Transfer (FIIT). Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is planning to set up three research parks in Delhi and Haryana. The research parks will help in design and development of advanced technology, incubate more start-ups and promote industry collaboration. The whole agenda to set up these Research Parks is to bring industry and budding entrepreneurs onto a single platform to facilitate innovation and research. The research parks will come up on IIT Delhi campus and in Sonepat and Jhajjar in Haryana and will be funded by college and managed by Foundation for innovation, and Technology Transfer (FIIT). The research parks will have research & development labs, set up by corporates jointly with IIT Delhi, incubators, Impact Lab for Path, a global health innovation hub, high-end central research facility and Centre of excellence in smart manufacturing. Additionally, the research parks will have training centres and convention facilities. The Phase-I of the Sonepat research park has been completed and can incubate around 15 start-ups. It also comprises residential facility, which the start-ups can use for a fee. Four start-ups have been incubated so far and around Rs. 175 crore has been invested in the Phase-I. The Phase-II will accommodate close to 100 start-ups. The research park coming up at IIT Delhi is awaiting environmental clearance (EC). Once the approval is obtained, the park will be operational in 18-24 months. It can also house 100 start-ups and close to Rs. 140 crore has been invested. The proposed third research park at Jhajjar is likely to take time due to delay in land deals. NAC to bid farewell to last of its Boeings Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has initiated the process of retiring its second Boeing 757 after selling off the first one last December. IP sector regulations and liabilities law has been not just a hindrance but a barrier and impediment (for the US pharma companies to invest in India) Indias intellectual property regulations and liabilities laws pose a major barrier to foreign companies, specially from the US, that prevents them from increasing their footprint in the countrys huge market, pharma sector leaders have said. Andrew Plump, chief medical and scientific officer of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a major Japanese drugmaker, said his company has a very limited presence in India. "But it is open to increase its footprint in India, with the improvement in IP protection laws and those related to liabilities," Plump said. "Historically it (IP sector regulations and liabilities law) has been not just a hindrance but a barrier and impediment (for the US pharma companies to invest in India),"he added. On Tuesday, Takeda announced plans to acquire London-listed Shire Plc for USD 62 billion, which is being described as the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company. "Our geographical spread hasnt taken us to India, which is quite unusual for us because were a company that thinks about patients and access and theres such a huge unmet medical need in India. So, I am hopeful that as we move forward well find ways to bring medicines to patients in India," he said. Observing that India has outstanding data scientists, strong capabilities that it has in the pharma sector, Plump said relative to the academic excellence in India, relative to the population size and, a concentration in healthcare, "its underrepresented in R&D" in healthcare. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, Indias pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow to USD 100 billion by 2025. William W Chin, professor of Medicine, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School acknowledged that it is important that the ecosystem that helps one discover and develop medicines focus on meeting great unmet medical needs. Noting that the Indian government has made good progress recently, Chin said changes in science and regulatory policy which allows for more rapid development of medicines. "But I think that the government will need to continue to invest in those academic groups and even companies want to innovate. They have to provide additional incentives for companies to solve the problems, but also create medicines that could be used for the global market as well, in which case it becomes very important to help the economy of India also," Chin said. Karun Rishi, head of the US India Chambers of Commerce, which organizes the annual US-India Biopharma and Healthcare Summit, said that India can be a significant player in artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technologies. "The use of Blockchain can add muscle to the digital economy especially in the Biopharma and healthcare sector. This is one area, we see India playing a significant role globally," Rishi said. The 12th edition of the annual biopharma and healthcare summit attracted top corporate leaders from the American pharma sector with a collective research and development budget of more than USD 50 billion. During the day-long session, scientists, academicians and experts from the sector brain stormed on various aspects of Indias biopharma and healthcare sector NRA seeks renegotiation of Indian credit The National Reconstruction Authority has written to the Finance Ministry, asking it to take initiatives for converting the $750 million Indian line of credit for post-earthquake reconstruction to an unconditional loan arguing that the amount would not be utilised fully within the NRAs tenure. Cannes 2018: Jim Sarbhs Latest Look Is To Die For Bollywood Wardrobe Devika Only Jim Sarbh can make a formal suit look like a casual every day wear! The 'Padmaavat' actor in his latest shoot soaked up the sun at French Riviera, donning a dashing suit that channelled James Bond's style. He sported a sky blue shirt and contrasted it with a navy blue and red coloured tie. His classy black loafers perfectly complemented the look. And he posed without a care in the world with palm trees, wooded mountains, and clear blue sky in the backdrop. I am sure dear men that he must be giving you all vacation goals also other than the outfit inspiration. The latest style sensation on the block with his characteristic peppery curls, Jim sported an elaborately embroidered Kashmiri jacket yesterday with a pair of black trousers. And today he completely switched to a contemporary look. Well, we must say that he gave us a glimpse of his versatile fashion sense and totally wooed us. Jim would be joining Kangana Ranaut and Huma Qureshi for the Grey Goose celebration of iconic films screened at Cannes over the years. Hindu Deities And Their Amazing Vehicles Or Vahanas Faith Mysticism oi-Renu Most of the deities in Hinduism are seen riding animals as their vehicles. It is believed that the positive qualities of these animals represent the qualities that the riding deity looks for. Such as the bull of Shiva represents strength and virility, the mouse of Ganesha represents the speed and sharpness. Similarly grace, wisdom and beauty are represented by swan, the vehicle of Goddess Saraswati, and splendor &majesty by the peacock, the vehicle of Lord Skanda. This depiction of Gods with animals is found in the Greek mythology as well. However, if you want to know the which deity rides on which animal and the reasons associated with it, we ask you to read further. Surya Dev Surya Dev is the Lord of Sun. He is worshiped for earning prosperity and fame. Surya Dev rides on a chariot driven by seven white horses. These horses represent the seven sins, which are overpowered by Surya Dev. They are sometimes also associated with the seven chakras in the human body because Surya Dev blesses his devotees with good health as well. Lord Brahma Lord Brahma rides on a swan. A swan is known for its ability to pick pure from the impure. It can sieve milk from water. Due to this quality, it is often associated with intelligence. Lord Brahma therefore, is believed to ride on a swan. Goddess Durga The Goddess Durga rides a lion. A lion symbolizes strength and power. Just as the lion is a warrior, and always the victorious one. Goddess Durga, through it, also symbolizes immense power and victory. In many images the Goddess with a lion is shown killing a demon with a bull. She fights with all the demonic negativities, being assisted by this lion. Lord Ganesha Ganesha rides on a mouse. According to one story, a Gandharva was once cursed to become a mouse. Being a mouse he started wandering on earth and by mistake he stepped on the foot of Mahari Vamadeva. A sage is considered a spiritual being in Hinduism. Enraged by this Lord Ganesha attacked him with his Pasha Astra. This signifies that stepping on knowledge, awareness and enlightenment is considered sinful. Some stories associate a mouse with darkness and desires. Therefore Ganesha overrides all these leading the man to awareness and spiritual upliftment. Lord Indra Lord Indra rides the Airavat elephant. It is a holy elephant which is believed to be born from a cosmic egg. Of the total sixteen elephants from that egg, this was the strongest. Hindu scriptures say, that this elephant drinks water from the atmosphere with its trunks and sprinkles that water on the earth. This water is seen as rain on the earth. The elephant is the father of other white elephants. However, once it was cursed and lost its wings. It is believed that all the white elephants on the earth are his descendants. Goddess Lakshmi Goddess Lakshmi mounts the white owl. Owl is associated with wisdom, and peace. It is also bestowed with the qualities of future telling. The white colour of the owl is related to purity of the soul. Hence, the Goddess rules the powers of wisdom, intelligence, purity and wealth. Goddes Saraswati Goddess Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma. She is seen with a swan. Moreover, the swan with its white colour and intelligence, can easily be associated with Goddess Saraswati. Lord Shiva It is believed that the bull Nandi had lived with Lord Shiva on mount Kailash. This animal is mainly associated with strength. Lord Shiva rides the bull. Nandi is seen seated besides Lord Shiva in many of the depictions. He is also worshiped along with the deity. Yama Deva Lord of death, Yamaraja, is associated with righteousness and hence is his mount, the male buffalo. Lord Yamaraja roams around the world on a buffalo searching for souls he has to take with him. horses represent the seven sins, which are overpowered by Surya Dev. They are sometimes also associated with the seven chakras in the human body because Surya Dev blesses his devotees with good health as well. Lord Brahma Lord Brahma rides on a swan. A swan is known for its ability to pick pure from the impure. It can sieve milk from water. Due to this quality, it is often associated with intelligence. Lord Brahma therefore, is believed to ride on a swan. Goddess Durga The Goddess Durga rides a lion. A lion symbolizes strength and power. Just as the lion is a warrior, and always the victorious one. Goddess Durga, through it, also symbolizes immense power and victory. In many images the Goddess with a lion is shown killing a demon with a bull. She fights with all the demonic negativities, being assisted by this lion. Lord Ganesha Ganesha rides on a mouse. According to one story, a Gandharva was once cursed to become a mouse. Being a mouse he started wandering on earth and by mistake he stepped on the foot of Mahari Vamadeva. A sage is considered a spiritual being in Hinduism. Enraged by this Lord Ganesha attacked him with his Pasha Astra. This signifies that stepping on knowledge, awareness and enlightenment is considered sinful. Some stories associate a mouse with darkness and desires. Therefore Ganesha overrides all these leading the man to awareness and spiritual upliftment. Lord Indra Lord Indra rides the Airavat elephant. It is a holy elephant which is believed to be born from a cosmic egg. Of the total sixteen elephants from that egg, this was the strongest. Hindu scriptures say, that this elephant drinks water from the atmosphere with its trunks and sprinkles that water on the earth. This water is seen as rain on the earth. The elephant is the father of other white elephants. However, once it was cursed and lost its wings. It is believed that all the white elephants on the earth are his descendants. Lord Shiva It is believed that the bull Nandi had lived with Lord Shiva on mount Kailash. This animal is mainly associated with strength. Lord Shiva rides the bull. Nandi is seen seated besides Lord Shiva in many of the depictions. He is also worshiped along with the deity. Yama Deva Lord of death, Yamaraja, is associated with righteousness and hence is his mount, the male buffalo. Lord Yamaraja roams around the world on a buffalo searching for souls he has to take with him. Trump, Kim Jong-un summit slated for 12 June in Singapore US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on 12 June, reported BBC quoting the US President. Site traffic information and cookies We use cookies to collect and analyse information on our site's performance and to enable the site to function. Cookies also allow us and our partners to show you relevant ads when you visit our site and other 3rd party websites, including social networks.You can choose to allow all cookies by clicking Allow allor manage them individually by clicking Manage cookie preferences, where you will also find more information. By Sean McCarthaigh Brexit could have at least one positive development for Ireland by allowing greater control over opt-out advertising by UK stations. A report commissioned by the Department of Communications claims a wide range of options would be open to the Irish authorities to regulate opt-out UK channels if the UK proceeds with a full withdrawal from the EU. Opt-out advertising is where TV channels based in another jurisdiction broadcast advertising tailored to a local market in another country. An increase in such advertising in recent years has become a major concern for domestic stations like RTE and TV3, which claim UK channels are taking a growing share of the overall TV advertising revenue, which was estimated at 236m in 2016, at the expense of Irish channels. They also point out that stations offering opt-out advertising are not subject to regulation by the Irish authorities despite broadcasting into Ireland. It is estimated that around 20% of all TV advertising revenue now goes to the opt-out channels, with 46% to public service broadasters like RTE and TG4, and 32% to TV3. Under EU legislation and the country of origin principle, channels based in the UK are solely regulated by the UK regulator, Ofcom. T he report by consultancy firm Indecon said Brexit would allow the Government to implement a wide range of actions. The report also recommended that in the short term the Government should consider the introduction of a non-discriminatory levy that would apply to both domestic and overseas broadcasters to fund indigenous content. However, it said the impact of such a levy could be small as there is a lack of precedence for such a scheme.. The report also suggested the Government should seek an amendment to the country of original principle that would allow EU member states to require a financial contribution from broadcasters targeting audiences in their territories to fund production of local or indigenous content. The vast majority of opt-out advertising offered to Irish advertisers is by UK-based stations including Sky News, ITV and Channel 4 as well as specialist channels like Nickelodeon and MTV. However, it acknowledges that the effect in terms of audience size is dramatically lower compared to TV advertisements carried on Irish stations. In 2016, on average TV spot on Irish channels was seen by 23,200 compared to just 1,800 for TV commercials on opt-out channels. By Geoff Percival Jameson owner Irish Distillers has acquired Cork-based craft beer producer Eight Degrees Brewing. The purchase price has not been disclosed, but the transaction has been described as being a multimillion euro deal. Eight Degrees founded and run by Antipodean duo Cam Wallace and Scott Baigent will continue to produce its Sunburnt Irish Red Ale, Howling Gale Irish Pale Ale, Knockmealdown Irish Stout, and Bohemian Pilsner Lager brands under its new ownership. However, the main reason behind the acquisition is to give Irish Distillers long-term security of craft beer supply for use in its rapidly-growing Caskmates product. That product Jameson whiskey aged in craft beer-seasoned barrels was launched on a trial basis in 2014 but saw 100% sales growth last year, selling around 200,000 cases in 40 countries. With this success comes a need to plan for the future, and thats what led to this exciting deal, said Irish Distillers production director Tommy Keane. Since its launch, Jameson Caskmates has used craft beer from another Cork brewer Franciscan Well as its flavouring. However, Franciscan Wells parent Molson-Coors has been unable to confirm long-term security of supply. Irish Distillers has not ruled out further Eight Degrees products, saying that while the purchase will support the global growth of Jameson Caskmates, it will also support Eight Degrees continued innovation and experimentation in the craft beer sector. Eight Degrees 10 employees will remain with the company and it is understood its two founders have been incentivised to stay on for two years. Mr Wallace and Mr Baigent said they established the company in Mitchelstown in 2010, to brew naturally adventurous, great-tasting beers that were more exciting and innovative than anything else in the market. Becoming part of the Irish Distillers family means that we have the long-term capabilities to continue on this mission, as well as being part of the very exciting Jameson Caskmates story, they said. Latest financial figures from Irish Distillers parent, Pernod Ricard, showed sales topping the 7bn mark for the first nine months of its financial year. The 6.3% year-on-year growth was mainly driven by continued strong performance by Jameson Irish Whiskey along with other chief international brands Chivas and Martell. Jameson... continues to thrive and is now in double or triple digit growth in 80 markets across the world, said Mr Keane. By Eamon Quinn and Padraig Hoare Ulster Bank looks set to face political opposition head-on from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein after announcing the start of the sale of 6,500 loans worth 1.6bn of distressed mortgage debt, a move which is likely to embolden other main lenders to offload their troubled loan books too. The sale includes 3,600 mortgages held by homeowners at a face value of 900m, as well as 2,900 buy-to-let or landlord mortgages, worth 700m. Industry auctions like the one being conducted by Ulster Bank typically sell troubled loans for around 65% of their face value, though potential buyers are prepared to pay more for buy-to-let mortgages. Opposition politicians have targeted advanced plans by Permanent TSB to sell 3.7bn of its mortgages which are underwater, as well as vaguer proposals by AIB. The sales would likely lead to all the main Irish banks offloading their crisis-era soured loans to foreign equity funds vulture funds. Advocates for the tens of thousands of households who are in long-term arrears have also criticised the lenders and the Central Bank for allowing the sale of distressed loans to new vulture funds owners, which have no long-term commitment to the country despite being the new owners of mortgages which were originally sold by banks to borrowers as long-term contracts. The banks are unwilling to write off debt but are prepared to pass the borrowers to new owners who will flip the loans again in three or four years, said Paul Joyce, senior policy adviser at the Free Legal Advice Centres, or Flac. And the Financial Services Union said home borrowers will face additional stress amid fears their loans will be sold to vulture funds. It also wants guarantees over jobs at Ulster Bank once the sale has been completed. Lenders and the Central Bank say borrowers have the same level of protection through the service providers appointed by new equity fund owners. The Ulster Bank sale does not involve split mortgages, which has been a particular area of contention in the Permanent TSB sale. Not all mortgages are sustainable and we are obliged to reduce of non- performing loans on our balance sheets following pressure from the ECB, Ulster Bank said. Before the sale, Ulster Bank has around 4.3bn in soured loans in a total loan book of almost 24bn. The sale will reduce the percentage of non-performing loans to 10%, closer to the 5% normal industry rate sought by regulators. The sale is likely to be its largest for some time. Investec Ireland analyst Owen Callan said Ulster Bank will be testing the political opposition to the sale of distressed mortgages but is well placed to see off the political flak. Permanent TSB faced a lot of political invective but British RBS-owned Ulster Bank has the advantage in terms of political opposition of not being owned by the Irish state, he said. At the Oireachtas Finance Committee, Central Bank deputy governor Ed Sibley said he was working with the ECB to ensure clarity over the accounting on bank books of split mortgages. Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath said Permanent TSB customers holding split mortgages needed clarity as they had been included in the banks sale of distressed debt. A Catholic bishop has claimed that abortion is more traumatic than rape for some women. Dermot Farrell, the Bishop of Ossory has criticised men who abandon their child's mother during pregnancy - saying their actions encourage a woman to seek an abortion. But he also says termination has an impact. Bishop Farrell said: "First of all rape is a violent act and a violent crime against a woman, a terrible crime. "And sometimes, what I understand from women who have been raped, is that the abortion that followed sometimes after rape was far worse than the rape itself." The Bishop spoke about abortion on his first day in office, describing as paradoxical and in some ways the ultimate delusion the proposal to extinguish the right to life of a child, the Irish Examiner reported. Speaking on abortion last March, he said: "There is no such thing as a human life that has no value. "However, it is paradoxical and in some ways the ultimate delusion, to extinguish the most fundamental right of all, the right to life of the innocent child, in the name of personal and civil rights." Latest Tony O'Brien has posted a video bidding farewell to the staff of the HSE and telling them to "remain focused on the important work" they do. This advice comes in the wake of what he called the "setback that the health service has experienced". He said he was "extremely proud" of their work and commitment, saying it was "a vital part of what makes Ireland Ireland, its a vital part of our community structure". In a video posted on the HSE's YouTube channel this evening, the former Director General said he was also proud of his own achievements while in charge. "The HSE, the health services, our health service, delivered by people, by you for people in Ireland, our own families often," he said. "What I do know, is that the work that you do, your work, your commitment, your care is a vital part of what makes Ireland, Ireland. It's a vital part of our community infrastructure and I want you to be really proud of everything that you do." It was announced today that John Connaghan, the deputy general of the HSE, has been appointed as interim head of the organisation. Harris announces package of supports for women affected by CervicalCheck scandal Update: 5.10pm A package of supports for women impacted by the CervicalCheck scandal including discretionary medical cards and travel and childcare expenses has been announced, writes Elaine Loughlin. Government held a Cabinet meeting this morning to address the crisis which has impacted 209 women, 17 of whom have since died. Health Minister Simon Harris has announced the cost of medicine including any "experimental drugs" prescribed by clinicians will be covered by the State. Counselling services including bereavement counselling will be provided, while travel costs and childcare costs will also be paid for. Cabinet have also signed off on the provision of discretionary medical card for all of the affected women or their next of kin in the 17 cases where women have already died. The HSE will make arrangements to exempt the women from prescription charges. Mr Harris said he wanted to allow "flexibility" in the supports provided "because every woman's circumstance will be different, every family circumstance will be different". He said: "We have tried to make decisions today that are practical, we put a lot of processes in place that are now establishing facts and that's very important to establish who knew what, where and when. But it's also about adopting a humane and compassionate approach to the women who have been adversely impacted or to their next of kin in instances where they have sadly passed away. However, Leo Varadkar confirmed that it may be several weeks before the supports are set up and offered to women. Each of the women or their families will be contacted to see what assistance they need. The Taoiseach apologised to the women and their families and said Government shares their "determination" to find answers. "As a Government it is our duty that we honour their bravery with action and we do all we can as quickly as we can to restore confidence and offer help and care and support to those affected," Mr Varadkar said. Earlier: Government 'determined' to find the truth in CervicalCheck scandal, Taoiseach says Update: 3.45pm: Taoiseach Lao Varadkar has said the government is "determined" to find the truth in relation to the cervical cancer controversy. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Varadkar said that the health service should be about saving lives, and not saving face. He reiterated his apology to the women affected by the scandal and said that Vicky Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathuna have done the State a service which they should never have been expected to do. Minister for Health Simon Harris said he was disgusted with the information detailed in yesterday's memos, and that he wants full accountability in relation to the controversy. A cabinet meeting was held today to discuss the fall-out of the CervicalCheck scandal and to decide what measures will be put in place to support the women impacted by it. The cabinet has approved such a package this afternoon, as well as a mediation process which will allow the families already involved in legal cases connected to the scandal to settle outside of court. The package will include providing discretionary medical cards, provision of counselling and covering the cost of drugs including experimental treatments. It also announced that John Connaghan, the deputy general of the HSE, has been appointed as interim head of the organisation. In a statement, Simon Harris said: I have now designated John Connaghan to carry out the functions of the Director General of the HSE pending a recruitment process which is to be conducted by the Public Appointments Service. "John brings a wealth of senior healthcare management experience at an international level. He will be a tremendous resource in leading the HSE in challenging times. I want to thank John for taking on this interim role. Mr Connaghan joined the HSE last August as the Deputy Director General and Chief Operating Officer having previously worked for NHS Scotland. Earlier: Senior Department of Health officials under pressure over CervicalCheck scandal Update - 12.45pm: Pressure is now mounting on senior Department of Health officials to reveal why they did not inform the Minister of Health about the smear check controversy back in 2016, writes Elaine Loughlin. It has been revealed that three memos were sent to officials, including Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health, two years ago which revealed that CervicalCheck were preparing a response to possible media headlines of "screening did not diagnose my cancer". Three explosive memos to HSE boss Tony O'Brien now being discussed by the PAC.. the end of the memo included the following recommendation #iestaff via @McConnellDaniel pic.twitter.com/3bUfAqLBYH Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) May 10, 2018 However, neither Leo Varadkar who was Health Minister when the first memo was sent, nor Simon Harris were informed of the issue. The memos also stated that it had been decided to "pause" letters informing patients and the order or volume of dispatch would be based on "mitigating potential risks". HSE director Tony O'Brien, who was also sent the 2016 memos, announced he would be stepping down just hours after the documents were released. HSE director Tony O'Brien Ministers are currently holding a Cabinet meeting to discuss the fall-out of the CervicalCheck scandal and what measures must now be put in place to support women impacted by it. Sinn Fein health spokesperson Louise O'Reilly said it is now critically important to find out who knew what and why information was not passed on to the Minister. We need to find out if information was kept from Ministers why that information was kept from Ministers but more importantly why those Ministers themselves are not insisting that all information that is relevant comes across their desk. "When an issue like this emerges it should be brought to the attention of the relevant Minister of Health. "This was a very very serious case and it strikes me that the strategy emanating from the Department of Health and echoed by the HSE was one of batten down the hatches, circle the wagons, keep the information from the women first and foremost." Speaking outside Leinster House, Ms O'Reilly said: What we have seen in the last couple of days is proof, not that we needed it, that women should not have to take to the airwaves to get justice. She said it was "regrettable" that it had taken such a serious scandal to prompt a discussion around accountability in the public service and State bodies. Earlier: No hiding place in search for truth over CervicalCheck scandal, says Minister Update - 12.20pm: Health minister Simon Harris has warned officials there will be no hiding place in the quest to find the truth around a deepening cervical smear test controversy. Mr Harris said recent revelations that 209 cancer patients had previously received wrongly-interpreted all-clear smear results had devastated the country. Ahead of a Cabinet meeting, Mr Harris said: I want to assure the public that I am equally furious about what is emerging and there will be nowhere to hide, there will be accountability. Emma Mhic Mhathuna, 37, from Co Kerry, revealed on Thursday that she had now been diagnosed with terminal cancer, five years after being told her smear tests were normal. She also said today that she has referred her case to the gardai. Stephen Teap, from Co Cork, has expressed his anger that his wife Irene died without ever knowing that her smear tests had been wrongly interpreted. I think the whole country is devastated, shocked, upset and hurt, said Mr Harris. People like Emma and Vicky, people like Stephen Teap and others who have told their story, they really have touched a nerve with all of us. But what they need is not platitudes, they need actions, and I am determined we are going to deliver those actions. The Cabinet is holding a special meeting at Government Buildings in Dublin on Friday to agree a package of measures, such as drug and treatment costs, to support those affected by the errors. It comes hours after HSE director general Tony OBrien quit. Mr Harris said the Government needed to demonstrate that it cared about the impacted women and the next of kin of those patients who have since died. There are 10 legal challenges similar to Ms Phelans in the pipeline. Mr Harris said he would take steps to ensure those women would not have to go to court to get answers. I dont want any of them to go to court, he said. The minister said he would appoint a new director general of the HSE later on Friday and also move next week to introduce more accountability within the organisation. "There is no place to hide here, all of the facts need to be established and all of the facts will be established, he said. There will be and must accountability and answers here for the women of Ireland and I am absolutely determined in relation to that. 11.05am: 'More heads will have to roll,' says Vicky PhelanVicky Phelan has said that "more accountability needs to come", after hearing of the resignation of the HSE's Director General Tony O'Brien. Vicky told Richard Curran on RTE Radio 1's Today programme this morning that she had a phone call from Minister Simon Harris this morning outlining the steps he is putting in place to deal with the CervicalCheck scandal. She said: "More heads will have to roll". On the memos that have come to light, Vicky said that she was not surprised by the tone, saying: "They were more worried about themselves and being sued than about me as a patient'. These memos are even more damning...containment and media management was the priority not the women. Mr O'Brien tweeted this morning, saying: "When I appear in public - say at a Committee I conduct myself against a simple standard. Would I be happy for my children or my mother to see how I behave? I sometimes look across the room and hope their children will never see and hear how they behave." When I appear in public - say at a Committee I conduct myself against a simple standard. Would I be happy for my children or my mother to see how I behave? I sometimes look across the room and hope their children will never see and hear how they behave. Tony OBrien (@tweetstob) May 11, 2018 Ms Phelan said: "His tweet smacks of someone used to getting his own way, throwing ones toys out of the pram springs to mind. "So, the issues that were being raised concerned the cover-up and the lack of absolute regard for the women caught up in this scandal, and his use of the word hysteria really sent me over the edge yesterday when I heard that. She wondered if someone could take him aside now and tell him that this is not about him, saying "not by a long shot, this was never about him but he doesn't seem to realise that". Ms Phelan said she feels that Emma Mhic Mhathuna's interview yesterday on Morning Ireland is what sent him over the edge. She revealed that the interview made her "very angry", and that her interview was "very raw" as this news was very new to her while Vicky had time to process her diagnosis out of the public eye. Update - 8.50am: Vicky Phelan's solicitor says an apology from one of the US labs at the centre of the CervicalCheck controversy is too little too late. The scandal has forced the head of the HSE Tony O'Brien to step down admitting that there were failures in telling women about incorrect smear test results. In a statement, Clinical Pathology Laboratories said what happened to Vicky Phelan and her family was tragic and that it deeply regrets the outcome. They said that they hope the settlement reached will allow Ms Phelan to gain additional treatment and an improved prognosis and quality of life. They revealed that the screenings were performed through manual examinations of individual slides, without the benefit of computer-based imaging and a separate HPV test. The company said it was performed to the highest quality standards but, despite this, it is internationally recognised that no screening program is 100% effective and all have an inherent margin for error. CPL said the results of cervical cancer screens conducted by its lab, and the other one in the US as well as the two Irish laboratories, are well above the accepted accuracy rate for the type of screening specified by the HSE and have been continuously monitored and repeatedly endorsed by Irish health authorities and US agencies. However, her solicitor Cian OCarroll says the apology is not accepted. Mr O'Carroll said: "Perhaps if it was offered at the appropriate time, which would have been three or more weeks ago, it might have had a little more credibility. "They've also failed to comment on, acknowledge or apologise for the appaling hurt they caused by attempting to force a confidentiality clause on Vicky Phelan and forcing her on with the trial in court, so no it isn't acceptable." On The Tonight Show last night on TV3, Emma Mhic Mhathuna welcomed Tony OBrien's resignation. Emma said: The sense of joy is incalculable. "It's long overdue and it's a disgrace that I had to break down for that to happen." 6.38am: Cabinet to consider more action over CervicalCheck scandal on Tony O'Brien's last day as HSE chief Today will be Tony O'Brien's last day as head of the HSE. Mr O'Brien has confirmed he will resign as Director General in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal. Anger peaked around Leinster House last night with two Ministers openly calling for Mr O'Brien to go after documents showed HSE management were preparing media strategies in case this came to light two years ago. Mr O'Brien has been put through the wringer by politicians this week, and admitted the scandal has hit him. He said: "Given that I started my own career in the public service, in BreastCheck, the recent events are indeed a personal blow to me." In his departing statement Tony O'Brien said he will step down as of close of business today to avoid any further impact on the health service. Press Statement - Director General of HSE Tony OBrien - https://t.co/Zaq0xoOYsw HSE Ireland (@HSELive) May 10, 2018 Mr O'Brien will step down at the close of business tomorrow "in order to avoid any further impact to the delivery of health and social care services, in particular the cancer screening services that have become the focus of intense political debate in recent days". He admitted there were clear communication failures when it comes to telling women about the false negatives on their smear tests. However, Mr O'Brien said he is confident planned reviews will prove the worth of CervicalCheck. He said that "notwithstanding the clear communication failures surrounding the CervicalCheck Audits", he is "confident that the Scally Review will demonstrate the quality and value of the CervicalCheck Programme once it is complete". Mr O'Brien said he looks forward to co-operating and engaging with the review. The statement said that Mr OBrien "has been proud to lead the health services and the many staff who have worked tirelessly and with great dedication to provide health and social care services in a very challenging environment. It states that he "remains deeply committed to health reform in Ireland and in particular the full implementation of the Slainte Care Report" and retains his "fullest support for Minister Harris in this regard". The Cabinet will consider if there should be any further responses at a meeting this morning. - Digital Desk The Director of the Construction Industry Federation disagrees with the Governor of the Central Bank who warned house prices could fall over the next two or three years. Houses prices across the country are continuing to soar with new figures from the CSO showing houses prices are up 12.7% in the year to March. Despite this, the Governor of the Central Bank, Philip Lane, is warning they potentially could fall over the next few years. This is down to supply rising and other factors like Brexit. Karl Deeter from Irish Mortgage Brokers agrees it could happen. Mr Deeter said: "The prices are going up and people are still trying to buy even as the prices go up. But if the prices start to fall, suddenly everybody gets scared and you normally have an oversupply built at that stage. "This is why we have property cycles and I think he's just aware of that and he's just letting us know that that's something in the future." However, the Director of the Construction Industry Federation does not agree with the Central Bank's warning. Hubert Fitzpatrick said there cannot be price falls in the housing market when there is such a scarcity of homes. He said: "I believe that the current environment is such that we won't have house price falls, I think we have to increase house-building activity. "And I think that the measures we have in place, with the Central Bank rules and the provision of a development finance sector, will ensure we won't have an oversupply in any of these areas." Whether they go up or down, the Government is being warned it needs to be prepared for all eventualities. By Isabel Hayes An irascible and cross father who regularly beat his young children with household implements, including a belt and a ladle, has been given a two-year suspended sentence. The 54-year-old Nigerian man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his children, pleaded guilty to five counts of child cruelty at an address in Dublin between October 2011 and April 2014, when they were aged around eight and nine. He beat the children between 50 and 100 times during that period while verbally abusing them, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today. His wife, who also beat the children, was also given a suspended two-year jail term in March. The abuse came to light when one of the children confided in his teacher about his unhappiness at his home situation, the court heard. Handing down sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said he had formed the impression the accused was a stubborn, irascible man and a cross man. He doesn't have a temperament that would lead me to conclude he's a patient man, he said. The judge noted the man thought he was dealing with his children properly by chastising them physically when they did wrong in his eyes. He accepted defence submissions that this was more culturally acceptable in Nigeria and he noted that until relatively recently, slapping was a common practice in this country. Nonetheless, what he did was wrong, he said. He beat his children on a considerable number of occasions. It's seems undoubtedly that this was cruelty. He took into account several mitigating factors when imposing the suspended sentence, including the sentence meted out to the children's mother, the man's lack of criminal convictions and his remorse. The judge ordered the man to comply with all social services orders regarding the welfare of his children. They now live with his wife, from whom he is separated, the court heard. Detective Garda Donal O'Connell told Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, that after the child confided in his teacher about the abuse at home, social services became involved. The children were taken into foster care for a number of years, returning to their mother in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The court heard the man beat the children between 50 and 100 times during the period in question using various household implements, including a belt, a ladle and a spoon. He pleaded guilty at a late stage, after a trial date was set. At one point he attempted to resile from his guilty plea but this application was refused by the court. He has no previous convictions. The court heard the children, who are now teenagers, did not wish to make victim impact statements. Their mother's sentence hearing was told that she had made great efforts to educate herself, had engaged with a migrant parenting service and changed her parenting style. Paul Greene SC, defending, said his client's plea had saved his children the ordeal of being cross-examined at trial. He said the man was of a previous good character and was acting under a cultural misapprehension when dealing with his children. He has lived in Ireland since the early 2000s. His culpability is not minimised, but reduced, Mr Greene said. He urged the judge to be as lenient as possible. Judge Nolan noted that he was obliged to hand down a similar sentence to the man's co-accused, unless he felt the other sentencing judge had been completely wrong. In this case, he accepted that the two-year suspended sentence was adequate. He paid tribute to the teacher who first shed light on the case, saying: Society should be grateful to the teacher who dealt with the problem in a very intelligent way and procured the confidence of the child. By Declan Brennan A cocaine addict who agreed to move lethal ammunition and guns for dangerous people he owed a 50,000 drug debt to has been jailed. Stephen Keenan, 31, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of unlawful possession of two handguns and bullets at his home in Casement Drive, Finglas, Dublin on October 24 last year. He also pleaded guilty to stealing a car which was found parked on Casement Drive on the same day. Gardai found a canister of petrol and a camouflage ghillie suit in the car, neither of which had been in the car when it was stolen. Keenan received suspended sentences in March 2015 after pleading guilty to having an imitation firearm during a robbery of an off-licence in Finglas. He was still serving this suspended sentence last October when he was caught holding the firearms. Keenan told gardai that he agreed to hold a gun because he had racked up a 50,000 drug debt seven years earlier and was still trying to clear it. He said he still had 5,000 left to pay to dangerous people. These people told him to hold the bag with a gun in it for a few days. He later looked inside the bag and saw there were two handguns and the ammunition. The court heard the guns were in working order and could fire lethal ammunition and that some of the rounds found matched the guns. Judge Martin Nolan said Keenan's involvement was clear and he must have known the gun were going to be used to threaten, kill or maim people. He imposed a sentence of six-and-a-half years, backdated to October 2017 when Keenan went into custody. He noted that the father-of-two was pressurised into the crimes because of his drug debt and he has made Herculean efforts to reform himself but relapsed around the time of the offences. Michael Bowman SC, defending, said Keenan told gardai he was glad he was caught because somebody's life could be saved. He said the people he owed money to were serious people and he was concerned about his own children if he didn't service the debt. Keenan previously worked as a part-time painter and decorator. He had a cocaine addiction for a number of years and racked up the drug debt before his arrest in 2013 for the robbery. Counsel said Keenan stayed sober and away from drugs for some years and that showed he could be rehabilitated. Garda William O'Keefe told the court that he was in a garda car when he saw Keenan walking along Casement Drive with a rucksack. He said Keenan began acting suspiciously and Garda O'Keefe got out to speak to him but Keenan ran off. He threw the bag away and this was picked up by another garda while Garda O'Keefe caught up with Keenan and arrested him. The rucksack contained two handguns, bullets and some class of a smoke-bomb. He also had two car keys, one for the stolen car which was parked in the area. Keenan told gardai that he knew he had to transport a gun and that there would be a gun in the bag. Garda O'Keefe said he was satisfied that this was the extent of Keenan's involvement. Judge Nolan noted that Keenan's previous conviction for possession of firearms required the court to impose a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years. A garda jeep was rammed at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Cork city this afternoon before a car sped off and its occupants fled. A high-powered Saab with false registration plates was found abandoned a short time later. It has been seized for forensic examination. The incident occurred on the Old Mallow Rd at around 3.30pm when members of the armed Regional Support Unit were manning a checkpoint on the Old Mallow Rd, close to the city. A Saab approached, rammed the garda jeep, did a u-turn and sped off. No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported. The Saab was found a short time later abandoned in the Ballinahina area. Its occupants had fled the scene. Supt Michael Comyns said garda investigations are ongoing. Last November, Supt Comyns issued a warning to homeowners to be vigilant after a spate of burglaries by travelling criminals who stole tens of thousands of euro in cash and jewellery in the previous four weeks. He said gang members were using high-powered cars to drive from the greater Dublin area to target unoccupied homes in Cork, particular in areas off the motorway, including Glanmire, Ballyvolane, Little Island and even one in Cobh. Most of the burglaries occurred between 4pm and 9pm. Gardai have issued a warning to businesses about a growing scam that has seen one company hand over 300,000 to fraudsters. The fraud involves criminals pretending to be a company's legitimate supplier, and asking to be paid into a new bank account. The criminals usually send an email that looks like it is from a supplier, telling the company that they have changed their bank details. That means the money goes to the fraudsters' account when an invoice is paid. Three men were arrested this week in Dublin after two such alleged frauds were detected. Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan, who is head of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, said: "We're seeing a movement away from other types of fraud to this area of fraud because it's big money. "You can sit at home in front of your computer, cloak an email and I'll answer that by changing my bank account details and the next payment that comes due goes into the criminal's account. "So he doesn't have to go near your building, go near your home, go near your business, it's all done online." DCS Lordan says such emails should not be taken at face value. He said: "Some of these are occurring for 4,000 and 5,000, some are occurring up into the hundreds of thousands and into the millions. "Our advice is do not change the banking details of any of your suppliers on your system without talking to somebody that you know within the company. Don't base it on an email that looks like it's your supplier." - Digital Desk Police in Liverpool have made an appeal for CCTV and camera phone footage of an attack outside Anfield which left an Irish man in critical condition. Sean Cox, 53, from Dunboyne in Co Meath is still in hospital following last month's incident which took place shortly before the Liverpool v Roma match on Tuesday, April 24th. Two Italian men have been charged and are still in custody. Officers say a number of people filmed the incident before and after, and they could have vital evidence. They are appealing for any information that could help to identify a man suspected of being involved in the assault. We're appealing for CCTV & camera phone footage filmed around Anfield from 7-7.45pm on 24 April before @LFC v @ASRomaEN, following an assault which left Sean Cox in a critical condition. Please send footage to: Anfield.Incident@merseyside.pnn.police.uk https://t.co/vzoFchwnCD pic.twitter.com/12YNZ1e9E7 Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) May 11, 2018 Detective Inspector Paul Speight said: "Sean Cox remains in hospital in a critical condition at Walton Neurological Centre. Our thoughts are very much with his family, who are going through an extremely tough time and we want to bring anyone responsible to justice. "We have studied CCTV footage and have spoken to a number of witnesses, and I want to thank the people who have already come forward for their ongoing support. We know there were a number of people filming on camera phones before and after the incident, and we are very keen to hear from them and view the footage, as it could prove vital to our investigation of this incident. People who were filming or have CCTV footage between 7-7.45pm around Anfield are asked to send the footage to Anfield.Incident@merseyside.pnn.police.uk. - Digital Desk The LoveBoth campaign have urged the electorate to see beyond the arguments of a number of obstetricians and doctors who are taking to the airwaves to "explain away and muddy the waters about the targeting of children with special needs in the womb." In a statement tonight Cora Sherlock of the LoveBoth campaign suggested such doctors cannot hide from the fact that abortion on demand disproportionately takes the lives of children with disabilities. "There is no reason to doubt that with accurate testing at 10 weeks in the event of repeal of the Eighth Amendment, we would see a massive increase in abortion where Down syndrome is detected, just like in England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and other countries where there is no protection for unborn disabled children. We can no longer hide from the fact that the result of repeal of the Eighth Amendment would be that children with conditions such as Down syndrome would gradually disappear from society as has happened in countries like Iceland. Meanwhile, The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has launched a campaign which offers Irish students studying in the UK a bursary to travel home to vote in the upcoming referendum. The UK wide "Home to V8te" campaign encourages Irish students studying in institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to travel home to vote in the referendum on the Eighth Amendment on May 25th. Students can receive a travel bursary between 55 and 110 towards their flights to pay for the flights home to vote. Speaking about campaign, USI President Michael Kerrigan said: Any Irish citizens studying in the UK can get in touch with their Students Union and avail of a travel bursary fund that Students Unions can apply to." Wexford native Seagh Kehoe, who is studying a PhD in Contemporary Chinese Studies at the School of Politics and International Relations in the University of Nottingham, is travelling home to canvass. "It is absolutely vital that anyone who is eligible to vote in the referendum on May 25 does so," they said. This is a huge opportunity, a once-in-a-generation chance for everyone to have a say in shaping the future of Ireland and the kind of society we want to be a part of. "Every single vote counts. For many of us currently scattered around the globe, Ireland will always be home and we want to return at some point." The USI announced this week that Students Unions all over Ireland have directly registered 26,979 new student voters in the in the lead up to the referendum. - Digital Desk Nigel Farage has quashed speculation that he was considering joining the DUP. The former Ukip leader is due at an event hosted by the pro-Brexit Northern Ireland unionists in Ballymena in Co Antrim on Friday evening. DUP MP Ian Paisley has dismissed media fever over the issue and said he would be discussing the EU withdrawal and its aftermath with the MEP. Happy to be on my way to Northern Ireland having worked with the DUP in the referendum. I was elected as a UKIP MEP. I lead the EFDD group in Europarl and none of that is going to change! Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 11, 2018 Mr Farage said: I will be remaining Ukip MEP. I have shared platforms with Labour MP Kate Hoey, Tory minister Liam Fox and other people like George Galloway. I am happy to support those who supported the Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum. My visit is nothing more than that. The Democratic Unionists 10 MPs are supporting Theresa Mays minority Government at Westminster. A series of senior Conservatives have already visited Northern Ireland at the DUPs invitation. Mr Paisley tweeted: Looking forward to welcoming my great friend @Nigel_Farage to my North Antrim constituency tonight to talk about Brexit and Beyond. I notice the media fever over this already. I welcome many guests from many parties to North Antrim and Nigel will love the place and its people. A DUP spokesman said: Nigel Farage will be the guest speaker at a local DUP event in County Antrim. Mr Farage has already indicated this trip is not about joining the DUP. In any event, under DUP rules you cannot be a member of the party unless you live in Northern Ireland, the spokesman added. Earlier, Arron Banks, who bankrolled Ukip, was asked during an interview on Sky News if Mr Farage would use the DUP to run for Parliament. He said all things were possible in politics. Mr Farage visited Northern Ireland several times when he was leader of Ukip. A branch of Ukip in Northern Ireland was set up under former Ulster Unionist David McNarry but it has failed to establish itself as a one of the main parties. Mr Farage encouraged the Republic of Ireland to Irexit from the EU during a speech in Dublin recently. Ukip has slid in the polls across the UK following the Brexit referendum and has no MPs. - Press Association By Gerard Cunningham There are no files on "privileged" garda computer systems or files in the Security and Intelligence Section portraying whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe and former press officer Supt David Taylor as targets or "as a suspect or in a derogatory light", the Charleton tribunal was told. Peter Kirwan, a former detective chief superintendent who worked in the Security and Intelligence Section (formerly Crime and Security Branch) until last year, was asked by the tribunal to search the section's files and computer systems for any intelligence files in existence on Sgt McCabe, or on a computer system called Oisin at Garda HQ. The tribunal is examining allegations by Supt Taylor that he was directed by former garda commissioner Martin Callinan to brief the media negatively on Sgt McCabe. Mr Callinan denies this. Mr Kirwan was also asked to examine whether whether intelligence files were kept in Garda HQ on any garda under investigation which were colloquially known as the "corruption file", and if any such file was kept on either Supt Taylor or Sgt McCabe, and whether a phone tap was placed on Sgt McCabe's phones. He told the tribunal that before the 1990s, records in the Security and Intelligence section were paper based and computerisation began in that decade. It was hoped that eventually all records would be computerised. He said there was a Security and Intelligence database system known as Oisin, which was introduced in 2015 and replaced a previous system called Verity. In his report on the searches for the tribunal, Mr Kirwan said that there was "no file or document held whatsoever which presents Sgt McCabe as a target of An Garda Siochana, or as a suspect or in a derogatory light. Garda files contained records of an Operation Oisin crime prevention scheme in October 1998, and an Oisin Programme in 1998, relating too multi-agency information exchanges, but neither of these programmes referred to Sgt McCabe in any way. Files in the intelligence section recorded Sgt McCabe as a member of a garda search team in a drugs operation in Clones in 2002, and a smuggling investigation in 1989, Mr Kirwan said. Other hits on the name, McCabe, mentioned in intelligence systems were not Sgt McCabe but other people with the same surname. Mr Kirwan said there was a folder called "Corruption in public office" in the National Criminal Intelligence Unit (NCIU), which contained "information, reports and intelligence pertaining to misconduct in public office", such as if a garda was alleged to be involved in drug trafficking or passing information to criminals. He said there was no mention in those files of Sgt McCabe or Supt Taylor in relation to any garda operation. Supt Taylor's name did appear multiple times in the Verity system in the context of his duties, and once on Oisin. "For the avoidance of doubt, I can confirm there is no file or document whatsoever which presents Supt David Taylor as a target of An Garda Siochana, a suspect or in a derogatory light," Mr Kirwan reported. A second NCIU file, the "Corruption Index", was a statistical report only. Mr Kirwan also searched for any application for a telephone interception placed on Sgt McCabe between January 2009 and November 2016. There was no application for any lawful authorisation for phone intercept on anyone of that name, Mr Kirwan said. Applications were made for telephone data relating to Supt Taylor as part of a criminal investigation into unauthorised disclosures to journalists, Mr Kirwan said. A total of ten applications were processed in relation to the investigation. One of these was for a journalist's phone and was refused. Det Supt Brian Brunton gave evidence that searches of garda computer systems were made in the presence of tribunal chairman Justice Peter Charleton when he visited Garda headquarters on July 31st, 2017. The tribunal chairman provided the Security and Intelligence Section with keywords to search, which were McCabe, Maurice, Rat, Oisin, Whistle, Blower, Whistleblower, Person of the year,child, child abuse, and kiddy fiddler. The keywords also include the first and last name of Miss D, whose allegations of sexual assault against Sgt McCabe in 2006 were later dismissed by the DPP which found there was no evidence a crime had been committed. Det Supt Brunton said that the keyword search resulted in a total of 58,865 hits. Some of these were false positives, such as the word "operation", which contains the word "rat". The tribunal resumes on Monday, when Supt Taylor will begin his evidence. Tribunal barrister Patrick Marrinan SC said Supt Taylor was expected to give evidence until Wednesday, followed by his wife Michelle Taylor. Former justice minister Alan Shatter TD will appear at the tribunal on Thursday, followed by Mr Callinan, who is also expected to give evidence for several days. A family of seven, including four children, have been found dead with gunshot wounds at a rural property in south-west Australia in what could be the countrys worst mass shooting in 22 years. The children died with their mother and grandparents. The three generations had moved to Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people near the tourist town of Margaret River, in 2015 to grow fruit, media reported. Police would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide, but they are not looking for a suspect. After being alerted by a phone call before dawn, police found the bodies and two guns at the property, Western Australia State Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. Police would not say who made the call. The bodies of two adults were found outside the house and the rest were found inside. They all lived at the property, he said. Police have no information to raise concerns about wider public safety, suggesting a shooter is not at large. Osmington is a collection of a few streets, farms, holiday accommodation and vineyards supplying the premium wine-making district known as Margaret River. Samantha Lee, chair of the Gun Control Australia lobby group, said rural areas were over-represented in Australian gun deaths, including suicides. Regional and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of tragedies, because of the combination of isolation, sometimes mental or financial hardship and easy access to firearms, Ms Lee said in a statement. Although the details of this tragedy are yet to come to light, Australia has a tragic history of higher rate of gun deaths in rural areas, she added. - Press Association Earlier: Four children among seven dead in Australia shooting Update 7.06am: Four children and three adults have been found dead at a home in rural Western Australia. Detectives have described the incident at a farm northwest of the holiday town of Margaret River as a "horrific tragedy". Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said police were called to the property at 5.15am yesterday, and officers have no concerns about wider public safety. "Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident," he said. "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest." Police were attempting to make contact with victims' relatives, Mr Dawson said. He would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide. Two of the adults were found outside and the other five victims were inside the home in Osmington, 20km northeast of Margaret River in the famous wine region. Police found two firearms and Commissioner Dawson confirmed some of the bodies had gunshot wounds. He said the "male person" who had called the police had some connection to the property. The incident has taken its toll on first responders, he added. "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest," he said. "Homicide Squad detectives from Perth are assisting local police in investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. "They will be supported by other specialist police units. "A police chaplain is in attendance to provide support to all persons, officers and others that are impacted by what has happened." He said police will be at the farm for "several days at least". The commissioner was unable to confirm the ages of the children as their next of kin are still being notified. This could be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australia's gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters including former US president Barack Obama saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented. The generally accepted definition of a mass shooting - four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event - has been met only once in Australia since then in 2014 when a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Police in the United States are responding to reports of a shooting at a California school. Local media is reporting a man with a gun on the campus of Highland High School. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed police were called to the school at 7.30am (3.30pm Irish time) to investigate a possible shooting. Update: Abt 0730 am. Call of shots heard near Manzanita Elementary School in Palmdale. @PalmdaleSheriff @LANLASD deputies on scene. No other information available. LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 11, 2018 They confirmed one person has been detained regarding the call at the high school in Palmdale. Deputies are on scene searching the campus. No other information is available. Update: 1 suspect being detained regarding the person with a gun the call at Highland High school in Palmdale. @PalmdaleSheriff @LANLASD @SEBLASD @SCVSHERIFF Deputies on scene searching campus. No other information available. LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 11, 2018 The school's principal has asked for the public to stay away from the campus while police assesses the situation. Law enforcement is working to assess the situation. Please stay clear of campus. Will update as soon as have more information. HHS Principal (@HHSPrincipalCG) May 11, 2018 Police have also searched the campus of nearby Manzanita Elementary School in Palmdale and says the school is clear. They have found no evidence of crime so far. The investigation is ongoing. Update regarding Manzanita Elementary School in Palmdale: Deputies have searched the campus. School is clear. So far, no evidence of crime. Investigation still ongoing LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 11, 2018 Digital Desk A long-time rough sleeper in England has dismissed protesters planning to line the British royal wedding route in sleeping bags as "anarchists" intent on causing trouble. William "Bill" Watson, who has lived in the borough for four months, said planned homeless solidarity events were an excuse for people to "cause a riot". The 50-year-old, originally from Harlington, west London, told the Press Association: "That type of person isn't for me. "If I was here and it kicked off then I would be on the side of the Old Bill. They're coming to the event for the wrong reasons, to cause a riot. They're a bunch of anarchists. "They're coming for one reason - to give the Old Bill the hump." Mr Watson said Windsor was "about the best place I have been" since becoming homeless as a teenager in 1984 following the death of his grandfather. Okay, so it turns out I am slow off the mark. There is already a Facebook event set up for May 18th and it has its own hashtag #royalsleepoverhttps://t.co/6T75YFCVzv pic.twitter.com/sfp8lx4stg (@imajsaclaimant) January 6, 2018 Protesters say they plan to camp out with rough sleepers in solidarity as part of the #RoyalSleepOver event, with hundreds indicating they will attend similar events on Facebook. It comes in response to now-scrapped plans to clear them from Windsor's streets, with fines of up to 100 for "aggressive begging". The row broke out in January after council leader Simon Dudley said the homeless would paint Windsor in a "sadly unfavourable light" when the world's eyes were fixed upon the town. But Mr Watson says he will be leaving voluntarily, adding he had tried to pitch for odd-jobs unsuccessfully. He went on: "I'll probably leave when they start taking the bins away. I'll stay near a church or a graveyard somewhere for the duration of the wedding. "Police have been coming around speaking to us, getting to know who the people of Windsor are. "I said 'sort me out with a sponge and some hot water in a car park or give the homeless a cart with rubbish bags'. "That way we could make a couple of quid working. But you just get the usual response." Having been homeless for 34 years, Mr Watson added: "Windsor is about the best place I have been, such a nice area with rural places to sleep. "For the first time in a long time I feel you can chill out and mind your own business." 'High standards of personal integrity' The bank did not report the scam to police or regulators. Mr Vrettakos was instead sacked and offered a confidential settlement deal that required him to pay back up to $2 million of the stolen funds. George, as you are aware our profession is founded on very high standards of personal integrity and conduct which requires absolute honesty, the CBAs regional general manager wrote in Mr Vrettakos termination letter. The bank considers your actions to be a serious breach of the banks lending policies and statement of professional practice ... You should comply with the law in all your activities. Even when Mr Vrettakos later failed to repay $300,000 he owed the bank under the agreement, the bank did not report him to police. The bank only made a police report this week after The Age raised questions about the case. It said it would "continue to assist authorities where we can". A CBA spokesman said this week that the bank now accepts that more could have been done to report Mr Vrettakos. If a similar matter emerged today our approach is to notify police and authorities. Asked if they had investigated his allegations about colleagues, the bank said: "allegations particularly where they are made by people involved in doing the wrong thing need to be supported by evidence". The Commonwealth Bank's approach allowed Mr Vrettakos to continue his career in the finance industry, joining the Bank of Queensland in about 2012. A Bank of Queensland spokeswoman said all new staff were subjected to police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission screening searches, but that the BOQ was not aware of any issues relating to Mr Vrettakos at the time of his employment. The Age understands Mr Vrettakos left the Bank of Queensland when the bank eventually learned about his history. In the years after his departure from the Commonwealth bank, Mr Vrettakos also ran a consultancy business that promised massive profits for short-term investments. Illustration: Matt Golding It is unknown whether any of these returns materialised, though Mr Vrettakos wrote several high-value cheques to investors and associates one for $4.4 million which bounced, according to documents obtained by The Age. Hiring a bankrupt Mr Vrettakos started at the Commonwealth Bank as a mobile lender in late 2007. But CBAs screening practices failed to discover that 12 months earlier, he was still serving out a bankruptcy, a fact that would normally exclude someone from working in the financial services industry. Then within months of joining CBA, Mr Vrettakos, by his own admission, began misappropriating bank funds. It took the CBA two years before they detected the fraud, by which time Mr Vrettakos had created three fictitious line-of-credit accounts worth $3.5 million linked to fake customer profiles and secured by properties belonging to innocent parties. During three interviews with bank security officers in early 2010, Mr Vrettakos made full admissions about his conduct and implicated several colleagues, including his manager. I did it. I did it because I was stupid, I did it because I wanted to get rid of my debts and I wanted to buy a house. And then in my stupidity I thought I was going to put it all back and no one would ever know. But the extra money, that wasnt just me, Mr Vrettakos said. Recordings of the interviews and a sworn statement from Mr Vrettakos obtained by The Age also refer to a culture where flouting regulations, cutting corners and rorting company funds had become routine practice. Loading I can go back and tell you how the loans were done and it wasnt just by me how wed play around with the stats, he said. Mr Vrettakos, who declined to comment for this story, stressed in the interviews how his behaviour had changed after he became engaged. But Mr Vrettakos also described how easy it was to circumvent CBA compliance policies by manipulating poorly trained staff. During the investigation, the bank recovered several caches of customer files from Mr Vrettakos home, including land titles and transfer documents from deals that he was attempting to conceal. A Commonwealth Bank spokesman said Mr Vrettakos actions had no financial impact on any customers or third parties. CBA incurred a financial loss as a result of this employees actions, he said. In 2010, the bank obtained freezing orders over Mr Vrettakos assets, which were removed when he agreed to the settlement deal. Mr Vrettakos, who was declared bankrupt for a second time in 2015 over an unpaid legal bill, is currently employed as a general manager at a Melbourne debt collection agency. Arrogance and complacency The CBAs eight-year delay in reporting the former loan officer is expected to infuriate scores of Australians who have faced heavy-handed legal action after falling behind on their mortgages with nations biggest lender. The bank received a battering during the Royal Commission, where CBA has been forced to concede a long-running record for charging customers including the dead fees for services they never received. Counsel assisting the royal commission Rowena Orr Credit:Eddie Jim A recent report by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority also uncovered an entrenched culture of arrogance and complacency at the bank that contributed to repeated probity failings and breaches of its obligations under the Corporations Act. A student is taking legal action against NAB for failing to pay him for 12 months of work he did as part of a university job placement program. Daniel Stuart is claiming $80,833.83 for lost wages and superannuation in a statement of claim he has lodged with the Federal Circuit Court. He is claiming that he worked for the bank for a year in Melbourne as an employee and not as part of an unpaid vocational placement. Daniel Stuart claims he worked for NAB for a year without pay Credit:Darrian Traynor The Fair Work Act exempts employers from paying students for work as part of a vocational training course. Mr Stuart, however, is claiming the bank directly employed him. His claim cites Swinburne University's repeated descriptions of its Industry Based Learning (IBL) program as offering practical experience and a paid work placement. Mr Stuart successfully applied for a position as a junior business analyst at NAB in late 2014 as part of the IBL program. The land developer of the famed Eynesbury Estate is fighting a legal battle with five of its major consultants as it seeks to refinance the project. Francis Kwongs Hyde Property Group has been served with multiple statutory demands for unpaid fees by a cohort of consultants it employed to subdivide and develop Eynesbury, a sprawling land holding in Melbournes west once owned by the Baillieu family. The top-tier consultants are seeking an estimated $500,000. A portion of the vast Eynesbury estate once owned by the Baillieu family. They include survey and subdivision experts Taylors Development Strategists, master planning outfit Roberts Day, urban designers Tract Consultants, engineers SMEC Australia and project managers Robert Luxmoore. Endota was founded in 2000 by school friends Melanie Gleeson and Belinda Fraser. Business boomed after the pair started franchising Endota in 2004, and the chain grew to 102 spas across Australia with a turnover of more than $60 million. Fraser sold her 50 per cent share in 2015 to a group of private investors led by Brodie Arnhold, a former Melbourne Racing Club chief executive and Shaver Shop and iSelect board member. Gleeson remains chief executive of the business. Endota has closed spas in Airlie Beach, Turramurra and Warrnambool, and spas in Port Macquarie, Blackwood, St Kilda, Kiama, Canberra, Glen Waverley, Brighton, Albury and Lorne have changed ownership and, in some instances, location. A spokesperson for Endota says its network is continuing to grow with 23 new spas opening in the past two years. Endota founders Belinda Fraser (left) and Melanie Gleeson before Fraser left the business. Flawed model It was this growth story that Forde bought into when she opened her Endota spa in Torquay in 2010. Forde spent $350,000 fitting out her spa, but when the shopping centre her spa was located in was redeveloped, Forde began to struggle. "My store was in a construction zone for 12 months," Forde says . She wrote to Endota asking for help but it wasn't forthcoming and instead Forde says Endota targeted her for the appearance of her spa, requiring Forde to repaint, recarpet and install new signage amongst other things. Gift vouchers are a source of contention between Endota and franchisees. After failing to remedy these breaches, Forde says her franchises were terminated and she was locked out of both premises with Endota taking possession of all fixtures, stock and equipment. Forde says there are systemic problems with Endota's franchising structure. "The Endota model is flawed and it is extremely hard, if not impossible for the majority of franchisees to operate profitably," she says in her submission to the inquiry. Forde says numerous Endota franchisees have been forced to shut their doors over the past two years and have just handed the keys to Endota, unable to sell their franchise because they are not profitable, but also unable to continue to operate to redeem losses because they cannot afford to. Gift vouchers are an important income stream for Endota, with its website setting out the average split of income for franchisees being 48 per cent from treatments, 36 per cent from gift vouchers and 16 per cent from product sales. But Forde says franchisees' income from gift vouchers is minimal as Endota has increased its own gift voucher sales both online and through supermarket gift cards. In the 2017 financial year Forde says she saw company presentations that described how Endota sold $27 million of gift vouchers, an 800 per cent increase in franchisor gift voucher sales over a three-year period. Endota disputes these figures, but did not provide an alternative. "These sales negatively affected the franchisees own in-spa sales of gift vouchers," says Forde. Forde says franchisees have to redeem the vouchers sold by Endota at 70 per cent, leaving them unable to return a profit and, if redeemed on a weekend, even to cover costs. Fran Forde says the Endota franchise model is flawed. Credit:Jason South Endota also sells product online, which Forde says franchisees are unable to do as they are not allowed to have their own websites or social media accounts. Forde says Endota didn't follow the process it should have in terminating her franchise. "The Franchise Code of Conduct means jack sh-t," she told Fairfax Media. "I never got offered mediation I just got a text saying 'I will be down at the spa if you want to catch up'. I got told to go back there and work for free to rectify my debt." Promised the earth Two other former Endota franchisees, one who wishes to remain anonymous, say they were forced to close their spas in the last year after struggling financially. Former Endota franchisee Rob Mannix shut down his Endota spa in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley last year. Mannix says he was forced to close the spa by his landlord, Vicinity Centres, but received limited assistance from Endota. "I was basically bullied out," Mannix says. "Endota had a lot of spas in Vicinity Centres and didn't want to damage its relationship. Endota could just grab the franchise back and sell it at a later day. We had to just walk away and take the hit." Mannix says he lost in excess of $430,000. "I was extremely disappointed with their lack of support," he says. "We were with Endota for 12 years and we watched it evolve from a great little company to basically a corporate giant that doesn't care for franchisees." A spokesperson for Vicinity says it does not comment on individual retailers. "We aim to work closely with each of our retailers to help drive their business success," the spokesperson says. The anonymous Endota franchisee says she closed her franchise after two years, $60,000 in debt. "I had to work in the business seven days a week just to make ends meet," she says. "They promised the earth but once again did not deliver. I was nearly going bankrupt from all the added expenses that they put on you. It's very stressful, I have a young family, financially, it has put us in a very bad situation for the next couple of years." Protecting franchisees Endota's co-founder, Fraser, has made a submission to the Senate inquiry calling for changes to the franchise industry "to protect franchisees from franchisors that are not acting with the franchisees profitability at the core of their function". She declined to comment further to Fairfax Media. Co-founder Melanie Gleeson retains 50 per cent ownership of Endota. Endota denies that there is a lack of support for its franchisees and the remaining founder, Gleeson, is upbeat about Endota's future. I love what our team, our franchise partners and therapists have created and that we are able to treat and nurture thousands of clients across Australia," she says. Franchisors Alongside submissions from franchisees, the Senate inquiry has also received many submissions from franchisors, including franchising giants such as Bakers Delight and the Retail Food Group which owns franchises including the Gloria Jean's and Brumby's Bakeries chains. Loading The peak body representing franchisors, the Franchise Council of Australia, warns against "heavy handed and unnecessary regulation" of the franchising sector. "More regulation will not stop the incidences of poor standards and behaviour, but better compliance will," the council says in its submission. Disclosure documents Many of the franchisor's submissions to the inquiry are critical of the disclosure documents provided to prospective franchisees. Bakers Delight's disclosure document is 409 pages and Craveable's document is 374 pages. Baker's Delight says "adding further content would be counter-productive... some simply don't read the document at all". Bakers Delight's submission calls on the inquiry to resist the temptation to "implement change for the sake of change". "We are very confident that the current Code of Conduct is strong enough to protect both parties entering into a franchise agreement," Bakers Delight says in its submission. Retail Food Group's submission also says further regulation is unnecessary for the sector. "[Retail Food Group is concerned that it will be at a competitive disadvantage against non-franchised businesses if compliance costs and regulatory restrictions are significantly increased." Rebates Former Red Rooster franchisee, Steve Beadle, told Fairfax Media rebates are a concern for many franchisees. "The main issue is Red Rooster was originally an inhouse business where the company owned all the stores," says Beadle. "They have sold the stores off to franchisees, but haven't adjusted the model to takeaway internal kick backs. That percentage that goes to the supply chain is sending franchisees to the wall." But Craveable defends the rebates it charges in its submission to the senate inquiry. Loading "These are expressly permitted under our franchise agreements and we disclose the necessary information required in our disclosure documents, including the identity of suppliers," Craveable's submission states. Another Bougainville? Earlier this month Oil Search was hit by claims that its flagship PNG LNG project has led to increased violence in Papua New Guinea and that it was failing to fulfil its social obligations as funds for communities had not been distributed. The report On Shaky Ground: PNG LNG and the Consequences of Development Failure by Jubilee Australia, an arm of The Australia Institute, claims the project has led to significant social issues in PNGs Hela province, and that promised royalties of around 5.7 billion PNG Kina ($2.31 billion) by Oil Search and its joint venture partners Total, ExxonMobil and Santos, for the local community, over the lifetime of the project, have not begun flowing to landowners. "To date, an estimated $300 million in landowner royalties have been accrued, none of which has been paid to the highland owners," the report stated. The reports co-author, an anthropologist for the Australian National University, Michael Main said, "During the seven months I spent living with Huli landowners I witnessed the abject development failure of the PNG LNG project. The landowners of the resource remained in conditions of dire poverty and promised development projects did not exist." The report also warned this was escalating tensions in the region, which it claims have included direct attacks on the PNG LNG's pipelines and camps as well as two female ExxonMobil environmental scientists being taken hostage at the local airport. It warned of the potential for an uprising similar to that in Bougainville, when escalating tensions over a major resources project devolved into a civil war. PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill dismissed claims of growing unrest in the PNG LNG project's region as 'fake news'. Credit:David Moir "With the introduction of the PNG LNG project, and the subsequent increase in landowner frustration, the build-up of arms has accelerated to the point where it is often speculated that the landowners are in possession of more firepower than the entire PNG defence force," the report said, adding "the weapons build-up has reached epidemic proportions". A source familiar with Oil Search and the PNG government said if a civil war was to break out in PNG it would occur in a resources-rich region. PNG Prime Minister Peter ONeill rejected the Jubilee reports findings, despite stating he had not read it, calling it fake news during an Australian-PNG business forum earlier this month. Clarity on royalties Oil Search chairman Rick Lee acknowledged there had been social issues but said this was due to poor transparency by the government rather than a lack of funds from the PNG LNG project. "Discontent within our communities has increased over the past few years due to growing frustrations about what is happening to government revenues from our industry, which have increased significantly since the PNG LNG project commenced production," Mr Lee said. Both Mr Lee and Oil Search chief executive Peter Botten called for more transparency in the handling of royalties. Oil Search CEO Peter Botten says the company has invested heavily in social programs for local PNG communities. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer "Publishing a detailed breakdown of what payments have been made, and to whom, provides essential information to governments and citizens alike and is a means to combat corruption. Payments transparency also helps mitigate the risk of community unrest," they said. "PNG has received multiple benefits streams this total to $US4.3 billion contributed to the government and local businesses," Mr Lee said, "of this, more than $US1.1 billion has been spent with landowner companies." "We continue to support and campaign for improved transparency around how these payments are received and spent" A source familiar with Oil Search and the PNG government said, "this is what happens when you start playing cute with the PNG government". "When you start making opaque deals with the government then there is no end to that process, and now Oil Search is starting to get to the pointy end of that." He said this is similar to previous resources agreements in the country, where the government held onto resources royalties in order to properly disseminate them, carrying out land mapping to make sure they went to the correct local landowners. "However, the PNG government didn't do that, so the funds stayed sitting in the bank." The Lowy Institute's Pacific Program director, Jonathan Pryke, said it would have been more straightforward for PNG LNG to have identified and paid communities themselves. Ruth Allen nearly drowned in her first glass dress. She went swimming in a lake and the weight of its 30 glass plates acted like an anchor. "Luckily there was a dinghy nearby and I could haul myself out," she recalls in her North Coburg studio. Ruth Allen in her Goddess of Effervescence dress. Credit:EDDY KHAYAT Her new dress design, with its teetering high hat, requires a little more poise, but has better prospects as a flotation device. Rather than discs it's made from blown glass baubles. As an added precaution, the holes that attach the glass to the bodice are stoppered. This may come in handy, should she fall off a gondola. "You never know what can happen when people are dancing on a gondola," she says. "It's like a carnival." Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Australia FranchescaCubillo said the exhibition The national picture: the art of Tasmania's Black War was "very important for us to have". The exhibition, three years in the making, brings together for the first time a large group of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and objects from public and private collections including the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston, the British Museum and the State Library of New South Wales. Co-curators of the exhibition, Professor Greg Lehman from the University of Tasmania and Dr Tim Bonyhady from the ANU, with National Gallery of Australia senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Franchesca Cubillo. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong It focuses on the period in the 1830s and 1840s when 90 per cent of the Tasmanian Indigenous population was killed by the British colonists and the surviving 47 were exiled to Flinders Island but is also relevant to what was happening on the mainland where other frontier wars were taking place. There are also contemporary works by Indigenous artists commenting on the period. Cubillo said, "The exhibition is talking about a part of Australian history that very few people are aware of. The story is being told through wonderful, complex and problematic imagery from the period." MEG KENEALLY Meg Keneally started her working life as a junior public affairs officer at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, before moving into journalism and corporate affairs. With her father, Tom, she is the author of the Monsarrat historical crime novels, which are published by Vintage. Meg Keneally. THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES Arthur Conan Doyle This was a 12th birthday gift from my father, who wrote on the title page: "To Meg, who has made and will make great fantasies of her own". It was, really, an invitation to become both a reader and a writer, although at the time what struck me was the economy and elegance of the plotting, and Conan Doyle's ability to build a character with just a few brief strokes (although I wouldn't have expressed it like that at age 12). THE HANDMAID'S TALE Margaret Atwood When I read The Handmaid's Tale, I had just done Nineteen Eighty-Four for the HSC. While I'd loved it and was in a dystopian frame of mind, Atwood hit closer to home. I'd had a reasonably sheltered childhood so the concept of women's bodies being used in this way, and their individuality being discarded, was seismic. Atwood wrote with such authority that the book had all the immediacy of a news report. BRAVE NEW WORLD Aldous Huxley I think this book is hugely relevant now. What has always stayed with me is Soma, and the concept of a population being given just enough of what they want to make them compliant. It challenged me to constantly ask myself what my own Soma was, and to shake myself out of the afternoon nap of false contentment if I felt it was making me miss something important. PERFUME Patrick Susskind You know what we Australians are like: we don't think something is really good until somebody from overseas tells us so. In that spirit I report that Alex Johnson, author of Book Towns: Forty Five Paradises of the Printed Word, has named the Victorian gold-rush town of Clunes as one of the top four or five book towns in the world that people should visit. I'm not sure what a sophisticated international travelling bookworm would have made of Clunes last weekend, but I think he or she would have had fun. For a tiny place, the annual Clunes Booktown Festival packs a lot in. Crime writer Emma Viskic has been awarded three Davitts and a Ned Kelly. Credit:Jason South There were bookshops all over and stalls up the main street selling every kind of book, from collectors' items to bargain titles such as Cats In Sweaters, Equine Emergency Bible and Losing It In France (losing weight, that is). A growing trend is self-published writers setting up booths to sell their wares, much as country market people sell their homemade jam or soaps. You could go to author talks and panels with themes such as teen reading, country crime, nature, refugees, local history, memoir and queer experiences, or just sit in the sun with a coffee and a pie taking in the bands, the straw bale maze, the roving poet, the juggling waiter and the strolling crowds. I go for the Waiters Restaurant a hidden place I've known and loved as the Italian Waiters Club, its name when it started in 1947, and during the 30 years I've been grazing and guzzling there. It is one of the finest eateries in a gastronomically graced city, an unpretentious, buzzing bastion of bloody great food, run by the Sabbadini family for generations. Denis is the current custodian, having taken over decades ago from his parents, Carlo and Fernanda. His children Nicole, Jess, Luke and Matt help tend the place superbly. She has recently returned from Sydney with her husband, former diplomat Alan Brown, Australia's Ambassador to France between 1993 and 1996, to live in Melbourne. Given her unfamiliarity with the evolving metropolis, she's asked me to select the venue for our lunch. The controversial former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission recalls that it was the former ALP prime minister who instigated mandatory detention of asylum seekers, a policy that has caused so much unnecessary suffering, has wasted billions of dollars of taxpayers' money, contravenes international law and has brought shame to a nation that claims to be based on the notion of fairness. Gillian Triggs: ''Politicians are supremely arrogant.'' Credit:Eddie Jim Triggs immediately adored the joint, and we were eventually and gently chucked out although, in our defence, we did get started late. We lost track of time, talking and savouring the fare, culinary and viticultural. The elegant and poised 72-year-old legal eminence whose CV includes Dean of the Sydney Law School, 20 years as a professor at Melbourne Law School, professional ballet (in her childhood) and beauty pageant winner (Miss University 1966) ended her five-year stint at the pinnacle of our human rights watchdog last year, much to the relief of her detractors. There is curious irony in the disdain with which she is viewed by some politicians and some participants in public policy debate. (The terms "right" and "left" are still commonly used, but have all but lost meaning and are merely imprecise banners under which ideological warriors impotently rally; yes, there are valid arguments to be had at the margins, but it has long been evident, both sides of mainstream politics share far, far more than they dispute. And the notion of a left/right divide ignores a crucial axis that from authority to anarchy.) She is seen as from the "left". She says, though: "If you had asked my colleagues when I took the job on, they would have said 'she's a fairly conservative, black-letter lawyer'." The "right" professes to believe in liberty, but seems to embrace a free market for everything but ideas; should one disagree, one is considered, at best, misguided, but well-meaning. (Meanwhile, the "left" seems to think it has a monopoly on morality; it absolutely does not.) It seems incongruous that the same people who vilify Triggs for not being sufficiently strong in her support of free speech are quick to demand an authoritarian censorship of, for example, media commentators who swear on air. Triggs is long-time champion of fundamental human freedoms, rights and responsibilities. She is a long-time advocate for individual liberty, yet is condemned by her enemies for seeking to protect liberty through common law, and, failing that, through a bill of rights, like those of Victoria and the ACT (similar legislation is under consideration elsewhere in the nation). She is critical of the High Court for not sufficiently protecting individuals' liberty against overeaching governments. "The court, every time these cases come up to them with one or two wonderful exceptions has squibbed it They have not held the government to account," she says. "They are there to uphold the common law and they're not doing it." What Florence cannot know is that the town's queen bee, Violet Gamart (Patricia Clarkson), harbours her own plan to turn this ancient building into an arts centre and will use all her connections, including a supercilious nephew carving out a career as a young Conservative MP, to bring it to fruition. The grand Gamart also has the power to take the top end of town with her; one exception is Edmund Brundish (Bill Nighy), a reclusive widower who may order his parcels of books in plain brown paper to be brought by a delivery boy, but clearly likes Florence's spirit. Director Isabel Coixet on the set of The Bookshop. When it comes to it, however, books versus arts hardly seems like much of a conflict. Shouldn't these people be on the same side? "I think that's what's so wonderful, actually," says Mortimer. "That's why I think Penelope Fitzgerald is so brilliant: that the paradox or irony is that these people kind of want the same thing. It's just that one person is a bully and she has decided she doesn't want the other person to get her way." It is also a reminder, she adds, that our similarities are much greater than our differences. That may be true as a general rule; it is even more likely to be true of fiction readers and lovers of chamber music, but that is not what the fight is about. The most cogent criticisms of the film have pointed to Coixet's failure to plumb the social and political differences that existed in 1959, that still exist and that cut very deeply into British life. "Fitzgerald's story ruefully pits conservative, heritage-fixated nostalgia against liberal progressiveness," wrote Variety's UK critic, "but that subtext runs hot and cold on screen." That battle is represented, however, by Lolita. Vladimir Nabokov's scintillating novel about a paedophile, written in confessional mode, was published in France by the largely pornographic Olympia Press in 1955 and was a banned import until 1958. When the ban was lifted, partly because of support from such unimpeachable literary sources as Graham Greene, Lolita became an immediate best-seller. Conservative critics were enraged; the Sunday Express editor described it as "the filthiest book I've ever read". Paula Arundell says the script is "very rhythmical". Credit:Brett Boardman Photography "They were looking for something around the [theme of] 'scars women carry'. So I thought OK, the three of them who I've worked with before could be a mum and two daughters. Scars, violence all right, f--k it, they've killed a guy and they've gotta get away with it," Cerini says. "That was it." Two hours later he'd written 16 pages. Angus Cerini's The Bleeding Tree premiered at Sydney's Griffin Theatre in 2015. Credit:Eddie Jim This doesn't surprise after meeting Cerini once described as "one of Australia's most furious voices" in person; ideas, anecdotes and quick jokes tumble out him. The 43-year-old, who has also worked as an actor, is drawn to giving voice to the marginalised, "dealing with difficult subjects, but always trying to find the saving grace". Angus Cerini's The Bleeding Tree opens at the Arts Centre on May 15. Credit:Eddie Jim There was Resplendence in which he played a damaged young man; double-hander Wretch, in which he played a young man in prison and Dee played his mum (and which won the Patrick White playwrights' award and was nominated for several Green Room awards) and Save For Crying, based on real characters seen on the city streets (and won multiple Green Room awards), to name a few recent works. "Usually my work is presenting flawed characters caught in moral questions, which by implication leads an audience to question their own beliefs or assumptions," Cerini says. In The Bleeding Tree, the women grapple with the enormity of their deed, the ramifications and a swag of different emotions especially when the locals begin knocking at their door. Even though it transpires as is often the case neighbours and friends knew of the man's violence. "One of my favourite bits in the play is when the mum has a go at a bloke who's telling her how bad it is that she's killed him," Cerini says. "And she's [effectively] saying, 'well where were you? You knew what he was doing. Who the f--k were you? You all knew and nobody did anything'." While it's a three-hander (alongside Arundell, Brenna Harding and Sophie Ross play the daughters), the women also play all the other characters between them, on a minimal, raked stage. Naturalism, says Cerini, is "OK for TV and film, but not on stage". "The stage is very sculptural, very abstract there's no couch and a table and a lamp; it's not literal," he says. "Because the play is not literal as such I think of it more as a fable or a poem." His script, too, possesses a musicality, says Arundell. "It's very rhythmical. I'd compare it to jazz; there's a musicality to it and it's also quite poetical," she says, "in the way that Shakespeare does, it plays upon you." Dance and movement also inform the theatre Cerini (who studied ballet for a decade) makes; he likes to think of the "noises coming out of actors' mouths as making shapes" in a similar way. "The shapes the actor has to create to say them, the shapes those words make as they hit the air, as they meet other words, the way the words and shapes all come together," he says. "It's a ... dance of actors/mouths/sounds/shapes/contortions ... and so we might in a way be experiencing the dance of those words, as expressed by those bodies in space, rather than characters in a story." This dance of acts as something of a foil to the difficult subjects bubbling away underneath. "We are in a way protected by these words. It's obviously not real life. Because the words are too weird for that. Because the words are sort of dancing. And not just words characters are saying," Cerini says. "It's definitely not naturalism. It's too abstract for that. But it's also not like dance where we don't know what the bodies are saying. Because it makes too much sense for that." She has dramas every day: she's at the Logies and Kylie Minogue tries to kick her out; the lover and the wife are in the store at the same time; she's driving her son to school and he tells her it's dress-up day, so she finds a safety vest in the back of the van and tells him he's Emmet from The Lego Movie. We talk every day, mainly her calling to say, "You're not going to believe what's happened." There's so much that goes on in her life weddings, events, high-profile people she can't talk about, plus she's doing breakfast, lunch and dinner for her two kids. BILL: Sometimes you meet people, have an instant connection and they become your new best friend. That's Fleur for me. I was setting up an event in Melbourne in 2013 and I needed a florist. Everyone recommended Fleur. At first she was quiet and shy, then something went wrong and she went off her rocker, swearing like a trooper, a real potty mouth. I thought, "I love her." She's the hardest working, funniest person I know. No one has such an extreme life. If I had her day, I'd have a breakdown but she has incredible tenacity, an unbelievable work ethic. When she's talking, she doesn't breathe. Sometimes I have to press mute on the phone. I still hear her but I can keep talking, I might have dinner, watch TV, talk to my partner, she'll still be going, she doesn't need me to say, "Yep, yep, I hear you." I told her that two years in. She doesn't even care. She's fiery and we're different in that sense. She walked into my Melbourne store one day and didn't like the way a staff member had set it up. She went off: "This is shit!" I can watch the store cameras on my phone. All I could see was her hands going everywhere. I was thinking, "My god, what is going on?" I'm trying to ring her. I see my staff member ready to cry, then storming off. I told her, "If something's not right, you have to explain why, not just go off." She has 20 years of experience and her attention to detail, her eye, it's phenomenal. She has educated me in what real perfection is. She once did an event for a very high-profile chef. She walked in and goes, "This is shit." Something about the napkins, the cutlery it was wrong. She knows what she's talking about, she has that authority and she just doesn't care. If she met the Queen, she'd speak to her like that, too. There's never a problem she can't fix. I was freaking out about how to get some fixtures out of my store. She walked in, pushed them, they came apart, she got the trolley, put the pieces on it and wheeled them to the rubbish bin. She's a solution person whereas I get into freak mode. I try to think, "What would Fleur do?" She gets shit done and she has the most amazing sense of humour about it all. I love her. FLEUR: He rang me looking for someone to do flowers and I thought it was a prank call. I loved The Cool Hunter website and I asked whoever it was to send me an email. He did and it was him and I thought, "Oh shit, how embarrassing." I did the job and the first day I was quiet but the next day I had an altercation with someone and some really bad words came out, I dropped the C-bomb. He must have thought, "Who is this person?" but we started speaking on the phone every night. There have been maybe two days in six years that we haven't spoken. There's a scene in the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri where Oscar-winner Frances McDormand plunges a drill into a dentist's hand. It came back to me during a recent visit by my family of four to our very good and conscientious dentist. Handing over $1000 for his efforts cleaning, checking and oh, a one-minute filling reminded me of that McDormand moment, except the pain was in my back pocket. No wonder tooth decay is on the rise; visiting the dentist is so bloody expensive. Chompers is a podcast for kids that could change your daily routine. My pain was exacerbated by the fact the filling was not for an adult but for our nine-year-old daughter. "Worst Mother of the Year" may as well have been branded into my privileged forehead (my husband, on the other hand, experienced no such guilt). The cavity was in a baby tooth and the filling required no anaesthetic, which in a way was a shame a needle might have been the encouragement needed to take better care of her teeth. Some hours later, as luck would have it, I read about a podcast that promised to help children brush their teeth for longer, called Chompers. I was sceptical but decided to try it out. The podcast has twice-daily episodes, each four minutes long, which instruct kids how to brush, mixed with fun and interesting trivia about everything from transport and animals to geography. My six-year-old loves it! And OMG, as she likes to say, she now brushes for four whole minutes, every morning and night, when listening to it. According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development - one of the most rigorous and lengthy examinations of human beings - good relationships are the key to health and happiness. They even make our brains sharper. So women shouldn't be shamed for celebrating their marriages. And having relationships doesn't diminish our contributions to our professions or communities; indeed, the study suggests it enhances them. Markle certainly isn't the first woman to be condemned by others, including feminist leaders, for their personal choices. Hillary Clinton recently changed her Twitter bio after the feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie criticised her for starting it with the word "wife". Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry hasn't happened yet, but that hasn't stopped people from judging the bride-to-be for her wedding-day choices. Australian feminist Germaine Greer is already criticising Markle's religious ceremony and predicting that her marriage will end in divorce. The betrothed have even come under fire for their wedding cake. The whole point of feminism was to give women the freedom to make their own decisions. We now seem mostly to agree that women shouldn't be told how to lead their lives by men. Why should being told what to do by other women be different? Loading That's because different choices make sense for different women. At my wedding, my husband and I walked down the aisle together, which I thought symbolised the decision we'd freely made to enter into marriage. I didn't think it was appropriate for my father to give me away because I didn't think he'd owned me in the first place. On the other hand, Markle has chosen to be walked down the aisle by her father. Maybe for Markle - who was raised by her mother - the act will symbolise replacing a man she didn't get to choose with one she did. Whatever the reason, she doesn't owe me any explanation. Markle should make decisions that will make her - not Greer or anyone else who isn't involved - happy on her wedding day. Of course, Greer suggested that Markle's Church of England ceremony reflected the wishes of the royal family rather than those of the bride, who was raised Catholic. That's certainly possible. But compromising on some things to have a good relationship with her future family doesn't mean Markle is not a feminist. Another problem with much of the judgment coming Markle's way is the retrograde focus on her appearance. This is especially anti-feminist because men are rarely assessed based on their physical features or sartorial choices. In her bestselling book The Female Eunuch, Greer asked: "What more could women want? Freedom, that's what. Freedom from being the thing looked at rather than the person looking back." Greer might have reread her words before disparaging Markle's "cow turd hat". Public discussion of Markle would be more appropriate if it focused on what she does - for example, her work with World Vision Canada to raise awareness of the importance of clean drinking water around the world. Melba resident Jess Kirsopp was in a pram, barely two, when she waved her tiny hands at Princess Diana, and a few months later Queen Elizabeth, in our bicentennial year. The excitement of being metres away from two very famous royals in 1988 - despite being just a toddler - sparked a passion for Britains Royal Family that could easily earn her the title of Canberras number one Royals fan. British Royal Family die-hards Jess Kirsopp (left) and mum Janine Vickers with Jess's extensive collection of memorabilia. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong Jesss engagement ring is a lookalike of Kate Middletons ceylon diamond engagement ring. Shes the proud owner of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle souvenir wedding condoms, and she once stood at a side entrance of the Australian War Memorial for three hours in the rain to catch a glimpse of the Queens shoe (she saw much more of Prince Phillip). Add to that a silicone replica of Prince Williams - ahem - crown jewel and a case of 65-year-old soap, a souvenir of Queen Elizabeths 1953 coronation, and its fair to say Jess is the definition of the word fanatical. At the time, tactically, it had all seemed so sensible. Late last year the government was enveloped in chaos. Even the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, had been forced to stand down, plucked from Parliament because he'd failed to ensure that he wasn't a dual citizen. The coalition wasnt popular and there was a good chance it might loose a by-election which could, in turn, force it out of office if any of the independents changed their vote to support Labor. All Bill Shorten had to do was hold on, cross his fingers, and wait. Unfortunately for the opposition, thats when things began to go wrong. Firstly, the government managed to get all its MPs reelected, with Joyce returned by a historic majority (although admittedly before news about his affair with a staffer had spread more widely). Then Malcolm Turnbull managed to stare down an insurgency within his own party after loosing 30 Newspolls in a row. It became obvious that, despite the disaffection emanating from Tony Abbotts camp, the majority of the party could see no alternative to the PM as leader. And finally, now, the critical breach. Senator Katy Gallagher, against Shortens wishes, had decided she needed to act to resolve her own citizenship status. Responsibly and appropriately, she referred herself to the High Court. It was an appropriate course of action, although not one encouraged by the leadership of the party. Gallagher knew those lawyers were interpreting the constitution according to the black letter of the law, rather than attempting to drag that meaning into the 21st century. Back when she was still the ACTs Chief Minister it would have been so easy to quietly renounce her foreign citizenship, however the importance of doing this had never been driven home to anyone. The prospect of a constitutional challenge just didnt seem relevant. The party lawyers did, eventually, tell her to act to ensure she was clean of the taint of being a foreign subject and she did so. Unfortunately, she didnt act fast enough. In a strange irony, the decision of the High Court on Katy Gallagher's eligibility to sit in parliament triggered a series of byelections around the country, but residents of the ACT won't be going back to the polls. Ms Gallagher's time as senator ended with the High Court judgment, but the process of electing a new senator isn't quite so clean cut, and it doesn't involve an extra democracy sausage. So what happens now? David Smith, who will replace Katy Gallagher as a senator for the ACT, must wait until the High Court declares him elected. Credit:Elesa Kurtz Byelections are only used for vacancies created in the House of Representatives, and Ms Gallagher didn't resign from her position in the Senate, meaning a casual vacancy that can be filled by the party itself doesn't exist. The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, must now wait for the Commonwealth to file a summons in front of a single justice requesting a recount of the 2016 election for senators to represent the ACT that excludes Ms Gallagher as she was ineligible. Security staff at a West Australian cemetery have stopped the best friend of Brazilian national Cecilia Haddad from reading a prepared statement for media and camera crews at a memorial service on Friday morning. About 50 mourners gathered at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park in Perth about 9.30am to commemorate the life of Ms Haddad, 38, whose body was found floating in water in Sydney's north two weeks ago. The statement Carolina Camara prepared to read for the media before the memorial service of Cecila Haddad. Credit:David Allan-Petale Media had been told about the memorial service by Ms Haddad's close friend Carolina Camara, who has been speaking to reporters on behalf of friends and family since Ms Haddad's death. "Ill make a short statement to the media. The ceremony will be private; however I would like to share a few words either before or after it." A Queensland police officer who fatally punched his 10-week-old son with such force it pulped his liver has been sentenced to nine years' jail. Colin David Randall was due to go on trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court in April for the murder of his child but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter just three days earlier. Justice Peter Davis delivered a scathing assessment of the 41-year-old in sentencing him on Friday, saying he had breached the duty he had to care for his son in the "most horrible and vile way". AAP A failed Queensland energy company has been fined $4.5 million for polluting a large part of the Darling Downs with hazardous contaminants. Linc Energy was found responsible for damage from a toxic gas leaking from its operations between 2007 and 2013. Linc Energy was found guilty of five counts of wilfully and unlawfully causing environmental harm in the Brisbane District Court earlier this year. The 10-week trial found the company responsible for damage from a toxic gas leaking from its operations between 2007 and 2013. The court heard scientists and workers warned senior managers about gases bubbling from the ground but Linc kept operating. A woman had been homeless for only two nights and was trying to sleep under a Werribee bridge when she was set on and gang raped. Two refugees from Myanmar, Kapling Hlawnceu and Thwang Za Lian, pleaded guilty to her rape on Friday in Melbournes County Court. They will be sentenced at a later date. Neither man has offered a motive to his lawyer, beyond the fact that they were drunk at the time. The woman had been kicked out of her home on August 12 last year after an argument with her partner. Two nights later, on a cold August Monday, she was trying to get to sleep in the undergrowth beneath Werribees Bicentennial Bridge when the men came across her. The Barr government will feel the blowtorch of a federal parliamentary inquiry over the second stage of Canberra's light rail, although the chairman says he is uninterested in the politics of the project. The Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories is set to inquire into and report on the development of stage two of the ACT's light rail, three months after Liberal Senator Zed Seselja said he would push for the project to be referred to a parliamentary committee. Canberra's first light rail vehicle at its depot in Mitchell. A federal parliamentary inquiry has launched an inquiry into the second stage of the project. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong Light rail stage two needs to be approved by both houses of federal parliament because the route crosses Commonwealth land as it travels from Civic to Woden. That presented an opportunity for the joint standing committee to provide an extra layer of scrutiny for the project, one that was not able to be applied for light rail stage one, Senator Seselja told Fairfax Media in February. I have read the numerous letters and think piece articles about the naming of the ACTs new federal electorate. The Parliament may be better advised to move to a numbering system for electorates, such as ACT No.1, No.2, No.3, etc, similar to US congressional districts. The resulting arguments could then be about which script is used. Those concerned about the merits or otherwise of naming things in the ACT could direct their efforts to, for example, the bridges over the lake on Commonwealth and Kings avenues. Rohan Goyne, Evatt Live export shame With the horrific images of dying sheep on TV, how can anyone in the supply chain in the live-export industry live with themselves (Labor pledges to end live sheep exports, May 4, p8)? And how can any politician think it is OK to keep this abhorrent trade going, even pending the outcome of a review? As is usual, a review will give assurances, obfuscate then follow up with silence. It is hard to feel sympathy for anyone involved in this cruel trade who loses income. There are alternatives to exporting live animals; live export is just the most expedient. Anyone involved in this trade, including complicit and silent politicians, should be ashamed. It is abhorrent that the best likely outcome for the animals is for the trade to cease in 10 years. Robyn Vincent, McKellar New parks failings A shortage of toilets is not the only failing of the new Rolland Park adjacent to Commonwealth Bridge (Letters, May 9). Pleasant though the park is, it would have been enhanced if the circular grassed area had been replaced with play fountains, where kids could run happily at random through water jets that spray up to different heights while their parents sit at the perimeter keeping a watchful eye. Neil Renfree, Hawker Inspiring self sacrifice Recent reports of the Australian War Memorial expanding to include new exhibits raise a more general question about its purpose. As I read the War Memorial Act, its main function is to honour those who died on military service. In recent years, there has been a tendency to incorporate current military operations into the memorials displays and activities (including open days, where current service personnel show their wares). I query the use of the memorial for such promotion. We have already become far too militarised in the way our government developed the Border Force and other security agencies. Let us seek more ways, through our national institutions, to show how Australians work for peace in many places. This can inspire the growing generation to aim for self-sacrifice of a different kind. David Purnell, Florey Stand up for our ABC Aunty is not doing well (ABC job cuts a dogfight likened to Hunger Games, May 3, p2). Professional, articulate and well-respected announcers, such as Craig Allen and Adrienne Francis, are being threatened with redundancy. Letters to this newspaper describe some announcers adenoidal quacking and giggling, incessant use of promos, and lack of any idea of history. This is then worsened with the Turnbull governments funding cuts, thanks to the conservatives in their ranks who would like the ABC to mirror commercial radio, like 2GB. When are the Nationals going to stand up for the ABC, the communicator to rural Australia, the historic provider of unbiased news, in-depth analysis of issues and interesting regional updates, plus the all-important emergency radio broadcaster in times of crisis? These services and staff will likely all be degraded or disappear with the budget cuts. Ken Helm, Murrumbateman Dont worry, be happy What a grumpy sourpuss Jill Sutton seems to be (Letters May 10). If retirees want to enjoy themselves by going on cruises, that is precisely what they should do. What they should not do is sit at home deluding themselves that their generation ruined the world and is continuing to do so. Australias youth are generally very well off by any sensible standard. For example, they have free education to year 12, and heavily subsidised tertiary education. The vast majority of people my age left school by year 10, and our class sizes were twice as large as those today. Of those who studied past year 10, only the small minority who won scholarships received free tertiary education. Further, when todays young start working, they have generous childcare subsidies and paid parental leave privileges my generation did not even dream of. Also, the purchasing power of their pay packets will be about twice that of my generations. Refugees? Australia provides better help to refugees than most other countries do. Sutton would rather we thank and repay this country for our remarkably wonderful lives. What does she mean by this country? Certainly not the young generation, who have been greatly helped by my generation but who have themselves hardly started to help other generations (although I am sure they will). Sutton should start enjoying life. Todays young generation would want her to, and they will survive very well without her continued worry. Bob Salmond, Melba Yes, the law is an ass, Gallagher The five latest politicians turfed out (clockwise from top left): Josh Wilson, Katy Gallagher, Rebekha Sharkie, Susan Lamb and Justine Keay. The High Courts decisions are clearly learned, often complex and usually reasonable but the decision concerning Katy Gallagher seems consistent with the view that the law is an ass. If I decide to stand for one of the by-elections coming up, and write to the relevant government today, as the first and last step to revoke my (hypothetical) dual citizenship, and it takes until after the election for that confirmation to come through, I would probably not be able to stand or would need to stand down after that election if I won. And if the country I needed confirmation from was a difficult country, how long would I need to write in advance, or how often before my efforts become reasonable? And why does writing earlier or often and getting no reply mean more than writing once? It seems I would need to renounce my dual citizenship and any advantages it might have for me today just in case I might decide to become a politician in the future. That seems neither reasonable nor fair nor sensible to me. In fact, beyond satisfying the courts demands, it seems stupid. I look forward to the courts full explanation on this matter, as its logic entirely escapes me, just as it apparently did the lawyers whom Gallagher contacted before it was considered by the High Court. Trevor McPherson, Aranda Gallagher, minders to blame Jon Stanhope says David Smith should do the honourable thing and stand aside for Katy Gallagher to allow her to resume her seat in the Senate (Gallagher awaits ruling on fate, May 9, p18). Gallagher and her minders have only themselves to blame. When then senator Kate Lundy resigned on March 24, 2015, Gallagher was parachuted in to fill the casual vacancy. She had ample time to fix any procedural matters concerning Section 44 of the constitution. Smith ran in the No.2 spot on Labors Senate ticket but was not elected. He is now in a prime position to take up the Senate seat. For anyone to suggest he should do the honourable thing and stand aside is a nonsense. This is the kind of cynical behaviour that has started to seep into the Labor Party and if, as Stanhope suggests, Smith stands aside, it could well cost Labor a Senate spot in the ACT at the next federal election. Canberra voters are not stupid and are becoming capable of voting Green, Liberal or independent to remind Labor of this. Warwick Priestley, Amaroo Above the law? So another bunch of pollies thought they didnt need to obey the law. That will cost the electorate big time and the pundits calculate that most of the miscreants are likely to be re-elected (Nationality by-elections bill to top $20million, May 10, p9). These people should be, as those before them should have been, charged, so rendering them ineligible for immediate re-election, and their fraudulently obtained salaries retrieved. What entitlement places these arrogant people above the law? Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor Comment an insult I note that Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack rejects the idea of a referendum because we dont want foreigners in Parliament. As a born Australian, holding dual citizenship because my father came here from Britain in 1926, and having three children who also have dual citizenship because their mother did not have the foresight to be born in Australia, I find his comment an insult. On the other hand, we dont want people of McCormacks ilk in Parliament either. Richard Hartley, Canberra We need leadership I applaud the editorial of May 10 (Time s44 is altered at a referendum). No responsibly administered, clever, innovative, forward-thinking country would allow the election of parliamentarians to be subject to the retrospective, prejudicial, inefficient and hideously expensive time-wasting that has distracted our nation. Respect for our leaders and Parliament slithers along, with another demonstration of their incapacity to foresee and prevent problems of this kind from escalating. The High Courts strict interpretation of constitutional safeguards, designed for a different era, might also cast doubt on parliamentarians who are Jewish, or the spouses, children or grandchildren of Jews. All appear to have rights to live in and be citizens of Israel under Israels Law of Return. We need leadership, not waffle. Don Burns, Mawson This is not democracy Katy Gallagher was elected to the Senate because most ACT voters wanted her to fill the position. She was the first ACT senator elected in the 2016 election. She has lost her position because some British bureaucrats processed her citizenship paperwork too slowly. Funnily enough, the same bureaucrats were able to process the paperwork of John Alexander in record time. It seems passing strange that the implementation of the will of the Australian electorate may depend on the speed with which clerks in another country deal with their in-trays. Because of the High Courts decision, the ACT will now be represented by someone who was neither their first nor second choice. This is not democracy. The constitution must be changed to allow the peoples will to be observed. To allow a situation where Gallagher can legally serve as chief minister of the ACT but not sit in the Australian Senate is a farce. Mike Reddy, Curtin General election, please Instead of allowing five costly by-elections followed by a general election, Malcolm Turnbull could demonstrate initiative and confidence by calling a general election as soon as possible. Susan M. Marshall, Chifley Fund care for the needy The Canberra Times budget analysis on seniors was at best superficial and at worst trite (Older Australians get a boost with boomer friendly measures, May 9, p4; Health focus shifts towards seniors, p10). There are 104,000 aged people waiting for home-care packages. Funding an extra 14,000 packages by 2021-22 will not even address the extra applications over the next three years, let alone the backlog of 104,000. Home care helps keep people out of residential aged care. It is a much cheaper option for aged care and is certainly the preference for most. Before the aged-care reforms implemented by the Liberal government, all people who were assessed as eligible could get home-care packages without waiting. To ration them now is a disgrace. Instead of tax cuts and further massive spending on memorials commemorating dead people, we should fund care for the needy living. Gina Pinkas, Aranda TO THE POINT WHOSE DEMOCRACY? Given the recent significant degree of judicial input into who exercises the federal legislative power of our country, perhaps it should be retitled the Democratic Commonwealth of Australia, in the style of some African republics. M.F.Horton, Adelaide, SA BETTER TO BE FEARED Malcolm Turnbulls mob follow Machiavellis dictum: It is better to be feared than loved. Note their war on the ABC, robo-debt recovery extension and Department of Human Services cuts, all while further emboldening Peter Duttons army of enforcers. Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW WEST BASIN TOILETS J. Bodsworth (Letters, May 9) and others remark on the absence of toilets at the new West Basin park. To be fair, I can see that, notwithstanding the practical benefits, such a solid structure would spoil the play areas clean, minimalist lines. Moreover, the parks intended users will have ready access to toilets when their apartments are completed on the adjacent car park. Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra RICH AND POOR The domestic spy agency should lose its powers to detain people for questioning in an overhaul of laws passed in the wake of the September 11 and Bali bombing terrorist attacks, an inquiry has found. A joint parliamentary committee has urged detention be dropped in favour of new laws letting ASIO apprehend people to attend questioning, if there's a risk they will otherwise alert terror suspects to intelligence operations or destroy evidence. The agency could also find it easier to compel people to answer questions after the committee said ASIO shouldn't need permission from judges. The Law Council of Australia applauded the committee for urging an end to ASIO's detention regime, saying it had recognised the powers failed to strike the right balance between security and upholding the rule of law. ASIO has not detained anyone for questioning in the 14 years since it received the powers, a factor that swayed the committee along with the emergence since 2003 of powers letting police disrupt terrorism. Workers in Canberra's inner suburbs are set to receive a bigger bump in their pay packets from the income tax cuts announced in Tuesday's budget than anywhere else in the country. Modelling by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) has applied the three phases of the seven-year income tax cuts proposed by Treasurer Scott Morrison to average income data around the country, with some ACT suburbs set to reap the benefits more than any other suburb in Australia. In the ACT, workers in Kingston, Braddon and Phillip will experience the most extra money in their pockets in the next financial year, while workers in Hawker, Garran and Hughes will see the smallest increase to their pay packets. Overall, all areas of the ACT are set to have at least $119 more a year to spend than they did in 2017-18. Kingston and Braddon are among the top 10 per cent of suburbs around the country to gain the benefits in 2018-19, with workers in the trendy inner south and inner north areas to have between $178 and $268 more in their pockets. It seems the fate of the Abbott/Turnbull Coalition governments to have an uphill fight selling their budgets. For the first time in a number of years the treasurer has a positive story to tell the electorate, a budget with tax relief for all taxpayers, big infrastructure plans and new spending for key groups like seniors. The initial press response to the budget was almost uniformly positive, giving the governments narrative tax relief, responsible spending and a surplus the chance to develop real momentum. Yet along comes a new bunch of section 44 disqualifications, Labor members no less, to flood the media not even 24 hours after the budget was released. Treasurer Scott Morrison, Senator Jim Molan and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The government's budget has been overshadowed by more s44 citizenship chaos. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen What the Coalition would have given for such a distraction in the week after the 2014 budget However, once the tide of the citizenship drama recedes, the bones of the budget will be laid bare and suddenly the story may not look so positive. A man who police say wounded a bar worker with a machete when he robbed a Sydney pub had allegedly nabbed tens of thousands of dollars in a string of armed hold-ups at inner city hotels. Court documents allege Scott Barrie, 28, amassed more than $60,000 before his seven-month robbery spree ended in his arrest days after the attack at the Golden Barley Hotel in Enmore. Strike Force Smallgood probed eight armed robberies at hotels in Petersham, Glebe, Chippendale, St Peters, Enmore, Camperdown, Kirribilli and Hunters Hill between October and May. Geordie Sinclair, 27, was charged in relation to one armed robbery in a string allegedly committed by Scott Barrie, 28. Mr Barrie was allegedly armed with a black pistol when he tried to break into the Kirribilli Hotel the morning of October 22 before he went on to steal $10,785 from the Kauri Foreshore Hotel at Glebe. Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian king has agreed to grant an immediate pardon to the twice-jailed former opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, clearing the way for his re-entry into politics and eventual ascent to the prime ministership. Newly-elected Mahathir Mohamad, centre, waves next to Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah, right, in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Credit:Bloomberg Newly-minted Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is 92, promised on numerous occasions before Thursday's election that he would step aside and hand over the nation's top political job to Anwar if the opposition won and a pardon was granted, though he has not said when exactly that would happen. Late on Friday afternoon, Anwar's wife, deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah and their daughter, prominent MP Nurul Izzah visited him in a Kuala Lumpur hospital, where he is recovering from surgery. After several hours, and as media from around the world gathered outside, Izzah emerged to speak briefly to the assembled media. Three months ago he decided to run for Parliament. "Ive been part of the opposition as a journalist for a long time, but the situation is so dire now I was determined to enter the political game," he says. "Im a man of the poor people, I didnt grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth I will not be bribed and will not bribe. I will work for the interests of Iraq." He is part of a new class of first-time political candidates intent on upending the countrys gridlocked power blocs, which are enmeshed in sectarian parties. Iraq must be freed of the dark cave we are in now because of the thieves in power Iraq has been stolen from us and we will bring it back from inside through stringent reforms, Zaidi says. Soldiers wait to cast their ballots in early voting for Iraq's security forces, prisoners and hospital patients ahead of Saturday's national parliamentary elections. Credit:AP Zaidi is a member of the largest opposition coalition, which is mostly composed of communists and secularists called Sairoun ("On the March", like the movement that prouced France's Emmanuel Macron). More importantly, though, it boasts political support from the charismatic, 44-year-old Shiite cleric and powerbroker Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr has been a mainstay of the Iraqi political landscape and recently has taken a reformist bent. But after Saddam Husseins swift removal in 2003, he commanded the fearsome Mahdi Army militias, who were locked in gruesome territorial battles with US forces and Sunni extremists. Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in 2003. Credit:AP Sadr has positioned himself as an opposition figure but he really isnt. I think he will throw his weight behind the next government eventually, said Fanar Haddad, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore who has written extensively about sectarianism in Iraq. What we are going to see in the coming elections is a jockeying for position and all the major power players will have a seat at the table. Haddad is optimistic about the first elections to take place after the Islamic States almost complete rout under the generally popular Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whose forces, along with Western air support, managed to retake Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, in July last year. It looks likely that Abadi will secure the largest share of the votes, and be set for a second premiership. He is someone all major stakeholders can do business with internally in Iraq, regionally and internationally. However Haddad warned that endemic problems such as rife corruption and lack of basic services have frustrated Iraqis. Regular violence also remains just last week Islamic State killed 21 Iraqis north of Baghdad. At the opening of a newly built stadium last weekend, thousands of Iraqis pelted officials with empty bottles and roared, you are all thieves. Zaidi remains philosophical about his chances of winning, but his candidacy has not been without risks. He told Fairfax Media there were threats to his life from militias intent on dissuading him from running. Last week, after a campaign event, a car full of armed men tailgated him to his home. Baydaa al-Najar is a lawyer from Baghdad who comes from the Yazidi ethnic minority. She is facing threats of a different kind. She is one of more than 2500 female candidates vying for a quarter of the Parliaments 329 seats, which are allocated under a quota for women of all political stripes. Loading Iraqi women make up 57 per cent of the population and traditionally have been at the forefront of feminist movements in the Arab world. However, misogynistic smear campaigns targeting women candidates, including Najar, have marked these elections. My posters were defaced and ripped apart from the start of my campaign. Of course, on Facebook I am subjected to disgusting comments from electronic militias almost on a daily basis about being a woman, she told Fairfax Media. Last month, a sex tape circulated online in Iraqi social media forced an economics professor running, who was part of Abadis Victory Alliance, to withdraw from the parliamentary race. Most of those bearing the brunt of this abuse are non-veiled women, which shows how the Iraqi woman in general is denigrated, Najar said. Being the first Yazidi woman hoping to enter Parliament for the hotly-contested seat of Baghdad, Najar feels an emotional burden of representing Yazidi women who bore some of the worst of the Islamic States atrocities thousands were used as sex slaves. The worst crimes that IS committed were against Yazidis, specifically Yazidi women, taking us back to the dark ages," she says. "I want to be an advocate for Yazidi women and to restore some of their rights in a dignified manner. Yazidi refugee Salma Bakir, 9, from Iraq, waits with her family to be permitted by Macedonian police to board a train heading to the Serbian border. Credit:AP Anwaar al-Oweili, a humanities professor in Dhi Qar University near Basra in the south of Iraq, has also faced her fair share of online abuse. She was lampooned mercilessly online last month for posting an innocent enough campaign advertisement in al-Furat, a Sydney-based Iraqi community newspaper with a wide readership. Part of the Iran-backed Fateh Alliance, her ad mentioned that she was the cousin of a major tyre shop owner in Sydney, which prompted a flurry of sexist remarks about her qualifications and the relevance of noting her family links. If you are in the public eye, you are exposed to various opinions from the critical to the laudatory, but that does not matter to me, Oweili told Fairfax Media. It actually makes me proud to have my cousin support me politically. Oweili has documented on her Facebook page instances of her campaign posters being defaced, burnt and shredded, but she has not let the crude jokes or vandalism make her withdraw. I was driven to run by the miserable condition the Iraqi people are living in, and the disastrous political experiments we have experienced. These elections are the hardest in my view because Iraqis have lived through a prolonged period of political turbulence and are depressed, she said. Latest News Two in three SMEs are seeking new funding methods to cope with pandemic CEO reminds SMEs that retained profits and personal credit cards arent sustainable funding Pepper and Aussie unite to make play for mortgage brokers to shift over to SME Linkup between lending and mortgage giants shows why brokers should be diversifying their business Experts are concerned there could be fewer home buyers in Western Australia (WA) after the state government increased its Foreign Buyers Surcharge. Overseas investors wanting to buy a property in WA will now be hit with a 7% surcharge, thanks to a new state budget measure. The state government released its budget on Thursday (10 May), announcing an increase in the amount foreign investors would have to pay. The 2017-18 budget included a 4% Foreign Buyers Surcharge, after an election commitment from the McGowan Labor Government. That surcharge has been increased to 7% this year to help the states finances and to match other states that levy a surcharge. From 1 January 2019 the surcharge will apply on the dutiable value of residential property purchased by foreigners, including corporations and trusts, in WA. This will be in addition to the normal transfer duty payable on the property. The surcharge is restricted to residential property, with commercial transactions and significant residential developments remaining exempt. The 7% rate brings WA in line with New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, all of which currently levy their surcharges at seven or eight percent. Queensland has also announced an increase in its rate to 7% from July 1 2018. The increase brings the total estimated revenue from the surcharge to $123million over the period of 2018-19 to 2021-22. The government will introduce legislation into the state parliament in the near future. WA treasurer Ben Wyatt said: "Increasing the Foreign Buyers Surcharge to seven per cent will bring Western Australia in line with other States, and provide this Government with additional revenue to help the State's financial position. "Importantly, this decision increases a surcharge that will only apply to foreign investors. Western Australian households and businesses will not pay the surcharge. "It is fair for foreign owners of residential property, who benefit from our services and infrastructure, to make a contribution to Budget repair." The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) has voiced its disappointment at the decision. CEO Allison Hailes said, The government is underestimating the impact that the increase to the Foreign Buyers Surcharge could have on the property market recovery in WA. The fact of the matter is, the WA property market is in a completely different situation to those on the east coast and we dont have anywhere near the level of foreign investment that those states do. Particularly when you look at the viability of some big apartment projects around Perth, this could be devastating. Related stories: Reverse mortgage plans a positive step Regulators are being 'funded for action' Budget reaction: 'Lack of attention' to housing Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC An off-duty police officer who allegedly pistol whipped a man after a rear-end collision on New Years Day faces up to seven years in prison after prosecutors slapped him with assault and other charges at a Wednesday arraignment. This defendants alleged aggressive driving and outrageous behavior resulted in a frightening attack on a fellow motorist, said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. There is no place for road rage in Brooklyn and it is especially alarming coming from a trained police officer. Prosecutors allege the officer drove his Jeep Cherokee equipped with illegal lights and sirens near Avenue N and Bedford Avenue, and flashed his high beams at a car in front of him, which he then hit from behind. The defendant then exited his vehicle and hit the other driver in the face with his gun and his handcuffs before driving away, according to the district attorneys office. But the victim hopped back behind the wheel of his car and took off after the cop while his girlfriend called the police, prosecutors allege, and both motorists ran red lights and sped during the chase that ended when the officer fled after the victim crashed into his Jeep. Authorities arrived at the scene of the collision soon after, and the victim received treatment at a nearby hospital for cuts to his mouth, while the defendant never reported the incident to his colleagues at the Police Department, according to the district attorneys office. Authorities arrested the officer on Jan. 2, according to the district attorneys spokesman, who said the defendant is currently out on bail. Police did not originally respond to questions regarding where the officer was assigned, but prosecutors said at the arraignment that he worked in Transit District 32 in Crown Heights, where he is no longer assigned, according to another officer from the sector. The defendant was suspended for 30 days following his arrest, according to the district attorneys office, and a police spokesman said he is currently on modified duty, performing administrative or similar jobs that cops are assigned to when they are accused of wrongdoing. The officer whom prosecutors arraigned on 11 charges that also included criminal possession of a weapon, reckless driving, menacing, and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it is due to return to court on Aug. 8, according to the district attorneys office. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC These locals want to take the law into their own hands. A handful of Brooklynites are vying to become New York States next top prosecutor after Attorney General Eric Schneiderman abruptly resigned in disgrace on May 7, following a disturbing report about four women who accused him of sexual and physical abuse over a period of years. Public Advocate Tish James, a lawyer and former Fort Greene councilwoman succeeded by Democrat Laurie Cumbo when she won her current seat in 2013, is reportedly interested in the gig, along with fellow attorneys-turned-electeds Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (DSheepshead Bay) and Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (DWilliamsburg), who served as an assistant Kings County district attorney prior to being elected to represent the borough up in Albany in 1972. And Brooklyns former top prosecutor Elizabeth Holtzman who ran the office from 1982 to 1989, after which her successors the late Ken Thompson and current District Attorney Eric Gonzalez overturned multiple convictions made under her tenure is also eyeing the state seat, according to reports. Schneidermans number two, Solicitor General Barbara Underwood, was sworn in as acting Attorney General on Tuesday, but Albanys pols could appoint his successor with a majority vote in both the Assembly and Senate. That candidate, however, would still have to win the September primary and November general election to retain the post. One step forward, two steps back...that's the story of Binani Cement's insolvency resolution journey. Earlier this month, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave the green light to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Binani Cement to consider the post-bidding offer made by Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement. But the Dalmia Bharat-Bain Piramal consortium, which was previously declared the highest bidder for the beleaguered cement company, challenged the decision first at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) and then the Supreme Court. Then yesterday, after the apex court rejected Dalmia Bharat's plea to stay the NCLT order, one would think that the insolvency resolution process would finally move ahead. But the CoC meet scheduled for the day was reportedly cancelled by the resolution professional (RP) after receiving a letter from the plaintiff. According to The Financial Express, in the letter Dalmia Bharat claimed that UltraTech had become ineligible to participate in the auction after acting in concert with Binani Industries to exit the insolvency process. "I have received objections from Rajputana Properties (the subsidiary firm of Dalmia Bharat) in relation to eligibility of UltraTech Cement under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, to be a resolution applicant of Binani Cement ("corporate debtor")," RP Vijaykumar Iyer reportedly said in a letter to the members of the CoC on Wednesday evening. "As per the requirements of the code and the principles laid down by various NCLTs, I have taken cognizance of the objections and will review the facts and the law and take such other measures as is necessary to make my determination on the matter". The RP further stated that the meeting scheduled in Mumbai on May 10 "stands cancelled" in view of the objections raised, and in order to make an "independent, careful, fair and reasoned determination". The stage now seems set for another protracted battle. Atul Daga, chief financial officer, UltraTech Cement, told the daily that his company has already approached the RP to hold a CoC meet as early as possible to "close" the insolvency resolution process as Dalmia Bharat's allegations were "baseless". He claimed that Dalmia Bharat was "trying to do a last minute attempt to do something to delay the process, because they are not able to match our bid". Citing a source in Binani Industries, the report added that Binani Cement's parent was also planning to write a letter to the RP, requesting a CoC meeting immediately. To remind you, after the Dalmia Bharat-Bain Piramal consortium was declared the highest bidder for Binani Cement back in February with an offer to pay Rs 6,350 crore, UltraTech Cement had bowled a googly by making a separate out-of-court offer to its parent firm. In March, UltraTech had said in a statement that Binani Industries had approached it for arranging funds to pay-off the lenders. The company's board agreed to issue a 'comfort letter' to provide Rs 7,266 crore in return for 98.43 per cent stake in Binani Cement. "If they can take the company out of insolvency proceedings, we are happy to pay the same amount of money to buy the company and it has to be used to repay the debt. For that purpose they wanted a letter of comfort and we have given them a letter of comfort. I do not think that we have gone against IBC anyway," Daga was quoted saying earlier. Operational creditors have been supporting this UltraTech-backed Binani offer as it covers entire claim. In the ensuing two months, UltraTech has reportedly sweetened its offer further, to close to Rs 8,000 crore currently. Dalmia Bharat may have taken a hit at the different courts recently, but it is not out of the picture. After all, the Kolkata bench of the NCLT which allowed UltraTech's revised bid to be considered, also offered the Dalmia Bharat-controlled Rajputana Properties a chance to better its offer on the table. The silver lining in all this litigation drama is that the Supreme Court has directed the NCLT to hear Dalmia Bharat's plea without adjournment from May 22. So some progress can be expected on the case in the days to come. Is SoftBank, currently Flipkart's biggest stakeholder , planning to do another flip on the recent Walmart-Flipkart deal? Citing sources in the know, The Economic Times said that the Japanese conglomerate is still undecided on whether to sell its 21 per cent stake in India's leading etailer given the tax liability involved if it exits less than a year after investing in Flipkart. On Wednesday, Masayoshi Son, chief executive of SoftBank, held a press conference in Tokyo revealing the Walmart-Flipkart deal, and disclosing that SoftBank's $2.5-billion stake in the company, picked up last August, would be worth $4 billion if it chose to exit. But a big chunk will go to the taxman. While short-term capital gains tax in the hands of foreign investors is 40 per cent, long-term capital gains tax is levied at 20 per cent for shares sold after 24 months of purchase. "However, such applicable long-term capital gains tax rate in India could be reduced by half, if such shares acquired after March 31, 2017, are sold before April 1, 2019," said Nangia & Co Director Chirag Nangia. "The situation is still very fluid. Soft-Bank's fund is registered in Jersey [USA] and they are suffering a huge tax liability because there is no DTAA protection with Jersey," said the source. Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is a tax treaty that India has signed with many countries to help taxpayers avoid paying taxes on the same income, both in the country where it is earned as well as the country of residence. The source added that in order to avoid the short-term taxation issue, SoftBank may hold the Flipkart stake for 6-12 months. Furthermore, SoftBank's Son, who in October 2014 had committed to investing $10 billion in India within a decade, remains bullish on the country. Another source told the daily that "Son is a big believer in India and thinks that the valuation of the company (Flipkart) can go up further", adding that SoftBank has not exited Flipkart. It will take a call on the exit in the next 10 days and discussions regarding the transaction, as well as SoftBank's role in the homegrown ecommerce company going forward, are still on with Walmart. Flipkart was been valued at about $22 billion in the buyout deal announced on Wednesday and Walmart is expecting to close the deal by the year-end. If SoftBank decides to hold on to its stake a little longer, it will surely dent Walmart's announced plans to acquire a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for $16 billion. Nonetheless, the US brick-and-mortar behemoth has still bagged a significant stake of around 55 per cent. Naspers sold its 11.18 per cent stake in Flipkart to Walmart for $2.2 billion. Co-founder Sachin Bansal sold his 5.9 per cent stake for an estimated $1 billion while eBay India made about $1.1 billion from its 6.55 per cent stake. Flipkart's oldest investors, Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management will exit partially - the latter's stake, in fact, will come down to just 5 per cent from 21.99 per cent. The report added that Flipakart's remaining shareholders are cofounder and group CEO Binny Bansal (4-5%), Tencent (6%) and Microsoft (1%), while the remaining stake is held by a few small investors and employees. With PTI inputs Jaypee Group, as part of its Rs 10,000 crore revival plan for "Jaypee promoter makes Rs 10,000 crore offer for Jaypee Infratech; highest bidder had offered Rs 7,350 crore" 'Jaypee Infratech', has decided to offer 2,000 equity shares of the company to anyone who'll buy flats in its townships for free. The latest proposal comes after Jaypee Group promoter Manoj Gaur offered to retain control over Jaypee Infratech last week. Gaur's revival plan includes cash, land parcels, and equity to lenders through instruments, which could cover JIL's outstanding debt of Rs 9,800 crore. This resolution plan is over 25 per cent higher than bid made by Lakshadeep Pvt Ltd under the insolvency proceedings. About 4.5 crore shares are estimated to be offered at nil consideration under the fresh proposal. Apart from paying the penalty to home buyers as per the agreement and new realty law RERA, the group also proposed to bear 50 per cent of stamp duty on behalf of the home buyers on first registration. The company is also determined to deliver all apartments in the next 42 months. On April 15, Lakshadeep had emerged as the front-runner to acquire Jaypee Infratech with a bid of around Rs 7,350 crore. This offer, however, was way lower than what Jaypee Infratech proposed to lenders in March 2017 to pay off debt. Lakshadeep, a joint venture between Sudhir Valia-led Suraksha Asset Reconstruction Company and Mumbai-based Dosti Realty, offered Rs 1,200 crore in cash to the banks, Rs 4,000 crore of land parcel, the rest in form of long-term non-convertible debentures, and a small equity stake to lenders. On March 2017, much before the real estate company was referred to NCLT, Jaypee Infratech had proposed to the joint lenders forum chaired by MDs of IDBI Bank and IIFCL to pay off Rs 8,500 crore of debt including interest after the company figured in the Reserve Bank of India's list of 12 big corporate defaulters, which was referred to the NCLT for insolvency proceedings. The Jaypee Group has already submitted Rs 750 crore in the court registry of the Supreme Court to protect the interest of homebuyers. The Jaypee group started the development of 32,000 flats and plots in Noida township Wish Town, the bulk of which was to be built by Jaypee Infratech but it has only delivered 9,500 apartments so far. Though the company will require around Rs 2,500 crore more to construct these flats after Rs 4,000 crore receivables from customers, it boasts assets worth about Rs 24,000 crore, including land parcels, Yamuna Expressway and a hospital that can be monetised to protect the interest of creditors, home buyers as well as shareholders. With PTI inputs A day after the Board of Directors of the cash-strapped Fortis Healthcare Limited chose a binding bid for fund infusion and preferential share allotment from Hero Enterprise Investment Office (Hero) and the Burman Family Office (Burman), the winning combine is looking to raise their stake after the initial investment which will get them between 15-18 per cent equity right away. It's looking at a long term investment opportunity, and not a mere financial investment. Once the transaction leads to an immediate infusion of Rs 1000 crore into Fortis, the suitors will go for a due diligence, and a possible increase in their equity soon after. "Our offer is to put money directly into the company, and once we do that and once we have some insights into the workings of the company, then we will formulate the next strategy. I am not ruling out any possibility, as we understand the business a bit more, we will be happy to commit more money" Mohit Burman, director Dabur and representative of the Burman family office says. In an exclusive interaction with Business Today, Burman said that they have confidence in the strengths of Fortis. "For the last 18 months people have been doing due diligence. All these companies like TPG, Manipal (the other bidders) had an opportunity to do that. I believe that whatever skeletons are to be uncovered are already in the public domain. Also these hospital assets are working, so we believe that whatever is known is known for everyone", he said. The investors will seek three additional board seats on Fortis. "We will be nominating three non family, independent members. As we get more insights into the business, we will decide whether we should get on board or not", Burman said. The Fortis management is likely to remain intact for some time as the investors would want to work with them for a period of time to understand the hospital business. Burman also points out that the decision to retain SRL Laboratories within the Fortis hold, or to divest them to acquire the assets of Fortis from Singapore registered RHT will be taken after the due diligence. "Everything that we are suggesting or doing now is from looking at it from outside. So we have looked at two possible scenarios where SRL will be sold and the money will go to acquire RHT asset or it will be retained and we will come up with traditional funds to buy the RHT asset. Once we have discussions with the management of SRL, we will take the right decision", he explained. The next move of the investors will be to meet all shareholders, present their case and convince them. There is likely to be some shareholder resistance as the board decision to choose Munjal-Burman combine was not unanimous, but a majority decision which saw five in favour of the deal, and three against. Fortis informed the stock exchanges that the entire exercise involved a process that witnessed deliberation and recommendation by an Independent Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) comprising Deepak Kapoor, Former Chairman of PWC (India) and Lalit Bhasin, Chairman of the Indian Society of Law Firms along with financial advisors i.e. Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the legal advisor. Ravi Venkatesan has resigned as an independent director from Infosys, the first board-level departure since Nandan Nilekani took over the chairmanship of the IT major more than eight months back. He has quit the board with immediate effect to pursue an "exciting new opportunity", the Bengaluru-based company in a statement today. Venkatesan was made co-chairman of the company in April 2017 at a time when co-founder N R Narayana Murthy was gunning for then company management led by Chairman R Seshasayee and CEO Vishal Sikka over corporate governance issues. When Infosys named co-founder and former CEO Nilekani as its new chairman in August last year, Venkatesan stepped down as co-chairman but continued to be an independent director. "I joined the board at a time when Infosys was beginning the complex journey of transitioning from founder-led to professional management. This was also a time of tectonic industry shifts. I am pleased that this mission has been accomplished. Infosys is strong, in good hands, and is gaining momentum," Venkatesan said in the statement. Venkatesan had "served briefly as co-chairman before successfully transitioning this responsibility when Nandan Nilekani became chairman in August 2017", it added. Describing Venkatesan as "a champion for driving social impact", Nilekani said, "I am delighted that he will be pursuing an exciting opportunity in this area". "I thank Ravi for his pivotal contributions to Infosys in a period of important transitions and towards a digital-first future. This passage is one that every entrepreneurial company faces eventually and I thank Ravi for his leadership in ensuring a successful transition," he said. Nilekani also said the board would miss his passion, strategic insights and personal warmth but he would always remain a friend. Venkatesan is also the non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda. India's second largest IT exporter had witnessed a protracted stand-off between its high-profile founders led by Murthy and the previous management over issues of corporate governance and compensation to former executives. Another bone of contention was the acquisition of technology firm Panaya by Infosys under Sikka. Last month, Infosys said it was selling Panaya as well as Skava, another software firm that Sikka had acquired. Earlier this year, an anonymous whistleblower had in a letter to markets regulator Sebi and US Securities and Exchanges Commission purportedly sought the resignation of independent directors, including Venkatesan, over divergent stand on Panaya. The tussle between previous management and Murthy had led to the sudden resignation of Sikka as CEO in August last year. Salil Parekh joined as the new CEO in January this year. In its response to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's second notice to the social media giant, Facebook has said that a lot of corrective measures are being taken to stop data theft. It further said that they have been removing fake accounts and increasing ads transparency. In March, the government in had sent a notice to Facebook asking whether the personal data of Indian voters and users were compromised by the UK-based Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity. A similar notice was sent to Cambridge Analytica following media reports that it had misused data to profile users and influence elections. A spokesperson of Facebook said that the social media giant is grateful to the Indian government for giving it an opportunity to address concerns. "We are committed to protecting people's information and safeguarding the integrity of elections in India," the spokesperson said in an e-mail. "We hope we have helped to answer important questions about the changes we have made to further protect users information as well as elections from abuse and exploitation including removing fake accounts, increasing ads transparency and reducing the spread of false news," the spokesperson further added. The government had served a second set of notices to Cambridge Analytica and Facebook over the data breach issue late last month after finding discrepancies between the previous responses given by the two companies. The companies were asked to reply to the additional set of queries by May 10. While Facebook sent in its response, British data analytics and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica is yet to respond. An IT ministry official said that once both the responses are in and reviewed, a decision would be made. Facebook has been facing intense scrutiny from its users as well as governments across the globe after a data leak scandal hit about 87 million users. Cambridge Analytica has been accused of harvesting personal information of millions of Facebook users illegally to help political campaigns and influence polls in several countries. Earlier this month, however, Cambridge Analytica announced that it is shutting operations in a statement on its website and claimed it has been 'vilified' for activities that are legal and considered a standard component of online advertising. Indian officials familiar with the line of questioning and notices sent in the data leak matter have previously maintained that the shutting down of Cambridge Analytica will not impact its ongoing probe as the liability of the company existed prior to the closure announcement. (With PTI inputs) The Income Tax Department on Friday filed four prosecution complaints against the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his family members - Karti Chidambaram, Nalini Chidambaram, Srinidhi Chidambaram - for allegedly making investments in foreign assets and not disclosing it in their tax returns. The charge-sheets or prosecution complaints have been filed by the I-T department before a special court in Chennai under Section 50 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, tax officials said. Nalini Chidambaram, Karti and Srinidhi have been charged for allegedly not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Cambridge in the UK worth Rs 5.37 crore, property worth Rs 80 lakh in the same country and asset worth Rs 3.28 crore in the US, they said. The charge-sheets claimed that the Chidambarams "did not disclose" these investments to the tax authority as also by the firm co-owned by Karti-- Chess Global Advisory, in violation of the black money law. The law was brought by the Modi government in 2015 as part of its drive against black money and to prosecute those Indians who have secretly stashed illicit wealth abroad. The department had recently issued notices to Karti and his family members in the case which he had challenged before the Madras High Court. Last month, the tax authorities had issued fresh summons to Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, under criminal sections of the Black Money Act seeking details about a UK-based asset, a move challenged by him. Karti was asked to depose before the investigating officer of the case in Chennai under the provision of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act of 2015 that deals with undisclosed assets stashed abroad. The tax department had said that it wanted to seek details about the transactions undertaken by Karti for acquiring an immovable property located in Cambridge. However, Karti refused to join the probe stating that he had already submitted the details of the asset and related transactions undertaken last year to another tax authority and that "parallel proceedings" cannot take place against an individual under the same law. The department had slapped the Black Money Act against Karti last year after it found that assets were created abroad by him, in alleged violation of the law. The new anti-black money law deals with cases of overseas illegal assets, which till recently were probed under the Income Tax Act, 1961. With PTI inputs US retail giant Walmart Inc on Thursday tried to allay fears over its USD 16 billion acquisition of Flipkart, saying the deal is good for India as it will help create millions of jobs and give a fillip to the economy through local sourcing of goods by the company. Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon played down not being able to meet either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or commerce minister Suresh Prabhu after announcing the world's biggest e-commerce deal, saying he has had meetings with officials in the past and would have them in future as well. "We deal with the government at all kinds of levels all the time... we have met before and I am sure will meet again," he said. He does not foresee any trouble in getting regulatory approval from the Competition Commission of India for the Flipkart deal to go through. It is pretty clear that this (deal) is good for customers and would create jobs and help society, he said at a select media roundtable here. Asked specifically if an appointment with Prime Minister was indeed sought, he said Walmart is not new to the country. That (meeting) is not the most important thing. We don't need a photo-op, he said. On the number of jobs that would be created, he said while it is difficult to put a precise estimate to employment, investment in e-commerce space will create, third-party analysis shows that it can generate millions of direct and indirect jobs. There is an opportunity over a period of years to generate another 10 million jobs. I don't want to put a timeline but we have analysis to show that, he said. The jobs would be created not just in the company but with the suppliers who sell their products on the Flipkart platform. Walmart will grow its wholesale cash-and-carry business by adding 50 new stores to its existing 21 in the next four-five years, Walmart India president and CEO Krish Iyer said at the same event. TRADERS UP IN ARMS Traders' body CAIT on Thursday said Walmart's $16 billion acquisition of homegrown retailer Flipkart will affect India's retail sector badly, and demanded that the government should scrutinise the deal. "A regulatory authority should be constituted by the government which should scrutinize the details of the deal from different angles like competition and cyber security, predatory pricing, deep discounting and loss funding," said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal. Meanwhile, a few activists of the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch staged a protest outside a five-star hotel where Walmart's CEO hosted a select media roundtable. The group on Wednesday alleged that Walmart was circumventing rules for a back-door entry into India. The Fortis Healthcare stock was trading lower on BSE after the company's board recommended the binding offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office made on May 1 for the sale of its business. At 13:07 pm, the stock was trading 3.90% lower at 146.50 on BSE. The Fortis Healthcare stock opened with a gain of 2.92% at 156.90 and hit an intra day high of 157 on BSE. The stock closed 2.66% or 4 points lower at 148.40 on BSE. The stock is down 7.52% since the beginning of this year and is trading 27.86% lower on an yearly basis. The stock hit its 52-week high of 211.50 on May 11, 2017. It touched its yearly low of 106.20 on February 6, 2018. In a meeting held on Thursday, the Fortis Board decided by majority to recommend the revised offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office made on May 1 for an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share through preferential allotment, Fortis Healthcare said. The Munjal-Burmans further agreed to invest another Rs 1,000 crore via preferential issue of warrants priced at Rs 176 per share, it added. Of this Rs 250 crore will be upfront, being an amount equivalent to 25 per cent of the consideration of warrants at a price of Rs 176 per share, Fortis Healthcare Ltd said. Fortis Healthcare had received binding offers from four entities - KKR-backed Radiant Life Care, IHH Healthcare, Manipal/TPG consortium, and Munjal and Burman family offices. On May 6, Manipal Health Enterprises had revised its offer for Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) again, raising the value to Rs 8,358 crore. Earlier on April 24, MHEPL and TPB combine had revised their offer for Fortis raising the value to Rs 6,322 crore. The earlier revised offer of April 10 valued Fortis hospital business at Rs 6,061 crore. Salaries of engineers with knowledge of autonomous vehicles are shooting through the roof. In the Silicon Valley, and in India. Lot of that is supply-demand. The domain is at the intersection of many skills - a rare commodity at the moment. There is a reason why IT major Infosys is training 100 of its best engineers in self-driving technologies. Business Today caught up with David Silver, who heads self-driving cars at Udacity, a company that offers online courses focussed on the jobs of tomorrow. Here's what we found: 1. What is Infosys up to: Udacity is currently training 100 engineers at Infy's Mysore campus. The company's courses are typically nine month long but the engineers here are taking an accelerated four-month version. What are they learning? Machine learning that works with camera images, colour spaces and edge detection, sensor fusion or the task of combining data from multiple sensors to build understanding of the surrounding environment, localisation, control or how to move the vehicle, motion planning or charting a trajectory to follow. At the end of the course, the engineers would 'system integrate' or work in teams to write code that can help run a self-driving car in California. The car got to stop at a red light and move when it turns green. Of course, all of this can be done remotely, sitting out of Mysore. 2. Why are IT services companies interested in autonomous vehicles: IT firms have probably sensed increased interest from clients on a number of different applications for autonomous vehicle technologies. The technologies could be applied to many industries such as mining, warehousing, shipping and logistics, agriculture and farming. Autonomous vehicles is as much about safety mechanisms and advanced driver systems that help humans drive as it is about self-driving cars. 3. Demand outstripping supply: Salaries of self-driving car engineers in the Silicon Valley are one of the highest among engineering specialities right now - above $200,000 a year. In India, such engineers can come for $60,000 a year. The supply is constrained since self-driving cars operate at the intersection of mechanical engineering, software engineering, and statistics-mathematics. David Silver says that while there are a lot of people with one of these skills sets, there are only a handful who know all the three. Days after releasing the draft national telecom policy, the government seems to have gone into defensive mode. In the policy draft, a bunch of objectives have been outlined that many experts believe are unrealistic, including attracting $100 billion investment in the digital communications sector by 2022. The $100 billion investments translate into Rs 6.7 lakh crore as per the current exchange rates. Recently, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan clarified the government's stand on the "over-ambitious" targets highlighted in the draft policy. She said that there's a big wave of disruption in the telecom sector - bankruptcy, consolidation, fall in revenues and high stress level - but the policy aims to address long time horizon. "The policy has specifically mentioned that we seek to address the current levels of stress, and there have been a number of strategies that have been outlined to enable the sector to consolidate and stabilize in the short term," she said. "In the last 2-3 years alone, the internet economy has contributed more than $100 billion. The software sector has taken us almost 20 years to get to a turnover of $100 billion. The telecom sector has delivered $100 billion in a much shorter time frame. We have only touched 30 per cent broadband penetration. The 70 per cent growth ahead of us is what makes the government confident that this is the most robust growth market as far as digital communications sector is concerned," she added. Let's review the government's investment estimates in the context of current market conditions. There are possibly three sources of investments - public sector, private sector and foreign direct investment (FDI). Sceptics anticipate bleak chances of FDI investments coming in for two reasons: the telecom sector, where the bulk of the future investments will take place, is now a three-horse race. The only foreign entity that's left in the fray is Vodafone which is in the process of getting merged with Idea Cellular. The future investment plans of Vodafone-Idea combine remains unclear at the moment. Fresh FDI investments from the parent entity of Vodafone cannot be ruled out but experts argue that Vodafone is likely to generate additional resources from the sale of non-core towers business. Since a lot of foreign entities have had a terrible experience in the Indian telecom market, the interest of foreign telcos in India is likely to remain subdued. Private sector investments are going to be the biggest contributor to the overall investment kitty. The stupendous growth in the data usage has created a large market for telco that they have to constantly feeding. According to Ericsson, the mobile data traffic will grow 11 times by 2023 in India, higher than the global average of eight times. To meet the higher data volume demand, the telcos will keep investing in spectrum and infrastructure over the next few years. Some reports suggest that Reliance Jio and Airtel have to invest Rs 74,000 crore this year alone. "Private operators will be the primary drivers of investments in the coming years. From the government's side, the allocations are significant but the project implementation (such as BharatNet) is tardy. How the public sector investments will be used remains a challenge," says Tanu Sharma, Associate Director (Corporates), India Ratings & Research. The government is seeking public comments on the draft by May 25 after which it will be sent to Cabinet for approval. The aggressive plans of the government to grow the telecom sector have opened a fresh debate on the execution aspect of the policy goals. Whether the targets will be met or not - only the time will tell. Duff & Phelps has officially opened its new office on 24 St. Stephens Green in Dublin 2. The office was officially opened by the President of Duff & Phelps, Jacob Silverman and CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan. The new office gives the global advisory firm capacity to add 30 financial services professionals to its Irish team. Duff & Phelps will look to expand in a number of areas including Valuation, Compliance and Regulatory Consulting, Real Estate Advisory Services and Advisory, with recruitment having already commenced. Duff & Phelps' recent acquisition of Kroll, the global leader in complex investigations, security and cyber solutions, will also strengthen the firms disputes and investigations offering in Ireland. The new office space is the latest element of the New York headquartered companys growth in Ireland. Duff & Phelps entered the Irish market in 2014 with the acquisition of the Restructuring and Insolvency Division of RSM Farrell Grant Sparks. The firm further increased its service offering in Ireland with strategic acquisitions of Kinetic Partners and Corporate Finance Ireland. Speaking today, President of Duff & Phelps, Jacob Silverman said, "We are delighted to officially open our new office in the centre of Dublin. Since 2014, Duff & Phelps has been building a presence in Ireland and we are very proud of the work we have done for our Irish and international clients in Dublin. This new marquee office represents a very important investment from Duff & Phelps and highlights our ambition and hopes for the future." He added, "With over 2,500 people working across 70 locations, Duff & Phelps is only as good as the people who make up our company. In Dublin, we have 70 world class professionals supporting our clients in the areas of valuation, corporate finance, disputes and investigations, compliance and regulatory matters, and other governance-related issues. This new office will allow us to increase our staff count and grow new service lines for existing clients in addition to winning new business." Source: www.businessworld.ie The Director General of Ireland's Health Service Executive has resigned in the midst of a controversy over a national cervical cancer screening programme. In a statement issued by the Health Service Executive on Thursday evening, Tony O'Brien said his decision to step down would take effect from the close of business on Friday, May 11. "Mr. O'Brien said that he has made his decision in order to avoid any further impact to the delivery of health and social care services, and in particular the cancer screening services that have become the focus of intense political debate." The Irish government has ordered a statutory investigation into the national cervical screening programme after it emerged that 208 women with cervical cancer whose cases were audited under the programme should have had an earlier intervention. The scandal was brought to light through a high court case taken by a terminally ill woman with cervical cancer who was given an incorrect result. The government said 17 of the patients involved have since died, though it has not yet established the cause of death, and another 1,500 women who developed cervical cancer over the last 10 years did not have their cases reviewed. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Three quarters (77%) of Irish women who return to work are concerned about work/life balance and the same proportion (75%) are anxious about childcare arrangements, while working arrangements are a concern for half (46%). This is according to research commissioned by New Ireland Assurance in conjunction with eumom which surveyed over 1,375 mothers who recently returned to work or currently are on maternity/career leave. The research shows that when it comes to how women feel about returning to work, more than half feel anxious and nervous about returning to work while a significant proportion feel sad having to go back to work (45%). This feeling of sadness is more pronounced among women who already have children (45%) than among expecting mothers (22%). Being a working parent is considered difficult in terms of balancing both career and parenting responsibilities by four in five respondents. The more children women have, the stronger this view becomes - 62% of expecting mothers regard it as difficult compared with 79% of women with 1-2 children and 86% with 3-4 children. According to the research, women who are currently on maternity or career break seem to have a more negative attitude towards returning to work than women who are about to go back or have already gone back to work. Nearly one-fifth (18%) of women on leave are excited to return to work compared to nearly one-third (28%) of women looking to return to work. When considering returning to work, the social aspect of work is important to the majority (55%) followed by the financial incentive (47%). The need for work to balance out their home life is also a desire that one in three (36%) agrees with, especially among mothers who are closer to returning. When asked about what would make the process easier, over 80% of respondents cited flexible working arrangements, followed by an easing in process where theres additional time given to getting back to full capacity. One quarter of respondents also cited additional communication from an employer prior to returning as something that would make it easier for them. Slightly less than two-thirds (60%) said they had some level of support from their employer in advance of going back to work compared to one in four (26%) who had none. Commenting on the research, Head of HR at New Ireland Assurance, Oonagh Kelly said, "After a career break or maternity leave, both men and women should feel supported throughout the process by their employer. The research shows an appetite for employees to be kept in the loop before coming to work; a simple induction meeting to cover company news or a buddy system so the person is paired up with a colleague who has been through a similar experience." She added, "It is up to employers to find out directly from colleagues what their concerns are and how they can be supported more throughout this process. We have partnered with Mum Talks to run a series of special workshops Return to Work with Confidence aimed at women who have recently returned or are returning to work after maternity leave." Source: www.businessworld.ie Spanish pilots' union SEPLA has broken off talks with Ryanair over a union recognition agreement and says it plans to file a lawsuit against the airline over contracts in Spain. Ryanair decided in December to recognise unions for the first time and while it has come to agreements in Britain and Italy, it is still working towards deals with unions in other major centres such as Ireland and Spain. "We regret to inform you that, at today's meeting, the negotiations with Ryanair's management have been broken off as they have not accepted our minimum requirements document, 90% of which corresponded to their proposals," SEPLA said in a newsletter to members. SEPLA, which says it represents around 500 of 800 Ryanair pilots based in Spain, said Ryanair did not want to allow union members three days a month to carry out union duties. It had previously threatened legal action but suspended it to carry out talks with Ryanair. Ryanair declined to comment. In a memo from April 19 and reviewed by Reuters, Ryanair had said the remaining issue was time off duties for the pilots committee but that there appeared to be little between the two sides and so it was hopeful of an early conclusion. Separately, Ryanair's newly-formed transnational pilot group held its first meeting and gave pilots a list of items to negotiate with Ryanair to ensure fair working conditions, such as base transfer protocols. "These are actually very reasonable requests to allow fair working conditions and to solve Ryanair's pilot retention issues," Dirk Polloczek, president of the European Cockpit Association said on Twitter. "We can now hope that this constructive attitude will be matched by Ryanair management in their talks with the national pilot unions." (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie news, latest-news As the temperatures plummet in Canberra and thoughts turn to open fires, cosy throws and curling up on the lounge, this just might be the most perfect job. Ever. "Professional Tea Drinker Wanted,'' reads the ad. That's right. You. Get. Paid. To. Drink. Tea. Canberra tea company Serendibitea is advertising for a professional tea drinker. The successful candidate will "enjoy the finer things in life, have demonstrated experience of mindful relaxation in outdoor settings and an exhaustive appreciation of designer hot beverages''. Canberra couple Adam West (yes, he's heard the Batman references a few times, thanks) and Vinu Gamage started the boutique tea company a year ago. They import the tea and blend it at home in Franklin. And they take the business of tea drinker very seriously. So far, they had received three applications for the professional tea drinker. The successful applicant's discerning palate will be required for a weekend in a bid to tweak their business and provide the finest blends. "And we will be paying them,'' Adam said. Adam, 23, grew up in Canberra and attended St Clare of Assisi Primary School, St Mary MacKillop College and Lake Tuggeranong College. Vinu is originally from Sri Lanka and her knowledge of tea informs the business from an historic as well as modern perspective. The couple sell black, green, fruity, herbal, rooibos and chai teas. They can also stage tea parties on request. The name Serendibitea is a nod to the rare mineral serendibite originally found in Sri Lanka and serendipity. Their main outlet at the moment is the Southside Farmers' Markets at Canberra College every Sunday morning, from 8am to 11.30am. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/959bf627-a47f-4c8b-861a-e7999b0c4bea/r0_252_4256_2657_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, crime Axe murderer Marcus Rappel is under protection after he was bashed at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Rappel who is serving 32 years in prison for killing his partner Tara Costigan with an axe as she held their newborn was attacked in his jail cell last month. It is understood the attack left Rappel with facial bruising, however, he did not require hospitalisation. A Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokeswoman confirmed a detainee had been assaulted in the accommodation unit north about 6pm on April 19. "The incident was not observed by custodial staff but as soon as staff became aware of the incident health staff were informed," the spokeswoman said. "Following assessment the detainee remained at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. The incident was quickly responded to and according to normal procedures. "ACT Corrective Services has implemented measures to protect the detainee as is usual after incidents of this kind." JACS said the matter had been referred to ACT Policing and ACT Corrective Services had worked to assist investigating officers, which included supplying CCTV footage and other evidence related to the incident. ACT Policing confirmed it had launched an investigation into the alleged assault of a 43-year-old man at the AMC. "No charges have been laid at this time, however, the investigation remains ongoing," a police spokeswoman said. JACS said recent security upgrades, such as more CCTV cameras, in response to the Moss review, and a strengthened memorandum of understanding between Corrective Services and ACT Policing had lead to a number of prosecutions for assaults at the jail. "This investment is assisting with the investigation of assaults so that offenders can be held accountable," the spokeswoman said. "It demonstrates that the intent of the Moss Review for pro-investigation and prosecution is being achieved." Rappel is himself currently before the courts accused of being one of a gang of five prisoners who bashed two brothers at the jail last year. Rappel pleaded not guilty to a charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on one brother, and assault causing actual bodily harm on the other. Both brothers required hospital treatment after they were bashed separately in attacks in their AMC cells on August 7. The matter has been committed to the ACT Supreme Court for trial. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f0e4f926-2387-4b60-abac-37263c48ee0c/r0_56_604_397_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Canberra renters facing potential eviction due to unpaid rental debts will be given extra protections from immediate eviction, under new laws proposed by ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay. Under the changes, a new regime for managing rental arrears would be created that would mean landlords could no longer immediately evict tenants if they failed to meet the terms of a repayment deal set by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The current laws mean a tenants' lease is automatically terminated if the tenant fails to pay their owed rent in line with a conditional termination and possession order, determined by the tribunal, even if payment is only a day late. But Mr Ramsay said the new bills would replace that regime with a payment plan system, meaning even if a tenant does not meet the repayment terms, landlords would have to go back to the tribunal to seek a further eviction order before taking any action. He said the new scheme would create an important safeguard for tenants and clarify the laws for both tenants and landlords. If a tenant does not pay their back-rent in time, the landlord would need to apply to the tribunal within 60 days for a termination and possession order. The tribunal would then need to take into account a tenant's potential hardship and make a further decision, which could include changing or confirming the original payment plan, setting it aside, or making an eviction order. The bill will also extend a freeze on the ACT allowing unregulated third party rental "bond guarantee" products until the minister approves a regime suitable to regulate them, amid community concern they could lead to greater debts for low income renters. While the bill implements another of the recommendations of a 2014 review of the Residential Tenancies Act, there remain several recommendations that have languished un-legislated in a 'working group' since June 2016. They include widening occupancy agreements - a more flexible form of agreement with fewer protections for tenants - to caravan park residents, as well as putting greater protections in the model terms of all occupancy agreements, in line with actual tenancy agreements. Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur backed the changes introduced today, particularly on the bond guarantee products, the risks of which she has previously likened to "pay day loans". But Ms Le Couteur said there was much more work to be done, and she urged the government to accelerate its work on both the occupancy agreement issues. She said she still believed the government was committed to such issues, but that given almost four years had elapsed since the review began in 2014, she was unsure where such measures sat among the government's priorities. Mr Ramsay said the government was still working on other recommendations of the review, and was examining recent Victorian reforms to see what could work in the ACT, particularly around what were fair rent increases, model behaviour of landlords and the notice required to end a lease. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f1c2875d-b6e0-4c7d-a046-e0fd96ebc208/r0_117_2000_1247_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, crime ACT police fined more people for illegally using their mobile phones while driving last year than in the previous three years. Officers dished out fines to 1299 people in 2017, the most in any one year in the territory since 2013. Of those, 1057 were hit with a $447 fine and three demerit points for using a handheld mobile phone behind the wheel. The other 242 were penalised $548 and four demerit points after being caught messaging or social networking while driving. Despite the increase in the volume of fines, it's still a far cry from the 2010 peak, when 2407 people were hit in the hip pocket. The number of fines dropped each year after that until 2016, when heavier penalties were introduced for drivers caught messaging or social networking at the wheel. Detective Sergeant Marcus Boorman said illegal phone use stopped drivers having full control of their vehicles and being able to pay attention to the road. Driver distraction is one of the leading causes for serious injury and death on our roads. No message, phone call or social media post is worth that risk, he said. It is illegal in the ACT to use a phone while driving, including when stationary in traffic. Phones can be used for navigational purposes, with police urging motorists to set the destination before driving. They may also be used to make or receive a phone call, provided the phone is secured in a mounting affixed to the vehicle, or if the driver can make or receive the call without having to touch the phone. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/76c90c14-e860-4155-8f2c-8c2d63777967/r0_117_2048_1274_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Canberra researchers think a new stiff knee therapy could turn decades of standard practice on its head. University of Canberra physiotherapists say there is a more effective treatment than the one traditionally used and are starting a study in the hope of changing treatment norms. They have been using four-dimensional imaging technology to gain a better understanding of how the human knee works and develop more effective therapy techniques. Each year, more than 40,000 Australians undergo knee replacement surgery to fix osteoarthritis a condition which causes people pain and limits their range of motion. Physiotherapy student Yi-Ying Zeng, who is conducting the research as part of her honours, said she is using her new-found knowledge of the joint to compare traditional therapy methods with new and potentially more effective techniques. Weve done quite a bit of research into knee kinematics, looking at how the knee works, and the four-dimensional imaging has changed our thinking around the way the knee moves, Ms Zeng explained. For this study, we are comparing the manual therapy technique which has been used for years with a new technique that we have developed using this technology. Using this technique, well try to move the knee in the way its actually supposed to move, to see if it improves the knee-bend movement more than the current therapy does. Ms Zengs interest in knee osteoarthritis extends beyond a clinical capacity. Her grandfather suffered from the condition and endured years of discomfort. She hopes her research will help others avoid a similar fate. Its so debilitating, but we can do something about it as well, she said. It will certainly improve peoples ability to get out of chairs and get up and down stairs and just improve their quality of life. Professor Jennie Scaarvell said some physiotherapists were sceptical about the new method so they were determined to build a strong body of evidence to make their case. "In its simplest form it is simply a push vs pull study," she said. "One of them we think is correct based on the imaging but one of them we've been doing for the last 60 years. "But it's really hard changing practice, it's hard challenging people on what they've been doing for a long time. "Some are tremendously excited and have already started changing their practice, and going 'wow, this makes such a difference'. "Others are quite resistant, saying you're misunderstanding things." For the next stage of the project, Ms Zeng is looking for people suffering knee stiffness to complete questionnaires about their condition and undergo manual therapy. Participants will receive four free physiotherapy sessions over two weeks at either the University of Canberra or at Southside Physiotherapy in Woden. Participants should be over 18 years, have less than 120-degree knee flexion range and have not undergone a knee reconstruction, replacement or ligament rupture on their problem knee. If interested, potential participants can contact Jennie Scarvell via Jennie.Scarvell@canberra.edu.au or call 6201 2796. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/1e2853ca-87d3-4a4c-87e7-69e369278f81/r0_284_5338_3300_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Modified On May 14, 2018 02:44 PM By Saransh The Cullinan brings a lot of firsts to the table for Rolls-Royce. Most importantly, its the first ever four-wheel drive vehicle by the British carmaker Rolls-Royce finally has an SUV in its portfolio. After keeping us waiting for a long, long time, the British marque has finally taken the curtains off the Cullinan. Well, technically, this is not the first time the Cullinan has been showcased: in December 2016, Rolls-Royce showcased a test mule of the Cullinan, giving us some idea about the luxurious SUV. Exterior: Gets suicide doors, shares platform with Phantom VIII The Cullinan shares its aluminium space frame architecture, called The Architecture of Luxury, with the Phantom. Design-wise, the Cullinan is not a big departure from its RR cousins, despite being an SUV. The front fascia comprises of the signature Roll-Royce grille, which sits between the rectangular headlamps. These dont appear as aggressive as those of the Phantom. The front doesnt really give away the fact that the Cullinan is an SUV. It features suicide doors, a Rolls-Royce signature, and a sharp shoulder line running right across the length of the SUV. At the rear, it has a protruding boot which is reminiscent of the D-Back Rolls-Royces of the 1930s. The style of the tail lamps is similar to other RR cars. At 5341mm x 2164mm x 1835mm (LxWxH), the Cullinan is 200mm longer and 166mm wider than its closest rival, the Bentley Bentayga. Its wheelbase is also longer by 303mm, at 3295mm. The Cullinan also offers a larger boot than its rival at 600 litres. Interior: The second row is still the place to be The Cullinan's interior is classic Rolls-Royce as it features wooden inserts on the dashboard, central console and door trims, and the quintessential Rolls-Royce watch on the dash. Theres an all-digital instrument cluster and a touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, which is a first for Rolls-Royce. Despite being an SUV, and a large one at that, the Cullinan is still a five-seater. However, you can opt to replace the rear bench and opt for individual seats in the second row. Since its the first time Rolls-Royce owners will share cabin space with luggage, the Cullinan gets a glass partition that isolates the passenger cabin from the luggage compartment. Apart from making the second row more silent, the glass partition helps in maintaining the temperature of the second-row even when the tailgate is open. Intelligent. The rear seats of the Cullinan belong to the owner. These are placed higher than the front seats in order to provide the rear occupants with a grandstand-like view of its surroundings thanks to the large windows and a panoramic sunroof. To match different lifestyles of its owners, the Cullinan also gets a Viewing Suite wherein two leather seats and a cocktail table can come out from the Cullinans luggage compartment at the touch of a button. Performance The Cullinan is powered by a 6.75-litre V12 petrol engine that makes 571PS of maximum power and 850Nm of peak torque. Since it is an SUV, it gets a four-wheel drive system, a Rolls-Royce first. It also gets electronically controlled shock absorber adjustment system that uses an air compression system to actively push down any wheel it detects losing traction, to ensure every wheel is constantly in contact with the ground. This allows the SUV to tackle any situation, whether it is a rough track, gravel, wet grass, mud, snow or sand, easily. Thanks to the variable ride height, the Cullinan has a water wading capacity of 540mm. To offer top-notch on-road experience, it is also equipped with a redesigned (compared to the Phantom) air suspension system, which continuously varies the electronically controlled shock absorber adjustment system reacting to body and wheel acceleration, steering inputs and camera information. This coupled to four-wheel steering makes the 2.5-tonne SUV nimble and agile to drive, claims the British carmaker. Technology Rolls-Royce claims that the Cullinan is the most advanced luxury SUV in the world. It comes with a host of driver assistance and safety systems such as night vision and vision assist including daytime and night-time wildlife & pedestrian warning, alertness assistant (a 4-camera system with panoramic view, all-round visibility and helicopter view), active cruise control, collision warning, cross-traffic warning, lane departure and lane change warning, 7x3 high-resolution heads-up display and WiFi hotspot. Launch and Price Rolls-Royce has not said anything about the Cullinans pricing but expect it to be priced around Rs 5 crore when it comes to India. At this price ,it will be about Rs 1 crore more expensive than its closest rival, the Bentley Bentayga, which is priced at Rs 3.85 crore (ex-showroom India). As far as India launch in concerned, the Cullinan SUV will be here in 2019. Also Read: Rolls-Royces First EV To Have A Range Of Over 500km! 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. Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for the post of Manager (IT and Industrial Finance) and Deputy General Manager (Treasury and IT). Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government jobs here. Selected candidates can earn up to industry standards. The last date to apply for the government jobs is May 25, 2018. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Recruitment 2018 For Managers Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Manager (IT and Industrial Finance) and Deputy General Manager (Treasury and IT) Organisation Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Educational Qualification CA or any other PG degree in finance or banking for Deputy General Managers (Treasury) and degree in any discipline for the others Maximum Age Limit 50 years for Deputy General Managers (Treasury) and 35 years for the others Skills Required Management skills Salary Scale Industry standards Job Responsibilities Managing the concerned departments Job Location Mumbai Industry Banking Experience Not required Application Start Date May 11, 2018 Application End Date May 25, 2018 Also Read: Bank Of Baroda Recruitment 2018 For Assistant Manager How To Apply For Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank official website. Step 2: Click on the Career tab. Step 3: The details of the recruitment will be displayed on the screen. Read them carefully. Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link for the application form. Step 5: The application form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 6: Upload your photograph and signature. Step 7: Enter the captcha code. Step 8: Click Submit and complete the application process. The Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for the posts of Lecturer in Orthopaedic Surgery and Principal in Goa College of Home Science. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 77000. The last date to apply for the government job is May 25, 2018. UPSC Recruitment 2018 For Various Posts: Apply Before May 17! GPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details Name Of The Posts Lecturer and Principal Organisation Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) Educational Qualification Degree in medicine for Lecturer and master's degree in relevant discipline for Principal Age Limit 45 years for Lecturer and 50 years for Principal Skills Required Teaching skills Salary Scale INR 15600 to INR 77000 Job Responsibilities Teaching and management Job Location Goa Industry Civil services Experience 3 to 15 years Application Start Date May 10, 2018 Application End Date May 25, 2018 Also Read: MPSC Recruitment 2018 For Science Graduates How To Apply For GPSC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for GPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the GPSC official website. Step 2: Click on the link that reads, Apply Online. Step 3: Click on the button that reads, Click here to apply online. Step 4: Against the advertisement name 05 Year 2018, click on the button that reads Click here for more details. Step 5: The instructions to apply will be displayed on the screen. Read them carefully. Step 6: Against the specified post, click on the button that reads, Click to apply. Step 7: Click on the button that reads New Users. Step 8: The registration form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 9: Upload your photo and signature. Step 10: Ener the captcha code. Step 11: Click on the checkbox against I Agree. Step 12: Click Continue and follow the subsequent pages to complete the application process. The Indian Navy has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for the post of Sailor. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 69100. The last date to apply for the government job is May 27, 2018. DRDO Recruitment 2018 For Research Associate: Interview Tips And Job Details Indian Navy Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Post Sailor Organisation Indian Navy Educational Qualification Matriculation from a recognised university Age Limit People born between 01.10.1993 and 30.09.2001 Skills Required Physical fitness and aural aptitude Salary Scale INR 21700 to INR 69100 Job Location India Industry Defence Experience Freshers can apply Application Start Date May 14, 2018 Application End Date May 27, 2018 Also Read: SSC Recruitment 2018: Join Indian Army For Dental Corps, Earn INR 193900 How To Apply For Indian Navy Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for Indian Navy Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the Indian Navy official website. Step 2: On the left-hand side of the homepage, under CREATE AN ACCOUNT, click Register button. Step 3: Follow the preferred option and enter the required details. Step 4: Read the terms and conditions and check against the declaration. Step 5: Once you receive the credentials, you can login. Step 6: Follow the subsequent pages and complete the registration process. Click here to read the detailed official advertisement. The Mizoram Public Service Commission (MPSC) has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for the post of Junior Grade of Mizoram Civil Service. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 45000. The last date to apply for the government job is June 14, 2018. UPSC Recruitment 2018 For Various Posts: Apply Before May 17! MPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Post Junior Grade of Mizoram Civil Service Organisation Mizoram Public Service Commission (MPSC) Educational Qualification Degree in any discipline Age Limit 21 to 32 years Skills Required Knowledge of computer applications and the Mizo language Salary Scale INR 15600 to INR 45000 Job Location Mizoram Industry Civil service Experience Freshers can apply Application Start Date May 9, 2018 Application End Date June 14, 2018 Also Read: MPSC Recruitment 2018 For Science Graduates How To Apply For MPSC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for MPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Request the application form from Mizoram Public Service Commission, New Secretariat Complex, Aizawl and the Offices of Deputy Commissioners Lunglei, Saiha, Champhai, Kolasib, Serchhip, Lawngtlai and Mamit during office hours. Step 2: Pay the application fee of INR 300. Step 3: Enter your details in the application form. Step 4: Send your applications to MPSC and complete the application process. The Union Public Service Commission has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for various posts. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to level 10 pay matrix. The last date to apply for the government job is May 17, 2018. UPSC Recruitment 2018 For Combined Medical Services: Apply By May 25! UPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Marketing Officer, Lecturer, Assistant Director and Assistant Executive Engineer Organisation Union Public Service Commission Number Of Vacancies 71 Salary Scale INR 15600 to level 10 pay matrix Job Responsibilities Varies according to the posts Job Location India Industry Civil services Experience 2 years Application Start Date May 10, 2018 Application End Date May 17, 2018 Post-wise Details For UPSC Recruitment 2018 Post Name Number Of Vacancies Educational Qualification Maximum Age Limit Marketing Officer 28 Master's degree in agriculture or economics 30 years Lecturer (Electronics and Communication Engineering) 24 Graduate or post graduate degree in ECE 35 years Lecturer (Plastic Technology) 7 Engineering in plastic technology 35 years Lecturer (Chemical Engineering) 5 Chemical engineering degree 35 years Assistant Director 3 Degree in animal husbandry from a recognised university 35 years Assistant Executive Engineer 4 Degree in civil engineering from a recognised university 35 years Also Read: SSC Recruitment 2018: Join Indian Army For Dental Corps, Earn INR 193900 How To Apply For UPSC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for UPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the UPSC official website. Step 2: Click on the link that reads ONLINE RECRUITMENT APPLICATION (ORA) FOR VARIOUS RECRUITMENT POSTS. Step 3: Click New Registration. Step 4: The registration form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 5: Enter the captcha code. Step 6: Click Save & Continue and follow the subsequent pages. Step 7: Go back to the main page and click Apply Now against the post that you want to apply for. Step 8: Enter your credentials in the login form and submit it to complete the application process. Click here to read the detailed official advertisement. He says I am working on a theme for this new version. PlayStation is preparing to announce the remake of... CNBM appoints new board members ICR Newsroom By 11 May 2018 Song Zhiping, chairman of the board of China National Building Material Co Ltd (CNBM), as well as Guo Chaomin and Xu Weibing, both directors of the board will step down from the board with effect from 13 June 2018, when the companys annual general meeting takes place. The board of directors has thanked both directors for their service to the company. Resolutions for approval at the AGM have been proposed to approve the electdion of Peng Jianxin as executive director. In addition, Xu Weibing, Shen Yungang and Fan Xiaoyan are proposed as non-executive directors while Li Xinhua and Guo Yanming are candidates for election as supervisors of the company. As a result of the merger between CNBM and China National Materials Co Ltd (Sinoma), eight members of the Sinoma senior management Song Shoushun, Yu Mingqing, Sui Yumin, Su Kui, Yu Kaijun, Xue Zhongmin, Liu Yan and Liu Biao have been appointed as vice presidents of CNBM with effect from 3 May 2018. Published under Cementir suffers 1Q18 weather effects ICR Newsroom By 11 May 2018 Cementir's first-quarter turnover declined by 13.4 per cent to EUR242.3m, while adjusting for the Italian operations disposed of, the reduction was a more modest 1.6 per cent. EBITDA improved by 4.7 per cent to EUR24.1m, while at the trading level there was a swing from a EUR0.95m loss to a EUR6.31m profit. Helped by the interest line turning positive, the pretax result went from a EUR6.18m loss to a profit of EUR7.20m. Net debt at the end of March was EUR387.1m compared with the EUR646.4m a year earlier to give a gearing level of 38.7 per cent compared with 62.7 per cent a year earlier. Shipments of grey and white cement declined by 19.2 per cent to 2.08Mt while ready-mixed concrete deliveries were 4.8 per cent higher at 1.14Mm while despatches of aggregates advanced by 8.6 per cent to 2.18Mt. The Nordic and Benelux were affected by a strong winter and the turnover eased by 5.2 per cent to EUR176.2m. The Belgian-based CCB contributed a turnover 12.7 per cent higher at EUR60.2m and EBITDA four per cent lower at EUR4.8m. In Denmark turnover eased by 5.1 per cent and EBITDA came off by 2.3 per cent to EUR11.9m. Volumes came off by 1.1 per cent in cement and by seven per cent in ready-mixed concrete, with domestic deliveries of grey cement down by some 10 per cent. However, sales of white cement improved by 14 per cent. In Norway and Sweden the turnover declined by 18.9 per cent to EUR39.6m and EBITDA went from a EUR2.6m profit to a very marginal loss. Badly hit by the weather, Norwegian ready-mixed concrete deliveries fell by 23 per cent while in Sweden deliveries were down by 12 per cent in ready-mixed concrete and broadly stable in aggregates. In Turkey turnover showed a strong recovery and was ahead by 33.1 per cent to EUR43.2m, but EBITDA came down by 32.5 per cent to EUR3.2m, with cement and ready-mixed concrete deliveries both being higher. However, higher fuel and electricity costs weighted heavily on the results. Egyptian turnover dropped by 61.6 per cent to EUR4m as the political situation in Sinai made trading extremely difficult and the operation just broke even at the EBITDA level. In Malaysia volumes of white cement and clinker improved by 8.5 per cent on a turnover one per cent ahead at EUR9.2m, with EBITDA falling by 27.6m to EUR1.4m. In China the turnover declined by 4.1 per cent to EUR8.8m while EBITDA jumped by 20.3 per cent to EUR2m. Published under With everything at our fingertips, it is difficult to imagine staple foods suddenly becoming unavailable. But the truth is, many of your favorite ingredients are endangered. So what is causing the shortage? Its mostly the worlds changing climate and overconsumption. Follow along to find out which foods are on the chopping block of extinction and how their endangerment could impact your pocketbook. 1. Eel It costs $1,300 per pound of baby eel. Eel is disappearing and it is largely due to Japans affinity for unagi (eel dishes). Surprisingly, the price per pound for this Japanese delicacy has dropped from its 2013 all-time high of $2,400 per pound. Nevertheless, eel is being overfished and will be unlikely to rebound. To put this into perspective, a pound of eel costs the same as a pound of gold. You choose. Next: Do you love to bake? You may be rethinking certain recipes. 2. Vanilla It costs $278 per pound of vanilla. Vanilla farmers in Madagascar are in the weeds and its because of cyclones. In March 2017, Cyclone Ewano struck Madagascar one of the worlds largest vanilla growers and crops took a major hit. Will Madagascar bounce back? Back in 2004, the country faced massive destruction in the aftermath of Cyclone Galifo. Vanilla prices rose to $226 per pound, but the supply managed to eventually bounce back. Considering cyclones dont continue to wreak havoc on the country, supplies and costs will level out. Next: Could this all-time favorite become a thing of the past? 3. Chocolate Chocolate is a $102.3 billion industry. Obviously chocolate has not gone extinct, but its stability doesnt look promising. The worlds largest cocoa bean growers in Ghana and Cote dIvoire (Africa) are facing climate changes and an infectious fungus that has taken its toll on crops. While beans are grown in other regions of the world Brasil and Ecuador the prices are climbing. The truth is that the supply isnt able to fulfill the demand, which inevitably means higher prices for the consumer. Next: Healthy snacking could change. 4. Chickpeas Price of hummus has increased by one-third. Who doesnt love a little hummus every now and then, or daily? This vegetarian staple has been a popular source of protein in the Middle East for thousands of years, yet recent droughts in India have been causing concern for the stability of the chickpea industry. Hummus prices are rising, and vegans are shaking in their canvas boots. Next: How much will you pay for this pantry essential? 5. Peanuts Peanut prices climbed 30% in 2016. The classic American peanut butter and jelly sandwich has never been considered a luxury, until now. From droughts to major flooding in the southern states of America, the 2016 harvest suffered and prices jumped 30 percent. Even though 2017 growing season produced 3.5 million tons of peanuts, the outlook is only promising if the weather cooperates. And from the way things are going, its a toss-up. Next: Find out what all the buzz is about. 6. Honey One-third of the worlds bees are gone. Legislative chairman of the American Honey Producers Association, Mark Jensen, has explained that Weve lost a lot of bees here in the U.S. Even though bees are crucial to the pollination and production of major U.S. crops, pesticides are killing them. Without honeybees, there is no honey. Hopefully, the revival of beekeepers will bolster honey production on a local level. Next: This plant-based milk isnt a sustainable product. 7. Almonds Nearly all of U.S. almonds are grown in California. Unless youve been living under a rock, you know that California has been dealing with insane weather cycles. From a five-year drought to a slush of flooding, the states agriculture industry has seen better decades. When it comes to almonds, specifically, it takes over a gallon of water to produce one single almond. That means that as water becomes less available, so do almonds. Next: There is a reason this delicious stuff is so expensive. 8. Maple syrup 40 liters of sap equal 1 liter of maple syrup. For decades, the maple syrup industry has experienced a roller coaster of emotions. A lot of resources and energy go into producing the syrup, which is why the sticky stuff seems to cost an arm and a leg (especially the organic variety). According to NPRs coverage, Climate change has led to warmer, drier growing seasons, stunting the growth of sugar maples. Next: Natures butter is becoming more and more expensive. 9. Avocado Production costs have increased by 36 times. Despite rumors of full-on avocado extinction, natures butter isnt technically going anywhere besides the fruit bowls of the wealthy. The truth about avocados is that Californias multi-year drought has caused their costs to significantly climb. In fact, those production costs have increased 36 times from $72 per acre-foot to $2,600 per acre-foot. That translates to very expensive avocados in your local grocery store. Next: Sushi is wreaking havoc on this fish. 10. Bluefin tuna One bluefin tuna sold for over $1.75 million. The world loves sushi, and for good reason its delicious. But with that ravenous love of the Japanese delicacy has come an extreme overfishing of bluefin tuna. As the species currently swims, the World Wildlife Fund, bluefin tuna is sixth most endangered species on earth. Curtailing your tuna consumption may be a good idea, considering at the current rate it may soon become extinct. Next: How much are you willing to pay for that morning cup of joe? 11. Coffee Rainfall has cut Indias coffee harvest by 30%. There is a lot brewing in the way of coffee production, and it isnt good. Climate change has made significant impacts on production, and it will continue. According to NPR, The researchers projected that by 2050, climate change could reduce the amount of ground usable to grow coffee in Latin America by up to 88 percent. Your grandchildren may need to find a new resource for the beloved morning ritual. Next: Lack of fishing regulations has led to major shortages. 12. Whitefish Fish is delectable and facing major shortages, once again, because of overfishing. The lack of regard from commercial fisheries has left oceans lacking in the white fish department. Whitefish encompasses pollock, haddock, hoki, hake, cod, redfish, roughies, whiting, and Chilean sea bass. Your fish and chips addiction may need to take a hike. Next: Smoothies no more? 13. Bananas In the 1950s, Fusarium Wilt (aka Panama disease) infected nearly all of the bananas grown in Central and South America. Wildly enough, the disease has spread to new continents. While farmers started growing a different variety of Panama disease-resistant bananas, a new disease known as Fusarium fungus popped up in the late 1900s, killing off bananas in Southeast Asia and Australia. Will production be able to meet the demand? Only time will tell. Next: This next food group endangerment may break your heart. 14. Wine Not all is lost for wine lovers, but its important to know that the regions in which you choose your favorite wines may inevitably change. Rising temperatures due to the climate change have proven to be a game changer, as famed growing regions of France and California have been faced with difficult conditions. That being said, new regions will inevitably come to the forefront, such as the United Kingdom and the American Midwest. Next: This Louisiana hot sauce may be facing the end of an era. 15. Tabasco sauce The McIlhenny Company is famously known for producing its signature Tabasco sauce for nearly 150 years. These Tabasco peppers are exclusively grown in Avery Island, Louisiana. The kicker is, the marshlands of the state are being actively taken over as water levels increase. The company has become environmental activists as they work to maintain the water levels, but unless something majorly shifts with climate change, Tabasco sauce will be a thing of the past. To most Americans, North Korea sounds like a terrifying place. People who live there often dont have enough food. Women endure terrible treatment under Kim Jong Uns government. Plus, citizens have to follow numerous rules and laws or else go to prison. That brings us to one of the most terrifying aspects of the regime: the prison camps where North Korea holds both its citizens and any American hostages, like the three Americans whom it recently released. Below, learn the terrifying truth of whats like to be an American hostage in North Korea. 1. The conditions are just as bad as those in Nazi concentration camps The International Bar Association War Crimes Committee interviewed former North Korean prisoners and guards to learn about the conditions in the regimes prisons. One of the authors of the report survived Auschwitz. And he concluded that the conditions in the [North] Korean prison camps are as terrible, or even worse, than those I saw and experienced in my youth in these Nazi camps. The report found enough evidence to charge the Kim regime with 10 of the 11 internationally recognized war crimes including murder, enslavement, torture, and sexual violence because of its use of prison camps. Next: North Korea will take someone hostage for a variety of reasons. 2. North Korea takes Americans hostage for a variety of crimes CNN reports that an American visiting North Korea can be taken hostage for a variety of reasons most of which we wouldnt usually consider a crime. The latest travel warning from the US State Department lists acts that have been treated as crimes in North Korea, whether or not they were done knowingly. They include taking unauthorized photographs, shopping at stores not designated for foreigners, and carrying out religious activities, the network explains. Next: The government seizes a hostage at one of these locations. 3. The government typically seizes a hostage at the airport If North Korea wants to take you hostage, it will typically take you into custody at one of several different locations, according to CNN. The regime often seizes visitors to take hostage at the Pyongyang airport, as they prepare to board their flights to leave North Korea. Then, the government accuses the hostage of committing a crime during their stay in the country. Other times, the government will take someone hostage at the border with China. In those cases, it typically accuses the hostage of entering North Korea illegally. Next: The regime keeps a hostage here until a trial. 4. A hostage will typically stay in a hotel until their trial CNN reports that the regime typically interrogates a hostage in the conference room of a hotel. Interrogations can go on for hours, days, or even longer. But typically, a hostage will stay at the hotel at least until theyre charged. International detainees often have access to local newspapers and television during that time. What they dont get is access to a fair trial. The government often forces a hostage to make a confession. And as CNN reports, By the time a trial is scheduled, guilt is often admitted, which makes the only unknown the sentence that will be handed out. A hostage who gets a sentence of hard labor will then go to one of North Koreas prison camps. Next: Photographs have revealed this about North Koreas prison camps. 5. Prison camps have high walls and barbed wire fences The Washington Post reports that satellite photography has given us a lot of insight into the camps where North Korea holds its hostages and prisoners. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea characterizes the regimes camps as places with gated high walls and barbed wire fences, guard towers, dormitories, and workshops or mines. There, the government holds people whom the regime fears could challenge its rule or ideology. People can get life sentence to labor in the political prison camps. In a separate chain of punishment camps, prisoners usually serve fixed terms for regular crimes. But prisoners endure equally inhumane conditions at either type of camp. Next: Prisoners have to do this for days on end. 6. Each prisoner has to do hard labor, often in mines The Washington Post reports that when someone American hostage or North Korean citizen goes to one of the regimes prison camps, they have to endure hard labor. Experts estimate that Kim Jong Uns regime is holding between 130,000 and 200,000 North Koreans in four large camps. (In satellite images of the nation, the camps remain clearly visible.) In these camps, guards force prisoner to do hard labor, often coal mining or cement making. The regime forces them to work for up to 20 hours a day. According to Business Insider, the UN estimates that as many as 400,000 people have died in these camps. Next: A prisoner or hostage endures this. 7. Prisoners and hostages endure brutal conditions As the Post reports, prisoners hostages or otherwise typically receive little in the way of food, clothing, or even heating. But the human rights abuses dont end there. Starving prisoners go scavenging for food. But if guards catch them, the starving prisoners get executed. Many prisoners have died of malnutrition and overwork. The IBA War Crimes Committee also heard about rapes and forced abortions. These sometimes lead to womens deaths. The government also subjects prisoners to torture. As Vox explains, these arent isolated incidents. Atrocities like mass rape and indiscriminate killings are the point of North Koreas prison camps. Next: Prisoners die because of this. 8. Guards often beat prisoners to death Fox News reports that a U.S. State Department fact sheet revealed more about the conditions that a prisoner or hostage would endure at a North Korean prison camp. The regime reportedly encourages guards to beat prisoners to death and to induce starvation. The State Department reports that prisoners look like walking skeletons, dwarfs and cripples in rags. And guards dont just dole out beatings to prisoners. One defector said that the secret police arrive at midnight to take women to be raped. Next: Guards also execute prisoners for this reason. 9. The regime executes anybody who tries to escape the camp Business Insider reports that, according to a report by the UN, few people have ever escaped prison camps in North Korea. Thats because anyone who tries, plans, or has knowledge of an escape is executed, and all prisoners are required to watch. A set of unconfirmed illustrations reportedly made by a North Korean defector says that the only way to end the agony is through death. If escapees do make it past the guards and the electrified fences, they still have to cross the border to China. Next: This has to happen for North Korea to release an American hostage. 10. It takes a lot to get North Korea to release an American hostage North Korea typically takes an American hostage to use as a bargaining chip. So as CNN explains, it is often some grand gesture that precedes a release. In the past, former presidents including Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have visited North Korea to get the regime to release a hostage. Alternately, other U.S. officials have negotiated a release. In the most recent instance, North Korea likely released three Americans it had held hostage as a precondition of a face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Read more: This 1 Deadly Bacteria Found in a North Korean Will Have You Fearing Kim Jong Un Even More Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! May 2018 is looking like just another chaotic month in the White House so far. Although Donald Trump has had some issues with hiring and retaining lawyers, he now has a new one in the White House to defend him in the Russia probe. Click through to find out everything you need to know about the presidents new lawyer now. 1. Trumps new lawyer Emmet Flood, 61, has joined Donald Trumps in-house legal team, according to Fox News. Emmet Flood will be joining the White House Staff to represent the President and the administration against the Russia witch hunt. Ty Cobb, a friend of the President, who has done a terrific job, will be retiring at the end of the month, said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. For several weeks Ty Cobb has been discussing his retirement and last week he let Chief of Staff Kelly know he would retire at the end of this month. Next: The backstory 2. Floods history According to Fox News, Emmet Flood clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, then joined the Washington firm Williams & Connolly in 1994. Flood earned his J.D. at Yale School, but not before he graduated from the University of Dallas and got his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. Next: Floods claim to fame 3. Floods most famous case Flood previously turned down the chance to work for Donald Trump, according to Fox News. Theres no telling what enticed him to take the job this time. Flood gained fame when he defended former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999 Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment. Next: Floods experience 4. Flood also had other important jobs According to Fox News, Flood worked in the White House Counsels office for two years under former President George W. Bush. His role there included handling myriad congressional investigations and inquiries, and he also represented Bush after his term was over; Flood defended him regarding executive privilege-related issues pertaining to the Obama administration and the House Judiciary Committee. In addition, the attorney represented former Vice President Dick Cheney when former CIA operative Valerie Plame sued him. Next: Floods other clients 5. Flood has an A-list of clients Flood served as counselor to former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell when was under a federal investigation for gifts he and his family received in office, according to Fox News. And according to The Washington Post, Flood also was Cameron International Corporations attorney in 2010. The company, which provides flow equipment services to various oil and gas industries, was responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Next: Trump pursued Flood. 6. Flood was on Trumps wish list According to Fox News, the Trump administration actively pursued Emmet Flood to defend the president during Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into his campaign and the possibility that Russia had something to do with him winning the 2016 election. Flood met in early 2018 with Trump in the Oval Office and the two discussed a role in which Flood would assist Trump with the Justice Department. Next: Trump denied pursuing Flood. 7. Trump never admitted a shakeup was coming Although Emmet Flood met with Trump in March 2018 and was rumored to be joining the White House legal staff, Trump denied any shakeup was coming, according to the news website heavy. When the Times reported on the March meeting, Trump fired back with this tweet: The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job andhave shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access. Next: Washington on Flood 8. Washington approves of Flood A source told The Washington Post that the Trump administration hired Flood because the Russia investigation has reached a pivotal time and the White House team getting ready for a showdown with Mueller. You had the discovery phase, and now youre entering the litigation phase. Who do you want on your side if Mueller decides to subpoena the president? You want to have your wartime consigliere. Emmet is a quintessential wartime consigliere, said the source. Alan Dershowitz, the retired Harvard law professor who has defended the president on cable TV, told Politico that the White House adding Flood to its team shows that it is preparing for battle, and added that the move might mean that Trumps legal team will increase its posturing. Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also approves of Flood in the White House. Emmet Flood is top notch. He might feel out of place, tweeted Bharara. Read more: 9 Reasons Why President Trump Is Having Trouble Retaining Lawyers Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! 1 dead, 1 injured in Pueblo East Side shooting An Oct. 7 shooting near East Fourth Street in Pueblo has left one man dead and another injured. Clergy in the Anglican Church of New Zealand will be able to offer blessings to couples in same-sex marriage after the Synod of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia voted to approve the chance. Motion 29 says marriage is a union between one man and one woman, but it also allows for individual bishops to offer a non-formulary service to bless same sex couples. Previously, there was disciplinary action for clergy who offered those types of blessings. A similar motion was considered at the 2014 Synod meeting, and then in 2016, the Synod said any changes on blessings would not be doctrinal changes. According to the Anglican Communion News Service, the changes will not apply to the Diocese of Polynesia. Christians in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga do not recognize same-sex unions. In a statement, the Synod said it was "deeply mindful of the deep interweaving of cultural and religious values at the core of our Pacific societies that place a profound respect, and reverence for the belief in God and the belief in the traditional understanding of marriage." The Scottish Episcopal Church and in the United States, the Episcopal Church already offers blessings to same-sex couples. Both, however, have changed their definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Meanwhile, the Church of England has not made any changes. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Communion in England, has said marriage is between one man and one woman. He has said that he apologizes for any hurt and pain that the Anglican Church has caused the LBGT community. "It's a constant source of deep sadness that people are persecuted for their sexuality. I want to take this opportunity personally to say how sorry I am for the hurt and pain, in the past and present, that the Church has caused and the love that we at times completely failed to show, and still do, in many parts of the world including in this country," Welby said at the time. Photo courtesy: Thinkstock/dolgachov Publication date: May 11, 2018 President Trump announced yesterday that he will meet North Koreas Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. His statement came after three Americans were released from more than a year in captivity and returned to the US. The three were greeted early Thursday morning by President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Pence, and his wife, Karen Pence. What do we know about the men? How is their story relevant to us today? What we know about the men Kim Hak Song was apparently arrested as he was preparing to leave North Korea on May 6, 2017. He had been working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) for several weeks. The Korean Central News Agency reported his arrest for hostile acts but offered no further details. Tony Kim was also a teacher at PUST. The universitys chancellor stated that Kim was involved in extracurricular activities such as volunteering at an orphanage. PUST is North Koreas first private university. It is operated mostly by evangelical Christian schools and chiefly employs Christian staff. However, PUST representatives have said that the arrests of Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song were not connected in any way with the universitys work. Kim Dong Chul was arrested in October 2015 on charges of espionage and other undisclosed crimes. He delivered a public confession and apology in which he said he had been spying on behalf of South Korean conservative elements. The three men were taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for further evaluation and rest. One mans experience in North Korea Masaji Ishikawa is the author of A River in Darkness: One Mans Escape from North Korea. His story has been called the standard work on the hell of North Korea. I read it with great sadness but with resolve to pray harder for those suffering so horrifically in the country he escaped. Ishikawas father was from North Korea, while his mother was Japanese. Their family was living in Japan, but his father wanted to return to his homeland, believing they would find a better life there. The country called itself a paradise on earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Upon arriving in North Korea, they were assigned to a group of five families, with a leader who reported everything about them to the secret police. His fathers income was nowhere near enough to support a family of six, so they faced constant deprivation and even starvation. Ishikawa notes: The most important thing was how faithful you were to the Great Leader [Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader]. Teachers and every other adult I knew tried to brainwash us into becoming slavish members of their pseudo-religious cult. Why didnt the people revolt? Ishikawa explains: North Koreans didnt have anything to compare their country with because theyd never experienced everything else. Even when Kim Il-sung did something particularly brutal or horrific, no one raised an eyebrow. . . . Without any other information at their disposal, young North Koreans simply fell for the propaganda. What was life like for him? Health care was supposed to be free, but the people had to bribe doctors with alcohol or cigarettes to receive attention. His mother foraged in the forest to find grass and herbs she could feed her family. Starvation was epidemic: Starving people wandered around hopelessly, while others simply lay in the street. Soon there were corpses too, lying out in the open, unclaimed and left to rot. Women. Old people. Kids. He even heard stories of cannibalism. Ishikawa risked his life to flee. After a harrowing journey, he finally made his way back to Japan. Here is his reflection on his years in North Korea: Now I have just one thing left. My only true possession. Im sorry to say that its bitterness. Bitterness at the cruelty of life. My prayer list for North Korea For sixteen years, North Korea has been ranked the most oppressive place in the world for Christians. And yet, an estimated 36 percent of the populationaround nine million peopleare believers. Up to seventy thousand of them are in concentration camps; more than 75 percent do not survive. Defectors have spoken of Christians being crushed by steamrollers, used to test biological weapons, or hung on a cross over a fire. Christians must keep their faith secret even from other family members since the government rewards those who betray believers. But their numbers are growing, and their faith is strong. As one expert says, They know only God is powerful enough to break through the darkness of the most oppressive regime on earth. We should rejoice in the safe return of the three Americans while praying for the millions who are victims of this cruel regime. Heres my prayer list for North Korea: Kim Jong Un to make Jesus his Lord. His leaders to hear the gospel and come to faith. Success in the upcoming summit with removal of nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula. North Korean Christians to be protected and enabled to worship freely. The country to experience freedom and prosperity. A great spiritual movement in North Korea. A spiritual awakening that began in South Korea sixty years ago is continuing to impact nations around the world. Lets pray for this awakening to encompass North Korea as well. Jesus promised: If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). Please join me in praying for true freedom in North Korea to the glory of God. Photo courtesy: Flickr.com Publication date: May 11, 2018 For more from the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, please visit www.denisonforum.org. Do you want to live a life in whole-hearted pursuit of loving God and others? Read today's First15 at www.first15.org. Family unity is among the biggest factors for American evangelicals advocating for immigration reform; it comes up in almost every statement, prayer, and open letter rallying believers around the cause. And it continues to prove a major concern, as the governments recent crackdown on border-crossings requires authorities to split up parents and children who illegally enter the country together. Despite the pleas from top evangelical leadersincluding some of President Donald Trumps advisersto protect the family unit, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced this week that all adults caught by Border Patrol would be prosecuted as criminals while their children would be separated and treated as if they entered the US as unaccompanied minors. I have put in place a zero tolerance policy for illegal entry on our Southwest border. If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. Its that simple, he said on Monday in San Diego, where a caravan of migrants, many of them mothers and children, had arrived a week before. If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law. Though families seeking asylum had previously been allowed to stay together, under the new policy, adults are to be detained while they apply and await review, while their children could spend years in shelter care in the US, The Hill reported. If law requires this, it must be changed, tweeted Robert P. George, a Catholic, legal scholar, and the former chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Sometimes its necessary to separate children from parents. But where its not necessary to do that, its necessary not to do it. Find another way. Last week, as news of the governments proposed restrictions circulated, World Reliefthe humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicalsreiterated the importance of family unity in a statement to CT: World Relief urges our decision makers to continue to allow those fleeing violence and persecution to claim asylum in the United States. The way we treat asylum-seekers is proof that we can be a nation of laws and a nation of grace. The US government should do everything in its power to keep arriving families together, not separate them. The new zero-tolerance policy frustrates Christian advocates for migrants and adds to what National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) president Sam Rodriguez sees as a series of policies that force immigrant families apart. What we currently have are laws that encourage the dissolution of the family before immigrants leave their country of origin or likewise threaten to tear them apart once they are here illegally, said Rodriguez (who also serves as a CT board member). An example of the former [is] when struggling families send their underage children to cross the border assuming theyll successfully be granted asylum because of their age. A parent who wants the best for their child might do that thinking theyve done something positive, but we just inadvertently incentivized a family to break apart. The US saw all immigration through the southern border drop when Trump took office, since the president famously campaigned on tougher restrictions, including a proposed wall between the southwestern states and Mexico. Early into his presidency, border-crossing attempts fell to their lowest levels since the 1970s, but immigrantsmany of them fueled by ongoing unrest in Central America and desperate for asylumhave begun to make their way into the States again. The Washington Post reported last month that apprehensions along the border tripled in the past year and rose by 37 percent from February to March, the largest monthly increase since 2011. As immigrants and asylum-seekers return, incidents of family separation also continue to rise. The New York Times places that number at 700 children separated from adults claiming to be their parents in the past seven months, with at least 100 under age four, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement. A majority of all Christiansincluding 56 percent of white evangelicalsbelieve the government should support unaccompanied minors rather than deporting them, a 2014 PRRI survey found. During the surge in unaccompanied minors around 2014, churches and groups like the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) partnered with HHS to house, clothe, and care for about 600 children who ended up in the custody of an overwhelmed system. Already, migrant kids fear they will be going to jail for coming into the United States. Lisa Vega, whose Florida church housed unaccompanied minors through NaLECs two-year government subgrant, remembers having to assure the scared, hungry children with only a Ziploc bag full of belongings that they would not be punished for fleeing. As far as the government is concerned, I think they should be giving churches more opportunities to care for this population. The church just needs to open up their doors, said Vega, senior pastor at Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville, where they housed 5 to 20 Central American children at a time. If we care about them abroad, we shouldnt stop caring about them when they enter our borders. The conditions forcing them to leave their Central American homelands will sound sadly familiar. Gang killings, corruption, and trafficking in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Hondurasknown as the Northern Triangleplace them among the most violent countries in the world. And in recent weeks, Nicaragua suffered its deadliest bout of protests since 1990. While immigration from Mexico has stalled, the influx from Northern Triangle nations continues to grow, Pew Research Center reported last December, with many entering illegally or with temporary protections. These Central American countries also represent the most Protestant nations in Latin America. The situation in the countries these Christians are fleeing have not improved. Until we address the issues of violence and poverty, this is going to be cyclical, said NaLEC president Gabe Salguero, whose organization advocates for humanitarian care for immigrants to the US while also supporting efforts by the Latin Evangelical Association (AEL) and Evangelical Association of Honduras to strengthen the churchs response back home. Its not an either-or. Its a both-and. Rodriguez, of NHCLC, also points Christians to pray against violence and oppression that are sending scores of immigrants out of Central America. A thriving church will bring healing to these societies from the inside out, and so we must pray for the church, he said. There is a hunger for Christ that is palpable, and many people are coming to faith both in Latin America as well as in the US. Rondell Trevino, a Presbyterian minister and founder of The Immigration Project, said the migrant caravan at the California border could offer an opportunity for pastors to address the implications of immigration policy. Christians do not hesitate to affirm that there is a strong biblical basis for family unity, he said. Therefore, when there are policies focused on separating families, then this should deeply disturb the church. Reports on the new border-crossing policy raise concerns over family unification, even if detained parents are eventually granted asylum. About 20 percent of unaccompanied minors in HHS custody between October 2016 and December 20171,500 childrenended up getting lost in the system, according to a Frontline investigation. The thing we know about families in the US, any family, is that families create social capital. They create social networks. They create social stability, Jenny Yang, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, recently told the Center for Public Justice. I think our government needs to do everything it can, as well as our churches, to recognize the special role that immigrant families play and do everything they can to keep immigrant families together. Weeks after the announcement of the new policy, the leaders of the Evangelical Immigration Table wrote President Trump to challenge the move, urging the goverment to protect the unity of families by separating children only in the rarest of instances. The full text of their June 1 letter, which fellow Christians are invited to sign, appears below: Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Some 57,000 children are born every day. If things don't change, they will never hear the good news of the gospel. Their births add to the nearly 3 billion people worldwide who have not been told about Jesus. Though the global church has grown in recent years, the percentage of Christians taking the gospel to the unreached has declined. The reality was brought home to me recently when I surveyed a vast cityscape of sandy brown buildings stretching out until it blended and disappeared into the surrounding desert. The smoggy air was filled with the sound of car horns, revving engines and the voices of muezzins calling the faithful to prayer from the colorful minarets that punctuated the otherwise monochrome view. As I stood on top of the tallest building in this city of 6 million in the heart of the Muslim world, our leader in the region turned to me and said, "Andrew, we do not know of any Jesus followers here." This troubling picture is the driving force behind the annual International Day for the Unreached, to be celebrated this year on May 20. An alliance of like-minded organizations has chosen that date for our live Facebook webcast (6 p.m. MST) spotlighting the challenge before us, because it is Pentecost Sundaythe day the Holy Spirit fell upon the first believers, empowering them to go into all the world. It will also be broadcast on media outlets in other countries, including parts of Kenya and Uganda. Part of the church's response must involve recognizing models that served us well for the past decades are not keeping pace. If we are to change the reality of that desert city I visited and the rest of the unreached, "business as usual" will not suffice. We need a paradigm shift. It must begin not with models and methods, but with our basic beliefs. To reach those with no access to the gospel, we must embrace five fundamentals from Scripture. 1. Engage the whole body of Christ. God's plan for humanity was that we would live as His children in relationship with Him, and that our lives would be for the praise of His glory (Eph. 1). Our Creator defined our purpose and mandated us to go make more of those who would be in relationship with Him and live their life for His glory until the whole earth is filled (Gen 1:28). Millennia later, Jesus repeated that directive in His Great Commission (Matt. 28:19). We exist to love God and reflect that love back to the world. But do our missions models truly enable every follower of Jesus to live out this purpose? We have given people the multiple-choice option of being a prayer, a giver, or a goerthose who must leave their jobs, raise support and go do "full-time ministry." We have made it about "calling," some nudging of God that lets us know we are chosen to go. But Scripture shows us we are not called to the purpose of God, we are made for it. 2. Embrace the whole masterpiece. God put us together in a unique, wonderful way. We are His masterpiece, so that we can do the good works God wants us to (Eph. 2:10). Surely, we should fully embrace and carefully steward our individual abilities, personalities and passions. However, in the mission and church world, we often ignore them, asking people to fit particular ministry molds. When Saul encountered the young, highly skilled hunter, David, he tried to make him look like the other soldiers in order to fight Goliath. But David simply needed to go out with what he already had to defeat the giant. Why would we make an engineer give up engineering? Why would we ask a doctor to leave the hospital? We must build models that enable everyone to go be who God made them to be somewhere in the world where He is not worshipped. 3. Include the whole world. "Calling" gets us in trouble again here. We say, "If people don't feel called, they will not stick to the hard places." However, "fill the earth" and "all nations" are part of every believer's job descriptiona command to obey, not a call to wait for. We need a model where many can and will go, understanding that the nations are our inheritance. Then, our ongoing deep desire for God to be known will keep us there, not personal "calling." 4. Live out the whole gospel. The good news is not just something we speak out but something we live out. It is not only about the alternate eternal destination of someone's soul but about the transformation of their life now. The evangelical movement of the last 60 years has emphasized proclamation, but we need to have a strong demonstration of the gospel lived out in the communities of the unreached. Today, nine out of 10 Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not know a single believer. 5. Incorporate all of life. For everyone to have the opportunity to hear and experience the gospel, we need to go live in every sector of society and every corner of communities. Unfortunately, our models have often put us outside of society, trying to find ways in to share our message. Instead, we must find ways to engage every follower of Jesus; embrace their unique skills, gifts and passions; and release them to the least-reached world in credible roles, where they can live as salt and light, well-equipped to give a reason for their hope, and invite others into that hope. You can be part of this. Join me for the International Day for the Unreached on May 20 and find out how you can help bring the gospel to those who have yet to hear of Jesus. Andrew Scott is the president and CEO of OM USA and author of the highly acclaimed book, Scatter. He has served in the missions world for 25 years in more than 80 countries and is a frequent speaker, passionate about mobilizing the global church to fulfill God's purpose and plan. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google want to mine and control information. Like their news media predecessors, they are some of the largest culprits of disseminating #fakenews. This is particularly heartbreaking because the internet was the average person's means of circumventing a monolithic Leftist mainstream media. It was a powerful and cost-effective way for small nonprofits like ours (The Radiance Foundation) to get out a factual narrative that challenged the singular one regurgitated by an entire establishment. But now, the Titans of "Tolerance" are showing their true (homogeneous) color. It's Stalinist Red. Silicon Valley's overt and transparent effort to thwart free speech is scary. Forget Russia's alleged U.S. election meddling. The whole Leftist regime is meddling. The Left is fighting to repeal Ireland's prolife position as enshrined in the nation's 8th Amendment: "The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right." Global social media platforms, touted as making us an international community, are now punishing people for reaching across national boundaries to have meaningful conversations about issues that profoundly impact us all. In a blatant attempt to silence the #SaveThe8th messaging, Facebook will now prevent any foreign "ads" (including clearly identifiable boosted posts) from reaching Ireland's Facebook users. Google announced it will refuse all ads on the referendum. The pro-abortion side has celebrities, mainstream media and George Soros-funded groups like (Sh)Amnesty International to propagandize the small island nation. Prolifers depend on social media tools to communicate, but it's become a separate and unequal situation. The Deities of Disinformation will not allow it. (I wonder if they'll do the same for efforts to curb global human trafficking, or gendercide, or the plight of child laborers in developing countries?) We wouldn't want to "meddle" in another nation's political matters, right? The Washington Post article, which attacks prolife organizations for "interfering" and "distorting democratic politics", features the pro-abortion #RepealThe8th campaign logo as its headline image. Nope. No interference there. Facebook hides behind bogus efforts like the Transparency Referendum Initiative (TRI), which MSM describes as a "group of Irish technology advocates" who are calling for an "open, truthful and honest debate" in Ireland's abortion referendum. TRI is anything but open, truthful and honest. Scrutinizing this supposed "non-partisan" watchdog group and its claims requires something that is anathema to most of the news mediaactual journalism. On its website, TRI claims: "We are building a database of all political ads targeting Irish Facebook users ahead of the referendum on the 8th amendment. We are publishing a list of these ads, so they are open to scrutiny by journalists, fact checkers and anyone wishing to understand the campaigns." Yet TRI's effort is the #fakenews it claims to be exposing. TRI's database includes numerous U.S.-based prolife groups who've "stealthily" paid for political ads in order to influence the abortion referendum. Keep in mind, they claim to "filter" Facebook ads by using, in part, these keywords: abortion, unborn, foetus, pro-choice, pro-life. So basically, that would include anything ever posted about abortion. That's not a filter. It's a catch-all. This explains why the fraudulent TRI included The Radiance Foundation, LifeSiteNews, and Rachel's Vineyard, for instance, in its widely reported database. From CNN to Politico to The New York Times to Wired to the Irish Times and many more, leftist journos repeat TRI's lies. Radiance is included in this bogus database for our post expressing support for NIFLA's (National Institute of Family and Life Advocates) battle at the Supreme Court here in the United States. The post has everything to do with pro-abortion legislation trying to force pregnancy centers to promote abortion; it has absolutely nothing to do with Ireland's referendum. And here's the irony. Facebook forces Radiance to boost some of our posts because the "progressive" platform suppresses our content all the time. Another irony: the post features our meme that says: "Love Free Speech." This particular TRI-identified post was boosted for a whopping $5.49! The same applies to LifeSiteNews.com. Not a single one of the four LifeSiteNews entries in TRI's database has to do with Ireland's Abortion Referendum. Three are generic appeals for donations (see here, here, and here), and one is about Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signing a 15-week abortion ban. Yup. I can see how some would confuse that for Ireland. Rachel's Vineyard, a very nonpolitical post-abortion ministry, is also included for its completely unrelated post. Do you see the #fakenews trend here? Yet mainstream media holds up TRI as some kind of unbiased and legitimate information source. I even reached out to one of TRI's founders, Liz Carolan, who boasted on Twitter of the massive media coverage her fraudulent initiative is receiving: "Stories built using our work today in Vice, Politico & Open Democracy anyone who thought they could misuse social media in this referendum & get away with it was mistaken." I asked her why she's misusing social media by including our post in the database despite it having nothing to do with Ireland's abortion referendum. In an evasive response she claimed: "Our database is built from ads that are found in the Facebook feeds of Irish people, which has content related to the forthcoming referendum, which is on abortion access, so any content that fits this criteria is left in." First of all, anyone who uses terminology like "abortion access" is not neutral in this fight; only pro-abortion activists use that language. Secondly, our content didn't fit the criteria. Thirdly, when I asked her if she'd remove our unrelated post from the database, she ignored the question. Any mainstream media outlet could have asked her the same questions and more. How many of these hundreds of entries are bogus? The bigger question, though, is one of free speech. How long until Google, Facebook and Twitter decide to muzzle everyone whose perspective doesn't fit their criteria? Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment We say it all the time: Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. The "Incel movement" proves that the sexual revolution was full of bad ideas. On April 23, 2018, a van allegedly driven by Alek Minassian, drove onto a sidewalk in downtown Toronto, killing ten people and wounding eighteen others. Many, I admit myself included, had the initial thought that the motivation for this attack had something to do with ISIS or radical Islam. But the truth turned out different, and in some ways more disturbing. On his Facebook page, Minassian pledged allegiance, not to ISIS, but to the "Incel Rebellion." "Incel" stands for "involuntarily celibate." As Vox.com explains, the "rebellion" is "not an organized militant group but rather an ideal developed by . . . an online community of men united by their inability to convince women to have [intimate relations] with them." This sounds like the stuff of a Saturday Night Live skit until you remember the bodies on the ground in Toronto. And not just there: In 2014, Elliot Rodger, before killing six people in Santa Barbara, California, made an "explanatory video" whose principal complaint was that attractive women wouldn't sleep with him. In the same post in which Minassian pledged allegiance to the "Incel Rebellion," he hailed Rodger as the "Supreme Gentleman." And he wasn't Rodger's only fan: Alleged Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is said to have written "Elliot Rodger will not be forgotten" in response to Rodger's video. That's at least thirty-two deaths that can be linked at least in some way to young men's frustration over "their inability to convince women to have [intimate relations] with them." This has understandably prompted an examination of what's been dubbed the "Incel movement," an examination that tends to focus on the undeniable misogyny of some of the young men involved as well as "the power of online communities to radicalize young men." What's left unexamined, however, are the ideas and beliefs behind their frustrations. At least until now. In a recent New York Times column Ross Douthat did just that. He wrote, "the culture's dominant message about sex is still essentially Hefnerian . . . a message that frequency and variety ... is as close to a summum bonum as the human condition has to offer." In this worldview, "virginity and celibacy are at best strange and at worst pitiable states." The problem is that while the sexual revolution elevated intimate relations to a kind of sacrament and told people that sexual freedom is the most important freedom, it made no provisions for the fact that, in this new regime, there would be winners and losers. Certain kinds of men and women the beautiful, rich, socially adept would enjoy the lion's share of the promised "frequency and variety," while others would be relegated "to new forms of loneliness and frustration." The "dominant message" created an expectation and even sense of entitlement concerning sex that cannot be fulfilled in the real world. This reality, plus the lethal violence in Toronto and Santa Barbara, led George Mason University economist Robin Hanson to muse that "One might plausibly argue that those with much less access to sex suffer to a similar degree as those with low income, and might similarly hope to gain from organizing around this identity, to lobby (and I'm not making this up) for redistribution" of the benefits of the sexual revolution. What? That's insane! What on earth would "redistribution" entail? But it's no more insane than telling young men that sex is everything, exposing them to countless hours of pornography, and then being shocked when these young men feel "cheated." As we say, ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. The victims of the sexual revolution are really adding up. Originally posted at Breakpoint. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment One of the lessons I hope we're all learning this week is that Christians must consider what we say before we say it, remembering that we represent Christ with every word. That includes the remarks we planned to make and those we said in jest, or our joking, sarcastic, "you know I didn't mean that" side comments. If you are in Christ then everything you say bears witness either authentically to or against Him. That's one take away from the controversy now roiling the Southern Baptist Convention. And while I understand the motivation of thousands of women in the denomination to call for the resignation of Paige Patterson, I am not signing the letter. I do not know him, I'm not in a position to follow the Matthew 18 mandate, and I do not believe that the resignation of one individual gets to the root of the issue. What we need is a national, faith-wide conversation about God's image-bearers and relations among us. While removing one prominent pastor might create a sense of empowerment, it will not change a culture rife with jesting about women's appearances, awkwardness at leadership levels when women are in the room, and gross misunderstandings about Biblical submission. Men and women who know how to engage in civil conversation at the leadership level need to model how to talk about the household rules of Galatians 3 and Ephesians 5, the treatment of people within the household of faith and the treatment of people within our own households. Yes, we need sermons on the subject, but we need conversational apologetics and credible witnesses in redeemed marriages to bear public witness. We need to talk about how we talk about one another and marriage and sex. We need to deal with objectification and pornography. We need to deal with issues of authority and submission and we need to talk about the things we all talk about all the time just NOT in the company of one another. I resonate with much of what Beth Moore articulated in her open letter to our brothers. I also appreciate that there are times I prefer to process through things with women and not men. I believe we stand at a moment in time when the Church has the opportunity to lead in the cultural conversations of the day related to reconciliation and #MeToo but in order to do so, we'll have to get our own house in order. Three things must be said here: 1. Abuse is always wrong. Abuse of all forms is always contrary to the character and witness of Christ. All abuse: domestic, spousal and physical abuse, verbal abuse which objectifies another or robs them of their dignity as a fellow image-bearer of God, and, yes, the abuse of positional power, have no place among God's household. Church leaders bear an obligation for the people whom God has entrusted to their care and church leaders are legally obligated to report abuse to law enforcement. There's really no room for debate about these things. 2. Biblical submission is an issue of authority and neither of those words is popular in the culture today. God's authority over all of life, including marriage, is important for us to redeem in the cultural conversations of our day. But biblical authority and biblical submission in marriage are badly misunderstood because they have been so poorly represented by the church. Let's be crystal clear: Biblical submission is not all women to all men nor all children to all adults. Biblical submission is also never forced submission. Part of the calling of Christians today is to redeem marriage and to do that we'll need to resubmit ourselves to God's authority and His revealed will. 3. This is a critical moment for the ministry and witness of the nation's largest Protestant denomination and we should all pray for the moment to be one of redemption and not fracture. While I'm not signing the letter, I am seeking to make a contribution to the conversation. Whenever a church body leads the headline news, Christians must be prepared to enter into those conversations, bringing the mind of Christ to bear on the matters of our day. So, as you read these articles, ask yourself, "What has God said about these things? What do I know about God and God's Word that could be brought to bear in this conversation? Where's the opportunity for redemptive witness?" All of this (and our pastor's sermon on Sunday) has led to deep conversations in my own home. Jim and I just celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. I was an "old" first-time bride at 42 but I also knew that I was a mature Christian entering into a marriage with a mature Christian with whom I was committed to redeeming marriage. Marriage is not what the world imagines. Christian marriage isn't just different in quality, it's different in origin, substance, and purpose. God intends that the here-and-now marriage we experience on Earth would point to the eternal unchangeable reality of Christ and His bride, the Church, in Heaven. Without a right understanding of the eternal redemptive plan of God, you cannot understand what God intends for marriage. That truth runs contrary to the "marriage is for my happiness and fulfillment" idolatry of this generation. Marriage, by God's design, includes the complimentary male and female, husband and wife. And even as The Episcopal Church takes action to remove that language from the liturgy, there is no removing the eternal reality that Jesus Christ came in the flesh as a man, is described in the Scriptures as the Bridegroom and the Church in the feminine, bride. The Genesis language of helper lingers and the Biblical call to submission persists. Denying it does not make it vanish from the pages of God's revealed Word nor does defying it change His will. So, what is submission as understood in Galatians 3 and Ephesians 5? It is a mutual submission to Christ and an ordering of the Christian household under the governance of God's sovereignty. In order to understand the household rules of Galatians 3 and Ephesians 5 we must first be people who are "in Christ." Apart from Christ, none of this will make any sense. Which is why every time we talk about submission, those operating out of an anti-patriarchal feminist worldview react loudly. There is an honest disconnect on this subject. Christians need to reconnect the eternal with the everyday on this subject by speaking truthfully and without shame about what it means to be a woman authentically created in the image of God, in all humility. We need to begin allowing people to see into our redeemed marriages in order that they might know what we're talking about when say "Biblical submission." The idea of joyful or mutual submission is totally foreign nonsense to the world today and yet it is the reality in which some of us are privileged to live. How might the conversation change if we bore witness to redeemed marriage by exposing our own redemptive experiences of marriage? Galatians 3 and Ephesians 5 are talking about ALL THINGS in submission to Christ. ALL aspects of life under His Lordship. ALL things governed by His Kingdom principles. You cannot conveniently extract marriage from God's sovereignty and say to Him, "Nope, this is mine marriage is mine to define, mine to enter into, mine to leave, mine to govern." That may be the way it's working in contemporary America but we can all agree that's not actually working. What works is God's design, God's governance, God's household rules. Jim and I got married with a sense that God was calling us to redeem marriage for his kids and for him. This is my first marriage, we've been married 7 years. Four of our six kids are grown, adding two daughters-in-law, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren to what is nothing short of a tribe. We're also still actively raising two teenagers. If you're doing the math, you know that other women bore these children into the world. Our family tree is terribly complex. Step-parenting is hard and blending challenging but God is good at it! For centuries God has been adopting people into His family, engrafting wild shoots and foreign branches into His family tree. What does redeeming marriage look like after a spouse and parent follows the counsel of the sexual revolutionaries and leaves their spouse and children? What does redeeming marriage look like for the man after God's own heart who has been betrayed twice and yet feels called to marriage? What does redeeming marriage look like to his children who experience their father as a faithful teacher of the Bible but whom the church considers to have committed the unforgivable sin of divorce? In 21st century America, redeeming marriage includes testimonies of brokenness, confession of sin and co-parenting with people once considered enemies. Let's be clear, God hates divorce. No question about it. But it is not beyond God's redemptive power. God redeems. Marriage can be, and is for us, a redemptive experience and an expression of God's redemptive power over the most painful of human experiences. Jim and I do not have a perfect marriage but that's only because we both continue to be imperfect people. What we have is a mutually-submitted marriage in which we seek to bear authentic witness to Christ and give a world desperately confused about authority and Lordship a glimpse of God's goodness and grace. Will all of this be misunderstood and likely misrepresented when repeated? Yes. (I can actually see some of you rolling your eyes as you read.) So, to you let me simply say: I have a redeemed relationship with God through Jesus Christ and that changes everything. It changes my understanding of myself, my calling, my usefulness, my legacy, and yes, my marriage. I have the marriage I would wish for every women in the world. I am married to a man who is desperately in love with God, to whom I am a distant second and yet a man who would lay down his life for me without hesitation. He builds me up, encourages me in my discipleship, and is my greatest fan. In case you're wondering, "Is she really not signing the letter because her husband told her not to?" No, that's now how it works. I'm not signing the letter because I have more to say than my signature on the letter would communicate. I want my denomination and every other expression of the Church in this generation to have the hard conversations which lead to transformation. The Church has a Savior and a Head and a Bridegroom. Let's sit together with Him and allow Him to redeem. Originally posted at Reconnect With Carmen. Andrew Brunson's lawyers protest 'outlandish' evidence brought against US pastor Lawyers defending Andrew Brunson, the US pastor jailed in Turkey, have protested the treatment of his case by the court, expressing 'serious concerns' about the evidence presented by the prosecution, and opposing the refusal to release Brunson to house arrest. Brunson has been jailed for the past 19 months, and after two Izmir court hearings now awaits a third on July 18. At the close of the second hearing Brunson's lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, sharply criticised the 'outlandish' use of secret witnesses against Brunson, saying no real evidence against the pastor had been presented, according to World Watch Monitor. Halavurt told the Deutsche Welle on Monday: 'This case cannot proceed by just relying on secret witnesses' testimony. 'Supporting evidence must come alongside these allegations. Our Supreme Court decisions regarding this are very plain: witness testimony claims are not sufficient to prolong a jailed person's detention. In spite of reminding the court of this repeatedly, [Brunson's detention] is being continued. This is not acceptable.' Secret witnesses included one 'Serhat', who accused Brunson of plotting to establish a Kurdish Christian state, and smuggling US weapons to a militia in Syria through his 'missionary team'. Brunson was accused of collaborating with supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric blamed for the failed 2016 coup against Turkey's President Erdogan. It's believed that Brunson has been detained as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Gulen from the US, where he is now based. 'There is not a single piece of evidence' for the allegation, Halavurt said. He protested the refusal to release Brunson, but said the necessary petitions would be filed to ensure that 'this illegal detention will be brought to an end. We will struggle to get Brunson set free.' Brunson openly challenged Serhat's allegations, telling the court: "This witness gave not a single piece of evidence. He said, "I heard all this from second- or third-hand individuals."' He added: 'I am helping refugees, and they say I'm aiding the PKK [The Kurdistan Workers' Party]. I am setting up a church, and they say I'm being supported by the Gulen network. But this is just verbal testimony from these witnesses. Where is the proof, the evidence?' The presiding judge rebuked Brunson and said the court would determine what counted as evidence. Brunson also denied having seen or met any of the first three open witness brought forward by the prosecution. The court further disappointed Brunson's defence team when it was revealed that the judicial panel had rejected seven of the 10 witnesses who had been selected to testify on behalf of Brunson at the next hearing, because the witnesses appear in the indictment against Brunson, listed as 'suspects' due to their association with the pastor. Sandra Jolley, vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which has publicly advocated for Brunson's release attended the trial, and afterwards told reporters: 'We leave the courthouse with serious concerns. Today's 11 hours of proceedings were dominated by wild conspiracies, tortured logic and secret witnesses, but no real evidence to speak of. Upon these rests a man's life. 'The truth is that this case is part of a larger decline in personal freedoms, including religious freedom and human rights, that we are witnessing in Turkey in recent years. We are looking to the Turkish judiciary to uphold Pastor Brunson's innocence.' Charities warn of 'scenario of despair' in South Sudan A Catholic aid network has warned of a 'forgotten crisis' in South Sudan and said the country is 'heading towards a scenario of despair'. The warning issued by Caritas comes as violence has flared again with the approach of peace talks aimed at resolving the civil war that has lasted since 2013. Observers say rival groups are jockeying to be in a favourable position when delegates reach the negotiating table. The war has led to around 2 million people fleeing as refugees to neighbouring countries and another 2 million becoming internally displaced. Famine and disease are widespread and government has collapsed across large parts of the country. 'People are living in constant fear and insecurity, suffering mentally, physically and are starving,' Caritas South Sudan and its partners, which include CAFOD and Trocaire, warned after a meeting this month in the capital, Juba. 'In the coming months heavy rains will add to the already untold suffering for the people.' A statement issued by the local president of Caritas, Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of Yei, says South Sudan is becoming a 'forgotten crisis'. Forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and followers of the former vice president, Riek Machar, have been augmented by local militias joining the fighting. The Caritas statement calls for an end to tribal manipulation, which is fuelling violence between communities. 'Politicised tribalism safeguards the vested interest of a few, over and above the needs of the innocent population,' the aid officials say. While precise figures are hard to come by, the UN estimates that between 50,000 and 300,000 people have been killed and many more injured in the conflict. Around 85 per cent of refugees are women and children. As well as local famines, much of South Sudan is affected by cholera and the UN has warned that more than 7 million people, almost two-thirds of the population, will not be able to feed themselves without sustained humanitarian intervention. In a sign of international frustration with South Sudan, the US said this week it would review its assistance programs because it could not continue a partnership with leaders perpetuating 'endless war'. South Sudan's foreign affairs spokesman Mawien Makol Ariik said: 'We are asking the United States not to abandon this country because we need them...their role to assist the population of South Sudan is crucial and cannot be ignored.' The US is the largest aid donor to South Sudan. The White House said on Tuesday it had been a 'proud and hopeful supporter' when it gained independence in 2011. 'Seven years later, the leaders of this country have squandered this partnership...killed their own people, and repeatedly demonstrated their inability and unwillingness to live up to their commitments to end the country's civil war,' it said. Christians Must 'Unhitch' Old Testament From Their Faith, Says North Point Church Pastor Andy Stanley North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley has stated that Christians need to "unhitch" the Old Testament from their faith. In the final part of a recent sermon series, Stanley explained that while he believes that the Old Testament is "divinely inspired," it should not be "the go-to source regarding any behavior in the church." To justify this, Stanley preached last month about Acts 15, which described how the early church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians. "[First century] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures," said Stanley. "Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well." Stanley argued that it had to be done for the same reason the church in Acts 15 did so, which was so that "we must not make it difficult for those Gentiles who are turning to God." For Stanley, the difficulty lay with the Old Testament and his concern that many Christians are turning away from the faith because of certain passages in the Hebrew Bible. Stanley argued that the early church showed that there was a need to move past the Old Testament for the sake of gentile believers and that the resurrection of Jesus was enough. "Jesus' new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures," noted Stanley. "The Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down. The question is did Jesus rise from the dead? And the eyewitnesses said he did." Stanley acknowledged that his comments may be considered "a little disturbing" to some, but then added that for many it is "liberating." "It's liberating for men and women who are drawn to the simple message that God loves you so much He sent His Son to pave the way to a relationship with you," Stanley said. "It's liberating for people who need and understand grace, who need and understand forgiveness. And it's liberating for people who find it virtually impossible to embrace the dynamic, the worldview, and the values system depicted in the story of Ancient Israel." While noting that he believed the church needed to unhitch itself from the Old Testament, Stanley still regarded the Jewish scriptures as having importance, saying they were "a means to an extraordinary end." "The Jewish scriptures are the backstory for the main story," Stanley explained. "They're an important backstory. They're divinely inspired. They are God on the move through ancient, ancient times." "It's the fabulous story of God the Founder playing by the rules of the kingdoms of this world, to establish a kingdom not of this world. To send a king who would be like no other king. A king who lay down His life for His subjects. A king who would introduce the entire world to God the Father." Stanley's sermon was the third part of a series titled "Aftermath," in which the pastor was trying to appeal to individuals who left Christianity over what they were taught the Bible said about certain things. "If you were raised on a version of Christianity that relied on the Bible as the foundation of faith, a version that was eventually dismantled by academia or the realities of life, maybe it's time for you to change your mind about Jesus," stated North Point Community Church. "Maybe it's time for you to consider the version of Christianity that relies on the event of the resurrection of Jesus as its foundation. If you gave up your faith because of something about or in the Bible, maybe you gave up unnecessarily." Days before giving the third Aftermath sermon, Stanley preached at the Orange Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, using Acts 15, as well as John 17, to argue that church unity was more important than "theological correctness." "[Jesus] prayed for our oneness, that we'd be on the same page," said Stanley at the conference last month. "This is mission critical. If they are not one, we will not win ... unity is mission critical and disunity disrupts the mission." "Will we prioritize our oneness over our politics? Will we continue to allow the kingdom of the world to divide the Kingdom of God that is in this world because of politics?" More than three-quarters of publications in Christian colleges have faced censorship, survey finds A new survey has found that about three out of four student newspapers in Christian colleges have faced pressure from officials to edit or drop articles shortly after publication. The Student Press Coalition (SPC), created by students at Taylor University in Indianapolis, conducted a survey of student editors in an attempt to determine how campus newspapers are affected by the press policies of Christian universities and colleges. The editors from 136 schools belonging to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) were asked to answer an online questionnaire about the censorship that they have faced when publishing articles. The findings, released on May 1, indicated that 76 percent of student editors have "faced pressure from university personnel to change, edit or remove an article after it's been published in print or online." Seventy-two percent of the participants said that faculty advisers to their paper have the authority to reject a story before publication online. Thirty-four percent reported having their articles rejected by their advisers before they were published online. Thirty percent of editors reported the same for articles that were slated for publication in print. Forty-eight percent of the editors reported that student journalists have been asked by university officials to abandon a story in the middle of the research and writing phase. Additional findings showed that 49 percent of the respondents have said that it is "fair to say" that their "publication is censored by someone who is not a student at some point during the print or online publication process." Twenty-six percent said that they refrain from pursuing some stories due to their loyalty to the university. Another 20 percent admitted that the stories in their publication are affected by the "Christian culture" in their school. Only 24 percent of the participants said that their school gives them the same freedom of the press that is seen in public universities. Cassidy Grom, head of the SPC, said that the study was supposed to be a part of the effort to convince officials in her school to change its press policies. "It began as an independent project to persuade our school to change its policies. But when we saw the data, we decided to go public with it," she said, according to Religion News Service. Chris Evans, president of the College Media Association, said that censorship at private colleges was prevalent because such schools are legally allowed to impose restrictions on campus newspapers. "It's tough because it's perfectly legal at private colleges for administrators to censor because there is no guarantee of First Amendment protections," Evans said, as reported by Religion News Service. Mormons drop partnership with Scouts a week after controversial name change The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, has announced that it is ending its partnership with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) by 2020. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Mormon Church revealed that it is creating its own youth program that will cater to its global membership. The Church stated that the new program will be aimed at helping "all girls and boys, young women and young men discover their eternal identity, build character and resilience, develop life skills and fulfill their divine roles as daughters and sons of God." The move will put a stop to the automatic enrollment of young Mormon boys to the BSA, although boys will still be allowed to join the scouting organization individually. The announcement follows the BSA's decision to change the name of its flagship program to Scouts BSA in light of its new its policy to take in female members. The BSA announced last year that it would allow girls to join the scouting organization, and would let them become Eagle Scouts by 2019. The recent policy changes within the BSA have increasingly alienated conservative parents and partners, including the Mormon church. When the BSA announced in 2015 that it will start accepting gay troop leaders, the Mormon Church said that it was "deeply troubled" by the move. The religious denomination, however, decided to stay with the scouting organization after being assured that it would be able to appoint leaders in accordance with its religious beliefs. According to the Associated Press, the Church had already pulled out 185,000 boys between the ages of 14 and 18 from the scouts last year. The remaining 425,000 boys will be removed from the scouting organization by December 31, 2019 to join the Church's new youth program. The Mormon Church stressed in the statement that it will continue to support the BSA, despite ending its partnership with the organization. "While the Church will no longer be a chartered partner of BSA or sponsor Scouting units ... it continues to support the goals and values reflected in the Scout Oath and Scout Law and expresses its profound desire for Scouting's continuing and growing success in the years ahead," the statement read, as reported by Fortune. In a statement, the BSA said that Mormon members who wished to remain within the BSA would be joined to other troops. The Jewishness of Jesus: Andy Stanley and why Christians can't 'unhitch' from the Old Testament Popular US evangelical pastor Andy Stanley has reportedly said that Christians need to 'unhitch' the Old Testament from their faith. Whatever he meant by that, here's why the Jewishness of Scripture and ultimately Jesus can't be side-lined. The Christian Post recorded Stanley, senior pastor of North Point community church, Georgia, as saying: '[1st century] church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures. 'Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.' It was part of a sermon on Acts 15 and the importance of removing barriers to Christian faith for Gentile converts. Stanley apparently suggested that parts of the Old Testament which he maintained is 'divinely inspired' were prompting people to leave the faith today. 'Jesus' new covenant, his covenant with the nations, his covenant with you, his covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures,' he said, adding that 'The Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down.' Stanley's comments have come under heavy fire on Twitter, with many alarmed at the pastor's apparent denigration of the Old Testament. Rachel Held Evans said that Stanley 'got this one very wrong', and Wesley Hill called the comments 'an absolute theological trainwreck'. Some have attempted to defend Stanley, suggesting he's not been fairly presented by the recorded remarks. That may be possible: perhaps Stanley was making an important point but expressed it poorly. But the quoted comments don't sound excellent. Indeed as a caricature they present a very common way of thinking about the Bible a cartoonish divide between the Old and New Testaments, with all that obscure 'Jewishness' superseded by Christ's universal New Covenant. It goes alongside a view of the Hebrew Bible's God as a vengeful, violent dictator versus the loving, all-accepting embrace of Jesus. I interviewed renowned New Testament scholar NT Wright last month, and I think its safe to say he'd be screaming if he heard Stanley's comments. Wright's work has largely been about putting that 'Jewishness' of both Jesus and Paul back on the map, lest we imagine them as ahistorical figures who had nothing to do with the religious culture of which they were a part. The danger is not just reading the Bible anachronistically, but indeed being antisemitic. In his words: 'Western culture still hasn't figured out who the Jews are and what we should think about them. 'Even though we know the horrible history of the 20th century particularly, that hasn't made it easier. Paul is right on the cusp of that, as himself a zealous Jew who believes himself to be a fulfilled Jew because he is following Israel's Messiah. What does that mean? 'So much of the later western tradition has screened out the Jewish bit, and Paul insists that we put it back in. Until we do that, we're not really tracking with the complexity, and hence for Paul the glory, of what he was talking about.' ...Christians have a more robust view of who Jesus is when we are familiar with Hebrew Scripture, and we have a richer understanding of God and our faith tradition when we are immersed in its (beautiful, complicated, untidy, sometimes troubling, always compelling) stories. Rachel Held Evans (@rachelheldevans) May 11, 2018 You only have to glance at a modern day Bible, in which the New Testament represents just a slim portion, to think that 'unhitching' the Old Testament might be a little dubious. Granted, Stanley affirmed the Old Testament as 'inspired' and 'a means to an extraordinary end'. But he also called the Jewish scriptures 'the backstory for the main story', which is partially true but misleading. For a contemporary example, consider the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which dramatically culminated (but didn't conclude) with the epic superhero crossover event Avengers: Infinity War last month. It's a film where the prelude is essential: if you haven't seen any of the 18 films prior you will be confused and probably unsatisfied. You won't just miss 'backstory', but the essential drama, the key characters and conflicts that make the story meaningful. In a sense Infinity War is the main event of the MCU, just as Christ's new covenant is clearly the heart of Christianity, its central drama. But in both cases, 'unhitching' the prelude is just...wrong. It's the narrative equivalent of sawing off the branch you're sitting on. For Paul there was no 'backdrop' followed by 'main event': there was just one drama a God who, through all the troubling particularities of history, fulfils his promises to humankind. The Gentiles weren't included at the expense of Old Testament law, but in fulfillment of it. Skipping on the extra reading might make things simpler, but investing in it ultimately makes the story richer and deeper. All readers bring their own biases to any text or tale, that's inevitable. What isn't inevitable is our forcing of our paradigms on that story, shaping it to mean what we want it to mean, what makes sense and is palatable to us. Such an approach is easy, but for the Christian who believes that in Scripture he hears God's word, it must be resisted. It might be tempting to try and streamline parts of the Bible that seem to confusing or troubling for newcomers, and it's perhaps not always wrong. But if you try and 'unhitch' the gospel from its Jewish roots, you'll leave converts thoroughly confounded, because the Bible just is so inescapably Jewish. The language, the history, the ethics, the drama of exile and the eschatological hope strip that out and what's left? Stanley's comments perhaps suggest the tension within the Christian creed: it preaches a universal gospel of salvation free to all, but that story doesn't just float over time, or only begin with Jesus it's rooted in one long story of profound particularity: a man, a nation, a Rabbi, a 1st-century church and all that has followed. Don't settle for anything less. You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter When is Pentecost 2018? Date and meaning of Pentecost With Easter over, Christians are looking forward to another important celebration in church history Pentecost. You've probably heard about this, but what is it really all about? Why do Christians celebrate Pentecost and what does it mean for us? What is Pentecost? Pentecost is a Christian festival celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples to help them in their faith, and continue their work of establishing the church and spreading the gospel further. Pentecost is also known as the birthday of Christian faith. Additionally, the word "Pentecost" comes from the Greek word "pentekoste," which means "fiftieth." When is Pentecost 2018? The date of the Pentecost varies every year as it takes place 50 days after Easter, so for 2018, it will be on May 20. In many countries, Pentecost is considered a secular public holiday. What does Pentecost mean for Christians? The significance of Pentecost lies in the baptism of the disciples with the Holy Spirit. Jesus made the promise in John 14:26 saying "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." After dying on the cross and being resurrected, Jesus reappeared in front of the disciples to prove He was alive and well. He told them to wait in Jerusalem. Come Pentecost, the disciples were waiting in an upper room in Jerusalem, bonded in prayer together when they heard the sound of a strong wind inside the house. This was the Holy Spirit and they were filled with it. They were given the gift of tongues. Immediately, Peter began his ministry, while the other disciples also spread the word, giving way to the birth of the church. Nowadays, Pentecost Sunday is a celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit. This holiday unites Christians together. It reminds Christians that, we too can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and be witnesses to the ends of the Earth. Other things you should know about the Pentecost On Pentecost Sunday, most people will be wearing crimson or deep red. This is the color of Pentecost. However, for Catholics, they call this holiday Whitsunday, which comes from the words White Sunday. The white color symbolizes the color of the garment used when people are baptized. Additionally, in some countries, the church likes to do Confirmations on this day. This practice gives the young people responsibility for their own faith, which makes sense as the birthday of the church is all about inviting more people to join it. Do be reminded that being a witness of God doesn't need to take place on Pentecost Sunday only. You can be His witness and spread the gospel every day of the week. Woody Harrelson reveals he once thought about becoming a minister as he talks about friendship with Mike Pence Actor Woody Harrelson revealed in a recent interview that he was friends with Vice President Mike Pence back when they both attended Hanover College in Indiana. During his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday, Harrelson said that he struck up a friendship with Pence while he was studying theology at the Presbyterian-affiliated college. The 56-year-old actor revealed that he was at Hanover on a Presbyterian scholarship, and was considering a career as a minister. He recounted that Pence was involved in church activities at the time. He stressed that he and Pence were both "very religious" when they were attending the school. When host Jimmy Kimmel asked him about his memories of his time with Pence, the actor replied: "I actually quite liked him. I thought he was a pretty good guy. He's, you know, very religious. Very committed," according to the Daily Mail. Harrelson, however, stated that he is not sure if he would be friends with the vice president today, because he is no longer religious. "So, you know, seeing as how I'm not quite in that ballpark now, I don't know how we'd get along, cause I think he's still quite religious. Just a whole different brand of religious, that kind of fervor that you really don't want," Harrelson said. The actor recounted that he eventually abandoned his plan to become a minister shortly after studying theology because he believed that the Bible was "manmade." "I started to say, 'I can put this whole thing on hold for a while... Let's just put this whole idea on hold so that I can have a 20s and 30s of extreme hedonism,'" the actor told Kimmel, as reported by Daily Mail. Harelson said that he believes in the existence of God, but noted that he came up with his beliefs by reading the "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramhansa Yogananda. Fox News reported that Pence graduated from Hanover in 1981, with Harrelson completing his course two year later. Both men are listed in the Notable Alumni page of the Presbyterian-affiliated college. Harrelson is known for his support for recreational marijuana use. He recently revealed on the Ellen Degeneres Show that he had resumed smoking pot after abstaining for several years. Pence, on the other hand, has opposed proposals to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana. Young boy claims he visited heaven, saw Jesus prior to making miraculous recovery as doctors prepared to declare him brain-dead A 13-year-old Alabama boy who miraculously recovered after doctors declared him brain-dead and were set to harvest his organs to donate to five other children, said he was in Heaven walking with Jesus and a sibling who died before he was born. "I saw a dark male figure with a beard," the teenager, Trenton McKinley, told CBN Wednesday. "He held my hand as I walked through a field. I was holding a baby in my arm. My mom told me she lost a boy from a miscarriage before I was born. I know it was my brother." McKinley's mother, Jennifer Reindl, who has been singing praises to God and sharing her story since her son's miraculous turnaround, said she continues sharing her story because she wants to change lives. "I hope our story changes lives and am thankful for all the prayers and kind words. I am forever thankful to the Lord and out of gratitude will speak in the Lord's favor and as a witness to his miracle ... my hopes are that our story brings hope to any mother out there facing such odds ... from one mother to another mother I send love and prayer. Happy Mother's Day and God bless you all," Reindl wrote in a statement on Facebook Wednesday. Two months ago, according Fox 10, McKinley was riding in a small utility trailer being pulled by a dune buggy for children when his friend pressed on the brakes suddenly, causing the trailer to flip. The teenager got caught in the trailer as it flipped after he threw his friend's 4-year-old niece into the grass to save her. "I hit the concrete and the trailer landed on top of my head. After that, I don't remember anything," McKinley told Fox10. Reindl told the network her son had seven skull fractures and died for about 15 minutes. Doctors did not expect a recovery to celebrate. "All I saw was a stretcher with his feet hanging out. He was dead a total of 15 minutes," Reindl said while fighting back tears. "When he came back, they said he would never be normal again. They told me the oxidation (oxygen deprivation) problems would be so bad to his brain, that he would be a vegetable if he even made it." Her son was on life support and barely breathing for several days so she decided with his father to sign documents allowing the donation of his organs to five waiting children. "His eyes were solid black and dry and I knew he would not hesitate to save five more lives," Reindl told CBN. The day before doctors planned to shut off his life support, McKinley started recovering. "The next day I got a call ... they canceled the final brain wave test ... right before they hooked him up his hand moved, then his feet ... so they looked at his eyes and they were back ... he had blue eyes ... now they are green with small white specks like glitter ... they say when you look upon God ... pigment changes ... and my baby was in Heaven for a whole day ... he is a miracle," Reindl said. Q: Im excited to be hiring the first employee for my small business, but Im nervous about doing it right. I want to make sure Im hiring the right person for the job and that I pay them a fair salary and offer good benefits. How do I know Im covering all my bases? A: You can get a good start by attending UH SBDCs workshop on Best Hiring Practices for 2018 this Wednesday. Attorneys from the Barita & Keough Law Firm will cover the hiring process, beginning with drafting the job posting through conducting the annual review. The workshop costs only $29 if you register and pay online at www.sbdc.uh.edu. The attorneys will also discuss tips on interviewing, doing background checks and drug tests, and keeping all your employment practices current and legal. Its also a good class for any business owner who already has employees and wants to update their employee handbook. Before you advertise for that first employee, however, really think through what youre looking for. What need are you trying to fill? Dont just hire someone because youre busy and need an extra pair of hands. Think strategically about where youll use that extra pair of hands. Maybe youre planning on hiring someone to help with administrative tasks, but would someone who could also manage your website and social media accounts be more helpful for the long term? When it comes to a fair salary, websites like salary.com, glassdoor.com, indeed.com, and payscale.com can help you determine going rates for similar positions. Glassdoor has a blog with articles youll find useful as you go through the hiring process, and some sites allow you to post your job for free. Starting salary is one thing, but youll also need to define work hours, overtime, vacation and sick leave policies, holidays and unpaid leave. As a sole proprietor you may not have thought about whether a day off was a vacation day or a sick day, but now youll want to consider all this before you make an offer to that first employee. Be as generous as possible, but be clear about how much time off youll allow and how its accumulated. Also determine when youll pay your employees, whether its weekly, biweekly or monthly, and if youll pay by direct deposit or check. When it comes to a benefits package, again, be as generous as possible, but be clear about who is eligible for coverage, when they can enroll, and whether you will pay some or all of the costs for the employee, spouse and family. Putting it all in writing in a basic employee handbook is a good idea. For more info, download a free mini-guide from USA columnist and small business expert Rhonda Abrams at https://payroll.intuit.com/hire-your-first-employee-free-book/. Also find resources at www.shrm.org. Jacqueline Taylor is deputy director of the Texas Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center Network, a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business. Information is intended to provide general guidance only. Send questions to jtaylor@uh.edu. For music directors of orchestras and ensembles, deciding what pieces to play on a concert is the fun part that comes before the budgeting, the purchase or rental of the music and the slog of rehearsals. As principal conductor of the Capital Region Wind Ensemble, Brett L. Wery has become a master at the fine art of programming. The ensemble's concert on Sunday, May 20, is titled "Release the Hounds" and each piece relates in one way or another to man's best friend. The program opens with "Orion's Sword" by Alan Lee Silva. Students of astronomy know that the sword of Orion, the great hunter in the winter sky, points directly at the "dog star," also known as Sirius. Sure enough, the next piece on the program is Joel Puckett's "The Shadow of Sirius," a flute concerto featuring soloist Jacqueline Wright, the ensemble's principal flutist. After the concerto comes Wery's own Dance Suite. He explains that the piece is akin to a Baroque dance suite, a once-popular form in which composers like Bach and Handel took popular dances like the courante, saraband, and gigue and transformed them into concert music. Wery does the same with the tango, waltz, polka, and fox trot. Each movement has a title and that's where we find the next dog connection. One of the movements is titled "Dog Day Tango" but it's a lazy tango that evokes the hottest days of summer. "It's indolent and slow and sags back into its lawn chair at the end," says Wery. Next up, "Aesop's Fables" by Scott Watson will feature as narrator Dean William Bennett, a professor of history at Schenectady County Community College. Dogs appear in several guises during the piece. It's divided into four movements, titled "The Hare and the Tortoise," "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," "The Dog and the Bone" and "The Wolf and His Shadow." The concert ends in high spirits with "The Hounds of Spring" by Alfred Reed, a rousing favorite in band literature. The title comes from a phrase in a poem by the Victorian English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne: "When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces." On top of the "hound" theme, Wery figured that those of us in the Northeast knew something about "winter's traces." "Programming a concert is like being a curator at a museum," says Wery. "Putting a great painting in the right place draws you through the room. Making a concert program works in much the same way. It's about making a compelling space for the listener." "I enjoy programming and find it very satisfying," continues Wery. "I've often told my wife, I wish I could make a living just creating programs for other people." "Release the Hounds" will be performed at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 20 at Schenectady County Community College's Taylor Auditorium. Tickets are $8-$10. Call 518-381-1231. Chromatics lineup Putting together a full season of concerts by visiting artists had its own challenges. Evan Tublitz handles that responsibility for the Troy Chromatics, which recently announced its 2018-19 season. Here's a run-down of what's in store: Sept. 21: The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will perform music of Arvo Part, Tchaikovsky and Theofanidis, plus Chopin's Concerto No. 2 with soloist Nobuyuki Tsujii, the blind Japanese pianist who tied for the gold medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. Nov. 11: The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra will join together for a concert of instrumental and sacred choral works by J.S. Bach and Part. Feb. 2, 2019: The Pinchas Zukerman Trio will perform music by Beethoven, Arensky and Brahms. Feb. 28, 2019: "Bernstein Centennial Celebration" features conductor John Mauceri conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Along with the overture to "Candide" and symphonic dances from "West Side Story," the all-Bernstein program includes some rarities like A Musical Toast, Three Meditations from MASS and the flute concerto "Halil" plus some lesser-known songs with mezzo Isabel Leonard. April 11, 2019: Light classics and music from the cinema will be performed by the Janoska Ensemble, a string trio with piano that records for Deutsche Grammophon. Prices for subscriptions and individual seats have not yet been announced. Watch troychromatics.org for more information. Departing leader saluted The Empire State Youth Orchestra is honoring Helen Cha-Pyo, its dynamic music director for the last 16 years, who is leaving to take the same position at the New Jersey Youth Symphony. At Cha-Pyo's final concert, on April 29 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, the board announced a new fund and an award named for the departing maestra. The new endowment fund was established by an anonymous $80,000 contribution, which was matched with an additional $40,000 by other donors. Annual proceeds will support the Helen Cha-Pyo Baton Award of $1,500, which will be given annually to an outstanding senior member of the orchestra who carries the spirit of community that characterized Cha-Pyo's tenure. An additional $5,000 of annual earnings will be applied to costs of instruments and private instruction for economically challenged students. Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy. Houston has no shortage of bars in Midtown to bend an elbow at but if you're looking for the very best, Yelp has you covered. The crowd-sourced review website features a list of the best spot for drinks based on reviews. At the very top of the list is Axelrad with a 4.5 out of 5 based on more than 700 reviews. Today is Saturday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2018. There are 233 days left in the year. Todays highlights in history: On May 12, 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. The two-week Trident Conference, headed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, opened in Washington. On this date: 1012: Pope Sergius IV died, ending a nearly three-year papacy; he was succeeded by Pope Benedict VIII. 1780: During the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, S.C., surrendered to British forces. 1870: An act creating the Canadian province of Manitoba was given royal assent, to take effect in July. 1932: The body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, N.J.. 1937: Britains King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort. 1949: The Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift. 1958: The United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD). 1967: Are You Experienced, the debut album of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was released in Britain by Track Records. Procol Harums debut single A Whiter Shade of Pale was released in the United Kingdom on the Deram label. English poet laureate John Masefield died in Abingdon at age 88. 1978: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that hurricanes would no longer be given only female names. 1982: In Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the popes longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.) 1997: Australian Susie Maroney became the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida, covering the 118-mile distance in 24 hours. 2003: The Texas House ground to a standstill after 51 Democratic lawmakers left the state in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan. (The Democrats returned four days later from Oklahoma, having succeeded in killing the bill.) 2008: A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Chinas Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing. Irena Sendler, credited with saving some 2,500 Jewish children from the Holocaust, died in Warsaw, Poland, at age 98. Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg died on Captiva Island, Fla, at age 82. Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history during the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto, which won the match, 3-0, in 10 innings. NBC announced that Jimmy Fallon would succeed Conan OBrien as host of Late Night. 2013: Pope Francis gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peters Square. Nineteen people were wounded in a gang-related shooting during a Mothers Day parade in New Orleans. Serena Williams kept her No. 1 ranking and added career title No. 50 as she beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open; Rafael Nadal won his fifth title since returning from a knee injury by beating Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4. 2017: Dozens of countries were hit with a huge cyberextortion attack that locked up computers and held users files for ransom at a multitude of hospitals, companies and government agencies. A gunman killed Kirkersville, Ohio, Police Chief Steven Eric DiSario as well as two employees at a nearby nursing home before taking his own life; authorities said one of the employees was the gunmans ex-girlfriend. Pope Francis urged Catholics to tear down all walls and spread peace during a visit to Fatima, Portugal, as he marked the 100th anniversary of one of the most unique events of the 20th-century Catholic Church: the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three illiterate shepherd children. Former employees of Bay Area Regional Medical Center have filed a class action lawsuit against the company after the medical center announced its abrupt closure and plan to file bankruptcy on May 4. The plaintiffs, named in court documents as Sandra Hood and Harry Bowers, allege that Bay Area Regional did not give employees proper notice that the company would be closing, qualifying them as "aggrieved employees." Houston-based Wedge Properties Management has expanded its local portfolio with the acquisition of the Three Sugar Creek office building in Sugar Land. Wedge purchased the six-story, 154,263-square-foot building at 3 Sugar Creek Blvd. near U.S. 59 and U.S. 90 from Houston-based Radler Enterprises, which had owned it since 2014. Wedges holdings include downtowns 1415 Louisiana building, formerly known as Wedge International Tower. We were not actually looking in Houston, said Wedge CEO Greg Armstrong, who was impressed by a flyer that showed the building was available. It was a top quality asset in our backyard that appeared to be counter-cyclical to other energy sensitive holdings. The building, which was completed in 2008, is 95 percent leased with Aetna, Regus and Pioneer Bank among its larger tenants. Three Sugar Creek is close to 10 hotels, scores of restaurants and shopping at Sugar Land Town Square and First Colony Mall. H. Dan Miller and Marty Hogan of HFF represented the seller, along with Tom Radom of Radler Enterprises, and also procured the buyer. Susan Hill and Wally Reid of HFF arranged a 10-year, fixed rate acquisition loan for Wedge. Its a good, stable cash flowing asset thats in impeccable condition, Miller said. HFF had been marketing the property since last summer, touting it as one of the top properties in the region. Another nearby building, the stair-stepped designed Sugar Creek on the Lake building along U.S. 59, was taken off the market by a different ownership group to address damages from Hurricane Harvey. The core suburban office buildings are a little bit more challenging to sell across the country, Miller said. The majority of the investors out there are looking for more value-add opportunity deals in Houston. Houston office investment sales have picked up after dropping off in 2016 following the crash in oil prices, Miller said. After two years of negative absorption in office space, Miller projects demand will turn around this year. The Sugar Land office submarket is among the Houston areas top performers. Its vacancy rate of 11.7 percent compares with 18.5 percent for the Houston area overall, according to a Colliers International first quarter report. Founded in the 1970s, Wedge is a privately-held investment company with a portfolio of seven office properties in Houston, Austin and Irving, seven hotels across the U.S., and urban land for future developments. A decade ago, Wedge scrapped plans to put a hotel on land it owns next to 1415 Louisiana. Its skyscrapers garage is now a canvas for the new 13-story Sky Dance mural celebrating Houston arts. We decided not to build for a while and let people enjoy the mural for a while, Armstrong said. katherine.feser@chron.com twitter.com/kfeser Cause One Productions Inc. and Cause One Manitoba Inc. ABC canceled two of its dramas today, "Designated Survivor" and "Quantico," NBC canceled two series today, military drama "The Brave" and action drama "Taken," while Fox canceled supernatural drama, "Lucifer" and "The Exorcist." ABC's "Designated Survivor" was canceled after two seasons. The political thriller starring Keiffer Sutherland as the man who was made President after a terrorist attack on the entire U.S. government was a modest success in its first season. However, the second season had a dramatic decline in viewership and was one of ABC's lower-rated dramas. FBI series "Quantico" was canceled after three seasons on ABC. Like "Designated Survivor," "Quantico" was a breakout hit when it debuted only to face sagging ratings later in its freshman season. However, because it sold well internationally, ABC kept the series for two more seasons. Freshman series "The Brave" was described as "a journey into the complex world of America's elite undercover military heroes." It was one of three military dramas that debuted in the fall 2018 television season, along with "Valor" on The CW, and "SEAL Team" on CBS. "SEAL Team" was renewed for a second season earlier this year, while "Valor" was canceled this week. "Taken," a prequel to the popular Liam Neeson films of the same name, was canceled after two seasons. NBC had removed it from their Friday night schedule earlier in the year and it was not expected to be renewed. According to "Variety," the producers are now shopping the series to other networks. After three seasons, there are no more prayers left for "Lucifer," the Tom Ellis drama about a charming Lord of Hell who grows bored and decides to help solve crimes in Los Angeles. The series was based on a DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Carey, and Mike Dringenberg. "The Exorcist" received a surprise renewal last season after a low-rated freshman outing. However, the series received critical acclaim and attracted notable actors like Geena Davis and John Cho. Star power wasn't able to exorcise the series ratings demons, however, and it was Fox's lowest-rated series last season. There still more than 40 series' fates hanging in the balance. In the gallery above, check out which shows are most likely to be canceled or renewed, and which seven shows are just too close to call. Therese Odell writes about television at FoolishWatcher.com. Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated "S.W.A.T." is a military drama. It is a police drama. "S.W.A.T" and "SEAL Team" were both renewed. Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page / Courtesy of the City of Humble Fire Department Facebook page The city of Humble is taking measures to bolster their water rescue resources in preparation for possible future water events. According to the April 2018 monthly report from the Humble Fire Marshals Office, Humble has a new high-water vehicle an M1078 military vehicle weighing 2.5 tons. The new vehicle is in addition to the high-water vehicle the city had purchased in spring 2017 to replace an aging M35 military vehicle. The one we purchase in 2017 was used for rescues during Hurricane Harvey, and the vehicle was a great asset during the floods, said James Nykaza, city of Humble Fire Marshal. It rescued over two hundred people from numerous areas of the city. City administrators and I felt that a second vehicle would make us more self-sufficient during times of flooding and high water. We purchased the second vehicle this spring 2018 and it will be set up the same as the one purchased last year. The vehicles were previously used by the U.S. Military. If purchased new, M1078 vehicles cost $120,000. However, the city of Humble was able to obtain the vehicles through the Texas Facilities Commission Federal Surplus for only $7,000 each, explained Nykaza. After painting, lights, radio and equipment, the city has (put) approximately $12,000 into each vehicle, Nykaza said. With the addition of the second high-water vehicle, the citys Emergency Management fleet now consists of a Polaris Utility Task Vehicle, two high-water vehicles and one 17-foot semi-V aluminum flat-bottom rescue boat. The city is taking further measures to enhance their water rescue abilities by sending emergency personnel to a rescue boat training course. Due to the size and scope of the flooding that has occurred inside the city of Humble, it is imperative to have emergency personnel trained in all aspects of rescue boat utilization, Nykaza said. This will ensure that our employees and citizens are safe during the operation of the rescue boat. According to the April report, fire captains and field training officers underwent rescue boat training, which took place recently at Deussen Park on Lake Houston. They and Fire Marshal Office personnel participated in rescue boat training in Cypress by the Harris County Firefighters Association. At this time, we have sent the Shift Captains and Shift Field Training Officers to a two-day course that teaches them rescue boat operations and rescue techniques, Nykaza said. This course is a hands-on training course and they used the city-owned rescue boat during the class. Over the course of the summer, the city will continue sending more Fire Department personnel to the class to ensure all personnel have undergone the training. The purchase of a second-high water vehicle and the advanced training is in preparation for any water issue that the city may come into, Nykaza said. Also to ensure that our employees have the necessary knowledge and equipment to complete their jobs safely. mfeuk@hcnonline.com The new fiscal year starts in July and the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 10 board approved a budget for fiscal year 2019 that shows a $40.8 million total budget and an $89.1 million total budget and ending fund balance in May. The budget was passed but is subject to any changes the city of Houston might make, which when made, the TIRZ board would have to ratify before submitting it to the city. One of the changes, according to Jennifer Curley, economic development senior analyst with the city of Houston, is removing the Unrestricted Funds line from the budget. Part of the narrative with regard to the media is that TIRZ has all this unrestricted funds because what happens is you guys issue debt, but that is pledged to a project, so technically its not unrestricted, Curley said. TIRZ consultant Ralph De Leon explained that although the unrestricted funds listed under fiscal year 2019 says $44 million, that approximately $35 million of that will be used for Phase I of the Northpark Drive project. Because the project has not yet been bid, the projected cost doesnt outwardly appear to be encumbered, which makes the fund balance look bigger than it actually will be. Im going to make a change on the budget before we send it to councilWe dont want to tell the public that all of this money is unrestricted when it really is not. Its going to your capital projects, Curley said. TIRZ 10 vice chair Philip Ivy requested any funds that are actually discretionary be put into drainage to alleviate flooding, as well as into parks. I just hear all the time people saying we need to find this money for drainage. Then, if theres any money left over, Id like it to go to parks, Ivy said. That helps home values. TIRZ receives funding based on the property values within their zones. Sarman said funding options for drainage and parks would be explored. 4 p.m. UPDATE: Police in West University Place say a former mayor at the center of a statewide Silver Alert has been found eight hours after going missing near Greenway Plaza on Friday morning. ORIGINAL STORY: Police in West University Place are searching for a former mayor last seen Friday morning. Richard "Burt" Ballanfant, 70, suffers from Alzheimer's disease, police said. He was last seen around 8 a.m. at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the 3700 block of the Southwest Freeway near Edloe Street. He was seen driving a red 2017 Chevrolet Cruz bearing Texas license plate HDL-3192. Police were unable to provide a clothing description. Ballanfant is describe as being 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing about 195 pounds. He has brown eyes and gray hair. Anyone with information about Ballanfant's whereabouts is urged to call West University police at 713-668-0330. Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan. Bridgeland is buzzing with activity. The 11,400-acre development of the Howard Hughes Corp. is adding neighborhoods, selling homes and preparing to build a new recreation center perched beside a lake. In the meantime, house-hunters are perusing model homes in the new Parkland Village neighborhood. Plans are also underway for future amenities and developers are dreaming of the next steps to keep the community in demand. For long-term resident Jaye Cremer, all the activity is a good thing. Her family has lived in the master planned community for almost 11 years. We were within the first 300 residents in the entire neighborhood, she said. She recalls being able to see Fry Road past the empty lots. Now there are hundreds and hundreds of homes there, she said. Its just grown immensely. The more Bridgeland has expanded, the more the development has to offer, Cremer said. There used to be one community swimming pool, she said. Now we have a lap pool, a dog park, two more large recreation areas. The amenities have kept up with the growth. There are also more families joining the communitys annual events and more neighbors to join the running club Cremer started, USA Fit Cypress. She competed in her first triathlon when Bridgeland hosted one and has been hooked ever since. Cremer said that the nature trails and parks attracted her and her husband to the area, as well as the quality schools. Everything about Bridgeland spoke to us, she said. And we never once looked back. Heath Melton, vice president of master planned communities for residential at Howard Hughes, said the development continues to move full speed ahead, as it moves into its 12th year. More Information Want to know more? For more information about Bridgeland, visit http://bridgeland.com. See More Collapse Sales in the neighborhood are up 27 percent since last year. In a market that was relatively flat, that was huge, he said. Homes in the community range from around $240,000 to more than $1 million. He credits the extension of Grand Parkway for attracting more commuters to the area. Another driver to the development was the fact that it stayed high and dry during Harvey. We did not have a single home that took water, Melton said. One of the first questions people ask after Harvey is whether any homes flooded in Bridgeland. Were fortunate to say no. He also lives in the community and the schools were key in his decision-making. Bridgeland High School and Wells Elementary School, in the Cy-Fair Independent School District, both opened this year. A middle school is expected to be added to the multi-school campus in the next few years. Having schools on site is probably one of the top five amenities you can offer in a community, Melton said. Being able to hike and bike to school is really important, especially when both parents work. He added that there are more options for families wanting to move to the area. Howard Hughes recently announced the groundbreaking of its first multi-family community in Bridgeland. There are also more homes coming online, since the development opened its second neighborhood, Parkland Village. Melton said about 2,000 visitors arrived for the celebration in early April. There are 20 model homes to tour in the new section. Melton said Parkland is inspired by Bostons Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks and waterways. We want to invite our residents to linger longer outside, he said. The neighborhood will feature a fitness center and event space, as well as a lazy river, sprayground and dog parks. Already, 200 homes have sold in Parkland Village. The first 100 buyers will be honored in the communitys Settlers Park. Melton said the current Josey Lake project will give residents even more opportunities to explore the natural environment. The 140-acre waterway will offer kayaking on a three-mile loop, a birding tower, hammocks, an event lawn and a playground. The project is expected to open by Memorial Day. Once Parkland Village is developed, next on the list are Prairieland Village and Creekland Village, both located across the Grand Parkway. There are also plans for a town center in the next three to five years, as well as larger, vertical office spaces in the next decade. Its all market-driven, depending on the needs and demands of the community, Melton said. The first retail center in the development was constructed two years ago. Lakeland Village Center features anchor tenant is CVS and is home to fitness centers, dentist and medical offices, restaurants, salons and shops. In the future, Melton said Bridgeland hopes to offer residents a vibrant business district. In The Woodlands, we wanted to create one job for every rooftop, he said. Thats part of our vision for Bridgeland too. A teenager was hospitalized after a shooting in southwest Houston on Thursday. Houston police were called out to a residential area near the intersection of Quail Park Drive and Quail Glenn Drive, near the Fort Bend Parkway and FM 2234, around 4:45 p.m. for an assault in progress, Houston police said. ARREST: Houston man allegedly used fake name in HCC shooting threat A group of students got off the school bus and were fighting, police said. As police were on their way, a suspect in a silver vehicle pulled a gun and opened fire on the students, striking an 18-year-old in the abdomen. The victim was taken to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital and is in stable condition. The shooter left in the silver vehicle, police said. No one else was hurt in the shooting. No other information was available. Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan. A new Houston Chronicle report published this week details how investors big and small are buying up homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey in order to flip them for profit. According to the report, some 5,500 home have been purchased so far and turned into sought-after rental properties. MONEY TALKS: Who's buying Harvey-flooded homes in Houston? Mostly investors Those renters, according to Texas law, don't need to be told by landlords that they are in danger of being flooded out, either. With flood insurance, the investing entities and their interests are largely taken care of. While these out-of-state investors (from the west and east coasts) see the work as helping rehab some of Houston's hardest hit areas, others are of the mind that they are hampering work by local government to buy out flood-prone properties so no more damage and displacement is done. "All we're doing is perpetuating a cycle of flooding," Harris County Flood Control operations chief Matt Zeve told the Houston Chronicle. These homes, while they have new bells and whistles and those cool USB outlets, are still prone to flooding because the infrastructure still hasn't changed around them. HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: In Houston's flooded neighborhoods, real estate investors see an opportunity When another hurricane on par with Harvey comes knocking on Houston's door, and it eventually will, these detractors think that the cycle will start all over again. And it might not even take a torrential Harvey-esque rain event either as we have learned over the years around here. In the slideshow above we rounded up the neighborhoods in the Houston metro area that are seeing the most activity by investors. It's food for thought as the Houston area and the Gulf Coast prepares for the opening of yet another hurricane season. Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. U.S. Customs and Border Protection/AP Photo/U.S. Customs and Border Protection An impressive photo by Texas police shows the lengths alleged drug smugglers will go to hide contraband. On Thursday, the Round Rock Police Department shared a photo of a Honda Accord's modified gas tank containing 71 pounds of methamphetamine, worth $2 million. NEAT DATA: Map shows which drugs are most common in the Texas workforce Police said they discovered the massive cache of drugs after an officer pulled over a vehicle whose occupants had conflicting stories. During the traffic stop on Interstate 35 authorities said a K-9 drug-sniffing dog gave a positive alert leading to the bust. Police said an estimated $2 million worth of methamphetamine was crammed inside the modified gas tank. From the looks of the slushy contraband, it doesn't seem like the cleanest way to ship a product. Round Rock police arrested 36-year-old Leon Fields of Theodore, Alabama, on a charge of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, reports the Austin-American Statesman. Scroll through above to see some of the strangest and most unique ways drugs have been smuggled. Motorists and pedestrians may gradually see changes along the major roadways in north and northwest Harris County as the Texas Department of Transportation continues with projects along FM 1960, Texas 249 and the North Freeway. Patrick Gant, TxDOT schematic design supervisor for the Houston region, update the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce of upcoming and current projects. TxDOT is working on a project to widen FM 1960 to improve mobility near the train tracks near Willowbrook Mall. Congestion truly is an issue along FM 1960, said Gant. Every day, between 10 to 15 trains travel in the area, which holds back traffic, Gant said. To help relieve the pileup, TxDOT plans on adding an additional lane to either side to have four lanes in both the directions heading east and west from the current three lanes. The idea is that if theres an additional lane, once the gate arms come up, that long queue can dissipate faster if you had more lanes, Gant said. TxDOT is currently seeking to obtain property along the corridor to widen the road and has so far obtained approximately 30 percent for the widening can begin, Gant said. Since last year, TxDOT began a project to provide access to sidewalks along the corridor by constructing curb ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramps and sidewalks provide pedestrian accessibility to corridors. Theres a lot of destinations, as we know people want to see on the parkway. Theres Metro stops and theres evidence of footpaths, he said. The local municipal utility districts and chambers of commerce would need to raise funds to build and connect sidewalks along FM 1960, Gant said. The North Freeway is another major roadway that would need changes made to help reduce gridlock during peak traffic times in the mornings and evenings. Growth in the Houston region may add about 4 million more people with 1.5 million new jobs, according to data from the Houston-Galveston Area Council, which could lead to an uptick of up to 60 percent increase in traffic. According to TxDOT studies, motorists heading southbound on the North Freeway tend to have shorter traveling times than those traveling northbound. TxDOT is in the early stages of collecting and analyzing data to determine what changes need to be made on the North Freeway in its planning and environmental linkage study. The study is targeting 34 miles along the freeway, which sees about 275,000 vehicles traveling daily, starting at the Beltway 8 in north Houston all the way up to Loop 336 south in Conroe, Gant said. Safety is another issue the study seeks to tackle. Between 2012 to 2016, the North Freeway had 11,992 crashes with 2,832 injury crashes, 228 fatal or incapacitating injuries, 33 accidents involving pedestrians and 126 involving cyclists, he said. Texas 249 is another major roadway requiring safety improvements, Gant said. The exit ramps between Spring Cypress Road and Louetta Road on Texas 249 are expected to move back to be farther away from the intersections. The exit ramp would be pulled back upstream so that theres a longer distance between the exit ramp and the intersection, Gant said. The change in the exit ramps would allow for more vehicle capacity and clear out congestion near the intersections for added safety. The project is expected to start in 2019, he said. TxDOT announced last month that two lanes would be added between Chasewood Drive and Gregson Road along Texas 249. Currently, there are six lanes and after restriping, there will be eight lanes mayra.cruz@chron.com The makeup of The Woodlands Township Development Standards Committee has changed for the second time in six months after the resignation of one member and the appointment of township resident Arthur Bredehoft as a replacement. In a unanimous 6-0 vote on April 19, Bredehoft was appointed by township board members to fill the vacant position on the DSC created by the resignation of member Ronald Harris, who had about eight months left on his two year term. Director Brian Boniface was not present for the vote. Harris was initially appointed to the DSC in December 2016, but he resigned his position on April 5 for unspecified reasons. A longtime volunteer on several community boards and organizations, Bredehoft said his desire to join the DSC arose from his nearly 20 years as a member of the Residential Design Review Committee in the Village of Alden Bridge. Bredehoft is also on the Montgomery County Memorial Library System board as well as a board member of Montgomery County Municipal Utility District 47. It is about continued community service, Bredehoft said of his interest in the DSC. I wanted to take my experience on the RDRC and move it up to the next level on the DSC to hear the appeals and applications. Bredehoft began his stint on the DSC at the May 2 meeting of the committee; he will serve out the remainder of Harris term, which was slated to end in December 2018. Bredehoft is the third new member to join the committee since December. In December 2017, local resident Denis Carmichael spoke to the township board of directors, asking them to not renew terms of former DSC chairwoman Deborah Sargeant and another DSC member, Chris Florack, due to controversies stemming from how the DSC was handling an ongoing dispute between residents in the Laurelhurst neighborhood and officials with the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. After hearing complaints about the two DSC members at the December meeting, the township board voted to replace Sargeant and Florack with two members of the The Woodlands Township board of directors John Anthony Brown and Brian Boniface. During the first meeting of 2018, DSC members approved member Walter Lisiewski as the committees new chairman. The DSC is comprised of four members appointed by the township board and another three members appointed by The Woodlands Development Co. Bredehoft works in the international shipping industry as a global manager for client services for A.P. Moller Maersk-SAF Marine, where he helps coordinate international cargo shipping and transportation of products. A native of Bayonne, New Jersey, Bredehoft lives in the Cottage Green neighborhood of the Village of Alden Bridge with his wife. The couple has lived in The Woodlands for two different stints from 1990-1997 and again from 1999 to present. Being on the DSC, Bredehoft said, is a form of positive influence on both residents and the community as a whole. It is always a positive to be a part of a committee that provides equity and fairness to residents, and that meets the needs of the covenants, he said. It is good when you make a positive influence on lives. Bredehoft said his son and his family live only a few blocks away from him in Alden Bridge, and he added that loves both the high quality of life in The Woodlands as well as the caring nature of residents which he said is evident in how much volunteerism exists in the township. Thats the real beauty of our community, he said of volunteering. This community has a high level of volunteerism. It is democracy in action. Jeff Forward is the editor of The Woodlands Villager. He can be reached at 713-362-4421. After more than 25 years of serving local children and their families, a long-standing, privately owned preschool in The Woodlands is closing its doors for good. The Woodlands School for Young Scholars, located at Grogans Park, will have its last day for students on May 25. The school will remain open until June 2. School Director and Owner Sheryl Krzemien, who took over the school in 2003, said making the decision to close the school has been difficult and somewhat emotional. I dont want to be emotional, but thats probably been the hardest for me, Krzemien said of the students shes leaving behind and trying to help move into other schools. I know there are options for that, but the schools are not uniquely what we do; and some of the younger kids are from families that have been with me with two or three kids. The school currently has about18 enrolled students and four teachers, the smallest staff the school has ever had, Krzemien said. At its largest, The Woodlands School for Young Scholars had 80 students and 12 teachers, she added. Over the years, the staff has dwindled and with it the amount of students enrolled in the school. Krzemien said she had been mentally preparing to close the school for some time. Both of Krzemiens children, who are now adults, each went through the preschool when it was under a different owner. Her son, who is preparing to go to graduate school for his masters degree, recently graduated from college, she said. I started when he was a kindergartner. I think its time for me to move on, Krzemien said. Its time to move on and maybe do something different. Its been great for us as a family and for the community. Krzemien said she still very much a part of her students lives and is planning an event to close out the school year, where former staff and TWSFYS families will be invited to attend. The school will donate its books and educational materials to St. Augustine School in Belton, Texas, and to a local Houston-area school recovering from damage from Hurricane Harvey. Michelle Iracheta ALBANY President Donald Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen knew of sexual misconduct allegations against former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2013, according to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday by a Putnam County attorney. The attorney, Peter Gleason of Mahopac, claims that two women had approached him independently of one another and about a year apart claiming that Schneiderman had been "sexually inappropriate" with them. Gleason says in the letter that he discouraged the women from reporting the incidents, but discussed the matter with Steve Dunleavy, a retired journalist, who offered to relay the information to Trump. Gleason wrote that he later received a phone call from Cohen whose dealings with Trump are being investigated by federal authorities and that he disclosed some details of the alleged incidents. Dunleavy, in a Friday interview with CNBC, acknowledged that he had a relationship with Trump but denied that he spoke to him about the alleged incidents involving the two women. "I may have spoken to Trump once since I retired" in 2008, Dunleavy told CNBC. He added, "I've never spoken to Cohen, ever, ever in my life." A cryptic 2013 tweet from Trump, who at the time was being sued by Schneiderman's office for his role in the "Trump University" success program, signaled that he was aware of the allegations. In it, he compared Schneiderman to two disgraced politicians who resigned following their own sex scandals, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former U.S. Rep. Anthony D. Weiner. "Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner," Trump tweeted in September 2013, a month after Schneiderman's office filed its suit against Trump University. Gleason is asking U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood to grant an order preventing public disclosure of any records concerning conversations he had with Cohen related to the two women. He said the women's identifies should remain confidential. Gleason said he was motivated to file the request following recent "reckless behavior" by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels who on Tuesday released a seven-page dossier detailing payments made to Cohen by various companies, including one owned by a Russian oligarch. Schneiderman resigned Monday night just hours after the New Yorker's publication of a story detailing allegations by four women that Schneiderman physically and psychologically abused them. Gleason told the New York Times that he did not believe the two women who approached him were the same women whose stories are told in the New Yorker article. Michelle Manning Barish began dating Schneiderman in July 2013, according to the New Yorker story, while Tanya Selvaratnam began dating him in August 2016; a woman who remains unnamed in the story recounts an abusive encounter with Schneiderman that same summer, while a fourth alleged victim's account given to Selvaratnam is not dated in the story. Gleason's letter prompted New Yorker reporters Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow to counter theories that they had obtained any information from sources connected to the Trump campaign, noting that all the women cited in the story were Democrats. "Just to be clear: not one source for our story on Schneiderman has any ties to Trump or Michael Cohen," Mayer wrote on Twitter. "Our sources all are deeply opposed to Trump and deeply disappointed that Schneiderman let them and their cause down." Attempts to reach Gleason, Dunleavy, and Cohen were unsuccessful. The international nuclear agreement with Iran might not be the only deal President Donald Trump has unraveled. On Monday, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih was repeating his mantra that production cuts by OPEC and its allies must keep going. Within 48 hours, the kingdom had raised the prospect of increasing output. Between the two pronouncements came Trump's decision to scrap the Iran deal, re-imposing sanctions on the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter. "There is a good chance the current OPEC deal will end by end-2018, if not before," said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. in New York. For the past 16 months, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies have been constraining output to eliminate a global glut. They've largely achieved that goal, but the Saudis -- keen for higher prices -- have insisted the curbs should continue to drive oil stockpiles even lower. That policy may falter in the wake of Trump's Iran sanctions. While it's still uncertain how much he intends to curtail Iranian oil shipments, most analysts predict a cutback. "The Iranian sanctions may change the OPEC June meeting completely," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. "It's no longer about extending the production cuts, but rather about when to start raising output gradually." When the international sanctions were last in force on Iran from 2012 to 2015, it removed about 1 million barrels a day from the market. This time, America's allies in Europe want to keep the nuclear accord alive and are resisting joining any U.S. embargo. Estimates vary from "little impact" anticipated by Barclays Plc, to a potential loss of more than 50 percent of the country's 2.7 million barrels of daily shipments predicted by consultant FGE. Reduced flows from Iran would compound escalating losses in troubled OPEC member Venezuela, further draining global oil inventories while demand remains strong, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Brent oil futures rose to a three-year high of $78 a barrel on Thursday. This presents the Saudis with a dilemma: Should they retain their focus on higher prices and keep output steady? Or should they offer political and economic support to Trump, and take market share away from their regional rival, by raising production to fill the gap? A statement released by the kingdom a few hours after Trump's announcement seemed to provide the answer. Saudi Arabia will "mitigate the effects of any supply shortages," it said. Kuwait later gave a similar assurance. "The signal from that is: the Iranian oil lost, we will replace," Fereidun Fesharaki, founder and chairman of FGE, said in a Bloomberg television interview. Boosting output to compensate for Iran and reining in rising prices would prevent damage to the global economy, and fuel demand. With U.S. gasoline costs rising, the move could also appease Trump, who last month lashed out at OPEC for keeping prices "artificially very high." There are risks too. Increasing supply by too much, or without coordination with fellow producers such as Russia, could inundate markets and drive prices lower. The alliance they established in 2016 could dissolve into mutual rivalry and suspicion. "OPEC has to engage in some balancing acts," said Bassam Fattouh, director at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "They want to preserve the deal that they worked very hard to achieve," he said, referring to the group's historic production cuts. In a sign that Riyadh is aware of the political sensitivity of any oil-production increase, Al-Falih said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday that he was in "close contact" with other OPEC nations, Russia and the U.S. on how to "ensure market stability." Sanctions on Iran won't affect the deal between OPEC and its partners, Kuwait Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi said Thursday. Much depends on Russia. The Kremlin will have to weigh its alliance with Iran in the Syrian conflict against the new bond forged with Saudi Arabia and the temptation of boosting production of Urals crude that could replace Iranian barrels in Europe. If the latter argument prevails, President Trump's decision may in fact have finally provided OPEC and Russia, which in 2016 had expected their effort to take just six months, with an exit strategy. "The Saudi oil policy has been forced to change," said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. "The OPEC-Russia supply restriction is seeing its last days." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, locking in a historic, high-stakes summit aimed at curbing the rogue nation's nuclear weapons program. Trump made the announcement on Twitter just hours after welcoming home three Americans held captive for more than a year in North Korea during a dramatic overnight visit to meet their plane at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. The triumphant moment appeared to move Trump to overcome any final hesitation about the summit, which has been viewed as a potential reward to an outlaw regime that has brutalized its populace and consistently flouted international laws. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote in his tweet. At a rally Thursday evening in Elkhart, Indiana, Trump called the relationship with Pyongyang "good" and mocked those in the media who had criticized his strategy as too risky. "You remember everybody in the fake news saying, 'He's going to get us into a nuclear war,' " Trump said. "And you know what gets you into nuclear war and you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness, weakness." Trump said he believed the summit will be a "big success." But he added that "my attitude is, if it isn't, it isn't," suggesting that he would accept it if there was no deal to be made. "We're not going to be walked into an Iran deal where the negotiator, John Kerry, refused to leave the table," he said, prompting boos from the crowd at the mention of the secretary of state under President Barack Obama who negotiated the multilateral Iran nuclear deal. Trump announced this week that he would withdraw the United States. But even as Trump projected optimism that the summit, the first between sitting leaders of the two countries, could achieve a breakthrough in the United States' long antagonistic relationship with North Korea, critics began questioning parts of his strategy, including his sudden detente with Kim. During his trip to Andrews, Trump, who last year ridiculed Kim as "Little Rocket Man," thanked him for being "excellent to these three" Americans, who were released after spending more than a year each in captivity. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sharply criticized Trump's remarks about the Americans in a speech on the Senate floor, calling Kim a "dictator" who "robbed them of their freedom." One of the Americans reportedly asked to get off the U.S. government plane during a refueling stop in Anchorage on the way back from North Korea because he had not seen much daylight during his detention, Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview on "Good Morning America." Kim Dong-chul, who had been held in North Korea since October 2015 after being arrested while working in a special economic zone, told reporters at Andrews that he had been sentenced to do hard labor. The release of the Americans "should not be exalted; it should be expected," Schumer said. "It is no great accomplishment of Kim Jong Un to do this, and when the president does it, he weakens American foreign policy and puts American citizens at risk around the world." Republicans rallied behind Trump, with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., calling on lawmakers to give the president "some leeway" in his management of the summit process. "We've watched administrations of both parties not be able to achieve what we had all hoped for in North Korea, and that is a peninsula without nuclear weapons," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Fox News. "So this is as close as we've ever come. I think everybody's a little bit cautious in dealing with the North Koreans for all the obvious reasons, but this is quite significant. We've gotten this far, and the president deserves all the credit for getting them in a different position." At Andrews early Thursday, Trump cast the cooling of rhetoric as a way to enter the summit on a "new footing." To a question about Kim's motivation, Trump said: "I think he did this because I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world. I really believe that." Past presidents, including Obama and George W. Bush, were reluctant to meet with North Korean leadership over concerns that a summit would endorse the regime without securing meaningful commitments over denuclearization. John Brennan, who was CIA director in the Obama administration, said he is concerned that Kim is trying to "present an appearance of cooperation" to trick Trump into a summit meeting but will not agree to dismantling his nuclear arsenal. "I do think that Kim Jong Un, who I despise because of the brutality he has put upon the North Korean people, unfortunately I think he has been masterful in how he has manipulated perceptions and how he has manipulated and quite frankly duped Mr. Trump," Brennan said Thursday on MSNBC. Trump had floated other possible locations for the summit. Two weeks ago, the president seemed enamored with the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, where Kim met last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. That dialogue produced remarkable images of the two leaders holding hands while stepping back and forth over the heavily guarded dividing line. Trump ruminated on a "great celebration" to be had if he achieved his own breakthrough with Kim. But White House aides, cautious about moving too quickly given the complicated, hard-knuckle negotiations to be had over denuclearization, eyed a third-party country. They looked to Europe but focused more heavily on Southeast Asia, hoping to keep the summit close to the region while avoiding countries such as China and Russia that are geopolitical rivals to the United States. Questions over Kim's willingness to travel long distances also played a role in the planning, officials said. Singapore, a tiny island nation of 5.6 million that boasts one of the most advanced economies in Southeast Asia, made sense because it maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, which has an embassy and ambassador in the country. Singapore's ambassador based in Beijing also is responsible for Pyongyang. "Singapore is an ideal location for this summit," said David Adelman, an attorney at Reed Smith who was U.S. ambassador to the nation from 2010 to 2013 under Obama. "Really since its founding, Singapore has carefully cultivated a reputation where East meets West," he said. "They take great pride in being a friend to all. And they've done a great job doing so." The country has been the site of other high-profile summits. It plays host to an annual regional security conference called the Shangri-La Dialogue, which usually draws the U.S. defense secretary and top officials from China and other nations. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore, the first meeting between the leaders of those entities in seven decades. Some South Korean officials had hoped Trump would choose the demilitarized zone, in part because that would afford Moon a chance to potentially meet with the president quickly after his summit with Kim. Moon is scheduled to visit the White House on May 22 to brief Trump on his own meeting with Kim and discuss strategy ahead of Trump's summit. Singapore has enjoyed an increasingly close relationship with the United States. In 2012, the Obama administration agreed to upgrade Singapore to a strategic partner, and the countries signed an enhanced security agreement in 2015. But Singapore also has rigorously sought to maintain good relationships with U.S. rivals, especially China, which has flexed its economic and military muscle as Beijing seeks to expand influence in Southeast Asia. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founder, often cautioned that when two elephants fight in the jungle, the grass gets trampled - meaning that small countries must be careful to ensure they maximize their friendships among larger powers. Trump had pushed countries around the world to cut diplomatic and economic ties to Pyongyang as part of his "maximum pressure" strategy. Singapore has sought to abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, experts said, but its lucrative ports have served as a central shipping hub for North Korean exports. Trump's visit to the island nation will come five days after he meets with the leaders of six other world powers - France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan and Canada - at the Group of Seven summit in Quebec. That setting offers him another chance to consolidate support for his talks with Kim and will give him another audience with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who remains skeptical about North Korea's motives. Students who live near the Baylor Academy at Ryan Middle School will now be able to attend the medical-science magnet campus without filling out an application. Houston ISD's board of trustees voted unanimously Thursday to create a boundary option for the Third Ward campus, meaning students from the neighborhood will not need to meet academic requirements or fill out a magnet school application to seek admission to the school. Trustee Jolanda Jones, who represents Third Ward and had family members who attended Ryan before it became a magnet school, said of the change: "It's not as far reaching as I would like yet, but it's the first step towards making it a neighborhood school." Ryan Middle School was closed in 2013 after trustees cited low and declining student enrollment. Months later, trustees opted to reconstitute the campus into an open-enrollment magnet school through a partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine. At the time, Third Ward parents asked the board to give students in the neighborhood priority in enrollment. Trustees refused and said doing so would make Houston ISD less likely to win a multi-million-dollar federal grant for the school, because the grant discouraged preferential treatment. The board did not institute any academic requirements for getting into the school. Delores Rodgers, a speaker at Thursday's board meeting, said not saving seats for neighborhood students at Ryan is emblematic of issues with Houston ISD's magnet and school choice system. She said while Houston ISD's promotion of magnet programs appears to be a good thing at the surface level, the school choice system discriminates against students who are poor, black and Hispanic. "Even when these schools are built in our community, neighborhood kids can't attend," Rodgers said. "You increase parents' burdens and make their lives more difficult." Trustee Sergio Lira said the district's school choice system perpetuates inequities by developing schools with excellent programs in some neighborhoods but not in others. "This is a first step to turn around this system," Lira said. "I hope this is the beginning and sets a trend for unique schools where students in those neighborhoods don't always have the opportunity to attend." AUSTIN Even as incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott declared war on his choice of a Democratic challenger, Lupe Valdez and Andrew White geared up for their one-and-only debate on Friday night, less than two weeks to go before the crucial runoff election. Abbotts political campaign on Thursday launched a new website lupevaldez.org that labels the former Dallas County sheriff too liberal for Texas, while labeling her the presumptive Democrat nominee for governor. Valdez responded that her views are right for the new Texas, unlike Abbotts ultra-right views. No matter who wins the runoff to become the Democratic nominee, Thursdays flareup gives a clear hint of how the Texas governor's race will be scripted between now and the November general election. Valdez bested White in a March primary with about two times his votes, and has been considered the front-runner by party leaders, even though an April poll suggested they might both be within single-digits of Abbott. Valdez and White, both struggling with underfunded campaigns and low statewide name identification, are to debate at 7 p.m. Friday at St. James Episcopal Church on Austins eastside in a public forum that both campaigns hope will get their names out to draw support, so they can win the runoff. Debate organizers said Thursday the hour-long event will be livestreamed on kxan.com, and be seen on Spectrum cable in Austin and San Antonio, and perhaps other Texas TV stations, as well. It will feature a traditional debate format. Both Valdez and White on Thursday were reported to be prepping fore the debate. There is a lot of enthusiasm for this event, said Celia Morgan, president of Texas Young Democrats, one of the debate sponsors. In contrast to his Democratic challengers, the generally popular and well-known Abbott is the current Daddy Warbucks of Texas politics, with more than $40 million in his campaign war chest. He caused a political stir several weeks ago by tweeting that Valdez was the likely the Democratic nominee. In his new attack, Abbott who several weeks ago caused a political stir by announcing Valdez was the likely the Democratic nominee blasted Valdez for her promise to eviscerate a state-passed ban on sanctuary cities, for her pro-choice stance and support of Planned Parenthood, and for wanting to expand Obamacare in Texas. Abbott signed the sanctuary city ban into law and campaigned to stop state funding to Planned Parenthood and its abortion advocacy Valdez ... wants to put Texas on the pathway to become a liberal sanctuary state in the mold of California, Texans for Greg Abbott campaign manager John Jackson said in a statement. The website will feature the far-left positions Valdez would pursue as governor, starting with her anti-life and pro-abortion views. In a statement responding to Abbotts attack, Valdez defended her positions. I'm a proud Texan. I was born here, went to Texas public schools, am a veteran and a former Texas sheriff, she said. I know firsthand the importance of looking out for all Texans, not just corporations and well-connected CEOs. The New Texas that I'm fighting for is one where all Texans have opportunities to succeed. There is nothing too liberal about that. In a separate development Thursday, Valdez was endorsed by former San Antonio mayor and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. Unlike Governor Abbott, Lupe Valdez will be a champion for all of us, Castro said in a statement. As a migrant farmworker, Army veteran and most recently as Sheriff of Dallas County, Lupe has a lived a life of hard work and sacrifice qualities everyday Texans know and respect. Our state deserves a Governor who will fight to expand opportunity for all Texans, not just those at the top. The 21-year-old college student accused of shutting down Houston Community College for two days with threats of a mass shooting has a history of mental health issues, his attorney told a judge Friday. Luis Antonio Rivera, 21, is accused of using a fake name to make an online threat on May 4 that resulted in the central campus being closed Monday and Tuesday as HCC police and FBI agents investigated the threat, according to a police affidavit. HCC police have confirmed Rivera is enrolled at the community college. Rivera also threatened President Donald Trump and local school districts. Rivera was charged Thursday with making a terrorist threat. A judge in Harris County's Probable Cause Court set Rivera's bond at $20,000, lower than the $50,000 that prosecutors had requested based on the "severity of the threats." Public defender Sherlene Cruz had asked that bond be set at $2,500. Rivera has been diagnosed as autistic, which should be taken into consideration while setting bond, she said. "I would also ask the court to consider the fact that Mr. Rivera's mental acuity or mental capacity may not be that of a person normally making these threats," Cruz said. The district attorney's office has accused Rivera of using the name Elijah Eli Saltibanez to make a threatening post on Facebook. The post said he would "attack and shoot everyone and kill everyone in hcc Central campus in May 7 2018 I will kill everyone including students and teachers are gonna die and also I will kill the hcc police department." Making a terroristic threat is a third-degree felony, and carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. The judge said he understood many of the public defender and prosecutor's points. "You've made some very good arguments on his behalf," he said to Cruz. "On the other hand, there are some counterveiling arguments regarding public safety and disruption of the HCC system ... These threats are taken very seriously, especially these days." The HCC post came amid an uptick in threats toward schools around the nation, particularly in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February. Such threats surged by 300 percent in the month after the Parkland shooting, according to the Educator's School Safety Network, which tracks shooting threats. More than 45 percent of those threats came from social media, the network reported. Reporter Lindsay Ellis contributed to this article. Emotions continued to run high Thursday as residents offered both condemnation and support of Houston ISD Board of Trustees President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, whose leadership has been questioned following a raucous board meeting last month that ended with two arrests. With about 300 people in attendance, dozens of residents demanded trustees take steps to restore trust with the community with many calling for the removal of Skillern-Jones from her presidency while a smaller contingent rose to back Skillern-Jones' leadership. Unlike the board's meeting on April 24, there was no skirmish between members of the public and HISD police during Thursday's six-hour meeting. HISD's meeting in April drew national attention after police made the arrests and temporarily removed all members of the public, with some resisting officers. The scuffle came after Skillern-Jones ordered the room cleared when attendees continued to make noise during public comment after she warned them to remain quiet. The two arrested were released the next day and not charged. EDITORIAL: HISD board may have violated Texas Open Meetings Act Community members were given more latitude Thursday to respond as about 100 speakers began addressing trustees, with Skillern-Jones issuing no warnings about noise. One speaker pointed at trustees, calling each a "coward." Another wore a shirt declaring "Not Afraid of Rhonda." Several speakers told trustees that members of the public have been unfairly targeted for their activism, demanding better treatment from the board and police. "I'm not dangerous. I'm not the enemy," said speaker Karina Quesada-Leon, whom Skillern-Jones ordered to leave the podium at last month's meeting. "I show up because I want a well-rounded education for every child in HISD." Several trustees have voiced frustration or apologized for arrests and upset last month, taking responsibility for failing to diffuse the situation. To date, only one trustee, Elizabeth Santos, has publicly called on Skillern-Jones to step down from her leadership position. Skillern-Jones, who has expressed regret that her decision to clear the room resulted in arrests and public criticism, said she doesn't plan to relinquish her post. "That meeting was not indicative of who I am or where my heart lies," Skillern-Jones said Thursday in an interview before the meeting. "I hope there's room for forgiveness. I hope there is an opportunity to be able to give this work what I have left to give." The conflict between the board and some community members has simmered for months, as HISD sought ways to stave off sanctions due to its failure to improve academic performance at 10 low-performing schools. Hundreds of parents and advocates have attended recent community meetings and board meetings, with many demanding the district sue the state over a law passed in 2015 that put sanctions on the table. So far, only one trustee has voiced public support for litigation, with others arguing a lawsuit would be costly, lengthy and unlikely to succeed. Instead, HISD's administration proposed surrendering control over the 10 schools to Energized For STEM Academy Inc., a nonprofit that runs four in-district HISD charter schools, as a method for avoiding sanctions. At last month's meeting, when trustees were scheduled to vote on the Energized For STEM Academy Inc. agreement, about 100 community members attended. They arrived to find dozens of chairs removed from the board room and a heavy police presence, fostering the belief that HISD officials wanted to limit public input. Source: Texas Education Agency | Data compiled by Jacob Carpenter | Created by Rachael Gleason/Houston Chronicle Source: Texas Education Agency | Data compiled by Jacob Carpenter | Created by Rachael Gleason/Houston Chronicle "Quite frankly, it appears to the public that HISD has no idea what it's doing, and it's no exaggeration that a large percentage of the people I come across as a parent are deciding whether to stay in HISD," Amy Maddux, the mother of two eighth-grade students in the district, said during Thursday's meeting. In Skillern-Jones' defense, about 15 speakers lauded the seven-year trustee, citing her work as a board member and deep ties to her district. "She's helped us to bring unprecedented resources to our schools," said Jesse Woods, a former district employee who spent 18 years as a principal. "She doesn't just work in our schools. She works in our communities as well." Skillern-Jones said trustees are exploring options for offering additional time for public comment. In recent months, trustees have reduced the amount of time given to each speaker during public comment to one or two minutes, citing the need to move meetings along faster to comply with state-mandated governance policies. Trustees on Thursday also heard that HISD showed across-the-board increases in fifth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores on the first administration of state standardized tests. The improved scores were nearly identical to statewide increases, but Trustee Anne Sung noted HISD faced additional hurdles this year due to Hurricane Harvey. "In a year when we, in Houston, were closed for the first two weeks of school, that we still outperformed the state, that's wonderful," Sung said. Trustees also unanimously voted to move forward with a wide-ranging performance audit, which would involve a review of virtually all aspects of the district. The district will now seek an organization to perform the audit. It's expected to be completed by mid-2019 and cost up to $2.5 million. WASHINGTON Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Thursday that the city is seriously considering a bid for the Democratic National Convention in 2020, joining seven other cities that have taken initial steps to host the event. Democratic National Committee officials confirmed that Houston is one of eight cities that were sent formal proposal requests after responding to initial inquiries to gauge their interest. Turners statement comes a week after San Antonio officials decided not to submit a bid to host the 2020 Republican National Convention, citing the upfront costs of an international spectacle that could draw 40,000 visitors. That decision, according to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, extends to the Democratic convention as well. The decision was derided by some Republican officials who had actively courted the city. Other cities that have expressed interest in the Democratic convention are Atlanta, Birmingham, Denver, Miami Beach, Milwaukee, New York City and San Francisco. Houston, unlike San Antonio, has a history of hosting political conventions, including the 1992 Republican convention at the Astrodome that launched President George H.W. Bushs unsuccessful reelection campaign against Democrat Bill Clinton. The city also hosted the 1928 Democratic convention. Turner said he was pleased that the Democrats have come knocking again. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) issued a request for proposal to the city of Houston to host the 2020 convention, and we are seriously considering it, Turner said. With all that this city has to offer it is not surprising that Houston would again be among the top list of contenders to Host the DNC in 2020. Houston is the 4th largest city and most diverse city in the country and has a reputation for being a welcoming city with first-class venues and attractions. DNC spokesman Michael Tyler said the organization sent initial letters of interest last month to a broad list of cities that have traditionally been able to meet the preliminary requirements for hosting conventions, including event facilities, transportation, and hotels. Houston was among those that expressed initial interest in what could be a long, competitive process. We expect the entire selection process to play out over the next year, Tyler said. Open for business Turner noted that Houston has shown it can handle massive events, including Super Bowl LI, the 2017 World Series, and most recently the 2018 Offshore Technology Conference. In 2020, Houston also will host the World Petroleum Congress. In case there is any doubt, I want the world to know that after Hurricane Harvey, Houston is resilient and open for business, Turner said. But while the mayor is bullish on Houston, the decision to make a formal bid has yet to be made. By hosting the DNC in 2020, Houston would increase our standing on the national and global stage, so we are certainly interested in reviewing the DNCs requirements before deciding whether to submit a formal bid, Turner said. After full consideration, we will move forward in the best interest of our city. As Democrats sift through a long list of potential candidates to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020, the convention is certain to provide a defining moment in the battle to unseat one of the most controversial figures of modern times. The Democrats met in Philadelphia in 2016 to pick Hillary Clinton as their nominee. The Republicans nominated Trump in Cleveland. Both were in states seen as potential battlegrounds in presidential politics. That would hardly seem the case in Texas, which hasnt gone Democrat in a presidential election since 1976, when Jimmy Carter carried the state. Ground zero for Democrats Texas Democrats, however, say a national convention could be a much-needed boost, especially in Houston. In a statement Thursday, the Harris County Democratic Party said hosting the 2020 convention would build momentum because Harris County is ground zero for turning Texas blue and when we flip the state, the country comes with us. But logistical concerns can sometimes trump symbolism as ever-larger political conventions present increasingly complicated transportation, hospitality and security challenges. Large protests also have become a regular part of the equation. Officials at the Houston First Corporation, a publicly-chartered group that promotes the city, said they are working with the mayors office and are waiting to hear from the DNC about the specific financial and logistical requirements for hosting the convention, which some compare in scale to a Super Bowl level event. As with other big events, local business leaders and city host committees are usually expected to raise millions to host political conventions. Both parties have long considered Texas when looking for a host. Houston was the first Texas city to hold a convention in 1928, when Democrats nominated New York Gov. Alfred Smith to lead their ticket. That year, Republicans held their convention site in Kansas City, where U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover went on to win the nomination and the presidency. Dallas, too, has hosted a major partys convention. In 1984, Republicans flocked to Dallas to nominate incumbent President Ronald Reagan, who would go on to win his re-election against Minnesota Sen. Walter Mondale. George H.W. Bush ran as Reagans vice president during both his 1980 and 1984 campaigns. It took another six decades before Houston was once again the convention site for one of the two major parties this time, for the Republicans. In 1992, as Bush, then incumbent president, faced his fourth time being on a presidential ballot, Republicans gathered in Houston to nominate him for re-election. Bush faced a competitive three-way campaign that featured fellow Texan Ross Perot. In 2016, Austin was one of two dozen cities invited by the DNC to apply for that years nominating convention. However, then-Mayor Lee Leffingwell declined to bid, saying the city didnt have a sufficient transportation system or an event venue that could meet the partys requirements. In rejecting the 2020 GOP convention, officials in San Antonio seem to have come to a similar conclusion angering some local business leaders. While the mayor didnt say the city wasnt up to the task, he questioned whether the potential costs the total cost of the 2016 convention in Philadelphia was estimated at $127 million would outweigh an estimated economic impact of $200 million. As a whole, the City Council did not feel it was worth it to move forward, Nirenberg told the San Antonio Express News. The decision drew a strong rebuke from Brad Parscale, Trumps current campaign manager and a former San Antonian. Weak-kneed Ron, Parscale chided on Twitter. A city council of left-wing activists destroying the economy of #SanAntonio. @Ron_Nirenberg and city council just made the business community their enemy. Have fun with that. Third parties also hold national conventions during presidential years, and Texas has seen several cities as hosts. In 2016, Jill Stein was nominated to lead the Green Party ticket at the groups convention in Houston. Mike Morris, Forrest S. Milburn, and Mihir Zaveri contributed to this report. kevin.diaz@chron.com twitter.com/diazchron May 11 marks the 42nd anniversary of one of the scariest moments in Houston history, when a semitrailer carrying more than 7,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia fell from a freeway ramp, spilling its lethal contents. The incident, which left seven dead and nearly 200 injured, caused officials to rethink how to tackle chemical disasters and led to rules still in use today. DECADES AGO: Vintage pictures show Houston as it was in 1977 Over forty years later, the route that ammonia truck took still snakes through a city that has doubled in size, leaving Houston vulnerable to a catastrophic accident. Just after 11 a.m. on May 11, 1976, a tanker truck carrying the dangerous chemical fell onto the Southwest Freeway from the 610 West Loop above. The driver had lost control of the rig and hit a support beam. The National Transportation Safety Board would later determine that the driver was not traveling at a safe speed. He barely missed landing on a car passing by. Not much was left from the truck in the aftermath. Ammonia, its 7,000-gallon load, was not the standard cleaning product one would use at home. This was pure, undiluted industrial anhydrous ammonia that is used in heavy-duty chemical processes and is extremely deadly if mishandled. The fumes that were released proved fatal for those who were too close. Freeway traffic was closed for three miles in all directions. Most nearby residents left their homes. Those who were close enough to detect the smell were told to relocate until the odor dissipated. A recording of the KPRC-AM coverage of the event can be heard here. Reporter Bob Raleigh spoke to witnesses who saw the accident and confirmed fatalities at the scene with fire officials. It's 40-minute time capsule from one of the worst disasters in Houston history up to that point. KTRK-TV reports from the scene show medics taking away burn victims and everyday Houstonians chipping in to help the recovery effort. One medic said he had 12 people in one ambulance. Area hospitals and emergency rooms were inundated. There was almost no chance of survival for those caught in a cloud of ammonia that strong, and most greenery in the area later died. Pictures from the Houston Post's archive are surreal. The news would make it around the world. Texas Air Control Board/Houston Post file The Post building, of course, was just steps away from the crash site, and the blast shook the four-story building. The Houston Chronicle, which has had printing presses at the site for some years, now occupies the renovated former Post building. GRIM DAYS: The 20 worst days in Houston's history The accident claimed seven lives, including six who died at the scene or shortly afterwards: David Randle Whiteman, 48; Grace Gillebaard, 33; Earl Davis, 26; Gordon D. McAdams, 40; Robert Wisnoski, 64, and truck driver William Gregory Schmidt, 28 Some people survived their exposure to the chemical but would live with lung damage. Former beauty queen Karen Bijak, 27, died later in 1979 of health complications stemming from the crash. She would be the seventh fatality. These days hazmat spills are treated much more gingerly than ever before in Houston. Because of this deadly accident, hazardous materials in such large quantities are not allowed to be transported inside the 610 Loop. At the time the Houston Fire Department did not yet have a dedicated hazmat team, which today is a routine fixture at even minor chemical spills. Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. The nations best-selling pickup, the one that branded itself in the lore of the 850,000-acre King Ranch, that has conquered those thorny mesquite plains of South Texas, the wild mountains of the Big Bend, and the concrete canyons of Houston - has, for the moment, run out of gas. Ford has a little more than two months of inventory on the F-150, after a fire at a magnesium parts plant in the Midwest prompted it to shut down all production of the vehicle and scale back production of larger F-series models. Its not clear when Ford can restart two assembly lines that make the F-150, but analysts and dealers seem confident that Ford will find a way. Its truck line makes up 10 percent of all U.S. auto production. But if the shutdown lingers, whats a Texan to do? The state sells more pickups than any other; Houston more than any market. When legions of bass fishermen showed up during Hurricane Harvey to lend a hand with their boats, odds were good that any given vessel was towed by a Ford. In terms of Texas culture, I dont think its a big deal short term, but if its a sustained problem it will be an issue, said W.F. Strong, communications professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Texas raconteur. Hell be ordering the F-150 black King Ranch edition, with leather and wood trim. Hes waiting for the new model year. At this point his biggest concern isnt that theyll run out, but that customizations could be limited. I think for about 100 years we Texans were judged by our horses on their size and strength, and now were judged by our trucks, said Strong, author of the forthcoming Stories from Texas: Some of Them Are True, including an ode to Harveys bass boat heroes. It was a stroke of marketing genius, 15 years ago, when Ford wrapped their truck in the manly ethos of the King Ranch brand, he muses in one of his essays. Every leather seat within the truck is emblazoned with the King Ranch Running W cattle brand. Macho sublimity. Fords F-150 lists for as little as $27,700 to more than $70,000 for a fully decked-out Platinum model. Measured in horsepower, they are vestiges of a frontier lifestyle to which Texans cling, even though we may never take them off road, Strong said. Houston and Dallas people are still living the dream of the ranch. That dream isnt likely to be interrupted, said Frank Pierce, general manager of Sterling McCall Ford in Houston. His dealership has an unusually high inventory of F-150s because of a soon-to-be-completed remodel, and all signals from the company point to a supply rebound. They havent backed off buyer incentives, he said. I think were just going to go hard until theres an actual problem, Pierce said. I dont know that its actually going to go that far. If it did, it would mean a lot to a lot of people, he said. The F-150 is the staple of everything we do. Theres little danger of customers defecting to another brand, said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at AutoTrader. The loyalty rate for full-size pickups is the highest in the industry at about 70 percent, she said. For those who do shop around, Fords troubles come as its main competitors come out with new or redesigned products, including the Dodge Ram 1500, Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. It was going to be a really competitive truck year anyway, Krebs said. Ford has assured investors that impacts will be short term, and it has not changed its stock guidance, projecting a full-year earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.70. I have a couple of customers who I have trucks on order for that are just concerned, but once the trucks are assigned a VIN number, the parts are allocated for them, said Paul Diamanti, a 10-year sales veteran at Sterling McCall. Bob Leaumont, 71, was trading in a 2007 F-150 with 119,340 miles for a 2018 model. Hes owned three of them. It has always been dependable, he said. Its a myth that theyre going to run out. Company executives told reporters a Ford crisis team is on site at the Eaton Rapids, Mich., parts plant and working to move tools from there to a Canadian plant to resume production. Eaton Rapids City Manager Aaron Desentz told the Detroit Free Press that Meridian believes it can be up and running in 120 days. But analysts said switching to a contingency supplier may be tricky. The lightweight magnesium parts industry is still immature and other affected automakers - including Fiat Chrysler and Mercedes - likely are courting the same short list of alternate sources, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of the Center for Automotive Research's Industry, Labor & Economics Group. The May 2 fire at Meridian Magnesium Products severely damaged a smelting area and put about half the plant out of work. Lightweight magnesium parts increase fuel efficiency. Ford said it has idled 7,600 workers because of the fire. Dziczek said automakers including Ford, which sells 1 million F-series trucks a year, dug deep into their supply chains after a 2011 tsunami interrupted a Japanese supplier, and they developed better contingencies for critical suppliers. I dont know that (Texans) are going to be separated from their pickup truck, she said. This is simply too valuable of a business line for Ford to have it be down for very long. Krebs wasnt as bullish because of the relative rarity of magnesium parts suppliers. I dont know if theres a Plan B for this one, she said. I have not seen a firm plan or timeline. For now, Strong expects to order the King Ranch edition, with options of his liking, this fall. It suits his tall 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound Texan frame, his country upbringing in tiny Falfurrias, near the King Ranch at the northern edge of the borderlands. But there could be cause for a shiver later this summer. If the supply chain is getting cold, Strong said, then were going to have pneumonia here when it comes to trucks. Politicians at City Hall can continue serving four-year terms at least for now after a state district judge sided with the city of Houston Friday in a lawsuit seeking to void the November 2015 election in which voters lengthened elected officials terms from two to four years. The plaintiffs, who plan to appeal, allege former mayor Annise Parker and the City Council misled voters in setting the ballot language for the proposition, which changed the city's term limits to a maximum of two four-year terms, ending the system of three two-year terms that had been in place since 1991. Local lawyer and Harris County Department of Education trustee Eric Dick sued, arguing the ballot language obscured the nature of the vote by asking whether voters wanted to "limit the length for all terms," when, in fact, the change lengthened the maximum term of office from six to eight years. For council members first elected in 2013, the limit is 10 years one two-year term followed by up to two four-year terms. Judge Randy Clapp, a Wharton County jurist appointed to hear the case, granted summary judgment for the city on Friday, repeating phrasing he had used at a procedural hearing in the case two years ago, saying the citys chosen language was inartful but not invalid. Andy Taylor, a noted Brenham-based election lawyer and plaintiffs attorney in the case, said he plans to appeal. Taylor won a series of victories over Parker's administration in similar cases, one related to the ballot language of a 2010 vote to impose a drainage fee, another forcing a referendum on Houston's controversial equal rights ordinance, and a third related to the ballot language of that referendum. The city tricked voters into thinking they were limiting city service to four years, when in fact they expanded it to eight years, Taylor said. Taylor said he is optimistic the appellate justices will agree with his argument that the city sufficiently described only one of what he sees as the measures three chief features, as precedent requires. As Taylor sees it, the measure clearly said the number of terms would shrink from three to two, but did not make clear the length of each term would grow, and addressed the transition process between the two approaches using only the word transition without further explanation. Mayor Sylvester Turner, asked about the case in the past, has said he will leave the legal machinations to others and focus on his to-do list. Mayoral spokeswoman Mary Benton said simply, The new term limits as adopted by the voters remain in place. mike.morris@chron.com twitter.com/mmorris011 Time Magazine has just rolled out "The Great Influence-Off," a college-by-college power ranking of the most influential universities in the nation based on their past alumni. More interesting than that actual scores like we really needed math to tell us that the University of Texas was more influential than Angelo State University is finding out which famous folks attended which Texas schools. 3 1 of 3 Tim Fischer, Photographer / Midland Reporter-Telegram Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 3 of 3 U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Russian involvement in Nicaragua is a "serious red flag" that the U.S. should be increasingly worried about. "An expanded footprint of external influence in the region poses a direct threat to American national security interests," the Republican said during a speech Thursday to the Heritage Foundation about the growing instability in Nicaragua. AUSTIN -- As expected, a federal court has issued a final ruling declaring Texas to be violating national voter registration laws. In a final ruling made public Friday, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia in San Antonio declared the Department of Public Safety cannot encourage people to renew driver's licenses online, then add additional steps to update their voter registrations that are not required of people who go to their offices in person. The judge said that the National Voter Registration Act, often called Motor Voter, requires equal treatment. "DPS is legally obligated, as a designated voter registration agency under the NVRA, to permit a simultaneous voter registration application with every transaction," Garcia wrote in his opinion. Currently, Texas does not allow people who change their driver's license address online to simultaneously change their voter registration address -- something people who make the change in person are allowed to do. Online DPS customers are required to file additional forms and mail them to another agency to change the voter registration. Garcia's final ruling had been anticipated. Last month when Garcia first announced he would rule in favor of the Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office said they were looking "forward to filing an appeal." On Friday, the a spokesperson for the agency said they were still reviewing the ruling. In late March, Garcia indicated in a court order that he would side with the Texas Civil Rights Project, which brought the case. The Texas Civil Rights Project argued that many people who checked a box online through the DPS thought they were getting their voter registrations updated as well, but that never happened. Many did not realize it required additional forms and actions to make the change happen. "Today is a victory for voting rights and democracy in Texas," said Mimi Marziani, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project. "For years, the state of Texas ignored and violated federal laws designed to bring more people onto the voter registration rolls and strengthen our democracy; sadly, thousands and thousands of people have been disenfranchised because of the state's actions," he said. The state had argued the Texas voting laws require a signature on paper to change a voter registration. But Garcia said testimony in the case shows that for even in-person changes of address, DPS uses electronic signatures that are transmitted to the Secretary of State's office to update voter records, so it makes little sense why electronic signatures by people online could not also be used. "Yet SOS admits that it uses previously stored electronic signatures for all voter registration applications that originate with DPS regardless of whether those applications are paper transactions," Garcia noted in his ruling. He has given the state until May 17 to come up with a plan to allow both online and in-person drivers license changes allow voter registration updates without additional steps for one over the other. The Texas Civil Rights Project used the case of a Harris County man as one of their examples of voters who tried to update their drivers license online and thought they would also have their voter registrations updated. In 2015, John Woods moved from Travis County to Harris County. When he changed his driver's license address online, Woods thought his voter registration data was also updated. But when he showed up to vote on election day in 2015, Woods was told he was not registered in the county. Woods is hardly alone. Between September 2013 and May 26, 2015, more than 1,800 voters filed formal complaints with the state saying they mistakenly believed their voter registration records were updated when they used the DPS online system. The Texas Civil Rights Project said that the 1,800 number is a mere fraction of voters who have been duped by the state's confusing system. Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor has dubbed Americans lack of history and civics knowledge a quiet crisis. Numerous surveys prove her point. In September, the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg Public Policy Center found that nearly four in ten Americans cant name one right guaranteed under the First Amendment; only a quarter can name all three branches of government. Another survey found that over half of the nations 17-year-olds couldnt place the Civil War within the correct 50-year period. Similarly, less than a quarter of the eighth- and 12th-graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress history and civics exams scored at or above proficient. Though critics have bemoaned Americans lack of historical and civic knowledge since at least the 1950s, our national ignorance seems to have reached a tipping point. Across the political spectrum, commentators wonder whether the American body politic will remain capable of self-government. Fortunately, several organizations are working to rebuild American history and civics education. Justice OConnor founded iCivics, a nonprofit that uses video games to teach students how Americas democracy functions. The Joe Foss Institute works to ensure that every high school student can pass the citizenship exam given to immigrants. The Annenberg Center has created the Civics Renewal Network, a consortium committed to improving civics education. Its motto, a takeoff on Benjamin Franklins famous retort, is: A Republic, if We Can Teach It. But no organization is making more of an impact in this area than the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In recent years, the institute has garnered well-deserved media attention, thanks to the education program that it runs in conjunction with the smash-hit Broadway musical Hamilton, but it has been working to improve history education for more than two decades. Richard Gilder and Lew Lehrman, successful investors with a passion for American history, founded the institute in 1994. Both studied history at Yale; Lehrman, New Yorks Republican nominee for governor in 1982, was a history professor for a time and has written books on Lincoln. Disturbed that many important historical documents were in private hands, the pair began to vacuum the English-speaking world of American historical documents and manuscripts, as Lehrman puts it. Not wanting their growing collection of documents to sit in a vault, they hired a staff and created programs so that the documents could be shared and become the foundation for a greater appreciation and understanding of American history, notes Lesley Herrmann, who helped launch the institute and was its executive director for more than 20 years. Today, the collection is one of the great archives of American history. Its 70,000 documents range from a letter from Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to a 1945 letter from Manhattan Project scientists warning of the dangers of the atomic bomb. Gilder and Lehrman gifted the entire collection to the institute in 2012. Housed at the New-York Historical Society, its being digitized and made available to libraries and schools across the country. Over the years, Gilder and Lehrman have spent over $150 million on the collection and the institute. They received the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2005 for their contributions to the study of American history, which also include the creation of the Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale and the Douglass, Lincoln, and Washington historical book prizes. Why devote so much effort and money toward improving the teaching of American history? Gilder explains: Were the only country that was formed and based on ideas. How those ideas continue and how theyre interpreted is what really makes the story of our country so interesting and so terrificeven aspects of it that are painful and embarrassing, such as slavery. Early on, the institute focused on running summer seminars for high school history teachers to interact with historians and deepen their knowledge. The institute then added more seminars as word of mouth spread among the teachers. Last summer, 1,000 teachers participated in 30 seminars, ranging from Native American History, taught by Dartmouth Colleges Colin Calloway, to Foreign and Domestic Politics Since the 1970s, taught by Emory Universitys Joseph Crespino. Gilder Lehrman began holding lectures, exhibits, and extra-credit Saturday courses in American history for high school students; hundreds showed up. The courses unexpected popularity encouraged the institute to sponsor a special-theme high school in American history: in 1996, the Academy of American Studies opened in Long Island City, Queens, and today enrolls 1,000 students. Half take classes in a cramped former sewing-machine factory, the other half in Newcomers High School, across the street. The academy plans to move to a new building in 2020. The semi-selective school is as diverse as the borough where it resides. About three-quarters of our students come from immigrant families, notes principal William Bassell. Many parents choose the school because of our strong reputation, small size, nurturing environment . . . but learning about the history, values, and institutions of their new home is also very appealing. The institute worked with the school on a curriculum that includes U.S. history in all four years, as opposed to the one year required by state standards. Over 90 percent of students graduate in four years; most go on to college. Building on the academys success, Gilder Lehrman helped establish a new selective school, the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the 380-student school was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the top high school in New York State in 2017, and one of the 20 best in the nation. In addition to these flagship schools, Gilder Lehrman has expanded its reach to 16,000 affiliate schools across all 50 states. The institute provides classroom materials, including lesson plans, posters, and document booklets; access to historical content on the institutes website, including videos and essays by distinguished scholars on each era of American history; and national student-essay contests on subjects such as the Civil War for middle and high school students and a Dear George Washington letter for elementary school students. In 2004, the institute inaugurated its National History Teacher of the Year Award, for which it solicits nominations, selecting 50 state winners and one national winner. State honorees receive recognition and a $1,000 prize; the national recipient gets $10,000. A distinguished guestsuch as First Lady Laura Bush, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, or a noted historianpresents the award at an elegant ceremony in New York. Its nice to have an organization that supports teachers, that celebrates good teaching . . . that appreciates the passion you feel for your kids, said the 2016 National History Teacher of the Year, Kevin Cline, from Frankton, Indiana. This years winner, Sara Ziemnik, from Rocky River, Ohio, notes that history and civics have been pushed to the side, devalued a bit in the name of other subjects. . . . Were in a very STEM-focused world. But what good is STEM if we dont know how to talk to each other, if we dont understand each other? In recent years, Gilder Lehrman has begun to provide more curricular content to schools. It has developed an online study guide for the Advanced Placement U.S. History exam, becoming that tests most popular resource. The institutes website now gets more than 7 million unique visits annually. Gilder Lehrman has also introduced a unique program, Teaching Literacy Through History, which trains English and history teachers to improve students critical thinking, close reading, and argumentative writing skills by using historical texts and primary documents. A new online program featuring prominent historians allows teachers to pursue masters degrees in history. We dont have an agenda. We believe in teaching history from the words of the people who created our history. Teaching American history is often fraught with controversy, but Gilder Lehrman has stayed above the political fray, thanks to its primary-source document approach. Our constant North Star is the collection, notes Tim Bailey, director of education and the 2009 National History Teacher of the Year. We dont have an ideological agenda. We believe in teaching history from the words of the people who created our history. . . . Educators shouldnt be interpreters of history but guides of history. For 20 years, Gilder Lehrman worked diligently to improve history education and make it exciting and relevant to students. Then, in 2015, the musical Hamilton arrived. Simply put, its the greatest thing to ever happen to American history education, notes James Basker, the institutes longtime president. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamiltons creator, sought to eliminate any distance between a contemporary audience and this storynot only by employing hip-hop and a remarkably talented multiracial cast to tell the story of Americas founders but also by showing how were grappling with many of the same issues they debated: immigration, foreign entanglements, and the proper size and scope of the federal government. These are all conversations were still having, and its a comfort to know that theyre just a part of the more perfect union were always working towards, Miranda stated in The Atlantic. It was never perfect, and theres been no fall from grace. I find that heartening, honestly, that were still working on it. During one of the first performances of Hamilton, at the Public Theater, Gilder Lehrmans thenexecutive director Herrmann ran into Ron Chernow, whose 2004 Hamilton biography inspired Miranda to write the play. We must get this into the hands of kids, Herrmann told the author. Soon Gilder Lehrman staff were meeting with the musicals producer, Jeffrey Seller; Mirandas father, Luis Miranda, Jr., who was tapped to spearhead fund-raising efforts; and officials from the Department of Education to plan how to make that happen. After Hamilton opened on Broadway, the Rockefeller Foundation provided $1.5 million to create the Hamilton Education Program (EduHam) and enable 20,000 New York City students from Title I high schools (where most students are economically disadvantaged) to see the musical for just a Hamilton ($10). Part of the funding went to Gilder Lehrman to create a Hamilton curriculum. Bailey, who also has a theater background, devised a program rich in history and artistic expression. We didnt want kids to just see a show, says Bailey. The resulting curriculumwhich teachers typically implement over two or three weekshighlights whats possible in history education. Students receive a study guide with information on the Founding Era, Alexander Hamilton, and 41 other historical figures. On a website, they can see excerpts of five songs performed during the show and view video interviews with Miranda and Chernow. Other actors discuss their characters as they look at historical documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. The site highlights 14 key events from the era and more than 20 documents, from the Federalist Papers to Thomas Paines Common Sense. Reflecting the institutes belief in document-based history education, a key part of the Hamilton curriculum revolves around two pamphlets referenced in the show: loyalist Samuel Seaburys Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress and Hamiltons A Full Vindication of the Measures of the Congress. The study guide instructs students to do a close reading of document excerpts, summarize them, and debate whether Seabury or Hamilton presented the stronger argument. Students then analyze lyrics from the musicals song Farmer Refuted and discuss how Miranda turned history into a work of popular art. Finally, students, individually or in small groups, create original worksa song, rap, poem, scene, or monologuebased on an individual, document, or event they studied. Schools submit the best performance, and selected students perform their work onstage at the theater before they see the musical. At a student matinee last year, the excitement of the studentsmany seeing a Broadway play for the first timewas palpable. As they filed into the theater, one young woman literally jumped over the threshold to the Richard Rodgers Theatre and let out a squeal of delight. Bryan Terrell Clark, the actor who later played George Washington, enthusiastically emceed student performances from a dozen schools. Two students from the Comprehensive Model School Project high school performed a song about Phillis Wheatley, the formerly enslaved African-American poet who corresponded with Washington and possibly influenced his views on slavery. A young man from Millennium Art Academy performed a rap about Ben Franklin. Two young women from Murray Hill Academy sang about womens exclusion from the political process and quoted Abigail Adamss letter to her husband, John, beseeching him to remember the ladies. Students often gravitate to individuals, such as Wheatley or Adams, who havent received much attention. Many EduHam students are black or Latino, and their performances often address Americas shameful history of slavery and racial discrimination, but not in a cynical manner. Instead, students tend to communicate an empowering message: that they are eager to write the next chapter in American historyone that moves us closer to our founding ideals. After the student performances, cast members conducted a Q&A. Students adjourned to a nearby nightclub rented out for their lunch, returning for the student-only matinee. Many cast members note that student audiences are their favorites, and its easy to see why. While the 1,300 teenagers were well-mannered throughout the nearly three-hour show, they burst with excitement when Hamilton dissed Jefferson in a cabinet battle or when he ill-initiated his fateful affair with Maria Reynolds. Much has been made about how Hamiltona musical about an immigrant striver from the West Indies that valorizes hip-hophas led students to leave the theater with a changed view of America and a greater sense of civic ownership. But Hamilton also leads students to think about the possibilities of their own lives. Brendyn Owoyemi, a recent graduate of Brooklyns Fort Hamilton High School, performed onstage at the Richard Rodgers as part of the first EduHam. It was beyond anything I could imagine, Owoyemi said. The experience sparked a deeper interest in American history, and his teacher encouraged him to join Gilder Lehrmans student advisory council. Now a freshman at Fordham University, Owoyemi plans to become a history or English teacher. Hamilton, he says, made me think about what I want my legacy to be. Gilder Lehrman has replicated its education program in Chicago, where Hamilton has been playing for more than a year. As another Hamilton company travels across the country with stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tempe, Seattle, Denver, St. Louis, Houston, Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and Boston, Gilder Lehrman is setting up EduHam programs in each of those cities. The logistics are daunting. Sasha Rolon Pereira, who runs the institutes Hamilton program, may be the hardest-working person in history education. In each location, she works with myriad city agencies, the department of education, the police, and hundreds of teachers to make the program happen. My goal, she notes, is to give students the best day of their lives. The Rockefeller Foundation has pledged another $6 million to support the national expansion, and Gilder Lehrman and the Hamilton team solicit additional funding from philanthropies in cities where the show travels. By the end of 2020, Gilder Lehrman expects that 250,000 students will have seen Hamilton through EduHam. Hamilton has brought out the best in us programmatically, says Basker, and has broadened the institutes national exposure. A foundation that supported the San Francisco EduHam program is now talking with Gilder Lehrman about organizing teacher seminars in California around the issue of immigration. The federal Department of Education has awarded the institute a large grant to run a teacher-development program for history teachers in California. The National Endowment for the Humanities has provided support for the institute to hold discussions on the Founding Era in libraries in all 50 states. Weve reached a new stage in our development, notes Basker. He estimates that the institute will reach more than 2 million students this year through its various programsquite an achievement for an organization with a relatively modest $8 million budget. We punch above our weight, he says. (Many expenses associated with the Hamilton program belong to a separate budget.) A few prominent national foundations have approached Gilder Lehrman about creating a national history and civics curriculum, but Basker believes that such an effort is a self-defeating enterprise, as 50 states all have different requirements, different sequences, different assessments. . . . People dont buy into things that are dictated to them. We listen to teachers and students and offer what we think is of value. Instead of a national curriculum, Gilder Lehrman is developing national history and civics educational initiatives that would tie specific figures, events, and lessons from history to civics issues and priorities today. . . . Theres much more to be done, Basker says. Teachers are hungry for good content. In this polarized age of social-media echo chambers, its hard to feel optimistic about the future of American democracy or national unity. Basker surmises that our civic and historical illiteracy is one reason that our politics have become so toxic, but he remains hopeful. Were helping to change the chemistry of the rising generation of students. Were a democracy. We cannot survive without a population that has a competent knowledge of American history and that cares about it enough to participate. Research for this article was supported by the Brunie Fund for New York Journalism. Top Photo: When the hit musical Hamilton arrived in 2015, Gilder Lehrman saw a great opportunity to teach history. (COURTESY OF THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY) New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has announced support for a plan to create safe injection sites, where addicts can take illegal street drugs with legal sanction in a medically managed environment. Such sites have been used so far only outside the United States. In New York City, deaths by overdose are four times those from homicide. De Blasio, looking to raise his profile, perhaps in pursuit of higher office, views safe sites as an important tool in the battle against a nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse. Emergency-room visits for opioid overdoses rose 30 percent across the U.S. from July 2016 to September 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 16 states, overdoses rose by 54 percent in large cities. Advocates argue that safe injection sites offer proactive treatment options for addicts who come to shoot up. But there is virtually no evidence that (safe injection sites) lead people into treatment, notes Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, who opposes them. Vermont, which wants to set up sites, was lambasted by its own U.S. attorney for its ambition to do so. It is a crime, not only to use illicit narcotics, but to manage and maintain sites on which such drugs are used and distributed, noted the federal prosecutors office in a December 2017 open letter. The worst potential consequence is the normalization of serious drug use in the name of harm reduction. Safe injection sites are essentially state-sponsored shooting-up galleries. No limits have been defined for who can use them, or how often. If a teenager decides that he wants to experiment with black tar heroin, should the injection site be opened to him? Should nurses accompany users who arrive at the sites to take lethal quantities of fentanyl, with naloxone inhalers ready at hand to revive them? How many overdoses will addicts be permitted per day? How many additional police officers will be detailed to the neighborhood around the legal injection site to deal with drug sales, or with drug robberies of eager addicts heading to the sites to use? We have some evidence of what these sites look like in practice and the effect they create. David Carson, a local politician from Redmond, Washington, went to Vancouver to visit one of the sites touted as a major success by advocates. Instead, he saw lives and a whole neighborhood being destroyed. It looked like a war zone. There were drug-addled, glassy-eyed people strewn about, Carson noted. One man was lying shoeless and lifeless on his side on the cold sidewalk; I honestly couldnt tell if he was alive or not; I couldnt bear to take a picture of him. Opioids have ravaged families and devastated communities across the country. Encouraging their open use undermines the rule of law and will do nothing to quell their continued abuse, let alone the problems underlying mass addiction. Mayor de Blasio deserves credit for his focus on this scourge, but legal injection sites are not the answer. In fact, they will only worsen the crisis. Photo: angintaravichian/iStock The charity sector needs to ask itself whether it is the mirror to society that it aims to be, NCVOs director of policy said earlier this week. Karl Wilding, director of public policy and volunteering, was speaking at the launch of this years UK Civil Society Almanac when he urged the sector to reflect on whether it is doing enough on diversity. Wilding said there was a reasonable question that we have to answer about whether we reflect the communities we serve and whether or not we are the mirror to the society we want to be. He said that the charity sector should be diverse, as it covers all sorts of causes with organisations for every type of issue you can think of and it is something that we have been talking about an awful lot. But figures published with the almanac show that just 9 per cent of the sectors workforce come from a black or other minority ethnic group. It is the latest piece of evidence published in the last few months which has raised questions about BAME representation in the sector. Last month research from Inclusive Boards found that 80 per cent of charity senior leadership teams were all white, while Acevos annual survey of its members found that 95 per cent of respondents were from Civil Society Media is hosting its Charity People & Culture Conference, which includes a stream dedicated to diversity, equality and includsion, on 18 September 2017. For more information, and to book, click here Chris Faraone knew something was wrong when he got a reader email the morning of May 7 asking if the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism was shutting down. Faraone, who founded BINJ in 2015, was working on deadline for DigBoston, where he is editor and co-publisher, but he couldnt ignore the steady trickle of concerned emails. A little after noon, he pieced it together: Medium, the platform on which BINJ published much of its work and maintained a small number of monthly donating members, had pulled the plug on its membership product, and BINJ members, notified of the changes, thought it was closing its doors. Faraone frantically blasted out an SOS letter to BINJ members: Medium just cancelled all BINJ memberships but we still need your help. We dont know why. And we had no idea that it was coming. ICYMI: Mark Zuckerberg announces a new Facebook feature BINJ, a news incubator aimed at funding investigative reporting in the greater Boston area, partnered in 2016 with Medium, the website that acts as both a publishing platform and as a publisher. BINJ relies on grants, foundational support, and individual donations, and Faraone was particularly attracted to Mediums publisher-friendly membership program, which allowed readers to sign up to support BINJ for as little as $3 a month. The arrangement seemed almost too good to be true: Medium wouldnt take a cut of BINJs proceeds, and it didnt require BINJ to pay to use the platform. At the time BINJ launched its membership program on Medium, around two dozen publications had similar arrangements. Less than two years later, Medium abruptly ended the offering to focus fully on its own site-wide subscription model, which it offers for $5 a month. In a statement provided by a company spokesperson, Mediums head of partnerships Basil Enan said membership arrangements like BINJs were causing confusion. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Continuing to support this legacy program poses a cost to Medium and is confusing to users given the Medium membership program, so we have decided to discontinue the publication membership program entirely, Enan said. BINJ spent the week scrambling to redirect its members elsewhere. BINJ had about 80 monthly recurring members paying an average of about $7 a month through Medium, which Faraone estimated brought in more than $500 a monthfunding anywhere from three to four major projects a year, he said. At another publication, Mediums decision to pull the plug on the membership program was even more dire. Electric Literature, a literary magazine nonprofit wooed to Medium in mid-2016, had already weathered a financial hit when Medium abruptly pivoted away from advertisements and laid off about a third of its staff in January 2017, executive director Halimah Marcus said. For Electric Literature, that meant saying goodbye to between $15,000 and $20,000 in advertising revenue. Electric Literature stuck with Medium anyway, figuring that the membership program would be a winning prospect. As of April 2018, Electric Literature had about 450 monthly members whose subscription revenues totaled $25,000 a year. For perspective: In 2017, Electric Literature spent $33,000 paying freelancers. Marcus said Medium gave Electric Literature a weeks notice that the membership program was ending, so Electric Literature rushed to get its members to donate to the publication through a funding page on Drip, a subscription crowdfunding service. Medium has spoken to Electric Literature staff about moving the sites content behind Mediums paywall for other monetization opportunities, but the nonprofit hasnt decided whether it will. ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back On Thursday, Medium insisted that publications like BINJ and Electric Literature were outliers. Of the 21 publishers who had paying members,12 were bringing in less than $100 a month on memberships, and a handful of those publications had stopped regularly posting on Medium altogether, a spokesperson said. (Citing privacy reasons, the company declined to provide a list of the publishers who were affected by the change.) By Friday afternoon, however, Medium had issued an apology and extended an olive branch to the affected publishers. Recently, we notified a small group of publishers on Medium that we would be discontinuing an invitation-only beta feature called publication memberships, Michael Sippey, Mediums vice president of product, said in an emailed statement that Medium requested be published in full. These memberships allowed readers to subscribe to an individual publication on Medium. We had been working with a number of these partners on alternative licensing deals to keep their income at or above the levels they were earning through this feature. However, we realize, for those that we were not working with, we gave far too short of notice for them to make alternative plans. We completely understand the frustration this caused and would like to apologize for our lack of consideration. Were sorry. To help smooth the transition, Sippey added, we will pay each of the affected publishers four months worth of any revenue they were making through this program. Were reaching out to these publishers individually. THE CANCELLATION OF MEDIUMS membership option is in some ways a natural continuation of its January 2017 pivot away from advertisements and publisher-friendly monetization options, and toward its continued investment into its own subscription business, which it launched in March 2017. Enan said as much in a statement provided through a Medium spokesperson. When we shifted away from an advertising-based model in 2017, supporting publisher monetization was no longer a part of our core business, Enan said, adding that Medium stopped providing new membership options in January 2017. This new direction is being implemented under chief executive Ev Williams, the former Twitter executive and serial digital entrepreneur who has repeatedly made the declaration that he intends to fix the internet with Medium. He reiterated that plan in a New York Times profile published Thursday. Both Faraone and Marcus spoke dryly of the profile. It seems to me that Ev Williamss project is not so much about fixing the internet, but about finding the correct business model for his company, Marcus said. Williamss future for Medium so far is an ad-free subscription business. Mediums modern spin on the subscription model is the open paywall concept, which means publications and individual writers alike fall behind a single, site-wide paywall instead of having to implement individual paywalls on their own.This is the reasoning behind Mediums decision to cancel the membership program that it had offered to the likes of BINJ and Electric Literature; publisher-specific membership programs were not part of the so-called open paywalland they werent bringing in any revenue for Medium. Medium promises individual writers the opportunity for monetization with the open paywall. Write your best stories for free and put them behind Mediums paywall, and if subscribers click a clap button at the bottom of your piece, part of their $5-a-month subscription is shared proportionally with you, Medium tells interested writers. The amount of time subscribers spend reading articles also factors into how much contributors are paid. A spokesperson would not provide the number of monthly members Medium has across the platform, but said subscription revenues were growing 50 percent each quarter. Medium employs a few editors but not does not have any writers on staff. The subscription model is being built on the work of many contributors who do not receive payment up front, as well as syndicated content and licensing deals Medium has with various publishers and on commissioned projects. (A Medium spokesperson did not respond to requests for information about such syndication and licensing deals.) Medium encourages publishers to launch on its platform, but many publishers rely on the same monetization options as writers do. Its up to the publication to arrange payment details with the individual writers and contributors they work with, Medium advises in guidelines for publishers. Just over half of the people who published at least one paywalled story on Medium in February earned money, making an average of $58.45, Medium said in a post on its Creators page. There are a few high-paying outliersin February, for instance, one author on Medium brought in nearly $9,500but those are far from the norm. For publishers who dont have licensing deals with Medium, that means divvying up the trickle of income from Medium if they pay their writers competitive freelance rates or if they have overhead costs for operation. A number of sites, including The Ringer, ThinkProgress, Pacific Standard, and Film School Rejects, left Medium in 2017 because they were unable to monetize their sites with advertising. Other publishers have stayed and found other ways to get revenue: The Establishment, which somewhat infamously launched on Medium the same day the site announced it would no longer support advertising, has a robust section on its Medium page giving readers various options to support its journalism. The removal of a membership option makes the prospect of staying on Medium less appealing for places like BINJ and Electric Literature. But moving years of work over to a new site is costly and possibly cost-prohibitive for small sites with minuscule budgets. And there are quite a few small sites with minuscule budgets for whom Medium offered the opportunity for monetization, growth, and success that has since been taken away time and time again. ICYMI: Meet the journalist tracking the secretive hedge fund that controls the nations second-largest newspaper chain Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Kelsey Sutton is a media reporter whose work has appeared in Politico, Capital New York and Mic. Follow her on Twitter @kelseymsutton. As CNN finds itself, again and again, the target of President Trump, the networks senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir, continues to produce reporting that gives life to the presidents fake news attacks. Last fall, her investigation into human slavery in Libya produced international outrage, and her recent report from the Democratic Republic of Congo exposed child labor violations in the mining of cobalt, a mineral widely used in green energy products. The Sudanese-born Elbagir won a Polk Award for the Libyan slave-trade story, and says shes aware of her responsibility as a role model for both women journalists and reporters from the African continent. She sees her work as a threat to those in the US and abroad who embrace fake news attacks to discredit the media, telling CJR that those in power fear journalism because it is capable of changing the climate and the culture, and opening peoples eyes in really powerful ways. ICYMI: A tweet with two graphs showing Facebook metrics is upsetting a lot of journalists Elbagir spoke with CJR on a recent episode of The Kicker and we followed up with her at her home in London after her story from the DRC published last week. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Your piece on the slave trade caused outrage around the globe, and you said you hoped this moment wouldnt pass, that real change would come from the work you and your team produced. Has that happened? The short answer is no. We have seen some movement in terms of the numbers of migrants that have been repatriated. It went from something appalling, like 1,000 a month, to 15,000 last December. But weve also seen three or four meetings at the UN Security Council that have resulted in nothing really practical, so there have been minimal changes. But the reality in this current political climate is almost insurmountable. Do we want to be part of a world that allows for dignified safe passage, that allows for people to find a way to pursue their dreams in a meaningful way? Or do we want to continue to find ways to confine and contain the movement of people? Because the one thing that we have seen, that the whole world has seen, is that that movement of people is not stopping. You mentioned the idea of moral complicity at every level, from governments to the people actually involved in trafficking. What can journalists do to avoid becoming complicit in that system? Whats interesting to me is the level of self-interrogation Ive been going throughthe language around this, and the way in which the language is weaponized. So every time we talk about economic migrants, when actually were talking about someone from Eritrea whos fleeing lifetime conscription into the army, they are by every measure a refugee. And every time we allow the UK prime minister or the European Union or the President of the United States of America to talk about people in that way, its very interesting how othering than that language is. When you talk about economic migrants, you imagine this plague of people coming to take from you and your family and make your life worse, when actually you are talking about people who are knowingly starting a journey thats going to involve enslavement and rape and torture and possibly death. That is no longer an economic migrant. Whats the emotional and psychological toll of reporting these stories? Are there strategies or coping mechanisms youve developed? Anger. I think anger is a good one. We were just so shocked, and then we were so horrified by the ways in which something pretty clear-cut was being twisted. Very quickly after the piece came outit was unfortunately during a surge of fake news rhetoric surrounding CNNwhat was heartbreaking for me was seeing the risks people had taken to speak to us, and not just people you see on air, but our contacts on the ground in Libya, the risks that our managers and our team took, and then to have those risks possibly end up being meaningless because the climate is one in which people find it very easy to disbelieve. That was a moment that was quite difficult. When you talk about economic migrants, you imagine this plague of people coming to take from you and your family and make your life worse, when actually you are talking about people who are knowingly starting a journey thats going to involve enslavement and rape and torture and possibly death. That is no longer an economic migrant. You mentioned the climate in which this report came out. And that climate hasnt dissipated in terms of the fake news attacks, specifically from the president and specifically directed at CNN. What would you say to not just him, but to those who listen to him and share his beliefs about the reporting going on at CNN being fake? In a way, the current climate has actually forced us to go back to basics and reminded us that the most important thing we can do is show rather than tell. I hope thats why this piece had the impact that it did, because its very hard to argue with what you are seeing. You could decide it meant different things, and fine, lets call it whatever you want to call it. Lets say its indentured servitude; lets say its people being exploited. Do you think that this is morally acceptable? I come from a country where freedom of the press is not even a dream, its something so far out of what people can even conceptualize. But I grew up in an environment that constantly reminded me that is because journalists have so much power. Your parents are journalists, right? Yes, my fathers newspaper is confiscatedits printing license is still suspended in Sudan. Growing up, he was in-and-out of exile, in-and-out of jail, but for me that was a lesson in the power we wield. When people want to establish that we are not to be believed and we are not to be trusted, its because they know we are capable of changing the climate and the culture, and opening peoples eyes in really powerful ways. In your reporting, that power comes from what youre able to show. But getting those images means taking risks. How do you balance the riskreward proposition that comes with the type of reporting you do? We always make a point of checking in with each other. Theres never a point where you cant turn back. Before we headed out to the auction [in Libya], Tony Maddox, the head of CNNi, said to us, There is never a point of no return; you can always come back. Of course, that only made us want to do it more. Its tough; I dont think there are easy answers. Im lucky in that most of the time Im working with people Im close to, so you get a feel for what everybodys comfort zone is. Thats what saves you in these situations: The bonds you form are so close that you end up looking out for each other and reading each other. Were well past the Martha Gellhorn era in terms of women being in the field taking on dangerous assignments, but I wonder if you feel a responsibility, given your success, to advocate for and champion women who are interested in doing the sort of work you do. Absolutely, and even more so being Sudanese. I also feel strongly about the fact that, a generation ago in journalism, someone like me would have been a fixer. They would not have been the person in front of the camera; they would have been behind the person behind the camera. I take that responsibility very seriously. In this era, in which so much attention is given to stories tied to President Trump, have you found it more difficult to get the sort of investigative pieces you do to air? Yes and no. We do less work that isnt Trump-related, but the work we doby virtue of how strong it needs to be to break throughis given more investment and time and support. Before, we were having to fill so much air, we were bouncing from story to story. Now, I know my bosses are supportive of me doing the labor and having the quiet time. What Ive heard from [CNN President] Jeff Zucker has been that this is what he wants. He wants enterprise; he wants investigative; and it doesnt have to have a Trump relationship to make air. I think people have an appetite for something that isnt Trump. Speaking of that, youve just returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yes, we have a piece on the use of child labor in cobalt mining. This is with regards to this extraordinary green-power revolution, and electric car batteries specifically. There seems to be a sense that we all kind of rocked ahead without thinking about the actual impact of where these resources are coming from. Where is the cobalt coming from? Who is mining your cobalt? The resources curse is something we talk about so often that it almost becomes a truism. In the Congo, the wealth and the riches there have become this extraordinary curse. The Economist memorably described the government there as being seven years into a five-year term. You have a government that is refusing the very basics of democracy; every single corner of the Congo is inflamed in some form of conflict. And yet this is the place that is completely integral to what should be an ethical green revolution. So where is our complicity in that as consumers? What are the questions we should be asking? When people want to establish that we are not to be believed and we are not to be trusted, its because they know we are capable of changing the climate and the culture, and opening peoples eyes in really powerful ways. What does your reporting say about ourconsumersunquestioning complicity in this global marketplace? I think what it says is that we as consumers still dont see these multinationals for what they are and the immense power they wield. Whereas we would be questioning of authority from a government entity, questioning of the potential for hidden agendas, we treat multinational companies as if they exist to serve us. As if they are honest brokers, and of course theyre not. They exist to turn a profit. So we have to educate ourselves and be willing to be as suspicious of them as we are of the actions of nation states, because in certain circumstances they can often wield more power. Have you seen any immediate reaction from the multinational companies mentioned in the story? What shocked me was that the information was hiding in plain sight, in SEC filings where Tesla and others acknowledge the complexity of their supply chains and what that means for traceability. They just didnt share that with consumers, and they clearly didnt expect consumers to understand the ramifications. Daimler was among the few who did acknowledge to us early on in the right-to-reply process that supply-chain complexity meant they were unable to fully trace their supply chains. We sent through our findings a month ago, and since our investigation was broadcast, they have announced a full supply-chain audit, saying theyre willing to trace materials all the way to the individual mine if need be. Chinas Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM), the largest international supplier of artisanal Congolese cobalt, told us they have launched an investigation in to our findings. They also say they are launching a report in the coming weeks which will fully trace their supply chain and be made public, a move they have resisted in the past over concerns it would impact their competitiveness. ICYMI: If I have to be defined by my enemies, Alex Jones is a good enemy to have Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. After ESPN decided this week to discontinue its public editor position, I called up Jim Brady, the last person to serve in that role for the network. Brady, whose term ended in March, called the move unfortunate, but he also raised a point Ive been thinking about since our conversation. Id love to sit here and say the public is outraged by this, but I dont know if they feel that at all, Brady told me. A public editor, as the name implies, is supposed to be the representative of the reader in a newsroom. At a time when trust in the media is a concern for every outlet, the elimination of those representatives has sparked consternation among many who are concerned about organizational transparency and accountability. At the same time, its fair to question how much those outside the industry actually care about having an independent voice in the halls of power when there are plenty of online critics ready and willing to vociferously challenge missteps. Announcing ESPNs decision, Kevin Merida, chair of the organizations editorial board and editor in chief of The Undefeated, noted that in recent years, both The Washington Post and The New York Times eliminated their Ombudsman role in recognition that the position had outlived its usefulness, largely because of the rise of real-time feedback of all kinds. The argument, essentially, that Twitter is a replacement for a public editor might make sense financially, but at least one journalist who has held the position isnt buying it. There may be legitimate reasons to cut a public editors position, but the oft-cited rise of social media isnt one of them, wrote Margaret Sullivan, who served as the Timess public editor from 2012 to 2016. A Twitter mob is not an independent internal watchdog with the authority to get answers, thoughtfully analyze them, and present them to the public. RELATED: ESPNs final public editor on the unfortunate decision to eliminate the position While Twitter mobs can provide useful feedback and pressure outlets to produce answers, they dont have access to decision makers, nor the authority to critically examine a newsroom from within and speak beneath the masthead of the publication itself. Does that matter to the public at large? Its hard to say. Certainly there have been moments in the past year when a piece in The New York Times seemed to beg for a public editor column (the papers Reader Center has been a pale replacement for that role). But there are plenty of thoughtful, well-sourced critics of the Times, the Post, ESPN, and other outlets who can provide analysis. And, as Brady noted to me, those inclined to distrust the media probably dont draw a distinction between public editors and the journalists at outlets they cover. ESPNs decision leaves PBS and NPR as the only two major outlets that still employ independent internal critics. The greater audience might not view the vanishing of the position as a great loss, but journalists and editors do listen to what public editors and ombudsmen say, and their words can impact newsroom decisions. In that sense, Brady said, even if the public doesnt automatically see the value in the position, that doesnt mean its not worthwhile. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Below, more on the role of public editors, at ESPN and beyond. Why now?: Awful Announcings Matt Yoder criticized ESPNs elimination of the position, writing, Surely theres still a place for a public editor at ESPN. Bristol is still the worldwide leader in sports, still one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world, and still facing more scrutiny for their practices and procedures than ever before. Across the industry: Last summer, CJRs Jackie Spinner surveyed the wider media landscape, finding that most regional and small news organizations that had ombudsmen or public editors long ago cut the positions in the industry-wide downsizing. Last summer, CJRs Jackie Spinner surveyed the wider media landscape, finding that most regional and small news organizations that had ombudsmen or public editors long ago cut the positions in the industry-wide downsizing. Regaining trust: For CJR, Philip Eil proposed five ways that newsrooms can work to build trust with readers. His suggestions were heavy on calls for transparency and explanation of the reporting process, two services that public editors and ombudsmen traditionally provide. For CJR, Philip Eil proposed five ways that newsrooms can work to build trust with readers. His suggestions were heavy on calls for transparency and explanation of the reporting process, two services that public editors and ombudsmen traditionally provide. What do you think?: Im genuinely interested in what CJR readers think about the elimination of public editors across the industry. Shoot me an email to let me know. Other notable stories ICYMI: The real perils of Trumps numbing fake news routine Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. FOR PHILADELPHIA NEWS CONSUMERS, WHYYs story about 8-year-old Dakota Johnson is likely a refreshing one. After Dakota and her father survived an apartment fire five months ago, her mother, who like her father works in mental health, found her a new free therapy program for childhood traumathe only of its kind in a district with some of the highest poverty rates in the city. According to the story, Dakota has found some relief there, and over the next two years, so will 120 other children. Its a positive, evidence-based resource for a neighborhood in which residents commonly experience trauma. In a city where more than 25 percent of citizens live below the poverty line, and nearly half cannot provide basic subsistence for their families, news stories about poverty can feel anesthetizing. But a local, collaborative reporting initiativethe one through which Dakotas story was publishedis working to reframe despairing poverty narratives by digging deep into its complex causes and highlighting solutions that have the potential to make a difference. On April 19, the Resolve Philadelphia solutions journalism collaborative launched Broke in Philly, a yearlong project through which 19 outlets are pursuing in-depth reporting on issues related to poverty and the citys push for economic justice. In the dozen-or-so stories Broke has published since its launch, its media partners have made strides in avoiding stereotypes and stigmatizing language. The group has also made community engagement central to the projects development, event planning, and reporting process. ICYMI: The Triibe roams a Chicago overlooked by legacy media For Resolve, this model of collaborative, community-engaged journalism is nothing new. The collective evolved from the Reentry Project, led by The Solutions Journalism Network, which from late 2016 to March 2018 published and broadcast more than 200 stories on the challenges of and solutions to prisoner reentry in Philadelphia. The Reentry Project also collaborated with community members to host an event called The Reentry Blueprint: Stories and Solutions from the Formerly Incarcerated. I think the way we tried to approach the topic, both through our reporting and then through the events we did, really did shift peoples conception of the role media can play in their world, and the reentry space and society at large, says Resolves executive director, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky. People were excited about the solutions approach and liked seeing more forward-thinking, positive reporting, particularly on an issue where you so often hear about the negative side. As citizens, we tend to look at these problems, and believe because were exposed only to negative reporting that this is the way it has to bethat poverty is, in fact, unavoidable. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project Most of Brokes media partners, such as the Philadelphia Media Network, WHYY, PhillyCAM, and WURD, came directly from the Reentry Project. But following the Reentry Projects success, Resolve picked up a few more, such as City and State PA, The Philadelphia Tribune, and Philatinos Radio. As Resolve expanded, they decided that instead of choosing a topic amongst themselves, they would ask the public what they should cover next. They received more than 400 responses. The suggestionssubmitted through an online survey, an SMS text line, notecards, and focus groupsranged from education reform, to litter, to corruption in city government. When Resolve met to discuss which topic they should report on, it was unsurprising that the citys most pervasive issue repeatedly rose to the top of the conversation. The issues of poverty really are embedded in every area of coverage we doeducation inequity, healthcare, affordable housing, transportation, local government, and politics, says Sandra Clark, WHYYs vice president for news and civic dialogue. Poverty is not detached from any of these issues. To prepare for Broke, Friedman-Rudovsky gave herself a crash course on poverty and connected with organizations, experts, and people with lived experience so they could together shape the mission and path of the project. Community experts warned her that focusing just on poverty would risk communicating to the public that poverty is siloedlike an an accident of society, as she put itand that individuals who experience it may be disconnected and responsible for that experience. To combat that narrative, Resolve provided all involved news outlets with a 29-page reporters guide, which outlines framing and language recommendations, and gives reporters background information, statistics, and a primer on federal, state, and local economic policy. For example, it reminds reporters that poverty is a state, not a trait. Journalists are recommended to use phrases like people experiencing poverty, as opposed to the poor, economically disadvantaged, or needy. (A language guide is available on the Broke in Philly website.) While the project launched just last month, national news organizations are starting to take notice of its efforts. Friedman-Rudovsky recently received a note from a copy editor at a large national outlet who said she shared the reporters guide with her entire copy desk. According to Keith Hammonds, the president of the Solutions Journalism Network, beyond Brokes language, its solutions approach challenges notions about the perceived hopelessness of povertysomething the news media too often communicates to the public. As citizens, we tend to look at these problems, and believe because were exposed only to negative reporting that this is the way it has to bethat poverty is, in fact, unavoidable, says Hammonds. Solutions journalism tells me about efforts to address poverty in my community, and I start to think, Oh, there are people in Philadelphia doing stuff that seems to be working. Therefore, its actually not unavoidable. Hammond adds, We do, in fact, have agency, both as individuals and as a community, in taking on challenges that otherwise seem wildly out of reach. ICYMI: Should journalists carry Narcan? Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jillian Bauer-Reese is an assistant professor of journalism in the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University, where she teaches a course called Solutions Journalism: Covering Addiction. She is also a person in long-term recovery. You can contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @thesmallpicture. A fire at a Chinese-owned auto parts plant in Michigan has cut off supply of key components and disrupted production of crucial Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG models, with the U.S. automaker already saying itll hurt profit in the second quarter. Ford is shutting down F-150 truck production at its Dearborn, Michigan, factory, after having already idled its Kansas City plant that also makes the popular and highly profitable model. The automaker also has stopped building F-Series Super Duty pickups at a factory in Kentucky, though it continues to make them in Ohio. The shutdowns will adversely impact Fords second-quarter earnings, but the company expects to compensate for this later. We believe the impact of this will be isolated to the second quarter, Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of global operations, said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. We do not anticipate losing any sales as a result of this and well be able, over time, to make up the production. The parts shortage has also spread to General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV factories, in addition to leading Daimler to pause production of key Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicles. The interruptions follow an explosion and fire last week at a Meridian Magnesium Products plant in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, which makes die-cast parts and is owned by Chinas Wanfeng Auto Holding Group. Fords Franchise F-Series pickups generate most of Fords profit, with Morgan Stanley recently assigning a higher valuation to the franchise than the entire company. The trucks are the top-selling vehicle line in America and haul in about $40 billion in annual revenue, exceeding the annual sales of companies such as Facebook Inc. and Nike Inc. The F-Series platform is critically important to Ford, said Emmanuel Rosner, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities LLC. We estimate it generates annual profits of at least $12 billion for the company, accounting for much more than the totality of Fords global profit. Ford fell 1.9 percent on Wednesday to close at $11.06. The shares have dropped 11 percent this year. The going assumption is that the lost units will be mostly recoverable over the course of the year, Joseph Spak, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets, said in an note to investors. However, the longer the downtime, the tougher this gets. Hour to Hour The fire in the supplier plant lingered and was difficult to contain because the magnesium that ignited couldnt be extinguished with water. Meridian plant manager George Asher told Automotive News that the company is working to move dies for stamping parts to its plants in Ontario and the U.K. Ford said it extracted from Meridians plant all the tools used to produce magnesium parts for the F-Series, the Expedition, Explorer and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, as well as the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT crossovers. The automaker is trying to move those dies to other supplier factories, including the Meridian plant in Ontario. We have to rebuild the whole supply chain, Hinrichs said. Its really a day-to-day, hour-to-hour situation. We have a plan developed on how to get production started back up, but its going to take some time to make that happen. Hinrichs declined to project when Ford would resume production. No Easy Substitute There are relatively few suppliers of magnesium parts, which means the auto companies could be without critical components for some time. Theres not a lot of this type of supplier around that has capacity to pick up that kind of volume, said Kristin Dziczek, an economist and labor expert at the Center for Automotive Research. This isnt like picking up screws at the hardware store. The production disruptions underscore the vulnerability of complex supply chains in the global auto industry, which relies on just-in-time deliveries of parts directly to assembly lines to boost efficiency and save costs. Meridians Eaton Rapids factory supplies lightweight cast-metal parts for global automakers, which are using more materials such as magnesium and aluminum to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency. Fiat Chrysler said the parts shortage has impacted production of the Chrysler Pacifica minivan at its Windsor, Ontario, plant, and its adjusting production schedules to minimize downtime. GM has halted production of the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans at its Wentzville, Missouri, factory, but continues to build Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups there. Mercedes employs about 3,700 people who build about 286,000 vehicles annually at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plant, including the GLE and GLS SUVs and the C-Class sedan. More than 70 percent of SUV output is for export. Mercedes is investing $1 billion at the site for production of electric cars, including battery manufacturing, and to expand logistics operations. Ample Supply Ford said earlier Wednesday that it halted production of Super Duty trucks the F-250 through F-750 pickups at factories in Ohio and Kentucky, but Hinrichs clarified that production of those models only stopped in Kentucky. Super Duty production continues in Ohio, along with Econoline commercial vans. And Ford hasnt stopped building the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator full-size SUVs in Kentucky. We have a good supply of materials for Expedition and Navigator, so we see that production continuing for quite some time, Hinrichs said, adding that Ford continues to build the Explorer in Chicago. Despite the shutdowns, Ford said it has 84 days supply of F-Series, which exceeds the roughly 60-day level thats generally considered an ideal amount of inventory. Customers wont have any trouble finding the F-Series, Erich Merkle, Fords sales analyst, said in a statement. Still, the F-Series is so important to Ford that Guggenheims Rosner is considering adjusting earnings projections for the automaker once the full effect of the supplier fire is known. We will likely revisit our earnings estimates for Ford and its main suppliers once there is more clarity on the extent and magnitude of the production downtime, Rosner said. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Health Professions Program Helps Students Engineer Careers in Medicine May 11, 2018 Medical careers require problem-solving, synthesizing information, endurance and a commitment to service and research. The Health Professions Program at Carnegie Mellon University helps students, including those in the College of Engineering, develop those skill sets. The Mellon College of Science's Jason D'Antonio directs the program, and advises students from colleges across campus to schedule courses so they can complete requirements for both their major and pre-med track in four years. "The engineering discipline diversifies a student's curriculum, and it gives these students a way of problem-solving and teaches them to think critically about situations when working in team-based environments, both in med school and beyond," D'Antonio said. For many students, learning time management and problem-solving is essential for their success as physicians. Nicole Huang, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2016, combined her passions for medicine and mechanical engineering through the program. "The most valuable thing that I gained from engineering school was the work ethic," said Huang, now a first-year medical student at Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine. At Carnegie Mellon, Huang was involved with Global Medical Brigades, a student-led organization that takes an annual trip to an underserved area in Latin America to provide medical attention to those in need. Huang traveled to Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama with the organization. Team picture from Global Medical Brigades 2015 trip to Nicaragua, including Nicole Huang and Neil Carleton. The HPP program is open to all students at CMU, and prepares students for not only medical school but other health care related fields including nursing, dentistry, physical therapy and veterinary medicine. Neil Carleton, who graduated with degrees in mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering in 2017, took advantage of the program from day one because he knew he would ultimately pursue medicine but wanted an engineering background. After his first year at Carnegie Mellon, Carleton landed a position in a cancer research lab at Johns Hopkins University with the help of D'Antonio. With experience from the cancer research lab and Professor Keith Cook's Bioengineered Organs lab, Carleton has been accepted into multiple M.D./Ph.D. programs. "Advising was key," Carleton said. "Dr. D'Antonio helped me land that first research experience, which formed the basis for what I want to do going forward." D'Antonio encourages students to get experience early by volunteering at a local hospital or shadowing physicians. Once they have some clinical experience, then the HPP places students in a preceptorship program, in which students can shadow young residents at UPMC Shadyside. The program gives students an idea of what it's like right after medical school, when it can be tough. D'Antonio then helps students get involved in hospice or other programs where they can directly interact with patients. "That interactive experience checks the sense of compassion and commitment it takes to be a doctor," D'Antonio said. "Once they get past that novelty phase and they see what it's going to be like for the next 30 years or so, they can decide if that's still what they want to pursue." The HPP office also assists students through a committee interview, a two-hour practice interview conducted by D'Antonio and two other faculty to prepare students for the real medical school interview. The committee then generates a letter that objectively evaluates the student's application and interview. This service also is available to alumni who wish to apply to medical school after graduating. "The committee letter signifies that we've had a working relationship with the student and that the student has been proactive," D'Antonio said. "It reflects well on the student to have it." For D'Antonio helping students find the right path is key. For engineers, having that degree lets them pursue another career if medicine isn't their ultimate field. Evan Fisch and his father, Dr. Bruce Fisch, are both alumni from CMU's College of Engineering. Evan is following his father's footsteps and is pursuing a career in medicine. Evan Fisch, who graduated with degrees in civil and environmental engineering and biomedical engineering in 2014, decided to pursue medicine while taking a biomedical engineering design course in his junior year. D'Antonio helped him make that goal a reality. "I fully intend on applying my engineering background in my career," said Fisch, a third-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine. "Whether that's a career pivot where I work on developing medical devices, or if that's contending to think and teach like an engineer as a physician." California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday released a revised state budget plan, which showed a slower pick-up in tax revenue from the legal cannabis industry than expected and a weakening in revenue projections for next year. "While the forecast assumes revenues will be phased in over time, preliminary data indicates revenue receipts are slower than anticipated," the budget said. "Cannabis revenue projections are subject to great uncertainty." The new budget bumps the current fiscal year's outlook up $10 million, estimating the combined medical and adult use industry would generate $185 million in 2017 to 2018. For 2018 to 2019, or the first full year under California's Proposition 64 that legalized adult recreational use, the state lowered its outlook by about $13 million to $630 million in excise tax revenues. The budget revision also disclosed that the first quarterly deposit, due at the end of April, came to $33.6 million in excise taxes about on par with projections a watchdog organization on Monday said could impact the current year's revenues. Brown included in the May revision an additional $133.3 million for cannabis-related activities, including license and permit processing, enforcement, laboratory services, information technology, quality assurance and environmental protection. An independent state budget watchdog on Monday disclosed that marijuana tax collections are off to a slow start. The state's independent Legislative Analyst's Office anticipated marijuana excise taxes in the first quarter of 2018, or the first three months since recreational marijuana sales started, would come in around $34 million and would likely miss the $175 billion goal for the first year's tax revenues. "Based on this quarterly tally, we think that 2017-18 revenue likely will be somewhat lower than the administration's January estimate," the LAO said in a blog post Monday. But the revised budget actually strengthen's the current fiscal year's outlook by about $10 million, from $175 million to $185 million. It's the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, for which the state mitigated its expectations, if only by $13 million. "I would suspect they are anticipating a ramp up in entities being licensed, and that the increased access in the market will significantly accelerate growth and revenues," said Greg Shoenfeld, BDS Analytics' vice president of operations. Industry experts say the slow start is not unexpected because other states such as Colorado and Washington also experienced hiccups in the early period of legal recreational marijuana sales. In the case of California, though, they say the situation was made worse due to problems with marijuana businesses getting licenses, local pushback and outright confusion. "It's not a surprise that the state overestimated because they were probably using an ideal scenario to come up with these forecasts," said Chris Walsh, vice president of editorial and strategic development at Denver-based Marijuana Business Daily, which tracks the cannabis industry across the nation. "It's just getting off to an extremely rocky start." Added Walsh: "There's going to be much fewer sales than expected until all that is ironed out. It might take a couple months, or it could take a year or more." "When Facebook changed its structure to take public money in, they should have changed their structure to a more open board structure, and we think that there's a problem with having one person in charge of the company," he added. "There is something wrong," he said Thursday on CNBC's " Closing Bell ." The capital markets are a democracy, but that's not how Facebook is being run, said Christopher Ailman, the chief investment officer of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as CalSTRS. That's because the tech giant has dual-class shares. Facebook's Class B shares are controlled by Zuckerberg and a small group of insiders and have 10 votes per share. Class A shares only have one vote per share. The end result is that Zuckerberg and those insiders control almost 70 percent of the voting shares in Facebook. CalSTRS took on the issue in a recent op-ed in the Financial Times. CalSTRS portfolio manager Aeisha Mastagni wrote, "Why does Mr. Zuckerberg need the entrenchment factor of a dual-class structure? Is it because he does not want governance to evolve with the rest of his company? If so, this American dream is now akin to a dictatorship." A Facebook spokesperson told CNBC, "Our board of directors believes that our capital structure contributes to our stability and insulates our board of directors and management from short-term pressures, which allows them to focus on our mission and long-term success." CalSTRS, which manages $224.4 billion in assets, owns $650.4 million in Facebook shares as of year-end 2017. Ailman told CNBC, "If you want to use other people's money they need to have a chance to have some say in how the business is run by electing a board of directors, holding management accountable." "One individual person can't make all the right decisions. And we've seen some cracks in Facebook's management, especially this year," he added. The most notable "crack" was the data scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, which is accused of improperly gaining access to 50 million Facebook profiles before the 2016 election. Cambridge Analytica has called the allegations "false." That "lack of poor oversight and management" on the part of Facebook is the reason Ailman deleted his Facebook account in April, he said. He told CNBC that he has not signed back up. "I do not plan on joining Facebook for a long time." That said, CalSTRS has no plan to dump its Facebook shares. "We're in this for the long haul," he said. Instead, they want to start a conversation. "Something like dual-class shares is something we want to stop dead in its tracks now and try to get Silicon Valley to wake up and see more democracy in their companies and more of an accountability in management," Ailman said. CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report. Disclaimer U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump (L) welcome President Mauricio Macri of Argentina and the first lady of Argentina, Juliana Awada (R), to the White House shortly before meeting in the Oval Office April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. The United States supports Argentine President Mauricio Macri's economic reform program, the White House said on Thursday, after Buenos Aires announced this week it was seeking financing from the International Monetary Fund. "The United States supports the economic reform program of President Mauricio Macri of Argentina, which is market-oriented, growth-focused, and has improved Argentina's future," the White House statement said. "President Macri has the right vision for the Argentine economy and has made important strides toward modernizing the country's economic policy," it said. Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 16, 2018 in New York City. As ProPublica reported last year, Cohen spent a short period in February 2017 working at the offices of Kasowitz Benson Torres in midtown Manhattan, alarming several lawyers at the firm who worried about the brash attorney's reputation. That was at the beginning of the period, between January and August 2017, when Columbus Nova made its payments to Cohen. Now there's a new wrinkle: Another longtime Trump personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, also represented Columbus Nova in recent years in a commercial case. A spokesman for Kasowitz said the case settled in early 2017. At the heart of the story is an investment firm called Columbus Nova, which has close links to Renova Group, a conglomerate founded by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg . A Columbus Nova spokesman has said the payments to Cohen were for unspecified investment consulting. The news on Tuesday that the same shell company that Michael Cohen, a longtime personal lawyer for Donald Trump, had used to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels had also received about $500,000 in 2017 from a firm linked to a Russian oligarch set off a frenzy of commentary on Twitter and cable TV. Cohen told ProPublica last year that he used Kasowitz's offices "because we were working on several matters together after the inauguration." Both he and Kasowitz have declined to specify what they collaborated on. A Columbus Nova spokesman said that the investment firm was not introduced to Cohen by Kasowitz. The spokesman said Kasowitz worked on only one commercial matter for Columbus Nova and that it was a coincidence that the firm had used two lawyers who also represent Trump. Asked whether any of Cohen's brief time at the Kasowitz offices related to matters for Columbus Nova, Renova, or Vekselberg, a Kasowitz spokesman said "no." The spokesman added, "The firm did not do any substantive work with Michael Cohen after he left the Trump Organization." Cohen resigned from the Trump Organization in January 2017. Cohen didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Any work Cohen did with Kasowitz in 2017 could take on new relevance since the FBI raided Cohen's home and office last month. Kasowitz, who was Trump's lead lawyer in the Russia investigation for a brief period last year, has reportedly still been involved in advising the president in the case. Kasowitz continues to represent Trump in other matters. That includes a suit by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" who claims Trump defamed her by calling her a liar after she asserted that he had made unwanted sexual advances. Kasowitz Benson Torres specializes in commercial litigation and has represented many large U.S. and foreign companies. Kasowitz's work for Columbus Nova stretches back to at least 2010 in related cases filed in New York and Illinois. In Illinois, Fifth Third Bank sued Columbus Nova and several affiliated entities, alleging that they had caused the bank to lose tens of millions of dollars on loans to a life insurance financing program that was "permeated by fraud and embezzlement." In the New York case, Kasowitz and three other attorneys at his firm filed a separate suit alleging that it was Fifth Third Bank that had committed fraud and caused losses. The name of Andrew Intrater, the CEO of Columbus Nova and the cousin of Vekselberg, comes up repeatedly in the litigation. Kasowitz's spokesman said the litigation settled in 2017. The terms do not appear to be public. "The firm represented Nina Investments LLC and its affiliates, Santa Maria Overseas, Ltd., Columbus Nova Investments IV, Ltd., and Renova U.S. Management LLC, in a commercial litigation with Fifth Third Bank, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, over a failed investment in a company called Concord Capital Management, LLC," the Kasowitz spokesman said. "The litigation was commenced in 2010 and settled in early 2017." A spokesman for Renova, Andrey Shtorkh, told ProPublica that he is not familiar with Kasowitz. He described Renova Group as a client of Columbus Nova. However, Renova's website previously described Columbus Nova as one of its holdings. Columbus Nova's website previously described itself "as the US investment vehicle for the Renova Group." Vekselberg was among those hit with sanctions last month by the Trump administration in response to "malign activity around the globe" by the Russian government. The New York Times subsequently reported that Vekselberg was questioned by investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller. Along with the payments from Columbus Nova, Cohen also received payments from corporations including AT&T and Novartis. AT&T said it hired Cohen "to provide insights into understanding the new administration." ProPublica recently reported that Kasowitz used his access to the Trump administration to help another client, a New York investor, with a casino in Vietnam. Additional reporting by Claire Perlman. Do you have information about the Michael Cohen or Marc Kasowitz? Contact Justin at justin@propublica.org or via Signal at 774-826-6240. For critically ill diabetes patients, making sure their blood sugar levels are correct is crucial. If they drop then glucose needs to be administered, but if they rise too high then insulin is required. Currently, this is done by nurses in hospitals, but one start-up has created an "artificial pancreas" that can automate the process, and it's a chip that's smaller than a thumbnail. Boston, MA.-based Admetsys has created a solution that can constantly monitor blood sugar levels in real time. It's artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm then triggers its software to either administer glucose or insulin via the drip that a patient is connected to. The drip is connected to a screen. The screen shows the metrics for the patient. "It is a laboratory on a chip. This is what will be able to replace what is in the laboratory," Timothy Valk, co-founder of Admetsys, told CNBC in an interview that aired Friday. The company's solution doesn't require human intervention. Valk said rather than lead to job losses in hospitals, it would help medical professionals focus on harder tasks. "This device was suggested by nurses. The nurses' workload is astronomical. They need to be doing other things that are more appropriate for them, than running in and manually doing a glucose or drawing blood their time is costly," Valk said. "We need to have automation work to improve the capacity for nurses and doctors to do the more appropriate, high risk needed jobs, and less of the manual techniques." In the face of recent decisions taken by President Donald Trump, Europe needs to strengthen its position as a global player, the president of the European Commission said Friday. Trump decided earlier this week to pull the United States out of an international nuclear accord with Iran. The U.K., Germany and France, who are also part of the agreement, criticized Trump's decision, saying that the deal had been working. Such countries, alongside the European institutions, are now battling to keep the agreement in place, even without the U.S. "We need more Europe. After all we have seen in the past few days, the world needs to see a strong Europe," Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said at a conference in Florence, Italy, on Friday. The leaders of Germany and France made a similar point during an event Thursday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Europe can no longer rely on the United States for protection. The Trump administration is facing lawsuits from California and several other states after it proposed freezing fuel efficiency rules at 2020 levels until 2026. Environmentalists and Democrats want the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stick to the continuous increase in standards that the Obama administration put in place. Executives from Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, along with the U.S. heads of Daimler and Volkswagen, are set to attend a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. Draft plans by the U.S. government to freeze rules on fuel efficiency are likely to be met with resistance by top automakers today. And while U.S. auto firms have questioned the feasibility of reaching efficiency standards planned for 2025, they do not support a complete freeze. Arndt Ellinghorst, head of global automotive research at Evercore ISI Group, told CNBC on Friday that auto bosses will tell Trump that sticking fast to 2020 standards will mean a huge waste of investment. "They are spending a lot of money on electric vehicles. It is something that consumers want. If you now put targets in place that, let's say, kill the electric vehicle from a regulatory perspective, I think that makes the U.S. industry less competitive on a global scale," he said. Ellinghorst said the auto industry has been spending more than any other on research and design and seeks a reliable and consistent regulatory framework. "There is nothing worse than inconsistencies and changing of the targets because companies commit huge capital for a very long term," he added. The autos analyst said freezing targets on fuel efficiency in the U.S. would disconnect the country from other global automakers, putting it at a competitive disadvantage. Soybeans are harvested Princeton, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images China is looking to boost its domestic production of soybeans, potentially becoming less reliant on U.S. farmers amid a tit-for-tat trade war between the world's largest economies. China included lifting soybean production in a five-year plan issued in 2016, but in early April it announced that soybean farmers in China's northeastern provinces would be getting higher subsidies than its corn producers this year. This notably came amid a fierce war of words between Beijing and Washington and just a day before China said it was going to slap a 25 percent levy on U.S. imports which included soybeans. China is the biggest buyer of soybeans, importing 95.5 million tons in 2017 mainly from Brazil and the U.S. This was about seven times that of the country's own soybean output. But should American farmers be worried? CNBC headed to the farms in northeastern China and here's what we learned: Financial incentives China is offering subsidies to farmers in four provinces, mainly in the country's northeast, to urge them to switch to soybeans. The subsidies are reported in the local press to be as high as $552 per acre and were announced in the last few weeks. It also coincides with this year's planting season. The farmers we spoke to in Heilongjiang province, one of the four taking part in the government scheme, said they were being offered $162 per acre. The authorities are also guaranteeing higher floor prices, recently raising the government purchase price for soybeans. Limitations However, few farmers are taking up the offer. All the farmers we spoke to said the same thing: they were sticking with corn. Corn currently earns them double the profits of soybeans. One farmer, Li Shiguo, told CNBC that the soybean subsidy isn't enough. "Soybeans are so cheap. You don't earn much growing them," he said. Besides the lower profits, the area also lacks the mills, the proper distribution channels, and the seed technology for soybeans, making it tough for farmers to compete with inexpensive imports. Farmer Li also said he had only heard of the subsidy quite late in the planting season, which agricultural analysts say would end in June. But if the price is right... Nonetheless, the farmers were eager to join the trade fight against the U.S. if the money made sense. At a service center outside Cleveland, Majestic Steel receives and processes metal from U.S. mills, then stores it in seemingly endless aisles of rolled steel. Each cylinder weighs several tons and, after the steel is shipped to customers, its final form could take the shape of a household appliance or an office building. Some customers, such as those making license plates or road signs, need the steel as soon as possible. Others, such as those making garage doors or elevators for real estate, place orders several months in advance. That has presented a predicament for Majestic CEO Todd Leebow, since the uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariff policies makes it difficult to price steel that far in advance. "Customers are trying to figure out based upon these tariffs and potentially quotas how that changes their supply chain and who they are going to be buying their product from," Leebow told CNBC. In the last three months, steel imported from China, Japan and Russia has become 25 percent more expensive, due to a new set of tariffs the White House announced on March 8. Steel from Europe and other allies is excluded temporarily. And there are new limits to how much steel and aluminum can be brought in from South Korea. Rolls of steel wait to be processed at Majestic Steel in Bedford Heights, Ohio. Stephanie Dhue | CNBC Companies that had previously sourced their steel from those countries are seeing their bottom line and supply chain change dramatically with more competing for a limited supply of steel from U.S. mills as a result. "When the initial ruling came out, there was some chaos in the market. I think that's settled a bit," Leebow says. Now, "I think the customers just really need certainty in terms of how they can operate their business." In the most recent quarter, "uncertainty" was raised in the earnings calls of 19 companies with market capitalizations over $5 billion, according to a CNBC analysis of call transcripts. While imported steel and aluminum are adjusting to new, shifting sands on the trade landscape, a wide range of other industries are bracing for further rounds of tariffs to hit their business. On March 31, the U.S. Trade Representative announced tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods after months investigating China's alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property. USTR did not say whether, or when, the tariffs would take effect, only saying the U.S. would be legally allowed to implement them in late May. Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, said May 22 is the last day comments can be made on that initial $50 billion list. "We'll need some time to process that, and after that, we can legally put them into place," he told a China business event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping arrive at a state dinner in China on November 9, 2017. Thomas Peter | Pool | Getty Images Equipment for beer brewing is on the list of products targeted by potential tariffs. Maui Brewing Co. founder Garrett Marrero bought six new, stainless steel tanks from China for $400,000 in late 2017 and says he's relieved he didn't wait to do so. "If we had to spend another $100,000 because of tariffs, we would've had to buy one less tank," Marrero told CNBC. Forgoing that upfront investment would have cost Maui Brewing $1 million in potential revenue, Marrero said. In 2017, Maui Brewing recorded about $20 million revenue with 55 employees. Marrero is also bracing for the price of its aluminum cans to rise, too, due to tariffs on foreign aluminum. Ball Corp., Maui's vendor, already raised prices this year, and if it happens again, Marrero said he'd consider increasing the price of a case of beer to offset the cost. The problem: It could take up to 180 days for wholesalers, restaurants and retailers to process the change. "We can make the decision quickly," Marrero said. "It just takes a long time to put it into effect." The implementation of the tariffs could be stalled if trade negotiations with China make progress. China's top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, is visiting Washington to continue talks after a U.S. delegation traveled to Beijing in early May for "frank discussions" with their Chinese counterparts. To increase the temperature ahead of those talks, Trump has suggested he could target another $100 billion in Chinese goods with tariffs, although neither he nor his trade officials have said what products would be included. Footwear and apparel companies are worried a net cast that wide would include their products, too. Steel is cut for a variety of end uses at Majestic Steel in Bedford Heights, Ohio. Stephanie Dhue | CNBC Israel bombed more than 35 sites in Syria both Iranian and Syrian early Thursday in response to a rocket attack it said was launched by Iran just after midnight local time. Amid a rapid escalation of regional tensions, the strikes have thrust a simmering shadow war out into the open. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed it struck nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, dramatically ramping up hostilities between the two longtime adversaries that until now were largely fought out by proxies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Thursday saying: "Iran crossed a red line. We responded accordingly. The IDF carried out a very wide-ranging attack against Iranian targets in Syria." He added: "Whoever hurts us we will hurt them sevenfold." Iran has not yet responded or acknowledged any damage, but civilian groups on the ground reported 15 dead, including eight Iranians. Largest strike in 45 years If the attack from Syria, which saw approximately 20 rockets fired at Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights region, is confirmed as Iran's doing, it would represent the first strike by Tehran directly onto Israeli soil. And Israel's response was its largest military engagement in Syria in 45 years since the Yom Kippur war of 1973. An IDF spokesperson told media that of the 20 projectiles fired from Syria, four were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, while the rest exploded over Syrian territory. There were no casualties. Tweet This is the latest development in a rapidly intensifying struggle between Israel and Iran over Syria that in the last three months saw several Israeli airstrikes on Syrian and Iranian forces in response to the latter sending armed drones across Israel's border. Ahmad Majidyar, director of the IranObserved Project at the Middle East Institute, effectively summarized the new developments: "While neither side wants an all-out war, miscalculation and overreaction may culminate in a more dangerous situation, triggering a wider war between the two arch-enemies and thrusting the Levant region into more chaos and instability." Tehran is one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's major backers, alongside Russia, in Syria's bloody seven-year civil war. Israel sees Iranian-backed engagement along its border in Syria as an existential threat, and seeks to prevent Iranian military installations from becoming permanent bases from which militant group Hezbollah can launch attacks into its territory. We should be prepared for continued airstrikes and exchange of fire along the border. The potential for a terrorist attack targeting Israeli interests in the region cannot be discounted. Ryan Turner Senior Risk Analyst at PGI Group Since 2013, the IDF has carried out more than 100 airstrikes over Syria. Tel Aviv blamed Thursday's attack on Iran's powerful Quds Force the external branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Nuclear deal fallout Analysts have predicted further escalations following President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which will see U.S. sanctions re-imposed on Tehran. The move has likely empowered the Islamic Republic's hardliners, removing incentives for restraint against Israeli and U.S. interests in the region. Immediately after Trump's announcement Tuesday, Israel declared high alert over "irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria," instructing authorities to "unlock and ready" bomb shelters in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967. The same day, Israeli missiles targeted an Iran-linked army base south of Syria's capital of Damascus. Israeli strikes had killed at least seven Quds Force advisers in the weeks prior to Thursday's strike, but until this week Tehran was notably muted in its response likely owing to the embarrassment of an Israeli blow to its forces, and a reluctance to trigger greater conflict. Now, however, analysts say Iran is less likely to hold back. Missile fire is seen from Damascus, Syria May 10, 2018. Omar Sanadiki | Reuters "These raids, which have largely gone unanswered over 2018, are now more likely to provoke a direct response following Trump's decision to exit the nuclear deal," said Ryan Turner, senior risk analyst at PGI Group. In early May, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to avenge those killed, saying that the era of "hit and run" is over. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a research fellow at Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), agreed, describing the alleged rocket fire by the Quds Force as "marked escalation" by Iran, as well as "an indicator of growing risk tolerance in the Syrian theater." The new normal? "We should be prepared for continued airstrikes and exchange of fire along the border," said Turner, adding that both terrorist and cyberattacks targeting Israeli interests cannot be discounted. Meanwhile, Israel, emboldened by the Trump administration and tacit support from Gulf monarchies, will likely step up its aerial campaign against Iranian targets. U.S. Ambassador James Dobbins, a senior fellow at RAND Corporation who served in crisis management posts for the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, agreed, adding that a full-scale war is still less probable. "Iran and Israel are likely to continue clashing in Syria," Dobbins told CNBC. "Strikes from Israel all the way to Iran or vice versa seem less likely, although possible if the local conflict becomes more intense." Tweet While the possibility of an all-out war remains on the table, most regional analysts see the conflict continuing in the form of limited skirmishes, which risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group puts at a 65 percent probability, largely due to Iran's awareness of its own vulnerability to severe retaliation from Israel or the U.S. The clashes "will likely be sporadic and not escalate to a wider conflagration," Eurasia Group researchers wrote in a report Thursday night. "Tehran will likely judge it must retaliate for last night's assault, but it also does not want to take action that would provide Israel the pretext to launch a wider attack on Iranian facilities and personnel, which remain vulnerable." 'This event is not over' Chinese ride-hailing start-up Didi Chuxing said Friday it is suspending one of its carpooling services, called "ride-hitching," for a week after a passenger was murdered. Didi said that a woman, identified only as "Ms. Li," was killed after the son of a driver registered with the company accessed his father's app, allowing him to pick up passengers. The person driving the vehicle was not detected by Didi's night mode facial recognition as its night safety mechanism was "defective," the firm said. Didi apologized and said it was "deeply saddened" about the incident. It said its "responsibilities" in the case were "undeniable." "Our special task force is working closely with law enforcement agencies with the utmost effort," Didi Chuxing said in a statement. "The murderer needs to be brought to justice, and Ms Li and her family deserve a just answer." The company added: "We apologize again to the family of the victim and the public. Please be assured we will review thoroughly all our business practices to prevent such an incident from happening again." According to reports, the victim was a 21-year-old flight attendant and was killed in Zhengzhou, the capital of China's Henan province. Police are investigating the case. The news was trending on Chinese microblogging website Weibo. Didi's ride-hitching service, Didi Hitch, is one of 13 offered by the firm, and will be suspended for one week nationwide for self-inspection and rectification of the issue, starting May 12. The news comes after a report said that the homegrown tech giant is mulling a listing on the public market. Didi, which has 450 million users, is the biggest ride-hailing start-up in China. The company bought Uber's Chinese business in 2016, and this year made its first direct expansion abroad, into Mexico. "Bonehead" investors could miss a big opportunity by betting against electric carmaker Tesla and chief executive Elon Musk, according to brokerage firm Nomura Instinet. Even though Tesla remains one of the most shorted stocks in the U.S. equity market, analysts Romit Shah and Kellan Grenier believe the company could rally to $500 per share over two years, more than 60 percent from its current $303 price. "We believe that over the next three to six months the narrative on the company will shift from insolvency risk and cash burn to market opportunity and growth," the analysts said. They have created a chart that sets out a path to an approximately "$100 billion valuation within two years" fr the automaker. Breaking down the analysts' bull case, Tesla would have to deliver 1 million autos with an average sale price of $60,000 over the next two years to reach the lofty goal. The analysts also forecast that Tesla could claim 10 percent of global luxury sales by 2022, saying the current top three brands (Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi) are "ripe for the picking." While Shah and Grenier remain optimistic with a buy rating, it's likely a tall order for the Palo Alto, California company, which fell short of its weekly Model 3 production goal of 2,500 at the end of the last quarter. The electric-car maker's stock is still down since January, partly on concerns over the company's ability to ramp up production of the Model 3, Tesla's first attempt at a mid-priced car. Seen by Wall Street as Tesla's key to unlocking revenue, anticipation over the Model 3 carried the stock to an all-time high of $389.61 in September. Despite the miss, many investors were relieved by the numbers. Tesla produced nearly 35,000 vehicles in its first production quarter of 2018 a fourfold increase over the previous quarter, the company said. Tesla expects output to climb rapidly and continues to target a production rate of 5,000 vehicles a week by the end of June. With 31 percent of floating shares currently sold short, even a small jump higher in Tesla's stock price could trigger a so-called short squeeze. Iran is being "extremely cautious" following President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told CNBC on Friday. With two newly installed hardliners Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton driving Trump's foreign policy, Iran worries that the United States may be looking for an excuse to strike militarily, Barak said on "Squawk Box." "The Iranians, I should tell you, are suspicious that with Pompeo on one side and Bolton on the other side, the next step, they suspect, might be a cautious waiting for the slightest mistake ... that will lead to [an] American strike on their nuclear assets," said Barak. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's move this week to exit the multination Iran deal, President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy achievement. While agreeing it was a bad agreement, the former Israeli prime minister did say he thought there were other ways to deal with Iran's destabilizing behavior. After Trump announced his decision on Tuesday, Iran launched a rocket attack from Syria on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. Israel responded with warplanes hitting Iranian targets in Syria. The agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions also involved the U.K., France, Germany, China and Russia. "Once the president pulled out, it's a fact," Barak said. "It doesn't cancel the deal because the others are not going to pull out." Despite the complications Trump created with international partners on Iran, the U.S. president did put Tehran on notice, Barak said. "It created new realities. The Iranians are extremely cautious. And in the same way, you can look at North Korea," he said. "One of the reasons the North Koreans get warmer with South Korea has to do with the fact that the American president now is totally unpredictable in the minds of these players." Barak was prime minister from 1999 to 2001 as leader of Israel's Labor Party. He also served as defense minister from 2009 to 2013 in a coalition government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who long lobbied for scrapping the Iran nuclear deal. Former Trump campaign advisor Scott Mason has represented Alphabet Inc., Tesla and Peabody Energy, among others, as they sought influence in Washington. President Donald Trump, flanked by Ford CEO James Hackett and White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, meets with chief executives of major U.S. and foreign automakers at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 11, 2018. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, is under fire for his recently revealed and highly lucrative consulting arrangements with corporate giants AT&T and Novartis, casting doubt on the president's pledges to "drain the swamp." But while Cohen is in the spotlight, another Trump associate works for one of the most powerful lobbying firms in the country representing the interests of large companies such as Google parent Alphabet and Tesla as they seek influence in Washington. Shortly after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Scott Mason, a member of the campaign and Trump's transition team, was hired as a senior policy advisor at Holland & Knight, a law firm that brought in a record amount of lobbying fees the year after the president's victory. Mason told CNBC in an interview that his work with the Trump campaign was likely a factor in his getting hired at Holland & Knight. He said he believes he has helped his clients get their footing in the White House not just because of his prior engagement with campaign officials, but also because the administration is open to working with businesses. "This administration is much more business-friendly. They don't come into meetings with preconceived notions and have active experience in the business world," Mason said. "It's a Republican versus Democratic approach to the regulatory environment." In 2017, with Mason as a new member of the firm's public policy and regulation group, Holland & Knight raked in $22 million, its most since 2009, President Barack Obama's first year in office, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. After Mason joined the firm, records reviewed by CNBC show that Holland & Knight acquired three clients: Google parent Alphabet Inc., electric car company Tesla and coal mining giant Peabody Energy, which, combined, have a market cap of over $900 billion. The companies did not return requests for comment. According to his company profile, Mason shapes up as an ideal representative for his clients and the firm as a whole if they wanted to gain access to lawmakers as well as the White House. On the Trump campaign, he was the director of congressional relations, which allowed him to develop relationships with leaders on Capitol Hill on policy interest areas, including trade, tax reform, health-care reform, transportation, energy, financial services reform and numerous other issues, the company website says. Mason's corporate connections Mason, who worked in the government affairs office of hardware retail chain Lowe's before he joined the Trump team, lobbied on behalf of Alphabet last year on two bills linked to autonomous vehicle safety. The House bill, the SELF DRIVE Act, passed in September 2017, and the firm brought in $60,000 for their lobbying efforts, led by Masons' team. In total that year, Holland & Knight raised $220,000 from the company. The legislation has yet to be voted on in the Senate. Michael Cohen, personal attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to appear before Senate Intelligence Committee staff as the panel investigates alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. September 19, 2017. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters His work for Tesla was to give the company a voice in the debate about implementing tariffs on solar power developers. His company charged $30,000 for that project. One of his bigger gets for the firm was his assistance to Peabody Energy, which was looking to overcome some regulatory hurdles, according to numerous lobbying disclosure forms. By the time his work was complete, Holland & Knight had brought in $180,000 from the company. Trump whisperers Mason and Cohen aren't the only Trump-linked operators in the Washington influence sphere. Other top Trump aides, including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, made millions in the lobbying industry after working for Trump. They became known as "Trump Whisperers" for their familiarity with the president. Lewandowski, for instance, founded his own firm, Avenue Strategies, shortly after the election, only to step down after calls for an investigation into whether he was officially registered as a lobbyist. 'Michael Cohen sold his ego' The headlines about Cohen's dealings with companies seeking insight on the president's thinking and methods have cast an unflattering light on the lobbying and consulting industries in the Beltway. It has also generated a new wave of criticism toward Trump, who routinely hit the influence culture in Washington as "the swamp." Cohen isn't a registered lobbyist, and Mason slammed him for his attempts to get in on the business. "Michael Cohen sold his ego. There's no evidence that he can find Capitol Hill on the map. If you want to be an effective lobbyist you better be able to find it on the map," Mason said. "It's unfortunate what he did, and it tarnishes what we have been doing for 20 years." Cohen did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Mason's criticism of him. Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images AT&T said Friday that Cohen reached out to the company. In turn, they paid him $600,000 for gaining insights into the new Trump administration, particularly with regard to the telecom giant's pending merger with media conglomerate Time Warner. The Justice Department blocked the deal, and the matter went to court. The judge in the case has said he will have a decision by June 12. In a letter obtained by CNBC, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told employees that it was a "big mistake" to hire Cohen. The company also made a corporate change, saying that its external and legal affairs group, which made the deal with Cohen, will now report directly to the company's legal counsel. Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan also acknowledged his company made a mistake in hiring Cohen in a letter on Thursday. The health-care company has been coming under scrutiny for paying $1.2 million to Cohen in a yearlong contract. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Cohen's fees far outstrip what has historically been paid to official lobbyists at firms such as Holland & Knight. WATCH: AT&T-Cohen issue proves Trump 'draining the swamp' "It's really designed like a commercial airliner, relative to, say, a general aviation aircraft. Getting all those details right is massively difficult." "If aircraft were not reusable and you needed a new one for every flight, then each ticket would cost millions of dollars, at least. One way. And you'd need two for a two-way trip. And almost no one would be able to afford to fly. And that's the situation with expendable rockets today. And what happens once you achieve reusability, then tickets can go from a million dollars, to a few thousand dollars, or a few hundred dollars for short trips. And then fundamentally spaceflight will be open to almost anyone, just as air flight is." "I think the general sentiment will change from being, from feeling like a flown rocket is scary to feeling like an un-flown rocket is scary. Just like, would you rather fly in an aircraft that's never had a test flight before? Or would you rather fly in an aircraft that's flown many times successfully? I think that's, certainly for I'm a pilot, and I've flown a lot of aircraft, and I've read about aircraft design I definitely would far prefer to fly in an aircraft that's flown many times successfully than one that has never flown. But really we completely have the opposite sentiment in rocket land. But I think that sentiment over time will change to the point that people will actually prefer to fly on a flight-proven rocket than one that has never flown." "In recent weeks, we've seen 10 million barrels a day of gasoline production. It continues to run very high. You're not talking a lot of breathing room. If there's a big refinery that goes down in the heat of the summer driving season, you can still expect a pretty big reaction," said Patrick DeHaan, senior energy analyst at GasBuddy.com. Nineteen states are already above the national average, with nine averaging above $3 a gallon, and California heading toward $4 per gallon. Drivers in 25 cities are already paying 70 cents a gallon more than this time last year, according to GasBuddy.com. Gasoline prices are expected to peak at a national average of around $3 per gallon by the Fourth of July holiday. But with summer driving season officially kicking off on Memorial Day about two weeks from now, the average price of unleaded gas is already at $2.85 a gallon, according to AAA. Already expected at four-year highs, gasoline prices could be be especially vulnerable to spikes this summer, with demand at record highs and refineries running full throttle. In 2014, when gasoline prices were last at $3 per gallon, the average family paid about $1,600 for the summer season. Drivers this year, however, should see the national average peak at about $3 to $3.10 per gallon, but not stay at or above that level as they did in 2014, Kloza said. This summer, the average family could pay about $1,318 for gasoline from May through September, compared to $1,070 in the same period a year ago, according to Tom Kloza, head of global energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. With oil prices at a four-year high, gasoline prices are climbing too, and analysts are carefully watching developments with Iran in the Middle East and the continued decline of Venezuela's oil production. But it's not just the potential hiccups at domestic refineries and pipelines, and even summer hurricanes that analysts say could threaten to send U.S. prices even higher. It's the fact that for the first time in a while, geopolitics has been driving oil prices higher. Source: AAA Gasoline demand, meanwhile, was at a high 9.8 million barrels last week, just shy of the record of 9.86 million barrels, and it is expected to rise during the summer. Analysts say low unemployment and tax breaks could be pushing up demand as more people drive to jobs and vacations. "Certainly, we could see several weeks this summer where gasoline demand is in excess of 10 million barrels a dayWe could see new weekly records set this summer," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Refineries are running at a high level, and utilization has been running over 90 percent. Gasoline prices have been rising steadily, with the national average up about five cents per gallon in the last week and 20 cents in the past month. Last year, at this time the average was $2.33 per gallon, according to AAA. The highest prices ever for unleaded gasoline were in the summer of 2008, with national prices for unleaded averaging $4.11 per gallon. Oil that year spiked above $145 per barrel, double current levels. Fuel prices have been climbing this year, along with crude, which is up about 18 percent year-to-date. Oil prices have jumped recently as President Donald Trump moved to withdraw the U.S. from the Iranian nuclear deal. Trump dropped out of the agreement this week, and shortly after, there was the first direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran, with Iran aiming rockets at Israeli forces. Analysts said if that type of activity continues or intensifies, it could drive crude and gasoline prices even higher. West Texas Intermediate crude futures Friday were at about $71, up more than 3.5 percent in the last two weeks. Gasoline futures were up about 6 percent in the same period. "It's possible I would say we could have a spike if the tensions in the Middle East heat up to the point where it begins to impact crude oil supplies. If that's the case, the oil market would respond accordingly, and you could see $3.50 a gallon for gasoline," Lipow said. "I would say the probability is less than 25 percent, but that could easily change." Venezuela's dwindling production, now at about 1.5 million barrels a day, is about 1 million barrels a day less than last year, and more declines are expected. The future output of state-run Petroleos de Venezuela, called PDVSA, is even more unclear now that ConocoPhillips is seeking the company's Caribbean assets in return for a $2 billion arbitration award related to Venezuelan's seizure of Conoco assets in 2007. A number of ships headed for PDVSA Caribbean operations recently have been diverted to avoid seizure of their cargoes. Other companies are expected to lay claim on PDVSA assets, including Canadian miner Rusoro Mining which is seeking Citgo assets. "We're looking at a possible implosion, not only of their crude oil exports, which are pretty low but of their refineries. Maybe they're operating at 30 percent of capacity," said Kloza. He notes that PDVSA was a chief supplier of fuel in Central and South America but its problems might mean the U.S. steps up to be "a larger supplier if things continue to get run down in their refining operations." The U.S. exported 1.9 million barrels per day of crude last week, and another 4.8 million barrels of refined products, including 581,000 barrels a day of gasoline. The U.S. also imports some gasoline into the East Coast from Europe and Canada, but it has become a net exporter of refined products with a substantial amount of diesel exports. "The U.S. is now exporting more crude oil than Venezuela," GasBuddy's DeHaan said. "That's a stark turnaround. Even a year ago, it just seemed impossibleThat's a situation that's not going to be reversed." Kloza said if oil prices do spike, Trump can release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or press Saudi Arabia to return some oil to the market. U.S. oil drillers continue to increase their output, but Kloza said inadequate pipeline capacity is one factor that could limit the increase of U.S. crude. U.S. production is continuing to grow, hitting a record 10.7 million barrels a day last week and is expected to top 11 million by year end. But Kloza said the U.S. also produces light sweet crude, while the Gulf Coast refineries process heavier crudes, like that from Venezuela. "We have just too much light and sweet. That's why we're going to be exporting it to places like China and India, and in some cases here to refineries that can run more light crude. This is why Venezuela is such a big deal," he said. Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are fashioning how people interact with everything from food to healthcare and so, too, for religion. From electronic scriptures to robot priests, different faiths have absorbed new ideas from the world of technology to enhance mainstream religious practices. Muslims across the world can download apps such as Muslim Pro, replete with daily prayer timetables, notifications for both sunrise and sunset, and an electronic compass pointing the way towards Mecca. Other apps automatically adjust fasting times during the month of Ramadan, depending on the location of a device. In fact, Muslims are one of the most plugged-in religious communities due to the high concentration of young people aged between 16 and 30 across the Middle East and Asia. A survey by the Pew Research Center in 2017 showed that poorer Muslim-majority countries boast a large amount of people with smartphones. Fifty-seven percent of Palestinians own a smartphone, for example, just short of Germany's 60 percent. Developers in Japan went a step further last year, unveiling a robot priest programmed to conduct Buddhist rituals. Peppa the humanoid robot, replete with ceremonial dress, can perform a funeral ceremony for $462, cheaper than the $2,232 charged by a human priest to carry out the same task. The relationship between technology and religion has not always been straightforward. According to Dr Beth Singler, researcher at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, religions grapple with technology in three stages rejection, adoption and adaption. A U.S. Air Force B-52 carries the X-51 Hypersonic Vehicle for a launch test on May 1, 2013. Bobbi Zapka/USAF/Handout via Reuters Recent comments by U.S. defense officials have stoked worries that the world's largest economy is losing the hypersonic arms race to Russia and China. But that's a misleading notion, according to experts. The U.S. shouldn't be compared to the other two nations because it has a different goal when it comes to developing high-speed missiles known as hypersonic weapons, industry specialists argue. Hypersonic devices travel five times faster than the speed of sound and typically come in two forms: cruise missiles and a type of ballistic missile called a maneuverable reentry vehicle. Washington is believed to be lagging in the space because Beijing and Moscow conduct successful tests of hypersonic technology at a more frequent pace. In fact, Admiral Harry Harris, who heads the U.S. Pacific Command, said in February that the country was "falling behind" China's hypersonic development. And Air Force General John Hyten America's top nuclear commander said the U.S. lacked "any defense that could deny the employment" of a hypersonic weapon against it. Hyten's comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country possessed a new hypersonic missile in a March 1 speech. That same day, a senior Pentagon official told media that U.S. hypersonic research was underfunded. In many ways, the United States is running a different race from Russia and China. James Acton The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "It is very commonly asserted that there is an arms race in hypersonic technology and that the United States is losing," James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a trained physicist, wrote in a note. But "in many ways, the United States is running a different race from Russia and China," he continued. Beijing and Moscow are focused on developing missiles that can deliver nuclear warheads, while Washington is interested in the delivery of non-nuclear warheads, he explained. "The U.S. focus relative to hypersonic weapons is on the delivery of conventional weapons while Russia and China are more likely to use hypersonic missiles for nuclear payloads," agreed George Nacouzi, a senior Engineer at RAND Corp. "Comparing who's ahead isn't a very useful framework" because the countries have different endpoints, echoed Singapore-based defense analyst Zoe Stanley-Lockman, formerly with the European Union Institute for Security Studies. Experts predict malicious AI attacks could include speech synthesis for impersonation; analysis of human behaviors, moods and beliefs for manipulation; automated hacking and physical weapons like swarms of micro-drones. The artificial intelligence tech that "we already know and understand are perfectly adequate" to create these kinds of weapons said Bezos, "and these weapons, some of the ideas that people have for these weapons, are in fact very scary." At the same time, he says the notion that a digital overlord will control us or that robots will take our jobs is nonsense. Bezos said there ought to be some oversight. "I don't know what the solution" should be, he said, "but, smart people need to be thinking about that." It could perhaps be modeled after the Geneva Convention, suggested Bezos, which is a series of publicly recognized international laws protecting medical workers in conflict regions and prisoners of war. "It would have to be a big treaty," he said "something that would help regulate these weapons, because they're actually, they have a lot of issues. "So that one I think is genuinely scary," reiterated Bezos. On the other hand, Bezos is not concerned that some omnipotent artificial intelligence will conquer humans. "The idea that there is going to be a general AI overlord that subjugates us or kills us all, I think, is not something to worry about. I think that is overhyped," said Bezos. "First of all, we are nowhere close to knowing how to build a general AI something that could set its own objectives," the Amazon CEO said. Right now we have "narrow AI," explained Bezos, where machine intelligence assists in a specific task. Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk has made a similar distinction: Narrow, functional artificial intelligence is what is used in self-driving cars, according to Musk, while general AI "literally has a million times more compute power and an open-ended utility function." Further, continued Bezos, "I think it is unlikely that such a thing's first instincts would be to exterminate us. That would seem surprising to me." Instead, Bezos said it is "much more likely it will help us. ... We are perfectly capable of hurting ourselves. We could use some help. So I am optimistic about that one and certainly don't think we need to worry about it today." In contrast, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk said at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, "We have to figure out some way to ensure that the advent of digital super intelligence is one which is symbiotic with humanity. I think that is the single biggest existential crisis that we face and the most pressing one." And according to the late, legendary physicist Stephen Hawking, "Success in creating effective AI, could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know. So we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI, or ignored by it and side-lined, or conceivably destroyed by it," he said in November. "Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilization. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring great disruption to our economy." Sadler's comment was first reported by The Hill. Biden was responding to remarks made during a closed-door meeting Thursday by White House official Kelly Sadler, who dismissed the ailing Arizona senator's stance against CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel , three sources with knowledge told NBC. McCain, 81, was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer in 2017. "People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday," Biden said in a statement to NBC News. Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday said decency in the Trump administration "hit rock bottom" after comments surfaced from a White House aide shrugging off Sen. John McCain 's opposition to the CIA director nominee because "he's dying anyway." Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) receives the the 2017 Liberty Medal from former Vice President Joe Biden at the National Constitution Center on October 16, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "John McCain is a genuine hero a man of valor whose sacrifices for his country are immeasurable. As he fights for [his] life, he deserves better so much better," Biden said in the statement. "Given this White House's trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule; she is the epitome of it." Haspel testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday as she seeks to be confirmed as the head of the U.S. spy agency. She would be filling the position left open by Mike Pompeo, who became secretary of State after the firing of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. In a statement, the White House did not deny Sadler's comment. "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time," the White House said. The Trump administration skirted another opportunity to apologize to McCain or reprimand Sadler on Friday. "I'm not going to comment on an internal staff meeting," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a White House briefing Friday afternoon. McCain's family members also weighed in on Sadler's remark. Meghan The View Meghan McCain, talk show co-host and the senator's daughter, criticized the White House on "The View" for not taking disciplinary action against Sadler. "I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job," McCain said Friday. McCain's wife, Cindy, appeared to respond to Sadler in a Thursday tweet. Cindy McCain tweet President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of McCain. As a presidential candidate, Trump questioned McCain's service record in the Vietnam War, saying, "I like people who weren't captured." McCain was a Navy pilot who spent years during the war in captivity, where he was beaten. Trump did not serve. Trump's attacks continued even after winning the 2016 presidential election. Trump repeatedly criticized McCain after the Arizona Republican famously cast the deciding thumbs-down vote tanking a GOP effort to overhaul health-care policy. Biden's statement Friday suggested that Sadler's comment was of a piece with the "trail of disrespect" established by the Trump administration. "Given this White House's trail of disrespect toward John and others, this staffer is not the exception to the rule; she is the epitome of it," Biden said. He added: "Our children learn from our example. The lingering question is whose example will it be. I am certain it will be John's." Verizon Communications shares should rise this year as a healthy dividend yield lures investors ahead of clarity on its path for 5G wireless, according to J.P. Morgan. The firm raised its rating on the company's shares to overweight from neutral, foreseeing a better competitive climate over the next 12 months. "Verizon seems to be the one carrier that is heads down, executing on the business, and could see its share improve commensurately," analyst Philip Cusick wrote Friday. "We have an increased level of confidence that revenue can stabilize and potentially start to grow. Given the potential issues and distractions of its wireless competitors, we are less negative on the overall wireless industry." The J.P. Morgan team which recently held a meeting with Verizon chief executive Lowell McAdam said the company could introduce a number of mobile 5G handsets in 2019. The long-term goal focuses on developing industrial applications, such as smart cities, connected cars and Internet of Things. The 5 percent dividend yield on Verizon shares should also attract investors, the analyst said, despite the 10-year Treasury note yield's recent move toward 3 percent. "If rates continue higher, Verizon with a 5 percent yield could struggle. We would balance this though with the defensive nature of the business, its 66 percent payout ratio and high dividend yield, and declining leverage," Cusick wrote. "We believe that from this price, when including the dividend, Verizon shares should outperform in a flat to falling market." The analyst held his 12-month price target steady at $58, implying 22 percent upside over the next year. Verizon's stock is down 10 percent since January, though shares were up nearly 1.5 percent in premarket trading Friday. He also noted CEO McAdam's lukewarm attitude toward buying or merging with media companies, saying that Verizon has no plan to establish its own video streaming platform but that it plans to announce a partnership with an existing provider later this month. "The company also downplayed interest in buying cable or large spectrum assets, though commenting that each could make sense at the right price," Cusick added. "Management is comfortable with the company's asset portfolio, making us less worried about the potential distraction of a big media, cable, or spectrum deal." Wall Street has long speculated on a Verizon deal, theorizing that a tie-up with a large media conglomerate like Comcast could be financially sound given rampant consolidation in the media and telecommunications industries. Other analysts, like Citigroup's Jason Bazinet, have encouraged such a merger, arguing that the tip-up could boost revenue at the combined company. Telecom giant AT&T and media giant Time Warner are waiting on regulatory approval for their $85 billion combination, which would marry video content with delivery on mobile devices. Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. College graduation season marks the end of a chapter for college students, but it also marks the beginning of their professional lives. Where students choose to begin these lives is one of the biggest decisions they can make. LinkedIn analyzed their job postings and found that 10 cities stood out for recruiting and hiring the most entry-level professionals. They further assessed their data to determine the companies in those cities that hired the most recent graduates in 2017 as well as the industries leading this demand. When it comes down to it, the number one thing that college graduates are looking for is employment, and these are the places new grads are most likely to find it. Check out the 10 cities with the most entry-level jobs: Tuesday's round of four political primaries includes one of the most widely watched set of races in Pennsylvania, where a court-ordered redistricting has shuffled the cards for the state's congressional incumbents. The redrawn map has created five open seats in districts effectively abandoned by their current representatives. And the new map landed two incumbents running against each other in the same district. The rare district shuffle has also touched off a flood of campaign donations from out-of-state donors from both parties who are placing bets from around the country on vulnerable House seats. As of the end of the first quarter, roughly two-thirds of the money raised by House hopefuls had come from donors outside their congressional districts, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. The upheaval brought by Pennsylvania's redistricting offers an unusual number of seats left open by incumbents who saw the voter makeup of their districts abruptly shuffled. Four of the state's 18 districts are either vacant or open. Two are ranked "toss-ups" by political pundits, and nine are considered competitive. That's generated an unusually large field of candidates and campaign spending. Some 78 declared House candidates in Pennsylvania primaries have already spent $22 million, much of it raised from out-of-state donors. President Donald Trump criticized middlemen in a speech introducing his plan to lower prescription drug prices, but the proposals his administration unveiled largely spared health-care companies massive reforms. Trump's plan, called "American Patients First," seeks to increase competition, improve negotiation and create incentives to lower list prices of prescription drugs and out-of-pocket costs for consumers. Some of the steps it outlines are rebate-sharing in Medicare drug plans, promoting generics and copycat version of biologic drugs and requiring drug manufacturers to publish list prices for drugs in television advertisements. However, it stops short of allowing Medicare to directly work with manufacturers on prices, something Trump had called for on the campaign trail but Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, a former Eli Lilly executive, has opposed. "Everyone involved in the broken system the drugmakers, insurance companies, distributors, pharmacy benefit managers and many others contribute to the problem," Trump said. "Government has also been part of the problem because previous leaders turned a blind eye to this incredible abuse." Despite saying everyone's to blame, Trump focused his harshest comments on middlemen, specifically pharmacy-benefit managers, which negotiate discounts with manufacturers. "We're very much eliminating the middlemen," Trump said. "The middlemen became very, very rich. Whoever those middlemen were, and a lot of people never even figured it out, they're rich. They won't be so rich anymore." These rebates have become a battleground in the fight over who's to blame for high drug prices. Drugmakers accuse PBMs of profiting off higher list prices because they can negotiate bigger discounts. PBMs say it's manufacturers' fault for setting the high prices in the first place. Azar said the administration is calling into question the entire system of rebates as the method of negotiating discounts in the pharmacy channel. "Because right now, every incentive is for the drug company to have a very high list price and to negotiate list price down, often in a very nontransparent way," he said in a press briefing following the Rose Garden speech. The administration said it could one day restrict the use of rebates, or discounts pharmacy-benefit managers negotiate from drug manufacturers. This could include revisiting anti-kickback statutes that currently allow the practice. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week suggested the federal government should re-examine this. Trump said the administration will take on the "tangled web of special interests," pointing to the drug lobby, which spent a record $10 million in the first quarter of the year. Azar said he's directing Gottlieb to look into requiring drug manufacturers to publish list prices in drug advertisements. "Think about all the time everybody spends watching drug company ads, and how much information companies are required to put in them," Azar said. "If we want to have a real market for drugs, why not have them disclose their prices in the ads, too?" Trump said it's time to end the "global freeloading once and for all," referring to how some countries set price controls and therefore pay less for drugs than Americans, while U.S. companies invest in research and drug development. He said he has directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to make fixing this a top priority with every trading partner. "We have great power over the trading partners," he said. "You're seeing that already. America will not be cheated any longer and especially will not be cheated by foreign countries." Some of the proposals could be implemented through administrative actions, while others would need Congressional approval. Express Scripts and CVS Health, both PBMs, praised Trump's efforts to tackle prescription drug costs. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents the PBM industry, said getting rid of rebates would leave patients and payers "at the mercy of drug manufacturer pricing strategies." While automakers are fixated on developing the next generation of electric cars, one British firm has other ideas. Riversimple is hoping that its hydrogen-powered two-seater car, which has a futuristic design crossed with retro traits, might be able to offer a viable alternative to electric vehicles. The Wales-based company has created a car called Rasa. It says it runs on 1.5 kilograms of hydrogen and can go 300 miles. The vehicle's engineering is very different to other cars on the market. For example, it has a motor on each wheel. It is powered by reverse electrolysis. Hydrogen and oxygen are combined to create electricity and water is a by-product that drips out of the exhaust. "All the major auto manufacturers are building hydrogen cars but they are trying to retrofit the technology into the sort of cars they make. And they're all, effectively, built the same way as cars have been for the last hundred years. The petrol engine taken out and a fuel cell put in place. We've started from a clean sheet of paper," Hugo Spowers, founder of Riversimple, told CNBC in an interview aired Friday. Riversimple's car is taking on other hydrogen models like the Toyota Mirai, but also electric vehicles from the likes of Tesla and other major automakers. It is hoping its business model might help it differentiate. Riversimple won't let anyone own one of its cars. Instead will allow people to pay monthly to drive the car. And that fee also includes a refill of hydrogen as well as insurance. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks to the media after a House Republican conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 6, 2018. Joshua Roberts | Reuters U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new NAFTA trade deal to give the current Congress a chance of passing it, while Mexico's top trade official on Thursday said time was running short to meet such a deadline. Ryan, who controls legislation in the House of Representatives, set his deadline in remarks delivered on Wednesday to the Ripon Society in Washington and publicized on Thursday. Under the "fast track" trade negotiating law, there are lengthy notification periods before U.S. President Donald Trump could sign a new North American Free Trade Agreement and before Congress could begin considering it. Letting negotiations drag on much longer would punt consideration to a new Congress elected in November that will take office in January 2018, one that could cede more control to Democrats. "We have to have the paper not just an agreement, we have to have the paper from USTR by May 17 for us to vote on it this year, in December, in the lame duck" session, Ryan said. A spokeswoman for Ryan said that he was referring to a notification of intent to sign the NAFTA agreement, not necessarily the full text. Major differences remain between the three members of NAFTA after more than eight months of largely slow-moving negotiations launched at the insistence of President Trump, who wants major changes to the 1994 pact. Friday indication Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said he expected to learn by the end of Friday whether a new deal was possible. He and his counterparts have been meeting in Washington since Monday to try to bridge major gaps. "I think we will be finding out through the day and tomorrow ... if we really have what it takes to be able to land these things in the short run," Guajardo told Reuters. A source close to the talks said it was possible that Guajardo, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland could extend their meetings into the weekend. A USTR spokeswoman declined comment while a Freeland spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Guajardo told Reuters that "we have suitcases for two weeks if necessary." This week's talks hit an obstacle as the United States and Mexico sought to settle differences over the key issue of automobiles. "Mexico obviously is here in order to negotiate the best agreement for Mexican workers and consumers. It will take as long as it will take," Mexican deputy economy minister Juan Carlos Baker told reporters late in the day. But Ryan expressed skepticism that a deal could be reached in time and noted that several major issues remained unresolved, such as U.S. demands for more access to Canada's dairy market and to make an investment dispute arbitration system optional. "There are a handful of unresolved issues and I'm just not I don't want to make news, but we'll see if they can get this done by May 17 and get us the paper to Congress, which then we could have this vote in December," Ryan said. "If they can't, then we won't." Trump regularly threatens to walk away from NAFTA, underscoring uncertainty over the pact. Business executives complain that the lack of clarity is hitting investment. Canada more upbeat Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced her plan in March for any Seattle public high school graduate to attend a local community college for free. Durkan plans to expand the Seattle Promise initiative beyond the partially private-funded 13th Year Promise Scholarship, which covers a year of in-state tuition at three Seattle community colleges for eligible students who graduate from select Seattle high schools. According to the city's proposed timeline, by 2019-2020 the Seattle Promise will provide two years of free college to all Seattle public high school graduates. This would shift the city's promise initiative to be supported by additional public funds if a city-education levy passes in November. More from US News & World Report: The 10 most educated states 5 college seniors share their job-hunting stories Longtime college drinking culture makes change difficult The cost of college is an obstacle in pursuing higher education for many students and some college promise initiatives, such as the Seattle Promise, are trying to remove barriers at the city level. A range of tuition-free programs available at the city level are not only developed by city officials, but also by private foundations, local school districts and colleges. In fact, there are at least 19 college promise initiatives among the 50 most populated cities in the U.S. Most college promises offer free tuition at community colleges, but not at four-year institutions. While several states, such as Tennessee and Rhode Island, offer these initiatives, there are city or county governments that develop partnerships with two-year colleges. For nearly a decade, SpaceX evolved its Falcon 9 rocket every launch, trying to keep up with lead designer Elon Musk's relentless pursuit of innovation. Until now. An enhanced version of Falcon 9 called Block 5 launched for the first time on Friday. Musk plans for this new rocket to achieve a host of new milestones for SpaceX, including launching and landing the same rocket twice in 24 hours as early as next year. "We expect [Block 5] to be the mainstay of SpaceX business," Musk said on a conference call with reporters before the launch. Block 5 is the version of Falcon 9 that SpaceX has been working toward since the rocket's debut in June 2010. Nearly twice as powerful as that inaugural Falcon 9 rocket, Musk called Block 5 "the last version" of the orbital class rocket. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from space launch complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida on March 30, 2017. Bruce Weaver | AFP | Getty Images SpaceX now dominates the global market of orbital rocket launches, which the U.S. had seceded to Russia and Europe until last year. Launching nearly every other week while developing a gigantic reusable Mars rocket and a constellation of 4,425 broadband satellites SpaceX has become one of the most valuable private companies in the world, worth nearly $28 billion. Block 5 simply concretes SpaceX's business case. Each improved Falcon 9 "is capable of at least 100 flights," according to Musk. The first Block rocket will undergo "very rigorous" examinations after the flight, Musk said, as SpaceX will be "taking this rocket apart and confirming our design assumptions" about its ability to be launched quickly and repeatedly. "Ironically, we need to take it apart to confirm that we don't need to take it apart," Musk said. The flight's success moves Musk closer to his goal for the rocket: "To demonstrate two orbital launches of the same boost vehicle within 24 hours." "The only thing that needs to change is that you need to reload propellant and then you can fly again," Musk said. Turning around a rocket in a single day would be a momentous achievement. Being able to launch, land and launch again with minimal refurbishment between flights has been a central focus for SpaceX. The company has become quite successful at landing the largest part of the rocket known as the first stage or booster. But it has yet to complete more than two flights with the same Falcon 9 booster. Block 5 is set to change that. "Block 5 is designed to be 10 times better" than the last version of Falcon 9, Musk said. The new rocket type arrives just as SpaceX is on pace to shatter its record 18 successful launches completed last year. SpaceX has already completed nine launches this year in the same time it took them to complete five in 2017 including the debut of Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket in the world. "We're on track to be double our launch rate last year," Musk said. Falcon 9 Block 5 launched a Bangladesh telecommunications satellite into space on Friday, before returning to land on the autonomous SpaceX ship off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX's ninth successful mission this year. There seem to be two kinds of people when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest those who are completely obsessed (Europeans and Australians in particular) and those who have never heard of it (Americans). Eurovision, a singing competition which has long captivated the attention of aspiring superstars, as well as those who simply enjoy a good show, is an utter sensation across the pond. According to its website, the live, televised event, airing through May 12 with 43 countries around the world competing, was recognized in 2015 as the longest running annual TV music competition. Since it began in 1956, Eurovision has drawn millions of viewers and was reportedly watched by 182 million people in 42 markets in 2017. (In comparison, the Super Bowl in 2018 reportedly garnered 112 million viewers at its peak, while this winter's Olympics in Pyeongchang averaged 19.8 million viewers a night.) And keep this in mind: Eurovision is the contest that introduced the world to ABBA, who won in 1974 with the song "Waterloo." Celine Dion won in 1988. So perhaps it's no surprise that the singing competition can actually boost the well-being of residents in participating countries, according to a new study. Conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and published in BMC Public Health, the study found that simply having your country compete in Eurovision is associated with higher life satisfaction among your country's population. The study analyzed survey data from over 160,000 people from 33 European countries, collected around the time of the contest between 2009 and 2015. Researchers found that people whose countries had done well in the singing competition that year, reported being more satisfied with their lives. They also found a link between countries with an increase of 10 places on the final scoreboard so, for example, if a country finishes second as opposed to 12th and a higher chance of being satisfied with life. MICHAEL CAMPANELLA | Getty Images Interestingly enough, though, the research also supports the popular argument that "winning isn't everything." The study reveals that winning the competition was not associated with more life satisfaction, and that even countries who participated but did badly were more satisfied than countries who didn't participate at all. "Previous work, by other teams around the world, has shown that national events may affect mood and even productivity for instance research suggests an increase in productivity in the winning city of the U.S. Super Bowl," says Dr. Filippos Filippidis, lead author of the research from the School of Public Health at Imperial, according to a press release. "It increases the amount of good feeling around, even among people who are not particularly interested in the competition," he adds. ABBA Evening Standard | Getty Images The findings "emerged from a jokey conversation in our department. Our 'day job' involves investigating the effect of public policies, environmental factors and economic conditions on people's lifestyle and health," Filippidis says in press release. "Our department employs people from lots of different countries and around the time of the Eurovision Song Contest we were chatting about whether the competition could also affect a country's national well-being. We looked into it and were surprised to see there may be a link." On the economic spectrum, studies have long analyzed the cost and payoff of cities hosting such large, global events. With Eurovision, a team of economists found that four host cities spent a combined total of over $173 million on the singing competition, according to a 2016 report from the Telegraph. In 2012, the host city of Baku, Azerbaijan spent a whopping $64 million on building a new venue for the event, offset by $9 million of tourism spending and 529 new, full-time jobs. However, when Malmo, Sweden hosted the event, they spent a little over $22 million and generated $21 million through tourism spending due to 32,000 visitors. Lisbon, Portugal is hosting the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The show is known not only known for producing mega-stars like Dion, but also for the outrageous outfits donned by contestants. In the past, competitors have taken the stage in ensembles inspired by everything from paper lanterns to toy shops, and have even worn things made out of construction paper. The spectacle itself is high-stakes, too. FRANCISCO LEONG | Getty Images "Sweden got very hyped up, and a lot of the other artists took it very seriously," Joe Woolford, a contestant for the U.K. in 2016, recently told BBC. "Russia spent millions on everything and trying to make their performance stand out." Last year's winner was Salvador Sobral from Portugal, who won for his rendition of a song written by his sister. Locales from Australia and the U.K. to Latvia to Malta and almost every European country in between each send one musical act to sing live, sans musical instruments, and viewers can cast their votes for the best acts via phone, SMS or through the Eurovision app. You cannot vote for your own country. Televotes make up 50 percent of the vote, while the other half is determined by a a professional jury in each participating country. This year's grand final airs Saturday in the U.S. on the Logo channel, as well as Logo's YouTube channel and app. Don't miss: The set designer behind 'Hamilton' says this mental habit is the secret to his creativity 1. Yes. There should be absolute certainty that the election was free and fair. 2. Yes. The audit could and should lead to stronger laws governing elections in the state. 3. No. Former President Trump wants the audit to further cast doubt on the 2020 vote. 4. No. Its a waste of money, an attempt by Abbott to gain favor among Trump backers. 5. Unsure. It seems unnecessary but it may provide some worthwhile findings. Vote View Results When it comes to flipping a house, your profits could depend a lot on what state you're in. If you're in an East Coast state like Maryland, you might get more bang for your buck. If you're west of the Mississippi River, on the other hand, you could find it more difficult to turn a real profit since properties there tend to stay on the market for longer. To find the best and worst states for flipping a house, GOBankingRates analyzed data from real-estate site Zillow and property-data warehouse ATTOM in four key categories: median house listing price, the average number of days it takes to flip a house, average gross profit on flipping and average gross return on investment. In the best states, the average time it takes to flip a house is 180 days, and in the worst states, it's 203 days. Each additional day can matter to your bottom line, since "if you're borrowing money to buy each house you flip," the study notes, "that's 23 more days of interest you have to pay on potentially a few hundred thousand dollars." Here are the top 10 worst places to flip a house, according to GBR's findings: 1. Mississippi Average house listing price: $195,390 Average time to flip: 220 days Average profit: $9,875 Average ROI: 4.3 percent 2. Hawaii Average house listing price: $905,687 Average time to flip: 198 days Average profit: $76,266 Average ROI: 27.7 percent GOBankingRates: Best and Worst Places to Flip A Home 3. Montana Average house listing price: $314,959 Average time to flip: 223 days Average profit: $30,326 Average ROI: 12.9 percent 4. Wyoming Average house listing price: $291,855 Average time to flip: 231 days Average profit: $33,475 Average ROI: 18 percent 5. South Dakota Average house listing price: $238,163 Average time to flip: 188 days Average profit: $17,750 Average ROI: 26.1 percent 6. Idaho Average house listing price: $349,000 Average time to flip: 182 days Average profit: $26,606 Average ROI: 14.6 percent 7. Utah Average house listing price: $440,946 Average time to flip: 194 days Average profit: $49,295 Average ROI: 27.9 percent 8. New Mexico Average house listing price: $254,798 Average time to flip: 203 days Average profit: $43,863 Average ROI: 26.6 percent 9. North Dakota Average house listing price: $226,863 Average time to flip: 208 days Average profit: $54,934 Average ROI: 39.6 percent 10. Missouri President Trump will unveil a plan today to limit prices on some costly drugs, though it will not go as far as some Democrats want, according to senior administration officials. (CNBC) * Automakers head to the White House today to talk emissions (WSJ) * US and Chinese officials to meet in DC today to discuss trade dispute (Reuters) AT&T (T) reportedly paid Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen for guidance on its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. Cohen was said to be paid $600,000. (Washington Post) * Novartis CEO to employees: 'We made a mistake' in dealing with Cohen (CNBC) White House special assistant Kelly Sadler called Meghan McCain on Thursday to apologize after mocking Sen. John McCain's cancer diagnosis during a meeting earlier in the day, a source told The Hill. Trump, angry about a rise in illegal immigration, berated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a meeting this week. She has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, officials say. (NY Times) After the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, a shadow war burst into the open as Israeli warplanes struck Iranian targets in Syria. It was a furious response to what Israel called an Iranian rocket attack. (NY Times) British regulators said they fined Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley about $870,000 for breaching conduct rules by attempting to identify who had sent letters criticizing a Barclays employee. (CNBC) Amazon (AMZN) has built a team within its Alexa unit to dive more deeply into health care. The team's main job is to make Amazon's Alexa voice assistant more useful in the health-care field. (CNBC) Billionaire visionary Elon Musk said the first tunnel under Los Angeles dug by his Boring Company is almost complete. "We will be offering free rides to the public in a few months," he said. (CNET) J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) has created a new management team to help it better serve Wall Street clients who increasingly want to trade with algorithms through electronic platforms. (CNBC) Residents on the Big Island of Hawaii are on alert for rising levels of toxic gas from lava-oozing fissures, and geologists warned new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk to lava flow. (Reuters) On Wednesday, Annie Dillard, a 92-year-old beauty salon owner from South Carolina, earned her fourth college degree. This isn't her first graduation, but that doesn't mean she was any less eager this time around. In fact, she arrived to her commencement ceremony at Midlands Technical College an hour and a half early. "They told me to get here at 5:30, but I like to be on time, so I got here at 4 o'clock," Dillard told a local ABC News outlet. "It feels wonderful. I feel excited." Annie Dillard is a 92 year old college graduate. Source: ABC U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in Washington on Friday to discuss trade disputes between the world's two largest economies ahead of a pending visit by China's top economic official, a U.S. Treasury official said. The official described the meeting as a follow-up to last week's high-level trade talks in Beijing and in preparation for Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's visit to Washington. However, the official declined to provide details of the Friday meetings, or specify the precise timing of Liu's visit. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday Liu, Chinese President Xi Jinping's top-ranking economic adviser, would come to Washington next week "to continue discussions with the president's economic team." Trade talks in Beijing last week, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Liu, failed to produce any breakthroughs to stave off U.S. tariff threats on up to $150 billion worth of Chinese goods, and China's threats to retaliate in kind. U.S. officials presented a lengthy list of trade demands, including reducing China's trade surplus by $200 billion a year. A source familiar with planning for the visit said a lower level delegation would likely head to Washington first and that might delay the Liu visit slightly. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC the timing of the Liu's arrival was unclear and "there's a chance it's not next week." Ross also told a CNBC-sponsored event he thought the Chinese officials at the Beijing meetings "agreed to the concept of a trade deficit reduction the questions are how much and how do you get there?" In his letter to Wood, Gleason wrote, "Mr. Dunleavy did indeed discuss this very matter with Mr. Trump as evidenced by the phone call I received from Attorney Michael Cohen." But Dunleavy denied this account telling CNBC on Friday that he didn't talk to Trump about the matter after Gleason had told him about the two women. "I didn't talk to Trump about this," Dunleavy said by phone from the Florida Keys. He conceded, however: "I have talked to Trump in the past." Dunleavy told CNBC that Gleason called him Thursday about a proposed letter to Wood, "but he didn't check with me" to confirm that the former columnist had actually told Trump about it. "I may have spoken to Trump once since I retired" a decade ago, Dunleavy added. But again, that conversation did not relate to Gleason's claims, the journalist said. He also said: "I've never spoken to Cohen, ever, ever in my life." When told about Dunleavy's comments by CNBC, Gleason suggested that Dunleavy "might have spoken to the secretary" for Trump. "I did receive a call from Cohen the next day," Gleason said. He added that before getting that call, "Cohen didn't know me from a hole in the wall." At the time of Gleason's call to Dunleavy about Schneiderman, Trump's Trump University was under investigation by the then-New York attorney general. Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, arrives at the United States District Court Southern District of New York on April 26, 2018 in New York City. Getty Images Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt (2nd L) attends as U.S. President Donald Trump meets with chief executives of major U.S. and foreign automakers at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 11, 2018. Scott Pruitt's job appears safe at least for Friday. President Donald Trump said he stands behind the Environmental Protection Agency administrator amid a flood of questions about the ethics of his conduct. Sitting two seats away from Pruitt at a meeting with auto industry representatives, the president was asked if he had confidence in the EPA administrator. "Yes, I do," Trump said as Pruitt and auto executives looked on. The latest questions about Pruitt came Thursday, when a New York Times reporter said that Pruitt dined with a Vatican official, Cardinal George Pell, last year when the EPA knew Pell was under investigation for child sexual abuse. The EPA did not list Pell on any of the public schedules released under the Freedom of Information Act, according to the Times. Lipton tweet Pruitt and Pell have both cast doubt on the scientific community's conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are the primary driver of climate change. In a statement, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said Pell was "one of 12 to 15 individuals" who attended the dinner and added the "EPA had no knowledge that he was coming to the dinner." "It is incorrect to report that any knowledge of the allegations against Cardinal Pell were raised to Administrator Pruitt's level. It is also important to note that Cardinal Pell was not charged until June 29, 2017, three weeks after the dinner with several Vatican officials took place," Wilcox said. The information adds to a long list of ethical concerns Pruitt's conduct at the agency has raised. The EPA administrator also faces allegations of racking up excessive travel and security expenses and going against the White House's wishes to give raises to two aides, among other accusations. Later Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she did not know whether Trump was aware of the Times' latest reporting when he said he had confidence in Pruitt. Testifying before a House committee last month, Pruitt said, "Much of what has been targeted towards me and my team has been half-truths or at best stories that have been so twisted that they do not resemble reality." During his remarks Friday, Trump said he wanted to develop "new tools to negotiate for lower prices" in Medicare Part D plans. The government wants to develop "incentives" to encourage companies to keep prices low, he said. The proposal, which broke with most Republicans, became one of Trump's most popular plans among Democrats in Congress. But when the president unveiled a sweeping platform Friday to reduce drug prices , it appeared not to include the Medicare negotiation plan. Shortly before he took office last year, President Donald Trump accused the pharmaceutical industry of "getting away with murder." As a candidate in 2016, he backed the idea of the government negotiating directly with drugmakers to lower Medicare drug prices. However, he did not specifically call for the direct price negotiation he described on the campaign trail. Democrats, ahead of Trump's speech and after it, slammed the president for what they called abandoning a key campaign promise. The theme will likely play heavily in Democratic midterm messaging, as the party tries to gain seats in Congress partly by arguing the GOP has not done enough to help American consumers. Amid Trump's remarks Friday, veteran Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the president "is abandoning his promise" to allow direct negotiation to lower drug prices. He and his Democratic colleagues are also arguing the president's pledge to keep pharmaceutical companies in check rings hollow because the businesses received a massive tax benefit under the GOP tax overhaul passed in December. Cummings: Very expensive champagne will be popping in drug company boardrooms across the country tonight. The #GOPTaxScam gave away billions to drug companies. Now President Trump is abandoning his promise to authorize Medicare to negotiate directly w/drug companies to lower prices. As news emerged Thursday that Trump may not push for direct negotiations, Democrats accused him of abandoning his campaign priorities. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said candidate Trump "spoke like a populist who wanted to work in a bipartisan way." "He talked the talk, but he has failed, at least so far, to walk the walk," the New York Democrat told reporters. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats and a leading voice on the left, said if Trump is "serious about lowering drug prices," he would take action such as telling "the Republican leadership to support the Medicare price negotiation act." Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, argued earlier Friday that Trump is "breaking his promise" to bring down drug prices. A White House official responded to the Democratic criticism by arguing the party's platform to reduce drug prices would hurt competition and innovation. The official contended that Democratic goals would not lower drug prices but instead hurt patients. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly watches as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with North Korean defectors in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on Friday, Feb. 02, 2018. White House chief of staff John Kelly said that President Donald Trump is "embarrassed" by special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into potential collusion between Trump's 2016 campaign and the Kremlin. In an NPR interview that aired Friday, Kelly suggested that the investigation is the elephant in the room when foreign leaders visit the president. "When world leaders come in, it's kind of like, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is here and he, who's under investigation himself, and it's like, you know, you walk in and, you know, the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing," Kelly said. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who met with Trump at the White House in March, faces a corruption investigation in Israel. "It may not be a cloud but certainly the president is, you know, somewhat embarrassed, frankly," added Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general. Trump has referred to the investigation as a cloud over his presidency, according to accounts from former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired May 9, 2017. Trump later told NBC News' Lester Holt that he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided to fire Comey. The FBI chief's termination eventually led to the appointment of Mueller to take over the probe. The president often describes the investigation as a "witch hunt" and has repeatedly denied claims of collusion and obstruction of justice, which is another area Mueller's team is reportedly investigating. Kelly's comments to NPR came after Vice President Mike Pence said that the special counsel's investigation should come to an end. "In the interests of the country, I think it's time to wrap it up," Pence told NBC's "Today Show" on Thursday. Kelly also suggested that the probe had gone on too long. "Something that has gone on this long without any real meat on the bone, it suggests to me that there is nothing there, relative to our president," Kelly told NPR. Read more: John Kelly says 'I wish I had been' in the White House 'from Day 1' President Donald Trump greets CEO of General Motors Mary Barra (L) prior to a meeting with auto industry leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump will meet 10 major automakers at the White House on Friday to discuss the fate of landmark fuel efficiency standards and a looming confrontation with California and other major states. A draft proposal circulated by the U.S. Transportation Department would freeze requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, but the administration is not expected to formally unveil the proposal until later this month or in June. Major automakers reiterated this week they do not support freezing requirements but say they want new flexibilities and rule changes to address lower gasoline prices and the shift in U.S. consumer preferences to bigger, less fuel-efficient vehicles. Automakers also want the White House and California to reach agreement on maintaining national standards, fearing a prolonged legal battle could leave them facing two different sets of rules and extended uncertainty. Trump plans to tell automakers he is willing to support a freeze and challenge California but wants the industry to back the effort, a senior administration official said. He also wants to know if they want him to fight on their behalf, the official said. The chief executives of General Motors, Ford Motor, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, along with senior U.S. executives from Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, Nissan Motor, Honda Motor, BMW, and Daimler will meet Trump, along with the chief executives of two auto trade groups. Trump went to Michigan, a state that helped him win the presidency, in March 2017 and suggested he would soften the fuel rules. "The assault on the American auto industry is over," he told autoworkers there. California and 16 other states covering about 40 percent of the U.S. population filed suit last week to block the Trump administration's efforts to weaken the requirements. A White House official said Trump would hear from the automakers about the impact of the administration's forthcoming revisions to Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules and automakers' efforts to negotiate a national program with California. It turns out failing to wear your seat belt is a common drag on Uber rider ratings it even hurt the rating of now-CEO Dara Khosrowshahi for a while. While Khosrowshahi was interviewing for the top job at the scandal ridden ride-sharing company, he told The Washington Post, his rider rating was stuck at 4.73 out of 5. "The board was not happy with that rating," Khosrowshahi told the newspaper. "I wasn't wearing seat belts in the back and I didn't even know that I was making the driver feel unsafe." Just as Uber riders can rate their driver's attention to safety, drivers are encouraged to rate their riders on the same criteria, an Uber spokesperson told CNBC. And drivers frequently cite a rider's failure to wear a seat belt as a source of irritation and also often a reason for lowering the rider's rating, the spokesperson said. A cargo ship is guided into the Port of Oakland by a pair of tug boats. U.S. import prices increased less than expected in April as a rebound in the cost of petroleum products was tempered by a decline in food prices. The Labor Department said on Friday import prices rose 0.3 percent last month. Data for March was revised to show import prices falling 0.2 percent instead of being unchanged as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices rising 0.5 percent in April. In the 12 months through April, import prices increased 3.3 percent, matching March's gain. Last month, prices for imported petroleum rebounded 1.6 percent after declining 2.2 percent in March. Excluding petroleum, import prices edged up 0.1 percent in April after being unchanged in the prior month. Import prices excluding petroleum rose 1.7 percent in the 12 months through April. The cost of imported food fell 0.4 percent in April, declining for a second straight month, while prices for imported capital goods were unchanged. The cost of imported motor vehicles nudged up 0.1 percent. Prices of consumer goods excluding automobiles gained 0.1 percent. Fiona Goodall | Getty Images Maternity leave The U.S. is one of a handful of countries worldwide that does not mandate paid maternity leave. The other four are the low-income nations of Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland. Paid leave, which typically lasts at least 14 weeks, needs to be designed thoughtfully. When women can and do take two or even three years off after having a baby, as they may in Hungary, long leaves can limit mothers' work experience and lead to discrimination. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act did mandate 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave for some American workers. Yet most families can't forgo the income that moms bring home. Denmark offers what I think is a strong example. There, moms get almost 18 weeks of paid maternity leave and dads get two weeks of paid paternity leave. On top of that, couples get up to a total 32 weeks of parental leave, which parents can split. This policy grants parents both the time and resources necessary to care for children, without "mommy tracking" mothers. Child care Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during an event at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. Analysts are optimistic over Nvidia's growth opportunities even as a key market falters. The chipmaker reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings and guidance Thursday. But the company said on the earnings conference call its second-quarter cryptocurrency-mining chip sales will likely fall by two-thirds quarter over quarter. Nvidia's stock price fell 2.2 percent Friday. Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating for Nvidia's stock, saying its weak digital currency business guidance is a positive and the bad news is now out there. "Crypto is expected to decline significantly in [the second quarter]. Management is guiding crypto revenue down 66% [quarter-over-quarter] based on feedback it has received from its enterprise-scale mining customers and conservatism given recent ETH weakness, in our view," analyst Toshiya Hari wrote in a note to clients Friday. "With crypto now de-risked, in our view, and the new product launch in Gaming ahead of us, we see positive risk-reward and would thus recommend investors to Buy the stock." The analyst raised his price target for Nvidia to $310 from $275, representing 19 percent upside to Thursday's close. Cryptocurrency miners use graphics cards based on AMD's and Nvidia's chips to "mine" new coins, which can then be sold or held for future appreciation. In April, China-based Bitmain announced its specialized digital currency mining system for ethereum, which analysts predict could hurt demand for graphics cards. The price of ethereum is down roughly 8 percent this year through Friday morning, according to Coinbase. The cryptocurrency is still up more than 600 percent over the past 12 months. One Wall Street analyst told his clients to focus on Nvidia's leadership in the artificial intelligence market. "NVDA's leadership in AI remains the most critical component of stock sentiment/valuation," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya said Thursday in a note entitled "Best-in-class Growth + Pipeline, ignore segment noise." "NVDA remains the unrivaled leader in AI training, and is now gaining traction in the emerging inference TAM (5-10% of data center sales) as evidenced by the QoQ doubling in inference shipments to cloud customers in Q1." Vivek raised his price target for Nvidia shares to $340 from $300 and reiterated his buy rating for the company. J.P. Morgan is bullish on Nvidia's gaming business, citing the recent launch of new popular games. "We believe Gaming demand remains strong in the current quarter on continued blockbuster gaming titles/e-sports strength," analyst Harlan Sur said in a note to clients Friday. "Demand continues to remain strong for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080Ti product and a strong line-up of flagship games that have recently been launched (e.g., Fortnite, PUBG, Far Cry 5, etc.), coupled with NVIDIA successfully replenishing the channel after supply tightness." Nvidia shares are up 34 percent so far this year through Thursday versus the S&P 500's 2 percent return. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story. [The stream is slated to start at 3 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to hold a joint press conference with South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. This is the first time the two officials will meet, according to Reuters. Pompeo and Kang are expected to discuss President Donald Trump's upcoming summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Trump and Moon are scheduled to meet later this month ahead of Trump's much-anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which is set for June 12. Trump announced on Twitter that his meeting with Kim will take place in Singapore. Trump tweet Pompeo recently returned to the United States from North Korea with three freed American prisoners, who were released before Trump and Kim's meeting as a possible sign of good will. President Donald Trump sticking with his opposition to AT&T's merger with Time Warner, in spite of his personal lawyer receiving consulting fees from the telecom giant, represents "the definition of draining the swamp," the White House said Friday. AT&T, as well as multinational drug maker Novartis, this week admitted making payments to the company of Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, after the 2016 presidential election. AT&T said it paid $600,000 to the company, Essential Consultants, in monthly installments as part of a year-long contract. Novartis said it paid Essential Consultants $1.2 million over the course of a year for guidance on the Trump administration's health-care stance although Cohen was "unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated." Both companies have said they made a mistake working with Essential Consultants. Asked if Trump, too, believed it was a mistake for his personal attorney to work with these companies, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it only proved the president's mettle. "I think this further proves that the president is not going to be influenced by special interests," Sanders said. "This is actually the definition of draining the swamp, something the president talked about repeatedly during the campaign." Pressed on how corporate spending to the president's personal lawyer, specifically for insights into the president, constituted "draining the swamp," Sanders referred to the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner that was opposed in a lawsuit by Trump's Justice Department in November. "I think it's pretty clear that the Department of Justice opposed the merger, and so certainly the president has not been influenced by any, or his administration influenced by any outside special interests," Sanders said. The relationship between the Cohen and the corporations was publicly revealed Tuesday in an explosive report by lawyer Michael Avenatti, whose client, porn star Stormy Daniels, is suing Cohen and the president to void a nondisclosure agreement barring her from discussing an alleged tryst with Trump. Cohen used Essential Consultants to pay Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 as part of the hush agreement. Lawyers for Cohen responded to Avenatti's report on Wednesday, saying it contained "numerous inaccurate statements." Avenatti, in turn, said 99 percent of what he reported was accurate. Younes Mohammad | Getty Images Iraq's reconstruction efforts desperately need international investment, and the U.S. and its Gulf allies want to push back on Iran's entrenched influence in the war-weary country. Billions of dollars in recently pledged investment from Saudi Arabia and its neighbors may serve as a tool to meet both of these ends, but Iraq's upcoming election could threaten that depending on who comes out on top. Iraqis go to the polls this weekend in their first election since defeating the Islamic State (ISIS), with nearly every aspect of the country's future on the line: its economy, reconstruction, terrorism, sectarian reconciliation, stability, and which international powers will wield the most influence. The latter is in particular focus for Saudi Arabia and the U.S., who view Iran's fortified presence in Iraqi politics as a direct threat to their interests and to regional stability. All of the frontrunners in the leadership contest have ties to Tehran, but those that are particularly loyal to the Islamic Republic and could effectively force out U.S. and Sunni Gulf involvement in Iraq. Reconstruction works continue in Mosul, Iraq after 9 months long anti Daesh operations on January 25, 2018. Hemn Baban | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Iran's geographical, cultural and religious ties to Iraq particularly much of its Shia population as well as its role in the anti-ISIS fight, make it a heavyweight in the country. Meanwhile, its regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia has just started its engagement with Baghdad, recently pledging $1.5 billion in reconstruction funds and making a series of diplomatic overtures. Iran: Wielding influence through pro-Tehran candidates Iraq's population is roughly 65 percent majority Shia Muslim, and the role of prime minister has been reserved for a Shia ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni government during the 2003 U.S. invasion. While several parties and candidates are running, the pack is led by the current prime minister, Haider Al Abadi, who is seen as the most pro-Western and who the U.S. hopes will win re-election. Abadi has been praised for running on a pan-Iraqi, anti-sectarian platform, reaching out to Sunni neighbors like Saudi Arabia and working across religious sects. His primary competition is former Iraqi prime minister Nuri Al Maliki, who is often blamed for the sectarian rule that disenfranchised many Sunnis and led to the empowerment of ISIS. Heavily backed by Iran, Maliki still remains one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Another potent contender is Hadi Al Amiri, firebrand leader of the Badr Organization that is a part of the Iranian-funded Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the Shia paramilitaries that played a key role in defeating ISIS but who have been accused of sectarian atrocities by Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish communities. Threats to U.S. interests Both Maliki and Amiri are viewed as conduits through which Iran can exercise political power, said James Jeffrey, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2010 to 2012 and a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs. "Iran is doing everything they can to block Abadi, who they see as too pro-American," Jeffrey told CNBC in a phone call. Through Maliki or Amiri, "Iran will try to ease the U.S. out of Iraq, and diminish our influence through parliament to push out U.S. troops." More than 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq. The composition of Iraq's parliament after Sunday's elections, Jeffrey said, "will determine how Iran manipulates the system." An Iraqi soldier works on a map during a training portion in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led coalition in the fight against ISIS. Department of Defense photo In March, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused Iran of "mucking around" in Iraq's elections, saying it was using money to sway voters and candidates. Iran has denied interference. The PMF was officially made a part of the Iraqi military the same month, something that also worries Washington multiple PMF commanders have issued threats against U.S. troops in the country. Saudi rapprochement: Old neighbors, new friends Saudi Arabia has been steadily expanding its engagement with Iraq's government, which is a big deal the two countries had no diplomatic relations for 24 years following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Late 2017 saw the first flight between Riyadh and Baghdad in 27 years, and now the kingdom has opened up a consulate in Iraq's southeastern city of Basra while several Saudi businesses have set up offices in Baghdad. Iraqi officials estimate $100 billion will be needed to rebuild the country after its bloody three-year offensive against ISIS, which swept one-third of the country in 2014. Allies pledged $30 billion for reconstruction during a donor conference in February, far short of the target but one-third of that came from Sunni Gulf states. Those funds are expected to go toward much-needed investment in sectors like housing, energy, and transportation. Iraq's post-ISIS reconstruction will be vital to avoiding a return to future conflict. But those investment dollars may become a victim of the Saudi-Iran rivalry, said Nicholas Fitzroy, Iraq analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Abadi is largely accepted across the international community and his victory would be least likely to jeopardize investment," he said. "Should Amiri or Maliki head the government, the Gulf countries, and Saudi Arabia in particular, would be much more reluctant to commit funds, given both candidates' close links to Iran." Bandar Algaloud | Saudi Royal Council | Handout/Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Meanwhile, as tensions between the Saudis and Iranians heat up, Abadi has said he does not want them turning Iraq into their battlefield, as has happened to varying extents through proxy conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Not going anywhere In this March 28, 2018, file photo, Elaine Wynn, ex-wife of Steve Wynn, listens during a hearing in Las Vegas. A six-year boardroom battle involving the company founded by embattled former Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn and his ex-wife has been settled on the brink of a trial in Nevada state court. She's better known as a philanthropist (school reform, performing arts), an art collector (she paid $142 million for a Lucian Freud triptych, and she is co-chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and a stickler for standards at the company's high-end resorts. Elaine Wynn, known as the Queen of Las Vegas for her long involvement with Mirage and Wynn Resorts , the casino and resort companies she founded with her ex-husband Steve Wynn, might seem an unlikely champion of shareholder rights and good corporate governance. "To be honest, I'd rather be designing hotel rooms," she told me this week from her apartment a few blocks from the Wynn Las Vegas, the hotel she called home before being exiled by her ex-husband (she also has homes in Sun Valley, Beverly Hills and Manhattan). More from the New York Times: Without Steve Wynn, casino empire risks losing more than a name Stephen Wynn, casino mogul, accused of decades of sexual misconduct On social media's fringes, growing extremism targets women Instead, she has had a crash course in corporate law and is working the phones to reach major Wynn shareholders, drumming up support to oust a long-serving board member who's up for re-election at the annual meeting next week. The outcome is of far more than academic interest, given that Ms. Wynn is now the company's largest shareholder, with a 9 percent stake valued this week at nearly $2 billion. For years, the terms of a shareholder agreement related to her 2010 divorce settlement prevented her from voting her shares independently of Mr. Wynn. But that changed earlier this year after The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Wynn had engaged in a long pattern of sexual harassment of Wynn employees, and had paid a manicurist $7.5 million after she told others in 2005 that Mr. Wynn had forced her to have sex. Mr. Wynn denied the allegations and called them "preposterous." But in the aftermath of the article, he agreed to pay Elaine Wynn $25 million and let her vote her shares to settle a yearslong lawsuit she'd filed to overturn the shareholder agreement. Mr. Wynn also resigned as chief executive and sold his 12 percent stake in the company, one in a continuing series of executives of major companies to be swept out in the midst of the #MeToo movement. Even though Mr. Wynn is gone, Ms. Wynn worries that his cronies still run the company and have too many board seats. The board chairman, D. Boone Wayson, has been a friend of Mr. Wynn's since childhood. The current chief executive, Matt Maddox, was in Mr. Wynn's wedding party for his 2011 marriage to Andrea Hissom. A number of board members have vacation homes close to Mr. Wynn's in Sun Valley, Idaho, and have vacationed on Mr. Wynn's yacht. They include Ms. Wynn's current target, John J. Hagenbuch, a board member who has also been on the committee that routinely approved Mr. Wynn's outsized compensation: $28.2 million in 2016. He's also a member of the board committee investigating the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn. "This is the only megaphone I have," Ms. Wynn told me, referring to the proxy fight. "It's the only way I can send a signal to the board and the investor community that the largest shareholder wants changes made." She said that she's not seeking a board seat herself, or the right to name any board members. She's not opposing two other board nominees of more recent vintage who aren't old friends of Mr. Wynn. "My mission is to resurrect the integrity of this extraordinary company that is really the capstone of my professional life," she said. "I could just quietly sell my shares and go off into the sunset and pursue philanthropy. But my mantra is, it's not where you start in life, it's where you end up. And I'm not about to go off and leave this company that I helped build as tarnished as it has become." The company opposes Ms. Wynn's effort to remove Mr. Hagenbuch, and has repeatedly dismissed her efforts as those of a disgruntled "ex-wife," a phrase that irritates Ms. Wynn, who is a co-founder and was on the board for years. The company has alleged that she is acting out of personal animosity stemming from her bitter divorce. No matter what her motives, the company may be underestimating Ms. Wynn's campaign. All three major proxy advisory services Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones have endorsed her effort to replace Mr. Hagenbuch. As Egan-Jones put it: "We believe that the mere presence of Jay Hagenbuch in the board presents a strong conflict of interest, given that he has close ties with Mr. Wynn. Mr. Hagenbuch, as a member of the special committee that investigates the misconduct of Mr. Wynn, makes the credibility of the whole probe in question. As such, the reputation of the company and the board is also compromised." The firm also faulted Mr. Hagenbuch's role on the compensation committee. Glass Lewis said, "Missteps include appointing a personal friend of Mr. Wynn to a special committee charged with reviewing accusations against him, as well as publication of an awkwardly fawning press release regarding Mr. Wynn's resignation which shows no recognition of the gravity or severity of the claims against him." Wynn Resorts has drawn the scrutiny and criticism of corporate governance experts for years. Since the company went public in 2002, Mr. Wynn effectively controlled it by voting his and his wife's combined 21 percent share and naming directors. As is the case in many public companies controlled by the founder and chief executive, there was little board dissent. Ms. Wynn had influence outside the boardroom, but once the couple became estranged (they were divorced, remarried and divorced again), her objections were routinely silenced, she said. After Ms. Wynn asked a question in one boardroom exchange, Mr. Wynn slammed his first on the table and yelled, "No more stupid questions," Ms. Wynn recalled. She was forced off the board in 2015 and lost a subsequent proxy contest to be reinstated. "That's always a problem when you have a controlling shareholder," said Charles Elson, a professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "If directors disagree they risk being replaced." It's also no surprise that in such a culture, no one was willing to blow the whistle on what appears to have been increasingly brazen sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn. Ms. Wynn has testified that she learned about the $7.5 million settlement with the manicurist and reported it to Kimmarie Sinatra, the company's general counsel and corporate secretary, in 2009. After consulting with lawyers, Ms. Sinatra told her the issue had been successfully "handled personally" and wasn't a company concern, Ms. Wynn testified. She acknowledged in testimony that she did not tell any of her fellow board members. The company has disputed Ms. Wynn's account, but didn't call any witnesses to offer its version. The Journal's coverage portrayed a culture in which many Wynn employees covered up for Mr. Wynn and denigrated women who tried to register complaints. "That would be a toxic cocktail for any company," Mr. Elson said, "but especially one with such serious governance issues. It's a combination of a family fight, which is always unpleasant, and a hot-button political issue, sexual harassment. "In this environment, the optics matter. You can't have Wynn's friends investigating the allegations. Elaine is absolutely right that the board needs to be refreshed and the legacy directors should go." The proxy advisory services did credit Wynn Resorts for moving swiftly to distance itself from its founder and to appoint three new directors, all women, with no ties to the scandal. But the company continues to back Mr. Hagenbuch, arguing that he has valuable experience and, in supporting Ms. Wynn, Institutional Shareholders has "placed symbolism over pragmatism." Ms. Sinatra, who remains as Wynn's general counsel, told me this week that, all things considered, Wynn Resorts has made "amazing progress" in its abrupt transition from a founder-led company to "a more typical global public company." She noted that with the addition of three new female directors, 40 percent of the company's board members will be women. "That has nothing to do with Elaine, but with the board's attending to longstanding issues of corporate governance that are common at founder-led companies," she said. Ms. Wynn said she wants to get through next week's vote and annual meeting, and then "we'll see about the next steps." "I'd really like go back to playing with my grandchildren," she said, "knowing that this tremendous company has good leadership and that my shares will continue to have value." If you thought or were told you didn't qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program because you were not enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan typically an income-driven plan the Department of Education might still let you off the hook. Congress has allocated $350 million to offer forgiveness to student loan borrowers who meet all requirements for the program except that they were enrolled in graduated or extended repayment plans, which are ineligible for relief. To qualify, you'll still need to have a loan from the Direct program, have made all of your payments in full and on time, and have worked 10 years in a public service job with a qualifying employer. The forgiveness plan will be given out on a "first-come, first-served" basis, until the money runs out. The Department said it would establish the procedures within 60 days of its announcement, which would mean you could apply starting May 22, "though it is not uncommon for the administration to miss such deadlines," said Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert. Still, borrowers should check in with the department. Considering that there are potentially many newly eligible debtors, the money may not last long at all and you'll want to be one of the first applicants the Department reviews, said Kantrowitz. "You don't want to be playing a game of musical chairs and be the one left out," he said. As Win10 version 1803 rattles through the unpaid beta-testing phase, its snagged another victim Intels aging SSD6 solid-state drives. Both Microsoft and Intel now admit that running Win10 version 1803 on Intel 600p or Pro 6000p is a recipe for disaster. Some Surface Pro (2017) models ship with bad Intel SSD Pro 6000p drives. Customers are complaining about freezes with Win10 version 1803 and the Microsoft support folks dont have a clue whats causing the problem. Now we know. Heres how the drama unfolded. Win10 version 1803 has been in beta testing for centuries, in internet time. The final version, build 17134.1, entered the Windows Insider Fast ring almost a month ago, on April 16. In a jumble of mixed-up build numbers, Win10 version 1803 has been officially pushed since April 30. Why did it take so long to figure out that the 600p and Pro 6000p cause problems? Surely somebody at Microsoft and some other body at Intel must be testing these things, right? Shirley. Some Surface Pro (2017) computers ship with Intel SSD Pro 6000p drives. Shirley somebody at Microsoft tested those, too, didnt they? It's hard for me to imagine Microsoft shipping the new version of Win10 without testing it on the latest Surface Pro 2017 devices. I mean, c'mon. We aren't talking rocket science here. I first heard about the problem on May 7, when a Microsoft Agent (love that term) named Lonnie_L posted on the MS Answers forum: When attempting to upgrade to Window 10 April 2018 Update select devices with certain Intel SSDs may enter a UEFI screen reboot or crash repeatedly. Microsoft is currently blocking some Intel SSDs from installing the April 2018 Update due to a known incompatibility that may cause performance and stability issues. There is no workaround for this issue. If you have encountered this issue, you can roll back to Windows 10, version 1709 and wait for the resolution before attempting to install the April 2018 Update again. Microsoft is currently working on a solution that will be provided in a near future Windows Update, after which these devices will be able to install the April 2018 Update Yesterday, May 10, I received a nudge from a Microsoft PR person, pointing to the same Answers forum post. Its been modified to say: When attempting to upgrade to the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, select devices with Intel SSD 600p Series or Intel SSD Pro 6000p Series may crash and enter a UEFI screen after reboot. Microsoft is working with OEM partners and Intel to identify and block devices with Intel SSD 600p Series or Intel SSD Pro 6000p Series from installing the April 2018 Update due to a know incompatibility that may cause performance and stability issues. If you have encountered this issue, follow the steps to reinstall the previous operating system (Windows 10, version 1709). Microsoft is currently working on a resolution that will allow the April 2018 Update on these devices in the near future. Looking at the post, youd have no way to know when or how it was modified. Commenting on the topic has always been shut off. See how that works? So now we know that the 600p SSDs dont like Win10 version 1803. It took Microsoft eight days to acknowledge the problem, and two more days to spill the beans about which drives arent copacetic. But the drama doesn't stop there. Surface Pro (2017) owners have been complaining about blue screens when they try to upgrade to Win10 version 1803. For example, on May 6, eljeffe58 posted this on the MS Answers forum: I just got a SP 2017 at Best Buy. I returned the first one cuz after she updated to build 1803 I could not escape BSOD's. I returned her after a few days and the new one has the same thing. I restored back to the 1709 she came with and will try not to let her update until a new update supersedes the 1803 mess. I also could not get the update downloads to easily complete without running the fix it troubleshooter and/or just rebooting. A real mess if you ask me. I love the SP 2017 but hate the updates and really hate a BSOD at work in the middle of helping a client.. Thanks. Later in the thread, eljeffe58 says his brand-spanking-new Surface Pro 2017 has an . Intel SSDPEBKF128G7 SSD. BCVHOG says he has an SSDPEBKF256G7. Both of those model numbers are Intel Pro 6000p SSDs. Thats not the worst of it. Microsofts tech support on that thread hasnt helped one whit. On May 9, eljeffe58 reports that he received a Service Request number from Microsoft Surface Technical Support about the BSOD that the Surface devices with i5 processor are experiencing with the new Windows version 1803. You dont say. At least the bug notification now appears on the official build 17134.48 page. Wonder when that was changed? Just bought a Surface Pro 2017? Gotcha. Join us on the AskWoody Lounge. Richard Tice is a political campaigner and CEO of Quidnet Capital. Violent crime is tragically rising at an alarming rate. There was something clearly not right on the warm spring evening last month when I arrived to visit community organisers on one of the massive 1960s council estates dotted round north London. There was no sign of the usual bustle as people got home from work or groups of children played after school. The whole place was eerily deserted. The reason was as simple as it was shocking: Fear. I was told parents had been warning their children to come straight home without seeing friends. The empty playground next to the community youth centre almost spotless from under-use was an unhappy reminder of the damage crime does to Londoners lives. It is no wonder locals are so fearful when, since the start of the year, two young people have been stabbed to death within 15 minutes walk of the estate. I became increasingly appalled and angry as I spoke to residents who were working as hard as they could to improve things. They are fizzing with great practical ideas. Despite all the estates problems, the council have still failed to provide the most basic things to make people feel safe such as CCTV or even proper lighting in some of the estates darkest and most intimidating corners. There has been no shortage of engagement, consultation and we understand your pain exercises, but precious little action. One of the organisers told me that they had not seen a police officer on the estate for over three years except in the aftermath of a murder. To add insult to injury, on that occasion the police asked locals to show them the CCTV footage, which of course did not exist. I have spent a long career in the property business and recently I have been exploring what can be done to improve the quality and number of homes for people on lower incomes. Whenever I visit an estate, it is impossible to miss the connections between badly managed housing and the crime which so often overshadows peoples daily lives. The residents of those estates include many of the least well off in society and they are also the people with the least power to change things for the better where they live. They are the ones who are most often hit by events such as the outburst of shootings and stabbings across London and beyond that took place over the Bank Holiday weekend. This included the murder of 17-year-old Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, shot dead in Southwark. He was the latest of nearly 40 teenagers in the capital to be killed with guns or knives since the start of 2017. I find it frustrating whenever these awful events take place always to hear Sadiq Khans mantra of blaming cutbacks for the ruined lives and bereaved families across our capital city. He should be showing leadership, imagination, and a sense of urgency. But when he was interviewed on the Today programme on Tuesday, the mayor launched straight into a political attack on government spending. He then went on to talk about a strategy and a taskforce, which unfortunately are far too often substitutes for action in the public sector. Of course, the police need enough resources, but as the Conservatives showed when Boris Johnson was Mayor, the key is to focus relentlessly on results and efficiency, freeing officers to get out on patrol. It is not acceptable that people living in high-crime areas never see a bobby on the beat. This makes the estates they live frightening places and demeans all of us. But we should not be tempted to blame the small number of police who are out on the ground. Fighting and deterring crime have to be coupled with long-term work to improve the opportunities available to young people. There also needs to be far greater concentration than we are currently seeing on understanding what is driving the drugs culture in our big cities, which appears to be almost entirely responsible for the growth in gang violence. This is up to the whole of society, not just the people who live on the estates and streets blighted by violent crime. But the need for long-term strategies cannot be used as a substitute for some of the real practical action that can be taken today. Some of that is about police work getting far more officers out on the street. Other things can be done right now at relatively low cost include installing CCTV and decent lighting. Community and youth centres staffed voluntarily by dedicated local people are the beating hearts of healthy estates and providing them should also be a priority. Conservatives need to accept their share of the blame where spending cuts have led to the loss of youth centres. This is one area where I believe the London mayor is right. Rhyhiems mother Pretana Morgan said after his death: Please let my son be the last. I hope that with a radical change of approach in City Hall and less petty party politics on all sides we can all do our best to fulfill her wish. Damien Phillips is a public affairs consultant. The Governments current focus on Russia as a major challenge to our national security must widen to include supposedly trusted partners on the frontiers of the European Union. The breakdown of the rule of law in Romania is going from bad to worse. Its rapid development into a mafia state, dominated by an out-of-control intelligence service, makes this mini Russia, so foolishly brought into the EU, a growing menace to our security. Since I first wrote about Romanias spiral back into tyranny in ConHome in 2016, the country has continued to deteriorate a descent that has not gone unnoticed in the British press. Roger Boyes, a foreign correspondent for 35 years and Diplomatic Editor for The Times, described it as the EUs outlaw state. David Clark, a former special advisor to Labour Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, has highlighted the abuses of power in the country and the risk that turning a blind eye to them would encourage other European nations to follow its example. Those outlets in the Romanian media that have not been infiltrated by its sinister intelligence service are blowing the lid on shocking scandals perpetrated by both the service, and the countrys anti-corruption agency, on a daily basis. Its now becoming increasingly clear that Romanias Secret Intelligence Service (SRI) and its Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) are behaving in ways akin to Putins thugocracy. They are now more powerful than Romanias weak and divided Parliament, which is struggling in vain to rein them in. The two agencies combined amount to a mafia state, exerting a malevolent influence on every aspect of Romanias politics, judiciary, and civil society through a combination of fear, intimidation, and lawfare the malign use of the legal system to destroy opponents. In recent months, a Romanian Parliamentary Commission has been looking into the relationship between the DNA and the SRI. With corruption such a crippling problem in Romania and a continual source of distrust in public institutions, it was hoped that the DNA could spearhead a crackdown aided by intelligence from the SRI. Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that the two organisations are securing prosecutions with little regard to the rule of law and due process. Instead, they are using the judicial system as a weapon to target political enemies, dissidents, and leading business people whose assets are ripe for plunder. Appearing before the commission, a key whistle-blower demonstrated the scale of the operation. Former SRI Colonel Daniel Dragomir was a highly decorated officer, serving in the SRI for over 12 years. In 2005, he was awarded the Military Virtue Order, one of the countrys highest military honours, for securing the release of journalists kidnapped in Iraq. He revealed the vast scope of the SRIs wiretapping programme. Since 2015, over 20,000 wiretaps have been carried out per year by the SRI on behalf of the DNA ten times those carried out in the name of national security and an intrusion into the privacy of ordinary citizens on a colossal scale. He went on to testify about the repeated efforts by the SRI to undermine the independence of the judiciary led by those at the very highest levels of the organisation. Dumitru Dumbrava, SRIs Secretary General, was alleged to have used social media to contact judges, prosecutors and journalists involved in ongoing investigations. Through a series of a meetings, they were pressured to secure convictions with the leverage of friendship, coercion, blackmail, or the promise of promotion. Despite employing a series of covers including a fake VK account (a Russia-based social network) to avoid detection, Dumbravas actions eventually came to light in the Romanian media and he was forced to admit his wrongdoing before the Commission, with Parliament calling for his demotion. With such a high-level official involved so directly in attempting to influence decisions in favour of the prosecution, it has laid bare the extent of what is increasingly seen as a nefarious alliance between the DNA and SRI. The treatment of Colonel Dragomir, who has spoken publicly about his concerns in the press, is indicative of a breakdown in the countrys rule of law in Romania. After coming forward he was immediately met with a series of allegations and trumped-up charges from the DNA, before being subject to six months pre-trial detention in Romanias squalid and overcrowded prison system. He highlights a report by the US-based NGO Fair Trials International which found that the DNA repeatedly fails to uphold the standards on pre-trial detention laid out by the European Court of Human Rights. Pre-trial detainees are regularly put through extended periods of detention, tantamount to a jail sentence prior to any conviction, and routinely mistreated, often to extract evidence later deemed admissible in court. Reports from the Romanian Ombudsmans office, the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania, and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, all show that the Romanian penal system falls short of basic standards on the prevention of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. This has led to serious violations of human rights and it is into this appalling system that the SRI/DNA nexus are knowingly sending suspects that they have conspired to unlawfully convict. As Dragomir points out, the DNA/SRI collusion, the use of mass wiretaps, erosion of judicial independence and targeted reputational smears not only undermines any legitimate and much-needed anti-corruption efforts, but poisons Romanias entire democratic system. And yet we have seen nothing from the EU or the UK government that would indicate they are even aware of the problem. Britains Ambassador in the country voices nothing but praise for the anti-corruption efforts and the EUs Jean Claude Juncker claims that the Romanian justice system is working, which cannot be said about all member states. As recent events in Salisbury showed, when the rule of law breaks down elsewhere in the world it can have drastic consequences here at home. Romanias membership of the European Arrest Warrant which commits EU member states to treat each others legal systems with equivalence and reciprocity allows its corrupt agencies to wield their weaponised justice system anywhere in the EU, with almost no safeguards and to bypass the more stringent scrutiny we apply to legal requests from other rogue states like Russia. Lord Robathan, a former Minister of Defence and SAS officer, argues that: Whilst the UK Government and judiciary are now alive to the behaviour of the Russian state apparatus, both should look very closely at the situation in Romania. In the same way as the Securitate emulated the KGB, so the SRI may be learning from the FSB. Just because Romania is an EU state does not mean that the rule of law is respected there. British residents who cross swords with the Romanian deep state are vulnerable to falling victim, as Stuart Ramsay, Sky Newss Chief Correspondent, found out after producing a documentary there only to find on his return that he was being threatened with extradition to face charges of spreading false information. Romanian authorities are still pursuing prosecutions against his sources in the country and continue to pressure the UK government to cooperate with their efforts to go after Ramsay and his team. With the UK debating whether to maintain membership of the European Arrest Warrant after Brexit, potentially binding us to Romanias justice system for the foreseeable future, its time for the government to recognise the scale of Romanian lawfare and where it might lead in the future. Unlike Russia, Romania is still susceptible to diplomatic pressure and so we must join with our international partners to stop this menace before the country becomes a clear and present danger to our national security. A Historical Murders Unit for Northern Ireland risks repeating the scandal of the Historic Allegations Team on Iraq which saw Philip Shiner struck off the roll of solicitors over misconduct relating to false abuse claims against British troops. But it would also have peculiar features of its own. Some of the incidents likely to be investigated took place the best part of 50 years ago. The Government has a duty to weigh how probable it is any retired soldier eventually hauled before the courts would get a fair trial, given the interplay between the passing of time and the fallibility of memory. More fundamentally, there would be an injustice at the heart of the exercise. British troops were professional soldiers serving in the armed forces, with their formal structure of records, chains of command, disciplinary codes and regiments. Republican or loyalist terrorists were not: soldiers putting their lives on the line, in order to protect civilians of all religions and none, are not comparable to fanatics who sought to maim and murder on a sectarian basis. There can be little doubt that the weight of investigations and potential prosecutions would fall on former British servicemen, in some cases long retired after risking their lives for their country. This is would be an unfair treatment of the past with serious implications for the future thats to say, on recruitment to the armed forces. That one might later be hauled before the authorities to be cross-questioned amidst the order of a courtroom by lawyers with no experience of serving under fire about a split-second decision made years before, amidst the chaos of armed conflict is not exactly an incentive to serve. Michael Fallon has called for any investigation not to probe old, unproven claims without new evidence, and to make a distinction between soldiers and terrorists. He also supports a statute of limitations a time limit on any enquiries. This is the nub of the matter. The former Defence Secretary has claimed that the Cabinet has gone wobbly on such a statute. It isnt hard to see why. Karen Bradley wants to get an Executive back together again in the province. She will also be mindful of the current tensions between the British and Irish Governments over Brexit and the border. The Northern Ireland Office is scarcely a spokesman for Sinn Fein one of the main drivers of an investigation but it must deal with the party: thats part of its brief. Downing Street, meanwhile, will be especially concerned about the position of the DUP. That party is perhaps less focused on the likely injustices to former solders that would arise from any process than the prospect of it going after former IRA terrorists. So the DUP is against a statute of limitations, it is sometimes claimed. This is not quite right. The partys position on such a statute is a bit like its stance on the Customs Union. It wants Northern Ireland to be treated in the same way as the rest of the UK. This opens up a potential way forward. The Ministry of Defence is mulling how a statute of limitations with wider application might work one that would reach back beyond the 1970s and possibly forwards to the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Such a time limit could be applied to Northern Ireland without it being specifically drawn up to apply there. It would offer a way round the Cabinet tensions of earlier this week, when Gavin Williamson, David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox all opposed the exclusion of a statute from a consultation that the Government is due to launch on historic allegations about the Troubles. It would be very painful for the relatives of those murdered by loyalist and republican terrorists to see such a UK-wide statute introduced. But such a course would be for the best. Few things madden voters more than former servicemen being unjustly pursued. Since being appointed Education Secretary, Damian Hinds has kept a low profile. Yet todays newslinks feature not one but two important stories from his department. First, he has announced that the Government will spend 50 million creating up to 16,000 new places at existing grammar schools. Second, he is giving a green light to the creation of more so-called voluntary aided faith schools, set up in partnership between religious groups and local councils. These moves tell us much about the state of Theresa Mays schools agenda and David Camerons, for that matter. On grammar schools, this is a reasonable move. The Government doesnt have either the political capital or a parliamentary majority for lifting the Blair-era ban on new grammars, so funding this sort of expansion which includes so-called spin-off sites is about as far as Hinds can go. The faith schools announcement, on the other hand, is harder to explain, as it flies in the face of a manifesto commitment to replace the unfair and ineffective inclusivity rules that prevent the establishment of new Roman Catholic schools. The BBC highlights the fact that Hinds has backed away from making it easier to open religious free schools. This is a significant development. Whilst voluntary aided schools do get to take up to 100 per cent of their intake from a given faith, the council partnership gives them much less independence than a free school. This move will help the Catholic Church create more schools albeit having to stump up for a share of the costs but it is the cautious, low-innovation approach, which is surprising given Hinds strong support for faith schools. It adds further weight to evidence that Goves legacy and thus, Camerons is in peril, following news this week that not a single new free school led by parents or community groups had opened in 2017-18. None of his successors have evinced even a healthy share of Goves zeal for reforming this crucial sector, but whilst this isnt the article to remake wholesale the case for free schools it does have a direct bearing on the Governments grammar school position. As I wrote in 2016, one of the reasons that deep-seated objections to grammar schools remains is memories of the system in which they operated, which saw academic students thrive in specialist schools but the rest let down by catch-all secondary moderns. Reviving grammar schools was much more defensible when it was part of a Conservative education offer which was built around a spectrum of specialisation: recognising that there are lots of different sorts of learners, of which academically strong pupils are just one, and letting the system create schools that catered to each. Absent that context, the best-and-the-rest concerns which have plagued earlier efforts to revive grammars will persist, and ineffective sops such as lower exam standards for poorer pupils (which often do those pupils no favours if they are simply not prepared for the academic environment inside the school) will not assuage them. Apple has announced that it will be offering two-hour shipping on items in its stores for a limited time. The company said the new service, which costs $5, is available in most metros. "With convenient delivery and pickup methods, Apple is making it easier and safer to get the products you want," Apple said on its website. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, deliveries will be contactless. Drivers can also ask for verbal confirmation that the customer received the item instead of having them sign for it. Adapting to the pandemic This isnt the first time Apple has modified its operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the tech giant said its reopened stores would have Express windows outdoors where customers could pick up orders or get items repaired. Apple says its new delivery option is available for eligible in-stock items. Consumers who dont need an item within two hours can choose the companys free next-day delivery option, which is available for any in-stock Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, or Apple Watch. The company notes that customers can get free two-day delivery on almost everything else. Last month, Wells Fargo admitted in an SEC filing that it wrongly denied mortgage modifications to 870 eligible borrowers, resulting in 545 people losing their homes in foreclosure proceedings. The company said at the time that it would set aside some money to compensate the victims, though how much exactly wasn't made clear. Now, it appears that Wells Fargo is pinning the amount at about $25,000, according to one of the victims who is now going public with his story. That doesnt begin to cover actual losses, an attorney for former homeowner Jose Aguilar told CBS News. Denied loan modification Aguilar lived in a house with his wife and children in upstate New York, not far from the manufacturing plant where he worked. Problems for the familys living situation began when they found mold in the house and couldn't afford to pay for both the repairs and their monthly mortgage. The family applied for a mortgage modification, and Aguilar says Wells Fargo suggested he might qualify. Aguilar then waited for an official answer from Wells Fargo amid delays. It took over a year before the bank responded with instructions to apply for the modification once more. When he did, the bank denied the application. Since he had already fallen behind on payments over the past year, the foreclosure proceedings began. The family lost their home in October 2015, and Aguilar's wife left him as a result, he told ABC. Then Wells Fargo sent Aguilar a letter earlier this year, explaining that the loan modification should have been approved. The bank also gave him a $25,000 check for his troubles. "Wells Fargo has not been transparent at all about how this happened," Aguilars lawyer added. Aguilar now lives in a friends basement with his son because the foreclosure ruined his credit, making it impossible to secure a rental. SUBSCRIBE Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox. CORNWALL, Ontario This Saturday, Habitat for Humanity invited tea enthusiasts to the Best Western for their tea party fundraiser with the hopes of raising about $1,000 that will go to Habitats programming. Breckyn Fowler with the help of volunteers from the Kinettes Club brought approximately 75 to 100 people to the Best Western for the event. This was somebodys grannys teacup, and now we have a better use for it and can get it back out into the community, explained Breckyn. Habitat for Humanity sees a large number of teacups throughout the year, and for them, it is a way to transfer those lost pieces of china into projects that benefit the community. The organization has broken ground on their next build site for their 13th family in Williamsburg and plans to have a pancake breakfast as a launch for the start of construction at the end of May. CORNWALL, Ontario William Sanders, 26, of Ingleside was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with break and enter. It is alleged in the early morning hours of May 10, 2018 the man forced his way into a Second St. W. business and police were contacted to investigate. The man was located in the area, taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court at a later date. THEFT UNDER $5,000, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario William McDonald, 24, of Cornwall was arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with theft under $5,000 and breach of two probation orders for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on May 8, 2018 the man entered a Pitt St. business and removed property making no attempt to pay for the property as he left the store. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. The man was located on May 9, 2018, taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. THEFT UNDER $5,000, POSSESSION OF PROPERTY OBTAINED BY CRIME, POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Adrian Oliver, 34, of Huntingdon, QC and Mathieu Pitre, 25, of St.Zotique, QC were arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with possession of property obtained by crime, possession of controlled substances and breaches. Oliver was also charged with theft under $5000. It is alleged on May 9, 2018 Adrian Oliver attempted to remove property from a Brookdale Ave. store and police were contacted to investigate. Both Oliver and Pitre were located a short distance away and found to be in possession of a stolen car. They were taken into custody and found to be in possession of a quantity of Speed. Both were charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. THEFT UNDER $5,000, ESCAPE LAWFUL CUSTODY CORNWALL, Ontario A 16-year-old Cornwall youth was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with theft under $5,000 and escape lawful custody. It is alleged the youth removed property from a local business on March 28, 2018 and on May 10, 2018 left a temporary youth detention center without permission. He was located by police, taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as per provision off the Youth Criminal Justice Act. BREACH, WARRANT CORNWALL, Ontario A 26-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for failing to notify a change of address, breaching curfew, communicating with his ex-girlfriend and attending her residence. He was also charged with breach of probation for communicating with her, being within 100 meters of her and for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on May 9, 2018 the man was found to be at his ex-girlfriends residence despite his conditions. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and it was learned there was a warrant issued for his arrest as he had failed to attend court earlier in the day for a break and enter charge. The man was held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as the conditions stem from a domestic incident and would identify the victim in the matter. FRAUD, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Blake Atwell, 42, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with two counts of fraud and breach of undertaking and probation for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged during the month of November, 2017 the man fraudulently withdrew money from an account that did not belong to him on two occasions and police were contacted to investigate. On May 10, 2018 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on July 3, 2018. WARRANT CORNWALL, Ontario Michael Denneny, 38, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged the man failed to attend court on May 8, 2018 for threats charge and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On May 10, 2018 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody on the strength of the warrant and released to appear in court on July 3, 2018. BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Gilles Desforges, 41, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with breach of undertaking for attending a specific store and failing to keep the peace. It is alleged the man attended a local store on May 9, 2018 despite his conditions and police were contacted to investigate. During the investigation the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on June 14, 2018. FAIL TO ATTEND FOR PRINTS CORNWALL, Ontario Darin Cooper, 22, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with failing to attend for prints. It is alleged the man failed to attend for prints on April 23, 2018 and an investigation ensued. He was taken into custody on May 10, 2018, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. IMPAIRED OPERATION, OVER 80 CORNWALL, Ontario Shawn Valade, 43, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and over 80. It is alleged on May 10, 2018 the man was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in the area of Thirteenth Street and Brookdale Avenue. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 17, 2018. There were 36 calls for service in the City of Cornwall in the last 24 hours (8 a.m. the previous day to 8 a.m. the day of the release). To see whats happening in your neighbourhood visit our Crime Plot Map @ http://www.cornwallpolice.ca/ . CCPS reserves the right not to post all calls for service in order to protect the identity of the victims. CORNWALL, Ontario The Eastern Ontario schools of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO) gathered in Cornwall on Thursday night, May 10, to celebrate their faith based education in song. Sunday, May 6 to Sunday, May 13 was Catholic Education Week and the school board held events celebrating their education all week long. Every year, one event held to help celebrate Catholic Education Week is the Celebrating our Catholic Faith in Song event, which was held Thursday night at the old GV auditorium, now a part of St. Josephs Cathoic Secondary School. There were 13 schools from across the region in attendance that night with their school choirs ready to celebrate in song. Last years event drew more than 800 parents and students. Parents are so proud of their kids and they love to get to see them perform, said Natalie Cameron, Superintendent of the CSDBEO. The event was kicked off by Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School with the songs Ave Maria and From Now On and was closed by St. Joes with Dont Stop Believing and Good, Good Father. Baked treats were provided by the St. Matthews Catholic Secondary School hospitality class. Channel program changes at Lenovo North America last fall delivered a hit to profitability for many PC partners, but new leadership is seeking to re-establish a commitment to partners amid what the executives are calling a massive market opportunity. Lenovo North America executives used the Accelerate 2018 partner conference in Las Vegas this week to pursue "trust rebuilding" with solution providers while promising partner-friendly investments aimed at capturing share in the PC and data center markets. [Related: 10 Key Takeaways From Lenovo Accelerate 2018] Matthew Zielinski, Lenovo's North America president for its PC and smart devices division, joined the company in mid-February from AMD -- while the channel chief for the division, Rob Cato, is also new. Zielinski told CRN that "we spent the last 13 weeks really diagnosing and dissecting the business, to really chart out a strategy that I believe is a winning one." As part of that, "we'll invest in channel partners that are going to be disproportionately invested and committed to us [compared with other vendors]," Zielinski said. First, though, the company's new leadership has needed to address last fall's program changes, which affected the pricing for partners available from distribution as well as certain incentives such as spiffs. Zielinski reported that he's had many conversations about the changes since starting in his new role, saying he hasn't spoken with a partner "that hasn't at least brought it up." Lenovo executives previously said the moves were necessary to restore equality in the pricing available to value-added resellers because some partners were able buy products through distribution programs at unfairly low prices. The result, however, was to increase pricing by several percentage points for some partners, which has been an issue for businesses run on thin margins. Of his current efforts with partners, "it's a trust rebuilding exercise," Zielinski said. "I know we did some things in the latter part of last year that have been discussed as I've come on board. Talk is cheap. And we want to make sure when we sit here at Accelerate next year that we are truly the most trusted partner like we have been in the past." That, he said, is "just going to take a bit of time and a commitment and proof that we're going to do what we say we're going to do." Cato agreed, saying that a top focus for Lenovo is to "start building back some commitment and trust back into our ecosystem with our partners." For starters, Zielinski is committing to the company by relocating to Lenovo's North America home base of Raleigh, N.C., Cato noted. "He wants to be the guy that's going to lead us back and be here consistently," Cato said. "He's building a place in Raleigh. We haven't had a president in Raleigh for a while. So I think that is also a commitment he's making not only to Lenovo but to our channel partners also." "There's been a lot of changes. There's been a lot of inconsistency. And I think our channel partners have been lacking a little bit of clarity from Lenovo," Cato said. "So for us it's about making sure we get back to that clarity." The market opportunity for working with Lenovo is significant, Executive Vice President Kirk Skaugen told partners during Accelerate 2018. "Despite the fact that it was a transformation year for Lenovo, we hit a top-line three-year growth high in the third quarter of $12.9 billion," Skaugen said, with more than 80 percent of revenue from North America coming from partners. "What I can tell you is I think this year is going to put that to shame," he said. In the company's PC and smart devices division, for two consecutive quarters Lenovo has been outpacing the market in revenue, Skaugen told partners. Gaming and workstations are now both $1-billion-per-year businesses for Lenovo, and workstation "could be easily $2 billion here very, very quickly," Skaugen said. Meanwhile, Skaugen said he's aiming to prove that the data center business "is on an unstoppable growth trend," with every geography closing the recent quarter with double-digit revenue growth. Going forward, Lenovo expects "far greater than market growth" in data center, he said. In particular, Lenovo has some important differentiators with its ThinkAgile line of software-defined offerings, Skaugen told CRN. "Lenovo is not encumbered by the status quo," he said. "We're not trying to protect a legacy business. So we can move very aggressively, whether you're talking about Nutanix or vSAN or Azure Stack." Partners who spoke with CRN at Accelerate 2018 said the changes from last fall were challenging, but they are optimistic about Lenovo's strategy and leadership. The changes "kind of threw me into a tailspin a little bit, to the point where I considered bringing on another OEM to fill the gaps," said Mark Sanchez, CEO of Loganville, Ga.-based CommQuest. That adoption of another vendor never ended up happening, and now Sanchez doesn't believe it will be necessary. "I told them I was considering it, but I never moved on it," he said. "They know me and know I'm loyal to the brand. And I don't think all of their [partner] base is like that." After hearing the message from the new leadership at Accelerate, "I'm starting to get some better feelings," Sanchez said. "And by what they're saying in the near future -- about wanting to invest in those who are really making an effort to push the product -- I feel like I'm one of those. They've said, 'Yes, good things are coming and we think it's going to really benefit you.' So those kinds of statements make me feel better about the direction of where things are going." Dan Hammack, co-founder and CTO of Centennial, Colo.-based DHE Computer Systems, said he is also optimistic about working with Lenovo even after a tough stretch. "I think that we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Initially, we didn't think so. ... But now that the dust has settled, we get it," Hammack said. "There were some programs in place that were very generous for the partners, and DHE was able to capitalize on many of them. While they've pulled back on some of the programs, the other OEMs are doing that as well." Hammack noted that while the Lenovo leadership has shifted, his representatives at the company -- channel manager James Van Dyke and regional channel director Ryan Mathison -- have been stable and have provided consistent communications about the changes. Ultimately, "the changes Lenovo has made are quite positive. Sometimes you've got to shake things up to make the entire program work better," Hammack said. "Right now, it's good. Right now I'm positive on Lenovo from all angles." Stan Wysocki, vice president at Houston-based Mark III Systems, said that Lenovo hit a "reset button" when it brought in Skaugen, an Intel veteran, about 18 months ago. "I think [the move] was needed," Wysocki said. "I didn't expect anything to change overnight. But I think they're in the right place. You look at a lot of the key wins that they've had -- winning back accounts that they had lost over the last couple of years. That shows a lot." Zielinski said that for any partners that still feel "burned," he is committed to turning things around. "The way that I would repair that relationship is by making sure that we use my introduction as a bit of a rebirth, and show that there is no more volatility," he said. "That volatility is behind us, and we have a much better recipe and a much better plan. We're already executing on that plan." Kaspersky Lab has engaged in preliminary discussion to consider, for the first time, allowing MSPs or other types of channel partners to white-label the vendor's products and services. The Moscow-based security software developer has historically been resistant to allowing solution providers to pass off Kaspersky-made goods as their own out of fear of hurting their brand. But with partners advocating that white-labeling would increase their revenue and provide tremendous value, Kaspersky has grown more comfortable with the idea, according to Jason Stein, vice president of channel for North America. "We're open to it," Stein told CRN. "It doesn't mean that it's going to happen overnight. And it doesn't mean it's going to happen for everybody. I think we want to be strategic in the types of partners that we're looking to do that for." [RELATED: Kaspersky Lab Sues U.S. Department Of Homeland Security Over Government Sales Ban] As the market evolves and traditional VARs move into more of a managed services or managed security services model, Stein said they've grown accustomed to seeing white-label software offered by some of their other vendor partners. Kaspersky therefore wants to be open to making the changes needed for partners to be as profitable and successful as they possibly can, Stein said. The solution provider who raised the idea during a question-and-answer session at Kaspersky Lab's Trusted Advisors Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. said white-labeling would help channel partners avoid the whole geopolitical conversation. Kaspersky has experienced nearly a year of pushback over alleged ties to the Russian government, which the company has vehemently denied. The company sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in December over the Trump administration's ban on the use of Kaspersky's cybersecurity software within federal agencies. Stein, however, said the consideration being given to white-labeling is all about making it easier for the channel to partner with Kaspersky and isn't specific to the geopolitical situation by any means. "There's certainly some type of avoidance of the geopolitical [situation] with that, but more importantly, it's for partners to be able to extend their brand to every layer that their customer would see," said Michael Knight, president and CTO of Greenville, S.C.-based Encore Technology Group. Knight said white-labeling can help MSPs or MSSPs to create a more unified brand experience regardless of the technology that's being delivered. This allows the service provider to maintain their brand as the focus and have their customers look to them. Encore Technology has done some white-labeling when the platform being used isn't all that well-known, meaning that inclusion of a vendor's name would provide little value. Conversely, however, Knight said the Kaspersky brand is very well-known and very powerful. "For us, we see a ton of value in partnering with Kaspersky and people knowing and seeing that brand," Knight said. "We like the visibility that Kaspersky brings to the table." White-labeling could be an intriguing prospect, said Stefan Zauchenberger ICE Systems, though he's not sure how customers would feel about not knowing where the security technology they're using actually came from. Larger cybersecurity partners could likely get away with white-labeling security technology and having their own muscle behind it, said Zauchenberger, president and manager partner of the Kansas City-based solution provider. But small MSPs will often find that they need the name and brand of a major OEM behind them to gain traction in the marketplace, according to Zauchenberger. Any decision about white-labeling would be made at a global rather than a regional level, said Stein, noting that Kaspersky has traditionally done white-labeling from a business-to-consumer - but not a business-to-business - standpoint. Although Kaspersky doesn't wish to close the door on any type of partner that might want to do white-labeling, he said solution providers with an MSP- or MSSP-type model would probably be more interested in the opportunity. "People have been asking us for years," Stein said. "We haven't been as interested in allowing our partners to do that. Now we're just assessing and seeing if it makes sense." Kaspersky Lab's head of government relations said the company wants to localize aspects of its cybersecurity data processing engine outside of Russia to allay customer fears. The Moscow-based platform security vendor is considering situating data collection and processing capabilities for the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) in particular countries or regions to help address concerns that have been raised about KSN data, according to Tara Hairston, head of government relations for Kaspersky Lab North America. KSN is a complex distributed infrastructure dedicated to processing cybersecurity-related data streams from millions of voluntary participants around the world. Hairston said Kaspersky is currently looking into the best way to effectively address questions and concerns about the KSN infrastructure that have been raised. [RELATED: Kaspersky Examines Allowing Partners To White-Label Products As Managed Services Gain Traction] "This is an industry issue," Hairston said Thursday at the Trusted Advisors Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. "It is not just us. But we are the ones that are kind of the face of it, and we need to address it head-on." Kaspersky plans to have independent assessments and audits of its internal processes and product source code conducted following many months of pushback over alleged ties to the Russian government, which the company has vehemently denied. The company filed a lawsuit in December challenging the Trump administration's ban on the use of the Kaspersky's cybersecurity software within federal agencies. By the end of 2018, Hairston said Kaspersky plans to start the process of redesigning and reconfiguring its back-end infrastructure, particularly as it relates to KSN data collection and processing. As part of this effort, Hairston said Kaspersky is also looking at practices that could minimize data exposure while ensuring that the project remains effective. Kaspersky has been in conversations around how to give increased notification to customers with regards to KSN, Hairston said. Much of that dialogue has centered around how to go about ensuring that the data being collected is the absolute bare minimum, Hairston said, as well as what additional protections could be put in place. "Some of the things that are affecting us as a company are affecting other companies as well," Hairston said. "And we all have to be mindful of how we're moving forward as an industry." The trends driving the geopolitical concerns around Kaspersky Lab have started to impact other companies in the IT space, Hairston said, including ones based in the United States. These issues have taken center stage as companies become more focused on ensuring their supply chain is safe and that the products they employ to protect data aren't also being used to facilitate cyber espionage, she said. These developments prompted Kaspersky Lab, in October 2017, to launch its Global Transparency Initiative, which Hairston said is focused on defining what trust is and how it can be maintained. While the initiative is in part a direct response to the geopolitical situation involving Kaspersky, Hairston said the efforts are primarily driven by a desire to address the general lack of trust when it comes to IT. That erosion of trust has resulted in a push to only source IT from organizations based in a businesses' home country in hopes of ensuring that they systems, networks and information they protect are secure. This protectionism can also be driven by a desire to protect domestic industries by only sourcing from companies that are local, Hairston said. For instance, Hairston said China requires everything to be sourced internally or reviewed by its government. This course of action, though, isn't practical due to the global nature of supply chains with people taking code from a variety of places, Hairston said. Additionally, she said the move doesn't actually provide organizations with any additional security. Businesses also find themselves dealing with a diffuse population of actors going far beyond nation-states that are capable of carrying out sophisticated cyberattacks due to the leaking of cyberespionage tools, Hairston said. As a result, she said people further down the cybercrime food chain have been able to do a lot of damage. Finally, Hairston said there isn't any international consensus around what is or isn't permissible activity in cyberspace. Nation-states often want to tell others what they should be allowed to do from a cyber-norms perspective, she said, but want their own cyber capabilities to remain wholly undisturbed. As these factors impact companies around the world, Hairston said Kaspersky has looked thoroughly into establishing best practices and setting the bar for the rest of the industry. "They may not be feeling the heat today," Hairston said, "but we can guarantee that they're likely to feel it tomorrow." The geopolitical situation with Kaspersky has shined a light on the growing fear and distrust in the IT industry that's now coming from all directions, according to Stefan Zauchenberger, president and managing partner of Kansas City-based ICE Systems. The concerns have been heightened by the growing number of IT vectors and entry points, Zauchenberger said, especially in the industrial space as it relates to manufacturing systems or the power grid. "It's a matter of trust," Zauchenberger said. Threats are constantly evolving and, just like everything else, tend to follow certain trends. Whenever a new type of threat is especially successful or profitable, many others of the same type will inevitably follow. The best defenses need to mirror those trends, so companies get the most robust protection against the newest wave of threats. Our goal with these reviews is to discover how cutting-edge cybersecurity software fares against the latest threats, hopefully helping you to make good technology purchasing decisions. We'll explain how these new and trending cybersecurity tools work, who they're for, and where they fit into a security architecture. Each of these products was tested in a local testbed or, depending on the product or service, within a production environment provided by the vendor. Where appropriate, each was pitted against the most dangerous threats out there today as we unleashed the motley crew from our ever-expanding malware zoo. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are some of the most innovative and useful, and, dare we say, best security products on the market today. Best security software 2019 reviews AttackIQ FireDrill Aqua Avanan Awake Security Platform Barracuda Sentinel Bitglass Blue Hexagon CrowdStrike Falcon CybeReady Cynet 360 Fidelis Deception FireMon GreatHorn JASK Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) LogRhythm Morphisec NeuVector Nyotron Paranoid Perimeter 81 Power LogOn SlashNext XM Cyber HaXM AttackIQ FireDrill Category: Penetration testing AttackIQ FireDrill was created to watch our watchers. Its a penetration testing tool, but one that is configured to operate from the inside, with the primary goal of identifying flaws, misconfigurations and outright shortcomings in all other cybersecurity defenses. Read the full review. Aqua Category: Container security The Aqua Cloud Native Security Platform uses an inherent advantage of containers, the fact that they are always highly specialized for their jobs, to create a cybersecurity structure based on whitelisting. Read the full review. Avanan Category: Email security The Avanan platform is designed to make managing email security across a vast corporate landscape both effective and accessible. Avanan takes a unique approach to accomplish this with a multi-vendor solution that layers protections within the security stack, tying them together into a centrally managed dashboard that supports whatever native protections already exist in cloud-based email platforms. The idea is that Avanan can catch the advanced threats that Microsoft, Google or other cloud-based email providers miss, identifying dangers like phishing, malware, data leakage and even full account takeovers. Read the full review. Awake Security Platform Category: Network security This advanced network traffic monitoring platform identifies hidden threats and those that dont use traditional malware, making it extremely powerful and useful in todays threat environment. Read the full review. Barac ETV Category: Network security TLS 1.3 prevents any decryption or inspection in transit, seeing it as a compromise. As such, it may soon be impossible at most organizations to inspect encrypted traffic without first completely decrypting and assembling it. And doing that gives malicious code a chance to perform its nefarious mission. That situation is why Barac created the Encrypted Traffic Visibility (ETV) Platform. Its designed to analyze encrypted data streams and determine whether or not they are malicious without unencrypting them or doing any kind of deep inspection that would indicate tampering under TLS 1.3. Read the full review. Barracuda Sentinel Category: Email security Instead of sitting at the gateway like traditional email protection platforms, Sentinel connects at the API level to any cloud-based email program. Its uses artificial intelligence to learn how users communicate so that it can spot anomalies that might be an indication of an attack later on. Read the full review. Bitglass Category: Mobile security The Bitglass platform is essentially an agentless and lightweight MDM platform without any of the over-burdensome complexity or draconian rules those mobile management tools normally require. Bitglass is installed in the cloud, which technically makes it a cloud access security broker (CASB). How it works is that users on mobile devices first sign into a portal and then access all of their work data through Bitglass. The interface is seamless to users, with only the Bitglass name being inserted into the URL field at the top of the browser page to indicate that Bitglass is enforcing policies on those interactions. Read the full review. Blue Hexagon Category: Network security While most platforms with machine learning look for anomalies in things like traffic or user behavior, Blue Hexagon actually looks for threats. And it will make a determination about whether a file, process, document or other program is malicious in under one second every time. There is no gray area with Blue Hexagon. Things are either threats or not. Its ability to spot threats so quickly can close many of the gaps that hackers try to exploit, leaving them without enough time to capitalize on any foothold they may briefly establish. Read the full review. CrowdStrike Falcon Category: Endpoint detection and response While EDR is increasingly important, its also becoming a bit commoditized in that many of the offerings are very similar. The biggest differentiator with Falcon is that the brains of the platform exist completely in the cloud, which gives it unlimited scalability as well as a massive footprint of users and enterprises. Read the full review. CybeReady Category: Security awareness The CybeReady platform is designed to educate users about the dangers of phishing and other email attacks that target them and evaluate them as they perform their normal jobs, without getting in the way or taking up too much of their time. Training is done only as needed and always on the spot, and never takes up more than about two minutes. On the backend, entire training campaigns can be crafted for the next several months in only a few minutes, so the administration of the CybeReady platform is minimized. Read the full review. Cynet 360 Category: Network security The goal of a fully autonomous and completely effective cybersecurity platform has never been fully realized. But that is exactly what the Cynet 360 autonomous breach protection platform aims to do. From our testing, its clear that they are very close, with a nearly zero touch installation process, complete visibility through agent sensors, and an automatic response rate that is about 98 percent accurate. Read the full review. Fidelis Deception Category: Deception Today's skilled hackers know, or at least suspect, that deception is in place and won't blindly follow breadcrumbs to fake assets. To combat this, Fidelis Deception creates realistic, living deception assets. Read the full review. FireMon Category: Network security A pioneer in the field of network security policy management, FireMon provides full visibility into networks and devices, and overlays that knowledge with the rules, platforms, hardware and programs designed to protect it. Read the full review. GreatHorn Category: Email protection GreatHorn takes a modern and highly effective approach to protecting enterprise email that goes well beyond the capabilities of legacy mail scanners. Read the full review. JASK Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) Category: SIEM Everything about the JASK ASOC is different from how a traditional SIEM operates. For one, the entire ASOC infrastructure exists inside a secure Amazon Web Services cloud. Network administrators only need to install a JASK software sensor to help facilitate the link between the local console and the brains of the platform in the cloud. The ASOC doesnt even issue alerts in the traditional sense. Instead, it coordinates all of the events and anomalies that it discovers and groups them together. Only once it believes that it has found solid evidence of a threat does it present what it calls an insight to IT teams monitoring the SOC. Read the full review. LogRhythm Category: SIEM LogRhythm Enterprise offers a lot of protection and assistance for finding and remediating threats and sometimes even pre-threat actions. Read the full review. Morphisec Category: Intrusion prevention Morphisec is focused on prevention of a specific family of advanced exploits that either use or reside in system memory. These exploits are very difficult to detect using traditional methods and how most advanced attacks get around signature-based antivirus protection these days. The platform scrambles system memory by moving the default locations for system resources that all programs use and most advanced malware is designed to exploit. This includes scrambling the locations of .dlls, memory structures and commonly used resources. Read the full review. NeuVector Category: Container security The NeuVector container security platform was created specifically to safeguard containerized environments. In fact, its deployed as a privileged container itself within the environment that it will be protecting. From its position within the containerized environment, it can monitor all Layer 7 network traffic, including that moving between containers and the host orchestration software. In this way, it can protect against attacks made against individual containers or the entire environment. Read the full review. Nyotron Paranoid Category: Endpoint security The philosophy behind Paranoid is that there is an infinite number of ways that hackers can attack a computer and a network, with new techniques popping up all the time. But if an attacker gains access to a system, there are a limited number of things they can actually do based on what is allowed by the operating system. The platform could probably stop most attacks against endpoints on its own, but does not make that claim. Instead, it is designed to thwart advanced intrusions that get around or through every other network protection. It acts as a last line of defense and was very effective in that role during our testing. Read the full review. Perimeter 81 Category: Network security Starting with the concept of zero trust networking, VPN tunneling and secure network access as a service, Perimeter 81 recently branched out and are now providing a near plug and play solution for more elements of cybersecurity served through the cloud and on demand. Read the full review. Power LogOn Category: Authentication Power LogOn brings together 2FA with a network-based password manager. The user first logs onto a computer or workstation (using multi-factor authentication, say a smartcard and a PIN) that has the Power LogOn authentication client installed. That client then creates a trusted node that takes other logon information to authenticate with the network portion, which admins install and manage. The Power LogOn network portion acts as a network-based password manager, creating and managing long and complex passwords for each user and website. The admin portion gives the admin complete control over the users logon, including defining how many factors 1FA, 2FA or 3FA to require for the initial client logon, and how it is accomplished (e.g., PIN, smartcard or biometrics). Read the full review. SlashNext Category: email protection SlashNext has taken the old adage of doing one thing very well to heart. There are two products available to organizations. The first is a detailed and dedicated phishing threat feed that can be used to block phishing sites as they pop up. The second is an appliance that provides even more protection and is able to halt even targeted attacks aimed at a single organization that wouldnt trigger any other kind of alert. Read the full review. XM Cyber HaXM Category: Penetration testing The HaXM program from XM Cyber aims to make automated penetration testing more reliable and accessible by improving on the current state of similar programs in several ways. First, HaXM does not require any knowledge of attack techniques. For example, you dont have to scan for a specific code injection vulnerability on a web server. You simply need to tell the program that the web server is an important asset in your network and then let HaXM discover all the ways that it could be compromised. Second, HaXM offers continuous scanning, so results are never aged out over time. And finally, in addition to performing red team type exercises, HaXM offers detailed advice on how to fix problems it discovers and which ones should be fixed first, effectively taking on the role of a so-called blue team in security exercises. Read the full review. 2018 security software reviews 2017 security software reviews BRIDGEPORT In about a week, advocates for police department reform starting at the top with the chief will know if their voices have been heard. Randi Frank, the Kentucky-based consultant helping with Mayor Joe Ganims national search for a permanent top cop, held two community forums Thursday to hear from residents about what they want in their chief. Frank will summarize the comments, along with feedback from her prior visit in early April and also sent to her via email, into a job profile. That profile will be advertised, beginning next weekend, for 30 days through prominent law enforcement organizations. Theres a little section that says qualifications, Frank told the small group gathered at Thursdays noon forum, which was followed by another at 6 p.m. The rest is what youre looking for. Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the shooting death of 15-year-old Jayson Negron by a rookie Bridgeport cop who was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing by a state investigation. Still, that incident has been on the minds of people interested in the ongoing chief search, including ex-school board member Kate Rivera. Were looking for true antibias and true de-escalation training, Rivera told Frank. Candidates educational background and political connections were also among the topics broached by the noon audience. Acting Police Chief Armando A.J. Perez, who has held that job for two years and plans to compete for the five-year contract Ganim is offering, does not have a college degree. According to current qualifications for Bridgeports chief, a higher education is preferred but not required as long as candidates have experience, which Perez does. I understand there are people with good community skills, Rosa Correa, an Hispanic activist, told Frank. But a higher education provides you with different things you just dont get without a college degree. Frank pushed back a bit, acknowledging its important to have an education but emphasizing experience in a police department is very, very important. Make that (a college degree) a new qualification, Rivera said. We want someone with an education and experience. Jeanine Oburchay, chairwoman of the Better Bridgeport political action organization, and Joe Luciano, a Bridgeport resident and member of the progressive Indivisible Connecticut, want the permanent chief to be able to act independently even though he or she is ultimately hired by the mayor. Oburchay told Frank that the Democrat-dominated Bridgeport politics are a little too familiar, a little too familial. And everyones connected. Perez was Ganims driver during the latters first administration in the 1990s. And when Ganim, who was convicted of corruption in 2003, successfully campaigned for a second chance in 2015, Perez, then a police captain, was often at his side. Critics point out how it was Perez who, though never charged with anything, stored cases of expensive wine at his home that Ganim received as part of his pay-to-play schemes. More recently, Perez came under fire after it was revealed he had, at the request of longtime Town Committee Chairman Mario Testa, dispatched an officer to spend two days helping one of Testas preferred City Council candidates pick up absentee ballots during a party primary. We need someone not affiliated with the current administration and not beholden to our (Democratic) town committee and mayor, Oburchay said. Luciano said the chief applicants should be asked when interviewed how (they) maintain personal integrity and independence. Elizabeth Barnes, who is active in Democratic politics in the East End, told Frank it was time that the city enforced a requirement that the police chief live in town. Perez does not, and neither did his predecessor, Joseph Gaudett. The Greater Bridgeport Young Democrats and civic group Bridgeport Generation Now, which has advocated for post-Negron changes in police officer training and oversight and for a just-implemented uniform camera program, were also represented at Thursdays meeting with Frank. Vickers said afterward it would be nice to have someone fresh come in and take over as chief. Franks first information-gathering visit in April was criticized by some, including Bridgeport Generation Now, for not including more critics of Perez and the police department. Ganims office had promised to arrange for Franks return, and also made the search consultants email publicly available for anyone who wished to forward their thoughts to her. Now reform advocates will be scrutinizing who Ganim will appoint to a special search committee that will vet chief candidates and forward a short list of finalists to the mayor. We fully expect to be invited to that conversation, Gemeen Davis with Generation Now told Frank. MASHANTUCKET - Republicans rallied behind former Meriden mayor Manny Santos on Friday as their choice to run for U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Estys seat in Connecticuts 5th District. But enough Republican delegates at the partys convention supported Southbury political newcomer Ruby ONeill to force a primary in August, setting the stage for a summer campaign battle for what is traditionally Connecticuts most competitive Congressional seat. The delegates recognize that I am a strong candidate, Santos said after the vote at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Now it is up to the rest of the Republicans in the district, but I am happy with this result. Santos, a mechanical engineer who entered the race in February before Estys office abuse scandal forced her to drop a run for a fourth term, won 135 votes out of 246 cast, more than the necessary 50 percent to win the nomination. Thank you for showing your support for me, and for your confidence, Santos said to delegates. Santos will spend the warm weather months seeking support from Republicans in the 36 towns and five cities of the 5th District, which stretches from Bethel to the Massachusetts border, and from New Milford to New Britain. ONeill, a retired psychology professor and the vice chair of the state Commission on Equity and Opportunity, declared her candidacy only two weeks ago. But she had the support of state House Republicans, including Rep. William Petit, the survivor of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion, who briefly entertained thoughts of running for Estys seat. I am very happy that they want to take the Connecticut GOP in a new direction, ONeill said shortly after the vote. I am thrilled. The delegates needed two ballots to choose a nominee. On the first ballot, Santos received 117 votes, ONeill received 87 votes and Richard Dupont, a Watertown businessman, received 36. Santos finished just shy of the 50 percent needed for the nomination. The GOP convention, which will choose the Republican gubernatorial nominee on Saturday, comes two days before the Democrats nominating convention for the 5th District on Monday in Waterbury. Democratic hopefuls include Mary Glassman, a former Simsbury first selectman who has raised $100,000, and Jahana Hayes, a Waterbury high school teacher who won the 2016 National Teacher of the Year Award. Although Republicans are expected to have a better of chance winning the 5th District than they had when Esty and her $1.5 million were still in the race, it will still be an uphill battle for the GOP in a district where only 24 percent of voters are Republican. More than 32 percent of the districts 417,000 are Democrats, and more than 42 percent of voters are unaffiliated. GOP Chairman J.R. Romano said Republicans had confidence about winning a district that the GOP last held in 2006. The last thing this state needs is to export Dan Malloys policies to Washington D.C., said Romano, referring to the outgoing Democratic governor. And that is exactly what voters would be doing if they elect a Democrat to represent the 5th. Estys decision to drop her re-election bid heightened interest in a race where there was already increased attention because of the mid-term elections. The Cheshire Democrat dropped out of the race after admitting that under her watch, female employees in her Washington, D.C., office were victimized by Estys former chief of staff, who she then helped get a new job with Sandy Hook Promise. Her scandal-fueled exit from the race caused both parties to scramble for candidates. Republicans urged Petit and former Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra to run, while Democrats asked Sandy Hook Promise co-founders Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden to consider a run. All four declined. Other Republicans who declared an interest in Estys seat were Elizabeth Peterson, of Simsbury, and John Pistone, of Brookfield. Update: Police said Christopher Ottenbreit was located safely around 2:30 p.m. Friday. Original story MILFORD Police are looking for a missing 47-year-old man who threatened to harm himself on Friday. Officers were informed that Christopher Ottenbreit made comments about harming himself to a nurse at a pain management office. Prior to medical personnel speaking with Ottenbreit about his comments, he abruptly left the business and was unable to be located, said Lt. Garon DelMonte. He was last seen around 8:15 a.m. Friday. Ottenbreit is described as a white man, 6-feet, 1-inch tall, weighing 185 pounds and last seen wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt. He may be operating a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado bearing Connecticut license plate 97CU71. His last known address was 99 Fairmont in New Haven. Should any contact be made with Ottenbreit, call the Milford Police Department at 203-878-6551 or Lt. DelMonte at 203-783-4766. Fred Dalit, CEO of the Hawaii-based Honea Federal Credit Union doesnt follow the crowd when it comes to lending. Many of our members only save and dont take out loans. This drives our credit union to do a lot of participation lending on a national level, explained Dalit. I prefer this model because I personally believe in debt-free living and my goal is for our members to achieve this for themselves Dalit continued. However, this creates a paradox for Dalit because financial institutions were created to lend money and interest income is typically their main source of revenue. At a corporate level the credit union needs to generate loan income but on a personal level, I know debt free members are happy members. So the answer to my dilemma is participation lending, where we can increase our loan income through a network of credit unions without increasing the burden of debt on our members. With interest income covered by purchasing participation loans, Honea FCU elects to focus its efforts on helping members track expenses, budget and save for retirement. 1. Tracking Expenses Many people dont know where their money is going. We tell our members, dont start with the budget, start with your expenses. When you begin keeping track of your expenses you realize there might be areas of frivolous spending that can be cut out or eliminated said Dalit. 2. Budgeting Once members clearly understand where their money is spent, it becomes easier to create a budget and help discipline oneself to limited spending in specific areas. Honea FCU has found their members are spending a significant amount of money on cable or satellite TV and discovered a unique solution to lower their bills. Everybody has cable expenses, so to speak, and when we started talking to members about a TV streaming service called TVision, they were very interested. Members found they could not only save money but the TV streaming service often times provides better channel packages than what they currently have. Overall, what weve found is this solution helps members with their budget and bottom line Dalit shared. Although in the early stages, the credit union has been able to help roughly 30 members by suggesting TVision as an alternative TV service. They began suggesting the service through their monthly newsletters and will announce it, along with other budgeting tips, at their upcoming annual meeting. 3. Saving for Retirement Honea FCU largely serves the US Army Corp Engineers who are generally high income earners with sound retirement options. However, Dalit has found that Many members realize they wish they had started saving 30 years ago to leverage compounding interest, but reality strikes, people get married and need to pay for college expenses. With their members best interest in mind, the credit union strives to inform members about how to prepare and save for retirement. 60-70% of our membership are baby boomers and they are preparing to retire. We offer financial workshops for retirement where we provide lunch at a restaurant and our members can learn about savings strategies and what to expect in retirement. In conclusion, Dalit confided, Ive seen members who are so happy, traveling the world with no mortgage or auto debt. Ive seen what its like for members living their golden years like they should and thats what we want for all our younger members too, even if they cant see that far ahead at the moment. After all, we should want to work, provide a service and be successful with the reward of knowing that every dollar we earn might benefit our lives moving forward and not to satisfy debt that is hanging over us. Honea FCU clearly lives the credit union mantra of people helping people. Fred Dalit and his staff embody the credit union difference by helping their members become better educated consumers of financial services. Honea FCU enjoys an 11% net worth ratio; traditional lending and credit union practices are not the only means to achieving success and win-win member relationships. For Subscribers State Supreme Court's disciplinary board takes an interest in Thomas The state Supreme Court has the power to strip people of their ability to perform legal duties by suspending or disbarring certification. It takes one great poet to quote another great poet, regardless of political ideology or religion. In the moving song, Ae Watan, composed for daughter Meghna Gulzar's Raazi, Gulzar quotes from Alama Iqbal's nazm sung by school children in Pakistan: Lab pe aati hai duaa bann ke tamanna meri Zindagi shamma ki soorat ho khudaya (From the lips comes a prayer in the form of a desire A candle burns itself to provide light for others). In the film, singing these lines formally marks an important milestone, when Sehmat Khan, an apprentice spy, wins the trust of her Pakistani family. At a time when in real life even a portrait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Aligarh Muslim University can divide the nation, it marks an attempt to heal. There is some irony in Gulzar using lines from Iqbal's nazm, given that Iqbal was both the man who is said to have pushed Jinnah on the two-nation theory and also the man who composed Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara. Alia Bhatt's performance as a woman who always puts her nation first is note-perfect But then Meghna Gulzar's Raazi is precisely opposed to these binaries of good Indians, bad Pakistanis; and the even more insidious binary of good Muslim, bad Muslim. Through the fictionalised tale of a young Kashmiri woman who becomes a spy for India after marrying into a highly placed Pakistani army family, she explores the idea of jang and mulk. If Alia Bhatt's Sehmat is a patriot for spying for India, then so is her husband, a Pakistani army soldier, Iqbal, for standing up to her. As he tells his father, a senior Pakistani army officer: What she did for her mulk, and what we do is also for our mulk. And when it comes to jang, war, everything is on line - whether it is relationships or lives. The movie, based on Harinder Sikka's dramatised version of a Kashmiri spy's life, is set in the run up to the 1971 war and the critical element of surprise the Indian Navy acquired over a planned attack on INS Vikrant by PNS Ghazi. She is, after all, a Muslim, and a Kashmiri Muslim. This was the subject of a recent Telugu movie, The Ghazi Attack, but Raazi is more concerned about the human cost of hate. Sehmat, a young college student in Delhi who chooses to become a spy for India, does so because the blood of freedom fighters flows through her veins. "Main hi to mulk hoon," she says to her Intelligence Bureau handler when he asks why she is willing to risk her life for an abstract cause. But to Sehmat, the cause is real - her father was a spy for India, and her grandfather was a freedom fighter. The question hanging in the air is this: she is, after all, a Muslim, and a Kashmiri Muslim. But that is Meghna Gulzar's triumph; that she does not underline every sentiment and put it in neon to be easily consumed in these times of binary divisions. Sehmat's relationship with her husband (an excellent, as always, Vicky Kaushal), at first tentative and then close; her increasing affection for her sister-in-law; and even her fondness for her father-in-law is shown delicately, as are the increasingly dangerous actions Sehmat has to take, to maintain her cover. Vicky Kaushal, as Sehmat's husband, is excellent, as always Alia Bhatt's performance as a woman who always puts her nation first is note-perfect, with just the right mix of vulnerability and guile. As she adjusts to her new home, new family and new nation, she hangs on to some elements of her old life, like listening to Bade Ghulam Ali, or making kahwa. Her discomfort every time India is mentioned is acute - whether it is her father-in-law preening about how "woh aasman dekh rahe honge aur ham unke peron talen zameen kheench lenge". And visible but quickly masked. How Sehmat works the spy network in Pakistan, how she adjusts to her new family, how she manages to outwit her enemies at every stage, providing valuable information to India where the establishment is typically shown to be disbelieving and slow to react makes for a movie that is absorbing and entertaining. And relevant in these extremely fractious times where everyone's patriotic credentials are determined on the basis of their identities. Also read: Bollywood in 2018: 5 trends to watch out for Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a divisive figure not only in India but in Nepal too. While the government of the country is making all-out efforts to amuse Modi during his two-day "religious and cultural" visit, people in Kathmandu and other parts of the country are up against him. Although Nepali media has so far refrained from reporting on the protests, the social media in Nepal is abuzz with #BlocakadewasCrimeMrModi and #Modinotwelcome trends since May 10. The protesters want PM Modi to apologise for the economic blockade of 2015-16. Meanwhile, the protest has taken on many colours. A group of students in Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University are sitting on a 36-hour hunger strike, while others are calling for a blackout in the city by switching off the lights at 8pm, to highlight how Kathmandu looked during the blockade. A release by the protesting students says, "After the devastating earthquake of 2015 in which more than 9,000 people died, the people were expecting help from India, instead India gave them a three-month brutal blockade. We want to make it clear to the Indian prime minister that we have not forgotten the blockade." Similarly, some political parties, including Nepal Communist Party (Revolutionary Maoist), are organising protest marches across Kathmandu against the visit. Why people in Nepal are angry Even though people are protesting against Modi's visit, their anger seems directed more against their own government. And this is the direct result of Nepalese PM KP Oli's anti-India rhetoric during his election campaign. In his election speeches, he had appealed to people to always remember, what he described as, India's economic blockade. He projected himself as the man who was ready to sacrifice the post by standing against the "ever intervening" India. During his first prime ministerial term, Oli signed treaties with China to "avenge" India's border blockade. By organising these "colourful" protests, people in Nepal want to humiliate their own prime minister by reminding him of his statements. Fear of 're-Hinduisation' For the youth of Nepal, Modi is not just the Prime Minister of India but a Hindu mascot also. While his religious posturing may go well with his supporters back home, it is a matter of concern that it is the Nepali youth who are trying to remind Modi of the country's undemocratic past. The youth of Nepal had suffered a lot under absolute monarchy. The rule had forbidden them from modern education and livelihood opportunities in the country. For generations, youngsters in Nepal toiled in the international markets as labourers or mercenary soldiers. Not counting the exceptions, every family in Nepal has a member or two working abroad. According to government data, around five lakh Nepali workers move abroad every year in search of work and on average, three Nepalis die every day in foreign lands. In 1996, their anger against the monarchy exploded in the form of a violent Maoist movement, which within 10 years ended the 250-year-old monarchy. Hence, Modi's religious posturing is like feeding the fed up. The fear of imposition of a Hindu identity once again on the newly secular Nepal, worries Nepali youth. While they look forward to a secular and industrialised Nepal, they see in Modi a push back to the past. Modi's failed regional policy The anti-Modi sentiment in Nepal is also a result of the NDA government's failed regional policy. Modi began his term as the prime minister on a positive note. Besides inviting the SAARC heads for his swearing-in ceremony, he also visited most south Asian countries in the very first year of coming to power. In August 2014, when Modi toured Nepal, it was the first state visit by a head of India in almost 17 years. Amid applause, he began his speech in Nepal's Constituent Assembly in Nepali. The leaders as well as people of the country beamed and thought of it as a gesture welcoming a new beginning in India-Nepal relationship. He even advised agitating Madhesi leaders to cooperate in drafting the new constitution. This is Modi's third visit to Nepal in four years. But as his focus turned westwards, he began fumbling on the regional turf. Today, Modi government's policy paralysis is seen in every major and minor regional crisis. First, the government failed to keep south Asia united by pressuring Nepal and other SAARC countries to boycott the summit in Pakistan. During the Rohingya crisis, it failed to provide moral leadership and later created the Doklam standoff by unnecessarily intervening in Bhutan's internal matter. Modi's current Nepal visit looks a desperate attempt to keep at least one south Asian neighbour close. But by choosing "shared religion" as a starter, he has done more harm than good. Instead of winning him friends in Nepal, it will further the divided between India and Nepal in the long run. Also read: How Modi is taking Karnataka election campaign to Nepal From the time Pakistans corruption watchdog, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), came into existence, through its various avatars, it has served as a handmaiden of the powers-that-be to either fix political opponents or make them pliable. With the "deep state" having turned against Nawaz Sharif, the NAB has been virtually transformed into "Nawaz Accountability Bureau" and is now working overtime to "fix" Sharif and his family and cronies. Fixed match In recent months, while there has been a lot of focus on the dubious role of the Pakistani judiciary in fixing the political match against Sharif, the insidious role being played by the chairman of NAB, retired Supreme Court judge Javed Iqbal, as a political hitman has escaped attention. Ever since he was appointed as the NAB chairman, he has had the Sharif family in his crosshairs. Ironically, the Sharifs had acquiesced to his appointment. It appears they were taken in by his reputation for being something of namby-pamby. But they clearly ignored his reputation for also being a slimeball for whom principles were a matter of convenience, and morality fungible. When Musharraf imposed emergency in November 2007 and sacked the Supreme Court judges, Javed Iqbal quietly accepted the position of the chairman of the Press Council. After the judiciary was restored he once again became a Supreme Court judge. During a hearing in the "missing persons" (enforced disappearances) case, when asked why he didnt summon the heads of the intelligence agencies or the generals who are responsible for human rights violations, Iqbal said that last time the judges had the temerity to do such a thing the generals sent them back home, and therefore no one should expect the judiciary to go down that path again! In fact, as head of the commission appointed to examine enforced disappearances, he has done more to cover up the brazen violation of human rights by Pakistan Army than to hold it to account for kidnapping and murdering Pakistani citizens. With such a man now heading NAB, it is a no-brainer that his strings are being pulled by the khaki-clad puppeteers that want him to go after Sharif with the zeal of a new convert. Ever since he has assumed the mantle of Pakistan's anti-corruption czar, Iqbal has opened a plethora of cases/inquiries against Sharif and people associated with him, including officials. Some of these cases were more than 20 years old, and many had been closed years ago. But until a few days back, even if the evidence was extremely flimsy and the allegations completely motivated, an argument could still have been made to support the enquiries that had been initiated against Sharif and his cronies. Overzealousness can, however, easily backfire if the intentions are ignoble and objective is nefarious. The NAB has now badly exposed itself by initiating a money laundering inquiry against Sharif based on fake news peddled by an obscure columnist in a rag of an Urdu paper. The thing is that fake news or alternate facts sound credible if it plugs into a narrative that is being furiously and fervently hustled and is readily lapped up by its consumers, including those occupying high offices. This is exactly what has happened in the latest money-laundering inquiry against Sharif. Old story Sharif is already being tried in a NAB court on charges of money laundering. His detractors have long accused him of having business interests with India which they allege (without offering an iota of evidence) are dearer to him than his country. He has been accused of hiring Indian technicians (some of them alleged RAW agents) to work in his factories. Against this backdrop, an old report the story first appeared in the Pakistani press in December 2015 that the World Bank (WB) has estimated that Pakistanis sent $4.9 billion (Rs 32,900 crore) in remittances to India, was resurrected to tighten the noose around Sharifs neck. Subsequently, this was extrapolated by Pakistan's legion of conspiracy theorists to insinuate that Sharif was laundering money to India. It is this report that has now been picked up by NAB to inquire into Sharifs financial dealing with India. The only problem for NAB is that this whole story has no feet to stand on. In fact, the Pakistani central bank has on at least two occasions debunked the entire story and pointed out that the WB estimate contained in the "Remittances and Migration Report" was based on the seriously flawed methodology used in an earlier working paper titled South-South Migration and Remittances. The problem in the methodology was that people who migrated during Partition were viewed with the same lens as other migrants, many of whom were economic migrants who sent remittances to their home countries. In the case of the Partition migrants, neither this assumption, nor this causation held. Serious question In any case, the WB report was about remittances. It took the feeble and flaky minds in Pakistan to equate remittances with money laundering. Worse, it required a particularly maleficent mindset to accuse Sharif of being involved in this activity. The column on which this inquiry is based was published in February last and alleged that in 2015-16, $4.9 billion was transferred to Dubai and from there to the Indian treasury. It goes on to assert that this transfer was discovered when the WB conducted an audit of the State Bank of Pakistans foreign currency reserves! For any government agency to initiate an inquiry on the basis of such utter tripe is nothing short of making a fool of itself before the entire world. What is more, it doesnt just reveal the astounding ignorance and malevolence of NAB officials, it also exposes the viciousness of the deep state that is ready to descend to any level to finish Sharif. More than anything else, this latest attack launched just a few weeks before the general elections, raises serious questions about not just the witch-hunt against Sharif in the name of accountability, but also the very credibility of the elections. (Courtesy of Mail Today) Also read: Was Sonam Kapoor's wedding the biggest, fattest and best Bollywood has ever seen? Legg Mason, Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides investment management and related services to company-sponsored mutual funds and other investment vehicles including pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, private banks, family offices, individuals, as well as to global, institutional, and retail clients. It launches and manages equity, fixed income, and multi-asset customized portfolios through its subsidiaries. The firm also launches and manages mutual funds and exchange traded funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. It invests in private and public equity, fixed income, and multi asset markets across the globe through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm also invests in alternative markets. It also employs a combination of fundamental and quantitative research to make its investments through its subsidiaries. Legg Mason, Inc. was founded in 1899 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. Amer Agency, AHC Digital LLC, AIX Limited, AJG Coal LLC, AJG Financial Services LLC, AJG Meadows LLC, AJG North America ULC, AJG RCF LLC, AJGRMS of Louisiana LLC, ARM RE Ltda., AVIATION INSURANCE SERVICES, AVRECO, Ace IRM Insurance Broking Group, Acumus Holdings Limited, Acumus Interco Limited, Acumus Ltd, Adams & Associates International, Adaptive Marketing LLC, Adco General Corporation, Advanced Benefit Advisors, Aequus Trade Credit, Affinity Marketing Group, Ahrold Fay Rosenberg, Aires Consulting Group, Alesco Risk Management Services Limited, Alize Limited, Allied Claims Administration Inc., Alternative Market Specialists, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants, American Freedom Carriers Inc., American Security Services Corp., American Wholesalers Underwriting Ltd, Andrew-Anthony Insurance Agency, Anthony Hodges Consulting Limited, Antrobus Investments Limited, AquaSurance, Argentis, Argentis Financial Group Limited, Argentis Financial Management Limited, Argus Benefits, Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle, Artex (SAC) Limited, Artex Cedar Hill, Artex Corporate Services (Malta) Limited, Artex Corporate Services Limited, Artex Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Holdings (Malta) Limited, Artex Insurance (Guernsey) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance (Tennessee) PCCIC Inc., Artex Insurance Brokers (Malta) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance ICC Limited, Artex Intermediaries Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Cayman) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Guernsey) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (International) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Malta) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (UK) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions Inc., Arthur J Gallagher (Norway) Holdings AS, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AUS) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Illinois), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance Brokers of California Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher (Aus) Pty Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda) Holding Partnership, Arthur J. Gallagher (Life Solutions) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (U.S.) LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Asesoria S.A.C., Arthur J. Gallagher Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd., Arthur J. Gallagher Brokerage & Risk Management Services LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Broking (NZ) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Financial Services Professionals Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Group Quebec ULC, Arthur J. Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Latin America LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Management (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Real Estate Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (Hawaii) Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services of Utah Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher School Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Service Company LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Ltd, Ashmore & Associates Insurance Agency, Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Atrex Insurance (Cayman) SPC Limited, Avantek Pty Ltd, Axe Insurance PCC Limited, BIS Insurance Services, Baker - Tillys employment benefits solutions, Ballard Benefit Works, Bankers Financial Benefits, Barmore Insurance Agency, Behnke & Co. Inc., Bellisle Pty Ltd, Belmont Associates Consultants, Belmont Insurance Holdings Limited, Belmont International, Belmont International Limited, Benefit Development Group, Benefit Management Group, BenefitLink Resource Group, Benefits Planning & Insurance Agency, Benefits Unlimited, Bennett & Shade Co., Bergvall Marine, Bergvall Marine A.S., Besselman & Little Agency, Big Savings Insurance Agency Inc., Blenheim Park Ltd, Blenheim Park Services Limited, Blue Holdings Pty Ltd, Blue Horizon Insurance Services, Blue Water Benefits, BluePeak Advisors, Blueleaf Consulting Pty Ltd., Bluewater Incorporated Cell Insurance Company, Bollinger Inc., Bollinger Insurance Services Inc., Bowen Miclette Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc., Brendis & Brendis, Brim AB, Broker Benefit Services, Brokerage Professionals, Brown Hobbs & McMurray Insurance, Bultman/Bell Associates Inc., Burkwald & Associates, Burns-Fazzi Brock & Associates, Bushong Insurance Associates, C&B Consulting Group, CGM Gallagher Insruance Brokers (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, CJM Solutions Inc., CMA Solutions LLC, Cairnstone Financial, California Insurance Center, Capital Bauer Insurance Agency, Capitol Benefits Group, Capsicum CRLA LLP, Capsicum Re Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Capsicum Re Latin America Corretora De Resseguros Ltda, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Bermuda Limited, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Miami Inc., Carefree Marketing Inc., Carpenter Cammack & Associates, Cashan & Co., Castle Insurance Associates, Centennial Insurance Agency, Charity First Insurance Services Inc., Charles Allen Agency, Charter Lakes Insurance Agency, Chris Schroeder Insurance, Christie-Phoenix, Cintran Claims Canada Limited, Classic Insurance Services, Cleaveland Insurance Group, Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers, Cohn Financial Group, Coleman Group Holdings Limited, Coleman Holdings Limited, College and University Scholastic Excess Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Commercial Insurance Brokers, Complete Benefit Alliance, Complete Financial Balance, Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd, Consolidated Casualty Specialties LLC, Construction Risk Solutions, Contego Underwriting Limited, Contego Underwriting Ltd, Continental Excess & Surplus, Convergence Risk Services Ltd, Copper Mountain Assurance Inc., Cornwall & Stevens Co., Corporate Benefit Advisors, Corporate Life Consultants, Countrywide Accident Assistance Limited, Coverdell & Company Inc., Coverdell Canada Corporation, Cowles and Connell, Craig M. Ferguson & Co., Crist Elliott Machette Insurance Services, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited, Davis-Poston & Associates, Denman Consulting Services, Detlefs Johnson & Partners, DiBrina Group, Dickinson & Associates, Discount Development Services L.L.C., Discovery Benefit Solutions, Dodson-Bateman & Co., Donald P. Pipino Co. Ltd., E. S. Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial. The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South Union REIT-DC LP, LMV ATown REIT-DC LP, LMV Annapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Apache Terrace REIT-DC LP, LMV Block 42 REIT-DC LP, LMV Bloomington REIT-DC LP, LMV Bolingbrook REIT-DC LP (DE), LMV Central at McDowell REIT-DC LP, LMV East Village I REIT-DC LP, LMV Edina REIT-DC LP, LMV Fremont WS I REIT-DC LP, LMV Glisan REIT-DC LP, LMV Grand Bay REIT-DC LP, LMV II Grand Bay Pod V Holdings LP, LMV II Kierland Holdings LP, LMV II NoMo Holdings LP, LMV II Venture Developer LLC, LMV II Wynwood Holdings LP, LMV Kirkland REIT-DC LP, LMV Little Italy REIT-DC LP, LMV M Tower REIT-DC LP, LMV Millenia II REIT-DC LP, LMV Milpitas REIT-DC LP, LMV NE Minneapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Oak Park REIT-DC LP, LMV One20Fourth REIT-DC LP, LMV QR Build to Core Manager LLC, LMV Rio Bravo REIT-DC LP, LMV Scottsdale Quarter REIT-DC LP, LMV Tysons REIT-DC LP, LMV Vallagio III REIT-DC LP, LMV Victory Block G REIT-DC LP, LMV Warren Street REIT-DC LP, LNC Communities II LLC, LNC Communities IV LLC, LNC Communities V LLC, LNC Communities VI LLC, LNC Communities VII LLC, LNC Communities VIII LLC, LNC Pennsylvania Realty Inc., LNC at Meadowbrook LLC, LNC at Ravenna LLC, LS College Park LLC, LS Terracina LLC, LV Opendoor Investor LLC, LV Opendoor JV LLC, LW D'Andrea LLC, Lagoon Valley Residential LLC, Lakelands at Easton L.L.C., Legends Club LLC, Legends Golf Club LLC, Len - Little Harbor LLC, Len FW Investor LLC, Len Paradise LLC, Len-Angeline LLC, Len-Hawks Point LLC, Len-Land LLC, Len-Land West LLC, Len-MN LLC, Len-Verandahs LLP, LenCom LLC, LenFive LLC, LenFive Opco GP LLC, LenFive Sub III LLC, LenFive Sub LLC, LenFive Sub Opco GP LLC, Lenalto CMBS LLC, Lencraft LLC, Lennar Aircraft I LLC, Lennar Arizona Construction Inc., Lennar Arizona Inc., Lennar Associates Management Holding Company, Lennar Associates Management LLC, Lennar Avenue One LLC, Lennar Berkeley LLC, Lennar Bevard LLC, Lennar Bridges LLC, Lennar Buffington Colorado Crossing L.P., Lennar Buffington Zachary Scott L.P., Lennar Carolinas LLC, Lennar Central Park LLC, Lennar Central Region Sweep Inc., Lennar Chicago Inc., Lennar Cobra LLC, Lennar Colgate Urban Renewal Development LLC, Lennar Colorado LLC, Lennar Colorado Minerals LLC, Lennar Commercial LLC, Lennar Communities Development Inc., Lennar Communities Inc., Lennar Communities Nevada LLC, Lennar Communities of Chicago L.L.C., Lennar Concord LLC, Lennar Construction Inc., Lennar Cory Road LLC, Lennar Courts LLC, Lennar Developers Inc., Lennar Ewing LLC, Lennar Financial Services LLC, Lennar Flamingo LLC, Lennar Fresno Inc., Lennar Gardens LLC, Lennar Georgia Inc., Lennar Greer Ranch Venture LLC, Lennar Heritage Fields LLC, Lennar Hingham Holdings LLC, Lennar Hingham JV LLC, Lennar Homes Holding LLC, Lennar Homes LLC, Lennar Homes NJ LLC, Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc., Lennar Homes of California Inc., Lennar Homes of Indiana Inc., Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd., Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd., Lennar Homes of Utah Inc., Lennar International Holding LLC, Lennar International LLC, Lennar Lakeside Investor LLC, Lennar Layton LLC, Lennar Living LLC, Lennar Lytle LLC, Lennar MF Holdings LLC, Lennar MPA LLC, Lennar MPA WIP LLC, Lennar Mare Island LLC, Lennar Marina A Funding LLC, Lennar Massachusetts Properties Inc., Lennar Middletown LLC, Lennar Monmouth Redevelopers LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Victory Block G Mezz LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily Builders LLC, Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC, Lennar Multifamily Venture DC LP, Lennar New Jersey Holdings LLC, Lennar New Jersey Properties Inc., Lennar New York LLC, Lennar Northeast Properties LLC, Lennar Northwest Inc., Lennar OHB LLC, Lennar PI Acquisition LLC, Lennar PI Property Acquisition LLC, Lennar PIS Management Company LLC, Lennar Pacific Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Management Inc., Lennar Plumsted Urban Renewal LLC, Lennar Point LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core GP LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core LP LLC, Lennar Realty Inc., Lennar Reno LLC, Lennar Riverwalk LLC, Lennar Sacramento Inc., Lennar Sales Corp., Lennar Sierra Sunrise LLC, Lennar Spencer's Crossing LLC, Lennar Sun Ridge LLC, Lennar Texas Holding LLC, Lennar Ventures LLC, Lennar West Valley LLC, Lennar Winncrest LLC, Lennar at Franklin LLC, Lennar at Jackson LLC, Lennar at Marlboro 79 LLC, Lennar at Monroe LLC, Lennar.com Inc., Longleaf Acquisition LLC, Lori Gardens Associates II LLC, Lori Gardens Associates III LLC, Lori Gardens Associates L.L.C., Lorton Station LLC, Lyons Lennar Farms LLC, Madrona Ridge L.L.C., Madrona Village L.L.C., Madrona Village Mews L.L.C., Majestic Woods LLC, Maple and Broadway Holdings LLC, Menifee Development LLC, Mid-County Utilities Inc., Miralago West Lennar LLC, Mission Viejo 12S Venture LP, Mission Viejo Holdings Inc., Motomic Diagnostics LLC, Multibank 2009-1 CML-ADC Venture LLC, Multibank 2009-1 RES-ADC Venture LLC, NC Properties I LLC, NC Properties II LLC, North American Asset Development LLC, Northbridge L.L.C., OHC/Ascot Belle Meade LLC, One SR L.P., PD-Len Boca Raton LLC, PG Properties Holding LLC, POMAC LLC, PT Metro LLC, Pace Drive Holdings LLC, Palm Gardens At Doral Clubhouse LLC, Palm Gardens at Doral LLC, Palm Springs Classic LLC, Palm Vista Preserve LLC, Patuxent Infrastructure Inc., Pioneer Meadows Development LLC, Pioneer Meadows Investments LLC, Plaza Condominium Ventures LLC, Portside Marina Developers L.L.C., Portside SM Associates L.L.C., Portside SM Holdings L.L.C., Portside Shipyard Developers L.L.C., Prestonfield L.L.C., Quail Roost Lennar LLC, RCCF GP II LLC, RCCF GP III LLC, RCCF GP IV LLC, RCCF GP LLC, RES-FL EIGHT LLC, RES-FL SEVEN LLC, RES-FL VISION ONE LLC, RES-FL VISION TWO LLC, RES-GA CASCADE LLC, RES-GA DIAMOND MEADOWS LLC, RES-GA KAP LLC, RES-GA SOUTHERN PLANTATION LLC, RES-GA THIRTEEN LLC, RES-GA TWELVE LLC, RES-GA WEST LLC, RES-IL ONE LLC, RES-NC ONE LLC, RES-PA LSJ LLC, RES-PA POM LLC, RES-TX BOULEVARD LLC, RH Insurance Company Inc., RH MOA BBCMS 2017-C1 LLC, RH MOA CF 2017-C8 LLC, RH MOA LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C4 LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C6 LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 CLASS B LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 LLC, RL BB FINANCIAL LLC, RL BB INACTIVE LLC, RL BB-AL LLC, RL BB-FL ALHI LLC, RL BB-GA LLC, RL BB-GA RMH LLC, RL BB-IL LLC, RL BB-IN AA LLC, RL BB-IN KRE LLC, RL BB-IN KRE OP LLC, RL BB-IN KRE RE LLC, RL BB-MS LLC, RL BB-NC LLC, RL BB-OH LLC, RL BB-SC BROOKSA LLC, RL BB-SC CLR II LLC, RL BB-SC CLR III LLC, RL BB-SC CLR IV LLC, RL BB-SC CLR LLC, RL BB-SC CRRC LLC, RL BB-SC RACEDAY LLC, RL BB-TN BRISTOL LLC, RL BB-TN LLC, RL BB-TN RACEDAY TOWER LLC, RL BB-TX LLC, RL BB-WV LLC, RL CMBS Holdings LLC, RL CML 2009-1 Investments LLC, RL REGI ARKANSAS LLC, RL REGI Alabama LLC, RL REGI FINANCIAL LLC, RL REGI Florida LLC, RL REGI GEORGIA LLC, RL REGI INACTIVE LLC, RL REGI KANSAS LLC, RL REGI MISSISSIPPI LLC, RL REGI MISSOURI LLC, RL REGI NORTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI SOUTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI TENNESSEE LLC, RL REGI VIRGINIA LLC, RL REGI-AL HP LLC, RL REGI-AL VRC LLC, RL REGI-FL CRC LLC, RL REGI-FL ESH LLC, RL REGI-FL FT. PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. (Florida), Rutenberg Homes of Texas Inc., Rye Hill Company LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada Holdings LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada LLC, Ryland Homes of California Inc., S. Florida Construction II LLC, S. Florida Construction III LLC, S. Florida Construction LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve South LLC, SPIC CPCO Inc., SPIC CPDB Inc., SPIC CPRB Inc., SPIC Del Sur LLC, SPIC Dublin LLC, SPIC Mesa LLC, SPIC NC Fremont LLC, SPIC Otay LLC, SPIC Springs LLC, San Felipe Indemnity Co. Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC. Hannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. 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INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC. Suburban Propane Partners LP engages in the business of liquefied petroleum gas business. It operates through the following business segments: Propane; Fuel Oil and Refined Fuels; Natural Gas and Electricity; and All Other. The Propane segment engages in natural gas processing and petroleum refining. It also used in residential and commercial applications, industrial applications and agriculture. The Fuel Oil and Refined Fuels segment refers to the marketing and distribution of fuel oil, kerosene, diesel fuel and gasoline primarily to the northeast region of the United States. The Natural Gas and Electricity segment pertains to the generation, transmission, and distribution of natural gas and electricity among residential and small commercial customers. The All Other segment include the sale, installation and service of whole-house heating products, air cleaners, humidifiers, and space heaters to the customer who uses propane, fuel oil, natural gas and electricity businesses. The company was founded by Mark Anton in 1928 and is headquartered in Whippany, NJ. Read More Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Read More The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T Read More SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI EAFE ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares MSCI EAFE ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More McDermott International, Inc. provides engineering, procurement, construction and installation, and technology solutions to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through five segments: North, Central and South America; Europe, Africa, Russia and Caspian; the Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Technology. It designs, engineers, and constructs upstream offshore oil and gas facilities, downstream oil and gas facilities, gas-fired power plants, liquefied natural gas import and export terminals, atmospheric and refrigerated storage vessels and terminals, water storage and treatment facilities, pipe and module fabrication, hydrocarbon processing facilities, pipe fabrication and manufacturing, and refining and petrochemical facilities. The company also provides gas processing, refining, petrochemical and coal gasification technologies, as well as a supplies catalysts, equipment, and related engineering services. It serves national, integrated, and other oil and gas companies, as well as producers of petrochemicals and electric power. McDermott International, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More Green Dot Corp. operates as a financial technology leader and bank holding company, which engages in the provision of modern banking and money movement accessible for all. It operates through the following segments: Account Services; Processing and Settlement Services; and Corporate and Other. The Account Services segment consists of revenues and expenses derived from deposit account programs, such as prepaid cards, debit cards, consumer and small business checking accounts, secured credit cards, payroll debit cards, and gift cards. The Processing and Settlement Services segment comprises of products and services that specialize in facilitating the movement of funds on behalf of consumers and businesses. The Corporate and Other segment represents eliminations of intersegment revenues and expenses, unallocated corporate expenses, depreciation and amortization, and other costs that are not considered when management evaluates segment performance. The company was founded by Steven W. Streit in October 1, 1999 and is headquartered in Pasadena, CA. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Pearson: AEL (S) PTE Limited, ATI Professional Development LLC, Addison Wesley Longman Inc., Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., Aldwych Finance Limited, Americas Choice Inc., Atkey Finance Limited, Author Solutions, Axis Finance Inc., CAMSAWUSA Inc., CTI Education Group (Pty) Limited, Camsaw Inc., Casapsi Livraria e Editora Ltda, Centro Cultural Americano Franquias e Comercio Ltda., Century Consultants Ltd., Certiport, Certiport China Co Ltd, Certiport China Holding LLC, Certiport Inc., Cogmed Systems AB, Connections Academy of Arkansas LLC, Connections Academy of Florida LLC, Connections Academy of Iowa LLC, Connections Academy of Maine LLC, Connections Academy of Maryland LLC, Connections Academy of Minnesota LLC, Connections Academy of Missouri LLC, Connections Academy of Nevada LLC, Connections Academy of New Jersey LLC, Connections Academy of New Mexico LLC, Connections Academy of New York LLC, Connections Academy of Oregon LLC, Connections Academy of Pennsylvania LLC, Connections Academy of Tennessee LLC, Connections Academy of Texas LLC, Connections Education Inc., Connections Education LLC, Connections Education of Florida LLC, Dominie Press Inc., Dorian Finance Limited, Dorling Kindersley Australasia Pty Limited, EBNT Canada Holdings ULC, EBNT Holdings Limited, EBNT USA Holdings Inc., Edexcel Limited, Edexcel South Africa Pty Ltd, Education Development International plc, Education Resources (Cyprus) Limited, Educational Management Group Inc., Educational Publishers LLP, Embanet ULC, Embanet-Compass Knowledge Group Inc., EmbanetCompass, Embankment Finance Limited, English Language Learning and Instruction System Inc., Escape Studios Limited, FBH Inc., Falstaff Holdco Inc., Falstaff Inc., GED Domains LLC, GED Testing Service LLC, George (Shanghai) Commercial Information Consulting Co. Ltd, Global Education, Global George I Limited, Global George II Limited, GlobalEnglish, Globe Fearon Inc., Guangzhou Crescent Software Co. Ltd, Heinemann Education Botswana (Publishers) (Proprietary) Limited, Heinemann Publishers (Pty) Ltd, INTELLIPRO INC., Icodeon Limited, IndiaCan Education Private Limited, Integral 7 Inc., Integrated Analytics LLC, J M Solucoes Exportacao e Importacao Ltda, K12 Learning Services LLC, Kagiso Education Pty Ltd, Knowledge Analysis Technologies LLC, LCCI International Qualifications (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., LCCIEB Training Consultancy. Ltd, Learning Catalytics, LessonLab Inc., Lignum Oil Company, Linx Brasil Distribuidora Ltda., Longman (Malawi) Limited, Longman Australasia Pty Ltd, Longman Group(Overseas Holdings)Limited, Longman Indochina Acquisition L.L.C., Longman Kenya Limited, Longman Mocambique Ltda, Longman Romania S.R.L., Longman Swaziland (Pty) Limited, Longman Tanzania Limited, Longman Zambia Educational Publishers Pty Ltd, Longman Zambia Limited, Longman Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd, Longmaned Ecuador S.A., Major123 Limited, Maskew Miller Longman (Pty) Limited, MeasureUp LLC, Modern Curriculum Inc., Multi Holding, Multi Treinamento e Editora Ltda, NCS Information Technology Services (Beijing) Co Ltd, NCS Pearson Inc., NCS Pearson Pty Ltd, NCS Pearson Puerto Rico Inc., National Computer Systems Japan Co. Ltd, Ordinate Corporation, PN Holdings Inc., PT Efficient English Services, Pearson (Beijing) Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Pearson (Guizhou) Education Technology Co. Ltd., Pearson Affordable Learning Fund Limited, Pearson America LLC, Pearson Amsterdam B.V., Pearson Australia Finance Unlimited, Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd, Pearson Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Pearson Australia Pty Ltd, Pearson Benelux B.V., Pearson Books Limited, Pearson Brazil Finance Limited, Pearson Business Services Inc., Pearson Canada Assessment Inc., Pearson Canada Finance Unlimited, Pearson Canada Holdings Inc, Pearson Canada Inc., Pearson Central Europe Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Pearson College Limited, Pearson DBC Holdings Inc., Pearson Desarrollo y Capacitacion Profesional Chile Limitada, Pearson Deutschland GmbH, Pearson Digital Learning Puerto Rico Inc., Pearson Dollar Finance Two Limited, Pearson Dollar Finance plc, Pearson Educacion SA, Pearson Educacion de Chile Limitada, Pearson Educacion de Colombia S A S, Pearson Educacion de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pearson Educacion de Panama SA, Pearson Educacion de Peru S.A., Pearson Education (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Pearson Education Achievement Solutions (RF) (Pty) Limited, Pearson Education Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Education Asia Limited, Pearson Education Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, Pearson Education Hellas SA, Pearson Education Holdings Limited, Pearson Education Inc., Pearson Education Indochina Limited, Pearson Education Investments Limited, Pearson Education Korea Limited, Pearson Education Limited, Pearson Education Namibia (Pty) Limited, Pearson Education Publishing Limited, Pearson Education S.A., Pearson Education SA, Pearson Education South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd., Pearson Education Taiwan Ltd, Pearson Education do Brasil S.A, Pearson Educational Measurement Canada Inc., Pearson Educational Publishers LLC, Pearson Egitim Cozumleri Tikaret Limited Sirketi, Pearson Falstaff (Holdings) Inc., Pearson Falstaff Holdco LLC, Pearson France, Pearson Funding Five plc, Pearson Funding Four plc, Pearson Funding Two Limited, Pearson Holdings Inc., Pearson Holdings Southern Africa (Pty) Limited, Pearson IOKI Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Pearson India Education Services Private Limited, Pearson India Support Services Private Limited, Pearson Institute of Higher Education, Pearson International Finance Limited, Pearson Investment Holdings Inc., Pearson Italia S.p.A, Pearson Japan KK, Pearson Lanka (Private) Limited, Pearson Learning China (HK) Limited, Pearson Lesotho (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Loan Finance No. 3 Limited, Pearson Loan Finance No. 4 Limited, Pearson Loan Finance No.2 Unlimited, Pearson Loan Finance Unlimited, Pearson Longman Uganda Limited, Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Pearson Management Services Limited, Pearson Management Services Philippines Inc., Pearson Maryland Inc., Pearson Netherlands B.V., Pearson Netherlands Holdings B.V., Pearson Nominees Limited, Pearson Online Tutoring LLC, Pearson Overseas Holdings Limited, Pearson PEM P.R. Inc., Pearson PRH Holdings Limited, Pearson Pension Nominees Limited, Pearson Pension Property Fund Limited, Pearson Pension Trustee Limited, Pearson Pension Trustee Services Limited, Pearson Professional Assessments Limited, Pearson Real Estate Holdings Inc., Pearson Real Estate Holdings Limited, Pearson Schweiz AG, Pearson Services Limited, Pearson Shared Services Limited, Pearson South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Strand Finance Limited, Pearson Sweden AB, Pearson VUE Philippines Inc., Pearson in Practice Holdings Limited, Pearson in Practice Skills Based Learning Limited, Pearson in Practice Technology Limited, Penguin Capital LLC, Phumelela Publishers (Pty) Ltd, ProctorCam Inc., Reading Property Holdings LLC, Rebus Planning Associates Inc., Reston Publishing Company Inc., Rycade Capital Corporation, Shanghai AWL Education Software Ltd, Silver Burdett Ginn Inc., Skylight Training and Publishing Inc., Smarthinking Inc., Sound Holdings Inc., Spear Insurance Company Limited, Stark Verlag GmbH, Sunnykey International Holdings Limited (BVI), TQ Catalis Limited, TQ Clapham Limited, TQ Education and Training Limited, TQ Global Limited, TQ Group Limited, TQ Holdings Limited, The Financial Times (I) Pvt Ltd, The Learning Edge International pty Ltd, The Waite Group Inc, Trio Parent Holdings LLC, US Learning Services LLC, USLS Holdings LLC, Virtual Nerd, Vue Testing Services Israel Ltd, Vue Testing Services Korea Limited, Wall Street Institute Kft., Williams Education GmbH, eCollege.com, and Editions Du Renouveau Pedagogique Inc.. Orchids Paper Products Company manufactures and sells tissue products for at-home and away from home markets in the United States. Its products include paper towels, bathroom tissues, and paper napkins. The company offers its products under the Orchids Supreme, Clean Scents, Tackle, Colortex, My Size, Velvet, and Big Mopper brands; and licensed brands, such as Virtue, Truly Green, Golden Gate Paper, and Big Quality. It also sells parent rolls to other converters. The company serves discount retailers, grocery stores, grocery wholesalers and cooperatives, convenience stores, janitorial supply stores, and stores in the food service market. Orchids Paper Products Company was founded in 1976 and is based in Pryor, Oklahoma. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point LNG LP, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dairy RNG NY LLC, Dairy RNG NY-Curtin LLC, Dairy RNG OH LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SRFI LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 201 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and Yemassee Solar LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE). Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the real estate, real estate joint ventures, and middle market operating businesses. It operates through the following segments: Bluegreen, BBX Capital Real Estate, Renin, and BBX Sweet Holdings. The Bluegreen segment markets, sells, and manages real estate-based vacation ownership interests in resorts located in popular, high-volume, and drive-to vacation destinations. The BBX Capital Real Estate segment includes acquisition, development, construction, ownership, financing, and management of real estate and investments in real estate joint ventures. The Renin segment involves in the design, manufacture, and distribution of sliding doors, door systems and hardware, and home decor products and operates. The BBX Sweet Holdings segment engages in the ownership and management of operating businesses in the confectionery industry, including IT'SUGAR, Hoffman's Chocolates, and Las Olas Confections and Snacks. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Read More Schaeffler AG, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells precision components and systems for automotive and industrial applications in Europe, the Americas, China, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Automotive OEM division offers engine systems, including rolling bearing solutions, belt and chain drive products, valve train components, and systems for variable valve trains; and transmission systems, such as torsion and vibration dampers, clutches and double clutch systems, torque converters, CVT components, lightweight differentials, bearing solutions, and synchronizing and gearshift components. This division also provides chassis systems comprising wheel bearings, bearing solutions, steering components, electromechanical actuators for roll stabilizers, and power-assisted steering systems; and hybrid and electrical drive systems that include hybrid modules, electrical axle drives, and electrical wheel hub drives. Its Automotive Aftermarket division offers repair solutions for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, heavy commercial vehicles, and tractors, as well as supporting services. The company's Industrial division provides components and systems. This division serves customers in the mobility, energy and raw materials, production machinery, aerospace, and industrial distribution. It has a strategic partnership with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The company was formerly known as INA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mit beschrAnkter Haftung and changed its name to Schaeffler AG in October 2014. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Schaeffler AG is a subsidiary of IHO Verwaltungs GmbH. Read More Sprint Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various wireless and wireline communications products and services to consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. It operates in two segments, Wireless and Wireline. The Wireless segment offers wireless data communication services, including mobile productivity applications, such as Internet access, messaging, and email services; wireless photo and video offerings; location-based capabilities comprising asset and fleet management, dispatch services, and navigation tools; and mobile entertainment applications. It also provides wireless voice communications services that include local and long-distance wireless voice services, as well as voicemail, call waiting, three-way calling, caller identification, and call forwarding services. In addition, this segment offers voice and data services internationally through roaming arrangements; and customized wireless services to large companies and government agencies, as well as sells handsets, tablets, and hotspots. The Wireline segment provides wireline voice and data communications, which comprises domestic and international data communications using various protocols, including multiprotocol label switching technologies, Internet protocol (IP), managed network services, Voice over IP, session initiated protocol, and traditional voice services to other communications companies and targeted business subscribers. Sprint Corporation offers its services under the Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Assurance Wireless brands. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Sprint Corporation is a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. Read More L3 Technologies, Inc. provides aircraft sustainment, simulation and training, night vision and image intensification equipment, and security and detection systems used on military, homeland security, and commercial platforms in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems; Communications and Networked Systems (C&NS); and Electronic Systems. The company offers engineering, modernization and sustainment, space avionics and imaging payload, counter unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) mission, cyber and electronic warfare, special mission command and control, modeling and simulation, and life cycle support services for ISR, airborne sensor, warrior sensor, space and sensor, aircraft, and intelligence and mission systems, as well as for military aviation services and advanced programs. It also provides network and communication systems, secure communications products, radio frequency components, satellite communication terminals and space, microwave and telemetry products, and secure data links in various business areas, such as broadband communication, naval power, space and power, and maritime sensor systems, as well as in advanced communications. In addition, the company offers components, products, subsystems, and systems, as well as related services to military and commercial customers in various business areas, including commercial aviation solutions, precision engagement systems, link training and simulation, and security and detection systems. It serves the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense and its prime contractors, the U.S. Government intelligence agencies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, foreign governments, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to L3 Technologies, Inc. in December 2016. L3 Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Read More I thought about this idea of protection and empowerment as I continue to pray about those being impacted by Covid-19. What came to mind first was the song No Weapon by Fred Hammond. Its always been one of my favorite worship songs because it reminds... Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Friday said that 95 per cent of the entrepreneurial attempts fail in the country. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: Doubting whether the Indian education system facilitates entrepreneurship, Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Friday said that 95 per cent of the entrepreneurial attempts fail in the country. Speaking at the convocation of the International Management Institute (IMI) here, Debroy said that prime minister's initiatives of `Startup India' and `Stand-Up India' were not meant for the corporates, but for every Indians to flower, blossom and flourish. "A big question mark is whether the Indian education system facilitates entrepreneurship. Nearly 95 per cent of the entrepreneurial attempts fail in the country and the education system never teaches students to question," Debroy, who is also the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister, said. Debroy, an accomplished economist, said that the small farmer or the street vendor showed more entrepreneurship skills than corporates. He said that India's per capita income at present was USD 1,800, which was very low compared to the developed countries. Debroy said that in India, reforms started in 1991. "IMF brought out a report stating that for India, it will take 153 years to halve the gap in per capita income differences in comparison with the developed countries." "However, the lesson for the last couple of decades show that there is no need to wait for 153 years. India's past had been glorious, future glorious, but cannot say anything about the present. Now we see the present blurring into the future." With the gems and jewellery industry being a major source of employment creation, there is a need to have a banking system which understands the sector. Mumbai: With the gems and jewellery industry being a major source of employment creation, there is a need to have a banking system which understands the sector and supports its growth, without taking any undue risk, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said. He urged banks to have proper risk-mitigation mechanisms in place to avoid any potential frauds. "Gold, gems and jewellery and diamond give huge employment opportunities in India. We will like to have a banking system that understands the business properly. Banks should not take any undue risk which are not understandable and quantifiable," Prabhu said at an event organised by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)here on Friday. The gems and jewellery sector is facing funding issues after the Reserve Bank of India in March banned the issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and letters of comfort (LoCs), used extensively for trade finance, following the Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam involving diamantaire Nirav Modi. Prabhu said the government will not support any business activity which is not ethical and bankable. "We would like banks to fund everything which is genuine, bankable and has capability to scale up," he said. Pointing towards the PNB fraud, commerce secretary Rita Teaotia said there is need for an introspection by banks and the gems and jewellery sector. "The banking sector must also recognise that the reasons for this failure was actually failure of our own banking system," Teaotia said. "There is no cosy relationships that anyone of us can afford. It has to be business and we have to follow prudent norms," she added. Meanwhile, in a white paper submitted by the GJEPC to the government today, the council has demanded a turnover coverage from the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC). The cover from ECGC was available till 2014, but was later sealed. The council has asked the government to reinstate exposure under whole turnover post shipment (WTP) for banks. Teotia said the government will not give any instruction to ECGC and will like the institution to take a call based on the merit. "We expect them (ECGC) to operate in a professional manner to go by merits and then based on their ability and then they should support them. ECGC need to take the risk on the sector, but it will not be at the direction of the government," she said. The commerce secretary also asked banks to focus on the SME sector which are facing funding issues. "We are failing a very significant sector if we neglect the SMEs," she added. Akshay played the role of naval officer Rustom Pavri in a movie inspired by the Nanavati murder case. His wife recently put one of his costumes up for auction at the Salt Scout auction house with the intention of directing the proceeds towards an NGO working for the rescue and welfare of animals. Her action has angered members of the defence forces. One officer even threatened to give Twinkle a bloody nose for daring to put a naval uniform up for auction, to which Twinkle responded by saying that she would take legal action. On Wednesday, eleven officers currently serving in the defence forces, seven retired officers and the wife of a naval officer, sent the Bollywood couple a legal notice stating, Uniforms resembling those of the armed forces pose a potential threat to national security as the said uniform, insignia and badges can pass for genuine service clothing and can find their way to anti-national elements who can use it to foment trouble. They even forwarded a copy of the notice to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Akshay has donned uniforms of the defence forces in several films including Sainik, Baby, Andaaz, Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon and Holiday. When contacted, the Kumars refused to respond to any queries regarding the notice. Meanwhile, the uniform remains up for auction. At present, the highest bid is Rs 2,35,000. Bidding will close on May 26. This is a cheap publicity stunt. Arent they wealthy enough to do charity on their own? They made money out of the movie and now they are putting the dress on auction. The families are hurt because the soldiers give their life for the nation. Abha ingh, lawyer They have not violated any Act because it is not an officers dress. It is a costume that is available at any fancy dress shop.The actor will be inviting people to buy and the dress will go to someone with a clear background, not a terrorist. As far as legal implications are concerned we need to see what Acts will be implied and then only the punishment will be decided. Museums across the world have various costumes on display and they are auctioned as well, so there is nothing offensive to the nation. Sawpna Kode, Lawyer Sanskriti Media Mumbai: Arjun Kapoor is set to play a RAW agent in 'Raid' director Raj Kumar Guptas next ambitious project and has already given a nod to the film titled 'Indias Most Wanted'. It is a thriller based on Indias 2012 secret mission to capture countrys most wanted terrorist. Arjun will play an intelligence officer in the film and it will be shot in July in Nepal and Delhi. For the uninitiated, Arjun and Raj Kumar were supposed to collaborate a long time ago for adaptation of Chetan Bhagats best selling book Revolution 2020 but the project did not materialise. Though they were quite excited to work together since then. As this opportunity presents itself to Arjun, it is said that he has given bulk dates to his director as the film will be shot in start to finish schedule. Therefore, it is required that Arjun gives his total attention to this one project. Also, Arjun will have never seen before avatar in the film. Produced by Fox Star Studios, the film is expected to release sometime next year. Currently, Arjun Kapoor is shooting for 'Namaste England' with Parineeti Chopra. He will next seen in 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar' with Parineeti. Arjun will soon start shooting for Ashutosh Gowariker's period film 'Panipat'. On Tuesday, a reporter stood up during a press conference and asked Cannes Film Festivals nine-member jury, Why do movies still matter? In response, jury president Cate Blanchett muttered to co-panelists Lea Seydoux and Kristen Stewart, Actresses, dont answer that because you have no idea how to answer that. It was said in nervous jest because its one of those uncomfortable questions whose fate rests in the answer. Depending on the reply, it can either be a deeply illuminating and inspiring question, or simply a hackneyed bore. At Cannes, which holds dear its reputation as the worlds most prestigious film festival, they pick movies that often provide a lucid, exhilarating answer to that reporters question. Films matter, it tries to say with each screening. Because films allow people to tell their stories to their own people and to strangers stories that go beyond news headlines, stories that sometimes governments dont want people to tell, stories from a far away world that are often uncannily similar to ours, stories that add a touch of humanity to our view of the other. Stories that touch us, shape us, energise us. Two such films -- Donbass and Rafiki -- were screened at Cannes on Tuesday in the Un Certain Regard section. Literally, Un Certain Regard means a certain glance, but is understood to mean "from another point of view, and the section is reserved for films by emerging directors or on unexpected, marginal themes. Nandita Das Manto is one of the 18 films competing in this section for the main Prix Un Certain Regard award. It screens on Sunday. Donbass, a war-torn region in eastern Ukraine, is a portmanteau word, and so is the film of the same title by writer-director Sergei Loznista. Donbass is a collection of seemingly disjointed episodes of conversations, all of them garrulous and high-strung. Like pieces of jagged, sharp, gravely stones, these fragments involving different people in different locations are strung together as if in a garland that leashes a country and its people together as they struggle to make sense of their world and reality. There is no fluidity to the plot or the narrative, except, at the end, when the film returns to where it began with stunning effect. The conversations in Donbass are often one-sided, and the stories Loznista wants us to hear lie in the grim silence and reactions of the listeners. Its often a shocking, heart-breaking story. Donbass begins in a trailer where a news story is being manufactured by the peoples government for peoples consumption with the help of make-up artists, actors, bombardment, rehearsed lines and a camera crew. From there it moves to an official meeting thats disrupted by a bag of shit, to a hospital, a check-post with too many armed men, to a mother-daughter. We also meet a real TV news crew trying to interview soldiers, an NGO seeking a favour from an official, an insubordinate soldier being punished, a man trying to reclaim his lost car, an exterminator tied to a pole in a residential colony, and witness a wedding before returning to the trailer. Bit by bit, these episodes reveal a nation brutalised and a government sparing no opportunity to dupe, deceive, rob its people not just of the basic necessities, but of humanity. Apart from the film's end, two episodes stand out as most telling, and devastating. The one involving the "exterminator" seems designed by the government to indict people by helping them transition to mob violence. They are presented with an easy, rather meaningless target to take out their rage on. The other one is the wedding that is orchestrated to give people something to celebrate even though the bride and the groom, pronounced Mr and Mrs Fried Eggs, seem doomed to a life unpleasant. The brides almost heady hostility towards the man she is marrying even as she screams in celebration is unsettling. Donbass is a tough film to watch. But it is one of the best anti-war films I have ever seen. Rafiki (Friend in Kiswahili), written and directed by Wanuhi Kahiu, gently, lyrically tells the story of Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), two high school girls in Nairobi who fall in love even as their fathers are contesting local elections against each other. The film has been banned by Kenyas censor board because it wants to uphold what it claims are our cultural and moral values through content regulation. It is the first film from Kenya to be screened at Cannes. Rafiki, based on a short story by a Ugandan writer, is light, sweet and packed with stock African characters, including one Mama Atim (Muthoni Gathecha) who runs a little cafe mainly to gossip. Despite the films very Western aesthetics and sound its English dialogue sound formal and lack local flavour the story of forbidden love between two girls works because two actresses playing the lead roles are excellent and gorgeous. Rafiki received a very long standing ovation after its screening. An honour, of course, for a film that wont be screened in the country it was shot in. But standing ovations, like loud booing, are one of the many charms of Cannes Film Festival. Though they always make news, they often dont mean much. French film enthusiasts are notorious for their instant, exaggerated public reaction to films, especially at Cannes. So much so that its recorded in a film series titled, Booed at Cannes. Its been reported that in 2002, about 250 people walked out of the premiere of Gasper Noes French rape drama Irreversible, with reports of some requiring oxygen to calm down. Those who stayed in the cinema hall reportedly gave the film a five-minute-long standing ovation. Michael Moores 2004 anti-Bush documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, is reported to have received a record 20-minute standing ovation at its premier. It won the Palme dOr. In 1976, half the audience cheered while the other half booed as the credits of Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver rolled. It won the Palme dOr. Same was the fate of Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Tree of Life (2011). Booed and cheered in equal measure, and awarded the Golden Palm. Rating: Director: Meghna Gulzar Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Soni Razdan, Rajit Kapur, Jaideep Ahlawat and others Patriotism is one of the most exploited genres of our Hindi film industry but Raazi is undoubtedly by far the best one in this space. Based on the book Calling Sehmat, Raazi is an extremely entertaining film in the recent times. Director Meghna Gulzar, who has a knack of telling real life stories in an unconventional way, Raazi truly emerges as a sure shot winner. It is gripping and high on emotions. In order to save his country from an untimely war with Pakistan in 1971, Hidayat Khan (Rajit Kapur), who is soon dying of lung tumor instructs her only daughter Sehmat (Alia Bhatt) to marry Iqbal Syed (Vicky Kaushal) and move to Pakistan. He plants her as a spy and Sehmat agrees to do so. Hidayat appoints Khalid Mir (Jaideep Ahlawat), a merciless and tough mentor to train her. Teji (Soni Razdan), her mother supports this decision and prepares Sehmat for this task. Sehmat marries Iqbal and hereon starts her journey which changes her life like never before. Will she able to save her nation from the war? Raazi answers to this mystery! Meghna has a clear vision as a filmmaker. She manages to strike an adequate balance between realism and thrill. Her screenplay along with Bhavna Iyer is so good that the film will transport you back in 1971 for those 140 minutes. Her knack for sketching her characters is very impressive. She assures you that no one in the narrative let you down. There are hardly any loopholes in the film except for Sehmat being such a smooth spy in Pakistan especially at her house, however, it is backed by a seat edge thrilling story which is highly convincing, so it can be easily neglected. With not a single dull moment despite of slow pace in the first half, Raazi wont bore you even for a single second. It was a matter of worry since Meghna penned the script in absence of Vishal Bhardwaj unlike the last time in Talwar but she clearly passes the litmus test and outshines as a story teller. It has an exciting stimulation of wanting to know whats next store for you. Alia Bhatt, the finest actress of the current generation. Her innocence, naturalistic portrayal and breakdown is beyond imagination. She impresses with each scene, rather with each shot. Wonder, how she wears Sehmats skin with so much ease. Alia is full of surprises and with each film she plays her different card and warns for her next film which would be even better than her previous. Her act in Raazi is more of less at par with Udta Punjab which is considered to be her careers best. Vicky Kaushal as Iqbal Syed speaks volumes, such a praiseworthy performance. He is simply the next superstar. He emits abundance of talent in every moment. Rajit Kapur moves as an ageing father in his brief role. Shishir Sharma, Soni Razdan are too good! The one who stands out along with the primary star cast is Jaideep Ahlawat. He is a silent winner in the film. He is brilliant as Khalid Mir. It might change his game in the industry. Rest of the characters also draw attention whenever they are on screen. Overall, Raazi celebrates the spy-thriller genre and proves good content prevails. Perhaps, a lot of aspects make this film unapologetically finest of 2018 so far. Watch 'Raazi' trailer here: Rating: Cast: Akash Puri, Neha Shetty, Sayaji Shinde, Vishnu Reddy, Murali Sharma Director: Puri Jagannath Director Puri Jagannath appears to have lost his way after his last hit Temper (2015), having delivered five flops since. He returns this week with Mehbooba, in which he introduces Akash Puri, his son, and Neha Shetty as the male and female leads. The story centres on Roshan (Akash), who has had nightmares since his childhood that he would be killed in a military ambush in the Himalayas. Over in Pakistan, Afreen (Neha) too has been getting similar nightmares. Her parents arrange her marriage with Nadir (Vishnu Reddy) but Afreen doesnt like him and opts to come to Hyderabad, India, to study engineering as part of an exchange programme. Roshan saves her from a few goons, but fails to see her face. Though they dont meet later on, they know that they are in love with each other. As the movie progresses, Roshan gets selected for the Army. But before joining the Army, he goes on trekking in the Himalayas. Afreen is called back by her family. Both of them board the same train, where they meet each other and fall for each other. While trekking in the Himalayas, Roshan sees a woman's body and finds a diary that reveals the connection between him and Afreen. The rest of the film explains who they are, why they are getting the same nightmares and the reason behind their strong attraction for each other. Having tried his hand at numerous formula films, Puri Jagannath chooses the done-to-death reincarnation theme for Mehbooba, following in the footsteps of a long line of films, from Mooga Manasulu to Magadheera. But sadly, it appears as though he has made a mistake in choosing such an out-dated story for his sons debut movie. Apart from the India-Pakistan angle, Jagannath fails to make the story interesting. The screenplay is cliched and the plot lamentably weak. Not a single scene impresses, though the film's promos had held out some promise. The climax is a big bore. Akash has been seen as a child artiste in many films, and as a teen in Andhra Poti. His performance is real and sincere and holds promise for the future. His confidence levels are high and it shows in his body language. Neha is beautiful, but looks sad most of the time. Murali Sharma as her father is good, while Sayaji Shinde merely does what he has been doing for a long time. The only good thing about Mehbooba is its cinematography, with Vishnu Sharma capturing some beautiful visuals. Music by Sandeep Chowtha is just average. Rating: Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Shishir Sharma, Soni Razdan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, Ashwath Bhatt, Amruta Khanvilkar Director: Meghna Gulzar The two-nation theory has had far too many ramifications than the leaders would ever have imagined. For over 60 years, both India and Pakistan have remained sworn enemies despite them sharing history and having the commonalities that their people would not find anywhere else in the world. Meghna Gulzars Raazi, based on Harinder Sikkas book Calling Sehmat, gives us a taut espionage thriller that doesnt take sides, although in many ways Pakistans intelligence seems to be failing and the officers made to look gullible. But what Gulzar emphasises most on is citizens of both sides of the border displaying their own brand of patriotism that indicates loyalty to their nation. In turbulent times like the one we are all going through now, when one word (or, a portrait!) of praise of the enemy camp leader could trigger a belligerent reaction from both sides, her standpoint is extremely relevant. She also manages to weave many humane and emotive characteristics of real men and women into the narrative that may border on the unlikelihood of the very premise itself, but never strays into jingoistic flavour. The story takes us back to the 1971 India-Pakistan war when there is a dearth of trust on both sides, and Pakistan is hell bent upon retaining its supremacy over East Pakistan by planning a secret military operation. When good-natured wealthy businessman Hidayat (Rajit Kapur) travels to Pakistan, serving as a double agent, there is little doubt in Pakistan Brigadier Syeds (Shishir Sharma) mind about Hidayats loyalty towards him. Little does Syed know that Hidayat as a true patriot and the son of a freedom fighter would not betray his homeland. Although suffering from a terminal lung tumour, he would not leave his agenda unfinished. He gets his 19-year-old daughter Sehmat (who is studying in Delhi University) married to Syeds son a Pakistani military officer Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal) so that, she, in turn, could make a covert operator, and a willing conspirator in her fathers plans. She is ready to become a martyr in the line of her duty. The time is crucial as Pakistans plans of ensuring that East Pakistan stays in its grasp get concretised, and Sehmat would have to be trained by RAW. As Sehmat adjusts herself as the duty-bound daughter-in-law in her in-laws household, she also performs her role as the agent to perfection even as war becomes imminent between India and Pakistan. We are all aware that there is trust deficit and complete erosion of amity between the two countries. But is that all to people who are similar in their appearance, colour and cultural affinity? Gulzar tells us a story that one would either dismiss as fiction or sit up and dwell eagerly on the probability of an Indian carrying forth a secret operation only for the honour of her country. It is her conviction coupled with Alia Bhatts powerhouse performance that is bound to make viewers pleasantly surprised. There are differences too: Iqbal and Sehmats marriage looks like any other union, but even as the cross-cultural alliance seems natural, deception could be at the root of their very pact, which Iqbal is not aware of. Between so-called friends too Syed and Hidayat while religion may be the unifying factor between them, there is definite and different proclivity to show allegiance to their respective governments. A fast-paced thriller seldom offers viewers any relief to ponder over a sensitive relationship between two characters who could be dealing with a life-shattering conundrum that life suddenly throws them into, but the rapidity of the scenes doesnt allow their gravity to come forth effectively. In Raazi, one scene that lingers on is tender awkwardness betw-een two married strangers Sehmat and Iqbal who have an inflexible outline of their newly-wed joys. Of course, both have distinctive plans: he of finding happiness, and, she of fulfilling her ongoing manoeuvre! Alia Bhatt internalises the alternate insecurities and uncertainties of Sehmat brilliantly, but only if there was more soundness of her actions explained one would have loved her even more. The film is not without flaws though. If Sehmat would go to any lengths to obey her fathers commands, and, is seen as an easy malleable youngster, why does she not even once care for her own life, and her dreams? Her mission to not question and follow her fathers exercise without so much as a feeble protest seems odd for her 19-year-old existence. Scriptwri-ters Meghna and Bhavana Iyer have also taken the liberty of wiping out a few cha-racters from her life, making her a one-goal dreamer who doesnt care for any wrong move. Raazi boasts of some splendid performances by even those who have small roles. Topping the list is Vicky Kaushal, whose underplayed role may look underwritten, but he brings in enough heft to the character of the obligated son and citizen that he is meant to be, as also, the tormented husband beginning to fall in love with his wife in the arranged marriage. Upon discovery of his wifes betrayal, he displays the look of helplessness as real as it gets. Shishir Sharma as Syed; Arif Zakaria as the loyal family help whose penetrating eyes pierce into Sehmats well-laid plans; Jaideep Ahlawat as Sehmats trainer Khalid Mir; Ashwath Bhatt as Mehboob Syed; Amruta Khanvilkar as Munira; and, Soni Razdan as Sehmats mother Teji Khan are all part of the supporting cast but each one of them leaves a mark as an individual. The writer is a film critic and has been reviewing films for over 15 years. He also writes on music, art and culture, and other human interest stories. The entire film industry and viewers are praising the film Mahanati made on the life history of Savithri, and the two women Priyanka and Swapna Dutt, who worked hard to resurrect the life and times of the legendary actress once again. With a track record of some failed films, the two sisters had faced flak for spoiling their father and producer, and the founder of Vyjayanthi Films banner, Ashwini Dutts name. Flooded with praises now, Swapna gushes Our minds are completely blank and we dont know what to say. We are extremely overwhelmed; there is no time to check the messages, as hundreds of them are flowing in. This is a first for both of us. Priyanka added We worked for nearly three years on this film and finally got the result of our hard work. Interestingly, neither these two girls nor the director, Nag Ashwin was born when the legendary actress Savithri passed away in 1981. Thats true, but we were born and brought up in Vijayawada city which is a big centre for cinema. My parents and my grandfather used to watch black and white films and we would watch along with them. My mother used to tell us about Savithri garus life while we watched old films, so we know about her, says Swapna. On location: the Mahanati team After Yevade Subramanyam, they asked Nagi (Nag Ashwin) about their next project and he said that he wanted to make a film on Savithri. The moment he said this we decided to go ahead with it and have not looked back since then, says Priyanka. After Yevade Subramanyam, Priyanka married Nag Ashwin (the director) and they left for Europe after marriage. At that time he prepared the story on her, says Priyanka. The project was then whetted out after their return. We told our father about the project and he replied in just two words excellent idea, say the sisters about their fathers reaction. Nagi started doing research and we helped him; we went through all of Savithri garus films, says Swapna. We met Vijaya Chamundeswari, Savithris daughter, with this idea. She was initially wary of it because she thought we were very young and wouldnt know much about her mother. But after she saw our film Yevade Subramanyam she liked it and agreed to support us; she shared many incidents from her mothers life, says Swapna. The big task then was to get the right person for Savithris role. Keerthy Suresh is not the first person we thought. We discussed few actresses, all of them established as we had decided not to go for a new face, they revealed. When Nagi suggested Keerthy Suresh for the role, we were unsure. But when he expressed his confidence in her and sent us the song video from her Tamil film Thodari, we were reassured. With everyone praising her performance now, we are thrilled with our choice, they effused. It was a hectic task as they had to identify the right places and travel to shoot the film. We shot in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mysore and Delhi too. We had to scout for places/ streets that could replicate the scenario as it existed in those days. Initially, we put up a Rs 15 crore budget for this film, but because of the settings, and places it increased, say the sisters. What we still cant believe is that we made a film on Savithri garu; we believe that some super force made us complete the film, say the sisters. Before this film, the two sisters faced a lot of criticism for wasting their fathers money and spoiling his banner many of their earlier projects were flops. Yes, even we heard about it. We made mistakes and lost some money. But we were inexperienced at that time. It was a good learning for us as we tried something new with our initial films, but they didnt work. It was a great experience for us, they say. But now, we are happy that everyone is praising us and we have boosted the fame of our fathers production house, says Swapna. Though everyone criticised them, their father was always supportive. He never said a word and stood with us. He is our hero and cinema is his life, say the sisters. Did their father gave any inputs? Yes, he would share the lives and the works of directors and producers like KV Reddy, Chakrapani and others they said. Their father saw the film in Vijayawada and said I cant believe that a Balu Mahendra, Bala Chander and Mani Rantanam are there in our house. Its a super film and you both takeover my name too, said the proud sisters. Actress Anu Emmanuels absence from the promotional events of her recent release Na Peru Surya.., starring Allu Arjun, has set the tongues wagging. The actress has been criticised for her absence for the films thanksgiving meets and other publicity activities. At a time when a film opens to mixed talk, the actors make it a point to promote and help spread a positive buzz. But Anus absence has irked the filmmakers and has become a talking point. Before it snowballs into a bitter controversy, looks like the actress has decided to end the speculation. She clarified on social media that due to personal reasons she was unable to attend the promotions. People working in the sector should be encouraged to register themselves with the khadi gramodyog board, said Mungantiwar. (Photo: Facebook/ Soumyabrata Gupta) Mumbai: The Maharashtra government wants to bring clay artists in the mainstream by enhancing their traditional skills using modern technology, a move that will help them earn better income, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has said. The Maharashtra State Khadi Gramodyog Board made a presentation in regards to the Sant Shiromani Gorobakaka Maharashtra Clay Art Board, a new body set up by the government, to Mungantiwar at a meeting here yesterday. Representatives of the khadi gramodyog board and members of potters' association were also present in the meeting. The government, in the last budget, had announced setting up of the Sant Shiromani Gorobakaka Maharashtra Clay Art Board to provide training in making various clay items. "The government seeks to bring clay artisans in the mainstream to increase their traditional skills using modern technology, bring more artistry in the field and to improve production to sales chain. "All this will create more employment opportunities and better revenues in the sector," Mungantiwar said. The government has made a provision of Rs 10 crore in the budget for the purpose, he said. The minister said he has issued directions to form a state-level committee to implement the scheme and sought inclusion of non-government members in the panel. People working in the sector should be encouraged to register themselves with the khadi gramodyog board, said Mungantiwar. He said Gujarat gave a lot of encouragement to the clay art industry through its Clay Art Artistry Board. The minister directed the officials of the Khadi Village Industries Board to study the various aspects of the Gujarat model on clay art and submit a report. The findings run counter to popular theories and fisheries models that assume, for example, that a two-kilogram fish puts out as many eggs as a pair of one-kilogram fish. (Photo: Pixabay) Tampa: When fishing, local laws often require anglers to throw back any fish that are too small. But a study Thursday found it is more important to toss back big ones, especially females. That's because they produce far more eggs -- and larger ones -- than small fish, and do a disproportionate amount of work when it comes to perpetuating their species, said the report in the journal Science. "Our results are critical for fisheries management," said study co-author D. Ross Robertson, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. "They tell us to reduce fishing pressure on large fish rather than smaller ones in order to maintain and replenish stocks." For the study, researchers at Monash University and the University of Sydney examined the number, volume and energy invested in eggs by 342 different marine species. They consulted publications in Google Scholar about wild fish, combined with data on egg-quality of a range of species collected by Robertson. A single female fish may release anywhere between 11 to almost 58 million eggs per clutch, they found. But the relationship between size and egg production was not a straight linear one. Rather, as the fish's weight went up, the effort put into reproduction rose "exponentially," said the report. The findings run counter to popular theories and fisheries models that assume, for example, that a two-kilogram fish puts out as many eggs as a pair of one-kilogram fish. For instance, researchers found that a single 30-kg female produces more eggs than about 28 small females weighing two kilos each, for a collective weight of 56 kg. In most marine species, larger females invested "disproportionately more in the number of eggs and the size of individual eggs," said the report. "Therefore, taking a single big fish has a bigger impact on the fish population than taking multiple small ones." The study aligns with prior research showing that big fish are important for replenishing marine populations, particularly since climate change is expected to shrink the size of many fish. It also has implications for managing invasive species, like lionfish, whose largest females appear to be found in deep water and are difficult to eradicate, said Roberts. Her family home was destroyed during the war, when she was evacuated to Modbury in south Devon and it was after the war that she fell in love with Guinness, her granddaughter explained. (Photo: Pixabay) We are always in the search to find out about the secret to eternal life. Now, a centenarian has claimed that the secret to her long life is a daily glass of Guinness. Doris Olive Netting has been a regular consumer of the iconic black beverage since her early 30s. She began drinking it after seeing a campaign was launched that hailed the beer for its rich iron content. Her passion for the drink found further impetus when she marked her landmark 100th birthday by having a Guinness-themed birthday party at her care home in Plymouth. The party came complete with branded balloons, a real-life model of the Guinness toucan logo and a telegram from The Queen. She refuses to go a day without drinking it, said Nettings 37-year-old granddaughter, Tammy adding, "She reckons that's why she's lived for as long as she has, because of the iron intake through Guinness. The beer brand Guinness was thrilled to learn of Nettings long-lasting enjoyment of the drink and even sent her a personalised hamper to mark her birthday reported The Sun Online. Prior to moving into Parkwood House care home, Netting had lived alone in her home in Plymouth. Her husband, Percy Netting, passed away in the 1970s. Her family home was destroyed during the war, when she was evacuated to Modbury in south Devon and it was after the war that she fell in love with Guinness, her granddaughter explained. After the war got over, there was a huge marketing campaign to buy Guiness to get your own iron following on from the ration years, and Netting did just that. She had a glass [mini bottle] of Guinness a day for the rest of her life. That is what she puts her good health and age down to. It turns out that dark Irish beer could be the real elixir of life. A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend after raping her at a resort near Hyderabad. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend after raping her at a resort near Hyderabad on Thursday. According to Hindustan Times report, the incident came to light around 11 pm on Thursday, after which a complaint was filed with the Ranga Reddy police. The accused has been identified as Sai Prasad, a resident of Timmapur village. The victim, an undergraduate student from Kummariguda village, was found with her throat slit. After post-mortem examination, police handed the body to the girls father who is the driver of a judge at the Hyderabad high court. Police said the victim, who was preparing for several competitive examinations while pursuing a degree course in Hyderabad, had been in a relationship with Sai Prasad for a while now. However, the accused had lately become suspicious that his girlfriend was getting close to another man from the same village. Sai Prasad reportedly took the girl to the resort in Proddatur village on Thursday and after they both entered into the room, he allegedly raped her before slitting her throat with his knife. Resort officials alerted the police after they found out the victims body later at night. We are investigating the matter, said Shankarpally inspector K Shashank Reddy, adding that the accused was being questioned. Bhopal: A 15-year-old girl was late on Thursday night gangraped and then burnt to death allegedly by two local youths in the village of Jhujharpur in Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh. Police recovered the charred body of the victim early on Friday morning after being informed by her family members. According to the police, the accused, Ravindra Kumar and Bhagat, barged into her house and then gangraped her. They then set her on fire. The duo also threatened her brother, who spotted both the accused fleeing his house after committing the crime, to kill him if he reported the matter to the police. Both the accused have been arrested. Probe is on into the incident, the investigating officer said. Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh said the case would be tried in the fast track court to ensue justice to the deceased and her family. Madhya Pradesh hostel residents walk 2 km for toilet The warden of a residential school for girls in a Madhya Pradesh village has become an unwilling promoter of open defecation. For, the inmates of the residential school for girls in Madiyado under Batiyagarh tehsil have no other options but to visit the nearby jungle to relieve themselves since the toilets in their hostel have been rendered useless owing to shortage of water. On dismantling the same, 925 grams of gold worth 28 lakh were recovered. Further investigations are on. Chennai: The Customs department seized 925 grams of gold worth 28 lakh at the Chennai airport on Friday. On Friday morning, one Jaffar Hussain Shaik (40) was intercepted at the exit of Arrival Hall. His baggage check resulted in recovery of a decorative flower showpiece with a glass base, which was found to be unusually heavy. On dismantling the same, 925 grams of gold worth 28 lakh were recovered. Further investigations are on. On Thursday night, while walking with friend Uma near Ghasmandi, Samad approached them and asked Madhu to go with him. She abused and he stabbed her, the official said. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: A day after a man from Kerala was booked for throwing acid at a staff nurse for rejecting him, a 25-year-old banana seller from Secunderabad stabbed an 18-year-old girl under the jaw for refusing to go out with him. According to the victim, Abdul Samad has been following and harassing her for a couple of days. The girl, E. Madhavi alias Madhu, approached Market police and they registered an attempt to murder case. On Thursday night, while walking with friend Uma near Ghasmandi, Samad approached them and asked Madhu to go with him. She abused and he stabbed her, the official said. A search team has been deployed by the Market Police to hunt down the absconding man and the duty doctors at Gandhi Hospital said that the girls condition was stable. The police traced the couple to Banjara Hills on May 4. After escorting them back to Pargi, the police recorded the statement of the victim who said she had been sexually assaulted by Raju. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: A man working at a movie theatre in Pargi, Vikarabad, was booked for kidnapping and raping a minor girl on Friday. According to the police, M. Raju, 22, who works at Bhavani Talkies, lured the 16-year-old Class X pass-out by promising her marriage and brought her to Hyderabad on May 1, following which her family lodged a kidnap case with the Pargi police. The police traced the couple to Banjara Hills on May 4. After escorting them back to Pargi, the police recorded the statement of the victim who said she had been sexually assaulted by Raju. He was arrested and charged with rape (IPC Section 376) and provisions of the POCSO Act. That was when Akbar, a father of four, allegedly kidnapped and married her, luring her with a promise to help her pass the examination. Hyderabad: Police have charged Akbar Ali, 45, headmaster of a government school at Shamshabad, with rape and kidnap for allegedly kidnapping and marrying a 17-year-old student and sexually assaulting her after marriage. The principal has been booked under various sections of the SC & ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The student, from Muchintala village in Shamshabad mandal, who cleared the SSC exams in March 2017 as Alis student, approached him to help her clear a subject in the Intermediate exam, which she failed recently. That was when Akbar, a father of four, allegedly kidnapped and married her, luring her with a promise to help her pass the examination. After marriage, he took her home at Shabad, where he sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, keeping her away from his parents. The caller was identified as Shaddique Batcha (30) of Mannadi and the Royapettah police traced the man after his wife called the control room apologised for her husbands mistake. (Representational Image) Chennai: Police arrested a 30-year-old man for making a hoax call to US consulate-general office in Chennai, on Friday. The caller was identified as Shaddique Batcha (30) of Mannadi and the Royapettah police traced the man after his wife called the control room apologised for her husbands mistake. The hoax call came at around 10 pm on Thursday night and the caller had claimed that he had planted a bomb at the US consulate. The caller also said that the bomb would go off on early Friday. Following the call, Bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) rushed to the consulate with a sniffer dog and combed the premises. But nothing was found, the police sources said. After his wife apologised for her husbands action, she also had brought Batcha to the Royapettah police station. He had made the call under the influence of alcohol. Preliminary inquiries revealed that Batcha had earlier visited Malaysia twice and Bangkok thrice as a transporter. He made the hoax call, reportedly, after irritated by consulate officials making public wait in sun. A Lashker-e-Taiba terror module was busted in north Kashmir with the arrest of 10 people, including four militants who were allegedly responsible for gunning down three boys at Baramulla on April 30. (Photo: Representational) Srinagar: A Lashkar terrorist, who was arrested along with others for their alleged involvement in the Baramulla terror attack, has urged terrorists to "shun the path of violence" in a video that has gone viral. "My name is Aijaz Ahmad Gojri. I request my other friends, Suhaib Akhoon, Mohsin Mushtaq Bhat and Nasir Amin Drazi, who are on the wrong path and have left their families, their good life and living in forests, to return home. I request Nasir to come back as his mother is very ill," the terrorist said in the 2-minute video, which was shot while he was in Army custody. "Pakistan is misleading the youth," he said. A Lashker-e-Taiba terror module was busted in north Kashmir on Wednesday with the arrest of 10 people, including four militants who were allegedly responsible for gunning down three boys at Baramulla on April 30. "We have ample evidence to suggest the hand of outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba group in instigating violence and killing innocent people in north Kashmir," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Swayam Prakash Pani told reporters on Wednesday. A police spokesman said two of the four terrorists held were involved in the killing of Haseeb Nabi Khan, Irfan Ahmad Sheikh and Mohammad Asgar Sheikh all residents of Baramulla, on April 30. The police said multiple parties of police, Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were tasked to track the culprits. In the video, Gojri can be heard saying that the army gave him a "new life" by arresting him rather than killing him. "We fired at Army personnel, but they did not fire on us. I ran from the spot and hid in the forest, but the Army found me and instead of killing me they arrested me and gave me a new life," he said. The terrorist also blamed the neighbouring nation for misleading the youths of Kashmir. "We were misled by our leaders in Pakistan about the Indian Army, which is not true. You should come and meet the Army officers. This is a conspiracy wherein they (Pakistanis) are playing with our lives," he said. The veteran actress died on February 24, 2018, in Dubai after accidentally drowning in her hotel bath-tub. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed plea seeking independent probe into death of Bollywood actor Sridevi in Dubai. The apex court refused to entertain the plea of filmmaker Sunil Singh saying, "We can't interfere with the Refusing the plea, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra told the petitioner the authorities in India and Dubai have already looked into the incident. According to reports, petitioner Sunil Singh in his plea mentioned that he was in Dubai on a family vacation from February 20 to February 26. It was then he came to know about the death of Sridevi who was also in Dubai at that time. Singh said he had filed a petition before the apex court as the information he received while talking to hotel staff, officials at the hospital where the actor was taken and others associated with the case, was contrary to what was initially reported. Sridevi, 54, died of "accidental drowning" in her hotel bath-tub on February 24 in Dubai. The veteran actress had gone for a family wedding and had stayed back. Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was arrested by the CBI on April 13 after a girl accused him of raping her last year. (Photo: File | PTI) Lucknow: Two men posing as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer were arrested on Thursday after they allegedly demanded Rs 1 crore from the wife of Unnao rape accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to get the case against him dropped. According to Hindustan Times report, the police identified the two as Alok and Vijay, both residents of Lucknow. Kuldeep Singh Sengar, MLA from Bangarmanu in Unnao district, was arrested by the CBI on April 13 after a 17-year-old girl accused him of raping her in 2017. Two people have been arrested for demanding Rs 1 crore from Sangeeta Singh, wife of Kuldeep Singh Sengar. They were offering to secure release of the MLA from custody, said Deepak Kumar, SSP, Lucknow. Sangeeta, who stays in Indira Nagar, Lucknow, received a phone call on May 5 from an unidentified number. The caller introduced himself as a BJP leader and offered to secure the release of her husband. He demanded Rs 1 crore to bribe CBI officials. When Sangeeta said it would not be possible to get Rs 1 crore, the caller asked her to arrange Rs 50 lakh instead, police said. The next day, she got a call from another number and the caller introduced himself as CBI officer Rajeev Mishra. He also offered assistance to secure Sengars release. The caller asked Sangeeta to report to the CBIs Lucknow office on May 7 to hand over the money. Sangeeta then informed her relatives about the phone calls. They got suspicious and informed the Ghazipur police station in Lucknow about the phone calls. On Thursday, police arrested Alok and Vijay with after tracking down the phone calls. In February, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India during which both sides agreed to further expand their cooperation in number of key sectors. (Photo: File | PTI) New Delhi: India on Thursday said it will take necessary measures to offset any adverse impact on its interests due to US President Donald Trump's decision to dump the Iran nuclear deal. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India was closely monitoring the situation arising out of Trump's announcement to pull the US out of the Iran deal. "We are closely monitoring the developments. We are assessing the implications which it might have on our interests," he said, adding it was too early to analyse implications of the US decision on India. There have been apprehensions that the US decision may adversely impact New Delhi's oil import from the Persian Gulf nation as well as Chabahar port project. Iran is the third largest supplier of crude oil to India after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Countries having financial dealings with Iran are expected to be hit by the comprehensive sanctions regime announced by the Trump administration after withdrawal from the nuclear deal. "The government will take all necessary measures which are required to safeguard our interests," said the MEA spokesperson. Asked whether the US sanctions will hit the Chabahar port project, Kumar said it was too early to analyse and come up with conclusions about implications of US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Trump on Tuesday announced that the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration in 2015 under which Tehran had agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. Iran had struck the JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) deal with the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany after years of negotiations. On Wednesday, India had said that all the parties concerned should engage constructively to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully. Indo-Iran ties have been on a upswing after Tehran sealed the nuclear deal with the international community in 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tehran in May 2016 with an aim to craft a strategic relationship with Iran and expand India's ties with West Asia. During the visit, India and Iran signed nearly a dozen pacts, centrepiece of which was an agreement on development of Chabahar port. Later, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral pact providing for transport of goods among the three countries through the port. In February, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India during which both sides agreed to further expand their cooperation in number of key sectors. During Rouhani's visit, both sides signed nine agreements including one on handing over Chabahar port's operation to India for 18 months. India and Iran have robust economic and commercial ties covering many sectors though it has traditionally been dominated by the import of Iranian crude oil by India. BJP MP Savitri Bail Bhule says, 'Jinnah's portrait features on the walls of Lok Sabha. He should be remembered respectfully.' (Photo: ANI) New Delhi: Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a "mahapurush (great man)" who contributed to India's freedom struggle, says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Savitri Bai Phule, walking into an ongoing political controversy over the founder of Pakistan. Phule, who has of late been seen to deviate from the party line on a range of subjects, also said Jinnah's portrait is in the Lok Sabha inside Parliament House and "should find a place wherever required". "Jinnah was a great man, he fought for the nation. Jinnah's portrait features on the walls of Lok Sabha. He should be remembered respectfully; his portraits should find a place wherever required. Controversy being created to divert focus from Dalit issues, I don't agree with all this," the parliamentarian from the ruling party from Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich said on Thursday. "Be it from any caste or religion, people laid sacrifices for the nation to attain independence. Such great men must be respected. All those who sacrificed for the nation's independence must be respected," she asserted. A much-debated figure in Indias struggle for independence, Jinnah, resurfaced in public discourse after BJP lawmaker Satish Gautam in April wrote to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) demanding to know why his portrait was hanging on the wall of the students' union office. According to the university, Jinnah's portrait had been there for decades since he was a founder member of the university court and had been given life membership of the union 80 years ago. Some groups then protested at the university and clashes with police ensued as they tried to pull the portrait down. MP Savitri Bai Phule has in recent weeks targeted her own party governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh over the treatment of Dalits. She was strongly critical of the BJP's dinner-with-Dalits outreach. The Chittorgarh woman filed a police complaint after she was allegedly raped last year. (Photo: ANI) Chittorgarh (Rajasthan): A young woman, who was allegedly raped last year, and her family in Chittorgah district of Rajasthan have not been able to buy vegetables or groceries from the ration shop in their village for a few months now. When the woman's relative went to a doctor, he refused to treat. A family member who went for a haircut was refused by the barber. The local mill denied grinding wheat for the family. The rape survivor and her family allege that they have been boycotted and ostracized by the village after she refused to change her statement in the court. The village panchayat or the local leaders passed a bizarre diktat which made sure the family did not get any support from the community. "The villagers gathered at around 11 pm and called my family. They asked me to change my statement in court and also get into an understanding with him (alleged rapist). I refused to do so," the woman said. The woman filed a police complaint after she was allegedly raped by a man who gave her an intoxicant, took her videos and then threatened her. According to her, the panchayat leaders told her parents, "Make your daughter understand. Else you will be an outcast in this village. We'll make you leave this village." As a punishment, the family was even forced to pay fine of Rs 11, 000, the woman alleged. The woman's family has given a written complaint with the police against the panchayat's order. (With inputs from ANI) Sushma Swaraj arrived on Friday on a two-day visit for talks with the country's top leadership on key bilateral and regional issues, including the Rohingya refugee crisis. (Photo: @MEAIndia) Naypyidaw: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday met Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations across different sectors. Swaraj arrived on Friday on a two-day visit for talks with the country's top leadership on key bilateral and regional issues, including the Rohingya refugee crisis. "Neighbourhood First! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on the 2nd day of her visit to Myanmar. Discussion focused on strengthening our bilateral relations across different sectors," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. On Thursday, she called on Myanmar President U Win Myint. An estimated 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine State since August 2017 after large-scale violence following a military crackdown. The exodus of refugees in large numbers has resulted in a major crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh. Suu Kyi has faced intense international scrutiny for her response to the exodus, which the UN has called "ethnic cleansing." According to reports, Swaraj also met the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar armed forces General Min Aung Hlaing. The meeting was convened after Justice J Chelameswar wrote a letter urging the CJI to take a call urgently to discuss the Justice Joseph issue. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra met at 1 pm on Friday to reconsider the Centres stand not to elevate the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court KM Joseph as a judge of the apex court. The collegium met for the second time after deferring its decision earlier last week. The meetings come after Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sent back Justice Joseph's name and asked the judges to reconsider their choice. The government had cleared the other recommendation, Indu Malhotra, but said Justice Joseph - the chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court - was not senior enough for the promotion. The government also said Justice Joseph is from Kerala, which was already represented in the Supreme Court. Also Read: SC collegium defers decision on Judge KM Joseph's elevation Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has denied that the Centre's decision had anything to do with Justice Joseph's 2016 verdict cancelling president's rule in Uttarakhand, which enabled the Congress to remain in power. At its earlier meeting last week, the countrys five top judges had decided to draft a point-by-point response to the centre's objections to their choice. But it also discussed names of judges from three other high courts in view of what the court called, was the "concept of fair representation". Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra's decision to convene today's meeting came just a day after Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who ranks after him and retires soon, wrote to him. The letter sought an early meeting of the collegium and said that the judges must be firm on their choice. While it is not unusual for the Centre to return the collegium's recommendation for appointment of high court judges, it is rare for the government to return a recommendation for elevation to the Supreme Court. The only occasion when such a situation arose in recent years was when the NDA government blocked elevation of senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium in 2014. However, RM Lodh, who was then the Chief Justice, could not pursue the case because Gopal Subramanium withdrew his consent to be a judge. If the collegium sends back a name a second time, the Centre has no choice but to accept it. The countrys apex court is already down to 24 judges as against the strength of 31 and five more are slated to retire this year. CBI on Thursday confirmed the survivors charge that BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar raped her at his home in Uttar Pradeshs Makhi village on June 4, 2017. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in the politically sensitive Unnao rape case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday confirmed the survivors charge that BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar raped her at his home in Uttar Pradeshs Makhi village on June 4, 2017 while his female accomplice, Shashi Singh, stood guard outside the room. Confirming the charge, the central probe agency said that Shashi Singh had lured the victim - who was a minor at the time - to Sengar's residence on the pretext of a job last year. Citing sources, The Times of India (TOI) report said while the survivor had consistently named Sengar, MLA from Uttar Pradeshs Bangarmau, among those who violated her, local police kept the MLA and some other accused out of the FIR filed on June 20 as well as the chargesheet filed later. The central agency has recorded the survivors statement before a magistrate under CrPC Section 164, in which she stood by the allegations. Statements recorded under CrPC Section 164 are admissible in court as evidence. Quoting a CBI officer, TOI said the also delayed the girls medical examination and didnt send the vaginal swab or her clothes to the forensic laboratory. This was all deliberate and in connivance with the accused persons, he added. Sengar, Shashi Singh and the other accused, who were arrested by the CBI on April 13-14, were questioned at length and the agency is tying up the loose ends related to the polices involvement in saving the MLA. The Uttar Pradesh government had handed over the case to the CBI following uproar over the alleged effort by the Unnao police to shield the BJP MLA. Describing the sequence of events in 2017, as established by the CBI based on the survivors statement and independent investigation, an agency source told TOI, "The girl was raped on June 4 by the MLA after she was brought to his house by Shashi Singh on the pretext of providing her a job. Between June 4 and June 10, the girl didnt speak as she had been threatened. On June 11, she was abducted by three persons Shubham Singh, Awadh Narayan and Brijesh Yadav. From June 11 till 19, the girl was kept mostly in an SUV and repeatedly gang-raped by these three while on the move. When the girl was finally found on June 20, some officers at the local police station in Makhi (Unnao) were "reluctant" to register an FIR. When they eventually registered one, they left out Sengar, Shashi Singh and a few others from it. Again, when a chargesheet was filed in August, the police named only the three men Shubham, who is Shashi Singhs son, Awadh and Brijesh. "So, the UP police were right in claiming that the names of the MLA and Shashi Singh were not there in the FIR filed by the girl on June 20. But what it did not disclose was that the survivors complaint was diluted by UP police," TOI quoted CBI source saying. The Uttar Pradesh police swept into action only recently, when state DGP O P Singh ordered the suspension of the deputy superintendent of police, the local SHO and four constables. The CBI is investigating the role of the DSP, SHO and others at the police station. New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Friday unanimously decided to reiterate its earlier recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as a judge of the apex court. With the collegium likely to assert its authority over the appointment of Supreme Court judges, this is expected to result in a major confrontation with the Centre that has expressed its reservations over the selection of Justice Joseph for the nations highest court. Mr Reddy had received a cheque for Rs 32,000 for the eight acres of land he owns in Matoor. Hyderabad: Farmer-turned-corporate employee Keerthi Vardhan Reddy, a beneficiary of the Rythu Bandhu scheme, donated the Rs 32,000 he received to a government school in Matoor village of Yadadri district. Mr Reddy, 33, announced the donation on Twitter, which was welcomed by minister K.T. Rama Rao. Mr. Reddy wrote: @KTRTRS (I) have been into farming for last 11 years concurrently working as a corporate employee, I have been shelling out money from the pocket for cultivation. But, since I have received support from the government for the first time (through) #Rythubandhu scheme, I would like to donate the entire amount for the development of my village (sic). Mr Reddy had received a cheque for Rs 32,000 for the eight acres of land he owns in Matoor. He told this newspaper that the decade-old school has about 150 students. Belagavi: Some 48 hours before the state goes to the polls on Saturday, several seers from important Lingayat mutts of north-Karnataka have spoken out in one voice in support of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Lingayat cabinet ministers stating that the latter did not indulge in dividing Lingayat religion. They have called upon devotees not to get carried away by the statements of a section of seers who are bent upon bringing bad name to Lingayat religion. In a joint press statement, the swamis said, The fight for a separate religion tag to Lingayat religion is going on for a long time and is not new. Several noted personalities, thinkers, organisations and people have continued their protests for an independent religion tag to Lingayats for many years now.' Emphasising that neither Siddaramaiah nor any of his cabinet ministers who are Lingayats have ever attempted to divide Lingayat/Veerashaiva religion, the swamis said Lingayat and Veerashaiva were two separate entities. Fake e-mail targets Lingayats, goes viral Barely 48 hours ahead of polls, a fake email purported to be from the Catholic Bishops Council of India to Bangalores archbishop asking him to convert Lingayats in the state to Catholicism has gone viral on social media. The fake email claims that representatives of the Pope in Delhi held their first meeting with Karnatakas ruling political leadership on December 21, 2013 to convince it to grant separate religion status to Lingayats. The email alleges since then, subsequent meetings have taken placeon the issue. The fake mail also lists nine steps to go about converting Lingayats to Catholicism, including sponsoring 100 Lingayat scholars to develop material which could prove spiritual supremacy of Lingayats over other Hindus. The fake email also lists a goal of evangelising at least 5 per cent of Lingayats by 2043. www.boomlive.in Srinagar: Kashmiri separatists have reacted sharply to Army chief General Bipin Rawats remark that neither militants can fight the Army nor will azadi (freedom) happen in the restive state. Reacting to the Gen. Rawats assertions, separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the longing of people of Kashmir to be the masters of their own fate is far stronger than any military power. Gen. Rawats threat that Army will bomb us like Syria is real but so is the resilience of people to stand by their commitment to achieving the universal right to freedom and self-determination for which they have been struggling for the last 70 years, he said. JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik said the Armys Chiefs remarks were illogical and recalled Gandhijis reply to a British envoy that he would prefer a non-competent poor independent country over a competent and wealthy illegal occupation and slavery. The employees are opposing the governments casual approach to wage revision, IBAs meagre offer of 2 per cent hike and partial mandate given by some of the banks only up to Scale III Officers. Hyderabad: Nine unions of Bank employees under the umbrella of United Forum of Bank union will strike work on May 30 and 31 in protest against the delay in wage revision. In a notice served to the Indian Banks Association (IBA), they said that the members of all constituent unions of United Forum of Bank Unions will go on strike for 48 hours starting from 6 am on May 30. We are opposing the government's casual approach to wage revision for bank employees, IBAs meagre offer of 2 per cent hike in the wage bill towards wage increase and partial mandate given by some of the banks only up to Scale III Officers, they said. The unions also demanded expeditious and early wage revision settlement, adequate increase in salary and improvement in other service conditions. They also wanted the wage revision settlement to include all officers up to Scale-VII. Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court held that when an employee rendered service in a department and left it voluntarily for his own advancement, without breaking any rule or condition, he cannot be denied the benefits of service relatable to the former department for the period that he worked. A division bench comprising Justice PV Sanjay Kumar and Justice M Ganga Rao was dismissing an appeal by Telangana government challenging an order of the AP Administrative Tribunal. The bench declared that Para 8(ii) (d) of G.O.Ms.No.72 dated September 26, 2002 was not only arbitrary but bereft of logic and rationale. The para states: The scales of pay shall however be not applicable to those who have left the services from the Department on their own will/resigned/ opted for relief to join other departments in Central/State/Quasi Government/Private service etc., on or after 1.1.1996 and where AICTE scales of pay, 1996 are not in force. A Ramesh Kumar had joined as an associate lecturer in English in the government polytechnic for women, Medak, in 1988 and he left the job in 1997 after his selection for the post of Assistant Audit Officer in the AP Local Fund Audit Service in the direct recruitment undertaken by the AP Public Service Commission. He had moved the APAT after the erstwhile AP government refused to give the benefit of the upward revision of the AICTE pay scales under the above order. The accident took place when Race 3 actor Jacqueline Fernandez was returning from a party at her co-star's Salman Khan's residence. (Photo: File) Mumbai: The car of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez who was partying with her Race 3 co-stars at actor Salam Khan's Galaxy Apartments residence in Mumbai on Thursday night met with an accident when Jacqueline was on her way back. According to reports, the accident took place at around 2:45 am on Carter Road, Bandra, when Jacqueline's car hit an autorickshaw. No one was injured, although the headlights of Jacqueline's car were damaged. Confirming the news, Jacqueline told The Times of India (TOI), "Yes, it did take place. The rickshaw driver was drunk. We will soon give out an official statement. Yes, we are fine. Police came and sorted it out." The 32-year-old actress is currently busy shooting for Remo D'Souza's Race 3. Jacqueline will don an action packed character in the film and has been practising Mixed Martial Arts for two hours every day to enact the scenes perfectly. Apart from Salman and Jacqueline, Race 3 also stars Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Anil Kapoor, Saqib Saleem and Freddy Daruwala. The trailer of Race 3 will be out on May 15, and the film will hit the big screens on Eid 2018. Under the new agreement which will be reviewed in the 6th year, HMIL will export a minimum of 50,000 cars annually. Chennai: Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), the countrys second largest manufacturer of passenger cars and the number-one exporter since inception, on Thursday renewed its Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Chennai Port Trust, for 10 years. The new agreement has been attractively designed both in terms of commercials and facilities offered to make it a winner for both stake holders. Under the new agreement which will be reviewed in the 6th year, HMIL will export a minimum of 50,000 cars annually. The terms include 20 days of free storage of cars at the port, priority berthing of vessels and exemption from double berthing charges, says a HMIL release here. We decided to renew our contract with Chennai Port trust as the terms & conditions and the facilities offered by them suit our requirements the best, said Mr. Y.K.Koo, MD& CEO, HMIL. It is from here that we began our export and have been rated as the top exporter of India for 12 long years, he added. Among the many attractions that HMIL finds in the Chennai Port is that the latter is strategically located from HMIL at a distance of just 45 km which helps car carrying trucks and trailers turn around in just six hours at night. Also, parking slots which are allotted to HMIL are in the vicinity of the berths which reduce the travel time while loading the cars and a saving in the money spent. Besides, the port is equipped with a railway line, should HMI choose to transport cars by rail instead of road. HMIL and ChPT have a long association and we are really happy that they have renewed their contract for another 10 years, said Mr. Raveendran P, IRTS, Chairman, ChPT. Apart from being one of the most modern ports in India, ChPT offers competitive pricing that helps exporters keep overheads low, which is a definite advantage in the global market. Also, port is committed to a clean environment free from any pollution which is a huge advantage for lifestyle cargo like cars, as there is no fear of contamination. Chennai: State cooperation minister Sellur K. Raju welcomed Tamil film superstar Rajinikanths dream of linking the south Indian rivers but sarcastically remarked that the actor can never come to power in Tamil Nadu. Linking up all the rivers in south India is good. He (Rajini) has only put forth an excellent suggestion. He has announced to provide funds (for this project), so, let him give. We all wish for it. The entire people of Tamil Nadu want the south Indian rivers to be inter-linked, Mr Sellur Raju said reacting to the superstars ambition in life. While speaking at the Kaala audio launch at a packed YMCA here on Wednesday night, Rajinikanth had said, my only dream has been to unite the south Indian rivers. I would die peacefully the moment this happens. When reporters in Madurai sought to know from the minister if the veteran actor could come to power in TN, Mr. Raju shot back saying Rajinikanth cannot come to power in Tamil Nadu. He cant come to power in the state. Its all in the peoples hands, the minister added. During Wednesdays even Rajini had also said that time will come for him to launch the political party. When it happens with gods blessings and peoples support, a good time will arrive for Tamil Nadu and for TN people. Vaazhga Tamil makkal, Valarga Tamil Nadu. Jai Hind he had said. The actor had in December 2017 announced to float a political party in Tamil Nadu, but kept everyone guessing on the possible date. One of the vehicles damaged in an attack on BJP chief Amit Shah's convoy at Alipiri on Friday. (Photo: DC) Tirupati: Telugu Desam activists reportedly attacked the convoy of Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah on his way to Ramachandrapuram Ashramam from Tirumala on Friday, apparently in protest against the Centres refusal to confer Special Category Status on Andhra Pradesh. Tension prevailed at Alipiri in Tirupati when TD workers staged a demonstration against Mr Shah as he was proceeding to Renigunta airport from Tirumala hills and in the melee a stone was allegedly hurled at one of the vehicles in his convoy. According to a media report, Amit Shah had gone with his family to visit Tirumala when Telugu Desam cadres also raised slogans against the BJP chief, chanting Go back, Amit Shah. Tirupati: Telugu Desam activists reportedly attacked the convoy of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah on his way to Ramachandrapuram Ashramam from Tirumala on Friday, apparently in protest against the Centres refusal to confer special status to AP. As Mr Shahs vehicle reached Alipiri, several people attacked it, with the police trying hard to control the protestors. An unconfirmed number of people were later taken into custody. A car belonging to Srikalahasthi BJP leader Kola Anand was also damaged in the attack. Amit Shah was pained by the entire incident, he said. The BJP lodged a complaint with the Tirupati urban superintendent of police about the assault. BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy said, This is an undemocratic step by TD, which claims to be a national party. The Chief Minister has 40 years of experience in politics and still doesnt know how to handle such situations. There was a message to the activists from Amaravati to attack Amit Shah. Earlier, Shah had a darshan of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala, and left for the airport after offering pooja at Ramachandrapuram Asharamam. Hyderabad: Congress former MLA Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy claimed on Friday that the people of the state were not believing the words of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his son and minister K.T. Rama Rao. He said he had completed a 41-day padayatra to know the peoples problems. Mr Reddy alleged that political leaders were barred from entering Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister, unless they changed their kanduva, or political allegiance. He said the TRS had promised to waive Rs 1 lakh loan of each farmer bit this had not yet been done. He said the TRS government had failed to procure produce from farmers by paying remunerative prices. The government had not paid compensation to the families of farmers who committed suicide, he said. If the government provided remunerative prices to farmers, there would have been no need to pay Rs 4,000 per season per acre every year as investment subsidy. Mr Reddy said Mr Rao had said Congress leaders have no brains. If Mr Rao was intelligent, the Congress leader said, why did he not implement his assurances to the people. US President Donald Trumps decision on Wednesday to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal, which his predecessor Barack Obama painstakingly put together in 2015 with Americas closest Western allies in the UN Security Council, Britain and France, besides Russia and China, and Germany, can have likely unintended consequences. We will know more in three to six months how all the other parties to the deal, which regretted and criticised the US decision, are doing in Americas absence, and whether the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will still work. One of the unanticipated results of the deal was on view straightaway, just after midnight Wednesday, as Iranian rockets in Syria apparently attacked Israeli troops illegally occupying Syrias Golan Heights since the 1967 war, and the Israelis retaliated with force, striking Iranian targets in Syria. Does this have the potential to lead to outright hostilities, or will this military exchange only complicate the already fraught West Asia picture, that resembles a tinderbox at the best of times? The Obama-initiated JCPOA curbed Tehrans march toward production of nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting of sanctions imposed on it over an extended period. This gave Irans economy relief, and it could once again trade with the world and get investments, and its famed petroleum and gas production was back in business. But Mr Trump wasnt happy. He decried the JCPOA as one of the worst agreements ever. He wanted curbs on Irans missile development, and on Tehrans rising influence in Syria and Iraq and its involvement in the Arab world as it went about fighting ISIS. Only two countries have voiced happiness with the American decision Israel and Saudi Arabia, both arch foes of Tehran. Remarkably, the US leader reneged on the JCPOA though the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog which has set the most stringent safeguards for Iran, has consistently reported Tehran has scrupulously stuck to its side of the deal. This evidently means the US cannot be relied upon as a reliable partner internationally, and there is a lesson in this for India as well. Mr Trumps America has already reneged on the Paris climate pact and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In light of President Trump overturning the Iran deal, its not clear how much confidence North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will have in US assurances when he holds his summit with Mr Trump on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in the coming weeks. India has a strong regional strategic partnership with Iran, as evident from the Chabahar developments, which impacts Indias relations with Afghanistan, and the North-South International Transport Corridor, besides the long-standing hydrocarbons relationship, which had been disrupted by US sanctions before 2015. New Delhi must assert this and find feasible ways for financial transactions with Tehran in light of fresh US sanctions. I am writing this after US President Donald Trump announced scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal a few days ago, imposing new sanctions on that country and those trading with it. This was done with the aim of defanging Irans nuclear ambitions by bringing Iranian ballistic missiles and similar issues into the newly-negotiated deal. This step also permits US to sell its shale oil to the world after stopping the exports of Iranian oil. Indians who thought that we had a strategic partnership with America are now becoming aware of the possibility of India coming under US sanctions for purchasing Russian weapons in future, under a 2017 law called CAASTA. I will go back to this later. Further, those who went gaga over the recent informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinas President Xi Jinping at Wuhan should read Brahma Chellaney who wrote: India is the only country to have repeatedly cried betrayal, not by friends, but by adversaries in whom it had reposed trust. Indias foreign policy since Independence can actually be summed up in three words: Hug, then repent. I must say India must be the only major nation whose leadership has shown not only lack of resolve and strategic vision, but also an utter disdain for the military. All strategic advice to the political leadership is given by unaccountable bureaucrats, and retired diplomats and police officers. In my view, President Xi Jinping has learnt a great lesson from the Second World War, which is never to fight two enemies at the same time. Hitler had started World War II by invading Poland on September 1, 1939. Then, in six weeks starting May 10, 1940, he conquered France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, after which he turned his attention to Britain; but then made a huge strategic mistake by opening a second front in the east, by simultaneously launching strikes against the then Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. China, having initially antagonised most nations (including India, Japan, the US, Australia and Vietnam), then tried to buy a few friends with either its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or its chequebook diplomacy particularly in relation to the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malay-sia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles, etc. It has now responded to the unpredictable United States Presidents trade war threats, the peace moves in the Korean peninsula (where China may lose influence in case of a Korean reunification), scrapping of Iran nuclear deal , and the ongoing proxy conflict with Russia in Syria, and the possibility of a Quadrilateral alliance taking shape with the US, India, Australia and Japan as the initial partners. Besides consolidating its growing ties with Russia (now under US sanctions), China has apparently decided to temporarily mend fences with Japan and India, all the while focusing on its main adversary, the United States. The Chinese President appears to have partly succeeded with the Wuhan talks with India, while still opposing Australias entry into the June 2018 Malabar exercises at Guam between the naval forces of the US, Japan and India (three Indian Navy ships are now exercising with the Singapore Navy and may enter other ports en route to Guam), thus delaying the formation of the Quad. India, which ignored military reforms and modernisation, while being in permanent election mode, should not rejoice too much over Wuhan, as it may soon come under the US sanctions under the 2017 CAASTA (Countering Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) in case it buys advanced Russian arms like the SA-400, nuclear submarines (SSN) or frigates this year, as expected, in accordance with an earlier agreement between Mr Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The irony is that while the Indian Navy exercises with US Navy, the US will not supply SSNs to India (or to any other country) and it has no equivalent to the SA-400, while its frigate-equivalent warships would be twice as costly. India stands to lose in this US-China standoff the Indian military, which uses 62 per cent Russian military hardware, will be left practically defenceless against its two hostile neighbours. India should realise Wuhan was just a short, tactical Chinese pause, while it deals with the US to achieve President Xis goal of making China a developed country by 2035, and a global power by 2049. Once China becomes a full-fledged global power, it will turn against its strategic partner Russia to correct some historical wrongs and reclaim 600,000 sq km of territory it had lost. In 1689, a strong China signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with a comparatively weaker Russia, to stop the Russian eastward expansion, by removing Russian outposts from the Amur river basin, blocked Russias easy access to the Sea of Okhotsk and far eastern markets, among other issues. This treaty prevented a potential Russian military defeat at the hands of the Chinese, while giving China a status equal to that of Imperial Russia. This treaty was further confirmed and expanded in 1727 by the Treaty of Kyakhta; and Russia-China relations continued to be governed by this treaty till 1858, when a weakened China was forced by Russia to sign the unequal Treaty of Aigun, under which Russia gained over 600,000 sq km of Chinese territory. China, which clashed with the USSR in the Ussuri river conflict of March 2-15, 1969, is biding its time and will someday (after dealing with the United States, and resolving its territorial claims against India and in the South China and East China Seas) revisit the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia. Indians must realise that China has always been a great power (barring its self-declared century of shame/humiliation from 1839 to 1949), which even when not prosperous had given top priority to its national security. It militarily intervened in the Korean war to fight the US in October 1950 (when US-led UN forces advanced towards the Yalu river near China; fought India in 1962 (coinciding with US involvement in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962); defeated the then South Vietnamese ships at sea on January 19-20, 1974 to establish control over the Paracel Islands (when the US had practically withdrawn from South Vietnam); invaded Vietnam on August 25, 1978, when Indias then external affairs minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was visiting Beijing. Now that China is rich with a $14 trillion economy, and has carried out military reforms and military modernisation, built artificial islands in the South China Sea, it is determined to correct other past wrongs (real or imagined). Hence, its is vital for India to focus on its economy, national security and build up its comprehensive national power). Doklam bought India some breathing time and it needs to be gainfully employed, if India doesnt want to repeat its thousand years of shame/humiliation wherein almost any invader who came overland across the Khyber Pass or by sea found an unprepared people led by rulers who didnt understand the link between national prosperity, national security and sea power. Our military must not suffer because our scientists cant produce modern weapons or due to a lack of military reforms. Independence comes at a cost, and India must be ready to pay that cost. Just as it must learn from history in order not to repeat its past mistakes. It was on Monday, March 20, 1989, when the governor-designate of West Bengal, the late T.V. Rajeshwar (a former Intelligence Bureau director, 1980-1983), landed at Calcutta (now Kolkata) airport to take charge of his duties. The flight was on time and tarmac-positioned state paraphernalia ready with the official protocol to receive the incoming head of the state. But that was not to be thanks to an unexpected and unforeseen faux pas a small gap between the door of the aircraft and the mobile staircase compelled the governor-designate to remain inside the plane for more than 15 minutes. Reportedly, it was an unavoidable incident. However, to me it appeared a well-thought-out plan hatched by the Communist-run state government. It raised a big question whether the Communists had an inherent penchant to resort to their own special my way or highway philosophy, especially when it came to extending courtesy to unwanted non-Communist guest in their territory? Welcome to Calcutta ran the silent murmur of the CPM, to the bourgeoisie, capitalist Centre-appointed governor to the land of the proletariat. I witnessed the shenanigans of the host, the West Bengal government, from the tarmac. It was gross misbehaviour and an act lacking grace and dignity. Almost 29 years later, I again saw, through live TV coverage, another incident of similar nature in a foreign Communist land. On Friday, April 27, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at Wuhan airport in Chinas Hubei province, at 12.30 am, he was forced to stay put inside his aircraft for more than 10 minutes due to a similar mismatch between the Chinese staircase and the Indian aircraft door-case. Welcome to Communist China, Mr Modi for the informal summit! What the Chinese did to the Indian PM on his arrival at Wuhan was an act of indignity, lacking in grace. Emulating the Indian Bengali Communists, the Chinese Communists too resorted to psychological warfare. We must always remember the Chinese have always believed in signals. Their signages and psychology must be fathomed, always, specially, while dealing with foreigners. Its their tradition. Whether you like it or not, you have to gulp it down your throat if you are in China to do business. You must not expect anything else to happen regarding the thought, psyche, culture and tradition of the Chinese hosts. The next point to be noted was the first meeting between the two leaders. The background wall of the room appeared to contain a painting of the summer palace of Chinese emperors which was brutally burnt down by the Anglo-French invasion of October 18, 1860, during the Second Opium War, on the orders of Lord Ripon. As it so often happened in the past, Indian troops belonging to the Punjab and Madras Regiments too were part of the mindless loot by the destructive brigade under the command of the two Western powers. Through this painting, Mr Xi seems to have been signalling grimly, and silently reminding his guest (Mr Modi) about the history of Chinese tragedies, of which New Delhis predecessor powers were part and parcel. Look, this is what you people did to us in cahoots with the West. Hence, we will neither forget nor forgive you. Trade, territory, terror, technology, tariffs, come what may. Nevertheless, today we will entertain you because we are once again on the backfoot; being haunted and hunted by the US tax hike and trade war and the tough stand adopted by Europe regarding technology and our endeavour to take over their high-profile companies and corporations, he seemed to be saying. It must, nevertheless, be appreciated that India, from the very beginning, had no big expectations from the Chinese side. New Delhi had publicly conceded that no immediate result would come out of Wuhan meeting; that this informal summit was for exploring possibilities for the future for course direction or correction. It was an interaction where neither convergence nor divergence could have been on agenda. In fact, prima facie, this was an experimental move. Why? Because, if only convergence is discussed and agreed to, then criticism will soar as to how can divergence be omitted? Conversely, if divergence takes precedence over convergence in public, the quantum of (domestic) public criticism could be worse. Thus the need for an unconventional bilateral summit, even if informal. However, this informal diplomacy too has its potential adverse side effects. When nothing is formalised, institutionalised or concretised, things tend to be in a fluid state; a state in which shape, size, length, breadth, colour and formation all remain undefined, un-agreed to, thereby sowing the seeds of free-for-all in future and unilateral denial or dispute according to ones own convenience! Hence, the need for formal, carefully structured and serious bilateral diplomacy could not be left behind for long. Even in the best of times Sino-Indian relations are fraught with instant danger it is like a weather vane that can turn any time, at the slightest pretext or provocation, owing to profound trust deficit, which cant be wished away. Trust is like a mirror, once broken, it will never be the same again. Still, mirror restoration is possible through replacement. How does one restore broken trust? One thing, nevertheless, appears to be better than before. Both Mr Modi and Mr Xi appear to have had time for each other. For Mr Xi, it is fine being the lifetime ruler of 1.4 billion heads. But for Mr Modi, it is a five-year cycle. He does not have the luxury of unlimited time for a country of 1.3 billion. We can therefore say that irrespective of any informal or formal sweet talk and charm offensive, an instant outcome of the Wuhan meeting is highly unlikely. The difference in attitude of India and China is too stark to be bridged any time soon. Why? Because behind the bilateral is the core issue of unresolved territory, which will continue as divergence and which may prick the Delhi-Beijing bilateral relationship no end in the near future. China has regularly and repeatedly announced that its territorial claim is its sovereignty, hence its non-negotiable. For India too, a violation of sovereignty is unacceptable, irrespective of which political party is in power. Hence, both Beijing and New Delhi simply cannot leave divergence alone. It must be addressed, and the sooner the better. Territory resolution alone could prove to be the prelude to tangible and visible results. Divergence begs a political resolution, not an indefinite delay or diplomatic dissolution. A few minutes after blast-off was aborted, mission controllers for billionaire Elon Musks private launch company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, said they would try again on Friday. A last-minute technical glitch prompted SpaceX on Thursday to postpone for at least 24 hours the first commercial flight of its updated Falcon 9 rocket, a launch vehicle tailored for eventual crewed missions into orbit. The rockets onboard computers halted the countdown about one minute before the newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9 was set to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on its maiden mission, to carry a communications satellite into orbit for Bangladesh. A few minutes after blast-off was aborted, mission controllers for billionaire Elon Musks private launch company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, said they would try again on Friday. They will have roughly the same two-hour-plus launch window running from 4:14 pm to 6:21 pm EDT. The precise reason for Thursdays automatic shutdown of the final launch sequence was not determined. Launch commanders will have to sift through data logs produced by onboard computers to learn what might have gone wrong. The Falcon 9 Block-5 comes equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor. Its recoverable main-stage booster is designed to be reused at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, allowing more frequent launches at lower cost a key to the SpaceX business model. Enhanced rocket reusability also is a core tenet of Musks broader objectives for normalising space travel and ultimately sending humans to Mars. SpaceX so far has safely return-landed 24 of its boosters and reflown 11 of them. The Block-5 is the first rocket from Musks California-based company to satisfy NASAs standards for its Commercial Crew Program to carry agency astronauts to the International Space Station. But NASA still requires seven successful flights before the new rocket receives final certification for a manned mission. The Block-5 will also be used to launch US Air Force global positioning satellites and other high-value, military and national security payloads. For this weeks flight of the new Falcon 9, SpaceX will be launching the Bangladeshi governments first satellite, Bangabandhu-1, into Earth orbit. Block-5 marks the final version of the Falcon 9 line-up before SpaceX introduces its super heavy-lift launch vehicle, dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which will be designed to send manned missions to Mars. SpaceX is one of two private companies hired by NASA to ferry astronaut crews to the space station. The other is Boeing Co. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Top US tech executives and researchers are gathering at a White House summit, to press Trump administration officials on investing in artificial intelligence and crafting policies they hope will strengthen the economy without displacing jobs. (Photo: AP) President Donald Trump hasnt said much, if anything, about artificial intelligence, but his administration is warming up to the idea of investing more in the technology and finding ways to build new skills for the US workers it replaces. The Trump administration will ensure our great nation remains the global leader in AI, the presidents technology adviser, Michael Kratsios, said to a gathering of corporate leaders. Kratsios was hosting the Trump White Houses first summit on artificial intelligence, convening tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft as well as major retailers, banks, drugmakers, carmakers, food companies and engineering schools. Some in the crowd had been pushing the administration to focus more on AI and related issues in science and technology. Academic leaders have pitched for more investment in basic research. There is little doubt that US tech companies and universities are already at the forefront of developing self-driving cars, robotics, smarter health diagnostics and other advances that rely on increasingly intelligent machines. But Trumps lack of public emphasis on both the economic promise and potential dangers of automation has contrasted with other world leaders who have made a vocal push to get their countries ahead. Its been a huge missed opportunity up until this point, said Robert Seamans, a White House economist during the Obama administration who now teaches at the NYU Stern School of Business. Naveen Rao, who leads the AI product unit at chipmaker Intel, said the United States enjoys a nice lead that happened organically and with help from prior investments going back decades. But, he said, other countries are organised, and organising right now, around AI and how its going to change the future of work and the economy. Chinas government announced last summer a goal of becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence in just over a decade by developing skills, research and educational resources to achieve major breakthroughs. A report last month from the US Congressional Research Service described China as a leading competitor in using AI to develop military applications, including autonomous vehicles and computer systems that can make faster and better-informed decisions. The European Unions executive branch said last month it wants the blocs governments and companies to invest at least $24 billion in AI through 2020 in an attempt to remain globally competitive. The leaders of France and the UK have talked about making AI investments while also outlining concerns about developing the new technology with ethical guidelines. John Holdren, who was the top presidential science adviser during the Obama administration, warned that the Trump administrations late entry into outlining its approach to AI reflects broader concerns about its commitment to technological advancement. Holdren noted that his former job leading the nearly 40-year-old Office of Science and Technology Policy remains unfilled. Trump, who is more than 15 months into his term of office, hasnt yet nominated a replacement. Instead, Kratsios, a deputy assistant to the president for technology policy, detailed the administrations AI strategy. Kratsios said a new committee is being formed that will coordinate AI investments across federal agencies, including research related to autonomous systems, biometric identification, computer vision and robotics. He called for a free-market approach that would harness the combined strength of government, industry and academia while limiting regulation that could hamstring companies, according to his prepared remarks. The event was closed to the press. While Seamans said the US doesnt need to take a centralised approach, he said it could be useful for administration officials to discuss the impacts of the new technology, especially for consumers and workers whose jobs are becoming obsolete or who will require new skills. He said its also important to make it easier for startups to participate so that the technology and the reams of online data it learns from isnt tightly controlled by a small group of large companies. Dean Garfield, who heads the Information Technology Industry Council trade group, said the White Houses attention to AI is better late than never. A year ago, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brushed aside concerns about AI displacing jobs, saying that prospect was so far in the future that its not even on my radar screen. That perspective seems to have shifted, as Kratsios argued that job displacement is inevitable and that we cant sit idle, hoping eventually the market will sort it out. Garfield said that as new technology displaces some job roles, the government is well-situated to make sure that people are also deployed in the competencies and in the places those jobs will be. Garfield and other attendees said they were optimistic about the administrations approach, including efforts to smooth regulations that could foster the adoption of self-driving vehicles and drones. Ian Buck, who leads the data centre business for chipmaker Nvidia, said his company also supports the administrations plans to make more government data sets available to researchers. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. It also issued a summons for Dominic Cummings, former director of the Vote Leave campaign in Britains 2016 European Union membership referendum. British lawmakers investigating the use of Facebook users information in political campaigns issued a summons for the former head of data firm Cambridge Analytica after he declined to answer their questions. Parliaments Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee said it had summoned the companys ex-chief executive, Alexander Nix, to appear June 6. It also issued a summons for Dominic Cummings, former director of the Vote Leave campaign in Britains 2016 European Union membership referendum. It wants him to answer questions May 22. Last month Nix refused to appear before the committee, citing British authorities ongoing investigation into Cambridge Analytica. Committee chairman Damian Collins said Nix and Cummings could be found in contempt of Parliament if they ignored the summons. Former Cambridge Analytica staffer Christopher Wylie sparked a global debate over electronic privacy when he alleged the company used data from tens of millions of Facebook accounts to help US President Donald Trumps 2016 election campaign. Wylie said the Brexit leave campaign also had access to the Facebook data. Cambridge Analytica announced last week that it plans to file for bankruptcy in Britain and the United States, saying negative publicity from the scandal had driven potential clients away. The House of Commons can punish people for disorderly and disrespectful acts committed against it although in practice its powers are limited. In the past, offenders could be imprisoned in a special cell in Parliament, but the power has not been used since 1880. Parliament also once had the power to fine those found in contempt, but it has not done so since the 17th century. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The bodies of three adults and four children and two guns were found at a rural property at the village of Osmington, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. (Photo: File/Representational) Canberra: Seven people were found dead with gunshot wounds at a property near the tourist town of Margaret River in Australias southwest on Friday in what could be the countrys worst mass shooting in 22 years, police said. The bodies of three adults and four children and two guns were found at a rural property at the village of Osmington, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. The bodies of two adults were found outside a building on the property and the rest were found inside. They all resided at the property, he said. Police have no information to raise concerns about the wider public safety. Police were led to the property by a phone call before dawn, Dawson said. He would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide. Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident, Dawson told reporters. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest, he added. Police were attempting to make contact with victims relatives, Dawson said. He declined to release the names or ages of the dead. This could be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania state in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australias gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters including former President Barack Obama saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented. The generally accepted definition of a mass shooting four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event has been met only once in Australia since then. In 2014, a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. Police have revealed few details about the recent killings, and it is not clear whether there was more than one shooter. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. The trio were arrested on April 27 last year in raids by counter-terrorism police, during which Rizlaine Boular was shot. (Representational Image) London: A trial began Thursday of a teenage girl accused of plotting a terror attack in London from behind bars using the guise of an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party. Safaa Boular was aged 17 when she allegedly schemed with her sister to launch assaults in the British capital in April, 2017. She began plotting after failing the year before to join her then-fiance Naweed Hussain, a member of the ISIS subsequently killed in Syria, the court heard. While in custody for allegedly trying to travel to ISIS territory, she encouraged her elder sister Rizlaine Boular to carry on with the plot, jurors were told. In calls from jail, she talked with her 21-year-old sibling about arranging an "Alice In Wonderland" themed tea party, which prosecutors said was code for an attack. The duo also referenced a "Mad Hatter" and "pineapples", other code words in the plot, they added. During their investigation members of the security services posed as ISIS fighters online to engage with the pair and track their activities. Safaa Boular, now 18, told one officer that all she needed was a "car and a knife to get what I want to achieve", jurors were told. Prosecutors said the sisters and their mother Mina Dich, 43, had carried out reconnaissance around major landmarks in Westminster and purchased a pack of knives and a rucksack. The trio were arrested on April 27 last year in raids by counter-terrorism police, during which Rizlaine Boular was shot. She has since pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. Safaa Boular, who lived at home with her mother in southwest London, has denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism. Her defence lawyer Joel Bennathan told jurors that she had been "groomed" by Hussain, who was twice her age, and that her family had "encouraged" and "celebrated" it. A 104-year-old Australian scientist who travelled to Switzerland to end his life committed assisted suicide on Thursday, a Swiss foundation said. David Goodall, who had been barred from seeking help to end his life in his home country, did not have a terminal illness but said his quality of life had deteriorated significantly and that he wanted to die. Goodall died peacefully in Basel, tweeted Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, the organisation which helped Goodall make the journey from Australia. The death occurred at 10.30 GMT from an infusion of Nembutal, a barbiturate, at the Life Cycle clinic, he said. The honorary research associate at Perths Edith Cowan University set off from Australia a week ago and stopped in Bordeaux, France to see his family before arriving in Basel on Monday. I no longer want to continue life, Goodall told journalists on Wednesday. I am happy to have the chance tomorrow to end it, and I appreciate the help of the medical profession here in making that possible, he said. The 104-year-old said he hoped the widespread interest in his case would spur Australia and other countries to rethink their legislation. I would have preferred to have (ended) it in Australia, and I greatly regret that Australia is behind Switzerland when it comes to right-to-die laws, he said. Goodall secured a fast-track appointment with the foundation in Basel after he attempted but failed to commit suicide on his own earlier this year. It would have been much more convenient for everyone if I had been able to, but unfortunately it failed, he said of the suicide attempt. But he said he was happy that he had been offered the Swiss option, since he has been able to see most of his large family, which is spread over several countries, in the run-up to his final day. Assisted suicide is illegal in most countries and was banned in Australia until the state of Victoria became the first to legalise the practice last year. But that legislation, which takes effect in June 2019, only applies to terminally ill patients of sound mind. Israeli strikes on several areas of Syria overnight killed at least 23 fighters, including five Syrian regime troops and 18 other allied forces, a monitor said Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an officer was among the regime troops killed in the strikes and that the casualties included foreigners. Israel's army said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria. The Russian defence ministry, whose country has forces in Syria supporting the regime, said 28 Israeli warplanes took part in the raids and around 70 missiles were fired. Areas near Damascus and in the southwest of Syria were among the targets, the Observatory said. The strikes "caused human losses in a number of the targeted areas", it said, adding the death toll was likely to rise. Israel said it targeted Syrian positions after rocket fire towards its forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that it blamed on Iran. A senior military pro-regime source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets but insisted Israel fired first. The strikes come after the Syrian army late Tuesday said it intercepted two Israeli missiles, while the Observatory said eight Iranians were among 15 foreign pro-regime fighters killed in that attack. Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has repeatedly targeted positions of the Syrian army and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah backing it inside the country. US President Donald Trump today announced that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, the first-ever summit between the top leaders of the two Cold War rivals to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Trump's announcement came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned home from North Korea with three detained Americans. Trump, who personally greeted the trio at the Andrews Air Force Base, praised Kim for their release ahead of their summit. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!," Trump tweeted. In April, Trump had stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Kim in an unprecedented sit-down. Trump and Kim had previously traded insults and threats. The breakthrough came after the recent landmark talks between North and South Korea. At a summit last month, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons, although the means of achieving this were not detailed. The main issue under discussion at the Trump-Kim summit will be North Korea's nuclear weapons, which the US is demanding Pyongyang give up. There has been no word from North Korea on its agenda or what it might offer, although a key issue is certain to be the presence of 30,000 US military personnel in South Korea, along with the removal of sanctions. Trump has struck a cautiously optimistic tone in discussing the prospects of reaching a deal during his upcoming summit with Kim, saying he is hopeful a historic agreement can be brokered while also warning the talks could prove unfruitful. But the President saw the release of the three Americans as yet another reason for optimism as he prepares for the summit. "We are starting off on a new footing -- I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful. A lot of very good things have happened," Trump said as he greeted the three former prisoners. The Americans -- Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim -- were freed yesterday by North Korea while Pompeo was on a visit to Pyongyang to finalise the details of the Trump-Kim summit. The trio had been jailed for anti-state activities and placed in North Korean labour camps. "I really think he wants to do something and bring the country into the real world," he added of Kim. "It's never been taken this far, there has never been a relationship like this. I really think a lot of progress has been made." The summit, which has been in the works since Trump accepted Kim's invitation to meet in March, will be the first-ever meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader. US officials had also considered holding the summit at the Korean demilitarized zone or in Mongolia but ultimately settled on the city-state of Singapore as the location. Singapore has been used before for high-profile diplomatic occasions. In 2015, the leaders of China and Taiwan held historic talks in the South East Asian city-state - they're first in more than 60 years, the BBC reported. The US and Singapore have a close relationship. Singapore has diplomatic ties with North Korea but suspended all trade with Pyongyang in November last year as US-led international sanctions were tightened following a series of provocative actions by the reclusive state. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb came in for fresh criticism after he said Rabindranath Tagore had rejected his Nobel prize in protest against the British government. The opposition was quick to react to the chief minister's folly. Tagore never returned the Nobel Prize for Literature, which was conferred on him for his work 'Gitanjali' in 1913. He, however, had refused to accept the British Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. Speaking in Bengali at a programme in Gomati district on the occasion of Tagore's birthday on Wednesday, the chief minister had said, "Rabindranath Tagore not only rejected the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government, but also got Biswosrestho (world's best) award for Gitanjali. However, Tagore cannot be confined to the (Gitanjali) award". Tripura's royal scion, Pradyot Kishore Devburman, who is also the TPCC working president, said he was "very unhappy" with the chief minister's comment. "Tagore surrendered the knighthood conferred on him in 1919 to protest against the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab. My grandfather was also very perturbed by the incident. I found it in his diary. It is not good that our chief minister said this. It does not have any sense," he said. Tagore had visited Tripura seven times and was close to four successive kings - Birchandra, Radhakishore, Birendra Kishore and last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, said Panna Lal Roy, a writer, who wrote a number of books on Tagore's relation with Tripura kings. Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Birajit Sinha told a press conference on Friday, "Even we are receiving phone calls from abroad and people are laughing at his comments. He has tarnished the image of our state and made us feel ashamed". TPCC vice president Tapas Dey said, "Tripura is a state where 98% people are literate, but I wonder what the people of our country or abroad are thinking about our state now. Our beloved chief minister's comment is embarrassing". CPI (M) state secretary Bijan Dhar said, "I can only laugh at his comment". The Tripura chief minister had earlier made controversial remarks such as the existence of the Internet during the Mahabharata war, whether 1994 Miss World Diana Hayden should be considered an Indian beauty and the questionability of mechanical engineers joining the civil services. Biplab Dada is back in Action! Says Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Noble prize in protest against the British. Arey O dada,Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest for Jalianwalla Bagh mass killing. Not Noble Price. @UnSubtleDesi ma'am, Please correct me if I am wrong pic.twitter.com/PRhxhk6rJ5 Unofficial Sususwamy (@swamv39) May 10, 2018 Biplab grabbed headlines after BJP's victory in Tripura, a Left bastion, early this year. BJP selected Biplab as chief minister. Since then, he has come out with statements like these. First in line was his statement which said internet and satellite existed during the 'Mahabharata' days. Later on, he went on to say that former Miss World Diana Hayden is not an Indian beauty like Aishwarya Rai. However, he apologised after fierce criticism from various corners. But his epic faux pas was his remarks on civil service jobs. Tripura's first BJP Chief Minister said that it is civil engineers who should opt for civil service and not mechanical engineers. He explained his statement to ANI saying that civil engineers are experts in building structures and can easily build a society too. Biplab then asked youngsters not to seek government jobs. He advised them to set up 'paan' shops and rear cattle. With these gaffes coming one after another, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called Biplab to New Delhi. ALSO READ: Curious case of Biplab Deb India has dispatched one of its naval ships to the Maldives in what may be seen as a fresh effort to mend ties with the island nation and bring back warmth in bilateral relations. A naval offshore patrol vessel, INS Sumedha, was sent to the Maldives earlier this week to carry out a joint surveillance of the exclusive economic zone. The ship would undertake an operational turnaround at Male on May 11-12 during which the crew would interact and impart training to Maldives' National Defence Forces personnel, said a navy spokesperson. The MNDF personnel will embark and undertake joint EEZ surveillance of the Maldives between May 12-15. They would disembark at Male, on completion of EEZ surveillance. In addition, two officers and eight sailors of the Indian Navy's Marine Commando cadre were sent to the Maldives to conduct an asymmetric warfare training exercise, Ekatha 2018, between April 28 and May 15. Interestingly, the exercise began on April 28 coinciding with the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. INS Sumedha, after completing its task will bring back the Indian naval personnel from the Composite Training Centre, Maafilhafushi, which is about 145 km North of Male. The new naval engagement comes weeks after bilateral relations between the two neighbours nosedived, with New Delhi expressing "deep dismay" on the imposition and extension of the State of Emergency by Indian Ocean archipelago and Male reciprocated by not sending its ships to Milan multilateral naval exercise in the Andaman. Introducing fresh air in bilateral relations, Indian Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra on May 6-7 witnessed the training exercise in which MNDF personnel were trained on diving related issues like use and maintenance of diving equipment and associated medical emergencies. Apprehending growing Chinese influence in the island nation, India earlier tacitly asked the communist nation to play a constructive role in the Maldives instead of doing just the opposite. Not many in the audience were amused when Nikolay Kudashev, Russias ambassador to India, recently said at an event in New Delhi that Islamabad has taken serious measures to fight terrorism as well as has squeezed the flow of fund to terror outfits. He went on to say that the credibility of counter-terrorism measures by Pakistan was growing after it joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. I believe in the old dictum that if two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary, retired diplomat S K Lamba, who served as Indias envoy to both Pakistan and Russia and was chairing the event, quipped to convey the sentiment of many who gathered to listen to Kudashev. Days, when India and Russia agreed on almost all issues are indeed long gone. The erstwhile United Soviet Socialist Republic has been steadfastly supporting New Delhi on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir the core issue of conflict between India and Pakistan since 1955. Moscow exercised its veto five times at the United Nations Security Council to support New Delhi on the issue of J&K in 1957 and 1962 and thrice during India-Pakistan war in 1971. India and Russia, both being victims of terrorism, have been echoing each other in denouncing the menace, particularly its use by one state against the other. So, if Russias envoy to India vouches for the credibility of counter-terrorism measures by Pakistan, it may not go down well with an audience in New Delhi. But in the wake of recent Moscow-Islamabad bonhomie, it is not a surprise. While the then Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkovs visit to Pakistan in 2007 was a watershed point in Moscow-Islamabad relations, the two countries have since traversed quite a long way. Russia has since long been the largest supplier of military hardware to India and has been maintaining a low-key defence cooperation with Pakistan. But with the changes in geopolitical landscape and New Delhis growing ties with Washington DC, after the landmark India-US civil nuclear agreement of 2008, Moscow, too, responded to Islamabads overtures to improve bilateral relations. They started discussing the sale of Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan in 2014 and the delivery of the choppers purportedly begun a few months ago. Russia, in November 2015, also inked a defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan and the two nations had their first military drill in September-October, 2016 just weeks after India signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the US. As US President Donald Trumps new policy on Afghanistan in particular and the South Asia in general, further strained Washington-Islamabad relations, Russia and Pakistan of late renewed their efforts to build closer ties. The US has been accusing Russia of providing support to Taliban. Moscow has dismissed it, saying it was an attempt to shift the blame for the US failure in Afghanistan to Russia. Russia has been stepping up its strategic partnership with China, with the important milestones being the settlement of the border dispute in 1991, signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation in 2001, and elevation of the relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2014. Russia signalled its willingness to consider the transfer of technology to China, as its military sales to the communist country increased substantially. Russia in December 2017, delivered the second batch of 10 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to China about a year after the delivery of the first batch of four aircraft. During a visit to New Delhi in December 2017, Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov nudged India to drop its opposition to Belt and Road initiative of China. He even tacitly disapproved Indias move to re-launch the quad initiative with the US, Australia and Japan to counter the hegemonic aspirations of China in the Indo-Pacific. Growing acrimony The prospects of Russia-China-Pakistan axis already caused unease in New Delhi. What is likely to pose a new challenge for Indias ties with Russia, is the growing acrimony between Moscow and the West. New Delhi has been trying to tread cautiously, avoiding taking sides so far. India, earlier this month, abstained from voting on a proposal by Moscow in the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for a joint investigation into the recent nerve-agent attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England. New Delhi called for strict adherence to the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention in the investigation into the alleged nerve-agent attack, thus, opposing a joint probe demanded by Russia. India also tacitly criticised the US and the UK for blaming Russia, by noting that all countries should wait for the outcome of the probe by the OPCW. India also called for restraint after the US, Britain and France launched air-strikes on Syria accusing President Basher al-Assad government of using chemical weapons against civilians in a rebel stronghold near Damascus. New Delhi stressed on the need for an objective and impartial probe by the OPCW into the allegation against Assad government a position, which appeared to be in sync with that of Moscow. Notably, although New Delhi in 2012 disappointed Moscow by voting with the US at the UN Security Council against the Assad government, it subsequently re-worked its position on the conflict in Syria, aligning its stand with that of Russia since 2013. India did not join the US to criticise Russias moves on Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014, instead, opposed the sanctions imposed by the US and European Union on Russia, but avoided supporting secession of Crimea from Ukraine. But, if the current tension between Moscow and the West escalates, India may find it difficult to strike the delicate balance. India fears that Russias escalating tension with the West might prompt it to seek closer ties with China. Besides, New Delhi is concerned that its military hardware procurement from Russia could make it liable for actions by the US under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. New Delhi, however, conveyed to Washington that given the long history of its defence cooperation with Moscow, it would not be possible for India to abruptly bring down its reliance on military hardware from it. The US needs to realise that Indias military capability will be severely affected if its defence procurement from Russia is affected, and a weak India is not in the interest of America, particularly when the two nations are working to build on strategic synergy to counter an expansionist China. Indias interest is in maintaining its partnerships with Russia, P S Raghavan, Indias former ambassador to Russia, said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in diversionary tactics by raking up his Italian ancestry. My mother (Sonia Gandhi) is Italian. Shes also lived a large part of her life in India. Shes more Indian than many, many Indian people I see. My mother has sacrificed and suffered for this country, Rahul told a press conference. The BJP had brought up the Italian origin of Sonia, the UPA chairperson, during her campaign rally at Vijayapura on May 8. The Congress has fought a very good campaign on fundamental issues. I think weve put down in front of Karnataka a vision for the state. Our opposition has restricted itself to making personal attacks on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge and myself. Theyve not really put down what they want to do for Karnataka, Rahul said. The Congress chief steered clear of questions about his claim to be Indias next prime minister. This Karnataka election is not about me. Its about Karnatakas future, but Modi likes to distract people as he has nothing to say. I wont engage in that distraction. Rahul said he had now learned how to deal with Modi. When Modi realises hes coming into space where theres no escape, he distracts and creates anger. We wont let him do that. Well defeat the BJP in Karnataka, he said, ruling out hung Assembly theories. He added that Modi was angry because he sees me as a threat. Rahul defended the state governments decision to accord religious minority status on the Lingayat community, speaking up on the issue for the first time in public. The Congress party helps people empower themselves. On the BJP branding him as an Election Hindu for visiting places of religious worship, Rahul said: I dont think they understand the term Hindu. The term Hindu is a perspective. Its a viewpoint. Its something imbibed in the heart and lives with you throughout. The Election Hindu statement is a demonstration of how they view their religion. The Income Tax authorities, late on Thursday night, seized unaccounted money of Rs 2.17 crore at Eddalaboyyanahatti check-post on Rayadurga Road, bordering Andhra Pradesh. The cash was being transported by a vehicle with Ballari registration number. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody and the cash deposited with the bank. There were rumours on social media that the money was meant to lure voters. Kolar district police, in a late night operation on Thursday, seized Rs 70 lakh which was being transported in a cement-bag laden truck, near Kondarajanahalli in the taluk. The police had received information that the cash was being transported from a cement godown in Kolar by a truck bound for Avalahalli in Bengaluru. A team led by Deputy Commissioner G Sathyavathi intercepted the truck and on a search, found the cash concealed amid cement bags. SP Rohini Katoch Sepat told DH that the cement bags in the truck belonged to Nagaraj Hardware of Kolar and they were being transported to a contractor in Avalahalli. The SP said that it was not clear whether the cash was meant to be distributed to voters or was black money. A notice has been issued to the owner of the hardware stores to appear for the inquiry. The Income Tax authorities too have been notified and they are also conducting a separate probe. Poll officials seized Rs 25 lakh, which was being transported in a car at KHB Colony in Kudligi, Ballari district. A shawl with BJP symbol was also found in the vehicle. In another incident, Rs 3.96 lakh, which was being transported by a bike was seized in Muddebihal of Vijayapura district. A team led by the district election officers raided Sapna International Hotel and seized Rs 85,000 found in a room where a person, said to be relative of Ashok Kheny stayed. Kheny is the Congress candidate from Bidar South Assembly constituency. SALT LAKE CITY There are two things the waters of the Great Salt Lake and agricultural lands have in common: they are both in steady, rapid decline. A three-day forum hosted by Friends of the Great Salt Lake at the University of Utah Officers Club is providing an in-depth look at the many challenges and unique attributes of a lake that delivers $1.3 billion in economic output including the industry and recreation it supports. But it is a lake in trouble. In October of 2016, the lake reached its lowest level in recorded history with its surface elevation at 4,191 feet. A report from Utah State University shows the waters of the Great Salt Lake have been reduced 48 percent since the arrival of pioneers. Its levels have dropped 11 feet since 1847. At the same time the lake is shrinking, so are the agricultural lands that surround it. Both western Weber and Davis counties are bursting with new development, with supermarkets, subdivisions and office space supplanting fields of onions, pumpkins, winter wheat and pastures of cattle. "We really think there is an urgent need to protect agricultural lands in the face of rapid land use change," said Karin Kettenring from USU's Quinney College of Natural Resources. Kettenring and Joanna Endter-Wada, also from the university's natural resources college, spoke Thursday about the nexus between agricultural land and healthy wetlands which depend on return flows from agricultural operations. "There are critical connections between agricultural operations and wetlands," Kettenring said. In a curious paradox, the least efficient watering methods in farming such as flood irrigation and canals with seepage actually provide better conservation value for the Great Salt Lake because more water is delivered into the system through groundwater or returns to the lake. "Agricultural lands will provide a better groundwater recharge than suburban development," Kettenring said. Don Leonard, chairman of the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council and chairman and CEO of the Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, said of nine research projects identified in 2012 related to the lake, eight of those are either complete or underway. The research has taught the scientific community and advocates that there is an abundance of knowledge left to be acquired, but few dollars to carry out those studies. One bit of knowledge is sure, he said. "We do believe water levels are in long-term decline," he said. "But I learned a long time ago you can't just yell and scream about problems, you have to be part of the solution." No one wants to see the Great Salt Lake go the path of the Aral Sea straddling the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan or California's Owens Lake. With the Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest saline lake in the world, diversions of two rivers dried up the inland sea in a matter of decades. Leonard said in 1960, 43,400 tons of fish were harvested there. By 1980, that dropped to zero. A dam constructed in 2005 is helping the water return in one area of the dry sea. Owens Lake, which began losing its water in aqueducts built in 1913 to deliver water to support Los Angeles, is now the country's largest source of particulate pollution, Leonard said. The mitigation of that, as of June 2018, is projected to cost $2.1 billion. Each year, maintenance of the problem costs $75 million, he said. "Could we be next?" Leonard asked the packed room. The Great Salt Lake Advisory Council solicited ideas to help the Great Salt Lake and stem its decline. Members culled a list of 72 potential strategies down to 18. Many of the top strategies focus on financial compensation for farmers to cut down production during late harvest, expanding the ability to acquire water rights for in- stream flows and a study of dry lake impacts which Leonard predicted would produce results that would spur people to action. The forum continues Friday. Technology is changing, and though frightening to some, embracing progress with cautious optimism is a better course than fighting the flow of advances. Laws, however, must change with technology, and its comforting to know Utah lawmakers are staying ahead of the curve. Though no one has yet encountered a robot on a sidewalk carrying a package for a delivery to a home or business, the state of Utah now has a law that would allow automated delivery devices to roam neighborhoods, under certain rules. There have been no documented cases of Utah State Prison inmates receiving deliveries of contraband by an airborne drone sent into a prison yard, but that is now explicitly illegal under another new law. Among the hundreds of bills passed in the last legislative session that took effect this week, there are some that anticipate the impact of new technology, which shows that lawmakers are wisely dedicated to getting ahead of the curve of disruption brought by advances in the exploding tech sector. Robot and drone laws are only the vanguard in a wave of statutory revision that will be necessary in a world in which new devices and wireless technology will allow machines to do more things in more places. The country is on the cusp of whats being called the 5G revolution as telecommunications companies work to create new wireless networks much more powerful than the 4G networks most cellphones now rely on. The 5G world will allow more efficient communication between devices, creating among other things, a pathway for managing autonomous vehicles on side streets and freeways. No longer the stuff of science fiction, a cascade of new products is reshaping industries from communication to transportation, and there will be impacts on public safety and in various areas of commerce. This month, the ride-share company Uber showed off the prototype of a small air taxi that it plans to deploy in urban areas in five years. The small, electric-powered aircraft can ascend and land like a helicopter and will eventually fly autonomously, according to the company. The impact on aviation rules and safety in designated landing zones will be sizable, opening up an area of new law. The Utah law that allows robots to deliver packages was influenced by a demonstration from a company that is designing a device with a range of three miles and operating speeds up to four miles per hour. Under old law, the robot would be considered an automobile, requiring a lengthy addition to traffic codes to allow for its use on sidewalks and in crosswalks. While no cases have reportedly occurred in Utah, other states have had problems with prisoners receiving packages containing banned items delivered by a remote-controlled drone. The new Utah law sets the stage to prosecute someone for specifically participating in such a gambit. Overall, laws are incrementally changed each time a new form of technology transforms an old way of doing something, and technological innovation will be instrumental in tackling societal issues ranging from intergenerational poverty to a cleaner environment. So long as legislators have the foresight to anticipate appropriate laws and regulations, Utah and the country will benefit from the realities of science fiction. SALT LAKE CITY Several members of Utah's congressional delegation are asking their colleagues to designate the Golden Spike National Historic Site as a national historical park through legislation introduced Thursday. The Golden Spike 150th Anniversary Act, sponsored in the U.S. House by Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, would elevate the status of the Promontory Summit site where Americas first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The bill is being co-sponsored in the House by Republican Reps. Chris Stewart, Mia Love, and John Curtis This new park will not only preserve the history made on that spring day in 1869, but also the herculean efforts which led to the driving of the spike and the new course of history that followed, Bishop said in a statement. In a tongue-in-cheek statement, Sen. Orrin Hatch, the acts sponsor in the Senate, said, As one of the few Utahns who was alive to witness the driving of the Golden Spike, Im honored to introduce legislation celebrating that tremendous day 149 years later. While I may have been just a boy at the time, I knew they were making history with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Golden Spike Historical Park will serve as a fitting tribute to an event that brought the entire country together, Hatch said. The act is being introduced a year before the 150th anniversary of the driving of a golden railroad spike that connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rail lines. In addition, the act would create the Transcontinental Railroad Network, which would include sites related to the history, construction and legacy of the transcontinental railroad. The network would be similar in makeup to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and the African American Civil Rights Network. According to Hatchs statement, the site had 67,811 visitors in 2017, which equates to 185 visitors per day, and that redesignation would encourage more visitors without affecting management of the site. The designation would make the park the 52nd historical park in the U.S. I am one who is always complaining about government and how slowly things happen. A recent edition of the Wall Street Journal featured a picture of our Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean President Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Then, I saw a picture of President Donald Trump with the released prisoners from North Korea on the cover of The New York Times. This is astounding news. It gives me hope that the 21st century will be the best century in world history. And it gives me great hope that Trump is growing in his role as president of the United States. The president was much criticized for his tough talk toward North Korea, but it seems to have worked. And now he is making the same tough approach with Iran. Based on what I know, I would have preferred the U.S. stay in the Iran deal, but the president has much better information than I do. Based on his success in North Korea, he might pull off a similar feat in Iran. The diplomatic community and the national press are having a hard time adjusting to Trumps style, but his success this last week is very impressive to me. Remember that one year ago both sides were talking about launching missiles against one another, so we can be thankful that the Korean situation has developed so quickly and so positively. Sometimes things do work out. We have a great country, and we are blessed with good leadership. I hope some of the national press will begin giving Trump more credit, and I hope he will simultaneously do fewer tweets and off-the-cuff statements. He is doing a great job in foreign policy. However, we seem just stalemated in other areas. Trump and members and candidates for the House and Senate continue to posture on the immigration issue, but nothing seems to get done. Why? Interestingly enough, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is pro-immigration and family. I do not know the weight of these statements, but in an official statement dated Jan. 26, 2018, the church said the priority starts with love and care for all and that a sensible path offering hope to so-called Dreamers is appropriate. The position of the church is about what most congressional Democrats advocate. Congressional Republicans also advocate this, but they want to build a wall and secure our borders simultaneously. Congressional Democrats have fiercely opposed building a wall. I wrote in an earlier column that Trump ran on a platform of building a wall, and he was elected by the American people. A lot of experts agree with him on the wall. So to solve this, there will have to be a legislative compromise. Otherwise, we will just wallow along in indecision for years. The legislative compromise I have proposed is to give Trump his wall and have a path of citizenship for the Dreamers and the people who are here with families. That would mean not voting out members of Congress who vote for a compromise. He voted for the law or she didnt vote for the law would make easy attack ads. Citizens need to call their representatives and tell them they support taking action on immigration. Making a compromise is something we have lost the ability to do. Trump has proposed a compromise to Congress that includes the wall and making a path to citizenship to those people here with families. So, to members of Congress: We want you to make a compromise and create a working immigration system. We will not vote you out of office for voting on a compromise even though it will have things in it that some of us wont like. Trump must now lead that compromise, as he has so splendidly led the Korean deal; a leader needs some followers. He has shown that members of Congress should find him worthy of following, and voters should not punish any side of a compromise by giving in to short attack ads. We are a great country and we can do it. SALT LAKE CITY The LDS Church on Friday released a legal analysis it commissioned of a proposed Utah medical marijuana initiative, saying the report "raises grave concerns" over "the serious adverse consequences that could follow if it were adopted." "We invite all to read (the analysis) and to make their own judgement," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also said in its statement. The church statement says: "The proposed Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative is a matter of great controversy in this state. The negative effects and consequences of marijuana use on individuals, families and society at large are well-known. There are also those who claim that it has medicinal benefits for those in some circumstances. "Accordingly, the church asked a Salt Lake City law firm for a legal analysis of the proposed initiative to be submitted to the voters next fall. We wanted to know what the initiative would actually do, if adopted. That memorandum raises grave concerns about this initiative and the serious adverse consequences that could follow if it were adopted. We invite all to read the attached memorandum and to make their own judgment." Legal analysis The 31-point analysis referred to by the LDS Church was completed by Salt Lake law firm Kirton McConkie. Among the report's assertions: The initiative would require the state "to destroy records of cannabis sales after 60 days, which will hamper law enforcement." The measure would make marijuana "the only serious controlled substance in Utah sold for alleged medicinal purposes without a prescription and outside of licensed pharmacies." Illnesses that would qualify a person for a medical cannabis card include "conditions that are difficult to diagnose and can afflict many people in varying degrees, such as 'chronic pain,' which by some estimates includes over 15 (percent) of the population." A large amount of marijuana could be recommended by a small group of doctors. (The analysis claims that about 70 percent of such recommendations in Colorado were "at one point" made by fewer than 15 physicians.) The initiative "doesn't require physicians to have any training or experience with the effects of marijuana." Marijuana use among youth, per federal research, is "generally significantly higher in states that have legalized recreational and medicinal use." The initiative would allow medical cannabis cardholders more than 100 miles from a cannabis dispensary "to grow their own marijuana" and there isn't an enforcement mechanism to ensure they don't possess more than what is otherwise the legal limit. Under the initiative, a doctor could "routinely rubber stamp recommendations for a medical cannabis card after a brief visit, or mistakenly recommend marijuana use under conditions where it would do harm," and be legally exempted from civil and criminal liabilities, as well as licensure discipline. Marijuana possession would be legalized "before medical cannabis cards are distributed," meaning a person in suspicion of having it for recreational purposes can demonstrate they legally possess it if they are able to show they would be eligible for such a card if they were in circulation. The initiative "appears to narrow liability for driving under the influence of marijuana" to include only a person who ingests marijuana while operating a vehicle. Possessing marijuana could "affect (an) immigrant if ... he or she applies for a green card, applies for citizenship, or travels outside the United States." Initiative campaign response In a response to the LDS Church statement Friday, Utah Patients Coalition initiative campaign director DJ Schanz said the church's language about "serious adverse consequences" can also be applied to the dilemmas faced by patients without access to legal medical use of marijuana. "Current law has 'serious adverse consequences' for thousands of sick patients who are either illegally using cannabis to improve their health, or those who want to but suffer to obey the law," Schanz said in a prepared statement. Schanz and other supporters of the initiative have argued that it is among the most conservative medical marijuana measures in the United States in terms of what types of marijuana use it allows and how an ill person can qualify for it. "Our tightly controlled proposal one of the most conservative in the country preserves the doctor-patient relationship and ensures that those who need this God-given plant for medicinal purposes can use it without fear of criminal punishment," he said Friday. Schanz has said the measure is based on sound research from around the world, indicating marijuana is a safe and medically beneficial substance. On Friday, he said he welcomes a robust dialogue about the initiative. "We anticipate a healthy debate in the public square about the merits of the Utah Medical Cannabis Act leading up to November's vote," Schanz said. What the initiative does The initiative which would go before voters this fall if a petition to put it on the ballot is certified as having enough signatures would allow patients with several illnesses, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder and multiple sclerosis, to apply for a medical cannabis card with the help of a recommending physician. People with legally defined exceptionally rare diseases could also qualify, as could a person with chronic pain if their doctor "determines (they are) at risk of becoming chemically dependent on, or overdosing, on opiate-based pain medication." A physician-led Compassionate Use Board established by the initiative would also have the authority to make exceptions for a person who does not otherwise qualify. Physicians would be permitted to recommend marijuana to no more than 20 percent of their patients, but oncologists, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, gastroenterologists and neurologists would be among the doctors exempted from that requirement. UMA opposition State data last updated Friday shows the Utah Patients Coalition has collected 155,381 signatures on the petition to put the measure on the ballot, and has met required thresholds in enough state Senate districts to do so. However, a signature removal campaign is also underway to try to disqualify the measure. That push is led by a newly formed political issues committee called Drug Safe Utah, which was organized by the Utah Medical Association and conservative advocacy group Utah Eagle Forum. The Utah Medical Association has been a vocal opponent of the initiative, arguing that not enough is known about how to prescribe marijuana with predictability. The association has also claimed the measure is too broad and would ultimately make it easy to use marijuana recreationally without legal consequences. However, not all Utah medical groups have opposed the initiative, and some members of the Utah Medical Association who support it have taken issue with the organization's public stance. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, who is executive director of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians but was speaking only on behalf of herself at the time, commended the initiative at a May 8 press conference as "patient-centered" and warned that "no organization in this state speaks for every physician." Dailey-Provost later explained that as an organization, the Utah Academy of Family Physicians has taken a neutral position on the initiative. Michelle McComber, Drug Safe Utah president and Utah Medical Association CEO, praised the LDS Church's statement Friday, saying it backed up the "things we've been saying all along." "We think this reinforces everything Drug Safe Utah has been trying to educate the public about," McComber said. Last month, the First Presidency of the LDS Church issued a statement commending the Utah Medical Association for its stance on the issue, saying "we respect the wise counsel of the medical doctors of Utah." The church was referring to a statement made in late March by the Utah Medical Association in which the trade group said it was "unequivocally" against the initiative and argued "the initiative is not medical." Initiative campaign In other news Friday, the Utah Patients Coalition published a letter it had sent to the Utah Medical Association and others associated with Drug Safe Utah, warning that the coalition is considering suing in court over "your effort to fraudulently obtain the withdrawal of signatures from the ... petition." The campaign cited a pair of videos of canvassers that it has called categorically dishonest, as well as a flyer that surfaced containing instructions for canvassers that Drug Safe Utah later renounced. If enough signatures are removed to disqualify the initiative from the ballot, "we will hold these people accountable for their fraudulent activity and seek judicial intervention to make sure these illegal efforts do not succeed," Schanz said in a release Friday. Drug Safe Utah has likewise cried foul in recent days against the Utah Patients Coalition, filing a formal complaint with the lieutenant governor's office this week alleging that the campaign had offered to buy signature removal forms that had already been filled out by voters but not yet submitted for processing. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's office declined to comment on the issue Friday. Clarification: Remarks made by Jennifer Dailey-Provost on May 8 commending the ballot initiative were intended as a personal stance and not in her capacity as executive director of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians. Could Raazi's Sehmat Khan Prove To Be Alia Bhatt's Toughest Challenge So Far? It would not be an understatement to say that Alia Bhatt is one of the most interesting actors in Bollywood today. In the last six years since she made her debut, she has proven that when thrown a challenge, she has always come back a notch higher. In Meghna Gulzars Raazi, she will be seen playing one of the most complex characters in her short career. Lets try and decipher who Sehmat Khan of Raazi could have been - a young Kashmiri Muslim girl, daughter of a businessman, who agrees to fulfil her fathers wish to be an undercover Indian agent in Pakistan. For the purpose, she is married off to a serving officer of the Pakistani army. All this unfolds in the year 1971 when India and Pakistan went to war. In this scenario, this young girls bravado and unflinching patriotism shines through. Reportedly, a vital clue that she passed on helped the Indian Navy save INS Viraat from being destroyed. Her story didnt stop there - Sehmat, reportedly, returned to India, pregnant with the child of her Pakistani husband and raised him to join the Indian army. Given the current unrest in Kashmir, it can be a challenge to imagine that such a woman could have even existed. In a world of shrill nationalism, this womans quiet courage is an example for all of us to emulate. Joh Karte Hain, Woh Bolte Nahin - might as well have been her motto. For Alia Bhatt to essay a woman like Sehmat will be, arguably, a difficult task. Unlike her characters in Highway (2014) and Udta Punjab (2016), this is a political drama. It has layers of history in its underbelly even if it is not referred to directly - theres the Kashmiri turmoil, Pakistani desire to complete the unfinished task of partition and, importantly, Indias resolve to preserve her thousands of years of history and collective inheritance. There will be references to the run up to 1971 Indo-Pak war, of course. Just how would Sehmat compare with Highways Veera Tripathi and Udta Punjabs Pinki/Mary Jane? In Highway, her character is caught in a milieu which requires her to tackle the fear of being kidnapped, being away from familiar surroundings of home and family and being sexually abused. She has to contend with physical hardships - characters traverse many north Indian states in a truck. She also has to explore a newfound sense of freedom, conquer her inner demons (of having being molested as a child) and finally deal with love for a man who is her polar opposite (theres also the Stockholm syndrome angle). In Udta Punjab, she plays a young labourer who becomes a drug addict and later is sexually and physically abused. Alias strong point as an actor is her instinctive response to a situation and her ability to expose her vulnerability. No wonder, her characters look so real. What one was apprehensive was her ability to understand the mind of an addict and get into the skin of the character who is from Bihar - diction, perspective on life, world view, regional traits, etc. Dear Zindagi was perhaps the closest she could come to portraying characters she might have seen growing up - that gnawing emptiness in many youngsters today, otherwise born to privilege. She could project depression, lack of focus, tackling societal prejudice and her connect with her doctor with effortless ease. Whats remarkable about Alia is her ability to inhabit the world of grey with just as much ease as she does in the black-and-white world of Bollywood. Watching her tease Badrinath, her suitor, in Badrinath Ki Dulhania about his command over simple interest and compound interest was charming. Seeing her pretty and petite frame dance to the beats of Radha on the Dance Floor (Student of the Year) was a feast for the eyes. Her uninhibited onscreen romance with her co-stars - Arjun Kapoor and Varun Dhawn - is simply delightful. Whats more, the actor is good dancer too. Few remakes look as good as the original. However, Tamma Tamma Loge from Badrinath Ki Dulhania seemed just as interesting as the Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt original. Raazi is based on Harinder S Sikkas book called Calling Sehmat, which is a fictionalised account of a Kashmiri Indian spy. Sikka, reportedly, changed the name of his protagonist to protect her and her family from danger. The lady in question is dead now. With no real reference points to seek guidance from, Alia will have to depend on Sikkas narration, Meghna Gulzars vision and her own imagination to bring to life this mysterious character from the pages of modern Indian espionage history. Author tweets @mniveditatweets 3 Upcoming Arjun Kapoor Films That Can Finally Make Him A Star Arjun Kapoor since making his debut with 2012's Ishaqzaade, hasn't quite arrived in Bollywood. Yes, in the past five years or so, there have been some films that he should be proud of. But in that time, there have also been some films that he would like to forget. And as the time comes when it will be difficult to call him a newcomer and forget his shortcomings, he needs to find his feet, and quickly. Which brings us to his future and what films that he has chosen to be a part of next. If he has to finally break the shackles and join the A-list, he needs these films to be well received. (Read more: 5 Upcoming Ranbir Kapoor Films That Will Put Him Back on Top) So, without further adieu, here are his upcoming projects: India's Most Wanted As per latest reports, Arjun Kapoor has been roped in to portray a spy in his latest film titled India's Most Wanted. The film will be helmed by Rajkumar Gupta who previously directed Raid and is scheduled to release on 24th May 2019. The film is scheduled to go on the floors by August this year and will be shot in India and Nepal SANDEEP AUR PINKY FARAAR Arjun Kapoor is all set to re-unite with his first ever co-star, Parineeti Chopra for Dibakar Banerjee's 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar'. The film will be produced by Yash Raj Films and narrate the story of a man and a woman who represent two completely different Indias. The couple will be seen together after Ishaqzaade which released in 2012. The film is slated to release on 3rd August 2018. NAMASTEY CANADA Not just Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar but Arjun will have back-to-back two films with Parineeti Chopra. The duo have also paired up for director Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Namastey Canada which will be shot in Punjab and Canada. In an interview, Arjun had revealed that the film is a complete entertainer and they'll begin shooting for it once they wrap up Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. The movie will release on 7th December 2018. For latest movie reviews, ratings and trailers, download the Desimartini App. See more: 20 Highest Grossing Bollywood Movies Of All Time Love, Patriotism and Sacrifice- This Is The Real Story Of Raazis Sehmat Khan A daughter, a wife, a spy The trailer of Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal starrer Raazi is out and its difficult to tear your eyes off Alia in this Meghna Gulzar directorial. The two-minute trailer is packed with the intensity that Meghna Gulzar is known for and even with the fleeting glimpses, its evident that it will be an incredible story that will keep you on the edges of your seat. However, you might fall off the very same chair when you realize that it is a true story, and Sehmat is not actually a figment of the imagination. Harinder Sikka was a disillusioned Indian Navy Officer who went to Pakistan to write media articles on the Armys intelligence failure during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It was during this time he got to know about this Kashmiri Muslim woman who married a Pakistani Army Officer and provided sensitive classified information to India during the war. Intrigued, Sikka set out to meet the woman at her house in Maler Kotla in Punjab. Sikka describes her a quiet woman who did not speak much. In fact, it took a good amount of pleading on Sikkas part to convince her to share her story. But once she started talking, that story that unfolded was a glorious mess of valor, patriotism and human emotions. Sikka understood that it was a story that the world deserved to know but at the same time maintaining her anonymity was also of paramount importance. Thus the fictional name Sehmat Khan came into being to give this story the voice it needed, but not before the promise that Sikka would not publish the book in her lifetime, a promise Sikka kept. In his novel, Calling Sehmat, on which the Raazi is mostly based on, Sikka somewhat fictionalizes the story of Sehmat which was probably too explosive to be presented in its undiluted form. But even then it is a story of ultimate sacrifice that the world has not heard before. It was her father who chose this path for her. An established and affluent businessman of Kashmir, it is difficult to understand why her father would want something so dangerous for his daughter. But that is how Sehmats story is perhaps- astounding and devoid of reason. Sehmat in Pakistan became the tutor of the grandchildren of General Yahya Khan and had access to intelligence that was invaluable to the Indian Army. In fact, it was due to her timely information that India was able to save INS Viraat on which Indias naval prowess was greatly dependent on. Time and again Sehmat has passed on invaluable information to Army without caring about the consequences of getting g exposed or putting her putting marriage at stake, given she actually fell in love with the Pakistani Army Officer she married simply to get access to intelligence information. When she came back to India from Pakistan, she was pregnant with the child of his Pakistani husband who on growing up went on to join the Indian Army. Even in her apparent anonymity, Sehmat Khans story is one that valor, patriotism and sacrifice can derive its definition from. Ajith Playing Dual Role In Viswasam? Rumours are doing the rounds that Ajith will be playing a dual role in his upcoming movie Viswasam. If we go by the rumours, he would sport his usual salt-n-pepper beard look in one role and the other will be a clean-shaven, black-haired, young Ajith. The actor has started his shoot at Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad. Imman is scoring the music and the actor was seen shaking a leg for a peppy tune in Immans composition. He is scoring music for Ajith for the first time, took to his social media posting a picture of him and the director. He wrote, Not so often I get the opportunity to view the visual making of my songs! But today it was pure bliss to watch the Man of Simplicity to enjoy n dance to my tune in #Viswasam Thanks Ajith Sir for the invite. Thanks a ton, @directorsiva sir and @SathyaJyothi_ #DImmanForViswasam. Moreover, Thala is seen posing with the members of the cast and crew of the film. It is learnt that his portions with older Ajith getup are being shot now. Nayanthara, who is playing the female lead in the film, has also joined the shoot wit Robo Shankar among other actors. Produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, the film is scheduled to be released on Diwali. For latest movie reviews, ratings and trailers, download the Desimartini App. Source: static.moviecrow.com It looks like Coolpad and Xiaomi are going to go head-to-head in the courtroom. MyDrivers reports that Coolpad has sued Xiaomi, claiming that the latter has infringed upon its patent rights. As per the report, Coolpad has demanded the ban on the sale of eight Xiaomi devices, including the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. The report notes that Xiaomi has infringed upon the patent for the Method for Implementing Call Record Interface System of Multi-Mode Mobile Communication Terminal that has the patent number ZL200610034036.7. The list of devices that Coolpad has asked to be banned include the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Redmi Note 4X, Mi 6, Mi Max 2, Mi Note 3, Mi 5X, Redmi Note 5 and Redmi 5 Plus. MyDrivers report also notes that Coolpad had initially accused Xiaomi of patent infringement earlier this year. However, Xiaomi had reportedly not received any legal documents. This isnt the first time Xiaomi is facing legal problems. Back in 2014, the Delhi High Court ordered Xiaomi to halt sales, advertising, manufacturing or importing of its devices in India after Ericsson had sued the company. Ericsson claimed that Xiaomi infringed upon its Standard Essential Patents (SEP). As per reports, Xiaomi violated eight patents related to AMR, EDGE and 3G. As a result, Xiaomi was banned from launching devices with Mediatek SoCs, and now only sells devices powered by Qualcomms chipsets in India. This also meant that Xiaomi had to tweak some of the devices that were headed for Indian shores. For example, the Chinese version of the Redmi Note 3 was initially powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio X10. However, when the phone was launched in India, it was powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 650 SoC. Facebook is working on adding more feature to its business offerings. Recently, WhatsApp for Buiness app was reported to be receiving an option for chat filters. A sticker album is also said to be under works which will come to the standard version of the messaging app. According to a report by WABetaInfo, the chat filter will allow users to search by filtering out chats. The filter icon appears when you tap on the search bar on the app. Once you press the filter icon, options to filter out chats by unread chats, groups and broadcast lists. The feature would be useful for businesses as it would allow them to keep track of everyone messaging. Instagram too has made similar changes to aid businesses. The update, according to the report, will be available on the version 2.18.84 of the app. WhatsApp for Business app reportedly has around 3 million users across the world. The app is available for Android users in six countries India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Britain and the US. The app competes with services like Apple's Business Chat and RCS messaging for Android and Facebook's own Messenger Platform, chat apps all built around connecting businesses with customers. Instagram too received a lot of new features after Facebooks F8 Conference concluded earlier this month. The photo-sharing app now offers Action Buttons for businesses to allow customers to interact with them directly from the app. Chats with customers are now brought over to the main inbox. Options like order, book for booking appointments and buying directly are now available. As for the main Facebook app, the company introduced a buy and sell option on its Marketplace feature that is live in India. The Maketplace lets you buy and sell used goods, as well as book tickets and buy things online. Eli Lilly to buy Armo BioSciences for $1.6 bn US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co yesterday struck a deal to buy Armo BioSciences Inc for about $1.6 billion in order to strengthen its immuno-oncology portfolio. Under the terms of the deal, Eli Lilly has agreed to pay $50 per share in cash, a premium of 68 per cent to Armos Wednesday close. Under the terms of the deal, Eli Lilly has agreed to pay $50 per share in cash, a premium of 68 per cent to Armos Wednesday close. The proposed acquisition is expected Lilly to close by the end of the second quarter of 2018. Armo, which went public four months back, is a late-stage immuno-oncology company that is developing a pipeline of novel, proprietary product candidates that activate the immune system of cancer patients to recognize and eradicate tumors. The Redwood City, California-based company's lead product candidate AM0010 has demonstrated clinical benefit as a single agent, and in combination with both chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitor therapy, across several tumor types. The drug is currently being investigated in a Phase 3 randomised pivotal clinical trial in pancreatic cancer patients, as well as earlier-Phase trials in lung cancer, liver cancer, melanoma and other solid tumor types. Armo also has several other immuno-oncology product candidates in various stages of pre-clinical development. The company was founded in 2010 but has not generated revenue so far. It posted a net loss of $42.5 million in 2017. "At Lilly Oncology, we are dedicated to developing cancer medicines that will make a meaningful difference for patients," said Sue Mahony, Ph.D., Lilly senior vice president and president of Lilly Oncology. "The acquisition of ARMO BioSciences adds a promising next generation clinical immunotherapy asset to Lilly's portfolio of innovative oncology medicines." "ARMO is proud of the work we have done to advance the study of immunotherapies and of the development of pegilodecakin to-date," said Peter Van Vlasselaer, Ph.D., president and CEO of Armo. "Given the resources that Lilly, a leader in oncology R&D, can bring to bear to maximise the value of pegilodecakin and the rest of the ARMO pipeline, we believe it is in the best interest of ARMO, our stockholders and the patients we serve, to execute this transaction," he added. Indianapolis, Indiana-based Eli Lilly was founded in 1876 by Col Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical chemist and veteran of the American Civil War. It was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to produce human insuluin using recombinant DNA including Humulin, Humalog, and the first approved biosimilar insulin product in the US, Basaglar. Lilly is currently the largest manufacturer of psychiatric medications and produces Prozac, Dolophine, Cymbalta, and Zyprexa. Railways earmarks Rs5,000 cr to revamp stations before 2019 polls Indian Railways will spend Rs5,000 crore on revamping 68 stations, as it is keen to start its ambitious station redevelopment project before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. To this end, it will also rework the conditions for private partnership to make the proposal more inviting for companies, The Economic Times reported today. With the general elections coming up next year, the railways station development project would be a major milestone for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, considering the number of people who use the railways. The ET report said that the ministry of railways has already made budgetary allocations to the zonal railways and has asked for completion of the project by the end of this financial year. With the general elections coming up next year, the railways station development project would be a major milestone for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, considering the number of people who use the railways. The ET report said that the ministry of railways has already made budgetary allocations to the zonal railways and has asked for completion of the project by the end of this financial year. One of the promises of the NDA government before coming to power was to develop 400 stations, and the scheme was launched in February 2017, but it garnered weak response from corporate houses. In its first phase, the project picked up 23 stations, including Indore, Pune, Thane, Borivali, Bandra Terminus and Jammu Tawi, but it has not seen much progress in the past year. Suresh Prabhu, railway minister at that time, expected investment of Rs1 lakh crore from private players. The government invited bids and business ideas to provide basic amenities at the stations, in return allowing commercial use of railways land. The most valuable real estate anywhere in the country is where there is a railway station. Stations have a huge commercial value by virtue of the fact that so many people use it. The challenge is how to monetise this asset and generate money for railways and provide amenities for passengers, Prabhu had told ET. The deal, however, did not appeal to corporate houses because of the restrictions the railways had imposed; also the concession period of 45 years did not seem viable to them. The ministry has finally resorted to investing in the project on its own, along with some tweaks to the original terms of their proposal to try and rope in some corporate houses. As part of the plan, several existing structures would be revamped, with air conditioned waiting halls, food courts, new foot bridges, more facilities for passengers and upgrading the look of station entrances. A top official of the ministry told ET that most of the money would be spent on installing elevators, flooring the platforms, and refurbishing the walls. All the zonal railways assigned to the task have already hired architects and the work is reported to have started. However, the deadline of the end of the year might be stretching it as there is a lot of work to be done. Two stations Habibganj in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Gandhinagar near Surat in Gujarat would see transformational changes that would match state-of-the-art faculties seen at the top airports in India. SC collegium agrees to reiterate Justice KM Joseph's elevation to apex court The Supreme Court Collegium on Friday unanimously agreed to reiterate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph's name for elevation to the top court. Justice Joseph had headed the bench in the Uttarakhand High Court that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled state in 2016. The government had returned Justice Joseph's name, while approving designated senior advocate Indu Malhotra's elevation, prompting commentators to accuse the government of vindictiveness. Malhotra has joined the bench of the top court. After an hour-long deliberation today, the five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and the five senior-most judges of the court Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph unanimously decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of names of other chief justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Mr. Justice K.M. Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated," the collegium resolution said. However, the reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of chief justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required, it said. The Collegium will meet again on 16 May to discuss the matter. Nepal at top of India's Neighbourhood First policy: Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured Nepal that it is at the top of India's Neighbourhood First policy as he announced a Rs100-crore package to develop Janakpur a sacred city for Hindus - while invoking historical religious links between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a civic reception in Janakpur, Nepal, on 11 May 2018 Speaking at a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Modi briefly spoke in Nepali and Maithili. He began his address by chanting "Jay Siya Ram" three times. Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. In a speech that invoked mythological references and symbolism, Modi said he has come to Janakpur not as the Prime Minister but a pilgrim, amid applause. Modi, who is on his third visit to Nepal since assuming office in 2014, read out a verse from Ramcharitmanas, which says 'one cannot remain isolated from the suffering of a friend and a true friend always helps his friend in the time of suffering.' Modi will today also formally launch Nepal's biggest hydroelectric project, being built by an Indian company, as he seeks to regain ground in the Himalayan republic where China has made deep inroads. Modi, with his counterpart K P Sharma Oli, will lay a foundation of the 900 MW hydro-power project via remote control from Kathmandu. The hydro project, which is expected to cost $1.04 billion and is being built by state-run Indian firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Ltd, will be the single biggest foreign investment project in cash-strapped Nepal. "Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times," said Modi, whose voice appeared hoarse apparently due to his hectic campaign for Karnataka assembly elections. Modis visit has evoked rather mixed reactions in a country that often sees India as having a big brother attitude, especially after the recent economic blockade over the Madhesi issue that starved the country of oil. Modi is visiting for the first time since protests for a greater say in government by ethnic Madhesis, in Nepal's lowland south, led to the closure of the border for months in 2015 and 2016. The blockade choked off Nepal's imports of fuel, medicine and construction material just as it was struggling to recover from the worst earthquake on record in which 9,000 people were killed. India has also been slow to implement projects despite ambitious plans, while China is pouring aid and investment for hospitals, roads and hydroelectric plants. Modi announced that the Rs100 crore package for the development of Janakpur and its surrounding areas will be spent on different development projects forging collaboration between the central government and the local government of Province No. 2. Modi, who earlier with his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya two sacred cities for Hindus said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan Circuit. "This circuit will develop religious tourism. It also will strengthen connectivity between the two nations," Modi said. He also announced that two other circuits will also be developed for the promotion of the areas related to Buddhism and Jain religion in both Nepal and India, which will be instrumental in generating employment for the youth. Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport. He underlined the need for linking Nepal and India through highway, I-way or information highway, railway, transway or electric connectivity, waterway and airway. "We are also trying our best to connect Nepal with waterways so that Nepal will be able to export Nepali goods abroad. If done so Nepal will be able to reap benefits through international trade," Modi said. "Nepal and India relations were started during the rule of King Janak in Tretya Yuga and the bondage built by Sita during the period is still strong. It is this bondage which attracts people from Rameswaram to Pashupatinath, people from Lumbini to Bodhgaya and I was also attracted with the same bondage," Modi said. Modi said India will build a railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu to facilitate people-to-people contact and movement of goods. Nepal's defence minister Ishwor Pokharel welcomed Prime Minister Modi at the function. Modi was wearing a Maithili kurta gifted by Prime Minister Oli. He expressed the confidence that the people to people relations between the two countries are being nurtured on the basis of brotherhood and equality. Additional director general of police, Himanshu Roy, allegedly committed suicide on Friday AN IPS cadre officer, Roy, had been involved in the investigation of several high-profile cases, including the IPL spot fixing and cases related to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, journalist J Dey and actress laila Khan murders. Roy, a former Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad chief, was battling cancer, and had been on medical leave since 2016 as he was battling cancer. Roy, a former Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad chief, was battling cancer, and had been on medical leave since 2016 as he was battling cancer. A 1988 batch officer, Roy allegedly used his service revolver to shoot himself at around 1:40 pm today. His body was rushed to hospital, where doctors pronounced him him dead on arrival. Roy became the youngest superintendent of police at Nasik (rural) in 1995, before moving on as SP, Ahmednagar; DCP Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP Zone 1, and Commissioner of Police, Nasik. He was appointed joint commissioner of police Mumbai in 2009 and is credited with setting up Mumbais first cyber crime cell, the womens cell, and anti-dacoity operations in rural Maharashtra. BMW UK has issued a voluntary recall of over 300,000 vehicles that may stall completely while driving. An initial recall of just over 36,000 petrol vehicles in 2017 has expanded to cover 312,000 petrol and diesel 1-Series, 3-Series, Z4 and X1 models produced between March 2007 and August 2011 after an investigation by the BBCs Watchdog discovered the issue was widespread. The problem relates to an electrical fault causing brake light failure that cuts the engine completely while driving. The issue was put under the spotlight when the driver of a Ford Fiesta crashed and died trying to avoid a stationary BMW that had broken down due to the issue in 2016. BMW Australia said it's currently in the dark as to whether there will be a local recall and could only provide the statement it received from German headquarters. BMW Group has launched a safety recall relating to certain models of the previous generation of BMW 1 Series, 3 Series, X1 and Z4 built between March 2007 and September 2011 inclusive. The issue relates to the plug of the power distributer which may degrade over time due to frictional corrosion and vehicle vibration. In certain conditions this can affect the electrical connection to the car and may result in a loss of power." Another BMW driver came forward to the BBC who said he took his car to the maker after a similar failure and BMW found the fault which looked like "the cable had burnt out and no current was passing through the fuse box". The Watchdog report goes on to allege that BMW failed to notify the relevant UK Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency when it first received complaints of the issue in 2011. However, BMW says it worked with the DVSA and rejected the claims. It went on to tell Watchdog it was taking voluntary steps to fix the issue. "We now recognise that there may have been some cases of similar power supply issues in vehicles not covered by the original recall. In order to reassure customers with concerns about the safety of their vehicles, we are voluntarily extending the recall. "We are therefore announcing today that we will take the proactive step of expanding the existing UK recall to cover all vehicles potentially affected by the power supply issue." Yesterday, Minister for Education Richard Bruton has given a commitment to ensure that Colaiste Chu Chulainn in Dundalk is completed in the shortest time frame possible. Mr Bruton provided an update both in relation to concerns over the timescale and delivery of the project, but vowed to ensure it would open as planned this September. The Parents committee of Colaiste Chu Chulainn and Colaiste Lu have released a statement expressing that they are 'cautiously hopeful' of progress now. "We as parents are delighted with this news and now feel cautiously hopeful that come September students and staff can begin the academic year without the fear of disruption to studies, especially those entering the senior cycle and the junior certs who would have faced disruption to studies during term time, having to move midyear, in this a very critical and stressful time in their education. "The news is also welcomed by parents of incoming students who had voiced their concerns about the move from primary to secondary school and felt this was an extra challenge for these young people as they try to make this massive transition. "We are happy that the additional capital costs that would be required for the existing temporary school buildings to cater for the 2018-19 school intake, will now not need to be spent, (The schools are not at full student numbers yet and are still expanding). These costs were required even if there was one weeks delay as students need to be properly accommodated from day one of school term. These potential additional costs have obviously been considered with this news of an Accelerated Completion date. "We would like to thank our local TDs and councillors, who have been supporting us and realize the importance of the opening of this fine new campus." Organisers of the Dundalk Darkness Into Light say they are "extremely disappointed" by the situation which has left many participants of tonight's charity walk without t-shirts. T-shirt distribution for the event, which is being handled in house by the charity Pieta House and not by individual organising committees, has been an issue with many people who signed up well in advance of the event reporting they have yet to receive their yellow t-shirts. Anyone who signed up for the event before May 4th was 'guaranteed' a t-shirt, according to the Darkness Into Light website. However, in a statement today, organisers of the Dundalk walk - Sean Kelly and Orla Sheridan - say they hope people can see past the issue of missing t-shirts and instead focus on the real purpose of the walk. "Dundalk DIL committee would like to apologise to all our participants about the ongoing t-shirt issue," it read. "We had no hand, act or part in t-shirt distribution. This is dealt with by Pieta House centrally. To those of you who have yet to receive your tshirts we are so genuinely sorry, but it is out of our hands. "We ask that you email DIL@pieta.ie with your details or alternatively we will have spreadsheets available tonight where you can fill out your details and we will ensure Pieta House get a tshirt to you. "If you are frustrated by the situation imagine how we, the local volunteer committee, feel having spent months planning tomorrow mornings events including attending registration events at Marshes and in companies/groups across the North east, countless meetings with authorities in DKIT, Louth Co Co, the Garda, Red Cross, numerous site visits to DKIT, putting up posters and dropping leaflets and engaging with suppliers to ensure we have refreshments for all participants. "We are also extremely disappointed and do not want tonight to be overshadowed by t-shirts. "Darkness into Light is more than a t-shirt, its a movement to fight the stigma of suicide, an event to remember our lost loved ones and an opportunity for us to show support for those people struggling with their mental health," the statement continued. "Please remember that tonight. We will get your t-shirts to you in due course, in the meantime wear last years and or something else yellow. Please dont make tonight about t-shirts, its not about them, its so much more important then that. The 2018 event will take place tonight (May 12th) at 4.15am at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Darkness Into Light is a global movement against suicide which saw over 150,000 people across Ireland walk until dawn to raise money for Pieta House in 2017. The charity event sees participants walk or run a 5km route in order to raise awareness of issues such as suicide, self-harm, and stigma surrounding mental health issues. The early dawn represents hope and is symbolic of the work of Pieta House; bringing people from darkness back into the light. Last year, Dundalk IT hosted the town's first walk with huge numbers taking part and raising over 60,000. Local man Stephen Boyle from Blackrock was successfully chosen to take part in a new Sky 1 show called Carnage. The process began last May where he submitted an online application to take part in the show - which involved building a monster vehicle that could fight off other competitors in the arena - very similar to robot wars only he was in the car driving. Stephen explained the experience further: "Myself, Colin Clinton, Chris Mccabe and Richie Ashfield spent 6 weeks building a battle ready and weaponise car to do battle in the desert in South Africa. "We pick a hearse to build we named it The banshee we put a strong armour all round the car to take heavy hits from any angle. We put 10 spinning disks on each side of the car that were run by a quad engine in the back of the hearse. This is them before we installed them in the car. "We also used bead blasters and the back of the hearse shooting fruit, skulls and anything we could fit in a 6 pipe. Our team name in THE OVERTAKERS. "After 6 weeks of late nights, blood sweat and tears we got the banshee finished and ready for battle in the desert in south Africa. Sky shipped the banshee out mid December and in January myself Coilin and Richie few out to take part in in a new tv show called CARNAGE. Chris couldnt make it due to work commitments. "We were taken to the middle of the Kalahari desert where sky had built 3 amazing arenas in a mad max crossed with robot wars and top gear style. "We spent 3 weeks filming battling and fixing the banshee we had a fantastic experience and met lots of amazing people." The six part show has just begun on Sky 1 on Sunday nights at 8pm - a prime slot. The guys one hour episode is due to be aired on 27th May. Instantly delete email threats with 365 Threat Monitor With 365 Threat Monitor, scan all emails as they reach your users' mailboxes to detect ransomware, phishing and spam. Get real-time phone alerts, real-time security breach updates and delete threats instantly with just one click - for free! Learn More. Facebook has been in seriously hot water for its data monetization model almost from the firm's beginning. The Cambridge Analytica, election meddling and fake news scandals have turned up the heat. Facebook's problems aren't limited to the public and government backlash that spans several countries; the firm faces potentially devastating legal threats too. On the surface, it appears to be a clear-cut issue: Social media and other tech companies must be reined in. Certainly, the EU thinks so, as is evidenced by its new General Data Protection Regulation. However, despite the horrendous damages wreaked to date, the outlines of the social media problem aren't quite clear, and neither is the fix. When Data Is All You've Got Chief among the most concerning worries resulting from a long line of recent scandals are election-fixing, or at least election meddling, in several democracies. Very few citizens of those countries would consider it a good thing for a foreign power to use social media to sway elections. Several countries, including the U.S., France and Germany, have determined that Russia-backed election meddling is a continuing threat, and that social media is at the heart of its preferred tactics. One would think that the need to curb or end attempts to unduly manipulate election outcomes by a nation state or other outside entity -- such as UK-based Cambridge Analytica -- would be irrefutable. Certainly, Facebook sees the writing on the wall. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced several measures to address heightened anxiety over its role. Facebook publicly apologized for the Cambridge Analytica data-sharing scandal and promised it would notify users if they were among the 87 million people whose data was "improperly shared" with the firm. Facebook also promised to increase transparency and improve vetting of its political advertising and news providers. Is that enough? Promises, Profits and Patriotism "Facebook and other technology firms are thus far proposing to fix the problem via self-regulation only -- by setting up rules that they themselves would promise to follow, rather than being held accountable by some sort of legislative authority that would involve users having some sort of legal recourse," said Jessica Baldwin-Philippi, assistant professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University. "The problem with this is that, as we've seen, there is little accountability," she told the E-Commerce Times. In fact, Facebook did not act on the issues of election meddling and fake news until there was a massive public outcry, even though it was aware of the problems much earlier. The same is true of the illicit data sharing with third parties such as Cambridge Analytics. Data monetization is Facebook's business model. Facebook and some other tech firms exist solely to gather and sell everyone's data, exposing users' lives in increasingly more granular detail. Facebook works hard to pull more intimate details about your life than what you voluntarily post on social media or release as exhaust while searching the Web. Among the most troubling data mining the company recently has done: its Child Predator Survey; and a secret effort to gather patient data from hospitals and other medical groups to add to what it knows about users. Indeed, Facebook appears to respect no boundaries in its search to own an increasingly large hoard of personal data. Facebook's Usage Agreement "is 70 pages long," noted Ronald Jones, a cybersecurity faculty member at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. The privacy and usage agreement from the Facebook company Masquerade specifies that it collects, mines and sells Facebook content, such as images of faces, he also pointed out. "The Facebook agreements indemnify Facebook actions in selling/delivering/providing user related information to Cambridge Analytica, so their actions were legal. No US laws appear to be violated," Jones told the E-Commerce Times. "Are tougher regulations needed for social networking? What about the first amendment? Also, who decides what is or is not acceptable for the social networking space?" Freedom of speech means that it may be very difficult to curb the speech spewed by hostile nation states, or to stem the tide of fake news proliferating on the network, he added -- and he isn't the only one who thinks so. "What is harmful content? Harmful in what way? To whom? And why? And what is fake news?" asked Richard Santalesa, founder of the Sm@rtEdgeLaw Group. "News has been faked, or slanted, since the first stylus was put to a clay tablet," he told the E-Commerce Times. "The Constitution and First Amendment don't contain a right not to be offended, and there's no such thing as a hate speech exemption to speech that's otherwise protected by the First Amendment." Thus, regulating tech firms is a tough and perhaps unforgivable thing to do in the minds of many American patriots. Yet the traditional American claim that market forces will police bad behavior doesn't hold true either. What People Want Take, for example, Facebook's effort to gather patient data. The market had no knowledge of that until investigative reporters exposed it. Given that traditional news media outlets have been getting pounded as fake news, and actual fake news has been held up as truth by some others, how is the market to learn of such misdeeds or know whether a response is needed? "What every person must understand is Facebook is not about people other than as its currency," remarked Janice Taylor, CEO of Mazu. "You, me, our children are tokens -- data points that reinforce the money printing machine," she told the E-Commerce Times. "If we go away, Facebook loses its entire business," Taylor continued. "Are Mark and Sheryl [Sandberg] really going to shut down the money printing machine? They may grease it, disguise it better, lie some more -- but at the core root of Facebook/Instagram is [the desire] to print money for themselves and their shareholders." Even if Facebook has seen the light and truly sets out to self-regulate to an appreciable degree, there is nothing to hold it on that course over time. "EU-style rules about data privacy would be a fine step," suggested Fordham's Baldwin-Philippi, "but again, Facebook could always change that policy in the future -- as it has many times before. Relying on technology firms to regulate themselves strips users of recourse if and when something goes wrong." Actual laws spelling out data ownership could go a long way in solving this problem for users -- but that might mean the end of Facebook and other social media companies, since their business model centers on their ownership of users' personal information. "In the U.S., the people do not own their personal information, while in the EU the people have undisputed ownership of the personal data," explained Harrisburg University's Jones. While Americans presumably will be safer with protections in place, and so will democracy, many may not want that protection. "People think that if I am not on Facebook I can't build my business," noted Mazu's Taylor. "What about my family memories? My calendar of events?" they might worry. "We as people need to understand that Facebook was never about you or I or connecting people -- it was about money and control," Taylor emphasized. "Why do we think they care more about us now that they are getting caught? Does a drug dealer suddenly care about all the drug users once he is arrested? What if the drug dealer just makes better cocaine. Should we trust him then?" Reining In Data-Crazed Tech Companies, Part 2 Pam Baker has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2007. Her main areas of focus are technology, business and finance. She has written hundreds of articles for leading publications including InformationWeek, Institutional Investor magazine, CIO.com and TechTarget. She has authored several analytical studies on technology, as well as eight books, the latest of which is Data Divination: Big Data Strategies. She also wrote and produced an award-winning documentary on paper-making. She is a member of the National Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and the Internet Press Guild. Email Pam. Instantly delete email threats with 365 Threat Monitor With 365 Threat Monitor, scan all emails as they reach your users' mailboxes to detect ransomware, phishing and spam. Get real-time phone alerts, real-time security breach updates and delete threats instantly with just one click - for free! Learn More. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday endured a second day of congressional criticism during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. His appearance followed an intense session with the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees a day earlier. Some members of the House committee questioned whether Facebook tracked users offline. Some blasted what they claimed were repeated instances of censorship, alleging that legitimate conservative viewpoints were flagged as hate speech. Zuckerberg also faced a number of questions about whether Facebook had tracked the activity of non-Facebook users, or whether it had tracked members' activities after they logged off the site. Algorithm Angst Rep. Ben Lujan, D-N.M., asked Zuckerberg about the privacy rights of people who were not Facebook users, but whose data nevertheless was collected by Facebook. Zuckerberg denied knowledge of "shadow profiles" of people who were not Facebook members, but said that Facebook did collect data on non-members for security purposes, in part to prevent data scraping. Committee members questioned Zuckerberg repeatedly about several recent incidents they found troubling. In one case, they asked about Facebook's blocking of conservative vloggers Diamond and Silk as "unsafe." They also questioned Facebook's rejection of an ad from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, that depicted the crucifixion of Jesus. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who chairs the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, asked Zuckerberg if Facebook subjectively manipulated algorithms to prioritize or censor speech. Facebook does not think of what it does as censoring speech, Zuckerberg responded, saying the company works to protect the site from extreme behavior like terrorism. "Let me tell you something right now," Blackburn said. "Diamond and Silk is not terrorism." She later tweeted about plans to address Facebook algorithms in upcoming forums. I asked Mark Zuckerberg if Facebook subjectively manipulates algorithms to push their own agenda, and censor conservatives. We look forward to having another hearing on algorithms soon to address this important issue. https://t.co/BMeEW0WlXf Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) April 11, 2018 Blackburn and other representatives asked Zuckerberg if he supported regulations that would create new privacy rights for Facebook users, with some pointing to Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, which takes effect next month, as a model for protecting users from exploitation. While Zuckerberg said Facebook planned to extend its GDPR compliance globally, he appeared hesitant to make that commitment as an official guarantee. The questions lawmakers have posed to Zuckerberg over the past couple of days indicate that many members of Congress have a limited understanding of the intricacies of data collection, the use of algorithms, and the business models of Facebook and other social media companies. It's unclear whether Congress will be able to follow through on promises to legislate comprehensive privacy protections, observed Nate Cardozo, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We're skeptical of Congress' ability to get meaningful reforms passed," he told the E-Commerce Times, "but we look forward to reviewing any statutory language as it's proposed." Cambridge Analytica Fallout Meanwhile, as Zuckerberg was testifying in Congress, the board at Cambridge Analytica on Wednesday announced that acting Chief Executive Alexander Tayler would step down from his post and return to his former role as chief data officer. The resumption of his former post would allow him to focus on the various technical investigations and queries, the company said. It did not name a new acting CEO. The British Information Commissioner's Office executed a search warrant on Cambridge Analytica late last month and seized a large number of documents. The House of Commons Digital committee investigating fake news will hear return testimony next week from Alexander Nix, the suspended chief executive of Cambridge Analytica. David Jones has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2015. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, e-commerce, open source, gaming, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. He has written for numerous media outlets, including Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times. Email David. The Buffalo Pipeline, owned by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., leaked approximately 450 barrels, or roughly 18,900 gallons, of crude oil onto farmland in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma last week. Wheat farmer and cattle rancher Steve Pope told local TV station KFOR that he has lost an estimated 120 acres of pasture and wheat crop from the spill. The National Response Center on Sunday listed "internal corrosion" of the pipeline as the likely cause of the discharge. Plains All American Pipeline released a statement about the spill: "On Friday, April 21, 2017, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. experienced a crude oil release on our Buffalo Pipeline, near Loyal, Okla. We are following our emergency response plan, and our staff is working with regulators and affected landowners. Our current priorities are to ensure the safety of all involved and limit the environmental impact of the release. The oil spill happened less than 1,000 feet from the nearby Cooper Creek, which feeds into the Cimarron River, but the spill was contained on Pope's fields. Cleanup is underway at the site of the leak. Pope expressed concerns about the damage from the spill as well as President Trump's proposed budget cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now led by former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. "What bothers me is we keep seeing the EPA being cut so much," Pope told KFOR. "A lot of the regulations that have been put on the oil companies are there for a reason. Sure, there are probably some that are over-regulated but, without those regulations, I wonder if I would have had as quick of a response for guys to come out here and start cleaning this up." Plains All American Pipeline is one of the largest energy companies in the country with an extensive energy infrastructure in the United States and Canada. The company says it handles an average of 4.6 million barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids in its transportation segment. But the company has had a long history of pipeline issues, KFOR pointed out. Citing data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the oil company was behind more than 25 pipeline incidents in the state of Oklahoma since 2006, with 14 incidents listing corrosion as a cause and six due to material, welding or equipment failures. Al Jazeera detailed the company's extensive history safety and environmental violations in other states, including its citation for 10 oil spills that violated the Clean Water Act in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas. Last year, Plains was also indicted for a major May 2015 spill that spewed 140,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara, California that fouled miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of seabirds and marine animals. Raw crude oil spewed from a ruptured Sunoco pipeline in Oklahoma on Thursday. The Oklahoma City Fire Department and hazmat crews responded to the situation after receiving reports of a "yellow liquid" shooting into the air near an oil and gas well site in Edmond, a suburb outside of Oklahoma City. Officials briefly closed off a section of road on Pennsylvania Avenue and denied access to some homes in the neighborhood north of the release. The neighborhood was not evacuated. "This is all taken care of now," the fire department tweeted later that afternoon. Cleanup efforts are underway. News 4 reported that the leak from Sunoco's pipeline occurred in the area of a natural gas booster plant operated by Colorado-based DCP Midstream. The release occurred in a well-populated area, with many houses surrounding the facility. Some residents expressed dismay after their property was coated in oil. One tweeted to DCP Midstream, "a massive leak at your facility in Edmond, OK, just coated my entire house and my neighborhood with crude. What are you going to do to clean it up?!?" A DCP spokesperson told News 4 it has no control over the Sunoco pipeline but is assisting with cleanup. An Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman told News 4 about 5-10 barrels of crude oil was released from the pipeline. The commission has also launched an investigation into the incident. Sunoco confirmed to the news station that it did have a release of crude. Sunoco is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, which owns about 71,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined products and crude oil pipelines across the country, including the contentious Dakota Access pipeline. "The section of the line has been isolated and the area contained," Energy Transfer spokesperson Vicki Granado told News 4. "We are in the process of bringing the appropriate resources onsite to fully remediate the area and make repairs. Once that is complete the line will be returned to service." In recent years, the city of Edmond and much of central Oklahoma has been rattled by a swarm of earthquakes that experts say are related to wastewater deposits from oil and gas production. In 2016, more than a dozen Edmond and Oklahoma City residents filed a lawsuit against energy companies, claiming their operations contributed to a string of earthquakes. The U.S. was one of only five countries to vote against a UN move towards establishing a Global Pact for the Environment on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The pact, the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, would be "the first international legally binding document, gathering and harmonizing all environmental laws in one single document," according to the Permanent mission of France to the UN. The resolution, approved by 143 of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly, with seven countries abstaining, called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to produce a report for September's General Assembly session outlining any gaps in international environmental law. It also empowered a working group to prepare recommendations for filling those gaps to be presented in 2019. Supporters see the pact as a way to continue the work of the Paris agreement and the 2030 UN goals for fighting poverty and protecting the Earth. French Ambassador Francois Delattre, who spoke before the vote on behalf of the resolution's more than 90 co-sponsors, raised concerns about climate change, water and air pollution and biodiversity loss, saying these problems were already impacting the world's most vulnerable populations. "If we don't act decisively, we are exposing ourselves to dire consequences: the exhaustion of natural resources, migrations, and an upsurge in conflicts," he said. But President Donald Trump's appointee for U.S. UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, disagreed. In a statement reported by Fox News on Wednesday, Haley said she would vote against the resolution. "When international bodies attempt to force America into vague environmental commitments, it's a sure sign that American citizens and businesses will get stuck paying a large bill without getting large benefits. The proposed global compact is not in our interests, and we oppose it," she said. Her statement is of a piece with Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement. The other countries who voted against the resolution were Russia, Turkey, the Philippines and Syria. The idea for the pact was first floated by Macron in June 2017 and officially launched with a UN speech by Macron on Sept. 19, 2017. In the speech, Macron alluded to the UN's long history of environmental statements and protocols based on extensive research and said all that work deserved to be codified in a single document. "This draft is a challenge posed to us all: to build, in a way, the law which the epoch we've enteredthe anthropocene epochneeds," he said. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong with online state testing this year in Tennessee. First, login problems prevented some students from accessing the exams. The following day, an apparent cyberattack on the states assessment vendor prevented thousands more students from submitting their tests. Then, thanks to human error at some schools, about 1,400 students ended up taking the wrong version of the TNReady exam. And a rogue dump truck severed one of the states main fiber-optic cables, causing temporary connectivity problems during the testing period. Bringing frustrations throughout the state to a boil: Its the second time in three years that schools have experienced major online-testing disruptions. Were sick and tired of the failures, said state Rep. Eddie Smith, a Republican. Along with fellow lawmakers, Smith responded by quickly passing a new state law that prevents scores on this years TNReady exam from being used to punish schools, teachers, or students. The move highlights the significant policy implications when online testing goes awry. It also puts the U.S. Department of Education in an uncomfortable position. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos could be forced to decide whether to grant Tennessee a waiver from the testing and accountability requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, setting a precedent the department would likely prefer to avoid. Online Testing Troubles in 5 States Across the country, the transition to administering state standardized tests via computer has at times been rocky. Schools have dealt with cyberattacks and poor connectivity, unfamiliar interfaces and login problems, scoring errors and students getting booted from online-testing platforms. In recent years, however, such troubles have generally been more episodic than systemic. During spring 2018, publicly reported online-testing problems occurred in: New York Like Tennessee, the New York state education department contracts with a company called Questar. On April 11, the company was hit with an apparent cyberattack, causing an unacceptable failure in New York, said state board of regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and state education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia in a statement. Across the state, students had difficulty logging in and connecting to the testing platform. According to Questar officials, 4,723 New York students were initially unable to submit their test responses as a result of the troubles. Minnesota Minor connectivity issues and login problems delayed testing at three Minnetonka schools late last month. The states assessment vendor is global education company Pearson. In a statement, the company said its support teams responded to sporadic reports of connectivity issues at schools and quickly added additional capacity, which immediately mitigated the issue. Mississippi Another state using Questar, Mississippi also experienced problems with intermittent connectivity and some students being unable to submit online tests this year. All told, 47 of 144 districts were affected, and a total of 606 students in the state experienced problems during a one-hour disruption, according to a spokeswoman for the state education department. Ohio Students across the Buckeye State had trouble logging in to state tests on April 18. The issue was resolved later that day. State education officials declined to detail how many students were affected. Ohio contracts with the American Institutes for Research to administer its statewide exams. Tennessee For the second time in three years, Tennessee experienced widespread troubles with its online TNReady exams. The issues stemmed from a number of separate problems and prompted new state legislation. Benjamin Herold Despite the meltdown in Tennessee and smaller issues in a handful of other states, assessment experts say the nations K-12 schools mostly seem to be getting the hang of how to administer online tests to millions of students each year. I dont know that well ever get the problems down to zero, said Marianne Perie, the director of the Center for Assessment and Accountability Research Design at the University of Kansas. But paper-and-pencil testing was never error-free, either, said Perie, who also chairs the technical-advisory committees around online testing in New York and Tennessee. A Troubled History Like many states, Tennessee made the decision in 2014 to switch to online tests. The move was originally spurred by the states membership in the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, which was preparing to roll out new assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Tennessee legislature quickly backed out of PARCC, however, setting in motion a multiyear chain reaction. In spring 2014, faced with a narrow window to find a new online-testing vendor, the state education department rushed into a $108 million contract with a company called Measurement Inc. Despite what department officials now describe as concerns about the companys lack of experience administering a large-scale statewide online test, the state education department pushed forward with a wholesale switch to the new online assessments in 2016. The administration of the exams that year quickly went awry. State education Commissioner Candace McQueen responded by suspending testing in grades 3-8 and canceling the states contract with Measurement Inc. At the time, Henry Scherich, the companys president, told Education Week that Tennessee was giving up too quickly on the online tests. Scherich declined to comment last week, citing ongoing litigation between his company and the Tennessee education department. By summer 2016, the state had selected Questar as its new assessment vendor. Back then, state officials touted the companys experience and track record as reasons for awarding it a $30 million per-year contract. Limited online testing last spring and fallpart of McQueens new phased-in approachwas mostly smooth. This year was supposed to be the breakthrough. All told, 650,000 students were expected to take the TNReady exam. More than 300,000 of them were expected to do so online. But problems started almost immediately. A software flaw caused unacceptable login delays for some students on the first day of testing, according to a presentation later delivered by Tennessee education officials to state lawmakers. On the second day of testing, Questar was flooded with unanticipated traffic that overwhelmed the companys servers and prevented some students from connecting to the TNReady testing platform. All told, the problems resulted in 5,066 Tennessee students being initially unable to submit their tests, according to Questar. An undetermined number of additional students also experienced login difficulties, and some may have been kicked off the testing platform after they started taking the exam. In the presentation to the Tennessee legislature, McQueen described her department as completely devastated by the disruptions. Outsiders said Tennessees recurring problems point to some kind of deeper underlying trouble. Im not aware of a state that has had a more troubled transition to online testing, said Douglas A. Levin of the consulting group EdTech Strategies. The Million-Dollar Question Questar officials noted that they have successfully administered roughly 3 million tests across multiple states this spring. But any problems are unacceptable, Brad Baumgartner, the companys chief operating officer, said in an interview. The initial login problems were the result of a design decision we made a year ago, which in hindsight we would not have made, Baumgartner said. And the flood of unanticipated traffic on day two of the exams bore the hallmarks of a type of cybersecurity incident known as a distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attack. In addition to Tennessee, students in New York and Mississippi were also affected. Given past DDoS attacks during online state assessments, Questar likely should have been better prepared, said Levin. Its particularly concerning that the company was apparently running multiple state assessments through the same load balancing server, creating a single point of failure when the traffic surge occurred. Why werent such problems caught before the live administration of the exams? Thats the million-dollar question, Baumgartner said. Questars contract with the Tennessee education department is up for renewal this fall. Sara Gast, the communications director for the department, said officials anticipate revisiting the states deal with the company. In the meantime, Tennessee educators and lawmakers are out of patience. Student and teacher morale has been hurt, parents are increasingly upset, and the credibility of the entire testing system has been severely damaged, said Jim Wrye, a spokesman for the Tennessee Education Association, the states largest teachers union. As the testing problems mounted, TEA members flooded state lawmakers with complaints. The state legislature responded, quickly passing measures designed to prevent 2017-18 TNReady results from resulting in adverse consequences for those in the K-12 system. Now, none of this years test scores can be used: To assign a letter grade to a school under the states accountability system or to designate a school as low performing; To move a school into the state-run Achievement School District; and To make decisions about hiring, firing, or compensating any teacher. In addition, Tennessee districts were given discretion to determine the extent to which this years test scores should be used to determine students final grades. What were doing is finding the best way to hold everyone harmless, but to not have unintended consequences by doing more than we should, said Smith, the state representative. Whats Next? Even as state testing continues, the Tennessee education department has referred the apparent cyberattack to the Davidson County district attorney and investigators from both the state and an undisclosed third party. In addition, the department takes questions about the validity of this years TNReady results very seriously, Gast said. We have provided guidance on how a school can nullify the results for a student if they feel the interruptions prevented him or her from demonstrating their full understanding of the standards, she said. Department staff members are also helping schools recover interrupted test sessions, and they will be conducting numerous analyses to make sure that any unusual score results are excluded. As for applying for an ESSA waiver, Gast said the department is still discussing with the U.S. Department of Education what we may need to submit to them, but remains confident it will ultimately be in compliance with the federal education law. The reality is that Tennessees online-testing mess has left everyone in a difficult position, said Chad Aldeman, a principal at Bellwether Education Partners, a consulting organization. The state has not [made] stability a key priority in their testing vendors, Aldeman said, and as a result,Tennessee may need to be bailed out by the feds. Minister faces prescription items questions Changes to items available on prescription will be discussed in this month's Tynwald sitting. Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper will ask Health Minister David Ashford what plans his Department has to alter the list of items available through prescription to Manx patients. Mr Ashford will be asked to make a statement on the matter when Tynwald sits on Tuesday. The Minister ended plans to scrap exemptions from prescription charges when he took over the role earlier this year. NEW YORK... May 11, 2018 - BGN Technologies, the technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), announced that a research group led by Prof. Varda Shoshan-Barmatz of the BGU Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, is developing a new molecule to treat cancer that inhibits cancer cell growth and changes these cells back to normal ones. "Although this is in the early stages, we are excited with results that demonstrate this novel molecule's potential for cancer treatment," says Prof. Shoshan-Barmatz. "Basically, we've discovered a code for reprograming cancer cells that causes them to lose their oncogenic features." The novel treatment is based on siRNA (small interfering ribonucleic acid), which silences expression of the mitochondrial gatekeeper protein, VDAC1. This protein is highly overexpressed in many solid and non-solid tumors and is crucial for supplying the high energy demands of malignant cells. By silencing VDAC1, the researchers were able to inhibit cancerous cell growth. This offers potentially wide applicability, since treating the cells in a culture with the siRNA resulted in significant inhibition of cancerous cell growth without affecting noncancerous cells -- an indication of a potentially safe treatment. Prof. Shoshan-Barmatz has previously demonstrated that silencing VDAC1 expression using the siRNA method -- a tool that temporarily silences protein coding genes -- leads to inhibition of cancer cell growth both in vitro and in mouse models of glioblastoma lung cancer and triple negative breast cancer. Treatment of cancer cells with VDAC1-specific siRNA also induces metabolic rewiring of the cancer cells, reversing their oncogenic properties and diverting them towards normal differentiated cells. "Using the siRNA treatment for several types of cancer in mouse models reprogramed cancer cell metabolism, reduced tumor growth and angiogenesis, reduced tumor invasiveness, and induced cancer stem cell disappearance and cell differentiation," says Prof. Shoshan-Barmatz. "We have patented the technology and are now seeking partners to further develop and advance this promising treatment in a clinical setting in the hope that it will lead to a novel path for cancer treatment," says Dr. Ora Horovitz, senior vice president of business development at BGN Technologies. ### About BGN Technologies BGN Technologies is the technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). BGN Technologies brings technological innovations from the lab to the market and fosters research collaborations and entrepreneurship among researchers and students. To date, BGN Technologies has established more than 100 startup companies in the fields of biotech, high-tech and cleantech, and has initiated leading technology hubs, incubators and accelerators. Over the past decade, BGN Technologies has focused on creating long-term partnerships with multinational corporations, securing value and growth for BGU, as well as the Negev region. For more information, visit the BGN Technologies website. About NIBN The National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) is an autonomous entity that functions under the auspices of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). NIBN objectives are to develop biotechnology projects toward commercialization -- promoting excellent science and translating outstanding interdisciplinary basic research into applied projects that will appeal to the biopharma industry. In its capacity as a national institute dedicated to biotechnology research and development, NIBN is committed to establishing collaborative links with Israeli industry. In that spirit, its newest, recently inaugurated NIBN building includes a cluster of research laboratories and office space for industrial rental use. About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more. AABGU, which is headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org. The journal will be led by Kevin J Gaston, Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Exeter. Gaston will work closely with lead editors Rosie Hails, Kai Chan, Cecily Maller and Robert Fish, and an expert board of associate editors drawn from a wide array of fields that intersect with ecology, including economics, law, geography and sociology. "I'm delighted to be leading this project, which comes at a particularly exciting time as research in ecology becomes more interdisciplinary. The vision of the journal is to provide a much-needed space in which researchers can debate and share knowledge at the meeting point of ecology with other disciplines", said Gaston. Recognising the importance of human aspects in all areas of ecology, People and Nature fosters innovation and experimentation. Authors may use quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. Professor Rosie Hails of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and current Vice President of the BES added: "The British Ecological Society already publishes five well-respected journals in the field of ecology. With the launch of this new journal, authors will have the opportunity to disseminate their work more widely amongst our multidisciplinary community and beyond." Professor Kai Chan from the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability, and the Institute for Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia described the journal as "a fantastic home for high-quality research addressing urgent issues facing our planet." Dr Cecily Maller, Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University's Centre for Urban Research added: "Now more than ever we need to look beyond disciplinary boundaries to more transformative, transdisciplinary ways of thinking to understand human-nature relationships." Dr Robert Fish, Reader in Human Ecology at the University of Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation concluded: "Ecological questions are wrapped up inside a wider set of political, social and cultural concerns and conundrums. This journal will be an important venue for debate and innovation in the complex arena of people-nature interactions." People and Nature will open for submissions in June. Available exclusively online, People and Nature will be published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, alongside five established journals from the BES, namely: Journal of Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Functional Ecology, and Journal of Animal Ecology. Follow @PaN_BES for updates. ### The "Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg" (KiTZ) is a joint initiative of Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Medulloblastoma is a rare malignant tumor of the cerebellum and occurs predominantly in children. Scientists believe that in many cases hereditary gene defects trigger the development of this malignant disease. However, there are no standards for routine genetic screening of patients, nor are there guidelines and a corresponding nationwide infrastructure for genetic counseling of affected families. Scientists have now been able to characterize medulloblastoma more accurately and to derive recommendations for genetic testing based on analysis of 1022 patients with medulloblastoma. "We analyzed genes that have been previously implicated in predisposition to any type of pediatric and adult cancer", says Sebastian Waszak from the EMBL Heidelberg who is one of the study's lead authors. It turned out that six genes were also frequently affected by genetic alterations in patients with medulloblastoma. Considering the six significantly enriched genes, about five percent of patients had an increased risk of cancer. Taking into account all cancer risk genes, about eleven percent of the patients had an increased cancer risk. Looking at a particular tumor subgroup, the so called "SHH-activated medulloblastoma", even 20 percent were identified to harbour a genetic predisposition to cancer. These predisposing mutations occur in every single cell of the patient and can be also passed on to offspring. "Mutations of this kind often indicate a familial predisposition to cancer and therefore place special demands on the treatment of patients and the counseling of families", said Paul Northcott from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, who shares the lead authorship. The results are particularly important because both, materials from previous studies and patient data from four current or recently completed clinical trials were included in the analysis. Based on these findings and other tumor features, the scientists developed criteria for routine genetic screening. "Hereditary disease factors usually have a significant impact on the whole family of the patient, We want to make genetic analysis available as a standard of care for patients with specific medulloblastoma", says Stefan Pfister, KiTZ director, scientist at the German Cancer Research Center, and senior physician at the Heidelberg University Hospital. To make this possible, Stefan Pfister and Christian Kratz from the Hannover Medical School have created a registry for patients with a hereditary cancer predisposition and a website that contains information for patients, families, and physicians . ### The project was significantly supported by the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), the German Cancer Aid, the German Childhood Cancer Foundation, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Original publication: Waszak et al. Spectrum and prevalence of genetic predisposition in medulloblastoma: a retrospective genetic study and prospective validation in a clinical trial cohort. The Lancet Oncology. Online publication 10th May 2018; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30242-0 A picture is available for download: https://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2014/bilder/Medulloblastom-MRT-Hellerhoff-Wikimedia.jpg Picture Caption: MRT picture of a medulloblastoma Note on use of images related to press releases Use is free of charge. The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) permits one-time use in the context of reporting about the topic covered in the press release. Images have to be cited as follows: "Source: Wikimedia/Hellerhoff". Distribution of images to third parties is not permitted unless prior consent has been obtained from DKFZ's Press Office (phone: ++49-(0)6221 42 2854, E-mail: presse@dkfz.de). Any commercial use is prohibited. The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) with its more than 3,000 employees is the largest biomedical research institute in Germany. At DKFZ, more than 1,000 scientists investigate how cancer develops, identify cancer risk factors and endeavor to find new strategies to prevent people from getting cancer. They develop novel approaches to make tumor diagnosis more precise and treatment of cancer patients more successful. The staff of the Cancer Information Service (KID) offers information about the widespread disease of cancer for patients, their families, and the general public. Jointly with Heidelberg University Hospital, DKFZ has established the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg, where promising approaches from cancer research are translated into the clinic. In the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), one of six German Centers for Health Research, DKFZ maintains translational centers at seven university partnering sites. Combining excellent university hospitals with high-profile research at a Helmholtz Center is an important contribution to improving the chances of cancer patients. DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers, with ninety percent of its funding coming from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the remaining ten percent from the State of Baden-Wurttemberg. Heidelberg University Hospital and Medical Faculty: Internationally recognized patient care, research, and teaching Heidelberg University Hospital is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Germany. The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University belongs to the internationally most renowned biomedical research institutions in Europe. Both institutions have the common goal of developing new therapies and implementing them rapidly for patients. With about 13,000 employees, training and qualification is an important issue. Every year, around 65,000 patients are treated on an inpatient basis, 56,000 cases on a day patient basis and more than 1,000,000 cases on an outpatient basis in more than 50 clinics and departments with almost 2,000 beds. Jointly with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Aid, Heidelberg University Hospital has established the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg, where promising approaches from cancer research are translated into the clinic. Currently, about 3,700 future physicians are studying in Heidelberg; the reform Heidelberg Curriculum Medicinale (HeiCuMed) is one of the top medical training programs in Germany. http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de The Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg" (KiTZ) The Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg" (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). As a therapy and research center for oncologic and hematologic diseases in children and adolescents, the KiTZ is committed to scientifically exploring the biology of childhood cancer and to closely linking promising research approaches with patient care- from diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. Children suffering from cancer, especially those with no established therapy options, are given an individual therapy plan in the KiTZ, which is created by interdisciplinary expert groups in so-called tumor boards. Many young patients can participate in clinical trials which ensures access to new therapy options. Thus, the KiTZ is a pioneering institution for transferring research knowledge from the laboratory to the clinic. Press contact: Dr. Sibylle Kohlstadt Press and Public Relations German Cancer Research Center Im Neuenheimer Feld 280 D-69120 Heidelberg T: +49 6221 42 2843 F: +49 6221 42 2968 S.Kohlstaedt@dkfz.de presse@dkfz.de Doris Rubsam-Brodkorb Corporate Communcations Heidelberg University Hospital and Medical Faculty Im Neuenheimer Feld 672 D-69120 Heidelberg T: +49 6221 56-5052 F: +49 6221 56-4544 doris.ruebsam-brodkorb@med.uni-heidelberg.de Dr. Elke Matuschek Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ) Press and Public Relations Officer Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3 / 7.320 D-69120 Heidelberg T: +49 (0) 6221 56 36434 e.matuschek@kitz-heidelberg.de media@kitz-heidelberg.de Climate researcher from the program 'Make Our Planet Great Again' coming from the US to the Goethe University Frankfurt FRANKFURT. Following the Paris Climate Agreement, Germany and France created the program "Make Our Planet Great Again," to promote climate change research. One of 13 researchers selected by an expert jury of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is coming from the USA to the Goethe University in a few months. The climate change researcher Dr. Anna Possner is leaving the renowned Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford and will join the Department for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the Goethe University. Thanks to a one million euro grant, she will start her own research group in Frankfurt. This group will cooperate with the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), where it will also be located. Anna Possner's research focuses on layered clouds in the lowest kilometres of the atmosphere, which act as a semi-transparent parasol for Earth's surface. They reflect a significant portion of incoming sunlight, but only marginally affect Earth's heat emission. They thus have a cooling effect on Earth's surface. Any sheet of low-level cloud may span hundreds of kilometres and all together they span around one fifth of Earth's oceans. Changes in their areal extent or reflective properties can result in significant changes to Earth's surface temperature. In some regions of the globe, the mid-latitudes and the Arctic, these clouds consist not only of water drops, but may contain a mixture of ice particles and water drops. The proportion of water drops to ice crystals affects the clouds' reflective properties. "While we have hypotheses about how the radiative properties may be affected within a single cloud," Anna Possner explains, "we are limited in our understanding of how the presence of ice crystals impacts the areal coverage and reflective properties on the scale of an entire cloud field." She will use satellite retrievals and sophisticated numerical models to help answer this question. Since completing her doctoral dissertation at the ETH Zurich, Anna Possner, who was born in Jena, has studied the impact of particles on the reflective properties of clouds. During this time she focused in particular on low-lying clouds over the oceans, where she quantified and evaluated the impact of ship emissions on clouds. During her postdoc years at the ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, she extended her analyses to include mixed-phase clouds. The German-French program "Make Our Planet Great Again" seeks to support the creation of solid facts as a basis for political decisions in the fields "climate change", "earth system research" and "energy transformation". Of the 13 scientists selected for Germany, seven are in the US, two were most recently working in Great Britain and one each is in Switzerland, Canada, South Korea and Australia. They were selected during a two-stage process out of approximately 300 applications. ### Further Information: Prof. Joachim Curtius, Department for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Faculty for Geosciences / Geography, Riedberg Campus, Tel.: +49 (0) 798-42058, curtius@iau.uni-frankfurt.de. Current news about science, teaching, and society in GOETHE-UNI online Goethe University is a research-oriented university in the European financial centre Frankfurt The university was founded in 1914 through private funding, primarily from Jewish sponsors, and has since produced pioneering achievements in the areas of social sciences, sociology and economics, medicine, quantum physics, brain research, and labour law. It gained a unique level of autonomy on 1 January 2008 by returning to its historic roots as a "foundation university". Today, it is among the top ten in external funding and among the top three largest universities in Germany, with three clusters of excellence in medicine, life sciences and the humanities. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz, it acts as a partner of the inter-state strategic Rhine-Main University Alliance. Internet: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, International Communication, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: +49(0)69 798-13066, Fax +49(0)69 798-761 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de. Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Anne Hardy, Referee for Science Communication, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: (069) 798-13035, Fax: (069) 798-763 12531. Atrial fibrillation patients who are diagnosed with carotid artery disease face higher risks for developing dementia, according to new research from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Blockages in the carotid artery, which gradually build up as people age, restrict blood flow to the brain. The new study shows that a combination of the two diseases and the resulting impact on blood flow significantly increases a patient's chances of developing dementia. Prior research has shown the abnormal heart rhythms of atrial fibrillation produce inconsistent blood flow to the brain, which contributes to the onset of dementia or a decrease in cognitive function. Risk factors are similar for atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease and include age, weight, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Smoking can also increase risk. "Our team of researchers has been studying links between atrial fibrillation and dementia. This new data stresses the continued need for physicians to monitor and screen patients for both carotid artery disease and atrial fibrillation, especially patients who have risk factors of either disease, said Victoria Jacobs, PhD, a clinical researcher with the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute." Results of the study will be presented during the Heart Rhythm Society's 39th annual Scientific Sessions in Boston on Friday, May 11, at 2 p.m. ET. More than 200,000 new patients are diagnosed each year with carotid artery disease, which is caused by plaque building up in the artery that leads from the brain to the heart. However, the disease is usually asymptomatic until the patient has a stroke. The largest age group of people affected are those over 60. Atrial fibrillation, the most common heart arrhythmia in the world, affects more than 2.7 million American adults. The abnormal heart rhythm causes blood to pool and clot in the heart, and when those blood clots break free, they can cause a stroke. Researchers examined 6,786 patients with carotid artery disease with no history of dementia, and compared those in the group diagnosed with atrial fibrillation to those with no diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. The average age of the patients was 71.6 years old and 55.6 percent of them were male. Twenty one percent of them had atrial fibrillation. How can study results help providers and patients reduce the onset of dementia? Dr. Jacobs says early awareness and recognition are key. "Atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease are treatable, and addressing those diseases early on can help reduce the risk of developing dementia," said Dr. Jacobs. "Physicians should be discussing the treatment options with patients who are at risk to help educate them about what they can do to live the healthiest life possible. Patients should be engaged in their own healthcare, knowledgeable about their risks, and active in maintaining healthy lifestyles. Neither disease should be accepted passively, because both are treatable, and treatment is especially important given the benefit of helping to prevent or postpone dementia." Researchers will continue to analyze the data to compare it among different groups to see what patterns may exist in identifying a patient's risk of developing dementia. ### Members of the research team include: Kevin G. Graves, MHI; Heidi T. May, PhD; Victoria Jacobs, PhD; Tami L. Bair; Brian G. Crandall, MD; Michael J. Cutler, DO, PhD; Charles Mallender, MD; Jeffrey S. Osborn, MD; Peter Weiss, MD; John D. Day, MD; Jared Bunch, MD. Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship facility for the Intermountain Healthcare system, which is based in Salt Lake City. Montreal, May 11 2018 -- Historically, our view of host defense against infection was that we must eliminate pathogens to eradicate disease. However, this perspective has recently been challenged as scientists have taken a lesson from plant biologists about an ancient strategy involving the ability to "tolerate" rather than "resist" infection to maintain health. This concept, referred to as "disease toler-ance", provides an opportunity to develop new strategies that mitigate the consequences of infection. Since the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or Mtb, (the bacteria causing TB) over a century ago, great progress has been made in defining strategies that facilitate elimination of the bacteria. For instance, the discovery of antibiotics was a major breakthrough in the treatment of active TB. However, greater than 90 per cent of TB-infected individuals tolerate the bacteria without any treatment. Dr. Maziar Divangahi, a pulmonary immunologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and a professor of Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, has been try-ing to explain why the vast majority of people infected with Mtb can tolerate the infection without developing disease. Clinicians refer to this condition as "latent tuberculosis", and it affects a quarter of the global population. "TB is a perfect example of disease tolerance," says Dr. Divangahi who is also the associate director of the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program at the RI-MUHC and a member of the McGill International TB Centre. Dr. Divangahi's team found that rather than fighting to resist the pathogen, the body's tolerance to Mtb is the key mechanism for preventing the spread of the infection. More surprisingly, they found that having excessive levels of T cells, which are known as soldiers of our immune system, could cause more harm than good. "We always thought that having more T cells would provide better protection against TB. Instead, we found that it could imbalance disease tolerance causing extensive tissue damage and ultimately killing the host," says Dr. Divangahi, lead author of the study published today in Science Immunology, who is the also the associate director of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories. Disease tolerance versus host resistance Our body's defense system is divided into two arms: one is resistance, which aims to eliminate the pathogen, while the other is tolerance, which is designed to control the tissue damage caused by the infection. "While disease tolerance is an established field of research in simple organisms such as plants, our un-derstanding of this host defense strategy in humans is very limited," says Dr. Divangahi. Although, immunologists and vaccinologists have made progress in the study of host resistance to infectious diseases, little is known about the mechanisms of disease tolerance in humans. A key protein in disease tolerance Dr. Divangahi's team determined that a protein in the mitochondria called cyclophilin D (CypD) acts as a key checkpoint for T cell activation. Through collaboration with Dr. Russell Jones from McGill University, who is an international expert in T cell biology, they identified that CypD is required for controlling T cell metabolism. "T cells are traditionally considered to be important in eliminating Mtb," says Dr. Divangahi. "However, we found that increasing T cell activation in mice by eliminating a metabolic checkpoint unexpectedly compromised host survival without any impact on the growth of Mtb." "In contrast to conventional thinking, we show that T cells are essential for regulating the body's toler-ance to Mtb infection," explains one of the study's first authors, Dr. Nargis Khan, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Divangahi's lab at the RI-MUHC. Giving the widespread drug resistance to various Mtb strains the limited pipeline of effective antibiotics and the lack of an efficient vaccine, alternative approaches to treat TB are urgent. "If we could understand the mechanisms of 'natural immunity' that controls TB in 90-95 per cent of infected individuals," says Dr. Divangahi,"we will able to design a novel therapy or vaccine to substantially reduce the world wide burden of this ancient disease." ### About the study The study Mitochondrial cyclophilin D regulates T cell metabolic responses and disease tolerance to tu-berculosis was co-authored by Fanny Tzelepis,* Julianna Blagih,* Nargis Khan,* Joshua Gillard, Laura Mendonca, Dominic G. Roy, Eric H. Ma, Philippe Joubert, Russell G. Jones, Maziar Divangahi. DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aar4135 This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Dr. Divan-gahi holds a Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante (FRQS) Award and the Strauss Chair in Respiratory Diseases. About the Research Institute of the MUHC The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and healthcare research centre. The Institute, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) - an academic health centre located in Montreal, Canada, that has a mandate to focus on complex care within its community. The RI-MUHC supports over 420 researchers and close to 1,200 research trainees devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental, clinical and health outcomes research at the Glen and the Montreal General Hospital sites of the MUHC. Its research facilities offer a dynamic multidisciplinary environment that fosters collaboration and leverages discovery aimed at improving the health of individual patients across their lifespan. The RI-MUHC is supported in part by the Fonds de recherche du Quebec - Sante (FRQS). http://www.rimuhc.ca Media contact: Julie Robert Communications Coordinator - Research McGill University Health Centre 514-971-4747 (cell) 514-843-1560 julie.robert@muhc.mcgill.ca Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and Harvard University have discovered how the Clostridium difficile toxin B (TcdB) recognizes the human Frizzled protein, the receptor it uses to invade intestinal cells and lead to deadly gastrointestinal infections. The findings, published today in Science, could pave the way for new C. diff antitoxins and also show potential for the development of novel anti-cancer drugs. In a C. diff infection (CDI), TcdB targets colonic epithelia and binds to what are called Frizzled (FZD) receptors. Researchers in the labs of Rongsheng Jin, PhD, professor of physiology & biophysics from the UCI School of Medicine, and Min Dong, PhD, from Boston Children's Hospital - Harvard Medical School, found that during this binding process, the toxin locks certain lipid molecules in FZD, which block critical Wnt signaling that regulates renewal of colonic stem cells and differentiation of the colonic epithelium. "This toxin is indeed very smart. It takes advantage of an important lipid that FZD uses for its own function, to improve its binding affinity and specificity to FZD," said Jin, "However, the need for this lipid also exposes a vulnerability of TcdB that could be exploited to develop antitoxins that block toxin-receptor recognition." Jin and Dong believe that the novel FZD-antagonizing mechanism exploited by toxin B could be used to turn this deadly toxin into a potential pharmacological tool for research and therapeutic applications, including anti-cancer drugs. The team's preliminary data show that a non-toxic fragment of TcdB that they identified could significantly inhibit the growth of some cancer cells with dysregulation in Wnt signaling. A patent application has been filed. Clostridium difficile, also called "C. diff," causes severe gastrointestinal tract infections and tops the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's list of urgent drug-resistant threats. Clostridium difficile infection has become the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and gastroenteritis-associated death in developed countries, accounting for half-million cases and 29,000 deaths annually in the United States. It is classified as one of the top three "urgent threats" by the CDC. ### The research was funded with National Institute of Health grants R01AI091823, R01AI125704, and R21AI123920 to Jin, and R01 NS080833 and R01 AI132387 to Dong. About the UCI School of Medicine Each year, the UCI School of Medicine educates more than 400 medical students, as well as 200 doctoral and master's students. More than 600 residents and fellows are trained at UC Irvine Medical Center and affiliated institutions. The UCI School of Medicine offers an MD degree, a dual MD/PhD medical scientist training program, PhDs and master's degrees in anatomy and neurobiology, biomedical sciences, genetic counseling, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, pathology, pharmacology, physiology and biophysics, and translational sciences. Medical students also may pursue an MD/MBA program, a combined MD/Master's in Public Health or a dual MD/master's program called the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). UCI School of Medicine is accredited by Liaison Committee on Medical Accreditation (LCME), and ranks among the top 50 nationwide for research. For more information, visit: som.uci.edu. About the University of California, Irvine Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. Located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities, UCI is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu. A 180 million-year-old fossil has shed light on how some ancient crocodiles evolved into dolphin-like animals. The specimen - featuring a large portion of backbone - represents a missing link in the family tree of crocodiles, and was one of the largest coastal predators of the Jurassic Period, researchers say. The newly discovered species was nearly five metres long and had large, pointed teeth for grasping prey. It also shared key body features seen in two distinct families of prehistoric crocodiles, the team says. Some Jurassic-era crocodiles had bony armour on their backs and bellies, and limbs adapted for walking on land. Another group had tail fins and flippers but did not have armour. The new species was heavily armoured but also had a tail fin, suggesting it is a missing link between the two groups, researchers say. It has been named Magyarosuchus fitosi in honour of the amateur collector who discovered it, Attila Fitos. The fossil - unearthed on a mountain range in north-west Hungary in 1996 and stored in a museum in Budapest - was examined by a team of palaeontologists, including a researcher from the University of Edinburgh. It was identified as a new species based on the discovery of an odd-looking vertebra that formed part of its tail fin. The study, published in the journal PeerJ, also involved researchers in Hungary and Germany. It was supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the SYNTHESYS project, part of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme. Dr Mark Young, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who was involved in the study, said: "This fossil provides a unique insight into how crocodiles began evolving into dolphin and killer whale-like forms more than 180 million years ago. The presence of both bony armour and a tail fin highlights the remarkable diversity of Jurassic-era crocodiles." ### University of Sydney professor recognized for his fundamental contribution to representation theory in mathematics Professor Geordie Williamson from the School of Mathematics and Statistics has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the world's most prestigious and oldest continuously running scientific academy. He is one of 50 new Fellows from across the Commonwealth of Nations. He will attend a ceremony in London in July to accept his election, alongside South African engineer and inventor, Elon Musk. "This is a great honour," Professor Williamson said. "It came as a very pleasant surprise: it's the first scientific honour I became aware of as a child after the Nobel Prizes." It is unusual to be elected to the Royal Society under the age of 40. Professor Williamson is 36 and is now the Royal Society's youngest living fellow (if you choose not to include Prince William, a Royal Fellow, who is 35). The Royal Society holds a special place for Professor Williamson. As a child, he was enthralled by the brilliant Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, a largely self-taught mathematician who grew up under British rule in Madras. He died, tragically young, aged 32, after spending time at Cambridge. "When I was 12 I was fascinated by Ramanujan's story. He was incredibly isolated and yet believed in himself. Upon arrival in Cambridge, he had his heart set on being elected a Fellow. That story was my first contact with the Royal Society." The Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Dr Michael Spence, said: "I'm thrilled for Geordie and the whole University that one of our young academics is gaining the recognition he deserves. Professor Williamson is a highly valued member of our academic community and I'm certain he will go from strength to strength in his contribution to mathematical knowledge." Professor Williamson has been recognised for his fundamental contribution to representation theory, which is the study of linear symmetry in mathematics. It is useful in the sense it can transform problems in abstract algebra into calculations in linear algebra, making them less complex to solve. Professor Williamson has received many awards in his young career. Last year he received the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize, valued at $100,000 (US), funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner. In 2016 he received the Clay Research Award, the European Mathematical Society Prize and the Chevalley Prize of the American Mathematical Society. A bet made in 2009 with German mathematician Peter Fiebig on the Lusztig conjecture eventually saw a "case of very good wine" sent his way in 2015. In August, Professor Williamson will be a plenary speaker at the International Congress of Mathematics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ICM meets every four years and awards the highest honour in mathematics, the Fields Medal. He is the first mathematician working in Australia to present at a plenary of the ICM. Australian-born US-based mathematician Terence Tao presented at the ICM in 2006, the year he won the Fields Medal. Professor Williamson is an alumnus of the University, completing a Bachelor of Arts in 2003 receiving honours and the University Medal in pure mathematics. He completed his doctorate at the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany in 2008. ### Can we really reduce the cost of maintaining a building? Given the annual total cost of keeping a building safe and usable, especially aging buildings, the amount spent on operation costs can be a princely sum. Investment on building maintenance represents almost half of the total turnover of the construction industry and such a reduction of resources has a direct effect on a nation's economy. Recent studies have shown that the main factors that lead to building operations and maintenance problems are due to faulty design, faulty construction, financial factors and maintenance related defects. The lack of maintainability considerations during the design and construction stages lead to building defects which accounts to billions of dollars expenditures throughout the building's lifecycle. More so, the potential unsafe conditions of buildings (specifically on high rise building facades) can be more detrimental to the lives and health of construction workers and may jeopardise public safety and surrounding properties if remained unaddressed. Thus, the design for maintainability is established from the standpoint of the design itself to ensure the benchmark and quality of design, construction and maintenance practices for high maintainability of buildings. Responding to calls from developers and building professionals, Michael Yit Lin Chew, Ashan Asmone and Sheila Conejos (National University of Singapore) authored Design for Maintainability: Benchmarks for Quality Buildings. The book focuses on spearheading the integration of designers, constructors and facility managers (FM) on the outset of the planning/design stage easy to read tables summarising knowledge learned from past mistakes and maintainability benchmarks. The book is organised by the six major building components: (1) basements, (2) wet areas, (3) facades, (4) roofs, (5) common areas and (6) M&E systems. Each chapter addresses the common defects and the corresponding design, construction, or facility management issues, with standards, guidelines and recommendations for the structural, architectural and services of the component, to be taken into account at the outset of the planning/design stage. Building maintenance shares a significant portion of any building's operational cost and it is gaining increased awareness that improved maintenance performance can be used to add value to the business process. Thus, "to complement Singapore's goal to achieve sustainability through greening its built environment, considerations for the maintainability of new buildings at the design stage is critical" says lead author, Prof Chew. This book retails for US$38 / 33 / SGD56 (paperback) at major bookstores. A hardback edition is also available at US$58 / 51 / SGD86. To know more about the book visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10722. ### About The Authors Michael Chew Yit Lin is a full professor in the Building Department at the National University of Singapore (NUS), in the School of Design and Environment. He has been the principal investigator of many research projects and has been successful in attracting external research funding, with a total project value exceeding $3m. He has authored more than 200 publications and is the author of 5 books which have been recommended as texts in many overseas and local institutions. His R&D on joint sealant testing and product development, and his work on the maintainability of buildings, has resulted in two patents awarded in US and two in Singapore. He has seen his products licensed and commercialised, with his R&D brought from the laboratory to on-site applications including airports, buildings and civil structures both locally and overseas. He is the founder of an NUS spin-off company--Building System and Diagnostics Pte Ltd, incorporated in April 2003. Ashan Senel Asmone is a doctoral candidate attached to the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore (NUS) who has majored in facilities management and who holds a Master's in environmental management. He has years of experience in building-related research in sustainability and maintainability and has several publications to his name. Ashan's experience prior to joining the NUS maintainability research group as a research scholar includes work experience in the facilities management industry, and as a lecturer in academia. Sheila Conejos is a Research Fellow in the Building Department at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She earned her PhD in Architecture and Sustainable Development in Australia and has studied in the Philippines, Thailand and Japan under various international postgraduate scholarships. She is a practicing Architect and Urban Planner and managed her own consultancy firm prior to joining the academe in Australia and Hong Kong. She has extensive research and industry experience and has published a number of international referred journals related to building and urban sustainability. About World Scientific Publishing Co. World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organisations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books annually and 135 journals in various fields. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit http://www.worldscientific.com. For more information, contact Amanda at heyun@wspc.com. The decision of Thomas Schmidheiny to stand down this week from the board of Lafarge-Holcim marks the end of an era for the most important Swiss industrial dynasty of the 20th century. The 72-year-old billionaire is one of the principal shareholders of the worlds largest cement company. It was great-grandfather Jacob Schmidheiny who got the ball rolling in 1867, when he took charge of a small brickyard in eastern Switzerland and successfully expanded it. His sons, Ernst and Jacob II, continued the business. Ernst invested in cement manufacturing, which would later develop into Holcim. The third generation, Ernsts sons Max and Ernst II, focused on the production of cement and passed on the business to Maxs sons Thomas and Stephan in the 1970s. These two would attract much admiration during their business careers but also a lot of criticism. Thomas, a qualified machine engineer, worked his way to the top of the company. His brother, two years younger, qualified as a lawyer and took over the asbestos side of the business, which would later trigger a scandal that no one could have foreseen. Prison sentence Years before the carcinogenic effects of asbestos were proved, Stephan Schmidheiny was promoting the development of asbestos-free panels. In 1988, he began separating himself from all shareholdings of the asbestos group, creating foundations for victims of asbestos and getting involved in sustainable economies. As the main business consultant at the United Nations conference for the environment and development, he worked closely on issues of ecological and social sustainability. Since then, the multibillionaire has been considered a philanthropist. Nevertheless, he was sentenced in Italy to 18 years in prison in connection with the deaths of factory workers who had been exposed to asbestos at Eternit Genova, a firm that owned four asbestos factories in Italy in which Schmidheiny was a majority shareholder. In 2014, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the ruling, saying the statute of limitations had passed. Anti-corruption investigation Somewhat less of a moral burden was the Holcim cement company of which his brother, Thomas, was CEO from 1978 to 2001 and chairman of the board of directors from 1989 to 2003. But Thomas was also the target of criticism on several occasions, for example for the companys wage policy in South Africa. Revelations in an insider report damaged the industrialists reputation. He also attracted the interest of Spanish anti-corruption authorities, getting off with a fine of only 1.5 million (CHF1.78 million) thanks to his willingness to cooperate. He also made headlines for his co-responsibility as a board member in the collapse of the Swiss national airline Swissair. Diverse portfolio Under Thomas Schmidheiny, Holcim expanded in promising growth markets in Eastern Europe, China, India and Southeast Asia. Along with another Swiss industrialist he also controlled Lonrho, active in Africa. In addition, he owns the Grand Hotel Bad Ragaz in eastern Switzerland, various wine estates and an art collection comprising above all works by the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler. In 2015, Thomas Schmidheiny orchestrated a merger with French company Lafarge. Switzerlands higher education system has once again been ranked second worldwide in the 2018 Universitas 21 report, holding its own against big players such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The Alpine nation once again came in between the US (1) and the UK (3) in the classification of 50 countries compiled by theUniversitas 21 group of research universities, which was released on May11. It has held this position since 2015. Its lowest position since Universitas started its rankings in 2012 was in 2014, when the country slipped to 6th. Neighbours Germany, France and Italy were ranked 15th, 16thand 28threspectively. Austria came in 11th. Switzerland ranks second overall. A particular strength of the higher education sector is its connectivity with business and international researchers.On a per head basis Switzerland ranks first for PhD completions, over half of whom are non-nationals, Ross Williams, Project Leader of Universitas 21 National Ranking and professor at the University of Melbourne, told swissinfo.ch by email. Elsewhere, the only change on the 2017 rankings was the inversion of Denmark and Swedens positions, U21 said in a statement. U21differs from other rankings like theTimes Higher Education (THE) and Shanghaiin that it assesses national higher education systems as a whole rather than individual universities, where Swiss institutions are often lower down the top ten. In the 2017 THE list, for example, the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) gained 10th place. Switzerlands high ranking for U21 came after it was given position 1 for both resources and connectivity, 4 for output and 11 for environment. An overall ranking is derived using a weight of 40% for output and 20% for each of the other three modules. Swiss universities are well known for their international outlook, innovation and high percentage of foreign students, particularly at post-grad level. A Swiss think-tank nevertheless recently recommended that Swiss universities should become more efficient to continue to compete internationally. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation Friday reaffirmed their commitment to preserving the Iran nuclear deal after the US pulled out of it, the Kremlin said. The situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action following the unilateral withdrawal of the US was discussed. The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted, the Kremlin said in a statement following the call. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkels planned working visit to Russia next week, the Kremlin said. US President Donald Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would do everything to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, while Putin has voiced deep concern at the US decision. The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier Friday, with the pair saying Trump was wrong to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source. After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany. Matteo Garrone, the Italian director known for his ultra-violent mob films, is planning to give the children's classic "Pinocchio" his own twist, according to reports Friday. The maker of the blood-drenched Gomorrah mafia saga is in the running for the Palme dOr top prize at the Cannes film festival for Dogman a gruesome revenge killing drama involving hours of torture by a drug-addicted dog groomer. But the director is about to turn his gaze on Pinocchio, the wooden protagonist of Italian writer Carlo Collodis 1883 novel, said film trade daily Variety. However, Garrones film which starts shooting in November is unlikely to be a kids-friendly version. There are many parts of the book that surprised me. The idea is to return to a certain atmosphere of the world that Collodi described at the end of the 19th century, Garrone said. Its a peasant world, a world of poverty, where there is plenty of violence. In a certain sense I think the Pinocchio story remains very actual and universal. Iran's foreign minister will meet his British, French and German counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran, the EU said. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host the talks between the so-called E3 powers and Iranian minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, her office said in a statement. Mogherini said shortly after Trumps announcement on Tuesday that the EU is determined to preserve the deal, while EU leaders are set to discuss the issue at a summit in Bulgaria next week. Mogherini will on Tuesday 15 May in Brussels host a meeting with E3 Foreign Ministers (Germany, France, UK). This EU/E3 meeting will then be followed by a meeting of that same group with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the EU statement said. Britain, France and Germany led a campaign to persuade Trump to stick with the deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, arguing that it was the most effective way of stopping Iran developing nuclear weapons. But the massive diplomatic push ended in failure as Trump as expected announced the US was pulling out and reimposing sanctions that had been relaxed in return for Iran abandoning its nuclear programme. The EU has said it will work with Russia and China, who also signed the accord, to keep it alive. A Russian man who stabbed a well-known journalist and Kremlin critic in the neck last year will avoid jail but undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment, a Moscow court ruled Friday. Boris Grits, a dual Russian and Israeli citizen, stabbed radio presenter Tatyana Felgenhauer in October 2017 while she was at work, in a case that shocked the country. Felgenhauer, a deputy editor at the liberal Echo of Moscow radio station, survived the attack after undergoing surgery and returned to work shortly afterwards. Following an investigation, prosecutors ruled Grits was unaware of his actions during the attack. The court has decided to release Grits from criminal responsibility and to send him for medical treatment, judge Alexei Chernikov, quoted by Russian agencies, said. Speaking on air on Echo of Moscow, Felgenhauer said she was satisfied with the ruling. Its good that it is over, that he is being isolated, she said. Thank you for not letting him go. The main thing is for him to be cured. She added that she initially doubted Grits was psychologically ill and believed the attack was planned but has since read his relatives claims and does not want to dive into any sort of conspiracies. Before the attack, Grits complained on his blog that Felngengauer had been stalking him and that the two had a telepathic connection. Felgenhauer is involved in political opposition rallies and has thousands of followers on her public Facebook page. Many commentators blamed the authorities for the attack, saying they had created an atmosphere in which such an assault became possible. Russia has a disturbing record of attacks on reporters, with 58 killed since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed it was "wrong" for the United States to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a Turkish presidential source said late Thursday. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would pull out of the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran. Calling Trumps decision wrong, Erdogan and Putin pointed out that the nuclear accord was a diplomatic success which actually should be protected during a telephone conversation on Thursday evening, the Turkish source said. The Kremlin said in a statement that the two strongmen emphasised that the safeguarding of the JCPOA (the formal abbreviation for the accord) is very important for international and regional security as well as the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The two leaders confirmed their determination to continue to cooperate to this end with the other signatory countries of the agreement, the Kremlin added. After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany. Erdogan also congratulated Putin on the start of his fourth term as president after the Russian leader was sworn in on Monday. Ankara has been working closely with Moscow and Tehran over the past year on the Syrian peace process despite being on opposing sides of the conflict and having a sometimes troubled relationship with Iran. According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, in the final year of Putins third term as president, he spoke to Erdogan 20 times, double that of other world leaders. Relations between Turkey and the US are strained over multiple issues including Washingtons support for Syrian Kurdish militia which Turkey views as terrorists and the continued imprisonment of an American pastor in Turkey. burs-raz/sjw/boc A trial began Thursday of a teenage girl accused of plotting a terror attack in London from behind bars using the guise of an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party. Safaa Boular was aged 17 when she allegedly schemed with her sister to launch assaults in the British capital in April, 2017. She began plotting after failing the year before to join her then-fiance Naweed Hussain, a member of the Islamic State group subsequently killed in Syria, the court heard. While in custody for allegedly trying to travel to IS territory, she encouraged her elder sister Rizlaine Boular to carry on with the plot, jurors were told. In calls from jail, she talked with her 21-year-old sibling about arranging an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party, which prosecutors said was code for an attack. The duo also referenced a Mad Hatter and pineapples, other code words in the plot, they added. During their investigation members of the security services posed as IS fighters online to engage with the pair and track their activities. Safaa Boular, now 18, told one officer that all she needed was a car and a knife to get what I want to achieve, jurors were told. Prosecutors said the sisters and their mother Mina Dich, 43, had carried out reconnaissance around major landmarks in Westminster and purchased a pack of knives and a rucksack. The trio were arrested on April 27 last year in raids by counter-terrorism police, during which Rizlaine Boular was shot. She has since pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. Safaa Boular, who lived at home with her mother in southwest London, has denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism. Her defence lawyer Joel Bennathan told jurors that she had been groomed by Hussain, who was twice her age, and that her family had encouraged and celebrated it. The estranged British fashion designer wife of Harvey Weinstein claims she "never" suspected him of wrongdoing and was "so naive," in her first interview since the Hollywood mogul's downfall over sexual misconduct revelations. There was a part of me that was terribly naive clearly, so naive, Georgina Chapman, 42, told Vogue in an extensive interview published Thursday, seven months after the rape and sexual harassment allegations snowballed. I had what I thought was a very happy marriage. I loved my life, she said. Asked if she had ever been suspicious, she replied: Absolutely not. Never. Chapman, the co-founder of fashion label Marchesa, married Weinstein in 2007 and the couple share two children. She left her husband soon after the scandal broke and the couple are divorcing. I lost 10 pounds in five days. I couldnt keep food down, she said. New York Times and New Yorker reports on Weinstein last October led to his career annihilation, bankruptcy, police investigations and the #MeToo movement that has ousted a host of powerful men from jobs across politics and industry. Chapman fled New York, to Los Angeles and then London, saying she didnt go out for five months. I was so humiliated and so broken, she said. I thought, Who am I to be parading around with all of this going on? Its still so very, very raw. Marchesa cancelled its planned February runway show at New York Fashion Week and there has been sniping that the label, which shot to prominence dressing starlets who appeared in Weinsteins movies, may not survive. But on Monday, A-lister Scarlett Johansson purposely choose a Marchesa gown to wear to the Met Gala, the most high-profile celebrity fashion event of the year. Chapman told Vogue she has loyal supporters. A lot of people reached out and said, Let me wear something, she said. While Chapman told Vogue she doesnt consider herself a victim, she broke down in tears when talking about her son and daughter. What are their lives going to be? she cried. Its like, they love their dad. They love him, she told Vogue. I just cant bear it for them! As her marital homes are sold, she now plans to move to a farm in upstate New York with her children. The interview also revealed that Chapman had bonded with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clintons long-time aide whose husband Anthony Weiner is a convicted sex offender, and now in prison for sexting a 15-year-old girl. People dont feel sorry for us, you dont get that empathy. People think youre beautiful, youre thin, youre rich, Abedin told Vogue. WASHINGTON - While governor of Texas, Rick Perry was approached by a group of power executives who warned that unless state regulators took steps to raise electricity rates, power plants across the state would close and regular blackouts could follow. But Perry, a fierce advocate of keeping government out of the marketplace, turned them down. He was heavily lobbied, recalled Ken Anderson, a former Texas Public Utility Commissioner appointed by Perry. Ultimately, he said, Were going to rely on the market, and thats what we did. But since taking over as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Perrys devotion to the magic of markets has waned as he advocates for the same sort of government intervention he avoided in Austin to prop up the struggling nuclear and coal power plants. That has put him on the opposite side of longtime allies in politics and business, who fear Perry is betraying his free market principles to win a victory for President Donald Trump, who unequivocally pledged to revive the fortunes of coal. Rick Perry knows about the chain of command and his commander-in-chief has made some promises on the campaign trail, said Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land. Secretary Perry is being the good Cabinet member he is. I imagine he said, Try another way, but hes been overruled. Perrys office did not respond to requests for comment. In the weeks ahead, the Energy Department is expected to decide whether to grant a request by the Ohio company FirstEnergy Solutions that the agency use emergency powers designed to prevent blackouts to increase power rates for coal and nuclear plants. Perry last year made a similar proposal, asking federal regulators to adopt rules that would have paid coal and nuclear plants more for their power than other generators. Pressure to bail out the coal and nuclear industries recently increased when Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat representing coal-rich West Virginia, asked Perry and Defense Secretary James Mattis to consider invoking national security powers to keep the plants up and running, which could require taxpayer money. Coal and nuclear interests argue the plants are needed to avoid power outages that could damage the U.S. economy, since wind and solar generation is subject to the weather and gas-fired plants, which dont store fuel on site, are vulnerable to supply interruptions. The security of our homeland is inextricably tied to the security of our energy supply, Manchin said. Wide range of opposition More than 200 coal plants have closed since 2010 and few would question the dire situation for coal and nuclear in a power market dominated by cheap natural gas and increasingly efficient forms of renewable energy. But the notion that the situation represents an emergency, requiring federal intervention, goes too far for many Republicans and business leaders. A study by the New York consulting firm Rhodium Group last year found that storms accounted for the vast majority of U.S. power outages over the past five years, with only 0.00007 percent were due to fuel supply problems. Among the groups opposing FirstEnergys request is the American Petroleum Institute, whose members stand to profit from increasing demand for natural gas. The oil and gas trade group is joined by renewable energy companies, environmentalists and large power consumers, such as General Electric and Walmart, which stand to see electricity rates and costs increased. Ultimately, its going to be very expensive, whether it puts the cost on ratepayers or taxpayers, all under this alleged emergency that doesnt exist, said Maria Robinson, director of wholesale markets at Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group whose membership includes large power buyers like Apple and Honda. Many analysts believed the question of subsidizing coal and nuclear was put to rest last year, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Perrys proposal to allow higher power rates for coal and nuclear generators. But then FirstEnergy requested emergency intervention in March - through section 202 of the Federal Power Act - reigniting the interest of the administration. At an event in West Virginia last month, Trump said, Well be looking at that 202, you know what a 202 is, well be looking at that, were trying. Throwing a lifeline FirstEnergy is a major customer of Murray Energy, the Ohio coal company led by Robert Murray, a Trump supporter and campaign donor. For coal companies, an emergency order would provide a lifeline at a time many financial analysts are forecasting the continued decline of the industry. In addition to the competition from natural gas and renewable energy, climate change regulations are expected to stifle global demand for fossil fuels - particularly coal, considered one of the dirtiest. There have been some announcements about coal plants closing. A lot of those have come on the basis of the impacts of prior regulation, said Betsy Monsue, spokeswoman for American Coal Council. The steps the administration has taken to address regulatory reform at the federal level have been very important. But were administration officials to impose an emergency order, they would likely face a backlash not only from business leaders but also members of their own party, analysts said. Opposition within Congress is said to be strong. I dont know what (Perry) is going to do, but I have faith in the administration to be creative, Robinson said. They are feeling compelled to do something to support an ally of the president. In the past four years, a walk across the St. Marys University campus always held the possibility of being treated to an impromptu musical performance. Maggy, Marta and Mary Moipei, seniors who will graduate Saturday with music degrees, have a habit of randomly humming melodies or breaking into snippets of song. The 24-year-old identical triplets from Kenya long have been a singing trio, and they cannot seem to help themselves at this point, music appears woven into their DNA. Campus bathrooms and stairwells are prime settings, Maggy says, because the acoustics are great. But the sisters talents often have been on more formal display during their time in San Antonio, from campus functions and productions to concerts at the Tobin Center to a crowd-pleasing rendition operatic yet lilting of the national anthem at a 2015 Spurs playoff game. Last year, they sang at Mayor Ron Nirenbergs inaugural celebration. Once, while attending Mass at San Fernando Cathedral with one of their professors, Ray Leal, the Moipeis joined in as the choir sang. Leal remembers congregants looking around in confusion and wonder, taken aback by their angelic voices. On another occasion, they sang after a meal at a local restaurant. More Information University commencements in San Antonio (Times vary for multiple ceremonies) Our Lady of the Lake University: Friday, Freeman Coliseum University of the Incarnate Word: Saturday and Sunday, McDermott Center & Freeman Coliseum Trinity University: Saturday, Parker Chapel & Laurie Auditorium St. Mary's University: Saturday, Bill Greehey Arena University of Texas at San Antonio: Saturday and Sunday, Alamodome Texas A&M University-San Antonio: May 18, Freeman Coliseum See More Collapse As triplets, the sisters have an unusually close emotional bond that is apparent in conversation and when they sing together. It elevates the quality of performance, said Meredith Kiesgen-Schilling, their voice professor at St. Marys. Because they are the same size, the womens voices have similar size and color, she said, but each still is distinctive Marta has a deeper voice, Mary is a high soprano and Maggy is somewhere in between. Together, their voices beautifully complement each other. They can feed off of each other in a way that other students that are singing in a trio dont, Kiesgen-Schilling said. The Moipeis are dedicated. They are passionate. They love singing. They love music, Kiesgen-Schilling added. When you ask them to do something, they jump in. They dive in, they do it. They do it with 100 percent of their being. While the Moipeis musical abilities have flourished at St. Marys, they have been practicing their craft since they were small girls growing up in Nairobi, under the guidance of their musician parents, and had formed a nationally known quartet with their sister, Seraphine. Their father, Nicholas Moipei, taught them from a young age, introducing them to music theory, the piano and different musical genres. Their mother, Christine, frequently drove them to concerts and lessons. The sisters also extended their range of instruments besides the piano, Marta learned the trumpet, Mary the clarinet and saxophone and Maggy the flute and piccolo. The four sisters competed in Kenyan music festivals, toured with an opera company and sang at a Kenyan presidential inauguration. YouTube videos of their singing have racked up hundreds of thousands of views. By the time the triplets came to America, they already were famous at home, and since then have missed Seraphines bass contribution to their vocals. They visited St. Marys at the encouragement of the Rev. Martin Solma, the universitys chancellor and provincial of the Marianist Province of the United States. Solma, who lived in Kenya more than 20 years and is a longtime friend of the Moipei family, thought the universitys faith-based, close-knit environment would suit them. He was right. St. Marys chose us, so we came, Maggy said. It was like we had been here the whole time, Mary added. The Moipeis explored the citys food and culture. They attended shows at the Majestic Theatre. They found stores that stocked items from back home. They performed at the Tobin to a sold-out crowd. When they got homesick, they listened to Broadway musicals to lift their spirits. By many accounts, the sisters left a mark on the university community, both with their talent and kindness toward others. One professor joked about the need to flunk them in a class so they would have to stay longer, Solma said. For them to be able to share themselves here, its a real gift to the university, Solma said. And its also a gift for them as well. Their time and experience here has really broadened them. On Saturday, as they join thousands of university students graduating this weekend across San Antonio, they will give one more performance as undergraduates: singing the national anthem and the university alma mater. The ceremony will be attended by their immediate family members, who flew in from Kenya this week. Once they walk the stage, the Moipeis still need to solidify their plans. On May 26, they will perform another concert at the Tobin called, Too Darn Hot! After that, the sisters hope to stay here for another year, either performing or exploring graduate programs. Whatever they do, they will do it together. All they really need now, Solma said, is their big break. Lauren Caruba is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | lcaruba@express-news.net | @LaurenCaruba Looking relieved and overwhelmed by the media throng, two pregnant African-American mothers who were financially unable to bail themselves out of Bexar County Jail were freed instead Thursday by reform activists as part of National Black Mamas Bail Out Day. Surrounded by supporters from groups as varied as VIVA Politics, the Texas Organizing Project and Planned Parenthood, the two mothers, Shamika Prince, 38, of San Antonio and Simone Oliver, 23, from Milwaukee, stood on the jail steps and marveled at their unexpected Mothers Day gift. This is the first time Ive ever been separated from my kids, said Oliver, who has two children and is three months pregnant. I spent 14 nights in jail. I just want to thank everyone who made this day possible. Olivers bail had been set at $3,000, and Princes was $3,500, according to the events organizers. Neither woman was able to afford the standard 10 percent fee that most Texas bail bond companies require to help ensure defendants presence in court. Prince said she was accused of shoplifting. I was just with the wrong people at the wrong time, said the former housekeeper and waitress. Oliver declined to say what she was charged with; a jail official later said it was domestic assault with bodily injury. One of the many websites devoted to the national day of activism against the much-criticized cash bail system said the usual alternative to coming up with the money pre-trial incarceration has catastrophic impacts on families and communities. Even a few days in jail can ruin a persons life, says a site called nomoremoneybail.org, which asks for contributions for the bail-outs. They may lose their job, their family may lose housing and some even lose their children. The site reports that since May 2017, more than 14,000 people across the country have donated funds to obtain the release of some 200 people in U.S. jails. They describe themselves as a collective of black organizers who are committed to building a community-based movement to end pre-trial detention and ultimately mass incarceration. This day is about freedom, said Alana Bell Williams, pastor of the Rebuild Kingdom church in San Antonio. Im moved by the compassion here and throughout our country today. Expecting a daughter to be named Mia in three months, Prince said she has no home of her own and would go live with her mother. Her children are 17 and 18, and she is a native San Antonian who attended Brackenridge High School and had been in jail 15 days, she said. Prince said she knew nothing of the National Bail Out movement and didnt know the local organizers who paid for her release. I just heard about this last week, she said. I was on my way to talk with my attorney about getting a PR (personal recognizance) bond. Sheriff Javier Salazar, whose office operates the jail, said he had not fully formed his opinion on reforming the bail system but backs a proposal made to county judges that would allow certain nonviolent offenders to serve time with community service such as picking up trash or assisting local food banks. It costs about $40-$60 to house an inmate each day, Salazar said. And with about 4,200 people in a facility that holds 4,500, we really must do something. There are a lot of stakeholders, and I want to be in the conversation that helps solve the problem. Attorney Joe Gonzales, the Democratic nominee for district attorney, spoke to the gathering and said afterward that in his 22-year legal career he has had many clients who languished in jail because they couldnt raise bail money. Theres often this domino effect, where the accused person will lose their job because they cant show up. Then that may cause missed rent, eviction, sometimes divorce, Gonzales said. I want to take a proactive approach to this if Im elected in November and see if we can find more eligible nonviolent offenders who can be released on PR bonds. Gonzales also joined the events organizers in criticizing a judicial system that often rewards people for falsely pleading guilty in order to get a quick release. Many times these people have a legitimate defense, he said, but they cannot afford to wait for their day in court. A few hundred yards away at the county womens jail, another group of women, most of them confined for minor criminal offenses, got a pleasant Mothers Day surprise, though not an early release. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller led a bilingual Mass at the jail chapel for 47 female prisoners, including some who were in wheelchairs or breathing with oxygen tanks. Led by a guitarist, the women, dressed in light blue jail uniforms, at one point began to softly sing the gospel song, This Little Light of Mine, with some smiling broadly, rocking back and forth and even gently crying or touching the shoulder of a friend. bselcraig@express-news.net 2 1 of 2 Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott is continuing his fight against his potential opponent in the November general election, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, with a website that portrays her as too liberal for Texas. Valdez is battling Houston businessman Andrew White for the Democratic nomination for governor in the May 22 runoff, but she already has squared off with the Republican incumbent on issues including the sanctuary cities ban that he signed into law and that she would like to repeal, calling it a cruel measure. Gina Ortiz Jones stood before a juvenile court judge, ready to receive six months probation during her freshman year of high school for an altercation with another student, when she caught a look of disappointment on her mother Victorina Ortizs face. Victorina Ortiz raised Jones and her younger sister, Christi, as a single mother on the West Side, absent Jones father, who was a Korean War veteran with post-traumatic stress and substance abuse problems. The way Jones describes it, It was probably for the best that he was not in the picture. Heading into her first year at San Antonios John Jay High School, Jones faced a fork in the road. She had received straight As in middle school, but straight Us for unsatisfactory in behavior. Jones seventh-grade English teacher, Mr. Hillis, told her, Gina, I could see you being a CEO of a company one day. That is, unless you get put in jail before that. In court, Jones said she decided her mother deserved better after emigrating from the Philippines and supporting her daughters by working multiple jobs and pursuing her teaching certificate. Three masters degrees and an Air Force ROTC scholarship later, Jones, 37, is in a May 22 runoff for the Democratic nomination in Texas 23rd Congressional District. She said her progressive views formed out of her experience growing up in the West Side Heritage neighborhood, and the opportunities and mentors made available to her ones she recognizes do not exist for many of her potential constituents. It's just never left me that some people have it a little bit harder than others, Jones said. I know that's why it's important to help others. You just never know what their background is, and if you do invest in them, you never know how they'll be able to invest back in the country. In conversation, Jones segues from austere to affable in the same breath, and stays closely on script by sharing snippets of her background and relentlessly attacking Rep. Will Hurd, her Republican opponent if she makes it past the primary. She often says during forums and interviews that members of Congress create, protect or erase opportunities, making clear she believes Hurd does the latter. Seeking direction Jones arrived at her congressional bid through an unusual path, one that began in high school when she quickly turned things around. She held positions on student council all four years, including two as president, and held a commander position in JROTC. She needed some direction, and she wanted that direction. Not only did she need it, but I think she was seeking it at the time, said Calvin Buchholtz, a retired student council advisor and science teacher at Jay High School. Buchholtz whom Jones calls Buck became something of a father figure. But Victorina Ortiz rules the roost, Buchholtz is quick to add. Mom is a big, big part of her success, he said. She loves her mother more than anything, and displays it in such a common, matter-of-fact way. Jones came out to Victorina Ortiz as lesbian at age 15 by telling her, Mom, I think I like girls, to which her mother replied, I think you just like the clothes that theyre wearing. After receiving about 16 college scholarships, Buchholtz estimated, Jones chose a Boston University Air Force ROTC scholarship that would put her on a military career path but force her to stay silent about her sexual orientation. That wasn't going to be a completely easy ride for her, Buchholtz said. I know that while she was there she really questioned that decision. But she got over it. In the era of Dont Ask, Dont Tell, the scholarship forced Jones to sign a paper agreeing not to engage in homosexual behavior in college. That policy continued while she served in the Air Force, embedded with the Army on close air support operations in Iraq. The immeasurable cost, Jones wrote in a Facebook post, was not being able to form the type of bonds that military members are known for forming with one another. Small talk about weekend plans or questions about my personal life were always exercises in deflection or outright lying, she wrote. Listening to voices that are traditionally not heard After three years of active duty, Jones returned to San Antonio and worked for a consulting firm at Fort Sam Houston, advising on Latin American operations. Meanwhile, she cared for her mother during her battle with colon cancer, which Victorina survived. Jones went on to serve for about three years on the initial team at U.S. Africa Command in Germany, which focused on a mission of institution building and, Jones said, forming a deep understanding of the importance of civilian oversight of our military. My job there was really, how do we apply our lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan? And some of the lessons clearly there were, how do we listen to voices that are traditionally not heard or fully accounted for? Jones said. She later spent about a year getting a masters degree in military arts and sciences at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies, then worked in a pair of senior roles at the Defense Intelligence Agency through December 2015. From there, Jones moved to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, serving as a senior adviser before a promotion to director of investment. She quit her job in June 2017 after five months under the Trump Administration. Those roles, Jones said, taught her to identify and manage talent in a large bureaucracy; but she was unable to stomach Trumps policies or the personnel coming on. Identity As Jones seeks congressional office, some have been quick to define her by her unique identity. No lesbian, Filipina-American, former intelligence officer has served in Congress, much less from a state known for electing straight, white men in droves. The 23rd district covers a huge swath of Southwest Texas and includes a large Hispanic population. Jones has discussed her background throughout the race, mentioning she served under Dont Ask, Dont Tell and putting her mothers story front and center. Her identity is an undeniable part of her campaign, too, through backing from PACs such as EMILYs List, which supports pro-choice female candidates. I am proud of all of the support that I have received from organizations that want to help underrepresented communities be part of the broader conversation, Jones said during a February debate. Im proud of the support from EMILYs List as they help women get elected. Some people think that 20 percent of Congress, that currently is only women, that thats enough. Theres a lot of people that dont. As the perceived front-runner for most of the campaign, Jones has had to fend off some opponents remarks about the use of her middle name; she takes her mothers surname, Ortiz, as her middle name per Filipino tradition, she said. But if she makes it to Congress, Buchholtz said, its not going to be about her. That'll never happen with her. She's going to be the voice of her constituents, he said. Asked about Jones ability to overcome partisan gridlock in the House, something Hurd has staked out a reputation for doing, Buchholtz said, When she runs into that brick wall, she's going to make some noise. Jasper Scherer is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | jscherer@express-news.net | @jaspscherer In February, a magistrate judge ruled that police could use all reasonable force necessary to draw the blood of Catherine Amato, who was refusing to submit to any sobriety tests or provide samples of her breath or blood after being pulled over. Bexar County Magistrate Judge Celeste Ramirez found that a San Antonio police officer had probable cause to believe that Amato was driving while intoxicated about 11:30 p.m. that night on Northwest Loop 410, the second time in less than two years that the prominent local businesswoman had been charged with that offense. Nonetheless, on April 24, less than two months after Amatos blood was forcibly drawn, outgoing Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHoods office dismissed Amatos DWI charge. By way of an explanation, an assistant DA scrawled in a motion to dismiss that there was no probable cause for arrest an apparent contradiction of both a police report and a search warrant affidavit, both of which included details of Amato swerving in traffic, nearly hitting the officers patrol car, swaying on her feet and possessing open containers of vodka in her purse and car. Now Amato is seeking to have all records of the case destroyed; an expunction hearing is set for next month. Amato, 63, is the wife of Charlie Amato, chairman and co-founder of SWBC and a Spurs shareholder. (Tim Duncan, a former Spur, endorsed LaHood in his unsuccessful re-election campaign this year.) Print subscribers get a password for your existing account here Related: Bexar County DA candidates weigh in on dismissal of prominent San Antonio businesswoman's DWI charge Catherine Amato owns and operates multiple Subway and Ruby Tuesday restaurants in the area with her partners. LaHood did not return a call requesting comment. Leslie Garza, a spokeswoman for the district attorneys office, did not release a statement in response to my questions, including whether Amatos blood results had been returned from a lab. On Thursday, County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff marveled at the unusual trajectory of Amatos case, calling it a rogue event. This is moving fast, he said. This is like a rocket. A normal DWI takes like a year. Rickhoff added, Every person in the criminal justice system is supposed to be treated as fairly as every other person. These rogue events, theyre not unknown to us. And theyll happen again. Nico has a great opportunity to salvage his reputation, and hes just not doing it. On Thursday, I called a number listed as Amatos; a woman answered to Cathy, but when I explained I was calling about the DWI arrest, she said, You have the wrong number and hung up. Later that day, I reached Jonathan Watkins, Amatos attorney in the February DWI case. I firmly believe the dismissal was valid, he said, declining to comment further. Amatos attorney for the pending expunction is Rolando Ramos of Ramos & Del Cueto PLLC, where LaHood worked as a defense lawyer before he was elected district attorney. Ramos did not return a call requesting comment. Frank Davis, a local defense lawyer who served as expunction attorney for the Texas Department of Public Safety for 15 years, said blood results can take up to six months to process. He echoed Rickhoffs assessment that Amatos case is speeding through the system. Thats very unusual for a dismissed case, Davis said. There seems to be some reason to dismiss thats not the normal course. He added that the expunction alone was on a fast track. That is very fast, Davis said. Ive never heard of one happening that fast except maybe in a very small county. A glowing profile of Amato in the January/February 2011 issue of NSIDE Business Magazine described her as a businesswoman who exudes a confident aura of elegance, intelligence and sophistication. A similarly flattering profile in the September/October 2009 issue of San Antonio Woman, titled The Subway Queen, described her as a slim and elegant woman and a self-described health nut. Read more: LaHood has become a 'lame duck' In July 2016, Amato was pulled over by San Antonio police on Interstate 10 for speeding. An officer noted her bloodshot and glassy eyes and a strong odor of intoxicants emitting from her breath in a police report. Consenting to field sobriety tests, Amato was unable to recite the alphabet or keep her balance. Placed under arrest, she refused to provide a breath or blood sample, so her blood was forcibly drawn. In January 2017, prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain in which Amatos DWI charge was reduced to obstruction of a highway, a lesser charge. She was placed on deferred adjudication, a form of probation, from which she was dismissed early in May 2017. Less than a year later, on Feb. 26, Amato again was pulled over by San Antonio police, this time on Northwest Loop 410. According to the police report, Amato had veered into an officers lane, nearly hitting him, before veering into other lanes, causing another vehicle to change lanes to avoid a collision. Walking up to her car, a black BMW, the officer immediately noticed that Amato had bloodshot/glassy and droopy eyes. The report also noted her slurred speech and strong breath and that she had a foul odor to herself. Amato began arguing with the officer, insisting that shed been eating chips, might have been on the phone and had not consumed any alcohol. After she refused to submit to field sobriety tests, Amato was placed under arrest. In Amatos BMW, the officer found three small bottles of vodka: one empty, one full and the other half empty inside her purse. Again, Amato refused to provide samples of her breath or blood. Before the officer drove Amato to magistrate court, the businesswoman said, Theres a reason we hate you guys. We hate your guts. Arriving at court, Amato said, What goes around comes around. Trust me. I was distracted, according to the report. Seeking a judges authorization for a blood draw, an officer listed reasons for Amatos arrest in an affidavit for a search warrant. The judge then signed a search warrant, asserting that the officer had probable cause to believe that Amato was driving while intoxicated. Less than two months later, LaHoods office dismissed Amatos charge. Assistant District Attorney Jacob Kemmy listed the reason for the dismissal as other, explaining in the motion there was no probable cause for arrest. Kemmy did not return a message requesting comment. A first DWI is typically a Class B misdemeanor, sometimes a Class A if blood alcohol content is above a certain percentage. The potential penalty for Class A is a fine not to exceed $4,000 and confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year. Since 2008, 1,170 people have been arrested and charged with the same charge Amato faced: driving while intoxicated open can. Of those, roughly 260 cases were dismissed for various reasons, according to an analysis of court records. Only 51 were dismissed under the other category. That translates to about five cases a year, or just 4 percent of all driving while intoxicated open can cases. These are like rogue waves, Rickhoff said. Lady Justice isnt necessarily blind. bchasnoff@express-news.net Staff Writer Emilie Eaton and Data Editor Luke Whyte contributed to this column. The two Rons have a difference of opinion. Ron Kaufman, the site-selection chair for the Republican National Committee, disputes key points in a Monday letter sent by Mayor Ron Nirenberg to the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In his letter, Nirenberg attempted to clear up a few misconceptions about why he and his fellow council members decided last week to reject a request from the RNC to bid for the 2020 Republican National Convention, an event expected to generate approximately $200 million in economic stimulus for its host city. When Kaufman saw the letter, however, he concluded that Nirenberg created more misconceptions than he cleared up. Related: Brockhouse requests DA investigate possible meeting violation by City Council While many San Antonio progressives such as Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert and Councilman Rey Saldana have opposed the convention because of what they regard as the divisive hate-mongering of President Donald Trump, Nirenberg has emphasized the economics of the issue. My concerns about San Antonio hosting the convention were rooted in fiscal discipline, Nirenberg stated in his letter. Nirenberg added that the GOPs request for proposal (RFP) requires that the host city guarantee the entire amount of the bid. He added, If private donors dont come through with the promised funds, San Antonio taxpayers are on the hook for the difference. The reference to local taxpayers being on the hook really burned up Kaufman. Someones not doing their homework and understanding clearly, Kaufman said. I think its important for the facts to be right. As the veteran Washington lobbyist pointed out, the financial burden for a national political convention doesnt fall on the municipal government of the host city. It rests with the host committee, a nonprofit created to oversee the convention. The host committee is responsible. They sign the contract, Kaufman said. The money raised is their responsibility, legally. A city has never been responsible for the money. The RFP sent to San Antonio for the 2020 convention spelled out that fact. The Host Committee shall be the signatory to the Site City Agreement and shall be involved in all negotiations with the RNC and all other appropriate entities, the RFP stated. The Host Committee shall also be responsible for all agreements entered into with the City and any other appropriate entities. Nirenberg has suggested that this point amounts to a distinction without a difference. During a Wednesday interview with KTSAs Trey Ware, Nirenberg referred to the San Antonio community being obligated for the full bid amount, which Kaufman puts at about $65 million. I can tell you exactly what the RFP said, Nirenberg told Ware. The RFP said that the local community has to guarantee that money. Garcia: Site-selection chair reacts to S.A.'s rejection of RNC Unless you consider host committee to be synonymous with San Antonio community, that isnt what the RFP stated. The distinction is important because the host committee would have sought donations from well beyond the local community. It wont be just San Antonio, Kaufman said. I promise you, Ive talked to some folks in Dallas and Houston and elsewhere. They have Texas pride. Kaufman also said the host committee would have received up to $25 million of the needed $65 million from the states Event Trust Funds program. I dont say this cavalierly. Im very cautious about this, Kaufman said. But I feel very confident in saying that in Texas which has been a very generous state to Republicans over the years there would be no problem raising the money. If the host committee came up short, Kaufman said the RNC would have made some calls to help it across the fundraising finish line. In making the economic argument against the convention, Nirenberg told Ware, There is a reason why we (San Antonio) havent gone forward with a bid in about 20 years. In fact, as recently as a decade ago, then-Mayor Phil Hardberger turned down both the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions, not on the grounds that they were fiscally imprudent for the city, but because San Antonio was overflowing with convention business during those weeks and would need to relocate two dozen conferences to accommodate a national political convention. By all accounts, that is not the case for the late summer of 2020, with sources saying the city faces a hole in its convention calendar during that period. In a 2006 letter to Howard Dean, then the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Hardberger wrote, Please keep San Antonio in mind for future opportunities. The message from this years council to the RNC: Please go away. @gilgamesh470 Gilbert Garcia is a San Antonio Express-News columnist. Read more of his stories here. | ggarcia@express-news.net | @gilgamesh470 National political conventions arent the great deal for cities that the parties and their advocates want us to believe. Thats the reason San Antonio hasnt pursued a bid for either national political convention in 20 years. Only one city seems to be aggressively pursuing the 2020 Republican National Convention this time around. For national convention bids, local organizing committees are required to raise tens of millions of dollars for the privilege of serving as the host city for the gathering. In the case of the 2020 Republican National Convention, the GOP wants a $68 million to $70 million guaranty agreement up front. RELATED: San Antonio leaders, residents react online to city council's decision to not bid for RNC Now Playing: President Trump got a huge number of votes in big cities like Dallas and Nashville, but both are reportedly not bidding to host the GOP Convention. Video: Veuer While the local organizing committee is supposed to raise that money from private sources, the RFP (request for proposal) requirements specifically mandate that the host city and/or the host committee guarantee the required contribution with a letter of credit and that earnest money be deposited. This means local taxpayers likely will be on the hook for whatever isnt raised by private sources. Thats not something that I, as mayor of San Antonio, am willing to put on the backs of local taxpayers. While the consensus not to pursue a convention bid is rooted in the economics and taxpayer liability, there are other challenges inherent in a national convention bid as well. The security challenge for any host city is massive far beyond anything the city has seen in marquee events such as the Final Four or the NAFTA signing. Even with an allocation from Congress, the process would strain the San Antonio Police Department, which would be part of a massive security operation that would require thousands of law enforcement officers from outside the city. The security tasks include public safety, accommodating demonstration zones, traffic control and more. The demands on our convention facilities would be extraordinary as well. FROM OUR SISTER SITE: RNC chairman: Ron Nirenberg created more misconceptions than he cleared up For the entire year leading up to the convention, the city must provide 15,000 square feet of office space for the exclusive use of the party. For a full six weeks before the convention, the city would have to provide unlimited access to the main convention area and other areas. Even if it is a soft convention season, that rules out a lot of other business. Not pursuing the convention isnt a partisan decision. The same downsides apply to a Democratic National Convention as well. Neither is a good deal based on the commitments required of the city and of local taxpayers. Economics, not politics, were discussed in the Councils May 3 executive session dealing with the convention. We conducted the meeting as advised by legal counsel and complied with the spirit and letter of the law. Attorneys were present to ensure the discussion remained within the guidelines of executive sessions. The controversy surrounding the meeting is largely about the personal political agendas of some who were disappointed in the outcome. In the end, no vote was taken and not enough support was demonstrated to assemble a bid. If there were a deal, City Council would vote in an open public session following a public debate. I am comfortable with the outcome and process that we used in this situation. The Council and I followed the law and ensured San Antonio taxpayers will not be put at an unjustified risk. Ron Nirenberg is mayor of San Antonio. The NFU is calling for "prompt, effective action" as new Home Office figures shows agricultural-related crime has risen over the past four years. New figures from the Home Office's Commercial Victimisation Survey show that the proportion of businesses experiencing agriculture-related crime and anti-social behaviour has risen since 2013. It shows that 35% of businesses experienced trespassing or unauthorised access of land or buildings, 26% experienced poaching, hare coursing or illegal hunting, 23% experienced quad biking or use of other vehicles on their land and 15% of businesses experienced livestock worrying. The NFU, the sole farming representative on the Home Office steering group, succeeded in including agriculture into the 2017 Commercial Victimisation Survey. The results of the survey are used to monitor crime trends, identify what actions need to be taken to reduce crime and find out what support would be most helpful to farm businesses. The union said it is crucial to demonstrate to police and government the true extent of rural crime with up-to-date statistics from farmers. 'Rural blight' In its Rural Crime Report, the NFU called on authorities to ensure there is a dedicated rural police team in each force and for government to bring together a cross-departmental taskforce that could address failures in dealing with rural crime. NFU Deputy President Guy Smith said the new figures will come as no surprise to farmers on the ground, who often feel in a "state of siege from the criminal fraternity". Every day the NFU hears from its members about this rural blight that has a seriously detrimental effect on lives and businesses, Mr Smith said. These crimes, whether it is fly-tipping, hare-coursing, burglary or theft, have more in common with organised crime than simply spontaneous acts, and it all impacts on the daily lives of farmers in far-reaching and costly ways. Crime in the countryside is not a simple fix, and it needs commitment and resource from both the police and government. With suspected links to organised crime, any solution needs cross-departmental co-operation in government to address this issue with a consistent approach. Solid evidence The NFU pushed the government to ensure agriculture was included in the Commercial Victimisation Survey to provide solid evidence that can be presented to police and government. And nearly a year on from releasing the Rural Crime Report, the NFU has brought the issue of rural crime to the forefront of its activity. For example, the NFU has presented to all police chief constables on the seriousness rural crime and also hosted over 90% of police forces affected by hare-coursing to improve co-ordinated action. Mr Smith added: It is time that we saw some considerable action being taken by government and police to curb increasing crime in the countryside, and allow farmers to do what they do best producing food for the nation. The figures follow the release of new data showing rural crime costing the UK 44.5m in 2017, with the future trend showing a rise as thieves become more brazen as they target the countryside. Due to the increase in crime, the 2018 National Rural Crime Survey has been launched to spearhead greater recognition and understanding of the problems and impact of crime in rural communities. The survey is open for submissions until Sunday 10 June. Concern over adverse and extreme weather has doubled within a year for agricultural businesses, according to new research. The UKs economy has taken a hit this year from extreme weather, having experienced three bouts of the Beast from the East and a late spring. The extreme weather has left small farming businesses in the UK "bewildered", research from Hitatchi highlights. The research shows the real impact the elements have had on the small business community in such a short space of time and reveals the knock on effect for sectors that rely heavily on the weather. For the agricultural sector, almost half (46%) said unpredictable weather was holding back their business a rise from 37% two years ago and 34% last quarter. The findings also show that the adverse weather conditions have also had a knock on effect regionally. The most prominent impact felt by more than two in five of businesses in Scotland, rising from 5% in Q2 2016. Similarly, Welsh SMEs have also experienced difficulty with unforeseeable weather - rising from 8% in 2016 to 16% this quarter. Other notable increases came within Yorkshire; the issue of weather more than doubling since 2016, (3% vs. 11% this quarter). 'Worst in living memory' The weather has hit the agricultural industry particularly hard this year. The amount of livestock killed due to the weather is said to be the "worst in living memory" in some parts of the UK. A North Yorkshire farmer told of how this spring has been the worst he has ever had after losing forty of his lambs. Farmers have also become increasingly concerned about the unseasonable cold weather which in turn has put a pressure on fodder supplies. Scottish farmers and crofters have been urged to complete the 2018 Single Application Forms with less than one week to apply. The online application process has seen significant improvements in recent years and the clear majority of applications are now made online. Scottish Government has confirmed that, when compared to the same date in 2017, online SAF submissions already received are approaching 10,000. However, a further 7,000 to 8,000 SAF forms whether completed on line, on paper or through an agent have still to be submitted in the coming days. The deadline is 15th of May. A combination of catching up with spring work, lambing and calving means that many farmers and crofters will have many other priorities to focus on, but NFU Scotland is urging applicants to complete their SAF as soon as possible. Applicants are reminded that last week, the union and Scottish Government successfully lobbied for a one-off derogation from meeting the Crop Diversification (three-crop rule) element in the Greening requirements. However, other elements of Greening, including Ecological Focus Areas (EFA), remain and applicants are reminded of the need to include EFA maps with SAF applications. 'Important task' NFU Scotland also warns that, unlike previous years, there is no likelihood of Europe granting an extension to the application period this year so midnight on 15 May is the deadline. Jonnie Hall, NFU Scotlands Director of Policy commented: With a week to go, it seems that the IT system is coping well with the current volume of applications, but busy days lies ahead. More than half the expected number of applications have already been successfully submitted, and many more are already on the system in draft. I appreciate that farmers and crofters are stretched right now and playing catch up because of the poor spring weather. However, for the vast majority of farm businesses, completing SAF can be the most important days work in the year. Mr Hall added: I would urge anyone, whether aiming to complete their own SAF online or filling out the paper version, to prioritise this important task in the next few days. The Ulster Farmers' Union has celebrated its 100 years of existence by raising more than 50,000 for the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance. The member-led organisation has promoted the farming industry through many challenges and political changes, including both World Wars and the partition of Ireland, as well as the BSE crisis in 1996 and the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001. At present, the UFU is currently involved in securing a good deal for agriculture during the Brexit negotiations, seeking for solutions in relation to the border, trade deals, direct support and access to labour. Last weekend, vintage farming techniques were the focus of attention at the UFU centenary weekend at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in County Down. The event attracted crowds across the 2-day event, raising 6,337 for the Ulster Farmers' Union chosen charity, the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance. The total amount raised so far is now over 50,000. UFU President Ivor Ferguson said it is an "honour and a privilege" to be the President of the union. We have been defending the rights of farmers and promoting their interests since our formation in 1918 and we are as relevant now as we were back then. Producing good quality, affordable and traceable food means farming will always be a crucial industry as we serve the public in their daily need for food, Mr Ferguson said. 'Farmers are the foundation' Farming has always been an important part of Northern Irelands economy. Today Northern Irelands agri-food industry turns over 4.8billion annually and employs over 100,000 people. Mr Ferguson added: Farmers are the foundation of the agri-food industry. We take great pride in producing the high quality, safe, traceable, affordable food that consumers enjoy. We are very grateful to Barclays for their kind sponsorship which helped us to run this anniversary event and commemorate our Centenary in such fitting fashion. We also want to pay tribute to those who donated generously to our Anniversary appeal for the Air Ambulance NI. It is our target this year to raise 100,000 for this life-saving local charity that is such a valuable asset to our rural communities. Dorset farmer named Dairy Woman of the Year She was praised for her work with schoolchildren Next Story : Ranna Gill, a designer for all seasons Todays Google Doodle marks the 100th birth anniversary of ace classical dancer and choreographer, Mrinalini Sarabhai. The legend passed away in 2016 due to age-related health complications, but her legacy lives on even today. In her lifetime, Sarabhai trained over 18,000 students. Her daughter Mallika Sarabhai is also a classical dancer.Mrinalini was awarded the Padma Shri in 1965 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992. It was her sheer love for dance that led her to establish the renowned Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for dance, drama, music and puppetry, in Ahmedabad. Apart from dance, Sarabhai was also a writer. She loved travelling the world to soak in different dance techniques. In 1959, Mrinalini Sarabhai graced the cover of Femina, showcasing different classical dance mudras. The Google Doodle in her memory is a perfect way to pay her a tribute for her contribution to the Indian dance scene. Jacqueline Fernandez MET with an ACCIDENT outside Salman Khan house| FilmiBeat Jacqueline Fernandez met with an accident in Bandra, Mumbai as her driver rammed the car into an autorickshaw in the wee hours today on May 11, 2018 reported Spotboye. Jacqueline was at Salman Khan's residence as he threw a party to the starcast and crew of Race 3 and they ended up partying till 2:00 am in the morning. After having a good time, Jacqueline Fernandez left Salman Khan's residence at 2:20 am and all was good until 2:45 am as her driver bumped the car into an auto rickshaw and Jacqueline Fernandez was seated in the back-seat. However, Spotboye has reported that both the driver and Jacqueline Fernandez have not been hurt during the accident and only damaged the headlights. It is also reported that the auto rickshaw driver has no injuries as well. Spotboye also shared a video clip of her driver inspecting the car for any damages as Jacqueline Fernandez sits in the back-seat. We're glad that nobody was hurt during the accident and this caused just minor damages to both the vehicles. Race 3 stars Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol and Daisy Shah in the lead roles and the movie is all set to hit the theatres on Eid 2018. The film is directed by Remo D'souza and produced by Ramesh Taurani. Cannes 2018: Deepika Padukone SLAYS It Like A Boss! View Pictures Sridevi: Supreme Court Rejects the plea seeking into probe FilmiBeat Sridevi lost her life on February 24, 2018 as she accidentally drowned in a bathtub at a hotel in Dubai and her sudden demise was absolutely shocking nonetheless. Also, the Dubai authorities confirmed that the cause of her death was due to "accidental drowning" as she lost consciousness, and the post mortem report stated the same. However, a small time film-maker Sunil Singh, who directed the movie Game Of Ayodhya, filed a plea to the Supreme Court to look into the case and investigate Sridevi's death and the SC took up the hearing today. The Judge rejected his plea by saying, "We had already dismissed two petitions on the same issue. We can't interfere." Sunil Singh's petition was first rejected in March 2018 when he approached the Delhi High Court and now has been rejected by the Supreme Court as well. His argument along with the lawyer Vikas Singh today at the SC stood on these grounds - Sridevi had Rs 240 Crore insurance policy on her name in Oman, and the condition was that the money would be released only if she died in anywhere inside UAE. Sunil Singh also provided his own investigation report of Sridevi's death as he was in Dubai back then, and provided his findings to the Judge after speaking to the hotel staff, management and other employees. However, the Supreme Court Judge has rejected his plea as it wasn't strong enough to stand in court, and we have no idea from where he got the 240 Crores insurance policy information from, which is absurd. Why would anyone make an insurance policy for dying in the UAE? Cannes 2018: Deepika Padukone SLAYS It Like A Boss! View Pictures Raazi Movie Review: Alia Bhatt | Vicky Kaushal | Meghna Gulzar | Sehmat Khan | FilmiBeat Rating: 4.0 /5 Star Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Amruta Khanvilkar, Soni Razdan, Ashwath Bhatt Director: Meghna Gulzar Lagan ki baazi hai, chott bhi taazi hai, lagaa de daav par dil, agar dil raazi hai- When these lines play during the opening credits of Alia Bhatt's Raazi, be prepared to get goosebumps! But wait, there are many more to come in as scenes play one after the other. While Bollywood has seen a couple of espionage thrillers in recent years, what makes this Meghna Gulzar directorial different is that it's got a female central character who is vulnerable yet at the same time won't battle an eyelid when it comes to risking her life for her motherland. CANNES 2018: Deepika Padukone & Kangana Ranaut LOCK HORNS At The Red Carpet Looking All FIERY [PICS] Sehmat (Alia Bhatt), a young, naive Kashmiri girl studying in Delhi rushes back home only to discover that her ailing father Hidayat Khan (Rajit Kapur) has his days numbered. The man who is an agent with the Indian intelligence now wants his daughter to take his place and snoop confidential information from the other side of the border. The year is 1970 where India is on the brink of war with its neighbour Pakistan. Hidayat decides to slip in a mole who can be the Indian intelligence agency's 'aankh' and 'kaan'. And who better than his own daughter Sehmat! He decides to get her hitched to a senior Pakistani military official's son Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal).Their matrimonial union is smooth since Sehmat's father Hidayat and Iqbal's father Brigadier Syed (Shishir Sharma) are thick friends. Before her marriage, Sehmat undergoes a vigorous training under Indian intelligence agent Khalid Mir (Jaideep Ahlawat). From a Delhi University student, she soon finds herself as the youngest daughter-in-law of a Pakistani Army household who needs to fleet between a vulnerable wife and a trained agent. Soon Sehmat manages to cultivate relationships and infiltrate spaces in her in-laws' house. However there's always a sword of Damocles hanging over her head with a fear that her cover might get blown. Will Sehmat's personal equations take a toil on her patriotic plans? What makes Raazi a winner is that it's got its tense moments bang on to keep you at the edge of your seats! It's easy to fall prey to jingoism in films like these but director Meghna Gulzar refuses to take the bait and deftly executes this dramatized version of Harinder Sikka's novel Calling Sehmat. The film-maker doesn't unnecessarily romanticize her characters and that's where Raazi triumphs. Further, she lets us take sides as the plot unravels. On the flip side, the film does take certain creative liberties and tends to be a little slow-paced at places. Speaking about the performances, Alia Bhatt's winning streak continues with yet another tailor-made role that's not a cake-walk on the big screen. At one moment, she is this vulnerable girl with quivering lower lip and droopy eyes welling with tears. who's consciously uncertain of her moves and actions as she isn't a seasoned agent. You sense a fear in her eyes each time Sehmat escapes danger barely by the skin of her teeth. She breaks down and bares her vulnerability and emotional turmoil. But this girl also doesn't step back from her patriotic duties when it comes to eliminating those who seem a threat and then cleverly manipulating those around her. Raazi is definitely one of Alia's most career-defining and matured performances. Meghna Gulzar scores full marks when it comes to the rest of the cast - be it the superlative Vicky Kaushal (his confrontation scene with Alia towards the end is a key highlight), the impressive Jaideep Ahlawat as Sehmat's trainer and mentor and charming Soni Razdan as Sehmat's mother. Rajit Kapoor too, puts up a good show. The chemistry between Alia and Vicky is beautifully built up and leaves you craving for more. Jay. I. Patel deserves a pat on his back for never letting his lens take our attention from the scene. Nitin Baid's editing could have been been a little tauter. Special mention for Bhavani Iyer for the crisp writing. Coming to the music, the Raazi title track by Arijit Singh lingers with you for long with Gulzar's meaningful lyrics and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's effective music. The heartwarming Dilbaro starts off with a Kashmiri couplet and speaks about a newly married woman looking back on her home and her father wistfully. Aye Watan is some high dose about patriotism. All these three tracks flow seamlessly with the film. Meghna Gulzar calls one of her best shots with Raazi and gives you an espionage thriller which keeps you engrossed right from the first frame. Alia Bhatt elevates the film to dizzy heights and gives you every reason to shower her with applauds. But most importantly Raazi reminds on that, 'Under the clouds of war, it's humanity hanging on a cross of iron'. I am going with 4 stars. Sonam Kapoor's Wedding Reception: A Huge Cake, Aishwarya's 'Buntsangha' & SRK-Salman's Dance! The AMMA Mazhavil show, held on May 06, 2018 at Greenfield Stadium in Trivandrum, was indeed a much celebrated affair and the audiences were more than happy to see their favourite stars sharing the same stage. Top stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dulquer Salmaan, Jayaram and others teamed up for some big programmes. Now, the wait is on for the TV premiere of this big show. Meanwhile, a short promo of AMMA Mazhavil has hit the online circuits and it features none other than Mohanlal & Dulquer Salmaan in it. Image Courtesy: Facebook In the promo video, which was send out through the official Facebook page of Mazhavil Manorama, Mohanlal and Dulquer Salmaan could be seen in the avatars of Genie and Aladdin respectively. It also features an interesting conversation between them, in which Aladdin asks the Genie about Mohanlal and Dulquer Salmaan. The promo has definitely struck the right chords and audiences are left excited after seeing both of the big stars coming together on screen for the first time. Take a look at the teaser send out through the official Facebook page of Mazhavil Manorama. Meanwhile, the AMMA Mazhavil show will be aired on May 19, 2018. Apart from the top stars of the Malayalam film industry, the show was also attended by Kollywood star Suriya. Zain Imam Bids Goodbye To Fans! Zain Imam shared a few pictures and videos on Instagram stories, where he along with his team was seen bidding goodbye to Naamkaran fans. In a video, he is also seen asking his team shout as loud as they can as he is recording a video. Zain Gets Emotional He also shared pictures snapped with his co-actress Aditi Rathore (Avni) and Jayati Bhatia (who is seen as Kamini Kapoor on the show). He also wrote, "Gonna miss my show #naamkarann :( Sad but true "yes it is the last day." - (sic) Sana Amin Sheikh Thanks Fans Sana Amin Sheikh, who plays the role of Mitali, shared a video to thank her fans. In the video, she is seen telling, "It's a wrap. It's my last costume on Naamkaran as Mitali. Hopefully, I will see you soon on some other project." - (sic) Sana Promises To Return With New Show She adds, "Bahot jald mein apko inshalla ek naye show mein milungi, ek naye kirdaar ke saath. Till then, Instagram tho hai hi, hum milte rahenge zaroor." - (sic) Shruti Ulfat Shruti Ulfat, who plays Neil's mother, shared a few pictures and wrote, "With these two Rascalas of my Naamkaran life @ssanjaysswaraaj @zainimam_official . And Nilu bhabhi ..missing u a lot eso today @nilukohli..Aditi ur a darlin @ad_aditirathore93 Yusuf sir will see ya soon @yusufansari01_official #naamkaran#starplus." - (sic) Fans Upset Fans are upset that the show is going off air and their attempts to revive the show failed. Meanwhile, Ishqbaaz actor, Nakuul Mehta too, took to social media to wish luck to the team. Nakuul Wishes Luck To Naamkaran Team Nakuul wrote, "The very popular #Naamkarann played it's last Ep on @StarPlus tonight. Wishing the wonderful team @MaheshNBhatt @zainimam01 @AditiRathore_ the very best for the next adventure/journey. Well played" - (sic) Zain Thanks Nakuul Zain too, thanked Nakuul and wished his show lot of luck, "Thanks buddy!! And I am sure u guys are gonna keep up with the best work and all the very best for ur successfull run u guys are magical." - (sic) NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Rio Tinto (RTPPF.PK, RIO.L, RIO, RTNTF.PK) and Alcoa Corporation announced a revolutionary process to make aluminium that produces oxygen and eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process. Alcoa and Rio Tinto are forming Elysis, a joint venture company to further develop the new process with a technology package planned for sale beginning in 2024. Elysis, which will be headquartered in Montreal with a research facility in Quebec's Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, will develop and license the technology so it can be used to retrofit existing smelters or build new facilities. When fully developed and implemented, it will eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process and strengthen the closely integrated Canada-United States aluminium and manufacturing industry. The new joint venture company will also sell proprietary anode and cathode materials, which will last more than 30 times longer than traditional components. Canada and Quebec are each investing C$60 million in Elysis. The provincial government of Quebec will have a 3.5 percent equity stake in the joint venture with the remaining ownership split evenly between Alcoa and Rio Tinto. Apple is providing an investment of C$13 million. The company helped facilitate the collaboration between Alcoa and Rio Tinto on the carbon-free smelting process, and Apple has agreed to provide technical support to the JV partners. Rio Tinto and Alcoa will invest C$55 million cash over the next three years and contribute specific intellectual property and patents. The patent-protected technology, developed by Alcoa, is currently producing metal at the Alcoa Technical Center, near Pittsburgh in the United States, where the process has been operating at different scales since 2009. The joint venture intends to invest up to C$40 million in the United States, which would include funding to support the supply chain for the proprietary anode and cathode materials. Vincent Christ, an experienced leader with more than 30 years' experience at Rio Tinto Aluminium, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Elysis. Most recently, he has served as head of technology, research and development and automation programmes. He holds an engineering degree in electronics and industrial information technology. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 11, 2018) - GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (CSE: BLOC) (FSE: BWSP) (OTC Pink: BLKCF) ("BLOC" or the "Company"), a lead investor in the KODAKOne platform is pleased to announce that WENN Digital, Inc., the operator of the KODAKOne Image Rights Management Platform ("KODAKOne"), a blockchain-based image rights management and protection platform, announced it will officially commence the $1.00 round of its offering of the Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs) on May 21, 2018. KODAKOne is an image protection, monetization and distribution platform secured in blockchain, which is expected to launch a beta program in 2018, will provide an image marketplace where users can buy, sell and trade photos based on licensing terms and conditions - serving as a one-stop shop for photographers' management, protection and distribution needs. The platform will create an encrypted ledger of rights ownership for photographers to protect, manage and monetize their new and archived works - making it significantly cheaper and faster to register, move and sell their digital images. Shidan Gouran, President & CEO of the Company said, "BLOC incubates, founds, partners and strategically invests in companies who are committed to innovating and developing technology to improve and change industries. Our investment in KODAKOne is now progressing to a fully commercial offering, which should rank as one of the very first security compliant offerings in Blockchain." Bruce Elliot, President of ICOx Innovations, a company that develops crypto economies and is one of the founding organizations of WENN Digital and the KodakOne Platform said, "We are extremely excited to get this first project to this stage. Bringing today's technology to solve real problems with big brands and executing the process the most efficient and regulatory compliant manner, we believe we are setting a path in developing what will be a healthy and vibrant crypto industry." ### More information about KODAKOne's features and capabilities can be found at: www.kodakone.com Have a question? Join our Tokenholder Group on ICOxConnect: https://www.icoxconnect.com/groups/kodakone-175 On behalf of the Company: Shidan Gouran, President & CEO (416) 854-3017 For more information, please contact: IRTH Communications, LLC ir@globalblockchain.io 800-689-8089 About Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. The Company provides investors access to a basket of direct and indirect holdings within the blockchain space, managed by a team of industry pioneers and early adopters of all major cryptocurrencies. The Company is focused on streamlining the currently arduous, lengthy, and complicated process that interested investors must undergo in order to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space, with a view to becoming the first vertically-integrated originator and manager of top tier blockchains and digital currencies. BLOC is listed on the CSE and its common shares trade under the ticker symbol "BLOC". Additional information relating to BLOC is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the CSE at www.theCSE.com, as well as on the Company's website at www.globalblockchain.io. About WENN Digital WENN Digital, in partnership with Kodak, is the creator and operator of the KODAKOne Platform and the KODAKCoin tokens. WENN Digital and its advisors are an experienced development and operations team with expertise in proprietary blockchain development, big data, copyright law, AI-enabled image recognition and post-licensing monetization systems. About ICOX Innovations ICOx Innovations, Inc. provides a platform for the design and creation of crypto economies that solve real-world problems with established organizations that can benefit and grow their businesses through the use of blockchain technology and crypto-currencies. The ICOx Innovations ICO platform is compliance driven and combines rigorous strategic planning, capital structure, technical integration and token-economics model development designed to create sustainable economies for its ICO clients. www.icoxinnovations.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" taken, "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Company's goal of streamlining the current arduous, lengthy and complicated process that interested investors need to undergo in order to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space with a view to becoming the first vertically integrated originator and manager of top-tier blockchains and digital currencies. The Company has no assets and its business plan is purely conceptual in nature and there is no assurance that it will be implemented as set out herein, or at all. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to: statements and expectations regarding the ability of the Company to (i) successfully engage senior management with appropriate industry experience and expertise, (ii) gain access to and acquire a basket of cryptocurrency assets and pre-ICO and ICO financings on favourable terms or at all, (iii) successfully create its own tokens and ICO's, and (iv) execute on future M&A opportunities in the cryptocurrency space; receipt of required regulatory approvals; the availability of necessary financing; permitting and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: risks related to changes in cryptocurrency prices; the estimation of personnel and operating costs; general global markets and economic conditions; risks associated with uninsurable risks; risks associated with currency fluctuations; competition faced in securing experienced personnel with appropriate industry experience and expertise; risks associated with changes in the financial auditing and corporate governance standards applicable to cryptocurrencies and ICO's; risks related to potential conflicts of interest; the reliance on key personnel; financing, capitalization and liquidity risks including the risk that the financing necessary to fund continued development of the Company's business plan may not be available on satisfactory terms, or at all; the risk of potential dilution through the issuance of additional common shares of the Company; the risk of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information set out in this presentation, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. MUNICH and HONG KONG, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New fully digital payment system provides a convenient, fast and hassle-free check-out process for passengers Dream Cruises and Star Cruises, brands under the Genting Cruise Line division of Genting Hong Kong, have partnered with Wirecard to deliver a seamless payment process to enhance the guest experience on board their fleet of ships. The partnership will provide the basis for the Quick Pay Self-Checkout System implemented on board Dream Cruises' World Dream and Genting Dream and to be launched on Star Cruises' SuperStar Virgo shortly. "The guest experience on board our Dream Cruises fleet is of primary importance and anywhere we can remove friction and streamline processes is a great benefit to our passengers," said Mr Thatcher Brown, President of Dream Cruises. "Our partnership with Wirecard enables us to avoid one of the most maligned aspects of travel - lining up to settle the bill at the end of a vacation. With our Quick Pay Self-Checkout System, our guests never need to see a queue and can settle their bill in the comfort of their own cabin - or anywhere else - by simply using their smartphone." Judith Loh, Head of Relationship Management, APAC Sales at Wirecard, said: "As an innovative leader in the digital landscape of payments, we are able to help our client enhance the guest experience by delivering a seamless digitalized payment process on board. With the growing popularity of cruise vacation across Asia, we look forward to deepening our partnership with Genting Criuse Lines." Using the Quick Pay Self-Checkout System on board, Dream Cruises guests can now control their own finances during their voyage including setting up pre-authorized spending limits, managing accounts for friends and family, monitoring consumption during the trip and settling their bill at the end of their journey. Passengers can set up their Quick Pay by simply scanning QR codes available during check-in or in their cabins or by connecting onto the on board ship internet network and selecting the Quick Pay option. A wide range of payment choices are available including Alipay, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club, JCB and Union Pay with more methods to be added in the future. With the application, guests can also set up pre-authorized spending amounts for themselves and for family members or travelling companions to help manage expenses while on board. To settle their account, guests can simply opt to Auto Pay as part of the pre-authorization function for truly hands free express check-out or they can choose to manually pay any outstanding charges by using the Pay Now function. About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard. About Genting Cruise Lines: Genting Cruise Lines is a division of Genting Hong Kong comprising of three distinct cruise brands - Star Cruises, Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises - providing a range of products from contemporary cruises to ultra-luxurious vacation experiences spanning the sea to air. Founded in 1993, Star Cruises established the Asia-Pacific as a popular, world-wide cruise destination and, with its current fleet of six vessels (SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Libra, SuperStar Aquarius, SuperStar Gemini, Star Pisces and The Taipan), continues to pioneer the contemporary cruise market in the region. Launched in 2015, Dream Cruises has delivered the highest level of guest service and spacious comfort in the region via it fleet of two ships: Genting Dream which debuted in November 2016 and World Dream, in November 2017. Developed specifically for the China and Asia market, Dream Cruises provides passengers with inspirational journeys at sea that are Asian at heart and international in spirit. For more information about Dream Cruises, please visit dreamcruiseline.com and follow us on Facebook, Weibo or Weixin. By sea, river, land or air, Crystal has redefined the way the world views luxury travel. The world-renowned Crystal Experience - featuring global journeys with Crystal Cruises, Crystal River Cruises, Crystal Yacht Expedition Cruises, Crystal AirCruises and Crystal Air - continues to entice the world's most discerning travelers with incomparable luxury and unparalleled personal service. Through its family of brands, Genting Cruise Lines offers the widest and most imaginative spectrum of cruise products for the modern traveler, catering to all segments, geographies, life stages and travel styles. Wirecard media contact: Wirecard AG Jana Tilz Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363 Email: jana.tilz@wirecard.com Genting Cruise Lines media contact: Desmond Chung Corporate Communications Tel: +852-2378-5924 Email: desmond.chung@gentinghk.com Amanda Li Corporate Communications Tel: +852-2378-2082 amanda.wy.li@gentinghk.com Futurist Jason Silva and Dr Hannah Fry will keynote at conference investigating the Intelligent Future LONDON, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the leader in Digital Knowledge Management, has revealed its speaker line up ahead of its European conference, EXPLORE18: The Intelligent Future, taking place on 16thMay 2018. The theme of the conference will be 'The Intelligent Future' and will feature talks by some of the world's leading innovators in technology and business including Jason Silva, the Emmy-nominated and world-renowned TV personality, Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist at Google and Dr Hannah Fry, Broadcaster, Lecturer & Mathematician. Jason Silva is a futurist and storyteller, known for hosting 5 seasons of the Emmy-nominated, global hit TV series Brain Games, on the National Geographic Channel, broadcasted in over 171 countries. His inspirational videos, Shots of Awe, have received over 100 million views across social platforms. The videos explore topics such as futurism, technology, creativity, the science of awe and disruptive innovation. Dr Fry will present 'Everything You Need To Know About The Future'. A senior lecturer in the Mathematics of Cities at University College London, Hannah's academic expertise has led to the development of several BBC documentaries including Ten Things You Need To Know About The Future, City in the Sky, and Britain's Greatest Inventions; and her long running BBC Radio 4 show The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry. The event, which will take place at IET Savoy Place, will bring marketing and technology leaders from brands, leading tech companies, and platforms together to explore the many ways AI, voice search and digital assistants are changing the way we interact with the world around us. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of how technology is transforming consumer behaviour and brand discoverability. "Yext EXPLORE18 will engage attendees on how AI, voice search, and digital assistants are fundamentally changing the way we interact with the world around us," said Jon Buss, Yext Managing Director, UK & Northern Europe. "Businesses need to be prepared for the changes in consumer behaviour these new technologies are creating, and will have to adapt how they manage their brand across digital touchpoints as a result. Intelligent services will completely alter the way the world does business, and we'll ensure our audience is ready for that." Other speakers include: Ed Parsons , Geospatial Technologist at Google who will deliver a talk with broad implications for how we all get around, entitled From Driverless Cars to Flying Taxis: The Necessity of Structured Data in Maps. who will deliver a talk with broad implications for how we all get around, entitled Dominic Chambers , Global Head of Digital Marketing, Jaguar Land Rover will take part in a fireside chat with Yext's Chief Customer Office Wendi Sturgis, looking at Jaguar Land Rover as The Everywhere Brand. The discussion will explore how to ensure brand consistency in today's ever-complex digital landscape. will take part in a fireside chat with looking at Jaguar Land Rover as The discussion will explore how to ensure brand consistency in today's ever-complex digital landscape. A panel looking at whether there is a culture clash in consumer behaviour across global markets will feature Vincent Ducrey, Co-Founder & CEO, HUB Institute; Martin Newman , Founder and Chairman, Practicology; and Franklin Yao , Managing Director, Greater China , Yext For more information and to see the full Yext EXPLORE18 agenda, please visit https://yextexplore.splashthat.com/. About Yext Yext (NYSE: YEXT) is the leading Digital Knowledge Management (DKM) platform. Yext's mission is to give companies control over their brand experiences across the digital universe of maps, apps, search engines, voice assistants, and other intelligent services that drive consumer discovery, decision, and action. Today, thousands of businesses use the Yext Knowledge Engine to manage their digital knowledge in order to boost brand engagement, drive foot traffic, and increase sales. Yext has been named a Best Place to Work by Fortune and Great Places to Work as well as a Best Workplace for women. Yext is headquartered in New York City with offices in Berlin, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, London, Paris, Tyson's Corner, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Tokyo. For more information, visit www.yext.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/689918/Yext_EXPLORE18.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/177279/yext_logo.jpg SINGAPORE, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singapore Media Festival (SMF) returns for its fifth edition from 29 November to 9 December 2018. This year's festival will not only continue to celebrate the best in Asian storytelling, but also nurture the region's media talent in their journeys to achieve global creative excellence. Industry players from around the world can look forward to a more vibrant marketplace and bigger celebration of the region's best content and media talent. Hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), the SMF is Southeast Asia's leading international media event, and comprises established constituent events including the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), ScreenSingapore and IMDA-led SMF Ignite. Robert Gilby, Chairman of the SMF Advisory Board said, "The SMF has experienced year-on-year growth alongside the region's media industry, offering different experiences and perspectives from a diverse pool of storytellers. Over its past four editions, the festival has crossed the US$1 billion mark in deals and partnerships, proving SMF's importance in facilitating collaborations." He added, "This year's festival continues its celebration of Asian storytelling, but with a stronger focus on digitalisation, being the key connector for regional talent and the rest of the world, as well as building and transferring of capabilities from industry thought leaders to new talent. Bringing the industry together at SMF provides an abundance of creative and commercial opportunities powered by innovative stories that embrace new technologies." In 2017, the fourth edition of the SMF concluded with a gathering of over 20,000 media and creative professionals. The SGIFF wrapped up a successful 28th edition with a record-breaking attendance of more than 14,000 festival-goers from Singapore and across the region, and showcased a total of 112 feature and short films from 42 countries, with 31 sold-out screenings of local and international films -- the highest since SGIFF returned in 2014. 2017's ATF and ScreenSingapore saw a record-breaking performance over the three-day market, from show attendance to sales transactions on the market floor. The market was attended by over 5,400 delegates from 54 countries, and US$289 million worth of deals and partnerships were estimated to have been facilitated during the market. Spotlight on The Philippines as SMF's Country of Focus for 2018 The SMF introduced its first Country-of-Focus in 2017 -- Indonesia, as a way to showcase the quality and variety of creativity originating from that country, and to explore more collaborations between Indonesia, Singapore and the region. This year, the Philippines has been chosen as the Country-of-Focus, highlighting the country's rich stories, talents and achievements across the SMF's various constituent events. Liza Dino, Chairperson and CEO, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) shared, "It is an incredible honour for us to be the Country of Focus at this year's SMF, as it allows us to strengthen our partnership with Singapore and the IMDA to build a bridge between Philippine and Singapore Cinema and foster more productive collaborations between the two countries. It is also a special milestone for us as we are celebrating the One Hundred Years of Philippine Cinema. We believe that the next big thing for our Cinema is to go global and SMF is certainly a great platform where we may be able to connect more of our Filipino filmmakers with partners and supporters in the further development of quality stories and content that we can share with the world." Premiere of a Singapore Film Commission (SFC) documentary at SMF This year's SMF will also see the premiere of a documentary commissioned by the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), detailing its milestones and vision in celebration of its 20th year anniversary. Established on 15 April 1998, the SFC has played a pivotal role in the production of Singapore films and the development of a film industry in Singapore through nurturing, supporting and promoting local talent in filmmaking. Over the years, SFC supported more than 600 short films, scripts, feature films, as well as film-related events in Singapore that showcase home-grown talent and works, which have also gained recognition with international audiences and garnered awards. The SFC will also hold a series of outdoor screenings of iconic local films in the second half of the year as part of its 20th Anniversary celebrations. Director, Singapore Film Commission (SFC), Joachim Ng, said: "As the SFC celebrates its 20th anniversary and reflects on its accomplishments, we are also charting the future direction for the film commission. We will enhance our support for Singapore film talents and companies to strengthen their storytelling capabilities, harness distribution of their content onto new digital platforms, and facilitate regional opportunities for filmmakers." Representatives from the Singapore Film Commission will be present at the Cannes Film Market. To speak to a representative from the Singapore Film Commission or learn more about Singapore films, visit the Singapore booth at Village International 115. www.sgmediafestival.com | SGMediaFest About Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore's digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem - by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore's ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore's data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission. For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook and Twitter @IMDAsg. About the Singapore Media Festival (SMF) The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority, is set to become one of Asia's leading international media events, where the industry meets to discover the latest trends, talents and content in Asia for Film, TV and digital media. Taking place from 29 November to 9 December 2018, the Singapore Media Festival brings together established media events such as the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore and SMF Ignite. For more information about the Singapore Media Festival, please visit www.sgmediafestival.com. SMF Ignite A keystone digital event of the Singapore Media Festival, SMF Ignite gathers emerging media content creators in Singapore and around the region to learn, network, create and collaborate. Organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in collaboration with partners from the digital and media industries, the annual event spotlights digital trends and new opportunities for the Asian storyteller. Through interactive workshops and conferences, SMF Ignite sparks a vibrant ecosystem of creators and businesses who can stand at the forefront of innovative storytelling. SARASOTA, Florida, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lakewood-Amedex Inc., a leading developer of novel anti-infective pharmaceuticals, today announced that the Board of Directors of the Company has elected Stephen Evans-Freke as Chairman. Steve Parkinson, President and CEO of Lakewood-Amedex, said, "I am pleased to welcome Stephen to Lakewood-Amedex's Board of Directors. His extensive experience in the biotechnology industry vetting investment opportunities as a venture capitalist and investment banker, combined with his experience raising capital as an entrepreneur and as a biotech CEO, will be very helpful as we move forward with future financing activities to accelerate the clinical development of our novel class of Bisphosphocin antimicrobials." Mr. Evans-Freke is Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of Auven Therapeutics and has been associated with the biotechnology industry for over 35 years as an investment banker, asset manager, entrepreneur, company CEO, and venture capitalist. During his extensive career, he has been a lead investment banker to Genentech, AMGEN, Centocor and Genzyme, among other leading biotech companies in the 1980's, structuring and placing over $500 million of R&D partnership financing, as well as serving on many of these companies' development boards. In the 1990's, Mr. Evans-Freke co-founded Sugen Inc. and served as its Chairman and CEO through its IPO in 1995 and its sale to Pharmacia for over $700 million in 1999. Mr. Evans-Freke also was a co-founder of Selecticide Corporation, FibroGen Inc, Royalty Pharma, and most recently ADC Therapeutics Sarl. Mr. Evans-Freke holds a Degree in Law from the University of Cambridge. "I am excited to be named Chairman of the Board of Lakewood-Amedex, as I see great potential and urgent medical need for this important new class of antimicrobials," stated Mr. Evans-Freke. "Working with the dedicated team that has brought Bisphosphocins from discovery through to their first phase 1/2a trials, I am confident we will be able to accelerate the Company's clinical development pipeline addressing the most life threating disease indications in the growing crisis of multidrug resistant infections." About Lakewood-Amedex Inc. Lakewood-Amedex is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of anti-infective products, including first-in-class antimicrobial compounds. The Company's products and technology are covered by an extensive patent portfolio consisting of over 60 granted and/or issued patents and 6 pending patent applications covering many major pharmaceutical markets. The Company's lead therapeutic candidate is a novel synthetic broad-spectrum antimicrobial proven to be effective in killing a wide range of Gram-positive, Gram-negative and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and has recently completed a Phase 1/2a clinical trial in patients with infected diabetic foot ulcers (iDFU). Contacts: Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc. Jonathon Brzezinski, Ph.D. (investors) jbrzezinski@tiberend.com (212) 375-2681 Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc. David Schemelia (media) dschemelia@tiberend.com (212) 375-2686 AMSTERDAM, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Having reached agreements with over 200 merchants across Europe, Paytomat chose Amsterdam for the pilot launch Paytomat rushes into Europe with its decentralized solution for crypto payments. The pilot launch was held at Matreshka Russian Kitchen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 7th. Paytomat held a presentation for media in the morning, and did a series of demos for crypto enthusiasts who came in throughout the day. All guests had a chance to test the Paytomat solution, which currently supports the widest variety of cryptocurrencies: BCH, ZEN, XEM, DASH, WAVES, LTC, ETH, NANO, DCR, XZC and BTC. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690179/Paytomat.jpg ) Yurii Olentir, Paytomat Founder and CEO, said: "Amsterdam is one of the most crypto-friendly places, so we chose it for our kick-off in Western Europe. With millions of tourists visiting every month, cryptocurrencies can be a very convenient payment method. For example, a transaction in Bitcoin Cash takes just a couple of seconds and the fee is miniscule. The great public interest and support we have received in Amsterdam makes us confident we'll succeed in building the Paytomat global infrastructure for cryptocurrency payments." Sergey Zhukov, Founder of Matreshka Russian Kitchen, said: "Thanks to Paytomat, our guests now have the option to pay with crypto - it's convenient, fast and safe, and I believe this payment method will become common with time. Starting to accept crypto was very easy. Paytomat works as an extension to the existing POS terminal from Poster, which I have at my restaurant, so it only took a software update and additional training for the staff." The idea behind Paytomat is increasing the transactional usage of cryptocurrencies in everyday life, providing additional incentives for businesses, customers and crypto core teams through its unique blockchain-based loyalty program. Launched from Ukraine in 2017, Paytomat is expanding its business globally and aims to develop its own unique blockchain-based loyalty program, fueled by PTM and PTX tokens. Since the beginning of this year, Paytomat has signed letters of intent with over 200 merchants across Europe. As part of its global development strategy, Paytomat will use the decentralized franchise model aimed at building a global community of local representatives who will help to establish fiat-to-crypto gateways, direct relationships with POS vendors and help merchants start accepting cryptocurrency, and receive rewards within the Paytomat loyalty program. For more information visit https://media.paytomat.com. Follow Paytomat Twitter for the latest news: https://twitter.com/paytomat OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar slipped against its most major counterparts in the European session on Friday. The greenback fell to 1.3554 against the pound, 1.1936 against the euro and 1.0007 against the franc, from its early highs of 1.3502, 1.1891 and 1.0040, respectively. The greenback declined to 1.2746 against the loonie and a session's low of 0.6982 against the kiwi, off its early highs of 1.2773 and 0.6955, respectively. Extending early slide, the greenback hit a weekly low of 0.7557 against the aussie. The next possible support for the greenback is seen around 1.38 against the pound, 1.21 against the euro, 0.99 against the franc, 1.26 against the loonie, 0.71 against the kiwi and 0.77 against the aussie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The Four Colors of Jiangxi caught the attention of international attendees FUZHOU, China, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 7th, Unique Landscape in Jiangxi 2018 Jiangxi Tourism Promotion Conference was held in Zixi, Fuzhou. China Radio International (CRI) attended the conference, below is the article that was originally published in Chinese. Ouyang Quanhua, the director of the Jiangxi Tourism Development Committee hosted the conference, and Wu Zhongqiong, the vice-governor of Jiangxi Province gave a speech to promote Jiangxi tourism resources. The poetic scenery was exhibited in Fuzhou It is said that Lushan Mountain is the most comfortable mountain in China, Mount Sanqing is the most beautiful mountain in China, and Mount Longhu is the most unparalleled mountain in China. In history, there were many poems praising the beautiful sceneries in Jiangxi, like the three mountains above, and these poems are the best advertisement of Jiangxi. Four Colors of Jiangxi exhibited during the conference was very eye-catching "In the tourism routine, Mount Lu - Jingdezhen, you will also learn about the history of porcelain in the city of porcelain, Jingdezhen, and make porcelains with the ceramists all over the world. In another routine, Wuyuan - Mount Sanqing - Mount Longhu, you will enjoy the charm of China's most beautiful village, Wuyuan, see the rocks with grotesque shapes in the World Natural Heritage Site, Mount Sanqing, and discover the ancient cliff tombs in the Mountain Longhu. As for another routine, village - temple - kiln - round house - tower, you can learn about the culture from the ancient villages and counties, the traditional kilns, the Hakka round house and ancient academies, and the ancestral places of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism of China," said Wu Zhongqiong, vie-governor of Jiangxi. The four colors, green, red, golden and blue in the video clip played during the conference represented the revolutionary history, porcelain culture, natural landscape and humanistic characteristics of Jiangxi. The international representatives attending the conference recorded what they saw and experienced via various social media platforms. Ouyang Quanhua, the director of the Jiangxi Tourism Development Committee said, "In 2018, Jiangxi will start promoting its tourism resources mainly to the customer markets of surrounding countries and regions of China, and the markets of countries and regions along the routes of Belt and Road, in order to expand the international customer market for Jiangxi tourism industry." WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices were holding at 4-year highs Friday morning. Reports suggest Saudi Arabia may end their supply quota plan with fellow OPEC members and Russia in the wake of the Iran sanctions issue. Supply disruptions from Iran could result in another significant jump in oil prices, to the benefit of the booming U.S. shale oil industry. Baker Hughes releases its weekly rig count figures this afternoon. The rig count has been rising steadly in 2018, with no real end in sight. WTI light sweet oil was flat at $71.50 a barrel, while London's Brent crude held $77. Bank of America said Brent crude is heading for $100 next year. 'We also introduce a 2Q $90/bbl Brent price target for 2019 and see a risk of $100/bbl oil next year, although we are concerned that these market dynamics could unfold over a shorter timeframe,' BoA said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Regulatory News: As part of the comprehensive partnership announced in 2017, Total (Paris:FP) (LSE:TTA) (NYSE:TOT) has signed an agreement with Sonatrach to launch the engineering studies for a petrochemical project in Arzew, western Algeria. The project includes a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a polypropylene production unit with an output capacity of 550,000 tons per year. The project represents an investment of around $1.4 billion by the two partners (Sonatrach 51%, Total 49%), who are planning to start the front-end engineering and design (FEED) this summer, subject to approval by the relevant Algerian regulatory authorities. The facility will valorize propane, produced in large quantities locally, by transforming it into polypropylene, a plastic for which demand is growing strongly. It will supply in priority the local and Mediterranean demand and Total will be responsible for the commercialization of the rest of the production in Europe, where it will leverage its market expertise to the benefit of both partners. "This project in Algeria illustrates our petrochemical growth strategy which consists of expanding our activities from competitively advantaged feedstock, especially derived from gas, to take advantage of the growing global plastics demand. This polypropylene project complements our other projects announced recently in the United States, in the Middle-East and in Asia, which are primarily focused on polyethylene" commented Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total. "It is also an opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with Sonatrach, by moving beyond our long-standing exploration and production relationship to invest in the downstream together." Total in Algeria Total's exploration and production activities in Algeria date back to 1952. In 2017, Total produced 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in Algeria, all of it from the Tin Fouye Tabankort (TFT) gas and condensate field. The Group currently holds a 35% in interest in TFT. In March 2018, Total started up production from the Timimoun gas field in southwestern Algeria. The Group has a 37.75% interest in the field, which has a production capacity of 5 million cubic meters of gas per day (around 30,000 boe/d). Total also markets lubricants and bitumen in Algeria. Through the Maersk Oil acquisition, which closed on March 8, 2018, Total now holds a 12.25% interest in the El Merk, Hassi Berkine and Ourhoud oil fields, which have a combined production capacity of 400,000 boe/d. In November 2017, Total also announced the acquisition of Engie's upstream liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets. Once closed, this transaction will add 4.6 million tons per year to the Group's global LNG portfolio thanks to supply agreements with Sonatrach. About Total Total is a global integrated energy producer and provider, a leading international oil and gas company, a major player in low-carbon energies. Our 98,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, cleaner, more efficient, more innovative and accessible to as many people as possible. As a responsible corporate citizen, we focus on ensuring that our operations in more than 130 countries worldwide consistently deliver economic, social and environmental benefits. www.total.com Cautionary note This press release, from which no legal consequences may be drawn, is for information purposes only. The entities in which TOTAL S.A. directly or indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. TOTAL S.A. has no liability for their acts or omissions. In this document, the terms "Total" and "Total Group" are sometimes used for convenience where general references are made to TOTAL S.A. and/or its subsidiaries. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" may also be used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TOTAL S.A. nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005321/en/ Contacts: Total Media Relations: +33 1 47 44 46 99 presse@total.com @TotalPress or Investor Relations: +44 (0)207 719 7962 ir@total.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 11, 2018) - Earth Innovations Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Zeolite Corp. (TSXV: IZ) (OTCQB: IZCFF) (FSE: ZEON), is pleased to announce an agreement with a major American retailer for a sales pilot of ecoTraction, the Company's flagship product. This agreement: Introduces ecoTraction to more urban markets Compliments existing distribution through Do It Best Stores and WM Grainger Ltd. Leverages product and brand marketing efforts "The response to our product offering at the National Hardware Show has been excellent," said Earth Innovations President, Stephen Coates. "We are very excited to leverage our corporate marketing efforts in the USA with the potential of expanding distribution of ecoTraction through one of America's premier retailers. This first-step opportunity will further expand our reach in one of America's major winter markets." Following negotiations and completion of formal supplier arrangements, the Company will launch a marketing campaign to support ecoTraction in the agreed pilot market. Understanding that a retail supply arrangement is only the beginning of the sales process, Earth Innovations is committed to supporting its products in the marketplace with marketing, merchandizing and co-promotion support. ecoTraction is a leading alternative to road salt and chemical ice-melters, providing a sandpaper-like traction to icy steps, walkways and pavements in winter temperatures as low as -50 degrees. EcoTraction is a natural, safe and environmentally beneficial winter traction product, sourced and packaged in both the USA and Canada. International Zeolite Corp. is a producer and distributor of natural and value-added zeolite and is committed to developing high-quality sustainable environmentally beneficial products that deliver exceptional value and performance. On Behalf of the Board "Ray Paquette" President & CEO 604.684.3301 www.internationalzeolite.com Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete contemplated work programs and the timing and amount of expenditures. International Zeolite does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 11, 2018) - One World Lithium Inc. (CSE: OWLI) ("OWL") (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has granted incentive stock options to a consultant of the Company to purchase up to 500,000 common shares of the Company at a price of $0.15 per common share. The stock options are exercisable on or before February 15, 2019 with 100,000 vesting on June 15, 2018, another 200,000 vesting on September 15, 2018 and the balance vesting on October 15, 2018. About One World Lithium Inc. One World Lithium Inc. is an exploration Company with its primary focus on exploring and developing lithium projects of merit. It has an option to acquire up to a 90% working interest in the 75,400 hectares (290 square miles or 754 square kilometers), which covers a salar located in Baja California, Mexico. The company intends to list on the OTC QX board. For further information please visit www.oneworldlithium.com or email info@oneworldlithium.ca On behalf of the Board of Directors of One World Lithium Inc., "Douglas Fulcher" Douglas Fulcher, CEO and President Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation concerning the business of the OWL. Forward looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of the OWL, including the closing of the Transaction, the intention of OWL to proceed with the advancement of the Property and exercise of the option, and intentions regarding the proposed exploration program. Although OWL believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because OWL can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. OWL disclaims any intent or obligation to update publically any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from the those anticipated in such statements, important factors that could cause actual results to direr materially from the company's expectations include: (I) inability of OWL to execute its business plan and raise the financing required to close on the transaction and exercise the option; and (II) risks and market fluctuations common to the mining industry and lithium sector in particular. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the control of the OWL. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information contained in this press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC - Result of AGM John Wood Group PLC ("Company") Annual General Meeting - Voting Results Issued share capital at meeting date: 677,739,369 Number of votes per share: 1 vote per share At the Annual General Meeting of John Wood Group PLC held on 11 May 2018, all resolutions put to shareholders were passed on a poll with the required majorities. The full text of each resolution is contained in the notice of Annual General Meeting, which is available on the Company's website www.woodplc.com The final vote received in respect of each resolution was as follows: Votes For (Including Discretionary) % Votes Against % Votes Total % of Issued Share Capital Voted Votes Withheld* 1 Report & accounts 545,079,319 99.93% 354,681 0.07% 545,434,000 80.48% 1,426,558 2 Declaration of final dividend 511,530,755 93.54% 35,322,534 6.46% 546,853,289 80.69% 7,269 3 Remuneration report 526,082,812 96.46% 19,316,645 3.54% 545,399,457 80.47% 1,461,100 4 Re-elect Ian Marchant 528,181,813 96.60% 18,593,418 3.40% 546,775,231 80.68% 85,326 5 Re-elect Jan Brown 523,367,566 95.71% 23,462,211 4.29% 546,829,777 80.68% 30,781 6 Re-elect Thomas Botts 543,309,277 99.36% 3,519,417 0.64% 546,828,694 80.68% 31,864 7 Re-elect Jacqui Ferguson 527,846,848 96.53% 18,963,797 3.47% 546,810,645 80.68% 49,913 8 Re-elect Mary Shafer-Malicki 543,285,241 99.35% 3,547,875 0.65% 546,833,116 80.68% 27,442 9 Re-elect Jeremy Wilson 527,038,077 96.38% 19,769,907 3.62% 546,807,984 80.68% 52,573 10 Re-elect Robin Watson 546,303,813 99.91% 493,564 0.09% 546,797,377 80.68% 63,181 11 Re-elect David Kemp 543,875,773 99.46% 2,960,576 0.54% 546,836,349 80.69% 24,209 12 Elect Linda Adamany 529,587,097 96.85% 17,226,495 3.15% 546,813,592 80.68% 46,966 13 Elect Roy Franklin 529,224,397 96.78% 17,585,207 3.22% 546,809,604 80.68% 50,954 14 Elect Ian McHoul RESOLUTION NOT PROPOSED 15 Appointment of KPMG LLC as auditors 529,189,187 96.77% 17,650,301 3.23% 546,839,488 80.69% 21,070 16 Authorisation of auditors' remuneration 533,524,453 97.56% 13,317,593 2.44% 546,842,046 80.69% 18,511 17 Authority to allot shares 459,694,655 84.07% 87,123,621 15.93% 546,818,276 80.68% 42,281 18 Disapplication of pre-emption rights 539,291,069 98.64% 7,455,792 1.36% 546,746,861 80.67% 113,697 19 Additional authority to disapply pre-emption rights 490,876,492 89.78% 55,893,011 10.22% 546,769,503 80.68% 91,054 20 Authority to purchase own shares 543,590,926 99.41% 3,212,205 0.59% 546,803,131 80.68% 57,426 21 Notice of general meetings 481,379,671 88.39% 63,240,558 11.61% 544,620,229 80.36% 2,240,329 * A vote withheld is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes 'For' or 'Against' a resolution. These votes are available on the Company's website at: www.woodgroup.com In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2 a copy of the resolutions passed at the General Meeting will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm Notification authorised by: MARTIN J MACINTYRE COMPANY SECRETARY The Northern Irish water provider NI Water is on track to achieve 40% renewable energy consumption by 2021. A significant achievement, as the provider is among the largest energy consumers in the country.According to the company 24,000 solar panels will provide 4.99 MWp, enough to meet the demand of the Dunore Water Treatment Works (WTW) in South Antrim, one of Northern Ireland's largest treatment plants of the country. Ranked by energy consumption the treatment plant in question is the third largest of the country. "As the largest user of electricity in Northern Ireland, we are committed to ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - John McCain's wife has reacted emotionally to a derisive comment that a White House aide made about the senior Republican Senator's cancer diagnosis. US media quoted White House Special Assistant Kelly Sadler as saying at a closed-door White House meeting of about two-dozen communications staffers on Thursday morning: 'It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway.' Sadler was referring to McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel. The Arizona senator had urged the Senate to reject the nomination, citing Gina's refusal in testimony before Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday to acknowledge 'torture's immorality.' Gina, who is currently CIA Deputy Director, struggled at her confirmation hearing to clarify what she would do if the president ordered her to reintroduce the water-boarding of terrorist suspects. Apparently hurt by the White House official's comment, McCain's wife Cnidy took to Twitter. 'May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren,' she said, addressing Kelly Sadler adding her age (45) to her name. The Hill reported that when asked for comment, the White House didn't deny that Sadler made the comment about McCain, but said, 'We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.' The No 2 Senate Republican was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a very aggressive brain cancer, in July last year. Doctors say he is responding positively to ongoing treatment. McCain, who was re-elected to his sixth term in the Senate in 2016, served as an aviator in the US navy before entering politics. The 81-year old Vietnam War veteran was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,710.76 in afternoon trade on Friday, with more broker notes than you can shake a stick at responsible for all the biggest moves. Broadcaster ITV was the standout gainer after its results on Thursday, as JPMorgan Cazenove upped its price target to 200p from 185p. It said the stock was too cheap for a business with around 3% top line growth and strategic optionality. Randgold Resources also gained as Citi said it's one of the best quality gold companies globally ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The "Practical Implementation of GCP in Veterinary Field Studies" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This seminar will take many aspects of animal health and veterinary research and development through a typical clinical trial, and pay attention to compliance with GCP as outlined in the two guidelines on safety and efficacy produced by FEDESA and the CVMP. The meeting will address a typical case study where a practical approach will be made to setting up, running and monitoring clinical trials followed by an audit of these studies to satisfy the stringent requirements seen in Europe. Standard documentation utilised for recording data, performing audits and a typical protocol will be supplied for use in the company attendees' own laboratories. Who Should Attend: Personnel involved in the Animal Health industry who are responsible for monitoring Clinical Veterinary Studies, setting up protocols and studies, both in the Laboratory and Field environment to comply with Good Clinical Practice guidelines. It will be immediately relevant to Quality Assurance professionals who are required to audit these types of studies. Clinical Project Managers and Regulatory Affairs personnel will also benefit from this course by gaining an overview of the conduct of studies, the regulatory requirements and European. Why you should attend Understand the regulatory requirements and study design Know how to design protocols and apply them Take away practical advice on how to set up clinical trials Clarify the pharmacovigilance requirements Gain a better understanding of data handling and appropriate' statistics Discover how to produce the final report Assure quality in laboratory field studies For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zhkqlh/two_day_seminar?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005448/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 Related Topics: Animal Healthcare/Veterinary This announcement contains inside information within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse. Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. ("PSH" or the "Company") (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) today announces that the tender offer (the "Tender Offer") for up to $300 million in value of the Company's public shares (the "Public Shares") closed at 1:00 p.m. BST on 10 May 2018. Terms used in this announcement have the meaning given in the circular regarding the Tender Offer issued by the Company on 25 April 2018 (the "Tender Document"). The Strike Price for the Tender Offer is $13.47 per Public Share. A total of 22,271,714 Public Shares will be acquired by the Company in the Tender Offer. The Strike Price was determined on the basis of the Reference NAV per Public Share on 9 May 2018 of $16.94 per Public Share and the numbers of Public Shares validly tendered at each tender price, as described in the Tender Document. The Strike Price for the Tender Offer represents a 20.5% discount to the Reference NAV. 13,919,724 Public Shares were validly tendered below the Strike Price and have been accepted in full at the Strike Price. Valid tenders of 10,474,120 Public Shares were made at the Strike Price and have been scaled back pro rata, adjusted to avoid fractions. PSH will accept for purchase approximately 79.74% of Public Shares validly tendered at the Strike Price. The purchase of Public Shares pursuant to the Tender Offer will be accretive to the Company's NAV per Public Share. Using the 9 May 2018 Reference NAV, the NAV per Public Share would have increased from $16.94 to approximately $17.29, representing accretion of approximately 2.1%, (net of transaction costs) per Public Share had the Public Shares purchased in the Tender Offer been acquired on that date. It is intended that settlement of the Tender Offer will occur on or around 18 May 2018. All Public Shares acquired by the Company will be cancelled, reducing the number of Public Shares outstanding by 22,271,714 shares. Prior to such cancellation, the Company had 234,654,373 Public Shares outstanding, and following the cancellation, the Company will have 212,382,659 Public Shares outstanding. Public Shares tendered above the Strike Price, and therefore not acquired by the Company in the Tender Offer, will be returned to their holders. Shareholders should refer to the Tender Document for the full terms of the Tender Offer. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies. IMPORTANT NOTICES This is a public announcement by Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd ("PSH") pursuant to Section 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014). This announcement does not constitute an offer or solicitation to acquire or sell any securities in the Company. There is no guarantee that, following the Tender Offer, the Company will make any purchases of its own shares. Accordingly, investors should not expect that they will necessarily be able to realise, within a period which they would otherwise regard as reasonable, their investment in the Company, nor can they be certain that they will be able to realise their investment on a basis that necessarily reflects the value of the Company's investments This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or elsewhere. The securities of the Company have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from such registration. The Company has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and investors are not entitled to the benefits of that Act. There has not been and there will be no public offering of the Company's securities in the United States. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005560/en/ Contacts: Maitland Seda Ambartsumian/Sam Turvey +44 20 7379 5151 Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk Technavio market research analysts forecast the global shipbroking market to post a CAGR of almost 3% during the period 2018-2022, according to their latest report. However, the growth momentum of the market is expected to decelerate due to a decrease in the year-over-year growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005664/en/ Technavio has published a new market research report on the global shipbroking market from 2018-2022. (Graphic: Business Wire) The implementation of advanced technologies is one of the major trends being witnessed in the market. The increase in innovations and technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, advanced analytics, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual assistants, automated vehicles, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are expected to pave the way for the adoption of progressive business solutions around the world. With the increasing investments in R&D, technological advances are proliferating faster than ever across the maritime sector. Modern ships are becoming smarter as they are being connected to smart systems such as advanced sensor systems, drones, satellites, and other robotic devices. Ships are incorporating analytics solutions, which allow them to derive useful insights and allow smart decision-making. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Save more with Technavio. Buy2 reports and get the third for FREEView all Technavio's current offers In this report, Technavio analysts highlight the demand for key value addition in the shipping process as a key factor contributing to the growth of the global shipbroking market: Demand for key value addition in the shipping process Shipbrokers have three key and immutable functions. These functions include expertise on the current demand and supply, knowledge of the freight market, and resolving professional disputes between the shipowner and charterer. One of the key drivers of the global shipbroking market is the rising awareness and realization of the extent of value addition that shipbrokers provide to the entire maritime sector. With their specialized market experience and extensive base of contacts, these brokers are an asset for the shipowner as well as the charterer. A shipbroker acts as an intermediary between a shipowner and a charterer. A broker essentially deals with all the intricate details of the entire transaction between both the parties. The shipbroker draws up the contractual agreement for the use of a ship by the charterer and highlights the terms and prices that are agreed upon by the parties involved. The maritime sector is regulation-intensive, and shipbrokers are required to handle the legal aspect of the transaction. According to a senior research analyst at Technavio, "One of the key functions of shipbrokers in the maritime sector is to act as an advisor on risk management to the charterer. The shipping business is ridden with a lot of risks such as hull risk, fire risks, liability risks, as well as other third-party risks. A storm at sea or the presence of pirates in the open ocean can be harmful to the cargo. Cargo can get damaged or lost. Thus, the broker is entrusted with the role of identifying the risks and making recommendations to eliminate or mitigate these risks." Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Global shipbroking market segmentation This market research report segments the global shipbroking market into the following applications (bulker and tanker) and key regions (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). It provides an in-depth analysis of the prominent factors influencing the market, including drivers, opportunities, trends, and industry-specific challenges. Of the two major applications, the bulker segment held the largest market share in 2017, accounting for nearly 35% of the market. This segment is expected to grow steadily and dominate the global market throughout the forecast period. EMEA was the leading region for the global shipbroking market in 2017, accounting for a market share of more than 68%. It was followed by APAC and the Americas respectively. EMEA is anticipated to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. Save big with Technavio this May! Find out what companies are venturing in to beat the heat this summer! Technavio indulges you with a massive 20% OFF on all non-alcoholic beverages reports for the entire month. OR Technavio honors the achievements and efforts of Motherhood this Mother's Day by offering a whopping 30% OFF on all cosmetics and toiletry reports. Offer valid from 7th May for a limited period. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180511005664/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com Announcing T&G Private Capital LLC NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 11, 2018 / Taylor & Gray LLC, a financial services regulatory consulting firm, launched what may be the first ever Broker-Dealer whose primary business is to provide compliance oversight on transactions subject to regulation by FINRA and the SEC. T&G Private Capital is designed to provide a platform in the areas of financial services compliance and due diligence for transactions in Private Placements, M&A and Capital Raising for private fund managers. "Over the years we have seen a real need for a platform such as this. We are regularly asked by clients how and where they can conduct capital raising activities in conformance with U.S. securities laws and requirements," said Micah Taylor. "Invariably, each time we referred them to a third party Broker-Dealer, issues arose with regard to fees, business activity conflicts and contractual obligations." Distinct from typical Broker-Dealers and prompted by requests for this service from their non-U.S. clients, this unique business model was conceived by its founders Micah Taylor and Clarke Gray and has now been formalized to address these needs domestically as well as internationally. T&G Private Capital does NOT engage in traditional Broker-Dealer activity. T&G Private Capital provides transactional compliance integrity for the independent capital finder, M&A investment banker and/or fund manager representative - in the process, diminishing the common capital-raising conflicts that tend to occur among third party entities and their sponsoring U.S. Broker-Dealer. It is an inspired innovation filling an unmet need in the industry. T&G Private Capital LLC is a registered U.S. Broker-Dealer that provides compliance oversight and documentation for private Investment Banking transactions. Company information can be viewed at www.tgprivatecapital.com. For more information, please call Micah Taylor at 212.588.8906 or email mtaylor@tgprivatecapital.com. SOURCE: T&G Private Capital ATLANTA, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Some things take time and that's the case for the consulting industry icon, Proudfoot, as they announce the next step in the transformation of a 72-year-old consulting brand with the introduction of their all new leadership team line up in the US. With four out of the six top jobs going to external hires, the new team joins two Proudfoot alums. CEO, Pam Hackett discussed the need for Proudfoot to introduce a new profile of industry professionals whom bring a rich experience at client relationship building combined with industry sector and subject matter expertise to complement Proudfoot's deep history of client results delivery. The placement of the team reinforces the client-focused structure built on sector and capability verticals, each led by a Managing Director whom owns client satisfaction from end-to-end, with deep industry expertise. Dennis Santare now leads the MRO vertical, Phil Alessi Industrials, John Harms Digital Ready and Cay Mims is MD Natural Resources. They are supported by JJ van Pletzen, EVP Solution Design and Nick Palmer, EVP Transformation. The new approach is already paying off says Hackett. "We've won industry recognition from the Management Consultancies Association, with a Highly Commended award in the 2018 Project of the Year category, placing on Forbes 2018 Best American Management Consulting Firms list, and receiving Service Provider of the Year award by client Santa Monica Seafood." "The new Proudfoot is one of extreme client focus, flexibility, easy to do business with and of course, a deep commitment to continue to deliver successful transformations in an age of transformation challenge. Finding this profile along with strong business development skills, was not something we rushed into, realizing we needed to find the absolute best talent and if that meant delaying forming the team, we made the decision to wait." "Proudfoot has in the past moved too rapidly to replace leadership, investing little time in going to market to search for the absolute best talent," says Proudfoot's CEO, Pamela Hackett, a relative new comer to the job herself. She explains placing an entire new leadership team was a well thought through, long haul search of almost one year to find the right team that would assist in reinventing this industry master. All four external placements were made by Gustin Partners out of Boston, a leadership and executive search firm working with Proudfoot to assist in the implementation of the 'new Proudfoot.' Proudfoot specializes in the design, implementation, and acceleration of operational and digital transformation. They believe enabling people is what creates successful transformation. For further information contact: Brian Holler, 424-361-9640, bholler@proudfoot.com www.proudfoot.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/690388/Proudfoot_Americas_Client_Leadership_Team.jpg LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 11, 2018 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of PPG Industries, Inc. ("PPG" or the "Company") (NYSE: PPG) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. After market close on May 10, 2018, PPG informed the marketplace that its Audit Committee had uncovered improper accounting entries that were undertaken by employees based on the direction of the Company's former Vice President and Controller. The Controller was terminated as of May 10, 2018. PPG also stated that its 2017 financial statements should not be relied upon, and that the Company would be unable to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, in a timely manner. Based on this news, shares of PPG fell considerably during intraday trading on May 11, 2018. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com. The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. CONTACT: The Schall Law Firm Brian Schall, Esq. Sherin Mahdavian, Esq. Schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm Mining company Artemis Resourceshas agreed to sell its 4 million Novo Resources Corp. shares to Canadian mining company, Kirkland Lake Gold.The total gross proceeds would be $20.7 million.Completion of the share sale transaction will significantly strengthen the companys balance sheet and help to continue Artemiss focus on bringing its broad base metals, cobalt and gold asset base in to production, with no dilution to shareholders.Artemiss Executive Chairman says their 50 per cent interest in the exciting Novo/Artemis joint venture in the Karratha area remains unchanged and we are well funded to continue paying our share of JV expenses.Shares in Artemis Resources (ASX: ARV) are up 2.63 per cent to 20c. The board of Fortis Healthcare on Thursday recommended the binding offer of the Munjal-Burmans combine to the shareholders after 18 months of hectic parleys New Delhi: The board of Fortis Healthcare on Thursday recommended the binding offer of the Munjal-Burmans combine to the shareholders after 18 months of hectic parleys with several potential investors for the sale of its business. The board decided by a majority to recommend the revised offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office made on 1 May for an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share through preferential allotment, Fortis Healthcare Ltd said in a late-night filing to the BSE. The Munjal-Burmans further agreed to invest another Rs 1,000 crore via preferential issue of warrants priced at Rs 176 per share, it added. Of this Rs 250 crore will be upfront, being an amount equivalent to 25 percent of the consideration of warrants at a price of Rs 176 per share, Fortis Healthcare Ltd said. Reacting to the development, Sunil Kant Munjal said: "We are delighted that the board has accepted our offer, which is, unarguably, the best solution." "We are sure that the shareholders will see the intrinsic value in our proposal and repose confidence in us. As long-term investors, we are committed to help make Fortis the finest healthcare institution in the region, and create value for all stakeholders," he added. Anand Burman said that Fortis is a national healthcare asset which has a good spread across the country and hoped to help the company become what it ought to be. "Going forward, the immediate plan of action for the company should be to build on its strengths, retain talent, expand business and institutionalise processes at Fortis," he said. The board also approved the appointment of Sabina Vaisoha and Rohit Bhasin as independent directors of the company for a period of five years from 27 March and 19 April, 2018, respectively, it added. Fortis Healthcare had received binding offers from four entities - KKR-backed Radiant Life Care, IHH Healthcare, Manipal/TPG consortium, and Munjal and Burman family offices. On 6 May, Manipal Health Enterprises had revised its offer for Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) again, raising the value to Rs 8,358 crore. Earlier on 24 April, MHEPL and TPB combine had revised their offer for Fortis raising the value to Rs 6,322 crore. The earlier revised offer of 10 April valued Fortis hospital business at Rs 6,061 crore. The consortium, which is the first to make a binding offer to Fortis, had initially valued the hospital business of the healthcare chain at Rs 5,003 crore in its offer on 27 March. MHEPL also offered to subscribe to equity shares of FHL by way of preferential allotment for Rs 2,100 crore at a price per equity share of Rs 160. Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhad and Munjals-Burmans (combine) had on 1 May revised upwards their respective offers for Fortis ahead of the deadline set by the board of the healthcare chain for submission of binding bids. The other suitor IHH Healthcare Berhad increased its offer to directly invest in Fortis Healthcare at Rs 175 per share. It had earlier made a non-binding offer to invest in Fortis at Rs 160 per share. IHH had then revised it to binding offer to immediately infuse Rs 650 crore by way of a preferential issue and allotment of equity shares at Rs 160 per share in FHL as part of an overall proposal to invest Rs 4,000 crore. The Munjal-Burman combine also revised their proposal offering to increase their investment to Rs 1,800 crore, without any due diligence directly into the company from a previously revised offer of Rs 1,500 crore. Under their revised offer, they proposed to invest Rs 800 crore through a preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 167 per share. Further, another Rs 1,000 crore was offered to be invested via preferential issue of warrants priced at Rs 176 per share. Initially, they had proposed to invest Rs 1,250 crore in Fortis at Rs 156 per share. KKR-backed Radiant Life Care had also revised bid for Fortis with a binding offer to acquire its Mulund hospital for an enterprise value of Rs 1,200 crore and a proposal to acquire stake in hospital business. It had initially offered to acquire at least 26 percent stake in the healthcare chain at Rs 126 per share, excluding its diagnostic business SRL. The fifth bidder, Fosun Health Holdings, an arm of Fosun International, which made a non-binding proposal to invest a total of $350 million (over Rs 2,295 crore) at a price up to Rs 156 per share, did not revise its offer. From its first hospital at Mohali in 2001, Fortis Healthcare has grown to be a leading integrated healthcare delivery service provider in India. Currently, the company has 45 healthcare facilities (including projects under development), around 10,000 potential beds and 314 diagnostic centres in India, Dubai, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. The Finance Ministry on Friday said senior bureaucrat Lok Ranjan will continue to serve on the board of ICICI Bank as independent director despite his transfer to the personnel ministry New Delhi: The Finance Ministry on Friday said senior bureaucrat Lok Ranjan will continue to serve on the board of ICICI Bank as independent director despite his transfer to the personnel ministry. On Thursday, the government transferred Ranjan, joint secretary in Department of Financial Services (DFS) to Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), leading to speculation that he would no longer be on the board of ICICI Bank. "Lok Ranjan will be government nominee director on the board of ICICI Bank despite his transfer," Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said here. Any government official of rank of additional secretary or joint secretary can be appointed on the board of any financial institution where government has a stake, sources said. Such appointments could be made from other than finance ministry also, if the government desires so. A precedent of this was when Praveen Garg, who was earlier joint secretary in Department of Economic Affairs, continued to be on the board of IDBI Bank, despite being transferred to ministry of environment in March, they said. Ranjan was appointed on the board of ICICI Bank last month in place of Amit Agarwal, another joint secretary in DFS. Ranjan had on Monday and Tuesday skipped board meeting of ICICI Bank. The reshuffling comes at a time when ICICI MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest in sanctioning of Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon group. The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry against Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, and unidentified others. The agency had questioned a few ICICI Bank officials to find out if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank issuing the aforesaid loan in 2017. The CBI has last month questioned Rajeev Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law in connection with its enquiry. The government is looking for participation from American companies in the development of airports as it seeks to make the segment more competitive Mumbai: The government is looking for participation from American companies in the development of airports as it seeks to make the segment more competitive, a top civil aviation ministry official said on Thursday. The US companies are present in a large way in the area of aviation technology in the country, particularly in safety and security. "One area of cooperation with the US is airport development. We are also looking at inviting the US companies and to provide competition in the development of airports," civil aviation secretary RN Choubey said. The government had recently said it plans to invest close to Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years for capacity augmentation and development of greenfield airports. As the civil aviation ministry firms up plans to achieve one-billion passenger trips per annum over the next 15-20 years, junior minister for aviation Sinha had last week said the Airport Authority of India alone would infuse Rs 20,178 crore in the next four to five years for development of infrastructure at 21 airports. In addition, a capex outlay of Rs 50,000 crore is expected to be infused for the development of greenfield airports such as Navi Mumbai, Jewar in UP and Mopa in Goa, he had said. The aviation secretary also said that the ministry as part of removing regulatory uncertainties in the area of airport development was planning to have some kind of tariff structure in the bidding documents itself. The tariff regulator AERA determines airport tariffs five years at a time, which is a regulatory exercise. But then it also leads to regulatory uncertainty as the airport developer does not know what tariff will be fixed by the regulator, he said. "Any uncertainty is not good for business. Therefore, what we are now proposing is that the airport bidding document itself should have the tariff indicated in it, so that there will not be a need to go back to the regulator," Choubey said. Bidding document for the Jewar airport, which secured 'in-principle' approval from the aviation ministry early this week, will have indicative tariff structure, according to Choubey. Nabard's this year's projection under priority sector is 10 percent higher than the previous year Mumbai: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) said there is a potential of credit disbursement of Rs 3.70 lakh crore under the priority sector lending in the state during the current financial year. The development finance institution today made a presentation to state's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on the potential available for different activities under the priority sector for financial year 2018-19 for the state. "The aggregate projections of potential linked plans (PLPs) of all the districts in the state reflect an estimated credit flow of Rs 3.70 lakh crore during FY19 for priority sector," Nabard said in the presentation made to Fadnavis. This year's projection under priority sector is 10 percent higher than the previous year. In FY19, the potential for credit flow to the agricultural sector is Rs 93,618.36 crore, while for micro, small and medium enterprises is Rs 1.48 lakh crore. Loans to other priority sectors which includes self-employed, housing to a limit, transport operator and education, among others has a potential of Rs 1.28 lakh crore. "The credit planning process of Nabard is a bottom-up approach through a consultative process involving all the stakeholders including bankers at the district level. It partners with the state government and bankers, striving to achieve the projections," Nabard's officer-in-charge, M K Srivastava, said. Fadnavis also released the State Focus Paper 2018-19 and a booklet on area development scheme 2018-2023 for the state. Films like Mehbooba are a reminder that your fate finds a way to punish you for your misdeeds and sins. Theres a saying that Films are forever. But if you believe that films have a shelf life, beyond which they either end up in heaven or hell, based on the mercy of cinematic Gods, Ive a strong feeling that Puri Jagannadhs Mehbooba will be placed in a vault, and tossed into the fires of hell, and punished till the end of time for its sins, which are aplenty. I cant recall the last time when the chair I was setting on felt like a medieval torture device, because theres barely anything in the film that is redeeming. If anything, it just tightens the noose to a degree that you are brain dead by the time the end credits roll. To relive this mind-numbing drama, we have to revisit the premise, which has its roots in the Indo-Pak conflict. In Puri Jagannadhs universe, theres no space for subtlety or reality. If he was from the lineage of Thanos, he has, perhaps, crushed all the infinity stones and wiped off half the universe, and reinstated a new order of humanity who are at a primitive stage of intelligence. Mehbooba is one such project from said director. Roshan (Akash), the lead in the film, loves the mountains, and naturally, he loves trekking. He hears things from his past, a superpower so strong that it shakes the foundations of two countries. Across the border, in Lahore, theres a girl named Afreen (Neha Shetty) who also has similar powers, but she doesnt realise it yet. The rest of this story is about what happens when these two meet each other. Survival is the key aspect of Mehbooba. This is what drives Roshan and Afreen forward throughout the film, because they dont want to get caught in the conflict between the countries. Just when you are about to wonder why are they so desperate to survive, we are shown a flashback thats set in the backdrop of Indo-Pak war in 1971. There, Kabir (Akash) is a Pakistani soldier who falls in love with an Indian girl (Neha), but then their romance is short-lived. Cut to present - they meet again and this time, they do everything they can, even if it means bringing the two countries to the brink of war, to be together. They do survive in the end, but the real survivor is you, the viewer, because you were just another lab rat in the grand scheme of things. If you havent guessed it already, Roshan sets a new gold standard for patriotism in this romantic drama. The dialogues in one particularly standout segment in the film reeks of xenophobia and outright racism, which is highlighted under the disguise of reality. Its cringeworthy that such film writing even exists. But all this pales in comparison to the Gadar-like third act when Roshan goes on a rescue mission to Pakistan with the full-support from Indian public and army. The climax, which is set at a Indo-Pak border outpost, is the final nail on the coffin. For a debut film, Mehbooba is too huge a burden for newcomer Akash Puri and it clearly shows throughout the film. Hes good in the role of a Pakistani soldier during the 1971 war; however, the constant hamming is jarring. Neha Shetty finds herself in a classic damsel-in-distress zone and theres barely anything in the film that offers her scope to explore the nuances of the role. The less said about other actors, who are let down by ridiculously bad writing, the better. Films like Mehbooba are a reminder that your fate finds a way to punish you for your misdeeds and sins. But whats even more disappointing is the thought that Puri Jagannadh, the director we once knew, has transformed so much that it feels as if he has no control over what he is doing. There was a time when his wisdom, however radical it might have been, gave us memorable characters, but now, it just doesnt feel right no matter how hard you try to shake it off. Some ideas are best left untouched, or maybe even left buried under an avalanche forever. Mehbooba is one among them. Kovind also applauded Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the prime minister at that time, for his 'courage' to go ahead with the Pokhran tests. New Delhi: The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were hailed by President Ram Nath Kovind on its 20th anniversary on Friday as a "bold decision" that repositioned India on the global stage and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it reflected the courage of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee leadership. India had carried out five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran in the Thar desert in Rajasthan on 11 and 13 May, 1998. Kovind said the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests demonstrated the country's scientific capacity and political will and had a far-reaching impact on how the world saw India. He recalled the contribution of his predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam, who had led the scientific team that made preparations for the tests. Kovind also applauded Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the prime minister at that time, for his "courage" to go ahead with the tests. "In 1998, the government of the day took the bold decision to go ahead with the tests and reposition India on the global stage. The Pokhran tests of May 1998 were a demonstration of both scientific capacity and political will," the President said. The nuclear programme of the country was "built brick by brick" in a period of technology denial, Kovind said in his address after presenting awards to innovators on the occasion of 20th National Technology Day, marking the anniversary of the 1998 tests. He was referring to the sanctions imposed against India after the 1974 nuclear test that was conducted when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister. The sanctions, led by the US, had deprived India of critical nuclear and space technology. "Those tests had a far-reaching impact on how the world came to see India and on our foreign policy, our strategic relations and eventually our international technological collaborations," he said. In a message, Modi also praised the skills of the country's scientists. "We also remember with great pride, the skills of our scientists as well as the courage of our political leadership for the historic tests in May 1998," the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) tweeted the prime minister as saying. In the era of technology and innovation, the youth should get acquainted with more aspects of technology, the prime minister was quoted as saying in another tweet. "Our Government is taking numerous steps to create an eco-system that furthers outstanding research, innovation and strides in technology ... on National Technology Day, we salute our stupendous scientists and technology enthusiasts," he said. After the 1998 tests, the US and its allies had again imposed sanctions against India but a decade later, the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation deal was signed. India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran on 18 May, 1974 after which the US and several countries imposed sanctions on the country. Post Independence, Kovind said India began to climb the value chain in technology production in the areas of space and atomic energy and today, it has expanded to best-in- class capacities in communication technology, IT, pharmaceutical and biotechnology. "This has changed perceptions about our country and helped both our people and our economy. In the past year itself, we have had stand-out achievements such as the launch of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System - 1L," he said. Noting that India was making preparations for the Chandrayaan-2 mission to the Moon, the President said the country has a formidable reputation in the drugs and vaccines value chain. "And in the manufacture of medical devices and diagnostic machines, I am optimistic we will replicate our success in generic drugs," he said. The Attorney General mentioned that this has been the second longest hearing in Indian history, with the longest being for the Kesavananda Bharati case. Editor's Note: This copy was published on xx May, 2018. It is being republished in light of the Supreme Court's verdict on the constitutionality of Aadhaar likely being pronounced tomorrow. On Day 38 of the Aadhaar hearings, senior counsels Gopal Subramanium, Arvind Datar, P Chidambaram, KV Viswanathan, and PV Surendranath concluded the rejoinder for the petitioners. The Supreme Court reserved its judgment. The Attorney General mentioned that this has been the second longest hearing in Indian history, with the longest being for the Kesavananda Bharati case. Section 7 makes dignity conditional First, senior counsel Subramanium continued his rejoinder for the petitioners. He commenced with arguing that if the purpose of Section 7 was to further the dignity of an individual, as argued by the State, this could not be done by making it conditional since dignity is an inalienable and inherent right. The Bench here, pointed to the issue of deduplication and reaching the correct beneficiary. No evidence that Aadhaar achieved seamless delivery The counsel next questioned if Aadhaar really was an instance of affirmative action (an action to favour those suffering from discrimination). He argued that it may be possible that there is mala fide intention behind the Aadhaar Act, but there was no evidence that the stated purpose of achieving seamless delivery through the Act, was actually being achieved. In fact, the only evidence available is that of exclusion. Aadhaar, he argued, only reinforced the asymmetry of power in favour of the State, enabling it to limit citizen rights. Consider the true purpose of the law A claim to a proper purpose, he argued, is not a proper purpose. The Aadhaar Act, he argued, is not an instrumentality to deliver services, but was a means of identification. He argued that the true purpose of the law must be taken into consideration. Authentication, he argued, is at the heart of the Aadhaar Act, and failure of authentication is a ground for denial of services. Lack of oversight On turning to the issue of lack of oversight of requesting entities, the Bench observed that an Act like Aadhaar needs a hierarchy of regulators, who are absent. The counsel further pointed out that the peoples data was being taken by the state without having a strong data protection framework backing it. Subsidies, benefits and servers Further, under Section 7, the terms grant of subsidies, benefits and services are expressions of condescension, instead of being treated as an entitlement. He questioned if affirmative action to rights under Article 14, 15, 16, 17, and 21 could all be made conditional. The burden to authenticate and establish identity had been imposed on the people. The Bench, here, observed that whether a subsidy is a benefit or a right is an issue to be decided. The Bench observed here that Section 7 is only an enabling provision, questioning how the central government was guided before exercising its discretion to issue notifications under this Section. The counsel here, argued further that Section 7 had virtually been interpreted to be mandatory as opposed to discretionary, making citizens subservient to it. Aadhaar Act should be completely struck down The Aadhaar Act, he argued, needs to be struck down completely as it fails the tests laid down in the Puttaswamy case, there was no legitimate aim since the real aim differs from the purported one, there was no law when Aadhaar was implemented, and there is no proportionality. Quoting Ambedkar, the counsel then argued that a political democracy rests on four premises: an individual is an end in himself, he has certain inalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution, he shall not be required to relinquish any of his constitutional rights as a price of any privilege, and lastly, the state shall not delegate powers to private persons to govern others. Further, he argued that the doctrine of the possibility of misuse does not apply here since there is an actual denial of rights in the case of Aadhaar. Praying for the Aadhaar Act to be struck down completely, and the architecture and database destroyed, he concluded his arguments. Aadhaar cannot be a Money Bill Senior counsel Arvind Datar then commenced his rejoinder, arguing that Aadhaar cannot be a Money Bill, and can at most be a financial bill under the Constitution. The doctrine of severability (where the unconstitutional portion of an Act only will be struck down, as opposed to striking down the entire Act) further, will not apply to Aadhaar, since that is only applicable to validly enacted laws. He further argued that the cases of Mohd. Saeed Siddiqui and Yogendra Kumar Jaiswal on the immunity to Money Bills should be overruled. The finality of the speakers decision under the Constitution, he argued, did not mean that the bill cannot be subject to judicial review. Aadhaar-Bank account linking and the new eKYC rules Next, he turned to the issue of Aadhaar in relation to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Rules. He pointed to the impropriety of amending the RBI Circular on KYC to make Aadhaar mandatory after the issue was pointed out in Court. He further argued that Aadhaars use was not confined to banks and had gone beyond that scope, being made necessary for mutual funds, insurance policies, and credit cards, among other things. The Aadhaar Act, further, was not justified under Article 300A of the Constitution, or the constitutional right to property. He further argued that Aadhaar could never be used to resolve problems like black money and money laundering since the sources of such money is different. These issues, he argued, were being used as a ruse to collect peoples biometrics. Section 57, he argued, should be completely removed from the Aadhaar Act. Any use outside of Section 7, further, was in complete violation of the Puttaswamy judgment. Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act on Aadhaar PAN linkage, further, is inconsistent with the Aadhaar Act. Lastly, he argued that should be an option of opting out of Aadhaaar. Money Bill restricted only to Article 110 matters Next, senior counsel P Chidambaram commenced his rejoinder. He argued that the Attorney Generals interpretation of the term only under Article 110 was erroneous. Clause (g), which allows matters incidental to the specific matters to be included in a Money Bill, he argued, must be interpreted very restrictively. The provision, he argued has to be incidental to the specific matters listed under clauses (a) to (f) of Article 110, in order to be valid. Clause (g) he argued, is not a substantive provision. Further, he argued that the cases of Yogendra Kumar Jaiswal and Mohd Saeed. Siddiqui were not good law. The implications of passing a non-Money Bill as a Money Bill, he argued, are extremely serious, since one half of the Parliament is completely disabled from making any amendments. Further, this denudes the highest constitutional authority of the country, the President of India. Aadhaar is a mockery of Article 110 He further argued that there was no provision in the Constitution which gives the Court the power of severability in the case of an invalidly enacted legislation. The court, he argued, cannot save an Act so fundamentally unconstitutional as to be passed without the participation of the Rajya Sabha and without the assent of the President. With this, describing this as a mockery of Article 110, he urged the Bench to strike down the Aadhaar Act since it is not a Money Bill. Least intrusive measure and proportionality Senior counsel KV Viswanathan then commenced his rejoinder.. He countered the States argument that the least intrusive measure is not a facet of proportionality, as completely wrong. Attempting to balance the right to privacy and the right to food, he argued, is wrong. Section 59 granting retrospective validity, further, could not protect Aadhaar at the time the Act was not enacted. The State, he argued, could not discharge their duty by subjecting the poor and downtrodden to a technological menace. The harmonisation of rights, he lastly argued, was being misapplied by the State in its arguments. Lastly, senior counsel PV Surendranath presented his rejoinder on the point of excessive delegation. With the hearings completed, the Bench reserved the matter for judgment. Sources of arguments include live-tweeting of the case by SFLC.in, Prasanna S and Gautam Bhatia. You can read our complete coverage of the Aadhaar Supreme Court case below: Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights Entire Aadhaar project is beyond the stated objectives of Aadhaar Act, argue petitioners Petitioners conclude their arguments on 'the number of the beast' Aadhaar, highlighting various issues Aadhaar hearing: Political liberties cannot be foregone for economic and social justice, states the Bench Aadhaar hearing: UIDAIs presentation discusses Aadhaar enrolment, updation and authentication processes in detail Aadhaar hearing: Supreme Court expresses concerns with data breaches, Aadhaar security and profiling Aadhaar hearing: Petitioners question UIDAI on verification of residency requirement, de-duplication rejections and authentication failures Aadhaar hearing: Attorney General argues that pervasive collection of fingerprints meets proportionality requirements Aadhaar hearing: Bench criticises the argument that Aadhaar can prevent bank frauds and terrorists from acquiring mobile numbers Aadhaar hearing: Additional Solicitor General argues Aadhaar-PAN linkage enables deduplication, prevents fraud and widens the tax base Aadhaar hearing: Not necessary to prove least possible invasion of privacy, argues Additional Solicitor General Aadhaar hearing: Counsel argues that Aadhaar is more secure than a data protection law, SC disagrees Aadhaar hearing: Supreme Court questions why both the right to privacy and right to food cannot be secured under the Constitution Aadhaar hearing: Senior counsel Rakesh Dwiwedi argues that the UIDAI is constantly improving and upgrading its systems Aadhaar hearing: Aadhaar has the support of two governments, argues the State Aadhaar hearing: The Act is a well balanced law of which a few provisions should be struck down, argues advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan Aadhaar hearing: Attorney General argues that Aadhaar is fundamentally a money bill to which Section 57 is an ancillary provision Aadhaar hearing: Is the Aadhaar Act compliant with the first five words of the Constitution, 'We the People of India', asks senior counsel The author is a lawyer and author specialising in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional. The Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) one of the preeminent media institutions in the country and my alma mater is a liberal place. The men and women who teach there are all liberal, in every sense of the term The Asian College of Journalism one of the preeminent media institutions in the country and my alma mater is a liberal place. The men and women who teach there are all liberal, in every sense of the term. The college is so liberal that in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal against one of its faculty members Sadanand Menon, a well-known Chennai-based journalist and culture critic Sashi Kumar, the chairman of ACJ, did the most liberal thing imaginable. When the allegations surfaced in the media, Kumar, instead of dealing with the issue with the sensitivity that it deserved, pointed out in an interview how it all might just be a case of a witch-hunt against the college. And if one were to ask why a witch-hunt, and why particularly against the institution, Kumar's circuitous argument is simple: Because ACJ is liberal! As the bare facts of the case goes, in October of last year, activist and lawyer, Raya Sarkar, put out a public Facebook post that contained some prominent names in the academia who have allegedly sexually harassed students in the past. The list was based on information from anonymous sources and Menons name was one of them. A few months later, in January of this year, an article by a former student of the college went up on the news website, The News Minute, wherein she spoke about being sexually harassed by a 'prominent Chennai-based culture critic' under whom she was employed at that time. On 8 May, a statement by some prominent activists, journalists and students of the college surfaced. The statement, at length, delved into how the former student had lodged a formal complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee of ACJ and how the college refused to take action because the complainant was not a student of the college anymore when the incident transpired and the event in question took place outside the college premises. On 9 May, the college put out a public statement. The statement begins by saying that the Asian College of Journalism notes "with concern, ill-informed and vague allegations and assertions, most of them made anonymously and with scant regard for the facts and the law, have been published in a section of the online news media about how it handled a complaint of alleged sexual harassment made against Sadanand Menon". The statement reiterated the same argument noted above: "The ACJ wishes to reiterate that the alleged incident in 2011 at Spaces, a cultural centre in Chennai, had no connection with the college. The person who preferred the complaint in January 2018 to the Internal Complaints Committee, which had been duly constituted as per law and included a well-known woman lawyer, was not a student of the college at the time of the alleged incident and her work at Spaces had no connection with the college". The statement further went on to argue that the ICC, thus constituted, had communicated in writing to the complainant that 'as per law it had no jurisdiction in the matter'. In conclusion, however, it noted that "Sadanand Menon has informed us that after taking into account the overall circumstances and in order to avoid any damage to the reputation of the ACJ, he has decided not to teach his elective course at the college for the coming academic year, and also that he is considering taking legal action against those who have published false and defamatory allegations against him". The statement ended by the college reaffirming that it had a policy of "zero tolerance towards sexual harassment within its jurisdiction" and that it "provides a secure and world class learning and teaching environment to all who come under its jurisdiction" (emphasis added). On close scrutiny, this statement by the college, however, falls apart as easily as a casket made of cardboard when pried open. To begin with, the statement, on the very face of it, is insensitive. It makes no attempt to even appear to regard the complaints against Menon with the seriousness and gravity that complaints of sexual harassment deserve. It disregards them, firstly, by noting that the complaints are based on rumours and are anonymous. When Sarkar's crowd-sourced list based out of anonymous sources went up, one of the arguments in support of it was that the anonymity was needed because the men thus named in the list (like Menon) hold unquestionable cultural power and standing, enough to ensure the future career trajectory of the complainant who are young students in this case be swayed in any direction the men would want. Second, and far more importantly, the complainant who wrote the article for The News Minute in January, and subsequently, lodged a formal complaint with the ICC, was not anonymous. While the college washed its hands off the case by noting that it had no jurisdiction to intervene, it failed to underscore a very key point: That Menon is an adjunct faculty of the institution, that this case notwithstanding, as a faculty member he would continue to interact with and teach future students in his professional capacity. And by that fact alone, ACJ as an employer is well within its jurisdiction to initiate a probe against him. Can the college guarantee that in the future young students who are taught by Menon, within the ACJ premises, will not complain of sexual harassment by him? If it cant, by what authority can it claim that it has zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment? What kind of precedent is the college setting in dismissing cases of such magnitude, when it should come out in support of the students, with such a flippant wave of its hand? It can reiterate till kingdom come, with all its pious platitudes, about how the college is concerned about the well-being of its students, but the truth of the matter is simple: The college, when tasked with protecting its own students, and taking their side, did nothing. But, of course, ACJ is a liberal institution, and the welfare of its students will come secondary. Maybe that is the new definition that liberalism has come to acquire today. The college, in its statement, spoke about how Menon has decided not to teach the following academic year, in keeping with the reputation of college. In the very next line, the statement also slips in the following fact: that Menon is also mulling taking legal action against those who have published false and defamatory allegations against him. To any casual reader, does those two lines, juxtaposed together, imply that the college believes the statements of allegations against Menon are false and defamatory too? If so, how did the college reach this conclusion without due inquiry? Does it also not imply that the college feels Menon is being needlessly victimised? Maybe my illiberal heart has been hardened to the point that I wasn't able to shed tears when I read the part about him deciding not to take classes. In the college's library one of the most beautiful spots on campus, in my opinion there is an old worn out copy of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. I believe it would serve the management better if it picks that copy up and reads the following line from The Inferno: "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis". But then, maybe, Dante, by the colleges standards, isnt liberal enough. The author is Delhi-based journalist and writer. His debut novel, Darklands, is being published by Penguin Random House India The Haryana Board of School Education (BSEH declared the BSEH Secondary School Examination (Class 10) result 2018 today on the official website bseh.org.in The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) declared the HBSE Secondary School Examination (Class 10) result 2018 today, reports said. Students can log on to the Haryana Board official website bseh.org.in to check their Class 10 result online. The result is also available on indiaresults.com and via SMS. Steps to check the result: - Log on to bseh.org.in - Go to the results section - Look for the Haryana Board of School Education Secondary Examination Result 2018 link and click on that. - Enter your roll number, and date of birth and click on the submit button - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Haryana Board had released the result for the Senior Secondary (Class 12) Examination on 18 May, ahead of the Secondary School (Class 10) Examination result. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) is expected to declare the HBSE Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 today (18 May). The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) declared the HBSE Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 on 18 May, according to reports. The Haryana Board Class 12th result has been released on the official website bseh.org.in. The result has also been declared at indiaresults.com and via SMS. According to The Indian Express, this year's pass percentage is 63.84. The HBSE had conducted the Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) during February and March. Students, who are appeared for these exams can check their score on bseh.org.in. Steps to check the result - Go to the website bseh.org.in. - Click on the menu button which says 'result'. - Look for the link for Haryana Board of School Education Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 and click on that. - Enter your credentials and click on the submit button. - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Haryana board is expected to release the result for the Secondary School (Class 10th) Examination on 21 May, after the release of the Senior Secondary (Class 12th) Examination result on 18 May. Cyber security and intelligence officers present at the meeting are understood to have explained that the Indian government can enforce the law of the land to seek Facebook's accountability for its operations in the country New Delhi: The parliamentary standing committee on information and technology, which on Wednesday discussed citizens' data security and privacy issues in the backdrop of the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook users' data breach, is likely to seek explanations from the social media platform's top brass. Sources requesting anonymity said the Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba and National Cyber Security chief Dr Gulshan Rai, along with other cyber security and intelligence officers, were present at the meeting, and are understood to have explained that the Indian government can enforce the law of the land to seek Facebook's accountability for its operations in the country. It is learnt that members of the parliamentary panel headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur were of the view that a Facebook representative's appearance could be sought before the committee to record the evidence and explanation on citizens' data security and breach of privacy. It has been alleged that 87 million Facebook users' data was leaked to Cambridge Analytica worldwide, which mined the data to assist political and other clients. "The panel was unanimous in suggesting that Cambridge Analytica and Facebook must be called in for hearing before the report is finalised. While officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs gave a presentation on cyber security capacity enhancing, they have been asked by the panel to provide details of steps taken in the last few years to ensure that various arms of the government had managed to build the capacity to protect privacy of citizens in the virtual world," sources added. A whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, had earlier revealed that the Indian arm of the data consultancy firm had carried out activities in India, and in association with the SCL Group (Cambridge Analytica's parent company), collated a database of over 600 districts and seven lakh villages. The details released by Wylie further said the group worked for Assembly elections in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh besides the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as well. "Our services help clients identify and target key groups within the population to effectively influence their behavior to realise a desired outcome. We provide our clients with the research to develop and disseminate the right messages, from the right sources, using the right communication channels," details released by Wylie had claimed. The Cambridge Analytica scandal had triggered a massive political storm in the country, with allegations flying thick and fast over the penetration of data consultancy firms and whether these services were used to influence election outcomes by Indian political parties. The parliamentary panel members also expressed concerns that government agencies must protect Indian users from terms of service agreements, which in a majority of cases, failed to clarify in clear terms what users are signing up for, with the result being that they inadvertently give their consent to social media platforms for their personal data use. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had appeared before a US Senate Committee in April, was questioned about the "terms and conditions", with some senators observing that people had no idea what they were signing up for. Facebook collects information and content provided by the users and also about the people, pages, accounts, hashtags and groups that a user is connected to. The social media platform also collects contact information that users choose to upload, sync or import from a device, such as an address book or call log or SMS log history. Following the controversy, the Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) had issued an advisory on safeguarding personally identifiable information on social networking sites. It had said the users should not share official data or personal secrets on social media messaging platforms and never share details like voter preferences, PIN, passwords, credit card details, banking details, passport details, Aadhaar card details, and other information meant for personal safety and security. The government had told the Parliament in March this year that sections 43A and 72A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, provides for privacy and security of data in digital form. "Section 43A provides for compensation to be paid to the victim in case of unauthorised access of information and leakage of sensitive personal information respectively. It mandates 'body corporates' to implement 'reasonable security practices' for protecting 'sensitive personal information' of individuals. Section 72A provides for punishment for disclosure of information in breach of the lawful contract. Further, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011 notified under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000, requires that intermediaries shall observe due diligence while discharging their duties and shall publish the rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement for access-or usage of its computer resource by any person," the government had said. The government had earlier sent a notice to Cambridge Analytica seeking its response on whether it was engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians, and how it came to be in possession of such data. The ministry of electronics and information technology, in a press statement on 23 March, 2018, had said there were imputations that such data could also be used to influence the behavior of individuals. "While the government is cognisant of the positive role played by social media in promoting awareness and acting as a tool for social cohesion and empowerment, breach of privacy cannot be tolerated," the Ministry had said. However, on 2 May, 2018, Cambridge Analytica announced the closure of its operation through a press statement: "SCL Elections Ltd, as well as certain of its and Cambridge Analytica LLC's UK affiliates (collectively the 'company' or 'Cambridge Analytica') filed applications to commence insolvency proceedings in the UK. The company is immediately ceasing all operations and the boards have applied to appoint insolvency practitioners Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP to act as the independent administrator for Cambridge Analytica. Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the company's efforts to correct the record, has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas." In India, the home ministry has launched a focused programme on capacity building to handle various types of crimes, including data theft, hacking, financial frauds and online stalking. The police officers are being trained to handle social platforms related to crime investigation to understand the usage, privacy and security on social networking sites. Senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy shot himself in the mouth and the resultant injury was visible right upto his skull, a doctor who first examined the deceased officer's body said Mumbai: Senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy shot himself in the mouth and the resultant injury was visible right upto his skull, a doctor who first examined the deceased officer's body on Friday said. "The patient was brought dead. He looked much thinner compared to what he was before and he had even grown a beard. He had shot himself inside his mouth and the bullet injury was visible right upto the skull," Dr Gautam Bhansali, Consultant Physician at Bombay Hospital told PTI. He said that two other doctors, a Casualty Medical Officer (CMO) and a neurosurgeon, were also present when Roy's body was brought to Bombay Hospital. When asked if the bullet was stuck inside the skull, Bhansali said it was not visible from the outside but the post-mortem would give more details. "After declaring him dead, we sent the body to Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital for post-mortem," he said. Bhansali further said that Roy's wife, along with the police officer's bodyguards, had brought his body to the hospital. Roy, additional director general of police (establishment), allegedly shot himself with a licensed revolver at his Nariman Point home at 12.40 pm and was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead at 1.40 pm, an official said. Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step out of "frustration" due to his prolonged battle with cancer. "Roy was on medical leave for the last two years as he had cancer and the suicide note, in his own handwriting, makes it clear that he ended his life out of frustration due to this illness," a police statement said. Roy, who is survived by his mother and wife, would have turned 55 next month. The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds, according to ANI. The RJD chief was earlier granted parole for three days to attend his son Tej Pratap Yadav's wedding in Patna. Prasad's elder son and former Bihar minister Tej Pratap's marriage with the daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai is on 12 May. He has been convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013, the latest being the Dumka treasury case in which a special CBI court sentenced him to 14 years in jail. Lalu Prasad was on Thursday greeted at the Patna airport like a hero, with hundreds of party leaders, workers and upbeat supporters holding his colourful pictures in hand and raising slogans in his praise. He will, however, remain under constant watch of the camera during the marriage, in line with the conditions of the parole. He will also not meet and speak to party leaders, media persons and not engage in any political activity. With inputs from PTI It is shocking and a sad end to a brilliant officer: D Sivanandhan, former Mumbai city cop D Sivanandhan, former police commissioner of Mumbai says he is unable to believe that Roy has killed himself. I havent been able to speak to anyone after hearing the news as it is not sinking in that Roy could commit suicide. I am shaken by this terrible news, said the former top cop. When Sivanandhan was the commissioner of police, Mumbai, Roy was the joint commissioner of police. Roys office was on the second floor and mine on the first. Every day he would come to meet me and we spoke for some time. We also lived in the same building, he said. It was Sivanandhan who asked Roy to set up the cyber crime cell in Mumbai. He was a fine officer and very competent. We inaugurated the cyber crime cell in a big manner, he said. Sivanandhan says that Roy came from a good family background. He was a Mumbai boy who studied at Campion School and then went to St Xavier's College. He was 12 years younger to me who did his IPS in 1988. Roy was very likeable. I remember him as a very good human being who was an upright officer, he said. Once Roy came to know he was afflicted with cancer, he became a recluse, said Sivanandhan. He did not keep in touch with many from the force like he would earlier. But I think this is what could happen when you battle cancer, he said. Sivanandhan said that he no one can be blamed for what Roy did the pain must have driven him to do what he did. It is shocking and a sad end to a brilliant officer, he said. On Friday, Google honoured legendary Indian classical dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai on her 100th birth anniversary with a doodle On Friday, Google honoured legendary Indian classical dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai on her 100th birth anniversary with a doodle. The Google doodle, illustrated by Delhi-based graphic designer and illustrator Sudeepti Tucker, features Mrinalini with her signature parasol in the auditorium of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, which she founded in 1949 with her husband and well-known Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai. Her students are depicted dancing on the stage. The doodle celebrates Mrinalini's technique, spirit, and strength. Mrinalini began training to be a dancer from a young age, studying both the South Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam and the classical dance-drama of Kathakali. She was one of the few classical dancers who trained in more than one form. Over the span of her multi-decade career, Mrinalini witnessed the continuous evolution of dance forms. Despite this, she was inspired to choreograph more than three hundred dance dramas with a strong base of classical tradition behind them. Driven by the desire to share her passion for the craft with future generations, Mrinalini founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in 1949 with her husband. Her institute in Ahmedabad is considered to be a leading centre in training different forms of dance, drama, puppetry, and music. Mrinalini is known to have instructed over 18,000 students in Bharatanatyam and Kathakali. The academy has now transformed into a study centre for diverse art forms. It has also grown into an institute that employs the power of arts to bring about a positive change to critical issues facing the society. Mrinalini was trained in Bharatanatyam under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Kathakali under the legendary Guru Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992 and the Padma Shri in 1965 for her contribution to arts. In view of right-wing groups threatening to enforce a ban on performing namaz in open spaces, the Gurugram administration has appointed 76 duty magistrates to supervise the Friday prayers offered by Muslims In view of right-wing groups threatening to enforce a ban on performing Friday namaz in open spaces, the Gurugram administration has appointed 76 duty magistrates to supervise the Friday prayers offered by Muslims, according to media reports. The administration has chalked out security arrangements for seventy-six open spaces in the city where the Friday prayers will be conducted, according to The Indian Express. The Times of India reported that the administration had held discussions with various groups, including a panel of fifteen Muslims that had been formed to cut down on the number of open sites where namaz is offered. It, however, decided to allow Friday prayers at all seventy-six open spaces because there was no consensus on the new sites that are to be officially selected. Earlier, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had created a controversy when he asserted that namaz should not be offered in "public areas". In the wake of alleged disruptions to namaz by right-wing groups at multiple locations in Gurugram, the chief minister had said that such congregations should be restricted to mosques, eidgahs or private places, even as he asserted the government will ensure that law and order is maintained. "Our point of view is that namaz should be offered in the precincts of religious places like mosques and eidgahs, and if there is a shortage of place for offering namaz, it should be done at private places," Khattar had said. Members of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomeration of the citys right-wing groups had, on Tuesday, asserted that if the district administration failed to implement a complete ban on namaz in open spaces on Friday, they would take action to forcibly ensure it, The Hindu had reported. Gurugram has witnessed several disruptions of namaz, beginning from 20 April when a group of Muslim men who had gathered at a ground to offer Friday prayers were disrupted by men shouting Jai Shri Ram, who asked the gathering to leave, according to News18. On 26 April, six men were arrested for the disruption. Last week, too, there were reports of incidents of disruption in several parts of Gurugram. With inputs from agencies Arup Patnaik, former police commissioner of Mumbai, expressed his sorrow over the death of Himanshu Roy on Friday. The former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in Mumbai on Friday Arup Patnaik, former police commissioner of Mumbai, expressed his sorrow over the death of Himanshu Roy on Friday. Roy, a former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief, allegedly committed suicide on Friday by shooting himself with his service revolver at his Mumbai residence. Speaking exclusively to Firstpost, Patnaik, said, "I am shocked by the turn of events. This was completely unexpected." Patnaik, said, "I found him very sharp, very polished, very sophisticated. He was a fitness freak. He was a very mature and cool-headed person." Roy, who was diagnosed with cancer, had been on medical leave since April 2016. Patnaik said he had been in touch with him, as he has been running the Konark Cancer Foundation after retiring from the police force. "Roy had been suffering from cancer for the past three years. It was detected quite late when he noticed a swelling on his body. The cancer soon spread to his bones. To his credit, he continued to work even then and only took leave in the past two years," Patnaik said. He also said that Roy remained in constant touch with him, one of the few officers he maintained contact after he was diagnosed with cancer. "Three months ago, he called me up and asked me for a reference so that he could meet with an expert for his illness. I referred him to a doctor and it was after meeting with the doctor and doing check-ups it was found the cancer had spread to his brain. The option was to go in for surgery, but I think Roy knew there wasn't much hope for him. That must be why I think he shot himself. This is my hunch. Of course, a police investigation will reveal the details as it was an unnatural death," the former city commissioner of police said. Many have spoken about the tough fight that Roy put up against cancer. But Patnaik said it is foolish for people to expect that Roy would "fight" cancer just because he was a top cop. "What is there to fight a disease? Can it be fought? Can you fight a storm or an earthquake? he asked. "Roy was in a lot of pain and took the extreme step," he said. Patnaik said that when Roy met him three months ago, he said that he was in lot of pain. "It is unbearable. Please pray for me," Roy had said. Roy, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was rushed to Bombay Hospital, where he was declared dead. Roy, who was the joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal, J Dey case, among many others. Patnaik said that he wanted to showcase Roy as a cancer survivor who inspite of the disease was diligent about doing his workouts daily. It would have been encouraging for other cancer afflicted patients, he said. "But that was not to be. I did not expect Roy to do this, especially seeing his spirit," he said. Click here for further updates on Himanshu Roy's death case With inputs from PTI An unidentified associate of one of the two arrested Islamic State operatives talked about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed a charge sheet filed by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). Ahmedabad: A charge sheet filed by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) against two suspected Islamic State operatives last month has claimed that an unidentified associate of one of the two arrested men talked about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Yeah let's take Modi out with a sniper rifle," is a line from a conversation cited in the charge sheet, attributed to an associate of Ubed Ahmed Mirza. The charge sheet against Mirza and Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala both arrested last October was filed before the chief judicial magistrate at Ankleshwar in Bharuch district. As per a WhatsApp chat between Mirza and his associate, identified only as 'Ferrari', on 10 September, 2016, Mirza talked about buying pistols. In response, according to the charge sheet, 'Ferrari' said, "Yeah, let's take (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi out with a sniper rifle Insha-Allah". When 'Ferrari' mentioned a Russian-made gun, Mirza promptly replied, "I want it". In another WhatsApp chat with Ferrari on 26 July, 2016, Mirza was told that Islamic State handlers had asked its modules and lone-wolf attackers in India to use machetes and big chopping knives to target people. Instead of taking the risk of buying guns and assembling explosives, one can target people, "especially foreign citizens", using chopping knives, Ferrari told Mirza. According to an ATS official, the process to identify the other people who figure in these chats, including 'Ferrari', is underway. The ATS has alleged that Stimberwala and Mirza were "highly radicalised by the Jehadi ideology of Islamic State and were actively planning lone-wolf attacks on Jews". While Stimberwala worked as a laboratory technician at a hospital in Ankleshwar, Mirza was a practising lawyer at the Surat district court. Abdullah el-Faisal, a radical preacher based in Jamaica, and suspected Islamic State handler Shafi Armar have been shown as absconding accused in the charge sheet. ATS claimed Stimberwala and Mirza were in touch with el-Faisal and Armar to plan attacks on Jews in India. They conducted a recce of some of the targets and were planning to send radicalised youths outside India to take part in terrorist acts, the charge sheet said. Both have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (sedition) and 125 (waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with India), apart from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. India on Thursday said it will take necessary measures to offset any adverse impact on its interests due to US President Donald Trump's decision to dump the Iran nuclear deal. New Delhi: India on Thursday said it will take necessary measures to offset any adverse impact on its interests due to US President Donald Trump's decision to dump the Iran nuclear deal. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India was closely monitoring the situation arising out of Trump's announcement to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal. "We are closely monitoring the developments. We are assessing the implications which it might have on our interests," he said, adding it was too early to analyse implications of the US decision on India. There have been apprehensions that the US decision may adversely impact New Delhi's oil import from the Persian Gulf nation as well as the Chabahar port project. Iran is the third largest supplier of crude oil to India after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Countries having financial dealings with Iran are expected to be hit by the comprehensive sanctions regime announced by the Trump administration after withdrawal from the nuclear deal. "The government will take all necessary measures which are required to safeguard our interests," said the MEA spokesperson. Asked whether the US sanctions will hit the Chabahar port project, Kumar said it was too early to analyse and come up with conclusions about implications of US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Trump on Tuesday announced that the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration in 2015 under which Tehran had agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. Iran had struck the JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) deal with the US, the UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany after years of negotiations. On Wednesday, India had said that all the parties concerned should engage constructively to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully. India-Iran ties have been on an upswing after Tehran sealed the nuclear deal with the international community in 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tehran in May 2016 with an aim to craft a strategic relationship with Iran and expand India's ties with West Asia. During the visit, India and Iran signed nearly a dozen pacts, the centrepiece of which was an agreement on the development of Chabahar port. Later, India, Iran, and Afghanistan signed a trilateral pact providing for transport of goods among the three countries through the port. In February, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India during which both sides agreed to further expand their cooperation in a number of key sectors. During Rouhani's visit, both sides signed nine agreements including one on handing over Chabahar port's operation to India for 18 months. India and Iran have robust economic and commercial ties covering many sectors though it has traditionally been dominated by the import of Iranian crude oil by India. According to the External Affairs Ministry, India-Iran bilateral trade during the fiscal year 2016-17 was $12.89 billion. India imported $10.5 billion worth of goods, mainly crude oil, and exported commodities worth $2.4 billion. A 22-year-old man was killed after Pakistani troops resorted to firing at Indian Army posts along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Jammu: A 22-year-old man was killed on Friday after Pakistani troops resorted to firing from small arms on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, a police officer said. There was small arms firing by Pakistani troops along the LoC in the district's Gulpur-Bagyal Dhara belt, the police officer told PTI. The Pakistan Army initiated firing around 12:30 am on Indian Army posts in Baghal Dhara, he said. The Indian Army retaliated effectively, the officer said. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Ikhlaq, a resident of Kalsan Malti Baghal Dhara. He suffered serious injuries and died on the spot, the officer said. The man was killed during a marriage function in an area close to the LoC. A bullet fired by from across the border hit Ikhlaq, he said. There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, resulting in the death of 31 people, including 16 security personnel, in over 700 such incidents. A crucial meeting of the Supreme Court Collegium is likely to be held on Friday to discuss the issue of reconsidering the name of Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph for elevation to the apex court, after it was returned by the Centre. New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Supreme Court Collegium is likely to be held on Friday to discuss the issue of reconsidering the name of Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph for elevation to the apex court, after it was returned by the Centre. Official sources on Thursday said that the members of the Collegium have been in consultation over the issue and Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is likely to convene the meeting on Friday. Though there was no official word on it, the sources said it could take place any time after the completion of the matters on the board of the five judges. It is pertinent to mention that Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the apex court, had on Wednesday written a letter to the CJI asking him to convene the Collegium's meeting to urgently forward Justice Joseph's name to the Centre. The government had on 26 April returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was an adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. According to an apex court official, Justice Chelameswar, in his letter sent to the CJI late on Wednesday evening, has conveyed that he was reiterating his decision for the elevation of Justice Joseph as the judge of the top court as there was no change in the circumstances that had led the Collegium to recommend his name to the government on 10 January. It is also learnt that Justice Chelameswar, who retires on 22 June, has responded to all the points raised in the communication to the CJI by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressing reservations on the elevation of Justice Joseph. The meeting of the Collegium was expected to take place yesterday but Justice Chelameswar was on leave. Besides the CJI and Justice Chelameswar, other members of the collegium are Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. Justice Kurian Joseph, during his visit to Kerala last week, had also reportedly made it clear that he was in favour of reiterating the recommendation of the collegium on the issue of Uttarakhand Chief Justice Joseph. Though no official word was there on when the collegium would meet, the official said it is for the CJI to fix the date as there is no other agenda but to discuss the issue of returning the recommendation relating to Justice Joseph to the Centre. Earlier too, notwithstanding the letters written by the Collegium members to the CJI which had come out in the public domain, the Centre had disregarded the recommendation about Justice Joseph. While Karnataka does better than the national average on social justice indicators for Dalits & Adivasis, it still lags its neighbours in terms of poverty. By Alison Saldanha Mumbai: While Karnataka does better than the national average on social justice and empowerment indicators for Dalits and Adivasis, it still lags its southern neighbours Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in terms of poverty, according to this 2018 Karnataka government report. Over 12.9 million or 21 percent people in Karnataka live below the poverty line, more than Tamil Nadu's 11.3 percent (8.2 million), Andhra Pradesh's 9.2 percent (7.8 million) or Kerala's seven percent (2.3 million). Adivasis and Dalits comprise nearly a third of the poor. Dalits, or scheduled castes (SCs) as they are constitutionally called, comprise 16.9 percent of the state's population, and Adivasis, or scheduled tribes (STs), comprise 6.8 percent. In 2011, 21.2% of Karnatakas population lived in poverty--lower than 22% nationwide. A larger proportion of dalits and adivasis--33.2% and 31.5%, respectively--lived in poverty, more than other southern states, indicating higher inequality: https://t.co/RO2sMNNz4v IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) May 8, 2018 About 28.4 percent of Karnataka's Dalits live in urban areas and comprise more than a quarter of state's slum population (28 percent), the report showed. Among Adivasis, less than a fifth or 19.2 percent live in urban areas. The Karnataka Vision Document 2025, as the report is called, is a strategy for governance for the next seven years up to 2025, focused on 13 sectors, including social justice and empowerment, agriculture, energy, health and nutrition, urban development, employment and skilling. Comparative data for Telangana were not available in the report. Nearly half the population of India or 48 percent live in multi-dimensional poverty, which, apart from monetary indicators, includes overlapping deprivations at the household level related to health, education and living standards, the report said. While Karnataka reported a relatively lower multidimensional poverty rate of 40.7 percent, the state is home to the highest percentage of "multi-dimensional poor" (40.7 percent) in south India. Kerala, with a rate of 10.1 percent, recorded the lowest multidimensional poverty nationwide. "Karnataka state achieved sustained economic growth in the recent past, however, inequality in economic, social and health and health care utilization is widening among various social groups," the report observed. Here are some of the other findings on social justice and empowerment: As of 2013, Karnatakas gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher education was 24%more than the national average (20.4%). Yet, GER for SCs and STs in the state was much lower at 15.4% and 12.7%, respectively. IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) May 8, 2018 In 2016-17, labour force participation rate of dalits in K'taka was 59.9%more than the national average (53.7%). Most dalit workers (73%) were engaged as manual labour or daily wage workers in unskilled/semi-skilled jobs. IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) May 8, 2018 In 2011, of 7.8 million landholders in Karnataka, 11.6% were SCs and 6% STs. Of 12.16 million hectares of cultivable area in the state, SCs and STs held less than a sixth8.5% and 5.8% of land, respectively IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) May 8, 2018 In 2016, of the 70.2% civil service posts filled in Karnataka, 10.6% were occupied by dalits (against a 15% reservation) and 2.9% by adivasis (against a 3% reservation). Lowest representation of SCs was in minor irrigation dept (3.9%), STs in agriculture dept. (2%) IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) May 8, 2018 The author is an assistant editor with IndiaSpend. The Jammu and Kashmir police crime branch has expanded its probe in the Kathua rape and murder case to identify those who allegedly signed the attendance register at a Meerut college on behalf of an accused while he had gone to his village where the crime was committed Jammu/New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir police crime branch has expanded its probe in the Kathua rape and murder case to identify those who allegedly signed the attendance register at a Meerut college on behalf of an accused while he had gone to his village where the crime was committed, officials said on Thursday. They said a crime branch team was camping in Meerut and taking inputs from the local police there. The police team has examined some of the witnesses as it is alleged in the charge sheet that Vishal Jangotra, accused of raping an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, had tried to create an alibi of his absence from the crime scene by allegedly "resorting to manipulation of records and creation of false evidence with the connivance and assistance of his father Sanji Ram". The officials said three people, who are suspected to have signed the attendance sheet on his behalf, are wanted by the crime branch. The three were in judicial custody after being arrested by the Meerut police in connection with a question paper leak case. Jangotra, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in agriculture from a college in Meerut district, has been charged by the crime branch of raping and helping in the murder of the girl in Kathua along with a juvenile, the main accused and a relative of Sanji Ram, and special police officer Deepak Khajuria alias Deepu. The juvenile, whose bail plea was rejected by a court last month, is the main accused in the case. The crime branch had earlier put its investigation on hold and was awaiting an order of the Supreme Court which had been petitioned by the victim's side for taking the trial out of Kathua and the accused side pleading for handing over the investigation to the CBI. In its 7 May order, the apex court had said "the pivotal fact around which the controversy centres, is abduction, rape and murder of an eight year old girl". "An FIR was lodged at Hiranagar Police Station, Kathua...The investigating agency, namely, the Crime Branch, which took over the investigation on 22nd January, 2018 from the local police has already filed the charge sheet on 9th April, 2018, in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua in the State of Jammu and Kashmir," the order had said. The apex court had transferred the case to the court of the District and Sessions judge in Pathankot, Punjab, 30 kilometres from Kathua. The crime branch, according to the officials, has also seized some more documents and sent it to 'Questioner of Examined Documents' (QED) in the national capital for verifying the handwriting samples. A report from Central Forensic and Scientific Laboratory about the CCTV tapes seized from the examination centre was also expected soon, the officials said, adding that a supplementary charge sheet was expected to be filed by second week of June. The officials suspect that someone from the university had allowed Jangotra to write his answer sheet after the examination was over on 15 January as his train had reached late from Jammu. The officials also alleged that the accused had deliberately visited an ATM and was seen looking at the camera to create an alibi for himself. In its charge sheet, the crime branch had mentioned that some officials of the university had allegedly received a "huge amount of kickback from accused Sanji Ram". "This aspect needs further investigation as records are to be collected from concerned college and university....after conducting further investigation supplementary charge sheet shall follow," the charge sheet had said. Jangotra is among eight people who have been chargesheeted by the crime branch in the rape and murder of the girl. The charge sheet also claimed that Sanji Ram, the alleged main conspirator, had planned the kidnapping of the girl only to drive away the nomads from the Kathua region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a civic reception in Janakpur during his two-day visit to Nepal after inaugurating a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a civic reception in Janakpur during his two-day visit to Nepal after inaugurating a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya. Modi said that it was his long due wish to visit the land of Goddess Sita and offer his prayers. Earlier in the day, the prime minister visited the famed Janaki Temple, dedicated to Goddess Sita. Modi took part in the Shodasopachara Pooja at the Janaki temple, local media reported. Hailing India-Nepal ties, Modi said that without Nepal, India's history is incomplete. He further said that the India-Nepal relationship dates back to the Treta Yug when King Janak and King Dashrath not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but, also India and Nepal. Modi also said that the people of India and Nepal are bound by mutual respect for each other and Nepal has been a spiritual tourism spot for decades. "India's faith is incomplete without Nepal," he added. "We believe that Nepal's development is the formula of regional development," he said. Stressing the importance of Nepal, Modi said that Nepal comes first in India's Neighbourhood policy. He also said that history is proof, that whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. "We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times." Talking about his government's policy of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas, the prime minister said "I not only talk about India but, also about neighbouring countries. I always want the development of our neighbours. Today, I'm happy that Nepal is developing rapidly," he said. #ModiVisitsNepal - When I talk about 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas', I not only talk about India but also about neighbouring countries. I always want the development of our neighbours. I'm happy that Nepal is developing rapidly: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/CPvrIBT8wm News18 (@CNNnews18) May 11, 2018 Modi also talked about 'New India' and said that Indians have taken a pledge to make a 'New India' by 2022. The India where there is a chance even for the poorest of poor, where there is no place for discrimination or corruption, we are moving towards that India, the prime minister added. Mentioning the bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya that Modi inaugurated with Oli, he said that the two nations are giving priority to connectivity. Modi said he was happy to link Janakpur with Ramayan circuit. "This circuit will develop religious tourism. It will also strengthen connectivity between the two nations," Modi said. He also announced that two other circuits will also be developed for the promotion of the areas related to Buddhism and Jain religion in both Nepal and India, which will be instrumental in generating employment for the youths. Last month, he said, the two leaders inaugurated the first integrated check post. "We also announced a new partnership in the agriculture sector. Under the partnership, cooperation in the field of agriculture will be promoted," the prime minister said. Talking about the elections in Nepal, Modi said, "You have chosen a new government. You've given a mandate to fulfil your hopes aspirations." He also congratulated the Nepal government for successfully making a three-level choice within a year. Modi also said that India and Nepal's ties are based on 5 Ts tradition, trade, tourism, technology, transport. He said that these 5Ts will take India and Nepal forward in the direction of development. With inputs from PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Nepal on Friday for a two-day visit to the Himalayan state in a bid to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a two-day visit to Nepal on Friday in a bid to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. This will be Modi's third visit to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new government in Nepal. Modi had stressed that the visit, which comes at the invitation of Nepal's prime minister KP Sharma Oli, reflects the "high priority that India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal". He also described the visit as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy and said that as the Himalayan state entered a new era, India would continue to remain its steadfast partner. Modi's visit to Nepal comes just a month after Oli made a three-day visit to India. Modi, who arrived in Nepal on Friday (11 May), began his trip with a journey from the historic and religious city of Janakpur. Modi visited the Janaki Temple in Janakpur. Earlier, Modi had noted that Janakpur and Muktinath were "vibrant centres of pilgrimage and tourism" and a "testimony to the strong cultural ties" that bind the two nations. Modi along with his Nepalese counterpart is expected to jointly inaugurate the Ramayan Circuit Bus Route connecting Janakpur (Sitas birthplace) to Ayodhya (Rams birthplace) after offering prayers at the Janaki Mandir, according to The Himalayan Times. The report, however, noted that Modi's official itinerary was yet to be released. In Janakpur, the provincial government will separately organise a civic reception in honour of Modi before he flies to Mustang and Kathmandu. Modi also is expected to address the people gathered to welcome him. Following the reception, the prime minister will travel to Kathmandu, where he will be welcomed by Nepal's minister for foreign affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali at the Tribhuwan International Airport. Modi will then be escorted to the Army Parade Ground in Tundikhel, where a Guard of Honour will be offered to him. After the Tundikhel event, Modi is expected to call on vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun and president Bidya Devi Bhandari. Modi will then proceed to the Hyatt Regency for lunch, following which Oli will receive the prime minister at The Dwarikas Hotel in Battisputali for a high-level meeting. Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for a hydroelectricity project in the eastern Nepal district of Sankhuwasabha through video conferencing, NDTV reported. Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, which is owned by the Indian government, is handling the project in Nepal. The Nepalese prime minister will also be holding a reception in Modi's honour. On 12 May, Modi will visit the Muktinath Temple situated in Mustang district of northwest Nepal, where he is expected to announce a "surprise gift" for its development, the NDTV report said. Following the visit to Muktinath Temple, Modi will return to Kathmandu and offer prayers at the Pashupatinath temple, The Himalayan Times reported. Modi is expected to hold several political meetings with leaders from various parties. The report noted that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office is expected to hold a civic reception in Modi's honour. Modi will leave for New Delhi on Saturday evening. With inputs from agencies Netizens of Nepal slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently visiting the Himalayan nation, reminding him of the 2015 border blockade and asking him to apologise Kathmandu: Netizens of Nepal slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently visiting the Himalayan nation, reminding him of the 2015 border blockade and asking him to apologise. Hashtags like #BlockadeWasCrimeMrModi and #ModiNotWelcomed-InNepal were trending as the Indian leader kicked off his two-day Nepal visit on Friday. Some users reminded Modi of the border blockade enforced by India when Nepal was still reeling from the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. Others demanded that Modi apologise for the 135-day blockade from September 2015 to February 2016 that crippled Nepal's economy and led to tensions between the two countries. "Sorry, Mr Modi we haven't forgotten blockade. We are not welcoming you but it doesn't mean that we are anti-Indian. We are with Indian people but we condemn the Indian government act of blockade in Nepal," wrote user Shailesh M. Pokharel on Twitter. #BlockadeWasCrimeMrModi Sorry,Mr Modi we haven't forget blockade.We r not welcoming u but it doesn't mean we r anti-indians.We r with Indian ppl but we condemn indian government act of blockade in Nepal pic.twitter.com/O3zYSGbsD1 Shailesh M Pokharel (@shaileshmani) May 9, 2018 Another, Binod Khanal, posted: "Mr Modi Nepali politician will welcome you in Nepal but, Nepalease people never!!" A significant number of Twitteratis were equally critical of the Nepali government for its decision to bestow civic reception to the Indian leader and for giving a "hasty makeover" to only those parts of the city where his motorcade was expected to pass. Taking a dig at the government, user Bhim Atreya commented: "There is a fundamental difference between welcome and flattery. Flattery is insincere, unnatural and abnormal praise, not actually welcoming someone with pleasure in a natural manner. Unnatural circumstances created in the name of welcome. Damned!!" However, there were many who defended Modi's visit. "Prime ministers of both the countries have come to power with thumping majority, so try to celebrate this visit and get the best out of it. Interest is always mutual big or small," wrote a Rohit Thapa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Janakpur on Friday on a two-day state visit to Nepal during which he will hold talks with the country's top leadership to build mutual trust. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Nepal's Janakpur on Friday on a two-day State visit. He also visited the Janaki temple to offer prayers. He was welcomed by his Nepali counterpart KP Oli upon his arrival at the temple complex. Modi took part in the Shodasopachara pooja at the Janaki temple, local media reported. Thousands of people from Nepal and India had gathered in Janakpur to see Modi. The prime minister thanked Oli for coming all the way from Kathmandu to welcome him. He further said that the biggest growth has been in tourism and the Ramayan circuit has immense potential. He also said that India and Nepal will work towards building the 'Ramayan' circuit between the two countries. This will act as a foundation for strong people to people contact between the two nations, the prime minister added. Modi also hailed the Ayodhya to Janakpur bus service and flagged it off with Oli. "Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment," Modi said while inaugurating the bus service as part of the 'Ramayan circuit' to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India. PM Narendra Modi & Nepalese PM KP Sharma Oli flag off the Indo-Nepal bus service from #Nepal's Janakpur to Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya. pic.twitter.com/4cxRf64cOM ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 This is the third time Modi is visiting Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new government in Nepal this year. Ahead of his visit, Modi said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. Describing his trip to Nepal as a reflection of his government's commitment to "neighbourhood first" policy, Modi had said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. With inputs from agencies The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report claiming that two minor girls were sent to jail in a cow slaughter case Lucknow: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report claiming that two minor girls were sent to jail in a cow slaughter case in Khatauli area of Uttar Pradesh. The rights body has sought a report from the DGP and chief secretary of the state in the matter. According to the reports dated 10 April, two sisters -aged about 12 and 16 years - were arrested on 29 December, 2017 along with seven others, including their mother, while their father was on the run. The minor sisters were sent to jail instead of a juvenile home. The police officers preferred to go with the girls' physical appearance instead of taking into account the Aadhaar cards shown to them as proof of age, they said. The girls had to spend three-and-a-half months in jail before coming out on bail, and were left traumatised, the reports said. The rights body said in a statement that the contents of the news report about the incident, if true, amounted to "gross violation of human rights" of the two minor girls. "Not sending the girls to a juvenile home, if they were in conflict with the law, is a violation of the statutory obligation on part of the public servant," the NHRC said. The Commission has issued notices to the chief secretary and DGP of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks. Akbargarh, a village in proximity to Muzaffarnagar, stands out as a shining example of peaceful coexistence between faiths even in the midst of turmoil. Editor's note: The BJP, its ideological lodestar RSS, and even the BSP, a party with moorings in Dalit identity, have, in recent months, outdone themselves to court the Dalit constituency. The community itself has found new ways to assert its leverage over Indian political parties and reinforce its place in society. Firstpost will travel across Uttar Pradesh, the test bed of India's Dalit politics, to record how these changes have altered life in its villages, towns and cities. The dark memories of the Hindu-Muslim rioting that took place in Western Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district in 2013 and displaced nearly 55,000 people are still alive in the minds of the locals. When Firstpost hit ground zero to assess the nuances of Dalit politics in the region, the first piece of news the locals shared was that during the Bharat Bandh (on 2 April )against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, thousands of Dalits had assembled in Muzaffarnagar outside the Nai Mandi police station and a fierce fight between the Dalit crowds and police had ensued. The life of a Dalit youth was lost in police firing. The police administration had blamed the Bhim Army for triggering the attack on the police station. Bhim Army district chief Upkar Bavra was taken into custody till 26 April. It was for the first time since the 2013 riots that a violent incident of such magnitude took place. Firstpost reached Akbargarh in the vicinity of Muzaffarnagar, where Dalits are in majority, to understand better their grievances and how they perceive the socio-political changes of the recent times. As per the 2011 census, Muzaffarnagar's population of four lakh comprised 52 percent Hindus and 41 percent Muslims and 7.3 percent belonging to Dalit communities. Muzaffarnagar district has six Assembly constituencies Muzaffarnagar town, Budhana, Khatauli, Meerapur, Purqazi, Charthawal. Akbargarh, which is in the Charthawal Assembly zone is located about 15 kilometres from Muzaffarnagar town and has a population of around 2,500, of which 70 percent are Dalits. In the name of connectivity, the village has only a poorly maintained road but the streets within the village are paved. The houses here, some old and new, are well constructed and house a mix of middle class and poor families. Locals sitting on folding cots scattered along the pavements inform Firstpost that Akbargarh is known for a mosque built in the pre-Independence era. Astoundingly, there isn't a single Muslim family in the village. Yet, the people of the village see to the upkeep of the mosque in which Namaz is offered daily. Recently, villagers collected funds to paint the mosque and the scaffoldings, work for which has started. Imam Ali Mohammad, who visits the mosque daily from a village nearby, conveys his gratitude to the people of Akbargarh, stating that they provide him with all the support and not once does he get the feeling of being amongst those from a faith different from his own. Advocate Mohit Lal, who is a resident of Akbargarh, says it is not as though there haven't been attempts to disturb the communal peace of the village. He says some anti-social elements have tried to question the presence of a mosque in Akbargarh but none have been able to cause any damage to it. He also suggests that attempts have been made to change the name of the village from Akbargarh to Pratapgarh, but the opinion of the villagers is that neither should the name be changed nor should the mosque, in which passersby halt for the night, suffer any damage. Mohit Lal also mentions that a mazhaar of a pir baba is somewhere in the vicinity of the mosque, around which he had built a boundary wall at his personal expense. Today, he says, the villagers consider and guard it as their heritage. Villagers mentioned that Akbargarh provides leadership to the Dalits of nearby villages and has been at the forefront of Dalit unity. They talk about how every other child of the village had participated in the Bandh staged on 2 April and had held a peaceful demonstration and organised a march to Muzaffarnagar town, ensuring that the protest was carried out without violating the law. It also emerged during the conversation that Akbargarh is a peaceful village with no caste rivalry or ill-will and that the Dalits here are well aware of their rights. The Shabbirpur village in the Saharanpur District that witnessed a fierce fight between Thakurs and Dalits last year is just a few kilometres away and many Dalits of Akbargarh have relatives there, which is why the violence of Shabbirpur that had an all-India impact on the attitude of the Dalits also had an effect here. On being asked who their leader was and at whose guidance they carried out protests, villagers state that their leader is the newspaper that crosses broken roads and reaches there every morning. They first say the most people in the village are Bahujan Samaj Party voters but admit that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, some had voted for Modi. But they seem discontent with the BJP at this point. Shivkumar, a Dalit youth who has completed his BTech from a private engineering college but failed to secure to a government job and got into farming, states that public works, like electric power supply, had been completed during the days of BSP rule. He adds that not even a single handpump has been installed after the BSP demitted office as the current crop of leaders think this to be 'Behenji's' (Mayawati's) village and do nothing here. Even in the light of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan initiated to spread awareness about the pro-poor initiatives of the government, the locals say that no leader had cared to visit Akbargarh. Gulbir, who is associated with the BSP and known as Dr Gulbir, as he runs a small medical practice, has a good feel of the political pulse of the region. He feels that the Bhim Army is more of a social organisation and as such would not hold too much electoral influence. In his view, social and political organisations are structured differently. While social organisations have a sizeable reach and spread, they could perhaps fail if they assumed a political role. An example he cites is that of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, which he refers to as one of the strongest social organisations but one that also got only 9,000 votes in Khatauli in 2007. Some days ago, BSP's national president Mayawati, who spent four terms as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, likened the Bhim Army to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Explaining why she may have called the Dalit army an agent of the RSS, Gulbir interjects himself to say that when Mayawati noticed Dalits leaning towards the Bhim Army, she made this comparison but she too knows that the Dalits can never follow the RSS. Gulbir's reading is that the Bhim Army may associate with the Congress but the indicators on the ground point to their support tilting in favour of Mayawati. Moving over from its cultural and economic conditions to its economic realities, one can't fail to notice that the prime occupation here is sugarcane farming. Akbargarh sees a good crop but off late, villagers seem upset with shifting government policies regarding sugarcane. While the claim is that of the BJP government being pro-farmer, never before has there been a situation when the harvested sugarcane en route to the sugar mills had dried up even while on the trolley but was not procured by the mill owners, who enjoy a free run and would affect purchase of sugarcane at their own will. The locals share that as and when the mill owners observed that sugarcane was harvested, they stopped purchase and even resorted to buying sugarcane from Haryana instead from them. The locals say that despite the fact that the Uttar Pradesh Cane Development and Sugar Mills minister Suresh Rana hails from the region, the issue of sugarcane drying up on the trolleys has not been addressed. In spite of these problems, Akbargarh stands out as a shining example of peaceful coexistence between faiths even in the midst of all kinds of turmoil; a village located in such proximity to a town that has been the epicentre of communal violence has been able to retain and safeguard both its mosque, its name and its identity. This article is the fifth part of a series on Dalit identity in Uttar Pradesh. Read part one, two, three and four. A victim of gangrape would now get a minimum compensation of Rs 5 lakh up to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh. This is part of a scheme proposed by NALSA on compensating the victims of sexual assaults and acid attacks, which was approved by the Supreme Court New Delhi: A victim of gangrape in any part of the country would now get a minimum compensation of Rs 5 lakh up to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh. This is part of a scheme proposed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on compensating the victims of sexual assaults and acid attacks, which was approved on Friday by the Supreme Court, which directed that it would be applicable across the country. As per the 'Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes-2018', in case of rape and unnatural sexual assault, the victim would get a minimum of Rs 4 lakh and a maximum of Rs 7 lakh as compensation. While approving the scheme, a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said it would be applicable pan-India and the states and Union territories would be free to give compensation over and above what was stipulated in the scheme. "We make it clear that the scheme prepared by the NALSA will not preclude the states and Union territories from giving more compensation....we direct that the scheme be implemented in all states and Union territories," the bench said. The scheme says that victim of acid attacks, in case of disfigurement of face, would get a minimum compensation of Rs 7 lakh, while the upper limit would be Rs 8 lakh. In an acid attack cases, if the injury is more than 50 percent, a minimum compensation of Rs 5 lakh would be given, while the maximum would be Rs 8 lakh. Similarly, the scheme also provides for compensation amount in cases of acid attacks where the injury is less than 50 percent and 20 percent respectively. Victims of burning cases would get a minimum compensation of Rs 7 lakh and a maximum of Rs 8 lakh in case of disfigurement, the scheme said. It said that in case of pregnancy on account of rape, the victim would get a compensation ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, while for miscarriage or loss of fertility due to such assaults, the victim would get Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. During the hearing, NALSA Director SS Rathi told the court that they had revised the scheme as per the suggestions were given by the top court and it was uploaded on their website. He said that states, Union territories and other stakeholders were asked to give their suggestions on the draft scheme and they have incorporated 14 such suggestions received from various quarters. Rathi said that the court's suggestion about the recovery of compensation in matters where the cases were found to be false was also taken care of in the scheme. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, told the bench that so far only nine states have received the money under the Nirbhaya Fund and claimed that the Centre was sitting on the funds under the scheme. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, said the Centre had disbursed Rs 920 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund. Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Centre in 2013 after the 16 December, 2012 gangrape and murder case in Delhi to support the initiatives on women's safety across the country. The bench, however, said it would deal with the issue of the Nirbhaya Fund in July. The NALSA had earlier told the court that the legal services authority should be given power on its own to grant compensation to such victims and there should be mandatory reporting of cases of sexual assaults and acid attacks. It had told the court that hardly 5-10 percent sexual assault victims across the country were getting compensation under the relevant schemes in various states. The apex court had said it would consider in July the issues related to section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with disclosure of the identity of victims of sexual offences and utilisation of Nirbhaya Fund by states. Earlier, the Centre had told the apex court that it was finding it difficult to get the cooperation of states on the issue relating to disbursal of compensation to the victims of sexual assault under the Nirbhaya scheme. Several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court after the 16 December, 2012 incident in Delhi raising concerns over safety and security of women. All the petitions were tagged by the apex court and several directions have been issued from time to time in this regard. The longer the collegium waits, the more anxious the country gets about the independence of the Supreme Court. It is in the interest of the court to preserve this The Supreme Court of India appears to be going from dealing with one controversy to another these days: From the press conference held by four senior Supreme Court judges in January, the Judge BH Loya imbrolio, to the impeachment motion against the CJI and the withdrawal of the petition challenging the Rajya Sabha Chairman's order dismissing the motion. It seems that India's most respected institution is faltering and under a cloud of doubt, by virtue of which a larger cloud is cast on India's success and survial as a democractic republic. And today, the Supreme Court faces yet another situation: The collegium will be meeting to discuss the issue of reconsidering the name of Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court KM Joseph for elevation to the apex court. Breaking with precedent, the government returned the recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph after delaying the decision for a significant amount of time. It is not as though the Supreme Court has not courted controversy in the past, but this time is different as the controversy is one that surrounds the Executive's overreach insofar as the matters of the court are concerned. Indian judges, as with other judges in the Commonwealth are not expected to wear their political preferences on their sleeves. This is unlike their American colleagues who wear their politics on their sleeve. India's judiciary is required to maintain a stoic sense of impartiality while determining disputes and in particular dealing with the executive. This is the prime reason this return of the recommendation of Joseph becomes problematic. The return signifies that the Executive is now trying to play politics with the court and the collegium has not convened to take a decision on the matter with Justice J Chelameswar asking that it be convened. But the question that lingers on the minds of everyone else is why the collegium has not convened yet to assert its independence. The longer the collegium waits, the more anxious the country gets about the independence of the Supreme Court. It is in the interest of the court to preserve this. One way or another, there is no need to delay this decision any longer. The collegium needs to reject the Centre's view on this matter, if only because failure to do so, would look like the apex court favors the Executive branch and this would only further would cast light on the competence of a sitting high court chief justice. But the broader point that we as a people need to take pause and consider is this: How did we arrive at the point where this is even an issue? Relations between the Executive and the Judiciary have been tense in the past, but were always in a position where they could have been ironed out. Right now, however, there appears to be stark division among the ranks of the court itself as to how to determine the present controversy. The court, despite the best efforts of the framers of India's Constitution, has unfortunately taken on a stark political colour. Such a scenario can never be good for a democracy such as our. This may perhaps work in the US where the Executive and Legislature are truly independent of each other. But in India the Executive and the Legislature are united when it comes to government, given the government needs to always be in control of matters. This changes things. The Supreme Court in India is not the final arbiter of disputes between the branches of the government. It is the final defender of India's Constitution. If the defender of an apolitical constitution, has political aspersions cast on it, then it is the sounding of the death knell for any democracy. India's democracy is sick, it needs its doctors to heal it. The Supreme Court collegium urgently needs to join ranks and reassert the Supreme Court's power as the guardian of the Constitution. Firstpost takes a look at some of the things that Justice Chelmaeshwar said over the last six months, and which for good or bad, became the talking point. Editor's note: This article was originally published on 11 May. It is being republished in light of Justice Jasti Chelameswar's retirement from office. Over the last few months ever since Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra annulled an order passed by a bench consisting of Justice J Chelameswar on corruption allegations against a Tamil Nadu justice, Justice Chelameswar's views have taken the centrestage and often provided potion for gossip. Justice Chelmaeshwar always held a different view of things, most-often guided by the determination to bring transparency into the highest court's daily functioning and decision making, but over the last few months a "grudge" element have been attached to everything that Justice Chelameswar has said be it raising his voice against government interference in judges' appointments, acusing judges of doing the government bidding, or most notably the 12 January press conference when the second most-senior Supreme Court judge called a presser at his house along with three other judges, accusing CJI Dipa Misra of dishonouring the apex court's traditions while stating that highest court of the country was not in order. The latest gossip item from the Supreme Court is Justice Chelameswar refusing to attend a farewell slated to be organised in his honour by the Supreme Court Bar association, and his letter to the CJI seeking a meeting of the collegium on KM Joseph's elevation to the Supreme Court. With Justice Chelameswar slated to retire on 22 June after spending nearly seven years as a Supreme Court judge, Firstpost takes a look at some of the things that Justice Chelmaeshwar said over the last six months, and which for good or bad, became the talking point. 12 January: Four judges allege the Supreme Court is not in order In an unprecedented move, four Supreme Court Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph listed a litany of problems, including the issue of assigning of cases, plaguing the apex court. In the presser, the four judges distributed a letter dated 2017, and addressed to the CJI where they highlighted problems affecting the apex court's functioning. They said that the traditional norms of the apex court were being sidelined. At the presser, Justice Chelameswar had said, About a couple of months ago, four of us gave a signed letter to the Chief Justice. We wanted a particular thing to be done in a particular manner. It was done, but in such a way that it raised further questions on the integrity of the institution. Stating that the CJI is "only the first amongst the equals nothing more or nothing less", in the letter, the four judges said that "there have been instances where case having far-reaching consequences for the nation and the institution had been assigned by the Chief Justice of this court selectively to the benches of their preference without any rationale basis for such assignment. This must be guarded against at all costs." The four judges also sought "for a need to revisit the process of appointment of judges and to set up a mechanism for corrective measures other than impeachment" and that any discussion on the Memorandum of Procedure should be in the Chief Justices Conference and by the Full Court, and if it has to be "discussed on the judicial side, it should be dealt with by none other than a Constitution Bench". The presser brought no changes in the issues that the four judges raised, except highlighting a schism within the apex court and being a talking point for everyone. 21 March: In a letter to CJI Misra, Chelameswar accuses Karnataka HC chief justice of doing government bidding In a letter addressed to the CJI and sitting judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Chelameswar said that some judges were doing the government's bidding. In the letter, Justice Chelameswar was referring to an inquiry being launched by Karnataka High Court's chief justice Dinesh Maheshwari against Principal District and Sessions Judge P Krishna Bhat. According to a report published in LiveLaw.in, Justice Chellameshwar said that the Karnataka High Court had no right to launch an inquiry against Bhat without informing the CJI and that too in a case in which Bhat was cleared by Maheshwari's predecessor. He also said that the inquiry was launched at the behest of the Ministry of Law and Justice to stall Bhat's elevation to the High Court, which was cleared by the Supreme Court collegium. 6 April: Not elevating Justice Gogoi to CJI will prove true our allegations In an interview with Karan Thapar, Justice Chelameswar said that he hoped Justice Gogoi is promoted to the next CJI once CJI Dipak Misra retires in October. However, if that doesn't happen, it would only prove "true" the issues Chelameswar, Gogoi and two other judges had raised during the 12 January press conference. 13 April: There's a relentless campaign accusing me of wanting to grab some office Judges always refuse to hear pleas, but the reason Justice Chelameswar gave while refusing a plea to hear a petition by Shanti Bhushan saying that the power to decide the composition of benches and allocation of cases be vested in the collegium rather than the CJI, got many talking in April about him for the second time in the month. Justice Chelameswar revealed his frustration saying there's a relentless campaign accusing him of wanting to grab some office, and therefore he can not hear the plea. There is a relentless campaign in the last two months against me, accusing me of wanting to grab some office. You please understand my difficulty, Chelameswar said, according to The Times of India, adding, "Sorry, I cannot take up the case. I do not want to hear the case. The reason is too obvious... I do not want one more reversal of the order in the next 24 hours. Justice Chelameswar's reasoning once again reminded every one of the discontent that surfaced in January, but it also showed that Justice Chelameswar was getting worked up by the media reports. According to the report, he turned down the plea saying that it might lead to another controversy and said he had less than two months to retire and wanted to leave the office in peace. 22 April: Not a signatory to letter seeking a full court meeting to address institutional issues plaguing the judiciary A week later, when Justice Gogoi and Justice Lokur wrote a letter to the CJI seeking a full court meeting to address institutional issues plaguing the judiciary, Justice Chelameswar was not a signatory. The reason for this is best known to Justice Chelameswar and those close to him, but it was a significant departure from the stand that Justice had taken a month ago. He was not a signatory to the letter written on Sunday by Justices Gogoi and Lokur, who had asked the CJI to hold a full court to address the institutional issues plaguing the higher judiciary. 25 April: Justice Chelameswar skip customary lunch meeting As part of a tradition, the Supreme Court judges meet for lunch every Wednesday, with each of them taking turns to bring 'ghar ka khana' (home food) from his or her home state. However, on 25 April, Justice Chelameswar skipped the meeting. Though the justice's office merely said that judge didn't go to work today, no reason was mentioned for his absence. His absence from the court found mention across media, especially since Justice Chelameswar was present in a morning meeting two days ago when the vice-president rejected the impeachment notice. According to reports, while Justices Ranjan Gogoi and MB Lokur had favoured moving forward by keeping behind the impeachment issue, Justice Chelameswar remained quiet at the meeting. 7 May: 'The law has undergone modification' In the second most recent comment from Justice Chelameswar (after his refusal to attend his farewell meeting), Justice Chelameshar made an intriguing comment. While hearing Congress' plea against the presidential order quashing an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice J Chelameswar said that the law of the country has changed. According to News18, the judges remarks came when he was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra cannot cannot exercise the power to decide how the (impeachment) case will be heard and by which bench, since the petition seeks initiation of impeachment proceedings against the CJI himself since the "law in this country has been that nobody can be a judge in his own cause. id="web1x1_ros">Justice Chelameswar retorted: I think the law you are talking about has undergone modification in the last few months. 9 May: Justice Chelameshwar reiterates elevation of KM Joseph to Supreme Court In a letter to the CJI on late Wednesday evening, Justice Chelameswar asked him to convene a meeting of the collegium to urgently forward to the Centre the name of Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph as the judge of the apex court. The government had on 26 April returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was an adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. In the letter, according to PTI, Justice Chelameswar answered all the issues raised by the law ministry, while urging the CJI to send Joseph's name back to the government. With inputs from PTI The Supreme Court Collegium on Friday unanimously agreed in principle to reiterate the recommendation for the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph as a judge of the apex court New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium on Friday unanimously agreed in principle to reiterate the recommendation for the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph as a judge of the apex court, after his name was returned by the Centre. The five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph, after hour-long deliberation decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, in a resolution, said there was a need for further discussion on the issue of sending other names to the Centre and deferred its meeting till 16 May. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice KM Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution said. "In view of the aforesaid, the meeting stands deferred for being held at 4.15 pm on next Wednesday, May 16, 2018," it said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the people of the state not to panic over the carcass meat scandal, and said strict action would be taken against the culprits Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged the people of the state not to panic over the carcass meat scandal, and said strict action would be taken against the culprits. "We have already formed a high-powered committee. I have asked the police to take stern action against the culprits involved in the scam," Banerjee said, during an interview to a Bengali TV Channel 'Zee 24 Ghanta'. The alarm over the carcass meat racket in West Bengal prompted the state government to form the high-powered committee for keeping a check on such malpractices. An eight-member committee, headed by chief secretary Malay De, will devise a mechanism to deal with the issue, the chief minister had said earlier in the week. The police recently busted the racket involved in supplying decomposed meat from dumping grounds to restaurants in and around the city. Meanwhile, the West Bengal CID on Friday arrested one person for his alleged involvement in the racket, and seized nearly six tonnes of meat from a cold storage in Kolkata, a senior official of the agency said. With the latest arrest, a total of 12 people have been held in connection with the scandal, including a leader of a political outfit. Acting on a tip-off, the SIT formed by the CID to look into the case, nabbed the man from the Belaghata area this morning, and upon questioning, learnt about the cold storage on Canal West Road. State deputy chief minister and BJP leader Kavinder Gupta had opposed Mehbooba Mufti's call for a 'unilateral ceasefire' in view of the Ramzan and Amarnath Yatra New Delhi: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday took a swipe at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asking her why she is continuing with a "farce" of a coalition government when whatever "she proposes, her deputy disposes". The former Union home minister said that whatever the PDP and other parties may say, the BJP will never allow them to explore ways to bring peace in the northern state. State deputy chief minister and BJP leader Kavinder Gupta had opposed Mehbooba Mufti's call for a "unilateral ceasefire" in view of the Ramzan and Amarnath Yatra, and was quoted as saying in media reports that a "ceasefire is never a one-sided. "CM, Jammu and Kashmir proposes, Deputy CM disposes! Mehbooba ji, why are you continuing with this farce of a coalition government? "Whatever the PDP and other parties may say or demand, the BJP will never allow them to explore ways to bring peace to J&K," Chidambaram said on Twitter. Gupta reportedly said if there is an appeal from the militants' side, only then can the ceasefire appeal be taken into account and the same cannot be accepted when there are continuous attacks on security forces by militants. Fissures surfaced within Jammu and Kashmir's ruling alliance yesterday after the BJP dubbed Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's call for a unilateral ceasefire as a move "not at all in national interest" while also slamming the state government's "soft policy" on stone pelters. The BJP's state unit fielded two spokespersons, Sunil Sethi and Arun Gupta, who said a unilateral ceasefire, as suggested by the chief minister, would only serve to ease pressure on militants and allow them to re-energise. "We have a strong view...unilateral ceasefire in the present situation is not in national interest at all," Sethi asserted. The BJP spokespersons described the situation in the Kashmir Valley as "very serious" and said the soft policy of the Mehbooba Mufti government was responsible for it. "Security situation is very serious...in Kashmir, stone pelting is continuously on and unfortunately one tourist has lost his life," he said. Mehbooba Mufti had said the Centre should consider a unilateral ceasefire starting from Ramzan in mid May till the completion of the Amarnath Yatra in August. A woman alleged that she was molested by a rickshaw-puller in an inebriated state outside New Delhi metro station and claimed when she dragged him to the nearest 'police post', she did not find any policeman there to assist her for 45 minutes New Delhi: A woman alleged that she was molested by a rickshaw-puller in an inebriated state outside New Delhi metro station and claimed when she dragged him to the nearest "police post", she did not find any policeman there to assist her for 45 minutes. She also claimed that she had made a call to the New Delhi railway police station but had not got any response. She posted about the incident on Twitter. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma replied to her on Twitter saying that the matter would be looked into. @DelhiPolice shame on you that i had to beat him up myself! I kept begging your people for help. Kindly Take the required action on the person behind the call. @LtGovDelhi @ArvindKejriwal @delhipolice pic.twitter.com/2fGbcPXP5v sumaiya (@sumaiya1704) May 10, 2018 . Have spoken to the complainant @sumaiya1704 . Action is being taken on her complaint by the local police in Central district. With regard to the absence of staff in the police post, matter is being enquired. Strict action will be taken for the negligence. Madhur Verma (@IPSMadhurVerma) May 11, 2018 Police have registered a case in the matter and two policemen an assistant sub-inspector and a head constable -- have been suspended over the call going unanswered. Police said that the room where the woman took the rickshaw-puller to was the beat officer's room where they take rest in between patrolling. The woman claimed that she had deboarded at the New Delhi metro station since she had to go Paharganj. She asked the rickshaw-puller whether he would drop her to Paharganj but he demanded Rs 180, the woman claimed. She realised that he was drunk and started walking ahead but he came behind her and started asking her to come with him. She hit him with a water bottle in her hand and with the help of locals, took him to the beat officer's room, she said. She said that there was no policeman present at the post and when she called in helpline numbers, she was told that the force would be sent to help her but she claimed that no one came while she waited at the police post along with some locals and the accused. She also claimed that the rickshaw-puller kept mocking her and saying that no one would come to her help. In a reply to her post, Verma wrote, "Have spoken to the complainant. Action is being taken on her complaint by the local police in Central district. With regard to the absence of staff in the police post, the matter is being enquired. Strict action will be taken for the negligence." In this book, Subramania Bharati is not the hero his life is simply the explanation for why his poems became important to the Tamil people | #FirstCulture Beginning, as it does, with a section titled 'Dramatic Personae', AR Venkatachalapathys new non-fiction book Who Owns that Song? The Battle for Subramania Bharatis Copyright left me with one overwhelming thought: This would make for an entertaining period film. He introduces the characters in a manner of a montage that picks factual glimpses from their lives. Yet, he layers these truths with a character sketch that teases and hooks the reader into the book. Sample this: P Jeevanandam. Communist agitator who can stir public emotion through his selfless work and fiery speeches. What role might a Communist agitator have in a copyright lawsuit? A charming surprise awaits us. He follows this by establishing the mise en scene. In a chapter titled 'Copyright Claws', he discusses the idea in its early days, slowly detangling property rights, subsidiary rights, moral rights and fair use around works of art. He is careful to warn us that the infantile literary scene all those decades ago didnt have this understanding an understanding of the subject. At the end of this prologue, he launches into flashback: 135 years back in time to Indias southern corner, Ettayapuram. After several location shots, we finally encounter the premise of the story the unsung poet Subramania Bharati. He draws a meticulous and sharp portrait of Bharati, based on events that occurred both during and after his life. He isnt hagiographical, and raises his weapon of biting wit every now and then. He doesnt shy away from a little melodrama either, even if he is unconvinced of its accuracy. While writing about Bharatis interaction with Sister Nivedita, he remarks, More dramatically, if apocryphally, she is said to have torn her robe, pointed to her skin and asserted that unless Indians developed a hatred for white skin, India had little hope of liberation. In Venkatachalapthys portrait, we see the journey of a young man through states, ideologies, struggles, work and relationships, that leaves us feeling melancholic for a life gone too soon. Yet, in this story, Bharati is not the hero. His life is simply the explanation for why his poems became important to the Tamil people. This melancholy is only deepened when the reader meets Chellamma, Bharatis widow, who lived a life of poverty and got no part of the profits that his work generated, albeit posthumously. By the end of act one, the drama intensifies. In the first conference of Tamil writers, fervently following the tradition of Tamil oratory, we begin to hear loud calls for rescuing the poems of Bharati from the clutches of private individuals. From here, the book picks up speed, dramatically introducing each prominent character, in fact, in what is now called mass elements. It is here that we meet the heroes. Sample this line written by the author: "Ramaswamy Reddiar was not a man to seek office but when it came knocking at his door, he was not one to forsake it either." To any Tamil speaker, this sounds like, Thaana sandaikku poga maattaan, Vandha sandaiya vidamaattan, (he would never pick fights, but when fights came knocking at his door, he wouldnt forsake them either), setting up Reddiar as our hero in this fight. Then comes Avinasilingam, the unrelenting task-master, the administrator who is entrusted with walking the last mile. Venkatachalapathy also builds character sketches of the antagonists, albeit cautiously. He quotes Viswanathan, Bharatis half-brother who owned copyrights to his poems, as saying, I was looked upon as the public enemy number one, I was likened to a monster... Through the chapters, everyone makes their case, including the nationalists, agitators, copyright owners, businessmen, family, friends, publishers and readers. Protests grow louder, negotiations move faster, and the government isnt giving anyone enough rope. "One day in the first week of March 1949, a motorcycle-borne messenger arrived at Meiyyappans house and delivered a very urgent message: He was asked to meet the premier in an hours time." Venkatachalapathy keeps the mystery alive, even if we know how the story ends. The irony hits us after the nationalisation of Bharatis work for the express purpose of making it available for the use of the public at a cheap cost: For years after, "it was only a pious wish expressed in governmentalese with no mechanism for realising this vision." Venkatachalapathy transfers the restlessness felt by the Tamil public during this time squarely to the reader who has already experienced the high of winning the battle, but now feels like she has lost the war. Venkatachalapathys biggest success with Who Owns that Song? is in the simplicity of his language, with an endearing trace of academese. His biting wit and commentary recreate history for us. He writes a legal drama, investing keenly in the characters and the environment that made them possible. In telling the story of a legal tussle involving Bharatis poems, he presents a gripping view of the life and times during the Independence era. If you even have a tangential interest in Bharati, copyright or the history of Tamil Nadu, you have no excuse not to grab this book with both arms. With just a day to go for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, the mood on the streets of Bengaluru was a mix of the everyday and the charged. In some parts of the city, it was business as usual, whereas in certain pockets, you'd see glimpses of the political frenzy that is to unfold. Glimpses from the city: Here, from left to right 'Congress Booth': This man and I shared uncomfortably long eye contact. I thought he would say something, but he just looked on with a fixed smile, barely even blinking. It was almost as though only the two of us were present, although in reality, we were in the midst of a bustling street with at least 20-30 people stationed at the Congress centre. 'Beginners Choice': A lot of children were part of the political rallies, actively participating in whichever way they could. I saw one little girl reach out for a copy of the party proclamation letter in Kannada that was being distributed to everyone on the street. The little girl and I both had something in common neither of us could read that letter. 'Social media': While listening to music on an online app, my playlist was interrupted by an announcement in Kannada asking me to vote for the BJP. This happened far too many times for a person to not freak out about it. Below, 'Sibling Rivalry': Shot in a slum near Malleshwaram. The two children first caught my eye when the little sister posed for the camera and fired a salute in the lens direction. I was a little taken aback but really appreciated how children had zero inhibitions and did whatever seemed like fun at the moment. Soon enough, the girl was joined by her brother, wearing a BJP gamcha, who pushed her while she saluted for the camera, followed by a point and laugh session. Raman Singh will launch his election campaign from the Maoist hotbed of Dantewada on 12 May. In the run up to the Chhattisgarh Assembly election later this year, the state Chief Minister Raman Singh will launch his election campaign from the Maoist hotbed of Dantewada on 12 May. Titled Vikas Yatra, the two most important aspects of this campaign are the facts that it will be flagged off by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and secondly, that it gives the chief minister an opportunity to focus on the most important work undertaken by his government, which is bringing development to and mainstreaming of sections of Maoist strongholds in the hardcore Red Corridor area within the state. Raman Singh, in the past as well, had kickstarted his Vikas Yatra from Dantewada, with the blessings of Danteshwari Mata the city deity. The objective of this yatra is to showcase the achievements of the Raman Singh government in the last four-and-half years in terms of development. Its also a kind of Chhattisgarh governments balance sheet of the last 15 years. During the roadshow, the CM will also lay foundation stones of upcoming projects. The government aims at completion of its targets for electrification of villages and providing LPG cylinders to BPL families, Chhattisgarh BJP spokesperson Sachidanand Upasane told Firstpost. The inaugural session of the month-long roadshow will witness a host of senior BJP leaders including union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Narendra Singh Tomar, and chief ministers like Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis and Jharkhands Raghubar Das. Both the state administration and the state BJP have made a massive arrangement for the chief ministers roadshow, public meetings and rallies, which will take place in two phases. In a bid to disseminate the message of development and progress, the organisation has assigned responsibilities to party leaders and ground workers from state level to block and village levels. The first phase, which begins on Saturday, will continue for a month till 12 June and mostly cover the tribal belt and Maoist-infested districts like Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Bastar, Gariaband, Rajnandgaon including CMs home district Kabirdham. The Vikas Rath will also cover major districts like Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Korea, Surguja and Jashpur. The second phase, which will last from 16 August to 30 September, will cover the rest of the districts. Why Dantewada? The name of Dantewada, considered as the Maoist hotbed in Chhattisgarh, still sends shivers down the spine. The district had witnessed one of the deadliest incidents of massacre by the Maoists. In 2010, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgents in an ambush had killed 76 CRPF personnel near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district. Raman Singh had in the past, ahead of Assembly elections, had initiated his Vikas Yatra from Dantewada after offering prayers at Danteshwari Mata temple. Goddess Danteshwari is considered as the chief deity by both tribal and non-tribal population living in the seven districts of Bastar. In earlier occasions too, the CM had begun his Vikas Yatra by seeking blessings of Danteshwari Mata. It's a tradition. Besides this, Dantewada has witnessed wiping out of Maoists in large numbers vis-a-vis development in the last 15 years. When BJP government under Dr Raman Singh came to power in 2003, there was hardly any development in this region. Dantewada used to be terror due to Maoist menace. Things have changed over the years, said Upasane. Keeping the Maoist threat in mind, the state government has beefed up security measures not only in Dantewada but across the seven districts of Bastar division where Raman Singh shall have his rallies. One would recall, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Bijapur on 14 April, the Maoists blew up a bus ferrying policemen on 9 April that killed two jawans. Weve made a fool-proof bandobust in Dantewada district. CMs Vikas Yatra will provide immense opportunity to showcase developmental work in this district which was once Maoist-infested. Today, a large swath of land has been freed from Naxal menace. The Maoists have been pushed to a small area in deep interiors. More than 90 percent people are aware of their responsibilities. They are politically aware as well and were expecting 70 to 80 percent voting this time, unlike 54 percent in the past, Saurabh Kumar, district collector, Dantewada, told Firstpost. During CMs public meeting here, success stories related to education, healthcare and livelihood that have taken place in this district, would be showcased as a development narrative, he added. Freebies, a part of Vikas Yatra The chief minister, during his Vikas Yatra, will distribute a host of freebies to poor families in tribal areas and villages, farmers, tendu leaf pluckers, etc. According to government sources, 50 lakh families including women and students will be given smartphones as part of chief ministers dream project Sanchar Kranti Yojna. While 50 lakh families will be given smartphones, totally worth Rs 12 crore, 12 lakh farmers will be given paddy bonus of Rs 1,700 crore. Around 12.30 lakh tendu leaf pluckers will be given a bonus of Rs 700 crore and land deed will be given to 12.50 lakh poor families. The Opposition Congress has termed this move as a gimmick and has alleged that instead of providing employment to youth, the chief minister has been trying to appease them by distributing smartphones. Mission-65 Singh came to power in 2003 by defeating Congress government led by the then chief minister Ajit Jogi. The last election in 2013 had witnessed a tough neck-and-neck fight between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress. Out of 90 seats, the BJP had won 49, while the Congress party bagged 39. The rest two seats were won each by a BSP and an independent candidate. Keeping strong anti-incumbency factor and allegations of corruption levelled against Raman Singh government by the Opposition in mind, BJP national president Amit Shah has set a target of winning 65 seats for state BJP. While CMs Vikas Yatra will give a big push to election campaigning, were working hard on ground to achieve Mission 65 the target of winning 65 seats given to us by our party president, added Upasane. Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel announced his full support for the agitation called by the Gujjar community to press for their demand of 5 percent reservation within the 21 percent reservation for OBCs Jaipur/Ajmer: Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Friday announced his full support for the agitation called by the Gujjar community to press for their demand of 5 percent reservation within the 21 percent reservation for OBCs. Patel, who was in Ajmer on Friday, told the media that he would support every protest called to press for the rightful demands of the citizens of India. He confirmed that he was in Ajmer to take forward discussions with the Gujjar leaders with regard to their agitation. The Gujjar community has called a "mahapanchayat" in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district on 15 May, which would decide the future course of their agitation. The community's leaders have already started a village to village drive to garner support for the mahapanchayat. Speaking to IANS, Gujjar leader Himmat Singh Gujjar also confirmed that he met Patel in Ajmer where he assured him of full cooperation in the protest. "We had an hour-long discussion. Patel said he was inspired by the Gujjar movement, and hence, he is willing to work together to press for their demands," Singh said. "Hardik Patel and Gujjars will jointly stage the protest. Our protest will be peaceful and the government will have to bow to our demand," he added. Patel reached Pushkar on Thursday night and on Friday he offered prayers at the Brahma temple. He also went to the Ajmer Dargah to offer prayers. Security in the nation's tech hub Bengaluru has been stepped up ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls on Saturday, Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said. Bengaluru: Security in the nation's tech hub Bengaluru has been stepped up ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls on Saturday, Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said on Friday. "A total of 10,500 policemen, 4,500 armed police and 2,500 home guards are being deployed ahead of the elections on Saturday," Kumar told reporters. Polling will be held across 27 of the total 28 constituencies in the state capital, after the election in Jayanagar segment was countermanded by the Election Commission due to the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate BN Vijaya Kumar on 4 May. Police personnel would be stationed at 7,477 polling stations where voting would take place from 7 am to 6 pm. "We have identified 1,469 polling booths as critical (sensitive)," Kumar added. Over 150 senior-rank police officers would monitor security across the city. "Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that prohibits gathering of more than five people at one place at a time has also been imposed across the city till 6 pm on Sunday to prevent any untoward incidents," the police officer said. Director General and Inspector General of Police Neelamani N Raju said over 1,40,000 security personnel have so far been deployed across the state to ensure 'free and fair' polling. "A total of 585 companies of paramilitary forces are deployed across over 20,000 polling booths, including nearly 12,000 critical booths," Raju told reporters. The southern state has a total of 58,008 polling stations across its 224 constituencies. Polling will be held for 223 constituencies on Saturday after the election to Jayanagar seat in Bengaluru was postponed. The Election Commission has set up 600 all-women run polling booths to push voter percentage among women. Twenty eight special polling booths bearing an ethnic look have also been set up in the state to encourage primitive and nomadic tribes to vote. Over 4.96 crore voters, including 2.52 crore men, 2.44 crore women and over 4,500 people who identify themselves as 'transgenders', have registered to vote. A total of 15.42 lakh voters, aged 18-19, have registered to cast their ballot for the first time. The voter turnout in the previous Assembly election held in the state in 2013 was 71.45 percent. The poll panel hopes the voting percentage would surpass 75 percent in 2018, after it held several voting awareness programmes across the state. The vitriol-filled campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended on Thursday with top leaders of the BJP and Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, making a last-gasp effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. Auto refresh feeds Addressing BJP workers in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "There is no space for violence in a democracy. When a person loses faith in himself and doesn't have the strength to speak or accept the truth, he chooses the path of politcial violence." "In 1984 there was a phase of violence after Indira Gandhi's assassination. Since then it seems violence has become a part of the political system. Our workers were killed in Tripura, Kerala, Karnataka. This doesn't suit democracy. Violence must be opposed," Narendra Modi said in his address. "More than 1.27 MUDRA loans have been given under our government. Through our schemes, 1 lakh youth have been trained for skills." Claiming that BJP has embraced technology unlike Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "India is making's its spot in the global start-up scene. The youth of Karnataka are energetic, brave and hardworking. The youth of this state will get many benefits from the central government. Asserting that violence in any form should not be allowed by any political party in a democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to BJPs youth karyakartas in Karnataka to not "act in vengeance even when they have lost their several karyakartas in political violence". Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address through his app, praised the youth of Karnataka for proving their "mettle in all fields". Five world-class sports centres will be established in Karnataka under the BJP government. "After coming to power, BJP will establish 60 state-of-the-art Namma BPO complexes across Karnataka and a corpus of Rs 250 Crore for low interest loans to encourage local entrepreneurs to set up BPO businesse," he said. He said that his contest was with Yeddyurappa and not Modi. "I challenge him (Yeddyurappa) to an open debate on issues on a single platform. Will he accept? Modi is also welcome," he tweeted. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah claimed on Monday that Narendra Modi is deliberately confusing voters in Karnataka with his speeches on non-issues. "All hot air & no substance," he said in a tweet. Siddaramaiah challenges Yeddyurappa for an open debate, says Modi also welcome In a series of tweets, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah listed five reasons why Karnataka should not vote for the BJP: In the photograph, Siddaramaiah is seen alongside absconder Vijay Ishwaran at the World Economic Forum in 2013. A day after BJP accused Siddaramaiah of having links with a Ponzi scheme, Siddaramaiah hit back on Twitter and said, "If BJP wants to go with this logic of using a photo to accuse me, then it should also accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his photo with Nirav Modi in Davos." JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy released the party's manifesto. The party has promised farm loan waiver within 24 hours of taking oath, if elected to power. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Kolar distict at 12.20 pm and is scheduled to make three addresses in Bangalore Rural district later. He will attend a corner meeting Hoskote District Stadium at 2.15 pm, and another one in Junior College Ground in Devanahalli at 4 pm. His last address of the day is scheduled at 5.40 pm in Dadaballapura. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh addressed a press conference to lash out at the Narendra Modi government over its "mismanagement of vision" in terms of economic policies. "Our farmers are facing an acute crisis, our aspirational youth are not finding opportunities, and the economy is growing below its potential. The unfortunate truth is that each of these crises was entirely avoidable," he said. "Demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST dealt a blow to the rural economy and to the common man. High petrol prices have made the situation worse and mismanagement of the Modi government is evident," he said. "Growth rate under NDA is lower than UPA despite favourable global conditions and changes in calculation methods," Manmohan Singh said at a press conference in Bengaluru. "Every time we have sought an answer for any of the disastrous policies of the present BJP government, all we hear is that the intentions are virtuous," he said, adding that Modi government's policies has resulted in "massive losses" for the country. Speaking at the press briefing in Bengaluru, ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh criticised the NDA government for increase in fuel prices. "Petrol and diesel prices are at a historic high.This is in spite of lower international crude oil prices because the Narendra Modi government chooses to levy excessive excise taxes. Instead of passing on the benefits of low prices to the people, the Modi government has punished the people," he said. Manmohan Singh accused the BJP of polarising the populations ahead of the 12 May polls in Karnataka. "It is shocking that the prime minister stoops so low during election, it is unbecoming of the prime minister. Particularly, when he is in state where election are set to take place. No prime minister has used election time to say things in manner that Modi ji has tried," he said BJP chief Amit Shah addressed a rally in Nargund. "I urge you to vote BJP to power. We will release water from Mahadayi in Karnataka within six months. Kisan apne khet mein jayega, Mahadayi ka paani ayega (The farmer will go back to his farm when Mahadayi water is released), he said. BS Yeddyurappa government will ensure that Karnataka gets water. BJP will release water from Mahadayi river in Karnataka within six months of power, says Amit Shah in Nargund He added, "Give BJP a chance this time. In five years, Narendra Modi and BS Yeddyurappa will turn Karnataka into India's number one state." BJP national president Amit Shah accused the Congress government of corruption. "Siddaramaiah wears a watch worth Rs 40 lakh. That indicates how much corruption they have done. His government has now become symbol of corruption. It is 10 percent commission government," he said in Nargund. Raising the pitch against the BJP, he said. "Narendra Modi should tell Karnataka about the qualifications of BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa. He should tell the voters how many times he has gone to jail. The BJP will know only after the election how strong Congress is in Karnataka." Leading the protest in Kolar against the rising fuel prices, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "Has the central government given a single rupee to the farmers of Karnataka? Modi ji, you could've waived farmer loans across the country." "The prime minister should tell, why he is not reducing fuel prices. He should tell the nation that he is taking the money from common man and giving it to Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi," Rahul Gandhi said in Kolar. He lashed out at Congress for stalling the triple talaq bill. "Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about dignity of women. The triple talaq bill has been passed by Lok Sabha but is stuck in Rajya Sabha, where Congress is not letting the debate happen," he said. Addressing a press conference in Karnataka, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the state needs good monitoring. "The Government of India and Karnataka will work together for it," he said. He further said that if voted to power, improvement of infrastructure of Bengaluru will be our BJP's priority. "The BJP Government collected Rs 10 lakh crore in taxes on Petrol/LPG/Diesel since 2014. Yet, NO relief in prices for our citizens. This video shows the truth about fuel prices under PM Modi," Gandhi said on Twitter using the hashtag 'BJPReducePetrolPrices'. He accused the government of collecting Rs 10 lakh crore in taxes on petroleum products without giving any relief in prices to people. Speaking to reporters after a corner meeting, Rahul Gandhi said that his cycle rally earlier in the day was a move to protest against the rising fuel prices in India. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said that the PM functions in two modes only. "There are 3 modes in a mobile phone, work mode, speaker mode & airplane mode. Modi Ji only uses speaker mode & airplane mode, he never uses work mode," said Rahul. Addressing BJP yuva morcha workers via the 'Narendra Modi App,' the prime minister also lauded efforts of party workers in maintaining the public mood in favour of the party despite rumours of a hung assembly in the May 12 elections in Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Opposition for opposing technology be it in the form of Aadhaar card or EVMs and said the BJP wants to promote a modern India by giving importance to skill development and innovation. Liquor worth Rs 23,98,82,621.02 was also confiscated by Static Surveillance teams & excise department. Gold and silver worth Rs 43,25,84,717 were seized by the I-T dept, ANI reported. In the poll-bound state, where the Model Code of Conduct is already binding, cash worth Rs 75,94,03,703 was seized by the Income Tax department and state police. Rahul Gandhi, while addresses a gathering in Hoskote, said that Narendra Modi was out of topics in the election-bound state. He said that the PM especially cannot talk about women's security in Karnataka after what happened in Unnao. The Congress president was referring to the gangrape of a minor in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, where the sitting BJP MLA was accused of rape and murdering victim's father. A key aide of Siddaramaiah has sent a legal notice for defemation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making 'unfounded allegations' against the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The notice has been sent in view of the prime minister calling Siddaramaiah, "seedha rupaiya CM" and "10 percent CM." An ADR report states that 28 percent of candidates contesting the 12 May elections are facing criminal cases. The BJP tops the list with 83 of its 224 candidates (37 percent) facing criminal cases. The Congress comes in second with 59 (26 percent) of its 220 candidates embroiled in criminal cases. Both BJP and Congress have been training guns on each other over the issue of corruption. However, neither seems to be spot free in the Karnataka elections. Hitting out at the BJP, Siddaramaiah said, "BJP doesn't believe in social justice, welfare of the poor or socialism. Ananth Kumar Hegde is 'nalayak.' He is not fit to be a gram panchayat leader and they have made him Union Minister." Ananth Kumar hegde a 'nalayak', not even fit for being panchyat leader, says Siddaramaiah Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleged that minorities in the country were feeling terrorised under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dubbing the BJP a "communal party" Siddaramaiah warned the party of bloodshed if it tries to alter the basic structure of Constitution of India. "If Narendra Modi tries to change Constitution, there will be bloodshed in this country," he said . If Narendra Modi tries to change Constitution there will be bloodshed in this country: Siddaramaiah Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address three public meetings today. He will speak at a rally in Vijayapura at 1 pm, and later address a gathering in Koppal 3 pm. His last address will be in Bengaluru at 6.30 pm. BJP national president Amit Shah will hold roadshows today in Madikeri, Mangalore, Mangalore South, and Mangalore North constituencies. His first roadshow is scheduled to begin at 11 am from Chowdeshwari temple to toll gate at Thimmaiah Circle, while his last roadshow for the day will begin at 5 pm from BJP election office in Kavoor to Shetty Residency. Former Congress president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will be addressing a mega rally at BLDE New Campus grounds in Vijayapura on Tuesday. At 9.30 am, Congress president will interact with "eminent citizens" through the Samruddha Bharat platform. He will later address gatherings in Chikkaballapur, Pavgada, and Tiptur. The BBC News Press Team cleared itself of any connection with a "fake" survey on Karnataka election being circulated on Whatsapp. " We'd like to make it absolutely clear that it is fake and does not come from the BBC. The BBC does not commission pre-election surveys in India," it said in a tweet. BBC News warns of fake survey being circulated on Whatsapp, says it does not commission pre-poll surveys in India According to the legal notice, the BJP leaders will have to face civil and criminal action and pay damages of Rs 100-crore in the event of the BJP leaders failed to withdraw their statements and issuing an unconditional public apology. Siddaramaiah, who served a Rs 100-crore legal notice on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and party's Karnataka unit chief BS Yeddyurappa, asked why election is supposed to be an "open season" for allegations. Siddaramaiah says he will 'pursue' defamation cases against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Yeddyurappa "Madam Maino, Karnataka needs no lessons from the person who was solely responsible for wasting India's 10 precious years," BJP Karnataka said in a tweet. "And to Congress, need to remind you of your 'import' jibe," it added. Taking a dig at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BJP said on Twitter that "Ms Antonio Maino" will be in Karnataka on Tuesday to "save her last citadel from falling". According to reports, Rahul Gandhi has inaugurated the Samruddha Bharat Foundation. He is currently interacting with the citizens of Bengaluru at the launch event. Samruddha Bharat is an independent platform launched to propagate "liberal, secular, and republican" values in India. He also attacked BJP chief Amit Shah, saying, "I don't think he has lot of credibility. People in India forget that BJP president is a murder accused. A party that talks about honesty, decency has a person who has been accused of murder as its president." He said that one of the main issues with BJP is why the prime minister had chosen a corrupt person (BS Yeddyurappa) as a chief ministerial candidate. "People want to know why the prime minister has given eight tickets to Reddy brothers who have stolen Rs 35,000 crore," he said. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of making a "systematic attempt" to capture all of India's institution. "Congress and India is resisting this," he said. "Yes why not," Congress president Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying by ANI after he was asked if he can be prime minister in 2019 if Congress is the single largest party. Moments after Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP for projecting BS Yeddyurappa as a chief ministerial candidate despite facing corruption charge, the saffron party hit back on Twitter. It said, "...you stand on much lower footing compared to BS Yeddyurappa. While the high court has acquitted all charges against Yeddyurappa, you still face a Rs 5000 crore corruption charge and are out on bail; yet you see pipedream of becoming the prime minister." "Until then, like a good boy, spare us from these rumblings," it added. Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's 'speaker and airplane mode' jibe at Narendra Modi, BJP said that the Congress president will go on vacation mode after the end of campaigning in Karnataka. "We know it is getting difficult here. Three more days and you can switch to your vacation mode,' the party said in a tweet. Three more days until vacation mode for Rahul Gandhi, says BJP He claimed that the Congress leaders have stopped visiting homes to seek votes. "Now they are sitting in their offices, and thinking whom to accuse for their loss; should they blame EVMs or something else. They are planning ways to blame EVMs," he said. "In the past 7-8 days, I have visited various places in Karnataka and I have seen that the people have decided not only to remove Congress, but has decided to give them the strictest of punishment for five years," he said. "Those who are saying that there will be a hung Assembly in state, must step out of their AC rooms," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he began his address in Vijayapur. People have decided to punish Congress for five years, says Narendra Modi He hit out at Congress over farmers' woes in state. "What has the Congress done for the farmers of Karnataka? When the state was hit by drought, their ministers who were handling key portfolios were busy doing politics in Delhi," Modi said in Vijayapura. Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited the saints, seers and mutts for playing a key role in making the society of Karnataka "progressive and harmonious". "They have worked to remove human suffering," he said. What Karnataka was hit by drought, Congress ministers were doing politics in Delhi Narendra Modi accused the Congress of not being serious about the safety of women. "It is the NDA Government that has got a tough law that will ensure safety of women," he said. He also hit out at the Congress for not letting the Centre pass the triple talaq bill in Lok Sabha. 'Congress has never been serious about women safety' He also said that Dalits were being killed in BJP-ruled states but Narendra Modi has not uttered a word, Speaking in Pavagada, Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not helping in waiving farm loan. "You come to speak here, but when you gave nod for loan waiver, you did not add a single rupee from the central government," he said. "What Narendra Modi government couldn't do at the Centre, Congress government was able to execute in Karnataka. In the next five years, the Congress government will provide 1 crore jobs to youth in state," he added. In Pavagada, Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked Narendra Modi over his promise of providing 2 crore jobs to the youth every year. "Modi's ministers agree that India is facing biggest job crisis under the NDA government," he said. Speaking in Pavagada, Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the JD(S) and BJP. He said that the 'S' in JD(S) stood for "Sangh Parivaar" and not "secular". Vouching for Congress leaders, he said, "Siddaramaiah, state unit president G Parameshwara, and other Congress leaders have you in their hearts when they work. On the other hand, Yeddyurappa and Reddy brothers have all been behind bars. It is up to you to decide if you want a clean, corruption-free government." The choice of location for the rally shows careful consideration by the Congress, given the party's long association with the town. Bijapur, or Vijayapura as it is officially known, is the district headquarters of the district of Bijapur, and has been a favourite for the Nehru-Gandhi family for generations. Almost two years after abandoning her poll campaign midway in Varanasi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will hit the campaign trail in Karnataka on Tuesday and address a public rally in Bijapur at 3 pm. "Congress believes in the policy of divide and rule... divide on the basis of caste and religion....make brothers fight among themselves But people of this land of Basaveshwara will not allow it to happen," he told an election rally in Vijayapura. Modi lashed out at the Siddaramaiah government over alleged corruption, saying there is not a single minister who is not facing allegations of financial wrongdoing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of pursuing the policy of "divide and rule", and asserted the party would be uprooted from Karnataka in the Assembly elections. "They can go to any extent for power. Their game is to plot brothers against each other," he said. Speaking in Koppal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "We only have one mantra, 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'. But on the other hand, there is a party that ruled for 60 years out of the 70 years of independence. But they only run and oust the government for their family. "Cleanliness is related to the dignity of a woman. Our women have to defecate in the open. They go outside before the sun rise and wait for the sun to set to go the next time," he said. "When I had spoken about Swachh Bharat and building toilets from the Red Fort, the 'naamdaars' mocked me. But how will the man born with a golden spoon in his mouth know the problems faced by our old mothers? We are poor people and only we understand this problem," he added. "Two years ago, I mentioned Mallama in Mann ki Baat. A young girl from a village in Karnataka fought for construction of toilets. I'm proud that there are many girls like her who are supporting the Swachch Bharat movement," Narendra Modi said in Koppal. "I will recount another sin of the Congress party for you. As you know, the sex ratio is unbalanced in a lot of districts in our country. As the trend to kill female fetus continued unabated, the Congress governments only snoozed. We ave started schemes so that this pit is filled and the number of females match the number of male children in our society," Modi said. He also "congratulated Yeddyurappa" for promising to include a whopping 10,000 crore to further women empowerment. "These people have done nothing for the protection of women, whereas our government has brought in a strict to law to give death sentence to those who do such devilish deeds with our daughter," Modi said. "When I had spoken about Swachh Bharat and building toilets from the Red Fort, the Naamdaars mocked me. Those who are born with a golden spoon, never understand the difficulties of poor. We are committed to serve the poor and would continue to do so," Modi said. Rahul Gandhi is holding a corner meeting at Titpur in Karnataka. Lauding the Congress government in the state, he said, "We built the worlds largest solar park and will continue to put Pavagada on the world map. I also promise to fight to get the groundnut farmers the right MSP for their produce." Sonia Gandhi addressed a election rally in Vijayapur in Karnataka to seek votes for her party. She started off her speech by praising the culture of the state, while adding that Vijayapura was considered to be an amalgamation of cultures. "Congress has worked for development of Karnataka. Congress made Karnataka country's number one state and started numerous scheme for people: Sonia Gandhi in Bijapur, We even started Indira canteen where even the poorest of poor can have a full meal in just 10 years," Sonia said. She claimed that nobody would have seen a prime minister who talks so much but is always quiet on issues that matter. "I ask him, what has he done? What has he doen for the farmers, for the poors, for the middle class," Sonia asked. "Narendra Modi is proud of the fact that he is a very good orator, I agree with this. He speaks like an actor. I'll be happy if his speeches can end hunger of the country but speeches cannot fill empty stomachs, food is needed for that. It cannot empower women or heal the sick either, you need a strong determination and noble intent for that," Sonia said. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most talked about strengthe, his oratory skills, Sonia Gandhi said that Modi preads lies and distorts history wherever he goes. "He uses the names of heroes from our history for his political motives. He comes here and instead of talking about what has he done, answering questions, he spreads hatred and leaves," Sonia said. "Narendra Modi ji has done only one work since he came to power. He is hell bent on finishing every good work done by the Congress party ober the years. We have worked tirelessly for the poor. We started Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme which was mocket at by the BJP and by Modi Ji at the time. He is systematically ending every welfare scheme," Sonia said. (Modiji is fervently talking about Congress-mukt Bharat. But he is so focused on it that he cannot stand any sort of opposition against him", Sonia Gandhi said. "If you bring the mother (Sonia) to Karnataka and she does something, then maybe the deposits can be saved. This is what Congress leaders have started speaking," Modi said at a rally. Modi said he had on Monday watched an interview of a Congress leader who said that the son (Congress President Rahul Gandhi) "will not be able to do anything". Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a dig at the Congress, claiming that its leaders were now saying that if former party chief Sonia Gandhi canvasses in the state, it can at least save the security deposits of Congress candidates. At the start of his speech, Modi said that he knows that the love of the people is such that language is no barrier. However, since the speeches are broadcast in villages as well, he wants to ensure that the last man also understands his words. "II do not understand why the CM dislikes Bengaluru. He has handed over Bengaluru to an infamous trio- and we all know this trio- we also know they have been given charge of this city due to vote bank politics. This trio excels in all the wrong things," Modi said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend four public meetings in Karnataka on Wednesday. He will first address a rally at 10.30 am in Bangarapet, then head to Chikmagalur to address another gathering at 1.30 pm. He will attend a public meeting in Belagavi at 4.30 pm, and finally wrap up his day by addressing a rally in Bidar at 7.30 pm. BJP national president Amit Shah is scheduled to address one public meeting and hold five roadshows on Wednesday. He will first address a rally in Tumkur at 10.30 am, and later hold roadshows in Kunigal, Shanthinagar, Shivajinagar, Sarvagna Nagar, and Mahadevapura constutuencies. "Manjula Nanjamuri has nothing to do with BJP. She left BJP six years ago. Manjula is a Congress person now," ANI quoted Javadekar as saying. On Tuesday, 9,746 voter IDs were seized from an apartment in the name of one Manjula Nanjamuri. While Congress communications in-charge Randeep S Surjewala clalimed that she is a BJP leader, Union minister Prakash Javadekar denied the charges alleging that she was instead a Congress worker. Congress delegation to meet Election Commission officials at 10 am in New Delhi over voter IDs recovered from Bengaluru, reports CNN-News18 Apart from addressing three rallies today, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit two temples and a garment factory on Wednesday. He will begin his day by visiting the Dodda Ganapathi temple in Basavagudi at 10 am, and then visit a garment factory in Krishna Nagar Industrial Area at 11.30 am where he will interact with women workers. Later, he will visit Shivaji Nagar, BEML Circle, and Hebbal to address corner meetings. BJP to meet Election Commission at 10.30 am over voter IDs recovered from Bengaluru, reports CNN-News18 He added that he did not have anything to say about the voter ID raids, saying, "It is the Election Commission's job to probe." Alleging BJP's role in the voter IDs seized from a flat in Bengaluru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the was first time he was witnessing a raid of this kind. "Congress is constantly under surveillance of BJP government. This is for the first time, these raids are being conducted at the time of elections, he told reporters on Wednesday. "Anti democratic means of Congress to win loosing elections is nothing new. They are in practice right from Indira Gandhi's period," it said in a tweet. On Tuesday, the Election Commission confirmed that it seized over 9,000 voter identity cards from a flat in Jalahalli of west Bengaluru. The BJP claimed on Twitter that "close to 20,000" fake voters IDs were recovered from Congress' Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency candidate. The son of Manjula Nanjamari in whose flat over 9,000 voter IDs were found has reacted to the allegations surrounding the flat tenant and Manjula being BJP leaders. "I am the only son of Manjula Nanjamari. Rakesh is my mother's nephew's son and he has got no connections with the flat in Park View apartment," Manjula's son Sridhar was quoted as saying by ANI . 'Rakesh has no connection with Manjula Nanjamari's flat which was raided' Modi said that the entire country has deeply understood the mannerisms of the Congress. "Wherever there was an election in India, Congress (lost). What will happen on 15 May," he said. Speaking in Bangarapet, Narendra Modi said, "This election is not just about who becomes or does not become an MLA. It is an election to decide the fate of Karnataka and its youth." Election will decide fate of Karnataka and its youth, says Narendra Modi in Bangarapet "During the UPA government, there was one prime minister and one remote control. In the NDA Government, our remote control and the high command are the 125 crore people of India," he added. There are the six evils that the Congress has brought on the nation - Congress culture - Communalism, Casteism, Crime, Corruption, Contractor system. These 6 C's are destroying that future of Karnataka," Narendra Modi said in Bangarapet. "There are big meetings being held to oust Narendra Modi. How will the big leaders who attend these meetings react to this sudden announcement by one 'naamdaar', Modi said. In Bangarapet, Narendra Modi lashed out at Rahul Gandhi over his aspiration to become the prime minister. "On Tuesday, someone (Rahul Gandhi) made an important declaration. He said that he is going to be the prime minister in 2019. He came like those bullies, barging his way ahead when there are others who have many years of experience. How can someone just declare himself as the prime minister? This is simply nothing but arrogance," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Congress is interested in nothing but "deals". "These are not my words. It's Congress MP and former Karnataka chief minister Veerappa Moily who said this. When tickets were being 'sold', he said that Congress will have to solve their 'money problem' and also blamed PWD minister for the deal-making," he said. He hit out at the Congress for accusing the BJP of attempting to weaken the SC/ST Act. "But the truth is that we have empowered those belonging to the SC/ST category," Modi said. "Since the time these new 'naamdaars' have entered Congress, they have picked a new strategy of uttering lies," Narendra Modi said. "But now the public has various ways to find out the truth. If that wasn't the case, the Congress wouldn't have been limited to PPP Punjab, Puducherry and Parivar Congress," he added. "Will you go to each house and inform voters about BJP's plans for the poor, needy, and the downtrodden? Will you help BJP form the government? Will you help for BS Yeddyurappa's government in Karnataka," Narendra Modi asked the gathering in Bangarapet. Addressing a public meeting in Tumkur, BJP national president Amit Shah said, "BJP is getting immense support in Karnataka. BJP will form government with absolute majority in the state." Congress president Rahul Gandhi is interacting with women factory workers in Bengaluru. Responding to a question on the closure of factories which force the workers to become unemployed, Rahul said, "90 percent of money in the banks goes to the 10-15 people in India. How many people did Nirav Modi employ? He didn't employ anyone, but the banks gave him Rs 33,000 crore to him. If just Rs 100 crore was given to this factory, atleast a thousand would've been employed because of him." Anand Sharma and Motilal Vora will lead Congress delegation to meet Election Commission over voter IDs founds in Bengaluru, reports ANI . "Now people want to save Congress by accusing BJP. It's a clear case of Congress conspiracy. Their philosophy is if you don't get real voters, get fake voters," Javadekar said. Addressing a press conference, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said, " Congress is blatantly lying (about BJP's connection with the voter IDs found in a Bengaluru apartment). Our worker Rakesh is the whistleblower, but Manjula and her son are not our party workers." He asserted that Manjula, who is the flat owner where the IDs were seized from, should be arrested. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Kumaraswamy explains why he thinks the party will sweep over the entire state on its own. In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls, former chief minister and state president of Janata Dal (Secular) HD Kumaraswamy asserts he will not play the kingmaker in case of a hung verdict, but will emerge as the king himself. Unfazed by scathing attacks against the JD(S) from both Congress and the BJP, the 58-year-old leader says there will not be a post-poll tie-up with any of the two national political parties. The chief ministerial candidate believes his party is poised to cross the 113-mark in the 224-member Assembly. After polls, Siddaramaiah will neither be CM nor an MLA: JD(S)' HD Kumaraswamy After a Congress delegation met Election Commission officials in Delhi, senior leader Anand Sharma said, "We have submitted the detailed memorandum about malpractices of BJP and concerted attempt by the party at the Centre to subvert the pre-election process, target Congress, and conduct midnight raids. Last night, the raids were stage managed by BJP." He said that the Election Commission listened to the concerns of the Congress leaders and has promised to take strict action and probe the role of all agencies involved. Speaking to reporters, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the BJP's strategy is to stall the election process because the "mandate in Karnataka is against the BJP government". "The prime minister has no credibility. He is using the kind of language which does not behoove him," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Modi had said at a rally: "During the UPA government, there was one prime minister and one remote control. In the NDA Government, our remote control and the high command are the 125 crore people of India." Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "remote control with Sonia Gandhi" jibe at the Congress, Anand Sharma said, "Everybody knows who has the remote control in this government." He claimed that there are only two people running the governmen Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. "Their remote control is in Nagpur at the RSS' office," he told reporters in Delhi. "Rahul Gandhi thinks that the prime minister's seat is reserved for just one family. He thinks that the seat is his right. Congress barely got 40 seats in the Parliament. His ego is such that he comes to Karnataka and says that he will become the prime minister in 2019," Modi added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi targetted Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Chikmagalur. "The 'naamdaar' of Congress keeps getting promoted even if he doesn't do anything. He was made general secretary of the party in 2007. He said he'll make a young team and bring new ideas. It has been 11 years and things are still how they used to be," he said. Rahul Gandhi thinks PM's seat is only reserved for one family, says Narendra Modi Narendra Modi accused the Congress of being power hungry. "In 1978, Indira ji came here, took your votes but never cared for people of this region. Congress never thought about welfare of people of Chikmagalur. Sonia ji too contested from Bellari, but what happened to promises made in Ballari," he said. Modi also lashed out at Siddaramaiah, saying that the Income Tax raided a resort in Badami a day after the chief minister finished his stay. Earlier on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah had claimed that the raid was a BJP conspiracy against him. In Chikmaglur, Narendra Modi charged the Congress with attempting to rig the polls. "They have created fake voter IDs to massively rig the Karnataka election. The people of Karnataka should resolve never to forgive such a party and come out to vote in massive numbers to uproot it and its ecosystem. Congress is indulging in all kinds of malpractices over the fear of a crushing defeat." Using the hashtag 'CongRigsElection', BJP chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa blamed the Congress for the fake voter ID row in Karnataka, "It is a scary situation in Karnataka. Rattled Congress prints fake voter ID Cards. I appeal Karnataka chief election officer to take stringent action against the culprits involved. Deterrent action should prevent others from resorting to similar malpractices," he said in a tweet. At the centre of a controversy, Manjula Nanjamari owner of Bengaluru flat from where fake voter IDs were seized denied that she was a Congress worker. "From 1997-2002 I was a corporator, and BJP helped me win. I was just a house wife and BJP supported me, so I consider myself under their sharan(shadow). I am not a Congress person,will never be," she was quoted as saying by ANI . He asserted that the UPA government supported the development of IT in Bengaluru. "When Congress was in power at the centre, we gave Bengaluru Rs 10,000 crore for development. But Modi government has given only Rs 550 crores to Bengaluru. It's a shame," he said. Speaking at Shivaji Nagar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi lashed out at Narendra Modi for questioning development under Congress rule in India. "Was Bengaluru not the IT hub before Narendra Modi came to power? But Modi keeps saying that no progress took place in 70 years," he said. Congress supports IT development in Bengaluru when it was in power at centre, says Rahul Gandhi "I ask the people of Belagavi to be alert. Convince other people to vote and vote for the BJP," Modi said. "Now this Modi has gone into their hearts to such an extent that the Karnataka chief minister kept talking about Narendra Modi. This shows there truly is a God. Because He forced him to speak the truth," he said. "I had thought that the Congress government in Karnataka would have tried highlighting its work in the campaigning so far," said Narendra Modi. "In the entire election campaign, they have talked of nothing apart from Modi," he added. Kumar also said that the voter ID cards seized were genuine. "The case is under observation....The cards were collected for a reason," Sanjiv Kumar, CEO, Karnataka told reporters. "We have seized 9,896 cards," he added. Watch: No evidence that any of them (the voter ID cards) are bogus or concocted, says Karnataka CEO Nearly 1.5 lakh security personnel, including more than 50,000 from the central paramilitary forces, will be deployed during the Assembly elections in Karnataka on 12 May to ensure free and fair polls, officials said on Wednesday. The Union home ministry has earmarked around 520 companies drawn from various paramilitary forces like the CRPF, BSF and ITBP to keep strict vigil and ensure peace during the polling process in the southern state. ( Read more here ) Narendra Modi addresses public meeting in Bidar, says the affection of people for the BJP across Karnataka is a clear indication that Congress party will be defeated in these elections. "When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the country's independence, did any Congress leader went to meet them? But the Congress leaders go and meet the corrupt who have been jailed," adds Modi. Narendra Modi says the Congress has always worked for their own goodwill, for their own family. Their actions have deteriorated the condition of the country. He goes onto say, "This is a democracy and you cannot say one fine day that you are going to be the prime minister of the country, the public will decide that." Congress has always worked for their own family: Modi Congress thinks that the prime minister's seat is reserved for just one dynasty, says Modi Congress should tell people what they have done for Karnataka, says Modi "We have approved stringent punishments for those who commit crimes against women. Such crimes cannot be tolerated. Heinous crimes are not a political issue, I wish the Congress understood this," says Narendra Modi. BJP chief Amit Shah will hold a road show in Badami constituency at 11.30 am and later address a press conference at the BJP media centre in Bengalury at 4 pm. "BJP has always been committed to he welfare of those belonging to the backward classes," Modi said. Addressing Karnataka BJP workers through his app, Narendra Modi said, "Today the most people from SC/ST/OBC are connected to the BJP. BJP believes in equality. Maximum number of SC/ST/OBC MPs are from the BJP. We believe in development for all" Hailing social reformer Jyotirao Phule, he said, "Before Babasahab, Mahatma Phule spearheaded the movement to fight the atrocities on the backward classes." Addressing the SC/ST/OBC workers of the BJP in Karnataka, Narendra Modi, "Despite the presence of several communities and classes, in some way we'll all unite. I have no doubt of it." "BJP has always fought to ensure Ambedkar's gets due respect," he added. Lashing out at the Congress, Narendra Modi said, "Congress has no room in it's heart for Dalits and those belonging to the backward classes. Congress also has no respect for BR Ambedkar. I urge Congress to tell one work that it has done to honour Ambedkar's efforts." 'Congress has no room in its heart for Dalits and OBCs' "Go to the homes of the SC/ST/OBC and minority members of the society and communicate the policies of the government to them. Convey to them that the BJP is working towards the betterment of one and all," he said. In his address to BJP workers of belonging to SC/ST/OBCs category, Narendra Modi urged them to work tirelessly for the welfare of deprived and women. He said that the BJP was working to empower the backward classes. "Stand up and MUDRA schemes are helping to make SC/ST/OBC and women financially empowered," he said. "Today through various schemes, the government is working towards providing social justice and equality," Narendra Modi said during his interaction with the BJP workers from SC/ST/OBC category. Narendra Modi accused the Congress of doing vote bank politics and blocking the bill in the Rajya Sabha that gives constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes. "Congress wants the votes of OBC community but they did not allow OBC Commission to get Constitutional status," he said. We are here to create history, says Siddaramaiah Lashing out at the BJP for its "lack of seriousness", Rahul said, "We prepared a manifesto and it is truly on the essence of Karnataka. In contrast, the BJP made another manifesto in three-four days, copying things from our manifesto. There is a lack of seriousness in the BJP." Beginning the press conference, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "I've been now travelling around Karnataka for a couple of months. The Congress has got a very good campaign. Our party is united. Our Opposition has restricted itself from making personal attacks against our chief minister and leaders. We are confident of winning the election." There is a lack of seriousness in BJP, says Rahul Gandhi He also addressed the Rafale deal. "Modi said the Rafale deal was a cracked by the NDA government was better than the deal cracked by UPA. I agree with Modi, it was a good deal for him and his friends. He didn't follow the procedure. He paid Rs 1,500 crore for a Rs 700 crore plane. You can see the effects of it with the kind of money they are throwing around in the state.," he siad. Responding to Narendra Modi's "naamdaar" jibe, "Modi has nothing to say anything about the future of Karnataka. I am not going to engage in his distractions." 'Modi has nothing to say about Karnataka's future' "And by the way, atrocities against women is a national issue and we will continue to raise it," he added. He accused the prime minister of not talking on farmers' issues or the tickets given to Reddy brothers. "Modi has not given one rupee for the farmers of Karnataka. He comes and says, he fights for corruption. On his stage, there is Yeddyurappa and on the other side there are the Reddy brothers, who've stolen as much money as the Congress put in MGNREGA. In none of his speeches does he talk about the eight tickets given to the Reddy brothers." Rahul Gandhi responded to the row after he held candlelight march against Kathua and Unnao rape case. "Kathua and Unnao rape cases are fundamental issues. The treatment of our women is a fundamental issue. Narendra Modi likes to talk about bullet trains, but not about these issues," he said. He justified why he raised his concern in the first place. "I am very passionate about the China issue. The central challenge is our ability to give jobs to our youngsters. China is a competitor. I am very passionate when I see fundamental errors being made. There is a disaster in the foreign policies," he said. "Our foreign policy has been decimated. And it because he views foreign policy as individual exercise. There are huge forces and he needs to take into account the people sitting in the foreign ministry," he added. Rahul Gandhi spoke on his concerns over Narendra Modi's "heart-to-heart" summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping. "The prime minister went to China and didn't mention a word about Doka La. Are you telling me no agenda? What does he mean by going to China and Nepal with no agenda?" He claimed that the Union ministers were visiting state to campaign for the BJP because of "panic". "Congress has clearly demonstrated to them what it is capable of in Karnataka. This is a fight between the spirit of Karnataka and the RSS. We are depending on our extremely solid leadership in Karnataka. The RSS is trying to take over your state," he said. Responding to personal attacks made by Narendra Modi against him, Rahul Gandhi narrated a story of Buddha and said that the prime minister had anger inside of him. "He is angry with everybody, not only me. I am a lightning rod for anger, I attract anger. But that is his problem. It is not my problem," he said. Responding to BJP's tag of 'Election Hindu' for him, Rahul Gandhi said, "Our people have different religious beliefs. As a leader of the political party, it is my job to visit the religious institution that invites me. I will however not go to a single institution that divides the society." He asserted that that Congress will win the Karnataka Assembly polls "hands down". He said, "Whatever comes out of the prime minister's mouth is what is actually in his heart. He is absolutely convinced now, and he is right, that he is going to lose Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and he is going to lose 2019," Alleging that RSS-BJP want to snatch the spirit of Karnataka and impose upon regressive ideology, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress "will never allow" them to do so. He lashed out at Modi for bringing up Sonia's Italian heritage. "My mother sacrificed for this country; she has suffered for it. It shows the quality of the prime minister when he makes these types of comments," Rahul said. Responding to Narendra Modi's "personal attacks" against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi said, "My mother is Italian, she also lived larger part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many Indians I see." 'My mother is more Indian than many Indians I see' "Congress, their president, along with the failed and corrupt Siddaramaiah government have no answers on issues of Karnataka," he said. At a press conference by the BJP, Union minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for not addressing issues particular to Karnataka. "It almost looked like a tutored press conference Many weren't allowed to ask questions. If an attempt was made to ask, questions were paraphrased," he said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Twitter that his government's "singular focus" was to bring glory back to Karnataka. "We have come a long way from being the most corrupt state in 2010 to become the investment capital of India by 2018," he said. My govt's singular focus was to bring glory back to Karnataka, says Siddaramaiah Ambareesh hasn't formally endorsed JD(S) yet. Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying: "He is disappointed with the way he was treated by the Congress... Ambareesh treats me as his younger brother. I am hopeful he will take a decision in a couple of days." Ambareesh has, however, stated that he is still loyal to the Congress. Though Ambareesh, a Vokkaliga, has opted out of the poll fray, his meeting with JD(S) state president and Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy has alerted political workers since JD(S) is already gaining support among a major chunk of the Vokkaliga population in the district. This pre-poll season, Ambareesh, known as 'rebel star' in the Kannada movie industry, indulged in a cat-and-mouse game with Congress leaders by refusing to accept the Assembly ticket. While Ambareesh seems upset, there is discontent among his fans and followers as well. However, regardless of him refusing to contest, the party was counting on him for support. 'Rebel' MH Ambareesh opts out of Mandya contest as Congress seeks his support to reclaim lost ground "Taking inspiration from the great saints of Karnataka like Madara Chennaiah, Basaveswara and Urilinga Peddiare, we trying to fulfill Baba Saheb's dream of making a powerful and prosperous nation," Modi said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the SC/ST/OBC and Slum Morcha workers of karnataka BJP through the NaMo app. He said that the BJP firmly believed in BR Ambedkar's ideology and was committed to fulfilling his dream. "Our government increased the creamy layer income cap from Rs. 6 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh per year and also constituted a commission to sub-categorise OBC communities to benefit them with reservation within constitutional sanctity," Modi said. In an interview given to Firstpost, Amit Shah discussed the prospects of his party in the Karnataka elections at length. "We are not taking any chances. It is very important for us. The Karnataka polls are the BJP's door to the south. This shows how much importance we are giving these elections," he said. According to NDTV , Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, Anurag Thakur, DV Sadananda Gowda, Krishnapal Gujjar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Prakash Javadekar, and Santosh Gangwar are in Karnataka. They are among the senior leaders scheduled to address around 50 mega road shows across the state. The BJP's three-time Chief Ministers Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan are also part of the group that will address the roadshows. BJP deploys 50 of its netas to on last day of campaigning Buoyant after addressing a long press conference, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and used the opportunity to hit out on Narendra Modi. Latching on to the PM's reluctance to face press conferences and unplanned media interactions, Rahul said that he would continue to more and more pressers in the future too. On last day of Karnataka campaign Rahul Gandhi taunts Modi over his aversion to press interactions Speaking at a press conference, Amit Shah said that the Siddaramaiah government is one of the most useless governments in Independent India. He said that he was able to experience the anger in people during his comprehensive campaign programme. He also quoted law and order figures to say that the government has failed utterly on all fronts. "The people of Karnataka are seething with anger, which is palpable as one tours the state. When we campaigned in Badami, there would hardly be a household which did not participate in our roadshow. This shows that people are upset with the government. I think he will lose Badami with an even greater margin than in Chamundeshwari," Amit Shah. "Siddaramaiah government did nothing for the farmers and they are not even ready to give answers for their failure," Shah said. Speaking to the press, Amit Shah said that the Siddaramaiah government was unperturbed by the increasing number of farmer suicides and their distress for 5 years. He said that while the farmer suicides under Congress shot up by 173 percent in Karnataka, in neighbouring BJP-ruled Maharashtra the figures have come down by 73 percent. Amit Shah said that the development in Karnataka, under the Siddaramaiah government, is stuck like the traffic in Bengaluru. He said that the people's anger is perceptible across the state, and when a government fails like this, only then a chief minister has to leave his home seat and look for safe seats to fight elections. Shah said that the BJP does not believe in crafting scehemes for a specific religion and has taken inputs from voters across the state to formulate its manifesto. He said that the party will "waive off bank loans up to Rs.1 lakh in 10 days of government formation and will implement schemes to regulate vegetable prices." Addressing a press conference, Amit Shah revealed his much talked about prediction for elections. For Karnataka he says, he expects no less than 130 seats for his party and ruled out the possibility of any sort of alliance with JD(S). Amit Shah predicts over 130 seats for BJP, says no need for any alliance arrangement "We can lose elections but can't sit with Social Democratic Party of India and Popular Front of India," Shah added. Lashing out at the Congress party, Amit Shah said that the Congress party was conniving with divisive forces such as SDPI and PFI to win elections. On a question about Rahul Gandhi labelling Karnataka election a fight of ideologies, Shah said, "The only difference between BJP and Congress is that they have no qualms allying with traitors like SDPI and PFI." Only difference between BJP and Congress is that they have no qualms allying with traitors like SDPI and PFI "Recovery of fake voter ID cards in Rajarajeshwari Nagar shows how desperately Congress wants to win the election. I want to alert those whose fake IDs have been made, that don't fall in Congress' trap and disturb polls. Our workers will be present at each and every booth to see that the polling process is not corrupted," Shah said. The Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar has passed prohibitory orders under Section 144, which will last in the city until 6 pm on Sunday evening. Under the provisions of this section, more than four people cannot assemble in a public place, reported Bangalore Mirror . The report added that the police has also undertaken "adequate measures" to maintain law and order in the city, including sensitive in sensitive areas. Polling day may be marred by inclement weather, with the IMD issued a warning for thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds at isolated places over Karnataka on Saturday. There is a sense that JD(S) and BJP could forge an alliance and form the government with HD Kumaraswamy at the helm, because more than Congress, the BJP is in a better position to offer Kumaraswamy the chief minister's post. Sacrificing BS Yeddyurappa would not be a tough call for the BJP, if it comes at a cost of snatching another state away from the Congress. JD(S) hopes Vokkaliga mobilisation will help party become kingmaker, if not king Highly-placed sources in the Commission said prima facie it seems that most of the voter ID cards recovered were "genuine". But the reason as to why they were found in the flat is still being ascertained. - PTI The Election Commission on Thursday night deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka even as it sought fresh information from the state election machinery. Though Modi remained out of the electoral scene for a long time after addressing a public meeting in February, he launched a blitzkrieg on 1 May, addressing over a score of rallies in his bid to wrest the key southern state, which BJP chief Amit Shah dubbed as the party's "gateway to south", from the Congress. - PTI Like all state polls since he assumed the reins of power in New Delhi, Modi helmed the BJP's adrenaline-charged campaign despite the party having declared BS Yeddyurappa its chief ministerial candidate, while Rahul Gandhi helmed that of the Congress. From corruption to communalism, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Rs 70 lakh Hublot watch to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all. The vitriol-filled campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended on Thursday with top leaders of the BJP and Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, making a last-gasp effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. Yeshwanthpur corporator GK Venkatesh, who was arrested along with Congress workers K Sunandamma Bore Gowda and Meenamma a day after the flying squad of the Election Commission (EC) seized around 10,000 voter identity cards, laptops and several copies of Form 6 with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seals on it from an apartment in Jalahalli, claimed he and his colleagues are being framed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar has passed prohibitory orders under Section 144, which will last in the city until 6 pm on Sunday evening. Under the provisions of this section, more than four people cannot assemble in a public place, reported Bangalore Mirror . The report added that the police has also undertaken "adequate measures" to maintain law and order in the city, including sensitive in sensitive areas. We stand for all round development & fast-paced development! Large and Medium Industrial Units approved During 2008-2013 : 2345 units During 2013-2018 : 1735 units #Vote4ChangeVote4BJP Polling day may be marred by inclement weather, with the IMD issued a warning for thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds at isolated places over Karnataka on Saturday. There is a sense that JD(S) and BJP could forge an alliance and form the government with HD Kumaraswamy at the helm, because more than Congress, the BJP is in a better position to offer Kumaraswamy the chief minister's post. Sacrificing BS Yeddyurappa would not be a tough call for the BJP, if it comes at a cost of snatching another state away from the Congress. JD(S) hopes Vokkaliga mobilisation will help party become kingmaker, if not king We are expecting light to moderate rainfall in Karnataka tomorrow. At isolated places, we are expecting heavy rainfall, accompanied with wind. Expecting rainfall in evening&night, it may be there in the day but with less frequency: CS Patil, India Meteorological Dept #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/WpVaY2TaBu Karnataka Assembly Election LIVE updates: On the day of polling, light to moderate rain has been predicted in parts of Karnataka. With less than a day before citizens of Karnataka exercise their franchise on 12 May, all major parties were busy slinging mud at each other over the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat as the vitriol filled campaign ended on Thursday. The Election Commission on Thursday night deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka even as it sought fresh information from the state election machinery. Highly-placed sources in the Commission said prima facie it seems that most of the voter ID cards recovered were "genuine". But the reason as to why they were found in the flat is still being ascertained. The Commission, the sources said, deliberated on the issue and decided to seek more information from the state election administration before arriving at a conclusion. Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar told a press conference that so far, two persons have been arrested. More arrests are likely and the case is already under investigation. If the EC finds that a fraud was involved, it could even cancel election to the constituency. Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress of making desperate attempts to win elections in an "undemocratic" way, but said such machinations would not work and his party would win 130 plus seats. Shah referred to the alleged "bogus" voter ID card scandal, saying, "it tells us how desperately the Congress wants to win the election." The vitriol-filled campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended on Thursday with top leaders of the BJP and Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, making a last-gasp effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. From corruption to communalism, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Rs 70 lakh Hublot watch to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all. Like all state polls since he assumed the reins of power in New Delhi, Modi helmed the BJP's adrenaline-charged campaign despite the party having declared BS Yeddyurappa its chief ministerial candidate, while Rahul Gandhi helmed that of the Congress. Though Modi remained out of the electoral scene for a long time after addressing a public meeting in February, he launched a blitzkrieg on 1 May, addressing over a score of rallies in his bid to wrest the key southern state, which BJP chief Amit Shah dubbed as the party's "gateway to south", from the Congress. Polling for the Karnataka Assembly Election will take place on 12 May with counting of votes on 15 May. With inputs from PTI For both the Congress and the BJP, the time of their leaders' rallies and speeches are over. All attention now is on the efficacy of the booth-level workers of both parties covering the 56,000 polling booths in the state, approximately 220 booths per constituency. Bengaluru: There comes a tide in the affairs of a party which taken at the flood leads to fame, to paraphrase the lines of a famous poet. For the two main contestants in Karnataka, the tide is certainly here at last. The question is which of them will be able to ride it to fame. And how well prepared their ground-level cadre are to negotiate the fickle currents of the electorates perceptions and choice as he confronts the electronic voting machine in the polling booth. For both the Congress and the BJP, the time of their leaders' rallies and speeches are over. All attention now is on the efficacy of the booth-level workers of both parties covering the 56,000 polling booths in the state, approximately 220 booths per constituency. Congress has strengthened its cadre at the booth level, having begun the process of forming booth-level committees one and a half years back. Their task is to meet neutral voters and convince them to vote for the Congress. Reporting to the block level president (there are two presidents for each constituency), each booth committee member is assigned to canvas 20-30 families in his locality, maintaining a written record of the details of each family -- one page per family and one notebook per booth, according to KPCC media coordinator AN Nataraj Gowda. "All credit for energising the Congress cadre must go to KPCC president G Parameshwara," said general secretary SA Hussain, who played a key role in strengthening the partys booth level committees. "Parameshwara organised various programmes at the booth level across the state. Our cadre used to get activated only during election time. Now they are active all days. We have collected data on six lakh families through these booth committees." The data includes the number of voters per family, occupation, phone numbers and party affiliation if any. "We also approach voters identified as supporters of rival parties, seeking their support for Congress by explaining the governments achievements and welfare schemes," Gowda said. The party has also roped in Youth Congress and National Students Union of India (NSUI) members to help out. "We have appointed NSUI volunteers who are active on Facebook and Twitter for each booth under the Digital Youth programme which is active in all 56,000 booth committees," the KPCC media coordinator said. The objective is to promote the governments schemes through social media. "Our social media team prepares the material and the Digital Youths promote them at the booth level. We also increased the number of members in each booth committee from 10 to 14, including one woman, one or two from SC-ST community, one from backward classes," he said. Gowda emphasised that the booth committee members and digital youth volunteers get no monetary benefits. "They are loyal Congress workers. Earlier we used to select people randomly for booth committees but now only voters of that particular booth are chosen. Their task is to ensure a majority for Congress in their respective polling booths," Gowda said. BJP equally active The BJP booth level workers too adopted a similar approach, with the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and 14 other fringe groups having deployed their members, averaging eight-10 persons per booth. "All constituencies may not have RSS or VHP or Bajrang Dal member in the booth level," said Ravindra Rai in Puttur in Mangaluru district. "In many places, it is BJP workers only like Mandya, Ramanagaram, Chamarajanagar, Malavalli, Maddur, Srirangapatnam and Nagamandala. Most other constituencies have an average of eight RSS workers and other Sangh Parivar members working at the booth level. They have mobilised leaders to visit the booths and had taken an active part in the preparation of district and taluk level manifestos." Intensive work has been done in Chikamagalur, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davangare, Ballari, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada, where the contest is very close. "Everything has happened in the last 15 days ever since Modi and Shah weaved their magic by their tours," said Mahendra Singh, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh who had joined the BJP campaign in the Mangaluru area. He was not a rare import. The party had brought in volunteers from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana to strengthen its ground level campaign. "Leaders of the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal, who have seen Modis campaign in their respective states, have manned the control room at the district and state level," said Ramlakhan Mathur, an RSS pracharak from Madhya Pradesh. Initially, it was not sure that RSS and other Sangh Parivar groups would take part in the campaign as not even one RSS name had been cleared by the state command. "We were peeved at the party choosing money bags over committed workers from RSS and other pro-Hindu organisations," said a senior RSS member in Mangaluru, Venkatesh Bhat. "We were expecting at least five such candidates. Satyajit Surathkal of Hindu Janajagruti Vedike was a frontrunner in Mangaluru North but was denied a ticket." But once Islamic groups like Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) gave their full support to Congress, "we felt we must support BJP with all our might", said Bhat. Such is the intense communal polarisation that has happened in this already communally sensitive region in the last 15 days. Buntwal-based BJP leader, formerly with the RSS, admitted as much. "We are working towards a polarisation of votes," he said. "We know like in Buntwal, in many other places non-Hindus will not vote for BJP. The MLA here Ramanatha Rai who won five times said he wins only because of non-Hindus votes. So be it. We will make a Hindu leader the MLA. Things have come to that." Other kinds of polarisation are happening in other regions of the state. That Modis flurry of campaign rallies across the state since 1 May has made an impact is accepted by most. "Even in Gujarat, it was during the last 15 days that the trend shifted towards the BJP," said MS Rao, a well-known Kannada writer who had followed Modis campaign there. "Many of us had given up hopes in many pockets especially in Saurashtra and Kutch, but once RSS and other Hindutva workers joined the campaign, things changed. Similarly, in Karnataka, the storm that the Congress has tried to whip up using Lingayat-Veerashaiva and Vokkaligga communities will turn out to be a storm in the teacup," he predicted. The authors are freelance writers based out of Karnataka and members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters The polling for Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Karnataka has been deferred by the Election Commission, according to reports. The polling for Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Karnataka has been deferred by the Election Commission, according to reports. Polling for the seat will now be held on 28 May and the counting will take place on 31 May. The Election Commission on Thursday night deferred the decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter I-cards from a flat in Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka even as it sought fresh information from the state election machinery. Highly-placed sources in the Commission had said prima facie it seems that most of the voter I-cards recovered were "genuine". But the reason as to why they were found in the flat is still being ascertained. The Commission, the sources had said, deliberated on the issue and decided to seek more information from the state election administration before arriving at a conclusion. "Now we have to ensure that genuine voters can cast their votes using voter slips distributed to electors. Also, the state election commission has to ensure that no voter is intimidated," an official had said on Thursday. The recovery of voter cards prompted the BJP to demand countermanding of the election claiming the Congress was behind the racket, a charge dismissed by the latter as a "lie". Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar had told a press conference that two persons had been arrested. With Karnataka going to poll on Saturday, the BJP and the Congress, the two main contenders for power, went after each other claiming that the flat from where the cards were recovered belonged to a woman associated with the rival party. With inputs from PTI With less than 24 hours to go before voting for the Assembly polls begin in Karnataka, here is a look at some of the lesser-known leaders who made an impact this election The campaign for the Karnataka Assembly Election was marred with mudslinging, political barbs between high profile leaders of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular). On Thursday, the vitriol-filled campaign came to an end. During the run-up to the polls, top party leaders from both parties including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BJP president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned across the state in order to bolster their party's chances in the election. With less than 24 hours to go before voting for the Assembly polls begin in Karnataka, here is a look at some of the lesser-known leaders who made an impact during this election: BY Vijayendra The BJP chief ministerial candidate, BS Yeddyurappa's announcement that his son BY Vijayendra won't be contesting the Karnataka polls from Varuna constituency in Mysuru against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's son Yatindra, had triggered angry protests from party workers that led to a police lathicharge. Yeddyurappa had made the announcement at a meeting organised by the party at Nanjanagudu near Mysuru, just a day before the deadline for filing of nominations ended on 23 April. Soon after the unexpected announcement, angry BJP workers flung chairs and other furniture and raised slogans against party president Amit Shah and even tried to stop the cars of Vijayendra and other leaders as they were leaving. The saffron party instead announced Vijayendra as the state general secretary of the Yuva Morcha to appease both father, son and their supporters. Vijayendra had been campaigning heavily in Varuna and had rented a house there too, ahead of the decision. However, according to India Today, Yeddyurappa had "banished" Vijayendra from his home in November 2010 when the former was the Karnataka chief minister. As per the report, the move sought to salvage Yeddyurappa's image in the eyes of the BJP central leadership, which was upset with him over charges of nepotism. Divya Spandana The head of the Congress social media cell, Divya Spandana aka Ramya is the person behind Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's sharp and acerbic attacks on top BJP leaders, including Modi, Shah, Yeddyurappa, and others. The Kannada actor-turned-politician is an active Twitter user who contested and lost the 2014 polls from Mandya. She was appointed as the party's social media head in 2017. Her efforts marked the arrival of the Congress on social media, with an emphasis towards state-level leaders interacting with voters through the virtual world, reported The Hindu. Several fact check videos that the Congress regularly puts out on its official Twitter handle, are Spandana's initiative. The one-line brief Rahul gave me when I was picked to lead the social media cell was to stick to the truth and nothing but the truth," The Hindu quoted her as saying. Hanumanthappa Mavinamarad When it comes to Badami, most people are focused on the tough battle it will be between Siddaramaiah and BJP's deputy chief ministerial candidate B Sreeramulu, the JD(S) candidate Hanumanthappa Mavinamarad is keen to make it a triangular fight. The 38-year-old is the son of a Lingayat farmer who left the Congress a year ago and joined JD(S). While both Siddaramaiah and Sreeramulu have been running high decibel campaigns, Mavinamarad has been low-key yet consistent, according to The Economic Times. He is a well-known face in the town and can be approached by anybody at any time of the day. He reportedly began his campaign a year ago and personally went knocking on 45,000 of the 60,000 doors in Badami. Yathindra Siddaramaiah Set to make his political debut on 12 May, pathologist Yathindra S, Siddaramaiah's son will be contesting the Karnataka polls from Varuna constituency. A newbie on the state political scene, Yathindra has been visiting different parts of his constituency for the last 18 months. He was compelled to step in after his older brother Rakesh Siddaramaiah, considered the chief minister's political heir, died in July 2016. In the same year, he was embroiled in a corruption scandal where it was alleged that Yathindra was favoured in a tender given to set up labs at the state-run Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru, where he was a director, reported Livemint. While he has maintained that the Congress "will win comfortably", the fact that Yeddyurappa's son Vijayendra was pulled out of the polls at the last minute might work in Yathindra's favour. Yathindra has been regularly campaigning for his father in the Chamundeswari constituency as well. With inputs from agencies The EC on Friday ordered postponement of polling to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat to 28 May. New Delhi: The BJP on Friday said the Election Commission order deferring polls to the RR Nagar seat in Karnataka and registration of a case against the Congress candidate was a "clear indictment" of the ruling party in the state and proved that it was "using money power to influence the Karnataka polls". The EC on Friday ordered postponement of polling to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat to 28 May. The decision comes days after nearly 10,000 voter identity cards were recovered from a flat in the constituency. On the eve of the polling, Union minister Piyush Goyal, in a scathing attack on the Congress, alleged that the ruling party had resorted to corrupt practices to rig the elections. He also said the BJP had asked the EC to seek one more proof of address from first-time voters, besides the voter ID card, to ensure that they are genuine voters. "A desperate Congress has given up all hope of winning the elections and is resorting to most corrupt electoral practices to rig the state polls," Goyal told reporters in New Delhi. The minister termed the EC order postponing the polls to the RR Nagar constituency an "extraordinary" step. "The EC and its special observers had detected specific instances of corrupt electoral practices and attempts at bribery. The poll panel has taken an extraordinary step to postpone the election in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat," Goyal said. "We have also asked the EC to put out an advertisement asking voters not to get carried away by any inducement or coercion, and exercise their right in a free and fair manner," he said. While the seizure was made in one seat, similar methods may have been adopted in other seats. The EC should conduct a probe across the state, he said. "The seizure of 9,564 EPIC cards, photo voter slips, laptops, and other materials indicates there was a clear attempt to induce voters in a systematic and planned manner... it vitiates the election process," Goyal said citing the EC order. He said the BJP had also asked the EC to take note of a similar malpractice in a neighbouring constituency, and alleged that the Congress was distributing money in Bedami, one of the seats from where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is contesting. Dissident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shatrughan Sinha, on Thursday, expressed his disapproval of the aggressive tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches during the Karnataka Assembly elections campaign, which concluded on Thursday, and sought to offer some 'advice'. Patna: Dissident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shatrughan Sinha, on Thursday, expressed his disapproval of the aggressive tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches during the Karnataka Assembly elections campaign, which concluded on Thursday, and sought to offer some 'advice'. In a series of tweets, Sinha who has often contradicted his party's official stand tagged Modi and said becoming the prime minister does not make anyone the wisest. Sir. Today, the election campaign will come to an end. Regardless of Dhan Shakti (power of wealth)..ultimately Jan Shakti (power of the people) prevails, the actor-turned-politician tweeted in his trademark style. In Sinha's tweets, his disenchantment over not being invited as a star campaigner for the BJP in the state elections were amply clear. Even though I am uninvited, like in other states, from Bihar to UP to Gujarat, as a star campaigner, for reasons best known to all of us, I shall humbly suggest as an old friend, well-wisher and supporter of the party ..Let's not cross limits. Let's not get personal. Issues should be conveyed in most beautiful way, keeping decorum. Maryada and Garima of honourable PM must be kept intact,' tweeted the Patna Sahib MP, tagging both Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah. Why do we come with odd and ridiculous definitions .. like PPP for INC (Pondicherry, Punjab and Pariwar), he tweeted, strongly disapproving the barbs hurled by the prime minister at the Congress during his election rallies. During an election rally on 5 May, Modi had mounted a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, and asserted it will remain "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar" Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls. The state goes to polls on 12 May and counting of votes will take place on 15 May. Results will be announced on 15th. Anything can happen. Being PM does not make anyone the wisest in the country . for being PM requires no qualification .. only majority...while for becoming Shankaracharya one requires great wisdom, experience and statesmanship," Sinha tweeted. What happens if your definition changes after results and your PPP becomes of the People by the People and for the People, or for that matter turns into Popular People's Party, he said, again tagging Modi. Let the people of Karnataka decide and let the best persons win," he signed off. Transgenders are often asked to distribute pamphlets, put up banners, sloganeer and even dance to draw the attention of voters. A major grouse is that they are forgotten soon after the elections are over. As Karnataka gears up to vote in the high-stakes Assembly election on 12 May, a majority of the transgender community in the state watches from the sidelines as it struggles to secure its right to vote. Not a single transgender person will be contesting the elections this year retrogressing from the 2013 polls which saw at least two transgender candidates. Several community members pointed out that their immediate concern is voter enrollment and not contesting the elections as they wish to exercise their basic rights. Nisha Golur, Swaraj Indias vice president for Bengaluru Urban, said that she declined her party's offer to contest in the upcoming polls from Bengaluru's Hebbal constituency. "I need to familiarise with the voters of Hebbal by fighting for their rights to have basic amenities such as drinking water, better roads, schools and public toilets before I take an electoral plunge," she said. Though voter registration for the community doubled from 2,100 in 2013 to 4,552 this year, many among the state's approximately 23,000-strong transgender population are still left out. "Many of us are still struggling to get our voter IDs because of documentation issues. The absence of proper address proofs, rental agreements and electricity bills in some cases obstructs the process of getting voter ID cards," said Uma, a trans-activist, and founder of Jeeva, an NGO dedicated to gender minorities. Pointing out that many of the transgender people are still forced to beg due to lack of job opportunities, Uma also pulled up the previous governments and stressed upon the need for a socially-inclusive plan to integrate the community. While other political parties have failed to make any substantial promises to the transgender persons, Congress has assured them five percent (of the 33 percent reservation for women) in police force. The party also promised efforts to create public awareness so that transgender people receive acceptance, respect and secure environment in their families, neighborhood, schools and society at large. Role of transgenders in elections Though it is an encouraging trend that the transgender community is gradually being mainstreamed, their presence is unlikely to influence the outcome of any elections a fact which often causes a majority of political parties to ignore their plight. None of the three major parties Congress, BJP and JD(S) fielded any transgender candidates. Golur, who is also associated with an NGO working for the welfare of sexual minorities, said she is grateful towards Swaraj India for "encouraging" her to enter active politics. "Many politicians attend meetings organised by sexual minorities to discuss issues but it's only lip service. They want us to work for them during the elections but none of them are ready to encourage and support us by involving us in their organisational matters," she said. Members of the community also allege that they are exploited by political parties during the election season. Transgender people are often asked to distribute pamphlets, put up banners, sloganeer and even dance to draw the attention of voters. A major grouse is that they are forgotten soon after the elections are over. Perhaps, angered by the negligence of mainstream parties, two trans people did step up to contest the 2013 Assembly elections one of them being Sowmya Raj, who contested the elections on a BSP ticket from the Gandhinagar constituency in Bengaluru. "It was very tough for me since major political parties fielded candidates with deep pockets," said Raj, who received only 441 votes (0.4 percent) out of the 1,10,828 votes polled. "I could only afford to provide food for my supporters during the campaign," she told Firstpost. Can transgender people win elections? "The main reason for the defeat is lack of popularity of the candidate," an activist Elavarthy Manohar pointed out. "They have to work hard in the constituency to get votes," she said. Manohar who is also the founder of Sangama, an organisation which empowers sexual minorities and educates them on political participation added: "Generally, a transgender people, who depends on begging and sex work for survival, cannot afford to mingle with voters in the constituency. I am not even sure if Sowmya even visited Gandhinagar after 2013 elections." However, in the 2013 municipal elections Parveen, a transgender candidate, created history by winning the election to Ballari Municipal Corporation on a Congress ticket. "There were 16 candidates in the fray. I got 3,100 votes in the election," she recalled adding that she had been working hard for the welfare of sexual minorities in the area. "Around 200 transgender people from the district were given Rs 20,000 each to start small businesses. I have taken up a lot of developmental works in my ward without taking a single rupee as bribe as I am happy with the honorarium of Rs 5,000," said Parveen, who also aspires to be a mayor and is likely to contest the next election. Meanwhile, Karnataka State Sexual Minorities Forum wants all political parties to support their long-pending demands of a separate Commission (a statutory body), separate budget, community-friendly initiatives and an annual report evaluating the programmes and schemes meant for them. "Transgender people are one of the most marginalised among sexual and gender minorities who are seeking acceptance and dignity from the society. Though things have changed for the better in the last decade with the government recognizing them as foot soldiers spearheading the HIV prevention programme a lot needs to be done to provide them basic rights on par with other citizens," said Rose, project manager at Payana TGTI (Transgender Targeted Intervention). (With inputs, photos and video from Mahesh Bacham, a Bangalore-based multimedia reporter. Contributors are members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters) The Election Commission on Thursday deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday deferred a decision on the recovery of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from a flat in Rajrajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat of poll-bound Karnataka even as it sought fresh information from the state election machinery. Highly-placed sources in the Commission said prima facie it seems that most of the voter ID cards recovered were "genuine". But the reason as to why they were found in the flat is still being ascertained. The Commission, the sources said, deliberated on the issue and decided to seek more information from the state election administration before arriving at a conclusion. If the EC finds that a fraud was involved, it could even cancel election to the constituency. Even if the EC is able to ascertain that attempt was made to stop people from voting, it can cancel the poll. "Now we have to ensure that genuine voters can cast their votes using voter slips distributed to electors. Also, the machinery has to ensure that no voter is intimidated," an official had on Wednesday said. The recovery of voter cards prompted the BJP to demand countermanding of the election claiming the Congress was behind the racket, a charge dismissed by the latter as a "lie". Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar told a press conference that so far, two persons have been arrested. More arrests are likely and the case is already under investigation. With Karnataka going to poll on Saturday, the BJP and the Congress, the two main contenders for power, went after each other claiming that the flat from where the cards were recovered belonged to a woman associated with the rival party. Click here to follow LIVE updates on Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 Every statement or call for action by Mehbooba Mufti on the issues confronting the state are countered forcefully by her own alliance partner and rejected disdainfully In a rare display of unity, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti got the National Conference, Congress and even MLA Engineer Rashid to agree that the message from the all-party meeting, held in Srinagar on Wednesday, was unequivocal call for a ceasefire with militants. But the PDP's alliance partner, BJP, seems reluctant to agree on anything Mehbooba's party sees fit for the Valley. Whenever Mehbooba speaks, whether on the issue of economy or politics, she is countered either by the state leaders from Jammu or the BJP's Jitender Singh a small time party worker from Jammu who now works in the Prime Minister's Officer. Every statement or call for action by her on the issues confronting the state are countered forcefully by her own alliance partner and rejected disdainfully. The two parties agree on nothing, but despite that, they still cling on to power in Jammu and Kashmir. Mehbooba's father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, faced public humiliation at the hands of the prime minister in Srinagar. And since coming to power, Mehbooba has wielded very little actual power. On Thursday, in the state Assembly, the chief minister reached out to the Opposition, terming its role as critical in strengthening democracy. She said the Opposition should act as a buffer between government and people by "channelising dissent" towards right paths. She added that the all-party meeting was a way to appeal to the Opposition to help the government by reaching out to people in its own way and channelise their grievances to the government. But the reality today in Kashmir is that the National Conference the Grand Old Party of Jammu and Kashmir had miserably failed to play the role of the Opposition. Its leaders barring a spectacular intervention by its working president Omar Abdullah and Jitendra's brother and senior NC man Devinder Singh Rana on some occasions during the last Budget Session of state Assembly have largely failed to play the role of an Opposition. It could well be that the National Conference is silent because it wants the PDP ship to sink so deep that it will take decades to retrieve the debris, never mind rebuilding the ship. PDP MLAs can't go home in South Kashmir this is the state of the elected legislators. The party workers peep through windows of their houses at the slightest suspicion, fearing militants may have arrived to kill them. Some pro-India political workers think a little aazadi will come once Mehbooba steps down. That is perhaps why there is silence in the National Conference camp. Since the PDP has the BJP in the house, it doesnt need an Opposition. The powers of assertion have been surrendered. A chief minister whose orders are not even adhered to by babus in the civil secretariat has to be the best example of incompetence.On Wednesday, after the all-party meeting that lasted four hours to discuss the present situation in the Kashmir Valley, Mehbooba said she had appealed to all shades of opinion in joining in the mission to get the state out of violence and bloodshed. "Everyone agreed that we should appeal to the Centre to consider a ceasefire like the unilateral ceasefire in (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee's time during Ramzan and the Amarnath yatra," she said, adding that a ceasefire would provide relief to people and help create a better atmosphere in the state. But no sooner had she said this, BJP workers in Jammu rebutted her claim and categorically rejected her assertions, saying they have not accepted any such proposal. "The unilateral ceasefire is not going to happen." "We dont believe in the unilateral ceasefire as it is not in the national interest. We think at present no relaxation should be given. Anyone who joins the militancy is killed in three days. We are on a strong wicket now. The unilateral ceasefire is not a good thing," BJP leader and spokesperson Sunil Sethi said on Thursday in Jammu. The public display of affection, or lack of it, for Mehbooba by the BJP, is yet another indicator that all is not well in the alliance. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah is perhaps right when he said that if Mehbooba was not building consensus around such an initiative with her own partner, why did she want to take the Opposition on board. What was the point of @MehboobaMufti calling an all party meeting to build a consensus around initiatives in Kashmir when her ally in the Govt doesnt agree with her! Yet she will shamelessly cling to power because thats all that matters to her. https://t.co/HQ6P6yadPT Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 10, 2018 Only Mehbooba, who seems to have put blinkers on her eyes to evade the sight of the slow slide of Kashmir into chaos, knows the answer to that question. Her silence on the BJP's rebellion speaks volumes. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, he has once again revisited both, Ayodhya and his election manifesto. More than 25 years ago, on 6 December 1992, when karsevaks demolished Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, the air reverberated with chants of "Jai Shree Ram". This event was a watershed moment in the socio-political history of India for two reasons. One, under the aegis of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and leadership of LK Advani, the BJP appointed itself as the custodian of Ram and majority religion of India i.e., Hinduism. This allowed the party to define its electoral contours and communicate its social agenda to the country's electorate. The party decided to speak for those Hindus, who were otherwise unsure of wearing their religion on their sleeve, for the fear of being announced as non-secular. Two, it forced other political stakeholders in the system to come out of their closets and present their political stance on religion. India is a religious nation with stark caste fault lines. As a result, the role of religion and caste in national polity can neither be denied nor underestimated. This is also the reason why every political party has pandered to some religion or caste during its course of existence. While certain political parties decided to appeal to a specific minority religion or marginalised section of the society, the BJP chose to excel at this game by appealing to the majority. It is simple arithmetic -- to maximise its vote share, the party needed to maximise its outreach and Hindus form 80 percent of the Indian population. The party invoked symbols of Hinduism (like Ram, Krishna, Ganga, Durga etc.), proliferated the culture as an integral part of its agenda and gave the impression of Hindu puritanism. Although the party did run the risk of alienating the non-Hindus, once again, the arithmetic was worth the risk. Being the only party to champion the causes of the majority, the party under the leadership of Narendra Modi has found itself weighed down by expectations of both, religious leaders and its core voters. On the one hand, religious leaders expect the party to propagate the religion and build a Ram Mandir at the disputed site, its core voters hope the party will broaden its agenda to economic growth and development. Moreover, the party is frequently found battling with the fringe, who speak the language of Hindutva. The BJP, in its current form, has two core competencies. One, a well-oiled electioneering machinery which drills down to the last voter at every booth. Two, a strategic think tank which adopts a multi-dimensional approach to conquer election contests. All threetiming, agenda and itineraryof the prime ministers current Nepal visit reflects an intelligent convergence of the aforementioned competencies. Reviving Sita The prime minister kicked off his third visit to Nepal, from Janakpur, the place where it is believed that King Janaka found a baby girl in a furrow and named her Sita. This makes the city an important pilgrimage for Hindus. However, there is a deeper insight into the prime ministers visit to Janakpur revive Sita and project himself as a leader who believes in women empowerment and gender equality. This is in continuation with his relentless pursuit to abolish instant Triple Talaq one of the many practices that endorse a patriarchy. On multiple occasions, I have personally expressed by disagreement with the slogan, "Jai Shree Ram", for in actuality, the slogan is "Jai Siya Ram". Legend goes, that as a wedding gift, Lord Ram made two promises to his wife Sita. One, that he would practice monogamy. Two, to ensure Sita gets her due respect, her name would always be said before Ram Siya Ram. Against the backdrop of disdainful instances like the rape of a little girl in Kathua, Jammu and growing crime against women, the prime ministers flagship slogan, "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" has met with significant disapprobation. By paying homage to Sita at Janakpur, the lady who partook her husbands arduous exile with full strength, refused to cede to Ravana, lived as a single-mother, the BJP will absolve itself of repeated charges of misogyny and patriarchy. Ram Mandir Even 25 years after the Babri Majid was demolished, the site stands disputed. Critics have accused BJP of using Ram as an electoral dividend and even challenged the partys commitment to fulfil its perpetual promise to its voters to build a Ram temple at the disputed site. Ram Mandir found its mention in BJPs 2014 election manifesto, "BJP reiterates its stand to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya." The same was reiterated in the partys manifesto for Uttar Pradesh in 2017. It is the only party that has made its stance on the historic dispute, unequivocal and categorical. However, as the case continues to meander within courtrooms, there is visible unrest on the issue among both, the religious heads and the electorate. To mitigate the moral hazard, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram by the river Saryu. The Opposition lashed out at the BJP for making infeasible election promises. As the prime minister announced a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, he has once again revisited both, Ayodhya and his election manifesto. By periodically revisiting his pending promises, the prime minister is making a strong case for second-term in office. Ramayana Circuit Karnataka Elections From Janakpur, the prime minister has announced joint development of the Ramayana Circuit, one among the 13 tourist circuits under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. The Ramayana Circuit is expected to cover destinations where Lord Ram is believed to have travelled across India, including Hampi, the election bound state of Karnataka. It is believed that the Kishkindha Kanda of Ramayana is set in Hampi, where Hanuman first met Ram. Poised to be a part of the circuit, the projected increase in revenue and tourist footfall will have a recency effect just one day before the voting day. Even while addressing an election rally at Sarwad village in Vijayapura district, the prime minister spoke about Swadesh Darshan Scheme under which Anegundi and Hampi would be developed. Steering clear from the checkered past of mining scams, sitting BJP MP B Sreeramulu has often spoken about reviving Hampi and making it an international tourism hub. As voters go to caste their vote in Bellary on 12 May, 2018, the prime minister's Nepal visit will have a very strong recall. The prime ministers visit to Muktinath is of equal importance, as the shrine is sacred for Hindu Vaishnavas, a sub-sect predominant in Tamil Nadu. Modis visit to Nepal, a day before Karnataka poll is strategic. This visit, unlike his other foreign visits, is intended for domestic messaging than pure diplomatic deductions in the neighbourhood. The prime ministers innovative politics is clearly setting the bar higher, not just for present day opposition, but also his successors. Asheeta Regidi Editor's Note: This copy was published on 3 May, 2018. It is being republished in light of the Supreme Court's verdict on the constitutionality of Aadhaar likely being pronounced tomorrow. On Day 35 of the Aadhaar hearings, advocate Zoheb Hossain concluded his arguments on the issue of the furtherance of socio-economic rights via Aadhaar. He also discussed the issues of disclosure of information in the interest of national security, the filing of complaints by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) only under the Aadhaar Act, and on the Aadhaar-PAN linkages being applicable to individuals only and not to corporates. The Attorney General then continued his arguments on the money bill issue, arguing that Aadhaar was, at its core, a money bill and that Section 57 was just an ancillary provision. Aadhaar advances socio-economic rights Advocate Zoheb Hossain continued his arguments on behalf of the UIDAI and the State of Maharashtra, arguing on the issue of advancement of socio-economic rights and their harmonisation with civil and political rights. Aadhaar, he argued, was a project that ensures peoples socio-economic rights. He further pointed to the Justice Wadhwa Committee Report on the public distribution system. Next, he pointed to the case of D.K. Trivedi vs State of Gujarat, in which the Supreme Court observed that the validity of a statute conferring discretionary powers on the executive or an administrative authority, could not be judged on the assumption that the said authority would act in an arbitrary manner in the exercise of that discretion. He further made reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the reference made to them in previous judgments of the Supreme Court like in Unni Krishnan vs State of Andhra Pradesh. He argued, based on the ICCPR, that all human rights are equally important, indivisible and interconnected. Socio-economic rights are thus as important as civil and political rights. PIL on the right to privacy? In order to judge the proportionality of restrictions imposed on privacy, he argued that their reasonableness would have to be considered from the perspective of the general public and not that of an individual. At this juncture, he also questioned how a public interest litigation could be filed for the violation of the right to privacy, when privacy is essentially a personal right, and none of the petitioners were alleging a violation of their privacy. In furtherance of this, he cited a US congressional report on the development of the Social Security Number (SSN), which describes it as a quasi-universal personal identification number, used for a variety of purposes such as identifying convicted criminals, obtaining a loan or insurance, etc. He argued that individuals in the US could be denied benefits if they fail to produce their SSN. As an example, he cited a US case where the firing of an employee for failing to produce her SSN was not seen as a violation of her privacy. Disclosure of information for national security Next, arguing that there were adequate safeguards for records under the Aadhaar Act, he cited Section 33(2) of the Aadhaar Act, which allows the disclosure of information in the interest of national security. He pointed to the safeguard under the proviso of this section, which requires every such direction under it to be reviewed by an Oversight Committee. He argued that the Aadhaar Act prescribes more oversight than even that prescribed under the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) case on telephone tapping. On the issue of national security, he further argued that a party could not expect strict adherence to the principles of natural justice during times of emergency. Filing of complaints by the UIDAI only He further argued on the challenge to Section 47 of the Aadhaar Act, which prevents the people from filing a case under the Act. He argued that since the person could file a complaint before the UIDAI through its grievance redressal system, he wouldnt be left remedy-less. He argued that it was best left to the UIDAI to file complaints since they have a better understanding of the highly technical nature of the Aadhaar system. He also pointed to the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of NCT v. Delhi,, where a similar provision under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act was discussed. Further, he argued that the UIDAI may authorize a person to file a complaint if they felt that it was genuine since there was no bar to do this under the Aadhaar Act. Additionally, there were remedies available under the Information Technology Act, such as for identity theft and the violation of privacy, for actors outside the CIDR. For the CIDR, there were adequate provisions under the Aadhaar Act. Promoting redistributive justice via Aadhaar-PAN Next, he argued that the purpose of the Aadhaar Act as well as Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act on Aadhaar-PAN linking is to promote redistributive justice and ensure substantive equality, along with furthering the dignity of the individual. He argued that the term distribute under the Directive Principle of State Policy under Article 39(b) of the Constitution, includes revenue leakage control in furtherance of distributive justice. He also quoted the Puttaswamy judgment, arguing that rights of an individual could be curbed in the interest of prevention of tax evasion, curbing black money and prevention of money laundering. He further argued that the Aadhaar Act and the Income Tax Act were stand-alone acts, and it cannot be said that the Parliament cannot, in the exercise of its legislative wisdom, make Aadhaar mandatory by way of an amendment. This argument, further, had already been decided by the Supreme Court in the Binoy Viswam case. The objects of the two statutes, he argued, are different, and they could run parallel to each other, with no intersection and thus, no conflict. Aadhaar-PAN can resolve dummy directors and fake companies Next, turning to the issue of why only individuals had been asked to link their Aadhaar with PAN, he argued that the rule for equality did not mean that the State has to strike all evils at the same time. Companies and individuals, he argued, were treated differently under the Income Tax Rules. Further, the linking for individuals will also cure the evils vis-a-vis companies. For instance, under the Companies Act, a person can be a director for only 20 companies at a given time. The linking of Aadhaar with PAN, he argued, would allow the verification of whether a genuine person is the director of the companies. This could thus enable the deduplication of Director Identification Numbers. The genuineness of the companies can also be verified this way. With this, the counsel concluded his arguments. Aadhaar is at its core a money bill The Attorney General then commenced his arguments on the issue of money bill. He argued that Aadhaar was, in pith and substance, a money bill, and ancillary provisions in relation to appeal, revision, etc., which are needed to make the Act complete, do not fall outside the ambit of Article 110 of the Constitution (which defines a money bill). He argued that the term targeted delivery of subsidies contemplated the expenditure of funds. This expenditure was to the tune of thousands of crores from the Consolidated Fund of India. This, he argued, in itself brought the Aadhaar Act under the ambit of a money bill under the Constitution of India. He argued that even though the law has ancillary provisions, the main aim of the Act was the delivery of services and benefits. He argued that Sections 7, 24 and 25 brought the Aadhaar Act under the ambit of a money bill. Not a single provision, he argued, was unnecessary or unrelated to the main purpose of the Act. Section 57 is an ancillary provision The Bench here pointed to Section 57, describing the allowing of body corporates and individuals to use Aadhaar as a concern with the link of the Act to the Consolidated Fund of India. This provision, they stated, did not involve the distribution of benefits and subsidies under the Aadhaar Act. To this, the Attorney General argued that the Section merely allows the existing infrastructure to be used for other purposes so long as the purposes are legitimate. Thus, this was just another ancillary provision. He further argued that the Court could judge the validity of a contract for the use of Aadhaar under this Section only if it was before them for consideration. He further pointed to Article 110 of the Constitution of India, which defines a money bill and includes clause (g), which allows a money bill to include provisions on matters incidental to any of the matters which are the primary subject of a money bill. When the Bench pointed out that under Article 110, a money bill could only involve the matters as listed from clauses (a) to (g), the Attorney General argued that the term only implied that the matters listed under these clauses could only be dealt with as a money bill. The Bench, here, remarked that such an interpretation would constitute rewriting the Constitution. The arguments will continue 3 May. Sources of arguments include live-tweeting of the case by SFLC.in and Prasanna S, and LiveLaw Reports. You can read our complete coverage of the Aadhaar Supreme Court case below: Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences Will State give citizens rights only if they agree to be tracked forever, asks lawyer Shyam Divan Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights Entire Aadhaar project is beyond the stated objectives of Aadhaar Act, argue petitioners Petitioners conclude their arguments on 'the number of the beast' Aadhaar, highlighting various issues Aadhaar hearing: Political liberties cannot be foregone for economic and social justice, states the Bench Aadhaar hearing: UIDAIs presentation discusses Aadhaar enrolment, updation and authentication processes in detail Aadhaar hearing: Supreme Court expresses concerns with data breaches, Aadhaar security and profiling Aadhaar hearing: Petitioners question UIDAI on verification of residency requirement, de-duplication rejections and authentication failures Aadhaar hearing: Attorney General argues that pervasive collection of fingerprints meets proportionality requirements Aadhaar hearing: Bench criticises the argument that Aadhaar can prevent bank frauds and terrorists from acquiring mobile numbers Aadhaar hearing: Additional Solicitor General argues Aadhaar-PAN linkage enables deduplication, prevents fraud and widens the tax base Aadhaar hearing: Not necessary to prove least possible invasion of privacy, argues Additional Solicitor General Aadhaar hearing: Counsel argues that Aadhaar is more secure than a data protection law, SC disagrees Aadhaar hearing: Supreme Court questions why both the right to privacy and right to food cannot be secured under the Constitution Aadhaar hearing: Senior counsel Rakesh Dwiwedi argues that the UIDAI is constantly improving and upgrading its systems Aadhaar hearing: Aadhaar has the support of two governments, argues the State Aadhaar hearing: The Act is a well balanced law of which a few provisions should be struck down, argues advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan The author is a lawyer and author specializing in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional. Reuters Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad Group said its unit has sued three group firms of Xiaomi, which last week filed for a Hong Kong IPO that could be worth up to $10 billion, for patent infringement. Coolpad said in a statement late on 10 May that its subsidiary, Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen) Co Ltd filed a lawsuit against Xiaomi Telecom Technology Co Ltd, Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd and Xiaomi Factory Co Ltd in a court in Jiangsu province for using its patent without authorisation. Yulong demanded that the Xiaomi companies should immediately stop production and sale of some smartphone models, including the Mi MIX2, Coolpad said. Yulong had filed a similar legal case against Xiaomi in a Shenzhen court in January. It is because the IP (intellectual property) protection environment in China improved that Coolpad launched the lawsuit in January this year, Coolpads global chief patent officer Nancy Zhang told a press conference on 11 May, denying they were timed with Xiaomis upcoming IPO. Xiaomi last week filed its IPO plans, which could be the largest listing globally in almost four years. Coolpad has alleged that Xiaomi violated its patented multi-sim card design and other technology related to user interface. It demanded that Xiaomi compensate it for losses due to the alleged infringement, though Zhang declined to give a figure. In a statement, Xiaomi said it has requested patent authorities to invalidate patent rights that are the subject of the lawsuit filed in Shenzhen. It said it will fully cooperate in the investigation by authorities on the matter. Coolpad, a Shenzhen-based smartphone maker founded 25 years ago, was once a unit of Jia Yuetings LeEco conglomerate, which has been struggling financially over the past year and a half. LeEco sold off all its interest in Coolpad in January. Coolpad shares have been suspended since March 2017. It has been unable to report its 2017 annual result on time and only just filed its 2016 annual report last month after repeated delays due to audit problems. It reported a loss of HK$4.38 billion for 2016 versus a profit of HK$2.32 billion in 2015. Reuters Facebook is asking users in Europe which news sources they trust to help it gauge whether to extend a change to its News Feed that it made in the United States earlier this year, designed to filter out misinformation. In January, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the News Feed, the social media companys centerpiece service, would prioritize high quality news over less trusted sources as part of its fight against false information on the platform. Facebook has been criticized for failing to prevent false reports - originating from alleged Russia operatives, for-profit spammers and others - spreading on its platform, notably during the 2016 US presidential election campaign. It has also had a stormy relationship with news organizations, especially those with strong political leanings. Zuckerberg said in January there was too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world, and social media was making the problem worse. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we dont specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them, he wrote then. The company, which has more than 2 billion monthly users, turned to its members to determine how news outlets ranked in terms of trustworthiness, using short surveys on the site. On Thursday, it said it would start showing similar two-part surveys to users in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, asking them if they are familiar with specific news sources, for example BBC News or the Guardian, and if they trust them. A Facebook spokesman said the results of the survey would not currently affect the ranking or the composition of News Feed in Britain or any of the other countries yet. The company said it would announce if it decided to implement any changes. tech2 News Staff Instagram is again making noise about a new feature. This time the new feature is an emoji slider. With this slider, users can express their emotions. How does one use this feature? Open the camera section of the app and take a picture or a video. Next, tap on sticker option above and paste the slider sticker. On tapping the slider, the user can choose the emoji they want. Responders can also slide the emoji bar to express themselves. The colour of the slider changes as you move towards the right, as does the size of the emoji. A slider appears with every response to the post. This can be interesting for users who want to finely tune the degree of emotion that they choose to express. The update is available to Android and iOS devices. Speaking of Instagram, on 10 May, the photo-sharing app was down for a few hours worldwide, including in India. As usual, Instagrammers went to Twitter to express their concern. People were not able to load their images and in some cases, their feed was not refreshing. According to the DownDetector, the outage was observed in US, UK, Australia and Europe. tech2 News Staff If rumours are to be believed then Google may unveil Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL and 2nd gen Pixel Buds along with a Pixel Watch at its hardware event. According to a tweet by Evan Blass, it says that with high confidence, he got to know that Googles hardware event, which is likely to happen this fall, might see the third lineup of Pixel phones along with a Pixel branded Watch as well. Now since the time the Apple iPhone X and its famous notch was released, other smartphone makers especially the Chinese ones have been trying to replicate the notch on their phones as well. Google has also made the Android P OS notch-friendly. According to Counterpoint Research, it was predicted that smartphones with a notch might make up 19 percent of the smartphone sales in 2018 and 55 percent of these devices will be Android devices. Besides the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, and second-gen Pixel Buds, a reliable source tells me -- with high confidence -- that Google's fall hardware event will also introduce a Pixel-branded watch. Have a great summer! Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 10, 2018 The Pixel Watch announcement seems like it could see the light of day. Google just recently rebranded its Android Wear OS to WearOS. Just like it has the Pixel to showcase the best of the Android phone operating system, it may as well introduce the Pixel Watch to showcase how WearOS must be implemented in a smartwatch, as Android is clearly nowhere when it comes to smartwatches, a category dominated by Apple. Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were launched in October, last year. The phone is mostly renowned for its camera quality and there it has far surpassed any other smartphone out there when it comes to still photography, even with just a single camera setup. AP Democrats on the House intelligence committee have released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency, providing the fullest picture yet of Russia's attempt to sow racial and political division in the United States before and after the 2016 election. Most of the ads are issue-based, pushing arguments for and against immigration, LGBT issues and gun rights, among other issues. A large number of them attempt to stoke racial divisions by mentioning police brutality or disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement. Some promote President Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary. Few, if any, support Clinton. The intelligence committee Democrats released a sampling of the ads purchased by Russia's Internet Research Agency last year, but they are now releasing the full cache of ads that Facebook officials turned over to the panel after acknowledging in September they had discovered the Russian efforts. The release of ads from early 2015 through mid-2017 does not include 80,000 posts that the agency also shared. Some of the ads are partially redacted, part of an effort by Facebook and the committee to protect unsuspecting people whose names or faces were used. An Associated Press review of the thousands of ads and their data shows how precisely and sometimes randomly the agency targeted them. Some ads designed to appeal to critics of immigration were targeted to users who liked specific Fox News hosts, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, "Old Glory" and the United States Constitution, among other words. Others were more narrowly targeted. Facebook users within 12 miles of Buffalo, New York, were directed to an event supporting justice for a black woman who died in a county jail. Another ad criticizing a Texas school teacher who lost her job after making racist remarks was aimed at adults living in Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis and Ferguson, Missouri. One ad that targeted African-Americans concerned about discrimination was only to be shown to users accessing Facebook on Wi-Fi, rather than cellular. There was no explanation as to why that was. Sometimes the targeting appeared to work after a try or two. A January 2016 ad that promised news on "bad" refugees got five clicks when targeted at those interested in immigration or conservatism. But the same ad got 163 clicks when targeted at those interested in Syria, the Republican Party or politics. Others got many more clicks. A pro-patriotism ad created on June 23, 2015 featuring a stylized drawing of a bald eagle was viewed nearly 530,000 times and was clicked on 72,000 times. As the Russians attempted to pose as Americans, their language sometimes hinted at their origin. One ad railed against immigrants who "should prove that they are deserved to stay in the United States." Another read: "Your life matter. My life matter. Black matters." Facebook revealed in September that it had discovered the divisive ads, which were paid for in rubles. Ads were still running in July and August of 2017, weeks before Facebook made the effort public. In February, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians of an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, charging several people associated with the Internet Research Agency with running a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Trump defeat Clinton. The indictment was part of Mueller's larger investigation into Russian intervention in the election and whether Trump's campaign was involved. There has been no evidence that Trump's campaign was in any way associated with the social media effort. The trove of ads released appears to back the assertion that the Russians wanted to hurt Clinton. Some spread rumors about her husband, former president Bill Clinton, or promote lies about her. Several depict Clinton behind bars. Hundreds of the ads ran after the election, continuing the effort to sow discord. A series of ads posted two days after Trump was elected urge his supporters to show up at Trump Tower in Manhattan to respond to the "massive crowds of libtards" who protested him. It targets people within 50 miles of New York City and provides the street address. That was one of many ads that attempted to set up events sometimes on opposing sides of an issue. In May 2017, the fake group "United Muslims of America" ran seven ads promoting two June 3 protests against the war in Syria one at Trump Tower, the other at the White House. One of those ads targeted people with interests in peace, human rights, feminism and pacifism and those who were "likely to engage with political content (liberal)." Facebook has said that more than 10 million people in the United States saw the ads, more than half of which ran after the election. Under fire from Congress, the social media giant has pledged improvements to its ad policies and enforcement. Facebook has made it easier to see the origins of ads, is forcing buyers to be more transparent about who they are and has worked to find more fake accounts, among other changes. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, said he was releasing the ads so it doesn't happen again. "The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see firsthand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us," he said. tech2 News Staff The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it was reviewing a Florida crash of a Tesla Inc vehicle earlier this week that killed two teenagers. NHTSA said in a statement it was gathering information on the tragic crash in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to understand all of the facts. The agency will take appropriate action based on its review. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday it was opening a probe into the crash and sending four investigators. Earlier, Tesla said its autopilot system was unlikely to have been a factor in the crash. Autopilot, a form of advanced cruise control that has come under scrutiny after two crashes this year, was not engaged when the Model S car drove off the road and hit a concrete wall, catching fire, the company said, adding it had not yet seen logs from the crash. We have not yet been able to retrieve the logs from the vehicle, but everything we have seen thus far indicates a very high-speed collision and that autopilot was not engaged, a Tesla spokesperson said. The NTSB has four active investigations into crashes of the companys electric vehicles. While admitting that serious high-speed collisions could result in a fire, the Tesla spokesperson defended the cars safety record, saying a gas car in the United States is five times more likely to catch fire than a Tesla vehicle. In the event of an accident, eight airbags protect front and rear occupants, and the battery system automatically disconnects from the main power source, Tesla has said previously in promotional materials for the car. Should the worst happen, there is no safer car to be in than Model S, according to a company brochure for the 2014 Model S. NHTSA previously has said it is investigating two other Tesla crashes earlier this year, including a fatal March crash involving Autopilot in California. tech2 News Staff It has been only a few days since Facebooks developer conference, F8 2018, has just got over and reports of new features in its various apps, whether Facebook or acquired ones like Instagram or WhatsApp are coming up. It has been reported that a chat filter and sticker album might be coming to WhatsApp. While the development team has just started working on a sticker album, a chat filter will come to the WhatsApp Business app for Android. According to a WABetaInfo, the chat filter will only come on WhatsApp Business, as of now. Here, the user would be able to quickly search messages using the filters. The user has to tap on Search bar which will show a filter icon. On pressing the filter icon, the options will appear, namely, unread chats, groups and broadcast lists. There are no reports about this being featured in the standard app. This would be helpful for businesses so that they do not miss out on potential customers. It is quite similar to Instagram which has also made changes keeping the business aspect in mind. Instagram introduced Action Buttons where businesses would be able to keep in touch with potential customers by bringing their chats directly into the main inbox. It has also introduced various other features like order, book for travel bookings, setting an appointment or placing an order. If the beta update comes, it would be available on version 2.18.84 Facebook is updating its business offerings on its various apps. More recently, Facebook even added a buy and sell option on its Marketplace feature in India. Facebook Marketplace now lets you book tickets and buy things online. 104-year-old Australian scientist, David Goodall, on Thursday committed assisted suicide in Switzerland where he went to die after his home country denied him the right to seek help in taking his own life. Geneva (Switzerland): A 104-year-old Australian scientist on Thursday committed assisted suicide in Switzerland where he went to die after his home country denied him the right to seek help in taking his own life. David Goodall did not have a terminal illness but said his quality of life had deteriorated significantly and that he wanted to end it. Goodall "died peacefully" in Basel, tweeted Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, the organisation which helped Goodall make the journey from Australia. The death occurred at 1030 GMT from an infusion of Nembutal, a barbiturate, at the Life Cycle clinic, he said. The honorary research associate at Perth's Edith Cowan University set off from Australia a week ago, and stopped in Bordeaux, France to see family before arriving in Basel on Monday. "I no longer want to continue life," Goodall told journalists on Wednesday. Happy to end it "I am happy to have the chance tomorrow to end it, and I appreciate the help of the medical profession here in making that possible," he said. The 104-year-old said he hoped the widespread interest in his case would spur Australia and other countries to rethink their legislation. "I would have preferred to have (ended) it in Australia, and I greatly regret that Australia is behind Switzerland" when it comes to right-to-die laws, he said. Goodall secured a fast-track appointment with the foundation in Basel after he attempted but failed to commit suicide on his own earlier this year. "It would have been much more convenient for everyone if I had been able to, but unfortunately it failed," he said of the suicide attempt. But he said he was happy that he had been offered the "Swiss option", since he has been able to see most of his large family, which is spread over several countries, in the run-up to his final day. Assisted suicide is illegal in most countries and was banned in Australia until the state of Victoria became the first to legalise the practice last year. But that legislation, which takes effect in June 2019, only applies to terminally ill patients of sound mind and a life expectancy of less than six months. Beethoven and cheesecake According to Swiss law meanwhile, anyone who is of sound mind and who has over a period of time voiced a consistent wish to end their life can request so-called assisted voluntary death, or AVD. Asked on Wednesday if he had any hesitations or doubts, the 104-year-old said: "No. None whatsoever." In assisted dying, the person must be physically capable of carrying out the final deed on their own. In Goodall's case that meant he had himself to open the valve that allowed the short-acting barbiturate to mix with a saline solution and flow into his vein. Exit International said in a statement Thursday that Goodall wanted the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony played during the procedure and that "David died at the moment the song (sung in German) concluded". Goodall had a final meal with his family his favourite, fish and chips followed by cheesecake and his grandchildren and a friend stayed with him until his death. Nitschke said Goodall had asked for his body to be used for medical research or, if that request was refused, for it to be cremated and the ashes dispersed locally. He wanted no ceremony after his death. A 14-year-old boy used a rifle to shoot a former classmate in the arm Friday at their California high school and dumped the gun in a field before he was caught in a shopping centre Palmdale, California: A 14-year-old boy used a rifle to shoot a former classmate in the arm Friday at their California high school and dumped the gun in a field before he was caught in a shopping centre, authorities said. Reports of the shooting and an ultimately false report of another attack at a nearby elementary school sparked chaos, terrifying parents and drawing a massive police response in the high desert city of Palmdale in Southern California. Police descended on Highland High School after dozens of 911 calls and some reports that there were hostages in the campus library, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. As officers swarmed the library, more 911 calls came in reporting that gunshots were heard at an elementary school across town. Dozens of officers with several agencies blanketed both campuses looking for possible shooters and victims. Meanwhile, Antelope Valley Hospital was told several people were dead and as many as 25 students were injured, said Dr Pavel Petrik, the trauma centre's chief of surgery. In the end, there was just one shooting and one victim, at Highland High School, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County deputies detained a 14-year-old former Highland High School student in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy, who was hit in the arm. The shooting was sparked by a dispute between the two students, said Captain Darren Harris with the sheriff's department. "We were very fortunate that the incident wasn't much worse than it was," McDonnell said at a news conference. "The outcome was much better than anybody could have anticipated." Dr Petrik said the reports of multiple casualties and dozens of injuries caused the hospital to virtually shut down the operating and emergency rooms for an onslaught of victims. "Everyone from the blood bank to the lab to radiology to everyone ... it was maybe 100 people downstairs waiting for the arrival of all of these injured children," he said. "Thankfully we only had one child that was shot." He said the boy had surgery and was expected to be fine. McDonnell said the 14-year-old suspect had fired multiple gunshots in a courtyard but did not elaborate on whether the teen was aiming for anyone in particular. "Those shots, in some cases, went into an area adjacent to the courtyard where they were being fired from, so the potential was for anyone to be able to take a stray round there, whether they were aimed at or not," McDonnell said. "So a very dangerous situation." The teen was caught about an hour later at a shopping centre after the boy called his father to say he fired his gun in the air and was headed to a grocery store near campus, McDonnell said. He said the teen's father called a family friend who's an off-duty police officer and told him where the boy was. The off-duty officer, who works for Los Angeles police, then detained the teen without incident. He was being held on suspicion of attempted murder. It's unclear where he got the rifle. McDonnell said the boy's mother had called the officer earlier in the morning to tell him she and her husband were having trouble with him and that the teen had run away. The parents recently transferred the boy from Highland High School though it was unclear why. McDonnell declined to elaborate. Parents and students were outside the school crying as investigators remained on campus. Student Pualani Revis told KABC-TV that students ran into her classroom saying there were gunshots going off. "We barricaded the room," she said. "We went to the back of it to make sure we were safe." Johnny Lewis, whose 17-year-old son is a student at the school, told The Los Angeles Times that he raced to the campus with his wife after hearing reports about the shooting. "We didn't know at that time if our son was in danger, injured or shot or what," he said. "It's just ridiculous with all the guns in schools. I never knew it would happen to us here." A Canadian Sikh minister was asked to take off his turban at a Detroit airport during a security check despite passing through the metal detector without any problem. Toronto: A Canadian Sikh minister was asked to take off his turban at a Detroit airport during a security check despite passing through the metal detector without any problem, prompting senior US officials to apologise, media reports have said. Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, described the incident in an interview with the French-language paper La Presse. Bains was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already passed through regular security checks at the Detroit Metro Airport, but because he was wearing a turban, a security agent told him that he would have to undergo additional checks, according to La Presse. "He told me to take off my turban. I asked him why I would have to take off my turban when the metal detector had worked properly," the minister said. The US amended its travel policy in 2007, allowing Sikhs to keep turbans on while passing during the security inspection process. Bains said that when he travels, he rarely discloses his identity as a cabinet minister, in order to better understand the travel experiences and frustrations of people not afforded similar privileges. The incident prompted Canada's foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland to express disappointment to her US counterparts. Both undersecretaries for the US homeland security and transportation departments apologised for the incident. In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration said it reviewed closed-circuit video of the incident and determined the officer did not follow standard operating procedures; the officer subsequently received additional training. The meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to take place on 12 June in Singapore. After much speculation, the highly anticipated meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to take place on 12 June in Singapore. Washington is likely to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons after the two leaders exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Korea's attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased greatly, starting around the time of the North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. Trump wrote on Twitter: The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018 His announcement came just hours after three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea arrived at a US military base outside Washington, having been released by Kim as a gesture of good faith ahead of the summit. 'A natural choice' Singapore is seen as a natural choice for the meeting between the two leaders. It was the early leading choice among top administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House chief of staff John Kelly, who recognised that the summit location would play an important role in how the talks are viewed around the world, reported CNN. Singapore is in the rare position of having diplomatic relations with both Washington and Pyongyang, plus a track record of hosting sensitive encounters. "As a neutral, and objective country with much-admired consistent foreign policy principles and a small state with no desire or capacity to harm other states and their interests, Singapore fits that bill well," said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute. One of the world's wealthiest countries per-capita, the island state of 5.6 million people has an advanced military, robust security infrastructure, and is considered one of the safest and least corrupt places on earth. Further, Kim is only known to have travelled abroad for the first time this year, with visits to China and a brief sojourn across the high-security border into South Korea for a historic meeting with President Moon Jae-in in April. 'Plays host to other meetings' As the current chair of ASEAN, Singapore is already scheduled to host multiple high-profile meetings this year, the American Enterprise Institute's Dan Blumenthal told Politico, and will also host the ministers of defence from almost 30 nations early next month at the Shangri-La Dialogue. This year's forum at the Shangri-La hotel comes a week before Trump-Kim, meaning Singapore will already be in high-security mode, fuelling speculation that the hotel also will host the summit. In 2015, Singapore hosted a historic meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-leader Ma Ying-jeou, the first between presidents of the two sides since a 1949 civil war split that led to decades of estrangement. From Trump's standpoint, business-oriented Singapore is among Washington's closest trade and security partners in Asia. Travelling there allows Trump to avoid the DMZ, which might have appeared like home turf for Kim, while a Beijing meeting could have allowed China to exert control. Singapore "doesn't have the historical or political baggage" of other possible venues, said Sarah Teo, an expert on regional security at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Singapore, with its tight controls on the local press and freedom of speech, also offers a venue likely to be free from potentially tense protests, the Politico report added. It also will be acceptable to Beijing, North Korea's only major ally and still a strong influence over Pyongyang. Singapore has long had smooth ties with China. "A successful summit would be a huge feather in Singapore's cap, elevating its reputation for fair dealing and neutrality; but a less successful one will not take anything away from it," said a commentary piece in Singapore's The Straits Times. Singapore and North Korea have a history the first law firm and fast-food restaurant in Pyongyang were set up by Singaporeans though relations snagged last year when Singapore severed trade ties under new UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programmes. Located just over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometres) from North Korea, Singapore is comfortably within the flying range of its aircraft. Flying to western Europe would require a stop or two to refuel. "Singapore is neither too far away as European nations are, allowing Kim Jong Un's private jet to make it here without refueling, nor too close that Trump might be seen as 'giving way' to Kim by having to travel a longer distance than the latter," said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. With inputs from agencies Trump's upcoming summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un is only the latest example of the president's go-big strategy. From tax reform to international trade to foreign policy, Trump has pursued a high-risk, high-reward approach that advisers say can help produce results on longstanding problems. The way President Donald Trump sees it, why go for a solid single when you can swing for a home run? Trump's upcoming summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un is only the latest example of the president's go-big strategy. From tax reform to international trade to foreign policy, Trump has pursued a high-risk, high-reward approach that advisers say can help produce results on longstanding problems, but that, critics warn, could also trigger dangerous repercussions all the way from a trade war to global conflict. Drawn to big moments and bigger headlines, Trump views the North Korea summit as a legacy-maker for him, believing that the combustible combination of his bombast and charm already has led to warmer relations between North and South. As he welcomed home three Americans who had been detained in North Korea, Trump early on Thursday used a televised, middle-of-the-night ceremony to play up both his statecraft and stagecraft. "I think you probably broke the all-time, in history, television rating for three o'clock in the morning," Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. Trump has also played the disruptor's role in recent weeks and months by withdrawing the US from the Iran nuclear deal, imposing sweeping tariffs on allies and announcing he's moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. It's all a sharp contrast to his play-it-safe predecessor. "You hit singles, you hit doubles; every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run," President Barack Obama said of his own foreign policy. "But we steadily advance the interests of the American people and our partnership with folks around the world," he added. Not all of Trump's attention-grabbing gambits have worked and the potential risks going forward are daunting. His push to overturn Obama's landmark health care law ended in a humiliating defeat for the Republicans. His decision to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has left global markets in a state of flux and unnerved some of America's closest allies about the potential for a trade war. And his withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Iran, with strong support from Israel, has escalated tensions in the already volatile region. Critics say Trump sometimes focuses on bold gestures first and fallout later. For now, scoring a diplomatic win with Pyongyang has become Trump's top focus. His outside-the-box approach to North Korea complete with ominous taunts of raining "fire and fury" on the North while belittling its leader as "Little Rocket Man" alarmed many global capitals and much of Washington's national security establishment, increasing worries about a nuclear war. But, Trump believes it brought Kim to the negotiating table, with a summit between the two men now set for 12 June in Singapore. Trump told one confidant that he now believes a deal with North Korea, rather than in West Asia, could be his historic victory. White House officials also believe that a triumph on the Korean Peninsula something that has eluded the United States for generations could bolster Trump's approval ratings, help inoculate him against the investigations swirling around him and maybe even trickle down to helping Republicans in this fall's midterm elections. While some White House aides characterised Trump's moves as evidence of bold thinking, there is also concern that he has little sense of the potential repercussions from some of his big moves, believing that if things don't work out, that he can always just reverse course. In the early months of his administration, Trump latched on to the belief that he could be the president to bring peace to West Asia. Fond of the idea of making history, the president told advisers he was driven to accomplish something that his predecessors could not and believed that his negotiating skills and strong relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lead to the unprecedented achievement, according to four White House officials and outside advisers. At one moment last spring, Trump mused in the Oval Office that he wouldn't even require a second term to settle things in the region, according to two people familiar with the exchange but not authorised to speak publicly about private conversations. Though he did break with tradition to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, the White House plan bogged down and the divide between Israelis and Palestinians seems as intractable as ever, prompting Trump's attention shift to North Korea. Warned by Obama days after his election that the threat posed by Pyongyang could define his presidency, Trump answered Kim's threats with bellicose warnings of his own and rallied an international pressure campaign against North Korea. Some Republicans have suggested his efforts should bring him the Nobel Peace Prize, an idea Trump clearly savored at a recent rally in Michigan when the crowd chanted "Nobel." Asked about the chatter in the Oval Office this week, Trump said: "I want to get peace. It's the main thing. We want to get peace. That was a big problem, and I think it's going to work out well." Then he added his catchall caveat: "We'll see." Long before he was president, the onetime New York real estate developer and reality television star often spoke about the benefits of acting boldly. In "The Art of the Deal," he put it this way: "I like thinking big. I always have. To me it's very simple: if you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big." Trump appears to have embraced the "Great Man" theory of history, believing that individuals more than circumstances or trends alter the course of events. In his 2016 GOP convention speech, he famously declared "I alone can fix it," in referencing the nation's problems. Trump and his team also believe that his bold tactics have the added benefit for Trump of overshadowing the threats his administration faces from the ongoing Russia probe and the legal web surrounding his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Rice University presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said Trump's diplomacy with North Korea is a "high-risk game." "But, if he pulls off the denuclearisation of the North Korean Peninsula, it will be the landmark achievement," said Brinkley. "It's Trump's big going-to-China moment." US President Donald Trump and his lawyers probably won't decide whether to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller until after the president's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, according to the president's legal team. New York: US President Donald Trump and his lawyers probably won't decide whether to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller until after the president's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, according to the president's legal team. Rudy Giuliani, the president's new attorney, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that any preparation with Trump for a possible interview with investigators would likely be delayed until after the June 12 summit in Singapore because "I wouldn't want to take his concentration off something far, far more important." Trump's lawyers haven't decided whether it would be in the president's best interests anyway to speak with Mueller. Giuliani said that he had hoped to resolve that question by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment, but that was no longer feasible. "Several things delayed us, with the primary one being the whole situation with North Korea," Giuliani said. "The president has been very busy. It really would be pretty close to impossible to spend the amount of time on it we would need." Though Giuliani would not provide an exact date as to when a determination would be made about the interview, he said "it would be silly to make a decision" much before the highly anticipated summit. He said that the demands on Trump's time meant that his legal team had "not done a lot" in terms of preparing the president for a possible in-person interview. "It would take a while and he's focused on North Korea," said Giuliani. A number of Trump allies, including Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, have recently stepped up calls for Mueller's investigation to wrap up, suggesting it was interfering in the president's ability to do the country's business. Mueller's team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsel's office has charged 19 people including four Trump campaign advisers and three Russian companies. Both Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. A number of other former White House and campaign staffers, like Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, as well as Inauguration Day committee chairman Tom Barrack, have been interviewed. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, demurred when asked if Trump would consider it a "red line" for his children to be interviewed. His daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared, Kushner, both worked on the campaign and are senior advisers at the White House, while Trump's adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also leading figures on the campaign. Giuliani said he did not expect those interviews with Mueller to take place. "Our understanding is that he's pretty much finished," Giuliani said. "Doing more interviews would be inconsistent with what he's indicated would be the timeframe of the investigation." "As far we know, we're basically the last witness," the former mayor said, though he did not elaborate as to whether he meant for the possible obstruction of justice component of the investigation or the entire probe. The special counsel's office has not outlined the duration of the probe. Mueller's investigation has operated largely in secrecy with the public only getting glimpses into its operation through witnesses who are questioned or when indictments and guilty pleas are publicly unsealed. Though Giuliani left the door open for an interview, Trump has recently signaled a more confrontational legal strategy against the probe, ripping into what he dismissed as an investigation into a "made up, phony crime." Trump's tweets this week were fresh evidence that the cooperative approach Mueller that had been advocated by the president's legal team for months has gone by the wayside. It also revealed the president's anxiety about how the investigation could sway voters as they decide whether to keep congressional Republicans in power or force him to face an aggressive Democratic majority. "The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice...and just wait 'till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!" Trump wrote Monday. Trump appeared to be drawing attention to a federal judge's questioning last week of Mueller's authority in a case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. But it was unclear what legal action Trump was referring to that would touch on "unrevealed" conflicts of interest. Mueller is a longtime Republican, but some members of his team have made political contributions to Democrats, including to Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2016 election. Mueller could not have barred them from serving on the team based solely on their political contributions. Federal regulations and Justice Department policy prohibit the consideration of political affiliation in hiring and other personnel actions involving career attorneys. In congressional testimony, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has defended Mueller's team against criticism that it was politically tainted. "We recognize we have employees with political opinions. And it's our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions," Rosenstein said, adding: "I believe that Director Mueller understands that and that he is running that office appropriately." BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - A court in Congo Republic sentenced ex-army chief and opposition presidential candidate Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko to 20 years in prison on Friday on charges of violating state security and illegal possession of weapons. Mokoko, a power broker in the former French colony's 1990s civil war, finished third to long-serving President Denis Sassou Nguesso in a March 2016 election that was criticised by opposition parties and foreign powers for irregularities BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - A court in Congo Republic sentenced ex-army chief and opposition presidential candidate Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko to 20 years in prison on Friday on charges of violating state security and illegal possession of weapons. Mokoko, a power broker in the former French colony's 1990s civil war, finished third to long-serving President Denis Sassou Nguesso in a March 2016 election that was criticised by opposition parties and foreign powers for irregularities. He was arrested last June. Prosecutors accused of Mokoko and several co-defendants of amassing arms as far back as 2005 in the aim of overthrowing Sassou Nguesso's government. The co-accused received the same prison sentence. They now have three days to appeal the verdict. Mokoko declined to speak in his own defence during the trial, which opened on Monday, claiming that having been awarded the honour of Commander of the Congolese Order of Merit he benefited from immunity from prosecution. The state prosecutor called Mokoko's silence an admission of guilt. "Justice wasn't rendered," defence lawyer Philippe Esseau said following the verdict. "We consider that Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko cannot be prosecuted due to his immunity. His detention in prison is arbitrary. This decision has no value." Mokoko's supporters said his prosecution was an attempt by Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled the oil-rich central African nation for all but five of the past 38 years, to use the courts to stifle dissent. The president held a referendum in 2015 that changed the constitution, allowing him to seek a third term in office, leading to protests in which at least 18 people were killed by security forces. (Reporting by Roch Bouka; Writing by Joe Bavier) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. Paris: France urged Europeans to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran nuclear deal and not act as "vassals," as the region scrambles to save the 2015 accord and billions of dollars in trade. Arguing the nuclear deal wasn't tough enough on Iran, Trump's government is now re-imposing sanctions, and any companies or governments with links to the U.S. face sanctions if they do not comply. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday on Europe-1 radio that Europe should not accept that the U.S. is the "world's economic policeman." "Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" Le Maire asked. "Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?" European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. Iran said it may resume uranium enrichment in a higher rate in weeks if it finds nuclear deal will not work anymore after the U.S. pullout from the deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Friday and underlined their aim of preserving the deal and peace in the Mideast. Merkel said Friday the unilateral U.S. withdrawal undermines confidence in the global order, but that it wasn't enough to abandon decades of cross-Atlantic cooperation. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Russia and its ex-Soviet allies will sign a free trade pact with Iran. The deal between Iran, Russia and other members of the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Union is set to be signed next week. The grouping includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The pact's signing had been planned for long time, but the move coincides with the U.S. move to re-impose sanctions against Iran that have rattled U.S. allies. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insisted that it's not up to the U.S. to determine the deal's future anyway. "This deal is not a bilateral treaty. It's a UN Security Council Resolution and it belongs to the entire world," said Mogherini, who will chair talks Tuesday with the British, French, German and Iranian foreign ministers in Brussels. She called for calm on all sides. "It is exactly when the things don't go well that rationality, calm, predictability, respect, dialogue are the most needed to avoid the worst case scenarios, to avoid conflict to spiral out of control," she said. "It seems that today screaming and shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything already in place is the mood of our times." Europe's options, however, are limited. As a result of the new U.S. sanctions, companies worldwide must stop doing business with Iran or risk U.S. fines or other punishment. The sanctions will not only bar U.S. companies from doing business with Iran, but they also will hurt European and other companies by prohibiting them from using American banks unless they cut links with Iran. Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and auto manufacturers like France's Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit. The French finance minister said he pushed U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin this week for three things: exemptions for French companies operating in Iran; or the application of a so-called grandfather clause for deals struck in Iran since 2015; or an extension of the 90-day period to wind down operations in Iran. However, Le Maire acknowledged he has "no illusions" that he'll get what he asked for. Facing that reality, Le Maire said the EU should strengthen its own legal arsenal against any such future U.S. threats. Among things the EU could consider, he said, are reinforcing a 1996 "blocking statute" that could allow companies to ignore sanctions. Another could be an independent financing mechanism allowing European companies to avoid U.S. banks. Le Maire also proposed creating a European body that would have the same kind of powers that the U.S. Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. Meanwhile, the U.S. government tried to further pinch Iran's finances by disrupting a currency exchange network allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. A White House official dismissed Sen. John McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's CIA nominee, saying 'it doesn't matter' because 'he's dying anyway,' two people in the room told The Associated Press. Washington: A White House official dismissed Sen. John McCain's opposition to President Donald Trump's CIA nominee, saying "it doesn't matter" because "he's dying anyway," two people in the room told The Associated Press. Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain's opposition to Trump's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, at a staff meeting on Thursday when she made the comment, according to the two people. They were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. The White House did not dispute the remark. In a statement, they said, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." The Hill newspaper first reported the comment. The 81-year-old Arizona Republican, who has spent three decades in the Senate, was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and underwent surgery last month for an infection. Sadler is a special assistant to the president. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening. McCain's wife, Cindy, responded with a tweet tagged to Sadler, "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren." Sen. McCain, a Navy pilot who was beaten in captivity during the Vietnam War, has urged his fellow senators to reject Haspel. He said Wednesday that he believes she's a patriot who loves the country but "her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying." Haspel faced grilling Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee about her role overseeing some CIA operations after the Sept. 11 attacks. She told senators that she doesn't believe torture works as an interrogation technique. As for the president, he and McCain have had a troubled relationship. As a GOP presidential candidate in 2015, Trump said McCain was "not a war hero" because he was captured in Vietnam, adding, "I like people who weren't captured." Last July, McCain became the deciding vote against the GOP health care repeal with a dramatic thumbs-down. Trump later told the Conservative Political Action Conference that "except for one Senator, who came into a room at three o'clock in the morning and went like that" Trump gave a thumbs-down "we would have had health care (reform), too." The crowd booed, and Trump added, "I won't use his name." Four children and three adults were found dead at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in Western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby Sydney: Four children and three adults were found dead Friday at a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in Western Australia, in an apparent murder-suicide with two weapons found nearby. Police said they responded to an early-morning phone call and arrived to find a "horrific incident" in the small town of Osmington near the world-renowned wine-growing area south of Perth. Five bodies were found inside a house and two outside. Homicide detectives were investigating but police were not looking for a suspect suggesting a murder-suicide although this was not confirmed. "I can only say at this point in time, we have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues," Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. "We're still yet to make contact with other members of the family so at this point in time, all I'll confirm is that there are four children and three adults that have all been located deceased." The ages of the children were not released. Dawson said there appeared to be gunshot wounds, "but I don't want to go further than that as two firearms have been located at the scene". Mass shootings are not common in Australia, which has strict gun laws. All weapons must be registered, although many arrive illegally from overseas through organised syndicates. If confirmed as a mass shooting, the incident would be the worst in Australia since a 1996 massacre that left 35 people dead at Port Arthur in Tasmania. It was believed those who died lived at the property, about 10 minutes drive from Margaret River, a popular tourist destination renowned for its wine, surf and natural beauty. Felicity Haynes, who lives on a neighbouring property, told broadcaster ABC the family involved were "caring neighbours". "They were just such lovely people," she said. "They were a very socially-aware family, doing their best to create a safe community, and that is why it is so shocking to think that could be destroyed so quickly." Dawson refused to be drawn on who the person was that alerted police, their relationship to the victims or whether they heard gunshots. "The loss of any life is tragic but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy," he said, adding that police and other specialists would be at the scene for several days at least. "This will be a very large scale and detailed investigation." Augusta-Margaret River Shire president Pamela Townsend said the incident had impacted everyone in the area. "It's sending shockwaves through the whole community were all linked in one way or another, every family," she told WA Today. By Justin Mitchell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, on Friday questioned how the aide who disparaged her ailing father during a White House meeting still has a job there. By Justin Mitchell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, on Friday questioned how the aide who disparaged her ailing father during a White House meeting still has a job there. Kelly Sadler, a White House communications aide, dismissed Senator McCain's objection to President Donald Trump's nominee to be CIA director, Gina Haspel, by saying it "doesn't matter, he's dying anyway," a source familiar with the closed White House meeting told Reuters. Speaking on ABC's "The View," which she co-hosts, Meghan McCain said she wanted to inform Sadler that her father's battle with brain cancer has made her realise the meaning of life was "not how you die, it is how you live." "I dont understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable, and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job," she said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said later on Friday that Sadler still works at the White House, and refused to confirm or deny what Sadler had said. "I'm not going to validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting one way or the other," Sanders said. John McCain, who has spent the last several weeks convalescing at his home in Arizona as he battles brain cancer, released a statement after Haspel's Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, slamming her for refusing to condemn torture. He recommended his fellow senators vote against her. McCain is not expected to return to Washington to cast a vote on her nomination. McCain was tortured as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, sustaining injuries from which he has never completely recovered. Several of McCain's fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill condemned Sadler's remarks. Jeff Flake, Arizona's other senator and a frequent critic of the White House under Trump, tweeted an article about the comments and wrote: "There are no words." Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa tweeted that the United States should "treat this war hero and his family with the civility and respect they deserve." Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime Senate colleague and friend of McCain, said in a statement: "People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday." Meghan McCain thanked the public for its support. "My fathers legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years," she said. "These people - nothing burgers." McCain was the Republican Party's presidential candidate in 2008. He has been a frequent and sharp critic of Trump, a fellow Republican. At an election campaign appearance in 2015, Trump responded to criticism from McCain by denigrating the former Navy flier's military service. "Hes not a war hero," Trump said. "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured." Sadler's comments were reported the same day that a guest on Fox Business Network, retired Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, suggested McCain divulged critical information to the North Vietnamese after being tortured. He did not elaborate or provide evidence to back up his claim. A network spokesperson said McInerney would no longer be invited to appear on the Fox Business Network or Fox News. (Reporting by Justin Mitchell; additional reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Doina Chiacu, Dan Grebler and Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Diego Ore and Lizbeth Diaz CHILAPA DE ALVAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Three years ago, Julieta Guzman kissed her only son on the forehead as he headed over to his girlfriend's house, just a few blocks away in the town of Chilapa, where drug gangs fighting over heroin production have plunged into a vortex of violence. The 21-year-old promised to come back later that afternoon to continue celebrating Mother's Day, but he never returned By Diego Ore and Lizbeth Diaz CHILAPA DE ALVAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Three years ago, Julieta Guzman kissed her only son on the forehead as he headed over to his girlfriend's house, just a few blocks away in the town of Chilapa, where drug gangs fighting over heroin production have plunged into a vortex of violence. The 21-year-old promised to come back later that afternoon to continue celebrating Mother's Day, but he never returned. Guzman has not stopped looking for him. In Mexico, Mother's Day is celebrated on May 10 and it is a near-national holiday, where many businesses let employees leave at midday and restaurants overflow with families honouring their matriarchs. But in Chilapa, one of the deadliest towns in Mexico's most murderous state of Guerrero, Guzman joined dozens of other mothers at a mass in the centre of town to remember their missing children who are likely victims of the organised crime that plagues Mexico. "For moms who have a missing person there is no May 10," said Guzman, a 53-year-old housewife. "There is no party." "How is it possible that our children were taken away from us? Although time passes, the pain will not disappear, " she added, before breaking down in tears. In Mexico City, hundreds of Mexican and Central American mothers will march to demand the government uncover the truth of what happened to their missing relatives, and deliver justice. At least 157 people are missing in Chilapa and some 34,000 throughout the country, human rights groups have said, although the figures could be higher since many families are afraid to report cases, fearing reprisals. Guzman was one of those who initially did not report the disappearance of her son out of fear. She does not know who took her son, but Guzman said friends and family told her that he was abducted by one of the region's armed militias of civilians. Such groups arose in Mexico's poor south during the last six years to defend communities from drug gangs, but many have ended up in collusion with them, locals and authorities said. The rise of smaller, more bloodthirsty gangs producing and smuggling heroin to feed an opioid epidemic in the United States has made Chilapa one of the most violent municipalities in the country. Gangs are battling over the territory where opium poppies are grown to make the heroin that has flooded U.S. streets. Ramon Navarrete, president of Guerrero's human rights commission, said at a conference in Chilapa on Wednesday that the lack of action by authorities to find missing people have pushed many families to seek their loved ones themselves. The commission is accompanying relatives in Chilapa on Thursday to launch a new round searches for missing relatives. Groups of family members, forensic anthropologists and volunteers probed the earth for signs of mass graves in isolated areas around Chilapa. "It is a very sad task we join them in," Navarrete said. "It is fair to say that they do not have the support of the government." (Writing by Michael O'Boyle; editing by Diane Craft) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Nigerian diplomat was found dead in his home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, two security sources said, in an apparent murder that police said did not appear to be politically motivated. Police spokesman Omar al-Mokhtar said the unidentified diplomat, who had been working in the immigration section of the Nigerian Embassy, was stabbed to death and police had ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack. KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Nigerian diplomat was found dead in his home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday, two security sources said, in an apparent murder that police said did not appear to be politically motivated. Police spokesman Omar al-Mokhtar said the unidentified diplomat, who had been working in the immigration section of the Nigerian Embassy, was stabbed to death and police had ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack. Mokhtar said police had arrested several suspects, but provided no further details. Officials from the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum were not available to comment. Dubai-based al-Arabiya television had earlier described the diplomat's death as an "assassination". Though intermittent violence is common in Sudan's ethnically torn southern and western regions, violence in the capital is rare. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has recently shaken up the security establishment, replacing the heads of the army and intelligence service in February. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Ahmed Tolba, writing by Sami Aboudi and Eric Knecht; editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The Sri Lankan Army has set up a special international directorate tasked with countering allegations of war crimes, Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake has said Colombo: The Sri Lankan Army has set up a special international directorate tasked with countering allegations of war crimes, Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake has said. The directorate which was set up last month would collate relevant information to defend the army in its conduct during the final phase of the military conflict with the LTTE. Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE were both accused of committing war crimes. Sri Lanka faced severe international condemnation with UN Human Rights Council passing resolutions to hold the country's government accountable for war crimes. The UN rights body has prescribed an international investigation into the alleged war crimes. "We (the army) have to have our own unit to counter these charges. We are keen to clear our name," Senanayake said. "A few may have committed crimes but the whole army cannot be blamed," he said. He dismissed the claim that 40,000 people had been killed in the final phase which ended nine years ago in 2009. Senanayake said the new unit would also supervise the vetting of soldiers who serve as UN peacekeepers. The soldiers serving as UN peacekeepers have faced sexual abuse charges in recent times. The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission last month in a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena found fault with the army for non-cooperation with them for screening soldiers for human rights conduct before being sent as UN peacekeepers. Starbucks has adopted an open-bathroom policy following the arrest last month of two African American men at a coffee shop in Philadelphia. Washington: Starbucks has adopted an open-bathroom policy following the arrest last month of two African American men at a coffee shop in Philadelphia. Chairman Howard Schultz says he doesn't want the company to become a public bathroom, but feels employees can make the "right decision a hundred percent of the time," if that choice is removed at the store level. One of the men arrested on April 12 was denied use of a bathroom. He and his partner sat down to await a business meeting they had scheduled at the store, but were arrested minutes later by police. The incident was captured by people using cell phones and it went viral. The arrest of Rashon Nelson, along with his childhood friend and business partner, Donte Robinson, set off a firestorm for the company, which will shut down more than 8,000 of its U.S. stores on the afternoon of May 29 to instruct 175,000 employees how to better recognize unconscious bias. Access to store bathrooms, for which Schultz said Starbucks had maintained a "loose policy," came into even sharper focus after another video, taken in January, emerged. The video shows a black man claiming he was denied access to a bathroom at a Starbucks in California while a white man was allowed entry. Neither man had made a purchase, according to the video shot by Brandon Ward, which is posted on his Facebook page. Schultz, speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Thursday, said previous policy required a purchase, but that the decision was ultimately left with store managers, The Washington, The Seattle Times, and other media outlets reported. The arrests in Philadelphia were a major embarrassment for Starbucks, which has long projected itself as a socially conscious company. Nelson and Robinson settled with Starbucks earlier this month for an undisclosed sum and an offer of a free college education. Separately, they reached a deal with Philadelphia for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from city officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office has asked Nicaragua to let it enter the country to gather evidence about the deaths of dozens of students in protests, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office has asked Nicaragua to let it enter the country to gather evidence about the deaths of dozens of students in protests, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday. "We are concerned at the volatile situation in Nicaragua, where, according to information from credible sources, to date at least 47 people - the majority of them students, as well as two police officers and a journalist - have been killed in connection with protests that began in mid-April," she said. After a violent crackdown by police, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Managua to demand the resignation of President Daniel Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla leader whom critics accuse of trying to build a family dictatorship. The protests began as a reaction to social security reforms but widened to include demands for justice for the killings. "On 7 May, we officially asked the Nicaraguan authorities to grant us access to the country so that we can, in line with the U.N. Human Rights Offices mandate, gather first-hand information about what happened during the protests and to resume contact with the authorities and others in the country," Shamdasani said. The U.N. was waiting for the government's reply, she said at a news briefing. She said the U.N. noted that the Nicaraguan National Assembly had created a truth commission to investigate the deaths and allegations of torture and enforced disappearances during the protests. "For its investigations to be credible, the commission must be independent and able to conduct its work in a transparent and impartial manner," Shamdasani said. The U.S. State Department said on Friday the United States remained deeply concerned about the crisis in Nicaragua and condemned the overnight violence. "Those responsible for killings and other human rights abuses and violations must be brought to justice," it said in a statement. It called on the Nicaraguan government to allow independent international human rights organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to assess the situation in the country. (Reporting by Tom Miles; additional reporting by Eric Walsh in Washington; editing by Andrew Roche and Leslie Adler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The following chart reminds me of the "hill" feature on the treadmill I use on days when the weather prevents me from running on trails near my house: It's so painful to attack that hill! Ultimately, I know the effort will benefit me; I'm just loath to face the incline without earbuds and my playlist of 1970s Brazilian pop at hand. Similarly, this chart of McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) stock buybacks represents a great expending of resources in unusual fashion. Specifically, the image reflects management's decision to return $30 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases within the three years ending in 2016. During that period, McDonald's bought back $20.5 billion worth of its common stock, gilding the action with $9.5 billion in common stock dividends distributed to shareholders. McDonald's actually boosted a previously announced $20 billion program by $10 billion early in CEO Steve Easterbrook's tenure, announcing as much to shareholders during the company's investor day in November 2015. At the time, Easterbrook had launched an ambitious turnaround plan and was still unproven at the helm, having assumed the CEO position only eight months earlier. Why did the global behemoth shower shareholders with largesse at such a crucial juncture? I've always believed that the action was taken in order to stave off corporate activists who were certainly lurking in the background during that period, as the company badly needed to stem declining store traffic and lift comparable-store sales. Major repurchase programs can mollify activist hedge funds, as open-market buying activity helps stabilize and even drive up share price. More pertinently, a huge program like McDonald's buyback of 2014-2016 is designed to encumber an organization's balance sheet, adding so much debt that potential activists can't leverage the company further to fund their own turnaround plans. Logically, then, McDonald's borrowed rampantly to meet its promised goal to shareholders. The action seriously degraded the company's previously sterling corporate bond credit rating. McDonald's is still considered investment-grade, the rating assigned to the most creditworthy of corporate debt issuers, though just barely. Its rating fell to "BBB" status at the major debt rating agencies during the buying program, just a few notches above non-investment-grade, or "junk" status. It remains at these levels today. So, was this massive exercise in shareholder return worth it? Though McDonald's stock is down roughly 4% so far in 2018, since the beginning of 2015, shares have averaged a 25% annual return. McDonald's has for the most part acquired its shares at attractive prices and avoided the cardinal misstep of purchasing shares for the treasury only to watch them drop on the open market. Second, pulling its common stock off the exchanges to such a high degree has undoubtedly helped stabilize "MCD" shares during the company's turnaround under Easterbrook. Demand for McDonald's stock remains strong, but supply has diminished by roughly 17% since the beginning of 2014, from nearly 1 billion average diluted shares outstanding, to 815.5 million as of March 31, 2018. Ultimately, by plying shareholders with an already generous dividend and rich buybacks, supporting share price, and proactively warding off activists, McDonald's purchased the space that management needed to implement its plan to modernize the aging burger chain. Fast-forward to today, and you'll see that investors aren't worried about existential threats any longer; now they're focused on menu construction and opportunities like local delivery in the U.S. The story doesn't end here If you're not a McDonald's shareholder, you may be surprised to learn that while the company has firmly regained its status as the leader in the quick-service industry, it hasn't ended its plump dividends nor curbed its appetite for its own shares. And it hasn't stopped borrowing, either. McDonald's current three-year program, ending in 2019, aims to return $24.0 billion to shareholders. At its current cadence, this will average out to roughly $3.2 billion in dividends, and $4.8 billion in share repurchases, annually. In the last three years, McDonald's has effectively doubled its debt load, from $14.9 billion at the outset of 2015, to $29.5 billion at year-end 2017. Current operations won't pay for the latest share recapture and dividend program. The global chain is enjoying higher margins due to refranchising efforts, yet selling restaurants to franchisees has resulted in lower free cash flow. For example, free cash flow totaled just $3.7 billion last year. Thus, McDonald's will continue to return to the debt markets to fund its 2017-2019 program, though management will stop shy of pushing the company's borderline investment-grade rating to junk status. And one can wager that after 2019, the organization's shareholder return efforts will finally shrink to a more sustainable size. Looking back, I'm struck with the thought that if management had failed to execute its turnaround, the risk in McDonald's high leverage may have been exposed in rather bald fashion. I personally believe that beyond providing for an attractive dividend, excess cash is better utilized for reinvestment in a company's core business, or perhaps to fund a logical acquisition strategy. Yet time has proven that in this case, the risk in sacrificing McDonald's pristine credit was worth it. After all, the company is still in charge of its own destiny. Franco-Nevada (TSX:FNV) went public in the U.S. market more than a decade ago, and over that time, the company has established itself as a major player in an important niche in the natural resources industry. Franco-Nevada neither mines gold nor drills for oil, but by helping to finance projects that mining companies and oil drillers want to pursue, it ensures it can get a cut of the profits. That's been a winning business model lately, and throughout its history as a publicly traded company, Franco-Nevada has stood out for one thing that it's done consistently well: paying and raising its dividend regularly over time. Coming into Wednesday's first-quarter earnings report, Franco-Nevada investors had modest expectations for favorable performance on the precious-metals streaming specialist's top and bottom lines. Franco-Nevada did far better than most had expected in producing earnings growth, and executives have high hopes for the rest of the year. Franco-Nevada starts 2018 strong Franco-Nevada's first-quarter results were encouraging. Revenue was up just a fraction of a percent to $173.1 million, but that was still better than the slight decline that most of those following the stock were expecting. Net income showed much better results, rising 43% on an adjusted basis to $63.9 million. That worked out to adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, which was quite a bit better than the consensus forecast among analysts for just $0.27 per share on the bottom line. From a production standpoint, Franco-Nevada's shift toward greater oil and gas exposure proved vital to its sustained growth. Total precious-metals production was off more than 15,000 gold equivalent ounces to about 113,400 ounces, with double-digit-percentage declines in gold, silver, and platinum-group metals. Production of other minerals also was down, cutting total metals production by 12% to 115,671 gold equivalent ounces. Yet the oil and gas segment saw revenue jump by nearly three-quarters to $19 million, and that single-handedly helped Franco-Nevada post record revenue despite the production drop. Franco-Nevada's product mix has shifted. Precious metals accounted for 87% of production, leaving energy to pick up the rest. The breakdown within metals was 68% gold, 14% silver, and 5% platinum-group metals. Geographically, more than 80% of revenue came from the Americas, split roughly evenly between Latin America and the northern part of North America, combining the U.S. and Canada. CEO David Harquail praised the company's progress. "Franco-Nevada's diversified portfolio continues to deliver," Harquail said, "with record quarterly revenue and net income being realized in the first quarter." The CEO also said that Franco-Nevada's debt-free balance sheet gives it plenty of opportunities to capitalize on future project financing. Can Franco-Nevada keep up the good work? Franco-Nevada has several current financing projects that it thinks will start paying off. Harquail pointed to Tasiast, Subika, and Candelaria as good candidates for greater production, and the streaming giant also believes that Cobre Panama will start producing within the next year. The CEO also knows that the oil and gas area will keep bulking up overall production for the foreseeable future, especially with the recent rise in oil prices. For the 11th straight year, Franco-Nevada announced a dividend increase. The company made what has now become an expected $0.01-per-share boost to its quarterly payout, with shareholders to receive $0.24 per share every three months. That works out to just a 1.3% dividend yield, but the streaming specialist noted that when you compare the payout to the cost basis of original investors at the IPO in the late 2000s, the effective yield rises above 8%. Franco-Nevada shareholders took the news in stride, and the stock traded on either side of the unchanged mark on Thursday following the late-Wednesday announcement. The company has done a good job of getting profits during good times and bad in the natural resources industry, and now that the energy industry is back on an upswing, Franco-Nevada should have an excellent chance to pick up good assets and reap the rewards well into the future. The Prancing Horse initially revealed their eye-catching rear-view mirrors on Thursday and then both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen trialled the new look during the two Barcelona practice sessions on Friday, both of which saw Mercedes take top spot. Ferraris halo-mounted mirrors have certainly caught the eye ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, but Toto Wolff isnt as impressed, with the Mercedes boss unsure what difference the funky aerodynamic design will make... Sometimes what looks funky is perhaps not the biggest contributor in terms of downforce It was one of many visual updates on show, with McLaren notably sporting a new front-nose design, but it remains to be seen what performance impact the innovative design will have, with neither Ferrari car landing a top-two finish in either session. Mercedes have made changes in Spain too, but have brought incremental updates to each race - and Wolff is happy with their 2018 strategy, hinting that Ferrari may need more than fancy mirrors to catch them this weekend. I think we have a steady development rate, he said. I agree, if you look at the Ferrari and you see this very creative rear mirror, you're like wow, thats amazing.' But as a matter of fact, you have a base car and you need to improve on your base performance in all the areas. And sometimes what looks funky is maybe not the biggest contributor in terms of downforce. I think you need to stick to your route and ours is always on the conservative side - it has helped us so far. But despite Mercedes' advantage on Friday - with Red Bull, not Ferrari, looking their biggest threat - Wolff also expects third practice and qualifying in Spain to prove challenging, especially if Friday's breezy conditions continue. Wind is a big factor, he added. There are a couple of corners that had quite some tail wind. We've seen it on the fastest laps, with [Max] Verstappen running wide, so it was tricky conditions today. Mercedes will nevertheless be pleased with their Friday showing, having seen Valtteri Bottas lead a one-two in the opening session before Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in FP2. Bookmaking in the state of Kansas is technically against the law, but so too is shooting rabbits from a motor vehicle, catching a fish with one's bare hands and hitting a vending machine that stole your money. We here at Gambling911.com believe the later should definitely be made legal, as we believe bookmaking should as well. But if you thought these were bad, can you believe Kansas just outlawed police officers having sex during traffic stops? Of course they shouldn't do it and we're not suggesting this is a bad law. The new law more specifically bans sexual relations "during the course of a traffic stop, a custodial interrogation, an interview in connection with an investigation, or while the law enforcement officer has such person detained." But the idea that none of this was apparently "illegal" prior to Thursday's passage of the new law has many scratching their heads. Surprisingly, Kansas was among 33 states where consensual sex between police and people in their custody wasnt a crime, The Wichita Eagle reported . Democratic Rep. Cindy Holscher, of Olathe, introduced the bill in response to the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didnt commit. McIntyre was released last year after investigators determined the detective who arrested him had long coerced sexual acts from women in Kansas Citys black community, including McIntyres mother, by threatening to arrest them or their relatives. McIntyres mother said in an affidavit that she believed the detective targeted her son after she spurned his advances. - Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com Google might introduce Pixel Watch later this year News oi-Sandeep Sarkar Pixel watch could be announced at Google's annual hardware event that will take place somewhere around October this year. Google Pixel 2 is one of the most power-packed devices that is available in the market today. The Google Pixel 2 has up the Android experience for a user to a higher level. However, when it comes to the Android experience on the smartwatches, Google needs to work a bit more to live up to the expectations of the users. We all aware that Google has recently renamed its Android Wear to Wear OS and introduced a set of new features for the smartwatch. The Wear OS came along with a dark theme, unlike its previous version. With the addition of new features in the Google Assistant, the Wear OS became more useful as compared to Android Wear. However, in terms of hardware, the Wear OS was not updated. Now, it is being reported that Google is planning on releasing a new smartwatch which will come under the Pixel banner. It should not come as a surprise that Google might be working on developing the Pixel watch considering the fact that Qualcomm is also ready with the new chips. The new chips that Qualcomm has designed are said to bring a whole lot of new improved features for the smartwatch. Top 10 Tips & Tricks for Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Evan Blass, also known as Evleaks who is a tech journalist had mentioned that a Pixel watch could be announced at Google's annual hardware event that will take place somewhere around October this year. Blass also gave hint related to Pixel Buds, which is most likely to see a successor this year along with the third-gen Pixel phones. However, there is nothing mentioned about the availability of the rumoured midrange Pixel smartphone. The midrange Pixel smartphone is speculated to be released in India later this year. The device is supposed to be available around Aug 2018. If Google releases the Pixel-branded smartwatch then there would be stiff competition between the Apple watch and the Pixel-watch. Apple watches are on the top of the list when it comes to smartwatches. Reports of Apple watch receiving updates in the future that will bring some new set of features and functions for the watch is making some rounds over the internet. Also, the Next-gen Apple Watch models will likely feature larger displays, enhanced health monitoring and health sensor along with longer battery life. On the other hand, Qualcomm's new smartwatch platform, which the company had spoken about recently are also said to be power efficient, this could be one of the important aspects of the Pixel-branded watch. Best Mobiles in India Lenovo Z5 is the next flagship smartphone, confirms new teaser News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Its confirmed! Lenovo Z5 is the next flagship smartphone. Earlier this week, we came across a report tipping that Lenovo could be working on an upcoming flagship smartphone. The teaser let out by Chang Cheng, the Lenovo Group VP revealed that this device will have a high screen-to-body ratio. Also, it was said that this handset will be announced on June 14. While the other details about this device are scarce, Cheng has posted yet another teaser revealing a few details. This new teaser on Weibo confirms the name of the upcoming smartphone. Well, the device in the making is claimed to be dubbed Lenovo Z5. The latest teaser gives us a glance at the design of the smartphone too. We can see that the teaser has a sketch of the Z5 with the display occupying most of the front panel. There appear to be negligible bezels at the top and bottom. Apart from the large screen space, the design at the sides show the antenna bands on the left of the phone. This hints that there could a metallic chassis. A USB Type-C port is seen at the bottom of the handset. Innovative Lenovo Z5 Cheng claims that the company achieved four technological breakthroughs and 18 patented technologies with this smartphone. Previously, he stated that they have included a comprehensive screen in their next flagship phone. He added that this was possible with by reducing the space occupied by the antenna bands, camera and bezels. There is a speculation that this smartphone from the company might feature an under-display fingerprint sensor, flip-up selfie camera and in-screen earpiece. However, there is no confirmation regarding these features. To mark an end to ZUK phones It looks like the company is not in plans to sell smartphones in the ZUK brand anymore. The lineup did not gain enough success to the brand in its home market China. Eventually, they came up with budget smartphones such as Lenovo K5 and K5 Lite and the mid-range Lenovo S5. The upcoming flagship smartphone is said to be aimed at taking over Xiaomi smartphones. While not much is know about the next-generation flagship from Lenovo, what do you think about it? Will Lenovo be able to outshine the success of Xiaomi with this smartphone? Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Royal Society Fellowship for Professor Sheila Rowan Professor Sheila Rowan, director of the University of Glasgows Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR), has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society for her pioneering work on gravitational wave detection. Sometimes described as the scientific equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar, Royal Society Fellows are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science. Past Fellows include Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. As director of the IGR, Professor Rowan led a team of University of Glasgow physicists who made key contributions to the international LIGO Scientific Collaboration. The US-based LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detectors made the historic first direct detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes in September 2015. The detection came 100 years after Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves. Scientists from the Universitys Institute for Gravitational Research led on the conception, development, construction and installation of sensitive mirror suspensions in the heart of the LIGO detectors in Livingston and Hanford, which were crucial to the first detection. That technology, developed in partnership with the University of Birmingham, the University of Strathclyde, and the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, was based on Glasgows pioneering work for UK/German GEO600 detector. IGR researchers also made and continue to make - vital contributions to the massive data collection and analysis efforts which underpin each detection. To date, LIGO and the Italy-based Virgo detector have received gravitational wave signals from both colliding black holes and colliding binary neutron stars, kickstarting the entirely new field of gravitational wave astronomy. Professor Rowan said: "I'm honoured to have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. As a new Fellow, I know that I'll be joining a group which counts some of history's most accomplished and distinguished scientists amongst its ranks, and I'm pleased and proud that the current Fellows have chosen to add me to their number. "The work that my colleagues and I at the University of Glasgow have done, in collaboration with our partners around the world, to establish the new field of gravitational wave astronomy has been a real labour of love, and it's tremendous to see it recognised at this level. I'm very much looking forward to being formally admitted to the Royal Society in July, and I'm excited to continue working with my colleagues to unravel the secrets of the cosmos as the LIGO and Virgo detectors become ever-more sensitive to gravitational wave signals." Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: Id like to congratulate Professor Rowan on her Royal Society Fellowship, which deservedly places her in an elite group of people who have made outstanding contributions to science. The whole University community is extremely proud of the contributions which IGR researchers made to the historic first detection of gravitational waves under Professor Rowans direction, and of their ongoing commitment to expanding our knowledge of space through the exciting new discipline of gravitational wave astronomy. New Fellows are formally admitted to the Society at the Admissions Day ceremony in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation of the Fellows of the Royal Society. Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, says: Our Fellows are key to the Royal Societys fundamental purpose of using science for the benefit of humanity. From Norwich to Melbourne to Ethiopia, this years newly elected Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society are testament that science is a global endeavour and excellent ideas transcend borders. We also recognise the cutting edge innovation taking place across industry, with many of this years Fellows coming from the thriving tech industry. For their outstanding contributions to research and innovation, both now and in the future, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the worlds best scientists into the ranks of the Royal Society. India to Build Nepal's Biggest Hydro-Power Plant Business oi-Olga Robert Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the work on Nepal's biggest hydroelectric power plant today. This project is being built by India's state-run firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited. The hydro-project called Arun III is expected to cost $1.04 billion and will be the country's single-biggest foreign investment. It is in the final stages of its agreement with India's biggest lender, the State Bank of India for about Rs 36 billion in investment, while the rest will be raised through equity by SJVN. It is Modi's first visit to Nepal after intense protests were made by the ethnic group Madhesis in the south of the country for a greater say in the government and led to the closure of the border for months in 2015 and 2016. PM Modi will lay the foundation for the 900 MW hydro-project with his counterpart K.P Sharma Oli through a remote control from Kathmandu. Though India shares close bonds with the neighbouring country in terms of culture and religion, it has also faced allegations of meddling with internal affairs. The power plant project is expected to help regain the good relationship with Nepal as China also plans to make infrastructural investments in the country. China plans to build a railway line between Lhasa (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Katmandu by 2022. The Chinese proposal to build a 750 MW power plant in west Nepal is currently paused. For investment related articles, business news and mutual fund advise Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 16:33 [IST] Millions of U.S. and Canadian homes were built with circuit breaker panels that one expert has questioned as a potential fire hazard. Issues about Federal Pacific Electric's Stab-Lok circuit breakers were first raised decades ago with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC closed its investigation in 1983 because data then available did not establish "that the circuit breakers pose a serious threat of injury to consumers." In a 2011 update, it clarified that the investigation was closed "without making a determination as to the safety of FPE circuit breakers or the accuracy of the manufacturer's position on the matter." Now a man who played a key role in identifying issues with FPE breakers has a new claim, that Stab-Lok breakers made by other brands may also pose a fire hazard, and is strongly urging homeowners to replace all Stab-Lok-type panels and breakers. Electrical engineer Jesse Aronstein, 82, who has been testing the FPE breakers for decades, last month asked the CPSC to warn consumers definitively about the danger. "Nobody whose word can be taken as an authority . . . has made a positive recommendation that people should change out their [breaker] panels for safety reasons," Aronstein told CPSC staff. "When some agency of authority picks up the ball on this, then I can stop." In a statement to The Washington Post, the agency said, "CPSC will be reviewing the information to determine if additional investigation is warranted under our statutes." Long history of questions Aronstein, who has a doctorate in materials science, has lectured at universities and served as an expert witness in U.S. and Canadian court cases. He got involved with the CPSC and circuit breakers in the 1980s. The CPSC hired the company he worked for to test the safety of FPE's Stab-Lok breakers, which were installed in homes built from 1960 to 1985. Circuit breakers are supposed to trip, or shut off, when electrical wires are overloaded so the wires don't heat up and cause a fire. But when Aronstein's team tested the FPE Stab-Lok breakers, 51 percent failed to trip, according to the results he submitted to the CPSC. Nobody knows how many fires FPE breakers have caused because authorities don't routinely consider breakers when investigating. Aronstein co-wrote a peer-reviewed paper that attempted to quantify the scope of the problem by applying statistics to published fire reports. They found FPE Stab-Lok breakers may be responsible for as many as 2,800 fires, 13 deaths and $40 million in property damage annually. FPE's parent company, Reliance Electric, acknowledged "a possible defect" in a 1982 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It also said FPE had obtained the Underwriters Laboratories seal of approval for its breakers "through the use of deceptive and improper practices" and noted that Underwriters Laboratories had revoked UL listing for most of FPE's products. In 1983, when the CPSC announced that it was closing its investigation, it noted that Reliance had submitted test data the company said proved the breakers "do not create a hazard in the household environment," and the CPSC said it had "insufficient data" to accept or refute that position. Reliance told the agency that the FPE breakers will trip reliably at most overload levels unless the breakers have been operated in a repetitive, abusive manner that should not occur during residential use. Reliance also maintained that at those few overload levels where FPE breakers may fail to trip under realistic-use conditions, currents will be too low to generate hazardous temperatures in household wiring. "Based on the Commission's limited budget," the news release said, "and the uncertainty of the results of such a costly investigation, the Commission has decided not to commit further resources to its investigation of FPE's circuit breakers." Aronstein was floored. "I couldn't understand why," he said recently. Other companies start making Stab-Lok breakers FPE eventually stopped manufacturing products under its own name, but its Stab-Lok circuit breakers were already in millions of homes. And other companies acquired the rights to manufacture Stab-Lok products under different names. They made entire Stab-Lok systems -- boxes, panels and breakers -- until about 1990. Today, two companies still make Stab-Lok-type products: Connecticut Electric produces breakers under the name UBI, and Canadian Schneider Electric makes breakers and panels under the name Federal Pioneer. Over the years, Aronstein says, the CPSC hired him as a consultant at least 10 more times but never revisited the FPE breaker problem or questioned the new Stab-Lok products. But home inspectors and homeowners did. They started sending Aronstein the replacement Stab-Lok breakers -- pulled from homes -- to test. He expected them to perform well, but in his tests, the replacement brands had problems with tripping as well. He published his findings in another peer-reviewed paper. At Aronstein's April meeting with the CPSC, he asked the agency to issue a clear warning about old Stab-Lok breakers and to issue a recall of new ones. "We don't believe the product should be recalled," said Jeff Jensen, CEO of Connecticut Electric. "We believe our products are made with very high quality." The company tests its breakers at half a dozen different points and ETL, a federally approved testing lab, conducts surprise inspections, he said. "Dr. Aronstein is not ETL, and he's not UL. He's one person." Schneider Electric said in an email that its Stab-Lok breakers are not affiliated with those manufactured or sold by Federal Pacific and that any component failure "would need to be investigated by our engineering team . . . before we can provide an educated response." While the CPSC decides whether to conduct its own investigation, homeowners must decide for themselves about breakers. Here's some information to help. How to Identify FPE Breakers -- The breaker box door usually says "Federal Pacific Electric" or "FPE." -- When you open the door, you will usually see the words "Stab-Lok" in the center or on the side of the breaker panel. -- A website called InspectAPedia supplies photos and further steps for identifying FPE Stab-Lok panels and breakers. -- Still unsure? Ask an electrician to remove individual breakers from the panel (you could be electrocuted if you do it yourself) and look for the E-shaped and F-shaped openings that are unique to Stab-Lok breakers. How to Identify Successor Stab-Lok Breakers Made Under Other Brand Names -- Most will have the word "Stab-Lok" in the center or on the side of the breaker panel. -- The replacement Stab-Lok brands went by at least a dozen names. The InspectAPedia website keeps an updated list of those brands that you can compare with any names you see on your own circuit breaker equipment. What to Do If You Find FPE or Replacement Stab-Lok Breakers In an email to The Post, a CPSC representative recommends that consumers have a qualified electrician inspect their circuit breaker panels for signs of overheating or malfunction. Aronstein, who has tested more than 4,000 breakers, says a visual inspection won't work. The only way to identify defective breakers is by removing and testing them, which can cost more than simply replacing the panel, he said. A new breaker system costs $500 to $1,700. Many home inspectors also recommend replacing rather than repairing the panels. "You don't know you have a problem until the firetruck pulls up," said Scott Patterson, president-elect of the American Society of Home Inspectors. "The entire panel needs to be replaced. That's what I advise all my clients to do. They just have too bad of a history." - Leamy is a longtime consumer advocate. Google may have recently rebranded Android Wear, but that doesn't mean that platform seems to be getting much more love than before. Perhaps the search giant's wearable dreams will be rekindled with an own-brand flagship device to showcase everything Wear OS by Google is capable of. That's exactly what we'll get this fall, according to famed leakster Evan Blass. According to what he calls reliable sources, at Google's next hardware-focused event a Pixel-branded watch will make its debut, alongside the Pixel 3 and 3 XL smartphones, and second generation Pixel Buds. If true, this would remedy what has been one of the big omissions in the company's newfound hardware strategy. All that's left is for it to give us another Android TV console, and then Google would really have all its bases covered, when it comes to own-brand stuff. Source These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Xiaomi might be popular with its smartphones, but it also has an in-house IoT ecosystem thanks to the booming startup industry in China. Some of its smart home products include the Mi Bedside Lamp, Mi LED Smart Bulb and Mi Smart Plug, all three of them soon to be available in the US. The news comes straight from Xiaomi co-founder Wang Xiang who bragged about the expansion on Twitter. The United States market is already familiar with the Xiaomi brand, even if phones are yet to reach the country. Products like the Mi Power Bank Pro, Mi Home Security Camera, and the Mi Electric Scooter are currently available in partnership with Amazon. The difference is the new products will have Google Assistant support. The announcement came as a part of the Google I/O 2018 conference that took place earlier this week. The Mi Bedside Lamp can be configured in 16 million colors. It has a touch-sensitive panel on top and can be set through the Mi Home app and controlled via voice. The LED Smart Bulb does exactly what you think it does - it lights up with your voice or phone without getting out of bed and has all the colors and moods you need. The Mi Smart Plug is a simple Wi-Fi on/off switch that makes a smart device out of any non-smart appliance. Prices of the Mi gadgets are not yet available on the US section of mi.com but should be up there by the end of May. For comparison, the Bedside Lamp costs CNY249 in China, or about $40, while LED light bulbs go for the equivalent of $20. Source | Via Published on 2018/05/11 | Source Added episodes 25 and 26 captures for the Korean drama "Switch - Change The World" (2018) Advertisement Directed by Jo Young-min, Nam Tae-jin Written by Baek Woon-cheol, Kim Ryoo-hyun Network : SBS With Jang Keun-suk, Han Ye-ri, Jung Woong-in, Jo Hee-bong, Shin Do-hyun, Ahn Seung-hwan,... 32 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00 (2x35min) Formerly known as "Operation King" (, gong-jak-wang) Synopsis A smart con artist impersonates a prosecutor. He passed all the necessary exams, but never managed to get work in the legal profession. Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2018/03/28 More Published on 2018/05/11 | Source Korean movie opening today 2018/05/11 in Korea: "Youthful Mother-in-law" (2018) Advertisement Directed by Choi Eun-jung With Jin Si-ah, Jin Joo, James, Yoon Sang-doo,... Synopsis Sun-young and Do-han have been married for 3 years. Do-han's failure in business loses his home and they move into Sun-young's dad's home where he lives alone. Sun-young starts going clubbing as she can't stand her incompetent husband and meets Jung-hyun there. She comes home drunk every night or spends the night out, but Do-han can't say anything to her. Then one day, Sun-young's father, who is away on work, calls to say a woman who is going to be her step-mother is stopping by. Kyung-mi comes along. Kyung-mi's father met her on his business trip and was going to return home with her, but his trip ended up taking longer so she came ahead of him. Sun-young wasn't happy with this sudden change but, Kyung-mi comforts Do-han who is completely ignored by his wife. by Emily Mayer In The Havre Plaindealers May 11, 1918 edition, it was announced a second War Fund Drive would start May 20, the money being raised for the Red Cross. The national goal was another $100 million to be given to the war effort. The money would be needed and Hill County was reminded why by another short article: FOURTEEN HILL COUNTY SOLDIERS LEFT FRIDAY Fourteen men from Hill county, making up the April 28th call by the provost marshal general, started for Fort McDowell, Cal., yesterday. Only seven men went from Havre, the rest of the contingent being mad up of men registered here but who have since changed their residence. The boys were given a rousing send-off at the train. As efforts were ramping up to send money and American men to fight the war over there, the Montana Council of Defense was busy implementing the orders it was passing. SHERIFF BICKLE HAS IMPORTANT BLANKS Cover Recent Orders of State Council of Defense Sheriff Bickle is in receipt of the orders of the Montana council of defense passed at the meeting of that body held March 15 and April 22. The four orders deal with the parades which may not be held without a permit; the question of dealing with loafers and vagrants and requiring that every able bodied man in the state do at least five days work a week; the order discontinuing the teaching of German in the public and parochial schools and colleges and the elimination of certain text books from the public and school libraries, said to contain German propaganda; the order to the railroad companies to enforce the law relating to the stealing of rides on trains in Montana. In addition to receiving from Secretary Greenfield the orders of the council, the sheriff has also received blanks for the registration of persons who are not engaged in some legitimate occupation five days a week. The blanks which will be filled out and attested to before a notary, provide for the name, age, address and nativity of the person, and if foreign born, the location of birth and date; whether he has applied for citizenship or not, where he last worked; why he quit and what his reason may be for not being employed at the time of registration. Accompanying the registration blank is a card which will be given to the registrant showing that he ahs been before the county or city clerk. Peace officers are ordered to round up the idlers and drifters and require their registration and if they do not go to work, they will be arrested and punished by fine and imprisonment in jail. Peace officers were not the only public officials being called upon to do the dirty work of the government. Tax assessors across the state were given a new duty, as outlined in the following column. OFFICIALS TO SEIZE HUN ENEMY PROPERTY Montana Tax Assessors Asked To Assist in Work Montana tax assessors have been asked by the alien property custodian through Secretary John Edgerton of the state tax and license commission, to hunt out and report immediately to Washington on all enemy owned money or property, or information that will lead to its location. The local tax assessor has unusual opportunities for detecting this class of property, writes Director Francis P. Garvin, to Mr. Edgerton. In many instances he will find it among the real and personal property listed on his books You and the local tax assessors of your state will be performing a patriotic act by assisting in the detection of enemy owned money or property. Where possible this money is invested in Liberty bonds and is thus made to fight for our country instead of against it. Enemy property is defined as follows: Enemy property includes any and every kind of property, tangible and intangible, money, chattels, securities, lands, indebtedness, accounts receivable, etc., which belong to an enemy. Even if the property is held in the name of another-by a dummy or in trust-if the real beneficial interest belongs to an enemy, it is enemy property. An enemy is any person, regardless of citizenship or nationality, who is now living within, or any company incorporated within, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the occupied parts of Belgium and northern France and all other territory occupied by the armed forces of Germany or her allies. Actual present residence and not citizenship is the determining factor. A German living in the United States is not an enemy, unless he is interned. On the other hand, an American living in Germany or in any territory occupied by the armed forces of Germany or her allies, is an enemy. With more news of The Great Wars impact on life in Havre, here are two entries from the Society column: Womans Club Notes. The annual business meeting of the Womans club was held on Tuesday afternoon at the club rooms. All business for the past year was satisfactorily closed and many plans for the future were discussed. A new department was added-that of Home Economics which will be under the leadership of Mrs. W. B. Rhoades. The club will support one French war orphan during the following year besides taking up other charitable work in Havre. Mesdames C. K. Olsen, D. D. Moore, Frank Carleton, Tom Long, G. A. Christiansen, J. L. Howe and Miss Grace Homan and Miss Dorothy Holland were the new members elected to membership. Here Comes America The Xavier Dramatic and choral club of Havre will again appear before a Havre audience on the evening of May 17, at the Orpheum theatre. For this performance they have chosen a musical revue called Here Comes America, and rehearsals, under the direction of O. P. Thayer, have been in order the past few weeks. A number of soloists and a large chorus of over thirty members will be heard at this time. And in the Of Local Interest social pages, we find: Edgar Runkle, a member of the Hill county contingent now making up the national army, arrived this week to spend a short furlough with Havre relatives. Mr. Runkle is stationed at Camp Lewis. W. L. Raab, a veterinary of the U. S. department, was in Havre this week, and in company with Frank Wild, revenue collector for this district, mad an official trip to Phipps and other points north of Havre. H. E. Seiver of Chester was a Havre visitor on Thursday. He was accompanied by his brother, O. D. Seiver, who is spending a short furlough from Camp Lewis. Reports from the campaign for funds for the Salvation Army in Hill county show about fifteen hundred dollars thus far contributed. The quota of this county was set at two thousand dollars, and if this is not raised it will be the first time Hill county has fallen down on an allotment. Send in your donation to C. F. Morris at once. Wm. OBrien and Miss Catherine Gore were married on Wednesday evening in the parlors of the Oxford hotel, Magistrate Kirkland performed the ceremony. Mr. OBrien is a member of the national army, located at Camp Lewis, and is spending a two weeks furlough in the city. Mrs. OBrien expects to remain here for the return of her husband. According to a recent ruling handed down by the revenue authorities, all dances not given for charitable purposes must pay the same tax as that assessed for theatres and other amusement places. The new ruling should result in a large revenue from the numerous ten-a throw Saturday Fracas and similar hops pulled off in this city. Dana Kjersem will be on the ballot in the upcoming Democratic primary for Hill County Commissioner. A newcomer to politics, Kjersem faces off against incumbent Mark Peterson June 5. The winner of the primary will go up against Dale Hansonl, an Independent, in the November general election. No Republican filed to run for the seat. Kjersem said she decided to run because the county is important and she can bring insight on changes that need to be made. All specific items voted on or discussed by the County Commission should be listed on the agenda, Kjersem said. She said she thinks they need to list the items so people know what the commission is doing. The County Commission has voted on some issues in recent weeks without listing the specific issue on their agenda. How to meet the financial needs of the Great Northern Fairgrounds' is something Kjersem said she would like to work on if elected. Concern about the fairgrounds financial condition is something Kjersem said she has heard at fair board meetings and on Facebook. To deal with the increasing costs of county government, she thinks rallying public support within the county to hold events to boost revenue for county items such as the fairgrounds . In other departments, she said ways on how money can be saved and efficiency increased should be looked at. She said that the county should provide funding through taxes for nonessential functions such as Beaver Creek Park, the H. Earl Clack Museum. She said support the counties give those entities keeps them running. If a budget were to need to be cut, the county is required by law to fund some services such as the sheriff's office and the road department, but services such as parks, museums and fairs are not required to be funded. Kjersem said that she would only support a mill levy increase for the fairgrounds if there are no other options available. She said that, right now, there is a large group of volunteers in the county willing to help out and hold events that can raise money for the fairgrounds. -- Dana Kjersem Date and place of birth: Dec. 16, 1982, Great Falls Education: Graduated from Havre High School, 2001; Bachelor of Science in health and physical education, Montana State University-Northern, 2006; Work history: Child protection specialist, Montana Child Protective Services; Former owner of Laugh and Learn Day Care, Montana State University-Northern Daycare Family: Randy Cloninger, husband; four children Political experience: none Josh, Eileen, Monty and Amanda Viall pose for a photograph. Eileen and Monty Viall still are in Seattle as she goes through treatment for a rare form of cancer. Fundraisers are set at the Havre Eagles Club May 19 and the Havre Pizza Hut June 14 to help them with their expenses. Havre resident Eileen Viall still faces a long road of treatment and recovery in Seattle, but she is feeling optimistic and grateful for the support that her hometown community has given her, as her family and friends back in Havre hope for her to come back soon. Viall was diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in February and went through three weeks of treatment in Great Falls before going to Seattle to receive further treatment. Fundraisers are in the works to help the Vialls with their expenses, including an event at the Eagles Club next week and at Pizza Hut in June. V... Press release Huntyn Fuzesy from Lincoln-McKinley Primary School is one of the featured writers this year in Signatures from Big Sky. A copy is available at the Havre-Hill County Public Library. Information about the magazine, including purchasing a copy, is available at https://signaturesfrombigsky.weebly.com/. The magazine is published by the Montana Association for Gifted And Talented Education each spring to provide an opportunity for young Montana artists and writers to publish their work. It is the only publication dedicated to the work of K-12 students in Montana. This year marks... Students to receive $1,000 for college in state by giving 100 volunteer hours Press release HELENA The Governors Office of Community Service, Montana Campus Compact, and Reach Higher Montana today announced that 100 high school seniors from 52 communities across Montana were awarded $1,000 Youth Serve Montana Scholarships. These scholarships recognize each students commitment to volunteering 100 hours or more. Local students earning scholarships are Andrea Rutledge of Big Sandy, who plans to attend Montana State University in Bozeman; Erika Arnold of Chinook, who plans to attend Montana State Univeristy-Northern, and Alexandra Barkus of Havre, who plans... James W. Branden, 66, passed away at his residence due to natural causes Tuesday, May 8, 2018. Cremation has taken place, and at Jim's request, no services will be held at this time. His family has suggested that memorial donations be made in Jim's name to the charity of their choice. Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Please visit Jim's online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for his family at http://www.hollandbonine.com. Jim was born March 11, 1952, in Havre to Lawrence and Gertrude (Gerky) Branden. He was raised on the family farm north of Havre (formerly Old MacDonald's farm), attending school in Havre. Following his high school years, Jim worked as a mechanic, first for several different companies, then moving on to own T & T Equipment Repair until his retirement in 2010. He married Janet Baker in 1973, and the couple had three children. They purchased the farm from his parents in the mid-1990s, and Jim continued to work at the shop during the day and farm outside of shop hours. He retired from farming in 2013, and he and Janet began spending six months a year in Mesa, AZ. When he was younger, Jim enjoyed hunting and fishing. In more recent years, he made yard art and pickle forks to give away. He also spent much of his time making roadrunners for donations to help fund the Sunshine Acres Children's Home in Mesa. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Gert Branden; sister Trudy Brown; nephew Robby Williams; brothers-in-law Bob Gaskill and Don Baker; and parents-in-law, Tom and Jessie Baker Jr. He is survived by his wife, Janet Branden of Havre; daughter, Jamie (Brian) Berreth of Chinook; sons, James L. (Nicki) Branden of Havre and Jared (Laci) Branden of Spokane, WA; seven grandchildren, Drake, Mya, Paisley, Hayden, Cutler, Kyra and Violet; sisters Bev Williams of Havre and Donna (Dennis) Grant of Manhattan, MT; sisters-in-law, Sandy (Ron) Olmstead and Kathy (Jerry) Engleson; brother-in-law Tom (Debbie) Baker III; and numerous nieces and nephews. A new study led by UC San Francisco scientists shows that brain cells, or neurons, react differently to opioid substances created inside the body the endorphins responsible for the natural high that can be produced by exercise, for example than they do to morphine and heroin, or to purely synthetic opioid drugs, such as fentanyl. The researchers say their findings may help explain why the use of synthetic opioids can lead to addiction. Since both synthetic opioids and the natural, endogenous opioids produced in the brain bind to and activate opioid receptors on the surface of nerve cells, scientists have long assumed that both types of molecules target the same cellular systems. But the new research reveals that these molecules also activate opioid receptors inside cells, and that the locations of these activated intracellular receptors differ between natural and synthetic opioids. In the new study, published in the May 10 issue of Neuron, the researchers report that this difference could help explain why the effects of synthetic opioid drugs are more rewarding than those produced by endogenous opioids. There has been no evidence so far that opioid drugs do anything other than what natural opioids do, so its been hard to reconcile the experiences that drug users describe that opioid drugs are more intensely pleasurable than any naturally rewarding experience that theyve ever had, said Mark von Zastrow, MD, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF and senior author on the new paper. The possibility that these opioid drugs cause effects that natural opioids cannot is very intriguing because it seems to parallel this extremely rewarding effect that users describe. Researchers in von Zastrows lab collaborated with Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, to create a biosensor that binds to the opioid receptors along with an opioid drug or natural opioid. The tool allowed the scientists to see whats happening inside cells, giving them a closer look than ever before at opioids effects. Its a way of sniffing out where these receptors are active in the particular types of neurons in which opioids work, explained von Zastrow, a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. It has generally been thought that all opioid molecules, natural or synthetic, impart their signal only from receptors on the surface of the cell. Opioid-bound receptors are then taken inside the cell to compartments called endosomes, but receptors were thought not to signal from this location. Overturning this long-held view, the research team discovered that receptors actually remain active in endosomes and they use the endosome to sustain the signal within cells. But in the most intriguing twist, the research team discovered that morphine and synthetic opioids activate receptors in yet another internal location called the Golgi apparatus, where endogenous opioids are unable to produce any activation at all. It really surprised us that there was a separate location of activation for drugs in the Golgi apparatus that could not be accessed by endogenous opioids, said first author Miriam Stoeber, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in von Zastrows lab. Drugs, which we generally thought of as mimics of endogenous opioids, actually produce different effects by activating receptors in a place that natural molecules cannot access. Moreover, morphine and synthetic opioids crossed cell membranes without binding receptors or entering endosomes. They traveled directly to the Golgi apparatus, reaching their target much more quickly than endogenous opioids got into endosomes, taking only 20 seconds compared to over a minute. This time difference could be important in the development of addiction, the researchers said, because typically the faster a drug takes effect, the higher its addictive potential. The scientists hope to apply their findings to create new types of opioid-based pain medications that have a lower risk for addiction. They also plan to screen other existing medications to see if they act more like natural or synthetic opioids. Were very excited about the possibility of leveraging these principles to develop better or more selective drugs that have the ability to get into the brain, but then differ in their activities at internal locations within individual neurons, says von Zastrow. This is an area that hasnt been explored in drug development because people havent been thinking about it, but the potential is there. Other authors on the study were Damien Jullie and Braden Lobingier of UCSF; Toon Laeremans and Jan Steyaert of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Brussels, Belgium; and Peter Schiller of the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, in Canada. The research was supported in part by funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (DA10711, DA012864, DA004443, and DP5 OD 02304801), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-89716), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (P2EZP3_152173 and P300PA_164712). UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, transitional and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland, and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area. Medulloblastoma is a rare malignant tumor of the cerebellum and occurs predominantly in children. Scientists believe that in many cases hereditary gene defects trigger the development of this malignant disease. However, there are no standards for routine genetic screening of patients, nor are there guidelines and a corresponding nationwide infrastructure for genetic counseling of affected families. Scientists have now been able to characterize medulloblastoma more accurately and to derive recommendations for genetic testing based on analysis of 1022 patients with medulloblastoma. We analyzed genes that have been previously implicated in predisposition to any type of pediatric and adult cancer, says Sebastian Waszak from the EMBL Heidelberg who is one of the studys lead authors. It turned out that six genes were also frequently affected by genetic alterations in patients with medulloblastoma. Considering the six significantly enriched genes, about five percent of patients had an increased risk of cancer. Taking into account all cancer risk genes, about eleven percent of the patients had an increased cancer risk. Looking at a particular tumor subgroup, the so called SHH-activated medulloblastoma, even 20 percent were identified to harbour a genetic predisposition to cancer. These predisposing mutations occur in every single cell of the patient and can be also passed on to offspring. Mutations of this kind often indicate a familial predisposition to cancer and therefore place special demands on the treatment of patients and the counseling of families, said Paul Northcott from the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, who shares the lead authorship. The results are particularly important because both, materials from previous studies and patient data from four current or recently completed clinical trials were included in the analysis. Based on these findings and other tumor features, the scientists developed criteria for routine genetic screening. Hereditary disease factors usually have a significant impact on the whole family of the patient, We want to make genetic analysis available as a standard of care for patients with specific medulloblastoma, says Stefan Pfister, KiTZ director, scientist at the German Cancer Research Center, and senior physician at the Heidelberg University Hospital. To make this possible, Stefan Pfister and Christian Kratz from the Hannover Medical School have created a registry for patients with a hereditary cancer predisposition and a website that contains information for patients, families, and physicians (www.krebs-praedisposition.de). The project was significantly supported by the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), the German Cancer Aid, the German Childhood Cancer Foundation, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Original publication: Waszak et al. Spectrum and prevalence of genetic predisposition in medulloblastoma: a retrospective genetic study and prospective validation in a clinical trial cohort. The Lancet Oncology. Online publication 10th May 2018; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30242-0 A picture is available for download: https://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2014/bilder/Medulloblastom-MRT-Hellerhoff-Wikimedia.jpg Picture Caption: MRT picture of a medulloblastoma Note on use of images related to press releases Use is free of charge. The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) permits one-time use in the context of reporting about the topic covered in the press release. Images have to be cited as follows: Source: Wikimedia/Hellerhoff. Distribution of images to third parties is not permitted unless prior consent has been obtained from DKFZs Press Office (phone: ++49-(0)6221 42 2854, E-mail: [email protected]). Any commercial use is prohibited. The use of genetic tests aimed at detecting the presence of mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in women with breast cancer is rapidly declining in favor of tests that can detect multiple cancer-associated mutations, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and five other U.S. medical centers. Some researchers had wondered whether multigene testing, which may identify genetic mutations of uncertain clinical significance, would lead more women to consider prophylactic mastectomies a surgery in which both breasts are removed to prevent future cancers out of an abundance of caution. However, the current study did not show an increase in mastectomies associated with testing more genes. The shift reflects a growing acknowledgement by clinicians that multigene panel tests can yield more clinically useful information for patients and their unaffected relatives, the researchers said. Overall, multigene panels were about twice as likely as the tests for BRCA1 and BRCA2 to identify disease-associated genetic variants, the study found. However, multigene testing was more likely than the BRCA-only testing to be delayed until after surgery to remove the tumor. This time lag may limit a patients treatment options, the researchers said. Becoming the norm In general, multigene panel tests yield more clinically useful results and are rapidly becoming the norm, said Allison Kurian, MD, associate professor of medicine and of health research and policy at Stanford. Newly diagnosed women should ask their doctors whether they may be appropriate candidates for genetic testing. They should also advocate for the opportunity to discuss genetic testing and its implications with an experienced clinician, such as a genetic counselor, in a timely manner. A paper describing the research will be published May 10 in JAMA Oncology. Kurian is the lead author. Steven Katz, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and of health management and policy at the University of Michigan, is the senior author. In general, multigene panel tests yield more clinically useful results and are rapidly becoming the norm. Multigene panel tests are more likely than BRCA-only tests to yield information about both a patient and her family members, who may be unwitting carriers of disease-associated mutations. This is very important because it offers the opportunity for genetically targeted, primary cancer prevention in unaffected relatives, said Kurian, who is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Some prior research has shown that this cascade testing of unaffected relatives is cost-effective, and there are currently several initiatives underway to improve upon the delivery and success rates of cascade testing. The researchers surveyed over 5,000 women who had been diagnosed with stage-0 to stage-2 breast cancer between 2013 and 2015. They asked the women if theyd had genetic testing, and, if so, who ordered it, when it was performed and what type of tests they underwent. A novel feature of this study was that genetic results came directly from the testing laboratories and were linked to population-based cancer registry data. This data linkage provided substantially greater depth and accuracy of genetic information than in previous studies. They found that only about one-quarter of the women had received any genetic testing. This number stayed relatively constant throughout the two-year period. However, of those who were tested, the proportion who received multigene panel testing increased steadily over time, from about 26 percent of those tested in early 2013 to about 66 percent in mid-2015. Conversely, the proportion of women who received BRCA-only testing during the same time period decreased from about 74 percent to about 34 percent. Multigene panel testing was about twice as likely as BRCA-only testing to identify disease-associated mutations. But it was also more likely to reveal mutations of uncertain clinical significance, particularly in racial or ethnic minorities. This disparity is likely due to the fact that most genes were sequenced first in white patients, and the causative effect of variations in other minorities is not clear. This finding emphasizes the need for research in diverse populations to clarify genetic uncertainty and reduce racial disparities in the clarity of genetic test results, the researchers say. Timing of tests varied The timing of the tests also varied, the study found. Although the majority of the women tested got their results prior to surgery to remove the tumor, many did not. About 33 percent of women receiving multigene panel testing were tested after surgery, versus about 20 percent of women receiving BRCA-only testing perhaps due to a recognition by clinicians that interpreting the results of a multigene panel can be complex and requires the expertise of genetic counselors, who are not always rapidly available. Furthermore, patients and their clinicians may view genetic testing as a lower priority than tumor biology and pathology testing which most directly inform the treatment options, said Katz. As genetic testing has become more comprehensive and less expensive, we have begun to see a significant problem in terms of the genetic-counselor workforce, Kurian said. More genetic counselors are needed, and they should be integrated into routine cancer care. There is also a need for new care-delivery models that effectively triage appropriate patients to timely genetic counseling. Researchers from the University of Southern California, Emory University and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center also contributed to the study. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant P01CA163233), the National Cancer Institute and the University of Michigan Cancer Center. Stanfords departments of Medicine and of Health Research and Policy also supported the work. Apple has abandoned plans for an 850m data centre in Athenry, Co Galway, citing delays in the Irish planning process. The firm, which was facing a fresh Supreme Court and European Court appeal to a facility it announced more than three years ago, is proceeding with a second data centre in Denmark. "Delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans. We will not be able to move forward with the centre," an Apple statement read. "This setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow." To illustrate this, the technology giant pointed out new investment in its Cork facility, where 6,000 people work. "We've been operating in Ireland since 1980, and we're proud of the many contributions we make to the economy and job creation," it said. "In the last two years, we've spent over 550m with local companies, and our investment and innovation supports more than 25,000 jobs up and down the country. We're deeply committed to our employees and customers in Ireland." The data centre would have been one of the largest in Europe, with 300 temporary construction jobs and 50 permanent technical staff at the Derrydonnell Woods site. Objectors It was designed to service European online business for Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store, Messages, Maps and Siri. These services represent the fastest growing part of Apple's business, garnering 8bn in revenue per quarter according to the company's most recent financial results. Objectors to the centre said proper environmental assessments had not been done and that the facility might use as much as 6pc of the national grid's electricity output. Last week, lawyers for two objectors, Sinead Fitzpatrick and Allan Daly, succeeded in an application to have an appeal heard in the High Court over a decision which had appeared to give Apple the green light to proceed with the data centre. The Supreme Court warned that it may have to refer the case to the European Court of Justice. Such referrals can take years. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Apple's decision was "regrettable" but not surprising, given the delays, and called it a "real blow to Athenry and the west". Mr Varadkar said he hoped people outside of Ireland realised that the "inordinate delays" were not typical. He also said having data centres here may help to anchor tech giants to Ireland. HSE chief Tony O'Brien has bowed to public pressure and will resign from his position today. The Director General was facing the prospect of being sacked in the wake of a devastating day of developments in the CervicalCheck controversy. In a statement, the HSE said he made his decision "in order to avoid any further impact to the delivery of health and social care services". It emerged yesterday that health chiefs knew more than two years ago that information on faulty smear tests was being withheld from women with cervical cancer. Mr O'Brien admitted briefing notes circulated in 2016 highlighted the potential for bad publicity if significant numbers of patients were told about the errors. One memo, compiled when Leo Varadkar was the Minister for Health, warned of the need for a plan to deal with headlines such as 'screening did not diagnose my cancer'. Alarm Despite this Mr O'Brien claimed there was nothing in the note "that rang alarm bells". His position became untenable when Children's Minister Katherine Zappone broke Cabinet protocol to publicly state he should be sacked. Separately, Fianna Fail indicated they will support a Sinn Fein motion in the Dail next week calling for his resignation. As the Taoiseach was pulled directly into the controversy, the agenda for a special Cabinet meeting in Monaghan to celebrate two years of this Government was ripped up. Instead, ministers were to hold an emergency session in Dublin to discuss Mr O'Brien's future. But shortly after 9pm last night, the HSE confirmed he would leave his post at the close of business today. Mr O'Brien said he looks forward to engaging with the scoping inquiry set up by the Government into the case of Vicky Phelan and other women who were not told that opportunities to spot cancer cells were missed. He described himself as proud to have led the health services and the many staff who have "worked tirelessly and with great dedication to provide health and social care services in a very challenging environment". Health Minister Simon Harris thanked Mr O'Brien for almost seven years of service at the top of the HSE. "I know that he is standing down from his role today because he believes it is in the best interest of rebuilding public confidence in the wake of the issues which have arisen in CervicalCheck." The Cabinet will now focus on delivering a package of measures aimed at helping the women directly affected by the scandal. The Herald understands the Department of Health is to issue medical cards to the women and provide some practical supports, like transport for hospital appointments. In cases where the women have passed away, medical cards will be provided for their next of kin. An instruction will also be given to the HSE to treat the families as special cases in all their dealings. Redress Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will brief colleagues on the possibility of creating a fast-track redress scheme in order to avoid a flurry of cases coming before the courts. But a source said: "Whatever redress is put in place could become a template for settling cases in the future, but we have to make sure the State is not accepting liability for the laboratories." A email trawl in the Department of Health last night led officials to issue a statement claiming neither Leo Varadkar or Simon Harris were alerted to a series of explosive memos in 2016. The first document compiled by the HSE just a week after the 2016 general election states that CervicalCheck was "approaching the stage" where individual clinicians would be told that an opportunity was missed to diagnose a patient with cancer. "There is always the risk that in communicating individual case reports to clinicians of an individual patient reacting by contacting the media if they feel that 'screening did not diagnose my cancer'," the memo said. It also noted that one of the laboratories involved in analysing smear tests had sought legal advice about the right of CervicalCheck to issue reports back to patients. Under "Next Steps", the memo advised the HSE to: Pause all letters Await advice of solicitors Decide on the order and volume of dispatch to mitigate any potential risks Continue to prepare reactive communications response for a media headline that 'screening did not diagnose my cancer'. At the Dail's PAC, Mr O'Brien was asked if he gad heard the RTE Morning Ireland radio interview with Emma Mhic Mhathna, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The HSE boss said he did not hear the piece but would listen to it later. Fianna Fail's Marc MacSharry relayed how Ms Mhic Mhathuna feared her baby won't remember her. "In light of statements like that. In light of the principle of accountability. Do you not feel that it is totally untenable for you not to resign your positon now?," he asked. Mr O'Brien said it's "clearly always very tragic when any young person receives a diagnosis of terminal cancer." He said the question was based on the presumption that there is some action that has been taken that has led to that diagnosis, adding: "That is far from established". Labour TD Alan Kelly said the memo had nothing to do with communication to patients. "That is the most devastating part of this", he said. "The women were not being thought of." Ireland's Eurovision backing dancers say they have been "overwhelmed" by messages from LGBT teens across Europe since their performance in the semi-final. Ryan O'Shaugnessy's stage show is the first in the contest's 63-year history to feature a same-sex couple. Expand Close Ryan OShaugnessy is flying the flag for Ireland in Eurovision / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan OShaugnessy is flying the flag for Ireland in Eurovision While Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by public vote in 2015, many nations competing in Eurovision still have a poor LGBT rights record. The Herald reported earlier this week that the Chinese broadcaster of Eurovision had edited out the Irish performance because of its depiction of a gay relationship. Emotional Last night the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that it was cutting ties with the channel as a consequence. "This is not in line with the EBU's values of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music," it said in a statement. The emotive dance routine in the Irish act has been a hit with Eurovision fans. Dancers Alan McGrath (25) and Kevin O'Dwyer (24) were inundated with messages from teenagers struggling with their sexuality. "We've had such touching messages from people around Europe who aren't out, or who are in the closet," Alan said. "It's a great thing because Kevin and I were both at that point in our lives at some stage. It's great to be able to send out a positive message." Ryan pushed to include the ground-breaking dance performance on stage, as he wanted to show that love is universal. The dancing duo said they didn't expect the standing ovation they received from the audience during Tuesday's semi-final. "I wasn't sure if there was going to be maybe a small reaction, but when I heard it I got really emotional," Alan said. When the pair filmed the song's hugely popular video in Temple Bar they said they were still in the dark over whether they would be needed in Lisbon. "We knew it was in talks, but until we saw the reaction to the video we weren't sure," said Kevin. Despite their tender years, the duo are two of Ireland's most experienced professional dancers. As well as backing Ryan Dolan in Eurovision 2013, Alan went on a year-long American tour with Celtic Woman, and recently performed on TV3's Ireland's Got Talent. The Eurovision final takes place tomorrow night, with coverage starting at 8pm on RTE One. Agnes in one of her festive shows Mrs Brown's Boys star and creator Brendan O'Carroll has assured fans he has no plans to hang up Agnes's curlers and apron anytime soon. The Finglas-born comic returns to our screens with a new series of All Round To Mrs Brown's on Saturday next week. In an interview on TV3's This Morning show yesterday, he said: "As long as we have the Christmas specials, that will always give us Mrs Brown's Boys in its entirety." The funnyman - who insisted he does not allow himself to become complacent, despite the show's huge success - pinpointed the popularity of both the sitcoms and tours to "old-fashioned" humour. He said this was something that contemporary comedies had started to ignore. Snarky In another recent interview, he said: "In the 1980s and early 1990s, comedy started to take itself very seriously. "It started to become very snarky. It also started to become smart, or intellectual, rather than funny. I think what happened is that Mrs Brown captured an audience that comedy had left behind a bit." Brendan said he is now is busy behind the scenes developing Mrs Brown: The Musical. He said the show would be ready to tour Ireland and the UK by March nest year. Brendan also revealed that he initially turned down offers from the BBC to develop a sitcom based on his famous alter-ego. He said he was reluctant to sign up to the broadcaster because he was committed to touring the live shows with his family, many of whom play the main the parts. The 62-year-old comedian admitted it took a full two years before he eventually signed a contract with the BBC in 2011. Tour The Dubliner said: "I kept saying 'No', because my favourite part of all this is touring. I love touring. "I love being in a different city or county each week, and so I didn't want to take that away. "I thought television might affect that." Provo candidates talk concerns on housing, west side issues, future of city Provos mayoral and Municipal Council candidates had the opportunity Wednesday evening to introduce themselves and take questions pertaining to the city and, in some cases, their specific neighborhoods. Mayoral candidates include incumbent Mayor Michelle Kaufusi looking for a second term and Ken Dudley who is committed to making sure the community is safe and that small businesses get the help they need. Dudley was injured last summer while attempting to drive through a crowded intersection during a police brutality protest in downtown Provo. A demonstrator claimed he shot Dudley out ... COVID threat quashes Mummers Parade again For the second year in a row, the annual Alsatia Mummers Parade has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his short and tragic life that ended with liver failure at 43, Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto produced a prolific body of work. Though he wrote 22 collections of short stories, five radio plays, a novel, three essay collections and several film scripts and articles, Manto is best remembered for his short stories that describe in simple, crisp and hard-hitting prose, the chaos and horrors of Partition. One of the finest short story writers of modern Indian literature, Manto was born on May 11, 1912, in Ludhiana, Punjab. On his 106th birth anniversary, two plays Toba Tek Singh and Miyan, Biwi Aur Manto based on his stories are being performed this weekend in Delhi at the ongoing Saksham Theatre Festival at the India Habitat Centre. While Toba Tek Singh, the dark satire set in a madhouse post-Partition where the lunatics seem saner than the people outside, was written by Manto in 1955, the year he died, disillusioned and impoverished in Lahore; Miyan, Biwi Aur Manto, a comedy, is sourced from his early, and less famous work written during his stint with the All India Radio in 1941. Miyan, Biwi Aur Manto is based on his Aao series of four radio plays, which were translated into Hindi by Azara Rizvi, says Sunil Rawat, the director. These stories revolve around the witty banter and everyday tiffs of a couple, he adds. Manto writes in the introduction that he wrote these comedies for his bread and butter, says Rawat, who makes an appearance in the play as Manto and delivers a monologue defending himself against charges of obscenity and alcoholism. This battle with offended sensibilities was one that Manto fought all his life. The bluntness and realism in his writing whether he was writing about an upper class mans attraction to the body odour of a tribal woman during intercourse (Bu), or a gang-rape survivor mechanically undoing her salwar (Khol Do), or the savagery the Partition unleashed (Thanda Ghosht) invited lawsuits and censure. He was taken to court six times on charges of sedition and obscenity. Manto was conscious of his role as a writer, says author, translator and literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil. He wrote that he was not a dressmaker or tailor, his job was to take off the clothes of society. He was acutely aware that he was writing it as he was seeing it. His autobiographical essays give a clear-sighted view of his writings in his own words, she says. Director Sunil Rawat says he relied on Hindi translator Vidya Shankars excellent script for his stage adaptation of Toba Tek Singh. (Photo courtesy: Saksham Theatre Group) While Mantos clinical and terse prose lends his short fiction its punch, the best example being Toba Tek Singh, it makes adapting his stories for a visual medium somewhat of a challenge. Rawat says he relied on Hindi translator Vidya Shankars excellent script for his stage adaptation, which is inspired by the short story. The play, he says, makes certain changes to the original story without diluting its powerful message. The other madmen in the story have been fleshed out in detail as have been the debates and arguments that follow once they learn about the creation of India and Pakistan, he says. Big-screen adaptations Ketan Mehtas 2016 film Toba Tek Singh also featured characters from Mantos other short stories, including that of Manto himself, to make the short story work as a film. Veteran actor Pankaj Kapur, who played Bishan Singh (or Toba Tek Singh), believes the short story to be the best piece ever written on the Partition. Ketan created Mantos character (played by Vinay Pathak) as the narrator of Bishan Singhs story. And he included a couple of other stories in the film such as Khol Do, says Kapur. Alok Rai, formerly professor of English at Delhi University, says that through Toba Tek Singh, Manto rejects the rationality that produced the Partition. Unlike others who were taking sides, Mantos response to the serious business of independence was the only logical one to have which is to reject the whole stupidity. I think Manto was ahead of his time in that respect. The very act of getting British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe someone who had never been to India and knew nothing about it to draw the borders was absurd, Rai points out. Manto (in Toba Tek Singh) invents this figure of an angry old man who says, F**k you, I dont want any of this. Toba Tek Singh refuses to choose between two equally unacceptable options India or Pakistan, he says. The man himself Mantos turbulent life was the subject of Pakistani film-maker Sarmad Sultan Khoosats biographical drama Manto (2015). Actor-director Nandita Dass soon-to-release biopic on him, also titled Manto (2018), will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival this month. It looks at the critical pre- and post-Partition periods in the writers life. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto in Nandita Dass forthcoming film Manto. (Imdb.com) Das says it is the honesty in Mantos work that appealed to her. And the fact that he continued to fight against all forms of orthodoxy. He didnt spare any kind of religious bigotry whether it was from the government or the mullahs or the right-wingers of that time, she says. These are things that we are also grappling with, and Manto responded to in a very honest and effortless manner, she says. Jalil says the fact that Mantos stories were included in undergraduate courses in the 90s, along with the easy availability of his work in translation and transliteration have made him accessible to a younger audience. Also, the clarity in his writing finds him admirers even now, unlike his contemporaries whose rhetoric or picturesque prose may not be widely appreciated today. His simple and sharp stories have no fluff. They take you right away to the nub of the issue. Manto keeps his descriptions to a bare minimum, she says. Urdu has appealed to a certain grey audience always, but Manto and Ismat Chughtai have managed to reach younger audiences because of their quality of writing, says Jalil. We are losing our stomach for risk in the arts, says author Jerry Pinto. And this is understandable, given our current situation. So it seems better to rely on tried and tested writers like Manto, Chughtai and Tagore, he says. Manto is canonical now and he would have been horrified by it. We should be wary of looking for relevance in the same names again and again. Though Pinto admires Manto for his fearlessness in taking risks, he feels it is time to look at writers beyond the canon.If Manto was around today, he would not do Manto. He would be reading other Urdu texts and short stories and looking for something that would get people angry. What: Saksham Theatre Festival 2018 (April 8 to May 13) Where: Amphitheatre, India Habitat Centre (IHC), Lodhi Road, New Delhi When: 7.30 pm, May 12 (Miyan, Biwi Aur Manto) and 13 (Toba Tek Singh) Nearest Metro station: Jor Bagh (Yellow Line) and Khan Market (Violet Line) Buy tickets online at BookMyShow or at the programmes desk at IHC. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan left for the Cannes Film Festival late Thursday with her six-year-old daughter Aaradhya. She makes her 17th appearance at the festival this year. Aishwarya and Aaradhya wore colour co-ordinated casuals to the Mumbai airport as they left for Cannes. While Aishwarya was dressed in a black top and trousers, Aaradhya wore a black frock with cute pink and white balloons printed on it. Meanwhile, she plans to make her Instagram debut on Friday before walking the red carpet. The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held from May 8 to May 19. Before her Cannes 2018 appearance, Aishwarya Rai to debut on Instagram On the work front, Aishwarya will be seen in Fanne Khan opposite Anil Kapoor along with Rajkummar Rao in a pivotal role. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor, who was last seen in Anil Kapoor-starrer Mubarakan, certainly has some very interesting projects in his kitty. Even as the work on Dibakar Banerjees Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar continues, Arjun announced a new film with Rajkumar Gupta - Indias Most Wanted. Arjun is rumoured to play an intelligence officer in the film. Directed by Rajkumar Gupta of Raid fame, the film will pay tribute to unsung heroes of our society. The film will reportedly about finding and arresting a terrorist during a secret mission in which no bullets were fired. I wanted to understand the cop culture: Arjun Kapoor on his police officers avatar Sharing the news with his fans, Arjun tweeted, Honoured to be a part of an untold story that will inspire India! #IndiasMostWanted, a tribute to all the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to protect ours. In cinemas 24th May 2019. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. Co-produced by @rajkumar_rkg & @foxstarhindi Honoured to be a part of an untold story that will inspire India! #IndiasMostWanted, a tribute to all the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to protect ours. In cinemas 24th May 2019. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. Co-produced by @rajkumar_rkg & @foxstarhindi pic.twitter.com/y52BB7sG7x Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) May 11, 2018 May 11 marks Arjun Kapoors six years in Bollywood as it marks the anniversary of his debut film Ishaqzaade. In a long statement, Arjun wrote on Twitter, Today feels incredibly special and I have nothing but gratitude for the universe, for my loving fans who have stuck by me, around me unconditionally for six years. Thank you for taking care of me, protecting me, rooting for me through my success and my failures. It has been a special ride and when I look back upon my journey, I would not like to change a single thing. About Indias Most Wanted, he twereted, As actors we all want/search for rare stories that have the potential to inspire. Indias Most Wanted is one such story based on true events that will make every Indian proud. Indias Most Wanted is our tribute to the valour of those who devote their lives to protecting ours. To the past, to the now and to the future. Thank you for everything. See you at the movies. pic.twitter.com/pvno6rj2Z0 Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) May 11, 2018 The film goes to floors in August and will be shot Nepal and Delhi. Arjun plays a 30-year-old police officer from a special unit of Haryana Police in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar that also stars Parineeti Chopra. Arjun currently has Vipul Shahs Namaste England alongside Parineeti, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, the Hindi remake of the Telugu Blockbuster Arjun Reddy and Ashutosh Gowarikers Panipat in the pipeline. Follow @htshowbiz for more Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut spread Bollywood magic all over Cannes Film Festival on Thursday and are set to do it again on Friday. The actors, representing different brands at the festival, are ringing in yet another, very stylish day in the sunny French town. Deepika is seen wearing a breezy, flowery dress in her look from Thursday and denim bell-bottoms in her first look from Friday. She has been styled by her favourite, Shaleena Nathani who shared several pictures of her different looks on Instagram. @deepikapadukone A post shared by Shaleena Nathani (@shaleenanathani) on May 10, 2018 at 11:49am PDT strike a pose! #Cannes2018 A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on May 11, 2018 at 3:16am PDT Deepika walked the red carpet for the screening of film Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer et Courir Vite) on the third day of the festival. She wore a dreamy white Zuhair Murad gown with a heavily-embroidered cape. Deepika Padukone poses as she arrives on May 10, 2018 for the screening of the film Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer et Courir Vite) at the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. (AFP) Kangana wore a body-hugging leathery red dress by Nanushka. She carried her hair the same way as she did on Thursday night for her first red carpet appearance at the festival. She is representing liquor brand at the festival. Kangana also wore a grey Zuhair Murad gown to the event and was styled by Lorna McGee. Kangana and Deepika will soon be joined by Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor at the festival. They will also walk the red carpets as brand ambassadors for LOreal. Follow @htshowbiz for more Parmanu - The Story Of Pokhran, a Bollywood movie on Indias nuclear test in 1998, will release across 300 screens in Pakistan, said director Abhishek Sharma on Friday. Asked if the movie will release in Pakistan, Sharma told the media, We will be releasing in 300 screens in Pakistan and I think that says it all. Actor-producer John Abraham, who was also present during the interaction with mediapersons, insisted that it is not an anti-Pakistan film in any way. John said, Yes, we are (releasing the movie in Pakistan). This is not an anti-Pakistan film, it is a pro-India film. So, from the beginning we were very clear that it is a film about India and we want to celebrate the story. If we start thinking about other markets, then we will be compromising on our film. Our intention was to tell the story and we do not want to deviate from that. Written by Saiwyn Quadras and Sanyukta Shaikh Chawla, the film also features Diana Penty, Boman Irani and Yogendra Tikku. It will release on May 25. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) While Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut were spreading magic at the Cannes Film Festival, many missed these glorious pictures of Mahira Khan soaking up the sun at the French Riviera. The Pakistani actor, who is representing the same brand as Deepika at the festival, will also walk the red carpet. Mahira was spotted striking stylish poses for the camera by the beaches of the beautiful French town. She wore a flowery white suit and clicked selfies for her fans to let them know she is here. Check out her pictures: Pakistani actor Mahira Khan poses on the Croisette. (REUTERS) Pakistani actor Mahira Khan poses on the Croisette. (REUTERS) Mahira recently wished Sonam Kapoor on Twitter on her wedding with Anand Ahuja. Sonam replied that she cannot wait to meet Mahira in Cannes. Both the actors will represent LOreal at the film festival. This is Mahiras first outing at Cannes and she said she is feeling nervous about it at a recent press conference. Everyone keeps telling me, this must be so exciting and I keep telling them that I feel like I am a player for a Pakistani team but I am playing alone. I am very grateful to be associated with this brand. There are so many international stars that have been representing LOreal at Cannes and I am on my nerves to stand beside them, she said. Mahira made her Bollywood debut with Shah Rukh Khans Raees last year and is popular for appearing in shows like Humsafar. Follow @htshowbiz for more Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedis low-key wedding caught their fans by surprise. Days after Sonam Kapoor tied the knot with businessman Anand Ahuja, Neha and Angad also married in a traditional Anand Kaaraj ceremony in Delhi. The couple revealed the news on social media as both of them shared a photo from the ceremony and said that they are married to their best friend now. The couple left for the US after their wedding. Now, photos from Neha Dhupias mehendi and ring ceremonies are out and they are as dreamy as the wedding photos. Dressed in a peacock blue dress, she beamed for the camera as mehendis is being applied on her palms. Neha and Angad exchange rings. Much in love! Happy to be together! All smiles! For her wedding, Neha opted for a pastel pink lehenga from designer Anita Dongre while Angad wore white sherwani and pale pink turban. Filmmaker Karan Johar was among the first to congratulate Dhupia and Bedi on their marriage. My darling and most special friend @NehaDhupia who l love and adore dearly is married to the gentleman and talented @Imangadbedi !! Heres wishing them decades of unconditional love! Karan wrote on Twitter. Many congratulations you crazy bunch! So happy for the two of you. Rab Rakha, tweeted Abhishek Bachchan. The couple left for the US after their wedding. (Viral Bhayani) Neha and Angad shared a statement, Marrying your best friend is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and we are extremely fortunate to have found love in each other. It has been a beautiful journey knowing each other and after formalizing the wedding earlier this year, today, we exchanged our vows in a beautifully simple, private and intimate Anand Karaj ceremony in Delhi. We look forward to celebrating and sharing this special moment with our friends and colleagues in Mumbai in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for showering us with so much love. Your blessings have truly made this day so much more special. Neha is working in Karan Johars short for Netflix, Lust Stories, while Angad will be next seen in Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Soorma. Indian celebs dazzled at the 71st Cannes Film Festival as Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut, Huma Qureshi and Mallika Sherawat graced the French Riviera in their best avatars. Sonam Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will reach France on Friday. For her red carpet appearance, Deepika wore a stunning white sheer gown with cape detailing designed by Zuhair Murad.This is Deepikas second appearance at Cannes as the brand ambassador for a cosmetics brand. She also walked the red carpet twice last year. #Cannes2018 A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on May 10, 2018 at 8:18am PDT Deepika Padukone stuns at Cannes Film Festival in a dreamy white gown. See pics Earlier in the day, Deepika shared a sultry new picture in a white T-shirt, blue denims and nude heels from Cannes Kangana made her debut on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in a Zuhair Murad gown as well. The actor earlier wore a black saree with a retro hairdo. The queen is coming... A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranaut) on May 10, 2018 at 8:41am PDT Queen Kangana Ranaut descends on Cannes red carpet in a glittery grey dress Kangana, who is at the Cannes Film Festival on behalf of Grey Goose India, will attend the festival for three days. Huma Qureshi also marked her attendance at the prestigious film festival and attended the inaugural discussion at the Indian Pavillion anchored by CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi. She was dressed in an ivory Varun Bahl Couture gown with sparkling embellishment around its plunging neckline. This is her first Cannes outing . Huma also walked the red carpet on Thursday. Mallika Sherawat also made a stunning appearance at the Cannes red carpet on Thursday. Styled by Wil Ariyamethe, Mallika looked ravishing and gorgeous in a gown by couturier designer Tony Ward. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja have thanked the people who supported them in making their dream wedding come true. In a long heartfelt note, Sonam thanked her dad Anil Kapoor, mom Sunita, siblings, entire family and friends. Sonam posted on Instagram, Our Family is our strength.. thanks so much @kapoor.sunita youre the best mom in the whole wide world for making this happen in such a spectacular fashion! Daddy for being so such an amazing host and loving Anand and I so unconditionally @anilskapoor @priya.ahuja27 for going out of your way to do everything and making sure Anand and I get everything we desire! Harish Papa for being our rock of Gibraltar! @rheakapoor for being my best friend and partner and making sure my wedding was a success! Pallo, for working tirelessly through and being my third parent! I love your @shehlaa_k @sandeepkhosla @anamikakhanna.in @karanjohar @farahkhankunder @abhilashatd @missdevi for being such amazingly supportive friends who are like family! @poonambhambhani for being an ace mami! My gorgeous Masi @kaveeta.singh for being uber generous and treating me like her own daughter! @ase_msb for bringing the house down with @madstarbase ! Also to all our friends and family who made it from far and wide at such short notice Anand and I love each and every one of you for loving us enough to want to make it for our big day! Love you all! The actor shared a lengthy post on her official Instagram account, thanking the family, friends and fans for making their wedding a memorable moment. Anand & I would like to thank everyone who made our wedding the most magical two days of our lives. We would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who made this day special, Sonam wrote. The couple got hitched in a traditional Anand Karaj ceremony on Tuesday morning at her aunts mansion in Mumbai, which was attended by close family and friends, including Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Ranveer Singh. After the marriage ceremony, the couple also hosted a reception which was attended by superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. This Sonam Kapoor-Anand Ahuja pic is so cute, Janhvi Kapoor cant breathe In her Instagram message, Sonam tagged her wedding planner, designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna and Anuradha Vakil, who designed her red wedding lehenga. Sonam also thanked the media and the Mumbai police for their support on the occasion. The Indian Media thank you for respecting our privacy & celebrating with us & covering us with such positivity & warmth... Mumbai Police for all the support. Last but definitely not the least, I would like to thank my fans for all the love they have shown me over the last few days, she added. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow @htshowbiz for more Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja have been sharing pictures of each other (and themselves) on their social media accounts after their Tuesday wedding. As Sonam heads off to Cannes to walk the red carpet for a cosmetics brand, Anand posted a picture of the two of them hugging, which caught the eye of Sonams cousin, Janhvi Kapoor. Janhvi, who was present on every day of Sonams wedding festivities, wrote that the couple was too cute and that she couldnt breathe looking at their picture. Anand had captioned the image with the now traditional Kapoor family hashtag, #EverydayPhenomenal. Its wonderful to be loved. Its profound to be understood, he had written along side the picture, borrowing a quote by TV host Ellen DeGeneres. The image also attracted Ranveer Singh, who shot off a bunch of heart emojis and Sonam herself, who wrote, All our lifetimes. Sonam on Thursday shared their first picture as a married couple, in which she was kissing Anand on the cheek. Anand mirrored her picture with his own, in which he reciprocated her gesture of love. Sonam and Anand were married in a private ceremony on Tuesday, which was followed by a grand Bollywood bash in the evening. Videos from the party showed stars such as Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor and her husband Saif Ali Khan, all letting their hair down. Stay tuned for Sonams pictures from the Cannes Film Festival, where she is a fixture at the red carpet. Follow @htshowbiz for more Over 10 lakh bankers in government and private banks will go on a 48-hour strike starting on May 30, said an All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader. The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) proposed the strike beginning 6 am on May 30, till 6 am on June 1, demanding early revision of wages. The wage revision has been due since November 1, 2017. The strike notice has been served to Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the bank management and the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi, CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, told IANS. The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector representing staff and officers. Wage revision talks between UFBU and IBA held in Mumbai on May 5 had ended in a failure. Venkatachalam said the IBA offered an increase of 2% over the total wage bill of the banks as on March 31, 2017. In the last 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement that was made effective from November 1, 2012, the IBA had agreed to a hike of 15 per cent over the total wage bill. The unions had rejected the IBA offer, Venkatachalam said. While the government had asked the IBA to conclude the wage revision settlement before November 1, 2017, the latter has been delaying it, he said. The income tax department searched offices of companies connected to Matix Group chairman Nishant Kanodia at several locations on Thursday and Friday, in connection with a probe into an investment made by a Kanodia firm in NuPower Renewables, promoted by Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. The raids, conducted on premises in several locations in Kolkata, other parts of West Bengal, and Mumbai, were still underway on Friday night. Matix Group did not respond to emails and phone calls from HT. Kanodia is Essar Group patriarch Ravi Ruias son-in-law and he owns the Mauritius-based Firstland Holdings that invested Rs325 crore in NuPower between 2010 and 2012. This is part of our ongoing probe into NuPower. We are probing why Firstland Holdings made the investment and exited soon after and whether this has connections with any Essar Group company, said a tax officer who did not wish to be identified. Firstland did not respond to requests for comment sent by email. Essar has denied that it has anything to do with Firstlands investments in NuPower and also said that it has not invested in NuPower. In 2013, Firstland sold its stake in NuPower to DH Renewables, another Mauritius-based company. The question is why did Firstland invest 325 crore in NuPower, which got it 9% stake in the company, only to offload that stake to DH Renewables within a year, said another official from one of the agencies probing NuPower. The official cited above, who too asked not to be identified, claimed that Firstland exited NuPower without any gains on its investment. Deepak Kochhar has all along maintained that DH Renewables is an investment vehicle of Accion Diversified Fund; the tax department is probing to see if it is a front for some other Indian entity such as Essar Group. HT was the first to report on May 7 that Essar Group is on the radar of probe agencies looking into NuPower. The tax department has sent several tax notices to Deepak Kochhar seeking his financial details as well as those of Firstland Holdings and DH Renewables. Deepak Kochhar and his companies are being investigated after a whistleblower complained that Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot had transferred his personal stake in NuPower to Deepak Kochhar in a quid-pro-quo for a loan extended by ICICI Bank to Videocon. Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot have both been named in a preliminary enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Agencies are also investigating Deepak Kochhars brother Rajiv Kochhar, who runs a Singapore-based debt restructuring advisory, that is believed to have worked with some large companies that were engaged in debt restructuring discussions with ICICI Bank. A month-old live-in relationship between a 45-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man turned sour with the man on Thursday night strangling the woman to death at his house in Khoda locality of Ghaziabad. The woman had left her husband and four children in Mumbai to stay with the accused, Pankaj Joshi, in Ghaziabad. Joshi, who is unmarried, is from Nainital and ran an eatery in Khoda. He and the woman, Renu Singh, started chatting with each other on a social networking site four months ago. Around two months ago, Renu came to meet Joshi and stayed with him for a day before returning to her husbands house in Kandivali, Mumbai. She again came to visit me on April 8 and we started living together. Initially, we were both comfortable but later, she started forcing me to marry her and severe ties with my family in Nainital. I could not do so and there were frequent altercations. Once, I even called her husband and asked him to take her away, Joshi said. On Thursday night, there was another fight and she started hitting and abusing me. After she threatened to get me implicated in a false case, I got furious and choked her with her dupatta. I pushed her on to the bed and continued choking her till she died. Once she was dead, I slept in the same room, he said. Around 1am on Friday, Joshi walked to Khoda police station and surrendered himself. Karnataka is, arguably, Indias most beautiful state, blessed with a rich natural diversity. Unfortunately, Karnatakas politics is in sharp contrast to its scenic beauty. Politics is not pretty in any part of the country but in Karnataka, it has become particularly ugly and debased. Just one look at the options before the voters in 2018 and there should be little surprise that the Karnataka Political League (KPL) isnt anywhere close to attracting the crowds that flock to the Chinnaswamy stadium to cheer Virat Kohli, De Villiers and Co. Take the three principal chief ministerial contenders. The Congresss incumbent chief minister Siddaramaiah takes great pride in the fact that he has provided Karnataka with a stable five year government while conveniently forgetting that it took him almost four years to wake up to the reality that he was actually the man in charge. In the last year, he has suddenly become an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like man of action, announcing a series of pro-poor and farmer-friendly schemes. It is almost as if the lure of re-election and a grim reminder of the states history of anti-incumbency has forced him out of a prolonged stupor and revived the Congress. The BJPs face, BS Yeddyurappa, is also struggling to rediscover the elixir of eternal youth at an age when his party threatens anyone more than 75 years with a Margdarshak mandal voluntary retirement scheme. Ten years ago, he had swept to power as the leader of the BJPs first majority government in the south. The mandate was grossly abused: in five years, the BJP threw up three chief ministers, while Yeddyurappa himself went to jail after a Lok Ayukta indictment. That he is back as the partys mascot only reveals the BJPs dependence on the numerically powerful Lingayat community and the fear that a rebellious Yeddyurappa is far more dangerous than a fatigued lion in winter. The third visible contender for the top post, HD Kumaraswamy, is his fathers son, and as long as the indefatigable political warhorse Deve Gowda is around, he and the Janata Dal (Secular) remain in the power game. There is nothing really secular about the JD (S) any longer: it remains one of the many emasculated offsprings of the original Janata party experiment that has long since lost its way, a single Vokkaliga caste, family-run transactional enterprise which has a track record of cutting deals with the highest bidder. But it isnt just the lack of inspiring chief ministerial options that makes Karnatakas political outlook so depressing. Just take a look at the brazenly immoral behaviour of all the principal teams. The BJP has been rightly targeted for the manner in which it has brought the Bellary Reddy family mining barons back into the party fold. The very political robber barons who were accused in a multi-crore mining scam that precipitated the BJPs downfall in the previous government are now back in business, making a mockery of the prime ministers claims of having zero tolerance to corruption. If the return of the tainted mining kings exposes the moral bankruptcy of Karnatakas politics, then the manner in which the Lingayat caste card has been used only reveals the ideological vacuum in which cynical politics plays out. When the chief minister suddenly on the eve of the elections proposes minority status for Lingayats, he hasnt overnight discovered the values of the 12th century reformer-philosopher Basavanna. Instead, Siddaramiah, on old-style socialist warrior, is only practising unashamed divide and rule politics in an attempt to spread confusion within the BJPs core vote base. Indeed, the manner in which every Karnataka and national politician has sought to assiduously woo the swamis from various mathas and peethas is possibly a recognition that the men of religion carry greater credibility than the states politicians. Which is also perhaps why Karnataka could well throw up the intriguing prospect of a fractured verdict. If there is no single pan-Karnataka narrative and no single towering leader who is trusted by all, then the ever-sharpening regional and caste divides suggest that the states polity resembles a cracked mirror. Which is why Karnataka could well see a super over where voter turnout could make all the difference as to who eventually comes out on top in the KPL. It might also explain why the queues outside Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamys residence are the longest at the moment. After all, when the political future is uncertain, its the kingmakers who matter more than the men who would be kings. Post-script: Unlike a UP and a Bihar, where everyone has an opinion on electoral fortunes, Kannadigas tend to be more reserved. Till I meet a mithai shop owner in Hubballi who gives me a classic one-liner: Politics in our state is 20-20; you need 20 crores to fight an election and 20 MLAs after the election to decide who will be CM! Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author. The views expressed are personal If the current governments in Ottawa and Washington have to be compared, an observer would probably find startling contrasts. Justin Trudeau leads a Cabinet that has been fairly stable with a few tweaks in personnel. Donald Trumps administration, meanwhile, is as volatile as the 45th President of the United States, and undergoes more alterations than those in a tailors establishment. The Canadian leader is often pragmatic, though given to liberally flaunting his politically correct flair. The American leader, if he were a country, would have faced United Nations sanctions by now and is on course to be the first occupant of the Oval Office to face impeachment proceedings since Bill Clinton. 2018, though, is making for a storyline from bizarro world. Trump, who rarely allows an hour to elapse without infusing another healthy dose of drama into the day, has approval ratings, that at least according to Rasmussen Reports, have often topped that of his predecessor Barack Obama at this stage in their tenures. His colleague to the north, Trudeau, though, is headed south, with public perception of his government hitting lows rarely seen in Canadian history for governments at this point of their mandate. In terms of their respective relations with India, the contrast is similarly marked. Ties with the United States under Trump are like a serving of the proverbial curates egg for New Delhi: Some of it is fairly rotten, some digestible. While India may be thrilled with the tough trade tactics on China, that is counteracted by measures on climate change policy or work visas. And while it will be for strides being made across the demilitarised zone in the Korean peninsula, nixing the Iran deal and its consequences will make New Delhi sweat. Canada, meanwhile, is offering safe sanctuary for Indian IT talent, and while it is soft on Beijing, is often on the same diplomatic page as India except for its blind spot, Khalistani separatists. However, the reality is that if Trump were to land in India any time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would certainly be at the tarmac to greet the President with a trademark hug, even if thats only to keep that eggshell ego from shattering. And we all know what occurred during Trudeaus recent visit, where even his ethnic costumes got ripped. The contradictions between where Trudeau and Trump are at this stage of their reigns are just another example of these times. Briefly, last year, Trudeaus star waxed as the heir to Obamas liberal mantle but that was in vain. While the Canadian PM prepares to say sorry yet again, this time for discrimination against Jews in the 1930s, Trump remains unapologetic, while delivering on an agenda regardless of how offensive others may find it. He is the shining example of how a muscular approach to the world may be the right play. Or, given how mercurial these times are, somewhat like Trump, at least so far this year. Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairsThe views expressed are personal Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said India as a developing country is a farce concept. Sisodia, who was speaking at a function organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation here, said he has always been inspired by Finlands model against corruption. Finland inspired me to work against corruption in India. The people there are training their mind to be honest without a cutting throat competition. They are nurturing their minds in education, he said while emphasising on works carried out by the AAP government in education sector. He said children in the nation were being taught for ages that there were developing, developed and under developed countries and till date nothing changed. Sadly even today we are telling our children the same thing (Indian being developing country). That we will be get developed one day. I now wonder if this is a farce, Sisodia said. He said check on the corrupt practices and strengthening education system was the key to make country developed. Till the time we dont achieve this (transparency and quality education), will not be a developed country. Sisodia said after taking oath, his first priority was to bring changes in the education system and this he claimed has worked well. The Delhi deputy CM, however, didnt touch the issue of the AAP government facing corruption charges in Delhi. The anti corruption bureau arrested a relative of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday in connection with a corruption case. The Uttarahand additional chief secretary (ACS), aviation, has sought police help to check black marketing of tickets for helicopter services to Kedarnath. I have written to the director general of police (DGP) to investigate black marketing of tickets, ACS Om Prakash said. A PIL filed at the Uttarakhand high court by Rajeev Dhar, who runs the helipad at Tirjuginarayan near Kedarnath, has submitted proof of black marketing of tickets. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) floated tenders for the chopper services four times in a month. According to guidelines prescribed in the tenders, 70% of the tickets will be booked online and 30% manually. Aadhaar numbers will be mandatorily mentioned in both types of ticketing, yet black-market sale of tickets has been reported. Of 9 copters running, only two have online system of booking. The remaining 7 do not have online servers through which bookings can be done, said Dhar. This means that they are doing 100% bookings manually going against the tender procedure. We have proof where pilgrims are charged over Rs 10,000 for ticket plus GST. The government has fixed Rs 7300 for Guptkashi-Kedarnath helicopter service, Rs 6700 for Phata-Kedarnath, and Rs 6350 for Sersi-Kedarnath. Prakash has demanded that 12 contractual staff from the government be deployed at helipads to check the identity of pilgrims, so that discrepancies in ticketing can be plugged. After the 2013 deluge, private operators invested in Kedarnath aviation services. The government promoted the services, which later came under the radar of the National Green Tribunal. In an affidavit submitted to the tribunal, the government promised to start a rope way facility that could regulate the prices of chopper services. Aviation services are apparently not planned for other three shrines on the Chardham circuit -- Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. PM has announced a railway network for Badrinath. Gangotri is a restricted area and the helipad for Yamunotri is very far off. There are some loopholes in initiating heli services to these shrines, Prakash said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the troubled real estate developer Amrapali group to share details of Rs 2,766 crore it had allegedly diverted to its other companies, as it sought to reassure homebuyers that their money was safe. A bench headed by justice Arun Mishra asked the company to file its statement of accounts in five days and told its lawyer that the jigsaw puzzle created by the firm would have to be solved to protect the interests of the homebuyers. You have to tell us each and every single instance where the money was diverted from the company to other projects... Whether it is lending, loan or payment, we want each and every thing, the judges told the firms advocate Gaurav Bhatia. Details were sought after the petitioners pointed out to the expenses column in the affidavit filed by Amrapali on the courts direction. Senior advocate Ajit Sinha alleged that the company had diverted money. The money was with group companies and not diverted, Bhatia said. The court asked the company to provide the dates of every transaction and specify if the money was lent before the enactment of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The landmark realty law that came into force a year ago is meant to protect homebuyers from unscrupulous developers and prevent diversion of funds, among others. Initially, the court asked for Amrapalis audit report but later directed the company to file a statement of accounts. The court said the problem was that the company had failed to meet project deadlines. It is up to you to put your house in order. How will you do it, we dont know. A businessman should stand by his words, justice Mishra said. Lawyers for homebuyers who bought flats in Amrapalis Heartbeat City in Noida claimed the directors had abandoned the project and only 20% work was complete. The bench asked Amrapali to explain under which provisions the money was diverted. The court also directed the Noida authority to conduct an inspection of fire safety measures, power back-up and other amenities in Amrapali buildings where residents had moved in. The case will now be heard on May 15. A woman architect has alleged she received no assistance from Delhi Police despite repeatedly calling them for about 45 minutes after she was allegedly harassed by a rickshaw puller outside the New Delhi Metro station. The woman, who took a train from Kashmere Gate to New Delhi Metro station on Thursday, was trying to hail a rickshaw to Paharganj. The rickshaw puller asked me for Rs 200. I realised he was drunk and walked away. This person suddenly came rushing to me and started abusing, the woman was quoted as saying by news channel News18. She said she threw her water bottle at the rickshaw pullers face and dragged him to a nearby police station in front of the New Delhi Metro station gate and found it was latched. I made him sit on the chair. People started gathering around me, telling me to go away and not waste my time, she said. She then dialled the Delhi Police helpline number and asked for assistance. I was told that they are sending help in five minutes but I kept waiting for close to 45 minutes to no avail, she said. The woman, who posted about the incident on Twitter, said she beat up the rickshaw puller with a stick after the police failed to show up. I kept hitting him until he started to beg and his arms started to bleed, I didnt want to stop but sadly the human inside me coudlnt hurt anyone more than this. I threw the stick and walked away. And guess what the police never showed up! (sic) she wrote. Delhi Police responded to the womans tweet asking her for the details of the calls she made. Kindly share the Helpline No. on which you called with exact date and time for necessary action at our end, @delhiPolice tweeted. Twitter users criticised the police for not responding to the womans call for help and some even praised her for her courage. Even as the government fails to initiate action against poor performing teachers in the past, not even a single student could pass class 10 examinations in 163 schools of 7,700-odd institutions across the state. In 176 schools, 10% or below students passed. However the state improved over all pass percentage by 2%. The highest number of schools with nil results is in Tarn Taran district. In Tarn Taran, all students of Class-10 failed in 51 schools of 330. Tarn Taran is also at the last position in term of pass percentage with 33% pass percentage. 73 schools have less than 10% result. There is 100% result in 10 schools. Facts Total schools 7,747 100% result: 669 schools (9%) Nil result: 163 schools (2%) Less than 10%: 176 schools Most affiliated schools put a poor show in Tarn Taran district. Tarn Taran district has maximum schools (51), followed by Amritsar (27) with nil result. There is 100% result in 669 schools. Of Amritsars 600 schools, 83 have 100% result, with 27 schools getting a zilch. Ludhiana that gave the state topper has highest number of schools at 1,063. Of total, 71 have 100% result, but 20 schools recorded nil result. A senior official of the education department said, requesting anonymity, When we talk about result it not the government schools alone. There are several private schools mushroomed in recent past. Government schools still have some system, but private schools are not regulated in terms of educational standards. Amarinder to chair meeting on results today Education minister OP Soni said the result is better than last year but still not satisfactory. Despite the state governments thrust on education, many schools have nil result. Some government and even private schools performed poorly, he said, adding, Chief minster Captain Amarinder Singh will chair a meeting in Chandigarh on Friday to discuss Classes 10 and 12. There are many issues and we need to address all of them. It will take time but we cant defend poor results, Soni said. The pass percentage this year is at 59.4% is higher than the last years 57.50%. Of 3.68 lakh students, including 3.36 lakh regular and 31,756 open candidates, appeared in the examination. A teacher in the USA, as part of an assignment, asked his students to write resumes and cover letters as Marvel characters. While the assignment sounded like a fun exercise in itself, one student decided to stick to directions, but throw in a plot twist. The clever student turned in his assignment with I am Groot written against every entry - name, address, email ID, qualifications. Groot is a character from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, which is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is an anthropomorphic tree-man who only speaks or responds with the words I am Groot. It is assumed that Groot is actually saying other things in his language, but I am Groot is what humans understand. My students had to pick a Marvel character to embody within a resume and cover letter. The idea that you miss 100% of the shots you dont take lives within one particular student of mine, shared Jeffrey Scott Davis in a tweet that garnered nearly 26,000 retweets. It was also shared by another Twitter user and retweeted almost 6,65,000 times. My students had to pick a Marvel character to embody within a resume and cover letter. The idea that you miss 100% of the shots you dont take lives within one particular student of mine. @RobertDowneyJr @prattprattpratt @vindiesel #iamwfisd #wfisdengineering @WFISD_CEC pic.twitter.com/7pddcxebsK Jeffrey Scott Davis M. Ed. (@ROBODAVISWFISD) May 8, 2018 Davis is a Career Technology Education, Robotics and Engineering Design teacher in Wichita Falls Independent School District, located in North Texas. This resume was a great one primarily because the student saw the opportunity, kept it to themselves and never mentioned a word until I asked them about it, Davis told Romper. The student received a 95 and 100 on two separate assignments, but had points docked for capitalisation and inconsistency. He wrote his name Groot differently and left out I am. Grammar is very important, Davis added. After Davis shared the story, Twitter wanted to know if the smarty pants student got an A+, and could not resist sharing Groot jokes and puns. Sample some: A well-rounded candidate, but I hear he's a bit wooden in interviews Josh K. Elliott (@joshkelliott) May 10, 2018 But did you give him an "A+" ? pic.twitter.com/DQ4eQiKxjY faded. (@impatient_glo) May 10, 2018 Probably the kid after getting the grade back pic.twitter.com/JlOedv65t6 James Mills (@Jbmills2397) May 10, 2018 I wouldve liked to see him branch out a bit more in his objective line... Asher Wildman (@AsherWildMan6) May 10, 2018 I feel like that resume has some room to grow. Victor Puente (@thevictorpuente) May 10, 2018 This is your requisite spoiler warning, so proceed at your own peril. Leaks from a source previously proven to be accurate suggest game-changing events might happen in Avengers 4. According to a Reddit user who had posted information that turned out to be accurate ahead of the release of Avengers: Infinity War, has now said that Captain America will die at the end of Avengers 4. The post also verifies the popular theory that the surviving Avengers will travel back in time in the fourth Avengers movie, billed as a significant conclusion by Disney chief Bob Iger. Leaked set photos reveal that the Avengers return to the Battle of New York, which took place during 2012s The Avengers, but this time theyre joined by Ant-Man. The post says that Tony Stark builds his own version of the Infinity Gauntlet, and goes back in time, possibly to retrieve the Infinity Stones, according to a Huffinton Post article. The person behind the post, a user who goes by the name ilurkthingsreborn, had earlier leaked that Spider-Man would die in Tony Starks arms in Infinity War. He says about the fourth Avengers movie that a scene involving Captain America, Thor and Thanos will lead to Thor getting blown away and Cap wielding Thors old hammer, Mjolnir, finally proving that he is indeed worthy. In the fight that ensues, Cap will be killed by Thanos. Caps worthiness was first suggested in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when he tries to lift Mjolnir and manages to make it budge slightly, unlike the other Avengers. I was told that at one point bearded Steve and Thor have a fight scene against Thanos where Thor gets blown away and Cap actually ends up weilding (sic) Mjolnir because he has finally been found worthy. However I was told that Thanos does end up killing Cap, the post read. But Mjolnir was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok by Thors sister Hela, which sent him on a quest to get a new weapon in Infinity War, Stormbreaker. This points to more time travel. But the HuffPost article digs deeper. It refers back to a a two-year old interview with Avengers directors Joe & Anthony Russo in which they were asked directly if Captain was worthy of wielding Mjolnir. They gave rather cagey answers. I dont know that might be a ... Anthony Russo said, that might be a question for future storytellers. Might be a little too specific for us to answer, Joe Russo said. The leaked set pictures confirm that Thor would have Mjolnir in Avengers 4. A more recent plot revelation by Gwyneth Paltrow confirmed that Pepper Potts and Tony Stark will be parents to a child in Avengers 4, suggesting a time jump will take place. So where does that leave us? Captain America is dead, something that was hinted at before Infinity War as well. Tony Stark is a dad. And Hulk, by the way, loses an arm, according to the same Reddit post. Avengers 4 is scheduled for a May 3 release. It has been touted as the grand conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. Follow @htshowbiz for more A civilian was killed in small arms firing by Pakistani forces along the line of control (LoC) in Poonch district on Thursday night. The victim was identified as Mohammed Ikhlaq, a 22-year-old resident of Kalsian village. The Pakistan army opened small arms fire in Kalsian village of Malti-Gulpur area along the LoC in Poonch district around 11.30 pm on Thursday. A civilian died after being hit by a bullet, a police officer at the Poonch control room said, adding that a team led by station house officer Tejinder Pal Singh has been sent to the spot. The officer said Pakistani forces opened fire while people in the area were attending a marriage ceremony. There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC as well as the international border in Jammu and Kashmir this year. As many as 31 people, including 16 security personnel, have died in over 700 incidents of the kind since January. A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend after raping her at a popular resort near Hyderabad on Thursday evening. The incident came to light around 11 pm, after which a complaint was filed with the Ranga Reddy police. The accused has been identified as Sai Prasad, a resident of Timmapur village. The girl, an undergraduate student from Kummariguda village, was found with her throat slit. Police handed the body to her father, the driver of a judge at the Hyderabad high court, after a post-mortem examination at the Chevella government hospital. Police said the victim, who was preparing for several competitive examinations while pursuing a degree course in Hyderabad, had been in a relationship with Prasad for a while now. However, the accused had lately become suspicious that she was getting close to another man from the same village. Prasad reportedly took the girl to the resort in Proddatur village on Thursday. After they had entered their room, he allegedly raped her before slitting her throat with his knife. Resort officials alerted the police after chancing upon the victims lifeless body later that night. We are investigating the matter, said Shankarpally inspector K Shashank Reddy, adding that the accused was being questioned. A man was arrested for allegedly raping and impregnating a differently-abled girl in Odisha as reports of two other children being sexually assaulted came in from others parts of the state on Thursday. A nine-year-old rape survivor is battling for life in hospital after she was raped inside a school in Puri district in Thursday afternoon, police said. Investigators are waiting for her statement to know who assaulted her. In coastal Balasore district, police arrested a man for allegedly raping his five-year-old niece on May 8. Her parents lodged a complaint with the police after she told them about the assault. Police arrested a man on charges of assaulting a differently-abled girl in a village in Nayagarh district. Police said the childs family held off on filing a complaint after village elders held a meeting where the accused promised to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh to the family. However, he did not pay the fine and the family also discovered that the girl was pregnant. The accused was arrested after family filed a complaint this week, police said. In about a month, 25 cases of sexual assaults against minors have been reported across Odisha. As many as 50 horses and a whopping 7,000 guests will mark the big fat Bihari wedding of RJD chief Lalu Prasads son, Tej Pratap and Aishwarya Rai in Patna on Saturday. Scores of rooms in some new top hotels and guest houses have been booked to accommodate the host of VIPs and guests coming to attend the ceremony. At least 30 rooms have been booked at Patliputra Continental, 25 at Hotel Amrapali Residency, 20 each at Hotel Maurya and Hotel Amalfi Grand and 10 at Hotel Frontline Residency, said a source close to the family. Hotel Chanakya, a premier hotel whose proprietors are named in the CBIs FIR in the land-for-railway hotel scam, does not find mention in the hospitality list. Tej Pratap will tie the nuptial knot with Aishwarya, daughter of party legislator Chandrika Rai, at the Bihar Veterinary College ground in the city on Saturday. In a bid to appease the partys first family and make the event memorable, RJD leaders across Bihar have been sending unique proposals and gifts. Barhara legislator Saroj Yadav has announced to send 50 horses and mares to make the baraat (wedding procession) more attractive. Aishwarya Rai during her mehendi ceremony in Patna. (PTI File Photo) Despite his younger brother getting married on the same day, Saroj will be attending Tej Prataps baraat with my herd of horses and mares, the legislator said. Yadavs aides were trying hard to assemble the horses and mares from various places in Barhara constituency and bring them to Patna on trucks. The legislator, who has idolised Lalu and derives inspiration from him, said the wedding of the RJD chiefs elder son has filled in euphoria and enthusiasm among RJD supporters across the state. Lalu Prasads family has gone the extra mile to ward off evil spirits during the wedding. On Friday, this was evident when lemon and green chillies in bundles were put up on the main gate of Lalus 10, Circular Road bungalow apart from flowers. 100 cooks to prepare dinner for 7,000 guests Amritsari Kulcha, Agras Paratha and Bihars own litti-chokha will be highlights of the feast served to guests. As per the initial estimate, a Kanpur-based event management group, Bhatia Hotel Private Limited, has been told to prepare dinner for about 7,000 guests, with the possibility of the list getting longer. Manoj Bhatia, who is looking after the catering arrangement, said over 100 experienced cooks and helpers staff from Punjab, UP and Bihar have been engaged to prepare the dishes with a taste of originality. More than 100 food stalls would be set up to avoid chaos, while there will be separate arrangement for VVIPs in the pandal. Those craving for sweet dishes will have to be contented with imirtis, gulab jamuns and ice-cream, Bhatia said. Bihar designer hired for wedding dresses Tej Pratap will take his wedding vows in a nicely-cut kurta-pyjama, designed by Bihar-born fashion designer MA Rehman. The former health minister wants to look elegant and simple during the wedding and so, has preferred kurta-pyjama over a designer sherwani or bandhgala. We have stitched two sets of kurta-pyjama for Tej Pratap. One is sky blue with white pyjama while the other one is light brown with white pyjama, said Rehman, who has stitched clothes of top politicians of the country, including Lalu Prasad. A NIFT-Delhi graduate, the designer from Motihari, said the kurta and pyjama with pleats was an ideal dress for the hot weather. The bridal wear of Aishwarya too is likely to be less gaudy and in light shades. Insiders said Rais family had done the shopping mostly in Patna and Delhi, picking up the bridal wear from local designers. During her engagement on April 18, Aishwarya was dressed in an embroidered blue gown with duppata while Tej Pratap wore a bandhgala. Tej Prataps younger brother and leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will wear kurta and pyjama with a jawahar coat, also stitched by Rehman. He said he would be making the dresses for Lalus sons-in-law, including Tej Pratap Yadav, the husband of youngest daughter Raj Laxmi. A 52-year-old man, who was in custody of the Karnal police, was found dead on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Subsequently, three cops were booked for murder. The deceased has been identified as Jeba Singh Ram, a resident of Karnals Chand Saraya Colony. A police official said that the deceased was a junk dealer and was detained by the police when found in possession of 150 gram contraband (ganja). Family of the deceased, who held a protest and allegedly vandalised Nehru Place police post and the Karnal police station, is accusing the police of custodial torture. Police had to resort to firing blanks in a bid to control them. Talking to Hindustan Times, Karnal superintendent of police Surender Singh Bhoria said three cops, under Sections 302 and 34 of IPC and SC/ST Act, had been booked and that investigation was on. Rams body was sent for post mortem to the Kalpana Chawla government medical college in Karnal where the cause of death will be ascertained after postmortem, Bhoria added. Police denied the allegations of torture and claimed Rams health was deteriorating on Thursday following which he was taken to the hospital, where he died. However, Karnal SDM Narinder Malik tried to pacify his family, which agreed for a post mortem and demanded action against police personnel responsible for his death. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee told a private Bengali television channel on Friday evening that a group of people have hatched a plan to assassinate her and that supari killers (professional assassins) have been hired for the job. The chief minister also said that she has prepared a political will that mentions names of leaders who will take charge of her party, the Trinamool Congress, in her absence. This was the first time Banerjee made such a statement. HT contacted some top officers of the state police but they refused to comment and did not want to be quoted on this issue. The killers have even made a recce of my home at Kalighat. I came to know of this because I am part of the administration. The police asked me several times to shift to a safer location but I refused. I am not scared of dying. If I live behind security cover I will start distancing myself from the people, said Banerjee. Banerjee lives with her family at her ancestral home in south Kolkata. It is a single storey house located beside a narrow road not far from the famous Kalighat temple. The channel requested Banerjee to disclose names of conspirators but she refused. I have never spoken about this to anyone. My party leaders do not know of this. Nor does my family. I am disclosing this in public for the first time, said the chief minister. There is a group of people who want me dead. They will go to any extent to see me die because they cannot counter me politically. I will not say who these people are but I have full knowledge of their activities, said Banerjee. Nothing will happen to my party if I die. I have written down the names of those who will run the party in my absence. Everything is sorted, said the chief minister. Several civil society groups, including a students body, in Meghalaya have opposed the Centres proposed move to grant citizenship to six persecuted religious minorities from neighbouring countries during a meeting with the joint parliamentary committee on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Ten civil society and interest groups, including the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT), and traditional institutions of the state met the committee in Shillong and unanimously opposed the proposed amendment. In totality, we oppose the proposed bill and demand that Inner Line Permit system should be introduced for the entire region and constitutional safeguards should be provided to the people of NE states, North East Students Organisation (NESO), umbrella body of student organisations in the northeast, said in a petition to the committee. Front-ranking interest and pressure groups like Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) and Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) also held protests against the bill in the state capital. The 16-member committee, led by BJP Lok Sabha member Rajendra Agarwal, conducted the hearing in Shillong on Thursday. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant citizenship without valid documents to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians facing prosecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India. We have held sittings in Guwahati, Silchar and Shillong. If need be, the committee can think of holding more sittings in these states later, Agrawal said while speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting. The six-party ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, which also includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said earlier this week it will oppose the bill as it was dangerous for a small state like Meghalaya and does not benefit the people of the tribal state in any way. The leader of the pro-talks faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) Anup Chetia, who is the chief convener of the newly-formed North East Indigenous Peoples Forum (NEIPF), lauded the Meghalaya government for opposing the bill. There has been a disagreement in Assam as well over the proposed amendment with Brahmaputra and Barak valleys divided over granting citizenship to the religious minorities from neighbouring countries. The committee held public meetings in Guwahati, where most groups opposed it, and in Silchar, organisations representing Bengali-speaking Hindus were infuriated over protests in the Brahmaputra valley. After wooing Karnataka voters on the Hindutva plank, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is set to take forward the religious outreach in Ayodhya on Saturday, when he welcomes a bus launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Nepal. According to schedule, Adityanath will welcome the inaugural Janakpur (Nepal)-Ayodhya bus launched from the neighbouring country on Friday. Janakpur is believed to be the birthplace of Rams wife Sita while Ayodhya is synonymous with Ram. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) organises a Ram baraat (marriage procession) from Ayodhya to Nepal every year to recreate the route taken by Ram to Janakpur, where he won Sita as his wife, according to the Ramayana. During his stay in Ayodhya, Adityanath is expected to reaffirm BJPs commitment to Ram temple and development of Ayodhya, according to party leaders. A BJP leader said the bus service launched by PM Modi and welcomed by Adityanath would not just help in cementing the bond between Nepal and India, but also reiterate the partys commitment to Hindutva. He said the CM would welcome the bus during a programme at Ram Katha Park in Ayodhya. Officials of Nepal government are also likely to visit Ayodhya by the bus and may speak about the cultural ties between India and Nepal during the programme, the leader said. After the programme, Adityanath will visit Saryu ghat where he will perform Saryu puja. Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is likely to step up its Hindutva outreach to counter the challenge posed by the unity of rivals in UP the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). An RSS leader on condition of anonymity said the narrative was likely to grow further as 2019 nears. During his poll campaign in Karnataka, Adityanath had laced his election speeches with a liberal dose of Hindutva, saying that while Ram was born in Uttar Pradesh, his loyalist monkey god Hanuman was from Karnataka. According to his adviser, Mrityunjay Kumar, By mentioning religion and talking of our great ancient heritage, he bridged the geographical and linguistic divide between UP and Karnataka. Another BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said Adityanath deftly used religious allegory throughout his Karnataka campaign that was dotted with stopovers at temples and mutts, many of which were connected with the CMs Nath sect. He said the party organised Adityanaths public meetings in coastal areas of Karnataka which were the stronghold of Congress and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. Karnatakas influential Lingayat and Vokkaligas communities have great faith in these mutts which is the reason why the BJP roped in Yogi for Karnataka poll campaign, he said. Yogi is a blend of religion and politics. His twin designations as the head priest of Gorakhnath temple and that of UP CM are handy in convincing the masses that Hindutva and development are one, said Chandramohan, a BJP leader with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background. Adityanath is the head priest of Gorakhpurs Gorakhnath temple which is named after Baba Gorakhnath, the founder of Nath sect. During his overnight halt in an influential mutt on Wednesday, Adityanath was reportedly told that Gorakhnath is known as Manjunath in Karnataka, which proved his utility in the BJPs scheme of things. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to treat contributions by business houses to the chief ministers relief funds as money spent by companies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, which would entitle the donors to claim tax breaks. If the proposal is accepted by the Centre, the relief funds might attract larger contributions from companies based in their jurisdictions, enabling them to spend more money on social welfare and to finance relief efforts at times of natural calamities. The inclusion of contributions made to CMs Relief Fund as one of the eligible activities under CSR will not only bring parity with the existing provision allowing CSR for PMs National Relief Fund (PMNRF) but would also go a long way in helping poor and needy in the state to get support, Banerjee wrote in a letter to the PM earlier this month. A copy of the letter was seen by HT. As of Friday, the PMNRF had a balance of Rs2,875 crore. CSR Rules came into effect on April 1, 2014, and require companies with a net worth of Rs500 crore or revenue of Rs1,000 crore or net profit of Rs5 crore to spend 2% of their average profit in the last three years on social development-related activities such as sanitation, education, healthcare and poverty alleviation, among others. While many public sector companies directly take up projects to comply with the rules, many others prefer to deposit the money in the PMNRF to take advantage of the 100% tax incentive it offers, for the Centre to decide where and when to spend it. The PMNRF was formed in 1948, when Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up the fund with public contributions to assist people displaced from Pakistan after Partition. Money from the fund has been spent on people affected by natural calamities, major accidents and riots. The PM also releases money from the fund for expensive medical treatment of the poor. The fund consists entirely of public contributions, without any budgetary support. The government invests the corpus of PMNRF with scheduled commercial banks. Banerjee, who had earlier been at loggerheads with the Centre over deduction of interest on loans taken by the previous Left government, argued that her chief ministers relief fund is always under financial stress as not much contribution is made by the corporations. Due to paucity of funds, we are not being able to fulfill all the requests made for support, she wrote in the letter. Abhirup Sarkar, an economist with the Kolkata-based Indian Statistical Institute, supported Banerjees argument. It is always desirable that the corporate money is spent near the area where it is established. When the money goes to PMNRF, a company would not know where it is spent, he said. Much like in many parts of the world, rising sea-surface temperatures because of global warming, aggressive fishing and increasing siltation due to deforestation are leading to the death of corals off Indias coast. In terms of diversity, India ranks fourth with around 21,000 species; the first being New Zealand with around 26,000 species, followed by China with around 25,000 species, and Australia, which is home to the great barrier reef with 24,000 species, said K Venkataraman, former director of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), the national centre for survey and exploration of the fauna across the country. Some estimates say that by 2050, all the corals in the world will be dead, he said. Corals are among the oldest ecosystems on earth, coming into existence nearly 500 million years ago. They also support immense biodiversity though coral reefs occupy 0.25% of the surface area of oceans, about 25% of the worlds fish species are dependent on them. Worldwide, corals are estimated to support 3-10 million marine plants and animals, of which only about 1.8 million have been identified, said Venkataraman. Corals can grow under narrow environmental conditions low level of nutrients, temperature between 22 and 26C, salinity between 32 and 38 practical salinity unit with more than 90% water clarity and oxygen saturation. In 2016, there was a loss of more than 23% corals off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Islands when the sea-surface temperature rose due to El-Nino effect, which is the irregular periodic warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean that affects the climate in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. In a single year, the reef cover went down from 52.27% of all corals in India, to 39.94%. Death rattle Bleaching is a phenomenon where the corals stressed by environmental factors such as rise in temperature, salinity, siltation, pollution etc eject the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) from within their tissues, causing the coral to turn white. Since corals cannot produce their own nutrition and depend on symbiotic relations with zooxanthellae and marine protozoa for photosynthesising their nutrition, this loss leads to bleaching and finally death. Bleaching is reversible if the environmental stress factors resolve. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but as they receive nearly 90% of their energy from organisms, it makes them prone to death, said Dr CM. Ramakritinan, head of the department of marine and coastal studies at Madurai Kamraj University. In 2010, India experienced one of the worst bleaching, when 81.84% of the corals in the Andaman and Nicobar islands were bleached. Again, Palk Bay, between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, experienced an unusual bleaching event in 2015, when more than 30-50% of massive corals got affected. The finger corals of the family Acroporidae died and distributed as broken pieces called coral rubble in and around the coral reef environment, said Dr Ramakritinan. Elevated sea-surface temperature over a long four-month period in 2016 led to the death of 16% of the corals in the Gulf of Mannar. Massive global coral bleaching incidents are becoming more frequent worldwide. A global study of bleaching events in 100 reef systems between 1980 and 2016 showed that the average interval between bleaching events has less than halved. The interval now stands at six years, which is too narrow a window for them to recover, according to the study published in the journal Science in January. Large-scale coral deaths led to the proliferation of invasive species. After the 2016 bleaching incident in the Gulf of Mannar, scientists for the first time observed an outbreak of a parasitic sponge. The dead corals became the breeding ground for the parasitic sponge Terpios hoshinota, which soon started flourishing and killing live corals. The sponges can tolerate much higher temperatures than the corals and they can thrive in dirty water, making it possible for them to proliferate in an environment too stressed for corals, said Dr K Diraviya Raj, one of the scientists to have observed the phenomenon and an assistant professor at Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. The 177 species of scleractinian (stony) corals in Lakshadweeps atolls (ring-shaped reef enclosing a lagoon completely or partially) are mostly undisturbed by both natural and anthropogenic (human) aspects, said Dr Kailash Chandra, director, ZSI. Need for corals Former ZSI director K Venkataraman narrates an incident where he was asked by a minister why corals had to be conserved, and he said, without the corals, the Indian peninsula would submerge. Corals act as a natural barrier and protect the landmass from the sea. The impact of coral reefs was clearly seen during the 2004 tsunami, he added. The shoreline of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanathpuram and Sivagangai districts in Tamil Nadu were protected by the coral, according to a study by the Centre for Marine and Coastal studies published in 2007. The chain of 21 islands in the Gulf of Mannar and the corals around them acted as baffles in absorbing the energy of the tsunami, the study said. A simulation study by Princeton University showed that a sufficiently wide barrier reef within a metre or two of the landmass reduces the run-up by up to 50%, depending on topography and wavelength of the Tsunami. The loss will be fatal for Lakshadweep. The existence and the carrying capacity of the Lakshadweep landmass is dependent on the formation of atoll reefs. The loss of corals will slowly destroy the structural affinity of the islands, leading to submergence, said Dr Chandra. The coastal population also depends on the marine resources from corals fish, molluscs, and shells for artefacts for livelihood. In the Andamans, tourism-dependent on the coral environment is the major source of livelihood. The loss of corals will result in the loss of great biodiversity in the areas. Corals are the natural heritage and rainforest of sea; it harbours 25% of the marine biodiversity, said Dr Chandra. Too Little too late? Apart from documentation and exploration of coral cover and associated fauna, programmes for coral transplantation, creating nurseries, and studying the reproductive and regeneration patterns are underway. There are no long-term projects or early warning systems that predict changes in sea-surface temperatures to help initiate interventions before the damage begins. Scientists have just been studying corals and doing nothing about the degradation. For example, the coral transplantation programme was just a demonstration that the corals from Gulf of Mannar could survive in similar conditions of the Gulf of Kutch, but once the programme was over, there was no maintenance for their survival, said Venkataraman. Of the Rs 2,675 crore budgetry allocation to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change in 2018, Rs 18 crore went to centrally-sponsored schemes for conservation of mangroves and corals. The 2019 budget made no allocation under the head, compared to Rs 365 crore for Project Tiger and Rs 27 crore for Project Elephant. Targeted protection is anyway not enough. It needs a holistic approach that factors in connectivity of freshwater, coastal, offshore and marine systems, said Ema Fatima, senior programme officer, Ocean & Coast Conservation Programme, World Wildlife Fund-India. I fear that when my grandchildren grow up and ask me where are the corals you worked so hard to conserve, there would be nothing left to show them, she said. Siddaramaiah, 69, the chief minister of Karnataka, is fighting the 12th and probably most important election of his career in a state that rarely votes the incumbent back to power. He is expecting this election, on 12 May, to be one of those rare occasions. Supporters demands at various villages that he stop his convoy and meet them meant that the CM was running nearly four-and-a-half hours behind schedule on Wednesday. The delay was such that Siddaramaiah finished his afternoon meal of ragi ball and country chicken curry at 6.24 pm in the evening, at a supporters modest home in Sindavalli village. The CM has been crisscrossing the state addressing innumerable rallies. Later, the visibly tired Siddaramaiah, who was set to visit seven more villages before 10 pm in the night, spoke to HTs Venkatesha Babu and Vikram Gopal, predicting a clear majority for his Congress party. Edited excerpts: Q: The campaign is coming to a close. How do you see the situation? A: I am confident that the Congress party will get a full, clear majority. This is based on the work we have done over the last 5 years. We have fulfilled 95% of the promises made in our manifesto. Q: Several opinion polls have predicted a hung house. Will you take the help of the Janata Dal (Secular) if required? A: That situation will not arise. We will get a majority of our own. Q: You are spending the last few days of the campaign in your constituency of Chamundeshwari and also contesting from Badami? Is it because the contest in Chamundeshwari has become challenging? Which will you retain, if you win both? A: No challenge. I will win both constituencies, easily. Will take a call on what constituency (to retain) after elections. Badami, I decided to contest as our workers from Northern Karnataka repeatedly requested me to. I think that will also have a ripple effect on other seats in the area helping us to win even more. Q: Will the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah magic work in Karnataka? A: What magic? Karnatakas voters are very intelligent and mature. They will not get swayed by empty speeches. They have seen our work. Q: Why has the level of discourse become coarse in this election? For the first time, a sitting CM has served a defamation notice of Rs 100 crore on the PM? A: Who started it? When somebody repeatedly tells lies, can we keep quiet? People will start believing a lie if it is not refuted. Modi compared us to dogs. We dont have to learn lessons about loyalty or love for the country from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). It is Narendra Modi who has created this (bad) atmosphere. The Congress party did not start this. I have never attacked anybody personally. Also, I have never seen a PM who lies so much and who indulges in character assassination. What recourse did we have, except to place the truth in front of people? Q: Will a victory in Karnataka lead to a Congress revival across the country? A: The victory in Karnataka will be a stepping stone to several forthcoming victories including the general election in 2019. Q: Your AHINDA (the Kannada acronym for Dalits, backward classes and minorities) base has delivered an OBC (other backward classes) CM. But even within the Congress there is a clamour by a section for a Dalit CM. Mallikarjuna Kharge has said the CM will be decided by the high command after elections? A: (Gets visibly irritated)..Did you hear him in full? Later on didnt you see that he said only Siddaramaiah will be our CM this time. If there is any party capable of providing a Dalit or a minority as CM, it is only the Congress. But this time I will be the CM. Q: But this time you have hardly given 17 seats to Muslims and 15 seats to women? A: I agree last time we had given 19 (seats to Muslims). But how many has the BJP given? Only the Congress takes along all sections of society together. Q: Will your son Yatindra be in your cabinet? A: (Smiles) No, no. (Though) he will win easily (on his seat from Varuna). Q: What has been the impact of the decision to give Lingayats a minority religion status? Has that gambit paid off ? A: It never was a political issue for us. There was the Nagamohan Das committee (report, which was based on representations) of the community. The government just acted on it, based on the communitys request. Q: Your Bhagya schemes (populist measures) specially Anna Bhagya (rice at Rs 1 per kg) seem to have struck a chord in your first term. Any signature scheme you plan for the second if you win? A: We have released a full manifesto and will implement the schemes in it. Nowadays though, the number of voters who look at a manifesto and vote on that basis are very less. Other factors play a role (smiles). Q: Have you become bigger than the party in Karnataka? Are you interested in a national role? A: Absolutely not. I will only be in Karnataka. Q: Your opponent BS Yeddyurappa (who is the BJPs CM face) has already declared that he will take the oath on May 17th. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had indicated he will do so on May 18th (to coincide with his fathers birthday). So have you already decided on a date too? A: Let them first get a majority, then Yeddyurappa can daydream about (taking the oath). Under no circumstances will the BJP get power in the state. I will be the next CM. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has said that corruption, discrimination, exploitation and violation of basic human rights continue to erode social fabric across the world, triggering unrest, anger, rebellion and extremism. Addressing diplomats and students in Panama City, Naidu expressed serious concern over the growing disconnect in the present world and called for intensified collective global effort to address basic problems like poverty and inequality. Corruption, discrimination, exploitation, violence and violation of basic human rights continue to erode social fabric across the world, he said. These evils and perceptions of exploitation and failure of established governance systems lead to unrest, anger, rebellion and extremism. The sooner we effectively address these issues, the better will be our collective, Naidu was quoted as saying by an official release. He asserted that India is seeking a new world order and action based on the countrys ancient wisdom and values that advocated harmonious existence and common good. Ambassadors of about 40 countries to Panama later interacted with Naidu and appreciated the major initiatives and their implementation by the central government and the fast growing Indian economy. Later in the day, Naidu arrived in the Peruvian capital of Lima after visiting Guatemala and Panama for two days each. On Wednesday, Naidu met Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodrigues and discussed bilateral cooperation in agriculture, trade, health, culture and education. Naidu also met Panamanian leaders on Wednesday and reaffirmed Indias support for Panamas candidature for the UN Security Councils non-permanent seat. Its a case of right hand not knowing what the left does. In September 2017, the council of ministers in Haryana approved the denotification of 1,019 acres acquired for Dadupur-Nalvi Irrigation Scheme, but the state government till date has not issued a formal notification to return the land to the farmers in the absence of a legal provision to denotify it. To add to its list of gaffes, the Haryana public works department has constructed a seven-kilometre metalled road on a part of this land adjacent to the alignment of the waterway. The development has the potential to trigger a controversy as once it is denotified, the land will have to be returned to the farmers. The seven kilometre stretch spread over 38 acres was inaugurated by Haryana assembly speaker Kanwar Pal earlier this week to link Chhachhrauli road with Ambala road on the outskirt of Jagadhri town. The stretch is used as a detour to divert heavy vehicles from city roads. When contacted, Sanjeev Dutt Sharma, superintending engineer, Haryana irrigation department, Jagadhri, said, Once the land gets denotified, the farmers will become the owners of the entire chunk acquired for the Dadupur-Nalvi irrigation scheme. I am not aware how the road was constructed on the land acquired for the canal, Sharma said, expressing his helplessness to clarify. On whether the irrigation department had given any right to the public works department for the roads construction, Sharma said he did not give a no objection certificate (NOC) or permission for the construction of the road. I am not even aware who gave the NOC, he said. A public works official, on the contrary, said they were provided an NOC by the irrigation department. The official said that if the land was denotified, the government could pay compensation to the farmers for the land taken for the road as per the norms. Nihal Singh, superintending engineer, PWD (B&R), Chandigarh Circle, said, We have taken the NOC from the irrigation department. We did not construct the road without permission from the owner of the land. Two more such proposals are pending with the department and we are waiting for the NOCs, Singh said. Farmers, however seem to be happy with the development. Now that they have constructed a road on the land, after the government denotifies it, we will become the owners of the land, said farmer Kashmir Singh Dhillon, whose about three acres were taken for the road. The foundation stone of the road was laid by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on September 29, 2016 and the PWD officials said that NOC was granted in February 2016. Land yet to be denotified The state government is, in fact, waiting for an amendment passed by the state assembly in the right to fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, to get the Presidents assent, thereby becoming a law, for issuing the notification to denotify the land. As of today, the land vests with the state government. Officials said the council of ministers apparently did a rush job on the basis of a weak piece of advice from Haryana advocate general BR Mahajan. The advocate general, in his advice, had said, The best course of action for the state government now would be to issue forthwith a notification under section 101 of the right to fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, for denotifying/withdrawing the notification to acquire land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894..... Section 101, pertaining to return of unutilised land, says that when any land acquired under this act remains unutilised for a period of five years from the date of taking over the possession, the same shall be returned to the original owner or owners or their legal heirs, as the case may be, or to the land bank of the appropriate government by reversion in the manner as may be prescribed by the appropriate government. Meanwhile, legal experts said that section 101 would not apply in case of Dadupur-Nalvi land as it is not an unutilised land. The provision clearly pertained to land acquired only under the 2013 land acquisition law. The five year period also does not apply to Dadupur-Nalvi land since acquisition was partly done in 1987 and after 2005. Hindustan Times was the first to report the anomaly in the cabinet decision. A tourist who had reportedly gone missing on Thursday in south Kashmir was found in Jammu on Friday morning, police said. Rahul Basan, a resident of Kundli in Sonepat district of Haryana, went missing from the Mattan temple in Anantnag district on Thursday afternoon. Jammu city (north) sub-divisional police officer Varun Jandial said, Basan was found in the morning hours of Friday from Jammu bus stand. He is in good health and has reached here from Valley via bus. Meanwhile, we have informed the station house officer(SHO) Mattan, who is supervising the case. Police said, Basan came to Jammu and Kashmir with 14 others from Faridabad, for paying obeisance at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, other temples and visiting tourist spots here. On Thursday afternoon, when the entire group was holding prayers inside the Mattan temple, Basan came out of the temple and was not found afterwards. It is learnt that Basan was facing marital discord and had been constantly using drugs. He never participated in any of the prayers. Later, his family had lodged a missing complaint with police. The incident that came close on the heels of killing of Chennai tourist in Narbal had send Mehbooba government into a tizzy. The heavy snowfall in the higher ranges of Himalayas earlier this week has disrupted the hunt for a prized aphrodisiac fungus popularly referred to as Himalayan viagra. Its the time of the year that the mushroom called yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), also known locally as keerajari, appears in the meadows when the snow starts melting. But the heavy snowfall this year has forced villagers to call off the hunt for yarsagumba and climb down from the higher reaches of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand. They will have to wait till the snow melts and that may leave only a handful days left in the Yarsagumba season. Couple of villagers left their rations in tents and came back to their respective villages because there is still 3 to 4 feett thick layer of snow in the higher ranges, said Sanjay Kunwar, a trekker from a village called Baragaon. He added that the villagers would wait for another 10 to 15 days for the snow to melt. A villager shows the mushroom on the palm of his hand. (Arvind Moudgil/HT File Photo) Theres a lot at stake. The mushroom, which has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, fetches a price of Rs 2 to 5 lakhs per kilogram or above locally, depending on quality. It plays a vital role in the local economy, thats largely pastoral. Usually, as the month of May approaches, villagers from Dasholi, Ghat, Urgam valley, Niti valley, Deval and Joshimath blocks of Chamoli district start start moving into the the higher ranges, armed with essentials and rations. They camp there for at least two months while hunting for the prized mushroom. While this years harvest seems to be in jeopardy, theres hope yet. Devendra Singh, a social worker from Wan, the last village on the motorable road in Deval block of Chamoli district, said that the villagers who have returned from the higher ranges such as Bhagubasa, Shila samundar and Kelvavinayak, would go back again in couple of days. A student of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has claimed he could save a 30-year-old Dutch mans life onboard a flight by using his basic engineering acumen. Karttikeya Mangalam, a final year electrical engineering student, has written about his experience in IIT-Kanpurs in-house magazine. The write up Even engineers can save lives was tweeted by IIT-Kanpur on May 7 and has been retweeted over 1,000 times. Karttikeya Mangalam, a final year electrical engineering BTech student, saves life of a 30-year-old Dutch national using his basic engineering acumen. #IITK feels proud to share his story in his own words.https://t.co/SmHjYFUI2n pic.twitter.com/ybnRp19K3f IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) May 7, 2018 The undergraduate student was flying to New Delhi from Geneva in February this year when a man seated two rows behind him needed medical assistance. Mangalam said Thomas, the passenger, was a Type 1 diabetes patient and had forgotten his insulin pump at Moscows Sheremetyevo International Airport during the security check. It had been five hours since his last insulin dose and his blood sugar had reached dangerous levels. Though Thomas was carrying insulin cartridges, he did not have the device needed for injecting it into his body. A doctor on the same flight, also a diabetes patient, had multiple injecting equipment at hand but Thomas insulin cartridges were thinner than the insulin pens diameter. The doctor said Thomas needed urgent help or he would face the possibility of multiple organ failures or slip into a coma. The crew announced that the plane would be making an emergency landing in the Afghanistan-Kazakhstan region because Thomas had lost consciousness and was foaming at the mouth. Mangalam stepped in to help and asked the air hostess to give him access to wi-fi and used it to look up an engineering drawing style diagram of an insulin pen and realised that the doctors pen was missing a spring. I instructed the air hostess to ask the passengers for ballpoint pens, which usually have a spring in them. I reassembled the pen and gave it to the doctor who then adjusted the dose, changed the needle and injected the proper dosage of Thomas insulin, Mangalam wrote. Thomas blood sugar level stabilised in 15 minutes and he was transported to Gurgaons Medanta where he received further assistance. Indias first river linking project has run into a roadblock again just when it was thought to be ready for implementation, more than 15 years after it was conceived. The two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-run states of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP) have failed to agree on water sharing in the pre-monsoon and monsoon months. The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread across the two states. A meeting called earlier this month to finalise a memorandum of agreement between the two states hit a deadlock after UP demanded more water in the pre- monsoon months to irrigate the rabi crops sown in the winter. According to the draft project report, MP was to get 2,650 million cubic metres (MCM) of water and UP 1,700 MCM. While none of the states has objection to their share according to a previous MoU, Uttar Pradesh wants more water (935 MCM) in pre-monsoon months for rabi crops and less for the monsoon months. MP, however, is not willing to release the quantity in months with the least rain, said an official in the ministry of water resources, who did not want to be named. The demand s is for around 150 MCM more than its share for the rabi reason. Ken-Betwa is one of the 31 river inter linking projects conceived across the country. All statutory clearances, including environmental approval, for the project have been obtained for its implementation. Officials say the MoA for its implementation was finalised after accommodating inputs from both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Last year, minister for water resources Nitin Gadkari said at a press conference that disputes between the two states had been resolved. That was until the new impediment arose. Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa, 75, is the Bharatiya Janata Partys chief ministerial candidate for the Karnataka polls. He was the chief minister of the state from 2008 to 2011. Yeddyurappa entered politics after a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hinvdutva ideology organisation which is often described as the Bharatiya Janata Partys ideological guide. In 1988, he became the state president of the BJP in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa briefly occupied the chief ministerial post for a week in 2007, but the BJPs coalition with the JD(S) collapsed over power-sharing. In 2008, he steered the BJP to victory and became the partys first chief minister in a southern state. However, in 2011, he had to resign after charges of profiting from illegal mining and land deals. Yeddyurappa floated his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha in 2012, but returned to the BJP a year later. He is contesting from Shikaripura, a seat which he has won six times. B Sriramulu is the Bharatiya Janata Partys MP from Bellary district. Sriramulu emerged as a state-wide leader in 2008, with a strong support base of the Valmiki Nayaka community he belongs to. Sriramulu, 46, is considered to be close to the controversial Reddy brothers, who face allegation of illegal mining and corruption. Sriramulu, along with tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, played an important role in establishing the first BJP government in South India after party leader BS Yeddyurappa won the 2008 Karnataka elections. In 2011, when the mining scandal broke out, Sriramulu rebelled against the BJP and subsequently won as an Independent candidate in Bellary (Rural) in the by-election. He floated his own party, the BSR Congress, before merging it with the BJP in 2014. In the these elections, the BJP has fielded Sriramulu from Molakalmuru, a Congress bastion, and from Badami, where he is pitted against current chief minister Siddaramaiah. KS Eshwarappa is leader of opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council. The 69-year old veteran politician has held cabinet positions in previous BJP governments in the state and served as the deputy chief minister in the Jagadish Shettar-lead government from 2012 to 2013. Eshwarappa started out as a protege of BJPs chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, but they are now political rivals. The BJPs decision to field Eshwarappa from Shivamogga City constituency was seen as an attempt to end the rift between him and Yeddyurappa, who wanted to field his loyalist from the seat. For Eshwarappa, the 2018 elections are crucial since he lost the 2013 polls by a huge margin. Karnataka, one of the three states where the Congress is still in power, votes on Saturday, with the party trying to retain power in the face of a stiff challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power in 20 states, either by itself or along with allies. The Janata Dal (Secular), the third corner of this three-cornered fight, will be hoping to get enough seats to do what it has done best in the past punch above its weight. A forecast of unseasonal rains accompanied by thunder and lightning, especially in southern and coastal parts of the state, is a worry for all parties. If the forecast comes true, its impact on the turnout and, therefore, the outcome will preoccupy all the contenders. Karnataka has 50.6 million eligible voters. In the last assembly election in 2013, voter turnout was a high 71.45%. The Congress has built its campaign around chief minister Siddaramaiah and the achievements of his government, including his welfare measures. The state governments move to recognise Lingayats as a religious minority was attacked by the opposition as a move to divide the community with the elections in mind, as was a decision to notify an official state flag. The BJP has projected former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate, and has brought back into the fold dissidents who had quit the party ahead of the 2013 polls, as it attempts to increase its tally from 40 in the previous elections. Tickets have also been given to close aides and family members of mining baron, G Janardhan Reddy, a move that has been criticised. The JD(S), which has projected HD Kumaraswamy as its leader, has struck up alliances with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen, and has pitched itself as the standard bearer of a regional party that is battling national opponents. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed 26 rallies in the state, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi has held more than 40 rallies and conducted many more road shows. BJP president Amit Shah has addressed over 70 rallies and has stayed in the state for the past two weeks to oversee the campaign. BSP chief Mayawati also held a few rallies. Except for two constituencies, voting will begin at 7 am on Saturday and end at 6 pm. The results will be out on May 15. The election commission on Friday deferred polling in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency to May 28. The results will be declared on May 31. The poll panels order came after the May 8 raid on an apartment in which 9,896 electoral photo identification cards were seized by officials of the commission. The election process has been vitiated on account of unlawful activities of candidates and political parties and their workers in planning to allure voters through distribution of freebies and illegal collection of EPICs, photo voter slips, and other materials to woo them in their favour and keep them away from their right to franchise if they dont obey such persons, the poll panel said in its order. The death of a candidate had already resulted in polls in another constituency being deferred. A total of 82,157 security officials will be deployed on polling day, including 585 companies of paramilitary forces. So far, 1,229 violations of the model code of conduct have been recorded in the state, and Rs 55 crore of cash and Rs 57.5 crore of properties have been seized. Karnataka began voting at 7 on Saturday morning to elect 222 legislators to the state assembly in a keenly watched election that has national significance. The state has 224 seats, but election has been postponed in south Bengalurus Jayanagar after the BJP candidate died and in the citys RR Nagar, where more than 9,000 voter ID cards were seized from an apartment on Tuesday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) treats every election as a life-and-death mission, but even allowing for that, the interest in the elections in a state which has, for the past 22 years, has always had a party other than the one in power in New Delhi, does seem disproportionate. There are reasons for such interest though. For the Congress, Karnataka is the last major state outside Punjab where it is in power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taunting it, saying it will become a PPP party (Punjab, Puducherry and Parivar) and that the Karnataka is currently being used as an ATM. For the Grand Old Party of India, a win here would be a shot of confidence ahead of upcoming battles in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan later in the year, apart from the big prize of the general elections in 2019. The importance of Karnataka can be gauged by the fact that even United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has hit the campaign trail after a two-year hiatus. The BJP is attempting to snatch the last large prize in the Congresss kitty. After falling out with N Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, it will be hoping that a win in Karnataka will serve as a gateway to its southern ambitions. It will also want to send a message to both opponents and allies who might be sitting on the fence ahead of 2019 that it is still the pre-eminent national party. The Janata Dal (Secular) led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda knows it has no real chance of forming a government of its own and is hoping for a hung house, which would allow it to extract its pound of flesh. While its hazardous to guess what counting day (May 15) will hold, there are some very interesting issues that the campaign has highlighted. Congress President Rahul Gandhi (C) and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (L) shake hands with their party supporters during a campaign ahead of Karnataka elections in Honnavar (PTI) No anti-incumbency, no wave It is clear that the Siddaramaiah government has no serious anti-incumbency baggage. There is no large visible wave, either, for or against the government. While Modi has called it a 10% government (implying a cut off everything), Siddaramaiahs government has managed to get by five years without a major scandal. However, agrarian distress, controversies over sharing of waters of the Cauvery and Mahadayi, unemployment, poor infrastructure (especially in Bengaluru), lack of health facilities and housing, and Kannada identity remain key issues on the ground. Then there are factors such as caste and religion never far away from any Indian election. A seasoned politician, the chief minister who was considered to be somewhat somnolent in the first three years of his administration, has been hyperactive in the last two. He unleashed a series of bhagyas (benefits) such as Anna Bhagya (rice at R1 per kg), Shaadi Bhagyaa, Anila Bhagya (Gas connection at subsidised price) and populist interventions such as the Indira canteens to serve affordable food. Siddaramaiah may have the mien of being a rural politician, but not many outside the state are aware that he has presented a record 13 budgets and thus knows how to balance the states fiscal needs very well. Siddaramaiah must also thank his stars. After three years of successive drought, the state received normal rainfall in most parts last year, abating rural distress to some extent. He also waived off farmer loans taken from cooperative banks amounting to Rs 8165 crore, adding to the rural feel-good factor. A rally held by the Lingayat community in Kalaburgi inSeptember 2017. (Santanu Bennur/ HT Photo) Lingayat factor In what might turn out to be either a masterstroke or a massive mistake, in order to weaken the BJPs social coalition, the state government recognised Lingayatism as a minority religion just ahead of the elections. It also recommended that the Centre recognise it as such and confer benefits given to other minorities. This has put the BJP in a spot: the Veerashaiva Lingayats, accounting for around 15% of the states population are seen to be its main support base. It can publicly neither oppose nor support this move. Even in ticket distribution, Siddaramaiah has had his say. Surprisingly the Congress this time around has had much lesser internal rebellion on choices of candidates compared to the more disciplined BJP. Siddaramaiah has also unleashed a new found aggression both on social media and on the campaign trail which has caught BJP by surprise. For every punch landed, he has returned the favour twice, even threatening to slap a R100 crore defamation suit on the PM and the BJP president. Interestingly, unlike in Gujarat, where Congress president Rahul Gandhi led from the front, in Karnataka he has played a more supporting role, letting Siddaramaiah who has local connect, take centre stage. The Congress pitch has been that it has walked the talk by fulfilling 90% of promises in its last manifesto and is going to elections under the slogan Karnatakada Hemme, Congress Mathomme (Karnatakas pride, give Congress a chance again). Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa while campaigning for Karnataka elections in Chamarajanagar on Tuesday. (PTI) Amit Shahs game plan: Yeddy, Reddy and Modi Like in most elections, BJP president Amit Shah has taken charge of the campaign in the state. BS Yeddyurappa may have rebelled and parted with the BJP in 2013, forming a breakaway party Karnataka Janata Party, but he came back in 2014; he is still the most popular face in the BJP. Yeddyurappa, though, has been unhappy because he hasnt called all the shots. He has been unable to get even his son Vijayendra and close aides such as Shobha Karandlaje tickets to contest elections. Some of those who have missed out have rebelled. For instance, SK Bellubi and Thippeswamy are either contesting from other parties or as independents, damaging the BJPs chances. Shah, though, has been relentlessly touring the state visiting heads of influential mutts and interacting with religious leaders, to counter the division in Lingayat votes. After a two month break when Modi did not visit the state, Shah convinced the partys most popular face to do a series of rallies in the last week of the campaign. Shah seems to be quietly confident that the party will at least get a simple majority. The number of rallies to be addressed by the PM was increased from 15 to 21 indicating either that Shah felt Modis speeches were required to push the party closer to halfway mark or was buoyed by the response and hoping it to increase further. Interestingly, despite its campaign around corruption free administration, the BJP has given tickets to nearly eight family-members or close associates of Janardhana Reddy, the tainted mining baron who is out on bail. While Shah has publicly distanced the BJP from Reddy, his party men have been merrily using the latters clout and services to garner votes. The Sangh parivar, which has clout in the state, especially in the coastal region has also become very active. Few would discount Shahs ability to strategise. BJP has been asking Sarkara Badalise, BJP Gellisi (change the government, ensure win for BJP). Janata Dal (Secular): Kingmaker or king? Sustaining a regional force in a state with heavy presence of two national parties is not an easy task. However Deve Gowda and his son and former CM H D Kumaraswamy have managed to do it, primarily on the fact that Vokkaligas, the second-largest community in the state spread over the Old Mysuru region, have largely been loyal backers of the party. Having been out of power for a decade, JD (S) has been constrained in terms of resources but still packs enough punch to win about 10-20% of seats in the state. The best case scenario for the party is where both Congress and BJP lack a majority and are dependent on it to make numbers. If it crosses 50 seats, it will demand the CMs chair or at least the chair by rotation, an arrangement it had with the BJP earlier. What is the likely outcome? Opinion polls have margins of error and have notoriously gone wrong in the past. But of the eight polls done by well-known agencies till now, four indicate a hung house, three indicate Congress having a majority and only one gives the BJP a majority of its own. Whether this will change based on Modis last-week blitz will be revealed on May 15. History is against Siddaramaiah though. The last time a state government was re-elected was in 1985. A constable was killed in a suspected militant attack on a police post set up to guard members of the minority community residing in central Kashmir on Friday. The militants allegedly opened fire at a security installation at Wardwan in Budgam district, where a few families of the minority community live. A policeman succumbed to injuries sustained in the attack, said an official at the Budgam police control room. Sources said snatching weapons seemed to be the motive behind the attack. The slain policeman was identified as Shameem Ahmad, a constable. The attack was successfully repulsed, and none of the firearms were taken, a police spokesperson said, adding that the area was cordoned immediately after the incident. Last month, suspected militants took four rifles from policemen deputed at a checkpost in Hyderpora. On Friday May 11, Ashiq Hussain Ganie, an undergraduate student from Pulwama in Kashmir, announced his entry into a militant organisation by posing with an AK 47 and a pistol on social media. Ganie, police say, is the 43rd local to have joined a terror group this year. Local government and security forces officials are worried by the fact that 28 of them joined in April the highest in a month since resurgence of local militancy after the rise of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The numbers have gone up since Wani was killed in an encounter in July 2016. The new recruits included a Phd Aligarh Muslim University scholar, an MBA (son of a senior separatist leader), a former army jawan, an assistant professor (who died a day after he joined militant ranks) and undergraduate students. Confirming the numbers, director general of police SP Vaid said while the number till Friday morning, according to the police was 42, some other intelligence agencies put it at 45. Vaid, however, confirmed there has been a rise in the numbers last month. Underplaying the numbers, Vaid claimed the trend is the same as last year. Last year (overall) the number was 127, which was highest in years, so in first few months 45 is not that high, but it is certainly a concern, he added. The DGP, however, did not explain the sudden spike last month. There is a cycle of violence happening here. Killings lead to more recruitments, more recruitments mean more killings, so the vicious cycle goes on, said a senior journalist, Sheikh Mushtaq. Intelligence officials said the number has gone up since April 1 when 17 young people, 13 of them militants and four civilians, were killed in action by security forces. Ganie is a resident of Panjran, in Pulwama, which, along with Kulgam and Shopian, accounts for most of the young people joining terror groups. The three districts were the worst hit in 2016s summer unrest in which more than 100 civilians lost their lives. Ganie announced that he had joined Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad; most locals join the locally-bred Hizbul Mujahideen. With the new recruitments, the number of active militants has gone up to 250, according to the DGP. Out of the 250 militants, around 150 are locals and 100 are non-locals (Pakistani), said Vaid. The police chief said at least 60 militants have been killed till date. Last year 42 militants were killed in the same period, he added. At least 20 security personnel and 25 civilians have also been killed so far this year. Vaid said there is also reason to cheer because 16 young people had left terror groups and returned to the mainstream in the last five to six months. Social scientist Noor Mohammad Baba said the governments failure to address the anger and alienation in the valley was giving rise to a sense of `hopelessness. Vaid blames the glamourisation of militancy . A section of media is romanticising the militancy so much that more and more young are joining. I think families, civil societies also have a role to play in this, he added. He also called for a rehabilitation policy for locals who shun violence. The Gujarat high court on Friday upheld the life term handed to 14 accused and acquitted four others in the Ode massacre case, in which 23 people were burnt alive in the town in Anand district during the communal riots in the state in 2002. A special trial court had held the 23 accused guilty in 2012 and 18 were sentenced to life imprisonment and five others were handed seven years in jail. The division bench, led by justice Akil Kureshi, concluded the hearing and reserved the judgment on the set of appeals by the 23 convicts last month. The Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team probing the riot cases also moved the court challenging the acquittals in the case and demanded an enhancement of the sentences of the five convicts who got seven years in jail. The probe team also sought capital punishment for all the accused found guilty of murder. There were total 47 accused in the case. Twenty-three Muslims were burnt alive in Ode on March 1, 2002, two days after the Sabarmati train carnage at Godhra railway station where 58 kar sevaks or religious volunteers were killed. It is one of the nine major riots cases which were handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT for further investigation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Nepal on Friday on a two-day state visit. Modi began his trip from Janakpur where he offered special prayers at the Ram Janaki Mandir, making him the first Indian Prime Minister to do so with khodasopachar rituals. On the first day, Prime Minister Modi met his Nepalese counterpart KP Oli and held delegation-level talks. Below are the updates: 9.20 pm: PM Modi says he talked about Ramayan and Buddha circuits with his Nepalese counterpart. 9.18 pm: We wont let the open border between Nepal and India be misused: PM Modi 9.11 pm: I am visiting Nepal at a very special time, when elections have been successfully conducted here at federal, provincial and local levels. India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nepal, says PM Modi 9.10 pm: PM Modi says relations between India and Nepal is like family. 9.10 pm: This is my third visit to Nepal as Prime Minister. The people of Nepal have always considered me as one of their own as have always welcomed me warmly, says PM Modi. 9.09 pm: I requested Modi Ji to facilitate the exchange of demonetised currency notes held in the Nepali banking system and by general public, at the earliest, says Nepal Prime Minister. 9.08 pm: We have agreed to address all matters by September 19, on our constitution Day: Nepal PM KP Oli in Kathmandu. 9.00 pm: Relations between neighbours are different from others. Neighbours have always been our top priority: Nepal PM 8.50 pm: PM Modi holds delegation-level talks with Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli. PM @narendramodi led the delegation-level talks with the Prime Minister of Nepal K.P Sharma Oli. The two sides had extensive discussion on all aspects of our bilateral relatiinship and expressed firm commitment to take it to newer heights. pic.twitter.com/862NI61E4a Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) May 11, 2018 8.10 pm: PM Narendra Modi and Nepal PM KP Oli lay the foundation stone of Arun III- Hydro power project in Kathmandu. 6.55 pm:Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu. 6.32 pm: PM Narendra Modi meets Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and vice president Nanda Bahadur Pun in Kathmandu. 5.15 pm: PM Narendra Modi accorded guard of honour at Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in Kathmandu. Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli also present. 5.10 pm: Modi arrives at Tundikhel Army Parade Ground in the Nepal capital. 4.50 pm: PM Modi meets Nepal foreign minister, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali in Kathmandu. 3.10pm: PM Modi has arrived in Kathmandu where he will hold delegation level talks with his counterpart KP Oli. 1.40pm: India will grant Rs 100 crores to Nepal to develop Janakpur and its surrounding areas: PM Modi 1.27pm: Nepal comes first in our Neighbourhood Policy, says PM Modi. When I talk about Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, I not only talk about India but also about neighbouring countries. I always want the development of our neighbours. Today, Im happy that Nepal is developing rapidly, says Modi. 1.25pm: History is proof that whenever there has been a problem, India & Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times: PM Modi. 1.15pm: People of India and Nepal are bound by mutual respect and admiration for each other. Nepal has been a tourism spot for decades for spiritualism. Indias faith is incomplete without Nepal, PM Modi says in Janakpur. 1.10pm: The Indo-Nepal relationship dates back to Treta Yug. King Janak & King Dashratha not only united Janakpur and Ayodhya but also united India and Nepal: PM Narendra Modi during the civic reception in Janakpur. 1.08pm: It was my long due wish to visit the land of Goddess Sita & offer my prayers. Today, I am extremely happy and grateful that I got this opportunity: PM Modi. 11:42am: Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment: PM 11:38am: India and Nepal will work towards building Ramayan circuit between both the countries. This will act as foundation for strong people to people contact between the two nation, says PM Modi at the launch of bus service between Janakpur-Ayodhya, in Janakpur. 11:40am: I am glad to be here in Janakpur. I am here to pay respects to King Janak and Mata Janaki. I thank the PM of Nepal Shri Oli for accompanying me during this visit to Janakpur: PM 11:15am: PM Modi arrives at Janki temple in Nepals Janakpur, is received by Nepal PM KP Oli PM Narendra Modi offers prayers at Janki Temple in #Nepal's Janakpur. pic.twitter.com/w8aafQbxP9 ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 10:35am: PM Modi arrives at Nepals Janakpur airport. Defence minister Ishwar Pokhrel and Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut receive him at the airport. 9:14am: After Janakpur, Modi will fly to Kathmandu to hold meetings with Oli, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun and leaders of the major political parties. 9:12am: Modi will then be offered a civic reception at the Bahrabigahas Rangabhoomi ground where he is likely to address the people gathered to welcome him. 9:10am: Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Modi will jointly inaugurate the Ramayan Circuit Bus Route connecting Janakpur to Ayodhya. The Ramayan Circuit is one among the 13 tourist circuits under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of India. (With inputs from agencies) Controversial BJP MLA Surendra Singh has termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a reincarnation of Lord Ram who along with party president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will realise the dream of Ram Rajya in the country. The ruling party MLA felt the gods had sent Amit Shah as Lord Rams brother Laxman and as Chanakya, the legendary advisor to emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Referring to Adityanath, he said, And see the coincidence that as Brahmachari Hanuman, Yogiji has also come. This team of Ram, Laxman and Hanuman will realise the dream of Ram Rajya in Bharat and Ram Rajya will be established in national politics, he told reporters in Ballia on Thursday. Drawing on another Ramayana analogy, the MLA from Bairia had once termed West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Surpanakha, the sister of demon king Ravan. Known for making controversial remarks, he had also courted controversy by saying that parents are responsible for the increasing incidents of rape and they should not let their children roam around freely. Asked about Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar, Singh said if he was so concerned about the people of his caste he should not be asking for tickets for his family members. Rajbhar, a minister in the Adityanth government, has accused the BJP government of having a casteist mindset. The MLA also attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying that though he has said he finds himself fit for the post of prime minister, he cannot provide leadership to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday on a two-day state visit to Nepal during which he will hold talks with the countrys top leadership to build mutual trust. Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut received Prime Minister Modi at the airport. This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. In Janakpur, Modi will visit the 20th century Janaki temple and offer special prayers. Later, Prime Minister Modi will be accorded a civic reception by the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City at Barhabigha ground. Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has reached Janaki temple to welcome his Indian counterpart. Ahead of his visit, Modi said India would remain a steadfast partner of the Himalayan nation in its quest for growth and development. Describing his trip to Nepal as a reflection of his governments commitment to neighbourhood first policy, Modi had said the Himalayan nation has entered a new era and India would continue to support it. As he embarks on his third visit to Nepal on Friday, a key element of Prime Minister Narendra Modis focus will be engaging with all political streams in Nepal, including, but not confined to, the elected government of the day, and sending signals of support and reassurance to all, said a person familiar with the planning of the visit. This is a working visit. The PM will focus on bilateral projects and steps needed on both sides to expedite it. But another element will be political engagement with all sides, the person said on condition of anonymity. This engagement will take place at four levels. The PM will extensively interact with his host, Prime Minister KP Oli, with whom India shared difficult ties in the past. It was during the congratulatory call after he got elected that Oli invited Modi to come to Nepal soon, and Modi had promised he would do so. Oli stuck to tradition and made India his first foreign port of call in April after becoming PM. Such a quick reciprocal visit, in just over a month is unusual for Modi. It signals the PMs personal commitment to working with the elected government of the day in Kathmandu, said the person quoted above. Oli had long requested a one-on-one meeting with Modi, without the presence of any official, and got it in Delhi. Trust-building with Oli began with Sushma Swarajs visit before he had taken over, his own visit, and the one-on-one meeting. The PMs visit will deepen it, said the person cited above. But the Prime Minister will also meet other key stakeholders in Nepals polity. The Nepali Congress (NC), the key opposition force, has sent messages to Delhi that it believe that in its outreach to Oli, India has neglected its older allies, two NC leaders confirmed. Modi will meet NC president and former PM, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and his party representatives. We will assure NC that India plans to maintain all its old contacts and relationships. We believe they are vital participants in Nepali democracy, the person said But if the opposition has expectations that India will undermine the elected government, or play politics, this will not happen, he said. Modi will also have a goodwill meeting with Olis key ally Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre). Maoists and Olis party, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) are discussing a possible merger, but this has got delayed. India, the person quoted above said, is agnostic on this and believes it is entirely up to the two parties concerned. Modi will finish off his balancing act from where he starts: the southern plains, Tarai. It was due to concerns of the Madhesi population of the plains about the constitution demands India sympathised with that Delhi-Kathmandu ties nosedived. Large sections of the hill population were upset with Indian backing for Madhesi protests at the border which crippled essential supplies. But as Delhi mended ties with Kathmandu, Madhesis began harbouring a sense of resentment that India had dropped their cause. The fact that Modi is beginning his visit from Janakpur in Province 2, a Madhesi-dominated province, is itself a signal and symbolic recognition of the importance India accords to them. said the person quoted above. At a public reception, Modi is expected to speak about the historic ties between the two countries and societies. But while promising development cooperation, Modi will be careful not to push any formulation which is seen to undermine the establishment in Kathmandu. We are conscious that this is a federal system. And any assistance we announce has to be routed through the centre in Kathmandu, the person involved in planning the visit added. Modi will also meet the leaders of the two prominent Madhesi parties and convey a message that Madhesi forces should remain united. Explaining the multi-pronged engagement, Ranjit Rae, former Indian ambassador to Nepal, said, While it is important to engage with the government of the day and give impetus to bilateral relationship, India cannot be seen as partisan in Nepal. Governments come and go; we cannot take a short-term view. It must engage with all stakeholders, and have meaningful conversations with all. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a Rs 100-crore package to develop the holy city of Janakpur in Nepal, and said the country is at the top of Indias Neighbourhood First policy. Modi held extensive discussions with his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli and senior officials as part of efforts to reset bilateral ties, and the two sides reached a broad understanding on key issues ranging from cross-border connectivity to joint control of flooding along the frontier, officials said. Meeting Oli twice within the space of one-and-a-half months, Modi assured that all genuine grievances of Nepal will be addressed in a time-bound manned. India supports a united, prosperous and strong Nepal, Modi said during a joint media interaction after Oli said Kathmandu wants a strong relationship underpinned by mutual trust that is not affected by occasional or intermittent differences. However, the Indian side was silent on Nepals call to allow the exchange of demonetised Indian currency notes worth almost Rs 33.6 million held by the countrys banks and the public at the earliest, as well as a request to add four air routes via India. Modi, on his third visit to Nepal since assuming office in 2014, and Oli flagged off a bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, two holy sites for Hindus. The service is part of the Ramayana Circuit to promote religious tourism. Announcing the Rs 100-crore package, Modi said authorities in Nepal will select and implement development projects. Oli and Modi also jointly laid the foundation stone for the 900-MW Arun III hydropower project remotely from Kathmandu. Whenever there has been a problem, India and Nepal have stood together. We have been there for each other in the most difficult of times, Modi said at a civic reception hosted by the Janakpur sub-metropolitan city. Later, Modi and Oli held one-on-one and delegation-level talks, during which the two sides agreed to resolve outstanding issues before September 19, which marks Nepals Constitution Day, officials said. India said it is ready to partner with Nepal for cross-border connectivity and agreed to conduct a survey to link Kathmandu with the Indian rail network. A team of India experts will also conduct a feasibility survey for inland water navigation from Nepal to India. We are connected with Nepal through rail, water, (power) transmission line, petroleum pipeline, Modi said during the joint media interaction. Modi also announced the gift of radiotherapy equipment for a Bhaktapur-based cancer hospital. Both sides also agreed to form a joint technical team to resolve the recurrent problem of flooding along the border. Both prime ministers agreed to expand cooperation in agriculture. The agriculture ministers of both sides will meet soon and frame a roadmap on agricultural research and development, education and organic farming. Modi and Oli agreed to convene an early meeting to take forward the construction of the 5,000-MW Pancheshwar multipurpose project. While noting that Nepals recent elections and their outcome will be written in golden words in the countrys history, Modi said the bilateral ties are special and that he was visiting at a special time. He said, India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nepal. India-Nepal ties are above inter-governmental relations. It is more like a family. Modi added, We have evaluated the partnership between Nepal and India. Some projects have made progress and some are in the process of achieving good progress. We have agreed to comprehensively review the trade and transit treaty. On his arrival, Modi was presented a guard of honor at a ceremonial function at the Nepal Army Pavilion. The army also offered him a 21-gun salute. Indias 1998 underground tests (conducted exactly twenty years ago) marked the countrys arrival on the worlds nuclear stage and set the scene for some impressive developments in its strategic programme, but one of the immediate fallouts of the sanctions imposed by the United States was the temporary grounding of an ambitious project to locally produce fighter jets. The Indian military didnt really bear the brunt of the sanctions following Operation Shakti or Pokhran-II as it wasnt dependent on US weaponry during that decade but the development of the light combat aircraft (LCA) took a hit, experts said. We were seeking the help of American firm Martin Marietta, which later became Lockheed Martin after a merger, for the LCA project. But the ban on export of certain critical technologies by the US after the nuclear tests upset our calculations, said A Sivathanu Pillai, who was then chief controller (R&D) at the Defence Research and Development Organisation. India approved the LCA project in 1983 as a replacement for the Soviet-origin MiG-21 fleet. However, the Indian Air Force formed its first LCA squadron with two fighter jets only two years ago. Pillai said the US sanctions delayed the LCA project by about two years. We wanted US help to develop control algorithms for aircraft stability. After the sanctions were imposed, we formed our own team of experts to achieve that, said Pillai, who retired in 2014 as the CEO of BrahMos. Indias nuclear programme has matured significantly during the last two decades and the commissioning of INS Arihant in 2016 completed the countrys nuclear triad, or the ability to launch strategic weapons from land, air and sea. General VP Malik (retd), who was the army chief when the Pokhran tests were carried out, said that by 1998, India was under tremendous pressure to give up any attempt to acquire nuclear weapons capability due to Non-Proliferation Treaty, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Suppliers Group regime. This (nuclear) capability was an essential deterrent on account of our two nuclear-armed (Pakistan had not tested but we knew of its capability) neighbours, Malik said. So it was now or never. I am glad that we went for it. Despite some protest and sanctions, over the years we have overcome all opposition. Operation Shakti was a great achievement, he added. Apart from bar the export of critical technologies to India, the sanctions put an end to US credit and credit guarantees to India. The military didnt really suffer much as most of our platforms were sourced from Russia. The tests allowed us to complete our nuclear triad, said Air Marshal KK Nohwar (retd), who heads the Centre for Air Power Studies. Pillai said Operation Shakti provided India the building blocks for maintaining credible minimum deterrence. If India were to conduct nuclear tests now, things would be vastly different as Indias dependence on US military hardware has grown over the last decade, said a senior military officer who did not wish to be named. Since 2008, India has bought or ordered military equipment worth $15 billion from the US, including C-130J special operations planes, C-17 transport aircraft, P-8I submarine hunter planes, Harpoon missiles, Apache and Chinook helicopters and M777 lightweight howitzers. The Supreme Court collegium on Friday decided to back Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice KM Joseph for elevation to the top court despite the government spurning his nomination last month. The move is certain to further strain the already frayed relationship between the executive and the top judiciary. The five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court who comprise the collegium Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, and Justices Jasti Chelameswar, R Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph said that they had on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice KM Joseph as a judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. The collegium chose not to send Justice Josephs name to the government immediately, noting in their resolution that the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required. The collegium, which decides on appointments to the higher judiciary, also considered the names of three judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan, and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh high courts, who are currently chief justices of other high courts, for elevation to the SC. The collegium met two days after justice Chelameswar wrote a letter to the CJI asking him to convene a meeting so that it could reiterate its recommendation that justice Joseph be elevated to the Supreme Court . With the collegium clearing his name, it will be difficult for the government to say no a second time, although it can take as much time as it wants before it decides on this. The collegium has done the right thing by deciding to reiterate justice Josephs name for elevation to the apex court, senior advocate KTS Tulsi said. The recommendation is now a binding on the government. The ball is now in the governments court and it depends on them whether they want to intensify the standoff between the judiciary and legislature. It is for them to decide, he added. The Supreme Court and the government have been sparring on the issue of selection of judges to the apex court since 2014 when the government came up with a law codifying this process. The Supreme Court rejected this law in 2015 even as it admitted that the current process of selection could be improved and said that it would work with the government on a so-called Memorandum of Procedure on the selection of judges. There hasnt been much progress on that front. On May 2, the collegium had met to reconsider the case of justice Josephs elevation to the Supreme Court in the face of opposition by the government. But no decision was taken; the names of three more judges from the Calcutta high court, Andhra & Telangana high court and Rajasthan high court too were discussed at that meeting. It was decided at that meeting that the collegium would meet a week later and take a call on the four names. Justice Josephs elevation to the top court has been a bone of contention between the government and the collegium, which found him to be a meritorious and eminently suitable for appointment to the Supreme Court and, recommended his name as early as January 10 to the government. But the government, after sitting on the recommendation for over three months, returned the name of justice Joseph, calling the proposed appointment as not appropriate and unfair and unjustified to other more suitable chief justices and judges of high courts. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by a filmmaker seeking an independent probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sridevi, who was found dead in a hotel in Dubai on February 24. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said they have dismissed similar pleas in the past and cannot entertain the petition now. Sunil Singh argued in his plea that Sridevi was 5 feet 7 inches tall and the bathtub in which she drowned was only 5 feet long. Dubai Police said Sridevi died from drowning in the hotel bathtub following the loss of consciousness after a post-mortem analysis. Singhs lawyer senior advocate Vikas Singh argued before the court that an insurance policy worth Rs 240 crore in was brought in Sridevis name in Oman and could be encashed only if the actor died in Dubai. The filmmaker claimed in his petition that he personally visited the hotel in Dubai along with his legal advisors and found startling facts which pointed to the unnatural death of the actor. He moved the top court after the Delhi high court had on March 9 refused to entertain his public interest litigation to probe her death, saying authorities in India and Dubai had already looked into the incident. (With agency inputs) Restrictions have been imposed in parts of Srinagar in view of a protest called by Separatist on Friday against civilian deaths in a clash between protestors and security forces after an encounter in Jammu and Kashmirs Sophian district. Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was put under house arrest this morning, a police official said. Restrictions, under Section 144 of the CrPc, were imposed by authorities in five police station areas of the summer capital, the official said. The curbs are in force in the Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal and Maharajgunj police station areas of Srinagar, he said. The restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure, to maintain law and order, and prevent any untoward incident, the official said. On May 6, five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in an encounter in Sophian, even as five civilians died during clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies near the encounter site. Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), which comprises Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, had asked people to hold peaceful protests against the recent civilian killings after congregational prayers today. The official said Malik is in police custody and Geelani continued to be under house detention. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is contesting from two seats; his main rival and Bharatiya Janata Partys chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa is fighting from his traditional seat and Janata Dal (Secular) leader has put his bet in two constituencies. Siddaramaiah, Congress, Chamundeshwari and Badami Siddaramaiah was elected chief minister of Karnataka after the Congress won the 2013 elections. Siddaramaiah, 68, belongs to the Kuruba Gowda sheperd community and one newspaper profile in 2013 said he used to graze cattle as a child. Siddaramaiah rose from his modest background to study law and enter politics. Siddaramaiah, who only goes by one name, began his political career in 1978, after he was elected to the Mysuru Taluk Board. In 1983, he won from the Chamundeshwari assembly constituency on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket. He joined the ruling Janata Party and in 1994 he was appointed the minister of finance in the state government headed by mentor Deve Gowda. After the Janata Party split, Siddaramaiah joined the Janata Dal (Secular) and had two stints as Karnatakas deputy chief minister. He joined the Congress in 2006 after differences with Deve Gowda, who now led the Janata Dal (Secular). Siddaramaiah, who has fought a high-octane election campaign showcasing his governments work and taking on the BJP on social media, has declared that this will be his last election. He is contesting elections from two constituencies, his base Chamundeshwari in Mysuru and Badami in North Karnataka, where the Congress is banking on him to improve its standing. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah after a press conference at Press Club in Bengaluru. (Arijit Sen/HT File Photo) BS Yeddyurappa, BJP, Shikaripura Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa, 75, is the Bharatiya Janata Partys chief ministerial candidate for the Karnataka polls. He was the chief minister of the state from 2008 to 2011. Yeddyurappa entered politics after a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hinvdutva ideology organisation which is often described as the Bharatiya Janata Partys ideological guide. In 1988, he became the state president of the BJP in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa briefly occupied the chief ministerial post for a week in 2007, but the BJPs coalition with the JD(S) collapsed over power-sharing. In 2008, he steered the BJP to victory and became the partys first chief minister in a southern state. However, in 2011, he had to resign after charges of profiting from illegal mining and land deals. Yeddyurappa floated his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha in 2012, but returned to the BJP a year later. He is contesting from the Shikaripura, a seat which he has won six times. HD Kumaraswamy, JD (S), Ramanagara and Channapatna Haradanahalli Devegowda Kumaraswamy is the president of the Janata Dal (Secular) and served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 2006 to 2008. He is the son of HD Dewe Gowda, Indias former prime minister and the founder of the JD(S). Kumaraswamy, 59, entered politics in 1996 to win the Kanakapura Lok Sabha seat in the general elections. In 2004, Kumaraswamy led the JD(S) to walkout of an alliance with the Congress party, after the chief ministerial berth went to Congress Dharam Singh. In 2006, with the Bharatiya Janata Partys support, Kumaraswamy became the Karnataka chief minister for a year. Popularly known as Kumaranna, he is being projected as the CM-in-waiting by the JD(S). Kumaraswamy is contesting from the Ramanagara constituency, from where he has won the last three elections as well as the neighbouring town of Channapatna. G Parameshwara, Congress, Koratagere Parameshwara Gangadharaiah, or G Parameshwara, is the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. He was a agricultural scientist when he joined the Congress at Rajiv Gandhis urging in 1989. Parameshwara, 66, belongs to a prominent Dalit family that owns the Siddhartha group of educational institutions in Tumkur. He started off as the joint secretary of the Karnataka Congress Committee. From 1999 to 2004, he served as minister of state in the SM Krishna-lead Karnataka government. In the current Siddaramaiah government, he was the home minister from 2015 till 2017, when he resigned to look after the Congress election campaign. He is contesting from the Koratagere seat for the third consecutive time. In 2013, he lost the seat to the Janata Dal(Secular). Winning the seat in these polls is critical to his chances of being considered a potential chief ministerial candidate. B Sriramulu, BJP, Molkalmuru and Badami B Sriramulu is the Bharatiya Janata Partys MP from Bellary district. Sriramulu emerged as a state-wide leader in 2008, with a strong support base of the Valmiki Nayaka community he belongs to. Sriramulu, 46, is considered to be close to the controversial Reddy brothers, who face allegation of illegal mining and corruption. Sriramulu, along with tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, played an important role in establishing the first BJP government in South India after party leader BS Yeddyurappa won the 2008 Karnataka elections. In 2011, when the mining scandal broke out, Sriramulu rebelled against the BJP and subsequently won as an Independent candidate in Bellary (Rural) in the by-election. He floated his own party, the BSR Congress, before merging it with the BJP in 2014. In the these elections, the BJP has fielded Sriramulu from Molakalmuru, a Congress bastion, and from Badami, where he is pitted against current chief minister Siddaramaiah. BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa speaks during a press meet in Bengaluru. (PTI File Photo) G Karunakara Reddy, BJP, Harapanahalli G Karunakara Reddy, 56, is the eldest of the Reddy brothers, the mining barons who were probed by the Karnataka Lokayukta scanner for allegedly illegal mining in 2011. The Reddy brothers started as small-time businessmen, but a foray into the mining industry brought fortune as well as considerable political influence in Bellary. The brothers made an entry into politics in 1999. In 2008, Karunakara won the Harapanhalli seat on a BJP ticket, and he, along with younger brother Janardhan Reddy, were made ministers in the BS Yeddyurappa-government. The BJP is relying on the Bellary brothers influence to win in Karnataka, and the Reddy brothers and their friend Sriramulu, have managed to secure six tickets for family and friends. KS Eshwarappa, BJP, Shivamogga KS Eshwarappa is leader of opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council. The 69-year old veteran politician has held cabinet positions in previous BJP governments in the state and served as the deputy chief minister in the Jagadish Shettar-lead government from 2012 to 2013. Eshwarappa started out as a protege of BJPs chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, but they are now political rivals. The BJPs decision to field Eshwarappa from Shivamogga City constituency, was seen as an attempt to end the rift between him and Yeddyurappa, who wanted to field his loyalist from the seat. For Eshwarappa, the 2018 elections are crucial since he lost the 2013 polls by a huge margin. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Congress, Varuna The younger son of chief minister Siddaramaiah, 38-year-old Yathindra is making his poll debut in the 2018 elections. Seen as a reluctant politician, the quiet, introvert Yathindra is a pathologist by profession. He had chosen to stay away from politics till the untimely death of his older brother in 2016 . Yathindra will be contesting from Varuna in Mysuru, a seat his father Siddaramaiah has won in the last two elections with big margins. The constituency was being pitched as the battle of first sons when Yeddyurappas second son, BY Vijayendra, started campaigning there, but the BJP eventually chose to field its media coordinator Thothadappa Basavaraju from the seat. Madhu Bangarappa, JD(S), Sorab Madhu Bagarappa is the Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Sorab constituency and the son of former Karnataka chief minister S Bangarappa. Before joining politics, Bangarappa was a movie actor and producer. He was the president of the partys youth wing and in 2013 he was elected as the chief whip of the JD(S). The Bangarappa family rift will play out in Sorab in the upcoming polls, as Madhu is set to face off against his elder brother, Kumar Bangarappa, who is contesting on a BJP ticket. Laxmi Hebbalkar, Congress, Belagavi Rural Laxmi Hebbalkar, 37, is the president of the president of Congress partys womens wing in Karnataka. She is contesting from the Marathi-dominated Belagavi (Rural) assembly constituency for the second time. She was defeated here in the 2013 assembly election and again in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. A victim of gangrape in any part of the country would now get a minimum compensation of Rs five lakh up to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh. This is part of a scheme proposed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on compensating the victims of sexual assaults and acid attacks, which was approved on Friday by the Supreme Court, which directed that it would be applicable across the country. As per the Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes-2018, in case of rape and unnatural sexual assault, the victim would get a minimum of Rs four lakh and maximum of Rs seven lakh as compensation. While approving the scheme, a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said it would be applicable pan-India and the states and Union Territories would be free to give compensation over and above what was stipulated in the scheme. We make it clear that the scheme prepared by the NALSA will not preclude the states and union territories from giving more compensation....we direct that the scheme be implemented in all states and union territories, the bench said. The scheme says that victim of acid attacks, in case of disfigurement of face, would get a minimum compensation of Rs 7 lakh, while the upper limit would be Rs 8 lakh. In an acid attack cases, if the injury is more than 50%, a minimum compensation of Rs five lakh would be given, while the maximum would be Rs eight lakh. Similarly, the scheme also provides for compensation amount in cases of acid attacks where the injury is less than 50% and 20% respectively. Victims of burning cases would get a minimum compensation of Rs 7 lakh and maximum of Rs 8 lakh in case of disfigurement, the scheme said. It said that in case of pregnancy on account of rape, the victim would get a compensation ranging from Rs three lakh to Rs four lakh, while for miscarriage or loss of fertility due to such assaults, the victim would get Rs two lakh to Rs three lakh. During the hearing, NALSA director SS Rathi told the court that they had revised the scheme as per the suggestions given by the top court and it was uploaded on their website. He said that states, union territories and other stakeholders were asked to give their suggestions on the draft scheme and they have incorporated 14 such suggestions received from various quarters. Rathi said that the courts suggestion about recovery of compensation in matters where the cases were found to be false was also taken care of in the scheme. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, told the bench that so far only nine states have received the money under the Nirbhaya Fund and claimed that the Centre was sitting on the funds under the scheme. Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, said the Centre had disbursed Rs 920 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund. Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Centre in 2013 after the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case in Delhi to support the initiatives on womens safety across the country. The bench, however, said it would deal with the issue of the Nirbhaya Fund in July. The NALSA had earlier told the court that the legal services authority should be given power on its own to grant compensation to such victims and there should be mandatory reporting of cases of sexual assaults and acid attacks. It had told the court that hardly 5-10% sexual assault victims across the country were getting compensation under the relevant schemes in various states. The apex court had said it would consider in July the issues related to section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with disclosure of identity of victims of sexual offences and utilisation of Nirbhaya Fund by states. Earlier, the Centre had told the apex court that it was finding it difficult to get the cooperation of states on the issue relating to disbursal of compensation to the victims of sexual assault under the Nirbhaya scheme. Several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court after the December 16, 2012 incident in Delhi raising concerns over safety and security of women. All the petitions were tagged by the apex court and several directions have been issued from time to time in this regard. Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday said that famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore refused the Nobel Prize in protest against the British, inviting controversy through contentious statements for probably the fifth time since he assumed charge of the state two months ago. In reality, Tagore had rejected the knighthood conferred on him by the British after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The Nobel Prize for Literature awarded to the poet in 1913 remained with him until his death on August 7, 1941. Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day-long Rajarshi festival at the Bhubaneswari temple in Udaipur, Deb said: Besides being a world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for rejecting the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government. Highlighting the works penned by Tagore, Deb said Tripura could reach great heights if his ideals and thoughts were followed. Tagore enjoyed an intimate relationship with the states royal family. His works bagged worldwide praise. So, I appeal to all that we follow his ideals and thoughts to make our state the greatest in the country, he added. The opposition was quick to pounce on Debs gaffe, criticising him for not doing basic homework before delivering lectures. Our chief minister has crossed every limit of idiocy. We even dont feel like commenting on the issue, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) central committee leader Goutam Das. The Congress, for its part, dubbed the chief ministers statement as unfortunate. Its a request from our side that he (Deb) do a deep study on subjects he would like to speak on before an audience. Confusing the knighthood with the Nobel Prize is not expected of a chief minister, said Tapas Dey, vice-president of the partys state unit. Deb has been in the news for his views on various subjects including the existence of the Internet during the Mahabharata war, whether 1994 Miss World Diana Hayden can be considered an Indian beauty, the questionability of mechanical engineers joining the civil services, and raising cattle instead of approaching politicians for government jobs over the last few weeks. Dubbing the BJP-led governments functioning in Tripura worse than the British rule, the Congress on Friday accused it of demolishing opposition partys offices in Agartala and warned of an agitation from May 17 on the issue. Within two months of assuming office, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government bulldozed 60- to 70-year-old Congress offices in Agartala. We will launch a massive agitation from May 17 if the government demolished one more party office in Tripura, state Congress president Birajit Sinha told the media in Agartala. The BJPs two-month rule in Tripura is worst than the British rule in India. Accompanied by party leaders Gopal Roy and Tapas Dey, Sinha said that all political parties and their trade union bodies have the right to do politics and offices were required for the purpose. The government is trying to establish one-party rule in Tripura. They do not want the opposition parties to function in the state, he said. Led by West Tripura District Magistrate Milind Dharmrao Ramteke and district police chief Ajit Pratap Singh, officials have since Monday bulldozed many offices of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Congress and other parties, alleging they were built on government land. The Congress leader said that chief minister Biplab Kumar Debs government had stopped 33 social pensions introduced by the previous Left Front government that benefitted over 4.50 lakh poor. The government has also kept in abeyance all types of recruitment though there are 50,000 vacancies in government departments, he said, showing government circulars. BJP workers and members of IPFT (Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura) are engaging in violent clashes daily, causing serious trouble for the people. They are forcing elected leaders of local bodies to resign, Roy added. The Haryana government on Friday assured the Supreme Court that it will not disrupt the supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till the court decides on water-sharing dispute between the two. A bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) to apprise it of a decision/suggestion on Delhis water requirement and file a report by Monday. The court also slammed the board, saying the problems regarding sharing of water between states must be first taken care of by bodies like the UYRB and not the Supreme Court. Is not there one Upper Yamuna River Board or something? What are they doing? Why dont they want to do their job. If they do not want to do their job, why should we do their job? Justice Lokur asked. The Centre set up the board primarily to regulate allocation of available water among five beneficiary basin states and also for monitoring the return flow. The apex court posted the matter for May 16. The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) against a daily shortfall of 120 cusecs of water from the Yamuna. The DJB had sought instructions to Haryana to supply 450 cusecs of potable water daily to Delhi, as agreed between the two states. Haryana was supplying to Delhi only 330 cusecs of water daily as against 450 cusec per day, the DJB petition said. During the hearing, the Haryana government told the court that it has not reduced water supply to Delhi even though availability of the Yamuna water at Tajewala was down to about 56 per cent of the normal expected quantity during the first four months of 2018. On an average, 2,289 cusecs of water was received at Tajewala from January 1 to April 30, as against 4,081 cusecs estimated by the UYRB for the purpose of making tentative distribution, said Haryanas affidavit. But the DJB now wants additional supplies of about 120 cusecs, which is totally unjustified, it added. The state had earlier told the bench that it was receiving only 50 per cent water from the Hathni barrage and there is a huge distress of water level in Haryana. With Delhi facing water shortage, the DJB had moved the Supreme Court for directions to Haryana to release adequate water to the Wazirabad reservoir, alleging that Yamuna water supply had been reduced by one third. Delhi is in the midst of an acute water crisis owing to stop in supply of water by Haryana into the Yamuna, which is meant for drinking purposes in Delhi, the DJB plea said. The DJBs water treatment plants have been functioning below capacities over the past few weeks due to a drop in Yamuna water level and release of polluted water from Haryana that could not be treated, it added. Yamuna water sharing between Delhi and Haryana has been a contentious issue for decades and the apex court had ordered Haryana to release 450 cusecs of water daily to Delhi in February 1996. A Dalit groom, who is a police constable, is receiving threats from the Gurjar community after he took out his bindori (pre-wedding procession) on a mare through Sangaoda village in Rajasthans Bundi district, a first in 70 years. Police force was deployed at Sangaoda, 10 km from Bundi, for the safety of the groom and his family members who were preparing for the wedding due on Friday evening. The entire scheduled caste community came together to ensure that the constable, Banwari Lal Meghwal, would take out his bindori through the village, said Ramraj Meghwal, ditrict president of the Balai Samaj Sewa Sansthan. For the Dalits it became an issue of self-respect that even so long after independence and being given equal rights in the constitution, our community is discriminated against by upper castes. Since independence, this was the first bindori taken out on a mare by a Dalit bridegroom in the village, said Babulal Verma, president of the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Kalyan Samiti, Bundi. Defying tradition and upper caste opposition, Banwari Lal, 25, took out his bindori on Thursday evening and since then he and his family are living in fear instead of enjoying the wedding ceremonies. Banwari Lal, the first from his village to get a government job, said he and his relatives and friends are receiving threats from the Gurjars. No Dalit in my village had taken out a Bindori on a mare. I thought I should break that tradition. I got help from the administration too, he said. Constable Banwari Lal Meghwal rides a mare through Sangaoda village on Thursday evening. (HT Photo) Banwari Lal fears that the upper castes might try to harm him or his family after the security is removed. I request senior police officials to set up a police outpost in my village as the Dalits are unsafe here, he said. His bride-to-be is Pooja Meghwal from a nearby village, who is doing her graduation. According to Verma, she too called up Banwari Lal and told him that if he did not take out the bindori on the mare through the village, she would cancel the wedding. Sangaoda village situated at the confluence of three rivers with forested area around is populated by Gurjars and scheduled castes, such as Meghwals, Kumhars and Kahars. Gurjars are in a majority. Banwari Lal said he had given an application to the police department on May 1 seeking security for his bindori through the village, a pre-wedding ritual in which the groom takes out a procession on a mare through the village. Grooms from the Dalit community in many areas of Rajasthan are prohibited from sitting on a mare and have to take out bindori on foot. Verma said during the bindori, some police officials asked Banwari Lal to not pass in front of the Devnarayan temple where Gurjars pray. We protested and then the senior administration officials came and assured us that we could take out the Bindori through the entire village. Sadar police station SHO Anil Kumar Joshi said there was no opposition from the Gurjars and the bindori had passed peacefully. He said no complaints had been filed against any Gurjar from the village. Kishan Lal Gurjar, a resident of the village, said Gurjars had not opposed the bindori. Banwari Lal sought protection after which the administration held meetings with all communities in which we said that we have no opposition, said Gurjar who runs a dairy booth in Bundi. Verma said a few days before the bindori, the SDM had warned 16 Gurjars named by police against creating any nuisance during the bindori. Verma said the Gurjar community had been holding meetings before the bindori and voicing opposition to it. He said the Gurjars wanted that the bindori should be taken out only through the Dalit area and not through the entire village. We have written to the district administration, home minister and Scheduled Castes Commission that if any violence takes place against the Dalits, then the district administration will be responsible because we have apprised them of the situation, he said. As per the NCRB data, Rajasthan is among the states with the highest number of cases of atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Rajasthan high court on Friday sought replies from the state and the central governments on a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding prohibition on sale, production and consumption of alcohol in Rajasthan. Issuing notices to the union health secretary, Rajasthan chief secretary, states excise commissioner and the Rajasthan pollution control board, the court directed them to submit the replies by May 28. A division bench of Justices KC Jhaveri and VK Vyas issued notices on the PIL filed by Rajasthan Bar Federation, a body of advocates and former high court judges, seeking prohibition in the state to prevent deaths due to alcohol consumption. Sandeep Jain, who is secretary general of the federation and an advocate, said the PIL is based on two articles of the Indian Constitution: Article 21 that says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law, and Article 47, which is one of the directive principles directing the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health. It is a states duty to bring about prohibition of intoxication, putting health of its citizens over revenue it earns from sale of liquor, Jain said. He said the pollution control board gives its consent to distilleries to operate but has failed to ensure that they are not flouting rules. Some of the distilleries are operating in dark zones. Rajasthan is a water deficient state and these are water intensive industries, he said. The PIL cited WHO reports on ill effects of alcohol consumption on health and CAG reports on distilleries and illegal tube wells in them. Theres prohibition in Gujarat since 1960 and Bihar declared it in 2016. In Rajasthan, some gram panchayats have taken the referendum route to ban sale of alcohol. The excise act allows a gram panchayat to demand ban on liquor vends in its geography if more than 51% of the voters vote against it. Alcohol is a money-spinner in Rajasthan. The state earned Rs 7,300 crore in 2016-17 from sale of alcohol from across 7,760 shops. Residents of Parasrampur village joined an alleged rape survivor in hurling tomatoes at the residence of Dara Singh Chauhan, Uttar Pradesh minister for forests and environment, during a demonstration on Thursday. The agitators were demanding action against Devendra Mall alias Pappu, gram pradhan (panchayat head) of the village, who is facing rape and murder charges. The villagers have also accused the minister of stalling the investigation in the case. Mall has been charged with raping a 24-year-old girl who was found hanging from a tree near her residence at Parasrampur on April 20. The victims mother, who was allegedly raped by the gram pradhan too, demonstrated in front of the ministers house along with other villagers to protest the lack of police action in this regard. Parasrampur figures in the Madhuban assembly constituency, which is represented by Chauhan in the Vidhan Sabha. We have detained eight people for protesting outside the ministers residence, said Gautam Palli police inspector Vijay Sen Singh. Batman Ninja Director - Junpei Mizusaki Cast - Roger Craig Smith, Tony Hale, Tara Strong Rating - 3.5/5 After Christopher Nolans Batman, the prevailing belief was that to make a successful superhero movie youd have to reinterpret these characters in unexpected new ways. Comic book movies, ironically, couldnt be faithful to their rich source material. In the Dark Knight trilogys case, the grounded take on Batman gave fans of the often campy character - and superheroes in general - validation for liking these stories in the first place. Finally, we were understood - that too by an icy, well respected British man. This theory - that for superhero movies to survive, theyd consciously have to distance themselves from the books that inspired them - has been proven wrong roughly twice a year for the last 10 years. With every new Marvel movie, we are reminded that there is a reason that superhero comics have sustained immense popularity for close to 80 years. And despite films such as Chronicle, Unbreakable, Kick-Ass and Logan - subversive as they all are - we are reminded that if the storytelling is solid, then we, as an audience, are still willing to suspend our disbelief for a couple of hours. The last three weeks have been particularly eventful in the world of superhero cinema. In April, Avengers: Infinity War shut down every cynical prediction that was made a decade ago - back when two industry altering superhero films, The Dark Knight and Iron Man, were released - about the infeasibility of these movies. A week after Avengers, an entirely new kind of superhero film emerged out of South Korea (and Netflix) - Psychokinesis was in many ways the antithesis of Infinity War, a smaller, more urgent story about a father and his daughter, made with a respect for the genre and a passion to take it further. And now, a week after that, we have what is probably the most refreshingly original take on Batman since Nolans beloved films. Batman Ninja taps into the Dark Knights almost samurai-like code. Batman Ninja is exactly what youd imagine, a film in which the Caped Crusader is transported - via time travel - to feudal Japan. There, he learns that his entire rogues gallery - or at least his most popular foes - have already settled in, having been similarly transported before him. Theyve taken control of four feudal states, and each of them owns a piece of the puzzle that when combined, will give them the ability to build a time machine and return home, to Gotham City. And even in this strange new land, the Joker has asserted himself as the alpha, a sort of shogun-like figure, a rogue samurai warlord who through typical nihilism challenges Batman on soil that is as foreign to him as the thought of killing his adversaries. With stunning character design by the renowned Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki, and an almost avant-garde aesthetic, Batman Ninja is certainly more interesting as a visual experiment than as a piece of storytelling. For one, it feels absolutely unrestrained by the limitations of live-action - they go to places in this movie (both literally and not) that youd never have imagined - Scarecrow threatens to rape Harley Quinn in a painterly flashback, there is a third act showdown that seems to have been inspired by the giant mecha robots from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Bane, of course, is a Sumo wrestler. Sit back and observe the beauty. Once again, DC animation has proven that theyre doing far more interesting things with these characters than the seemingly cursed film division. While their more traditional adaptations of iconic Batman comics may be rather hit or miss - The Dark Knight Returns was acceptable, but the R-rated The Killing Joke was a travesty greater than Batman v Superman - the experimental ones such as the 1966 Batman TV throwback, The Return of the Caped Crusaders, have been quietly pushing boundaries. But despite Batman Ninja being almost entirely set in the Japan of a Takashi Miike film, the influence of Paul Dini and Bruce Timms iconic Batman: The Animated Series is unmistakable. For instance, both Roger Craig Smith - who previously voiced Batman in the video game, Arkham Origins - and Tony Hale, who plays Joker, borrow heavily from the seminal work Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill did in the animated series. And like virtually every great Batman story ever told - be it Tim Burtons gothic movies, Nolans realistic ones, and even the Arkham games - once you remove the cape and cowl, you realise that beneath the constantly evolving surface, there is a uniformity to the spirit of this character that these different creators have all tapped into. Wherever Batman goes, the Joker will follow. Batman will be there wherever help is needed, even if that means going back in time and battling the same crazed lunatics who haunt him at home. That is his duty, the duty that he, almost as if her were a samurai, has undertaken for himself. He will keep reinventing himself, he will keep evolving, because he lives in a transient world. Its often said that nothing is permanent in the world of comic books - friends become enemies, enemies become friends and the dead come back to life. There is one constant though -- Batmans parents will always be dead. Batman Ninja honours this legacy - this journey that we have been on for almost 100 years - in the most surprising and nostalgic ways - if only for true Batman fans and no one else. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop In order to secure data of airports and efficiently manage air traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Thursday signed a Rs945 crore contract with a US-based technology firm. The 15-year contract with Harris Corporation was signed in the presence of officials of the civil aviation ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) during the sixth edition of the bi-annual US-India Aviation Summit. The contract involves developing futuristic telecommunications programme that can prevent situations such as the one in April 2016 when multiple radars, which monitor flight movements beyond 200 nautical miles, and an important VHF-radio link went off at the Kolkata airport due to a glitch in the BSNL network, which affected air traffic. Senior officials said the new system will play a key role in deployment of remote towers for managing air traffic services at airports under the central governments Regional Connectivity Scheme. AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said, Telecommunication infrastructure provides a dedicated nationwide telecommunication network to support ATM operations, with an emphasis on safety and high reliability and the ability to expand for growth. As part of the contract, Harris Corporation will serve as a prime contractor and systems integrator for two years. A senior AAI official said the first phase of developing technology will be ready for use in Mumbai around July. AAI officials said performance of all telecommunication links will be continuously monitored at the Network Operation Control Centre (NOCC) to be set up in Delhi and Bengaluru for various performance parameters to meet the global air traffic management (ATM) application performance requirement. AAI in its media release said Harris Corporation will upgrade network operations, enhance security, and improve the performance, reliability and quality of the countrys air traffic management communications network, and also reduce telecommunications costs. This technology will help the country airports to centrally monitor telecommunications and every network round-the-clock so that an untoward situation like an outage can be tackled and fixed immediately before the networks get adversely affected. AAI stated that Security Operation Control Centre (SOCC) at Delhi and Bangalore will protect the network from cyber threats. All service connections and every equipment will be security-hardened, monitored, and safeguarded against intrusion with constant system updates against latest security threats, AAI said. The Bombay high court, last week, rejected petitions filed by two siblings Monika and Chetan Thakur challenging invalidation of their caste claim of belonging to the Thakur tribe; although, caste claims of their three sisters and a brother were validated by the caste scrutiny committee concerned. A division bench of justice SV Gangapurwala and justice AM Dhavale rejected petitions filed by Monika and Chetan saying that the burden to prove that they belong to the Thakur tribe was on them and they cannot simply rely on the validity certificates issued to their siblings for discharging it. Monika and Chetan had approached the HC after their caste claims were rejected by the caste scrutiny committee at Nandurbar in 2009 and 2010, respectively. They were rejected for failing to clear affinity test and to show that their forefathers hailed from the 25 tehsils identified by the state as Thakur tribe areas. The bench said that when a caste certificate is issued in the name of any person after due enquiry, their paternal relatives are also entitled to a similar certificate, provided that the validity certificate issued in favour of the first person is properly issued. The bench refused to accept validity certificates issued in favour of the petitioners siblings after noting that the orders clearly mentioned that their surnames, origin, trait, characteristic, and traditions were not associated with the Thakur scheduled tribe. The ethnic linkage towards the tribe was not established, but the scrutiny committee had no alternative, but to hold the issue validity certificates, as their cases had been remanded back by the HC. These validity certificates will be of no assistance as they were conducted without following due procedure, said HC. The Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (MAHA-TET), the state-level qualifying examination for primary school teaching aspirants, and the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), the national-level qualifying examination for degree college teaching aspirants, have both been scheduled on July 8. As a result, many students, who were planning to take both the tests, are now in a fix. Those aspiring to teach Classes 1 to 8 in state board schools are required to clear MAHA-TET, which is conducted annually by the Maharashtra State Examination Council, after their diploma in education (DEd). Clearing UGC-NET, which is also held annually, after a post-graduation is a must for those aspiring to teach in colleges and universities across the country or pursue PhD in some disciplines. A number of students, who have done DEd as well as post-graduation, take both the tests to widen their employment opportunities. Students Islamic Organisation of India, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has written a letter to the state school education department, requesting that MAHA-TET be postponed. "Students will be at loss if they are forced to choose between the two examinations. The department should reschedule TET, so that students from the state don't miss an opportunity to appear for the national level examination," read the letter. After being ghosted by so many people, I might as well be ghosted by actual ghosts. My friend, the indie magazine editor Arun Kale, thinks heading to Panvel on a hot Sunday for a sold-out paranormal meetup and investigation session is a good idea and joins my quest. We are, of course, not meeting ghosts, but some of the 18 members of PAIRS, a Parapsychology and Investigations Research Society. We live for paranormal activity! When I sense a presence, I get so excited. Sarbajeet Mohanty, PAIRS president, has no doubt ghosts exist. He encountered plenty of them as his family moved homes growing up. They used to scare me, I used to be afraid of the dark, he says. Now I realise that some spirits just stay back. It could be from sudden death (when the person doesnt realise he or she is dead), unfinished business, or heavy emotions. Fellow member Pooja Vijay believes that what we call possession is just a spirit getting too attached. Dont believe the movies. Urban ghosts are not like village ghosts On his weekly Odiya-language show, Mana Ki Na Mana (Believe It Or Not) on Kalinga TV, Mohanty says the team would attend to calls for paranormal researchers in deep in Odisha villages. City people see death as a gateway to the other side, that ghosts are those who exist just beyond, he says. Its scarier and more intense in rural areas, when you have less control over your environment. There are malevolent spirits and shaitans. In a city, the woman ghost will chase your car if you dont offer her a lift. In the village, shell threaten to eat your child if you dont feed her onions. If anyone asks, were a local history group. Tons of instructions precede our investigation session at the neighbourhood crematorium. The group of 12 is warned against attracting attention from living locals, making a noise, and generally appearing less than chill. Respect the spirit as much as possible, says Vijay. Refer to them as aap. Dont show aggression. Do nothing to offend. We dont. Theories suggest that paranormal activity causes electromagnetic anomalies. The team brings out the electromagnetic sensor, a beeping K2 milliGauss meter and a gun-like device to measure temperature changes to check. A bit of moving around and we find one. A slow, polite questioning begins. Is it female? Beep beep beep! Did she die nearby? Beep beep beep! Would she like help crossing over? Beep beep beep! One visitor from the group even takes selfies. Its not clear what hes hoping to see. There are two kinds of hauntings: Intelligent and residual. PAIRS member Savio Futardo, like his fellow researchers, offers plenty of ways to make sense of the nebulous beyond. Intelligent haunting is when the being interacts and reacts to you, he says. Its when people report of waking up to find they were dragged to the bathroom in their sleep, as the researchers found in Thane and Punes Shaniwarwada recently. Residual is when there is no reaction to you, no talk. Its just leftover emotion, says Vijay. Panvel residents, she says, have reported seeing two people get out of one well and into another on a full moon night at the Amardhan area. They never engage. Other teachings: Meditation, Vijay says, can strengthen the soul against bad energy. Inanimate objects have the power to manipulate you. And paranormal forces, just like living people, can be both good and bad. Sometimes the problem is the living, not the dead. One woman discussed the strange phenomenon in her Andheri home and her father-in-laws adamant refusal to get paranormal investigation. Perhaps he has something to hide, the investigators inferred, calming her somewhat. Mohanty explains that every unexplainable phenomenon cant be attributed to spirits. People kept seeing a woman crossing the road on one accident-prone spot on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, he says. We investigated with drones and found that the road was not level. Even in the villages, people tell us to bring our devices. Even if we dont record anything, they say its validation enough and stop being scared. Im a strong believer of any sense that makes sense. Siddharth Bhagat, a dentist from Panvel who attended the meetup thought PAIRS did a good job connecting all the dots and helping him tune into the frequency of paranormal behaviour. They certainly created a world where poltergeist met zeitgeist. Gender bias? Check. The popular perception is that witches are bad but wizards are good. Mental health? Check. Lots of people who dont realise they are clairvoyants hear voices in their head go into depression. This is not to say that depression isnt real or that everyone who hears voices is clairvoyant. Genetic memory? Oh yes. There is no junk DNA, its spiritual DNA. And DNA is magnetic. Big data? Of course. Akashic records, (a library of all events, thoughts, words and emotions that existed and are yet to come) can be accessed and selectively downloaded into your mind. Decorated Maharastara IPS officer Himanshu Roy, who handled a number of high-profile cases including those related to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and IPL spot-fixing, would leave a deep impact on people with his dramatic moustache, rippling muscles, and a rich baritone, before cancer took its toll. Roy allegedly shot himself in the mouth with his service revolver at his Colaba home around 1.45 pm on Friday. Roy was rushed to Bombay hospital in Marine Lines, where he was declared dead. He had been battling cancer for a long time, and had been on extended medical leave. The over six-feet tall officer was very particular about fitness and would attend Bollywood and social events regularly. He was a teetotaller and had a penchant for Hindustani classical music. The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer, who had been on leave since 2016, was undergoing treatment for cancer. He would have been 55 next month. The officer became the youngest SP of Nasik (rural) in 1995. Thereafter, he took charge as SP, Ahmednagar; DCP Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP Zone 1, and Commissioner of Police, Nasik. He was appointed Joint Commissioner of Police Mumbai in 2009 and is credited with setting up Mumbais first Cyber Crime Cell, the womens cell, and taking anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra. He had a number of crucial cases to his credit, including those related to the murders of journalist J Dey and Bollywood actor Laila Khan, the Kohinoor Mill rape case and the Goregaon diamond heist. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agencys chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. Mumbai terror attack convict and Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death during Roys tenure as Mumbai crime branch chief. Roy was an alumnus of St Xaviers College, Mumbai. He had also worked as a CA at Arthur Andersen, one of the best accounting firms in the world, before he cleared the UPSC examination and joined the IPS. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) A 44-year-old income tax inspector become the latest victim of vishing fraud, when a cyber criminal contacted her posing as a bank official and took details of three different debits cards, including one of her husbands, and debited Rs1.23 lakh from the three accounts. Azad Maidan police registered a case in this connection on Thursday. The complainant, Vaishali Jadhav, is a resident of Kalyan and works as an inspector in the Income Tax department. Jadhav has stated in her police complaint that she received a call on Wednesday wherein the caller pretended to be an employee of a private bank, from where she has taken home loan. The woman has taken home loan from the private bank and pays a monthly instalment of Rs43,000. Last month there was some problem, due to which she paid the instalment through cheque. The caller told her that there was some problem last month and hence he was verifying the facts this month. He then asked Jadhav to share details of her account and Jadhav too did so, as it was the last day to pay the EMI, said a police official. Jadhav told the police that she parted with details of her bank accounts and that of her husbands account only after confirming that the callers number showed the name of the private banks Ghatkopar branch on the True Caller application. On Wednesday, Jadhav gave the caller details of her two accounts of her salary account and her private account and shared the one-time password as well. The fraudster debited Rs50,000 and Rs49,000 from the two accounts. On May 10, the caller again contacted Jadhav, asking if she had any more accounts. She told him about her husbands account and parted with details of his account as well as the one-time password. A sum of Rs24,000 was debited from his account, said the official. Vasant Wakhare, senior police inspector of Azad Maidan police station, said a case has been registered under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing tough challenge in all three seats going to bypolls later this month as major players have come together against the ruling party. The battle has gotten worse for the BJP after the Congress turned down its offer to exchange support on two seats. The Shiv Sena extended its support to Congress in the Assembly bypolls in Palus-Kadegaon. The results of bypolls for Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituencies and Palus-Kadesgaon will be declared on May 31. After the last day for filing nominations, the parties are now engaging in strategy to convince other parties to withdraw nominations to ensure victories of their own candidates. The Palghar bypolls is likely to be a multi-corner fight as the Shiv Sena and Vasai MLA Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) are hell bent on fighting the election posing as serious threat to BJP candidate Rajendra Gavit. The BJP, on Thursday, offered Congress to exchange support in Palghar in lieu of withdrawal of their candidate in Palus-Kadegaon. There was no response from Congress to the offer. No direct offer came to me and even if it had, there is no question of even thinking about it, said state Congress chief Ashok Chavan. We wanted Vishwajit Kadam, Congress candidate in Palus-Kadegaon bypolls to be elected unopposed as it has been the culture of our state to not field a candidate if the seat was vacated due to the death of any senior politician. We would have withdrawn our candidate Sangaramsinh Deshmukh against Vishwajit [son of senior Congress leader Patangrao Kadam, who died in March] had Congress helped us in Palghar. There is no question of any such exchange now, said water resources minister and senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan. On the contrary, the Congress is engaged in garnering support from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by convincing it to withdraw its candidate. The BVA, which has three sitting MLAs in the six Assembly constituencies forming the LS constituency, is firm on fighting the polls. We will withdraw our candidate to support the BJP only if all other major parties withdraw from the fray. We will fight the polls if it is not going to be an unopposed election of BJP candidate, said Kshitij Thakur, BVA MLA from Nalasopara. The BVA is banking on three assembly segments it holds, while the Shiv Sena enjoys stronghold in Palghar and BJP in Dahanu and Vikramgad with sizable tribal voters. Congress is aiming for tribal and minority votes while the BJP is banking on urban and tribal votes. The Sena has its presence in Palghar and parts of Vasai, Virar and Nalasopara. In Bhandara-Gondia, Congress has extended its support to NCP candidate Madhukar Kukde close confidante of former union minister Praful Patel. The state government on Thursday issued new Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) rules that will govern all construction and land use activity in Mumbai clearing decks for a more vertical development until 2034. The DCPR clears a new Floor Space Index (FSI) regime for the city in the range of 2.5 to 5-plus, allowing maximum buildable rights for commercial towers (5 +), followed by redevelopment for residential use under various special categories. This includes for buildings declared as unsafe, private buildings older than 30 years, development on no development zones, slum redevelopment, cessed buildings and cluster redevelopment, among other things. Majority of the residential redevelopment under these categories have been granted an FSI of up to 4. However, in all these cases, a compensatory FSI of 35% more can be loaded on these plots. FSI refers to the ratio of the total buildable area on a plot to the size of the plot. In land-starved Mumbai, it typically indicates how high a building can be constructed. The state government also issued the notification for the Development Plan (DP) laying out an overall development blueprint for the city. This has, however, been issued in two separate parts including a final DP and an excluded part that includes major modifications done to the draft DP. There were more than 1,000 such modifications. Citizens will have the option to offer suggestions and objections to these modifications until June 7. The DP has opened up 2,230 hectares of No Development Zone (NDZ) equalling nine times the mill land area in Girgaum for redevelopment, in an apparent bid to boost affordable housing and create five lakh homes. The DCPR shows that a major chunk of this land of this land (41%) can be used for purposes other than affordable housing by the owner. Only 30% of the land is to be used for affordable housing. But the owners of NDZ plots, now reassigned as Special Development Zone (SDZ), may not opt for affordable housing at all, and instead build a tourism-related complex on this land, such as a theme park or a hotel. Further, the definition of affordable housing has been given a miss. The FSI for affordable housing component on such land is 2.5, while without affordable housing developers get FSI of 0.5. The FSI earlier on NDZ lands was only 0.2. Paving the way for high rises, the DCPR also eased regulation for construction of skyscrapers giving the civic commissioner special powers to clear buildings up to 120 metres or around 40 storeys. This permission can be given within seven days. Buildings higher than this require clearance from a high rise committee. Earlier, the civic commissioners powers for high rises were limited to 23 storeys or 73 metres beyond which the permission has to come from the high rise committee. Some of the new regulations introduced include 33 (7) A, incentive FSI for unsafe and non-cessed tenant occupied buildings in Mumbai city and suburbs. Such buildings and its tenants will get 50 % incentive floor space index (FSI) after rehabilitating existing residents and tenants. Until now, these benefits were applicable to only cessed buildings in the island city. Under the section, each tenant shall be rehabilitated and given the carpet area occupied by him for residential purpose in the old building subject to the minimum fixed carpet area of 300 sq ft and/or maximum carpet area up to 753 sq ft free of cost. The state government has also introduced another section, 33(7)(B), for the redevelopment of private buildings more than 30 years old and has given them additional FSI of up to 15 per cent more free of cost for redevelopment. This can add 10 sq m more area to each individual tenant or resident of such a building. This is the last time citizens will have an opportunity to raise objections. While NDZ lands have been opened up in the name of affordable housing, there is no clear reservation or definition for affordable housing, said urban planner and director of UDRI, Pankaj Joshi. Another rule includes incentive for reconstruction of BDD chawls at Naigaon, Worli, NM Joshi Marg and Sewri. Under the Urban Renewal Scheme, an FSI of 4 has been proposed under the DCR. There are around 18,000 tenants living in these chawls and will be entitled to a free ownership of 500 sq ft carpet area flat. The FSI is 4 on the gross plot area as in the urban renewal scheme. The state government has set a cut off of June 13, 1996 and no new tenancy will be created after the date will be eligible for the scheme. In a turn around from the last DP which reduced the FSI in a bid to decongest the city, this DP has increased base permissible FSI in the city to 3 and the suburbs to 2.5. The Mumbai sessions court on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment the two junior artists convicted for kidnapping and killing an aspiring actor, Minakhsi Thapa. Thapa was kidnapped and killed in the servants quarters at Darbhanga Colony in Allahabad on March 14, 2012. Amit Jaiswal and Preeti Surin aka Alvina had taken Thapa to Allahabad under the pretext of a film shoot assignment. They later beheaded her and asked for a ransom of Rs15 lakh from her mother. Sessions court judge SG Shete held Jaiswal and Surin guilty of all offences they were charged with: murder, kidnapping, extortion and criminal conspiracy. The prosecution had examined 35 witnesses against the two, including Surins father and cousin, who had last seen Thapa with the convicts. The prosecution claimed that, Thapa, an aspiring actor, came to Mumbai from Dehradun and met Jaiswal and Surin on the sets of a film. The two men also aspired to make a career in Bollywood. Thapa told them she belonged to an affluent family, so they conspired to kidnap her for a ransom. The prosecution claimed that the trio went to see Surins father, a watchman at a womens hostel, who was staying in a servants quarters in Allahabad. It was at Surins fathers quarters that Thapa was allegedly decapitated. According to the testimony of Johan, Surins brother, he was kept out of the quarters until Surin and Jaiswal were gone. He said when he finally entered the quarters, he realised that a knife from the house was missing. The police suspected that the knife was used in the murder. According to the prosecution, Surin and Jaiswal disposed of the body in a septic tank near the quarters. According to the prosecution, the two disposed of Thapas body in a septic tank near Surins fathers quarters. The duo was held on April 14, 2012 near Bandra railway station, when they came to withdraw money using Thapas debit card. Travelling in the city without an autorickshaw or taxi is almost next to impossible. Taxis were introduced in 1911, and autorickshaws came to the city in the 1970s. While they have been providing last-mile connectivity, experts feel they lack quality and efficiency, and need a governing body to come up with stricter rules considering the increasing number of vehicles. HISTORY, GROWTH AND WHY THEY MATTER Almost three decades after Dodge, Chevrolet and Plymouth ran on the citys streets as taxis, they got meters and their characteristic black-and-yellow colour in 1952. Mumbai got the iconic Premier Padmini taxis in the late 1960s, and got more than 60,000 cabs, including the blue-and-silver air-conditioned ones, by 2000. App-based Ola and Uber, according to experts, restricted their growth. Even the 5,000 AC fleet cabs, introduced in 2005, have almost vanished from the city roads. Elaborating on the history of autorickshaws, AL Quadros, veteran taxi union leader, said only two vehicles were registered in Mumbai in 1958, but their number increased around 1970. Most of these autos were plying illegally, till the government restricted their movement to the suburbs in 1977. The number of vehicles has gone up over the years, especially after two lotteries to reissue cancelled permits and the government decision of removing the cap on autorickshaw permits. From 1.05 lakh autorickshaws five years ago, the number of vehicles now stands at 1.8 lakh. Taxis and autorickshaws, the intermediate modes of public transport, mainly provide feeder services to mass transport modes such as buses and trains. They control the number of private vehicles and help curb vehicular pollution.Sharing rides on taxis and autorickshaws bring down the cost of travel. PROBLEMS App-based cabs became popular among citizens since 2014. Commuters switched to these cabs as they seemed a cheaper, better and comfortable alternative to conventional cabs and autos. They are easy to book, well-maintained, with easy payment options and well-behaved drivers, compared with taxi and auto drivers refusal of fares for shorter distances, overcharging, rigging of meters and fights. Moreover, the pick-up from doorstep seemed like an added advantage. App-based taxis, however, are considered illegal as they dont have the permit to ferry city commuters. Taxis have tourist permits. As such, these cabs face strong opposition from drivers of conventional cabs and autorickshaws. After the initial years, when taxi aggregators offered major discounts, commuters have started to oppose surge pricing rise in prices based on the demand. Under pressure from the drivers union and general public, the state has been forced to frame new rules to regulate surge pricing. RULES ONLY ON PAPER To regulate app-based cabs, the state brought in City Taxi Rules in 2015, later amending it to Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017. Through these rules, the government has set a minimum and maximum fare for app-based cabs. Also, compressed natural gas (CNG) based fuel and new permits have been made mandatory. Several months have passed, but app-based taxis are still unregulated. As the aggregators have challenged the rules in the Bombay high court, operators continue to charge surge fare. Meanwhile, the opposition to these services has reduced. The state had appointed a four-member panel, led by former IAS officer BC Khatua, to decide the fare for taxis and autorickshaws. After several months of study, the panel submitted its report in October 2017. In the report, the panel suggested introducing happy hours (low fare during non-peak hours) and telescopic fare (reduction in fares with increasing distance) to attract commuters. The committee also decided a formula to come up with maximum and minimum fare for app-based taxis, besides suggesting amendments to the City Taxi Rules 2017, to make it more effective. The state, however, has not taken any decision on implementation of the report. TIME TO FOCUS ON QUALITY Last year, the state abruptly removed the restriction on the number of permits that was put in place in 1997. Taxi and autorickshaw unions welcomed the decision, but experts said it lacked vision. People were expecting the quality to improve, but the government increased quantity. The government should make sure the permit-holder drive the vehicle. Drivers should be trained in customer service. There should be better and quicker redress mechanism, said Ashutosh Atray, an expert. Quadros said there more than 1,600 taxi stands for cabs in Mumbai, but almost half of those missing. Interchange points can help reduce fare refusals, he said. THE FUTURE Presently, the railway authorities have undertaken several projects for expansion of suburban network, besides improving carrying capacity and improving passenger comfort. More air-conditioned local trains are likely to be introduced on the suburban corridor. Even, a couple of metro corridors are likely to be operational in the next few years, making the competition tougher for taxis and auto rickshaws. Shashank Rao, leader of Mumbai Autorickshawmens Union, said they will sustain even after the Metro starts running on all corridors. They provide last-mile connectivity. Their demand will always be there, he said. Datar said, The number of app-based taxis less likely to increase in the future. However, the number of taxis using the app for booking will go up. Even the growth of the vehicles will slow down. It is not because they cannot afford cars, but owing to the traffic congestion. GPS, panic buttons to be installed in vehicles in 19: transport secy In an interview, Manoj Saunik, transport secretary of Maharashtra, talks about regulation on app-based cabs and installation of GPS and panic button in public vehicles. Excerpts: Has the removal of permit limit for autos and taxis improved the service? There has been a positive change as the old fleet has been replaced by the new one. In the first seven to eight months, the quality and the service of autorickshaws and taxis have improved. When is the state expected to regulate app-based cabs? The city taxi scheme is the best bet to regulate these cabs. There is a high court order that no action on the city taxi scheme will be taken till a petition is disposed of. When will GPS and panic buttons be installed in taxis and autos? The Centre has stayed the implementation for some time. It has issued a clarification that when there is a sufficient number of suppliers, the implementation will begin. The implementation has been postponed for six months. All transport vehicles, including black-and-yellow taxis and autorickshaws, will be installed with GPS and panic buttons next year. The states proposal to change land-sharing formula for development of defunct textile mill lands in Mumbai has hit a roadblock. As part of the Development Control and Promotions Regulations (DCPR) 2034, the state proposed to revert to the old formula, which allowed owners of the mills to develop the land only after handing over two-thirds of it to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and MHADA. A change in the formula in 2003 had exempted mill land that had structures and allowed sharing of only vacant land. The state has been forced to put it on hold as the Centre has objected to allow the entire mill land to be divided into three parts. Their contention is a majority of privately owned mill land in Mumbai has been developed, and most of the remaining defunct mill land is now owned by governments National Textile Corporation. Nitin Kareer, principle secretary of urban development ministry, said, The formula has not yet been changed. This change has been put on hold. Stringency towards development will still apply. No development can be carried out on mill lands as of now. Brand new app-based S3 cabs are ready to hit city roads from Saturday. Chief minister Devendra Fadanvis will launch the service, that will join more than 50,000 tourist cabs being operated as app-based taxis in Mumbai. The new taxi aggregator, Sahyadri Smart Safe Cabs or S3, claims that their cabs will be free of surge pricing, a system in which cab fares shoot up with demand. They will also charge drivers lesser facility charges than other aggregators. There will be neither surge nor night charges. Our cabs can be booked at a fare of 10 -12 /km, which is lesser than other aggregators, said Prafulla Shinde, founder-director of S3. Around 800 tourist cab drivers have registered on their platform and 4,000 other applications are being processed, said Shinde. S3 claimed they are going to charge 3% towards facility charges from drivers on a daily earning of up to 1,500 to 2,000 and 10% on any amount above it, as opposed to 20-25% charged by others. Ola and Uber have been primarily providing app-based taxis since 2014. Despite the new Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017 regulating surge pricing, lack of implementation has left consumers unhappy. Shinde claimed that S3 will follow the new rules. We have set up a call centre. Complaints can be made via mail, WhatsApp, and on the helpline number. Drivers can also be rated, he said. The app is available on Android and IOS platforms. S3 also developed a service app for restaurants, hotels, bars, etc, who can use it to book cabs for their customers. Shinde said S3 also plans to launch a parcel service in July and they are already in talks with two online shopping companies. While the state government has been consistent that the first flight from Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL) will take off by 2019 end, civil aviation secretary RN Choubey on Thursday said that though the ministry is working hard to meet the deadline, commencement of flight operations by next year end seems difficult. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the sixth edition of the US-India Aviation Summit , Choubey said, I am happy to say that work (on the new airport) is on schedule. When asked if the state government will meet the 2019 deadline, Choubey added, It would be tough for us to do that (meet the 2019 deadline), but we would like to try for it, but it would be tough. This comes almost three months after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during the groundbreaking ceremony of the greenfield airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that one terminal building and one runway will be ready by December 2019. We are confident of (meeting the deadline) as we are getting a lot of support, Fadnavis had said. For Fadnavis, NMIAL is one of the showcase projects that he wants to unveil before 2019 assembly polls, and has been closely the monitoring its progress. In January this year, GVK Power and Infrastructure (GVKPIL) signed a concession agreement with CIDCO, which is the nodal agency to execute NMIAL. Choubey said there have been detailed discussions over the Navi Mumbai airport plans with both the state government and CIDCO. In April, Choubey had held a review meeting with the state government, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). While the public relations officer (PRO) of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) remained unavailable for comment, senior officials maintained they would be able to meet the 2019 deadline. At present, land filling via controlled blasting of hills in the area is being carried out at the airport site. An official close to the development said, CIDCO hired four contractors to fill up 5.5m marshy land and another 2.5m land that would be filled by GVKPIL. However, many villagers have not vacated the land, which has slowed down the process of land filling. Choubey, who had visited the site in early April, had set a May 31 deadline for relocating project-affected villagers. On April 27, many of the project-affected people (PAP) led by women stopped road work in their village. The road work was being undertaken to facilitate the movements of vehicles for the airport project work. An industry analyst on condition of anonymity said, The land has numerous issues not only with respect to PAP but also has engineering issues such raising the height of the land and diverting the Ulwe river. The airport will therefore take a minimum of four to five years for its first flight. The 2019 deadline seems to have been done in view of the state elections that are scheduled next year. The state government last month formed a task force to fast track NMIAL.This task force comprising secretaries from various state departments, the Navi Mumbai police commissioner and the CIDCO general manager also has the general manager of Central Railway, the Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner and the Panvel municipal commissioner on board as special invitees. Polytechnic diploma-holders in Maharashtra will now be able to avail speedy online verification of their diploma certificates. The state government has decided to store diploma certificates awarded to those completing courses from the states polytechnics in the National Academic Depository (NAD), a database to store academic awards in digital format created by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). The state will store around 9 lakh diplomas awarded since 2000. Last year, the University of Mumbai (MU) had announced that it will provide digital lockers to its students and alumni from the current academic year, allowing them to acquire various documents online and avail their swift verification. The university had created the first digital locker for businessman Mukesh Ambani - who is an alumni - at its 160th annual convocation in January 16 last year. However, the project never took off. On Friday, the state higher and technical education department signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CDSL Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL), a public sector depository of securities to facilitate digital storage of certificates. Students will be able to access their diploma certificates online and print their copies at will. The employers will be able to access the authenticity of the certificates furnished by job seekers by accessing the depository. Currently, the employers have to send the physical documents to Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) for verification. With the digitisation of certificates, all the paperwork will be eliminated. It will save time and bring more efficiency to the process, said Vinod Mohitkar, director, MSBTE, which regulates the polytechnics. The Maharashtra governments plan to build an airport at Punes Purandar will be fast-tracked. The chief secretary of Maharashtra, DK Jain, while speaking at the sixth edition of the US-India aviation summit, said, The upcoming airport at Pune has immense potential in terms of passengers, cargo and tourism. The airport is a top priority and will be a world class international airport. Jain said that Maharashtra is the first state in the country to have separate state-owned company to develop state-owned airports. In first phase it [Pune] will have 10 million passengers per year and subsequently, this facility will support 75 million passengers per year. The greenfield airport will be developed on public-private-partnership (PPP) model and we are very keen in partnering with aspiring companies for the project development, Jain said. The decision to build a second airport for Pune was taken after considering the steep surge in the air passenger traffic at Punes international airport at Lohegaon, which reached its saturation when it handled 8.16 million passengers in 2017-18. Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Himanshu Roy committed suicide at his Nariman Point home on Friday afternoon. The 55-year-old shot himself in the mouth with a personal revolver at around 1.40pm, the police said. His wife Bhavna, the sister of author Amish Tripathi, and his orderly were at home when he shot himself. Manoj Kumar Sharma, deputy commissioner of police, Zone-1, said that on hearing the gunshot, the orderly rushed to the bedroom and found Roy in a pool of blood. He rushed the officer to Bombay Hospital, where he was declared dead. Roy was battling cancer and had been on leave since November 2016. The police found a suicide note, handwritten and signed by Roy, in which he said he was ending his life as he had been depressed about his illness, the Mumbai commissionerate said in a statement. Roy was additional director general of police (housing). He was earlier the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief and the joint commissioner of police (crime). He had cracked several high-profile cases such as the murders of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey and lawyer Pallavi Purkhayastha, and was instrumental in investigating the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL)?spot-fixing and betting scandal. Police officials outside IPS officer Himanshu Roys apartment, near Mantralaya, south Mumbai, on Friday afternoon. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) The 1988-batch IPS officer was born in Colaba in Mumbai and went to the prestigious Campion School before graduating from Mumbais St Xaviers College. He tried to study medicine and follow in his fathers footsteps after Class 12, but gave it up soon and went on to become a chartered accountant before appearing for the Union Public Service Commission examination. Roy was first posted in 1991 in Malegaon, Maharashtra, where he handled the riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid the following year. Later, he served as superintendent of police in Nashik and Ahmednagar, before he was appointed deputy commissioner of police of Mumbai polices Economic Offences Wing, traffic and zone 1. He was promoted and served as Nashiks police commissioner between 2004 and 2007. In 2009, he was made joint commissioner of police (crime), Mumbai, and is credited with having cracked cases such as the shooting of Arif Bael -- the driver of Dawood Ibrahims brother Iqbal Kaskar -- along with cases of murder of Dey, Purkhayastha and actress Laila Khan and her family. Roys colleagues and neighbours were shocked by the suicide, with some of them saying they remembered him leading an active life as recently as in March. Even till March, we had seen Roy sir going to his gym at Colaba, a resident of the building where he lived said on condition of anonymity. He preferred to shoot himself instead of suffering through the unbearable pain of cancer, said another resident. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis offered his condolences, saying, We have lost an efficient and senior police officer who had shouldered many key responsibilities in the state police force. Roy, who had solved many high profile cases, was known as a dynamic officer in the force. It is a loss to the force. Deepak Kesarkar, minister of state for home (rural), remembered Roy as a very courageous and efficient police officer. He solved many crucial cases while in charge of the ATS and serving as the police chief in Nashik. A suicide note was found at his residence and further investigation will be held in the case, he said. Cuffe Parade police have registered a case of accidental death. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, during a review meeting at the Sahyadri guest house on Friday, agreed to a proposal to set up a team of 50 police personnel for the eviction of illegal slum dwellers in the city. The team will be headed by an assistant commissioner of police and the cost of setting it up will be borne by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority. It will be responsible for overseeing evictions and aiding redevelopment, said housing department officers. The state also gave its approval to appoint the Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (Mhada) as a special planning authority (SPA). Appointing Mhada as SPA will speed up the process of acquiring permissions for housing projects implemented under Prime Minister Awas Yojana, said an officer from the housing department. The CM will be responsible for handing over the possession of around 1 lakh units to home seekers in the state by March 2019. By then, the approvals and permissions will be given to about 6 to 7 lakhs units under various housing projects, said the housing department. The government is also considering offering the tenements of about 300 sqft to the illegal slum dwellers living in slums built after 2011 The housing units, which will be offered at the construction cost, are expected to cost 9-10 lakh. Six people were arrested from Ahmedabad highway for robbing people at the ATM kiosks. The accused are from Uttar Pradesh and have also committed similar crimes there. According to the police, the accused targeted customers who are not familiar using the ATMs. They have committed crimes in Thane, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Nalasopara, Mumbra, Kopri, Panvel, Padgha, Dahisar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Shahpur.Posing as customers, they would stand behind the victim in a queue. They would then offer to help them. The accused would notice the PIN while the customer punched in. The accused would pretend to help but after saying that the machine has stopped working, return the victim a duplicate card. After the victim would leave the ATM, the accused withdrew the money from his account, said Jairaj Ranaware, senior police inspector, Thane crime branch, unit 5. Aftab Jahir Alam Khan, 28, Santosh Omprakash Giri, 38, Kamlesh Yadav, 27; Vijay Pandey, 48, Alok Singh, 30, Ahmed Hussain Khan, 24, were arrested on Thursday. The accused have been committing crimes for one and half years and 26 complaints have been lodged against them. By using the same trick, each accused has robbed around 40,000 to 60,000, added Ranaware. Aftab Jahir Alam Khan has committed cases against him in Uttar Pradesh for similar cases. He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police and released on bail. While the another accused named Santosh Giri, who has also number of complaints lodged against him, in Azamgad district of Uttar Pradesh for committing similar crime. After coming to Mumbai, he has started working as a manager at Film City in Mumbai. The investigation is still on, said Ranaware. The people using ATMs should Always press cancel button after transactions to avoid misuse of accounts, added Ranaware. Days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi shared his prime ministerial ambition and the subsequent flak from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for day dreaming, the Shiv Sena asked its saffron ally if the latter is afraid of him. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena said, If there is any democracy left in the country, the BJP should have welcomed the statement of Gandhi and declared that it will defeat him in the battle of 2019. Gandhi had said he is ready to become the prime minister if the Congress bags maximum seats in the 2019 general elections. Following Gandhis statement during the Karnataka assembly poll campaign in Bengaluru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Congress president is day-dreaming. It is Gandhis democratic right to express his stand and no one should make fun of it, read the editorial. The BJP questioned Gandhis decision to pitch himself as a PM candidate without consulting alliance partners within the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) fold. PM Modi has started remembering coalition dharma, we are happy about it. On one hand, the Congress is trying to form a coalition of parties, and on the other, it has unilaterally staked a claim for the PMs post. This amounts to backstabbing their allies, the PM has clearly stated that, the editorial said. The PM feels that there is lack of communication between the Congress-led coalition, but then how many decisions has the BJP taken in consultations with its old allies under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)? asked the editorial. Starting June 1, you can get weather updates on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) disaster management website all year round. So far, the website (dm.mcgm.gov.in) has been providing weather-related information such as the temperature, tide forecast, precipitation and humidity only during the monsoon months between June and September. However, the BMC now plans to make this information available throughout the year, said additional municipal commissioner Idzes Kundan. Weather parameters, mainly temperature, will be put up from all automatic weather stations (AWS) installed in the city. Many people look for temperature updates during the summer too, said Mahesh Narvekar, chief officer, disaster management. Several years ago, the BMC had launched a monsoon website (mumbaimonsoon.in), where it would update rainfall data every 15 minutes, but this website had never become popular and is defunct now. Now, the disaster management website will host all the weather information and updates that Mumbaiites may be looking for to plan their daily activities and for alerts, said an official, who did not wish to be named. As part of its monsoon preparedness plan, the BMC is also upgrading its disaster management mobile application in order to establish a smooth interface for its officials and users through real-time updates. Back in the 1940s, amid World War 2, a number of American and British troops were stationed in Mumbai. To ensure they had a pleasant stay, they were given little booklets and pamphlets that served as their guide to Mumbai. These included lists of restaurants and cinema halls, tips on getting around, even a guide to pronouncing numbers in Hindi (read: eck, doe beece). There were dos and donts in a palm-sized pamphlet titled V For Victory. Another, titled Hello Chaps! This Is Bombay, cautions men not to greet Indian women with Hey cutie. A list of movie theatres in Mumbai in one of the guidebooks. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT) These titles are among 16 rare guidebooks on display next week, at the Artisans gallery in Kala Ghoda. The books are from the personal collection of Mumbai-based American architect Robert Stephens, best known for the series of aerial photographs of Mumbai. A map of Bombay Island. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo) The guidebooks published until the end of World War 2 were clearly aimed at Europeans. Post-Independence, they became more cosmopolitan in nature, with information about events and venues in the city, and places to visit outside Bombay, which would generally mean the northern suburbs, he says, laughing. Each book features a map of the city as it was then with one even shaped like a hand with its finger pointing downwards resembling the shape of the peninsular city. Unlike guidebooks of Delhi or Kolkata that start with monuments, most guidebooks of Mumbai start with description of its people, Stephens says. The exhibition will also mark the launch of the architects website, Urbs Indis: Cities of India. Its an archival library that brings together 10 years of my work, he says. A discalimer about germs in India in one of the guidebooks. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT) The website will have a digital reading room featuring snapshots of the books in his collection, and an online journal where he will document photo-essays on the public libraries and second-hand booksellers of India. These are rare guidebooks, says city historian Deepak Rao. In the pre-Independence era, Bombay was on the tourist map of the entire world, so these guidebooks were required. They were well-researched. Each book also had a map. Today, in the age of Google maps, these books serve as beautiful memories of the past. The guidebooks from 1880 to 1980 will be on display from May 18 to 27 at Artisans gallery, Kala Ghoda. The entry is free. A former president of the Rotary Club of Noida and the Rotary Noida Blood Bank was booked for allegedly illegally transferring and selling blood estimated to be worth around Rs 1.4 crore to other blood banks in Kanpur and Gorakhpur, the police said. Police officials said an FIR was registered at Noidas Sector 20 police station against Satish Singhal, former president and managing trustee of Rotary Club, Noida, based on a complaint by the Rotary club. The FIR alleges that Singhal illegally transferred 7,000 units of blood to Mayanajali Charitable Blood Bank in Kanpur worth Rs 1,19,00,000 and 1,087 units of blood to Sree Lakhan Sewa Kalashi Charitable Blood Bank in Gorakhpur worth Rs 18,47,900. The estimated per-unit cost of blood is Rs 1,700, according to the FIR. Officials from the Noida Police said they have launched an investigation and have registered a case under sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. We are investigating the matter. We are currently waiting for the two sides to provide further evidence. Arrests in such matters can only take place after a proper investigation. Further action will be taken soon, said Manish Kumar Saxena, station house officer, Sector 20 police station. During our audits, we found certain discrepancies following which a complaint was registered with the police, said Sudhir Walia, the lawyer representing the Rotary Club of Noida, who filed the police complaint. According to the FIR, the incident came to light after an employee sacked from the blood bank claimed that Singhal had allegedly withdrawn Rs 28.75 lakh from the blood banks account. The employee, identified as Feroze Alam, was later sacked after the cash withdrawal allegedly by Singhal himself. After getting sacked, Alam reportedly informed other trustees about the Singhals alleged illegal activities. I will give my detailed reply against the allegations made by Walia and others to the police and court... They have lodged a complaint on the basis of few ex-employees who were fired by me, said Satish Singhal, who was the president of Rotary Club of Noida from 2006 to 2007. In 2011, he was appointed the managing trustee of the Rotary Noida Blood Bank and remained in the position till 22nd October, 2017. They will never be able to prove any of the allegations. I have my side of story, but I will come out with it very soon. Right now, they have lodged the complaint so I dont have much to say, added Singhal. Meanwhile, Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer Anurag Bhargav said he will be looking into the matter. I will get the details from Sector 20 police to understand the whole matter, said Bhargav. A woman attended the funeral of her father, who was allegedly gunned down by a villager, hours after she tied the nuptial knot at Pashpipara in Bihars Kaimur district on Wednesday. My father was killed while he was fasting for my kanyadaan (a wedding ritual). My husband and I attended his funeral in our wedding attire, said the woman, identified only as Rubi. By doing this, Rubi broke an age-old practice in the country. Hindu traditions forbid newly weds from participating in cremations and other post-death rituals for a year after their marriage. Rubis father, 42-year-old Ram Raj Ram, was making arrangements for the wedding when he was allegedly shot by the accused, Mangaru alias Sanjay. He was rushed to the government hospital at Mohania soon after the incident, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Ram, a Dalit, was the sole provider of his family of seven which includes his wife, three daughters and two sons. The bride agreed to go ahead with the wedding at the insistence of the bridegrooms family and other villagers. The newly weds attended Rams funeral after the ceremony at a neighbourhood temple. Police said Mangaru was the main accused in several kidnapping and murder cases across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. He was recently released from Varanasi jail after serving 12 years in a murder case. An FIR lodged by the deceaseds wife stated that Mangaru had threatened to kill Ram after a quarrel in January. We are conducting raids to arrest him, said Mohania sub-divisional police officer Raghunath Singh. This is the eighth murder to be committed in Kaimur district over the last 10 days. Patna police on Friday arrested a woman who, fed up of her sons lawlessness, hired contract killers and got him murdered him on Monday. Renu Devi and the three persons, who allegedly carried out her son Mintoo Rams (40) killing, have been arrested and a pistol used in the crime has been recovered from them. On May 7, the Bakhatiyarpur police had recovered Mintoos body from behind Akash hotel at Taal area. Patna SSP, Manu Maharaaj said, It was a challenge to solve the case as during initial probe we came across evidences that indicated his mother, Renu Devis involvement. Mintoos wife, Anju Devi had lodged a murder case after his body was recovered, and later, when questioned, revealed that he and Renu used to quarrel daily over some issue or the other. Police then picked up Renu and interrogated her. Initially, she tried to divert and confuse our men but soon broke down and confessed to her involvement in her sons murder, the SSP said. Renu told the police that she gave Rs 50,000 to contract killers, Dharamveer and Sharvan Kumar, and asked them to eliminate her son. The duo gunned down Ram and threw his body behind Akash hotel on May 6 night. Renu plotted the murder as she was fed up of his lawlessness. He was into eve-teasing, harassing women of the locality and took loans from locals but never paid them back, police said quoting her. The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday approved a panel of officers to examine the alleged illegal mutations of village common panchayat lands in the name of individuals in the periphery of Chandigarh. The panel includes Rahul Tiwari, Rupnagar divisional commisioner, and Tanu Kashyap, joint development commissioner, Integrated Rural Development, Punjab, as commissioners, and Amardeep Singh Bains, deputy director (revenue), and Hardial Singh Chatha, additional deputy commissioner (D), Fatehgarh Sahib, as collectors. They will hear the pending as well as fresh appeals against the land grab cases of village common land and forest land in villages of Mohali district. The panel will be assisted by a team of 59 lawyers, whose names too have been approved by the high court. These lawyers will represent panchayats. It is not immediately clear whether they will examine those cases also where government has already given a clean chit or where no dispute was raised. The case so far 2007 Petition alleging grabbing of village common land filed in high court (HC 2012 HC appoints three-member panel headed by justice Kuldip Singh 2013 Panel submits report 2015 SC declines Punjab plea against panel whose report indicted several top politicians and bureaucrats 2018 HC constitutes panel of officers to examine sale deeds As per rough estimates, nearly 25,000 acres are illegally occupied in Mohali. The high court was hearing a 2013 petition by a Nayagaon resident seeking a probe into the mutation of village common land in the name of influential persons in Nayagaon and other nearby villages. In 2013, the high court had appointed a commission headed by justice Kuldip Singh, a former Supreme Court judge. The reports given by the panel had named several politicians, police officers and bureaucrats, who had grabbed panchayat (shamlat or common) land in violation of laws that prohibit the sale of village common land and forest land. The panel, after examining revenue record of 336 villages in Mohali, had found fault in 30,000 to 35,000 sale deeds of property in the periphery of Chandigarh. On Thursday, the high court directed the Punjab government to not transfer these officers for a reasonable period of time. Taking note of submissions of case amicus curiae senior advocate ML Sarin, the high court also sought to know about government plans on setting up a panel on similar lines. Previously, media reports had quoted Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as stating that in Mohali alone, land worth more than Punjabs entire debt, which is pegged at Rs 2.10 lakh crore, had been grabbed illegally. He had said that a committee of experts headed by former judge SS Saron and former director general of police Chander Shekhar was being formed to give advice to the panel on freeing the government land. The ongoing Cannes film festival will see a bevy of Indian beauties descend on the red carpet at the coastal town in the French Reviera. While many Indian films are jostling for their moment under Cannes sun (with Nandita Das Nawazuddin Siddique-starrer Manto leading the way), Tamil heartthrob Dhanush too is there to promote his international project, The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir. Early on May 11, Dhanush tweeted pictures from Cannes and captioned: #cannes2018 #TheExtraordinaryJourneyOfTheFakir @LRCF6204 @kenscottfakir. The Hollywood film has been directed by Canadian director Ken Scott and is expected to released on May 30, 2018. The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir also stars Berenice Bejo, Barkhad Abdi and Erin Moriarty in prominent roles. It is based on the book titled The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, written by Romain Puertolas. The film has been shot in Mumbai, Paris, the Falklands, Spain, Rome and Libya. In the film, Dhanush is playing a Mumbai man named Ajatashatru Lavash Patel. Here is the teaser poster of "the extraordinary journey of the fakir" .. my first English film. Its been an extraordinary journey indeed. https://t.co/z3t92chRM2 .. THIS SUMMER. @LRCF6204 hope you guys like it. pic.twitter.com/gOBaCpeRWM Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) February 9, 2018 An article in The Hindu had mentioned that the question-answer session with the films team will also be organised at the India pavilion in Marche du Cinema (Cannes Film Market). Meanwhile, Dhanush is currently busy shooting for Maari 2. He also awaits the release of Vetrimaarans Vada Chennai, which will chronicle 30 years in the life of a gangster. Dhanush is also expected to commence work on his second directorial project from the second half of the year. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Theres no stopping the Mahanati tsunami. The biopic, starring Keethi Suresh as the legendary Telugu actor Savitri, is being praised by one and all. Upon the films release on Wednesday, Baahubali director SS Rajamouli was among the first to lavish praises on the project. Now that the Tamil version of the film, Nadigaiyar Thilagam, has released, celebrities have been tweeting to express their feelings and good wishes for the film and praise Keerthy and Dulquer Salmaan for their work. Nagarjuna wrote: @KeerthyOfficial you were brilliant along with @dulQuer in #Mahanati / @SwapnaCinema Vyjayanthi movies & ashwin nag take a bow you have put telugu cinema on a pedestal!! @Samanthaprabhu2 ??my eyes are filled with tears of pride!! #mahanati what a tribute to Savithramma. @KeerthyOfficial you were brilliant along with @dulQuer in #Mahanati / @SwapnaCinema Vyjayanthi movies & ashwin nag take a bow you have put telugu cinema on a pedestal!! @Samanthaprabhu2 my eyes are filled with tears of pride!! #mahanati what a tribute to Savithramma Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) May 11, 2018 Nagarjuna, whose son Naga Chaitanya played his grand father A Nageswar Rao in the film, said that he felt like a proud father and jealous son. He wrote: Am today a proud father and a jealous son. I never played my father legendary #ANR Garu. But, I am overwhelmed and very happy to present to you all, Chay as ANR in #Mahanati #ANRliveson. Am today a proud father and a jealous son. I never played my father legendary #ANR Garu. But, I am overwhelmed and very happy to present to you all, Chay as ANR in #Mahanati #ANRliveson https://t.co/v1FdzRajcp pic.twitter.com/yCWJYDLmb8 Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) May 10, 2018 Actor Mohanlal, who has not watched Mahanati yet, also had good words to say: Hearing great reviews about #Mahanati. Very happy for both My Dears from our extended family @KeerthyOfficial & @dulQuer. Will watch the movie soon!! Hearing great reviews about #Mahanati. Very happy for both My Dears from our extended family @KeerthyOfficial & @dulQuer. Will watch the movie soon!! Mohanlal (@Mohanlal) May 11, 2018 Film director Krish, who also has a cameo in the film, was also praised for Dulquer for pulling off a tricky character. He wrote: KUDOS to @dulQuer for portraying an epic but not so easy character to feel sympathy or empathy for at times; but his charisma, magnetism n great performance made us love him in #Mahanati even in GJs lowest moments. Congratulations again on d Golden Standard Epic Performance. KUDOS to @dulQuer for portraying an epic but not so easy character to feel sympathy or empathy for at times; but his charisma, magnetism n great performance made us love him in #Mahanati even in GJs lowest moments. Congratulations again on d Golden Standard Epic Performance. pic.twitter.com/geBxpFIMOG Krish Jagarlamudi (@DirKrish) May 9, 2018 Praising Keerthy for her effortless transformation, he wrote: Theres emotional intensity n then theres @KeerthyOfficial in #Mahanati -Hats off for d seamless transformation from a Playful Young Theatre Kid to a Super Star in d glitter world to a Tragic Soul. This is without a doubt the single best acting performance I have ever seen. There's emotional intensity n then there's @KeerthyOfficial in #Mahanati -Hats off for d seamless transformation from a Playful Young Theatre Kid to a Super Star in d glitter world to a Tragic Soul. This is without a doubt the single best acting performance I have ever seen. pic.twitter.com/vwphS0YyaO Krish Jagarlamudi (@DirKrish) May 9, 2018 Veteran filmmaker K Raghavendra Rao too reserved his praise for the films lead pair. He wrote: Keerthy Suresh has lived the role of Savitr for the film and Dulquers portrayal of Gemini Ganesan is fantastic. I congratulate Nag Ashwin and the films team. Vamshi Paidipally also praised the film in a series of tweets. #Mahanati @SwapnaCinema..A Big Shout for the whole team of this Epic..#NagAshwin Thank You Nagi for making this film. Savitri garu is always Eternal and You made Her much more Eternal..Have no words to explain Your Research,Your writing,Your screenplay & Your Direction. RESPECT. #Mahanati @SwapnaCinema..A Big Shout for the whole team of this Epic..#NagAshwin Thank You Nagi for making this film. Savitri garu is always Eternal and You made Her much more Eternal..Have no words to explain Your Research,Your writing,Your screenplay & Your Direction. RESPECT. Vamshi Paidipally (@directorvamshi) May 9, 2018 #Mahanati..Congratulations @KeerthyOfficial... You lived the character and was as if You were born to do this... just stunning... takes a lot of guts & talent to bring a Legend like Savitri garu back to Life.. :) #Mahanati..Congratulations @KeerthyOfficial... You lived the character and was as if You were born to do this... just stunning... takes a lot of guts & talent to bring a Legend like Savitri garu back to Life.. :) Vamshi Paidipally (@directorvamshi) May 9, 2018 Some of the main cast, like Dulquer and Vijay Deverakonda, too expressed their gratitude and wonder at the phenomenal response the film has got. Hearing the most wonderful things about #Mahanati ! Overwhelmed and grateful ! Thank you @nagashwin7 Swapna Priyanka and Ashwini Dutt garu for putting their faith in me. Lots of love to @KeerthyOfficial @Samanthaprabhu2 @TheDeverakonda Rajendra Prasad garu & the entire cast! Hearing the most wonderful things about #Mahanati ! Overwhelmed and grateful ! Thank you @nagashwin7 Swapna Priyanka and Ashwini Dutt garu for putting their faith in me. Lots of love to @KeerthyOfficial @Samanthaprabhu2 @TheDeverakonda Rajendra Prasad garu & the entire cast ! dulquer salmaan (@dulQuer) May 9, 2018 Vijay Deverekonda wrote: Watched #Mahanati Last night. What a life Savitri Garu had. And To Nag Ashwin and the team - take a bow. @KeerthyOfficial vere level killing - @Samanthaprabhu2 & @dulQuer super proud of your choices and my admiration! Cinema super hit - super hit kante oka super experience. Watched #Mahanati Last night. What a life Savitri Garu had. And To Nag Ashwin and the team - take a bow. @KeerthyOfficial vere level killing - @Samanthaprabhu2 & @dulQuer super proud of your choices and my admiration! Cinema super hit - super hit kante oka super experience. pic.twitter.com/WdG0hFfyPq Vijay Deverakonda (@TheDeverakonda) May 9, 2018 KTR, a minister in government of Telangana, said: What an incredible movie!! Truly blown away by #Mahanati. @KeerthyOfficial just lived the role, Stunning performance? My Compliments to outstanding direction by Nag Ashwin, Swapna and terrific performances by @Samanthaprabhu2 @dulQuer @TheDeverakonda @chay_akkineni. What an incredible movie!! Truly blown away by #Mahanati@KeerthyOfficial just lived the role, Stunning performance My Compliments to outstanding direction by Nag Ashwin, Swapna and terrific performances by @Samanthaprabhu2 @dulQuer @TheDeverakonda @chay_akkineni KTR (@KTRTRS) May 9, 2018 On Tuesday, SS Rajamouli had written, @KeerthyOfficials potrayal of Savitri garu is one of the finest performances Ive ever seen. It is not just imitating. She brought the legendry actress back to life. @dulQuer is absolutely fantastic. I am his fan now. . @KeerthyOfficials potrayal of Savitri garu is one of the finest performances I've ever seen. It is not just imitating. She brought the legendry actress back to life. @dulQuer is absolutely fantastic. I am his fan now. rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) May 9, 2018 Mahanati movie review: Keerthy Suresh breathes life into Savitris beautiful tragedy Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Daniel Jean, Canadas top spymaster and the official considered responsible for floating the theory that rogue elements in the Indian establishment tried to sabotage Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus visit in February, will retire later this month. He will be replaced as the National Security and Intelligence Advisor by the current cyber-security chief, Greta Bossenmaier. Jeans retirement is not linked to the controversial episode that impacted relations between India and Canada since he made the decision in January, prior to the Jaspal Atwal affair. Atwal, a former Khalistani militant, was convicted of attempting to assassinate a visiting minister from Punjab in the mid-1980s. He caused serious embarrassment to Trudeau during the course of the disastrous trip to India, when Atwal appeared at an official reception for the Canadian prime minister in Mumbai and was also invited to another event at the Canadian envoys residence in New Delhi. While the latter invite was rescinded, it was only after Canadian media was awash with the expose, one that left its government red-faced. At that time, Jean had briefed select Canadian journalists, alleging that rogue factions within the Indian establishment had planted Atwal in India to sabotage Trudeaus visit. Later, Trudeau backed Jean in the House of Commons, further hurting ties between New Delhi and Ottawa. Last month, during the course of public testimony before the House of Commons public safety and national security committee, Jean averred he never raised a conspiracy theory and said it was definitely not the government of India. Canadian media later revealed that even parts of this testimony may have been inaccurate, like the date when the intelligence set-up became aware of the invitation extended to Atwal. Jean faced much criticism over the Atwal episode. Commentator Terry Glavin, writing in Macleans, was unsparing: Daniel Jean is a career bureaucrat who came to Canadas top job in national security and intelligence out of his post as deputy foreign affairs minister in May 2016, with no discernible credentials in either national security or intelligence. Others such as British Columbias former premier Ujjal Dosanjh said Jean should have resigned since he had absolutely no credibility. Dosanjh added, He tried to do the governments bidding, which is unacceptable for a National Security Advisor. An NSA should speak truth to power and he only spoke for the power. Earlier, Jean and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval agreed on a path-breaking Framework for Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, a bilateral document released after Trudeau met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Jeans replacement as NSA, Greta Bossenmaier, has a long track record in the national security establishment. She has been chief of Canadas Communications Security Establishment since February 2015. Before that, she worked in various capacities, and among her postings were those at the Canada Border Services Agency and the departments of national defence and foreign affairs and international trade. She will assume charge as NSA on May 23. The tumultuous last couple of months have cast a shadow over Jeans 35-year tenure in Canadian public service. Jean, appointed as NSA post in May 2016, was commended by Trudeau for an exceptional career, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office, US officials have apologised to Canada after cabinet minister Navdeep Bains, a practising Sikh, went through a humiliating security procedure at an American airport in which he was asked to remove his turban. While the incident took place in April 2017, the Canadian minister of innovation, science and economic development spoke about it only recently in an interview with the French language publication La Presse. Bains was travelling back from the US after meeting the Governor of Michigan when he was stopped at the Detroit Metro Airport. He told media at an event in Toronto on Thursday that he had passed the metal detector test and there was a challenge while undergoing a swab test, but after that was repeated, he was allowed to go through. However, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official summoned him back again from the gate, stating proper protocol had not been followed as Bains had not removed his turban. He declined on religious grounds. At that point, the minister showed them his diplomatic passport and was allowed to proceed. Once they realised my position, who I was, I was ultimately allowed to fly. I understand how airport security is but proper process needs to be followed, he said. Bains described the incident as very frustrating and unnecessary. He said the issue speaks to discrimination and it was the first time thats happened to him. His displeasure was communicated to US authorities, and Bains said, I was fortunate to be in this position to raise this with my counterparts in the US. They obviously regret what happened, they apologised and I accept that apology. In a statement released on Thursday by assistant press secretary Michelle Negron, TSA said it reviewed security videos and found the officer checking Bains didnt follow procedure and has since received training. The written statement did not include an apology. We regret the screening experience did not meet the expectations of Mr. Bains, the agency said. When possible, passengers may remove non-formfitting headwear before proceeding through the security checkpoint. We recognize that passengers may be unable or unwilling to remove items for religious, medical, or other reasons, and should expect to undergo additional screening protocols. While Bains status prevented the situation from escalating further, it raises concerns about the predicament facing ordinary Sikhs passing through airport checkpoints. The section on security screening at the TSA website includes procedures for pat-down checks. It states, A pat-down may include inspection of the head, neck, arms, torso, legs, and feet.This includes head coverings and sensitive areas such as breasts, groin, and the buttocks. Canadas foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said officials from her department had raised the matter with the US. I thought it was important for us to support Mr Bains, and frankly to support all Canadians travelling across the border, national broadcaster CBC quoted her as saying. This isnt the first time a prominent Sikh has faced additional screening at an American airport and been ordered to remove their turban. In 2016, Canadian comedian Jasmeet Singh had to undergo such a search at San Francisco airport. In 2010, Hardeep Puri, then Indias permanent representative to the United Nations and now a minister in the Narendra Modi government, faced such an affront at Houston airport. (With agency inputs) US President Donald Trump would seek a complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula during his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, the White House has said. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic US-North Korea summit, the White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. Such a move might force the US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday. Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. And thats what hes going to be seeking, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from North Korea would not be received well. All Ill say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons, Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. The main issue under discussion at the Trump-Kim summit will be North Koreas nuclear weapons, which the US is demanding Pyongyang give up. Shah added that Singapore was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. Singapore has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the Presidents and Kim Jong-uns security, as well as provide neutrality, he added. Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan took place in Singapore some years back, Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. Shah told reporters that prior to the invitation being accepted, the North Koreans had agreed to halt their ballistic missile testing, their nuclear testing, and not publicly oppose joint US-South Korean military exercises. So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. Well hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations, he said. On being asked if anything else was to happen between now and the summit, Shah replied, Im not setting additional pre-conditions. Its now been set. Victoria Coates, Senior Director for International Negotiations at the National Security Council, the White House, told reporters that the meeting could be scuttled if Kim Jong-un did something unacceptable to the US. It is possible that leaders from South Korea and China could also be present in Singapore at that time, she added. Meanwhile, US media commented that if Trump is successful in convincing Kim to agree to a verifiable eradication of his nuclear weapons program -- a huge if -- Trump will have achieved a breakthrough that has eluded previous presidents. If he can end the standoff that has prevailed since the 1950-53 Korean War, he will have won a place in history that may offer redemption in posterity even if his presidency ends in ignominy, CNN commented. A new CNN poll shows that after rattling the nation and the world last year by threatening to wipe North Korea off the map, his turn to diplomacy is winning increasing public approval. Some 53% of Americans approve of his handling of North Korea policy and 77% back his decision to meet Kim at a summit in Singapore next month. That means Trumps stewardship of the nuclear crisis is now far more popular than the President himself, the network said. But it also raises the possibility that a successful outcome to the summit and a dominant showing abroad could begin to lift the Presidents overall approval rating a little ahead of midterm elections in November, it added. India on Friday said it wanted the Justin Trudeau government in Canada to ensure that freedom of expression is not misused in that country to incite violence and to glorify as martyrs individuals who are considered terrorists by New Delhi. This statement was delivered at a session of the universal periodic review of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva by Indias deputy permanent representative Virander Paul during the Canada Interactive Dialogue. The message in the form of a recommendation was significant in the context of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus controversial visit to India in February and continuing concerns over anti-India elements in Canada campaigning for Khalistan and holding events to reportedly hail individuals considered terrorists by New Delhi. Paul said Indias six recommendations to Canada included one to strengthen framework to prevent misuse of freedom of expression to incite violence and glorify terrorists as martyrs. He also asked the Trudeau government to stop racial profiling and other discriminatory practices by the police and security agencies. During his visit that was dogged by controversy, Trudeau insisted that Canada stood for a united India. He also denied allegations that Sikh ministers in his government were supporters of Khalistan. India also asked Canada to implement effective measures to reduce the high levels of poverty and food insecurity among indigenous peoples and to ensure better access for them to healthcare, education, adequate housing and other basic necessities. Other recommendations included implementing existing measures effectively for improving gender equality with a view to enhancing womens participation in decision making, full time employment and equal pay for equal work. Remove inequality and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities in realisation of right to education, work, employment, healthcare, affordable housing and other basic needs, the recommendations said. Malaysias king has agreed to pardon jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim immediately, newly installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday. The (king) has indicated he is willing to pardon Datuk Sri Anwar immediately, Mahathir told a press conference, using a Malay honorific. It came a day after the 92-year-old was sworn in after a shock win that toppled the countrys long-ruling coalition. Five members of a family were killed and two others were severely injured in an explosion in northwest Pakistans Peshawar city Friday morning, police said. The blast inside a hotel near Bilal Town may have been caused by an explosive device or a gas leak. Two children were among the people dead. The blast occurred on the fourth floor of the hotel and all victims belonged to Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chief Capital City Police (CCPO) Qazi Jamil ur Rehman said, adding that fire engulfed the entire floor after the blast. He said security forces were looking for evidence to ascertain the cause of the blast. The Bomb Disposal Squad have also reached the spot, the CCPO added. The injured are rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital, where their condition was stated to be critical, he said. Hundreds of Syrian rebels left an area south of Damascus on Thursday, a monitor and state media said, leaving the capital threatened only by the Islamic State group. The departure of the last group of rebel fighters and their families from Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham marked the conclusion of a week of evacuations from the three towns. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP that 15 buses carrying hundreds of fighters and their relatives left the towns and were heading towards opposition territory in northern Syria. For the first time since 2011, there are no opposition fighters in or around Damascus except the Islamic State group, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory. IS still controls a pocket of territory inside the Yarmuk Palestinian camp and the adjacent Hajar al-Aswad district, both inside Damascus. Government forces have been pressing a ferocious weeks-long assault against them there. The agreement for Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham was reached last week and follows a pattern of similar deals through which Syrias government has recaptured swathes of territory around Damascus. Yalda, Babila, and Beit Saham south of Damascus have been cleared of terrorism, after the final wave of terrorists who did not want to reconcile (with the government) left to northern Syria with their families, said state news agency SANA. It said government security forces were preparing to enter the three towns. A White House aide is under fire after she mocked US senator John McCains brain cancer, dismissing the Republicans opposition to President Donald Trumps nominee for CIA director. It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, Kelly Sadler, the aide who is part of the White House communications team, said in an internal, closed-door meeting, The Hill newspaper reported, adding that there was discomfort in the room following her remark. Outside the room, Sadlers comment was met with outrage. May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren, Cindy McCain, the senators wife, tweeted. The White House did not deny the remarks but said, We respect Senator McCains service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. McCain who had been tortured after he was taken captive during the Vietnam War had opposed Gina Haspels nomination as CIA director because she had once led a black site in Thailand, where terror suspects were held and subjected to enhanced interrogation and torture. Haspel had then proceeded to destroy more than 90 video tapes of such interrogations. Sadler has not publicly issued an apology or a retraction, but is reported to have called the Arizona senators daughter Meghan McCain to apologise. Critics of Trump and his administration pointed out that the aide might have felt emboldened to make that statement even as a joke because Trump himself has said some very offensive things about McCain. For example, as a candidate, Trump had said he did not think McCain was a war hero because he had been taken captive. The White House has quietly killed a US $10-million per year Nasa program that tracks carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, the journal Science said. Nasas Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made high-resolution models of the planets flows of carbon, said the report. Now, President Donald Trumps administration has quietly killed the CMS, it said, describing the move as the latest in a broad attack on climate science mounted by the White House. The journal said NASA declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget. It also quoted US space agency spokesman Steve Cole as saying there was no mention of the CMS in a budget deal signed in March, which allowed the administrations move to take effect. Cole, responding to a request for comment from AFP, said Trump proposed cutting the CMS project and four Earth science missions last year. After much deliberation, Congress decided they wanted those four space missions to be funded, writing them into the budget bill they passed in March 2018, he said. But since CMS was not among them, it was cut as proposed, Cole said, describing the entire process as a joint effort by lawmakers and the executive branch. Existing grants would be allowed to finish but no new research would be supported, he said. Trump has already canceled another Earth science mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3), and announced the US pullout from the 2015 Paris climate accord. According to Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts Universitys Center for International Environment and Resource Policy in Medford, Massachusetts, the CMS cuts jeopardize efforts to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate deal. If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement, she told the magazine. Appointment 11 May 2018 Oakwood Worldwide, wholly owned by Mapletree Investments and one of the leading global providers of furnished and serviced apartments for business travellers, today announced the appointment of Mandeep Singh as Chief Operating Officer. His proven track record in hospitality, excellent skills in business operations, and impressive leadership experience will help progress Oakwood's global transformation and drive an industry-leading customer experience. Singh's appointment marks the most recent addition to the Oakwood leadership team, following a series of announcements from Chief Executive Officer Chris Ahearn to strengthen the organization's executive team. In his new role, Singh will be focused on ensuring that Oakwood has the right operational structure, process, and reporting procedures to meet customer expectations while achieving the company's business objectives. He will report directly to Chris Ahearn and have responsibility for the Americas Operations, Home Services and Oakwood's industry-leading 24/7 customer service center. Before joining Oakwood, Singh led a variety of teams across a range of hospitality businesses including Woodspring Hotels, MasterCorp, Extended Stay Hotels, and Comfort Inn-Choice Hotels. His expertise in management, strategic planning and execution, along with revenue optimization, has helped Singh drive real change within this ever-evolving industry. Press Release 11 May 2018 Grace Hotels has successfully launched its Strategic Labour Partnership, a new initiative to help retain talent at its seasonal hotels in Greece. Advertisements The programme involves a collaboration with other luxury hotel brands to offer international work placements to staff from Grace Mykonos and Grace Santorini during the winter months when the hotels are closed. To launch the programme, the group established its primary partnership with Soneva, drawing on parallels between the brands and the need for seasonal hiring within their hotels. The initiative is driven by Grace Hotels' ambition to find creative new ways to retain and motivate talent. Around 100 people are employed at Grace Santorini and Grace Mykonos on a seasonal contract from April to the end of October, at which time they usually leave the islands for ventures outside Grace Hotels. Under the Strategic Labour Partnership, agreements were formed with other luxury hotel groups who typically need experienced European staff during the opposite peak season, over the winter months. Employees from Grace Hotels were offered placements in destinations including the Maldives, Thailand and Megeve in France, where they not only benefitted from the opportunity to expand their skillset through diverse, enriching experiences, but were also able to maintain their income during a period where it might otherwise be difficult for them to find work. A total of ten line staff, supervisors and managers were placed amongst various Soneva hotels (www.soneva.com). Joanne Bowen, Group Talent Director at Soneva, said: "It has been a wonderful initiative that has been beneficial to both Soneva and Grace Hotels. We have been able to utilise the skills of some very talented people during a time where we typically have to supplement our teams due to high business demand. Not only did the Grace team members arrive with passion and dedication, but they also brought a different perspective." Grace Hotels' Group HR Director, Tim Williams, commented: "Soneva proved the ideal partner, evident in the synergies between the brands - authentic, luxury resorts in beautiful destinations with a focus on personalised service and close attention to detail. We had overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants in the programme, who enjoyed the exposure to different cultures and work methods, and were grateful for the chance to earn income when they might otherwise not. We look forward to expanding the programme in the future." Grace Hotels looks to continue and strengthen the partnership for the 2018/2019 winter season, opening further collaborations with hotel groups worldwide. Potential opportunities include placements in the Middle East, Indian Ocean, Asia and other European ski destinations. Performance 11 May 2018 HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee -- The U.S. hotel industry reported positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 29 April through 5 May 2018, according to data from STR. In comparison with the week of 30 April through 6 May 2017, the industry recorded the following: Occupancy: +0.5% to 68.2% Average daily rate (ADR): +2.7% to US$130.14 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +3.3% to US$88.77 Among the Top 25 Markets, Oahu Island, Hawaii, posted the highest rises in occupancy (+7.2% to 88.5%) and RevPAR (+16.7% to US$219.21). ADR in the market rose 8.9% to US$247.83. Dallas,Texas, posted the only double-digit increase in ADR (+10.3% to US$116.92) and the second-largest increase in RevPAR (+16.1% to US$86.72). Detroit, Michigan, experienced the second-highest lift in occupancy (+5.9% to 68.2%). Overall, 18 of the Top 25 Markets reported growth in RevPAR. Boston, Massachusetts, saw the steepest declines in occupancy (-5.6% to 74.5%) and RevPAR (-9.4% to US$156.19). Chicago, Illinois, reported the largest drop in ADR (-4.4% to US$145.68) and the second-largest decrease in RevPAR (-7.9% to US$101.18). Los Angeles/Long Beach, California, experienced the second-largest decline in occupancy (-4.6% to 78.8%). Performance 11 May 2018 The status of the hotel and hospitality market cycle is a question that arises at most every industry conference: are we in a continuation of an extended economic cycle, or do developments within the past couple of years represent a new normal? Advertisements One thing that is certain is that in recent years the hotel industry has been on a streak of consolidation. In fact, in the past two years there has been more than $20 billion in corporate acquisitions, including management companies, and, more importantly, brands. Experts and industry insiders say all indications suggest this trend will continue, especially in North America. DOWNLOAD NORTH AMERICA CONSTRUCTION REPORT Looking to the Past to Understand the Present, Future To get better perspective on the present and future, one must look to the past of the hotel market in North America. In 1980, there were only 90 hotel brands in the United States, and only 12 brands at that time were part of larger brand umbrellas, which provides quite the contrast to today's market. Today, there are 259 hotel brands in the United States, and nearly two thirds of those brands are part of a larger brand company. This means that the North America market has seen a virtual invasion of hotel brand companies. In today's market, a mere 9 hospitality companies house nearly half of all of the hotel brands in the entire United States. This has also led to the creation of new brands aimed at Millennials and located in the mid-market lifestyle segment. The sheer volume of these similar brands battling for the same portion of the overall market has led to the construction of significant brand pipelines. For more information about the pipeline in the United States, we turned to the TOPHOTELCONSTRUCTION database. TOPHOTELCONSTRUCTION Provides More Clarity For context, we turned to TOPHOTELCONSTRUCTIONS' Hotel Construction North America Report for April 2018. Overall, there are currently 1,189 projects in North America's pipeline that once they are completed will yield a projected total of 255,621 rooms for guests. While it is of course important to note the near critical mass of brands marketed at millennials, it is perhaps equally important to note in which cities all of this growth is slated to occur. The TOPHOTELCONSTRUCTION database reports that New York City is, unsurprisingly, the leader with 43 projects and 10,339 rooms, while Los Angeles is second with 34 projects for 6,852 rooms, and the rising tourism destination of Nashville, Tennessee is third with 31 projects for 6,855 rooms. Rounding out the top 10 markets in the United States are Miamia, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; and the nation's capital, Washington D.C. Let's take a look at a few other projects currently underway in North America: Edition Hotel Times Square The tower, dubbed 20 Times Square, will rise 517 feet above street level and will contain 269,769 square feet of commercial space [READ MORE] Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito Spread over nearly 16 acres of prime beachfront real estate, Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito will offer 122 guestrooms and 48 suites, many of which will be located in single-story cottages and bungalows [READ MORE] Cabrits Resort Kempinski, Dominica Cabrits Resort Kempinski, Dominica will be a hideaway resort that will rank amongst the best in its class in the Caribbean. [READ MORE] More information on hotel projects in North America can be found in the TOPHOTELPROJECTS database. TOPHOTELPROJECTS is the specialized service provider of cutting-edge information of the hospitality industry. At the time of this writing, Im on a plane ride back from attending four lodging industry conferences in 10 days, which caused me to be staying at four different large, branded hotels in Minneapolis, Dallas and San Antonio, all of which were close to the convention centers. While all of the staff I encountered were polite and efficient, their service style was overall reactive and not proactive. Notably absent were some core essentials of hotel hospitality excellence that used to be part of Hotel 101 orientation. If the Internet's "Roll (Burbank Funk)" was initially a P-Funk send-off, then Kaytranada's remix updates those textures quite significantly. The Kaytra-Remix encompasses elements of Boogie which is to say a style that did away horn instruments in particular. The stripped down effect gives the "Burbank Funk" a nocturnal shift, as if you were coming down from the party. You've exited the venue, you need some air. You happen upon a ventilation duct somewhere in the back room, with the bass line still perceptible in the distance. That's the sinking feeling you're left with on this Kaytra-retouch. "Roll (Burbank Funk)" released last month, was the Internet's first group effort in some time, not since the release of Ego Death in 2015. Kaytranada is a Montreal-Born producer with a heritage based in Funk records of the 1980s. The groove-based style he employs on "Roll (Burbank Funk)" has become synonymous with his "brand" or rather the music he feels compelled to promulgate. The original video can be streamed here. Enjoy. Quotable Lyrics: Star shine so bright It's all in your heart They're up so high It's all in your heart I wanna fly Look no further Let your heart flow Kevin Gates's wife Dreka recently came out to answer a few budding questions regarding her spouse's release from federal prison in January. Gates was released after serving 9 months out of a possible 30-month sentence on charges of felony gun possession. The warrant for his arrest was initially posted because he failed to show up for a scheduled court-hearing in 2013. Unfortunately, nothing comes to pass too quickly in appellate courts. Police charges are rarely inspected by officials outside of the Judicial branch, and they only peruse the file on the date of the hearing. Since his release, Meek Mill has subsumed the responsibility of a public spokesperson in his "welcome back" appearance on the Breakfast Club. It wasn't the first time Meek derived inspiration from Kevin Gates' strong test of character. He shared the lyrics "Look what they did to Lil Kodak and Gates, I can't lose faith, I just wanna shine like the stars in my Wraith," on Instagram last April. The effect of solidarity, as evidenced by Meek Mill's release, does in some instances create an overwhelming public sentiment which can lead to legal ramifications. The full transcript of his message to Meek is as follows: "I was watching a Breakfast Club interview and I wanted to say I thank the brother Meek Mill for being compassionate towards my situation and talking about it and having a heart for my situation but Im not upset about my situation as far as Chicago, Illinois, these people love me here. I dont carry firearms. Im never in fear of anything but Allah. Someone I was with was caught with a firearm and it was pinned on me. Now Im not about to speak and tell people it was yours, I dont do that. Im a stand-up guy and I believe great people undergo great tests and I stay silent and I never complain and I aint do it til the end. I just was upset about the parole." Kid Ink's been busy putting in that work. He's constantly on his grind and continuously delivers dope music for his fans with every single release. The rapper recently dropped off a remix to Gunna's "Oh Okay" and shortly after, joined Yogi, Maleek Berry and Ray BLK for the song "Baby." Today, the rapper unleashes the single on the project, "One Time." Kid Ink drops off his latest heater, "One Time." The new song was created for forthcoming documentary, Unbanned: The Legend Of AJ1. It's a smooth banger from Kid Ink that shows his ability to flawlessly maneuver between dropping bars and giving infectious hooks through his melodies. Kid Ink continuously delivers fire songs with each one of his release and we're looking forward to more drops he has in the future. Keep your eyes peeled for more new music from Ink. Quotable Lyrics One time 'cause we made it One time for the greatest One time for the haters Gon' put your fingers high Tyra Banks has had a storied career over the years as a model, host, and entertainer. While she is recognized as one of the most famous supermodels to ever walk the runway, she will be the first to shout out fellow iconic women. On her reality show America's Next Top Model, Tyra gives tips and pointers to potential stars in the making, letting them know the secrets to making it big in an ultra-competitive modeling world. As she currently promotes her brand new book Perfect Is Boring, where she has a back-and-forth conversation with her mother Carolyn London, the mother-daughter duo chose to recreate some of their famous counterparts for Paper Magazine, posing as a few of the most iconic mother-daughter duos in the world. While obvious choices were made like Diana Ross and Tracee Ellis Ross, the pair chose to imitate looks from one of the most famous mother-daughter duos in history, Beyonce and Tina Lawson. As Paper Magazine put it, Tyra Banks has proven herself to be the "queen of transformations" and to celebrate that title, Tyra did her best Beyonce impression in a dress made out of soda cans. We have to say, her look is spot-on as, at first glance, we thought we were looking at a photo of Bey but alas, it was Tyra and her mom in disguise. Check out Tyra and the Banks matriarch try out a few other iconic duos and let us know if they fooled you at all. There was a time between being the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and just the plain ol Fresh Prince that Will Smith was dead broke and it was in a chance encounter that Smiths dried up career took a drastic 180. While weve been following Will Smiths movement on Instagram, where hes been blessing the masses with snippets of the wisdom hes accumulated over the years, the Bright star has also been giving us a deeper look by way of his Youtube channel and most recently took to the platform to upload a Storytime, where he takes a minute and sits right there and tells us how he become the prince of a town called Bel-Air. In the clip, Smith tells us the story all about how his life got flipped turned upside down following the success found in his Grammy-award winning career alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff. He explains that when the duos third album failed to live up to the expectations of their triple-platinum Hes The DJ, Im The Rapper sophomore effort, his money had dried up and he was up to no good and started making trouble with the United States Internal Revenue Service for failing to pay his taxes. Being famous and broke is a shi--y combination, he explains. Cause you still famous and people recognize you, but they recognize you while you're sitting next to them on the bus. It was at his girlfriends request that Smith then paid a visit to the Arsenio Hall Show, and it was on that set that he met Benny Medina who would later become his manager. Medina informed Smith that he was working on a pilot show with Quincy Jones. Medina and Smith pulled up to Quincy's house (maybe around seven or eight) where he was asked to give an impromptu audition for the show. Despite refusing at first, Quincy Jones convinced Will Smith to take 10 minutes right now and you can change your life forever. The rest is practically history. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air went on for six seasons from 1990-1996 and Will Smith (spoiler alert) turned out to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood for his impressive work on-screen for years to come. The moral of the story? Always say yes and I guess listen to your girlfriend," says Smith. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Wu-Tang Clans debut with the classic Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) album and according to Loud Records Steve Rifkind the group plans on re-releasing the effort with a modern twist. "We're gonna do a few things. We're gonna remake the album with nine MCs from today and each new MC will play a character in the original 36 Chambers," Rifkind told XXL. There's gonna be a major tour cause it's also Wu's 25[th anniversary]. The move is only one of the plans set in motion by Rifkind and Loud Records which found new life this year when it announced a partnership with RED Music after being sold to Sony back in 2002. While Loud went on to be the home several major acts of the 90s and early 2000s including the likes of Three 6 Mafia, Mobb Deep, Pete Rock, and the late Big Pun, it was Wu-Tang that put the label on the map with its emergence. Of their legacy, Rifkind added: Where are you gonna get nine emcees that all of them can spit their ass off? The energy of the record and they weren't just like, "You gotta do this, you gotta do that." They broke barriers and broke ground on what they truly believed in. Wu-Tang will also be celebrating the anniversary with a headlining spot at this years A3C Festival in Atlanta in October on a lineup made of a purists dreams, finding company in names like Lil Wayne, The Diplomats, Curren$y, J.I.D. and more. Southeast Chicago rapper Hittz has landed a major look with his latest Young Thug-assisted Longway cut. While hes been a longtime staple in the local Chicago scene, running with the likes of Young Chop and the late Smylez since his high school days, the emcee is now readying himself to dominate airwaves and speakers throughout the country. We heard the first of that plan executed be way of his Kevin Gates collab Away From Me. In addition to this new Young Thug track, he also has a Gucci Mane track in the vaulta result of a visit to Atlantas Street Execs studio last year. For the time being get familiar with Longway and let us know how youre feeling about this one. Quotable Lyrics: I swear I love all my niggas now We tryna get it all figured out We see that the sh-t could be bigger now The chairman of Phillips 66 had already given his speech, the tally of proxy votes had been announced and now the meeting was getting interesting because it was finally time for shareholders to ask questions. But the public relations man for Phillips 66, the Houston refining and petrochemicals company, turned down the volume, making it impossible for reporters in the next room to hear what the shareholders had on their minds. Or what Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland was telling them. It turns out that press actually anyone who isnt a stockholder cant listen to the question and answer period of Phillips 66s annual stockholder meeting. When the company posts the meeting to the web, the questions and answers are trimmed from the presentation. "Its common practice," said company spokesman Dennis Nuss. Nuss said the speaker system that piped in the meeting to the press was supposed to automatically cut off at the point shareholders made their way to the microphones. But something malfunctioned and Nuss instead lowered the volume in the press briefing area. When I protested, Nuss said there was nothing he could do about it. Every year, typically in the spring, companies hold their annual shareholders meeting, a time when top corporate officers stand in front of their investors to report how the company did the previous year. The report is typically upbeat, refreshments are served and the scripted meetings follow a tight format, calling for shareholder votes, election announcements and a speech or two. But the question and answer period the time when any shareholder can get up and ask the suits on stage anything theyd like can make the coolest CEO sweat. Its when the carefully choreographed production can veer sharply off course if an investor who may also be a vendor, worker or member of an advocacy group, gets a chance to talk about a problem, whether its not getting paid for a project, losing a job or damaging the environment. Some CEOs practice extensively, going through a wide range of questions that may come up, learning to deflect anger and trying to keep anyone else in the room from piling on. Reporters did get a chance to ask Garland their own questions after the annual meeting, a session he noted, that he enjoyed because he could decompress after facing shareholders. That should give you an idea of the type of heat CEOs can feel when they open the floor to the owners of their companies. My question was about safety and Garland told me that Phillips 66 is creating a culture of safety so anyone can shut down operations if something looks amiss. He said the company celebrates when problems are uncovered and when its just a false alarm. "Safety is every persons responsibility," he said. Thats good to know. But I still want to know what shareholders of Phillips 66 whose policies and practices, safety and otherwise, can affect Houston greatly have on their minds. lynn.sixel@chron.com twitter.com/lmsixel WASHINGTON The oil and gas industrys love affair with President Donald Trump is in trouble. After more than a year of fawning praise for everything from tax cuts to the opening up of offshore drilling, oil and gas lobbyists are in open combat with the White House over the administrations push to recast the North American Free Trade Agreement and commerce at-large from the globalist, free-trade model that has long benefited oil companies in Houston and around the globe. Theres a growing sense of frustration that the administration is not being more reasonable, said Josh Zive, an attorney with the Washington law firm Bracewell, whose clients include oil and gas companies. Its old school populist talking points, and in doing so [Trump] lost the business community and virtually everybody else with them. While the White House has signaled it plans to keep the United States in NAFTA, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is looking to remove from NAFTA a protection that allow companies that have lost business or assets at the hands of a foreign government to challenge those decisions with independent arbitrators. The Trump administration argues that provision usurps U.S. authority and acts as free insurance against political change abroad, encouraging multinational companies to move manufacturing plants outside the United States. At a time when U.S. companies are investing heavily in Mexican oil and gas fields and building pipelines there, executives fear without those protections they could see their contracts rewritten or even their assets seized as populist, anti-American wave sweeps Mexico , led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the frontrunner to win Mexicos presidential election in July. The potential for governments to seize the assets of foreign oil companies operating in their fields is a constant threat, as happened in Venezuela in the mid-2000s. In that case, oil companies including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips sued the government through an international arbitration court run by the World Bank, but that court has no means to enforce its decisions leaving companies a long and trying road to recover their losses. ConocoPhillips, after recently winning a $2 billion arbitration award, has moved to take control of Caribbean assets of Venezuelas national oil company. Last week, the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers wrote a joint letter to Trump and his Cabinet, arguing that doing away with what is known as the Investor-State Dispute Settlement would threaten our economy and endanger the prospects for NAFTA 2.0 to be approved in Congress. Republicans, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Woodlands, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Senate majority whip, have lined up in protest. It seems like Lighthizer doesnt understand the vote count here in Congress, said Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, whose district includes the vast oil and gas fields of West Texas. Hes doing things that are not increasing the number of votes but decreasing them. But time is running out. The administration hopes to have a new NAFTA signed before the Mexican election in July to avoid negotiating with Obrador. And so far Trump appears unconvinced by the industrys arguments, rebuffing oil executives, including Exxon CEO Darren Woods and Anadarko Petroleum CEO Al Walker at a White House meeting in March. From the administrations point of view, they are fixing a system that has done little to protect American workers against the outsourcing that has run rampant in recent decades. Even as experts attribute the vast majority of job losses in U.S manufacturing to advances in technology and automation, Trump is making the case to American workers that its through bad trade deals theyve been left behind. NAFTAs arbitration provision is probably the biggest item that everybody agrees is a problem, whether its the Tea Party or the unions, said Bob Cash, director of the Texas Fair Trade Coalition, a nonprofit representing labor interests. A company can challenge environmental laws and worker protections passed by a nation and upheld by their supreme courts. It essentially gives multinational corporations veto rights over democratically decided laws. As NAFTA negotiations move toward their climax, the stakes are high for the U.S. oil and gas industry, which in February exported 126 billion cubic feet of natural gas to Mexico more than three times what they moved a decade ago. And refineries along the Gulf Coast are designed to handle Mexicos heavy crude oil, which make up 7 percent of U.S. oil imports. That relationship was expected to only grow in the years ahead, following Mexican President Enrique Pena Nietos move to open up the nations oil and gas field to foreign investment after a decades-long monopoly by Mexicos national oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. Politicians talked about North America becoming the worlds new Middle East, with shale and oil sands reserves underlying Mexico, Canada and the United States ready to be tapped by new drilling technology. But between Trumps protectionism and Obradors criticism that Mexico is giving away too much to the United States, foreign policy specialists are increasingly concerned that relations between the two countries could break down. If Trump does remove the dispute mechanism from NAFTA, some experts fear U.S. companies would be put at a disadvantage in trying to win work in Mexico, forced to raise their bids to cover political risk. That is something the Chinese-state owned companies they are competing against would not have to worry about, because they enjoy far greater protection by their government If our companies become hesitant, the Chinese arent going to be so hesitant, said Earl Anthony Wayne, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and Argentina, now a fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. Its the Americans and other who have to count all their dollars and have to make a profit and the Chinese who are just trying to get access to the resources and dont have to make the same calculations. With Trump seemingly dead set on remaking NAFTA in his world view, lobbyists are working to increase opposition in Congress. Whether they have the votes to send a NAFTA without the arbitration provision, known by its acronym ISDS, back to the White House remains to be seen, but in March, more than 100 Republican House members and senators signed a letter to the White House stating their concerns. Its our responsibility here in the House to influence them to make the right decision, said Hurd, the West Texas congressman, and let them know they might not have the votes if things like ISDS are not included. james.osborne@chron.com Twitter: @osborneja Goya Foods broke ground in Brookshire five years ago on its first cannery and food packaging plant built from the ground up. To lead the plant, the New Jersey-based company chose Luz Damaris Rosario, a Puerto Rican chemist with an MBA. As the company prepares to open an expansion that doubles Goyas Houston-area footprint, Rosario answered questions about her career and building a state-of-the-art food plant in Houston. Q: How did you become a chemist? A: Since I was a little girl, Ive had a passion for mathematics and science. When I saw how chemistry applied to all aspects of life, it captured my imagination. By the time I graduated from college, I saw an ad in the local newspaper for a formulation chemist. Even though I didnt know anything about formulation, I knew the universal language of chemistry. At Goya, I learned that so many disciplines go into food, not just chemistry, but engineering, physics and microbiology. I fell in love with the science behind canned foods. Q: How did you end up in management? A: In a short period of time, I was promoted to lab manager. A couple of years later, I was promoted to quality assurance director. The food industry is highly regulated, so the aspects of regulatory compliance are very important to ensure your company has all the permits necessary to operate. After a couple of years, I recognized the tremendous growth of Goya, and I told the president of Goya Puerto Rico that I wanted to take advantage of the scholarship program to pursue a masters in business administration. He asked me, Why does a chemist want a degree in business? I said, I see how Goya is growing, and I dont want to be passed over in the future to oversee one of your operations. He liked what I said, and I finished my MBA with the goal of one day overseeing a Goya operation. That dream from the 1980s is my reality today. Q: Was it difficult to move away from chemistry into management? A: Not really, because Ive never been detached from the science part of the business. Even the owners participate on a daily basis in product evaluation in the laboratory. This is a dynamic business, where you have to certify on a daily basis that what you are offering to the market is very high quality. Goya grew its brand on the principle that we are always committed to quality. Wed rather sacrifice margin than quality. Q: What were the challenges of starting a new cannery from the ground up in Houston? A: This was the first time that Goya has built a manufacturing operation from scratch. From the permits, to the construction, to recruiting personnel, we started out as just a couple of people working in a trailer, and it was a great adventure. Exchanging high heels for safety boots and a hardhat, it was a tremendous experience to bring together my scientific knowledge and the managerial skills of managing budgets and contracts. One of the big challenges the industry is how to become more cost efficient, to be more competitive. Having a highly-automated facility provides for that. So when you see the processes we have, compared to an old cannery, you see a big difference. Q: Are you expanding? A: We are about to complete, next month, an expansion doubling the manufacturing facility and doubling the distribution center. We are already talking about a third expansion, as part of our strategic expansion plan. Houston is an inviting city for business. Goya has been part of the Houston business community for more than 35 years, with a distribution center. With the citys growth, we saw an opportunity to build this manufacturing plant here, and that really is helping us to reach the markets where we wanted to grow the company. Texas is in a very strategic position for growing business, because the state itself is humongous, but the multicultural aspect is big for us. Q: Who are your customers? A: Goya is considered a Latino company, but we fulfill the needs for many ethnicities and nationalities, because lately beans have been widely accepted by all nationalities. Health awareness has led to demand for more vegan food, and I have seen a tremendous penetration of beans in the European markets as part of substituting animal protein with vegetable protein. There is a move toward healthier food, so we are researching exactly what are they looking for. Goya is providing food in the categories of organics, gluten-free, low-sodium, sea salt, so we consider those trends and definitely provide those products to satisfy those customers. The very first year I was here, I noticed that everything in Houston is about energy. Everyone would ask me if I was in the energy sector, and finally I started saying, Yes, I am part of the energy industry. Because we supply real energy for human bodies, the most important machine. chris.tomlinson@chron.com Time is running out for President Donald Trump to close the deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the pressure is on. The stakes are exceptionally high for Texans. Half of Texas exports go to Mexico or Canada, generating $112 billion in export revenue, according to the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness at the University of Texas at El Paso. A withdrawal from NAFTA would certainly reduce exports revenues for Texas companies, put at risk approximately 950,000 jobs in Texas alone that are linked to commerce with NAFTA, and disrupt well-rooted and valuable North American supply chains which would take years to rebuild, Mayra Maldonado, the institutes associate director, told Texas lawmakers recently. RELATED: Trash talking NAFTA puts the Texas economy at risk The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation also supports NAFTA. Although NAFTA has been politically controversial since conceived and is certainly not perfect, the results overwhelmingly show net benefits for people, especially those in Texas, Vance Ginn, TPPFs senior economist and director of the Center for Economic Prosperity, reports. Renegotiating NAFTA could serve as a valuable opportunity to promote prosperity, but only by reducing trade barriers and government privilege so individuals in different countries can mutually benefit. Unfortunately, negotiations have bogged down as two critical deadlines approach. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says the administration wants to pass the new treaty using fast-track authority during the lame duck session of Congress, after the election but before a new Congress takes over and the authority expires. Counting backward from December through a 90-day notice period, a 105-day International Trade Commission review and a 30 congressional approval process, the White House needs to announce an agreement soon. Were going to see something between now and May 22, either a failure, and were done for the time being, or an agreement in principle, Richard Miles, director of the U.S.-Mexico Futures Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the University of Houston North American Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Conference. If Congress could agree, they might be able to extend that deadline to July 1, but that is a hard stop. Mexicos federal election is that day, and the leading candidate to replace term-limited President Enrique Pena Nieto is an avowed anti-globalization leftist, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Rather than attack NAFTA from the right, as Trump does, Lopez Obrador condemns it from the left. Both populist politicians promise jobs and prosperity for their most hard-hit citizens at the expense of multinational corporations, but Lopez Obrador would insist on resetting talks to the very beginning. Holding up a deal are U.S. demands to increase the North American content for duty-free vehicles to 75 percent, a requirement that 40 percent of a vehicles value is added in factories that pay $16 an hour, a new dispute resolution system and a sunset provision that requires review of the deal every five years. All of these proposals would hurt Canadian and Mexican workers and potentially support U.S. jobs. But there is something decidedly socialist about a government dictating how much a private company should pay in wages, where they should buy their parts and then rewriting a deal every five years to guarantee who gets what benefits. None of that qualifies as free market capitalism, which is why Mexico and Canada object. RELATED: NAFTA does not deserve its bad rap In any high-stakes negotiation, a deal dies a thousand deaths before there is a breakthrough. Mexican and Canadian negotiators are making counter-offers, and Lighthizer will appear intransigent until the very last second to win concessions. Support for NAFTA, though, is strong among most Republicans and the business community, so Trump is unlikely to withdraw from NAFTA, and the other side knows it. Mexicos Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo rightly worries about what he calls a Zombie NAFTA that is neither dead nor updated. The treaty is showing its age. President Ronald Reagan first proposed the idea in 1979, the negotiations concluded in 1992 and NAFTA became law in 1994. The treaty predates the Internet and desperately needs updating to reflect modern business practices. The coming week or so will reveal the Trump administrations true negotiating prowess. If the president can deliver a modernized treaty that makes reasonable improvements to the balance of trade without violating basic free market principles, he will score a huge success. If the talks fall apart with all sides pointing fingers at each other, Trump will need to surrender his crown as king of the deal-makers. And Texans will need to rethink business plans. Chris Tomlinson is the Chronicles business columnist. chris.tomlinson@chron.com twitter.com/cltomlinson Readers of Katherine Centers new book How to Walk Away, available Tuesday, will recognize a theme from the native Houstonians previous novels: a central female character facing a seemingly insurmountable, unexpected change in her lifes plans. The subject matter Center tackles this time, however, is much graver than those life obstacles shes explored before, such as a divorce or breakup. Its going to break your heart a little, said Center, 46, of her sixth novel. I think we go to fiction to feel things. We want stories to wake us up and stir up our emotions. This story does both. Part of growing into adulthood is finding humor and joy in lifes messiness, she said. Center, mother of two teens, recently told the Houston Chronicle how shes been learning to do that, right alongside her characters. Q: Your female protagonists tend to watch their lives fall apart and then, with newfound courage, put the pieces back together. Why do you craft this kind of story? A: The theme I seem to come back to is how we pick ourselves back up after life has knocked us down. And its because Im not really good at that. Its very easy for me to be like, Well, its hopeless and throw myself on the floor. So I am fascinated by how other people do it. More Information 'How to Walk Away' By Katherine Center St. Martin's Press, 320 pp., $26.99 Author appearances Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet: 7 p.m. May 15 Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial: 7 p.m. May 17 See More Collapse Q: Youre a fifth-generation Texan, and all of your books are set in Houston or Texas this time in Austin. Do Texas women have more grit and gumption to get through trying times? A: I was raised around all really fantastic kinds of Texas women. Theres a special quality that women in Texas have. I think we all know what Im talking about. But I write about Houston (or Texas) because its such a comforting place to me. Ive lived here almost my entire life. I have so many rich layers of memory; its so evocative for me. So it creates this rich soil to plant the seed of these characters. Q: In How to Walk Away, the main character, Margaret, is faced with an extraordinary obstacle: recovering from a plane crash. Through it, she gains perspective about how life could be worse. Are you good at that? A: Ive been working for years for decades to teach myself how to do that. Im definitely not naturally hopeful. But I married this really great guy whos a total optimist, and he is the king of finding the upside in any situation. Q: Your characters often find romantic love with someone who, at least on paper, is their total opposite. Was that true with you and your husband? A: Yes! We met when I was 22 and he was 25 at the old Ninfas on Kirby. He was very preppy. Like, he was wearing a pink Izod (shirt). I had never dated any boys like that. I had just graduated from Vassar, and I was very artsy and always draped all in black. He was the captain of the track team, and he was this perky, funny, friendly guy. He claims he knew on the very first day we met that we were going to wind up getting married. My parents had been divorced, and I thought that marriage was a very risky proposition I fully believe that I am a better, more compassionate, funnier person than I would have been if I hadnt married him. Thats part of the reason that I believe in (and write) love stories. The most delicious thing in a story that you can have to look forward to is this process of falling in love. I feel like its a gift Im giving to you. Q: Is writing a hopeful book more difficult than writing one full of doom? A: I think it is much, much harder. I think we are so jaded these days in life that its really, really easy to be suspect of anything that doesnt make an argument that the world is terrible. This is especially true in literary fiction, which I grew up on and love. The world of literature has a lot on the topic of how things are bad. We English majors are very good at writing those stories! Q: Margaret cracks jokes to defuse awful situations. Do you? A: I believe that the harder things are, the funnier we get. Humor is our primary coping mechanism. Q: How to Walk Away has been referred to as a book club book. Are you in a book club? A: Im not in a book club, but I love them. I visit them all the time. Ive probably been to 300 book clubs in the past 10 years. Its my favorite thing I get to do as a writer. We laugh and we drink wine and we talk about books its paradise. If there are any book clubs out there, invite me. I want to come! Q: What are you reading right now? A: Ive been listening to a lot of audio books lately because my mom life involves a lot of errand running, dinner making and grocery shopping. But I only listen to nonfiction on audio books fiction I like to see on the page. I just binged on all of Carrie Fishers memoirs (Wishful Drinking, Shockaholic, The Princess Diarist), which are delightful. I felt really sad when they were all over. Q: Where do you write? A: I get my best writing done in Galveston. My mom has a little beach shack shes had since the 80s. Its really sunny, cheerful and comfortable, with great windows. I go several times a year. Im just astonished how much I can write if Im never interrupted. We live in an age of interruption. I turn off all social media, I turn off email, and I just exist in total human isolation. Q: You have events this week at Blue Willow Bookshop and Brazos Bookstore. Whats your favorite indie bookstore outside Houston? A: The MacDonald Bookshop in Essex Park, Colo. Its in a charming old stone mountain cabin. Q: Youve taught creative writing to both kids and adults through Inprint, Writers in the Schools and the University of Houston where you attended the creative writing program. How do those groups learn the process of writing differently? A: Little kids dont have the same baggage that grown-ups do. By the time youre a grown-up, youve been through a lot of English classes. With little kids, theres a lot of joy there. If you can just tap into it, it flows very freely. Q: What lessons in motherhood have you learned from your own mom? A: Everything good I know about being a mom came from her, but the No. 1 thing shes really good at is love. She had three daughters were all fun, intense people. Even when I was making mistakes not only did I know our mom loved us, she also actively liked us. Allison Bagley is a freelance writer in Houston. The Katy ISD board voted Thursday night to provide legal support for its embattled superintendent, Lance Hindt, who has been dogged by decades-old bullying claims arising from his middle and high school years. In a surprise, Hindt also announced he will retire Jan. 1. During the board's open session late Thursday, Hindt said: "Coming home to Katy to lead this school district where I grew up and attended school was my highest professional honor." But the superintendent said what he called a smear campaign by a small group has made it too hard for his family, including his wife, son and daughter. Board president Ashley Vann called Hindt "a passionate educator" and a "kind friend." "It's time for this to come to an end," she added. "It's time to defend ourselves." The board voted to hire the law firm of Feldman and Feldman as outside counsel to pursue a defamation case. COLUMNIST LISA FALKENBERG: In Katy, answer to bullying allegations isn't more bullying Now Playing: Latest Education Videos Video: Houston Chronicle After the meeting, Greg Gay, the Katy businessman and former classmate of Hindt's who made the first allegations of bullying, reacted with surprise at Hindt's announced departure. "This upsets me. This is not what I wanted at all," Gay said. "It breaks my heart." Of the assertion of cyberbullying against Hindt's family, Gay said he was "horrified." WHAT HAPPENED? Katy community under spotlight after superintendent accused of bullying After meeting in closed session, the board gathered in open session to consider "engaging special counsel to pursue legal action for defamation on behalf of the superintendent, other school officials, and/or staff," according to a meeting notice. The board was also to consider an unspecified amendment to Hindt's contract. Hindt, who was hired in August 2016 to lead the sprawling district west of Houston, has denied the bullying allegations while acknowledging that he did "dumb things" as a younger man before a religious awakening. But he also lamented in a statement in April the "evil among us," pushing back against those who "will do anything to destroy someone's good reputation and 27-year career." Trustees have stood behind Hindt, a Katy-area native who previously led the Allen ISD. His statements have not satisfied critics, who say bullying is pervasive and tolerated in the district. One Katy parent, Sean Dolan, has used a website to step up criticism of Hindt, questioning whether there was plagiarized material in Hindt's 2012 doctoral dissertation at the University of Houston. A Katy ISD spokeswoman told a local news station there was "zero truth to this allegation." A UH spokesman said this week that the university has policies and procedures in place to ensure academic integrity and address allegations of academic misconduct. But due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, he said, "UH cannot comment on allegations made about a specific student." A constitutional law expert said this week that Hindt as a government official will face more difficulty proving that he has been defamed than if he were a private citizen. 'THAT IS STRANGE': Legal expert assesses school board funding defamation suit for superintendent WASHINGTON - House Speaker Paul Ryan moved Thursday to put down a brewing rebellion in the Republican ranks, saying he wants to put immigration legislation up for a vote later this year as centrist lawmakers threatened to take that decision out of his hands. Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters he would "like to" take up an immigration bill, one day after 17 Republicans signed a petition that would force votes on a number of immigration bills. A discharge petition is a rarely successful legislative maneuver that overrides the speaker's power to determine what legislation comes to the House floor. "Going down a path and having some kind of a spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto doesn't solve the problem," Ryan said, suggesting that President Donald Trump would reject the bills that the petition would discharge. "We actually would like to solve this problem, and that is why I think it's important for us to come up with a solution that the president can support." Republican leaders have cajoled rank-and-file lawmakers not to sign on to the petition, privately arguing that the issue of immigration could create an unpredictable and politically treacherous free-for-all in the middle of an election year. "A discharge petition is not the way to solve the problem," House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said Thursday. "We're working to actually get this fixed, and hopefully it can be done in a way where we can all come together." Ryan and fellow Republican leaders have struggled for months to build support for a bill that could pass the House with only GOP votes. Conservative hard-liners have demanded policy concessions in return for supporting a path to legal status for "dreamers" - young undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, a group that has been protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Democrats and moderate Republicans favor legislation that would grant a more permanent solution for dreamers, perhaps in exchange for enhancements to border security. GOP leaders appeared to have slowed the rebellion. Only one additional Republican - Rep. Steve Knight of California - signed the petition Thursday, leaving it still at least seven GOP signatures short of success. All 193 Democrats are expected to join it once enough Republicans sign to put the required 218 signatures within reach. But several Republicans who had not signed the petition said Thursday that they were considering it. They said they were waiting for Ryan and other House leaders to present a plan that would allow some sort of immigration legislation to come to the floor. "I'll be patient, but it's running a little thin," said Rep. Dave Trott, R-Mich., a member of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus. "I'll be signing it next week if we don't have some kind of plan." "I think it's an issue we have to address," said Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., who has co-sponsored a bipartisan immigration bill and said he had not ruled out signing the petition. But several other Republicans who are supporting bipartisan compromise legislation said they were not willing to sidestep the GOP leadership to force a vote. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is seeking reelection in a hotly contested swing district, said that he wants to see a "sense of urgency" on immigration but that, "I'm not ready to sign a petition." "I feel like it puts our leadership in a bad spot," he said. "I'd like to give them time to work this stuff out." Most of the Republicans who have signed the discharge petition represent swing districts with a significant number of DACA recipients, and they are anticipating Democratic attacks on Congress's failure to act to protect them after Trump moved last year to cancel the program. Ryan has played a cautious role in the immigration debate since becoming speaker in 2015. Ryan was a leading proponent of legislation that would grant a potential path to legal status for all undocumented immigrants - not just those who arrived as children, putting him at odds with the GOP's hard-line base. Upon becoming speaker, Ryan pledged to House conservatives that he would not bring up an immigration bill unless it had the support of a majority of Republicans. But some lawmakers have suggested that despite his public opposition to the discharge petition - an open challenge to his authority - he might not be upset if the House takes action on immigration before he retires from Congress in January. "The speaker has made it very clear what his positions on immigration reform have been in the past," said Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., one of the leaders of the discharge effort. "I know where his heart is and, ultimately, I know that he wants to find a solution, as well." A growing push to forge a bipartisan compromise ahead of an expected March deadline for DACA's expiration fell apart due to a pair of blows: First, courts put the end of the program on hold pending appeals that are expected to reach the Supreme Court, and second, a week-long Senate debate failed to produce a consensus bill that could win the necessary 60 votes. That snuffed out momentum in the House, where GOP leaders have struggled to build consensus inside their party. Ryan conceded Thursday that a GOP-only immigration bill - such as the legislation co-sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, that leaders have tried to push through for months - would not be able to pass the House. "It's clear to us that we're going to have to have a bill that's going to be bipartisan, but one that the president can support," he said. But it is unclear that a bill that Trump supports could pass either chamber of Congress. A bill that adhered to a White House framework released this year garnered only 39 votes after a Senate debate in February, and the Trump administration subsequently explored a potentially narrower deal during budget negotiations in March. The discharge petition would set up votes on a number of bills, including the conservative Goodlatte-McCaul bill; the more liberal Dream Act, which offers dreamers a path to permanent residency; and a bipartisan compromise bill that falls in between. Ryan would also be free to offer a fourth bill of his choosing. The Goodlatte-McCaul bill has languished due to opposition from moderates who dislike the temporary protections it offers to DACA recipients - a three-year renewable work permit that would not offer a path to permanent residency or citizenship. Even many conservative members have balked at other provisions of the bill, particularly provisions that could decimate farmers and ranchers who rely on immigrant labor. The legislation would require use of the federal E-Verify system to check employees' eligibility to work legally, and while the bill would expand guest worker visas, undocumented immigrants now in the United States would have to return to their home countries before they could return and work legally. Clara Harris, the Friendswood dentist who made national headlines more than a decade ago after she ran over and killed her cheating husband was released from prison at 8:20 a.m. May 11, according to Harris' former attorney and now close friend, Emily DeToto. "Clara served more time than most similarly situated people," DeToto said. "A jury spoke and she's done her time. I look forward to catching up with her soon." Her parole conditions include no contact with the victim's family. She must also reside in Galveston county, find gainful employment and abstain from drugs and alcohol. Clara Suarez Harris, who has served 15 years of her 20-year sentence for the July 24, 2002, manslaughter of 44-year-old dentist David Harris, was set to be released from the Crain unit in Gatesville, a womans prison complex near Waco. READ ALSO: Houston arrest warrant issued for World Series streaker Now Playing: Clara Harris, the former Houston dentist who rammed and killed her husband with her car, will be released from prison Video: People The gruesome killing became a sensational case, with the Houston trial generating international media coverage and the crime spawning true-crime books and a made-for-television movie. In 2002, Clara Harris, who is originally from Colombia, and her orthodontist husband were a successful couple with a string of dental offices and lived in an upscale home in Friendswood. She became suspicious of her husband's philandering and hired a private investigator to keep an eye on him. When Harris was notified that her husband and his former receptionist Gail Bridges were at the Hilton in Nassau Bay, she confronted the woman in the hotel lobby, pulling her hair and biting her. The couple left the hotel and went to Bridges car, while the private investigator was in the hotel parking lot with a camera and videotaped the crime. Clara Harris hit Bridges with her car before she ran over her husband, and then wheeled her silver Mercedes-Benz sedan around and ran the car over him repeatedly. READ ALSO: Trials delayed in murder case of deputy and husband accused of choking man at Denny's David Harris then-17-year-old daughter from another marriage was a passenger in the car with Clara Harris when her father was run over and killed. At the trial, the teen testified her stepmother had driven the car over her father three times. When Harris parole was announced in November, it was condemned by victims advocates who wanted her to serve at least 17 years. Her supporters argued the 60-year-old has been rehabilitated. Its about time, Detoto said in November when the parole was announced. Its been long enough. brian.rogers@chron.com twitter.com/brianjrogers A Nigerian passenger has filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging that United Airlines personnel ejected her and her children from an international flight departing from Houston in 2016 because of her pungent odor. The woman says in a federal discrimination suit filed in Houston Friday that she and her minor children were boarding a San Francisco bound plane the second leg of a three-flight journey from Nigeria to Canada when an incident occurred involving a white male passenger that escalated to her being asked by United staff to exit the plane. They eventually made their connection after a five-hour delay. United Airlines representatives said they would not comment. We have not yet been served with this suit and due to the pending litigation involved in this matter, were unable to provide further comment, spokesman for the airline said, in a emailed statement. An attorney for the woman also could not be reached for comment. According to court documents, Queen Obioma, a frequent flier member on the Uniteds Star Alliance, was traveling from Lagos, Nigeria, to Ontario, Canada, in March 4, 2016, where her children were going to school. During a flight change in Bush Intercontinental Airport, Obioma arrived at her row in business class to find a white passenger sitting in her assigned seat. He refused to move, according to the lawsuit. The flight staff attempted to resolve the conflict, but the man persisted, and Obioma agreed to take his seat nearby. Before takeoff, she returned from visiting the restroom and the same male passenger tried to block her access to the seat for several minutes, according to the charges. She says a United staffer named in documents as Russel H. ordered her to step off the plane, where she was told by another United agent that the pilot had asked her to exit the plane based on a complaint from the white man sitting near her her, according to the lawsuit. Obioma says in the lawsuit that she was informed that the business class passenger was not comfortable flying with her because she was pungent and informed that she could not return to the plane. Distraught, the woman explained that her children were still on board. United agents removed the children from the flight as well, and they made their connection five hours later. Obioma says United discriminated against her because she is black, African and Nigerian. She is seeking punitive damages and attorneys fees. gabrielle.banks@chron.com twitter.com/gabmobanks Published May 11, 2018 WACO Its been three years since the bloodiest motorcycle gun battle in Texas history a melee at high noon featuring dozens of guns, chains, knives and even machetes left nine bikers dead, 18 injured and 177 in jail. There are still few answers about what happened on May 17, 2015, or why the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and the rival Cossacks went to war at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco as local and state police watched nearby. But as Thursdays deadline approaches for new charges, the aggressive law enforcement effort once billed as a pro-active crackdown on biker violence has instead devolved into a struggling investigation marred by lack of evidence, prosecutorial overreach and a lame-duck district attorneys office hobbled by unrelated allegations of corruption. So far, not a single biker has been convicted of a crime. The only trial to date ended in December with a hung jury as 10 jurors voted for dismissal of the conspiracy case against a Bandidos chieftain from Dallas. And more than 150 criminal cases have been dismissed outright, including more than 60 just this week. A growing number of civil lawsuits seek millions of dollars in damages for bikers who lost their lives, their jobs or their resources. UNCERTAINTY AHEAD: Lives in limbo for bikers expecting a child Today, the beleaguered district attorneys office is left with just two dozen criminal cases, including new charges of causing injury while inciting a riot, a far simpler crime to prove than the conspiracy to commit murder charges that were initially filed against so many. Several bikers also face charges of murder and tampering with evidence. They jailed them first and investigated second, said Houston attorney Paul Looney, whose clients cases were among those dismissed. They never had any evidence. Theres a handful of people who should have been jailed, but way over 100 shouldnt have been handled as anything other than witnesses. Yet the shootout continues to rock the criminal justice system and Central Texas politics. District Attorney Abelino Abel Reyna, a 45-year-old Republican who was admonished by a judge for using photographs of slain bikers in his re-election campaign, was easily defeated in the March primary by a Waco lawyer who vowed to take charge of the cases. Reyna declined to comment about Twin Peaks or the recent charges. But defense attorneys say they will fight for more dismissals. Three years later, the truth has come out, said Dallas attorney Clint Broden, whose clients case was shuffled to a special prosecutor and then dismissed. The way this case was handled is a true tragedy from so many perspectives. BLOODY SUNDAY The legal saga began three years ago on a rainy spring Sunday. The meeting was billed as an information luncheon on motorcycle safety and legislation. Unknown to the public, however, law enforcement feared that two of the largest motorcycle gangs in Texas were about to settle up after more than a year of skirmishes and roadside fights. They lined up, many of them undercover, near the restaurant as nearly 300 bikers converged near the center of town, not far from the Baylor University campus, wheeling heavy Harley Davidsons into the parking lot of the popular franchise restaurant known for waitresses in skimpy outfits. Officers including an 11-member SWAT team waited nearby in 10 police vehicles, joined by law enforcement agents from the Texas Department of Public Safety, game wardens and federal firearms agents. Some believe the confrontation between the well-armed biker gangs stemmed from a simmering dispute over territory, signified by the right to display the word Texas on their leather jackets and vests. The more powerful gang was the feared Bandidos, who control which clubs put a Texas banner patch under the mascot on the back of their leathers. Lined up against them at Twin Peaks were the Cossacks, a smaller club with origins in East Texas that was expanding and whose members wore the patch without the approval of the Bandidos. Years later, what sparked the actual fight is still disputed. The gunfight may have started as a fracas in the bathroom. Some say it erupted after a biker drove over a rivals foot in the parking lot. However the melee began, surveillance video shows a gun battle that raged from the parking lot onto wide porches of the eatery. Bikers werent the only ones shooting, however. Ballistics would later show that four of the nine people killed were slain by weapons fired by Waco police officers. Seven of the dead were members of the Cossacks, one was a Bandido and the ninth was unaffiliated. DOCUMENTS: Police did little to stop Waco biker showdown Waco police were quick to characterize the bikers as out-of-towners up to no good. This isnt your churchgoing crowd that came out to have dinner with the family, Waco police Sgt. Patrick Swanton said days after the shootout. This is a gang-oriented criminal element that was in our city to conduct criminal activity. The Bandidos are considered one of the largest biker groups in the United States, and Texas is their home turf. But in recent years the Cossacks had been challenging that authority, according to an affidavit by Waco police officer Vincent Glenn. Cossacks threatened that Waco was a Cossacks town and nobody else could ride there, Glenn said. EYEWITNESS TO A MASSACRE Cody Ledbetter, 29, a former member of the Cossacks gang who lives near Waco, rented a car and drove to the Twin Peaks meeting because his arm was in a sling. His stepfather, a Cossacks leader named Daniel Diesel Boyett, 44, met him there. The fight began as members of the Bandidos and Cossacks began taunting each other in the parking lot, Ledbetter recalled. Next thing I know, a punch gets thrown, and then I hear a pop and everyone just kind of stopped and looked around, Ledbetter said recently, standing in the parking lot for the first time since that day. And then I heard another one. And another one. And we all literally ran toward the wall and there was a pileup. As bullets zinged past, he looked back to see his stepfather drop among the rows of parked motorcycles. I thought he took cover, he said. Ledbetter got inside the restaurant and crouched next to a steel cooler. All you hear is shot after shot after shot, and you see people dropping, you see people falling over, he said. Then it all stopped. Cops came with suppressed weapons, with suppressed AR-15s, with tactical scopes. He said police rounded everyone up, put most in zip-ties and sat them on tailgates of pickup trucks that lined the parking lot at the rear of Twin Peaks. WACO SHOOTOUT: Read our previous coverage on the shootout in Waco here When they walked us out the front door, I saw my dad, he was laying on the concrete, Ledbetter recalled. There was blood running down the parking lot. Ledbetter was eventually transported with more than 100 other bikers to the countys convention center where they waited overnight to be processed into jail cells. Ledbetter said he spent more than 24 hours bound, his hands secured with plastic zip-ties. His stepfather was shot by Waco police, and a McLennan County grand jury cleared the officers of any criminal responsibility for the deaths of Boyett and three other bikers. Ledbetter returned to the same parking lot in April and sat on the curb next to the parking space where he last saw his dad. He quietly wiped his eyes, hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. That where my dads body was, he said. I just had to see it. After the shooting, Ledbetter quit the Cossacks, the club that his dad helped lead. He was shaken by what happened. Reynas office dismissed criminal charges against Ledbetter in March after Looney, his attorney, demanded a jury trial. PROSECUTION QUESTIONED The conduct of the Waco prosecution has been questioned, not only by a host of defense attorneys and civil libertarians, but even by some of the states toughest former prosecutors. READ MORE: DA dismisses case against ex-biker accused in Twin Peaks shootout Johnny Holmes, the no-nonsense Harris County district attorney for two decades, was sharply critical of how the Waco case has been handled. Youve got to prove who the bad egg is, Holmes said. You cant just say, 'Im going to put all the chickens in jail.' And while Holmes said he had not studied the case, he said the recent flood of dismissals tells him the initial arrests likely were an overreach. Its not about the numbers. If you can prove that 177 people committed crimes, you dont dismiss them because of the numbers. Or at least I wouldnt, Holmes said. The truth is, they probably didnt commit a crime. That is a different view than Reyna took when he dismissed an initial cluster of cases in February. While probable cause for the defendants' arrest and prosecution remains, based on continued investigation, the State is exercising its prosecutorial discretion in dismissing this matter in order to focus its efforts and resources on co-defendants with a higher level of culpability, Reyna said in statement. These dismissals should not be considered an exoneration of the individual defendants or the gangs they belong to, he added. Reyna oversaw the only case that has has gone to trial, a $680,000 affair that ended with Dallas Bandido Jake Carrizal walking out of the courthouse after 10 out of 12 McLennan County jurors said he was not guilty, resulting in a mistrial. He was re-indicted last week on a first-degree riot charge, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. Defense attorney Casie Gotro, who represented Carrizal, said Reyna remains under a cloud of suspicion on unrelated allegations he fixed cases for friends and political supporters. It just stinks, Gotro said. Reyna is dismissing cases to avoid any hearing where his former assistant and former assistant DA were going to testify against him. He doesnt want that to happen. They are going to testify that justice was for sale. Cody Ledbetter, a former member of the Cossacks motorcycle club, shows the Bible verse he had tattooed on his chest to remember his stepfather, Danny Boyett, who was killed during a shoot out in the parking lot of a Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17, 2015. The verse was a favorite of Boyett and his wife, Nina. Photo taken Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in Waco. ( Mark Mulligan / Houston Chronicle ) less Cody Ledbetter, a former member of the Cossacks motorcycle club, shows the Bible verse he had tattooed on his chest to remember his stepfather, Danny Boyett, who was killed during a shoot out in the parking lot ... more Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Three years after deadly biker shootout in Waco, criminal cases are unraveling 1 / 20 Back to Gallery LAME DUCK PROSECUTOR Reyna was elected in 2010 after defeating longtime incumbent Democrat John Segrest. A Waco native who earned his law degree from hometown Baylor University, Reyna worked as a defense attorney and law partner with Judge Matt Johnson, now one of the two district judges presiding over the Twin Peaks cases. The judge recused himself from one of the biker cases in October but continues to preside over others. Reyna has a notable legal lineage and is the son of retired Justice Felipe Reyna. The elder Reyna was also district attorney of McLennan County before he served on the 10th Court of Appeals. Reyna has denied any wrongdoing. Before the election, Reyna held a press conference saying motorcycle gang defense attorneys were blaming him for delays and unrelated allegations of case fixing. The continued abuse of the criminal justice process and repeated attempts at political smear tactics are nothing more than an attempt to vote me out of office, avoid justice and distract from the events, Reyna said. I have seen and heard the allegations made against me. Let me be clear, I have never shown favoritism to friends or supporters. I have followed my oath to do the right thing at every turn. Critics say that in crucial hours immediately after the biker shootout, Reyna instructed Waco police to not only question but arrest nearly everyone at the scene. Reyna was trounced in the March GOP primary by attorney Barry Johnson. The Democrat who filed for the position has suspended his campaign, but another attorney is hoping to make an independent bid for the seat in November. Johnson said the investigation was botched. It was our position that it was mishandled by the district attorney because he went out to the scene and took the investigation away from the Waco Police Department, who had crime scene investigators on the scene, Johnson said. Reyna, moreover, may have waived his immunity from civil lawsuits by acting outside the scope of his duty, Johnson said. The investigation was hijacked from the experts, the crime scene investigators, he said. BIKERS AREN'T LOWLIFES At a biker bar 90 miles south of Waco, Cyndi Smith is tired of hearing the stereotypes about bikers. There were some bad people out there that day, but not the majority of them, she said on a recent Thursday afternoon, lighting a Carnival cigarette after opening Cyndis Hawg Hangout, a bar she established a decade ago. Bikers arent lowlifes. They arent high school dropouts. There were engineers there, she says in rapid-fire declarations. You cant be a bum and live this lifestyle. I have a $38,000 bike. RELATED: Life and death in Waco: A biker's story The lumbering smoky hall has a horseshoe bar and exposed wooden rafters adorned with biker flags. It sits at the bottom of a steep slope off the side of Highway 21, in the middle of Central Texas between Bastrop and Bryan-College Station. Smith has been a member of the Line Riders, an independent club, since 2005. She looks at the inked sleeve of tattoos on her left arm to double-check the date she joined. Her husband, who joined three years after she did, is the current president and was at the shoot-out. He was arrested and bailed out after several weeks. His case has been dismissed. Cyndi Smith was not at Twin Peaks because her bar holds church services every Sunday from 11 a.m. to noon. No alcohol is served, she laughs. TRIAL FALLOUT The legal wrangling is likely to continue for years, with civil lawsuits filed seeking millions of dollars in damages. Dallas attorney Don Tittle, who represents about 115 of the Twin Peaks plaintiffs, said the countys liability is astronomical. Their lives were turned completely upside down, lost jobs, paid tons of money to lawyers, bail bondsmen, you name it, Tittle said. Having a murder charge where you could go to prison for the rest of your life hanging over your head for three years, that never should have been filed, is the real damage. The problem, he said, was that officials saw that the potential suspects were bikers, mostly from out of town, and treated them all like criminals. McLennan County Judge Scott Felton, the countys chief financial officer, said he hopes the wave of dismissals will nullify most of the lawsuits. A lot of these cases are being dismissed by the DA, which could hopefully eliminate the risk of a civil case being tried, Felton said. So, were not sure what our liability may be. He believes the countys insurance and strong financial state will mitigate the risk of a massive hit to county coffers if the county loses the suits. Felton said the enormous tab from Carrizals trial the only case that has been before a jury for security, indigent defense and other costs was largely picked up by a county essentials grant from the state. He said security fears surrounding biker protests drove up costs for the first trial. Any subsequent trials would cost less. I guess its unfortunate that were in the central location on I-35 that made it accommodating for a meeting of statewide groups, he said. While we work hard to do the hotel and visitor marketing to get people to come here and meet, thats one group we werent marketing to, I can promise you that. Brian Rogers covers Houston crime and courts. A licensed attorney who loves telling stories, Brian covers breaking news, civil and criminal trials, and the political underpinnings of criminal justice. You can email him at brian.rogers@chron.com or follow him on Twitter at @brianjrogers. Design by Jordan Rubio Subscribe The Houston Chronicle is dedicated to serving the public interest with fact-based journalism. That mission has never been more important. Show your support for our journalism at HoustonChronicle.com/subscribe. *** AUSTIN -- In an unexpected twist, a prominent Texas pro-life group usually aligned with Republicans is blasting the state Democratic Party and taking up for one of the two Democrats in a May 22 runoff for governor. Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, in a Friday statement blasted the party for pressuring one of the two runoff candidates, Andrew White, "to renounce his pro-life values" and embrace abortion rights. "As we approach the May 22 runoff election, Texas Alliance for Life is discouraged that the Texas Democratic Party has pressured Andrew White to renounce his pro-life values and embrace Roe v. Wade," read the statement. The remarks were made public just hours before White, a Houston entrepreneur, and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez were set for their only primary runoff debate in Austin. "(White's) previously-stated stance of being 'deeply, personally' pro-life and his position as an elder of a Houston church that is part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) gave us hope that the Democratic Party would be open to a pro-life candidate," Pojman's statement reads. "As an elder in a PCA church, Mr. White was tasked with upholding the Church's teachings, which include opposing abortion in all forms. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be." The Houston Chronicle reported that White had resigned his position as an elder as a result of the controversy over his public pro-choice position as a candidate. "For too long, the Democratic Party of Texas has abandoned Texans who believe in defending the sanctity of life," Pojman said. "They have turned the abortion debate into a litmus test and excluded candidates who seek to bring a pro-life voice into the party, and thus have forced Mr. White to abandon his pro-life position. "We sincerely hope that Mr. White will untangle himself and return to his original position of support for the unborn, and offer Democrat voters a true pro-life option in this runoff." Democratic Party officials and White quickly returned fire -- on Republicans. "Texas Republicans have turned our state into ground zero for some of the country's harshest anti-abortion legislation with the ultimate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade," said party press secretary Delma Limones. "The state of women's healthcare in Texas is abysmal . . . The right to an abortion should not solely exist on paper, it must be accessible and available. "Texas Democrats believe that every Texan should have the right to decide when and if they want to parent and if they do, that family must have a fair shot to get ahead." For his part, White affirmed his earlier position. "Let me be clear: I trust women to make their own healthcare decisions. Period," he said. "Once again, Abbott and his allies are scrambling to try to pick the Democratic nominee for governor. But Democratic primary voters get to decide." Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, covers Texas politics and the governor's office and the executive branch, along with criminal justice and ethics issues. Follow him on Twitter @ChronicleMike and send him story tips at Mike.Ward@Chron.com. With President Donald Trumps declared withdrawal on May 8, one nation is now in violation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. America broke its word. We wont know the full consequences for some time, but things dont look promising. It is at least possible, as the deals critics assert, that this is the last step before the Iranian government collapses and democracy blooms in Tehran. However, critics have made that prediction before, and Iran experts generally agree that the only Iranian beneficiaries of Trumps decision are the countrys hardliners, the people who want conflict, just as American hardliners do. Another possibility is that Trumps decision will put America on course to another gruesome and ill-conceived war in the Middle East. OPINION: Is Trump stumbling toward war in Iran? There are many possibilities. What we know for sure is that America has insulted its closest friends and communicated to friend and foe alike that it cannot be trusted, at a particularly dangerous time. For more than a year, French, German, British and European Union leaders had pleaded with Trump to abide by the terms of the deal. Trump refused. He has pledged to break the current deal, and seek a better one. But the JCPOA, which used economic sanctions to shutter Irans nuclear program, was only viable because the Europeans, Russians and Chinese joined with the United States in sanctioning Iran and worked together as a coordinated bloc. They sacrificed too, and they are unlikely to do so again for a president who just ensured that all their previous sacrifice has been wasted. At the moment, other signatories of the deal seem inclined to honor the agreement without the United States. The European Union has vowed to help insulate its own companies from punitive U.S. sanctions. Russia and China, who each have their own major beefs with the Trump administration, are highly unlikely to help America out on this issue again. If that holds, the United States will have kicked itself to the curb, left with a diminished reputation and next to no leverage apart from our magnificent stockpile of guided weaponry. FROM 2015: Iran agreement holds the nation accountable for its actions and has some teeth RELATED: The Iran nuclear deal isn't so great for Iran How this self-inflicted wound will play out should have Houstonians deeply concerned. Our city sits at a nexus of oil pipelines and global shipping routes. All of this is built atop a post-war international system that put the United States at its center. This 20th century structure was already beginning to fray, and Trumps decision only accelerates the process. As this trend continues, dont be surprised when the U.S. position at the core of the global economy begins to shift, and the port trade that drives Houstons economic engine begins to wane. Meanwhile, theres been a collective cheer from Americas hawks, who seem relieved that things will be getting back to normal with regard to our oldest foe in the Middle East region. Trumps top national security adviser, John Bolton, in particular, seems downright gleeful. But it should trouble all of us that the concept of diplomacy with our enemies has become unthinkable in a way that war is not. It should be the opposite. When President Richard Nixon opened relations with China in 1972, he did so at a time when the Chinese were providing weapons used to kill American soldiers in Vietnam. And America continued forging arms treaties with the Soviet Union at a time when this country was helping to kill Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. You make peace with your enemies, the saying goes, not your friends but this administration has proved it cant do either. As Gus McCrae wisely quipped in Lonesome Dove: Yesterdays gone, we cant get it back. The Farm Bill of yesterday or four years ago, to be clear is coming to a close, soon to be replaced by a new bill. Though it may not seem like it at first blush, the Farm Bill has far-reaching effects for Texans and all Americans. Along with funding important initiatives like affordable and accessible food options, commodities, food production and trade, the Farm Bill legislation also funds critical conservation initiatives to assist farmers and landowners in voluntarily and proactively conserving land. Last year, there were about 129,600,000 acres of farm land in production in Texas, maintained by 240,000 farm operations. In fact, of the more than171 million acres of land in the state, more than 95 percent of it is privately owned and most of it (85 percent) is rural. So when we think about farming and its impact on our everyday lives, what happens on our farm lands and private lands in Texas greatly affects the land, air and water quality, fish and wildlife populations and healthy food sources. Thats why we are asking U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Congress to support the important conservation work in this years Farm Bill . The Farm Bill is the primary federal funding source for private land conservation, which would impact a majority of the land in the state. Working within the current limited budget, Congress should increase the opportunity that landowners have to participate in quality conservation programs. EDITORIAL: Cuts to SNAP would hurt working poor in Texas Conserving Texas natural lands cannot work without participation from farmers, ranchers and private landowners. And these workers often need support including the knowledge on how to best manage their lands from a conservation perspective. To help farmers, ranchers and landowners, Congress added the first conservation title to the Farm Bill in 1985, providing assistance for education, training and financial support for conservation efforts. When commodity prices are low, as they have been in recent years, farmers are more interested in participating in these conservation programs. The farmers benefit from reduced operating costs. The American public benefits from the proactive conservation measures that are implemented. In recent years, Farm Bill conservation programs have worked so well that demand from farmers to participate in the programs is now exceeding supply. OPINION: Farm Bill's subsidies don't hit the right targets The Farm Bill s Agriculture Conservation Easement Program allows landowners to voluntarily protect their land from future development. These initiatives, like the Wetland Reserve Easements and Agricultural Land Easements, can have significant impact for long-term protection of valuable farming lands and better management for stormwater runoffwhich we all know can have serious consequences, as seen in Hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately, in 2016, Farm Bill funding only allowed for enrollment of about 15 percent of the applications to participate in these programs. Therefore, in the 2018 bill we urge Congress to provide funding for the easement program that will meet more of the demand. In another popular voluntary program, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), farmers agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality, in exchange for rental payment, according to the Dept. of Agriculture. However, again, demand greatly exceeds funding opportunity for enrollment in the CRP, which improved 36 million acres at its peak in 2007 before being scaled back. RELATED: The farm worker is no 'bad hombre' Additionally, the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, which provides funding to landowners to improve their habitat and open it for public recreational access, has proved very popular with sportsmen but currently only meets one-third of demand for participation. In 2017, this program opened more than 600,000 acres for sportsmen access. According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, programs like this have not only increased opportunities for Americans to enjoy outdoor recreation, but also have created a nearly 100 percent return-on-investment to participating rural communities. Large bills like the Farm Bill have a tendency for partisan issues to arise as they are being negotiated. However, those partisan issues are not typically found in the conservation space, where the value of these programs are broadly recognized. We hope that our leaders in Congress will resolve to move forward with a bill so that positive conservation benefits can be achieved for all Americans. According to the study, job strain is the term used to describe the combination of high work pace, intensity and conflicting demands, coupled with low control or decision-making capacity. The study used detailed data collected over 50 years to examine the various ways in which particular work conditions may impact an employees mental health. These findings serve as a wake-up call for the role workplace initiatives should play in our efforts to curb the rising costs of mental disorders, said lead author and associate professor Samuel Harvey from the Black Dog Institute. Its important to remember that for most people, being in work is a good thing for their mental health, he continued. But this research provides strong evidence that organisations can improve employee wellbeing by modifying their workplaces to make them more mentally healthy. For the report, the international research team analysed health data from the UK National Child Development Study which has 6,870 participants to find out whether people experiencing job strain at age 45 were at an increased risk of developing mental illness by age 50. The Society of Honorary Police Surgeons of the City of New York presented the inaugural award to David L. Helfet, MD, orthopedic trauma surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) on May 3. This award recognizes the continued and untiring efforts, skill and support of Dr. Helfet to the members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and their families. Dr. Helfet was profoundly honored to receive this award in recognition of his work which represents a central focus to him as an orthopedic trauma surgeon, clinician and member of the community. Members of the NYPD, New York Fire Department (NYFD) and New York State Police (NYSP) have always been a major priority to Dr. Helfet, as he truly appreciates the difficult and challenging work they do along with their personal, daily sacrifices. Dr. Helfet has been an honorary surgeon for the NYPD from 1999 to present; assistant division physician for the NYSP from 1999 to present; and Honorary Medical Officer and Honorary Fire Officer from 2009 to present. Dr. Helfet has had the opportunity to provide treatment to many members of the NYPD, NYFD and NYSP throughout his career. Patients have presented him with injuries ranging from isolated orthopedic trauma to complex poly-trauma requiring complex surgical procedures. The goal is always to provide optimal treatment to enable maximum recovery. Additionally, at HSS and NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Helfet seeks to provide the best patient care possible by using the most effective treatment strategies. Meeting family members of the police and fire departments and being part of their recovery is a great source of pride for Dr. Helfet. Vietnam may become model of anti-IUU fishing May 11,2018 | Source: Vietnam Net An article published by the website on May 9 said the threat of a bad report card from the European Union (EU) has alarmed more than 30,000 Vietnamese commercial trawlers. It quoted Tony Long, former Director of the World Wildlife Funds European Policy Office and senior fellow of the Global Government Institute, as saying that the EU carding system to drive out illegal fishing is showing it has teeth, adding that countries are terrified that the ultimate sanction, the red card, imposes potentially enormous financial sanctions and significant risks. The article said, citing source as the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), that fishing is a cornerstone of Vietnams economy and since 2006, the nation has been globally ranked among the top 10 exporting countries in fisheries. Vietnams export of fishery products to the EU and the US range between 1.9 and 2.2 billion USD, and 350 400 million USD, respectively. The article said Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Directorate of Fisheries and VASEP have mandated that all of them take actions to balance fishing capacity and fishing fleet policy. The new Fisheries Law has been approved by the National Assembly, including regulations to fight IUU. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a national action plan to crack down on IUU fishing. As part of this drive, 62 seafood companies have joined to ensure sustainable practices. The government has issued several decrees and directives, supplemented IUU fishing regulations to legal documents, enforced regulations, held educational workshops for fishermen, enhanced cooperation with coastal and island countries to prevent IUU fishing and organized regular dialogues with the EU on efforts to improve fisheries management. Vietnams responses also include placing observers, many of whom are former fishing captains, aboard commercial trawlers to monitor catches. Additionally, fishing captains have been encouraged to keep an accurate logbook or registry of catches for inspection or become subject to fines up to 2,000 USD and revocation of commercial fishing licenses. The article said Hanoi simply does not want to repeat Thailands mistakes, where a high percentage of the fishing fleet is unregistered and outside government control. Neither does it want to follow its neighbour, Cambodia, and be at the end of the line with a red card from the EU and unable to export fish. The article said the Vietnamese Directorate of Fisheries has developed a national fishery database that integrates data related to fishing vessels including registration, licensing, logbook entries and now uniformly-accepted software (VNFISHBASE) utilised in eight coastal provinces. It added that there is a need for more vocational centres to educate fishermen about fishing regulations. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish, or 15 percent of the world catch, are caught illegally every year. As the worlds biggest fish importer, the EU does not wish to be complicit in these unsustainable fishing practices. Since 2012, the EU Commission has initiated formal dialogues with several countries, thus the yellow card status warning. When significant progress is observed, the commission can end the dialogue or raise the status to a green card. When there is no or little compliance, it results in a failing grade - a red card, which translates into no exports. Theme(s): Communities and Organisations, Fisheries Resources, Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Imperial Valley News Center President Donald J. Trump Announces Fourteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Thirteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Eighth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees Washington, DC - Today President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate a fourteenth wave of judicial nominees, thirteenth wave of United States Attorney nominees, and eighth wave of United States Marshal nominees as follows: If confirmed, Ryan D. Nelson of Idaho will serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Since 2009, Ryan Nelson has served as general counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, Inc. Before joining Melaleuca, Mr. Nelson served in the Federal government as Special Counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; as Deputy General Counsel to the White House Office of Management and Budget; and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. At DOJ, Mr. Nelson argued 13 cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and was division counsel for 50 briefs filed in the Supreme Court. Before joining DOJ, Mr. Nelson practiced in the Washington, DC, office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he was a member of the firms appellate, litigation, products liability, and religious liberties practice groups. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Nelson served as a law clerk to Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Judges Charles Brower and Richard Mosk of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Mr. Nelson earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D., with honors, from BYU Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as a lead articles editor of the BYU Law Review. If confirmed, Gary R. Brown of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Gary Brown serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, where he has served since his selection in 2011. Judge Brown also serves as an adjunct professor at St. Johns School of Law. In 2014, Judge Brown was selected by the Board of Judges to serve on the Committee of Magistrate Judges appointed to manage more than 1,400 Hurricane Sandy cases filed in the Eastern District of New York. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Brown served as the Director of Litigation and Chief Compliance Officer of CA Technologies. Before entering private practice, Judge Brown served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York for more than 15 years, concluding his service as the Chief of the Long Island Criminal Division. Judge Brown is also three-time recipient of the Directors Award from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and, in 2000, received the Federal Prosecutors Award from the National Law Enforcement Association. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Brown served as a law clerk to Judge Jacob Mishler of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Brown earned his A.B. from Columbia College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. If confirmed, Diane Gujarati of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Diane Gujarati serves as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, where she has served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the past nineteen years. Ms. Gujarati also served as an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law until earlier this year. Before joining the U.S. Attorneys Office, Ms. Gujarati practiced for three years as a litigation associate in the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Gujarati served as a law clerk to Judge John M. Walker, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Gujarati earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Barnard College of Columbia University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of both the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal on Regulation. If confirmed, Eric R. Komitee of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Eric Komitee is the General Counsel of Viking Global Investors LP in New York City. He previously served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, rising to serve as Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section. Before entering public service, Mr. Komitee practiced as an associate in the Government Enforcement and White Collar Crime group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom and as an associate in the corporate practice group of Cravath Swaine & Moore. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Komitee served as a law clerk to Judge J.L. Edmondson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Komitee earned his B.A., with high honors, from Emory University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D., cum laude, from the New York University School of Law, where he served as the senior notes and comments editor of the NYU Law Review. If confirmed, Rachel P. Kovner of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Rachel Kovner serves as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Solicitor Generals Office within the Department of Justice, where she has represented the United States in litigation before the Supreme Court since 2013. Before joining the Solicitor Generals Office, Ms. Kovner served for four years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she served as trial counsel in ten felony trials and argued seven appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Kovner served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and then to the late Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ms. Kovner earned her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she graduated first in her class, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and served as the senior articles editor of the Stanford Law Review. If confirmed, Lewis J. Liman of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Lewis Liman is a partner in the New York City office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he has handled a wide range of civil, commercial, and white collar criminal litigation since joining the firm in 2003. Before joining Cleary Gottlieb, Mr. Liman was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Liman served for five years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he rose to serve as Deputy Chief of Appeals. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Liman spent a brief period as an attorney at the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., before serving as a law clerk to Judge Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit during his service as a U.S. District Judge on the Southern District of New York. Mr. Liman subsequently clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Liman earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, his M.Sc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics, and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal and as an editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. If confirmed, Corey L. Maze of Alabama will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Corey Maze serves as Special Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama. Since 2011, he has served as chief of the Attorney Generals Special Litigation unit and has acted as the States primary counsel in complex civil matters such as the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the ongoing opioid crisis. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Maze served as the Solicitor General of Alabama. During that period, he argued three cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and won three Best Brief Awards from the National Association of Attorneys General. Before his appointment as Solicitor General, Mr. Maze prosecuted criminal trials and appeals for five years as an Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Maze earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Auburn University and his J.D., cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center. If confirmed, John L. Sinatra, Jr., of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. John Sinatra is a partner in the Buffalo firm Hodgson Russ, where his practice has focused on complex civil and commercial litigation in Federal and State courts nationwide since 2008. Before joining the firm, Mr. Sinatra served as Senior Counsel in the U.S. Department of Commerce and as an associate in the commercial litigation practice group at Jones Day. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Sinatra served as a law clerk to the judges of the New York Court of Appeals. Mr. Sinatra earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, where he served as the notes and comments editor of the Buffalo Law Review. If confirmed, Mary Kay Vyskocil of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mary Kay Vyskocil serves as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, where she has served since her selection in 2016. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Vyskocil practiced general commercial litigation for almost thirty-three years at the New York City-based law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP. During that period, Judge Vyskocil was ranked as one of the Top Ten Women Litigators in the United States by Benchmark Litigation and, in 2016, received a Top Women in Law Award from the New York Law Journal. During her time in practice, she was recognized as a litigation leader by Chambers, Legal 500, Whos Who Legal and Americas Leading Business Lawyers, and Law360. She is also the co-author of Modern Reinsurance Law & Practice, 3d ed. (Thompson Reuters 2015). Judge Vyskocil earned her undergraduate degree from the Dominican College of Blauvelt in Rockland County, New York, where she was the class Valedictorian and Student Government President, and her J.D. from St. Johns University School of Law, where she served on the Moot Court Executive Board. If confirmed, Joshua Wolson of Pennsylvania will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Josh Wolson is a partner in the litigation group of Dilworth Paxson LLP, where he has practiced since 2008. During that time, he has represented plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation matters, including antitrust, RICO, intellectual property, procurement, and civil rights disputes. He also serves as a co-chair of the firms Plaintiffs Rights Practice Group and a member of the firms Executive Committee. Before joining the firm, Mr. Wolson practiced in the litigation and antitrust groups of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Wolson served as a law clerk to Judge Jan E. DuBois of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wolson earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. If confirmed, Maria Chapa Lopez will serve as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Maria Chapa Lopez is currently the interim United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. From April 2016 to January 2018, she was the DOJ Deputy Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. From April 2000 to April 2016, she worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida, prosecuting complex transnational and domestic drug trafficking organizations, large-scale money laundering cases, and complex opioid cases. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorneys Office, she served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. If confirmed, Brian T. Moran of Washington will serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. Brian Moran is currently of counsel at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Seattle, Washington. Prior to his current position, Mr. Moran served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the Washington State Attorney General from 2006-2013, supervising 575 Assistant Attorney Generals, 27 legal divisions and the Solicitor Generals Office. From 1998-2006, Mr. Moran served as the state Attorney Generals Chief Criminal Prosecutor where he and his staff assisted Washingtons 39 county prosecutors offices with the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes, conflict cases and sexually violent predator matters. Before joining the Washington Attorney Generals office, Mr. Moran spent 10 years as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Kitsap County prosecuting homicides and other violent crimes. He earned his B.A. from Middlebury College and his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law. If confirmed, Todd L. Nukes of Indiana will serve as the United States Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana. Todd Nukes is currently the Acting United States Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana, a position he has held since 2015. He joined the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in 1990 and has spent his entire USMS career in the Northern District of Indiana, holding the positions of Deputy U.S. Marshal, Judicial Security Inspector, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal, and now the Attorney General-appointed Acting United States Marshal. Mr. Nukes has served on numerous USMS Headquarters committees and boards throughout his career, is a current Executive Board Member on the Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, and has instructed at the National Judicial College in Reno, NV, on matters of Judicial Security. Prior to joining the USMS, Mr. Nukes served with the Grant County Sheriffs Department from 1986 to 1990. He holds a B.S. in Criminology from Ball State University. Imperial Valley News Center What You Need To Know About The Presidents Victory For The World By Freeing Three Brave Americans Washington, DC - In a victory for the world, President Trump secured the release of three brave Americans, who have safely returned to the United States, from detention by North Korea. In the early hours of May 10, 2018, President Donald J. Trump had the honor of welcoming three Americans as they finally returned home after being detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo escorted the detainees back to the United States following discussions with North Korea earlier in the week. Kim Dong Chul was detained in the fall of 2015, and was later sentenced to ten years of hard labor. He is the longest-held American detainee in North Korea on record, having been held in detention for almost 900 days. Asked how it felt to finally return home, Kim Dong Chul remarked, Its like a dream. Kim Sang Duk, known as Tony Kim, was arrested in April 2017 while teaching as a professor at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He had not been tried or sentenced. During his time in detention, Kim Sang Duks son led a social media campaign to help raise public awareness about the three detained Americans. Kim Hak Song was also associated with Pyongyang University of Science and Technology and was detained in North Korea in May 2017. He was not tried or sentenced. The release of the three Americans is a sign of goodwill as President Trumps Administration continues its ongoing diplomatic efforts with North Korea. Freeing Kim Dong Chul, Kim Sang Duk, and Kim Hak Song is a step in the right direction, as negotiations continue ahead of President Trumps upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. North Korea released the three Americans during Secretary Pompeos visit to Pyongyang to discuss the details of the meeting. President Trumps Administration has worked with allies and partners to bring North Korea into negotiation. North Koreas complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization is President Trumps top priority in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. President Trump will continue the significant progress his Administration has already made in order to achieve this goal. Imperial Valley News Center Gina Haspels Confirmation Is Central To Our National Security Washington, DC - After a strong showing at her confirmation hearing, editorial boards and commentators are calling for bipartisan support and a swift confirmation of Gina Haspel as CIA Director. CHICAGO TRIBUNE EDITORIAL BOARD: The Case for Gina Haspel as CIA Director Haspel gets rave reviews from former national security officials from Democratic and Republican administrations, and is said to be strongly supported by agency employees. That might have given her an easy path to Senate confirmation as the CIAs first female director Haspel, who would be the first CIA director in five decades to come into the job after a career in clandestine operations, is also a proven administrator. The Senate should confirm her. NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER EDITORIAL BOARD: Confirm Haspel: The Intelligent Choice for CIA Much of Haspels 33-year career remains classified, but she has received stellar endorsements from across the intelligence community. She is capable, experienced, and dedicated to keeping America safe. She should not be disqualified for doing her job using rules some senators now find objectionable. NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL BOARD: Gina Haspels Hypocritical Critics A 30-year veteran already serving as acting CIA chief, Haspel would be the first woman to lead the agency and the first director in decades whos spent her entire career there. She has the enthusiastic support of pretty much anyone whos ever worked with her Any Democrats voting against her, especially those who voted to confirm Brennan, ought to give a good explanation why. RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH EDITORIAL BOARD: The Key Question about Gina Haspel Already has been Answered Everyone who has considered her record agrees that she is supremely qualified to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Over the course of three decades, she has risen through the ranks from station chief to deputy director. Her colleagues sing her praises and even her foes acknowledge her abilities She is eminently qualified to direct the CIA. FORMER DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ACTING DIRECTOR DAVID R. SHEDD IN USA TODAY: Todays Talker: Confirm Gina Haspel as CIA Director. Why Oppose Her Nomination? Without question, Gina Haspel is unequivocally the right person to lead the CIA at this crucial moment in history. Both her long-term record of distinguished service and her professional and poised testimony before the Senate on Wednesday make that abundantly clear. With 33 years of experience as a CIA operative, including her current service as the deputy director of the agency, Haspel will step into the director role needing no on-the-job training to tackle the myriad complex threats facing the United States around the globe. She is known within agency ranks for her integrity, and is widely regarded as a serious leader who is prepared to lead CIA. HUDSON INSTITUTE SENIOR FELLOW REBECCAH HEINRICHS IN THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: What More Could We Ask For in a CIA Director than Gina Haspel? What more could our country ask for in a director for the Central Intelligence Agency than Gina Haspel? After Haspels confirmation hearing performance, thats the question every senator considering opposing her nomination needs to answer. A quick glance down Haspels resume shows she has more than enough experience under her belt Haspel is a brilliant intelligence professional, an inspiration to all Americans, and deserves an overwhelming bipartisan vote in favor of her confirmation. FORMER CIA ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS JACK DEVINE AT NBC NEWS: Gina Haspel Says CIA Wont Restart Its Torture Program. Congress Should Believe and Confirm Her. Trumps pick stands virtually alone as the most qualified professional in the intelligence business. No one in the intelligence community can equal her experience in a combination of policy-level, leadership and field positions I know first-hand what challenges Haspel will face as director, and there is no doubt in my mind that she is ideally suited to lead the agency. FORMER CIA OFFICER BRYAN DEAN WRIGHT AT FOX NEWS: Gina Haspel is a Great Pick for CIA Why are Democrats Playing Politics with our National Security? Haspel is a brilliant intelligence officer with 33 years at the CIA. She has devoted most of her adult life to protecting our nation and won awards for her outstanding performance. Like all of us at the CIA, shes never carried out her responsibilities as a Democrat or a Republican but as an American patriot. COMMENTATOR CARRIE SHEFFIELD AT CNN: Progressive Outrage About Gina Haspel is Unfair Haspel is a public servant who started as a case officer in Africa, held the position of CIA station chief four times during her 33-year intelligence career, helped navigate CIAs Russia operation, and was a senior-level supervisor in counterterrorism. She would be the first career officer in 52 years to rise through the ranks to the CIAs helm and be the first woman to fill that role It would be unfortunate if Haspels career and our countrys safety were derailed because of the lefts politicking. Support for President Donald J. Trumps Nominee for CIA Director Gina Haspel Washington, DC - Support for President Donald J. Trumps Nominee for CIA Director Gina Haspel: Current and Former Members of Congress Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): Gina Haspel is a tremendous choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. She would bring more direct, hard-earned experience to the role of @CIA director than any leader in the agencys history. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): [Haspel is] without a doubt, the most qualified person the president could have chosen to lead the CIA and the most prepared nominee in its 70-year history. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): Haspel is a consummate professional whose record of accomplishment, bipartisan support, and clear love of country make her an excellent choice to lead our nations top intelligence agency. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Gina Haspel is a career intelligence officer who has served over 30 years with the CIA, and combated both communist threats and terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. She is perhaps the most highly qualified person ever nominated for this crucial national security position. Her nomination has the support of six former CIA Directors who have served under presidents of both parties, and I look forward to her rapid confirmation on the Senate floor. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID): I have known Ms. Haspel for the 10 years I have been on the Committee and have had the opportunity to work with her over the years and even visit her out in the field. I can report to you that during this time I have always found Ms. Haspel to be open, forthcoming, and truthful. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN): A well-led Central Intelligence Agency is critical to keeping Americans safe. Gina Haspel is an incredibly experienced and qualified nominee to serve as @CIA Director, and I look forward to supporting her nomination. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO): As CIA Director, I have no doubt Gina Haspel will provide all the facts decision makers need to address the security challenges we face. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK): Gina Haspel has more than 3 decades of nonpartisan CIA experience during the administrations of President Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush, & Obama. Haspel is well-qualified to be CIA Director she deserves to be confirmed. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): Opponents of the Haspel nomination for CIA who voted for former Director Brennan under Obama are going to have to explain double standard for Trump and Haspel. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): Its time to put the destructive partisanship aside and confirm Gina Haspel as CIA Director. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL): Gina Haspel should be confirmed as the first woman head of the CIA. She is tough, experienced and backed by former Obama intelligence officials. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO): It is time for Senate Dems to stop playing political games with our national security & support the nomination of Gina Haspel, the first woman ever nominated to be @CIA Director. She is a distinguished 33yr career veteran of the agency & extremely qualified to lead her peers. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND): Acting Director Haspel is a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated she is qualified to head the CIA. Using her vast experience and knowledge, she took the steps to confront terrorists and protect the lives of countless Americans. President Trump picked the best person to run the CIA and I urge the Senate to set aside petty partisan politics and quickly confirm her as Director of the CIA. Rep. Pete King (R-NY): Essential that Senate confirm Gina Haspel to head CIA. True patriot. Dedicated American. Unequaled CIA experience and achievements. We need her leading the CIA. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): Gina Haspel will make a great CIA Director. She is a 33 year veteran of the agency who will provide the leadership necessary to confront emerging threats to Americas national security. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX): Gina Haspel has dedicated her life to serving this country, and her 30+ year career in the @CIA uniquely qualifies her to lead. Proud to support the first female DCIA. Former Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): No one is better prepared, more focused, or more capable to carry out that mission than is Gina Haspel. Mr. Chairman, Gina is a proven leader who knows the agency and the threats we face. She is ideally suited to become the next and first female director of the CIA. Former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN): Ms. Haspel, as has been noted, is without question the most qualified person ever nominated for this position. For 33 years she has worked to defend America from those who would harm us. Advocacy Organizations, Policy Experts, & Media Commentary CNBC Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood: Very effective opening statement from Haspel. CNN National Security Reporter Jenna McLaughlin: Consensus seems to be that Haspel, despite being undercover for 30+ years, did a good job holding her ground and answering Senators questions. Commentary Senior Writer Sohrab Ahmari: Wow [Gina] Haspel rocked that hearing. Concerned Women for America President and CEO Penny Young Nance: Gina Haspel is a strong, intelligent woman of integrity who has unquestionable qualifications to serve as our nations next CIA director I urge all senators to put partisan bickering and theatrics aside, focus on what is best for our national security, and swiftly confirm Haspel to be our next CIA Director. Former Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Amber Smith: Excellent opening statement from Haspel. Former CIA Officer Bryan Dean Wright: Haspel has had a long, successful career battling Americas traditional enemies most especially the Russians along with newer threats like ISIS and other organizations engaging in radical Islamic terrorism. Shes also earned broad, bipartisan support from former intelligence professionals who understand both her tenacity and intellect. The Hill National Security Reporter Katie Bo Williams: After 32 years undercover, this is one of the first times we have heard Gina Haspels voice. She is speaking steadily and deliberately in her open statement. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Member Mary Kissel: CIA nominee Gina Haspel is handling herself admirably at her nomination hearing. Serious, composed, disciplined, experienced. Washington Free Beacon Editor Matthew Continetti: Gina Haspel was fantastic in open session. She exceeded expectations Confirmation on track. The California State University Maritime Academy Blows Away Competition at 3rd Biennial Collegiate Wind Competition Chicago, Illinois - After three days of the Department of Energys Collegiate Wind Competition held at the American Wind Energy Associations annual WINDPOWER Conference, The California State University Maritime Academy beat out 11 other teams to claim top honors at the 3rd biennial Collegiate Wind Competition. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Collegiate Wind Competition is a program created to provide undergraduates with real-world skills needed to enter tomorrows renewable energy workforce. Competitors were challenged with a number of tasks, including developing and delivering a business plan, siting a wind plant, and building and testing a wind turbine. The students participating in the Collegiate Wind Competition represent the best and brightest that our nation has to offer, said Tim Unruh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Power at DOE. As the U.S. wind industry continues to grow, the Collegiate Wind Competition provides unique, hands-on training and an opportunity to help launch the careers of the next generation of wind energy professionals. A panel of wind industry experts named The California State University Maritime Academy the overall winner of the competition with the highest cumulative scores in all categories. The teams turbine will be displayed at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the coming months. The Pennsylvania State University came in second place and Kansas State University came in third. Below are the winners of each contest: White House on the Visit of President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump will welcome President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan for his historic first visit to the White House on May 16, 2018. President Trump and President Mirziyoyev will renew the United StatesUzbekistan bilateral strategic partnership, in order to pursue shared interests and address emerging challenges. They will also discuss Uzbekistans progress on implementing important reforms, enhancing trade and investment, and addressing the regional security situation, including developments in Afghanistan. President Donald J. Trumps Call with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump spoke today with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. President Trump thanked Prime Minister Lee for his willingness to host President Trumps June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two leaders also discussed regional security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region. President Trump and Prime Minister Lee reaffirmed the relationship between the United States and Singapore, which has been one of the United States closest partnerships in Asia for more than 50 years. President Trump said that he looks forward to seeing Prime Minister Lee in Singapore soon. Do Not Ignore Mouth Ulcers, They Can Be Sutton. All You Need to Know Goldman Sachs and Apple are looking to partner together to create a new credit card, the first foray by Goldman Sachs into the $1 trillion credit card market, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. The Goldman-Apple credit card would be tied to Apple's payment service known as Apple Pay and Apple's co-brand partnership with Barclays would come to an end, the Journal said. Goldman has been incrementally pushing into consumer banking products. It does personal loans and savings accounts under the brand Marcus, and has been looking at other consumer products. A co-brand credit card is when a company partners with a bank to create a credit card that will spur loyalty and spending with the company. There are hundreds of co-brand partnerships, with brands large and small, and it's an intensely competitive business for credit card companies. Apple is a huge and iconic brand, and it would be a symbolic success for Goldman as it enters the consumer credit card market, industry experts said, but it is not a large co-brand partnership like American Express' partnership with Delta Air Lines, Citigroup's partnerships with Costco and American Airlines or JPMorgan Chase's partnerships with Marriott and United. "It's not going to put them on the map when it comes to market share, but it's definitely a strong customer base you want to have," said Brian Riley with Mercator Advisory Group, which specializes in consulting with companies looking to do co-brand credit cards. This is the second time Apple and Goldman have been mentioned together as potential partners. The Journal reported earlier this year that Goldman was looking to take over Apple's iPhone financing program from Citizens Bank. Goldman Sachs and Apple both declined to comment on the report. The first time something happens is chance, they say; the second time is coincidence. The third time? That's a pattern. So what about the fourth time? In the case of Waffle House, that's a boycott. At least, it will be if people follow the lead of people like the daughter of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and other activists. "Family, let's stay out of @WaffleHouse," Beatrice A. King, CEO of the King Center, wrote on Twitter, "until the corporate office legitimately and seriously commits to 1) discussion on racism, 2) employee training, and 3) other plans to change; and until they start to implement changes." Family, let's stay out of @WaffleHouse until the corporate office legitimately and seriously commits to 1) discussion on racism, 2) employee training, and 3) other plans to change; and until they start to implement changes. https://t.co/NJWFOBKN7i -- Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 10, 2018 The call to action stems from at least four recent racially-tinged alleged incidents: 1. The first incident, of course, was the mass shooting at an Antioch, Tennessee Waffle House, April 23, in which a gunman killed four young people of color before being stopped by an unarmed customer. 2. Oddly, at almost the exact same time as the shooting, a black woman in a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama, 400 miles to the south, was tackled by police who "placed a hand on her throat and exposed her breasts," and at one point threatened to break her arm. 3. Four days later, a black customer said she was locked outside of a Waffle House in Pinson, Alabama, while the restaurant continued to serve white customers. 4. Most recently, on May 5, viral video shows a Warsaw, N.C. police officer choking and slamming a 22-year-old black man who was at a Waffle House after taking his 16 year-old-sister to her high school prom. "I wish people would not blow things out of proportion and not let one situation create any additional situations," Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland told a newspaper. But King is by no means alone in drawing a line from one incident to another, and asking people to boycott the 1,800-store chain, which is privately held and concentrated in the South. The head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund released a statement: "We're once again outraged by a video showing police officers using excessive force on an unarmed, non-violent African-American Waffle House customer. Once again this incident was sparked when a Waffle House employee called the police after the patron allegedly complained about customer service. And once again the police responded with violence." And the influential activist Shaun King tweeted that he was "done" with the chain. Dear @WaffleHouse, Listen to me. I wanna be clear on something. I'm done with your corporation. Permanently. I'm asking my followers to just be done with you too. You need to go out of your way to address the brutality people are experiencing in your establishment. https://t.co/hLdsHEA57r -- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 10, 2018 I tried without success to get a comment from Waffle House. I also can't find any statement from them so far about the most recent incident. However, they defended employees who called police in Saraland, and as the New York Times reported, these kinds of allegations are not exactly new: Waffle House ... has also faced multiple lawsuits from customers complaining about racist treatment from employees. Some plaintiffs said that restaurant workers used racial epithets and ignored black guests while catering to white customers, and the chain's restaurants have tangled several times with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which serves as a discrimination watchdog. The company has long rejected allegations of racial bias, and its laminated menus used to offer a more wholesome version of history than the one critics raise: "America's Place to Work, America's Place to Eat." What's different now, however? Of course, it's partly that everyone has a camera and access to social media. But there's also palpable progress in the national tolerance level: people just aren't as willing to do business with brands that treat customers this way as they once might have been--especially minority customers. That's why you see companies like Starbucks and Nordstrom Rack moving very quickly now to apologize after incidents in which their employees called the police on black customers. On the eve of her worldwide #MillionsMissing demonstration for ME awareness, the TED Fellow shared the story behind her critically-acclaimed documentary Unrest, why social media saved her life and how her debilitating illness actually helped her focus. Inc.: What is the best way to describe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)? Jen Brea: It's a really hard disease to convey to people who haven't experienced it directly, in part because it can be so deceptive. I can "look well" one minute and then crash, and be unable to lift my head or even speak the next. The media shows us 'chronic fatigue' as a woman looking sleepy at her desk, but the reality is that 25% of patients with ME are too sick to leave their homes or even their beds. An estimated 15-30 million people around the world are suffering from ME; that means 3.75-7.5 million people housebound or bedbound. Roughly 80% of us are women and 80-90% of patients are undiagnosed. You spent years working on the award-winning documentary Unrest. How did the conversation change after the movie came out? I decided to make Unrest about a year into my illness, after I went online and realized that there were millions of people around the world who shared my story, many of whom had gotten sick in the 1980s and 90s and decades later, were still homebound, still bedridden, still waiting for research and care. Since the documentary premiered last year, so many patients have felt seen and heard, most powerfully by their own friends and family. I've also seen new clinicians and researchers become interested in the field after watching the film. We are sending Unrest to every congressional staffer and we've held screenings at parliaments all over the world. Tell me about the origins of MEAction and the goals of this Saturday's #MillionsMissing worldwide demonstration. Online, I saw patients working all around the world to create change in their own pockets of the Internet, but who often had a hard time getting the word out or finding others to connect with and take action. I realized -- along with my co-founder, Beth Mazur -- that we needed to create a platform where we could amplify, support, and direct those efforts, and connect activists to one another. That was the beginning of #MEAction. The goal of the #MillionsMissing campaign is to demand that our governments around the world address the healthcare crisis for patients with ME. This is our third year, and now 100 cities around the world - including New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Guatemala City and Santiago, Chile - are taking action on May 12th! In the US, we are demanding Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health, increase research funding for the development of a biomarker, clinical trials, and ultimately, the first FDA-approved drug. This is a research field that has been critically underfunded for decades. 2018 saw a small bump up from our historic $5-6 million per year to $12 million, but parity with similar diseases would be $250 million. What role did social media play in your own medical journey? The online community has been everything. It's how I found my diagnosis, how I got connected to the best doctors. Even now, I sometimes I have symptoms that I think no one shares, but if I post about them on Facebook, inevitably I get dozens of responses of, "Yup, me too!" When I was bedridden, it was my sole connection to the outside world and to other humans. I've met so many incredible friends and collaborators. Social media has a dark side, to be sure, one we have learned a lot about in the last year, but for some people with disabilities it's our whole world. By connecting us with one another, it saves lives. How have your physical challenges and boundaries transformed you into who you are today? When I got sick within the course of about a year I went from a 'normal' I most certainly took for granted - spending summers on various continents doing field work; running, hiking, biking, kayaking; having a body and a brain that allowed me to do and be and think in whatever way I liked - to being almost completely bedridden, often unable to read, write, speak or think clearly. To an extent I wasn't even fully aware of, I defined myself by my abilities. Suddenly, I lost everything I thought made me who I was. If I could never leave my bed again, could not read and write or be a part of the world, what value did my existence have? It felt like I was falling down a long, dark well, futilely trying to find something to hold on to so that I could claw my way back or at least stop falling. You spend so much time trying, wishing, fantasizing about going back. At a certain point, I realized that no matter what lay down the road ahead, there was no going back. If I was going to survive, I could not predicate my survival on my recovery. My life had shrunk essentially to the size of my bedroom. Once I embraced that, I could say, OK, what do I have? What can I do? I resolved to be grateful for and to inhabit every inch of that new life and those new abilities. And then I got to work. Working meant being on my laptop, engaging the world via email and social media, and eventually, directing a film, all from my bed (or couch). Sometimes I had five good hours in a day, sometimes ten minutes, sometimes nothing at all. I learned in those years the power of geological time. A drop of water falling on a rock can create a canyon, given enough time. I was that water on that rock, using whatever time or capacity I had in service of a single-minded vision, without any judgment about how long it would take. The narrowness of my life gave me a focus that eluded me when I was young, healthy, and able-bodied, with seemingly limitless time and options. I also choose to make meaning. I don't think everything that happens to us happens for a reason and is good. At the same time, we can take those moments and chose to imbue them with deep and beautiful meaning. I did that by finding and creating community, by joining with others to fight, by telling stories, by making art. We're talking again five years from now. What impact would you want to see? I want ME included in every medical school curriculum (it is currently taught in less than 10% of medical schools). I want a new class of medical students and scientists who have graduated and decided they want to specialize in treating and researching this disease. I want $250 million dollars per year from the NIH, an FDA-approved biomarker, and our first verified, validated drug treatment. I want every patient to get diagnosed within the first weeks and months of illness, so that we can prevent unnecessary disability. I want to end the stigma and ensure everyone is as familiar with ME as they are with MS, cancer, heart disease, and ALS, so that we can all agree that patients deserve our support and our care. There may have been a moment when you wanted to give up, but you didn't. What is the one insight someone should remember when they are going through their darkest moment? You are not alone - there are thousands of us out here, online, who love you and need you. No matter how small your world has shrunk, no matter what you have lost of your abilities or your identity, as long as you are alive, there is still something only you can give the world. Serial entrepreneur Naveen Jain is on a moonshot mission to cure diseases by manipulating the bacteria in people's guts. A year into his new venture, he says it's working. Jain, founder of space venture Moon Express and biotech startup Viome--and no stranger to making bold claims--spoke onstage Thursday at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival, at times with dizzying speed about his new company. Viome, which launched in May 2017, studies the bacteria in a person's gut using blood, urine, stool, and saliva samples. It then uses artificial intelligence to make recommendations about what foods to eat (or stop eating) to help fight off chronic diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Jain has boasted that Viome will make illness "optional." Onstage, he offered anecdotal evidence about Viome's progress: The company has pulled in tens of thousands of customers in its first year, and they're seeing results. "People are telling us their acne is gone, their eczema is gone," he claimed. "People are saying their depression and anxiety are gone." Jain clarified that "we're not curing them," but instead the information Viome provides helps lessen or eliminate people's symptoms. Down the line, Jain has said, the company will seek FDA approval so it can use its technology to diagnose diseases. Jain's big idea behind Viome is based on the belief that the microbiome, which consists of the trillions of bacteria and viruses within the gut, is the foundation of a person's health. Adjusting the makeup of the microbiome, the belief goes, can affect the onset of certain diseases. To be sure, the study of the microbiome is still a nascent branch of medicine. Health experts who spoke with Inc. last year described the field as "new and controversial." "There are some very interesting links that are currently being established," said University of Washington nutritional sciences professor Adam Drewnowski. "But to [suggest] that microbiome imbalance causes something like Alzheimer's at this point, I would think, is something of an overstatement." Viome's technology was first developed by the Los Alamos National Lab for defense against bioterrorism. The tech is co-owned by the New Mexico-based lab and the startup, which is located in Bellevue, Washington. Always animated and quick to make a joke, Jain at several points made the audience laugh with his bold claims and pointed humor. When asked about the research that exists on the microbiome, he smiled and responded, "There's this company called Google," encouraging the audience to search for one of a half-dozen research papers on the microbiome's potential impact on health. At several points, Jain briefly ranted about the health care industry's business model, arguing that hospitals and drug companies benefit from keeping patients sick. "We needed to get away from the current health care system," he said. "We want you to become CEO of your own health." Jain, who recently made an ambitious promise that his startup Moon Express will get to the moon in 2018, also hinted at his next venture. White House officials met with executives from Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle, as well as more traditional but technology-embracing firms such as Ford and Land O'Lakes to discuss promoting the development of artificial intelligence in the U.S.--something that President Donald Trump's administration has shown markedly little interest in up until very recently. A year ago, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, when asked about AI, said that significant use of such technology was 50 to 100 years in the future and "not even on my radar screen." And President Trump has focused on preserving blue-collar jobs in traditional industries--precisely the type of jobs that AI threatens. As for Congress, its members mostly seem to view AI with suspicion. A few weeks after Elon Musk told a SXSW audience that "AI is more dangerous than nukes. So why do we have no regulatory oversight?" bipartisan legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate to set up an advisory council to oversee, and potentially regulate, AI development. So what's changed? In a word: China. The Chinese government has announced its goal to become a world leader in artificial intelligence as part of its Made in China 2025 initiative. It has declared that leading in AI is one of the government's top priorities. The Chinese government and Chinese VC firms are pouring billions into AI development and startups, coordinating with university researchers. Suddenly, our elected leaders have a new fear about AI--that while they're dithering about how to regulate the technology and what its true impact might be, the Chinese might beat us out, dominating the market. This may be why the White House stressed "America First" in ireprets announcement of the new task force, and why representatives from Musk's company Tesla, a leader in AI development, were not present at the conference. What happens now? Tech leaders at the conference were likely hoping for funding from the government to help speed AI development but that was not on offer. With the Congressional Budget Office projecting trillion-dollar annual budget deficits, that may be understandable. Early this week, I published a letter from a manager who had a low performer, who happened to be pregnant. In response to that, I got someone on the other side of the table--a pregnant woman whose work has fallen off because of the pregnancy. She writes: I have just read your recent HR post regarding a pregnant woman who is under-performing at her position. This has triggered a few questions from myself. I am in my first trimester of my pregnancy, the past 3 to 4 weeks have been hell, (that's putting it nicely!) I've struggled with work, as I'm based from home most of the time my lunch breaks tend to last longer than they should and my start times probably aren't quite as punctual as they should be. I'll put it bluntly, I'm exhausted and I feel like utter rubbish. I'm scraping by and performing the bare minimum of my role, but compared to post pregnant me I'm severely under-performing and I'm aware of this and don't know how to stop this downward spiral. I'm sure it will pick up...eventually. My managers and HR are aware that I am pregnant, and my boss seems very understanding. My concern is I will be due to work away from home for 4 nights a week, from next week. So my extended lunch time nap's won't be possible. I don't feel although I want to call in sick (even though I could sleep all day!) but I also don't want to feel like I am dragging the company down. How much reasonable changes can I expect during my pregnancy? And what is the best thing that I can do to highlight this struggle with my managers and HR? This case is profoundly different from the previous one because prior to the pregnancy, she was a good performer. But now she feels terrible. While many people are aware of the end of pregnancy woes, the first trimester can often be the worst. While you generally feel sick and are exhausted, other women get severe vomiting known as hyperemesis gravidarum. This can land you in the hospital, dependent on IVs to survive. (Kate Middleton, the Dutchess of Cambridge, suffered from this in all three of her pregnancies.) So, what do you do here? Well, the first thing is to report the pregnancy to your boss and HR. While the law doesn't require that you report it, letting them know does two things: first, it triggers sympathy and understanding--especially if your boss has been pregnant herself and knows what it's like. Second, it gives you the protection of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. What does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act do? Well, it basically says that if they provide any accommodations for people with other disabilities (light duty, reduced workload, flexible schedules, etc.) they must provide the same thing for a pregnant woman. Some pregnancy-related conditions can, in addition, trigger the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can ask for accommodations and if they are reasonable, then the company needs to comply. What you're doing now is reasonable--taking a longer lunch so you can get a nap in there. In this case, be honest with your boss. If you can't do the four nights away, speak up now. It's better to work through it now than to go and find out you can't do it. As with the ADA, you have to do the core functions of the job in order to be protected. So, if you absolutely, positively can't do this and it's a core function, a temporary leave of absence may be the best route. You can also suggest that you continue working from home, and if that's reasonable, it's probably the best solution. But, speak up and don't be afraid to ask for what you need. A Smart(er) Home Amazon has partnered with Lennar Homes to display its smart-home devices. Each model house will contain several unique Amazon items such as lights, shades, sprinklers, vacuums, and more (so cool). Of course, each house also contains Amazon's most recognizable products such as Echo and Alexa-- but Alexa is incredibly powerful here. WIth a fully integrated smart home, and just with a few words, customers can have Alexa turn lights on and off, change the music, switch on the television, and stream video feeds of certain rooms (amongst other things). And as someone who is currently going through the home-buying process, I'm pretty jealous. Also, for a mere $49, you can get an Amazon Expert Home Assessment - a 45-minute consultation session where an expert will help you set up and install all the necessary things you need to upgrade your living space. It might seem a bit superfluous, but it's incredibly futuristic. On top of all that, Amazon's Home Services ensure that you can get the products you need delivered right to your doorstep. You can automate deliveries or use a Dash Button - a device that orders and delivers pre-selected products with the click of a button. It's a useful, albeit lazy, way of getting extra diapers, toilet paper, coffee, detergent, and other items. They cost a measly $4.99, which is refunded after your first purchase. This offer is, of course, exclusive for Prime members. Amazon Controls the Stage Establishing a physical presence isn't entirely new for Amazon, but the integrated smart-home experience showcases just how powerful Amazon's 'full stack' can be--one that can certainly woo new home buyers into baking those devices right into their new home. Let's be serious (not Siri-ous... sorry Apple), whether it's a just a novelty or not, Amazon is going to simply 'wow' with with what they have today, let alone how this will evolve. I can see it now... Alexa -- please open the blinds, turn the temperature to 68 degrees, warm a pot of coffee, and go to the latest episode of Westworld. Uh...Sold. This will amplify the home-buying process in ways we have never seen before and make houses look even more attractive--It's an unbelievably powerful, experiential layer. For more, head on over to the Amazon Experience Center to see some of the flagship stores. You can visit the stores in person or view pictures online, each looking like someone's dream home. The first few flagship homes are located in California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Check the out if you have the chance. Smart-homes might just become an everyday reality. The magnitude is so large that I wouldn't be surprised if Google & others follow suit (if they aren't already doing so). Bezos' Quest Continues Maybe Jeff Bezos isn't quite satisfied with only having $22 billion more than Bill Gates. Maybe Amazon just wants to complete its quest for cross-industry domination. Either way, it's an exciting and innovative move on their behalf that represents something much bigger--and I'm personally quite excited to see it unfold. Zipline has been one of dozens of drone companies approved to take part in a drone delivery program in the U.S. across 10 states and one tribal government. Courtesy Company In the near future, if you're vacationing in the Outer Banks, North Carolina and you need an emergency blood transfusion, a drone could buzz over from the mainland and drop off a pint at the hospital or medical clinic where you're laid up. Zipline, a medical drone delivery startup headquartered in San Francisco, has been operating a nationwide emergency blood delivery service in Rwanda for the past two years. The startup has been waiting to bring the model to the U.S., but the Federal Aviation Administration's restrictive rules, which ban flying drones over populated areas and beyond line of sight from the pilot, prevented Zipline and other delivery drone companies from operating in the U.S. But on Wednesday, the FAA announced that 10 U.S. states have been approved to launch a three-year pilot program, easing the current rules in an effort to jumpstart the commercial drone industry in the U.S. Alphabet, Apple, Airbus, FedEx, Intel, Microsoft, Uber, and Qualcomm are among the winners, along with smaller companies like Zipline, Flirtey, and PrecisionHawk. Amazon, which has multiple patents for drone delivery, was not approved to participate in the program, Reuters reports. China-based DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, also did not make the cut. During the press conference, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced that the 10 pilot projects will test different commercial drone applications to assess how the federal government should regulate nationwide commercial use. The companies that are part of the pilot range from Flirtey, which will be airdropping defibrillators in Reno, to FedEx, which will deliver airplane parts to Memphis International Airport. The announcement is a big deal for the U.S. drone industry because the FAA's strict rules have hamstrung commercial use while other countries around the world have already implemented their own drone delivery programs. "Our country is on the verge of the most significant new development in aviation since the emergence of the jet age," Chao said at a press conference. "We've got to create a path forward for the safe integration of drones if our country its to remain a global aviation leader and reap the safety and economic benefits drones have to offer." The Integration Pilot Program, which President Donald Trump made a White House initiative last October, is asking states and local governments to take on the development and management of the drone programs in partnership with private companies. The 10 selectees include the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, San Diego, Virginia, Kansas, Florida, Tennessee, North Dakota, Nevada, and Alaska. Basil Yap, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program manager at North Carolina's Transportation Department, says the state will launch the program in Raleigh, Charlotte, and the Outer Banks. Yap says North Carolina teamed up with medical delivery drone companies Matternet and Zipline, Israeli food delivery drone company Flytrex, drone air traffic management software company Precision Hawk and Airmap, radar company Fortem Technologies, T-Mobile, Apple, and WakeMed Healthcare. The FAA's tight restrictions are still in place on a national level, so North Carolina and the nine other states still need to submit a safety plan and waiver request to the FAA to fly drones outside of the established regulations. "We won't see routine flights for a while, says Yap. "The program is three years long and by the end we hope to see routine package delivery out of line of sight and over people and at night." Zipline's CEO, Keller Rinaudo, says he is looking forward to replicating the same system he set up in Rwanda in North Carolina. It goes without saying these days: sequels, remakes, and reboots are Hollywoods new norm. In 2018 alone, approximately 50 of such beasts have either already been released into the world, or will soon take the opportunity to pounce. From Mission: Impossible - Fallout to The Predator, Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado to Luca Guadagninos remake of Suspiria - its not just a blockbuster fixation. But from all this arises one consideration: if the idea of revisiting existing properties is an attempt to lure audience-goers with the temptation of the familiar, what happens when everythings familiar? Where does the advantage lie now? How can studios stand out from the competition when nostalgia is being launched into our eyes from all sides? Enter the cinematic universe. The sequels step up. A structure which, in its most insincere considerations, seems built entirely as a long-term attendance guarantee. Its not exactly a new invention but, then again, theres never been a payoff quite as satisfying as than the release of Avengers: Infinity War. A culmination of ten years of the MCU, already passing the $1 billion mark worldwide in a record 11 days, while neatly shaping up to be Marvel Studios biggest hit yet. A marvel in itself when you consider its a film that relies so intensely on audiences already having an in-built knowledge of whats come before: old characters resurface without a glimmer of reintroduction, plot strands descend from the heavens without any impulse for context. All of a sudden, 18 preceding Marvel films can officially be sold as mandatory viewing. Its a feat almost Machiavellian in its underworkings: the creation of a grand, inter-film narrative thats slowly been advanced by each individual Marvel release. Miss one? Youre already behind. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Show all 17 1 /17 A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Avengers: Infinity War (4 May, 2018) A decade of the MCU comes to a climax with the first of a two-part "finale" to everything that's come so far. Uniting all of the MCU's heroes to fight Josh Brolin's Thanos, the film is expected to say farewell to some old favourites - expect tears. Disney/Marvel A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Deadpool 2 (18 May, 2018) Josh Brolin pops up again in Fox's own superhero sequel. This time as Cable, the time-traveller and sometimes ally of Deadpool; though it seems here he's initially (at least) being set up as an antagonist. The film will also see the introduction of the X-Force. 20th Century Fox A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Ant-Man and the Wasp (6 July, 2018) Taking place between the events of Civil War and Infinity War, the Peyton Reed-directed sequel will see Evangeline Lily's Hope suit up as Wasp, becoming the MCU's first female hero to get her name in the title. Disney/Marvel A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Venom (5 October, 2018) With Sony teaming up with Disney for Spider-Man: Homecoming, the character won't be able to exist outside of the MCU. However, Sony is still keen for their own superhero cinematic universe, looking to the wider Spiderverse for their options. Enter Tom Hardy's Venom, an antihero infected with an alien parasite. Sony Pictures A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (14 December, 2018) Sony also has Miles Morales at their disposal: the current Spider-Man in the comics. It may be difficult to transition him into live-action, but the studio is at least releasing an animated rendition of the character, developed by The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chis Miller. Sony Pictures A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Silver and Black (8 February, 2019) As a follow-up to Venom, Sony has hired Love & Basketball's Gina Prince-Bythewood for a film centred around Silver Sable and Black Cat. Getty Images A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Dark Phoenix (14 February, 2019) Fox's X-Men franchise continues with another decade-jumping installment, this time re-telling the Dark Phoenix storyline (as seen in X-Men: The Last Stand) during the 1990s. Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy will all return, with Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner taking the spotlight as Jean Grey. 20th Century Fox A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Captain Marvel (8 March, 2019) Brie Larson will step into Captain Marvel's shoes for another '90s set adventure, with Samuel L. Jackson's Nicky Fury also along for the ride. Getty Images for Disney A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Avengers 4 (3 May, 2019) With directors the Russo brothers hinting at a spoilerific title, we won't know much about what the last film of Marvel's Phase Three entails for a while. But all suggestions point to something huge for the future of the MCU. Disney/Marvel A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Gambit (7 June, 2019) Lambasted with delays and two different directors dropping out, Gambit still seems to be clinging onto the production line. Let's hope we'll finally get to see Channing Tatum as the X-Men's resident thief soon. Getty Images A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (5 July, 2019) Tom Holland's Spider-Man will likely be a prominent figure in the MCU's future, so no wonder the character already has a sequel confirmed. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out The New Mutants (2 August, 2019) With the current crop of X-Men coming to their inevitable end, Fox is likely hoping to launch the new generation with the help of this horror-infused take. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2020) James Gunn, who directed the previous two Guardians films, has already teased a third. How it might be impacted by the events of Infinity War is yet to be seen. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Doctor Strange 2 (TBD) Another film yet to be confirmed, but it seems inevitable the character will be getting another outing as part of the MCU's future. Indeed, director Scott Derrickson and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill revealed there's already a concept and villain for the second film: with Benedict Cumberbatch's hero fighting Nightmare, ruler of the Dream Dimension. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Black Panther 2 (TBD) After Black Panther's monumental success at the box office, it was only a matter of time before Marvel confirmed a sequel. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige also said he's hoping Ryan Coogler will once more direct. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out X-23 (TBD) Fox is also looking to develop the future of X-23, first introduced as Dafne Keen's Laura in Logan. A script is currently in the works. A complete list of every Marvel movie coming out Black Widow (TBD) It's been rumoured (and wished for) for years, but Marvel finally made their first concrete move towards a Black Widow solo film in January, hiring Jac Schaeffer to pen a script. The film, however, doesn't yet have the greenlight. The approach forms a compelling security blanket, of sorts, when it comes to the studios riskier, less flashy output. What could have been hard sells with the likes of Ant-Man and Doctor Strange - lesser known heroes with mildly confusing powers - became more surefire installments in an ever-growing empire, attached with the knowledge these characters would soon integrate themselves within our beloved Avengers. Though both films are amongst the lowest-performing of the MCU, Doctor Stranges $233 million and Ant-Mans $180 million domestic grosses both put them far out of the conversation of flops or disappointments. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Its proven to be a more tantalising hook than 3D could ever offer, certainly, and though the failure of DC's current cinematic universe to really stick with audiences has many a cause, its notable that it seems so much to lack any sense of a grand plan. Of course, cinema isnt only in self-competition these days. While Netflix unhinges its jaw to consume every creative project in its path, cinema has also had to reckon with televisions rocketing prestige. A feverish conversation battles over whether the art of television has truly surpassed that of cinema, or whether the two were ever comparable in the first place. The answer, however, matters little. That opinion being voiced in the first place is enough for studios to take pause and, even if its been heard before, the dissemination of the internet can turn even a whimper into a roar. Russo Brothers shot so much footage between Avengers 3 and 4 it would take '21 days' to view The irony here is that televisions new burst of prestige is partially due to the format speaking in an increasingly cinematic language: theres the attraction to auteur output (David Finchers Mindhunter, Steven Soderberghs The Knick, and Paul Sorrentinos The Young Pope come to mind), the inflating budgets, the flirtation with feature-length episodes, as seen with the likes of Westworld and Game of Thrones. Some shows have attempted to close the gap entirely and simply screen select episodes in cinemas: Marvels Inhumans, for example, showed its first two episodes in IMAX cinemas two weeks before they ever debuted on TV. Arguably, cinemas responded in turn. Television is able to secure consistent viewership through long-form storytelling, allowing characters to grow and breathe, while creating deeply embedded relationships with the audience. Those same things could arguably be said about the MCU and its ability to guarantee a base viewership by littering a narrative arch amongst so many puzzle piece films. A way to streamline the scattershot, expansive world of its comic book origins to create a single, forward momentum and a foreseeable sense of closure - even if Marvel's next phase ends up kicking things off anew. Which is what makes Avengers: Infinity War such the statement point that it is: its essentially part one of the MCUs season (or should that be series?) finale. All we need to wonder now is just how much bigger that blowout will be with Avengers 4. Pamela Anderson, who visited Julian Assange at his Ecuadorean Embassy refuge in London multiple times, has written to Kanye West in an attempt to gain his support for the WikiLeaks founder. In a letter published to her website, Anderson claims Assanges current situation amounts to torture and that he has been cut off from receiving visitors, phone calls, or using the internet. I support him and I know you value free speech, she writes. Visibility is good for him especially in America, where they are trying to put him away for life or worse for exposing corruption in governments. I think they are trying to kill him. It is torture. She adds: I want to seek more voices and share more about his fight. Public support could set him free. Media is monopolised, so some brave voices are the only hope to break through. Anderson praises Wests no filter approach, encouraging him to look at Assanges life and writing. She concludes with: I think youd admire him. Assange has sought refuge at the Ecuadorean Embassy in central London for more than four years to avoid returning to Sweden, which is seeking Assanges extradition in a rape investigation. Assange denies the rape allegation and says he fears being extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges if he leaves. Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more. Immigrants who enter the United States illegally largely lack the skills and education to assimilate, Donald Trumps chief of staff has said. The vast majority of the people that move illegally into United States are not bad people. They're not criminals, John Kelly told NPR, but they're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States into our modern society. The top Trump aide said he understood the forces that propel immigrants to the United States, saying I sympathise with the reason they arrive. But he argued the backgrounds of immigrants who come from rural areas, speak little English and have received only elementary school educations limit their ability to thrive in America. They don't integrate well, Mr Kelly said. They don't have skills. His comments dovetail with the Trump administrations overarching immigration philosophy. Combating illegal immigration has long been a centrepiece of Mr Trumps political platform, and the president has frequently drawn distinctions between skilled and unskilled immigrants - sometimes using derogatory language. After opening his campaign by saying When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, claiming immigrants from Mexico were often rapists and drug dealers, Mr Trump has called for dissolving a diversity visa lottery and has advocated limiting family-based legal immigration. He has instead endorsed a system more tied to employment. Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban Show all 20 1 /20 Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-1 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-2 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-3 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-4 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JANUARY 28: Demonstrators hold signs during a rally against a ban on Muslim immigration at San Francisco International Airport on January 28, 2017 in San Francisco, California. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends entry of all refugees for 120 days, indefinitely suspends the entries of all Syrian refugees, as well as barring entries from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering for 90 days. Stephen Lam/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-5 A crowd of protesters gathers outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse as a judge hears a challenge against President Donald Trump's executive ban on immigration from several Muslim countries, on January 28, 2017 in Brooklyn. The judge issued an emergency stay on part of Trump's executive order, ruling that sending refugees stopped at U.S. airports back to their countries would be harmful. Yana Paskova/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-6 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-7 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-8 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-9 Getty Images Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-10 Getty Images Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-11 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-12 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-13 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-14 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-15 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-16 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-17 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-18 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-19 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-20 Passengers wait in line to check in at the American Airlines terminal at JFK International Airport August 10, 2006 in the Queens borough of New York City. British authorities arrested 21 people and halted a anallegedly terrorist plot to use liquid explosives concealed in carry-on luggage to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said that the plot appeared to be directed at U.S. carriers flying out of Heathrow. such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines. Stephen Chernin/Getty We do need people coming into our country. You know, at 3.9 per cent unemployment, we need people coming in. But I will tell you this, we want people to come into our country on the basis of merit, Mr Trump said during a rally in Ohio last weekend. While Mr Kelly is widely seen as a stabilising influence in a chaotic White House, he shares Mr Trumps preference for restricting immigration - and, like the president, has generated controversy for his comments on immigration. John Kelly on leaving job as Secretary of Homeland Security: 'God punished me' Last year, Mr Kelly faced criticism for citing laziness as the reason some young immigrants in the country illegally who were eligible for a programme offering legal status and work permits failed to apply. Mr Trump has moved to end the initiative. They were too afraid to sign up, others would say were too lazy to get off their asses, but they didn't sign up, Mr Kelly said. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets across the country on Friday to protest against US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with world powers, as Germany, France and Britain reaffirmed their commitment to the deal. The protests resembled other aggressive but orderly gatherings typical under President Hassan Rouhani, who has tried for a rapprochement with the West. But while slogans of "Death to America" were few, many Iranians are sincerely angry over Mr Trump's decision and are siding with hard-liners who have warned to be suspicious of the West. Mr Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 accord on Tuesday. The next evening, Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes this week that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to "all hostile acts" to avoid "a new conflagration" in the Middle East. Israel's defense minister Friday called on President Bashar Assad to "get rid" of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble. Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the occupied Golan Heights, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. "We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here," he said. "I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani, and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages" Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. "Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life," Lieberman added. Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to the Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the country's sovereignty "under fabricated and baseless excuses." Syrian military video shows air defences trying to intercept Israeli missiles Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that the international silence in the face of such "aggressive moves" is in effect a "green light" to more such attacks. Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assad forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. In Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said the Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. "The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," the hard-line cleric said during Friday sermons. The worshippers chanted: "Death to America," and "Death to Israel". Germany, France and Britain have reaffirmed their commitment to the Iran deal but, in a bid to bring Washington back into it, want talks to be held with Rouhani's government in a broader format covering Iran's ballistic missile programme and its role in Middle Eastern conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen. Rouhani and his ministers have sought to reassure Iranians that their oil-reliant economy can withstand a return to pressures sure to follow Trumps rejection of the deal clinched under his predecessor Barack Obama after years of negotiations. The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet early next week to discuss their next steps. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the importance of protecting Israel's security but urged a "new path" of negotiations with Iran to calm tensions. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Later, it emerged Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and prevent an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Ms Merkel's office said she spoke to Mr Putin by phone on Friday, a week before the German leader travels to Sochi to meet the Russian president. It said they underlined their aim of preserving the Iran deal after the United States' withdrawal, and that both expressed concern about recent developments in the region. European countries should continue trading with Iran despite Trump's decision to re-impose sanctions, France's finance minister has said. Bruno Le Maire said Europe should not act as "vassals" to the US or accept that it is the "world's economic policeman". He told Europe-1 radio he wants to create a European body that would have the same kind of powers the US Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. As one might expect, organising the Met Gala is a very meticulous operation. There are many elements to consider when preparing for the biggest night in fashion, from the carefully chosen theme to the seating arrangement of the guests. Artistic director for Conde Nast and chair of the Met Gala Anna Wintour has spoken about what it took to make the event a success and the extent to which the organisers collaborated with the Catholic church in order to make the theme of the exhibition as authentic as possible. Wintour appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert yesterday, during which she discussed the ins and outs of the Met Gala with the talk show host. One of the biggest worries that Wintour had was the seating arrangement, as she revealed that many of the starlets who attend the night every year often express their displeasure over whove theyve been allocated to sit with. The Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination theme of this years Met Gala has been widely discussed, with some critics denouncing it as religious appropriation. However, Wintour assured Colbert that she hasnt personally received any backlash in regard to the use of Catholic iconography throughout the exhibition and ensembles worn by the guests. We worked very closely with the Vatican through the whole process and Cardinal Dolan, as I believe you know was one of our guests of honour at the dinner, Wintour told Colbert. Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan is currently the Archbishop of New York and previously served as the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor-at-large of Jesuit magazine America, also advised on the exhibition and attended the Met Gala wearing his traditional vestment. Wintour stated that Father Martins choice of clothing was her favourite male outfit of the night, as many guests mistakenly assumed that he had decided to dress as a sexy priest for the fashion extravaganza. The magazine editor also praised Pope Rihanna for her attire, saying that she nailed her costume, and commended Amal Clooney for her red carpet dress, created by British designer Richard Quinn, and the stained glass-inspired Tom Ford dress that she wore later on in the evening. The outfit worn by Lena Waithe, which Colbert described as a political statement, received rapturous applause from the talk show audience for its inclusion of the LGBT+ rainbow flag. Wintour expressed her approval of Scarlett Johansson, who opted to wear a dress designed by fashion label Marchesa that was founded by Harvey Weinsteins estranged wife Georgina Chapman. Georgina is a brilliant designer and I dont think that she should be blamed for her husbands behaviour, Wintour said. I think it was a great gesture of support on Scarletts part to wear a dress like that, a beautiful dress like that, on such a public occasion. The Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition is now open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The exhibition is the grandest in the museums history, featuring hundreds of valuable Vatican artefacts and high fashion thats taken inspiration from the Catholic church. The Catholic imaginations had an amazing influence on costume for many centuries, and I think it was Andrew Boltons [curator of the exhibition] amazing vision to understand that this would create the extraordinary show that it has, Wintour explained to Colbert. Its not only about costume. Its also about artefacts and art. Its the biggest exhibition that weve ever put on, not only at the Costume Institute but also at the museum. Its an extraordinary, massive exhibition of amazing beauty." Blake Lively's appearance at the Met Gala was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the evening, as she arrived adorned in a stunning Versace gown that allegedly took more than 600 hours to create. Livelys look was certainly a feast for the eyes. However, her ensemble featured a touching detail that many people likely failed to notice at first glance. The actress, best known for her starring role in Gossip Girl, carried a custom bejeweled clutch bag designed by Judith Leiber that paid tribute to her family in a very subtle way. One side of the Seamless Sacred Heart clutch was embellished with the initials of Livelys family, in addition to the Reynolds family surname. The B and R referred to the first names of Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, while the J and I signified their two young children James and Ines. Deadpool actor Reynolds didnt accompany his wife to the Met Gala this year, which led some naysayers to speculate about the state of their marriage. However, the decoration of Livelys clutch has made it clear that their suppositions are unfounded. In an Instagram post shared by the 30-year-old a few hours ago, Lively can be seen displaying the clutch on her lap while wearing the Versace dress. Take your family to work day, she wrote in the caption. Many of Livelys followers have expressed their delight over the sweet tribute to her family. Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Show all 50 1 /50 Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Rihanna went all in on the Catholicism theme wearing custom Maison Margiela AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Madonna poses alongside Jean Paul Gaultier, the designer of her gothic Met Gala gown AFP/Getty Images Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Supermodel Bella Hadid wears a glossy latex corset by Chrome Hearts Official x Gareth Pugh, topped with a sculptural cape Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Katy Perry incorporated the theme with oversized wings, a Versace chainmail dress and thigh high boots Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Black Panther's Chadwick Bosemanan wears an all-white Versace outfit with religiously inspired embellishments, gold shoes, and a cape Getty Images Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Priyanka Chopra wears Ralph Lauren Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Solange Knowles opted for a structural black Iris van Herpen dress and a halo headpiece with a black du-rag Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Lily Collins wears a black Givenchy gown and coordinating gothic makeup Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Kate Bosworth wears an ethereal Oscar de la Renta gown topped with a mantilla veil Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Vogue editor Anna Wintour wears a custom Chanel gown featuring a halter neck and intricate beading Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Frances McDormand wearing a Versace gown and Philip Treacy headpiece, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and Anne Hathaway sporting a Valentino Couture red ballgown AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Ariana Grande poses alongside Vera Wang, the designer of the singer's debut Met Gala gown Rex Features Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Nicki Minaj wears a red Oscar de la Renta gown and bejeweled headpiece PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Blake Lively wears Versace to the Met Gala PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Sarah Jessica Parker and Andy Cohen wear Dolce & Gabbana Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Kim Kardashian stunned in a liquid gold Versace dress with cross embroidery Reuters Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Jennifer Lopez wears a bejewelled Balmain gown with cross detailing while Alex Rodriguez opted for a polished black suit PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Tracee Ellis Ross wears a bright pink gown with a matching jacket by Michael Kors Rex Features Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Amal Clooney wears a Richard Quinn corset dress and navy trousers while husband George Clooney opted for a traditional black tuxedo REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Lana Del Rey wears an elaborate Gucci gown and bird halo headpiece REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Sean 'Diddy' Combs wears a Musika Frere suit while Cassie opted for Thom Browne with Chopard earrings Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Miley Cyrus wears plunging black dress by Stella McCartney and Sydney Evan custom hoops with a large cross Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Cynthia Erivo opted for a Valentino gown, Sophia Webster shoes and bejewelled brows Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Power couple Helen Lasichanh and Pharrell Williams both dressed in Chanel for the annual gala PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Winnie Harlow wears an all-white Tommy Hilfiger dress with a dramatic train PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Donatella Versace, who was co-host for the event, opted for an ornate navy and gold dress of her own design AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Elon Musk wears a white tuxedo and Tesla pin, while Grimes opted for a black dress and Tesla choker AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Lily Aldridge and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley walked the red carpet together, both wearing Ralph Lauren Collection gowns AFP/Getty Images Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Atlanta-based trio, Migos, wear sequinned Versace suits EPA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Contributing Editor of Vogue Thailand, Nichapat Suphap, wears custom Peter Dundas AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Anya Taylor-Joy wears a gold tapestry Dolce & Gabbana dress PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Janelle Monae wears a monochrome Marc Jacobs gown with a crystallised head wrap and Stephen Jones hat PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Rapper Cardi B opted for a custom Moschino gown alongside designer Jeremy Scott REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Eiza Gonzalez wears a black Prabal Gurung gown with a white cape AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Cara Delevingne wears a dramatic all-black Dior Haute Couture dress and beaded veil REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Lewis Hamilton wears an all-white ensemble designed by Tommy Hilfiger AFP/Getty Images Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Rita Ora wears an all-black embellished ensemble by Prada EPA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Amanda Seyfried wears a romantic Renaissance-style gown by Prada AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Amber Heard paired a Carolina Herrera scarlet gown with a gold halo headpiece REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Lena Waithe made a powerful pride statement with a sparkly rainbow cape worn over a sleek black suit PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Kylie Jenner wears a black Alexander Wang gown with semi-sheer heels and micro sunglasses PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies 2 Chainz (kneeling) proposed to Kesha Ward on the red carpet, both wearing custom Versace AP Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Doutzen Kroes wears a colourful Sies Marjan dress AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Supermodel Gigi Hadid wears a Versace gown with stain glass window-inspired detail PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies SZA wears a frothy Atelier Versace gown and a headpiece by Chrishabana AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Diane Kruger accessorised her Prabal Gurung gown with a custom Philip Treacy head piece REUTERS Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Andrew Garfield wears a velvety pink tuxedo jacket by Tom Ford PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Paris Jackson and Miley Cyrus both opted for gowns by designer Stella McCartney PA Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Vanity Fairs contributing editor, Amy Fine Collins, wears a custom design by Alice + Olivias Stacey Bendet Eisner AFP/Getty Met Gala 2018: Heavenly Bodies Emilia Clarke wearing a Dolce & Gabbana gown Getty And I thought her outfit couldnt be more perfect, one person commented. Another individual described the clutch as precious, while someone else said it was cool and thoughtful. Livelys dress was so large that she had to be sewn into it while travelling to the Met Gala in a party bus. Recommended Scarlett Johansson defends decision to wear Marchesa to Met Gala She reportedly wore Lorraine Schwartz jewellery worth almost 1.5 million on the night, which included a variety of diamond and ruby rings, diamond earrings and gold bracelets. The actress finished off her look with a custom halo created from 100 carats of champagne diamonds, in keeping with the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination theme. Lively attended the Met Gala with shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who escorted her to the party bus that took her to the event while she wore a silk Versace robe and Louboutin heels. The event, which is regarded as one of the most important fashion fixtures of the entire year, takes place annually on the first Monday of May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The UK is among countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, according to new research conducted by UNICEF. In response to the finding that 150,000 babies in the UK are never fed breast milk, health experts are calling for breastfeeding to be incorporated into personal social health education (PSHE) classes at schools so that students can learn the myriad benefits that breastfeeding can offer both mother and child at a young age. In the reports list of 123 countries, ranking lower than the UK - which had the fifth lowest rate in the world - was the US, Spain, France and Ireland, where just 55 per cent of babies are breastfed. The analysis indicates that even though breast milk saves lives, protects babies and mothers against deadly diseases, and leads to better IQ and educational outcomes, an estimated 21 per cent of babies in high-income countries are never breastfed. In low-and-middle-income countries, the rate is four per cent, the report reads. Countries with the highest rates included Sri Lanka (99.4 per cent) and Buhtan (99.3 per cent). Breastfeeding is usually advised by the NHS for the babys first six months, however, some women arent able to produce breast milk or find the experience too painful or difficult, with some mothers struggling to get their babies to latch on properly. Some also find it too uncomfortable to breastfeed in public, with one third of women confessing to feeling embarrassed to do so outside of their homes, according to a 2015 survey. Not to mention the numerous incidents of mothers being shamed for breastfeeding in public, illustrating that it is sometimes perceived as a taboo act. The benefits of opting for breast milk rather than formula include boosting your babys immune system and reducing your its risk of type two diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, the NHS website states. It can also be a deeply beneficial bonding experience between mother and child. Speaking to Refinery29, Professor Russell Viner, who is president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, advocated breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for a baby. Recommended Gap praised for featuring breastfeeding mother in new campaign He added that children should be made aware of the benefits as soon as possible in a bid to tackle the stigma, suggesting that the easiest way to do this would be to incorporate the topic into PSHE classes. By embedding these positive messages early in life, we have the power to change societal attitudes of a generation, he said. Then many more women can breastfeed in public without fear or anxiety, and provide the best source of nutrition for their baby in the process. To see which countries ranked highest and lowest in terms of breastfeeding rates, see UNICEFs data below: Countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates 1. Ireland (55%) 2. France (63%) 3. US (74.4%) 4. Spain (77%) 5. UK (81%) 6. Germany (82%) 7. Italy (86%) 8. Republic of Korea (88%) 9. Montenegro (88.3%) 10. Guyana (89%) Countries with the highest breastfeeding rates 1. Sri Lanka (99.4%) 2. Bhutan (99.3%) 3. Nepal (99.1%) 4. Madagascar (99%) 5. Niger (98.8%) 6. Rwanda (98.8%) 7. Kenya (98.7%) 8. Gambia (98.7%) 9. Burundi (98.7%) 10. Uruguay (98.7%) 11. Peru (98.7%) The government has announced plans to hand over 50m to existing grammar schools to help create thousands of new places despite a funding crisis in other state schools. Critics hoped the governments focus on expanding academic selection had been dropped after controversial plans to allow the creation of new grammar schools were scrapped. But the Department for Education has said the money for existing schools will create greater choice for parents, with the cash made available during the school year starting in September. The funding will be dependent on grammar schools of which there are 163 in England setting out what action they will take to boost the number of disadvantaged pupils they admit. Measures are expected to include prioritising pupil premium pupils in school admission policies, as well as a commitment to improving outreach work with primary schools. But critics have complained that the move allows the expansion of selective education in a "covert" way by allowing the creation of annexes, which can be on separate sites to existing schools. It also follows criticism that grammar schools do not help improve social mobility during a government consultation. Figures show that around 2.6 per cent of grammar school pupils are on free school meals, compared to 14.1 per cent across all school types. Jim Skinner, chief executive of the Grammar School Heads Association, said the expansion would meet high demand from parents for selective education at a time when increasing numbers of pupils reaching secondary age. But Melissa Benn, chair of campaign group Comprehensive Future, told The Independent: A number of grammar schools have indicated that they would like to expand and I dare say we will see some of those plans go ahead. I think we will see more annexes. It is a way of getting around the ban. Last year, the Weald of Kent Grammar School opened a controversial annexe in Sevenoaks 10 miles from its original site after ministers ruled it to be an expansion of the same school. Ms Benn added: The expansion had been done in this rather covert way. Annexe expansion or increasing the number of children from certain backgrounds none of that is going to make much difference to the policy itself which is not a good one and its not a modern one. At a time of public spending restrictions particularly in the school system it is a waste of money and it is a waste of an education budget. We should be using that money to improve all schools." Education unions have accused the government of pursuing an elitist policy during a funding crisis. Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: The government cannot point to a single piece of evidence that shows strong educational benefit of this misguided policy. While it may benefit a small minority, it will not close the gap between rich and poor pupils and if anything will increase the divide. He added: School budgets are at breaking point. The state-funded school system is rapidly heading towards insolvency. To pursue such an elitist policy as expanding grammars at a time of crisis is a distraction at best. This money should be spent for the benefit of all children, not just the tiny number who attend grammar schools. The confirmation of cash for grammar schools is likely to be seen as a revival of Theresa Mays pledge to expand selective education. Controversial proposals to lift the ban on creating new grammar schools were a key part of the Conservative manifesto in last years snap general election, but the plans were dropped in the wake of the election result, which saw the Tories lose their overall majority. One government insider, talking about the new rules to give more places to pupils from poorer backgrounds, told The Independent: We were never going to lift the ban on new schools, but we could make sure existing schools were more accessible, and that is what this is all about. Ironically, what the Prime Minister ended up with is no new grammar schools and quite strict conditionality on current ones expanding. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: The grammar school corpse has climbed out of its coffin once again despite evidence of the damage that selective education causes. Once prior attainment and pupil background is taken into account, research shows there is no overall attainment impact of grammar schools, either positive or negative. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA Under the latest proposals announced today, the 50 per cent cap on the proportion of pupils that faith schools can admit based on religion will remain following widespread opposition to the plans. But new government funding will be given to help set up new voluntary aided schools which are run with local council involvement which can have up to 100 per cent admission based on faith. Campaigners have criticised the government of exploiting a loophole to increase faith selection. Reverend Stephen Terry, chair of the Accord Coalition, said: It is very disappointing that the government wishes to exploit a loophole in its own policy and help open local authority maintained faith schools that can discriminate by faith when selecting all their pupils. The move to open fully discriminatory schools, but by a different route, will encourage more ghettoisation in the school system. This is a regressive move that panders to those who wish to isolate pupils of their faith from wider society. On the announcement today, education secretary Damian Hinds said: Children only get one chance at an education and they deserve the best, wherever they live and whatever their background. Standards are rising in our schools and weve created hundreds of thousands of new places since 2010 but we want to make sure every family can access a good school. By creating new schools where they are needed most and helping all great schools to grow, we can give parents greater choice in looking at schools that are right for their family and give children of all backgrounds access to a world class education. Alcohol and tobacco are by far the biggest threat to human health around the world, while illegal drug harms dont even come close, a major report on addictive substances has found. The Global Statistics on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illicit Drug Use: 2017 Status Report found a quarter of a billion hours of healthy human life are lost each year because of smoking and drinking, ten times more than is lost to illicit drug use. The study measures the impact in disability adjusted life years, which factors in the years lived with cancers, respiratory disease or cardiovascular disease alongside the lives cut short by things like overdoses. The harm from smoking and alcohol is largely down to markedly higher prevalence: globally, one-in-seven adults smoke the single biggest health harm globally while one-in-five drink alcohol. It notes that death rates per 100,000 people were three times higher for smoking (110.7 deaths) than alcohol (33). Illicit drugs only accounted for 6.9 deaths per 100,000. Smoking and alcohol are always well ahead [of illicit drugs], theres nowhere that it even comes close, Professor Robert West of University College London and one of the reports authors told The Independent. The report, published in the journal Addiction, also found that Europe is a world leader in these bad habits. In 2015 the regions with the highest alcohol consumption were Eastern, Central and Western Europe, with 11.98 litres, 11.61 litres, and 11.09 litres of pure alcohol consumed per person over 15 years old, each year. This compared to the global average of 6.42 litres, and heavy drinkers accounted for 40 to 50 per cent of these. These regions also had the highest smoking rates, with Eastern Europe leading with 24.2 per cent of the population being smokers. Recommended Nine out of 10 councils cutting weight loss and addiction schemes Western sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest smoking rates (4.7 per cent), while North Africa and the Middle East had the lowest per capita alcohol consumption, at 0.91 litres. We think of ourselves as bastions of civilisation, but on this particular area were doing worse than the developing world, Professor West said. Its a bit of a wake-up call, for me anyway, lets stop congratulating ourselves that weve got smoking prevalence in Britain down to around 16 per cent thats only down to the global average. If were going to make the impact we really want on death rates, we need to address the cultural normality of it all. Use of illicit drugs was less common. Globally fewer than one in 20 are estimated to have used cannabis in the past year, while amphetamines, opioids and cocaine are much lower. The US and Canada have some of the highest rates of cannabis and cocaine dependence, in addition to opioids which are currently at epidemic levels and caused 42,000 deaths in the US alone in 2016. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty Australia and New Zealand were the biggest consumers of amphetamines, nearly 500 people in every 100,000 have used them in the past year. Professor West added that the report, looking at illicit drug use and harms as laws were strengthened and relaxed, showed just how ineffective prohibition policies have been. We think of legislation and drug laws being an important weapon in the armoury, he told The Independent, But if you took an evidence-based approach, youd see there is no evidence. Yet it is something politicians love to do. The report does acknowledge there are gaps with the data collection, particularly for illicit drugs and in countries where data collection is not as good, such as in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. In absolute numbers China, India and Indonesia have the largest numbers of smokers, with higher death rates among those who do drink. Nevertheless, the report represents the most up-to-date audit of the state of addictive substance use and its harms today. Stalkers could be made to wear electronic tags and their victims would receive message alerts when offenders are nearby, police have said. The new initiatives were unveiled for London as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick admitted the force had failed stalking victims in the past. The number of stalking cases dealt with by the Met nearly doubled between 2016-17 and it is feared many more cases go unreported. Ms Dick told reporters: I am not here to defend where we have failed in the past. Maybe we have not given it as much focus as we could. We are striving to get better. A task force has been set up, incorporating police, mental health professionals, and overseen by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust aiming to bring together different agencies to look at the same cases. Every case of stalking reported to the Met will be initially be seen by the new Stalking Threat Assessment Centre (Stac), which will then decide the best course of action for the perpetrator, whether a behavioural programme, mental health treatment, or prosecution. Detective Inspector Lee Barnard, who will be leading the unit for the Met, said: In terms of technology, we are already engaged with a firm in relation to electronic tagging for perpetrators and proximity alerts for victims to give them a warning when the individual may be near. Asked whether stalking was under-reported, DI Barnard said: Some reports suggest that stalking is as widespread as domestic abuse so if that is the scale of it, we are talking about potentially thousands that are unrecorded. The Home Office has given 1.4m to the Met Police to set up Stac in a pilot which will initially run for two years. Police forces in Cheshire and Hampshire will also receive funds, but the scope of their work will not be as broad. The specialised Met unit will be made up of eight police officers, seven NHS mental health staff, the probation service and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, who work closely with victims of stalking. Together, the aim is to improve responses to stalking across the criminal justice system and the health sector through rehabilitative intervention for stalkers. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA In over a year of research for the initiative which examined 100 stalking cases in detail, DI Barnard said he had seen movie-like horror stories of stalking. On one occasion, he said, officers went into a room and from floor to ceiling, saw handwritten all over the house, song lyrics and a large knife stabbed through a book. Some of the writing on the wall appeared to be written in blood. On another a man who was stopped in a car had what DI Barnard called a kidnap kit consisting of gloves, a spade, a brick, a pole and a pitchfork as well as a notebook containing detailed movements of the victim. One man threatened to kill his unborn child by attacking his eight-month-pregnant partner. Latest crime statistics show that there were 1,197 stalking cases recorded by the Met in 2017 compared to 622 the year before. Around a quarter of stalking cases involve mental health problems, said Dr Frank Farnham, clinical lead at the National Stalking Clinic, an NHS unit which treats stalkers. He said: I am concerned that we see a significant number of people each year that have fallen through the cracks. About half of stalking cases are ex-intimate partner stalking cases and mostly they are not suffering from mental illness. The other half, about half of them are suffering from a mental illness. I think the problem with that is often they are individuals who are functioning quite well in large parts of their life and have developed a delusional belief about the victim which means they are at a very high risk of persistence because if they believe they are in a relationship with somebody, even if there is no evidence, why would they stop? While there is no legal definition of stalking, Scotland Yard describes it as a pattern of unwanted and persistent behaviour that is motivated by a fixation or obsession that causes a victim to suffer alarm, distress or a fear of violence. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, one in five women and one in ten men will experience stalking in their adult life. An Uber driver who raped a passenger in the back of his car before taking a selfie with her, has been jailed for 12 years. Muhammad Khurram Durrani dropped the 27-year-old woman at her home address on the night 23 July 2016, Southwark Crown Court, heard. The 38-year-old lost all sense of self-control after taking pictures of the woman as she slept in the back of his car, Judge David Tomlinson said as he passed sentence. After they arrived at her home, his victim approached her front door, but Durrani picked her up from behind and carried her to the car. There, he sexually assaulted and raped her, before taking selfie images with her while at least one of her breasts was exposed. It comes as no surprise to learn, and its no exaggeration to say, you have ruined her life," Judge Tomlinson added. The harm you did that night is incalculable. He had no doubt Durrani was aware his victim was almost paralytically drunk when he picked her up, he said. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA Durrani, of Streatham, south London, who was convicted in April was sentenced to 12 years in prison for rape and eight years for sexual assault. The jail terms will run concurrently. The 38-year-old will also be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and subject to a restraining order and sexual harm protection order. Durrani, wearing a brown cardigan, remained solemn as he was sentenced but his wife struggled to hold back tears in the public gallery. Defence lawyer Marie Spenwyn told the judge it was a one off and that his relatives in the UK and his native Pakistan had written letters supporting his character. Detective Constable Peter Monaghan, from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: This woman booked the cab in good faith to safely take her home. Durrani, realising the vulnerability of his victim, abused her trust and raped her. This assault has had a significant impact upon her, and her life, and I would like to thank her for having the courage to come forward and give evidence in court. Police said they would like to hear from anyone who believes that they may have been assaulted by Durrani. They are asked to contact the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command team on 101. Commenting on the case, an Uber spokesman said: This was a horrific incident and we welcome this conviction. As soon as we heard what happened this licensed private hire driver was immediately stopped from using our app. Every trip on the Uber app is tracked by GPS and we worked closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure this individual was brought to justice. Transport for London announced last year that it would not be renewing Ubers licence to operate in the capital, citing the firms approach to reporting serious criminal offences and background checks on drivers. TFL 'Report it to Stop it' campaign encourages victims of unwanted sexual behaviour to report offenders Uber is appealing against that decision. If you have been affected by sexual violence, you can find help via the NHS. Rape Crisis offers specialist support for women and girls; and the The Survivors Trust supports people of any gender. Rolls-Royce has targeted their new 250,000 4x4 car at millennials in an attempt to shed the luxury car brands image as the domain of chauffeur-driven businessmen. But the price tag for the wildly-expensive off-roader, called the Cullinan in honour of the worlds largest raw diamond, stands in stark contrast with the spending power of most 20 and 30-somethings. The British brand's luxury vehicle is aimed at a burgeoning class of super-rich millennials and affluent home-owners who buck the wider trend of young people working in low-wage precarious jobs faced with the prospect of living in private rented accommodation for their entire life. For the first time, the Goodwood-based company are aiming their latest car at a new demographic of younger, very successful high-net-worth individuals who have higher disposable income. When Rolls-Royce announced three years ago that it would launch Cullinan, it did so in the knowledge that its customers around the world had asked it to build The Rolls-Royce of SUVs, with luxury, performance and usability not seen before in the SUV market, explained the brand in a press release. Many of these customers were younger, very successful high-net-worth individuals who are heavily engaged in the experience economy, and wanted a Rolls-Royce that would take them to the ends of the Earth in ultimate luxury. The extent of the material wealth of the buyers is reflected in the types of recreational pursuits Rolls-Royce suggests its drivers might carry out and how the model will accommodate them. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA For those wishing to carry a long item back from their trip whether it be a Mark Rothko from the Art Gallery or a newly discovered artefact from the latest archaeological dig a loading length of 2245mm and load capacity of 1930 litres is accessed by electronically raising the boot floor to meet the seat base, allowing the item to slide through effortlessly, said the car marker. The car also includes a drinks cabinet with Rolls-Royce whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and refrigerator. Other special features include a retractable table and leather chairs that turn the back of the car into an outdoor dining area. However, the car's huge price tag is in stark contrast with the budgets of the vast majority of millennials: a third of young people face living in private rented accommodation all their lives a report by the Resolution Foundation found last month. The think tank said 40 per cent of millennials - those born between 1980 and 1996 - were living in rented housing by the age of 30. This figure is twice as many as "generation X" - those born between 1965 and 1980. The body's Home Improvements report argued "generation rent" needed far greater help and called for more affordable homes for first-time buyers to be built and greater protection for those in the rental sector. People of all ages in London are struggling to meet their basic needs, let alone buy a 250,000 car," a spokesperson for the London Renters Union told The Independent. "Housing is at the centre of a growing wealth gap and the vast majority of millennials have only a lifetime of insecurity and high rents to look forward to. But we can change course if Londons three million renters get together, we can reboot the housing system to get better conditions for renters and more affordable homes for everyone. Millennials' difficulties are not only related to the housing sector and the collapse of home ownership rates. The added combination of low wages, expensive degrees and debt mean millennials must confront financial challenges not faced by their parents. The British government must stop forcing doctors, banks and landlords to enforce hostile environment immigration laws, a United Nations expert has said. E Tendayi Achiume said policies supposedly directed at illegal migrants were destroying the lives of wider foreign and ethnic minority communities. At the end of a two-week visit to the UK, the UN special rapporteur on racism, concluded that laws enacted under the coalition and Conservative governments that deputise immigration enforcement to private citizens and civil servants in a range of arenas must be repealed. In a national context that is deeply polarised, it is no surprise that a policy that ostensibly seeks to target only irregular immigrants is destroying the lives and livelihoods of racial and ethnic minority communities more broadly, including many that have been instrumental to the prosperity of this nation for decades, and are rightful claimants of citizenship status, Ms Achiume said. Speaking in London, she cited austerity, immigration laws and counter-terrorism policies among the structural dynamics undermining racial equality in Britain. She heavily criticised the Right to Rent programme, which requires landlords to conduct visa inspections, bank checks and NHS data transfers that were partly scrapped earlier this week. The policies had effectively transformed places like hospitals, banks, and private residences into border checkpoints, she said. Sajid Javid opposes 'hostile environment' approach to UK immigration opting instead for a 'compliant environment' Ms Achiume warned that although nations are responsible for immigration enforcement, over broad laws that result in discrimination against racial and ethnic groups violates international human rights law. In the wake of a scandal over the treatment of workers who were invited to Britain during the Windrush period and their children, the government has apologised for appalling cases and vowed not to deport anyone wrongfully. Sajid Javid, who became home secretary following Amber Rudds resignation, has distanced himself from the hostile environment and said only illegal migrants will be targeted. The government had already rebranded Theresa Mays flagship policy as the compliant environment, but Ms Achiume said nothing would change as long as parts of the 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts that underpin it remain in place. Efforts such as eliminating deportation targets can achieve only slight cosmetic changes to an immigration enforcement regime that has permeated almost all aspects of social life in the UK, she added. A hostile environment ostensibly created for and formally restricted to irregular immigrants is in effect a hostile environment for all racial and ethnic communities ... both unconscious bias and conscious racial prejudice remain alive and well. The special rapporteurs final report, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019, will focus on the impact of Brexit on racial equality in the UK. Releasing her preliminary findings, Ms Achiume highlighted huge increases in reported racial and religious hate crimes around the EU referendum. She warned of a growth in the acceptability of explicit racial, ethnic and religious intolerance and called on the government to adopt policies shielding migrants from the threat of discrimination after Brexit. But her report said systematic bias long predated the June 2016 vote and has a range of causes. The structural socioeconomic exclusion of racial and ethnic minority communities in the United Kingdom is striking, Ms Achiume added. Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell The harsh reality is that race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability status and related categories all continue to determine the life chances and wellbeing of people in Britain in ways that are unacceptable and in many cases unlawful. Austerity measures have been disproportionately detrimental to racial and ethnic minority communities ... making women of colour the worst affected. She called on the government to subject all proposed fiscal policies to equality impact assessments that could flag any racial imbalances before they are brought in. Weeks after a UN panel raised serious concern over the deaths of a disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic people in police custody, Ms Achiume hit out at inequality in the criminal justice system. I am shocked by the criminalisation of young people from ethnic minorities, especially young black men, she said, citing racial imbalance in the use of stop and search, controversial gang matrix databases, joint enterprise laws and imprisonment. There can be no question that a pervasive and officially tolerated culture of racial profiling is at work in certain police forces," she added. Ms Achiume said national panic over terrorism was driving Islamophobia and called for the governments Prevent counter-extremism programme to be suspended and reviewed. She concluded that the strategy was fuelling distrust between Muslim communities and public institutions required to report suspected radicalisation, while there is no evidence it works. The rapporteur argued that Prevents forces civil servants, social workers, care-givers, educators and others, to make life-altering judgments on the basis of vague criteria in a climate of national anxieties that scapegoat entire religious, racial and ethnic groups. Ms Achiume concluded that although the UK had shown leadership in some areas of racial equality, including the prime ministers race disparity audit, the government still has much to do. I hope that this is only the first step towards transforming formal government commitments into reality, especially for those who experience the highest levels of exclusion, subordination and discrimination on the basis of their race or ethnicity, she said. Her recommendations have been presented to the government but the UN has no power to enforce them. A government spokesperson said: We note that the Special Rapporteur commended UK legislation and policy to tackle direct and indirect racial discrimination, and that in her end of mission statement she welcomed the Race Disparity Audit as a remarkable step towards transforming formal commitments to racial equality into reality. "We have made great progress, but the Prime Minister is clear that if there is no rational explanation for ethnic disparities, then we as a society must take action to change them. That is precisely what we will do. Home Secretary Sajid Javid is facing a call from more than 150 MPs to press ahead with a review into demonstrations outside abortion clinics. The review was originally ordered by his predecessor Amber Rudd who said it was "completely unacceptable" that women attending abortion clinics should feel harassed or intimidated. Following her resignation in the wake of the Windrush scandal, MPs are set to present Mr Javid with a letter urging him to continue with the review, BBC2's Newsnight reported. Recommended Google stops all ads about Irish abortion referendum The letter was organised by Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton in west London where the council voted to introduce the first ban on protesters demonstrating outside an abortion clinic run by Marie Stopes. Signatories are said to include Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, Tory former cabinet ministers Ken Clarke and John Whittingdale, and the Conservative chairwoman of the Commons Health Committee, Sarah Wollaston. The move is said to reflect concerns that while Ms Rudd was sympathetic to demands for curbs on protests outside clinics, Mr Javid's views on the issue are less clear. Last month, Ealing Council in West London became the first in the UK to ban anti-abortion campaigners from protesting outside a clinic. Councillors voted unanimously to approve a safe zone to shield women from demonstrators at the centre run by the charity Marie Stopes. It followed complaints that women were being harassed and intimidated by anti-abortion protesters, some brandishing large images of foetuses and shouting murderers as they used the centre. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA Ealings three-year Public Spaces Protection Order bans groups congregating within 100 metres of the clinic, which carries out about 7,000 abortions a year. Demonstrators are also prohibited from shouting, displaying posters and playing recordings about abortion in the area. Anyone who breaches the order can be arrested and charged. Pro-choice campaigners hailed the councils landmark decision, which they hope will pave the way for authorities elsewhere in the country to implement similar measures. Press Association contributed to this report Jeremy Corbyn is set to call for navy shipbuilding contracts to stay in the UK as he accuses the government of being hell-bent on accelerating industrial decline. The Labour leader will urge ministers to reverse the decision to put the 1bn contract for the ships out to international tender this month and will insist the three new royal fleet auxiliary vessels must be manufactured in British shipyards. Mr Corbyn will accuse the Conservatives of thrashing the UKs shipbuilding tradition and attempting to accelerate its decline during a visit to the historic shipbuilding heartland of Govan in Glasgow on Friday. Labour pointed to Article 346 of the Lisbon Treaty that grants an EU member state within the rules of the blocs single market freedom of action over defence procurement. He is expected to claim that if the contract remains in the UK it would create around 6,500 domestic jobs with 1,800 of them in British shipyards. Mr Corbyn will say: Workers in British shipyards, from Plymouth to Rosyth, share a proud tradition building the best ships in the world. But the Conservative government is trashing that tradition by offering up the Ministry of Defences most recent contract for three new fleet solid support ships to overseas companies to build abroad. This decision is wrong. Today we are calling on the government to guarantee that these three new ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will be built in domestic shipyards. Our shipyards used to produce half of all new ships worldwide. Our current market share is now less than half a per cent. The Tories seem hell-bent on accelerating and deepening this industrial decline, Mr Corbyn will add. His call follows the GMB unions demand for the government to use the order to buy for Britain and estimated 285m could be returned to taxpayers through income tax and national insurance contributions if the auxiliary vessels were built in the UK. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA The next Labour government will use public contracts as part of our bigger plans to upgrade our economy. Dont listen to anyone who says we cant build things in Britain and that a casino economy, which produces little but soaring inequality and insecurity, is our only future. Shipbuilding is not a lame duck, and can have a high tech, high skilled and exciting future right here in the UK. He will continue: The government claims that it is overseeing a renaissance in British shipbuilding. But Scottish employers have pushed through one set of redundancies after another in recent years. Our proposal would both sustain existing shipbuilding and supply chain jobs, and create new ones right here in Scotland and also across the UK. But an MOD spokesman said Britain was witnessing a renaissance in national shipbuilding, saying all its warships are built in the UK, with the Clyde securing 4,000 jobs until 2035, having been given a commitment it will build the Navys eight planned Type 26 Frigates. We are launching a competition for three new fleet solid support ships this year and strongly encourage British yards to take part, they added. Since 2010 this government has invested more than 6bn in shipbuilding in the UK, securing thousands of jobs. While in 2018-19 we expect to spend in excess of 750m supporting the fleet. The government has caved to pressure from relatives of Grenfell Tower victims to include a diverse range of people on the panel investigating reasons behind the blaze. Theresa May previously rejected a request from grieving family members for a diverse decision-making panel to sit alongside the head of the public inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, a retired high court judge. But following a petition signed by more than 156,000 people and a number of meetings with bereaved relatives, the prime minister announced she will appoint two additional members to the panel. A government statement said: The fire at Grenfell Tower was an unimaginable tragedy. Given the scale and complexity of concerning issues that are emerging from the inquirys early investigations, the prime minister has a continuing duty to ensure that the inquiry always has the skills and expertise it requires for the challenges that lie ahead. An inquiry panel with a breadth of expertise and diversity of experience will best serve the work of the inquiry for phase two. The additional two panel members will join the inquiry for its second stage, which will begin in December at the earliest. Adel Chaoui, who lost four relatives in the fire and launched the petition for the Grenfell United survivors group, said he was relieved at the decision. This is a huge step for all of us who are desperate to make sure the inquiry delivers truth and justice for the loved ones we lost in the fire and those that survived, he said. When we met the prime minister a few weeks ago to make our case for a panel we felt she listened to us. Today she has shown she heard us. We thank the prime minister for this. We also thank over 100 MPs who came to meet us in parliament on Tuesday. The shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, said the decision to grant a panel in the Grenfell inquiry was testimony to the campaign by the bereaved families and the survivors, but said they should never have had to wage this campaign. The demand for a panel was always about ensuring the trust of the community in the inquiry and it should have been delivered from the start, he added. For the Grenfell inquiry to deliver truth and justice, it must always have the full confidence of the bereaved families and survivors and it is essential that, going forward, all their other demands are properly met. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, meanwhile said that while the U-turn was welcome, it doesnt go far enough, adding: The prime minister should ensure that the panel is there for the whole inquiry, not just for phase two so that all of the issues and policies that led to the disaster are addressed. Theresa May must also start to make good on ministerial assurances on rehousing. So far she has failed miserably on those promises. It comes after 14 bereaved family members met with Ms May on Thursday, in a meeting that was scheduled to last 30 minutes but lasted an hour-and-a-half. During the meeting, the prime minister was told a diverse panel would help to restore campaigners confidence in the investigation. Afterwards, Clarrie Mendy, whose cousin Mary Mendy died in the fire along with her daughter Khadija Saye, told The Independent: We were asking for a diverse panel for the inquiry. We need diversity. Its not that hard. Thats what will restore our confidence. We gave her a lot to think about, she never said no, she listened to the concerns, but she kept saying she would think and reflect. We had to keep bringing her back to the main frame, we dont want to know about lessons to be learnt. Concerns were also raised that support for grieving relatives had dramatically reduced since the fatal blaze, as public attention has moved away from the disaster. In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Show all 51 1 /51 In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police have released images from inside the tower where at least 58 people have died Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by polices what appears to be a stationary bicycle sitting among the ashes In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by police shows the remnants of a burnt-out bathroom In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Picture showing the lifts on an unknown floor Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency crews outside the front entrance to the tower Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Fire crews inspecting flats in the burnt out tower London Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Grenfell Tower is seen in the distance PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A drone flies near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire 'Theresa May Stay Away' message written on the messages of support at Latymer Community Church for those affected by the fire Ray Tang/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire An aerial view of the area surrounding Grenfall tower Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Donated shoes sit in the Westway Sports Centre near to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of support for those affected by the massive fire in Grenfell Tower are displayed on a well near the tower in London AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A local resident stands on her balcony by the gutted Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of condolence are left at a relief centre close to the scene of the fire that broke out at Grenfell Tower, EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A police officer stands by a security cordon outside Latimer Road station Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firemen examine the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London on a huge ladder AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A search dog is led through the rubble of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident (name not given) at St Clement's Church in west London where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hugs councillor Mushtaq Lasharie as he arrives at St Clement's Church in Latimer Road, where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meeting staff and volunteers at St Clementis Church in Latimer Road David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firefighters with a dog walk around the base of the Grenfell Tower REUTERS/Peter Nicholls In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emotions run high as people attend a candle lit vigil outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Debris hangs from the blackened exterior of Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman speaks to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman holds a missing person posters near the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Sadiq Khan speaking with a resident James Gourley/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Ken Livingstone walks near the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is confronted by Kai Ramos, 7, near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks to a woman outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers distribute aid near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People gather to observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People light candles as they observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man distributes food from the back of a van near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A firefighter is cheered near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A T-shirt with a written message from the London Fire Brigade hangs from a fence near The Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A young girl on her way to lay flowers near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire The remains of residential tower block Grenfell Tower are seen from Dixon House a nearby tower block Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers prepare supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a fire REUTERS/Neil Hall In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers move a car to make space for a lorry picking up supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People distribute boxes of food near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower bloc REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman touches a missing poster for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano on a tribute wall after laying flowers on the side of Latymer Community Church next to the fire-gutted Grenfell Tower AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man looks at messages written on a wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Candles and messages of condolence near where the fire broke out at Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry a stretcher towards Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency services at Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry out a body from Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Rick Findler/PA Wire Nabil Choucair, who lost six relatives in the fire, including his mother, sister, brother-in-law and their three children, said he felt the governments approach to the inquiry was exacerbating the grief while support provided to relatives had dropped off a cliff. He said: It has caused us more pain and suffering. It is still not getting in, 11 months on. They should have woken up now. Mr Choucair, who also lived in the tower, added: The help has gone over the wall. It has dropped off a cliff. It is not as good as it was before, and it was not even great before. They are not doing it from the heart. It is like a job they have to do. There was more attention on it before. Prime Minister Theresa May and US president Donald Trump have discussed the impact of America pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, Downing Street said. The telephone talks covered a range of international issues, a spokesman for Ms May said, "The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," they said. "The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran. "They agreed for talks to take place between our teams." They added: "The Prime Minister began by congratulating the President on the safe return of three US citizens who had been held in prison in North Korea. The two leaders looked forward to the summit which will take place between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore. The PM said the UK would continue to work with the US to keep up the pressure on North Korea to denuclearise. "The Prime Minister and the President condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces earlier this week and strongly supported Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. They agreed on the need for calm on all sides and on the importance of tackling Iran's destabilising activity in the region. Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Show all 10 1 /10 Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian MPs burnt a US flag in parliament after Donald Trump announced America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal US President Donald Trump displays a presidential memorandum after announcing his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House. Reuters Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Some Iranian MPs reacted after Trumps decision by shouting 'death to America'. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian lawmakers prepare to burn two pieces of papers representing the US flag and the nuclear deal. AP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded "psychological warfare". AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Several Iranian MPs stood chanting in the Tehran parliament. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian MPs burning a US flag AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation in a televised speech in Tehran. He said he'd send his foreign minister to negotiate with countries remaining in the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to pull America from the deal, warning he otherwise would restart enriching uranium "in the next weeks." Iranian Presidency Office via AP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran's press condemned Trump's withdrawal from a multi-party nuclear deal but was divided over whether Tehran should react with patience or withdraw itself. AFP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Trump announced the US withdrawal from what he called the "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Iran, and said Washington would reinstate sanctions against the Islamic republic. AFP/Getty "The Prime Minister and the President looked forward to the President's visit to the UK in July." Earlier this week Mr Trump ended the USs commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated between Iran, the EU, US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany, which was signed by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015. It set limits to Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons, until 2031. It also limits the the number of centrifuges that can installed to enrich uranium until 2026. Iran also agreed to modify a heavy-water facility so it could not produce plutonium suitable for a bomb. In return the country was allowed to trade with other countries. As he pulled the US out of the deal, Mr Trump claimed it was decaying and rotten, adding that it was an embarrassment to him as a citizen. In the US the deal is politically-charged because it is seen as a key legacy as Barack Obama. It is also opposed by Israel, a close US ally in the region. Press Association contributed to this report. Labour MPs who defied Jeremy Corbyn to make a joint call for a new EU referendum will not be invited to a major event in the partys calendar. The MPs from the Northeast, who made the call in an article for The Independent, were attacked by organisers of the Durham Miners Gala which attracts thousands of activists to the region every year. They had argued that plans to withdraw the UK from the customs unions and single market would devastate family living standards in the Northeast, but the galas organisers accused them of disloyalty to the Labour leader. Recommended Labour Brexit row explodes as MPs defy Corbyn to demand new referendum It comes amid a deepening row over Labours position on the single market, with Mr Corbyn refusing to back a plan to keep the UK in the association despite there likely being enough Tory rebels to make it law. In their article for The Independent, Phil Wilson, Paul Williams, Bridget Phillipson, Anna Turley and Catherine McKinnell said new facts are now emerging about Brexit that create a critical need for a new referendum. But the intervention was seen by some on the partys left as an attempt to undermine the party leader. Speaking to the Morning Star, Durham Miners Association general secretary, Alan Cummings, said: I absolutely cannot see the point in what these MPs are up to. March for a Peoples Vote: campaigners call for march on Westminster to demand fresh public vote on Brexit My personal desire was to remain in the European Union, but the British people voted to leave. Its a democracy. Phil Wilson distanced himself from Jeremy Corbyn during the general election. It was a disgrace. Some of these MPs were elected because of Jeremy and his manifesto. They should be grateful. In 2012 Ed Miliband became the first Labour leader to speak at the gala, which can attract up to 100,000 people, in 23 years. Mr Corbyn has spoken at the event every year since 2015. When asked about whether the five MPs would be welcomed to the gala in July, Mr Cummings said: We cant stop Wilson or any MP attending, but they will not be invited. We are fully committed to backing Jeremy Corbyn. I dont know why they want to try and behave like this now. Labours current position is that it respects the 2016 referendum, that Britains EU membership must end and that the country should leave the single market and customs union to negotiate new relationships to replace them. Second Brexit referendum is possible says Labour's Brussels leader Richard Corbett But with most projections showing the UK worse off outside the EUs existing structures, the five Northeast MPs have decided to publicly contradict their leaders position and call for a Peoples Vote on the eventual deal. The MPs in particular highlight how firms like Nissan in Sunderland, Hitachi in County Durham and in the chemicals industry on Teesside, providing thousands of jobs, see their future within the EU customs union and single market which the Conservative and Labour leaderships are committed to quitting. It comes after 83 Labour peers defied Mr Corbyns will on Tuesday and voted for an amendment to Ms Mays EU Withdrawal Bill that would effectively keep Britain in the EUs single market. The amendment will now come to the Commons, with The Independent having been told Conservative rebels have enough MPs to make it law as long as Labour also backs it. But in comments that have infuriated some of his MPs, Mr Corbyns office has so far refused to back the amendment, claiming the single market is problematic for his plans to intervene in British industry if he wins power. The government has formally announced a consultation to investigate killings during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, amid a political row concerning the exclusion of an amnesty for military personnel. The four-month public consultation will seek to canvass views on a series of new mechanisms to investigate, document and uncover the truth around killings during the 30-year conflict. Late last year the government, which will spend 150m setting up the new institutions, indicated that a statute of limitations protecting security force members from historic prosecutions may be added to the consultation. The prospect of such a move was met with a wave of opposition in Northern Ireland. Both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists voiced concern, as did the Irish government and representatives of the victims. A mural in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast displays an image of an IRA gunman (Reuters) The DUP and some military veterans in Northern Ireland made the point that any such statute would, by law, have to be extended to also cover former paramilitaries something they branded unacceptable. Senior DUP figures favour protections for former service personnel as part of wider legislation that focuses on all conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. While the decision to remove the contentious proposal from the consultation was therefore widely expected in Northern Ireland, it has nonetheless generated opposition both by UK ministers and on the Conservative backbenches. The defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, is understood to be among ministers unhappy at the prospect of veteran servicemen being prosecuted. Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, insisted the new mechanisms would be balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable. I welcome the opportunity to launch the consultation today, seeking views on how to address the legacy of Northern Irelands troubled past, she said. Since my appointment as secretary of state I have heard deeply moving stories about the suffering that victims and survivors have lived with for decades, and the profound and lasting impact on individuals, families and communities. This consultation provides the opportunity to begin a process that has the potential to provide better outcomes for victims, survivors and their families. There is broad agreement that the current complex system does not work well for anyone and we are determined to put that right. In an area as sensitive as the troubled past in Northern Ireland, it is important that we recognise and listen to all views. Any way forward will only work if it can command confidence from across the community. Now is the time for everyone with an interest in addressing the legacy of Northern Irelands troubled past to have their say. A young boy walks past a loyalist paramilitary mural (Getty) While not publicly backing calls for an amnesty, Theresa May sparked controversy earlier this week when she claimed, as things stand in Northern Ireland, the only people currently being investigated over the Troubles were former security force members. Her claim appeared to run contrary to figures published by the police and prosecutors in Northern Ireland last year. Police Service of Northern Ireland statistics indicate more of its legacy resources are deployed investigating paramilitaries, while a breakdown of cases taken by the Public Prosecution Service in recent years shows more have been pursued against republican and loyalists than security force personnel. On Wednesday, Ms May told the Commons the current system in Northern Ireland is patently unfair. Her remarks came as some of her backbenchers criticised the governments failure to include a statute of limitations on security force prosecutions in the legacy consultation. Over recent years, the concept of an amnesty has gained traction among a number of Westminster backbenchers, who claim recent prosecutions of former British soldiers are tantamount to a witch hunt. Prosecutors and police in Northern Ireland insist such allegations simply do not stand up to scrutiny, with a breakdown of figures showing no disproportionate focus on ex-security force members. The consultation will close on 10 September. Additional reporting by PA A threat to strip lucrative tax breaks from private schools that fail to help state schools has been dropped, in another government U-turn. Independent schools will merely be expected to provide teaching and mentoring support, and allow state schools to use their facilities - with no sanction if they refuse. Labour seized on the rethink to warn there would now be no meaningful action to get value for the subsidies that benefit private schools. The NEU teaching union also criticised plans for a dedicated unit to strengthen partnerships between independent and state schools arguing there was no evidence it would work. The funding should be diverted instead to state schools that are crying out for the funding they need to educate their pupils and students, said Kevin Courtney, the unions joint general secretary. The Department for Education (DfE) told The Independent the threat to end tax breaks had been dropped because more private schools were already supporting state schools but was unable to provide any evidence for the claim. The proposal was made in a schools green paper 18 months ago and repeated in the 2017 general election manifesto calling on larger private schools to sponsor academies, set up free schools or offer more free bursaries. Smaller schools should provide staff to support teaching in minority subjects which state schools struggle to make viable, such as further maths, coding, languages such as Mandarin and Russian, and classics. They were also encouraged to allow state pupils to use their science labs and music, drama and sporting facilities. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA Sixth-form scholarships could also be provided, plus help for older pupils to make university applications, the consultation paper said. We propose to set new benchmarks that independent schools are expected to meet, in line with their size and capacity, the document stated. We think it is essential that independent schools deliver these new benchmarks. "If they do not, we will consider legislation to ensure that those independent schools that do not observe these new benchmarks cannot enjoy the benefits associated with charitable status. But the governments response to its own consultation which also sets aside 50m to provide more grammar school places drops all mention of sanctions. Instead, it argues independent schools are willing to think afresh about what more they could do to make their expertise and resources available to support state schools, in recognition of their responsibility to their local communities. They had expressed desire to do more to better target bursaries to children from disadvantaged backgrounds such as looked-after children, for example. Angela Rayner MP, Labours shadow education secretary, said: It looks like Tory ministers are continuing to rip up their own election manifesto page by page. Just weeks after walking away from their own guarantee not to cut school budgets, they are now abandoning their pledge to look again at tax giveaways for private schools. Labour would end the VAT exemption for private school fees to fund free school meals for every primary school child, Ms Rayner said. A DfE spokeswoman said: There never was a formal proposal to change independent schools charitable status. It was mooted among a number of ideas and we are confident that there is already a real commitment in place to improve cooperation between independent and state schools and focus on making a difference. Two British citizens have been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the foreign office has said. The man and woman were reportedly abducted alongside their driver on Friday while they were visiting the Virunga National Park, a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the country. A female park ranger also travelling with the pair was killed, the park said. Recommended Congo wants to drill for oil in parks home to endangered gorillas The tourist's vehicle was ambushed on its way from Kibumba to the city of Goma, Joel Wengamulay, spokesman for the Congolese Institute for The Conservation of Nature, told the UN-backed Radio Okapi. Investigations into the attack have begun, Mr Wengamulay said. A park guard said the driver was injured in the ambush, which happened about 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of Goma. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press. The park has seen rising violence in recent months, with armed gangs fighting over the area's natural resources, in particular its charcoal. Last year, a fifth of the sites southern sector was deforested owing to illegal charcoal production, the park said. DRC is still recovering from a bloody civil war that raged between 1997 and 2003, and the recent surge in violence has concerned aid agencies, who warned the country was on a cliff edge. Last month, five rangers and a driver were killed in a militia ambush, the park said. It was the deadliest attack in recent years and took the total number of rangers killed to 175. The rising death toll has earned the park, which is a Unesco world heritage site, a reputation as one of the most dangerous conservation projects on the planet. The park spans 3,000 square miles on the DRCs border with Uganda and Rwanda and is home to to around a quarter of the worlds critically endangered mountain gorillas and other endangered species, as well as lions, elephants, hippos and a host of rare bird species. 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 Foreign Office spokesman said: We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals, and our staff are providing support to their families. Press Association contributed to this report A Canadian government minister has said he was repeatedly told to take off his turban at Detroit airport by a security agent in what he branded a discriminatory security check. Navdeep Bainss saga caused a minor diplomatic incident, prompting Canada to complain to US officials and officials from the Trump administration to release an apology. Mr Bains, the minister of innovation, science and economic development, was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already gone through security checks when the incident took place. I went through all the security checks without revealing my identity as a minister, he told online Canadian newspaper La Presse on Thursday. I did it knowingly, as is my habit, to understand better what ordinary people are going through when they sometimes have trouble getting along with people in a position of authority. The minister said at first he managed to go through the metal detector without experiencing any problems but was then asked to go through an additional security process due to his turban. He said an agent asked him to go through another screening but the machine was not working properly. 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 After the mechanism emitted a warning sound he was asked to take off his turban by a security officer. I asked him why I had to take off my turban since the metal detector had worked well. I will never be asked to take my clothes off. Its the same thing. Its a piece of linen, he recalled. In the Sikh religion men are required to wear the turban. The US amended its travel policy in 2007 permitting Sikhs to keep turbans on while going through the security inspection process. Mr Bains said that after passing a second test he was allowed to continue but he was again approached when he got to the boarding gate. Less than 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart he said a security guard approached him to say he had to go back to security because protocol had not been followed. Yet again he asked him to take off the turban. I politely replied that I did not represent a security threat, and that I had passed all security checks. He then asked for my name and identification. I reluctantly handed him my diplomatic passport. Mr Bains said he was then allowed to board the plane. He said it was the first time has been asked to take his turban off while travelling in the US. After the incident, Mr Bains complained to Canadas foreign minister and officials in Ottawa then got in touch with the US Embassy there and officials in Washington. Undersecretaries for both the homeland security and transportation departments apologised to Canada on behalf of the US government for what had happened. A county in Washington State has become the latest locality to sue the oil industry for cash to help pay for the costs of adapting to climate change. King County a large county in the northwest of the state that includes Seattle filed suit against British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, and Conocophillips, with attorneys for the county arguing that those oil giants should help pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars that is expected to be needed to adapt to changing conditions created by climate change. Those five companies, the lawsuit reads, knowingly sold a product with the potential for massive consequences. Comment requests sent to the companies were not immediately returned. Recommended First landlocked US city sues oil industry over climate change This egregious state of affairs is no accident. Rather, it is an unlawful public nuisance of the first order, court filings read. The use of fossil fuels oil, natural gas, and coal is the primary source of the greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming, a point that scientists settled years ago, the filing continues, noting that a 2015 investigation revealed that scientists for the fossil fuel industry knew for decades that climate change posed a threat, but that the companies allegedly did not adequately disclose those dangers to the public or its stockholders. Exxon, one of the companies that was implicated in that 2015, has said that it did not act in any way inconsistently with its knowledge about climate change. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Citing the heavy costs that the county will incur for adapting its infrastructure for storm water management, salmon recovery, protecting public health, and other adaptation costs, King County Executive Dow Constantine said that the lawsuit is there to make sure the companies that profited from selling fossil fuels pay their fair share. The science is undisputable: climate change is impacting our region today, and it will only cause greater havoc and hardships in the future, Mr Constantine said in a statement. The companies that profited the most from fossil fuels should help bear the costs of managing these disasters. Big Oil spent many decades disregarding and dismissing what is our most pressing generational challenge. We must hold these companies accountable as we marshal our resources to protect and preserve what makes this region great. The lawsuit is at least the 11th lawsuit of its kind filed against oil and gas companies this year. The Washington county joins the likes of Boulder, Colorado which is currently the only landlocked locality to be suing for climate change adaptation costs as well as communities in New York and California. The average person should know were finally dealing with the costs of climate change. Irrespective of weather, this is a big concern to you, Richard Wiles, the executive director of the Centre for Climate Integrity, told The Independent when Boulder filed its lawsuit last month. At the start of the term at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in Arlington, Texas, last year, Stacy Bailey, an art teacher, introduced herself to her new fourth grade students with a slide show of her life. There were photographs of her family, friends and childhood. There was also one of her partner of seven years, Julie Vazquez, who Ms Bailey explained was her future wife. They were dressed in fish costumes from the film Finding Nemo. That image set off a sequence of reactions from parents and school district officials that Ms Bailey, 31, says amount to discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Dallas. She says her career was damaged when she was accused of showing inappropriate images to children, put on leave and told she would be transferred. All for one main reason, the lawsuit says: Plaintiff is lesbian/gay and was born that way. The Mansfield Independent School District, named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with two district officials, sees it differently. Ms Bailey was put on leave after she showed her students this photograph of her and Ms Vazquez. There has never been an issue with her open sexual orientation until this year, the district said in a statement. Thats when her actions in the classroom changed, which prompted her students to voice concerns to their parents. It said the issue was whether Ms Bailey had followed district guidelines that require controversial subjects be taught in an impartial and objective manner. Teachers shall not use the classroom to transmit personal belief regarding political or sectarian issues. It denied the allegations of discrimination and said the district has been an inclusive, supportive environment for LGBT staff for decades". World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Ms Bailey has been a teacher at the elementary school since 2008, and she was voted teacher of the year twice during that time. On Tuesday, she appeared silently with MsVazquez, who is now her wife, at a news conference with her lawyer, Jason Smith, to announce the legal action. She is seeking a jury trial, reinstatement at the school and possible damages. MsVazquez said in an interview on Thursday that since Ms Bailey was placed on paid administrative leave in September, she has been instructed by the district not to speak about the case or attend events on school grounds. The isolation is extremely heartbreaking, Ms Vazquez said. She has really missed out. The lawsuit says that shortly after Ms Bailey gave the slide show presentation at the end of August, the principal told her that a parent had complained she was promoting a homosexual agenda in class. The principal told her he did not believe she had done anything wrong, the lawsuit says. Ms Bailey was told the same parent had complained after she spoke to her class about the artist Jasper Johns, and mentioned that the students had just learned in the previous term about his partner, the artist Robert Rauschenberg. Kimberly Cantu, an assistant superintendent and one of the defendants, told Ms Bailey that the parent had said Ms Bailey had shown the children sexually inappropriate images, according to the lawsuit. It also says other parents made complaints after they were enlisted by the first one. Ms Bailey was asked to resign in October but she refused, the lawsuit says. Some parents and community members have been supportive of the couple, MsVazquez said. Mr Smith, the lawyer, said the case highlights a cultural divide in the district, which lies between Dallas and Fort Worth. Local leaders tend to be old Mansfield, while the population is tending to be more diverse, he said. She used age-appropriate terms, he said, describing Ms Baileys classroom presentation. She never used the term gay or lesbian. She used the term, this is my future wife'. She never talked about sex or anything inappropriate. Ms Vazquez said she and Ms Bailey have been together since 2011 and were married in March. The whole situation is just a little mind boggling, she said. The bottom line is that our family has a right to talk about our family just the same as any other family. The New York Times A California high schooler has been taken into custody after shooting a fellow student in the arm. Around 7am local time, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to reports of shots being fired at Highland High School in Palmdale. Authorities said they had apprehended a 14-year-old male suspect and recovered a single firearm, a rifle, off campus. Los Angeles County sheriff Jim McDonnell said authorities were reasonably sure the threat had been contained. One victim was shot in the arm and was in stable condition at an area hospital. He was also a 14-year-old. As well as Highland, three other schools in the local area were placed on lockdown. While the response was unfolding Highland High School, in a post on Facebook, warned people to stay clear of campus as deputies worked to assess the situation. 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 sheriff's department received an additional call about shots fired at a nearby elementary school but could not confirm that report. Deputies searched Manzanita Elementary School but did not find evidence of a crime. Palmdale, a city of about 150,000 people, is about an hour's drive north of downtown Los Angeles. The CEO of telecommunications giant AT&T has said the company made a big mistake in hiring Donald Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen for political advice. Our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment, CEO Randall Stephenson wrote in a memo to staff. Businesses that enlisted the political counsel of Mr Cohen are scrambling to respond to a document, released by the lawyer who is representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Mr Cohen and Donald Trump, that alleges millions of dollars worth of suspicious financial transactions flowing through an account controlled by Mr Cohen (an attorney representing Mr Cohen has not responded to a request for comment). Among the transactions detailed were payments from AT&T to Mr Cohens firm Essential Consultants. AT&T confirmed that it engaged the company in early 2017 to help understand the new administration, agreeing to a $600,000 (443,000) one-year contract. It said Essential and Mr Cohen did not do any lobbying work. In his memo, Mr Stephenson said the company had not done anything to violate the law. But he said the vetting process had clearly failed in hiring Mr Cohen, who has been beset by legal enquiries in recent months. Our company has been in the headlines for al the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged, Mr Stephenson wrote. 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 day earlier, pharmaceutical company Novartis revealed that it had paid Mr Cohen $1.2m (886,000) for a year-long contract despite only meeting with him once. Both Novartis and AT&T said they had been contacted about their transactions with Mr Cohen by the team of special counsel Robert Mueller, which is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and potential linkages to the Trump campaign. Novartis concluded after a single meeting that Mr Cohen would not be able to furnish hoped-for healthcare expertise, and AT&T noted in its statement that neither party brought up a meeting with Trump administration officials. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said those examples demonstrated that Mr Cohen had not swayed the president. This further proves the president is not going to be influenced by special interest. This is the definition of draining the swamp, something the President talked about repeatedly during the campaign, Sanders said. Giuliani: Trump repaid attorney Stormy Daniels hush money The attorney who released the document alleging suspicious financial transactions, Michael Avenatti, is representing Ms Daniels in her lawsuit seeking to nullify a nondisclosure agreement that bars Ms Daniels from speaking about an alleged affair with Mr Trump (the president and the White House deny an affair occurred). A prominent feature of the transaction with Ms Daniels - a $130,000 (96,000) payment that Mr Cohen acknowledged facilitating, and that Mr Trump was revealed to have reimbursed - has also drawn the attention of federal investigators. FBI agents raided Mr Cohens home and office last month and seized documents devices and documents that shed more light on the payment. Mr Cohen has moved to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination in Ms Daniels suit, citing the related criminal investigation. Donald Trumps secretary of homeland security reportedly came close to quitting after the president berated her in a recent Cabinet meeting about immigration. Mr Trump was reportedly furious with Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who also oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for not doing enough to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants from Mexico. He lashed out at her in a Cabinet meeting in which he rambled about his administration's failure to secure the border a promise that formed the backbone of his presidential campaign. Recommended Trump tells DHS not to admit asylum seekers in migrant caravan The interaction troubled Ms Neilsen so much that she drafted but did not submit a resignation letter, according to the New York Times, which first reported on the meeting. Neither Ms Neilson nor the White House denied that the outburst had occured. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said only that Mr Trump was committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. Trump during election campaign: "The truth is, our immigration system is worse than anyone ever realised" Ms Neilson said the president was rightly frustrated with existing immigration loopholes and a lack of congressional action. I share his frustration," Ms Nielsen said in a statement. "Border security is the most basic and necessary responsibility of a sovereign nation. These are complex issues and I will continue to direct the Department to do all we can to implement the president's security-focused agenda." A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), however, flatley denied the report, calling it false. "The Secretary is hard at work today on the President's security-focused agenda and supporting the men and women of @DHSgov, spokesman Tyler Houlton tweeted. People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP Mr Trump promoted Ms Neilson to homeland security secretary last year, after naming her boss at the department, John Kelly, as his chief of staff. Mr Kelly and Mr Trump have also reportedly butted heads in recent weeks, with the president freezing his chief of staff out of sensitive phone calls and meetings. Ms Nielsen has been a consistent defender of the president, at one point telling senators she could not remember Mr Trumps controversial s***hole countries remark, which he allegedly made in a meeting she attended. She has largely continued the hardline immigration policies endorsed by Mr Trump and established by Mr Kelly. So far, her department has ended the temporary protected status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Central American nations and others, forcing them to return to their home countries. 10-year-old undocumented immigrant with cerebral palsy escorted by border patrol agents Still, there have been differences between Mr Trump's "zero tolerance" promises and Ms Neilsen's policies. Last month, the president told Ms Neilsen not to allow any members of an immigrant caravan from Latin America to enter the US. DHS has since allowed several members to apply for asylum. The secretary also reportedly clashed with Mr Trump on his mandate to separate parents found crossing the border illegally from their children. The president felt Ms Neilsen and other DHS officials were resisting this direction, according to the Times. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last week that the Justice Department would prosecute and separate families caught crossing illegally. "If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It's that simple," Mr Sessions said. The attorney general also reportedly threatened to resign after being berated by Mr Trump last fall. Right-wing British politician Nigel Farage has said he will start a petition to have Donald Trump nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying the award would lose legitimacy in the eyes of millions if the US president had a successful North Korean summit and subsequently did not receive it. Mr Trump is among those who believes he deserves becoming a recipient of the Norwegian-based prize and has claimed such an opinion is widely shared. At a cabinet meeting in Washington this week, the president was asked by a reporter if he believed he deserved the prize. Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it, Mr Trump said with a reported smile. He said he was more focussed on trying to reach a deal with North Korea, whose leader, Kim Jong-un, he is due to meet in Singapore on June 12 for what would me a landmark summit. The prize I want is victory for the world. Not for even here I want victory for the world, because thats what were talking about. So thats the only prize I want, he said. Mr Farage, a long-time ally of Mr Trump who was the first British politician to meet the former reality television star after his surprise 2016 presidential victory, is among those who believe he should receive it. While many European officials are furious with Mr Trump for unilaterally pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal, Mr Farage believes the US president has shown strong leadership. Nigel Farage says his children have German passports A lot of people find it difficult not to try and discredit everything Trump does, but I remember the hysteria over awarding the prize to Obama for things he might do, Mr Farage told The Independent. Mr Farage, who represents the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament, said after the Nobel Prize Committee met, he would be organising a petition and seeking the support of other prominent European figures. He said, that as an elected official, he was among those categories of people The Norwegian Nobel Committee permits to make nominations. The only reason the North Korea relationship has come to this [stage], is because he was tough, said Mr Farage. He said he believed the US leader had taken a similar approach to Iran. He claimed Irans behaviour had become more aggressive, not less, since the signing of the 2015 deal, despite the International Atomic Energy Agencys repeated confirmation that Tehran was complying with the terms of the deal. He said at the moment, he suspected Mr Trump did not have a great chance of winning the award. Yet, if he had a successful meeting with Mr Kim, those chances would soar. If he pulls off this meeting with Kim with aplomb, and he is not awarded it, then the Nobel Prize would be delegitimised in the eyes of millions of people, he said. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The Nobel Peace Prize is one of six awards given yearly by The Norwegian Nobel Committee. Nobel prizes are usually announced in October but awarded annually on December 10, the anniversary of death of Alfred Nobel, who gives his name to the awards. The deadline for the 2018 award was January 31, so Mr Trump would have to wait until 2019. Nobody from the committee was available to speak about Mr Trumps chances of winning the prize, but the organisation confirmed that Mr Farages role as an MEP made him a legitimate nominator. Earlier this week, Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the committee, told the New York Times: Part of the strength of the Nobel Peace Prize is that it is controversial. She added: If it was a global consensus prize, it wouldnt have the relevance and the authority that it actually has today. If Mr Trump were to win the award, he would become the the fifth American president to do so. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are all Nobel winners. CNN said during a recent campaign-style rally in Michigan, the crowd broke out into a chant of Nobel, Nobel while Mr Trump was discussing his efforts in North Korea. The president smiled and said: Thank you, that is very nice. In late April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that Mr Trump would be a worthy winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, following his own summit with Kim Jong Un. President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. The only thing we need is peace, said Mr Moon Around 20 Republican members of the US House of Representatives have also written to the prize committee, nominating Mr Trump for his peace efforts on the Korean peninsula. Donald Trump claimed that "America is being respected again" and vowed to "secure peace" with North Korea as he campaigned ahead of the US's midterm elections. Speaking at a rally in Elkhart, Indiana, the US president said his relationship with the secretive communist state's leader Kim Jong-un was "good", adding that he would meet him "to secure a future of peace and prosperity for the world". He told his cheering supporters: "Something very good is going to happen". Mr Trump was joined at the rally by Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana's former governor and a number of senior members of their Republican Party in the state. Ahead of Mr Trump's speech, Mr Pence said the president "embraces his role as a leader of the free world" and part of that was his work on brokering a deal with North Korea to stop developing its nuclear weapons programme. A historic summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim is set to take place in Singapore on 12 June. Mr Pence also praised the president for helping to secure the recent release of three American citizens - Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song, and Kim Sang Duk - that had been held by North Korea. In his own speech, Mr Trump lashed out at the media, labelling unamed reports that his actions would "get us into a nuclear war" as "fake news". He added: "You know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars, weakness". Lamenting his predecessor, he said Barack Obama "paid $1.8bn for hostages", while the men recently freed from North Korea, "came home for nothing". Mike Pompeo meets Kim Jong-un in North Korea It is thought Mr Trump may have been referring to the Iran nuclear deal, which saw the US pay $1.7bn to Tehran, $400m of which was to settle a decades-old legal matter involving sales of military equipment just ahead of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Iran subsequently announced it would release four American hostages. The second and third payments - totalling $1.3bn - were made later and the Obama administration has since admitted it withheld some of the money as an inducement for actually releasing the Americans. Trump greets US citizens freed from North Korea Mr Trump continued by saying that his North Korean counterpart "did a great service to himself and his country," although this was greeted with a muted reaction from the crowd, which appeared uncertain whether to cheer for the leader who just last year threatened to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at US territory Guam, Hawaii, and even the west coast of the US. The president said the hostages "came out with respect," adding that what [Mr Kim] did was the right thing, but they came out for nothing and the others came out for $1.8bn in cash". Hopes for the summit remain high in the diplomatic world as it comes just a little over a month after a historic meeting between Mr Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The pair had met in the neutral border territory Demilitarised Zone to sign the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula during the Inter-Korean Summit and officially ended the war that began when the north and south split in a battle over communism and democracy that began on 25 June 1950. When Donald Trump made his surprise announcement naming CIA director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, he left a void at the intelligence agency that may for the first time be filled by a woman: former CIA deputy director Gina Haspel. Ms Haspel's nomination earned praised from a number of former CIA leaders, but it also stirred controversy: Human rights groups and members of Congress wanted to know more about Ms Haspel's history at the agency a secretive one, which involved several encounters with the CIA's controversial, post-9/11 interrogation programme. Below is everything we've learned about the nominee and her contentious background. Gina Haspel confirmation hearing: Haspel promises not to restart CIA programme Who is Gina Haspel? The 33-year CIA veteran has served as deputy director of the agency since February 2017, when Mr Trump nominated her to the role. She took over as acting director from Mr Pompeo after his confirmation as Secretary of State. Little is known about career before this, as the bulk of it was spent undercover. Materials released by the White House trumpeted her as a celebrated leader, who previously served as Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service and Chief of Staff for the CIAs Directorate of Operations. She also won the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Presidential Rank Award, and other accolades. In a her Senate confirmation hearing this week, the 61-year-old released more biographical information. She said she was born in Kentucky but raised as an Army brat, moving frequently throughout her childhood. She joined the CIA in 1985 as an operations officer in the clandestine service and worked her way up the ranks, serving a total of seven tours in the field including four as chief of station. By any standard, my life at the Agency and it has been my life has exceeded all of my expectations, from that January day when I took my oath to today, she said at the hearing. Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), testifies at her confirmation hearing (Andrew Harnik/AP) Why is she a controversial choice? Ms Hapels more than three decades at the CIA also included a dark period in American history: the post-9/11 CIA interrogation programme, which employed methods that many have deemed torture. Its not clear the depth of Ms Haspels involvement in the programme, as much of her record is classified. (Though, as several senators pointed out in her hearing, she has the power as acting CIA director to declassify any information shed like.) What we do know is that Ms Haspel oversaw an American black site prison in Thailand in 2002, at the same time at least one detainee was waterboarded. She also drafted a 2005 cable ordering the destruction of nearly 100 video tapes showing detainees being waterboarded by the CIA. An internal CIA review later found Ms Haspel was not at fault for the tapes' destruction. In her committee hearing, Ms Haspel vowed to never, ever restart the controversial interrogation programme at the CIA. She also maintained that her former boss, Jose Rodriguez, had been the one to officially order the destruction of the videotapes. But she refused to say whether she had overseen the waterboarding at the black site prison, saying the information was classified. To the frustration of several senators, Ms Haspel also refused to call the methods the CIA had used immoral. Instead, she said the CIA had done extraordinary work in the aftermath of 9/11, but should be held to a stricter moral standard now. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Who is opposed to her confirmation? Numerous human rights groups, more than 50 members of the US House, and more than 100 former US ambassadors have spoken out against Ms Haspels nomination. But what really matters to the deputy director now is the senators: She needs 51 of them to approve her nomination. Republicans currently hold a slim, 49-51 majority in the chamber good news for Ms Haspel, who has so far secured the support of only one Democratic senator. But several Republicans have also said they will not vote for the controversial nominee. Senator John McCain a Navy veteran who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam released a statement urging his fellow Republicans to oppose Ms Haspel after her committee hearing. Ms. Haspels role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying, he wrote. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination." A group of 109 former US diplomats expressed similar concerns in a letter sent to senators before Ms Haspels hearing. They said her nomination would undercut the work of those trying to convince foreign counterparts that torture is not only morally wrong, but strategically shortsighted and legally impermissible. Republican Senator Rand Paul has also said he will not vote for Ms Haspel. Gina Haspel hearing interrupted by an anti torture protestor yelling bloody gina Who is in favour of it? Despite the pushback from outside groups and legislators, Ms Haspel has strong support from figures inside the agency. Mr Pompeo, her boss at the CIA for more than a year, called her and exemplary intelligence officer and a devoted patriot in a statement. Several Obama-era figures, including former director of national intelligence James Clapper and former CIA director John Brennan, have also voiced their support. Michael Morell, the former CIA Deputy Director during the Obama Administration, called Ms Hapel a highly capable individual, with the best interests of the country, the Agency, and the men and women who serve it at heart. Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr praised Ms Haspel during her committee hearing, calling her the most qualified person the president could have chosen to lead the CIA and the most prepared nominee in its 70-year history. Whats next? Ms Haspel appeared to have passed a Senate Intelligence Committee vote after her hearing on Wednesday. Her confirmation now advances to a full Senate vote, where she needs a simple majority to be approved. He is receiving treatment for an aggressive, rarely-curable form of cancer. He is obtaining help for the treatments side effects. He is welcoming a stream of friends who share memories and say what needs to be said, without using the word goodbye. And amid all of this, 81-year-old Senator John McCain remains in the headlines, taking decisions he believes are vital for the well-being of his country and receiving a barrage of vitriol for his behaviour, some of it emanating from the White House. On Thursday, a White House official telephoned one of the former prisoner of wars daughters, Meghan McCain, to personally apologise after it emerged she had mocked the senators glioblastoma, a pernicious form of brain cancer. Earlier in the week, Mr McCain, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he would not support Mr Trumps nomination for the next head of the CIA, Gina Haspel. Mr McCain, a longtime opponent of torture since he endured it during his five years as a prisoner in Vietnam, said Ms Haspel ought not to become head of Americas preeminent intelligence organisation as she has failed to explain her oversight of black-site CIA operations in which water-boarding and other such techniques were used during George W Bushs so-called war on terror. While Mr McCain was not present for her testimony, as he was receiving treatment in Arizona, he issued a statement saying Ms Haspel, the acting head of the CIA, ought not to get the vote to replace Mike Pompeo, the former director who is now Mr Trumps secretary of state. I believe Gina Haspel is a patriot who loves our country and has devoted her professional life to its service and defence, Mr McCain said. However, Ms Haspels role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination. Joe Biden comforts Meghan McCain over her father's cancer diagnosis After Mr McCain issued his statement, it emerged White House special assistant Kelly Sadler had sought to dismiss the veteran Republicans views with a joke. She reportedly told colleagues: It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway. A White House official told CNN that Ms Sadler, who deals with surrogates who speak on behalf of Mr Trump, meant the comment as a joke but one which fell flat. Reports said the phone call between Ms McCain and Ms Sadler did not go well, and that the senators family was deeply upset by the remark. Mr McCains wife, Cindy McCain, responded with a tweet to Ms Sadler, pointing out that my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren. Meghan McCain, who retweeted her mothers remark, further condemned Ms Sadlers remark. Appearing on ABC, she said: I dont understand what kind of environment youre working in when that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job. She added: Dont feel bad for me or my family Theres so much more love and prayer and amazing energy being generated towards us. It is not how you die, it is how you live. 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 This is not the first time that Mr McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, has been on the receiving ends of harsh words from either the Trump administration, or the president. During his campaign for the White House, Mr Trump, who received five draft deferrals for Vietnam, some of which were for purportedly having bone spurs, made fun of Mr McCains status as a US war hero. Hes not a war hero, Mr Trump said in 2015, of the man whose nickname was The Maverick when he challenged Mr Bush for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured. The relationship between the two men both of whom are frequently abrasive and with considerable egos has remained tense. During the 2016 campaign, Mr McCain endorsed Mr Trump despite his reservations, because he himself was seeking re-election to the senate and realised he would need the backing of the former reality television stars supporters. Since Mr Trump has entered the White House, and as Mr McCain has entered what many suspect is the twilight of his political career, the senator has become more outspoken, and more concerned about doing the right thing, something he has acknowledged he failed to do when he agreed to have Tea Party-favourite Sarah Palin as his 2008 running mate. In a new memoir, The Restless Wave, he said he ought to have opted for his friend, former senator Joseph Lieberman. Mr Trump was furious in July last year after the Arizona senator voted against a measure that would have scrapped Mr Obamas landmark Affordable Care Act, something the president was determined to see consigned to the dustbin of history. A recent New York Times report on Mr McCain as he receives treatment and meets friends, said he had been leading conference calls with his staff in a strained voice, holding three-hour physical therapy sessions and ending most days with a glass of Absolut Elyx on ice. John knows hes in a very, very, very precarious situation, and yet hes still concerned about the state of the country, former vice president Joe Biden told the newspaper. We talked about how our international reputation is being damaged and we talked about the need for people to stand up and speak out. On Friday, Mr McCains office did not respond to requests for comment about Ms Sadlers comment or her apology. In a statement, the White House did not seek to deny she had made the remark, but added: We respect Senator McCains service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. John McCains wife has hit out at the White House staffer who reportedly mocked her ailing husband by saying the 81-year-old senator didnt matter because he was dying anyway. May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren, Cindy McCain tweeted at the White House staffer, Kelly Sadler. Ms Sadler, a special assistant to the president, reportedly mocked Mr McCain in a White House meeting after the senator announced his opposition to Donald Trumps pick for CIA director. Recommended John McCain urges Senate not to confirm Gina Haspel as CIA director It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway, Ms Sadler said, according to the Hill. The White House did not deny the statement. Mr McCain was diagnosed last year with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He is at home in Arizona recovering, and has not returned to the Senate since December. Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime family friend, recently told reporters that the senators condition was stabilising. Ms Sadler reportedly called Mr McCains daughter, Meghan McCain, to apologise after the alleged comments were publicised. The call did not go well, according to Politico. Gina Haspel confirmation hearing: Haspel promises not to restart CIA programme Mr McCain a career Republican who has sparred repeatedly with the Trump White House voiced his opposition to Mr Trumps CIA director nominee, Gina Haspel, in a statement after her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. In the hearing, Ms Haspel refused to call previous CIA interrogation methods torture, or to state unequivocally that torture is immoral. Mr McCain, a US Navy veteran who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, called her statements disqualifying. I believe Gina Haspel is a patriot who loves our country and has devoted her professional life to its service and defence, he said. However, Ms Haspels role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge tortures immorality is disqualifying. 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 Ms Haspel briefly oversaw an American black site prison in Thailand where at least one detainee was waterboarded in 2002. She also wrote a cable ordering the destruction of nearly 100 videotapes of CIA waterboarding sessions, though the CIA maintains her boss was the one to sign and send it. Her nomination was met with opposition by several senators and a number of human rights groups many of whom have deemed the CIAs post-9/11 interrogation methods torture. More than 100 former US diplomats sent a letter to senators opposing her nomination, saying it would send a terrible signal to confirm as the next director of the CIA someone who was so intimately involved in this dark chapter of our nations history. Ms Haspels nomination now proceeds to a full Senate vote. Her confirmation requires a simple majority, which Republicans maintain by a slim, 51-49 margin. Only two Republicans Mr McCain and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul have voiced their opposition so far. Police in North Carolina are under fire after a video emerged of an officer choking and slamming an African-American man. In a video posted to Facebook, an officer in a tactical vest can be seen pushing a young African-American man in formal attire against a wall, choking him and then hurling him on the ground in front of a Waffle House. Get your hands off me, the man repeatedly shouts. The town of Warsaw, North Carolinas chief of police told the Raleigh News & Observer that his department was investigating the incident, as was district attorney Ernie Lee. We are currently investigating the whole incident, interviewing witnesses and gathering additional video, police chief Eric Southerland said in a statement. Anthony Wall had taken his 16-year-old sister out for food after she attended prom and got into an argument with Waffle House employees, the 22-year-old Mr Wall told ABC11. When the police arrived, he said, things turned violent. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that's when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me, Mr Wall said. He was charged with resisting arrest and with disorderly conduct relating to his altercation with the restaurant staff. Video of the incident has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. The 92-year-old comeback kid of Malaysian politics, Mahathir Mohamad, had been in power for less than 24 hours when he made an announcement that effectively heralded his own downfall. On Friday, Mr Mahathir said he had successfully secured a royal pardon for the opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, a man who had joined him in coalition from the confines of a prison cell. It marked the latest extraordinary twist in a heady few days for politics in the southeast Asian nation. Mr Mahathir, the former authoritarian leader who stepped down after 22 years in power in 2003, has vowed to hand over the reins once again if Mr Anwar is released from jail. Mr Anwar, a former protegee of Mr Mahathir until the pair fell out in 1998, retains huge popularity among a generation of Malaysians who see him as the wrongly imprisoned reform candidate of the turn of the millennium. The victorious opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, which collectively won 122 seats of the 222-member parliament in this weeks general election, only backed Mr Mahathir as leader on the condition that he eventually make way for Mr Anwar, and that he take Mr Anwars wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as his deputy. She is now the first female deputy premier in Malaysias history. Analysts say Mr Anwars cross-ethnic support was critical to Pakatan Harapans success, and it is now a matter of when, not if, Mr Mahathir steps aside. After meeting with Sultan Muhammad V, Malaysias constitutional monarch, Mr Mahathir said the king had indicated he is willing to give an immediate pardon that would free Mr Anwar from his second spell in prison, on 2015 sodomy charges which many believe were politically motivated by the then-government of ousted prime minister Najib Razak. Ms Wan Azizah went to visit her husband in hospital on Friday, and afterwards told reporters he could be out of custody in days and have his pardon within a week. He is currently warded at a hospital in Cheras to recover from recent surgery. She said: The agong (king) wants the pardon to happen as soon as possible. If the director of prisons is satisfied then he may be released in two to three days. Freedom is easier [than getting a pardon]. Once out of prison, Mr Anwar will need to wait for a byelection to become a member of parliament before he can be named as the new prime minister a process which, combined with the pardoning, Mr Mahathir has previously suggested could take up to two years. Bridget Welsh, a leading expert on Malaysian politics and associate professor at John Cabot University in Italy, told The Independent that it may actually help Mr Anwar to let Mr Mahathir lead for the time being. Anwars supporters are ambitious and would like an early turnover, she said. But it is in Anwars interest to allow Mahathir to make the reforms needed to the system, politically and economically, given the mandate he has received. A major corruption scandal involving money allegedly siphoned from a Kuala Lumpur development programme, plus an unpopular new sales tax, are seen as being responsible for the incumbent Mr Najibs defeat in the election. Mr Mahathir, himself not immune to allegations of corruption in the past, made much in his campaign of cleaning up the government, and on Friday said many suspected corrupt civil servants could expect to lose their jobs in the coming weeks. The idea would be that once Mr Mahathir has fulfilled his election mandate, Mr Anwar would be in a freer position to carry the country forwards. We will see how they work together, and whether they remain focused on the nation as opposed to themselves and their supporters, Ms Welsh added. Mr Mahathirs age may also play a factor in the duration of his latest tenure as prime minister. Though remarkably well for a 92-year-old, he will inevitably face questions around his health and ability to lead. Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim smiles as he leave the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, Malaysia, 3 November 2014 (EPA) For now, though, he is the fresh face welcomed by Malaysians disillusioned by the increasingly unpopular administration of Mr Najib. People were simply fed up with the party that had run Malaysia for 61 years, said Joseph Liow Chin Yong, professor of international politics at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. But of course, the presence of both Mahathir and Anwar played a role to catalyse things, he added. The fact that Mahathir and Anwar reconciled, or so it seems, really fired up the imagination of what Malaysia can achieve in a post-Najib, post-UMNO (former ruling party) era. Mr Mahathir said his four-party alliance will hold a meeting on Saturday and name just 10 ministers, adding that he does not want a huge cabinet an apparent reference to the bloated cabinets of more than 30 ministers in the past. And he indicated one of his first acts as prime minister would be to replace the attorney general, Mohamed Apandi Ali, who was appointed after Mr Najib sacked his predecessor in 2015 to escape possible prosecution over what is known as the 1MDB corruption scandal. 1MDB was a state fund set up by Mr Najib in 2009 to promote economic development in the capital, but it accumulated billions in debts. US investigators say Mr Najibs associates stole and looted at least $4.5bn (3.3bn from the fund. They say some $700m (517m) landed in Mr Najibs bank account. He has always denied any wrongdoing. The damage to North Koreas nuclear test site after its latest missile firing is believed to be worse than previously thought, it has been reported. Space-based radar showed that after the initial impact of the blast, which took place in September 2017, a large part of the underground Punggye-ri test site caved in. Chinese scientists had previously said that due to a partial collapse of a mountain near the test region that part of the site was no longer useable. The new research, from a study published in Science magazine, confirms this is likely to be the case. Sylvain Barbot, one of the authors of the study, said: This means that a very large domain has collapsed around the test site, not merely a tunnel or two. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has promised to shut down the site in what many have viewed as a significant concession. This new evidence however adds to theories the site is unusable and its closure an empty gesture. However, US researchers who have studied satellite images of the region argue that some parts of the Punggye-ri site are still usable, according to the Wall Street Journal. 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 news comes as Donald Trump has confirmed the date and location of his historic meeting with Mr Kim - saying he will meet the North Korean leader in Singapore on 12 June and calling it a very special moment for world peace! Mr Trump had previously expressed a preference for the meetings to be held in the demilitarised zone, which he said would be an especially symbolic location. Seven people have been found dead with gunshot wounds at a property near the tourist town of Margaret River in Australia's southwest on Friday, police said. The bodies of three adults and four children and two guns were found at a property at the village of Osmington, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. Police were called to the house at around 5.15am local time (Thursday 10.15pm BST) and officers have no concerns about wider public safety, Mr Dawson added. He said: "This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest." Police were attempting to make contact with victims' relatives, Mr Dawson said. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty This could be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australia's gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters including former US president Barack Obama saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented. The generally accepted definition of a mass shooting - four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event - has been met only once in Australia since then in 2014 when a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. AP Seven people, including four children, have been found dead at a rural property in what is reported to be Australia's deadliest mass shooting in 22 years. The bodies were discovered in the rural village of Osmington in Western Australia. The victims were three generations of the same family, Australia's ABC News reported. They have been named locally as Katrina Miles, her four children aged eight to 13, and their grandparents. Officers have not yet confirmed widespread reports of murder-suicide - but they have said two guns were also found at the isolated farm. They are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. "It appears that gunshot wounds are there, but I don't want to go further than that," said Chris Dawson, WA Police Commissioner. "The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults - this is a significant tragedy." If confirmed, it will be the country's worst shooting incident since a massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, claimed the lives of 35 people in 1996. Osmington is a tiny rural village 20km from Margaret River, a popular tourist area Ms Miles and her children are reported to have moved there to the property, owned by her parents Cynda and Peter Miles, about three years ago. She had home-schooled the three boys and one girl at their farm, and was described by friends as a devoted mother. I always admired her for her strength. The kids were kind, gentle, smart and beautiful children, a friend told The Australian. Police were attempting to make contact with the victims relatives, and have not offically released the names or ages of the dead. Australias gun laws - introduced after the 1996 shooting - are widely acclaimed with supporters including former US president Barack Obama. Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Show all 7 1 /7 Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Police forensics investigate the death of seven people in a suspected murder-suicide in Osmington EPA Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Four children are among seven people found dead at a rural property EPA Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Detectives are investigating the incident, which was said to be treated as a murder-suicide EPA Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Two firearms were found at the scene, Western Australia Police said EPA Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Flowers and a note left next to a police roadblock for the victims of the incident EPA Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River It could be the country's worst mass shooting in 22 years, police said AP Australia shooting: Seven people found dead near Margaret River Media film a property from a police roadblock where police are investigating the deaths EPA Farmers are allowed to own firearms because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned. Osmington is a collection of a few streets, farms, horse studs, vacation accommodation and vineyards supplying the premium winemaking district known as Margaret River. Samantha Lee, chair of the Gun Control Australia lobby group, said rural areas were over-represented in Australian gun deaths, including suicides. Regional and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of tragedies, because of the combination of isolation, sometimes mental or financial hardship and easy access to firearms, Ms Less said in a statement. Although the details of this tragedy are yet to come to light, Australia has a tragic history of higher rate of gun deaths in rural areas, she added. Agencies contributed to this report A man who was convicted of deliberately removing his condom without his partners knowledge during sex, has had his rape conviction changed to defilement by a Swiss court. The practice, known as stealthing, can transform a consensual act into a non-consensual one. In what was thought to be the first case of its kind in Switzerland, an appeal court in Lausanne upheld the 12-month suspended sentence handed to the man, who has not been named, at an earlier hearing. But they changed his original rape conviction, to one of defilement. The hearing was seen as test case for how the legal system can handle similar charges. The man had met his victim on the Tinder dating platform and the pair agreed to have sex at the womans home, according to Swiss broadcaster SRF. During intercourse, the woman refused the mans request to remove his condom, but she later discovered that he had done it anyway. The woman filed charges against the man, fearing she might become pregnant or contract a disease, the broadcaster reported. But the defendant claimed he had not removed the condom on purpose and refused to submit himself to an HIV test. Ath the first trial, the womans attorney Baptiste Viredaz submitted a study by the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law on the legal implications of the practice, which transforms consensual sex into a non-consensual act. 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 Apart from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, survivors experienced nonconsensual condom removal as a clear violation of their bodily autonomy and the trust they had mistakenly placed in their sexual partner, study author Alexandra Brodsky, a legal fellow at the National Women's Law Centre, said. The study found men named a range of motivations for stealthing including increased physical pleasures, a thrill for degradation and domination. An online discussions suggest offenders and their defenders justify their actions as a natural male instinct and natural male right," the study found. The UK signed the Istanbul Convention, which aims to prevent violence against women - including all non-consensual acts of a sexual nature. Earlier this year, Parliament passed a bill requiring the UK to ratify the convention. It is believed stealthing would fall under that. A Palestinian has been killed and hundreds more have been wounded amid fresh violence at the final Friday protest in six weeks of demonstrations at Gaza's border with Israel. Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas as activists across the frontier fences burned tyres and threw stones. The clashes broke out days before weeks of protests, aimed at ending a decade-old blockade of Gaza, culminate in a planned mass march expected to involve tens of thousands of people. Recommended Hamas Gaza leader hints at mass breach of Israel border fence At least 146 protesters were wounded by live fire, seven of them critically, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the head, Gaza health officials said. Dozens more were overcome by tear gas. It comes after Save the Children said more than 250 children had been shot by the Israeli army during the six previous Friday demonstrations. Forty-four Palestinian protestors have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded by Israeli army fire since the weekly protests led by Gaza's ruling group Hamas began in late March. Israel has faced international condemnation over its response to the demonstrations, but says it has the right to defend its borders. It insisted its gunmen only targeted the "main instigators" of violence and protesters who approach the border fences. There are fears of further casualties after the leader of Hamas in the Gaza strip hinted that thousands of Palestinians could breach the border fence at Monday's march. Comparing the enclaves people to a starving tiger, Yahya Sinwar said: Whats the problem if hundreds of thousands storm this fence which is not a border of a state? Whats the problem with that? Israel has warned it will prevent any border breach during the protests, which are part of a campaign to break the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. A Palestinian demonstrator moves a burning tyre during clashes with Israeli forces (AFP/Getty Images) The six weeks of demonstrations will come to and end with a large-scale protest planned for Tuesday, when Palestinians mark their "nakba," or catastrophe, referring to their mass uprooting during the Middle-Eastern war over Israel's 1948 creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven out or fled homes in what is now Israel, and more than two-thirds of current Gaza residents are descendants of refugees. On Friday, thousands of protesters gathered in five tent camps set up weeks ago, each several hundred metres from the border. From there, smaller groups moved closer to the border fence. One man was shot dead while protesting east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said medics. Israeli soldiers fired live rounds and volleys of tear gas. Witnesses said Israeli forces on the other side of the fence had added reinforcements, including cement slabs, as protective cover. In recent weeks, soldiers have fired from behind sand berms. A boy is carried away by a rescue worker during the Gaza protest on Friday (REUTERS) More than 500 children have been injured during the border protests, more than half of them wounded by live bullets, according to Save the Children's analysis of data from the Palestinian health ministry. Four children have been killed, including 14-year-old Mohammad Ayyoub, whose shooting prompted condemnation and demands for an investigation from the United Nations (UN) and European Union. Children wounded by Israeli gunfire include a 16-year-old track athlete whose leg was amputated after being shot, Save the Children said. "We are deeply concerned by the high number of children who have been hit by live ammunition and we agree with the High Commissioner for Human Rights that this could suggest an excessive use of force and may amount to unlawful killing and maiming, said Jennifer Moorehead, the charity's director for occupied Palestine territory. She added: "We support the UN secretary-generals call for independent investigations to be carried out and any perpetrators to be held to account. We strongly urge all protests to remain peaceful, and call on all sides to tackle the long-term causes of this conflict and promote dignity and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called for an "independent and transparent investigation" into the killings, while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said a "staggering number" of injuries had been caused by live ammunition. Israel accused Hamas of using children as human shields in the protests, which it claimed were a front for attacks. Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator shouts Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Tear gas canisters are fired by Israeli forces at Palestinian demonstrators Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A wounded Palestinian is evacuated Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A female demonstrator uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator with a slingshot looks on Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Israeli forces fire teargas canisters toward Palestinian demonstrators AFP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester AP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator moves a burning tire Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators during clashes with Israeli forces AFP/Getty Save the Children said its workers had seen children who had been repeatedly shot in the legs, arms and chest by Israeli forces. Victims also faced rapidly deteriorating conditions in hospitals, the charity warned. Gaza has been under an Israeli air, sea and land blockade for more than 10 years and has suffered three wars from which it has never fully recovered, said Ms Moorehead. Palestinian officials have announced that Egypt will open its border with Gaza for four days from Saturday. Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing point, Gaza's main gate to the outside world, closed most of the time since the Hamas takeover to reinforce Israel's blockade. Egypt opens the crossing from time to time, mainly to allow people in special categories, including medical patients and Gaza residents studying abroad, to leave the territory or return. The upcoming opening was framed as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins next week. Close Syrian military video shows air defences trying to intercept Israeli missiles The chief of the UN has called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts in the Middle East, a day after Israeli forces bombed Iranian military targets inside Syria. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, asked for the halt to avoid a new conflagration in the region following the most extensive military exchange between Israel and Iran. Iranian senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said during Friday prayers that Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. "The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," the hardline cleric said. The worshippers chanted: "Death to America," and "Death to Israel". Israel said the strikes were retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter rivals to date and risks direct clashes which could swiftly escalate. It comes as Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip hinted at the possibility thousands of Palestinians could breach the border fence with Israel during mass protests this week. Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missiles rise into the sky as Israeli missiles hit air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus Syrian Central Military Media, via AP Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missile fire is seen from Damascus Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures An Israeli flag is seen placed on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel's army said today it had carried out widespread raids against Iranian targets in Syria overnight after rocket fire towards its forces it blamed on Iran, marking a sharp escalation between the two enemies. Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. AFP/Getty Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures The Israeli military on Thursday said it attacked "dozens" of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights AP Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israeli artillery deployed missiles toward Syrian military targets, on the Golan Heights EPA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missile fire is seen over Daraa Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace AFP/SANA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israeli soldiers walk among armored vehicles in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Syrian air defense missiles are seen in the sky over the capital Damascus EPA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace. Israeli missile strikes fired at Syria hit military bases, as well as an arms depot and military radar. AFP/SANA Britain supports Israels right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, Theresa May, the prime minister, told her Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Irans military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors the civil war through sources inside Syria, said 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers, were killed. It was not immediately clear if any Iranians were among the dead. The confrontation came two days after Donald Trump announced the United States would withdraw, with Israels encouragement, from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The British statement said Ms May and Mr Netanyahu agreed it was vital for the international community to continue working together to counter Irans destabilising regional activity, and for Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks. The statement added that Ms May had reiterated our position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The White House swiftly condemned Iran's "provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens" and expressed strong support for "Israel's right to act in self-defence," while Russia said the Israeli strikes marked a dangerous escalation and urged both Israel and Iran to avoid provoking each other. In a statement, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said "the Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East." Additional reporting by agencies Nakba Day is observed on 15 May every year and commemorates the displacement of Palestinians when the Israeli state was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. Nakba is the Arabic word for catastrophe or disaster and the occasion remembers the 700,000 Palestinians forced to flee as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and seek refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, often without citizenship being granted. The date was chosen to follow immediately after the Gregorian calendar date of Israeli Independence Day 14 May 1948 although, since Israel uses the Hebrew calendar to mark time, the days rarely align. The two anniversaries might be observed weeks apart or coincide on the same day, as they did in 2005. This year Israeli Independence Day occurred on 28 April. Nakba Day commemorations typically take the form of rallies and speeches in cities around Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, with Palestinian marchers commonly brandishing placards, flags and house keys, the latter symbols of the homes and still-deserted villages their families have not been allowed to return to. However, this year the rallies have been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has officially authorised digital activities to observe the anniversary, with many planning to join virtual reality tours and Zoom video chats. Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Show all 10 1 /10 Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters flee from teargas AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers stand as Palestinian protesters gather on the Israel Gaza border AP Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations A Palestinian is carried on a stretcher after being injured during the demonstration AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers take aim as they lie prone over an earth barrier along the border with the Gaza strip in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nahal Oz as Palestinians demonstrate on the other side commemorating Land Day AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian paramedics evacuate an injured man on the Gaza side of the Israel-Gaza border Reuters Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians demonstrate with crossed-out posters depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, during a tent city protest near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip AFP/Getty Images Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters flee from teargas AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Israeli soldiers shoot tear gas grenades towards the Palestinian tent city protest commemorating Land Day AFP/Getty Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinian protesters take cover from Israeli troops AP Palestinians clash with Israeli troops during mass demonstrations Palestinians chant slogans as they attend a demonstration near the Gaza Strip border AP This years is the 22nd since Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat inaugurated the day in 1998 in response to Israeli celebrations marking half a century of independence, but it had been unofficially commemorated as early as 1949. Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the countrys head of state then as he is today, commented at the time: Israel was not responsible for the Palestinian tragedy, their leadership is. The demonstrations that took place on the first official Nakba Day escalated into violent clashes with Israeli security forces, for which each side blamed the other. Four Palestinians were killed and 71 injured. Fighting broke out again in 2001 when four Palestinians and one Israeli died and in 2011, when 22 Palestinian marchers were gunned down on the Syrian border for attempting to enter Israeli territory. A man was also killed in Gaza and as many as 125 injured as he tried to place a bomb along an Israeli patrol route. In 2017, 11 were injured in Ramallah in the West Bank after Israeli soldiers responded with rubber bullets when protesters pelted them with stones. Stun grenades and tear gas also rained down in Bethlehem after rocks were thrown at Israeli troops guarding Rachels Tomb, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Prior to 1998, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation had avoided dwelling on the exodus and the rights of would-be returnees in favour of pressing for the liberation of Palestine through armed revolution, a cause that saw them branded a terrorist organisation by Israel and the US until 1991. Even use of the word nakba has proven a point of contention, with Israels education minister Gideon Saar ordering its removal from school textbooks aimed at young Arab children in 2009 on the grounds that it implies the catastrophe in question was the establishment of Israel, rather than the eviction of Palestinians. A Palestinian man holds a symbolic key next to Hamas militants during a rally after Nakba Day in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters) For their part, the estimated 5.3m Palestinian refugees living outside of Israel maintain they were victims of ethnic cleansing during the 1948 conflict and insist on their right to return to territory they consider their homeland. Israel refuses to meet the demand because doing so would compromise the Jewish nature of the state defying Resolution 194 passed by the UN in 1948, siding with Palestinians on the issue. When more than 2,500 people were killed in Gazas last war in 2014 and much of its infrastructure destroyed, locals branded the devastation a second Nakba, indicating just how fraught the term is and how controversial the day is likely to be once again in 2020, 72 years on from the birth of modern Israel. Two British tourists are reported to have been kidnapped in Virunga National Park in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A female park ranger travelling with them is report to have been killed. Simon Calder assesses the dangers of travel to the region. Q What is the draw to this part of Africa? It is an extremely alluring region: green and mountainous, with people who, for the most part, are extremely friendly and helpful. But the main attraction is primate tourism. Encounters with mountain gorillas are much sought-after. They are found only in the Virunga Massif (a chain of eight volcanoes spanning eastern DRC, western Rwanda and western Uganda), and in the adjoining Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the southwest corner of Uganda. Recommended Two British tourists kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo As with other species, human intervention has dramatically reduced the number of mountain gorillas. They were targeted by hunters in the early 20th century; human encroachment on their territory since then has been even more destructive. Today, fewer than 1,000 survive. They are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Primate tourism is well-established in Uganda and Rwanda. Exactly one year ago, Rwanda doubled the cost of permits to visit mountain gorillas from $750 (550) to $1,500. As a result, demand from budget travellers keen for an encounter with the primates has shifted to Uganda and the DRC. In addition, according to Lonely Planet founder, Tony Wheeler, in DRC: The waiting list is much shorter and the experience is probably a little less commercial. Tourism target: A silverback gorilla in Virunga National Park, eastern DRC (Tony Wheeler) Q Is it safe? According to the Foreign Office, the risks are tolerably low in Rwanda and Uganda - though the latter was the location for a horrific attack on tourists in 1999, in which eight tourists, including four British travellers, were butchered. But the Foreign Office warns against travel to almost all of eastern DRC, where the couple were reportedly kidnapped. The FCO says: The security situation in eastern DRC remains unstable. The continued presence of armed groups, military operations against them, intercommunal violence and an influx of refugees from neighbouring countries all contribute to a deterioration in the political, security and humanitarian situation. There are continued reports of kidnappings, including of staff from international NGOs. Recommended Seventeen die as new Ebola outbreak is reported in Congo Tourists in eastern DRC have been known to be left very vulnerable as a result of trying to travel independently without escorted transport, and the risk of kidnap or injury as a result of armed or criminal activity remains high. Q Where did the kidnap take place? In the vast Virunga National Park, which is about the size of Devon and lies at the extreme east of the DRC, adjoining Uganda and sharing the Rwenzori Mountains. The Foreign Office warns: Armed groups are sometimes active within the park. Few UK travel firms offer trips to the region, because of the Foreign Office warning against travel. But the adventure operator Wild Frontiers is selling a two-week trip in November 2018: a two-week trip selling for 5,700. The founder, Jonny Bealby, travelled to the region in November 2017 with the broadcaster, Kate Humble. He wrote: I am more convinced than ever that there is something exciting happening in this forgotten part of Africa and cant wait to start helping others discover it. Through no fault of their own the people of the Congo have suffered hugely in recent times. Corrupt officials, indifferent international geopolitics and ruthless multinationals and their desire for specialist minerals, have all played a part in creating the countrys current situation. Kate Humble, broadcaster; John Kehekwam, primatologist and conservationist; and Jonny Bealby, founder of Wild Frontiers (Jonny Bealby/Wild Frontiers) Q Will the UK government be able to help the kidnap victims? The Foreign Office makes it sound unlikely: The lack of infrastructure throughout the country and continued insecurity in eastern DRC often prevent the British Embassy in Kinshasa [the capital, in the far west of DRC] from being able to extend normal levels of consular assistance to British nationals anywhere in the DRC other than Kinshasa. In addition, the FCO has a long-standing policy of never paying or facilitating ransoms. Q What about travel insurance? Standard travel insurance is invalidated if the policyholder chooses to visit a dangerous region: one standard policy from a large insurer says: You are covered as long as the FCO has not advised against travel to the country or specific region. Recommended Congo wants to drill for oil in parks home to endangered gorillas Some NGO staff, journalists and people with relatives in risky areas have special policies which cover risky areas, but it is expensive: one such policy costs 50 for a week, and it is questionable whether people who are visiting the DRC in order to save cash would invest in expensive insurance. Q How frequent are kidnappings? According to Voyager Insurance Services, which specialises in high-risk travel: Every year there are more than 40,000 kidnappings globally. That works out at one every 13 minutes on average. The insurer adds: Most kidnappings occur to obtain a ransom and few victims are rescued or released safely without ransoms being paid. Unfortunately you cannot rely on government support and they certainly wont pay any ransom demand for you. Kidnappings in eastern DRC are frequent, with most victims being Congolese. Thousands of travellers to and from Bali, Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have had their flights cancelled, delayed or diverted due to the eruption of Mount Merapi in central Java. The 9,610ft volcano, the most active in Indonesia, erupted at 7.32am on the morning of Friday 11 May. Indonesias National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) said ash rain had fallen, especially in the south to southwest of the peak crater of Mount Merapi. The organisation urged people in the vicinity of the eruption to remain calm, but to use a mask when performing activities outside the home. Recommended Java residents evacuated after volcano erupts in Indonesia The airport at Yogyakarta, a city of nearly half-a-million people, was temporarily closed. Air Asia cancelled services from Bali, Jakarta and Singapore, while its departure from Kuala Lumpur to Yogyakarta was instructed to return to the Malaysian capital. Garuda, the Indonesian national airline, grounded 14 flights. In a statement, the carrier said: The cancellation of flights to and from Yogyakarta is in line with the company's commitment to prioritise the safety aspects of aviation operations, particularly considering the distribution of volcanic ash which is very risky to aviation safety. Round trip: flightpath of Air Asia AK346 from Kuala Lumpur to Yogyakarta, which returned to base because of the volcanic eruption in Indonesia (Flightradar24) Garuda Indonesia will continue to monitor the situation and developments related to the activity of Mount Merapi. In 2010, an eruption of the same volcano killed 347 people. There was widespread disruption to domestic and international flights. Late in 2017, tens of thousands of travellers were stranded on the island of Bali due to fears that Mount Agung might erupt. Thomas Cook has done more than most travel firms to tackle the fake holiday-sickness industry. This scurrilous profession picks up where false whiplash claims left off. Cold calls invite returned holidaymakers to remember that their trip was ruined by illness due to poor hygiene standards in an all-inclusive resort or aboard a cruise ship. A couple from Merseyside claimed nearly 20,000 from Thomas Cook for suffering severe gastric illness on two successive holidays to the same resort in Mallorca. The travel firm tracked down the claimants Facebook postings describing the first trip as fab and the second as fantastic, then took legal action of its own. After the pair were jailed for fraud, thousands of other claims melted away including those which began when touts in resorts persuaded holidaymakers to make fake claims. Recommended Thomas Cook says bookings to Egypt for 2018 have almost doubled Now Thomas Cook is earning money from the genuine holiday-sickness industry. Page 100 of its new inflight magazine, Holiday, carries two advertisements. The first, from a company in the Dominican Republic called Hospiturs, begins: Travelling to Punta Cana? If youre worried about getting sick while travelling, dont worry well take take care of it. Below it, the Evangelismos Hospital in Paphos on the island of Cyprus promises 24/7 Emergency Services Doctors On Call (I hope the medical staff are trained to remove unwanted apostrophes). On the basis that prevention is better than cure, though, I urge you to turn to the previous page. At first glance, the article on page 99 looks designed to dissuade anyone from reading it, even if they are into hour 10 of a flight to Punta Cana and bored out of their skulls. The headline reads Health & Safety, and if that isnt enough to put you off, it uses a font size smaller than an e-coli bacterium. The prescription for a trouble-free holiday begins with the screamingly obvious (Lock the door when you go out) and urges Please drink alcohol in moderation. Yet the article contains some genuinely good advice, which deserves to be expanded at the expense of top tips such as Always wear a seatbelt. For example: When you arrive at your hotel, check out all escape routes and do a practice walk from your room. On the beach, be aware of dangerous strong currents and rip tides. Driving on holiday: if you need to wear glasses, always carry a spare set (required by law in Spain). Those of us tempted by the prospect of a henna tattoo should ask for a test application before anything bigger is applied. And as the resort rogues switch back from holiday sickness to the time-dishonoured timeshare touting business, Thomas Cook warns: Dont sign anything until you get advice from experts. The chances of winning a luxury holiday just by scratching a card in the middle of the street, for example, are highly unlikely. If you fail to heed the advice, you may be in need of a timeshare resale firm. Theres an ad for one on page 112. Thomas Cook does more than most tour operators to remind holidaymakers that travel is not risk-free. Yet as the world wakes up to the hazards caused by discarded plastic, the firm advises: Keep hydrated by drinking bottled water, and use this to brush your teeth. We are no longer living in the 1950s (except, perhaps, in the eyes of some the more extreme Brexiteers), and clean drinking water splashes freshly from taps in hotel rooms from Paphos to Punta Cana. Thomas Cook should be discouraging the wasteful practice of using disposable containers, rather than maintaining the fiction (perhaps encouraged by extreme Brexiteers) that foreign water is innately suspect. The recent wave of pension strikes at UK universities was the biggest action the sector has ever seen. The unwavering commitment of staff over the fourteen strike days along with the overwhelming support from students was instrumental in wresting a much-improved offer from the university employers. The strikes success depended on the backing of thousands of international staff who play a vital role in our increasingly global higher education sector. Yet for those on Tier 2 skilled worker visas, taking part meant more than simply giving up pay or braving freezing temperatures on picket lines it meant risking their immigration status. Thats because staff on those visas are subject to strict limits on unpaid leave. If a migrant worker exceeds 20 days unpaid absence in a calendar year, their employer is obliged to report them to the Home Office and withdraw visa sponsorship. The Home Office Immigration Rules also say that exceeding this limit could be grounds for revoking a migrants leave to remain in the UK. There are some exceptions for those on parental leave or long-term sick leave but industrial action isnt covered in the list of exemptions. Recommended UK university strikes called off after UCU accepts pension proposal The government has so far failed to provide clarity on the issue. When asked if strike absences would count towards the limit, the immigration minister simply said that decisions about whether to revoke a migrants leave would be made with full regard to the circumstances. This ambiguous position is problematic on a number of levels. First, because being able to strike is a fundamental right. Its enshrined in article 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It shouldnt be left to the discretion of Home Office officials whether engaging in strikes will lead to deportation. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty Second, at a time of daily headlines about the governments abysmal treatment of Windrush migrants and the impact of the Tories toxic hostile environment immigration policy, the ministers vague response is hardly reassuring. The stories of those failed by the immigration system only reinforce the need for absolute clarity on migrant rights. Third, the issue may also be about to get much bigger. Brexit is looming and the 2.4 million EU citizens who work in the UK could shortly become subject to the UKs visa system. If the immigration rules are allowed to restrict their engagement in lawful strike action, our industrial relations will suffer as a result. All staff should be able to play a full part in legitimate strike action without fear of reprisal, regardless of where they are from. Migrant workers contribute to our economy and should be able to join their colleagues in defending their employment rights. Strike action is never taken lightly. But this restrictive rule means that migrants who need to take unpaid leave for other reasons perhaps to look after a sick relative find themselves unable to participate for fear of breaching the limit. International staff need an unequivocal, written guarantee from the government that days spent taking legitimate strike action will not put their immigration status at risk. A small clarification from government would make a big difference to the lives of those affected. Sally Hunt is the general secretary of the University of College Union (UCU) and John McDonnell is the shadow chancellor of the exchequer When Donald Trump was sworn in as president at the start of last year, many predicted that he would be a less explosive presence in the White House than he had been during the campaign. They hoped that he would be restrained by the permanent political and bureaucratic establishment in Washington and argued that radicals in power turn into compliant conservatives and seek to preserve the status quo. At about this time, a friend sent me a clipping of a New York Times editorial dated 31 January 1933, with the title Germany Ventures. The writer recognised that there were qualms at the appointment as the head of the German government of a man who has openly scorned it and threatened to destroy it. But the editorial is reassuringly confident that this would not happen, citing many reasons such as the opposition of his cabinet colleagues who would oppose him if he sought to translate the wild and whirling words of his campaign speeches into political action. Other limitations on the new leaders power also suggested that nothing much would change: German finances were in strong and conservative hands; attempts to establish a dictatorship would provoke a general strike; German foreign policy would be unchanged; and President Paul von Hindenburg could unmake the new chancellor just as quickly as he had made him. Recommended Nigel Farage to start petition to secure Donald Trump the Nobel Peace In a classic piece of political miscalculation, the editorial writer reassured readers: It may be that we will see the tamed Hitler of whom some Germans are hopefully speaking, he said. Always we may look for some such transformation when a radical demagogue fights his way into responsible office. Judgement of the new German leader should be suspended until he had shown if he was more than a flighty agitator who would compel the German people to take a leap into the dark. I took the point at the time that the friend who had sent me the clipping was seeking to point out how easy it was to underestimate the degree to which demagogues can be even more power-hungry and destructive in office than they were before. But I did not use the clipping because I felt that it was premature to compare Trump to the elected dictators of the past of whom Mussolini and Hitler are only the worst examples who won a majority at the polls and then tried to eliminate all opposition to their authority at home and abroad. From Napoleon III to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan today, populist nationalist strongmen have much in common: simpleminded slogans and vague promises guaranteed to win votes, attacks on independent media, contempt for the law (though lauding law and order), control and marginalisation of parliament, chauvinism, militarism, allegations of corruption and an incessant pursuit of power. President Barack Obama predicted that Trump would find the American ship of state difficult to turn, but turn it did. The grown-ups in his cabinet, mostly former generals of whom so much as was expected, have come and gone. Those that remain are ignored and humiliated such as Secretary of State, Jim Mattis, who said that the Iran nuclear deal was doing its job. Trump has been systematically blowing up the fixed points in American foreign policy, so the political temperature in the Middle East is continually rising. As one commentator put it, there are more unpredictable moving parts than ever before in the different crises, parts which may break loose at any moment. This week saw the US pull out of the Iran nuclear accord and Israel make heavy airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria. But the coming week may bring almost equally dangerous developments: on 12 May there is the Iraqi parliamentary election in which no party is likely to win a majority. The US and Iran are backing different sides to try to ensure that the next Iraqi government is favourable to them. Iraqis fear their country will be the arena in which the US and Iran fight for supremacy, with the odds favouring the Iranians if only because they, like the majority of Iraqis, are Shia Muslims. Practical questions will arise after the election: what, for instance, will be the future for the 10,000 US soldiers and military contractors in Iraq but whose presence is not as necessary as it was before the defeat of Isis? As the US imposes stringent economic sanctions on Iran, will it penalise individuals, banks and companies in Iraq doing business with Iran? Iran has every incentive to route part of its business through Baghdad, where the US will have to step lightly in order to avoid alienating local allies. Within two days of the Iraqi election, the US Embassy in Israel will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli and American flags will flutter in every street and there will be 150 giant billboards with the face of Donald Trump on them. This will happen on 14 May, the same day as tens of thousands of Palestinians will march in Gaza to try to break through the fence surrounding the enclave. The demonstration comes at the end of seven weeks of protests called the Great March of Return in which the Palestinians sought to reassert their right to return to the land in Israel from which they were expelled or fled in 1947. At least 43 Palestinians have been killed and 1,700 wounded in the protests so far. The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has long been moribund, but Trump is brazenly saying to the Palestinians that they count for nothing and can expect nothing from diplomacy. The danger is that, like so many other populist nationalist strongmen, Trump will overplay his hand. From the eastern borders of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, the US position is not strong. He looks to local powers like Israel and Saudi Arabia but they can do less for him than he imagines. There is a diplomatic price to be paid for ignoring European and other allies who see that appeasement of Trump gets them nowhere and is despised as a sign of weakness. The problem is that Trumps vision of the Middle East is made up of gobbets of neo-conservative propaganda supplemented by the self-serving views of Israeli and Saudi leaders. He may imagine that the Palestinian issue will go away, though it has stubbornly refused to do so for the past century. He may think that Iraq can be detached politically from Iran, but this is not going to happen. He appears to expect economic sanctions to lead to regime change or abject surrender by Iran, but there is no reason to believe this will happen. Trump may not intend war in the Middle East, but he cannot get what he wants without one and maybe not even then. Global banks in Britain are calling for a special work visa waiver after Brexit to preserve the City of London's standing as a top global financial centre, two industry sources said, a move that would be more generous than the current arrangements. The industry is demanding a new arrangement where international staff posted to Britain for less than six months will be able to come and go freely without having to apply for a work visa before they travel, the sources said. The proposal is a core recommendation in a draft report by TheCityUK, which promotes Britain's financial services sector, and consultants EY, the sources said. The report has been shared with the Home Office and Treasury and is the most detailed request yet by Britain's finance industry to the government about how it wants immigration policy to look like after Brexit. Executives in the City of London, home to global foreign exchange, bonds and fund management operations and to more banks than any other financial centre, have expressed concern that a crackdown on immigration after Brexit may hamper their ability to find staff with the right skills. The document is due to be formally announced in ten days time at an event where the immigration minister Caroline Nokes is due to give a keynote speech. Theresa May has been branded "weak" by a European Commissioner, amid continuing deadlock over Britain's proposals for customs arrangements after Brexit. Gunther Oettinger, a member of Angela Merkel's CDU party and ally of the German chancellor, also took a swipe at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, telling an audience of students: "(He) has the same haircut as (Donald) Trump. That tells you everything." The Government was accused by Labour of "subverting democracy" by delaying debate on key pieces of Brexit legislation in a bid to avoid rebellions, following a string of 14 defeats in the House of Lords. The legislative timetable for the coming period set out by Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom made no mention of Brexit bills, and Downing Street declined to say when MPs would be asked to consider the Lords amendments or bills on trade and customs. Labour's Valerie Vaz suggested the Government was "being cynical and parking the trade (bill), customs bill and the EU (Withdrawal) Bill ... so as to avoid rebellions". She told MPs: "This is unprecedented and the Government is effectively subverting democracy." But Ms Leadsom insisted there was "no hold-up", saying the bills would come forward "in due course". Labour MP Wes Streeting, a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said: "The Government is sinking into the quicksand of Brexit, and the more they struggle, the deeper they sink. "The country is waiting for a plan, but all we are seeing is chaos." Addressing students from schools across the EU in the German city of Karlsruhe on Wednesday, Mr Oettinger said: "Mrs May is weak and Boris Johnson has the same haircut as Trump. That tells you everything." According to German news agency DPA, he continued: "One can only hope that sensible compatriots will put Mrs May on the path to a clever Brexit." Addressing British students in his audience, he said: "I'd like to ask you to start a movement in 15 years' time to come back into the EU again." Mrs May's official spokesman brushed off suggestions that the comments might reflect a cooling in Berlin's attitude towards her administration, telling reporters: "The Prime Minister has a very strong relationship with the chancellor in relation to Brexit and a series of other matters. "We look forward to that constructive relationship continuing." The spokesman played down reports that Britain could seek an extension beyond December 2020 of the Brexit transition period to allow time for the introduction of new technology avoiding a hard customs border in Ireland. "We reached an agreement with the European Union on the implementation period and that agreement is clear that the implementation period will end in December 2020," he said. The "maximum facilitation" technological solution is one of two options currently under review ahead of a meeting of Mrs May's Brexit war cabinet expected next Tuesday, alongside her own preferred customs partnership. Mrs May was unable to secure the backing of senior ministers last week for the partnership option, which would see the UK collect tariffs on behalf of the EU. Officials are working on a revised version of the scheme. Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the European Research Group of eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, said that Mrs May's customs partnership proposal "seems to be running into the sand... because it practically doesn't work". He rejected any extension to the transition period, currently due to stretch for 21 months following the official date of Brexit in March 2019. Mr Rees-Mogg told BBC2's Daily Politics that remaining in the European customs union after 2020 would be "a dramatic failure of Government policy". "The Prime Minister wrote an article for The Sun On Sunday just last weekend saying she was going to leave the single market and customs union," said Mr Rees-Mogg. "I trust the Prime Minister to do what she says she will do." It was the early 1990s when a number of breeders, mainly from the south of the country travelled to the homeland of the breed in France and subsequently imported the first embryos at a cost of around 800 each. They were very ably assisted by Mireille McCall, a native of Dijon in the heart of the Burgundy region and now farming in Co Kildare, who used her local knowledge of France to make contact with the Union Aubrac directly and was put in touch with breed technician, Philippe Labarbarrie, who arranged for the Irish delegation to visit the herds. The first Aubrac animals arrived in Ireland in the late 1990s and the Irish Aubrac Cattle Society council met for the first time at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow on April 23, 1998. James OBrien of Dromskehy, Clonbanin, Mallow was elected the first chairman. Skibbereen farmer Sean ODriscoll, who is understood to have been the first to successfully breed Irish Aubrac from imported embryos, was among the founding fathers of the breed in Ireland to be honoured for their foresight at the 20th Anniversary celebrations. The other people who each received commemorative presentations were John Deane, West Cork; Kim McCall, Co Kildare; Finbarr ODriscoll, Skibbereen (representing his brother Barry); James OBrien, Mallow; and James Phelan, Abbeyleix. Kim McCall was elected vice-chairman, and his wife, Mireille, secretary and Herd Book Registrar, a service which she delivered for the following 12 years, before the capable Angela Clancy of Deerpark Farm Service was appointed to the administrative role. Expand Close MEP, Mairead McGuinness with Aubrac breeders who have served as chairmen over the past two decades, Ernest Mackey, James Phelan, Liam Walsh, James O'Brien, and James Donnellan. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp MEP, Mairead McGuinness with Aubrac breeders who have served as chairmen over the past two decades, Ernest Mackey, James Phelan, Liam Walsh, James O'Brien, and James Donnellan. Speaking at the event, current chairman James Donnellan thanked the founders and the many others who have assisted with the development of the breed over the years and said that one of the targets is to see more young people getting involved. He welcomed Mary Duggan, Eurogene AI, and said that they are interested in the extension of the AI service for the breed with 180 breeders now listed in this country. Aubrac breed of cattle continues to thrive 20 years on It was another milestone in the history of the spread of the French Aubrac beef breed across Europe when a delegation from Upra Aubrac Union travelled to Ireland to join in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Irish Herd Book for the breed. Mathieu Causse, vice-president of the French Breed Union, who led the six-member delegation to the celebrations at the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise said how pleased he was to learn of the progress in the growth of the breed in Ireland, as it joins several other EU countries to which the breed has spread over recent years. "Some of the original imports to your country were bred on my farm in France," he tells me, recalling the visit by the Irish farmers interested in Aubrac two decades ago. "We are really delighted that the Irish farmers are happy with the Aubrac because they are a very good breed for beef production and very easy to manage. They are very good animals and the breed is continuing to spread in popularity." He was accompanied by Philippe Labarbarrie, technician, HerdBook Aubrac, and Aubrac breeders, Jean Olivier Laurens, Fabien Veyrac, Yannick Pascal, and Baptiste De La Panouse. They were welcomed by James Donnellan, chairman of the Irish Aubrac Cattle Society; and the first secretary of the Irish Society and initial importer of the breed Mireille McCall, Kilcullen, Co Kildare and her husband Kim who had travelled to France to make the purchases 20 years ago. French native Mireille and Kim run the very successful Calverstown Herd of 75 suckler cows and their followers on their 200-acre holding in Co Kildare where performance is the hallmark of the breed. The statistics, as verified by ICBF, are impressive with a calving interval of 354 days compared to a national average of 399 days, mortality of 2.7pc at 28 days compared to a national average of 6.4pc, heifers calved at 22-26 months at 64pc against the national average of 20pc and average euro value of cows (70) at 132, while the national average is 75. Guest of Honour at the celebration was MEP Mairead McGuinness who congratulated the society on their achievements to date and assured them that she has no doubt but that they will continue to go from strength to strength. She said it is clear that the breed's versatility and low maintenance is working for Irish farmers, with 180 herds now in Ireland. "It takes time and huge dedication to build a successful herd," says McGuinness. "The Aubrac survived and thrived because of committed breeders of the like of those involved in your organisation, the Irish Aubrac Cattle Breed Society, who brought the breed to Ireland over 20 years ago." IFA Beef Chairman Angus Woods congratulated the society on their anniversary and thanked them for their assistance over the years. Continuous Cover Forestry (or close-to-nature forestry) is the norm in Europe but the exception in Ireland. Continuous cover forestry provides regular income while rejuvenating forests and could be looked as like a suckler beef system but with trees. The first time I met Sean O Conlain was 15 years ago. At the time, he and his wife Brid had just moved into their new home outside Dromahair, Co Leitrim. As soon as they had moved in, they planted a well-designed, broadleaf woodland wrapped around their house. This 6-ha woodland consists of mainly ash and oak interspersed with attractive groups of birch, rowan, scots pine, hazel, etc. Sean kindly hosted a forest walk for me in 2009. On that walk, we focused on the management needs of a young broadleaf woodland. Four years later in 2013, he bought an adjoining 26-year old 8-ha spruce plantation. Thats my pension, he told me. As he looked at various management options, he became interested in Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). With the help of his forestry consultant Paddy Purser and his forestry contractor Alan Cole, he set about gradually transforming this even-aged plantation to a CCF forest. Fast forward to 2018, time for a repeat visit I thought. Once again, Sean agreed to host a walk last week focusing this time on CCF. What is Continuous Cover Forestry? Continuous Cover Forestry (or close-to-nature forestry) is the norm in Europe but the exception in Ireland. With CCF, you retain forest cover. The forest consists of trees of all ages and makes use of natural forest processes. Tree harvesting provides a regular, sustained income, but also rejuvenates the forest and makes room for new generations of trees to grow into the canopy. These usually come from natural regeneration but can also come from tree planting. In essence, the harvested timber is your regular interest generated by the growing, retained forest capital. It is a bit like the suckler beef system, the suckler cows are your capital and the calves your interest. In contrast, clearfell forestry remains the dominant forest management system in Ireland: all the trees are felled at the same time, the timber sold and the area replanted. Management operations for Continuous Cover Forestry Access is of critical importance when managing a forest. Therefore, Sean built a forest road in 2014. The total cost came to 14,500, offset by a grant of 12,000. A year later, the first transformation thinning was carried out in the upper section. Paddy marked the trees: 158t pulp, 85t box and 135t sawlog was harvested. Earlier this year, a second thinning was carried out in the upper section and a first thinning in the lower section. This time, 292t pulp, 115t box and 87t sawlog was removed. New Holland Agriculture is the tractor manufacturer which has made by far the most headway to date with biofuel designs. When it comes to high-powered tractors and other big self-propelled farm machines like combine harvesters, we are still years off finding credible alternatives to diesel power. The main issue with proposed alternatives like electric and biofuels is field autonomy; that is, finding a replacement to diesel fuel that can realistically provide the hours (mileage equivalent in the motor world) that you can get out of a tank of fuel for long days in the field. New Holland Agriculture is the tractor manufacturer which has made by far the most headway to date with biofuel designs. Others like John Deere and JCB have done some work on electric power. Last year New Holland unveiled their concept methane-powered tractor. The idea is to make farmers independent in terms of fuel supply by using farm-grown energy crops, crop residue and other waste products to produce the biomethane needed to fuel the tractor. New Holland claims the resulting fuel has a virtually zero CO2 profile and delivers an 80pc reduction in overall emissions and noise levels compared to current diesel engines. However, there is no mention of costs to date and it is very much a concept design still. JCB earlier this year unveiled its first electric excavator; the mini-digger is also the quietest machine in its range and delivers zero emissions. The logistics involve a 48V electrical driveline with three lithium-ion battery packs providing 15kWh storage capacity and a six-hour recharging capability. But can we realistically ever expect to see battery or biofuel tillage and contracting spec tractors that turn out 250hp-plus? Field autonomy Darragh Mullin, marketing specialist for 110-620hp tractors with New Holland Agriculture, thinks we are still a way off but that stricter emissions regulations will continue to focus the minds of tractor manufacturers. The issue with some of the proposals we see today is field autonomy, which basically means the amount of hours we can get from a tank or battery before it needs replenishing, he said. There is very little out there that can replace diesel for the amount of energy it can release that doesnt ask for a complete rethink of the current engine architecture of tractors. High-profile entrepreneur Rosaleen Blair is to invest in up-and-coming food company Cool Beans, it is understood. Blair, from Dublin, heads up the London-based high-end recruitment firm Alexander Mann Solutions, which she founded and subsequently sold for 315m in 2013. Her initial investment in Cool Beans, which is understood to be relatively small, comes at a time when the trendy health food company is looking to expand across Europe. Interest from such a high-profile investor is a coup for Cool Beans, which was founded in 2014 and is already one of Ireland's most promising food industry start-ups. Cool Beans founders Sarah O'Connor and Isolde Johnson met while working for accounting firm EY and both previously worked on that company's Entrepreneur of the Year awards, which was won previously by Blair. Blair has since led her own company through a management buyout, three private-equity relationships and was also previously named Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year. When Blair sold Alexander Mann Solutions in 2013, she retained a 15pc stake worth an estimated 50m. Cool Beans sells pots of beans that come in three flavours and are aimed at the rapidly-growing healthy convenience food market. A deal to sell the products in more than 200 SuperValu stores across the country provided the initial breakthrough for Cool Beans. The company has since moved into the market in Britain, where it sells in Waitrose stores. O'Connor and Johnson, who have also benefited from mentoring from food industry veteran Michael Carey, have said recently that they have ambitions to break into other European markets, which is a growing trend among Irish food companies threatened by the upheaval of Brexit. CANADIAN infrastructure fund Brookfield Asset Management is behind a proposed acquisition of Imagine Communications Group, according to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). A deal to buy sole control of Imagine Communications Group by BCP IV Telecommunications - a Brookfield vehicle - was notified to the CCPC yesterday. The Sunday Independent had flagged the deal in February, reporting that Imagine was closing on a large financing deal to help build out its wireless broadband network. That report said the fund was prepared to inject in the region of $160m-$180m (129-145m) into Imagine in a combined debt/equity package. The CCPC notification indicated that Brookfield's vehicle will end up as the sole shareholder. Imagine - run by executive chairman Sean Bolger - has been working on a so-called Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband network. The LTE network connects areas to the internet via wireless technology - often placed on phone masts - rather than fixed-line copper cables and is seen as useful for remote areas. The model is a potential rival to the rollout of the much-delayed national broadband strategy. Any further delays in the State scheme - which a consortium led by Enet is lined up to deliver - would benefit Imagine's wireless alternative. Imagine has also successfully bid for access to the upcoming 5G spectrum, a faster type of wireless internet, expected to be launched in 2021 at the earliest. Brookfield has been in Ireland since it bought Bord Gais Energy's wind business in 2014. Dubliner Rosaleen Blair's high-end recruitment and outsourcing firm Alexander Mann Solutions has been sold for 820m (929m) to Canada's Omers Private Equity. New Mountain Capital invested in the UK-based business in 2013 in a deal that valued it at 315m. It's now selling to the investment arm of Omers' defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Ontario fund will be the third major backer of the business, led by the Irish businesswoman. New Mountain had bought its stake from previous investor Graphite Capital. Management, led by Ms Blair, are understood to have retained a significant ownership stake. Ms Blair originally founded Alexander Mann within Dragons' Den star James Caan's recruitment group, before leading a management buyout supported by Graphite. She has remained at the helm through its changes of investor. Ms Blair, who was once turned down for a job in a recruitment firm, is one of the top headhunters and executive search heavyweights in Britain. Educated at Loreto, in Dublin's North Great George's Street, Blair worked as a Montessori teacher before running a fashion shop on Grafton Street. Her first foray into the recruitment sector saw her set up a nanny business. In 2011, she told an interviewer that, for a lark, she put an ad in a newspaper on the north side of Dublin, with the words, "child minders wanted" and another ad on the south side of Dublin, "child minders available" just to see what would happen. "Overnight I had a nanny business," she says. "I couldn't believe the amount of families wanting nannies and the amount of professional nannies seeking work, so I just stumbled onto a gap in the market." London-headquartered Alexander Mann Solutions employs 4,000 staff and operates in 85 different countries and has almost doubled in size since 2013. Alexander Mann describes its business as providing "talent acquisition and management solutions" to businesses, a model that goes beyond recruiting and placing staff to a broader management consultancy and advisory role. The proposed sale is subject to competition approval and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018. Omers said it will back the existing Alexander Mann management, and is in a position to finance acquisitions. "Omers will support the Alexander Mann Solutions management team and employees in deepening and expanding its sectorial and geographic focus, and invest in technology to further develop its value proposition for both new and prospective clients," it said. "Omers will also support Alexander Mann Solutions in driving consolidation in what remains a large but still fragmented market." Ms Blair welcomed the sale. "Omers partnership approach, its substantial and unconstrained capital base and its experience of supporting businesses organically and through acquisition make it an ideal partner for Alexander Mann Solutions in this next stage of our journey," she said. NM Rothschild & Sons acted as financial advisers to Omers Private Equity. Weil, Gotshal & Manges provided legal counsel. There will be no compulsory post office closures due to a landmark deal with An Post, according to a minister. Minister for Communications Denis Naughten welcomed an agreement between the postal service and the Irish Postmasters' Union. The deal means An Post will invest 50m to modernise the postal network, and post offices will provide new financial and government services. "The fact that there will be no compulsory closures of post offices is a hugely significant outcome of these negotiations," he said. "Any decision to exit or stay in the business will be a decision for each individual postmaster to make. "Todays announcement represents the best opportunity to start a new and exciting chapter for the post office network and I look forward to the successful implementation by all parties of the agreement." Talks were underway for three months and 80pc of the postmasters' union backed the deal, which includes a revised postmasters' contract. Pernod Ricard-owned Irish Distillers has acquired Cork-based Eight Degrees Brewing, a craft beer producer whose brands include Sunburnt Irish Red Ale. It's the first ever brewer within the Pernod Ricard stable. Details of the acquisition will be released this afternoon, its believed. Founded in 2010 in Mitchelstown by Australian Cameron Wallace and New Zealander Scott Baigent, the companys lines also include Howling Gale Pale Irish Ale. Eight Degrees was backed by Enterprise Ireland, and its ordinary share capital remains entirely owned by its two founders. Irish Distillers portfolio of brands includes Jameson, one of the worlds top-selling whiskies, as well as other drinks such as Powers and Cork Dry Gin. Paris-headquartered Pernod Ricard owns top brands such as Malibu, Martell, Chivas Regal and Kahlua. Dubliner and former Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year Rosaleen Blair has sold her high-end recruitment firm Alexander Mann Solutions to 10bn private equity firm New Mountain Capital for almost 315m. Investment bank RW Baird advised on the sale. Last June, the Sunday Independent revealed that the company had been put up for sale by its majority shareholders Graphite Capital. The Dubliner is to remain as chief executive of the firm. Management have retained "a significant ownership stake" in Alexander Mann. Latest company documents indicate that Blair owned around 15 per cent of the firm, with Graphite Capital and management owning the other shares prior to the buyout. Her stake is now worth close to 50m. "We have developed this business over the last 17 years and have become the number one provider of talent acquisition and management services globally," Blair said. "With New Mountain beside us, we look forward to extending our global footprint, particularly in North America, deepening our sector expertise and expanding our service offering," she added. "We believe in the strategy Alexander Mann Solutions has developed and are pleased to be investing alongside management to pursue a focused growth path. "We look forward to working closely with Rosaleen and her international team over the coming years and believe that through our partnership, Alexander Mann Solutions will not only continue to expand its services to clients, but will also create even more exciting career opportunities for many of their own team of professionals," according to Matthew Lori of New Mountain. Blair, who was once turned down for a job in a recruitment firm, is one of the top head-hunters and executive search heavyweights in Britain. She has traditionally been one of the highest paid female bosses in Britain. The Irish entrepreneur has utterly transformed the fortunes of the recruitment firm following a 2007 management buyout backed by 1.5bn private equity player Graphite Capital. It is believed that the deal was for around 120m. The London-headquartered company has almost doubled in size since 2007 and now employs 2,000 staff in 75 different countries, having expanded operations in Asia, Europe and North America. Blair helped change the entire business model of the firm, leading it from a mere transaction-based affair to a more comprehensive and lucrative management consultancy operation. Educated at Loreto, in Dublin's North Great George's Street, Blair worked as a Montessori teacher before running a fashion shop on Grafton Street. Her first foray into the recruitment sector saw her set up a nanny business. In 2011, she told an interviewer that, for a lark, she put an ad in a newspaper on the north side of Dublin, with the words, "child minders wanted" and another ad on the south side of Dublin, "child minders available" just to see what would happen. "Overnight I had a nanny business," she says. "I couldn't believe the amount of families wanting nannies and the amount of professional nannies seeking work, so I just stumbled onto a gap in the market." The Irish market was too sleepy for the fast-moving entrepreneur and she moved to London in the mid-Nineties. British Dragons' Den star James Caan hired her to work in his own recruitment group. She later persuaded him to let her start up a new division, Alexander Mann Solutions in 1997, which she later took over in the management buyout. She won the Veuve Clicquot Irish Businesswoman of the Year award in 2007. Ulster Bank previously sold 2.5bn of loans in its so-called Project Oyster book of problem debt to Cerberus. Photo: PA Ulster Bank has put 6,500 Irish mortgages, with a combined 1.6bn of debt, on the market in the latest mass sale of home loans by an Irish bank. The loans are split between 2,900 buy-to-let investor loans and 3,600 so-called primary dwelling home (PDH) or owner-occupier mortgages. The 3,600 primary dwelling home mortgages are in deep arrears of 44 months on average. The auction means the number of owner-occupier loans now up for sale across the Irish banks is around 20,000. Permanent TSB and Lloyds Banking group, which includes the old Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI). In the Ulster Bank sale, almost three-quarters of PDH borrowers first entered arrears between seven and nine years ago. On average, the affected borrowers have been through three periods of forbearance with the bank. The sale also includes 2,900 buy-to-let mortgages, again in deep arrears. The loans are understood to be largely in negative equity. The buyers are likely to be so-called vulture funds. The loans now marked for sale make up around a third of Ulster Bank's stock of non-performing loans. Along with other Irish lenders, Ulster is under pressure to reduce its share of those bad loans from the current 17pc level to around 5pc. The sale now under way will take the bad loan ratio down to around 10pc or 11pc. Customers will only find out whether their loan is included after the sale completes, but will then still have 90 days to reach a deal that could see them removed from the sale. Ulster Bank previously sold 2.5bn of loans in its so-called Project Oyster book of problem debt to Cerberus. That sale included more than 900 family home loans, as well as farm debts, commercial and buy-to-let loans. Mortgage campaigner David Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO), condemned the latest decision to sell. Ulster Bank should have tried alternatives, such as debt-for-equity swaps or providing people an "interest for life" in their properties, he said. IMHO wants a tax on sales of family home loans via emergency legislation. However, it's understood Ulster Bank has taken comfort from the Central Bank's position that delinquent borrowers are not being subject to harsher treatment by investment funds than by banks. The Central Bank's deputy governor, Ed Sibley, said on Wednesday that there is "absolutely no evidence" that overseas buyers of Irish loan portfolios are more aggressive in seeking to foreclose when mortgages are in default, than mainstream banks. However, the Financial Services Union (FSU) which represents many front-line bank staff said yesterday that it was concerned at Ulster Bank's move. "We know these announcements place thousands of home owners under additional stress as they fear their loan will be bought by so-called 'vulture funds'," a spokesperson said. The union sought an assurance that Ulster Bank would only sell to regulated entities. That is unlikely however, because it would narrow the field of potential buyers. Currently, buyers of outstanding loans don't have to be regulated - even though financial institutions must be regulated in order to issue new loans. Legislation proposed by Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath is aimed at extending the regulatory regime to all mortgage owners. The sale leaves Ulster Bank with a significant stock of problem owner-occupier and buy-to-let mortgages to work through, however it is understood the remaining debts are less stressed and new lending will also shift the bad-loan ratios. Iarnrod Eireann has appointed Jim Meade as its new chief executive. Mr Meade replaces David Franks who left the State company in March to become chief executive of infrastructure company Downer in Australia. A native of country Clare, Mr Meade has been acting chief executive since the departure of Mr Franks. Commenting on the appointment, Frank Allen, chairman of Iarnrod Eireann said that Mr Meades leadership will "ensure that the countrys rail network and services can play the strongest possible role in addressing economic and societal issues such as congestion and sustainability, achieve a financially sustainable future for the company, and most importantly deliver a safe and customer focused service." Prior to being appointed acting chief executive in March, Mr Meade had previously been director of train operations since 2013, where he was responsible for the delivery of all passenger and freight services. He began his railway career as an apprentice fitter in 1979, joining the company as a fitter in Limerick Locomotive Shed upon completion of his apprenticeship in 1983. Since then Mr Meade has worked in a range of roles including fleet maintenance management, strategic change programmes, district manager in Limerick, and regional manager in the west of Ireland, before becoming director of train operations. Speaking on his appointment as chief executive, Mr Meade said he was "honoured" and that he looked forward to working for customers to deliver a safe, and customer-focused rail service. An artists impression of the ambitious 850m Apple data centre that had been planned for Athenry, Co Galway Apple formally pulled the plug on ambitious plans for a giant Athenry data facility, citing a three-year planning delay. The decision to abandon plans for the 850m data centre in Co Galway was greeted with devastation locally. The IDA said it is working with the Government to assess the impact of Apple's decision and to ensure a streamlined planning process is introduced that provides greater certainty for investors. Business representative group Ibec said the case demonstrates Ireland's planning regime is "increasingly seen by potential investors as a bureaucratic black hole". Apple employs more than 6,000 people in Cork and is currently transferring 13bn in back taxes to a State-approved escrow account. Last week, lawyers for two objectors, Sinead Fitzpatrick and Allan Daly, succeeded in an application to have an appeal heard in the High Court over the matter. In granting leave to appeal, the Supreme Court also warned it may have to refer the case to the European Court of Justice on a point of law, which could bring a further lengthy delay to proceedings. In a statement, Apple said that it could no longer wait for planning arguments to play out. "Several years ago we applied to build a data centre at Athenry. Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre. "While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow." Business groups and local politicians had hoped to see a multiplier investment effect from the project. "This was to be one of the most significant investments in regional Ireland and the west that we have seen," said IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan. "The delays in achieving a definitive outcome from the planning process have led to where we are today. "It is disappointing albeit unsurprising that the company has concluded that it will no longer engage in the process. "We need a much higher degree of predictability in relation to our planning processes, appropriate for the pace at which the commercial world works." However, Apple moved to distance the decision from any wider relationship considerations with Ireland over tax or other issues, citing new investments in its Cork facility. "In the last two years we've spent over 550m with local companies and, all told, our investment and innovation supports more than 25,000 jobs up and down the country. "We're deeply committed to our employees and customers in Ireland and are expanding our operations in Cork, with a new facility for our talented team there." The data centre would have been one of the largest in Europe, with 300 temporary construction jobs and 50 permanent technical jobs for the site at Derrydonnell Woods. But objectors said appropriate environmental assessments had yet to be completed and the facility might use as much as 6pc of the national grid's electricity output. The decision to scrap the project may not prevent a Supreme Court appeal relating to the saga. The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, has said a court deliberation on the matter may still go ahead. Those who objected to the data centre say they want their appeal, taken against a High Court decision that gave Apple the go-ahead, to proceed because it involves a point of law around how planning decisions are made by An Bord Pleanala. Mr Justice Clarke has asked for motions to be put before the court, adjourning the matter until the end of May. What sort of power do influencers really yield? Adrian sits down with one of the most powerful social media figures in Ireland, who is a wanted man by commercial brands. James Kavanagh explains what he does, why it works and how he is now earning a multiple of what he did in previous jobs. Honesty and originality, he says, are key attributes, as well a particularly strong work ethic. He discusses how coming from a family of strongly motivated individuals, including his famous brother (Conor McGregors trainer), has influenced his aptitude to graft. James also talks about why Snapchat the platform that originally gave him his biggest boost now appears to be stagnating compared to Instagram. Apple's decision to pull the plug on an 850m data centre in Athenry was met with dismay by locals, who said the region and the country had lost out. While the announcement did not come as a shock to people in the Co Galway town, there was a deep sense of frustration. Many people insisted there was no ill will to the people who objected, but there was anger that the cumbersome planning system had led to the impasse that saw Apple halt the development. Local businesswoman Susan Dooley, of Peggi Browne Interiors, said the confirmation that Apple was pulling out was a huge blow. "We are devastated. It would have been such an opening for Athenry and for the west of Ireland. "It is such a loss," she said. Independent TD Sean Canney said that legislation needed to change so that the Apple decision is never repeated anywhere else in the country. "Private industry is not going to wait forever, this process has to be more efficient. It's a tough decision to deal with, such a loss. "Here was an opportunity for a regional town to become a flagship which would set a precedent for the rest of the country by attracting in one of the big boys. "Apple had to make a decision. It couldn't wait around. The private sector can't wait and wait," he said. Local Fine Gael councillor Peter Feeney said people in the area had still been holding out hope that the project would finally get the green light. "The news was not unexpected but there was still hope that it would go ahead. It's not just a blow for Athenry, it's a blow for every town west of the Shannon and indeed any rural area in the country." The Athenry-based councillor also said there was no point blaming people but he insisted lessons must be learned from the debacle. "It's so difficult to get big business west of the Shannon. We had this and now it's gone." Paul Keane, of 'Athenry for Apple', said it was a bad day for the town, Galway and the rest of the country. "Who is going to come in here after the biggest company in the world? This outcome is sending out the wrong message. It's not just Athenry which has lost a billion-dollar business, the country has lost as well." Volkswagen is advising owners of its new Polo supermini not to use one of the cars rear seats until a recall fixes a potential seatbelt fault. The recall will get under way within weeks. It is understood the number of Irish cars affected, including those in stock, is likely to be around the 2,000 mark. The auto giant says there is a possibility in rare situations that the left rear-seatbelt lock could release when all three rear seats are occupied. t cites the possibility of the fault arising if there is a sudden change in direction, for example, when the centre and left rear seats are occupied. Volkswagen insists the new Polo, launched last autumn, is safe to drive. However, it is advising owners not to use the middle rear seat until the recall resolves the problem - even though the issue is apparently with the left rear seatbelt. A Volkswagen spokesman in Germany explained the apparent contradiction to the Irish Independent. He said the weight and the side-force movement of the occupants could press one belt lock case onto the other, forcing the left-side rear seat to release the buckle. He added: Our temporary advice is . . . if no one is seated in the centre seat at all until the refit is installed, there cant be any force applied to release the left rear seatbelt lock. The recall involves fitting a redesigned belt lock fixture which will prevent the fault occurring in future. A letter will be sent to owners so they can make an appointment with their dealer to have the fault fixed free of charge. The problem came to light during recent dynamic tests by Finnish motoring media. They identified what Volkswagen describes as a rare possible traffic situation in which the seat belt lock can open while the car is being driven. With three seated in the back row the shift and force of body weights led to the buckle of one seatbelt being released. Volkswagen say it is now waiting for the authorities to give final validation so it can implement the solution on cars already delivered to customers - and those for future production. The Polo is one of Irelands most popular small cars with more than 1,300 registered so far this year. There would also be a number in stock which will require the solution being applied too. By restoring sanctions against Iran, US President Donald Trump has tasked a little-known State Department office with convincing companies and governments worldwide to cut imports of Iranian crude - even if that means paying more to buy oil from other suppliers. The Bureau of Energy Resources got the job done during the Iran sanctions that spanned 2012 to 2015, when President Barack Obama had the co-operation of European leaders in choking off Iran's main revenue source to pressure it to curb its nuclear programme. Now the office faces steeper challenges: Europe opposes Trump's aggressive stance on Iran and is considering ways to block sanctions; the US Senate has yet to confirm a leader for the bureau; and the State Department has its hands full managing sanctions on Venezuela, trade disputes with China, and talks with North Korea. "It's going to be a lot harder this time," said Amos Hochstein, who led the bureau under President Obama, when diplomats from the United States, Iran, China, France, Russia, the UK and Germany formed the 2015 nuclear deal. "There's going to be a lot less goodwill." Under Trump's renewed sanctions, foreign firms will have 180 days to make reductions or face penalties that can include fines and restrictions on doing business in the United States. Washington can identify the buyers, sellers, traders, shippers, insurers and financial institutions involved in Iranian oil purchases because all foreign transactions in US dollars are cleared by the Federal Reserve. The work is harder if trades are in other currencies. The US has banned Iranian oil imports to its own shores for decades, so Washington's ability to squeeze the exports will rely on convincing foreign governments and firms to pressure Iran back to the negotiating table for a "better deal" - as Trump has said he expects. Officials at the Department of Treasury, the Department of Commerce and the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the difficulty in managing oil curbs on Iran. When asked about the challenges, energy bureau spokesman Vincent Campos said the office "will carry out sanctions policy in the current environment". If successful, sanctions would slash exports from one of the top suppliers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and likely raise prices for crude globally by forcing buyers to compete for alternative supplies. US oil prices have already vaulted over $70 a barrel to highs not seen since 2014. Under Obama and Hochstein, Iran's exports of oil plummeted from about 2.5m barrels per day (bpd) to less than 1.3m bpd, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Imposing those cuts was difficult, even with more geopolitical backing. Teams from the bureau joined with colleagues from the Departments of Treasury and Commerce to visit governments in Asia and the Middle East, cajoling them into finding alternatives to Iranian oil, and to help battle smuggling. The European Union joined the United States and passed its own Iran sanctions in 2012, cutting its imports of Iranian oil from 650,000 bpd to zero. This time, European leaders will be less helpful. They have urged Trump not to leave the nuclear deal, which they say was hard-won and has proven to be effective in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The EU, meanwhile, is considering a "blocking statute" that would ban any EU company from complying with US sanctions. (Reuters) Dame Barbara Windsor's husband has revealed the EastEnders star sometimes forgets they are married due to Alzheimers (Kieron McCarron/BBC/PA) Dame Barbara Windsor's husband has revealed the actress is struggling to remember they are married due to Alzheimers (Jonathan Brady/PA) Dame Barbara Windsors husband has revealed the EastEnders star has sometimes forgotten they are married since being diagnosed with Alzheimers. In an interview with The Sun, Scott Mitchell said the 80-year-old actress would be unable to remember the couples 18-year marriage as the disease took hold. Mr Mitchell, 55, told the newspaper: She suddenly has no recollection of our history. Expand Close Dame Barbara Windsor's husband has revealed the actress is struggling to remember they are married due to Alzheimers (Jonathan Brady/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dame Barbara Windsor's husband has revealed the actress is struggling to remember they are married due to Alzheimers (Jonathan Brady/PA) Shell look at her wedding ring and say, Are we married? But thats the thing about this cruel disease, isnt it? He had previously revealed how Dame Barbara who enjoyed a glittering career in showbusiness was diagnosed with Alzheimers in April 2014. They had kept it hidden until this week. Since news of the former Carry On stars diagnosis broke, friends and former colleagues have rushed to lend their support to the actress. Expand Close Scott Mitchell said his wife, the actress Dame Barbara Windsor, has been diagnosed with Alzheimers (John Stillwell/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scott Mitchell said his wife, the actress Dame Barbara Windsor, has been diagnosed with Alzheimers (John Stillwell/PA) In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Dame Barbaras friend, the actor Christopher Biggins, said she was an actress of the people. He told the newspaper: Everyone wants a piece of her, and she is very happy to give it. Video of the Day The only problem is that in the future, and sometimes already I think, she wont understand why. She may forget her whole glorious career, why she is so famous, and all the people whose lives she touched. But if thats the case then its down to us, her dear friends, to help her amazing husband, Scott, to remind her. In the 1970s, plane hijackings were all the rage. Every other week, some wing-nut would board a jet and wave a semi-automatic about and demand to be flown to Cuba. Some were resolved peacefully, others turned into runway bloodbaths, but none ended as memorably as the seizing of Air France Flight 139. It was en route from Tel Aviv to Paris on June 27, 1976, when it stopped in Athens to pick up more passengers. Among them were four hijackers, who diverted the plane to Entebbe Airport in central Uganda. There, the 300 passengers and 12 crew would endure a dreadful waiting game as Palestinian terrorists negotiated angrily with the Israeli authorities while Uganda's ruler, Idi Amin, attempted to interpose himself into a situation that had become a huge news story across the globe. It was resolved with chilling efficiency by Israeli armed forces, but only after a long debate between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his gung-ho Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres. All of this is dramatised by Jose Padilha's thriller Entebbe, and on paper it sounds like a wonderfully cinematic story. Because apart from the Israeli-Palestinian dimension and the surreal contributions of Idi Amin, there's the fact that two of the terrorists were members of the German Revolutionary Cells. Daniel Bruhl and Rosamund Pike play Wilfried Bose and Brigitte Kuhlmann, left-wing radicals who'd carried out a series of bomb attacks in West Germany designed to destabilise their country's supposed fascist regime. Their decision to help members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to hijack a plane full of Israelis may have been vaguely high-minded, but in Entebbe at least, Bose begins to regret it once the plane touches down in Uganda. Almost immediately, the Palestinian terrorists begin separating the Jews from the other passengers and herding them into an adjoining room. To the Germans, this has uncomfortable connotations, and Bose and Kuhlmann begin to realise that the terrorists' demands for $5m and the release of 53 imprisoned comrades are unlikely to be met. "The Israelis don't negotiate," Bose mutters, and meanwhile the Palestinians promise to start killing passengers. The scene is set for a bloody mess. In Tel Aviv, however, Prime Minister Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) is seriously considering doing a deal with the terrorists. But not if Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) can help it - he wants to show the world that Israel is no pushover, and is secretly planning a commando raid in conjunction with the military. His view will win out in the end, leading to one of the most audacious counter-terrorist actions in history. This is not the first time that Operation Entebbe has been dramatised. In fact, within a year of the incident no less than three hack films had been made lionising the exploits of the Israeli commandos. This film, in fairness, is more nuanced: we're given intermittent hints that the Palestinians may have good cause to resort to such desperate actions, and Bose is presented as the Hamlet of the piece, a wavering man of action who insists to one captive that he is not a Nazi and faces a dilemma when it comes to shooting the prisoners. Video of the Day Rabin believed in a negotiated two-state solution and would later be assassinated by an Israeli hard-liner for his troubles: the ideological conflict between he and Peres is extensively, though rather stodgily, dramatised in the film and represents a bitter national debate that's still going on in Israel today. Entebbe is worthy then, but also strangely boring and tension-free. Someone thought it would be a good idea to make one of the commandos' girlfriends a dancer, providing a flimsy pretext for a deeply irritating interpretive dance sequence that punctuates the rescue mission. That all-action ending is thrown away in a matter of minutes by a film that spends 100 minutes building to a climax that never happens, and makes a hash of telling a great story. Entebbe (12A, 107mins) - 2 stars Read More Films coming soon... Deadpool 2 (Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin); Citizen Lane (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Derbhle Crotty, Barry McGovern); Filmworker (Leon Vitali, Danny Lloyd, Ryan O'Neal); Jeune Femme (Laetitia Dosch). Ryan O'Shaughnessy celebrates getting through to the Eurovision final with Team Ireland. PIC: Andres Poveda Irish Eurovision hopeful Ryan O'Shaughnessy pictured on the blue carpet at the opening ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Picture: Andres Poveda Ryan OShaughnessy celebrates making it to the final of Eurovision. Photo: AP Ryan OShaugnessy is flying the flag for Ireland in Eurovision Ireland have received their running order position - and it guarantees us plenty of phone votes. After Eurovision bosses selected the running order on Thursday night, they decided Ireland will perform 24th of the 26 songs in the final. Our running order buddy will once again be hot favourite Cyprus, who are performing at 25. In the semi final the Irish and Cypriot delegation had fun together backstage as they performed 18th and 19th respectively. While Cyprus remains the hot favourite to win the competition, Ireland has been steadily rising up the bookies' odds - and the digital charts - since Ryan O'Shuaghnessy qualified on Tuesday. Ireland is now the only ballad in the second half of the show, meaning it's sure to stand out for televoters. Expand Close Guitar hero: Ryan OShaughnessys qualification for tonights Eurovision grand final in Lisbon brought out the quirky in Marty Whelan. Photo: Andres Poveda / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Guitar hero: Ryan OShaughnessys qualification for tonights Eurovision grand final in Lisbon brought out the quirky in Marty Whelan. Photo: Andres Poveda While RTE has not commented on the increased speculation concerning an Irish win, it's understood the broadcaster is prepared to host the show in Dublin in 2019. Expand Close Irish Eurovision hopeful Ryan O'Shaughnessy pictured on the blue carpet at the opening ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Picture: Andres Poveda / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Irish Eurovision hopeful Ryan O'Shaughnessy pictured on the blue carpet at the opening ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Picture: Andres Poveda Expand Close Ryan OShaughnessy celebrates making it to the final of Eurovision. Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan OShaughnessy celebrates making it to the final of Eurovision. Photo: AP Video of the Day Irish Eurovision hopeful Ryan O'Shaughnessy pictured on the blue carpet at the opening ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Picture: Andres Poveda Ireland's Eurovision backing dancers have been 'overwhelmed' by the messages they have been receiving from LGBT teens around Europe since their performance on Tuesday. The pair received a massive ovation in Tuesday's Semi Final as the first ever performing same-sex couple in Eurovision's 63 year history. Ryan O'Shaughnessy (25) defied the bookies odds when his song 'Together' powered straight into Saturday's final from what was dubbed the 'semi final of death'. Now his backing dancers Alan McGrath (25) and Kevin O'Dwyer (24) have become sources of inspiration for LGBT young people around Europe, as they've been inundated with messages of support for their act on social media. Expand Close Ryan OShaughnessy celebrates making it to the final of Eurovision. Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan OShaughnessy celebrates making it to the final of Eurovision. Photo: AP While Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by public vote in 2015, many countries competing in Eurovision still have a poor LGBT rights record. It emerged that earlier this week the Chinese broadcaster of Eurovision had edited out the Irish performance entirely due to its depiction of a gay relationship. Last night, after Independent.ie highlighted the issue, Eurovision bosses announced they had terminated the Chinese broadcasters rights with immediate effect, meaning last night's semi final and Saturday's final weren't beamed to China. Speaking to Independent.ie, dancer Alan from Tallaght said the duo had been overwhelmed by the messages of support that have poured in from around the continent: "We've had such touching messages from people around Europe who aren't out, or who are in the closet. It's a great thing because Kevin and I were both at that point in our lives at some stage. It's great to be able to send out such a positive message. "We've had so many messages from people we don't know, and young people saying how much it means to them and how important it is what we're doing," Kevin added. Expand Close Ryan O'Shaughnessy celebrates getting through to the Eurovision final with Team Ireland. PIC: Andres Poveda / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan O'Shaughnessy celebrates getting through to the Eurovision final with Team Ireland. PIC: Andres Poveda Video of the Day "What Ryan wanted to do was to just spread this message and once we do that, that's all we can ask for." Ireland's Eurovison hopeful Ryan O'Shaughnessy pushed to include the ground-breaking same sex dance performance on stage, as he wanted to show love is universal. The dancing duo said they didn't expect the massive ovation they received from the live audience they got during Tuesday's semi final. "I wasn't sure if there was going to be maybe a small reaction, but when I heard it I got really emotional", Alan said. When the duo filmed the song's hugely popular music video in Temple Bar they explained they still were in the dark over whether they'd be needed in Lisbon. Kevin explained: "We knew it was in talks, but until we saw the reaction to the video we weren't sure, but the video then did so well and got a great reaction." Despite their young age, the pair are two of Ireland's most experienced professional dancers. As well as backing Ryan Dolan in Eurovision 2013, Alan has gone on a year long US tour with Celtic Woman, as well as recently performing on TV3's Ireland's Got Talent. He also runs his own dance school, Dizzy Footwork, which celebrated its 10th year this year. Meanwhile Kevin has performed extensively abroad, after training for three years in London and performing on a West End tour of Germany. He'd never performed at Eurovison before, and despite Alan sharing his past experience he said: "I knew it was going to be big, but until we got here I couldn't understand the scale of it." Ireland perform in the final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday starting at 8pm on RTE One. Paul O'Grady has given up watching television - and believes his health has already benefited (Ian West/PA) Paul OGrady has given up watching television and believes his health has already benefited. The TV presenter, who hosts shows including Blind Date and For The Love Of Dogs, used to sit for hours watching soaps and documentaries, according to the Daily Star. But the 62-year-old has now cut down on TV and claims even his doctor has noticed an improvement in his health. Expand Close Paul O'Grady has given up watching television, saying there is, / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Paul O'Grady has given up watching television, saying there is, He told the newspaper: I used to have the telly on all the time and sit and watch all the soaps and shows, but not now. Those days are over. My health is better than ever for it too. My doctor even said that I am in much more perfect health, its given me a new lease of life. Expand Close Paul O'Grady has stopped watching television and believes his health has improved (Ian West/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Paul O'Grady has stopped watching television and believes his health has improved (Ian West/PA) Anyway there is much more stuff to do in life than watch telly. OGrady has suffered with his health in the past, including two heart attacks. Video of the Day And last year he was rushed to hospital in Delhi after falling seriously ill while filming scenes for ITVs For The Love Of Dogs: India. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry later this month (Dominic Lipinski/PA) RTE has defended their decision to broadcast the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, saying there will likely be huge public interest in the nuptials and the coverage is being provided for free. RTE will broadcast the Royal Nuptials live on RTE One on May 19, a decision which sparked anger among some on social media. Sinn Fein Fingal councillor Paul Donnelly described the move as a disgraceful waste of taxpayers' money, asking, "surely there's something happening in Ireland more worthy of our national broadcasting bothering to broadcast?" An RTE spokesperson defended the decision, pointing out that it's costing our national broadcaster nothing to air the nuptials but is likely to deliver big ratings, if Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding was anything to go by. Expand Close Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Abbey following their marriage ceremony, on April 29, 2011 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Abbey following their marriage ceremony, on April 29, 2011 The Royal Wedding is being offered to RTE and other public service broadcasters - free of charge via the BBC, the spokesperson said. RTE will provide its own commentary. The spokesperson said that the RTE footage would not include a studio set and would simply be voice overs, including pictures and footage. We previously showed William and Kate's wedding, so this is not the first time RTE has shown a royal wedding, the spokesperson pointed out. Former Lord Mayor of Belfast Niall O Donnghaile called the decision to broadcast the wedding "controversial" and said RTE should focus on events that are happening in Ireland. He said: "The scheduling issue is a matter for RTE and you can see from the reaction on social media that it is unsurprisingly a bit of a controversial decision. Video of the Day I would rather they would focus on providing a full service, and indeed proper coverage right across Ireland, before they would be showing events happening in Britain. Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle will tie the knot on May 19 at Windsor Castle. ABORTION is sometimes "far worse" than rape for women, a Catholic bishop has claimed. The Bishop of Ossory, Monsignor Dermot Farrell, is urging people to vote no in the historic referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment on May 25, claiming "we're not just voting on a law, we're voting on a value system." Bishop Farrell said he feels our abortion laws shouldn't be relaxed, including when women have conceived through rape. Speaking on The Pat Kenny show on Newstalk today, he said: "Rape is a violent act and it is a violent crime against women, and it is a terrible crime. "What I understand, from women who have been raped is that the abortion sometimes after rape was far worse than the rape itself. And it was much, much more difficult to get over." He said that pregnancies as a result of incest are "difficult and complex" but still said he thinks abortion isn't the answer. Bishop Farrell said: "We might not like how the child has been conceived but what you are trying to do is balance rights here. The right of life to the child is paramount." He continued to say that he feels the debate around abortion is "the most important social and justice issue of our time." "My fundamental argument is that the right to life is fundamental - and that all other rights are based on that, no matter what other right we talk about... "It's going to shape the kind of Ireland that we have. "What we're voting on here is not just a law, but a value system," Bishop Farrell said. Read More Meanwhile, former RTE host Theresa Lowe is among 100 lawyers who have signed a statement expressing major concerns about a repeal of the Eighth Amendment. Ms Lowe, who is a barrister and communications expert, was one of the high-profile signatories to the statement unveiled in Dublin yesterday, which said that "the Eighth Amendment respects the right to life of mothers." It said that: "What is being proposed is not simply abortion in exceptional cases, but a wide-ranging right to abortion." Speaking to Independent.ie, Ms Lowe explained that she has a number of concerns as a lawyer. "It is unprecedented that a human right would be removed from the constitution. "I think we should be adding more rights, not taking them away. So that is giving me cause for concern," said Ms Lowe. She said that if people can find out the facts and really learn about all the issues concerned with this, and then follow their conscience, "you couldnt ask for any more, and that is what democracy is, and thats what this referendum is about." The statement has also been signed by a former Judge of the High Court, and former Judge of the European Court of Justice Aindrias O Caoimh, and Iarfhlaith ONeill, also a former Judge of the High Court. Pro-life campaigner, solicitor, Cora Sherlock is also among the signatories. It said: "If the Eight Amendment is repealed, the Government has signalled its intention to place legislation before the Oireachtas. The proposed legislation would allow the life of the unborn to be ended for any reason up until twelve weeks, and far beyond that on grounds which have led to abortion on demand in other jurisdictions. "In addition, such limitations on abortion as may be set in the legislation could be removed at any time without the consent of the people," it said. Barrister Benedict O Floinn said that some have very strong views on the issue, others have just looked at this particular proposal, and concluded that it would be profoundly unjust to do anything other than vote no in the coming referendum. "What we are hoping to do is to provide some form of legal clarity," he said. He said that they were not aligned with any group. The signatories comprised of barristers, solicitors and academics also, he said at a press conference yesterday. The number of pregnancies terminated because of a Down syndrome diagnosis is still very low, the chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said yesterday. Dr Peter Boylan, who is calling for a Yes vote in the referendum, said the "absolute numbers" of terminations are low, as most pregnant women do not have any pre-natal test to find out if their baby has Down syndrome. He was commenting after figures obtained by the Irish Independent found more than half of pregnant women in the three Dublin maternity hospitals, who have a diagnostic test after 12 to 13 weeks' gestation, and are informed their baby will have Down syndrome, are going to the UK for an abortion. In 2016 there were 21 women given this diagnosis in the Coombe Maternity Hospital and 14 had a termination. In the Rotunda, 26 women received the same pre-natal diagnosis and 57pc had a termination. The figure for the National Maternity Hospital is around 50pc. These women would have undergone a diagnostic test such as amniocentisis. Dr Boylan said it was important to stress that proposed legislation to widen the grounds for abortion did not include any plan to allow for termination of pregnancy on the grounds of Down syndrome. Expand Close Strike a political pose: clothes and accessories inspired by the Eighth Amendment referendum went up for sale in a Fashion Is Repealing auction, hosted by The HunReal Issues. Milliner Margaret OConnor gave this creation. Photo: Eilish McCormack / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Strike a political pose: clothes and accessories inspired by the Eighth Amendment referendum went up for sale in a Fashion Is Repealing auction, hosted by The HunReal Issues. Milliner Margaret OConnor gave this creation. Photo: Eilish McCormack Asked if he was surprised at the decision of parents to take this course he said: "Everyone has their own particular reasons which I would not be party to." He pointed out it was not possible to get a diagnosis of Down syndrome within 12 weeks of pregnancy, the proposed cut-off point for unrestricted access to abortion proposed by the Government in the event of the referendum being passed. A woman can get a screening test within 12 weeks of pregnancy, which can indicate a probability the baby will have Down syndrome, but this was rarely available before 12 weeks. Dr Boylan said if the screening test was carried out too early in the pregnancy it must be repeated. However, Dr Frances Neenan - a paediatrician in Portiuncula Hospital in Galway - said yesterday that screening tests for Down syndrome are currently offered by Irish providers from nine weeks. "A quick search on internet forums reveals that women can get results from these tests after only four to five working days or indeed earlier by telephone," she said. "Some Irish web-based services now offer home-testing from week 10, promising results within five working days of receipt of samples . "Irish facilities also offer results from the subsequent diagnostic invasive pre-natal testing, for example chorionic villus sampling, within 72 hours." Dr Neenan said that it was "clear both a strong indication of chromosomal abnormality and subsequent diagnostic confirmation can even now be achieved within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. "Of course, given these timelines, with removal of the Eighth Amendment it will be possible for people to end the life of unborn children, even if the evidence for abnormality is not entirely conclusive." Gardai are hunting an eastern European gang who stole 5,000 from a 73-year-old woman in Co Waterford who had just taken the cash from a bank to pay for her brother's funeral. Detectives believe the gang - comprised of two men and two women in their 20s or 30s - are responsible for a number of distraction-style thefts in Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Dublin and Wexford over the past month. Another brother of the 73-year-old woman, who had the cash stolen from her in Dungarvan, west Waterford, described it as "an appallingly cruel and mean-spirited crime". The man, who wants his family to remain anonymous, said the cash had been withdrawn from a Dungarvan bank minutes earlier by his sister. The 79-year-old had been buried just four days before the cash was stolen from his sister. "It was tough enough for our family to deal with my brother's death, but this has just caused so much upset," he said. "How can anyone target an elderly woman like this? It is just terrible. My sister was heartbroken by our brother's death but this devastated her." The 5,000 had been saved up by the 79-year-old man out of his pension over a 10-year period. The money was to pay for his own funeral as the pensioner didn't want to impose any financial burden on his family. "My sister was clearly watched in the bank," her brother said. "She was then followed by a woman and, when she came to the church and stopped because a funeral was taking place, she was approached from behind by a foreign-sounding man. "He showed her a map and then asked her for directions in broken English." The man appeared very confused to the elderly woman. "My sister pointed out to him that it was a map of the UK and not Ireland. The fella then said 'sorry' and left. "It was a short time later my sister realised that the money had been taken from her bag." Gardai believe they have images of one of the female gang members from CCTV footage. Detectives also believe the gang are responsible for thefts over recent weeks in Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel and Kilkenny. Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to contact Dungarvan gardai on (058) 48600. Conor Emmet (20) was jailed for 15 months for possession of child pornography digital images and movies Pic: Courtpix A young Dublin man caught with graphic child pornography showing the sadomasochistic rape and torture of a baby girl has being jailed for 15 months. Gardai found 5,919 images and 328 video files on two laptops belonging to Conor Emmet (20), when they raided his family home, after an intelligence operation involving the FBI and Europol. Emmet, of North Way Estate Finglas, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the digital images and movies on two laptops at his home on May 17, 2016. The court previously heard that the graphic material was at the upper end of seriousness in such cases. A garda memo of interview noted Emmet said he first accessed child pornography when he was aged 16 and that he told a psychiatrist he was looking at it because it interested me. Today Judge Karen O'Connor said she had considered a non-custodial sentence but given the particular circumstances of the case she had no choice but to jail Emmet. The judge said it was by no means a victimless crime and must be taken very seriously by the court. Graphic and explicit details were heard relating to the most disturbing abuse of a very young toddler, who has since been taken to safety but suffered serious injuries, she said. Judge O'Connor said most children exploited in these videos and images were vulnerable and came from backgrounds of severe poverty. These children must be protected, she said. She said mitigating factors included Emmet's early guilty plea, that he was a very good student, was involved in charity work and engaged in intensive rehabilitation where he made good progress. Judge O'Connor noted he had no previous convictions and accepted full ownership of his actions. The defendant said in an interview during his rehabilitation course that he was glad he was caught, she said. The judge said she was aware Emmet had received enormous support from his parents, and that they were standing by him. She referred to the considerable amount of testimonial material from relations, family friends and from the defendant himself. His mother's letter said he had never given his parents a day's worry or concern until this happened, Judge O'Connor said. She sentenced him to two-and-a-half-years in jail, suspending the final 15 months, and said it was noteworthy there was very often a higher amount of material in such cases. Judge O'Connor directed that Emmet undergo 15 months of post-release supervision. The court previously heard that Emmet came to garda attention when the FBI began monitoring a Tor network after arresting an individual in America. A Tor network provides users with anonymity when accessing the dark web. The FBI passed Irish users' IP addresses to Europol, who sent them to gardai at the Online Child Exploitation Unit. Gardai then raided Emmet's family home in May 2016. Tara Burns SC, defending, said Emmet had done great work to overcome what was obviously a sickness. There is no other way to explain this as it is truly and seriously dreadful, she said. She said he was from an extraordinarily good family, and his parents supported him throughout because he is a kind, caring and loving person. He stepped off the precipice and has broken his parents' hearts, Ms Burns said. Judge O'Connor noted the maximum sentence for this offence is five years. At a previous hearing Detective Garda Brid Wallace from the Cyber Crime Bureau said the material spanned all categories of seriousness, and included video files showing the rape and torture of an 18 month old girl. The court heard that this child has since been identified in Thailand and taken to safety. She has no recollection of the abuse but suffered serious internal damage and will not be in a position to have children when she is older, Det Wallace said. The child's screams were heard throughout the video, Det Wallace said. Another of the videos showed the same child being held over a toilet and urinated on by a female, the court heard. Det Wallace told Mr Cooney that gardai also found an interactive book called Welcome to Paedophilia Handbook on Emmet's computer. This included sections entitled 'How to handle police and the public if things go wrong', 'How to have sex with kids in safe and rewarding ways' and 'Hunting season', Det Wallace said. The corporate watchdog has rejected claims by Independent News & Media (INM) that it was deprived of critical information about a major suspected data breach at the company. A row over the matter emerged as a major issue during judicial review proceedings taken by INM in its bid to quash a decision by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) to apply to the High Court for the appointment of inspectors to the company. If INM is successful, it would mean ODCE director Ian Drennan would not be able to press ahead with the application. He wants inspectors to look into a range of corporate governance issues, including the suspected data breach. INM says the failure of the ODCE to disclose the existence of a key document meant the media group was not in a position to challenge assurances given by then chairman Leslie Buckley about the "interrogation" of company data. In 2014, Mr Buckley directed that a third-party company be given access to INM's data back-up tapes. Mr Buckley claimed this was done as part of a cost-cutting exercise where he was looking for information about a contract. But his explanation was undermined by the discovery of a spreadsheet that suggested the names of 19 people, including journalists, were searched for in the data. INM has said the ODCE had the spreadsheet since October 2017, but did not tell the company about it until it went to the High Court on March 23 seeking the appointment of inspectors. However, barrister Brian Murray SC, for the ODCE, said INM's position on the matter "was at least questionable". Mr Murray said it was "absolutely wrong" of INM to say it was deprived until March of information that would have allowed it to challenge Mr Buckley. He pointed to a number of letters INM received in August 2017 from Donal Spring, solicitor for then INM chief executive Robert Pitt, who made a protected disclosure that month to the ODCE. Mr Murray said the correspondence outlined that Mr Pitt had very serious concerns that large indiscriminate pieces of data, potentially including emails related to employees and others, had been accessed. He said Mr Pitt exhorted INM's board to investigate the matter fully and to contact the Data Protection Commissioner. However, INM counsel Paul Gallagher SC hit back, saying the spreadsheet was a "critical" document "which put a very different complexion on things". Without such evidence, it would have been an enormous step to accuse Mr Buckley of telling "an outright lie", he said. Earlier, Mr Murray rejected INM's arguments that there should have been consultation with the company before the inspectors' application was filed. Mr Murray said there was no legal obligation to consult the company. He claimed the case made by INM was "unstateable" and he criticised what he described as "the falsity and absurdity" of INM's arguments. Mr Murray said the Oireachtas had vested powers in the ODCE to bring such applications to the courts and had not imposed a requirement for consultation before doing so. He said INM had an untrammelled right to put whatever information it wanted before the court in opposition to the ODCE's application. If INM's case proved founded, he said, it would raise fundamental issues for the courts and the administration of justice. Mr Justice Seamus Noonan will rule on the matter later. There are no files on "privileged" garda computer systems and files in the Security & Intelligence Section portraying whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe and former press officer Supt David Taylor as targets or "as a suspect or in a derogatory light", the Charleton tribunal was told. Peter Kirwan, a former detective chief superintendent who worked in the Security and Intelligence Section (formerly Crime & Security Branch) until last year, was asked by the tribunal to search the section's files and computer systems for any intelligence files in existence on Sgt McCabe, or on a computer system called Oisin at garda HQ. The tribunal is examining allegations by Supt Taylor that he was directed by former garda commissioner Martin Callinan to brief the media negatively on Sgt McCabe. Mr Callinan denies this. Mr Kirwan was also asked to examine whether whether intelligence files were kept in Garda HQ on any garda under investigation which were colloquially known as the "corruption file", and if any such file was kept on either Supt Taylor or Sgt McCabe, and whether a phone tap was placed on Sgt McCabe's phones. He told the tribunal that before the 1990s, records in the Security & Intelligence section were paper based and computerisation began in that decade. It was hoped that eventually all records would be computerised. He said there was a Security & Intelligence database system known as Oisin, which was introduced in 2015 and replaced a previous system called Verity. In his report on the searches for the tribunal, Mr Kirwan said that there was "no file or document held whatsoever which presents Sgt McCabe as a target of An Garda Siochana, or as a suspect or in a derogatory light. Garda files contained records of an Operation Oisin crime prevention scheme in October 1998, and an Oisin Programme in 1998, relating to multi-agency information exchanges, but neither of these programmes referred to Sgt McCabe in any way. Files in the intelligence section recorded Sgt McCabe as a member of a garda search team in a drugs operation in Clones in 2002, and a smuggling investigation in 1989, Mr Kirwan said. Other hits on the name, McCabe, mentioned in intelligence systems were not Sgt McCabe but other people with the same surname. Mr Kirwan said there was a folder called "Corruption in public office" in the National Criminal Intelligence Unit (NCIU), which contained "information, reports and intelligence pertaining to misconduct in public office", such as if a garda was alleged to be involved in drug trafficking or passing information to criminals. Expand Close Former press officer Dave Taylor, left, with the then commissioner Martin Callinan and deputy commissioner Noirin OSullivan in 2013 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former press officer Dave Taylor, left, with the then commissioner Martin Callinan and deputy commissioner Noirin OSullivan in 2013 He said there was no mention in those files of Sgt McCabe or Supt Taylor in relation to any garda operation. Supt Taylor's name did appear multiple times in the Verity system in the context of his duties, and once on Oisin. "For the avoidance of doubt, I can confirm there is no file or document whatsoever which presents Supt David Taylor as a target of An Garda Siochana, a suspect or in a derogatory light," Mr Kirwan reported. A second NCIU file, the "Corruption Index", was a statistical report only. Mr Kirwan also searched for any application for a telephone interception placed on Sgt McCabe between January 2009 and November 2016. There was no application for any lawful authorisation for phone intercept on anyone of that name, Mr Kirwan said. Applications were made for telephone data relating to Supt Taylor as part of a criminal investigation into unauthorised disclosures to journalists, Mr Kirwan said. A total of ten applications were processed in relation to the investigation. One of these was for a journalist's phone and was refused. Det Supt Brian Brunton gave evidence that searches of garda computer systems were made in the presence of tribunal chairman Justice Peter Charleton when he visited Garda headquarters on 31 July 2017. The tribunal chairman provided the Security & Intelligence Section with keywords to search, which included McCabe, Maurice, Rat, Oisin, Whistle, Blower, Whistleblower, Person of the year, child and child abuse. The keywords also include the first and last name of Miss D, whose allegations of sexual assault against Sgt McCabe in 2006 were later dismissed by the DPP which found there was no evidence a crime had been committed. Det Supt Brunton said that the keyword search resulted in a total of 58,865 hits. Some of these were false positives, such as the word "operation", which contains the word "rat". The tribunal resumes on Monday, when Supt Taylor will begin his evidence. Tribunal barrister Patrick Marrinan SC said Supt Taylor was expected to give evidence until Wednesday, followed by his wife Michelle Taylor. Former justice minister Alan Shatter TD will appear at the tribunal on Thursday, followed by Mr Callinan, who is also expected to give evidence for several days. A SINN Fein TD has apologised after appearing in court in relation to a public order incident. Cork East deputy, Pat Buckley, issued an apology for any offence caused and said his behaviour was not as it should have been. He appeared in court on Thursday in relation to an incident at his home involving gardai. The incident occurred while he was celebrating a family event at his home. In a statement he said: This was a family event, a celebratory affair involving a few drinks in my own home. "Unfortunately, with alcohol on board, my attitude towards the Gardai, when they arrived at my home, was not what it should have been. "I apologise profusely for any offence caused and I accept totally the punishment handed down to me in court yesterday. Mr Buckley will return to Middleton district court in November for a sentence to be handed down. IRISH students in the UK wont have to pay higher international fees and will still be able to access student loans after Brexit. British government minister Sam Gyimah told a high-level conference in London he is committed to maintaining rights of Irish students to access higher and further education on equal terms with UK nationals. Mr Gyimah, the UKs higher education minister, said the proposed deal would be reciprocal with UK students in Ireland to be treated in the same way as domestic students. He was speaking at a conference that brought together government ministers, policymakers, educators and researchers from across the UK and Ireland to identify specific initiatives to enhance co-operation post-Brexit. The conference was organised by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, whose patron is Niall Fitzgerald, former CEO and chair of the consumer goods giant Unilever, and sponsored by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Much of the focus was on existing higher education and research partnerships between the two countries, and how these could be continued and developed when the UK departs the EU. In a well-received address, Mr Gyimah paid tribute to how Ireland had built a powerful and dynamic knowledge economy and said the UK had much to learn from it. He expressed a very strong commitment to deepening collaboration and his comments on students will draw huge sighs of relief, not only from Irish students, but also UK universities. UK universities offer an important safety valve for Irish school-leavers who dont get the necessary points for entry to a CAO course, and the reality is that Irish higher education does not currently have the capacity to absorb the numbers involved. There are more than 10,000 Irish students in Britain and Northern Ireland. Nursing is particularly popular and many others study disciplines with limited capacity in Ireland, such as pharmacy or physiotherapy. Before Mr Gyimahs comments, Louise Richardson, the Irish-born vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, said there were 260 Irish students in Oxford and she was presuming they would have to pay international fees which will significantly reduce their numbers. Mr Gyimah said Irish students brought diversity to UK campuses, stimulated demand for courses, added to the research capacity and brought welcome income to UK universities and local economies. In the longer term, they offer something even more valuable, the prospect of ongoing business, political, cultural and research links between our two countries. Long may this continue, he said. That is why we have made a commitment to maintaining the rights of Irish nationals to access higher and further education courses on equal terms to UK nationals, on a reciprocal basis. This includes rights to qualify for student loans and support. Vicky Phelan who received incorrect smear test results in 2011 and was subsequently diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014. Photo: Fergal Phillips The woman whose High Court case first exposed the cervical cancer scandal has said "more heads will have to roll". Vicky Phelan said she "wasn't surprised" with the tone of a memo written in 2016 that was released to the public yesterday. It is now nearly two weeks since it emerged that 209 women, who were wrongly given all-clear test results, were the subject of internal CervicalCheck reviews. Ms Phelan said the tone reminded her of HSE correspondence she had seen in relation to her own case. "It was very clinical and they seemed more worried about themselves and being sued rather than me, the patient," she told RTE Radio One's 'Today with Sean O'Rourke'. "These memos are even more damning...containment and media management was the priority not the women." Expand Close Vicky Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathuna / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vicky Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathuna Ms Phelan continued; "I don't know who needs to be held accountable, that's not my job, it's above my pay grade." "I had a phonecall from Simon Harris this morning and we had a conversation, he told me what steps he's putting in place to deal with this because he knows, no more than we all know that other people are involved. "More heads will have to roll. "Tony O'Brien has stepped down.... other people should start worrying about their positions at this stage." Expand Close Minister Regina Doherty Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister Regina Doherty Photo: Tony Gavin Minister Regina Doherty said the alleged actions of the HSE detailed in a memo on the cervical cancer scandal are "disgusting". Speaking on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland, Minister Doherty said it was "very obvious" to her that those behind the memo had no concern for the 209 misdiagnosed women. Expand Close Vicky Phelan who received incorrect smear test results in 2011 and was subsequently diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014. Photo: Fergal Phillips / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vicky Phelan who received incorrect smear test results in 2011 and was subsequently diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014. Photo: Fergal Phillips "We don't know who made the decision to pause letters [informing patients of their misdiagnosis]," Minister Doherty said. "The language in those memos yesterday... I mean I very rarely agree with Alan Kelly but it's absolutely outrageous. "For a caring profession, I think the very obvious part for me was the only thing they cared about was protecting themselves from the potential risk of a media campaign. "What they clearly didn't care about was the 209 women who all have cancer, who are all fighting and struggling to save their lives. "It is so obvious it wasn't in anybody's intention or mind then they were writing these memos." She continued; "They were writing these memos to defend and protect themselves... because God forbid if any women got a letter that she might run to the media, it's disgusting." The minister said she does not feel she has accountability after the embattled HSE Director General Tony O'Brien took the decision to step down from his position yesterday. His decision followed Children's Minister Katherine Zappone publicly calling for him to resign after the contents of the 2016 memo were revealed. The Independent minister broke ranks to describe the latest revelations in the CervicalCheck scandal as a "game-changer". Read More Minister Doherty said this morning she wouldn't have allowed Tony O'Brien to step down. "Well, to be very clear and this is only my personal opinion, Tony O'Brien resigning last night doesn't give me accountability. "I know, and I heard last night, that [one of the women caught up in the cervical cancer scandal] Emma Mhic Mhathuna said she got joy, in a weird way I'm very pleased for her, because of the difficult circumstances that her and her children are in at the moment. "But we don't have accountability, we don't know who made the decision to pause the letters." The minister also said Health Minister Simon Harris will be presenting "practical proposals" today about how to help the affected women and their families. "Today's Cabinet meeting is very important. It's all about the women affected, and the women who have passed away. "The only thing about this is minding the women, which the HSE doesn't seem to get, which you don't get when you read the language in the memos. "[Tony O'Brien] made his decison last night so let him off. I wouldn't have let him off, but I don't get to give my view. Simon Harris is bringing proposals today, practical proposals, about the treatment, be it experimental drugs, medical care and childcare." She added; "The only thing we can do is fix the situation as it is at the moment. "Our priority is to mind the 209 women and their families and help them in any simple way to fight for their lives." The minister also called for a change-up in the management structure of the HSE. Meanwhile, Tony OBrien has launched a personal attack on TDs after he was forced to resign as HSE chief executive. In a message posted on his Twitter account, Mr OBrien said he hoped the children of TDs questioning him at Oireachtas committee meetings over handling of the health service do not watch their public performances. When I appear in public - say at a Committee I conduct myself against a simple standard. Would I be happy for my children or my mother to see how I behave? Mr OBrien I sometimes look across the room and hope their children will never see and hear how they behave,he said. Mr OBrien was forced to step down over his oversight of the Cervical Check scandal. Two terminally ill mothers - Vicky Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathuna - who were given incorrect cervical check results had called for Mr OBrien to resign. The emergence of damning internal HSE memo also put pressure on Mr OBrien to resign. Also today, TD Marc McSharry has defended his questioning style at the Public Accounts Committee, saying his questioning of outgoing HSE boss Tony O'Brien yesterday is consistent with his style at previous committee hearings. Speaking to RTE Radio One's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Mr McSharry said; "Looking back, there is nothing I would change." "I can understand he's not happy, he's lashing out somewhat," he said of Tony O'Brien. "But this is not about Tony O'Brien, this is about the women of Ireland, life and death and the accountability people are entitled to. "I don't think, I can understand him tweeting, but I think before the end of today someone in the HSE needs to take him aside and say this is not about you. "I have no difficulty in anybody criticising me. I get the fact that as a public representative I am open to scrutiny and accountability, I don't think Mr O'Brien gets it." He continued; "I heard Morning Ireland yesterday and I heard that harrowing story [Emma Mhic Mhathuna's story]. "That personal frustration and anger may have come across in my questioning. "Looking back, there is nothing I would change. "The biggest issue, who this is about, is the women of Ireland and not Tony O'Brien." Contact As of yesterday face-to-face contact still had to be made with seven of the women or relatives. Seventeen women have died and their next of kin are now being traced. HSE director Damien McCallion, now installed to oversee the running of the screening service, said he did not know how many women received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. One lady is in Russia and were trying to work through the Russian Embassy to make contact with her. And there are three people who had multiple hospitals involved and were trying to close those out. Most women have been contacted and meetings have been held or arranged to discuss the audit and response, said the HSE. Meanwhile, CervicalCheck said yesterday more than 3,500 women who contacted the helpline still need a callback. So far it has returned 5,678 calls and every effort is being made to ensure that contact is made as quickly as possible with all those who requested a callback. The HSE is also working to secure the names and details of around 1,500 other women who developed cervical cancer in the past decade who were registered with the National Cancer Registry but not subject to review by CervicalCheck. Meanwhile, the organisation representing Irish staff involved in the reading of smear tests said yesterday that when Irish labs tendered to do the CervicalCheck work in 2008 they scored highly in all areas except cost. The work went to Quest Diagnostics in Texas. Half the smears are now read in the United States and the rest in Dublin labs. EFFORTS are ongoing to trace a woman who is living in Russia who developed cervical cancer after getting an incorrect smear test result from CervicalCheck, it has emerged. The woman is being traced by the Russian Embassy, HSE officials revealed. It is now nearly two weeks since it emerged that 209 women, who were wrongly given all-clear test results, were the subject of internal CervicalCheck reviews. Seventeen women have died and their next of kin are now being traced. As of yesterday face-to-face contact still had to be made with seven of the women or relatives. HSE director Damien McCallion, now installed to oversee the running of the screening service, said he did not know how many women received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. One lady is in Russia and were trying to work through the Russian Embassy to make contact with her. And there are three people who had multiple hospitals involved and were trying to close those out. Most women have been contacted and meetings have been held or arranged to discuss the audit and response, said the HSE. Meanwhile, CervicalCheck said yesterday more than 3,500 women who contacted the helpline still need a callback. So far it has returned 5,678 calls and every effort is being made to ensure that contact is made as quickly as possible with all those who requested a callback. The HSE is also working to secure the names and details of around 1,500 other women who developed cervical cancer in the past decade who were registered with the National Cancer Registry but not subject to review by CervicalCheck. Meanwhile, the organisation representing Irish staff involved in the reading of smear tests said yesterday that when Irish labs tendered to do the CervicalCheck work in 2008 they scored highly in all areas except cost. The work went to Quest Diagnostics in Texas. Half the smears are now read in the United States and the rest in Dublin labs. The Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine, which represents lab staff in Ireland, said it recommends that when HPV testing of smear tests is introduced here in the autumn the entire work be carried out in this country. The service should be led by consultant medical scientists and pathologists. This is already happening in the cervical screening service in the UK, it added Taoiseach Leo Varadkar became emotional when asked if there was anything he would like to say to terminally ill Emma Mhic Mhathuna. The mother-of-five who has been caught up in the cervical screening controversy has spoken in heart breaking terms on the impact it has had on her and her family. Mr Varadkar said today: "I just don't think there are any words that anyone can say... certainly there are no words that I can say that can give her comfort at this time." Expand Close Flowers and Cards that were placed outside the Dail in honour of the women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy Photo: Kyran O'Brien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers and Cards that were placed outside the Dail in honour of the women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy Photo: Kyran O'Brien And he became emotional when he said: "She's 37-years old, roughly my age, could be my sister, could be one of my friends. "She has young children - it could be my nephews. "I'm going to my nephew's communion tomorrow. When I see them I see those kids as well," he added. His remarks came at a press conference where the government confirmed a range of measures to offer additional support for the those affected by the cervical cancer scandal. The Taoiseach again apologised to those affected by the scandal and said that the Government is determined to get to the bottom of the issue. He confirmed the state will take over the remaining cases and endeavour to deal with the remaining cases sensitively and via mediation. Medical cards will be offered to all women or their next of kin. The Government will also cover the cost of drug treatments, including experimental treatment. Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Photo: PA Each affected family will be met and an individual package will be agreed upon which may also include childcare and transport costs which can be covered. Speaking to RTE Six One following the conference, Minister Varadkar said the Government are now going to pursue four things: care, truth, accountability and confidence. "Were putting in place a support package [for the women affected] and also endeavour to settle any of the outstanding legal cases through mediations so nobody needs to go to court unless they choose to do so. "When it comes to truth weve set up the Scally Inquiry which will get as many answers as possible as soon as possible. "On accountability, the best way for us to achieve accountability is through the commission of investigation. "The alternative, which I find wrong, is for it to play out in the PAC or the Dail chamber because its politically charged and theres party politics at play. "The best way to that we can achieve individual accountability and ensure the right heads roll is through a commission investigation." Health minister Simon Harris said that whatever resources are needed for the help being offered will be provided. He announced that the government has appointed senior HSE official John Connaghan as interim HSE director general following Tony O'Brien's departure. Mr Connaghan was deputy director general and chief operations officer and previously held senior positions in NHS Scotland. Both Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris said that they had been unaware of controversial HSE memos about the audit of the cervical check screening programme sent to the Department of Health in 2016. Expand Close Flowers and Cards that were placed outside the Dail in honour of the women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy Kyran O'Brien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers and Cards that were placed outside the Dail in honour of the women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy Kyran O'Brien The memos included warnings of negative headlines that may result from the audit. The Department of Health confirmed last night that the memos had been sent to chief medical officer Tony Holohan. Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris both expressed confidence in Mr Holohan today, despite the memos not being brought to their attention at the time. The head of the Department of Justice said a decision to withhold archives from the Kerry Babies case could be "misrepresented", but the department had to do the "right thing" to protect the woman at the centre of the case. It is keeping the records secret even though they should have gone to the National Archives because 30 years have passed since their creation. Internal records have shown that the Department of Justice had originally planned handing over transcripts of the Kerry Babies tribunal and other documents so that they could be studied by academics, journalists, and the public. However, the records describe how Joanne Hayes - the woman wrongly accused of stabbing to death a baby found washed up on a Cahersiveen beach 34 years ago - had strongly objected to their release. Internal emails released under freedom of information show how the Department of Justice was aware that failure to disclose the documents could be seen as them trying to keep them hidden. A message, sent on January 20 by acting secretary general Oonagh McPhillips to colleagues, said: "I understand the concern about the perception but in this instance we need to continue to do the right thing even if it's misrepresented." She said it was a "tricky issue" but that there was already a vast amount of material relating to the tribunal in the public domain in books and newspaper archives. Ms McPhillips was responding to an email from Sarah Kavanagh, a ministerial special adviser, who warned that the State could be criticised if the records were kept hidden. Ms Kavanagh wrote: "The difficulty is that this is highly likely to be misrepresented in the media as the State seeking to protect itself and therefore may not be sustainable." In a statement, the Department of Justice said the files were being kept by it until at least 2023 when their potential release to the National Archives will be considered again. They said: "The question of whether to release or retain the files was considered in detail but it was ultimately decided that their release would cause distress to Ms Hayes and so they were retained." A convicted UK murderer on the run in Ireland for more than a decade received social welfare payments despite not having a valid passport, birth certificate or driving licence. Cork East TD Pat Buckley has now demanded a full investigation into how State benefits were apparently obtained by Roy Norman Kenyon (64) for anything up to 15 years at various addresses in Ireland. While it is believed Mr Kenyon did not receive full social welfare benefits for the entire period since 2003, there are mounting concerns he may have received as much as 100,000 during his time on the run in Ireland through both benefits and supports such as rent allowance. Last night, the Department of Social Protection declined to comment on the matter. "The department does not comment on individual cases," a spokesperson said. However, Mr Buckley branded the situation "absolutely outrageous". "I want to see a full investigation into this. We need accountability here just as we need accountability within the Health Service Executive," he said. "It is a matter of great concern if a man like this can benefit from social welfare payments while young people and families are having to fight tooth and nail to get benefits they are perfectly entitled to." Mr Buckley said it was "very alarming" if a convicted murderer on the run in Ireland could somehow benefit from State supports without apparently having either a valid passport or birth certificate. Kenyon was detained by Castletownbere gardai, assisted by Dublin detectives, outside Eyeries in west Cork where he had been living for the past year in a tent and a rented caravan. Castletownbere locals said Kenyon kept to himself, always wore black and was only seen out drinking in a local pub and buying produce in the local fisherman's co-op. A Garda source indicated that when he was detained on foot of a European arrest warrant issued by Avon and Somerset police in the UK, Kenyon did not have either a passport or a birth certificate. Gardai now believe he has been in Ireland since shortly after absconding from Leyhill Prison outside Bristol on May 28, 2003. He is understood to have spent the majority of his time in Offaly. He used a number of different names, including Alan McFarlane. He was a teenager when he was convicted of the savage murder of elderly shopkeeper Margaret Potts (74) at Scouthead in Lancashire in 1972. Ms Potts was beaten to death by Mr Kenyon with a heavy poker following a row over 50p after he had been drinking for the day. Kenyon absconded from Leyhill in 2003, and had previously escaped from custody at Sudbury Prison in September 1990. Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM presents the inaugural Defence Forces Values Champions Awards at the UN Training School, The Curragh, Co. Kildare. Pictured alongside him is recipient Leading Seaman Ryan Carroll Pic Steve Humphreys Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM (Pictured Right), accompanied by Jadotville medal recipient Captain Noel Carey present the inaugural Defence Forces Values Champions Awards at the UN Training School, The Curragh, Co. Kildare. Pictured with them is recipient Niamh McColgan from Galway Pic Steve Humphreys Jadotville medal recipient Captain Noel Carey speaking at the inaugural Defence Forces Values Champions Awards at the UN Training School, The Curragh, Co. Kildare. Pic Steve Humphreys Pictured receiving a kiss from his Husband Levino Oliveira at the inaugural Defence Forces Values Champions Awards at the UN Training School, The Curragh, Co. Kildare was Sgt. Richard Muldarry Pic Steve Humphreys The Defence Forces Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett and Jadotville medal recipient Capt Noel Carey have presented seven members of the Defence Forces with the inaugural Defence Forces Values Champions Awards at the UN Training School at The Curragh. The awards were given to six currently-serving members and one posthumous member today for embodying the exceptional morals and values which exemplify the force. They were nominated by their peers for acting as role models when it comes to such values as respect, loyalty, selflessness, physical and moral courage and integrity. They act as role models for our new entrants and as standard bearers for the organisation, Vice Admiral Mellett said. Expand Close Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM (Pictured Centre), accompanied by Jadotville medal recipient Captain Noel Carey (Centre Right)Pictured from left are recipients Leading Seaman Ryan Carroll, Niamh McColgan, Sgt. Richard Muldarry, Sgt. Leona Walsh, Pte. Jennifer OConnor, Sgt. Maj. Noel OCallaghan and Company Sgt Matt Masterson Pic Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM (Pictured Centre), accompanied by Jadotville medal recipient Captain Noel Carey (Centre Right)Pictured from left are recipients Leading Seaman Ryan Carroll, Niamh McColgan, Sgt. Richard Muldarry, Sgt. Leona Walsh, Pte. Jennifer OConnor, Sgt. Maj. Noel OCallaghan and Company Sgt Matt Masterson Pic Steve Humphreys Leading Seaman Ryan Carroll was given the award for Physical Courage for his selfless work in rescuing migrants from treacherous conditions in the Mediterranean. I was shocked to hear I won the award, I felt any one of the crew on board that day would equally deserve it. That said, Its a proud day for my family and myself, its mean a lot particularly as I was nominated by my colleagues," he said following the ceremony. The late Sgt Stephen McColgan was posthumously given the award for Loyalty following his death in April, 2017. His widow Niamh McColgan accepted the award on behalf of the Donegal native. Stephen was such a modest man he might not have enjoyed the limelight of today but for me, and the rest of the family, we are so proud to accept the award on his behalf. Meanwhile, Sgt Richard Muldarry was honoured for Moral Courage for his work with the Defence Forces LGBTA Defend with Pride network. Expand Close Sgt. Leona Walsh alongside her Husband BQMS Brian Cronin and their daughters Jessica (11) and Gracie (8). Pic Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sgt. Leona Walsh alongside her Husband BQMS Brian Cronin and their daughters Jessica (11) and Gracie (8). Pic Steve Humphreys Im so proud to have won this award, particularly, for my work on a cause that Im so passionate about. I must say my morale courage was enabled by the progressiveness of the Defence Forces leadership," he said. Retired Capt Noel Carey, who was a veteran of the Siege of Jadotville in the Congo during a 1961 UN peace-keeping mission said: The values being celebrated today are the same values my comrades of 'A' Company and I relied on in Jadotville, all those years ago. The 'A' Company or 35th Battalion of the Irish Army contingent resisted assaults for six days during the battle with 3,500 rebels and mercenaries and were forced to surrender after their ammunition and supplies ran out. But not before they inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. All of the soldiers survived being held prisoners of war for a month. A SINN Fein TD has publicly apologised after he admitted engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour while drunk to a Garda who had called to his home about a local noise complaint. Cork East TD Pat Buckley (49), a first time Dail member, issued the apology after pleading guilty before Midleton District Court to being drunk and to engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour to a Garda in the course of his duty. Mr Buckley of Broomfield West, Midleton, Co Cork pleaded guilty to the two charges brought under the Public Order Act before Judge Brian Sheridan. The TD and father of two will be sentenced on November 8 next. Inspector Tony Sullivan told the court the incident arose out of a noise complaint received by Midleton Gardai. Mr Buckley was hosting a party at his home last August. When officers called to Mr Buckley's home to make him aware of the noise issue, they were told to "f*** off." Mr Buckley also called one garda an abusive name. In a submission to the court, Mr Buckley's solicitor said his client admitted what happened and wanted to offer a full apology to everyone involved. The court was told that Mr Buckley had been celebrating a family event, had consumed a few drinks and now deeply regretted his actions. Judge Sheridan adjourned the matter until November when he will impose sentence. The Sinn Fein TD issued a public statement of apology following the court hearing. This was a family event, a celebratory affair involving a few drinks in my own home," he said. "Unfortunately, with alcohol on board, my attitude towards the Gardai, when they arrived at my home, was not what it should have been." I apologise profusely for any offence caused and I accept totally the punishment handed down to me in court yesterday. Pat Buckley is a long time mental health campaigner in Cork. He was elected to the 32nd Dail at the 2016 General Election in the four seat Cork East constituency, being almost 2,000 votes ahead of outgoing Fine Gael TD Tom Barry on the tenth count. Four years ago, Mr Buckley was disqualified from driving for three years after being convicted of being over the permitted alcohol limit while driving. He was a sitting Cork Co Council member at the time. The court heard on that occasion he had also been attending a family function and unwisely decided to move his car after having been drinking. After that conviction, Mr Buckley publicly apologised and urged other road users to learn from his mistake and never to drink and drive. Mr Buckley founded the Let's Get Together charity to offer support to those with self-harm and suicidal thoughts after his two brothers, Mark and James, took their own lives in 2002 and 2003. Inmates sentenced to life in prison will have to wait at least 12 years instead of seven before being considered for parole, according to new legislation being considered by the Oireachtas. Victims or their families will also have a greater involvement in the process to decide when a prisoner is freed. The ultimate decision on release would also shift from the justice minister of the day directly to the parole board. Speaking at an Irish Parole Board conference yesterday, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the Parole Bill is at an advanced stage of hearing. It was first introduced as a private member's bill by Fianna Fail deputy Jim O'Callaghan in 2016 and went to committee stage last year. The Government has accepted the bill and hoping to expedite it after some technical amendments. Expand Close Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan spoke yesterday. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan spoke yesterday. Photo: Damien Eagers "There is no question but that parole is a sensitive issue. "Like so many such issues, it's about trying to find a balance - a balance between the rights and needs of victims, of offenders, and indeed of society," said Mr Flanagan. As things stand, the board may review the cases of prisoners with specified sentence lengths of more than eight years but less than 14 when the prisoner has served half of the sentence. Sentences of 14 years or more, or life sentences, are reviewed after seven years. Prisoners serving sentences for certain offences, such as the murder of a member of An Garda Siochana or Prison Service in the course of their duty, are excluded entirely. The board advises the justice minister of the prisoner's progress to date, the degree to which the prisoner has engaged with the various therapeutic services and how best to proceed with the future administration of the sentence. The minister consider all recommendations before making the final decision. Under the proposals, the board would be established as an independent statutory body given responsibility for granting parole to eligible prisoners. It also sets out the criteria to be considered in doing so, such as risk to public safety and the extent to which release will facilitate the prisoner's reintegration into society. "The bill also sets out the terms for eligibility for consideration for parole, including a proposal to raise it for life sentence prisoners, to a minimum of 12 years served," said Mr Flanagan. "In respect of victims, the bill provides that where a review or hearing has been scheduled, the board will give notice to a victim (or their family) that such a review is pending, and will prepare and send the victim an explanation of the process and an account of how they may participate. "The right to make submissions or give oral evidence to the board is also included, as is a provision for legal representation." Two Irish teachers have been detained in Bejing due to alleged issues with their visas. Both women, one from Co Kildare and the other from Co Offaly, were on working visas and teaching in Beijing schools. It is understood the two women each took a second job teaching in an unlicensed private school, although it is understood the women took the job with honest intentions and were unaware it was not licensed. The pair, along with nine others, were arrested last Saturday for working illegally. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to Independent.ie that it is currently providing consular assistance to a number of Irish citizens in Beijing. Officials from the Irish Embassy have also been in talks with Chinese prison authorities in relation to the womens case. Fianna Fail TD for Kildare South Fiona OLoughlin said the case is "incredibly upsetting" and that the Irish embassy is "doing their absolute best to get the girls out". Ms OLoughlin told Independent.ie : "Its extremely upsetting both for these two girls and their families, I can only imagine. "Their families are understandably worried because [the girls] havent had the opportunity to call home yet, but they are being looked after in the prison." Dressed like a princess, Julia Roberts reaches eagerly for the necklace. Who can blame her? It's a mouth-watering piece of jewellery, just the right colour for her lovely red dress and just the right shape for her remarkably long neck. Then Richard Gere snaps the box shut on her gloved fingers. This playful moment is one of the highpoints of Pretty Woman (1990). Famously, it was filmed for the film's gag reel but it worked so well that it made the final cut. Less famously, the necklace was genuine. According to movie trivia sites, the jewellers who provided the necklace hired an armed security guard to protect it during filming. The necklace was made of 23 heart-cut rubies interlaced with diamonds and designed by Fred Samuel (1908-2006), who made it specifically for the film. Originally from Buenos Aires, Samuel established his Parisian jewellery brand in 1936. The name Samuel was removed from the brand by the Nazis, who liked Fred's jewellery but not his Jewish origins. After the Second World War, the brand became known as Fred Paris Joaillier. More often, it's simply known as "Fred". "In France he's very famous," says Claire-Laurence Mestrallet, jewellery specialist at Adam's. There are two pieces by Fred in the auction of Fine Jewellery and Watches, which takes place at Adam's on Tuesday. One of these is a stylised leopard brooch (est 1,200 to 1,800, main photo above) with textured fur, black enamel spots, and slanting emerald and diamond eyes. It's mounted in 18K gold and signed Fred Paris. "It's bigger than you'd expect," says Mestrallet. "It's definitely an evening piece - smart and wearable - and would look wonderful on a long black cashmere coat. It's too big for a dress." The 6.2cm brooch, which dates from the 198os, is one of several leopard pieces by Fred, designed as part of a collection that includes a bangle and a ring. Signed jewellery, like these pieces, generally carries the name of the jewellery house or maker, engraved on the underside of the piece or the inside of a ring. According to Christie's jewellery specialist David Warren, a signature from one of the top designers can add between 50pc and 300pc to the value of the piece. His collector's guide to signed jewellery mentions a 1920s bracelet that had been estimated between 8,000 and 12,000. Then, he spotted a very faded signature, possibly the "Van" of Van Cleef and Arpels. The Parisian jewellery house confirmed that it was its piece and was able to date it precisely. It sold for 250,000. "When a piece is signed, you know that you have the quality and that they will have used the good stones," Mestrallet says. "It's an assurance." The Italian jewellery house Pederzani is less well-known but the family firm has been making jewellery in Milan since 1942 and there are two signed pieces in the sale. One is a diamond and sapphire ring designed as a coiled snake and mounted in 18K gold (est 12,000 to 14,000). The other is a collection of 18 gold buttons (est 1,800 to 2,200, pictured above). Six are blazer buttons, 12 are shirt button, all are made in 18K gold, and each is signed by Pederzani. "I wasn't surprised to learn that an Italian jewellery house made those buttons... You'd have to be very rich to lose a button made of 18K gold," Mestrallet comments. Viewing commences tomorrow and continues through Tuesday until the auction at 6pm. See adams.ie. In the Salerooms John Weldon Auctioneers Expand Close Breitling watch / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Breitling watch The Breitling Navitimer strap watch was first introduced in 1952 with a circular sliderule that enabled pilots to make aeronautical calculations. Now, aeroplanes make these calculations automatically, but people still love the Navitimer which can do all sorts of clever stuff. A gent's Breitling Navitimer World GMT strap watch with box and papers (est 2,800 to 3,200, above) is coming up for sale at John Weldon Auctioneers on Tuesday. Potential top lots in the sale include a diamond single stone ring (est 40,000 to 50,000) and an antique diamond necklace (est 18,000 to 22,000). "This is one of those pieces which sadly spends most of its life in its box, which is not what jewellery is about. It is a stunning piece, but it's not for popping down to Tesco," Weldon says. Viewing from tomorrow until the sale when the auction begins at 2pm. See jwa.ie. Lev Mitchell Patrick James Carroll opened the first tobacco shop in Dundalk in 1824 and, in 1889, the company introduced the Mick McQuaid brand. Known as a character from The Shamrock magazine in the 1880s, a drawing of Mick appeared on the company's tobacco tins and adverts in the 1920s. A Mick McQuaid tobacco figure (est 400 to 600) from PJ Carroll's, Dundalk, is one of a number of historic advertisements coming up at Milltown Country Auction Rooms, Dundalk, on Monday at 12 noon. The auction is conducted in conjunction with Lev Mitchell & Sons and also includes a Goulding's Manures advertising clock (est 800 to 1,200); a Players Navy Cut advertising box (est 100 to 150); and a Cowan's Whiskey Dundalk advertising picture (est 100 to 200). Viewing from tomorrow. The catalogue and live bidding is available on easyliveauction.com. Matthew's Auctioneers Fancy a piece of architectural history? The clearance sale of Five Acre Architectural Salvage & Antiques Yard, 326 South Circular Road, Dublin, takes place from May 18 to May 24, beginning at 11.30am each day. The sale is conducted by Matthew's Auctioneers in conjunction with Stephen Ryan and includes 33 cast iron columns, riveted steel beams and doors from the Boland's Mill (of 1916 fame); the original armoury doors of Clancy Barracks; trusses and stained glass windows from the demolished church at St James' hospital and a Victorian church pulpit. Viewing begins on Tuesday. See matthewsauctionrooms.com. Antiques & Vintage Fairs Hibernian Antiques & Vintage Fairs takes place at Carrigaline Court Hotel, Carrigaline, Co Cork, on Sunday from 11am to 6pm. Dealers include Danker Antiques, Dublin; Treasures Irish Art, Athlone; and Matthew Weldon, Dublin. Ireland's only dedicated children's hospice, LauraLynn, has announced the appointment of Mitchelstown native Orla O'Brien as its new CEO. Established in 1925 as a convalescence home for children from inner-city Dublin, LauraLynn has evolved over the years and in 2011 it opened LauraLynn House, a dedicated eight-bed palliative care unit at the former Children's Sunshine Home in Foxrock. It is the only Irish children's hospice providing free support and palliative care for children from birth to the age of 18 with life-limiting conditions and their families. Children can be referred to LauraLynn from anywhere in Ireland, with the charity providing care in their hospice, at a hospital, within the community or at the family home. Their interdisciplinary team work closely with primary health carers to provide high quality family support, symptom management, end-of-life care and bereavement support. In her new role, Orla O'Brien will oversee LauraLynn's extensive operations, bringing 28-years of acute hospital experience, 18 of which have been at management level, to the demanding role. Having qualified as a registered children's and general nurse in 1989, Ms O'Brien subsequently qualified a paediatric intensive care nurse before taking on management and leadership roles. These have included deputy director of nursing in Our Lady's Children's Hospital, project manager in the Dept of Health and, most recently, chief operations officer with the Children's Hospital Group. Ms O'Brien said she was looking forward to taking on the challenges of her new role. "I'm really excited to join LauraLynn, an organisation that has done so much to improve the lives of children with life-limiting conditions and their families across Ireland," she said. "Of the 3,840 children with a life-limiting condition living in Ireland today, over 700 are estimated to need the specialised care provided by LauraLynn, and I look forward to extending awareness and assistance to those families who currently do not avail of our palliative care services," said Ms O'Brien. LauraLynn chairman Niall McHugh said Ms O'Brien's extensive experience would be "enormously beneficial" to the hospice as it continues to develop and expand its services. "An overarching objective of ours is that no child should live further than two hours away from a palliative care service, and we're confident that Orla can help LauraLynn play a critical role in reaching this target." If County Cork had three nurses who specialised in Parkinson's care for patients in their own homes it would save the HSE 900,000 per year. That is the view of Tony Wilkinson, who, along with other Parkinson's sufferers, met with TDs in Dublin recently and outlined in detail to them how Parkinson's nurses in the community could "save the HSE huge sums of money". He said one nurse wouldl save the HSE approximately 300,000 per year. Mr Wilkinson said the savings would be achieved by avoiding consultant appointments along with unplanned admissions to hospitals and days spent in hospital. Parkinson's is a long term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, which mainly affects the motor system. Symptoms generally come on slowly over time and include shaking, rigidity, an awkward gait and short steps, a forward tilt of the body as well as reduced arm swinging and stiffness of the body. There is no cure. Mr Wilkinson, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's three years ago, said that people with the illness need a lot of support. "In the UK, there are specialist Parkinsons nurse who work in the community but not in Ireland. There are 920 people living with Parkinson's in Cork but if we had just three nurses that would be just one nurse to every 300 patients; it would make a great difference," he said. At the meeting, he also highlighted the lack of specialist Parkinson's consultants in CUH and said the post has remained vacant for almost two years. "Galway, Tipperary, Dublin have special Parkinson's consultants with some hospitals having dedicated beds set aside for Parkinson's patients. We are asking why the CUH post has remained vacant for so long and why it seems acceptable to them that other neurologists in the hospital cover the Parkinson's specialism; for example, the stroke specialist also sees and treats Parkinson's. This is not fair on the neurologists in CUH as the HSE seems to take a 'jack of all trades' attitude to their specialist skills nor does it lead to a successful experience for Parkinson's sufferers," he said. Mr Wilkinson has organised various support groups in Bandon, Skibbereen, Youghal, Fermoy and in Mallow. He said that the groups are even prepared to fundraise for especially trained Parkinson's nurses. "It would truly make the world of difference for a person if they can be seen by a nurse in their own home," Mr Wilkinson previously told The Corkman. "Ireland, in reality, needs 32 nurses as the number of people with Parkinsons is set to double in the next decade due to the demographic age profile," he said. Eleven species of bat have been recorded in Ireland and the largest of these is Leisler's Bat. The animal was first described by the eighteenth century German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl and he named the bat in commemoration of the German scientist Johann Leisler. Globally, the species' range is from Ireland across mainland Europe and into the Near East. It extends south to North Africa and is found in the Canary Islands and Madeira. Its range doesn't extend northwards father than the southern extremities of Scotland. Interestingly, there is a large outlying population in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the foothills of the Himalayas. It is reported to be widespread throughout its range where it occurs from sea level to altitudes of 2,400m. However, some Leisler's Bat populations have suffered declines, even extinctions. The Irish population is the largest in Europe and the species is common and widespread here. Leisler's Bat has golden reddish-brown fur, darker above and paler below. It has a flattish, dark brown face, small eyes and large ears for picking up sounds when it is hunting in the dark. Its main prey are Yellow Dung Flies, moths and other insects. At this time of year pregnant females have emerged from hibernation and are congregating at traditional maternity roosts. Fifty or more females gather and roost communally waiting to give birth. Males play no part in the birth of their offspring and live a solitary life scattered throughout the countryside. Females give birth to a single pup in June so the population doubles in the roost. Things can get noisy when all the babies start crying to be suckled as their mothers return to the roost after hunting for food for themselves. By August the pups are weaned and are foraging outside. Consequently, the nursery roost begins to break up. Males congregate at traditional mating sites and call to the females to join their harems. In September, the females join the males and mate. The females store the males' sperm in their bodies, travel to find a suitable hibernation site and start to hibernate as autumn closes in and flying insects become scarce. Fertilisation is delayed. The arrival of early spring triggers the stored sperm to fertilise an egg so that when the females emerge from hibernation they will be pregnant and pupping time will be synchronised to coincide with the expectation of lots of insect food being available in June. Sr. Brenda McCaul (Mary) was born on 15 January, 1934 in Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk to Ellie and Owen McCaul. She had one sister Rita who predeceased her as did her brother-in-law, Sean Martin. She was educated at Saint Vincent's junior and secondary schools and she entered the Convent of Mercy, Dundalk in 1951. After her first profession she studied in U.C.D. where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree and Higher Diploma in Education. She then returned to teach in Saint Vincent's secondary school. During her time there she spent two terms as the School Principal. Sister Brenda taught for a time in Mobile, Alabama and subsequently in Ardee Community School. As an educator she was an inspirational teacher who took a personal interest in each student and member of staff. Her compassion and integrity touched the lives of many people during her years of ministry. As well as being an educator and administrator she was an innovator who worked collaboratively with Parent School Councils and Boards of Management. In her retirement she was an esteemed member of the Birches Day Care Centre from 2000 - 2015. During those years she served as Chairperson of the Management Committee of the facility at local level and North Louth Branch. She represented the Birches at the Quarterly Chairpersons' meetings for years. She also served on the Board of Directors of Mercy International, Dublin. Sister Brenda was involved in working with the Redemptorist Fathers in Saint Joseph's Parish, as an active member of the Pastoral Council and of the Visitation Team. Such was her commitment and dedication to this ministry that on Sunday, 25 May, 2014 the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer i.e. Redemptorist Community, in recognition of her wholehearted contribution, conferred the title Oblate of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on her. This is an honour bestowed on persons who have a deep understanding of the Redemptorist Charism i.e. the care of the most abandoned and who have contributed significantly to the support and advancement of their mission. She was a dedicated Mercy Sister whose ministry was empowered by her prayer and community Life. On 24 February, 2018 Sister Brenda died peacefully at Dealgan Nursing Home, Toberona, Dundalk. Her remains reposed at the Convent of Mercy, Mill Street, Dundalk and on Monday, 26 February were removed to Saint Joseph's Redemptorist Church for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Such was the esteem in which Sister Brenda was held that the students and staff of Saint Vincent's secondary school together with the students of Realt na Mara Primary School, despite the inclement weather, braved the elements to form a continuous Guard of Honour from the Convent to the Church. The chief Celebrant of the Mass was Fr. Brendan Callanan CSsR, Administrator, Saint Joseph's, who was assisted by Fathers Michael Cusack CSsR Rector, John McAlinden P.P.Mell, Cathal Cumiskey CSsR, Fergus Breslan C.C. Saint Patrick's, Magnus Ogbonna C.C. Saint Patrick's, Edmund Duffy S.M. Holy Family. Family members and Sisters participated in the liturgy. Saint Vincent's School Choir under the baton of organist Brendan McCourt provided the beautiful music. The Irish Cancer Society has announced emergency funding so that women directly affected by the CervicalCheck controversy can have free counselling in their own community. Funds will be made available for an additional 500 counselling sessions in 25 Irish Cancer Society-affiliated Support Centres across the country, including Gary Kelly Cancer Support, Drogheda in Louth. The Society has taken the step in response to the significant increase in the numbers of women seeking advice and support from the charity around CervicalCheck and their smear test results. The announcement brings to 8,000 the number of free counselling sessions for people affected by cancer which the Irish Cancer Society will provide funding for in 2018. Donal Buggy, Head of Services and Advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society, said: "Over the past few days we have received a huge number of queries from women who are very concerned by the revelations about CervicalCheck. "Understandably, many women are deeply affected and need support, reassurance and practical help. Through our existing network across the country, we are making additional money for counselling available so women in Louth can get the support they so desperately need at this time." Nurses from the Irish Cancer Society will also be assisting in calling back women who have contacted the CervicalCheck helpline this week and are waiting for a response. Mr Buggy added: "Women are out there worrying and waiting for a call back so they can have their concerns and worries addressed. We want to help reassure these women. Our panel of specialist cancer nurses will work with the CervicalCheck helpline to make sure as many of these women are contacted as soon as possible." Anyone with concerns about cervical cancer can Freephone Cancer Nurseline on 1800 200 700. There are families in Louth who are living in fear and under the intimidation of individuals operating in the drug trade, according to Garda Chief Supt. Christy Mangan. The garda chief spoke at the recent Louth Joint Policing Committee forum, where concerns about the impact of the illegal drugs trade were raised. He explained that drugs intimidation was a particular problem in the Ardee district, adding that gardai had launched an enquiry in relation to a number of families who faced intimidation as a result of debts owed by family members. Charges had been brought in relation in assaults, he added. The meeting heard that these debts often arise after someone has agreed to sell or transport drugs. But in the instances when they are lost to another dealer, or perhaps are seized by gardai, this person is then asked to pay compensation for the drugs. If they do not, pressure and intimidation is often applied directly to family and loved ones. Chief Supt. Mangan added that families are often faced with the situation where they agree to pay a certain amount. But this will not be the end of the matter, as more money is often later sought. He said that agreeing to pay was a no win situation as it would not bring the intimidation and fear to an end. He told the meeting that he had experience in dealing with these issues, having worked in the National Drugs Unit for ten years. He accepted that families may be living in fear, but said it was important for them to come and talk to the gardai about their situation, as there were options open to them. They may not be in a position to give evidence in court, but there are options available to them in the aim to charge and convict. Working with the Criminal Assets Bureau was another possible solution. It is amazing what happens when a light is shone on particular people. The garda chief said that a lot of resources had gone into tackling the drugs trade in general across Louth. This was borne out in recent crime statistics for Louth. In the Ardee area alone, there was a 700% increase in detections of drugs being made available for sale or supply. The number of detections of drugs possession was up by 250%. Overall, the rate of searches in the district in relation to drugs offences was up by 120%. Cllr Ruari O Mhurchu asked about the timeline for a drugs unit. Chief Supt. Mangan said that extra members were being appointed to both Dundalk and Drogheda. Duleek has become the 'national dumping and burning capital of Ireland' and it's time for key environmental concerns to be addressed. That's the view of the Duleek and District Environmental Group who say the granting of permission for Irish Cement to increase the level of alternative fuels to be used in their kiln should focus greater attention on the region. 'A lot of important environmental issues raised with the board during the oral hearing, seem at first glance, to have been ignored, and they may now have to be taken up again with the EPA during licence application time,' they state. 'Things like a bypass of Duleek, Regional EPA Office in the area, proper screening and management of waste types been accepted, and of course independent monitoring stations installed to help regulate and control are needed,' they added. 'In real time, all of these potentially nasty toxic emissions are coming into our environment from these industrial plants, in an area that now seems to have become the national dumping and burning capital of Ireland.' The 600,000 tons of alternative fuels approved include the likes of tyres, hospital waste and meat and bonemeal. 'This will bring, when you add in what the Indaver incinerator burns annually, to almost one million tons of waste been shipped, transported and burnt here in this health challenged area each year. Given the population growth within all of the surrounding areas, including, Donore, Duleek, Bellewstown, East Coast, Kentstown, and of course Drogheda, where most of these dangerous air emissions will end up, there can be no doubt this will be a major health challenge for the entire surrounding communities going forward, a community that has already been blighted by high rates of various types of terminal cancers, many involving children,' they added. 'Our groups would also like to thank all of those who participated in this appeal, and who helped in any way, including local Cllrs, TDs, Ministers, etc, especially those who turned up at the oral hearing to give personal statements.' They also note there has been a community fund recommendation included of 1 per ton on the extra tonnage per year, and while this may help alleviate some of the issues concerned, they feel much more awareness of any issues needs to be enshrined in the local projects. 'The company now has to seek a licence from the EPA, and we will engage fully in that process and argue strongly for the inclusion of all the independent monitoring / regulation systems we as a community feel we now urgently need. Environmental groups will now take some time to read and study the report in detail, and fully consider all options going forward. We will not give up,' they state. What will Meghan wear for her May wedding to Prince Harry? Photo: Alexi Lubomirski via Getty Image In this handout photo provided by Kensington Palace, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose for one of two official engagement photos at Frogmore House in December, 2017 in Windsor, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alexi Lubomirski via Getty Images) A third official engagement photo released by Kensington Palace of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle taken by Alexi Lubomirski earlier this week at Frogmore House, Windsor. Its expected the royal children will be involved in the wedding of Harry and Meghan. Photo: Alexi Lubomirski Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Invictus Games Reception at Australia House on April 21, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Britain's Prince Harry and his US fiancee Meghan Markle attend The Queen's Birthday Party concert on the occassion of Her Majesty's 92nd birthday at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 21, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / John StillwellJOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle (right) is pictured with her mother Doria Ragland during the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Radlan watch the closing ceremonies for the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario, September 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Geoff RobinsGEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images The US fiancee of Britain's Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, leaves after attending a service of commemoration and thanksgiving to mark Anzac Day in Westminster Abbey in London on April 25, 2018 Meghan Markle is reporting shunning the concept of a rehearsal dinner in favour of a more informal introduction for her parents to her future in-laws and new friends. It was confirmed last week that her father Thomas Markle Sr will walk her up the aisle and her mother Doria Ragland will travel with her in the car en route to St George's Chapel next Saturday when she weds Prince Harry. And while there are a seemingly endless number of aides to assist with planning the royal wedding, Meghan is said to be hands on with every aspect, alongside her close friend Jessica Mulroney. Mulroney, a stylist based in Toronto, has been Meghan's closest friend in recent years and it was rumoured she would be chosen as maid of honour on the day before the palace announced the bride will only have younger bridesmaids, a royal tradition. Her parents are flying from their homes in Mexico and Los Angeles, respectively, next week for introductions to the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton and their three children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and little Prince Louis. In a bid to diffuse the formality of it all, she will Expand Close Meghan Markle chooses wedding dress for Suits character Rachel with friend Jessica Mulroney | Youtube / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle chooses wedding dress for Suits character Rachel with friend Jessica Mulroney | Youtube "Meghan cant wait to see them and show them her new home. There wont be a rehearsal dinner. Instead, Meg has planned a number of low-key events for her parents so they can meet her new friends," a source told Vanity Fair. Her parents will be in London at Buckingham Palace before descending on Windsor ahead of the wedding festivities. Queen Elizabeth is said to have given them free reign at Frogmore House for the duration of their stay. The news comes days after Meghan's half brother penned a bizarre open letter in In Touch magazine claiming that their father wasn't invited to the wedding and telling Harry "it's not too late" to call off the wedding before calling the actress a "jaded, shallow, conceited woman". "The first thing I would like to share is that Prince Harry and Ms. Markle are very much looking forward to welcoming Ms. Markle's parents to Windsor for the wedding," a Kensington Palace spokesperson said. Expand Close Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Radlan watch the closing ceremonies for the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario, September 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Geoff RobinsGEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Radlan watch the closing ceremonies for the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario, September 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Geoff RobinsGEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images "Mr Thomas Markle and Ms Doria Ragland will be arriving in the UK in the week of the wedding, allowing time for Prince Harry's family, including The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to spend time with them before the big day. "Both of the bride's parents will have important roles in the wedding. On the morning of the wedding, Ms Ragland will travel with Ms Markle by car to Windsor Castle. Video of the Day "Mr Markle will walk his daughter down the aisle of St George's Chapel. Ms Markle is delighted to have her parents by her side on this important and happy occasion." While Harry met his future mother-in-law Doria last year in Toronto, he hasn't met Thomas yet. The former Hollywood lighting director lives in a retirement community in Mexico. Expand Close A third official engagement photo released by Kensington Palace of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle taken by Alexi Lubomirski earlier this week at Frogmore House, Windsor. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A third official engagement photo released by Kensington Palace of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle taken by Alexi Lubomirski earlier this week at Frogmore House, Windsor. The bride's dress is reportedly a bespoke creation by Ralph & Russo for 100,000, which will be paid for privately by Prince Harry and his family. Irish fashion is getting political. Some of Ireland's top designers came together for a fundraising event in support of Together for Yes, the organisation campaigning for the removal of the Eighth Amendment. Hundreds of supporters came to Atrium in Dublin's Powerscourt Town Centre for a fashion show and the chance to buy limited edition items specially created for the occasion. Expand Close Models at Fashion is Repealing / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Models at Fashion is Repealing Designers including Emma Manley, Helen Steele, Natalie B. Coleman and Jill de Burca, made pieces especially for auction, which were modelled last night. Guests included street artist Maser, Snapchat star James Kavanagh and design duo Brendan Courtney and Sonya Lennon. Event organiser and founder of the Hunreal Issues Andrea Horan told Independent.ie Style they have raised 25,000 so far based on sales on the night and donations made on site. They expect to raise additional funds into the thousands when they auction of 12 couture pieces by a number of different designers being auctioned off this weekend. Expand Close James Kavanagh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp James Kavanagh Horan said the goal of the event is to "meet people where they are" and encourage people to come together. "The issue is primarily a womens issue and I noticed that a lot of women's media hadn't really broached the topic. There was a disconnect for something that's so important to women wasn't in those space. I wanted to give that area a reason to talk about." Expand Close Models at Fashion is Repealing / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Models at Fashion is Repealing As soon as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement, fashion fans began to speculate about what - and who - the bride will wear on her big day. British couture house Ralph & Russo, who designed the 56,000 embellished gown Meghan wore in her engagement photos, is the current favourite, but among the other names rumoured to be in the running are Erdem, Emilia Wickstead and Roksanda. The latter brand, founded by Serbian-born, London-based designer Roksanda Ilincic, is known for a distinctive approach to colour and shape, along with an effortless modern elegance embodied by women like Meghan, who prefers clean, contemporary lines to Hollywood glitz. Ilincic's aesthetic chimes with Meghan's, but given the closely-guarded secrecy under which royal wedding dresses are made (Sarah Burton, who designed Kate Middleton's Alexander McQueen dress in 2011, has said her own parents were kept in the dark), it's no surprise that Ilincic won't be drawn on the topic when we meet in Dublin. "I am looking forward to the wedding - I particularly love spring weddings and I think this one is going to be really nice. I think it's a really exciting time for the royal family, so let's wait and see with anticipation how the wedding turns out," she says, a coy smile playing on her signature red lips. When pressed about whether her team has worked with Meghan on other upcoming engagements, she teases: "It's early days, we were not in touch yet, but let's see!" While she may have ruled herself out, the 48-year-old would still be considered an apt choice for the gig of a lifetime thanks to her work with Kate, who has worn Roksanda dresses on several occasions. On top of that, Meghan wouldn't be her first princess bride - last October, Ilincic designed the bridal gown for Danica Marinkovic at her wedding to Prince Philip of Serbia. "Danica is obviously from the same country (as me), and she's the daughter of Cile Marinkovic, a very famous artist back home who I respect so much, who is also known for his incredible use of colour," she explains. Expand Close Suits you: Meghan dons a wedding dress in Suits / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Suits you: Meghan dons a wedding dress in Suits "Danica is one of those modern brides who wanted to look really beautiful in something grand that would stand for the occasion - marrying a prince in a church - but she didn't want to let go of this modernity and what she represents. She didn't want any embellishments; she wanted to keep it really minimal, which was music to my ears. We ended up with this beautiful sculptural wedding dress that drew influence from our Serbian folk costumes in the sleeves and the bow, but at the same time it looked really unique and modern. It was a really fun project to work on." Ilincic is here on a flying visit - it's her first time in Ireland, but she's spent most of the day holed up doing interviews in Brown Thomas' personal shopping suite, before jetting home to see her daughter Efimia presented with an art award. The eight-year-old is following in her mother's footsteps: Ilincic studied architecture in her native Serbia before earning her degree in womenswear at Central Saint Martins in London. Since setting up her own label in 2003, it has grown to be a favourite of women of all ages, including Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain and Lady Gaga, along with political figures like Michelle Obama, Samantha Cameron and Melania Trump. Roksanda was an unexpected choice for that last name in particular: eschewing her trademark bodycon, Melania wore a structured white Roksanda dress with statement ruched cuffs for her speech at the Republican convention in 2016, which she reportedly bought herself - and which subsequently sold out. "She's from Slovenia and I'm from Serbia. Slovenia and Serbia used to be the same country, so she's kind of from the same region as I am. I kind of feel can we skip this question?" she laughs, shifting in her seat. Video of the Day "You know what? She's incredible, I think she's incredible in her own way. She's a First Lady and it's great to appeal to such different women. "I've had people say, 'I'd never think to put Michelle Obama and Courtney Love in the same sentence', but that is what makes me really proud: they're so different but they're all very strong and they dress for their own sake because they love the clothes." Of course, it's not just the big names that give Ilincic pride. "Any time I see a woman wearing my dress, even a person walking on the street that I don't know, I almost have this urge to go and say: 'Hi, it's me, we know each other! We've been communicating through clothes.' That is something that really gives me a big buzz, and gives me extra strength and encouragement to do what I do," she says. Ilincic has also made moves to incorporate more diversity in her branding, and championed ageless style in her pre-fall lookbook, starring 54-year-old Austrian model Cordula Reyer. "My collection was always talking to women of many different ages and cultural backgrounds. But I felt that, although I know who my customers are, that needed to be said in black and white. I think we are now living in a time where this diversity is really welcomed and, sadly, say 10 years ago, it would be completely unheard of to do a lookbook this way," she says. "We're living in quite difficult times in terms of politics etc, but I also think there are some great things coming out of it, and one of those is diversity... I wanted to communicate to my customer that you are that woman, you are that person that I'm talking to, not just some beautiful model." While we may not have an invite to the royal wedding, the rest of us will be kept busy over the coming months with myriad other occasions that require a bit of dressing up. Occasionwear has long been one of Ilincic's strong suits and she welcomes the recent move toward more modest shapes, a look she has advocated for years. "I think there is a certain sophistication and elegance when you present this more covered-up silhouette, and that's something I've always been drawn to. I personally always like, and thought, it was much more intriguing and attractive to hide certain things than to expose them." Highlights from her spring collection included fluid gowns, a super-saturated palette and colour-blocked dresses over trousers. As an alternative to the staid clutch, Ilincic offered chic bracelet bags and ring-handle styles that blended vibrant hues, architectural shapes and contrasting wood and acrylic textures. When approaching event dressing this summer, Ilincic recommends not to shy away from bold colours, and to experiment with layering a dress over trousers. For older women in particular, she says: "My main advice is they need to follow their personality. They need to wear the outfit, rather than the other way around." Roksanda's spring-summer, pre-fall and handbag collections are available now in Brown Thomas (brownthomas.com). Royal wedding dress contenders The favourite: Ralph and Russo - Australian duo Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo designed Meghan's opulent gown for her official engagement photos. The team were recently spotted viewing embroidery portfolios from the Royal School of Needlework, who helped make Kate Middleton's wedding dress. The safe bet: Erdem - In her Vanity Fair interview, Meghan cited Erdem as "a designer I've been wearing for years". She also selected a dress by the designer for a wedding with Harry in Jamaica last year. The woke option: Stella McCartney - Sustainability has proven to be a priority in Meghan's choice of brands and she has worn the ethical label before for the Queen's birthday and on a visit to Wales. The diplomat's choice: Burberry - What better way to appease British conservatives? It would be a show-stopping final bow for Christopher Bailey after 17 years, or a spectacular introduction for his replacement, Riccardo Tisci. The American: Oscar de la Renta - If Meghan wishes to honour her US roots, creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, who made Amal Clooney's sensational bridal gown, would be a surprising yet reliable pick. Heres a map of the world recreated on an orange. Expand Close A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) And its more than just an exercise in whimsy it was created by RJ Andrews, a data storyteller from San Francisco, to demonstrate a key problem in map making. By necessity, maps of the globe become warped when flattened out for example, to be contained in the pages of a book. Expand Close A globe drawn out on to an orange which has then been peeled to produce a flat map (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A globe drawn out on to an orange which has then been peeled to produce a flat map (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) To hammer this message home people often draw on an analogy of being unable to peel an orange without tearing it somewhere. The morning he created his orange globe, he had been reading a book by Alberto Cairo which discussed this and brought up the orange metaphor. Andrews told the Press Association: I believe play is an important part of work, and especially any creative process, so I try to let myself get distracted by fun little side quests like acting out what everyone just talks abstractly about. Making the imaginary real can be powerful, and often very fun. Expand Close A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) Expand Close A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A globe drawn out on to an orange (RJ Andrews/@InfoWeTrust) The result is a series of pictures which show how he created his orange globe, reduced it to a map and perfectly demonstrated the distortion issues. He nailed it on the first attempt with a 12-inch globe in front of him as a reference. I drew the equator and prime meridian as reference points. Then, dotted a couple dozen major land features before finally connecting the dots to make the shorelines. The waxy surface of the orange was not agreeable to the Sharpie permanent marker. It took a few markers to finish. Once the lesson was over, Andrews ate the fruits of his labour. It was juicy, sweet, delicious! He shared the pictures on Twitter back in February, where they have steadily garnered interest with likes and retweets. I got tired of just reading about this pic.twitter.com/Ucn8OzCjel RJ Andrews (@infowetrust) February 23, 2018 A police officer in Florida has been praised by his bosses and the public after rushing a baby to hospital in his squad car. On Wednesday evening, Jeremie Nix, a police dog officer with the Marion County Sheriffs office, was flagged down by a woman at traffic lights. The woman explained that her three-month-old son Kingston was unresponsive. Officer Nix pulled the car around and attempted to help the child, as seen on dashcam footage shared to Facebook. When Nixs efforts appeared to have little effect on the child, he took extraordinary action. He took the child into the patrol car and rushed him to Ocala Regional Medical Centre for treatment. Thanks to Deputy Nixs actions, Kingston was cared for by medical staff and will make a full recovery. On Thursday he was allowed to go home with his family. Posting a video of the incident on Facebook, the service wrote: We are tremendously proud of Deputy Nix and we can already see that he and Baby Kingston will have a deep connection that will last a lifetime! US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania after greeting the freed Americans. Photo: AP Donald Trump's historic meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, will take place in Singapore on June 12. The US president broke the news on Twitter, writing: "We will both try to make it a very special moment for world peace!" Singapore was selected ahead of other locations - such as Mongolia and the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea - because it is seen as a neutral space, with both the US and Pyongyang having embassies there. It is also close to North Korea - a crucial factor as the regime's Soviet-era aircraft reportedly cannot fly long distances without stopping. Confirmation of the meeting came as Mr Trump personally welcomed home three American detainees released by North Korea in a middle-of-the-night ceremony broadcast live around the world. The president climbed aboard a plane carrying Kim Dong-cheol, Kim Hak-seong and Tony Kim just before 3am yesterday as a crowd of hundreds of journalists and soldiers watched on. The group emerged minutes later, with Mr Trump applauding as the returned men made the peace sign and waved to those cheering below. The former detainees, who had all been held captive for more than a year, appeared slightly stooped but otherwise in good health as they descended the plane's stairs without help. Mr Trump thanked the North Korean leader who approved the release, saying he had been "excellent" to the three "incredible men". "This is a wonderful thing that he released the folks early. That was a big thing. Very important to me," Mr Trump said. Asked why Mr Kim had agreed to the move, Mr Trump said: "I really think he wants to do something [to] bring that country into the real world. I really believe that." The three men had been held between one and three years. One was charged with spying and the other two, both academics, were accused of "hostile acts". Speaking on the tarmac alongside Mr Trump, Kim Dong-cheol said the release was "like a dream". He said he had got sick while in captivity but had been treated. The men's return is a diplomatic triumph for Mr Trump. The move was arranged through Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, who made a second trip to North Korea to broker the deal. Mr Trump's wife Melania was also there to greet the men, as was Mike Pence, the US vice-president, his wife Karen and Mr Pompeo. ( Daily Telegraph, London) President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this week (Evan Vucci/AP) European countries should continue trading with Iran despite President Donald Trumps decision to re-impose sanctions, Frances finance minister has said. Bruno Le Maire said Europe should not act as vassals to the US or accept that it is the worlds economic policeman. He told Europe-1 radio he wants to create a European body that would have the same kind of powers the US Justice Department has to punish foreign companies for their trade practices. Mr Trump said this week that the 2015 nuclear deal which allowed for the lifting of sanctions was not tough enough on Iran. European countries say Mr Trumps decision will increase the risk of conflict in the region. Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?, Mr Le Maire asked. Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran? European and American companies could lose billions of dollars in commercial deals struck since the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord, and lose access to a major new export market. Deeply regret US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. UK remains strongly committed to the JCPoA, and will work with E3 partners and the other parties to the deal to maintain it. Await more detail on US plan. Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 8, 2018 Planemakers Airbus and Boeing, oil companies and car manufacturers such as Frances Renault and Peugeot could be among companies hardest hit. Mr Le Maire said France is pushing for exemptions for its companies, but that he has no illusions about a generous American response. Meanwhile, the US government tried to further pinch Irans finances by disrupting a currency exchange network allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Irans Revolutionary Guard. The Treasury Department said it took joint action with the United Arab Emirates against nine Iranian individuals and entities involved in the network, and threatened sanctions against any other companies that help those nine. European governments tried for months to persuade Mr Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. Military tensions between Iran and Israel have already mounted, and oil prices are rising on the uncertainty. The top diplomats of Iran, France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet early next week to discuss their next steps. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the importance of protecting Israels security but urged a new path of negotiations with Iran to calm tensions. Later, it emerged Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and prevent an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Ms Merkels office said she spoke to Mr Putin by phone on Friday, a week before the German leader travels to Sochi to meet the Russian president. It said they underlined their aim of preserving the Iran deal after the United States withdrawal, and that both expressed concern about recent developments in the region. A property where police are investigating the deaths of seven people in Australia (Richard Wainwright/AAP Image via AP) A family of seven, including four children, have been found dead with gunshot wounds at a rural property in south-west Australia in what could be the countrys worst mass shooting in 22 years. The children died with their mother and grandparents. The three generations had moved to Osmington, a village of fewer than 700 people near the tourist town of Margaret River, in 2015 to grow fruit, media reported. Police would not comment on the possibility of murder-suicide, but they are not looking for a suspect. After being alerted by a phone call before dawn, police found the bodies and two guns at the property, Western Australia State Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said. Police would not say who made the call. The bodies of two adults were found outside the house and the rest were found inside. They all lived at the property, he said. Police have no information to raise concerns about wider public safety, suggesting a shooter is not at large. Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident, Mr Dawson told reporters. This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west, he added. Police were attempting to make contact with victims relatives, Mr Dawson said. He declined to release the names or ages of the dead. Expand Close Police Commissioner Chris Dawson addresses the media in Perth (Rebecca Le May/AAP Image via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police Commissioner Chris Dawson addresses the media in Perth (Rebecca Le May/AAP Image via AP) Philip Alpers, a Sydney University gun policy analyst, said the tragedy appeared to be the worst mass shooting in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 in Tasmania state in 1996, prompting the nation to introduce tough gun controls. Australias gun laws are widely acclaimed as a success, with supporters including former US president Barack Obama, saying Australia has not had a single mass shooting since they were implemented. The generally accepted definition of a mass shooting four deaths excluding the shooter in a single event has been met only once in Australia since then. In 2014, a farmer shot his wife and three children before killing himself. Police have revealed few details about the recent killings, and it is not clear whether there was more than one shooter. Farmers are allowed to own guns under Australian law because they have a legitimate need to use them to kill feral pests and predators or sick or injured livestock. But automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are banned from public ownership. Osmington is a collection of a few streets, farms, holiday accommodation and vineyards supplying the premium wine-making district known as Margaret River. Samantha Lee, chair of the Gun Control Australia lobby group, said rural areas were over-represented in Australian gun deaths, including suicides. Regional and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of tragedies, because of the combination of isolation, sometimes mental or financial hardship and easy access to firearms, Ms Lee said in a statement. Although the details of this tragedy are yet to come to light, Australia has a tragic history of higher rate of gun deaths in rural areas, she added. A man who bludgeoned his girlfriend to death, chopped up her body and flushed her remains down the toilet has been found guilty of murder. Dean Lowe, 33, armed himself with a rock and a metal pole to kill Kirby Noden, 32, in their basement flat before insisting she was alive and well in South Africa. He claimed she had set up him by spraying her own blood around their one-bed home in Marazion, Cornwall, as she left him for another man. Prosecutors told Truro Crown Court the murder was committed at some point in January 2017, but it did not come to light until four months later when Lowe confessed to his family in Cheshire. In a text message to his cousin, he wrote: Shes dead and has been chopped up and put down the toilet and in the bins down the road. Lowes family alerted police, who arrested him at his flat. Detectives said the home had barely been altered since the murder. Expand Close Police said Kirby Nodens family were put through living hell (Photo: Devon and Cornwall Police) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police said Kirby Nodens family were put through living hell (Photo: Devon and Cornwall Police) Lowe admitted to officers that he had killed Noden and disposed of her body, but later denied this and pleaded not guilty to murder. However, a jury of six men and six women convicted him on Thursday following nine hours and 35 minutes of deliberations. Speaking after the trial, Detective Inspector Ian Ringrose of Devon and Cornwall Police said Lowe had put Nodens family through living hell by refusing to disclose where he had disposed of her body. Lowe had made certain disclosures in the Facebook messages and to the arresting officer to suggest that he had killed Kirby, disarticulated her body and disposed of her remains, he said. The forensic examination of the scenes supported this and that there had been a sustained attack on Kirby and that Lowe was the person responsible for that assault. Nodens remains were never found and Mr Ringrose said an extensive and complex investigation had been required to prove she was no longer alive This has required extensive nationwide and international enquiries, he added. Miss Nodens family have been put through a living hell with Lowe not disclosing where he disposed of Kirbys body and denying all knowledge in court. Lowe added to their upset by insisting that Kirby was still alive. Lowe, who was not in court to hear the verdict, described during the trial how he and Noden spent Christmas 2016 together taking drugs and self-harming. He claimed that he last saw her between 10 and 15 January, that she left him for another man and was living in South Africa. However, the prosecution said Lowe beat Noden to death and then disposed of her body. She is presumed to have been dead by 14 January, when Lowe attempted to use her bank card to withdraw money from an ATM. Having killed her, the defendant moved her body, probably in pieces, and cleaned up the worst of the blood and cutting away the worst of the carpet, said prosecutor Paul Dunkels. For four months, from mid-January to mid-May, he lived on in the flat in the state it was in. Living in the midst of what he had done must have been gruesome. Mr Dunkels said Nodens blood was splattered around the bedroom, soaked into the mattress where her body had been laying, and was on the weapons used to murder her. He said: No one other than the defendant knew what had happened to Kirby Noden for five months until May of last year when the defendant began to send text messages to members of his family in Cheshire that there has been a body on the floor of the flat which he had cut up and put into bins and down the toilet. Jurors were shown images of blood stains discovered in the flat by police on the walls, ceiling and mattress. They also saw text messages sent by Lowe, who told his cousin: Shes dead and has been chopped up and put down the toilet and in the bins down the road. Either Im getting set up or Ive murdered Kirby. I had a blackout, hazy memory and woke up with a body on the floor. I am scared so I just got rid. I put the body in the bins down the road. I remember the binmen finding all the meat and didnt know what it was. The carpet was lifted because of the body matter. It took a week to get rid of the body, it was horrible. Heads gone. I know what I saw, it was real, it seems real. Either Kirby dead or set up. In his evidence, Lowe told jurors he had known Noden since they were children because his father and her mother had been friends. The couple, originally from Winsford in Cheshire, started a relationship aged around 25, later moving to Torquay together before becoming homeless and walking the coast path to Cornwall and ending up in Penzance. The couple lived in a tent before moving to the flat in Marazion. Lowe described this as a bad time because they had been homeless quite a lot, drinking on the streets, taking drugs and trying to forget bad memories. Mrs Justice May requested relevant details from psychiatric reports before she sentences Lowe, who faces life in prison. Sentencing was adjourned until next week at Exeter Crown Court. In a statement, Nodens family said: Dean Lowe has taken away from us something totally precious, and although we welcome this verdict, it will never replace our loss. President Emmanuel Macron of France urged Germany yesterday to drop its "fetish for budget and trade surpluses" amid foot-dragging from Angela Merkel over his reform plans for Europe. Two days after Donald Trump pulled America out of the Iran nuclear deal, the French leader said the time was ripe for strengthening "European sovereignty". He issued the plea after receiving the Charlemagne Prize for his "contagious enthusiasm" for strengthening EU cohesion and integration. Expand Close Applause: German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Image: AP Photo/Martin Meissner / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Applause: German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Image: AP Photo/Martin Meissner His words earned the praise of Ms Merkel at a prize-giving ceremony in Aachen, residence of Charlemagne, dubbed "the father of Europe" for uniting much of western Europe in the ninth century. "With Emmanuel Macron, a dynamic young politician has entered the European stage, for whom European integration and the common currency are a clear course," Ms Merkel said. However, hamstrung by six months of negotiations over forming a new coalition government, Ms Merkel has shown little enthusiasm for the French president's call for a common finance minister or budget. But Mr Macron insisted: "France has changed. It is no longer the same, and that is the choice of the French people." He said he was prepared to challenge Gallic resistance to changing EU treaties and to impose reform, but "in Germany, there cannot be a perpetual fetish for budget and trade surpluses, because they are always achieved at the expense of others. Let us not be afraid now of getting over our own taboos, our own habits," he said. In a speech to an audience including leaders from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Ukraine, Mr Macron also called on Europe to defend the global multilateral order. "We made the choice to build peace and stability in the Middle East," he said in a nod to the involvement of France, Germany and Britain in the Iran deal. "Other powers, just as sovereign as us, have decided not to respect their own word," he added. Ms Merkel acknowledged that "it is no longer the case that the United States of America will simply protect us - Europe must take its fate in its own hands". With America at odds with Europe in a string of areas, from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord to threats of punitive trade tariffs, Mr Macron said Europe stood at a "historic moment". The two leaders have promised to agree a common map for the future of the EU by the time of a summit in Brussels next month. "We need to do everything to make Europe stronger, more united, more sovereign, more democratic," stressed Mr Macron. Other recipients of the Charlemagne Prize included Winston Churchill and Tony Blair. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Israels defence minister has called on President Bashar Assad to get rid of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause problems. Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to the Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the countrys sovereignty under fabricated and baseless excuses. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that the international silence in the face of such aggressive moves is in effect a green light to more such attacks. A hard-line Iranian cleric threatened Iran would retaliate if Israel does anything foolish. Expand Close An Israeli military ambulance drives past tanks in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria (Ariel Schalit/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An Israeli military ambulance drives past tanks in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria (Ariel Schalit/AP) Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East. Mr Guterres comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the UN Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Irans attack on its positions in the Golan Heights, occupied and annexed by Israel. The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting. Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the occupied Golan Heights, defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction. We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here, he said. The Middle East is already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians. I urge an immediate halt to all hostile acts and any provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the region. https://t.co/ErPIU7BfIu Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 10, 2018 Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assad forces in the civil war. Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep. I will take this opportunity to send a message to Assad: Get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Soleimani, and the Quds Force, they are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages Mr Lieberman said. Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards elite Quds expeditionary force which is fighting in both Iraq and Syria. Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life, Mr Lieberman added. Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate. The scope of the attacks which Israel called its largest in Syria since the 1973 Middle East war raised the spectre of a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel in Syria, a conflict that could potentially drag the militant Hezbollah and Lebanon into the mix with devastating effects. Expand Close An Israeli soldier at an outpost used for visitors to view the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria (Ariel Schalit/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An Israeli soldier at an outpost used for visitors to view the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria (Ariel Schalit/AP) The rising tension in Syria came just as the United States decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose new sanctions, adding to the pressure on Tehran. In Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said the Western pressure will backfire, threatening that Israel will pay the price. The holy system of Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground, the hard-line cleric said during Friday sermons. The worshippers chanted Death to America and Death to Israel. Mr Ghasemi, the foreign ministry spokesman, said the direct attacks on Syria come as the government of Assad is regaining control of territories from rebel fighters, accusing Israel and the United States of supporting the opposition which he called terrorists. Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in cities across the country to protest against US President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with world powers. The protests resembled other aggressive but orderly gatherings typical under President Hassan Rouhani, who has tried for a rapprochement with the West. Expand Close Protests in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protests in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) But while slogans of Death to America were few, many Iranians are sincerely angry over Mr Trumps decision and are siding with hard-liners who have warned to be suspicious of the West. Mr Trump pulled America out of the 2015 accord on Tuesday. "Todays action sends a critical message: the United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them." pic.twitter.com/pd5WC2II95 The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) May 8, 2018 Iran said it may resume uranium enrichment in a higher rate within weeks if it finds the nuclear deal will not work any more after the US pullout. Israel and Iran lurched closer to all-out war yesterday after the Israeli military claimed it struck "almost all" of Iran's bases in Syria in response to what it said was an Iranian rocket barrage fired at the Golan Heights. The exchange of fire was the most direct confrontation between the two Middle East rivals after years of stand-off in Syria and came one day after Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions on the regime. Expand Close The official Syrian news agency published these images of what it says are Israeli missiles being shot down over Syrian airspace. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The official Syrian news agency published these images of what it says are Israeli missiles being shot down over Syrian airspace. Photo: Getty Images Israel carried out its largest wave of air strikes in Syria since the 1973 war, hitting around 70 Iranian military bases, supply depots, and intelligence sites, as well as Syrian regime air defence batteries, its military said. "We... struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, and they need to remember this arrogance of theirs," said Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli defence minister. "If we get rain, they'll get a flood." The attacks were in response to a barrage of 20 rockets that Israel said were fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard towards the Golan, a mountainous region that Israel annexed from Syria after capturing it in 1967. There were no casualties on the Israeli side. The country's military said its Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted four of the rockets just after midnight yesterday, while the other 16 fell harmlessly in Syrian territory. Expand Close Lebanese soldiers inspect remains of a missile that landed in the southern Lebanese village of Hebarieh. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lebanese soldiers inspect remains of a missile that landed in the southern Lebanese village of Hebarieh. Photo: Getty Images At least 23 people were killed by the Israeli strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It was not clear how many of the dead were Iranians. Iran has neither confirmed nor denied that it was responsible for launching the attacks. Israel has said repeatedly it will not allow Iran to build up a permanent military presence in Syria and is prepared to go to war to stop it. "Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him sevenfold. Whoever tries to hurt us, we will act to hurt him beforehand," said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Tensions between the two sides have risen sharply since April 9, when a suspected Israeli strike on the T4 airbase in central Syria killed at least seven Iranians. Iran vowed revenge and Israel has been warning for weeks that it was expecting an Iranian attack. Expand Close Russian support: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian support: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Reuters Earlier this week, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near Damascus. The Observatory said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, killing at least 15 people, including eight Iranians. Britain and the US were quick to issue messages of support for Israel and condemnation of Iran. "The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces," said UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. "We strongly support Israel's right to defend itself." Meanwhile, Theresa May spoke to Mr Netanyahu by phone to express her support and to condemn the Iranian attacks, while reiterating the UK's support for the Iran deal. Both the UK and US called on Russia to do more to rein in Iran's presence in Syria and avoid a further escalation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also condemned the attack in a call to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president. The Israeli attacks are likely to strain the relationship between Iran and Russia, which are fighting on the same side in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime. Israel warned Russia of its intention to launch strikes but Russian forces in Syria appear to have done nothing to shield their Iranian allies. Hours before the attack, Vladimir Putin hosted Mr Netanyahu as an honoured guest at a military parade in Moscow. While Israel has scored tactical military victories over Iran in Syria, it has struggled with a broader diplomatic campaign to convince world powers to clamp down on Tehran. Mr Netanyahu travels regularly to Moscow but his diplomatic efforts have so far yielded few visible results. Israel is also likely to have been emboldened by the arrival in the Trump administration of John Bolton, the new national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, who take a much more hawkish approach to Iran than their predecessors. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described yesterday's strikes as a "very alarming development." He noted that in contacts with the leadership of both countries, including a meeting on Wednesday between Mr Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, "we underlined the necessity of avoiding any actions that might be mutually provocative." Meanwhile, Bahrain voiced support for Israel's strikes, in an unusual example of an Arab state publicly applauding Israel for dropping bombs on the territory of a fellow Arab state. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations share many of Israel's fears about Iran. Vice Admiral Mark Mellett said yesterday that his main priority was the safety of Irish troops and the area where they operate was back to normal yesterday. Almost 100 Irish peacekeeping troops had to take cover in heavily reinforced bunkers for five hours during a series of missile attacks across the Golan Heights early yesterday morning. The troops were ordered into "groundhog" - sheltering in bunkers fitted with full communication and medical facilities - as a reported 20 rockets were fired from the Syrian side of the Golan at targets inside Israel. Some of the Irish remained on patrol in the area during the incidents, which lasted from shortly before midnight on Wednesday until 5.30am yesterday. None of the Irish was injured in the attacks and the area was calm again yesterday with full peacekeeping operations resumed. The Israeli military blamed the Iranians for the rocket strikes and retaliated by sending fighter jets to attack what were described as key Iranian military targets south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The rockets were fired from a position about halfway between the two camps used by Irish troops and about 20km apart. Ireland has about 150 troops in the area, the vast majority based at Camp Ziouani, which is located on the Israeli side, and attached to the contingent in the Undof (United Nations disengagement observer force) mission. The rest of the soldiers are either located at the Undof mission headquarters at Camp Faouar on the Syrian side of the Golan, or are attached as observers to a second mission, Untso (United Nations troops supervision organisation). After being alerted by initial explosions, an assessment was carried out by the Irish Undof commander, Lieut Col Mark Brownen, who then ordered most of the troops into groundhog and restricted operations in the area. An estimated 20 missiles were from a single multiple-barrel rocket launcher. It was located around 10km from the Irish positions, and aimed at Israeli posts in the Golan. In the retaliatory strikes, the Israelis said that they had destroyed the launcher site as well as other "known" Iranian military facilities in Syria. The all-clear was given before 6am and troops immediately resumed what Col Brownen described as "business as usual". The Irish form the force reserve company for the Undof mission and their tasks include providing armoured protection for the mission and patrolling in the area of separation between Syria and Israel, in the shadow of Mount Hermon. The Irish also include a quick reaction force, which comprises a 30-strong platoon on permanent stand-by and ready to respond within 15 minutes. Its average response time is nine minutes. The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, said yesterday that his main priority was the safety of Irish troops and the area where they operate was back to normal yesterday. Defence Minister Paul Kehoe said that he had been assured by the chief that all of the troops were safe and well. Before they deploy to the Golan, the Irish contingents are trained to deal with a range of scenarios while on peacekeeping duty and this prepares them for incidents similar to the shootings early yesterday. In August 2014, the Irish fired three heavy machine-gun bursts at rebel forces as they paved the way for the rescue of Filipino comrades, who had been under siege for seven hours at their post on the Golan. The warning shots, fired from a 127mm weapon fitted to a Mowag armoured vehicle, achieved their aim, with the rebels withdrawing from the area. Malaysias new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has started the process of obtaining an immediate pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Mr Mahathir was sworn in as Malaysias seventh premier late on Thursday, after leading his four-party opposition alliance to a stunning election victory. He ousted scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak and ended his coalitions 60-year unbroken grip on power. It was a remarkable comeback for Mr Mahathir, who was premier for 22 years until his retirement in 2003 and is now the worlds oldest leader at 92. Expand Close Mahathir Mohamad and Wan Azizah (AP Photo/Andy Wong) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mahathir Mohamad and Wan Azizah (AP Photo/Andy Wong) He said the king has indicated he is willing to give an immediate pardon that would free Anwar, who was jailed in 2015 on sodomy charges he said were fabricated by the then-government to crush the opposition. Mr Mahathir said: We will go through the proper process of obtaining a pardon for Anwar it is going to be a full pardon, which of course, means he is not only pardoned but to be released immediately. He did not say how long the process will take and whether Anwar could be freed before his sentence ends on June 8. It was a second spell in prison for Anwar, a former deputy prime minister in the defeated ruling party who was also jailed under Mr Mahathir in 1998 after a power struggle. Expand Close A campaign poster for ousted former Prime Minister Najib Razak in a Kuala Lumpur street (Andy Wong/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A campaign poster for ousted former Prime Minister Najib Razak in a Kuala Lumpur street (Andy Wong/AP) Anwar and Mr Mahathir joined forces in an unlikely alliance that helped the opposition nail the electoral victory. Mr Mahathirs deputy in the new government is Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwars wife and the leader of his Peoples Justice Party. She is the first female deputy premier in Malaysia but the current set-up is seen as transitional as Mr Mahathir has agreed to hand over the baton to Anwar once he is freed. Mr Mahathir has been coy about how long he will stay in his new job. Expand Close Former deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim arrives at court in June 2017 (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim arrives at court in June 2017 (AP) Anwar will need to contest and win a by-election after he is freed to become a member of parliament before he takes on the top job. Mr Mahathir said his four-party alliance will hold a meeting on Saturday and name just 10 ministers. He said he does not want a huge cabinet, in a veiled reference to past cabinets with more than 30 ministers. He also issued a strong warning against corruption, with suspect officials to be replaced in an overhaul of government departments. He indicated this could include Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali, who was appointed after Mr Najib sacked his predecessor in 2015 to escape possible prosecution over a corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund. Anger over the scandal prompted Mr Mahathir to emerge from retirement and sparked the anger that helped to oust Mr Najibs coalition. The fund was set up by Mr Najib in 2009 to promote economic development but it accumulated billions in debts. US investigators say Mr Najibs associates stole and looted at least 4.5 billion US dollars (3.3 billion) from the fund. They say some 700 million (517 million) landed in Mr Najibs bank account. He denied any wrongdoing. Paragon Banking Group has drafted in one of its senior directors to head the business after losing its chairman to the Co-operative Bank. The FTSE 250 firm announced on Friday that it was appointing Fiona Clutterbuck, who has been a non-executive director since 2012, to take his place. Ms Clutterbuck brings experience from across the financial sector, having served as managing director and head of financial institutions advisory at ABN Amro Investment Bank and managing director and global co-head of financial institutions at HSBC Investment Bank. She is also a non executive director at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown. Commenting on Ms Clutterbucks appointment, chief executive Nigel Terrington said: We carried out a thorough and independent appointment process and it was clear that Fiona was the best candidate to become Paragons chairman. She has a strong knowledge of Paragon, having been on the board since 2012 and has a wealth of financial experience, having held senior positions at leading UK and international banks. We have been immensely lucky to have been chaired by Bob (Dench) for the last 14 years but he leaves the company in excellent health and we look forward to what we know will be Fionas significant contribution to our future. Expand Close Co-operative Bank Stock / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Co-operative Bank Stock Ms Clutterbucks predecessor, Bob Dench, officially stepped down from his post on Thursday, having been appointed chairman of the Co-operative Bank back in March. It ended a long stint at the firm, having joined Paragon back in 2004 as a non-executive director and becoming chairman in 2007. It followed a long career at Barclays. Mr Dench went on to replace the Co-op Banks Dennis Holt nearly six months after his new firm struck a 700 million rescue deal that saved it from potential collapse. He said: I have had a wonderful time at Paragon since joining in 2004. The management team, at all levels, has been the best I have worked with. The tremendous and constant support of the shareholders, and the unwavering focus of Nigel Terrington and his team, have seen Paragon become a robust and highly profitable business. I am particularly pleased to be handing over the chair to Fiona, who has immense capabilities, skills and energy to help take the business forward. Paragon made headlines earlier this week when it confirmed that it was in the early stages of considering a possible acquisition of property lender Titlestone. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and secretary of state Mike Pompeo depart after speaking to the media (Alex Brandon/AP) The United States aspires to have North Korea as a close partner and not an enemy, the US secretary of state has said. Mike Pompeo noted the US has often in history become good friends with former adversaries. He said he told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of that hope during his brief visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, during which he finalised details of the upcoming June 12 summit between Mr Kim and President Donald Trump and secured the release of three Americans imprisoned in the country. He said talks with Mr Kim on Wednesday had been warm, constructive, and good and he made clear if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the US is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living stands to levels like those in prosperous South Korea. We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that we have had between us, Mr Pompeo told reporters at a news conference with South Koreas visiting foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha. We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea. Expand Close US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, left, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, left, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) He did not mention other adversaries by name, but Mr Pompeo and others have often noted the US played a major role in rebuilding Japan and the European axis powers in the wake of the Second World War. With US help, those countries recovered from the devastation of conflict. If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearise, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends, he said. Ms Kang praised the upcoming meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim in Singapore as a historic opportunity, but added a few notes of skepticism as well. Amid concerns North Korea will demand the US withdraw its troops from neighboring South Korea, Ms Kang emphasised the US military presence there must be a matter for the US-ROK alliance first and foremost, using an acronym for South Koreas official name, the Republic of Korea. She said the US troop presence in the South for the past 65 years has played a crucial role for deterrence, peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Expand Close South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and Mr Pompeo (Alex Brandon/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and Mr Pompeo (Alex Brandon/AP) Therefore, she added, any change in the size of the US forces in the South Korea should not be on the table at the summit. The next few weeks will be critical, requiring air-tight coordination between our two countries, Ms Kang said, noting South Korean President Moon Jae-in would be in Washington to see Mr Trump later this month. Since Mr Trump announced plans to hold a summit with Mr Kim, questions have been raised continually about whether the two leaders have the same objective in mind when they speak about denuclearisation. To the US, that means the North giving up the nuclear weapons it has already built. But North Korea has said it is willing to talk now because it has already succeeded in becoming a nuclear-armed state, fueling skepticism the North would truly being willing to give those weapons up. Mr Pompeo said there would need to be complete and verifiable denuclearisation that would remove North Korea as a threat to the South, the United States and the rest of the world. He said a massive inspection and monitoring regime would be required to ensure the Norths compliance. I think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are, he said, though declined to offer more detail. Highland High School in Palmdale, California, after the shooting (Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News/AP) A 14-year-old has been arrested after a classmate was shot in the arm with a rifle at their high school in California. Authorities say the teenager dumped the gun in the desert before being caught in a shopping centre. The shooting at Highland High School in Palmdale was sparked by a dispute between the two students, officials added. Investigators are still trying to determine a specific motive. The victim, also 14, was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, a Los Angeles County sheriffs spokeswoman said. Garret Root, a teacher at the school, told KNBC-TV he was walking up to the school when he saw a group of students running away and asked them what was happening. They said there was a shooter, Mr Root said. At first I didnt believe them, but then I heard a gunshot. He said he saw what looked like a boy, about 100 yards away, carrying a long gun. The lockdown at the school was lifted several hours after the shooting and school officials said they would begin reuniting students with their parents. The FBI and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene. Sheriffs deputies also received a call reporting shots fired in the vicinity of Manzanita Elementary School about seven miles away from Highland High School. Officials said deputies searched the elementary school and found no evidence of a shooting. Kolkata, May 11 (IBNS): To make more coal available for the small, medium and other sectors the Maharashtra Government appointed Maharashtra State Mining Corporation (MSMC) as the state nominated agency (SNA) for coal distribution to MSMEs of the state. Today Maharashtra is the most successful state in India in terms of volumes of coal booked and allocated to MSMEs. Out of the total coal offered by Coal India to Maharashtra, 93 per cent have been booked by MSMEs through the online platform. MSMC has been able to distribute 1.94 lakh tonnes of coal through this platform, with a transaction value of around INR 4800 lacs in its first year of operation. The erstwhile offline process of coal distribution in Maharashtra was unable to address the needs of the MSMEs and did not meet the desired objectives. The major pain point was lack of transparency as the consumers did not have fair and equal opportunity to buy their desired coal at the right prices. The Maharashtra government wanted the entire distribution process to be transparent and so MSMC decided that in order to meet the objectives and address the above challenges, an innovative IT enabled business process is required where the offline practices could be replaced by system based automated solutions. MSMC decided to entrust the responsibility of digitizing coal distribution in the state to mjunction services limited, a JV between Steel Authority of India and TATA Steel. mjunction, using their strong domain knowledge on the coal industry and on IT enabled solutions, conceptualized automation of the entire coal distribution process. mjunction developed and implemented a fully-automated and a comprehensive coal e-distribution platform for MSMC in 2017. Vinaya Varma, CEO of mjunction, said, The web-enabled e-distribution platform makes coal available online in a fair manner. The digitization of the coal distribution process will go a long way in empowering the MSMEs in realizing their full potential. MSMEs can then provide the much needed impetus in the countrys economic growth and GDP figures. MSMEs across Maharashtra are now able to book their coal requirements online and to get access to the status of their transactions on a real time basis through the e-distribution system. Consumers are now able to place their requirement of preferred coal online, and the system ensures that coal is allocated to the consumers based on a pre-defined algorithm, resulting in fair and equal opportunities to all. MSMC MD, Dr. Nirupama Dange said, The digitization of coal distribution has ushered in a new age of transparency and accountability. mjunction has developed a dedicated web portal which provides round the clock access to the users, who can readily access the relevant data and information on real time basis. The coal e-distribution system has helped MSMC to meet the objectives of the various stakeholders. mjunction has pioneered e-distribution of coal in India, starting with West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Ltd. a West Bengal Government undertaking. Recently mjunction has also won the mandate from Bihar State Mining Corporation for e-distribution of coal to MSMEs of Bihar. Guwahati, May 11 (IBNS): At least eight people were killed and several others were injured as lightning strikes and thunderstorm hit Assam in the last 48 hours. An official of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that eight people were reportedly killed in lightning and storm in the state in past 48 hours. According to the reports, two people died in Karbi Anglong district while six others died in lower Assams Kamrup, Barpeta and Kokrajhar district. Following the thunderstorms, power supply was disrupted in many areas as electric poles were damaged, uprooted trees and roofs of many houses were blown away. In Karbi Anglong district, 50-year-old Mohan Baishya was killed in Howraghat town area as an uprooted tree fell on his house at Howraghat area. Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) Project Officer Kripal Jyoti Mazumdar said that in past 48 hours six people died in lightning and two others died in thunderstorm. The ASDMA official further said that, 64 people were died in the state in lightning and storm while 25 people died in this year so far. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) New York, May 11 (IBNS): Babies in wealthy countries are five times more likely to miss out on breastfeeding than those in the under-developed, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday, explaining that this gap could be addressed by better support for working mothers, and regulating sales of infant formula. Some 7.6 million babies across the world are not breastfed each year despite clear evidence that it can save lives, and protect babies and mothers against deadly diseases. Evidence suggests breastfeeding also boosts brain development and improves educational outcomes, UNICEF said in a new study, published on Thursday. In high-income countries, 21 per cent of babies are not breastfed at all, while in low- and-middle-income countries, the figure on average is only four per cent. Mothers in wealthier countries often lack support for breastfeeding at home or in the workplace. Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother, rich or poor, can give her child, as well as herself, said Shahida Azfar, UNICEFs acting Deputy Executive Director. As we celebrate Mothers Day, we must give the worlds mothers the support they need to breastfeed. According to the study, 99 per cent of babies in Bhutan, Madagascar and Peru are breastfed at least once. But this rate is only 55 per cent in Ireland, 74 per cent in the United States and 77 per cent in Spain. The US alone accounts for more than one-third of the 2.6 million babies in high-income countries who were never breastfed. Even within low-and-middle-income countries, babies from the poorest families are more likely to be breastfed for a longer period of time, than those from wealthier families. Factors leading to higher breastfeeding rates vary around the world, say UNICEF. India and Vietnam have put in place strong policies to protect and promote breastfeeding. Turkmenistan has high rates of mothers giving birth in hospitals where maternal services are prioritized officially designated by UNICEF as baby-friendly hospitals. Almost all mothers in New Zealand and Sri Lanka give birth at a baby-friendly facility. Additionally, cultural and social norms play a decisive role, including varying levels of support from fathers, families, employers and communities at large. Through its Every Child ALIVE campaign, UNICEF urges governments, the private sector and civil society to increase funding and awareness to raise breastfeeding rates from birth, through the age of two. The agency also outlines other factors which can effect breastfeeding rates, such as introducing strong legal measures to regulate the marketing of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes; enacting paid family leave and putting in place workplace breastfeeding policies, including paid breaks for new mothers. UNICEF/UN022064/Ayene Kolkata, May 11 (IBNS): Rotary Club of Calcutta Metro City organized a seminar at the Lincoln Room, American Centre in association with The Thalassaemia Society of India and American Centre entitled Red Alert Thalassaemia on the occasion of the World Thalassaemia Day recently. Speakers included Utpal Panda, Secretary, The Thalassaemia Society of India, who spoke about the problems faced by patients and technological advances made which have in turn increased average life span of Thalassaemic patients which again lead to need of support in form of resources. Dr Ramendu Homchaudhuri spoke about Thalassaemia, its early symptoms, chances of transmission to progenies and how it can be avoided during the May 9 seminar. Subhojit Roy as a volunteer and as a Rotarian having worked with thalassaemics for two and a half decades spelt out that mobilising resources is the primary task of Rotary and similar organizations. He spoke about ignorance about Thalassaemia and pitfalls and problems of celebrity endorsements. He also said that corporate partnerships and Government legislation to make carrier detectoons mandatory pre marriage very important for eradication of thalassaemia. The entire proceedings were conducted by Past District Governor Shyamashree Sen. Also present were James DragonPublic Affairs Officer who welcomed the guest and Dr Sushanta Banerjee, Director American Resource Centre. Dublin, May 11 (IBNS): It has long been claimed by Yogis and Buddhists that meditation and ancient breath-focused practices, such as pranayama, strengthen our ability to focus on tasks. A new study by researchers at Trinity College Dublin explains for the first time the neurophysiological link between breathing and attention. Breath-focused meditation and yogic breathing practices have numerous known cognitive benefits, including increased ability to focus, decreased mind wandering, improved arousal levels, more positive emotions, decreased emotional reactivity, along with many others. To date, however, no direct neurophysiological link between respiration and cognition has been suggested. The research shows for the first time that breathing a key element of meditation and mindfulness practices directly affects the levels of a natural chemical messenger in the brain called noradrenaline. This chemical messenger is released when we are challenged, curious, exercised, focused or emotionally aroused, and, if produced at the right levels, helps the brain grow new connections, like a brain fertiliser. The way we breathe, in other words, directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve our brain health. The study, carried out by researchers at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity, found that participants who focused well while undertaking a task that demanded a lot of attention had greater synchronisation between their breathing patterns and their attention, than those who had poor focus. The authors believe that it may be possible to use breath-control practices to stabilise attention and boost brain health. Michael Melnychuk, PhD candidate at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity, and lead author of the study, explained: Practitioners of yoga have claimed for some 2,500 years, that respiration influences the mind. In our study we looked for a neurophysiological link that could help explain these claims by measuring breathing, reaction time, and brain activity in a small area in the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where noradrenaline is made. Noradrenaline is an all-purpose action system in the brain. When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we cant focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can't focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking and memory are much clearer. This study has shown that as you breathe in locus coeruleus activity is increasing slightly, and as you breathe out it decreases. Put simply this means that our attention is influenced by our breath and that it rises and falls with the cycle of respiration. It is possible that by focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimise your attention level and likewise, by focusing on your attention level, your breathing becomes more synchronised. The research provides deeper scientific understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms which underlie ancient meditation practices. The findings were recently published in a paper entitled Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama in the journal Psychophysiology. Further research could help with the development of non-pharmacological therapies for people with attention compromised conditions such as ADHD and traumatic brain injury and in supporting cognition in older people. There are traditionally two types of breath-focused practices those that emphasise focus on breathing (mindfulness), and those that require breathing to be controlled (deep breathing practices such as pranayama). In cases when a persons attention is compromised, practices which emphasise concentration and focus, such as mindfulness, where the individual focuses on feeling the sensations of respiration but make no effort to control them, could possibly be most beneficial. In cases where a persons level of arousal is the cause of poor attention, for example drowsiness while driving, a pounding heart during an exam, or during a panic attack, it should be possible to alter the level of arousal in the body by controlling breathing. Both of these techniques have been shown to be effective in both the short and the long term. Ian Robertson, Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity and Principal Investigator of the study added: Yogis and Buddhist practitioners have long considered the breath an especially suitable object for meditation.It is believed that by observing the breath, and regulating it in precise waysa practice known as pranayamachanges in arousal, attention, and emotional control that can be of great benefit to the meditator are realised. Our research finds that there is evidence to support the view that there is a strong connection between breath-centred practices and a steadiness of mind. Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long term meditators. More youthful brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks. Our research offers one possible reason for this using our breath to control one of the brains natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right dose helps the brain grow new connections between cells. This study provides one more reason for everyone to boost the health of their brain using a whole range of activities ranging from aerobic exercise to mindfulness meditation. Washington, May 11 (IBNS): Scientists analyzing the first data from the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission have found two stars that revolve around each other every 38 minutes about the time it takes to stream a TV drama. One of the stars in the system, called IGR J170626143 (J17062 for short), is a rapidly spinning, superdense star called a pulsar. The discovery bestows the stellar pair with the record for the shortest-known orbital period for a certain class of pulsar binary system. The data from NICER also show J17062s stars are only about 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) apart, less than the distance between Earth and the Moon. Based on the pairs breakneck orbital period and separation, scientists involved in a new study of the system think the second star is a hydrogen-poor white dwarf. Its not possible for a hydrogen-rich star, like our Sun, to be the pulsars companion, said Tod Strohmayer an astrophysicist at Goddard and lead author on the paper. You cant fit a star like that into an orbit so small. A previous 20-minute observation by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in 2008 was only able to set a lower limit for J17062s orbital period. NICER, which was installed aboard the International Space Station last June, has been able to observe the system for much longer periods of time. In August, the instrument focused on J17062 for more than seven hours over 5.3 days. Combining additional observations in October and November, the science team was able to confirm the record-setting orbital period for a binary system containing what astronomers call an accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP). When a massive star goes supernova, its core collapses into a black hole or a neutron star, which is small and superdense around the size of a city but containing more mass than the Sun. Neutron stars are so hot the light they radiate passes red-hot, white-hot, UV-hot and enters the X-ray portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star, read the NASA statement. The 2008 RXTE observation of J17062 found X-ray pulses recurring 163 times a second. These pulses mark the locations of hot spots around the pulsars magnetic poles, so they allow astronomers to determine how fast its spinning. J17062s pulsar is rotating at about 9,800 revolutions per minute. Hot spots form when a neutron stars intense gravitational field pulls material away from a stellar companion in J17062, from the white dwarf where it collects into an accretion disk. Matter in the disk spirals down, eventually making its way onto the surface. Neutron stars have strong magnetic fields, so the material lands on the surface of the star unevenly, traveling along the magnetic field to the magnetic poles where it creates hot spots. The constant barrage of in-falling gas causes accreting pulsars to spin more rapidly. As they spin, the hot spots come in and out of the view of X-ray instruments like NICER, which record the fluctuations. Some pulsars rotate over 700 times per second, comparable to the blades of a kitchen blender. X-ray fluctuations from pulsars are so predictable that NICERs companion experiment, the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), has already shown they can serve as beacons for autonomous navigation by future spacecraft. Over time, material from the donor star builds up on the surface of the neutron star. Once the pressure of this layer builds up to the point where its atoms fuse, a runaway thermonuclear reaction occurs, releasing the energy equivalent of 100 15-megaton bombs exploding over every square centimeter, explained Strohmayer. X-rays from such outbursts can also be captured by NICER, although one has yet to be seen from J17062. The researchers were able to determine that J17062s stars revolve around each other in a circular orbit, which is common for AMXPs. The white dwarf donor star is a lightweight, only around 1.5 percent of our Suns mass. The pulsar is much heavier, around 1.4 solar masses, which means the stars orbit a point around 1,900 miles (3,000 km) from the pulsar. Strohmayer said its almost as if the donor star orbits a stationary pulsar, but NICER is sensitive enough to detect a slight fluctuation in the pulsars X-ray emission due to the tug from the donor star. The distance between us and the pulsar is not constant, Strohmayer said. Its varying by this orbital motion. When the pulsar is closer, the X-ray emission takes a little less time to reach us than when its further away. This time delay is small, only about 8 milliseconds for J17062's orbit, but its well within the capabilities of a sensitive pulsar machine like NICER. The results of the study were published May 9 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. NICERs mission is to provide high-precision measurements to further study the physics and behavior of neutron stars. Other first-round results from the instrument have provided details about one objects thermonuclear bursts and explored what happens to the accretion disk during these events. Neutron stars turn out to be truly unique nuclear physics laboratories, from a terrestrial standpoint, said Zaven Arzoumanian, a Goddard astrophysicist and lead scientist for NICER. We cant recreate the conditions on neutron stars anywhere within our solar system. One of NICERs key objectives is to study subatomic physics that isnt accessible anywhere else. NICER is an Astrophysics Mission of Opportunity within NASA's Explorer program, which provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space utilizing innovative, streamlined, and efficient management approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate supports the SEXTANT component of the mission, demonstrating pulsar-based spacecraft navigation. Image: MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar Twitter page New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): Commencing his Nepal visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left New Delhi. He is visiting the neigbouring nation for two days. "Consolidating the principle of neighbourhood first and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas! PM @narendramodi emplanes for a two day visit to Nepal, building on the visit by Prime Minister of Nepal, K.P. Sharma Oli," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Modi is visiting Nepal at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation KP Oli. This will be the third visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal. During the visit, he will hold talks with Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, call on the President and Vice President of Nepal, and interact with senior leaders of various political parties of Nepal, read a statement issued by the MEA. PM Modi will also be visiting the historic cities of Janakpur and Muktinath, apart from engagements in Kathmandu. New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated 92-year old Mahathir Mohamad, who was sworn-in as the new Malaysian PM. Modi has also vowed to work closely with Mahathir to strengthen the ties between the two countries. In a tweet, Modi said: "Heartiest congratulations to Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Mahathir to further strengthen the mutually beneficial strategic partnership between our two countries." Mahathir became the oldest leader in the world, after he registered a shock victory against his protege and former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Razak, who's rule in recent years were marked by corruption, was challenged by his former mentor, who switched to the opposition after breaking his retirement. The 92-year-old ruled the country for 22 years, from 1981 until his resignation in 2003. According to reports, Mohamad's rule was marked by economic success, however, he was largely a authoritarian, who even imprisoned his own deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, accusing the latter of corruption and sodomy. Ibrahim, who was jailed for sodomy, had called for political reforms, before he was exiled. Najib too has been accused of corruption, which he has refused unequivocally. Accusation against the former Prime Minister consists of embezzling state funds, amounting to USD 700 million, from an investment fund he set up. Though Malaysian officials have cleared him of the charges, Najib has copped criticism of retarding investigations by removing key investigators and officials from their posts. New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): The Supreme Court collegium or a group of five most senior-judges will meet at 1 pm on Friday to take a call on Justice KM Joseph's elevation, which was earlier rejected by the central government, media reports said. This is the second time the collegium will meet over the issue. In the last meeting, which lasted for 45-50 minutes, names of judges from three other high courts were also considered. The collegium comprises of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. According to the reports, the government has urged the collegium to reconsider their choice of Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has said the government was well within its jurisdiction to do so. However, appointment of Indu Malhotra, the second name recommended by the top judges, was cleared. Janakpur, May 11 (JEN) : Playing on common religion, mythology and belief that the majority people of both countries share, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought to come closer to Nepal, the strategic nation he wants to be on his side and away from China, and announced that the Himalayan neighbour comes first in India's "neighbourhood first policy." In recognition to the religious and cultural affinity that binds India and Nepal, Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya - the two sacred cities for Hindus- for religious tourism. "Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment," Prime Minister Modi said while inaugurating the bus service as part of the Ramayan Circuit to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India..."Culture connects people across boundaries! From the auspicious holy city of Janakpur," Modi announced at the joint development of the Ramayana Circuit as he flagged off a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya. "India and Nepal have stood by each other through tough times. Nepal occupies primacy in our Neighbourhood First policy," Modi said. Janakpur is believed to be the birthplace of Sita of the Hindu mythology Ramayana. Believers claim that Sita was the daughter of Janak, ruler of ancient Mithila, whom Rama, the son of king Dasaratha of Ayodhya married. "Raja Janak and Raja Dasharatha did not just connect Ayodhya and Janapur but tied India and Nepal in bond of friendship. This is the bond of Ram Sita. This bond pulls people to Pashupatinath and Bodh Gaya, and this is what has pulled me here today," the PM said. "India Nepal ties are not limited to any definition but the language of faith, relationship, roti and beti (daughter)." "Without Nepal, India's faith is incomeplete, without Nepal, India's history is incomplete, without Nepal, India's dhams are incomplete, without Nepal, our Ram is incomplete," said Modi. Observing that Nepal's development is "key to regional development," the PM said it was time collectively safeguard interests. He also congratulated the people of Nepal for making progress in the way of democracy from what once was a monarchic system. "Glad that Democracy is being strengthened. It is the first rider to development. Congratulate all of you for successfully holding 3 elections within one year. Formation of regional governments a matter of pride not just for Nepal, but for India too," he said. Earlier, the PM had arrived in Nepal at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. At 10:15 am, PM Modi's plane landed in historical Janakpur, a sub-metropolitan city, and offered prayers at the Janki Temple. In the afternoon, PM Modi will travel to Kathmandu where he will meet Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. In the evening, he will hold delegation-level talks with Oli, External Affairs MInistry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The prime ministers are likely to sign a number of pacts and inaugurate the Rs. 6,000-crore Arun 3 project which is expected to generate around 900 MW of power. Srinagar, May 11 (IBNS): Heavily armed militants shot dead a policeman after they attacked a picket guarded by Jammu Kashmir Police in Wadwun Soibugh area of Central Kashmirs Budgam district on Friday afternoon, police official said. According to reports, armed militants fired upon cops guarding minority picket. A cop Shamim Ahmad, resident of Yaripora Kulgam, South Kashmir, suffered bullet injuries and was shifted to hospital where he succumbed to injuries. A police official said that the area was cordoned off and searches were conducted. He said that no arrests were made during the operation. It was the second attack on a minority picket in the district. Earlier this month, armed militants attacked a minority picket at Goriwan Hyderpora and snatched four assault rifles from the policemen guarding the picket. (Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri) New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): The External Affairs Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, visited Myanmar on May 10-11. During the visit, she called on U Win Myint, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs. During the bilateral meetings, boundary and border related issues, peace & security matters, developments in the Rakhine State, including return of displaced persons, Indias development assistance to Myanmar, ongoing projects, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed. The Minister also met the Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, during the visit. "Seven Agreements/MOUs were signed during the visit. These included: (i) Agreement on Land Border Crossing, (ii) MoU on Restoration and Preservation of Earthquake Damaged Pagodas in Bagan, (iii) MoU on assistance to the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, (iv) MoU on Training of Myanmar Foreign Service Officers, (v) MoU on Setting up Industrial Training Centre (ITC) at Monywa, (vi) MoU on ITC at Thaton and (vii) Exchange of Letters on extending a maintenance contract for ITC Myingyan," read a statement issued by the MEA. The Agreement on Land Border Crossing is a landmark in bilateral relations between the two countries as it will enable people from both countries to cross the land border with passport and visa, including for accessing health and education services, pilgrimage and tourism. The MoU on restoration of pagodas at Bagan underlines the enduring cultural and historical links between the two countries. The other MoUs on technical assistance and capacity building reflect Indias continuing support to Myanmar in accordance with this countrys own development plans and priorities. The External Affairs Minister also reiterated Indias readiness and commitment to helping the Government of Myanmar (GOM) in addressing issues related to Rakhine State. She welcomed GOMs continued commitment to implementing the Rakhine Advisory Commissions recommendations and noted that, under the aegis of the bilateral Rakhine State Development Programme, India was already in the implementation stages of various projects that would respond to the needs of different sections of the Rakhine State population. The first major project is the construction of prefabricated housing in Rakhine State to meet the needs of displaced persons. The Minister also underlined the need for safe, speedy and sustainable return of displaced persons to Rakhine State. The External Affairs Minister expressed her gratitude to the GOM for its hospitality and noted that the warm reception and the discussions underlined the exceptionally close and friendly relations between the two neighbouring countries. : Kolkata, May 11 (IBNS): At least one person was killed and another was seriously injured after the followers of Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s local leader Arabul Islam allegedly shot bullets aiming at the supporters of an independent candidate for upcoming panchayat election in Bhangar in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Friday evening, reports said. According to reports, supporters of an independent candidate were holding a campaign rally at Polerhat-II panchayat area for upcoming election and when the march reached Notunhat More, Arabul Islam and his gang allegedly fired several rounds of bullets aiming at the rally. At least two persons were shot in the firing and they were rushed to a local hospital where one of them was pronounced dead. Local sources said that the deceased has been identified as Hafizul Mollah who was a resident of nearby Machhibhanga village. Following the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed local authorities to arrest Arabul Islam and others involved in the clash and firing, a source in Nabanna told IBNS. Meanwhile, the state election commission has sought reports on the incident from the SP of Baruipur Police District and the DM of South 24 Parganas district. According to the last update came in, a huge police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF), combat force and Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel, led by Baruipur Police District's SP Arijit Sinha, are on their way to the scene. However, main accused in the case, Arabul Islam, refused to react on the incident. (Reporting by Deepayan Sinha) Guwahati, May 11 (IBNS): Assam government will take stern action against illegal coal mining activities in the state. Assam Hills Area Development (HAD) minister Sum Rongang on Friday said that, illegal coal mining activities are still going on in the state and the government will take measures to stop all illegal activities. Addressing a press conference held at Janata Bhawan, Dispur, the Assam minister further said that, the state government will also take appropriate measures to increase revenue collection. Only Rs 7.46 crore has been allocated to the mining department in the state budget for 2018-19 fiscal. We are now preparing a road map as how to increase revenue collection and to stop all illegal mining activities, Sum Ronghang, who heads the mining department said. On the other hand, the Assam minister said that, he will look into implementation of all development schemes under the both autonomous councils. The state government will also probe all anomalies that allegedly happened in Karbi Anglong Autonous Council and North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council. We have taken the matter very seriously and no one will be spared if guilty found against him, Sum Ronghang said. The Assam minister said that, around Rs 533 crore has been allocated in this financial year budget for hills areas development. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe New York, May 11 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated the people of Malaysia on Thursday, following the peaceful holding of national and provincial elections, and praised voters for their strong commitment to the democratic process. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, the UN chief welcomed the formation of a new Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and paid tribute to outgoing Prime Minister Najib Razak. The UN chief added that he was looking forward to working closely with Malaysia on issues of mutual interest. The new Prime Minister is no stranger to the job, having led the country for much of the 1980s and 1990s, and at 92 he has become the worlds oldest elected leader. The coalition of parties which he led to victory, secured 113 of the 222 seats being contested. The elections, held on 9 May, saw a voter turnout of 76 per cent, according to media reports. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas New York, May 11 (IBNS): The release of three United States nationals by North Korea is another important building block towards peace, said a United Nations human rights expert on Thursday, while urging the release of six South Korean nationals who are still being held. In a statement reacting to the release of the US citizens, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN expert on human rights in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) said that he had consistently advocated for the release of these foreign detainees, who were reportedly under arbitrary detention and prevented from enjoying their basic freedoms. I welcome this important decision of the DPRK Government, the Special Rapporteur continued, which I hope will offer an opportunity to further address human rights and humanitarian concerns, he added. Kim Sang-duk, known as Tony Kim, Kim Hak Song and Kim Dong-chul were among several foreign nationals arrested in recent years in the country. Ojea Quintana urged the north to also release six South Koreans who remain in detention, including three pastors. I remain concerned by reports that the foreign detainees have not received due legal process and may be held in inhumane conditions without consular access, he said. Moreover, continued the Special Rapporteur, as peace talks progress, a comprehensive assessment of the overall penitentiary system in North Korea will become unavoidable. During the first week of July, Ojea Quintana will visit the south, and in October present his next report to the UN General Assembly.a Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. UN Photo/Wolfgang Grebien New York, May 11 (IBNS): The United Nations chief has called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts and provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the Middle East, following reported exchanges of artillery fire over the Golan Heights. According to media reports, the Israeli military attacked Iranian military installations in neighbouring Syria in retaliation for an Iranian-instigated rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres followed, with utmost concern, reports overnight of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by the Israel Defense Forces, said his Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, in a statement issued on Thursday. Guterres notes, with relief, todays partial normalization of the situation, and urges for an immediate halt to all hostile acts and any provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the region already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians, added the statement. The Golan was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and in 1974, a UN observer force was set up to monitor the ceasefire reached that year by Israel and Syria. Dujarric noted that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has maintained contact with forces of both sides during the latest hostilities and urged them to exercise maximum restraint and abide by their obligations under the 1974 agreement. New York, May 11 (IBNS): The overall security situation in Sudans Darfur region remains calm, despite continuing low-level skirmishes, a top United Nations envoy said on Thursday; updating the Security Council on the UN missions work on the ground. The general security situation in Darfur remains calm, except for sporadic clashes between the Sudan Liberation Army of Abdul Wahid, Government forces and nomads in the Jebel Marra, said Jeremiah Mamabolo, Head of the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), speaking via video-link. The mission is in the process of reconfiguring its forces, including the construction of a new Temporary Operating Base at Golo, on land provided by the government in Jebel Marra. The reconfiguration has involved withdrawl from some areas previously controlled by UNAMID. While it was too early to make a final assessment, Mamabolo said there had been no adverse impact so far. While the Government is expected to establish its authority in these areas, he added, we continue to monitor the situation within the framework of our protection of civilians' mandate. Mamabolo saw what he called a glimpse of hope in the stalled peace process with parties expressing a desire for continued engagement at a meeting in Berlin last month. I am, therefore, in contact with all the parties to bridge their differences so that they can agree on and sign a pre-negotiation framework as soon as possible to pave the way for a cessation of hostilities agreement and direct negotiations, he said. With no systematic registration of those displaced outside the camps however, estimates vary considerably for those unregistered and living in rural settlements and urban areas.Turning to the humanitarian situation, revised figures reveal that some 1.76 million displaced people are registered in approximately 66 camps. UN humanitarian agencies and partners estimate that an additional 500,000 displaced people live in some 108 host communities and settlements in Darfur. Mamabolo indicated that from UNAMIDs interactions, they would like to return to their places of origin, provided they have security and basic services. Meanwhile, others say they are willing to settle where they are with assurances that they retain their traditional land rights in their original homes. For Darfur to be guaranteed durable peace and development, durable solutions will have to be found for the plight of IDPs, he stressed. It is imperative that concerted efforts be exerted towards mobilization of financial resources to consolidate and sustain the prevailing peace and stability in the region, he concluded. UNAMID Washington, May 11 (IBNS): Days after pulling out of the much debated Iran nuclear deal, Washington has slapped new sanctions on six people and three companies with alleged links to Iran's elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Trump Administration's decision was conveyed by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Mnuchin said that sanctions were imposed on those who helped the IRGC with funds. "The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the (IRGC's) malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups," Mnuchin said in a statement. "We are intent on cutting off IRGC revenue streams wherever their source and whatever their destination," he added. The six individuals have been identified as Iranians. The statement added that these individuals will be unable to do business with ether people or firms from the US. The US sanction was welcomed by the United Arab Emirates, a key Middle Eastern ally to the Trump regime. In an expected yet undesirable move, On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump, announced at the White House that his country would be withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal or the The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unilaterally begin reinstating economic sanctions against Iran at the highest level. The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," he said. He even called the deal as "decaying and rotten". He said: "The Iran Deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know what will happen. In just a short time, the worlds leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the worlds most dangerous weapons." Trump said: "At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction: that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program. Today, we have definitive proof that this Iranianpromise was a lie." Though the move garnered support from the Gulf and Israel, it was slammed by many. Former US President Barack Obama, under whose term the deal was signed, criticised his successor Donald Trump's decision to pull the country out of it. In a tweet, Obama said: "There are few issues more important to the security of the US than the potential spread of nuclear weapons or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. Todays decision to put the JCPOA at risk is a serious mistake." In his statement, which has been posted on Facebook, Obama said: "The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. The JCPOA is in Americas interest it has significantly rolled back Irans nuclear program. "And the JCPOA is a model for what diplomacy can accomplish its inspections and verification regime is precisely what the United States should be working to put in place with North Korea. Indeed, at a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes with Iran the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans." Image: Donald Trump/Twitter Washington, May 11 (IBNS): The much-awaited meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place on June 12. Trump himself confirmed that the meeting will take place in Singapore. Trump said he and Kim will try to make the meeting a 'special moment' for world peace. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!," he tweeted. Trump made the announcement just hours after he welcomed home three US detainees released by North Korea. The release was made during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visit to North Korea. Interestingly, no sitting US President has ever met a North Korean leader so far. The move appears to be a major breakthrough after months of barbs exchanged between North Korea and the US. Fresh development in the relationship between North Korea, South Korea and the US began recently when a North Korea delegation was invited to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. 2017 witnessed US President Donald Trump slamming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the Asian nation continued to conduct several of its missile tests, teasing world peace and tranquillity and often threatening to trigger a war. Situation became far tensed when North Korea tested an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that the nation said was capable of striking US mainland. The United Nations Security Council imposed strong new sanctions against the Asian nation after its Nov 29 launch of a nuclear-capable weapon. Trump and North Korea continued to exchange barbs earlier this year too. Ottawa, May 11 (IBNS): Canadian minister Navedeep Bains was once asked to remove his turban at the US airport for security checking, media reports said. The incident occurred a year ago. Bains, who is the Minister of innovation, science and economic development, said he was asked to remove his turban at Detroit Airport while he coming back to Canada. He said with the challenges with the swab machine, Bains was called back from the gate was brought to the security. Then he was asked to remove the turban. Later after knowing his identity, Bains was allowed to go. Remembering the incident, Bains said asking him to take off his turban is equivalent to ask him to remove clothes. The minister has been quoted by The Times Of India, "I was very frustrated and disappointed that this occurred but ultimately I was allowed to fly." "But it was because of who I was and that should not be the case. It doesn't matter what your status is and what your position is." Canada had verbally protested against the incident and also received an apology. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Chrystia Freeland, told media that they wanted the US to be aware of Ottawa's concerns over the entire incident to protect the Canadians. A turban is a kind of headgear which is worn by several men belonging to the Sikh community. Image: facebook.com/NavdeepSinghBains Native Americans close the gap almost on U.S. life expectancy By Shelby LindsayCronkite News WASHINGTON Life expectancy for American Indians is decades longer than it was in the 1960s, nearly closing the gap with the rest of the U.S. population, according to government data. But that doesnt mean every Native American has seen the same gains, according to experts, who say pockets of problems remain, particularly on traditional reservations. Melissa Buffalo, senior clinical research specialist at Sanford Health in South Dakota, said the life expectancy numbers for American Indians varies across the region, just as it does for the U.S. in general. Officially, life expectancy for American Indians was 73.7 years in 2010, the latest year for which the Indian Health Service has numbers, just a few years shy of the overall national average of 78.1 that year. And those numbers represent a vast improvement since 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson called on Congress to address problems facing tribes in his Special Message to the Congress on the Problems of the American Indian: The Forgotten American.' Johnson said then that the average age of death for an American Indian was 44, compared to a U.S. average of 65 half again as long as that for Native Americans. But some experts say the 73-year life expectancy for Native Americans is misleading at best and wrong at worst. The Indian Health Service reported higher mortality rates for Native Americans in every one of 16 categories it reported in 2010. Margaret Moss, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said life expectancy for members of her tribe is far lower than the average reported for Indians across the country. Moss, an assistant dean at the University of Buffalo School of Nursing, said a male born in her tribe today has an average life expectancy of mid- to late-40s, and a Rosebud woman has a life expectancy in her early 50s. Thats several reservations and that gets lost when we look at national numbers, Moss said. She thinks the national average may be skewed by large numbers of people claiming Native ancestry on their Census forms. Johnson said in his 1968 speech that there were about 600,000 American Indians, while the 2010 Census reported 2.9 million people who identified as American Indian and Alaska Native. Its self-report. Im not sure exactly where they are coming from, Moss said. For instance, as we have seen on the news, people can say, Oh, I think my grandmother was Indian, and then they click Indian, which can skew the numbers that are reported. When you have self-reported American Indians, they might have different family histories of health, she said. But unlike 1968, when Johnson said that two-thirds of Indians lived on or near reservations, the Census said that in 2010 only 22 percent of those who claimed American Indian heritage still lived on reservations. That shift to the city could be one factor behind improving lifespans, experts said. Most Native Americans are now non-reservation based, urban-based, so they have more access to health care in cities, said DenYelle Kenyon, an associate scientist at Sanford Health. Kenyon said one possible reason for shorter lifespans for South Dakota tribes like the Rosebud could be related to health-care policy. South Dakota didnt vote for the Medicaid expansion so maybe that is why we have worse rates here, she said. Arizona is one of 33 states that did approve an expansion of Medicaid, a change that made a difference, said John Molina, compliance officer for the Arizona medical clinic Native Health. This has hugely increased revenue for hospitals and clinics to increase their services, staffing and equipment, said Molina, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. So when Medicaid came on board to provide care for the uninsured, it really made a difference for Indian communities. Molina also pointed to programs like the Special Diabetes Prevention Initiative, and to a general increase in support from government-funded programs. When you provide community-based care, it is actually beginning to reduce diabetes among our people, he said. Although health care makes a big difference, it isnt the only factor in life expectancy, which can also be affected by whether tribes have safe housing, the opportunity for jobs and strong education systems, experts said. The 2010 Census showed that Native Americans trailed in all those areas: 13 percent had a bachelors degree or higher, compared to 28 percent for the U.S. as a whole, and 54 percent of Native Americans owned their own homes, compared to a national average of 65 percent. Sanford Healths Buffalo said all of these topics can make a difference in life expectancy and show where work needs to be done to continue to close the gap in the future. But Buffalo and Kenyon said there is no question there have been gains over the past 50 years, and that its worth keeping that in mind. Keep that positive message out there, because it shows these numbers can be impacted by policies we can put in place, Kenyon said. As long as it doesnt gloss over the places where we do still have problems. Join the Conversation Can Sioux tribes pull off largest ever clean energy project on tribal land? The Oceti Wind Project aims to overcome financial, cultural and bureaucratic barriers to tribal renewable development.By Frank JossiEnergy News Network Lyle Jack had long wondered how his Oglala Sioux community could take advantage of its location on the remote, windswept plains of South Dakota. The tribal economic development manager dreamed of bringing wind energy development to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Earlier this decade, he began sharing his vision with federal energy officials, wind investors and former politicians. Their advice: Go big. Offer a project over at least 500 megawatts. Seven years later, Jack is chairman of the Oceti Sakowin Power Project , an alliance of tribes on the cusp of developing the largest ever clean energy project on Native American land. The first phase is an $800 million, 570 megawatt wind project that will be more than 10 times the size of the largest existing wind farm on tribal land. By partnering with an experienced wind developer, Apex Clean Energy, and banding together with a unique governing model, the project backers hope to overcome the barriers that have conspired against other tribal energy projects and bring badly needed economic development do some of the nations poorest communities. All our tribes suffer from poverty because of our location and resources, Jack said. We know Oceti will create jobs in construction and maintenance of the wind farms. Revenue from the project will create even more opportunities later. A tragic history of tribal projects 2015 U.S. Government Accountability Office report concluded that poor management by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has hindered energy development on tribal lands. These shortcomings can increase costs and project development times, resulting in missed development opportunities, lost revenue, and jeopardized viability of projects, it said. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, one of the Oceti project partners, sought a wind lease deal with the BIA in 2008 for a 30 megawatt project. In the 18 months it took for the federal bureau to respond, the tribe lost two power purchase agreements it had with local utilities. A decade later, the project remains unbuilt. Auditors found the BIA lacks the data, staff, and skills to effectively manage energy development requests from tribes. The BIAs weaknesses only serve to amplify other issues tribes face, from dealing with multiple jurisdictions and government agencies to inability to access tax credits. November 2016 paper published by Sandia National Laboratories examines challenges faced by the Navajo Nation, considered to have the greatest renewable energy resources of any tribe in the country. It concludes that the tribe lacked the legal and technical capacity to develop renewable energy. Intratribal suspicions and infighting hurt projects, along with a lack of a coherent energy vision for the future. Sometimes tribal politics and process become a barrier, said Beth Soholt, executive director of Wind on the Wires, a nonprofit that advocates for wind and transmission development. The collaboration around the Oceti project, involving six regional tribes, is unique and could help smooth out problems, she said. The Oceti difference Jack and his collaborators believe they have what it takes to overcome the trail of failed renewable energy projects on tribal lands. In fact, each of the participating tribes had tried and failed at wind development, he said. That was the precipitating factor behind the creation of the Oceti Sakowin Power Authority (OSPA), which he chairs, to work with the tribes and developers. Five years ago, the tribes hired project manager Caroline Herron to run the agency; her husband, Jonathan Canis, serves as its general counsel. Under the authoritys governing arrangement, each tribe has a vote, even though the size of memberships and their wind energy potential differs greatly. A third party will determine royalties the tribes receive on each of the projects, Herron said, and some money will be preserved to invest in future wind farms. An elders council was also formed to ensure a broader viewpoint reflective of tribal values and history. We wanted to make sure the element of culture was included in the decision making, said Yankton Sioux Tribe elder council member Faith Spotted Eagle. Oceti has had an impressive string of grants and business moves. With the help of the Bush Foundation the tribe held summits in Washington, D.C., and at Standing Rock in 2012 and 2013 to discuss how to jointly form a power authority and how to use bond financing. At a Clinton Global Initiative event in 2013, the former president lauded the project and shared the stage with Oceti leaders. The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors stepped in become the fiscal sponsor and more grants followed. Government approvals and letters of support came from the U.S. Department of Energy, the White House and the Department of Interior; the tribes officially joined the power authority in 2015. Partnering with a developer None of this work would have mattered without a renewable energy partner. In August 2017, the OSPA board selected Apex Clean Energy as a partner on the project and formed 7G Renewable Energy to develop wind energy on tribal lands and split the profits. Apex Clean Energy agreed to give the power authority a 51 percent majority ownership while highlighting the potential societal benefit. Most of our projects have a great economic benefit, and a great environmental benefit, but this project has a potential for having a great social benefit as well, said Apex business development vice president Eamon Perrel. That need to improve the local economies of the six tribes some with land masses larger than several states cannot be underestimated. The project includes some of the nations poorest tribes and one of the most politically active, Standing Rock, which fought a celebrated battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline last year. Apex will train residents to work on turbine construction, operations, maintenance and financial aspects of the industry, Perrel said. The goal is for tribal members to eventually run the wind farms, but that doesnt happen overnight, he said. The Dakotas collectively have been called the Saudi Arabia of wind and that certainly played a role in Apexs decision to partner with the tribes. If you look at wind map of the United States and circled the top regions the Dakotas would certainly be one of them, Perrel noted. It has some of the best wind in the country. While the agreement means the power authority will need to raise their own capital, they will retain more of the profits, Jack said. Most wind developers simply pay landowners lease fees and royalties based on energy generation, he said, and have no ownership in projects. We want to use our revenue to invest back into the wind farms, so we can retain more ownership and more control of our projects, Jack said. That leaves the burden of raising half the money on the tribes, certain to be a challenge considering they have no history of taking on anything this large or complex. Working with Apex, tribes are exploring ways to pay for their portion through development loans, bridge and tax equity financing. Apex wants the first project to be operating by 2021 to allow investors to get 80 percent of a federal production tax credit that begins declining that same year. In addition to raising capital, the project will need to find buyers for the power. Apex received agreements to transmit electricity from the first two projects into the Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization covering an area from the Dakotas south to northern Texas. The company has worked before in SPPs territory, where wind represents 21 percent of its generation mix, Perrel said. Attracting energy buyers The tribes and Apex believe the first two projects the 450 megawatt Tateh Topah wind farm on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation and the 120 MW Pass Creek on Pine Ridge Reservation are just the start. They want to generate gigawatts of wind power far into the future by exploiting the windy environment of the Great Plains. Some entities will have to buy all those gigawatts of electricity. Herron anticipates utilities, electric cooperatives, corporations and other clients will be big buyers. Some will do it because wind prices are so competitive now with coal and natural gas. Others will do it to reach renewable energy standards or in pursuit of corporate sustainability goals. Corporations have become large (clean) power purchasers and we offer the advantage of buying from a minority-owned business, she said. They can meet diversity goals they have for their supply chains and find a lot of value in partnering with Indian tribes and bringing economic development to the area. The tribes see Oceti has a way to weave together the native philosophy of protection of the environment with the need for jobs and wind revenue to build a more economically secure future. Ryman LeBeau, a power authority board director for Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, sees the project as going back to living off the land, which brings us back to our core values. Eagle shares the sentiment. I think that to us, as elders, we have recognition of powers of the world, and wind is one of the great powers of the earth, Eagle said. So, to us it makes all the sense in the world to do it in a way that doesnt harm the environment and destroy the only earth we have. It makes sense to do it in a renewable manner. The dream of harnessing the regions rich wind resource has been a more than a two-decade-long goal for Jack. Were going to give a template to other tribes to put their resources together and do projects like this, Jack said. Were breaking ground for other tribes on how to come together and put your interests together and see what you can do. I think its about making history. Frank is an independent journalist and consultant based in St. Paul and a longtime contributor to Midwest Energy News. His articles have appeared in more than 50 publications, including Minnesota Monthly, Wired, The Los Angeles Times, The Star Tribune, Minnesota Technology, Finance & Commerce and others. Frank has also been a Humphrey Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota, a Fulbright journalism teacher in Pakistan and Albania, and was also program director of the World Press Institute at Macalester College. This article originally appeared on Energy News Network and is re-published under a Creative Commons license . Energy News Network is a nonprofit news site dedicated to keeping stakeholders, policymakers, and citizens informed of the important changes taking place in the transition to a clean energy system. It is published by Fresh Energy , a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for clean energy policy, but retains editorial independence. Join the Conversation The wedding celebrations for Anand Ahuja and Sonam Kapoor were lavish and grand in every sense of the word but looks like the wedding hasn't gone down well with a religious group in Punjab. According to a Tribune report, Sonam Kapoor and businessman Anand Ahuja in a traditional Anand Karaj ceremony held recently have courted a controversy over violation of the Sikh rehat maryada (tenets). Twitter Just to jog your memory a little, for the Anand Karaj ceremony, Guru Granth Sahib was brought from the Golden Temple in Amritsar and former head priest of the Golden Temple Jaswinder Singh was seen sitting behind the holy scripture to bless Anand and Sonam. Also, present there were hazoori ragi and ardasia (the person who performs ardas). Former SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and former Panj Pyaras has accused that SGPC staffers overlooked that Anand's kalgi from turban was not removed in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, which is a violation. #EverydayPhenomenal A post shared by SonamKAhuja (@sonamkapoor) on May 9, 2018 at 9:35pm PDT Now they are seeking the intervention of Akal Takht and are demanding action against the SGPC staffers, because of whom this violation at the ceremony occurred. The Tribune report quotes Sukhdev Singh Bhaur saying, Twitter It was a violation of Sikh tenets if anyone sits before Guru Granth Sahib with a kalgi on turban. This implies that the person is equating himself to the stature of Gurus." Meghna Gulzars Raazi has hit the cinemas today and it has been receiving an outstanding response. From audiences to critics, all are raving about the film especially Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushals performance. Apart from them, there are other actors too who have been noticed and applauded and one of them is TV actress Amruta Khanvilkar. She is a Marathi actress who plays a Pakistani in this film. For many who don't remember, Amruta was also in Nach Baliye 7. Facebook Amruta has been working in Marathi industry extensively over the years. However, she is damn nervous for Raazi. Indiatimes spoke exclusively to the actress about her Bollywood debut Raazi and lot more. Twitter The actress very honestly admitted that Meghna Gulzar was the only reason she said yes to the film, Meghna Gulzar was one of my main reasons why I said yes to this film. When I had auditioned for the film, the second day I was called to meet Meghna Gulzar where she told me you gagged the character so well and thats what I liked about you. Twitter She even confessed of being in awe with her co-star Alia Bhatt, I think she is one of the most brilliant actors in cinema today and I dont just mean Hindi cinema but worldwide. I think her understanding of acting or character is supreme, firstly she is the most secured actor, she is very fearless and very instinctive, brilliant is the word that can be used for her. Even after seeing stardom at the young age she is so warm, this shows her upbringing. I was in awe with Alia when we started shooting; she does her acting at such ease. She touches your heart with her acting. Amruta further adds, When I had seen Highway, I had thought this girl can become anything and any character. I loved her in Highway and Udta Punjab, she was just supreme. Facebook We asked if she had any insecurity of not being noticed due to Alia Bhatt, I do have jitters as how people will receive the film, but I dont have that thought of being insecure. I am not insecure in general. I feel if that character is there in the film, means its very important. If I start comparing my scenes with Vicky Kaushal or Alia Bhatt then its very stupid of me. Twitter Amruta who has been working in Marathi films for 10 years now is happy the boundaries have vanished and everyone is working everywhere, I am loving how the boundaries are vanishing, be it web series, regional cinema or Hindi cinema. I think all actors are working everywhere today and thats the beauty of it. This usually happens in Hollywood and now it has started here and its beautiful. There are people who are venturing from Marathi to Bollywood or Bollywood from Marathi. Like Madhuri Dixit is doing her first Marathi film (Bucket list), after so many years. Twitter Amruta confesses that she never believed in herself, but it was her husband who supported her to the core, I have a superb support at my home ground. I am very lucky to have my mother and my husband as my two pillars in life. In fact, doing Hindi films was not even on my agenda, I was not so ambitious, I was intimated, but Himmanshoo always had a vision for me, he always believed in my talent. Today whatever I am, is is because of my husbands support. Twitter The Raazi actress says nepotism exists but a star kid can get one film but has to survive on the merit, I am very happy with what I am getting. Yes, there have been times where I didnt get a role because of someone else, but I dont crib about it. Today Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are outsiders but look at their stardom. You cannot predict who will work today, its not necessary the star kid will work and outsiders will be rejected. Chalo, even if you get your first film because of being star kid, then what? No one can become an actor with one film. One has to work very hard to reach the peak, if you are a good actor, you will be accepted. Audiences dont care if youre a star kid or an outsider, they just want to be entertained and you have to prove them you are worth their money. Twitter Amruta says casting couch is everywhere and not only in the film industry, Casting couch is everywhere, be it airlines or corporate business, its an individualistic approach how you tackle it. I think once you succumb to it, you succumb to it. It's your decision. Its very easy to get carried away but at the end of the day your upbringing matters. I am a totally middle-class Maharashtrian girl and for me, my ethics is very important. Career is just a part of my life, its not my life. Because of all this social media rage, today we have lost patience. We want everything now, but one has to understand that there is a beauty in struggle. She is not only a brilliant actor but a beautiful person too. More power, girl. According to the Flat Earth theory, our beloved blue planet is shaped like a disc with the Arctic Circle bang in the centre. The first such suggestion came in 6th century BC thanks to the Greeks. Aristotle provided evidence of a spherical earth circa 330 BC, an idea that caught on quickly considering its empirical backing. The white border depicts an ice wall put in place to stop us all falling off the edge/ Wikipedia/Trekky0623 Modern day society too is battling with societies that claim that the earth is a flat disc. One of their claims is also that NASA is misleading people by making them think the earth is a sphere. NASA has also been accused of 'creating' footage thanks to Photoshop and expert CGI effects. According to flat-earthers, 'Antarctica is actually a 150-foot-high ice wall which has been put in place to stop us all falling off the edge,' reads a report on thesun.co.uk. Back in the U.S., the interest in only picking up. Celebs backing this theory is adding to this injury. Do not be mistaken. The earth is not flat (but the logic in these tweets sure is), and nor is this article meant to be seen as support for the argument these folks are trying to make. 1. Nope Your opinion is your opinion, your perception is your perception. Do not confuse them with Facts or Truths. Research #FlatEarth pic.twitter.com/qngIwlgNlV Awake (@Spacehehehe) April 29, 2018 2. OR, the flat earth theory ranks lower than fake news even. Yes? No? The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do. Research #FlatEarth pic.twitter.com/eBXRzpj0ck Awake (@Spacehehehe) May 5, 2018 3. Hey, do you know what gravity is? Unlike the unicorn, it's not mythical 4. Oh. Okay then. #FlatEarth simplified: From our perspective as humans, the Earth is flat. Madison Berey (@MadisonBerey) May 7, 2018 5. Ooh. Helicopterrrrrrrrs If the Earth is really a globe then helicopters would be able to hover in place and wait for their destinations to come to them. #FlatEarth Della (@Della00514438) May 2, 2018 6. Edit: The lack of... All knowledge has its foundations in the senses. Research #FlatEarth pic.twitter.com/GuCI5x24IM Awake (@Spacehehehe) May 7, 2018 7. Science, dude. Science! That's why. smh I'm seeing a pattern in the #FlatEarth people: denying evidence and observations as fake while supplying none. What these people call "evidence" ends up being just assumptions and conjecture. A lot of talking but not showing. Unfalsifiable and not stress-tested claims. Verbal_Vexing (@Verbal_Vexing) May 7, 2018 8. Yes. An airplane window is enough to come to that conclusion No matter where you look with your own eyes it a #flatearth pic.twitter.com/rgyXi8tFMd Tom Meyers (@tomandsteveshow) April 29, 2018 9. And these guy automatically believe chemtrails too I'm not an expert on #chemtrails but what I have seen so far is very disturbing. How could I get a sample of the chemical they are using so the lab technicians at my company can analyse it's composition? We could then develop an antidote or some kind of defence against it? pic.twitter.com/CJvArPxgZt The Flat Earthers (@Theflateartherz) May 3, 2018 10. This gif is something 11. Yeah, Sun. What in the hell is up? How, if the sun moves around in a circular fashion, does this happen on a flat earth? Where is the sun going? #flatearth pic.twitter.com/VTg2G05PIk Max Headroom (@maxheadroom1983) May 8, 2018 12. Yup. It's time to ditch the nonsense. Your nonsense Think about this folks, all the 'New Planets' NASA are discovering but they can't show a picture of Earth that isn't Photoshop or CGI. Are you #FlatEarth yet? Time to ditch the ball, no curve, no gravity, no nonsense. #flatearth #NASALies #truth #researchflatearth pic.twitter.com/qEu6znDd5T The Flat Earthers (@Theflateartherz) May 6, 2018 13. Yes, there's plenty still left to be said Also found some globeheads trying to make sense of it all... No fucks have been given by dearest Mohan. Even if the Earth was discovered to be flat (good luck with that), its not life changing in any sort of way #FlatEarth Darvinash Chandra Mohan (@DoctorDarvi) May 6, 2018 Yeah. Why though? Dear #FlatEarth pukes, why is the earth the only planet that is "flat"? Or are the other planets just figments of our imagination? Ya'll are about as dumb as it gets. Alamo Gulfcitizen (@FyrFyter1) May 6, 2018 Holy text! Baffles me too bro How in this day and age can people genuinely believe the earth is flat. Is it some sort of elaborate joke, thats got out of control? Baffles me. #FlatEarth #thismorning Matthew Rippard (@MRippard) May 3, 2018 I agree Oh god the #flatearthers have been let off their meds again #FlatEarth pic.twitter.com/0PuTIpf6vH Miss Duggan (@duggan_lauren) May 2, 2018 Lol Flat earth theorists when confronted with evidence to the contrary #FlatEarth pic.twitter.com/05JAv0Plju Mozart (@MadMozart) May 2, 2018 Main card image: Youtube For the past couple of years, it has been all over the place, from visors of bikes to backs of autos and windshields of cars across India - an image of Hanuman with a hue of saffron. Often dubbed as the new identity of Hindutva in India, the image has been a viral hit for some time now. Karan Acharya/ Facebook But little was known about the artist behind the illustration till now. That was until Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned his name during an election speech in Mangalore on Sunday. Introducing Karan Acharya, the uncelebrated graphic designer behind the 'angry Hanuman' portrait. Even though PM Modi called him the pride of Mangalore, Karan originally hails from a small village in Kasaragod, in Northern Kerala, and had moved to Mangalore over a year ago. Karan said he was surprised to know that the prime minister of the country mentioned him by name and praised his artwork. "My friends were calling me continuously on Sunday. I thought they were calling normally, but one of my friends texted me that the Prime Minister praised my painting. I didn't believe at first. But when I saw his video, I was shocked and happy. I feel this is the biggest achievement of my life, as my work grabbed the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Karan told Indiatimes. ANI Talking about the image, Karan said he designed it in 2015 for a group of friends for the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, and it took less than half an hour. "I designed it for a group of friends in my hometown, Kumbala for the annual temple festival. They wanted to do something different from what was done every year. That is how I came up with the Hanuman portrait, as we were all Hanuman devotees," Karan said. ANI Karan said it was his friends who posted the image online, from where it went viral. "After I completed the graphics, I sent it to a friend. After a couple of days, I saw some of my friends using it as their DPs on social media. But only after a few days when more and more people whom I don't know started sharing it on social media, I realised it has become so popular," Karan said. And from there it took off, creating a rage online ever since. "I didn't know how popular my design had become. It was only after my friends and relatives living in other cities started sending me photos of vehicles with the Hanuman graphics on, I got to know how much my artwork has travelled," Karan said. But as much Karan is happy that his artwork has become popular and appreciated, he doesn't receive any money in the form of royalties or even credits for it. "I was never paid any money for it as I designed it for my friends. But, yes there are a lot of people now selling the angry Hanuman stickers. I haven't received any monetary benefits or credits from any of them. Until recently, not many people even knew that it was designed by me," Karan said adding that he is not disappointed for not getting his due credits. While enjoying the popularity of his work, Karan, however, admits that he is aware of his 'Hanuman with an attitude' becoming the identity of Hindutva politics in the country. "Yes, I know that there is a perception among some people. But it is an art. Art can be interpreted in many ways. That is how I see it," Karan who has been a graphic designer for nearly eight years said. President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Army base camp in Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, and expressed gratitude to the soldiers posted there. The bravery and valour of soldiers deployed in Siachen over the past 34 years, the president said, had given every Indian the confidence that the borders were safe and secure. Kovind said he had come to Siachen to iterate to the troops posted here that all citizens of India and Government of India were always with them and supportive of their families. bccl Addressing the soldiers, he said as the supreme commander of the armed forces and as the president of India, he had come to them carrying the gratitude of the entire country. The president said Siachen was the world's highest battlefield and it was difficult to live even a normal life in the extreme climate. "In such a situation, it is extraordinary for soldiers to stay in a state of constant mobilisation and combat readiness. Their determination and dedication is worthy of the highest praise - and their allegiance to the defence of India is an ideal for all our fellow citizens," Kovind said. ap The president also visited the Kumar Post. Kovind is the second president to visit Siachen. The previous visit was undertaken by former president A P J Abdul Kalam in April 2004. This makes Kovind the first president to travel to Siachen in 14 years. He also asked soldiers posted at Siachen to visit the Rashtrapati Bhavan when they get time to visit Delhi. ap The president paid his respects at the Siachen war memorial, a symbol of the sacrifice of 11,000 soldiers and officers who have been killed since the Indian Army began Operation Meghdoot on the Siachen glacier on April 13, 1984. Some of the posts on Siachen were located at an altitude of more than 20,000 feet where the temperature dropped upto minus 52 degrees Celsius, making it the toughest war field for the soldiers guarding it. A rape survivor and her family are facing social boycott in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh by the village panchayat after the girl refused to change her statement against the accused. According to a report by ANI, the village panchayat passed a diktat as per which the family was denied support and grocery from the village. As a punishment, the village panchayat also fined the family Rs 11,000. Read more 600 Bovines Go Missing From Shelter Home In Gujarat Mystery shrouds the disappearance of nearly 600 cows from a panjrapole (cow shelter) in Torania village, 15 km from Junagadh. The Junagadh Municipal Corporation, which sends cows to the shelter home to curb stray cattle menace on roads, claims that the bovines are missing. However, the panjrapole owner and manager claims these cows died during the one year and most of them were ill due to consumption of plastic. Read more Delhi Shamed As Five Kashmiris Including Four Women Randomly Picked And Thrashed With Sticks A group of Kashmiri people was allegedly thrashed by a mob in southeast Delhi's Sunlight Colony, following which police launched a probe, an officer said today. The victims, including four women, were allegedly surrounded and beaten up by a mob of 30-40 people last night. Read more President Kovind Visits The Siachen Base Camp, Pays Tribute To The Soldiers Of The Indian Army President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Army base camp in Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, and expressed gratitude to the soldiers posted there. The bravery and valour of soldiers deployed in Siachen over the past 34 years, the president said, had given every Indian the confidence that the borders were safe and secure. Read more Video Of Karnataka Candidate Mentioning Rs 100 Crore Bribe To Ex-CJI Puts BJP In Big Trouble With just hours to go before the crucial vote in Karnataka, a purported sting video from 2010 has come back to haunt the BJP. The video, released by the Congress, allegedly shows BJP leader B Sriramulu trying to bribe the son-in-law of former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, for a favourable verdict in an illegal mining case involving the Reddy brothers. Read more Remember Energy Independence and Low Unemployment. The Corn & Ethanol Report 10/08/2021 The PRICE Futures Group - 35 minutes ago We start off the day with Unemployment and Wholesale Trade at 7:30 A.M., NY Fed Treasury Purchases 0 to 2.25 yrs. at 9:30 A.M., Baker Hughes Oil & Total Rig Count at 12:00 P.M.M. On the Corn Front we ended... 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Upward Fibonacci equality level is at 1795 which can be valid ^XAUUSD : 1,758.35 (+0.20%) ^XAGUSD : 22.722 (+0.64%) UK to offer new vaccine shots to Novavax trial volunteers AP - 1 hour ago LONDON (AP) Britain announced Friday that it will offer new vaccinations to thousands of people who volunteered for trials of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine, which hasn't yet been approved for use... $SPX : 4,401.03 (+0.03%) $DOWI : 34,801.85 (+0.13%) $IUXX : 14,856.47 (-0.27%) The administrators also noted that direct subsidiaries of CBL Corporation will remain in administration at this time. The administrators believe that having those subsidiaries remain in administration best supports the asset realisation processes that are underway for the business units, they said. It also retains optionality for any future restructuring proposals to be put to creditors. In their statement, the administrators said they will continue to collaborate with CBLs directors, who are working on a proposal to restructure the group. The administrators do not have control of the groups insurance businesses CBL Insurance New Zealand and CBL Insurance Europe. This limits the information available to the creditors about the status of those key businesses. It is too early to assess the return to creditors or shareholders, the administrators added. This will be dependent on: Any restructuring proposal, including that currently being worked on by certain of the groups directors. The sale processes currently underway for the groups business units. The outcomes of the CBLI and CBLIE insolvency processes. The Reserve Banks application to liquidate CBLI is being opposed. The hearing is set down for June 05 and 06, 2018. Any potential legal actions that may be available. Gibson and Jackson, of KordaMentha, were appointed as voluntary administrators on February 26. This came days after the High Court appointed interim liquidators to CBL Insurance following a request from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). It was later revealed that CBL Insurance breaching directions made by RBNZ prompted the regulators move against the company. The voluntary administrator will call the creditors watershed meeting on May 18. Related stories: More time for administrators dealing with CBL Corporation NZX offers update on CBL administration The 43 offenders have conned insurers out of more than $30,000 but paid back almost $75,000 in restitution and court costs. In a typical scam, a suspect or group of suspects rents a U-Haul truck and buys insurance coverage for it, according to the AJC. The suspect then drives it to a pre-chosen location, where a co-conspirator will be waiting in his or her own vehicle. The co-conspirator will crash into the truck, then the U-Haul driver will claim fault for the accident. Often, one or both suspects will claim injuries, according to the AJC. The largest fraudulent payout in the state so far has been for $6,653, according to the AJC. But the scam is becoming more and more popular, and Glenn Allen, public affairs officer for the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, said accidents involving the moving vans are being scrutinized more closely. U-Haul spokesman Jeff Lockridge concurred. U-Haul pursues recourse against individuals who involve our equipment in these scams and other nefarious activities, he told the AJC. We do this on behalf of the millions of honest customers our company swerves each year to keep costs low and make communities safer. Related stories: California electrician arrested for $85K workers' comp fraud Cops charge man who sued Liberty Mutual over Hooters injury Oil tanker owners are facing a nervous wait to find out whether they can carry on doing business with Iran after President Trump said on Tuesday he was reinstating a raft of sanctions against the Persian Gulf country. The return of sanctions is likely to have significant ramifications for maritime trade with Iran, International Group of P&I Clubs, an umbrella organization whose members cover 90 percent of the global tanker fleet against risks including oil spills, said on Wednesday. Those impacts will only become apparent once Americas partners give their own response to Trumps decision, and when details of how the U.S. measures are implemented are clear, the IG said. Ship insurance was a critical hurdle when sanctions were previously imposed on Iran because tanker operators couldnt obtain the level of cover thats considered standard across the oil industry. It meant most owners werent able to haul Iranian oil and forced some Asian buyers of the Middle East countrys crude to find awkward workarounds such as state-backed cover. Its going to take some time before we can ascertain what the impact will be, because were going to have to wait and see what the response will be from Europe and how aggressive the U.S. will be, Brian Gallagher, head of investor relations at Euronav NV, one of the worlds largest tanker owners, said by phone. As of now, theres yet to be a step change in owners approach to Iranian business, he said. When the U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran in 2012, accompanying European measures also restricted the International Group which is based in London from providing cover for Iranian shipments. That effectively shut the countrys own fleet out of the main ship-insurance market as well as international owners if they wanted to lift the Islamic Republics crude. Its not yet clear what path Europe will take this time. Three of the main providers of cover to Irans main tanker fleet Skuld, the Swedish Club and West of England Club said they didnt want to give any further guidance beyond what they published on their websites, saying the situation remains fluid. The snap-back of U.S. sanctions will have a major effect on shipowners and their insurers and Skuld and the IG are closely monitoring developments, Skuld said on its website. The West of England Club said any activity would have to stop the moment any entity thats dubbed a Specially Designated National by the U.S. Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control is re-added to a secondary sanctions list. Should U.S. reinstate its extra-territorial sanctions, that may have significant adverse impact on the ability for non-U.S. persons to trade with Iran and Iranian interests, the Swedish Club said. Related: Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA Europe Energy Oil Gas Wu Xiaohui, former chairman of Anbang Insurance Group Co., was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of fund-raising fraud and embezzlement, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The verdict from a Shanghai court also said Wu will be deprived of his political rights for four years, 10.5 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) of his assets will be confiscated, and any illegal gains will be retrieved, according to Xinhua. The verdict seals the remarkable downfall of a dealmaker who was accused in March of masterminding a $10.2 billion fraud, as President Xi Jinping expands his anti-corruption campaign and a drive to curb financial risks. Anbang gained global recognition in 2014 with the purchase of New Yorks Waldorf Astoria hotel, and went on to snap up marquee assets around the world before landing in the cross hairs of the Chinese regulators last year. The government seized temporary control of Anbang in February, injected 60.8 billion yuan of capital to bolster its solvency in April and has been seeking new investors for the 2 trillion yuan conglomerate. Wu used unauthorized sales of investment-type insurance products to inflate the companys capital, the court said in March as Wu stood trial. Proceeds from sales of such short-term, high-yield products also powered Anbangs rapid growth over the past few years and its acquisitions spanning from insurers and banks in Europe and Asia to real estate assets around the globe. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. A bulletin issued by Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Patrick McPharlin is warning insurance producers against the prohibited practice of sliding. According to DIFS Bulletin 2018-12-INS, the practice is defined as an agents failure to fully disclose all the details of, and obtained informed consent to, the purchase of all products and services being included in an insurance transaction. McPharlin said it had come to his attention that some insurance producers in the state are engaging in the practice. That is, they are rolling the charge for additional products and services into the cost of the policy premium without disclosing the additional charges to the customer. Sliding is a form of misrepresentation and is prohibited under Michigans insurance code, the bulletin states. The code allows the DIFS director to take action against producers that engage in the practice. The bulletin notes that examples of misrepresentations, commonly referred to as sliding, that are prohibited under the insurance code include, but are not limited to: representing to an applicant that a roadside assistance product is part of a DIFS-approved insurance product when, in fact, it is not; representing to an applicant that a roadside assistance product is required for the purchase of automobile insurance, when it is not; representing to an applicant that any ancillary coverage or productis required in conjunction with the purchase of insurance when such coverage or product is not required; enticing customers into signing up for an auto club membership by failing to fully explain and disclose what is being signed or agreed to; enticing customers into signing up for insurance coverage without fully explaining all coverages included and the cost for each; representing to an applicant that an ancillary coverage, service, or product is included as part of an insurance product or without additional charge, when it is not or when such charge is in fact required; failing to accurately disclose the cost of insurance as charged by the insurer; failing to fully explain the details and separate cost of any ancillary product offered in conjunction with the sale of insurance; and charging an applicant for an ancillary coverage or product, in addition to the cost of the insurance coverage being applied for, without the informed consent of the applicant. Source: Michigan DIFS Topics Abuse Molestation Michigan The Allianz Group is significantly expanding its climate strategy. The German insurance giant recently announced a commitment to support the change to a low-carbon economy over the coming decades, and is setting for itself long-term climate goals that are linked to the 2-degree Celsius target outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement. Allianz plans to have phased out both its proprietary investments in coal-based business and its insurance coverage of such risks by 2040. The company will also reduce its carbon footprint of its business operations over the next 20 years with steps including purchasing a higher proportion of its electricity in the form of renewable energies in electricity. Climate change generates enormous economic and social risks. It is already harming millions of people today, Oliver Bate, CEO of Allianz SE, said in a statement. As a leading insurer and investor, we want to promote the transition to a climate-friendly economy. Companies that do not succeed in adjusting their greenhouse gas emissions to the 2-degree target over the coming decades will be gradually removed from Allianz portfolio, the company said. Allianz is planning to no longer provide insurance to single coal-fired power plants or coal mines, while companies that generate electricity from multiple sources, such as coal, other fossil fuels or renewable energies, will continue to be insured, and individually reviewed on the basis of defined criteria. Allianzs stated goal is to completely phase out coal risks in the insurance business by 2040. Most opponents of coal and fossil fuel usage were high on the move. Heffa Schuecking, executive director of the German environment and human rights organization Urgewald, stated: The coal industry is the number one driver of climate change, and building new coal plants is incompatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We welcome Allianzs move as an important step towards making the coal industry uninsurable and uninvestable. Other activists called on the industry to do more. The insurance industry is uniquely placed to support the transition away from coal, and four global insurers have now decided to shift away from coal, said Peter Bosshard, coordinator of the international Unfriend Coal campaign. We call on Munich Re, Generali, AIG and other climate laggards in the industry to also stop insuring and investing in coal projects. Allianz objection to fossil fuels isnt alone. in the insurance world. French insurer Axa took a stance on investing in coal several years ago, announcing it would sell its holdings in companies that get the majority of their business from coal. Pittsburgh Landslides and Climate Change Climate change could mean more landslides in Pittsburghs future. Thats according to an article from NPR in Pennsylvania. The stations report follows numerous slides and flooding in the area after an extremely wet February. Landslides have always been an issue for the city because of its steep hills, clay soil and narrow valleys. However, these slides typically usually occur in late spring and early summer, while winter is typically Pittsburghs driest period, the NPR article states. This year has been Pittsburghs wettest start to the year on record, with February producing exceptional rain and higher than average higher temperatures, and temperatures in western Pennsylvania are roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer compared with a century ago. Climate change models show that not only is it getting warmer, but weather patterns are becoming more extreme, the article states. That means wet places are getting wetter and dry places drier. More water evaporates in warmer temperatures, and warmer air can in turn hold more water creating the potential for heavier storms. Its EarthTime If you look closely, EarthTime is more than just a cool animation. A new tool recently released for free public use pieces together and animates high-definition satellite imagery using an array of data layers to show the patterns behind some major social and political trends of the past two decades and beyond. Type in a search, for example, for Long Beach, Calif., and youll be taken through an animation from 1984 to 2016. In a dense city, most of the changes visible are to the few large development swaths, as well as the massive port complex. Intriguing, but not so dramatic. The search of Seattle, Wash., which saw a boom from the 1980s on, shows changes far more pronounced. Type in sprawling Houston, Texas, for a real dramatic visual of development. Users can choose topics from a data library, which include a climate that shows forecasted future sea level rise. Search Miami, Florida, and a sea of black emerges through 4 degrees Celsius of global warming. New York becomes a string of islands. Other topics include urbanization, water, forest loss and trade. EarthTime is backed the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab, which explores socially meaningful innovation and deployment of robotic technologies. CREATE Labs stated vision is to promote data literacy, inspire dialogue and democratize access to data for everyone. By showing the results of our past decisions with visual evidence through time, we create the scaffolding that supports positive future decision-making, the EarthTime website explains. We can empower our decision makers in public and private spheres to make more informed, forward-facing choices. The data comes from sources around the world, and partners include NASA, the U.S. Census, the United Nations and university research programs at Oxford, Harvard, University of Maryland. King County A county in Washington recently became the latest entity to sue the oil industry for the costs of adapting to climate change. King County filed suit against Exxon, British Petroleum, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips seeking to help pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars to adapt to changing conditions created by climate change. According to the lawsuit, the companies knowingly sold a product with the potential for massive consequences. The countys official website states: Climate change is one of the paramount challenges of our generation; in King County, we are no longer predicting the impacts of climate change we are experiencing them. The site outlines the countys strategic plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate change. King County is committed to reducing GHG emissions by 25 percent by 2020, 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, the site states. We must hold these companies accountable as we marshal our resources to protect and preserve what makes this region great, Dow Constantine, King County executive, said in a statement. The oil companies this week asked a judge to throw out a smilar lawsuit by New York City. Coal is under fire from numerous entities, including California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who earlier this week announced he had conducted a climate-related financial risk stress test and analysis of insurance companies investments in fossil-fuels. Past columns: Topics USA New York Climate Change Energy Oil Gas Allianz A retail stores ability to authenticate customers by scanning their unique ear or retinal patterns may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, but this type of identification technology isnt fictional. Its called biometric authentication, and it has grown in popularity as traditional username and password systems for identity protection have led to flaws in data privacy and security. Biometrics means moving away from [passwords and personal identification numbers] and using human-related characteristics, because physiological and behavioral patterns are unique to you as an individual and can be used as a better identifier, Shiraz Saeed, practice leader in Starr Companies cyber risk division, said during a panel discussion at the 2018 PLUS Cyber Symposium held last week in Chicago, Ill. Biometric authentication can include systems such as Apple Pays touch ID, Apples thumbprint technology, Microsoft Windows 10 and Apple facial recognition technology or even recorded typing rhythm or rhythm of voice. If someone steals your retinal scan, how do you get that back? However, in attempts to achieve greater security, is information privacy becoming an even bigger issue? During the panel, Saeed shared a quote from Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union, in which Steinhardt told The Washington Post, We are quickly moving to the point where law enforcement and the private sector will be able to identify us no matter where we go, no matter how anonymous we think we are. This comes as digital identity, or the way personal information is stored and secured in order to verify someone, has in the past largely related to the use of usernames, passwords, social security numbers and PINs, which can be cracked or stolen. Right now, in a world where everybody has lots of usernames and passwords, I read a statistic recently that says roughly 80 or more percent of folks use the same password over and over again, said Ross Nodurft, vice president and risk management leader at One World Identity, during the panel discussion. Biometrics Risks One current concept to improve this is the use of biometrics, added panel moderator David Cole, partner at Freeman Mathis & Gary. As one example, Saeed explained that he recently called his bank to do a transaction, and the bank informed him it would record his voice to use as a personal identifier going forward. At first, you think, Oh wow. Thats cool because my voice is unique to me,' he said. But that inherently becomes the first flaw, because is that a unique thing? Its public, actually. He explained that if an individuals retinas are being scanned somewhere, or if someone can get a copy of another persons ear pattern or fingerprint, in reality, it isnt private like a password or a PIN. He added that in order to understand biometrics from a regulatory or insurance perspective, it needs to be viewed as private information no different from someones name or address. Facebook Facing Potential Multi-Billion Dollar Liability in Biometric Litigation The question is: What is the long-term impact of this? he said. If you lose your password, you can make a new one quickly. If someone steals your retinal scan, how do you get that back? Thats a question now that were talking about from a legal perspective about scanning and emotional distress. He gave another example in which many years ago, news outlets reported a man in Malaysia had his thumb chopped off by thieves attempting to get around his Mercedes thumbprint scan in order to steal his vehicle. Just think about that and the impact and ramifications on your insurance policy because this is now the cause of action, Saeed said. Ultimately, private information was stolen; its just off of his thumb rather than a server. Nodurft pointed back to the OPM hack, in which the social security numbers of 21.5 million people were stolen from government background investigation databases, according to NPR. In addition to that, many fingerprints were stolen off of OPMs files, he said. So there are real world incidents of biometric data being stolen, harvested and put into big data pools that can be drawn upon. One way to combat this is through the use of multimodal biometrics, in which more than one biometric solution is used to authenticate individuals, he added. If you need my fingerprint, then you need to scan my ear, then you need to scan my iris, thats a lot more work, Nodurft said. The idea of layering all of these attributes on top of each other is one of the ways that the technology industry is progressing and trying to tackle the identity crisis. That said, Saeed added that just like every technology, he believes its a double-edged sword. theres technology involved, and with every technology, theres some sort of error, he said. We have to be careful about how much of that information we want to be released and what limitations we have to put on government and the corporate sector to protect ourselves from exploitation. Current Regulatory Framework Indeed, one risk factor for insurance companies with the use of biometrics is an impending onslaught of regulations to try to address the challenges, Cole said. Some laws already in place require businesses or entities collecting biometric information to provide notice to each person about what theyre collecting, how it will be used and how long it will be stored. These businesses and entities also have to obtain written consent and adhere to rules regarding the destruction of the data. In fact, Illinois was the first state to implement a law regarding biometric data with its Biometric Information Privacy Act, which imposes specific fines and penalties related to the storage and use of that information. Currently, there are three state laws that have been passed to address the collection and use of biometrics in Illinois, Texas and Washington. While Texas and Washingtons laws are enforceable by the Attorney General, Illinois provided a private cause of action under its statute for biometrics laws. Under the Illinois law, weve seen dozens of class action lawsuits filed against businesses for not properly obtaining consent, Cole said. He gave one example of a group of restaurants that were using time clocks for employees to clock in and out of work with their thumbprint. That was a collection of biometric data for which the plaintiffs alleged that the company had not properly obtained their consent or provided the necessary disclosures, he said. I also do employment law, so I know these sort of time systems are a common thing, and it would be easy to trip up and make those kind of mistakes if youre not aware of the rules of compliance with these laws. Other regulations currently in place involving biometric data include the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, an employment discrimination statute thats enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and regulates the collection and storage of genetic information by employers. It requires employers to maintain that information in confidence in a separate file, and it cannot be disclosed unless for law enforcement purposes. The Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act also has restrictions on the disclosure of biometric information that schools and educational institutions may have on their students. Now, most recently what were seeing are the state data breach notification laws incorporating biometric data into the definition of personally identifiable information (PII), Cole said. Originally, these statutes were written in a way that said PII includes your name in combination with your social security number, date of birth or government ID or account number. However, as biometric data continues to be implemented as a way of authenticating others to gain access to their information, it is now becoming a part of PII. This means that if an individuals identity is compromised by way of biometric data, it triggers a notice obligation in the same manner as a social security number being hacked or stolen out of a business or entitys system. Blockchain Solution? In addition to biometrics, another proposed solution for storing and securing data regarding digital identification is blockchain technology. This is because blockchain consists of a series of blocks of data, with a secure key established as the only key that will unlock each block, explained Peter L. Miller, president and CEO of The Institutes, during the panel discussion. The use of a different key wont work, and the key becomes invalid if there are attempts to change components of the block. That means its pretty difficult to hack a blockchain, because [everyone involved in the blockchain] has a copy of the key and would all know, Miller said, adding that while bitcoin is the first use case for blockchain and is considered public, he believes the way businesses will utilize this technology in the future is through a hybrid blockchain. In a hybrid blockchain, everyone involved in the network knows everyone else, each participant has to be admitted to the network, the rules are well-established and the truth of the information is set through a consensus algorithm so that data can be shared with confidence, he said. We believe in it so much that we created an alliance of insurance organizations, which is really to bring blockchain technology to our industry through a consortium, he said. Banks have started one, and youll hear about blockchain consortiums starting, because blockchain is simply about sharing data. That said, Nodurft cautioned companies to be careful about how blockchain is being used. One reason you have to be careful is because garbage in, and garbage out. You are going to build up an identity thats either private or its wrong, he said. So you have to be careful about whats going in during the initial creation and verification when using blockchain for identity. He explained that if an entity wants to create a currency or identity through a private blockchain with controlled permissions about who can see information on the distributed ledger, there is a risk of corruption at the onset. A distributed ledger is a database held and updated by each participant in a large network, rather than through one central authority. While there is quality of consensus-based rules and distributed sharing of information, theres also the risk of people who own it corrupting the blockchain before you even get started, he said. However, he stated he believes there are good use cases for blockchain, whether through identity, financial transactions or contracts. I think where were headed is being able to securely own who you are, interact with a trusted entity on the other side, and do so in a way that your data is secure throughout, he said. I think blockchain fits in with the ability to have those trusted interactions across large ecosystems with large groups of people in a way that is verifiable. He added that this technology can lead to more efficient workers in the economy as ecommerce is driving more people online, and it is underpinned by two basic levers: the identity of the person interacting at the beginning and end of the transaction, which can be a corporation or an individual, and the data that person is using, which is either being transferred, stored, owned or housed. Im not completely anti-use of these distributed ledger technologies, Im just cautious about when and where theyre used. Theyre not the end-all-be-all of technology solutions, he cautioned. Just go in with eyes wide open. Correction: An earlier version of this article improperly attributed Barry Steinhardts quote to Shiraz Saeed. Related: Topics Cyber Legislation Fraud InsurTech Tech Washington Illinois Global broker JLT Specialty USA announced the appointment of Kirk Bantz as senior vice president. Bantz will work on complex risks for Life Sciences and Manufacturing companies. Bantz has 25 years of insurance and risk management experience. He comes to JLT from USI. He has also served as director of Risk Management for Cardinal Health, where he was responsible for designing and placing one of the largest stock throughput programs in the history of Lloyds of London. He will be based in the Columbus, Ohio headquarters. Topics Manufacturing Arrest warrants have been issued for two New York financiers after prosecutors filed charges in Oklahoma state court relating to the purchase and handling of a now-defunct Oklahoma insurance company that the pair once controlled. Scott Hartman and Andrew Scherr face 28 counts of felony charges that include using counterfeit bonds in order to take control of the bankrupt insurer, forgery, filing false documents with the state insurance department, using the insurance companys assets to enrich themselves, and more. In 2013, when Hartman and Scherr took control of Oklahoma City-based BancInsure, which was re-named Red Rock Insurance, regulatory approval was based on the representation that they would invest some $30 million in capital into the company. To facilitate the transaction, they used their financial services holding company, Foster Jennings Inc., which paid $1 for BancInsure. BancInsure had specialized in insuring community banks. It suffered big losses during the economic downturn that began in 2008, which depleted its surplus. At the time of the Foster Jennings purchase, BancInsure was in danger of being taken over by regulators. The company reported in an October 2013 announcement that, as Red Rock, its new strategy will involve writing business in the program distribution segment of the industry, where managing general agents and program administrators focus on insurance for specific types or classes of businesses, from commercial auto fleets and real estate agents to marinas and wind turbines. Red Rock eventually was placed into liquidation by the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which filed suit against Hartman and Scherr in early 2016, accusing the pair and several others of infusing Red Rock with worthless assets and using it as a vehicle through which to enrich themselves. The departments lawsuit, filed Jan. 29, 2016, stated that a series of questionable actions caused the company to lose at least $23.6 million in asset value and the promised capital infusion necessary to continue operations never materialized. Nestor Romero, assistant receiver for the Red Rock liquidation, told Insurance Journal in May 2015 that while Foster Jennings represented certain assets used to gain control of the company as being marketable securities, both state and federal insurance regulators found those assets and a variety of other investments including a stamp collection that was supposedly worth $40 million offered by Foster Jennings to be unsuitable. The charges filed by Acting District Attorney David Prater in Oklahoma County District Court on May 8, 2018, echo many of the accusations contained in the insurance departments 2016 lawsuit. Hartman and Scherr are accused in the charging document of knowingly using various counterfeit Altamark Bond/Credit Linked Notes to gain control of BancInsure/Red Rock. The document filed by Prater also states that the pair used the assets of the company to pay themselves exaggerated director fees, salary and wages and for a series of highly suspect/preferential loans to individuals previously associated with the defendants. The charging document also states that Scherr and Hartman arranged and concealed the unlawful sale and transfer to BancInsure/Red Rock a company that they controlled, the Andina Group Inc., from Foster Jennings for $610,000. The two men also are accused of failing to file individual tax returns in Oklahoma in 2013 showing payments made to them by BancInsure/Red Rock. In an emailed statement, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak thanked District Attorney Prater, and Oklahoma County and FBI investigators for their work in bringing charges against Hartman and Scherr. In Oklahoma we are committed to protecting our citizens from fraud and financial crimes. We will not stand by and allow individuals to defraud our citizens or businesses, and my department will continue to support law enforcement against anyone foolish enough to try, Doak said. Related: Topics Carriers Abuse Molestation New York Oklahoma President Donald Trump has approved a request from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper for a federal disaster declaration for tornado damage in Guilford and Rockingham counties. Cooper declared a state of emergency for Guilford and Rockingham counties on April 20 and sent the federal disaster declaration request to the president five days later. The approval means families and business owners can apply for financial help to repair and rebuild. A statement from Coopers office said storm survivors are encouraged to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency online or via phone as soon as possible. Within the next few days, state and federal emergency management agency representatives will open disaster recovery centers in the affected communities to help individuals compete the applications in person. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm North Carolina Ridesharing service Lyft Inc. and courier service Postmates Inc. are among the first companies to be sued for improperly treating workers in California as independent contractors following a recent decision that makes it easier for workers to prove that they are employees entitled to costly legal protections. On Wednesday, the companies were hit with separate lawsuits in California state court accusing them of misclassifying workers as contractors rather than employees to save money. The San Francisco-based companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Companies must pay taxes and contribute to unemployment and workers compensation funds on behalf of employees, pay the minimum wage and overtime as well as covering work-related expenses. Contractors can cost up to 30 percent less, according to several studies. So-called gig economy companies rely heavily on independent contractors to provide services to customers, and many have faced similar lawsuits in the past. Lyft and Postmates have already been sued by workers who say they were misclassified as contractors. Postmates paid $8.75 million to settle an earlier case while Lyft last year settled a previous case for $27 million. The new lawsuits cover more recent time periods. The California Supreme Court last week adopted a new test for determining whether workers are employees that experts say will be difficult for many companies to overcome. Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan represented the workers who brought the previous cases as well as the plaintiffs in Wednesdays lawsuits. She has filed similar cases against other gig economy companies, including Uber Technologies Inc and GrubHub Inc. We believe that the companies continued classification of the workers as independent contractors in California is a willful violation of the law, in light of the California Supreme Courts decision, Liss-Riordan said on Thursday. Previously, workers in California had to show that their work was controlled by their companies, among other factors, to win on claims that they are employees rather than contractors. Under the standard adopted last week, the burden is on companies to prove that workers are not under their direct control, do not perform a core function of their business and are engaged in an independent business. In Wednesdays lawsuits, the workers said Lyft and Postmates cannot prove that the work they perform is outside the companies usual course of business. Several gig economy firms have argued that they are software companies, and not in the business of providing rides, deliveries, home repairs, or other services. The cases are Lee v. Postmates Inc and Talbot v. Lyft Inc, California Superior Court, San Francisco County, Nos. 18-566394 and 18-566392. (Reporting by Wiessner in Albany, New York; editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and G Crosse) Related: Topics Lawsuits California Sharing Economy Contractors Ridesharing Hawaii residents were alerted on Thursday to rising levels of toxic gas from volcanic fissures and geologists warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk to lava bursting from the ground. Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents in the southeast corner of the Big Island that a wind change would bring rising levels of sulfur dioxide gas, which is fatal if inhaled in large quantities. Due to decreasing tradewinds, residents are advised to monitor their sensitivity to increased levels of SO2, the text message sent at 9.22 a.m. said. Hawaiis insurance commissioner this week made it clear that homes destroyed or damaged in the recent lava flow into a Hawaii neighborhood are covered for the damage under homeowners insurance policies. Hawaiis governor has warned that mass evacuations may be needed as more fissures open and spew lava and gas in semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of the volcano. Authorities on Thursday completed the removal of highly flammable chemicals from a nearby power plant in the path of lava. Geologists said Kilauea may be entering a phase of explosive eruptions not seen in nearly a century that could hurl ballistic blocks weighing up to 12 tons for half a mile (800 meters), shoot pebble-sized projectiles for miles and dust downwind towns with volcanic ash and smog. The Leilani Estates residential area remains in greatest danger, with 15 volcanic fissures so far having destroyed 36 structures, most of them homes, and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 residents. But as the eruption progresses, other areas of the lower East Rift Zone may also be at risk, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its latest briefing. Homes Destroyed by Kilauea Lava are Covered Hawaii Governor David Ige has requested federal disaster assistance as he said a mass evacuation of the lower Puna District, where Leilani Estates is located, would be beyond current county and state capabilities. Dustings of ash were expected downwind of Kilauea on Thursday as summit earthquakes set off rockfalls into the lava lake and sent up plumes of steam, ash and smoke, the USGS said. Local meteorologists said the change in prevailing winds could send Kilaueas volcanic smog, or vog, northwest to Maui and other islands in Hawaii. Surfers bobbing in the ocean off Kona on the west side of the Big Island complained of the smog that could be seen in a haze over the coast. Does that hat protect against vog? one surfer was heard quipping to another about the floppy sun hat he was wearing. In Pahoa, the nearest village to Kilauea, some schools remained closed after the area was hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday, the biggest since 1975. The closures have added to a sense of disarray and ramped up stress levels, said gallery owner Amedeo Markoff, 49. Its like our version of a snow day a lava day, joked Markoff. Magma is draining out of the volcanos sinking lava pool and flowing underground tens of miles (km) eastward before bursting to the surface in and around homes on Kilaueas eastern flank, just a few miles (km) from Pahoa. (Reporting by Terray Sylvester; Writing and additional reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Sandra Maler) Security Code 3 Inc. owner Troy Carson, 55, of San Jose, was arrested by California Department of Insurance detectives for allegedly underreporting payroll by more than $12 million in an attempt to secure a lower workers compensation rate under false pretenses and cheating his insurer out of more than $3.2 million. Victoria Cruz, 46, Lanette Wiegand, 46, both from San Jose and Jaime Lugo, 60, of La Crescenta also face charges in connection with the fraud scheme. In total, the four are charged with 18 felony counts of workers comp insurance premium fraud. According to detectives, the investigation began after irregularities surfaced regarding how the company reported and handled employee injuries, including allegations that employees were dissuaded from reporting on-the-job injuries. Evidence revealed a complex scheme was hatched because the number of employee injuries led an increase in the companys workers comp premiums. Investigators allege Carson formed a new company called SC3 DVBE Security Services Inc. and then underreported the payroll and number of employees to their insurance company, which reduced their workers comp insurance premiums under false pretenses. Evidence also revealed their insurance broker, Jaime Lugo, was allegedly aware of the scheme to create a new company to secure a more favorable workers comp rate and wrote a new policy for SC3 DVBE Security. As a result of the alleged fraud, the insurer was cheated out of $3.2 million in premiums. Carson operated two security companies, Security Code 3 and SC3 DVBE Security Services Inc., when in fact they functioned as one company. An investigation revealed that over a six-year period, Wiegand and Cruz, as part of the management team, submitted payroll and insurance premium payments for the 500-employee company. California consumers and businesses pay the price for insurance fraud through higher premiums and increased costs for goods and services, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a statement. When business owners cheat the system by operating in the underground economy, they create an unfair advantage that puts legitimate businesses at risk. Topics California Workers' Compensation Fraud Agents association honors best and brightest insurance industry stars Indian Wells, CA, May 11, 2018- The BIG Independent Group, a leading association of independent agent and brokers, was pleased to bestow its BIGGIE Awards for the 9th year in a row. The 2018 awards, distributed at the associations annual convention held recently in Indian Wells, CA, is given to insurance professionals, companies and industry advocates for extraordinary contributions to insurance producers and the business as a whole. Nominees and winners are selected through a poll of BIG members and associates. This year, an email survey was sent to 6,327 contacts in California, 3,686 of those were independent agency owners. Over 600 surveys were returned, and the top five from each category were selected for the poll. A list of nominees was sent to over 6,000 contacts and, generated over 11,000 votes. BIG is honored to spearhead these efforts to recognize the dedication of these outstanding individuals and companies. They are instrumental in pushing the insurance industry forward and contribute to the success of producers, here in California and across the country, commented BIG CEO Jon Spaugy. The BIGGIE Awards are just our way of saying thanks. Here are the nominees and winners of the 2017 BIGGIE Awards: Standard Marketing Representative of the Year Cesar Romero Kemper Specialty California Nominees: Anna Harris Progressive, Laurena Marquez Aspire Insurance Agency, Lisa Valdez Infinity, Nancy Orozco Alliance United, Cesar Romero Kemper Specialty California. Standard Agency of the Year City Best Insurance Nominees: Strong Tie Insurance, Academy Insurance, Rapid Insurance, Quiroz Insurance, City Best Insurance. Standard Carrier of the Year Kemper Specialty Nominees: Alliance United, National General, Infinity, Progressive, Kemper Speciaty Preferred Marketing Representative of the Year Missy Alizadeh Mapfre Nominees: David Aragon Progressive, Nancy Trejo Safeco, Jeff Hahn Safeco, Blane Bardsley Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, Missy Alizadeh Mapfre. Preferred Insurance Broker of the Year AIS Auto Insurance Specialists Nominees: Beach & ONeil Insurance, Key City Insurance, J.B. Wright Insurance,, Pauma Valley Insurance, AIS Auto Insurance Specialists. Preferred Carrier of the Year Safeco Nominees: QBE, Mercury, Mapfre, Stillwater, Safeco. MGA of the Year Builders and Tradesmens Insurance Services Nominees: Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, RIC, RMIS, Tapco Underwriters,Builders and Tradesmens Insurance Services. Vendor of the Year Record Guardian Nominees: EZ Lynx, Vertafore/FSC, Hawksoft, LightSpeed Voioce, Record Guardian Technology Company of The Year ITC Nominees: Record Guardian, EZ Lynx, Hawksoft, Applied Systems, ITC Premium Finance Company of the Year Top Premium Finance Nominees: AFX/IBEX, Capital Premium Finance, GAAC, Cypress Premium Finance, Top Premium Finance. Agency Group of the Year Iroquois Group Nominees: Networked Insurance, WIAA Group, Superior Access, SIAA, Iroquois Group 2018 BIG Legend Award Andy Bloom I would like to point out that, in many categories, the margin for winning was razor-thin, said Adam Meyerson, a longtime BIG leader and emcee of the awards presentations. Our industry has a great deal of talent associated with it, and our BIGGIE awards are just our small way of recognizing that. # # # Media Contact Jon Spaugy 909-460-8282 biginsusa.com@gmail.com Topics California Investopedia and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors) Variable Rates 3.37% to 12.99% Fixed Rates 5.49% to 13.87% Loan Amounts $1,000 up to the total cost of attendance Loan Terms 10 years Lowest rates shown include an auto debit discount Loan Eligibility To qualify for a student loan from Sallie Mae, you must meet the following requirements: Borrowers must be the age of majority (18 in most states). Borrowers must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. DACA students or foreign residents can apply if they have a U.S. citizen cosigner. You or your cosigner must have sufficient income. You or your cosigner must pass a credit check. Is Loan Pre-qualification Available? Unfortunately, Sallie Mae does not offer loan pre-qualification. To find out if you'd qualify for a loan and to see what rate you'd get, you have to fill out a full loan application and undergo a hard credit inquiry. Loan Fees Sallie Mae doesn't charge origination fees or prepayment penalties. However, there is a late fee if you miss a payment5% of the missed payment amount, up to a maximum of $25and a $20 returned check fee. Loan Discounts If you sign up for automatic payments, Sallie Mae will reduce your interest rate by 0.25%. Repayment Options Aside from the standard principal-and-interest repayment method, in which you pay both principal and interest right away, even while you're in school, Sallie Mae has 3 other repayment options: Deferred With deferred repayment, you dont make payments while the student is in school and during the grace period. Deferred repayment is available for undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school student loans. Parent student loans and career training loans aren't eligible. Fixed Under a fixed repayment plan, you pay $25 per month while youre in school. Once you graduate and after your grace period, you begin paying the principal and interest. Career training, undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school loans are eligible for fixed repayment. Interest If you choose the interest-only repayment option, youll make monthly interest payments while in school and during the grace period. Parent, career training, undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school student loans qualify for interest repayment. Other student loans, such as residency loans and bar exam loans, dont require you to make payments while youre enrolled at least half-time and during your grace period. Sallie Mae does offer some extra benefits to borrowers. Borrowers whose loans were first disbursed between July 2018 and April 30, 2021, will get 4 free months (worth $100) of Chegg Study, an online tutoring program that offers study support for any subject and hundreds of textbooks. (The offer must be activated within 1 year of issuance of the redemption code.) You'll also get free access to your FICO score, which is updated quarterly. You can view your score when you log into your account. If you opt for in-school repayment, you can lower your interest rate Are Cosigners Required? Sallie Mae doesnt require you to have a cosigner. However, it strongly recommends that you add one to your application. According to the company, students are nearly 4 times more likely to be approved with a cosigner than if they apply on their own. As noted above, Sallie Mae does allow you to apply to have your cosigner released after 1 year. While cosigners arent required, they can help your chances of getting a loan. According to Sallie Mae, students are nearly 4 times more likely to get approved for a loan if they have a cosigner than if they apply on their own. Forbearance and Loan Discharge Options If youre having trouble affording your payments, Sallie Mae may be able to offer you forbearance. You could temporarily postpone your payments for 3 months at a time and up to 12 months over the life of your loan. Sallie Mae will discharge any loan if the student dies or becomes permanently and totally disabled. Length of Time for Loan Approval and Disbursement The time between loan approval and loan disbursement can be lengthy. Once your loan is approved, Sallie Mae will send a certification request to your school. Many schools only certify requests within 30 days before enrollment begins. Even if you applied for a loan months in advance, you may not hear back about the funds you need until a few weeks before school begins. Once the school certifies the request, Sallie Mae will disburse the funds directly to the school. Any extra money thats left over, known as a student loan refund, will be issued to you. Is Student Loan Refinancing Available? No, Sallie Mae does not offer student loan refinancing. If you want to refinance your loans, check out the best student loan refinance companies. Customer Service Sallie Mae is its own loan servicer. The Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Private Education Loan Ombudsman does not include Sallie Mae in its roundup of complaints about private student loan lenders. On Trustpilot.com, Sallie Mae has just 9 reviews and a 2.2 TrustScore (out of a possible 6). Complaints center on poor customer service and alleged misconduct. Customer support is available by calling (855) 756-5626. Support staff is available during the available times: Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Customer service is also available via chat. We used this feature to ask a few questions about borrower eligibility and loan terms and found the agents to be very responsive and knowledgeable. We had answers to our questions within minutes. Apply for a Sallie Mae Student Loan Before applying for any private student loan, make sure you complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is what the government and most schools use to determine what financial aid youre eligible for, including grants and federal student loans. If you still need money to pay for school, you can then apply for a Sallie Mae student loan. To complete the online application, youll have to enter the following details about yourself: Permanent Address Social Security Number (of both borrower and cosigner, if applicable) School Information Requested Loan Amount Financial Aid and Scholarships (you expect to receive) Employment Information (including employer name and income) Financial Information (including bank account numbers and monthly mortgage or rental payments) Name and Contact Information for Two Personal Contacts Once you submit your application, you could receive your results in as little as 15 minutes. Is a Sallie Mae Loan the Right Fit for You? College costs have skyrocketed in recent years, and federal direct subsidized and direct unsubsidized loans have strict caps on how much you can borrow. If you need additional money to pay for school, using a private student loan from a lender such as Sallie Mae can be a good option. On the plus side, Sallie Mae offers a wide range of loans, with multiple repayment options, for students of all types. It also has loan forbearance and discharge programs that compare favorably to federal loan discharge policies, and it allows you to apply for a cosigner release in just 12 months, setting it apart from other lenders. However, on the downside, Sallie Mae doesn't allow you to get a rate quote before you apply, which means a hard credit inquiry is required to see your rate. Whether Sallie Maes interest rates are more competitive than those of other lenders, including the federal government, is a more complicated question. Much depends on your financials. While Sallie Maes lowest rates are lower than the feds, youll probably only qualify for them if you have an excellent credit scoreotherwise, youll probably end up paying about the same or even more. The lender does offer variable interest rates on its loansunlike the governmentand that can be an advantage in an environment of declining interest rates. Before making a decision, make sure you compare offers from other private student loan lenders. Final Verdict Sallie Mae has more loan options than any other lender, offering loans for career training, bar study, and medical residency. With multiple loan options, repayment plans, and loan terms, you can customize your loan to meet your needs. And, if you have a creditworthy cosigner, the lender offers competitive rates that can help make the loan more affordable. Methodology Investopedia is dedicated to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of student loan lenders. We collected over 45 data points across more than 15 lendersincluding interest rates, fees, loan amounts, and repayment termsto ensure that our content helps users make the right borrowing decision for their education needs. Who Is Thorstein Veblen? Thorstein Veblen was an economist and sociologist who is best known for coining the term "conspicuous consumption" in his 1899 book The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen was interested in the relationship between the economy, society, and culture. He analyzed the social order and believed that people made purchases to signal their economic status and accomplishments to others. Veblen critiqued the consumption habits of the wealthy and questioned their values. He coined the terms conspicuous waste and pecuniary emulation (striving to meet or exceed someone elses financial status). He also founded the school of institutional economics. Veblen lived from 1857 to 1929. Key Takeaways Thorstein Veblen was an economist noted for his contributions to the development of American institutionalist economics. Veblen is best known for developing the concept of conspicuous consumption, or excessive consumption for the sake of signaling social status. Veblens theories created the concept of a Veblen good, which refers to a product whose demand increases as its price increases because consumers consider it an exclusive status symbol. Veblen believed that limits on production by businesses to raise profits contributed to problems such as unemployment. Veblen's theories became a major foundation of 20th-century critiques of consumerism and for-profit capitalism. 1:32 Conspicuous Consumption Understanding Thorstein Veblen Veblen Good Because of Veblens analysis, we have the concept of a Veblen good, a product whose demand increases as its price increases because consumers consider it an exclusive status symbolin other words, a product that is consumed conspicuously. Veblen goods are designer, luxury items with a strong brand identity. They are not sold in regular stores and are highly coveted. Consumers perceive them as being more valuable because of their higher prices. Examples of Veblen goods are Rolex watches or the latest model of the iPhone. A Veblen good is a product of high quality that stands in contrast to a Giffen goodan inferior product with limited substitutes. These goods are priced so high that only the very affluent can afford them. The higher the prices of the goods, the less likely it is that other consumers can afford them, and buyers begin to perceive them as a way to signal great wealth and success. If a Veblen good's price decreases, demand will decrease because status-conscious consumers will see it as less exclusive. Conspicuous Consumption Veblen considered this conspicuous consumption to be inherently wasteful because of the large real cost of producing Veblen goods. If lower-cost means of signaling social status could be employed, then the resources consumed by the production of Veblen goods could instead be used to produce more urgently needed goods and services. Along with conspicuous consumption, Veblen criticized charitable activities of the rich and conspicuous leisure (non-work time devoted to consumption activities), from which his book draws its title. Veblen's theory is an important part of the critique of consumerism. Production and Economics Parallel to his critique of consumer culture, Veblen was also a critic of production for profit as wasteful both in that it encourages conspicuous consumption and because it also often involves reducing productive output in order to raise prices and profits. He believed that limits on production by businesses to raise profits contributed to problems such as unemployment. Institutionalism, Old and New Old American institutional economics, founded in part by Veblen, should not be confused with the New Institutional Economics associated with economist Douglas North and others, which focuses on how rational individual economic action is influenced by the institutional setting in which it takes place. Veblen's other major contribution was the development of American institutional economics. Rejecting what he saw as the static view of mainstream economics, which focused on individual action and market equilibrium, Veblen instead believed that economic behavior was socially determined based on a process of the historical evolution of social institutions. Human biological instincts and psychological tendencies, in turn, shape these social institutions. The Life and Career of Thorstein Veblen Born in America to Norwegian immigrants, Veblen was an outsider and nonconformist with unusual behavior and alternative views; he rejected neoclassical economics, Marxism, pragmatist philosophy, and laissez-faire economics. He wanted to integrate economics with sociology and history to show how the discipline was influenced by human biology and psychology. The longest job of Veblens career was with the University of Chicago from 1892 until 1906, where he started as a teaching assistant and advanced to become a research fellow, assistant professor, and the managing editor of the Journal of Political Economy. His experiences in academia led him to criticize the higher education system in another book, Higher Learning in America. In the 1930s, when the economic depression had America reassessing capitalism and consumption, Veblen's reputation soared, and his books were devoured. Many believed that the roots of the worldwide depression could be found in his writings from decades earlier. Some say his writings still have currency today. Thorstein Veblen FAQs What Is the Theory of the Leisure Class? The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book by Veblen. It covers a variety of aspects of economics and human behavior and underlines the idea of a shift in society from the economics of production to the economics of consumption. The idea is that the leaders of society show their power and status not by leading or creating but rather through conspicuous wastefulness. Is Conspicuous Leisure Different From Conspicuous Consumption? There is a difference between conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption focuses on purchasing goods and services to demonstrate wealth while conspicuous leisure focuses on behaviors and activities that display wealth. What Are Industrial and Pecuniary Employments? Industrial and pecuniary employments are the two different categories into which modern economic institutions fall. Pecuniary employments deal with those employments that fall under ownership and acquisition while industrial employments fall under craftsmanship and production. What Is the Veblenian Dichotomy? The Veblenian Dichotomy deals with technology and institutions. The use of technology is based on the institution. Some institutions use technology for "ceremonial" purposesin other words, wastefully. Veblen believed that institutions should use technology in a more instrumental way, one that is purposeful. The dichotomy lies in the existence of a social class that uses technology ceremonially rather than instrumentally. The Bottom Line Thorstein Veblen was an economist and sociologist that examined human consumption. His interest lay in understanding how economics, culture, and society interacted with each other. His principal basis was that individuals made economic decisions to display their wealth and place in society as opposed to making economic decisions that were more purposeful, an idea he coined as "conspicuous consumption." By Ann O'Loughlin A couple who underwent an Islamic religious marriage in England have lost their High Court challenge to a refusal to allow them marry here in a civil ceremony. Chaudhry Farooq, a Pakistani national, married Mavra Sajal, a UK national, in an Islamic religious marriage in Manchester in February 2015. The couple did not seek to have the marriage entered on the UK register of civil marriages. Mr Farooq came to the UK on a student visa in late 2009 and met Ms Sajal, a student at the University of Manchester in October 2014. When they met, Mr Farooq had applied for permission to remain in the UK to complete a Masters in Business Administration in Cambridge. The couple came to Ireland in June 2015 and applied the following month to be married here in a civil ceremony. They had an interview with a civil registrar in October 2015 who asked them to provide letters of freedom to marry. During a subsequent interview with the registrar, they submitted a copy of an Islamic marriage certificate stating they had undergone a religious marriage ceremony under the Manchester Central Mosque in February 2015. The registrar informed them her office was unable to determine if that marriage was recognisable under Irish law and their civil marriage here could not proceed. In February 2017, they secured leave from the High Court to challenge the refusal in judicial review proceedings. Subsequently, in June 2017, Ms Sajal returned to the UK after being offered a full-time job there. Because Mr Farooq could not go with her because he was ineligible for a visa to re-enter the UK, he returned to Pakistan where she has visited him once and they otherwise maintain their relationship by phone and social media. It was argued, if they won their judicial review, they could still seek a marriage visa to enter and marry here. In his reserved judgment today, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said there were good grounds for the registrars uncertainty, given the existence of the Islamic marriage, about the civil status of the parties . The uncertainty was compounded by the fact Mr Farooq has returned to Pakistan and the registrar has no information concerning the status of the Islamic marriage there, he said. Thus the registrar was unable to conclude there was no impediment to the couple marrying here. There was a sound legal basis for the registrars decision she could not, because of the existence of the Islamic religious marriage, be satisfied of the validity of a letter of freedom to marry provided by the couple in line with requirements of the Civil Registration Act 2004, he found. The registrar had said the uncertainty arose because it appears, under the laws of England and Wales, marriages such as that entered into by the couple may be valid marriages even if they have not been registered. The judge also disagreed that references by the registrar in letters to the couple suggesting they seek a declaration of marital status under Section 29 of the Family law Act 1995 amounted to imposing an impermissible condition to the issuing of a marriage registration form. The letters provided a way, namely a declaration under Section 29, to address the couples problem and did not involve a condition, he said. A Canadian tourist helped save a man from drowning during a dramatic river rescue in the centre of Cork city last night. The alarm was raised at 7.28pm when a man entered the river at St Patrick's Quay, opposite Merchant's Quay shopping centre. Investigations were still underway on Thursday night to establish how he man came to be in the water. The female tourist, who was passing with a friend, saw the man in the water and dived in to help. She was joined in the water seconds later by a uniformed garda. Five units of Cork City Fire Brigade rushed to the scene and realised they had to recover three people from the water. Third officer Gerry Myers said they deployed an inflatable raft and a rescue basket and had the gear and three swift water rescue technicians in the water within three minutes of getting the call. The specially trained firefighters recovered the woman and the garda first, before retrieving the casualty to the quay side. The man then went into cardiac arrest but thanks to the swift action of fire fighters and National Ambulance Service paramedics, he was revived at the scene. He was taken to the Mercy University Hospital where his condition was described as serious but stable. The garda and the tourist were in shock, but unhurt. Mr Myers said he was very proud of the crew who were involved in the rescue. Glastonbury may be on a break, but there are plenty other festivals to tempt you overseas over the next few months. Ed Power selects ten of the best. AMP LOST AND FOUND Malta, May 3 - 6 Temperature are already soaring past 25 degrees in Malta, so why not kick-start your summer festival season on the tiny Mediterranean Island. Dublins Annie Mac touches down with her Lost and Found Festival, bringing with her Jamie xx, Diplo and grime star J Hus. Plus Malta is exceedingly tiny and very easy to get around and, with generations of Knights having stopped off on their way too and from the Crusades it oozes history. As an ex-British colony, the country also uses the same plugs as in Ireland and drives on the same side of the road as we do. Could they have made it any easier? No they could not. 147, lostandfoundfestival.com PRIMAVERA SOUND - Barcelona, May 30 June 3 One of Europes most esteemed festivals welcomes Bjork, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (this years artist who has agreed to play every single festival in Europe), Arctic Monkeys, Lorde and Migos. Plus because of the location, fretting about the weather wont be an issue 217, primaverasound.com BERGENFEST Norway, June 12 16 With spectacular Bergenhus Fortress as backdrop, the festival welcomes Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Queens of the Stone Age, Sigrid, Father John Misty and J. Hus. As bonus, Bergen Art Hall is close by so you can expand your horizons once youve stopped rocking out. Fly direct to Bergen from Dublin from 204. 250, bergenfest.no SONAR Barcelona, June 14-16 Gorillaz, Bonobo, Wiley, LCD Soundsystem (plus James Murphys Despacio Soundsystem) and Diplo all feature in this Catalan institution though its the unique multi-location format and the Sonar By Day and Sonar By Night events that truly set it apart. 180, www.sonar.es ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL June 21-24 This event marks its 50th anniversary this year, though it was only revived in 2002 following a long hiatus after 1970. The lineup includes Depeche Mode, The Killers, The Script, and Van Morrison. As with all the UK festivals, it will be hoping to fill the gap left by Glastonburys decision to take its traditional fallow year (every six years). Access to the island is by hovercraft nearby, or ferry from Southampton, Portsmouth, etc quite a logistical undertaking for upwards of 58,000 punters. Weekend tickets: 209 (175 students). Portsmouth is about 90 minutes by train from London, including direct services from Gatwick. SECRET SOLSTICE Reykjavik, June 21 24 Iceland is one of Europes hottest destination no pun intended and now heres another reason to visit. All bases are covered with Slayer, Stormzy, Bonnie Tyler and Gucci Mane appearing (it sounds like the most confusing Spotify playlist ever). Because its Iceland there will also be a party inside a glacier (an eight hour affair for which attendees are advised to bring packed lunch and dress snugly) and a tour of a nearby level tunnel complex (limited to just 50 attendees). You can fly from Dublin to the Icelandic capital. 175. secretsolstice.is ROSKILDE Denmark, June 30 July 7 With Glastonbury taking the year off, the title of Europes most venerable festival falls to this Danish institution. Eminem, Bruno Mars, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dua Lipa and Nine Inch Nails are among the headliners, and theres a fascinating undercard, including Young Fathers, Tune-Yards and First Aid Kit. Roskilde is a proper monster of a festival, with a total attendance of 160,000 and theres even a famous naked run for anybody who feels like getting their kit off. 280. roskilde-festival.dk. You can fly to Copenhagen from Dublin with Ryanair, SAS, Lufthansa and Norwegian Airlines. EXIT FESTIVAL Novi Sad, Serbia, July 12-15 In the dramatic shadow of 18th century Petrovaradin Fortress, Exit 2018 features David Guetta, Migos, Fever Ray, Richie Hawtin, Nina Kraviz in other words, a mix of hip hop, EDM and art-pop. As a bonus Serbia is still relatively affordable, with a coffee costing less than 1 and a McDonalds Happy Meal less than 4. Fly to Belgrade via Luton in the UK for circa 314 112. exitfest.org SUNCEBEAT Tisno, Croatia, July 18-25 One of Europes pre-eminent dance festivals, taking place on the sun-kissed Adriatic coastline. Kerri Chandler, Roger Sanchez, Louie Vega and Motor City Drum Ensemble are among the big draws. The year the event also features a celebration of 20 years of the UK garage scene, with performers such as Matt Jam Lamont, and Masterstepz. Close by, meanwhile, is a historic fishing village of the same name. You can fly from Dublin to nearby Split from 244. 217, suncebeat.com LOWLANDS Amsterdam August 17 19 Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz and Dua Lipa have included this popular Dutch festival on their summer schedules, with Bonobo, Stormzy and Grizzly Bear also on the bill while James Bay and War on Drugs flutter a banner for confessional pop and all-American rock respectively. Representing Ireland are Gavin James and dance outfit Bicep. Lowlands takes place near the village of Biddinghuizen, an hours drive from Amsterdam and is thus relatively straightforward to access from Ireland. 195. Lowlands.nl LOST VILLAGE Lincolnshire, UK, August 23 - 26 Named best small festival in Britain last year, the 2018 event welcomes Friendly Fires, Four Tet, Everything Everything, The Black Madonna and Mount Kimbie. Foodies will salivate too with series of Tribal Banquets, curated by Michelin-starred chefs. Put it all together and youve got the perfect chill-out weekend, with high quality tunes and artisan-level pampering. Closet airport served from Ireland is Birmingham, also in the English midlands. 211. lostvillagefestival.com She calls it the beauty of ageing (or not caring what anyone else thinks) midway through her 40s, Annmarie OConnor finally feels at ease with herself and her style, so much so shes just signed a modelling contract. Welcome to the new middle age. Next week I turn 45. To celebrate Ive got tickets to see The Rolling Stones at Croke Park. Needless to say, Ive already planned my outfit a striped dandy suit and polka dot pocket square inspired by the late peacock legend, Brian Jones. For the record, this isnt something I bought for the occasion. I wear it, have worn it and will continue to wear it. It just happens to be occasion-appropriate. Not that Im one for propriety mind you The older I get, the less I care what others think of me, especially when it comes to what I wear. Thats the beauty of ageing; the insecurities and validation-seeking propensity of youth dissolve in direct proportion to ones increasing personal agency. Call it moxie, chutzpah, self-appropriation, whatever; reeling in the years has its advantages. I should know. The most emotionally-draining relationship Ive ever had has been with my wardrobe. I spent my 20s and most of my 30s trying to win its affection, wondering why it didnt reciprocate, accusing it of untold indiscretions, only to cast it off into black plastic bags and repeat the process over and over again. Figure that one out Freud. Had I spent more time learning to acknowledge and appreciate who I really was rather than the person I thought I should be, these histrionics could have been avoided; not to mention a small mortgage saved on clothes. Now in my mid-forties, things are different. A lot different. In the past five years alone, Ive moved house, written two books, started a business, gained a stone and acquired a dodgy knee. In short, life happened. So, I bought bigger clothes, swapped my absurdly high heels for loafers and fell madly in love with trousers suits (more on that later). In short, Im happier in my new style groove, and by extension, more confident in my skin. And therein lies the rub. If youth were a franchise, it would be a licence to print money; yet the value of growing older is rapidly gaining currency and, folks, Im buying shares. In fact, Im calling shenanigans on the myth that options and oxygen suddenly dry up with each passing decade. At soon-to-be-45, Ive just signed as a model with Dublins Not Another Agency. Not bad for an old broad. The most exciting part? The chance to redefine middle-aged: how it looks, how it behaves, and, most of all, how it dresses. Granted, Im not the only soldier waging war on style semantics. Theres an army of women already leading the charge, demonstrating that grown-up fashion doesnt have an age limit. If visibility is accountability then social media, in particular, has become the wardrobe whistle-blower for a commonly overlooked demographic (see: women over 40). Once the mainstay of millennials, Outfit of the Day posts are proving their crossover appeal, from the quieter masculine separates of fashion journalist and author Alyson Walsh (53; @thatsnotmyage) to the more gregarious get-ups favoured by mum-of-three Kat Farmer (44; @doesmybumlook40). Of course, theres Trinny Woodall (54; @trinnywoodall) whose former What Not to Wear telly chops have informed her digital reinvention (her YouTube dressing room diaries are required viewing); while model Helen Ruth Van Winkle (89; @baddiewinkle) leaves us all in the sartorial shade with her visual fashion feast (think crop tops, high waisted skinny jeans and bedazzled cane). Offline influencers have equally sovereign sway. Who else but Irish designer Sonya Lennon can dial up the volume on dressing with her inimitable mix of power prints and high-octane hues? Mind you, no one can rock a Jennifer Rothwell suit quite like Cork entrepreneur Linda Green-Kiely (trust me, Ive seen her). And lets not forget Samui boutique owner Clodagh Shorten whose avant-garde dress code makes her a fashion force to be reckoned with. Women over 40 are proving and have proven that closets are for hangers, not for hang-ups. Speaking of which, my own wardrobe. I wear what I love and love what I wear. Below are just a few things that make my day-to-day living that bit more special. Seeing is believing; why dont you have a peek inside? THE LEATHER TROUSERS Its a well-known fact that Im partial to leather and the colour navy. Translate that truism into a pair of trusty trousers and watch me fan girl hard. Exhibit A: my COS culottes. Short enough to avoid the spectre of wet hems while also having season-to-season longevity. Ive been wearing them for over a year now, so much so Ive left a butt mark. I like to consider this ownership lest anyone get notions about borrowing them. THE POWER DRESS Theres something transformative about a great dress. Finding the one can be a veritable amulet of change: an instant mood lifter, automatic compliments hustler, not to mention a no brainer. One zip and youre dressed. This vintage lurex beauty from Corks Kahlo & Apfel boutique bears all the hallmarks of a solid guna cap sleeves, empire line silhouette and a vintage colourway that makes florals look more modern than mincing. Plus, it is made for twirling and dancing. Thats got to count for something. THE PRINT CLASH Matching prints are charming; clashing prints are cheeky. This oversized check coat from H&M and mismatched wide leg Topshop trousers put a playful spin on professional wear when combined with a faux fur handle bag and a Perspex heel (they also look great with trainers). I like to box clever and wear together for maximum impact or divide and conquer for canny cost-per-wear snaps. THE SUIT Im sweet on a decent suit, namely due to its ability to pull the aul switcheroo as separates. This beauty from Arket is wrought from Italian wool hopsack which, in layman terms, means no creasing. With the number of train journeys I take, this makes me do the happy dance. Plus, its got the perfect balance between relaxed proportions and a sharp cut breezy but boss-worthy. THE CORDUROY BLAZER Anyone who lives in Ireland knows that getting dressed requires cross-referencing at least three weather reports and a quick prayer to St Jude. When you dont know whether to play it safe in a metric tonne of wool or risk hypothermia rather than carry a coat about your person, split the difference and stick to corduroy. Fustian enough to spurn a westerly wind yet still able to withstand an unseasonal temperature spike; consider corduroy a peri-menopausal weather foil. There you have it; my age-inappropriate style guide. May it inspire you to wear what you love and love what you wear. Most of all, may it inspire you to never dress (or act) your age. Rules, after all, were meant to be broken but making your own thats far more satisfying. For a child with autism a busy supermarket, with its glaring lights and background noise, can be overwhelming. Now, stores are making changes to make it easier for families, writes John Daly. NOISE. Activity. Lights. Hubbub. Such are the surroundings all of us encounter on any visit to a busy supermarket. For people with autism, however, entering an arena of such all-encompassing distraction can present major obstacles an alien landscape with challenges around every corner. For Nicole Duggan and her 4-year old autistic son Riley, the everyday task of visiting their local supermarket in Corks Glanmire has been made a great deal easier as a result of a new initiative by nationwide retailer SuperValu. The supermarket chain is supporting the autism community in Ireland through a robust awareness campaign, developed in conjunction with AsIAm, to tackle issues of understanding and inclusiveness by raising understanding and awareness of the condition among its customers and staff. With over 50,000 families in Ireland living with autism, those affected face barriers to inclusion due in part to the attitudes of a public who may not have first-hand experience of the condition. SuperValu is hoping to break down those barriers through an ongoing awareness campaign highlighting different in-store scenarios that may be triggers for an autistic person. This is a very important initiative not just for Riley and his future development, but for all the other people with autism across the country, says Nicole. Going to the supermarket, something that the vast majority of people take for granted, can be a place loaded with over-stimulation for Riley in everything from noise levels to bright lighting. Indeed, during our walk around the Glanmire SuperValu on a normal weekday afternoon, the combined challenges of crowds, noise and general bustle made for an often disturbing occasion for Riley. Heralded as world-class, the initiatives already in place in SuperValu stores have been designed in conjunction with the Middletown Centre for Autism and include autism-friendly shopping times in stores; development of store maps to pre-plan visits indicating the main and quiet areas; de-sensitisation of store sounds at designated shopping times to assist in de-stressing; and a reduction in the standard beep sounds at the tills. The retailer has also developed staff E-learning modules to tackle a general lack of awareness around autism and educate on steps needed to make a difference, added to by an expert panel established to meet three times a year to ensure that all initiatives are impactful and relevant for families with autism. The general public are always very willing to help, its just that all too often they are ignorant about what autism means, Nicole explains. Now, with the initiative and the designated shopping hours, at least when people see a child acting differently they will hopefully understand whats going on. Riley was diagnosed when he was 2 years old. Hes four now, non-verbal, and he has a lot of sensory sensitivities. These last two years have been some of the most challenging times that I think Ive ever faced. When autism was mentioned, after I stopped crying, I threw myself into the fight. The fight for assessment, the fight for diagnosis, the fight for inclusion. I realised people did not understand my little boy, they didnt understand why certain noises and lights affect him or why he would cover his ears and hum when they would say hello to him. They simply did not understand his needs and how to help him. One thing was for sure, I was not going to let my son grow up in a world where people did not get him. I was going to teach people. Developed in partnership with Adam Harris, founder of AsIAm, a series of SuperValu videos aim to shine a light on how an autistic person and their families have to manage non-inclusive and judgemental attitudes during the day-to-day task of grocery shopping. We are striving to increase awareness of autism and helping people understand ways in which they can be more inclusive for our community, Adam explains. It is low understanding and the resulting lack of empathy which can lead to many members of the autism community opting out of participation through fear or embarrassment. As I Am is a one-stop shop for the autism community in Ireland, providing the public and those with the condition to a portal of information, and serving as a platform for people affected to share their stories and views. World Autism Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate the autism community, highlight the challenges autistic people face in society and educate the wider public to have a better understanding of the condition. This year, AsIAm wants to harness the month to ask individuals, organisations and communities to make lasting changes to attitude and behaviour, beyond simply being aware, he says. Every day the autism community adapts to a world which is often not designed to meet its needs - a world which can so often disable people, sometimes without even realising it. Small changes in how people think and act can be the difference between the autism community being able to participate or not. We want to show wider society what these changes are and how they can be implemented. AsIAm sums up its aims under four key headings: Educate through increasing and improving accessibility of information to equip people with autism and their families to understand the condition better; Empower those in the AS community by providing the tools to help them reach their potential; Advocate by acting as a hub for the autism community in Ireland to draw on common areas of concern and to develop public awareness; and Community to provide a safe and pleasant space to share concerns and ideas with others with similar experiences. Throughout the month of April, SuperValu was informing their customers and staff of the need to use plain language, be patient and be accepting three simple steps that can make a major difference to an autistic persons in-store experience. While we continue to roll out the Autism Friendly shopping times to our store network, we recognised that there was a greater role we could play in creating change, said SuperValu Marketing Director, Des OMahony. "Through our regular meetings with AsIAm and The Middletown Centre for Autism, we identified this awareness campaign as a way we could help. The supermarket is a big trigger zone for the autism community and while we are already making sensory changes we realised how important it was to make attitudinal ones among customers and staff. For Nicole and Riley Duggan the path to greater acceptance and understanding continues, and one upon which the maternal love of a mother for her child will be demonstrated on every step of the journey. Riley may be autistic, but he is a little boy first, says Nicole. He cries when he falls, he laughs when he is happy and he adores Mickey Mouse. He is, however, wired differently. Autism does not define him it is a part of him. SuperValu is the title sponsor of the AsIAm Conference on October 20 in The Grand Hotel, Malahide. Tickets for the conference are available to buy from www.AsIAm.ie. To find out more about the autism-friendly initiatives, visit www.supervalu.ie/autismfriendly. Everybody is talking about West Cork, the podcast delving into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Marjorie Brennan spoke to the couple behind it, and the backlash they had feared as they return to the area this summer for the literary festival. There has been an explosion of interest in podcasts in recent years, with the audio format joining boxset binging as the competitive leisure pursuit du jour. After the breakthrough success of the US podcast Serial, the true crime genre has become an increasingly crowded one. One podcast in particular has been singled out for acclaim since it debuted on the Audible platform in February. Named by Time magazine as one of its top podcasts and lauded by documentary maker Louis Theroux, West Cork is a 13-part podcast series delving into the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier at her holiday home near the Cork seaside village of Schull almost 22 years ago. Her murder remains unsolved but it has been at the centre of several court actions involving Ian Bailey, a suspect in the case who continues to deny any involvement. The podcast creators are the London-based couple Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, who met as students at Trinity College, Dublin. Forde is a documentary producer who has worked for the BBC and Sam is a journalist who has worked for many outlets, including NPR in the US. They spent three years working on the podcast and still seem slightly surprised at its huge success. Forde says they are over the moon at how well it has been received. We were totally taking a punt on what it would be like, who would be interested in doing it, says Bungey. The couple had just married when they came across a piece in an English newspaper on Baileys High Court action against the State for wrongful arrest. We had been talking about doing something together Jennifers background is in television documentaries and I had done some work in radio. We were both really interested in podcasts and thought about trying to do a story like Jennifer would do, across several episodes of TV, but doing that in audio. Then, Serial came along and we thought we could definitely do it. Around the same time we came across Ian Baileys story in a newspaper That [case] was just about to get started so we went over and sat in on it. I think it sort of happened in stages. We were pretty fascinated with it in the beginning, then we kept passing these hurdles in terms of getting access to the various people who the story affected starting with Sophies family and then going from there. While Serial, a US cold-case investigation into the conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, attracted a huge listenership, it also attracted criticism for its lack of interest in the victim of the crime, 18-year-old Hae Min Lee, and its failure to include any contribution from her family. This was a situation Bungey and Forde were at pains to avoid and to this end, they sought the participation of Sophie Toscan du Plantiers family from the start. Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered in Schull, West Cork, almost 22 years ago. The case is still unsolved. Getting her family involved was the first step towards making sure Sophie herself was a presence throughout the series, says Forde. We both watch crime dramas on TV and we listen to other true crime podcasts it seems that often the female victim is just a springboard for the rest of the action. It was important for us not to fall into that trap. To try and find that balance was really difficult particularly when so much of it was about a man who has been long accused and fighting for his innocence. But we felt Sophies family needed to give us permission to tell this story because we knew that much as we would try to be sensitive around putting in details about Sophies life and the murder, you cant avoid talking about the grisly details. Without the familys involvement, we would have felt a little bit uncomfortable doing that. When the couple came to Dublin for Baileys action against the State, they spoke to family members based here and realised the huge potential of the story. My cousin said it was one of those stories that never really goes away, every few years theres something else that surfaces and shifts your perspective on it again, says Forde. Those conversations made us realise that this could potentially be a really big and rich story that was specifically about one place, one country and one jurisdiction but also allowed you answer universal questions about guilt and innocence, and how people are perceived based on the news. Bailey is a central and compelling character in the podcast, and while initially apprehensive about talking to Bungey and Forde, he went on to become enthusiastic about the project, giving freely of his time. It is a professional relationship but a very complicated one where you have someone who sees himself as a veteran journalist who thinks the story should be covered in a certain way, but he knows you cant just tell the story he wants you to tell, says Bungey. We were always very conscious of the idea that we had a duty of care to everyone involved in the story, which is a very tricky thing to balance. But it helped that we were in constant contact with all of the people involved. We would talk to Ian, the next day we would talk to Alain Spilliaert [lawyer for Sophies family] or the detective involved in the case. We wanted to get everyones story, then to interrogate it as much as possible before putting it out there. Forde says they did a lot of soul-searching in terms of what to include in the podcast, and she was especially conscious that the violent circumstances of Sophies death were not portrayed in a disrespectful manner. We did not want to give too much detail about Sophie and the way she died. People obviously want those details but you have to be respectful. We had to really figure out why it was important to include particular information because otherwise there was a real risk it would be gratuitous. We really had to interrogate ourselves as we went along work out why was this important to the story and if we couldnt justify it, we left it out. According to Forde, one of the most important characters in the podcast was West Cork itself. It was really important to us that West Cork as a place should be like a central character. We really tried to bring it to life through all the voices of the people that live there. The history of the place is so interesting to us, the landscape, the atmosphere, says Forde. The couple ended up with hundreds of hours of audio and the process of editing was, unsurprisingly, a challenging one. Every time we did interviews, it was for about two to three hours. Sometimes we sat down with someone more than once. We might use two minutes from hours of tape, says Forde. Bungey adds: It was really difficult choosing some people we sat with for a long time and they had really interesting things to say and we ended up not using the tape because it just didnt fit with the way we were telling the story. Meanwhile, the story continues to unfold. At the time of writing, it was reported that Bailey plans to go to the European Court of Human Rights after losing an appeal challenging a French decision to charge him over the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. While there is a distinct possibility that the couple will do a follow-up to the podcast, Forde says nothing has been decided yet. Inevitably, once its out there, you hear other things and start talking to people in different ways. The story is ongoing. We thought wed be done with it. We got to the end and we thought there would be this great moment but you feel yourself being drawn back in. Well see. Definitely maybe, she says. Meanwhile, the couple are busy with their ten-month-old son, whose arrival coincided with the fraught final months of the podcast production. It was terrible timing, says Bungey. We thought wed be finished well before he arrived. He heard the words West Cork more than anything else in the first few months of his life. The couple are looking forward to discussing their podcast at the West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry in July. You get paranoid about these things... part of us thought that we might not be allowed back into West Cork after doing it but it doesnt seem that way, says Bungey. - Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde will be at the Maritime Hotel, Bantry, on Friday, July 20, at 8.30pm as part of West Cork Literary Festival. For more, see westcorkmusic.ie/literaryfestival/ An exhibition celebrating 35 years of fashion by Azzedine Alaia, coutures rebellious outsider, opened at Londons Design Museum this week. Rachel Marie Walsh discovers the stories behind the designs on a guided tour from curator Mark Wilson. Cher Horwitz, the Clueless teen whose wisdom often undermines the films title, sewed Azzedine Alaias name in the minds of girls everywhere when she resisted damaging one of his dresses at gunpoint. Alaia was a totally important designer. He was working on Azzedine Alaia:The Couturier, his first exhibition at Londons Design Museum, when he died last November. The work is important not just because VIPs from all walks of life political, royal, artistic showed up for his shows and wore his clothes. It was not because he courted journalists (he avoided them) or performed like Babe the Pig for a stoic backer (as Marc Jacobs once joked that he felt he did for LVMHs Bernard Arnault). Azzedine Alaia with model Frederique in 1986. Photo: Arthur Elgort There is strong evidence that he kept at his discipline, so it kept him. Kept at it obsessively, deadlines and start-times be damned. Few could get away with his work style now, this tiny Tunisian who spent all day in black silk pyjamas and showed all his designs in his apartment, hours after hed promised. He did not respect Anna Wintours taste and compared her unfavourably to Diana Vreeland. He told the worlds most prestigious department stores orders would be ready when theyre ready, and cared nothing for whichever season or moment the rest of the world weathered. Some pieces took years and his garments, including the 60 displayed, are impossible to date. I always feel free, reads a quote writ-large in the entry-hall. If I dont like it I dont make it. But you must serve someone, and if observing Alaia teaches budding designers anything beyond stubborn perfectionism, it is to cultivate influential friends. Keep women happy and they will keep you, it seems, especially if you persist in making them the worlds most beautiful. He started early. Born to a farming family in 1935, he was taught dressmaking by the midwife who assisted at his birth in Tunis. He supported his studies at the citys School of Fine Arts by hand-finishing copies of Parisian couture at night with the help of his twin sister. Photo: Arthur Elgort Fascinated by French culture, he emigrated to the fashion capital in 1956. Though he worked briefly for Christian Dior, he really established himself through female connections. He was a confidante and personal dressmaker, first to a Paris-based Tunisian socialite and then to Comtesse Nicole de Blegiers, who gave him a room and enough friends/clients to set up his first Left Bank salon. Now a stylish secret of the citys wealthy women, he was also exposed to the great and greater of the art world. This fed his passion for sculpture, which informed so many of the exhibited dresses. Exhibition curator Mark Wilson, a contemporary art specialist Alaia worked with from 1995, said he joked that was really his sculpture exhibition at The Design Museum. A lot of his designs are extremely tight (his first ever dress was reportedly so binding that he had to shove his muse onto her bus home from behind), and a womans curves can make any lycra dress look sculpted, but in fact he was a superior draper and cutter who worked around the body. This crystallises when you see the dresses up close. You can examine his ready-to-wear (off-the-rack) stuff in department stores any day and of course it is lovely but standard-sized clothes cannot compare to this couture, which he remade to fit each of the mannequins. Wilson draws my eye to the seaming on a black knit-tricot dress (flattering black was Alaias happy colour) marking the shape of the body like a sketch. He and Alaia commissioned six artists with whom he had creative relationships Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Marc Newson, Kris Ruhs and the designers long-term partner, Christoph von Weyhe to create giant screens for the space. They showcase variously his design illustrations, blown-up textiles and elements of his showroom. These are interspersed with personal and professional imagery of his fabulous life. Meals at his atelier-apartment were famous, print-anecdotes described an old-fashioned Paris salon with better food. He cooked himself, and guests included luminaries of film, art and fashion itself. Greta Garbo was a friend and muse, as was Rihanna and all of the original supermodels. Naomi Campbell, who met him at 14, called him Papa and lived with him periodically. Naomi Campbell. Photo: Ellen von Unwerth His work is part of her life in images. She would take clothes from his atelier to go underage partying at Pariss hottest clubs, then be told off for wearing them incorrectly when he arrived to take her home. In 2007, when the Met left his clothes out of the Model As Muse exhibition (see Wintour feud), she refused to attend. She and UK Vogue made a video of her personal memories of Alaia for the exhibitions homepage. Making heavy materials malleable and light fabrics look dramatic was something of a speciality. Leather dresses look like slips of things, dense wool became spun-sugar under his hand. Laser-cutting makes lace hang like jacquard and his bias-cuts make silk fit like body-con bands. He never produced anything that wasnt great, says Wilson. I love how he contrasted the softness of the garments with architectural elements, like studs, to create tension. Despite the encouragement of international stylists and editors, Alaia did not begin producing ready-to-wear for show until 1983. His form-hugging dresses led the press to dub him the King of Cling. I was hoping to see some shoes, any of those hes created since the foundation of Maison Alaia in 1981. Alaias heels are extreme, either (currently) knotted bands of leather attached to spindly stilettos (see Kim Kardashian) or some of the most vertiginous platforms this side of Tokyo. But Alaia archived everything and Wilson assures me there is plenty more to stock future exhibitions. The body-con dress was definitely Alaias creation. There is near forty-year-old proof here. Alaias last couture collection showed in July 2017 and featured Naomi Campbell in a dramatic velvet bodice and pleated gown. Several pieces from this collection are on show, along with black-and-white footage of she and the other supermodels running around the Left Bank in his clothes. Naomi Campbell. Photo: Ellen von Unwerth It is a little inaccessible, in a way that can be frustrating when you hear fashion described as democratic because it commands such widespread interest. Part of that interest stems from a designers willing to engage with the public through mainstream press, film and even parody. None of these were very him. He did not do high street collaborations or make great spectacles of his shows. He created perfumes but not huge ad campaigns. I do not think fashion is a democratic thing, not without environmental harassment and developing world perspiration making it trickle-down, anyway; not without the nouveau riche overpaying for ready-to-wear or an awful lot of people wearing the old clothes of affluent. Democratic societies certainly inspire couturiers, this is part of what makes great couture contemporary art. The American socialites whose husbands and fathers bankrolled French fashion-houses after the war maintained their own wardrobes for museum donation and Alaias career is sprung from a similar ether. But for an old-schooler like this, the work reaches far and wide through those he inspires. His collections didnt have narratives so exhibits are grouped by fabric and detail. I dont create a story, the designer told Interview in 2009, Its in the materials. What he has to pass on is in the clothes. He did everything himself, all night long, confirms Wilson. I witnessed it. No one works like him anymore but students. And thats because they cant afford any help! - Azzedine Alaia: The Couturier is open at the Design Museum in Kensington, London, until October 7 2018. www.designmuseum.org. Emma Mhic Mhathunas story started off a day during which the HSE boss made jaw-dropping revelations, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell. We thought we could not be shocked anymore. So many times in the past we have heard horror stories about failures in our health system. But for the hundreds of thousands of people who listened to Morning Ireland yesterday, that is exactly what happened. In our kitchens, in our cars, or on the bus and train to work, we listened as Emma Mhic Mhathuna, a terminally ill mother of five, gave her harrowing account of how her smear test was mis-diagnosed. I dont even know if my little baby is going to remember me. This isnt fair. And no amount of money can replace this, she said as she fought back her tears. The poor telephone made you strain to hear her words and in a way made those words all the more powerful. In the Dail, her interview dominated Leaders Questions. Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary appeared to become emotional when he referred to the interview. He pleaded with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to end the defending of the indefensible and to deliver the accountability. The time for defiant defence is over, the time to defend the realm is over. Please stop, said Calleary. Please stop as a Government and listen, but more importantly, hear the story of Emma, of Vicky Phelan, Irene Teap, the deceased women, and all those women who are currently going through this journey. Emmas is only one story in an ocean of anguish. I ask the minister to provide the House with his thoughts as to whether all of these women have been failed by the State. Does he believe there should be immediate accountability? There were fresh calls for Tony OBrien, the embattled director general of the HSE to resign. OBrien was in the building facing a grilling from a most displeased public accounts committee. OBrien for the second consecutive day rejected calls for him to resign immediately. He went toe to toe with Fianna Fails Marc MacSharry, accusing the Sligo TD of spreading hysteria. Under questioning, OBrien made reference to a memo dating back to 2016 warning him that there may be a problem relating to the cervical smear test programme. He did say at that stage that what was made known to him did not cause alarm bells to go off. He offered to make the memo available to the committee, which he did a few hours later. When it landed, it was a bombshell. Because it turned out that it wasnt one memo but in fact three which were sent by the National Screening Service to OBrien between March and July 2016. Reading the eight-page document, one cannot be anything but struck by the focus of the memo. A memo of containment aimed at preserving the entity of the HSE ahead of the needs of the women involved, some of whom, like Emma and Vicky, are terminally ill. The tone of the memos are dominated by the potential media fall-out if and when the scandal would become public. We know OBrien knew from early 2016 that a firestorm was brewing and that a reactive media strategy was being devised. A communications protocol has been prepared for consulting clinicians to address their questions, states the memo. But most alarming, the memo advises that communications to the doctors of patients cease until the legal advice returns. Next steps: Pause all letters; await advice of solicitors; decide on the order and volume of dispatch to mitigate any potential risks and continue to prepare reactive communications response for a media headline that screening did not diagnose my cancer, it states. Not one mention of telling the women affected. Not one. The memo and its contents was rounded upon by angry members of the committee who branded it an illustration of a situation whereby containment and looking after the house took priority over the needs of vulnerable and maltreated women. OBrien has now stepped down from the HSE, but what has yet to end is the culture over which OBrien has presided. The sort of culture which has been at the heart of this scandal. The sort of culture which forced Vicky Phelan to the High Court to get justice. The question has to be asked that when women are dying because of such colossal failures, just what do people have to do to be sacked in our public service? Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said more heads will probably roll before all of this is over. Yet, does that include his own Health Minister, Simon Harris, who has either been kept in the dark or did know and didnt act swiftly enough to deal with it? Either way he has questions to answer. Just when we thought we couldnt be shocked anymore, a day like yesterday occurs. It would make you sick. Last Thursday morning, as we shoved empty cereal bowls into dishwashers, packed kids into cars, and trudged head-first into our daily commute, a single voice stopped this nation in its tracks, writes Joyce Feegan. Unrehearsed, with no agenda and absolutely nothing left to lose, mother-of-five Emma Mhic Mhathuna, aged 37, told us, in no uncertain terms, that she was dying. In 2013, Emma had a cervical smear test done. The results told her she was healthy. She was not. "Im dying when I dont need to die, Emma told RTEs Morning Ireland. My children are going to be without me and Im going to be without them. I tried to do everything right, you know, breastfeeding and being a full-time mum and sacrificing my own life for them. I didnt see it as a sacrifice and now Im going to miss out and I dont even know if my little baby is going to remember me. Dear nation: When exactly are we going to wake up? January 1984: Ann Lovett, aged 15 gives birth alone in a Longford grotto and dies shortly afterwards. January 1985: Joanne Hayes, aged 26, is a witness in a tribunal set up to examine the Garda mishandling of the Kerry babies murder investigation. It, however, turned into the Joanne Hayes trial. She was cross-examined by multiple barristers for five days the longest period a witness had ever been questioned in the history of the State. Ms Hayes was asked 2,000 questions, including when she lost her virginity. October 2012: Savita Halappanavar, a nurse aged 31, dies of a septic miscarriage in Galway University Hospital. April 2018: Vicky Phelan, a terminally ill mother-of-two, aged 43, reveals she was given incorrect smear test results in 2011. She was subsequently diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014. Vicky Phelan. May 2018: Emma Mhic Mhathuna tells us that she too is dying. Why is it that so many of the female names synonymous with social change in Ireland are all associated with pain, tragedy, and even death? These are not Mary Robinsons and ConstanceMarkieviczs. They never set out to be. These women were and are private citizens. In October 2017, Pulp Fiction actor Uma Thurman was asked about reports of harassment and assault by men in Hollywood. Her restrained response went viral. Ive learned that when Ive spoken in anger I usually regret the way I express myself. So Ive been waiting to feel less angry. And when Im ready, Ill say what I have to say." Wronged women routinely censor themselves so as to avoid being labelled as angry. This censoring often extends to silence. And silence is exactly what the wrong-doer, or shirker of responsibility, wants. If you deliver your point or testimony through rage, you run the risk of being dismissed, belittled, and branded as extreme or even afanatic. All of which leads nicely to not being listened to. So just as Rory ONeill, aka Panti Bliss, on the Abbey Theatre stage in February 2014, spoke of how gay people routinely censor and check themselves, women routinely silence themselves too. But not Emma. Shes dying and she doesnt care what you think. She doesnt care if you label her as shrill or outspoken or loud, those tired, cliched adjectives typically thrown towards women whose voices we seek to silence. Just last Thursday, outside Hodges Figgis on Dublins Dawson St, I came across a man in his early 60s, admonishing a member of staff. He was giving out about two books being displayed in the shops window. Both books had the words EighthAmendment written on their covers. Please have them removed, the man ordered, as he turned on his heel and walked back up the street to where his wife was waiting on the corner. As far as Im aware, this man was neither a board member of nor a shareholder in this private entity. Yet, he assuredly demanded a silence of sorts. A few minutes later, as I made my way towards Grafton St, I came across a young woman, in her early 20s maybe, handing out fliers to the evening's passers-by. Standing on her own, with an air of cautious reservation, she attempted to smile through her obvious anxiety as she held onto a batch of Together for Yes leaflets. She stood there as if waiting to be pounced upon, but still, she stood there. Brave woman, I thought. Nothing about the man outside Hodges Figgis struck me as brave. In 1936, Maya Angelou the late poet and civil rights activist lost her voice for five whole years. She was eight. She silenced herself because she thought her voice had killed a man, her mothers boyfriend, who had raped her, as covered in stark detail in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She testified against him in his trial and he was convicted and sentenced, but released from jail. Four days later, he was found dead, presumed murdered. Maya eventually found her voice again in 1941 and put it to good use until her death in 2014. Just like Maya, Emma MhicMhathuna is putting her voice to good use before her death. Emma Mhic Mhathuna But she shouldnt have to. Firstly, she should not be dying. And secondly, it shouldnt take a grown woman crying on our national airwaves, announcing her imminent death, to make us listen. Did anyone listen to Ann Lovett? Several witnesses, with corroborating evidence, say she wrote two letters. One of these is claimed to have been burned and its existence subsequently denied. Ann Lovett, silenced, even in death. Savita Halappanavar asked repeatedly for a termination of pregnancy in the days before her death. The requests were denied because doctors could still detect a foetal heartbeat. To this day, despite her husbands and fathers own testimonies, some people will deny Savita the dignity of her own truth, even in death. So what of Vicky and Emma? Will we listen now? Is this what it takes for us to listen in this country without judgement and shame? Do you physically have to be dying in order to be heard? The Iranian nuclear deal was a foundation stone for a more comprehensive arrangement until Trump pulled the whole thing apart, says former Spanish foreign minister, Ana Palacio. With President Donald Trumps announcement that the United States will begin reimposing sanctions against Iran, the short, strange life of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has entered a new and dangerous phase. Trump believes that, by withdrawing from the JCPOA, he can pressure Iran to agree to a new, more comprehensive deal that would cover not just the countrys nuclear programme, but also its ballistic missile tests, provocative regional behaviour, and human-rights violations. But, as Americas partners and allies have noted, this is a highly risky gambit one that contradicts the underlying logic of the deal. The decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, despite Iranian compliance with all of its provisions, is likely to make addressing Irans nuclear programme more difficult, not least because it will strengthen the position of the countrys hardliners. More broadly, it threatens to rob the world of a new and innovative approach to global governance and multilateral diplomacy at a time when such approaches are badly needed. Trump claims that the JCPOA was a failure from the start, owing to the myriad non-nuclear issues that it neglected. Indeed, he called it one of the worst and most one-sided transactions into which the US has ever entered. The JCPOAs supporters have inadvertently reinforced this reading. French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, recently advocated bolstering the agreement with complementary deals covering other areas. In conceding the premise that the deal was somehow incomplete, supporters and detractors alike set it up to fail. The truth is that the JCPOA was never supposed to be a one-off transaction. Instead, it was conceived as the first step in a long negotiation process. The comprehensive in its official title refers to the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions and the verification measures to ensure compliance. It did not indicate that the deal amounted to a comprehensive solution to all of the international communitys disagreements with Iran. The point was to take a particularly knotty and urgent issue Irans growing nuclear-enrichment capacity off the table for a period of time, to allow for progress in other areas. Had all of the issues been negotiated at once, it is far from clear that a deal could have been reached at all, much less in a timely manner. After all, previous attempts to negotiate with Iran notably under President Bill Clintons administration failed precisely because they sought to secure too much. There were just too many potential spoilers. The JCPOA was not simply a precedent for further agreements; it actually demanded them. The so-called sunset clauses that stipulate expiration dates for various restrictions imposed on Irans nuclear programme clauses that attracted so much derision from Trump and other opponents of the deal were vital, because they necessitated further negotiation. Thanks to the lifting of sanctions under the JCPOA, that negotiation would take place against a background of steadily improving economic conditions, which would persuade the Iranian public of the tangible benefits of a moderate and co-operative approach. This would strengthen the governments resolve to strike deals on other controversial issues precisely the opposite of the likely effect of Trumps unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA. Simply put, the JCPOA was the foundation stone for a more comprehensive solution. Perhaps we should not be surprised that Trump has now taken a sledgehammer to it: systemic awareness has proved to be a major blind spot for the Artist of the Deal, whose worldview can be summed up in three words: quid pro quo. But awareness of Trumps transactional worldview does not make it any less damaging. The risks implied by Trumps worldview are particularly acute in todays fast-changing world. On one hand, power has shifted and become more diffuse, while the mismanagement and misrepresentation of globalisation has created further uncertainty. On the other hand, the biggest challenges the world faces from transnational terrorism to climate change cannot be addressed by any country alone, and thus demand co-operative solutions. It is now starkly apparent that we can no longer rely exclusively on the top-down Western-dominated structures that have underpinned the rules-based world order for the last 70 years. Though we should not dispense with those structures, much less the rules-based order, we must develop new, complementary instruments to foster cohesion and create the conditions for effective co-operation. Such arrangements will often be ad hoc and flexible, rather than traditional binding deals, and will almost never be comprehensive. They will be relatively narrowly focused and designed to lay the groundwork for further progress. In this sense, they will be discrete components of a broader process. Call it Marshall McLuhan-inspired governance: the medium (or instrument) is the message. The 2015 Paris climate agreement from which Trump withdrew the US last year is a case in point. Nobody believes that the soft and voluntary commitments that signatories have made will be enough to limit global warming to well below 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Nonetheless, the deal is valuable: it spurs action now, while acting as a platform for further commitments later. The JCPOA was intended to have a similar effect, facilitating indeed, demanding efforts to address the myriad other disagreements between Iran and the rest of the international community. The US was an essential part of that process. Trumps utter failure to understand this innovative approach is bad news for Iran, for the world, and for the future of global governance. Ana Palacio, a former Spanish foreign minister and former senior vice president of the World Bank, is a member of the Spanish Council of State and a visiting lecturer at Georgetown University. Earlier this week, Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy said 522 people had been warned by An Garda Siochana that their lives were in danger from criminals. The level of threat varied 11 people were categorised as being in critical jeopardy. Mr Leahy pointed out that the Kinahan-Hutch feud is the driving force behind these figures. Reaction to the deathwatch warnings was varied. At one end of the spectrum, the entirely predictable stand-back-and-let-them-at-it response prevailed. This may be an accurate reflection of how some in society view these murderous gangs, but it is hardly one that might lead to a solution to this toxic behaviour. It is certainly not one that might help create more stable, secure communities where now there are inner-city fiefdoms controlled by drug dealers. Dublins archbishop, Diarmuid Martin, offered a calmer, more rational response when he said that these figures are just the tip of a community-destroying iceberg. He said the drug gangs ensnare and corrupt, turning innocent teenagers into criminals in a way that is utterly life-defining and very difficult to reverse. Like many others, he wondered how that cycle of waste might be broken. He expressed the hope that better, more focused education programmes and supports might turn the tide. The same principle was invoked in a report on Penal Reform and Sentencing published yesterday by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality. It said education and training facilities should be available to prisoners to equip them with the necessary skills for re-entry to society once released. The all-party committee found that a one-size-fits-all philosophy is not appropriate in a prison setting. It also said there is still a huge over-reliance on closed prisons, where prisoners spend 16 to 17 hours a day in a cell. It also pointed to overcrowding and it recommended capping of prisoner numbers in each jail. Committee chairman Caoimhghin O Caolain recorded that there is systematic overuse of imprisonment ... and that sentencing alternatives need to be explored ... conditions in prisons are unacceptable, and that far more needs to be done to rehabilitate offenders, reduce recidivism, and minimise the impact of crime on victims and the community. If this report has a certain air of familiarity it is because most of these proposals have been made, in one form or another, many times before. Prison reform, the provision of a more humane penal system where a person might get a second or third chance in life, is not a subject that generates the kind of momentum that might, eventually, usher in humane and practical change. The unspoken subtext is that these people made their bed so now they can lie in it. In a society where old people in remote rural settings live in dread of a sound in their yard at night, that response is entirely understandable. That, however, denies one of the most powerful human emotions of all hope. Surely we can summon the optimism needed to give those in our prison system who are trying to build a new, better life the chance to do so. The announcement from the Charities Regulator is on the back of the publication of the report on a consultative panels findings on proposed recommendations for the code. While the code itself has yet to be finalised, the panels findings provide an indication as to the manner in which the regulations will be drafted. It is unlikely that the regulations will be strictly imposed on charities, and will instead be imposed on a comply or explain basis, where any charities that deviate from the guidelines will be expected to declare and justify their divergence from the code. The code is also unlikely to impose term limits on high-ranking officials within charities, instead recommending advisory maximum limits. Smaller charities that consulted with the panel had expressed concerns that they would find it difficult to comply with mandatory term limits as it was harder for them to recruit and retain trustees. More than two-thirds (68%) of charities consulted on the proposals for a maximum trustee term favoured three to six years and around 30% favoured a term of five years. Charities Regulator chief executive John Farrelly said the eventual publication of the code will be a landmark in the development of Irish charities. For the first time there will be a code which will clearly set out what is expected from charity trustees, he said. Good governance is the foundation stone of a well-managed charity. It needs to be proportionate to the size of the charity and the work that particular charities do. It is clear from our work to date that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Of those who supported a new code in an online questionnaire, 59% favoured making it proportionate based on the turnover of the charity, 26% thought it should be based on asset size, and 31% on the number of employees. Niall Cronin, 24, of 1 Fairfield Green, Farranree, Cork, carried out a robbery of 60 at Sheilas shop on St Marys Road, Cork, on October 10, 2017. He was arrested and remanded in custody until yesterday. The second half of the sentence was suspended on the basis that he would stay away Sheilas shop in perpetuity, Judge Brian OCallaghan said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Emma, 37, raising her young children alone in west Kerry, has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer having been incorrectly given the all-clear after a cervical smear test in 2013. The 2013 smear test said that I was healthy when I wasnt and because of that then I actually developed cancer and now Im dying. If the smear test was right and I was told this by my gynaecologist, who is over three hospitals so he knows his stuff he told me himself that if my smear test was right in 2013, I wouldnt be where I am today and this is what makes it so heartbreaking, Emma told Morning Ireland yesterday. Im dying when I dont need to die and my children are going to be without me and Im going to be without them. I tried to do everything right, you know, breastfeeding and being a full-time mum and sacrificing my own life for them and I didnt see it as a sacrifice and now Im going to miss out and I dont even know if my little baby is going to remember me, she added. Last week, Emma discovered she was one of the 209 women who was given incorrect smear test results. In 2016, she found out she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and this week she found out that her diagnosis is terminal. I found out this week that Im dying, that the cancer has gone up into my bones and everything, so I have a test on Friday (today) to see exactly how long Ive left. I hoped Id be clear but I had a feeling I had cancer again because I had it before but I didnt think it would be terminal, she explained. Emma then described telling her children the news, the eldest of which is just 15, and for whom she is now trying to find a home. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do because as a mother its my job to protect them and to keep the bad news away from them. We had such a good day on the confirmation (two of her sons had their confirmation last Tuesday). My results were ready on Tuesday but I didnt want to get them because of the confirmation. Then I had to collect them from school early (on Wednesday) and tell them that Im dying and its just a horrible thing, to be honest, there is so much pain in the house, she said. Emma painted an idyllic picture of her familys life by the beach in Ballydavid and how much fun her and her five children have together. She said no amount of money could replace what they have. Last night, I was in bed and I was having a dream, a really bad dream. I dreamt that I was dying last night and I wasnt ready because I hadnt said goodbye to my children and, in my dream, I was trying to ring 999 but I couldnt pick up the phone. So, in my dream, I had gone into Natasha, she sleeps across the landing and I was trying to wake her up so I could say goodbye to her because I hadnt said goodbye. Then I woke up and I said: thank God I havent died yet because I want to say goodbye to them and this isnt fair. No amount of money can replace this. I know each of my children like butter, and which of them needs timeout when theyre getting tired, and all the fun stuff we do together. We have such good fun the six of us. And I moved all the way down here to Ballydavid because its such a fantastic place and its really like Enid Blyton down here; they go climbing on the rocks and they go camping in the fields and theyre so safe, and they build sandcastles, and thats all being taken away from them, she said. Emma and her daughter were the faces of a HSE video advert last year encouraging young girls to get the HPV vaccine which prevents cervical cancer. Yesterday afternoon, she gave a subsequent interview to RTEs Raidio na Gaeltachta where she described the hard job of keeping the five siblings together after her death. I sat down and told them I was dying. Oisin, hes six years of age, he asked if Id be coming back. Dont go anywhere Mammy, do you not love me? He doesnt understand. I had to ask them the awful question do you want to be kept together. I have a very hard job now because I have five children and my father lives in England. Its hard to find a good family for one child, but for five, Emma said. This morning, Donncha was on one side of me in the bed and Oisin was on the other, they fight over who can be beside Mammy in the morning. Who will be able to take my place when Im gone? You cant put a price on (the importance of) my job, she added. Emma said the Government needs to go as they are not capable of minding us. The only person that can do something now is the President and I never thought Id actually say something like that in a country in 2018, in Ireland, because the Government needs to go. Theyre not and Im not being insulting, its genuine actually capable of minding us and that is their job, to make sure that were ok. Im dying and I didnt even need to die and Im only 37, she said. President Michael D Higgins has agreed to meet with Emma next week. The Government is only allowing claims under an ex gratia payment scheme from victims of child sexual abuse at day schools if they can provide evidence their abuser had been the subject of a prior complaint. This has been criticised as too narrow an interpretation of the 2014 judgment in favour of Ms OKeeffe, in her case against the State for the abuse she suffered by her primary school principal, Leo Hickey, in Cork in the 1970s. While it was shown that there had been previous complaints about Hickey abusing other children, critics of the Government position say the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also apportioned blame to the State for not having sufficient mechanisms for such complaints to be brought in spite of its knowledge of sexual abuse in schools long before Ms OKeeffes abuse. On these grounds, several people who had their cases rejected by the State Claims Agency under a Government-approved scheme for people sexually abused at school appealed to Mr Justice Iarfhlaith ONeill. The retired High Court judge was appointed by Mr Bruton as independent assessor in such cases last November. Mr Justice ONeill wrote to the minister in March as he wanted to determine how the OKeeffe judgment was being interpreted. Specifically, he was trying to assess if requiring evidence of a prior complaint of child sexual abuse against a claimants abuser to the school authority is consistent with the European ruling. Although he had asked for a submission by the end of March, it was only sent by Mr Bruton at the end of April, as reported by the Irish Examiner last week. In that submission on behalf of the State, which the minister has now published, he points to acceptance in 2016 by the Council of Europes committee of ministers of how the Government has responded and implemented the ECHR judgment. The response was assessed after 2015 submissions claiming the ECtHR apportioned liability for Ms OKeeffes abuse to the State partly due to the absence of a system to help protect children from such abuse in schools, and not just because of failure to act on a previous complaint. Mr Brutons submission to Mr Justice ONeill points out that the committee of ministers said in 2016 that the criterion of a prior complaint of sexual abuse to have been made and not acted upon appears to have a reasonable link to the violations found in this [the OKeeffe] case. In the submission, prepared with advice from the attorney general and senior counsel, Mr Bruton describes as wrong the alternative interpretation of the judgment which suggests that the court has imposed strict liability on the State such that there has been an automatic breach of the Article 3 right of every child who was a victim of sexual abuse in a day school in Ireland, at least in the years prior to 1973. Such a development would have been contrary to all ECHR authority. Such a radical position would have been made absolutely clear by the ECHR, he wrote. John gets a card on Fathers Day too from the now nine-year-old boy who has no memory of his mother who died of cervical cancer in 2011, despite a previous clear smear test. Johns devastation at the likely preventable death of his wife is yet another example, to add to the growing number, of a family torn apart by failures in the national cervical cancer screening programme. I feel anger, I have a constant sense of being robbed, John said. Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, the father-of-five from Co Kildare, said he received a phone call last Monday asking him to come to Tallaght Hospital to discuss one of my wifes smear test results. He was told a test that returned a normal result in 2009 had in fact contained cancer warning signs. He was told this had been identified in a 2016 audit. His wife had a previous scare in 2007 and underwent a procedure at Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, to remove precancerous cells. Four weeks later, results indicated she was in the clear. We were overjoyed with that result, John said. She asked the gynaecologist if it was possible to try for a child and he said he didnt see why not. By December 2007, his wife was pregnant. It was great news, we were overjoyed with that too, John said. A fine and healthy baby was born in August 2008 and a post-pregnancy smear six months later came back clear in February 2009. The family went on their first foreign holiday in Salou, Spain, in May, but two days in, Johns wife started to haemorrhage. She was bleeding quite a lot, she knew it wasnt a period. She just kept saying it cant be anything bad, I got an all-clear smear in February. When the family returned home they went to their GP and Johns wife was referred for a colposcopy. She waited six months. In September, she haemorrhaged so badly, that one day she collapsed and lost consciousness. She was admitted to Portlaoise Hospital but discharged the following day because her blood count had improved. Johns wife subsequently contacted the hospital to inquire about the colposcopy delay only to be told they no longer did colposcopy. John said his wifes gynaecological nurse contacted Tallaght Hospital and a consultant agreed to see her within days. On December 16, 2009, John, his wife, and their baby attended Tallaght where the gynaecologist discovered a 6cm tumour. At that stage she was told she had a 70% chance of survival and that she would begin treatment after Christmas. In fact it was March before treatment began. That time was devastating. We tried to remain positive over Christmas. We had five children and the youngest was oblivious, John said. Johns wife lived for 16 months post-diagnosis she died on April 7, 2011 and put up one hell of a fight for her life even though she was in tremendous pain and never stopped bleeding and spent half of the 16 months in hospital. It was horrific, they [the children] used to be asking me if their mam was going to die John said his wife used to look at her baby and cry and ask if he was going to remember her. The thing is he doesnt remember her, he was only two. John took his kids for counselling and sometimes they sit down and watch DVDs of family life with their mum. He hasnt told his youngest that their mum is caught up in the current CervicalCheck scandal because it would re-open old wounds. John is now suing the HSE. The HSE took a gamble with my wifes life. They didnt lose anything and we lost everything. Asked if he was satisfied with the way the scandal is being handled, John said: I really, honestly think that incompetent man, Tony OBrien, should be removed from the job immediately. He said he believed there would be more horrific stories to follow, and lives lost. Johns solicitor, Damien Tansey, said he has received 30 to 40 calls from people concerned about how they or their loved ones were treated as cancer patients. He said the calls extended to concerns about other cancers, not just cervical. He said John was suing the HSE, the entity operating the cervical smear programme, and the lab in the US. In a bid to contain the escalating cancer crisis, the Government cancelled a scheduled Cabinet meeting in Monaghan today and will instead gather in Dublin with under fire Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris. Following the release of three explosive memos from 2016 and a harrowing radio with terminally ill mother of five Emma Mhic Mhathuna, Mr OBrien was facing a Dail motion of no confidence next week and decided to jump before he was pushed. It is understood Mr OBrien will depart with his full terms of his contract being honoured and will not suffer adversely financially by leaving prematurely. The three memos confirmed Mr OBrien knew about the smear test errors as far back as March 2016 but also showed the HSE prioritised its legal position and the potential media fallout, while it neglected to consider the impact on the women affected. Following their publication, Fianna Fail and the Labour Party said they would be backing a Sinn Fein motion which meant Mr OBriens position was no longer tenable. Mr Harris met with Mr OBrien, who informed him of his decision to step down now as opposed to in June as previously planned. He will leave at the close of business today. In a statement, Mr OBrien said he was stepping down in order to avoid any further impact to the delivery of health and social care services, and in particular the cancer screening services that have become the focus of intense political debate in recent days. The departure of Mr OBrien will see attention shift to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mr Harris about what they knew of the scandal, and when. Mr Varadkar was health minister in 2016 when the first memos were sent to Mr OBrien, but his spokesman insisted last night he and Mr Harris were never aware of them. These documents were not brought to the attention of any minister for health, it said. The memos emerged in a confrontational showdown at the PAC between angry TDs and Mr OBrien. He said that while he was aware of the 2016 memo, it did not ring alarm bells, adding he was never told about the number of women affected and that the memo specifically said they would all be contacted. However, after the HSE provided the PAC with a copy of the memo after Mr O Brien had left it emerged the 2016 document made no reference whatsoever to contacting women. Instead, it focused on limiting the damage a headline saying screening did not diagnose my cancer would cause, said the HSE should pause all letters and urged officials to await the advice of solicitors. The memos publication led two ministers who sit at Cabinet Katherine Zappone and Finian McGrath to restate their calls for Mr OBrien to resign immediately. Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone described the 2016 memo to Mr OBrien as a game-changer. Independent Alliance Disability Minister Finian McGrath also called for Mr OBrien to stand aside. I believe in accountability and I am appalled at the revelations today, he said. Furious PAC members lashed out at the fact the memo was the complete opposite to what Mr O Brien had said earlier in the day. Labours Alan Kelly telling Department of Health and HSE officials the devastating document sums up where we are today. The PAC had earlier demanded Mr O Brien who will be forced to attend an emergency PAC meeting on Tuesday over the memo be sacked in response to the heart-breaking Emma Mhic Mhathuna interview with Morning Ireland yesterday. However, in a series of confrontational exchanges which at one point saw Mr O Brien tell TDs to step back, step back and accuse them of hysteria, the HSE director general insisted he had no reason to resign. The developments occurred on another fast-moving day in the cervical cancer tests scandal, during which President Michael D Higgins took the unprecedented step of intervening in the cervical cancer case, saying he will meet Ms Mhic Mhathuna next week. Meanwhile, the State Claims Agency confirmed four women are also suing the States Breast Check system over alleged misdiagnosis. A Communications protocol has been prepared for consulting clinicians to address their questions, the memo said. One memo from March 2016 outlined there is always the risk that in communicating individual case reports to clinicians of an individual patient reacting by contacting the media if they feel that screening did not diagnose my cancer. But the memo did state that no systematic quality problem of concern has been identified in an audit of the smears. Mr OBrien was also told that one of the cytology laboratories had sought legal advice into the right of the programme to communicate audit outcomes. The programme is liaising with legal team on this, the memo states. But most alarming, the memo advises a stopping of communications to the doctors of patients until legal advice returns. Next steps: pause all letters... Await advice of solicitors... Decide on the order and volume of dispatch to mitigate any potential risks... continue to prepare reactive communications response for a media headline that screening did not diagnose my cancer. One memo from CervicalCheck to Mr OBrien, dating from July 2016, said the service would be making the results known to the clinicians looking after individual women diagnosed with cervical cancer. Given the volume of letters that will be issuing over the coming weeks, it is possible that individual cases could appear in the public domain, the memo warned. This is a risk that is inherent in having a clinical audit process as part of the national programme. The clinical audit process will continue to generate case reports from here on, the memo stated. In the documents, released to the Public Accounts Committee and obtained by the Irish Examiner, the HSE was advised in March 2016 that there was a risk patients may start contacting media outlets to say screening did not diagnose their cancer. However, on the second day of his trial he changed his plea to guilty. Patrick Moloney, 37, of 13 Sean Heuston Place, Limerick, was put on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court before Judge Brian OCallaghan and a jury of seven men and five women. The accused pleaded not guilty to making an unwarranted demand with menaces from Liam Heffernan at Liscarroll, Co Cork, between May 15 and June 15, 2016. He changed his plea to one of guilty yesterday. Shane OCallaghan, defence barrister, asked for the accused to be rearraigned on what was the second day of the trial. Moloney then pleaded guilty. Mr OCallaghan BL said the defendant had serious psychological issues and addiction issues and he asked for a probation report. Imelda Kelly prosecution barrister did not object to the bail application pending sentencing. Judge OCallaghan remanded the accused on bail until June 14. He directed payment of a cash lodgement of 500 and ordered the accused to stay out of Cork City and county until his court appearance for sentencing. He was also told to keep his mobile with him at all times and answer to gardai calling to check on him. Mr Heffernan testified that three men called to his home and demanded 10,000 or failing that they wanted a car. Mr Heffernan said he sold cars as a hobby and that one of the men wanted him to sell cars for them. He said that they were very pushy and that one of the unidentified men said, we are the real deal, the boys with the AK47s. Mr Heffernan said he asked, Do you mean the IRA? He said one of the men replied, youre the smart boy alright. Asked how he felt during the encounter, Mr Heffernan said: I was petrified, three fellas in my back door roaring into my face. It comes as the LoveBoth group, which is campaigning for a no vote, held an event with a number of parents who said they felt pressure during pregnancy to opt for abortion after their children were diagnosed as having Down syndrome. However, Down Syndrome Ireland chief executive Gary Owens said the organisation had already asked both sides of the campaign not to include Down syndrome issues in the debate. He said Down Syndrome Ireland had firmly stated it will not be taking any sides and believed voters should be given the space to make up their own minds. We have appealed to both sides to respect people with Down syndrome and not to bring them into the debate, said Mr Owens. Speaking at a LoveBoth event yesterday, Monica Hardarean said there were very few positives put forward around keeping her child when a diagnosis was made. We could have gone to England to abort our babies and we chose to go ahead, she said. Mothers are put under so much pressure to make a decision and you will think that it is in your babys interest to go and terminate. She described it as one of the scariest times in her life. Just looking back how scared we were and how the outcome is, its such a big difference, she said. We could have been among those numbers [who terminate] and the reason we came here is to just raise awareness around this and to let women have choices in being informed about the positives as well, not only about the negatives. We were told so many negatives around the diagnosis that our baby had and just a few or maybe not a single positive. Women have to know both sides of the story, not only one side. Another parent, Sinead McBreen, said the decision to be made in the referendum on May 25 will have profound effects on Ireland for generations to come. I didnt pay particular attention to this debate until I came face to face with the pressure to abort my own daughter, she said. I have since come to realise that these pressures are much more widespread than an isolated case here and there. A group of barristers, solicitors, and other legal professionals opposing the Governments proposals in the upcoming referendum are to hold an event in Dublin this morning. The report by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality follows a series of meetings it held with groups and interested parties across 2017. It argues against a one-size-fits-all policy for prison environments. It says there is still a huge over-reliance in the prison system on closed prisons, where the regime is 16 to 17 hours per day spent in the cell. Committee chairman and Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain said the last such report was issued in 2013, and the committee had identified reforms as a priority for its term. Over the course of our engagement with stakeholders, it became abundantly clear that there is systematic overuse of imprisonment as punishment in Ireland, and that sentencing alternatives need to be explored, he said. It also became clear that conditions in prisons themselves are unacceptable, and that far more needs to be done to rehabilitate offenders, reduce recidivism, and minimise the impact of crime on victims and the community. The report recommends replacing court-imposed fines with a victim surcharge similar to the Canadian model, where financial penalties applied to offenders will go directly to fund an ombudsmans office or victim-support organisations. It states that mother-and-baby units should be developed within the Irish prison system, especially along the lines of those in some womens prisons in England and Wales which support female offenders in cohabiting with their children in a purpose-built facility. While a statutory complaints procedure was introduced in 2013, the report says the Inspector of Prisons had since argued that the necessary element of independence in the system was not included and recommends a completely independent mechanism. It also notes that, last year, the UN Committee against Torture expressed concern that there are deficiencies in the system such as lack of or incomplete documentation of complaints, delays in investigations by external investigators, gaps in referrals to police in appropriate cases, [and] confusion about the complaints categorisation as well as delays in their resolution. The UN committee also reported that there is reportedly no confidence in the complaints system, that prisoners fear that they would not be protected if they were to make a complaint and were therefore discouraged from making complaints. Deirdre Malone, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, said it met with the committee last year. We are particularly pleased about a number of strong developments and recommendations in the report. She said: These include a cap on prisoner numbers in each institution, along with the adoption of a clear strategy to reduce the prison population by half over a fixed time scale; the increased use of innovative community-based semi-open facilities; and at least 12 hours per day out of cell time with meaningful activities for prisoners. Sinn Fein defence spokesperson Aengus O Snodaigh yesterday said the CervicalCheck scandal has demonstrated a need for the State to disclose the medically sensitive information it has to affected members of the public including the former Air Corps staff. Mr O Snodaigh asked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar if the Government would release a report on working conditions in the Air Corps headquarters in Casement Aerodrome that it has withheld. The Irish Examiner has previously revealed that seven former Air Corps staff are suing the State, having received the opinion of a toxico-pathologist who says the chronic illnesses that they are suffering, such as cancers and brain disorders, are a result of their exposures to chemicals they used while working at Casement Aerodrome. A document, the Chemical Exposure Report 1994-2005, was prepared off the back of the legal claims, and while the Government has been advised not to publish its findings in the interest of legal privilege, it has been told it has the power to release the report at its discretion. Mr O Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach, in his capacity as Minister for Defence, if he would publish the report in view of his recent call for candour and transparency in cases regarding the health of persons. Given the current controversy around the checks for cervical cancer, there is a need for transparency in publishing reports that will help people suffering health consequences so they can manage future health needs, said Mr O Snodaigh. He said those affected need to know what they were exposed to in order to get adequate treatment. Mr O Snodaigh also highlighted one case in which the State Claims Agency is fighting tooth and nail against a High Court discovery order demanding the release of a list of chemicals used in the Air Corps hangars. This is potentially catastrophic for some of those making claims and also for some who are not making claims, said Mr O Snodaigh. That list alone could save lives. Given the current debacle with cervical smear tests, I ask the minister of state to think again about the withholding of information that can affect peoples lives and future health, he said. Responding to the request, Junior Defence Minister Paul Kehoe said it would not be appropriate to release the report. The deputy is trying to link two very distinct and different matters in cervical cancer and the issue we are discussing now, he said. In almost three out of 10 cases accepted by Information Commissioner Peter Tyndall, there was a failure by public bodies to meet response deadlines. Public bodies, it emerged, failed to respond in a timely manner to FoI requests both at the initial stage and internal review stage. That is an unacceptably high level, said Mr Tyndall when he launched his annual report for 2017 yesterday. I fully accept that public bodies must meet the increasing demand for their services and they often have to make difficult decisions in terms of prioritising the allocation of resources, he said. However, the administration of the FoI Act is a statutory function which should be afforded as much weight as any other statutory function. Mr Tyndall said that during the financial crisis many public service organisations reduced or lost their specialist capacity to deal with FoI requests. Since the increase in demand we have not seen a commensurate increase in the capacity of public bodies to deal with the requests they are receiving, he said. The Office of the Information Commissioner conducts independent reviews of decisions made by public bodies on FoI requests where the applicants are unhappy with the responses received. Mercy University Hospital, the second largest general hospital in Cork, was one of five organisations issued with a directive by the Information Commissioner last year. Similar directives were issued to the Department of Justice and Equality, the National Maternity Hospital (Dublin), Kildare County Council, and the Irish Prison Service. Mr Tyndalls office wrote to the Mercy Hospital on November 2, 2016, about its proposal to charge an applicant a retrieval fee for access to records, and a two-week deadline for responding had been set. The chief executive of the hospital was issued with a notice on January 25, 2017, requiring the information to be provided within seven days. That deadline passed without a reply. On February 6 last year, the hospital informed Mr Tyndalls office that it had decided not to charge a fee. The National Maternity Hospital was asked by an investigating officer on September 11, 2017, for information about searches made to locate the records sought by an applicant. A reply was eventually received on October 19, 2017, four weeks beyond the initial deadline. Kildare County Council, meanwhile, issued a response more than six weeks after the initial deadline while the Irish Prison Service responded two months after the deadline. After failing to meet a further two-week deadline, the Department of Justice and Equality responded two days after a notice was issued. Case Study I: Council appeals hotels decision Dublin City Council has appealed against a decision made by Information Commissioner Peter Tyndall to identify hotels and B&Bs providing emergency accommodation to homeless people. The council argued that the accommodation providers would withdraw their services if the information was released. The case is one of a number highlighted in the commissioners 2017 annual report in which Mr Tyndall explains the reason for his decision. He said he accepted there was a possibility that disclosure could have some effect on the supply of accommodation to the council. Some of the hotels argued that they would lose business to competitors if it was known that they had accommodated homeless people on behalf of the council. A number warned they would stop providing emergency accommodation if the information sought became public. In his decision, Mr Tyndall concluded that, on balance, the public interest would be better served by the disclosure of the information and this was due in part because of the substantial public monies involved. He said it had been reported that, in 2016 alone, 38.9m was spent by the council on such accomodation Case Study II: FoI anomaly with GSOC records Information Commissioner Peter Tyndall has found an anomaly within the Freedom of Information legislation where records held by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) are not automatically excluded from it. He made the discovery when his office considered the extent to which Garda records are subject to Freedom of Information Act 2014. An applicant had sought a review of the decision of An Garda Siochana to refuse access to, among other things, an investigation file relating to the conduct of members of the force. However, Mr Tyndal decided that the records were not administrative records relating to human resources within the meaning of the act. The records resulted from a complaint made to GSOC that was referred to the gardai for investigation. Mr Tyndall said records held by the GSOC are excluded from the act so they could conduct their investigations in confidence. However, while it did not affect his ultimate decision, he found that where those records are held by other public bodies, such as An Garda Siochana, they were not automatically excluded. That is one of the anomalies that exist within the legislation and would apply to other regulators and ombudsmans offices also," he pointed out. The Internet-driven world shook when Facebook was recently exposed for having shared personal information about 87 million users to a private company, the aftershocks of which are still being felt as it becomes clear this is not a one-off event. As new EU regulations come into force late this month that require companies to protect personal data, restricting the way it is collected and used, ISO is taking the consumer voice one step further. A team of privacy experts has been formed to develop the first set of preventative international guidelines for ensuring consumer privacy is embedded into the design of a product or service, offering protection throughout the whole life cycle. The new ISO project committee, ISO/PC 3171), Consumer protection: privacy by design for consumer goods and services, was developed by ISO/COPOLCO, the ISO committee that deals with consumer issues in standardization. Its remit is to develop a standard that will not only enable compliance with regulations, but generate greater consumer trust at a time when it is needed most. Speaking via video at an ISO international workshop dedicated to the issue, held in Bali, Indonesia, this week, internationally renowned Canadian privacy expert Dr Ann Cavoukian welcomed the move. The majority of privacy breaches remain unchallenged, unregulated and unknown, she said. Regulatory compliance alone is unsustainable as the sole model for ensuring the future of privacy. Prevention is needed. The ISO workshop, held under the theme Consumer protection in the digital economy, brought together more than 150 consumer and standardization experts from 34 countries and provided an opportunity for the new committee to share ideas and advance the project. It covered areas such as the impacts of data protection, artificial intelligence, the sharing economy and legislation on the online consumer experience. Pete Eisenegger, ISO/COPOLCOs lead person for data protection and privacy and member of ISO/PC 317, said that implementing the standard will help companies comply with regulations and avoid potentially devastating data breaches that erode consumers confidence in the digital world. It will place the consumer at the centre of the design process, he said. It will allow goods and services providers to address all the life-cycle issues of privacy by design, so that consumers can have greater confidence in their purchases and take back control over the use of their data. Whats more, it will also go wider than the new EU regulations for data protection by also addressing cyber security of consumer products for us in our homes, right from the design stage. The standard will be of use to those providing digitally connected consumer products, such as home appliances and wearable devices, mobile application developers, online service providers and more. Learn more about the ISO Committee on consumer policy, ISO/COPOLCO. Sunday, June 18th, 2017 (10:56 am) - Score 2,570 The incumbent telecoms and broadband provider for Hull in East Yorkshire, KCOM, is reportedly aiming to be one of the first cities in the UK to switch-off their ageing copper telephone lines. Instead theyd become reliant upon their new full fibre (FTTP/H) network for communication services. So far KCOM has already deployed their Gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network to over 100,000 homes and businesses in their footprint and they aim to cover 150,000 premises by December 2017, which equates to 75% of their overall network in Hull and East Yorkshire (a roll-out plan for tackling the final 25% is expected to follow). Take-up is also strong with around 45,000 customers choosing to subscribe. However the FT (paywall) claims that KCOMs CEO, Bill Halbert, is now beginning to plan for a future that would decommission their old copper telephone network and they intend to be the first to do it. This is hardly surprising given that no other UK city has the same level of FTTP coverage as Hull. Bill Halbert said: Copper cannot handle the future. It has to be fibre all the way. Thats one of the big national challenges for our economy. At this point wed highlight that completely removing copper would still be a very awkward challenge for KCOM, not least since around 8% of their Lightstream roll-out of fibre optic based broadband technology consists of 75Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) technology (thats a mix of both cable types). Decommissioning FTTC would thus require KCOM to go back a second time and upgrade areas with FTTP, which theyll have to do eventually anyway but the question is when and how much will it cost? Sadly theres no mention of any timetable for such a switch-off, which means that it could still be someway off in the future. On top of that virtually all of KCOMs customers would need to be swapped to FTTP lines before they could pull the plug on copper, which is another complicated problem as some people dont like being forced to change. We suspect that such a switch-off may require quite a long-winded phase-out process. The FT article also talks a lot about phone lines, although its important to distinguish between the phone / voice side of that service and the physical copper line underneath. For example, BT hopes to migrate users off their traditional phone (PSTN) network by 2025 and switch them to IP-based voice services (e.g. VoIP). Crucially this doesnt mean that BT is going to remove their copper lines, theyre just changing what happens over those same lines. Likewise the swap to IP-based voice comms doesnt mean that old analogue handsets need to stop working. Its entirely possible to buy an analogue telephone adapter and some routers already include sockets for these, which allow you to connect analogue phones and essentially use them for calling over VoIP via a broadband connection. Given the advent of hybrid-fibre G.fast and follow-on broadband technologies, we suspect that operators like BT will be using their copper lines for a long time to come. Regulation is another complicated barrier to overcome and at some point Ofcom may need to consider further changes in order to fully support both the removal of old PSTN services and the retirement of copper lines. We recently covered some other aspects of this subject as part of our February 2017 editorial The Changing Face of UK Home Phone Lines and Broadband Provision. Friday, May 11th, 2018 (11:07 am) - Score 3,079 Belfast-based ISP B4B Networks, which until now has largely focused upon serving business premises in Northern Ireland, has hinted that they could soon build their own full fibre FTTP/H style ultrafast broadband network to homes and businesses in certain parts of the UK. The information came to light as part of B4Bs request for Code Powers from Ofcom, which are often sought by infrastructure builders in order to help them simplify and speed-up the planning process (e.g. by reducing the number of licenses needed for civil engineering work to take place). B4B said it intended to design build, operate, own and deliver their ultrafast fibre optic broadband to businesses and / or homes in urban areas and underserved and remote rural areas. Apparently theyve already conducted a successful trial of such a network to premises in various business parks throughout Northern Ireland (e.g. Newry and Limavady). Under the new plan they claim to have identified projects in Belfast as well as Northern Ireland provincial towns. In addition to this, as part of the new Governments Gigabit Voucher Scheme, it is also working on identifying projects in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Bristol, Bath, and North East Somerset, Coventry, Warwickshire, West Yorkshire and West Sussex. Ofcoms Statement The applicant has explained that it will be delivering FTTP/FTTH connections to provide Ultrafast Managed internet connectivity and propose to share its ducts with third parties to assist with 5G backhaul for mobile operators and for the delivery IOT applications to help towns and cities deliver their Smart City vision. The Applicant states that being able to install its own network of ducts it can offer a competitive service and help future proof businesses in the regions to which it has a presence. The applicant has explained that the availability of FTTH/FTTP is currently very low in Northern Ireland, as only 0.2% of premises can get download speeds of at least 300Mbps. Many SMEs suffer poor broadband speeds and unreliable service even in areas with high concentrations of businesses, in cities and towns. The major providers only offer FTTH/FTTP either in areas where they currently have no presence at all (very rural areas) or at a significant cost to the consumer. The cost of Fibre-on-Demand can be prohibitive to many consumers. The Applicants Networks will provide access to ultrafast FTTP at significantly more competitive prices. Given the proportion of SMEs in NI, introducing ultrafast broadband could help grow the economy by aiding businesses. The claim that only 0.2% of premises can get download speeds of at least 300Mbps in N.Ireland appears to be out of date, not least due to the fact that Virgin Medias now 350Mbps capable cable network can reach nearly a third of the country. Ofcoms most recent data from January 2018 noted that 35% of N.Ireland (266,000 premises) could get access to such a speed, while full fibre coverage allegedly stands at 8% (58,200 premises). However we note that Thinkbroadbands most recent data seems to disagree and puts the figure at 1.48%, which confuses matters (well ask Andrew to clarify). Nevertheless theres definitely plenty of room for B4B to expand, although theyll need to remain mindful of N.Irelands 150m future plans to expand full fibre services (here) but thats more for rural areas. As usual we expect the regulator to approve B4Bs proposal and ISPs have a habit of putting their most optimistic aspirations into such requests (i.e. they should be taken with a pinch of salt until something solid is announced). UPDATE 11:59am B4B has clarified to us that they have no plans to do FTTH in the short term and are currently focused on FTTP for businesses in Northern Ireland / Republic. Dominic Kearns, B4B Group CEO, said: Our initial focus is serving business hubs around Northern Ireland with FTTP, building on our existing roll out to 15 business parks throughout the region. Weve currently about 20 prospective projects in the pipeline and demand for services is welcomingly high. As a company we are proud of our delivery of business services to our customers. Key to this is reliable future proofed fibre connectivity and we see ourselves as the alternative business ISP to the major players in Northern Ireland. In terms of the 150m state aid for Northern Ireland we are keen to see competition for delivery of full fibre services to the rural areas that are currently not served by superfast speeds. We see this money as a major stimulus to attracting much wider investment currently being experienced by the market. Meanwhile Thinkbroadband has confirmed that the reason their coverage figures are so much lower in N.Ireland than Ofcoms is because they arent counting Virgin Medias FTTP / RFOG deployments, which are also quite difficult to identify. Friday, May 11th, 2018 (9:53 am) - Score 3,356 East Yorkshire focused ISP KCOM, which serves Hull, has long talked about becoming one of the first cities in the UK to switch-off their ageing copper telephone service (here). As part of that theyve contracted Amdocs to provide automated software management of their network components. At present KCOM anticipates that their 85m and FTTP dominated full fibre broadband network (with a tiny bit of slower FTTC / VDSL2) should cover 100% of their area by March 2019 (i.e. around 200,000 homes and businesses). Suffice to say that this will put them into a prime position for retiring their old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) phone services and adopting a more IP centric future. Today we got just a little hint of what this might mean after Amdocs was contracted to upgrade their service delivery platform and enhance KCOMs new next generation network infrastructure. Among other things this will enable the operator to deliver new Network Function Virtualization (NFV) based services to its customers. Highlights of the Amdocs Deal Amdocs orchestration platform will support KCOMs zero-touch customer service portal, giving it the capability to select: Bandwidth on-demand Time-bound bandwidth SD-WAN services Amdocs automated software management will ensure KCOMs voice service is delivered through online portals. As KCOM migrates residential customers from PSTN to VoIP, Amdocs will help manage and automate this process. The last one is perhaps of most interest. Amdocs clarified that KCOM will also be migrating its [PSTN] residential customers to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Softswitch as part of this project, where the service delivery platform from Amdocs will be able to manage and automate any fulfilment steps without affecting the voice service received by residential customers. Sean Royce, KCOMs Executive Vice President for Technology, said: We want to improve the services we deliver to our customers and the experience we offer them. Were starting with our voice services so need a platform that can deliver this phase and then be deployed more widely across our business as the basis for other services. By working with Amdocs, we are gaining a partner that shares KCOMs ambitions and can grow with us. Sadly no timescale is given but with their FTTP network being expected to complete next year then its probably not very far off. The Federal Government has opened submissions for funding of round 2 of the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program, offering grants between $250,000 and $5 million for collaborative projects which apply innovative technology solutions to urban challenges, delivering economic, social and environmental benefits. The government has an exhibition stand at the Australian Smart Communities Association Conference in Melbourne, and ASCA says is it will continue to work with the Government to support the delivery of innovative smart city projects which make our communities more liveable, sustainable and technologically empowered. This is a great opportunity for delegates to learn more about the application process and how to submit funding applications, the ASCA's Brook Dixon said. Last year, 49 projects received a total of $27.7 million in Australian Government funding across all states and territories about one third of the recipients were ASCA members who are at the forefront of creating smart communities. We encourage our members to take advantage of this second round of funding to grow Australias smart cities capability and deliver smart city solutions to advance community goals and address the needs of our residents. Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher said funding was open to all cities, with 40% of successful projects from Round One located in regional areas. ASCA will also represent its members on the Cities Reference Group, established to provide innovative, expert advice to support delivery of the government's Smart Cities Plan. Our close working relationship with the Australian Government ensures that ASCA continues to advocate on behalf of our members and partners while fostering greater collaboration across all sectors in this exciting field of smart city innovation, Dixon said. In a world where plenty of competition exists in the entry-level, mid-range and upper mid-range space, Samsung hopes to tempt you into spending a little more to get a better phone. Want a less expensive Android phone? There are plenty around, but if the price is too cheap, the performance usually matches the price. Still, in 2018, there are some impressive Android phones at a range of price points, more so than ever before, but as always, there's a reason why a flagship phone is $1000 or above, and a reason why a phone is $150 and every price point in between. While Samsung also has plenty of phones at various price points too, its A-Series range is the one that effectively sits in the upper mid-range space, with not quite all the features as the S-series, and without the higher price tag, but still with enough desirable features people want to justify the higher price than sub-$500 models. So, what is inside the Galaxy A8, and what does Samsung have to say about it? Well, it features "a Dual Front Camera, a large Infinity Display and ergonomic styling that draws on Samsungs design heritage in developing beautifully crafted metal and glass devices", or so the company says. In addition, we're told that "the Galaxy A8 deliver features and functionality synonymous with the Samsung Galaxy portfolio including": IP68 water and dust resistance, Super AMOLED 5.6-inch FHD+ Infinity Display with 18.5:9 screen ratio Fast charging battery (with compatible fast charger) Incredible front and rear facing camera Gear VR support Integration with Samsung services like Samsung Pay There's also a fuller list of specs below. Samsung's local vice-president of IT and Mobile, Garry McGregor, said: "The Galaxy A8 is an exciting product for Samsung, offering a beautiful form and design, rich feature set, and sophisticated smartphone experience that Australians have come to expect from a Galaxy device. Samsung is committed to ensuring that we provide Australians with the best possible smartphone experience across our entire Galaxy portfolio and we strive to ensure these experiences are accessible. The company then states that the Galaxy A8 "forms an essential part of the Samsung mobile range, along with the Note, S- series, and J-series devices", with the latest offerings in these categories including the "Galaxy S9 and S9+, Note8, J5 Pro and J7 Pro". Offering a mobile portfolio that is tailored to the needs of Australians and that provides choice is a core pillar in our approach to make the best in Samsung mobile technology available to our customers, whatever their needs may be, McGregor added. We're also told that the "Galaxy A8 also supports separately available microSD cards, allowing you to expand device storage capacity by as much as 400GB, and is the first in the A series to support Samsungs Gear VR" virtual reality headset. Billed as being "great for watching movies or playing games", Samsung proudly boasts that "the Galaxy A8 sets a new standard for the A series range. The Infinity Display goes beyond the bezel, offering an immersive 18.5:9 display ratio, allowing users to view a whole scene across the screen for the ultimate cinematic experience". "Snap bright, clear selfies with the 16MP F1.7 rear camera and 16MP+8MP F1.9 Dual Front Camera, in nearly all types of lighting and backgrounds. "The Dual Front Camera is made up of two separate cameras, so users can switch between the two to take the perfect selfie in all conditions from close-ups to portrait shots with a clear and crisp background. And with the advanced Live Focus feature, you can easily adjust the bokeh effect before or after you take the picture to create high-quality images". Then there's the "video digital image stabilisation, which Samsung bills as "exceptional for creating social stories" as the tech "helps to keep videos steady, and an added hyperlapse feature gives users an easy way to create time-lapses". Available now in Black and Orchid Grey finishes from Samsung Experience Stores, Samsung Studios and the Samsung e-Store with an RRP of $649, and through authorised retail and operator partners, the only thing Samsung didn't also do was to announce whether the Galaxy A8+ was coming to Australia or not. Given Samsung made no mention of the effectively identical A8+ model, but with 6-inch screen, which can be seen here at Samsung's Global A8/A8+ site, it probably isn't coming, although I guess you never know. Also, the A8 comes with Android 7.1.1 there's seemingly no word as yet on if this will receive an update to Android 8.x Oreo, or the Android 9.x "P" version later this year (or the next). Here are the Samsung Galaxy A8 Product Specifications: Display 5.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED,10802220 Camera Front: Dual Camera 16MP FF (F1.9) + 8MP (F1.9) Rear: 16MP PDAF (F1.7) Dimension 149.2 x 70.6 x 8.4 mm, 172g CPU (AP/Application Processor) Octa Core (2.2GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Hexa) Memory 4GB RAM, 32GB Battery 3,000mAh Fast Charging / USB Type-C OS Android 7.1.1 Network LTE Cat. 11 Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80, 256 QAM, Bluetooth v 5.0 (LE up to 2Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC Location GPS, Glonass, BeiDou - BeiDou coverage may be limited Payment NFC, MST Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light Sensor Audio MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXM IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA Video MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM Here are four Samsung videos for the A8 series, the first from Samsung Malaysia, the next two from Samsung in the US, and the last from GSM Arena doing a sub 5-minute review of the A8 2018 model: Yes, you, I mean you... buy what I decide is good for you. One of the biggest telecommunications players in the world, China's ZTE, has been effectively shut down by a US ban and the ripple effects mean that Uncle Sam may well decide the brand of the next smartphone you buy. Australia's biggest telco, Telstra, yesterday said it would stop selling 22 co-branded ZTE devices as there was no guarantee that supplies would continue, given that ZTE had announced it was ceasing its main business activities in the US, an act that was likely to have ripple effects. The blocking out of ZTE means that if the US authorities next decide that Samsung is a security threat based on evidence that others are not allowed to see then that company will have to pull out of the US as well. ZTE was, until a couple of days ago, the fourth biggest seller of smartphones in the US, behind Apple, Samsung and LG. Not by virtue of making spectacular phones, but by catering to many niche markets. The company fell foul of the rules by violating US sanctions on Iran and North Korea and agreed to pay a fine of US$1.19 billion in March 2017. Last month, the US Department of Commerce imposed a seven-year ban on ZTE acquiring components from US companies - on which it depends to manufacture its products - because of false statements made by the company during talks in 2016 over a charge of shipping telco equipment to Iran and North Korea. As a penalty, US firms cannot sell parts to ZTE for seven years. ZTE, incidentally, is one of four companies that has the resources and staffing to build 5G networks; the others are Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei. This case may seem clear-cut. But the US is also pursuing Huawei, claiming that it is a danger to national security, with not a shred of evidence to show. Given that, one cannot help but think that this has more to do with controlling trade with China, rather than anything else. As the ZTE ban will also affect American companies, it seems like the US is cutting off its nose to spite its face. The ban, will, however clear the way for AT&T and Verizon to dominate the 5G field in the US. And it will give Cisco some respite from competition as the company that once dominated networking struggles to compete in the face of the rise of software-defined networking that has been eating into its profits. Over the years, technology firms have become increasingly dependent on inputs from multiple countries to build their products. Coding, hardware manufacture, chips, memory, screens for smartphones, you name it if supply from one company is cut off, then the cascading effect can be felt by many other companies across the globe. It only takes a fire at one memory factory in Taiwan for prices to rise across the world. Globalisation has gone too far to be simply yanked back; you can't unscramble an egg without some real shocks to the system. So which company will the US target next? And what about its acolytes like the other four of the so-called Five Eyes countries the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand? Will they start toeing the Washington line? The UK has only gone as far as warning against the use of ZTE equipment in British telecommunications infrastructure. No matter what happens next, one thing is very clear. China will move to ensure that it is self-sufficient as far as electronic components go, so that there cannot be a repeat of this incident. And next time, the political fallout will be much greater. A year after a leaked NSA Windows exploit known as EternalBlue was used to create the WannaCry ransomware that caused chaos around the world, a security researcher says it is being used more than ever by attackers in crafting threats. Ondrej Kubovic of the Slovakian security firm ESET said in a blog post that while WannaCry was rarely seen these days, EternalBlue was still posing a threat to both patched and unpatched systems. He cited the company's telemetry that showed the popularity of the exploit, one of many crafted by the NSA and leaked on the Web in April 2016 by a group known as the Shadow Brokers, had been growing over the last few months, with a recent spike being even bigger that its peaks in 2017. EternalBlue exploits a flaw in an obsolete version of Microsoft's implementation of the Server Message Block protocol through port 445; it was patched by the company a month before the exploit was leaked. To this day, there is no clue as to the identity of the Shadow Brokers. "Black hats scan the Internet for exposed SMB ports, and if found, (they) launch the exploit code," Kubovic wrote. If the attacker found a vulnerable system, then a payload of his/her choice would be run on the target and this was how WannaCry was distributed across networks. WannaCry was stopped in its tracks when British security researcher Marcus Hutchins registered a domain he had found in its source code; the malware had been programmed to check this domain, and continue spreading if it could not access the domain. Kubovic said EternalBlue had a quiet period after the ravages of WannaCry, with detections dropping to a few hundred a day. But since September 2017, the use of the exploit had continued to grow and had reached new heights in mid-April. "One possible explanation for the latest peak is the Satan ransomware campaign seen around those dates, but it could be connected to other malicious activities as well," he said. Apart from WannaCry, EternalBlue has also powered the Petya (aka NotPetya, Nyetya or Golden Eye) ransomware in June 2017 and the BadRabbit ransomware campaign in the last three months of 2017. It was also used by the Sednit (aka APT28, Fancy Bear and Sofacy) cyber-espionage group to attack Wi-Fi networks in European hotels. "This exploit and all the attacks it has enabled so far highlight the importance of timely patching as well as the need for a reliable and multi-layered security solution that can block the underlying malicious tool," Kubovic said. Victorias Chisholm Institute of TAFE has introduced a course in cyber security developed in collaboration with industry partners. Chisholm says the Cert IV Cyber Security course is a high-tech, high-speed, accelerated program that will equip students with the skills, knowledge and work placement experience required to get job ready in a growth sector. It says with the rise of big data presenting a risk to global security there is a need to defeat hackers, and the nationally recognised training enables students to learn network security fundamentals, ethics and privacy within an ICT environment, and present research. The institute says with intake for mid-year, the Cert IV is ideal for those wanting to explore a range of possibilities within the IT sector, including penetration testing, human hacking, eForensics and IT security- and the skills acquired will provide students with a multitude of career options worldwide. Chisholm course educator Racquel Warke said the course is the culmination of industry partners and colleagues and is part of a unique pathway to the Advanced Diploma of Cyber Security providing both theory and practice. Joe DAmico, general manager, Business and IT, Chisholm Institute, said: Were pleased to provide students with an opportunity to gain valuable skills that will contribute to a prosperous career in a growing field, where security is constantly under threat. When we think of security we think of cyber threat. However systems are also vulnerable due to the people administering them. The course provides a holistic overview of security for anyone who wants to work in the sector in a number of roles. The course can be completed full-time over 12 months, or part-time over 24 months. Reddit Email 170 Shares The new American strategy on Iran is to dismantle the nuclear deal and lay the groundwork for a military strike against Irans nuclear facilities. Mike Pompeo, Trumps most recent Secretary of State, recently visited Saudi Arabia and Israel, and in both countries he focused almost exclusively on Iran. As yesterdays early morning bombing of Iranian targets in Syria has shown, the Israelis are becoming increasingly concerned that a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria will harm their security. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently expressed dismay when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused to rule out a long-term Iranian presence in the Golan Heights. John Kerry recently revealed that the Israelis frequently appealed to the Obama administration to attack Iranian nuclear sites. He also revealed that all American allies in the Middle East have repeatedly implored the United States to take military action against Iran. The Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) was specifically focused on freezing Irans capacity to enrich uranium over the next 25 years. In 2014, Pompeo, then Republican senator of Kansas, went on record as stating that it is under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity. This is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces. These are not the words of a man who has much patience for diplomacy. North Korea is different: it already has nuclear weapons and the ability to strike American targets. Pompeo speaks softly with the North Koreans, but with Iran, which has no nuclear capacities (and according to Pompeo himself, was not seeking them prior to the nuclear deal), he carries a stick. John Bolton, whose support for the criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003 is well documented, has long advocated a military strike against Iran, and he has a very cozy relationship with the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, an Iranian dissident organization dedicated to regime change in Iran. No doubt, the Trump administration does not expect the Iranians to accept any renegotiation of the nuclear deal. This is already clear from the absurd requirements they expect the Iranians to accept in any future deal. They want Iran to refrain from pursuing its geopolitical objectives in the region while Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel freely pursue their own policy of further destroying the Palestinians, supporting radical Islamists in Syria against Asad, and creating the worst humanitarian crisis in the world in Yemen. For their part, the Iranians already see the nuclear deal as a huge compromise: Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the treaty clearly states that signatories are not under any legal obligation to refrain from enriching uranium, so long as it is used for civilian, not military purposes. The fact that the Iranians even accepted this deal is already a major concession to Western powers, and the only reason they accepted the deal was to escape years of crippling economic sanctions. The idea that they would now return to the table after years of grueling negotiations is highly unlikely. The Trump administration no doubt knows this, and must already have discussed how to react to the possibility of Irans decision to pull out of the deal. The Trump administration will do all it can to freeze Irans economy and sanction any European firm that does business with Iran, effectively re-imposing the sanctions the Iranians hoped to escape by signing the nuclear deal: Even once all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran have been lifted, Iran will remain one of the most sanctioned countries on earth. This de facto blockade will embolden hardliners in Iran who saw in the nuclear deal little more than capitulation to the fickle and ever-changing demands of the West. The Iranians will themselves abandon the deal if the cost of remaining in it becomes higher than the cost of pulling out. They may decide to reinstate their enrichment program. The Trump administration is betting that this will occur, and that it will cause European powers to unite behind an American military strike against Iran. All of the pieces will be in place. No sooner did Pompeo end his brief visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel than did Netanyahu go live on Israeli television and, standing behind a screen that read Iran Lied in big black letters, claim that he has special evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear program. Political theatre: the Washington Post reports that most of the evidence presented dates back to 2015, before the nuclear deal was even signed, and that intelligence experts and diplomats said he did not seem to have presented a smoking gun showing that Iran had violated the agreement, although he may have helped make a case on behalf of hawks in U.S. President Donald Trumps administration who want to scrap it. He appears to have succeeded. The meaning of Trumps alleged isolationism is finally becoming clear: what he really opposes are large-scale ground invasions (which he perceives as a drain on American military resources), not air campaigns against foreign adversaries. He hired Pompeo and Bolton partly in order to pursue a more aggressive strategy against Iran. They know what they are doing. An American strike against Iran raises the specter of a wider regional war. Unlike their mute response to Israels recent strike against Iranian targets in Syria, the Russians will likely see any attack on Iran as an attack on one of their key assets in the region. Those opposed to military action against Iran urgently need to start speaking up now if they hope to inform the American public on the disastrous consequences any attack against Iran is likely to have, for the region and for the Iranian people themselves. Cover Photo: US President Donald Trump has announced his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, but his administration wants inspections of Tehrans nuclear sites to continue, officials say. Reddit Email 182 Shares It is understandable that observers are alarmed about an Iran-Israel conflict in the aftermath of the violation by Trump of the 2015 Iranian nuclear enrichment treaty. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu worked hard to undermine the treaty in the US, using cut-outs such as allegedly corrupt casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who bought the Republican Party in Congress with massive campaign contributions. The Israelis struck a Golan village in Syria, baiting Hizbullah and Iran into a response, and then used the response as a pretext for a substantial set of bombing raids on alleged Iranian facilities in Syria. Netanyahu appears to have cleared these strikes with Vladimir Putin, who seems to have okayed them as long as they did not threaten Syrian regime stability or harm Russian military forces in Syria. That is, Putin is not really an ally of Lebanons party-militia, Hizbullah, but rather is willing to allow it to deploy alongside the troops of the Syrian Arab Army to shore up the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It is an alliance of convenience, purely based on a commitment to prop up the Baath Party in Damascus. If Hizbullah fights Sunni Muslim extremists allied with Chechen rebels, Putin will give them air support from his Aerospace Forces. But to the extent that Hizbullah and Iran have used their presence in Syria also to establish weapons smuggling networks for the protection of south Lebanon or to regain the Occupied Golan Heights, that is, to any extent the Shiite powers have used their defense of al-Assad also to strengthen themselves against Israel, Putin is neutral. He has a million former citizens in Israel and can think of uses for it in Russian power games. So his attitude seems to be, with regard to the Hizbullah-Israel context, knock yourselves out. As long as al-Assad is secure and as long as the Sunni rebels are gradually losing, Putin doesnt care. That Putin will put up with some tit for tat raiding between Israel and Hizbullah/Iran in Syria, however, is not the same thing as saying that he will put up with a full scale war between the two. Such a war would violate his guidelines, inasmuch as it would weaken the pro-Assad forces and risk letting the Sunni rebels achieve a resurgence, and a big war would endanger Russian military personnel and facilities. So yesterdays raids are probably the most extensive Israel can hope to launch. The conflict in Syria cannot escalate because Russia wont allow that. Israel could try to repeat its 2006 attack on Hizbullah in Lebanon, but that misadventure did not go well and Hizbullah is a lot better armed and battle-hardened now than then. It could nevertheless happen. It is hard to see how it could be a victory for anyone. Iran is too far away from Israel to engage it directly. Even if Israel deployed from Azerbaijan, that would just cause an Iranian invasion of Azerbaijan, likely with the help of Armenia. Israel has allegedly bothered Iran with covert ops such as assassinating its scientists or encouraging the Baluchi terrorist group, Jundallah, to blow up Shiite mosques in Zahedan. That is a dangerous game because there are things Iran can do covertly to Israel, as well, and Israel is far more vulnerable to psychological warfare. It is possible that a million of the supposed 6 million Israeli Jews actually already mainly live abroad. If they thought they were in real, ongoing danger, many of the remaining five million would decamp tomorrow. Hizbullahs rocket capabilities do not scare Israel because a small Lebanese militia could defeat the Israeli military. They scare Israel because they are an impediment to free movement and annexation of Lebanese land and water, and because they can make Israelis leave their homes (a fourth of Israelis were forced into shelters or went to stay with family in the south during the 2006 Israeli attack on Hizbullah). Ironically, both sides probably see their military moves as defensive. Hizbullah was formed to end an 18-year-long Israeli occupation of 10 percent of Lebanese territory, in which it succeeded. But they fear that if they weaken, expansionist Israel will come back. Iran believes Israel had a plot to overthrow al-Assad and put the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in charge of Damascus. Israel fears that Iran is using Hizbullah to put psychological pressure on Israeli Jews to emigrate. Such fears can provoke wars between neighbors. But despite the estimated 2,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps officers, troops and trainers in Syria, Israel and Iran arent neighbors and so a conventional war between the two would be extremely difficult to pull off. Bonus video: Financial Times: Israel trades blows with Iran inside Syria Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2018) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. ("MXR" or the "Company") (TSXV: MXR) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D), the Company is pleased to announce that it has identified numerous exploration opportunities in Colombia, both in base and precious metals. The letter of intent with Copperbelt Minerals Corp. originally announced by the Company on February 26, 2018, has been terminated. The Company intends to provide a comprehensive update in the near future. About Max Resource Corp. Max Resource Corp., a Canadian-based exploration company, its focused on acquiring advanced exploration projects which are located within the under-explored northern section of the richly endowed Andean Copper Belt of Colombia. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MAX RESOURCE CORP. "Brett Matich" Brett Matich, CEO and President Further information regarding the Company can be found on SEDAR at www.SEDAR.com, or by contacting the Company directly at (604) 365 1522. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements pertaining to the Companies intention to provide a comprehensive update in the near future. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of commodities (particularly copper), unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general social, economic or geo-political conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forwardlooking statement that may be from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor. 337 Shares Share The Great Man Theory of history was popularized by the Scottish author Thomas Carlyle in the mid-19th century. In his 1840 Lectures on Heroes, he famously wrote: The history of the world is the biography of great men. Carlyle claimed that history was made by great men possessing personal courage, vision, charisma and political or military genius. Our more egalitarian age has favored mass movements, social forces and great ideas as the shapers of history. However, the Great Man Theory of history was proven true recently by a Great Woman. Palliative care, although excruciatingly important to medical care, has for decades struggled for a place at the table of medical specialties and in the medical consciences of physicians. This struggle for recognition was won when a Great Woman possessing courage, vision, charisma, and humanity made palliative care history. Before her passing, Mrs. Barbara Bush told the world she was opting for comfort care. In a media-instant, palliative care became the headline in every paper or electronic news forum and the talking points of all talk radio. However, the first words of written news and initial voices of radio chatter revealed the painful prejudice that has kept palliative care as a second-class medical specialty by reporting that Mrs. Bush had chosen to stop medical therapy. The painful truth exposed by the former First Ladys public decision is that in many places and for many physicians relief of suffering is not considered medical therapy, in fact, very often it is not considered at all. Subsequent reporting has reflected the seismic impact of this Great Womans actions. Articles are now reflecting the glare from the light Mrs. Bushs choice has shone into the dark side of sickness the side of medicine where care is only prolonging life without restoring a life, where treatment only delays the dying descent of a disease, where suffering is often ignored by doctors and endured by patients. The courage, vision, and humanity of Barbara Bush was to publicly stop just preventing her death and to live her life until her death arrived. She had chosen palliative care as the medical therapy for the heart and lung diseases that mastered her body. We are witnesses to the actions of a Great Woman. Before Mrs. Bushs announcement a Google search of palliative care produced over 1.2 million results, but patients by the millions are going without palliation of their suffering. A search today of Barbara Bush Palliative Care has already reached over 233,000! But the most crucial result of Barbara Bushs revelation is that palliative care may now be made available to and demanded by the millions who have persevered without it. Palliative care has been a movement since the 1960s, and it has been a medical specialty since 2006. But until Mrs. Bushs announcement, many patients languished in the medical netherworld of being treated to death while experiencing unrelieved physical, psychic, and spiritual pain. But a single person in this case, a Great Woman has made palliative care history just by saying aloud, I choose comfort. She has also changed the course of palliative care history, which is something no other person or organization despite their earnest efforts has been able to do. This is what makes Barbara Bush more than a former First Lady of the United States it makes her the first First Lady of Palliative Care. In deciding to make her remaining life more comfortable, she made her approaching death more meaningful. In choosing not to suffer any longer, she offered the hope of relief from anguish to those patients suffering now. This is a great thing which is why Mrs. Barbara Bush is a Great Woman. Michael A. Salvatore is a palliative care physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 527 Shares Share Last fall, my nine-year-old daughter asked me to buy some extra lunch items at the grocery store because she and a friend of hers were going to take turns bringing in food for a classmate who couldnt afford to purchase lunch at school. I was reminded of this conversation last week, when the school committee in my city voted to no longer deny middle- and high-school students lunch if they had a negative balance on their meal accounts. Although this practice had been in place for elementary schools, until last week middle- and high-school students were told if they owed a certain amount of money they could not receive lunch. While I commend this change in policy, I am distressed by the fact that there were youth in my city who had been going without lunch on a regular basis. I am also distressed at the likelihood that these same youth may have felt embarrassed or ashamed at being denied a meal. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 12.3 percent of our countrys households do not have enough food (2016 data). This impacts 1 in 6 children. The National School Lunch Program has approached this issue by providing funds to support the cost of free and reduced lunch at schools across the country. Eligibility for this program is based on household income: families at or below 130 percent of the poverty level ($31,980 for a family of four) qualify for free school meals; reduced-cost meals are available for families at 130 to 185 percent of the poverty level ($45,510 for a family of four). As the recent decision of the school committee in my city reveals, however, there are children and youth who may not qualify for free or reduced school meals, but they may still not be able to afford to purchase them. Thus, even in an ideal situation in which every student who was eligible for free or reduced cost meals applied for these benefits and received them, there would still be students going hungry at our nations schools. This is something I cant stop thinking about. This is something I want you to think about. Hunger has a significant impact on the well-being of children and youth: they are more prone to illness; they are more likely to have difficulties learning; they may experience anxiety and/or depression. In addition, they may feel ashamed each day at school when they dont have a meal, and their peers do. When my daughter shared her plan to provide lunch for her classmate, I felt proud of her for wanting to help a friend; however, I knew that her plan really wasnt the solution. Providing all children and youth with access to meals at school is a larger issue that requires a system-level response. A city or towns decision to provide every child with a meal, regardless of their ability to pay, is an example of such a response. Unfortunately, in my home state of Massachusetts, roughly 18 percent of schools have policies in place that prevent staff from providing meals to children who cannot pay. I imagine Massachusetts is not the only state with such policies. What can we do in our communities to change policies and practices to ensure every child has a meal at school, regardless of ability to pay? 1. Check the current policy of your city or town and learn whether all students in your community have access to meals at school; 2. Reach out to the school committee of your city or town to identify whether current policies supporting meals for all students are sustainable. Federal funds support free and reduced meals for students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. With some exceptions for low-income areas, local communities pay for meals for students who dont qualify. How does your school system support this cost? Can your school system continue to support this expense? 3. Support local initiatives to fund school meals for children and youth in need. Is there a clear and easy process for individuals in your community to donate funds for school meals for children with food insecurity? At an individual level, what can we, as health care providers, do to address youth hunger? 1. Routinely ask about issues of food insecurity at appointments. Parents might not disclose this information if you do not ask. 2. Be knowledgeable about the policies of the schools in the communities in which you practice and be prepared to refer parents to a specific point person or office in their school system if they need support. 3. Keep information about food insecurity and resources available in your waiting room. This not only provides patients/clients with valuable information, but also sends the message that you want to talk about this issue. I believe that children and youth should not have to worry about being hungry while they are in school. I believe each child should be provided with a meal at school, regardless of ability to pay. If this is something you believe as well, take a few moments out of your day to take action. Have an impact on this important issue. #NotHungryAtSchool. Melinda Stoops is a psychologist and can be reached on Twitter @MelindaStoops. Image credit: Shutterstock.com A partnership is being considered between Kilkenny County Council and Ossory Youth for young people to gain valuable work experience as its revealed four young Travellers are finding it difficult to get a work placement. At a Joint Policing Committee meeting last month, members were given a presentation on the Garda Youth Diversion Project carried out in collaboration with Ossory Youth. Inspector Liam Connolly said the objectives of the project are to carry out targeted interventions to reduce offending and divert people away from crime. If a juvenile is identified as needing intervention a Youth Referral Committee made up of a Juvenile Liaison Officer, community Gardai and two youth workers will vet that juveniles situation to decide whether he/she will enter the Youth Diversion Project system. Paul Bolger of Ossory Youth is one of two youth workers on the project. He said the criteria for a referral includes an individual being known to Gardai or is deemed to be of a moderate to high risk of offending. Risk prediction looks at previous criminality, education, peer groups, alcohol/drugs issues and what the youths do in their spare time. Mr Bolger said: 70% of youths in the project are boys. While 25-30% are from rural areas. We get roughly 15 new entrants every year and roughly 15 leave the project. For some young people, theyve shut down. Our job is to try and change their attitude. Most youths exit the project because their risk levels have reduced to a satisfactory point. He added: We run a successful work experience programme. Weve four young travellers at the moment who are ready for a real work experience opportunity and were finding it hard to place them. Cllr Patrick McKee said: Who better than the local authority to enter into a partnership and identify candidates to give outdoor work to and come to some agreement with Ossory Youth for a pilot project of outdoor work in summer months." Superintendent Derek Hughes said it was discussed with Kilkennys Chamber of Commerce who gave its full support for the initiative and will identify possible venues where the candidates might work. Director of Services at Kilkenny County Council, Tim Butler, said they could engage in conversation on the partnership. Cllr David Kennedy said: Hopefully the local authority can pitch in. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. The Kilkenny/Carlow Garda Division was shortlisted for a national award for its Operation Age Friendly Roadshow. Inspector Anthony Farrell, Age Friendly Ambassador for the Kilkenny/Carlow Garda Division was involved in the project which included activities like elderly people visiting Kilkenny Garda Station. The Gardai also gave older people assistance on passport/driving licence applications. The initiative was shortlisted for an award in the 2018 National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards. The application was submitted under the Age Friendly Community Innovation Award. The Operation Age Friendly Roadshow was the first of a five-phase pilot in Carlow which started in June 2017. Vulnerable older people living in the community were targeted for positive engagement and attention as part of An Garda Siochana reaching out into the community and connecting with older people. The pilot first focused on Graiguecullen, Carlow and Inspector Farrell wanted to go beyond an open door approach by going through doors and into the community, interfacing and meeting with older persons living in the community. On specific operational days activities like basic security assessment was performed in each house by a Garda for a house alarm, fire alarm and personal alarm. In the absence of these products, older persons were advised where and how to source them. Smaller immediate problems for older persons could be resolved such as passport/driving licence applications. Visits to Kilkenny Garda Station by older person groups specifically included a visit to the Divisional Communications Room where a suite of town cameras were inspected. Inspector Farrell said this reinforces with older persons a feeling of safety that someone is watching when they are in town, for example doing their shopping. The initiative is specifically designed to connect with older persons within the community. At various intervals during the Carlow pilot, a short but intensive policing operation by calling to identified older persons within the community was extremely positive. This pilot was deemed a success and will be formalised at future ongoing roll-outs. Operation Age Friendly Roadshow also compliments other operations such as: text alert mapping where heat maps are being created for Kilkenny and Carlow to ensure maximum operational coverage especially in rural communities. In this way Gardai can communicate directly with communities, especially older persons by text message in trying to seek assistance in solving crime and pass on information messages. Those involved included: John Coonan, Chairperson of the Kilkenny Age Friendly Seniors Forum; working teams from An Garda Siochana, Kilkenny and Carlow and Kilkenny Age Friendly Alliance. As part of a new Operation Cross Over, Inspector Farrell will be deploying units on various days namely Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays (12 noon to 5pm) to Operation Roadshow as part of a 10-week cycle in both Kilkenny and Carlow. The crossover unit will be the primary source of members to support this operation. This deployment will build on the successes of the pilot phase and going forward forge closer community relationships with the community. The application for the award said An Garda Siochana is the key stakeholder in providing both safety and feelings of safety and security to our community, especially older persons. Stuff reports: Selling alcohol at some school fundraising events may violate the right of children in the eyes of the United Nations. That is the view of Hawkes Bay District Health Board, which has vowed to start opposing applications for alcohol sales at school functions where children are present. Well if that is how they used their taxpayer funding, how about we take it off them and give it to a DHB that focuses on making people better, not pushing wowserism. A paper going before the board later this month said that Hawkes Bay schools may be particularly prone to selling alcohol as the region was known nationally and globally for its strong wine industry, which was a large local employer. Oh the poor dears. They live in a region with a wine industry. How upsetting for them. Between March 2014 and October 2017, 139 special licenses were granted to schools in the region, of which 39 per cent were for primary or intermediate schools, 29 per cent were for secondary schools and six per cent were for early childhood centres. Most were from higher decile schools and most were for quiz, casino, bingo, movie or auction nights. Most events had children present. There is nothing wrong with kids seeing adults drink alcohol in moderation in an appropriate setting. Treating it as something so bad it must be hidden will just make it more attractive. Allowing alcohol to be consumed in school settings normalised and increased the perceived acceptability of alcohol use, and using children to promote the sale of alcohol at some events may contravene the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, which required signatories including New Zealand to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of [narcotic and psychotropic] substances, the paper said. What planet are these DHB people on. That is a convention about child labour and illegal drugs. To try and say it applies to having a wine at a quiz night at a school is demented. In Hawkes Bay. opposition to applications for any future events on school grounds and where children are likely to be present will increase substantially, the board said. Let them. They become such zealots that the local licensing authorities will learn to just ignore them. Rachel Eyre, who leads the boards alcohol strategy, told Stuff its position was that alcohol and schools dont mix and ideally there would be no alcohol at school functions, whether children were present or not. Why not just campaign to bring back prohibition. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More Reddit Pinterest Print Tumblr In Kazakhstan, a road map to develop the electronics industry for 2018-20 is designed. It was based on the stimulation of entrepreneurship activity, technological breakthrough and ensuring scientific and technical work. It was said by head of the Department of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yernur Zhautikbayev at the site of the special economic zone Park of Innovative Technologies of Almaty. Almaty held a visiting meeting of representatives of the Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan with manufactures and facilities of electronic industry. As of today, more than 110 companies are engaged that are engaged in the electronics industry, as well as about 350 software manufactures. In December of 2017, the Electronic Industry Development Department was created under the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan. In February, following the order of the minister, a Roadmap to develop the electronics industry for 2018-20 was designed. We arrived in Almaty, because there are many enterprises in the sector, we visit them to see an objective picture, get familiarized with their works, hear their proposals and want to understand the way the state body helps them when resolving various tasks. Following the dialogue, the issue on introducing amendments to the legislation arises," said Acting Director of the Electronic Industry Development Department Yernur Zhautikbayev. The Roadmap is based on the four main directions to develop the electronics industry: the stimulation of entrepreneurship activity, technological development, ensuring scientific and technical work and development of human capital. We arrived to explain the provisions of the Roadmap, to hold a talk with colleagues. The current issues are to explain the roadmap, to discuss the register of trusted products and to hear proposals of entrepreneurs. The speakers explained that the measures would allow to strengthen the vulnerable aspects in the sector. Head of the management of the Information Security Committee of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Darkhan Akhmediyev explained that in order to develop entrepreneurship activity, the optimization of state services and reduction of customs tariffs would be carried out, as well as state support measures as part of licensing exports and imports were envisaged. Technological breakthrough includes the creation of a register of trusted domestic products, formation of an association of producers, creation of a special design of technological bureau "Design Centre." A list of foreign enterprises on products of the electronics industry that are ready to localize the production in Kazakhstan will be established. A virtual site based on popular websites will appear. For instance, the social network of Facebook can be a universal site that gathers production enterprises, scientific and technical and educational organizations. The issues to develop and promote domestic innovation products to the end consumer with the priority of the domestic technological development of the country will be resolved here. The main aim of the site will be interaction of Kazakhstan manufactures in the sphere of electronics industry with state bodies. As part of the site, everyone can get familiarized with the current changes and news, exchange information and ideas regarding the electronics industry, discuss problematic issues and receive various measures of state support such as simplification of subsiding and crediting, ensuring consultative, information and educational support. That is, the site provides a considerable potential to develop domestic manufactures in the internal market and gives an opportunity to increased domestic production," said Darkhan Akhmediyev. He noted that in the direction of ensuring scientific and technical work, the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry will have a survey, technical forecasting and cybersecurity. The project a Single information system of Kazakhstans science will be organized, as well as an access to international bases of scientific and technical information was also ensured. In order to improve the personnel, it is envisaged to design educational programs in robotics and electronics industry, improving qualifications of teachers, organization of qualitative secondary education. Deputy chairman of the Information Security Committee of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Duman Kuntubayev emphasized in the creation of a register of trusted products. The Ministry reports on receiving applications to include them in the register, which will be formed in July. A special commission is being formed right now, it will select participants. The commission will be presented by employees of the empowered body, NCE Atameken, sectorial organizations, the Institute of IT sector development. Criteria to include products of the electronics industry and software were defined. The main correspondence of the products to the standards of information security, the unique right to output products, the total amount of payments for presenting the user rights of the software should be less than 30% of the annual revenue of the right-holder," said Duman Kuntubayev. Israel carried out widespread deadly air raids against what it said were Iranian targets in Syria after its forces faced rocket fire which it blamed on Iran. The bombing has drawn global calls for restraint on both sides. The bombardment led to calls for calm from Russia, France, Germany and Britain and the European Union, while the United States put the blame squarely on Iran and stressed Israel's right to "self-defence". The reported exchange of fire came after weeks of rising tensions and followed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision Tuesday to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move Israel has long sought. Germany and Britain joined the United States in denouncing the rocket fire towards the Israel-occupied Golan Heights they also said was carried out by Iran, while France reiterated its "unwavering support for Israel's security". Vowing to severely hurt those trying to attack Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Iran crossed a red line", forcing his army to strike its bases in Syria. Israeli Army and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed that the overnight clash, the largest-ever direct clash between the Iranian and Israeli armies, was a setback to Iran's military capabilities by "many months". The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the operation was in retaliation to Iran attacking Israel's northern region with a barrage of rockets. The army said four of the 20 rockets fired on Israel were intercepted by the iron dome anti-missile system and 16 fell within Syrian territory. "Iran crossed a red line. We responded accordingly. The IDF carried out a very wide-ranging attack against Iranian targets in Syria," Netanyahu said in a statement. "No rocket landed in Israeli territory and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria", the Israeli prime minister asserted. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Rouhani did not mention of Israel's strikes in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. But the chairman of his country's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Allaeddine Boroujerdi, condemned the strikes, warning that "Israel has entered a dangerous game". The Israeli raids in Syria, which a monitor said killed 23 fighters, were one of the largest Israeli military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the Israeli military said. "We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," said Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood." There were no Israeli casualties. If the rocket attacks are confirmed, it would be the first time Iran has sought to directly attack Israeli-controlled territory aside from an alleged attempted drone assault in February. "We know that comes from the Al-Quds force," army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, referring to the special forces unit affiliated with Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that dozens of rockets were fired from Syria towards the Israeli-occupied Golan, without saying who fired them. It said the rockets followed a "first Israeli bombardment on the town of Baath" in Quneitra province. A senior pro-regime military source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, insisting Israel had fired first. Later, in the early hours of the morning, explosions were heard in Damascus, while live images were broadcast on television showing projectiles above the capital and several missiles destroyed by anti-aircraft systems. Syrian state media said Israeli missile strikes had hit military bases as well as an arms depot and a military radar installation, without specifying where. The official SANA news agency said "dozens of missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft systems in Syrian airspace", acknowledging a number had reached their targets. Israel's military later confirmed it had carried out the raids, saying some 70 military and intelligence targets had been struck and all of its aircraft had returned safely. Israel had been bracing for a possible Iranian "revenge" attack after the Islamic Republic accused the Jewish state of having attacked one of its bases in Syria on April 9 in which nine Iranian commanders were said to have been killed. Tehran accused Israel of having carried out the attack but Israel, as per its known policy, did not accept or deny any responsibility. On the other hand, Israel has been constantly stressing that it will take all necessary steps to prevent Iran from setting up "forward bases" in Syria to be used to attack the Jewish state. "Yesterday I delivered a clear message to the Assad regime: Our action is directed against Iranian targets in Syria. However, if the Syrian military acts against us, we will act against it. This is exactly what happened yesterday Syrian military batteries fired surface-to-air missiles against us and, therefore, we attacked them," Netanyahu said. The IDF "suffered no casualties", either on the ground or in the air, and that no rockets fired from Syria made any impact in Israeli territory, a spokesman said, adding that "all of our planes returned home safely". As tensions escalated, especially in its northern region bordering Syria, the Israeli Premier called upon the international community to prevent "the Iranian Al-Quds force from establishing itself in Syria". "We need to unite in order to cut off its spreading tentacles of evil there and everywhere," he said. "I repeat: Whoever hurts us we will hurt them sevenfold, and whoever is preparing to hurt us we will act to hit them first. This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do," Netanyahu said in the statement. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2018 02:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Tehran, May 10 (AFP) Iran does not want "new tensions" in the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani said today in a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability," Rouhani said, according to a statement on the website of Iran's presidency. Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes Thursday against what the Jewish state said were Iranian targets in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (AFP) CPS (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Nepal, May 11: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in Nepal today, a wave of excitement can be seen among the citizens as scores of them have lined up to attend his public rally. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address a public rally at Barbigha Ground in Janakpur. Heavy security has been deployed at the location to manage the crowd. While some of the visitors want to listen to Prime Minister's address, others just want to have a glimpse of him. One of the visitors, Sandeep Singh, said, "We will wait until Prime Minister Modi arrives here. We are very happy and excited to meet him." Another person said, "We want to see him and listen to him. We want to know what he (Prime Minister) shall provide for Janakpur." Another called him a religious politician, saying, "Prime Minister Modi will do something for our nation. He is the first (Indian) Prime Minister who is visiting Janakpur before starting his meetings in Nepal. He is a religious politician. He will also go to the Muktinath temple." Also, the natives of Nepal expect Indian Prime Minister to announce plans for the country's development. The Prime Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Nepal, will also be visiting Ram Janaki Temple situated in Mithila region. Elaborate arrangements have been made at the temple, where he is expected to offer prayers. Moreover, he is scheduled to visit Pashupatinath temple situated in Kathmandu. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for Nepal from Palam international airport at New Delhi. He is scheduled to arrive in Nepal at around 10:15 am (IST), following which he will be visiting the Ram Janaki temple there. PM Modi is expected to be accompanied by the high-level officials from both India and Nepal. Prime Minister Modi will then flag-off a new bus service named Janakpur-Ayodha bus (TBC) and launch Ramayana Circuit. The Ramayana Circuit is one among the 13 tourist circuits under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. Ministry of Tourism jotted down 15 destinations in the Ramayana Circuit, in an effort to promote religious tourism. The destinations are chosen according to the places where Lord Ram is believed to have travelled across India. Further in the day, PM Modi will be given a ceremonial reception at Barhabigha ground. He will then leave for Nepal's capital Kathmandu. During his two-day visit, Prime Minister Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Oli will jointly inaugurate the hydro-electric project Arun III. The two sides will hold bilateral talks as well. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to meet President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Prime Minister Modi will also visit Muktinath temple in Mustang District and will depart for India on Saturday evening. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to commence his two-day State visit to Nepal, today. After landing in Nepal, Prime Minister Modi's will visit country's historical and ancient city of Janakpur. Prime Minister Modi will also visit Janaki Mandir which will be followed by a civic reception hosted by mayor of Janakpur at Barhabigha ground. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Oli will jointly inaugurate the hydro-electric project Arun III. The two sides will hold bilateral talks as well. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to meet with President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Prime Minister Modi will also visit Muktinath temple in Mustang District and will depart for India on Saturday evening. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Panama City [Panama], May 11 (ANI): Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Friday arrived in Peru on the third leg of his three-nation visit to Central America. Vice President Naidu, who is on a five-day visit to Central America's Guatemala, Panama and Peru, departed from Panama for Peru on Thursday. He reached Panama on April 9 where India and Panama signed two Memorandum of Understandings (MoU). Before visiting Panama, the Vice President was in Guatemala where India and Guatemala signed a MoU for expanding cooperation in the area of diplomatic training. Vice President Naidu's three-nation visit commenced on May 6. The agenda of visiting these places is to enhance bilateral ties with the country. His weeklong visit is a part of the government's strategy of reaching out to various countries and regions of the world for enhanced engagement at higher levels to improve bilateral relations for mutual benefit. This is the Vice President's first overseas visit after assuming office last year. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 11: To strengthen ties between India and Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will arrive in Nepal on a two-day visit. The Prime Minister is visiting the neighbouring nation at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. It must be noted that this is Modi's third visit to Nepal as Prime Minister. After landing in Nepal, Prime Minister Modi will visit country's historical and ancient city of Janakpur where he will offer prayers at the Janki Temple. As per reports, after visiting the temple, Prime Minister Modi will be followed by a civic reception hosted by the mayor of Janakpur at Barhabigha ground. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi and his Nepali counterpart K.P. Oli will jointly inaugurate the hydro-electric project Arun III and will hold bilateral talks as well. Consolidating the principle of neighbourhood first and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas! PM @narendramodi emplanes for a two day visit to Nepal, building on the visit by Prime Minister of Nepal, K.P. Sharma Oli. pic.twitter.com/uAQYXbz9pu Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) May 11, 2018 As per reports, prime ministers of both the countries are likely to sign a number of pacts and inaugurate the Rs. 6,000-crore Arun 3 project which is expected to generate around 900 MW of power. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to meet with President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. Prime Minister Modi will also visit Muktinath temple in Mustang District and will depart for India on Saturday evening. Besides bilateral talks, Modi will also inaugurate the Arun-III hydro-electric project, expected to produce 900 MW of electricity. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2018 09:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). New Delhi, May 11: India has dispatched a warship to Maldives to undertake joint surveillance and patrol of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Two officers and eight sailors from the Indian Navys elite marine commandoes wing are reportedly at Maafilhafushi in Maldives, which is 145 km north of Male, to train its personnel in diving and tactics under the second such asymmetric warfare training exercise called Ekatha from April 28 to May 15. It is an endeavor of the Indian government and Navy to ensure safety and security of the vast EEZ of the island nation, The Times of India quoted Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharmaon as saying. Both the nations shared a cold relation since Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen on February 5 declared an emergency after the country's Supreme Court ordered to release a group of opposition leaders convicted in widely criticised trials. Maldives had also declined Indias offer to participate in its eight-day mega naval conclave called Milan at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from March 6 to 13. Maldives also returned one of the two Dhruv advanced light helicopters which the Indian government had (ALHs) gifted for surveillance purpose. With the aim to counter China, India has helped Maldives in enhancing its military capability. India has also provided EEZ surveillance to Maldives over the last several years. According to the report, apart from gifting a fast-attack craft, India has stationed six pilots and over a dozen ground personnel in the archipelago to operate the ALHs and help the MNDF. After Maldivian President declared emergency, the relation between both the countries dipped to its lowest. Maldives also warned India not to interfere in its internal matter. China tried to take advantage of the situation. Chinese warships were seen near the Indian Ocean Region during that time. China, which looks at Maldives as a significant participant in its 21st century Maritime Silk Road plan in the Indian Ocean, has made heavy investments in the nation of islands which has 26 tropical atolls and 1,000 small islands. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2018 11:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Kathmandu, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Nepal's Janakpur, the birthplace of Sita on Friday as part of his two-day visit to the nation. The Prime Minister, who is in Nepal at the invitation of Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, will also visit Janaki Mandir where he will offer prayers and address a gathering. In Janakpur, the Prime Ministers of both the nations will jointly initiate two projects--Janakpur-Ayodha bus (TBC) and launch Ramayana Circuit on the Janaki temple premises. The Ramayana Circuit is an initiative undertaken by the Indian Ministry of Tourism to help promote religious tourism. After the bus service is flagged off, the Janakpur sub-metropolis will then accord a civic reception to Modi at the Barhabigha Rangabhoomi ground. Reports inform that a holiday has been declared in the province because of PM Modi's visit. It must be noted that the Ramayan Circuit Bus Route will connect Janakpur, Goddess Sita's birthplace, to Ayodhya, Lord Ram's birthplace. It must be noted that this is PM Modi's third visit to Nepal making it the only country he has visited thrice. Security has been beefed up for the visit of Narendra Modi to Janakpur. If reports are to be believed, nearly 11,000 security personnel have been deployed. Reports inform that Annapurna trekking route in Manang will also be closed for three days to trekkers and tourists due to security reasons. During his two-day visit to Nepal, Prime Minister Modi and his Nepalese counterpart will lay the foundation stone of Arun III hydroelectricity project in Sankhuwasabha district of eastern Nepal, undertaken by India's Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, through video conferencing. The 900-MW project, in which India will spend $1.5 billion, is believed to be completed in five years. On May 12, Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Muktinath temple at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass in Mustang district. The Prime Minister will pay obeisance and also announce a "surprise gift" for its development and reconstruction. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2018 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). May 11, 2018, 2:27am ET Audi skipping 2019 Detroit show Next year\'s Detroit show will be a quiet one. Audi has confirmed it will skip the 2019 edition of the Detroit auto show. Arch rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW announced the same move in recent weeks. "Audi has had a long and successful history at NAIAS, debuting countless models that customers enjoy today. For 2019, we have decided that we will not participate in NAIAS. We will continue to evaluate auto shows on a case-by-case basis relative to the timing of our product introductions and the value the show brings from a media and consumer perspective," the company explained in a statement sent to industry trade journal Automotive News. Audi stepped out of the auto show circuit last year when it organized the first Audi Summit in Barcelona, Spain. It introduced the 2019 A8 during the event. The brand will unveil the e-tron quattro during this year's Summit, which will take place on August 30th in Brussels. The decision to sit out Detroit represents another punch to the gut for the show, which competes with the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for media attention. The show organizers are examining ways to revitalize the event. One of the options on the table consists of moving it from January to October, when it's warmer in Michigan. This would -- in theory -- allow auto-makers to organize outdoors test drives for the media and the public. Though the 2019 Detroit show will be a quiet one, it will remain an event worth attending for enthusiasts. We expect one of the stars will be Chevrolet's long-rumored mid-engined Corvette, which is the industry's worst-kept secret, and the organizers stress the companies attending the event have other surprises in store. "In meetings that have occurred around the world with participating brands, the show has been privy to some insights on significant product and industry news that has been earmarked for Detroit for the 2019 show," a spokesperson told Automotive News. Note: Audi A7 pictured. Photo by Ronan Glon. A Laois man has scooped the big All-Ireland Macra award Mr Personality, out of 29 contestants nationwide. Anthony Culleton, 32, from Camross is a sawmill operative at Coolrain Sawmills, and a devoted member of Camross Macra. He was announced as winner at midnight on the stage in the Springhill Court Hotel Kilkenny recently, after a fun packed weekend. I dont know why they chose me, it was a great honour to represent Laois, but to win it was an amazing feeling on the night, a modest Anthony told the Leinster Express. Praised by all for his friendly smile and love of a joke, good or bad, Anthony won over the audience with a joke for his stage interview with DJ Shane OKeeffe. That interview on Friday was the most daunting for me, in front of 200 people. I was shaking like a leaf, I thought I was going to fall off the stage. I told a joke, a long winded one, but I got a good laugh and once that interview was over I relaxed, he said. The Mr Personality festival was hosted by Kilkenny Macra, and the weekend was packed with live music and craic, a bowling contest for contestants and individual interviews. Some of us couldnt throw the ball straight to save our lives. Ive never got on as well with 29 lads, it made the weekend a lot easier. The interview was really just a nice chat. The judges were fantastic, Anthony said. That evening after a banquet came the big announcement that Anthony was the 13th Mr Personality. He won a 500 cheque, a perpetual trophy and a weekend break in Springhill Court Hotel. Anthony took part to boost Camross Macra and encourage new members.. The win was great to bring back to Camross. Our club is down in numbers so we are doing a rebuilding job, i hope this will be a springboard to get people to join. People think Macra is for farmers, but I wouldnt know a bull from a heifer. Its just a great social club, a way to get involved in your community. There is something for everyone, sport, drama, debates and quizzes, he said. His next role is in the Laois debating Macra final. Its something Ive never done before, but it will help improve my confidence in public speaking. To stand in front of a crowd and face that fear, so far unscathed. Macra really opens doors to do new things, he said. Anthony thanked his parents Teresa and Corry, and his club mates, particularly the chairperson Danielle Thompson who is also his girlfriend. They were all great to come and support me, it was lovely to see them in the crowd he said. Back in work at Coolrain Sawmills, his stardom is kept in check. They are all fairly level headed lads, they are keeping my feet on the ground, Anthony joked. A Laois mother has highlighted the dangers of Lyme disease, which has taken a huge toll on her health. Nicola Slattery, 38, from Spindlewood, Graiguecullen is still suffering four years after a simple insect bite. It happened in June 2014, on a holiday in Kilmuckridge, Wexford with her husband Jason and their four sons. I had walked through sand dunes with rushes. My kids had wellies on but I didnt. I only noticed a bite on my leg afterwards, she said. Nicola got a five day antibiotic for what was thought to be an infected mosquito bite. She worked at the Department of Agriculture in Portlaoise, and three weeks later, felt a tingle in her leg. It was a bullseye rash the size of my calf, a sign of Lyme disease but I didnt know about it, said Nicola. Below: Nicola's leg on the day she was bitten, and below that: the bullseye rash three weeks later. Another doctors visit and course of antibiotics followed but Nicola began to feel sick. I felt like I had a constant flu, a cough and aches and pains, she said. Three months on, her vision suddenly went. Everything went blurry, and the right side of my face went numb, she said. She was rushed to A&E, where she underwent a lumbar puncture and was tested for Lyme disease, caused when bacteria from a tick bite enters the bloodstream around the body. It came back clear. My GP diagnosed it, and referred me to an infectious disease doctor, but he said I had been treated enough, she said. Her health worsened. I was just going from work to sleep, then up to mind the kids, as my husband was at work. My employers allowed me to start e-working from home. Then things came to a head, I got so sick I couldnt keep looking after my kids, she said. Her parents began coming to her house to help, while Jason, a self employed carpenter, worked harder to support the family. I had fatigue like Ive never had in my life, I couldnt lift a cup. I had heart palpitations so they inserted a heart monitor my chest. I had joint pain, said Nicola. They got a second opinion in the Mater Private, and learned that Nicola had Lyme disease and five co-infections, all from the one bite. She began a long course of multiple antibiotic. Still on on them over two years later she is slowly improving. I have more good days but Ive a long way to go. I get a lot of headaches and numbness in my face. I havent been able to work since, she said. Last Tuesday May 1 on Lyme disease awareness day, she and her mother Margaret Roycroft went to raise awareness outside Leinster House. It was fantastic to speak to people who knew what I was going through, to know youre not on your own. Its an awful illness that can be so destructive, she said. I hope it helped raise awareness and get people to take precautions, such as covering your trousers with socks in long grass or wooded areas, wearing light coloured clothes so a tick can be seen quickly, and wearing insect repellent, Nicole said. She said better testing and faster treatment is needed in Ireland, and financial cover. If it was treated initially it would save so much heartache. My prescribed supplements cost hundreds a month. I have serious illness cover, but Lyme disease is not covered, she said. The ordeal has been hard on her whole family. My four boys are aged 16 to 4, its tough on them. Jason tries to keep everything going. The boys play for Graiguecullen GAA, it was only when I stopped going to matches that everyone realised how sick I was, she said. Lyme disease symptoms can vary from mild to severe. For information and support, visit www.ticktalkireland.org A 27-year-old single mother originally from Poland has been given until June to get her affairs in order before Portlaoise Circuit Court imposes a prison sentence for having close to 5,000 of drugs for sale or supply. Alicia Durlik (27), 61 De Vesci Court, Portlaoise, was charged with three counts of drug possession, three counts of having drugs for sale or supply, and one charge under the money laundering and terrorist financing act, at her home address, on September 30, 2016. Detective Garda JP OBrien gave evidence, along with State barrister, Mr Will Fennelly, that gardai attended her home on the date to conduct a drug search. The accused was observed opening a window and discarding a large amount of property that landed at the feet of the gardai, including cannabis. Entry was gained and the accused and a male were found on the premises, and the male had white powder on his clothes. A search was undertaken and cocaine to a value of 217, cannabis herb to a value of 3,400, and amphetamines worth 1,255 were located, giving a total of 4,872 of drugs. Cash of 1,000 was also found. The accused was arrested and admitted the drugs were hers. Det OBrien told the court that the accused said she had just started dealing as she was out of work, and Mr Fennelly added that she had said her previous partner was involved in drug dealing. The accused admitted that some of the money was from the sale of drugs, but the rest was from legitimate means. Det OBrien said the accused, a Polish national with a young son, had been in Ireland about five years. She had one previous conviction for theft, from a foreign court. Defence, barrister Mr Colm Hennessy said the accused answered every question put to her by gardai. She did not tell them where she got the drugs as she feared for her safety and her sons. She wasnt earning at the time and was not getting social welfare, so she sold the drugs to raise money. Mr Hennessy said she was completely estranged from her partner and was on her own in court, with no immediate family in Ireland. Judge Keenan Johnson said a probation report was needed, but stated that as far as he was concerned a custodial sentence was merited. Ive sat here today (April 10) and every single case has been related to drugs, its an appalling state of affairs and the court must send out a message that anyone who peddles drugs will go to jail, said Judge Johnson. He said he had seen so many lives ruined by rampant drug abuse and the accused was an enabler of that. Mr Hennessy agreed that the court should send out a message, but asked that it not use this case as a deterrent as sentencing would have an effect on the accused's son. Judge Johnson remanded the accused in custody to the following week for a probation report, but said there had to be some custodial element to the sentencing. He also directed that the money seized go to two local drugs organisations, Merchants Quay and Coote Street. When the case returned to the circuit court the following week, Mr Hennessy said there was a good probation report on the accused, which placed her at a low risk of reoffending. He asked the court to consider alternatives to a custodial sentence. However, while acknowledging that the accused is the mother of a young child and her incarceration will have an effect on the child, Judge Johnson said that the accused had made the conscious decision to become involved in the sale or supply of drugs and the grave effect that has on society. Saying that there had to be a custodial element to the case, Judge Johnson put the matter back to June 26 for the accused to get her affairs in order. The judge warned that he may impose a sentence of two years and six months, with the final two years suspended. I dont impose that sentence lightly, but I have to send out a message, said Judge Johnson. A Portlaoise man caught drink driving with a blood reading verging on alcohol poisoning has been told he is not a fit person to hold a driving licence. Joseph Flanagan (49), Dunamaise, Portlaoise, appeared before the circuit court appealing prison sentences he was given in the district court for two separate incidents of drink driving. On May 10, 2017, at Ballydavis, Portlaoise, he was detected with 227mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. For this, he was sentenced to three months in jail and disqualified from driving for three years. He was also disqualified for two years for having no insurance. At the same district court in January, he was given an additional sentence of three months in jail and disqualified for six years, for drink driving on November 6 last year. On this occasion, he was detected driving with 78mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The appellant had two previous convictions. At the recent appeal in the circuit court, Judge Keenan Johnson said the blood reading was verging on alcohol poisoning. Taking the witness box, the appellant apologised to the court. My actions were inexcusable, I was just in a bad place at the time, he said. Remarked Judge Johnson: By the grace of God you didnt kill anyone. A car becomes a lethal weapon. The appellant replied that he had gone six months without taking a drink and would never drink alcohol again. He also said he would no longer be driving. The court heard that he began drinking to excess after his father passed away and legal issues placed a financial strain on him. He claimed to have had to pay out 30,000 in 11 months after his sisters contested their fathers will. He said he sold all his livestock, some 34 cattle, and handed all the money straight over to the solicitors and barristers. Judge Johnson said these were serious matters, with one reading bordering on alcohol poisoning and the other three times over the limit, and repeated that it was just by the grace of God that nobody ha d been killed. Saying that a prison sentence was warranted, Judge Johnson increased the district court sentence of three months on each charge of drink driving to five months, to run consecutive, giving a total of ten months. The first five month sentence was suspended for seven years, on condition the appellant enter into a peace bond and donate 500 to a charity. The second sentence was adjourned to June 27 next, to assess the appellants suitability for community service. The judge recommended 200 hours community service. The judge also imposed a 20-year driving disqualification, ruling that the appellant was not fit to drive a car. The Department of Justice has kicked the ball back to Laois County Council to take on community CCTV data storage, which will take local groups out of limbo. The extra cost of storing data securely, and the extra responsibility of council staff to look at crime footage and give evidence in court, has seen Laois County Council up to now refuse to take on the task. That decision is leaving community CCTV groups around Laois in limbo, with thousands raised locally and no schemes up and running to show for it. The Dept of Justice says that any local authority may refuse to be CCTV data controllor, but if it does so, schemes can not go ahead. In such a case, community CCTV schemes within the administrative area of that local authority would not meet the statutory requirements and as a consequence it would not be possible for them to be approved by the Joint Policing Committee or authorised by the Garda Commissioner, a spokesperson told the Leinster Express. The Dept said that local authorities can appoint an appropriate person to process data and monitor CCTV footage, subject to data protection laws. However the council must find money in its existing budget for the extra job. Responding to the concern about extra costs of data storage, the dept spokesperson said that footage must only be held for 28 days. The onus on local authorities to be data controllor of community CCTV schemes is long standing, the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said. He addressed concerns expressed recently by Laois County Council CEO John Mulholland, about the extra costs and the responsibilities facing him and his staff. I am acutely aware of the concern which has been raised regarding the status of local authorities as data controller in this context. It is worth noting that this is a longstanding statutory requirement applying to all community CCTV schemes, regardless of how they are funded. Nonetheless in the past number of months, I have met with Laois County Council, local interest groups and County Councillors and am optimistic that the practical application of this legal framework can be clarified for the benefit of all concerned, Minister Flanagan told the Leinster Express. The Minister went on to underline the importance of CCTVin fighting crime. CCTV systems act as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour and enhance existing policing measures. The investment represented by the community-based CCTV grant-aid scheme reflects the value that communities, especially rural communities, place on CCTV as a means of deterring crime and assisting in the detection of offenders. Community-based CCTV systems have proven to be of noteworthy assistance in the prevention and detection of crime not just in my own constituency, but throughout the State, the Minister said. Council CEOJohn Mulholland listed his concerns, at a recent council meeting. Wed have serious concerns... firstly over data protection regulations, and secondly the position for our staff . I need assurances from the department that no staff will be liable to appear in court, he had said. This is just a once off grant. If you find that next year there is 30k or 40k for retention of digital imagery, you might say when is this going to end, the CEO said. Standex Ireland will celebrate 40 years in business in Mountmellick with a presentation night this weekend. The company was officially opened in Acragar on May 19, 1978 when the IDA attracted the attention of Mr Daniel Hogan from Tennessee who was the Chairperson of the board of the US company at the time. At the time of its opening the company employed 28 men. Today Standex Ireland employs 63 men and women in full time positions. The company manufactures pump components and carries out assembly and testing on the full range of Procon pumps, precision rotary vane pumps, other small gear and micro vane pumps destined for the European market. The presentation night will take place on Saturday, May 12 at the Midlands Park Hotel where a number of long term employees will be acknowledged for their years of service to the Irish branch of the multinational company. Three current employees, Ray Curham, Richie Coss and Richie Dunne have worked in Standex since the very beginning. PJ Dempsey and Ger Kearns will be acknowledged for 30 years service in the factory while Andrew McDonnell, Denis Whelan, Tommy Bambrick and Colin Grehan who have been employees for 20 years will also be acknowledged on the night. Kevin Egan is the General Manager of Standex Ireland. Mountmellick has proven to be a great location for the business and to be in operation for 40 years is a great testament to the workforce, many of whom have been with the company for over 30 years, he said. Going forward Standex Ireland plans to grow over the next five years. We have recently added personnel to the sales, engineering and quality departments to drive this growth. The company must also continue to improve its operational excellence and become even more customer focused, Mr Egan added. The company began to implement a lean programme over two years ago and aims to continue on the path of continuous improvement. This together with some shrewd capital investment and further employee development should ensure that Standex Ireland is in a strong position to meet the challenges of what is a very competitive market. Martin Shanahan is the CEO of IDA Ireland. Congratulations to Standex management and staff on their 40 year anniversary. This is a fantastic example of a small multinational company continuing to operate in a regional location and employing local people. We wish them many more successful years and our continued support, he said. Standex Ireland Ltd is part of Standex International Corporation who have their headquarters in Salem, New Hampshire and operates manufacturing plants and distribution facilities throughout the U.S, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, India, Turkey, South Africa, Singapore and Europe. The Corporation is divided into 11 operating units organised into five reporting segments, Food Service, Engineering Technologies, Electronics Group and Hydraulics group. The company currently employs 5,100 people. Standex Ireland is part of the Procon operating group within the food service equipment segment. CCTV camera footage recorded in a Laois town is being used to help identify the person who left rubbish beside a clothes bring bank. Carpet, underlay and plastic items were dumped at the bank over the May bank holiday weekend. It is located beside Portarlington Community Centre. Staff were shocked to see the mess, when they arrived in to work on Tuesday morning. The centre Chairman is Darren Lawlor. "The staff came in on Tuesday and saw the stuff left at the clothes bank, a shopping trolley filled with plastic, and carpet and cardboard. They could also see that there was clothes disturbed from the bank," he told the Leinster Express. Luckily CCTV cameras were rolling all that weekend and the staff looked through footage. They found a recording on Bank Holiday Monday at 9.26pm, that appears to show a person pushing a trolley of the rubbish to the bring bank. "On the footage we could see the person leaving rubbish at the bank, and then proceeding to take clothes out of the bank. They came back with more stuff and left it at the centre," Mr Lawlor said. They posted some photos from the footage on social media and asked the public to help identify the person. "We got a phenomonal response from people, everyone was in uproar," he said. They have contacted the Gardai and Laois County Council's Environment section to report the incident. "We believe we have identified the person who was dumping, and have passed that information to the council," he said. Dumping is an ongoing problem at the clothes bank the Chairman said. Pressure on Laois County Council to become Data Controllor for community CCTV schemes "We have had a couple of situations where people have left their stuff. People seem to see a clothes bank and think it's a free for all. We are actually thinking of removing the bank now, which is a shame because it's for a charity," he said. Portarlington Community Centre welcomes about 1700 people a week for meetings and events. "We don't want to turn it into an eyesore. We spent 10 years raising money to paint it and renovate it, the last thing we want is people leaving rubbish here," Mr Lawlor said. He thanked local company Dolly Textile Recycle who removed the waste free of charge. Leaving or throwing litter in a public place is an offence, which can be subject to an on-the-spot fine of 150 or a maximum fine of 3,000 in court. Below: the dumped rubbish at Portarlington Community Centre. The Kildare Rose 2018 will be crowned at a gala night in the Westgrove Hotel in Clane this Saturday night, May 19. The selection event will once again be hosted by former International Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh. Some 19 young women are in the running to represent Kildare on the Tralee stage this year, following in the footsteps of last years Rose, teacher Deirbhile Mulvihill from Kilcock. This years bunch of Roses have had a busy few months leading up to the selection night, including days out at Mondello and Lily OBriens Chocolates in Newbridge. The Roses also fundraise for the Johnstown-based childrens charity, the Jack & Jill Foundation. Hannah Crowley, Caragh. SPONSOR: Naas Oil My names Hannah Crowley and I'm delighted to be an entrant in this years Kildare Rose competition. I currently live in Caragh, but spent some time in the UK and the US growing up. I've recently graduated from Drama and Theatre Studies at Trinity College and am dividing my time at the moment between my personal creative endeavours and part-time sub teaching in Kilcullen. Unfortunately, I am incredibly ungifted in all things sport so while my brother and father are heavily involved with the local GAA team I happily spend my free time producing my own music and collaborating on projects with other young Irish artists. Shauna Hanley, Kildare. SPONSOR: Mandika Hair Salon My name is Shauna Hanley. I'm 22 years old and I'm from Kildare town. I'm the youngest of 5, with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I am currently serving as a 3star private in the 1st Mechanised Infantry Company in the DFTC in the Curragh. I am hoping to serve overseas in the upcoming year and to further my career and skills as a soldier. I am a massive fitness lover from running, swimming, weight lifting and pole fitness. I am a massive animal lover with 1 rabbit and 2 beautiful dogs, 1 of which I adopted from the Kildare Animal Foundation. SEE ALSO: DAY ONE: Meet the Kildare Roses 2018 DAY TWO: Meet the Kildare Roses 2018 - Jade Gahan and Joanne Byrne DAY TWO: Meet the Kildare Roses 2018 - Karen Mullally and Marese OConnell DAY THREE - Meet the Kildare Roses 2018 - Leona Caldwell and Michelle Kelly DAY FOUR: Meet the Kildare Roses 2018 - Nicole Hyland and Sarah Taheny A Kildare woman who has been teaching in Beijing has been detained at a prison in the Chinese city. She is among 11 people arrested over visa issues last weekend, one of which is another teacher from Offaly. The Irish Times reports that the women were on working visas in Beijing schools but ran into trouble when they took up second jobs at an unlicensed private school. It's understood the women took the jobs in good faith although Chinese police are known for raids on schools that may hire foreign teachers through illegal means. The Irish Times are now reporting that the women are being held in single cells and have not been allowed to call home. They also report that the Irish Embassy and Dept. of Foreign Affairs are aware and working on the case. They are offering consular assistance. Working illegally is the biggest reason for deportation from China. The CEO of a Biotech company has secured a temporary High Court injunction halting his employer proceeding with an "utterly flawed" investigation into an allegation of misconduct. Alan Morrissey who is the CEO of Equilume Ltd secured the injunction against the Co Kildare based company that makes products for the equine industry he has worked since 2016. Mr Morrissey, who denies any wrongdoing, has been suspended from his job pending the investigation into the allegation against him. This afternoon Ms Justice Caroline Costello granted Mr Morrissey an injunction preventing his employer from continuing with the investigation into alleged misconduct. The injunction was granted on an ex-parte basis and was made returnable to next week. Seeking the order Marguerite Bolger SC for Mr Morrissey said her client has been CEO since 2016 and has overseen the company's expansion. Counsel said her client is currently suspended and is the subject of an allegation of misconduct. The allegations counsel said related to the fact that Mr Morrissey increased the salary of an employee he wished to retain. The company's board of directors are unhappy about this and had launched an investigation. Counsel said the investigation is 'utterly flawed" and "in breach of fair procedures." Under the company's own guidelines any investigation into alleged misconduct must be carried out by either a member of the firm's management team or by an agreed external their party. The investigation is being conducted by a non-executive director of the company who is not a member of the management team, counsel said. Counsel said that while there her client had no problem with the person conducting the investigation there was a perception of bias given the person is also a member of the company's board. It is their case that the proposed investigation should not be allowed proceed, counsel said. Her client had brought proceedings because he is concerned about his future and his reputation counsel added. Tributes were paid to the late District Court Judge Grainne ONeill at Naas Circuit Court today. Judge O'Neill (46), from Athlone, passed away on Thursday, May 10. At the opening of Naas Circuit Court this morning, Judge Eoin Garavan sent his sympathies to her family. He said she was a great colleague and personal help to him even though he did not know her that well. That was the sort of person she was, he said. She was appointed a judge on April 15 2014, aged 42 years. She sat in Naas as a judge and previously served as a solicitor with Wilkinson Price. Judge Garavan said she had great insight and kindness and was a person of warmth and energy. In recent years she faced her illness with great courage and sense of humour, said Judge Garavan. Very few who met Grainne would forget her, he said, sending sympathies to her father, retired Colonel Terry ONeill, her brother, Olaf, sister, Fiona, relations and friends. Judge Garavan passed on condolences on behalf of Judge Desmond Zaidan and local legal professionals. She will be a deeply missed colleague, he said. Fiona Kerins BL, on behalf of the Bar Association, said Grainne was insightful, pragmatic, very respectful and evenhanded. She had an amazing capacity for work and an amazing memory. She was warm, generous and kind. Ann OCallaghan, on behalf of court staff, said they had all known her for years and found her kind, courteous and having a great sense of fun. Her friend, solicitor Helen Coughlan spoke on behalf of the Kildare Solicitors and Bar Association. She said there wasnt a practitioner in this room who was not touched by Grainnes friendship. She looked after her colleagues. She became the youngest judge in the District Court in 2014. She was very hardworking. She could be in Belmullet on Tuesday, Ennis on Wednesday and the CCJ in Dublin on Thursday, she said. Ms Coughlan said Grainne adored the District Court and treated everyone with respect who appeared before her. She was social secretary of the Kildare Bar Association and organised some events which have gone down in history. She had been ill for the previous six years. Never once did I hear her complain, said Ms Coughlan. To pay a lasting tribute to Grainnes memory, I think if we as practitioners embraced Grainnes collegiality for our fellow practitioners. We have lost a great colleague and wonderful friend. She said her friend loved books and summed her up with a quote from F Scott Fitzgerald: She was beautiful for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. Garda Supt Martin Walker said; she had a distinguished career. Judge ONeill is the daughter of Terry ONeill (Col. Retired) and the late Dr. Ursula ONeill. She earned Arts (1991) and Law (1995) degrees from UCG and qualified as a solicitor in 1999. She has practised in many areas of law and from 2000 to 2007 worked with the Free Legal Advice Centres. She is survived by her father, Terry, brother Olaf, sister Fiona, sister-in-law Christina, brother-in-law Alan, nephews Harry and Simon, with whom she recently visited Disneyland. Her Requiem Mass will take place in St Marys Church, Athlone, this Saturday (May 12)at 12 noon. She will repose at her home after that. Her removal, for burial to Fanore Cemetery (Co. Clare), will take place on Sunday morning at 1.30pm approximately. Family flowers only, donations, if desired, to South Westmeath Hospice. A candlelit vigil is being organised in Celbridge next Monday night on the eve of the 70th Anniversary of Palestinians losing their land and homes to Israeli settlers. One of the organisers, a Celbridge resident who is also a member of Amnesty International, said they set up the Celbridge Palestinian Solidarity Group some months ago and have support from the Newbridge-based Kildare Palestine Solidarity Group. She said the vigil, organised by the group separately from Amnesty, is about human rights, not the politics of the situation there. She said that in addition to recent problems in Palestine, US President Trump is opening the new American Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday. As you have probably seen n recent days, Trump's support for Israel is encouraging the Israeli's to be more aggressive. The organiser said: We know that water has been disconnected in a number of Palestinian villages. We also know thousands have been injured and many killed in recent protests. She continued: Over the last six weeks of peaceful protests in Gaza, 47 unarmed protesters, including five children and two journalists have already been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, with over 6,500 injured. Some of the injuries have been life changing as they have included hundreds of leg amputations. Her group is asking people to show solidarity with the Great Return March on the eve of Nakba (Nakba is the Arabic word for catastrophe) day, which commemorates the violent dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 in order to create the state of Israel, which commemorates the violent dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 in order to create the state of Israel. While parts of County Leitrim are pleading for new families to move to and live in their communities, other areas may not be so welcoming to outsiders. Independent Councillor Des Guckian put a motion before this week's County Council meeting that a list of priorities be established by the council for housing allocations. According to the Councillor the list should never include applications coming from far away places such as the Dublin region, who are seeking to jump an already over-long waiting list. Cllr Guckian explained he has been told that a council house in an estate in Carrick-on-Shannon is to be given to a group from Navan. He said other residents are not happy and he sought assurance from the council that this will not happen. Mary Quinn, Director of Service, said the council must operate within the statute and this makes provision for people with local connections to the area. She told Cllr Guckian his information is misleading. Cllr Guckian commented We must look after our own. He said the criteria the council work under is too wide. Cllr Mary Bohan stated we must be careful about saying look after our own. She noted Co Leitrim is a welcoming place. She said the local connection to the area is important and she knows Leitrim County Council is very helpful to families seeking social housing. Cllr Sean McDermott pointed out that places like Kiltyclogher needed people to come from outside and the council have to be flexible. Cllr Enda Stenson mentioned Aughavas and Tarmon. Both parishes were featured in last week's Leitrim Observer looking for families from outside the county to come and make their schools and communities viable. Both rural areas have campaigns to promote their locality to families in Dublin and internationally. They need young families to enrol in their schools to keep numbers high enough to maintain teachers and to essentially prevent closure. Cllr Stenson said new families have to be welcomed. Cllr Padraig Fallon commenting on the plight of rural areas said the council needs to look at their rural resettlement programme. Cllr Des Guckian said his motion referred to Carrick Town and he supports the efforts of Kiltyclogher and other rural areas to invite new people to live there. There was praise for Leitrim County Council's Housing Department and the massive increase in work load they are dealing with. Kinlough representative Cllr Justin Warnock said he supported families moving to Leitrim but asked that greater interaction take place between local authorities in relation to individuals on numerous housing lists. He added some areas need new people to come, we need them to survive. The issue of falling numbers in Aughavas and Tarmon arose once again at Monday's council meeting when Cllr Warnock demanded a speedy solution to the issue of one-off houses and the decade long blockade on planning in the county. Cllr Warnock commented we need people living here, not trees. He went on to say trees don't keep communities and businesses alive. Cllr Sean McDermott said people do want to come back to their native county but can't build here. Also relating to the decline in young families living in rural parts of Leitrim, Cllr Sean McGowan called on Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine to designate all of County Leitrim as a Disadvantaged Area for the purpose of Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme payments from 2019. Cllr McGowan put forward that this compensation could help farmers to stay on the land and could cut out the increasing sell-out to forestry. Cllr McGowan received overwhelming support from fellow councillors. Read: Aughavas Community Calling "Tarmon Matters" campaign battles against the odds Next week the Leitrim Observer will feature the up to date planning situation in the county and the efforts being made to allow one-off rural housing. A 59-year-old Rooskey woman who drove the wrong way up the N4 Dromod-Rooskey bypass eventually colliding with two oncoming vehicles, was disqualified from driving for two years for dangerous driving. Loretta Moran, Rooskey, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim faced summonses for dangerous driving and not having a valid NCT on display at Clooncolry, Dromod on April 21, last year. She offered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of careless driving but Inspector Denis Harrington refused to accept her plea. In his evidence, Sgt Tony Byrne said he attended the scene of a road traffic accident near Dromod on the date in question arriving at around 8.50pm. He found that a Peugeot car driven by the defendant, had driven the wrong way up the dual carriageway. Nearby was a Citreon facing in its correct direction, parked on the grass verge. This vehicle had sustained minor damage. A third vehicle, a VW Passat, containing a woman and her teenage son, was also nearby. This vehicle had sustained a good bit of damage to the driver's side. He noted the defendant's car had sustained substantial damage in the impact with the other two vehicles and added these collisions occurred approximately 500m from the Dromod roundabout. The road had to be closed in order to allow emergency services to attend the scene and to facilitate removal of the damaged vehicles. At the time I didn't see the driver of the Peugeot (Ms Moran), admitted Sgt Byrne. There were two ambulances at the scene and she was in one of them. She was taken to Sligo University Hospital. Ms Moran made contact with gardai the following day and produced all her insurance and licence documentation through her solicitor. The defendant declined to make a statement at that time. Ms Moran told the court that she had been driving home from her daughter's house, which lies between Dromod and Mohill, when she entered the Dromod roundabout on the N4 bypass heading across to Dromod village and on to Rooskey. She said how, as she was driving through the roundabout a black saloon came through from the Dublin direction at speed. It didn't take cognisance that I was already on the roundabout and I had to take evasive action, she added. It was clear to me there was going to be an accident and I veered to the left. She said this brought her onto the wrong lane of the N4, heading into oncoming traffic. However, Ms Moran said that she continued driving, hugging the centre barrier, driving slowly and with her lights on, as she looked for a place to turn. Following the accident she had to be helped out of the car and was taken to hospital. I was insured and fully licenced. I have been driving since I was 21 and had nothing like this happen before, she said, adding that she looked after her grandchildren and her licence was essential. Ms Moran said she was familiar with the road from her daughter's home to her home in Rooskey but said she didn't use the N4 motorway. I didn't know what to do (when I ended up on the wrong side of the road), she admitted, adding that she thought she could minimise risk by reducing her speed and hugging the centre barrier of the road. Ms Moran's barrister, Mr Flynn, described the incident as an unfortunate set of circumstances. There was no element of speed in this case and there was nothing untoward with the vehicle, he said. There is no evidence of erratic driving and no previous convictions prior to this. He said when she entered the wrong side of the road there was no place for Ms Moran to pull in. I am not trying to condone anyone's conduct in driving against traffic but it could have been a whole lot worse only for Ms Moran driving slowly, he said. Judge Kevin P Kilrane noted the defendant had given an explanation as to how she came to be driving on the incorrect side of the road. She claims a car came into the roundabout and didn't stop, forcing her to go left onto the wrong side of the carriageway. I can't follow the logic at all in this. I can't see how this could take place. He added there is good visibility for 100 yards in each direction on Ms Moran's approach to the roundabout and said it is difficult to see how she didn't see this (black) car coming at such speed well in advance of the roundabout. Even when she ended up on the wrong side of the road, Judge Kilrane said he could not understand why Ms Moran continued to drive onwards when this clearly put her vehicle head-on against traffic approaching in the fast lane. It is the mercy of god that someone wasn't killed, he said describing this case as dangerous driving at its highest level. He then convicted her of dangerous driving and fined her 300. He also disqualified her from driving for two years. The charge of having no valid NCT on display was struck out. Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal. A 36-year-old man who claimed he was trying to help his family raise money to pay a bill for damages by 'scamming' an elderly man out of 6,900, was given a 10 months suspended jail sentence by Judge Kevin P Kilrane. Teague McGinley, Connaughton Road Carpark, Connaughton Road, Sligo was put on his election on the charge, electing to be dealt with in the district court and pleading guilty to a single count of, by deception, inducing Michael Connor by deceiving him into paying over 6,900 at O'Connell St Upper, Dublin 1 on January 23, last year. Inspector Denis Harrington detailed how the defendant had called to the home of elderly widower, Michael Connor in Frenchpark on January 23, last year. Mr McGinley knew the injured party for a number of years and conducted business with him in the past. Mr McGinley spun a story about how he needed cash to release a lorry belonging to him which he said had been seized by customs in Dublin Port, explained Inspector Harrington in evidence, adding this was a fairly common scam. Mr Connor, a retired builder, travelled to Dublin with the defendant and paid over 6,900. Mr McGinleys solicitor, acknowledged there had been no truth to the story his client had told the injured party regarding the lorry. In mitigation Mr McGinley's solicitor said his client had two brothers who were recently before the courts in Sligo in relation to damage to a fire engine. The scam money was to be used to fund the damages, he said. So it was solving one crime by committing another, observed Judge Kilrane. It was a scam, accepted the solicitor, but he pointed out his client left quite a quantity of tools with the injured party as security and it was his intention to later recover the tools and repay the money. He added the tools were all legitimate and noted Mr McGinley had offered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and all money taken had been repaid to the injured party. Handing down his ruling Judge Kilrane observed the number of previous convictions Mr McGinley had for various criminal activities. He described the actions of Mr Connor in handing over the money in the first place as very puzzling. Why was he persuaded to part with 6,900 if he knew Mr McGinley for so many years? He must have been aware of what he was like, said Judge Kilrane. It's only on that basis that (Mr McGinley) avoids a custodial sentence. It is difficult to understand the actions of the injured party. However it is still a very serious offence. a premeditated scam, he said. Mr McGinley was apparently helping his two brothers with paying compensation. It is a novel way of dealing with such a problem. He then convicted and sentenced Mr McGinley to 10 months in prison, suspending the sentence for two years on the provision that Mr McGinley incur no convictions for any indictable offences or any offences of violence, during this period. A new report carried out by the Western Development Commission (WDC) examining the labour trends in the Western Region has highlighted the importance of rural areas as employment locations. The report found that a large proportion of the labour catchment residents are in fact employed in rural areas - centres with less than 1,000 people depending on the location of the county town and the proximity of nearby urban areas. The Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment is the eight largest labour catchment in the Western Region with over 7,700 (7,785) workers living there. This is an increase of over 17% (17.3%) on a decade earlier, highlighting the growth of smaller rural centres. Smaller centres and rural areas are very important employment centres and the case of Carrick-on-Shannon illustrates this well, says Deirdre Frost, Policy Analyst, WDC. The growth in the Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment, with the number of workers increasing by 17.3% over the last decade, is much greater than the growth across the Western Region, which averages 5.9%. The analysis shows that the numbers living in the catchment of the town is significantly greater than the number in Carrick-on-Shannon itself, approximately 4.6 times as many, highlighting the large labour supply available to the town. The report identified 42 labour catchments in the Western Region (April 2016), ranging in size from the largest Galway city with over 70,000 resident workers, to centres with fewer than 1,000 resident workers. The Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment covers a relatively small area and is predominantly within south Leitrim and north-east Roscommon. Of those living in the Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment, 26.9% (2,097) are employed within the town and 73.1% (5,688) are employed outside the town and in the rest of the catchment and beyond. Key destinations outside the town are Leitrim Rural (14.3% or 1,111), Roscommon Rural (8.9% or 694) and Drumshanbo (4.6% or 363). Dublin city is also an important destination (3.5%). Female workers account for a larger proportion of the workforce than their male counterparts with rates of 52% and 48% respectively. This gender gap is further extended when looking at those employed within the town itself where much more women (62.9%) than men are employed (37.1%). The age profile of the Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment is the eldest of the seven labour catchments reviewed, with 12.8% aged under 30 years, compared to a national average of 17.5%. Those at work and residing in the Carrick-on-Shannon labour catchment have a much lower level of education than the State average with rates of 51.9% and 56.1% respectively (3rd level). Interestingly, those employed outside Carrick-on-Shannon town have a higher rate of third level attainment (53.5%) compared with those working in the town (47.8%). The single largest employer is the Wholesale, Retail and Commerce sector and accounts for 26% (2,021) which is marginally higher than the State average (25.7%). The Education, Health Care and Social Work sector is the second most important employer with a rate of 24% (1,919) and again is marginally higher than the State average (22.8%). Both the Manufacturing Industries (12.5% or 975) and the ICT and Professional Services (12.2% or 949) sectors are also important sectors. As with other labour catchments, the ICT and Professional Services proportional share is much lower than the State average (20.3%). Commenting on the findings, the Chairperson of the WDC, Dr. Deirdre Garvey said: This is very valuable information as it provides robust analysis of travel to work patterns in Leitrim and Carrick-on-Shannon. Comparing these data with the original WDC analysis 10 years earlier provides insights into trends. It will be of particular value to policy-makers in the context of Project Ireland 2040 and the development of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies informing decisions on commuting patterns and enterprise location. The contribution of the people of Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo towards Concern Worldwides work over the last 50 years will be celebrated at a special event in Sligo later this month. Irelands largest humanitarian aid agency marks its 50th anniversary this year and will bring its 50 Years of Your Concern roadshow to Sligo on Tuesday, May 22. The special evening, which aims to recognise the contribution of local volunteers, will be held in the Sligo Park Hotel from 7pm and will include a lively panel discussion, alongside a photo exhibition showcasing Concerns work past and present. Concern Worldwide was established in the Dublin home of John and Kay OLoughlin Kennedy in 1968 in response to a devastating famine in Biafra, with people all over Ireland raising the equivalent of 4 million to send a shipload of vital aid to the war-torn country. The organisation now works in 26 countries, providing emergency response and working with the worlds poorest people to transform their lives. Concerns pioneering role in the Irish aid sector was recognised by President Michael D. Higgins at a presidential reception at Aras an Uachtarain in March, with several long-serving Sligo volunteers in attendance. Riverstown man Tom Lavin, who worked as a Country Director for Concern in both Ethiopia and Sudan, will discuss his experiences in the field, with opening remarks from CEO Dominic MacSorley. John OLoughlin Kennedy and Susan Finucane, niece of founding members Fr Aengus and Jack Finucane, will also join for a discussion on 50 Years of Concern, chaired by Concerns Catriona Loughran. Local communities have always been at the heart of what we do and weve been very lucky to have many loyal supporters in Sligo who have been exceptionally generous over the years, explained Richard Dixon, Director of Public Affairs with Concern Worldwide. This event will give us a chance to recognise the special role that these volunteers play within Concern Worldwide and share stories that show the impact that those contributions have made all over the world. The 50 Years of Your Concern event is open to all and those wishing to attend can secure their place by calling Luke Kavanagh on (01) 4791309 or emailing roadshow50@concern.net. A PENSIONER dying of cancer who took his own life on the grounds of University Hospital Limerick sacrificed his life with the hope of helping someone else, an inquest heard. Jack Liston, 67, of Castleconnell, died following a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest in the hospital chapel on January 18, 2017. Speaking at his inquest this Wednesday afternoon, Jacks partner Mary Manton told the coroners court that he wanted to make a point to the HSE: You did this to me. Speaking to the Limerick Leader after the inquest, Ms Manton said that Jack hoped to attend his only daughter Janes wedding in September last. Ms Manton, of Cratloe, detailed how Jacks condition had deteriorated rapidly while he and his family waited for an MRI scan at UHL, which was required for urgent surgery. The inquest heard that tumours were found in Jacks colon following a biopsy, after a colonoscopy was carried out. This was after a colon screening kit was sent to his house in September 2016. Jack knew it was malignant when he was informed that the tumour was going into the liver, according to CT scans in early November. His familys solicitor, Turlough Herbert told the inquest that Jacks condition was identified as a significant risk in November. A surgeon in the Mater Public Hospital in Dublin told him in late November that he could operate on Jack but an MRI in Limerick was required. However, after an MRI scan was carried out on January 10 in Dublin, a surgeon told him that an operation wasnt an option any longer, the cancer had spread into his liver and stomach. Ms Manton said the need to get an MRI in Limerick delayed things further and that she and the family rang UHL every day to confirm a date for an MRI, which was then set at January 17. However, Ms Manton told the inquest, the surgeon in Dublin expressed concern over the date and wanted to bring it forward. The consultant surgeon at UHL admitted John in order to hurry things up, but there were 62 people on trolleys that day. She told the inquest that, as far as she was aware, there was only one MRI scanner in the hospital and didnt operate after 4.30pm. Mr Herbert claimed that it did not work on weekends. On January 9, Jack was driven to the hospital in Dublin under false pretences that he had chest pains in order to avail of the MRI. He received the MRI the next day. He was dying from the pain. He was literally at the end of his tether, Ms Manton said. When he was informed that surgery was not an option, he was advised the only option for him was chemo, she said. The following Sunday, on January 15, Jack underwent a stoma procedure and was discharged on Tuesday morning. Mr Liston was due to attend an appointment to change his colostomy bag the next day at 2pm. His partner said that, 10 minutes prior to the appointment, he sent a text message to Mary saying: I love you xxx. At 4pm, when she went to cook dinner at Jacks home, the gardai had arrived and informed her that he had died. Gda Timothy Walsh stated that gardai were called to a report of a sudden death at the chapel in UHL at 2.35pm. He said that he observed a small handgun at the scene. Medical evidence by state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis showed that Mr Liston died as a result of a contact bullet wound to the left side of the chest, which transfixed the heart. Ms Manton said in her deposition: He was in so much pain and had so many knock-backs in the weeks leading up to his death. He decided he was going to do it on the grounds. I believe he went to the chapel because it was a nice, quiet place and he wouldnt disturb any patients, she told the inquest. Coroner John McNamara said he was struck by Ms Mantons evidence and said he could sense the frustration felt by the family with the health system. Mr McNamara, who returned an appropriate verdict of suicide, said he will write to UHL to recommend that MRI scans be prioritised for patients involved in screen programmes who have worrying test results. The UL Hospitals Group stated: On receipt of the Coroners findings, consideration will be given to any recommendations. A man who owes almost 800k to the tax man is to have a high-powered car that was seized by CAB forfeited to the State and sold off. At Newcastle West Court, Revenue Sheriff Plunkett Hayes sought an order allowing him to sell the white Volkswagen Passat which belongs to Richard OBrien of Monks Hill, Rathkeale, who has outstanding tax liabilities of 789.291. Judge Mary Larkin heard evidence that the English-registered was seized at the behest of CAB last September in Rathkeale. The court was told the liabilities date back a number of years and that the matter was referred to the Sheriff shortly after a notice of final demand was served on Mr OBrien last April. The total liability includes around 290,000 in unpaid taxes plus interest and penalties. Judge Larkin heard evidence the car was observed by gardai at various locations on various dates in 2016 and 2017. On at least one occasion it was observed at Mr OBriens home in Rathkeale while on other dates it was established by gardai that it was booked on a ferry travelling between Dublin and Holyhead. A unnamed CAB officer told the court that having satisfied himself as to the ownership of the car, he directed Mr Hayes to seize the vehicle on foot of a warrant which was issued by CAB. Mr Hayes said having made arrangements to execute the warrant, he received a phone call from Mr OBriens solicitor asking him not to proceed. He said his (clients) tax affairs were in order. He said there were High Court proceedings. However, Mr Hayes confirmed the car was seized as he was happy with the information he had been given. He added that he was satisfied he could return the car if required to at a later date. In relation to the application before the court, he said he felt it was appropriate to seek a formal order in the circumstances. Having considered the matter, Judge Larkin granted the application. She directed that the Passat be sold by Mr Hayes and that the monies be retained for the benefit of the State. There was no appearance by Mr OBrien or his solicitor in court. AN EXHIBITION of artwork inspired by drawings made by the Bedford Row Project Childrens Group and created at Limerick Prison is to be formally launched by the Governor of Limerick Prison this Friday. The Family Links exhibition, inspired by the Year of the Family, includes contributions from mothers, fathers, children, carers and grandparents affected by imprisonment and assisted by the Bedford Family Row Project. In January 2018, Dublin was chosen by Pope Francis to host this gathering of families which will take place in August as part of his papal visit. Families from all over the world will travel to Dublin to share their experiences, to reflect on the different challenges they face and to celebrate their relationships, themes pertinent to the contributors of the exhibition, organisers say. The Family Links exhibition will present artworks in textiles, glass and ceramics created by the Limerick Prison Art Department, which are based on drawings made by the Childrens Group at the Bedford Row project. The original artwork by the children will also be presented. The Prisons framing shop have also prepared all artwork for display at The Hunt Museum. Each piece in the Family Links exhibition can be purchased and all proceeds will go towards running the childrens groups in Bedford Row. Family Links will also include a number of lunchtime talks. The collaborative project between the Hunt Museum, Limerick Prison and the Bedford Row Family Project launches at the Hunt Museum on May 11 at 3pm. On June 14, Inside Out will be delivered by Brian ORourke with Paula Rafferty, artist and tutor at Limerick Prison Art Department. Brian will recall his early study of art at Limerick Prison which led him to take up a place at Limerick School of Art and Design. Paula will speak more generally about their work with learners at the Prisons Art Department. On June 21, the Bedford Row Family Project will also give a talk offering insight into their work with families affected by imprisonment. Services include providing hospitality to families at Limerick prison, organising courses, raising public awareness and providing support and counselling to families. A Family Drop-in Arts Day will also take place on Saturday June 16 from 11am to 2pm in the Hunt Museum Education Wing. The Family Links exhibition runs until Sunday July 1. For further information on the exhibition programme, call 061312833 or email education@huntmuseum.com. BALLYHOURA provided heaven on earth for ramblers during their sunny 23rd international walking festival over the weekend With a total of 25 options in Ballyhoura country there was a stroll to suit everybody. Fiona Walsh, business development manager Ballyhoura Beo, said walkers were blessed with amazing weather to explore all the tracks and trails. Manchan Magan, Irish writer and documentary maker, officially opened the festival on Friday night. He spoke about eco-tourism and the potential of Ballyhoura country. The night was hosted by retired schoolteacher and Ballyhoura Bear walker, Diarmuid OLeary. On Saturday mornings A walk, over 20 headed to the summit of Irelands highest inland mountain, while raising funds for Liams Lifts. It is a vital local charity that ensures locals have transport to their oncology appointments in Cork, said Fiona. The B walks of the Benard loop, Glenstal loop and Slievereagh night walk also had great turnouts. Saturday was also the day for the singles walk on Keale River with a lovely bunch of people of all ages and from all walks of life - all with different reasons to come on the walk. Walkers left on a high after making new friends and exploring a beautiful hidden gem in County Limerick. Some walkers had a quick dip at the waterfall plunge pool it was that hot! said Fiona. People also gathered at the donkey sanctuary, historical Kilfinane town walk and Bruff historical walk. Saturday concluded in Kilfinane with music from Pilgrim Street and the Bootleggers in the towns wonderful former Church of Ireland venue. On Sunday, there was the Galtee walk, a yoga walk, mystical stroll in Lough Gur, historical walk in the medieval town of Kilmallock, interactive walk in Doneraile and mindfulness walk. Sunday evening concluded with traditional music in Kilfinane. Monday featured the Slieve Felim walk, Castle Oliver estate wall walk in Ballyorgan and the popular nature trail. If you missed this family event, there is another chance on Thursday, May 17, when Ballyhoura Beo launch their weekly Thursday evening events. See Ballyhoura Beos Facebook page or visitballyhoura.com to see the activities they have all year round. THE Russian owner of the company that holds the controlling stake in Aughinish Alumina in West Limerick is reportedly feeling the direct effect of US sanctions. Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire owner of Rusal, Aughinish Aluminas parent company, has had to hand back a number of private jets he was using and they are now up for sale, according to an exclusive Reuters report overnight. The news agency is pointing to return of aircraft as an indication of how deeply the sanctions have affected Deripaskas business empire, which has seen a direct impact on Rusal, the aluminum firm whose sales and supply chains have been heavily disrupted. It said the sanctions had made it impossible for him to continue to use the three Gulfstream executive jets, two of which are now for up for sale. Deep concern over the future of the 450 jobs at Aughinish Alumina had eased a little in recent weeks following the decision by the US to extend the deadline for companies to wind up business with Rusal from June to late October. Pressure has eased somewhat in relation to the supply chain for Aughinish. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said the US would provide relief from sanctions if Deripaska gave up control of the company. However, it has been reported that Deripaska has no intention of selling his 48% share and instead plans to reshuffle his management team to focus in on the sanctions. The hope is that further diplomatic approaches from Ireland and other European countries such as Germany, Italy and France which have significant auto and aviation industries which depend on supplies of aluminium, may lead to Aughinish or Rusal being exempted. These approaches will rely heavily on special relationships with the US. THE Masterpiece Collection of exquisite diamonds and precious gemstones has arrived at Matthew Stephens Jewellers in Limerick. This spectacular collection is filled with unique and incredible pieces which are bound to both dazzle and amaze and combines rare gemstones with the finest craftsmanship, incorporating traditional artistry with state-of-the-art technology. Each piece has been carefully curated by some of the worlds finest diamond experts and designed and developed by award winning designers and goldsmiths from all over the globe. The Masterpiece Collection is for those who appreciate real quality and would prefer to invest in a one off single piece that can be admired and enjoyed for years to come while in many cases appreciating in value, before passing it on to the next generation as a family heirloom, for them to enjoy it all over again for years to come. It could be to celebrate a significant birthday, anniversary or simply a just because you deserve it gift. These are the pinnacle of exquisite taste. A stunning arrangement of gemstones captured magnificently alongside the finest craftsmanship ensures a unique display of exceptional quality jewellery. The Masterpiece Collection combines traditional handmade items with state-of-the-art innovation, leaving you with exquisite one-off pieces of jewellery. The diamonds are Incredibly cut to maximise sparkle, scintillation and fire. With the best possible prices guaranteed, this is an event not to be missed. The Masterpiece Collection will ensure the wearer is the centre of attention and this breath-taking piece is bound to wow. The Masterpiece Collection is available to view in the front window displays of Matthew Stephens Jewellers until Saturday, May 26. For further information or to make a viewing appointment please call 061-415583 or email sales@matthewstpehens.ie. KILTEELY Tidy Towns is holding a big party this Saturday night to mark their 10th anniversary and they have a lot to celebrate! Under the stewardship of the tireless John McCarthy, Kilteely has increased its score in the Tidy Towns competition every year. John says the night, kicking off at 9.30pm in Aherns lounge on Saturday, May 12, is a way of thanking everybody, who has helped and supported their endeavours over the last 10 years. It is going to be a celebration of all our achievements. We have won something every year. We have won Limerick in Bloom three out of the last six years. We won Pride of Place in 2015. We were second in Going for Gold in 2016, said John, who is the co-ordinator of Kilteely Tidy Towns. An awful lot of projects have been completed too to enhance the village and surroundings. We have over 70 out during Team Limerick Clean-up. We just wanted to have a night to thank all the people who have helped and supported the good works, said John. Music will be provided by Finnbarr and Chloe Dennehy and John has been working hard to secure top class raffle prizes. Entry into the draws will be included in the 5 ticket. They have weekends away and an evening meal courtesy of Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel in Adare; Armada Hotel in Spanish Point and Nagles camping and caravan park in Doolin. There will be many more prizes on the night. We have also got kind sponsorship from St Ailbes Credit Union in Caherconlish. Everybody who comes on the night will be entered into the draw, said John. Tickets are available form Kilteely Tidy Towns committee members and will be available on the door at Aherns. Contact John on 087 2746299 for more information. LIMERICK'S Strand Hotel has been given conditional permission by local planners to increase to over 200 rooms as part of a 3.5m upgrade. Management at the Strand Hotel, at OCallaghan Strand, applied for planning permission for a single storey extension of 67 square metres to accommodate the expansion. The plans which will also see 15 new jobs created will see a new floor added to the north wing of the existing hotel. It means the height of both sides of the hotel will be equalised, bringing its room count from 184 to 204. Chairman of the economic committee, northside councillor Vivienne Crowley has welcomed the councils green light, saying: A lot of people are doing more business and you will now find in the middle of the week even all our hotels are fully booked, not just on the weekend. The Strand Hotel is a wonderful spot. They have always treated their staff very well. They are an excellent employer, she added. Local residents objected to the development, citing fears over increased traffic activity. This will lead to a minimum of an additional 20 motor cars being parked overnight. They also need access to the site, further contributing to existing traffic congestion, one said. They added: The existing eight storey structure at the Strand Hotel already has a glowering and shadowing presence both on the Ennis Road and on surrounding residences. No such structure was ever envisaged in this area prior to the Strand Hotel and not attempted because of its incongruity to the overall residential area. Council gave permission to the development, subject to nine conditions. These include a ban on work outside the hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on Saturday, Sundays or public holidays. LIMERICK will not be one of the 19 counties where the new pilot scheme of night time rural bus services is to be introduced next month because it did not apply to be included. But Limerick is ready to go if, and when, the pilot scheme becomes mainstream, because it has a comprehensive plan already drawn up, Anne Gaughan, the manager of Limerick Local Link stressed The organisation, she pointed out, had drawn up plans last year to roll out a service from 7pm to midnight on two routes in both east and west Limerick on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. The plans were submitted for funding of approximately 100,000 last year but the new pilot scheme, introduced earlier this week by Transport Minister Shane Ross, overtook them. However, it is still open to Local Link Limerick to apply to be included in the new pilot scheme, Ms Gaughan said. It would, however, entail a much less comprehensive service than the one they had already envisaged, researched and planned, she explained. The pilot scheme announced by Minister Ross is due to run from next month to December and includes 50 routes in 19 counties operating in some cases up to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The service, dubbed the Drink Link by some, is intended as a measure to combat social isolation but Limerick did not apply to be included. Local Link Limerick had already submitted a plan for evening weekend services when the application for the pilot scheme arrived earlier this year, Ms Gaughan explained. When the application came down and we saw the funding available, 200,000 at that time, we said that is not going to fit us. They would have had to whittle down their plans and do a lot of research to determine the best route and the best day to get value for money so as to fit the new pilot scheme, she explained. It was a call we had to make at the time, she continued. Our main focus was on the daytime unmet needs. Besides, no requests from groups or passengers for extra evening services had come in. However, she added: We would invite local stakeholders with an unmet need for evening transport to contact Local Link Limerick. Three evening services are already provided on Tuesdays up to 9pm in the Newcastle West area, Ms Gaughan added. These have been in service for several years and were founded on identified unmet needs in the area. Local Link also provides one-off evening trips to community groups throughout Limerick for social, training and information evenings and events for which transport is a challenge for participation and we are open to enquiries on this, she stressed. Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins however said it was disappointing that no applications were made from Limerick for inclusion in the new pilot scheme. I am hopeful local organisations such as Limerick Local Link will put in an application in the coming weeks. "Its crucial that the people and communities of rural Limerick aren't left behind when this scheme is rolled out. Additionally, I would urge that the timetables for these services are not too restrictive, and should take into account local needs and traditions. An end time of 11pm on a Friday or Saturday is quite early in my opinion, and should be extended to closing time, 12:30am." Last December, the Limerick Leader reported that Local Link Limerick had applied for funding to provide a night-time service on two routes. The proposal included providing a Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening service from 7pm until midnight on two loops: the 2357 service, which operates on a loop from Kilfinane, through Ballyorgan, Effin, Kilmallock and into Charleville, taking in a number of other villages along the way, and the 3101 service which takes in newcastle West, Ardagh, Rathkeale, Askeaton, Shanagolden, Loughill, Glin and Carrigkerry. Last year, Ms Gaughan pointed out, Limerick passenger trips grew by 61% and continue to grow. In addition, she stressed, nine new and extended services have been identified and submitted to date in 2018. AN engineer who assaulted a builder with a shovel has been directed to hand over paperwork relating to a credit union loan which he took out almost six months ago. During civil proceedings at Newcastle West Court, Judge Mary Larkin was told Vincent Carroll, who has an address at Castleroberts, Adare has not paid damages arising from the assault. Mr Carroll was found guilty in February 2015 of assaulting builder Joe Rodgers at Main Street, Adare in October 2013. He was awarded 13,500 in damages in September 2016. During the criminal case, the defendant said he and his wife had a concerns about work being carried at a premises adjoining Serendipity in Adare a shoe shop which is owned by his wife. On the day of the incident, he became frustrated with the mess which being created as a result of the construction work resulting in an altercation between him and Mr Rodgers. While Judge Larkin (who also presided over the criminal matter) said she had no doubt Mr Carroll swung a shovel and struck Mr Rogers she applied The Probation Act. Seeking an installment order during proceedings last week, solicitor Rossa McMahon, said his client has not received any compensation. Solicitor Bill ODonnell, representing Mr Carroll, said his clients engineering business was liquidated a number of years ago and that he cannot afford to pay the monies owed. In direct evidence, Mr Carroll said he suffers from anxiety, has mental health difficulties and works part time for his wife earning 300 per week (net). He said his outgoings are also 300 per week but that he is willing to pay Mr Rodgers 10 per week. Being questioned by Mr McMahon about his finances, the defendant insisted he does not have a bank account or any assets. I lost everything, he said. Mr McMahon put it to him that he took out a credit union loan for 15,000 last December having agreed to repay 150 per week. He suggested the loan would not have been approved if the statement of means before the court was an accurate reflection of his financial situation. You dont get a loan when you get 300 a week and spend 300 a week, he said. Judge Larkin agreed saying she wants to see the application form which was submitted for the credit union loan. It is relevant to your capacity to pay (compensation), she said. The matter was adjourned to June 5, next. IT was a real family affair for fitness fanatic Pat ORegan, and his grandson Ben Meehan who both finished the Great Limerick Run. Pat has just marked his 80th birthday and is a well-known long distance runner in Limerick and it looks like his grandson Ben, 12, is on the way to emulating his feats, after he completed the six-mile race in just 46 minutes! It could have been faster, however, his aunt Joan Garry, said, pointing out the Christ the King sixth class student was itching to run ahead of his father Brian for the whole race. For the whole of the way around, Ben was asking if he could go ahead, she said. On the last mile, his Dad gave him permission. And he took off like lightning. There was a lovely reunion between Pat and Ben at the finish line, as both received their medals. For a 12-year-old boy to run that time is amazing. It really is. Dad has been running all his life and Ben is certainly taking after him, Joan added. Elsewhere, 13-year-old Sean Byrnes was celebrating after completing his fourth race on his hand-trike in just one hour and 11 minutes. Sean, from Pallasgreen, was born with Spina Bifida and is a wheelchair user. He completed the race with his mum Fiona, and his father John said: He is an amazing young man with a great attitude to life. My wife Fiona who loves walking, but is not a runner had to train very hard to keep up with Sean! Children with type one diabetes from around the region also joined in the fun, taking part in the annual kids fun run on the eve of race day. The team were co-ordinated by Dr Kerrie Hennifan, an intern at University Hospital Limerick, and Maaz Mirza, a third year student, with others helping. AN ELDERLY lady had to dive out of the way when a lunatic motorist drove on a dedicated walking path around a Limerick GAA field. The frightening incident occurred on Sunday evening around 7pm in Doon. It is understood that gardai were carrying out a routine check point near the former convent in the village. When the male motorist spotted gardai he drove up on the footpath and rammed a car containing two children. He took off at speed, driving like a maniac through the village and turned onto the the narrow Toher Road towards Oola. In an attempt to evade gardai he smashed through a gate leading onto the popular walkway around the GAA field. One local told the Limerick Leader that the driver eventually crashed his Nissan Almera into railings that separates the GAA field from the secondary school. He actually drove where people walk. He nearly killed someone who was using the walkway. She had to dive out of the way. She must have got an awful shock. The last thing you expect is a lunatic driving on the quiet walkway. It is a beautiful spot and fierce popular with young and old, they said. As well as men, women and children enjoying a stroll on the fine evening, the pitch was busy. Sunday was Holy Communion day in Doon so there was a good few young people in the field, who witnessed the whole thing. It could have been a lot worse. Imagine if he hit a family out for a walk after celebrating Holy Communion... said the local. After the driver crashed the car he made off on foot though fields. He jumped over the convent wall but gardai were waiting for him in the village and arrested him. A garda spokesperson confirmed they are investigating a road traffic collision on May 6 at approximately 7pm in Doon. A man in his thirties was arrested and brought to Bruff garda station. He was later released without charge. A file is being prepared for the DPP, said the garda spokesperson. It is understood that he is not from Doon. Audrey Crowe, PRO of Doon GAA Club, praised the actions of gardai. A car entered the GAA grounds and damaged railing on the walkway. Gardai were promptly on the scene to deal with the incident. Doon GAA Club would like to thank An Garda Siochana for their quick response to this incident and thankfully there were no injuries, said Mrs Crowe. A Limerick woman who seriously assaulted a recovering road crash victim, and dragged him outside a house party where he was found unconscious at 7am the next morning, has had her nine-year jail term cut on appeal. Melissa Whelan, 27, with an address in Moyross, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Wayne Fitzgerald at a Knock Hill apartment, Ennis Road, in the city on May 6, 2015. She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with the final three suspended by Judge Tom ODonnell at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on April 4, 2017. Whelan had her jail term cut by 18 months this Friday with the Court of Appeal holding that the mitigating factors ought to have attracted a greater reduction than 25%. Giving judgment in the three-judge court, Mr Justice John Hedigan said Whelan and the injured party had attended an impromptu house party in an apartment on the day in question. They were known to each other for a short time period before this incident occurred. During the night, Gardai were twice called to the premises on foot of complaints made by neighbours about noise and on each occasion they left, having dealt with those complaints. Mr Justice Hedigan said the injured party was a very vulnerable victim having only recently recovered from a serious car accident in which he sustained head injuries. He was described as being of placid disposition. It appears he spent the evening drinking on the couch, watching TV and chatting. At some point, Whelan suddenly struck him on the nose with a bottle. She then punched him in the face several times and kicked him several times as he lay on the floor. She then dragged him outside into the patio area and continued drinking. It appears the other people at the party thought he had left and gone home on his own accord. At 7am the next morning, a neighbour spotted him lying on the ground outside and called the gardai. The gardai arrived to find him in an unconscious and seriously injured state. He was taken to hospital and operated on due to significant swelling of the brain. He was kept in an induced coma for a time. He has been left with significant impairment in respect of his swallow and speech. He suffered significant memory loss and spent six weeks in the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire before being discharged. Mr Justice Hedigan said there was no doubt it was a very serious offence with catastrophic consequences for the unfortunate victim. Mr Justice Hedigan said Whelan grew up in a dysfunctional household in which her father was serving life in prison and her mother had serious alcohol addiction difficulties. He said Whelan has four young children from who are being cared for by her former partner's parents and she herself has a history of substance abuse. Mr Justice Hedigan said the Court of Appeal agreed with 12 years as the headline sentence but that the valuable plea of guilty should not have attracted a reduction of less than 25% or three years. That was all that was allowed in this case by way of mitigation, Mr Justice Hedigan said, and Whelans personal history, her dysfunctional family background, her anxiety to try and be united with her children and her deep remorse, should have attracted a further reduction of 18 months. Mr Justice Hedigan, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Alan Mahon, resentenced Whelan to 12 years imprisonment with the final four-and-a-half suspended leaving her with a net jail term of seven-and-a-half years. Whelan became emotional when being led away to serve the remainder of her sentence. May 3, 2021, 7 AM A first-day cover found at a recent stamp show is franked with the five stamps from Nicaraguas 1939 airmail set honoring Will Rogers. There are questions about the legitimacy of the postmarks. By Molly Goad The May 28 issue of Linns Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, May 14. And if you subscribe to Linns digital edition, youre at the head of the line with early access Saturday, May 12. Here are three previews of exclusive content available only to subscribers. Cover franked with Nicaraguas tribute to Will Rogers Thomas P. Myers couldnt pass up the first-day cover pictured above when he found it in a dealers box at the Springpex stamp show in Virginia. It is franked with Nicaraguas 1939 airmail stamp homage to American humorist and writer Will Rogers. But is the cover real or a fake? Switzerland stamp scene Switzerland recently issued three stamps marking the 125th anniversary of operation of three mountain railways: the Schynige Platte, the Wengernalp and the Stanserhorn railways. Richard T. Hall examines the development of mountain railways in Switzerland and their commemoration on Swiss stamps. The life of Henry G. Mandel Essay and proof pioneer Henry G. Mandel only lived for 45 years (1857-1902). During that short period of time, he exposed the work of the engraving fraternity to the world. This issue includes a column by James E. Lee that looks at Mandel's life and two very interesting die proofs. Want to subscribe? Get access to all of these articles, and so much more, with a Linns Stamp News print or digital edition subscription! Sign up and start reading now! Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Unlike chocolate chip cookies or tomato soup, the invention of bread can't be pinned down to a single person or people; instead, it evolved to its present state over the course of millennia. Although the modern version of sliced bread is a fairly new invention (Wonder Bread began marketing the first sliced loaf of bread in 1930), bread itself is an ancient food with origins dating back more than 22,000 years. In 2004, at an excavation site called Ohalo II, in what is modern-day Israel, scientists found 22,000-year-old barley grains caught in a grinding stone: the first evidence of humans processing wild cereal grains. But these early "bread" creations were probably more like "flat cakes of ground seeds and grains heated on a rock, or in the embers of a fire," than standard sandwich bread, Howard Miller, a food historian and professor at Lipscomb Universityin Nashville, Tennessee, told Live Science. [Why It Took So Long to Invent the Wheel] Bread grains, the first plants to be domesticated, were first harvested in the wild by the Natufians. This Mesolithic group of hunter-gatherers lived in the Jordan River Valley region of the Middle East about 12,500 years ago. "The Natufians are thought to be the first people to make the transition between survival purely on foods that you harvest from nature to becoming farmers who control all aspects of the food supply," William Rubel, a food historian and author of "Bread: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2011), told Live Science. "The Natufians had the infrastructure for grinding barley and then making it into bread." The Natufians had the earliest known agricultural-based society and would process grains into a coarse flour, from which they made a "small, pita-like, unleavened loaf cooked directly on the coals of a fire," Miller said. Over the next several thousand years, agriculture and the cultivation of grains spread across the Middle East and southwest Asia through trade contacts with other hunter-gatherer peoples in the Nile Valley, Mesopotamia and east of the Indus Valley. "Bread was the evolutionary spark that led to the development of state and large political units," Rubel said. "Bread allowed for the accumulation of surplus, and so the villages got bigger until you had actual cities." More than 5,000 years after the Natufians began making flatbread, three civilizations were rapidly growing and expanding during the Bronze Age: the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians (in what is modern-day Iraq) and the Harappans (in the Indus Valley, in what is modern-day Pakistan). All three civilizations, considered the largest in the ancient world, depended on bread. "Bread was the majority of their calories," Rubel said. "Bread allowed for the building of surpluses and developing of [social] classes. You didn't have a class of full-time artisans until you had bread." The first-known leavened bread made with semi-domesticated yeast dates back to around 1000 B.C. in Egypt, according to Miller. However, scholars debate the exact origin, as evidence suggests that Mesopotamians also produced yeast-risen bread, Rubel said. In fact, the invention of yeast-risen bread likely has boozy roots. Ancient Egyptians used barley and emmer wheat both to brew sour beer and to make sourdough bread, according to a 1994 study in the journal Egyptian Archeology. The ancient Egyptians could have made beer by baking "richly yeasted dough" into "beer loaves," then crumbling that bread and straining it with water, which would then ferment into beer, according to the book "Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology" (Cambridge University Press, 2000). "Beer is liquid bread," Miller said. "They have the same ingredients water, grain, yeast just in different proportions." From the cradle of civilization's flatbreads to the packaged supermarket slices we know today, bread has evolved alongside society, ever since humans first crushed grains against a grinding stone thousands of years ago. Original article on Live Science. Money, documents and other personal items that belonged to Count Hans Joachim von Finckenstein were found in milk cans buried by a lake in Poland. A teenager unexpectedly discovered a cache of World War II artifacts including an officer's uniform from the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany hidden in two milk cans buried by a lake in what is now northeastern Poland. The cans also held a 70-year-old toothbrush, a pocket watch and a diary, according to Science in Poland. The teen's parents promptly reported the finding to authorities, who identified the heirlooms' original owners: an aristocratic Prussian family headed by Count Hans Joachim von Finckenstein, who lived by the lake when it was a German province during World War II, according to Science in Poland. [Photos: German WWII Base Discovered on Arctic Island] The personal articles were given to the count's daughter, Waldtraut von Finckenstein, who is 81 years old and lives in Germany. The teenager, 14-year-old Patryk Lessman, found the milk cans while on vacation with his family near Lake Jeziorak in May 2017. But it took a year for archaeologists to do a detailed inventory of the objects, as well as research and conserve them. The findings were presented at a news conference on May 4 in Ilawa, a town in northern Poland. It's no wonder it took researchers so long to examine the objects, as there are many. The artifacts include the count's last will with the family seal and coat of arms, his personal documents and a diary dating to 1914-1918, during World War I. The milk cans also held glasses, hunting accessories, money, jewelry, a pocket watch, letters, family photos, a silver spoon and military decorations, as well as the Wehrmacht uniform, according to Science in Poland. It wasn't clear from the Science in Poland statement whether the Nazi uniform belonged to the count. However, East Prussia was a German province during World War II, and many of the Germans who lived there fled in 1944 and 1945, especially as Russia's Red Army advanced, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Some of the historical documents uncovered in the milk cans, including the coins and banknotes, are now the property of Poland's state treasury, and will be put on display in a local museum. Museum staff also plan to translate the count's diary, Science in Poland reported. Waldtraut von Finckenstein (right) and Patryk Lessman, who discovered her family belongings one year ago in two buried milk cans in Ilawa, a town in northern Poland. (Image credit: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty) "It is very rich correspondence and diaries conducted by Hans Joachim von Finckenstein in the years 1914-1919," Micha Motek, a regional history researcher in Poland, told wyborcza.pl, a Polish news site. "It's a material with a huge historical load. We also drew our interest in two other documents, because they were written in Cyrillic, dated January 26 and February 3, 1945." The count's daughter relayed some of her family's history. She and her sister Margarete were sent to a family in Western Pomerania now a region divided between modern-day Germany and Poland just a few months before Russia's Red Army arrived, Science in Poland said. Their father stayed at the estate and was arrested by Soviet soldiers in March 1945. He later died in a camp in the Polish town of Pasek. The count's wife, Hildegarda, stayed at the estate, working for the Russians until November 1945, when she was reunited with her children in Germany. It's likely that Hildegarda is the one who buried the family's treasures in the milk cans, Motek said. One note in particular caught Motek's eye: A letter by a Soviet officer who wrote, "Comrades and soldiers, please do not harm the inhabitants of this house. They welcomed us." Historians also found a certificate dated a few days after the note that said all of the cattle, horses, pigs and poultry owned by the von Finckenstein family were now property of the Red Army Science in Poland reported. After learning about the two milk cans, researchers searched the area with metal detectors to see if they could find any more artifacts. Motek found a battle ax dating to the late Middle Ages and other searchers found the relics of a medieval fortified settlement, but they didn't find any more items relating to the count's family. Motek donated the battle ax to a museum in the town of Ostroda, Science in Poland reported. Original article on Live Science. A massive wave (not the record-setting one) gets ready to break in Durban, South Africa, in February 2017. An eight-story monster wave that crashed down in the Southern Ocean off the coast of New Zealand has set a record. It's the largest known wave to ever hit the Southern Hemisphere, according to New Zealand scientists. Nobody actually saw the 78-foot-tall (23.8 meters) wave crash down, but a buoy moored by New Zealand's Campbell Island managed to log the amazing wonder on May 8, according to MetOcean Solutions, a subsidiary of the Meteorological Service of New Zealand. The colossal wave eclipsed its record-breaking predecessor by nearly 6 feet (1.77 m). That wave a 72.2-foot (22.03 m) swell recorded by an Australian buoy, reared up just south of Tasmania in 2012, MetOcean Solutions said. [In Photos: Check Out These Monster Waves] "This [new wave] is a very exciting event and to our knowledge it is [the] largest wave ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere," Tom Durrant, a senior oceanographer with MetOcean Solutions, said in a statement. "This is a very important storm to capture, and it will add greatly to our understanding of the wave physics under extreme conditions in the Southern Ocean." In this case, a deep, low-pressure system and high winds exceeding 74 mph (65 knots or 120 km/h) helped to create the perfect conditions for the enormous wave. "What is interesting about [Tuesday's] event is the storm speed appears to match the wave speed, allowing wave heights to grow dramatically as the system tracks eastward," Durrant said. Campbell Island (Image credit: NOAA/Landsat/Copernicus Google Data SIO) The storm that produced this giant wave could have generated even larger waves, with up to 82-foot-tall (25 m) peaks, Durrant noted. But because the solar-powered buoy needs to conserve its battery energy during its one-year deployment, it takes measurements for only 20 minutes every 3 hours. The buoy then sends these logs which include the height, period and direction of every wave to scientists via satellite. So, an even larger wave could have hit while the buoy was not recording, Durrant said. Though the height of the real record-breaker may never be known, one thing is certain: The Southern Ocean is a powerhouse that generates far-reaching waves. In fact, "surfers in California can expect energy from this storm to arrive at their shores in about a week's time," Durrant said. He noted that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) uses a measurement known as "significant wave height" to characterize the state of the sea. To get this number, meteorologists take the average of the highest third of measured waves. For this storm, the significant wave height was 48.8 feet (14.9 m), which is a record for the Southern Ocean. But it's not the world record. That honor goes to a significant wave height of 62.3 feet (19 m) logged in the North Atlantic in February 2013, Live Science previously reported. Original article on Live Science. Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead - My Life Story By Cecile Richards Touchstone. 276 pp. $27 --- Making trouble may have come naturally to Cecile Richards, born to a father who was a civil rights lawyer and a mother who would make the great leap from housewife to governor of Texas. Richards traces her first act of speaking out to a dramatic day at her Dallas elementary school when she told her teacher that she did not want to recite the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of class. Her teacher was horrified. Cecile was 11 years old. Now Richards, who is stepping down as president of Planned Parenthood, has written a memoir of her life of activism called "Make Trouble," with the inevitable subtitle "Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead." The book begins in September 2015, when Congress investigated Planned Parenthood after a group calling itself the Center for Medical Progress released a video that appeared to show Planned Parenthood staffers talking about selling fetal tissue. Not true, Richards writes, and not "our first rodeo with video scams." This was an elaborate one that prompted anti-abortion activists to leap into action. Richards was called to testify before a congressional committee, almost never a pleasant experience. Members of Congress can say whatever they want; the witness is sworn but they are not; the real audience is the mosh pit of cameras between the committee and the witness. There is no comforting Perry Mason to object to questions and no dignified judge to insist on order. Richards got it with both barrels from a largely hostile committee of mostly white men. She presumably offers this experience as a cautionary tale: Making trouble as a profession carries with it the certainty that there are plenty of people prepared to make trouble back at you. She talks about her panic, about long hours working to be well-prepared, about wearing a blue suit that she regarded as a suit of armor fortified by a pin that belonged to her mother, and about taking up meditation. And in another lesson for political women, she notes that during five hours of testimony, none of her distress or vulnerability showed. This tale almost has a happy ending: Planned Parenthood was vindicated, though the episode did take a toll on an organization that is almost always under siege. After her eat-your-peas beginning, Richards takes us back in history to Texas and the beginnings of her mom and dad, who came from opposite sides of Waco, a greater gulf than you might imagine. They married and moved to Dallas, where Ann Richards worked hard at being a wife and mother, and volunteered for progressive causes and candidates in a very conservative community. Those were the days when smart and motivated women were teaching fifth grade, if they were working at all; when moms in Dallas' upper-class University Park enclave were cooking elaborate meals for their friends and making creative Halloween costumes for their kids. Those women might have brought the same determination to running General Motors, but that was not happening. When Cecile went to college she chose Brown University, distant from Dallas in every way, which did not prevent her Texas mother from assembling a wardrobe for her Ivy League daughter. Richards felt like a refugee from "Little Women" in her long wool skirts until her roommates re-dressed her. Being Ann Richards' daughter was wonderful of course, she says, but the woman who went on to govern the huge state could be overpowering at times when she concentrated her efforts on her slender blond daughter. In college, Richards began her work as an organizer, working for Brown University's janitors and against the Seabrook nuclear power plant. "I may have majored in history," she writes, "but I minored in agitating." She was working as a union organizer in New Orleans when she met her future husband, Kirk Adams. One of the threads running through her memoir is: If you want to make trouble as your life's work, be mindful of who you marry. Richards repeatedly gives thanks to her husband, who is not the sort of man who assumes that his wife will follow wherever his work takes him. In their lives, it has been mostly, although not always, the other way around. Inevitably, their work and her family took them to Texas when Ann Richards decided to run for governor. Ann Richards' fans will enjoy Cecile's account of her mother's political career and the amazing Texas women who played supporting roles, including Barbara Jordan and Molly Ivins. Cecile Richards recounts the painful decision of friends and family to stage an intervention and start her mother on a path to sobriety (Ann Richards called it "drunk school"). She takes us to her mother's triumphant speech at the Democratic convention in 1988 and on to her tough campaign for governor and her unsuccessful bid for re-election. Every step along the way, Cecile Richards was "all in" for her mother - which seems to be a family trait. These parts of the book are my personal favorites, and I would love to have had more stories of women waging politics. Almost as interesting are Richards' lists of things to know about political organizing, learned from her mother's experience and from working with women like former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. After the Democrats' big loss in 1994, she felt a need to make some trouble of her own, and eventually she did, organizing a coalition of groups called America Votes that works to register voters and get out the vote. Richards offers a few tips on organizing, notably: "You have to be willing to ask for money." She also points out that you have to have an idea good enough to encourage people to support you financially - "proof of concept," she calls it. And always hire a room that's half the size you need with half the chairs you need. Richards also has a list of things you might do if you want to raise activist kids. Guard against gender roles, she says; they are alive and well and start early. Everything you need to know in life you can learn on a campaign, she says, even beyond winning and losing. Kids can pick up new skills, she writes. "There is nothing like sorting a mailing list to nail the ABCs." This is a woman who has a way with maxims. Maybe her most important tip is contained in a chapter title: "Say Yes." Although America Votes was making progress, she found herself considering a possible opportunity with Planned Parenthood after a search firm called to see if she'd be interested in discussing a job as its president. As it became clear that the organization was serious about her, she was terrified. "Somehow," she writes, "I gutted up and showed up" and took the job. "Never turn down a new opportunity," she advises. "And never ever hold yourself back from accepting a big job or a big chance." She asks, "What is it about us women" that causes us to hold ourselves back? Early on she notes that her mother didn't do that: "Every political race she'd gotten into, it was because she knew that she was qualified and could do a better job than the incumbent, even if she was the only one who thought so." At the 1984 Democratic convention, an NPR reporter found Ann Richards on the convention floor to ask how it felt to see a woman nominated as vice president. Richards was "teary eyed" as Geraldine Ferraro's name was announced. "I wasn't sure I would ever live to see this day," she said. Cecile Richards is nowhere near saying that a new day is coming in the wake of women's marches and pink knitted hats. She does say that now women have enormous power and it's time to use it - presumably to make trouble. --- Wertheimer is a senior correspondent at NPR. A woman has landed behind bars for not reporting to police the sexual assault of an 8-year-old relative at the hands of a Laredo man who remains a fugitive in Mexico, according to an arrest affidavit. On Wednesday, Diana Cadena, 42, was served with an arrest warrant charging her with failure to report an aggravated sexual assault of a child. She did not think much of it when the boy told her twice that Benjamin Pedroza-Ugalde, 40, had sexually assaulted him, according to court documents. READ ALSO: Laredo mom: Teacher in relationship with teen 'like a son' "Ms. Diana Cadena admitted that she did not investigate the matter further, call the police or (Child Protective Services) regarding the sexual abuse allegations," the affidavit states. Last month, Laredo police requested assistance from the community to locate Pedroza-Ugalde and featured him on Laredo Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted. He is accused of sexually assaulting two children, court records state. He is believed to be in Mexico. To report his whereabouts, call police at 795-2800, Crime Stoppers at 727-TIPS (8477) or text a tip to 847411 and type keyword: Laredo. Callers may remain anonymous. Information leading to his arrest may eligible for a cash reward. Police said the case unfolded April 6, when they responded to a sexual assault of a child report in the 5600 block of St. David Lane. A man stated that his 8-year-old son called him saying that Pedroza-Ugalde was "touching" his 14-year-old sister, according to the complaint. READ MORE: Laredo police searching for man wanted for sexual offenses Police said the girl stated that Pedroza-Ugalde had sexually assaulted her multiple times. She told police the abuse started when she was 10 years old. LPD later spoke to Pedroza-Ugalde at LPD headquarters. He voluntarily agreed to speak about the sexual assault allegations. Pedroza-Ugalde stated he is the "protector" of the home and added that he did not have a reason to enter the girl's room at night, the arrest affidavit states. "Benjamin Pedroza-Ugalde ultimately denied the sexual abuse allegations," the document says. In addition, he refused to take a polygraph examination. RELATED: 21-year-old man accused of aggravated sexual assault by Laredo police On April 10, police found out that Pedroza-Ugalde had also sexually assaulted the 8-year-old boy, according to court documents. The boy made the outcry at the Children's Advocacy Center. Pedroza-Ugalde allegedly told him not to tell anyone, but the boy said he told Cadena about it. On April 13, police spoke to Cadena at LPD headquarters about the boy's outcry. She allegedly admitted that he told her about the sexual abuse twice. Her solution was to speak to Pedroza-Ugalde, who then denied the allegations, the complaint states. 1 Child marriage: Delaware has become the first state in the nation to completely ban marriage for anyone under 18. Democratic Gov. John Carney this week signed into law the measure that makes it illegal for minors to get married, even if their parents approve. Previously, anyone could get married in the state at any age with a judges approval. Supporters say the bill is an important step to protect children from being forced to marry someone against their will, citing human trafficking. 2 Baby names: Emma and Liam were the most frequently chosen baby names for 2017. For the fourth year in a row, Emma was the top girls name according to the annual list of the most popular baby names released by the Social Security Administration on Friday. Liam pushed last years champ, Noah, to second to claim the top spot. When it came to girls names, Emma was followed by Olivia, Ava, Isabella and Sophia. For the boys, Liam and Noah were followed by William, James and Logan. New freight train connections usually only have a limited potential to make global headlines, but a new service launched from China on Thursday could be different. Its cargo - 1,150 tons of sunflower seeds - may appears unremarkable, but its destination, however, is far more interesting: Tehran, the capital of Iran. The launch of a new rail connection between Bayannur in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Iran was announced by the official news agency Xinhua on Thursday. Its exact path was not described in the dispatch, but travel times will apparently be shortened by at least 20 days in comparison to cargo shipping. The sunflower seeds are now expected to arrive in Tehran in about two weeks. While the seeds are making their steady progress across Asia, there's a growing risk of Iran and Israel breaking into open conflict in the meantime. French President Emmanuel Macron has already predicted that the U.S. decision to pull out of the Iran deal would lead to war, especially after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that the country may restart its nuclear program if U.S. sanctions are imposed. Iranian rocket attacks on Wednesday and the subsequent Israeli retaliatory attacks on Thursday indicated how quickly the situation could indeed escalate. While the United States is now urging foreign companies to wind down their operations in Iran, China appears to be doing the opposite. Thursday's freight train connection launch was only the latest measure Beijing has taken to intensify trade relations with Iran and there seem to be no plans so far to give in to U.S. demands. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Iran and China would "maintain normal economic ties and trade." "We will continue with our normal and transparent practical cooperation with Iran on the basis of not violating our international obligations," he said. China faces the same problem U.S. allies in Europe are currently facing: Even if European governments are opposed to new sanctions on Iran, European companies would have to abide by those rules or risk severe fines by the United States. Even though they have expressed their outrage, some high-ranking European officials have already acknowledged that they would have few options to rein in the United States if it decided to punish European companies for continuing to trade with Iran. China, however, appears more defiant. When asked whether China would order its companies to withdraw from Iran to avoid U.S. sanctions, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman indicated that Beijing might defy the Trump administration. "I want to stress that the Chinese government is opposed to the imposition of unilateral sanctions and the so-called long-arm jurisdiction by any country in accordance with its domestic laws," he said. China has to some extent managed to circumvent U.S. sanctions in the past and may be able to do the same again this time. Some analysts have even suggested that Chinese entities could act as intermediaries for European companies that want to continue trading with Iran, but fear violating U.S. sanctions. Such sanctions would be particularly damaging to European businesses operating in the United States, such as plane manufacturer Airbus. Speaking to CNBC, former U.S. diplomat Carlos Pascual said that oil sales from Iran via China or Russia to the rest of the world could circumvent U.S. measures. "It's those types of leakages from Russia and China that are the most obvious ones where the Iranians could still find outlets to be able to export their product," he said. Iranian exports to the European Union increased by 375 percent from 2015 to 2016, and European companies have already invested a significant amount of money in Iran, raising the stakes of any decision that could result in the deal's collapse. China also has an interest in upholding its trade ties with Iran. Tehran sells more to China than to any other country and celebrated a 25 percent increase in exports there last year. The value of Chinese exports to Iran also increased by over 20 percent. With Europe potentially turning to Chinese know-how to circumvent U.S. sanctions, the United States might find that the country being isolated in this situation is not Iran after all, but itself. Before the "Everyone Smiles in the Same Language" ad - before the anger and accusations of cultural appropriation and hurried apologies - about the worst critique someone could make about the Renaissance Dental Center's promotions was that they were too cheesy. In most of the professionally shot photos for the Raleigh practice, three blonde female dentists are seen flashing perfect, gleaming smiles while sporting an array of costumes. In March, they went with a construction theme - hard hats, a shovel in one dentist's hand, a drill (get it?) in another's. A month earlier, it was a workout concept, with pink headbands and hand weights. "When it comes to our patients, we always ~work~ it out!" But things soured this week, when the Renaissance Dental Center women who'd once posed with heart hand signs and a giant teddy bear for Valentine's Day were suddenly being called aloof cultural appropriators amid accusations that they were whitening more than just smiles. In the ad, published in Raleigh's Midtown Magazine, Dr. Anita Wells wore a Japanese kimono as she brandished a fan, two chopsticks stuck into her blonde locks. Dr. Jill Sonner wore a Native American costume for the photo and stood with a multicolored headband and beads around her neck and wrists. Dr. Anna Abernethy was dressed in a Scottish highlander outfit, but still didn't escape the wrath that followed. "How many people blindly thought this was OK?" one woman asked the costumed trio about the "Everyone Smiles in the Same Language" ad. "I'm not smiling," Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, founder of a Native American literary publication, wrote on Twitter. "Welcome to 2018, to America, to racism without apology." The dentists didn't respond to messages from The Washington Post, but posted an apology on social media, saying, "we now realize [the ad] was ignorant and offensive, and we are truly sorry." The ad began to attract notice after Kristin Cooper, the wife of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), posted a picture of it on Facebook, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. The first lady's post drew instant, shareable ire from people who did not see the photo as harmless cosplay. "Free whitening system indeed," one person quipped on Cooper's now-deleted post, "No excuse to be clueless anymore," another person said. "This is shameful." One commenter opined: "This is like if SNL did a parody on clueless white people." And just like that, Renaissance Dental Center owned the latest viral entry in the long-running debate about cultural appropriation, which routinely centers on pop stars and other celebrities (see Katy Perry in a kimono) who use influences from minority cultures to make millions. Midtown Magazine's editor and publisher, Connie Gentry, told The Post that her publication's participation in the debate was entirely by accident: She looked at the magazine before publication, but did not thoroughly proof the ad. "I failed," she said. "I should have pulled that ad." In an online version of the magazine, the ad has been replaced with one showing the dentists dressed as referees. Gentry also apologized on Midtown Magazine's Facebook page. But the magazine and Renaissance Dental Center were already heavily involved in the debate about whether it's wrong to borrow aspects of a minority culture for commercial gain. Janna Thompson, a La Trobe University professor who has studied cultural appropriation, told HuffPost: "In general I think there is nothing wrong with cultures borrowing ideas [and] artistic styles from each other. But there are two factors which can make this appropriation a 'rip off.' "One is the commercial advantages that can be reaped by Westerners by 'borrowing' from traditional cultures or disadvantaged groups. The other is that traditional cultures often do not have the same ideas as Westerners about the role of cultural artifacts." But others have argued that people shaming others for cultural appropriation have gone too far. As Cathy Young wrote in The Washington Post in 2015: "These accusations have become a common attack against any artist or artwork that incorporates ideas from another culture, no matter how thoughtfully or positively. A work can reinvent the material or even serve as a tribute, but no matter. If artists dabble outside their own cultural experiences, they've committed a creative sin." Gentry, the Midtown Magazine editor and publisher, said she knew something was wrong when her phone "started going crazy" around 4 a.m. on Thursday. She spent most of the next two days fielding calls from reporters and angry readers. The dental office hired a photographer who shot the picture, Gentry said. A designer at Midtown Magazine laid out the ad. Gentry said her magazine has implemented a more stringent policy for checking over ads. "I would never intentionally print something that was so insensitive," she said. "There isn't the nefarious intent that people are making it out to be." The dentists, meanwhile, removed all vestiges of the offensive picture from their social media sites. The photos that remained featured the firm's three principles in innocuous outfits, along with positive customer reviews and a few inspirational sayings. One photo on the practice's Instagram account showed cursive writing: "Empowered women, empower women." In the caption, the dentists wrote: "We strive to create an atmosphere that empowers everyone." Kallia Wright, associate professor of communication and rhetorical studies, will deliver the keynote address Sunday as Illinois College celebrates its 184th commencement service. Around 220 bachelors degrees will be awarded to members of the Class of 2018. Commencement exercises are scheduled for 1 p.m. at Bruner Fitness and Recreation Center. The ceremony will be livestreamed. Wright has taught a variety of courses at Illinois College, including speech fundamentals, intercultural communication, health communication, public relations and the senior seminar in communication. She was awarded the Harry Joy Dunbaugh Distinguished Professor Award in 2017. During the commencement, the college will confer an honorary doctor of humane letters degree on Robert B. Thomson III. Thomsons great-grandfather, William A. Fay, and grandfather, William L. Fay, were both IC graduates and his mother, Emily Fay Osburn, is a supporter of education who works with several literary societies and the Jacksonville Ladies Education Society, which provides scholarships to women from the community. Thomson was elected to the Illinois College Board of Trustees in 2003 and served until May 2017. While on the board, he served as chairman of the Investment Subcommittee, which had responsibility for overseeing the Illinois College Endowment Fund. He was awarded an honorary bachelors degree in 2009. He heads U.S. government relations for Visa Inc. and is responsible for advancing Visas legislative and public priorities, engaging key stakeholder groups in government and the private sector, and providing leadership over all federal and state lobbying activities for Visa in the United States. Thomson earned his bachelors degree from DePauw University and a masters of business administration from George Washington University. The annual Baccalaureate Service in Rammelkamp Chapel will be Sunday morning and feature the Illinois College Department of Music. The non-denominational worship service will begin at 10 a.m. WASHINGTON - A prominent House Republican plans to ask a federal financial watchdog to audit the office of special counsel Robert Mueller III, opening a new front of GOP attack on the secretive probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to President Donald Trump's campaign. The pending request - from Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., an outspoken Trump defender who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus as well as a House oversight subcommittee - appears to be mainly calibrated to force the disclosure of a three-page Justice Department memo spelling out the authorized scope of Mueller's investigation. Meadows, speaking Thursday during a taping of C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" that is to air Sunday, said he believed the audit is required under federal law and could not be completed without an unredacted copy of the memo written in August 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "To have some special counsel going on, you know, this particular trail or that particular trail, it's really not what Congress envisioned, and it's certainly not what most Americans believe we're doing," Meadows said. A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately comment. The 2017 "scope memo" has turned into a major flash point between the Justice Department and a cadre of House Republicans - including Meadows and other members of the Freedom Caucus - who say that Mueller has gone outside the bounds of his original charge to investigate possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Meadows and fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have pushed for weeks to get unfettered access to the memo, but the Justice Department has so far refused them access. Only a heavily redacted version has been publicly shared as part of the prosecution of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort because, according to people familiar with the Justice Department's thinking, prosecutors think its full disclosure could compromise Mueller's probe. Meadows, Jordan and other pro-Trump lawmakers have taken a much different view, leveling threats to hold Rosenstein in contempt and potentially impeach him over his lack of compliance with their requests. "We believe that the American people need to know what the scope of the investigation [is]," Meadows said Thursday. "Now some would say, 'Well, you're getting involved in an ongoing criminal investigation.' Well, it is an investigation, but the scope of that investigation is not part of the investigation. It just says, we're going to look at all of this. We believe because we're funding it that we should be able to look at that scope." The audit request, Meadows said, would be directed to the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress that has wide powers under federal law to examine government spending. Meadows said he was seeking support among other lawmakers for his letter, which could be sent to the GAO as soon as early next week. The GAO operates pursuant to federal statutes authorizing it to scrutinize federal agencies, but the notion of using that authority to force disclosure of a classified document stands to be a long shot. A more fruitful effort could come in court: Meadows's remarks come a week after a federal judge in Virginia questioned whether fraud charges brought by the special counsel's office against Manafort fell outside the authorized scope of the investigation. While a Justice Department attorney, Michael Dreeben, told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III that the parts of the memo relating to Manafort have been already been publicly revealed, Ellis asked Dreeben for an unredacted copy. During a public appearance last week in Washington, Rosenstein said that the Justice Department was determined to protect the integrity of its pending investigations and that he would not be cowed by threats of contempt or impeachment. "I think they should understand by now that the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted," Rosenstein said of the threats from Meadows and others. "We're going to do what's required by the rule of law, and any kind of threats that anybody makes are not going to affect the way we do our job." On Thursday, Meadows strongly denied that his request for disclosure constituted an attempt to meddle with Mueller's investigation. "Most Americans . . . what they're saying is, 'We want to make sure that President Trump didn't collude with the Russians.' Now when it gets beyond that, there gets to be a real problem, and you start to lose a whole lot of support by Republicans and Democrats and unaffiliated alike," he said. - - - The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett contributed to this report. Jerusalem The tense shadow war between Iran and Israel burst into the open early Thursday as Israeli warplanes struck dozens of Iranian military targets inside Syria. It was a furious response to what Israel called an Iranian rocket attack launched from Syrian territory just hours earlier. The cross-border exchanges the most serious assaults from each side in their face-off over Iran's presence in Syria took place a little more than a day after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement. Israel's defense minister said that Israeli warplanes had destroyed "nearly all" of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria after Iran launched 20 rockets at Israeli-held territory, none reaching their targets. Iran struck shortly after President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement, raising speculation that it no longer felt constrained by the possibility that the Americans might scrap the deal if Iran attacked Israel. Israel appeared newly emboldened as well, partly because of what seemed like extraordinary latitude from Russia, Syria's most important ally, allowing the Israelis to act against Iran's military assets in Syria. Moscow did not condemn Israel's strikes, as it had in the past, instead calling on Israel and Iran to resolve their differences diplomatically. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who spent 10 hours with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Wednesday, told his Cabinet on Thursday that he had persuaded the Russians to delay the sale of advanced weapons to Syria. Russia and Iran have been allies in the Syrian war, defending President Bashar Assad. But as the war appears to be winding down, some analysts say the aims of Russia and Iran are diverging: Moscow prefers a strong secular central government in Syria, while Tehran prefers a weaker government that would allow Iran-backed militias free rein. The Washington Post When President Donald Trump announced his plans to back out of the Iran nuclear deal, The Washington Post's State Department reporter John Hudson had an immediate reaction: It was a classic Donald Trump move. "There was a lot of pomp and circumstance and fanfare," Hudson says on the "Can He Do That" podcast, "and at the end, he chose a very dramatic move that was really sort of outside the bounds of what we normally think of as America's role in foreign policy making." Donald Trump has spent his presidency breaking deals he inherited, confident he could do better. So far, it hasn't worked. Now, as he games out a historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, Trump is gambling he can do just the opposite: construct a complicated pact to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear program. Trump's negotiating record after almost 16 months in office shows him supremely confident and adept at making dramatic gestures and issuing hardball ultimatums. Yet he and his team have demonstrated little facility in constructing compromise on thorny issues such as the one he faces with Kim: how a regime renowned for its secrecy would verify ending a highly developed nuclear weapons program. At the same time Trump is preparing for the summit with Kim, he is trying to renegotiate a nuclear pact with Iran by first demolishing an existing deal. His pullout from the Iran accord echoes his withdrawals from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate agreement. At home, he canceled an Obama-era program shielding some undocumented immigrants from deportations while urging Democrats to negotiate a settlement with him on the issue. With each move, Trump said voiding the existing deal would bring the parties back to the bargaining table. Yet in each case the other side has moved on. His continuing confidence in his negotiating approach was on display this week as he outlined what Americans should expect next after his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord. "Iran's leaders will naturally say that they refuse to negotiate a new deal" and "I'd probably say the same thing if I was in their position," Trump said. "But the fact is they are going to want to make a new and lasting deal, one that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people. When they do, I am ready, willing and able." That philosophy has left a trail of broken agreements and jilted allies, undermining America's ability to lead on the world stage, said Brett Bruen, who served as the National Security Council's director of global engagement in the Obama administration. "Until he can show that he can build and not just bulldoze, I don't think there are many leaders in the world that will take him seriously," Bruen said. The White House didn't respond to requests for comment. Trump's past predictions of a better settlement after he walked away from existing agreements or blew up the status quo with provocative actions have gone unrealized, at least so far. After Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other nations in January 2017, he said the U.S. would begin negotiating bilateral agreements with each country. A year later, he said he would be open to rejoining the multilateral deal if the other countries made him an offer. Neither has happened. Trump has not negotiated new bilateral trade deals with any of the 11 countries involved and those nations have been unwilling to reopen the negotiations to help the U.S. When Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, he left the door open for renegotiating a new deal more favorable to the U.S. Almost a year later, there has been no renegotiation. Syria joined the Paris accord in November, leaving the U.S. the only nation opposing it. He announced global tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in March and said the proposed duties have given him leverage to negotiate better trade agreements. But so far, only one country -- South Korea -- has finalized an agreement with the U.S. to avoid the tariffs. Other U.S. allies, including the European Union, have threatened to slap tariffs on key U.S. products in retaliation. Trump has twice extended the deadline for the tariffs to begin on several countries, as agreements have proved elusive. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to withdraw from Nafta, though he has kept the U.S. in the trade pact. Negotiations on revising the deal have dragged on months longer than the administration predicted, though there are signs the parties are nearing a deal. Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem last year inflamed tensions in the region and all but ended prospects for a Middle East peace deal, according to Martin Indyk, former U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. After ending the Obama-era program shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation last year, Trump was unable to strike a deal with lawmakers before his self-imposed six-month deadline. He lamented that "the Democrats just aren't calling," and last month declared the program "dead." U.S. partners in the Iran nuclear agreement have already signaled they aren't eager to return to the negotiating table and craft the new deal Trump wants. Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel -- the leaders of the U.K., France and Germany -- expressed their "regret and concern" at Trump's announcement Wednesday and promised in a joint statement to stand by the Iran deal. In his negotiations with North Korea, Trump has started with a win, gaining the release of three U.S. prisoners who had been held by the Kim regime. As he greeted the prisoners at an airport near Washington early Thursday morning, the president's confidence in achieving a deal with Kim was undiminished by difficulties in the other negotiations. "I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world." WASHINGTON - After spending billions of dollars on humanitarian aid in South Sudan in recent years, the United States may be ready to call it quits. "The Government of South Sudan has lost credibility, and the United States is losing patience," the White House said in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday. "The United States Government will not continue in a partnership with leaders who are only interested in perpetuating an endless war characterized by ethnically-motivated atrocities." But while South Sudan's government has been accused of blocking critical humanitarian aid and prolonging endemic violence in the country, many observers warn that pulling American aid would only plunge the county into further disaster. "We are asking the United States not to abandon this country because we need them," said a spokesman for South Sudan's Foreign Ministry to Reuters on Wednesday, a call echoed by humanitarian aid groups. It's a far cry from the atmosphere in July 2011, when the streets of the South Sudanese capital of Juba filled with people celebrating the end of a violent, decades-long struggle for independence from Sudan - a movement that achieved its goal in large part due to support from the United States. Washington, its partners and South Sudanese civilians wanted a success story. Instead, they got another civil war. In December 2013, tensions between President Salva Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, and Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, exploded into conflict. Troops loyal to each man turned against each other in Juba, leading to mass executions of civilians and chaos that soon spread to the countryside. The fighting spiraled into a brutal ethnic war and has hardly slowed down since. At least 50,000 people have been killed in the war and millions more displaced. According to the United Nations, both South Sudanese authorities and rebels regularly prevent planes and trucks from delivering food and medicine to civilians, leading the U.N. to declare a man-made famine in parts of the country. South Sudan denies it is interfering with food aid. Now the White House is reviewing all of its assistance programs for South Sudan, which includes humanitarian programs in refugee settlements outside the country as well as support for implementing a largely ignored 2015 peace agreement. The United States is "committed to saving lives," read the White House statement, but "must also ensure our assistance does not contribute to or prolong the conflict, or facilitate predatory or corrupt behavior." Some humanitarians fear that cutting food aid to South Sudan would only result in an even more serious hunger crisis and will punish civilians instead of the government. The U.N. recently warned that without assistance, 7 million people - two-thirds of the country's population - could face severe hunger. One former USAID official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she still works in the region, said that despite the massive U.S. investment in humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, the situation only seems to be getting worse. "The number of people in need are still going up, the levels of displacement are still increasing, and overall the number of people in the most dire stages of hunger are increasing," the former official said. "Either the level of distress is still increasing so extraordinarily that the level of assistance can't keep up - or there are gross levels of diversion are happening." The former official agreed that it's time for Washington to assess whether the money being invested in South Sudan is saving lives or perpetuating the conflict. "Sometimes we have to have tough love and draw lines in the sand to say these are the conditions under which we can reasonably provide assistance," she said. But Payton Knopf, a former U.S. diplomat now at the United States Institute of Peace, said that it is unlikely Washington will cut humanitarian assistance altogether, especially considering the level of suffering inside the country. "I don't have any reason to believe that is something the administration would do, or think that there's much appetite for that in Congress," he said. The United States has already taken some concrete steps against South Sudan. In February, Washington implemented an arms embargo, resulting in the recall of the South Sudanese ambassador to Washington. Some officials close to President Kiir have already been sanctioned, and, in March, the U.S. announced sanctions on 15 oil operators in the country. Gordon Buay, the charge d'affaires at the South Sudanese embassy in Washington, said that the United States has been "impatient" with South Sudan. "They want results next week but we are telling them there is nothing to be done next week," he told The Post. Washington "will lose leverage in [South Sudan] if it becomes antagonistic toward the government," Buay warned. "Whether the U.S. likes it or not, the government will still be there... It's the U.S. who will be losing." --- Video Embed Code Video: In 2015, the U.N. convinced Babacho Mama and more than 1,700 other child soldiers in South Sudan to put down their weapons. But a lack of opportunity and food is forcing some to reconsider their pledge.(The Washington Post) Embed code: WASHINGTON - Executives from top car companies visited the White House on Friday amid a looming legal conflict between the Trump administration and primarily Democratic-led states over climate rules for automobiles. The Trump administration is readying a proposal to freeze auto-efficiency standards beginning in 2021, rather than continuing to strengthen them as originally outlined by the Obama administration. At the same time, that proposal would challenge the ability of California, long a national leader when it comes to vehicle standards, to set its own rules. California and other states supportive of stronger standards have already sued the EPA over its move to change course. At the meeting, President Donald Trump referred to a prior meeting with the executives from early 2017 and noted his administration's efforts to roll back the Obama-era rules. "We've made a lot of progress in the last year and a half," Trump said as he sat in the Roosevelt Room at the White House with the chief executives of major auto companies before their meeting, saying he planned to discuss with them "environmental control, CAFE standards and manufacturing millions of new cars within the United States." CAFE standards are federal regulations that seek to improve vehicles' average fuel efficiency. But the sweeping nature of such moves has caused concern in the auto industry, and after the meeting, the industry released a statement suggesting that they had discussed with President a possibility of some form of negotiation with California. "The Administration will soon issue a range of proposals for future fuel economy and greenhouse gas regulations, and we look forward to reviewing their notice of rulemaking and providing comments along with other stakeholders," said the statement from Auto Alliance president Mitch Bainwol, and Global Automakers president John Bozzella. "We also appreciate the President's openness to a discussion with California on an expedited basis." Prior to their meeting with Trump, the executives - whose industry had previously asked for regulatory relief from the incoming Trump administration - stressed their desire for a uniform national standard, saying a patchwork of state standards would create an untenable regulatory tangle. "We are not asking the administration for a rollback," said Bill Ford, chairman of Ford Motor Co., at a recent automaker meeting, according to Bloomberg News. "We want California at the table, and we want one national standard." Bainwol, the president and chief executive of the Auto Alliance, had struck a similar note before Congress this week, citing a "regulatory nightmare" if California and allied states wind up with one regulatory system for vehicles while many other states have another. Bainwol called for the Trump administration to keep up annual increases in fuel economy standards and "incorporate California." The Obama-era standards were created under a 2011 agreement reached among the Obama administration, California officials and automakers. If enacted, they would avert 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles sold between 2012 and 2025, according to the EPA. California has a separate set of standards that, because of the state's huge car market, have pushed automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. According to figures from the California New Car Dealers Association, California's 2,048,000 new car sales in 2017 represented about 12 percent of the 17 million-plus cars sold in the United States last year. "My hope is that they're going to try gently to push back today, but it's unclear that the White House is going to listen and they're going to change the proposal," said Margo Oge, a former EPA regulator who, at the agency's office of transportation and air quality, helped create the standards that may now be rolled back. Meanwhile, environmentalists and sympathetic states are bracing for a major battle to defend one of the largest components of the Obama administration's attempt to cut the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. "The rollbacks are irresponsible, harmful and unjustified," said Luke Tonachel, who heads the clean vehicles program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "There's a robust record supporting the fact that [the standards] are good for consumers and the environment, and help protect jobs." Anti-regulatory groups have pushed for the rules to be rolled back. "The Obama administration's fuel economy standards make cars smaller, less safe and more expensive," Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said in a statement. "President Trump should expand consumer choice by telling California that it is no longer going to control what kinds of vehicles people across the country can buy. A small electric car may make sense for drivers in Los Angeles, but not for farmers in rural America." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump berated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a dispiriting Cabinet meeting on immigration Wednesday, according to three administration officials, but her colleagues denied reports that she has threatened to quit. Trump lashed out at his Cabinet, and Nielsen in particular, when told that the number of people arrested for illegally crossing the Mexico border topped 50,000 for the second consecutive month. The blowup lasted more than 30 minutes, according to a person with knowledge of what transpired, as Trump's face reddened and he raised his voice, saying Nielsen needed to "close down" the border. "Why don't you have solutions? How is this still happening?" he said, adding later, "We need to shut it down. We're closed." Administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide a candid account of the private meeting. Trump's tirade went on so long that many present began fidgeting in their seats and flashing grimaces, White House aides said. Eventually, the topic moved on to health care, bringing relief to many in the room. Details of the meeting were first reported Thursday by the New York Times. The president's eruption was witnessed by Cabinet members plus a number of senior White House officials - including counselor Kellyanne Conway, advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, immigration adviser Stephen Miller and chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow. Chief of Staff John Kelly, Nielsen's top ally who recommended her to Trump for the Homeland Security job, also was present. Nielsen battled back, one person said, telling Trump that laws limit some of what she could do to block the flow of undocumented immigrants. Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended her, saying the administration was looking for new ways to deter illegal crossings. Mostly, though, Nielsen struggled to get a word in, said one senior official. The New York Times and Politico reported that Nielsen, who began the job in December, drafted a resignation letter. In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for the agency said that was false. Two senior White House officials described Nielsen as upset after the meeting, but said they were unaware of such a letter or threats to resign. One White House official said Nielsen was in the building again Thursday. Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment. One person close to Nielsen said she is unlikely to resign. "She feels like she's doing the best she can and doing a good job on immigration, but she also has to follow the law," this person said. "It's frustrating to have your boss unhappy about that." Homeland Security's deputy secretary position is vacant, so there would be no immediate replacement if Nielsen were to step down. Trump has never viewed Nielsen favorably, and complains to colleagues that she is "not tough enough," according to a senior White House official. He reminds staff that she was a "George W. Bush person" because of her previous tenure as a White House Homeland Security adviser. In recent weeks, Nielsen has announced measures aimed at deterring illegal migration, including criminal prosecutions for parents who cross the border illegally with their children. Families are typically broken up in those circumstances, as federal immigration agents send children to government shelters while their mothers and fathers remain in custody awaiting court dates. Trump has asked for frequent updates about the number of people attempting to cross the border illegally and has grown increasingly irritated at the recent trends. A caravan of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico seized the president's attention this spring, and in the weeks that followed he frequently asked Homeland Security for updates, administration officials said. Illegal crossings plunged in the early phase of Trump's presidency, but have since returned to levels consistent with the last several years of the Obama administration. Arrests along the border with Mexico typically rise during springtime, when migrants seeking jobs on U.S. farms and ranches return for the summer growing season. ELKHART, Ind. - Hours before the gym doors opened Thursday night for President Donald Trump's rally, thousands of his supporters formed a line that snaked through the narrow streets of a working-class neighborhood. Hundreds who couldn't get inside gathered around outdoor speakers to hear the president. Trump was upbeat and beaming. He recognized the Republican candidate for Senate, mocked the Democratic incumbent and laid out the stakes of the midterm election in simplistic but exaggerated terms, warning that Democrats want to raise taxes, get rid of the country's borders and reduce the number of jobs. "They fight for all of the things that we don't stand for," Trump said. "If we elect more Republicans, we can truly deliver for all of our citizens." The rally provided a snapshot look at the role that the president hopes to play in the midterm elections this fall. He has cast this election as a referendum on his presidency and stressed that a vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for Trump. At rallies, he can directly connect with his strongest supporters and urge them to vote for Republicans. His presidency, he says, is under attack, and no Democrat - even a moderate one - can be trusted. On stage, Trump rarely wastes time detailing the biographies or stances of the candidates he's promoting. Instead, he talks about his own accomplishments and the ways that Democrats have blocked him from doing more. White House aides have been reluctant to detail the president's midterm campaign strategy, and some Republican candidates - especially those running for House seats in suburban areas where Trump's popularity is often the lowest - have been reluctant to embrace him. Trump has made clear that no one will dictate where he can or cannot host rallies, and he is expected to focus heavily on the 10 states that he won in 2016 that have Democratic senators up for reelection: West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Local Republican officials have mostly welcomed the president's attention. Anywhere he goes, Trump can do something that's difficult for most candidates on their own: generate news that dominates local front pages and evening newscasts and get a huge group of conservatives fired up and eager to vote. On Thursday night, Trump drew attention to Indiana's candidates for the U.S House - including Greg Pence, the brother of Vice President Mike Pence, who introduced Trump - and called up to the stage Mike Braun, who won the state's GOP Senate primary Tuesday. "There was unbelievable enthusiasm," said Kyle Hupfer, chairman of the Republican Party in Indiana, a state the president won by 19 points in 2016. "I couldn't ask any more of the president and the vice president than what they delivered" That excitement was palpable - and Trump-focused. Many rallygoers wore Trump T-shirts, red campaign hats and clothing featuring or inspired by the American flag. Some had driven in from neighboring states. They danced to the president's personal playlist, posed for selfies and live-streamed video of their experiences on Facebook. Representatives from Susan B. Anthony List, which supports candidates opposed to abortion, tried to harness the energy, passing out fliers to recruit paid canvassers who want to "help President Trump defeat Joe Donnelly," Indiana's Democratic senator who is considered one of the most vulnerable in the country. Vic Coffman sipped a beer and watched the spectacle from his front porch with his wife and two neighbors. The 51-year-old, who works at an industrial bakery, voted for Trump in 2016. "Washington has turned into a big pit of people that just keep doing what the next person's doing," said Coffman, an American flag tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his white and blue Trump T-shirt. "I mean, if you think about: What is insanity? It's that you keep doing the same thing and expect different results, and that's what we keep doing. It's time for a change." In Tuesday's GOP Senate primary, Coffman voted for Rep. Todd Rokita, who campaigned with the Trumpy slogan "Defeat the elite." Although Braun wasn't his top choice, Coffman will still vote for him this fall against Donnelly. "I'm sticking with trying to get Trump some support in the White House so that he can maybe make some changes," he said. Trump's appearance also fired up those opposed to his presidency. About 400 demonstrators gathered near the school gym with homemade signs that focused on Trump, not Braun. As they chanted and sang together, a young man circulated through the crowd and offered to help people register to vote. At one point, a Trump supporter shouted at the group: "Go home!" A woman yelled back at him: "I am home. We live here, too, sir!" Inside the rally, the biggest cheers were for Trump, who was welcomed to the stage by a standing ovation that drowned out his walk-on song. "We love you, Truuuuump!" one man bellowed again and again. At least 7,500 people were packed into the gym, and almost all stood through most of the president's nearly hour-long speech. Up in the stands, Robert and Tammy Workman cheered on their president. They were excited to also see Braun, whom they voted for Tuesday because he reminds them of the president: Both are business executives, both self-financed their primary campaigns, and both have pledged to drain the swamp in Washington. "I like the fact that he's an outsider," said Tammy Workman, 50, who lives in Nappanee. "Basically, we're tired of the career politicians. We give you a chance, give you a chance, give you a chance - nothing changes." Getting enthusiasm for Trump to translate to votes for Republican congressional candidates is key to the party's success in November. Hupfer, the state GOP chairman, said officials have been working to stay connected with Trump voters. "Having the president himself tell that group of voters how important it is is critical, and there's no substitute for that, really," Hupfer said. "He has to speak to those folks." President Donald Trump will deliver Friday afternoon a twice-delayed, much-anticipated speech about his plan to lower drug prices - after a year when harsh rhetoric against drugmakers was accompanied by little action. No one with a stake in drug prices - whether pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers that negotiate on drug prices or health insurers - feels completely comfortable, given Trump's tendency to go off-script - including that time he accused drug companies of "getting away with murder." But the administration has spent the past few weeks dropping clues about the policy directions it favors - including a slew of technical proposals that do little to threaten the pharmaceutical industry that would seem to be at greatest risk from any plan to lower drug prices. A senior administration official, speaking on background, said that Trump will unveil an "American Patients First" blueprint that he called "the most comprehensive plan to tackle prescription drug affordability." He said that there would also be a request for information on ideas to lower drug prices. The administration official said that in addition to building from ideas in Trump's budget, the blueprint would outline four strategies - most of which could be achieved without new legislation. It would aim to increase competition by ending "the gaming of rules" by brand-name drug manufacturers that stymies the introduction of cost-saving generic and biosimilar drugs. The plan would seek to improve negotiation within the Medicare program, but not by using the government's clout to negotiate for Medicare as Trump has previously proposed. It would create unspecified incentives for lower list prices of drugs and would lower out-of-pocket spending by patients. "What I'm hearing is that they're looking at a clean slate and going after everybody: the drug companies, the pharmacy benefit managers, everyone," said one health care lobbyist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly. Several health policy experts said that while they expect policies to target out-of-pocket costs for certain patients, they did not yet see signs of concrete policy proposals that would lower the high list prices of drugs. "Let's be really clear, the administration has put out a number of different sets of proposals under the heading of: Things that would address drug pricing. None of them would affect the underlying drivers of the problem," said Rachel Sachs, an associate professor of law at Washington University School of Law. "Most of them would do very little for the 100 to 200 million Americans who are on private insurance." With the caveat that anything could happen, here are some things to look for on Friday: - - - List prices and rebates High list prices of drugs are first on the list of problems Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has been highlighting in recent speeches. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently caused a stir when he suggested that the federal government could re-examine whether drug manufacturers' rebates on those list prices are kickbacks. The rebates, which are negotiated in secret by a middleman industry called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), are not considered kickbacks under current law. Because of the lack of transparency in the system, it's impossible to tell exactly who benefits from rebates. PBMs argue that rebates are the most powerful mechanism to lower drug prices and produce valuable savings. Pharmaceutical companies - and some insurers and employers - have increasingly lost patience with the opaque system and accuse PBMs of pocketing the rebates. In his speech, Gottlieb appeared to raise the possibility of eliminating rebates. But most people anticipate something far less radical and instead expect any policy solutions to focus on resolving the problem of two prices: narrowing the spread between a high list price and the secret, rebated price. "The pricing mechanisms are arcane, and they're not easily understandable, and there are a lot of different prices along the way - and different people touching the drug at different places in the system," said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health. "It's all legally sanctioned, but it's not transparent to the consumer. So what we're driving toward is more transparency for the consumer." - - - Negotiation During his presidential campaign, Trump called for the government to use its clout to negotiate Medicare drug prices, but senior administration officials said he would not call for that change - which is stridently opposed by drug companies. The administration officials did not specify particular policies, but in his budget, Trump proposed changes to Medicare benefits. For example, the budget called for allowing prescription drug plans to have more flexibility to exclude drugs and strike better deals. The budget also called for moving some physician-administered drugs, which include expensive drugs for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis, into prescription drug plans. Health policy specialists say the devil is in the details but point out that consumer effects could be highly variable depending on people's drugs, health plans and what other policy changes occur. Some consumers could potentially pay more for drugs because of how co-pays and coinsurance work in the prescription drug plans. "The rationale is getting to a more competitive model. ... You're getting mechanisms like rebates and you're having the PBMs and plans negotiate," said Kim Monk, a managing director at Capital Alpha Partners. "But the problem - one of the problems with moving them over - is it's tricky." - - - Making other countries pay more Azar said in a speech Wednesday that other countries are "free-riding off of American investment in innovation," a reference to the United States' paying much more for drugs than many other developed countries. Senior administration officials did not explain how the government could achieve its goal. Some experts have pointed out that it is not clear that such a change would lead to lower prices for American consumers. - - - Out-of-pocket costs Many people anticipate changes to the Medicare prescription drug benefit, outlined in Trump's budget, that could insulate seniors from high drug costs. Those changes include a maximum limit on out-of-pocket costs that would help people on very-high-priced specialty drugs. The administration has also for months been vetting the idea of providing the rebates negotiated on drug prices to seniors at the pharmacy counter. Those changes could help individual seniors. A Johns Hopkins analysis found that on average, the savings from passing rebates to seniors would be $264 over the span of a year, but that those benefits would be concentrated among the small fraction of people who take very-high-cost drugs. It has also been projected to drive premiums up. "A lot of what they focus in on is not really the price of pharmaceuticals, as much as the out-of-pocket payments of the patients at the pharmacy," said Craig Garthwaite, an associate professor of strategy at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "They're not really thinking about the price to the system with those proposals. They're thinking of the price to the patient, or - more cynically - they're thinking about the price to the voter." After more than a year of waiting for a clear policy direction from Trump's ominous statements on drug prices, the industry is worked up. Some insiders noted that the problem isn't a lack of communication - ideas on drug prices have been coming on a daily basis from leaders in the administration. But there's been little concrete policy proposed to back up the talk, leaving suspense about what will be said and questions about whether it will be followed up with action. "I think the mood, just generally, across the health sector is 'watch and wait,' " said Mark Merritt, president of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the lobby for pharmacy benefit managers. Midland ISD officials are prepping the community for student population growth by as many as 10,000 students in the next 10 years. That was the message imparted to those in attendance during the Public Facility Forum held Thursday evening at Yarbrough Elementary School. One of Midland ISDs three newest campuses was the site of the first public forum. The district took public comment for the next bond by going to a 21st century campus built as a result of the 2012 school bond, the largest bond approved in the history of Midland. The districts Facility Master Planning Committee accumulated information that will be part of its report to the board in January. Midland ISD Chief Facilities Officer James Riggen told those in attendance that the districts current student population or membership is 25,670, and officials expect the population to grow to as high as 35,855 in 10 years (assuming growth by 2.5 percent progressively through the membership). Midland ISD officials also said that the anticipated enrollment growth and additional education facilities/buildings needed are broken down as follows: --elementary (pre-K through sixth): plus 5,069 students (enough to fill five to six new elementary schools); --junior high (seventh and eighth): plus 1,806 students (enough to fill two middle schools); --high school (ninth through 12th): plus 3,339 students (enough to fill ninth- through 12th-grade senior high school). Those at the forum were asked to answer the following questions: --Two or three comprehensive high schools for Midland? --When future facilities are designed and built for MISD, what building design factors/features are the highest priority for parents, students and the community? --What opportunities are currently missing from our students elementary, middle school or high school experience? Answers were written out and posted on boards that will be taken and used by the planning committee when making decisions later in the process. From the discussion that took place at individual tables, one could hear conversations about the importance of safety, the sense of community, efficient building strategies, students ability to participate in academic programs and extracurriculars, the importance of the right type of environment to motivate students and the need for more vocational training and other types of non-traditional education models. Midland ISD Superintendent Orlando Riddick said he hopes the end result of the facilities conversations and future improvements is wide-eyed enthusiasm for students about the schools they attend. Riggen said the district brought together students from its four high schools (Midland High, Lee High School, Early College High School at Midland College and Coleman High School) for a similar forum last week. He also said the Facilities Planning Committee will hold more events this fall. This is powerful work, Riddick said to end the forum. We will do this with our community, and we will do it well. Were you ripped off by your drug dealer in College Station recently? Call the police, they want to hear from you. "This time each year, many students leave town and we find ourselves with a little extra time on our hands... so if you've gotten ripped off by your drug dealer and would like to report them, let's start some new cases!" the College Station Police Department tweeted on Thursday. WORST DATE: Woman reportedly sent man 65,000 text messages after first date When someone tweeted at the police department that they "Ain't no snitch," College Station police responded, "Victims who seek justice are not snitches. All community members are responsible for public safety - - making our city a better, safer place to live, work, and visit." The College Station police are known for using memes and humor on their Twitter account, warning students to stay clear of crime. One recurring theme the police station tweets is encouraging people to keep their cars locked up to avoid theft. TRAFFICKING IN TEXAS: Police say man picked up 15-year-old runaway to have sex with others "It's time to use The Force (or your magic key remote) to make sure your cars are locked!" College Station police tweeted on April 4 with a photo of the wise Yoda. "NEVER leave guns in your car." In a February tweet, the College Station police humorously tweeted that a man suspected of possessing drugs "tried to run from the cops and hide evidence (both bad ideas), earning additional charges of Evading and Tampering." For students staying in College Station that have been ripped off by their drug dealers, they can contact the College Station Police Department at 979-764-3600. Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the funniest tweets from the Texas A&M Police Department. Will Axford is a digital reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. Follow him on Twitter. In just three weeks, outside groups have spent more than $1 million in Houston's heavyweight Republican primary battle between former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw and state legislator Kevin Roberts. On Thursday, a group calling itself Conservative Results Matter spent $84,000 for radio ads opposing Crenshaw. That comes three days after a group called the With Honor Fund put $32,290 into mailers supporting Crenshaw, and another group calling itself American Patriots PAC poured $121,000 into ads against Republican Kevin Roberts. It's just the latest spending from outside groups who have spent $1.2 million in the race since April 20, according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. The outside groups -- often known as Super PACs -- can raise unlimited donations from donors, but are prevented from directly coordinating with campaigns. Often they are created before elections so their donors are not fully identified after an election. Here's an ad American Patriots PAC released in support of Crenshaw. Roberts and Crenshaw are battling in a GOP primary runoff on May 22. Early voting starts Monday. The winner will advance to take on Democrat Todd Litton in November. The race is for the 2nd Congressional District, which includes parts of West Houston, wraps around to the northern Harris County line with Montgomery County and whips east to pick up Humble and Atascocita. Here's a breakdown of how much outside groups have spent in the 2nd Congressional District American Patriots PAC - $233,504 Who They Are: The chairman of the group is Dan Conston, a D.C. political consultant who has a history of working for outside groups like the American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund. When they were created: Feb. 6, 2018. Who is funding the PAC: So far only one donor has been made public, Edward J. Guinn, a Montgomery County medical consultant who has given $105,000 to the group. Who they are backing: Crenshaw. https://www.americanpatriotpac.org/ Conservative Results Matter - $590,000 Who They Are: The Austin-area based group has only identified its treasurer as Deanna Hayes, who runs a political financing company called Grand Slam Finance in Austin. The PAC's address is a shopping plaza in Cedar Park, just north of Austin. When they were created: March 29, 2018. Who is funding the PAC: Unknown. The group has not had to list any of its donors yet. Who they are backing: Roberts. http://conservativeresultsmatter.com/ With Honor Fund Inc - $550,417 Who they are: An Alexandria, Va. based group created in 2017 aimed at electing more veterans to Congress. The group was co-founded by former presidential campaign advisor David Gergen and Rye Barcott, a retired Marine. When they were created: Dec. 25, 2017. Who is funding the PAC: Leslie and Abigail Wexner of Ohio, the founders of L Brand, which includes Victoria Secrets, have donated $2.8 million to the group. Miguel and Jacklyn Bezos of Washington State (parents of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos) have given just under $1 million to the group. Who they are backing: Crenshaw. https://www.withhonor.org/ Defenders of Freedom and Security - $6,720 Who they are: A California-based PAC that has also supported five other Republicans running for Congress this year, including U.S. Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia and Michigan Republican Senate candidate John James. When they were created: Oct. 24, 2016. Who is funding the PAC: The group has raised just $124,000 since the start of 2017, and mostly from small donors, none of which has given more than $2,000 to the group. Who they are backing: Crenshaw. https://www.defendersoffreedomandsecurity.com/ Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC - $17,635 Who They are: The Montgomery County group founded by Suzanne Guggenheim and Julie Turner. When they were created: 2009 Who they are backing: Crenshaw. https://www.texaspatriotspac.com/ Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace. AUSTIN -- Two Democrats remain standing in their quest to unseat incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott next November. Lupe Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff, and Andrew White, a Houston entrepreneur, will take the stage tonight at 7 p.m. at Austin's St. James Episcopal Church for what will be the only debate of the spring election season. The festivities will be televised in Austin and San Antonio on Spectrum cable. You can watch the livestream above courtesy of KXAN. COMMENTARY: What's at stake for Valdez, White in race for governor Here are 10 things to watch for: The number of details each candidate gives of their plans for solving the problems they say Texas faces, then compare their answers to their positions on their websites. Whether Valdez criticizes Abbott for being too conservative, after he blasted her Thursday as "too liberal for Texas." How many times White criticizes Abbott and for what. IN-DEPTH COVERAGE: As Abbott attacks, Democratic candidates get set How much they criticize each other (Hint: Probably not much). The number of times Valdez says she can relate to being an "everyday Texan" or that she grew up poor, her campaign themes. The number of times White reinforces his themes: "Return sanity and reason to state government," and Sam Houston's famous advice: "Do right and risk the consequences." Check out their attire: Instead of suits, men do best with khakis and blazers or even just shirts and ties with slacks. Women wear classic blouses with a nice skirt or slacks. But this is Texas, so jeans may connote a casual, friendly connection to the audience. Watch the colors they wear: Browns and greens are calming, white is sterile, black can connote emptiness, red for passion, blue is truth. Facial expressions and body language: Friendly? Surprised? Tense? Upset? How many times Valdez talks about how her service as sheriff will make her a good governor, and how many times White mentions his late father, Gov. Mark White -- and what that helps each bring to the table if they are elected governor If you're a Texas Republican, watch Abbott's personal Twitter account to see how -- or if -- he responds to what White and Valdez say. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, covers Texas politics and the governor's office and the executive branch, along with criminal justice and ethics issues. Follow him on Twitter @ChronicleMike and send him story tips at Mike.Ward@Chron.com. Local News, Business & Finance, Seasonal & Current Events By Chris Boyle Published: May 11 2018 Event draws record crowd to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum; new programming added, including Social Media Lab, Facilitated Networking, and more. Uniondale, NY - May 11, 2018 - For its third year running and its second since moving to the For its third year running and its second since moving to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale the 2018 Long Island Business Expo is celebrating the completion of yet another successful event that made a plethora of exclusive programming and content available for local entrepreneurs and companies to utilize in order to help them get a leg up in todays hyper-competitive business scene. Event Management LLC President and Producer of the Long Island Business Expo , Marc P. Sherer, said that attendance at the May 10 event both in terms of vendors, speakers, and attendees was at an all-time high, making the 2018 Expo the most successful one yet. Event Management LLC President and Producer of the Long Island Business Expo, Marc P. Sherer. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle We have 170 exhibitors, numerous guest speakers, and thousands of attendees, and we're thrilled with the size of the show this year. These vendors are terrific companies that have, in many cases, the newest emerging technologies and trends on ways to do things, he said. As a small business owner myself, sometimes I find that since I've been doing things the same way for 10 years, I'll just continue to do it that waybut there's always smarter ways of doing things, more effective ways, and they're here to convey some of the new strategies that are available." The Expo had 170 exhibitors, numerous guest speakers, and thousands of attendees. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle Sherer noted that he came up with the idea of doing the Long Island Business Expo which debuted in 2016 at Hofstra University before moving to Nassau Coliseum the next year after Event Management LLC had been producing a similar show at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan for the past 14 years. Speakers at the Expo hail from all over the country, and come only to share their immense knowledge with attendees. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle The New York Business Expo a business-to-business show designed to help small businesses grow, work smarter, and stay tuned to emerging technologies in order to be more effective and efficient in the running of their business, he said. The business leaders of Long Island came to me and said, Marc, would you be interested in producing a show in Long Island? I'm from Connecticut, so at the time I didn't realize, but the Long Island business community is vibrant and it's distinct to itself, so we were very thrilled with the opportunity. We started the LI Business Expo three years ago at Hofstra University, and last year was the first ever show after the grand re-opening of the convention center at the newly remodeled Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and were back here again for year three. The LI Business Expo a business-to-business show designed to help small businesses grow, work smarter, and stay tuned to emerging technologies. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle What makes the LI Business Expo valuable, Sherer noted, is the fact that attendees going to meet people that are movers and shakers; the leaders of business in the Long Island region. However, in addition to that resource, those attending the event also gain access to a wide variety of content designed to make them the best business man or woman that they can possibly be. Another popular new addition to the Expos extensive lineup this year was the Social Media Lab. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle The show has 30-plus seminars, two Keynote Speakers, networking functions, and our speakers are literally from all over the country. They come only to download their knowledge, their vast knowledge, to the attendees, and they're here at the show to try to help the business community be more effective, Sherer said. Every year we try to introduce new elements. This year we're doing something fun called the Facilitated Networking Session. Facilitated Networking is much different than a regular seminar, where you just listen to somebody talk for 45 minutes. Facilitated Networking is interactive, and you learn the best strategies for networking, how to be effective, how to summarize what it is you're looking for, and how to move on from those people who are not necessarily good contacts. It's brand new this year, and people love it. The team from LongIsland.com was one of the many vendors present at the 2018 Long Island Business Expo. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle Another popular new addition to the Expos extensive lineup this year was the Social Media Lab, Sherer said. Even now, many small business owners often ask themselves, should I use social media to help grow my business? And if I should, which social media network is right for me? Should I be on LinkedIn, or Twitter, or Facebook...which ones make sense? he said. So we have an open-air theatre running on the show floor all day long, and its being put on by the Social Media Association of Long Island the experts and it's been standing room only. People are loving it and they're learning from it. At the Long Island Business Expo, attendees meet people that are movers and shakers; the leaders of business in the Long Island region. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle From the packed show floor all day long, its easy to say that the Long Island Business Expo has caught on with local companies and entrepreneurs, who flocked for the third year straight to drink deep of the knowledge and networking opportunities afforded by the brainchild of Marc Sherer. And as for next year? Its only going to get bigger and better, he said. The Expo drew a record crowd to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle Local News, Crime, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2018 Defendants Will Be Sentenced For Conspiring To Purchase And Sell Heroin And Cocaine In Newburgh, Orange County, And Throughout New York State. New York, NY - May 11, 2018 - Acting Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced the guilty pleas of 16 defendants for their roles as members of a large, violent narcotics trafficking ring operating in Hudson Valley, NY. A collaborative investigation uncovered that the ring trafficked heroin and cocaine into Newburgh and elsewhere in Orange County for resale to hundreds of drug users on a daily basis. In addition to all defendants admitting to conspiring to purchase and sell heroin and cocaine throughout the state, several defendants also admitted to purchasing, possessing, and selling illegal firearms in furtherance of their narcotics distribution operation. As a result of their pleas, the defendants will be sentenced to significant state prison sentences, totaling over 100 years. Following the one year anniversary of the SURGE initiative, we've taken over 300 drug traffickers off our streets, said Acting Attorney General Underwood. Disrupting illegal and violent trafficking rings is critical to protecting communities across the state and we will continue working with our partners in law enforcement to make every neighborhood safer." The 10 months-long investigation was led by the Attorney Generals Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), City of Newburgh Police Department (CNPD), Orange County Drug Task Force (OCDTF), Orange County Sheriffs Office (OCSO), and Orange County District Attorneys Office (OCDA). The investigation relied on hundreds of hours of physical surveillance, wiretapping, hidden cameras, GPS devises, undercover agents, and cooperating witnesses. The investigation uncovered that the defendants acquired large amounts of narcotics from Paterson, NJ, and elsewhere, in order to re-sell them to individuals in Newburgh, elsewhere in Orange County, and throughout New York State. The investigation culminated with the arrest of 16 individuals on February 13, 2018, and resulted in the recovery of bulk heroin and cocaine, hundreds of doses of heroin in individual glassines, 1 kilo of methamphetamine, 49 pounds of marijuana, 3 handguns, 1 sawed-off shotgun, 1 shotgun, and over $36,000 in cash. Yesterday, the rings main cocaine supplier, Kennedy Richards, a.k.a. Prezzy, of Paterson, NJ, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree (a class A-I felony) and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to up to 17 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. The remaining defendants have all previously pled guilty and admitted their roles in the narcotics trafficking ring as follows: Damion Jackson, a.k.a. Toe-Toe, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to between 12 and 18 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Frederick Blue, a.k.a. Fredo, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He was sentenced to 13 years in state prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Dwaine Tate, a.k.a. Devil, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 5 years post-release supervision. Kevin Maldonado, a.k.a. Kels, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Steve Cohen, a.k.a. Lonkie, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree (a class A-II felony) and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to between 7 and 9 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Andrew Hutchinson, a.k.a. Jimmy, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 7 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Oneil Mitchell, a.k.a. O, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 5 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Adrian Hutchinson, a.k.a. Travis, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 4 - 9 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Demetrius Kelly, a.k.a. Meech, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. He will be sentenced to 7 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Kenny Maldonado-Irizarry, a.k.a. Ken Block, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 5 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Monique Bentley, a.k.a. Cola, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree (a class A-II felony) and conspiracy in the second degree. She will be sentenced to 4 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Tykwon Burks, a.k.a. Chop, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to between 2 and 6 years in prison followed by 2 years of post-release supervision. Ethan Santana, a.k.a. Edai, of Newburgh, NY, pled guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to between 2 and 6 years in prison followed by 2 years of post-release supervision. John Boughton, of Poughkeepsie, NY, pled guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and attempted conspiracy in the second degree. He will be sentenced to 6 months in jail followed by 5 years of probation. All defendants pled guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown. During their guilty pleas, Tate, Mitchell, Cohen, and Jackson, as well as Andrew and Adrian Hutchinson, all admitted to their roles as purchasers and distributors of large amounts of cocaine that were purchased from Richards and trafficked from Patterson, NJ to Orange County, NY. The investigation revealed that once the defendants obtained the cocaine, they would adulterate it with cutting agents such as baking soda to double their profits, or they would cook the powder cocaine into crack-cocaine. Tate and Andrew Hutchinson would then sell the cocaine to their own customers or to other members of the organization including Adrian Hutchinson, Jackson, and Mitchell, who admitted that they would then resell the cocaine to their own customers. Jackson and Cohen also admitted to selling both cocaine and heroin to their own customers, which included resellers such as Blue, Maldonado, and Boughton. Blue, Bentley, and Maldonado admitted to purchasing the heroin from Jackson and Cohen and then reselling the heroin to their own customers or to other co-conspirators including Santana, Burks, Kelly, and Maldonado-Irizarry, who likewise admitted that they resold heroin to their own customers. In addition to selling narcotics, Blue, Maldonado, and Maldonado-Irizarry admitted to purchasing, selling, and possessing illegal firearms used for protection and enforcement of their narcotics operation. As part of their guilty pleas, Maldonado and Maldonado-Irizarry admitted to possessing three handguns, including a .32 caliber revolver and two .9mm pistols. Additionally, Maldonado admitted to selling a sawed-off shotgun, and both Maldonado and Blue admitted to illegally selling one shotgun. Nature & Weather, Local News, Business & Finance, Health & Wellness, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2018 Individuals with Heat-Related Health Issues Can Apply to Receive Air Conditioners. Albany, NY - May 11, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that $3 million is available to help New Yorkers suffering from serious health issues that are aggravated by extreme heat purchase an air conditioner. Individuals can apply now for cooling assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program at their local department of social services. "When the heat and humidity of summer arrives, it's important that vulnerable New Yorkers are able to stay safe and comfortable in their homes," Governor Cuomo said. "I encourage anyone with a medical condition that is worsened by high temperatures to apply now, so an air conditioner can be installed before the first heat wave hits." The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which oversees the program, has set aside $3 million in federal funding to provide an air conditioning unit or fan, to eligible households. Last year, 4,000 households received cooling assistance. To qualify, applicants must meet existing HEAP eligibility criteria and income guidelines, which vary by household size, and have at least one member of the household that suffers from a documented medical condition exacerbated by extreme heat. For example, a household of four can earn up to $53,482 a year or $4,457 a month, and still qualify for assistance. Cooling assistance will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Local Departments of Social Services will accept applications through August 31, or until funding runs out. Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner Samuel D. Roberts said, "We know that for some of our fellow New Yorkers, the summertime heat can pose a grave risk and this assistance could be potentially lifesaving. But it is vital that anyone who may be eligible, but does not have an air conditioner or cannot afford to purchase one, apply as soon as possible." Congressman Eliot Engel said, "Summers are getting hotter and the threat posed by heat stroke, especially for seniors, cannot be understated. I applaud Governor Cuomo for supporting HEAP and I encourage all eligible New Yorkers to take advantage of this program." Congressman Jose Serrano said, "Anyone who has lived in New York knows how hot it can get in the City during the summer. High temperatures and heat waves can be a danger and even lethal for Seniors, people with serious medical conditions, and other vulnerable populations. This funding will help low-income individuals with health issues to purchase and install air conditioners to stay cool and sheltered from the heat at home. I encourage qualifying Bronxites to apply early for this help, available on a first-come first-served basis." Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez said, "Like any form of extreme weather, the summer heat and humidity poses a serious threat for many of our City's most vulnerable seniors and working families. To this end, as we head into the summer months, I commend Governor Cuomo for taking proactive measures to help at-risk New Yorkers secure proper air conditioning. I will continue to do my part from the federal level to help families stay healthy and safe this summer." Congressman Gregory W. Meeks said, "I appreciate Governor Cuomo's effort in planning and announcing this program. As summer is fast approaching, New Yorkers with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to heat-related illness should not have to fear the summer heat. I encourage all who may qualify to apply, take full advantage of this assistance program, and of course, to stay cool this summer." Congressman Joe Crowley said, "Summer in New York City brings with it a sweltering heat that is unbearable for many of our most vulnerable residents. Cooling assistance will help alleviate the daily frustrations of those living with medical conditions provoked by the rising temperatures. I urge my constituents in Queens and the Bronx who are eligible for this program to apply now so they can receive accommodations before summer comes into full swing." Congressman Brian Higgins said, "Federal HEAP resources help close the gap to ensure seniors and those in need can remain safe and healthy in their homes." Congressman Paul Tonko said, "For New Yorkers with serious health concerns, including many of our seniors, high summer heat can be dangerous and even deadly. The risk of heat stroke and other illness is increasing for these vulnerable individuals as climate change drives temperatures higher and weather more extreme. My thanks to Governor Cuomo for championing this valuable support program that can help New Yorkers afford the cooling assistance they need to stay healthy and safe through the summer heat." Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney said, "Older Americans and people who are sick shouldn't have to endure potentially life-threatening heat because they can't afford the high electricity costs associated with cooling their homes during a New York summer. I've been down in Washington fighting Republicans in Congress who are trying to kick people off this program - and I'm glad I've got a strong ally in Governor Cuomo who's also committed to helping these folks in need." Doctors with disabilities managed to overcome a great deal of challenges to be able to perform their professional duties. The challenges keep on coming, though, because tools that physicians use were almost never designed with disabilities in mind. A couple of folks at the University of Michigan wanted to help out a physician-in-training, that happens to use a wheelchair, to perform routine physical exams. They created a special device that lets her get close to the patient to examine the nose, throat, ears, eyes, and skin, all without having her nor the patient get into awkward positions. Its essentially a handheld wired camera and a display that can be placed nearby. The video can be zoomed in on, enhanced, and viewed through different devices. Theyre also working on including pressure sensors to allow for different neurological exams to be performed without having to contact the patient directly. Though the device is being used by a single medical student, the findings from her experience are being used to improve its next design iterations. Heres a video report from University of Michigan: Via: University of Michigan A bionic ear is an electronic device that is designed by electrically stimulating nerves in the inner ear of deaf patients to produce hearing sensation. It consists of a receiver-stimulator implanted below patients skin behind the ear and sound processor. These processors stimulate the inner ears nerves which send signals to the brain where these signals are interpreted as sound. The bionic ear is beneficial for people who are suffering from severe, profound or total loss of hearing. In the geriatric population, there has been a rapid rise in the prevalence of hearing disorders that will fuel the growth of bionic ears market. Hearing disabilities caused in new-born babies is a major cause of concern. Bionic ears are used to aid infants with hearing disabilities. Other factors such as availability of better infrastructure, better diagnostic facilities, increase in awareness among the population, and technological advancements in the field of bionic ears have positive influence on the market growth. Fear of malfunction of these devices and high cost associated are restricting the growth of bionic ears market. Furthermore, regulatory requirements for bionic ears also hampering the growth of the market. The global bionic ears Market can be segmented on the basis of device type, end user, and region. On the basis of device type, global bionic ears market can be segmented into: Bone Anchored Hearing Aid Cochlear Implant On the basis of the end -user, global bionic ears market can be segmented into: Hospital Hearing Clinics Research Institutes Standard hearing aid devices work by amplifying sound, but it is only useful for people with the partial loss of hearing not for people who are deaf or have profoundly impaired hearing. Loss of hearing is associated with the damage or other abnormalities in the tiny sensor hair cells present inside the cochlea or inner ear. To overcome such conditions bionic ears are used. Bionic ears market is expected to show considerable growth over the forecast period. As per WHO, more than 360 Mn people are affected by loss of hearing disability globally. Loss of hearing is one of the leading global disorder. According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), the prevalence rate of hearing disorder is growing with the age, which is affecting about 70% of people over 70 and 42% people over 50. Geriatric people are highly susceptible to loss of hearing that can affect their social life. Due to this factor, bionic ear market is expected show significant growth. Untreated loss of hearing among newborn can affect their entire life. As it can lead to impairment in speaking and affect their psychological abilities. But due to technological advancement and development of bionic ears, it is now possible to help these children. Also, due to increasing awareness and better diagnostic facilities to detect the problem number of cases are being registered among newborn children. Research institutes such as Bionics Institute are aiming at improving the performance of bionic ears and function of hearing nerves. Based on the geographical regions, global bionic ears market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. The largest share in the bionic ears market is held by the North America. It is mainly attributed due to the better diagnostic facilities and increase in awareness among the people about hearing disorders in this region. Europe and Asia-Pacific stand next to North America this is mainly due to the large patient population, vast technological advancements in bionic ears, and increase in income of the individuals. Countries such as China, Japan, and India in Asia Pacific and Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, and France in Europe are at the forefront of the market growth in these regions. Some of the major participants in the bionic ears market are Sivantos Pvt. Ltd. (South Korea), Cochlear Ltd. (Australia), William Demant Holdings (Denmark), Terumo Corporation (Japan), EKSO Bionics (U.S), Advanced Bionics AG (Switzerland), Sonova (Switzerland), MED-EL (Austria), LifeNet Health (U.S), Ossur (U.S)., Nano Retina Inc.(Israel). In July 2017, Cochlear Limited introduced Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor into the U.S. market and it was by U.S. FDA In August 2015, Advanced Bionics (AB), a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Sonova received the U.S.FDA approval for Naida CI Q90 and Q30 sound processors In September 2011, Advanced Bionics (AB), a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Sonova, received approval from the U.S. FDA for immediate market re-entry of the HiRes 90K cochlear implant in the United States Request Sample Report at https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2753858-global-bionic-ears-market-market-estimation-dynamics-regional-share-trends Report Outline: The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share and forecast from 2017-2023 The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, key findings and their key strategies The report outlines drivers, restraints, challenges, and trends that are currently faced by the industry The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are working in the industry The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario Table of Content Executive summary Global Bionic Ears Market Introduction Global Bionic Ears Market Dynamics Global Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Global Bionic Ears Market Forecast, By Device Type, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Global Bionic Ears Market Forecast, By End User, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Global Bionic Ears Market Forecast, By Region, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 North America Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Europe Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Asia-Pacific Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Latin America Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Middle East & Africa Bionic Ears Market Analysis, 2012 2016 and Forecast, 2017 2023 Competition Landscape Research Methodology Key Assumptions and Acronyms About Us: Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Contact Us: NORAH TRENT sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) An exclusive Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market research report created through broad primary research (inputs from industry experts, companies, and stakeholders) and secondary research, the report aims to present the analysis of Global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables Market By Type, By Application, By Region North America, Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyses the emerging trends along with major drivers, challenges and opportunities in the global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market. Additionally, the report also highlights market entry strategies for various companies across the globe. Get FREE Sample Copy of this Report at http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPHE100000980 Worldwide Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market. Leading Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables Market Players: 1. B. Braun Melsungen AG 2. C.R. Bard 3. Baxter International Inc. 4. W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. 5. Medtronic 6. Cook Medical Inc. 7. Cooper Surgicals Inc. 8. LifeCell Corporation 9. Atrium Medical Corporation 10. Integra LifeSciences Corporation The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions. Get Complete Report With TOC and Company Profiles at http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/hernia-repair-devices-and-consumables-market Also, key Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years. Reason to Buy Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies. The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies. Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets. Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it. Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals. Inquire About this Report at http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPHE100000980 About Us: The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense. Contact Us: Call: +1-646-491-9876 Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Global Mobility Assist Devices Market Outlook Market Overview Global mobility assist devices market is one of the growth potential markets across the globe. Rapid pace advancement in mobility assist devices is raising the popularity of mobility assist devices among healthcare facilities. About 20% of the worlds population is suffering from some kind of disability whether it is physical or intellectual. The demand for mobility assist devices is rising on the back of growing need of mobility devices among aged population. Most commonly used mobility assist devices are electric scooters, crutches and wheel chairs, among these mobility assist devices, wheelchairs are the most commonly used device. According to WHO, there will be more than 16% of population with age more than the 65 years who are more prone to the mobility impairing disorders and disease. The favorable acts and initiatives taken by government to aid the disables and old people are also expected to boost the market of mobility assist devices across the globe. Global mobility assist devices market is up surging due to advancement in technology of mobility devices and new innovations in the healthcare industry. Growing awareness among the population is also one of the key factors which are pushing the mobility assist devices manufacturers to increase the supply into the market. Developing healthcare infrastructure and hospitals also aid to the growth of mobility assist devices market. However, unfavorable reimbursement policies in various countries and dearth of healthcare facilities are the major challenges for market players. There is a huge potential for advanced mobility assist devices in untapped regions such as Africa and others. According to Center for diseases control and prevention (CDC), the number of people suffering from arthritis in the United States is increasing rapidly owing to hectic and unhygienic lifestyle. In U.S., more than 70 million people are expected to suffer from arthritis disease by the end of 2030. The rising numbers of arthritis patients along with favorable healthcare reforms are creating huge opportunities for the market players to introduce more products into the market. Market Segmentation By Products o Wheel Chairs Manual Wheel Chairs Electric Wheel Chairs o Walking Aids Canes & Crutches Walkers Rollators & Tri-Walkers o Mobility Vehicles and Scooters By End Users o Hospitals o Household o Others (airport, hotels, railways, etc) Request Sample Report at https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2316637-global-mobility-assist-devices-market-outlook-2024-global-opportunity-and-demand By Geography o North America (US, Canada) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} o Europe (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Poland and Rest of Europe) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} o Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, North Africa, South Africa and Rest of Middle East & Africa) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} o Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Rest of Latin America) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} o Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Rest of Asia-Pacific) {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} o Rest of the World {Market Share (%), Market Size (USD Billion), Adoption Rate (%)} Growth Drivers and Challenges According to WHO, there will be a rise in global elderly population from 900 million to 2 billion by 2030, and specific developing regions like Latin America and Asia tends to witness the growth in elderly population from 7.9% to 12.1% of their total population by 2030, providing favorable conditions for the key players of mobility assist device market. Also, increasing rate of chronic and acute diseases along with rising aging population further propel the demand for advanced mobility assist devices. Rising demand for advanced mobility assist devices further pushes the manufacturers to deliver new technology and innovative products. Governments initiatives and policies for the old and disabled people by reducing their taxes, providing financial support and establishments of rehabilitation centers for old people can boost the demands of mobility assist devices globally. Although, high cost of advanced mobility assist devices is one of the major factor which is restraining the growth of mobility assist devices market. Likewise, lack of awareness towards mobility devices and slow adoption of mobility assist devices in low income countries are hindering the demand for mobility assist devices. The involvement of technology and continuous research and development to introduce innovative products are increasing the cost of mobility assist devices which is creating a huge barrier for market players to generate revenue. Market Size and Forecast Global mobility assist devices market accounted for USD 6.4 Billion in 2016 and the market is expected to reach USD 12.3 Billion by the end of 2024. Further, the market is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5% over the forecast period i.e. 2016-2024. Geographically, North-America is the dominating region with 38.6% of revenue share in global mobility assist devices markets. The region is expected to dominate the region over the forecast period owing to introduction of new and innovative products by the established market players in United States. Europe accounted for over 30% of revenue share in global mobility assist devices market in 2016 and was the second largest consumer of mobility assist devices. Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at a considerable rate. China and India are expected to be the fastest mobility assist device market in Asia region owing to the large pool of patients and improving healthcare facilities in these regions. Developing countries such as Brazil and Mexico also showcasing significant growth in mobility assist devices market and expected to share significant revenue in global mobility assist devices market over the forecast period. Key Market Players Sunrise Medical LLC Pride Mobility Solax Mobility Invacare Corporation Merits Health Products Inc Golden Technologies Medline industries Healthcare GmbH Hoveround Corporation LEVO AG Permobil AB Merivaara Corporation Scope Background Market Synopsis Market Segmentation Global mobility assist devices market is segmented as follows: By Product (Market Size, Demand Analysis and Growth Analysis) By Application (Market Size, Demand Analysis and Growth Analysis) Global Mobility Assist Devices Market Report covered insights of below mentioned regions: North America (U.S., Canada) {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Latin America (Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Rest of Latin America) {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain, France, The U.K., Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Rest of Europe) {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Asia-Pacific (China, India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Rest of Asia Pacific) {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Middle East and North Africa (MENA) {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Rest of World {Market Size, Growth Analysis and Opportunity Analysis} Market Dynamics: Growth Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Table of Contents Executive Summary Research Methodology Regional Opportunity Analysis on the basis of Competitors Global Mobility Assist Devices Market Size (USD Billion) and Forecast Analysis, 2016-2024 Market Dynamics: Growth Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Global Mobility Assist Devices Market Segmentation Competitive Outlook Porters Five Force Model Market Landscape: Competition and Beyond Market outlook for business players and entry level players to ascertain their business in dynamic ecosystem Expert Analysis Concluding Remarks About Us: Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Contact Us: NORAH TRENT sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, May 11, 2018 It might at first appear to be big news that Cambridge Analytica's boss, Alexander Nix and Dominic Cummings, the campaign director for Vote Leave, are being summoned to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport parliamentary committee. Both had previously claimed that he could not attend while the ICO was looking into CA and the Electoral Commission was investigating political advertising during the Brexit referendum. However, both bodies have given the green light and now there is no excuse to turn up, probably at the start of next month. For me, however, the big interview I'm looking out for is the AIQ boss, Jeff Silvester, appearing next week. This has to be where the juicy questions lie, even if the answers aren't to the satisfaction of the MPs asking them. The suspicion that politicians want to air is that AIQ did for Brexit what CA claimed to have done for Trump. There seems to have been some working together at some level between the two companies, but since AIQ is Canadian and outside EU jurisdiction, it is hard to be sure. The accusation will be that AIQ used Facebook data -- whose legitimacy may be under question -- to target voters with advertising paid for by Vote Leave, the official organisation calling for a 'Leave' vote in the referendum. It is not secret that the two worked together, and Facebook estimates AIQ spend GBP1.5m on advertising on its platform during the campaign. The problem is, what law did AIQ break? If the data about likely voting intention that was gathered from an app, is this illegal under the Data Protection Act? I'm not so sure it is. There are some grey areas within the law but it is not until May 25th when GDPR is activated that political views becomes a sensitive form of personal data that can only be processed with the explicit consent of each individual involved. The main question for me was where was this data processed. AIQ has been accused by the ICO of not fully assisting its investigation, claiming that it is Canadian and thus lies outside the UK data protection watchdog's reach. It may have a point. However, if British personal information was sent abroad, outside the EU, then I would say there may be a case for challenging the transfer of the data. It will come down to interpretation regarding whether it was needed and whether there were safeguards where it went. That really is one for the ICO to work out. However, if the data was gathered in the EU and processed in the EU, I'm struggling for the part that breaks the Data Protection Act -- GDPR would definitely have been broken, but it's not the law until the end of the month and can't be retrospectively applied. One could possibly argue that it would cause distress to people to know their data was being used by Brexiters, but it may be a bit of a stretch. As for CA, its boss Nix is now famous for making bold claims, but the Electoral Commission today revealed that it is satisfied it did not work with the Leave.EU group, beyond preliminary meetings, despite what the company claims. There will doubtless be a discussion about whether British personal data was compromised in its efforts to apply data from a personality test to voting patterns. Again, it is what Zuckerberg would call a breach of trust. A breach of the Data Protection Act? I'm not so sure. My prediction? If all three -- from CA, AIQ and Vote Leave -- make an appearance, they will be beaten by a barrage of questions. It will be a very uncomfortable experience, and some going back on previous statements might well ensue. Will any of this lead to any charges for breaching privacy rules? I very much doubt it. Will it require a re-run of the referendum? Not a chance. Although many people do worry more than usual while pregnant, sneezing during pregnancy should not cause any anxiety. Sneezing can occur more frequently during pregnancy but does not usually mean anything is wrong with baby or mother. People can sneeze for many reasons while they are pregnant: Pregnancy rhinitis Share on Pinterest Pregnancy rhinitis is a common condition that causes nasal congestion. Pregnancy causes many changes in the body. These changes can lead to pregnancy rhinitis, a condition that affects 39 percent of women at some point during their pregnancy. Pregnancy rhinitis often causes extra nasal congestion. This congestion can last for 6 weeks or longer during pregnancy and can cause many symptoms, including increased sneezing. During pregnancy, blood flow to the mucous membranes increases. The nose is full of mucous membranes. The extra blood flow causes the nasal passages to swell, which leads to extra watery discharge and congestion. Both the additional discharge and congestion can lead to increased sneezing. Illness Pregnant people have weaker immune systems and are more likely to get a cold, flu, or another bug. These illnesses may last longer and be more severe than in someone who is not pregnant. When a person is not pregnant, their body typically reacts to germs quickly. During pregnancy, the bodys immune system responds more slowly and gently, because it does not want to mistake the baby for something harmful. Colds are usually harmless during pregnancy, but the flu or any other illness that causes a fever can be dangerous for both mother and baby. Expectant mothers who are sneezing and think they may have the flu or another illness that causes a fever should call a doctor promptly. Allergies People who have allergies that cause sneezing and other upper respiratory symptoms when they are not pregnant, will likely still have allergy symptoms while pregnant. Seasonal allergies, such as hay fever and pollen allergies, as well as indoor allergies can all trigger sneezing. A recent study gains fresh insight into the specific receptors that are involved in creating memories. The scientists hope that, in the future, this discovery could help to battle age-related cognitive decline. Share on Pinterest Understanding the nuts and bolts of memory might one day help us to enhance it. Designing a medication to enhance memory is the stuff of science fiction, and it is likely to remain in that realm for a very long time. However, leaps and bounds are currently being made in the field of memory research. Steadily, as neuroscientists explore deeper into the brain, the mechanisms of memory formation are becoming clearer, and the ways to enhance them are drawing ever closer. Scientists at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, NY, are at the forefront of this research. Led by Catia M. Teixeira, Ph.D., and Zev B. Rosen, Ph.D., they focused their latest project on serotonin release in the hippocampus and its impact on memory. The hippocampus and memory The hippocampus has been known to play a vital role in memory for a long time. In particular, it lays down long-term memories of life experiences. A region of the hippocampus referred to as CA1 is particularly important. For instance, a study involving individuals with damage to their CA1 region found that they had a profound impairment in place learning. Another study that tested similar patients found severe impairments in autobiographical and episodic memory. According to the authors of the recent study, the strength of neuronal communication through the CA1 region seems to be linked to memory formation. The hippocampus is heavily influenced by serotonin (among other neurotransmitters), but its exact role has remained unclear. The team involved in this study wanted to dig into this a little deeper. To inspect serotonins function, they investigated mouse brains using optogenetics a technique that allows neuroscientists to turn neurons off and on using pulses of light. By playing with the various serotonin pathways in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, they could get a better understanding of what each of them was doing. They found that if serotonin release was increased, neuronal communication in CA1 became stronger; this had the effect of improving the mices spatial memory. Conversely, when serotonin release was artificially blocked, spatial memory was impaired. This showed that serotonin release in the CA1 region could boost memory but also showed that memory formation is dependent on this pathway. Their findings are published this week in the journal Neuron . Just knowing that serotonin is crucial for memory formation was not enough; they wanted to be more specific. May 11, 2018 Canada Carolyn Bennett Jane Philpott Canada $15 million $8 million $7 million Canada The community of Pessamit is located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, 54 kilometres southwest of Baie-Comeau in the province of Quebec . It has a population of 3,981 residents. The previous building that housed the community health facility was built in 1924 and included two additions built in 1954 and 1991. This building no longer met the community's needs. The new construction project consisted of relocating all health and social services to the same location in a new two-storey building. The success of this infrastructure project was made possible through the exceptional aptitude and leadership of Innu businesses and professionals. The majority of those working on the site were members of the First Nation who spearheaded the construction of the new building. Conseil des Innus de Pessamit Indigenous Services Canada Canada PESSAMIT, QC,/CNW/ - Improving access to health care services for First Nations is a priority for the Government of. Achieving that includes access to quality care and sufficient, sustainable health resources in each community.Today, the Hon., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, on behalf of the Hon., Minister of Indigenous Services, congratulated the Innu community of Pessamit on the opening of its brand new integrated health and social services facility.This new building achieves the community's vision of providing an array of services under the same roof. Those services include front-line, prevention and promotion services in community health, dentistry, optometry, as well as access to social services and long-term housing. The services are currently being provided by primarily Innu staff members who are part of the community.The Government ofis particularly proud of this partnership with the Pessamit Innu, which will provide access to quality services that are adapted to the local culture.The total cost of the project is, withprovided by the Pessamit Innu Council andfrom the Government ofFor his part, Chief Rene Simon mentioned that the construction and development of a new integrated health and social services facility in Pessamit was a source of pride and great satisfaction for him and his Council. In closing his speech, Chief Simon entrusted the members of his community with naming the new building as part of a major consultation whose details will be announced shortly: "It's your health facility; it's up to you to give it a name."Congratulations to Chief Simon, the Pessamit Innu, and members of the health community on the success of this promising project. Access to quality health care is essential. This new facility, where several generations will come together, is momentous for the well-being of the community.""It is a promise for the future of our community and nothing, in all that we seek to accomplish as elected officials, matters to us more than this. This is a decisive step towards collective well-being that we are taking together, but it is not the last: we still have a long way to go before we achieve our social, economic and cultural objectives."Stay ConnectedJoin the conversation about Indigenous peoples in:Twitter: GovCan IndigenousFacebook: GovCan Indigenous PeoplesInstagram: @gcIndigenousSOURCE Indigenous Services Canada Advertisement For this study, Hayashi and colleagues identified 181 patients who were undergoing non-emergency heart surgery between March 2014 and August 2015 at Nagoya University Hospital. The mean age of the patients was 71.4 years.Patients performed the 6MWD test upon admission for their operations. Functional exercise capacity was measured by having patients walk the length of a predetermined course at their own pace while attempting to cover as much ground as possible in 6 minutes. The distance covered in that duration was measured to the nearest meter. According to the results of this study, a low 6MWD was an associated risk factor for POCD after cardiac surgery. In fact, the lower the 6MWD was, the more significant the reduction in cognitive function postoperatively was. Of the study participants, 51 (28 percent) developed POCD."It is increasingly recognized that a patient's fitness level has an impact on how well he/she does after a surgical procedure," said Rakesh C. Arora, MD, Ph.D., of St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Canada, who was not involved with this research. "This study further highlights the need for the healthcare team to undertake a more detailed assessment of patients' physical fitness before the operation. The 6MWD is an important component of this evaluation."According to Dr. Arora, the identification of patients at risk for POCD and other cognitive disorders should alert the healthcare team to consider modifying anesthetic and medication choices during-and-after the operations, as well as assist with discharge planning as patients transition to home. In addition, the healthcare team should consider strategies, such as prehabilitation, to optimize the patients' fitness before their operations. Dr. Arora explained that prehabilitation includes a combination of exercise training, education, and social support intended to improve patients' physical and psychological readiness for surgery."Prehabilitation may be of benefit to patients with poor physical fitness by improving postoperative recovery and post-discharge functional survival," said Dr. Arora. "Patient self-management and follow-through are essential, however, as is the patient's understanding of their health issues and their proposed plan of care."Dr. Hayashi agrees that a multidisciplinary approach, which includes elements such as prehabilitation, is key to a better assessment and treatment outcome. "Precise preoperative risk assessment for postoperative complications is critical, and when indicated, supervised exercise before an operation should be recommended to improve functional exercise capacity before heart surgery," he said.Source: Eurekalert The situation is aggravated by the fact that most government hospitals, especially in rural areas, lack the infrastructure and are ill-equipped to tackle complications of dengue infection. Therefore, the availability of a dengue vaccine in the public sector will bring about a paradigm shift from treatment to prevention . This is likely to dramatically bring down the number of dengue cases as well as substantially reduce the mortality and morbidity. The burden of dengue in India is huge and the cost of treatment for complications like dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is astronomical and can run into thousands of rupees, especially in corporate hospitals, where the expenses have to be borne out-of-pocket in the absence of health insurance. Impediments in Developing a Dengue Vaccine Several dengue vaccine candidates have been under development over the past few decades, but none have been successful, until now. The difficulty in developing a dengue vaccine stems from the fact that there are four kinds (serotypes) of dengue virus (DENV) that circulate, of which one type predominates in a particular dengue season. Weakening the virus (technically termed as attenuation) by chemical treatments so that it does not cause disease, yet is still strong enough to stimulate the immune system (defense system of the body) to generate a protective immune response is very tricky, especially since there are four serotypes that require equal levels of attenuation. This problem has been solved in the new dengue vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur. Dengvaxia: The Sanofi Pasteur Dengue Vaccine An internationally available dengue vaccine called Dengvaxia (CYD-TVD), developed by Sanofi Pasteur, Lyon, France has been extensively evaluated in more than 40,000 individuals in 15 different countries, including India. The Sanofi vaccine is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in individuals aged between 9 and 45 years in areas of the world where dengue is prevalent. Dengvaxia is a live-attenuated tetravalent (containing all four DENV serotypes DENV1, DENV2, DENV3 and DENV4) dengue vaccine produced by recombinant DNA technology or genetic engineering. The vaccine has been evaluated in a 3-dose schedule (0/6/12 months) in Phase III clinical trials and was first registered in Mexico in December 2015 and first commercially available in 2016 in the Philippines and Indonesia. The vaccine has since been adopted in 7 other dengue-endemic countries around the globe, namely, Brazil, Paraguay, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, Guatemala, and Singapore, where more than 500,000 people have already been vaccinated with over 1.5 million doses distributed so far. The Government of India is exercising caution on the introduction of the Sanofi dengue vaccine, as the company is seeking exemption from carrying out Phase III clinical trials in India, arguing that it has already been extensively tested and that the exemption would fast-track the introduction of the vaccine. Early introduction of the vaccine will help in tackling the disease in India, where dengue is a huge public health problem. Other Dengue Vaccine Candidates Several other dengue vaccine candidates are under different stages of development in various countries. A few important ones are briefly highlighted below: DENVax: This vaccine, developed by Takeda, consists of a chimera (mosaic) of the four dengue serotypes. This dengue vaccine candidate is currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials. This vaccine, developed by Takeda, consists of a chimera (mosaic) of the four dengue serotypes. This dengue vaccine candidate is currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials. TV003: This vaccine has been developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), USA. TV003 is a live-attenuated vaccine that contains a mixture of the four dengue serotypes as separate vaccine formulations. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials. This vaccine has been developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), USA. TV003 is a live-attenuated vaccine that contains a mixture of the four dengue serotypes as separate vaccine formulations. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials. TDENV PIV: This is an inactivated (killed) tetravalent (containing DENV1-4) vaccine formulation developed jointly by GlaxoSmithKline and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USA. It is currently undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials. This is an inactivated (killed) tetravalent (containing DENV1-4) vaccine formulation developed jointly by GlaxoSmithKline and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USA. It is currently undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials. V180: This is a subunit (fragment of a protein antigen) protein vaccine produced in the cells of fruit fly (Drosophila). This vaccine, developed by Merck, has completed Phase I clinical trials as of December 2014. Indian Efforts The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi has developed a dengue vaccine candidate, which has been extensively evaluated in various animal models, including monkeys. This vaccine candidate is currently awaiting clinical trials in humans. The scientists are hopeful that a Made-in-India dengue vaccine could be available within a span of 4-5 years from now. What is Dengue? Dengue is a viral disease caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The disease has a global distribution in all tropical and sub-tropical regions where the Aedes mosquito is present. The virus has an affinity for the blood and its components, which results in disease manifestation. Dengue Burden in India The disease burden is staggering as revealed by a 2014 study conducted by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi. The study found that the annual average clinically diagnosed dengue cases in India was almost 6 million, or 282 times the annual reported number during 2006-2012. Most common - The most common form of the disease is dengue fever, which is characterized by severe bone and joint pain (for which it is also called breakbone fever), muscle pain, headache, fever, swollen lymph nodes, rash, and generalized fatigue and exhaustion. Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) - Presence of fever, rash and headache are the three characteristic symptoms (dengue triad) of dengue. Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a more severe form of the disease, largely affecting children below the age of 10 years. As the name suggests, the condition is characterized by widespread hemorrhage (bleeding), abdominal pain, in addition to fever, rash and headache. A potentially fatal complication is dengue shock syndrome (DSS), which is characterized by circulatory collapse and death, if not treated promptly. There is no specific treatment for dengue and NO antivirals against dengue are currently available. Dengue must be treated in a hospital setting and it primarily involves supportive therapy. Currently, the mainstay of prevention is mosquito vector control. Health Tips Modi loves to target the Nehru-Gandhi family and his jibes on the congress dynasty are a crowd-pleaser in his rallies all across the country. It is, then, no big deal for Modi to come out all guns blazing especially in an election where he too knows that the BJP is trailing by some margin. Twitter Following the script, Modi went on a rant attacking the Congress party while speaking in Bidar for not respecting freedom fighters, especially Bhagat Singh. This is what the Prime Minister said during the rally. When freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt etc were jailed while fighting for our independence, did any Congress leader go to meet them? But the Congress leaders have the time to meet people who're corrupt & have been jailed, Modi roared. While he did get a massive response from the crowd for his observation, twitter was quick to hand over a history lesson to the PM. Turns out, Nehru did visit Bhagat Singh in jail and twitter showed no mercy in reminding the PM of the fact. There is no failure and there is no research team. These lies, half-lies and falsehoods are willed and deliberate. Unlike that other Gujarati and Indian politician, Gandhi, this one will do anything at all to win an election. https://t.co/bhKep5G0aQ Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) May 10, 2018 Dear Prime Minister, Please do not embarrass us anymore. I know, it's not your fault. Your research team is failing you.#Nehru did visit #BhagatSingh after he went on hunger strike at Mianwali jail in June, 1929. This is well documented. And this is what he had to say: https://t.co/tWl1krZ0KE Rajesh Mahapatra (@rajeshmahapatra) May 10, 2018 A twitter page by the name of indianhistorypics even went on to share an extract from a book to show that Modi was indeed distorting facts for political gains. August 1929 :: Jawaharlal Nehru On His Meeting With Bhagat Singh , Jatindranath Das and Batukeshwar Dutt In Borstal Jail , Lahore ( Photo - Selected Works Of Jawaharlal Nehru Volume 4 /Page 13 ) pic.twitter.com/lD4W0IaEhZ indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) May 10, 2018 And the blows just kept on coming - 1.Nehru visited them in Lahore jail on Aug 8,1929. 2.And published their defence statement in Congress bulletin 3.Asaf Ali was their lawyer and defended them in court. Also, Dear Sanghis- Jinnah defended Bhagat Singh in the Central assembly. #KarnatakaElections2018 https://t.co/R5stfAF5oc Cow Momma (@Cow__Momma) May 9, 2018 Pic 1 : When Jinnah defended Bhagat Singh in Central Assembly . Pic 2 : This is what RSS supremo Golwalkar used to think about martyrs . pic.twitter.com/T20kseBz3O Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) May 4, 2018 And some even pointed out the exact relevance of the entire issue, that too in Karnataka elections in 2018. I was very much pained to see the distress of the heroes. They've staked their lives in this struggle. They want political prisoners should be treated as political prisoners. I'm quite hopeful that their sacrifice wud be crowned with success. Nehru on Bhagat Singh's hunger strike Rajesh Mahapatra (@rajeshmahapatra) May 10, 2018 Country's PM or that whining neighbourhood auntie? Never before politics has been reduced to such petty personal level. Nobody replies to my good mornings on Whatsapp Sonia didn't meet President Now Nehru didn't meet Bhagat Singh (False. He did.) https://t.co/SVgUTHV0tG N.S. Madhavan (@NSMlive) May 10, 2018 While this is not the first time that Modi has been called out for inaccurate history references, going by how passionate he is to win elections for the BJP, we can assure you that this won't be his last time too. Sachin Bansal, the founder of Flipkart, has sold his entire stake in the company after Walmart decided to shell out $16 billion for the ecommerce giant. Bansal had a share of 5.2% left in the company he helped found along with Binny Bansal. That stake sale has made Sachin Bansal a fortune as it is expected to fetch him around $1.2 billion. Twitter While it's a one of a kind success story in the Indian startup ecosystem, Sachin Bansal will have to shell out a lot of money in order to fulfill his income tax obligations in India. It is being reported that Bansal will need to pay 20% capital gain tax on the fortune he just made by selling Flipkart. This comes to around a whopping figure of Rs 1600 crores. "Despite the fact that shares of Flipkart Singapore (a company registered outside India) will be transferred to Walmart, gains arising from such transfer could be subject to tax in India considering that substantial value of such shares is being derived from India," Nangia, an expert in the matter said. "With regard to share purchase agreement entered into with India resident entity, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in this case, capital gain would be charged in their hands and they have to pay 20 per cent income tax," Transaction Square Founder Girish Vanvari told PTI. Twitter While Sachin has decided to leave, Binny will continue to serve as the group CEO and might as well be appointed as the next Executive Chairman. The OnePlus 6 is all set to launch next week and we already know most of the specification about the upcoming flagship killer. We did an everything you need to know about the OP6 and you can read all about it here. The highly anticipated device was spotted on Geekbench and the listing has confirmed some of the specs that were previously rumoured. Twitter The scores revealed that the OnePlus 6 will have a variant that will be outfitted with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC and will be coupled with 8GB of RAM. If one wants to put performance into perspective, the OnePlus 6 garnered a score of 2402 in the single-core test and a multi-core result of 8931. This impressive score puts the OnePlus 6 at par with every Android flagship device out there already. MensXP Other flagships like the Pixel 2, Samsung's Galaxy S9 have scores that are lower than OnePlus 6's performance and will make the device one of the fastest Android devices for 2018. You can head over to Geekbench's website to compare the scores for yourself. We did a comparison between the Galaxy S9/S9Plus, Pixel 2 and the Huawei P20 Pro to find the upcoming device almost as fast or faster than most flagships out there. The geek bench also reveals also that OnePlus 6 will have Android 8.1 out of the box and will also be able to support Android P Beta. In terms of storage options, the device is expected is to come three internal storage options i.e. 64GB, 128 GB and 256GB. Twitter The smartphone is also expected to have a dual camera setup comprising of a 20-megapixel primary sensor coupled with a 16-megapixel telephoto lens. The device is also supposed to take a cue from the iPhone X in terms of design. It is expected to have a glass and aluminum build that will launch in two colour options i.e. black and white. Twitter OnePlus is all set to launch OP6 on May 16th at a global event in London followed by an Indian launch in Mumbai the following day. We will know more about the pricing of the device and availability on May 17th so make sure you keep an eye on the MensXP technology section. A cargo of premium hard coking coal changed hands at $181.50 per tonne fob Australia during the day, sources told Metal Bulletin. A trade involving premium materials was also concluded at $185 per tonne fob Australia a day earlier, they said. There was also talk about a cargo of premium low-vol product changing hands at around $198 per tonne... American Metal Markets hot-rolled coil index stands at $43.96 per hundredweight ($879.20 per ton), up 0.2% from $43.87 per cwt ($877.40 per ton) a week ago and up 34.7% from $32.63 per cwt ($652.60 per ton) at the beginning of the year. Lead times remain in a wide range, from four to 10 weeks, according to market participants and mill lead-time schedules. The latest upward move comes as mills continue to seek $45 per cwt ($900 per ton) - and $46 per cwt ($920 per ton) in some cases - for hot-rolled coil. $50 cwt on the horizon? Hot band prices are at their highest point since they hit $45 per cwt in April 2011. And some market participants think the number could go as high as $50 per cwt ($1,000 per ton) should firm demand and Section 232 tariffs and quotas squeeze supplies. Hot-rolled coil has not reached $50 per cwt since early September 2008 - immediately before the financial crisis hit - according to American Metal Market's Price Tracker. And several buyer sources said they were ordering steel only as needed because the downside price risk is much greater than upside potential. The markets are good. But [customers] are not doing big tons," a mill source said. Those predicting that domestic prices were at or near a peak pointed to high import volumes in March and April. But the view that prices had topped out did not appear to be as widespread as it was earlier in the month. Imports fall off a cliff Were trying to buy every pound of steel we can get, one Midwest service center source said. That means buying from other service centers if material is not available from mills. His company has found competitors willing to sell steel below current mill prices, probably because they fear prices falling and their inventories losing value. He said that outlook was mistaken given that imports have already started to plunge in anticipation of Section 232 quotas on key trading partners such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The US was licensed to import 3.44 million tonnes of steel in April. May's figure stood at only 376,283 tonnes as of Tuesday May 8, the last day for which data was available from the US Commerce Department. If imports continue to arrive at their current rate, May volumes will total less than half April volumes. And that trend was more pronounced in the hot-rolled coil arena, where the US was licensed to import 243,920 tonnes in April but only 18,172 tonnes as of May 8. We had a big run-up when everyone was buying ahead of May 1. Now import licenses are falling off a cliff, a second Midwest service center source said. He was referring to the Trump administrations self-imposed deadline - subsequently pushed back to June 1 - for exemptions to Section 232 tariffs and quotas. Trade attorneys told American Metal Market they had expected the deadline to be extended. But foreign steel consumers - while aware of that likelihood - told American Metal Market they could not afford to be on the hook for duties and thus scaled back purchases ahead of May 1. The downward trend on imports might continue because the Trump administration is likely to push for hard quotas on Canada, Mexico and the EU, sources said. The exact contours of some of those potential quotas - and whether other countries would agree to them - was not clear as of May 11. But the immediate impact was: The mills are sticking to their guns, one end-user said. Cold-rolled, galvanized wobble Hot-rolled coil is the hottest of the three major flat-rolled steel markets, sources agree. There is less consensus on the direction of cold-rolled and galvanized prices. American Metal Markets price assessments for cold-rolled coil and galvanized base prices have slipped to $49.75 per cwt ($995 per ton), down 0.5% from $50 per cwt ($1,000 per ton) a week ago. Cold-rolled lead times range from four to 10 weeks and average six to seven weeks, putting them roughly on par with hot-rolled lead times, according to mill lead-time schedules and market participants. Hot-dipped galvanized lead times are between six and 12 weeks - or into early August at some plants. You need to have a seat at the table when the music stops. And just because you are [a big end-user] doesnt mean you will, a second mill source said in reference to a potential steel and aluminium supply squeeze. An end-user shot back that it was US mills - not buyers - who should worry about attracting import competition should they continue to push prices higher The foreign mills will be able to pay [duties and tariffs] and bring it in, he said, noting that some foreign steel suppliers are already offering material - inclusive of anti-dumping and countervailing duties as well as Section 232 tariffs - at numbers competitive with US mills. Domestic mills continue to seek $50-51 per cwt ($1,000-1,020) per ton for cold-rolled and galvanized base prices but may make concessions in part because of the large volumes of foreign material that have arrived over the last two months, sources said. Dom Yanchunas, New York, and Nat Rudarakanchana, London, contributed to this report. The Future of Europe 1. Thank you for your presence. As we agreed in Budapest, we are holding today the second meeting of the VISEGRAD 4 and the BALKAN 4 in Sounion, together with the Westerns Balkans enlargement countries. The last part of our meeting will involve a session on the future of energy diplomacy, cooperation and transfer to Europe, with the participation of the Minister of Energy and Environment, Professor Stathakis. 2. We want a Europe that is more united, more democratic and socially just. An EU more powerful in global terms, that takes care of the needs of its citizens. An EU that is powerful vis-a-vis third parties, that is based on the principle of proportionality; that takes care for the democratic participation of States, regions and especially its citizens. That goes beyond its internal contradictions, between North and South, East and West, the rich and the not so wealthy regions. An EU that fights against the lack of transparency and against corruption; that aims at the improvement of the daily life of its citizens. A Europe that gives a sense of perspective, positive expectations and a vision, particularly to the younger generations. 3. It is essential that the EU finds the way to negotiate the difficulties it faces in dealing with the migration/refugee issue, in settling its many financial problems, in a manner that is friendly to society. All these are necessary, in order to face the emergent skepticism in all EU Member-States, regarding its usefulness and its ability to tackle its problems. The EU should not be insisting on the need for memoranda, sanctions, and measures such as embargoes- against third parties and, at the same time, degrade provisions stemming from the Treaties that concern the realization of fundamental values, such as Freedoms, Democracy, Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Justice. 4. The EU is a centre that needs to continuously claim, in a democratic fashion, a better place in the world in this era of Globalization. To ensure the security of its citizens in a world that is changing at its borders and its greater periphery. A Europe that ensures fiscal balance and job-security; that promotes Research & Development and the extended application of new technologies, so as to evolve into a democratic, safe and just Digital Europe. If all these are not achieved, it runs the risk of becoming, from the richest region in the world, a region in decline. 5. In order to progress, the EU needs to strengthen its unity. This strength cannot result from the submission of smaller states to the will of the more powerful, or from ignoring national traditions and the desires of its citizens. Far from it! 6. In order to accomplish these, it is necessary to engage in a more organized dialogue with the citizens. To fight the widespread disillusion and frustration concerning the European project. On the other hand, it must again be commonly accepted that the EUs power lies not in monolithic approaches, but rather in its variety, its diversity, in the wealth of its nations and its Member States; in the protection of this diversity, as well as the protection of human rights. 7. Without the engagement of its citizens, the EU will be discredited and will, ultimately, be unable to address the real problems. Otherwise, there will always be problems of legitimacy. Therefore, it is necessary that the EU gives again a vision and a persuasive reasoning for its very existence. 8. During the last years, the EU has faced multiple crises: financial, refugee, Brexit etc. In a way, it found itself caught into a complex crisis trap. Most importantly, however, the EU has become less-and-less appealing to its citizens, compared with the past. A cause of these crises is the fact that many in Europe generally prefer indecision to decision (or, currently, authority from the ones who have more power) especially when decisions entail an element of risk. With this attitude there will, certainly, come a moment when the entire project will be endangered. 9. In the EU we have to learn again to think strategically and not submit our policy again and again to circumstance and short-term needs. We have to learn to speak the truth and to discuss honestly. That is, not to allow the glossing over of our state of affairs. Agreed rules must apply for everyone. 10. Nowadays, the EU faces the risk of becoming a project of the elites, be they political or economic, of special interests and of expedient choices; To be cut off of its social fabric. Its initial raison detre, peace in the Old Continent, does not suffice today, approximately of a century after the Second World War. The EU has to recall in the first line of its raison detre those very values and principles, to whose application it often demonstrates double standards and selective use. Democracy, freedom, solidarity, social rights have to reassume their position in the EU system. The goal of social cohesion has to be set again. The EU has to develop like a machine, a system of institutions, an instrument of modernization of itself and of everyone else; a beacon of application, promotion and advancement of the Rule of Law, a guarantor of this principle in the global community. Moreover, the EU has to prove to it citizens that it is not merely a system of memoranda, embargoes and sanctions, but first and foremost, a producer of prosperity and security for its citizens and Member States, for everyone that it cooperates with; for the competitiveness of its economy. 11. The EU has to further develop its global role in a manner that protects the interests of all its members and not only of some. It needs to contribute to the overall growth of its economy and its competitiveness vis-a-vis the other centers of power in the modern world. Additionally, the EU has to act more positively on its own initiative, in order to overcome the North-South differences and even more so the East-West differences, which exist within it. 12. One of the causes of the EUs problems is the shift of opinion in Germany, that has demonstrated -even if belatedly- a more national outlook since its unification. On the other hand, France, until Macrons coming to power, seemed not to have the same intentions regarding the EUs perspective, as it did in the past. What is more, Italy, which in the past used to be the most pro-EU country, has become quite introvert as of late. 13. The EU has to evolve, adapt and build on its existing positive elements. On the basis of such a policy, allow me to remind you of certain fundamental questions, to which we could, of course come back to in our following discussion: A. Changes in the world and in the EUs place therein, significance of these changes for the future of the EU, and of Europe generally. B. Support of the strengthening of the EU; What does it mean? One could consider here a series of alternatives: i) Strengthening of community organs or not? And if yes, how and of which? ii) To the benefit of certain powerful States or groups of States? iii) Upgrading or downgrading of the national State within the EU? With this question comes another: - which will be the future balance between national States and the Communitys organs/institutions, and also - which will be the relation/balance between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. iv) To enhance democracy within the EU? and if yes, how to go about it? - by democratizing Community institutions? - by reinforcing the EU Parliament at the expense of other institutions? - by reinforcing the national State/national institutions and organs and the control that these exercise over the EU, particularly at the union level? and, finally - by the further engagement between national and European institutions. v) To strengthen society? And if yes - how? - and most importantly, which social groups and forces? C. Where will the balance rest between EU enlargement and EU deepening? Because, each step towards the realization of enlargement is accompanied by the (often previous) institutional reform of the Union. To this time, an initial discussion concerning these changes takes place in regard to the European Parliament, because of Brexit. D. Institutional changes that take place in the name of, and in combination with, each enlargement process, should be taken into consideration before making any pledge that affects the geographical architecture of the EU and of Europe as a whole. We should pay special attention to changes relating to: the composition of the Commission (since it would be difficult to ensure portfolios for more than 35 countries), whether all Member-States will have Commissioners, whether the rotation principle shall be implemented, or whether -some will try- to divide the Commission into countries that will have permanent members and others who wont. Whether the Commission will be composed of senior and junior members and how will the portfolios be assigned to Commissioners. The reform of the relation between the institutions. The structure and operation of the Councils, especially the composition of the Chairs. It is possible to bring back on the table the proposal, whereby the European Commission would appoint the Chairs of the Council in its various formations, or even its permanent Chairs. The election of the President of the Commission and of Commissioners. The role and operation of Parties, national and/or European, within the EU and its institutions. The composition of the bodies of Directors and Deputy Directors of the Commissions Directorates, of the Council and the European Parliament is very important to countries of our size. We note, on this issue, a certain shift to the benefit of large Member-States, which creates a certain imbalance. Will societies be able to intervene/to participate? In what way? The role and possibilities that referenda offer. It follows from the above that medium-sized countries should coordinate their cooperation and it is important that older member-states pass on their experience, regarding such changes and reforms to newer members, which have not taken part in similar negotiations in the past. E. Enlargement and the European Unions periphery: I. The first set of questions concerns the immediate neighbourhood, the surroundings of the EU: The first question is what will the EU do regarding its special relationships with wealthy European countries, such as Switzerland and Norway, but also with small state entities (Andorra, San Marino, Lichtenstein, Monaco). The second and more important question regards time frames and possible groupings in view of the accession of the Western Balkans to the EU. The third question concerns the final outcome of Turkeys candidacy and whether this will be converted into a special relationship. EU relations with Russia remain a special issue. II. The second set of questions refers to countries of the outer periphery of the EU: On one hand, the group of countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood: do we believe that we should maintain our relations with all of them at the same level, or do we believe they should be divided in groups of three (based either on political criteria, or geographical). On the other hand, there is the group of Mediterranean countries, especially Israel and Tunisia. Thirdly, what will our general stance/policy towards associated states involve? F. Should the tempo of the EUs development be dictated by the most developed, in terms of integration, states, or the slowest? Or maybe should it move in line with the averages? G. Policy areas of the EU The central issue that has emerged from discussions that have taken place especially in the most influential countries of the EU, such as France and Germany, is in which policy areas should the EU be advancing, and also, how should the EMU be organized in terms of institutional reforms, as well as the economic aspect of the EU. As regards the first issue, apart from the democratization of the EU as a whole, which in a hypothetical scenario would not be able to accede itself should such hypothetical accession depend on implementation of its own acquis, we note the following areas that could be further developed: The social sector. We should also consider whether development of the social sector could serve as a driver for limiting the social state at a national level or whether it would facilitate its strengthening. The big issue of political immigration and the future/reform of the framework of the Dublin Regulation is another pertinent question. The EU did not manage to prove it possesses its own, qualitatively superior/effective, immigration and refugee policy. The EU did not manage to provide a solution that balances between the needs of national states and the vision of a comprehensive European policy. The defense sector as well as that of security, which is defined by the relationship between the EU, NATO and the USA. That is, whether the EU will be able to operate on its own, in terms of defense, or whether it will be more of a regional partner of NATO and the US. Without a defense pillar of its own, the EU will remain an economic giant that stands on feet of clay. Furthermore, whether the EU and NATO will cooperate at a state level, or autonomously at an organization to organization level -as occurs now- which is what I, myself, support. Further development of the financial-economic sector, on which I shall speak later on. Support of the agricultural sector, of modern services, of the new technologies industry and of their dependant industries. H. The EU has been facing a fundamental problem: it creates institutional systems, such as the Eurozone, without adhering to the provisions of the Treaties and without ensuring a role for the European Parliament in these. Most of the times, it should be noted, this process occurs in an anti-democratic way. The Eurozones institutional system should be placed under parliamentary control and we should ensure the European Parliaments participation in its bodies, as well as the participation therein of the Commission, in line with all rights and responsibilities emanating from the Treaties. It is obvious now that the Eurozone lacks the necessary tools that would enable it to react on time according to economic changes and possible problems that could emerge. Unfortunately, we do not talk of the Eurozones problems within the EU in a coolheaded way, but as we have seen until now, we tend to do so on the spot and under pressure. I. Specific issues are included in the proposals that were made on behalf of Paris and Berlin. Most of the proposals by the former have not been essentially approved by the latter. Among these proposals, the one regarding the increase of the EUs budget stands out, which reminds us -in another context- of older proposals made by federalists. Also, the proposal to establish a special budget for the Eurozone may be a problematic one. Also, is the Eurozone entitled to institutions and bodies of its own and would this be an option or not? Another issue is the appointment of a Minister of Finance, as is the case for the EUs foreign policy, which I believe, has provided positive results. The evolution or not- of the EMS into some sort of a European Monetary Fund (inspired by the model of the IMF, but established in a different way, with an interstate character -or otherwise), is another issue. There are also specific proposals regarding the completion of the Banking Union, as well as the issuance of a European bond. Yet another special issue is what will happen with the EUs budget in relation with Brexit. I believe that the budget could increase, whilst revisiting the ways of distribution and quotas between those policies that are essential for today and those that are important for ensuring our future. Between different ways of deepening the integration process, promoting economic convergence and enhancement of social cohesion. All these issues concern, of course, the discussion about the new financial prospects and framework. The most crucial and fundamental aspect is that the EU regains the characteristics of both an economic and financial union, and not simply the latter. The EU should be democratic in all its aspects: in terms of its composition but also in terms of actions. An EU focused on the needs of its people and on caring for them: from fighting unemployment to providing a better quality of life. J. Most of these last questions are connected to those relating to its development: development as a whole? Altogether and at the same time? Should we consider the EU a steam engine that runs faster than the average (as happened with the EMU and the Schengen system) but that is eager to connect with other wagons when they prove ready, or by breaking it down into different speeds: strictly divided into first gear, second gear and so on? However, a policy of differentiation, while it may seem attractive for the wealthier and older member-states of the Union, in fact cements and increases the already existing divergences. It undermines and divides the European project, regardless of the fact that this might solve other problems, such as the accession of new Member-States, but in a downgraded round of new members, both in the context of future accessions, as well as of the special case of Turkey. In general, we need to work on a new premise, on a new vision for the EU. We should work on reforming its institutional system in a democratic and socially just way. The European areas of interest should develop, adequately, in order to enhance the EUs presence in the modern world as well as its economic competitiveness, in a way that will protect both the environment and the individual. BAD AXE Newly appointed Huron Medical Center President and CEO Dr. Michael Johnston has hit the ground running in his new position. Just two months into his new job, Johnston announced a massive change for HMC. Effective Friday, the hospital will be known as McLaren Thumb Region. The move was announced Thursday at a community gathering at the Peppermill Restaurant. "It's a very exciting move," said Johnston. "People have been anxious because of some of the instability, the turnover and some of the issues this hospital has had. The change itself is more like a blanket that's going to provide us warmth." Johnston has a vast background in both the medical and manufacturing industries, with stops in Iowa, Chicago, England and most recently, with Carolinas HealthCare System. HMC transitioning into McLaren Thumb Region will help bring stability to the hospital. "When you look at the long term, before as an independent, we may have only been here as long as we could make it with the current health care environment," Johnston said. "With McLaren, we're here for decades to come. It's something the community can look to as a rock and help grow it." In turn, new jobs will be created. "As we grow, you will see more services and opportunities to bring healthcare back to this community," Johnston said. Thursday's community gathering was the first of two scheduled at the Peppermill. The next will be at 1 p.m. May 17. "As we go through this change, I want people to ask questions and be open," Johnston said. "If they see me out in the community, I want them to talk to me. This is a hospital that's going to be patient first. Tell us what the issues are, tell us what things are going well. That way, we can set our strategies to make this a shining beacon in the Thumb." As expected, Connecticuts average gas price today broke the $3 mark, well in advance of Memorial Day, according to a release from AAA Northeast. Fridays price is $3.01, 26 cents higher than last month; and 51 cents higher than this time last year, according to the release. The last time the states average hit $3 was on Dec. 14, 2014. In that year, however, those prices were on the downslide following a high of $3.98 in early July of that year. With Memorial Day - the unofficial kick-off to summer in two weeks - average prices nationally are $2.84 but are expected to rise several cents more before months end. The U.S.s recent decision to re-impose economic sanctions on Iran and withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal is bringing on a variety of global impacts, according to the release. In the U.S., one of the largest potential impacts may be increased crude oil prices, which is presently at $70 a barrel. This, in turn, will lead to increased gas prices later this summer because greater consumer demand is also driving prices up as we approach the summer drive season, AAA said in the release. Of the 50 states, Connecticut has the 10th highest average price in the nation. Contributing to The Nutmeg States higher prices are gas taxes, strict environmental regulations, zone pricing where prices increase as shipping distances increase, and infrastructure/distribution limitations, according to the release. In Connecticut, the highest recorded average price on record occurred on July 9, 2008, at $4.39. Another year, another set of rankings from U.S. News & World Report - the 2018 America's Best High Schools. What does U.S. News think "best" means? According to the magazine's methodology for the list, the answer mostly involves standardized test scores and graduation rates. Never mind that the former are limited in what they tell us about a school, and the latter are, and have repeatedly been, easily fudged in one way or another. For 2018, U.S. News gave charter schools - which are publicly funded but privately operated - seven of the top 10 spots, including the top three, which are part of Arizona's BASIS charter network. Here's the list: 1. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona 2. BASIS Chandler, Arizona 3. BASIS Oro Valley, Arizona 4. BASIS Tucson North, Arizona 5. BASIS Flagstaff, Arizona 6. Meridian School, Round Rock, Texas 7. International Academy of Macomb, Clinton Township, Michigan 8. BASIS Peoria, Arizona 9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education, New York 10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia Seven of the top 10 are charter schools (BASIS schools plus Meridian), which is delighting charter school advocates who are reveling in the news during 2018 National Charter Schools Week - so declared by President Donald Trump. But what do these lists really tell us - and what don't they tell us about these schools? The new high school rankings don't talk about why comparing traditional public schools to charters is a problem. Traditional public and charter schools don't operate the same way. Charters operate with different rules than public districts. They don't have to be transparent to the public, and in many places they are run by for-profit companies. The BASIS charter network - the one with six Arizona schools in the ranking's top 10 - is a nonprofit but is operated by a for-profit company. And that company is owned by the people who started the schools in 1998. There are 20 BASIS charter schools in Arizona and several others elsewhere, including one in Washington, D.C. Nationally, the highest-performing charter schools often have high attrition rates and fewer English-language learners and students with disabilities than do traditional school districts. In 2015-2016, 1.2 percent of the students at the BASIS schools in Arizona had a learning disability, compared with 11.3 percent of students statewide, according to this piece about the charter network. Charter school management organizations often spend a good deal of money to market and recruit students. Charters can control the number of students they accept, which traditional public schools can't. The Arizona Republic reported in this article that BASIS schools get more in basic funding than traditional public schools, but they pay teachers much less and ask parents to make donations. The paper said it had obtained records showing that BASIS Scottsdale asks parents to contribute at least $1,500 per child each year - even though charter schools are tuition-free by design - to subsidize teacher pay. The network was started in 1998 by two economists, Michael and Olga Block, who wanted to challenge students with Advanced Placement-focused curriculum. All high school students are required to take half-a-dozen Advanced Placement tests - a requirement that marries well with rankings that depend in part on student AP participation. The Republic reported that the Blocks own a private company called BASIS.ed, which provides the educational services at BASIS schools. The Republic said that "according to an agreement between BASIS Schools and BASIS.ed, the Blocks' private firm keeps 11.75 percent of all school revenues - state, federal and local tax dollars - for management fees." Noting that the Blocks "made a $1.68 million downpayment on an $8.4 million condominium in New York City" last December, the Republic reported on a letter sent to BASIS parents from two executives at BASIS.ed, Peter Bezanson and Craig Barrett. The letter said, according to the newspaper, that the Blocks had put "their heart and soul" and their own money into the schools and to "claim that they should not profit from their life's work is unkind and, frankly, un-American." That's right: They labeled as un-American those who criticize people who are getting rich from publicly funded schools. But putting that aside, the notion that it is fair to rank these schools with traditional public schools is nonsensical. So here's how U.S. News decided that BASIS schools in Arizona deserved top honors in its 2018 high school rankings: --Step 1: The first step determined whether each school's students were performing better than statistically expected for students in that state. U.S. News started by looking at reading and math results for all students on each state's high school proficiency tests. U.S. News then factored in the percentages of economically disadvantaged students - who tend to score lower - enrolled at the schools to identify schools performing much better than statistical expectations. To pass Step 1, high schools' performance had to be one-third of one standard deviation above the average. . . . --Step 2: For schools passing the first step, Step 2 assessed whether their historically underserved students - black, Hispanic and low-income - performed at or better than the state average for historically underserved students. . . . --Step 3: For schools passing the first and second step, Step 3 required schools to meet or surpass a benchmark for their graduation rate. This is the third year U.S. News has included this step. . . . --Step 4: Schools that made it through the first three steps became eligible to be judged nationally on the final step - college-readiness performance - using Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmark for success. AP is a College Board program and IB is an International Baccalaureate (IB) program; both offer college-level courses at high schools across the country. . . . This fourth step measured which schools produced the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of their students. This was done by computing a College Readiness Index based on the school's AP and IB participation rate - the number of 12th-grade students in the 2015-2016 academic year who took at least one AP or IB test before or during their senior year, divided by the total number of 12th-graders at the school - and how well the students performed on those tests. We don't always post about the emails we get detailing various free things offered to military members or their families. (For example, we kept a lid on that one about the free burlesque club tickets, sorry). But when there's free chocolate involved, well ... Good news: in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, two stores and chocolatier Russell Stover are giving away a free box of chocolates to military spouses. (We know a win when we see one). The first 75 service members to show a military ID at 105 different Sears and Kmart locations nationwide can get a free box of chocolates, according to a press release. Troops who are interested can visit the Kmart service desk or the Sears home appliances department at participating locations. So where are these stores? We don't have an official list just yet, so the best thing to do is to give your local store a call. WASHINGTON -- A preliminary hearing for two junior officers at the controls when the USS Fitzgerald and a merchant container ship collided highlighted a series of errors in the busy waters off the coast of Japan. The collision killed seven sailors in the early hours of June 17. Until just moments before the strike, the accused officers in the Combat Information Center several levels below deck were unaware of the danger from nearby ships. On that, the government and the defense at Wednesday's Article 32 hearing agreed. But that's where the stories diverge. In an 11-hour hearing at the Washington Navy Yard, prosecutors painted a picture of Lt. Irian Woodley, the ship's surface warfare coordinator, and Lt. Natalie Combs, the tactical action officer, as failing at their jobs, not using the tools at their disposal properly and not communicating correctly. They became complacent with faulty equipment and did not seek to get it fixed, and they failed to communicate with the bridge. Had they done those things, the government contended, they would have been able to avert the collision. "Imagine the Crystal, a 29,000-ton container ship, suddenly takes up the entire (radar) screen," prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Shovlin told the hearing officer, who will decide whether to recommend that the accused officers face courts-martial. "There was not a breakdown of communication. There was . no communication." Defense attorneys countered, saying the officers were strong performers whose equipment didn't work properly. The radar and the Automatic Information System they were working with were in a "degraded" state, so many of the ships around the Fitzgerald did not appear. The officers were completely unaware of the other ship's approach. The problems were systemic, the defense argued, with operational tasking so intense that the ship had no time to train or do repairs. "The Fitz was a wreck of a ship I do not state that lightly," said David Sheldon, Combs' civilian attorney. "And the U.S. Navy knew that." "The blame here lies not just with the (Commanding Officer) or the (Executive Officer), it lies with the Navy. And the Navy is putting its head in the sand and not dealing with a ship that should never have gotten underway. Instead it wants to hold these officers responsible," he said. Woodley is accused of not carrying out his duties, which were to maintain an accurate picture of all the vessels around the Fitzgerald, oversee other surface watch standers in the combat center and share information and recommendations with those navigating and driving the ship. Combs was in charge of the combat center. Her job was to serve as the commanding officer's eyes and ears, support the bridge with vital contact information and make sure watch standers in the center were doing their jobs properly. Both face three charges: dereliction in the performance of duties through neglect resulting in death, negligent hazarding of a vessel and negligent homicide. The hearing officer has 15 days to make his recommendation on whether all or some of those charges should go forward in a court-martial. It will be up to the convening authority, Adm. Frank Caldwell, to decide whether to accept those recommendations. This Sikh Marine Is Ready to Sue the Service to Wear a Beard and Turban at All Times First Lt. Sukhbir Toor applied in March for a religious accommodation to wear a beard and turban and to not cut his hair. WASHINGTON -- Faulty radar was a way of life on the USS Fitzgerald and was a key contributing cause for its collision with a merchant vessel June 2017 in the busy waters off the coast of Japan. Those and other details about a chain of errors leading up to the deadly crash were revealed Wednesday in a preliminary hearing for two junior officers at the controls that night. It's now up to a hearing officer to determine whether there's enough evidence to try those officers in a court-martial and whether they should be held negligently responsible for the deaths of seven sailors. Wednesday's Article 32 proceeding at the Washington Navy Yard also laid bare the stresses in a Navy that demands excellence from its sailors even while pushing parts of the fleet to what some say was the breaking point. The ACX Crystal took the Combat Information Center by surprise. Until just moments before the collision, the accused officers in the center, which is several levels below deck, were unaware of the danger from nearby ships, and there was little communication between the center and the bridge. Data pulled from the Fitzgerald and the Crystal and presented at the hearing showed that the Crystal was tracking 25 to 30 ships in its orbit in the lead-up to the crash. The Fitzgerald was tracking four or five. Information coming into the information center was, at best, incomplete. On that, the government and the defense agreed. But that's where the stories diverge. In an 11-hour hearing, prosecutors painted a picture of Lt. Irian Woodley, the ship's surface warfare coordinator, and Lt. Natalie Combs, the tactical action officer, as failing at their jobs, not using the tools at their disposal properly and not communicating adequately. They became complacent with faulty equipment and did not seek to get it fixed, and they failed to communicate with the bridge, the prosecution argued. Had they done those things, the government contended, they would have been able to avert the collision. "Imagine the Crystal, a 29,000-ton container ship, suddenly takes up the entire (radar) screen," prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Shovlin told the hearing officer. "There was not a breakdown of communication. There was . no communication." Defense attorneys countered, saying the officers were strong performers whose equipment didn't work properly. The radar and the Automatic Identification System they were working with were in a "degraded" state, so many of the ships around the Fitzgerald did not appear. The officers were unaware of the other ship's approach. The problems were systemic, the defense argued, with operational tasking so intense that the ship had no time to train or do repairs and with sailors who were exhausted from working 20-hour days. "The Fitz was a wreck of a ship -- I do not state that lightly," said David Sheldon, Combs' civilian attorney. "And the U.S. Navy knew that. "The blame here lies not just with the (Commanding Officer) or the (Executive Officer), it lies with the Navy. And the Navy is putting its head in the sand and not dealing with a ship that should never have gotten underway. Instead it wants to hold these officers responsible," he said. Woodley and Combs face three charges: dereliction in the performance of duties through neglect resulting in death, negligent hazarding of a vessel and negligent homicide. The hearing officer has 14 days to make his recommendation on whether all or some of those charges should go forward in a court-martial. It will be up to the convening authority, Adm. Frank Caldwell, to decide whether to accept those recommendations. Prosecutors said Woodley failed at his main duties, which were to maintain an accurate picture of all the vessels around the Fitzgerald, oversee other surface watch standers in the combat center and share information and recommendations with those navigating and driving the ship. The prosecution case was in the details of the CIC's failure to capture nearby ships on radar or other systems and the failure of Combs and Woodley to recognize the obstacles impairing their work or to keep close communication with the bridge. The defense argued that the crew made the best of what they had, but were given no time to train or upgrade, no time for maintenance. Lt. Cmdr. Ritarsha Furgan, who had been the combat systems officer on board the Fitzgerald until March 2017, said she had warned her boss that the ship was in too great a state of disrepair. After a period in dry dock and heavy crew turnover, the ship had been on back-to-back missions. It needed time for training and equipment repairs, she said. "I stood in my boss' office and said we should not be going out, we are not ready," she said. Furgan said the demand for ships in 7th Fleet meant that the Fitzgerald had been having what was known as "red line issues," meaning higher level permission was needed to get underway because something wasn't working properly. In her prior assignment, red line issues were a "show stopper," Furgan said. On the Fitzgerald, "they weren't a show stopper. Find a part. Find a body and make due to get under way." Rear Adm. Brian Fort, who conducted a Navy investigation of the crash, testified for the prosecution that the SPS 67 radar in the CIC was set to the wrong pulse, which added what is known as clutter, or fuzziness, to the picture. He said that through his interviews with dozens of sailors on the Fitzgerald that night, the CIC had learned to live with it. "Quite frankly, they accepted the clutter on the radar and did absolutely nothing about it," he said in testimony by telephone. Defense witnesses testified that the pulse setting was controlled in a separate room by engineers, and that those in the CIC would not have known it was on the wrong setting. Clutter is also created by weather and atmospheric conditions. Similarly, Fort said the AIS which identifies the name and location of every ship on the system -- would frequently go down because of a loose cable, and neither Woodley nor Combs complained. Fort testified that he'd spoken with half a dozen of Woodley's shipmates, whom Fort said spoke negatively of Woodley's performance. He said he concluded the same, in part because of Woodley's failure to track 13 ships that came close enough to be considered "contact" that is, requiring tracking on the CIC systems -- but the watch standers were not aware that any ships had come within 10,000 yards of the Fitzgerald. One ship had come within 650 feet, he said. To Fort, that lack of awareness was on the shoulders of those in the CIC. "Surface watch wasn't tracking any contact within 10,000 yards but that doesn't absolve them because they weren't operating their systems correctly," he said. "CIC was not tracking what they should have been tracking." Defense attorneys argued that Fort's report was unreliable and biased. The report was to be used for the Navy's international investigation and also for external negotiations or lawsuit involving the Crystal or other vessels. It was not released to the public and Fort's interviews with the sailors appear only in summary form, Fort confirmed in testimony. None of the subjects were asked to review the summaries and authenticate the content. Defense attorneys said they determined that some summaries mischaracterized interviews and argued that the hearing officer not allow that key report into evidence. The report and Fort's testimony were allowed, though the hearing officer allowed further arguments to be submitted in writing. "The problem with the government's case is it relies solely on this dual-purpose investigation," said judge advocate Cmdr. Justin McEwen, representing Woodley's defense. "What you have here is an incredibly biased dual-purpose investigation that started with the result and went out prove that," he said. "It ignored exculpatory evidence." Four defense witnesses testified that Woodley was a professional, by the book and engaged SWC who kept on his sailors to pay attention and not lose sight of their watch. Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Stawecki, who was the surface watch supervisor and manned the 67 RADAR,said Woodley was a "vigilant watch stander" who always emphasized communications with his sailors. Combs' duties included overseeing the combat center. Her job was to support the bridge by ensuring it received vital contact information and making sure watch standers in the center were doing their jobs properly. Fort testified that Combs had 13 actions on her console that night none in the last hour and 13 minutes, leading up to the collision -- and had no communications with the bridge. He said no one he interviewed could remember what she was doing. Furgan countered that while Combs was quiet, she was accomplished and effective. Still, she acknowledged that no contact with the bridge was surprising. "Silence on the deck that night when the ship was moving through congested waters should have been alarming," Sholvin said. "Lt. Combs had situation awareness," she said. "She knows if she's not seeing anything, not hearing anything from the bridge, that should be a red flag." The problems on the Fitzgerald were systemic and much bigger than the two officers facing charges, McEwen argued. All the crews were living with them. "They were functioning as the Fitzgerald functions," McEwen said. "They just happened to be sitting there when it happened. Is it fair to scapegoat them?" A sailor assigned to the fast-attack submarine USS Oklahoma City was found Friday, five days after he was reported missing in Singapore. Fireman Seth Woods, 18, a machinist's mate aboard the Guam-based vessel, was in the custody of local law enforcement officials Friday evening, Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a 7th Fleet spokesman, said in a statement. The Straits Times newspaper reported that Woods had turned up at the U.S. Embassy. Abrahamson said the Navy would fully investigate the circumstances behind the sailor's disappearance. Woods' father, Jody Stow, told WRCB TV of Chattanooga that Woods was last seen Sunday by a fellow sailor in a smoking area in the city-state. The sailor went inside a convenience store, and Woods was gone when he returned. Woods was spotted by some of his fellow sailors Thursday, but they were unable to get to him, a Navy spokesman said. Vice Adm. Philip Sawyer, 7th Fleet commander, said Woods appeared to be healthy and was not distressed when his shipmates spotted him. The Oklahoma City arrived in Singapore on May 3 for its second stop at the port during this deployment, a Navy statement said. Last year, a sailor aboard the Japan-based USS Shiloh went missing while the guided-missile destroyer was conducting routine operations near Okinawa. Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Mims, who was initially presumed to have fallen overboard, was found hiding in engineering spaces aboard the ship a week after he was reported missing and four days after the search for him was called off. HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- If the U.S. Air Force were to realign the combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) mission under Air Force Special Operations Command, the reason would go beyond funding, timing or similar operational duties. It makes sense only if it makes the force more "lethal," according to officials here. "I think the important aspect of this is, 'What makes our Air Force more lethal and more ready going forward?' AFSOC commander Gen. Brad Webb told Military.com on May 4. Military.com accompanied Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson on a trip to the base. All combat search-and-rescue units aligned under Air Combat Command (ACC) in 2006, but leaders have debated moving it back to AFSOC in recent years. Related content: "It's good to constantly look at the organization of a service," then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told reporters in June 2016. "I don't think you should ever just put the issue behind you and just walk away from it and forget about it because everything does change. Priorities change, resources change." However, there are no current plans to realign the communities, officials said. "As for how we organize combat search and rescue, it's not something that I've spent a lot of time focused on. I don't rule out organizational change, but I don't worry about the relevance and strength of Special Operations Command," Wilson said. That doesn't stop people from speculating about the move. The SpecOps and CSAR communities have similar training and ascension pipelines, proponents of the realignment say. But there are differences in how specialty skills for airmen are developed. For example, pararescue and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) airmen can be assigned to either ACC or AFSOC. However, if assigned to Special Tactics at AFSOC, pararescue "individuals in these career fields would require additional training," said 1st Lt. Jaclyn N. Pienkowski, spokeswoman for the 24th Special Operations Wing here. Such training incorporates challenging physical conditioning, including extensive swimming, running and weight training tests, along with weapons qualification and some of the most rigorous water survival training in the U.S. military. Similarly, "if a TACP is interested in the Special Tactics side of their career field, they are invited to assess through the Special Tactics training squadron. If selected, they will be assigned to an STS," Pienkowski said. Whether pararescue airmen, known as PJs, are assigned to AFSOC or ACC is driven by manning requirements, she said. Some argue that personnel recovery should remain with ACC to support the field's "primary customer, the combat air forces," according to a 2016 paper published through Air University. Its author, Maj. Christopher Nance, asserts that personnel recovery assets under ACC are more efficiently tasked when deployed in support of the joint forces air component commander. Webb said the two communities will continue to execute missions as they currently stand. "From that aspect, an organization that's been together and apart several times is [about], 'Do we have this right, or do we not?' But right now, there's nothing imminent afoot," Webb said of a possible realignment. But it's never out of the question, he said. "Of course it's been a consideration. Everything is kind of on the table from the chief's standpoint of, 'What do we want our Air Force to be in 2030, and what's holding us back from getting there?' " he said, referring to Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein's lethality and readiness priorities. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Military members and veterans can get up to four free months of Apple Music through the Apple Music military discount -- but... Key Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Dana Chemical Elements Detailed Mineral List: Gold Formula: Au Reference: Fraser, C. (1910) The Geology of the Thames Subdivision, Hauraki, Auckland. New Zealand Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 10 (New Series), New Zealand Government, Wellington, 136 pages. Quartz Formula: SiO 2 Reference: Fraser, C. (1910) The Geology of the Thames Subdivision, Hauraki, Auckland. New Zealand Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 10 (New Series), New Zealand Government, Wellington, 136 pages. Gallery: List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification Group 1 - Elements Gold 1.AA.05 Au Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides Quartz 4.DA.05 SiO 2 List of minerals arranged by Dana 8th Edition classification Group 1 - NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS Metals, other than the Platinum Group Gold 1.1.1.1 Au Group 75 - TECTOSILICATES Si Tetrahedral Frameworks Si Tetrahedral Frameworks - SiO 2 with [4] coordinated Si Quartz 75.1.3.1 SiO 2 List of minerals for each chemical element O Oxygen O Quartz SiO 2 Si Silicon Si Quartz SiO 2 Au Gold Au Gold Au References Sort by Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A) Thames Star newspaper (1896) Application for Special Claim, Vol. XXVIII, issue 8545, 28 December 1896. Thames Star newspaper (1908) Thames Warden's Court, Vol. XXXIX, 21 January 1908. Fraser, C. (1910) The Geology of the Thames Subdivision, Hauraki, Auckland. New Zealand Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 10 (New Series), New Zealand Government, Wellington, 136 pages. Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary. Historic gold mine.Located on Argosy Stream, a small northern tributary of the upper Tararu Stream.The country rock is brecciated andesite, containing poorly defined auriferous quartz veins.Worked by the Temple Bar Gold Mining Company N.L. in the late 1890's. The company was formed in 1896, and applied for the claim in 1897, developing the No. 1 reef. The warden's court notes the company still controlled the claim in 1908, however no crushing information was found. asknet AG performs successfully in Q1 eCommerce Solutions Business Unit wins six new customers Academics Business Unit continues to expand its sales partnerships Full-year forecast confirmed: clearly higher gross profits and positive result asknet AG, part of the Swiss-listed international technology and media company The Native SA (www.thenative.ch), looks back on a successful business performance in the first three months of 2018. The most important operational developments in the Academics Business Unit included the implementation of the new sales partnerships and the creation of a partner network for the ongoing internationalization of the distribution channels. The partnership with ANSYS, the world?s leading manufacturer of simulation software, was intensified and the first major licenses were sold to customers from the research and educational sectors. asknet also won a tender by the federal state of Saxony to supply the state?s universities with Microsoft licenses. As announced in the press release dated April 6, 2018, asknet launched a new Microsoft Office 365 complete package, for which three customers have already been won. More customers are about to sign the corresponding contracts soon. ?We have an attractive portfolio of software and hardware from leading manufacturers in the academic sector. We believe that the further internationalization of our offerings holds vast opportunities for future growth and rely on strong partners to support us in expanding our sales activities in the target regions,? says Michael Baumann, Head of the Academics Business Unit. The eCommerce Solutions Business Unit won six new customers in the first three months of 2018. The corresponding shops have largely been completed and will contribute to revenues and earnings as of the second quarter. In addition, customizing projects were implemented for several new customers, which help to further intensify asknet?s customer relationships. The Business Unit has the biggest growth potential in Asia, where many new manufacturers are trying to gain a foothold in the global online market and rely on full-service suppliers such as asknet. The Business Unit also aims to further internationalize its operations, especially in the US market. ?We had a very good start to the year 2018 and will work on a large number of new customer projects in the second quarter. Our market remains hotly contested but very dynamic. Building on the sales successes of the past two fiscal years, we were able to improve our market position significantly and meanwhile have a continuous pipeline of new customers,? says Jan Schottelndreier, Head of the eCommerce Solutions Business Unit. As announced in the ad-hoc release dated May 3, 2018 the CEO of asknet AG, Tobias Kaulfuss, will resign from the Executive Board at the Annual General Meeting on June 28 but has simultaneously been proposed for election to the Supervisory Board. His successor on the Executive Board is Sergey Skatershchikov, Chief Financial Officer of asknet AG and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the majority shareholder, The Native SA. ?Since I took up office, asknet Group has gone through a thorough change process during which it has laid the professional basis for dynamic growth. Step by step we will now be able to reap the fruits of this process. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, customers and partners for their support during this time. We see great potential for the future for both Business Units, which are today positioned as independent, powerful units, with their own organization, human resources and experienced management team,? says Tobias Kaulfuss, CEO of asknet AG, adding that the company?s strategic position has changed fundamentally since the entry of The Native SA. ?We can now build on the network, the expertise and the financial muscle of our new majority shareholder. I am therefore very optimistic about the future of asknet Group, which I hope I will be able to serve in the future as a member of the Supervisory Board.? The Executive Board of asknet AG continues to project a strong increase in consolidated gross profits as well as positive earnings before taxes (EBT) for the full year 2018. asknet Group is an innovative supplier of e-business technologies and solutions for the global distribution and management of digital and physical goods. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the company is a pioneer of modern e-commerce with over 20 years experience in the field. asknets eCommerce Solutions Business Unit (previously Digital Goods and Physical Goods Business Unit) enables international manufacturers to successfully market their products in over 190 countries. The core product, asknet eCommerceSuite, covers the complete sales process and is suitable for manufacturers of both digital and physical goods. In addition, the company offers stand-alone services and solutions along the value chain. asknets Academics Business Unit assists customers from the research and education sector in purchasing and managing software and hardware. Thanks to its close relations with over 80% of Germanys universities and research institutions, asknet is intimately familiar with their needs and requirements and can offer them specific solutions. asknet is part of The Native SA, the Swiss-listed content marketing, technology and e-commerce services group. For more information, visit www.asknet.com and https://investor.thenative.ch. With Michigan primary elections nearly three months away some national advertisers have shifted away from telling voters who to support to telling voters something a bit darker: making competitors look bad. Welcome to Airtime, our regular roundup feature of political ads. Check out our first collection of 2018 campaign ads our second roundup and our third . This edition showcases a comic-book inspired hit piece, a tax day ad and an ad featuring President Donald Trump ragging on Michigan's longest-serving U.S. Senator. Read on for the details. Trump criticizes U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in ad President Donald Trump isn't known for mincing words, and this ad features footage of him criticizing Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic incumbent running for U.S. Senate. It's put together by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The footage, according to a spokesperson, is from the recent rally Trump held in Michigan instead of going to the Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. In the clip Trump says Stabenow is for "weak borders" and says he doesn't know how she gets elected. The web-only ad is running on Facebook at targeting conservative voters, according to a spokesperson. Don't Edit Comic-themed ad targets Dana Nessel Dana Nessel got the endorsement for Attorney General at a Michigan Democratic Party on April 15, earning her support from Democrats but a new attack ad from the Republican Attorneys General Association. In a series of video clips the ad features footage of her saying words like "penis," "weed" and an unidentified swear word surrounded on screen by poop emojis. The pop-art style video questions many of Nessel's statements through words on screen. It ran as a web ad, according to a spokesperson. Don't Edit Senate ad stars Hellfire missile Veteran John James is a Republican running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Debbie Stabenow. For his latest ad, this veteran brought in the big guns (well, missiles.) "Hunting terrorists in the skies above Baghdad there are two things you need. Faith in God and a hellfire missile," he says in the ad, as it zooms to a shot of him standing behind what appears to be a missile with U.S. Army markings. According to the Associated Press the 30-second ad will run on TV in the Detroit and Grand Rapids markets at a cost of $25,000, as well as online. After releasing the ad, the James campaign called attention to its allegedly having been blocked by Twitter. He tweeted a screenshot showing that instead of his ad, Twitter displayed a message saying the tweet "may include potentially sensitive content" and a user would need to change their security level to see it. "Twitter is deliberately censoring our ad and refuses to respond to our inquiries," campaign manager Tori Sachs said. "Really, what they're trying to say is that a strong conservative message centered on national security is offensive, and you should avert your eyes. This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, that liberal forces will try and halt John's forward momentum." Don't Edit Schuette touts Trump endorsement Republican candidate for Attorney General Bill Schuette wasted no time getting footage of Trump's visit to Michigan onto the airwaves. This ad hits Calley for standing with Hillary Clinton. In 2016, Calley endorsed and then un-endorsed Trump after tapes from Access Hollywood where Trump made derogatory comments about women were released. Schuette stood by Trump, and Trump has endorsed Schuette in the governor's race. Don't Edit Meet "Electa" Meet "Electa"! - Colbeck Campaign Team Posted by Colbeck for Governor on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Colbeck talks with 'Electa' In a new Facebook video, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Patrick Colbeck consults with a talking electronic device he calls "Electa," a play off of the "Alexa" that assists users of Amazon devices. "Electa, what are the citizens of Michigan looking for in their next governor?" he asks while pouring coffee into a mug with his campaign logo on it. Electa fills him in, and he catches her consulting his campaign website. Voters are looking for a problem-solver, Electa tells him, not politics as usual. The one-minute ad is capped by a joke about Michigan weather. Don't Edit Don't Edit Feel-good ad from Jim Hines Jim Hines, a Republican candidate for governor, released a 30-second introductory ad promising to put people before anything else and represent Michiganders. Don't Edit For tax day, another anti-Calley ad This may look like a game show, but it's a political ad against Brian Calley run by the pro-Bill Schuette Better Jobs Stronger Families PAC. This PAC isn't new on the scene -- it was the group hitting Calley in our last roundup, too. But this ad had a tax day punch, mimicing a game show called "who raised your taxes?" where each answer is "Brian Calley." Don't Edit Calley breaks out his running shoes Calley, an avid runner, got out his shoes and took off for this feel-good ad introducing him to voters. It highlights some of the successes of the Gov. Rick Snyder administration and features the slogan "Lieutenant Governor for Governor" in text on the screen. Don't Edit El-Sayed kicks off 'peoples' summer' Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for governor, released an ad kicking off what he's calling "the people's summer." In it, he talks about the importance of standing up to corporations and representing the people as inspirational music plays in the background and images of his supporters flit across the screen. Don't Edit In this photo Attorney General Bill Schuette introduces Vice President Mike Pence at an event put on by America First Policies at Downtown Detroit's Book Cadillac Hotel to discuss the recent tax overhaul championed by Republicans in Congress and the White House, March 2, 2018. America First Policies is a nonprofit working to support issues such as the recent federal tax plan and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, according to its website. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit) Inaccurate 'Shady Bill Schuette' ad The Bridge Truth Squad called out an ad from pro-Calley Super PAC Calley Continues Comeback for inaccuracies. The ad falsely stated the number of pensions Schuette was eligible for and how many years he had been in public office, the Truth Squad found. You can view the ad here. Don't Edit Don't Edit Anti-Schuette ad features his 'life story' An ad released by pro-Calley PAC Calley Continues Comeback depicts Schuette growing up with boundless political ambition. Actors portraying Schuette at different ages show him talking to himself in the mirror and harassing neighbors, including pouring his signature coffee for one who later discards it. The ad presents Calley as an alternative who will continue the state's comeback. The PAC in a press release said they'd done a six-figure digital advertising buy and also purchased "significant" statewide TV buy. Don't Edit The rundown of who's running Here are the candidates who have filed so far in the races we featured ads from today: Governor - Democratic candidates: Gretchen Whitmer, Shri Thanedar, Abdul El-Sayed - Republican candidates: Bill Schuette, Brian Calley, Patrick Colbeck, Jim Hines U.S. Senate - Democratic incumbent: Debbie Stabenow - Republican candidates: Sandy Pensler, John James Attorney General - Democratic candidates: Dana Nessel - Republican candidates: Tom Leonard, Tonya Schuitmaker This website is inclusive of tolerant people of all faiths, without exception. Neither anti-Semitism nor Islamophobia nor homophobia should ever be acceptable to anyone. We must all strive to live in peace and harmony with each other, regardless of religious affiliations, or none. Intolerance is the mother of strife and conflict. Mark Alexander We Britons are Europeans!Wir Briten sind Europaer! Nous, les Britanniques, sommes europeens ! Mark AlexanderEmail me at:markalexander.librabunda@gmail.com live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Tata Communications Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on May 10, 2018, inter alia, have recommended a final dividend of 45% (Rupees four and paise fifty per share of the face value of Rs. 10 each) for the Financial Year 2017-18.Source : BSE Read More One of Indias largest business conglomerates, Aditya Birla Group, suffered from the first big cryptojacking attack in the country last month, according to a report in The Economic Times. Under cryptojacking, hackers misuse a targeted terminal and its processing power to mine crypto currencies. The report suggests that more than 2,000 computers of various group companies were targeted by hackers for cryptojacking. The attack malware, which was first detected around a month ago at a group's overseas subsidiary, spread through the system and into some of the manufacturing and other services companies belonging to the corporate house within days. A person aware of the development told the paper: Its a kind of attack where the primary intention of the hackers is not to steal information and cause business disruption. Rather, they hijack the targets computers and tap the power supply to the organisation to mine crypto coins. The conglomerates spokesperson said: Aditya Birla Group has advance threat management systems that are constantly monitoring and protecting business critical applications and infrastructure in all Businesses. Recently, the advance threat detection systems of our Group alerted us of suspicious activity on some desktop systems. Based on this, our internal team immediately carried out an investigation and deployed countermeasures to isolate and eliminate the cause of this activity. We also ascertained that there was no data loss due to this activity. As an added assurance, we initiated a detailed forensic investigation which is nearing conclusion in respect of root cause analysis and preventive actions, the spokesperson added. The hackers are however understood to have transferred the newly mined Monero coins to digital wallets, the report adds. Recently, in a mass cryptojacking campaign, over 300 websites using the Drupal content management system have been infected with cryptocurrency-mining malware. Security researcher, Troy Mursch who is the brain behind the website Bad Packets Report, uncovered the malicious campaign involving the repeat offender Coinhive on Saturday. He said that many of the discovered websites were government and university sites from all over the world. Fortis Healthcare | Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd increased stake in company to 5.02 percent from 4.96 percent earlier via open market purchases. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More A leading institutional shareholder of Fortis Healthcare on Friday said it may vote against the Munjal-Burmans offer if it is tabled before shareholders for approval. We are unhappy. Had it been a really good offer, the share price would have shot up, said a person representing the shareholder, who did not wish to be named. Shares of Fortis declined 2.66 percent to close at Rs 148.40 on BSE on Friday. The Fortis board on Thursday backed the offer proposed by the Munjal-Burmans for the healthcare chains hospital and diagnostics businesses. Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprise and Dabur's Anand Burman and Mohit Burman have jointly offered to invest Rs 1,800 crore in Fortis Healthcare, of which Rs 800 crore will be through a preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 167 apiece. Also Read: Exclusive | Manipal's Ranjan Pai "very disappointed" with Fortis board's decision to back Munjal-Burman's bid The remaining Rs 1,000 crore will be invested through a preferential issue of warrants, which would give them the right to buy more stake in the future at Rs 176 per share. Yes, chances are high that we may vote against the decision, the above person said. The shareholder, who is looking for an exit at price of Rs 200 per share, said its expecting those who have lost out on Thursday to come out with a counter offer. If they make a counter offer with a higher price, the shareholders would prefer that, the person quoted above said. Talks are on The shareholder confirmed that Malaysias IHH Healthcare is informally talking to them and another large shareholder, taking their views on putting up a counter offer. IHH Healthcare on Friday said it is still in race to buy Fortis and is currently evaluating its options, including reaching out directly to shareholders with a possible hostile bid. Tan See Leng, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IHH expressed disappointment over Fortis board decision to back Munjal-Burmans offer. We remain committed and are currently evaluating our options. We are open to further discussions with all stakeholders, and look forward to the support of Fortis shareholders, Leng said. The statements of the Fortis leading shareholder and IHH Healthcare indicate that its not a done deal for Munjal-Burmans despite getting the backing of the majority members of the healthcare provider board. The shareholders Yes Bank became Fortis' largest shareholder with 15 percent stake after it invoked the shares pledged by Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, the erstwhile promoters of Fortis, who now own around 0.77 percent stake in the company. East Bridge Capital along with Jupiter India Fund have around 12 percent stake. Axis Bank, Blackrock, Morgan Stanley, and ICICI Prudential are the other large institutional investors who have a stake in the company. Market investors Radhakishan Damani and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala together hold around 1.5 percent stake in Fortis. Damani had picked up 0.5 percent stake in the company in February. East Bridge Capital along with Jupiter India Fund in April called for convening an EGM to remove four members on the Fortis Board - Brian W. Tempest, Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Lt Gen. Tejinder S. Shergill on grounds that the board failed to exercise its fiduciary duties towards all shareholders and has failed to maintain expected levels of corporate governance. Fortis will be holding EGM to vote on resolution moved by minority shareholders on May 22. The shareholder expressed dismay over people related to erstwhile promoters continuing on the board. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Ranjan Pai, Chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), said he is very disappointed with the Fortis boards decision to back Munjal-Burmans offer. MEMG owns Manipal Hospitals, which was among the five bidders in the fray to take control of Fortis Healthcare. Also Read: Munjal-Burmans win battle for Fortis, now await shareholders' approval I don't believe that the board has taken a right decision in the best interests of shareholders, Pai said in an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol. But Pai added that he isnt pursuing Fortis anymore and he is not interested in exploring legal options. It's a battle between the shareholders and the board. I am not going to take any legal route, Pai said. Pai, along with TPG Capital, had announced a deal to buy Fortis Healthcare on March 27, leading to a bidding race with other interested parties - IHH Healthcare, Munjal-Burmans, KKR-backed Radiant Life Care and Chinas Fosun. Pai said the scenario may completely change on May 22 when Fortis is holding the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to vote on resolution moved by minority shareholders to remove four members on the Fortis Board - Brian W. Tempest, Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Lt Gen. Tejinder S. Shergill. Fortis minority shareholders East Bridge Capital and Jupiter India Fund in April had called for convening an EGM to remove the members on grounds that the Board failed to exercise its fiduciary duties towards all shareholders and has failed to maintain expected levels of corporate governance. "I hope they get removed. They don't deserve to be on the board," Pai said, referring to the four directors. The Fortis board on Thursday backed the offer proposed by the Munjal-Burmans for the healthcare chains hospital and diagnostics businesses. Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprise and Dabur's Anand Burman and Mohit Burman have jointly offered to invest Rs 1,800 crore in Fortis Healthcare, of which Rs 800 crore will be through a preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 167 apiece. The remaining Rs 1,000 crore will be invested through a preferential issue of warrants, which would give them the right to buy more stake in the future at Rs 176 per share. Fortis Healthcare | In the September quarter, Rakesh Junjhunwala held a 2.65 percent holding in the stock, and FIIs have increased its stake to 41.04 percent from 40.98 percent in the June quarter. In FY21 so far the stock price has risen 0 percent to Rs 125.70 as on October 26. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More IHH Healthcare on Friday said it is still in race to buy Fortis Healthcare and is currently evaluating its options, including reaching out directly to shareholders with a possible hostile bid. The majority members of the Fortis board on Thursday decided to recommend the Munjal-Burman offer for shareholders approval. We are disappointed by the decision made by the Board of Fortis, as we believe we submitted the most compelling bid for the benefit of all Fortis stakeholders. Our bid, which offers the highest price and most comprehensive solution, addresses the short term liquidity requirements and long term strategic objectives of the company, said Tan See Leng, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IHH Healthcare. We remain committed and are currently evaluating our options. We are open to further discussions with all stakeholders, and look forward to the support of Fortis shareholders, Leng said. Also Read: Exclusive | Manipal's Ranjan Pai "very disappointed" with Fortis board's decision to back Munjal-Burman's bid Hostile takeovers involve the interested party reaching out to shareholders directly with an offer to purchase shares at a substantial premium compared to the bid favoured by the board. IHH has reasons to be baffled by Fortis boards decision. The Malaysian healthcare provider, backed by the South-East Asian countrys sovereign fund Khazanah, had emerged as the highest bidder for Fortis by making an offer to invest Rs 4000 crore valuing the company at Rs 175 per share. Out of Rs 4000 crore it has proposed to invest Rs 650 crore upfront without due diligence. On the contrary, Munjal-Burman jointly offered to invest Rs 1,800 crore in Fortis Healthcare at weighted average valuation of Rs 175 per share - through a combination of preferential equity and warrants allotment. With our strong execution track record and decades of global healthcare experience, IHH is best poised to provide the requisite vision, leadership, and financial strength to grow Fortis into a leading healthcare player, Leng added. Manipal-TPG too expressed its unhappiness over the Fortis Board's decision. A divided board Out of eight directors on the Fortis board five directors voted for Munjal-Burmans, sealing the deal in favour of them. Sources told Moneycontrol that the three members on the Board who voted against the Munjal-Burman offer were the directors appointed on recommendation of minority shareholder East Bridge Capital and Jupiter India. Now, the Munjal-Burman offer will have to get Fortis shareholders nod. Fortis said the shareholder meeting is expected in the next 30-45 days. Earlier, Brian Tempest, director on Fortis board, defended the decision to back the Munjal-Burman bid, saying that the offer will address the immediate liquidity concerns of the company. On a possible hostile bid Tempest said who can tell what's going to happen in the future. After months of talks, American retail giant Walmart acquired 77 percent in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart for USD 16 billion, as it made an elephant-footed entry into Indias exploding e-commerce market. The remainder of the business will be held by some of Flipkarts existing shareholders, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Tencent Holdings Limited, Tiger Global Management LLC and Microsoft Corp. Walmarts foray into Indias online retail space set the stage for an American business war against Amazon.com Inc. in the worlds fifth largest economy. Heres what the deal means for Walmart, Flipkart and the customers: live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Infosys Ltd announced on Friday that Ravi Venkatesan, Independent Director, would step down from the company's board to accept "an exciting new role". Venkatesan became an Independent Director in 2011 and served briefly as co-chairman. I joined the Board at a time when Infosys was beginning the complex journey of transitioning from founder-led to professional management. This was also a time of tectonic industry shifts. I am pleased that this mission has been accomplished. Infosys is strong, in good hands, and is gaining momentum," said Venkatesan in a statement. He called his seven years on the Infosys board "exciting, rewarding and eventful". "l feel fortunate to have been part of this extraordinary company at a seminal moment in its history and to have worked with so many fine colleagues on the Board and in management. I wish Infosys and all Infoscions the greatest success in the coming years, he added. A former chairman of Microsoft India and Cummins India, Venkatesan also sits on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation. I thank Ravi for his pivotal contributions to Infosys in a period of important transitions and towards a digital-first future," said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Board. Thanking Venkatesan for his role in ensuring a successful transition for Infosys, Nilekani added that the "Board will miss his passion, strategic insights, and personal warmth, but he will always remain a friend." Nilekani hinted that Venkatesan will pursue a future opportunity in the social sector. Calling him "a champion for driving social impact and it is desire to do more," Nilkeani added, "I am delighted that he will be pursuing an exciting opportunity in this area. On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, I wish him all success with his new endeavour." live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Public sector lender Allahabad Bank today reported a standalone net loss of Rs 3,509.63 crore for the last quarter ended March of 2017-18 due to more than three-time rise in its provisions for bad loans. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 111.16 crore in the same quarter of preceding fiscal 2016-17. The bank had reported a loss of Rs 1,263.79 crore in the previous December quarter. The provisioning for bad loans spurted to Rs 5,126 crore during the March quarter against Rs 1,489.88 crore in the year-ago quarter, according to the regulatory filing by the bank. Income during the quarter also fell to Rs 4,259.37 crore from Rs 5,105.07 crore as also interest income declined to Rs 3,776.81 crore from Rs 4,372.18 crore in January-March 2017. For the entire 2017-18, net losses widened to Rs 4,674.37 crore from Rs 313.51 crore in 2016-17. Total income declined to Rs 19,051.05 crore in FY2017-18 from Rs 20,304.72 crore in the previous fiscal. On consolidated basis, the full year net loss rose to Rs 4,574.22 crore from Rs 279 corre year ago. Income decreased to Rs 19,487.51 crore from Rs 20,578.94 crore in FY2016-17. The provisioning amount for NPA for the year grew to Rs 10,326.45 crore from Rs 4,552.37 crore year ago fiscal. The bank said it has not declared any dividend for financial year 2017-18. The bank's non-performing assets (NPAs) reached 15.96 percent of gross advances by end of March 2018 from 13.09 percent in year ago same period. Gross bad loans were to the tune of Rs 26,562.79 crore as of March 2018 against Rs 20,687.83 crore in March 2017. Net NPA ratio, however, fell to 8.04 percent (Rs 12,229.13 crore) from 8.92 percent (Rs 13,433.51 crore). Allahabad Bank said the board of directors today approved raising of equity capital aggregating up to Rs 1,900 crore through various modes. The Kolkata-headquartered lender said that is has merged its wholly owned subsidiary AllBank Finance Ltd with itself with effect from March 14, 2018. Among others, it said the bank reported 43 fraud cases in 2017-18 involving a total amount of Rs 1,525.35 crore. "Out of these accounts, the bank has recovered a total amount of Rs 2.76 crore and made a total provision for balance amount of Rs 1,522.59 crore during the year. The quantum of unamortised provision debited from 'other reserves' as at the end of year amounting to Rs 390.58 crore in pursuance to RBI norms...as the provision for fraud can be amortized over a period of four quarters," the bank said. Besides, in respect of two gems and jewellery borrower groups, where fraud was declared by some banks, Allahabad Bank has fully provided for the entire funded exposure, it said. Also, the bank said it has made additional provision of Rs 672.61 crore as on March 31, 2018 in respect of certain NPA accounts covered under the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). On the divergence on asset classification and provisioning for NPAs as per RBI's risk assessment report (RAR), the lender has shown a gap of Rs 1,077.80 crore in gross NPA for 2016-17; for net NPAs it is Rs 925.40 crore. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 313.52 crore in 2016-17, however, taking into account the Rs 152.40 crore divergence in provisioning, the adjusted net loss for the said fiscal comes in at Rs 465.92 crore. Allahabad Bank shares closed 0.98 percent down at Rs 45.65 on BSE today. Department of Financial Services (DFS) has decided to approach the revenue department to clear the confusion over levy of GST on some of the free services offered by banks to its customers. The department is of the opinion that services such as issuance of cheque books, account statements and ATM withdrawals are free up to a certain limit and not commercial activities which can be brought under the ambit of GST, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said here. "This issue of imposition of GST on some of the free services offered by banks to its customers will be taken up with the revenue department and we hope to resolve the issue soon," he said. Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on behalf of the management of banks has already made representation to the tax authorities. However, tax officials are of opinion that banks are not offering free services' but actually charging customers by asking them to maintain a minimum account balance. Every bank offers a different slab of minimum balance to customers, based on which some free services are provided. Recently, Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) offices had issued the notice to some private banks, including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, and a few public sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), asking them to pay penalty and interest on the unpaid service tax in for July 2012 to June 2017. Kumar said these issues would be sorted out once the two departments sit together and discuss the matter comprehensively. He expressed hope that clarity would soon emerge on this. Kumar also said that the department has called a review meeting on some of the weak banks next week. The meeting will discuss their progress on catching up with their peers and impediments in their growth. Coal power plant (Representative Image: Getty) Indias industrial production grew at 4.4 percent in March, hitting a five-month low, owing to contraction in capital goods and relatively sluggish manufacturing output, as per data released by statistics office on Friday. The factory output index growth rate has consistently been above 7 percent since November. It expanded to 7.1 percent in February while growing at the same pace of 4.4 percent a year ago --indicating an unfavourable base effect and pulling down the growth number for March, 2018. Factory output measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) is the closest approximation for measuring economic activity in the countrys business landscape. The cumulative growth for the period April-March 2017-18 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 4.3 percent. March 2018 IIP growth at 4.4 percent although came in same as March 2017 growth, however declined sequentially from high growth during November 2017-February 2018. While mining and electricity output grew faster in March 2018 from February 2017, manufacturing output growth slowed down. One of the major reasons from slower output growth was unfavourable base effect of March 2017, said Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist at India Ratings. Manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than three-fourths of the entire index, grew at a slower pace, rising 4.4 percent in March as compared with 8.7 percent in February and 3.3 percent a year ago. Nearly half of the total number of sectors covered under manufacturing, with a weight of around 30 percent in IIP, witnessed a negative growth. Capital goods output, which is a proxy to measure private sector investment activity, hit a nine-month low and witnessed a contraction of (-) 1.8 percent in March. It soared 20 percent in February and 9.4 percent a year ago. Consumer durables output increased 2.9 percent in March from 7.9 percent in February, while consumer non-durables saw a sharp jump of 10.9 percent in March as compared with 7.4 percent in February and 7.5 percent a year ago. According to Aditi Nayar, Economist at ICRA, the sharp contraction in output of gold jewellery could be a fallout of the fraud that had come to light in February, which contributed to the flagging growth of consumer durables in March. The uptick in the expansion of consumer non-durables to 10.9 percent in March, 2018 from 7.3 percent in February, 2018 can be partly attributed to the performance of sugar (to 78.2 percent from the initial 60.1 percent), which has a weight of approximately 5 percent in that sub-sector, Nayar said. Electricity production grew 5.9 percent in March from 4.5 percent in February, and 6.2 percent a year ago, while mining activity grew at 2.8 percent from a contraction of (-) 0.3 percent in February and 10.1 percent jump a year ago. Going forward, Pant believes that output growth in 2018-19 is likely to be better than the last financial year, due to expectation of a normal monsoon, robust vehicle sales, focus on infrastructure and sector specific government schemes such as such as Housing for All. Faster resolution of stressed assets of banking sector and limiting fiscal slippage will be key factors to watch, Pant said. Fortis Healthcare | In the September quarter, Rakesh Junjhunwala held a 2.65 percent holding in the stock, and FIIs have increased its stake to 41.04 percent from 40.98 percent in the June quarter. In FY21 so far the stock price has risen 0 percent to Rs 125.70 as on October 26. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Fortis Healthcare today said its board has recommended the offer of Hero and Burman consortium to its shareholders for sale of its business. The company's board post having detailed discussions on the pros and cons of each offer, decided by majority, to recommend the offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office-Burman Family Office, Fortis Healthcare said in a statement. The recommendation of the Board would be placed before the shareholders for their approval. The Munjal-Burmans combine had given their revised offer on May 1, which included an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share into the company through preferential allotment, it added. The Hero-Burman consortium had also offered a further amount of Rs 1,000 crore through preferential issue of warrants. Fortis Healthcare had received binding offers from four entities - KKR-backed Radiant Life Care, IHH Healthcare, Manipal/TPG consortium, and Munjal and Burman family offices. The entire exercise involved a process that witnessed deliberation and recommendation by an Independent Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) comprising Deepak Kapoor, Former Chairman of PWC (India) and Lalit Bhasin, Chairman of the Indian Society of Law Firms along with two reputed financial advisors i.e. Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas who were the legal advisors. In addition to the recommendation provided by Arpwood Capital, they also opined on the bidding process that was followed post 27th April Board Meeting. The Board considered the views of the EAC, financial and legal advisors, and following extensive discussions arrived at this decision, Fortis said in a statement. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Amid weakness in the midcap space due to uncertainty over outcome of the Karnataka election, stellar earnings of some not so well known names may have missed investor attention. We feel these companies should be on investors radar. First on the list is Rane (Madras), a manufacturer of steering, suspension products and die casting components. On the back of strong growth from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket, the company posted a strong set of Q4 FY18 numbers. Net revenue witnessed a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 16.6 percent. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) registered a significant YoY growth of 130 percent. The strong performance was on the back of robust growth from the steering and linkages business across vehicle segments and castings. EBITDA margin witnessed a 130bps expansion led by higher volumes. Profit after tax (PAT) grew 462.8 percent YoY on the back of higher other income. We expect the business to continue to perform well because of robust growth from OEMs and transition to organised players due to GST, which augurs well for aftermarket. The managements focus on new contracts and turning around of international subsidiaries would also aid business growth going forward. Next on the list is Greaves Cotton, a leading manufacturer and marketer of petrol and diesel engines and generator and pump sets. It is a dominant player (75 percent market share) in the three-wheeler market and is making inroads in the small commercial vehicle (SCV) segment as well. In Q4 FY18, the company posted 24 percent YoY growth in net revenue on the back of robust growth from auto and aftermarket segments. This also led to a 33 percent YoY growth in EBITDA. EBITDA margin witnessed a marginal 72.1bps YoY expansion due to lower employee and operating costs which was partially offset by rise in raw material prices. PAT grew 21 percent YoY. On the back of strong clientele, leadership position in the 3W segment, foray into SCVs and readiness towards upcoming electric vehicles (EV), the company deserves investors attention. Earnings of Varun Beverages, a key player in the beverage industry, also caught our attention. It is the second largest franchisee in the world (outside US) of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo. The company posted a strong set of numbers in Q1 CY18. Net revenue grew 24.5 percent YoY driven by volume (19.7 percent) and value growth (4.8 percent). Value growth was led by the addition of higher value products such as Sting and Tropicana. EBITDA mirrored topline performance and margin expanded 16.9bps YoY. PAT rose 186.3 percent YoY due to gradual turnaround in loss making foreign subsidiaries. The company is in a sweet spot on the back of high brand recall of PepsiCo, new product launches, PepsiCos focus on health drinks and acquisitions. The company is focusing on strengthening its balance sheet by repaying debt, thereby reducing its interest burden. Last on our list is TGV SRAAC (erstwhile Sree Rayalaseema Alkalies), a leading producer of chlor-alkali products. The company manufactures castor derivatives and fatty acids. It has an installed capacity of 156,950 mtpa for caustic soda, 23,100 mtpa for potassium hydroxide and 41,250 mtpa for chloromethane. TGV is riding well on tailwinds from the chlor-alkali industry. It posted a 29.9 percent YoY growth in net sales. EBIDTA margin expanded by a whopping 568.8 bps YoY on the back of a fall in the raw material prices, which was partially offset by a rise in operating and manufacturing expenses and electricity, power and fuel cost. The companys PAT witnessed a YoY growth of 50.4 percent. Follow @NitinAgrawal65 Satish Gupta of astrostocktips.in Todays planetary position: Moon will be transiting in Pisces. Jupiter in Libra. Lord Saturn in Sagittarius. Ketu & Mars in Capricorn. Mercury in Pisces. Sun in Aries. Venus in Taurus. Lord Rahu in Cancer. Pluto in Sagittarius. Neptune in Aquarius & Uranus in Pisces. RAHUKAL TIME: - 10.30 12.00 Following sectors will be receiving astrological support: Food processing: Nestle India, Jubilant FoodWorks, Britannia Industries, etc. PREDICTING BULLISH SECTORS OF NEXT SAMVAT 2075 Every year with commencement of new Samvat (Hindu New Year), astrologically, based on planetary position, certain new sectors start getting strong astrological support & start outperforming, while some others sectors which were performing earlier start underperforming. Some sectors/stock remains laggard. Based on our experience of over 20 years as Financial Astrologer, stocks of astrological supported sectors outperform resulting in exorbitant gains irrespective of market behaviour, either bull market or bear market. Every year we release sectors of new Samvat in the month of March/April when new Samvat starts. This time new Samvat started from March 18. We firmly believe that these special astrological positions present very unique opportunities to investors and traders both. This opportunity, if utilised properly, can safeguard your existing portfolio and simultaneously optimise your future investments and trading also. So contact us at early and subscribe or renew the Sectors of Samvat 2075. After all successful investing and trading is all about GOOD TIMING only. Needless to mention our innumerable past predictions, where most stocks from the SECTORS of SAMVAT gave exorbitant returns and stocks appreciated by over 500 percent. After gap of many years, sugar sector started getting astrological support in 2015 and stocks like Dwarikesh Sugar, Mawana Sugar, Uppar Ganges and Uttam Sugar shot up by 500-900 percent. In 2016, dyes/chemical sector found astrological support and stocks like Bhageria Industries, Thirumalai Chemicals and Sudarshan Chemicals were up by 490-650 percent. During Samvat 2074 (2017-2018), among other sectors - food processing sector was predicted, which received strong astrological support. Many stocks from this sector appreciated exorbitantly. Sectors which get very strong astrological support are not normally affected by downfall in the market. Sectors which get strong astrological support also start getting favourable news along with all kind of positive support by regulatory authorities in that industry, resulting in strong growth & super positive results. Most of problems also start resolving. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Coal power plant (Representative Image: Getty) The Punjab government will soon roll out a one-time settlement policy for revival of sick units, state industry minister Sunder Sham Arora said. An official release quoting the minister said that the government was committed to reviving the industry in Punjab and one-settlement policy was just a first step in this direction. Addressing a gathering of industrialists in Ludhiana, the minister said thousands of units were shut down in the state due to wrong policies of the previous SAD-BJP government in its 10-year's regime. Calling them the backbone of Punjab's development, Arora said the industrialists will have complete freedom to raise their issues and problems before the government and they will not have to shift their units out of the state. To attract the more investment, the Punjab government has also introduced a new industrial policy which is set to bring investments worth Rs 60,000 crore in the state, he said. Arora said Ludhiana airport will get more air connectivity in coming days as more flights would start operating from here which will help in growth of business. The state government signed memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with 21 industrial houses in Ludhiana, worth Rs 1,336.87 crore. Several industries representing different verticals including Happy Forgings, Ludhiana Beverages, Million Exports, Eastman International Bonn Group of Industries committed fresh investments in the state. Embattled real estate company Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) on Friday asked the Supreme Court to consider its resolution plan for revival of Jaypee Infratech Ltd. However, homebuyers have opposed the move. The next date of hearing has been fixed for May 16. Hearing in the case lasted for eight minutes. The counsel for resolution professional Anuj Jain informed the Supreme Court that the process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) had failed and that the liquidation was the only alternative available, sources present at the hearing said. The Supreme Court, however, categorically said that liquidation would not be in the best interest of homebuyers. Counsel for the aggrieved Jayant Bhushan, argued that homebuyers are financial creditors and therefore should form part of the committee of creditors (CoC) and that banks should not be the only members. Bhushan added that JAL should be allowed to regain control of JIL, but the there was no response from the court. The counsel for Suraksha Realty (Sudhir Valia Group) argued that their proposal should be considered. They went on to state that they had negotiated the proposal with banks for two to three months, which the banks rejected without allegedly without reasoning. The court however, did not get into further details, sources said. Separately, JAL was asked to deposit Rs 300 crore, but it is unclear by when the company would have to do this. The bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said that they would hear all interim pleas, including the one filed by JAL, on May 16. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and lawyer Anupam Lal Das, represented real estate firm JAL. Jaiprakash Associates and its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech filed an appeal in the SC on May 9 to restrain the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal from passing any order of liquidation or issuing any direction against the latter without seeking the SC's approval. The petition filed by JAL added, Resolution plan submitted by JAL fully protects the interest of all the stake holders namely home buyers, financial creditors, operational creditors, minority shareholders and employees of Jaypee Infratech Limited. The firm continued that the handing over of the company to the "sole resolution applicant" would result in compromising the interest of homebuyers, minority shareholders, employees and creditors. The Noida-based group has sought the apex courts approval for the Rs 10,000-crore offer it made to creditors to resolve Jaypees debt problem. JAL recently filed a plea in the apex court seeking approval of its resolution plan of May 5 which proposed to offer 2,000 equity shares of JIL to every homebuyer as part of its Rs 10,000-crore proposal to revive it. Jaypee Group has now deposited a total of Rs 750 crore with the top court's Registry. Homebuyers, including Chitra Sharma, had moved the apex court, stating that around 32,000 people had booked flats and were now paying instalments, but their homes were not ready. The plea had stated that hundreds of homebuyers were left in the lurch after the NCLT, on August 10 last year, admitted IDBI Bank's plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against the debt-ridden realty firm for allegedly defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan. Vandana.ramnani@nw18.com RN Bhaskar The government is keen to show that the four years of its rule have actually created jobs. This government, if one goes by CMIE estimates, could create only 1.43 million jobs in 2017. This is contrary to what the government wants to claim. This number is far less than the 12 million jobs the government must create each year if it has to keep the economy growing healthily. The 12 million number too is a result of a very simple calculation. Indias population of 1.3 billion has been growing at 1.9% a year. That gives us a population growth of 24.7 million annually. Assuming 50% of this population chooses not to work many girls still prefer becoming homemakers; some people may decide to go into business; some may do nothing you still get a number of 12 million who will need jobs. Yes, some of the youth may go overseas; some may opt for college education and so on. But then this is a recurring phenomenon. The incremental population seeking jobs will remain at around 12 million a year. Obviously, the poor job creation would pose a huge embarrassment for the government. In fact, that was the accusation that this BJP itself had levelled against the previous government and promised the redress the situation. Even then, there was little job creation. If jobs creation falters for almost 6-8 years in a row, it means that there is something structurally wrong with the economy. It needs to be set right. Quickly. Huge data gaps One problem is that the data on employment has been rather sketchy for decades. Even today, the governments own ministry of statistics and programme implementation has data for different organisations, but no aggregated data can be found. So you have data for the railways, factories, mines, shops & establishments and for plantations. But not for the entire country. After 70 years of independence, surely this is a crucial input every government needs! In June 2017, the government announced that the labour bureau of the government and the NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) would continue to work together on labour surveys. The plan was to work on gathering information on a large scale and with different methodologies. These would be decided after a task force on employment submits its report to the government. And instead of doing such surveys intermittently, the new plans include doing such surveys every year. The sooner, the better. NSSO has also launched a new employment-unemployment survey, namely, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). PLFS is a continuous/regular survey for generating estimates of various labour force indicators on a quarterly basis for urban areas and annual basis for both rural and urban areas, at State/UT and all-India level. That is a welcome announcement. Unemployment or unemployability? There is yet another cause for concern. On March 5, 2018, the government gave out data before the Lok Sabha, which pointed to the growing incidence of educated unemployment. The data suggested that unemployment was more rampant among the educated that among the uneducated. The causes could be many. And some possible answers are available if one looks at the state-wise numbers which cumulatively add up to the numbers given above. In most cases, it would appear that unemployment among the educated was on account of not enough jobs being created in the state. Thus, even in Kerala, a state with the highest literacy rates, the incidence of educated unemployment is high. Secondly, the data is for rural employment only. It is this kind of sketchy information that blurs the actual state of unemployment in the country. Then there are states like Arunachal Pradesh where the standards of education are higher than in most states, but where industrialization hasnt been pushed for decades. And most youth do not wish to leave their home towns either. But the most probable cause could be unemployability. This is what the latest ASER 2017 (Annual Status of Education Report brought out by NGO Pratham) report suggests. When it comes to the current status of foundational skills, almost 25% of the age group 14-18 years cannot read basic text fluently in their own language. More than half of them struggle with simple division 3 digit by one digit). Only 43% can do such sums correctly. This appears to tie in with reports from both McKinsey and Nassom that only 25% of the applicants are employable. The educated unemployed pose two major problems. First, they represent the time and money lost in going through a wasteful educational grind. The money lost belongs both to the state and to the students families. The child could have been more useful at home or on the farms rather than in school and college. Second, since the child is now educated his expectations of a good employment opportunity are also greater than that of a student who has not studied. But when aspirations do not meet competence standards, disgruntlement is just a step away. That dissatisfaction can be extremely corrosive at any workplace, and can lead to other attendant problems. Solutions exist It is not that solutions do not exist. But they require political will. And this is something that appears to be missing even with a strong government like the present one. One solution could be adopting the decentralised cluster approach for rooftop solar. But that would require keeping politicians away from announcing power subsidies, and also permitting the flexibility of abetting power theft. Decentralised clusters can work only if the distribution part of the business is left to private entrepreneurs. But that would take away the powers of both bureaucrats and politicians. It appears that permitting unemployment is a better option for them. A second solution would lie in using the same decentralised cluster approach to promote methane generation preferably by the same entrepreneur who runs the rooftop solar business as well for that cluster. The job and wealth potential of methane generation is tremendous. And it would help India save enormous amounts on foreign exchange and pollution as well. There is a third option as well. It is looking at affordable housing with the same seriousness that Iran showed in the 1980s till the last decade. But affordable housing does not work only by announcing schemes. It does not work with building just around 1,000-5,000 houses outside each city. To make it work you need to create a few million houses near existing cities each year. That will prevent the entire exercise from becoming a blackmarket operation. This is because the requirement for affordable houses is well over 19 million. This was on the basis of data compiled in 2012. Today, the demand could be well over 22 million. And it requires a zero tolerance for slums, which are useful to politicians for creating votebanks through demographic tinkering. That is something real estate speculators, politicians and privileged bureaucrats do not like. Otherwise, if such a scheme is taken up earnestly even today, India can create a few million houses before election dates are announced. Affordable housing creates huge employment opportunities for unskilled workers, skilled workers like plumbers and electricians, and highly skilled professionals like surveyors, architects and city planners. These are quick solutions. But a long-term solution would require an overhaul of the educational system as it exists today beginning with primary and then with secondary education. But more on that later. Thus, if the government wants, the unemployability problem can be addressed quickly. But it is solvable by adopting Indian solutions to a peculiar problem that India faces. But does Modi have the political will? Venkaiah Naidu Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has said that corruption, discrimination, exploitation and violation of basic human rights continue to erode social fabric across the world, triggering unrest, anger, rebellion and extremism. Addressing diplomats and students in Panama City, Naidu expressed serious concern over the growing disconnect in the present world and called for intensified collective global effort to address basic problems like poverty and inequality. "Corruption, discrimination, exploitation, violence and violation of basic human rights continue to erode social fabric across the world," he said. "These evils and perceptions of exploitation and failure of established governance systems lead to unrest, anger, rebellion and extremism. The sooner we effectively address these issues, the better will be our collective," Naidu was quoted as saying by an official release. He asserted that India is seeking a new world order and action based on the country's ancient wisdom and values that advocated harmonious existence and common good. Ambassadors of about 40 countries to Panama later interacted with Naidu and appreciated the major initiatives and their implementation by the central government and the fast growing Indian economy. Later in the day, Naidu arrived in the Peruvian capital of Lima after visiting Guatemala and Panama for two days each. On Wednesday, Naidu met Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodrigues and discussed bilateral cooperation in agriculture, trade, health, culture and education. Naidu also met Panamanian leaders on Wednesday and reaffirmed India's support for Panama's candidature for the UN Security Council's non-permanent seat. The government has become anxious after receiving classified documents containing information about recent defence contracts, and an anonymous letter alleging corruption, the Economic Times reported. The letter alleges fixing in Rs 2,000-crore Airbus deal to sell helicopters to the Indian Coast Guard. Usually, the government ignores unsigned complaints, but this was taken seriously when government documents were found attached to it. The incident hinted at a leak. Allegations have been made against the Airbus Group which has informed the ministry that the issue was brought to their attention by an internal whistleblower. They said they are also investigating the matter and should be able to provide details of the origin of the leak, requesting the government not to take any action until the probe is completed. A coast guard chopper deal was to be signed with Airbus in March during French President Emmanuel Macrons visit, but it was not done due to technical lapses. The internal investigation of malpractice that Airbus began after this issue was raised by its employee is also believed to be one of the reasons for the cancellation of the deal. The internal whistleblower, according to the report, was responsible for offset partnerships in India and communicated with many senior Indian government officials. The letter said that for the deal, benchmarking norms were changed and price calculations for spare engines were hidden to favour Airbus, and three top coast guard officers were named as beneficiaries. Airbus fired one of the technical consultants for allegedly being the middleman in the deal. He was a retired naval officer before coming on board with the company. Airbus informed the Director General of the defence ministry that no government official was found in the wrong after a thorough investigation was conducted, but there had been a leak. Representative Image The Election Commission (EC) rejected the governments proposal to buy voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units from private manufacturers and instead decided to involve public players, according to a report by The Indian Express. The report, citing records obtained under the Right to Information (Act), states that EC replied to the Law Ministrys proposal on September 16, 2016, saying that is of the firm opinion that private manufacturers cannot be given the very sensitive job of manufacturing VVPAT which are integral to EVMs. The decision was taken on the basis that a move to involve private players could hurt the credibility of the electoral process. The Law Ministry had sent three letters, from July to September 2016, seeking ECs views on the VVPAT suggestion. Documents show the proposal had its origins in a meeting held in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on July 11, 2016, the report suggests. The decision was taken when Nasim Zaidi was the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). The Supreme Court in 2013 had ordered EC to introduce the VVPATs mechanism in a phased manner. The Commission has also committed that the system will be in place for the 2019 General Elections. According to the report, the Union Cabinet had on July 20, 2016, asked the Commission to explore feasibility of involving private players to help meet production target set for VVPAT units and also to reduce price of each unit. VVPAT units put out a printed record of votes cast in an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), which can be seen by voters. The process helps in dismissing doubts of rigging and tampering. The printouts are then deposited in a box and can be later used to resolve any dispute and during recounting of votes to verify. Both, the VVPATs and EVMs in the country have only been produced by two public sector units (PSUs) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Hyderabad from the beginning. Representative Image Mehbooba Muftis government in Jammu and Kashmir suggested a unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir during the overlapping periods of Ramzan and Amarnath Yatra, and the countrys security establishment think it is doable. They believe it is an idea worth pursuing as long as counter-terror operations can be conducted on specific tip-offs and if our forces are attacked. Sources told The Times of India that a ceasefire will indicate whether India and Pakistan are ready for normal and positive political dialogue, after heightened tensions between the two nations in 2017 and 2018. Experts have also said that the offensive has encouraged more people down the terrorism road. This ceasefire seems viable since Pakistan has been dropping hints of fresh engagement and reports suggest Pakistan army chief Qamar Bajwa is willing to have comprehensive and meaningful dialogue. General Bajwa also invited his Indian counterpart to Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad in March. It has been observed that Pakistans approach towards India has shifted ever since Indias renewed relationship with other neighbouring countries like China came to the front. A similar ceasefire was called by the then PM AB Vajpayee in 2000, for Ramzan. It was extended for a few months but withdrawn in 2001 after terrorists walked freely in the streets and created nuisance in the area. Many believe that this is a good time for a move like this since separatists have been recruiting heavily, using the counter-terror operations by both the countries. 25 locals are being recruited every month, according to estimates quoted in the report. An officer said, A ceasefire may be a better option to tackle the local sentiment and anger that is pushing local Kashmiris to militancy despite the success of the counter-terrorism operations in terms of terrorists neutralised. Karnataka has gone through months of massive poll campaigning with BJP, Congress and JD(S) making all efforts to woo voters. While Congress, which currently rules the state under Siddaramaiah, has tried hard to retain its power; BJP, which rules 22 states either on its own or with an alliance partner, has left no stone unturned to form government in this south Indian state. But the elections are not a two-way contest, as JD(S) has also created a noteworthy third front in Karnataka. However, now the poll campaign has wrapped up and the state is set to vote on Saturday (May 12). The results will be announced on Tuesday (May 15). Before this, let's take a look at key issues that are at stake: Kannada Identity The issue of the primacy of Kannada or Kannada Swabhimana has taken centrestage in the run-up to the polls. While the ruling party has done a lot in this direction from creating a separate flag for the state to giving prominence to the Kannada language, the BJP, on the other hand, has constantly advocated one nation belief. Also read: A look at possible post-poll scenarios Religion and caste Religion and caste received high-level significance in the poll campaigning. While Congress attempted to take the Lingayat community by its side by approving their demand for separate religion tag, BJP reached out to the Vokkaligas, who are believed to be the second largest caste group in the state after the Lingayats. The AHINDA (acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) movement by Siddaramaiah has also been seen as his effort to woo Dalits, who are the third most important caste group in the state. Also read: A look at Deve Gowda, the former PM who may hold all the cards Farmers income Both Congress and BJP have given significance to farmers in their poll manifesto. While the saffron party has announced crop loan waiver up to Rs 1 lakh, Congress has promised to bring in policies that will double the income of farmers. Read here: Who will be CM? As uncertainty builds, plenty of names emerge Governance From the very beginning of the poll campaign, BJP and Congress not only made promises for improvement in the state, but also targeted each other over poor governance. However, it is now up to the voters to choose their leaders for the next five years. Also read: Techies divided on who to vote for, but clear on issues they care about Law and order Karnataka has witnessed deaths of rationalists in the past few years. Rationalist and leading scholar MM Kalburgi was shot dead at his home in 2015. Journalist Gauri Lankesh, a critic of right-wing ideology, was also killed outside her home in Bengaluru in 2017 the case has not been solved yet. Meanwhile, there are certain other issues like water crisis, womens safety, job creation, startup culture, etc., that would definitely impact the mindset of people while deciding about who to vote for. For extensive coverage on Karnataka elections, click here 07:22 PM IST Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting in Bengaluru: BJP is a grounded party which strives to work for the interests of the common man. We do not indulge in mahakaavyas, we make promises and fulfill them. Our manifesto is in the form of a set of promises-- to end corruption, to provide sufficient water for irrigation, for getting higher price for crop produce, for skilled development and for employment. We have made a promise to provide a conducive environment for entrepreneurship. We have made a promise to provide safety to the women of Bengaluru. And in the first meeting that the party addresses after ovrthrowing the Siddaramaiah government, the roadmap for these promises will be prepared. Bollywood actor-turned-politician and candidate of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Shatrughan Sinha salutes during an election campaign rally in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh May 11, 2009. India is holding a general election between April 16 and May 13. REUTERS/Ajay Verma (INDIA POLITICS ELECTIONS) - GM1E55B1OBR01 Dissident BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha today disapproved of the aggressive tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches during the Karnataka assembly elections campaign, which concluded today, and sought to offer some 'advice'. In a series of tweets, Sinha who has often contradicted his party's official stand -- tagged Modi and said becoming the prime minister does not make anyone the wisest. Sir. Today, the election campaign will come to an end. Regardless of Dhan Shakti (power of wealth)..ultimately Jan Shakti (power of the people) prevails, the actor-turned-politician tweeted in his trademark style. In Sinha's tweets, his disenchantments over not being invited as a star campaigner for the BJP in the state elections were amply clear. Even though I am uninvited, like in other states, from Bihar to UP to Gujarat as a star campaigner, for reasons best known to all of us, I shall humbly suggest as an old friend, well-wisher and supporter of the party ..Let's not cross limits. Let's not get personal. Issues should be conveyed in most beautiful way, keeping decorum. Maryada and Garima of honourable PM must be kept intact,' tweeted the Patna Sahib MP, tagging both Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah. Why do we come with odd and ridiculous definitions .. like PPP for INC (Pondicherry, Punjab and Pariwar), he tweeted, strongly disapproving the barbs hurled by the prime minister at the Congress during his election rallies. During an election rally on May 5, Prime Minister Modi had mounted a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, and asserted it will remain "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar" Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls. The state goes to polls on May 12 and counting of votes will take place on May 15. Results will be announced on 15th. Anything can happen. Being PM does not make anyone the wisest in the country . for being PM requires no qualification .. only majority...while for becoming Shankaracharya one requires great wisdom, experience and statesmanship," Sinha tweeted. What happens if your definition changes after results and your PPP becomes of the People by the People and for the People, or for that matter turns into Popular People's Party, he said, again tagging Modi. Let the people of Karnataka decide and let the best persons win," he signed off. Kuala Lumpur: Mahathir Mohamad reacts as he speaks during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Mahathir says the opposition parties who won a shock victory in Malaysia's elections have a clear mandate to form a new government and he expects to be sworn in as prime minister on Thursday.AP/PTI Photo(AP5_10_2018_000053B) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Mahathir Mohamad on being sworn in as the prime minister of Malaysia. "I look forward to working closely with Dr. Mahathir to further strengthen the mutually beneficial strategic partnership between our two countries...heartiest congratulations," Modi tweeted. Mahathir, 92, was yesterday sworn in as the seventh prime minister of Malaysia. He has become the world's oldest elected leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun after he was accorded a guard of honour by Nepal Army. Modi called on Bhandari at the Sital Niwas - the official residence of the President. "The two leaders renewed their commitment to take our friendly relations to new heights," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Before meeting the president, Prime Minister Modi called on Vice President Pun and discussed the issues of mutual interest. "The two leaders had an engaging conversation on steps to intensify the ancient and brotherly relations between two countries," Kumar said. Earlier, Modi was accorded the guard of honour at the VVIP lounge of the Sainik Manch, Tundikhel. Nepal Army offered a 19-gun salute to him. The Prime Minister inspected the parade. National Anthem of both the countries, Sayaun Thunga Phoolka Hami and Jana Gana Mana, were played. Modi arrived in Kathmandu after a brief halt in Janakpur where he offered prayers at the famed 20th century Janaki temple and attended a civic reception. Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali received him at the Tribhuvan International Airport here. Later, Gyawali called on Prime Minister Modi and held talks. This is the third visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal and the first high-level visit from India since the formation of the new Government in Nepal this year. HD Deve Gowda Janata Dal (Secular) JDS Opinion polls suggest that the Karnataka assembly election will end up in a hung assembly, making Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) a potential kingmaker once again. Gowdas son HD Kumaraswamy, who is leading the charge for the JD(S) and is their presumptive chief ministerial candidate, has been firefighting since Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered praise on Deve Gowda. After PM Modi praised Gowda, calling him one of the tallest leaders of the country, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress has repeatedly attacked the father-son duo of being hand-in-glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress has said PM Modis comment on Deve Gowda was a confirmation of a deal between the BJP and JD(S). Observers considered the prime ministers statement as an attempt to reach out to the JD(S), fearing a hung Assembly. Kumaraswamy himself has a history of siding with the BJP. In 2006, JD(S) extended support to the saffron party to form the state government. Under the deal, Kumaraswamy became the chief minister while BJPs present CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa took up the deputy CMs position. Also read: Who will be CM? As uncertainty builds, plenty of names emerge In the run up to this election, Deve Gowda said he would disown his son if he backed the BJP again. Kumaraswamy too has accepted that his decision in 2006 had upset Deve Gowda and there was no chance of the party backing BJP again. Kumaraswamy has, however, expressed confidence that he will be the King, not the Kingmaker. Nevertheless, in the event of a hung Assembly, it will be 84-year-old Deve Gowda who will hold the key. Early years in politics Gowda was born in Haradanahalli in 1933, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore and was raised in a paddy growers family. He married in 1954 and earned his diploma in civil engineering later in 1950s. Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress in 1953 and remained with the party until 1962. The same year, he was first elected to the Assembly as an Independent candidate from the Holenarasipura constituency. The constituency is currently held by his elder son HD Revanna. Also read: With all eyes on Saturday, a campaign that turned into a street fight winds up The Vokkaliga strongman joined the Congress (Organisation) fraction when the Congress party went through a split and served as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from 1972 to 1976 and 1976-1977. He was also imprisoned in the Bangalore Central Jail during the Emergency years. Congress (O) later merged into the Janata Party and Gowda became the party president twice. He also served as a minister in the Karnataka government under Ramakrishna Hegde from 1983 to 1988. In 1994, he drove the party to a stunning victory in the Assembly election and was sworn in as the Chief Minister. Prime Minister In the 1996 General Election, PV Narasimha Rao-led Congress party failed to get a simple majority. The BJP, under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, formed the government before collapsing less than a month later. United Front, a coalition of non-Congress and non-BJP parties, then decided to form the government and unexpectedly picked Deve Gowda has the Prime Minister. He took over as the Prime Minister on June 1, 1996 and remained in power until April 11, 1997 before being replaced by Inder Kumar Gujral of the same coalition. Also read: Being a 'swing state' with anti-incumbency trends In the 1999 Assembly polls, the JD(S) took a beating and settled for just 10 seats in the 224-seat assembly. However, five years later, the party staged an impressive comeback by winning 58 seats and played the kingmaker. Gowda has since remained away from the limelight. However, he continues to call the shots within the party and in state politics. Upset over newspapers publishing a photo of him sleeping during a function, Gowda had once said, I may be a sleeping politician. But one should know that a sleeping politician is always awake about national politics. I am not like politicians who sleep on national issues though they may be awake physically. All eyes will be on this 84-year-old former prime minister on Tuesday if the election results confirm a hung assembly. This sleeping politician could have what both the Congress and the BJP are desperately looking for. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspects an honour guard at his ceremonial reception in New Delhi on Monday. (Reuters) Israel carried out widespread deadly raids against what it said were Iranian targets in Syria after rocket fire towards its forces it blamed on Iran, drawing global calls for restraint. The reported exchange of fire came after weeks of rising tensions and followed US President Donald Trump's decision Tuesday to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move Israel had long sought. The bombardment led to calls for calm from Russia, France, Germany and Britain and the European Union, while the United States put the blame squarely on Iran and stressed Israel's right to "self-defence". Germany and Britain joined the United States in denouncing the rocket fire towards the Israel-occupied Golan Heights they also said was carried out by Iran, while France reiterated its "unwavering support for Israel's security". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that the resulting bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence" on Thursday. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East. Rouhani did not mention of Israel's strikes in Syria, or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. But the chairman of his country's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Allaeddine Boroujerdi, condemned the strikes, warning that "Israel has entered a dangerous game". The Israeli raids in Syria, which a monitor said killed 23 fighters, were one of the largest Israeli military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the Israeli military said. "We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," said Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood." Israel carried out the raids after it said 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, were fired from Syria at its forces in the Golan Heights at around midnight. It blamed Iran's Quds force, adding that Israel's anti-missile system intercepted four while the rest did not land in its territory. There were no Israeli casualties. If confirmed, it would be the first time Iran has sought to directly attack Israeli-controlled territory aside from an alleged attempted drone assault in February. "We know that comes from the Al-Quds force," army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, referring to the special forces unit affiliated with Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that dozens of rockets were fired from Syria towards the Israeli-occupied Golan, without saying who fired them. It said the rockets followed a "first Israeli bombardment on the town of Baath" in Quneitra province. A senior pro-regime military source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, insisting Israel had fired first. Later, in the early hours of the morning, explosions were heard in Damascus, while live images were broadcast on television showing projectiles above the capital and several missiles destroyed by anti-aircraft systems. Syrian state media said Israeli missile strikes had hit military bases as well as an arms depot and a military radar installation, without specifying where. The official SANA news agency said "dozens of missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft systems in Syrian airspace", acknowledging a number had reached their targets. Israel's military later confirmed it had carried out the raids, saying some 70 military and intelligence targets had been struck and all of its aircraft had returned safely. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his two-day tour of Nepal on Friday, in a bid to reset ties between the two South Asian neighbours. The prime minister has visited the Himalayan nation twice before first in August 2014, months after taking office. He is the first foreign leader to address the Nepalese Parliament. The second visit to Nepal was months later in November 2014 for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit. Religious diplomacy The two South Asian nations which share cultural ties, will be boosting religious tourism in a bid to improving diplomacy. PM Modi and Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be praying at the Janaki Mandir, Muktinath temple, Pashupatinath temple in capital Kathmandu and inaugurating the Ramayana Circuit Bus Route connecting Janakpur (birthplace of Sita) to Ayodhya (birthplace of Lord Ram). High-level meetings Numerous high-level meetings have been lined up during the Prime Ministers two-day visit. PM Modi will be calling on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun on Friday. Nepals PM Oli will hold a reception before sitting down for bilateral talks. On Saturday, PM Modi will hold a series of meetings with leaders from various Nepalese parties. What is the significance? Oli was sworn in as the prime minister in February this year after emerging victorious in the Legislative Election. Interestingly, Oli was among the key played in drafting Nepals new secular constitution in 2015 which was not endorsed by India. The clauses on federalism side-lined the Madhesis which led to the community to wage an agitation with Indias support. The developments had led to an unofficial blockade by India against Nepal. The blockade had frozen ties between the two neighbours. PM Oli, however, visited India in April this year hoping to reset relations. Sunil Manandhar, former science and technology minister of Nepal said, Modis visit will certainly consolidate Nepal-India bilateral relations, according to a report by The Times of India. The visit is taking place at such an important moment, when a stable government is in place at the Centre with the slogan of attaining economic prosperity and development, Manandhar added. Some observers believe that India is seeking rapprochement with Nepal to block the growing presence of China in Himalayan nation. Observers also suggest that India is taking the religious tourism route with Nepal as the two countries share common culture, unlike China. Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's trip to Singapore for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump poses logistical challenges that are likely to include using Soviet-era aircraft to carry him and his limousine, as well as dozens of security and other support staff. The choice of Singapore as the site of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader was as much because it was within reasonable flight time and distance from Pyongyang as because of the island state's political neutrality, a South Korean presidential official told reporters. Since becoming North Korea's leader in 2011, Kim has only taken one known overseas trip by air and that was earlier this week to Dalian in China to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He flew in his personal Ilyushin-62M jet accompanied by a cargo plane that people with knowledge of North Korean affairs say is believed to have carried his limousine. "It looks very much like the trip to Dalian was a dry run," said Andray Abrahamian, a research fellow at Pacific Forum CSIS and formerly with Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based group that trains North Koreans in business skills. At 4,700 km from Pyongyang's Sunan airport, Singapore is easily in the range of the Il-62M aircraft. The Soviet-era narrow-body jet with four engines was first introduced in the 1970s and has a maximum range of 10,000 km. But the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane cannot fly more than 3,000 km without refuelling if carrying a full load. It will therefore have to stop off at a friendly location like Vietnam's capital on the way to Singapore or fly with a reduced load. The Il-76, originally designed for moving heavy machinery to remote parts of the Soviet Union, is big enough to fit a school bus or two shipping containers inside it, according to passenger and cargo flight operator Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions. But the cargo plane has had some safety issues. In the latest incident last month, a crash killed 257 people on board after takeoff from an Algiers air base. Unlike his father Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011 and who travelled by armoured train on his rare trips abroad because he feared being shot down, according to a North Korean defector familiar with his security details, the younger leader is not known to be averse to flying. But air travel of this distance does pose a significantly greater challenge in transporting communication and security equipment and personnel needed to back up a summit meeting. SUITE FIT FOR A LEADER Lee Yun-keok, a defector who had worked for the North's government and now heads the North Korea Strategic Information Service Center in Seoul, said the trip will involve dozens of security personnel and equipment including possibly a personal toilet for the leader. It will also mean burning a large quantity of jet fuel, a refined oil product sharply limited by U.N. sanctions targeting North Korea imports. Kim's two planes will need around 50 metric tons of jet fuel per aircraft for the flight from Pyongyang to Singapore. China, the main source of fuel for the North, exported just 3 tons of jet fuel in March and made no official exports the two previous months, according to Chinese customs data. But the North's planes can pick up extra fuel when they fly to China and Russia for commercial operations, and international security experts believe the North may have been stockpiling the fuel which it has also used for its missile programme. aThe United States had preferred Geneva," the South Korean presidential official told reporters, requesting anonymity to discuss the arrangements for the summit meeting. "But Singapore was selected as it was the most realistically viable destination Kim Jong Un could probably travel when considering the travel time and flight distance." The two sides initially considered meeting in the Panmunjom truce village straddling the Korean military border, the scene of the third inter-Korea summit attended by Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month, the official said. The official said the South did not know the reason why Panmunjom was dropped. There was no confirmation on the specific location for the meeting between Kim and Trump although there are a number of sites in Singapore that can guarantee security protection, including hotels that have experience hosting high-security events, Singapore media and a Singapore government official said. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the country was "honoured to host it, and would do our best to facilitate a smooth and successful meeting," in a telephone call with Trump on Friday. Trump said the summit would contribute to resolving the long outstanding issue of securing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, Singapore's foreign ministry said. The meeting is scheduled for one day on June 12, but if either or both of the leaders decide to stay overnight, there is only one hotel room in all of the city that meets asecurity protocol" for the U.S. president, according to a source with knowledge of previous U.S. presidential visits. That is the 348-square meter Shangri-la Suite in the Valley Wing of the hotel of the same name, at a current rate of S$10,000 ($7,500) a night for June 12. In his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, US President Donald Trump would seek a complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the White House has said. Hours after Trump announced the location and date of what is being billed as the historic US-N Korea summit, the White House cautioned against any new provocative behaviour by Pyongyang. Such a move might force the US to halt the meeting, a presidential spokesman said yesterday. "Our policy is to ensure the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. And that's what he's going to be seeking," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard the Air Force One travelling to Indiana. "We have a month and several days. And there are a number of things -- provocative actions, for example, from North Korea would not be received well. All I'll say is that the meeting has been agreed to, but obviously it could be halted for any number of reasons," Shah said with a note of caution to the North Koreans. Shah added that Singapore was selected as the venue for the historic meeting because it had political ties with both the countries. "Singapore has a relationship with both the United States and North Korea. They can ensure both the President's and Kim Jong-un's security, as well as provide neutrality," he added. "Singaporeans have been gracious up until now and also in the past. In fact, on a historical note, the first meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan took place in Singapore some years back," Shah noted. As of now, only one day has been kept for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said, adding that planning was still in progress. Later Victoria Coates, Senior Director for International Negotiations at the National Security Council, the White House, told reporters that the meeting could be scuttled if Kim Jong-un did something unacceptable to the US. It is possible that leaders from South Korea and China could also be present in Singapore at that time, she added. Shah told reporters that prior to the invitation being accepted, the North Koreans had agreed to halt their ballistic missile testing, their nuclear testing, and not publicly oppose joint US-South Korean military exercises. "So those were the initial steps that the North Koreans took. We'll hold them to those steps. And then, obviously, there have been subsequent conversations," he said. On being asked if anything else was to happen between now and the summit, Shah replied, "I'm not setting additional preconditions. It's now been set." If there was any doubt that the housing market is correcting itself, the Bank of Canadas hiked benchmark rate should dispel that disbelief. Following hikes across the Big Six, the Bank of Canadas benchmark rate increased from 5.14% to 5.34%, and according to Mortgages of Canada founder and CEO Samantha Brookes, home buyers and sellers are in for a bumpy ride. I do think the housing market will continue to correct and adjust the prices, she told Mortgagebrokernews.ca. Homebuyers buying power has been decreased even more, so those who are selling will have to bring their prices down to get a sale. The market is just correcting, so this is to be expected. Until the rate gets to where the government and banks feel the rates need to beI truly believe it will be in the 5% or 5.5% rangerates will continue increasing. News of the settlement actually appears to have helped RBS, which was bailed out by British taxpayers after it collapsed a decade ago. The British government required RBS to settle all US claims before it would sell its 72% stake in the company, the Times reported. The agreement with the Justice Department will allow us to deal with this significant remaining legacy issue, and this is the price we have to pay for the global ambitions pursued by this bank before the crisis, Chief Executive Ross McEwan said. Removing the uncertainty over the scale of this settlement means that the investment case for this bank is much clearer. Some analysts had forecast that the settlement would be as much as $12 billion, according to the Times. After the much lower $4.9 billion settlement was announced, RBS shares rose by up to 6.6% in London trading. This will help the government sell a much cleaner bank, McEwan said. RBS had already set aside $3.46 billion to cover a possible settlement, and will take an additional $1.44 billion charge in the second quarter, the Times reported. Capital One Financial has sold about $17 billion of first- and second-lien mortgages to Credit Suisse unit DLJ Mortgage Capital. Capital One had previously announced that it ceased new originations of residential mortgages and home equity loan products. It expects to close the sale and record a gain in the second quarter. "Strong market demand enabled us to negotiate and sign this complex transaction more quickly than we thought possible," Capital One CFO R. Scott Blackley said. However, it ballooned to $97 million after the judge sided with the bankers and consultants who argued that not only their hourly pay but also their commissions should be used as basis to determine the money they were entitled to. The award stems from a 2017 lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles mortgage broker against the bank over allegations of California wage and hour labor violations. US District Judge Percy Anderson allowed the brokers claim that the bank failed to provide rest breaks and another claim for unfair competition, while throwing out the rest. Anderson in January sided with the broker and held Wells Fargo liable for the violation. The judgment applies to California mortgage bankers and consultants who worked for the bank between March 17, 2013, and Aug. 1, 2017. "Wells Fargos compensation structure for its home mortgage consultants complies with Californias wage and hour laws, including pay for all break periods, and allows our HMCs to earn competitive, performance-based compensation," Wells Fargo spokesman Tom Goyda said. "We plan to appeal on the basis that the courts decision reflects both a misunderstanding of our HMC compensation plan and a misapplication of the relevant state law." The judgment follows a string of scandals for the embattled bank. It recently agreed to pay $480 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to its fake-account scandal. Wells Fargo has also confirmed that it may be facing a $1 billion penalty for charging mortgage borrowers improper fees and charging other customers for unneeded car insurance. U.S. oil and gas operators, and particularly those in Texas, learned the lessons taught by the oil price downturn and is reaping the benefits of those lessons. It was the success and spirit of Texas operators. They drilled (amid high prices) and produced so much oil, coupled with OPEC increasing production to drive US operators out of the business, it drove down the market, Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners association told the Reporter-Telegram. During the downtown, operators got more efficient, theyre doing more with less and being more innovative and efficient in drilling and completions. Longanecker was speaking by telephone from his Austin office to discuss the associations third edition of its State of Energy report. With U.S. record production exceeding 10 million barrels a day for the first time in its history, the industry has officially rebounded from the downturn, he said. Thats why we did this third edition of this report. We knew we had turned the corner and we wanted to show the data and tell our story, he explained. According to the report, the U.S. oil and gas industry employed 832,777 in 2017, a net gain of over 3,000 jobs from 2016 and the first employment growth since 2014. The average U.S. annual industry wage was $109,498, 103 percent higher than the average private sector wage and a payroll totaling $91 billion, down 3 percent from 2016. Texas led the way, said Longanecker, with the industry employing 325,439, up slightly from 2016 and the first net positive increase in job growth since 2014. Texas oil and gas employment accounted for 39 percent of all oil and gas jobs nationwide in 2017. More specifically, the Permian Basin led the way, said Longanecker. Your area is incredibly important to the state and to the country, he said. He said the Permian Basin was unique in that it saw the highest job growth in oil and gas support services, which increased by 22,346 net jobs from 2016 to 2017 at the national level. And of those, he said, 3,790 or 17 percent of those new jobs were in Midland County. That brings the total to 12,216 direct jobs concentrated in that one industry sector, he said. Odessa saw 2,000 new jobs in the support services sector, which he noted had been hard hit by the downturn. If you factor in the increase in drilling oil and gas wells jobs, the growth is even more substantial for the region, added Longanecker. Still, If you take Midland out of the equation, you wouldnt have had net job growth, he said. Longanecker acknowledged that Wed always like to see 100,000 more high-pay, high-quality jobs. But its a unique period in the evolution of the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas is one of the most innovative sectors there is. Its fascinating to see how it evolves and adapts. He said he is also happy to see what he called a death by a thousand cuts regulatory regime thats now out of office and replaced by an administration he said understands the importance of the industry. Even so, the administrations proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum are a concern because they could add significant costs on operators and companies that rely on steel and aluminum, such as pipelines and service companies. TIPRO has joined other industry associations in urging the administration to abandon, delay or expand exemptions in order to protect the industry. The associations are also working to educate the administration on energys role in global trade, especially as talks continue to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Weve asked them to extend the tariff exemptions on Mexico and Canada while talks are ongoing, Longanecker said. While he noted that TIPRO is primarily a state-focused organization, it also addresses national issues that affect the industry, such as trade and tariffs as well as the Endangered Species Act and federal methane regulations. Statewide, he said infrastructure and water development are a focus, he said. TIPRO supports efforts to provide more funds for energy-producing counties whose roads are being impacted by oil and gas truck traffic. The industry pays a significant amount in severance taxes; sadly, not all that is making its way back to the countries for road maintenance. And for manpower, which is also an issue. Some of these counties dont have the manpower to repair and maintain those roads, he said. Texas voters previously approved plans to withdraw funds from the Rainy Day Fund which is derived from severance taxes paid by the oil and gas industry for transportation needs and water development projects. Those dollars are paid by the oil and gas industry and should be more effectively used to address issues generated by oil and gas operators, he said. While he doesnt expect any significant legislation to come out of the Texas Legislature when its session begins in January 2019, Longanecker said he wants to see a fully-funded Railroad Commission and additional funding for the TexNet seismic monitoring program. Texas has been the most proactive in funding and research to determine the causes of seismicity. (And) Railroad Commission funding will be a key issue again. A fully funded and functioning Railroad Commission is vital for a vibrant oil and gas industry, Longanecker stated. Workforce development will also be an issue, he predicted. Thats another reason we published this report. There is a shortage of talent so addressing workforce development will be a major issue to support continued growth in our industry. BIG SPRING Authorized employees will be allowed to carry concealed firearms on Big Spring ISD campuses after the districts board of trustees on Thursday approved campus carry policy upgrades. We need to protect our kids, said Tony Kennedy, former board president, after the meeting at Big Spring High School. If we dont do that, shame on us. Kennedy was long-involved in efforts that led to Thursdays vote on policy changes. It was his last meeting as a trustee because he decided not to run for re-election. I was the one that really pushed it to try to get this done, Kennedy said. So, it was not my place to not vote on it tonight. After the boards approval, Superintendent Jay McWilliams will send an email with campus carry information to all full-time district employees, according to Kennedy. That starts the ball rolling, the former board president said. Were hoping to get this all in effect by the time school convenes next year. Big Spring ISD and other school boards can adopt local policies that authorize designated employees to carry firearms on their campuses, according to the Texas Education Agency website. For Big Spring ISD, leaders chose a Guardian Plan that allows the board to authorize certain district employees to possess firearms to use in response to active shooter situations. The so-called guardians also will receive written approval from the superintendent, who can revoke authorization, according to the sample policy provided in agenda documents. The plan calls for hand-selected volunteers who must have a license to carry, pass a psychological exam and receive training. Names of guardians will not be revealed to the public. Also, signs will be posted on all campuses to warn that district staff may be armed. The district hopes they will prompt a potential shooter to move to a softer target or re-evaluate, according to a document provided to those who attended a community meeting on Wednesday. One parent who attended that meeting, David Mathis, said he was on the fence about the Guardian Plan. He said he understands the districts desire to take steps to protect students, but he had concerns. It is my fear that a teacher with a gun will decide that they are the police, Mathis said. I understand that it is part of training, that they know that they are not. But human nature is to make mistakes. Another parent, Candice Smalling, told the Reporter-Telegram before Thursdays vote she hoped the board would approve the policy changes. She had previously attended two district meetings that addressed the topic. I wanted to make sure that the teachers that will be carrying will be properly trained and vetted, and I feel very secure in the plans they have in place, she said. I just believe that the proper tools are necessary to protect my children. During the public comment period, two people including Smallings husband, Ray spoke in favor of planning for emergency situations. Another encouraged the board to delay its vote. Kennedy said hundreds of people are in favor of the plan, and he felt that the policy changes were right for the district. I was very comfortable with it because Ive researched, Kennedy said. I know the training theyre going to have to go through. I know our sheriffs department and police department are going to be a part of this. The board voted 5-0 to upgrade district campus carry policies. Two board members werent present at the meeting. Nearby Coahoma and Forsan ISDs have policies with language allowing specific people within the districts to possess firearms in certain places or situations, according to information found through the Texas Association of School Boards website. Midland ISD isnt currently considering a Guardian Plan. FRANKLIN Jonathan Morris showed his teaching replacement around Franklin High School on Tuesday and introduced him to some students. As the school year wraps up, Morris is closing out 35 years of teaching agriculture and serving as FFA adviser at Franklin High School. It seems like the past 35 years have gone by really fast, Morris said. Ive enjoyed working with students and Ive loved having the camaraderie of other teachers in the Franklin school district, as well as other ag teachers and FFA advisers in the area. Morriss last day in the classroom will be May 29. He will be succeeded by Brent Nelson, who recently graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in agriculture education. Brent comes from a grain and livestock farm north of Macomb and has a good FFA background, Morris said. Hopefully, he will continue the success of the FFA program at Franklin. Morris said he and Nelson will attend the state FFA convention together with students in June. Morris recently was honored by the Illinois Agriculture Teachers Association as Section 13 Teacher of the Year, which was a first for him. Morris, who originally is from Chenoa in McLean County, graduated in 1983 from WIU with a degree in agriculture education. He also holds a masters degree in agriculture soil science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He began teaching at Franklin High School in fall 1983. My uncle, Jim Brim, who was superintendent at Triopia for many years and had taught ag at Franklin High School, suggested that it would be a good opportunity for me to apply for the ag teaching job at Franklin, said Morris, whose four sisters were all teachers. I really appreciated being accepted into the community and getting to work with many successful students and great parents, he said. Morris takes pride in expanding Franklin High Schools agriculture/mechanics shop and the grain marketing program he started more than 30 years ago. In the mechanics shop, Morris taught everything from welding to small engine repair to carpentry and electrical wiring. I also enjoyed starting a horticulture class and building two greenhouses on the high school campus, he said. With that, I have worked with many students growing and marketing flowers and vegetables, which we sell at reasonable prices to the community. It teaches the students salesmanship and managerial responsibility. Morris also found as much enjoyment teaching in the classroom as he did instructing in the ag/mechanics lab and greenhouse. Ive loved seeing students use what theyve learned in the classroom and apply that knowledge to FFA contests, he said. Its neat when former students tell me that they use skills that they mastered in my class. The thing I really value in my teaching career is seeing students become successful. Students who have taken my classes have gone on to have successful careers as doctors, lawyers and bankers, as well as farmers and others who work in the agricultural field. In addition to teaching, Morris ran a seed sales business for 33 years before retiring from that in 2016. Bringing that sales knowledge back to the classroom, I think, complemented my teaching, he said. In his retirement, Morris plans to continue running a deer hunting business in Pike County and spend more time at his family vacation home in northern Wisconsin. Greg Olson can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1224, or on Twitter @JCNews_Greg. Two years ago, I wrote about Scott Lee Cohen, the wealthy Chicago pawnbroker who won the 2010 Illinois Democratic primary election for lieutenant governor. The only problem was his name never appeared on the November general election ballot. You see, Mr. Cohen had a past, which was kept from the primary election voters. He was divorced, he was accused of assaulting an alleged former prostitute who was also his girlfriend he was accused of using steroids, and he was accused of having had numerous affairs. He won the Democratic primary and bosses of the state party machine were not pleased. Shortly after his primary election victory and a campaign largely paid for by the candidate himself, Cohen withdrew from the race. No pressure from party bosses here maybe he just came to his senses, acknowledged his iniquities and opted for a quieter life (yeah, right). But what about all those ballots with Cohens name printed on them at taxpayer expense? Which raises questions about taxpayer-funded primary elections. Last year, an equally tainted Roy Moore won the Republican primary election in Alabama, becoming the Republican candidate in the general election to replace Jeff Sessions as U.S. senator. He lost the general election. For the first time in decades, Alabama now has a Democratic U.S. senator. On Tuesday, voters in West Virginia went to the polls in a primary election to select the Republican candidate to run against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in the general election. Party leaders in West Virginia and national Republicans all the way to the White House were terrified about the candidacy of Ron Blankenship. An ex-coal company executive, Blankenship was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety and health standards, in a case about the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in which 29 miners died. In April 2016, he was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $250,000. So why didnt the Republicans consider the same primary election fix against Roy Moore and the potential threat of Blankenship that the Democrats used against Cohen in 2010? Why should independent voters, the demographic that is growing faster than either of the two main political parties, be forced to pay for these primary elections with their tax dollars? Even in those states that have open primaries, independents only have the option of choosing candidates who would run as either Republicans or Democrats. Some choice. Also, in states with open primaries, voters may choose a party ballot with the intention of voting for the weakest candidate of the opposing party, which may explain the number of nitwits who win primary elections. According to Andrew Gripp of the Independent Voter Network, The origin of government-administered primaries begins in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when state governments began to intervene to curb the influence of party bosses and tackle corruption. I suspect that the term corruption refers to buying votes. Isnt an incumbent candidate who brings home the bacon, in the form of highway money or a new post office, buying votes and from a cash reserve they dont own and that no opponent can match, i.e. the federal Treasury? On the flip side of the coin, does anyone really believe party bosses would actually select guys like Cohen and Moore as party standard bearers? My question remains: What does the growing population of independent voters get from government financed primary elections, other than the bill for providing faux legitimacy to the candidates of the two major parties? Jacksonville resident Jay Jamison writes each Friday for this page. Tuolumne County Peace Officers Memorial, 2018 View Photos Sonora, CA Tuolumne County law enforcement agencies gathered this afternoon to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty. The Tuolumne County Peace Officers Memorial, 2018 was held at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds. Similar somber events are taking place around the state and nation in honor of National Peace Officer Memorial Day, which is recognized annually on May 15th. It is held to honor federal, state and local officers killed or disabled while protecting the public. Todays Keynote Speaker was retiring Sheriff Jim Mele, who with his voice cracking told the crowd, My closing remark is to the Tuolumne County Sheriffs Office and all those that are in law enforcementI am proud to say that I am one of you. May God bless you. May you know that my thoughts, my prayers will always be with you. To the public, thank you for allowing me to be your sheriff. There has been no greater honor. The state of California lost nine peace officers in 2017, and the names were read off during the memorial ceremony. You can click on the slideshow icon to see a list of those fallen heroes who tragically passed away last year. Candidates for Supervisor District Three View Photos Sonora, CA Candidates for local office had one of the final opportunities to speak before a large group of voters this evening. The Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidatess night for Tax Collector, Sonora City Council and Tuolumne County Board of Supervisor district two and three. There was a full house in the board of supervisors meeting room in downtown Sonora. Three of the four Sonora City Council candidates were on hand, Jim Garaventa, Colette Such and David Axelrod. They were asked multiple questions that had not been brought up at other forums to this point, such as their opinion on continuing the two year term of the Mayor, ways to improve the citys planning commission and whether they would favor a pooper scooper ordinance. On the latter, Garaventa enthusiastically said yes, Axelrod was open to the idea but would want more community input, and Such said she is opposed because of difficulties enforcing it and not wanting people to call the police department about dog waste. All of the District Two Supervisor candidates were in attendance, Ryan Campbell, David Titchenal and Randy Hanvelt. On the issue of the General Plan update, Campbell noted he would like the adoption delayed until after the election, while Titchenal and Hanvelt argued it was overdue and should be completed sooner. Asked if they support a new state directive calling for all new homes to be built with solar panels by the year 2020, Hanvelt said Absolutely not, arguing it will increase the cost and complexity of new homes. Titchenal is also opposed, calling it crony capitalism in California. Campbell is in favor of the directive, arguing, We need to look toward the future, and solar is the future. The four candidates for District Three Supervisor took part, Aaron Rasmussen, Anaiah Kirk, Merv Cancio and Laurie Sylvester. During his introduction, Kirk stood up and spoke pointedly against a recent newspaper editorial written by Supervisor Evan Royce where he questioned whether it is possible to effectively raise a family, hold a full-time job, and perform as a supervisor, as Kirk would do. Kirk stated, Yesand I do know how to raise my family. He added that several supervisors outside the area hold both full-time jobs and serve the county. He argued it is part of his work ethic that was instilled upon him growing up. Both Cancio and Sylwester countered at different times during discussions, and referenced their decision to leave work to become a full-time supervisor. Cancio stated that if you work eight hours in a job and eight as supervisor, you only have eight hours left in the day. Other topics that came up included affordable housing, balancing the budget and whether the juvenile detention facility should continue to operate. Speaking about the juvenile hall, Kirk stated he was against constructing it at the beginning because he feels it is too difficult to rehabilitate youth in 43.4 days, which is the average stay of an inmate. He expressed a desire to try to make it work at this point, but said he can make difficult decisions if they need to be made. Cancio indicated he likes the juvenile hall in concept as it keeps kids closer to families. However, he stated the numbers need to balance out after a few years of operation, and if not, he is concerned about it taking funding away from other programs. Sylwester stated she was against the concept of the facility when it was first being discussed many years ago, and was an advocate for other approaches used in different states, but said they failed to gain traction with the past board of supervisors. Rasmussen was the most outspoken against the juvenile hall and indicated a willingness to close it as a cost cutting measure, saying, not a difficult decision. Candidates for Tax Collector, Michelle Ronning and Justin Birtwhistle were also on hand, and they spoke about their background and expertise they would bring to the position if elected. The primary election is coming up on June 5. Her love for nursing and teaching has led Pam Pollard to her new passion. The registered nurse recently was named Covenant Health Plainview's new diabetes educator. 'I'm very excited to be in this position and very happy to be able to educate our friends and family on the South Plains about diabetes,' said Pollard, who began her new role Monday. Becoming the hospital's new diabetes educator is the next chapter in Pollard's 28-year nursing career. Pollard worked for more than a year and a half on Covenant Health Plainview's Med-Surg floor. 'We are so happy to have Pam join our team,' said Covenant Health Wellness/ Community Benefits manager Mark Martinez. 'She has vast medical expertise and is a very enthusiastic teacher. Pam is going to be an important asset to Covenant Health Plainview and to our region's diabetic patients.' Pollard will instruct inpatient and outpatient diabetes education as well as manage the hospital's monthly diabetic support group. 'I've really just developed a passion for diabetes during my career as a nurse,' said Pollard. Pollard said education is the key to living a healthier and more manageable life with diabetes. 'There's a lot of misconceptions about diabetes. They feel they have to stop eating or they can't eat this or that. But living with diabetes is a total lifestyle change and you want to do it one bite at a time with gradual steps,' said Pollard. 'You can't turn around a cruise ship on a dime; it's impossible, and you're going to throw everyone overboard.' Pollard is a Metroplex native who said even as a little girl she had aspirations to be either a teacher or a nurse. In high school, Pollard enrolled in her high school's health occupation course, similar to Plainview High School's Certified Nurses' Assistant course. 'I liked science and caring for people, so this was perfect fit for me,' said Pollard. Pollard said she fell in love with the work immediately and earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Dallas Baptist University in 1990. Pollard started her career at the county hospital, Parkland Hospital, as well as the Methodist Medical Center in downtown Dallas and at Zale Lipshy University Hospital. The young nurse worked for years in a number of different departments, including oncology. However, after the birth of her daughter, Tori, Pollard opted for a more open schedule and decided to switch to nursing home and home health work. During that time, Pollard said she felt a deep calling to leave the Cedar Hill area and move out west. 'For years, my husband, (David) and I felt a calling from God to go west. I just didn't know how west it would be,' said Pollard with a laugh. Eventually, Pollard's mother-in-law saw an ad for multiple school positions in the Three Way Independent School District, a small, now non-existent school a few miles outside of Muleshoe. Pollard said she didn't get the job but found work at Muleshoe's hospital. Pollard said her husband landed a job at McDaniel's Flooring in Clovis, New Mexico. The family worked in the area up until seven years ago when Pollard received her master's degree in nursing and began working at Lockney Health and Rehabilitation. After stints at Allegiance Home Health and the Prairie House Nursing Home, Pollard began working on the med-surg floor of Covenant Health Plainview in 2016. David is now the pastor of Seth Ward Baptist. Pollard said she plans on growing the diabetes program at Covenant Health Plainview by making education more convenient and accessible. For more information about diabetes education you can call Pollard at 806-2964281. Magellan Midstream Partners Houston oil producers Apache Corp. and Noble Energy have signed on as the primary customers for the massive EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline that will traverse Texas from the booming Permian Basin near the New Mexico border to Corpus Christi. The 730-mile pipeline is slated to be built by San Antonio-based EPIC Midstream Holdings as one of the biggest of a bevy of major pipeline projects underway to carry oil, gas and natural gas liquids from the Permian to port and refining hubs near Corpus Christi and Houston. WASHINGTON Randall L. Stephenson, AT&Ts chief executive, said Friday that the company had made a big mistake by hiring President Donald Trumps personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, to advise on the telecommunications giants deal to buy Time Warner. Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days, and our reputation has been damaged, Stephenson wrote in a memo to employees. There is no other way to say it AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake. Stephensons note followed the revelation that the company had paid Cohen $600,000 to advise on the $85.4 billion merger with Time Warner and other regulatory matters. Stephenson also said in the memo that the companys head of lobbying and external affairs, Bob Quinn, 57, would be retiring. Federal prosecutors are investigating Cohens business dealings, including a $130,000 payment he made to the pornographic film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, as part of a deal to buy her silence about an affair she says she had with Trump. The president has denied Cliffords claims. The payment to Clifford was the first known activity involving Essentials Consulting, a so-called shell company incorporated in Delaware by Cohen. It was through Essentials Consulting that AT&T retained Cohen. The disclosure of AT&Ts ties to Cohen comes a critical moment for the company, which is defending its merger with Time Warner in federal court against the Justice Departments efforts to block the deal. Stephenson insisted in his memo that everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate and that Cohen did not do any lobbying on behalf of AT&T. Nonetheless, Stephenson added, retaining Cohen was a serious misjudgment. In this instance, he continued, our Washington, D.C., teams vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that. Time Warner was not aware of AT&Ts contract with Cohen, according to a person familiar with the companys thinking. Within Time Warner this week, officials were surprised to learn about the contract with Essentials Consulting. The companys vast lobbying team, which includes more than 100 people, and public policy staff will now report to AT&Ts general counsel, David McAtee. AT&T has said Cohen approached employees in the companys Washington office shortly after the election. He promised to provide advice on who the key players would be in Trumps administration and their priorities and how they think, AT&T said in a fact sheet released Friday. The company also said in the fact sheet that it had been contacted late last year about Cohen by the office of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and other matters, and had cooperated fully with the inquiries. AT&T noted in the fact sheet that Cohen was among several consultants the company hired as Trump was assuming the presidency. It did not identify the others. Flies on raw chicken, dead and live roaches, mold and employees handling food with bare hands were among the gross violations spotted this week in various San Antonio restaurants, according to reports. A total of 22 establishments made this week's list of dirtiest restaurants in San Antonio. The list included local chains like Mama Margies, as well as popular chains like Chuck E. Cheese, Tilted Kilt, 54th Street Bar and Grill and a pretzel stand at a mall. To make the Express-News' list of dirtiest restaurants, an establishment must earn a score of 89 or below or anything less than an "A" during a random city health inspection. SEE LAST WEEK'S VIOLATIONS: San Antonio restaurant inspections: May 4, 2018 The lowest-scoring restaurant this week was Guadalajara Grill, the Mexican restaurant located at one of the entrances to La Villita. There, a health inspector saw an employee handle tortilla chips with their bare hands, along with multiple other violations. The San Antonio Express-News examines hundreds of restaurant inspections each week conducted by the San Antonio Food and Environmental Health Services division to bring you the eateries with scores of 89 or below. Restaurants are graded on a 100-point system, where "100" is a perfect score, and demerits are based upon the number of violations found during a regular food establishment inspection. There are three categories of demerits and each are assigned a demerit score of 3, 2 or 1 points, according to the health division. See the other eateries that landed on this week's list of dirtiest restaurants in the slideshow above. Scores and demerits listed are only representative of the state of the restaurant at the time of inspection and establishments are surveyed at random. erobinson@mysa.com | Twitter: @eeelizzzabeth Dear Mr. Premack: I want to help my family. We have never had anyone divorce in our family. Then my son's wife divorced my son. She kept their two young children. I get along with the grandchildren just fine. It's bad because the ex-daughter in law is causing trouble. It gets worse because my son just died. And worse, he had no will. There is a small estate. I do see from this mess that my wife and I should get our own wills in order, but that will be after we know: what can or should my wife and I do to help our grandchildren inherit their estate from my deceased son? GG Divorce can be almost always is an emotional and financial mess. When you combine divorce with angst and anger, things just get worse. And when you top that with a sudden death, the only thing that could make it worse is if there is no will or other estate plan. Your son, you say, had a small estate. He died intestate. Consequently, the Texas laws of descent and distribution apply. Since he is no longer married, the first in line to inherit his assets are his children. The problem is that they are minors, and cannot own any assets directly without legal adult supervision. If your son had made a will, he could have set up a trust for the childrens inheritance. There would be a capable adult selected by him to manage the assets, to use them wisely for the benefit of the children, and to eventually distribute the assets when they reach a suitable adult age. Or, instead of a trust he could have at least invoked the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, naming a custodian, other than his ex-wife, to control the assets until the children turn 21. Instead, Texas law recognizes the children as his intestate heirs who will be represented by their natural guardian you got it, their mother. The one who divorced him, and who is causing trouble. Fortunately, as the ex-wife she is not entitled to inherit directly, nor is she highly prioritized to become the court appointed administrator of his estate. Instead, his next of kin which could be a sibling or you as his parent has highest priority. In fact, Texas law allows the court to rule that the ex-wife would be unsuitable as administrator. Assume that you, as his surviving parent, become court appointed administrator. After all the legal process and expense, the court will order that any assets should be set aside for the children as heirs. The administrator may have to petition the court for the creation of a management trust. If the court finds that a trust would be in the best interests of the children (as would be expected) then it will order that a trust be created, appoint a trustee, and set the terms under which the children may benefit. All of this will cost many times what it would have cost for your son to make a will, and could consume a large part of his small estate. So, there is a way for you to help your family. But it will be slow and expensive to fix the problems left behind by your son because he never made a will. Once you get those legal repairs underway, you would be wise do your family a further service and make sure that your own estate plans are up-to-date to avoid these complications someday when you die. Paul Premack is a Certified Elder Law Attorney with offices in San Antonio and Seattle, handling Wills and Trusts, Probate, and Business Entity issues. View past legal columns or submit free questions on legal issues via www.TexasEstateandProbate.com or www.Premack.com. STAMFORD Around Connecticut, towns are raising a chorus: If the state wont ban fracking waste, we will. Now Stamford has added its voice. The Board of Representatives this week passed an ordinance that prohibits storage, disposal or processing of the waste a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas joining 42 other municipalities in the state. Its so common-sense. I dont understand why there wouldnt be a statewide ban, said city Rep. Nina Sherwood, a Democrat from District 8 who proposed the measure. Whats more important than protecting people from toxic chemicals? Sherwood had 13 co-signers on the ban, including her Republican counterpart from District 16, Steven Kolenberg. This stuff can be radioactive, it can contain carcinogens, it seeps into the soil and groundwater. Some states are storing it for industrial use to make money, but it opens the door to all kinds of dangers, Kolenberg said. Its up to municipalities to prevent this stuff from coming in. Fracking, which is cheaper than traditional drilling, involves boring a horizontal well and pumping it with water, chemicals and sand at extremely high pressure. The solution shatters the shale, releasing the oil and gas. Much of the solution then returns to the surface. The nation is in the middle of a fracking boom, and companies are looking for places to store or treat the increasing amounts of waste. An almost-ban Lawmakers in Hartford were poised to ban it from Connecticut in 2014, but ended up passing a moratorium after Gov. Dannel Malloy said he wanted to give the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection time to understand what's in fracking waste. States can earn revenue from storing or treating it, or even turning it into rock salt and other products. The governor said maybe theres a way we can have this stuff here safely. I think his administration saw it as a way to make money, said Sherwood, who has a masters degree in biological and environmental science. But I think the people here deserve better. In my opinion, you cant have safe fracking waste. It contains naturally occurring chemicals that may be toxic, including radioactive elements, and a lot of salt, in some cases 10 times as much as seawater. At least thats whats known. The precise chemicals in the waste vary and are largely obscure, because in 2005 President George W. Bush signed an order that exempts fracking for shale gas from the Clean Water Act. So the federal government does not regulate the chemicals injected into fracking wells, or the resulting waste. Moreover, the solutions used by different fracking companies are often trade secrets. That leaves state regulators to assess the environmental risks with much of the information hidden from them. Missed deadline It explains why DEEP officials have said they will not have their recommendation ready by July 1, when the moratorium expires. The Legislature said the moratorium stays until DEEP decides, so its still in place, Sherwood said. But municipalities have refused to wait and see what happens. In 2015, the little town of Washington in west-central Connecticut was the first to ban fracking waste. Norwalk is now debating a ban, and other towns in lower Fairfield County have begun discussions. Connecticut has three facilities in Bridgeport, Bristol and Meriden licensed to accept raw fracking waste. Stamfords water treatment plant has a permit that allows it to accept treated fracking waste. But the ordinance passed by the board Monday prohibits it. It bans the introduction of fracking waste into any wastewater or solid-waste treatment facility in the city, as well as storage, disposal, sale, acquisition, transfer or processing of the material. It prohibits contractors who win city bids from using materials made from fracking waste. Any company that sells any type of construction material to the city must sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, swearing that it is free of the waste. The ordinance does not ban transportation of the waste through Stamford. It supercedes any decision by DEEP. Deep backing The vote on the 40-member board, with four representatives absent, was 32-1, with three abstentions. With Mayor David Martins signature, the ordinance takes effect 30 days from the boards May 7 vote. Martins spokeswoman did not respond to an email Friday asking whether he plans to sign it. This is happening in a lot of places, Sherwood said. More than 400 municipalities in New York have passed a fracking waste ban, including New York City. Those who support bans say the states that allow fracking without knowing the environmental consequences should not outsource the waste. Those who oppose bans say treating and reusing the waste is a business opportunity. It can be dried and used to make bricks, for example. Connecticut cant frack because it doesnt have much shale. The nearest state that does it is Pennsylvania. Some say that if Connecticut which recently expanded its natural-gas infrastructure wants the cheaper fuel, it has to help with disposal of the waste. But there are dangers that must be considered, Sherwood said. The chemicals we know about are just the ones the fracking companies have disclosed, she said. Theres a whole universe of chemicals we dont know about. acarella@stamfordadvocate.com. TOWSON, Md. Kevin Kamenetz, a top Democratic candidate for Maryland governor, was just 60, trim and so health conscious he would trot up stairs and routinely tease colleagues about eating doughnuts and other junk food. So his sudden death Thursday after going into cardiac arrest sent a sense of unease through Baltimore Countys executive offices, based partly on uncertainty about the future but mostly on the knowledge of what they just lost. In an effort to support May as National Water Safety Month, Katy Aquatics is teaming with Texas Children's Hospital West Campus to host a free Make A Splash Water Safety event on Saturday, May 12. The event will feature free swim lessons and water safety skills for children ages 3 and up between 10 a.m. and noon at Cinco Ranch High School Natatorium, 23440 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Katy. Hale County Democrats will be returning to the polls on Tuesday, May 22, to cast ballots in a runoff election to decide the partys nominee to face the Republican nominee, incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, in the general election this fall. The race between Andrew White and Lupe Valdez is the only contest on the runoff ballot in Hale County. Local Republicans dont have any runoff elections to decide. Early voting starts Monday, May 14, and runs through Friday, May 18. Early voting locations are: --Hale County Courthouse Basement, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. --Lemond Community Center in Hale Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. --Abernathy City Hall, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. --Petersburg City Hall, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. To vote in this runoff election, eligible voters must have either voted in the Democratic Primary, or not voted in either the Democratic or Republican primary at all. Those who voted in the March 6 Republican Primary cant cross-over and vote in the Democratic Runoff. On Election Day, which is Tuesday, May 22, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All Plainview precincts will vote at the Ollie Liner Center. Registered voters in Precincts 213, 316 and 317 cast ballots at Lemond Community Center in Hale Center. Precinct 215 and 318 is at Abernathy City Hall. Precinct 214 votes at Petersburg Community Center. Statewide in the Democratic primary, Lupe Valdez received 436,666 votes for 42.89 percent while Andrew White received 278,708 votes for 27.37 percent, which put him second in the nine-candidate field. Hale County Democrats give Valdez 120 votes or 42 percent to Whites 53 votes or 19 percent. The rest of the field included: Grady Yarbrough, 32, 11%; Joe Mumbach, 20, 7%; Adrian Ocegueda, 18, 6%; Cedrick Davis Sr., 14, 5%; Jeffrey Payne, 13, 5%; Tom Wakely, 11, 4%; and James Jolly Clark, 4, 1%. Valdez is an Army veteran who rose to the rank of captain and a former federal agent. She was elected to serve as sheriff of Dallas County in 2004 and resigned in 2017 in order to run for governor. Whites career experience includes working in businesses dealing with fire and water damage restoration and serving as president of Sweat Equity Partners, an entrepreneur-led group of companies. He founded Allied Warranty and Lone Star Repair, which provide home warranty coverage to Texans. Harvard University is trying to sell some of its timberland investments in South America to investors who will share management of the portfolio as the endowment retreats from bets on natural resources. Harvard Management Co. has approached investors to buy minority or majority stakes in as much as $700 million of property in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, and become strategic partners at the same time in an effort to reduce the endowment's risk, according to people familiar with the matter. The $37 billion endowment hired investment banker Jonathan Prather from Perella Weinberg Partners Group in February, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Perella Weinberg declined to comment. The move is the latest step in an overhaul of Harvard's endowment that began in 2016 when the Ivy League school hired Narv Narvekar from Columbia University as investing chief. Narvekar cut the organization's headcount by almost half, shuttered internal hedge funds, spun out money managers and sold more than $2 billion of buyout and real estate funds. Narvekar is trying to revamp the natural resources strategy after predecessors made a big wager on the asset class that initially produced solid returns but later backfired. Last year, Harvard wrote down the portfolio by $1.1 billion to $2.9 billion, a loss that included a decision to exit from one of its farm projects in Brazil where it invested at least $150 million. The portfolio "will take multiple years to reposition," Narvekar wrote in a September report, adding that "while most assets remain attractive, a few have significant challenges." He began unloading properties last year, agreeing to sell a dairy farm in New Zealand with 5,500 cows to private equity firm KKR & Co. for $70 million and a eucalyptus plantation in Uruguay to insurer Liberty Mutual for $120 million. The portfolio is still vast, including farms in Australia, South Africa and Brazil, as well as vineyards in California and timberland in Eastern Europe and throughout Central and South America, according to tax documents and other filings. Like other parts of the endowment Narvekar inherited, the investments were made directly instead of through external money managers, a more common approach among peers. Harvard still has a team overseeing the portfolio. It's led by Colin Butterfield, who was hired in 2016 from Radar SA, a fund investing in agriculture in Brazil backed by retirement money manager TIAA. "To best serve Harvard, HMC will take a level of risk appropriate for Harvard," Narvekar wrote in a January 2017 report. "Our returns will ultimately follow in our chosen path rather than in the path of any other specific endowment, which might have a different risk tolerance and a different mandate." The timberland holdings up for grabs in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay consist of eucalyptus, teak and pine plantations, according to tax filings and other documents. The properties are owned through shell companies and managed by independent firms. The most valuable properties are in Uruguay and Brazil. Harvard owns timberland in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru as well, according to documents. These properties aren't currently being shopped in the proposed deal, the people said. Investment returns on timberland cooled in the last decade as emerging markets such as Brazil faltered and growth in China moderated. An index for U.S. timberland shows uneven gains since the recession ended in 2009, preceded by years of double digit returns driven by the housing boom. Still, some investors see opportunity. The Rohatyn Group last year acquired control of a $2.1 billion portfolio from Boston-based money manager GMO, whose co-founder Jeremy Grantham was an influential champion of investing in emerging market agriculture. Nicolas Rohatyn, the company's CEO, said last week at a timberland investing conference in New York he was looking to acquire more assets. Rohatyn didn't return calls and emails seeking additional comment. Liberty Mutual has also been active in the sector. The insurer hired Qinhai Xia from Harvard Management last year as a director of agriculture and timberland investments. Xia reports to Avtar Vasu, another Harvard Management veteran hired by Liberty Mutual in 2016. Neither returned calls seeking comment. Another entrant is Folium Capital, launched last year by Andrew Wiltshire, Alvaro Aguirre and Oliver Grantham to invest in farms and forests. The three left Harvard Management in 2015 after spearheading the natural resources strategy that is now under scrutiny. Grantham is Jeremy Grantham's son. California Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled a $137.6 billion budget Friday that would use a $9 billion surplus to pad the state's rainy-day fund and cover one-time boosts to spending for infrastructure and addressing homelessness. The surplus has grown from $6 billion projected in the governor's initial $131.7 billion budget in January for the year that begins in July. The term-limited governor is directing most of the $9 billion surplus to savings, saying that a recession is bound to happen. This year's plan spends $127 billion. Two injured in Macoupin semi crash BRIGHTON Two people were injured Thursday in a crash involving a semitrailer and a car near Brighton. Patricia Bracht, 80, of Godfrey was flown to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and a passenger in her car, Patricia Goreman, 80, of Godfrey, was taken to Alton Memorial Hospital. Police said injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening. According to Illinois State Police, Bracht was going north on Illinois Route 267 near Gun Club Road about 12:30 p.m. Thursday when she pulled off the road and tried to make a U-turn. In the process, police said, her car pulled in front of a semitrailer being driven by Robert Gardner, 66, of Ashland. The report said Gardner was unable to avoid colliding with the vehicle. Morgan County Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Armandos R. Fisher, 45, of 800 Hoagland Blvd. was arrested about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of deceptive practices. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Greg Olson President Donald Trump used an Indiana rally Thursday to soothe conservative fears that he's going to make too many concessions to the North Koreans. "I think it's going to be a very big success," Trump said of the June 12 summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un. "But my attitude is: If it isn't, it isn't. Okay? If it isn't, it isn't. . . . You have to (say) that, because you don't know." Everyone is excited about the homecoming of the three American prisoners, but there's growing anxiety in the national security firmament that the president might be too hungry for a big win. Trump has appeared intoxicated at times by the possibility he could win the Nobel Peace Prize and relishes the chants of "Nobel" that have become standard fare at his rallies. He's also been ratcheting up expectations that history will be made at his summit. Announcing the time and place of his meeting with Kim, the president tweeted: "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" -- Throughout his career, Trump has stressed the importance of being willing to walk away from the table in a successful negotiation. From 2014 he tweeted "Young entrepreneurs - always remember in negotiations that sometimes the best deal you make is the one you walk away from." At the gymnasium in Elkhart, Indiana, he returned to this theme, which was prominent in "The Art of the Deal." "We're not going to be walked into an Iran deal where the negotiator, John Kerry, refused to leave the table," the president said, referring to the secretary of state who negotiated the multilateral Iran nuclear deal that he pulled the U.S. out of earlier this week. Trump stayed uncharacteristically on message during his hour-long speech at the campaign-style rally, mostly sticking to the teleprompter. He ripped Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and touted his Republican challenger Mike Braun, who won a three-way primary on Tuesday. -- Some hawkish thought leaders on the right have begun to say publicly over the past week what many more are saying privately during Washington cocktail parties: that the neophyte commander in chief could get suckered into taking a bad deal because he so badly wants to claim a diplomatic triumph. "Any deal, even an inadequate one, would hold out the alluring possibility of changing the political dynamic in the run-up to the midterms," writes National Review Editor Rich Lowry. "And hold out the possibility of Trump getting, if not a Nobel Peace Prize, the kind approval from elites that he simultaneously disdains and craves . . . [T]he problem is that nothing we have seen so far from Kim is inconsistent with the decades-long North Korean diplomatic pattern of selling us the same fake concessions in exchange for sanctions relief and economic benefits. . . . This is why the ultimate test of Trump's mettle isn't getting Kim to the negotiating table, but being willing to walk away from it." "If Trump wants to succeed, he must want a deal less than Kim does," writes conservative columnist Marc Thiessen in The Post, who served as a speechwriter for Don Rumsfeld and George W. Bush. "He must be willing to walk away and to make Kim understand that he is serious about a military option if negotiations fail. He can't do so if he is even remotely thinking about a Nobel. . . . History will judge Trump not by whether he won a Nobel, but by whether he was able to stop North Korea from deploying the capability to destroy an American city with a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile." -- John Brennan, who was CIA director during Barack Obama's administration, said Kim is tricking Trump by presenting "an appearance of cooperation" and predicted the Korean leader will never agree to give up his nukes. "Unfortunately, I think (Kim) has been masterful in how he has manipulated perceptions and how he has manipulated, and quite frankly duped, Mr. Trump," Brennan said Thursday on MSNBC. -- The White House is sensitive to all these charges. In an interview that aired Friday on NPR's "Morning Edition,"White House chief of staff John Kelly insisted "the president's got his eyes wide open" and won't let himself "get strung along" the way his predecessors have. "Believe me, the president really wants this to work," Kelly added. "We talk fairly frequently about nuclear weapons and he's just astounded that the United States, that the human race has got itself into this dilemma with all of these nuclear weapons. To help North Korea give up its nuclear program and its missile program would be a wonderful thing." -- Americans support the upcoming talks, but skepticism of Pyongyang's intentions remains palpable: 71 percent approve of Trump's talks with Kim, while just 21 percent disapprove, in a Pew Research Center poll published Thursday. Overall, 49 percent say North Korea's leadership is not serious about addressing international concerns over the country's nuclear enrichment program, while 38 percent think North Korea's leaders are serious about addressing these concerns. Most rank-and-fileTrump supporters who were strongly against Obama negotiating with the Iranians are supportive of this president talking to the North Koreans because they trust his negotiating skills. In the Pew poll, 85 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now approve of the U.S. negotiating with North Korea. Three years ago, only 40 percent of this group approved of the U.S. directly negotiating with Iran. -- Trump might learn from Ronald Reagan's decision to walk away from the 1986 summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland. Gorbachev showed up offering huge reductions in strategic and intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Reagan responded by proposing both sides eliminate all their nukes. Gorbachev said yes. It was a huge moment. But then the Russian leader said he would only move forward if the Americans agreed to limit research for the Strategic Defense Initiative, a missile defense system, to the laboratory for a decade. Reagan wouldn't budge and walked away. The intelligentsia said he'd made a terrible mistake and ruined the chance to end the nuclear arms race. "It took tremendous courage (to leave empty handed)," said Ken Adelman, who was director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency at the time. "Reagan was really mad all the way to the airport. He felt really terrible. The headlines were all bad. They all said it was a big failure. But there's always a tomorrow. In two months, the Soviets were back at the table." The conversations at Reykjavik shaped the contours of the landmark arms control treaties that followed. Adelman wrote a 2014 book on what happened, "Reagan at Reykjavik," which is now being turned into a movie. The world has changed a lot in the intervening three decades, but Adelman told me during an interview Thursday that there is still a lot Trump can learn from the denouement of the Cold War. Reagan knew what he didn't know and did not try to fake an understanding of complex weapons systems, for example. The Gipper also trusted his team to negotiate on his behalf. Before things fell apart at Reykjavik, when it looked like they were on the cusp of a real breakthrough, Reagan had a gut check moment. He asked each of his top aides to answer directly: "Is this deal good for America?" "Negotiations have a certain momentum. They take on a life of their own. There's a euphoria, a real rush," Adelman said. "It was a really good exercise." Looking ahead to next month's summit, he doesn't think Trump will succeed in getting Kim to denuclearize but he thinks the diplomatic engagement lowers the odds of future armed conflict on the Korean peninsula. "Kim is no Gorbachev, and Trump is certainly a far, far, far cry from Reagan," said Adelman. "So I don't have much hope this will accomplish what Trump wants. . . . But I assume this meeting will lead to some kind of process and follow-ons." -- As Kenny Rogers sang in "The Gambler," one of my favorite songs: "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run." Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. 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The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ Clara Harris, the Friendswood dentist who made national headlines more than a decade ago after she ran over and killed her cheating husband was released from prison at 8:20 a.m. May 11, according to Harris' former attorney and now close friend, Emily DeToto. "Clara served more time than most similarly situated people," DeToto said. "A jury spoke and she's done her time. I look forward to catching up with her soon." Her parole conditions include no contact with the victim's family. She must also reside in Galveston county, find gainful employment and abstain from drugs and alcohol. Clara Suarez Harris, who has served 15 years of her 20-year sentence for the July 24, 2002, manslaughter of 44-year-old dentist David Harris, was set to be released from the Crain unit in Gatesville, a womans prison complex near Waco. READ ALSO: Houston arrest warrant issued for World Series streaker The gruesome killing became a sensational case, with the Houston trial generating international media coverage and the crime spawning true-crime books and a made-for-television movie. In 2002, Clara Harris, who is originally from Colombia, and her orthodontist husband were a successful couple with a string of dental offices and lived in an upscale home in Friendswood. She became suspicious of her husband's philandering and hired a private investigator to keep an eye on him. When Harris was notified that her husband and his former receptionist Gail Bridges were at the Hilton in Nassau Bay, she confronted the woman in the hotel lobby, pulling her hair and biting her. The couple left the hotel and went to Bridges car, while the private investigator was in the hotel parking lot with a camera and videotaped the crime. Clara Harris hit Bridges with her car before she ran over her husband, and then wheeled her silver Mercedes-Benz sedan around and ran the car over him repeatedly. READ ALSO: Trials delayed in murder case of deputy and husband accused of choking man at Denny's David Harris then-17-year-old daughter from another marriage was a passenger in the car with Clara Harris when her father was run over and killed. At the trial, the teen testified her stepmother had driven the car over her father three times. When Harris parole was announced in November, it was condemned by victims advocates who wanted her to serve at least 17 years. Her supporters argued the 60-year-old has been rehabilitated. Its about time, Detoto said in November when the parole was announced. Its been long enough. brian.rogers@chron.com twitter.com/brianjrogers The attorney for convicted trafficker and former San Antonio lawyer Mark Benavides withdrew from the remaining four cases against him and immediately was appointed Friday to continue representing him going forward. In April, a Wilson County jury sentenced Benavides to 80 years in prison on six counts of continuous trafficking of persons for forcing clients into sex in exchange for keeping them out of jail. Benavides, 48, is appealing his conviction. Prosecutors Meredith Chacon, Jay Norton and Maritza Stewart argued during the trial that Benavides coerced, threatened and forced clients he represented on prostitution or drug charges to have sex with him. SEE: Former student accuses celebrated San Antonio writer of inappropriate relationship Six women testified Benavides would pick them up, take them to court, then to a downtown San Antonio motel to have sex, and videotaped the encounters, which were shown to jurors. The women also said they had sex with Benavides in jury and conference rooms at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, which is why the venue for his trial was changed to Wilson County. At a hearing Friday, attorney Monica E. Guerrero told visiting Judge Dick Alcala that she and co-counsel Liza Rodriguez wanted to withdraw so that Benavides could have an appellate attorney appointed for him. Alcala granted that request, and Angela Moore will represent Benavides on his appeal. Guerrero also told the court that Benavides and his family no longer had the resources to hire an attorney to represent him. ALSO: Woman who took fatal plunge from I-35 ID'd He has no ability to pay for anything. Im asking that we withdraw, that I be withdrawn for all other cases, Guerrero said. But prosecutor Norton told the court it would be a major setback on the remaining four cases against Benavides to have new attorneys, and asked that Alcala appoint Guerrero to the remaining cases, which he did. Benavides has four cases pending against him two about charges of sexual assault of a child, one about a sexual assault charge and one about continuous trafficking of persons. Alcala set another hearing for July 5 about those cases. Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863 Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 3 Vote(s) - 2.33 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: kaput 05-11-2018 10:58 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #1 Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit Advertisement Putin and Netanyahu Stand Together A high-profile visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have paid off, as comments from the Kremlin on Friday suggest they will not be delivering an advanced missile defense system to Syria. The change of heart comes after Russias defense ministry announced last month it was planning to send S-300 defense systems to Syria. Israel issued a warning in response that they would not shy away from destroying them if necessary. The Kremlin said that there would be catastrophic consequences, should Israel follow through on that threat. That is all water under the bridge now, following Netanyahus meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, after which a Putin aide casually mentioned that Russia is not discussing any deliveries of advanced new systems to Syria. http://www.atimes.com/article/russia-bac...scow-trip/ Ascended Master Putin and Netanyahu Stand TogetherA high-profile visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have paid off, as comments from the Kremlin on Friday suggest they will not be delivering an advanced missile defense system to Syria.The change of heart comes after Russias defense ministry announced last month it was planning to send S-300 defense systems to Syria. Israel issued a warning in response that they would not shy away from destroying them if necessary. The Kremlin said that there would be catastrophic consequences, should Israel follow through on that threat.That is all water under the bridge now, following Netanyahus meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, after which a Putin aide casually mentioned that Russia is not discussing any deliveries of advanced new systems to Syria. Ascended Master (This post was last modified: 05-11-2018 11:09 PM by RiskyRob .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:00 PM Post: #2 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit thanks for posting this info Israel sucks. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:11 PM Post: #3 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:00 PM) thanks for posting this info Israel sucks. And they will kill as many as they must to keep sucking! Because holocaust. And they will kill as many as they must to keep sucking! Because holocaust. RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:12 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #4 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:00 PM) thanks for posting this info I hope this doesn't upset too many LoP'ers. I hope this doesn't upset too many LoP'ers. Ascended Master LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:12 PM Post: #5 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit Expect Putin to resign soon. conspiracyparty Registered User User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:15 PM Posts: 1,025 Post: #6 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit thats pathetic. shame on putin. joos are gonna get their world government in Jerusalem if this crap continues. why no European or Americans or Arab countries stand up to the shekel masters. anyway wont change the fact Israel is criminal and will never support them. (assuming its credible). im thinking putin wants to get rich of oil again, doesnt want to piss of International Jewry, or worse hes part of the tribe. (This post was last modified: 05-11-2018 11:20 PM by conspiracyparty .) RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:30 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #7 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:12 PM) Expect Putin to resign soon. I wonder if Netanyahu and Putin discussed the future of Iran? I wonder if Netanyahu and Putin discussed the future of Iran? Ascended Master LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:37 PM Post: #8 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit DEATH TO ISRAEL AND ALL WHO RESIDE!!! LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:38 PM Post: #9 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit Look at Putins face in that picture. He knows what is coming. This is a green light. Expect an all out Israeli attack in the next 48 hours. Most likely on Sunday the 13th. They like their illumanity numbers. RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:39 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #10 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:38 PM) Look at Putins face in that picture. He knows what is coming. This is a green light. Expect an all out Israeli attack in the next 48 hours. Most likely on Sunday the 13th. They like their illumanity numbers. The Iranians never saw it coming! The Iranians never saw it coming! Ascended Master LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:42 PM Post: #11 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit RiskyRob Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:39 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:38 PM) Look at Putins face in that picture. He knows what is coming. This is a green light. Expect an all out Israeli attack in the next 48 hours. Most likely on Sunday the 13th. They like their illumanity numbers. The Iranians never saw it coming! Damascus is next. Damascus is next. RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:44 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #12 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:42 PM) RiskyRob Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:39 PM) The Iranians never saw it coming! Damascus is next. No, I'll bet the agreement was to only target Iranians. No, I'll bet the agreement was to only target Iranians. Ascended Master LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:45 PM Post: #13 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit RiskyRob Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:44 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:42 PM) Damascus is next. No, I'll bet the agreement was to only target Iranians. Dont Iranians have military bases in Damascus? Dont Iranians have military bases in Damascus? TicklePickle Registered User User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:48 PM Posts: 1,352 Post: #14 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit Motherf*cker!!! The tribe always gets their way, ALWAYS. Can anyone stand up to them? Have they blackmailed every nation's leader worldwide or what? RiskyRob ( Lop V.I.P.) User ID: 1337 05-11-2018 11:50 PM Posts: 8,137 Post: #15 RE: Russia Cancels Syrian Missile Defense System After Netanyahu Visit LoP Guest Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:45 PM) RiskyRob Wrote: (05-11-2018 11:44 PM) No, I'll bet the agreement was to only target Iranians. Dont Iranians have military bases in Damascus? Yes, I believe there are some Iranian bases in the outskirts of Damascus. I'm not sure they're still operational after yesterday's Israeli air attack. Yes, I believe there are some Iranian bases in the outskirts of Damascus. I'm not sure they're still operational after yesterday's Israeli air attack. Ascended Master Advertisement The father of a 4-year-old boy killed in a drive-by shooting on the East Side last July has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges, and now faces 10 years to life in prison. Earl E Whitley Jr., 36, is the first member of the Skinny Bloc Crew a group of the Crips East Terrace Gangsters to plead guilty as part of a law enforcement push to clamp down on crime on the East Side. Whitley pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to possess with intent to sell 67.8 grams of crack cocaine. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery set his sentencing for Aug. 3. Whitleys son, 4-year-old De-Earlvion Whitley, was killed in a late-night drive-by shooting on July 19, 2017. Investigators believe the drive-by was in retaliation over a shooting that occurred earlier that day, according to court documents and prosecutors. RELATED: Woman vanishes under 'suspicious circumstances,' police say They are rivals to Charles Bethanys gang, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Wannarka previously said. That rivalry is what has caused much of the ongoing violence on the East Side recently. The Skinny Bloc Crew sold crack cocaine from vacant lots in the 200 to 300 block of Ferris and are rivals to another faction of the Crips led by another alleged crack dealer, Bethany, 36, who was taken off the streets after the boys killing. According to court records, someone committed a drive-by shooting about 4:30 p.m. July 19 at the Coliseum Meat Market in the 400 block of Spriggsdale. Bethany, who reportedly was in the parking lot, was suspected of being the intended target. In his plea deal, Whitley agreed he was part of the Skinny Bloc Crew, and that he had been caught conducting drug deals with a confidential police informant. In total, the FBI and SAPD made nine purchases from the group totaling 67.8 grams of crack. RELATED: Teen assaulted repeatedly by men in S.A. home, records show Whitleys co-defendants include Alvin Ray Ray Clark, 40; DaiVonte EShaun Titus Ross, 21; Jamel Shercone Pookie Whitley, 38; Jovon Lil Jojo Deante Stewart, 24; Paul P-Low Low, 49; Joseph JoJo Hammond, 37; James Showtime Bilal Ali, 34; Spurgeon Bubba Williams, 47; and Joseph J.L. Lake, 29. Late last summer, FBI agents arrested Bethany, John Lee Chatman, 35; and Dakota DP Jermain Peppers, on gun and drug charges. Though the three are not charged specifically with the boys killing, court documents in their cases suggest they are suspects, but San Antonio police continue to investigate. Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | gcontreras@express-news.net | @gmaninfedland SAN ANTONIO - A man arrested Thursday evening is accused of forcing a 15-year-old girl to have sex with several people. Ray Hernandez, 28, faces a charge of continuous trafficking of a person, according to the San Antonio Police Department. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by 25 to 99 years in prison, police said. ALSO: Police ID man allegedly slain in argument over dog Hernandez said he was innocent as he was taken to a police SUV to be driven to the Bexar County Central Magistrates Office. SAPD spokeswoman Michelle Ramos said the girl had run away from home when Hernandez offered her a ride. He ... took her to a motel room where there was an individual there, Ramos said. She was forced into having sex with this individual. Investigators said Hernandez, who was still in the room, received payment after the act was finished. He then took the girl to an undisclosed location where she was kept for several days, Ramos said. Hernandez and other unidentified men had sexual with the girl on a regular basis, police said. Were not sure how she got away, Ramos said. SEE: Woman fatally plunges off I-35 access road The girl told police that she and Hernandez knew each other for several months after they met on social media. Special Victims Unit detectives were able to corroborate the girls story after they spoke with her, Ramos said. Theyre still trying to work out more details and collect evidence, Ramos said. We do expect more arrests to come out of this case. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA Authorities on Friday arrested a 41-year-old man accused of kidnapping his new wife at gunpoint on the South Side. Andy Guzman, now faces charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in the Bexar County Jail. RELATED: SAPD: Woman found hiding in elevator after hammer attack at far North Side apartment complex According to court documents, Guzman got into an argument with his new wife on May 5, during which he pulled a gun on her and threatened to kill her. At the time, the woman told police, she was afraid Guzman would hurt her or her family, authorities said. On May 9, Guzman texted the woman, telling her to come outside of her home and meet him at his car. When she did, Guzman again pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her son if she didn't get inside, according to his arrest affidavit. The victim would later tell police they drove around the city all night, and during the ride Guzman hit her several times with his gun and shot several rounds outside the vehicle in front of her face. He threatened to kill her, then himself, the affidavit says. RELATED: 227 arrested on DWI charges during Fiesta in San Antonio The woman eventually convinced Guzman to stop at a gas station. She then ran inside the gas station behind the front counter and alerted the clerk, police said. Guzman then fled. Around midnight Friday, officers with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force found Guzman at a home in far West Bexar County. Guzman led officers on a brief foot chase, but with help from helicopter and K-9 units, they were able to arrest him. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns San Antonio police are asking for the public's help finding a woman who went missing under "suspicious circumstances," according to a news release from the police department. Amalia Garza, 39, has been missing for more than two months. She was last seen in the 1300 block of Melissa Sue on March 1. To: Gov. Jerry Brown of California and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas From: Joe Mathews If North and South Korea can have a peace summit, why cant California and Texas do the same? The United States desperately needs its two biggest states to figure out how to keep the country together. Sure, you are different places. Texas is the cheap, lightly regulated, freedom-loving counterpoint to Californias progressive, cultural and technological powerhouse. But you have one big thing in common: Youre both nation-size places (California has 40 million people and the worlds fifth-largest economy; Texas has 28 million and the worlds 10th-largest economy) stuck in a giant country whose leaders are intent on dividing it. The D.C. business model for elections depends on ever-greater polarization of the American electorate. So national politicians run the government as a spoils system for their donors and politically favored demographics. As a result, California and Texas, despite their differences, share a common enemy: federal power. For a century, whichever party controls the White House has seized more authority for the U.S. government. Recent presidents of all stripes have ruled increasingly by executive order. Often this dictatorial federal power has been aimed at your two states. By now, the drill is familiar. A Democratic administration imposes policies that run contrary to Texas conservative preferences. So Texas fights and sues constantly. Now that Republicans are in power, its Californias turn to be a target because of its progressive policies and to tie up the federal government in dozens of lawsuits. The New York Times recently called this a legal civil war. All this fighting takes time and resources away from your states efforts to improve the lives of your citizens. And the resentments create internal divisions. Both of your states have movements seeking secession from the United States. The good news: Together, the two of you can break the cycle. Start with a peace summit. The goals of the talks should be twofold. First, for both states to reaffirm their American-ness and commit to peaceful coexistence. Second, for both states to work together to reduce federal power and enhance the independence of states and their communities. This must go beyond reaffirming the 10th Amendment, which reserves for the states the powers not given to the federal government. California and Texas are now so big that they need more explicit autonomy in taxation, regulation, environment, health care and immigration so that they can choose their own destinies without interference. The D.C. Mandarins will call this a revolution. So be it. California and Texas must declare that this is not the United States of 1789, with 13 states and 3 million people. Our country of more than 320 million is simply too big to be governed from Washington. Indeed, the best argument for greater state autonomy is a democratic one. Our states are far more democratic than the federal government, which has a presidency sometimes won by the loser of the popular vote, a Senate that defies equal representation, and bureaucracies that resist accountability. A concerted effort to demand greater autonomy for both states pursued jointly through politics, lawsuits and even constitutional amendment would be healthy. Your states wouldnt be able to blame the federal government for your own follies. Instead, California might have to confront how its oppressive environmental regulation makes building sufficient housing impossible. And Texas might have to face how its lack of planning puts its people in floodplains in the path of hurricanes. To get the talks started, California should immediately revoke its counterproductive ban on government-funded travel to Texas. Yes, the Lone Star State has discriminatory laws on adoption by LGBT families, but how do you change minds if you cant meet with people? Each state offers places where a visitor from the other would be comfortable. Why not start the talks in Austin, a California chunk in the heart of Texas, where Apple employs more than 6,000 people? In California, Gov. Jerry Brown could take Gov. Greg Abbott to oil-rich Bakersfield for a meal at Wool Growers, which serves the cuisine of the Basques a people famous for fighting for sovereignty. Im not expecting you to produce the political equivalent of Pancho and Lefty, the joint album from Californias Merle Haggard and Texas Willie Nelson. (Though bringing Willie to the summit is not a bad idea.) But regular California-Texas summits would remind us that, while we will never be the most cohesive country, our collection of states requires some unity. And that, in a country as diverse as ours, there may be no peace treaty more powerful than an agreement to disagree. Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. STAMFORD A New York man has pleaded not guilty after police say he slashed another mans face during a robbery attempt earlier this year at the downtown train station. Eric Carrero, 25, pleaded not guilty to armed robbery, second-degree assault, attempted second-degree robbery, threatening and breach of peace. Public defender Barry Butler assured Judge Richard Comerford that his client understands the charges. The 22-year-old victim told Metropolitan Transportation Authority police Carrero approached him after he got off a train from New Haven at 11 p.m. on Jan. 11. The victim said Carrero threatened him when he refused to give him a dollar, police said. Im gonna slash your throat, Carrero said, according to a report from MTA police. The two argued and Carrero spit at the man, who began spitting back, police said. Carrero then pulled out a gray metal box cutter and slashed the New Haven mans face, the report said. Carrero told MTA police the New Haven man was following him and making threats, the report said. A video showed Carrero with something in his hand, and slashing at the mans face during the fight, the report said. The New Haven man declined medical attention. Carrero has 10 convictions in New York on charges that include robbery, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He also was charged with failure to appear at the New Haven courthouse. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com A kidnapped Ekurhuleni baby has been found safe and reunited with his parents, and five people, including a domestic worker and four foreign nationals, have been arrested, Gauteng police said on Saturday. An effectively executed tactical take-down by a multi-disciplinary team of the South African Police Service [SAPS] in Gauteng province has led to the arrest of five suspects for the kidnapping of 13-month-old Eden Laird of Brackendowns [in Ekurhuleni], police said in a statement. Baby Eden was reported missing on Wednesday. It was reported to police that the domestic helper had taken the child from his Brackendowns home for a walk from which they both never returned. Police immediately launched an intelligence-driven operation, keeping close tabs on the numerous phone calls where suspects demanded a R6 million ransom from the parents in return for the safe release of the child. Taking their cue from the police hostage negotiator, police arrested the initial two suspects at the ransom drop-off point in Ekurhuleni West. Further investigations led police to Windmill Park where the domestic worker and another suspected co-conspirator were also arrested. The fifth suspect was arrested in Katlehong, where a vehicle was seized on suspicion of having been used in the commission of the crime. Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Deliwe de Lange had now sanctioned an immediate further investigation by the family violence, child protection, and sexual offences unit (FCS) aimed at securing a successful conviction by the court. The baby had been reunited with his parents. Of these five suspects, four are Zimbabwean nationals while the fifth suspect is South African. It is important in this instance to mention the nationality of the suspects in cautioning members of the public against recklessly employing people without conducting the necessary background checks, De Lange said. She applauded the multi-disciplinary team whose determination and dedication had seen to the successful reunion of the missing child with his parents. African News Agency Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News President Emmerson Mnangagwas advisor Chris Mutsvangwa is fighting attempts to unseat him as leader of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA by opponents emboldened by ructions within the ruling Zanu PF party. Mutsvangwa, who is battling to regain his Norton seat in a primary poll re-run after being hammered by Langton Mutendereki, is already in a weakened position since he lashed out at his boss Mnangagwa and also the partys national political commissar, Engelbert Rugeje, for his election defeat. The Daily News can report rivals in at least three Mashonaland provincial executives of ZNLWVA are agitating for a no-confidence vote in Mutsvangwa. The war veterans chairperson, who has not said whether he will step down voluntarily before his current term ends, has reportedly been deserted by several prominent allies in the war veterans body since ascending to the Presidents Office as adviser to Mnangagwa after the military-assisted ouster of former president Robert Mugabe, amid reports he had become detached from them, and seemingly ignoring their concerns. That sentiment has been cemented after the carnage suffered by war veterans in the Zanu PF primaries, where several of them were defeated and there was silence of the grave from their leadership. In an interview with the Daily News yesterday, Mutsvangwa poured cold water on his reported imminent ouster. He said there was no way he could be relieved of his post by people from the street. Why do you get excited by frivolous things posted on social media? How can a person with no locus standi remove me from power? Only a congress and bona fide chairmen can do that, he said. Before pursuing such a frivolous matter you ask yourself if such a matter is worth your salt as a journalist, added Mutsvangwa. Mutsvangwas arch-rival, Norton independent Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa, who is a former Mashonaland West Zanu PF provincial chairperson, alleged on microblogging site on Wednesday that the ZNLWVA boss was drowning. Was raining, now pouring for Mutsvangwa as Mash West war veterans executive withdraw him from ZNLWVA national executive, Mliswa said. The war veterans accuse Mutsvangwa of being self-centred and only turning to them when things go sour for him personally. ZNLWVA chairperson for Mashonaland West province Cornelius Muoni told the Daily News: My executive never sat to deliberate on such an issue and I dont know where you are getting that information. Efforts to get clarification from Mashonaland Central ZNLWVA chairperson Sam Parirenyatwa on the matter did not yield much. Parirenyatwa said he was not in a position to comment on Mutsvangwas fate because he was locked up in an undisclosed meeting. In an earlier interview with this paper, he had claimed that he was unaware of Mutsvangwas purported ouster. Parirenyatwa, however, tellingly revealed that Mnangagwa had scheduled a meeting today with war veterans but could not disclose the agenda. ZNLWVA secretary-general Victor Matemadanda said he was yet to get finer details what the hullaballoo was all about. I am hearing the news from the media, you are the second journalist to ask me about that today but I have no idea where it is coming from. I am trying to get in touch with the chairperson to find out, Matemadanda said. Factionalism and tribalism in Zanu PF has always been a source of divisions and splits in ZNLWVA since the turn of the millennium. First was a split engineered by Wilfred Mhanda (now late) who broke away to form the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform, which was formed by war vets in 2000 in protest at the anarchy that accompanied government-sponsored seizure of commercial farmland from mainly white farmers who were accused of backing the newly-formed MDC party. In 2011, influential politicians in Zanu PF had attempted to dethrone Jabulani Sibanda, who led the association after the death of its founding chairperson, Chenjerai Hunzvi. The anti-Sibanda camp was a rag-tag team of war veterans led by Buhera South MP Joseph Chinotimba, who alleged the ZNLWVA leader had irregularly dismissed provincial chairpersons from five of the countrys 10 provinces without the national executives consent. At the time, Sibanda was linked to a Zanu PF faction led by Mnangagwa, who was the ruling partys secretary for legal affairs and Defence minister. Those who were demanding his ouster were said to be aligned to a camp linked to the late retired army general, Solomon Mujuru. The two factions are reportedly fighting silent internal battles to succeed Mugabe. While the plot did not succeed at the time, in 2011 there was a simmering fallout within the war veterans association amid calls for the launch of a grouping of the war veterans led by Manicaland war veteran and former army colonel, Shadreck Beta. Beta was pushing for the formation of a non-partisan organisation to represent the former freedom fighters. He set up what he called the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Co-ordinating Committee to spearhead the project. Sibanda was eventually ousted in 2014 after he accused former first lady Grace Mugabe of staging a bedroom coup on Mugabe. Then, the source of the problem was the succession war between Mnangagwa and former vice president Joice Mujuru. The ouster of Sibanda was followed by the rise of Mutsvangwa, who fought in Mnangagwas corner along with the Team Lacoste faction in the debilitating succession battle. Mutsvangwas rise was not without drama as another faction of war veterans backing the Generation 40 faction and led by George Mlala claimed leadership of the association despite a court ruling that Mutsvangwas executive was bona fide. Fast forward to this year, Mutsvangwa is under the cosh from his former comrades who accuse him of being egocentric after the motor-mouth special adviser claimed the Zanu PF primary elections had been a sham. This came in the aftermath of his loss in the Norton constituency primary elections. DailyNews Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News - Malaysia has elected Dr Mahathir Mohamad as its new prime minister; easing out the former prime minister, Najib Razak - At 92 years of age, Dr Mohamad is set to become the oldest prime minister in the world - Citizens were euphoric and jubilated after the results were announced Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former prime minister of Malaysia, is poised to reclaim his old position and become the oldest prime minister in the world, after defeating Najib Razak in a hotly contested election which ended the ruling coalitions six-decade hold on power, UK Guardian reports. Mohamad is 92-years-old and was prime minister between 1981 and 2003. He had won an outright parliamentary majority and led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, to its first election victory since Malaysian independence in 1957. READ ALSO: Boko Haram: France signs 500,000 euros agreement for humanitarian aid provision Legit.ng gathers that he would be sworn in on Thursday, May 11, by the countrys king. Dr Mahathir Mohammed is Malaysia's new prime minister (Photo credit: ABC) Mohamads win marks the end of Najib Razaks nine-year tenure. Razak had come into power in 2009, but his reputation was tarnished by a corruption scandal in which $2.6 billion was embezzled from a government fund he was overseeing. Out of that amount, $681 million was alleged to have ended up in his personal bank account. After the results were announced, there was a mood of euphoria in the country; as some had believed that such an outcome was impossible. A 57-year-old citizen, David Thaiga, who joined his countrymen in the celebration, stated: We are so happy, such a proud day for Malaysia. We have been waiting for this for the past 60 years. This is a miracle for us. And even though I was not a fan of Mahathir, I think he was the only one who could have brought this victory. Another citizen, 84-year-old Sukumira Sekhar, who had witnessed the beginning of Malaysias independence said: Im so happy I survived to see this. I wish I could jump up and down for joy, but be sure my heart is jumping up and down. Im so proud of the people of Malaysia, especially the young people and the Malays who swung it. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that French President Emanuel Macron is currently the youngest president in the world. In May 2017, Macron, who heads the En Marche! Movement became president of France; and although a significant part of the French population supported Marine Le Pen, the victory of the more pro-European Macron did not come as a surprise. Mass burial for our leaders - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit Ramadan prayer is a very important part of the holy month of Ramadan. Nigerian Muslims are expected to follow Islams teaching, read the Holy Quran, and pray. What are Ramadan prayer times 2018 in Nigeria? Muslim praying There is a special calendar that reminds each of us how to celebrate Ramadan holy holiday, honor Allah, develop self-confidence, and respect for people who are not as fortunate. Those people who observe Islam already know all this information. However, those who have just turned into Islam might like some additional tips and exact timing. Ramadan is an incredible opportunity to stay in peace with friends and relatives. Ramadan month is celebrated in Nigeria and all over the world from May 15th until June 14th in 2018. It is also one of the most important times of the year in the lives of Muslim families in different countries, including Nigeria. It is a holy period for all people who honor Islam on our planet Earth. Based on the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is the ninth month of the year. It celebrates the revealing of the Quran (Koran) to Prophet Muhammad on the holy night or night of power. This is the month of fasting from dawn to sunset, growing self-discipline, and respect towards all humans, both rich and poor. This is also the month of Muslim praying. READ ALSO: When is Ramadan starting in 2018 in Nigeria? Islamic prayer time Because Ramadan starts with May 15s sunset, the prayers can start in the evening, midnight or begin on the next day. Starting from early morning on Wednesday, May 16th, you can pray to honor the beginning of the holiday through the end of Ramadan. Here is an accurate timetable of Muslim praying day by day for two major Nigerian cities Lagos and Abuja: Lagos May 15 June 14 May 16, 17 5:10 am (dawn prayer), 18:55 pm (sunset prayer) May 18-22 5:09 am (dawn prayer), 18:56 pm (sunset prayer) May 23 June 12 5:08 am (dawn prayer), from 18:56 pm to 19:01 pm (sunset prayer) June 13-14 5:09 am (dawn prayer), 19:01 pm (sunset prayer) Abuja May 15 June 14 May 16, 17 4:49 am (dawn prayer), 18:43 pm (sunset prayer) May 18, 19, 20, 21 4:48 am (dawn prayer), 18:43 pm and 18:44 pm (sunset prayer) May 22-28 4:47 am (dawn prayer), 18:44 pm and 18:45 pm (sunset prayer) May 29 June 11 4:46 am (dawn prayer), 18:46 pm (sunset prayer) June 12-14 4:47 am (dawn prayer), 18:50 pm (sunset prayer) We have listed the two main Ramadan prayer times 2018 in Nigeria because dawn and sunset is also the time for Suhoor and Iftar meals. At the same time, the Islamic prayer time is also scheduled for other parts of the days. Prayer time can at sunrise (around 6:30 am), at noon (around 1 pm, 4 pm), at night (after 8 pm), and after midnight (around 0:44 am). READ ALSO: When Was Ramadan First Celebrated? Source: Legit.ng News - A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has condemned Senate's summon of IGP Idris - He said that the upper legislative chamber has no constitutional right to summon the IGP - Senate had threatened to sanction Idris after he refused to hounor its invitation in third times A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has said the Senate got it wrong when it asked the president, or the Inspector General of Police to appear before it. Punch reports that he said this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Televisions breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday, May 10. READ ALSO: Former president Obasanjo's coalition finally collapses into ADC, vows to rescue Nigeria Legit.ng gathered that Falana quoted sections of the Constitution to explain that the President or the governor of a state cannot be summoned by the National Assembly. He said: There is no such power given to NASS by the Constitution to summon everybody. It has given the President the discretion to address the National Assembly either jointly or separately on any matter of national importance. The Senate didnt get it right this time around. By virtue of Section 67 of the Constitution, the National Assembly or either chamber can summon a Minister when the affairs of his or her ministries are under consideration. The only other occasion where a public officer can be summoned by the National Assembly is when proceedings are ongoing to expose corruption (Section 88) and when a law is being debated either with a view to amending it or to have a new law entirely. However, the senior advocate stated that the lawmakers can fix areas of the Constitution perceived as weak, rather than going beyond its limits as such actions can subject the institution to ridicule. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Rabiu Yusuf, the commissioner of police in Kano state, has said the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, would not be hindered by campaign of calumny and intimidation in discharging his statutory duties. Street gist: Should the Nigerian senate be scrapped? - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Senator Ovie Omo-Agege says his victory over the Senate is not a defeat for the upper chamber - Omo-Agege expresses satisfaction with the judgment quashing his suspension from the Senate - The Senator says the victory is an experience to test the laws of Nigeria Senator Ovie Omo-Agege representing Delta Central has reacted to his victory at the court describing the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which nullified his suspension and ordered his immediate recall as victory for democracy. Vanguard reports that while reacting to the judgement on Thursday, May 10, Senator Omo- Agege said it was not a victory against the Senate but that it was meant to strengthen the laws of the country. The statement signed signed by one of his aides, Prince Efe Duku, read: "Todays (May 10) judgment by Hon Justice Nnamdi Dimgba rightly nullifying the suspension of the Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is consistent with our firm position that the Senate as a foremost national institution should live consistently by example and set the pace in legislative best practices." READ ALSO: Tears as PDP chieftain Bode George loses 42-year-old son We are grateful to His Lordship, and indeed the entire judiciary, for affirming once again that ours is a democracy guided by the rule of law and constitutionality. We want the good people of this great nation to appreciate this victory for what it is. It is not a victory against the Senate, as there is no war against that great institution. Rather, given his fine understanding of the law, Sen Omo-Agege believes that there are rare moments that demand the intervention of our courts to enrich the law and our constitutional experience. Todays positive judgement is therefore not necessarily for or about him as an individual. It is about ensuring that no lawmaker is removed arbitrarily from serving his or her people. It is about ensuring that constitutionality, legality, good conscience and due process are the cornerstones of public leadership actions and decisions. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app For their increasingly amazing support, Senator Omo-Agege is very grateful to the good people of Urhobo Nation whom he has the great honour of representing in the 8th Senate. He remains absolutely committed to their fine values of justice, honour and humility in service. His special gratitude also goes to his wonderful family, friends, and well-wishers for their prayers and overwhelming support. Above all, this victory belongs to God and to Him we give the glory. Legit.ng earlier reported that the decision of the Nigerian Senate to suspend Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for 90 legislative days was squashed by a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, May 10. In delivering the judgment, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, submitted that the Senate did not adhere to the due process of the law in suspending Omo-Agege for 90 days. Buhari Warplanes Cost Nigeria 496 Million US Dollars | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng The Nigerian Senate on Thursday, May 10, rushed to the Court of Appeal against the nullification of the suspension of one of its members, Ovie Omo-Agege by the Federal High Court in Abuja just as the lawmaker reacted to the judgement in his favour. Vanguard reports that the Senate and its president, Bukola Saraki, who is the second defendant in the case, also filed for a stay of execution of the nullification of the suspension. READ ALSO: Tears as PDP chieftain Bode George loses 42-year-old son The Senate confirmed that it promptly filed a notice of appeal and a motion for stay of execution of the judgement of the lower court. Legit.ng earlier reported that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege representing Delta Central reacted to his victory at the court describing the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which nullified his suspension and ordered his immediate recall as victory for democracy. While reacting to the judgement on Thursday, May 10, Senator Omo- Agege said it was not a victory against the Senate but that it was meant to strengthen the laws of the country. The statement signed signed by one of his aides, Prince Efe Duku, read: todays (May 10) judgment by Hon Justice Nnamdi Dimgba rightly nullifying the suspension of the Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is consistent with our firm position that the Senate as a foremost national institution should live consistently by example and set the pace in legislative best practices. Legit.ng also reported that the decision of the Nigerian Senate to suspend Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for 90 legislative days has been quashed by a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, May 10. In delivering the judgement, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, submitted that the Senate did not adhere to the due process of the law in suspending Omo-Agege for 90 days. Nigerian youths reply to President Buhari over 'lazy' comment | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit Some chieftains of the All Progressives Party (APC) in Imo met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, behind closed-doors without Rochas Okorocha, the governor of the state as crises within the party continue to deepen. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okorocha, who was not in the meeting, was at the vice president wing of the Presidential Villa at the time. The report said the APC leaders at the meeting included the state party chairman, national organising secretary, deputy governor, Senators Benjamin Uwajumogu and Ifeanyi Ararume and some commissioners. READ ALSO: It is not a victory against the Senate - Omo-Agege reacts after flooring upper chamber in court Okorocha had earlier met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura and later the vice president as he pushed for the cancellation of the congresses. A little drama, however, ensued when the APC delegation came out of the meeting. They had initially declined to speak with State House correspondents, but changed their mind when they saw Okorocha telling the correspondents that a new date for the congresses would be announced by the party. The governor said: There will be new congress; there was no congress at all in Imo state, and it is very clear that even the supporting documents and videos show that there was no congress. INEC has confirmed no congress, security agencies have confirmed no congress, the party leadership has confirmed no congress, and the party chairman has spoken no congress. And, nobody came to the field, the result sheets were missing and it was traceable to the national organizing secretarys house (Sen Izunaso) and all of a sudden the chairman of the panel disappeared from his house at 6pm in the evening. How could there have been congress? The matter is being investigated by the security agencies Continuing, the governor asked If all these have been established, why did you (the APC chieftains) have to come with your delegates to see the VP? I didnt come for this meeting. On his own part, Theodore Ekechi, the spokesman for the Imo APC delegation and a former commissioner for information and strategy said the meeting with Osinbajo was very eventful. We are grateful for the opportunity and privilege to tell the other side of the story. I think by our presentations we have successfully deflated all the lies that have been peddled all over the country and within the state. I think by our presentation today, we have been able to state clearly that congresses clearly and really held. What did not take place in Imo state last Saturday was simply that we resisted the temptation, the intimidation, the blackmail to write the results of the congresses in the Government House, Owerri. What did not take place last week is that we said the old has passed away and things are going to be done anew in Imo state. In other words, not one man determines the results of the congresses in the 305 wards of the state. It is very clear that APC has returned to the owners of the party, that is the people. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app You saw all those who came with the governor, his son-in law and newly recruited commissioners. But here you are, this is Imo State, here we have the deputy governor of the state, the only elected senator of the south east under APC, former speaker house of assembly, Imo state, another former speaker house of assembly, he said. Legit.ng earlier reported that Governor Rochas Okorocha also declared that his party has derailed and now behaving like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari Warplanes Cost Nigeria 496 Million US Dollars | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng Festus Keyamo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buharis 2019 campaign organisation, has described the oncoming election as a battle between forces of darkness and light. He made the comment on his Twitter handle, @fkeyamo, on Thursday, May 10. READ ALSO: APC is taking Nigerians for fools - OBJ Legit.ng notes that Keyamo also described the 2019 polls as a battle between the forces of corruption and patriots. He opined that the poll is not just a contest for power; if not, people like him would not leave their comfort zone to take on the task. "The 2019 election is not just a contest for power. If it were to be so, some of us would not come out of our comfort zone to take on this task. It is a battle between forces of corruption and patriots; between the tin gods of Nigeria and the masses; between the forces of darkness and light," Keyamo wrote. As he tweeted: Reacting to his tweet, some Nigerians said the 2019 election is not about APC vs PDP. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a day after his appointment as the director of strategic communications for the Buhari campaign organisation, senior lawyer, Festus Keyamo revealed the reasons he decided to accept the offer announced in a letter on Tuesday, April 17. Keyamo said this in a lengthy response to the shades of opinions that greeted his appointment. He revealed that he was actually consulted before the appointment and that he accepted it for the good of Nigeria and for posterity. The next president of Nigeria. Who will win the 2019 elections? - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit Newspaper The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 56 suspected bandits and criminal militias in connection with killings in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna state and Zamfara areas. The suspects are: Abdullahi Abubakar , 35, gang leader; Halidu Musa, 34, principal suspect; Mohammed Ruwa, 30, principal suspect; Mohammed Sani, 30, principal suspect and Dahiru Yahaya, 38, principal suspect, among others, NAN reports. Legit.ng gathers that the Force spokesman, ACP Jimoh Moshood, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, May 11, said that the suspects who were in five groups were also responsible for armed robberies, cattle rustling and dealing in firearms in the areas. Moshood said that items recovered from them include: three SMG rifles, one foreign made AK52 rifle, two foreign made AK47 rifles, 41 locally fabricated AK47 rifles, three beretta pistols and one Kral magnun pistol, among others. READ ALSO: Saraki to sponsor Christian, Muslim pilgrimages He said that the gang led by Mohammed Rabiu was arrested after four members of the gang were killed by the Police Joint Team in a shootout in the forest at Bawan Daji, Anka local government area of Zamfara. He confessed to have been responsible for the killing of 46 people during the burial of three people that his gang killed earlier in Bawan Daji village in Zamfara," he said. The inspector-general of police, Ibrahim Idris, recently paid an operational visit to Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state to assess the security situation following killings in the area. Moshood said that Idris, during the visit, approved the creation of one Police Area Command and two new Divisional Headquarters. The spokesman said he also ordered the immediate deployment of additional 200 personnel and 10 patrol vehicles to beef-up security in Birnin-Gwari to Zamfara to flush out armed bandits in the area. He said that the arrest followed the deployment of the Joint Police Special Team under the supervision of the commissioner of police for Kaduna state. This operation which is still ongoing has been yielding positive results and culminated in the arrest of the above mentioned vicious armed bandits and militias terrorising the areas, he said. Moshood said that the suspects would all be charged to court on completion of investigation. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that armed bandits killed 45 people at Gwaska in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state in another fresh attack. The bandits were said to have stormed the village around 2:30pm in large numbers on motorcycle. They were said to have started shooting at the villagers immediately they arrived, killing 45 people including children. Southern Kaduna killings: part 1 - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit - Governor Nasir El-Rufai urges people of Kaduna central senatorial district to vote his political adviser for the Senate - He tells the people of the state to conduct themselves with civility during the local government election coming up on Saturday, May 12 - The Centre for Information Technology and Development criticises El-Rufai over alleged inciting statements credited to him Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has endorsed one of his aides, Uba Sani, to contest for the senatorial position of Kaduna central senatorial district, the same zone Senator Shehu Sani currently represents at the National Assembly. Premium Times reports that El-Rufai made the endorsement during a state wide APC campaign rally at the local governments that make up the Kaduna central senatorial district. He urged the people of the zone to vote his political adviser in place of Senator Shehu Sani. READ ALSO: APC is taking Nigerians for fools - OBJ The governor also called on the people of the state to conduct themselves with civility during the local government election coming up on Saturday, May 12. He said: It has been my privilege this week to lead the APC team as we campaigned across Kaduna State. We have been thrilled by the enthusiastic reception we have received everywhere we have been, from the rolling hills of Sanga to the plains of Soba, from Zaria to Zango-Kataf. I wish to thank the people of Kaduna State for giving us a warm welcome. The APC looks forward to you expressing the same vigorous support by electing our candidates to lead the 23 local government councils that our reforms have turned into better instruments of government. As we campaigned, we have engaged with our people and shown what we are doing to make life better across the state. There is no zone without at least 300 projects. Within our limited resources, this government has invested in Education, Health, Roads and Water. I urge every resident of Kaduna State to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner and respect the integrity of the voting process. Let us all ensure that our local government elections of 12 May 2018 set an example of orderliness and respect for democratic processes." PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Nasir El-Rufai has been condemned by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) over his recent statements against three senators representing the state at the National Assembly. It was reported that the governor had in audio/video clip that went viral on social media, made hateful comment and call to action statement against Senators Shehu Sani, Danjuma Laah and Suleiman Hunkuyi. In a statement signed by Hamza Ibrahim, CITAD urged El-Rufai to as a matter of urgency withdraw his comments and caution his supporters against engaging in any form of violence, Daily Trust reports. Lets talk about salaries of Nigerian senators | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Bishop Emmah Isong has said that there are so many killings of Nigerians in Cameroon - Isong disclosed how a man was recently shot despite pleadings that he was not a militant - He said if the blood flow should not stop now, Cameroon might turn to another Rwanda The national publicity secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Emmah Isong, on Thursday, May 11, alleged the killings of Nigerians in Southern Cameroon. Punch reports that Isong, who condemned the act in a statement issued regretted that his brother-in-law was one of the innocent persons recently killed by the Cameroonian gendarmes. He said, There are so many killings in Cameroon especially the southern part. Last Friday in Ekondo Titi, some gendarmes moved into the villages and assassinated my brother-in-law in broad daylight, shooting at sight on any male or youth. READ ALSO: APC is taking Nigerians for fools - OBJ The entire rural areas have become deserted. In one of the operations, they shot a man who was lying on a sickbed right on the chest, despite pleadings that he is not a militant. Much innocent blood has been shed silently and my worries are not that I have lost a relation but my questions are- What is the government gaining by arbitrarily eliminating the lives of the young Cameroonians. Cant the governments of France, United Kingdom or the United States of America intervene in this genocide? Do we still have the role of the United Nations in defending the poor harmless English speaking citizens of a poor African nation? PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app How long will this last and cant the President Paul Biya-led government look for dialogue which the people are requesting? If these people are accused of killing soldiers in retaliation, how many civilians can the soldiers then kill to avenge and who will help us count? Please, help Cameroon not to turn to another Rwanda please, please, please, the blood flow should stop now. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that at least 17 people were reported killed over the weekend in clashes linked to a symbolic declaration of independence by Cameroons anglophone minority, sources said on Monday, October 2. Amnesty International said that, at least 17 people were killed by security forces in the countrys two English-speaking regions, a figure that concurred with a toll given by official sources, who added that two Nigerians were among the dead. Fayose announces his presidential bid, expects an honest victory over Buhari - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng - Soldiers in operation Idon Raini engaged in a gunfight with bandits - Eight of the bandits were killed while others escaped with wounds - Nigerians have been urged by the army to provide useful information that will lead to the arrest of the escapees Eight bandits have been killed by troops of the One Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Gusau in an exchange of gunfire in Maru Local Government area of Zamfara. This is contained in a press release signed by the assistant director, Army Public Relations, Major Clement Abiade, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Thursday, May 10. He said the army was now carrying out clearance operations in the state nicknamed Operation Idon Raini. READ ALSO: Protest rocks Edo APC secretariat over ward congress According to him, the troops encountered the bandits in the bushes spanning through Dansadau, Kabaro and Sangeko villages, all in Maru local government area of the state. Apart from those killed, many of the other bandits escaped with various degrees of bullet wounds and may now be seeking medical help. We are therefore pleading with members of the public to give us any useful information that will lead to the arrest of the escapees and all other criminals that carry unprovoked attacks on innocent citizens," he said. The army spokesman also disclosed that five motorcycles as well as five rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition belonging to the fleeing bandits were recovered by the troops on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force arrested 56 suspected bandits and criminal militias in connection with killings in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna state and Zamfara areas. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The suspects are: Abdullahi Abubakar, 35, gang leader; Halidu Musa, 34, principal suspect; Mohammed Ruwa, 30, principal suspect; Mohammed Sani, 30, principal suspect and Dahiru Yahaya, 38, principal suspect, among others, NAN reports. Legit.ng gathers that the Force spokesman, ACP Jimoh Moshood, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, May 10, said that the suspects who were in five groups were also responsible for armed robberies, cattle rustling and dealing in firearms in the areas. Southern Kaduna killings: part 1 - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state on Friday, May 11, described the senators representing the state at the National Assembly as cursed. El-Rufai also stated that the lawmakers were the enemies of the people of Kaduna state. The governor in a Facebook post cited pages of the Quran when describing the senators as deceivers and hypocrites. READ ALSO: APC is taking Nigerians for fools - OBJ Read El-Rufai' s post below: Read a screen grab of the post below: Some social user users however faulted El-Rufai's comments, describing them as not fitting for a sitting governor. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Read reactions below: El-Rufai has been having a running battle with the current three senators from Kaduna and is expected to try to replace them. Legit.ng had reported that the governor recently lashed out at senators from the state for their roles in the rejection of the 350 million dollars World Bank loan for Kaduna state. Senator Shehu Sani who represents Kaduna central, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, the senator representing Kaduna North, Senator Danjuma Laah, a PDP senator who represents Kaduna South all spoke against the loan on the floor of the Senate. El Rufai who made his feeling know on Facebook accused the senators of elevating their personal frustrations above the rights of the people. Meanwhile, Hassan Hyat, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna state has lambasted Governor Nasir El-Rufai over his alleged inciting comments against the three senators from the state. The PDP chairman said this while receiving some defectors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zonkwa, Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna state, on Monday, May 7, This Day reports. APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - Kwara state police command has paraded former police spokesman's son, Lanre Mohammed Soliu, alongside other cultists in Ilorin - He was accused of murder and membership of Aiye confraternity cult group - Soliu was arrested on Tuesday, May 8, after a manhunt for him over alleged killing of late Yemi Bayero of Ago market, Ilorin The Kwara state police command on Thursday, May 10, paraded one of the sons of a former police public relations officer of the state who is also a traditional chieftaincy holder in the Ilorin emirate, Lanre Mohammed Soliu, for alleged murder and membership of Aiye confraternity cult group. Daily Trust reports that the suspect, aka Askari of number 13, Ile Nda compound, Emir's palace Ilorin, was arrested on Tuesday, May 8, after a manhunt for him over alleged killing of late Yemi Bayero of Ago market, Ilorin. READ ALSO: Former president Obasanjo's coalition finally collapses into ADC, vows to rescue Nigeria Legit.ng gathered that the suspect, who was paraded in Ilorin by the state commissioner of police, Aminu Pai Saleh, alongside five others, had confessed to have carried out the killing with one Abolaji Safti Ojulari, Adeyi and Tiro. The suspects paraded in Ilorin by the Kwara state police command The CP, who also paraded an alleged notorious cultist, Abolaji Safti Ojulari, male, of Kankatu area of Ilorin metropolis, said that the suspect alongside 13 of his accomplices had killed 11 people, including a notorious hoodlum Bayo Ajia, between 2016 and 2018. "The suspect was arrested on May 5, 2018 after a manhunt. He has been in the command's wanted list for over two years. He lives at Kankatu area Ilorin where he was hiding. He confessed to be an active member of Aiye confraternity. He also named his 13 accomplices", he said. The police boss also paraded one Azeez Mayaki, male 26, who was arrested on Tuesday, saying that the suspect had confessed to killing of one Lateef on February 2, 2018 at Ode Alfa Nda Ilorin. "Also, one Suleiman Babatunde, male 26 of Gambari area of Ilorin was arrested after a discreet investigation linked him to killing of one Owolabi, male at Amilegbe area of Ilorin in July, 2017 with one accomplice, Olaitan." The suspects paraded in Ilorin by the Kwara state police command Also paraded were Yusuf Habeeb and Umar Yahaya for alleged criminal conspiracy and being members of secret cult. The suspects, among others who fled, were arrested while congregating at Kangile village, via Royal valley estate, Ilorin. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The police commissioner, who said that all the arrested suspects would soon be charged to court, advised criminal elements in the state to shun criminal acts, adding that the command was prepared to run them out of circulation. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Special Anti-Cultism Squad (SPACS) of the Anambra Police Command declared that it has arrested eight suspected cultists at Umuezeagu village, Anaku community in Ayamelu local government Area of the state. Legit.ng visits family attacked by Badoo cult group - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - The accused, Tatenda Mukanganwi, reportedly went violent after he was ordered to be remanded in prison custody - Tatenda Mukanganwi took off the microphone and attempted to hit the magistrate with it - The situation was calmed by prison officials at the court A serious drama played out at the Bikita Magistrates court in Zimbabwe recently when a man who was facing charges over alleged indecent assault reportedly went violent warning and threatening to beat up the trial magistrate. The Herald reports that the accused went violent following the magistrates decision to further remand him in custody. READ ALSO: APC chieftains in Imo meet Osinbajo behind closed-door inside Aso Rock over crisis, Okorocha absent The report says Magistrate Caroline Tafira and other people in the public gallery fled the court after the accused, Tatenda Mukanganwi, 22, who was docked, went violent. He was accused of allegedly fondling a fellow female villagers chest against her wish and was reported to the police. Are you serious that you want to send me to jail because you have failed to execute your duties? I am going to teach you a lesson today (Friday) and you will never forget me! You dont know me well. You are very young to handle such a case, Mukanganwi shouted at Tafira when he was ordered to be remanded. The report added that the accused then grabbed the microphone and its cables and tried to hit the magistrate with them. Not done, he further grabbed court papers closed to him and threw them to the ground, forcing people in the public gallery and the magistrate to flee. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The situation was, however, calmed when prison officials overpowered him. The remand is to enable the authorities check his mental health. Legit.ng earlier reported that the police in Nigeria recently re-arrested all the six suspects who were declared wanted after allegedly fleeing from its custody in Kogi state on March 28. In a statement released by the police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said that Kabiru Seidu (aka Osama), Nuhu Salisu (aka Small), Aliyu Isa, Adams Suleiman, Emmanuel Audu and Musa Mohammed who were under detention at the A division Lokoja allegedly escaped from lawful custody, hours before they were due to be arraigned in court in Lokoja, the state capital. Buhari Warplanes Cost Nigeria 496 Million US Dollars | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - Senator Shehu Sani has said that Governor Nasir El-Rufai should undergo psychiatric attention - El-Rufai had reportedly stated that the lawmakers representing the state at the Senate were the enemies of the people of Kaduna state - Sani said many violence conflicts around the world were caused by utterances such as the one made by El-Rufai Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna central senatorial district at the National Assembly, has demanded that Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, be made to go through psychiatric examination to ascertain his mental state. Sahara Reporters reports that Sani made the demand in a letter addressed to the chief medical director, federal neuro-psychiatric hospital, Kaduna. READ ALSO: Former president Obasanjo's coalition finally collapses into ADC, vows to rescue Nigeria Legit.ng gathered that in the letter dated May, 7, Sani stated that El-Rufai's recent expletive-ridden speech, in which he called on the people of the state to visit violence on the three senators representing them, entitles him to the attention of a psychiatrist. It was gathered that while addressing a meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders in Kaduna, on Friday, 4, the governor had asked the people of the state to "shave the heads and beards of Messrs. Sani, Suleiiman Hunkuyi and Danjuma Laah when they come to Kaduna." The governor, who spoke in Hausa, was angry that the three senators opposed his administration's bid to obtain a $350millioon loan. The Senate rejected the governor's request on the ground that his state is the second most indebted in the country. El-Rufai, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, also called the senators useless, saying God will curse them. Audio clip of the address subsequently went viral. In his letter, Sani said given the brittle security situation in the country and Kaduna state particularly, a call for violence on he and his two colleagues could only have been made by a diseased mind. "This open call to violence, disorder and inflammatory predisposition of the speech of a man, who occupies an exalted office, is in my humble opinion, symptomatic of a paranoid personality disorder. It is in the safe interest of the state and the nation that the mental state of the governor be clinically and professionally verified," said Sani. While noting that the constitution does bars people of unsound mind from occupying public office, Sani said many violence conflicts around the world were caused by utterances such as the one made by El-Rufai, whom he said called on one group to attack another. Sani stated that the Tribunal of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has criminalised the type of utterance made by El-Riufai and considers such as verging on genocide and other crimes against humanity. "The cases of Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya among others readily come to mind here. It is against this backdrop that I request that, as a matter of urgency, conduct clinical mental examination and analysis of the extract from this recent speech of Governor El-Rufai here attached," said the senator. Sani added that there is a need to criminalise conduct, which seeks to use violence as a means of gaining personal and political advantage, as the next general elections approach. While awaiting the response of the chief medical director, Sani said he would immediately initiate, in the Senate, the process for inclusion in the Electoral Act of provisions compelling elective holders to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Such office holders and their appointees, Sani added, must also be made to undergo tests for substance abuse before being elected or appointed. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state on Friday, May 11, described the senators representing the state at the National Assembly as cursed. APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Lagos zonal office, in the early hours of Friday, May 11, arrested over 12 suspected internet fraudsters in the Ikoyi area of Lagos as efforts to rid Nigeria of internet fraud continues. A statement by the EFCC said its operatives stormed the popular Club 57 on Awolowo Way, Ikoyi, where the suspected yahoo yahoo boys were rounded up, following intelligence report. Legit.ng learnt that while some of the suspects abandoned their exotic cars to avoid arrest, others put up resistance, thereby turning the environment into a war-like zone of sorts. READ ALSO: APC chieftains in Imo meet Osinbajo behind closed-door inside Aso Rock over crisis, Okorocha absent Crowd gather as EFCC personnel storm the night club. Credit: EFCC The statement said a total 10 cars were recovered from the suspects during raid that lasted about three hours. A stationed vehicle used in conveying the suspects. Credit: EFCC The suspects will soon be charged to court when investigations are concluded, the statement said. Legit.ng earlier reported that the Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC recently arraigned Ilesanmi Babatunde Yemi, a final year accounting student of Ekiti State University, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state. Yemi was arraigned on Thursday, April 26, on a five-count charge bordering on alleged advanced fee fraud and money laundering. According to the EFCC, the travail of Babatunde, 31, followed a petition alleging that he engages in internet love and romance scams. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Legit.ng also reported how a certain Li Min, a Chinese national, told an Ikeja special offences court how his Nigerian business partner refused to pay for goods he delivered to him which amounts to over N68 million since 2013; leaving his life in shambles. Li Min, speaking through an interpreter, narrated how the defendant, Lawrence Maduagwu, had approached his company with a proposition for business in Nigeria. Maduagwu reportedly promised an availability of market and customers and assured Li Min that goods delivered would be promptly paid for. Source: Legit.ng The general secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Musa Asake, has died in Abuja after a brief illness. His brother and former member of the House of Representatives, Jonathan Asake, told the Punch newspaper that the Musa died on Friday, morning, May 11. Yes, he died this morning, we are right now in the mortuary. I was with him yesterday (Thursday) in his house, he stated. READ ALSO: Nigerian student Lolade Siyonbola stands up to a racist Yale schoolmate Musa Asake's death comes about two weeks after he led a nationwide protest called by CAN against the killing of Christians by suspected Fulani herdsmen. In another report, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has declared a one-year prayer project for peace and harmony in Nigeria following the alleged killing of citizens by suspected herdsmen and armed gangs. President of the PFN, Rev Felix Omobude on Tuesday, April 24, also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to deal with the ugly security situation in the country. Omobude in a press statement in Benin, decried the mindless blood-letting in the country and called on calling on Christians and non-Christians alike to join in the prayer exercise holding from May 1, 2018 to April 31 2019. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He also said the continuous incarceration of the Dapchi school girl, Leah Sharibu, by the Boko Haram sect was worrisome. Omobude said Leah should not be made to continue to suffer inhuman treatment in the hands of Boko Haram members because of her refusal to renounce Christianity and accept Islam as her religion. Nigerian herdsmen vs Nigerian farmers on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - The National Judicial Council has recommended 21 judges for appointment as chief judges and judicial officers in various states - The appointment cuts across both conventional courts and Sharia courts - The judges will be sworn-in after the approval of the president and their respective state governors as the case may be Twenty one judges have been recommended for appointment as chief judges and judicial officers in various states by the National Judicial Council. The judges recommended for appointed include judges of the conventional courts and Sharia courts. Legit.ng notes that the spokesperson for NJC, Soji Oye, made the announcement in a statement on Friday, May 11. READ ALSO: WHO hopes to deploy vaccine after fresh Ebola outbreak in DR Congo The statement read: "The National Judicial Council under the chairmanship of the Honourable Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen (GCON) at its 86th Meeting, which was held on 8th and 9th May, 2018, recommended the under-listed names of twenty-one (21) successful candidates as heads of courts and judicial officers for the federal/state high courts and the code of conduct tribunal." They are: 1. Appointment of chief judge, Kebbi state i) Hon. Mr. Justice Elizabeth A. Karatu 2. Appointment of chief judge, Katsina state i) Hon. Mr. Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar 3. Appointment of grand kadi Katsina state i) Hon. Kadi Alhafiz Mikail Abubakar 4. Appointment of president, customary court of appeal, FCT i) Hon Justice Abbazih Musa Abubakar Saddeeq 5. Appointment of (2) judges, high court, Niger state i) Bilikisu Gambo Yusuf ii) Ishaku Usman 6. Appointment of three (3) judges, high court, Borno state i) Musa Mustapha ii) Baba Gani Karumi iii) Waziri Alhaji Abubakar 7. Appointment of three (3) judges, high court, Kogi state i) Husaini Alhasan Saidu ii) Zubayr Saliu iii) Ruth Alolo Alfa 8. Appointment of two (2) judges, high court, Gombe state i) Muhammad Haruna ii) Fatima Musa 9. Appointment of two (2) Kadis sharia court of appeal, Gombe state i) Muhammad Inuwa Gombe ii) Hadi Aminu 10. Appointment of four (4) Kadis sharia court of appeal, Gombe state i) Ahmad Muhammad Gidado ii) Mustapha Lalloki iii) Dalha Bashir Ahmad iv) Atiku Muhammad Bello 11. Appointment of one (1) member, code of conduct tribunal i) Julie Abieyuwa Anabor "The newly appointed candidates will be sworn-in after the approval of the president and their respective state governors as the case may be," Oye said. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the National Judicial Council (NJC), under the chairmanship of Honourable Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, at its 85th meeting held on Wednesday, March 14, recommended the compulsory retirement of two judges. The two judges recommended for dismissal were Theresa Uzokwe, chief judge of Abia state and Obisike Orji of Abia state high court. The council said that the development was in compliance to the report of two panels that investigated allegations against Uzokwe. Protesters embarrass Lagos Chief Judge on women's day - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng News Nigeria's apex court, the Supreme Court, has dismissed a petition against Governor Mohammed A. Abubakar's electoral victory in 2015 almost three years later. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Abdullahi Tanko Orlando, had earlier challenged the outcome of the party's 2015 gubernatorial primaries, taking it up to the Supreme Court. Governor Abubakar has won a three year legal battle at the apex court. Photo source: Twitter The presiding judge, Justice Utterle, maintained among other things that one cannot bring pre-election matters after election has been conducted. The judgement of the case ST/854/2015 was delivered in favour of Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, the sitting governor of Bauchi state, ending a three year legal battle More details later. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, the National Judicial Commission (NJC) has recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Michael Goji a judge of the Adamawa state high court and appointed 21 judicial officers for eight states and the FCT. The decision, which was reached by the NJC on Wednesday May 9, after its 86th meeting presided by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, also resolved to suspend the judge pending his retirement. The NJC also recommended 21 judges for appointment as chief judges, grand Kadi, high court judges, Sharia court Kadi. Nigeria is practicing Oligarchy (Nigerian Street Interview) on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost and its board are about to poke a stick in the eyes of California municipalities and other government bodies that are having to cut other spending in order to pay rising pension bills.1 At an upcoming board meeting next week, Marcie Frost, through the convenient mouthpiece of a compensation consultant, is asking the board to adopt principles and make further recommendations on pay design that are guaranteed to fatten her wallet. If CalPERS wants to give right-wing pension haters an easy headline, this is just the way to do it. How does the short presentation written in soporific expert-speak make clear that the pay increase fix for Frost is in? Because the consultant, Grant Thornton, has chosen a comparative group against which to score Frosts pay. Per the documents embedded at the end of this post, Theyve already found that shes at the 25th percentile based on some measures. Notice that the compensation consultant reached this general conclusion in 2015. The former CEO, Anne Stausboll, announced her retirement in January 2016, effective as of the end of June. The time to have reset CEO salary and rewards was then, in context of a search. To do so now, with a CEO in place is featherbedding and as well discuss below, a violation of fiduciary duty by wasting trust assets.2 Put it another way: if the board really believes its rationalization for handing Frost more money, that the CEO position deserves more pay because thats what it takes to hire someone sufficiently qualified, they are effectively saying she is not fit for the role. That means they should approve the new pay package, fire Frost, and hire someone who has the education, credentials, and experience needed. Mind you, this recommendation to develop a new pay scheme for Frost comes after she already set up a back door increase, in terms of having her maximum bonus elevated last year by 18%. CalPERS board astonishingly has been giving Frost outstanding ratings and so increasing attainable bonus was a stealthy device for virtually assuring her of higher comp plenty soon. Seeking even more in the way of pay increases is unseemly given CalPERS underfunding. On top of that, CalPERS is also likely to raise Frosts pay via another mechanism, by making it all salary. In March 2018, the Committee directed CalPERS team members to bring back an action item with options for a fixed compensation model (salary only) for the CEO position, in addition to other compensation plan options for consideration. Notice also that if you read this months materials (the document embedded at the end of this page plus this agenda item summary and a supporting short set of slides), there is no detail on pay proposals. Weve discussed before how this process works at CalPERS as a way to get the board to commit to decisions blindly. The board is asked first to adopt a policy with is usually put in such apple-pie-and-motherhood terms that it is hard for the board to turn it down. Then when the specifics are presented down the road, they are framed as the logical and therefore inevitable outcome of the earlier policy decision, even though the policies are often so broad that they allow for a lot of room in terms of implementation. First well discuss why executive compensation consultants are in the business of recommending heftier pay packages. Then well discuss in more detail why increasing Frosts pay and making it all salary is indefensible. The Executive Compensation Consultant Racket and How It Guarantees Ever Rising Pay Weve written repeatedly, virtually from the inception of this website, how the executive pay racket works. Despite the pretense that the consultant advises the board, in a corporate setting, almost without exception, they are screened by the HR Department, who reports to the CEO. The consultant knows full well whose interests they need to serve if they are to be welcome in C-suites.3 The executive comp consultant scheme is arguably the largest single driver of why CEO pay becomes a bigger and bigger multiple of ordinary worker earnings. The compensation hired hand, as it has with CalPERS, defines a universe of supposedly comparable companies and then scores their pay.4 They persuade their clients that they should target at least being at the 50th percentile. Many opt to be at the 66th or 75th percentile. This process guarantees permanent employment for compensation consultants and ever-more-lucrative pay for the executives that are their real clients. It also assures that companies that wind up with top employees that wind up in the bottom half (or below even higher target levels) will increase their compensation enough to get them in the cool kids club. That moves other companies into the pay losers bucket, who then via their existing scorecards or special ministrations of the compensation gurus, will then move their pay levels up. Why Increasing Marcie Frosts Pay Level and Making It All Salary Is Not Justified Even though the odds greatly favor the deeply captured CalPERS board throwing yet more money bouquets at Frost, this change cant be defended. Frosts pay level is obviously competitive for her qualifications, as evidenced by the fact that shes in the job. The logic of the compensation consultants analysis is You need to pay what the market demands. We already know what the market price for Marcie Frost is. She hit CalPERS bid. Another way to think of it is that Frost is indeed properly paid even if she is at the 25th percentile. She is only a high school graduate. She makes it clear far too often that she is in over her head at CalPERS. Consider two fresh examples: It was utterly reckless, amateurish, and evidence of deeply misguided priorities for her to have gotten on the phone, even worse, on the record, with reporter Mike Hiltzik to defend Chief Financial Officer Charles Asubontens resume fabrications. And she managed to make this utterly bone-headed move even worse by making the call jointly with Asubonten. That means she was making herself responsible for what he said. She clearly had not made any effort to check the allegations, otherwise she never would have stuck her neck out. From a governance standpoint, it was completely inappropriate to make any comment until the matter had been investigated. Her speaking to Hilzik further suggests she did not intend to take that step, despite the fact that it was obviously necessary to protect the organization. Frost appears so naive as to think she and Ausbonten could talk Hiltzik out of writing his piece, or get him to write a tepid article despite the extent and the solidity of the evidence against Asubonten. In other words, Frosts ego and her personal attachment to Asubonen were more important than doing what was right for CalPERS. And as we discussed yesterday, Frost has yet again given Asutonen the CalPERS seal of approval by scheduling him to run virtually all of next weeks Finance and Administration Committee. That means either CalPERS has made a sham investigation and has decided to keep him on despite him having unquestionably having told multiple, verifiable, material lies on his resume, or for some perverse reason, the investigation has been dragged out, presumably because Frost hopes laffaire Asubonten will blow over. In other words, the justification for the business as usual stance is that as long as the investigation is open, Asubonten should be allowed to carry on. But no staff member has a right to speak to the board. Having him appear in the absence of CalPERS being able to say hed cleared him of press allegations looks like Frost is in deep denial as to how badly her handling of this incident reflects on her. The second example came up in passing in our post on the voting by phone shenanigans in the 2017 CalPERS board elections. Frost made a series of lame misdirections to cover up for what her own e-mail presented as the destruction of evidence by a CalPERS vendor that was subject to a litigation hold. And the obviously bogus excuses were for Frost to try to evade her duty to provide a board member with a document shed requested. Even worse, Frost apparently parroted a transparently false technology story. As many readers said, the fact that she didnt recognize how passing that on would discredit her also suggests she is not competent to oversee an operation where IT is a significant component of its activities and risks. Raising Frosts pay is tantamount to a gift to her and thus a violation of fiduciary duty. As we indicate yesterday, Anne Stausboll, who clearly had a better track record as CEO of CalPERS than Frost has had so far, and was also much better skilled and credentialed (she had been Chief Operating Investment Officer and had a law degree) was unable to land a job after leaving CalPERS. The board is not attempting to justify this prospective pay increase as warranted by Frosts performance. Nor is there any reason whatsoever to think that someone might bid Frost away. That means that paying her more would be an unjustified gift and a waste of beneficiary funds, which is a violation of fiduciary duty. Making Frosts pay all salary contradicts of the principles it uses to pay senior staff, and separately amounts to another de facto pay increase. Why should the CEO be exempt from the idea that people should be paid for performance? Frost has allegedly offered the rationale that it somehow creates a conflict of interest with her staff in reviewing them. No public company takes this point of view, and as a manager of beneficiary assets, performance does matter at CalPERS. And do not forget that making Frosts cash rewards all salary, unless the overall pay level were reduced, which does not appear to be in the cards, is in and of itself a pay increase. The current CalPERS board is so wedded to the idea of paying its top executives performance bonuses whether or not warranted by setting absurdly lax targets and even then paying them when they are not met that they appear to have forgotten that a salary is an assured payment and a bonus is not. But if beneficiaries keep electing less captured board members, that too can change. Paying Frost all in salary undermines CalPERS credibility as an advocate for better corporate governance. It is hard to take an institution that doesnt embrace paying only for performance seriously when it complains about CEOs being paid out of line with the results they deliver. Increasing pay at the top level of CalPERS when some California government bodies are under serious budget strain thanks to higher required contributions is guaranteed to create more hostility and bad press. Frost and the CalPERS board needs to get out of their Sacramento bubble. As a result of its underfunding, CalPERS no longer gets the benefit of the doubt from the press or California taxpayers. Having the CalPERS board give Frost and some other top staffers and departments more compensation runs the very real risk of this being taken up as proof of how CalPERS is perfectly content to see government budgets burn as long as its own are taken care of. As we indicate above, if CalPERS needs to pay more when filling specific open positions, thats a more gradual and defensible way of increasing compensation levels over time. It could also conceivably use that to justify targeted pay increases for particular units.5 That could in turn make it desirable to give staff more latitude to offer more pay for roles now deemed to be underpaid, and perhaps allow some adjustment to pay levels for people at the same pay grade in the same group when that occurs. But this Gimmie because we think its overdue approach is tone deaf and has real potential to do harm. _____ 1 In case you are new to this site, we are strong supporters of workers having strong retirement protection. It would be vastly better to have retirement incomes funded at the Federal level. The fix most public pensions in America are in is almost entirely the result of self-inflicated wounds, the biggest being overly optimistic return assumptions, or even (as in the case of New Jersey starting with Governor Christie Todd Whitman) deliberate decisions leading to underfunding, with the result that many public pension funds are somewhat to deeply underfunded. There are pension systems in the US that are in fine financial shape, as are most in Canada, where the public pensions used much lower return assumptions than their typical US counterparts. Given CalPERS underfunding (even with market valuations at nosebleed levels, it was only 71% funded at the end of last year), it is politically tone deaf to contemplating a salary increase. 2 Multiple people close to CalPERS contacted us to voice opposition Frosts prospective pay raise, including employees, one of whom described her as exceptionally incompetent. Note that anyone senior enough to interact directly with Frost would have an incentive to back her getting higher pay, since it would be consistent with bringing many other deemed to be not high enough compensation packages up. And for the record, Margaret Brown was not one of them. 3 The pretense that the comp consultant really works for the board is even thinner at CalPERS than at most organizations. Even though the executive compensation consultant is indeed one of the advisors in theory hired by the board, even the policy language says they merely reserves the authority to approve the procurement of services. With the fiduciary counsel, the staff reviews and scores the candidates, gives them a recommendation, but at least allows the board to interview them, which historically has been done in public session. Any counsel is arguably a more sensitive assignment than a compensation consultant. Former board member JJ Jelincic says during his eight-year tenure on the board, he cannot recall the board ever screening a compensation consultant in public session. 4 It is quite clear that some of the companies in the comparative universe dont belong there, most importantly, the heads of major corporate defined benefit plans. It is hard to imagine that any of them would be interested in going to a public pension fund because pretty much all of them are political cesspools. The only exception might be someone who had a genuine interest in public service and/or making a transition to getting into politics, and would accept the proposition that a public sector job would be less well remunerated. 5 Unless CalPERS is able to create a new job classification, it may be have binding limits on how much it could pay a new hire relative to what people at the same skill level in the same unit are making; under California Government Code Section 20098, CalPERS has latitude over the pay for certain specified positions like Chief Actuary and its General Counsel as well as others defined as managerial; presumably, justifying what to pay for these roles is why the various comp consultants ares advising CalPERS in the first place. Having said that, on the one hand, its common to have pay bands for various job grades; on the other hand, it arguably be divisive and demotivating for new hires to be paid well over what people who are doing pretty much the same work are earning. Winnie Flynn led the Mid Tipp Hillwalkers A walk last weekend. They started in Kings Yard and from there made their way to Temple Hill, where they had lunch, then Knockaterrif Beg, Knockaterrif and back to Kings Yard, four and a half hours, great sunshine (lots of sunscrean) and spectacular views over to Galtymore and surrounding areas, Josephine Tobin led the B walk on a circuit of Coumshingaun. Beautiful day, looking down on clouds over south coast. Hundreds of walkers out enjoying lake and circuit above. Tina Bourke and Brid Ryan Bourke led the Ramble which headed to Durrow, where in glorious conditions walked around 12km. The group of 13 meandered through the leafy loop and had a carpet of bluebells and the scent of garlic in the air. We encountered new four legged friends, celebrated Lithuanian mothers day and finished our walk with cooling ice cream cones sitting in the green in Durrow. Rock Climbing This year a shortened rock climbing season in Ballykeefe is planned to begin on Tuesday, May 29, and to continue on the two following Tuesdays, June 5 and 12. Departure will be at 6.20pm from opposite the Horse and Jockey hotel. Beginners welcome to join us on the first night. Dates for your Diary Friday, May 25: Friday walks return. Tuesday, May 29: First of three Tuesday rock climbing season. Sunday, June 3: Extended Sunday Ramble. This coming Sunday (May 13) A and C walks leave from opposite the fire station in Cashel at 11am. New walkers are welcome to come along, feel free to join us in Cashel at 11am. Just bring boots, suitable clothes and a packed lunch. A change of clothes and particularly footwear for after the walk is also strongly advised. The full programme of walks is now on our website at www.midtipphillwalkers.ie or Facebook. For further information visit the website or Facebook or call Dan Condren at 087 2273082. Arrabawn Co-op achieved a record revenue year in 2017, with turnover soaring by 25% and suppliers reaping the benefits through a 37m increase in milk payments, the companys annual report shows. After a positive 2016 when turnover was at 199m, last year saw revenue rise again, to 249m. From a supplier perspective, average milk price was all of 10c up on 2017 to 37.45c/lt. Milk supply increased by 9% to 361m litres. The very positive year for the Nenagh, Co. Tipperary headquartered co-op, which has suppliers across Tipperary, Galway, Offaly, Limerick, Clare, Westmeath and other counties, also saw ebidta up from 9.5m to 10m and a strong operating profit of 4.7m achieved. Shareholders funds also increased from 47.8m to 51.1m, with shareholder value now having grown by 36% over the past five years. In terms of commodities, butter prices were at unprecedented unseen levels at over 7,000 per tonne. With intervention available for skim milk powders, the protein market was also supported, also helping to bolster the strong milk price. Arrabawns strong performance was aided by the co-ops 40m investment programme over the past five years. This continued in 2017, including at its liquid milk processing plant at Kilconnell. The completion of the current investment programme at the plant in the first half of 2018 will deliver significant spare capacity, with the Co. Galway site capable of processing 150m litres per annum. Further investment was also made at the companys Nenagh operations, particularly through an effluent plant upgrade to bring it in line with environmental best practice. The companys agri business also had a very strong year with excellent growth in all categories. The performance of the new store in Tyone on the outskirts of Nenagh was very strong, validating the wider investment programme that this year will also see work on another new flagship store begin, this time on the outskirts of Athenry. Feed sales in 2017 also surpassed all previous records, growing 17% to 150,000 tonnes. Said Arrabawn CEO Conor Ryan: 2017 was a very successful year by any standards. Ultimately, we were able to pay out an additional 37m to our suppliers, which averages out at 40,000 per supplier. This significant increase was off the back of a positive 2016. There has been a very significant growth in milk supply, coming predominantly from existing suppliers but we are also seeing new entrants to the market. The increase in supply has resulted in further investment requirements commencing last year and this will continue throughout 2018. Arrabawn Chairman Sean Monahan said, The performance in 2017 validates the investment strategy undertaken by Arrabawn this decade. We were competitive through 2016, but 2017 saw us in a positon to pass on significant milk price increases to our suppliers, reflecting market returns. We have also worked closely and supported our existing suppliers and new entrants through this growth phase across a range of initiatives. A youth who shouted die you bastard, die as he seriously assaulted a man in his 60s, leaving him in residential care and a fate worse then death, has lost an appeal against the severity of his six year jail term. Graham Meagher (21), with an address at Kilcaroon, Clogheen, Co Tipperary, had pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to PJ Kelly (66) at that address on June 12, 2014. Mr Kelly suffered brain damage as a result of the serious assault with a pokerstand. He cannot communicate, is currently in residential care and may have to be retaught how to do basic human tasks. Meagher was sentenced to eight years imprisonment with the final two suspended by Judge Thomas Teehan at Clonmel Circuit Criminal Court on May 10, 2016 He lost an appeal against his sentence today(Friday) with the Court of Appeal holding that this case was almost a text book example of a serious assault of the most serious kind. Giving judgment in the three-judge court, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said Meagher lived with Mr Kelly at a home that was used by individuals described as having a bad influence on Meagher. Mr Justice Mahon said Meaghers father came to collect him on the day in question and, when he was awoken, he noticed some of his personal belongings were missing. Meagher was wrongly convinced his property was stolen by Mr Kelly and he came downstairs and he subjected Mr Kelly to a very serious and violent assautl. Meagher struck Mr Kelly a number of times with a pokerstand and, as he was doing so, shouted die you bastard, die. Mr Kelly sustained a devastating brain injury and is now in residential care. He will never recover from the injuries he suffered and will always be dependent on others. Mr Justice Mahon said the assault appeared to be out of character for Meagher. Although he had a number of road traffic convictions, he had no previous convictions for violence. The offence was committed weeks after he turned 18 and he came from a dysfunctional background. Mr Justice Mahon said there could be no doubt that the assault was very serious by any measure. He said the words uttered by Meagher - die you bastard, die - and the dreadful consequences suffered by Mr Kelly combined to make that observation obvious, if not understated. Mr Justice George Birmingham remarked during counsels submissions that phrases such as a fate worse than death come to mind referring to Mr Kellys injuries. Mr Justice Birmingham said the consequences for Mr Kelly were shocking. He suffered brain damage to the extent that he cannot communicate and would be institutionalised for the rest of his life. In a victim impact statement, Mr Kellys family said their husband, father and grandfather would answer yes or no to certain questions but when asked the same questions again, the answers my be different. Medical staff are not sure how much he understands and he may have to be retaught how to do basic human things. He will never be able to live alone again. Continuing with his judgment, Mr Justice Mahon said criticism of the sentencing judge for placing the offence in the highest range of seriousness was entirely misconceived. He said a a ferocious assault with a heavy metal poker stand, which left the unfortunate victim with devastating consequences, was almost a text book example of a serious assault of the most serious type. Mr Justice Mahon, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said a sentence of eight years with two suspended was within the judges discretion (and within the range envisaged by the Court of Criminal Appeal in DPP - v - Fitzgibbon), and suggested no error in principle. The appeal was therefore dismissed. Tipperary Fine Gael general election candidate Garret Ahearn is encouraging the public to support Darkness Into Light this Saturday at 04:15am. Pieta Houses flagship fundraiser takes place at locations in Tipperary and across the world, aimed at winning the wars against suicide and self-harm. Speaking to The Nationalist on the eve of the 10th annual global movement against suicide and self-harm, Ahearn says providing the necessary mental health services is a huge issue in Tipperary and across the country. We had a very well attended meeting on mental health services in Clonmel last week with Tipperary's Fight for Mental Health Services group, Ahearn says. The month of May is a time when we try to build awareness of mental health with the Green Ribbon campaign, a national campaign that my brother founded where everyone wears a green ribbon to change the stigma around mental health, Ahearn continues. Ahearn plans on fighting to improve mental health services in Tipperary. The services in Tipperary aren't up to the standard that should be expected and its quite similar in a lot of counties outside of Dublin. It's something that I personally will be fighting very hard for. If you go to A and E at South Tipperary General Hospital with a mental health issue, you are just left there with everyone else which is totally unexceptable. Overcrowding at South Tipperary General Hospital [is interlinked with mental health and] is a massive issue that needs to be tackled. Hopefully the opening of the primary care centre in Carrick-on-Suir will take some pressure off. Minister for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly has acknowledged that there are challenges in Tipperary - the closure of St. Michaels has caused huge problems. There is not one bed in Tipperary that is specifically designed for someone suffering with mental health issues - they go to Cork or Kilkenny. He is committed to ensuring that out of the new 40 or 50 beds coming into South Tipperary General Hospital, 10 or 12 of those beds will go to the psychiatric ward. Thats not what everyone wants - some people would lobby very hard to reopen St. Michaels but at least this is one step in the right direction". Ahearn says Tipperary needs a spokesperson in Government to fight their corner and get the required services for the county. We will have a bit of money to spend in the next Budget and to think that we have no one in Government fighting our corner on behalf of Tipperary is a real issue for the county. It is easier for a county to be represented when we have a representative in Government, he adds. The Secretary General will visit the United States of America from 16-18 May, as part of the Secretary General's consultations with Allies in the run-up to the NATO Brussels Summit in July. Secretary General Stoltenberg will have a meeting with The President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump. He will also meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and other senior officials. Still photos and video images will be available on the NATO website. At the invitation of the French authorities, the North Atlantic Council chaired by NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will visit the Republic of France on 14-15 May 2018 to participate in a Conference on the Cyber Defence Pledge. During the visit, the Secretary General will also have meetings with the President of the French Republic, H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, the Minister for the Armed Forces, H.E. Mrs. Florence Parly, and the President of the Assemblee nationale, H.E. Mr. Francois de Rugy. These meetings are scheduled as part of the Secretary General's consultations with Allies in the run-up to the NATO Brussels Summit in July. The Secretary General will also deliver a speech at the Ecole Militaire Paris. Still photos and video images will be available after the events on the NATO website. (Natural News) Its no secret that vaccines are not the innocuous beacons of health and well-being that they are presented as being. There are countless stories from parents and pet owners whove witnessed their loved ones suffering after inoculation. Despite these reports of rapidly declining health, vaccine propagandists deny responsibility but, scientists like Dr. Judy Mikovits are out there, revealing the truth about vaccines, including whats actually in them and how harmful they can really be. As it turns out, aluminum adjuvants and mercury-containing Thimerosal arent the only things you need to be wary of when it comes to vaccines. Injections destined for both human children and pets have been found to contain endogenous retroviruses setting the stage for viral contamination to take hold, with recipients none the wiser. Sayer Ji, of Green Med Info, explains that vaccine manufacturing is still dependent on use of live animal and human cells (diploid, fetal) as master seed stock. The true risk of using these cells was unknown at the industrys inception. While there are newer techniques being used and developed, old school live-cell vaccines are still on the table and are part of the Center for Disease Controls childhood vaccine schedule, even today. Ji notes that past research has raised questions about contamination in veterinary vaccines in particular, such contamination could be the source of leukemia in cats (which is now startlingly common in felines). What is a retrovirus, really? As Judy Mikovits, Ph.D., explains, retroviruses are part of a group of RNA viruses known as RNA tumor viruses. Retroviruses function differently than typical viruses because they only have an RNA genome to work with. She writes: In most viruses, DNA is transcribed (or written) into RNA, then RNA is translated into protein. Retroviruses, on the other hand, work differently. A retrovirus works by reverse transcribing, that is writing backwards into DNA by using an enzyme only retroviruses encode called, Reverse Transcriptase (RT). This creates whats known as a provirus, which then inserts itself into DNA using another enzyme, called integrase. Ultimately, retroviruses will encode other key genes to form a viral particle known as a virion. These particles cannot be formed without the help of a dividing cell from the host. Retroviral genes can be found in virtually all animals, including humans. While they have played a key role in human evolution, Mikovits notes that exogenous and endogenous retroviruses, aberrantly expressed in humans, have been shown to be responsible for the development of many chronic diseases. Retroviruses in vaccines Retroviruses are in vaccines; cross-species contamination with retroviruses in particular, has been a massive problem. As Sayer Ji notes, there are many examples of cross-species retroviruses causing disease. Most notably, retroviruses from mice have been found to induce lymphoma in their hosts and in humans, some mouse-related retroviruses have resulted in leukemia. Six percent of Americans are estimated to have a mouse-related retrovirus. As many as 20 million people in the United States alone are thought to be infected with a retrovirus. And as Mikovits notes, we can all thank the vaccine industry for that, thanks to their use of animal by-products in vaccines. Its important to note that not every person infected will go on to develop a serious condition; many times, these viral agents go unnoticed or perhaps more accurately, unreported. The plague of retroviruses in vaccines pose a threat to humans and pets alike and its very real. While other contaminants, like mercury and aluminum, have garnered massive amounts of attention, retroviruses have been flying under the radar. Vaccines have all but devolved into disease-causing cocktails, and retroviruses are just one more reason to be wary of them. Read more about hidden dangers in vaccines at Vaccines.news. Sources for this article include: GreenMedInfo.com WorldMercuryProject.org (Natural News) It takes a vigorous team effort to clean up pollution. Nowhere is that more clear than in nature, and a groundbreaking Canadian study sheds an informative light on the intricate teamwork between tiny bacteria, fungi, and willow trees to restore polluted environment, according to a Science Daily report. Researchers from McGill University (McGill) and Universite de Montreal (UdeM) drew inspiration from the ability of hardy, fast-growing trees to not only survive in heavily polluted areas, but also to clean up the toxic heavy metals and petroleum by-products that contaminated the soil. The willow tree, in particular, was well known for this ability to remove pollutants and restore soil quality. This natural cleansing process is called phytoremediation. Willows accomplish this by creating secondary metabolites, specialized compounds that help plants cope with environmental stressors like pollutants, through a biological mechanism called secondary metabolism. (Related: Tannins from the miracle tree, a hybrid of the mimosa tree, found to be an effective treatment for many chronic diseases, including cancer.) The joint Canadian research team took a closer look at these vital processes by examining the roots of willow trees in a Montreal suburb that was contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. They implemented techniques that could detect the creation of gene products like metabolites by more than one organism in an ecosystem. This looks like a clean-up job for Mother Nature According to the results of their study, the willows ability to thrive and clean up polluted environments is not a one-species job. Instead, it derives from closely-linked relationships between the tree and the microorganisms that live in its roots and the soil. The researchers report that hydrocarbon pollutants in the soil were broken down by a cooperative effort between several types of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the roots of willow trees and a species of Enterobacteriaceae in the soil. The aforementioned fungi are symbiotic microorganisms that form sheaths around the roots of plants, while the bacteria are some of the microbiota in the soil. Both willow trees and fungi react to pollutants by altering their relationships with the microbiota in the soil. Rather than undergo secondary metabolism themselves, they encourage the growth of Enterobacteriaceae populations. Enterobacteriaceae produce the necessary secondary metabolites that can break down petroleum hydrocarbons into usable nutrients like ammonia and nitrite. While the bacteria uses some of these for themselves, they also transfer the nutrients to the fungi and the tree as part of their three-way mutually beneficial relationship. Teamwork saves the environment We normally approach genetics by limiting the investigation to single organisms or domains of life, mentions lead author Emmanuel Gonzalez, a McGill researcher who specializes in bioinformatics at the Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics. The researchers adopted the bigger picture approach by looking at the genetics of all the subterranean organisms involved instead of limiting themselves to just one species. To their surprise, this made the process of phytoremediation much easier to understand and follow. Furthermore, they have come to believe that it is natural for organisms to interact and cooperate with each other, rather than the exception caused by the polluted circumstances. Our initial mind-set was that bioinformatics and biology could be more profoundly integrated to see the diversity of function within a challenged root system, remarks biologist Nicholas Brereton, who works at UdeMs Plant Biology Research Institute. This quite quickly led to technical improvements in how we could observe gene expression across multiple life-forms, leading to new environmental biology discoveries. Just like how the willow tree and its symbiotic fungi and bacteria work together to break down pollutants, Brereton suggests breaking down the professional barriers between practitioners of different scientific disciplines. Find out more about Mother Natures amazing processes at Ecology.news. Sources include: ScienceDaily.com MicrobiomeJournal.BioMedCentral.com What to Know Deputies responded to Highland High School in Palmdale after multiple reports of gunfire at the campus A 14-year-old boy was taken into custody at a shopping center and a rifle was recovered in the desert north of Los Angeles One person was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries A shooting at Highland High School in Palmdale Friday left a student wounded and a former student in custody, authorities said. The injured student, a 15-year-old boy, was driven to a hospital by a parent who was dropping her daughter off at school shortly after the 7 a.m. shooting at the campus in the 39000 block of 25th Street West. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder area and was hospitalized in stable condition, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Jim McDonnell said at an afternoon news briefing. The 14-year-old male suspect was taken into custody at a Vons grocery store about a mile from the campus. There were no reports of any other injuries. McDonnell said the sheriff's department was contacted by an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer who initially apprehended the suspect after being contacted by the boy's father about 7:40 a.m. A Highland High School student told KNX Newsradio that he saw the teen suspect emerge from a bathroom with a rifle-type weapon, which he randomly pointed at people. The student said the suspect looked at him and told him to run, which he did, shouting at other students to do the same. McDonnell identified the weapon as an SKS with 7.62 rounds. The rifle was recovered from a field between the school and where the boy was apprehended. A parent told KNX that his wife was dropping their daughter off at the school when the wounded student ran up to her car, shouting "He shot me! He shot me! I don't know why he shot me!" The woman told the boy to get into her car and she drove him to a nearby hospital, the parent said, adding that his wife was interviewed by sheriff's deputies and was told the "little boy is going to be fine," but he "didn't know who shot him." The shooting was initially reported as an active shooter, prompting a massive response from law enforcement, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. About 30 minutes after the high school shooting was reported, the sheriff's department also responded to a call of gunshots being heard at the nearby campus of Manzanita Elementary School in the 38600 block of 33rd Street East, but those reports turned out to be unfounded. Sheriff's Capt. Darren Harris said earlier that deputies believe the suspect was acting alone. There was no immediate word on a motive for the shooting. The suspect fired about 10 rounds and told his father that he had fired into the air, McDonnell said. All schools in the area were placed on lockdown while law enforcement swarmed the high school campus, and nervous parents began gathering nearby, anxiously hoping to retrieve their children. The lockdown at Highland High School was lifted around 10:20 a.m., and students were being released to parents on Avenue P-12 south of the campus. McDonnell said the sheriff's Palmdale Station fielded nearly 100 calls in the minutes after the shooting. A warrant was served at the boy's home about 11 a.m., McDonnell said. That investigation is continuing. The high school and others in the Antelope Valley Union High School District will be open on Monday with counselors on hand, an assistant superintendent said. The suspect used to attend Highland High School but his family transferred him to another school, officials said. A 15-year-old Heritage High School student in Brentwood was airlifted to a hospital after he was struck in the back of the head by a 12-pound shot put Thursday. The incident occurred on the high school's track and it is unclear whether the incident was intentional or accidental, officials said. The teen was flown to John Muir Medical Center's trauma center in Walnut Creek where he got three staples in the back of his head before being released the same day. No other information was immediately available. David Brown was driving home from work just before 8 p.m. Thursday when he was forced to detour off his usual route as police tape blocked sidewalks and streets near his South Side Chicago home. "I thought it was just a shooting or something cause that's what's happening out there," Brown said. After pulling into his driveway, Brown called his wife to try to let her know he planned to walk back to the nearby crime scene in the Chatham neighborhood to see what happened. She never answered. Once there Brown got a phone call from his grandchild's daycare saying his "grandbaby" had not yet been picked up. "I said, 'That's impossible, [my wife] went up there at 6 o clock,'" Brown, a minister, said he told the daycare. "They said 'Nope.' I said, 'Oh my God.'" Brown rushed back to his home only to find his wife was not there. "That made me go back to the scene [again] and talk to the police and ask," he said. "I told them my wife might be missing. I thought maybe she had the grandbaby or something but I had to go pick her up." At the scene, authorities said a woman had been struck and killed during a police chase. Brown was told he needed to go to the University of Chicago Medical Center. "They had four names," he said, tears streaming down his face. "Julia Callaway, they had it on a pad." Callaway, 55, was hit by a car while walking on the 7900 block of South Lafayette Avenue less then a mile away from her home at around 5:33 p.m. Thursday, according to Chicago police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m., officials said. The grandmother, who leaves behind two daughters, was one of two people struck in the police chase, officials said. The other pedestrian hit was a 30-year-old man, who was treated at the scene. Police were attempting to conduct a traffic stop on a gray sedan near 81st Street and South Evans Avenue when the vehicle fled. Neighbors said they heard a large boom, then saw a man and woman both lying on the ground. The car went on to hit an SUV a few blocks away. Three males jumped out of the car after it crashed and attempted to run away, according to police, but were taken into custody. Officers said narcotics were recovered from inside the vehicle. Further details on the suspects' ages and identities were not immediately available and charges were pending. Brown said his wife usually didn't walk down Lafayette to pick up their grandchild. "What made her go down Lafayette? I don't know," he said. The couple, who had been married for 17 years, were planning to go shopping Thursday night, an early Mother's Day gift, Brown said. "Now that money's being used to funeral services," he said. After James Mastricola Upper Elementary School relocated eight classrooms of students and spent $600,000 last year, bats returned to the Merrimack, New Hampshire, school for the second time. "I didn't feel comfortable sending him to school yesterday until we got more information," said Missy Warrington, a parent at the school. Warrington wanted more information on what has been flying around her son's fifth grade classroom. "We've had a couple bats in the building," said Marsha McGill, principal of the elementary school. "We had one in the classroom the other day." McGill said students evacuated and the rabies-carrying rodent has been captured, but some parents are still concerned about sending their kids back to the school. "I was a bit hesitant to send him again today, but we did because he wanted to go back to school, for one thing," Warrington said. "We talked about what he'd do if there was a bat there in the room, and being safe." This is the second time the school has had a problem with bats. The rodents were first found hibernating in the school's walls back in November. "Everything inside was cleaned and prepared for students to go back into their classrooms in April," McGill said. Now, New Hampshire Critter Control will use pipes to solve the problem for good. "We systematically seal up the exterior of the building and we install special one way valves that allow the bats to exit the structure but not re enter," said Jessie Fraser of Critter Conrol. An "armed and dangerous" suspect who allegedly stole and ditched a Maine police cruiser while handcuffed was seriously injured when he crashed another vehicle during a high-speed chase with authorities. State police confirm the chase involving 22-year-old Tyler Tibbetts ended on Route 15 in Corinth Friday afternoon, when the vehicle he was driving crashed into trees. Tibbetts was seriously injured after being pinned inside the wreck as a result of the crash, and a medical helicopter took him to Eastern Maine Medical Center for treatment. It's still unclear to investigators how Tibbetts got another vehicle. He was alone at the time of the crash. State police said a fully-marked Dexter police cruiser was stolen from Garland Road around 11:30 a.m. Friday. It was later found abandoned off of Parkman Road in Garland about 90 minutes later. Tibbetts allegedly was in handcuffs at the time of the cruiser theft. Authorities warned nearby residents he was considered armed and dangerous. No officers were injured in either the theft in Dexter or the high-speed crash in Corinth. No other details were immediately available. Tens of thousands of drivers use the Illinois Tollway every day and one of the keys to a smooth ride is a working transponder. But imagine the surprise of learning how a few back-and-forth trips on the Tollway system could send you to collections. Vincent Kaczmar of Michigan City, Indiana, said he drives the Illinois Tollway several times a year to head to medical and dental appointments in Chicagos western suburbs. I got my transponder from day one and I found a very nice place to put it, Kaczmar told NBC 5 Responds. But Kaczmar said a mix-up with his transponder and license plate classification led to him owing more than $900 in fees and penalties for unpaid tolls. They werent picking up the transponder for some reason, Kaczmar said. Kaczmar said he visited an Illinois Tollway customer service facility last year and learned that there had been a prior mistake involving his license plate classification. At that point, Kaczmar said he thought the issue was settled. But several months later he received calls from a debt collector. Kaczmar said he tried getting the issue resolved once-and-for-all, but with no luck. NBC 5 Responds asked Illinois Tollway to investigate Kaczmars concerns. A spokesperson called it a complex situation. A Tollway customer service representative reviewed his records and corrected Mr. Kaczmars I-PASS account to accurately reflect the classification of the license plate on his vehicle, Dan Rozek of Illinois Tollway. That discrepancy in license plate classifications had prevented the Tollway from using video tolling to collect Mr. Kaczmars tolls when he traveled on our roadways without his I-PASS transponder. But after NBC 5 Responds got involved, the Tollway said it worked with its legal department and offered Kaczmar a settlement that would allow him to pay only the $22.50 he owes in unpaid tolls. We have reminded Mr. Kaczmar that I-PASS customers are required to always travel with a transponder in their vehicles, Rozek said. Kaczmar insists he followed the rules regarding his transponder. Still, he said not having to pay the $900 is a relief. Youve done a world of good for me, he said. New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart is dropping out of the race for governor and will instead run for lieutenant governor, according to a Connecticut Republican Party official. "When the numbers don't work in your favor, they don't work," Stewart said at a news conference. The revelation comes as the Connecticut GOP begins its convention Friday at Foxwoods. Stewart said she will use her superdelegate vote for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton's gubernatorial bid, but stopped short of a full endorsement. Stewart entered the governor's race in March, much later than the rest of the crowded field. Her planned running mate, Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei, supports her decision and is dropping out of the race for lieutenant governor, Stewart said. Stewart won her first of three terms as the New Britain's mayor in 2012 becoming, at the time, the youngest mayor of a city of New Britains size in the country. A former nurse at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville is accused of sexually assaulting an inmate. Connecticut State Police said 46-year-old Dana Gibson turned herself in on an active arrest warrant Wednesday. According to the arrest warrant application, Gibson was a registered nurse employed by UConn Health and assigned to the Radgowski Correctional Facility under Correctional Managed Health Care (CMHC). The arrest warrant application states at a male inmate told investigators he was having a relationship with Gibson in March, and that the relationship had been going on for five or six months. The inmate said the relationship started when he was assigned as a worker in the medical unit. According to the documents, the victim said he came forward because he was tired of looking over his shoulder and worrying about what would happen, and that he wanted to end the relationship but did not know how. The victim told police he and Gibson never had intercourse, but had other sexual contact. When approached by investigators, Gibson admitted to having a relationship with the inmate, but denied there was sexual contact when she learned State Police would be notified. She also opted to resign from state service, the warrant said. Investigators discovered phone calls and letters exchanged between Gibson and the inmate. In some of the recorded phone calls, Gibson discussed oral sex, according to the warrant application. After several interviews, Gibson admitted to sexual contact with the victim, the warrant states. Gibson is charged with second-degree sexual assault. She turned herself into police and was released on a $25,000 bond. She is due in court on May 24, 2018. Two people died in a head-on crash on Route 44 (New Hartford Road) in Barkhamsted Friday, according to fire officials. Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Assistant Chief Shawn Wainman confirmed two people were killed in the crash, which was near the Barkhamsted-New Hartford line. Police identified the victims as 61-year-old Keith Gillespie, of Avon, the driver of one of the vehicles. The driver of the other vehicle, Devin Gilbert, 24, of Barkhamsted, was also killed. A passenger with Gilbert, 22-year-old Kevin Kulinski, of Barkhamsted, was airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries. Pleasant Valley Chief James Shanley said the vehicles involved were both commercial trucks. "One looks like a landscape contractor, the other is a plumber type contractor," Shanley said. LifeStar was tied up during the incident, so helicopters from New York were called in. "The two helicopters came from New York Lifenet. Frequently we use them as backup when LifeStar is tied up," Shanley explained. Shalney said he does not believe that affected response time. Route 44 was closed between Route 181 and Route 219 for hours. NBC Connecticut has confirmed a school district investigation is underway in New Britain after two students brought weapons to the Frank DiLoreto Magnet School in mid-April. School sources have questions about how the incident was handled by the principal. The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters obtained a copy of the letter that was sent to fourth-grade families by the principal of the school; Alejandro Ortiz. It states two fourth grade boys were immediately suspended after bringing a box cutter and knife to school. But sources familiar with the situation said theres much more to the story. The boys plan, according to sources, was to harm students and staff, with a specific threat on one female teacher. Im in shock, the school isnt known for any of that, New Britain parent Edna Ramos told NBC Connecticut. Ramos didnt know anything about the incident or the letter. Theres no date on the notice, but two sources familiar with the situation said the incident happened on Tuesday April 17, 2018, and the letter went home a week later on April 24, 2018. The students were initially suspended for three days, but sources said after a meeting at school, it was changed to an eight day suspension. According to district policy bringing these kinds of weapons to school is a felony and is subject to expulsion. Ramos said she is shocked. I know they didnt have a shut down or anything," she said. Ramos 6-year-old daughter is in kindergarten. Ramos now has questions for those in charge at school. They shouldve just notified everyone, not just the fourth grade, fourth grade, first grade, second grade and kindergarten all those kids walk through the same halls, Ramos added. Sources said the principal had no plans of notifying impacted staff after the incident or calling police or the Department of Children and Families. Sources told NBC Connecticut it was a teacher who first contacted DCF and police two days after the incident, adding It was not handled appropriately or in a timely manner and lives were at stake. The kids are terrified and unfocused and it is not a healthy atmosphere. New Britain Police said they were called April 19th. Officers investigated a threat and it was turned over to the youth division here at police headquarters. Officers followed up with the families and determined everyone was safe at the time. New Britain superintendent Nancy Sarra declined an on camera interview. In a statement, Sarra told NBC Connecticut our primary goal is to ensure the safety of all New Britain students and staff. We are currently in the process of an internal investigation and are working to bring it to a close as soon as possible. Parents we spoke with are divided in their feelings about how this was handled. While some were upset, others told us theyre satisfied with the response and trust how the principal dealt with the situation. Sixth grade dad Phil Lewis didnt realize anything happened until we showed him the letter. I know the kids were probably dealt with, Lewis stated. NBC Connecticut has tried to speak with Principal Ortiz by phone and email and has not heard back. Three school board members for the district told us they had not been made aware of the incident. District officials expect an update next week. You could say Sharon St. Amand, of Waterbury, has been dealing with an identity crisis every time she opens her wallet. The last name on her drivers license reads Stamand, and for decades, shes been pleading with the Department of Motor Vehicles to correct it. After years of frustration, she turned to NBC Connecticut for help. At 64 years old, St. Amand has had her license since age 16. For nearly 50 years, she says, her last name has appeared without a space or period due to a typographical error and software limitations at the Connecticut DMV. I said its S-t-period, capital A-m-a-n-d, she said, recalling an exchange with a DMV employee in 2010. And she said, well we cant add a period. Our computers wont allow us to add the period. She tried asking the DMV to use a space instead, or even spell out Saint Amand. No dice. [The clerk] said, I cant do that because thats not your name. We have to spell it exactly the way it is on your birth certificate. I said its S-t-period [on my birth certificate]. She said, and I told you we cant put a period in. So I left DMV as Sharon Stamand once again. Like many Connecticut residents, St. Amand uses her drivers license as her primary form of identification. Aside from the sheer annoyance, Sharon said the discrepancy between her license surname and her legal surname has caused her some legitimate difficulties. It doesnt match whats on her social security card, birth certificate or other legal documents. She said thats caused her problems registering to vote, using her health insurance and applying for credit cards. In 2015, the DMV implemented a $26 million software upgrade and Sharon hoped that would include a fix for the problem affecting her and other Connecticut residents with similar last names, but during a return visit for license renewal in January 2018, she left disappointed once again. You can put a man on the moon, but you cant put a period or a space on someones last name? she said. So she called NBC Connecticuts Connect-A-Thon in February and asked for help. Now, three months later, a solution appears to be on the way by early summer. The CT DMV sent the following statement to NBC Connecticut in response to our inquiries on St. Amands behalf: We recognize that this limitation within our license system is an issue, and while its a relatively complicated fix, we have been proactively working on it for several months. Our license system does not allow a space to be typed in a persons first or last name. Were working on a modification to allow for this space and hope to have it done by early summer. We know that this limitation can cause issues for our customers and we are pleased to soon add more flexibility to our license system. This modification will allow a space in the first and last name fields so our license system more closely matches other identification documents we require customers to present when applying for a learners permit, drivers license or ID card. This modification to allow for a space is being completed with existing resources and became easier to make after other changes were recently completed. To be clear, our license system has not been updated in many years and is not the same as our vehicle registration system, which was upgraded in 2015. Our license system is an older, pre-existing system that we hope to modernize in the near future. Sharon St. Amand was overjoyed to receive the update this week. Do you know Ive been fighting and fighting and fighting with them for the longest time? she said. I have cousins who are St. Ange. Theyre going to be so happy to no longer be Stange! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Impact on Travel: NBC Connecticut reached out to the Transportation Security Administration for how such a name discrepancy might affect airline travelers. In a statement to NBC Connecticut, TSA said: This is a list of all the various forms of ID that are acceptable for domestic air travel: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification For any passenger without a valid ID there are still options to vet that individual and allow them to travel (from TSA.gov): In the event you arrive at the airport without valid identification, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly. The TSA officer may ask you to complete an identity verification process which includes collecting information such as your name, current address, and other personal information to confirm your identity. If your identity is confirmed, you will be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint. You may be subject to additional screening, to include a pat down and screening of carry-on property. You will not be allowed to enter the security checkpoint if your identity cannot be confirmed, you chose to not provide proper identification or you decline to cooperate with the identity verification process. TSA recommends that you arrive at least two hours in advance of your flight time. Impact on Voter Registration: We also checked with the Secretary of States office to find out how such discrepancies could affect notarized documents and voter registration. A spokesperson replied: Generally speaking, notaries do need current ID and they are told that if they are comfortable with the ID, meaning it is reasonable to believe that the person in front of you is who they purport to be, then it is ok. On the voter file side, we are able to handle names like that without the period by adding a space between the two surnames (in this case, for example, as St Amand) largely without issue. If you have a story for us to look into, contact news@nbcconnecticut.com. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are discussing ways to safeguard special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible ties between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia, NBC News reported. Talks about a "Plan B" are unfolding after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring legislation to the floor for a vote that would have protected Mueller, Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. A draft of the bipartisan bill passed the Judiciary Committee last month. There has been considerable public debate on whether President Donald Trump will fire Mueller, but much concern also stems from the possibility of Trump replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel probe. If that were to happen, Muellers investigation could be greatly impacted. The discussions on protecting Mueller, Blumenthal said, "involve assuring the evidence is preserved and reports are done if the special counsel is fired or other political interference is undertaken by the president." A suspected stalker who police say continuously texted her alleged victim for months was arrested Tuesday, a month after allegedly breaking into his Arizona house and being found in his bath. Jacqueline Ades, 31, was arrested for a first time in April when a resident of Paradise Valley, Arizona, called police to say he saw her on his home surveillance system. The resident knew Ades he first reported her to police in July for allegedly continuously texting him even though he no longer wanted contact with her, according to a news release from the Paradise Valley Police Department. Ades allegedly sent the victim 65,000 text messages, including one that said, "Oh what would I do w ur blood! I'd wanna bathe in it," NBC affiliate KPNX reported. Ades was again arrested on Tuesday and booked on stalking, threatening and harassment charges as well as a warrant for failing to appear at a court date connected to the April trespassing incident. NBC reached out to the Maricopa County public defenders office for comment on Ades' behalf. Ades was first reported to police in July, when they found her parked outside the home in the Phoenix suburbs, police said. Soon after the incident, she allegedly began sending threatening texts to the Paradise Valley man. She was reported at the residence in December but police didn't find her there, according to police. The victim was out of the country when she allegedly broke into his house on April 8, but he saw her through home surveillance video and called police, according to the release. Officers found her taking a bath and arrested her; she was charged with trespassing and released, but allegedly continued to text the victim threatening messages. Ades was found last week outside the victim's business in nearby Scottsdale claiming to be his wife and removed by that city's police. When Paradise Valley police found out about the incident, officers searched for her and took her into custody without incident. Embracing his role as party leader, President Donald Trump issued a stern warning at a rally Thursday that Democrats would disrupt the economic progress of his administration, imploring Republicans to mobilize during the 2018 midterm elections. Trump used one of his signature rallies in northern Indiana to paint a rosy picture of his presidency, pointing to low unemployment, "booming" job growth and optimism under his watch. Two days after Indiana wrapped up a divisive Republican Senate primary, the president praised a lengthy ticket of House and Senate candidates by name and predicted Democrats would dismantle his agenda if they regained control of Congress. "You have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue to make America great again," Trump said, referencing his 2016 campaign slogan. The president, who was joined at the Elkhart rally by home-state Vice President Mike Pence, said Democrats would raise taxes, "destroy your jobs and they are going to knock the hell out of your border." Chief among his targets: Indiana's Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, who faces Republican businessman Mike Braun in what is expected to be one of the nation's most competitive Senate races. Trump branded Donnelly as "Sleepin' Joe," assailing him for opposing the president's signature tax cuts and his attempt to end the Affordable Care Act and for supporting the Iran nuclear deal forged by President Barack Obama and withdrawn by Trump this week. Trump said Donnelly would "do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him to do" and claimed the senator would "say one thing in Elkhart," and then support the "radical, liberal agenda." Basking in the cheers of thousands of supporters wearing his red campaign hats, the president hailed his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and his tough stance on trade deals, appealing to the region's manufacturing base. He reissued his campaign pledge to build a border wall with Mexico, telling the crowd the work had started despite opposition from Democrats. And he celebrated the return of three Americans who had been held captive in North Korea, saying: "We welcomed them back home the proper way." But for a onetime political novice who ran as an outsider, Trump played the role of party champion ahead of midterm elections that typically haunt the party that holds the White House. Trump is expected to ramp up his political travel in the coming months, and his advisers viewed the event as a way to project party unity following a rough primary that pitted Braun, a former state legislator, against two Republican congressmen. Imploring Braun to join him on stage, Trump turned the podium over to the Senate nominee, who credited the president for providing an inspiration to his candidacy. "I'm a businessman and an outsider, just like our president," Braun said to cheers. The president, who helped raise $132 million for the Republican National Committee in 2016, won 10 states where Democratic senators are on the ballot this year. He's expected to campaign heavily to help Republicans maintain Senate and House majorities and elect GOP governors. In his remarks, Trump painted a glowing picture of his presidency. "We are all making America proud. We are rockin,'" he said. "The great news keeps rolling in." Missing was any reference to the clouds cast by the special counsel's ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and near-daily revelations about Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen's payments to a porn actress who alleges an affair with Trump. Cohen appears to have used his relationship with Trump to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a practice at odds with Trump's "Drain the swamp" campaign message. But Trump instead lobbed the "swamp person" charge at Donnelly, prompting the audience to break into a "Drain the swamp" chant. After the rally, Donnelly said in a statement it was "okay" that Trump and Pence were "here today for politics, but problems only get solved when you roll up your sleeves and put in the hard work." "I'm Indiana's hired help in the Senate because I don't work for any president or any political party I work for Hoosiers, and that will never change," he said. Donnelly's campaign said the senator had voted with Trump 62 percent of the time. The Indiana rally is Trump's fourth political-style event in the past two weeks. Trump skipped the White House Correspondents' Dinner late last month to rally supporters in Macomb County, Michigan. He spoke last week to the National Rifle Association in Dallas. And last Saturday, Trump was in Ohio, long the key electoral piece for any GOP presidential hopeful. As he travels the country, Trump will face the question of whether his appeal is transferable to down-ballot candidates, much in the way that Obama struggled to rally core Democrats when he wasn't running himself. Obama suffered broad losses in Congress and in statehouses during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, an outcome Trump hopes to avoid. The case against a man arrested by armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his San Diego County home earlier this week, which was captured on video, could be thrown out if the arrest is found unreasonable by a judge, according to his attorney. A cell phone was recording when ICE agents stormed Alberto Alonso Hernandez National City home Tuesday morning and took him into custody. He was arrested on a federal warrant for reentering the country after being deported. Agents used a crowbar to pry the front door open before others flooded the home with their guns drawn behind a riot shield. Prior to that, Hernandez wife, Brianna Alonso, refused to let the federal agents inside of the familys home until they showed her a warrant. She is seen in the video asking for the warrant multiple times, and at one point, one of the agents tells Alonso, "Youve been watching too much movies." The agent prying open the front door is heard telling her, "We will show you the order once we finish." She said the agents stayed in front of the home for three hours when Hernandez refused to come out and at one point disconnected their electricity. Parts of the incident were recorded by Hernandez's 11-year-old daughter who was inside the house, as well as neighbors filming from outside. Hernandez attorney William Baker said that whether the arrest is lawful or not depends on a judges interpretation of several factors. For instance, they turned off the lights to the house, they were outside for hours," he said. "Its unknown whether they properly announced themselves before they came in and broke in the door. They did not give the wife the arrest warrant even though she asked for it many times. They apparently took the phone away from the young girl and twisted her arms, and it seemed to be excessive force. ICE said the agents in Tuesday's raid followed the agency's training protocols and said agents had an arrest warrant from a federal judge Baker said that Hernandez is now in criminal custody on a $20,000 bond. If he posts bail and is released from criminal custody, hell be detained again by ICE and sent to another detention center where he can post a second bail. If a judge decides the arrest is unreasonable, he can grant a motion to suppress and the case would go away, Baker said. The ACLU of Southern California has published a guide for anyone who is confronted by immigration agents at the door. The guide advises residents not to open the door, and to ask to see a warrant. You can read the guidelines on the ACLU Southern California website or on the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties website. The man suspected of being the so-called "Golden State Killer" has been charged with more counts of first-degree murder, these for crimes committed in southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That brings to 12 the number of slayings with which Joseph Deangelo has been charged. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said Thursday that Deangelo, the 72-year-old former police officer suspected of more than a dozen murders and nearly 50 rapes throughout the state in the '70s and '80s, will remain in custody in Sacramento, where he was arrested on two murder counts late last month. Tracy Thomas was just 12-years-old in the August of 1976 when she saw a man try to take off the screen of her bedroom window. "Violent cold cases never grow cold for their victims or loved ones," Dudley said at a news conference to announce the charges. Santa Barbara authorities believe Deangelo killed Robert Offerman and Alexandria Manning in December 1979 and Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez in July 1981, Dudley said. DeAngelo was arrested April 24 at his home in the Citrus Heights suburb of Sacramento, as NBC Bay Area reported. He has been charged with four killings in Orange County and two in Ventura County, along with the two in Sacramento County, and he is scheduled to appear in court in Sacramento on Monday. Each of the four new counts carries the possibility of life without parole or the death penalty, Dudley said. She did not release more details about the investigation, but said that law enforcement and prosecutors from four counties Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Orange and Ventura had been working together to identify the suspect believed to be the serial killer and rapist who terrorized neighborhoods throughout the state decades ago. South Korea's stocks rallied to record highs with increasingly bullish analysts, but that may have been derailed by the spat between Trump and North Korea. The killings appeared to stop during the 1980s, but in 2016, the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest. The February publication of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," a book about the case written by Michelle McNamara, the late wife of the comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, brought renewed urgency to the investigation. Oswalt helped to finish the manuscript after McNamara died in 2016. Investigators have said they zeroed in on DeAngelo after scouring dozens of family trees on genealogy websites for possible DNA and profile matches, NBC News reported. Critics of law enforcement's accessing genetic information through genealogical databases argue that it could jeopardize privacy rights. DeAngelo's attorney, Diane Howard, did not immediately respond to an email from the Associated Press seeking comment Thursday. Read the complaint filed against Deangelo Thursday in Santa Barbara County: DV.load("https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4456642-Josephjamesdangelofelonycomplaint.js", { width: 600, height: 400, sidebar: false, text: false, pdf: false, container: "#DV-viewer-4456642-Josephjamesdangelofelonycomplaint" }); What to Know President Donald Trump says he will meet North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12 The historic meeting will be the first between a sitting American president and the leader of North Korea over denuclearization The announcement comes hours after three Americans returned to the U.S. from North Korea, where they had been detained President Donald Trump has revealed the time and place for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it will take place in Singapore on June 12. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" the president tweeted Thursday morning. Trump is providing details for the first time about the history-making meeting between a sitting American president and the leader of North Korea over denuclearization. The last summit between the two nations came at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Trump had said he favored holding the meeting at the Demilitarized Zone, the heavily fortified border separating the Koreas. But the island nation of Singapore was favored by most of his advisers. The announcement comes hours after three Americans returned to the U.S. from North Korea, where they had been detained. Trump welcomed the men, who were accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the early morning hours Thursday and thanked Kim for releasing them. He said he does believe Kim wants to reach an agreement on denuclearization at their upcoming summit and that "the true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., congratulated the president on "this significant step" toward the historic summit. While he noted that he shares Pompeo's expressed goal of "the permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Koreas weapons of mass destruction program," McConnell added that "if it proves unachievable through these talks, I support a continuation of the policy of maximum pressure on the regime." Singapore is a natural choice for Trump and Kim's meeting. It's familiar ground for North Korea, and the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1975. The reclusive communist country has its embassy in Singapore's central business district. The city is "a great location" for the summit, said Tom Plant, who specializes in nuclear and proliferation issues at London's Royal United Services Institute. "Kim will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. But he wouldn't be on home turf," Plant said. Singapore's security forces have considerable experience in protecting VIPs. Single-party rule since independence in 1965 has ensured stability and fostered a security state that is among the world's most efficient, though sometimes decried by civil libertarians as repressive. Located between two Muslim majority nations Malaysia and Indonesia with Islamic State group sympathizers, it has effectively checked terrorist threats. North Korea's state companies have, in the past, conducted legal and illegal business dealings with Singapore companies. The city-state, under pressure from the U.S. and a leaked U.N. report, officially cut off trade relations with North Korea in 2017 to abide by international sanctions. "The North Korean side will likely have a very large number of logistical and protocol issues it wants addressed by the summit venue, so having a (North Korean) embassy in the country where the summit is to be held is likely a requirement," said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. Distance may also be a consideration. Singapore is located just over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) from North Korea, comfortably within the flying range of its aircraft. Getting to Western Europe would require a stop or two to refuel. "Singapore is neither too far away as European nations are, allowing Kim Jong Un's private jet to make it here without refueling, nor too close that Trump might be seen as 'giving way' to Kim by having to travel a longer distance than the latter," said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Singapore is also welcome ground for the United States. It is a large trading partner, the second-largest Asian investor, and a longtime supporter of its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The country is also the regional headquarters of large U.S. companies including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1966. It is a regional hub whose free enterprise philosophy welcomes trading partners from everywhere, regardless of politics. "Singapore is an ideal site for the summit because Singapore historically has been an honest broker between East and West. Singapore has been a great friend to the U.S. but also Singapore has carefully worked to be a friend to all, which has earned it trust in capitals around the world," former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman said. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country is pleased to host the summit. "We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula," it said in a statement. Singapore has experience hosting such meetings. In 2015 it was the site of another unprecedented summit between two leaders burdened with a legacy of bad blood and mutual distrust, Chinese President Xi Jinping and rival Taiwan's then-President Ma Ying-jeou, the first such meeting since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The city-state has hosted a number of high-level regional meetings, including Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits in 2007 and 2018. Since 2002, an annual security conference has been held there, featuring defense chiefs and officials from countries including the U.S., China and South Korea. Roadblocks are set up around the summit venues, where armed Nepalese Gurkhas stand guard. Police check every vehicle that enters the area. In 2015, Gurkha officers fired at a car that breached four roadblocks and crashed into a concrete barrier. The driver was killed and two passengers arrested in what turned out to be a drug-related misadventure rather than an attack. Valued foreign guests won't be troubled by protesters, either. Demonstrations in Singapore can only be held in a designated area, the 2.4-acre (0.9-hectare) Hong Lim Park. Amnesty International says amendments to the country's Public Order Act have given authorities more power to restrict public assembly, and participants in peaceful protests have been arrested. The underground art world is thriving with pieces from all different countries getting smuggled into the United States. South Florida has become a hot spot for stolen art, according to federal agents. Hialeah artist Abel Quintero is aware of this growing black market of art, thats why he takes an extra step to protect his works of art. I sign and use my own thumbprint, Quintero explained. He marks his contemporary art pieces with his own thumbprint to avoid the spread of fakes. The rising number of fakes and forgeries has worsened with technology. This has prompted the Department of Homeland Security to train its agents to detect bogus art works that try to pass as the real thing. Frankly, I think Miami is a big risk. There is a serious, strong art community here. Any place where you have galleries, museumsI think youll probably see a larger amount of the underground art market, explained Special Agent in Charge Mark Selby, Homeland Security Investigations. Russ Kodner, owner of Kodner Galleries in Dania Beach, is always on the lookout for fakes. Theres people that walk through our doors every day, bringing items to get appraised, bringing in items to get converted into cash and a lot of times we turn them away, Kodner explained. Art and cultural property crime -- which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking -- has estimated losses in the billions of dollars annually. At one point, the federal government said its the third highest grossing criminal trade behind drugs and guns. Thieves also smuggle in historical artifacts stolen from other countries. Homeland Security officials said they have been able to find and return more than 8,000 stolen items in the last 10 years. Thieves are taking precious items, Agent Selby said. Earlier this year, someone at Miami International Airport tried to smuggle a Corinthian helmet which dates back to 500 B.C. Theres a lot of history thats being stolen from countries all over the world. A lot of it ends up here in the United States, said Agent Selby. "Once they remove those items, they havent had a chance to be studied where they were found. Its lost forever. Theres no way you can get it back. What to Know Kittens generally do not begin eating solid food until they are roughly six to seven weeks old. Until then, they must be bottle fed. Neighbors, friends, church groups, homeschool groups, family members, older children - youd be surprised how many of these folks will help. As the days grow longer and the temperatures rise, South Floridas free-roaming cats have just one thing on their minds. This is when our clinic starts fielding frantic phone calls and emails that begin with So I found these kittens...what do I do? Before you take on the project of hand-rearing a litter of kittens, its wise to discuss some of the things you shouldnt do. The first decision you will need to make is whether or not you need to intervene at all. So before I get to the list of dos, lets go over some of the donts. Dont assume the kittens have been abandoned by their mother. When we find a mewling, helpless litter, the urge to jump in and save them can be very powerful. However, its important to note that like their wild counterparts, free-roaming cats must forage and hunt for their food. As a matter of necessity, mother cats must leave their kittens alone for several hours at a time. If you come across a litter, and mom is nowhere is sight, observe the litter from a safe distance for about three hours. Since we are all busy, its a good idea to enlist the help of friends, and do this in shifts. If the mother cat returns, leave the family in peace - for now. Youll want to check on them periodically to ensure nothing happens to mom, but if there is a mother cat in the picture, it is wise to let her nurse them until they are weaned. This usually happens at about eight weeks of age. Dont intervene without a plan. Kittens generally do not begin eating solid food until they are roughly six to seven weeks old. Until then, they must be bottle fed every three to four hours. And without putting too fine a point on it, the other end of each kitten must be cared for as well! A cotton ball moistened with warm water is needed to activate the process of eliminating waste. Mama cats do this with their tongues, so it could be worse...but joking aside, hand-raising kittens is a lot of work. While it is not nearly as rigorous as caring for a newborn baby, some of the same rules apply. A strict feeding schedule must be followed, including throughout the night. Plans may have to change, schedules rearranged, and baby-sitters must be found if your plans are set in stone. Dont assume Somebody will take them off your hands. In the magical land of money trees and lollipop forests, there lives an elusive creature of myth named Somebody. If you scoop up an abandoned litter thinking Somebody will take care of them, you may be in for a rude awakening. Shelters may be full, rescues may be maxed out, and while veterinarians are usually happy to help, our hospitals can be dangerous places for neonatal kittens. The same holds true for animal shelters. Both see sickness and disease on a daily basis, and the immune systems of bottle-feeding kittens are practically non-existent. Unless the facility has an isolation ward, and is staffed around the clock, they will probably not admit your foundling litter. While this may seem counterintuitive, the best place for a litter of neonatal kittens is often anyplace but a shelter or a veterinary facility. By all means, hit them up for advice, resources and discounted care, but dont be surprised by no bottle babies policies. As my wife is fond of saying, A synonym for Somebody is You. Dont drop them off somewhere in the middle of the night! Forget about the fact that its self serving and inconsiderate. Its also horribly inhumane! If youre thinking of leaving a litter on the kindhearted cat ladys porch, that nice big property in horse country, the parking lot of your local animal shelter, or the doorstep of your kindly neighborhood veterinarian, know this - the kittens you saved are likely to be dead by the time they are found. Between dehydration, hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and predation by wildlife, these little souls dont stand a chance. Because this is considered an act of animal cruelty, it is also illegal. Most veterinary hospitals - including ours - are wired from top to bottom with hidden cameras. If you think we wont turn the tapes over to the police, think again. You are not doing right by these animals. You are practically guaranteeing their deaths. Dont skimp on formula. The only formula I personally recommend is Kitten Milk Replacer or KMR. The powdered version is a better value, and will give you greater flexibility if you need to experiment with consistencies. The cheap brands are cheap for a reason. As your kittens begin the weaning process, you will begin to thicken it with solid foods. So dont be alarmed by the rate at which your litter initially consumes formula. In a pinch (as defined by, nothing is open except the grocery store), you can use pasteurized goats milk, mixed with an equal part of water. NEVER use cows milk, or any grain or nut based milk product. Get them onto formula as soon as you can to optimize their chances of survival. Now for the dos! Do be patient. Your kittens are confused and scared. The bottle isnt the same as Mommy. The milk probably tastes different. They may efuse the bottle at first, or have difficulty latching on. This usually doesnt last. Hunger is a powerful motivator, and kittens are remarkably resilient. That being said, if any of your charges seem listless, pale or cold, they need to see a veterinarian. You can check for dehydration by gently pulling the skin away from the body, then letting it go. If it snaps back immediately, your kitty is hydrated. If the skin leaves a tent, this too is a sign that its time to see the vet. Do be creative. Just like human babies, each litter of kittens is different. You may have to thicken or thin the formula. The nursing sets sold at pet stores come with nipples of varying shapes and sizes. There is a reason for this! If your kitties wont latch on, try a different one until you find the sweet spot. If they demand to be fed more than every four hours, try thickening the formula. Make sure enough formula is getting through the nipple, and cut a larger hole in the tip if necessary. Do keep them warm. Warmth is essential to helping these wee ones survive. Keep them away from air conditioner vents, and make sure they always have plenty of small blankets or towels. Never use heating pads as these can cause life-threatening burns. An old-school hot water bottle is fine, as long as it is wrapped in towels. A safe and low-tech way to provide warmth is to make whats known as a rice sock. Place a cup and a half to two cups of dry white rice or beans in a clean sock. Tie off the end of the sock, microwave it for 45-60 seconds, and place it under the kittens bedding. We have saved many a critical neonate with our hospitals rice sock. Do ask for help. Neighbors, friends, church groups, homeschool groups, family members, older children - youd be surprised how many of these folks are willing to lend a hand. The hardest part about hand-raising kittens is the 24/7 part. But when its spread out amongst several groups or individuals, its actually rather fun! Caretakers are less likely to suffer from burnout if they know there is an end in sight. Additionally, the kittens enjoy the benefit of additional stimulation and socialization. Miami Dade Animal Services is currently seeking kitten cuddlers to help with their own kitten influx. This is a great way to help the community, as well as pick up the skills needed to care for any bottle babies who may cross your path in the future. MDAS can also provide the materials, formula and training you may need to raise a litter in your care. The Feral Cat Coalition has a fantastic page on the specifics of feeding bottle babies, including feeding amounts, intervals, and troubleshooting tips. Click here to access the page directly. The Cat Network can also help with bottle rearing questions. Joining Cat network allows you to participate in their adoptions program, which can help you find homes for your kittens once they are weaned. Finally, the best way to ensure you never have to hand-raise kittens is to do your part to keep them from being born in the first place. Spay and neuter your pet cats. If you are feeding a stray, feral, or neighborhood cat, contact Miami Dade Animal Services or the Cat Network for information on low-cost or free spay/neuter programs for free-roaming cats. An intact female cat will inevitably become six cats. In a year or less, that one little stray can turn into a colony of 30 - 40 cats! By preventing these births, we can make tremendous strides in reducing the number of unwanted cats both in our streets and in our shelters. Dr. Kupkee is the lead practitioner at Sabal Chase Animal Clinic. Click here to check out deals and discounts exclusively for NBC 6 viewers! What to Know The attorney for 18-year-old Zachary Cruz filed a motion Thursday saying Cruz has been offered a free home for one year in Staunton, Va. The motion says Zachary Cruz would be hired as a maintenance mechanic at $13 an hour He is on six months' probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and needs court permission to leave The brother of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz will be allowed to move to Virginia where a full-time job awaits him, a judge ruled Friday. Zachary Cruz arrived in a Broward County courtroom Friday morning after lawyers for the 18-year-old filed a motion Thursday saying Cruz has been offered a free home for one year in Staunton, Virginia. Cruz took the stand shortly after 9:30 a.m., asking Judge Melinda Brown to alter the terms of his six months' probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which requires the court's permission to leave. "I have an opportunity there that I don't have here," Cruz said. The judge said she would allow the teen to move, telling him, "You need to just take this moment and appreciate what they're offering you. Make wise choices." Cruz, who has been living in a hotel in South Florida, said he will head to Virginia on Saturday. "I'm very happy with the court's ruling and I'm looking forward to starting a new life in Virginia," Cruz told reporters after the hearing. Cruz will still have to wear an ankle monitor under the terms of his probation and face a host of other restrictions including no possession of weapons or ammunition, no drug or alcohol use and no visits to any school unless he is enrolled there. The motion says Zachary Cruz would be hired as a maintenance mechanic paying $13 an hour. His job and living quarters would be provided by Nexus Services, which the motion says specializes in helping people adjust after prison or treatment. Attorney Mark Lowry said the move to Virginia will give Cruz a chance to live a relatively normal life and escape the shadow of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Nikolas Cruz has confessed to the Feb. 14 shooting at the Parkland school that killed 17 people. His lawyers say he would plead guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence, but prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. "Mr. Cruz is not his brother. He is not charged with what his brother is charged with," Lowry said. "This gives him a chance to start over. A fresh start." Prosecutor Sarahnell Murphy closely questioned Nexus officials at the hearing about the level of supervision Zachary Cruz would be under, how he would get around and what kind of mental health counseling would be available. The Nexus officials assured her they would keep close tabs on him and ensure he met all requirements of his probation, including electronic monitoring of his whereabouts. Still, Murphy said she was concerned he was leaving Broward County's jurisdiction. Prosecutors have previously noted Zachary Cruz's own scrapes with law enforcement and said many "red flags" exist with him that were apparent with his brother after the shooting. "I wish I could say I was without trepidation," Murphy said. Then she added. "The state of Florida wants nothing more than for Mr. Cruz to be successful." A relatively unknown U.S. Senate candidate in California who was booted from the state's Republican Party Convention for a campaign promise to "remove Jewish leaders" from power is getting new attention since seen surging in one political poll. Patrick Little from Albany had little political profile until he popped up second on a late-April Survey-USA poll, garnering 18 percent behind incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein. "My whole campaign is predicated on removing the Jewish supremacists from control of our country," Little said in an interview with NBC Bay Area. The Jewish Community Relations Council has denounced Little's platform in the strongest possible words, calling it "anti-Semitic vitriol." Little, who has praised Adolf Hitler and calls himself a "counter-Semite," has been endorsed by former KKK leader David Duke and claims to draw inspiration from President Donald Trump. "He showed me that people were willing to respond to dog whistles about whites having group interests, so I decided to state these things explicitly," Little said. Little leapfrogged into viral status following his appearance on an inflammatory video and dismissal from the Republican convention. "That type of position that he stands for has no support among our delegates, and that's evidenced by the fact that we promptly ejected him from the premises," said Harmeet Dhillon, California spokeswoman for the RNC. "You know, we don't want his money. We don't want his supporters. We don't want his ideology in our party in any way." Dhillon said Survey-USA polling is known to be "flawed" among political professionals. She points to a Berkeley IGS poll released almost the same day that does not even list Little. Yet Nate Silver and the wonky FiveThirtyEight blog rate Survey-USA an "A" for reliability. Sen. Feinstein's camp also cast doubt on the poll, wondering how Little ended up as one of "seven" candidates presented to respondents out of 32 Senate hopefuls. In a city where rents have gone through the roof, one tenant held on to a real steal: $28.43 a month for a Manhattan apartment. The New York Post reports that's what Patricia O'Grady paid for the Greenwich Village walk-up where she moved in 1955. She stayed until she died recently at 84. O'Grady lived there with three other aspiring actresses who swept the hallway in exchange for their $16 rent. The space was initially bare, without furniture, a sink, a bath, hot water or heat. But they had two fireplaces and a stove. They later installed a sink and other basic furnishings. The other women moved out long ago, but that's pretty much how it stayed till March when O'Grady died after she was hit by a car near the apartment on Sixth Avenue. By then, her rent had gone up by $12 in more than six decades. She refused offers for improvements from the building's owner, Adam Pomerantz, who runs his Murray's Bagels at street level. O'Grady was adamant about any changes in her home, saying, "Please leave the apartment as is," according to Pomerantz. When her single light bulb went out, she lived by candlelight. During the day, she could be found at the nearby 14th Street YMCA, where she swam, showered and read The New York Times. O'Grady always paid her rent early, Pomerantz said. "I consulted with an attorney to find out if this rent was possible," he told the Post. He just had to tweak it a bit, using a rent-control worksheet to come up with a $1.98 increase. O'Grady appeared in dozens of theater productions, as well as TV soap operas, the movie "Taxi Driver," and she took dance classes at the Joffrey Ballet School. Fellow actors remember using her living room as a rehearsal space, with a Siamese cat roaming around. Pomerantz now plans to gut and renovate O'Grady's lifelong home into a two-bedroom apartment, according to the Post. The new rent? Maybe about $5,000 in today's New York City. There's nothing like backlash to the chopping policy of a popular salad chain to remind everyone how cute New York City problems are. The New York Post reports that Just Salad, the go-to salad factory of many a Manhattan worker, will be getting rid of its option to have salads chopped. "The franticness of the process is removed," Just Salad founder and CEO Nick Kenner told Eater NY, explaining that salads will now be mixed and ingredients will come in smaller bite-sized pieces. "It's a better experience categorically," he said, adding that the rounded mezzaluna knife was also bruising salad ingredients. It also makes for more efficient business, Kenner said, telling The Post that stores that have banned the chop were seeing same-store sales surge by 20 percent. By the end of June, all 20 Just Salad stores in Manhattan will adopt the no-chop policy, except for Rockefeller Center, which will wait till the end of the year to put it into effect. Fresh & Co. stopped chopping two years ago, citing better consistency and reduced risk of contamination, and Sweetgreens also does not chop salads, according to The Post. Unhappy customers told The Post the new policy is "pathetic" and "not going to be convenient at all," and that they were "really upset." Eater NY also highlighted some of the Twitter fury against Just Salad's new policy. "I am livid about this change," one woman wrote; "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE," fumed another. Chopt got into the fray to happily remind customers: "Been chopping since 2001 and not stopping anytime soon." What to Know Measles is very easily spread from person to person; authorities say vaccination is the best preventive care Typical symptoms include mild to moderate fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and sore throat Most cases involve people who contracted measles while traveling abroad or who did not know they had not been vaccinated Health officials in New Jersey are warning that two individuals with measles may have come into contact with others in the state, and the exposure risk extends to people who have been to places including Newark Airport. The cases are not connected, health officials said Friday. In one case, a person stopped briefly in New Jersey April 30 while on a tour bus from Niagara Falls to Washington, D.C. In the second, a Bergen County resident contracted measles after contact with an international traveler who was sick with it at the time. State health officials say anyone who visited the following locations during the below dates and times should immediately contact a doctor to discuss potential exposure and the associated risks of developing measles: Towne Centre at Englewood apartments, 20 W Palisade Ave, Englewood, NJ 07631 (April 24 - May 2 any time) Renaissance Office Center, 15 Engle St, Englewood, NJ 07631 (April 30, between 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.) Newark Liberty International Airport, Terminal C (May 2, between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) Columbia Travel Center, I-80 at Rt. 94, 2 Simpson Rd, Columbia, NJ 07832 (April 30, between 9:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m.) Measles is an extremely contagious disease that can spread quickly among unvaccinated people. Symptoms usually begin seven to 14 days after someone is exposed to an infected person. Typical symptoms include mild to moderate fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and sore throat. As the sickness develops, a rash may emerge and the fever may boom to more than 104 degrees. Most people who are exposed to measles are not at-risk of developing the disease since most people have either been vaccinated or have had measles in the past, before vaccination became routine. Anyone not sure if they've been vaccinated is advised to check with his or her local physician. The warning marks the latest in a series of measles cases across the tri-state area. Last week, health officials in Connecticut say there was a third case of measles confirmed, and that person did not have contact with the two babies who contracted it traveling abroad. That case involved an adult in Hartford County. The two babies previously reported to have had measles live in the same New Haven County home; they had recently traveled abroad and became infected outside the U.S. In mid-April, it was a warning from New York health officials. two European tourists with measles potentially exposed others at three Jehovah's Witness facilities in the NYC area. The two tourists visited the Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witnesses on New Jersey Avenue in Brooklyn between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 15. They also visited Watchtower World Headquarters on Kings Drive in Tuxedo Park between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on April 16 and the Watchtower Educational Center on Watchtower Drive in Patterson between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on April 17. Officials urged anyone who was exposed and is suffering symptoms to contact a health care provider before seeking treatment in order to minimize exposure. What to Know Three Bronx men are facing charges for conspiring to distribute heroin and carfentanil, a control substance 100 times more potent than fenta Carfentanil is a controlled substance 100 times more potent than fentanyl Three Bronx men are facing charges for conspiring to distribute heroin and carfentanil, a controlled substance 100 times more potent than fentanyl, authorities say. Miguel Escano, Emanuelli Rivera and Pedro Disla Rojas were arraigned Thursday on multiple charges following a multi-agency investigation that led to their arrests. According to the United States Attorneys Office of the Southern District of New York, on three occasions between January and March 2018, Escano, 30, sold an individual acting at the direction of law enforcement a substance containing carfentanil. Rivera, 32, allegedly assisted with the January 2018 sale. Top Tri-State News Photos Carfentanil is used as a tranquilizing agent for elephants and other mammals and is 100 times more potent than fentanyl. It is lethal in doses of as little as 20 micrograms depending on the way it is administered and other factors, officials say. As law enforcement officers prepared to execute a search warrant on a Bronx apartment on May 9, 2018, Rivera exited the apartment and was arrested. Law enforcement seized approximately 100 grams of suspected narcotics in connection with Riveras arrest. The substance has to be examined in a laboratory due to the potential lethal nature of carfentanil and so has not been tested yet, officials say. Following Riveras arrest, officers searched the apartment and allegedly found Rojas inside. During the search, law enforcement officers allegedly seized, suspected narcotics and materials commonly used in the production and distribution of narcotics, such as respirator masks, grinders, strainers, glassine bags stamped with the names Sweet Dreams and Nasty Boyz, a wooden press, and a stamp with the words My Angel, among other items. Law enforcement arrested Rojas, 38, in connection with the search of the apartment. Rivera and Rojas were each charged with one count of conspiring to distribute carfentanil and heroin, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 10 years. Escano was charged with one count of conspiring to distribute carfentanil, which also carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory sentence of 10 years. It is not immediately clear in any of the men retained an attorney to comment on the charges. This investigation is about more than just arrests and seizures, it is a public health warning, DEA Special Agent-In-Charge James J. Hunt said in a statemtent. Carfentanil is death, and drug dealers are packaging it for sale on the streets of New York City. Law enforcement is battling the opioid suppliers on the front lines and this drug has the potential to double or triple overdose rates if we dont get it off the streets quickly and warn users of its extreme danger. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the investigation was a joint effort between the DEAs New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the New York State Police, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, New York National Guard, the Clarkstown Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Port Washington Police Department and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. What to Know A cache of methamphetamine, with a street value of nearly $2 million, stashed inside a gas tank was intercepted by police in Texas, cops say According to the Round Rock Police Department, an officer was conducting a traffic stop May 5 on Interstate 35 The department says that after further inspecting, the drugs, totaling 71 pounds, were found in a modified gas tank A cache of methamphetamine, with a street value of nearly $2 million, stashed inside a gas tank was intercepted by police in Texas, officials say. According to the Round Rock Police Department, an officer was conducting a traffic stop May 5 on Interstate 35. After allegedly receiving conflicting stories from a Honda Accords occupants and having a K-9-sniffing dog giving a positive alert, the officer grew suspicious. The department says that after further inspecting, the drugs, totaling 71 pounds, were found in a modified gas tank. Police arrested Nathan Leon Fields, 36, of Theodore, Alabama, who was charged with Manufacture or Delivery of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $70,000, according to police It was not immediately known if Fields retained an attorney to comment on the charges. Fields passenger was not charged. For weeks, a police surveillance camera at North Broad and York streets in North Philadelphia showed black. Another camera in West Philadelphia at 60th and Catherine streets wouldn't pan back and forth. Back in North Philly, at 29th and Allegheny, a camera wouldn't zoom. Malfunctions like these can take a long time to have fixed. Only three city workers handle the more than 550 taxpayer-owned cameras including 428 police surveillance cameras though there is a request for an additional two maintenance workers in the next budget. NBC10 Investigators reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, received through a right-to-know request, that found nearly 100 of the police-operated cameras suffered from malfunctions or black outs for periods between Jan. 1, 2015 and Jan. 1, 2018. View Broken cameras in a full screen map Most of the malfunctions are minor in nature, such as water on the lens or lack of control over movement, according to the documents. Officials with the police department declined to be interviewed about the camera network. A spokesman for Mayor Jim Kenney said the police camera network has "issues face by many municipalities that use public safety cameras." "We have worked hard to address them, while at the same time expanded the number of cameras," spokesman Mike Dunn said in an email. Both the police department and the commerce department are slated to add 75 cameras combined annually. The city Office of Innovation and Technology is budgeted to add up to 50 cameras annually for the police department. The two organizations coordinate to determine the new locations. Starting in 2018, the commerce department will fund the installation of 25 new city cameras along business corridors as enhanced safety. "The number of Commerce funded camera installations will occur annually starting with 25 and may grow over time," Dunn said in the email. He added that 94 percent of the city's 428 public safety cameras are fully functioning with no issues, while 4 percent are operating with "minor display issues." Councilman Curtis Jones said he is working on legislation to mandate quicker maintenance on cameras that aren't fully operational. On the day of a recent interview, he said 35 cameras were reported not working properly. "At the end of the day, minimum, were going to get more resources to it," Jones said. In addition to the PPD cameras, the city Streets Department operates 120, the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center operates 11 and the Office of Emergency Management operates nine. On a much larger scale, SEPTA operates by far the most surveillance cameras in the city: 2,911. Outside of the city and transit agency, the University of Pennsylvania operates 11, the federal government (DHS/DOJ) operates 16 and the Philadelphia International Airport operates 13. A camera costs $3,500-$4,000 to buy from the current vendor, Tyco Integrated Security LLC. Prosecutors in South Jersey are interviewing a man after a toddler was found dead Thursday inside her Sicklerville home where he was staying. Crime scene investigators flooded the home along Marcia Court near Monroe Place around noon. When officers arrived they found the unresponsive 18-month-old on the front lawn, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said. Law enforcement sources said the mother awoke to find the toddler not moving in the crib. Neighbors tell NBC10 that the woman frantically ran out of the home screaming for someone to save her baby. "We were just trying to keep going and keep going and keep going, but we really couldnt do anything for him," Krista Gonzalez, a neighbor who came out to help the woman, said. Gonzalez said the woman kept repeating "I hear your voice" to the child as they tried to revive him. Sources with knowledge of the investigation said a close family friend who was staying in the home was missing when the boy was found. Police considered the man, who was initially described as a boyfriend, a person of interest in the case. Police were able to catch up with the man Friday and were interviewing him. No arrests have been made. An autopsy was completed Friday. Investigators have not said how the child died but sources said they do not believe he succumbed to natural causes. A rare, brightly-plumed bird was spotted on a college campus in Pennsylvania Thursday and police are now searching for its owner in hopes of returning the bird home. Employees at Lehigh University in Bethlehem found a bird believed to be a Sun Parakeet, otherwise known as a Sun Conure, in a tree on campus. The parakeet is an endangered species of parrot native to South America that can grow to be nearly two feet long. Officers from the Lehigh University Police Department were able to place the bird in a cage. The bird, which police say is unharmed, was wearing an ankle identifier when found. The bird has yellow, orange and green feathers, and its age is unknown. The bird is currently being held at the Lehigh University Police Department while they try to track down the owner. Police have already received a couple of inquiries about the bird. If you have information about the bird's owner, contact Lehigh University Police at 610-758-4200. Staging a made-for-TV, still-of-the-night arrival ceremony, President Donald Trump welcomed home three Americans freed by North Korea and declared their release a sign of promise toward his goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Speaking early Thursday on an air base tarmac with the former detainees by his side, Trump called it a "great honor" to welcome the men to the U.S., but said "the true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons." Trump also thanked North Korea's Kim Jong Un for releasing the Americans and said he believes Kim wants to reach an agreement on denuclearization at their upcoming summit. "I really think he wants to do something," the president said. First lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials joined Trump to celebrate the occasion at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. The men Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim had been released Wednesday amid a warming of relations between the longtime adversaries. Shortly before 3 a.m. the president and first lady boarded the medical plane on which the men had traveled and spent several minutes meeting with them privately. The group then emerged at top of the airplane stairway, where the men held up their arms in an exuberant display. As the men entered into view, U.S. service members on the tarmac burst into applause and cheers. "This is a special night for these three really great people," Trump told reporters. On the U.S. relationship with North Korea, Trump declared, "We're starting off on a new footing." The freed prisoners appeared tired but in excellent spirits, flashing peace signs and waving their arms as they emerged from the aircraft. When asked by reporters how it felt to be home, one of the men answered through a translator, "It's like a dream; we are very, very happy." They later gave the president a round of applause. After Trump's remarks, the three men boarded a bus for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where they are to be evaluated and receive medical treatment before being reunited with their families. The White House carefully choreographed the event, hoisting a giant American flag between two fire trucks on the tarmac and inviting reporters to witness the return. The image-conscious president told reporters, "I think you probably broke the all-time-in-history television rating for 3 o'clock in the morning." The highly public and politically tinged display stood in stark contrast to the low-key and very private reception that the State Department had envisioned and carried out from the moment it took custody of the men, in keeping with a tradition of trying to protect potentially traumatized victims from being thrust into the spotlight so soon after their ordeal. Department officials took great pains on the prisoners' release in North Korea, as well as on their flights to Japan and Alaska, to keep them sequestered not only from the two journalists traveling with Pompeo but also from staffers not immediately involved in their cases. The trio, along with medical personnel that included a psychiatrist, were cloistered in the middle of Pompeo's plane in a small section of 12 business class-size seats that was cordoned off by curtains on both ends. State Department officials refused to discuss anything but the most basic details of their conditions, citing privacy concerns in keeping with the minimal amount of information they had released since the men were imprisoned. Pompeo had secured their release in Pyongyang after meeting with Kim on final plans for the Trump-Kim summit. The Americans had boarded Pompeo's plane out of North Korea without assistance and then transferred in Japan to the Boeing C-40 outfitted with medical facilities for the trip back to the U.S. Shortly after they touched down on American soil in Alaska for a refueling stop Wednesday afternoon, the State Department released a statement from the freed men. "We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," they said. "We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world." Singapore has emerged as the likely host of the U.S.-North Korean summit, late this month or in early June, as Trump seeks to negotiate denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in his highest-stakes foreign policy effort yet. Trump made a point of publicly thanking North Korea's leader for the prisoners' release "We want to thank Kim Jong Un" and hailed it as a sign of cooling tensions and growing opportunity on the Korean peninsula. Kim decided to grant amnesty to the three Americans at the "official suggestion" of the U.S. president, said North Korea's official news agency, KCNA. North Korea had accused the three Korean-Americans of anti-state activities. Their arrests were widely seen as politically motivated and had compounded the dire state of relations over the isolated nation's nuclear weapons. Pence said in an NBC News interview that the administration hopes the detainees' release "is a sign that this is a real opportunity to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula." Asked whether Trump, in having called Kim "honorable," has raised expectations too high for negotiations, Pence said the regime has been dealing "in good faith." Pressed on Kim being a dictator, Pence said, "we have no illusions about that." Trump entered office as an emboldened North Korea developed new generations of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of hitting the continental U.S. Those advances were the subject of President Barack Obama's starkest warning shortly before Trump took office, and this is a crisis he's convinced his negotiating skills can resolve. Crediting himself for recent progress, Trump has pointed to Kim's willingness to come to the negotiating table as validating U.S. moves to tighten sanctions branded "maximum pressure" by the president. The three were the latest in a series of Americans who have been detained by North Korea in recent years for seemingly small offenses and typically freed when senior U.S. officials or statesmen personally visited to bail them out. The last American to be released before this, college student Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017, days after he was repatriated to the U.S. with severe brain damage. Warmbier was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016, accused of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor. His parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing the government of torturing and killing their son. "We are happy for the hostages and their families," the Warmbiers said in a statement Wednesday. "We miss Otto." After the release of the detainees Thursday, North Korea's state-run media explicitly mentioned plans for the summit for the first time Thursday. Pyongyang has been exceptionally cautious about its public framing of Kim's recent diplomatic moves, which are a major shift from the more aggressive focus on missile launches and nuclear development that heated tensions to a boil last year. Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey, Ken Thomas and Eric Talmadge contributed to this report. President Donald Trump and his lawyers likely won't decide whether he will answer questions from Russia probe investigators until after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, according to the president's legal team. Rudy Giuliani, the president's new attorney, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that any preparation with Trump for a possible interview with federal investigators would likely be delayed until after the June 12 summit in Singapore because "I wouldn't want to take his concentration off something far, far more important." Giuliani, who also suggested that special counsel Robert Mueller's team had indicated it would not attempt to indict Trump, said he had hoped to resolve the question of a possible interview by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment, but that was no longer feasible. "Several things delayed us, with the primary one being the whole situation with North Korea," Giuliani said. "The president has been very busy. It really would be pretty close to impossible to spend the amount of time on it we would need." The president's lawyers have not decided whether it would be in Trump's best interest to sit for an interview. Giuliani warned that it could be a "perjury trap" and suggested that "lies told by others" could land the president in legal trouble, though he said that Trump himself would not close the door entirely on an interview. "The president would probably like the resolution," the former New York City mayor said. "If we were convinced it would speed up the process, we may do it. If we believed they would go into it honestly and with an open mind, we would be inclined to do it. But right now, we're not there." Mueller's investigation has operated largely in secrecy, with the public getting only glimpses into its operation through witnesses who are questioned or when indictments and guilty pleas are unsealed. But Giuliani suggested that a recent conversation with Mueller's team led him to believe that the special counsel, citing a Justice Department opinion, had ruled out the possibility of trying to indict a sitting president. Mueller has floated the idea of issuing a grand jury subpoena for Trump to answer questions, former Trump attorney John Dowd has said, though it is unclear how serious prosecutors were about such a move. Even if Mueller's team decided to subpoena Trump as part of the investigation, the president could still fight it in court or refuse to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. Giuliani said Friday that if a subpoena were issued to get Trump to appear, the president's legal team would oppose it unless they could "reach agreement on the ground rules." He argued that Trump could invoke executive privilege, and the team would point to Justice Department opinions in fighting a subpoena and "on both law and the facts, we would have the strongest case you could imagine." He noted the handover of 1.2 million documents as evidence of cooperation. He also indicated that the president's lawyers may be "more likely" to agree to an interview if Mueller's team narrowed the scope of what it was investigating. Though Giuliani would not provide an exact date for when a determination would be made about the interview, he said it probably "would be silly to make a decision" much before the highly anticipated summit. He said that the demands on Trump's time meant that his legal team had "not done a lot" in terms of preparing the president for a possible in-person interview. "It would take a while and he's focused on North Korea," said Giuliani. A number of Trump allies, including Vice President Mike Pence this week, have stepped up calls for Mueller's investigation to wrap up, suggesting it was interfering in the president's ability to do the country's business. Mueller's team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsel's office has charged 19 people including four Trump campaign advisers and three Russian companies. Both Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. A number of other former White House and campaign staffers, including Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, as well as Inauguration Day committee chairman Tom Barrack, have been interviewed. Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had his office and home raided by federal agents and, this week, was revealed to have been selling his insight into Trump to corporations. Giuliani said the arrangement "looks bad" but insisted there was no crime. Giuliani demurred when asked if Trump would consider it a "red line" for his children to be interviewed. Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared, Kushner, both worked on the campaign and are senior advisers at the White House, while Trump's adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also leading figures on the campaign. Giuliani said he did not expect those interviews with Mueller to take place. "Our understanding is that he's pretty much finished," Giuliani said. "As far we know, we're basically the last witness." The special counsel's office has not outlined the duration of the probe. Some of Trump's recent tweets revealed the president's anxiety about how the investigation could sway voters as they decide whether to keep congressional Republicans in power or force him to face an aggressive Democratic majority. Giuliani repeated his call for the probe to end soon but suggested that if it lasted until November's midterms, "it would be helping Republicans." "It makes the campaign feel it it's about impeachment," the former mayor said. "I think the Democrats would be making the same mistake we did back during Clinton." In 1998, months after Clinton was impeached, voter backlash cost the Republicans' chance to pick up seats in both Houses of Congress. Associated Press writers Chad Day and Eric Tucker contributed reporting. If you're heading to New York City and plan to catch a show, the chances you will see a show connected to San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse are pretty high. "Come From Away," "Indecent," "Junk," "Latin History for Morons," "Escape to Margaritaville" and "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical" all transferred from the Playhouse to Broadway within the same year. And that's not even counting the Off-Broadway shows connected to the Playhouse: "Jersey Boys" and "Miss You Like Hell." It's been a whirlwind of a year for the Playhouse, which may just be the most represented regional theater on Broadway at the moment. "It's been a pretty exciting year for the Playhouse on Broadway," Tony Award-winning Director and Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley told NBC 7 San Diego in a phone interview. The regional theater received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 1993, a big honor for regional theaters. Several of the productions that transferred to Broadway are now up for theater's most prestigious award, the Tony Awards: "Junk," "Latin History for Morons" and "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical." Ashley said he's delighted for the artists who were recognized this year. "I am really proud of the La Jolla Playhouse board and audience for their commitment to new work," he said. "It was our fifth season of all new plays and musicals and you can feel it, in terms of the impact we're having on the world." Part of what attracts artists to San Diego, Ashley said, is the artistic and production staff at the Playhouse. "I think the Playhouse staff does an extraordinary job in supporting the vision of the artists who come here and you can feel that, in terms of how much impact those plays and musicals go on to have," Ashley said. As many patrons know, the Playhouse subscription season has six shows. Or, as Ashley puts it: "We have six opportunities to say yes to artists." Every year, the Playhouse is pitched about 5,000 to 10,000 projects, Ashley said. Part of their work is having to narrow down thousands of submissions to just six pieces. The staff tries to stay loyal to artists who have made a home at the Playhouse, Ashley said. This way, the audience can develop a relationship with a writer and see their work develop. The Playhouse also pays special attention to any plays that deal with the here and now, "a play that has to get produced this year, because of something that's happening in the culture or something that's happening in Washington or something that's happening in San Diego," Ashley said. Then, Ashley said, they also make sure they have a variety of voices and points of view. "(We try to make sure) that the artists have very different view points and have very different voices and make sure that there's a full view of what's happening in the world and of the artistic form and stories are going to populate our stages every year," Ashley said. "That you're not seeing the same play again and again, but hopefully, every time you walk in the door, you have an unexpected experience." Part of the reason their programming selections tend to work well, Ashley said, is because of the theater community in San Diego. Aside from the Playhouse, San Diego is also home to several other world-class theaters: The Old Globe and the San Diego Rep, plus Broadway San Diego offers Broadway's best tours. In addition to the dozens of theaters in San Diego, there are also several top notch theater programs at UCSD, USD, City College and SDSU. All of those factors and more create an energetic audience ready to see theater. "The audiences are adventurous and up for supporting something new, which is the first thing you've got to have, an audience that's going on an adventure with you," Ashley said. When it comes to this year's Tony Awards, less than a month away, Ashley said he doesn't know how the awards will end up. But he is grateful the Playhouse can be a part of the theater community on its biggest night. "It's a moment that the theater community gets to come together, and celebrate excellence nationally, and I am honored that the Playhouse is such a part of that conversation," Ashley said. What to Know One protester was killed and more than 100 were wounded by Israeli fire in the protest It was the seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old border blockade of Gaza Monday protests are to coincide with the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, where Palestinians want a capital A Palestinian was killed and 176 were wounded by Israeli army fire Friday as thousands of Gaza residents protested near their sealed border part of a weeks-long campaign to end a decade-old blockade of the territory. Later Friday, vandals burned a fuel complex and a conveyor belt on the Palestinian side of Gaza's main cargo crossing with Israel, causing more than $9 million in damages and disrupting the import of diesel fuel and building materials, the military said. Friday's clashes offered a preview of what will likely be a much larger protest and possibly a border breach on Monday when the United States relocates its embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem amid Palestinian outrage. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the embassy there "is causing the volcano to spew," said 25-year-old protester Ahmed Deifallah as he stood near the Gaza border, a Palestinian flag draped around his head. Deifallah, who is unemployed like almost half the Gaza labor force, said he would also join Monday's protest and is not afraid to die. "We are used to confronting the (Israeli) occupation with our bare chests," he said. "We are used to wars and no one with us but Allah." Friday marked the seventh weekly border protest since late March. The demonstrations have been organized by Gaza's Hamas rulers, but are fueled by despair among the territory's 2 million people. The vast majority are barred from travel and trade, while the blockade has gutted the economy. As in previous weeks, thousands flocked to five tent camps near the border some 15,000 people, according to the Israeli military. From the camps, smaller groups moved closer to the fence. They threw stones, burned tires and flew kites with burning rags attached to them, hoping to steer them into Israel to set fields on fire. The area was quickly engulfed in thick black smoke from the burning tires. Israeli soldiers, some crouching behind sand berms, fired live bullets and tear gas volleys from the other side of the fence. The Israeli military said protesters also threw pipe bombs and grenades toward Israeli soldiers and damaged the fence. Later Friday, Palestinians vandalized a fuel complex and conveyor belt on the Palestinian side of Gaza's main cargo crossing, Kerem Shalom, the army said. It said the fuel installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities. The military distributed a video showing Palestinians cheering as a fire was set. It was the second such attack on the facility in a week. "Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive," the army said. Nissim Jan, the director of an Israeli company that operates Kerem Shalom in partnership with private Palestinian companies, said he spent large sums to repair last week's damage. "This time I can't repair and will not repair it. Where shall I bring money from?" he said. The Gaza Health Ministry said a 40-year-old protester was killed and 176 were wounded by Israeli fire Friday. Ten of the wounded were in serious condition, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the head. Nearly 800 others were overcome by tear gas or suffered other types of injuries. Friday's death brought to 41 the number of protesters killed since March 30. In the same period, more than 1,800 were wounded by Israeli fire. Despite such risks, Gaza's Hamas leader, Yehiyeh Sinwar, has said he expects tens of thousands to participate in Monday's protest. He has raised the possibility of a mass border breach, comparing protesters to a "starving tiger," unpredictable and full of pent-up anger. Israel has said it will prevent any border breach and has stuck to its open-fire policies, including targeting "main instigators" and those approaching the fence, despite growing international criticism. Israel says it has a right to defend its border and has accused Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacking the border. Rights groups say the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful. There are growing concerns that if Israel and Hamas dig in, a widespread border breach could lead to large numbers of casualties. The protests are part of a campaign to break the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas overran Gaza in 2007. On Monday, they are also aimed at the inauguration of the U.S. Embassy, which comes five months after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital a decision that outraged Palestinians as blatantly pro-Israel. The Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem is sought as a future Palestinian capital at least by those supporting Hamas' political rival, West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seeks an Islamic state in the entire historic Palestine, including what is now Israel, but has said it is ready for a long-term truce. Another large-scale protest is planned for Tuesday, when Palestinians mark their "nakba," or catastrophe, referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel's 1948 creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven out or fled homes in what is now Israel. More than two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees. Meanwhile, Gaza government officials announced that Egypt will open its border with Gaza for four days starting Saturday. Helping reinforce the Israeli blockade, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing point, Gaza's main gate to the outside world, closed most of the time since the Hamas takeover. Egypt opens the crossing from time to time, mainly to allow people in special categories, including medical patients and Gaza residents studying abroad, to leave the territory or return to it. The upcoming opening was framed as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins next week. In Jordan, about 7,000 people participated in a "nakba" rally in an area close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian refugees and their descendants now number several million people in the region, including more than 2 million in Jordan. Friday's rally took place before a large stage with a view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank. One man walked onto the stage with an effigy of Trump dangling from a noose. Doctors and court officials are months late in producing a court-ordered review of John Hinckley, the would-be assassin who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan. Court records reviewed by the News4 I-Team show that this week a federal judge acknowledged delays in conducting a required risk assessment of Hinckley. The judge has ordered Hinckleys defense attorneys, plus prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office, to notify the U.S. District Court for D.C. by Friday about their availability for a hearing to discuss the future of Hinckleys convalescent leave from federal custody. In 2016, a judge freed Hinckley from a 35-year stay at a mental hospital, allowing Hinckley to live full-time in his mother's home in Williamsburg, Virginia. He's on "convalescent leave," which requires that he regularly report to the court about his support and treatment. The judges decision included several provisions, including a requirement that St. Elizabeths Hospital in D.C. conduct an updated risk assessment within 18 months of Hinckleys release. The deadline for the review of Hinckley and his danger to the public passed in January 2018 without completion. In court filings reviewed by the I-Team, D.C. federal judge Paul Friedman acknowledged that the risk assessment had not yet been conducted. Friedman cited unforeseen scheduling delays beyond the parties and the hospitals control. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for D.C. said the office had no comment beyond what the court filings in the case say. Defense attorneys did not immediately return requests for comment. As part of Hinckleys 2016 release, the court ordered he have no contact with the Reagan family or with actress Jodie Foster, whom Hinckley said he was trying to impress when he shot the president in D.C. in March 1981. The court also barred Hinckley and his family from speaking with media. Hinckley was 25 when he opened fire outside of the Washington Hilton, hitting Reagan in the chest a moment captured by news crews. Press secretary James Brady also shot in the head. A police officer and a Secret Service agent also were wounded. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to live at St. Elizabeth's for treatment. Over the years, the court loosened restrictions on him. The D.C. police trial board recommended firing the officer who shot and killed an unarmed man on a motorcycle in 2016, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday. Officer Brian Trainer has 10 days to appeal. Trainer, who is white, shot 31-year-old Terrence Sterling, who is black, after Sterling was reported to be riding his motorcycle recklessly Sept. 11, 2016. Witnesses disputed what Trainer and a second officer said about the shooting. Howard Dorsey was driving home from work when Sterling pulled in front of him on his motorcycle. A D.C. police car pulled up and, within moments, Sterling had been shot twice. Trainer said he shot Sterling because Sterling had intentionally rammed his police car, injuring him. Dorsey testified last month that's not what happened and told News4 the shooting wasn't justified. A detective who investigated the shooting pointed out inconsistencies in Trainer's report of what happened. Trainer said his leg was injured after Sterling rammed the door of his police car. But the detective said the injury was more consistent with Trainer being on his knee as he administered first aid to Sterling than with being trapped in the door. A police internal review board previously found Trainer was unjustified in shooting Sterling, and the police chief called on him to resign. Earlier this year, the city reached a $3.5 million settlement with Sterling's family. The DC Police Union said it was concerned about whether Trainer got a fair hearing because of numerous city officials calling for his resignation. Police initially said Sterling, of Fort Washington, Maryland, intentionally rammed the passenger-side door of a police car while trying to flee a traffic stop, but witnesses disputed the police department's account of the incident, saying the crash was unavoidable. Trainer, a four-year veteran of the department, was wearing a body camerabut did not turn it on until after the shooting, police said. According to a review of the incident by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, Trainer and his partner, the driver, were stopped at a red light on U Street at 15th Street in northwest D.C. about 4:20 a.m. the day Sterling was killed. Sterling pulled in front of their cruiser and briefly stopped before speeding off through the red light. The officers turned on their emergency lights and siren and pursued Sterling. The officers lost sight of Sterling at times, but other officers and civilians saw him riding at speeds estimated at 100 mph, running red lights and nearly hitting another police cruiser, according to the U.S. attorney. The pursuit continued for several minutes and covered about 25 blocks, until Sterling stopped at Third and M streets NW and the officers pulled into the intersection to partially block Sterling's path, according to the U.S. attorney. Trainer drew his weapon and opened his door. Evidence shows Sterling accelerated toward the passenger side, hitting the door as the officer was getting out, the U.S. attorney said. Trainer reacted by firing two rounds through the front window, according to the U.S. attorney. Sterling died of wounds to the neck and back, according to the city's chief medical examiner. Toxicology results found Sterlings blood alcohol content was 0.16 -- twice the legal limit. Trainer did not face criminal charges in the case. He remains on paid administrative leave. A D.C. woman claimed to be a crown princess of Saudi Arabia, menaced the Saudi Embassy, tried to access the White House and threatened to kill U.S. Secret Service officers, according to an affidavit filed by a U.S. Secret Service officer this week. According to the affidavit, LaToya Mahoney-Smith, who has multiple aliases according to federal investigators, has made multiple attempts to enter the Saudi Arabian embassy on New Hampshire Avenue in northwest D.C., including an attempt after a stay away order was issued. Mahoney-Smith attempted to see the Saudi Arabian ambassador and claimed to have classified documents to give him, the affidavit said. On at least one occasion, Mahoney-Smith said she was the deputy crown princess of Saudi Arabia. On one occasion, Mahoney-Smith threatened to kill Secret Service officers who were removing her from the embassy grounds, according to court records submitted by a Secret Service officer. Mahoney-Smith is also accused of menacing the White House. According to the Secret Service court filing, On March 12, 2018, (Mahoney-Smith) called the direct office and mobile lines of an employee of the Department of State Office of Chief of Protocol eight times, requesting to be cleared into the White House as a member of the official delegation for the meeting with the President and the Crown Prince on March 20, 2018. The Secret Service affidavit also said Mahoney-Smith contacted the White House operator and requested White House access for the meeting with the prince. Mahoney-Smith also has a criminal history of stalking in Florida, according to court documents. An attorney for Mahoney-Smith did not immediately return requests for comment. A judge has ordered a competency hearing in her case and required Mahoney-Smith to be held without bond Thursday. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Florida, Connecticut all over the place in Boston, you can find Ubers and Lyfts with out-of-state plates. The ride sharing cars are adding to an already heavily congested city. "I'd say there's a decent amount of people that definitely do it," said one ride sharing driver, picking a passenger up at Logan International Airport. "They come to Boston because this is where the demand is." "It's really contributing to the congestion and we see every morning cars coming in from outside Boston, outside Massachusetts," said Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu. And Wu says that congestion is increasingly problematic. "There are cars pulling over, waiting in the bike lanes, parked, double parked, triple parked sometimes," Wu said. In fact, new state data released just days ago shows there was a staggering total of 34.9 million Uber and Lyft rides originating out of Boston last year. Wu says she doesn't want to restrict new businesses coming into the city, but she says Boston could think about "congestion pricing" to cut down on rush hour traffic. "If there were some type of pricing or toll or fee coming in to the city during rush hour, that's the really the only way we can get a handle on all these cars coming in from outside Boston and clogging up our streets," she said. Wu says the city is considering designated drop-off and pick-up zones to help alleviate some of the double parking. A Maine man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with a crash that killed a motorcyclist. The Sun Journal reports 34-year-old Steven Primavera was arrested Wednesday and indicted by a grand jury in the death of 54-year-old Reginald Clement. Witnesses told authorities Primavera's car drifted into an oncoming lane in Auburn in September 2017, causing Clement and another motorcyclist to crash into each other. Primavera's vehicle then struck Clement's motorcycle and knocked the man into the street. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died. Police say Primavera did not brake before crashing into Clement's motorcycle. Primavera was released on bail. It's not known if he has an attorney, and a phone number for him could not be located. Six New Hampshire men are facing multiple charges in connection with a brawl outside a Manchester club early Friday morning. Multiple officers responded to Glow Bar on Hanover Street at about 1 a.m. after multiple neighbors complained of noise, police said. When officers arrived, police said a group of men were outside yelling at the club's bouncers. According to police, things quickly turned violent when two officers were seriously assaulted by two of the men. Several officers began removing the six men after the bouncer asked them to leave the bar for the evening. Two brothers, later identified as Joshua Heredia, 25, and Chasrick Heredia, 24, both of Manchester, appeared agitated and refused to leave the premise outside of the bar, police said. Another man, identified by police as Jeff Taylor, 24, of Manchester, began yelling at the officers while Chasrick Heredia while another man, identified by police as Jose Ortiz De La Cruz, 25, of Londonderry, began pushing one another and arguing about whether or not they should leave. The group of men moved into the middle of Hanover Street, allegedly yelling and pushing one another. The officers tried unsuccessfully to get them to leave. The men allegedly refused, so Officer Michael Roscoe Jr. attempted to place Chasrick Heredia into custody while several of his friends started to pull him away from Officer Roscoe. Officer Nathan Harrington stepped in to assist Officer Roscoe, transitioning Chasrick Heredia to the ground. Officer Canada Stewart was also helping with the arrest when Joshua Heredia began kicking and punching both Officer Roscoe and Officer Stewart. Officer Roscoe stood up and began defending himself against the attack. He approached Joshua Heredia while several men surrounded the officer and repeatedly attacked him. Officer Konrad Jaworoski grabbed Joshua Heredia and placed him into custody while the other men continued to throw punches at the two officers. Officer Roscoe sustained a concussion as a result of being kicked in the head by Joshua Heredia, police said. Officer Stewart was struck in the face by Ortiz De La Cruz and Justin Johnston, 22, of Manchester and sustained a concussion. Officer Harrington tackled the two men after they turned on him and allegedly began punching him. He was able to place Johnson into custody. Ortiz De La Cruz was also taken into custody. According to police, additional officers were needed to place a total of six individuals into custody to disburse the crowd. Chasrick Heredia was charged with second degree assault, riot and two counts resisting arrest/detention, while his brother Joshua Heredia was charged with second degree assault, riot, simple assault and hindering apprehension. Taylor was charged with riots. Ortiz De La Cruz was charged with riot, three counts simple assault and resisting arrest/detention, simple assault. Johnston was charged with riot, simple assault and resisting arrest/detention. All five men appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court-North on May 11. Stephan Erich, 27, of Manchester, New Hampshire was charged with simple assault and riot. He was taken to Hillsborough County House of Corrections due to his uncooperative behavior, police said. It is unclear if any of the six men have an attorney. Police say they have made an arrest in the stabbing of an 82-year-old man in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Thursday. Aaron Mrowka, 29, of Provincetown, is charged with assault with intent to murder and aggravated assault and battery of a person over 60. "This is an incredibly safe town," said Provincetown resident Annette Andruss. "It is a really tight community and people were very disturbed by it." Police said the attack appears to have been random. "I was sort of stunned because I've lived here for quite a few years and nothing like that has ever happened," Andruss said. David Panagore, Provincetown's town manager, said residents and business owners were calling with tips and surveillance within minutes of the attack. Panagore said the tips led to the arrest of Mrowka on Friday. "The feeling in town? Relief that he was able to be arrested quickly," Panagore said. But one Provincetown resident said she still has questions. "I would like to hear the whole story," she said. "I would like to be the judge, and the jury, and the executioner." Mrowka was arraigned in Orleans District Court on Friday and ordered held without bail. He will be back in court on Tuesday. Police stressed that there is no ongoing threat to the community now that Mrowka is in custody. Officers were called to an area of Commercial Street at 5:55 p.m. Thursday, where the victim said he was attacked by a bicyclist who then took off. Police said the victim was bleeding from the side of his neck and lower back after the suspect used a box cutter to attack him. The victim, whose name has not been released, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. Authorities said the bike the suspect fled on was later abandoned and recovered by police. The motive of the stabbing is unknown. A Level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts is facing child pornography charges following an investigation into a purchase he made online. Sean McClure, 48, of Shirley, was arrested Thursday on charges of possession of child pornography and distribution of obscene matter. Authorities said an investigation by the State Police Cyber Crime Unit began when an e-commerce corporation alerted them that McClure had purchased a "love doll," or sex toy, that resembles a child. According to the Cyber Crime Unit, the purchase of such an item violates the company's user agreement and terms of service. Through the course of the investigation, authorities executed a search of McClure's home in Shirley with the help of Shirley police and special agents from Homeland Security, where numerous images believed to be child pornography were discovered. McClure is being held on $20,000 bail pending his arraignment Friday in Ayer District Court. It's unclear if he has an attorney. State Secretary William Galvin is launching an internal review following a report that more than a dozen of his employees filed campaign paperwork on his behalf on weekdays or during normal business -- a potential violation of ethics rules. The Democrat told The Boston Globe Thursday that he's asking the director of his Securities Division, Bryan Lantagne, to conduct a review of the 13 employees. The Globe on Wednesday reported several instances in which Galvin employees visited local clerk's offices to file nomination papers on behalf of Galvin's campaign while drawing a regular day of public pay. Galvin, facing a primary fight in September, said he did not ask any employees to perform the campaign work. Galvin's Democratic challenger, Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim, has called for an independent probe. Every big vendor has had to start small and then grow into a major platform. Nutanix is no exception. And this week at its .NEXT user conference, the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) provider outlined a plan to move from being a niche vendor that makes VDI work better to becoming the next big enterprise platform vendor. In a recent interview, Nutanix CEO Dheeraj Pandey talked about the building blocks of becoming a major enterprise vendor. Nutanix started off with an integrated hardware/software appliance to deliver its HCI solution. Pandey referred to this as their iPhone, meaning it was a fully integrated and turnkey product where Nutanix owns the entire experience. Over time, the company has shifted to a model where the software has been decoupled from the hardware and customers are free to deploy Nutanix on their choice of hardware. Pandey referred to this as the company's Android strategy. The question is: Where does the company go from here? At .NEXT, Nutanix made it clear its not content being the little niche vendor we all know today. Their sights are set high rainbow high. When it initially came to market, its goal was to make infrastructure invisible to enable companies to build and run apps without having to worry about constantly tuning and tweaking the underlying technology. Its fair to say that it and the rest of the HCI community have mastered that, so now its time to focus on a broader challenge. Now Nutanix wants to make the cloud invisible; that includes private clouds, public clouds and everything in between. To accomplish that and achieve the lofty heights the company is striving for, the Nutanix needs to expand its solution set beyond HCI software. Its arguably the technology leader in the space, but its bought by technologists, meaning the company has little visibility up the stack with CIOs. To improve that and shift its positioning from product to platform, the company announced several new products. Flow moves Nutanix into networking Flow is the companys first foray into networking and is an overlay software-defined networking (SDN) solution similar to VMwares NSX and was the most notable announcement from the event. Because its an overlay its easy to create a virtual network that extends from a private cloud out to public clouds. Nutanix has done a good job of making the compute, storage, and virtualization infrastructure simple to work with, and now it's reaching into the network. The big use case for Flow, as is the case with NSX, is micro-segmentation. Customers can use Nutanixs Netsil product (acquired in March) to map out the application environment and use that as a map to build a segmentation plan. The micro-segmentation can be used for things like app segmentation and VDI isolation by automating network changes, such as the creation of VLANs or configuration of load balancer functions. Flow runs inside Prism, Nutanixs management software, which makes it easy for admins to get started and provides a true single pane of glass. At launch, Nutanix announced several network partners that interoperate with Flow via its APIs. Vendors include Arista, Citrix, Mellanox, Broadcom, Plexxi, and Lenovo. Conspicuous by its absence is Cisco, which I wouldnt expect to see anytime soon. The addition of Flow brings networking to Nutanixs hypervisor, AHV, significantly closing the gap with VMware. At the show, I talked to a number of customers who would be more likely to use AHV and ditch VMware hypervisors, saving themselves a significant amount of money. VMware has a much bigger ecosystem of support, but there is certainly an opportunity for Nutanix to take share. Microsoft Hyper-V was supposed to challenge VMware, but it never really did. Given Nutanix has the underlying HCI software, its path to disrupting VMware may be easier than Microsofts. Era makes copy data management easy Era expands Nutanixs platform as a service (PaaS) capabilities, enabling the company to move up the stack from infrastructure to managing the lifecycle of databases, such as Oracle. Talk to any CIO, and data sprawl is a top-level issue and Era addresses that. Era includes a new feature called time-machine, which lets database administrators provision, clone, or refresh with a single click of the mouse. Through application-specific APIs, app developers can make specific point-in-time copies of databases to ensure they are working with the exact data set they require. Also, because every transaction is captured, admins can easily restore any database instant at any moment in time. Era enables companies to look to the future but still roll the clock back when needed. The copy data management capabilities are so much more cost-effective than managing multiple copies of databases across the company. Current databases supported are Oracle and Postgres, but the company has plans for others. Beam me up some easy cost and compliance management of clouds Beam is the first ever SaaS service from Nutanix, and it helps companies manage the cost and compliance issues associated with multi-cloud deployments. The service is designed to work not just with Nutanix, but across almost any cloud platform, including the popular Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure services. Beam provides granular visibility and analysis of exactly how organizations are utilizing cloud services by accessing accounts and usage and then organizing the information by project, group, or application. It then overlays that information with optimization recommendations to control costs, while ensuring compliance mandates are met. Beam also enables companies to set and enforce spending policies, limiting the impact of shadow IT. I have talked to organizations in which their AWS purchases have spiraled out of control because no one had any control over who was spending what. Nutanix thrives under the pressure of stiffer competition Nutanix certainly has its sights set high, and only time will tell if it can indeed be the next big thing. Admittedly, I was wrong about the company. A couple of years ago, they were the only game in the HCI town, but then the big boys HPE, Cisco and Dell-EMC rolled into town and flexed their 800-pound gorilla muscles. I thought that spelled certain doom for a small David trying to fight not one but three Goliaths. Over the past year, though, the company has seen nothing but success, and the stock has shot up from just under $16 per share to almost $60 per share. The success of Nutanix is a good lesson that small companies that are laser-focused on a particular market can stay ahead of the larger vendors. F5 Networks and Aruba (now part of HPE) are excellent examples of vendors that did that consistently for years. These three vendors are in different markets, but they have one thing in common: They consistently innovated faster than the competition. The original mission of Nutanix was to make infrastructure invisible, and now its evolved that to making the cloud and all the underlying technology invisible. Only time will tell if customers will entrust Nutanix with a bigger slice of the IT pie. But based on feedback from users at the .NEXT event, the company will get its shot. Of the companies mentioned in this post, Cisco, HPE and F5 are clients of ZK Research. HARTFORD Efforts to merge the states 12 community college will push forward in some form, despite rejection from an accrediting body and mounting opposition from faculty. System President Mark Ojakian vowed Thursday to rework the so-called Students First Plan, perhaps in smaller doses. Doing nothing is not an option, Ojakian said, moments before a Board of Regents meeting where a number of university faculty called the plan a failure and others called for his resignation. Mr. Ojakian, as I have said many times, I believe you are a good man but it is time to go, said Serafin Mendes-Mendez, a communications professor at Central Connecticut State University. Learn from your mistakes, David Blitz, a philosophy professor at Central, urged. Give up stop the consolidation. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges decided last month that an unprecedented plan to merge the states 12 community colleges into a single institution could not go forward as presented. In addition to calling the plan as proposed unrealistic, the commission told the state it was not proposing to merge colleges but create an entirely new one. The plan was pitched as a way to save millions of dollars and prevent possible closure of some of the campuses because of anticipated long-term insolvency while the system reserves continue to run dry. Short term, Ojakian said a budget approved by the state legislature on Wednesday provides some relief. Tuition is not expected to rise higher than what was already approved by the board. But he still planned to pursue some change in the structure of the system. Thursday, Ojakian faced criticism from a cadre of people who attended the Regents meeting, including Bill McGuirk, a former member of the regents who told Ojakian his outreach did not reach or convince faculty. Perhaps it is time to reconsider your intent to stay on, he said. At minimum you need to start over and ... mend some fences. Ojakian said he will not resign, but instead will continue to do what I need to do. Ojakian conceded the path toward a merger may take longer but it was better than allowing tuition to soar or campuses to close in an era where state support is declining annually, he said. We have options, Ojakian insisted. One, he said, would be to split the 12 colleges into three regions with shared governance. Ojakian said he plans to lay out a new set of recommendations for the board in June so that the system can return to NEASC in July with its chosen path. Although the 2018-19 state budget cuts the systems block grant, some $16.2 million was added back in for fringe benefits, according to Sean Bradbury, the systems lobbyist. Bradbury called the new funding immensely helpful. For next fall, tuition and fees at the states 12 community colleges which includes Norwalk, Housatonic, Gateway and Naugatuck Valley will go up 2.5 percent next fall to $4,384. At the states four regional universities, tuition will rise in the fall of 2018 by 4 percent with some variation by campus. In-state commuter tuition at Western in Danbury will be $10,859 and at Southern, in New Haven, $10,915. At Thursdays meeting, Matt Fleury, chair of the Board of Regents, told the audience he has full confidence in Ojakian and did not see the NEASC ruling as an outright rejection. By necessity, this board never thought about a plan called Do Nothing, he said. Moving forward, he and Ojakian said the board will address concerns raised by NEASC and may break with protocol to request an audience directly with the commission beyond working with staff. Louise Williams, a Central professor and campus union president, warned that no plan will get past the accrediting body without faculty input into the overall design. Do not misinterpret the silence of community college faculty as consent, Williams added, suggesting colleagues at two-year colleges are too fearful for their jobs to oppose the merger publicly. Mike Shea, an English professor at Southern, said instead of focusing on a plan that will fail, system leaders would make better use of their time educating the legislature and public on the value of investing in public education. I think its true there is not enough money in the state budget for public higher ed but its not true that there is not enough money in the state for investing in higher ed, Shea said. State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-67th) has announced he voted in favor of a state budget compromise that does not implement any new taxes or a tolling system. It does maintain funding to the states most vulnerable populations. While this is in no way, shape, or form a perfect budget it represents a quality compromise between both sides of the aisle, he said. We worked hard to maintain funding to seniors, school children, and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, we have a long way to go in order to reach a point of fiscal prosperity here in Connecticut, he said. It is important that in the outyears we strive to diminish the states staggering unfunded pension liabilities and not rely on policies that deplete the Rainy Day Fund. A provision not included in the compromise was a mechanism to close the states unfunded pension liabilities by adding funds to the public employee pension debt, retired teachers pension debt, and to allow money to remain the Rainy Day Fund. Buckbee said the budget disallows the governor from making unilateral discretionary cuts to cities and towns across the state, preserving the availability of state resources for the core services of government. The budget maintains service delivery to Connecticut seniors through fully funding the Medicare Savings Program, and also funds the Old Age Assistance program. New Milfords school children will continue to receive the resources necessary for a quality education by maintaining funding levels through Education Cost Sharing. Additionally, the state will appropriate additional funds to the Retired Teachers Healthcare account. The intellectual and developmentally disabled (I/DD) community will be served through a COLA increase to private providers, many of which have not received an increase in over a decade. COLA increases are representative of the rising costs of living, so wages are adjusted to be slightly higher. Additionally, emergency placements through the Department of Developmental Disabilities are funded along with the Aid to Disabled account. Tabling the implementation of tolls was a major point of success within the budget compromise, he said. Transportation projects through the Department of Transportation will no longer face the delays, as threatened by the governor earlier this year. In addition, I am pleased to report the New Milfords municipal aide will remain at the promised levels, he said. The budget compromise cleared the House with nearly unanimous support with a final tally of 142-8, and was also approved by the Senate. It now heads to the governors office for its action. Steep Rock Association in Washington will hold a training session for new and veteran citizen scientists interested in helping to identify marsh birds May 11 from 4 to 5 p.m. The session will take place at the SRA office at 2 Green Hill Road. The field season will run mid-May through mid-June. Citizen science is a method where non-science professionals contribute to scientific studies. It has proved to be an effective way of performing projects, some that may not be achievable otherwise, while engaging and educating the community. Marsh birds (bitterns, rails, grebes, and moorhens) are threatened by habitat loss, contamination, and invasion by non-native plants. They are notoriously difficult to detect, cryptically inhabiting low dense vegetation, which in turn makes assessing conservation initiatives challenging. However, specific surveys have been developed that focus on auditory cues. At dawn or dusk during breeding season, surveys combine passive listening and broadcasted calls to elicit a response, greatly enhancing the chances to detect a focal species. People of all ages and experience levels are invited to participate in the project. Citizen scientists can expect to learn how to follow scientific protocols, use special equipment, identify marsh birds by sight and sound, and accurately report data. Wetlands fulfill habitat needs for a variety of wildlife and are especially active in low light conditions so volunteers can also look forward to unique sightings beyond our targeted birds. For information, call 860-868-9131. Policymakers should consider introducing The Daily Mile to improve the health and fitness of school children around the world, according to new research led by the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh. The first study of the popular Daily Mile initiative - which involves children taking a 15-minute break from class to do physical activity - has confirmed it improves fitness, body composition and activity levels in participants. The findings indicate The Daily Mile can help combat global problems such as low physical activity, high sedentary behavior, declining fitness levels and high levels of obesity. The study was jointly led by Dr Colin Moran and Dr Naomi Brooks, of the University of Stirling's Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, and Dr Josie Booth, of the University of Edinburgh's Moray House School of Education. It also involved a number of other experts from Stirling and the University of the Highlands and Islands. Dr Moran said: "Our research observed positive changes in children who participated in The Daily Mile intervention, compared to our control school where the scheme was not introduced. "It suggests that The Daily Mile is a worthwhile intervention to introduce in schools and that it should be considered for inclusion in government policy, both at home and abroad." The Daily Mile was founded in February 2012 by Elaine Wyllie, the then headteacher of St Ninians Primary School in Stirling, to improve the fitness of her pupils. Children are encouraged to run, jog or walk around their school grounds during a 15-minute break from class, which is in addition to normal intervals and physical education lessons. Following the scheme's success, the Scottish Government has outlined its desire for Scotland to become the first Daily Mile nation, with around half of the country's primary schools now implementing the approach. There has been interest from the UK Government and the scheme has attracted the attention of other countries, with the Netherlands, Belgium and parts of the USA among those to have already adopted the approach. The research team conducted their research at two primary schools within the Stirling Council area, with 391 pupils, aged between four and 12, participating. Each child underwent an initial assessment and then a follow-up later in the academic year. Between times, one school implemented The Daily Mile, while pupils at the other - known as the control school - followed their usual curriculum. Children wore accelerometers to record their average daily minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and average daily sedentary behavior. They also had skinfold measurements taken to check body fat, and were assessed on their performance at a multistage fitness test (known as a bleep test or shuttle run), where they ran between cones 20 meters apart between bleeps. After correcting for age and gender, the team witnessed significant improvements in the intervention school, relative to the control school. Revealing the findings of the research during a special event at St Ninians, Dr Brooks explained: "We observed a relative increase of 9.1 minutes per day in terms of MPVA and a relative decrease of 18.2 minutes per day in sedentary time. Children at the intervention school covered, on average, 39.1 metres more during the shuttle run, while their body composition improved too." There were similar results when the data was adjusted to additionally account for socioeconomic circumstances. Dr Booth said: "Schools can help support pupils to be more active by taking part in The Daily Mile. The benefits of an active lifestyle are wide reaching and important for education as well as for health." The Scottish Government's Public Health and Sport Minister, Aileen Campbell, said: "Scotland's Daily Mile initiative is catching the imagination of the UK and beyond, and this research is even more validation of the impact it can have on people's lives. "By taking small steps and jogging, walking or running for 15 minutes, people can make huge changes to their health and wellbeing. We want Scotland to be the first 'Daily Mile Nation', with nurseries, colleges, universities and workplaces joining over 800 primary schools and regularly taking part. "There is great momentum behind this initiative, and I hope this research encourages even more schools and workplaces to sign up and reap the benefits of becoming more active more often." Elaine Wyllie, of The Daily Mile Foundation, said: "I founded The Daily Mile as I became concerned about the lack of physical fitness displayed by pupils and wanted to find a solution. The Daily Mile started with my simple belief that it would help children lead more active lives and to encourage the development of healthy habits in their futures. "With my pupils I saw that 15 minutes of daily activity rapidly improved pupils' fitness, health and concentration in the classroom. "I am delighted that this new research underlines what I found and I look forward to the day when every school does The Daily Mile." Susan McGill, convenor of Stirling Council's Children and Young People Committee said: "Improving children's health and wellbeing is a key priority for all schools and nurseries in Stirling. "We are so pleased to know that an initiative started in Stirling has now been proven to have such a positive impact on the lives of so many young people." Source: https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2018/05/daily-mile-could-enhance-health-of-the-worlds-children/ insights from industry Gary Cohen & Steve Conly Becton, Dickinson & Co What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? What impact does it have on a patients treatment? Gary: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a term used to describe a loss of effectivity of commonly used drugs, like antibiotics or antifungals, against pathogenic organisms. Credit: Sirirat/Shutterstock.com AMR has a fundamental impact on patient care from several perspectives. One is that patients are routinely being prescribed antibiotics for non-bacterial infections such as the flu, where they are not effective in combating the underlying condition. The effect they have can do more harm than good. Antibiotics have detrimental effects on the normal microflora of the body, which may actually be suppressing the viral infection. If you disrupt the delicate ecosystem, you not only lose this protection, you can also encounter situations where resistant bacteria survive the antibiotics and take over the patients microbiome, a condition that can potentially be deadly. Steve: In countries where patients must pay for treatment, AMR increases costs dramatically. Given the economic status of the world we currently live in, mounting costs for patients and the healthcare industry are of great concern. How does antimicrobial resistance spread? Gary: The first route of exposure is through skin. Most often, patients carry resistant organisms on their skin, but are not infected with a resistant bacterial strain. These patients will go into hospital for an invasive procedure such as surgery or insertion of a catheter, and the resistant organism will spread to a vulnerable part of the body, resulting in a resistant infection. Resistant organisms also exist in the community. For example, a young woman who received treatment for an infection, picked it up while scuba diving on her honeymoon. She was misdiagnosed and prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic that killed off much of her healthy bacteria, resulting in two life or death bouts in the ICU. Luckily, she recovered well and was able to go home, but she is now more susceptible than ever to future infections. It is also an outcome of the misuse of antibiotics. Using antibiotics in food, for example, creates a selective environment for resistant bacterial strains to thrive. In addition, active ingredients used in antibiotic manufacturing can contaminate way streams, increasing exposure of organisms in the environment to antibiotics. Finally, giving patients the wrong antibiotic, or patients not finishing a course of antibiotics, can contribute to the development of resistance. How are antimicrobial resistant diseases diagnosed? Are there any barriers to diagnosis? Steve: The diagnosis of bacterial infections, specifically resistant ones, is done through diagnostic testing. There are multiple technologies in use now, the uses of which depend on the particular symptoms the patient is exhibiting, the severity of their condition and the country in which the test is being carried out. The simplest way to prevent AMR infections is using point-of-care testing in primary care, before any prescriptions are written. These tests can help distinguish between a viral and bacterial infection; and thats the first question to answer. The next test, which is performed in a laboratory, will identify the causative strain, which can be worked out using traditional methods or molecular methods, which are more common these days. The final test is the susceptibility test, to work out which interventions will actually kill, or treat, the infection. The barriers to diagnosis depend on the location and setting, as many physicians do not have access to sufficient laboratory resources, especially in developing countries. In the UK and the US, access is not the biggest barrier, and resistance rates are lower because of that. Gary: Even where the instruments and tests exist, and in theory access in not an issue, there is a lack of utilization. Tests are not being used properly or as frequently as they need to be used. This is a recognized problem even in the most developed countries; their labs will likely have the instruments but are not carrying out the full testing protocols. Its very common for physicians to treat and prescribe antibiotics empirically, based on the symptoms that they visually observe. Another barrier is time. The current tests can take as much as two to three days to get all the answers. We, and everyone else, would like to be able to reduce the amount of time it takes to confirm a diagnosis using laboratory tests and that is evident by the huge focus on innovation at the moment. Point of care testing can help, but today there are only two countries in the world that routinely use flu testing at the primary care level, the U.S. and Japan. Are there any alternatives to broad-spectrum antibiotics? Gary: For many years, clinicians were taught to throw the kitchen sink at the infection, meaning they should always use a broad-spectrum antibiotic. The reasoning behind this is that because it's not so targeted, it will kill off everything, including the primary infection. However, what was overlooked, and people are just starting to realize, is that healthy bacteria are critical to our immune system and thus, fighting infections. Broad spectrum antibiotics not only kill the pathogenic bacteria, but also the healthy bacteria that constitute the microbiome. In addition, the use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic in resistant infections, like MRSA or C. difficile, creates a selective environment for the pathogenic bacteria to thrive, and the patient is more at risk than ever. The dilemma a clinician faces, especially when prescribing, should not be underestimated. There are infections that do not require treatment and those that require fast treatment, such as sepsis, which is blood stream infection. Physicians must be able to decide based on their experience, their observation, and diagnostic testing, what may require fast intervention and what does not. Another issue is that patients go into primary care expecting treatment. This is a problem all over the world and causes physicians to feel pressure to prescribe an oral antibiotic, or in some countries an injection to treat the patient. Often, the patients immune system could have fought off the infection after a few days. It's not up to us to decide what the clinical practice should be, but the awareness of the different options and the knowledge about the use of the best tools is critical in this situation. The use of more targeted antibiotics, as well as improvements in diagnostics are all critical factors in the fight against AMR. Steve: At present, there are no alternatives to antibiotics that are routinely available to clinicians. The best way of preventing antimicrobial resistant infections is through reducing the amount of antibiotics used. Scientists are also working on new vaccines. Newer technologies are being investigated, but these are still very early in terms of their technical development and availability. One example is the new pneumococcal vaccine, and even more well-known ones like the flu vaccine. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Credit: Tatiana Shepeleva/Shutterstock.com What is the AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) Alliance and what is its mission? Gary: Becton Dickinson (BD) is a 121-year-old established company, with much of the company's development historically around the area of infection prevention and control and the origins of use of diagnostic medicine, particularly microbiology. We're also a commercial supplier of medical devices and diagnostic testing instruments. The AMR Industry Alliance is a group that was initially formed by pharmaceutical companies and then joined by diagnostic companies. We are working to mobilize the capabilities of the private sector of industry to combat AMR. Everyone understands that this can't be done without the private sector, so it is great that professionals from industries ranging from manufacturers to private health providers can come together to combat the spread of AMR. We partner across sectors to collaborate to combine the capabilities of the public sector, non-government organizations, health agencies, and the private sector, to tackle major health problems worldwide. For AMR, we are bringing those capabilities to the forefront, because this is one of the biggest human health issues we are facing right now. What steps are being taken to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance? Gary: There are two practices that are particularly important to reduce the spread of AMR in the human health sector (excluding food production, agriculture and antibiotic production). One of these is practicing effective infection prevention and control. This means that if a patient comes into the hospital with an infectious disease that may be caused by a potentially resistant organism, they are identified from the beginning, isolated and treated before they can spread it to other patients. This extends to other areas such as pre-surgical preparation procedures for invasive surgeries such as insertion of a catheter, and basics like hand washing and the proper use of gloves. The second area is antimicrobial stewardship; a process to ensure that antimicrobials, especially antibiotics, are being used properly. Diagnostics play a critical role, yet most antimicrobial stewardship programs don't focus that much on diagnostics but rather on limiting the use of antibiotics. This approach can be a double-edged sword because there are certain cases where you do have to use antibiotics and you don't want to deny a patient in need access to them. Wanting to address this issue, we recently entered into a collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to develop a new antimicrobial stewardship program, particularly focused on the use of diagnostics. We are also mobilizing a broad-based awareness and coalition-building campaign around AMR called the Antimicrobial Resistance Fighter Campaign. It's unusual that we're doing this because we're taking on a role that the public sector would normally take on, but since it wasn't happening, we thought it would make sense for us to mobilize it and then make it available broadly. It's not a BD branded program, we're making it available to any health facility, organization, leader, professional society, and government organization that wants to engage. We have 30 world leading organizations already on board, all the way through to individual patients, or families of patients that have been impacted by AMR. At the rate we're going, we're expecting that there will be hundreds of organizations engaged by summer 2018, all of whom will be unified under the umbrella of I'm a Resistance Fighter!. The AMR Resistance Fighter Campaign will work to create a message in a consistent format that features the organization, the leader, the patient, or the family, and their story about how they are taking personal responsibility to combat AMR. Through this, we hope to raise awareness of the issue and get more people engaged. How are the public and private sectors working together to address antimicrobial resistance? Gary: Fortunately, AMR is something that everybody realizes is a huge issue, and are all willing to work together to mitigate. The door for collaboration is open, and were putting more emphasis than ever on the capabilities that industry can provide. Were working to improve training and pushing to align this with guidelines, policies and the use of diagnostics. People know that the correct identification and treatment of resistant infections will reduce costs, but they dont realize that it will save money, so it will pay for the investment in new technologies. Other than antibioitics, what else should be addressed to help reduce the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance? Gary: Everybody understands a pill, you feel sick, you have a fever, the doctor gives you a pill, and you get better. It's such a simple concept even though in practice it's not anywhere near that simple. Most patients are not aware of what happens in a laboratory, therefore, they're not thinking to go into a physicians office and say, "Might this be a resistant infection? Have you done the proper tests? Could it be sepsis? Which could be life threatening in a manner of days." Even among health leaders who may have some understanding of diagnostics in the laboratory, there's an underestimation about how important this is. A recent AMR review, led by Jim O'Neal, called for mandatory diagnostic testing in developed countries before antibiotics would be prescribed, which is very different from what is done today. The number one message for us is that you can't control or combat AMR without the use of diagnostics. Where can readers find more information? Antimicrobial Resistance at BD Resistance Fighter Campaign Goals Become an AMR Resistance Fighter About Steve Conly Steve is the Vice President of Microbiology within Diagnostic Systems at BD. He is responsible for leading the Blood Culture, TB, Industrial Microbiology, Lab Automation and Informatics franchises. Steve joined BD in 2010 with the acquisition of Dynacons Lab Automation business. Steve earned his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from McGill University in Montreal where he majored in Biomedical Sciences and Economics. About Gary Cohen Gary Cohen is Executive Vice President and President of Global Health and Development at BD (Becton, Dickinson & Co), a global medical technology company. He joined BD in 1983 and has served as an executive officer since 1996. In addition to serving as board co-chair of GBCHealth, he is a board director of the Perrigo Company, CDC Foundation, UNICEF USA, the Federal Drug Agents Foundation and the End Violence Partnership. He also serves as chair of the CDC/Corporate Roundtable on Global Health Threats and as an advisor on the Scientific Advisory Board of Grand Challenges Canada. Mr. Cohen is among the foremost private sector leaders working in collaboration with the public and non-profit sectors to advance global public health. His team collaborate with international agencies, governments and non-government organizations to address global health needs such strengthening health systems, addressing infectious and non-communicable diseases, reducing maternal and newborn mortality, combating antimicrobial resistance and improving safety for health workers and patients. Belgium Hospital Hosts Successful World-first Procedure Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies announced today that Biosense Webster, a worldwide leader in the diagnosis and treatment of heart arrhythmias, has enrolled and treated the first patient in its QDOT AF Study. The study will evaluate the delivery of high power, short duration ablation with QDOT MICRO, a novel radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). The first AF patient was treated at OLV Hospital in Aalst, Belgium, one of eight centers in Europe part of the study that will be enrolling up to 50 patients. AF is fast becoming one of the worlds most significant health issues affecting 14 million people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as placing a critical burden on healthcare systems with up to 2.5% of total healthcare expenditure associated with the disease. QDOT MICRO is a next generation catheter designed to treat AF in a catheter ablation procedure. In what will be a world-first, it delivers 90 watts of RF power in a four-second temperature-controlled catheter ablation session. Its optimized temperature control and micro-electrode technology is designed to provide more efficient and consistent lesion creation with advanced diagnostics, while simplifying the technique and reducing total ablation time. The concept of high power short duration ablation is novel and a potentially groundbreaking advancement for the industry, said Tom De Potter, MD, FEHRA, Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center Department of Cardiology, Electrophysiology Section at OLV Hospital. The new modality could result in improvements in clinical outcomes and procedural efficiencies and I look forward to further investigation. Dr De Potter performed the first QDOT MICRO procedure, and is one of the study clinical investigators. QDOT MICRO, which is only available for investigational use in Europe, is a steerable multi-electrode catheter with a deflectable tip designed to facilitate electrophysiological mapping of the heart and to transmit RF current to the catheter tip electrode for ablation purposes. In addition to force-sensing technology, the catheter incorporates six thermocouple temperature sensors and three micro electrodes embedded in its tip. For over 20 years Biosense Webster has pioneered the development of atrial fibrillation treatment explains Gabriele Fischetto (Vice President of Johnson & Johnson Cardiovascular Specialty Solutions in EMEA). QDOT MICRO continues our commitment to deliver solutions that help clinicians heal more hearts and has the potential to increase the standard of treatment for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Huron Digital Pathology announced today that Dr. Hamid Tizhoosh, Director of the KIMIA Lab at the University of Waterloo and Huron advisory board member, will present a talk entitled Faster, Better, More Reliable than Deep Features: A Projection-Based, Pathologist-Centric Approach to Identification of Histopathology Images at the Pathology Informatics Summit on May 22, 2018 in Pittsburgh, PA. The company also announced its research collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)and digital pathology pioneer, Dr. Liron Pantanowitz, Professor of Pathology & Biomedical Informatics and Director of Pathology Informatics at UPMC Shadyside, in the field of content-based image retrieval using artificial intelligence. Dr. Tizhooshs abstract presentation at the Pathology Informatics Summit will be the first public introduction to Hurons technology for identification and retrieval of histopathology images. He will describe a unique approach to image search that places the pathologist in the center of decision making,a key ingredient to driving adoption of artificial intelligence techniques in pathology. The abstract presentation will take place at 8:30am on Tuesday, May 22nd. Hurons whole slide scanners generatepetabytes of image data each year, so itmade sense for us to develop a simple, yet powerfulway to search histopathology images and access underlying knowledge, commented Patrick Myles, CEO of Huron Digital Pathology. We are actively validating our technology through collaboration with leading clinical, research and academic institutions as well as key industry partners. We are particularly thrilled to be working with Dr. Pantanowitz,who is providing us withvaluable feedback andaccess to a rich digital pathology archive. Dr. Liron Pantanowitz, Professor of Pathology & Biomedical Informatics and Director of Pathology Informatics at UPMC Shadyside, commented: Many of us have witnessed the value of reverse image lookup using Google Image Search. Unfortunately, such content-based image retrieval tools are not readily available for clinical use in pathology. However, it is hoped that future image algorithms, such as the technology Huron are developing today with UPMC and the University of Waterloo, will likely mature to the point of playing an important role in computer assisted diagnosis for anatomic pathology practice. Source: http://www.hurondigitalpathology.com/huron-digital-pathology-collaborates-upmc-artificial-intelligence-based-image-search-presents-pathologist-centric-approach-image-retrieval-pathology-informatics-summit-pittsburgh/ It has long been claimed by Yogis and Buddhists that meditation and ancient breath-focused practices, such as pranayama, strengthen our ability to focus on tasks. A new study by researchers at Trinity College Dublin explains for the first time the neurophysiological link between breathing and attention. Breath-focused meditation and yogic breathing practices have numerous known cognitive benefits, including increased ability to focus, decreased mind wandering, improved arousal levels, more positive emotions, decreased emotional reactivity, along with many others. To date, however, no direct neurophysiological link between respiration and cognition has been suggested. The research shows for the first time that breathing - a key element of meditation and mindfulness practices - directly affects the levels of a natural chemical messenger in the brain called noradrenaline. This chemical messenger is released when we are challenged, curious, exercised, focused or emotionally aroused, and, if produced at the right levels, helps the brain grow new connections, like a brain fertilizer. The way we breathe, in other words, directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve our brain health. The study, carried out by researchers at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity, found that participants who focused well while undertaking a task that demanded a lot of attention had greater synchronization between their breathing patterns and their attention, than those who had poor focus. The authors believe that it may be possible to use breath-control practices to stabilize attention and boost brain health. Michael Melnychuk, PhD candidate at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity, and lead author of the study, explained: "Practitioners of yoga have claimed for some 2,500 years, that respiration influences the mind. In our study we looked for a neurophysiological link that could help explain these claims by measuring breathing, reaction time, and brain activity in a small area in the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where noradrenaline is made. Noradrenaline is an all-purpose action system in the brain. When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we can't focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can't focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking and memory are much clearer." "This study has shown that as you breathe in locus coeruleus activity is increasing slightly, and as you breathe out it decreases. Put simply this means that our attention is influenced by our breath and that it rises and falls with the cycle of respiration. It is possible that by focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimize your attention level and likewise, by focusing on your attention level, your breathing becomes more synchronized." The research provides deeper scientific understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms which underlie ancient meditation practices. The findings were recently published in a paper entitled 'Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama' in the journal Psychophysiology. Further research could help with the development of non-pharmacological therapies for people with attention compromised conditions such as ADHD and traumatic brain injury and in supporting cognition in older people. There are traditionally two types of breath-focused practices -- those that emphasize focus on breathing (mindfulness), and those that require breathing to be controlled (deep breathing practices such as pranayama). In cases when a person's attention is compromised, practices which emphasize concentration and focus, such as mindfulness, where the individual focuses on feeling the sensations of respiration but make no effort to control them, could possibly be most beneficial. In cases where a person's level of arousal is the cause of poor attention, for example drowsiness while driving, a pounding heart during an exam, or during a panic attack, it should be possible to alter the level of arousal in the body by controlling breathing. Both of these techniques have been shown to be effective in both the short and the long term. Ian Robertson, Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity and Principal Investigator of the study added: "Yogis and Buddhist practitioners have long considered the breath an especially suitable object for meditation. It is believed that by observing the breath, and regulating it in precise ways--a practice known as pranayama--changes in arousal, attention, and emotional control that can be of great benefit to the meditator are realized. Our research finds that there is evidence to support the view that there is a strong connection between breath-centered practices and a steadiness of mind." "Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain aging. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long term meditators. More 'youthful' brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks. Our research offers one possible reason for this - using our breath to control one of the brain's natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right 'dose' helps the brain grow new connections between cells. This study provides one more reason for everyone to boost the health of their brain using a whole range of activities ranging from aerobic exercise to mindfulness meditation." Frances Lund, Ph.D., the Charles H. McCauley Chair of Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, spoke about chronic inflammatory disease and the striking correlation between location and disease incidence at the recent Fourth International Vatican Conference, "Unite to Cure." Lund explained how chronic inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and lupus have their highest U.S. concentrations in the Southeast, including Alabama. Yet, she noted, the majority of clinical trials to test possible new treatments for these diseases occur outside of the Southeast. "We need to do more trials in the epidemic center of disease," Lund said. Approximately 7 percent of U.S. residents suffer from autoimmune disease, and treatment of these individuals is estimated to cost $100 billion each year. The three-day conference focused on how science, technology and 21st century medicine can impact culture and society. "There were many interesting topics from a philosophical point of view," Lund said. "It was not a meeting of scientists talking to scientists; it was scientists talking to leaders in the fields of business, technology, ethics, faith and a wide array of other disciplines." The conference included an audience with the Holy Father, Pope Francis. Lund, who did her undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame when the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh was still its president, said the audience with the pope "was an opportunity I never thought I would have in my life." At the conference, leading decision-makers in health care, business, media, medicine, advocacy and faith discussed ways to collaborate and improve access to health care, increase investment in research and innovation, encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, and help grow healthy communities through prevention, education and better access to health care. Sessions included global approaches to a world without disease; genetic testing and wellness; patient advocacy and bone marrow donation in the age of cell therapy; progress and responsibility under the idea of dominion over all of creation; and the use of stem cells in cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. They also included using stem cells to treat autism and cerebral palsy, longevity and the morality of extreme life extension, gene editing and CRISPR, how prizes can accelerate innovation and discovery, and applying new models of philanthropy to accelerate progress in curing and preventing disease. Robin Smith, president of the Cura Foundation, one of the conference hosts, says the global event at The Vatican was like Davos for health care. "By uniting together and understanding the challenges that lie ahead, we can speed the delivery of cures and foster great hope for patients all over the world suffering from deadly diseases and dangerous medical conditions," he said. General Motors will stay in South Korea for at least 10 years and set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in the country, government officials said on Thursday, revealing terms of a deal aimed at rescuing the U.S. automaker's struggling GM Korea unit. The U.S. car maker's Korean unit averted a bankruptcy filing with a wage deal clinched last month, but analysts and customers, as well as the South Korean government, have had doubts about GM's commitment and about how long the loss-making company will remain in business. The terms of the binding deal to be signed on May 11 sought to assuage some of those concerns. As per the agreement, GM can't sell any of its 77 percent stake in GM Korea over the next five years and can't let it fall below 35 percent thereafter until 2028, South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told a press conference. The restriction on the stake sale was one of the tools that will prevent GM from leaving the South Korean market, Kim said. He also said the deal package "paved the way for GM to operate continuously beyond 10 years, referring to concerns that GM may leave after 10 years. The Detroit carmaker and state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) already have a preliminary deal on $7.15 billion of investments, including $2 billion of capital spending by GM and a $2.8 billion debt-for-equity swap for existing loans GM Korea owes to its parent, to rescue the unit. Don't Forget to Subscribe to the 'Tech And Auto Show' YouTube Channel As a sign of its long-term commitment, GM plans to set up a new Asia-Pacific headquarters in South Korea, although that excludes China, the government said on Thursday. GM will also buy more parts from South Korean suppliers for its overseas operations, boosting procurement from about 2 trillion won ($1.85 billion) a year at present, it said. In return, South Korea will provide funding to local suppliers of GM and other South Korean automakers for the development of parts for electric and self-driving cars, and other key automotive parts. "It was a very difficult and a critical decision, chairman of the financial watchdog Financial Service Commission Choi Jong-ku said at the briefing, adding the government had to consider the risk to 156,000 jobs at GM Korea and its suppliers, the eco-system of South Koreas car industry, as well as exports and local economies. Also Watch: Barry Engle, President of GM International, said on Thursday that the automaker's commitment to South Korea was long-term and sincere, adding that although there was still a lot of work to do, he sees a bright future in the country. Chennai: Over 10 lakh bankers in government and private banks will go on a 48-hour strike starting on May 30, said an All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader. The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) proposed the strike beginning 6 a.m. on May 30, till 6 a.m. on June 1, demanding early revision of wages. The wage revision has been due since November 1, 2017. "The strike notice has been served to Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the bank management and the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, told IANS. The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector representing staff and officers. Wage revision talks between UFBU and IBA held in Mumbai on May 5 had ended in a failure. Venkatachalam said the IBA offered an increase of 2 per cent over the total wage bill of the banks as on March 31, 2017. In the last 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement that was made effective from November 1, 2012, the IBA had agreed to a hike of 15 per cent over the total wage bill. The unions had rejected the IBA offer, Venkatachalam said. While the government had asked the IBA to conclude the wage revision settlement before November 1, 2017, the latter has been delaying, he said. Mumbai/Bengaluru: Fortis Healthcare Ltd has accepted an offer of investment from two prominent business families, picking an underdog in a five-way battle for a piece of the promising yet cash-strapped hospital operator. Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office will become Fortis' largest shareholder with an investment of 18 billion rupees ($267.7 million), valuing the firm at about 90 billion rupees. Their offer was alone in excluding due diligence as a precondition, giving Fortis quick access to the funds. The decision ends a bidding war to buy part or all of Fortis, which operates about 30 private hospitals in India and is in need of cash after an aggressive period of expansion. The contest attracted deep-pocketed suitors seeking to capitalise on a lucrative private healthcare market that is expected to get a boost from a government plan to expand an insurance programme to half of India's 1.3 billion people. Hero Enterprise is an investment unit of Sunil Munjal, whose family runs India's largest motorcycle maker, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. The Burman Family Office is the private investment arm of the family that controls consumer goods company Dabur India Ltd. After the investment, Hero-Burman will together own just under 20 percent of Fortis, including the 3 percent they already own, Munjal said at a televised news conference on Friday. The overnight decision saw Fortis shares gain in premarket trading, only to fall as much as 4.9 percent in afternoon trade. "We believe the reasons for considering this offer could be no requirement of due diligence and lesser equity dilution as compared to other offers," ICICI Securities analyst Sriraam Rathi said in a research note. "Munjals/Burmans have built successful businesses in non-healthcare fields and are passionate about the Indian healthcare industry," he said, expecting the offer to receive shareholder approval. The consortium has offered to invest 8 billion rupees through a preferential share issue at 167 rupees apiece, and 10 billion rupees via a preferential issue of warrants at 176 rupees each. Fortis received four binding offers out of five in total, of which industry experts saw as favourites domestic rival Manipal Hospitals and backer TPG Capital Management LP, as well as Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Bhd. Fortis agreed in late March to be bought by Manipal before shareholder activism and competing offers scuttled that plan. Others vying for a stake included Radiant Life Care Pvt Ltd, backed by KKR & Co LP, and China's Fosun International Ltd, which had made a non-binding offer. Manian pal did not have immediate comment. Radiant and Fosun could not be reached for comment. IHH, which had offered 175 rupees a share for a 40 billion rupee investment, said it was disappointed with the decision. "We are open to further discussions with all stakeholders, and look forward to the support of Fortis shareholders," IHH Chief Executive Tan See Leng said in a statement. Fortis has been struggling with insufficient cash and growing debt, at a time when regulators are investigating allegations that its founders took funds without board approval. The founders, who have since left Fortis, deny wrongdoing. New Delhi: The Indian IT industry is expected grow at 8 per cent to USD 167 billion and hire over 1 lakh people this year, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday. "President NASSCOM @debjani_ghosh_ met me. We discussed issues pertaining to IT industry of India. She informed me that Indian IT industry is set to grow at 8% to $167 Billion in 2018 offering direct jobs to 3.97 million people, which is an addition of 105,000 employees over 2017," Prasad said on social media platform Twitter. According to software services industry body Nasscom, the exports would be USD 137 billion in 2018-19 as against USD 126 billion in 2017-18. The industry is expecting to add one lakh jobs in 2018-19. The overall IT-BPO industry size would be adding USD 14-16 billion. At an other event of 11th may, Debjani Ghosh and UK's Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Matt Hancock, launched the 4th edition of the India-UK TECH Rocketship Awards. The awards are designed to help Indian start-ups in the emerging technology field --artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security, fintech, med-tech and IoT in getting access to capital and a platform to go global via the UK. The winners will get a week-long sponsored trip to the UK exposing them to prospective business partners, investors, and incubators during the London Tech Week 2019. The winners from last year will travel this year and the winners from this year will be travelling next year. Gurgaon: Fortis Healthcare board on Friday defended its choice to go with the Rs 1,800 crore bid from Munjals-Burmans combine even as IHH Healthcare and Manipal-TPG combine questioned the decision saying their respective offers were more compelling for the shareholders. The majority of the healthcare chain's board opted for the Munjals-Burmans offer keeping in mind the certainty and liquidity issues, company director Brian W Tempest said. The board's decision, however, did not go down well with investors with the company's shares tanking nearly 3 per cent on the bourses. Fortis Healthcare stock declined 2.66 per cent to close at Rs 148.40 on BSE. Intra-day, it slumped 4.39 per cent to Rs 145.75. Earlier in the day, addressing media, Tempest justified the board's decision to go with the offer from Munjals-Burmans combine which had put their hat in the ring after Fortis board had approved an offer from Manipal-TPG combine on March 28. "We looked at all the binding bids from the point of view of certainty and liquidity for the company...We took advice from the expert committee, from two financial organisations and from a legal organisation," Tempest told reporters here. When asked if the decision was unanimous, he said three members of the board, who have been with Fortis, voted for the Munjals-Burmans bid and out of five new members two voted for the bid and three voted for other options. Another major reason for accepting the bid was that "they have several investments in the healthcare sector". Accepting the offer was a culmination of a process which started two years ago, Tempest said, adding that it would now be presented to shareholders for approval. "There will be a shareholders' meeting on this within 30 days and I am positive that there will be a support from the shareholders for the decision," he said. Hero Enterprises Chairman Sunil Kant Munjal told PTI that the Burmans-Munjals combine were hoping that their offer would be seen "as beneficial by the shareholders as much as it has been seen by the company and the board now". "...everybody saw that it was binding with no walk away position for us. It would be the be quickest to implement and has the certainty of implementation," he said. Munjal further said already efforts have been made to reach out to Fortis shareholders and the response has been quite encouraging. "In the next few days, we will reach out to more and see what their views are...Some of them have been very very vocal and we would also like to have a conversation with them," he added. Meanwhile, having lost out to Munjals-Burmans combine, Malyasia's IHH Healthcare said it is looking to speak to the shareholders of Fortis even as it evaluates options for its future course of action. "We are currently evaluating all possible options, to ensure shareholders have the opportunity to realise this value. We are evaluating all possible options, and are looking to speak to shareholders to hear their thoughts," IHH Healthcare Managing Director and CEO Tan See Leng said. Asserting that IHH's offer was "holistic and compelling", he said it "comprehensively addresses the short-term financing needs and long-term objectives". Another suitor Manipal-TPG consortium, which also lost out, also expressed disappointment over the decision of the Fortis stating it would be for the shareholders now to decide to accept the recommendation or not. "Manipal remains of the view that our offer proposed the most appropriate short and long-term plan for Fortis and was in the interests of all stakeholders, including shareholders," Manipal Education and Medical Group MD and CEO Ranjan Pai said in a statement. The consortium's offer comprised a significant and necessary immediate investment, a clear strategic plan to fundamentally transform Fortis, as well as synergies from a combination with Manipal, he added. On the issue of erstwhile promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh continuing on the board of Fortis' diagnostics arm SRL, Tempest said they have been asked to step down. Fortis announced last night that its board has picked the offer from Munjals-Burmans combine over four other suitors who made binding offers. The board decided, by majority, to recommend shareholders to approve the revised offer of Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office made on May 1 for an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share through preferential allotment. The Munjals-Burmans combine further agreed to invest another Rs 1,000 crore via preferential issue of warrants priced at Rs 176 per share. Malaysia's IHH Healthcare, Manipal-TPG combine and KKR-backed Radiant Life Care had also put in binding bids for Fortis. The fifth bidder, Fosun Health Holdings, an arm of Fosun International, which made a non-binding proposal to invest a total of USD 350 million (over Rs 2,295 crore) at a price up to Rs 156 per share, did not revise its offer. NEW DELHI: The country's thermal coal imports rose by more than 15 per cent in the first three months of 2018, with Indonesia accounting for about three-fifths of total supplies, according to vessel arrival data from Dubai-based coal trader American Fuels & Natural Resources. India's rising coal imports are contributing to higher demand across Asia this year, which has pushed benchmark Australian coal cargo prices above $100 per tonne, a price not seen at this time of year in more than half a decade. Imports rose to 39.6 million tonnes during the three months ended March 31, the data from American Fuels, a supplier of coal from the United States, showed. That is up from 34.4 million tonnes of thermal coal during the first three months of 2017, according to government data which matched the data from American Fuels. Government data for the first three months of 2018 has not been released yet. The American Fuels figures are broadly in line with data from an Indian-based trading company reviewed by Reuters that showed imports were 37 million tonnes in the quarter. India will likely increase 2018 thermal coal imports after two straight years of declines because of domestic logistic bottlenecks, regulatory changes and surging power demand. Vasudev Pamnani, a senior trader at American Fuels, said India's demand for coal with a higher calorific value, most of which has to be imported, was increasing since buyers want more energy from the coal they purchase to offset higher prices and the logistical problems, mainly railway delays. South Africa was the second-largest source of foreign coal during the first quarter, supplying about one-fourth of the total imports, with the United States and Australia being the next largest sources, the data showed. Adani Enterprises, country's largest coal trader, accounted for about one-sixth of all the imports, purchasing about 6.51 million tonnes during the period, the data showed. The Tata Group imported 5.23 million tonnes of coal during the period with Swiss Singapore, part of the Aditya Birla Group, taking in 2.92 million and JSW Group bringing in 2.48 million. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. The ports of Mundra, Krishnapatnam and Kandla handled about the two-fifths of all of the imports, according to American Fuels. A final year BTech student is making headlines for all the right reasons. Karttikeya Mangalam, an IIT Kanpur student, says that the skills he acquired in college helped him save a man's life who suffered diabetes-related complications mid-air. Opening up about the incident in the IIT's magazine, the 21-year-old recollects the incident that unfolded several thousand feet above the ground. Mangalam was flying to New Delhi from Geneva Via Moscow when he heard an air hostess enquiring about a doctor onboard to deal with a medical emergency. When Mangalam saw a doctor rushing toward the struggling passenger, he decided to join him. "I went to the persons seat to help since I was one of his neighbours in the flight," he wrote. The 30-year-old passenger, Thomas, according to Mangalam, had Type 1 diabetes since the age of 11 and had forgotten his insulin pump in hurry during the security check in a deposit tray at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow. Thomas' blood sugar level had risen beyond normal levels as it had been over five hours since he had taken his last insulin dose. Luckily for him, he was carrying some cartridges of insulin with him, all he needed was a method to inject them. The doctor who was assisting him was diabetic too and used a "pen-esque contraption" to inject insulin himself. But his dosage was chemically different from what Thomas usually took. To make matters worse, Thomas insulin cartridges wouldn't fit doctor's pen as they were thinner than doc's insulin pen. Here's when Mangalam put his troubleshooting skills to perfection. He asked the air hostess for WiFi password and found an engineering drawing style diagram of an insulin pen. "I requested the air hostess to let me access the premium Wi-Fi available in the plane to check on the pens manual online, to which she reluctantly agreed. I looked up the manual and found a large engineering drawing style diagram showing how every part fits with each other." And soon realised what was missing. "I realised that somehow there were only 12 parts in it now while the diagram clearly showed 13 different parts. On cross-checking I realised that it was missing a spring that coiled before the cartridge and was essential to transfer the push motion from the back to the needle in front." He then instructed the air hostess to ask the passengers for ballpoint pens as they had spring in them. After trying a few springs, he found the perfect match and passed the makeshift pen to the doctor who then adjusted the dose, changed the needle and injected the dosage to Thomas. After 15 minutes, the doctor reported that Thomas was stable as his blood sugar levels stopped rising and eventually came down. Mangalam's quick thinking saved Thomas' life and a possible emergency landing. His write up was shared on microblogging site Twitter by IIT Kanpur's Twitter handle and netizens hailed the quick-thinking engineering student. Karttikeya Mangalam, a final year electrical engineering BTech student, saves life of a 30-year-old Dutch national using his basic engineering acumen. #IITK feels proud to share his story in his own words.https://t.co/SmHjYFUI2n pic.twitter.com/ybnRp19K3f IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) May 7, 2018 You can read the entire write up here. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has a habit of finding himself in a spot almost every time he makes a statement. And yet, he is at it again. The chief minister has now claimed that Rabindranath Tagore gave away his nobel prize in protest against the British. Rabindranath Tagore had given away his nobel prize in protest against the British, Deb said during the 157th birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate and poet in Tripura. But the chief minister needs to do some fact-checking. Deb made the statement in an apparent reference to Tagore's protest against Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919. However, the fact is that the poet wrote to then viceroy Lord Chelmsford and repudiated his knighthood as a protest against the massacre, and not the nobel prize. Of course, this isn't the first time the Tripura CM has stirred controversy. In fact, Deb has faced severe flak over his controversial statements in the past. #1 Stop running after government jobs, milk cows instead Claiming that the youths in Tripura run after political parties for government jobs, the chief minister asked them to not waste their "crucial time" and instead milk cows or set up paan shop to earn a living. Why run after netas for government jobs? Graduates should get cows and milk it to earn Rs 10 lakh in 10 years. Instead of running after political parties, had the same youth set up a paan shop, he would have had a bank balance of Rs 5 lakh by now, the chief minister said. Youth is wasting time by running after politicians for government jobs, they should rather open a 'paan' shop and make money: Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb. @maryashakil with more details. pic.twitter.com/igiCJaS27d News18 (@CNNnews18) April 29, 2018 #2 Internet technology existed in the Mahabharata era Last month, Biplab Deb said that the Internet is nothing new to India and that it existed even in the days of Mahabharata. Speaking at a public event in Agartala, Deb said that the blind king Dhritarashtra would get regular updates about the battles of Kurukshetra through Sanjay, who was also nowhere near the battlefield like him and this was possible only through technology and satellite communication. Of course, Internet went berserk over CM's comment and Twitter users imagined Internet in the Mahabharata era using ##InternetMahabharata hashtag. Pandavas checking thier twitter notifications. Yudhishthira is angry with the low 4G range in Indraprasta.#InternetMahabharata pic.twitter.com/0it8FnOTPO Advaid (@Advaidism) April 18, 2018 #3 Aishwarya Rai face of Indian women, not Diana Hayden April wasn't a jolly month for the CM. Deb grabbed the headlines for questioning Diana Haydens Miss World title won 20 years ago and compared her with Aishwarya Rai. File image of Former Miss World Diana Hayden. (Image: Reuters) He had said, Indian beauty should ideally look like Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati. Diana Hayden did not deserve to win the Miss World crown. Actually, it was part of a fixed plan, which was hatched keeping in mind the interests of the international market. Aishwarya Rais victory was well deserved as she represents the quintessential Indian woman. The BJP leader, however, was all praise for Aishwarya Rai, who won the Miss World crown in 1994, saying she "represents the Indian women" in the true sense. "Indian women did not use cosmetics in the old times. Indians did not use shampoo, they washed their hair with methi water and bathed with mud. These beauty pageant organisers are international marketing mafia, who spotted a huge market in the country. Today, there is a beauty parlour in every corner of the country," he said. He later apologised for his remarks. #4 Civil engineers should join civil services as they have experience to build the society The Tripura CM struck a hat-trick in April. Deb said that civil engineers would be better suited for civil services over mechanical engineers. He said, Civil engineers should join civil services as they have the prior experience to build the society. According to the local media, Deb was attending an event in Agartala to mark the Civil Service Day when he said, If a civil engineer becomes an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, he can give inputs in construction projects, which mechanical engineers cannot. He didnt stop at that and added, One should not opt for civil services after studying mechanical engineering. Civil engineers have the experience and knowledge to help build administration and society. Civil engineering gives that kind of knowledge. #5 Nails of government's critics must be chopped off May didn't start very well for the CM. Deb courted controversy by saying that if anyone criticises his government "their nails need to be chopped off," reported ANI. "It shouldn't happen that with my government, somebody points fingers at it or scratches it with their nails. Anyone who scratches it, their nails should be chopped off," said Deb in a speech. The video of which was tweeted by ANI. "A vegetable seller brings fresh bottle gourd to market at 8 in the morning. By 9 am, so many people have touched it, it gets so many nail marks that it can't be sold. Then it must be either fed to a cow or taken back home. I will not allow that to happen to my government," he further added. Chandigarh: Prodigies Kautilya Pandit and Abhishikt Kumar Gupta have something in common with Kulwant Kaur, a 50-year-old woman living in Punjab. People around them have added Google to their name. While the two boys, aged 10 and 5 respectively, are known as Google Boys , Kulwant Kaur is affectionately known as Google Bebbe. But Kaur does not even know how to Google and has only studied till Class IV. So why the nickname? Like Google, she can answer all your queries when it comes to Sikh history. Her extraordinary memory means that all the events going back centuries are on her fingertips. Kaur, who was born in Agra, had shifted to Fatehgarh Sahib District after getting married. She lives with her family in Manaila village. I know that Google is used to search for information but I have never used it. Youngsters of my village call me by that name though, she says while pointing towards her mobile, one of a bygone era without Internet connectivity. Her unusual talent has made her popular in the region. At times when Im travelling in buses, people come to me and ask me if I am Google Bebbe. They have either seen my interview on TV or have read about me in local papers, she says. Amazed by her skills, various social service organizations have honoured her for her knowledge related to the state. Disha Welfare Trust organized a seminar at Davinder Ahuja School of Khedi Nodh Singh village recently where she answered various students questions with ease. I have grown up listening to tales related to history from my grandparents, parents, paternal and maternal uncles and aunts. They would often share stories from the times of Lord Rama and erstwhile kings like Ashoka and Prithvir Raj Chauhan and tales of our brave warriors. It is only then that I got inclined towards history, she said. Social activist SPS Oberoi was so impressed by her that he offered to help her enroll in Punjabi University, Patiala. When a Welfare Trust organised an award show, they asked her random questions and she wowed them with her exceptional knowledge. A college in Kharar also organised a programme revolving around history where she left students of B.Tech, M.Tech and B.Sc stunned by her knowledge. She says she often read old books, newspapers, scriptures and other books on religion. I have read endless scripts and books, but I still consider that I have partial knowledge of history. Not many in Punjab know about Sikh warriors like Sardar Tharaj Singh, Bhai Hathu Singh, Bhai Bhagad Singh, Bhai Pahada Singh, Bhai Balaka Singh, Bhai Bhooma Singh, Bhai Amar Singh, she added. Kulwant strongly feels that youngsters must read about their history. No matter which stream of study they follow, they should keep reading about the history of their own country and the state. It is only then that theyll be able to carry forward true knowledge for the next generation. (With inputs from Gurdeep Singh, News18) New Delhi: Tripura CM Biplab Deb has been mired in flak ever since his errant comment about imminent Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore returning his Nobel Prize to protest against British oppression became viral. Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Nobel prize in protest against the British, Deb said during the 157th birth anniversary event of Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore in Tripura. This, however, is not true. In 1913, Tagore became the first non-European, non-white person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, which includes a medal, a citation and a cash prize of 8,000 pounds. According to the website of the Swedish Academy, the body that organises the annual honours, the award was given to Tagore for his collection of poems titled Geetanjali, which he himself translated into English. The Academy acknowledged Tagore for "his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West. But he never returned it. In fact, the Nobel was a source of great joy to the literary community in India as this was the first time an Indian had won the award. In a book titled Daughters of Jorashankho, the author Aruna Chakravarti writes that Tagore had been travelling in his motor car with some friends to Chaupahari Forest to see the Sal and Deodhar trees in Birbhum when he received news of the Nobel. Though many in the European academic set of the time cried foul at an unknown, vernacular author from a colony winning the award over authors like Thomas Hardy and Anatole France, Tagores friends and family celebrated the win. In a letter written to his dear friend William Rothenstein, Tagore later said that though he had been greatly joyed by the award that the British had conferred on him, he was tired of the trial it had caused in terms of the barrage of attention that he started receiving from across India. He wrote that he was flooded with an overwhelming deluge of telegrams and letters of congratulation and adulation but worried that the attention was perhaps only to honour his honour and not his person. The letters can be read in the book titled Imperfect Encounter. What did Tagore do with his Nobel? According to records, Tagore used the money he received as part of the Nobel prize to set up the Vishwa Bharti University, often touted as Tagore s dream project, a university town sprawled across Shantiniketan, a town initially developed by his father Devendra Nath Tagore who bought the plot of land from then owner Bhuban Mohan Sinha, a zamindar, and developed it into a spiritual centre. Rabindranath was of the belief that studying in open spaces, close to nature and free of restrictive boundaries and walls, aids in better learning and understanding of subjects rather than cramming the same inside industrial classrooms that are meant only to stifle. It was with this vision that Tagore started a school called Patha Bhavan. In 1921, the school was expanded to take the shape of what is today known as the Vishwa Bharti University. Tagore reportedly used the Nobel money to develop the university and also contributed to the expansion of the Brahmo Samaj Ashram in Shantiniketan that his father had built. The Nobel medal, along with the Nobel citation and some other valuable personal possessions of the author and his wife were stolen from Uttarayan, last of the many homes that Tagore lived in, in 2004. In 2016, the CID made a breakthrough in the investigations and arrested a folk Baul musician, Pradip Bauri, in connection to the theft. Many others have been arrested and detained with respect to the theft since. The Swedish Academy provided the Vishwa Bharati Chancellor with a replacement medal made of gold and a replica made of bronze to be housed in Shantiniketan. These can be seen on display in the Rabindra Bhawan museum of Tagore memorabilia today. Tagore had also been given Knighthood by the British Crown in 1915 for service to literature literature which he renounced in 1919 in protest of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in India. In a letter repudiating the knighthood, written to the then Viceroy of India Lord Chelmsworth, Tagore wrote, the very least that I can do for my country is to take all consequences upon myself in giving voice to the protest of the millions of my countrymen, surprised into a dumb anguish of terror. Did the Tripura CM, known for his outrageous comments, confuse the Nobel Prize with the Knighthood? Maharashtra: It was the worst drought in 40 years. In 2013, 12 districts of Marathwada in Maharashtra were suffering a crisis that took a heavy toll on the lives of the people on the parched lands. Many of the farmers committed suicide unable to repay the loan, and the ones who survived, migrated to the neighbouring states in search of jobs. This was when Godavari Dange decided to take leadership. Godavari, a farmer, went around her village teaching women farmers to change the nature of farmingto move from cash crops to food crops. With an innovative model of one-acre and 25 crops, she changed the farming game. Three years later, Godavari has now spread her idea across the country and plans to take it global. Godavari, along with Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), a Pune-based organization that empowers women to take up sustainable farming practices and effectively manage available natural resources to derive benefits such as continuous income, better health, food and water security in the region. The organization claims to have transformed the lives of 1,45,000 rural women in six states. When the drought happened, women were most affected, said Godavari at an event at the FCC Auditorium in Delhi. The drought had taken a toll on womens healththere was no basic nutrition available and the chemical fertilizers that were used in agriculture were showing its pangs. These rural women would often have to travel about 25 kilometres to see a doctor, who would ask them to, Eat properly. But, there was no food to eat. We were mass producing cotton, and we couldnt sell them at a price that was less than our cost, she said. The women living in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed and Osmanbadthe worst affected areas-- became extremely anemic and weak. Godavari, who was already working in womens self-help groups (SHGs), started working on issues related to health, nutrition, sanitation and livelihoods by motivating womens networks. While her work began in her own village Osmanabad, it didnt take very long to spread across the state. Most of the women were left alone. They were either widowed, or their husbands had migrated in search of jobs, said Godavari. Godavari, too, didnt have a male member in her family. She was married at the age of 15. But her husband passed away in an accident when her children were very young. The shock led to depression, and she hardly got out of her bed for an entire year. But, she realized, it was time to take her own decisions. And, she knew, there were many Godavaris out there. The women started forming communities and growing food crops, instead of the traditional cash crops. We needed food at home, and growing it on our own was the best way to get it, she said. The male members in their family werent very happy that the women had changed the farming course and started causing trouble. They wanted to grow cash crops because that would mean immediate money. The men would often ridicule them and said that farming is difficult and women cannot do it. This, despite almost 70 percent of the farmers in India happen to be women. The women were adamant. Soon, in Maharashtras drought prone areas, hundreds of women were growing about 25 crops in each farm land that was just about one acre or two acres. It started with just hundred women farmers, but soon reached to 4,000. They all wanted the same thinga change in their lives. Women are not becharis, they have a lot of strength and they proved it, said Naseem Shaikh, a member of SSP. Shaikh, too, had a hard time convincing her family that she didnt want to get married, but be able get out of the closed doors and help other women improve their lives. We are not baby producing machines. Women, together, in these villages proved that we were capable of doing what men couldnt do, she said. The one-acre model grew so rapidly that soon the state government also adopted it. Can this end farmer suicides? The parched land in Osmanabad and other parts of Marathwada where crops have failed has pushed many over the brink, and while many may have had suicidal thoughts, the womens group keep each other uplifted. We have a network to support each other when we our crops fail and we are distressed. We always get help from each other, Shaikh said. They started growing vegetables and pulses and taking most of the produce back home. They would sell the excess produce in the market. For the first time, they had their own money. Along with their innovative farming, they also found other sources of incomewomen started their own poultry and dairy business. Meanwhile, the men who were still producing cash crops were struggling. When they realized we were not asking for money or water but were earning better, they started seeking our advice on the crop to be sown and how to avoid spending on chemical fertilizers," said Godavari. While theres a long way to go, Godavari feels this is the beginning of a journey for the women farmers in the country, who are not even acknowledged as farmers. Lucknow: Even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath out-rightly said that Jinnah cant be given respect in India, Bahraich BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule seems to differ in her stand. Member of Parliament Savitri Bai Phule called Mohammad Ali Jinnah a mahapurush or a great man, and said that he played a role in the freedom of the country. Her comments come weeks after UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya used to the same term to refer to Jinnah. Speaking to media on Thursday night, Phule said, Jinnah is a mahapurush and he had a role in the freedom of the country. He was a mahapurush and will always be one. Earlier, Maurya had said, If people raise fingers at mahapurush, who have contributed in nation-building, then its a matter of shame. Even Jinnah contributed towards nation-building before Partition. The comments have come in the wake of Jinnah portrait row that has been raging in Aligarh Muslim University. This is not the first time the Bahraich MP has raised her voice against the government. Some time ago, she had condemned the state and the Central government for the treatment of Dalits. Last week, she called BJP leaders visit to Dalit houses for dinner an insult to the people. Her comments came in the backdrop of a controversy over the recent visit to a Dalit home by a UP government minister belonging to her own party. These visits do not serve any purpose. When you go to a Dalits home, the idea is to realise how a Dalit lives. Instead, you eat shahi paneer, dal makhni, pulao and gulab jamuns and then share the photo on Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook, said Phule, referring to Minister Suresh Ranas visit to a Dalit home. Rana had landed uninvited at a Dalit familys home in Aligarh's Lohagarh village with party supporters and had allegedly ordered the food and cutlery from outside. He has denied the allegations. New Delhi: Revered Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz continues to be loved by many in India, but when his daughter visited New Delhi for a cultural event that she was invited to, she did not receive the same love. Moneeza Hashmi, an eminent TV and media personality, was listed as a speaker at the 15th Asia Media Summit that is being held in Delhi between May 10 and 12. But she was allegedly not allowed to take part in it, nor was she given any explanation. However, hosts of the event, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry and Prasar Bharti say they are not aware of any such incident. Moneeza Hashmi was listed as a speaker at the 15th Asia Media Summit that is being held in Delhi between May 10 and 12. According to sources in Faiz Foundation Trust, when Hashmi reached the hotel where she was supposed to put up she was told that there was no booking in her name. A shocked Hashmi was later informed by the director of AIBD (Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development) that she wouldnt be allowed to speak. AIBD Director, Chang Jin allegedly told her We were just informed that you cannot attend the conference and apologized to her. Hashmi was supposed to speak on May 10 (Thursday) at the 4pm session on Should all good stories be commercially successful? along with three other speakers. Screenshot of AIBD's guest list for the event. Sources say Moneeza Hashmi, who has been an important voice in the Pakistani TV circle, was thereafter told that the host organization refused her participation. Chang told her that they cant get her registered. News18 sought a clarification from Press Information Bureau (PIB) chief Sitanshu Kar, who said that he wasnt aware of any such incident. Co-host and IIMC Director, KG Suresh added, We have no role in this. Logistics was not being looked after by us. An email sent to AIBD seeking a response on the allegations went unanswered till the time of publishing this report. Faizs daughter returns to Pakistan on May 12. Chennai: Unfounded messages circulating on WhatsApp, asking people to not trust immigrants as they are part of child trafficking group, have led to paranoia in Tamil Nadu and claimed the lives of two innocent people in less than 24 hours. A mob beat a man to death and hung him from a bridge in Pulicat on Wednesday on suspicion that he was a child trafficker. Police have launched an investigation and have secured at least 20 people who were part of the mob. Preliminary enquiry revealed that mob attacked the man as they thought he is a North Indian and has entered their area to kidnap children, said police. In another such case on Wednesday, Rukmani, 63, was lynched by a group of villagers in Tiruvannamalai district. Four of her relatives suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment at a hospital. Rukmani was travelling with her relatives to the suburbs of Tiruvannamalai to pay a visit to her family deity. After the darshan, Rukmani's car stopped at a village and Rukmani started handing out chocolates, procured from abroad, to children in the vicinity. On the suspicion that she was luring the children with sweets, enraged locals mounted a brutal attack on her. She later succumbed to her injuries. Rukmanis relative told News18 that the mob didnt even give her a chance to be heard and attacked her. They should have thought that if one gives chocolates, it doesnt mean that she is going to be a child trafficker. After this incident, Im scared to step out, said Rukmanis relative. Police officials have rounded up at least 30 people and have charged them with murder. These are not the only two cases of lynching. Sanjay, migrant from North India, was tied to an electric pole and thrashed brutally. Upon investigation, police found out that he too was another victim of the paranoia. Pagalavan, SP, Vellore, said: People fear that their children may be kidnapped and to make them believe that such WhatsApp messages are false, we have formed police teams and are travelling to villages and asking people to not believe in false messages. In Tiruvallur district, a transgender was attacked by locals merely on suspicion for being a child trafficker. Near the Andhra border, many districts have witnessed brutal attacks on northern immigrants for suspected anti-social activity. Sreedhar, South Zone, IG said: Without any evidence, people spread WhatsApp messages. Not all WhatsApp messages are true. People should not believe such forwards and take law in their own hands. Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at his Mumbai home on Friday afternoon, police said. Roy, the additional director general of police (Establishment), allegedly shot himself with his service revolver around 1.40 pm. He was rushed to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead, an official said. The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer was suffering from cancer. He would have been 55 next month. Roy was considered a fitness enthusiast and had been on leave since 2016, undergoing treatment. He is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey, fringe Bollywood actor Laila Khan and law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta in Mumbai. He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike. Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, is also credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency's chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. The senior officer had seven years of service left. He is also credited with setting up Mumbais first Cyber Crime Cell, devising effective anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra and establishing a special cell to deal with crimes related to women. Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh termed him a courageous and hardworking officer. "He was suffering from cancer but he was fighting it. It is very unfortunate that he had to end his life like this," Singh told reporters after visiting Roy's family to express his condolences. Former Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad Chief Himanshu Roy has allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself, police said. The officer shot himself around 1:40 PM at his residence on Friday. He was brought dead to the hospital. Here is what we know: . Roy was IPS officer of the 1988 Maharashtra cadre . A 'bombay' boy, ex-student of Campion and St Xavier's College, Mumbai . Roy's father was a well-known Colaba doctor . Cracked many cases, including IPL spot-fixing . He went on a long leave on health ground in April 2016. . He was Joint Commissioner, crime, from 2010 to 2014 and during this period Roy led the investigation into the IPL betting scandal and the murders of Laila khan and five of her relatives at the family's Igatpuri house . After the stint at the crime branch, Roy was transferred to the state's anti-terrorism squad (ATS) . It was during his tenure that the ATS arrested software engineer Anees Ansari for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at Bandra Kurla complex .Roy, who had seven years of service left, is also credited with setting up Mumbai's first cyber crime cell, devising effective anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra and establishing a special cell to deal with crimes related to women. . Roy, an only child, did dabble briefly in medicine post his 12th standard, but quit soon after and went on to do CA . Roy's first posting was in Malegaon in 1991, where he had to handle the fallout of the post-Babri masjid demolition riots. . His career graph then on was meteoric: the youngest SP of Nasik (rural) in 1995, SP Ahmednagar, DCP economic offences wing, DCP traffic, DCP zone 1, and Commissioner of police, Nasik, 2004-2007, where he tackled Khairlanji, came in quick succession. . He was made Jt Commissioner of police, Mumbai, in 2009. He is credited with setting up Mumbai's first cyber crime cell, anti-dacoity measures in rural maharashtra and the women's cell--models which have been replicated through the state today . Was given Z+ security cover in 2014. Nay Pyi Taw: India and Myanmar on Friday signed seven agreements including one on land border crossing as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj discussed with the top leadership here issues related to peace and security and developments in the Rakhine State from where thousands of Rohingya Muslims had fled to Bangladesh after violence last year. Swaraj, arrived in Myanma on Thursday on a two-day visit met Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations across different sectors. On thursday, she called on Myanmar President U Win Myint. During the bilateral meetings, boundary and border related issues, peace and security matters, developments in the Rakhine State, including return of displaced persons, India's development assistance to Myanmar, ongoing projects, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed, an official statement said. She also met the Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, during the visit. Seven agreements/MoUs were signed during the visit. These included agreement on land border crossing, an MoU on restoration and preservation of earthquake damaged pagodas in Bagan, an MoU on assistance to the joint ceasefire monitoring committee, an MoU on training of Myanmar foreign service officers. An MoU on setting up Industrial Training Centre (ITC) at Monywa, an MoU on ITC at Thaton and Exchange of Letters on extending a maintenance contract for ITC Myingyan were also signed. The agreement on land border crossing is a landmark in bilateral relations as it will enable people from both countries to cross the land border with passport and visa, including for accessing health and education services, pilgrimage and tourism, the statement said. The MoU on restoration of pagodas at Bagan underlines the enduring cultural and historical links between the two countries. The other MoUs on technical assistance and capacity building reflect India's continuing support to Myanmar in accordance with this country's own development plans and priorities. Swaraj also reiterated India's readiness and commitment to helping the Government of Myanmar in addressing issues related to Rakhine State. She welcomed the Myanmar government's continued commitment to implementing the Rakhine Advisory Commission's recommendations and noted that, under the aegis of the bilateral Rakhine State Development Programme, India was already in the implementation stages of various projects that would respond to the needs of different sections of the Rakhine State population. The first major project is the construction of prefabricated housing in Rakhine State to meet the needs of displaced persons. The Minister also underlined the need for safe, speedy and sustainable return of displaced persons to Rakhine State, the statement said. An estimated 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine State since August last year after large-scale violence following a military crackdown. The exodus of refugees in large numbers has resulted in a major crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmar government has faced intense international scrutiny for her response to the exodus, which the UN has called "ethnic cleansing." London: An Indian-origin businessman in the UK has been charged with his wife's murder, nearly three months after her body had been discovered in their home in Wolverhampton. Gurpreet Singh, 42, was charged on Wednesday by West Midlands Police detectives with the murder of 38-year-old Sarbjit Kaur. "This is a murder that has really shocked the local community and we have been working flat-out to move the investigation forward," said Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mallett from West Midlands Police's Homicide Team. "This is a significant development and we continue to support Kaur's many friends and family," he said. Singh appeared before Birmingham Magistrates Court on May 10 and was charged with his wife's murder, who had been found unconscious in her home on February 16. A post-mortem examination revealed that Kaur died as a result of asphyxiation. The condition her home was found in at the time had led to speculation that she had been killed as a result of a burglary gone wrong. It emerged that Singh, who heads Dhanda Properties business in Wolverhampton area, had been the last person to see his wife alive earlier in the day before she was found dead by paramedics. "Kaur was attacked inside her own home. This is a shocking case, the likes of which are extremely rare, and we have a team of officers working on this murder inquiry to establish what happened and to find the person or people responsible," Mallett had said at the time as part of a public appeal for information in February. The police noted that the interior of the home was in an "untidy state", which could indicate it had been searched, and they believed some items are missing. Gurugram: Muslims in various parts of Gurugram were on Friday barred from offering namaz at certain places and asked to move to spots approved by the administration after threats by some right-wing outfits. The Haryana government had identified 23 places in Gurugram, six in Manesar and eight in Udyog Vihar to allow Muslims to offer Friday prayers. Those who came to offer prayers at places other than these were turned away by policemen and district administration officials. The men were asked to go to the designated spot for their own safety. The move meant that many Muslims had to miss out on Friday prayers as the places designated for them were too far. A green belt near St Xaviers School in Sector 49-50 that has been used to offer prayers by Muslims for several years was one such place. Till last Friday, about 50 people had come her for their prayers. This Friday, however, only 25 turned up but were asked to leave for one of the designated places nearby. Its for their own safety. We have not asked them to not offer namaaz but are just asking them to move to the spot designated by the government, said a police officer present there, adding that the group of men peacefully agreed. He said that those who came to offer namaz here would often park their vehicles on the side of the road, causing traffic jams and increasing the chances of accidents. The maulvi who has been conducting the Friday namaz here for the last two years told News18 that Muslims pray on the side of the road or any such public place due to a lack of time. Most of the people who pray in public places are those who have a short lunch break. They dont have a lot of time on their hands. Same was the case with this tiny area near St Xaviers School. We dont want anyone to be bothered by our religion or our religious practices, hence we have decided to move to the designated place, he said, adding that the designated spot was quite far for many people. Now with Ramzan and the scorching heat, offering prayers at such a distant place would be difficult, he added. The men who offered their prayers here were asked to move to a mosque in sector 57, which the maulvi says is about 5-6 kilometres away. Thats a lot of travel for those who dont have a lot of time on their hands, he added. The distance between their usual spot and the mosque led to many of them skipping their Friday prayers this time, he added. The police officials present there further said that the men were asked to leave their work places a bit earlier so that they could reach the government designated spot in time for prayers. Interestingly, the authorities have ensured that a Muslim officer, wherever possible, is at the spot so that there was no miscommunication. In Bengali Market area near sector 49, Muslims were allowed to offer Friday prayers but were told to move to the designated spot from next Friday. In this area, Muslims have been offering Friday prayers since the last decade. A designated place in sector 29 had proper arrangements in place for people to offer namaz. Those who had come to offer namaz said while the situation was peaceful, more open spaces would be helpful, especially for those who work and have short lunch breaks. The move to restrict Muslims from offering Friday prayers at certain places comes just days after Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Muslims should offer Friday prayers in their homes or in mosques. On Thursday, senior police officials had called maulvis for a meeting to tell them about the move to designated spots. Last week, according to sources privy to the whole situation, the government had asked for a list of places in and around Gurugram where namaz was held. From that list of over 100 places, the government zeroed in on 37 places. Over the last few weeks, there were reports of groups, most of them allegedly Hindu right-wing activists, disrupting Friday namaaz in various parts of Gurugram. Six people were also arrested in connection to one such case. (Names of people have been withheld to protect their identities) New Delhi: The year 2015 was a particularly bad one in India-Nepal relations. The almost five-month long Madhesi blockade and the ensuing allegations from the Nepalese side brought to the fore a bitterness that was never made so obvious by Kathmandu. This was followed by the ouster of KP Sharma Oli in 2016 and it was again blamed on India. What Oli also did during this period was to pit China against India. During the Madhesi blockade Kathmandu turned to China for alternative fuel supply. Nepal also hopped on to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative last year, signing a framework agreement, just two days ahead of the BRI summit in Beijing. Nepals then foreign minister Prakash Sharan Mahat had said that Nepals development crucially needs investment for road and rail connectivity. Despite the agreement, China itself was finding it hard to initiate any project in Nepal without Indias involvement. A source in Beijing, working closely with the establishment, said it is getting difficult to avoid India if a viable project is to be launched in Nepal. Nepal has, on its part too, been cautious. Former Nepalese Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay had told News18 last year that Nepal was wary of getting caught in a debt trap. He said Nepal will certainly ensure that cost meets benefit before jumping into any project. So with India and Chinas cautious rapprochement in Wuhan, has the situation changed? Sources have told News18 that the China-Nepal-India economic corridor did not come up for discussion in Wuhan when Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping. To News18s specific query on Belt and Road initiative being referred to during the meeting of the two leaders, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said, I think both sides spoke of their respective efforts to contribute to regional and global economic development. In Nepals context, this can be interpreted as India making it clear that it would be interested in working only bilaterally with Kathmandu on development projects related to infrastructure and connectivity. This message will be conveyed to KP Sharma Oli during the bilateral meeting this evening in Kathmandu as has been conveyed subtly to China already. Important among these projects will be the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu rail network. According to sources, the timeline depends on the technical survey which will begin very soon. Sources explained that railways is priority. Various links with the state of Uttarakhand and road network and river connectivity will be the next level. Meanwhile, to facilitate inland waterways transport, India is also readying a transshipment point in Kalughat, Bihar. Also, the 900 MW Arun III hydroelectric project that will be jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers during this visit. This was awarded to Indias Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. Sources said this was an important project as KP Oli himself chaired the committee that cleared it. India and Nepal have concluded an agreement on the 400KV Gorakhpur-Butwal cross border transmission line. This was finalised only last month in New Delhi. Though India and Nepal share historic and cultural ties, the anti-India sentiment that surfaced over the last couple of years, needed to be deftly dealt with specifically in context of Chinas growing ambitions in the region. That explains the slew of development projects related to connectivity and infrastructure development that India is concentrating on and is keen to push. While Kathmandu may have gained temporarily pitting China against India, any real forward movement on the ground for the projects from either side needed a thaw in the India-China relations too. So, with the latest development in Wuhan, Nepal can breathe easy. Wedged between the two Asian giants it will at least for now not have to be overly conscious of rubbing one the wrong way by engaging with the other. It seems to be slightly more comfortably placed in being able to lap up beneficial projects still, keeping in mind sensitivities on both sides. New Delhi: A day before Karnataka votes in the crucial assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day official visit to Nepal on Friday. On Day 1 of his visit, PM Modi is expected to announce a direct bus route between Ayodhya and Janakpur, believed to be the birth places of Ram and Sita. He will also offer prayers at Janakpurs Janaki Mandir. The Prime Minister is also scheduled to visit Muktinath and Pashupati Nath and offer prayers at both those temples on Saturday, the day when Karnataka votes. The temple hopping in a foreign land will not be lost on the electorate of Karnataka, as television channels will be cutting to these images live and on polling day. Pashupati Nath is one of the holiest shrines of Lord Shiva. Lingayats in Karnataka also worship the Linga, some of them wear it as a sign of belief around their necks. The symbolism of Modi offering prayers at the Jyotirlinga in Pashupati Nath will not be lost on the Lingayat voters of Karnataka. Modi has a sense of timing about these things. On the day Gujarat voted, he took a roadshow outside the polling booth which was carried live by TV channels. It may have had an impact on the last minute, undecided voters. A day before the Gujarat elections, he rode on the seaplane. The television spectacle of it could have potentially influenced some voters. Even in 2014, on the day some parts of India were voting, Modi undertook a major roadshow in Varanasi, before filing his nomination papers. Maa Ganga ne mujhe bulaya hai, those famous words were etched all over TV channels and newspapers and helped set a narrative for the general elections. Foreign policy has never really had an influence on domestic elections in India, but Modi seems to be rewriting the rules. He constantly invoked the surgical strikes during the Karnataka campaign. In the Gujarat poll, he also spoke about looking China directly in the eye during the Doklam standoff. Other political parties are going to find it extremely difficult to match Modis ability at creating spectacle out of events and his sense of political timing about these events. Saharanpur: A large group of people gathered at the house of Kamal Singh Walia, the Saharanpur district president of Dalit group Bhim Army, to offer words of comfort on Thursday. Walia had just performed the last rites of his youngest brother Sachin. With grief, a deep distrust of the state machinery hung in the air along with questions over whether the police is trying to scuttle the probe into 22-year-olds death. Sachin, the local media in charge of the Bhim Army, was killed after a bullet hit him between his upper lip and nose around noon on May 9. He was rushed to the hospital and declared "brought dead". These are the facts of the case and they are undisputed. But beyond this, there is little consensus. The incident took place on Maharana Pratap Jayanti, which was also the first anniversary of the 2017 Saharanpur riots. In the run up to this year's Jayanti, several Rajput outfits had demanded permission to celebrate the event. Bhim Army had opposed it, saying it could lead to a breakdown of law and order. As a compromise, the administration only gave permission to a gathering of 200 people. But despite the heavy deployment of RAF, PAC and police, a violent incident could not be prevented. The distrust of the state machinery deepens further, said Bhim Army leaders, when one takes into account the fact that one of the outfits at the forefront of the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations was the Hindu Yuva Vahini - an outfit that owes allegiance to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Around 300 meters from Saharanpur's Maharana Pratap Bhavan, where the celebration was held, lies the Dalit dominated village of Ramnagar. Kamal Walia's house is 500 meters from the venue. Kamal Walia, the brother of the deceased, talks to a government official on Wednesday. (Image courtesy: Firstpost) Police have called the gunshot wound death an accident, but according to the Bhim Army, it was a political murder. The real target, they said, was Kamal, who is Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad's Man Friday. A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, told News 18, "We can't say anything conclusively because the post mortem report is awaited. Prima facie, it seems like it was an accident. It appears that he (Sachin) may have been cleaning a weapon at his house and it misfired. There was blackening in the upper lip region, which means it was fired at close range." Sachin's family and friends claim the police is lying. Punching holes into the police theory, Kamal raised a series of questions. "If he shot himself with his own gun, where is the gun? Where is the bullet? Are there any bloodstains in the house? he asked. Kamal said that police is welcome to do forensic sweep of the house to see if the bullet was fired there. I challenge them. But I know they are lying. The fact is that my brother was murdered by Rajputs because of the administration's inefficiency. Now, to hide that, they are concocting a story and leaking it to the press," he said. It isn't just the manner of his death that is in doubt. Even the location is under question. Hours after the incident, a video of a group of people washing a blood-stained alley in the area was shared by many here. ADG (Meerut) Prashant Kumar said, "We have learnt that some people were washing away the blood. We will investigate this as well." According to police sources, Sachin accidently shot himself in the house, after which he was taken to the hospital. The blood trail, said a source, was leading from his house to the main road. But Robin Gautam, Sachin's friend who was with him moments before he was shot, has a different story to tell. "He and I were sitting at his house, when some Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) officers came knocking on the door. After a brief chat, Sachin escorted them to the main road. I didn't go with him and assumed he had left, he said. Hours later, Gautam said, Kamal told him that Sachin had been shot and rushed to the hospital. When I enquired, I found that he had been shot outside, near the main road. Some local people were worried that the blood would attract flies, so they washed the blood. If cops saw this happening, why didn't they stop these people? Why wasn't the area cordoned off? The actual scene of the crime was 200 meters from the house. The cops are clearly lying," he said. Bhim Army claims that Kamal was the real target as both Chandrashekhar and Bhim Army president Vinay Ratan Singh are in jail, leaving Walia as the power centre in the outfit. "My brother had the same height and built as me. We looked very similar. It is possible that they shot him thinking it was me. A day before the incident, a Rajput leader from Meerut had posted a video threatening Dalits and Bhim Army. Since I was at the forefront, I was the target," said Kamal. The Meerut man in question is one Updesh Singh Rana. In his message, Rana had referred to Dalits as "dogs" and Rajputs as "lions". He had issued an open threat to the Bhim Army. Police are now searching for Rana but claim that he is currently not in Uttar Pradesh. Three others, including Sher Singh Rana, have been booked under section 302 of the IPC. The Hindu Yuva Vahini, which was at the forefront of the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations, has denied the murder claim altogether. Manvendra Singh Chauhan, the district convener of the HYV, said, "I don't want to jump to any conclusions. But reports say the boy was killed in an accident. This shouldn't be made political. Bhim Army had objected to us celebrating Maharana Pratap Jayanti, when it is our constitutional right to do so. The administration should not come under this undue pressure." New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to land in Nepal on Friday, just over a month after his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli visited New Delhi. Modis visit will mark the first time that an Indian PM has travelled to a country in South Asia for the third consecutive time. Sources said that the visit has been planned to take forward what was discussed during Olis visit here. The two heads of state are expected to jointly inaugurate the Arun III hydro-project during the visit. Both sides are also expected to come to an understanding on the Kathmandu-Raxaul railway route. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, during Olis visit to India, had said that the focus of the deliberations were on boosting cooperation in sectors like defence and security, agriculture, trade besides enhancing connectivity through railway network and waterways, sectors which Modi and Oli are anticipated to address during their upcoming talks in Nepal. While a number of agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MouS) are expected to be signed, tales of Ram and Hinduism are all set to rule the agenda during the visit. To start with, Modi will land in Janakpur, considered to be a pilgrimage site dating back to the 18th century. Oli will be receiving Modi at the Janakipur Temple, one of the biggest temples in Nepal. Adjacent to the structure is the Rama Sita Vivaha Mandir where Ram and Sita are said to have been married. King Janakas palace is thought to have existed here and according to the Ramayana, his daughter Sita was raised here. Rams bow is also said to have been found here, thus reaffirming Janakpurs position as an important pilgrimage site for Hindus worldwide. The PM is further expected to announce a bus service from Janakpur to Ayodhya, Rams birthplace and a place of immense significance for the BJP, though many have criticised his alleged use of religion as a tool for diplomacy. Modi plans to visit the Muktinath temple in Nepal too, a spot considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. On Thursday, the PM asserted that he was looking forward to his visits to both Janakpur and Muktinath. The visit is being considered as significant as it comes ahead of the 2019 General Assembly elections as well as in the run-up to the verdict in the much debated Ram Janmabhoomi case (if and when it comes). There is also expected to be an announcement on the Ramayana Circuit. However, Modis first stop at Janakpur holds significance for reasons beyond religion. Janakpur is a Madhesi dominated area. Reservation for the Madhesis living in Nepals Terai region has been a sour grape for India after the Oli government ignored Modi governments suggestion of giving reservations to the Madhesis at the time when a new Nepalese Constitution was being drafted in 2015. There were protests by the Madhesis and simultaneously, border entries from India into Nepal dwindled. What further deepened the crisis was the fact that it came months after over 9,000 people were killed in an earthquake in April that year. Oli had then accused its neighbour of imposing an undeclared blockade with restrictions on trade, including those on the trade of fuel and its products. In retort, the Ministry of External Affairs in India had said that freight companies and transporters had voiced concerns. The blockade seems to still be fresh in the minds of people in Nepal as Twitter saw more than 1,500 tweets with #BlockadeWasCrimeMrModi and #ModiNotWelcome, accompanied by pictures from 2015. Modis meeting with Oli also comes just days after the formers informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Oli is considered pro-China and India has kept a close watch on Nepal-China ties. Nepal is a signatory to Chinese Premier Xi Jinpings ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and has received billions of dollars in investment and aid from China in the past, including nearly $350 million invested for the development of a police academy. China is also said to be heavily investing in the Pokhara region in Nepal, which is a gateway to the Annapurna Circuit. Other than infrastructure, Nepal has also been seeing an increase in the inflow of Chinese tourists into the country. India, on its part, has voiced its reservation and not participated in the BRI. Oli has, however, previously shown that he may not share any of Indias concerns. During the 2015 blockade, Oli had turned to China and signed a series of treaties, including a rail network connecting the two countries. The Nepal PM is also expected to visit China soon. During his visit to India, Oli had said that Nepal was between two big neighbours India and China and asserted that it wanted to have friendly, neighbourly relations with the two. New Delhi: After a series of bizarre remarks, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb is at it again. The chief minister has now claimed that Rabindranath Tagore gave away his nobel prize in protest against the British. Rabindranath Tagore had given away his nobel prize in protest against the British, Deb said during the 157th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore in Tripura. The chief minister seems to have got his facts wrong. Deb made the statement in an apparent reference to Tagore's protest against Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919. However, the fact is that the poet wrote to then viceroy Lord Chelmsford and repudiated his knighthood as a protest against the massacre, and not the nobel prize. Deb, who took charge of Tripura in March, has made several remarks which have been triggered widespread criticism. Claiming that the youths in Tripura run after political parties for government jobs, Deb had asked them to not waste their "crucial time" and instead milk cows or set up paan shop to earn a living. The CM had said that civil engineers should join civil services as they have the prior experience to build the society. He had also grabbed the headlines for questioning Diana Haydens Miss World title won 20 years ago and compared her with Aishwarya Rai. Before the statement on Hayden, he had claimed that the Internet technology is nothing new to India as something on similar lines existed even in the Mahabharata era when Sanjaya would share updates about the Kurukshetra battle with Dhritarashtra. New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has called a meeting of the Collegium on Friday during which the top five judges are expected to decide whether to recommend the name of Justice KM Joseph for elevation to the Supreme Court again. The meeting, which is likely to be held around 1pm, has been convened after Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India asking him to convene a meeting urgently to forward to the Centre the name of Uttarakhand Chief Justice as a judge of the apex court. The three other judges part of the Collegium had also met the CJI on Wednesday asking him to reiterate the name. Legal experts have said that the Centre on receiving a reiteration from the Collegium would have no choice but to clear the appointment and swear him in as a judge of the Supreme Court. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. The rejection had caused a face-off between the government and the judiciary and triggered allegations by the Congress and some senior lawyers that Justice Josephs name was sent back due to his decision to cancel central rule in Uttarakhand in 2016. In his letter sent to the CJI, Justice Chelameswar conveyed that he was reiterating his decision for the elevation of Justice Joseph as a judge of the top court since there was no change in the circumstance that had led the Collegium to recommend his name to the government on January 10. Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan Lokur met Chief Justice Dipak Misra in his chambers around 4.15 pm on Wednesday and discussed the reiteration of Justice Josephs name. This was the first such meeting among these judges after the formal collegium meeting on May 2 when it was expected that decision on the appointment would be taken, but it was deferred. Justice J Chelameswar was on leave and was not present at the meeting. Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut lived up to her 'bold and beautiful' image as she made her Cannes Film Festival red carpet debut in a sheer, embellished and backless gown here on Thursday. Kangana, who is hosted here by Grey Goose, awalked the red carpet for the screening of Christophe Honore's French drama "Plaire, aimer et courir vite". The actress wore a Zuhair Murad creation, which complemented her slender frame by being a perfect mix of sensuality with the romanticism of the sheer fabric, and boldness of the cut. Her hair was done in a messy bun, with minimalistic but dramatic eye make-up. A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranaut) on May 10, 2018 at 9:27am PDT A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranaut) on May 10, 2018 at 11:22am PDT A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranaut) on May 10, 2018 at 9:33am PDT In a teaser video shared by the "Queen" star's team on social media, Kangana is seen taking an effortless walk in the elaborate gown. Known for her experimental styling, Day 1 for Kangana at the Cannes film jamboree was about dressing up in a retro avatar. She wore a black shimmery sequinned sari by Sabyasachi Mukherjee and flaunted a bouffant-inspired hairdo, reminding Bollywood buffs of a style often flaunted by the evergreen Sharmila Tagore in her heydays. Kangana was in conversation with censor board chairperson Prasoon Joshi at the India Pavilion, organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in association with Ficci. Confirming what yogis have claimed for long, new research has found that meditation and breath-focused practices, such as pranayama, can work like fertiliser for the brain, strengthening our ability to focus on tasks. "Our research finds that there is evidence to support the view that there is a strong connection between breath-centred practices and a steadiness of mind," said principal investigator of the study Ian Robertson from Trinity College Dublin. The findings, published in the journal Psychophysiology, explained the neurophysiological link between breathing and attention. The research showed that breathing -- a key element of meditation and mindfulness practices -- directly affects the levels of a natural chemical messenger in the brain called noradrenaline. This chemical messenger is released when we are challenged, curious, exercised, focused or emotionally aroused and, if produced at the right levels, helps the brain grow new connections, like a brain fertiliser. The way we breathe, in other words, directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve our brain health. The study found that participants who focused well while undertaking a task that demanded a lot of attention had greater synchronisation between their breathing patterns and their attention, than those who had poor focus. The authors believe that it may be possible to use breath-control practices to stabilise attention and boost brain health. "In our study we looked for a neurophysiological link that could help explain these claims by measuring breathing, reaction time, and brain activity in a small area in the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where noradrenaline is made," said lead author Michael Melnychuk from Trinity College Dublin. "Noradrenaline is an all-purpose action system in the brain. When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we can't focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can't focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking and memory are much clearer," Melnychuk added. The researchers believe that the findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. "Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long term meditators. More 'youthful' brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks," Robertson said. "Our research offers one possible reason for this - using our breath to control one of the brain's natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right 'dose' helps the brain grow new connections between cells," he added. It's time to say goodbye to your favourite New York precinct. Fox has finally decided to cancel Brooklyn 99 after season five and the news has left the fans devastated. The show has been canceled by the network as it makes space for a whole new bunch of new shows for the fall TV season. The network has also cancelled The Mick and Will Forte's The Last Man on Earth. Fox will announce its new fall lineup next week. The show starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher is one of the most critically loved cop comedy known for dealing with serious topics with a comic side. Brooklyn 99 hit the 100th-episode milestone earlier this season, and it has served as the second-longest-running live-action Fox comedy, behind New Girl. The progressive show has been applauded for its diverse cast, picking up on topics like racial profiling, corruption, sexuality and even the shooting situations in the USA. Thus the cancellation comes as a heartbreak for many, including Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Star War's Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamil. RENEW BROOKLYN NINE NINEI ONLY WATCH LIKE 4 THINGSTHIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS#RenewB99 Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 10, 2018 Oh NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I'm SO not ready to say #ByeBye99. Be forewarned @FOXTV-when networks dump shows I love, I'm known for holding grudges a long, L-O-N-G time. I'm still mad @CBS didn't renew #SquarePegs! #EverythingILikeGetsCancelled https://t.co/NEry6Hrpng Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) May 10, 2018 With such strong voice in favour of a renewal, there is a chance that Brooklyn could wind up in the hands of another network or a streaming service, similar to that of The Mindy Project which moved from Fox to Hulu. The show has had its share of award fame by winning a Golden Globe for best comedy series in 2014 with Andy picking up Best Actor in comedy trophy the same year. It has been nominated again several times after that. Created by Dan Goor and Parks and Recreation overlord Michael Schur, Brooklyn Nine-Nine also stars Chelsea Peretti, Joe Lo Truglio, Terry Crews, Dirk Blocker, and Joel McKinnon Miller. Happily Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu did not have to smuggle her movie, Rafiki (Friend) in a pen drive hidden in cake to the ongoing Cannes Film Festival like the Iranian auteur, Jafar Panahi, had to some summers ago. Banned in Kenya by the Film Classification Board a picture which looks so similar to that in India Rafiki is a lesbian love story, and what is more, it is the first ever movie from the African country to premiere at Cannes. Part of A Certain Regard the second most important section after Competition at Cannes that is known for screening radically experimental cinema Rafiki played the other day to packed houses. In Kenya, gay sex is punishable under the law with a 14-year jail term. In fact, homosexuality is viewed as a criminal offence in many African countries. Gay rights are not of any major importance in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta told the CNN in an interview some weeks ago. I think that there are discerning audiences not only in Kenya but in the entire world that are able to judge whats good and bad, and its not whats defined by the Kenya Film Classification Board, the film's director told the Associated Press. She said she had tried to have the movie classified for viewers 18 and above. Its limiting freedom of expression of artists in the country, and hence the growth of the industry, she added. The Board was adamant and quipped: It is our considered view that the moral of the story in this film is to legitimise lesbianism in Kenya. Any attempt to introduce and normalise homosexuality in Kenya flies in the face of the law and the Constitution, and must be resisted. Despite what the Board feels, Rafiki is an extremely sober work which has nothing remotely titillating about it. Based on a prize-winning short story by Ugandan author Monica Arac de Nyeko, Rafiki is a romantic tale told in an extremely simplistic style. Set in a poor Nairobi housing colony, the movie talks about two young girls, Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva). In a rigidly conservative society like Kenya, the fact that the fathers of the two girls are political rivals merely get a greater number of tongues wagging. Adding to this social mess is Kena's mother, who has not got over her divorce, and when she learns that her former's husband's new wife is pregnant, the emotional upheaval becomes apparent. Kena and Ziki understand that their relationship is not going to be easy, and they decide to try and become economically independent. Kena pursues a degree in medicine, and Ziki plans to travel. But before this, both girls have to face violence and disturbing humiliation. With an utterly unfeeling police force refusing to help the girls, it is only Kena's father who proves to be an oasis of understanding in the desert of stifling conservatism and uncomfortable moralistic stances all egged on by gossipy women. Honestly, Rafiki is not a novel theme, especially in the times we now live in with LGBT films being produced with frequent regularity. And when one compares Rafiki with some of the current crop of movies on gay themes, it pales. There is nothing sexually dramatic in Rafiki like, for instance, Blue is the Warmest Colour had, and nothing emotionally powerful as in India's Aligarh -- with a marvellous actor like Manoj Bajpayee essaying a homosexual professor at Aligarh University. In contrast, Rafiki seems content with a few kisses and caresses. One can call this approach subtle and subdued, but I felt that the movie was so understated that it appeared like beer without fizz! (Author, commentator and movie critic Gautaman Bhaskaran is covering the Cannes Film Festival for the 29th year, and may be e-mailed at gautamanb@hotmail.com) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking investigation into the death of veteran actress Sridevi, who drowned in a bathtub in a Dubai hotel in February. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud rejected the plea even as senior counsel Vikas Singh raised questions on how could a 5.7 foot tall person drown in a 5.1 foot bathtub. Singh sought that all documents related to the 54-year-old actress' death -- medical and investigation -- carried out by the Dubai Police be brought to India. He requested that the matter be investigated by an independent agency. Vikas Singh told the court that the late actress had passed away on February 24 under suspicious circumstances. He also mentioned about the insurance coverage of Sridevi. The petitioner, Sunil Singh, had moved the top court challenging a Delhi High Court order rejecting his plea. Actor Arjun Kapoor says it's high time people stop using the term "women empowerment" for the sake of it, and he feels change will happen for the better when the mindset of the men changes in the country. Arjun, who has been associated with the Girl Rising campaign, interacted with the media at 'Bend The Gender Awards' here on Wednesday. Sharing his views on women empowerment, Arjun said: "After working for so many years in the film industry, I have realised that in our film industry, we still have to give some sort of opportunities to women to come out, pursue a career, to make a life, to be independent, and to make choices. "The term women empowerment' has been in vogue from the last few years. A lot of people make use of it but they only use for the sake of it. Actually they don't put it to use. I always thought that empowerment of women will take place when the men of India will change their mindset. So, we thought that we need to honour those men this year who have somewhere made a difference to their partners, sisters or children's life." Arjun who played a house husband in Kareena Kapoor Khan-starrer Ki & Ka, said supporting a woman does not necessarily mean helping them and sometimes just being with them quietly can also inspire a woman. "In India, we often say that girls are not capable of doing certain things. But if a husband can support his wife to achieve her dreams and goals, then I think he is a true hero. "The same would be the other way around. If a woman can go out and help a man achieving his ambitions, dreams and hopes, then we always say behind every successful man there is woman because of her sacrifices. The same way, I feel that behind every successful woman, every man needs to be there, so they should not just talk about a change, they should pick up a change because it's been very demoralising to see the small thinking of people towards women." Asked whether an actress should have a shelf life when it comes to working in films, he said: "Come on, I am speaking to you a day after my sister's (Sonam Kapoor) wedding. She is going to continue working in films and she has one film releasing ('Veere Di Wedding'). "Anushka (Sharma) has been working since the last six months after getting married. Kareena is a prime example after her pregnancy break. I feel making sure that women are safer and comfortable is necessary for actresses to grow and to be able to harness their skills." The 2 States actor urged the media to highlight the change seen in the film industry, as compared to other fields and industries. "If you see a film like Raazi', around 7-8 years back, it would have been a male-driven film. But today it's content driven and it's based on a true story. Makers of it haven't changed the gender of the protagonist and maintained essence of it. "So, the way we are trying to change the mindset of people through Bend The Gender Awards', similarly our film and film industry will take some time to evolve, but at least we are trying that. We should give credit to the film industry where it is due. We are still way more secular, open than other fields and I think media should highlight that." Zaira Wasim, who shot to fame after playing the young Geeta Phogat in Aamir Khan's production Dangal, has opened up about suffering from depression and feeling anxious during the difficult period of her life. In a lengthy post on Instagram, the 17-year-old actor revealed her battle with anxiety, which left her contemplating suicide. The National award-winning actor said she has always been "embarrassed and scared" to admit it not only because of the stigma that goes around with the word depression, but most importantly because of always being told that she was "too young to be depressed". Zaira Wasim explained further in the post that it affected her life in ways big and small and that she had many thoughts that she could not control. "Popping five anti-depressants everyday, anxiety attacks, being rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, feeling empty, restless, anxious and hallucinations...from overeating to starving myself, unexplained fatigue, body ache, self loathing, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, were all parts of this phase," wrote Wasim. Zaira Wasim recounts her first panic attack was at the age of 12. "Now all I remember is losing count of the number of panic attacks, losing count of the number of medicines I've had and I'm still having..." Wasim said she could never accept the fact that she had been suffering from a disorder called depression, which "affects almost 350 million people worldwide; without asking for their permission to ruin their mental and emotional state or asking them their age". Now she has embraced it and understood it, and decided to share about the struggle "without being ashamed, embarrassed and having the fear of being judged for it". Zaira Wasim said perhaps a "complete break from everything, my social life, my work, school and especially social media", might help her. A post shared by Zaira Wasim (@zairawasim_) on May 10, 2018 at 2:28pm PDT (courtesy: @Zairawasim) Bhopal: As party workers were seen scrambling behind their political mentors at Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bhopal on Thursday, an elderly man, with close to 50 years of association to the Congress, was seen sitting quietly beneath a tree smoking his bidi. The man, Hariom Sharma, an ex-serviceman, was carrying some leaflets packed with information on Congress achievements of 54 years and problems generated in four-year-rule of PM Narendra Modi and during the 14-year-government of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The PCC on Thursday saw all the hustle and bustle as MP Congress chief Kamal Nath convened meetings of all the party wings, including Seva Dal, Women Congress, NSUI and Youth Congress. Sharma, who was also a Congress district president in 1991 at Ashoknagar, represents those dedicated fighters of the Congress party who feel marginalised over the years after the Congress party lost power to BJP in 2003. The man claims he was jailed for the first time for showing black flags to then BJP MP Vijaya Raje Scindia in Ashoknagar when he was just 16. As a true fighter of the party, Sharma has remained active and is doing his bit for the sake of the party by printing and publishing materials highlighting Congress partys glorious past and misdeeds of BJP in pamphlets and handbooks by shelling out money from his own pocket in last 15 years. Over the years, the party has kept a chosen few at the helm and discarded the contribution of those with strong ground connect, a visibly upset Sharma said. Citing his own example, he said let alone giving tickets to the candidates suggested by him, the party local MP Jyotiraditya Scindia did not find him suitable for a ticket ever. He also objected to the manner in which former state head Arun Yadav was kept at the helm for over four years without any senior leader lending a helping hand to him in party affairs. He, however, showered praise on newly appointed PCC chief Kamal Nath saying he not only has experience, but also is also beyond factions in the party. As a seasoned campaigner, who has seen it all since the days of the late PM Indira Gandhi, Sharma said the party cant afford to not count on AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who has cadre base spread in the length and breadth of the state. Congress just cant ignore Digvijaya Singh and form the government in MP, said Sharma. He, however, lauded appointment of four working presidents who would help out Nath in party affairs. For dedicated workers like me are no takers in Congress party these days, said Sharma adding people like him were not contacted by Pradesh Congress Committee even once in last five years. Rampant favouritism is also another reason which forces party workers to shun the field and sit at home, said the elderly man hoping a turnaround for his party. Most of the political protests revolve around Bhopal and senior leaders are loath to venturing out in the state for raising voice on the plight of the public. The Congress veteran also accused BJP leaders of compiling a fortune through unfair means in 15 years of rule. They have done nothing but to mint money through corrupt means, alleged Sharma. True to his words, the man after the chat on politics quietly asked the permission to go inside the party office to distribute the handbooks he was carrying with him among the party workers. Voters pose outside a polling booth in Karnataka. People were seen standing in queues to cast their votes in the early hours itself, factoring in that the temperature may go up later in the day. Also, it has been raining in different parts of south interior Karnataka for the last couple of days during the evening hours. Senior citizens were seen in good numbers standing in queues at various polling stations to cast their votes early. State BJP chief and party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa, and Pradesh Congress Committee G Parameshwara were among the first to cast votes in Shikaripura in Shivamogga and Yaggere in Tumakuru respectively. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda along with wife Chennamma cast their votes at Paduvalahippe in Hassan district. Film actors Ramesh Arvind, Ravichandran, also scion of Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar were among the prominent personalities to cast their votes early today. There are reports about delay in polling due to some technical issues with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) from different parts of the state. Election for the Jayanagara seat in Bengaluru has been countermanded following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA BN Vijaykumar. The Election Commission has also deferred the polls for Rajarajeswari Nagar constituency to May 28 after a massive row erupted over a large number of voter ID cards being found in an apartment. Suspecting something fishy, both Congress and BJP have pointed accusing fingers at each other in the matter. "Today people of Karnataka are standing in queues to create history & show the nation the way to liberal, progressive, peaceful & compassionate politics & governance. I thank them for their support & wish them well," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted. Over 2,600 candidates are in the fray-- more than 2400 men and and over 200 women. The total voters including service electors according to the 2018 final rolls are 5,06,90,538, of whom 2,56,75,579 male voters, 2,50,09,904 female and 5,055 transgender voters. Officials said 58,008 polling stations have been set up across the state, of which 12002 have been designated as "critical", with over 3,50,000 polling personnel on duty. Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth conduct of polls that will go on till 6 pm. "82,157 people have been deployed for poll duty that includes DSPs, home guards and civil defence, and forest guards and watchers," Karnataka DGP Neelamani N Raju said. This also includes about 7,500 personnel from states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Kerala and Goa, she said, adding, central forces have been deployed. One among the interesting aspects of this election is that four candidates who have served as Chief Minister of Karnataka are in the fray-- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (Chamundeshwari and Badami), B S Yeddyurappa (Shikaripura), H D Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara) and Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central.) Bengaluru: After weeks of a high-pitched and vitriolic campaign, described by many as never seen before, which saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP and Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi-led Congress engage in one bout after another, voters in Karnataka will choose their new government on Saturday. The ruling Congress and the BJP are the main contenders for power, while former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's JD(S) is likely to play the kingmaker, according to most surveys and opinion polls. For Congress, which most opinion polls predict would emerge as the single largest party, history beckons. In Karnataka, no one has won a second successive term in office since 1985 when the Janata Dal under Ramakrishna Hegde had retained power. Seen as a precursor to elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh later this year, it is also a battle for Congress to retain the only large state under its rule other than Punjab. Siddaramaiah himself admits that history is against him. In a tweet, he said, People of Karnataka will answer that question on May 12. And they will do so decisively. I am often told history is against us as no sitting government in Karnataka has been re-elected in a long time. But we are here to create history and not to obey it. The BJP, on the other hand, is striving to form a government in Karnataka, which party president Amit Shah said will be its "gateway to south", for a second time. The BJP had ruled the state between 2008 and 2013, the only time it did so, but its tenure was marred by intra-party feuds and allegations of corruption. One of its three chief ministers and its current chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa was in jail over corruption charges. Though the BJP launched its campaign, calling it "mission 150 (seats)", Amit Shah told a press conference on Thursday the party will win over 130 constituencies. Unlike in 2013, when the BJP split into factions with Yeddyurappa forming KJP and B Sriramulu of Ballari floating BSR Congress, they are all united this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook an adrenaline-charged campaign for the BJP, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi helmed his party's electoral offensive. JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has conceded it was a "battle for survival" for his party which has been out of power for a decade now. Four current and former chief ministers are also in the fray, including Siddramaiah, who is contesting from Badami and Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara), and BJP's Jagdish Shettar from Hubbali-Dharwad. There are more than 4.96 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from a field of little over 2,600 candidates. Men account for over 2.52 crore voters, women around 2.44 crore, while there are 4,552 transgender electors. Election office sources said over 55,600 polling stations have been set up, and there would be some auxiliary booths too. Over 3.5 lakh personnel will be on duty to ensure a free and fair poll. It is for the first time that people would be able know about the queue status at polling stations with large number of voters through a mobile app, sources said. Polling will be held in 222 constituencies of the 224-member Assembly as election has been countermanded in Jayanagara following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA BN Vijaykumar. Polling in RR Nagar in Bengaluru has been deferred after a huge cache of voter ID cards were recovered from a flat. The Congress party had won 122 seats in the 2013 elections, ten more than the halfway mark. It also had the support of some independent MLAs and those of smaller parties. The BJP and JD(S) had 40 seats each, Karnataka Jantha Paksha 6, Badavara Shramikara Raitra 4, Karnataka Makkala Paksha, Samajwadi Party, Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (one each) and Independents 9. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 15 and results will be declared the same day. David Goodall, a 104-year-old Australian scientist who had campaigned for the legalisation of assisted dying in his home country, ended his life at a Swiss clinic on Thursday, a representative from the pro-euthanasia group Exit International said. Goodall, a respected botanist and ecologist, died at the Life Circle clinic in Basel, Switzerland, after administering a lethal drug under the guidance of doctors, ABC News Australia reported. Exit International, which represented the scientist, said Goodall passed away while listening to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Euthanasia is illegal in Australia, thought the state of Victoria is planning to allow assisted dying from mid-2019. Goodall's home state Perth is currently debating whether to introduce the policy. Also Read: Niti Aayog to Set Up 5,000 Atal Tinkering Labs by March 2019 The story of the academic, who is one of the first Australians to undertake the procedure due to old age rather than a terminal illness, attracted international headlines and further inflamed a highly divisive debate. His supporters applauded his decision to take charge of his fate after declaring his life was no longer worth living. But critics warned his decision solely on the grounds of old age set a "dangerous precedent". The grandfather of 12 had attracted over $20,000 in donations from the public to help fund his journey to Europe from Australia earlier this month. Earlier this week, Goodall said he resented having to travel so far to carry out his plan, but was relieved the end was near. "Life stopped being enjoyable five or 10 years ago," he said, in part because of his failing mobility and eyesight. "I am glad to arrive (in Basel). I'll be even more pleased when further steps of my journey are completed. I have been able to say goodbye. I was a bit sorry to say goodbye to my family in Bordeaux but that's the way it was." Goodall said he hoped his story would lead to the legalisation of assisted dying in other countries. "I'm looking forward to it," he said of his imminent death. Don't Forget to Subscribe to the 'Tech And Auto Show' YouTube Channel "What I would like is for other countries to follow Switzerland's lead and make these facilities available to all clients, if they meet the requirements, and the requirements not just of age, but of mental capacity." Several US states have a form of physician-assisted suicide, as do countries including Japan, Belgium and Switzerland. Born in London in 1914, just months before the outbreak of World War I, Goodall and his family moved to Australia when he was a child. He went on to hold academic positions across the world, including in the UK, the US and Australia. The pace at which human-machine technologies are evolving and getting seamlessly integrated into our lives is unimaginable. On National Technology Day 2018, heres a look at the top technologies that are impacting the way we think, love and communicate. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Undoubtedly, this is the biggest trend that has grown exponentially. Combined with machine learning, AI has the potential to not only bring about enormous changes in business, it can help create solutions for prevalent social issues. A large number of organizations have begun to realize the direct implications of infusing AI in their operations. While the groundwork in AI has already begun, the times ahead are exciting as the ideas and prototypes are taking shape in real projects across multiple sectors - healthcare, retail, construction, banking, manufacturing, etc. Also Read: Over 3,500 Russian Facebook Ads to Influence the 2016 Presidential Election Released by US House Democrats Internet of Things (IoT) It has been predicted that IoT will comprise 200 billion smart devices by the year 2020. That roughly equals 26 smart devices per person on the planet. These smart devices would need to be collaboratively connected through the internet, converting the devices into one big integrated system driving a major shift in human-machine interaction. Implications of this technology are immense, which can be as simple as a smart home to an entire city! At present, IoT is being used by businesses to increase process efficiencies and deliver better customer experiences, thus generating new revenue streams. Blockchain Blockchain as a technology has immense prospects in the field of digital transactions. After the initial hype around blockchain in the financial services' industry, we are seeing many more potential use cases for the government, healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain/logistics, F&B and other industries. In 2018, mthe any blockchain technology platforms will move from development phase to pilot phase in the banking, media and industrial sectors. Cloud-based architecture Cloud based architecture has been around for quite a while now but in 2018, we expect to see many more organizations take advantage of the simplicity and high-performance the cloud guarantees, as well as a sharp uptick in cloud-hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) that provides an opportunity to grow computing capabilities without costly investments in infrastructure, physical or technical. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) - Worldwide spending on AR and VR is expected to reach $17.8 billion in 2018, which is 95% more than the $9.1 billion spent in 2017. Businesses are quickly understanding the potential of AR and are integrating the technology into their business and marketing plans to make most of the first-mover opportunities available. Industries like telecommunication, manufacturing, energy where the workforce is scattered to remote areas are already using AR extensively for communication, training, etc. The scope is even greater in healthcare where AR can be used in the operating room by bringing the virtual elements to the real world. Don't Forget to Subscribe to the 'Tech And Auto Show' YouTube Channel To conclude, half of the year has gone by and it already looks very promising for technological innovations. The exponential improvement of technologies will not only allow every business industry to flourish but also impact our daily lives. WhatsApp has been coming up with a string of new features in this year. Starting from the introduction of WhatsApp Payments to confirming a soon-to-be-rolled-out group video calling feature, WhatsApp has constantly come up with ways for its users to gain more out of it than what just a chat platform can offer. Now, the Facebook-owned chat app is reportedly going to bring more features for its business users within its WhatsApp for Business app. As per reports, a new feature will be available on the version 2.18.84 of the WhatsApp for Business app that will let the users filter their chats from the search bar. The move is aimed to make it easier for businesses using the platform to connect with their consumers, to pinpoint chats which they want to address. The WhatsApp for Business chat filter icon will appear on the search bar of the app and will allow the users to filter their list of chats based on read or unread, groups as well as broadcast lists. Also read: Worry Not, Google Says AI Calling System 'Duplex' Will Identify Itself on a Call Since its launch. WhatsApp for Business has garnered more than 3 million users on Android across six countries in which the app is available, including India, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, Britain and the US. In addition to the chat filters, WhatsApp is also expected to roll out a sticker album for its users soon. Facebook, in its F8 conference also introduced a plethora of new features for its photo-sharing app Instagram. You can read about all the newly launched features for Instagram here. Watch: Apple Watch 3 Cellular First Impressions Review Washington: The White House has "quietly killed" a $10-million per year NASA program that tracks carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, the journal Science said Thursday. NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon, said the report. "Now, President Donald Trump's administration has quietly killed the CMS," it said, describing the move as the latest in a "broad attack on climate science" mounted by the White House. The journal said NASA "declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond 'budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget.'" It also quoted US space agency spokesman Steve Cole as saying there was no mention of the CMS in a budget deal signed in March, which "allowed the administration's move to take effect." Cole, responding to a request for comment from AFP, said Trump proposed cutting the CMS project and four Earth science missions last year. After much deliberation, Congress decided they wanted those four space missions to be funded, writing them into the budget bill they passed in March 2018, he said. But since CMS was not among them, it was cut as proposed, Cole said, describing the entire process as a joint effort by lawmakers and the executive branch. Existing grants would be allowed to finish but no new research would be supported, he said. Trump has already canceled another Earth science mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3), and announced the US pullout from the 2015 Paris climate accord. According to Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts University's Center for International Environment and Resource Policy in Medford, Massachusetts, the CMS cuts jeopardize efforts to verify the national emission cuts agreed to in the Paris climate deal. "If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement," she told the magazine. Canceling the CMS "is a grave mistake." Cole, however, said in an email to AFP that the "winding down of this specific research program does not curb NASA's ability or commitment to monitoring carbon and its effects on our changing planet." "In fact, GEDI, a new ecosystem carbon-monitoring instrument, is set to launch to the International Space Station this summer." New York, United States: To television viewers, he is the FBI agent who hunts down Al-Qaeda. But in real-life, Ali Soufan is just as extraordinary, a Muslim immigrant who fled war to live the American dream. Born in Lebanon, a child of the Middle Eastern country's brutal 1975-1990 civil war, he migrated to the United States as a teenager, was student president at college and dreamt of studying for a PhD in Cambridge, England. Except he applied to the FBI as a dare and was the only one of his friends selected. With "The X-Files" big on television at the time, Soufan jokes that he was "more interested in aliens than terrorists." Instead, the only Arabic speaker on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, he was thrust onto the frontline in the hunt for Al-Qaeda after the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen. He travelled the world conducting investigations and interrogating suspects, but US intelligence proved ultimately unable to stop the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, among them Soufan's former boss. He calls the Al-Qaeda hijackings, which he watched on television from Yemen, "probably the most gut-wrenching moment in my life." Afterward, he was handed a manila envelope with intelligence he had been asking for since November 2000. "I don't know if angry is the word. Crushed. I don't know the feeling. I don't know the term to describe it, still today," he tells AFP in a recent interview in his New York office, an enormous US flag and framed awards on the wall. The bitter CIA-FBI rivalry that inadvertently paved the road to 9/11 is dissected in "The Looming Tower," a television mini-series on Hulu and Amazon Prime adapted from Lawrence Wright's best-selling, Pulitzer-prize winning book. - 'Us versus them' - With Soufan played by French actor Tahar Rahim -- the two have become friends -- and his FBI boss John O'Neill by Jeff Daniels, it narrates the power struggle between the CIA and the FBI, and their refusal to share intelligence. Soufan, 46, is delighted that the show educates a new generation about 9/11, challenges Muslim stereotypes and sends a message to young people, particularly from immigrant backgrounds who may feel alienated. "This is not only a TV series. This is a public service announcement," he says. "You have so many young people growing up in communities in the US, in Paris, in Brussels, in London and feeling that they don't fit... We're trying to reach out to them and say don't let cynicism take you down, don't believe Al-Qaeda and ISIS and their narrative," he adds. "Don't believe the us versus them," he says. "You can do the right thing and you can support your government, and your government will be there for you." The real-life Soufan is brimming with jokes, fiercely intelligent and relaxed, apologizing for not dressing in a suit and tie for an on-camera interview. He happily shows off a Thompson submachine gun, the FBI's first defense against the mob in the 1930s, given today as retirement presents. "Now we have fancy stuff," Soufan jokes. "Fancy and very effective stuff." Soufan testified before US Congress and presidential commissions, but opposed torture and left the FBI in 2005. Two years later, he founded a security firm which works with governments all over the world. - Never felt discrimination - "It was time," he says simply of his decision. "You don't have to be inside in order to make the world a better place and that's what we try to do here." The Soufan Group, employing retired CIA and FBI officers, offers consultancy and training to governments, corporations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world. A leading security expert and author, today he considers cyber the chief security threat as technology advances at a faster rate than laws and regulations. But he also struggles to imagine a Muslim boy from the Middle East walking so accepting a path in today's polarized America. "I think the US was very good to me in so many different ways. Even as a child and as a young man, I never felt discriminated against." An advocate of immigration, he understands a need to focus on illegals but says isolating communities is not the answer. On his office wall hangs a photo of himself with Barack Obama but when it comes to US President Donald Trump, Soufan says they have never talked. So what would he say if he did? "I think that the job of a leader is to lead, not to mislead," he replies, not missing a beat. New Delhi: In a tit-for-tat measure, Pakistan too is considering imposing restrictions on US diplomats after Washington announced that it would impose travel restrictions on Pakistani diplomats starting from Friday, said media reports. The Trump administration seems all set to force Pakistani diplomats to stay within 25 miles of the city they are posted at, further straining already tense relations between the two countries who were once close allies in the war against terror. The Pakistani authorities are planning to enforce restrictions on American diplomats posted in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi, Dawn News reported. American diplomats are already prohibited from visiting high-security areas, such as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), to protect them against possible terrorist attacks. It was reported last month that Pakistani diplomats would be restricted from travelling more than 40 km from the embassy in Washington or consulates in other cities without permission. US Congressman Donald Norcross, a New Jersey Democrat said: "The important thing is to have dialogue. And if (by imposing those restrictions) we are inhibiting conversation, I do not think that's a smart thing to do. On Thursday, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Aizaz Chaudhry told the Voice of America: "In my opinion, this is not the right decision." Baghdad: Iraqi agents are holding a top aide to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and used an app on his mobile phone to lure four commanders from the group into a trap, a security advisor to the Iraqi government said on Thursday. Ismail al-Eithawi, who also uses the alias Abu Zaid al-Iraqi, was captured in February in Turkey by Turkish authorities and handed over to Iraqi agents, Iraqi security advisor Hisham al-Hashimi told Reuters on Thursday. Hashimi described Eithawi as a direct aide to Islamic State leader Baghdadi, responsible for funds transfers to the group's bank accounts in different countries. Iraqi agents used the Telegram messaging app on Eithawi's mobile phone to lure other Islamic State commanders to cross the border from Syria into Iraq, where they were captured, Hashimi said. Those held include Saddam Jamal, a Syrian who served as the group's governor of Syria's eastern Euphrates region. Hashimi described Eithawi and Jamal as the two most senior Islamic State figures ever to be captured alive. The capture of all five was announced on Iraqi state TV on Wednesday. Hashimi said the operation was carried out in cooperation with U.S. forces, part of an American-led coalition fighting against Islamic State on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border. Following Eithawi's capture, Iraqi and American intelligence agents were able to uncover bank accounts used by the group and also secret communication codes he used, Hashimi said. Apart from Eithawi and Jamal, the operation captured three field commanders: Syrian Mohamed al-Qadeer and two Iraqis, Omar al-Karbouli and Essam al-Zawbai, Hashimi said. "The noose is tightening around him," Hashimi said, referring to Baghdadi, whose real name is Ibrahim al-Samarrai. Baghdadi, who declared himself ruler of all Muslims in 2014 after capturing Iraq's main northern city Mosul, is now believed to be hiding in the Iraqi-Syrian border region after losing all the cities and towns of his self-proclaimed caliphate. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last month he would "take all necessary measures" against militants based in Syria. The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes since last year against Islamic State positions in Syrian territory. Abadi declared final victory last December over the ultra-hardline group within Iraq. But the militants still pose a threat along the border with Syria and have continued to carry out ambushes, killings and bombings across Iraq. Islamic State militants last month restated their loyalty to Baghdadi, in what is believed to be their first public pledge of allegiance to him since his self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq collapsed last year. Moscow: Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow. The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to President Bashar al-Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russia's Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. But Kozhin's comments, released so soon after Netanyahu's Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leader's lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off. "For now, we're not talking about any deliveries of new modern (air defence) systems," Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had "everything it needed," Kozhin added. The Kremlin played down the idea that it had performed a U-turn on the missile question or that any decision was linked to Netanyahu's visit. "Deliveries (of the S-300s) were never announced as such," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, when asked about the matter. "But we did say after the (Western) strikes (on Syria) that of course Russia reserved the right to do anything it considered necessary." The possibility of missile supplies to Assad along with its military foray into Syria itself has helped Moscow boost its Middle East clout. with Putin hosting everyone from Netanyahu to the presidents of Turkey and Iran and the Saudi king. ISRAELI LOBBYING Israel has made repeated efforts to persuade Moscow not to sell the S-300s to Syria, as it fears this would hinder its aerial capabilities against arms shipments to Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected shipments. On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes. The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military, but since modernised and available in several versions with significantly different capabilities, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Though since been superseded by the more modern S-400 system, the S-300s are still regarded as highly potent and outstrip anything that the Syrian government currently has. Syria currently relies on a mixture of less advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft systems to defend its air space. Russian media on Friday were actively circulating a video released by the Israeli military which showed an Israeli missile destroying one such system -- a Russian-made Pantsir S-1 air defence battery -- on Thursday in Syria. Seoul: The 12 North Korean waitresses who defected from China two years ago were tricked into doing so in an operation by the South's intelligence services, their manager told South Korean television in a bombshell revelation. The high-profile case has long been controversial, with Pyongyang insisting the women had been kidnapped and saying there would be no more reunions of families divided by the Korean War unless they were returned. Seoul insisted that they had defected of their own free will. But Heo Gang-il, the manager of the North Korean restaurant in Ningbo where they worked, said he had lied about their final destination and blackmailed them into following him to the South. Heo told JTBC television he had been recruited by Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) in China in 2014. Fearing exposure in 2016, he asked his NIS handler to arrange his defection. At the last minute the minder told him to bring his staff too. "The 12 waitresses did not know where they were going," Heo told JTBC's Spotlight, one of the South's top investigative current affairs programmes. "I told them we were relocating," he said. The women only realised their final destination when they arrived outside the South Korean embassy in Malaysia. When they hesitated to enter the building, one of them told the show, "manager Heo threatened us, saying he will tell security authorities that we watched South Korean TV dramas and we would be executed, or exiled into provinces and our families would also be affected". "Thinking back, it was all nonsense but back then, I had no other choice," she said. "If it was possible for me to go home even now, I would like to return to the bosom of my mother," she said. Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an influential group of human rights lawyers which has unsuccessfully been seeking to interview the waitresses, called for a thorough investigation of what they branded a "heinous crime committed by the NIS". Those responsible should be given "stern punishment" and "the waitresses must be allowed to return home and reunite with their families", it said in a statement. The group's arrival in the South in April 2016 made headlines as the largest group defection for years, while Pyongyang waged a vocal campaign through its state media demanding their immediate return. After four months of acclimatisation education - standard for defectors - the women were released into society, but their whereabouts were kept secret by the NIS and they had made no public comments until the television show late yesterday. Heo said he was speaking out as rewards he had been promised - an NIS job and a medal - had not materialised. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said the facts needed to be established. "There are some new allegations by the manager and some waitresses about how they came to the South and whether they came here on their free will," a spokesman told journalists. "There is need to verify their allegations," he said, adding the ministry had been unable to contact the 13 itself and relied on information given it by the NIS. An NIS spokesman said the agency had no immediate comment on the report. Sceptics suspect the defection may have been staged by the government of now-disgraced conservative president Park Geun-hye in an effort to sway voters ahead of parliamentary elections. Park, 66, who was removed from office over a massive corruption scandal last year, was convicted of multiple criminal charges including bribery and abuse of power and sentenced to 24 years in prison at a trial last month. Herat, Afghanistan: Taliban fighters attacked Afghan bases in the western province of Farah, killing more than 30 police, officials said on Friday, as the insurgents stepped up their offensive in a region with vital opium smuggling routes into neighbouring Iran. Farid Bakhtawar, head of the Farah provincial council, said fighters had stormed a police base overnight in Balabuluk, a district that has been under heavy pressure for months, killing at least 23 and wounding three. In a separate attack in Farah city, Taliban fighters killed 11 police and seized a large quantity of weapons and equipment, he said. The latest violence underlines the extent of the pressure faced by the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, already heavily criticized for a spate of suicide bombings in the capital, Kabul. Last week, Taliban fighters, who challenge government control in almost half the country, seized a district in the northern province of Baghlan and there has been heavy fighting in areas from Faryab in the northwest to Ghazni, south of Kabul. Farah, a remote and sparsely populated province between Iran to the west and the Taliban heartland of Helmand province in the south, has been a key battleground for the insurgents for months, with heavy fighting in Balabuluk district. The region covers major smuggling routes into Iran from Helmand, source of much of Afghanistan's opium crop. Afghan special forces, backed by air support, have been heavily involved in the fighting but have been unable to prevent repeated attacks by the insurgents. Farah's governor resigned in January, claiming political interference and corruption, and residents have complained bitterly about security in the province. Since the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive last month, fighting has been intense in many areas of the country and it is expected to pick up further once the opium harvest is completed in coming weeks. Violence has also increased around voter registration centres set up ahead of parliamentary and district council elections that are due in October. U.S. and NATO officials say Afghan forces, backed by thousands more U.S. military advisers and intensified airstrikes, have been steadily improving and are matching and beating the Taliban. However, a recent report by SIGAR, a U.S. Congressional watchdog, said that the number of Afghan security forces personnel had fallen by 11 percent over the past year, even as fighting has intensified. Police, army and air force numbers were almost 40,000 below the authorized strength of 334,000, the report said. The report showed the government-controlled areas with about 65 percent of the population and controlled or influenced 56.3 percent of districts, the second lowest level since 2015, the first year after most international forces left Afghanistan. Canada: The zealous airport security screening of a Canadian government minister wearing a turban last year led Ottawa to file a diplomatic protest with Washington, his office said Thursday. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains is a devout Sikh. He was heading home to Canada from Detroit in April 2017 after meeting with Michigan state Governor Rick Snyder and other officials, when security agents insisted he remove his turban for inspection, after he had already cleared the metal detector and secondary screening tests and was about to board his flight. He told the Canada's French-language newspaper La Presse that "the experience made me uncomfortable," describing the agents as "very insistent and very difficult." Being asked to remove his turban is akin to "being asked to take off my clothes," he was quoted as saying. Bains's spokesman Karl Sasseville explained to AFP that the minister did not immediately reveal his government position in order to see how things play out for ordinary people in such circumstances. But when a security guard caught up to him at the gate and asked him to return for yet more screening, he pulled out his diplomatic passport and was allowed to board his flight. Ottawa verbally protested to Washington over the incident, and received an apology. US authorities also ordered Detroit airport security staff to undergo further training. The US Transportation Security Administration passed new regulations in 2007 allowing Sikhs to keep their turban when passing security checks at airports. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said she felt it was important to voice Ottawa's concerns about the way Bains was treated in order to "support all Canadians travelling across the border." Bains also noted a similar incident in Antigua after a family vacation last Christmas to the Caribbean island. Eversource Energy officials said Friday the company has told state utility regulators it will seek a natural gas service rate hike that, if approved, would increase customer bills by an average of 15.8 percent over a three-year period. The company filed a notice of intent with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Friday announcing its plans to seek the rate increase. Bill Akley, president of gas operations for Hartford-based Eversource, said the increased revenue is needed so the company can continue upgrading its distribution network. Eversource customers would see a 9.2 percent average increase in their natural gas bills in the first year of the plan proposed by the utility. Customer bills would increase by an average 3.7 percent during the second year of the proposed rate hike followed by a hike of 2.9 percent in the third year. If approved, the first of the rate increases would begin on Jan. 1, according to Eversource officials. Eversource has 3,370 miles of natural gas infrastructure in 73 communities around the state and has replaced 145 miles of gas pipelines since 2011. The company plans to upgrade an additional 371 miles natural pipeline over the three-year period covered in the filing, said Tricia Taskey Modifica, a company spokeswoman. The proposed upgrades include replacing existing cast iron and bare steel gas main with newer plastic pipe that company officials say is safer, more durable and is better able to deal with fluctuating underground temperatures. These investments allow us to enhance safety and further modernize the gas distribution system, minimizing repairs and any service interruptions, to ensure our customers have energy for every moment of their lives, Akley said in statement. Each mile of leak-prone main we replace makes our gas system safer, stronger and helps the environment. Fridays notice of intent will be followed with a more detailed rate increase filing within 30 days to 60 days, according to company officials. Eversource officials stressed that the percentage increases are based on averages and the amount that customers bills increase could be lower or higher. Lauren Bidra, an attorney with the states Office of Consumer Counsel, said agency officials are concerned with the magnitude of the requested rate increase. The OCC represents the interests of consumers in utility rate cases. Eversource has 232.000 natural gas customers in Connecticut. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com An Amtrak train struck and killed a person on the tracks in Westbrook Friday morning. The incident that happened before 8 a.m., has affected Amtrak service between New Haven and Providence. Amtrak said the Acela Express 2153 train, traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C., hit a person who was illegally on the tracks. Ninety-six passengers were on board the train. There were no other injuries for crew and passengers. At one point, all Amtrak service was stopped. At around 9:30 a.m., it said one track has been reopened for service. It expects there will be residual delays of trains because of a backlog of rail service. On May 3, a 27-year-old West Haven man was struck and killed an Amtrak train near the rail station. Officials said in that incident there was no criminality involved and it was not an accident. A Western Connecticut State University professor was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to further his research of previously unknown riverweed species in the Amazon River watershed in South America. Thomas Philbrick is using the grant to collaborate with Brad Ruhfel, an assistant professor at Eastern Kentucky University, on a three-year project. Philbricks field and lab work in riverweed taxonomy will be complemented by Ruhfels research on the evolutionary relationships of these species and their distribution across South America during geological time. In South America, we are gaining an understanding of the nature and diversity of species in these river systems so that we can also understand what is at risk of being destroyed, Philbrick said in a news release. About a third of the $200,000 grant will be used for Philbricks study, which spans more than three decades and resulted in the discovery of many plant species. Philbrick plans to use the grant to finance new field studies in upstream regions of the Amazonian watershed in the northeastern, northwestern and southwestern regions of Brazil, as well as hire a student research assistant. The fieldwork will also be used to publish the series of monographs documenting the new species. He noted that documentation of the rich biodiversity of major river systems in the Americas also provides the basis for analyzing the environmental impact of human activity on the flora of these watersheds, such as the destruction of species as a result of dam construction. When I began my work more than 30 years ago, I would never have predicted that the discovery and description of species new to science would become such an important part of my research, he said. US Soldiers, Marines, Department of Defense civilians, and troops from the United Kingdom observed and tested a series of unmanned, remote-controlled ground vehicles during a combined training event at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, April 2, 2018. In order to accelerate the evolution of battlefield robots, the US military is looking to artificial intelligence to augment the capabilities and features of its war machines. US secretary of defense Michael Griffin recently stated that the Pentagon is looking to develop self-driving technology for its military vehicles. The Iranian rocket attack and Israel response could be the first skirmishes in a potential war between Israel and Iran that could be big. It could involve Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It could spread across Syria and Lebanon. Israeli cities would be hit, as might strategic targets in Iran. In its initial stages, it would be Israeli air power against the long-range missile forces of Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Over recent months, the Israelis say, a variety of Iranian installations have been established in Syria: weapons stores, barracks, air defenses and so on. The immediate tensions stem from an Israeli air strike on what they claimed was an Iranian drone facility at the so-called T-4 air base, near Palmyra, on 9 April, which reportedly killed several Iranian military advisers. Iran vowed to respond and since then there have been sporadic incidents that appear to be Israeli efforts to thwart just such a response. There was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air strike on an underground missile depot where the explosion was so large it registered on earthquake-monitoring systems. And just a few days ago, Israel claimed it struck at missiles that were being readied to be launched. Israel Iran War Hillel Frisch at the Jerusalem Post provides his insights into the possible Israel Iran War. Israel will not permit Syria to be turned into an Iranian forward base and a manufacturing center for precision-guided missiles. Iran is equally committed to its objectives turning Syria into a forward-based of direct Iranian operations and a manufacturing center for precision-guided missiles. Iran could directly attack Israel or alternatively activate its proxy Hezbollah. Hezbollah draws its ranks from a small community of less than two million people. Demographic data also shows that the birth rate of the Shiites in Lebanon and Iran has plummeted, reaching in 2004 a European fertility rate that is, below replacement rate. New recruits will be increasingly coming from four-member families, for which loss of life is particularly harsh. Hezbollah is war-weary. Iran, then, will probably attack directly. It will be a war mainly with missiles from Iran and Hezbollah versus Israels air force. Iran gets 40% of government expenditures and around half of Irans foreign reserves from oil and gas. The port of Bandar Abbas on Irans southern tip is responsible for 90% of its container trade. The goods brought in by container represent only 15% to 20% of total trade, but they are the goods that make the difference between the 21st and 19th centuries as far as most Iranians are concerned. Israel might attack airports in Lebanon, Syria and even Iraq to prevent the movement of Iranian troops and equipment. Candidate for Governor of Michigan proposes $1.5 billion statewide internet connection plan. El-Sayeds proposal would involve devoting $1.5 billion to developing broadband networks through public-public partnerships, even though that number is probably not enough to connect all of the 250,000 households without internet. In Michigan, 40 percent of urban residents dont have access to high-speed internet and the plan outlined on Monday includes funding to expand internet access in cities, where many last-mile connections have not been made. Home Military Israel hits dozens of Iranian targets in Syria after barrage of 20 rockets at Israel Amanda D. Hanford, at Pennsylvania State University, is taking the introductory steps to make acoustic ground cloaks. These materials redirect approaching waves around an object without scattering the wave senergy, concealing the object from the sound waves. Potentially this could be applied to sonar cloaking for submarines or other objects in the ocean. During the 175th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, being held May 7-11, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hanford will describe the physics behind an underwater acoustic shield designed in her lab. Above Scientists are now working to take cloaking devices from the dramatic realm of science fiction and make them real. Amanda D. Hanford, at Pennsylvania State University, is taking the introductory steps to make acoustic ground cloaks. These materials redirect approaching waves around an object without scattering the wave energy, concealing the object from the sound waves. During the 175th ASA Meeting, Hanford will describe the physics behind an underwater acoustic shield designed in her lab. This image is a Profile picture of the assembled perforated plate ground cloak. CREDIT Peter Kerrian Hanford and her team set out to engineer a metamaterial that can allow the sound waves to bend around the object as if it were not there. Metamaterials commonly exhibit extraordinary properties not found in nature, like negative density. To work, the unit cell the smallest component of the metamaterial must be smaller than the acoustic wavelength in the study. These materials sound like a totally abstract concept, but the math is showing us that these properties are possible, Hanford said. So, we are working to open the floodgates to see what we can create with these materials. To date, most acoustic metamaterials have been designed to deflect sound waves in air. Hanford decided to take this work one step further and accept the scientific challenge of trying the same feat underwater. Acoustic cloaking underwater is more complicated because water is denser and less compressible than air. These factors limit engineering options. After multiple attempts, the team designed a 3-foot-tall pyramid out of perforated steel plates. They then placed the structure on the floor of a large underwater research tank. Inside the tank, a source hydrophone produced acoustic waves between 7,000 Hz and 12,000 Hz, and several receiver hydrophones around the tank monitored reflected acoustic waves. The wave reflected from the metamaterial matched the phase of the reflected wave from the surface. Additionally, the amplitude of the reflected wave from the cloaked object decreased slightly. These results demonstrate that this material could make an object appear invisible to underwater instruments like sonar. Using linear coordinate transformation, the researchers were able to map the flat surface of the bottom of the tank and determined that space was compressed into two triangular cloaking regions consisting of the engineered metamaterial. These results show potential to contribute to real-world applications, such as acoustic materials to dampen sound and appear invisible underwater. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Underwater acoustic ground cloak development and demonstration ABSTRACT Acoustic ground cloaks, which conceal an object on a rigid surface, utilize a linear coordinate transformation to map the flat surface to a triangular void by compressing space into two triangular cloaking regions consisting of a homogeneous anisotropic acoustic metamaterial. Transformation acoustics allows for the realization of a coordinate transformation through a reinterpretation of the scale factors as a new material in the original coordinate system. An underwater acoustic ground cloak was constructed from perforated steel plates and experimentally tested to conceal an object on a pressure release surface. The perforated plate acoustic ground cloak successfully cloaked the scattered object. There was excellent agreement between the phase of the surface reflection and cloak reflection with a small amplitude difference. Above 15 [kHz], the cloaking performance decreased as the effective material parameters of the perforated plate metamaterial deviated from the required material parameters. It had become a running punch line in Connecticut business circles the past few years, the states recent record in passing annual budgets months after deadlines that would cost any corporate budget staff their jobs in any equivalent lapses. With the Connecticut General Assembly punching out on time this year, business owners and their workers were tallying the early returns Friday on the coming impact of new laws on jobs, whether from the perspective of hiring or employee rights in the workplace. In reaching a final budget compromise with minutes to spare in the 2018 legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly sent for Gov. Dannel P. Malloys signature a number of new restrictions and opportunities affecting business owners and workers, from a limited pay equity measure intended to help women get better compensation when hired, to extensions of incentives for the generation of energy from clean sources like solar panels. Many more were left discarded in the aisles and conference rooms in the state Capitol in the final hours of the 2018 session. Of bills considered before legislative committees for commerce and labor two that touch employers of all sizes representatives reached consensus on less than 30 percent of the bills brought before them, with Malloy having yet to signal in many instances whether he would sign them into law. The good news is no new tax increases, said Joe McGee, vice president of public policy and programs for the Business Council of Fairfield County in Stamford. The big disappointment is on the transportation piece. ... Whatever the solution is, we need a new revenue source for transportation. Thats just a fact and theres no way to escape that. Attracting investment, jobs Early reactions were mixed in other parts of the business community, with the Connecticut Business & Industry Associations CEO Joe Brennan indicating Connecticut is not keeping up with regional rivals like New York and Massachusetts when it comes to generating strong jobs and economic growth. We consistently hear from our members that a major cause of substandard growth is the states precarious fiscal situation, Brennan stated in a note to CBIA members Thursday. The lack of progress on the more serious (short-term) and long-term financial problems facing the state means that these issues will continue to impact our ability to attract investment and jobs here. The National Federation of Independent Business noted that legislators tabled multiple bills NFIB said would have raised costs for its small-business members. Connecticuts gross domestic product was down a second straight year in 2017, the result of a sluggish first quarter that was more than enough to wipe out gains in the succeeding nine months. Legislators ... showed fiscal restraint by not increasing the tax burden on all state residents, stated Andrew Markowski, NFIB state director, in a written statement Thursday. When Connecticuts unemployment rate is the highest in the Northeast, and GDP is down, thats a great first step. ... It will take time to address the huge state pension and health care costs, and reduce the state debt, but if that happens, Connecticut will become a great place for businesses to expand or open. A fair salary The pay equity bills supporters marshaled a major push at a March hearing to get the legislation to the governors desk, with the bill transmitted Thursday for Malloys signature. Almost every single employer I have had has asked me about previous salary, stated Bridgeport resident Lauren Gray, in March testimony to a committee of the Assembly. It makes me nervous to state what I had been previously paid because I am not sure if the salary they are about to propose is a fair salary. But one human resources expert in Norwalk believes the bill would have a ripple effect that could make it more difficult for business owners to add jobs at all. The theory is that we are going to correct pay equity issues for women as a result, said David Lewis, CEO of OperationsInc, a Norwalk-based consultancy for personnel training and policies. The unintended consequence is that employers are likely to have to pay more for each hire without this critical piece of data, and the higher pay will not be because they were underpaying women in the past. Dan Haar contributed to this report. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman At a moment in time in American culture when debate rages over what is real and what is "fake news," Mystic Seaport Museum brings back to the limelight a controversy from more than 50 years ago that rocked the scientific, historical and cultural realms of U.S. society. "Science, Myth & Mystery: The Vinland Map Saga," which opens May 19, 2018, explores the stories around and behind the publication in 1965 of a scholarly examination of a piece of parchment known as the Vinland Map. This exhibition is made possible in partnership with the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. Publication of the Vinland Map threw into question the long-held belief that Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach American shores, in 1492. The map was dated by Yale researchers to about 1440, igniting a firestorm of debate about the moment of first contact could it be that Vikings from Scandinavia reached North American shores as early as the year 1000? "Science, Myth & Mystery" brings the Vinland Map itself to public view outside of New Haven for the first time in the United States in more than 50 years. The exhibition will place the visitor into the moment in time in October of 1965 when the map was first unveiled. It brings to life the fascinating journey of the map from its initial discovery in 1957 to its acquisition by Yale in 1965; the authentication research conducted by a team of hand-picked specialists; and the hoopla surrounding the unveiling on October 11, 1965 (the day between Leif Ericson Day and Columbus Day that year). "This is an incredible opportunity for Mystic Seaport Museum to take a rare artifact that holds a key place in American history and bring it into the conversation that we see happening today at kitchen tables and in university hallways in a relevant and important way," said Nicholas Bell, senior vice president for curatorial affairs at the Museum. "Being able to provide in this exhibition the context of the times, along with never-before-seen details of the research that went into the map, makes this a terrific addition to an already robust roster of projects we have ongoing here." "The Beinecke Library aims to excite scholars and the public to engage the past, in the present, to inform the future," said Edwin C. Schroeder, the library's director. "The history of the Vinland Map, acquired more than 50 years ago, offers insights into art, science, and society that remain relevant today. We are delighted to partner with an esteemed fellow Connecticut cultural institution to bring this artifact and its context to a contemporary audience." In addition to the story of the map, "Science, Myth & Mystery" chronicles the findings of Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad, husband and wife explorers and archaeologists who discovered a Norse settlement on the Newfoundland coast that dates to the year 1000. They used what is known as the Vinland Sagas Norse oral histories that detail Viking explorers traveling to Iceland, Greenland and even farther west and south as the basis for their search. Starting in 1961, they uncover Viking artifacts near a small town called L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland dating to the year 1000. Their discoveries were made public in 1964, laying the groundwork for the acceptance of the Vinland Map's authenticity the following year. The exhibition brings the map from its controversial unveiling in 1965 through its battery of tests over the years and right into the 21st century, with details about 2018 tests presently being conducted by the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. "Science, Myth & Mystery" runs through September 30, 2018, in the Museum's R.J. Schaefer Building. NEW HAVEN Four New Haven arts organizations will share a total of $125,000 in federal grants, according to a release. The four grants for New Haven were among 15 totaling more than $1 million awarded to arts organizations in Connecticut by the National Endowment for the Arts. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the state Department of Economic and Community Developments Office of the Arts announced the grant awards. Intuitive web design does not mean that you as a designer should be able to whip up a website without any thought being required. Intuitive web design is to be viewed from the user perspective. If the user does not have to think while using your website, its design is intuitive. Intuitive Web Design is Not a New Specialist Discipline Keep calm. The term intuitive web design does not include anything that you havent heard before in some form or another. Its more of a perspective, a focus, that you put on a certain aspect of the user experience. Basically, its about the removal or prevention of hazards on your way to a successful website. You know how it goes: for some reason, you make your way to website XYZ via Google, and you cant even tell what this site is about. If youre not very resilient, youll immediately leave the site. Ive even gotten into the habit of consistently doing this, although I am pretty resilient. In 2011, Nielsen realized that visitors give a website a mere maximum of 10 to 20 seconds to convince them that theyre in the right spot. If you succeed, however, your visitors will stay for much longer. In that case, were not looking at a few seconds, but rather at a couple of minutes, up to double-digits. If you fail, your visitors are gone, and unlikely to return. Logically, youll want to be successful. You have to convince your users that it is worth spending more than 20 seconds on your website. The methods we use to do so can be summarized as intuitive web design. Before getting deeper into the topic, you should get to know the expectations of your potential visitors. The web does not have a good reputation all over the population. Im sure you know dialogues like this one: Where did you get that from? I read it online. Oh, on the internet, well The average surfer takes a skeptical approach. Intrusive ads, and the many dangers of pishing, as well as the distribution of malware, have turned the web into what feels like a dangerous place. The basic attitude is negative. The surfer expects to be scammed or harmed wherever he goes. This is a basic attitude that heavily differs from the attitude of a potential customer walking into a store in the pedestrian area. Here, the building itself, the visible investment threshold, conveys a certain amount of trust. Page operators can only gain this basic trust to a limited extent. All websites look the same anyways. Your shop might be based on a free theme from Bangladesh Either way, you have to get over this negative prejudice. Unfortunately, you cant remove this attitude in the first few steps. Thus, your website has to be designed like an open gate, with no hidden hardships inside. 6 Tips for Intuitive Web Design The basis of our thoughts regarding intuitive web design should be designing pages in a way that leaves none, or at least very few hazards in the path of visitors. This goal is easily achieved with the six following, rather simple measures. Tip 1: Provide What You Promise Your visitor enters your site with a critical stance, but also with certain expectations. Youve probably triggered these expectations with your keyword choices, and maybe, you werent completely truthful. Have you promised a bit more than you can offer? I can understand that youd try to lure as many people onto your site as possible. Once theyre here, we can still filter them. And maybe, they like what they see, even if it is not exactly what they were looking for. That doesnt sound completely implausible. However, the problem is that it doesnt work. Because, as Nielsen has proven, people lack both the patience and the will to be convinced by a seemingly unsuitable website. The first element when creating an intuitive website is SEO that makes sure that your website delivers what the search result pages promise to. Any other approach means you lose the trust of your potential visitors before they could even give it to you. Tip 2: Make it Very Clear What Your Website is About Listen to the marketing people when they talk about the importance of the call to action. They are right. You want your visitors to do certain things. So, dont make them guess what you want them to do, but put your websites goal into the foreground. The erotic store around the corner doesnt have coffee machines in the shop window either, and wont surprise you with the actual offer upon entering. Tip 3: Be Predictable Intuitive controls are partially based on the simplicity of the process, but also based on sticking to an established convention when it comes to the design. Now, what exactly we should consider established conventions varies. Take a look at the best practices of your branch, and stick to those. Your visitors want a unique user experience. However, that shouldnt include having to take extraordinary paths to get to the result. Instead, you should make sure that they can quickly get to their goal without reading a manual. Thus, use traditional approaches rather than brand new innovations when it comes to the navigation and user guidance. If you were to go to a toilet somewhere youve never been before, and there was a room without light switches, faucets, or a flushing toiled, would you be happy, even if it looked futuristic? Something similar happened to me last summer, in the restaurant of an Italian mountain village. I went to the toilet and was about to wash my hands at the tap. No faucets, no sensors, nothing. After a while, I found a foot-operated switch on the floor. Did the solution do its job? Yes. But, was I impressed? You know the answer. Dont make the same mistake on your website. Tip 4: Dont Build Unnecessary Interactions The former RTL boss Helmut Thoma once made a provoking but fitting statement: The only interaction todays TV viewers want is the one with their fridge. And, even if it sounds harsh for us web workers, it still holds true today. The attempt to impress visitors with neat, technological toys will fail. The attempt to turn visitors into customers via social media or gaming components will fail as well. Although Ill happily admit that the latter statement may very well turn into a false statement in the next few years. Were living in an age of fast transformation, after all. Now, dont confuse the term unnecessary interaction with the term micro interaction. Just recently, I advised you to make heavy use of the latter, as they can make the difference between two equal solutions for the same application case. A good micro interaction could be a purchase button, which turns green upon clicking or tapping it, reanimating a confirmation checkmark. This would tell the client that he hit the button and that the ordering process was successful. However, and Ive already seen this myself, it would be unnecessary for the purchase button to literally fly into the shopping cart icon, making it rotate. You know what I mean Tip 5: Be Minimalistic, and as Device-Independent as Possible Essentially, the goal is to keep your website as slim as possible. You dont want to blast your visitor with all information possible, but rather focus on the essential information. Now, if you also stick to these design principles, theres not much that can go wrong. Well, you may want to look into microinteractions. After all, they are crucial to success. Since the number of those purely surfing on mobile has exceeded the number of users purely surfing via desktop computer, responsive design, which is a layout that adjusts to the respective device, is no longer a question of preference. The next evolutionary step of responsive design could be the increasingly more popular, and increasingly better supported progressive web apps. This is intuitive web design as well. Tip 6: Dont Demand Unnecessary Information If you run a digital paid service and offer a free trial to your potential customers where you want to convince them of the product in a non-binding fashion, youre already doing a better job than the competitor that only offers a personal presentation upon request and with a fixed date. However, your offer only becomes really good once you even avoid hazards here, and dont ask your potential customer to enter a valid method of payment at the beginning of the testing period. Youll see that the number of people deciding on a truly nonbinding test is much higher than any other method could ever get you. The new EU General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into full effect on the 25th of May 2018, will motivate you in that regard as it is. Because if theres one thing to take away from the GDPR, its the aspect of data economy. This means that, in the future, you can only demand data from interested users that is needed for the respective data processing. An example: What do you need to send an e-book to a potential client? Exactly, an email address, but thats it. Sure, a lead is hard to generate from this, but this is a very different topic. Just think of something better. Further Reading: Intuitive web design Conclusion: Intuitive Design is Simply Simple If your web design doesnt contain any hazards, thresholds, or intricacies that make it unnecessarily hard to get to a result, youve already done a lot right from the perspective of intuition. You have to consider that every unnecessary hazard can lead to double-digit losses in terms of percentage. Were not talking peanuts here. You should use a very generous definition of the term hazard. You might think the small toy with the animated buy-me-button was pretty neat. So what if it takes an extra half a second. Your potential client will definitely consider it a hazard after the second usage, at the latest. His definition is the only one that matters. Read tip 5 once again. So, if you want to turn your visitors into clients, the best way to do so would be to make the purchasing process as easy as possible. According to CEP, this increases the chances of a successful purchase by up to 96 percent. Did I quote Einstein already? No. Fine, I wont do it this time Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Areas of dense morning fog. Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Since Ms. Clemmonss accusation, M.I.T., where Mr. Diaz is a writing professor, has begun looking into allegations of sexual misconduct, according to The Associated Press. The boards most recent previous chairman, the Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, has resumed the role on an interim basis. Like Mr. Diaz, who is himself a Pulitzer Prize winner for his best-selling first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Mr. Robinson was elected to the board in 2010. Others on the board include Stephen Engelberg, editor in chief of ProPublica; Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University; and Nancy Barnes, editor of The Houston Chronicle. The bodys most high-profile duty is presiding over the judging process by which Pulitzer Prizes are awarded to the years best works of reporting, photography, fiction, history, poetry, music and drama. A California man suspected of accessing and defacing numerous military, government and business websites, including that of West Points Combating Terrorism Center and the New York City Comptrollers Office, was arrested Thursday on computer fraud charges. Prosecutors believe that from 2015 through March 2018, Billy Ribeiro Anderson, under the online pseudonym AlfabetoVirtual, gained unauthorized access to computers and replaced publicly available content with the words Hacked by AlfabetoVirtual, #freepalestine, #freegaza, or some combination of the three. Hackers often claim responsibility for cybercrimes by adding their online pseudonyms to their defacements. Billy Anderson allegedly used specialized computer skills and knowledge to hack important U.S. military and government websites, as well as over 11,000 other websites around the world, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Thursday in a statement issued by the Department of Justice. Mr. Anderson, 41, of Torrance, Calif., faces three counts of computer fraud, and could face up to 21 years in prison if convicted on all charges. In the days after Eric T. Schneiderman, New Yorks now-former attorney general, was accused of physically assaulting four women he had been romantically involved with, a storm of political sniping ensued between the governor and Manhattans top prosecutor over who would investigate the allegations. The spat came to an end, at least publicly, on Thursday, with a news conference that was intended to show a unified front but couldnt quite shake the acrimony of the previous couple of days. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., sat to one side of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, clenching his jaw, fidgeting, and often taking sips of water. On the other side was the Nassau County district attorney, Madeline Singas, who was asked to oversee the probe against Mr. Schneiderman after Mr. Cuomo decided Mr. Vance should not. The governors decision incensed Mr. Vance, who was already facing a review led by Mr. Schneidermans office and ordered by Mr. Cuomo into the district attorneys handling of a case in 2015 involving Harvey Weinstein. SYDNEY, Australia One Sunday last year, Isabelles husband, Max, came home from his Anglican church in Sydney brandishing sermon notes. The minister had preached that day on the need for wives to accept their husbands authority. Max, a parish leader, yelled: You dont get it, do you? The wife has to submit. Then, as he often did on weekends, he took Isabelle into their bedroom and raped her. The words he had heard in church, she told me, gave him fuel for his cruelty. Isabelle, which is not her real name, had been crippled with shame and fear, but she eventually left him after he threatened to kill her. For more than a year, Hayley Gleeson, a colleague of mine at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and I have been investigating how religion intersects with domestic violence in Australia. Weve studied how church culture affects the behavior of perpetrators and victims, what teachings can be exploited by abusers, and how faith leaders respond to accusations of domestic violence. The service provided by Securus reveals a potential weakness in a system that is supposed to protect the private information of millions of cellphone users. With customers consent, carriers sell the ability to acquire location data for marketing purposes like providing coupons when someone is near a business, or services like roadside assistance or bank fraud protection. Companies that use the data generally sign contracts pledging to get peoples approval through a response to a text message, for example, or the push of a button on a menu or to otherwise use the data legally. But the contracts between the companies, including Securus, are the legal equivalent of a pinky promise, Mr. Wyden wrote. The F.C.C. said it was reviewing the letter. Courts are split on whether investigators need a warrant based on probable cause to acquire location data. In some states, a warrant is required for any sort of cellphone tracking. In other states, it is needed only if an investigator wants the data in real time. And in others no warrant is needed at all. The Justice Department has said its policy is to get warrants for real-time tracking. The Supreme Court has ruled that putting a GPS tracker on a car counts as a search under the Fourth Amendment, but this was because installing the device involved touching a persons property something that doesnt happen when a cellphone is pinged. Phone companies have a legal responsibility under the Telecommunications Act to protect consumer data, including call location, and can provide it in response to a legal order or sell it for use with customer consent. But lawyers interviewed by The New York Times disagreed on whether location information that was not gathered during the course of a call had the same protections under the law. As long as they are following their own privacy policies, carriers are largely free to do what they want with the information they obtain, including location information, as long as its unrelated to a phone call, said Albert Gidari, the consulting director of privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society and a former technology and telecommunications lawyer. Even when the phone is not making a call, the system receives location data, accurate within a few hundred feet, by communicating with the device and asking it which cellphone towers it is near. BUENA PARK, Calif. When it comes to immigration, Sylvia Kim has been a fierce opponent of President Trump. She has protested him at L.A.X. airport and written about his shameful legacy on refugees. But on Thursday Ms. Kim watched the dramatic events out of North Korea unfold with a mixture of shock and gratitude. To say it is extremely historic is an understatement, she said. Southern California is home to the largest Korean population outside of Asia and Ms. Kim is one of many Korean-Americans here feeling a whipsaw of emotions over the administrations actions in recent days. While the president has infuriated some with his policies and rhetoric on immigration, others are hopeful that his approach to foreign affairs could help bring peace to a long-divided region where the vast majority of Korean-Americans still have relatives. It is very conflicting because what he is doing domestically is so horrendous on so many levels, said Ms. Kim, the Orange County director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a civil-rights group. Yet on the international level he might achieve something nobody else has. The Korean meeting, which Mr. Trump announced on Thursday, is the most promising sign in years for stability in the region, which has prompted an outpouring of support and celebration among many Korean-Americans. But many others particularly younger Korean immigrants and the children of immigrants are more focused on the fight against his domestic agenda. It has created deep divisions between those who admire the president and those who see his administration as a threat. For Euna Lee, certain moments of her return from months of confinement in North Korea in the summer of 2009 were marked by what she recalls as utter joy. The tearful reunion with her husband and 4-year-old daughter; savoring a meal at a favorite local restaurant in Los Angeles. But as time went on, Ms. Lee said, she found herself overwhelmed by sadness and anxiety. Guilt-ridden over the time she had missed, she volunteered at her daughters elementary school as she resumed working as a journalist. Gratitude she felt for the work done to free her, she said, morphed into a sense of obligation to suppress any ill will toward others even in minor interactions, like when someone cut in front of her in line at the grocery store. For a long time, said Ms. Lee, who now works in Washington as an executive producer at Voice of America, I felt like I was living someone elses life. As the three American prisoners released by North Korea this week savored their freedom after many months in captivity, they joined a group of Americans, 16 in total, who have been detained and released by the regime since 1990, according to the State Department. Many including Ms. Lee, who had been accused of illegally crossing into North Korea had followed every development in the negotiations for the three hostages, and rejoiced at the news. Two of the newly released Americans, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song, were accused by the regime of hostile acts, and the third, Kim Dong-chul, was accused of spying and had been sentenced to hard labor. Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Haspel were later investigated by John Durham, an assistant United States attorney. Mr. Durham ultimately recommended filing no charges over the tape destruction, but his report laying out his findings and reasoning is secret. (The New York Times lost a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to make it public.) The Trump administration has disclosed the executive summary of Mr. Durhams report to the Intelligence Committee, and on Thursday, Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking for it to be made available to the full Senate, calling it critically important that all lawmakers have access to it. Several Democratic senators had already asked for that step. Also on Thursday, Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said he wanted to know more about an apparent discrepancy in how Ms. Haspel and Mr. Rodriguez have described their discussions about the tape destruction order. In an interview published on Wednesday by ProPublica, Mr. Rodriguez said he told Ms. Haspel that he was going to take matters into his own hands because he had concluded that the director at the time, Porter Goss, would never approve their destruction. But Ms. Haspel said on Wednesday that the conversation never happened. She said that Mr. Rodriguez instead told her that he would discuss the issue with Mr. Goss before issuing the order, but then he sent it without having spoken to Mr. Goss. Mr. Rodriguezs comments were ambiguous, however. He also told ProPublica, She may have thought I was going to talk to more people about it before hitting send, but I had made up my mind. But Mr. Wyden said that the Senate needed to clarify what happened. Gina Haspel has claimed for years that she believed her boss would get signoff before ordering the destruction of the torture tapes, Mr. Wyden said. But her boss says he told her otherwise. We need to get to the bottom of what Gina Haspel did, and what she knew, before the Senate votes on her nomination. Ms. Haspel seems likely to be narrowly confirmed. One Republican senator, John McCain of Arizona, said he would oppose her, but a Democrat, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, said he would support her. The Intelligence Committee is likely to receive written answers to its follow-up questions early next week, after which the panel would vote, leading to a full Senate vote late next week or, more likely, early the following one, congressional aides said. He has said repeatedly that the United States spent $7 trillion in the Middle East since 9/11 and had gotten nothing out of it, a figure that fact checkers have deemed false. He may be taking that number from a study by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University that estimated future debt from war spending by 2053 at $7.9 trillion. For war-related activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001, the institute says the cost has been $1.88 trillion. Either way, of course, it is a lot of money, and Mr. Trump essentially enshrined this point in a letter that was sent a few weeks ago to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to the person familiar with it. Mr. Trump talked about the need for the allies to work together with the United States to strengthen their united front against Iran and urged them to resolve a dispute with their neighbor, Qatar, that has led to a blockade. After receiving a response from the Arabs, Mr. Trump then sent a second letter about a week ago reinforcing the points. It was not clear what specific steps might follow. He made a vague offer to send a team to help resolve the Qatar conflict if it would be helpful, but the Arab states have resisted the idea, saying it was for them to handle. The existence of the first letter was made public on Wednesday by Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who appeared intent on using it to undermine the Sunni Arab states that received it. He posted a message on Twitter jabbing the Arabs a day after Mr. Trump announced that he was pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. A few days ago Trump wrote a letter to leaders of #PersianGulf states, which was revealed to us, the supreme leader wrote. He wrote: I spent $7 trillion and you must do something in return. The U.S. wants to own humiliated slaves. White House officials said this week that Mr. Trump had made it clear that he was unwilling to offer any concessions or negotiate for the release of the prisoners, and expressed confidence that Mr. Kim would respect that position and do the right thing anyway. Its not unusual in diplomacy for people to be yelling at each other in one moment and singing kumbaya in the next, but what makes this so dramatic is that the president went further in both directions than others have, said Peter D. Feaver, a political scientist at Duke University who was a national security official under George W. Bush. I think thats a reflection of his belief that we have to break the standard playbook here weve tried everything else with North Korea and it hasnt worked, so why not try something different? Few dispute that Mr. Trump has shattered the norms of diplomatic communication when it comes to his language about Mr. Kim both positive and negative and raised the stakes for the nuclear negotiations along the way. He has gone from extremely negative comments on Kim designed to frighten him into coming to the negotiating table to, now, extremely flattering comments designed to make him conclude a deal, said Sue Mi Terry, a former C.I.A. analyst who is a senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Its just so over the top. No president has ever spoken in either way. The love-hate dynamic started during Mr. Trumps candidacy in 2015, when he described Mr. Kim as this maniac sitting there with nuclear weapons who had to be dealt with. Once Mr. Trump became president, the insults continued. In 2016, Mr. Trump called the North Korean leader a bad dude. He became more heated in his denunciations over the summer after Mr. Kim tested a long-range missile that appeared capable of hitting the United States. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? the president wrote on Twitter. Weeks later, he vowed to rain down fire and fury like the world has never seen if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. Mr. Trump brought his streetfighter-style words to the United Nations in September 2017 with another threat to Mr. Kim. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime, he said, a line that he embellished during a campaign rally in Alabama not long after, branding the North Korean leader Little Rocket Man. The incident also stirred an ongoing debate in the Italian art world on whether art works should be lent for exhibitions, given that the risks greatly outweigh the benefits, critics say. After this incident we have much to reflect on, as art historians, which you are becoming, Professor Fidanza told students at a seminar on the damaged statue that he held Friday at University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he teaches. We know that moving works of art is always a huge stress for them, he said, noting that artworks suffered from shifts in temperature, humidity, and from the transportation itself. When a work of art is damaged, even if later repaired, the integrity of the work is lost forever, he said. The broken finger is a wound to the Baroque era. Before the exhibition, the statue had only been moved once before in 1943 to protect it while Rome was under attack during World War II. Last September it was transported to the loggia of the Borghese Gallery, where it was restored in public ahead of the exhibition, which opened in November. (Professor Fidanza questioned on Friday whether the statue which had already been cleaned in 1997 required a fresh makeover. Restorations should be like surgical operations you dont operate for a cold, he said.) For some, the sculpture should never have been moved from its niche in Santa Bibiana at all. It is the first time where Bernini experimented with the unity of the visual arts, the fusion between architecture, painting and sculpture through the spectacular use of light, Alessandro Valeriani, an expert in Baroque art who also teaches at Tor Vergata, said at the seminar. To remove the sculpture from its context deprives it of the meaning that Bernini intended: a statue that interacts with the surrounding space. The centerpiece of Chaim Soutine: Flesh, a new exhibition of more than 30 paintings at the Jewish Museum, is a stupendous example, his Carcass of Beef (circa 1925), borrowed from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. But to lead to it, the curator Stephen Brown, in consultation with the Soutine scholars Esti Dunow and Maurice Tuchman, has assembled a well-paced procession of other still lifes that demonstrate the peculiarities of Soutines style: naked fowl; silver herring; a giant ray fish, inspired by Chardin; and explosive bursts of popeyed sardines. Still Life With Artichoke (circa 1916) shows a simple, if oddly asymmetrical, place setting in which all the objects seem alive. The fork bends gently, like a wrist; two lemons press impatiently against the lip of a plate; the long-stemmed artichoke lies like an exhausted lover. The painting is also an unusually easy-to-read example of Soutines distinctive perspectival wobble. In later paintings, lines seem so far askew that if you stand too close, as most people do, you may think youre looking at a world deranged. But here, the distortion is gentler. Even from inches away, you can see how it ties the whole scene into a single, expressive gesture, giving it almost as much motion and continuity as a glimpse of real life. In other paintings, a few partially plucked, not necessarily dead chickens exemplify Soutines talent for finding action in stillness and wringing spiritual meaning out of physical facts: Ruffs of black feathers, swinging sideways on their yellow necks, stand in for the sudden, annihilating strokes of a butchers ax. Two turkeys, one a stormy froth of yellow and orange, the other a feathery spattering of dashes and drips, anticipate Abstract Expressionism. And in Side of Beef With a Calfs Head (circa 1923), broad, patchwork strokes of red, white and green give an abstracted but vivid sense of the complicated harmony of a living body. LONDON Heal or burn, says the charismatic if damaged Toby Darling (Andrew Burnap) well into the second half of The Inheritance, the openhearted American theatrical epic that knows something about both options. Capaciously moving, the play has become the breakout hit of the London spring. Running through May 19 at the Young Vic, with a possible late-summer transfer to the West End, Matthew Lopezs two-part, six-and-a-half-hour play burns with an abiding anger at a generation of gay men felled by AIDS and the heedless attitudes that followed in certain quarters. And yet the play finds a curative potency in a breadth of feeling that hits a playgoer in the gut. (Not in some time have I heard such audible sobbing as greeted the end of Part One.) Like Tony Kushners Angels in America, which finishes with an appeal for more life, The Inheritance concludes with a simple suggestion: You live. That exhortation proves easier to achieve for some of the plays assemblage of young, ambitious gay men than others, and the fast-rising writer Toby faces an especially turbulent reckoning. (Mr. Burnap, making his London stage debut, is a revelation in a role that is part Lucifer, part J.M. Barrie-style lost boy). But as directed with sweeping empathy by Stephen Daldry on a rectangular set deployed as if to evoke a perpetually unfolding college seminar (or, on occasion, a mausoleum), the plays largest literary debt isnt to Mr. Kushner. Angels has a structural audacity and historical reach that The Inheritance does not try to match. Instead, Mr. Lopezs self-avowed inspiration is Britains own E.M. Forster, whose novel Howards End finds deliberate echoes in both the propulsive narrative (class tension, a forgotten umbrella) and in larger themes of human connection and the primacy of home. Theres a Republican billionaire named Henry Wilcox the same as Forsters imposing lord of the manor; the Tony-winning actor John Benjamin Hickey brings a casual authority to the role. And none other than Vanessa Redgrave, an Oscar nominee for Howards End, arrives late in the second act to embody Mr. Lopezs emphasis on the need to know, learn from and grieve for the past. Los Angeles For a while there, Liz Meriwethers sleeping bag was almost as famous as Liz Meriwether. After Ms. Meriwethers Fox series New Girl debuted in 2011, becoming a ratings hit and charming critics with its earnest, nerdy heroine, the puffy purple sleeping bag received mentions in profiles in Glamour and The New Republic. The Hollywood Reporter photographed Ms. Meriwether in her office, with her laptop, sitting atop it. The sleeping bag symbolized Ms. Meriwethers deep commitment to her work, but it also gave off a whiff of the disheveled post-collegiate. It made for a good fit with how the media cast her at the start of New Girl: as a wunderkind, the untested 29-year-old brain behind a sudden juggernaut. On May 15, after seven seasons, New Girl will end and so will that chapter of Ms. Meriwethers life. Today, she is 36, married to the producer Alex Cuthbertson, mother of a six-week-old daughter, Harriet. Shes become a prominent voice in the industrywide push for gender equality in Hollywood. This year, even as she presided over the end of New Girl, she shepherded three female-driven projects to the pilot stage, becoming one of televisions most productive talents. Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If youre interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox. Excellent Kim Jong-un? President Trump on Thursday welcomed home three American citizens who had been held hostage in North Korea. Unexpectedly, he got pretty effusive in his praise for North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, the man responsible for effectively kidnapping the Americans. Standing on the runway at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, Trump declared that Kim had been excellent to these three incredible people. On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah said Trump seemed almost brainwashed. Trump said Kim Jong-un was excellent to the prisoners. Its almost like, they were the hostages, but Trump is the one with Stockholm syndrome. [Impersonating Trump] He was very nice. So nice. I love him. TREVOR NOAH On Thursday, Trump also announced that he would be meeting with Kim next month in Singapore. A new poll came out it reveals that a majority of Americans approve of President Trump meeting with Kim Jong-un. Of course, the majority of Americans also say they approve of Trump becoming North Koreas next hostage. CONAN OBRIEN Bold Claims The company provided no details about what those concerns were and did not hold a question and answer session with analysts on its conference call following the release of its earnings late Thursday. It did warn that its financial results may be affected, depending on the outcome of the investigation. The announcement helped drive Symantecs shares down by a third in Fridays trading. The fact that the audit committee is involved and that Symantec said its annual financial filing might now be delayed, suggests the companys book-keeping is under the spotlight. The issue may, of course, end up being minor. But until Symantec, which declined to comment, provides details, outsiders will look for red flags. Here are some: Generally acceptable? Companies, of course, have to provide financial statements that comply with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. But many also provide non-GAAP income statements that leave out significant costs, like the expense of paying employees in stock. Investors like these non-GAAP measures because they believe certain costs obscure a companys true profitability. But theres a danger to overlooking certain costs:: They turn out to be important after all. In its latest fiscal year, Symantecs GAAP operating income of $49 million was a mere 3 percent of its non-GAAP version. The company excluded six types of costs when calculating the much higher non-GAAP number. By contrast, at Salesforce, a software company, GAAP income was 16 percent of its non-GAAP measure in its latest fiscal year, and it excluded two cost items. Restructuring and transition charges. These charges reflect the costs of integrating new businesses, closing down old ones and making certain operational changes. Symantec includes these charges in its GAAP income statement but backs them out of its non-GAAP version. In its fiscal year that ended March 30, Symantec had restructuring charges of $417 million, which worked out at 24 percent of its non-GAAP operating earnings. Companies have been known to put certain operating expenses into the restructuring line to make their non-GAAP operating earnings look better than they are. Revenue recognition. Revenue numbers at software companies are not always as straightforward as at other types of companies, and investors in Symantec recently have had to grapple with an extra twist. The company is shifting how it sells its products so that more revenue comes in piecemeal over the life of a software subscription, a ratable arrangement, as opposed to booking large sums upfront. This change has led to Symantecs revenue recently missing expectations. And understanding revenue trends could become still harder for outsiders. Symantec is introducing a new way of recognizing revenue in its new fiscal year. Peter Eavis Ken Kurson, a friend of President Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, and a former editor of The New York Observer, the newspaper owned by Mr. Kushners family, confirmed on Friday that he is under consideration for an unpaid position with the Trump administration. As part of a background check, the F.B.I. recently visited The Observers offices and has conducted interviews with journalists who have worked with Mr. Kurson, according to two people familiar with the matter. Such checks are standard for anyone who is up for a post in a presidential administration. In an interview, Mr. Kurson described his possible appointment as an honorary type position. He added that it would be like one of those boards, where there are several members. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment. Before he joined The Observer in 2013, Mr. Kurson was a speechwriter for Rudolph W. Giuliani. He was also the co-author of Mr. Giulianis 2002 book, Leadership. Last May, he left The Observer for a job as a senior managing director at Teneo, an international consulting firm whose founders include two longtime advisers to former President Bill Clinton. According to interviews with a half dozen former and current employees, some of whom agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, Mari Ellen Loijens, the foundations top fund-raiser, routinely bullied and demeaned colleagues, made sexually and racially insensitive remarks and at times even threatened physical violence. The employees say that Emmett Carson, the foundations chief executive, ignored multiple complaints about abusive behavior by Ms. Loijens because she was responsible for much of the organizations growth. She brought in the money, made the place bigger, and he could go out and be a superstar, said Rebecca Dupras, an executive who said she left the foundation last year because she no longer wanted to work with Ms. Loijens. He could have stopped this and reined her in, and he didnt. The Silicon Valley Community Foundations problems burst into view last month, when the Chronicle of Philanthropy published a detailed article outlining the allegations against Ms. Loijens. A day after the story was published, Ms. Loijens resigned. Since then, Mr. Carson was placed on paid administrative leave, the head of human resources resigned and the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner was brought in to conduct an investigation. Mr. Carson is now negotiating his exit and will not return to the foundation, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. WASHINGTON Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined last year in Rome with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denialist and Vatican leader who was also facing sexual abuse allegations. The E.P.A. later released official descriptions of the dinner that intentionally did not mention the cardinals presence, according to three current and former E.P.A. officials. Kevin Chmielewski, Mr. Pruitts former deputy chief of staff for operations, said in an interview that top political appointees at the agency feared that the meeting would reflect poorly on Mr. Pruitt if it were made public. Twenty days after the dinner, authorities in Australia charged Cardinal Pell with sexual assault; he has denied the charges. It was a no-brainer, Mr. Chmielewski said of the decision to keep Cardinal Pells participation quiet. His account was confirmed by two people who were familiar with the handling of the trip, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern over retribution. On Friday, Jahan Wilcox, an E.P.A. spokesman, issued a statement confirming the June 9 meal took place while emphasizing that it was not a private one-on-one dinner and saying that Mr. Pruitt wasnt aware of the allegations against Cardinal Pell. He also said the E.P.A. had no knowledge the cardinal would be attending the dinner. In this case, as in so many others, no single request was offensive on its own at least, not early on. Each person in a relationship makes room for the others quirks, to some extent, male or female: thats what couples do. Its the incremental ceding of control on one side that can prime someone for abuse, therapists said. Concessions lead to self-doubt No one wants to be controlled, or managed, in this way. And certainly no one wants to admit to it. This is where embarrassment comes in, said Elaine Ducharme, a psychologist in Glastonbury, Conn. The shame of admitting it to friends everyone is susceptible to that. Even as smaller confinements begin to lead to larger infringements, enough self-doubt has accumulated to feed the temptation to downplay the offense. It becomes increasingly difficult to see abuse for what it is. You remind yourself, Well, he told me he loved me very much, he promises it will never happen again, he really does adore me, Dr. Ducharme said. Another element often comes into play: the notion that the abuser can be reformed. Women think, I can help fix him through my own behavior, by reinforcing good behavior I can fix this, said Nadine Wathen, a researcher at the University of Western Ontarios Center for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children. Even in dating relationships, these things take time. The decision to stay, for the time being, can seem more like a choice than it really is, Dr. Wathen said. Ebola has erupted again in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the countrys ninth outbreak since the virus was discovered there in 1976, and world health officials are moving unusually swiftly to contain the outbreak. Two days after a laboratory confirmed that the virus had killed two people in the remote Equateur Province, teams from the countrys health department, along with doctors from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, had reached Bikoro, a market town about 20 miles from Ikoko Ipenge, the village at the outbreaks epicenter. The teams are expected to have a 15-bed treatment center and a mobile laboratory in place by this weekend, said Dr. Peter Salama, the W.H.O.s deputy director general for emergency response. Its going to be tough, and its going to be costly to stamp this out, Dr. Salama said at a news conference in Geneva. Can you really select a quality nursing home by reading Yelp reviews? Theres a nursing home the next town over from me, for instance. Nine reviewers have given the place both laudatory five-star ratings (She has a far greater quality of life than she would have living at home) and outraged one-star complaints (The nursing staff, RNs and CNAs are caring but overworked). Overall, the place gets three stars. Its a highly flawed measurement, of course. Nine reviewers for a 300-plus-bed facility? Over four years, in an industry known for such sky-high turnover that many of the hands-on staff have undoubtedly left since the first online critic weighed in? Reviewers can deplore the food, but can they know how often residents fall? Yet gerontologists at the University of Southern California have been looking into Yelp nursing home reviews and think they make a useful addition to the homework any prospective resident or family member needs to undertake. Its not that reviews posted on Yelp and other online platforms (Google, Facebook, Caring.com) are such reliable guides to nursing home quality, said Anna Rahman, senior author of a recent article in The Gerontologist. Its that the supposed gold standard, the five-star ratings on the federal governments own Nursing Home Compare website, remains so faulty. Before reading the article: Watch the Times video above, as three freed Americans returned home from North Korea early Thursday morning, landing at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. What feelings come up as you watch the video? What are your impressions of President Trumps comments, and why? What questions do you have about the release of the men? Now, read the article, Releasing 3 Americans, North Koreans Signal Openness to Washington, and answer the following questions: 1. What is notable about the release of the three American prisoners, and what does their release clear the way for, according to the article? 2. What charges were the three men held in prison on in North Korea? What statement did the three men make jointly to reporters as they made their way to Washington? When the Fukushima samurai gathered in 2011 for their annual three-day festival of Soma-Nomaoi, they were dressed in traditional military robes astride horses clad in armor. As their ancestors had done for centuries, they conducted military exercises amid the pageantry. But that year was different. A few months earlier, a deadly earthquake and tsunami had hit eastern Japan, sending 32-foot waves over the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and triggering the worlds largest nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl. Despite death and displacement, and the loss of their horses and their armory, the samurai decided they had to come together. I thought, this is not just an event, but the embodiment of their identity and a fight for survival, said Noriko Takasugi. This sense of identity represents how and why they live. Christopher Nolan was 7 years old when he went to see Stanley Kubricks classic 2001: A Space Odyssey in London with his father. He was gobsmacked. You sit there and you just go, This is a film thats not observing any conventions, Mr. Nolan said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. Four decades later, Mr. Nolan has himself been compared to Kubrick for a similarly meticulous approach to filmmaking and a taste for ambitious productions like Interstellar. He shrugs off those comparisons Mr. Nolan said hes just a fan but for his latest project, he put himself directly in Kubricks shoes. On Saturday, hes going to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time to screen a restored 70-millimeter print of Kubricks seminal work to celebrate its 50th anniversary. But calling it a restoration, Mr. Nolan said, isnt quite right. He prefers unrestored. Mr. Nolan set out last fall to recreate the experience audiences had in 1968, allowing moviegoers today to see the epic exactly as Kubrick intended. His goal meant there would be no digital manipulation in the new version but the occasional visible scratch would be allowed to slip through. In a world of high-definition and 4K resolution, Mr. Nolan is, in effect, time-traveling to the days of analog. Think of it as listening to a classic record on vinyl, with pops and all. And the goal isnt to be anyones It anything. The goal is to have a happy, healthy, long career. I want to create new fans based on how badass I am today. I dont want you loving me from Bring It On or Bad Boys 2, I want you loving me today for the [expletive] I just brought to the table. After four seasons, Being Mary Jane, about the trials and tribulations of a TV news anchor, will end with a two-hour movie in October. Will you miss her? Yeah, being able to play a deliciously complex, imperfect black professional woman whose life is a bit of a mess, who doesnt always make the right decisions, whos real. But by the time Mary Jane became a bed-wetter, Im like, I think we covered everything, guys. Then I had hundreds of women saying: Why is it being canceled? I look forward to her. Shes me; shes my friend. And I realized how people saw themselves accurately reflected and not just the good parts, but an honest portrayal of a woman whos 40 years old, hasnt gotten married, doesnt have a child, and is waffling between careers and what makes her happy. Maybe I didnt quite understand until it was gone just how much of a void it would leave in my life and in the lives of the fans. In your 2017 memoir, Were Going to Need More Wine, you wrote about having been raped at gunpoint in a Payless store when you were 19. And you recently took some Cosby defenders to task on Twitter. Thats one of my biggest gripes with how the Cosby survivors are being handled, as if this is all some elaborate ruse for a cash grabber or to gain rape fame. Which is why I tweeted the other day that when people listen to me tell my story, they always use words like brave and courageous and strong. My rapist took a plea deal, he got 33 years, he went through the criminal justice system. But I also needed to hold Payless shoe stores accountable by hitting them in their pocketbook. So I wanted to remind people that when youre making these accusations and characterizing these women that you dont know, give them the same courtesy, grace, empathy and sympathy that you give more famous rape survivors. Youve had a vision board for six years. Whats left to accomplish? Machu Picchu. Im trying to get there, honey. And a baby, so Im going to just keep putting that on my vision board until a little angel blesses us. Luckily, I have an A-plus life without a human being that shares my DNA, so if one happens to show up magically, miraculously, and I can add an extra oomph, great. But youre still going to see me kicking butt no matter what. Mr. Lee shoots the stage from various intimate angles. His techniques here explode the notion of a filmed play. He puts you with the characters, but also puts you with the audience; its a multidimensional experience, with emotional resonances that once seemed unique to either theatrical or cinematic form. It is a remarkable and remarkably pertinent movie. Pass Over is a fiction informed by actual events. Stranger Fruit is a documentary about one of those events. They shot that boy because they wanted to shoot that boy is the blunt conclusion of one of the interviewees in this documentary by Jason Pollock about the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 The movie is available on VOD; it will air on Starz on June 18 and will be streamable on the Starz app. This version of the film is a new one; when the picture was shown at the 2017 South by Southwest film festival, it contained previously unreleased surveillance camera footage of the convenience store that Mr. Brown visited the day before his shooting. The directors interpretation of the newly released footage caused some controversy, eliciting pushback from Ferguson officials and some media commentators. Mr. Pollock has expanded the film to take that controversy into account. The expanded version is slightly awkward, since Mr. Pollock leaves in the part of the film in which he calls the surveillance footage that was released by the police in the aftermath of Mr. Browns death completely irrelevant. There are several nits one can pick with this movie. Mr. Pollocks narration, particularly in the beginning, is prosaic. I found myself thinking more than once that contemporary documentary filmmakers interested in social justice would do better to aspire to Marcel Ophuls. Yet Stranger Fruit does tell a disturbing story and is frequently pretty smart in how it does so. Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot several times after a confrontation with a police officer, Darren Wilson, his body left on the street for hours after his death. In the wake of the shooting, local police presented narratives intended to cast aspersions on Mr. Browns character and lay out a coherent rationale for his death. Mr. Pollock conducts several compelling interviews and has good ears and eyes for revealing juxtapositions. Mr. Wilsons protestation that You cant perform the duties of a police officer and have racism in you finds a devastating counterpoint in archival footage of a speech by Malcolm X in which he says, The police are able to use the press to make the white person think that 90 to 99 percent of the Negroes are criminals. On Wednesday, sex crimes investigators for the New York Police Department received a troubling report: The influential leader of a Brooklyn safety patrol known as the shomrim had been sexually abusing a teenage girl, the police were told. A day later, detectives arrested the man, Jacob Daskal, a leader of one faction of what has been, since the 1970s, a sort of auxiliary police force for the ultra-Orthodox Jews of Brooklyns Borough Park, Crown Heights, Flatbush and Williamsburg neighborhoods. Mr. Daskal, 59, was charged with statutory rape, sexual abuse and other crimes. The authorities believe the abuse took place at Mr. Daskals home between August and November of last year, when the girl, who is now 16, was a year younger. But the inquiry is continuing, to determine if the alleged abuse occurred over a longer period of time or if there were additional victims. The revelations cast another shadow over a group that has long cultivated relationships with New Yorks law enforcement and elected leaders and that has secured government funding for vehicles, phones and other equipment integral to its brand of security for some of the citys most insular populations. On several occasions, critics have questioned whether the shomrims proximity to authority has fostered vigilantism or corruption. I was so happy, Ms. Raymond said. Her lawyer sent her the judgment in an email and she printed it out, almost unbelieving. I was shouting and giving thanks. Survivors of abuse trying to get divorced say these organizations have been vital to them but there are simply not enough lawyers at nonprofit agencies or city-funded organizations to match the volume of need. Theres a strong desire among our clients to divorce their abusers, and a dearth of resources when it comes to representation in their divorces, said Amanda Norejko, the director of the Matrimonial/Economic Justice Project at Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit. Even for those who obtain legal services for free, cases can drag on for years. Some lawyers and experts say that abusers deliberately draw out the process, keeping their ex-partners tethered to them legally. As months turn into years, those seeking the divorce may be more willing to give in on issues of visitation or child support in order to put an end to the case. Abusive partners can also prolong the process by simply disappearing. Enedina, who asked that her last name not be used because she has an ongoing legal case against her husband involving a child, experienced this problem firsthand when her husband moved to Mexico. Although a staff attorney from the New York Legal Assistance Group is working with her for free, she still had to hire another agent to serve the papers to him. Her attempts to track down her husband and serve him the papers have dragged on for years. Now 40, she is coming up on the three-year mark of trying to get a divorce. I dont feel free, she said one afternoon, sitting in a Starbucks as pop music played in the background. Ill probably be free in 20 years or so. Mr. de Blasio does not oppose the idea of subsidizing fares I think the Fair Fare idea is the right idea, he has said but does not want to give more money to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is controlled by Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. The two leaders have been locked in an ongoing battle over who is responsible for salvaging the failing system. Cynthia Nixon, an actress challenging Mr. Cuomo in the Democratic primary, expressed her support for the proposal for the first time in a statement to the The Times. But it will be difficult to do until the governor realizes he runs and must fund the M.T.A., a Nixon campaign aide, Rebecca Katz, said in the statement. She did not specify how the plan should be funded. Peter Ajemian, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said the governor embraced Mr. Johnsons plan. Fair Fares is a great idea and we applaud the City Council for proposing it and the city should pass it, he said. The mayors reluctance to embrace an idea that so seemingly fits with his agenda has frustrated transit advocates, who view it as perhaps the most glaring example of how his constant sparring with Mr. Cuomo has cast the mayor in an unflattering light. If hes refusing to do this because he somehow doesnt want to give the governor something, I think low-income New Yorkers are going to find that very petty and frankly unfair, said Rebecca Bailin, a campaign manager for the Riders Alliance, an advocacy group. The Fair Fares campaign began two years ago in response to growing concerns that high transit fares were a barrier for low-income New Yorkers trying to improve their lives. Darlene Jackson, a single mother living in the Bronx, considers herself part of the citys working poor. She earns about $1,600 per month working at a community board in Harlem and often struggles to pay $121 for a 30-day MetroCard. People who cant afford a MetroCard its not just people who are homeless or in the shelter system or couch-surfing, Ms. Jackson said. People are living paycheck to paycheck because the cost of living in New York City is outrageous. Then, on Friday, after days of acrimony, the mayor met with Polish officials and announced a resolution that he called a win-win. The statue, according to their agreement, would remain near the waterfront and in what Mr. Fulop described on Twitter as an extremely prominent location. The Polish consul general in New York, Maciej Golubiewski, said that it would be moving about 200 feet. The move had been proposed as part of a project to renovate the plaza, where the statue has been since 1991, introducing green space and playgrounds to a slice of waterfront. The statue, the Katyn Monument, commemorates thousands of Polish military officers whose remains were found in a mass grave in the Katyn Forest in western Russia, having been slaughtered by Soviet forces. But some have argued that the statue, with its dramatic depiction of a bound soldier with a bayonets blade entering his back and exiting through his torso, might be too graphic to fit in with a park where children play and families congregate. The statue is a very, very significant piece of art work, and it is art work, and it should be revered for what it is, said Michael J. DeMarco, a developer in Jersey City and chairman of the special improvement district behind the renovation project. The question is, he said, whats the appropriate place for it? Whispers of the proposal quickly spun out into a pitched debate, striking a nerve with residents who have been frustrated by the consequences of their citys rapid transformation from largely working class and industrial to a gentrifying hub of upscale development drawing a flood of new residents. The case was among a number of political corruption cases that were overturned after the United States Supreme Court in 2016 narrowed the activity that could constitute corruption. In a ruling that reversed the conviction of Bob McDonnell, a former Republican governor of Virginia, the court found that such activity must involve concrete and formal government decisions or actions, and not mere political courtesies like setting up a meeting. Mr. Silvers retrial was widely watched as a test of the governments ability to prosecute official corruption under the narrower definition. But from the outset, prosecutors this time seemed to hold an upper hand: The original verdict was only thrown out because the judges jury instructions were too broad, as defined by the Supreme Court decision. The retrial in Federal District Court in Manhattan seemed to move at double speed: Instead of stretching over one month, as the first trial had, the second trial was completed in two weeks, as prosecutors quickly made their case that Mr. Silver, 74, had obtained the illicit payments. In return, prosecutors said, Mr. Silver took a series of official actions that benefited a cancer researcher at Columbia University and two real estate developers in New York. Sheldon Silver repeatedly used his enormous public power for his own enormous private gain, a prosecutor, Tatiana R. Martins, told the jury in a closing statement on Thursday. Mr. Silver sat impassively as the jury forewoman announced the verdict, which came at the end of the first full day of deliberations. His lawyer, Michael S. Feldberg, said he planned to appeal, citing multiple legal issues. A few years after his work with Dr. Bardeen, Dr. Pines collaborated with two other physicists, Aage Niels Bohr and Ben Roy Mottelson, on a paper describing excitations in nuclei. That work led to Dr. Bohr and Dr. Mottelsons winning the 1975 Nobel in physics, shared with another physicist, Leo James Rainwater, who had independently come up with similar ideas. A recurring theme in Dr. Piness nearly 70 years of research was the notion of emergence. For many physicists, the aim is to discover the smallest basic building blocks of the universe and write down the simplest equations that describe the fundamental forces of nature. In an article published in 2000, Dr. Pines and Dr. Laughlin argued that this pursuit was the science of the past. They maintained that many crucial phenomena in nature arise as the collective behavior of a large number particles, and that these phenomena could not be readily understood by extrapolating from the properties of a single particle. The central task of theoretical physics in our time, they wrote, is no longer to write down the ultimate equations but rather to catalog and understand emergent behavior in its many guises, including potentially life itself. David Pines was born on June 8, 1924, in Kansas City, Mo., to Sidney and Edith Adelman Pines. In 1938, his family moved to Dallas, where his father started a company that installed heating and air-conditioning systems. He graduated from high school two weeks before his 16th birthday as class valedictorian. He attended Black Mountain College near Asheville, N.C., for one year before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated from Berkeley in 1944 with a bachelors degree in physics and started taking graduate classes. After being drafted into the Navy and serving for two years, he resumed his physics studies, first at Berkeley and then at Princeton, where he finished his doctoral degree in 1950. With his thesis adviser, the renowned theoretical physicist David J. Bohm, Dr. Pines developed a technique, known as random phase approximation, to describe the behavior of electrons in a dense gas. That led to the notion of the plasmon, where vibrations in the gas could behave like particles. Presidents sometimes ask us to undertake missions that nobody else can do. We often do them well, but there is also more latitude for mistakes. Even successful efforts sometimes appear less so in retrospect. Ms. Haspel admitted as much with her comments that the C.I.A. was not prepared in 2001 to conduct a detention and interrogation program. That said, it is just too convenient to lay all the blame for the post-Sept. 11 mistakes on Ms. Haspel and or on the C.I.A. As my former C.I.A. colleague Doug Wise wrote in The Cipher Brief, One thing I know, it wasnt Ginas program, and it wasnt the C.I.A.s program, it was Americas program. The agency sought to use the full scope of its authority as provided by the White House and the attorney general, and as briefed to Congress. Ive always wondered why we would refer to the C.I.A. overthrow of Iran or the C.I.A. torture program, while we never say the Department of Defense invasion of Iraq or the Air Force bombing of Serbia. Despite its secret charter, the agency executes presidential policies and adheres to congressional oversight. Its officers follow the law to the letter. Those awful times put pressure on everyone to do more, and most especially on those at the front lines. In the charged atmosphere after the Sept. 11 attacks, we at the C.I.A. were stuck with a no-win situation. As Ms. Haspel noted in her testimony, C.I.A. officers believed they were doing their duty and were saving lives, and indeed they did so. But in retrospect, she said, it is clear that the C.I.A. went too far. I agree with Ms. Haspel, and believe that the interrogation program was a mistake. However, having been among those whose job is to operate on the boundaries, I know that those boundaries shift depending on whether Americans feel safe or feel scared. Ms. Haspels interest in strengthening the C.I.A.s core business of intelligence collection and analysis was music to my ears. Emphasizing global presence, a focus on hard targets, improving training and language skills and investing in partnerships is the right way to go. The agency is good at building secret-trusting relationships, identifying potential sources, recruiting liaison partners and writing intelligence analyses. Improving the C.I.A.s technical and cyber-skill set is also critical. This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive the newsletter each weekday. First: In honor of Mothers Day, which is this Sunday, my colleague Kathleen OBrien has collected some of the best Times columns and op-eds about motherhood over the years. Ill take this chance to recognize my own mom, Joan Alexander Leonhardt, who among many, many other things taught me how to write a clear sentence and how to listen to people. Thanks again, mom. I hope all of the other mothers reading this also enjoy the weekend. One person, one vote. Yesterday brought some good news on voting rights. The Louisiana House of Representatives which is controlled by Republicans passed a bill that would restore the voting rights of tens of thousands of people who are on parole or probation and have been free from prison for at least five years. The bill now heads to the State Senate. If this were to pass, it would make Louisiana the only Southern state to enfranchise people on probation or on parole, Daniel Nichanian of the University of Chicago wrote. African-Americans make up more than half of Louisiana residents whose rights would be restored, according to Nichanian. By comparison, only 31 percent of the states voting-age population is African-American. Emilie Boussuge went too far, he contends. Families with strollers could not even pass! Nor could a woman in a wheelchair the other day! Sometimes the entrance to the apartment building next door was obstructed! They thought they could do anything, Billoud told me. You have to remain correct. They went over the top with all those tables. You have a right to a certain number of places, but no more. Christian Deville, a waiter at La Brazza who has only worked there for two decades, chimed in: Here in France, the freedom of each person stops at the point where it impinges on the freedom of others. They passed that point. We showed tolerance; no longer. I confess I found the feud reassuring. Everything changes. Something in France does not. Here in the sea of chic boutiques and brands that is St. Germain-des-Pres today, in the midst of metropolitan transience, were two rooted families with long-serving employees, in the same businesses for decades, fighting over their rights to a patch of earth, sunlit or not, their urban terroir. In France, the mix of soil, hearth and tradition that constitute terroir is personal. You poke around in it. You discover that some ineffable quality of the land, its particular characteristics, and the human bond to it has found expression in a unique wine, or cheese or pate of the kind Au Sauvignon specializes in. Of course, the sidewalks of Paris are not the French countryside. But the owners of Au Sauvignon and La Brazza are fighting over boundaries, like farmers squabbling over the line of a fence. I knew, as soon as I heard the radiologists voice on the phone, that the news wasnt good. Is this an O.K. time to talk? she asked. If everything was fine, she would have said that. Instead, she was saying, Im so sorry, but your biopsy came back positive for cancer. Still in my pajamas, I scribbled down notes. Will probably need lumpectomy and radiology. Find surgeon. Call this number. Of course, through the 10-minute conversation, the only word that really registered was cancer. What happened was this: A few months ago, I went for a mammogram. The doctors saw spots they didnt like. I wasnt concerned. Once you hit your late 40s, its practically a rite of passage. You will see your mothers face when you look in the mirror. You will require a young child to fix your phone or explain a meme. And you, or a friend, or a sister, will get a call about her mammogram. Over the years, Ive driven friends to get ultrasounds, and taken them home after needle biopsies. Everything always turned out fine, which reflects the statistics: Most women who have an abnormality on their mammograms will be O.K. This time, not me. I went for additional imaging. I had a core needle biopsy. Then I got the call. I hung up the phone and went into panic mode. I worked my contacts, calling or emailing every friend I knew who had been unlucky enough to go through this, thinking that I was lucky to have people to call, a sister-in-law who works for Stand Up to Cancer and knows every doctor in the world, and good insurance. I locked in on a surgeon and began leaving borderline-frantic messages on her voice mail. Elizabeth Kee, an associate broker for CORE real estate, encounters many buyers who suffer from unrequited house love, but shes sure our minds can play tricks on us. It wasnt meant to be, but sometimes you look back on it and think: Why wasnt that the one? she said. The more you think about it, you begin to idealize it in your mind and you begin to believe that space was actually better than it was. But letting go is not easy, particularly if you are still searching for your perfect house. Rebecca Foxon, 40, an artist in Manchester, N.H., occasionally drives past the house she didnt buy three years ago, just to torment herself. I whimper a little each time, she said of the four-bedroom Craftsman-style house. Mrs. Foxon and her husband, Scott Foxon, 38, a manager at Newbury Comics, still live with their two children in the cramped three-bedroom house she was hoping to move out of when she saw the Craftsman. Initially, her four-bedroom love object was too expensive. But when the price came down, the Foxons house wasnt ready to go on the market. We were slowpokes, Mrs. Foxon said. Thats why I cry. The Foxons never found another house that measured up even as Mrs. Foxon continues to scour listings for a bigger home. So either the Craftsman was an irreplaceable gem, or time has improved it, like fine wine. My memory is definitely skewed, Mrs. Foxon said, suspecting that her family might have outgrown the space by now anyway. But no matter, fantasies can self correct. We could have added on if we wanted to, she said. Its amazing what the mind can do if it really wants something. Good memories tend to add luster with time, said Dan Buettner, the author of Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the Worlds Happiest People. Rather than pine for some alternative existence, Mr. Buettner suggested we spruce up the space we already have: declutter, buy houseplants or rearrange the furniture. But imagine what would happen if you received a second chance. Cara Erickson, now 38, an artist, could not stop thinking about a three-bedroom cabin. It was 2008 and she was living in Pasadena, Calif., northeast of Los Angeles, and the cabin was in Crestline, a mountain town about 70 miles away. The listing was pulled before she could make an offer. So when it came back on the market a few months later, she and her husband, John Erickson, also 38, bought the place without considering what it would mean to move so far from Los Angeles. Pigs dont fly yet, but rhinos do. Six black rhinoceroses were flown from South Africa to Zakouma National Park in Chad last week, reuniting the threatened animal with a land it has not roamed in nearly five decades. Chad is one of several African countries that have recently sought to start their own small black rhino populations in an attempt to protect the species from extinction. It is a participant in the African Rhino Conservation Plan, which hopes to significantly grow the number of rhinos in Africa over the next five years. Latest Project: Using tattoos as her medium, Ms. Garner opened a pop-up parlor at the Brooklyn gallery Recess, where she offered celebratory images of black resilience. In exchange for tattoos of cotton flowers or abolitionist leaders, patrons recorded a video discussing the history behind their selections, which were shown in the waiting room. Ive always gone into tattoo shops and have never really seen black American experiences depicted in the imagery on the walls, Ms. Garner said. Though the exhibit closed March 3, Ms. Garner started a fund-raising campaign to extend the project. Next Project: Ms. Garner will be among emerging artists featured at Art Basel in June, as part of its Statements showcase. When pressed for details, Ms. Garner laughed and said: I think maybe it is supposed to be top secret. Fighting Skepticism: Ms. Garner faces a particular kind of scrutiny as a black woman in art. But the success and timeliness of her show at Pioneer Works reaffirmed her beliefs and left her with a message for skeptics. You just need to trust us, she said. We are the foundation of the world, and we know better. Alegres house faces a barren street where you see more cats than people. Standing there, he winced at a tall, narrow cathedral window that dominates the river-stone-clad facade, upon which pipes and wires formed a sort of electrical wisteria. I hate that window, he said. If I lived here full time, I would have invested in something more beautiful. He walked through an arch into the entry hall, which, like much of the house, is paved in terra-cotta. Another staircase, this one tucked into a corner, dominates the ground floor; its impressive gradient and lack of rails announce that this is a party house a place for youngish professionals with demanding city lives to hide away on the weekends, cooking roasts and playing cards. Stacks of firewood echo the stairs rigid lines, and the hall is bare except for a collection of straw hats that Alegres girlfriend, Cristina Carulla, hung on an ecru plaster wall. (An interior designer, she has an apartment in Barcelonas Dreta de lEixample, a gentrifying textile district where the couple lives during the week.) The higher you go, the less public and more neglected a residential space usually becomes. But Alegre has inverted the traditional pyramid, embracing his houses verticality. On the second floor, the master bedroom has a poppy-colored carpet and a set of bricolage closets, rigged up from white boards and matching bed sheets. As with a guest bedroom downstairs, the bed nestles against a built-in ledge, upon which Alegre has propped a selection of his mothers paintings. We built this house in a way that you almost dont need any furniture, he said. Apartamento, it seems, has given him an appreciation of emptiness. The third story underscores this philosophy: one giant room encompassing the kitchen, dining room, living room, hearth and, outside, a terrace and little tub of a pool. The 947-square-foot area originally had three arched windows, framing the view toward the Gabarra mountains from floor to ceiling. Alegre added four more, turning a weakness (the house only gets light from one side) into a strength (it has a clear orientation). You could spend a happy day just standing there washing dishes. Given Alegres familiarity with high design, it might seem incongruous that his sofa (a built-in, of course) is upholstered in a waterproof canvas that he freely admits is a bit uncomfortable, or that thrifted china fills a heavy wooden cabinet of the kind you might find in the apartment of a bourgeois grandmother (such as his own, from whom he took it). But, when it came to furnishing the house, Alegre was less interested in making a statement than in creating a dialogue about the act of creation in a specific place. They remind me of a time, in the 80s and 90s, when Barcelona was a little cooler, he said of a pair of flame-shaped alabaster lamps that the lighting manufacturer Santa & Cole originally made for Zeleste, an iconic bar in the city that his parents once loved. The art is by friends, such as the illustrator Andreas Samuelsson, or heroes, such as Joan Brossa, the Catalan artist whose practice melds poetry, theater and graphic design. The creativity and collaboration kind of died when the Olympics came to Barcelona in 1992, with that explosion of money and projects, Alegre added. We lost our past, and now the question is, how do you get it back? It might be as easy as gathering your friends and collaborators in the countryside. The cork dining table, designed by Ilse Crawford for Ikea, was covered with remnants of a long lunch that Alegre had hosted the previous Sunday afternoon. A wine key was still on the table. The contents of a wooden bowl formed an accidental still life: onion, shriveled lemons, coaster, light bulb. Thats the thing with a second home, Alegre said. It doesnt have to be nice all the time. Ten years ago, the Barcelona-based photographer Nacho Alegre founded the cult interiors magazine Apartamento with two of his friends, Omar Sosa and Marco Velardi. Their goal: to create a less stuffy, more personal home publication. Since then, each issue of the irresistibly fat biannual tome which goes beneath the surface of beautiful homes with candid photographs and leisurely interviews has become a treasured object among the design obsessed. In addition to running the magazine, which frequently features his own images, Alegre continues to work as a roaming photographer, shooting fashion editorials and artful still lifes with seemingly off-the-cuff but immaculate style. To celebrate Apartamentos 10th anniversary, the magazine recently hosted a dinner with the Danish design company Hay in Milan, during Salone del Mobile, featuring food by the Danish chef Frederik Bille Brahe and a guest list of creative friends. T sent Alegre a Polaroid camera to photograph the event and his many travels from Milan to Barcelona to the Catalan town of Pubol, where Salvador Dali transformed a crumbling farmhouse once owned by Alegres family into a surrealist castle. Nearby, in the medieval village of La Tallada dEmporda, Alegre recently renovated a home of his own. Few novels feel as deserving of fresh consideration, and this spring, two worthy adaptations offer just that. A new BBC/Starz mini-series written by Kenneth Lonergan emphasizes Forsters deep humanism over the sumptuous Edwardian period details underlined in the beloved 1992 Merchant-Ivory film rendition. As Margaret, Hayley Atwell brings a warm heroism to one of English literatures great women, though most significant of all is the decision to cast actors of color in supporting roles, a reminder that Britain never did resemble the one Brexiteers might have imagined. Meanwhile, a queer retelling of the story, written by Matthew Lopez, directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Vanessa Redgrave and John Benjamin Hickey, currently on view off West End at the Young Vic. The Inheritance transposes Forsters story to present-day New York, grounding it in the gay community a generation after the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. At a time in which it feels like the Wilcoxes have won, at least for the moment, its nice to believe that the Schlegels are still in charge of the story. MEGAN OGRADY Image An antique boat outside the restaurant. Credit... Alina Vlasova Down in the Valley It might sound like a Zen koan, but the next Bali is the Bali of old: Increasingly, travelers are moving away from the islands beachside resorts in search of the lush natural landscapes that made it a destination in the first place. They might find what theyre looking for within the miniature Arcadian universe that the Canadian jeweler John Hardy and his wife Cynthia have built. In addition to having founded the Green School, an alternative K-12 in the heart of the jungle that is known for its environmental focus, they oversee Bambu Indah, a hotel that they opened outside of Ubud in 2005, with a smattering of Javanese teak buildings perched atop a winding swimming pond. The latest addition to the two-and-a-half acre estate is the River Warung, an open-air, eight-table cafe designed by John and his daughter Elora Hardy, who is the founder of Ibuku, a Bali-based design firm that specializes in bamboo architecture. Here, treated bamboo slices have been bent into overlapping arches that support a curved roof of hand-folded copper shingles. I wanted it to appear as though it was constructed by a highly intelligent bird, Elora says of the nestlike structure, which sits next to the Ayung River in an emerald-hued valley of rice terraces. To get there, guests take an elevator down 60 feet and cross an irrigation canal via suspension bridge. Once seated, they can enjoy Balinese-inspired dishes, including wood-fired jackfruit steak rubbed with turmeric and galangal, as well as minced fish wrapped in banana leaf and served with corn fritters and greens sauteed in coconut oil. Its everything we loved about the island that is now so hard to find, says Cynthia. GISELA WILLIAMS Over the years, state-backed Iranian hackers have showed both the proclivity and skill to pull off destructive cyberattacks. After the United States tightened economic sanctions against Tehran in 2012, state-supported Iranian hackers retaliated by disabling the websites of nearly every major American bank with what is known as a denial-of-service attack. The attacks prevented hundreds of thousands of customers from accessing their bank accounts. Those assaults, on about 46 American banks, detailed in a 2016 federal indictment, were directly attributed to Iranian hackers. Iranian hackers were also behind a digital assault on the Las Vegas Sands Corporation in 2014 that brought casino operations to a halt, wiped Sands data and replaced its websites with a photograph of Sheldon G. Adelson, the Sands majority owner, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, according to the indictment. Security researchers believe the attacks were retaliation for public comments Mr. Adelson made in a 2013 speech, when he said that the United States should strike Iran with nuclear weapons to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. But after the nuclear deal with Iran was signed, Irans destructive attacks on American targets cooled off. Instead, its hackers resorted to traditional cyberespionage and intellectual property theft, according to another indictment of Iranian hackers filed in March, and reserved their louder, more disruptive attacks for targets in the Middle East. With the nuclear deal at risk, American and Israeli officials now worry Irans hackers could retaliate with cyberattacks of a more vicious kind. The Israeli war game sessions have included what could happen if the United States and Russia were drawn into cyberwarfare between Israel and Iran, according to a person familiar with the sessions but who was not allowed to speak about them publicly. Each week, Kevin Roose, technology columnist at The New York Times, discusses developments in the tech industry, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Sign up here. Hello again! Im back from a week spent mostly offline, and am excited to get back to the internet, where Im sure things have been totally normal and borin [checks earpiece] hang on, Im being told that Elon Musk is dating the Canadian musician Grimes after they connected on Twitter over a joke about an obscure artificial superintelligence thought experiment? Whew, O.K., I was worried wed slipped into normalcy. Onward. The biggest nonromantic tech news of this week came from a new A.I. tool introduced at Googles annual developer conference. The program, known as Duplex, is an automated voice assistant capable of making hair appointments, booking restaurant reservations and conducting other tasks over the phone. It even inserts lifelike pauses and filler words like um and hmm for extra realism. At no point in the demo were the receptionists on the other end of the calls informed that they were talking to a computer rather than another human. Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.) The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board announced its support this week for the citys former mayor, Gavin Newsom, for governor. The Los Angeles Times editorial board told readers it favored the former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The endorsements came as ballots were being mailed for the June primary. Perhaps its not surprising that hometown papers endorsed their former mayors. But how significant will the North-South dynamic and the rivalry between San Francisco and Los Angeles be in the governors race? We spoke to Garry South, a Democratic political consultant who over the past two decades has served as an adviser to both candidates. His comments were edited and condensed. Q: Is there an element of regional chauvinism in the governors race? A: The geopolitical reality of California is that most of the voters are in Southern California. But the North votes for its candidates with far greater fervency and frequency than voters in the South vote for their candidates. This is, by the way, why most of our statewide office holders are from San Francisco Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown. Q: The Senate race in 2016 was a North-South contest between Loretta Sanchez from Orange County and Kamala Harris, who has roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. Senator Harris won convincingly. How much can we use that race as a guide for the governors race? ST. LOUIS The potential jurors stole curious glances at Gov. Eric Greitens, the defendant, whose famous face usually appeared in glossy campaign ads. They told the courtroom they had already heard about the case before them, picking up scraps about his indictment in break rooms at work, on the Channel 5 news, watching YouTube videos and scrolling through Facebook feeds. Some seemed not to need to hear more. You believe Governor Greitens isnt truthful? Scott Rosenblum, a lawyer for the governor, asked a prospective juror who said she got her news mostly from local television. How long have you held that opinion? Since the case has come up, she answered. Minutes later, she was sent home. For hours on Thursday and Friday, Judge Rex Burlison and two teams of lawyers meticulously questioned St. Louis residents in a search for an impartial jury that had not already decided on the guilt or innocence of their embattled governor. It was no simple task. Publicity may be the highest aspiration of politicians seeking voters; less so, it turns out, for a criminal defendant in search of jurors. Mr. Greitens, whose brief governorship has been consumed with scandal and the threat of impeachment, is to be tried next week on one felony count of invasion of privacy. Prosecutors contend that in 2015, he took an explicit photograph of a woman without her consent; the two were having an extramarital affair. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison. Welcome to Gender Letter a weekly take on news, trends and culture by The Timess gender editor, Jessica Bennett. Want the newsletter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. You can also follow us on Instagram. Tell us what you think at nytgender@nytimes.com. Dear Readers, He seemed not to know what the word consent means. Thats one of the quotes that jumped out at me from a damning article published by The New Yorker on Monday. Four former girlfriends of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accused him of sexual abuse, describing in chilling detail how Mr. Schneiderman slapped them and choked them, sometimes during sex, and verbally and emotionally abused them. He resigned three hours after the story was published. Even in an era in which powerful men by the day are losing their careers amid allegations of sexual misconduct, this news left many reeling. This is the same Eric Schneiderman who filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinsteins company. He sponsored domestic violence legislation that specifically criminalized choking. He was supposed to be, as Jill Filipovic wrote in our Opinion section, one of the good ones. The hypocrisy, the mask, the Jekyll-and-Hydeness of it all, was stunning. For me, it was also unsettling timing, as I was preparing to roll out a major project about sexual consent albeit of a very different nature. Oliver L. North, the incoming president of the National Rifle Association, said this week the gun rights group was a victim of civil terrorism and accused gun control activists of intimidation and harassment and lawbreaking. Now, several of the students who survived the Valentines Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., are pushing back. Hes just continuing to spread fear. Hes definitely a good fit for his new job, Ryan Deitsch, a senior at the school, said in an interview during his lunch period on Friday. Mr. Deitsch said he wants to sit down and speak with Mr. North to understand his perspective. But he expressed frustration that, with their criticism of gun control activists, Mr. North and the N.R.A. seemed more focused on attacking the speaker and not the speech. What Was Said We have already begun construction on the wall. President Trump at a rally in Indiana on Thursday The Facts This is misleading. During his campaign in 2016, Mr. Trump promised to construct a 1,000-mile-long border wall that would be paid for by Mexico. Prototypes for the border wall were unveiled in late October, and Mr. Trump visited San Diego to view them in March. The prototypes have not been used to construct a border wall, nor has the wall been funded. However, construction has begun on a few projects that would replace old barriers with new barriers. A White House spokesman cited projects in Santa Teresa, N.M., and Calexico, Calif., as evidence for Mr. Trumps claim that construction on the wall had commenced. According to Customs and Border Protection, the Santa Teresa project will replace 20 miles of vehicle barriers with a bollard-style wall. Its unclear how these new voters might change the political landscape. Some political scientists predict that increasing felon turnout would have a relatively small impact, since it would advantage Democrats in urban areas where they already hold sway. But that could change as more formerly incarcerated people flee expensive city centers, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political-science professor at the University of Houston. As more ex-felons settle in suburbs, the current battleground for so many political battles, expanding voting rights to felons and active registration of ex-felons may flip some seats currently held by Republicans to the Democrats, Professor Rottinghaus said. In Texas, he pointed to potential gains for Democrats in far west Houston, east Dallas and San Antonio, all areas with competitive congressional races this fall. In states with strict voting laws that disenfranchise felons indefinitely like Florida increasing turnout would most likely make a difference in election outcomes, said Christopher Uggen, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, who estimated that Democratic votes lost to felon disenfranchisement would have changed the outcome of seven Senate races since 1978, as well as the 2000 presidential election of George W. Bush. The activists insist their work is nonpartisan and say they support candidates of any party who pledge to expand felons access to jobs, student loans, and the polls. But such politicians are rare, Mr. Huerta said. Democrats and Republicans alike tend to avoid campaigning in neighborhoods with high concentrations of felons. The United States is one of only a handful of countries that strips voting rights from felons even after they have served their time. The concept dates to the colonial era, when certain criminals were shunned and stripped of rights, a practice known as civil death. But it only began to impact large numbers of people in the wake of the Civil War, when several Southern states used it to disenfranchise black men who had recently gained the right to vote. Today, laws barring felons from voting vary by state. Eligibility can change radically from one governor to the next, causing widespread confusion. Q. If fever is the bodys way of fighting infection, should I avoid anti-fever medicines such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen? A. The best evidence suggests that there is neither harm nor benefit to treating a fever with fever-reducing medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Hundreds of millions of years ago, animals developed fever as an evolutionary response to infection. Awareness of this phenomenon has given rise to two appealing, but conflicting, schools of thought. One is that fever is a natural response to infection, so one shouldnt interfere with it; the other is that fever is a potentially harmful consequence of infection, so one should suppress it to minimize its complications. The theory of the salubrious fever has an interesting history. In the pre-antibiotic era of the early 20th century, doctors prescribed pyrotherapy, a medically induced fever, as a treatment for a variety of conditions from syphilis to rheumatic fever. They used various methods to raise the patients body temperature to between 103 and 107 degrees Fahrenheit. A Sudanese teenager has been sentenced to death for killing her husband in what she said was self-defense as he attempted to rape her, in a case that has ignited international outrage. The court ruling, which shone a light on rights abuses and the prevalence of arranged child marriages in the country, has prompted condemnation from rights groups and an outpouring of support on social media for the teenager, Noura Hussein. Ms. Hussein, now 19, was forced to marry Abdulrahman Mohamed Hammad when she was just 16, advocates for the young woman say. She had no desire to get married, however, and wanted to finish school, so she fled her home to live with a relative. But the marriage contract continued without her consent. Ms. Hussein was eventually persuaded to return home, and her parents forced her to move in with Mr. Hammad in April 2017. President Rodrigo Duterte has kick-started a drug war in the Philippines that has killed thousands, while Prime Minister Hun Sen has systematically destroyed even the semblance of a political opposition in Cambodia. Thailand has reverted to military rule, with elections repeatedly postponed. Generals in Myanmar continue to call the shots as they have unleashed a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Brunei remains an isolated sultanate. At one time, Mr. Mahathir might have been more suited to the hall of infamy that included Asias despots and junta chiefs. During his years as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, Mr. Mahathir muzzled the media, jailed his opponents on what were seen as trumped-up charges and turned a blind eye as leaders of the governing National Front coalition personally profited from their political positions. His virulent Malay nationalism alienated Malaysias sizable Chinese and Indian minorities. In this weeks elections, Mr. Mahathir delivered Malaysias first post-ethnic vote, attracting Malaysians of all backgrounds to the opposition. Weve talked so long about different categories of Malaysians, all these boxes of people, said Fahmi Fadzil, who won a parliamentary seat for the opposition Peoples Justice Party despite extensive government gerrymandering in his district. This election is about uniting us, not dividing us. Even some of his fiercest enemies have come to see Mr. Mahathir in a different light. I trust him today because at this time and age, he is more interested in leaving the right legacy for Malaysians and to set his record right in the history books, said Tony Pua, an opposition member of Parliament who was re-elected Wednesday with a record number of votes. If wealth and power were his ambitions, there are much easier routes he could have taken. Still, Mr. Mahathir is an unlikely avatar of democracy, particularly one in which diversity is championed. KUALA LUMPUR Malaysias new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said on Friday that the countrys king had agreed to pardon the imprisoned opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, potentially clearing the way for fulfilling one of the central pledges of Mr. Mahathirs campaign this year. The announcement is the latest turnaround in an election that has upended Malaysian politics. Mr. Mahathir, who also served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, led a coalition of opposition parties to defeat Prime Minister Najib Razak, his former protege, who has been accused of large-scale corruption. The opposition victory ended a grip on power for Mr. Mahathirs former party, the United Malays National Organization, that dated to the countrys independence from Britain in 1957. Mr. Anwar was sentenced to a five-year prison term on a sodomy conviction in 2014 and is nominally scheduled for release in June. The sentence is seen as a second politically motivated case against him: He was previously imprisoned on corruption and sodomy charges after falling out with Mr. Mahathir in 1998. DANDONG, China Along the Chinese border with North Korea, the evidence of Beijings leverage in the coming talks between President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is everywhere. Footage of Chinas president, Xi Jinping, hosting Mr. Kim this week plays in a loop on a big outdoor screen here in the city of Dandong, and residents are eager for cross-border trade to resume as sanctions on North Korea are eased. Traders say they are putting in advance orders for coal from North Korean suppliers. Some exporters are already smuggling goods across the border. If you bribe the customs officials twice as much as before, said one businessman who sells machinery for mining, some of the smaller equipment goes through. At a new apartment complex where four 15-story towers are going up, sales have taken off and prices have doubled as buyers including North Koreans carrying stacks of Chinese currency snap up studios overlooking the Yalu River, a saleswoman said. The case of the 12 women, all in their 20s or 30s, presents a thorny problem for President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who held a summit meeting with North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, last month to discuss improving ties. Mr. Kims government has long demanded the womens repatriation. But the South has always denied abducting North Koreans, saying that about 30,000 North Koreans who have arrived in the South since the 1990s were defectors. The women were among tens of thousands of North Koreans working abroad who funnel badly needed foreign currency to their government. The North selects loyal and relatively affluent citizens to send abroad as workers, and the defection of the 12 women was a major coup for Park Geun-hye, who was South Koreas president at the time and whose conservative government cited it as a sign of disillusionment with Mr. Kim among North Korean elites. But many details of the defection remained a mystery and fueled suspicion, including how the restaurant workers managed to plot their escape despite being trained to spy on one another for signs of disloyalty. They also arrived in South Korea only two days after they fled their restaurant in the Chinese city of Ningbo, in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Other defectors usually took months to complete the trip to South Korea, often trekking through the jungles of Southeast Asia with the help of human traffickers. Ms. Parks government also took the highly unusual step of announcing their defection the day after their arrival. But it kept their whereabouts secret and blocked human rights lawyers from meeting with them. It also denied the Norths claim that the waitresses manager had conspired with the South Korean spy agency to take them to the South after telling them that they were being relocated to a restaurant in Southeast Asia. But Mr. Heo says that was exactly what happened. Like other North Korean workers abroad, the women were trained to obey their manager, who held their passports. I just told them that we were moving to a new place, he told JTBC. Mr. Heo said he decided to spy for the National Intelligence Service in 2014 after Kim Jong-un executed his own uncle, Jang Song-thaek, on sedition and corruption charges. Mr. Heo said he became disillusioned with Mr. Kim after five of his former classmates were executed in a purge of officials close to Mr. Jang. Mr. Heo said he met a South Korean agent in a motel in China, signed a letter of allegiance, and had his picture taken with a South Korean flag as proof that he would not betray the agency. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Pakistan on Friday placed travel restrictions on United States diplomats based in the country, the latest in a series of retaliatory measures that threaten to plunge already strained relations to their worst level in years. The restrictions were imposed on the same day that the United States barred diplomats working at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington from traveling outside of a 25-mile radius around the city without approval. The United States has long complained that Pakistani police and security officials frequently harass American diplomats and their staff with traffic stops and citations that require considerable time and effort to resolve. Six weeks ago, the State Department threatened to impose a travel restriction on Pakistans Washington diplomatic corps if the harassment did not end by Friday. On Friday, American officials imposed the restrictions. In a letter from Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered to the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistani officials said that they had established a fast-track mechanism on April 27 to address American complaints about harassment but had yet to receive a single complaint through it. MANILA The Philippines highest court on Friday forced out its chief justice, removing a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal war against drugs, which has left thousands dead. Voting 8-6, the Supreme Court justices removed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, approving a petition filed by the governments lawyer that questioned the validity of her appointment on the ground that she had failed to fully disclose her wealth. Ms. Sereno has been a constant irritant to the increasingly autocratic rule of Mr. Duterte, questioning the validity of his list of public officials deemed to be drug suspects and opposing his declaration of martial law in the southern Philippines. Senator Risa Hontiveros, a supporter of Ms. Sereno, said the court had surrendered its judicial independence and integrity by removing the chief justice. BEIJING As the leader of the worlds most populous country and biggest communist party, Chinas president, Xi Jinping, has plenty to worry about, and a new book sheds light on what probably keeps him up at night. The recently released 272-page book of Mr. Xis remarks on national security includes previously unreleased comments that give a starker view of the presidents motivations than found in most Communist Party propaganda. Here is a selection. Winning the Technology Race The recent trade dispute between China and the United States has brought new attention to Chinas zeal to become technologically self-reliant. The book shows that Mr. Xi was determined that China master its own microchips, operating systems and other core technologies well before this recent quarrel. In two speeches in July and August 2013 Mr. Xi pointedly said that Western domination came thanks to technology. Advanced technology is the sharp weapon of the modern state. An important reason that Western countries were able to hold sway over the world in modern times was that they held the advanced technology. You cannot buy the truly core technologies. Its been aptly put that The sharpest weapon of a state should not be revealed. Our technology still generally lags that of developed countries, and we must adopt an asymmetrical strategy of catching up and overtaking, bringing our own advantages to bear. In core technological fields where it would be impossible for us to catch up by 2050, we must research asymmetrical steps to catch up and overtake. Internationally, if you dont have the advantage of core technologies, you dont have the political momentum. We must make a big effort in key fields and areas where there is a stranglehold. The same applies to the military. Taming the Internet Since the introduction of the internet, Chinese Communist Party leaders have worried about its deployment as a means of subversion and spying. A speech on propaganda that Mr. Xi gave in August 2013 suggested he was alarmed by the United States surveillance capabilities that were exposed by Edward Snowden. The internet has become the main battleground of struggle over public opinion. Some comrades have said that the internet is the biggest variable confronting us, and if its mishandled it will become a peril weighing on our minds. Western anti-China forces have constantly and vainly tried to exploit the internet to topple China, and years ago some Western politicians declared that with the internet, we have a way to deal with China and socialist countries will throw themselves into the arms of the West, and it will start from the internet. To judge from the United States Prism, XKeyscore and other surveillance programs, the capabilities and scale of their internet activities far, far exceed what everyone had imagined. Whether we can stand our ground and win this battle over the internet has a direct bearing on our countrys ideological and political security. Racing for a Military Edge China has been spending heavily to upgrade its military. In a December 2014 speech, though, Mr. Xi warned Chinese military officials that they risked being eclipsed technologically by the United States. A new technological and industrial revolution is brewing, a global revolution in military affairs is accelerating, and the pattern of international military competition is experiencing historic changes. The United States is the leader of the pack in this revolution in military affairs, and in many areas it holds the initiative, and it is also striving to gain new advantages in military technology. The United States is accelerating development of global rapid-strike offensive capabilities, and some advanced weaponry has technologically broken through spatiotemporal boundaries. Once they are deployed for actual combat, they will fundamentally transform the traditional array of offense and defense in warfare. Hidden Financial Risks Chinas leadership has become increasingly forthright about the need to defuse financial risks from growing debt, and comments Mr. Xi made in December 2016 explain why. Currently, financial risks are volatile and frequent. Although systemic financial risks are generally under control, risks are accumulating from nonperforming assets, liquidity, bond defaults, shadow banks, external shocks, a property bubble, government debt, and internet financing, and the financial markets are also in a mess. Some financial risks are longstanding, lurking sources of infection that are concealed very deep but may erupt in a flash. The United States subprime crisis erupted in a night. If were going to have big trouble in the future, it could well be in this area, and this demands high vigilance. Unrest Over Pollution Mr. Xi has stepped up the Chinese governments efforts to reduce smog, soil contamination and other pollution. Remarks that Mr. Xi made in May 2013, when China was in the midst of a smog crisis, showed how alarmed he was about public anger and protests, which Chinese officials call mass incidents. The Cuban Lunch had nothing obviously Caribbean about it except, maybe, that it contained sugar. And there remains considerable debate about its recipe, including discussion on a Facebook group devoted to the revival of this chocolate and peanut delight. Thats one of the mysteries that remains unsolved, said Professor Thiessen, who was unable to obtain the definitive recipe even from the last Paulins plant manager. Can Canada Letter readers crack this case? Do you know the one and true Cuban Lunch recipe? Do you know how it got its name? Is there a Canadian snack food thats disappeared but that you still pine for? And is there a uniquely Canadian, commercially made snack where you live that the rest of the country should know about? (Lets exclude baked goods like the Joe Louis.) Please send your answers along to nytcanada@nytimes.com. Professor Thiessens book is highly informative, filled with nostalgia and amusement. But its an academic history, so you may find yourself skipping over some abstruse sections to get to the sweet and salty bits. Centre Ice The distance between the arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and the hotel where Givani Smith of the Kitchener Rangers is easily walked. But racist threats meant that he had to travel in a police cruiser. Trans Canada Dan Bilefsky has traced how Alexandre Bissonnette went from being a mousy and soft-spoken chess-obsessed student from a middle class family to someone obsessed by far-right, mass killers, Donald Trump and Muslims who ultimately a killed six people in a Quebec City mosque last year. Team names and mascots based on stereotypes of Indigenous people have pretty much vanished in Canada. But the offensive practice thrives in Europe. In England, fans of the Exeter Chiefs, a rugby team, call themselves the Tribe in an online group, communicate on a message board called the Pow-Wow, drink in stadium bars called Wigwam, Cheyenne, Apache, Mohawk and Tomahawk and are led in tomahawk chops by a mascot named Big Chief. Ninalee Allen Craig, who was the subject of an iconic photo taken in Florence in 1951 by Ruth Orkin, died in Toronto, her longtime home, last week. Charlie Russell, a self-taught naturalist from Pincher Creek, Alberta, who studied grizzly bears by living with them, died in Calgary on Monday because of complications from surgery. Mr. Russell long urged people to seek coexistence with bears rather than dealing with them in fear. In Opinion, Bari Weiss analyzes the Intellectual Dark Web, a collection of thinkers including Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto, whose ideas have met with outrage and derision. BUDAPEST In his victorious campaign to secure a third consecutive term as prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban had a clear, urgent message: The nation was at risk from an international cabal looking to undermine its sovereignty, and it would be overrun with migrants if he was not elected. With his party firmly in control of this Central European country, Mr. Orban says it is time to take that campaign continental. On Thursday, in his first address to Parliament in his new term, he styled himself as the leader of a movement to reform the European Union and as defender of the sovereign rights of its member nations. Now we will be hunting for big game, Mr. Orban said. He presented a vision for Europe that stood in stark contrast to the one embraced by Western leaders like President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, with their acceptance of political and ethnic pluralism, dissent and fairly high levels of migration from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We need to say it out loud because you cant reform a nation in secrecy: The era of liberal democracy is over, Mr. Orban said. Rather than try to fix a liberal democracy that has run aground, we will build a 21st-century Christian democracy. Nowadays, most of the 781 members of the upper chamber, known as peers, are political appointees, rewarded for a career in politics or public service with a lifetime place in the Lords that brings status and influence as well as a desk and parking space in central London, and a daily attendance allowance of 300 pounds, about $400. Over the years the numbers grew (before falling back a little recently), as prime ministers secured seats for allies who have mostly done low-key work, revising legislation or sitting on expert committees. But with Britain still bitterly divided over the merits of Brexit, the House of Lords has focused attention on political weak spots in Brexit plans, particularly over moves to abandon a customs union with the European Union, an issue so contentious that it has divided and paralyzed the cabinet. Lords have proposed numerous amendments to the Brexit bill. But experts believe that, if the Commons overturns those amendments as the government hopes it will the Lords will in any case back down, as custom dictates, even before reaching the legal limits of its delaying power. I dont think they are doing anything constitutionally dubious, said Prof. Meg Russell, director of the Constitution Unit at University College London. There is nothing that the Lords has done that is a direct challenge to the principle of Brexit. All the House of Lords ever or nearly ever does is essentially to throw the question back to the House of Commons and say: Are you sure about this? she added. The 2016 referendum approved withdrawal in principle but left the details to the government and Parliament, and the amendments proposed by the House of Lords have stayed within its powers by focusing on these, Professor Russell said. TEHRAN Irans hard-line authorities organized nationwide rallies on Friday to denounce the Trump administrations withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, burning American flags and warning that Europe might further sabotage the accord. The reaction reflected the view held by many hard-liners that the American withdrawal had vindicated their suspicions that Westerners were treacherous. The anger on display in Tehran and other cities also reinforced the possibility that Iran would now abandon the agreement as well, restarting the nuclear-fuel enrichment that it had halted. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a well-known hard-liner who leads the Friday Prayer services in Tehran, admonished fellow citizens against making any deals with foreigners since they cannot be trusted. Last year, Congress appropriated $3.6 billion to train and equip Iraqi security forces, with a priority on units under Mr. Arajis Interior Ministry. They include border guards monitoring the long Syrian-Iraqi frontier, a place where American and Iraqi commanders fear that Islamic State remnants could regroup, and which Iran sees as part of its corridor to move fighters and weapons to Syria and Lebanon. The funds also equip the Iraqi SWAT teams responsible for arresting and detaining terrorism suspects, and train a national police force in charge of daily security. It was the Islamic States conquest of a third of Iraqi territory in 2014 that first brought together once-rival Iraqi militias and security forces with an American-led military coalition in a united effort to defeat a common enemy. The United States wanted to prevent the Islamic State from building a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and the Shiite militias saw the Sunni extremist group as a sectarian threat. After Iraqs regular armed forces crumbled in the face of the Islamic State blitz, a coalition of Iranian-financed Shiite militias took up front-line positions against the extremists. The militias never worked directly with the Americans, but a joint command helped coordinate their efforts to defeat the Islamic State. Now, some of the most influential militia leaders are working directly with the Americans and pressing for a continued American military presence. For some of these former militants, Americas display of superior equipment and skills side by side with them in battle brought a newfound respect. Others say they had an ideological reckoning, a realization that years of sectarianism and interference from Iraqs neighbors had made their nation vulnerable to invasion. Partnering with the worlds superpower, they said, was the best way to bring Iraq back up from its knees. We all made mistakes in the past, the Americans, as well as us, said Hadi al-Ameri, the leader of the Badr Organization, the largest of the Shiite militias that helped battle the Islamic State and the leader of the electoral alliance of former militia members, known as Fatah. Now, we need their help. We cant let our country become a playground for other powers and their agendas. Employees in the Tel Aviv embassy had a toast Friday to mark the last day for those who will return to work at the new location on Monday, a senior administration official said. Between 50 and 60 officials will be working at the embassy on Monday, including the consular officials, the official said. In moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Mr. Trump reversed decades of Americas approach to the Holy City, one of the worlds most contested pieces of land. Congress passed a law in the 1990s requiring that the embassy be moved to Jerusalem, and other presidents had promised to do so, only to exercise a waiver in the law permitting them to hold off, for fear that it would set off a backlash and complicate peace negotiations. Not only did Mr. Trump break from that by declaring Jerusalem to be Israels capital, but he has also abandoned Americas commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict that would involve the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, a position that had been a bedrock of American policy for years. Mr. Trump has said he would be fine with a one-state solution if the two sides agreed, a position that has emboldened Israeli opponents of a Palestinian nation who have declared the death of the two-state solution. Mr. Trump has promised to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, assigning the task to top advisers led by Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. But even though White House officials have said their plan is nearly complete, they have yet to release it, and neither side in the region appears prepared to compromise. The Palestinians, citing the embassy move, have cut off high-level contacts with the Trump administration, saying it cannot be a neutral mediator. The embassy is partly in predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem and partly in a gray area between the west and predominantly Arab eastern section of the city. Palestinians have long hoped that East Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Home to the third-holiest mosque in Islam as well as the holiest site in Judaism, the city poses highly sensitive issues for Muslims and Jews. The city is also sacred to Christians. The State Department has not taken a clear position on the contested land in the embassy compound, but recognizes that Israel and Jordan had informally divided it and that it has been in continuous Israeli use since 1949. Scheduled to attend the official opening are some members of Congress and a delegation led by John J. Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state; Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary; and some of the presidents advisers, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and Mr. Kushner. 1 of 11 President Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. The decision leaves the 2015 agreement in tatters, although Iran said it would remain in the deal, as did Britain, France and Germany. In addition to the European Union, which two countries were also signatories to the accord? (Sorry, but theres no partial credit.) Properly installed insulation can transform an unhealthy home literally overnight and vastly improve the quality of life particularly for children, he explains. Starting in June, the interest-free loans will be available to ANZs existing home loan customers. The loans will be repayable over a maximum of four years and be for a maximum of $5,000 per house for up to two houses. They will be available to homeowners and landlords who use registered builders and certified insulation installers. Hisco, together with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, launched the initiative on May 10 at the Expol insulation plant at Onehunga. Insulating the floor and ceiling space of an average three to four bedroom home would cost approximately $5,000-$7,000. A $5,000 interest-free home insulation loan would cost a homeowner about $100 a month to pay off over 48 months, according to Hisco. The interest-free home insulation loan initiative is subject to ANZs normal terms and conditions, including affordability and LVR restrictions, and will be reviewed after six months. Other senior hires include corporate partners David Reid and Vi-Ky Lam, based in Newcastle and Sydney, respectively; corporate director Jason Lambeth in Sydney; banking and finance partners Ben Burney, who will lead the Banking and Financial Services Group for Asia Pac, and Adam Fuller in Sydney; and safety and industrials relations lawyer Matt Smith in Brisbane. Restructuring and insolvency partner Kirsten Farmer has also joined from HWL Ebsworth, based in Sydney. Since launching in Australia just last year we have made significant progress in further defining and expanding our offering and, after an initial bedding-in period, we are now focused on our next strategic phase of growth, said DWF Managing Partner and CEO Andrew Leaitherland. I'm really pleased to welcome these individuals on board and believe they each bring not only a skill-set that adds more breadth and depth to our offering, but also a commitment to challenging convention that aligns with our values and ways of working." Asia Pacific arbitration centres to benefit from Brexit London has held its top seat for cross-border disputes and Asia Pacifics leading centres have switched places. There is also expectation that Asia Pacific arbitration centres will see a positive impact from UKs withdrawal from the European Union, with Singapore and Hong Kong set to gain. A new study from Queen Mary University of London in partnership with White & Case asked more than 900 arbitrators, in-house and external counsel, for their preferences. Much before becoming Mahatma, Gandhiji played a key role in South Africa; What was it 48 months vs 48 years: Modi sarkars slogan on 4th anniversary India oi-Vicky Nanjappa 48 months vs 48 years is likely to be the theme of the Modi sarkar which completes 4 years in office on May 26. A committee has been set up by the Prime Minister's Office which is finalising the showcase areas of the government's achievements. With the tagline 48 months vs 48 years (Congress rule), the government would showcase its achievements and also speak about its clean track-record. The no-corruption track record would be a key area that the government would focus on during its fourth anniversary celebrations. Faster delivery of schemes and speedy development will also be the focus. The government would also stress on the number of jobs it has created to tackle the problem of unemployment in the past four years. The committee which is working on this comprises union ministers, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani. All ministries would prepare a short video on its achievements and the respective ministers would address the media on May 26. Another area that the government would showcase would its power programme. The government would highlight its achievement of providing electricity connections to all villages. Pushing road construction to 28 kilometres a day and free gas connection would also be showcased in the list of achievements. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 7:55 [IST] Air Force building permanent Air base in Andaman Nicobar island India oi-Vinod By Vinod New Delhi: The defence ministry is planning permanent deployment of fighter aircraft in the Andaman Nicobar islands. Indian Air Force on the instructions of the ministry of defence has started working on the proposal to implement it on the ground as before any deployment lots of infrastructure up-gradation is required for run way of Campbell Bay (Great Nicobar) and Kar-Nicobar air base and also run way length is also being increased. Very soon a squadron of Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet will be deployed there. Official sources informed that these measures are taken to beef up the security arrangements in the eastern border of the country, Bay of Bengal and sea areas around Andaman Nicobar Island and it requires creation of a permanent base there with deployment of fighter jets. India was continuously worried over the activities of China in South China Sea and in the Indian Ocean. Chinese Navy could be found venturing very close to Malacca Strait cause potent threat to Indian territory as it is very close to some of the islands of Andaman Nicobar. Defence experts have always been expressing their concern about this. A meeting of the ministry officials with the Union minister of state for Home Kiren Rijiju took place around 5-6 months back at his home in which this matter was elaborately discussed in the present of Navy and Air Force officials. This is to mention here that there is a unified command of Army, Navy and Air Force in Andaman Nicobar islands which is taken care by all the three forces alternatively. It was being felt from very long that there was a need to create a permanent base in the region but due to lack of infrastructure that included small air strip and other core facilities the idea remained just and idea. But as soon as the matter reached to Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, she has not only approved the project but money was also sanctioned to built infrastructure. However, officially Air Force was not ready to commit anything on the issue issue. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 12:17 [IST] As Karnataka polls on May 12, here are the top ten constituencies to watch out for India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Karnataka polls on May 12 and it would be a battle royale. There would be some key constituencies that you could look out for where the battle promises to be interesting. Here are the ten constituencies that you must watch out for. Chamundeshwari: The constituency is currently held by JD(S) MLA, G T Deve Gowda and he is up against the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah.He has won the seat from here several times in the past, but shifted to Varuna owing to delimitation. Shikaripura: Out of the 8 elections that B S Yeddyurappa has contested from this constituency, he has lost just once. This has been his constituency since 1983. In the 2013 election, Yeddyurappa had won this seat by a margin of 24,000 votes on a KJP ticket. Ramanagaram: The chief ministerial candidate of the JD(S), H D Kumaraswamy holds this seat. In the 2013 elections, he had won comfortably by a margin of over 25,000 votes. This is a stronghold of the JD(S). Kumaraswamy is contesting from the Channapatna seat as well. Varuna: Held by Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, this was a constituency carved out of Chamundeshwari due to delimitation. Siddaramaiah has won 7 out of the 7 elections he has contested from here. This time he has made way for his son, Dr. Yathindra who would be contesting this seat. Ballari city: The mining capital will witness a keenly contested battle. This seat is held by Anil Lad of the Congress. The 2008 battle here was won by Gali Somashekara Reddy of the BJP. Bantwal: The battle in the coast would be an interesting one. The BJP would be looking to seize the initiative here. The Bantwal seat is currently held by B Ramanatha Rai of the Congress. He won the seat by a comfortable margin of 17,850 votes in 2013. This year he may find it tougher as the BJP is going all guns blazing here. Nanjangud: This constituency witnessed a high-profile battle in the by-election held in 2017. By-polls were necessitated following the resignation of Dalit leader, V Srinivasa Prasad from the Congress. He contested on a BJP ticket, but lost to Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress. Hebbal: Hebbal held by Y Narayanaswamy of the BJP would be a high-stake battle. By-elections were held here in 2016 following the death of R Jagadeesh Kumar of the BJP. In the run up to the elections, the Congress witnessed some infighting as Siddaramaiah wanted to give a ticket to Independent MLA Byrathi Suresh. The ticket finally went to Abdul Rahman Sharief, grandson of Jaffer Sharief. Bidar: This constituency would witness an interesting fight. It was here that the demand for a separate religion for Lingayats took birth when members of the community converged in large numbers. The seat was won by Gurupadappa Nagmarpalli in 2013 on a KJP ticket. However his death in 2016 led to a by-election which was won by Rahim Khan of the Congress. Badami: This is a high-stake battle. Siddaramaiah had chosen this as a safe seat. The BJP however decided to make the battle tougher for the CM, by fielding one of its strongest candidates, Sriramulu who is also contesting from Molakmuru. BJP govt to stay for 30 years if Vivekanandas pictures hung at homes: Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb stirs controversy, says 'Tagore returned Noble prize to protest British atrocities India oi-Madhuri Added to his growing list of controversial statements, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday said that the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Nobel Prize to protest against British misrule. And if the facts are to be believed, Rabindranath Tagore renounced Knighthood conferred on him by the British after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He did not return the Nobel Prize. Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day-long Rajarshi festival at the Bhubaneswari temple in Udaipur, Deb said: "Besides being a world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for rejecting the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government." Mridula Mukherjee, Historian said,''I am surprised by Biplab's imaginary thinking. Leaders like him are only a laughing stock for people.'' Deb recently hit the headlines for a string of controversial remarks. Earlier, he had said mechanical engineers must not opt for for civil services and added that civil engineers are more suitable for the job. The chief minister had also questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as "Miss World" in 1997 and alleged that international beauty contests were a farce. Earlier this month, Deb, an arts graduate, claimed that internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata, drawing criticism from Twitterati, intellectuals and his political adversaries. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 9:51 [IST] Got an idea of what was to come, former Pak envoy on meeting Ram Madhav BJP's Ram Madhav backs Army Chief's Kashmir remark India oi-Madhuri BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Friday backed Army Chief General Bipin Rawat over his Kashmir remark in which he had warned stone-pelters of the Kashmir valley. Speaking to media, Ram Madhav said,''Terrorists should stay away from these activities during Ramzan. If terrorism stops operations will automatically stop. Forces are duty bound to save people. We're open for talks but as far as terrorism is concerned it's our duty to deal with it with an iron hand.'' ''We shouldn't be using terms like ceasefire etc in this situation. If by ceasefire, one meant ceasing of operations by forces in the valley during Ramzan, what's expected is, during Ramzan terrorists will abstain from terrorist activities,'' Ram Madhav further said. Expressing concerns over Kashmiri youth picking up the gun, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat had said that the youth need to be told that Azadi will not happen and one cannot fight the Army. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 15:35 [IST] CBSE Class 10th Results 2021: Board likely to declare results soon; here's how to check your roll number CBSE Class 10, 12 results 2018 date changed India oi-Madhuri The CBSE Class 10 and 12 results 2018 will be declared soon. The results once declared will be available on the official website. An official of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has said that the re-test of the Class 12 Economics paper, held on April 25, nearly a month after it was leaked, will not delay declaration of results. The results are expected to be declared by May 30. "The results will be declared on time as the evaluation is in advanced stage despite re-exam of economics paper. We have rigorously followed up with schools to send more evaluators than the required number," a senior Board official said. There were also reports of the CBSE's Class 10 mathematics paper being leaked, but the board decided against its re-test, saying class 10 was just an "internal segment" of school education system. The reports of leak of the CBSE papers had caused disappointment among students across the country last month. In Delhi, students held protests accusing the CBSE of negligence and demanded immediate action against the guilty. According to Delhi Police, the class 12 economics paper was leaked on 23 March - three days before the scheduled date of the examination. Investigators made arrests in several parts of the country in connection with the case, including in Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh. They claimed to have arrested the main conspirators behind the leak from Una in Himachal Pradesh. The three people were staffers of a school in the town. The results once declared will be available on cbse.nic.in. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 8:31 [IST] Dear Karnataka, please think and vote wisely India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Bengaluru, May 11: As the high-pitched campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections came to an end on Thursday, now the focus has been shifted to voters, and rightly so. The voting will start in a few hours from now in the southern state. From the Election Commission to influential people, all are asking everyone to come out and vote and that too "sensibly". The polling for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is set to take place on Saturday (May 12). The results of the all-important elections will be declared on May 15. In a video message to voters, actor-turned-activist Prakash Raj asked "Dear Karnataka, to think and vote wisely". "Dear Karnataka..The ones we VOTE.. are the ones who will take policy decisions tomorrow ..which will effect every second of our life .. please think n VOTE wisely ..it's your responsibility to ensure ..a vibrant..inclusive..futuristic INDIA..keep #justasking yourself too," tweeted Raj, who has been regularly questioning the Narendra Modi government on various issues. Dear Karnataka..The ones we VOTE.. are the ones who will take policy decisions tomorrow ..which will effect every second of our life .. please think n VOTE wisely ..its your responsibility to ensure ..a vibrant..inclusive..futuristic INDIA..keep #justasking yourself too .. pic.twitter.com/gvK4ob8eUq Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) May 11, 2018 "You have seen THEM all ...you have heard THEM all.. now it's YOUR turn to speak. Please VOTE .. think of development..think of harmony .. think of celebrating inclusive INDIA .. it's YOUR responsibility now.. keep #justasking yourself too," he added. you have seen THEM all ...you have heard THEM all.. now its YOUR turn to speak. Please VOTE .. think of development..think of harmony .. think of celebrating inclusive INDIA .. its YOUR responsibility now.. keep #justasking yourself too . pic.twitter.com/APeCU2g9Ln Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) May 10, 2018 In fact, "Dear Karnataka" was trending on Twitter on Friday morning. Tweets under "Dear Karnataka" mostly focused on the rivalry between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in Karnataka. While a few tweets were in support of the BJP, the others mostly asked to vote for the Congress. Dear Karnataka voters, Make this election an unforgettable 'treat' for Modi, who cheated people of India with flood of lies.#BJP4BetterKarnataka pic.twitter.com/PT5rlnksaa Sujesh (@Sujesh_Knr) May 9, 2018 Dear Karnataka remember Joint Election campaigning by Pakistan & Congress in Karnatka pic.twitter.com/pVUNIWjg2b#MyVoteForChange _ (@THEGabbar_Singh) May 11, 2018 Along with "Dear Karnataka", another hashtag--#MyVoteForChange--was trending on Twitter on Friday. Under the #MYVoteForChange hashtag most of the tweets were pro-BJP asking the voters to defeat the incumbent Congress government in the state. Dear Kannadigas, - Let us reject the "Hand" that forced Our Annadaatas to commit suicide. - Let us remove the "Hand" that didn't prevent murder of 358 Dalits. - Let us weed out the "Hand" that served biryani to Jihadis who brutally murdered Hindu Karyakartas.#MyVoteForChange C.T.Ravi (@CTRavi_BJP) May 11, 2018 #MyVoteForChange Humble request all eligible voters in Karnataka to use their constitutional "Right to Vote" to elect their next government (BJP). Another Saturday weekend will come but 12-May-2018 will be only once. Partha Ramanujachary (@rspchary) May 11, 2018 Over the last few weeks, the southern state saw a bevy of top national leaders aggressively campaigning in the state. On the last day of the campaign, top leaders of the BJP and the Congress, including PM Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, made a last-gasp effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. The campaign caught everyone's attention as leaders shunned away from raising the real issues and instead focused on personal attacks and communalism, some of Indian politicians' favourite subjects to divert the attention of voters. Fake encounters in UP: Akhilesh attacks Yogi govt for misusing police India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Lucknow, May 11: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has come under the scanner for alleged "fake" encounters in the state. Joining the debate over "fake" encounters in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the current regime of misusing the police. "The BJP is misusing the Uttar Pradesh police, which is inflicting torture on the people of the state and creating fear among them. The SP is not only raising questions, but also telling other opposition parties that the government is continuously engaged in fake encounters," the SP chief told reporters in Lucknow. Yadav added that the government should at least provide a list of criminals carrying reward on their head to substantiate its claim that those killed by the police were highly notorious. The former CM demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation to the next of kin of Narendra Gujjar, against whom, he said, a "fake cow slaughter case" was registered, and claimed that Gujjar was tortured to death in custody by the police in Meerut. "It is the duty of the government to see that everyone gets justice. Has the situation worsened to that extent where no one can plead for justice? Will the BJP now deprive the people of the state of justice?" he asked. As many as 50 dreaded criminals have been killed in over 1,400 encounters in the more than a year in the state, while 3,435 history-sheeters were put behind bars following encounters. Yadav also referred to the death of the father of Unnao rape survivor in police custody. "The BJP says that we used to give Rs 50 lakh compensation when a Muslim died. Today, when a Hindu has died, why are you (the BJP) not helping? We do not believe in taking advantage by creating rift between the Hindus and the Muslims. This is just a diversionary tactics," the SP chief alleged. Yadav blamed the UP police for the unrest in Aligarh Muslim University. "If the government had wanted, then the situation would not have worsened," he said. Regarding the reports of CBI probe into sale of sugar mills during Mayawati regime, Yadav said the investigation was being done keeping the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in mind. Attacking the BJP in the context of Kairana and Noorpur bypolls, he said, "These people have been saying that if other parties win the bypolls, then Diwali will be celebrated in Pakistan. I never went to Pakistan, nor do I have a Pakistani visa. The BJP should tell who went to Pakistan discreetly." Taking a jibe at CM Adityanath, he said, "The UP CM is not bothered about improving the law and order in UP. He is more bothered about the law and order of Karnataka (where he campaigned for the Assembly elections)." When his attention was drawn to reports on Congress president Rahul Gandhi's ambition to become the prime minister, Yadav said, "These are post-poll matters. I have good relation with the Congress chief." The SP had forged an electoral alliance with the Congress during the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav was named as one of the star campaigners of the Congress for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 scheduled on Saturday. The results of the state polls will be declared on May 15. Both the BJP and the Congress are fighting a bitter battle to win the high-stake Karnataka elections. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 12:37 [IST] It would be great if West Bengal gets electric vehicle manufacturing industry: Mamata Banerjee In next three years, India will hopefully get highways of American standard: Nitin Gadkari Politics is to serve last man in queue: Nitin Gadkari NCP chief Sharad Pawar praises Nitin Gadkari: He's a great example of how a people's rep can work Gadkari asks President Kovind to donate one months salary for Clean Ganga Fund India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that he had written to President Ram Nath Kovind requesting him to donate a month's salary to the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF), set up by the government to purge the river of pollutants. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Gadkari said he would also urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ministers, MPs, MLAs and the public to donate their month's salary to the CGF, formed to receive voluntary contributions from individuals and organizations. The government has received Rs 250 crore in the CGF after it was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2014, he said. "I have written a letter to the President. I am also urging the Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, MLAs and the people to donate to the CGF, he told reporters. Gadkari said everyone must join the cause, sharing whatever amount they can through digital transfer. "Some have donated Rs 300 to the CGF. People can share whatever amount they wish to," he said. Gadkari emphasized there was no shortage of fund for the Namami Gange programme, which has a non-lapsable provision of Rs 20,000 crore. He added that the government had already signed MoUs with corporate houses in connection with works such as constructing ghats and roads, starting light and sound show, developing parking spaces and other purposes. Contributions to the Clean Ganga Fund are completely exempted from tax. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 11:41 [IST] If Mishra is not sacked, it sends out message that people in power can do anything: Priyanka Gandhi Historian rubbishes Modis claim that Nehru never met Bhagat Singh India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer During the Karnataka election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Rahul Gandhi for meeting Lalu Prasad Yadav who has been convicted in several fodder scam cases. He said that the Congress has time to meet corrupt people, but had no time to meet jailed freedom fighters who were arrested by the British. "When freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt were jailed while fighting for our independence, did any Congress leader go to meet them? But the Congress leaders have the time to meet people who're corrupt and have been jailed," Modi said at a rally. This claim has however been countered by historian, S Irfan Habib who has also authored a book on Bhagat Singh, To Make the Deaf Hear: Ideology and Programme of Bhagat Singh and His Comrades. Go and read history before misusing it for politics. Nehru not only met them in prison but also wrote about them. Several Congress leaders defied Gandhi to speak for them," he said. Go and read history before misusing it for politics. Nehru not only met them in prison but also wrote about them. Several Congress leaders defied Gandhi to speak for them. https://t.co/IMr2vTpSnW S lrfan Habib (@irfhabib) May 10, 2018 What are the farmers protesting about? We have stayed the farm laws says SC Lakhimpur Kheri violence: SC says it is unsatisfied with action taken by UP govt How lengthy will the Aadhaar verdict be? India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The iconic Keshavananda Bharti case was the longest in the history of the Supreme Court. That case which in 1973 which said that the Constitution was supreme went on for five months before an order running into over 14,000 pages was passed. Hearing on batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar on Thursday became the second longest case in the history of the Supreme Court. Hearing started in January and went on for 38 days. The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict in the case by July or August. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed all the parties concerned to file their written submissions to put forth their case. A battery of lawyers including Attorney General K K Venugopal, who represented the Centre and senior advocates like Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Rakesh Dwivedi, Shyam Divan, Arvind Datar, Rakesh Dwivedi had appeared for various parties. The constitution bench also comprised Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. During the arguments spread over four months, the Centre had strongly defended its decision to seed Aadhaar numbers with mobile phones, telling the top court that it could have been hauled up for contempt if the verification of mobile users was not undertaken by it. However, the court had said that the government had misinterpreted its order and used it as a "tool" to make Aadhaar mandatory for mobile users. Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy and other petitioners had challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. The court had also not agreed with the government's contention that the Aadhaar law was correctly termed as a Money Bill by the Lok Sabha Speaker as it dealt with "targeted delivery of subsidies" for which funds came from the Consolidated Fund of India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 13:33 [IST] India to train Foreign Services Officers of Myanmar; give access to health and education services India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff New Delhi: Growing relations of India with Myanmar is important in many ways from security to connectivity. During External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Myanmar from May 10 to May 11, 2018, boundary and border related issues, peace and security matters, developments in the Rakhine State including return of displaced Rohingyas, India's development assistance to Myanmar, ongoing projects, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed in detail. She called on President of Myanmar U Win Myint and had met State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. During the bilateral meetings, Swaraj also met the Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. One of the most important issues that both the countries reached on an agreement was on Land Border Crossing which is being considered as a landmark in bilateral relations between the two countries. It will enable people from both the countries to cross the land border with valid passport and visa for accessing health, education services, pilgrimage and tourism. The MoU on restoration of pagodas at Bagan underlines the enduring cultural and historical links between the two countries. The other MoUs on technical assistance and capacity building reflect India's continuing support to Myanmar in accordance with this country's own development plans and priorities. The External Affairs Minister reiterated India's readiness and commitment in helping Myanmar to address issues related to Rakhine State. She welcomed Myanmar's continued commitment to implementing the Rakhine Advisory Commission's recommendations and noted that under the aegis of the bilateral Rakhine State Development Programme, India was already in the implementation stages of various projects that would respond to the needs of different sections of the Rakhine State population. The first major project is the construction of prefabricated housing in Rakhine State to meet the needs of displaced persons. The Minister also underlined the need for safe, speedy and sustainable return of displaced Rohingyas to Rakhine State. The ministry informed that total seven agreements and MoUs have been signed. They included: (i) Agreement on Land Border Crossing, (ii) MoU on Restoration and Preservation of Earthquake Damaged Pagodas in Bagan, (iii) MoU on assistance to the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, (iv) MoU on Training of Myanmar Foreign Service Officers, (v) MoU on Setting up Industrial Training Centre (ITC) at Monywa, (vi) MoU on ITC at Thaton and (vii) Exchange of Letters on extending a maintenance contract for ITC Myingyan. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 17:14 [IST] Karnataka: A dirty election where money power peaked like never before India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The Karnataka election has been a hard fought and also a dirty one. While personal attacks were carried out unabated, the election also saw a huge amount of cash flow. In the past two months, huge amounts of cash was withdrawn from ATMs not just in Karnataka, but also in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This could have led to the temporary cash crunch, officials say. The Income Tax Department was probably the busiest during the elections. On announcement of the election schedule, the department established its Investigation offices in all 30 districts of Karnataka, by drawing officers and staff from Investigation Directorate and field formation and also from Goa State. This is the first such exercise, the department said. Apart from gathering intelligence from its own sources, the department opened a 24x7 control room with dedicated teams to process the information received in a professional manner. The Department has been keeping a close watch on cash transactions including bank transfers, contract payments, real estate transactions and NBFC transactions during the monitoring period. It has strengthened intelligence in Airports, Public Transport and is functioning in close coordination with other law enforcement agencies. The affidavits filed by the contesting candidates are also being verified with the returns of income filed by the contesting candidates and their family members. From the beginning of the Code of Conduct period on 27.03.2018 to till date, the department has seized unaccounted cash of @Rs. 31.50 Crores and unexplained jewellery worth Rs. 5.83 Crores. This is nearly 6 times the seizure made by the Department in the last State Assembly election in 2013. The seizures are likely to further go up in the last days of electioneering, the department said in a release. In the present Assembly elections,the Income tax department has been able to unearth incriminating evidence of the entire process of misuse of money power right from raising unaccounted funds to the distribution of cash and freebies by the contesting candidates. This has been shared with the Election Commission of India, District Election Officers and CEO Karnataka for necessary action under the Representation of People Act. The Department proceedings cover the entire length of political spectrum and are conducted in professional and impartial manner. The searches have been carried in strict adherence to the rules and regulations and only after ensuring that reasonable grounds exist to believe that a particular search is required. The proceedings are carried out respecting the privacy of searched person, in the presence of independent witnesses and with a preparation of detailed panchnama of the entire process, the department also said. Got a lead, share it: The Investigation Directorate will actively carry the expenditure monitoring till the completion of election code of conduct of the present election. Citizens are requested to share genuine information in their possession with the Control Room established centrally in Bangalore in the state of Karnataka. The contact details are again reproduced below:- Toll free No. - 1800 425 2115 Land Line - 080 22861126 Mobile No. 1 - +918277422825 Mobile No. 2 - +918277413614 Fax No. - 080 22866916 Email - cleankarnatakaelection@incometax.gov.in Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 12:32 [IST] Karnataka elections: We will re-open discussion on Lingayat issue if we win says Shah India oi-Vicky Nanjappa BJP president Amit Shah said that the party would re-open discussions with all stake holders on the issue of a separate religious status for Lingayats once it comes to power in Karnataka. This should not be made a poll issue and irrespective of which government comes to power, discussions to this effect would be held Shah also said. He said that a final decision in this regard would be taken only after proper discussions with all stake-holders. Expressing confidence of a victory in Karnataka, Shah said that the people were looking for a change. He said that the Congress is desperate to win the elections in Karnataka. The recovery of Voter ID cards in Rajarajeshwari Nagar shows how desperately Congress is to win the elections. I want to alert those whose fake IDs have been made not to fall into the trap set by the Congress Shah said. Congress has been making a desperate attempt to win the election at any cost. These attempts will not fail and instead it will boost our victory, Shah added. He further said that development in Bengaluru is stuck like the traffic in the city. Once we come to power we will better the infrastructure and also ensure that every scam by the Congress is probed. We will make sure that all the money of the people that was robbed will be returned. Taking a dig at Siddaramaiah, he jokingly said that the BJP would not touch the Rs 40 lakh watch as it is with the assembly speaker. On the impact Sriramulu has had on the campaign, Shah said that it has been immense. He has toured the entire state and it has had a major impact. He also said that Karnataka will be the BJP's gateway to the south. On a question regarding Janardhan Reddy, Shah said that he maintains that the BJP has nothing to do with him. He also said that none of the candidates who have been given tickets have a mining taint. Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 7:50 [IST] Karnataka polls: Barbs, jibes, history, a total sum up of the campaign India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The campaign in the cruel summer heat for the Karnataka assembly elections came to an end on May 10. It is over to the voters now who will poll on May 12. The campaign was an eventful one laced with personal barbs, allegations and debates on the history of India. The Congress with a view of consolidating the Muslim votes continuously accused the JD(S) of being the B-team of the BJP. Both parties however denied the charge. The results would be keenly watched and it is to be seen if Siddaramaiah would go on to create history. No incumbent chief minister of Karnataka has been re-elected since 1985. Siddaramaiah however says that he is here to create history and not obey it. The campaign for the Congress was led by Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi. The Congress president created history when he campaigned in all 30 districts of the state His temple run which began in Gujarat continued in Karnataka as well. Interestingly Siddaramaiah who has positioned himself as an atheist also visited several temples and mutts while claiming that he was a better Hindu than the BJP. For the BJP the star campaigner was the Prime Minister himself. Many would say that the campaign for the BJP picked up in the last ten days after Narendra Modi addressed a series of rallies. Modi did all he could and to counter the Kannada card being played by the Congress, he would begin and end all his speeches in Kannada with the famous line, "Sarakara Badalisi, BJP gellisi." The JD(S) which is looking to play kingmaker focused its campaign largely on the old Mysore belt and Hassan. The party is aware that it has a realistic chance in these areas and hence did not spend too much of its resources in other parts of the state. The JD(S) is banking heavily on the Vokkaliga and part Dalit anger against Siddaramaiah in the old Mysore region. In case of a hung house, the JD(S) becomes the most important player. Barring two polls, all others have predicted a hung house in Karnataka with the JD(S) emerging as the kingmaker. The importance of Deve Gowda was seen in the manner in which Modi played with words during his speeches. In the initial phase of the campaign he praised Gowda and said that he was the one who asked to stay back in politics. This was in response to Gowda's statement in 2014, when he said that he would quit politics if Modi was voted to power. Modi also went on to play the Kannada tag by saying that Siddaramaiah and insulted Gowda. He also dragged Mallikarjuna Kharge into the debate and said that Siddaramaiah had ensured that Kharge a Dalit did not become CM. In the second leg, Modi took a different approach and told the voters not to waste their vote on the JD(S). His tactics earned praise from Deve Gowda who said that Modi is a better orator than Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also said that Modi does not speak without giving complete thought. The other highlights of the campaign was the debate around Siddaramaiah's seat. He is said to have chosen Badami apart from Chamundeshwari as he was facing a tough contest in the latter. He however denied this and said that his decision to chose Badami also was due to pressure from party workers who felt that his presence there would consolidate votes in north Karnataka where the BJP is traditionally strong. The election also threw up some sad news when the BJP's B N Vijaykumar passed during his campaign trail. He was admitted to hospital, but the doctors could not save him. As a result of this the election at Jayanagar was postponed. There was also son-rise politics during the election process. Siddaramaiah's son, Yathindra and Ramalinga Reddy's daughter Sowmya are some of the prominent debutants who will be testing their luck on May 12. B S Yeddyurappa's son, Vijayendra was however not lucky. He was an aspirant for the Varuna seat where Yathindra is contesting. However the party leadership shot down the proposal which led to immense anger among his supporters who have since carried out a sustained campaign for NOTA in Varuna. There are three hopefuls for the post of CM. They are Siddaramaiah from Badami and Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa from Shikharipura and H D Kumaraswamy from Ramanagara and Channapattana. What will the result be. You will need to wait till May 15. But before that go out and vote as it matters. Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15 Karnataka polls: How the two CM contenders campaigned on the last day India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The hard fought campaign for Karnataka ended on Thursday. The two contenders for the post of Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and Yeddyurappa ended their final leg of their campaigns on their home turf. Siddaramaiah and Yeddyurappa are contesting from Chamundeshwari and Shikharipura. The Karnataka CM has also chosen Badami which many say is a safe seat for him. While Siddaramaiah made his final pitch at Chamundeshwari, Yeddyurappa blew the final clarion call at Shikharipura. As expected the fan following was huge. Siddaramaiah made the final pitch by telling voters that he was sorry that he could come here earlier. I was away in other parts of the state. I trust you people, this place is not new to me Siddaramaiah who has won Chamundeshwari five times said. He signed off by saying, " I am winning, I will become the CM again with your blessings. Yeddyurappa on the other hand was at Badami on Thursday morning along with Amit Shah who held a road show in support of B Sriramulu. Yeddyurappa arrived to a huge gathering at Shikharipura by around 3.30 pm. He headed to a temple, offered prayers and then hit the campaign trail. He was greeted by a huge number of followers who chanted Bharat Mata ki Jai and BSY, BSY. While Yeddyurappa is in a comfortable position, the same cannot be said about Siddaramaiah at Chamundeshwari. He has accused the BJP and JD(S) of tying up to defeat him. He is up against the very strong G T Deve Gowda of the JD(S) who holds the seat. Congress workers say that the fight for Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari is not very easy. Gowda enjoys the support of the Vokkaligas and the people have said many times that they are happy with the work he has done. Siddaramaiah would bag some of the Vokkaliga votes and would hope that the Dalits vote him into power. An incident that took place at the Kattur village did please the CM though. Many Gowda supporters shouted slogans in favour of the JD(S) and it was learnt that they were Dalits. In the final leg of his campaign at Sindhuvalli village, Siddaramaiah wound up his campaign by playing the Dalit card. The Dalits who are in majority in this place were told to think about the 2019 elections. They (BJP) are trying to change the Constitution. I know all of you will not let that happen, he also said. Meanwhile in Yeddyurappa's constituency the voter has no doubt that they would elect him. They praise the work he has done and also see hope that he would become the CM. He has worked for the constituency when both when he was CM and while he was not. The battle for him is against Malatesh of the Congress, who many say is no match for B S Yeddyurappa. Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 16:19 [IST] If Mishra is not sacked, it sends out message that people in power can do anything: Priyanka Gandhi Let us kill Modi Insha Allah: A dreaded ISIS plot exposed in Gujarat India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Let us take Modi out with a sniper rifle an ISIS operative told his associate in Gujarat. A chargesheet filed by the Gujarat ATS in connection with an Islamic State related case involving two operatives details how the outfit planned on targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ATS filed the chargesheet against Ubed Ahmed Mirza and Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala before the chief judicial magistrate at Anleshwar in Bharuch district. The ATS said that Mirza had plotted along with Stimberwala to assassinate Modi. Mirza tells Stimberwala, " let us take Modi out with a sniper rifle, Inshah-Allah." This was part of a WhatsApp chat between the two in which Mirza identifies himself as Ferrari. In the chat the duo also discuss on procuring pistols and other arms. They speak about carrying out lone wolf attacks. In another conversation, they discuss as to how risky it is to procure pistols. They say that they should instead use knives to target people as the weapon will not be detected by the security agencies. The duo were highly radicalised by the ideology of the ISIS. They were radicalised online by one Abdullah-e-Faizal, an Islamic preacher from Jamaica, the ATS also learnt. Targeting Jews: Apart from Gujarat, they had also planned lone wolf strikes in Mumbai. While Stimberwala worked as a laboratory technician at a hospital in Ankleshwar, Mirza was a lawyer practising in the Surat district court. Both were "highly radicalised by the Jihadi ideology of the Islamic State and actively planning lone wolf attacks on Jews. The arrested duo was in touch with el-Faisal and Shafi Armar to plan attacks on Jews in India and conducted a recce of some of the targets. They were even planning to send radicalised youths outside India to take part in terrorist acts, the charge sheet said. Though Stimberwala and Mirza tried to procure weapons through their contacts in Delhi and Lucknow, they failed, said the charge sheet. Apart from planning a 'lone-wolf' attack on the synagogue in Khadia area here, for which Stimberwala conducted a recce, they also thought of carrying out attacks in Nariman Point area in Mumbai to maximise the impact as a considerable number of Jews lives there, it said. Both have been charged with IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (sedition) and 125 (waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with India). They were also booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). As per the FIR lodged in October, both the accused were under the influence of El-Faisal, who was convicted of spreading hatred in the UK and deported to Jamaica. El-Faisal was subsequently detained in Jamaica on the charge of persuading youths to travel to Syria to take up jihad. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 17:33 [IST] Maharashtra man hangs self after getting Rs 8.54 lakh electricity bill which was erroneous India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer He got an electricity bill of Rs 8.64 lakh and unable to bear the shock, he committed suicide. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) later clarified that the bill was an erroneous one due to a missing decimal point. Jagannath Nehaji Shelke (36) allegedly hung himself in the early hours of Thursday as he was distressed over the bill and several visits to the local office of the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) were in vain, his kin today said. Shelke was served a bill, in the last week of April, of Rs 8.64 lakh after 61,178 units of electricity was charged to him, with MSEDCL officials now claiming that the correct figure for the units consumed at Shelke's household should have been just 6,117.8 This amount would have come to around Rs 2,803, they said. The incident took place in Bharatnagar locality within Pundliknagar police station limits, said officials. A suicide note left behind by the deceased stated that he was frustrated with the exorbitant bill since his household consumed electricity worth around Rs 1,000 on an average every month. An account assistant at the power utility, Sushil Kashinath Koli, was suspended yesterday for alleged dereliction of duty, said officials. The MSEDCL, which had earlier said that it had nothing to with Shelke's death, later took action against its employee after the deceased's suicide note was widely circulated on social media. His family members today said that they would not cremate Shelke's body, which is in the morgue of a local hospital, till the officials responsible for the tragedy were arrested under charges of abetment of suicide. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 7:36 [IST] Mumbai: Former ATS chief Himanshu Roy kills himself, suicide note recovered India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P By Chennabasaveshwar Himanshu Roy, Additional Director General of Police, allegedly committed suicide at his residence on Friday. Roy shot himself at his residence. According to a statement released by Mumbai Police, Himanshu Roy committed suicide as he was suffering from Cancer. The same has been mentioned in the suicide note recovered by the police. Roy was on medical leave due to his prolonged illness. Himanshu Roy had served as Maharashtra ATS chief. He shot himself at 1:40 PM today at his residence in Mumbai with his service revolver. Himanshu Roy was suffering from Cancer. He was taking steroids. Mumbai Police PRO Deepak Deoraj told OneIndia that the entire department is in shock. 'He has passed away and the body is at the hospital for the formalities,' Deoraj also informed. [READ MORE: RIP Himanshu Roy, condolence messages pour in] Dr Gautam Bhansali, Consultant Physician, Bombay Hospital, said, "Unfortunatel,y he was brought dead to the hospital. I knew him personally, he had lost lots of weight due to illness and didn't have the same personality as earlier." Sources say that the top cop who had also headed the Maharashtra ATS was depressed. He was suffering from cancer and was undergoing treatment as a result of which he was depressed. This could have prompted him to take the extreme step, the source also added. Forensic team arrives at Former Maharashtra ATS Chief Himanshu Roys residence. Roy committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in Mumbai earlier today pic.twitter.com/Jmq9XtyobE ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2018 Roy was 1988 batch Maharashtra cadre IPS officer. Roy has solved several sensational cases including the firing on Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar's driver Arif Bael, Journalist J Dey murder case, the double murder case involving Vijay Palande, Laila Khan murder case and the recent murder of law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta. During 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case, he was responsible for the arrest of Vindu Dara Singh was for alleged links to bookies in this spot-fixing. Vindu Dara Singh was later released on bail on 3 June 2013 by a Mumbai Court. Roy was the first police officer after Rakesh Maria to be given the Z+ security cover in 2014 because his tenure as crime branch chief was termed as "successful" as several sensational cases were cracked under his supervision. Roy was awarded Police Medal for Meritorious Service and 50th Anniversary Independence medal. Roy is an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. 'Jinnah did not want separate country for Muslims', says Farooq Abdullah Jinnah row: After uproar in AMU, now its founder's portrait removed Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a 'maha purush', says BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule India oi-Madhuri Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Savitri Bai Phule on Thursday said that Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a 'maha purush' who had contributed in country's independence. Speaking to ANI, she said, "Jinnah was a 'maha purush' and will always remain so. He had contributed in country's independence." BJP MP Satish Gautam had written a letter to Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor objecting to the portrait, triggering a row that led to two youths being arrested in connection with incidents of violence and exams being postponed to May 12. Several AMU students are on an indefinite 'dharna' after a clash with the police on May 2 when they were demanding action against right-wing protesters who had entered the campus, shouting slogans. They are asking for a judicial probe into the "police inaction" and the manner in which the row erupted after the BJP MP objecte. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 9:12 [IST] If Mishra is not sacked, it sends out message that people in power can do anything: Priyanka Gandhi PM and Amit Shah to begin 2019 poll preparations by meeting with Morcha office bearers India oi-Vinod By Vinod New Delhi: In view of the 2019 general elections coming closure by the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threw itself into the poll mode. The party is planning to begin with the meeting of all morcha office bearers in Delhi in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Party chief Amit Shah will participate. The tentative date for this meeting has been said to be May 17. Party sources said that the way prime minister addressed Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha and SC Morcha during the Karnataka elections with the help of NaMo App, similarly the party wants to communicate with the morcha people about its plans and strategy and how to reach out to people in the days to come. All the morcha that included Mahila Morcha, Minority Morcha, SC Morcha, ST Morcha, Yuva Morcha, Kisan Morcha and OBC Morcha, it is not only the national office bearers that will participate in this meeting but office bearers of the state morcha leaders will also be joining the meeting. Sources said that Morcha Prabhari and general secretary in charge of these morcha will also be present in the meeting which will strategize the next general elections as if the Karnataka elections are the matter of the existence of the Congress then they are the beginning of the preparations of 2019 general elections for the BJP. The party sources informed that these morcha play very crucial role and very effective role to reach out to people in the remotest area of the country. So the BJP wants to start its preparation well in advance. The PM and the party president is expected to tell these morcha leaders how to tell people about the government schemes and policies that benefited them across the country. The party also knows that before final trumpet of 2019 elections are blown, election in three states Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are major concern for the BJP as out of these three states the BJP is ruling in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for three consecutive terms. So the party will have to brave anti-incumbency in these states and now the Centre as well. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 21:34 [IST] Rahul promises to have more press conferences, will Modi follow suit? India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Bengaluru, May 11: On Thursday, the "vitriol-filled" campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections, scheduled on Saturday (May 12), came to an end. On the last day of the campaign, instead of attending any rally or visiting religious institution, Congress president Rahul Gandhi decided to meet the press and take direct questions from journalists in Bengaluru. As a part of the Karnataka poll campaign, Rahul has already addressed the media on a couple of occasions, at times impromptu too. The decision of Rahul to talk to journalists and take their questions, which most often big national leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi avoid, seems to have gone down well with the journalist fraternity of the country. After all, how many Mann ki Baat (PM Modi's monthly radio broadcast which critics call a one way conversation) the nation will endure? By talking to the media, politicians actually directly address the questions the people of the nation want to raise to their leaders. As they say, the media is the voice of the nation. The best part is that journalists ask difficult questions (these days it is a rarity), but nonetheless pertinent ones. On Thursday's press meet, Rahul too was confronted with a range of questions (but not so difficult ones we must say), but he answered all of them very bravely and smartly. Rahul, who till a few months ago was derided by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and critics for his "lack of oratory skills and quick thinking", showcased great maturity and panache amid "interrogation". What won Rahul brownie points was the answer to the question raised by Maya Sharma of NDTV regarding Sonia Gandhi's (his mother and the former Congress president) Italian origin--a topic the BJP often raises, especially during the election times, to attack the Gandhi family. For any child, his/her mother is precious, and any attack on the parent is hard to take. Rahul's face too was flushed with emotions the moment his mother's name was mentioned, but he did not let the opposition attack against his family lose his calm. The Congress president admitted that his mother was an Italian, but he added that she was more Indian than many. "My mother is an Italian. She has lived a large part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many people I see," Rahul said. Regarding his "ambition" to be the next PM of the country--which PM Modi called his "arrogance"--Rahul had a very smart answer to it. The Congress president said Modi's attack on him declaring his prime ministerial ambition was aimed at distracting attention. "This election (the Karnataka elections) is not about Rahul," he said. "I have now learnt to deal with the Prime Minister. When he can't respond, he distracts," Rahul told reporters. He also said Modi sees a 'threat' in him. "Modi has anger inside... he has anger for everybody, not just me ...and sees a threat in me," Rahul added. Rahul admitted that he enjoyed the press meet where he was seen cracking jokes in the middle of taking some serious questions from his "media friends". He was equally "sorry" that all the journalists could not ask him questions because of time constraints. "Enjoyed meeting the regional & national press today in Bengaluru. We had a packed house! I'm sorry not everyone got a chance to ask a question due to the paucity of time. But, unlike our PM who hasn't had a press conference in 4 yrs., I will be doing many more of these!" he tweeted. Enjoyed meeting the regional & national press today in Bengaluru. We had a packed house! Im sorry not everyone got a chance to ask a question due to the paucity of time. But, unlike our PM who hasnt had a press conference in 4 yrs., I will be doing many more of these! pic.twitter.com/tzNVHVLXdu Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 10, 2018 In his tweet, Rahul also raised the issue of PM Modi not having a press conference in the last four years as the head of the country. Modi did give a couple of interviews to some media houses, which are seen close to the current establishment and bereft of any critical questions. PM Modi has often criticised journalists, especially those who are critical towards him. The "anti-establishment" journalists have openly said that the current situation in the country under the BJP regime does not allow them to raise critical issues as they face intimidation and ostracisation. The Indian media too is a divided house where one group openly supports and defends every move of the present government and the other group (where a miniscule portion of journalists belong) continues to raise inconvenient questions. There is also a third group--where a sizeable number of "silent" journalists have taken refuge, probably waiting for times to change. While times are unlikely to change soon, looking at the polarised atmosphere of the country, the nation hopes PM Modi speaks to the media directly soon in a press conference and shows the guts to answer some unpleasant questions. Know more about Vikram Maan, a young PR and Social Media conglomerate from Rajasthan Rajasthan: 7-month-old baby raped by 19-year-old neighbour in Alwar India oi-Madhuri In yet another shocking incident, a 19-year-old man has been arrested for raping a seven-month-old girl at a village in Alwar's Laxmangarh area on Wednesday evening, police said. It is learnt that the accused took the baby from her house around 7.30 in the evening when the infant's mother was busy somewhere else. The woman also cannot see properly. He then took the infant to a school playground nearby and raped her. The baby was found lying shrieking in pain and covered in blood by some children playing there. The child is presently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Alwar. According to the doctors, she is out of danger and may be discharg ed soon.Her father works as a labourer. Police said the matter is being investigated. Considering the heinousness of the crime, Alwar SP Rahul Prakash directed Additional SP (Rural) Mool Singh Rana and Laxmangarh Circle Officer Sanjana Saini to pursue the case, following which the accused was apprehended "with the help of locals," police said. Meanwhile, a case has been booked under Sections 363, 366a, 376 of IPC and also under POCSO Act. He will be presented in court on Friday. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 10:35 [IST] With terror, naxal cases on the rise, NIA sets up branch at Ranchi An office in Ranchi: NIA gears up to fight left wing terror harder Ten-year-old tiger dies in Ranchi zoo after fever, samples sent for testing after Covid ruled out Lalu Prasad Yadav granted six weeks provisional bail on medical grounds India oi-Madhuri Th Ranchi High Court on Friday granted six weeks provisional bail to former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav on medical grounds. Media reports had earlier claimed that Lalu was granted parole to attend his son Tej Pratap Yadav's marriage in Patna on May 12. However, Inspector general (Jail) Harsh Mangla said, "Parole hasn't been granted yet as the matter is still under consideration." Lalu on Tuesday had applied before the jail authorities for temporary release on parole for five days from May 10 to May 14. Till Wednesday evening, formalities for grant of parole remained embroiled in official paper work. His son Tej Pratap Yadav, a sitting MLA and former state minister, will be tying the nuptial knot with Aishwarya Rai, daughter of party legislator Chandrika Rai, on Saturday, May 12 in Patna. The RJD chief has been serving jail terms here at the Birsa Munda Central Jail since December 23 last year after his convictions in three different fodder scam cases. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi. Not possible to order release, deport Rohingyas detained in Jammu without following law: SC Rohingyas not being discriminated, Centre tells Supreme Court India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer The Centre has assured the Supreme Court that all possible facilities are being provided to the Rohingyas. They are not being discriminated and all health, sanitation, medical and educational facilities are being provided the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the court. The Ministry said that in pursuance to the court order dated April 9, a team was constituted comprising members of Ministry of Health and a representative from the Ministry of Home Affairs which visited the refugee camps at Mewat in Haryana and Kalindi Kunj in Delhi on April 23 and 24. The team interviewed women in the camps and inspected the sanitation, water, medical and other facilities which are being provided by the government, the centre said. "As per the observations given in the inspection reports, reasonably available facilities are provided to the Rohingya illegal immigrants. The answering respondent (Health Min) submits that no discrimination has been made between the Rohingya refugees and other slum dwellers (resident Indians) of nearby areas." "This is with respect to health, sanitation, medical and educational facilities. ... In any event, despite the constraints, there is no discrimination observed against the Rohingya with respect to the availability of facilities," the Ministry told the top court in an affidavit. The document was filed in pursuance to the top court's order directing the centre to file a comprehensive status report on the civic amenities at two Rohingya camps in Delhi and Haryana after it was alleged that basic facilities like drinking water and toilets also not available there. The matter was posted for further hearing on May 11. The bench was hearing petitions, including one filed by two Rohingyas, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, challenging the Centre's decision to deport over 40,000 refugees who came to India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination and violence against the community. The Rohingyas, who fled to India after violence in the Western Rakhine State of Myanmar, are settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 7:32 [IST] Home Minister Amit Shah likely to visit Jammu and Kashmir, his first visit after Aug 2019 Shah has an open mind on whether Sriramulu would be deputy CM of Karnataka India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Will the BJP have a deputy chief minister if it comes to power in Karnataka? BJP president, Amit Shah when asked this question said he has an open mind about it. A question was posed at a presser in which Shah was asked if Sriramulu would be made the deputy CM if the BJP came to power. Shah said that after the elections the party would discuss the issue with an open mind. On the impact Sriramulu has had on the campaign, Shah said that it has been immense. He has toured the entire state and it has had a major impact. He also said that Karnataka will be the BJP's gateway to the south. On a question regarding Janardhan Reddy, Shah said that he maintains that the BJP has nothing to do with him. He also said that none of the candidates who have been given tickets have a mining taint. He also said that the party would re-open discussions with all stake holders on the issue of a separate religious status for Lingayats once it comes to power in Karnataka. This should not be made a poll issue and irrespective of which government comes to power, discussions to this effect would be held Shah also said. He said that a final decision in this regard would be taken only after proper discussions with all stake-holders. Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 10:25 [IST] Amarinder Singh to join BJP? Former Punjab CM likely to meet Amit Shah in Delhi today Never imagined I would reach here: PM Narendra Modi on completing 20 years in public office TDP leaders protest welcome Amit Shah in Tirumala India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar BJP President Amit Shah's was shown black flag and confronted by locals after his visit to Tirumala temple on Friday. According to reports, ahead of the voting for Karnataka Assembly Elections tomorrow, Amit Shah visited Tirumala to pray to the God for the victory of the party. Locals who had come to know about Amit Shah's visit gathered in the town and started shouting 'AP Special Category Status' slogans. The TDP leaders staged a protest, the locals confronted the BJP leader, asking him why he had come to Tirumala, in-spite of doing injustice to the state. 'PM Modi has forgotten about the promises he made in the presence of this very Lord', said the TDP leaders, and locals. According to reports, when the BJP president's convoy reached Alipiri, protesting TDP activists tried to obstruct the convoy but were pulled away by the police, who were deployed there in large number. Police has taken half a dozen protesters into custody to prevent them from following Amit Shah's convoy. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 13:23 [IST] Muslim minister of Rajasthan government in the line of fire of Ulama for worshiping Lord Shiva Two decades of Pokhran-2 nuclear test India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Today marks two decades of Pokhran-2 nuclear test a landmark day in modern Indian history. On this date in 1998, India conducted series of 5 nuclear explosions, the 2nd nuclear test after Smiling Buddha in 1974. The nuclear test called 'Operation Shakti' was carried out with 1 fusion bomb and 4 fission bombs. On May 11-13, 1998, India conducted five underground nuclear tests at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. Nation dedicates this National Technology Day to our scientists, technicians, and leadership who made India a nuclear weapon state. Eventually, India became a nuclear weapon state. The Indian government has officially declared the 11 May as National Technology Day in India to commemorate the first of the five nuclear tests that were carried out on 11 May 1998. It was officially signed by then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and the day is celebrated by giving awards to various individuals and industries in the field of science and technology. Cylindrical shaped nuclear bomb A cylindrical shaped nuclear bomb, Shakti I, prior to its detonation. Since 1995, the 58th Engineer Regiment had learned to avoid satellite detection. Work was mostly done during night, and equipment was returned to the original place to give the impression that it was never moved. Impact of the test Crater after the underground nuclear test on May 11 1998 at Pokhran test range. Team of scientists Under the leadership of Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (then DRDO Chief), Dr. R Chidambaram (then Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission), the team of more than 100 scientists, technicians and soldiers successfully conducted five underground nuclear tests. Scientists in Army uniform All scientists were required to wear army uniforms to preserve the secrecy of the tests. Scientists would not depart for Pokhran in groups of two or three. They travelled to destination other than Pokhran under pseudonyms, and were then transported by the army. Technical staff at the test range wore military uniform, to prevent detection in satellite images. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 11:58 [IST] Once he comes out he will eliminate us, says Unnao rape victim's family on Sengar's Charge sheet filed in connection with death of 23-yr-old Unnao rape victim who was set ablaze Unnao gang-rape case: CBI confirms rape charge against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, says report India oi-Madhuri The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sexual assault charge against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao gang-rape case, as reported by English Daily TOI. ''The CBI probe revealed that the Uttar Pradesh police tried to save Kuldeep Singh Sengar and other accused by not naming them in the FIR and chargesheet'', a leading English Daily TOI report said.' The probe revealed that the girl was raped on June 4 by the MLA after she was brought to his house by Shashi Singh on the pretext of providing her a job. Between June 4 and June 10, the girl didn't speak as she had been threatened. Unnao gang-rape case victim's uncle on reports of CBI confirming rape charges against BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar said,''We demand protection for our family so that we can give our statement before the court fearlessly. We demand death penalty for Kuldeep Sengar.'' Meanwhile, Unnao rape case victim demanded death penalty for BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for raping her and murdering her father. On April 13-14, the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested Sengar in connection with the alleged rape of 17-year-old-girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district. Woman Shashi Singh, who is accused of taking the girl to the legislator was also arrested. The UP government had handed over the case to the CBI following an uproar over the alleged effort by the Unnao police to save the BJP MLA. Voter ID scam: Voting In Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar deferred India oi-Deepika By Deepika The election to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly constituency has been postponed following the voter ID scam. Polling will now be held on May 28 and counting on May 31. The Election Commission order said it was imperative to defer the election for the time being so that the "vitiating effect of the distribution of money and gift items to the electors loses its intensity" and the ID cards were returned to the voters. "Every voter has freedom to cast his vote in a free and fair manner without facing any inducement. In this particular instance, free exercise of electoral rights has been compromised at a large scale in a systemic manner," the EC said. Last week, the poll body had seized 9,746 voter cards along with around one lakh counterfoils from a house in SLV Park View Apartments in RR Nagar. Sanjeev Kumar, chief electoral officer for Karnataka said initial investigation indicates the ~9700 cards "appear to be prima facie genuine" and only a thorough probe can determine if this is accurate. On Wednesday, a delegation of the BJP had met top Election Commission officials in Delhi and demanded to countermand the elections in Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly seat. The delegation was led by Union minister Smriti Irani. She said that they requested the EC to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka, adding that the only way to reinstate confidence in the electorate is to countermand the elections in the constituency. Also a delegation of the Congress party had last evening visited the Election Commission office in the national capital. In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the party accused the BJP of trying to influence the elections in the southern state and also misusing the central agencies to malign its candidates. Who was Himanshu Roy India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Former Maharashtra ATS chief, Himanshu Roy, a daredevil officer committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in South Mumbai. He is alleged to have shot himself at around 1.40 pm on Friday. His staff on hearing the sound rushed himself to hospital where he was declared brought dead. Roy was battling cancer for a year. He had a relapse and had been on leave for close to a year. He had even visited America for treatment. Roy an alumnus of St. Xavier College Mumbai was born on June 23 1963. He was an IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, 1988 batch. He had worked as the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mumbai. In 2016, he was appointed as ADG, Establishment. Roy initially went on to become a chartered accountant after passing out in 1985. He then gave his civil services exam and became an IPS officer in 1989. Mumbai: Former ATS chief Himanshu Roy commits suicide His first big challenge was the Babri riots. He was posted in Malegaon at that time. He then did a stint in Ahmednagar before being posted in Mumbai in 2001. Between the years 2004 and 2008, he was the police commissioner of Nashik. One of the most sensational cases he handled including the probe into the IPL betting scam and the firing on fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar's driver Arif Bael. He also probed the J Day murder case. He is however credited most for leading the investigation into the IPL betting case. He was the one responsible for the arrest of Vindoo Dara Singh for his alleged links with bookies. He was also responsible for the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of former ICC president N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings franchise in the same case. Following this he was transferred to the ATS. He led the team that arrested software engineer Anees Ansari who was trying to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. On the administrative side, Roy was instrumental in setting up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 17:16 [IST] Chinese media suggests more economic cooperation between India & China, especially in energy supply International oi-Shubham By Shubham Ever since the trade tension started between the US and China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan in China last month, the Chinese media and experts have been stressing on India-China cooperation a lot as a counter to the United States' growing protectionism. China's Global Times came up with a piece on Thursday, May 10, titled 'BCIM offers pathway for broader China-India energy cooperation' whereby it has been argued that both India and China, which are starved of natural gas energy, can enhance their economic cooperation under the framework of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor. It said in 2017, natural gas pipelines between China and Myanmar played a key role in meeting the former's natural gas demand by supplying 450 million cubic metres of gas to Yunnan province in Southwest China. According to it, Myanmar can play a crucial role in promoting India-China economic ties. "There is a huge imbalance between the western and eastern sides of India. Compared with the western region, the eastern side has a lot to do to catch up in terms of infrastructure, industrialization and the business environment," the report said, adding: "Currently, India relies heavily on the Gulf Bay for oil and gas resources. The major ports for oil and gas shipments are all located on the west coast. The east coast does not have major ports for these resources, so pipelines have been built to transfer the imported resources from the west coast to the east." The Global Times article said India has concentrated on the development of its eastern part in recent years and this has been reflected in the growing energy demand in that region. "The Gas Authority of India is expected to complete phase two of the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra natural gas pipeline at the end of 2018, connecting eastern India with the national gas grid. The first natural gas terminal built by the Indian Oil Corp in the Kamarajar port in Ennore is likely to start operating this September," it said. The piece has said that the eastern part of India requires more investment to boost its infrastructure and states like West Bengal and Kolkata have set up links with Chinese provinces for more FDIs. It said India's quest for oil and natural gas can be met by Myanmar more easily than Qatar and Indonesia because of shorter geographical distance. It also suggested two ways to develop gas pipelines from Myanmar to India: either through its northeast and Bangladesh or through sea route. "Sino-Indian energy cooperation began long ago, and some of it has included Myanmar. For instance, the Shwe Gas Project, which includes building an offshore natural gas field at the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar, was supported by China, Myanmar and India. The China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau also took part in natural gas pipeline construction in India," the Global Times article said. It said India and China would require more cooperation with Myanmar and Bangladesh to meet their energy demand and even advised that China could provide a platform to India to negotiate construction of pipeline with Bangladesh. It also said more direct investment from China can be used for boosting infrastructure, including pipelines in eastern India. The article also had words for those who are against the Myanmar pipeline. It said: "Some people in India believe their country won't get the same kind of returns as China from the Myanmar natural gas project, despite the amount invested by the Indian state and private companies. This misunderstanding should be addressed, or it will hinder regional energy cooperation." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 13:53 [IST] Two ships with 39 Indians on board not yet allowed to unload cargo by China: India Funds of Indians in Swiss banks rise to Rs 20,700 cr, highest in 13 years; customer deposits down for 2nd year Indian journalist arrested for smuggling fake journalists into Australia International oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer An Indian journalist has been charged after he attempted to smuggle fake journalists for the Commonwealth Games in Australia. Rakesh Kumar Sharma who works with a newspaper in Chandigarh will spend 6 more weeks in custody after the case was adjourned. He was charged with people smuggling and falsifying documents in late March after allegedly using fake media credentials for eight people, who were taken into immigration detention. Sharma, 46 was remanded in custody by the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. Hearing on the case would resume on June 22. He is alleged to have arranged for the group to come to Australia. He was also charged with filing a form he knew was forged. The form he filled was to enable the group to get visas to stay in Australia. If charged and awarded a full sentence, he stares at 20 years in jail. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 11:28 [IST] Israel Embassy blast: The NIA is looking for these men, watch CCTV footage Iran-Israel tension: US backs Israels right to self-defence, says Israeli media International oi-Shubham By Shubham Soon after US President Donald Trump announced withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Israel has stepped up its anti-Iran aggression and hit several Iranian targets in Syria, resulting in deaths of 23 fighters. The confirmation about the deaths was given by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Other European powers like Germany and the UK also condemned Iran while France called for de-escalation, the report added. This is the first time that Israel has directly accused Iran of firing at its territory. Israel, however, has defended its action. According to its century old Haaretz media, the White House condemned Iran on Thursday, May 10, and threw its weight behind Israel's "right to self-defense" after a barrage of Iranian rockets targeted Israel's military outposts. Israel said Iran's attack was unsuccessful. The US also blamed Iran's Revolutionary Guard saying it would be responsible for the "consequences of its reckless actions". "The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East," the Haaretz and Reuters report quoted the White House as saying. It said the US also alerted the international community saying Iran's actions posed a grave threat to international peace and stability. Syria, meanwhile, lashed out at Israel by calling its attack as an offensive against Syria. According to a statement from the Syrian foreign ministry, Israel's "direct involvement after years of acting secretly by supporting terrorist groups represents the beginning of a new stage of aggression", the Haaretz report said. Five Syrian anti-aircraft batteries were also destroyed in the Israeli attacks, said the report. On Thursday, Russia asked both Iran and Israel to desist from action that could snowball the conflict, the report added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Moscow on Wednesday, it added. The Russian foreign minister also took the opportunity to criticise the US saying its withdrawal from the Iran deal was a violation of a United Nations resolution and that it should not have any extra-territorial influence on Iran's partners, Haaretz reported. Both Russia and Iran have backed the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 8:26 [IST] PM Modi on his 3rd visit to Nepal: The first two that exuded bonhomie now look distant dream International oi-Shubham By Shubham Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on this third tour of Nepal on Friday, May 11, which a noted Nepali commentator felt was suited to his political, personal and geopolitical interests. There is truth in the thinking since the Indian prime minister left for a two-day trip to the northern neighbours a day ahead of the crucial Karnataka election at home where his Bharatiya Janata Party is trying hard to return to power after five years, dethroning rivals Congress. Modi will visit the Hindu religious sites in Janakpur and Muktinath where he will offer prayers at temples. However, it is the geopolitical concern which makes this trip more important. This is Modi's first visit to Nepal when the country is being ruled by a Left alliance which is dominating the country's politics instead of the more centrist Nepali Congress and also the bilateral relations between the two countries are not at their best, thanks to a series of events that took place in 2015 like overdoing in post-earthquake rescue operations and alleged imposition of a blockade at the borders to protest Nepal's newly promulgated constitution. Nepal has also joined its other neighbour China's Belt & Road Initiative, disregarding India's reservations about it and China's economic role in the landlocked country has also magnified immensely by this time. The current prime minister of Nepal, Khadga Prasad Oli, is a strong incumbent unlike many of his predecessors because of his mandate and also known to be not so generous towards India. Oli has also asserted Nepali nationalism of late which suggests that the country is more inclined to do things that best suit its interests, instead of blindly following either of its two big neighbours. Modi's latest visit to Nepal takes place just after a month since Oli came to India and a few weeks after Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at an informal set-up in Wuhan in China. Although hopes are high about the future of India-Nepal relations in an environment of diplomatic engagements, not many are sure about India, Nepal and China entering into a trilateral cooperative venture any time soon because of the inherent geopolitical competition between India and China. Here is a quick look at Modi's past two visits to Nepal as the prime minister since 2014: August 3-4, 2014: Nepal was the second neighbouring country that Modi visited after becoming the PM in May 2014. He visited the country on August 3 and became the first Indian premier to do so in 17 years (after IK Gujral in 1997). He met the then Nepali prime minister, the late Sushil Kumar Koirala, and there were enough display of the two countries' bonhomie. Talks focussed on reviewing the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950, the India-funded hydro-power projects and other infrastructure in Nepal. Modi also became the first foreign leader to address the Nepali parliament since the restoration of democracy there in 1990 and also offered prayers and donation worth Rs 25 crore to the famous Pashupatinath Temple. Modi also pledged not to interfere in Nepal's internal affairs and also announced a credit assistance programme of $1billion to Nepal and sought to buy electricity from it to help it find its place among the developed countries of the world. Overall, it was a visit which bore a pleasant fragrance and it seemed India was truly on way to recover its relationship with Nepal which lied underemphasised for a long time. It was believed that under Modi, Indian foreign policy was in a resurgent mode. November 25-27, 2014: This was another important visit though this time, Modi did not go for a state visit but to attend the 18th summit of the Saarc - South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation -- a body which largely remains dysfunctional even after three decades of its inception. The faultlines between India and Pakistan - two rival members of the Saarc came out in the open at this summit which made other members, especially host Nepal, to try to pacify both the sides and urge them to take the path of cooperation but with little success. Modi and his the then Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif though shook their hands eventually in the Himalayan resort of Dhulikhel near Kathmandu. The failure of the Saarc to reach a consensus over the connectivity and regional cooperation among the South Asia nations as well as the controversy over the possibility of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan were two notable points that marked Modi's second visit to Nepal and it was less than six months before a devastating earthquake hit the Himalayan country and also Modi's newfound friendship with Kathmandu. South Korea-North Korea leaders to hold hotline talks before long International oi-Shubham By Shubham South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who held a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the border truce village of Punmunjeom on April 27, is likely to have talks with the latter over the newly installed hotline between the neighbours "before long", sources in South Korea's Blue House, the official residence of its president, told the media on Friday, May 11, Xinhua reported. The hotline was set up a week ahead of the Punmunjeom summit where the two leaders came up with a declaration vowing to end the Korean War and also denuclearise the peninsula which has been witnessing heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear tests over the past many years. It also around the same time of setting up the hotline that Pyongyang announced its intention to quit nuclear tests and shut its nuclear experiment site, arousing new hope about a peaceful Korean Peninsula. Seoul also said that the first hotline talks between Moon and Kim could take place after the announcement of the venue and date for the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Xinhua report added. Trump announced on Thursday, May 10, that the summit will take place in Singapore on June 12 although the US also made it clear that it could be scuttled if North Korea did anything unacceptable over the next one month. Trump revealed the dates following the return of his secretary of state Mike Pompeo from North Korea where he paid his second visit in six weeks to fix the details of the summit and also brought back three US citizens who had been detained by the Kim regime. Meanwhile, Blue House was set to meet the White House on May 22 as President Moon will visit Washington to see his US counterpart and hold talks over the upcoming Trump-Kim summit. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 12:07 [IST] More than 87,000 Indians returned from Singapore through Vande Bharat flights since 2020 Singapore discovering COVID-19 is a bacteria and not a virus is another conspiracy theory Ties with US, North Korea make Singapore optimum summit site International pti-PTI Singapore, May 11: Singapore's diplomatic ties with North Korea and its relative proximity made the small Southeast Asian nation a natural choice for the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, analysts say. Trump announced in a tweet on Thursday that the two leaders will meet in Singapore on June 12. The city is "a great location" for the summit, said Tom Plant, who specializes in nuclear and proliferation issues at London's Royal United Services Institute. "Kim will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. But he wouldn't be on home turf." Among the factors: it's closer for Kim than possible Europe venues, the experience of Singapore's security forces, and the fact that Pyongyang has had diplomatic relations with the country since 1975. Singapore is familiar ground for the reclusive communist country, which has its embassy in Singapore's central business district. Single-party rule since Singapore gained independence in 1965 has ensured stability and fostered a security state that is among the world's most efficient, although sometimes it is decried by civil libertarians as repressive. Located between two Muslim majority nations - Malaysia and Indonesia - with Islamic State group sympathizers, it has effectively checked terrorist threats. According to the US State Department's report on human rights for 2017, Singapore's "most significant human rights issues" included caning as punishment imposed by the courts; preventive detention under various laws without warrant, filing of charges, or normal judicial review; monitoring private electronic or telephone communications without a warrant; the use of defamation laws to discourage criticism; and the criminalisation of sexual activities between men, although the law was not enforced. North Korea's state companies have, in the past, conducted legal and illegal business dealings with Singapore companies. The city-state, under pressure from the US and a leaked UN report, officially cut off trade relations with North Korea in 2017 to abide by sanctions. Singapore also is welcome ground for the United States. It is a large trading partner, the second-largest Asian investor, and a longtime supporter of its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. It's also the regional headquarters of large US companies including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1966. "The North Korean side will likely have a very large number of logistical and protocol issues it wants addressed by the summit venue, so having a (North Korean) embassy in the country where the summit is to be held is likely a requirement," said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. Located just over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) from North Korea, Singapore is comfortably within the flying range of its aircraft. Flying to western Europe would require a stop or two to refuel. "Singapore is neither too far away as European nations are, allowing Kim Jong Un's private jet to make it here without refueling, nor too close that Trump might be seen as 'giving way' to Kim by having to travel a longer distance than the latter," said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Former US Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman said Singapore was ideal because it has been "an honest broker between East and West." PTI Twenty years of Pokhran II: What the Kims and Trumps can learn from Vajpayee International oi-Shubham By Shubham Currently, the world is witnessing two dramas over nuclear ambition and containment unfolding in two zones of Asia - in the Far East where North Korea is exhibiting an intent for denuclearsation and opening up a frenzy of diplomatic engagements with the outside world and in West Asia where Iran had a nuclear deal which got torn up by the US as its president, Donald Trump, felt the deal made during Barack Obama's time had more flaws than not. While the North Korean nuclear episode is still an uncertain one despite early hopes as we never know which way can Trump turn without a notice, the Iran nuclear episode has pushed the future of West Asia towards uncertainty for with the dumping of the 2015 deal, the road for tensions has only got clearer. Israel and Iran have already found themselves gradually involving in direct threat and attacks that could snowball into a huge conflict in no time. 20th anniversary of Pokhran II and nuclear India's magnificent peace record And amid the chaos, India - a nuclear power - observed the 20th anniversary of Pokhran II, an event which had catapulted her status as a nuclear weapons power albeit against a lot of odds. But India not only survived the initial storm that came with its nuclear tests which saw arch-rivals Pakistan also doing the same within a few days, its status only continued to grow so much so that in another one decade, none but the United States was seen approving nuclear trade with India despite New Delhi not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Years later, there were even pushes from the West to see India get included in the Nuclear Suppliers Group but for China which opposed such an eventuality. But that is another story. Coming back to Pokhran II (Pokhran I was the nuclear test of 1974 which was also called Operation Smiling Buddha), comparing it with the Iran and North Korea nuclear problems shows how a sound statesmanship and universal engagement can help a country overcome the obstacles and can lay the foundation for a long-time benefit. If North Korea's Kim Jong-un or Iran Hassan Rouhani or for that matter US President Donald Trump haven't been able to conduct the nuclear diplomacy the way the world would have liked it (North Korea is doing it well but still it's a long way to go), they should take a leaf out of former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Bajpayee's book on how to do it successfully. Vajpayee neither had to make any secret visit to anywhere nor did he had to pledge a diplomatic surrender after the West looked at his government's nuclear tests with suspicion and imposed sanctions. The leader put up a brave yet responsible face to go ahead with his resolve to make India a nuclear weapon state especially when it was facing considerable danger in its neighbourhood. Though a section criticises Vajpayee saying that it was he who had flagged off the nuclear race in South Asia as Pakistan too became a nuclear power, but there is also a counter school of thought which believes that Pakistan was going ahead of India with its nuclear plan and would have turned nuclear even if India did not do Pokhran II and if that had happened, New Delhi would have been under a great pressure to counter Islamabad and Beijing, which became the capital of a nuclear state in the 1960s. Vajpayee went ahead with his nuclear resolve but never confronted the West Vajpayee did not wait long to conduct the twin tests on May 11 and 13 after becoming the prime minister for the second time (his first stint in 1996 was just a 13-day affair) even though it risked universal condemnation. His determination to make India a nuclear weapon state even if that involved taking on the powerful players of international politics marked a permanent change in India's foreign policy. This is something his predecessors like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao, the leader who opened India economically, couldn't do but Vajpayee went ahead. Vajpayee although was a BJP leader, yet he gave the final touches to a project which took effect under the Congress rule long back. The West including the US was terribly upset with these tests and Washington even refused to hold any dialogue with New Delhi for nearly two months and the Glenn Amendment was implemented to impose sanctions. But the Vajpayee government did not do a Kim or Rouhani to take a combative position vis-a-vis the West. Despite the pressure, the Indian leadership engaged with the West and eventually succeeded to convince the outer world that India's nuclear programme was not meant for adventurism but its own security. This India did despite not signing the NPT and it was possible because of the strong leadership skills exhibited by the then prime minister Vajpayee and other leaders of his government like former foreign minister Jaswant Singh who had prolonged meetings with the then US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott. It was the effects of these diplomatic negotiations that served as the foundation of the nuclear deal of 2008. Vajpayee himself played a key role in regaining the world's trust on India during his visit to the West in the later half of 2000. The then US president Bill Clinton had also visited India in March the same year and these engagements showed that India never lost control of the situation even if it looked hostile for a period of time (though it is difficult to say what would have happened if Trump was the US president then). And what also needs a mention is that Vajpayee also continued with his peace initiatives with Pakistan and China despite losing power after a year and coming back again in 1999. These sent the message that India was not planning to go berserk after gaining control of the nuclear weapon and still believed in making peace with its hostile neighbours in the conventional way. Vajpayee'e legacy saw India's foreign policy undergoing a permanent change and it also paved the way for continuity in India's responsible nuclear policy which never put it in a collision course with the West. This is how Vajpayee's cold-headed statesmanship not only saved the day for India but also cemented its place as a nation that abided by responsibility despite having possession of the dangerous N-weapon. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 11, 2018, 13:20 [IST] Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Middle East Eye Recent events have highlighted why the continuing refusal by many Western academics and artists to take up the Palestinian call for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel is so wrong-headed. Opponents of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement argue that such penalties harm, rather than assist, solidarity with Palestinians. That, for example, was the conclusion of the 18,000-strong Modern Language Association (MLA) in the United States when it rejected a boycott motion last year. Academic freedom was presented as paramount and a route to dialogue with Israeli scholars that could influence Israeli society for the better. It is also claimed that Israel's arts community is largely progressive and that continuing cultural engagement will bolster voices expressing solidarity with oppressed Palestinians. But in reality, the space in Israel for academic dialogue, as well as cultural freedom, is shrinking rapidly. And the few Israeli academics or artists who are taking a stand on behalf of Palestinians are more isolated than ever before. This week, Palestinians mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the dispossession of their homeland that they describe as "the catastrophe." But with the conflict still unresolved after many decades, the signs are not only that Israel fully deserves an academic and cultural boycott, but that without such external pressures, the oppression of Palestinians will intensify. It emerged last week that two human rights activists -- one a prominent legal scholar -- were barred entry to Israel. They were due to lead a delegation of lawyers and academics assessing the human rights situation in Israel and the occupied territories. Katherine Franke, a law professor at New York's Columbia University, was among four of the group detained at Israel's Ben Gurion airport. She was deported after a lengthy interrogation during which she was shouted at and accused of lying. Franke found herself falsely characterised as a leader of the BDS movement. She and Vincent Warren, head of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, posted on Twitter a photo of themselves under an airport "Welcome" sign, with the caption: "Don't let the 'Welcome' sign fool you. It doesn't apply to #humanrights." Earlier this year, Israel's police minister, Gilad Erdan, issued a blacklist of 20 organisations accused of supporting BDS whose leaders were barred from entering Israel. But in fact, the evidence cited by airport officials came from another source: two far-right websites, the Canary Mission and Amcha, that seek to damage the reputations of students and academics in the United States who have taken public positions critical of Israel. It was for this reason that Franke observed: "The [Israeli] government is essentially outsourcing their security to rightwing trolling websites." It is bad enough that Israel is relying on bullying, virulently anti-Palestinian groups to determine which foreign academics will be allowed into Israel to conduct dialogue with Israeli academics and community leaders. But, given that Israel also controls the entry points into the occupied Palestinian territories, these same hate groups are also deciding whether overseas academics will be able to meet and work with Palestinian academics and civil society leaders. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From To The Point Analyses Part I -- Palestinian Victims For 100 years -- counting from the 1917 Balfour Declaration -- the Zionist process of conquest has ruthlessly gone forward. It has relentlessly displaced the non-Jewish population of Palestine so as to facilitate the "ingathering of the Jewish exiles." The processes and behaviors consciously chosen to achieve this end have been consistently brutal, aggressive, and expansionist. Many Israelis don't so much deny these facts as excuse them. Take for instance the Israeli author Ari Shavit. In his book My Promised Land he confesses that the crimes of the Zionist movement (the example he uses is a 1948 massacre of Palestinians at Lydda) are not sufficient for him to reject its achievement (the founding of the Israeli state). "I will stand by the damned. Because I know that if it wasn't for them, the state of Israel would not have been born. ... They did the dirty, filthy work that enables my people, myself, my daughter and my sons to live." Shavit makes too little of "standing by the damned." The fact is that the behavior of the damned did not end in 1948. The atrocities continue, and fully half of Israeli Jews would just as soon see the Palestinians cleansed from Israel once and for all. Shavit will see no end to the consequences of his sordid affirmation. Put another way, it is the fate of those who swear loyalty to an empowered racist political ideology to be damned for as long as that belief system guides the exercise of power. Zionists have, essentially, committed moral and ethical suicide. Let me try to explain what has been done to this second set of victims. Zionism has victimized the Jews of conscience (and indeed all Jews) in two ways: first, it has attempted to tie them to a racist political ideology that glorifies the settler-colonialism of the 19th century and anachronistically carries it into the modern world. This is a process that has proven increasingly harmful to those aspects of international law that have traditionally helped protect Jews and other minorities. The Zionists have not just abandoned this law -- their policies are the antithesis of these humane and civilizing rules. Second, in religious terms Zionism has empowered the reactionary and exclusionist orthodox branches of Judaism to the point of fractionalizing the religious community as a whole, and threatening the excommunication of Judaism's reform movement. Thus, Zionism represents a real threat to any modern ethical interpretation and practice of the Jewish religion -- a practice more congenial to the support of human rights. This connection really makes a formal, international alliance of Palestinians and Jews of conscience a necessity -- an alliance that builds on the very important ones that now exist in local venues. What I propose is a preliminary meeting of representatives of Palestinian organizations from Israel and the Occupied Territories, as well as the Palestinian diaspora, coming together with representatives of organizations of Jews of conscience from both Israel and the Jewish diaspora. The Jewish groups should be those already promoting Palestinian human, civil and political rights. The object of such a meeting should be to set down united objectives leading to the transformation of Israel from a exclusionist "Jewish state" to a truly democratic state of all its people. Future meetings could work out mutual strategy and tactics for the work of this international united front. The truth is that such a move as this is probably necessary if the horror of Zionist Israel is ever to be overcome. The Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories cannot win this war on their own. Those in the diaspora are struggling mightily but can not yet challenge Zionist influence in government circles. Worldwide civil society has become engaged in promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Christians of conscience also do vital work. Yet, it is the Jews who, most importantly, must be seen to offer a democratic alternative to Zionist racism. And, they must do this publicly, shoulder to shoulder, with the Palestinians. A redeeming future for both people lies through just such an alliance. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Wallwritings Movie Poster (Image by Fandango) Details DMCA Paddington 2 is just the right film to share this Mother's Day. To understand why, reflect back to the original 2015 Paddington film, a creative tale drawn from a British literary series. In the series and in two films, Paddington is a very realistic animated bear who travels to London from his native Peru. Paddington's Peruvian family had been persuaded by a British explorer, that London would be a welcoming location for bear visitors. In the original Paddington film, our trusting, very realistic, animated young bear travels to London by boat and train. Arriving at London's Paddington Station, he looks for friendly faces. He finds some in the station, a human London family, the Browns. The mother of the family is Mary Brown, played in her usual welcoming manner, by Sally Hawkins. She insists on taking Paddington home with the family. Henry Brown, the father of the family, is played by Hugh Bonneville, who agrees, reluctantly, to welcome Paddington for what he presumes will be a brief, but helpful visit. The family, which also includes two children, agrees that their visitor should be named Paddington, his London arrival-point. Paddington 2, is a 2017 film sequel, following the original 2015 release. It provides further background to Paddington's origin story. He was rescued as a young cub from near-drowning by two adult bears. Paddington was raised by a mama bear he calls Aunt Lucy. She teaches him the importance of "generosity of spirit and unshakable faith in the value of good manners," according to a Guardian review. In Paddington, the original film, young Paddington settles permanently into the welcoming Brown home. Infused with the goodness embedded in him by his Creator, then sustained, initially, by the Creator's helpmate, Aunt Lucy, Paddington's goodness encounters evil in the form of someone who wants to exploit him. He preserves against that evil attacker and lives to visit us again in Paddington 2. I encountered the young traveling bear, now Londoner, while in search of a Mother's Day film to show to a group of retirees on Movie Night, an occasion when we honor mothers. My apologies for getting word of Paddington 2 to readers so late in the week, but I have been distracted by a series of world events in which evil appears to be dominating. I decided it was time for a break from those events and a good time to remember what the mothers I have known and loved over the years, taught me about the "generosity of spirit and unshakable faith in the value of good manners" But no worries, there is still time to secure a copy of Paddington 2 to show to your friends and loved ones. If not this weekend, there are others ahead. Here is all you need to know before seeing this delightful and wise film: Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Gush Shalom Israeli PM Netanyahu encouraged Trump to pull out of Iran nuclear deal (Image by YouTube, Channel: CBS News) Details DMCA "IF YOU want to understand the policy of a nation, look at the map!" Napoleon is supposed to have said. It is good advice. If you are living in Israel, these days, you get the impression that the huge State of Israel is dictating to its American vassal what to do about Iran. President Donald Trump listens and complies. Bibi the Great tells him to tear up the Iranian deal for no obvious reason, and he obeys. He has no choice, poor man. But then you look at the map, and to your great surprise you discover that the USA is a huge country, while Israel is a mere speck, so small that its name has to be written outside its borders, in the sea. So what is wrong? Geography, of course, is not the only factor. Israel has some millions of faithful adherents, who are American citizens and have a lot of money. But still. Can it be that we got the picture wrong? That Trump is not the vassal of Netanyahu, that it's the other way round? That Trump dictates, and Bibi, for all his bluster, just obeys? IT WOULD not be the first time. In ancient times, the leaders of the Jewish commonwealth in Palestine tried very hard to please the imperator in Rome. Nero, for example, the man who enjoyed setting fire to his own city, and to the world, while playing the flute, or whatever. Donald Trump is the present-day Nero, the imperator of the New Rome. Trump's main object in life is to get out of the Iran deal, "the worst deal ever." Why? I have listened intently and have discerned no other reason than that the deal was forged by his hated predecessor, Barack Obama. What other reason was there for annulling the deal? I have heard none. The deal stopped Iran from proceeding with the building of a nuclear weapon. All experts, without exception (even in Israel) confirm that Iran has scrupulously adhered to its commitment. Indeed, the entire world outside the US (and Israel, of course) has now decided to go on with the deal. Germany, France and Britain, three not quite insignificant powers, believe that the deal has to be maintained. So do Russia and China, no tiny countries, either. Except Israel. Ah, Israel. MOST PEOPLE in Israel now believe that Binyamin Netanyahu, Bibi the Great, is really leading Trump on a leash. Bibi has such a magical hold over Trump, that the American president has to follow Israel's lead. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Reader Supported News It's become fashionable and politically expedient in Washington to file the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the "mistake" bin. It's the same bin the Vietnam War is filed in. The mistake label is most cruel to the millions of victims of those horrific campaigns. Let the record be clear: neither act of genocide was by any stretch a mistake. Both the U.S. war on Vietnam and the U.S. invasion of Iraq were as premeditated and purposeful as they were detached from the consequences. In the current context, it is instructive to take note of the rise of ISIS and the ongoing bloodbath in Syria. The two are connected, and both are direct consequences of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of the Iraqi government. Beyond the death and destruction, always underestimated by U.S. war planners, there is the devastating ripple effect of regional destabilization, which for the most part is entirely dismissed. What is most significant at this juncture about the wanton act of U.S. aggression against Iraq is that the consequences still rage out of control some 15 years after the very premeditated decision to invade and nearly a decade after power has slipped from the hands of the war's architects. In the summer of 2001, with his presidency less than a year old, George W. Bush and the Republicans faced a growing opposition that was reaching critical mass. Residual anger from the left over an election that was viewed as illegitimate was spreading to the political center, and the 2002 midterms looked grim for the GOP. Out of public view, however, there was drama playing out in the nation's capitol that would rock the world. Warnings that a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil was imminent were streaming into U.S. intelligence posts all over the world. Bush and his national security team were warned bluntly on August 6th by CIA director George Tenet. In his report entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," Tenet predicted ominously: "The attacks will be spectacular." For reasons that are now the subject of voluminous analysis, conjecture, and conspiracy theories, Bush and his camp took no meaningful action. Thirty-six days later, on the morning of September 11, 2001, Bush's political problem was canceled. He went in an instant from being an illegitimate president to being a "War President," and overnight his popularity among Americans soared. While Donald Trump's administration bears little resemblance to that of George W. Bush, or any other previous presidential administration for that matter, he too struggles for legitimacy. The most apparent commonality is that both men ascended to the presidency despite losing the popular election. Like Bush in 2001, Trump is in deep political trouble. Arguably even greater trouble than Bush. The perception that Trump has, or even might have, loyalties to an adversarial foreign power has set the stage for the most consequential investigation of a president since Watergate and perhaps ever. That investigation, headed by former FBI director and now special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, shows every indication of being in possession of damning criminal evidence, some of which has already led to formal criminal charges and guilty pleas. To say that Donald Trump is feeling the heat would be a fairly substantial understatement. This is a man who needs a game changer rather urgently. Enter John Bolton and his dream of war with Iran. War unites populations. Throughout history, ruthless and opportunistic leaders have used war or the threat of war, time and time again, to solidify their grip on power and neutralize domestic opposition. Newly ascendant national security adviser John Bolton understands this full well, and he has the ear of the commander in chief. Bolton has been preaching war with Iran for decades. His arguments have never managed to sway a U.S. president sufficiently to commence bombing. Part of his sales pitch to Trump undoubtedly includes a forecast of the political benefits. Political benefits are the only semi-coherent rationale for entering into an armed conflict with Iran even as the fires from Bush's Iraq mistake still burn. In every other regard -- from the perspective of U.S. and international security, the economy of America and its allies, and the environmental health of the planet -- a U.S. military assault on Iran would be a guaranteed disaster of epic and, like the disaster in Iraq, lasting proportions. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Dairy Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their diaries after publishing them. To see if the diary was renamed or re-published, please click here. Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. (Image by pixabay.com/) Details DMCA When I lived in New York City in 1972, for a brief time I worked at an unethical company that was in the business of hiring unemployed college grads like me to write student research papers and essays for unethical university students who were well off enough to pay for them. I got paid by the page and I never knew the name of the student whose paper I was writing. Of course, one could make the case that I was also unethical for writing the papers knowing the students were going to hand them in to their professors as their own work. In my defense, I was broke at the time and needed the money. The company, on the other hand, was in it for the profit and didn't concern itself with moral questions. By the way, these type of companies are still flourishing today, e.g., papersowl.com, termpapereasy.com, and essayshark,com, to name a few, which proves there will always be down-and-out college grads who need money and do what they need to do to survive. It also proves that business owners have not gotten any more ethical over the years, and neither have students. And this brings us to Donald Trump, who we all know has been an unethical businessman his entire adult life. But what about the young Donald, the college student? Was he a wide-eyed idealist committed to honesty and the highest academic values? Or was he an unethical student happy to pay to have his papers written for him? And did he also pay to have someone take his exams? Let's take a look at what we already know. According to Gwenda Blair, author of the 2001 book, The Trumps, Donald Trump's grades at Fordham, where he first attended college, were not all that terrific. So how was he able to transfer to the prestigious Wharton Business School in Philadelphia that only accepts the creme de la creme? Easy. Blair claims it was because Trump had an interview with an admissions officer who had been a high school classmate of his older brother. Also, the school knew that Trump's father was a multimillionaire, and it never hurts to have the son of a rich businessman as one of its students. Thus, we know the young Trump was not shy about using family connections to pave the way for him. We also know he was not averse to lying about his academic record. Throughout the years, some members of the media mistakenly reported that Donald Trump graduated first in his class at the Wharton Business School in 1968. Trump, of course, allowed this rumor to spread without ever denying it. He may have even started the rumor. But the truth is, he did not graduate first in his class; in fact, he didn't even graduate with honors, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the official school newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, many people believe that Trump has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, mainly because Trump always brags about going to Wharton, and he lets everyone assume it. But according to the Associated Press, he only holds a BS degree in economics from the school, not the more prestigious MBA. Another lie that Trump has promulgated is that he's "like, really smart" and a "very stable genius." Genius? Really? We've all heard him speak. Has he ever quoted anyone like Adam Smith or John Maynard Keynes? Has he ever said anything the least bit witty or clever or intellectual? Can he even string a few sentences together without using improper grammar? In truth, he has never been the kind of guy who has ever aspired to erudition. According to the late William T. Kelley, one of Trump's former teachers at the University of Pennsylvania: "Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had." But what about Trump's vaunted "genius" IQ? A couple of publications speculated that it could be as high as 156, but this number has been discounted because schools are bound by privacy laws not to release official student transcripts to the public. So once again, we are asked to take Trump at his word since there is no concrete proof about what his actual IQ is. And what is Donald Trump's word worth these days? Not much. According to the Washington Post, their fact checkers have caught him in over 3,000 lies since he took office as president. Moreover, those who work with him on a daily basis, like his staff, for example, use words like "moron" and "idiot" to describe him. In other words, the more people know Trump, the more they realize just how dumb he is. So I ask you: Is it a stretch to think that a spoiled, unethical rich kid like Donald Trump paid someone to write his papers or take his exams during his college days? It would certainly explain why as president he doesn't like to read or engage in any intellectual pursuits. It would also explain his insecurity about his own intelligence and why he feels the need to continually reinforce the idea that he's a "genius" when deep down he knows he's only second rate at best. One more thing. Trump began his political career by claiming Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen and questioned the authenticity of his birth certificate. Psychologists call this type of behavior "projection," that is, when you take your own shortcomings and project them onto someone else. In other words, Trump knew the web of lies he had told about his own academic and business careers over the years and projected them onto Obama. It never even occurred to him that not everyone is as corrupt and deceitful as he is. Eventually, he admitted that Obama actually was a U.S. citizen. But by then it didn't matter. The propaganda bullets had already entered the brains of his devoted followers and they loved Big Donald. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. On February 16th, the Justice Department unveiled the first of four pillars of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into interference in the 2016 election: the indictment of 13 Russians for Internet-based meddling. Since then the Mueller investigation has been quiet but there's new evidence that they are moving forward with the other three pillars of their inquiry: collusion, obstruction and hacking. On April 30, the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/us/politics/questions-mueller-wants-to-ask-trump-russia.html ) published the roughly fifty questions that the Mueller probe wants to ask Donald Trump, under oath. These questions are primarily about campaign coordination with Russia -- collusion -- and about possible obstruction of justice. The collusion aspect of the Mueller probe explore the possibility of illicit cooperation between Russian operatives, involved in election interference and hacking, and the Trump campaign. A key Mueller question for Trump focuses on the notorious June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting where a Russian operative offered to give key members of the Trump campaign political dirt on Hillary Clinton. Mueller also wants to know about communication between (Trump associate) Roger Stone and Wikileaks -- conversations about hacked DNC and Clinton Campaign emails. More generally, Mueller wants to find out what Trump knew "about Russian hacking, use of social media, or other acts aimed at the [Clinton] campaign." Mueller's most provocative question is "What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?" (Paul Manafort is the former manager of the Trump presidential campaign; he has since been indicted by the Mueller probe for his Ukraine consulting work and other undisclosed actions.) Manafort was present at the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting; the question suggests that the investigators know of other attempts to secure Russian assistance. In the context of the 2016 election, collusion can mean "a long-term criminal conspiracy." One would hope that the coming Mueller indictments would address the concern that Donald Trump has subterranean ties to Putin, and Russian oligarchs, and this relationship subverted the US electoral process. Several Mueller questions relate to this. Notably: "What communication did you have with Michael D. Cohen, Felix Sater and others, including foreign nationals, about Russian real estate developments during the campaign?" (There are rumors that the Mueller team has excavated the financial links between Trump and Russian oligarchs.) Although Trump continues to deny collusion, there seems to be ample evidence that there were, to say the least, unusual interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. (The latest revelation is that a Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, gave $500,000 to Trump associate Michael D. Cohen.) The key question is: can any of these interactions be tied to Trump? Another pillar of the Mueller investigation focuses on obstruction of justice: has the Trump Administration blocked DOJ efforts to understand interference in the 2016 election? There are three sets of Mueller questions relating to obstruction. The first set concerns Michael Flynn who was a key adviser to Trump during the campaign and, briefly, his national security adviser. (Flynn has agreed to cooperate with the Mueller probe and has pled guilty to lying to an FBI agent.) Mueller is interested in whether Trump was aware that Flynn had reached out to Russian officials before the inauguration. Another question asks if Trump has contacted Flynn about a possible pardon. The second set of obstruction-related questions concerns Attorney General Jeff Sessions. These questions concern Sessions decision to recuse himself from the Mueller inquiry and Trump's (alleged) pressure on Sessions to end the Russia investigation. The third set of questions relate to former FBI director James Comey. Mueller wants to ask Trump about the circumstances that led to Comey's dismissal. Specifically, Mueller would ask Trump: "What did you mean when you told Russian diplomats on May 10, 2017, that firing Mr. Comey had taken the pressure off?" There's abundant evidence that Trump is displeased with the Mueller investigation. (Almost daily, he Tweets to this effect.) What remains to be seen is whether there is concrete evidence that Trump has obstructed the investigation; for example, by promising to pardon those who have been targeted by the Mueller probe. Finally, the third pillar of the Mueller investigation regards hacking. This inquiry would explain who hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. As noted above, Mueller wants to find out what Trump knew "about Russian hacking, use of social media, or other acts aimed at the [Clinton] campaign." Summary: May 17th marks the anniversary of the day that the Mueller probe began. It's accomplished a lot in a remarkably rumor-free inquiry. There seems to be abundant evidence that Russian operatives interfered in the 2016 presidential election and that there was contact between the Trump campaign and Russians. Of course, as the presidential candidate, Trump bears some responsibility for this. What remains to be seen is whether there's direct evidence that Trump committed an unlawful act. Trump acts like he's guilty but, so far, there's no smoking gun. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. LONDON My language is Bengali (or Bangla) but I don't know it very well. I can speak well enough but I can barely read. And I can't write at all. I was born into a middle-class family in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1960. I attended English-medium schools, like St. Joseph High School. I had to study the vernacular, but I hated it. I envied my father who never had to study Bengali. He was born in Calcutta in 1933 before the creation of India and Pakistan (I don't call it partition because the land had been united by the British imperialists: there was nothing to partition. It had been more like the Ottoman Empire.). He attended the English-medium Hare School and in East Pakistan, St. Gregory's College, also English-medium. My father's English was very good. At Hare School, the headmaster read his writing and told him in private, "Some day you'll be a great writer." Of course he had no wish to be a writer. But his correspondence was pure literature. He would agonize over a word, seeking the mot juste, an expression borrowed from Flaubert that he often used. He changed his job and went on a management course, first to Istanbul, and then to London. My mother, brother and I followed. Incidentally, it was in Istanbul that I saw my first mini-skirt! This was in 1970. When my wife and I visited Istanbul in 2014, we saw women wearing hijab. We moved to London where we had planned to stay three months and then return to East Pakistan. The country was then in the grip of two demagogues, Sheikh Mujib in the East, and Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto in the West. The war began, and we found ourselves stranded in London. My father got a job as a clerk despite having a master's degree in economics. He didn't have a British degree. We lived in cramped quarters, and I recalled the bungalow-like house that we had lived in in Dhaka, with its large compound; back then we had a car (very rare in those days) and servants. I began to resent London and longed to get back home, not realizing that things had changed. In London, I attended Noel Park Junior School. The kids there were surprised by my English. They wondered where I'd learnt it from. I picked up an English accent, but carefully avoided the cockney the boys and girls spoke. I never said 'ain't', always 'haven't' or 'didn't'. I was a snob and I told them about the lavish life we had back home. They were plebeian, I was patrician. I felt superior, but I was a second-class citizen. I began to long for home (now Bangladesh). Bangladesh for me then meant the sun - the heat, the humidity as opposed to the cold and rain of London. I never thought about the language. We returned to Bangladesh in 1973. The firm where my father worked had left. Everything had been nationalized. My father had no job for a year. Then I entered school. I will never forget the first day. My mother had bought all the textbooks and lovingly wrapped them in white paper. When I got back from school, I announced that I would never study there. Why? Because everything was in Bengali. The government had made Bengali compulsory for all schools. This was Bengali nationalism. St. Joseph used to be English-medium, as the reader will recall, but now it was forced to teach in Bengali. The headmaster, Brother Thomas Moore, pleaded with the government to allow subjects to be taught in English; he was almost thrown out of the country. Consequently, I loathed school. But my father introduced me to English literature. I read almost all the novels of Thomas Hardy. I read the essays of Robert Lynd. Then I discovered English poetry. I read Byron, Shelley and Keats with avidity as though my life depended on it. I also discovered the Bible, the King James version. I didn't care about the religion, but I worshiped the language. 'Before the co*k crows thrice, thou shalt regret me three times'. 'Inasmuch as ye shall have done it unto the least of these thy brethren, ye shall have done it unto me; and inasmuch as ye shall not have done it unto the least of these thy brethren, ye shall not have done it unto me'. I am quoting from memory. I shall forever be grateful to the English language for saving me from the madness of Bengali nationalism. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. By David Corn And Dan Friedman The news was explosive: A Russian oligarch had funneled half a million bucks to Michael Cohen, the fixer and lawyer for Donald Trump. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, released a report claiming that Viktor Vekselberg -- a Putin-friendly Russian tycoon -- and an American citizen named Andrew Intrater had "routed eight payments to Mr. Cohen through a company named Columbus Nova LLC" starting in January 2017. Intrater, who is Vekselberg's cousin, is the CEO of Columbus Nova, a US-based firm. The implications of this were immense. Around the time the payments began, the US intelligence community had declared that the Kremlin had attacked the 2016 election in order to help Trump become president. Also around that time, Cohen had joined with a Ukrainian lawmaker and Felix Sater -- a former felon who had worked with Trump on Russian-related deals and other projects -- to secretly push within the new Trump administration a pro-Moscow peace plan for Ukraine. And, in January 2017, Intrater, who had never been a major political donor, made a whopping $250,000 contribution to Trump's inauguration committee. (Months later, he would give $35,000 to the Trump presidential campaign and the Republican Party.) So what was Cohen doing hooking up with Vekselberg and Intrater at this point? And why would he even be messing with a Russian oligarch when Trump was being battered by reports of Russian interference in the election and possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia? Avenatti's revelation -- which was confirmed by the New York Times and NBC News--opened a new front in the Trump-Russia scandal, as it expanded into a swampy pay-to-play controversy and merged with Trump's Stormy Daniels scandal. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From flickr.com: Donald Trump - Caricature (Image by flickr.com) Details DMCA Why am I not surprised that Trump's GOP sycophants and cronies will most likely throw him under the wheels of the bus if he continues to fire nasty verbiage in Robert Mueller's direction? This reality show mastermind, who is the first U.S. President caught up inside an exploding fireworks factory of salacious scandal with none other than a porn queen, has all the grace of a Louisiana cottonmouth. But it seems Trump's big wish is to go down in history as a great military leader, and he plans to utilize "his generals" to grow these laurels for himself. "Strength is going to keep us out of nuclear war," Trump said before a crowd in Washington County, Mich., after dissing out on the national press dinner in late April. Overtones of this nuclear war message, (which can be subtitled 'a weakling's path'), was also a mainstay at Trump's speech before a national NRA convention in Dallas, Texas, the afternoon of May 4. Well, Donald Trump, you are a world leader who is crazy enough to use nuclear weapons to annihilate the world to prove you're right. Are you eccentric and insane enough to fire-off military-style missiles if you don't get your "Great Wall of Mexico" built? For no rhyme or reasoning whatsoever, why? As a salient and important New York Times opinion reads that was published on Oct. 26, 2017, "The United States nuclear arsenal consists of 4,000 warheads, plus more than 2,000 warheads awaiting dismantlement. This number came into focus recently after a report that President Trump said in July that he wanted a huge increase in the country's nuclear capability. So, are 4,000 nuclear warheads enough? In fact, that is far more than the country could ever need. The nuclear stockpile is so large, and its payload so enormous, researchers determined that the United States could kill large parts of the populations of more than a dozen countries using less than half its arsenal." Let's face it, after Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian patrons killed nearly a half a million people in Syria and forcing throngs more in exile, what does Trump do? He drops tonnages of missiles on Syria. The world stage is not a place for an entitled man with the maturity level of a three-year-old spoiled brat to play ' toy soldiers', or the old post W.W. II game, Battleship. There are lives involved here. Human lives. And Trump cannot run roughshod over the entire world to prove his crazy points in a power play to stay in office. Besides, dropping warheads on countries does not a great military man make. If anything, it makes for a ratfink and a true, world-scale misanthrope! Donald Trump, Mr. Mueller was a military hero, and you are not and never will be. The only thing you can claim is that you are a tyrant trying to run a con game of insane and despicable proportions in what many saw, and still see, as a democratic, good nation, and a nation of laws, not of men. Robert Mueller earned his military accolades in the real-deal military. Not in a military boarding school for disciplining tough, nasty kids. And he did not earn his military accomplishments by going to the nearest state university and joining ROTC. He has been awarded combat medals, including The Military Order of the Purple Heart,, for being wounded as a U.S. soldier in combat. According to the Washington Post, "In combat, Mueller was a member of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, an infantry unit assigned along dangerous Mutter's Ridge. It was a section of Quang Tri province that overlooked the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone that separated North Vietnam and South Vietnam." You, on the other hand, Donald Trump, have an almost life-sized portrait of Andrew Jackson, the great "Indian killer" who was largely responsible for the Trail of Tears and the decimation and mass death of tens of thousands of Five Tribes Native Americans, hanging in the Oval Office. And you also have that ridiculous statue in the Oval Office of some sort of bandoleer riding something that looks like a bunking bronco to the left of your big, fat desk there. It's almost a Quixotic oxymoron to see this thing situated in the room with you, a man who invents battles with any one and anything that stands in his path. Another war hero, John McCain, who is very sick with a brain ailment, recently said that if he dies, he does not want Trump at his funeral. That's terrible when a true war hero, like McCain, bars someone, especially the President of the United States, from a funeral. Some might say McCain is crying sour grapes about what Trump deemed as true war heroes "don't get captured," but it can also be seen in another light, too. Trump does sick and upsetting things almost on a daily basis, which obviously bothers Sen. McCain to no end. For example, just a few days ago, Trump did not allow our country's "Teacher of the Year", Mandy Manning, to receive her award at an official ceremony at the White House a few days before she read the speech on CNN on May 5. Trump apparently did not like the fact that Manning praised her Middle Eastern refugee students and sided with people like gays and LGBTs for being out of the mainstream of society. So although McCain might have caused some waves with Donald Trump's most fevered followers, most Americans probably like the fact that he laid down some guide rules, if McCain dies from his life-threatening illness that he is fighting, and if Trump still happens to be President. Soon, some of Trump's worst haters and debaters most likely plan on seeing Trump sunning himself inside the confines of a federal penitentiary's yard, smoking stubs left on the concrete and conversing with other horrid criminal types about all his sexual liaisons and conquests. But how's about the here and now? When I wrote the earliest drafts of this opinion in early April, the pundits on MSNBC were talking about weapons being thrown Syria's direction, if Trump has his way. And Trump did have his way. He dropped bombs on what he and his coterie of current criminals deem as strategic striking points, but according to reports, nobody was killed or injured. In hindsight,Trump can say what he wants about MSNBC pundits, but not only are they not purveyors of what he terms "fake news," they are also very good at prognosticating the actual hard-copy truths that ensue after the opinion has died and everyone has left the newsroom. Speaking for myself, I spent the first two years of my college days at an urban university in a city known as the "Rubber Capital of the World" firing an M-16 at an enemy party while out on maneuvers many weekends, then making camp and cleaning and then re-cleaning that hideous machine gun. I remember once we caught a rabbit in a trap, skinned it, mixed in some potatoes and vegetables and made some hideous rabbit stew that tasted more like gruel than a rabbit cut up with some veggies. The people I answered to - we all did, actually - were heart-attack serious about how lethal that little light-weight, lead-shooting device can be. And they knew that to survive in battle, soldiers must eat to sustain themselves.On another occasion, when an Army officer caught me snoozing in the bushes after a long night of maneuvers, he scolded me fiercely and then proceeded to yell at the top of his baritone voice something to the effect like, "Vargo, you never want to leave your weapon out of your reach!" So, I informed him my M-16 was only a few inches from my fingers. So, he made me do something laborious and cruel like clean my weapon five or six times that night. Something of the sort, anyhow. When I did not accept a full commission and a free ride to my last two years at that university to get my B.A., that particular officer took it very hard. He took me in his office and told me he thought I would make a great Army officer. I couldn't believe it. But I didn't back down. There was no way I was going into the "peacetime Army". So am I a military man? No. I refused to be one of those a long time ago and I have no frets or regrets about leaving U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at The University of Akron after what turned out to be two very long years.... I became concerned when my younger brother joined the "Peacetime Army" and now I am even more fettered in witnessing this five-time draft dodger blasting verbal blanks at Mueller, who has a sterling reputation and was himself a splendid and highly decorated military officer. One of the Red, White & Blue's finest. It's all a smokescreen. Donald Trump gets his kicks by kicking around those who answer to him. And having Mueller under and ever-present threat of being fired is a way that Trump thinks he is "out-trumping" Mueller. But let's see what happens when Mueller subpoenas Trump to answer to an array of criminal and possibly, civil charges.... Fate will undoubtedly shine on Mr. Mueller, but I have my doubts about the witchy spinsters casting a winning grin in Trump's direction. So why am I telling you all this? Well, when Lindsey Graham said that firing Mr. Mueller "Would be the beginning of the end for Trump," well, he wasn't exaggerating. And with others in the Red Congress eyeing up The Donald as if he has syphilitic insanity, well, go figure. If you do good things, good things come back to you. And if you do a lot of bad things, that bad karma can be horrid. Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "The world is seemingly full of disconnected crises, but Rob Kall begs to differ. An exceptional pattern thinker, he connects a range of contemporary challenges through a framework of bottom-up solutions in a world dominated by top-down thinking. Mining extensive interviews with thought leaders and exploring an eclectic mix of leading-edge ideas, Bottom-Up describes a variety of latent and emergent characteristics of an evolutionary paradigm shift that's changing the world. Whether your focus is in business, leadership, activism, or organizations, Kall offers a practical conceptual map and toolset to engage the planetary evolution taking place all around us. If you want to make a difference and need inspiration for how to participate in this global transformation, there is plenty in this book to draw from." Antonio Lopez, author of The Media Ecosystem Hydraulic Breakers 2018 Global Industry Key Players Atlas Copco , Boart Longyear , Caterpillar , Komatsu , Sandvik Market Analysis And Forecast To 2025 Global Hydraulic Breakers Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3158831-global-hydraulic-breakers-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3158831-global-hydraulic-breakers-market-research-report-2018 Global Hydraulic Breakers MarketThis report studies the global Hydraulic Breakers market status and forecast, categorizes the global Hydraulic Breakers market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).Request a Sample Report @Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsThe major manufacturers covered in this reportAtlas CopcoBoart LongyearCaterpillarKomatsuSandvik...The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoImpactor TypeReaction TypeCompound TypeOtherOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingBuildingMiningOtherThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Hydraulic Breakers capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Hydraulic Breakers manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Hydraulic Breakers are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersHydraulic Breakers ManufacturersHydraulic Breakers Distributors/Traders/WholesalersHydraulic Breakers Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAvailable CustomizationsWith the given market data, Researcher offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Hydraulic Breakers market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.Table of Contents-Key Points CoveredGlobal Hydraulic Breakers Market Research Report 20181 Hydraulic Breakers Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hydraulic Breakers1.2 Hydraulic Breakers Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Hydraulic Breakers Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Hydraulic Breakers Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Impactor Type1.2.4 Reaction Type1.2.5 Compound Type1.2.6 Other1.3 Global Hydraulic Breakers Segment by Application1.3.1 Hydraulic Breakers Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Building1.3.3 Mining1.3.4 Other1.4 Global Hydraulic Breakers Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Hydraulic Breakers Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Hydraulic Breakers (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Hydraulic Breakers Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025).7 Global Hydraulic Breakers Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Atlas Copco7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Hydraulic Breakers Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Atlas Copco Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Boart Longyear7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Hydraulic Breakers Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Boart Longyear Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Caterpillar7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Hydraulic Breakers Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Caterpillar Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Komatsu7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Hydraulic Breakers Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Komatsu Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Sandvik7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Hydraulic Breakers Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Sandvik Hydraulic Breakers Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued.Complete Report Details @Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Epic Research Daily Agri Commodity Report Of 11 May 2018 http://www.epicresearch.co/ Spices Board has tightened rules of sampling for Jeera (Cumin) exports after receiving several representations from importing countries on adulteration and inferior quality shipments from Gujarat. Surveillance sampling and testing conducted by the Board found adulteration in a cumin seed export consignment of 12.5 MTs in a Gujarat-based Exporting Unit. Quality Evaluation Laboratory of the Board at Kandla (Gujarat) had reported the presence of 23.33% extraneous matter against maximum limit of 3% in the sample taken from the lot, which was a clear indication of adulteration.Palm Oil inventories in Malaysia fell to a seven-month low at end-April, declining for a fourth straight month as exports and domestic consumption outpaced production, official data showed. End-stocks in Malaysia, the world's second largest palm oil producer, fell 6.4% to 2.17 million tonnes, the lowest level since September, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported. The MPOB data showed April output dipped 1 percent to 1.56 million tonnes from a month earlier, but was still the highest April level since 2015.On the back of improved demand in the international market, especially from Iran and transference of higher Paddy prices over the last two procurement seasons, Indian Basmati Rice exports are expected to post strong growth in FY18 and FY19. According to an ICRA note, Indian Basmati Rice exports have witnessed a strong improvement in the current fiscal with 22 percent growth in value in 9MFY18 over the previous fiscal after having been on the downward trajectory over FY15 to FY17. This export growth has been fuelled by a 23 percent surge in average realizations (Rs64,594/MT in 9MFY18 as against Rs53,985/MT in FY17) and it is estimated that Basmati Rice exports may cross Rs26,000cr for FY18 (growth of 20% over last fiscal) and Rs28,000cr for FY19.Economic NewsTechnically Turmeric market is under fresh selling as market has witnessed gain in open interest by 7.93% to settled at 16675 while prices down 126 rupees. Now Turmeric is getting support at 7318 and below same could see a test of 7228 levels and resistance is now likely to be seen at 7566, a move above could see prices testing 7724. Turmeric on NCDEX settled down by 1.67% at 7408 on profit booking as pressure seen amid cues of IMD's normal monsoon forecast. Normal monsoon forecast by IMD is deemed to be good for crop acreage as it will prompt the farmers to decide on cultivation of turmeric despite not great returns in the current crop season. However, price downfall is likely to be cushioned on expectations of good demand in near-term amid slowdown in supplies at the spot markets. Supplies at the spot market are gradually declining as lean season is approaching. AP MARKFED announced to sell 1,761 ton of turmeric of finger and bulb varieties lying in the godowns of Nandyal (District Kurnool) and Vadlamudi through e-auction.Technically Mustard Seed market is under fresh buying as market has witnessed gain in open interest by 9.41% to settled at 110430 while prices up 22 rupees. Now Rmseed is getting support at 3890 and below same could see a test of 3869 levels and resistance is now likely to be seen at 3930, a move above could see prices testing 3949. Mustard Seed on NCDEX settled up by 0.57% at 3912 tracking firmness in spot demand supported by higher meal exports during the month of April. According to SEA latest export report, exports of mustard meal is sharply increased by 173% on year to nearly 97,891 tons, due to higher demand from South Korea. Exports have been 209% higher at 6.64 lt for the FY 2017/18 compared to previous years export volume of 2.14 lt. However, it is still trading at 7 month low on concern over sufficient stocks with the traders and oil mills.Trading RecommendationsSELL CORIANDER MAY BELOW 4740 TARGET 4710/4670/4620 SL 4790BUY TMC MAY ABOVE 7390 TARGET 7420/7460/7510 SL 7340SELL GUARGUM5 MAY BELOW 8160 TARGET 8130/8090/8040 SL 8210Epic Research Limited is a supreme level financial advisory services provider firm. We have designed services for different investors as per their needs like commodity tips , equity tips, agri tips and many more to serve our clients. We offer regular services for investors with less capital and premium services for massive investors looking for higher returns on investments with bigger targets.Want to take a FREE TRIAL? Visit our site link below and become a part of our Epic family. Happy trading.ormail us @ info@epicresearch.coAlso you can Whatsapp us at :7049084664Our Office:411 Milinda Manor, 2 RNT Road, Indore 452001411 Milinda Manor, 2 RNT Road, Indore 452001 Global Bluetooth Speakers Market Headed for Growth and Global Expansion by 2023 https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/bluetooth-speakers-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/bluetooth-speakers-market/report-sample https://www.psmarketresearch.com The increasing requirement for mobility, growing demand of infotainment services, advancements in technologies, and growth in global population are some of the growth drivers of the global bluetooth speakers market. The less power consumption of speakers equipped with bluetooth functionality is also driving the growth of the global bluetooth speakers market. The speaker models equipped with AA batteries consume less power.Explore Full Report Description At:When the source device goes out of the bluetooth range, the speakers are unable to play the music as the connection breaks down, while other wireless technology such as Airplay and Wi-fi offer much wide range of streaming capacity. North America dominates the global bluetooth speakers market followed by Asia-Pacific.Bose Corporation, Harman International Industries Inc., Apple Inc., SAMSUNG, Sony Corporation, VOXX Electronics Corp., Plantronics Inc., are some of the competitors in the global bluetooth speakers market.Download Free Report Sample At:Global Bluetooth Speakers Market Segmentation:By Application Homes Offices Retail Educational Institutions Leisure OtherBy Charging Technology AC/DC AC-only DC-onlyBy Geography North America Europe Asia-Pacific Latin America Middle East and Africa (MEA)About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Epoxy Coatings Market Outlook, Opportunity and Demand Analysis, Forecast 2016 - 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/epoxy-coatings-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=18956 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Epoxy resins are actually a type of synthetic resins that are utilized in producing adhesives and plastics. These resins are widely acknowledged for their versatile properties such as extreme toughness, resistance, and excellent dimensional stability. Epoxy resins provide an external coating called epoxy coating that serves as a superb resistance to UV light, corrosive chemicals, and heat. The overall growth of the epoxy coatings market relies on the increasing demand for improved and durable coatings and paints. In addition to this, regional governments are putting high emphasis on curbing down VOC content in the paints and coatings made of epoxy-base.Read Report Overview @There are two types of epoxy coatings viz. waterborne and powder-based. The former is not reactive and fairly easy to use when treated with water. But waterborne coatings face relatively high number environmental issues. Thus, to counter the environmental issues, there has been an increased preference to powder-based epoxy coatings. Moreover, strict environmental policies are being adopted in various countries to curb down pollution and VOC emission. These type government policies are expected to significantly boost the powder-based epoxy coatings market in the coming years. However, fluctuating market prices of epoxy resins because of the volatile raw material prices is expected to have a negative influence on the market in the near future. But on the other hand, extensive research and development activities are underway that are backed by sound investments to develop eco-friendly epoxy resins. Such activities will substantially help in boosting the epoxy-coatings market in the coming years.Epoxy resins is a group of synthetic resins that are used to manufacture plastics and adhesives. They are known for their versatile properties. Epoxy coating is a thick protective covering made of epoxy resins. Epoxy surface coatings are amongst the commonly used industrial finishes. They provide exceptional resistance to heat, UV light, and corrosive chemicals. They also exhibit outstanding dimensional stability, extreme toughness, and resistance to abrasion. In addition, they offer excellent adhesion to surfaces of metals, fibers, glass, and several other materials. Superior properties of epoxy coatings are expected to fuel the global market for epoxy coatings during the forecast period.Based on the type, the global epoxy coatings market can be divided into two segments: waterborne coatings and powder-based coatings. The former type of coatings are water soluble and are normally cured with water. These are not reactive and are relatively easy to use. However, they face a fair amount of environmental issues. Powder-based coatings are cured under controlled high temperature. These are highly adaptable and useful in various applications. The powder-based segment held a major share of the global epoxy coatings market in 2015, due to minimal impact of these coatings on the environment. The segment is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period, owing to non-VOC (volatile organic compound) emission properties of powder-based coatings. The segment is also likely to be driven by high demand from end-user industries such as transportation and construction.Key drivers for the global epoxy coatings market are the increasing demand for waterborne and powder-based coatings, especially from developing countries. High cost of epoxy coatings may restrain the growth of the market, but the outstanding properties and long life of these coatings would foreshadow the high cost. Stern government regulations, especially to lower the air pollution, are projected to promote the adoption of low-polluting epoxy coatings technology. This is likely to boost the powder-based segment during the forecast period. Epoxy coatings are employed for preventing corrosion and rust on bodies and other components of automobiles. Growth of the automobile industry, particularly in Asia Pacific, is likely to drive the global epoxy coatings market.Request to view Sample Report:In terms of region, the global epoxy coatings market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific held the dominant share of the global epoxy coatings market in 2015, followed by Europe and North America. Asia Pacific is anticipated to continue its dominance in the global market during the forecast period. This is due to the increasing demand for epoxy coatings in developing countries and the developing economy of the region. China led the global epoxy coatings market in 2015 and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. This is due to growth of automobile and construction industries in the country. The epoxy coatings market in India and Taiwan is likely to witness substantial growth during the forecast period. The epoxy coatings market in Europe is expected to expand at a moderate rate during the forecast period. The market in Latin America is estimated to expand rapidly during the forecast period, primarily due to demand for epoxy coatings and its proximity to the U.S. markets. This makes it a genuine choice for the set-up of production facilities.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Metal Packaging Market Size 2018 | Global Key Players : Amcor Ltd, Ardagh Group, Crown Holdings, Ball Corporation, CPMC Holdings | Forecast to 2022 Metal Packaging Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1917 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/metal-packaging-market-1917 MarketResearchFuture.com added New Report Named Metal Packaging Market 2018: Global Industry Analysis, Market Growth and Opportunity Assessment, Segmentation By Material (Steel, and Aluminum), Product (Cans, Drums & Barrels, Caps & Closures, and Others), Application (Food, Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care, and Others), and By Region | Outlook to 2022 to its Database.Global metal packaging market is expected to reach at USD 136,137.5 million by the end of the forecast period at CAGR of 3.29%.Market HighlightsThe demand for aluminum aerosol cans has been steadily rising, reaching a new level, driven largely by technological improvements in product performance and features, and innovations in aesthetic appearance in terms of colors, shapes and prints. The expansion in end-use application, especially in the field of personal care products, consumer household appliances and pharmaceuticals ensure better market prospects. In addition, the growth potential of the beverage market bodes well for the profitability of the metal packaging industry.However, factors such as increasing material cost and environmental issues are the major restraints that could hinder the market growth. As, two predominantly used materials in metal packaging are steel and aluminium which are expensive compared to plastic.Click For Report Sample PDF :Key PlayersThe key players of the global metal packaging market Amcor Ltd. (Australia), Ardagh Group (Ireland), CPMC Holdings Ltd. (China), Crown Holdings (U.S.), Grief Incorporated (U.S.), Silgan Holdings (U.S.), Rexam Plc. (U.K.), Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd. (Japan), Ball Corporation (U.S.) and Huber Packaging Group GmbH (Germany).Industry NewsIn April 2016, Ball Corporation completed the acquisition of Rexam PLC. The acquisition aims at supplying innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for food & beverage, household products, and other technologies & services.Ball Corporation, in association with Henkel, has launched a lightweight aluminum aerosol can for the brand, Beauty Care. According to the partnership agreement, Henkel will utilize Ball Corporation's lighter weight real technology, which will help in increasing the strength and at the same time will reduce the weight of the can without affecting the package integrity.Market Research AnalysisBased on application, the market is segmented as beverages, food, personal care, pharmaceuticals and others. In which, beverage application segment accounts for the largest share of 66% due to increase in urbanization, changing lifestyle and increasing disposable income. Food segment is the second-largest application and is projected to grow at 5.2% CAGR during the forecast period.Based on region, North America region has accounted for the highest market share of 33.3%. The increasing consumption of beverages and rise in the usage of aerosol cans has led to the growth of market in the region. While, Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 4.30%.Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global metal packaging market, tracking three market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global metal packaging market by its product, material, application and regions.By Product Cans Drums & Barrels Caps & Closure OthersBy Material Steel Aluminum OthersBy Application Beverage Food Personal care Pharmaceutical OthersBy Region North America Europe Asia-Pacific Rest of WorldBrowse Full Report :Product Analysis Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic Analysis Geographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany Information Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesBrief TOC :1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology3. Market Dynamics4. Global Market, By Packaging Type5. Global Market, By Technology6. Global Market, By Application7. Global Market, By End-user8. Regional Market Analysis9. Competitive Analysis10. Conclusion11. List Of Tables12. List Of FiguresAsk for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Specialty Surfactants Market 2017-2021 | BASF, Evonik Industries, P&G Chemicals, Stepan Company https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1331111 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-specialty-surfactants-market-2017-2021-report.html/toc http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Specialty surfactants are surface-active agents used in emulsifying, wetting, dispersing, cleaning, and for foaming in anti-foaming agents. They are also used in applications such as paints, cosmetics, adhesives, detergents, fabric softeners, inks, and biocides. Specialty surfactants are primarily used to decrease the surface tension in between two interfaces such as liquid-gas, liquid-liquid, and liquid-solid. They have multiple functions and are more effective than commodity surfactants.The global specialty surfactants market to grow at a CAGR of 5.31% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global specialty surfactants market for 2017-2021. The report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- APAC- Europe- North America- ROWClick to get Sample PDF:Technavio's report, Global Specialty Surfactants Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- BASF- Evonik Industries- P&G Chemicals- Stepan Company- The Dow Chemical CompanyOther prominent vendors- Akzo Nobel- Arkema- Ashland- GEO- Innospec- Pilot ChemicalMarket driver- Growing personal care industry in emerging economies- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Increasing competition from vegetable-based surfactants- For a full, detailed list, view our reportView Complete TOC with Tables and Figures at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Linseed Oil Market Focusing on Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Key Players and Forecast to 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2574 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/linseed-oil-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Linseed Oil Market: OverviewLinseed oils are extensively used in the manufacturing of various products including putty, paints, gliding, wood finish, floorings, nutritional supplement, linoleum, and food processing. The high demand for these oils across various end-user industries can be attributed to their high bonding, polymerizing, and layer formation capabilities. Linseed oil in combination with different types of resins and solvents is used in creating linoleum, impregnators, and varnish for various industrial applications.This research report provides an in-depth analysis of the global linseed oil market and its overlying industries. It offers insights into the historic, latest, and expected data and trends of the market in terms of both volume and revenue. It also covers information about the exports and imports, domestic production, price dynamics and turnover of the linseed oil industry. A strategic analysis of key factors impacting the growth of the market is also included in the report. The report profiles key players in the global linseed oil market along with their business strategies, latest developments, and contact informationRequest For Report Brochure @Global Linseed Oil Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe increasing application of linseed oils in various applications such as coating industry and paint application is the foremost factor driving the global market. The increasing awareness about the medical benefits of these oils is boosting its adoption in manufacturing nutritional supplements. Various studies suggest that these oils are helpful in reducing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The oil produced through cold pressing method is safe for human as well as animal condition.Despite the various benefits offered by linseed oils, the eye or skin irritation caused due to their contact is estimated to hamper their adoption in childcare products. Furthermore, linoleum is being largely replaced by PVC, which is adversely affecting the growth of the global linseed oils market. Nevertheless, the manufacturers in the market will be able to see light at the end of the tunnel as PVC is being increasingly banned due to its hazardous impacts on the environment.Companies Mentioned in the Report:Mergers and acquisitions are among the commonly adopted strategies by the key players to stay relevant in the global linseed oil market. They are focusing on extensive research and development in order to introduce and expand new application areas of linseed oils. Some of the prominent players operating in the market are Linolie Danmark Aps, Gustav Heess GmbH, Lamotte-oil, Natrol, WS Lloyd Limited. Krishi Oils, American Linseed Oil Co., and Cargill U.S.Obtain Report Details @On the basis of geography, the key segments scrutinized in the report are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. The North America market for linseed oils is expected to experience healthy growth during the forecast period owing to the increasing demand for wooden products in the U.S. and Canada. Europe will also witness significant growth during the same period, with the U.K., Germany, and France being the major revenue contributors.Asia Pacific is poised to emerge as a lucrative market over the forecast horizon. The growth of the region will be supplemented by the flourishing growth of the various end-user industries including paint and food processing industries. The rapidly growing population in emerging economies such as India and China is also propelling the growth of the region.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is leader in analytics, research, and advisory services for Fortune 500 companies, scores of high potential startups, and financial institutions. Our success stories have proven why we are a preeminent provider of cutting-edge syndicated and customized research services. Leverage the best of our seasoned research analysts who hold a keen interest and enviable expertise of almost 4 million hours in global, regional, and local market intelligence.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Master Data Management Market Growth Trends and Drivers Analysis 2018-2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3105843-2018-global-master-data-management-mdm-industry-depth-research-report https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3105843-2018-global-master-data-management-mdm-industry-depth-research-report The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Master Data Management (MDM) industry market by types, applications, players and regions. This report also displays the 2013-2023 production, Consumption, revenue, Gross margin, Cost, Gross, market share, CAGR, and Market influencing factors of the Master Data Management (MDM) industry in USA, EU, China, India, Japan and other regionsMarket Analysis by Players: This report includes following top vendors in terms of company basic information, product category, sales (volume), revenue (Million USD), price and gross margin (%).SAPOracleIBMInformaticaStibo SystemsTIBCO SoftwareRiversand TechnologiesOrchestra NetworksEnterWorksMagnitudeTalendSAS InstituteMicrosoftKPMGTeradata CorporationSoftware AGAgility MultichannelVisionWareSupplyOn AGSunway WorldYonyouRequest a Sample Report @Market Analysis by Regions: Each geographical region is analyzed as Sales, Market Share (%) by Types & Applications, Production, Consumption, Imports & Exports Analysis, and Consumption Forecast.USAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaSouth AmericaSouth AfricaOthersMarket Analysis by Types: Each type is studied as Sales, Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.Customer DataProduct DataOthersMarket Analysis by Applications: Each application is studied as Sales and Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.Banking, Finance and Insurance (BFSI)IT and TelecommunicationsGovernment & Health CareManufacturing & LogisticsOthersTable of Content1 Master Data Management (MDM) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview of Master Data Management (MDM)1.2 Classification of Master Data Management (MDM)1.2.1 Type 11.2.2 Type 21.2.3 Type 31.2.4 Type 41.3 Applications of Master Data Management (MDM)1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.3.4 Application 41.4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Market Regional Analysis1.4.1 USA Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.2 Europe Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.3 Japan Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.4 China Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.5 India Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.6 Southeast Asia Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.7 South America Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.8 South Africa Market Present Situation Analysis1.5 Master Data Management (MDM) Industry Development Factors Analysis1.5.1 Master Data Management (MDM) Industry Development Opportunities Analysis1.5.2 Master Data Management (MDM) Industry Development Challenges Analysis1.6 Master Data Management (MDM) Consumer Behavior Analysis2 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Competitions by Players2.1 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Players2.2 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Players (2017-2018)2.3 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Price (USD/Unit) by Players (2017-2018)2.4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Gross Margin by Players (2017-2018)3 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Competitions by Types3.1 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Types3.2 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Type (2013-2018)3.3 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2013-2018)3.4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Gross Margin by Type (2013-2018)3.5 USA Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.6 China Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.7 Europe Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.8 Japan Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.9 India Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.10 Southeast Asia Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.11 South America Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.12 South Africa Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Competitions by Applications4.1 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.2 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Applications (2013-2018)4.3 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Price (USD/Unit) by Applications (2013-2018)4.4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Gross Margin by Applications (2013-2018)4.5 USA Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.6 China Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.7 Europe Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.8 Japan Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.9 India Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.10 Southeast Asia Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.11 South America Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.12 South Africa Master Data Management (MDM) Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications5 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Production Market Analysis by Regions5.1 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Production (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Regions5.1.1 USA Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.2 Europe Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.3 China Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.4 Japan Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.5 India Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.6 Southeast Asia Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.7 South America Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.8 South Africa Master Data Management (MDM) Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.2 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Production Value (Million USD) and Share by Region (2013-2018)5.3 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Price (USD/Unit) by Region (2013-2018)5.4 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Gross Margin by Region (2013-2018)6 Global Master Data Management (MDM) Sales Market Analysis by Region6.1 USA Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.2 Europe Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.3 China Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.4 Japan Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.5 India Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.6 Southeast Asia Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.7 South America Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.8 South Africa Master Data Management (MDM) Market Consumption Present Situation AnalysisContinuedAccess Complete Report @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Lead School JMA Pilani Pursue your Passion themed Summer Camp has a Roaring Start Lead School JMA Pilani Pursue your Passion themed Summer Camp has a Roaring Start http://jmapilani.org/ http://jmapilani.org/ https://www.facebook.com/JMAPilaniRajasthanRank1/ It is known that Information is just bits of data while knowledge is putting them together and wisdom is transcending them. Pilani in Shekhawati Rajasthan hometown to Birlas has been mostly in the news for wrong feel bad reasons such as lowest temperatures in winter and highest temperatures in summer etc but there are many happenings beyond these.For ten months in a year, School system operates by the prescribed syllabus of Board of affiliation but Summer break is indeed the time for children to take time off from the robotic routine of going to school and getting down to the syllabus for pursuing passions.It is known that Polymath is a person of wide ranging knowledge and learning whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas and who can to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The world of higher education has been talking of nurturing universities for grooming thousands of Polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci of Italy and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore of India.Smt. Jamuna Mishra Academy (JMA) established in the year 2004 is presently one of the most sought after schools at Pilani considered as Oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan well known in India today for top ranking institutions like BITS Pilani as well as CSIR Laboratory CEERI and globally renowned Birla Science Museum. Principal Mrs Booma Natarajan is of the opinion that nurturing Polymath should start at the school level and the summer camp offers wide opportunities for achieving this goal.To maximize FQ Feel Good Quotient, JMA Pilani has organized a summer camp for children during 11 20 May 2018 to enable students to pursue their passions. The activities include aerobics, painting (pencil sketch and water colour), martial arts, music (xylophone, keyboard, table, Conga drum (tumbadora), tabla, harmonium) and last but not the least Soft skills with focus on spoken English. The charges for one activity was fixed at Rs 150/- while for two activities Rs 250/-. Over a hundred students are enthusiastically participating in the summer camp and chilling out to beat the 40+ deg C heat.For more details about JMA Pilani seeAbout JMA Pilani: Smt. Jamuna Mishra Academy (JMA) established in the year 2004 is presently one of the most sought after schools at Pilani considered as Oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan well known in India today for top ranking institutions like BITS Pilani as well as CSIR Laboratory CEERI and globally renowned Birla Science Museum. JMA Pilani is a Co-educational English Medium School with Experienced Teachers, Spacious Classrooms and Modern Amenities designed to impart Quality Education combined with All Round Personality Development and lay the Best Foundation for the Childs Future. While the school admits both boys and girls, the girl student enrollment has been steadily rising every year and is presently nearly 50% of the total strength. The school has boys NCC, girls band which has been winning laurels every year too. Yoga and Fine arts are not just part of school routine but a way of life for the students.Mrs Booma Natarajan, M.Sc., M.A., B.Ed.Principal, Jamuna Mishra Academy JMANear Old Pilani Post OfficePilani Rajasthan 333031 IndiaPhone 91-1596-242314Email booma_pilani at yahoo.co.inWebsite:Facebook: Stick Packaging Market 2018 Leading Players Bemis Company, Amcor Corporation, Ball Corporation, Reynolds Group, Berry Plastics Corporation and Others Stick Packaging Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2573 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2573 MarketResearchFuture.com added New Report Named Stick Packaging Market 2018: Global Industry Analysis, Market Growth and Opportunity Assessment, Segmentation by Material (Paper, BOPP, Aluminum, Plastic, and others), by Application (Food & Beverages, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, and others), and by Region | Outlook to 2022 to its Database.Key PlayersBemis Company, Inc. (U.S.), Amcor Corporation (U.S.) Ball Corporation (U.S.), Reynolds Group Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), Smurfit Kappa Group (U.K.), Berry Plastics Corporation (U.S.), EXAIR Corporation (U.S.), RPC Group Plc. (U.S.), Rexam Plc. (U.S.), and Bosch Packaging Technology (U.S.) are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the Global Stick packaging Market.Click For Report Sample PDF :Stick packaging Market OverviewStick packaging Market is driven by various factors such as its increase in demand from food & beverage industry. The increase in government policies concerning the food safety regulations is also driving the growth of the market.The increase in use of packaged products with the growing disposable income is driving the growth of the market. The increase in demand for the packaged food because of the health consciousness is also driving the stick packaging market. The busy lifestyle of consumers has encouraged consumption of on-the-go products. Most importantly, the changing preference of consumers from rigid to flexible packaging has given a boost to the stick packaging market. Another reason towards the growth of global stick packaging market is the busy life style of the consumer that encourage the consumption of on-the-go product. The need for the high barrier flexible packaging such as moisture free, dust free solution is another prominent reason to drive the growth of the global stick packaging market.The food and beverage industry is a major consumer of stick packaging as products in this industry are fast moving and need to be light to reduce transportation costs and facilitate instant disposals. These packs provide flexibility, which facilitates ease of consumption, storage, and transportation. Stick packaging is versatile and ideal for graphic printing.Plastic packaging has gained huge popularity over the years due to its inherent characteristic of molding into a variety of shapes and sizes to ease consumption, storage, and transportation of various beauty care products, making it ideal for packaging.Stick packaging Market Competitive AnalysisKey players adopted various strategies to retain and/or expand their market share. Key strategies followed by most companies within the global stick packaging market were new product developments. Extensive research in this market has brought to light that new product development and entering into strategic partnerships and collaboration are the key strategies adopted by the major players in the global Stick packaging Market. This strategy has been adopted to cater to the technological requirements of the Stick packaging Market for both rigid and flexible packaging segment. The market is highly technology driven across all applications and thus demands regular product innovation and increased investment in R&D. Furthermore the partnerships with other players across the supply chain ensures the expanding client base as well as the market share for the companies.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:April 2016- Bemis Company, Inc. signed an agreement to acquire the medical device packaging operations and related value-added services of SteriPack Group, a global manufacturer of sterile packaging solutions for medical device and pharmaceutical applications.Dec 2017- Plastic packaging giant Pact Group Holdings Ltd. is buying two Asian packaging companies from Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. Reynolds Group operates globally, but has major operations in New Zealand and a principal office in Auckland.Stick packaging Market SegmentationThe Stick packaging Market can be segmented in to two key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation by Material - Paper, BOPP, Aluminum, Plastic, and othersSegmentation by Application - Food & Beverages, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, and othersSegmentation by Regions: North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Stick packaging Market Regional AnalysisThe global market is observed to be mature in developing economies such as Europe and North America. The reason behind this is the rapid growth in the packaging sector. The Asia-Pacific region is growing due to the increasing middle-class population and rise in disposable income of the people in this region. The developing economies such as China, Brazil, and South Africa are preferring new innovative flexible packaging over using traditional rigid packaging, which will result in the growth of this market. The US is the largest revenue contributor to this market as large-scale manufacturing processes are carried out in the country. The manufacturers in developing economies such as China, Brazil, India are gradually shifting their focus towards innovative flexible packaging solution from traditional rigid packaging solution in order to increase their sales.In Europe, Germany, France, and Russia are the major revenue contributors for pharmaceutical packaging. Stick packaging is gaining popularity in the region, especially for the packaging of capsules.Click To Send an Enquiry :The report for Stick Packaging Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Product Analysis Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic Analysis Geographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany Information Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesBrief TOC :1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology3. Market Dynamics4. Global Market, By Packaging Type5. Global Market, By Technology6. Global Market, By Application7. Global Market, By End-user8. Regional Market Analysis9. Competitive Analysis10. Conclusion11. List Of Tables12. List Of FiguresAsk for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Industrials.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence Industrials to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Packaging Tape Printing and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Demand and Trends Analysis on Micro Irrigation Systems Market Forecast, 2017-2023 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/micro-irrigation-systems-market.html#description https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/micro-irrigation-systems-market.htm http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Micro Irrigation Systems Market: SnapshotThe global micro irrigation systems market is teeming with opportunities to provide a sustainable irrigation solution for agricultural crop in water scarce regions. Agrarian economies of Asia Pacific and Africa face challenges of long spell of droughts and climatic uncertainties that require reliable man-made irrigation methods to prevent huge losses of agricultural crop. To address this, governments in these countries are educating farmers for the adoption of sustainable irrigation methods and are also providing subsidies on the installation cost of modern irrigation systems such as drip irrigation. This is boosting the micro irrigation systems market.In addition, micro irrigation systems ensure regularity and frequency of water application, which is a significant factor for the quality and yield of agricultural crop.Request For Report Brochure @However, on the flip side, high initial capital for micro irrigation systems limits their adoption for cost-intensive agriculture such as orchards and vineyards. Considering a host of favorable factors, the global micro irrigation systems market is poised to rise at an impressive CAGR of 15.3% between 2017 and 2023, as per a market intelligence study by Transparency Market Research (TMR).Demand for Sprinkler Irrigation Systems to Remain HighThe global micro irrigation systems market is studied on the basis of product type, component, application, and region. Depending upon product type, sprinkler irrigation systems and drip irrigation systems are the segments into which the micro irrigation systems market is divided. Sprinkler irrigation systems, of the two, dominates the micro irrigation systems market. The segment is likely to hold the leading 83.4% of the overall market to be worth US$7,296.3 mn by 2023 end; the growth of this segment is mainly because of inexpensiveness of sprinkler systems over drip irrigation systems that account for their widespread use in landscaping and agriculture. Sprinkler irrigation systems segment comprise traditional sprinkler, center pivot sprinkler, and lateral move sprinkler.On the other hand, drip irrigation systems is likely to surpass in terms of growth rate over the 2017-2023 forecast timeframe.Key companies in the global micro irrigation systems market include Netafim Ltd., The Toro Company, Rivulus Plastro Ltd., Sistema Azud SA, Lindsay Corporation, T-L Irrigation Company, Valmont Industries Inc., Reinke Manufacturing Company Inc., Elgo Irrigation Ltd., Eurodrip SA, Hunter Industries Inc., Rain Bird Corporation, and Jain Irrigation Systems Market.By component, the elements common to both sprinkler irrigation systems and drip irrigation systems are couplers and tubing. Component specific to sprinkler irrigation systems are pumping unit, and fittings & sprinkler heads. Pumping unit is the most expensive component of sprinkler irrigation systems; pumping unit is anticipated to report a revenue of US$2,922.0 mn by 2023.Drippers, backflow preventers, valves, filters, pressure regulators, and fittings are the components specific to drip irrigation systems. Filters, among them, are the most crucial component for the maintenance of drip irrigation systems.Application-wise, the worldwide micro irrigation systems market is segmented into small farms, large private and corporate farming, government land and projects, and others. Out of these, the segment of large private and corporate farming is anticipated to hold the leading 52.4% of the overall market by 2023.Obtain Report Details @High GDP Contribution of Agriculture makes Europe Significant RegionGeography-wise, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America are the regions into which the worldwide micro irrigation systems market is divided. Of them, Europe holds the leading share of the micro irrigation systems market vis-a-vis revenue. Modern farming practices account for extensive demand for micro irrigation systems in the region.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is leader in analytics, research, and advisory services for Fortune 500 companies, scores of high potential startups, and financial institutions. Our success stories have proven why we are a preeminent provider of cutting-edge syndicated and customized research services. Leverage the best of our seasoned research analysts who hold a keen interest and enviable expertise of almost 4 million hours in global, regional, and local market intelligence.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Metal Powder Market 2018 Analysis and Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3100668-2018-global-metal-powder-industry-depth-research-report https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3100668-2018-global-metal-powder-industry-depth-research-report The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Metal Powder industry market by types, applications, players and regions. This report also displays the 2013-2023 production, Consumption, revenue, Gross margin, Cost, Gross, market share, CAGR, and Market influencing factors of the Metal Powder industry in USA, EU, China, India, Japan and other regionsMarket Analysis by Players: This report includes following top vendors in terms of company basic information, product category, sales (volume), revenue (Million USD), price and gross margin (%).Nanoshel LLCAhlstromQuantumSphereTeknaPowdermetHoganas GroupSiping GaoSida Nano Material and EquipmentHenan Pingqi Nano MaterialKunshan Zhongju Nano New MaterialNanjing Emperor Nano MaterialHefei Kaier Nanometer Energy & TechnologyShanghai ChaoWei NanotechnologyRequest a Sample Report @Market Analysis by Regions: Each geographical region is analyzed as Sales, Market Share (%) by Types & Applications, Production, Consumption, Imports & Exports Analysis, and Consumption Forecast.USAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaSouth AmericaSouth AfricaOthersMarket Analysis by Types: Each type is studied as Sales, Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.CoCuFeNiZnMarket Analysis by Applications: Each application is studied as Sales and Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.Catalyst Industry3D Printing IndustrySurface Coating MaterialConductive PastesNano-lubricantOthersTable of Content1 Metal Powder Market Overview1.1 Product Overview of Metal Powder1.2 Classification of Metal Powder1.2.1 Type 11.2.2 Type 21.2.3 Type 31.2.4 Type 41.3 Applications of Metal Powder1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.3.4 Application 41.4 Global Metal Powder Market Regional Analysis1.4.1 USA Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.2 Europe Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.3 Japan Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.4 China Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.5 India Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.6 Southeast Asia Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.7 South America Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.8 South Africa Market Present Situation Analysis1.5 Metal Powder Industry Development Factors Analysis1.5.1 Metal Powder Industry Development Opportunities Analysis1.5.2 Metal Powder Industry Development Challenges Analysis1.6 Metal Powder Consumer Behavior Analysis2 Global Metal Powder Competitions by Players2.1 Global Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Players2.2 Global Metal Powder Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Players (2017-2018)2.3 Global Metal Powder Price (USD/Unit) by Players (2017-2018)2.4 Global Metal Powder Gross Margin by Players (2017-2018)3 Global Metal Powder Competitions by Types3.1 Global Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Types3.2 Global Metal Powder Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Type (2013-2018)3.3 Global Metal Powder Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2013-2018)3.4 Global Metal Powder Gross Margin by Type (2013-2018)3.5 USA Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.6 China Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.7 Europe Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.8 Japan Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.9 India Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.10 Southeast Asia Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.11 South America Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.12 South Africa Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type4 Global Metal Powder Competitions by Applications4.1 Global Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.2 Global Metal Powder Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Applications (2013-2018)4.3 Global Metal Powder Price (USD/Unit) by Applications (2013-2018)4.4 Global Metal Powder Gross Margin by Applications (2013-2018)4.5 USA Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.6 China Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.7 Europe Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.8 Japan Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.9 India Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.10 Southeast Asia Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.11 South America Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.12 South Africa Metal Powder Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications5 Global Metal Powder Production Market Analysis by Regions5.1 Global Metal Powder Production (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Regions5.1.1 USA Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.2 Europe Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.3 China Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.4 Japan Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.5 India Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.6 Southeast Asia Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.7 South America Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.8 South Africa Metal Powder Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.2 Global Metal Powder Production Value (Million USD) and Share by Region (2013-2018)5.3 Global Metal Powder Price (USD/Unit) by Region (2013-2018)5.4 Global Metal Powder Gross Margin by Region (2013-2018)6 Global Metal Powder Sales Market Analysis by Region6.1 USA Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.2 Europe Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.3 China Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.4 Japan Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.5 India Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.6 Southeast Asia Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.7 South America Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.8 South Africa Metal Powder Market Consumption Present Situation AnalysisContinuedAccess Complete Report @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India BPO Business Analytics Market to Grow at a CAGR of 33.97 % During the Period 2017-2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1287983 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1287983/global-bpo-business-analytics-market-research-reports/toc Business analytics outsourcing is the process of subcontracting the data and analytics functions of an organization to a BPO or third-party vendor that has expertise in the required domain. BPO business analytics services manage analytics related to business processes in organizations so that enterprises can focus on their core competencies and business processes.Business analytics has made it easier for IT managers to determine the cost of an in-house procurement and the installation of IT solutions such as operational and supply chain analytics. A firm that invests a huge amount to procure standardized business analytics software solutions might witness an increase in its maintenance and upgrade costs over time. However, this is not the case with business analytics outsourcing. Therefore, organizations are not considering high investments in their in-house IT solutions.Technavios analysts forecast the global BPO business analytics market to grow at a CAGR of 33.97 % during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global BPO business analytics market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the cloud computing services for BPO.Get the sample copy of this report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global BPO Business Analytics Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAccentureCapgeminiGenpactIBMTCSOther prominent vendorsAegisBRIDGEi2i Analytics SolutionsCognizantEXLFujitsuHCL TechnologiesHexaware TechnologiesHPEiGateInfosysNTT DATASutherland Global ServicesTech MahindraWiproWNS GlobalMarket driverRising cost pressure to maintain in-house IT systemsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportRequest for complete report TOC @Market challengeRising threat from open-source softwareFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendEvolution of cloud-based BPO servicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Balsa Wood Market 2018 | Industry Share, Size to Grow at a CAGR of 5.89 % and to generate huge revenue during 2018-2023 Balsa Wood Market, Balsa Wood Market Size, Balsa Wood Market Research, Balsa Wood Market Analysis, Balsa Wood Industry Analysis, B https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4473 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/balsa-wood-market-4473 Global Balsa Wood Market 2018 Industry Research Report provides important statistics, analytical and comparative data to give a complete understanding of the market Size, Share, Growth, Rising Trends, Sales Revenue, Sales Volume, Price, Cost Structure and Cost Margin analysis.Global balsa wood market was valued at USD 146.53 million in 2016 and is expected to grow at 5.89% CAGR to reach USD 217.26 million by the end of 2023Market Highlights:The balsa wood market is gaining traction across the globe, owing to the low density of wood, making balsa the lightest commercial timber available in the market. By type, Grain B segment has accounted for a larger market share due to its combine property of Grain A and Grain C type of wood. Grain C type on balsa market is estimated to grow at CAGR of 5.88%, during the forecast period as it is regarded as the most aesthetically pleasing.Major Players in the global balsa wood market includes: 3A Composites (Switzerland) , Gurit (Spain), DIAB International AB (Sweden), The PNG Balsa Company Ltd (Papua New Guinea), The Gill Corporation (U.S.), CoreLite Inc (U.S.) and SINOKIKO BALSA TRADING CO., LTD (China) among others.Get Access to the Sample Copy here :-Segment AnalysisThe global balsa wood market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. On the basis of type, the market is segmented into Grain A, Grain B, and Grain C balsa wood. Based on the application, the global balsa wood market is divided into aerospace & defense, renewable energy, marine, rail & road, industrial & construction among others.Key FindingsThe global balsa wood market is projected to reach USD 217.26 million by 2023 with 5.98% CAGR growth rate during the review period of 2017-2023. The Grain B balsa wood by type has acquired nearly 41% share of the market and is growing at highest CAGR among other grain types of balsa wood. Grain C is also a major segment, which is swiftly acquiring significant share of the market by growing at CAGR of 5.88% during the forecast period. Aerospace & defense segment as an application has acquired as the largest share of the market. The segment is growing at highest CAGR among other application of balsa wood, to reach USD 77.76 million. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the global balsa wood market, which is estimated to grow at CAGR of 5.97% to reach USD 71.25 by the end of review period. China acquired the largest market share and slated to grow at CAGR of 6.16% during the forecast periodGeographic Analysis :-The report covers brief analysis of geographical region such as:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceItalySpainU.K.PolandRest of EuropeAPACChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaBrowse Complete Report Details with Table & Figures:Intended AudienceBalsa wood producersBalsa wood composite manufacturersWind blades manufacturersPotential investorsBalsa wood suppliersNationalized laboratoryAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Organic Fertilizers Market 2018 Global Industry Study-Types, Share, and Growth by Leading International Manufacturers:Tata Chemicals Ltd.,Midwestern BioAg,Agrocare Canada,Italpollina S.p.A,Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Organic Fertilizers industry research, Organic Fertilizers Market Size, Organic Fertilizers Market Share, Organic Fertilizers Mark https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4076 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/organic-fertilizers-market-4076 Organic Fertilizers report provides key statistics on the market status of the Organic Fertilizers Element manufacturers is a valuable source of guidance direction for companies individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications manufacturing technology.Market ForecastThe global organic fertilizers market is growing due to increasing population as well as their increasing willingness to pay for organic foods. Farmers preference towards organic farming due to favorable pricing of the products has helped to increase the area under cultivation as well as growing agriculture land area for organic cultivation, has led to the increasing demand for organic fertilizers. In addition to the increasing population, the growing demand for food, rise in the crop production, increasing soil efficiency, growing economy, increasing demand for bio-fuels and high quality yield are expected to drive the organic fertilizers market.Increased awareness about the organic fertilizers due to government policies and rules towards the growth of organic fertilizers has raised the bar for quality, which, in turn, increase the market share of organic fertilizers globally. Major market dispersion is leading to the introduction of new products based out of the organic fertilizers and their retail across various regions. The market players are responding to these new opportunities by expanding their service offerings/product lines, which has fuelled up the share of organic fertilizers in the global market. High nutritional benefits obtained from organic fertilizers are also supporting the sale of organic fertilizers globally. Additionally, the augmentation of the product development together with research advancements are other significant reasons for the increasing growth of the organic fertilizers market during the forecast period 2017-2023.Competitive analysis:Some of the key players in the global Organic fertilizers market areTata Chemicals Ltd. (India)Midwestern BioAg (U.S.)Coromandel International Limited (India)Agrocare Canada (Canada)Italpollina S.p.A. (Italy)The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (U.S.)Get Access to the Sample Copy of this Report here -Downstream market analysis:Globalization and urbanization are key factors for the growth of this market. Furthermore, the admiration of organic fertilizers and its involvement of nutritional attributes as well as extra micronutrients are encouraging the growth of the liquid fertilizers market. The consumers willingness to pay for organic foods as well governments policies and rules towards the organic fertilizers is expected to play a significant role in the growth of this market during the forecast period. Additionally, the augmentation of the product development together with research advancements are other significant reasons for the increasing growth of the organic fertilizers market during the forecast period 2017-2023.Regional AnalysisThe global organic fertilizers market is regionally segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Europe region accounts for major market share followed by Asia Pacific for the organic fertilizers market. Ample availability of land for farming under organic cultivations as well as consumer willingness to pay for the organic foods, will drive the growth of the market in the European region during the forecast period. In Asia Pacific, strong government policies that contribute to the growth of organic fertilizers as well as large agricultural land area, will drive the growth of this market in this region. However, in European region, significant growth is expected in Germany, France and Italy due to increasing health and environmental concerns, over the forecast period 2017-2023.Intended Audience:Organic Fertilizers ManufacturersRetailers, WholesalersResearch OrganizationsE-commerce CompaniesTraders, Importers and ExportersKey Findings:Growing fertilizers industry is the reason for growing demand for organic fertilizers.Europe is expected to dominate the organic fertilizers market followed by Asia Pacific.Complete report on Organic Fertilizers Market report spread across 110 pages, profiling 15 companies and supported with tables and figures available @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@Market research future.com Machine Learning Courses Market Segmentation,Parameters and Prospects 2018 to 2025 Market Research Report Machine Learning Courses Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3163792-global-machine-learning-courses-market-size-status-and-forecast-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3163792-global-machine-learning-courses-market-size-status-and-forecast-2025 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Machine Learning Courses Market Segmentation,Parameters and Prospects 2018 to 2025 Market Research Report.This report studies the global Machine Learning Courses market, analyzes and researches the Machine Learning Courses development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeedX(USA)Ivy Professional School(India)NobleProg(India)Udacity(USA)Coursera(USA)Undemy(USA)Google(USA)CloudxLab(USA)Greatlearning(India)Simplilearn(USA)MIT(USA)University of Washington(USA)Edvancer(India)Jigsaw Academy(India)CMU(USA)College de France(France)Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoAcademic LearnerNon-academic LearnerMarket segment by Application, Machine Learning Courses can be split intoBanking & Financial Services IndustryHealthcare and Life SciencesOthersReport Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsGlobal Machine Learning Courses Market Size, Status and Forecast 20251 Industry Overview of Machine Learning Courses1.1 Machine Learning Courses Market Overview1.1.1 Machine Learning Courses Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Machine Learning Courses Market Size and Analysis by Regions (2013-2018)1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Machine Learning Courses Market by Type1.3.1 Academic Learner1.3.2 Non-academic Learner1.4 Machine Learning Courses Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Banking & Financial Services Industry1.4.2 Healthcare and Life Sciences1.4.3 Others2 Global Machine Learning Courses Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Machine Learning Courses Market Size (Value) by Players (2013-2018)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 edX(USA)3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Ivy Professional School(India)3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 NobleProg(India)3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Udacity(USA)3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Coursera(USA)3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Undemy(USA)3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Google(USA)3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 CloudxLab(USA)3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Greatlearning(India)3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Simplilearn(USA)3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Machine Learning Courses Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 MIT(USA)3.12 University of Washington(USA)3.13 Edvancer(India)3.14 Jigsaw Academy(India)3.15 CMU(USA)3.16 College de France(France)4 Global Machine Learning Courses Market Size by Type and Application (2013-2018)4.1 Global Machine Learning Courses Market Size by Type (2013-2018)4.2 Global Machine Learning Courses Market Size by Application (2013-2018)4.3 Potential Application of Machine Learning Courses in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Machine Learning Courses5 United States Machine Learning Courses Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Machine Learning Courses Market Size (2013-2018)5.2 United States Machine Learning Courses Market Size and Market Share by Players (2013-2018)5.3 United States Machine Learning Courses Market Size by Application (2013-2018)Continued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Cognac Market Prevalent Opportunities upto 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/cognac-market.asp https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/21499 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21499 Cognac is a type of brandy which is produced by double distillation of white wines and by aging. It is a high-end product and depending on the time period taken by the brandy for aging, different varieties are available. The cognac market is projected to grow in regions where consumers are exploring more luxury alcoholic beverages. Consumer demand for more delicate, flavored and refined brandy is expected to fuel the growth of the cognac market in the forecast period. As compared to its competitor whiskey, cognac offers a more fruitful flavor, which is a unique driver, fuelling the growth of the cognac market.Cognac Market: SegmentationThe cognac market can be segmented on the basis of type and distribution channel.On the basis of type the cognac market is segmented as XO (extra old), VS (Very special), VSPO (Very Superior Pale Old) and others. The segmentation is based on the aging period taken by the cognac after distillation. The others segment for the cognac market includes cognac which requires a larger time span for its aging or are sometimes available as blends of different cognac.On the basis of the distribution channel, the cognac market can be segmented on the basis of store-based retailing and online retail. The store-based retailing can be further segmented into modern grocery retail and traditional grocery retail. The modern grocery retail can be segmented as hypermarkets/supermarkets, convenience stores, and discount stores. The traditional grocery retailing can be further segmented as specialty stores, liquor stores, and others.Report Overview @Cognac Market: Drivers, Restraints, and TrendsThe cognac market is currently experiencing a revival in the world. After declining sales in the past decade, the cognac market is suddenly witnessing growth in some regions of the world. Cognac is popular amongst consumers as a traditional cocktail ingredient. It is also known that unlike other alcoholic beverages, cognac does not promote a headache. These are distinguishing factors of cognac and likely to boost the growth of the cognac market. The VS cognac makes up the highest share in the cognac market. The trend observed with cognac is that nowadays it is consumed with food or as a cocktail mix.The Cognac Summit, an organization which was formed as a result of collaboration between Bureau National Inter professionel du Cognac (BNIC) and international bartenders, is a macroeconomic factor which has contributed to the revival of the cognac market. Many other macroeconomic factors like the ban on drinking and gift-giving have also influenced the ups and downs of the cognac market. Recently, many key players had announced that the consumer demand for cognac has outstripped their production capacities, which is a clear indicator of the growth of cognac market. The U.S. and Chinese markets are the largest contributors to the growth of the cognac market. Growth in personal consumption of alcoholic beverages in regions like China is also expected to boost the growth of the overall cognac market.Request for Table of Contents @Cognac Market: Regional OutlookIn North America, the trend in the cocktail industry and the usage of cognac as a cocktail ingredient is a major factor in fuelling the growth cognac market, as the U.S. is a very potential market for cognac. In Asia Pacific, China is the biggest market for cognac as the imports and exports of cognac were greatly affected by Chinas macroeconomic conditions. Apart from China, India and Japan are also expected to contribute to the growth of the cognac market. In Europe, cognac is mostly consumed as a high-end product and the cognac market is expected to have a very slow growth or remain almost static in the forecast period. In the Middle East and Africa, the cognac market is expected to grow steadily despite declining economies.Cognac Market: Key PlayersPernod Ricard SAJas Hennessy & Co.Novovino Wine CompanyBranded Spirits USABeam Suntory, Inc.PIERRE LECAT SASMeukow CognacRemy CointreauGet Sample Copy of this Report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Humin Market Prophesied to Grow at a Faster Pace by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/humin-market.asp https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/21616 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21616 Humic substances like humus, humate, fulvic acid, organic matter, and humin play a key role in soil fertility. Plants grown in soil having an adequate amount of humic substances are healthier, produce higher yields; and have superior nutritional quality. Humins are that part of humic substances that not soluble in acids (low pH) or alkalis (high pH). These are not soluble in water at any pH. Humins are macro organic substances as their molecular weights range from approximately 100,000 to 10,000,000.Out of all the humic substances, humins have relatively low capability to decompose in soil owing to their physical & chemical properties. Humin molecules are like stable carbohydrate like materials that form an aggregate component within the soil. Humins pull nutrients, and organic molecules else emphatically bound to soil particles and provide a site for soil microorganisms to process them via enzymes into forms which then serve to advance feed other soil life and plants. Humins within the soil improves the soil's water holding capacity, maintain soil stability, improve soil structure, function as a cation exchange system and improve overall soil fertility.Report Overview @Humin Market: DynamicsThe growing demand for organic produce is the key driving factor for the humin market. In developed economies like North America and Western Europe, the rising awareness about harmful effects of synthetic agrochemicals & chemical fertilizers is driving the market for humin based products for soil. The government imposed regulations like Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union promotes the usage of bio-based resources in farming. In these regions, stringent regulations inhibiting usage of certain chemical fertilizers will drive the demand for humin fertilizers. In other regions, the rising demand for food and pressure to achieve maximum output from the cultivable land will create opportunities for the humin based product in these markets.Less popularity of organic farming in regions like APEJ and MEA might cause hindrance to the humin market. Additionally, the use of cheap chemical fertilizers like urea pose a grave threat to humin market in these regions. Inconsistency in the available product quality might also restrain the market to some extent.Humin Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the Global humin market is designed for seven regions namely, North-America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ), Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East & Africa and Japan. Currently Europe holds the largest market share in the global humin market owing to the government support in European Union. Europe is also the largest producer of humic substances. North America holds second most significant market share in the global humin market owing to exponentially rising demand for organic produce. Growing economies of APEJ are expected to experience noticeable growth over the forecast period. The humin market is coming into light owing rising awareness about harmful effects about synthetic fertilizers, globally. The overall outlook for the global humin market is expected to positive with compound annual growth rate of over about 8 percent.Request for Table of Contents @Humin Market: SegmentationThe Global Humin Market is segmented by form and application.Based on the Form, humin market is classified into followings:SolidLiquidBased on the application, humin market is classified into followings:AgricultureHorticultureDrilling FluidsOther Applications (ecological bioremediation, vertical farms, medicines, etc.)Humin Market: Segment OutlookAmongst the application segment in global humin market - agriculture holds the most significant market share and is expected to have maximum growth rate throughout the forecast period, followed by horticulture.In the form segment, the larger market share is held by solid humin, but the higher growth rate is expected for the liquid segment.Humin Market: Key PlayersHUMINTECH GmbHThe Andersons, Inc.Canadian Humalite InternationalHumin Earth OrganicsHelena Chemical CompanyShenyang Humate Technology Co., Ltd.Fertechnik Ltd.L.Gobbi Srl unipersonalSapropeat (Africa) LtdMaxwell Amenity LtdGet Sample Copy of this Report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Anti-Tack Agents Market Drivers , Opportunities 2023 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anti-tack-agents-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=6703 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Leading market analysis and intelligence firm Transparency Market Research has published a new market study, detailing the global anti-tack agents market. The report, titled Anti-Tack Agents Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023, projects the global anti-tack agents market to expand at a significant CAGR over the forthcoming eight years. The markets value at the end of the given forecast period is expected to be close to US$438 mn. In 2014, the market was valued at US$306.5 mn and will exhibit a 4.1% CAGR from 2015 through 2013.Read Report Overview @The global anti-tack agents market is segmented into the product types of stearates, fatty acid esters, fatty acid amides, soap, and others. Among these, stearates led the global anti-tack agents market, with a 40% share. The factors responsible for the dominant share of stearates in the global anti-tack agents market are their excellent water repellence, lubrication, foam inhibition, separation, and gelling capacity. Among other product segments, fatty acid esters, in particular, are used as rubber releasing agents.The usage of stearates is, however, expected to be affected by low consumer awareness and rising raw material prices, along with environmental regulations restricting the usage of stearates.By geography, the report segments the anti-tack agents market into Asia Pacific, which remains the global leader, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Major national markets within these broad regional segments are examined in further detail, with total size and forecasts provided for the 2015-2023 period. The major national anti-tack agents markets analyzed in the report include the U.S. in North America; Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, and Italy in Europe; China, India, and ASEAN in Asia Pacific; Brazil in Latin America; South Africa and GCC in the Middle East and Africa.The rising automotive industry, one of the major drivers of the global anti-tack agents industry, is particularly beneficial for the market in Asia Pacific. Demand for automotive tires from the automotive industry has been on a steady rise in Asia Pacific countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, and India. This will keep the share of the Asia Pacific market high in the global anti-tack agents market.Rubber gloves are also among the major application areas of anti-tack agents. The rising healthcare sector in Asia Pacific thus benefits the Asia Pacific anti-tack agents market as well. Healthcare infrastructure in countries such as China, India, and South Korea is expanding rapidly, ensuring a steady revenue source for the APAC anti-tack agents market.Request to view Sample Report:The report utilizes analytical tools such as Porters five forces analysis and market attractiveness analysis to examine the dynamics of the global anti-tack agents market. In terms of the competitive landscape of the anti-tack agents market, the report examines data regarding major players in the market such as Croda International plc, King Industries, Inc., McLube, SASCO Chemical Group, Inc., Evonik Industries AG, Baerlocher GmbH, Parabor Brasil, and Stephenson Alkon Solutions.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Wine Cork Market to Register Steady Expansion During 2018 - 2028 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6682 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-6682 www.futuremarketinsights.com Wine cork market: IntroductionConsumers prefer to buy wines with cork stoppers. Cork demand has increased due to a larger proportion of wine being sealed with cork rather than being sold in bulk. The wine cork allows optimum control of oxygen transfer through the closure. The outer flexible skin of wine cork provides a traditional appearance. The elastic property of the cork is influenced by its moisture content. The cork remains fairly elastic for insertion into the bottle within a moisture content. The cork stopper has exclusive distinctive qualities, which interact beneficially with wine. It contributes to developing its character, gives it authenticity and brings it value. The cork stopper has unique capacities such as impermeability and resistance, which allows managing micro-oxygenation and flawlessly ensures a successful maturation and aging of the wine, while preserving its essence, flexibility etc.Plastic cork is gaining importance in the global wine cork market. The plastic cork is even better, more hygienic, more recyclable, more washable, less cross-contaminate-prone, easier to manufacture with, more printable, just as corkscrew-capable, more durable, less prone to shattering, never flawed with internal rocks , non-rotting, less chemically interactive, better sealing and cheaper.Request For Report Sample@Global wine cork market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global wine cork market has been segmented asNatural Wine CorksIce Wine Natural CorksPore Filled Natural Wine CorksDouble Disc Corks or Twin Top CorkAgglomerate Wine CorksSynthetic Wine CorksRegular CorkSparkling Wine CorksWine-Lok / VinolokZorkOthersNatural cork is mostly used the global wine cork market. Its main objective is to preserve wine for long-term storage. Natural corks, the most popular and well-known, have been used for centuries due to the elasticity of their cellular structure. Natural cork is malleable to a certain extent, with the ability to contract and expand. It is almost airtight because some air is able to pass through natural cork, because microscopically there are holes inside the cork structure. This can be beneficial or harmful, depending on the type of wine that is stored.Synthetic corks is used on a large scale within the wine cork market for the last three decades. They are most commonly made from oil-based plastic, while certain synthetic cork manufacturers are also experimenting with the use of plant-based polymers of corn and sugar cane. Synthetic corks can be advantageous for winemakers who are looking to achieve a scientific degree of oxygen transfer. These materials can be made with various densities and different materials.On the basis of material type, the global wine cork market has been segmented asPlasticAluminumGlassWoodOthersOn the basis of technology, the global wine cork market has been segmented asInjection MouldingExtrusion MouldingCombination of injection and extrusion processOn the basis of distribution channel, the global wine cork market has been segmented asOnline distribution channelTraditional retailOn the basis of region, the global wine cork market has been segmented asNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding JapanMiddle East & AfricaJapanGlobal wine cork market: Research Methodologyglobal wine cork marketGlobal wine cork market: Key DevelopmentsIn October 2016, Helix packaging company, based in Carlton, Australia developed innovative cork system known as twist-to-open. The new twist-to-open system combines an ergonomically-designed stopper which is made from glass bottle and cork. This creates a high performing and sophisticated packaging solution for wine. Helix Packaging Company has combined all the benefits of cork and glass quality, sustainability and premium image with user-friendly, twist open, re-sealable convenience.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Global wine cork market overviewWorldwide wine cork production is estimated to be slightly less than 13 billion in 2017. The estimate includes agglomerated cork stoppers and champagne corks. Worldwide production of cork is estimated to be 3,075,000 tons in 2017.Global wine cork market: Key playersSome of the key players in the global wine cork market are Jelinek Cork Group, Wine Enthusiast Companies, Widgetco, Inc., Amorim Cork Composites S.A., Bangor Cork Inc., Keval Import Export private limited, Waterloo Container Company, M.A. Silva USA, LLC, Helix Packaging, Precision Elite limited company, Elkem Silicones limited, Allstates Rubber Inc. & Tool Corp.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Kraftliner Market to Exhibit Impressive Growth During 2016 - 2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6674 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-6674 www.futuremarketinsights.com Introduction and Need of the Product:Kraftliner is a type of paper which is used as the outer layer of the corrugated board which is then converted into boxes. It is made up of the virgin fiber materials. According to U.S. Dept. of Commerce publication Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Commodities Exported from the U.S., the Kraftliner is defined as "paperboard or paper which contains no less than 80% fiber content which is obtained by the chemical sulfate or soda processes". Kraftliner is available in the variety of grammages varying from 100 GSM to more than 200 GSM. Kraftliner is available in bleached (predominantly produced from bleached sulfate pulp) i.e. white-top grade as well as unbleached grades to fulfill customized requirements of the corrugated packaging customers. White top Kraftliner can be easily printed with the different color to enhance aesthetics of the retail corrugated boxes. Some of the key properties of the Kraftliner is good tear resistance, high strength, durability, and good printability. Corrugated board, with bleached or unbleached Kraftliner, is used for wide range of packaging applications in the food & beverages, automotive, retail, cosmetic & personal care, and other end-use industries. The Kraftliner may also contain some amount of the recycled fiber (less than 20%) in its raw material mixture.Kraftliner Market: Market DynamicsKraftliner has gained strong market traction in the past few years to the increase in the consumption of the corrugated packaging, particularly in the e-commerce and retail ready industry. The e-commerce industry has grown like anything in the past five years which has tremendously increased the demand for corrugated packaging products. As the demand for corrugated packaging products continues to increase, the demand for Kraftliner will also increase simultaneously. Recent increase in the prices of the brown and white Kraftliner indicates that the demand is increasing at a faster pace with an expected CAGR of more than 3%. The main drivers of the Kraftliner market is the high-growth in the e-commerce, retail-ready, food & beverages, and consumer goods industry, primarily in the developing countries such as India, China, Brazil, etc. The latest trend observed in the Kraftliner market is the strong focus on the development of new innovative products which are lighter in weight and offer high strength characteristics. For eg. - BillerudKorsnas AB, a Sweden-based manufacturer of paper and packaging products, offers high strength and lightweight Kraftliner which is a result of years of research and development activities of the company on renewable, recyclable and biodegradable packaging material.Request For Report Sample@Kraftliner Market: Market Segmentation:Kraftliner Market Segmentation: By Product TypeBleached (White-Top) KraftlinerUnbleached (Brown) KraftlinerKraftliner Market Segmentation: By Basis WeightUp to 100 GSM100 GSM to 150 GSM150 GSM to 200 GSM200 GSM to 250 GSMMore than 250 GSMKraftliner Market Segmentation: By End UsePrinting IndustryElectrical & ElectronicsConsumer GoodsAgricultureFood & Beverageskraftliner market 1Other IndustrialKraftliner Market: Regional OverviewOn the basis of region, the Kraftliner market is segmented into seven regions which include North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Japan. The Asia-Pacific region dominates the Kraftliner market, in terms of consumption, over the forecast period. Also, the demand will increase substantially in the next few years due to the high-growth in the e-commerce and consumer goods industry. Emerging economies such as India and China may create enormous opportunities in the Asia-Pacific Kraftliner market. However, North America and Europe also represent high demand for the Kraftliner due to increasing preference for sustainable packaging solutions and high growth in the e-commerce industry. Some of the major economies such as Germany, France, and the U.S. will grow but at a slightly lower growth rate when compared to other developing countries. The Latin America, Japan, and MEA region also offer untapped growth potential in the global Kraftliner market, over the forecast years.Kraftliner Market: Market PlayersSome of the key players in the Kraftliner market are Metsa Board Oyj, Kraft Liner S.A., Stora Enso Oyj, Guangzhou KIKA Paper Industry Co., Ltd, Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA, Mondi Group Plc, BillerudKorsnas AB, PAPELERA CARBO S.A., DS Smith Plc, NIPPON PAPER INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation, WestRock Company, Oji Fibre Solutions (NZ) Ltd., International Paper Company, U.S. Pulp & Paper, Inc., and Georgia-Pacific LLCRequest For Report Table of Content (TOC):Kraftliner Market: Market StructureKraftliner Market Tier 1 Companies: Smurfit Kappa Group, Stora Enso Oyj, Guangzhou KIKA Paper Industry Co., Ltd, Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA, Mondi Group Plc, BillerudKorsnas AB, DS Smith Plc, WestRock Company, Oji Fibre Solutions (NZ) Ltd., International Paper Company, and Georgia-Pacific LLCKraftliner Market Tier 2 Companies: PAPELERA CARBO S.A., NIPPON PAPER INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation, and Metsa Board Oyj.Kraftliner Market Tier 3 Companies: U.S. Pulp & Paper, Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Microarray Analysis Market Global Key players - QIAGEN (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US), Agilent Technologies (US) and Applied Micro Arrays (US) Analysis and Forecast 2017 - 2023 Microarray Analysis Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/777 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/777 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/777 Market ScenarioMicroarrays is a powerful approach for the analysis of gene expression that can be used for various experimental purposes. Numerous types of microarray platforms are available for testing. Development of microarrays had improved results of genetic testing. The global microarrays analysis market is majorly driven by the increasing prevalence of cancer and rising need of research in pharmaceutical industries. Increasing prevalence of different chronic diseases, use of this techniques for the diagnosis of infectious diseases, development in the field of genetics and increasing healthcare expenditure; all these together have provided a push for this markets growth. However, high cost of tests and need of high tech instruments may restrain growth of this market.View Reports Sample @The global microarray analysis market is expected to grow at a CAGR 9.8% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Intended Audience Microarray manufacturer Microarray supplier Research & development (R&D) companies Independent research laboratories Market research and consulting service providers Medical research laboratories Academic medical institutes and universitiesSegmentationThe global microarray analysis market is segmented into technology, consumables, services, application and end users.On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into DNA microarray, PCR, NGS, SAGE, northern blotting and others.On the basis of consumables, the market is segmented into DNA chips, DNA microarrays, protein microarrays, cellular microarrays, chemical compound microarrays, antibody microarrays and others. On the basis of services, the market is divided into gene profiling, bioinformatics and others.On the basis of applications, the market is categorized into research, drug discovery, diagnostic and others.Check for Report Discount @Regional AnalysisAmerica accounts for the largest share in the global microarray analysis market owing to the presence of well-developed healthcare sector and government support for research & development. Europe is the second largest market of global microarray analysis which is followed by Asia Pacific. Presence of large cancer population and increasing need for better diagnostic treatment has driven the European market. Asia Pacific microarray analysis market is majorly occupied by Japan. India and China, these are the growing market of microarray analysis. Middle East & Africa have least share in this market.Key PlayersAmong many layers, some of the key player in the market are QIAGEN (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US), Agilent Technologies (US), Applied Micro Arrays (US), Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp (US), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (US), PerkinElmer Inc. (US), Illumina, Inc. (US), Arrayit Corporation (US), BioGenex (US) and General Electric Company (UK).Send An Enquiry @Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India Blockchain Technology in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.16% from 2017 to 2025 to reach USD 4,760.4 million by 2025 GLOBAL MARKET ESTIMATES https://www.globalmarketestimates.com/blockchain-technology-bfsi-market https://www.globalmarketestimates.com/blockchain-technology-bfsi-market According to a new market research report published by Global Market Estimates, Blockchain Technology in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.16% from 2017 to 2025 to reach USD 4,760.4 million by 2025. Factors such as reduced transaction time, transparency, and lower operational cost are anticipated to boost the demand for blockchain solutions in the BFSI sector.The payments segment is projected to occupy a large share as it offers greater security and faster processing even for overseas transaction. Blockchain solutions eliminate the need of third parties for verifying transactions, thereby, increasing process efficiency and benefiting banks whose primary goal is faster & easy banking.Browse 102 Market Data Tables and 45 Figures spread through 151 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Blockchain Technology in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Market - Forecasts to 2025"By Type (Public, Private, Hybrid)By Application (Smart Contracts, Smart Assets, Clearing and Settlement, Payments, Digital Identity, Others)By End-use (Banks, Insurance Providers, Other Financial Service Providers)By Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)Company Market Share AnalysisEnd-Use Landscape; Vendor Landscape and Competitor AnalysisKey Market Insights The blockchain technology market is expected to find deep penetration in the BFSI industry A large number of banks distinguish themselves on the basis of faster transactions and ease of making & receiving payments The technology enables financial institutions to maintain transparency of dealing coupled with lowered administrative and infrastructure cost Companies are subjected to make investments in private or public blockchains on the basis of the amount of decentralization or sensitivity of information North America and Europe are anticipated to witness large investments in blockchain solutions for the banking and financial service sector The increasing number of industries and developing banking sector in the Asian and Middle Eastern region is also projected to augment demand for distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions Companies involved in the development of blockchain solutions are taking up strategic initiatives such as partnerships and collaborations to test how the solution performs in the market Some of the companies developing blockchain technology include IBM Corporation, AWS, Microsoft Corporation, Chain, Inc., Coinbase, Digital Asset Holdings, Ripple, R3, Ledger Holdings Inc., and Olympus Labs among others In September 2017, Microsoft Corporation tied-up with Bank Hapoalim from Israel to develop a system that uses blockchain technology to manage digital bank guaranteesBrowse the report @:Global Market Estimates is a market research and business consulting company who has proven track record in serving Fortune 500 companies.Name: Global Market Estimates Research & Business ConsultantsAddress: A-9, Silver Croft CHSL, Mumbai:400064, IndiaContact No,: +91 9146632316Email Address: sales@globalmarketestimates.com High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market Expected To Reach US$18.22 bn by 2023 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/556770 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/556770 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"High performance anti-corrosion coatings are advanced materials that are applied on metal and concrete components in various manufacturing plants that are exposed to severe corrosive surroundings. Epoxy coatings, acrylic coatings, and urethane coatings are major product segments of the global high performance anti-corrosion coatings market. These coatings are broadly consumed in core industries. Oil & gas, tanks & pipes, construction, marine and power generation are major end-users of the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market. Oil & gas held the largest demand for high performance anti-corrosion coatings in 2017. However, the power generation segment is expected to create substantial growth opportunities for the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market during the forecast period. Use of waterborne process technology is likely to be one of the potential substitutes for solvent-borne coating systems in the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market by 2023.The report estimates and forecasts the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market on the global, regional, and country level. The study provides forecast from 2017 to 2023 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn).Get Sample Copy of this report @Global High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market: SegmentationsThe study offers a comprehensive view of the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market by dividing it into product segments such as epoxy coatings, acrylic coatings, urethane coatings, and others. In terms of end-user, the global high performance anti-corrosion coatings market has been segmented into oil & gas, marine, construction, tanks & pipes, power generation, and others. End-user segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated from 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn).Regional segmentation includes current and forecast demand for high performance anti-corrosion coatings in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report includes country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for product and end-user segments. Key countries such as the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, as well as ASEAN and GCC are incorporated in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual products and end-users in all regions and countries.Global High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market: Research MethodologiesThe report comprises a comprehensive value chain analysis that provides a broad view of the market. Value chain analysis also provides detailed information about value addition at each stage of the value chain. The report covers drivers and restraints for the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. Additionally, it includes the study of opportunities in the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market at the global level.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to gauge the degree of competition in the high performance anti-corrosion coatings market. The report encompasses a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users have been analyzed based on their attractiveness, growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated to derive general attractiveness of the market. The report also includes price trend analysis of raw materials derived from petrochemicals such as propylene, ethylene, and aromatics as well as high performance anti-corrosion coatings from 2017 to 2023.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of the research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and reinforcing our secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Send An Enquiry Request @Global High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report covers a detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Akzo Nobel N.V., The 3M Company, Chugoku Marine Paints, Ltd., Nippon Paint Co., Ltd., Hempel A/S, Jotun A/S, PPG Industries Inc., and The Sherwin-Williams Company are key players profiled in the report. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview.Table of ContentsChapter 1 PrefaceReport DescriptionResearch ScopeAssumptionsMarket SegmentationResearch MethodologyChapter 2 Executive SummaryGlobal High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market, Volume and Revenue, 2014 - 2023, (Kilo Tons) (US$ Mn)High Performance Anti-Corrosion Coatings: Market SnapshotChapter 3 High Performance Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market Industry AnalysisIntroductionValue Chain AnalysisMarket DriversDriver 1 Global Oil & Gas Industry Likely To Boost Demand for High Performance Anti-corrosion CoatingsDriver 2 Construction and Marine Industries in Asia Pacific to Propel Growth of High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings MarketRestraintsRestraint 1 Price Volatility of Petrochemical Feedstock to Hinder High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market GrowthRestraint 2 Strict Government Regulations on VOC Emissions to Restrict Demand for High Performance Anti-corrosion CoatingsOpportunities Opportunity 1 Power Generation Industry Expected to Provide Growth Opportunities to High Performance Anti-corrosion CoatingsOpportunity 2 Technological Breakthrough Likely to Boost the Market for High Performance Anti-corrosion CoatingsPorters Five Forces AnalysisBargaining Power Of SuppliersBargaining Power Of BuyersThreat Of New EntrantsThreat Of SubstitutesDegree Of CompetitionHigh Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings: Market Attractiveness AnalysisMarket Attractiveness Analysis By End-userMarket Attractiveness Analysis By CountryChapter 4 Raw Material and Price Trend AnalysisRaw Material Price Trends, 2014 2023 (US$/Ton)High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Price Trends, 2014 2023 (US$/Ton)Chapter 5 Market Segmentation Product AnalysisGlobal High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings Market: Product OverviewGlobal Epoxy Coatings MarketGlobal Urethane Coatings MarketGlobal Acrylic Coatings MarketGlobal Other High Performance Anti-corrosion Coatings MarketAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Ultra-Secure Smartphone Market, Future Numerous Opportunities, Forecast 2023 https://www.researchbeam.com/ultra-secure-smartphone-market/request-sample https://www.researchbeam.com/ultra-secure-smartphone-market/enquire-about-report https://www.researchbeam.com/ultra-secure-smartphone-market/purchase-enquiry Ultra-secure smartphones are more secure than regular smartphones as they encrypt all communication and block unauthorized tracking systems. They are designed to prevent data leakage from smartphones, which resolves the privacy issue associated with android smartphones. The ultra-secure smartphone is capable of encrypting the data. The encryption of message helps in minimal loss or transmits of personal information. The technological advancements in these smartphones brought more privacy and control of the personal information, both online and offline.For More Info, Get Sample :Rise in inclination of customers toward ultra-secure smartphones is a primary factor, which supplements the growth of the market. Moreover, its ability to provide better security and reliable transmission of data as well as growth in adoption of ultra-secure smartphones for military and commercial applications fuels the growth of the global ultra-secure smartphones market. However, requirement of cooperating handsets and its high price are expected to impede the market growth. Increase in security threats and ongoing technological advancements in the market is expected to provide numerous opportunities for the market.The global ultra-secure smartphone market is segmented based on operating system, end user, and region. Operating system covered in this study includes android and iOS. Based on end users, the market is classified into government agencies, aerospace & defense, and enterprises. Based on the regional study, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.Global ultra-secure smartphone market is dominated by the key players such as ESD Crytophone, BlackBerry Limited, DarkMatter, Inc., Sirin Labs, Turing Robotic Industries, Boeing, Silent Circle, LLC, and Atos SE.KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS The study provides an in-depth analysis of the global ultra-secure smartphone market and current & future trends to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. Information about key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their impact analysis on the market size is provided. Porters Five Forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers and suppliers operating in the industry. The quantitative analysis of the global market from 2017 to 2023 is provided to determine the market potential.KEY MARKET SEGMENTSEnquire About Report :BY OPERATING SYSTEM Android iOSBY END USER Government Agencies Aerospace & Defense EnterprisesBY REGION North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe UK Germany France Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEA Latin America Middle East AfricaKEY MARKET PLAYERS ESD Crytophone BlackBerry Limited DarkMatter, Inc. Sirin Labs Turing Robotic Industries Boeing Silent Circle, LLC Atos SEAlso Request For Discount :Table Of Content CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 3 MARKET OVERVIEW CHAPTER 4 ULTRA-SECURE SMARTPHONE MARKET, BY OPERATING SYSTEM CHAPTER 5 ULTRA-SECURE SMARTPHONE MARKET, BY END USER CHAPTER 6 ULTRA-SECURE SMARTPHONE MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER 7 COMPANY PROFILESAbout UsWe have a large database of quality and precise market research reports that will be very beneficial for your organization. Reports that we sell our authentic in nature and from reputed publishers, hence it can definitely help you with your growth opportunities. Research Beam will always make sure to bring most ethical and high quality reports. We value your relationship with us and look forward for a long term relation.Contact UsGlobal Head Quarters5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United States+1 (800) 910-6452help@researchbeam.com Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market Expanding At A CAGR Of 11.7% From 2017 - 2025 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1769903 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1769903 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Respiratory syncytial virus infection is highly contagious. It is reported to be the most common cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children as well as adults. According to the Center for Disease and Prevention, around 25-40 of every 100 children exposed to RSV infection for the first time develop signs of bronchiolitis or pneumonia. No approved drugs have been available in the market to treat RSV infection till date, and only prophylaxis drugs have been used. Therefore, several biopharmaceutical companies are investing in research and development in order to develop new drugs and vaccine to treat or prevent the RSV infection.The global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market report comprises an elaborate executive summary, which includes a market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the global market with respect to the segments based on drugs type, dosage form, distribution channel, and geography. A detailed qualitative analysis of drivers and restraints of the market and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. Additionally, the section comprises competitive matrix and company profiles with business overview in order to understand the competitive landscape in the market. This section of the report also provides market attractiveness analysis, by geography and market share analysis by key players, thus presenting a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market.Get Sample Copy of this report @Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market: Key SegmentsBased on drugs type, the global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market can be segmented into palivizumab, ribavirin, and others. The drug type segments have been analyzed based on type of drug uses to treat RSV infection in the different region. The market size and forecast for each of these segments have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year. According to dosage form, the global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market can be classified into oral, injectable, and others. The market size and forecast for each of these segments have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year.Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market has been categorized into five major regions and the key countries in the respective region: North America (the U.S., Canada), Europe (the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia & New Zealand and Rest of Asia Pacific), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Rest of Latin America) and Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, South Africa, Israel, and Rest of MEA). The market size and forecast for each of these regions and the mentioned countries have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year. The research study also covers the competitive scenario in these regions.Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major companies profiled in the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market are include F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., AstraZeneca plc, Merck & Co., Inc., AbbVie, Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc., ReViral Ltd., Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.The global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) therapeutics market has been segmented as follows:Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market, by Drugs TypePalivizumabRibavirinOthersRespiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market, by Dosage FormOralInjectableOthersRespiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market, by Distribution ChannelDrug Stores and Retail PharmaciesHospital PharmaciesOthersRespiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificJapanChinaIndiaAustralia & New ZealandRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesSouth AfricaIsraelRest of Middle East & AfricaSend An Enquiry Request @Table of ContentChapter 1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research HighlightsChapter 2. Assumptions and Research MethodologyChapter 3. Executive Summary : Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics MarketChapter 4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Product Overview4.2. Market Dynamics4.2.1. Drivers4.2.2. Restraints4.2.3. Opportunities4.3. Pipeline Analysis Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market4.4. Epidemiology Assessment - Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market4.5. Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market Analysis and Forecasts, 2015-20254.5.1. Market Revenue Projection (US$ Mn)4.5.2. Market Outlook4.6. Key TrendsChapter 5. Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market Analysis and Forecasts, by Drugs Type5.1. Key Findings / Developments5.2. Introduction & Definition5.3. Market Value Forecast, by Drugs Type, 201620255.3.1. Palivizumab5.3.2. Ribavirin5.3.3. Others5.4. Market Attractiveness, by Drugs TypeChapter 6. Global Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Therapeutics Market Analysis and Forecasts, by Selection Technique6.1. Key Findings / Developments6.2. Introduction & Definition6.3. Market Value and Volume Forecast, by Dosage Form, 201620256.3.1. Oral6.3.2. Injectable6.3.3. Others6.4. Market Attractiveness, by Dosage FormAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Sand Control Systems Market Anticipated To Be Worth US$5,372.8 mn by 2024 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/212720 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/212720 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report Sand Control Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The report on the sand control systems market analyzes and forecasts the said market at both regional and global level. The report examines the sand control systems market for the 2017-2024 forecast period, wherein 2016 is considered as the base year. Included in the report are revenue estimates in US$ Mn and volume estimates in Kilo tons of the sand control systems market for the aforementioned forecast period. The study analyzes the sand control systems market by segmenting in terms of technique and region.The executive summary section of the report outlines conventions and notations and terms and terminologies used in the oil and gas industry. The section discusses each and every segment under various category and throws light on their growth behavior over the 2017-2024 forecast period.The market overview section discusses vital market dynamics such as demand drivers and opportunities that are likely to influence the growth of sand control systems market over the 2017-2024 forecast timeframe. Market size and revenue estimates of key segments under each category have also been provided in this section of the report.The market attractiveness analysis presented in the report which serves as an important business instrument is a highlight of this report. This helps gain better understanding of supply chain of sand control systems, right from raw material vendors to end-users. In addition, Porters Five Forces analysis included in the report helps comprehend the competitive landscape of the market.Get Sample Copy of this report @Global Sand Control Systems Market: Research MethodologyThe report is a perfect example of extensive primary and secondary research. The combination of primary and secondary research has proven to be the most dependable, effective, and successful approach to obtain precise market data, capture insights of industry participants, and recognize business opportunities.The primary research phase involved conducting in-depth interviews and discussions with a host of industry participants and opinion leaders. Analysts conducted primary interviews on an ongoing basis with industry experts and commentators to endorse data and analysis. Participants who are typically interviewed in the primary research phase are CEO, VPs, market intelligence managers, marketing/product managers, and national sales managers. Technical personnel, purchasing managers, distributors, and resellers are some other participants reached out in the primary research phase. Outside experts reached out in the primary research phase of the making of the report are valuation experts, investment bankers, research analysts that have expertise in specific markets. In addition, key industry leaders that hold expertise in different areas within their industry verticals are some other individuals reached out in the primary research phase.In the secondary research phase, analysts reviewed key players annual report, product literature, business documents, and press releases in the secondary research phase. Some other secondary sources reached out include trade journals, technical writings, trade associations, technical statistical data, and Internet sources. Some secondary sources reached out for this study include U.S. Energy Information Administration, Oil & Gas Journal, BP Statistical Review of World Energy, Upstreamonline, Bloombergy, Hoovers, and Factiva.Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Report Description1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Report Scope & Assumptions1.4. Research Methodology2. Executive Summary2.1. Global Sand Control Systems Market, (US$ Mn), 201420242.2. Global Sand Control Systems Market: Snapshot3. Sand Control Systems Market Industry Analysis3.1. Introduction3.2. Value Chain Analysis3.3. Market Drivers3.3.1. Growing Need of Enhancing Oil Production Efficiency3.3.2. Advancements in Sand Control Techniques Enabling Operators to Offset Deepwater Challenges3.4. Restraints3.4.1.Difficulty in Balancing Cost of Sand Control with Overall Economic Viability of Deepwater Wells3.5. Opportunity3.5.1. Availability of Proven Oil Reserves in Abundance3.5.2. Newly Discovered and Potential Oil & Gas Reserves3.6. Porters Five Forces Analysis3.6.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers3.6.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers3.6.3. Threat of New Entrants3.6.4. Threat of Substitutes3.6.5. Degree of Competition3.7. Global Sand control systems Market Attractiveness, by Region, 20153.8. Global Sand control systems Market Attractiveness, by Company, 2015Send An Enquiry Request @4. Global Sand Control Systems Market Technique Analysis4.1. Global Sand Control Systems Market: Technique Overview4.2. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Rate Exclusion (US$ Mn), 201420244.3. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Resins Coated Gravel (US$ Mn), 201420244.4. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Plastic Consolidation (US$ Mn), 201420244.5. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Stand Alone Screen (US$ Mn), 201420244.6. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Gravel Packing (US$ Mn), 201420244.7. Global Sand Control Systems Market for Others (US$ Mn), 201420245. Global Sand Control Systems Market - Regional Analysis5.1. Global Sand Control Systems Market: Regional Overview5.2. North America Sand Control Systems Market, 2015 and 20245.2.1. North America Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.2.2. U.S Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.2.3. Canada Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.2.4. Mexico Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.2.5 Rest of North America Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.3. Europe Sand Control Systems Market, 2015 and 20245.3.1. Europe Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.3.2. Russia Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.3.3. U.K. Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.3.4. Norway Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.3.5. Rest of Europe Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.4. Asia Pacific Sand Control Systems Market, 2015 and 20245.4.1. Asia Pacific Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.4.2. China Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.4.3. India Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.4.4. Australia Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.4.5. Rest of Asia Pacific Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.5. South & Central America Sand Control Systems Market, 2015 and 20245.5.1. South & Central America Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.5.2. Brazil Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.5.3. Argentina Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.5.4. Rest of South & Central America Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6. Middle East & Africa Sand Control Systems Market, 2015 and 20245.6.1. Middle East & Africa Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.2. UAE Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.3. Saudi Arabia Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.4. Nigeria Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.5. Angola Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.6. South Africa Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 201420245.6.7. Rest of Middle East & Africa Sand Control Systems Market Revenue, by Technique (US$ Mn), 20142024About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Smart Office Market expected to grow through 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2502 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2502 https://www.gminsights.com Smart office market for the services segment is projected to grow at a rapid rate over the forecast timespan. There is a rise in the demand for installation & support services, and advisory & consulting services for the efficient management of smart systems. Services enable transforming a workplace by implementing advanced technologies. Rapid technological advancements in IoT, AI, machine learning, and hardware pertaining to smart offices are boosting the services segment of the industry. Rising demand for services that optimize the network performance and reduce the operational expenditures is expected to fuel the industry growth for the segment.Smart Office Market size is anticipated to grow significantly attributed to the increase in the demand for automation of all processes to improve the work efficiency and boost the productivity. There is an increase in the demand for improved commercial infrastructure that uses sensors, wireless systems, and advanced communication technologies. These solutions provide the organization with advantages such as precise time and schedule management, enhanced communication, high return on investment, identity and risk management, cloud storage, and connected integrated systems. The rise in the demand for enhancing the working environment in offices is expected to propel the smart office market growth.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @The rise in the demand for enhanced security solutions in offices is projected to fuel the smart office market growth. These solutions deploy automated systems, wireless data transfers, and centralized control for data analysis and monitoring. Stringent government regulations pertaining to worker safety are being implemented in many countries. Implementing intelligent workplaces will lead to enhanced document security and improved worker productivity. Stringent government regulations such as OSHA and ANSI that support worker safety are further projected to propel the smart office market growth. Increasing need for the incorporation of security devices such as electronic locks and cameras into workplaces is providing ample opportunities for the smart office market growth.The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) in industries is anticipated to boost the smart office market growth. IoT facilitates an enhanced internetworking of physical devices that increase the flexibility of work atmosphere through improved connectivity. Enhanced connectivity systems offer VR speakers, cameras, and IoT furniture, improving the work efficiency. Remote management of connected devices can be implemented in a digital office environment. Government initiatives such as Digital India supporting the technologies including IoT and artificial intelligence will boost the smart office market over the forecast timespan.Intelligent systems handle sensitive data pertaining to workers and crucial documents. Risks related to cybersecurity breaches and malicious software attacks are key factors hindering the smart office market growth. High installation and maintenance costs of these systems are also expected to hamper the industry growth. Lack of awareness of these technologically-advanced systems in underdeveloped countries will also limit the smart office market growth in these regions.The energy management systems segment is expected to grow at a fast rate. Intelligent solutions include energy management systems that can be used to track the energy utilization, thereby allowing organizations to mitigate energy losses. A rise in the trend of adopting energy-saving solutions to increase profits is projected to fuel the smart office market growth. There is an increasing demand for energy-efficient solutions that are environment-friendly and increase the profit margins. Intelligent systems enable the easy analysis of energy data for accurate decision making. Rising concerns about environmental safety are forcing governments to draft energy regulations to control the energy consumption. Workplaces are switching over to intelligent energy management systems and this is expected to fuel the smart office market growth.The smart office market for the new construction offices sector is expected to grow at a fast rate over the coming years. A retrofit office can impose restrictions for new system implementations or modifications. A newly constructed workplace provides the flexibility for implementation of new systems. Smart office systems can be inbuilt in new construction offices, thereby reducing the overall expenditure of renovating the entire system in a traditional office.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @The Asia Pacific smart office market is projected to grow at a high rate owing to the rapid industrialization and urbanization in countries including India, Japan, and China. Increasing number of industries focusing on implementing IoT in their systems will boost the industry growth. Improved standard of living in countries including India is forcing offices to refurbish and modernize the existing infrastructure. The expansion of the IT sector in the region is a key factor contributing to the industry growth. Government organizations in countries including Singapore and India are supporting digitization, which will propel the industry growth.Key players in the smart office market include ABB Ltd., Siemens AG, Cisco Systems, Inc., Johnson Controls International PLC, Honeywell International, Inc., Crestron Electronics, Inc., United Technologies Corporation, and Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. Key players are focusing on entering into strategic partnerships to offer enhanced digital solutions. Major players are expanding their market presence to strengthen the market position. Increasing competition among key players is expected to drive the smart office market over the forecast timespan.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: THE three Filipino diplomats ordered arrested by Kuwait authorities are expected to be released in two to three days, Malacanang said on Friday. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made this announcement after he and other Philippine officials met with Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister H.E. Al-Khaled Sulaiman Al-Jarallah. In a related development: Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has arrived in Kuwait to discuss the current bilateral relations between the two nations with his counterpart, and later witness the expected signing of an agreement to protect household service workers in the Gulf nation. Upon arrival at the Kuwait International Airport on Thursday, Cayetano was joined by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Manila Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh and Philippine Consul General Noordin Lomondot. Cayetano said he and Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah would sit down to assess the two nations accomplishment since the diplomatic row broke out, and discuss how much farther the two were willing to go in engagement. A Philippine delegation, composed of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and other labor officials are also in Kuwait to discuss the spat and witness the possible signing of the memorandum of understanding Friday. The Foreign Minister of Kuwait assured that the release of the three Filipino diplomats are now being worked out with the Interior Ministry.The diplomats are expected to be released in two to three days, Roque said in a statement sent to media. PNA The three Filipino diplomats were earlier charged with kidnapping for their involvement in the rescue operation of distressed Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait. Meanwhile, Roque said the Philippine officials also met Minister of State for Economic Development Hind Sabeeh Barrak Al-Sabeeh. Minister Al-Sabeeh discussed the formulation and possible amendment of a model employment contract for all domestic helpers from 91 countries, who are currently working in Kuwait. Under the model contract, workers would enjoy the following: one day off, a 12-hour sleep or rest period, protection from physical abuse, and the right to a decent meal. The minister was keen as regards the signing of the MOA for OFW protection in Kuwait. PNA Global Concentrated Solar Power Market key Insights Based on Product Type, End-use and Regional Demand Till 2020 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/590 https://www.mrrse.com/concentrated-solar-power-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/590 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ In order to study the various trends and patterns prevailing in the overall market for Concentrated Solar Power , Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has included a new report titled Concentrated Solar Power Market to its wide online database. This research assessment offers a clear insight about the influential factors that are expected to transform the global market in the near future. Readers can access the regional as well as segment-wise analysis for acquiring precise information about the global market structure.Visit for Sample Report @Global concentrated solar power market is estimated to expand robustly at a CAGR of 19.4% in terms of value, during the period between 2014 and 2020. The report, titled Concentrated Solar Power Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020, projects the global concentrated solar power market to be worth US$8.67 bn by 2020. The overall market was valued at US$2.51 bn in 2013. In terms of volume, the market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 20.3% during the forecast period.The report points out that the rising awareness about global warming, coupled with increasing greenhouse gas emissions, is fuelling demand from the concentrated solar power market. Rising prices of conventional energy and concerns over future energy supply will drive the growth of the global concentrated solar power market. Government support and incentives are expected to further boost the market growth during the forecast period. However, the high cost of electricity generation is expected to undermine the growth of the market. The generation of power through solar energy is still at its nascent stage due to the lack of advanced technology. The overall market has a huge opportunity to grow with the adoption of heat storage systems and hybridization of concentrated solar power plants with conventional thermal plants.On the basis of product type, the report segments the global concentrated solar power market into linear Fresnel, solar tower, parabolic trough, and dish stirling. The demand for the parabolic trough technology is the highest across commercial power plants as it has matured the most. This segment is also expected to register the fastest growth in the market during the forecast horizon, followed by the linear Fresnel and solar tower technologies. A number of industrial and commercial power plants are increasingly adopting dish stirling technology to initiate pilot projects for future benefits.The report studies the global concentrated solar power market across four key regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Europe is anticipated to lead the overall market in terms of usage, new projects, and number of installations. During the forecast period, the markets in Asia Pacific and North America are expected to witness rapid growth owing to the growing concerns over the scarcity of the conventional resources.Complete List of Tables and Figures @This report also includes Porters five forces model, value chain analysis, and market attractiveness analysis by end-users. Porters five forces model has been used to analyze the buyers power, suppliers power, overall attractiveness in market and level of competition within the industry. Value chain analysis includes the entire process of installing a CSP plant from raw material to furnished product. These have been included with respect to the raw material provider, manufacturer, developer and suppliers. Drivers, restraints and opportunities of the CSP market have been mostly identified and are subjected to region wise variation. On the worldwide scale only the major drivers and restraints have been included. The market attractiveness study has been conducted on regional level. The study has been justified using different factor that play a major role in understanding the overall attractiveness of the market.Some of the key market participants that deal in Concentrated Solar Power market include Abengoa Solar S.A., Ibereolica Group, GDF SUEZ, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC. and BrightSource Energy, Inc. The report provides an overview of these companies followed by their business overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis and recent developments.The research provides detailed analysis of companies dealing in concentrated solar power trend analysis and demand forecast by geography. The value chain for concentrated solar power study encompasses all the stages of setting up the systems and its applications.The study presents a comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies, winning imperatives for them by segmenting the concentrated solar power market as below:Global Concentrated Solar Power Market: Product SegmentParabolic TroughSolar TowerLinear FresnelDish StirlingGlobal Concentrated Solar Power Market: Regional SegmentNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)Send an Inquiry @About MRRSEMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.About MRRSEMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Walnut Market to Partake Significant Development During 2025 https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/234 https://www.xploremr.com/report/234/walnut-market https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/234 http://xploremr.com Global Walnut Market: SnapshotTransparency Market Research offer 8-year forecast for the global Walnuts market between 2017 and 2025. The global Walnuts market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period. The primary objective of the report is to offer insights on the advancements and opportunity in the Walnuts market. The study demonstrates market dynamics that are expected to influence the current challenges and future status of the global Walnuts market over the forecast period. This report also offer updates on trends, drivers, restraints, value forecasts, and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global and regional Walnuts market.Request to sample report @Walnuts are being exhaustively used as an ingredient in the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, personal care and cosmetics industry which is supporting the market growth in the near future. Due to an increasing lactose intolerant population across the globe, consumer demand is shifting more from cows milk to nut based milk, leading to a substantial increase in the consumption of walnut milk, owing to its lactose-free characteristics.Global Walnut Market: SegmentationBy category, the Walnuts market is segmented into inshell walnuts, and shelled walnuts. The shelled Walnuts segment is likely to be the most attractive segment in the forecast period owing to the increased usage of walnut meats into various end user industries. On the basis of form, the Walnuts market can be segmented into raw and processed. The processed segment is further sub segmented into powder and oil. The raw walnut segment is estimated to account for a significant revenue share of 69.9% in 2017 and is expected to register significant growth rate during the forecast period.On the basis of product type, the walnuts market is segmented into black and English walnuts. Amongst these segments, the English walnuts is anticipated to occupy the largest market share of 93.7% in 2017. By nature, the Walnuts market can be segmented into organic and conventional where the organic segment is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing proportion of consumers who wish to pay a premium for organic products. By end use, the Walnuts market is segmented into plain household and industrial. The industrial Walnuts segment is likely to be the most attractive segment in the forecast period.Global Walnut Market: Research MethodologiesThe report includes market share of each segment according to the region with analysis towards market trends respectively. A section of the report highlights walnuts demand. It also provides a market outlook for 20172025 and sets the forecast within the context of the Walnuts ecosystem, including the new product developments as well as product offerings in the global walnuts market. This study discusses key trends contributing to growth of the global walnuts market, as well as analyses the degree to which drivers are influencing the global market.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyze on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global Walnuts market.Report Overview @Global Walnut Market: Competitive LandscapeIn the final section of the report, a competitive landscape has been included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view. Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the Walnuts space. Key players in the global Walnuts market includes Alpine Pacific Nut, Grower Direct Nut Co. Inc, Guerra Nut Shelling Company, Poindexter Nut Company, Andersen Shelling Inc, Webster Limited, Royal Saffron Company, Haleakala Walnut Shelling Inc, Kashmir Walnut Group, Morada Produce Company L.P., Synders Lance ,Inc., Gold River Orchards, Borges India Private Limited, Empire Nut Company, LLC, Agromillora Group, California Walnut Company, Crain Walnut Shelling Inc, Mid Valley Nut, Plantabul Ltd., Pepinoix, Mariani Nut Company Inc, Grimo Nut Nursery, Sacramento Valley Walnut Growers LLC.Key Segments CoveredCategoryInshellShelledFormRawProcessedProduct TypeBlack WalnutsEnglish WalnutsNatureOrganicConventionalEnd UseHouseholdIndustrialFood IndustrySnacks and SpreadsSauces and DressingsBakery and ConfectionaryDessertsPersonal Care and CosmeticsPharmaceuticalsRegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaBuy Now Full Report @About UsXploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information.Contact USXploreMRState Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207, United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030US-Canada : 866-552-3453Email:sales@xploremr.comWebsite: Smart Lock Market set for rapid growth Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2501 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2501 https://www.gminsights.com Smart lock market segmentation by connectivity technologies indicates that the Wi-Fi segment dominated in terms of revenue in 2017 as it provides long-range connectivity, strong connectivity, and is the most favorable technology in smart devices. Wi-Fi comes is relatively more expensive than Bluetooth and requires a dedicated power source contributing to the strong projected growth of the Bluetooth smart lock market over the forecast time period. These are equipped with battery systems and can function effectively even during times of power outages.Smart Lock Market size is anticipated to grow owing to the rising security concerns amongst consumers and the rising proliferation of home automation systems. Thefts and burglaries have risen significantly in the recent years. For instance, in 2016, an estimated 2.5 million home invasions and property thefts were registered in the U.S. with an average estimated loss of USD 2,230 per break-in. This has fueled the demand for smart locks and has led consumers to transition away from traditional lock systems owing to the higher security and convenience that these systems provide. Additionally, these detect tampering and alert the users and the authorities discretely before a property break-in occurs, allowing higher rates of arrests of the guilty parties.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @In the light of the rising trend of IoT in the recent years, intelligent and connected devices have found increasing applications in personal and commercial settings, propelling the smart lock market growth. These devices use connective technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared, and NFC to connect to handheld and controlling devices over a short range and internet to connect to the devices over a long range. The users can access their home security systems from a remote location by connecting through the internet. The proliferation of smart lock market is projected to grow at a rapid rate as they are equipped with advanced technological features such as remote access and intercom and camera facilities.A major factor impeding the smart lock market growth is the high cost of purchasing and deploying these systems. The equipment is priced relatively higher than its traditional counterparts and requires technical expertise to be operated. However, the declining costs of raw materials and labor for manufacturing the equipment are aiding in overcoming the hurdle. Another challenge hindering the smart lock market is the perception of the unreliability of these security electronics and consumer reluctance to adopt them. As a major portion of the functionality is in the digital platform, these are highly susceptible to third-party cyber-attacks. Hacking and malware attacks can lead to the loss of financial funds and physical properties. Additionally, safety issues can lead to the loss of reputation in organizations, causing a decline in the customer trust and an inflow of new customers.Rising construction of smart homes and the rising penetration of home automation security systems are providing an avenue for the growth of the smart lock market. Economies including China and India are experiencing heavy investments in the development of the urban locations for residential and commercial purposes owing to the decline in the labor and raw materials and the rising rate of urbanization.Product type segmentation of the smart lock market by product indicates that the deadbolt segment holds the largest market share owing to their high adoption in the residential sector. These have lower installation costs and higher durability. Lever handles segment of the smart lock market is projected to witness a significant growth as they prevent door knob stains, contributing to the high adoption in workshops or garages, bathroom doors, and handicap accessibility locations.The residential end-user segment is anticipated to lead the smart lock market owing to the rising consumer awareness and the rising demand for home automation solutions that provide higher security and convenience. The commercial segment holds the largest market share as locations such as banks, government agencies, and places containing large financial and physical assets, require multiple layers of protection against thefts. BSFI is expected to be the largest adopter of the smart lock market over the forecast timespan. Banks pose high risks of security breaches due to a large flow of cash. These devices enable a high degree of protection for these institutions. For instance, strict parking controls, low spaces, and heavy parking regulations in Taiwan are promoting the smart lock market. Chunghwa Telecom has developed an NB-IoT-powered device that can be used to prevent unauthorized parking.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Europe is among the major consumers of smart lock market. The rise of new investors in the region after the decline of Europe debt crisis has offered substantial opportunities for the market growth. Additionally, consumers in the region also possess the technical expertise required to operate these devices and are more inclined to adopt new and advanced technologies. Strong local manufacturing of the products and technology, the abundance of low-cost labor and raw materials, and the increasing construction of broadband infrastructure contribute to the rapid growth in the Asia Pacific smart lock market. Various economies in the region including China and India are at the forefront of the industrial boom. This is leading to the increase in the disposable income of the general population owing to which consumers are now able to purchase high-end and advanced technologies.Key players in the smart lock market include Assa Abloy, Allegion, Panasonic Corp., Spectrum Brands, Salto Systems, Onity, UniKey, Haven, Canseco Systems, and Master Lock. Major players in the industry are focusing on manufacturing sustainable products, entering into mergers & acquisitions, and partnerships to sustain growth in the global marketplace. In June 2017, ASSA ABLOY announced the acquisition of the Atlantic Door Control, which provides automatic door and entrance systems. This strategy was undertaken to strengthen their presence across the world and increase their product offerings; strengthening their presence in the smart lock market.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Dumping Syndrome Market 2018 Major Key Vendors - Medtronic, Intuitive Surgical Inc., TransEnterix Inc. and ALLERGAN Forecast upto 2023 Dumping Syndrome Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5322 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/5322 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/5322 Dumping Syndrome Market Research Report: By Diagnosis (Blood Sugar Test, Gastric Emptying Test, Medical History), By Treatment (Medication, Surgery), By End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Research Laboratories, Diagnostic Centers) Global forecast till 2023Market ScenarioDumping syndrome is a condition which develops after the surgery done to lose weight by removing all or part of the stomach. It is also called rapid gastric emptying and dumping syndrome, occurs when food especially sugar moves from the stomach into the small bowel too quickly. In some cases dumping syndrome occurs after gastric bypass surgery. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the dumping syndrome can happen in at least 3 out of 20 patients who have had a part of their stomach removed for any reason.View Reports Sample @Mostly, people with dumping syndrome develop signs and symptoms, such as abdominal cramps and diarrhea, 10 to 30 minutes after eating. Whereas in some cases people have symptoms one to three hours after eating, few have also reported having both early and late symptoms. Early signs and symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea flushing, dizziness, lightheadedness, and rapid heart rate whereas, late signs and symptoms include sweating, hunger, fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, weakness, and rapid heart rate. The rising prevalence of upper GI diseases, changing lifestyle, and increasing demand for minimally invasive surgery are major drivers for the growth of the market across the globe. Additionally, use of technologically advanced devices for a surgical procedure in healthcare institutes also influence the market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, globalization in healthcare has increased the market growth. Established market players in the developed countries lead the globalization by pushing new products and services into the developing countries and emerging economies. On the other hand, side effects of dumping syndrome may hamper the market growth during the forecast period.The Global Dumping Syndrome Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~6.4 % during the forecast period, 2017-2023.Intended Audience Medical Devices Companies Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Institute Academic Institutes and UniversitiesCheck for Report Discount @SegmentationsThe global dumping syndrome market is segmented on the basis of diagnosis, treatment, and end user.On the basis of diagnosis, it is segmented into blood sugar test, gastric emptying test, medical history, and others.Based on the treatment, it is segmented into medication, surgery, and others. Medication is further sub-segmented into imodium, lomotil, prevalite, colestid, welchol, octreotide, and others.On the basis of the end user, it is segmented into hospitals & clinics, research laboratories, and others.Send An Enquiry @Key PlayersSome of key the players in the market are Medtronic (U.S.), Intuitive Surgical Inc. (U.S.), TransEnterix Inc. (U.S.), ALLERGAN (Republic of Ireland), USGI Medical Inc. (U.S.), Cousin Biotech (France), GI Dynamics Inc. (U.S.), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (U.S.), Mediflex Surgical Product (U.S.), and others.Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India HoReCa Drip Coffee Maker Market to Incur Rapid Extension During 2025 https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/238 https://www.xploremr.com/report/238/horeca-drip-coffee-maker-market https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/238 http://xploremr.com Global HoReCa Drip Coffee Maker Market: OverviewTransparency Market Research offer 8-year forecast for the global HoReCa drip coffee maker market between 2017 and 2025. The global HoReCa drip coffee maker market is expected to register a CAGR of -0.4% during the forecast period. The primary objective of the report is to offer insights about the present product demand scenario in the HoReCa drip coffee maker market. The study demonstrates market dynamics that are expected to influence the current challenges and future status of the global HoReCa drip coffee makers market over the forecast period. This report also offer updates on trends, drivers, restraints, value forecasts, and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global and regional HoReCa drip coffee maker market.Request to sample report @Drip Coffee Maker brews coffee by percolating hot water through a brew basket of coffee grounds. Coffee is captured in a decanter that may be heated by a warming plate. HoReCa drip coffee makers are being manufactured by the various large scale companies with plants, where they are packaged and supplied globally. Majority of players are European based and are supplying the products globally.Global HoReCa Drip Coffee Maker Market: SegmentationBy HoReCa Type, the drip coffee makers is segmented into quick service restaurants and the full service restaurants. Both the segments are likely to be declining in the forecast period due to the rising consumer preference towards pod coffee makers and the automatic drip coffee makers. The rising consumer tastes and preferences is further posing the market to decline in the forecasted period. On the basis of price point, the HoReCa drip coffee makers market can be segmented into Less than US$ 100, US$ 100-200 and more than US$ 200. The market is likely to grow in the developing regions majorly APAC and MEA region where the rising millennial population is giving preference to cafe culture as well as simultaneous demand for fast food.Global HoReCa Drip Coffee Maker Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe report includes market share of each segment according to the region with analysis towards market trends respectively. A section of the report highlights HoReCa drip coffee makers restraints. It also provides a market outlook for 20172025 and sets the forecast within the context of the HoReCa drip coffee makers, including the new product developments as well as better product offerings in the global HoReCa drip coffee makers market. This study discusses key trends of the global HoReCa drip coffee makers market, as well as analyses the degree to which drivers and restraints are influencing the global market.Global HoReCa Drip Coffee Maker Market: Competitive LandscapeIn the final section of the report, a competitive landscape has been included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view. Key categories of providers covered in the report are HoReCa drip coffee makers. Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the HoReCa drip coffee makers space. Key players in the global HoReCa drip coffee makers market includes Bravilor Bonamat B.V., Group SEB, De'Longhi Group, Wilbur Curtis Co., Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company, Bunn-o-matic Corp, JURA Elektroapparate AG, Crem International AB, BSH Home Appliances Corporation and Animo B.V.Report Overview @In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyze on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. The market value and volume is used to identify the potential of the global HoReCa drip coffee makers market.Key Segments CoveredHoReCa TypeQuick Service RestaurantsFast Food RestaurantsCafeteriasCarryout RestaurantsFull Service RestaurantsFine Dining RestaurantsCasual Dining RestaurantsHotel & Club FoodservicePrice PointLess than US$ 100US$ 100-200More than US$ 200RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAPACMEABuy Now Full Report @About UsXploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality information.Contact USXploreMRState Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207, United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030US-Canada : 866-552-3453Email:sales@xploremr.comWebsite: Thermal Management Market Key Players - API Heat Transfer, AI Technology, Avail Thermalloy, Delta Electronics by Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3201 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thermal-management-market-3201 Market Highlights:Thermal Management Market system is a combination of hardware & software elements which helps to carry out all data management task which are required to perform while loading terminal. The components are developed and tested to manage and control a system. According to CGI, terminal management system can be explained as an innovative solution which chains the main business functions involved in bulk terminal management.The growing demand for thermal management solutions directly depend on the increasing demand for consumer electronics. The solutions are widely used in laptops, various gaming devices, tablets and smartphones among others. It also protects the processors and transistors from overheating.Also, the system manages critical issues faced in bulk terminals such as complexity in handling multiple products and regulatory requirements while improving safety and productivity. The benefits of implementing these solutions reduces the risk of loading incorrect quality of product, the solutions are also used to configurable and improves terminal efficiency among others.Geographically, North-America accounted for the largest market share in the global terminal management system market, whereas Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a fast pace over the forecast period, 2017-2023.The Thermal Management Market is expected to reach approximately USD 15 billion by the end of 2023 with 7% CAGR during forecast period 2017-2023.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: API Heat Transfer (U.S.) AI Technology, Inc.(U.S.) Aavid Thermalloy, LLC (U.S.) Delta Electronics, Inc. (Taiwan) Honeywell International Inc (U.S.) Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany) Jaro Thermal (U.S.) LAIRD PLC (U.K. LORD Corporation (U.S.) HEATEX AB (U.S.)Regional Analysis:Regionally, North-America accounted for the largest market share from countries such U.S. among others. The reason is attributed to the increasing investments for these technological solutions, adoption of these thermal management solutions by various domains and low operational cost.However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow over the forecast period, 2017-2023. The reason is attributed as the presence of large number of electronic manufacturers, increasing government initiatives and the increasing adoption of thermal solutions by various sectors.Thermal Management Market:According to Market Research Future, market has been segmented into components, devices, end-users and region. On the basis of end-user, the market has been segmented into automotive, aerospace & defense, food & beverages, healthcare and consumer electronics among others.Out of these end-users, consumer electronics accounted for the largest market share majorly due to increasing demand by consumers and changing lifestyles. Also, the automotive sector is expected to grow over the forecast period. The reason is attributed as the increasing complexity in in the passenger as well as the commercial heavy-duty vehicles, increasing development of products and power efficiency.Market Research Future Analysis:The global Thermal Management Market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period, 2017-2023. Consumer electronics and automotive segment of thermal management market globally drives the market majorly due to increasing demand for gadgets and smartphones. The market is expected to have higher growth rate as compared to the previous years.Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at a fast pace over the forecast period, 2017-2023. Countries such as Japan, China and India contributes largely to the overall market share. The factors driving the market are the increasing number of manufacturers, stringent government regulations, increasing adoption of renewable energy and also increasing awareness among consumers regarding environment friendly heat management solutions.North-America accounted for the largest market share. Countries such as U.S. and Canada contributes largely to the overall market share. The reason is attributed to the growing healthcare sector and growing demand for data centers across various industries such as automotive, food & beverages among others.Segments:For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of thermal management into component, device, end-users and region.Component Hardware SoftwareDevice Conduction Convection Hybrid Advanced OthersRegion North-America Europe Asia-Pacific RoWBrowse Full Report Details @Intended Audience Device manufacturers Network Operators Distributors Suppliers Research firms Software Developers Commercial Banks VendorsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market StructureContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Thermal Management Market, By ComponentTable 2 Thermal Management Market, By DeviceTable 3 Thermal Management Market, By End-UsersContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Thermal Management Market, By Component (%)Figure 3 Thermal Management Market, By Device (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Body Worn Camera Market 2018 Major Key Players - Pinnacle Response Ltd, PRO-VISION, Shenzhen AEE Technology Co. Ltd by Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2972 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/body-worn-camera-market-2972 Market Highlights:Body worn cameras are basically used to capture audio and video data digitally. It typically comprises of a camera, microphone, battery and data storage unit which is either on board or connected to a camera unit via a cable. Depending on the model, they can be head mounted or can be worn anywhere on the body. There are various types of body worn cameras which include the ability to record a video and play later or it can perform live streaming, depending on the system being used.In this rapidly changing world of technology, body worn camera market is gaining immense popularity with the growing need to ensure safety with many companies and governments adopting the same. The body worn camera market comprises of type, solutions and industry segments.It is typically used by law enforcement agencies to record traffic stops, arrests and interviews.Body Worn Camera Market is primarily used for surveillance purposes by police and special law enforcement agencies. It helps in capturing evidence and recording the real time data. The major driving factor for the growth of body worn camera market is increasing need for accountability and maintenance of a transparent approach during police conduct.Another major driving factor is that it can be used by military forces for training purposes and also can be used by special law enforcement agencies. Body worn cameras helps to provide evidence in cases of domestic violence. During accidents, it helps in improving evidence collection.The body worn camera market is expected to grow at approx. USD 990 Million by 2023, at 17% of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: Pinnacle Response Ltd. (U.K.) PRO-VISION (U.S.) Shenzhen AEE Technology Co. Ltd. (China) Safety Vision LLC (U.S.) GoPro-Intrensic (U.S.) Transcend Information, Inc. (Taiwan) Wolfcom Enterprises (U.S.) Veho (MUVI) (U.K.) 10-8 Video Systems LLC (U.S.) Shenzhen Eeyelog Technology Co. Ltd. (China) Pannin Technologies (U.S.)Regional Analysis:The body worn camera market is basically focused globally. The regional analysis of body worn camera market is being studied for regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World.It has been observed that presently North America accounts for the largest share of the market, whereas Asia-Pacific is projected to show growth during the forecast period. Europe region is estimated to exhibit significant market share of body worn camera market which is estimated to overtake the North America region by the end of this year.Market Research Analysis:The regional analysis of body worn camera market is being studied for regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World.It has been observed that, Europe region is growing at the fastest rate and will soon overtake the North America region which is leading the market presently. Asia-Pacific region is growing at a fast pace in the body worn camera market.Unlike other cameras, body worn cameras can provide accurate information of the crime scene as they are not fixed at one place. Due to this reason, the adoption of body worn cameras by the police officers in Europe region is growing. As this accounts to mass adoption by police officers and other governments, Europe region is soaring high in the body worn cameras market compared to other regions.Body Worn Camera Market Segmentation:The body worn camera market has been segmented on the basis of type, solutions and industry. The type segment comprises of recording type and recording and live streaming type.Major driving factor in this market is that it can be used by military forces for training purposes and can also be used by special law enforcement agencies.Segments:Body worn camera market can be segmented on the basis of following:By Type Recording Type Recording and Live Streaming TypeBy Solutions Smart Redaction Smart Scene 360 Smart Shot 360By Industry Police Local Authorities And Council Special Industry Retail And Leisure Transportation Emergency ServicesBrowse Full Report Details @Intended Audience Technology investors Consumer wearable manufacturers Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) Wearable electronics technology platform developers Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) Smart grid integrators Surface mount component device distributors and providers Research/Consultancy firmsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Type2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Body Worn Camera Market, By TypeTable 2 Body Worn Camera Market, By SolutionsContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Body Worn Camera Market, By Type (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Set Top Box Market Analysis and Forecast Predictions MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3430 https://www.mrrse.com/set-top-box-market https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE) recently announced the addition of a new research study to its comprehensive collection of research reports. The research report, titled Set Top Box Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012 - 2016 and Opportunity Assessment 2017 - 2027 offers a detailed analysis of the market, providing insights into the market dynamics that are expected to influence the overall market positively in the next few years. Furthermore, the product segmentation, drivers, barriers, key geographical segments, and the competitive scenario of the Global Set Top Box market have been elaborated upon in the research report.Request Sample pages of this report @The global set-top box market is estimated to be valued at US$ 22,269 Mn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$ 46,091 Mn by 2027 end. Sales revenue is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period (20172027).Increasing demand for TVs from rural areas boosting the set-top box market in the APEJ regionDue to increase in penetration of television and TV services within rural areas as well as urban areas, the set-top box market will receive a boost all across the APEJ region. Disposable incomes are on a rise in developing economies especially in India and China and this is helping the set-top box market turnover to grow. In the Asia Pacific region, consumers are more aware about the features, quality and pricing of the set-top box, helping the market achieve greater growth and acceptability.Increasing demand for IPTV STBs is fuelling the market for set-top boxes in North AmericaIncreasing demand of 4K TVs is expected to provide support to the growth of the set-top box market in North America. It has been observed that the demand for IPTV based services has increased by 12% and operators are viewing IP-based services as an opportunity to differentiate their products. IP transmission recording features and higher storage specifications are anticipated to support steady revenue growth of the North America set-top box market.Domestic production and low-cost products hampering the market growth in APEJIn the Asia Pacific region, domestic production of set-top boxes by local companies is leading to an increase in price competition with global set-top box manufacturers. Emerging companies are acting as competitors to the established players in the market, thus making the smooth operation of this market difficult.Access Report Summary with Detailed TOC at @Focus on HD videos and powerful interfaces with technology a growing trend in the global set-top box marketIt has been observed that set-top box vendors are focussed on supporting devices that enable seamless rendering of high-quality video on a powerful user interface and set-top box vendors have started manufacturing operation systems and app based set-top boxes. The global market is moving towards the 4K android customised set-top box and smart set-top boxes. It has been observed that in the past few years, set-top box manufacturers have shipped a large number of 4K set-top boxes in the APEJ region, and consumers are more aware about the technology and features of set-top boxes in this region.Flexible policies and government support encouraging the use of set-top boxes in the APEJ regional marketIn November 2015, the Chinese government banned 81 third party apps that allow users to turn television sets into internet streaming devices. The Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television proposed a rule for governing set-top boxes. In China and India respectively, governments have taken initiatives to focus on high definition pictures, towards HD channels and decline in TV prices. This has led to the growth of the set-top box market in the APEJ region. Manufacturers in this region have also utilised e-commerce retailers such as Alibaba, Ali Express, Amazon, Flipkart etc., and this has propelled the growth of this market.Global Set-Top Box Market Attractiveness by Region, 20172027In terms of value, the North America set-top box market is projected to be the most attractive regional market in the global set-top box market during the forecast periodHowever, the APEJ market is also poised to register high Y-o-Y growth rates throughout the forecast period. In terms of value, APEJ is anticipated to register a CAGR of 6% during the forecast periodIn 2016, the APEJ market was valued at US$ 6,067.4 Mn and is expected to witness sustained growth in terms of revenue throughout the forecast periodAbout (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Machine Control System Market Key Players - include Leica Geosystems, Topcon Corporation, Trimble Inc by Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2384 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/machine-control-system-market-2384 Market Highlights:According to Market Research Future, Machine Control System market is estimated to generate USD 8 billion market revenue by 2023 growing with 14% CAGR during forecast period 2017 to 2023. Considering the present global machine control systems market scenario, the target market is estimated to have a moderate threat of new entrants, owing to the higher capital-intensive nature of the industry.The demand for machine control systems is expected to increase in constructions, infrastructure planning, mining and marine. This is expected to lead to insufficiency in supply of components soon as the technology is constantly upgrading. It is expected that new players enter the machine control systems market owing to the growing demand from the end-users.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: include Leica Geosystems (Switzerland) Topcon Corporation (Japan) Trimble Inc. (U.S.) RIB Software AG (Germany) MOBA Mobile Automation AG (Germany) Andritz Ltd. (Austria) Belden Inc. (U.S.) Maximatecc (U.S.) Schneider Electric (France) Prolec Ltd. (U.K.)Regional Analysis:Regionally, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market share especially in the countries such as India and China majorly due to the rising industrialization and urbanization as well as the increasing construction and transportation activities is propelling the growth of the market in this region..Segments:The Global machine control system market has been segmented on the basis of type, equipment, end-users and region. By type, the market has been bifurcated into total stations, gnss, laser scanners, airborne systems, gis collectors.On the basis of equipment, the market can be segmented as excavators, dozers, graders, loaders, scrappers among others. On the basis of end-users the market can be segmented into construction, mining, agriculture, marine among others. Further, the market has been segmented into four regions which include- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW.Study Objectives of Global Machine Control System Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global machine control system market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global machine control system market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, equipment, end-users and region. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.Access Report Details @Intended Audience: Machine control system Manufacturers Distributors Research firms Consultancy firms Software Developers Vendors Semiconductor ManufacturersTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope Of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Solution2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Global Machine Control Systems, By TypesTable 2 Global Machine Control Systems, By End-UsersTable 3 Global Machine Control Systems, By GeographyContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research DeploymentFigure 2 Global Machine Control Systems Market, By Type (%)Figure 3 Global Machine Control Systems Market, By End-Users(%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Europe Blood Glucose Device market is nearly US$ 8 Billion by 2024 https://www.renub.com/europe-blood-glucose-device-smbg-test-strips-lancet-meter-market-and-forecast-914-p.php http://www.renub.com/contactus.php www.renub.com Access full Research:Get Free Customization in This ReportSelf-Monitoring Blood Glucose (SMBG) device market is providing big business opportunities for device manufactures in the Europe. It is projected that Europe Blood Glucose Device market will climb to nearly US$ 8 Billion landmark by the end of 2024. Driving factors which help to reach this market are increasing diabetic population in the European countries, Governments and NGOs efforts to increase awareness, increasing per capita healthcare expenditure and availability of reimbursements in most of the European countries.Diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar level is abnormal; either it is high or low of given standard. It is two types - Type 1 and Type 2. In Type 1 diabetes, body does not make insulin whereas in Type 2, body makes irregular insulin sometimes high and sometimes low which is not good for human body. In European region, diabetic mellitus population is steadily rising in United Kingdom, Spain, Netherlands and Norway countries.Request a free sample copy of the report:Europe Blood Glucose Device Market, Forecast SMBG Components (Test Strips, Lancet, Meter), Diabetes Population (Type 1 & 2) published by Renub Research studies the European Countries Blood Glucose Device Segments Market: Blood Glucose Test Strips Market, Blood Glucose Lancet Market and Blood Glucose Meter Market. Annual forecast are provided for the period of 2018 through 2024. A Seven year historic analysis is also provided for these markets.By Diabetes - Population SegmentationAll the European countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Russia) in the report have been covered with the details of Total Diabetic Population, Type 1 Diabetic Population and Type 2 Diabetic Population. A Seven year historic analysis and annual forecast is also included in this study.By SMBG SegmentationThis report provides the details of European country specific SMBG users and market, test strips market, lancet market and glucose meter market.By Test Strips Country SegmentationThe report has also been further segmented on the test strips basis that includes blood glucose test strips historical and forecasted market size in United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Russia. United Kingdom and Russia represents a significant market.By Lancet Country SegmentationLancet is playing the significant role in the Europe SMBG market. Under this segment blood glucose lancet market is defined for the following countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Russia.By Blood Glucose Meter Country SegmentationThis report studies the Blood glucose meter market size in various European countries such as United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Russia. It is 2nd most important segment in the Europe SMBG market.SMBG Segments covers in this studyAll the 4 countries in the report have been studied from 7 viewpoints. Europe Countries Diabetes Population Europe Countries Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Europe Countries Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose (SMBG) Devices Users Europe Countries Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Devices (SMBG) Market Europe Countries Blood Glucose Test Strips Market Europe Countries Blood Glucose Lancet Market Europe Countries Blood Glucose Meter MarketCountries cover in this study United Kingdom Germany Spain Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden Switzerland RussiaThis Report is useful for those who want to know European region as well as country specific SMBG device market, SMBG device segments (Blood Glucose Meter, Test Strips and Lancet) market Countries Diabetes Scenario (Total Number of Diabetic Mellitus Population, Type 1 & Type 2 Diabetic Population) Countries Reimbursement Policy on Diabetic Care and SMBG DevicesContact UsRajat GuptaSr. Marketing ManagerEmail: info@renub.comPhone: +1-678-302-0700Web:Renub Research is a leading Market Research and Information Analysis Company with centers at Noida India and Roswell USA. We have long-term experience especially in international Business-to-Business Researches, Surveys, Business and Consulting. Throughout the years we have acquired expertise in most market sectors, including Information Technology (IT), Telecoms, Life Sciences, Medical & Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services (Banking, Insurance, Reinsurance, M&A, etc.), Energy, Chemicals, Automotive, Retail, FMCG, Consumer Goods, Logistics, Governmental, Social, and Others.Our core team is comprised of an experienced people holding graduate, post graduate and Ph.D. degrees in Finance, Marketing, Human Resource, Bio-Technology, Medicine, Information Technology, Environmental Science and many more. Our research help make the business decisions: on strategy, organization, operations, technology, mergers & acquisitions etc. We support many blue chip companies by providing them findings and perspectives across a wide range of markets. Our research reports offer a blend of information insight, analysis and forecasting that is essential in today's ultra-competitive markets.225 Kristie Ln, Roswell, GA 30076, United States With a 140% increase in estimated annual new HIV infections from 2010 to 2016, UNAIDS said that the the Philippines has become the country with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific. The country has also become one of eight countries that account for more than 85% of new infections in the region. Because of this, the Department of Health and the World Health Organization held on Friday a one-day free confidential and anonymous HIV screening in the workplace at several sites within the DoH compound in observance of International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day on May 18. About 400 DoH staff, including walk-ins, availed of the free HIV screening in eight (8) different stations within the DoH compound. These stations are located in the following areas: Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (2 stations), World Health Organization (2 stations), Epidemiology Bureau, Philippine National AIDS Council Secretariat, Health Promotion and Communication Service and Media Relations Unit Office. The screening, which took about 15 minutes per person, was conducted by trained members from the community-based organization, Project Red Ribbon. Manila Social Hygiene Clinic and San Lazaro Hospital provided further testing and counselling to those who will test reactive in the screening. Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said that health workers should lead and promote HIV testing as part of the national strategy to fight and prevent HIV/AIDS. He said It is important to know ones HIV status to enable people living with HIV (PLHIV) to access treatment, which is now given for free by the DoH. He added that this activity inside the DoH provided convenience and privacy to those who want to avail of the services. We recommend, together with other Philippine National AIDS Council member agencies, that other government agencies and private organizations do the same for their staff on a regular basis, Duque added.Records from the DoH showed that from January 1984 to March 2018, the number of individuals diagnosed with HIV is 53,192. Among those diagnosed from January 2001 to December 2005, the predominant age group was 35-49 years old. However, starting from January 2006 to March 2018, the trend shifted to the 25-34 age group. The proportion of HIV positive cases in the 15-24 age group increased from 25% in 2006-2010 to 29% in 2011-2018. In March 2018, there were 912 new HIV cases reported to the HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines (HARP). Ninety-four percent (858) of the newly diagnosed cases were male. More than half (52%, 471) were 25-34 years old while 31% (283) were 15-24 years old at the time of testing. Sexual contact remains the most predominant mode of transmission (99%, 899). Among this, 86% (774) were among males who have sex with males (MSM). Other modes of transmission were needle sharing among injecting drug users (1%, 11.) Given the current HIV situation in the Philippines, we have to step up our efforts to reduce the number of new HIV cases in the country, WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr Gundo Weiler said. We hope that people take this opportunity not only to remember the lives lost to HIV but to also work towards the elimination of HIV stigma in the Philippines. It is time to talk to your loved ones about HIV screening because treatment is readily available. HIV is no longer a death sentence these days. We should end the stigma and fear attached to disease. HIV/AIDS can be prevented with correct information and deaths can be averted with treatment, Duque said. Currently, DoH has certified 85 HIV treatment hubs apart from social hygiene clinics located in strategic places across the country where PLHIVs can avail of services such as screening and basic laboratory testing, treatment and management of HIV-related illnesses and counseling. Gene Editing Market Persistently Transfiguring with upcoming trends 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=638 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=638 https://www.tmrresearch.com/gene-editing-market Global Gene Editing Market: SnapshotGene editing or genome editing is the targeted insertion or modification of cells in living organism or cells and the method has come to occupy a crucial part of biomedical researches, constantly transforming various disciplines of life sciences. Over the past few years, continuous advancements in gene-editing technologies have led to the advent of several versatile methods, which have enabled investigators to introduce a number of sequence-specific changes into the genomes of a variety of cell types. This has facilitated the discovery of promising human gene therapies proving useful for treating various diseases. The use of targeted nucleases or engineered nucleases in laboratories has provided researchers potential tools to economically and rapidly manipulate almost any genomic sequence for a broad range of cell types.Request Sample Copy of the Report @In recent years, gene editing techniques have been witnessed a paradigmatic shift with the advent of methods such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9), zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). Using these technologies, investigators have been successful in generating a wide spectrum of outcomes, which are likely to prove useful in diverse areas as synthetic biology, disease modeling, neurosciences, and drug discovery. For instance, targeted nuclease have enabled the insertion of targeted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). This has led to the activation of DNA repair pathways in various cells. In vivo applications of various gene editing tools, however, suffer from noticeable constraints. For instance, nuclease delivery or expression can be enabled only in diseased cells, thereby limiting potential of the market to an extent. Nevertheless, constant engineering advances are being made which will expectedly lay robust groundwork for expanding the current array of genome-modifying tools.Global Gene Editing Market: OverviewGene editing involves the insertion, deletion, or replacement of DNA at specific sites in the genome of a cell or an organism. It is usually achieved in a laboratory environment using molecular scissors.Request TOC of the Report @Regulations for the security of life, well-being of plants and animals, human health, and environmental compliance will influence market players for increased focus on import, export, and commercialization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).The report is an all-important tool to comprehend the various factors and growth trends that will influence the growth of the gene editing market between 2017 and 2025. The market study is a collective of facts and factoids that are associated with the global gene editing market in a chronological order. The analysis of past data and current market trends enable research analysts to present a satisfactory conclusion regarding the markets future. Thus, the analysis presented in the report can be used to devise successful business strategies for the future. Using standard analytical tools such as Porters Five Forces and SWOT analysis, the report presents the indices of strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the global gene editing market until the end of the forecast period in 2025.Global Gene Editing Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe increasing expenditures on research and development, growth of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and rising demand for synthetic genes are the major factors driving the global gene editing market.The increasing prevalence of infectious diseases, cancer, and other genetic disorders is steering the growth of the gene editing industry. Moreover, the increasing demand for personalized medicine and advancement of medical science is propelling the industrys demand.However, strict government regulations to receive approval for mutation undertakings and lack of public awareness will challenge the growth of the gene editing market. Government regulations for assessing the medical benefits as well as the potential hazards of gene editing procedure will benefit the growth of this market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Gene Editing Market: Market SegmentationThe global gene editing market can be analyzed on the basis of technology, end user, application, and region. In terms of technology, the market can be segmented into CRISPR, ZFN, TALEN and others. On the basis of application, the global gene editing market can be divided into cell line engineering, plant genetic engineering, animal genetic engineering, and others. By end user, the market can be segmented into biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and academic and government institutes.Global Gene Editing Market: Regional OutlookThe global gene editing market can be divided into the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The U.S. gene editing market is expected to display robust growth due to growth trend manifested by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and adoption of advanced technologies such as CRISPR for treating chronic hereditary diseases.In Europe, the U.K. is expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the gene editing market in this region. This is mainly due to the rising geriatric population and increasing incidence of chronic diseases. The Asia Pacific gene editing market is expected to display fast growth rate in the coming years. The rising geriatric population, modernization of healthcare practices, technological advancements, and government initiatives for controlling diseases are fuelling the growth of the Asia Pacific gene editing market.South Africa is expected to contribute significantly to the revenue of its regional market. The rising prevalence of sickle cell anemia, HIV, hemophilia and several forms of cancer will drive the industrys growth.Major Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report mentions and profiles some of the top companies in the global gene editing market, namely Agilent Technologies, AstraZeneca, Cellectis, Editas Medicine, Dharmacon, Qiagen, Sigma-Aldrich, Allele Biotech, Bio Rad, CRISPR Therapeutics, GE Healthcare, Lonza, Recombinetics, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Cancer Diagnostics Market 2018 -Rising Prevalence of Cancer & Demand for New Diagnostic Techniques Accelerate the Growth in Healthcare Industry by 2023 Market Research Future https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1962 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1962 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1962 Cancer Diagnostics Market 2018 Research Report implements an exhaustive study on Market Research Future. This Report Cover Key Market Driver, market size, growth rate, opportunities, market Dynamics and Overall Analysis. And also cover the other information such as Cancer diagnostics Market trends, Prominent players, chapter-wise Description followed by various user perceptions and Forecast till 2023.Market Scenario:The global cancer diagnostics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% during the forecast period 2017-2023. There are several methods of diagnosing cancer today such as biopsy based, endoscopy based, imaging procedure, tumor cancer diagnostics and many more. Population affected with cancer are showing a tremendous growth during last few years, which create the requirement of advanced technology for diagnosis cancer on early stage. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2017, it is estimate that around 161,360 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and around 26,730 deaths occur owing to prostate cancer in the United States. Thus, many companies are involve in collaboration in order to provide better technology for diagnosis the cancer. In this regards, in January, 2015, Roche and Qualcomm Incorporated entered into a strategic collaboration to improve remote monitoring and management of patients with chronic disease.Rising demand for better technology, increasing investment in biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for R&D are driving the market for cancer diagnostics. Moreover, increasing government support for research & development, changing lifestyle, and rapidly developing technology are also expected to fuel the market during the forecast period. However, the high cost of the treatment may slow the market growth during the period 2017-2023.Get Sample Research Report @Top Players:Some of key the players in the market are Armune BioScience, Inc. (U.S.), Arquer Diagnostics Ltd (U.K), BioMark Diagnostics Inc. (Canada), Biotheranostics, Inc. (U.S.), Cancer Diagnostics, Inc. (U.S.), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), Illumina, Inc. (Denmark), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K), QIAGEN N.V. (Netherlands), Abbott Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), Roche Diagnostics (Switzerland), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Philips Healthcare (U.K), C.R. Bard, Inc. (U.S.).Regional Overview:The Americas dominate the global cancer diagnostics market owing to the presence of huge patient population with cancer, high healthcare spending, and increasing government support for research & development. According to a report published by the breast cancer information and awareness, in 2017, around 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women, along with 63,410 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.Europe holds the second largest share of the global cancer diagnostics market as result of increasing focus of various government agencies on the treatment of diseases. Moreover, the growing public awareness is also likely to boost the European market.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market across the globe. Moreover, rapidly developing economy, increasing healthcare expenditure, and the government initiatives for research & development are projected to drive the market in China and India.The Middle East and Africa holds the least share of the global market due to limited availability of medical facilities. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait are expected to drive the Middle East & African market. Whereas, the African region is expected to witness a moderate growth.Market Segmentation:The global cancer diagnostics market is segmented on the basis of types, application, and end user. On the basis of the type, it is segmented into biopsy based, endoscopy based, imaging procedure, tumor cancer diagnostics, and others. On the basis of the application, it is segmented into lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, blood cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and others. On the basis of the end user, it is segmented into diagnostic center, clinic, hospital, research institutes, and others.Avail Marvelous Discount @Table of Content:1. Report Prologue2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment5. Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers5.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers5.1.3 Threat Of New Entrants5.1.4 Threat Of Substitutes5.1.5 Intensity Of Rivalry5.2 Value Chain Analysis5.3 Investment Feasibility Analysis5.4 Pricing Analysis6. Global Cancer Diagnostics Market, By TypeCONTINUED TOC!List of Tables:Table 1 Cancer Diagnostics Industry Synopsis, 2017-2023Table 2 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Estimates And Forecast, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 3 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market By Region, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 4 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market By Type, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 5 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market By Application, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 6 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market By End Users, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 7 North America Cancer Diagnostics Market By Type, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 8 North America Cancer Diagnostics Market By Application, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 9 North America Cancer Diagnostics Market By End Users, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 10 US Cancer Diagnostics Market By Type, 2017-2023, (USD Million)All the queries about this report can be asked @CONTINUED!List of Figures:Figure 1 Research ProcessFigure 2 Segmentation For Global Cancer Diagnostics MarketFigure 3 Segmentation Market Dynamics For Cancer Diagnostics MarketFigure 4 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Type 2016Figure 5 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Application 2016Figure 6 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By End Users, 2016Figure 7 Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Region, 2016Figure 8 America Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Country, 2016Figure 9 Europe Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Country, 2016Figure 10 Asia Pacific Cancer Diagnostics Market Share, By Country, 2016CONTINUED!About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Hydraulic Cylinder Market PESTLE & SWOT Prophesy 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=656 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=656 https://www.tmrresearch.com/hydraulic-cylinder-market Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: SnapshotHydraulic cylinders play a crucial role in motion control in a wide range of industrial applications such as in aerospace, wind turbines, industrial robotics, and military. They are used in making mobile industrial concrete pumps which have varied applications in the construction industry. The unidirectional force generated in the hydraulic fluids drives the power in piston rods, which helps in lifting, pushing, and pulling of machinery and earthmoving equipment. Over the past few years, constant improvements have been made in the metals used in hydraulic pumps. This has led to equipment being more tear- and corrosion-resistant resulting in better performance and efficiency in harsh environments. Ergonomic and design innovations in various parts used in hydraulic pumps make them more flexible and standardized, allowing for easy replaceability of parts irrespective of vendors or suppliers in the market. The use of carbon fiber composite materials reduces the weight of hydraulic cylinders considerably, thereby enhancing their performance.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The maintenance of frictional properties of rod seals and wipers used in hydraulic cylinders is critical for their higher service life and their efficiency in more demanding environments. Hence it is imperative that adequate coatings on piston rod seals are done to minimize tear and wear that may be caused by static and dynamic friction. In recent years, the impact of alternative coatings has been tested to be instrumental in enhancing the life-cycle of hydraulic equipment. Furthermore, the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology used in hydraulic cylinders is a recent innovation underpinning the adoption of automation in Industry 4.0. RFID tags help in the identification and traceability of cylinders that need repair or replacement, even in difficult operating environments where the markings may be covered by hard-to-remove industrial dirt.Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: OverviewA hydraulic cylinder refers to a mechanical actuator that is utilized to provide unidirectional force through a unidirectional stroke. Powered by pressurized hydraulic fluid, hydraulic cylinders have extensive applications in construction, manufacturing, heavy industries, and agriculture.The research report presents a detailed assessment of market drivers, market challenges, growth trends that will impact the growth of the global hydraulic cylinder market during the forecast period. The report provides detailed insights into the vendor landscape of this market throwing light on the growth opportunities that leading players can leverage.Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe top factor driving the global hydraulic cylinder market is rapid industrialization combined with economic growth in developing countries. The robust demand for modern agriculture equipment for improved productivity and conservation of energy is expected to augment the growth of the global hydraulic cylinders market. Furthermore, the evolution of food processing industries combined with the modernization of agricultural practices will fuel the demand for hydraulic cylinders in the coming years.Furthermore, the rising demand for material handling equipment for minimizing the risk of downtime will fuel the growth of the global hydraulic cylinder market in the near future. Material handling equipment such as electronic overhead traveling cranes and level luffing cranes are utilized across a large range of industries such as food and beverage, oil and gas, power, and retail.Request TOC of the Report @In developed countries such as the U.S., large-scale initiatives for the exploration of shale gas is expected to benefit the markets growth. In industrial units, factors such as the expansion of production capacity and capacity utilization will also augment the growth of the hydraulic cylinder market.Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: Regional OutlookThe global hydraulic cylinder market can be divided into the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. China is expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the Asia Pacific hydraulic cylinder market. This is mainly due to huge investments announced by the Chinese government in the infrastructure sector. The modernization of agricultural practices combined with increasing investment in infrastructure will lead India to contribute significantly to the Asia Pacific hydraulic cylinder market during the forecast period.In North America, the U.S. hydraulic cylinder market is expected to grow by leaps and bound. The increasing investment on defense and material handling and aerospace will further boost the industrys growth.Russia is anticipated to display significant gains in the hydraulic cylinder market. The increasing demand for modern agriculture and construction equipment will bolster the demand for hydraulic cylinders in the country. In Latin America, Brazil is expected to display significant demand for hydraulic cylinders. The increasing investment in transport infrastructure and government initiatives for the development of the transportation sector will boost the hydraulic cylinder market in this region.Major Companies Mentioned in ReportSome of the leading companies in the global hydraulic cylinder market are Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, Best Metal Products, Eaton Corporation PLC, Lignon Industries LLC, Hydrapac Italia, Chapel Hydraulic, Bailey International LLC, Enerpac Corp., Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Texas Inc., Hydrosila, Weber-Hydraulik Group, Bosch Rexroth AG, Aggresssive Inc., Hannon LLC, Perfection Prince Manufacturing Corporation, Burnside Autocyl (Tullow) Ltd, United Hydraulics, Caterpillar Inc., Hyco International Inc., Precision group Inc., Norrhydro OY, and Pacoma GmbH.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Each of the companies is profiled for their business attributes of competitive position, technological developments, financial standing, and SWOTs.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com eMeet Introduces World's First High-Performance Bluetooth Portable Speakerphone Powered by AI Technology for Professionals and Private Individuals Shenzhen, China - May 11, 2018 - eMeet Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese tech company that develops and markets high-tech conferencing devices, announces the availability of the worlds first high performance speakerphone that integrates the functionality of VoiceIA algorithm background noises and echo suppression, AI algorithm sound capture and automatic volume adjustment, 4 high sensitive MEMS digital microphones array, and Bluetooth 4.2 technology into a compact and portable device.Following the eMeet OfficeCore M1, the eMeet OfficeCore M2 is the most sophisticated, portable Bluetooth speakerphone available today. Featuring VoiceIA patent algorithm, based on AI technology DNN (Deep Neural Network), it can filter human voices and effectively suppress background noises even in a noisy environment to deliver natural two-way conversations.While most speakerphones are equipped with single directional microphones, the eMeet M2 includes 4 high sensitive MEMS digital omnidirectional microphones array capable to pick up sound from any angles and accurately identifies human voice positions to only capture vocal sound to a distance up to 33 ft away with 12 people in one room, so you only hear what matters most.The eMeet M2 is unique in that it features multipoint connection that allows infinite expandability by linking together via wire as many M2 speakerphones as you want to enjoy superior sound for the best voice collaboration.Bringing plug-and-play and multiple connection solutions, the speakerphone can connect in seconds with virtually any smart devices and integrates seamlessly with all communication platforms via Bluetooth, the AUX port, or via USB wire. And thanks to its compact size and a built-in 2500mAh Li-ion battery, it can be easily moved anywhere to allow conference calls to take place in any available places. The battery provides 12 hours of continuous talk-time and fully recharge in only 1.5 hours.Features and Technical DetailsSize: 125 x 125 x 35 mmWeight: 290 grLoudspeaker: 3W x 1 / 84dB (Powerful sound)Touch Buttons: YesBluetooth Distance: 20 metersBluetooth Version: V4.2, BLEConnection Type: Bluetooth or USB cable, AUX cableOutput: 3.5mm audio output to connect loudspeaker or earphoneSound Pickup Angle: 360 omnidirectionalSound Pickup Radius: 8-10 metersMicrophone Array: 4 Microphone Array with AI algorithmAlgorithm: VoiceIA algorithm, AI algorithm, AI adaptive noise suppressionVoice Localization: AI Positioning###About eMeetHeadquartered in Shenzhen, the Chinese Silicon Valley, eMeet develops and markets conferencing smart voice interface devices. The eMeet team missions is to giving you what you need for an unsurpassed calls and music experience.eMeet is partnered with XMOS, a fabless semiconductor company with class leading far-field voice capture solutions and audio interface products, to provide outstanding audio experience during conference calls.Shenzhen Emeet Technology Co. Ltd.14F Building B1 No 1001 Xueyuan RoadNanshan DistrictShenzhen, China 518000Press contact:- Stevens R.- stevens@emeet.tech Global pharmaceutical filtration market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% over the forecast period i.e. 2017-2024 https://www.researchnester.com/sample-request/2/rep-id-491 https://www.researchnester.com/toc-request/1/rep-id-491 https://www.researchnester.com/reports/pharmaceutical-filtration-market-global-historical-growth-2012-2016-future-outlook-2017-2024-demand-analysis-opportunity-evaluation/491 Pharmaceutical Filtration Market OverviewPharmaceutical filtration is defined as a process to separate suspended particles from a medium by passing them through a membrane. Filtration is the most important process of pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical Filtration is widely used for various applications such as cell separation, water purification, air filtration and others. Further, nanofiltration technology is heavily adopted by pharmaceutical industries for the filtration process.Market Size and ForecastThe global pharmaceutical filtration market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% over the forecast period i.e. 2017-2024. Further, growing expansion of the biopharmaceutical industry and rise in healthcare expenditure are envisioned to foster the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market across the globe.The global pharmaceutical filtration market is segmented into product type, application, technology, and region. On the basis of technology, the segment is further sub divided into ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, microfiltration, ion exchange, and others. Further, microfiltration segment is expected to be the largest segment by the end of 2024 owing to wide use application of microfiltration technology.Request Free Report Sample@In terms of geography, North America and Europe are the most prominent regional markets of pharmaceutical filtration in 2016. North America is the largest market in terms of market revenue share in overall pharmaceutical filtration market. Further, this region is expected to continue its dominance by the end of 2024. The market of pharmaceutical filtration is majorly driven on the back of increasing strict cleanliness requirements in manufacturing facilities and rise in manufacturing of vaccines. Likely, U.S. holds the largest market share of pharmaceutical filtration owing to the increasing research activities in this region.Europe region captured the second largest market of pharmaceutical filtration in terms of revenue in 2016. Further, Western Europe countries such as U.K., Germany and others are augmenting the demand for pharmaceutical filtration due to increasing government initiatives and funding. Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the fastest growing pharmaceutical filtration market by the end of 2024. Additionally, the growth in this region is attributed to various factors such as growing population and rising demand for vaccines due to growing prevalence of numerous diseases. Likely, the major countries witnessing the augmented demand for pharmaceutical filtration are China, Japan and India.Market SegmentationOur in-depth analysis segmented the global pharmaceutical filtration market in the following segments:By Product Type Membrane Filters Depth Filters Cartridge Filters High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) Bag Filters Gas FiltersBy Application Cell Separation Water Purification Air Filtration Raw Material Filtration Finished Product Filtration OthersBy Technology Ultrafiltration Nanofiltration Microfiltration Ion Exchange OthersGrowth Drivers and ChallengesGrowing demand for vaccines for the treatment of various diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and malaria coupled with growing healthcare expenditure are believed to be the dynamic factor behind the rapid growth of pharmaceutical filtration market across the globe. Further, technological advancement in filtration techniques across the globe is envisioned to foster the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market by the end of 2024.Moreover, rising research and development activities by major key players to provide better filtration along with favorable government initiative to improve healthcare infrastructure is projected to bolster the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market. In addition to this, growing manufacturing of generic drugs and expansion of pharmaceutical industry are predicted to elevate the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market.Request Free Table of Contents Here:However, high initial investment related with pharmaceutical filtration is expected to hinder the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market over the forecast period. Moreover, strict validation and qualification procedures in different countries are believed to dampen the growth of pharmaceutical filtration market globally.This report also provides the existing competitive scenario of some of the key players of the global pharmaceutical filtration market which includes company profiling of 3M Company, Amazon Filters Ltd., Eaton Corporation PLC, GE Healthcare, Graver Technologies, Llc, Meissner Filtration Products, Inc., Merck KGAA, Pall Corporation, Parker Hannifin Corporation and Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. The profiling enfolds key information of the companies which encompasses business overview, products and services, key financials and recent news and developments. On the whole, the report depicts detailed overview of the global pharmaceutical filtration market that will help industry consultants, equipment manufacturers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players searching possibilities and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.To know more information:About Research NesterResearch Nester is a leading service provider for strategic market research and consulting. We aim to provide unbiased, unparalleled market insights and industry analysis to help industries, conglomerates and executives to take wise decisions for their future marketing strategy, expansion and investment etc. We believe every business can expand to its new horizon, provided a right guidance at a right time is available through strategic minds. Our out of box thinking helps our clients to take wise decision so as to avoid future uncertainties.Contact for more Info:Ajay DanielEmail: ajay.daniel@researchnester.comU.S. +1 646 586 9123U.K. +44 203 608 5919 mHealth Market: Current Trends, Emerging Challenges, Strategic Alliances and New Product Development mHealth (mobile health) is used for the practice of medicine & public health and is maintained by mobile devices, tablet computers, PDAs, and wearable devices such as smart watches to educate consumers about preventive healthcare services. It is used for disease surveillance, treatment support, epidemic outbreak tracking and chronic disease management.Rising penetration of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile platforms along with growing use of connected devices are the major drivers which are likely to propel the growth of mHealth market. Future progress of mHealth technologies in formal diagnostic and therapeutic roles is expected to add new opportunities for this market in the coming years.The Global mHealth Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the mHealth industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global mHealth market with detailed market segmentation by device, service, application, stakeholder, and geography. The global mHealth market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.The mHealth market report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global mHealth market based on device, service, application, and stakeholder. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall mHealth market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 13 counties globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.The mHealth market report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South & Central America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these regions.The mHealth market report also includes the profiles of key mHealth manufacturing companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years. Some of the key players influencing the market are LifeWatch AG, Masimo Corporation, Omron healthcare, Philips healthcare (a division of Royal Philips company), Bayer Healthcare (a division of Bayer), Sanofi, AT&T, Boston Scientific Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic PLC, and among others.The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Global Healthcare Automation Market 2018 Key Players: General Electric Company, Siemens AG, Swisslog Holding AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Medtronic PLC. Healthcare Automation Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3163770-global-healthcare-automation-market-size-status-and-forecast-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3163770-global-healthcare-automation-market-size-status-and-forecast-2025 Healthcare Automation Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Healthcare Automation Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2025reports to its database.Executive SummaryThis report studies the global Healthcare Automation market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Healthcare Automation market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.This report focuses on the global top players, coveredGeneral Electric CompanySiemens AGSwisslog Holding AGKoninklijke Philips N.V.Medtronic PLCIntuitive Surgical, Inc.Stryker CorporationDanaher CorporationAccuray Inc.Tecan Group LtdMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoTherapeutic AutomationLab and Pharmacy AutomationLogistics and Training AutomationDiagnostics and Monitoring AutomationMarket segment by Application, Healthcare Automation can be split intoPharmaciesResearch institutes and labsHome CareOthersRequest Sample Report @The study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of Healthcare Automation in global market.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region.To analyze and compare the market status and forecast between China and major regions, namely, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Rest of World.To analyze the global key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Healthcare Automation are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersHealthcare Automation ManufacturersHealthcare Automation Distributors/Traders/WholesalersHealthcare Automation Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAvailable CustomizationsWith the given market data, We offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Healthcare Automation market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.Table of Content:Global Healthcare Automation Market Size, Status and Forecast 20251 Industry Overview of Healthcare Automation2 Global Healthcare Automation Competition Analysis by Players3 Company (Top Players) Profiles4 Global Healthcare Automation Market Size by Type and Application (2013-2018)5 United States Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook6 Europe Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook7 China Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook8 Japan Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook9 Southeast Asia Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook10 India Healthcare Automation Development Status and Outlook11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2018-2025)12 Healthcare Automation Market Dynamics13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Research Finding/Conclusion15 AppendixContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Contact Us:Norah Trentsales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US); +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042 Alloy Wheels Market: 2018 Sales, Industry Size, Share, Competitive Analysis, Growth Factors With Global Forecast To 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3931 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automotive-alloy-wheel-market-3931 Alloy Wheels Market 2018: Global Industry Analysis To 2023 research provides comprehensive information on Global Alloy Wheels Market Information Report finishing type (Polished alloy wheel, Two-toned allay wheel and others), Wheel type (Compact-size, Mid-size, Full-size), application (Passenger cars, Commercial vehicles and Two wheelers) and Region. Worldwide Alloy Wheels Market is to grow at moderate CAGR during Forecast Period.Alloy Wheels Market Highlights:The global Automotive Alloy Wheel market is characterized by the presence of many global, regional, and local vendors. The market is highly competitive with all the players competing to gain market share. Intense competition, rapid advances in technology, frequent changes in government policies, and environmental regulations are key factors that confront market growth. In addition, in-house research and development capabilities, global footprint network, material offerings, R&D investments, and strong client base have become the key areas to gain an edge over the competitors.Get Sample Copy of Global Alloy Wheels Market Report atKey Companies analyzed are Euromax Wheel (U.S.), MHT Luxury Wheels (U.S.), Status Wheels, Inc. (U.S.), Wheel Pros, LLC (U.S.), Fuel Off-Road Wheels (U.S.), SOTA Offroad (U.S.), Enkei Wheels India Ltd.(India), Ronal AG (Switzerland), Uniwheels (Switzerland) and BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG (Germany) and others are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the Global Automotive Alloy Wheel Market.Steel and alloy wheels are the two most common types of wheels used in cars. Automotive alloy wheel is made up of alloy of light metals such as aluminum, nickel and others. Alloy wheels are stronger and lighter than steel and they also improve the appearance of the car. Consumers are becoming more conscious about the external styling of the vehicles and better riding quality, which is pushing the market towards growth. Easy acceleration of the car, growing disposable income, improved driving experience and lower cost are some of the driving factors of the automotive Alloy Wheel market.The vendors compete based on cost, product quality, reliability, and aftermarket service. It is crucial for the vendors to provide cost-efficient and high-quality Automotive Alloy Wheel services, in order to survive and succeed in an intensely competitive market environment.The vendors with better technical and financial resources can develop innovative products that render the competitors' products obsolete and non-competitive even before they are launched, or costs are recovered. Therefore, vendors have to develop new technologies and stay abreast of emerging technologies that could affect the continuing competitiveness of their product lines in the market. The competitive environment in the market is likely to intensify further due to an increase in product/service extensions, technological innovations, and M&A.In automotive industry, pricing factor has always been a point of discussion before purchase. Here, the discussion is of Automotive Alloy Wheel such as electric cars, pickups, trucks and others. As per the market statistics, the sales of Automotive Alloy Wheel is rising very rapidly in developed countries such as the US, China, Germany, UK, Norway and others. All these countries are developed and has very good economy with healthy disposable income. As a result, the sales has increased. But moving towards the developing and undeveloped countries, the high prices of Automotive Alloy Wheel has become a major hindrance for market growth. Countries such as India, Indonesia and Brazil consumes a large pool of population but still the trend of Automotive Alloy Wheel has not come into paceAsia-Pacific market is dominating the market of automotive alloy wheel market due to growth in automotive sector. Large demand and production of automobiles, development of automotive manufacturing industries in developing economies such as China and India are driving the market for automotive alloy wheel market. Features such as weight reduction, and better handling of vehicles help in the market growth. The increased preference for external styling and customization are pushing the market towards growth. The market in developing countries is largely driven by economic growth and ongoing industrialization, which helps in production of motor vehicles and other manufacturing output.Major Table Of Content:1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Definition2.2.2 Research Objective2.2.3 Assumptions2.2.4 Limitations2.3 Research Process2.3.1 Primary Research2.3.2 Secondary Research2.4 Market Size Estimatio2.5 Forecast Model3 Market Landscape3.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis3.1.1 Threat Of New Entrants3.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers3.1.3 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers3.1.4 Threat Of Substitutes3.1.5 Segment Rivalry3.2 Value Chain/Supply Chain Analysis4 Market Dynamics4.1 Introduction4.2 Market Drivers4.3 Market Restraints4.4 Market Opportunities4.5 Market TrendsContinuedBrowse Full Report at:The report for Global Automotive Alloy Wheel Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Mobile BI Market Dynamic visualization during 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=593 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=593 https://www.tmrresearch.com/mobile-bi-market Global Mobile BI Market: OverviewThe global mobile BI market is envisaged to witness the addition of new products and features to keep consumers interested. For instance, the Redmond-based giant technology company, Microsoft recently announced the inclusion of new features such as Shared with me View in its all-platform Power BI mobile apps. Also accessible through web portals, Power BI mobile apps have been updated to facilitate users with a single place to share all dashboards. Key analysts predict a new level of advancement in the global mobile BI market owing to latest launches such as Yellowfin 7.3+. It allows the formulation of keen business insights for data and IT analysts through trustworthy and governed data and flexible creation of dynamic visualizations for developers.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The augmenting need of mobile BI software solutions across a myriad of organizations is envisioned to propel the demand for consulting services and professional services. As a result, the services market could register a significant CAGR during the forecast period 20172025. Several industries have expressed the need to streamline their sales and resolve sales-related problems in real time. This is anticipated to set the tone for a reliable growth in the sales market for mobile BI. However, mobile BI is also implemented for other business functions such as human resource, finance, operations, marketing, and IT.While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could up the growth in the global mobile BI market for receiving low-cost solutions, large enterprises are predicted to birth a staggering demand on the back of time-efficient and cost-effective features.Global Mobile BI Market: SnapshotMobile Business Intelligence or mobile BI is the ability that aids the mobile personnel to attain business insights via information analysis employing applications improved for mobile devices. Business intelligence or BI is basically referred to computed-based techniques employed in the spotting, extracting, and evaluating business information such as associated incomes and costs or sales revenue by departments or products. Though, the notion of mobile computing has been long prevalent, the concept of mobile BI has gained momentum in the last few years. This growth has been encouraged due to the significant change in the wire world with the advent of wireless technology with smartphones giving rise to a new era of mobile computer technology, prominently in the field of business intelligence.Organizations are developing their personal Information Technology (IT) monitoring tools in order to gain enhanced visibility into the new intricacies. The right solutions can help one detect patterns that will help predict issues early before they occur. Mobile BI permits big data from IT to be transformed into appropriate and actionable insights for a rapid resolution. It further enables the business organization to extract information from key operational data units such as log files, events, performance metrics, and trouble tickets to proactively dodge outages, attain faster mean time for repairing, and understand cost savings through better operational efficiency.Request TOC of the Report @The market intelligence publication delves into the possible growth opportunities for the global mobile BI market and the chronological growth of the market throughout the forecast period. It also uniquely provisions required data related to facers such as dynamics influencing the progress in all possible retrospective manner. Several ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous trends have also been mentioned in the study. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further reaches out to point out accomplishments related to R&D, acquisitions, mergers, and crucial partnerships and verifications. The companies in limelight have been analyzed on market shares, products, and key strategies.Global Mobile BI Market: Trends and ProspectsThe key drivers of the global mobile BI market are the growing trend of bring your own device (BYOD), rising platforms of mobile enterprise application, burgeoning popularity of Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST APIs), growth of in-memory computing, and robust advancement in the features of mobile device. The global mobile BI market is also progressing owing to the transformation from the generic BI techniques for the purpose of business data analysis to advanced methods and the upsurge in the flow of unstructured and structured data.The mobile BI market can be classified on the basis of industry verticals, amongst the segments of insurance, financial services, and banking are likely to be the leading adopters of mobile BI due to the extensive rise in data volume and the growing demand for IT systems in banks and several other financial institutes.Global Mobile BI Market: Regional AnalysisThe market in North America is expected to emerge lucrative owing to the growing technological advancements and early adoption of business intelligence solutions. Due to the high opportunities for vendors in the industry verticals of the Asia Pacific region, mainly in Japan, China and India, the market is projected to witness strong growth.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Mobile BI Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the leading players in the market are Qlik Technologies, SAS Institute, Tableau Software, SAP SE, Microsoft Corporation, and IBM Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Africa Nuclear Medicine Market Report 2017, Trends, Analysis, Share, Estimates and Forecasts to 2022. http://www.strategymrc.com/report/africa-nuclear-medicine-market-outlook-2014-2022 http://www.strategymrc.com/report/africa-nuclear-medicine-market-outlook-2014-2022 The Africa Nuclear Medicine Market report provides an in-depth analysis of the various market segments and its sub-segments. The Nuclear Medicine market is segmented by application and by geography. Based on the application, the nuclear medicine market is categorized into diagnostics and therapeutics applications. The diagnostic application is further segmented into SPECT and PET market, where SPECT market comprises cardiology, neurology, thyroid and other diagnostic applications. The PET market comprises oncology and other PET applications. The therapeutics application is further segmented into thyroid, bone metastasis, endocrine tumors and other therapeutic applications. Based on the geography the market is categorized Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and Rest of Africa.The report focuses on current and upcoming market trends such as Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, and Challenges, technological advancements, Porters Five Forces analysis to assess the intensity of competition in the market. The market values are presented in the form of tables and graphs for better interpretation.For More, Please Visit:Market Size EstimationsThe market assessment is made by the core industry experts using our 360 research approach. The data is derived from the most reliable, authenticated data sources and is validated by the industry experts (Primary Research). Both top down and bottom up analysis are implemented to enhance the accuracy of the market figures. The market projections are calculated for the next 8 years using the actual market numbers of previous year as the base year.Company ProfilingThis section provides the overview of the key players that are leading in the industry, covering their business operations, financials, list of products & services, SWOT analysis, major developments such as mergers & acquisitions, agreements, partnerships, joint ventures, new product launch, expansions etc.Report Highlights:- Market share assessments for all the mentioned market segments and sub-segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 8 years for all the given segments- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping, mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsFor More, Please Visit:We offer wide spectrum of research and consulting services with in-depth knowledge of different industries. We are known for customized research services, consulting services and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) services in the research world. We explore the market trends and draw our insights with valid assessments and analytical views. We use advanced techniques and tools among the quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the market trends. Our research reports and publications are routed to help our clients to design their business models and enhance their business growth in the competitive market scenario. We have a strong team with hand-picked consultants including project managers, implementers, industry experts, researchers, research evaluators and analysts with years of experience in delivering the complex projects.STRATISTICS MRC17049 King James Way, Gaithersburg,MD, 20877, USA SEOULIn theory Park Jae-yeol should have retired 11 years ago. But despite its advanced economy South Korean state pensions are meager, and the 71-year-old is obliged to continue working, delivering packages to high-rise apartments. He pushes a cartload of brown boxes into a lift at a block of flats in Seoul, his aging eyes strained by constant squinting at tiny address labels. Money is the biggest reason he is still working, Park told AFP. He is one of millions of elderly South Koreans pushed into labor well past the official retirement age of 60. Social safety nets in the rapidly-aging country are weak, despite South Korea ranking in the OECD club of developed countries. More than 45 percent of elderly South Koreans live in relative povertyless than half of the median household incomeby far the highest proportion in the OECD, where the average is 12.5 percent. Park is one of the millions whose efforts powered the Miracle on the Han, the countrys transformation from a war-ravaged ruin in the 1950s to the worlds 11th-largest economy. A high school graduate from the southern port of Busan, he worked in air conditioning maintenance, earning enough to raise three children and buy an apartment in Seoul. He formed his own air conditioning servicing company, but like many people of his age was never able to build up a cushion of savings for his twilight years. Our generation was too busy just trying to survive and raise children during these crazy times, unable to prepare for our post-retirement years, Park said. South Korea only introduced a national pension scheme in 1988 and it did not become mandatory until 1999. Payouts are dependent on the amount and duration of contributions, with a 10-year minimum. Many of those in their 70s and 80s missed a chance to pay into the system, and so are left out of pension benefits, said Hwang Nam-hui, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, and must survive on welfare payments that are ludicrously low. Parks firm went bankrupt in 2012, leaving him having to rely on a national pension of about $130 a month and an elderly subsidy around $180nowhere near enough to live on in one of the worlds most expensive cities.Thats not even enough for pocket money, he said, adding he did not want to rely on his children to give him monthly allowances. So he signed up for a state program to help the elderly get menial jobs, and started working as a deliveryman in 2014. He now works three days a week, taking up to 100 packages to their destinations and earning about $500 a month. Most of his co-workers are in their 70s, with the oldest at 78. Park has already worked for more than five decades, but said he hoped to carry on as long as my health allows... maybe until Im 80. South Koreas fertility ratethe average number of babies women have in their lifetimehit a record low of 1.05 last year, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. Over-65s are expected to make up 25 percent of the population by 2030a phenomenon dubbed the silver tsunami. In the past, traditional extended family structures, with three generations living under one roof, ensured the elderly a life of relative comfort with support from their offspring, researcher Hwang told AFP. But the radical social changes of recent decades have seen filial obligations wane, and the elderly forced to remain at work. Statistics released in March showed more South Koreans in their 60s were economically activeeither employed or seeking a jobthan those in their 20s. Park and his 63-year-old wifewho works as a convenience store cashiertake only one week off a year, to go to the resort island of Jeju. But, Park insists: I feel so grateful and lucky to still be able to work. Global Entrance Matting Market anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% to reach value of $6155.27 million by 2023. Entrance Matting Market https://industryarc.com/Report/15538/entrance-matting-market.html https://industryarc.com/support.php?id=1553 https://industryarc.com/Report/105/HVAC-Systems-equipment-Market.html https://industryarc.com/Report/171/Hazardous-Location-Explosion-Proof-Equipment-Air-Conditioners-Report.html https://industryarc.com/subscription.php In the Report Entrance Matting Market: By Type (Scraper/Wiper, Anti - Fatigue, Flow through), By Material (Rubber, Nylon, Coir, Cotton), By Application (Indoor, Outdoor); By Geography- Forecast (2018-2023) published by IndustryARC, the market is driven by new advancements in matting engineering, where development of anti-fatigue and special mats provide ample opportunities for market growth.North America dominates with major share in the Entrance Matting MarketNorth America dominates the entrance matting market with a share of approximately 30% in 2017,and generating a revenue of $1443.45 million by 2017. The market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.90% to reach $1840.30 million by 2023. The market growth is mainly attributed to the growing demand from the construction industry. Europe entry mat market is analyzed, with respect to countries such asU.K, France, Germany, Sweden and others.The overall market for entrance matting inEurope was $1350.36 million in 2017, and is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 3.42% to reach $1656.59 million by 2023. Asia-pacific is the fastest growing region for entrance matting market, growing at a CAGR of 5.93% throughout the forecast period. With respect to the end-user of entrance matting products, the commercial mats sector is estimated to witness an upsurge due to the rapidly growing construction industry across developing economies.Selected Material Analysis done in the full Report:Entrance matting are heavily used indoor and outdoor that helps to avoid dust particles. Increasing importance for safety at work places and cleanliness in various industries displaysa positive influence on the market. Among all the materials, Polypropylene is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.06% during the forecast period from $1048.6 million in 2017to $1415.23 million in 2023, followed by Nitrile rubber and PVC.Nitrile rubber for entrance matting market is the second leading segment, andis projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.41% from $986.6 million in 2017 to reach $1290.04million by 2023.Advantages such as ability to withstand any type of harsh environment that has high transaction, durability and its environment friendly characteristics propel the growth of the nitrile rubber entrance matting market.PVC segment held a revenue of $971.7 million in 2017, and is projected to grow with CAGR of 4.54% during the forecast period to $1217.01 million in 2023, owing to their resistance capacity againstharsh weather conditions.To purchase or browse the table of contents of the report follow the link below:Excerpts on Market Growth FactorsThe necessity for urban residential and commercial infrastructure due to rising urbanization have led to the rise inconstruction activity. This construction activity in emerging economies such as India and China, is driving demand for entrance matting.New technology restrictions, especially in Europe will probably see a decline in operating efficiencies across the manufacturers.Recent developments in raw materials for these mats might even automate the product differentiation process,which going forward will act as a serious threat to the current providers. Still, other materials such as rubber and nylon will still see larger players maintain their position in the market.New building projects forrenovation of corporate offices along with residential buildings are turning into highly effective walking areas. Due to higher rate of adoption, , the companys manufacturing of these barrier matting aims to improve the quality, develop and establish low cost manufacturing platforms that support mass production of entrance matting.Talk to one of our sales representative about the full report by providing your details in the link below:Key players of the Entrance Matting MarketForbo holding AG and 3M Company are the dominant players of the entrance matting market, with a share of 9% and 5% respectively, followed by Milliken & Co. and Cintas Corporation. The market is highly fragmented, with the presence of numerous companies with various product offerings serving local, zonal, national and regional markets according to varying needs. Forbo Holding AG has an extensive and attractive range of environmentally friendly linoleum. The company comes under flooring system division. Forbo Holding AG is a global provider of premium commercialand residential floor covering. Some of the products are NuwayTuftiguard, NuwayTuftiguard Heavy Duty, Nuway Grid, cable connect, Flameguard, Coral Luxe, coral welcome etc. 3M Company works under fivesegments, and is one of the leading producers of entrance matting systems in the market. Some of the product segments mentioned are Nomad Series and Safety Walk Series. These products cover both indoor and outdoor doormat solutions.Entrance Matting Market report is segmented as belowA.Entrance Matting Market By Type1.Scraper/Wiper2.Anti - Fatigue3.Flow through4.Specialty5.OthersB.Entrance Matting Market By Material1.Nitrile Rubber2.Nylon3.Coir4.Cotton5.Polypropylene6.PVC7.OthersC.Entrance Matting Market By Application1.Indoor2.OutdoorD.Entrance Matting Market By End-User1.Residential2.CommercialE.Entrance Matting Market by Geography (covers 10+ countries)F.Entrance Matting Entropy MarketCompanies Citied / Interviewed1.Kleen-Tex Industries Inc.2.Birrus Matting Systems3.The R.C. Musson Rubber Co.4.Paragon Carpets &Matworks5.Superior Manufacturing Group Inc. (Notrax)6.Bergo Flooring Ab7.Unifirst Corporation8.Company 89.Company 910.Company 10+Related Report:A.HVAC Equipment MarketB.Hazardous Location Air Conditioner MarketWhat can you expect from the report?The Entrance Matting Market Report is Prepared with the Main Agenda to Cover the following 20 points:1. Market Size by Product Categories & Application 11. Demand Analysis (Revenue & Volume)2. Market trends & Relevant Market Data 12. Country level Analysis3. Manufacturer Landscape 13. Competitor Analysis4. Distributor Landscape 14. Market Shares Analysis5. Pricing Analysis 15. Value Chain Analysis6. Top 10 End user Analysis 16. Supply Chain Analysis7. Product Benchmarking 17. Strategic Analysis8. Product Developments 18. Current & Future Market Landscape Analysis9. Mergers & Acquisition Analysis 19. Opportunity Analysis10. Patent Analysis 20. Revenue and Volume AnalysisFrequently Asked Questions:Q. Does IndustryARC publish country or application based reports in Entrance Matting Market segment?Response: Yes, we do have separate reports as mentioned below:1.America Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)2.Europe Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)3.Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)4.TypeEntrance Matting Market (2018-2023)5.Material Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)6.Application Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)7.End User Entrance Matting Market (2018-2023)Q. Does IndustryARC provide customized reports and charge additionally for limited customization?Response:Yes, we can customize the report by extracting data from our database of reports and annual subscription databases. We can provide the following free customization:1. Increase the level of data in application or end user industry.2. Increase the number of countries in geography chapter.3. Find out market shares for other smaller companies or companies which are of interest to you.4. Company profiles can be requested based on your interests.5. Patent analysis, pricing, product analysis, product benchmarking, value and supply chain analysis can be requested for a country or end use segment.Any other custom requirements can be discussed with our team, drop an e-mail to sales@industryarc.com to discuss more about our consulting services.To request for a proposal, provide your details in the below link:About IndustryARC:IndustryARC is a Research and Consulting Firm that publishes more than 500 reports annually, in various industries such as Agriculture, Automotive, Automation & Instrumentation, Chemicals and Materials, Energy and Power, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Information Technology, Life sciences & Healthcare.IndustryARC primarily focuses on Cutting Edge Technologies and Newer Applications in a Market. Our Custom Research Services are designed to provide insights on the constant flux in the global supply-demand gap of markets. Our strong team of analysts enables us to meet the client research needs at a rapid speed, with a variety of options for your business.We look forward to support the client to be able to better address their customer needs, stay ahead in the market, become the top competitor and get real-time recommendations on business strategies and deals. Contact us to find out how we can help you today.Mr. Venkat ReddySales ManagerEmail 1: sales@industryarc.comOr Email 2: venkat@industryarc.comContact Sales: +1-614-588-8538 (Ext-101) People Counting System Market Industry Quotation Analysis 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=605 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=605 https://www.tmrresearch.com/people-counting-system-market Global People Counting System Market: SnapshotPeople counting systems are devices that are used to count the number of people traversing a certain entrance or passage. In retail stores, they are usually deployed to calculate conversion rate and marketing effectiveness and are used in staff planning. In crowded places such as shopping malls and concerts, other than their conventional job of calculating footfall, they are used for crowd management and monitoring of high-traffic areas. Their additional uses include fire management and energy usage optimization.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Among the various end users, the demand for people counting systems is likely to remain high in retail stores and shopping malls throughout the forecast period. In an attempt to sustain the rising competition due to shifting demographics and the advent of new technologies, retailers are modifying their existing strategies. As a result, they are increasingly adopting people counting systems.The spiraling demand for video-based people counting systems is positively impacting the growth of the overall market. The high accuracy and reliability offered by this technology during high volume traffic and high stability against changes in environmental conditions such as light, shadows, and heat are providing a boost to their demand. The demand for Wi-Fi tracking technology is also expected to increase over the forthcoming years. The technology helps in tracking the actual, potential, and repeating visitors and is efficient in terms of eliminating staff from total people count.The global people counting system market is estimated to witness the advent of new technologies, which will be in the favor of the market. The availability of 3D systems is anticipated to revolutionize the mechanism of people counting.Global People Counting System Market: OverviewThe global people counting system market is expected to gain a significant momentum in the coming years. People counting systems are gaining popularity owing to their high accuracy and reliability in monitoring and counting entrance and exit traffic separately, while excluding carts, children, and strollers. They are also capable of counting multiple individuals entering simultaneously. These systems are being increasingly deployed across retail stores, banks and financial institutes, healthcare and government institutes, hospitality, and transportation. Some of the common types of technologies used for counting people are thermal imaging, infrared beam, and video based.The report is a professional study on the global people counting system market, compiled by meticulously analyzing various critical parameters of the market. It provides a detailed overview of the factors impacting the growth of the market. It offers qualitative and quantitative insights into the competitive landscape of the market. Competitive profiling of the prominent players in the market along with their market shares, business strategies, cost and revenue structures, latest developments, and contact information forms a vital part of the report. It performs SWOT analysis to reveal potential growth trajectory of each prominent player in the global people counting system market.Request TOC of the Report @Global People Counting System Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising number of shopping malls, supermarkets, and retail stores is boosting the adoption of people counting technologies worldwide. Retailers need to monitor footfalls at their shops periodically to remain competitive. By knowing the traffic to sales ratio, retailers can accurately compare stores on the basis of sales volume. Moreover, the availability of easy set-up and low-cost solutions is escalating the growth of the market. The market is also witnessing a sharp rise in the demand for people counting solutions in the transport sector. The future of the market looks bright with technological advancements.On the other hand, the robust growth of the e-commerce industry and the expanding online sales channel pose a considerable threat to the brick and mortar commerce, which in turn is adversely affecting the growth of the market.Global People Counting System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe key segments analyzed in the report on the basis of geography are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific will be a prominent market throughout the forecast period. The increasing number of supermarkets, retail stores, and shopping malls are attracting international players to invest in the region. In addition, conducive government initiatives are encouraging the presence of foreign retailers in India, which is also leading to the rising number of retail stores in Asia Pacific. Countries such as China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore will be the sites of high growth rate throughout the same span.Moreover, the presence of infrastructure such as train stations, airports, and bus stations along with a large number of upcoming projects are triggering the deployment of people counting systems. The expansion of the hospitality industry is also facilitating the growth of the region.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global People Counting System Market: Competitive LandscapeProduct innovation and technological advancements are of critical importance to key manufacturers in the global people counting system market to stay relevant in the market. They are focusing on portfolio diversification through partnerships and mergers in order to strengthen their position in the market. Some of the key players in the global people counting system market are Axis Communication AB, RetailNext Inc., InfraRed Integrated Systems Ltd., IEE S.A., Eurotech S.p.A., Countwise LLC, Xovis AG, Axiomatic Technology Limited, IRIS-GmbH, IEE S.A., Point Grey Research Inc., and ShopperTrak.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Automotive Actuators Market Is Expected to Represent a Value of Over US$ 19,801.6 Mn by 2022 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=297 https://www.factmr.com/report/297/automotive-actuators-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=297 https://www.factmr.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/factmr A freshly compiled business intelligent report, titled Automotive Actuators Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking Global Review 2017 to 2022 has been publicized to the vast archive of Fact.MR online repository. This _ page study delivers all the vital details and information required to know about Automotive Actuators market current as well as future prospects. The analysts of the study have gone through extensive research methodologies in order to generate data and information that reflects the latest market undercurrents and industry trends. For a deeper understanding of the market, a sub-category level analysis has been elaborated, by which readers and investors of the report will able to know that where the market stands to gain.Request For Sample Report @Automotive Actuators are the vital part to control a mechanism or the system in the vehicle. Actuators respond to the received control signal by converting energy into motion. Actuators in the engine control system manage the speed, optimize the power and meter fuel for optimal combustion. Actuators are also used to lock and unlock car doors.Nowadays, manufacturers are providing powerful actuators with innovative design to help provide safety and offer various assistance functions. Smart actuators are also being developed for the automotive engine to offer reliability, minimize the cost and provide fuel-efficiency. These smart actuators perform various tasks using a microcontroller. Various market players are also introducing new actuators with new and compact design and advanced systems. Manufacturers of the auto component are also working on active kinematics control for vehicles, this includes electronically controlled active track actuator.According to a study by Fact.MR, the global market for automotive actuators is expected to experience healthy growth. The market is projected to reach US$ 19,801.6 million value by 2022 end. The rise in automotive industry across the globe is driving the development of innovative components used in vehicles. Automotive actuators are also witnessing increased demand due to the ability to offer maximum speed, reduce fuel consumption, etc.Waste-Gate Actuator- Top-Selling ProductCompared to all the other automotive actuator products, a waste-gate actuator is expected to emerge as one of the highest selling automotive actuators. The waste-gate actuator is anticipated to experience impressive growth. Waste-gate actuator is also projected to create more than US$ 900 million incremental opportunity during 2017-2022.Compact Passenger Cars to Witness Healthy GrowthAmong all the other type of vehicles, compact passenger cars are expected to use automotive actuators on a large-scale. Towards 2022 end, compact passenger cars are projected to surpass US$ 4,600 million revenue. Meanwhile, mid-sized passenger cars are also likely to be the second largest users of the automotive actuators.Browse Full Report with TOC @APEJ to Dominate the Global Market for Automotive ActuatorsAPEJ is expected to remain dominant in the global market for automotive actuators. The region is expected to experience healthy growth throughout the forecast period. Various countries in APEJ such as China and India are seeing a robust growth as the automotive component manufacturers are using advanced technologies. Moreover, the government is also imposing regulations on emission and on consumption of fuel by the automotive industry. On the other hand, North America and Europe will also witness growth due to increasing adoption of advanced technologies in the manufacturing process of actuators for vehicles.Competition TrackingThe report provides a detailed profile of key players that are anticipated to be active in the global automotive actuators market by 2022 end, which include Robert Bosch GmbH, Continental AG, Denso Corporation, Mahle Group, Hitachi Ltd, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Nidec Corporation, Delphi Automotive PLC, and Johnson Electric Holdings Limited.Check Discount @About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Automotive Market Reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.CContact UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Get More Industry Insights At: Big Data in Healthcare Market Trends and Opportunities Overview 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=695 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=695 https://www.tmrresearch.com/big-data-in-healthcare-market Global Big Data in Healthcare Market: OverviewThe big data in healthcare market is believed to be the future and game-changer of the healthcare sector with high adoption amongst medical professionals, government bodies, and even patients. The global market is currently trending on the back of innovative headways, higher incentives reserved for medication, and big data adoption in healthcare.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The segmentation study of the global big data in healthcare market could span over four vital categories, viz. type, application, component, and end user. The careful segmentation of the market offered in the report will help to foresee the future of the industry and make informed decisions.The analysts are open to any level of customization of the report with a view to help buyers with their business requirements. Some of the important factors evaluated in the publication are growth drivers and restraints, Porters five forces model, and key company profiling.Global Big Data in Healthcare Market: Trends and OpportunitiesBig data and big data analytics have taken an indispensable position in the healthcare sector by providing a reliable digital IT platform for a quick diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Besides efficient disease management, big data finds application in three important areas of the healthcare industry, viz. operational analytics, financial analytics, and clinical data analytics. The first healthcare area incorporates the analysis of supply chain and workforce. Financial analytics deals with risk management, revenue cycle management, and claims processing. The clinical data analytics application involves reporting and compliance, health management, clinical decision support, and quality care.Request TOC of the Report @Of the few growth inhibitors in the world big data in healthcare market, lack of quality resourcing, shrinking profit margins, and global economic slowdown are the prominent ones. However, with the rising investments in research and development, colossal amount of data generated in the healthcare sector, and enhancement of IT infrastructure in developing regions are envisioned to compensate for the fewer restraints of the market.In terms of type of service, the global big data in healthcare market can be segmented into prescriptive, predictive, and descriptive. On the basis of software, the segments could be workforce management, practice management, revenue cycle management, and electronic health record (EHR). By hardware, email servers and access points, data storage, virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, and routers could be the main segments.Global Big Data in Healthcare Market: Geographical OutlookThe geographical analysis of the world big data in healthcare market offered in the report takes into account some of the important regions such as the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. The first segment is foreseen to leverage the heated promotion of big data by the federal government in North America and Latin America through strong initiatives and efforts to decrease healthcare expenses. The Americas are anticipated to take the throne in the global market while accounting for a gigantic share. Other factors that could contribute to the flourishing demand in the Americas are the elevating focus on health management population, empowerment of healthcare information technology (HCIT) solutions, and vast funding ventures for big data analytics.A sizable amount of progress is also expected on the part of the Europe big data in healthcare market with a few driving factors such as the surging interest in data collection, big data emergence, and crucial healthcare policies by European governments. Companies involved in this market can also benefit from the inflating implementation of HER and its awareness coupled with technological development.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Big Data in Healthcare Market: Companies mentioned in the reportThere are a few major players commanding the ship of the global big data in healthcare market, viz. First Databank, Inc., IBM Corporation, Medispan Ltd., Unitedhealth Pvt. Ltd., HP Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Mckesson Corporation, Pwc, Truven Health Analytics Pvt. Ltd., Zynx Health Incorporated, and Oracle Corporation. New entrants could face hindrances based on factors such as novelty, lack of brand awareness, and expensive investment costs. Since a large number of small companies have crowded the global market, there is a possibility of the definition of big data being misunderstood, which can be rectified through face-to-face interaction or direct education.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Business Process Management (BPM) Market: Prospects, Consumption, Cost Structure And Forecast To 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1211 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/business-process-management-bpm-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1211 https://www.gminsights.com http://algosonline.com/news The business process management market players include IBM Corporation, Appian Corporation, Oracle Corporation, TIBCO Software, BPLogix, Global 360, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Adobe, Pegasystems, Fujitsu, etc.(BPM) Business Process Management Market size will benefit from increase in technology trends and the need to fulfill the normal operational procedures and customer requirements.The BPM software helps organizations to obey the regulations, rules and standards like filing financial reports, labor laws, regulatory compliances, etc. that are set by the government. The main necessity of the software is to recognize the practice accurately and to maintain the same practice standards across all the units.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @The major drivers that are powering the business process management market size include improving organizational responsiveness & business coordination and control, cost efficiency, business dexterity and investment returns from the BPM software. Unceasing improvements in the business developments is one of the primary growth factors of the business process management market. More temporary driver can be an event like a merger or an acquisition. The software combines administrative & technical skills of an organization thus enabling them to align their aims with the requirements of the clients. It provides flexibility & technical incorporation and promotes business productivity and success by improving the business operations. The major benefits of the software are centralizing the process creation, analysis & distribution in one central area, optimizing business processes, freeing up time for implementation and more time to improve.Factors such as misunderstanding about the BPM software among the users, resistance to adoption from the IT staff and the lack of clarity in terms of the value proposition as an IT solution are hampering the growth.The business process management market can be segmented by vendor origin like stackers (application platform vendors) who sell the software to IT as a part of super platform solution and pure-plays (main BPM vendors) who sell the authorization to business people. License model segments consist of commercial open & closed sources model, free and pay as you go (PAYG) services. Cloud readiness comprises planning, process modeling or BPM software as a service.Based on the distribution type, the cloud based BPM software market is anticipated to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. This is due to the increasing adoption in the last decade by several organizations. Low investments and low maintenance costs are the main factors which have led to embracing of the software by real estate enterprises. Increase in benefits from the software companies have also led to an increasing interest in the SaaS (Software as a Service) demand offered by the SMEs (small and midsized enterprises). This inclination is likely to continue over the forecast period. The software is expected to lead in the real estate market due to the increase in the embracing of optimizing and monitoring solutions.The BFSI sector is projected to hold the largest business process management market share as it is one of the early adopters. These enable the banking and finance groups to serve their customers faster and more efficiently while also driving the end-to-end process and being intelligent. BFSI has adopted the service to improve the business process mechanization which helps them in more new customers and old customer retention.Browse Full Report:The patient management solutions like bed and health monitoring is predicted to grow due to the implementation in the healthcare industry. Use cases in the healthcare industry encompass monitoring a patients health progress while in the hospital. Implementation of many healthcare regulations in the hospitals like Obamacare has showed an increase in the BPM market. The automated management as per departments helps a patient reduce his waiting time by numerous times.The key factors for any organization to design their business are automation and process modelling solutions. The growth in demand for efficient integration in SMEs is anticipated to catalyze the business process management market growth over the forecast period. Large enterprises use the software to manage huge resources from various sources like emails, websites and portals. The management of these resources in a proper way leads to an increase in productivity.The software also reduces micromanagement from top management employees which is seen as one of the key reasons for its adoption in large enterprises. The BPM market can see a growth in the demand for integrated BPM solutions in the coming decade. Moreover, to quicken the return made on an investment, the enterprises are investing in automated workflow and upcoming technologies to get more material savings. The software allows institutions to implement and change their business without unsettling the current process.U.S. business process management market share is anticipated to dominate the industry due to early adoption of the software and the continuous changing regulations in the healthcare sector which entitles changes in recording the financial transactions and the processes carried out in the pharmacy and hospitals.Make an inquiry for buying this report @The BPM market is becoming competitive due to the presence of numerous vendors. To reduce the complexity of IT processes, vendors have started using the public and private cloud solutions. The vendors are also offering various collaborative tools with the BPM products so as to have a better perceptibly, control over the software and enable customer interaction. Leading vendors will be ruling the market by providing extra advanced features and by merging with small vendors.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps Market current and future opportunities 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=704 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=704 https://www.tmrresearch.com/air-operated-double-diaphragm-pumps-market Global Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps Market: OverviewThe world air operated double diaphragm pumps market is breeding lucrative opportunities for the vendors with the cost-efficient and low maintenance applications of the systems. The air operated double diaphragm pumps have provided an excellent replacement for centrifugal pumps and all-round applications in a broad scope of industries. Consumers in different sectors are adopting these pumps as an attractive package with the self-priming feature. Moreover, they can be used in remote locations and hazardous environments as they are completely powered from compressed air.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The report offers a critical analysis of the key segments of the global air operated double diaphragm pumps market which could be categorized under different classifications such as application, valve, operation, and region.Our seasoned research analysts of the air operated double diaphragm pumps market can customize the report according to the business needs of the buyers. The customized report will feature the competitive landscape, Porters five forces model, conclusive drivers and restraints, market scope, and current and future opportunities.Global Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe air operated double diaphragm pumps market is envisaged to gain impetus from the swelling and ubiquitous application of the systems in the chemical sector. Rising at a moderate CAGR, the global market is expected to receive a significant contribution from the investments made in the pharma and cosmetics industries. Other decisive factors that are predicted to propel the growth of the market include the aggressive rise in global infrastructure and its promising development.Request TOC of the Report @In terms of valves, the global air operated double diaphragm pumps market could see an important segmentation which features ball valves and flap valves. Out of the two segments, ball valves is envisioned to attract a colossal demand on the back of an industrial trend gaining strength of late. The ball valves market is foreseen to clasp an impressive share, putting behind the markets for other valve types. Some of the principal factors that are augmenting the growth of the market for ball valves are their flattering performance and fine efficiency.According to application, the international air operated double diaphragm pumps market could be classified into food and beverage, mining, pharmaceutical, chemical, marine, and water treatment. Although there are a number of applications of air operated double diaphragm pumps in different sectors, the chemical and water treatment markets are foretold to take a leading position with regard to market share. Nonetheless, the food and beverage industry is helping the global market to rake in a significant amount of revenue with elevating incidences of meteoric integration.Global Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps Market: Geographical OutlookAlthough Europe is deemed to have settled in the world air operated double diaphragm pumps market with a mammoth share, there are other regions which have made their presence known. During the course of the forecast period 20172025, the Asia Pacific market is prophesied to ride on the rapid pace of its growth as it looks to compete intensively with the Europe market. Asia Pacific is researched by a majority of analysts to be a prominent region for the global market to thrive on. Nevertheless, Europe will look to take advantage of the favorable development policies formulated in its region. North America and the Middle East and Africa are the other geographical segments studied under the microscope by the analysts.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps Market: CompetitionBuyers of the report can have access to key company profiling of the major players in the global air operated double diaphragm pumps market. Among others, Warren Rupp, Depa, Wilden, DellMeco, Graco, Murzan, Verder, TAPFLO, Debem, and ARO are looked upon as the crucial operators in the global market. In order to add to their market share, several players have taken to acquisitions and mergers, new product developments, expansions, and other critical strategies.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Data Backup Software: Market Emerging Technology, Industry analysis by leading Key Players with its application and types 2018-2025 Qy Research Groups https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/933222 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/933222 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/933222 Data Backup Software Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Data Backup Software industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Data Backup Software market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Data Backup Software market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. 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It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Data Backup Software market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.Inquire before Buying @Also, key Data Backup Software market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Reason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Data Backup Software market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Inquire for Discount @Contact Us:Call: +1-888-236-2744Email: sales@qyresearchgroups.comAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Room B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China. Global Calcium Alginate Market 2018-2025 Kimica, Danisco, FMC, Dastech Calcium Alginate Market Forecast http://bit.ly/Calcium-Alginate-Market-2018-Report http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-calcium-alginate-market-5730 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Calcium Alginate Market" examines the performance of the Calcium Alginate market 2018. 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Calcium Alginate Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Calcium Alginate research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Calcium Alginate market revenue worldwide.Finally, Calcium Alginate market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Sales, Size, Application, Leading Player & Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1768870 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-bunker-fuel-oil-market-research-report-2018-report.html An up-to-date research report 2018 has been disclosed by Market Research Hub highlighting the title Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Report 2018 which provides an outlook for current market value as well as the expected forecast including Rate on Investment (ROI) together with the growing CAGR near XX% during 2018-2025. The report studies the Bunker Fuel Oil market worldwide, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, size, growth, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions.Request Free Sample Report:This report studies the global Bunker Fuel Oil market status and forecast, categorizes the global Bunker Fuel Oil market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Bunker Fuel Oil market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportChina Marine BunkerShellExxon MobilBPWorld Fuel ServicesBunker HoldingTotal Marine FuelChemoilBright OilSinopecGazpromneftGACChina Changjiang Bunker (Sinopec)Southern PecLukoil-BunkerAlliance Oil CompanyShanghai Lonyer FuelsGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDistillate Fuel OilResidual Fuel OilLNGOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingContainerBulk CarrierOil TankerGeneral CargoChemical TankerFishing VesselsGas TankerOthersBrowse Full Report with TOC:Table of Content:Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Research Report 20181 Bunker Fuel Oil Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Bunker Fuel Oil1.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Distillate Fuel Oil1.2.4 Residual Fuel Oil1.2.5 LNG1.3 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Segment by Application1.3.1 Bunker Fuel Oil Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Container1.3.3 Bulk Carrier1.3.4 Oil Tanker1.3.5 General Cargo1.3.6 Chemical Tanker1.3.7 Fishing Vessels1.3.8 Gas Tanker1.3.9 Others1.4 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Bunker Fuel Oil (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Bunker Fuel Oil Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Bunker Fuel Oil Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Bunker Fuel Oil Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion.. @@ ContinuedAbout Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of chemical market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Growth by 2025 Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1145506-global-physical-security-information-management-5 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1145506-global-physical-security-information-management-5 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1145506 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1145506-global-physical-security-information-management-5 An extensive analysis of the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System market strategy of the leading companies in the precision of import/export consumption, supply and demand figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. The report starts by an introduction about the company profiling and a comprehensive review about the strategy concept and the tools that can be used to assess and analyze strategy. It also analyzes the companys strategy in the light of Porters Value Chain, Porters Five Forces, SWOT analysis, and recommendation on Balanced Scorecard for supply chain analysis.Porters Five Forces model is a powerful tool that combines five competitive forces which limit any industrys profit according to external factors. These forces are the threat of new entrants, the customer bargaining power, the supplier bargaining power, the substitution to an alternative product or service, and the intensity of competition among current rivals inside the industry.Get Access to sample pages @Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) SystemMarket Study in By Product Type: PSIM+, PSIM & PSIM liteMarket Study in Geographical Zones such as: United States, EU, Japan, China, India & Southeast AsiaMarkets most important players: CNL, NICE Systems, Tyco international, Vidsys, Axxon Soft, Genetec, Intergraph, Milestone System, PRYSM Software & Verint SystemsGlobal Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System By Application [Critical Infrastructure, First Responders, Commercial, Military & Others]Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market by application is being dominated by Critical Infrastructure, First Responders, Commercial, Military & Others which holds market value of XXX billion. This market is expected to grow at XXX billion by the end of forecast period with XX.X% of CAGR.The future trends also introduced in the report which elaborates key factors of Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System such as market opportunities, future market risk, benefit, loss and profit, customer perspective, Innovation, Short Term vs. Long Term goals etc. The detailed manufacturer profiles are included with sales, revenue, and price of Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System.This report covers the current scenario and growth prospects of Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market for the period 2018 2023. The study is a professional and in-depth study with around n- no. of tables and figures which provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the domain.Enquire for customization in Report @Research Parameter/ Research MethodologyPrimary Research:The primary sources involves the industry experts from the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System industry including the management organizations, processing organizations, analytics service providers of the industrys value chain. All primary sources were interviewed to gather and authenticate qualitative & quantitative information and determine the future prospects.In the extensive primary research process undertaken for this study, the primary sources industry experts such as CEOs, vice presidents, marketing director, technology & innovation directors, founders and related key executives from various key companies and organizations in the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System in the industry have been interviewed to obtain and verify both qualitative and quantitative aspects of this research study.Secondary Research:In the Secondary research crucial information about the industries value chain, total pool of key players, and application areas. It also assisted in market segmentation according to industry trends to the bottom-most level, geographical markets and key developments from both market and technology oriented perspectives.Buy this research report @Some extract from Table of Contents Overview of Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2013-2025) Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025) Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2013-2025) Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2013-2025) Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Competitive Situation and Trends Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Suppliers Players/Suppliers Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type [PSIM+, PSIM & PSIM lite] Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersCheck complete table of contents with list of table and figures @Key questionsWho are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business strategies in the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System market?What are the key consequences of the five forces analysis of the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System market?What are different opportunities and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) System market?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.com NAKURU, KenyaThe search for survivors after a dam burst its banks in central Kenya resumed Friday with 44 confirmed dead and a further 40 still missing, the regions governor said. Weeks of heavy rain have caused flooding and mudslides across the country that have left 175 dead. On Wednesday evening, the earthen wall of a privately owned irrigation dam in Solai, about 40 kilometers north of Nakuru town in Kenyas Rift Valley, breached and inundated nearby settlements. Nakuru county governor Lee Kinyanjui said 44 bodies had been recovered so far, with another 40 reported missing, and warned that at least one other local dam will have to be discharged to avoid disaster. Dozens more were taken to hospital with injuries. The search and rescue operation, involving emergency services as well as volunteers digging through the mud by hand, was disrupted by further heavy rainfall on Thursday, resuming on Friday morning. A sea of mud and water washed away two villages and cut power lines, according to local residents. The torrent hit while people were in their homes, or sleeping, with one survivor describing it as hell on earth. Many of the houses affected were rickety structures made of wood and tin that stood little chance against the raging floodwater.I was with my parents and my younger brother. I dont know where they are. I was carried away by the water but I was lucky as I clung to a tree until the water subsided, said Ngugi Njoroge from his hospital bed. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that up to 500 families were affected by the disaster. The reservoir, known locally as Patel dam after the owner of the farm, is close to an informal settlement housing casual laborers. On Friday morning Kenyas chief prosecutor Noordin Haji ordered the opening of a police investigation into the tragedy to establish cause and culpability. Government statistics released this week showed that more than 220,000 people have been displaced by flooding as heavy rains hit the country after three consecutive failed rainy seasons had left it in drought. Since March, at least 8,500 hectares of farmland have been submerged in water with an estimated 20,000 animals killed, the Red Cross said last week. The floods have also destroyed road networks in some parts of the East African country. Global Managed VPN Market Trend, Share, Profit, Growth and Key Manufacturers Analysis Report 2018-2022 https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=188701 https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=188701 https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=188701 https://www.researchnreports.com/healthcare-it/Global-Managed-VPN-Market-Size-Status-and-Forecast-2022-188701 Global Managed VPN Market could be classified into different regions and countries for a clear understanding of business prospects available across the globe. This intelligence research study presents a wide-ranging study of the global market by evaluating the growth drivers and detaining factors at length. This detailed study of significant factors supports the market participants in understanding the issues they will be facing while operative in this market over a long period of time.Further, Global Managed VPN Market study offers an analysis of the current performance of the key regional markets, namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa, on the basis of a number of imperative market parameters, such as, the manufacturing volume, production capacity, pricing strategy, the dynamics of demand, supply, and sales, return on investments (RoI), and the growth rate of this market in each of the regions.Get Sample Copy@This report studies the Global Managed VPN Market , analyzes and researches the Managed VPN development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeCisco System,Alcatel-Lucent,IBM Corporation,Tata Communication,Ericsson,Avaya.Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Managed VPN can be split intoManaged Network DeviceNetwork Implementation & IntegrationManaged Network MonitoringMarket segment by Application, Managed VPN can be split intoHealthcare & Life SciencesTelecommunication & ITEnergy & ResourcesPublic SectorMedia & Business ServicesTransport & LogisticsOthersAvail 20% Discount and Customization On This Premium Report@This statistical surveying study offers an unbiased analysis of the Global Managed VPN Market, taking a number of important market parameters, such as production capacity and volume, product pricing, demand and supply, sales volume, revenue generated, and the growth rate of this market is expanding into consideration. An in-depth assessment of the competitive landscape of this market has also been presented in this research study, which profiles the key participants in this market to determine their future prospects in order to identify the existing market hierarchy.In the last sections of the report, the companies responsible for increasing the sales in Global Managed VPN Market has been presented. These companies have been analyzed in terms of their manufacturing base, basic information, and competitors. In addition, the application and product type introduced by each of these companies also form a key part of this section of the report. The recent enhancements that took place in the global market and their influence on the future growth of the market have also been presented through this study.For more enquiry @Table of Contents:Global Managed VPN Market Research Report 2018-2022Chapter 1: Global Managed VPN Market OverviewChapter 2: Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3: Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4: Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5: Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6: Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7: Global Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8: Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12: Global Managed VPN Market ForecastGet the complete report of this market @About Research N ReportsResearch N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact us:Mr. Sunny DenisContact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.comResearch N Reports Automotive AHSS Market: Global Size, Share, Growth Factors, Competitive Analysis With Forecast To 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4648 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automotive-ahss-market-4648 Automotive AHSS Market 2018: Global Industry Analysis To 2023 research provides comprehensive information on Global Automotive AHSS Market, By Product Type (Dual Phase, Martensitic Steel, Boron Steel and Others), by Vehicle Type (Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicle), By Application (Body & Closures, Suspensions, Bumper and Others) and Region - Forecast 2016-2023. Worldwide Automotive AHSS Market is to grow at moderate CAGR during Forecast Period.Automotive AHSS Market Highlights:Asia Pacific is dominating the Automotive AHSS market due to major sales in automotive. Development of automotive manufacturing industries in developing economies such as China and India are driving the market for automotive AHSS. Factors such as availability of low-cost manual and innovation in engineering, focus on fuel efficiency and sustainability, and the rising vehicle production levels, drive the market of Automotive AHSS. The region being a globally competitive automotive manufacturing hub, also pushes the market of Automotive AHSS.Get Sample Copy of Global Automotive AHSS Market Report atKey Companies analyzed are AK Steel Holding Corporation (U.S.), ArcelorMittal S.A. (Luxembourg), China Baowu Steel Group Corp., Ltd. (China), Kobe Steel Ltd.( Japan), POSCO (South Korea), SSAB AB (Sweden), Tata Steel Limited(India), ThyssenKrupp AG(Germany) and United Steel Corporation (India).Europe holds the largest market share in automotive AHSS market, followed by Asia Pacific due to factors such as strict emission norms laid down by the government and improvement in the economic conditions and increasing investment by the industry players in the region.Focus on light weighting in automobiles is well underway, and will continue in the future. With the objective to reduce fuel emissions and to meet greenhouse gas requirements, automobile manufacturers need to significantly reduce the weight of vehicles. The recent efforts to build lightweight cars from aluminum and carbon-fiber composites, acts as a major restraint for the growth of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) market. Automotive AHSS Market is expected to reach at market size of ~ USD 23.45 billion by the end of forecast period with CAGR of ~9.8% between 2017 and 2023.Global automotive AHSS market has broadly been segmented on the basis of product type, vehicle type, application and geography. By product type, Dual-phase steel is the most widely used product of AHSS by the automotive industry. On the basis of vehicle type, Passenger cars are expected to witness highest revenue in the forecast period. On the basis of application, it has been segmented as body & closures, suspensions, bumper and others.There has been increase in the safety regulations and fuel economy regulation, and need for improved material have also increased. Steel industry focuses on these needs through development of new and advanced high strength steel grades, whose unique metallurgical property and manufacturability help meet stringent requirements. Steel offers the highest strength level than other metals, and also gives advantageous product application. AHSS is used in a number of applications, shows improved vehicle performance in fuel efficiency, affordability and durability. Depending upon position and application AHSS serves different functions. Many companies focusing on high-quality products and on the changing lifestyle of consumers, enhance the growth of the AHSS market for automotive. Low cost and growing consumer awareness about cost effective nature and more energy efficient vehicles, are driving automotive AHSS market. Moreover, strong global presence and innovations, drive the market in Asia Pacific. Growing urbanization, and developing infrastructure also add to the market growth.The choice of a material for an automotive application depends on the function, environment, and requirements of the part being produced. On the basis of product type of automotive AHSS includes dual phase steel, martensitic steel, boron steel and others. Dual-phase steels (DP steels) consist of ferrite, and a dispersed hard martensitic second phase in the form of islands. Usually they are low-carbon low-alloy materials. They combine high strength and good formability at low production costs, and they are widely used in automotive applicationsMajor Table Of Content:1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Definition2.2.2 Research Objective2.2.3 Assumptions2.2.4 Limitations2.3 Research Process2.3.1 Primary Research2.3.2 Secondary Research2.4 Market Size Estimatio2.5 Forecast Model3 Market Landscape3.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis3.1.1 Threat Of New Entrants3.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers3.1.3 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers3.1.4 Threat Of Substitutes3.1.5 Segment Rivalry3.2 Value Chain/Supply Chain Analysis4 Market Dynamics4.1 Introduction4.2 Market Drivers4.3 Market Restraints4.4 Market Opportunities4.5 Market TrendsContinuedBrowse Full Report at:About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Bunker Fuel Oil Global Market Top Key Players China Marine Bunker , Shell , Exxon Mobil , BP , World Fuel Services , Bunker Holding and Forecast to 2025 Bunker Fuel Oil Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3167246-global-bunker-fuel-oil-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3167246-global-bunker-fuel-oil-market-research-report-2018 www.wiseguyreports.com Global Bunker Fuel Oil MarketWiseGuyRerports.com Presents Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Research Report 2018 New Document to its Studies Database. The Report Contain 117 Pages With Detailed Analysis.DescriptionThis report studies the global Bunker Fuel Oil market status and forecast, categorizes the global Bunker Fuel Oil market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The major manufacturers covered in this reportChina Marine BunkerShellExxon MobilBPWorld Fuel ServicesBunker HoldingTotal Marine FuelChemoilBright OilSinopecGazpromneftGACChina Changjiang Bunker (Sinopec)Southern PecLukoil-BunkerAlliance Oil CompanyShanghai Lonyer FuelsGet sample Report @Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDistillate Fuel OilResidual Fuel OilLNGOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingContainerBulk CarrierOil TankerGeneral CargoChemical TankerFishing VesselsGas TankerOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Bunker Fuel Oil capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Bunker Fuel Oil manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Bunker Fuel Oil are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersBunker Fuel Oil ManufacturersBunker Fuel Oil Distributors/Traders/WholesalersBunker Fuel Oil Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAvailable CustomizationsWith the given market data, QYResearch offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Bunker Fuel Oil market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.Complete Report Details @Table of Contents -Major Key PointsGlobal Bunker Fuel Oil Market Research Report 20181 Bunker Fuel Oil Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Bunker Fuel Oil1.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Distillate Fuel Oil1.2.4 Residual Fuel Oil1.2.5 LNG1.3 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Segment by Application1.3.1 Bunker Fuel Oil Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Container1.3.3 Bulk Carrier1.3.4 Oil Tanker1.3.5 General Cargo1.3.6 Chemical Tanker1.3.7 Fishing Vessels1.3.8 Gas Tanker1.3.9 Others1.4 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Bunker Fuel Oil (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)7 Global Bunker Fuel Oil Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 China Marine Bunker7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 China Marine Bunker Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Shell7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Shell Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Exxon Mobil7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Exxon Mobil Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 BP7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 BP Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 World Fuel Services7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Bunker Fuel Oil Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 World Fuel Services Bunker Fuel Oil Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) Global Runway End Light Market 2018-2025 ADB SAFEGATE, Honeywell, Hella, Eaton Runway End Light Market Trends and Growth http://bit.ly/Runway-End-Light-Market-2018-Report http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-runway-end-light-market-5732 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Runway End Light Market" examines the performance of the Runway End Light market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Runway End Light market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Runway End Light market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Runway End Light Market 2018 report includes Runway End Light market Revenue, market Share, Runway End Light industry volume, market Trends, Runway End Light Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report. It shows manufacturing capacity, Runway End Light Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Runway End Light Market 2018 :1. ADB SAFEGATE2. Honeywell3. Hella (TKH)4. Eaton (Ireland)5. OSRAM6. OCEM Airfield Technology7. Astronics8. Youyang9. Airsafe Airport Equipment10. Carmanah Technologies (Canada)11. Vosla (NARVA)12. ATG Airports (UK)13. Avlite Systems (Sealite) (Australia)14. TransconRunway End Light Market : By ApplicationCivilian and Commercial AirportMilitary AirportRunway End Light Market : By TypeHalogen TypeLED TypeFirstly, the report covers the top Runway End Light manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Runway End Light report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Runway End Light industry, Runway End Light industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Runway End Light Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Runway End Light research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Runway End Light market revenue worldwide.Finally, Runway End Light market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Global Bluetooth Headsets Market - Growth, Trends & Forecasts (2018-2025) by Leading Key Players - Apple (Beats), LG, Sony, Plantronics, Jabra, Logitech(Jaybird), Samsung (Harman), Motorola and Microsoft http://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-bluetooth-headsets-market-58055 http://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-bluetooth-headsets-market-58055 http://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-bluetooth-headsets-market-58055 Bluetooth Headsets Market report offers a detailed Outlook and future prospects of the Bluetooth Headsets Industry with analysis of major players that helps Industry experts, analysts and business decision makers to decide their business strategies and achieve proposed business aims.The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Bluetooth Headsets market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Bluetooth Headsets market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.Get Free Sample Copy of Report atThis report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering Apple (Beats), LG, Sony, Plantronics, Jabra, Logitech(Jaybird), Samsung (Harman), Motorola and Microsoft.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoOn-Ear HeadsetsOver-Ear HeadsetsEarbuds and In-Ear HeadsetsBy Application, the market can be split intoCommunicationSportsMusicOthersAccess More Details atTable of Content1 Industry Overview of Bluetooth Headsets2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Bluetooth Headsets .3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Bluetooth Headsets4 Global Bluetooth Headsets Overall Market Overview5 Bluetooth Headsets Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2013-2018E Bluetooth Headsets Segment Market Analysis (by Type)7 Global 2013-2018E Bluetooth Headsets Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Bluetooth Headsets9 Development Trend of Analysis of Bluetooth Headsets Market10 Bluetooth Headsets Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Bluetooth HeadsetsInquire before buying atReason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Bluetooth Headsets market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Contact Info:Name: Research For MarketsEmail: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.comPhone: +44 8000-4182-37Research For Markets indulge in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East And Africa.Level 21, Dashwood House69 Old Broad StreetLondon EC2M 1QS, United Kingdom Global Soybean Lecithin Market 2018-2025 Cargill, ADM, Dupont, Lecico Gmbh Soybean Lecithin Market Demand and Growth 2018 http://bit.ly/Soybean-Lecithin-Market-2018-Report http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-soybean-lecithin-market-5721 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Soybean Lecithin Market" examines the performance of the Soybean Lecithin market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Soybean Lecithin market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Soybean Lecithin market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Soybean Lecithin Market 2018 report includes Soybean Lecithin market Revenue, market Share, Soybean Lecithin industry volume, market Trends, Soybean Lecithin Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report. It shows manufacturing capacity, Soybean Lecithin Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Soybean Lecithin Market 2018 :1. Cargill2. ADM3. Dupont4. Lecico Gmbh5. Lipoid Gmbh6. Wilmar International Limited7. Sentosa8. Stern Wywiol Gruppe9. Ruchi Soya Industries Limited10. Vav Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd.11. Tsuji Oil Mill12. Meryas13. American Lecithin Company14. Soya InternationalSoybean Lecithin Market : By ApplicationFood & BeveragesCosmeticsPharmaceuticalsGeneral IndustrySoybean Lecithin Market : By TypeRaw Soybean LecithinRefined Soybean LecithinFirstly, the report covers the top Soybean Lecithin manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Soybean Lecithin report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Soybean Lecithin industry, Soybean Lecithin industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Soybean Lecithin Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Soybean Lecithin research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Soybean Lecithin market revenue worldwide.Finally, Soybean Lecithin market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Global Automotive Bearing Market Likely to Touch the Value of US$ 27 Bn by 2026 End Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/4853 https://www.mrrse.com/automotive-bearing-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/4853 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The US$ 18.47 Bn Global Automotive Bearing Market is apprehended to experience moderate growth over 2018-2026 at a CAGR of 4.4% and attain a value worth US$ 27.02 Bn by the end of an eight-year forecast period. In addition to flourishing automotive industry worldwide, it has been observed that increasing average vehicular age will prominently fuel the demand for repairing, maintenance, and replacement of automotive components in turn fostering the sales of automotive bearings. Surging fleet is rapidly putting forth the aftermarket demand for automotive bearings, which is identified to be another key driver to market growth.Ask Sample PDF of Report at:Despite the overall decline in the number of bearings in the novel electric vehicles, product innovations are expected to continue generating demand for bearings in near future. Moreover, the market is currently experiencing polarisation towards the most preeminent players in the competitive landscape, which is also anticipated to boost the market growth over 2018-2026.China Set to Outpace the European MarketAs per the regional analysis in the report on the global automotive bearing market, Europe is currently the global leader, followed by China. Europe, the largest regional segment with nearly 24% share by value, is likely to face a slight decline by 2026 end, losing its market share to China. China, which is currently the second largest market in terms of revenue, is foreseen to witness strong growth over the next few years, gaining a significant market value share to become the largest regional market for automotive bearing by 2026 end. China is also identified to be the fastest growing market at an estimated CAGR of 5.2% over 2018-2026, capturing a value share of over 24%.Led by the US, North America currently holds more than 18% share of the total market revenue and will reportedly witness steady growth throughout the forecast period, maintaining a market value share of around 19% by 2026 end. US accounts for more than 82% share of North America's total revenues, attributed to sustained demand for applications in automotive transmission system. Europe and North America are projected to witness moderate growth at CAGRs of above 4%. While Brazil is foreseen to create a significantly important market in Latin America, the entire South East Asia & Pacific (SEAP) region is presumed to be the most opportunistic market for automotive bearings in near future, in terms of demand. SEAP is slated for promising growth during the forecast period at a CAGR of 4.8% and a market value share of above 15%. Growth of SEAP is attributed to the possibility of multiple attractive opportunities that the region is likely to present to established as well as emerging players in upcoming years. The global market for automotive bearings peculiarly has presence of a limited number of key industry players based in Europe and Japan.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at:The global market for automotive bearings is divided on the basis of product type, vehicle type, application, and sales distribution channel.By product type, roller bearings will continue to roll to the top compared to other types of bearings, including ball bearings and plain bearings.Based on vehicle type, passenger vehicles (PV) will remain the largest consumer of automotive bearings in near future, among all vehicle types, such as commercial vehicles (CV) and two wheelers.On the basis of application, transmission system will remain the largest revenue generating segment, followed by wheel hub, steering system, and engine.According to sales channel, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will continue to be the largest segment, followed by independent aftermarket (IAM) and original equipment supplier (OES).Any Query, Ask Our Expert at:About Market Research Reports Search EngineMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Petroleum Jelly Market 2018 : Global Analysis By Key Players Unilever, Penreco, Honeywell, Anika Laboratories, Grand Brands Petroleum Jelly Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3167164-global-petroleum-jelly-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3167164-global-petroleum-jelly-market-research-report-2018 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Petroleum Jelly Market 2018 : Global Analysis By Key Players Unilever, Penreco, Honeywell, Anika Laboratories, Grand Brands.This report studies the global Petroleum Jelly market status and forecast, categorizes the global Petroleum Jelly market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Petroleum Jelly market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe major manufacturers covered in this reportUnileverPenrecoHoneywellAnika LaboratoriesGrand BrandsHEALDERM HELLASGuangzhou Yiming ChemicalHaihang IndustryRoyal ExportsSonnebornUnicornGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPharmaceutical GradeCosmetic GradeOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingCosmeticsPersonal Care ProductsPharmaceuticalReport Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsGlobal Petroleum Jelly Market Research Report 20181 Petroleum Jelly Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Petroleum Jelly1.2 Petroleum Jelly Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Petroleum Jelly Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Petroleum Jelly Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Pharmaceutical Grade1.2.4 Cosmetic Grade1.3 Global Petroleum Jelly Segment by Application1.3.1 Petroleum Jelly Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Cosmetics1.3.3 Personal Care Products1.3.4 Pharmaceutical1.4 Global Petroleum Jelly Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Petroleum Jelly Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Petroleum Jelly (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Petroleum Jelly Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025).7 Global Petroleum Jelly Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Unilever7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Unilever Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Penreco7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Penreco Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Honeywell7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Honeywell Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Anika Laboratories7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Anika Laboratories Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Grand Brands7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Grand Brands Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 HEALDERM HELLAS7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 HEALDERM HELLAS Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Guangzhou Yiming Chemical7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Guangzhou Yiming Chemical Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Haihang Industry7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Petroleum Jelly Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Haihang Industry Petroleum Jelly Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Market 2018- By Regions United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1708155&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-hemoglobinopathies-drugs-market-professional-survey-report-2018.htm/toc https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1708155&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Market Professional Survey Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Hemoglobinopathies Drugs in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringGamida CellAlnylam PharmaceuticalsBiogen IdecSangamo BioSciences Inc.Genetix Pharmaceuticals/Bluebird BioGlobal Blood Therapeutics Inc.Pfizer Inc.Mast TherapeuticsEmmaus Life Sciences, Inc.Prolong PharmaceuticalsCelgene CorporationHemaQuest PharmaceuticalsDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoThalassemia TherapySickle Cell Disease(SCD) TherapyOther TherapyGeographies analysis of the global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs market digs deep into the growth potential of leading regions and provides information on rewarding prospects they may make available in the foreseeable future. With this study, players could also become aware of regions that may not be performing well in the coming years. All in all, the report has been considered to be a brilliant representation of the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.1 Definition and Specifications of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.1.1 Definition of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.1.2 Specifications of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.2 Classification of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.2.1 Thalassemia Therapy1.2.2 Sickle Cell Disease(SCD) Therapy1.2.3 Other Therapy1.3 Applications of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs1.3.1 Alpha Thalassemia1.3.2 Beta thalassemia1.3.3 Sickle Cell Disease1.3.4 Hb Variants Diseases2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Major Manufacturers in 20173.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Major Manufacturers in 20173.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Major Manufacturers in 20174 Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2013-2018E Global Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2017 Hemoglobinopathies Drugs Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price AnalysisComplete table of content is available at:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Hemoglobinopathies DrugsTable Product Specifications of Hemoglobinopathies DrugsTable Classification of Hemoglobinopathies DrugsFigure Global Production Market Share of Hemoglobinopathies Drugs by Type in 2017Figure Thalassemia Therapy PictureTable Major Manufacturers of Thalassemia TherapyFigure Sickle Cell Disease(SCD) Therapy PictureTable Major Manufacturers of Sickle Cell Disease(SCD) TherapyTo Get Discount Of This Report Click here @QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Liquid Silicone Rubber Global Market Top Key Players KCC , Momentive , Shin-Etsu Chemical , The Dow Chemical Company, The Wacker Chemie and Forecast to 2021 Liquid Silicone Rubber Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2431327-global-liquid-silicone-rubber-market-2017-2021 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/2431327-global-liquid-silicone-rubber-market-2017-2021 http://www.wiseguyreports.com Global Liquid Silicone Rubber MarketWiseGuyRerports.com Presents Global Liquid Silicone Rubber Market 2017-2021 New Document to its Studies Database. The Report Contain 121 Pages With Detailed Analysis.DescriptionOne of the major and fast-growing products of silicone elastomers is liquid silicone rubber (LSR). These LSR products consist of silicone materials that have low viscosity and are in liquid form. The various properties of LSR include durability, biocompatibility, temperature and chemical resistance, electrical and mechanical properties, transparency, and pigmentation.The analysts forecast the global liquid silicone rubber market to grow at a CAGR of 6.61% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global liquid silicone rubber market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of liquid silicone rubber.Get sample Report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: APAC Europe North America ROWThe Global Liquid Silicone Rubber Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors KCC Momentive Shin-Etsu Chemical The Dow Chemical Company The Wacker ChemieOther prominent vendors Accurate Rubber Industries CHT ELMET Elkem Silicones GW Plastics MESGO NUSIL Quantum Silicones Reiss Manufacturing SIGMA Engineering Simtec Silicone Parts Stockwell Elastomerics Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial GroupMarket driver High investment on infrastructure in emerging countries For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Stringent clinical and regulatory policies For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend High demand for transparent LSR silicone elastomers in optical applicationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space?Complete Report Details @Table of Contents -Major Key PointsPART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORTPART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGYPART 04: INTRODUCTION Market outlinePART 05: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market overview Market size and forecast Five forces analysisPART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GRADE TYPE Global LSR market by grade Global LSR market by industrial grade Global LSR market by food grade Global LSR market by medical gradePART 07: REGIONAL LANDSCAPE Geographical segmentation Regional comparison North America market size & forecast APAC market size & forecast Europe market size & forecast ROW market size & forecast Market opportunityPART 08: DECISION FRAMEWORKPART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challengesPART 10: MARKET TRENDSPART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Competitive scenario Key market vendors Other prominent vendorsPART 12: KEY VENDOR ANALYSIS KCC Momentive Shin-Etsu Chemical The Dow Chemical Company Wacker Chemie..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) KUALA LUMPURMalaysias king has agreed to pardon Anwar Ibrahim, the countrys newly installed prime minister said Friday, paving the way for the jailed opposition leader to return to politics and potentially become premier. It was the latest dramatic development after Mahathir Mohamads opposition alliance inflicted a shock defeat on the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, ending the corruption-riddled regimes six-decade stranglehold on power. Mahathir was sworn in Thursday, becoming the worlds oldest elected leader at 92. Mahathir, who had ruled with an iron fist for over two decades before retiring in 2003, cut ties with BN due to allegations that the partys leader and his ex-protege Najib Razak oversaw the pillaging of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. The elderly politician joined forces with opposition parties that opposed him while in power and agreed that if elected, he would hand over the premiership to Anwar, his former nemesis. Mahathir has previously said he would likely remain prime minister for two to three years, before transferring power to Anwar. Anwar, from the Peoples Justice Party, is a key long-time leader of the opposition alliance. One of Malaysias most charismatic politicians, he was heir-apparent to the premiership until Mahathir sacked him in 1998 and he was subsequently jailed for sodomy and abuse of power. But in a remarkable turnaround, the pair reconciled and joined forces as allegations mounted over 1MDB and Najib became increasingly authoritarian, jailing opponents and introducing laws to stifle dissent. Anwar, now 70, was jailed again in 2015 during Najibs rule, and had been due out next month. But Mahathir told a press conference that King Sultan Muhammad V, in a meeting with opposition leaders, had indicated he was willing to grant Anwar a royal pardon immediately. The royal pardon would mean he could return to politics straight away. Without it, he would be banned from political life for five years. We will begin the... proper process of obtaining a pardon, Mahathir told reporters. He should be released immediately when he is pardoned.Mahathir also announced that 10 cabinet positions would be filled on Saturday, including finance, defence and foreign affairs. Asked about 1MDB, he accused Attorney-General Mohamed Ali Apandiwho cleared Najib over the scandalof having undermined his own credibility. He in fact has hidden evidence of wrongdoing and that is wrong in law, he said. Our intention is to go for people who have shown a tendency to be corrupt or who had committed known corrupt crimes. In 2016, Apandi said the Saudi royal family was the source of $681 million that mysteriously appeared in Najibs bank accounts, and closed the 1MDB probe. Apandi came to office after Najib sacked the previous attorney general, who was believed to be aggressively investigating the matter. Mahathir also said there was widespread fraud during the hard-fought election campaign, and raised concerns about irregularities in the Borneo state of Sabah, where BN made heavy losses. In the last two days, for example, there were no speeches made, only money distributed, he said. We will properly investigate all these things because we want to follow the rule of law. His comments might raise eyebrows however. Critics say there was much electoral fraud during Mahathirs time in power, while corruption and cronyism flourished, and his government pushed policies that favored the Muslim Malay majority and exacerbated racial tensions. Still, analysts say the attempted cheating at Wednesdays poll was worse than anything seen before. BN was accused of gerrymandering while activists said he hurled cash and gifts at voters and there was a litany of problems with the electoral roll, including dead people appearing on the list. But voters turned out in droves, determined to push out the government, with the opposition boosted by the presence of standard-bearer Mahathir, who has a huge following among ethnic Malays. Artificial Intelligence In Military Market: Project in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1716441&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/emea-europe-middle-east-and-africa-artificial-intelligence-in-military-market-report-2018.htm/toc https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1716441&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Artificial Intelligence In Military Market Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military market is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Artificial Intelligence In Military sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingLockheed Martin (US)Raytheon (US)Northrop Grumman (US)IBM (US)Thales Group (France)General Dynamics (US)NVIDIA (US)BAE Systems (UK)Download Free exclusive Sample of this report:The competitive landscape of the EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military market has been comprehensively analyzed to understand its nature and how players are looking to cement their position in the industry. The authors of the report have profiled some of the important leaders of the market and other prominent players. The company profiling section gives information on significant aspects of the business of players, such as recent developments, market share, and strategies. The study on market competition is expected to help readers become familiar with steps vendors are taking to showcase their presence in the market.Table of ContentsEMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Artificial Intelligence In Military Market Report 20181 Artificial Intelligence In Military Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Artificial Intelligence In Military1.2 Classification of Artificial Intelligence In Military1.2.1 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)1.2.2 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Learning & Intelligence1.2.4 Advanced Computing1.2.5 AI Systems1.3 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Information Processing1.3.3 Cyber Security1.3.4 Others2 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.1.1 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales Volume and Market Share of Major Players (2013-2018)2.1.2 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Revenue and Share by Players (2013-2018)2.1.3 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sale Price by Players (2013-2018)2.2 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military (Volume and Value) by Type/Product Category2.2.1 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.2.2 EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)3 Europe Artificial Intelligence In Military (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Artificial Intelligence In Military (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Artificial Intelligence In Military (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and ApplicationComplete table of content is available at:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Artificial Intelligence In MilitaryFigure EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales Volume (K Units) by Type (2013-2025)Figure EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017Figure Learning & Intelligence Product PictureFigure Advanced Computing Product PictureFigure AI Systems Product PictureFigure EMEA Artificial Intelligence In Military Sales Volume (K Units) by Application (2013-2025)To Get Discount Of This Report Click here @QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Global Flu Shots Market 2018-2025 Gsk, Sinovac, Changsheng, Ccbio Flu Shots Market Forecast and Analysis http://bit.ly/Flu-Shots-Market-2018-Report http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-flu-shots-market-5722 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Flu Shots Market" examines the performance of the Flu Shots market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Flu Shots market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Flu Shots market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Flu Shots Market 2018 report includes Flu Shots market Revenue, market Share, Flu Shots industry volume, market Trends, Flu Shots Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report. It shows manufacturing capacity, Flu Shots Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Flu Shots Market 2018 :1. Gsk2. Sinovac3. Changsheng4. Ccbio5. Aleph Biomedical6. Sanofi7. Lanzhou Institute Of Biological Product8. Siobp9. Hualan Bio10. Tianyuan Bio-Pharma11. VaxtecFlu Shots Market : By ApplicationAvian Influenza virus-AAvian Influenza virus-BFlu Shots Market : By TypeInfluenza Virus Split VaccinesInfluenza Virus Subunit VaccinesInfluenza Whole Virus VaccinesFirstly, the report covers the top Flu Shots manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Flu Shots report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Flu Shots industry, Flu Shots industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Flu Shots Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Flu Shots research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Flu Shots market revenue worldwide.Finally, Flu Shots market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Stem Cells Market is expected to register a robust CAGR of 13.8% during 2017 - 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/stem-cells-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=132 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=132 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Stem Cells Market: SnapshotIn order to come up with stem cell based therapies, most companies operating in the global stem cells market are trying to raise funds from overseas organizations. They are also working out collaborations and partnerships with pharmaceutical organizations in order to bolster their positions.Besides such efforts to expand their portfolios and presence, which are proving beneficial to the global stem cells market, the rising instances of chronic conditions and increasing investments by pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies for stem cell research are also having a positive impact on the market. The rising number of stem cell donors, superior quality stem cell banking facilities, and increasing research and development are other factors that are serving to underpin the growth in the global stem cells market.Read Report Overview:Buoyed by the above factors, the global market for stem cells is expected to register a robust CAGR of 13.8% during the period from 2017 to 2025, predicts a report by Transparency Market Research. At this rate, the market will likely attain a value of US$270.5 bn by 2025, as per the report.Ability to Overcome Ethical Challenges Makes Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Most Promising SegmentDepending upon the type of products, the global stem cell market can be divided into adult stem cells, human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, etc. The segment of adult stem cells, among them, holds a leading share in the market. This is because of their ability to multiply into trillions of specialized cells which may lower the risks of rejection and repair tissue damage. As per UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, Canada is home to over 100,000 people with Parkinsons disease and about another 6,600 new cases are diagnosed annually in the nation.Request Sample of Report:The human embryonic stem cell segment trails the segment of adult stem cells vis-a-vis market share in revenue. The induced pluripotent stem cells segment again is an emerging segment that holds out a lot of potential. Induced pluripotent stem cells, which can be created from the tissue of the patient needing the transplantation, helps avoid the problem of immune rejection. Besides, it also tackles ethical challenges as the cells are harvested from a willing adult without harming them. These are the key driving factors for the market growth of the segment.Investments in Stem Cells Research Propels North America Market to ForeGeography-wise, the key segments of the global stem cells market are North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. At present, North America dominates the market because of the substantial investments in the field, impressive economic growth, rising instances of target chronic diseases, and technological progress. The market in North America will likely retain its dominant share in the near future to become worth US$167.33 bn by 2025.Request Brochure of Report:Europe comes in the second position after North America in the global stem cells market. Germany, in Europe, is said to be powering the regions growth as patients from other countries in Europe as well as the U.S. and Canada travel to Germany to receive medical treatments at reasonable costs. By 2025, the region is slated to rake in a revenue of US$67.47 bn. Vis-a-vis growth, on the other hand, Asia Pacific stem cells market is expected to run the show by clocking a 14.6% CAGR from 2017 to 2025.STEMCELL Technologies Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc., Cellular Engineering Technologies Inc., BioTime Inc., Takara Bio Inc., U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., and Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. are to name a few of the prominent players in the region.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: New Research on Global Cannabidiol Market Highlights Growth Overview and Estimates Market Size by 2026 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=735 https://www.factmr.com/report/735/cannabidiol-market https://www.factmr.com/checkout/735/S https://www.factmr.com/ As per the current market trends and the promising nature of the global cannabidiol market, it can be estimated that the future holds positive outcomes. In order to provide a deep insight about the concerned market, Fact.MR would be publishing a resourceful analysis that will enclose knowledge about the regional market size, revenue and opportunity status. Readers will be offered the privilege to decode various facets of the market during the period 2017 to 2026, together with the active access to secondary and primary research methodology. Furthermore, various segments of the market associated to product, application, end-user etc., would also be present in this intelligent research report.Request for Free Sample Report-Increasing CBD Sales: Regulatory Changes Regarding Industrial Hemp to Reduce THC Content & Cost of CBDCannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating and non-psychotropic cannabinoid, which not only imparts myriad beneficial health effects, but also is deprived of relevant side effects. CBD is industrial hemps primary cannabinoid, present in concentrations between the range 0.5% and 4%. Major stakeholders in the hemp industry have been focusing on continued growth, in tandem with progress being made in legislature and product development.The Industrial Hemp Regulations (IHR) address specific topics apropos of the production, processing, control, and export measures within various stages of the industry. Current IHR require two conformances namely, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) testing of every field, except cultivars depicting low THC in provided province, and THC sampling & testing in production process concerning food derivatives. These process are expensive and entail the need for significant administrative investments by health regulatory bodies.Recognizing the concern, the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) proposed an efficient infield science-based alternative for generating reliable results. The proposal involves elimination of THC testing with respect to food derivatives. The alterations suggested are expected to aid achieving the objective of reducing THC content in crops with relatively less investment. Such regulatory changes are further expected to facilitate harvest, processing, and sales of non-psychoactive cannabinoids such as CBD from industrial hemp.Improving Accessibility to CBD-based Therapies: WHO Report aids Alleviation of Restrictions on CannabidiolCannabis comprises over 100 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids, with the most common among them being CBD and THC. The WHOs Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) published a report in 2017, which acknowledges clinical employment of CBD to be the most advanced treatment of epilepsy.CBD is perceived to have significant therapeutic value for seizures on account of epilepsy and relevant conditions. In addition, clinical trials conducted on CBD have depicted its efficacy in treatment of various forms of epilepsy. The report further acknowledged existence of primary evidence underpinning utilization of CBD in treatment and management of various other diseases that include Alzheimers disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns disease and Huntingtons disease.ECDDs conclusion states that current state of research with regard to scheduling of CBD is not justified, and it could impact accessibility for medical and scientific research. ECDDs impending final recommendations, to be published soon, will reaffirm or reinforce these conclusions, in order to alleviate legitimate basis for Secretary of Department of Health in maintaining present restrictions on CBD. This will not only relieve burden from companies developing medicinal products, but also improve access for consumers to effective and novel therapies.To know more @ Global Cannabidiol Market, visit Cannabidiol Market: Surging Penetration in Health Food ProductsRich in alpha-linoleic, linoleic, and antioxidants, CBD oil illustrates optimal ratio of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Numerous studies underpin the fact that properties of CBD assist management of depression & anxiety, pain, seizures, and insomnia. As researchers continue to analyze this increasingly popular cannabinoid, consumers across the globe are becoming more aware of the therapeutic qualities associated with CBD.Based on preferences, circumstances, and conditions of an individual, there are various ways in which CBD can be consumed, with some of the valid options being vaping CBD oil, applying CBD ointment topically, and swallowing CBD capsules. Currently, more and more individuals are seeking incorporation of CBD into their lifestyle through infusion into their meals.CBD-infused food products are gaining high momentum in the market, abreast growing consumer demand for healthy food options. In response to growing demand, companies are concentrating on production of healthy foods for meeting requirements of consumers seeking healthy replacements for traditional CBD-infused foods. Some of the common examples of such healthy alternatives include essential oil blends, flavored tinctures, and edibles such as coffee and candy.Notable Developments in CBD MarketPivot Pharmaceuticals Inc., in coordination with SolMic GmbH, its German technology partner, announced the initiation of its development of PGS-N001 in 2017. PGS-N001 is a water-soluble, natural, and pure oral CBD solution, which shows highest bioavailability and is devoid of THC. PGS-N001 will be developed and formulated for treating a wide range of disease indications such as the chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) major therapeutic challenge in cancer supportive care area.Nightfood Holdings, a startup that manufactures and markets products in nighttime snacking category, entered into a joint venture with Players Network Inc. in 2017. This joint venture is dedicated toward the development of CBD-infused line of products such as cannabinoid oil.Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (MCOA) has partnered with HoneyB Healthy Living for developing a series of CBD-based products. These products will be launched under the brand name BeniHemp and are intended to be distributed through convenience stores. The partnership aims at full-scale launch of their new product series by 2018-end, while coordinating supply chain arrangements via their partners in Colorado.Pre-book Global Nutritional Yeast Market Forecast Report-About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MRSuite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTelephone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.com/Web: Photocopier Market Research Report: Ricoh, Lanier, Toshiba, Xerox, Canon https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1745011&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-photocopier-market-research-report-2018.htm/toc https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1745011&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Photocopier Market Research Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.The global Photocopier market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportBrother InternationalCanonEastman KodakHewlett-PackardSamsung ElectronicsRicohLanierToshibaXeroxDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:The competitive landscape of the global Photocopier market has been comprehensively analyzed to understand its nature and how players are looking to cement their position in the industry. The authors of the report have profiled some of the important leaders of the market and other prominent players. The company profiling section gives information on significant aspects of the business of players, such as recent developments, market share, and strategies. The study on market competition is expected to help readers become familiar with steps vendors are taking to showcase their presence in the market.Geographies analysis of the global Photocopier market digs deep into the growth potential of leading regions and provides information on rewarding prospects they may make available in the foreseeable future. With this study, players could also become aware of regions that may not be performing well in the coming years. All in all, the report has been considered to be a brilliant representation of the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Photocopier Market Research Report 20181 Photocopier Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Photocopier1.2 Photocopier Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Photocopier Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Photocopier Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Photochemical1.2.4 Thermal1.2.5 Xerographic1.2.6 Digital1.3 Global Photocopier Segment by Application2 Global Photocopier Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Photocopier Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Photocopier Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Photocopier Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Photocopier Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Photocopier Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3 Global Photocopier Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)4 Global Photocopier Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)5 Global Photocopier Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Photocopier Production and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.2 Global Photocopier Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.3 Global Photocopier Price by Type (2013-2018)5.4 Global Photocopier Production Growth by Type (2013-2018)Read Complete Table of Content @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of PhotocopierFigure Global Photocopier Production (K Units) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2013-2025)Figure Global Photocopier Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2017Figure Product Picture of PhotochemicalTable Major Manufacturers of PhotochemicalFigure Product Picture of ThermalTable Major Manufacturers of ThermalFigure Product Picture of XerographicTo Get Discount Of This Report Click here @QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Submarine Battery 2018 Global Market Key Players - EnerSys, Systems Sunlight SA, Exide Technologies, Zibo Torch Energy Co., Ltd., Korea Special Battery Co., Ltd..... Submarine Battery Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3167032-global-submarine-battery-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3167032-global-submarine-battery-market-research-report-2018 Submarine Battery Market 2018Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Submarine Battery Global Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2025 To Its Research Database.Description:This report studies the global Submarine Battery market status and forecast, categorizes the global Submarine Battery market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Submarine Battery market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportEnerSysSystems Sunlight SAExide TechnologiesZibo Torch Energy Co., Ltd.Exide IndustriesEverExceedHBLGS YuasaKorea Special Battery Co., Ltd.Request for Sample Report@Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsThe regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoValve-regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) BatteriesFlooded Lead Acid BatteriesOthersOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingFor CivilianFor MilitaryEnquiry before Buying @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table Of Content:Global Submarine Battery Market Research Report 20181 Submarine Battery Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Submarine Battery1.2 Submarine Battery Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Submarine Battery Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Submarine Battery Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Valve-regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries1.2.4 Flooded Lead Acid Batteries1.2.5 Others1.3 Global Submarine Battery Segment by Application1.3.1 Submarine Battery Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 For Civilian1.3.3 For Military1.4 Global Submarine Battery Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Submarine Battery Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Submarine Battery (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Submarine Battery Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Submarine Battery Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025).7 Global Submarine Battery Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 EnerSys7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 EnerSys Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Systems Sunlight SA7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Systems Sunlight SA Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Exide Technologies7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Exide Technologies Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Zibo Torch Energy Co., Ltd.7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Zibo Torch Energy Co., Ltd. Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Exide Industries7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Exide Industries Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 EverExceed7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 EverExceed Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 HBL7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 HBL Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 GS Yuasa7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 GS Yuasa Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Korea Special Battery Co., Ltd.7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Submarine Battery Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Korea Special Battery Co., Ltd. Submarine Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.9.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued..Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune 411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042 [ Live Two Day Training Event ] - Mixing In The Food Industry Tridiagonal Solutions Inc, provides process performance enhancement and product development solutions to its clients, will be hosting a Live Training Event for Chemical Process Industry Professionals on Mixing In The Food Industry on July 19-20, 2018 at MicroTek, 230 W Monroe St, Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60606.Mixing is a critical unit operation in the food process industry. Various types of fluids and/or solids are regularly blended to produce food materials on a regular basis. Food materials exhibit a wide range of flow and rheological properties. As a result, the nature of mixing equipment types in the food processing industry tends to be immensely varied. From a practice point-of-view, this has led to a situation where mixing performance analysis has become more focused on equipment than principles. In this short webinar, we show how the fundamental principles of fluid and solids flow can be effectively used to analyze mixing performance of unit operations in the food industry. Actual case studies where fundamentals-based computational analysis has successfully improved process performance will also be shared.Who Should Attend?- Food Process Engineers and Scientists- Research And Development Scientists- Chemical Process Engineering Professionals- Senior Process Project Managers- Principal Scientists- Chemists- Chemical Engineers- CFD Engineers and ManagersTridiagonal SolutionsContact no. +1 (210) 858-6192Email us at: marketing@tridiagonal.comTridiagonal Solutions specializes in CFD, DEM & other engineering simulation techniques along with customized software solutions development. It has helped several fortune 500 customers with development of engineering tools & CFD automation using commercial as well as opensource technologies and integrating the same with engineering design procedures and business rules.12703 Spectrum Drive, San Antonio, TX 78249 Microscopy Devices Market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% to reach US$ 12,351.4 Mn by 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microscopy-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=226 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=226 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Microscopy Devices Market - SnapshotMicroscopes have enabled researchers to conduct in-depth academic and exploratory research. Rise in interest in life science areas such as nanoscience and pharmacology & toxicology has created a need for advanced microscopes that employ mediums much more penetrative than light such as electron and X-ray. Based on device type, the global microscopy devices market has been segmented into optical microscopes, electron microscopes, and scanning probe microscopes. The global microscopy devices market was valued at US$ 6,218.0 Mn in 2016 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2017 to 2025 to reach US$ 12,351.4 Mn by 2025. The scanning probe microscopy segment is likely to fuel the growth of the global microscopy devices market from 2017 to 2025.Read Report Overview:Rapid expansion of the global microscopy devices market is attributed to increase in innovations and technological advancements in microscopes, focus on R&D activities by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and growth of the life science industry. The biomedical research and engineering sector is rapidly growing, driving innovation in products and technologies used in the field. For instance, localization microscopy is a new technique designed by a scientist at the Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands). A fluorescence microscope usually produces images within the resolution range of 200 nanometers to 300 nanometers. However, scientists can use the new localization microscopy technique to produce better and more informative images of cellular functions, including internal images of cells.Constant upgrades and innovation in products and technologies of microscopy devices have been the key strategies adopted by major players in the global life sciences microscopy devices market. New product introduction in various segments, such as electron microscopes, scanning probe microscopes, and integrated microscopes, have created high demand for the devices in the market. Products such as Flouview FU300 (Olympus Corporation), OPMI LUMERA 300 / 700 (Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH), Eclipse Ti2 (Nikon Corporation), and CD-SEM-1 CV5000 (Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation) have been the benchmarks in the microscopy devices market. Such advancements in products, with an aim at value addition and improving product offerings, has augmented demand for microscopes in the life sciences research segment.Request Sample of Report:The global microscopy devices market is witnessing rapid growth. Key players such as Olympus Corporation, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, and Nikon Corporation have strong presence in the market. Established players focus on increasing their research and development activities to come up with new products and attract more number of customers by offering innovative and technologically advanced products. In 2017, Olympus Corporation spent US$ 706 Mn on research and development (50.2% higher than that in 2016). The company primarily invests in research and development for the development of microscopy devices. Additionally, rise in microscopy devices offer ample business opportunities for the development of cutting edge technologies that promote credibility and encourage product uptake. Hence, investment in research and development for new product development and enhancement of existing product portfolio would help the key players to retain and enhance their share in the global microcopy devices market.The global microscopy devices market has been segmented based on product type, application, end user, and region. In terms of product type, the optical microscopy segment is projected to lead the market and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. Scanning probe microscopy is an advanced technique. Increased applications of microscope in various fields such as nanotechnology, semiconductor technology, and life sciences are the major factors driving the market. Life sciences has been a major segment for the use of microscopes. Optical microscopy was the leading segment in terms of revenue in 2016. The segment is likely to continue to dominate the market during the forecast period. In terms of indication, the microscopy accessories segment is likely to lose market share during the forecast period. The cell and molecular biology segment is expected to continue to dominate the market from 2017 to 2025.Request Brochure of Report:North America captured the largest share of the global microscopy devices market in 2016. Increase in government funding for R&D in life science is expected to drive the market in the U.S. Asia Pacific is projected to gain market share during the forecast period and is likely to be key revenue generator. Implementation of industrial policies favoring companies in the health and life science areas along with approval of non-reimbursable funds and establishment of various government programs to support the internationalization of the life sciences sector driving the market growth in Brazil, South Africa Saudi Arabia, etc. is likely to boost market growth in Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Key companies operating in the global microscopy devices market and profiled in the report include Olympus Corporation, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, and Nikon Corporation. These players are adopting advanced techniques in development of microscopy devices to expand their product offerings, strengthen their geographical reach, increase customer base, and garner market share. In April 2016, Olympus Corporation introduced a new confocal laser scanning microscope, the FLUOVIEW FV300, which combines usability with high-performance imaging capabilities to enable researchers in fields such as cell biology, cancer research, and stem cell research. In November 2016, Nikon Corporation launched new inverted microscope, the ECLIPSE Ti2, which provides improved stability and usability in research applications in the life sciences segment.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Geothermal Heat Pumps Market Insights Covering Market Dynamics and Competitive Scenario through 2020 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/698 https://www.mrrse.com/geothermal-heat-pumps-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/698 https://www.mrrse.com/ In order to study the various trends and patterns prevailing in the overall market for Geothermal Heat Pumps, Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has included a new report titled Geothermal Heat Pumps Market to its wide online database. This research assessment offers a clear insight about the influential factors that are expected to transform the global market in the near future. Readers can access the regional as well as segment-wise analysis for acquiring precise information about the global market structure.Visit for Sample Report @Global geothermal heat pumps market to be worth US$130.50 bn by 2020. The overall market stood at a valuation of US$55.30 bn in 2014.Geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground source heat pumps, are central heating/ cooling systems that transfer heat from or to the ground. These systems utilize earth as the heat source or heat sink according to weather conditions. Geothermal heat pumps have been in use since 1940s and have been widely popular due to their fairly high efficiency compared to air-source heat pumps.Rising prices of oil and electricity have led consumers to shift their focus towards low cost energy alternatives such as geothermal energy. Significant cost savings, along with environmental benefits have boosted the demand for geothermal heat pumps. Various initiatives taken by governments such as attractive payback periods associated with installing these systems in newly-built homes have further fueled the growth of the global geothermal heat pumps market. However, incorrect estimation of heat pump sizes and faulty installations have led to several instances of product recalls. This is likely to have a detrimental effect on the growth of the market. The overall market has a huge opportunity to grow with the rising demand across the commercial sector.On the basis of technology, the global geothermal heat pumps market is categorized into open loop and closed loop systems. The closed loop systems segment is further divided into vertical loops, horizontal loops, and pond/ lake systems. In 2013, the closed loop systems segment dominated the overall market with a share of 85.68%. Closed loop systems are commonly used owing to their loop configuration.In terms of applications, the report segments the global geothermal heat pumps market into residential and commercial sectors. Both these sectors are sub-segmented into retrofit systems and new building systems. The usage of geothermal heat pumps across the industrial and agricultural sectors is negligible. In terms of installed capacity, the retrofit systems segment across the residential and commercial sectors is expected to witness significant demand in the near future.The report studies the geothermal heat pumps market across three key regions: North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. In 2014, Europe and North America dominated the overall market. Switzerland, Germany, France, and Sweden are the mature markets in Europe. During the forecast period, Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a steady pace with China driving the demand from this regional market.Complete List of Tables and Figures @The technology segment analysis has been done on both global and regional level. The market for geothermal heat pumps has been segmented on the basis of technology as open loop systems and closed loop systems. Closed loop systems have been further sub-segmented into its constituent loop configurations as vertical loops, horizontal loops, and pond/lake systems. For each of the technology segments and sub-segments, regional market tables have been provided for a detailed understanding about the market penetration of each technology in various regions. Similarly, the end-users have been broadly segmented into residential and commercial customers. The residential segment has been further sub-segmented on the basis of installation type into new building systems and retrofit systems. A similar approach was adopted for the commercial segment. Segments and sub-segments in the end-user category also feature regional market data tables to understand the market presence of each end-user in various regions. The Rest of the World (RoW) region has been removed from the regional segmentation owing to negligible deployment of geothermal heat pump technology as compared to other regions.Key participants in the global geothermal heat pump market include Bryant Heating and Cooling Systems, Climatemaster Inc., Danfoss Heat Pumps U.K. Ltd., Dimplex Ltd., Enertech Global LLC, Finn Geotherm U.K. Ltd, Florida Heat Pump Manufacturing, GeoMaster LLC, Kensa Heat Pumps Ltd., and WaterFurnace International Inc. This report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues, business strategies, and recent developments.Geothermal Heat Pumps Market: Technology AnalysisOpen Loop SystemsClosed Loop SystemsVertical LoopsHorizontal LoopsPond/Lake SystemsGeothermal Heat Pumps Market: End-User AnalysisResidentialNew Building SystemsRetrofit SystemsCommercialNew Building SystemsRetrofit SystemsGeothermal Heat Pumps Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificSend an Inquiry @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: 3D Printing in Medical Applications Market: Technological advances to broaden the scope of medical applications https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/3d-Printing-medical-applications.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1522 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1522 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global 3D Printing in Medical Applications Market: SnapshotThe 3D printing technology has revolutionized several industries by enabling non-conventional, faster, and economic manufacturing of a variety of products possible. The potential uses of this technology are being uncovered at a rapid pace across the medical industry and many revolutionary medical applications of 3D printing are expected to be uncovered in the next few years.Transparency Market Research states that the global 3D printing for medical applications market will exhibit growth at a promising pace and will enable significant transformations in the field of healthcare in the near future. The market is expected to rise to a valuation of US$965.5 mn by 2019.Read Report Overview:Usage of 3D Printing for Producing Medical Implants to Remain Markets Most Profitable SegmentOn the basis of key applications, the market for 3D printing in the medical field has been segmented in the report into implants, surgical instruments, bioengineering, and surgical guides. Of these, the segment of implants accounted for the dominant share in the global market, valuing at nearly US$337.3 mn in 2015. The segment is expected to exhibit growth at a significant pace over the reports forecast period and continue to be the dominant contributor to the global 3D printing in medical applications market over the forecast period as well. The report states that the segment of implants will have an opportunity of US$632.7 mn by 2019, accounting for over half of the overall valuation of the global market by the said year.The immense growth prospects of the 3D printing technology across the implants application can be attributed to the increased demand for implants for a variety of orthopedic, dental, and cranio-maxillofacial disorders. The sub-segment of dental implants will account for the dominant share of revenue contributed by the segment of implants to the 3D printing for medical applications market over the forecast period.Request Sample of Report:Favorable Medical Reimbursement Scenario to Make Europe Most promising Regional MarketGeographically, the report examines the market for 3D printing in medical applications across regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Of these, the market is presently dominated by North America. The region dominates the market owing to the presence of some of the key players in the 3D printing technology in the U.S. The U.S. accounts for a significant share in the global 3D printing in medical applications market and is expected to remain the hub for future developments in the field as well. Thus, the North America 3D printing in medical applications market is expected to retain its command on the global market throughout the reports forecast period. However, the market in Europe is expected to outpace North America owing to the rising number of 3D printing companies in the region.Despite being a slow-growth region for several industries owing to recent economic upheavals across several countries in the past few years, the technologically advanced companies in Europe have been focusing hard on technological innovations such as 3D printing. The Europe market for 3D printing in medical applications is expected to be led by Germany, which is expected to outpace Japan in terms of growth rate in the next few years. The market is also expected to gain significant traction in Europe in the next few years owing to the favorable medical reimbursement policies and a substantial rise in funding from government bodies aimed at technological advancements.Request Brochure of Report:Market to Become Fiercely Competitive in Near FutureDespite the budding stage of the global 3D printing market, companies manufacturing products for medical applications by incorporating the 3D printing technology have significantly increased in number in the recent past. Many new companies are venturing into the market at a rapid pace and are expected to enrich the market through advanced and innovative products in the near future.Some of the key companies operating in the global 3D printing for medical applications market are Nanoscribe GmbH, 3D Systems Corporation, EnvisionTEC GmbH, Voxeljet Technology GmbH, Stratasys Ltd., and Materialise NV.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: The good news is that the Philippines can be proud of the Department of Foreign Affairs under Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, and its corps of diplomatic personnel based in Kuwait. About three weeks ago, the DFA launched a clandestine operation to rescue two Filipina domestic helpers being abused in that awful desert country. In coordination with its home office in Manila, three diplomats from the Philippine embassy in Kuwait City conducted the clandestine operation, and succeeded in saving the lives of the two overseas Filipinos from their inhumane Arab employers. It appears that the rescue operation came in the wake of deteriorating relations between the Philippines and Kuwait, a situation brought about by the severe maltreatment of Filipino domestic helpers working for Kuwaiti employers. The incident that triggered the rift between Manila and Kuwait City was the discovery early this year of the murder of Joanna Demafelis, a Filipina domestic helper working in Kuwait, whose body was left in a freezer by her Arab employers. On an earlier occasion, another Filipina worker was raped by her Kuwaiti boss. Reacting to these incidents, a very angry President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, which is to remain until and unless Kuwait took concrete steps to protect the safety and well-being of Filipino expatriates in that desert nation. Kuwaiti officials, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and the owners of Philippine recruitment agencies sending workers to slavery in Kuwait were unhappy about the deployment ban. Admittedly, the rescue operation was not in accord with diplomatic protocol recognized in International Law. Considering, however, that the rescue operation was a response by the Philippine embassy to the desperate pleas of Filipinos who could possibly lose their lives in Kuwait, and that time being of the essence, and in view of the notorious indifference of Kuwait authorities to the plight of Asian domestic helpers as well as the propensity of Kuwaitis to treat overseas domestic helpers as nineteenth-century slaves, the rescue operation was justified under International Humanitarian Law. Sadly, Kuwait viewed the rescue operation as a violation of its sovereignty and summarily ordered the expulsion of Renato Pedro Villa, the Philippine ambassador to Kuwait. As of this writing, Ambassador Villa is safely back in the Philippines. The Kuwaiti government also said that it will investigate the three Philippine diplomats directly responsible for the rescue operation. This announcement is interpreted by Manila as Kuwaits determination to arrest the three diplomats once they step out of the Philippine embassy. Initial reports received by Manila indicate that the power and water supply to the Philippine embassy was deliberately cut off by the Kuwaiti government to cause inconvenience to its occupants. Subsequent reports, however, claim that it was a power outage, not a power cut. That is rather difficult to believe because an oil-rich country like Kuwait never runs out of electricity, particularly in the diplomatic and consular areas of the capital. Last week, the DFA quietly announced that there are ongoing negotiations for the repatriation of the three diplomats. The stealth is, of course, understandable, owing to the delicate nature of the issue, and the irrational way many Kuwaitis think simply because they are wealthy. Apparently, the negotiations were fruitful. Yesterday, the DFA announced that the stranded Philippine diplomats may be able to leave Kuwait within the next two days or so, because Manila and Kuwaiti City have signed an accord regarding the treatment of Filipino workers in that country. While that accord will only legitimize the maltreatment of Filipino workers in Kuwait, at least it triggered the safe repatriation of the diplomats.This development should also augur well for Kuwait. If Kuwait insists on keeping the Philippine diplomats in their country under threat of punishment, then Kuwait will be no different from Iran, It will be recalled that in 1979, Iran allowed radical students to take over the American embassy in Tehran. Everyone in the embassy became hostages and were released only in 1981. * * * It is unsettling to hear that certain noisy sectors among the so-called career diplomats in the DFA bureaucracy are demanding the resignation of DFA Secretary Cayetano for what happened in Kuwait. After branding the rescue operation a diplomatic disaster, they attributed it to the youth and inexperience of Cayetano. What hogwash! Since when was the rescue of a distressed Filipino by a Philippine consular officer a diplomatic disaster? Those career diplomats have been basking in their comfort zones for so long that they have forgotten the interests of their fellow Filipinos. Many of them consider diplomacy as the art of attending embassy parties in expensive attire; of expressing one thing and meaning something else; of smiling at people whom they would rather frown at in reality; of putting down ones countryman so as to avoid offending the feelings of a foreigner; of enjoying a virtual tour of the world at the expense of taxpayers like overseas Filipino workers, and of putting form and nicety over substance, justice and national welfare. By golly, it was probably Cayetanos youth and inexperience that made him think of that rescue operation! Therefore, if there should be anybody who ought to resign from the DFA, those uncaring vultures among the career diplomats should be the ones who should do so. What happened in Kuwait is not a diplomatic disaster. What happened there is that for the first time in a long, long while, Filipino diplomats did what they were expected to do -- protect overseas Filipinos stationed in their assigned areas. All Filipinos should unite behind our well-meaning foreign service officials, particularly Secretary Cayetano, Ambassador Villa, and the three diplomats whose names cannot be mentioned in the meantime, in order to assure their safety. It will be in the best interest of the Filipino people if these officials can trigger more substantial reforms in our overseas diplomatic missions. Natural Immune Booster Market 2018 Americas Industry Trends, Statistics, Size, Share, Growth Factors, Regional Analysis, Competitive Landscape Forecast to 2027 Natural Immune Booster Market 2018 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ask-sample-request/natural-immune-booster-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/articles/natural-immune-booster-market Natural Immune Booster Market 2018This article provides an overview about the Americas Natural Immune Booster Market (Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract) Industry Analysis & Forecast to 2027, there by offering insights on key present growth indicators and forecast indicators such as drivers, restrains, opportunities and trends that are involved in shaping the market.IntroductionIn the present era, every individual considers having healthy immune system to prevent their body from various complex conditions and diseases. There is actually no magical food can boost your immune system. One should take a variety of food to improve the immune system to stay away from diseases. Beta-Glucan is one of the natural immune booster product better known as a fantastically complex immune system intended to secure them against all interruptions into the body that may bring about damage. Environmental toxins, aging, stress among others are the factors resulting in weakening the immune system of human body.Beta-glucans (-Glucans) contain a group of -D-glucose polysaccharides normally happening in the cell walls of yeast, cereal, bacteria, and parasites, with altogether contrasting physicochemical properties reliant on source.Beta-glucan is a polysaccharide that is found in normal source, for example, grain oats, yeast and mushroom. The physicochemical properties of beta-glucan differ contingent upon attributes of essential structure, including degree of branching, molecular weight and linkage type.The basic purpose of beta glucan & yeast extraction is to improve the human immune system. These days people are getting more conscious about health food intake and just to boost their immune system while performing activities the demand of Beta-Glucan has increased globally.Get Sample Report of Natural Immune Booster Market@Market Growth InfluencerIncreasing awareness and health consciousness have created the Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract Market very impressive and it has opened the gates of growth and opportunities for several companies to perform and generate revenues. Passing with days large population is shifting from the field job to sitting job; however the mindset of people is pulling towards their health and immune system. Intake of Beta-glucan is helping these segments to fulfill their need and requirement and keeping them healthy. As per the analysis, beta-glucan can be major herb in the treatment of cancer patients.The major growth factor allowing the market to boost up are changing life style, increasing awareness among people. Increasing demand of processed food is also a major growing factor. North America and Western Europe are said to be the top growing market in food and beverage industries. Emerging economies of APAC and Latin America are having ample opportunity to grow in the market as large number of population is covered by this regions.The major trends by which the consumers are shifting towards using the process food is to proactively strengthening their immune system. Globally, the large part of working class belongs to the age group from 18 to 50 which include males and females both and as per the MRFR study; the consumption level of beta-glucan is very high to keep people healthy and proactive. Furthermore, there has been an abundant opportunity for this market to grow in developing region such as India, China, Poland, Russia and others because of the emerging economy and governments initiatives.Natural Immune Booster - Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract Market: Market SegmentationFor this study, MRFR has segmented the beta-glucan & yeast extract market into the various segments such as product type, application type and source.On the basis of product type, the beta-glucan & yeast extract market is segmented into:Yeast extractYeast betaOn the basis of Application type, the beta-glucan & yeast extract market is segmented into:BeveragesDairy productsPharmaceuticalsBakery & processed foodOthers (animal feed, bio feed, cosmetics)On the basis of Source, the beta-glucan & yeast extract market is segmented into cereals, yeast and mushroom and on the basis on functionality theNatural Immune Booster - Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract Market: Regional AnalysisEurope Natural Immune Booster - Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract MarketEurope is leading in the market with global market share of more than XX% of Beta-Glucan. Countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain & UK tend to consume more Beta-Glucan drink than rest of the other countries. Hence, it makes Europe a potential market for the new companies.America Natural Immune Booster - Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract MarketAmerica share more than XX% of global market share of Beta-Glucan. The reason behind this is people more believes in health and fitness and for that they invest good amount of money on this product. Developed countries like US and Canada whose standard of living is high than other countries and with good amount of disposable income Beta-Glucan market has kept a good grip on market share and expected to grow in near times.According to Natural Marketing Institutes (NMI), half of the US population is concerned about boosting their immunity. Mostly found in the age group between 28 to 32 that the people are more concern about their health and immune system and just to overcome these issues. In the US around 33% of the population believes in acquiring the meals which claim to be boost immunity and provide them better immune system.Asia-Pacific Natural Immune Booster - Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract MarketChina ranks number one in population followed by India and population means opportunities. Although, Asia Pacific market has claimed to be the fastest and emerging economies through which it creates an ample opportunity to capture the market.Key Players: Natural Immune Booster: Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract MarketThe prominent players present in the Natural Immune Booster: Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract Market includesSpecialty Biotech Co., Ltd., BiotecPharmacon ASA, Royal DSM N.V., Chr. Hansen A/S, Lallemand Inc., Alltech Inc., AB Mauri, Angel Yeast Co. Ltd., AHD International, ABF Ingredients, Bio Springer and others.Market Research Future introduces about the Natural Immune Booster Market (Beta Glucan & Yeast Extract) Global Industry Analysis & Forecast to 2027 which mainly includes the growth drivers, trends and restraints and how the market will grow in the future across the globe. In this report, Market Research Future has focused on the current market scenario which includes market segmentation, market dynamics, and competitive landscape along with company profiles.Get Complete Report Details of Natural Immune Booster Market@The reports also covers brief analysis of Geographical Region includes:AmericasNorth AmericaUSCanadaLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilMexicoRest of LATAMEuropeWestern EuropeGermanyFranceItalySpainU.KRest of Western EuropeEastern EuropePolandRussiaAsia PacificAsiaChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaRest of AsiaPacific CountriesAustraliaNew ZealandThe Middle East& AfricaMiddle EastSaudiQatarUAERest of Middle EastAfricaSouth AfricaRest of AfricaEvery report of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Us:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR) and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have the prime objective to provide optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies depending on products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments enables our clients to know more consequently do more, which gives them answer for their each and every important question. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industryCONTACT US:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com Telecom Tower Power System Market Size, Historical Analysis, Emerging Technologies, Global Trends and Industry Set For Rapid Growth with 11% of CAGR by Forecast 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2490 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/telecom-tower-power-system-market-2490 Telecom Tower Power System Market, By Type (Reliable grid, Unreliable grid, off grid), By Power Source (Diesel-Battery, Diesel-Solar, Diesel-Wind), - Forecast 2022Market Scenario:The telecommunication industry is growing continuously due to rapid innovations & IT modernizations. Telecom Tower Power System is specifically designed to meet the needs of reliable, highly efficient, quiet, and environmentally-friendly backup or continuous power for telecommunication sites. Telecom towers are either owned by individual telecom service providers, or shared among multiple service providers in order to save capital and operational costs. The telecom Tower Power Systems enable remote control and data acquisition that facilitates low-cost monitoring and servicing of the field units.The study indicates that growing demand for renewable power supply systems, competition to deliver uninterrupted telecom services is driving the Telecom Tower Power System Market. Apart from that rising number of Internet users, change in customer preferences and deployment of new technologies are also responsible for the growth of market in the Telecom Tower Power System market.Get Sample Report @The telecom Tower Power Systems are segmented on the basis of type, power source and region. The telecom Tower Power Systems based on power source is subdivided into diesel, diesel-battery, solar, wind and others. The Telecom Tower Power Systems designed using these renewable power sources such as solar, wind and others, contribute to energy saving and create a green footprint. The study reveals that many companies are designing telecom Tower Power Systems using renewable power resources.The global Telecom Tower Power System Market is expected to grow at USD ~3.7 Billion by 2022, at ~11% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022.Key Players: Schneider Electric (France) Huawei Technologies Co. (China) Delta Electronics (Taiwan) GE Industrial Solutions (U.S.) Eaton (Ireland), Vertiv (U.S.) Bharti Infratel Ltd., (India) Texas Instruments (U.S.) ST Microelectronics (Switzerland)Segments:Telecom Tower Power System Market by Type: Reliable grid Unreliable grid Off gridTelecom Tower Power System Market by Power source: Diesel Diesel-Battery Diesel-Solar Diesel-Wind OthersRegional Analysis:The regional analysis of Telecom Tower Power System market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Rising number of mobile phone subscribers have driven the market of Telecom Tower Power System in Asia-Pacific region. The study reveals that Asia- Pacific region dominates the Telecom Tower Power System market. The study also indicates that increasing trend of smartphones and large geographic diversity has led to the need of Telecom Tower Power Systems in Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific countries like China, Japan, Korea and India are advancing in their technologies rapidly. It has been observed in Asia-pacific region that development of 5G technologies and deployment of 4G technologies has increased the demand of telecom Tower Power Systems. The Telecom Tower Power System market is expected to grow steadily in Europe and Latin America regions over the forecast period.Get Complete Report @Intended Audience: Telecom managed service providers Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) Power systems component manufacturers and distributors Power systems distributors and suppliers Suppliers of related accessories for power systems Providers of power systems Telecom tower companies Telecom infrastructure providers System Integrators Government Organizations Research/Consultancy firmsStudy Objectives of Telecom Tower Power System Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Telecom Tower Power System market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Telecom Tower Power System market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment on the basis of type and power source. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Telecom Tower Power SystemTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Solution2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size Estimation3 Market Dynamics3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Drivers3.3 Market Challenges3.4 Market Opportunities3.5 Market RestraintsContinues...List of TablesTable 1 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market, By TypeTable 2 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market, By Power SourceTable 3 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market, By RegionsTable 4 North America Lte Market, By TypeTable 5 North America Telecom Tower Power System Types Market, By Power SourceContinues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Research Network SolutionFigure 2 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market: By Type (%)Figure 3 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market: By Power Source (%)Figure 4 Telecom Tower Power System Types Market: By RegionFigure 5 North America Telecom Tower Power System Types Market, By Type (%)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Polyphenylene Ether (PPE) Alloys Market Insights Covering Market Dynamics and Competitive Scenario through 2020 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/61 https://www.mrrse.com/polyphenylene-ether-alloys-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/61 https://www.mrrse.com/ In order to study the various trends and patterns prevailing in the overall market for Polyphenylene Ether (PPE) Alloys, Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has included a new report titled Polyphenylene Ether (PPE) Alloys Market to its wide online database. This research assessment offers a clear insight about the influential factors that are expected to transform the global market in the near future. Readers can access the regional as well as segment-wise analysis for acquiring precise information about the global market structure.Visit for Sample Report @Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are polymer resins which are utilized as engineering thermoplastics. Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are non-polar, amorphous solid resins with good impact strength and dimensional stability. Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys absorb less moisture, highly resistant to heat and abrasion. Average content of polyphenylene ether (PPE) in its alloys is around 50% of the total formulation. Almost all polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are alloyed with polystyrene Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys pellets can be extrusion molded, blow molded or injection molded to manufacture thermoplastic articles. Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys can also be blended with nylon and glass oxide to produce strong thermoplastic resins. Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are chemically stable plastics. Commercially, polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are available in structural foam molded, filled, reinforced, and flame retardant grades.Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are primarily used as engineering thermoplastics for business machines and trays for integrated circuit boards. Nylon reinforced Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys are utilized by automotive industry for injection molded fenders due to their high resistance against organic chemicals and better performance at extreme temperatures. It competes with polycarbonate (PC), poly-butylene terephthalate (PBT) and many other engineering thermoplastics with similar properties for a wide range of high performance applications.Polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys market is driven by its demand from the electrical and electronics industry and automotive industry. Demand growth is expected to be driven by the growth of end use industries of polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys. However, substitutability with other engineering thermoplastics such as polycarbonate (PC) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) among others is expected to restrain market growth. Furthermore, most of the substitutes available for similar applications are available commercially at prices lower than that of polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys. Specialized product development of new polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys focused on specific applications to avoid substitutability can be a prospective market opportunity for further demand growth.Complete List of Tables and Figures @In terms of geography, Asia Pacific is the largest consumer of engineering thermoplastics including polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys riding on high sales of end use application products to its large population base. Major industrial economies including China, India, Japan and South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand are the major consumers of polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys for application in a variety of business machines, electric and electronic goods. Two of the most populated countries, China and India are situated in Asia. Both these countries are growing rapidly and witnessing rising disposable income and purchase power parity of the general population. This in turn is expected to drive demand for consumer goods and further for polyphenylene ether (PPE) alloys in automotives and electronic devices. Major market players have established their production facilities in Asia owing to the availability of cheap labor and land and comparatively lenient norms and regulations against chemicals and plastics. North America is another major consumer for engineering thermoplastics especially in the automotive industry. In Rest of the World, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa contribute to major demand for the market. Europe is expected to witness comparatively slower growth than other regions due to recent economic meltdown which affected the automotive industry in the region.Some of the market players include Marplex Australia PTY Limited, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) among many others.Send an Inquiry @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Industrial Agitator Market Outlook 2018: Top Key Players by Xylem, SPX Flow, Sulzer, Philadelphia Mixing, Dynamix Agitators, Mixer and Tacmina Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5396 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industrial-agitator-market-5396 Market Scenario:The industrial agitator is a mechanical device that is widely used in the process industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. The main function of a mechanical agitator is to assimilate the liquids, combines the chain of chemical reactions, processing the homogenous liquid at huge volume, and increase the heat transfer in the form of heating and cooling process. This agitator device is specially used in stirring and mixing the gases and liquids.The Industrial Agitator Market is designed and developed in various forms according to different applications such as mixers, large tank mixers, drum mixers, portable mixers, and many more. These mixers transformed into the blending process which serves the purpose of assimilating the solid-liquid bulk solids and liquid-liquid, gas-liquid, and viscous materials.Get Sample Report@Surging adoption of industrial agitators in manufacturing and processing industries and surging promotion by environmental agencies to implement the agitators, which reduce the environmental wastes are expected to drive the industrial agitator market over the forecast period. The agitators are very vital for chemical industries, which are required for mixing of gases in equal proportion, which is considered to be one of the fuelling factors for the industrial agitator market.On the other hand, the high installation cost and constant need for maintenance & repairs of the mechanical device are expected to hinder the growth of industrial agitator over the review period.The global industrial agitator is expected to reach approximately USD 3 Billion by 2023 growing at a 7% CAGR over the forecast period 2017-2023.Key Players: Xylem, Inc. (U.S.) SPX Flow, Inc. (U.S.) Sulzer Ltd. (Switzerland) Philadelphia Mixing Solutions Ltd. (U.S.) Dynamix Agitators Inc. (Canada) Mixer Direct, Inc. (U.S.) Tacmina Corporation (Japan) Statiflo International Ltd. (U.K.) Ekato Holdings GmbH (Germany) Fluid Kotthoff GmbH (Germany KSB (U.S.) Silverson Machines Inc. (U.K.)Segmentation:The industrial agitator market is differentiated by type, component, model, form, and by the application.Based on the type, the industrial agitator market is sub-segmented into the top entry, side entry, bottom entry, portable, and static. The model segment consists of large tank mixers, drum mixers, portable mixers, and others. Furthermore, the component segment is classified into heads, sealing systems, impellers, anchor, turbine, propeller, paddle, and others.The industrial agitator is further divided on the basis of form that includes solid-solid mixture, solid-liquid mixture, liquid-liquid mixture, and liquid-gas mixture.On the basis of the application segment, the industrial agitator is segmented chemical, mining, food & beverages, pharmaceutical, paint and coatings, cosmetics, and others.Regional Analysis:Geographically, the Industrial Agitator is segmented into four different regions namely North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Rest of the World.North America is presumed to be the dominating region in industrial agitator market. The U.S. Canada and Mexico are the leading countries in this region. This is due to advanced technological infrastructure, which encourages local manufacturers to innovate and design the agitators according to various industrial verticals. Furthermore, Asia Pacific is also anticipated to be the fastest growing region in the industrial agitator market over the forecast period. India, Japan, and China are the leading countries in the region owing to surging industrialization and increased investment from advanced economies to boost the manufacturing sector. Europe is anticipated to have a substantial growth over the forecast period.Target Audience: Research Firms. Government Agencies Industrial mixers service providers Manufacturing companies Research organizations Industrial mixers-related associations, organizations, forums, and alliancesAccess Full Report@Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Scope of the Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure3 Market Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast ModelContinues...List of TablesTable1 World Population by Major Regions (2017 To 2023)Table2 Global Industrial Agitator Market: By Region, 2017-2023Table3 North America Industrial Agitator Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table4 Europe Industrial Agitator Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table5 Asia-Pacific Industrial Agitator Market: By Country, 2017-2023Continues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Global Industrial Agitator Market SegmentationFigure 2 Forecast MethodologyFigure 3 Porters Five Forces Analysis of Global Industrial Agitator MarketFigure 4 Value Chain of Global Industrial Agitator MarketFigure 5 Share of Global Industrial Agitator Market in 2017, By Country (In %)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Opportunities for the global small diameter pipe market to reach $103.8 billion by 2021 Insights that Matter www.lucintel.com According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of global small diameter pipe market looks good with opportunities in potable water and wastewater pipe, oil and gas, and industrial pipe segments. The global small diameter pipe market is expected to reach an estimated $103.8 billion by 2021 and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers for market growth are increasing urban population, construction and infrastructure development, and recovery in oil and gas industry.In this market, metal, plastic, and concrete materials are used in the manufacturing of small diameter pipe for different applications. On the basis of comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that plastic pipe segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period.Within the global small diameter pipe market, the metal pipe segment is expected to remain the largest segment by value and by volume. High strength, rigidity, and pressure tolerance in expanding oil and gas, water, and wastewater pipe applications are the major driving forces that would spur growth for this segment over the forecast period.APAC is expected to remain the largest market and is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period due to infrastructure development, and construction of new pipelines.For business expansion, Lucintels report suggests innovation and new product development which are easy to install and have low maintenance and high quality.Emerging trends which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry include the increasing use of premium and technically advanced with high efficient small diameter pipes and development of multilayer material in small diameter pipes. United States Steel Corp., Tenaris SA, Vallourec SA, OAO TMK, and ArcelorMittal SA are among the major suppliers of small diameter pipe.Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed growth opportunities in the global small diameter pipe market by material, application, diameter type, and region, and has compiled a comprehensive research report entitled Growth Opportunities in the Global Small Diameter Pipe Market 2016-2021: Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis. The Lucintel report serves as a springboard for growth strategy by providing comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions. The study includes a forecast for the global small diameter pipe market by material, application, diameter type, and region, as follows:By Material [Volume (Million Tons) and Value ($ Billion) from 2010 to 2021]: Metal Pipe Plastic Pipe Concrete Pipe FRP Pipe OthersBy Application [Value ($ Billion) from 2010 to 2021]: Potable Water Pipe Wastewater Pipe Oil and Gas Pipe Industrial Pipe OthersBy Diameter Type [Value ($ Billion) from 2010 to 2021]: 0 to 5 Inches 6 to 10 Inches 11 to 15 InchesBy Region [Volume (Million Tons) and Value ($ Million) from 2010 to 2021]: North America Europe APAC ROWThis 288-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or helpdesk@lucintel.com. Lucintel offerings include Construction Market Report, Construction Reports, Market Research Report, Capital Investment Feasibility and SWOT Analysis.Lucintel, the premier global management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growth. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. For further information, visitLucintel LLC222 Las Colinas Blvd West, Suite 1650, Irving, TX 75039, USAPh: +1-972-636-5056 Fax: +1-877-883-5140marketing@lucintel.com Digital Panel Meter Market to Perceive Accruals of USD 3,251 Million by 2023 With 6% of CAGR; MRFR Unleashes Industry Prognostications https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4622 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/digital-panel-meter-market-4622 Global Digital Panel Meter Market, By Type, Cover (Totalizers, Multi-Input Indicators & Scanners, Temperature, Process Panel Meters), By Applications (Display Current, Display Voltage, Displays Temperature) - Forecast 2023Market Scenario:The companies such as Siemens AG (German), Murata Power Solutions, Inc., (U.S.), Red Lion Controls (U.S), OMRON Corporation (Japan), are the leading manufacturers of digital panel meter in the market. In 2016, Murata Power Solutions had announced panel mount digital thermometers which is a series of round, miniature digital panel meters. It was designed to monitor ambient air temperatures by using the sensing element that is NTC thermistor.The factors that drive the growth market are the increasing demand of electrical and industrial industries which is continuously monitoring vibration, pressure, current, frequency voltage, temperature, and others to keep the devices running smoothly. It also calculate electrical consumption with high accuracy. The other factor which is boosting the market growth of digital panel meter are built-in overload protection which is protect from electrical loads.Get Sample Report @The global digital panel meter market are bifurcated on the basis of cover types, applications and region. The cover types are segmented into totalizers, multi-input indicators and scanners, temperature and process panel meters and others. The applications are segmented display current, display voltage, displays temperature and others. The region includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world.The regional analysis of digital panel meter market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. North America is one of the leading region across the world in terms of market share in digital panel meter market as it has huge demand as it is widely used in the electronics industry for electronic measurement. The digital panel meter market in Europe region is expected to witness rapid growth in the forthcoming period. Whereas, Asia-Pacific countries like China, Japan and India is an emerging market for digital panel meter market and expected to be the highest CAGR in the coming years as the companies are taking interest in targeting the digital panel meter in these market to meet the requirement of customers need.The global Digital Panel Meter Market is expected to grow at USD 3,251 Million by 2023, at 6% of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Key Players: Siemens AG (German) Murata Power Solutions, Inc., (U.S.) Red Lion Controls (U.S) OMRON Corporation (Japan) The Danaher Corporation (U.S) Phoenix Contact (Germany) PR Electronics (Denmark) Precision Digital Corporation (U.S) Autonics USA, Inc. (U.S) Laurel Electronics (U.S).Segments:The global digital panel meter market has been segmented on the basis of type covers, applications and region.Global Digital panel meter Market by Type, covers: Totalizers Multi-Input Indicators and Scanners Temperature and Process Panel Meters OthersGlobal Digital panel meter Market by Applications: Display Current Display Voltage Displays Temperature OthersGlobal Digital panel meter Market by Regions: North America Europe APAC Rest Of The WorldIntended Audience: Digital panel meter companies Digital panel meter providers Professional service providers Digital panel meter providers Research and development companies Market research and consulting firms Solution providers Technology standards organizations Technology investors System IntegratorsAccess Full Report @Table of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Type2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size Estimation3 Market Dynamics3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Drivers3.3 Market Challenges3.4 Market Opportunities3.5 Market RestraintsContinues...List of TablesTable 1 Digital Panel Market, By Type, CoversTable 2 Digital Panel Market, By ApplicationsTable 3 Digital Panel Market, By RegionTable 4 North America Digital Panel Market, By Type, CoversTable 5 North America Digital Panel Market, By ApplicationsContinues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Digital Panel Market, By Type, Covers (%)Figure 3 Digital Panel Market, By Applications (%)Figure 4 Digital Panel Market, By Region (%)Figure 5 North America Digital Panel Market, By Type, Covers (%)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Robotic Vision Market Global Demand, Leading Players, Future Plans, Competitive Landscape, Applications, Development History and Analytical Insights Segmentation by Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1849 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/robotic-vision-market-1849 Robotic Vision Market, by Components (Hardware and Software), By Technology (2D and 3D), By Applications (Welding, Manufacturing, Material Handling), by Verticals (Industries, Consumer, Healthcare) - Forecast 2016-2022Market Overview:The robotic vision is simple process of analyzing, extracting and defining with the help of the camera mounted on it and pre-loaded algorithm. It can be installed for number of applications such as welding & cutting with accuracy, precision, quality in the manufacturing process and inspection & testing, material handling, and packaging.The vision takes pictures of each a portion of material that the robot will interact with. If the portion matches with the portion of algorithm, then material is accepted and robot will proceed further. The robot vision can also perform different task such as visual feedback for object tracking & administration, navigation, object recognition and segmentation, surveillance, and decision-making.Robotic Vision is gaining more demand in manufacturing companies in recent time and it will keep growing. Looking at this ultimatum, Market Research Future recently released the market insights till 2023. According to this MRFR analysis, the global robotic vision market is expected to reach USD $9 billion and set to grow at CAGR of 12% during the forecast period.Get Sample Report @Key Players:The prominent players in the market of Robotic Vision are- FANUC Corporation (Japan), Yaskawa Electric Corporation (Japan), OMRON Corporation (Japan), KUKA AG (Germany), Cognex Corporation (U.S), ABB Group (Switzerland), Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (Japan), Keyence Corporation (Japan), SICK AG (Germany), Basler AG (Germany) among others.Segmentation:The industry for Robotic Vision Market is fragmented into by components, by technology, by applications, by verticals and by regions. The components is divided as- hardware and software. Hardware segment further consists of cameras, optics, filters, lenses and sensors.Software segment further consists of tracking and image processing. Technology is segment in 2d and 3d. Applications segment by welding, manufacturing, inspection & testing painting and packaging & palletizing. Finally, verticals are divided as industries, consumer, healthcare, military & defense, and government among others.The regions are categorized on the basis of Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific is emerging as the fastest growing market and expected to be the biggest market by the end of forecast period due to the rise in demand for industrial robots in manufacturing and automation industries in this region.Currently North America holds second position in the market due to deployment of vision guided robots in food & beverages and manufacturing industries.Regional Analysis:Asia-Pacific is emerging as the fastest growing market and expected to be the biggest market by the end of forecast period due to the rise in demand for industrial robots in manufacturing and automation industries in this region. Currently North America holds second position in the market due to deployment of vision guided robots in food & beverages and manufacturing industries.The market in Europe is driven by the automotive industries. Presence of global players such as SICK AG (Germany), Basler AG (Germany) and KUKA AG (Germany) is also supporting the market.Access Full Report @Drivers:Robotic vision is among the trending innovations in various industries. Earlier there where blind robots who perform the pickup and place task. The only drawback was every time robots has to reprogram then only task was completed. But with change of time and advancement in industry automation, the 3D vision was introduced the main advantage was they can perform same work without reprogramming.The new 3D vision robots can avoid any blocks in front of them, and they can take decisions on their own or according to situations. This helps most of industries with better ROI, and time & cost effective. Thus, technology advancement contribute in development of this industry.The other factors driving the market demand such as inspecting for defects, surface inspection, great flexibility, multi-tasking and others. Even, the consumer and healthcare sectors are approaching this technology and use on daily basis of work.Trend:November 2017 Collaborative Robots and Advanced Vision (CRAV), hold the conferences in San Jose, California. The conferences conducted from November 15th to 16th 2017. The aim behind this meeting was to highlight the advantage of combing the robotics and vision focusing technology. The CRAV are one the leading players in robotics industry, they are known for software and end-of-arm tooling (EOAT), sensors with advance level, and now they are testing the collaborative robot capabilities and applications.Industry - Competitive Outlook:Key players are approaching new techniques in the robotic vision. The same would improve market performance. Heavy investments are made by major players in the R&D sector.The prominent players in the market of Robotic Vision are- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., FANUC Corporation , Yaskawa Electric Corporation, OMRON Corporation , KUKA AG , Cognex Corporation , and ABB Group.Table of Content1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure:1.3.1 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Components1.3.2 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Technology1.3.3 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Applications1.3.4 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Verticals2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Type2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size Estimation2.4.3 Market Crackdown & Data Triangulation3 Global Robotic Vision Market: Overview3.1 Introduction3.1.1 Definition3.1.2 Market Segmentation of Robotic Vision MarketContinues...List of TablesTable 1 Global Robotic Vision Market, By ComponentsTable 2 Global Robotic Vision Market, By TechnologyTable 3 Global Robotic Vision Market, By ApplicationsTable 4 Global Robotic Vision Market, By VerticalsTable 5 Global Robotic Vision Market, By RegionsContinues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Components (%)Figure 3 Global Robotic Vision Market: By TechnologyFigure 4 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Application (%)Figure 5 Global Robotic Vision Market: By Verticals (%)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Medical Automation Market Forecast Indicators Trending Lucrative Growth Till 2023 Global Medical Automation Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5184 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5184 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/5184 Market Scenario:In recent years, various technological advancements led to the automation of the medical sector which enabled the controlled use of medical systems and related technologies. This reduced the need for human work in the production of goods and services. Increasing prevalence of the chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, and others along with the growing pharmaceutical & biotechnology sector are the major drivers for the market growth during the forecast period. In 2015, according to the World Health Organization, cancer was the second leading cause of global deaths, killing as many as 8.8 million people. Moreover, it was estimated that about 70% of the reported deaths were accounted by the middle and low middle-income countries. However, the high cost of automation, risks associated with the robotic surgery along with the necessity of physician training are the major restraining factor for the market growth during the forecast period. In 2017, according to a case study published in the Journal of Public Health Research, the unified automated laboratory in Brescia called Core-Labs equipment cost increased approximately from USD 17.7 million to USD 24.2 million due to lab automation. Moreover, it was estimated that the physicians need a rigorous training for the surgical application of the medical robots. Approximately, USD 3,000 is the training cost per physician.Get Exclusive Sample Report @Segmentation:The global medical automation market is segmented on the basis of type and end users.On the basis of type, the market is segmented into diagnostic & monitoring automation, therapeutic automation, lab & pharmacy automation, medical logistics & training, and others. The diagnostic & monitoring automation segment is sub-segmented into automated imaging, point-of-care testing (POCT), automated image analysis, and others. On the basis of end users, the market is segmented into hospitals and diagnostic centers, pharmacies, research labs & institutes, research labs & institutes, and others.Intended Audience:Pharmaceutical companiesBiotechnological institutesResearch and Development (R&D) CompaniesMedical Research LaboratoriesMarket Research and Consulting Service ProvidersRegional Analysis:The Americas dominate the global medical automation market owing to an increasing prevalence of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and others. Moreover, growing biotechnology and biopharmaceutical sector within the region is fuelling the market growth during the forecast period. Europe is the second largest market for the global medical automation. The presence of developed economies in the European region facilitates the market growth. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the healthcare expenditure in Australia reached USD 62 billion in 2014-2015 from 103 billion during 2004-05. The least share of the global medical automation market is held by the Middle East & Africa. This can be attributed to the presence of the low per capita income and stringent government policies, especially within the African region.Key players in global medical automation marketThe key players in the global medical automation market are Koninklijke Philips N.V., Siemens AG, GENERAL ELECTRIC, Medtronic, Stryker, Danaher, Accuray Incorporated, and others.Get Your Customized Report @Table of Content:1 REPORT PROLOGUE2 MARKET INTRODUCTION2.1 Introduction 162.2 Scope Of Study 162.3 Research Objective 162.4 Assumptions & Limitations 172.4.1 Assumptions 172.4.2 Limitations 173 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY3.1 Research Process 183.2 Primary Research 193.3 Secondary Research 193.4 Market Size Estimation 193.5 Forecast Model 20TOC Continued!Get Discount @About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Coated glass market from automotive windshield application to grow at 4.5% by 2024 Coated Glass Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2436 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2436 https://bit.ly/2u3HIpJ https://www.gminsights.com Europe, with steady growth in Germany, UK and France coated glass market size will exceed 380 million square meters during the forecast period. Builders are more concerned towards safety & security, environmental protection and natural insulation in residential as well as commercial buildings.Coated Glass Market size is set to surpass USD 24.5 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing demand for clean source of energy along with addition of better aesthetical value to the buildings will drive coated glass market. Favorable government schemes along with growth in FDI funding in India and China has propelled the growth of construction and automotive industries in the region, thereby propelling product demand. Environmental concerns regarding CO2 emissions and consumer awareness towards energy efficient buildings will stimulate industry growth.Request for a Sample copy of this Report @Solar control glass market demand from construction applications will witness gains at over 4% during the projected timespan. The products are used in combination to create multi-functional glazing which results in noise reduction, low-maintenance, enhanced safety & security and aesthetic appeal. They have a microscopically thin coating on one side of the glass which reflects the heat from the sun to the outside and keeps the interiors cooler, thereby enhancing the energy efficiency of the building and stimulating coated glass market growth.Key raw materials such as soda ash, natural gas, and silica coupled with specialized chemical and mechanical are used in manufacturing coated glass. High production cost and environmental impact on glass durability may hamper coated glass market supply demand gap.Hard coat glass market demand from automotive windshield application will witness steady gains at over 4.5% by the end of forecast period. Increased usage of product in windscreens to offer convenient driving during harsh weather conditions such as fog, ice, mud and rain will boost product demand. Growing automotive manufacturing base in Asia Pacific region along with acoustic, thermal & visual comfort and style & taste of the products in automobiles will positively influence coated glass market size.Make an Inquiry for Purchasing of this Report @U.S. solar control glass market size from residential buildings will exceed USD 50 million at the end of 2024. Increasing expenditure on household remodeling and renovation activities in the U.S along with promotion of renewable energy resources will fuel industry growth. Rising application of the product in automobile interiors combined with increasing automotive production output is anticipated to drive market growth to a certain extent.India soft coat glass market size is likely to register significant gains close to 6% during the forecast timeline. Increasing construction projects along with styling flexibility, transmittance and reflection properties of these product will drive regional industry growth. The product offers thermal performance and neutral appearance similar to its counterparts, resulting into coated glass market demand.Browse Report Summery @Low-E coated glass market demand from commercial buildings may exceed USD 4 billion by 2024. The product offers low surface emissivity and helps in reduction of UV-value, thus it enhances energy efficiency of the buildings and minimizes CO2 emissions. Increased R&D spending and technological advancement in the product portfolio will surge industry growth.Prominent industry players in coated glass market are Guardian Industries, Sisecam Group, Saint-Gobain, Abrisa Technologies, Scheuten Glas, Pilkington Group and PPG Industries. Shift in consumer trends towards energy efficient products along with growing demand for cleaner energy sources, will force manufacturers to develop and enhance product portfolio and take strategic initiatives to meet consumer demand.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Automotive Sector Performance Elastomers Market to cross $ 8bn by 2024 Performance Elastomers Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2264 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2264 https://www.gminsights.com Asia Pacific, with its wide manufacturing base has been projected to be the most profitable growth ground for performance elastomers market, owing to the fact that the automotive industry has been expanding heavily across the emerging economies of this geography. APAC performance elastomers industry size, worth USD 4 billion in 2016, will continue to depict an upward growth trend over 2017-2024, subject to the emergence of the evolving middle class populace and the increase in the purchase parity of consumers.The growth of the performance elastomers market in Europe and North America has been forecast to be slightly moderate as compared to its growth in Asia and Latin America, not only due to the shifting base of manufacturing units, but also due to cheaper labor and relaxed governmental restrictions on operations in Asia and South America.Request for a sample copy of this report @In an era that requires industrial products to mandatorily depict the properties of flexibility, durability, and reliability, performance elastomers market has indeed traversed a profitable growth path. Mainly deployed in products that require a higher resistance to extreme temperatures and pressure, performance elastomers are liberally used across the aerospace and automobile domains, subject to the fact that these sectors demand such temperature-resistant and pressure-enduring components.In this regard, it would be fair to state that despite the end-use spectrum of performance elastomers market encompassing domains such as building & construction, electrical & electronics, industrial machinery, food & beverage, and consumer goods, the automotive & aerospace sectors are certain to be the most lucrative growth avenues for this business space.The automotive industry has indeed witnessed significant growth all over the world in the last few decades, especially across the emerging economies of the Asia Pacific. This in consequence, would majorly influence the sales graph of performance elastomers market, given that high-performance elastomers are used in various parts of automobiles such as airducts, turbocharger hoses, chassis suspension, gaskets and sealants.In recent years, automakers have been focusing on making automobiles more fuel-efficient in accordance to the zero-emission criteria. In this regard, vehicle engines are now being developed with extremely high performance, encompassed with power involving aggressive gases and chemicals that act under high pressure and heat.Consequently, this has proved to be advantageous for performance elastomers industry, since companies now provide automakers with suitable materials to build turbo charger hoses and seals that can withstand high mechanical stress, aggressive chemical environment and remain stable in high temperatures. Performance elastomers have also proved effective in lowering weight and reducing costs of automobiles to an extent that the metal counterparts have failed to achieve, which has further stimulated performance elastomers market expansion.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Performance elastomers are used to manufacture parts of the aircraft that have to withstand aggressive fluids, including jet fuels, hydraulic fluids, engine lubricating oils, oxidizers and rocket propellants. Aircrafts and aerospace engines also require highly stable elastomers that can withstand the effects of aggressive aerospace fuels and oxidizers. They are also used for both static and dynamic applications, as they exhibit excellent mechanical properties and are used as sealants in aircrafts, subsequently propelling performance elastomers industry size from the aerospace sector.Speaking of harsh environments, performance elastomers market also finds wide applications in the mining, smelting, oil exploration, metalworking, and foundries machineries. In 2016 for instance, the industrial machinery sector accounted for USD 800 million of the overall performance elastomers market revenue.Some of the major players of the performance elastomers industry include Dow Dupont Inc, Momentive Performance Materials, Exxon Mobil, The 3M Company, Solvay, Zeon Chemicals, Mitsui Chemical, and Daikin. These companies have been continually involved in extensive research and development programs in order to bring forth major innovations in product designs and development, which would eventually impact the commercialization potential of performance elastomers market.The only restrictive factors that can hinder the growth of the performance elastomers industry seems to be the high cost of the product and its manufacturing process. Since these elastomers have to be specially manufactured to withstand extreme temperatures and perform in high pressure environments, they naturally cost more than standard elastomers, hampering the market growth. Nonetheless, performance elastomers market is still liable to exhibit major growth prospects, with a target revenue estimation of USD 14 billion by 2024.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 7:45 am Those who attended the Robert and Edith Garst Convocation on April 27 at Marshfield High School, learned about World War II from the perspective of Shigeko Sasamori, who shared her experience as a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. Moderator Lawrene Nixon Anfinson, niece of President Richard Nixon, asked Sasamori to describe what life was like in Japan before the war. Sasamori said life was great and there was plenty of food, but once the war started, the people had to eat very little. Sasamori was 13 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945. That morning, she was supposed to go to work and her friend from school went with her. Sasamori heard the sound of a plane and looked up to see a B-29 flying overhead. That day in Hiroshima was very hot and a beautiful blue sky, said Sasamori. I saw something coming this way and then I saw a shiny airplane. I pointed to the sky and told my friend, Look, an airplane. At that same time, I saw something falling down from the airplane. Later on, I heard that it was a parachute connected to the bomb. She added she was about 1.5 kilometers from the explosion. The force from the blast pushed her to the ground, knocking her unconscious. Sasamori did not how long she was out, but when she woke up, everything was black. I did not hear anything, I did not feel anything, said Sasamori. It was just dead earth. When the deep fog went away, from what I could see in front of me, people were moving. These people were bleeding all over. Some of the people were half naked. I do not know what happened to them. Some of the people who were inside the houses finally did get out. In middle school, Sasamori learned safety tips about bombings and if there was a problem to go find an adult and follow them. On the east side of the river, she was shocked by how many people were there, their skin badly burned or bloody from the attack. Sasamori recalled people pushing each other to get into the water and she could not get in because so many of them were already in there, but she could not tell if they were dead or alive. Her body was so badly burned by the blast that she was unrecognizable. Sasamori kept saying her name and address over and over, so someone could tell her parents where she was. A man did hear her and found her parents, who came and picked her up. Sasamori said she had a home to go back to since her father had two houses. Her mother never mentioned anything about her appearance or how she found her until years later. In May of 1955, Sasamori traveled to the United States with a group of 25 women, known as the Hiroshima Maidens, young girls selected for treatment who had been disfigured or crippled by the bombings in Japan during World War II (source: www.hibakuhastories.org). Norman Cousins, who was the editor of The Saturday Review of Literature, arranged the visit to America with Rev. Kiyoshi Tanimoto in 1953. Sasamori spoke about her arrival to New York City, where the girls went to Mt. Sinai Hospital for plastic surgery operations. We had a wonderful woman there at the hospital, said Sasamori. She was like a mother to all of us. She was born in America, then went to Japan to study there, so she spoke both English and Japanese. She could help us out. Sasamori explained after going through her own surgery she made the decision that she wanted to be a nurse. She said she wanted to help people and make them feel good. Sasamori learned how to take care of people and eventually achieved her dream to become a nurse. At the end of the convocation, she shared her mission and purpose with the audience. All of these years, I wondered why I survived that event, said Sasamori. I am a strong, advocating Christian and I realized God has given me life for my mission. That mission is never shall this happen again. No one lives forever. Sooner or later, people die. It could be a typhoon, a fire, an accident or a health issue, but more innocent people have their lives taken away by war. No more war. Market Snapshot: Global Deep Brain Stimulation Devices Market for Parkinsons Disease https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/deep-brain-stimulator-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1435 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1435 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Deep Brain Stimulation Devices Market: SnapshotThe rise in the global geriatric population, increasing number of patients suffering from Parkinsons diseases (PD), and growing awareness about neurological movement disorders among patients have triggered the growth of the deep brain stimulation devices market. Globally, neurological disorders are one of the major causes of morality and accounts for approximately 12% of the deaths per annum. Of these, cerebrovascular diseases account for 85% deaths. Parkinsons disease is the most common neurological disorders after Alzheimers disease. Symptoms associated with this disease include tremors, slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and trouble with balance. Drug therapy is the most effective treatment option available to control PD in the initial stages. Though there are several stages of PD, surgical treatment using deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices is more frequently used to control symptoms of disease. DBS devices are an effective, clinically proven, and legally approved advanced treatment option for milk to serve PD.Read Report Overview:The market for deep brain stimulation devices for Parkinsons diseases is expected to grow at a robust rate of 11% during the forecast period of 2014 to 2020. The opportunity in the market is estimated to reach US$3.2 bn by the end of 2020. The growing burden of PD on healthcare systems, along with the uncertainty of economic conditions in some developed economies such as the U.S. and Europe has forced original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to develop cost-effective devices for PD treatment.North America to Maintain Most Prominent Demand for DBS DevicesGeographically, the global market for deep brain stimulation devices market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. North America currently serves the maximum demand for DBS devices for Pakistans disease, and is expected to maintain its leading position throughout the forecast period from 2014 to 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.3% in terms of revenue. The region is expected to gain market share of 44.2% by the end of 2020. The key factors attributed to their leading position in the global market are high prevalence and incidence rate of Parkinsons diseases in the region, aging population, demand for advanced deep brain stimulation devices and presence of high disposable income in the region.Request Sample of Report:The U.S. was the largest market for DBS devices for the treatment of Parkinsons disease. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pakistans disease is the 14th leading cause of death in the U.S. At present, approximately 1 million to 1.2 million people in the U.S. are suffering from Parkinsons disease. The U.S. is a major R&D and technology center in the world and holds a key share in the healthcare industry with advanced technologies, presence of top companies, and relentless developments. Significant R&D activities are currently being undertaken by the U.S. Government to introduce innovative drugs and devices to help the society in disease management.Canada is another prominent market for DBS devices for the treatment of Parkinsons disease. According to the Parkinsons Society Canada, approximately 100,000 people in Canada suffer from Parkinsons disease. The disease affects nearly 1% of the population above 65 years of age and 2% of those about 70 years of age. Canadas healthcare system has implemented a publicly funded insurance program wherein the costs are controlled by both hospitals and doctors. North America was followed by Europe as the widest market for the DBS devices for Parkinsons diseases. The region is expected to contribute to 33.7% of the demand by the end of the forecast period of 20142020. Asia Pacific, though currently accounts for the third most prominent market for deep brain stimulation devices, it is expected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 8% during the forecast period of 20142020.Request Brochure of Report:Some of the key players in global deep brain stimulation devices market are Aleva Neurotherapeutics SA, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., and St. Jude Medical, Inc.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: EVOH for Packaging Market Set to Surge Significantly During 2018 - 2028 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-6680 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6680 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Introduction and Need of the Product:EVOH, also termed as Ethyl Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer, is a high oxygen barrier material which is widely used for the perishable food packaging applications. It is commonly used as a barrier film in the prevailing flexible and rigid packaging formats such as pouches, bags, etc. through the co-extrusion process, to protect food items from oxygen ingress. Widespread use of the EVOH barrier material shifted the trend from metalized and foil film laminations to co-extruded barrier films. EVOH can be easily co-extruded with almost all types of polyolefin, polyamides, and other materials through standard co-extrusion equipment. The material is hydrophilic in nature, thats why it needs to be dried before co-extrusion processing. EVOH resins have very poor adhesion characteristics which create a need for functionalized adhesive resins i.e. tie resins. Tie resins are used to bond the other polymeric material to the EVOH material layer in the packaging structures. However, the EVOH material possesses high thermal stability when used in properly designed and efficient extrusion packaging systems under standard processing conditions. Most of the manufacturers in the flexible and rigid packaging market are preferring EVOH as a barrier resin over conventional PVDC resins, due to its environment-friendly and efficient characteristics. Unlike PVDC, EVOH does not contain any harmful elements such as chlorine, metals, dioxins, etc. which may cause endocrinological disorders. EVOH films offer 10,000 times more gas barrier than standard LDPE films. The primary function of the EVOH is to provide barrier to the food products and preserves its freshness for a longer period.Structure & Technology of EVOH Resins for Bottle ApplicationBottlePE/Tie/EVOH/Tie/Recycle/PPCo-extrusion Blow MoldingPE/Tie/EVOH/Tie/Recycle/PEPET/EVOH/PET/EVOH/PETCo-injection Stretch Blow MoldingPET/EVOH/PETStructure & Technology of EVOH Resins for Film ApplicationFilmPE/Tie/EVOH/Tie/PECo-extrusion CastCo-extrusion Blown FilmsPET/PE/Tie/EVOH/Tie/EVAPE/Tie/EVOH/Tie/EVAPE/Tie/PA/EVOH/PA/Tie/PEPA/EVOH/PA/Tie/LonmerPA/EVOH/PA/Tie/PEEVOH for Packaging Market: Market DynamicsEVOH for packaging has gained strong market traction in the last few years and is expected to continue its dominance in the barrier films segment. It is widely used by most of the flexible and rigid packaging manufacturers to increase the barrier properties of their products and provide differentiated product offerings to their customers. The demand for PVDC barrier films is decreasing due to the evolution of the EVOH based films in the market. EVOH has excellent transparency and gloss characteristics which increases the aesthetic features of the products and eventually its demand. It is environment-friendly and a recyclable product which causes very little harm to the environment.Request for Table of Contents @EVOH finds its application in the variety of food packaging products such as meat packaging, baby food packaging, personal, cosmetics, etc. Increase in demand for end-use products will ultimately increase the demand for the EVOH for packaging. Major restraints present in the EVOH for packaging market is the threat of substitutes and cheaper products which may decrease its usage over the time. However, it is expected to continue its dominance until any alternative products is launched in the market. It is observed that the EVOH for packaging market is dominated by the few large market players. There are lots of opportunities for the new entrants in the EVOH for packaging market, during the forecast period.EVOH for Packaging Market: Market Segmentation:evoh for packaging marketEVOH for Packaging Market Segmentation: By Processing MethodsCo-extruded film extrusion (blown or cast)Monolayer film extrusion (blown or cast)Co-extrusion blow moldingSheet co-extrusionCo-extrusion coatingInjection moldingLaminatingEVOH for Packaging Market Segmentation: By Product ApplicationFlexible FilmsBottlesTraysBag-in-boxPipesLaminated TubesOthersEVOH for Packaging Market Segmentation: By End UseFoodMeat, Poultry, and SeafoodPet FoodBaby FoodOthersPersonal Care & CosmeticsHouseholdPharmaceuticalOthersEVOH for Packaging Market: Regional OverviewOn the basis of region, the EVOH for Packaging market is segmented into seven regions which include North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Japan. Europe and North Americas dominate the EVOH for Packaging market due to increasing sustainability rules and regulations to use eco-friendly packaging solutions. Also, the EVOH for Packaging is cost-effective packaging product when compared to traditional PVDC barrier packaging solutions. Due to increase in the number of flexible and rigid packaging manufacturers in the region, the demand for EVOH for packaging will increase substantially in these regions. However, it is estimated that the developing countries such as India, China, Brazil, etc. will create enormous opportunities for the new entrants due to low penetration of the EVOH manufacturers in the region. Japan and MEA region also offer untapped growth opportunities in the EVOH for packaging market.Request to View Sample of Research Report @EVOH for Packaging Market: Market PlayersSome of the key players in the EVOH for Packaging market are Kuraray Europe GmbH, Nippon Gohsei (UK) Limited, Arkema S.A., Chang Chun Group, KUREHA CORPORATION, EVAL Europe NV, Soarus L.L.C., Gantrade Corporation, Waldorf Technik GmbH, SCHUR Flexibles GmbH, Coveris Holdings S.A., Flavorseal Llc, BUERGOFOL GmbH, and Flexopack S.A.EVOH for Packaging Market: Market StructureEVOH for Packaging Market Tier 1 Companies: Kuraray Europe GmbH, Nippon Gohsei (UK) Limited, KUREHA CORPORATIONEVOH for Packaging Market Tier 2 Companies: Chang Chun Group, Arkema S.A., EVAL Europe NV, Soarus L.L.C., SCHUR Flexibles GmbHEVOH for Packaging Market Tier 3 Companies: Gantrade Corporation, Waldorf Technik GmbH, Coveris Holdings S.A., Flavorseal Llc, Buergofol GmbH, and Flexopack S.A.About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India. FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Pharmaceuticals Chemical Market Applications and Companies Active in the Industry, 2017 2024. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2001 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/pharmaceuticals-chemical-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2001 Key manufacturers in pharmaceuticals chemical market are Sumitomo, Maharashtra Organo Metallic Catalysts Pvt. Ltd., Genuine Lab, Arkema Inc, BASF Corporation, Nexeo Solutions, Dastech International Inc., Generichem Corp, Kyowa Hakko USA Inc. and Adept Solutions Inc. Companies are investing highly on research and development of the product to sustain in industry and increase their global foot print.Pharmaceuticals Chemical Market size will surge significantly in the forecast time period owing to its usage in medical industry. These are extensively used in medical industry as additives in various medicines and their formulation process. Companies assure quality of the product prior adding it to medicines to prevent the consumers from any side effects.Chemical industry will grow at over 3% during the forecast time frame. The product is manufactured in laboratories according to the demand of various industries. They are widely consumed in medicines for desired formulation. Surging demand from consumers will positively influence pharmaceuticals chemical market.Pharmacological industry will grow at over 10% in the forecast time period. The product has application in medicines and prevent consumers from severe diseases. Adding wrong element in medicines can lead to severe consequences. Growing accidents and chronic diseases are raising demand for the industry and boosting pharmaceuticals chemical market.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Over 1.2 million people are injured in accidents every year worldwide. These compounds are extensively used in steroids and other high doses to get relieved from pain. They have application in preparing anesthesia. Increasing number of accidents globally will lead to the growth of pharmaceuticals chemical market between 2017 and 2024.Growing population concern amongst people are heading them towards birth control medication. Anti-fertility drug is commonly used in birth control medication as oral contraceptives, estrogen, progesterone and mifepristone. The compound has the characteristics to suppress action of hormone that promote pregnancy. Increasing consumers awareness towards these medicines and need for population control has accelerated pharmaceuticals chemical market.Browse complete summary of this report @Challenges faced in pharmaceuticals chemical market are its adverse effect on human health, that can hinder its growth in near future. Improper dosage can cause various effects that include itching, rashes, allergy, dry mouth, drowsiness, blood cloths, internal bleeding and vision loss. Increasing awareness towards its ill effects and organic medication penetration will impact the industry.Asia Pacific led by India, Japan and China are highly populated countries in the world. Growing number of people in the country are becoming prone to many chronic diseases. People are spending a huge amount on medicines and medical treatments in these countries. Increasing rate of diseases is anticipated to boost pharmaceuticals chemical market in next eight years.Make an Inquiry before buying @Italy and Germany accounts for over 15% elderly aged population of the world. The countries are expecting high growth in the forecast time period. Substance cures major health problems and provide quality life to people. With the increase in old age population, need for medication and disease control has simultaneously boosted. Growing geriatric population in the countries will surge pharmaceuticals chemical market in Europe in next seven years.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnologyContact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.com Global Workflow Automation and Optimization Software Market Growth, Trends And Future Forecast till 2025 Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3164 https://www.mrrse.com/business-workflow-automation-optimization-software-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3164 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The global workflow automation and optimization software market is primarily dominated by multinational tech giants. The top five players account for well over half the share in the market and are constantly trying to outdo one another through product innovation.Ask Sample PDF of Report at:Driving growth in the global market for workflow automation and optimization software is the rising take-up of third platform technologies and soaring popularity of business process automation. Workflow automation and optimization software allows businesses to improve communication, reduce human errors, enable real-time reporting, and allow integration of third-party applications for added benefits. Such advantages are egging organizations to shift toward digitization of business processes.Cyber threats, however, are acting as a deterrent to the market for workflow automation and optimization software market. In order to tackle the menace, savvy players in the market are trying to develop more secure solutions.A report by Market Research Reports Search Engine forecasts the global market for workflow automation and optimization software to expand at a healthy CAGR of 8.7% from 2017 to 2025 to become worth US$1.456 bn by 2025 from US$0.713 bn in 2016.Global Workflow Automation and Optimization Software Market: Competitive LandscapeFor supporting strategic decision-making, the report also includes competitive profiling of leading companies of workflow automation and optimization software market, their overview, SWOT analysis, different product and business segments, unique business strategies adopted by them, revenue garnered by the companies and their regional revenue share. The SWOT analysis, provided for each of the companies profiled, focuses on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the profiled companies, thus providing a enhanced understanding of the position of the major players in this market.The regional overview, provided in the report for each region, details the current trends of the workflow automation and optimization software market for the respective regions. The market attractiveness analysis, and competitive landscape included in the report provide insight into market dynamics, competition present in the industry and the most attractive segments in the workflow automation and optimization software market. The competitive landscape, provided in the report, allows for a better understanding of the major strategies undertaken by the industry leaders and their plans for a sustained growth in this industry.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at:The report also provides specific assessment of the various factors impacting the global workflow automation and optimization software markets growth, which are described as growth drivers, market restraints, and opportunities. These factors aid in pointing out the various existing and upcoming trends, coupled with their impact on market growth. Overall, considering the various factors affecting the workflow automation and optimization software market, the report includes a comprehensive analysis of the global workflow automation and optimization software market, and provides the anticipated growth for the forecast period 2017 to 2025.Some of the leading players in the market are Xerox Corporation (The U.S.), Oracle Corporation (The U.S.), International Business Machines Corporation (The U.S.), SAS Institute, Inc. (The U.S.), SAP SE (Germany), OnviSource, Inc. (The U.S.), Boston Software Systems (The U.S.), Flexera Software LLC (The U.S.), JDA Software Group, Inc. (The U.S.), and Reva Solutions (The U.S.) among others.The global workflow automation and optimization software market has been segmented as follows:Global Workflow Automation And Optimization Software Market, by Deployment TypeOn-premiseCloudMixedGlobal Workflow Automation and Optimization Software Market, by End-useBanking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI)EducationHealthcareManufacturingRetailTransportation & LogisticsTelecommunications & ITOthersGlobal Workflow Automation and Optimization Software Market, by RegionNorth AmericaThe U.S.Rest of North AmericaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificSouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaIsraelSouth AfricaRest of Middle-East & AfricaAny Query, Ask Our Expert at:About Market Research Reports Search EngineMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Market Research on Landfill Gas Industry: Market is Anticipated to Expand at a value CAGR of 4.9% during the Period of Forecast, 2017-2026 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=429 https://www.factmr.com/report/429/landfill-gas-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=429 https://www.factmr.com/ A freshly compiled business intelligent report, titled Landfill Gas Market Research Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking: Global Review 2017 to 2026 has been publicized to the vast archive of Fact.MR online repository. This 170-page study delivers all the vital details and information required to know about landfill gas market current as well as future prospects. The analysts of the study have gone through extensive research methodologies in order to generate data and information that reflects the latest market undercurrents and industry trends. For a deeper understanding of the market, a sub-category level analysis has been elaborated, by which readers and investors of the report will able to know that where the market stands to gain.Get A Free Sample Copy of Report@North America Region to Largely Contribute to the Growth of the Global Landfill Gas MarketLandfill gas market in North America is estimated to grow at a significant pace during the period of forecast. According to this analytical research report, the landfill gas market in North America is estimated to touch a valuation of more than US$ 460 Mn by the end of the year of assessment from a value of about US$ 300 Mn in 2017. The North America landfill gas market is projected to grow at a moderate CAGR throughout the period of assessment.Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) to Spearhead the Global Markets Growth in the Coming YearsThe landfill gas market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan region is expected to grow at a relatively high rate in the coming years. The increasing government directive towards reduction in carbon emissions along with emergence of integrated cogeneration technologies are expected to foster the growth of the landfill gas market in this region. China followed by India are major contributors of growth fuelling the rate of adoption of landfill gas in the APEJ region. Australia and Malaysia are also expected to contribute to the markets growth.Competition TrackingLeading producers of landfill gas have been profiled in this report, which include Shanghai Chengtou Holding Co., Ltd., Vectren Corporation, Granite Acquisition, Inc., Aria Energy Corp, Kohler Co., Inc., SUEZ SA Pennon Group Plc., Veolia Environment S.A, Covanta Holding Corporation, and Waste Management, Inc. These companies are pegged to remain active in expansion of the global landfill gas market through 2026. Municipal solid waste will be viewed lucrative for production of landfill gas. Nevertheless, ecological imprint of methane and other greenhouse gases present in landfill gas will continue to challenge market players in extending their production capabilities.Browse Full Report with TOC@Table of Content:Global Economic OutlookGlobal Landfill Gas Market Executive SummaryGlobal Landfill Gas Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Global Landfill Gas Market Taxonomy3.1.2. Global Landfill Gas Market Definition3.2. Global Landfill Gas Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast, 2012-20263.2.1. Global Landfill Gas Market Y-o-Y Growth3.3. Global Landfill Gas Market Dynamics3.4. Value Chain3.5. Waste generation Comparison In Developed & Developing Countries3.6. Per Capita Waste Generation by Key Countries3.7. MSW Composition by Country Clusters3.8. Waste Disposal Techniques3.9. Operational Landfill Gas Project Concentration3.10. WTE Business Outlook by Region3.11. Investment Feasibility Matrix3.12. PESTLE Analysis3.13. SWOT Analysis3.14. Life Cycle Assessment3.15. Global Landfill Gas Market: Scenario Forecast3.16. Key Participants Market Presence (Intensity Map) By RegionGlobal Landfill Gas Market Analysis and Forecast 2012-20264.1. Global Landfill Gas Market Size and Forecast By, Application 2012-20264.1.1. Direct Use Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20264.1.1.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.1.2. Market Share Comparison, By RegionContinued..Check Discount on this Report@About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized industrial goods market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb: North America Microcrystalline Cellulose Market to Grow 5.5% CAGR by 2024 Microcrystalline Cellulose Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/688 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/688 https://bit.ly/2IygFZG https://www.gminsights.com The Microcrystalline Cellulose Market share for food & beverage industry is projected to witness growth of more than 5.5% by 2024. It is due to extensive product applications in the preparation of different types of food items. It is a preferred hot and cold stabilizer in food items including ice cream, frozen food, canned meat, and condiment to improve their stability. Additionally, it is also used as an anti-caking agent in baking goods to improve water retention and reduce food calories.Product may also be co-processed with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to impart shear-thinning and heat stable properties. These co-processed products manufactured possess additional properties such as gelling, increased viscosity, and suspending. Rising health awareness across the world is expected to drive product demand across food industry which will make subsequent impact on MCC market size by 2024.Request for a Sample copy of this Report @Microcrystalline Cellulose Market size is forecast to exceed USD 1.2 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Strong growth indicators in the pharmaceutical industry mainly in the U.S. is probable to make noteworthy contribution to the overall microcrystalline cellulose market size by 2024. Product is widely used as an excipient in the drug formulation and is an essential component, owing to its excellent compressibility properties which makes it preferable for almost every kind of oral dosage including tablets, capsules, sachets and pellets.Additionally, rising R&D investment in the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. will further drive product demand, which will make substantial contribution to the overall microcrystalline cellulose market size by 2024. According to International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the total R&D investment in the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. was valued over USD 60 billion in 2016, which is projected to further rise, owing to persistent need to make technological advancements.Make an Inquiry for Purchasing of this Report @High cost of production along with several product alternatives available in the market are probable to hamper the MCC market by 2024. For example, guar gum and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) are among the cost-effective product substitutes, while xanthan gum and pectin act as major threats, owing to its increasing food applications. However, MCC production using environmental friendly raw material sources will generate ample opportunities for microcrystalline cellulose market size by 2024.Based on non-wood sources, MCC market share is projected to rise at a CAGR more than 6% by 2024. Non-wood sources include reed stalks, wheat and rice straws, jute, sugarcane bagasse, coconut shells, soya bean husk, groundnut husk and various other sources. Product introduced from the aforementioned sources are at par, in terms of the physical and spectroscopic properties with the product obtained from wood-based sources. Additionally, persistent need to lessen deforestation has resulted in encouraging MCC production via non-wood sources which will have substantial impact on the MCC market size by 2024.Browse Report Summery @North America constituted a major chunk of the global MCC market size and will witness gains of more than 5.5% by 2024. It is primarily due to product application across several end-user industries including food, pharmaceutical, personal care and paints & coatings industry. North America dominated the sales statistics of the pharmaceutical industry which constituted 39% of the global pharmaceutical sales in 2016, which is likely to make substantial contribution to MCC market size by 2024. Furthermore, rising demand for fat-free food stuff in the North America will further make prominent contribution to MCC market size by 2024.Microcrystalline cellulose market share is highly consolidated as major manufacturers constituted more than half the overall business size in 2016. The prominent MCC market manufacturers are Asahi Kasei, Mingtai Chemical BLANVER FARMOQUIMICA and FMC Corporation. The major players are engaged in increasing their product portfolio by signing agreement with other players. For instance, Mingtai Chemical Co., Ltd. announced the extension of its agreement with DuPont Nutrition & Health (Danisco) in 2013 for the manufacturing of product colloidal grade microcrystalline cellulose.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Air Springs Market Riding on Comfort Tended Automotive Sector https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=716 https://www.factmr.com/report/716/air-springs-market https://www.factmr.com/checkout/716/S https://www.factmr.com/ According to the latest market report published by Fact.MR, growing penetration of air springs in luxury passenger vehicles continues to open new growth opportunities for manufacturers. Traditionally limited to heavy commercial vehicles, end-user preference for comfort, glide ride, and suspension adjustment are impacting where the revenue is going in the air springs landscape. Stakeholders in the air springs market must consider the evolutions in this marketplace if they are to rapidly adapt to the new status quo.Get A Free Sample Copy of Report@Fact.MR Survey Finds Weight Reduction and Flex Cracking Mitigation as Key Focus Areas for ManufacturersThe air springs market remains fragmentally consolidated, with a large number of America, Chinese, and Indian suppliers/distributors vying for increasing their market penetration and share. A majority of market participants covered in the market have a sizeable presence in APEJ and North America two key air springs markets globally. Sensing the untapped opportunities in this marketplace, leading manufacturers, including BWI Group, Continental AG, Dunloop Systems and Components, Firestone Industrial LLC, Hendrickson LLC, Mando Corporation, Tata AutoComp Systems, ThyssenKrupp AG, VB AirSuspension, and Wabco Holdings Inc. are focusing on reducing weight and mitigating flex cracking as key focus areas.Although air springs offer a better ride quality than steel and coil springs, vulnerability to wear and tear, and high maintenance costs continue to impede widespread adoption. Manufacturers who are able to scale up without compromising on quality will have a better shot at market consolidation. Whereas luxury car manufacturers equip air springs as an additional feature, these are steadily gaining traction as standard features in heavy vehicles, says lead automotive analyst at Fact.MR.End-Users List High Upfront Cost and Relatively Lower Lifecycle as Key Barriers to AdoptionAccording to the analysis carried out by Fact.MRs automotive research team, high upfront costs and relatively lower lifecycles remain the key barriers to widespread adoption of air springs for end-users. Although the analysts have a bullish long-term outlook, the mantra for success is to mitigate high OEM upfront costs when compared to the aftermarket.Browse Full Report with TOC@OEMs Accounted for 52% Volume Sales in 2017, Aftermarket to Reign Supreme by 2026Sales of air springs are evenly spread out in both OEM and aftermarket channels, however the former accounted for a higher volume and lower revenue share in 2017. The prevailing scenario in the sales channel is likely to be transformed during the assessment period on account of competitive offerings by aftermarket players. By 2026, aftermarket is likely to reign supreme both in terms of value and volume.Global Air Springs Market Suspending on the Performance of Asian MarketsA direct correlation of vehicle production, sales, vehicle parc and demand for air spring is evident. Its apparent that the Asian economies are leading in terms of vehicle production as well sales, thus equating to preeminence in the global air springs market during the assessment period 2017-2026, according to a new business intelligence study by Fact.MR. Manufacturers must prioritize ASEAN and GCC in their long-term strategic plans to consolidate their position.Buy This Report Now @About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized automotive market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb: Medical Device Technologies Market Poised to Register 4.6% CAGR through 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/medical-device-technologies-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=11705 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=11705 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The world medical device technologies market is mostly propelled by prominent international market players. A few of those players which are engaged with the production of in vitro diagnostic devices account for a very large share of the overall market. The small market players are, however, predominantly hailing from various emerging economies thereby looking for entry into the market. Such moves are anticipated to alter the future scenario of the said market in the years to come.The evolution in the technologies of medical device has resulted in the breakthroughs in the diagnosis of disease and further in treatment of diseases. Technologies pertaining to the medical industry have brought forth efficiency, sustainability, and efficacy in the healthcare systems. It comes with various hi-tech, cutting edge gadgets like systems of constant glucose monitoring, ultrasounds, and many others. These are a few of the prime growth promoting factors of the world market for medical device technologies.Obtain Report Details @Some of the major market players that adorn the international market for medical device technologies are Baxter International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Medtronic plc, Abbott Laboratories, GE Healthcare, Boston Scientific Corporation, Stryker Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Healthineers, Cardinal Health Inc., Smith & Nephew plc. and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.A recent market intelligence study by Transparency Market Research forecasts that the world market for medical device technologies to expand at a steady CAGR of around 4.6% over the forecast period that extends from the year 2017 to 2025. The said market is expected to attain a market value of around US$ 563,886.5 mn by the year 2025 rising from a market valuation of US$ 377,562.4 mn in the year 2016.Request for Sample Copy of Report @With High Adoption of Latest Technologies North America to Lead the MarketThe major geographical categories of the international market for medical device technologies are Latin America, North America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The region of North America has led the said market in the year 2015 amongst other prime geographical segments because of soaring incidence of various diseases such as metabolic diseases, cancer, and a huge pool of patients with different types of cardiovascular diseases and chronic diseases and those need crucial therapies and diagnosis. The burgeoning requirement for automated medical processes and the said regional segment being home to many of the manufacturers are also contributing hugely to the North American market for medical device technologies.The region of North America is trailed by Europe in the world market for medical device technologies in the year 2016 as long as revenue was concerned. In vitro diagnostic devices are primarily bolstering the progress of this regional segment owing to such high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, strokes, and various types of cancer.Wide and Diverse Variety of Applications to Encourage Market GrowthThe segment of In vitro diagnostic devices and others accounted for the leading share in the world market for medical device technologies in the year 2016 so far as revenue is concerned. The category of in vitro diagnostic devices is further forecasted to exhibit impressive growth in the years to come owing to growing occurrences of various chronic and infectious diseases together with the increasing popularity of various non-invasive diagnostic practices.The world market for medical device technologies is set to exhibit a lucrative growth in the years to come so as to cater to the immense unmet medical needs. Presently many of the clinics and hospitals are installing and implementing automated processes in a bid to diminish errors that might have repercussions on the safety of patient. Some other advantages include workflow automation together with consistent and speedy analysis of data. These are a few of the major factors that have been stoking growth of the world market for medical device technologies.Enquiry for discount on this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Retinitis Pigmentosa Treatment & Management Market to be at Forefront by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/21466 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21466 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of inherited retinal diseases that affects about 100,000 Americans and 1.5 million people worldwide. It is part of a group of rare genetic disorders that cause slow but progressive degeneration of photoreceptor cells in the retina. RP symptoms typically begin in childhood with decreased night vision, followed by loss of peripheral vision, and can eventually lead to complete loss of vision. It causes the progressive deterioration of specialized, light-absorbing cells in the retina, the paper-thin tissue that lines the back of the eye like film in a camera.Currently, there is no known effective treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP). However, since 1992, doctors in Cuba have offered a treatment for RP at an initial cost of just over $10 000 CDN. The Cuban treatment comprises eye surgery, ozone therapy, electric stimulation, and drugs. However, no independent, peer-reviewed studies have been conducted to date that demonstrate the Cuban treatment improves or stabilizes retinal function. Later, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society does not recommend the Cuban treatment for patients with RP due to the absence of objective, peer-reviewed evidence to support its efficacy, safety, and the fact that in some cases the treatment appears to have worsened patients RP symptoms.Request Report for Table of Contents @According to researchers, the estimated population to be treated is 30,000 50,000, suffering by retinitis pigmentosa. Whereas, the projected price per dose could be $100,000. It is expected that, the annual yield by the treatment is $3-5 billion.Since there are no proper treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, most people afflicted with the genetic disorder progress to the advanced stage of retinitis pigmentosa because of the dearth of proper cure. However, it has opened up a window of opportunity for new therapies and treatments. Companies are now focusing towards retinal prosthesis devices for restoring the lost vision. Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., for example, offers FDA approved Argus II retinal prosthesis system meant for patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa. This device does the function of degenerated retinal cells and enhances the patients ability to see images and movement.Also, a new approach known as optogenetics, which involves applying gene therapy for restoring vision, is currently being researched upon by companies operating in the ophthalmology market. It helps to power cells, especially ganglion cells, to respond to light after the degeneration of rod cells and cone cells. Further, the orphan drug designation given by the FDA and European Commission to ReN003 by ReNeuron in the U.S. and Europe in 2013 is another positive development in the market. ReN003 is a retinal stem cell therapy candidate.The global market for retinitis pigmentosa treatment & management market can be segmented on basis of treatment and geography:Segmentation by TreatmentVitamin ADocosahexaenoic acid (DHA)Calcium channel blockersGene therapyRetinal eye prostheticsOn the other hand, there are presence of some traditional/theoretical uses with minimum evidence, such as, bilberry, magnet therapy, ozone therapy and vitamin E.On the basis of regional presence, global retinitis pigmentosa treatment & management market can be segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe collectively expected to dominate the global retinitis pigmentosa treatment & management market due to upcoming approvals, more number of research and awareness. However, APAC to grow lately in this market due to large patient pool hence large demand.Request to View Sample of Research Report @There are some companies which are in to development and commercialization of products in this field, such as ReNeuron Group plc, Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc., Ocugen, Inc., ReGenX Biosciences, LLC, Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Orphagen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Inc., and Okuvision GmbH, Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Germany Rigid Spray Polyurethane Foam Market to cross $ 55mn by 2024 Rigid Spray Polyurethane Foam Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2464 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2464 https://www.gminsights.com Based on application, the rigid spray polyurethane foam market is divided into roof, wall, floor and others. In terms of revenue, floor application is likely to generate over USD 30 million in coming years. The other applications include ceilings, plumbing systems, doors, etc. and held less than 10% share of the global rigid SPF market in 2024.Rigid Spray Polyurethane Foam Market size will surpass USD 1.1 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Depleting non-renewable energy resources and extensive use of fossil fuels have resulted in an energy crisis. This has become a major cause of concern among countries across the globe and has led to the growing demand for energy-efficient and green residential and commercial buildings.Request for a sample copy of this report @Rigid SPFs are used to cover cracks, gaps, and holes in walls & ceiling and also insulate structures, reducing the energy loss. The foams also help in avoiding any soil or air pollutants from entering the structure, thereby maintaining a healthy environment in the structure.Therefore, SPFs have a higher acceptance over the traditional glass fibers due to several benefits including higher efficiency and ease-of-installation. Along with new construction sites, these regulations have boosted the growth of the rigid spray polyurethane foam market in the renovation of old residential and commercial buildings throughout the forecast spell.Raw materials such as methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), used to produce rigid spray polyurethane foam, may cause severe health risks including skin problem and asthma. Although spray polyurethane foam does not cause any health hazards after installation, occupational-related health hazards have become a major concern.These raw materials are isocyanates which are considered as reactive chemicals and prolonged exposure to isocyanates may cause skin, eye, lung irritation, and other respiratory issues. Increasing awareness about health hazards has led to the growth in demand for bio-based rigid spray polyurethane foam market. This will be one of the key restraining factors for isocyanates-based SPF market in coming years.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Rigid spray polyurethane foam market is divided based on end-use, application and region. On the basis of end-use, the industry is divided into agricultural, commercial, institutional, residential, and industrial buildings.In terms of revenue, agricultural buildings will account for over USD 45 million in 2024 growing at substantial rate throughout the forecast spell owing to extensive product usage in insulation, water/moisture & thermal resistance on the floor, walls, ceilings and roof, decks of vegetable & fruits refrigeration warehouses, and cold storages. Significant agricultural activities and positive trend towards the cool storage of food products in Asia Countries such as India, China and Japan will further augment the rigid spray polyurethane foam market demand by 2024.Germany rigid SPF market will likely generate over USD 55 million in forecast spell owing to the positive growth in the residential and industrial building construction activities. The product is used as an insulating and protecting agent on the building floor, roofs and walls. This in turn, will propel the regional rigid spray polyurethane foam market over the forecast timeframe.Some of the industry participants include Mitex International, Foam Supplies, BASF, NCFI, Demilec, Rhino Linings, Dow Chemical, Henry Company and others.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 12:00 pm Webster County has been chosen to receive $14,654 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county. The selection was made by a national board that is chaired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; The Jewish Federations of North America, The Salvation Army; and United Way Worldwide. The local board was charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country. A local board made up of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Webster County Senior Citizens Service Fund Board, Webster County Ministerial Alliance, Missouri Department of Social Services Family Support Division, Webster County Clerks Office and Southern Webster County Food Pantry, will determine how the funds awarded to Webster County are to be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service agencies in the area. The local board is responsible for recommending agencies to receive these funds and any additional funds made available under this phase of the program. Under the terms of the grant from the national board, local agencies chosen to receive funds must: 1.) be private voluntary nonprofits or units of government; 2.) be eligible to receive federal funds; 3.) have an accounting system; 4.) practice nondiscrimination; 5.) have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs; and 6.) if they are a private voluntary organization, have a voluntary board. Qualifying agencies are urged to apply. Webster County has distributed emergency food and shelter funds previously with Marshfield Senior Center, Webster County Food Pantry, OACAC Webster County Neighborhood Center and Southern Webster County Food Pantry participating. These agencies were responsible for providing emergency food assistance to over 1,000 people and rental assistance to six families consisting of 20 individuals to avoid eviction. Application forms and other information may be found at the OACAC Webster County Neighborhood Center, 211 N. Clay St., Suite D, Marshfield. Public or private voluntary organizations interested in applying for Emergency Food and Shelter Program funds must contact the center for an application. The deadline for filing an application is May 16. Hadoop Market to witness growth quickly due to cost reduction in technology, leading to their increased adoption Key players evelve Cloudrea, Hortonworks, MapR Tech https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/859369-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-hadoop-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=859369 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/859369-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-hadoop-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/859369-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-hadoop-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/13388569/ A new research study from HTF MI with title Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop Market 2017 Forecast to 2022 provides an in-depth assessment of the Hadoop including key market trends, upcoming technologies, industry drivers, challenges, regulatory policies, key players company profiles and strategies. The research study provides forecasts for Hadoop investments till 2022.Access Sample Copy @:If you are involved in the Hadoop industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. Its vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Manufacturing, Retail, Financial, Government & Others, Cloud-based & On-premises and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports, we can provide customization according to your requirement.Hadoop, the Apache Hadoop developed by Apache Software Foundation, is an open-source software framework for storing data and running applications on clusters of commodity hardware. It provides massive storage for any kind of data, enormous processing power and the ability to handle virtually limitless concurrent tasks or jobs.Buy this research report @The Study is segmented by following Product Type: Cloud-based & On-premisesMajor applications/end-users industry are as follows: Manufacturing, Retail, Financial, Government & OthersGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions such as North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.) & Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa), with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast)Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports. Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @Major companies covered in the report: Cloudrea, Hortonworks, MapR Tech, Dell/EMC/Pivotal, IBM, Microsoft & Amazon Web ServicesThis study also contains company profiling, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information of various international, regional, and local vendors of Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop Market. The market competition is constantly growing higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the industry. Moreover, many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. The new vendor entrants in the market are finding it hard to compete with the international vendors based on quality, reliability, and innovations in technology.Some of the key questions answered in this report:- Detailed Overview of Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop market helps deliver clients and businesses making strategies.- Influential factors that are thriving demand and constraints in the market.- What is the market concentration? Is it fragmented or highly concentrated?- What trends, challenges and barriers will impact the development and sizing of Hadoop market?- SWOT Analysis of each key players mentioned along with its company profile with the help of Porters five forces tool mechanism to compliment the same.- What growth momentum or acceleration market carries during the forecast period?- Which region is going to tap highest market share in future?- What Application/end-user category or Product Type may see incremental growth prospects?- What would be the market share of key countries like United States, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Japan, China or Brazil etc.?- What focused approach and constraints are holding the market tight?Make inquiry before purchase @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop market.Chapter 1, About Executive Summary to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Hadoop market, Applications [Manufacturing, Retail, Financial, Government & Others], Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze objective of the study.Chapter 3, to display Research methodology and techniques.Chapter 4 and 5 , to show the Overall Market Analysis, segmentation analysis, characteristics;Chapter 6 and 7, to show the Market size, share and forecast; Five forces analysis (bargaining Power of buyers/suppliers), Threats to new entrants and market condition;Chapter 8 and 9, to show analysis by regional segmentation[North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.) & Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) ], comparison, leading countries and opportunities; Regional Marketing Type Analysis, Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 10, focus on identifying the key industry influencers, overview of decision framework accumulated through Industry experts and strategic decision makers;Chapter 11 and 12, Market Trend Analysis, Drivers, Challenges by consumer behavior, Marketing Channels and demand & supply.Chapter 13 and 14, describe about the vendor landscape (classification and Market Positioning)Chapter 15, deals with Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Hadoop Market sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road, Edison, NJ USA - 08837sales@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218Connect with us at Cold Brewing Coffee Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/21496 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21496 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Beverages is an evolution of the iced coffee. Iced coffee is giving way to cold brewing coffee which is made by steeping freshly ground beans in filtered water. Cold brew is prepared at room temperatures by using cold water. Without heating, the extraction of the oil that occurs in the hot brew is eliminated which makes the product sweeter and aromatizing aroma. The consumers are shifting towards cold brewing coffee owing to its smoother, less acidic taste, naturally sweeter, and fruitier flavor. Moreover, the coffee shops are benefiting from inclining consumers interest in premium ready-to-drink coffee, cold brew, albeit pricier, and specialty coffee beverages. Today, more cold brewing coffee filled with nitrogen have entered the market as manufacturers are developing innovative packaging to package the premium coffee beverage. However, despite the fact that cold brew has transformed coffee shops menus coupled with gathered augmented media attention owing to its growing trend, the average consumer is still not highly involved with a cold brew or iced coffee.Request Report for Table of Contents @Cold Brewing Coffee Market: Drivers and RestraintsExpanding consumer preference for unique coffee beverages, the rise in coffee consumption in developing countries, rapid urbanization, increasing demand for iced coffee, and growing distribution channel by prominent players are some of the primary factors driving the growth of the global cold brewing coffee market. Moreover, rise in consumer awareness for coffee beans, rapidly growing health concern among people, an increase in consumer expenditure on more expensive coffee beverages along with increasing popularity of cold brew are another significant factors expanding the cold brewing coffee market over the forecast period. However, lack of consumer engagement in home cold brew, require twice as many beans to make cold brewing coffee, availability of alternative products such as tea, hot coffee, other beverages coupled with consumers prefer to buy it as occasional treat which may limit the growth of the cold brewing coffee market during the forecast the period.Cold Brewing Coffee Market: SegmentationThe cold brewing coffee market has been classified by coffee type, beans type, and distribution channel.Based on beans type, the cold brewing coffee market is segmented into the following:ArabicaRobustaOthersBased on the distribution channel, the cold brewing coffee market is segmented into the following:Hypermarkets/SupermarketsIndependent Coffee ShopsSpecialty Coffee ShopsRetail StoresOnline RetailOthersCold Brewing Coffee Market: OverviewCold brewing coffee market revenue is expected to grow at a rapid growth rate, over the forecast period. The market is projected to perform well in the near future owing to expanding per capita consumption of coffee, the rise in disposable income, growing popularity of ready-to-drink coffee. Additionally, frequently launch of new products with innovative packaging to attract new customers coupled with companies are adopting innovative marketing strategies to enhance customer base, as well as market presence, are the main factors that can propel the market revenue growth of cold brewing coffee in the near future. Based on distribution channel, retail sales segment is projected to lead the global cold brewing coffee market over the forecast period attributed to increasing demand for ready-to-drink cold brewing coffee. The food service companies and other retailers are demanding to supply coffee in buckets and kegs to avoid additional space due to preparation in labor concentrated in restaurants and cafes.Cold Brewing Coffee Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on the geographic region, the cold brewing coffee market is classified into seven key regions: North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific excluding Japan is expected to be the leading markets in the global cold brewing coffee market followed by Europe owing to changing consumption pattern of the consumer, rise in demand for specialty coffee beverages, and escalating modern retail outlets in the region. Japan cold brewing coffee market is expected to account healthy CAGR during the forecast period owing changing lifestyle, expanding consumer preference for instant coffee drinks premix. Moreover, the market in North America is projected to have the substantial growth in the global cold brewing coffee market over the forecast period due to growing demand for premium coffee, rise in health-conscious consumers. MEA is expected to witness the significant growth rate in the global cold brewing coffee market attributed to expanding worldwide exposure, the rise in the habit of drinking coffee along with accessibility of fresh coffee at an affordable price in the region.Request to View Sample of Research Report @Cold Brewing Coffee Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent players in the cold brewing coffee market are Nestle S.A., Ting Hsin International Group Co. Ltd., The Coca-Cola Company, UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd., Starbucks Corporation, illycaffe S.p.A, Luigi Lavazza S.p.A., Coffee Roasting Company Schreyogg Srl, Dunkin' Donut, and others. Companies are focus on expanding their product portfolio by offering nitrogen infused coffee beverages to cater to growing consumer demand.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Sparkling Water Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/21574 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21574 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The sparkling water is a form of non-alcoholic beverage available as carbonated water. It is available in many flavors and is devoid of sugar content and many other additives, unlike soda water. Sparkling water is generally made out of mineral water due to the presence of less amount of solid minerals and naturally present carbon dioxide. The sparkling water market is a rapidly growing segment of the carbonated water market. Due to the consumer shift towards healthy drinks, the sparkling water market is expected to grow at an exponential rate in the forecast period.Request Report for Table of Contents @Sparkling Water Market: SegmentationThe sparkling water market can be segmented on the basis of type and distribution channel.On the basis of type, the sparkling water market can be segmented as unflavored and fruit-flavored. The fruit-flavored segment can be further segmented as citrus, berries, and others. The citrus segment can be further segmented as orange, lime, lemon, and grapefruit. The berries segment can be further segmented as raspberry, black berry, strawberry, and others.On the basis of the distribution channel, the sparkling water market can be segmented into direct sales and indirect sales. The indirect sales can be further segmented into store-based retailing and online retail. The store-based retailing can be further segmented into modern grocery retail and traditional grocery retail. The modern grocery retail can be segmented as hypermarkets/supermarkets, convenience stores, mom & pop stores and discount stores. The traditional grocery retailing can be further segmented as food & drink specialty, independent small groceries, and others.Sparkling Water Market: Drivers, Restraints, and TrendsThe trend of the sparkling water is a microcosm of a much larger trend in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. The trend is of growing number of health-conscious consumers and an enormous shift towards healthy and nutritious beverages. This is significantly evidenced by the fact that the key players in the carbonated drinks industry are transitioning their portfolio to include sparkling water which consequently acts as a major factor in the growth of the sparkling water market. The sparkling water market is slowly taking up the share of the soft drinks market, as sparkling water boasts of no-sugar and calorie-free tag yet presents itself as a unique bottled water drink for the consumers.The fact that the key players are also developing new strategies to promote and market their products as health drinks to enhance their health-conscious consumer base, is a strong growth indicator for the growth of the sparkling water market. The health-conscious consumers are looking for more healthy alternatives in the beverage market and sparkling water is currently leveraging itself as a healthy and refreshing option for consumers in the non-alcoholic beverage market. However, lack of consumer awareness in many regions and absence of distribution channels may slightly hinder the growth of the sparkling water market.Sparkling Water Market: Regional OutlookIn North America, the sparkling water market is currently in the growth phase and experiencing exponential growth. Introduction and promotion of sparkling water by the key players are ultimately compelling the regional and local players to expand their portfolio to include sparkling water to cope up with the immense competition in the market. In Latin America, the giant beverage players are investing in the sparkling water market by acquisitions of major sparkling water brands, which denotes the consumer demand and immense market potential for sparkling water in this region.Europe is also in the growth phase in the sparkling water market and is coming up with innovations like the launch of equipment with CO faucets, which is designed to convert regular water into sparkling water. In the Asia Pacific, rapid industrialization and rising disposable income have garnered attention for the sparkling water market and a significant growth is also expected from Japan in the forecast period. Consumer demand for innovative carbonated products coupled with a hot and arid climate is expected to boost the growth of the sparkling water market in the Middle East and Africa.Request to View Sample of Research Report @Sparkling Water Market: Key PlayersNestle Waters North AmericaPepsiCoTHE COCA-COLA COMPANYDS Waters of America, Inc.National Beverage Corp.Talking Rain Beverage Co'sAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Industrial Emission Control Systems Market Inclinations & Development Status Through 2023 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/1403 https://www.mrrse.com/industrial-emission-control-systems-market https://www.mrrse.com/ Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has recently announced the addition of a new research study on the global industrial emission control systems market. The report estimates this market to rise at a CAGR of 7.30% during the period from 2015 to 2023, increasing from a market value of US$11.7 bn in 2014 to a value of US$22.1 bn by the end of the forecast period.Ask for Sample Copy @The research study published by Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is titled Industrial Emission Control Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023 and states that the increasing industrialization in emerging economies is propelling the growth of the worldwide industrial emission control systems market.The report evaluates the global industrial emission control systems market on three fronts: emission source, the type of device, and the regional spread of the market.On the basis of emission source, power plants, the marine industry, the chemical process industry, and the waste to energy industry have been identified as the main segments of the worldwide industrial emission control systems market in this report. The power plants segment dominated the global market with a total share of 42.3% in 2014.Based on the type of device, the study classifies this market into electrostatic precipitators, incinerators, catalytic reactors, and filters. The electrostatic precipitators segment occupied the leading position in 2014 with a share of 36.2% in the overall market for industrial emission control systems.On a regional basis, the report divides the global industrial emission control systems market into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Rest of the World. As per the study, Asia Pacific led this market with a share of 38% in 2014. In the same year, North America and Europe acquired the second and third positions, respectively.For more information about this report visit:The rapid industrial development in India and China, together with the increasing population of these countries, is driving the Asia Pacific industrial emission control systems market, while the North America market is driven by strict rules pertaining to emission standards.The rise in industrial productivity in the Rest of the World is likely to boost the industrial emission control systems market in this region, notes the research study.Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., Johnson Matthey Plc, Haldor Topsoe A/S, GEA Group AG, Fuel Tech Inc., CECO Environmental Corp., Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc., BASF Catalysts LLC, AMEC Foster Wheeler Plc, and Alstom Group are some of the major manufacturers of industrial emission control systems across the world, states this market report.About MRRSEMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. Headquartered in New York, U.S., 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.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Leading Digital Agency Techmagnate to Expand App Store Optimization (ASO) Team by 100% in 2018 http://www.techmagnate.com Techmagnate, the premium digital marketing company in Delhi, has launched a drive to expand its ASO resources by up to 100% in 2018. ASO or App Store Optimization services help brands increase the their rankings on app stores and ultimately increase the number of downloads for their mobile apps. The latest reports state that the company began the hiring two months ago and has already added three professionals to the team. The expansion is attributed to the companys desire to become a premium ASO Service provider in India and abroad.For those not in the know, ASO is similar to SEO - SEO helps to increase visibility and rankings of websites on Google Search Results pages while ASO does the same for mobile apps on the App Stores. According to the CEO, Mr. Sarvesh Bagla, "It's true we have experienced a surge in demand for ASO from our clients. This is a great opportunity for us to not only hire some very talented and well-versed individuals but truly establish ourselves as leaders for app store optimization services.The company is looking for individuals with the passion to take on mammoth challenges and create path-breaking solutions. Mr. Bagla continued, We have already delivered some fantastic results for mobile apps across niches - music streaming apps, gaming apps, mobile payment & recharge apps, kids apps, enterprise productivity apps, and more. Along the way, weve learned and bettered our processes. Now, we are looking to add more experts with experience in mobile marketing across different industries. I am looking forward to working with new talent and Im sure they will enhance the value of our organization.The company has a strong national and international presence and a long track record of delivering astounding SEO results. Over the years it has won many awards and accolades for being the Top SEO Company in India. Most recently it won the Drivers of Digital (DOD) Award for the Best Search Marketing Campaign of 2017. So, it comes as no surprise that Techmagnate is already becoming a renowned name for App Store Optimization. With the increase in its workforce, we can only expect to hear about some great ASO campaigns and results!If you are interested in marketing your mobile app, improving engagement & rankings on app stores and ultimately driving more downloads, please contact us.About Techmagnate Techmagnate is a leading digital marketing agency based in New Delhi, India, offering online growth to its clients. Their services are backed by a super-efficient team of marketing professionals with expertise in domains like App Store Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising, Website Designing, Content Marketing, to name a few. The industries it caters to include Education, Lifestyle, Finance, eCommerce, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Consumer Products, etc. Visit-101 - Kundan Nivas, 2nd FloorHarinagar, Ashram Chowk,New Delhi, Delhi India 110014Phone- +91-11-65754778, +91-11-43534779Email- enquiry@techmagnate.com Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Software Market: North America Tops Revenue Share and Poses as Attractive Region https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pharmacovigilance-drug-safety-software-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=31112 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=31112 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Software Market: SnapshotThe global pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market is foretold to be advantaged by the soaring incidences of adverse drug reaction (ADR) and increasing adoption of related software services by numerous outsourcing firms. Market shares could continue to expand with the mounting pressure on pharma and biotech makes to produce safe drugs. Government entities such as European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could be among the prominent organizations increasing the pressure.The global pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market is envisioned to rise at a 5.4% CAGR between 2017 and 2022 to attain a valuation of US$187.0 mn by the end of the forecast timeframe. In 2017, the market earned a US$143.6 mn.Read Report Overview:Players Find New Avenues Inaugurated by Adverse Event Reporting SoftwareAs per the analysis of the report, the world pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market could testify the lead secured by adverse event reporting software throughout the course of the forecast period. By 2022 end, this software type segment could post a revenue of US$77.0 mn. Other segments such as fully integrated software, issue tracking software, and drug safety audits software could also make their contribution to the market.In view of end user, there could be business opportunities created by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, contract research organizations (CROs), pharma and biotech companies, and other pharmacovigilance service providers operating in the world pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market. With respect to delivery mode, players could focus on two vital segments, viz. on-premise and cloud-based.Request Sample of Report:A comprehensive study of important segments of the world pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market could help players to take advantage of prospects currently available and even those foreseen to take shape in the near future.North America Tops Revenue Share and Poses as Attractive RegionIn terms of geography, the international pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market is anticipated to be classified into six segments, including Latin America, amongst which North America could hold a kings share while rising at a 6.2% CAGR. This region could also be an attractive market for pharmacovigilance and drug safety software as it is forecasted to dominate with its higher revenue growth until the end of 2022.Request Brochure of Report:During the course of the forecast timeframe, Europe could produce an absolute revenue opportunity of US$9.3 mn. Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ) is predicted to tread upon the heels of Europe by creating an opportunity of US$8.5 mn during the same timeframe. Japan could showcase a slower growth in the market by garnering a projected revenue of US$13.4 mn by the end of 2022. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) is prophesied to expand at a slightly lower CAGR than that of Japan.The worldwide pharmacovigilance and drug safety software market could include prominent players such as UMBRA Global LLC, AB Cube, United BioSource Corporation, Sparta Systems, Inc., and Oracle Corporation. Acquisition of new companies, collaborations, joint ventures, and constant upgradation are envisaged to be top business strategies adopted by chief players in the market.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: APAC Frozen Fruits and Vegetables Market Analysis, Top Key Players Review | Dole, Ardo NV, HJ Heinz, Simplot Australia PTY Ltd, General Mills, Findus Sverige AB and Pinnacle Foods | Industry Research Report by 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1759 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/apac-frozen-fruits-vegetables-market-1759 Market Overview:Due to the increasing demand of frozen fruits and vegetables products, the market is growing at an incremental pace of development in Asia Pacific region.India is one other country with diverse agro climatic zones leading to produce different kinds of fruits and vegetables. India is the largest producer of fruits in the world, the production per capita is about 100 gm. per capita, however it is estimated that more than 20-22% total production of fruits are lost due to spoilage at various post-harvest stages thus leading to availability of fruits are 80 gm. per capita. The domestic market for frozen fruits and vegetables is limited though steadily expanding. Frozen fruits and vegetables rank among the major products exported to key markets such as the US, Russia, the UK, Germany and the Middle East. India currently ranks as the worlds second largest producer of a wide spectrum of tropical and temperate fruits and vegetables and India can be the emerging market in APAC frozen fruits and vegetables market.Rapid growth will be noticed in the peas followed by carrots and turnips in Japan among the frozen vegetables segments during the forecasted period. Higher demand for RTE (Ready to Eat) products specifically has resulted in higher demand for peas and carrots and turnips. Among various frozen vegetable types, potatoes were estimated to have a larger market share of 45.08% and sweet potatoes 17.19% in the year 2016.Receive a Sample Report @Latest Industry Updates:Sep 2015 B&G to buy General Mills' Green Giant frozen foods business. Snack food company B&G Foods Inc. said it would buy General Mills Incs Green Giant frozen foods and Le Sueur canned vegetables brands for about $765 million to expand its distribution network and enter the frozen foods market. Green Giant, with a portfolio of more than 160 products, is the second-biggest frozen foods brand by market share in the United States and the largest in Canada.May 2017 A recall popular of bagged salads produced at a single Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. has reportedly cost the company $25 million. The recalled salads were also sold under a number of store brand labels--Aldi, Kroger, Meijer and Walmart.Oct 2016 Supermarket giant Coles has done agreement for sourcing an extra 6 million kilograms of Australian vegetables a year in a deal with food processor Simplot.Oct 2015 Pinnacle Foods has acquired a Unilever manufacturing plant in Hagerstown, Md. The plant, planned to be operational in 2018, will manufacture products for the companys Gardein plant-based protein businessCompetitive Analysis:Frozen fruits and vegetables market is a highly dynamic market demanding high product differentiation to gain competitive advantage, which is reflected by the maximum number of strategic initiatives taken in the form of maximum new product launches. Among the various adopted by the companies in the frozen fruits and vegetables market, acquisitions new formed a major share followed by new product launch.The key players profiled in Frozen Fruits and Vegetables are Dole (U.S.), Ardo NV (Belgium), HJ Heinz (US), Simplot Australia PTY Ltd (Australia), General Mills (U.S.), Findus Sverige AB, (Sweden), Pinnacle Foods Corp. (US), and Bonduelle Group (France).Market Segments:The APAC Frozen Fruits and Vegetables market has been divided into type, form, packaging, application and region.On The Basis Of Type: fruits and vegetablesOn The Basis Of form: whole, puree, topping bar, other processed formsOn The Basis Of packaging: 10-15 kgs, 15-30 kgs, and >30 kgsOn The Basis Of Application: Fruit- Whole Fruits, Fruit juices & Smoothies, Breakfast Cereals, Salads & Desserts, Bakery Foods, Yoghurt and OthersVegetable-Whole Vegetables, Pizza Toppings, Salads, RTE (Ready to Eat Foods), Noodles & Pastas, Soups, and OthersOn The Basis Of Region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and ROW.Access Report Details @Regional Analysis:Frozen fruits and vegetables have huge potential in Asia and Russia, as the markets are practically untouched by these product categories. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables still dominate the scene in these regions. In Europe a mixed trend is being witnessed. In countries like Germany, UK and Scandinavian countries, the growth is stagnating. However in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal a healthy above average growth rate is being experienced. China followed by India dominates the APAC frozen vegetables market with estimated share of 34% and 29% in the year 2016. However, highest growth will be seen in Thailand with growing demand for its agricultural and horticultural products.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Terephthalic Aldehyde Market Share, Opportunity, Segment and Key Trends 2017 - 2024. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1868 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/terephthalic-aldehyde-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1868 Terephthalic Aldehyde Market size is anticipating considerable growth in forecast time period. The product is whitish crystal compound manufactured by utilizing xylene in the presence of bismuth and tungsten. It is basic chemical used as an intermediary in various applications that include plastic, dyes and pharmaceuticals. Being a basic component in various applications demand for the substance has successively boosted. Plastic, dyes and pharmaceuticals are one of the fastest growing industries of economy, influencing product penetration worldwide.Plastic industry will register CAGR of over 6% in next five years. Being a major component in plastic manufacturing, compound demand will propel in near future. Its excellence in water and moisture resistance has fueled its usage in soft drink bottles. Global carbonated drinks is expected to witness CAGR over 2% in terms of volume and revenue in the next seven years. Up surge in these industries will boost terephthalic aldehyde market.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @The component is extensively consumed in dye industry as a mixing agent in its manufacturing. It gives long lasting color to the products and can be used for changing color of component. Dyes are consumed globally as an intermediary in manufacturing of textiles, inks, tinting, construction and polymers. Upsurge in CAGR of dye industry over 4.5% is propelling its demand and inducing growth in terephthalic aldehyde market.Pharmaceutical industry will grow at over 10% in the forecast period. The component is highly used in medicine production. It is consumed for combatting viruses, bacteria, fungi and insects, up surge in medicinal industry is anticipated to boost terephthalic aldehyde market.Supply chain of terephthalic aldehyde market initiates from procuring raw material from various suppliers. Manufacturing of the component takes place in laboratory, it is a formulated by chemical reaction of various atoms and molecules. Post manufacturing, it is transported and distributed to various location for varied applications. Major end use of the substance are pharmaceuticals, dyes, pigments and plastic industries.Browse complete summary of this report @The U.S. is worlds most important pharmaceutical industry, contributing over 35% in global pharmaceutical industry. It hosts many top companies contributing in the industry on a global basis. The product is widely used in medicines for fighting bacteria, insects, virus and fungi. With rise in pharmaceutical industry terephthalic aldehyde market will surge in North America in near future.Plastic industry majorly contributes in economic welfare of Europe by enabling innovation, creating quality life for the natives and climate protection. Europe ranks second in global plastics material production and is one of the largest consumer of plastic based products. Rise in plastic demand will make the region a considerable contributor and will bolster terephthalic aldehyde market.Asia Pacific led by India is anticipating surge in dye and its intermediaries in the next 7 years by registering CAGR of over 4 %. Major user of the compound are Indian textiles dye, plastics, paper, printing ink and food products industries. Increasing demand in these industries will boost terephthalic aldehyde market.Make an Inquiry before buying @Regionally, Global Market Insights, Inc.s Terephthalic Aldehyde market research has the most in-depth, country focused estimates and forecasts for decision makers across the globe. An exhaustive list of company profiles for organizations active in the Terephthalic Aldehyde market supports the regional analysis and information offering a competitive outlook on the industry. For each segment analyzed in this research, whether it is by product, application, material or end-use, a regional overview with historical data and Terephthalic Aldehyde market forecast is provided to the reader. Such a cross-segmentation research analysis is also unique to reports by Global Market Insights, Inc.Key manufacturers in the market are Jinan Haohua, Chemindustry, Haihang Industry, Nebula Chemicals, Fond Chemicals, Struchem co. Ltd., ConierChem and Pharma Limited, Suzhou Health Chemicals, Angene International Limited and Rosewachem co. Ltd. Companies are emphasizing on product research and development and to supply the product globally. Other focus it is to minimize its side effects on human health by improving its chemical formulation. Jinan Haohua expanded its business through research and development, manufacturing chemicals, pharmaceuticals and intermediaries. Aim of the company is to make the product available worldwide and establish long term and stable relationship with the customers.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnologyContact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.com Vinyl Acetate Monomer Market from Construction Application to Grow 4.9% CAGR by 2024 Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2474 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2474 https://bit.ly/2v2B5EJ https://www.gminsights.com A strong vertical of polymers & advanced materials business space, vinyl acetate monomer market stands to gain much over the ensuing years on virtue of its extensive end-use spectrum. This clear colorless liquid rather acts as chemical building block in resins and polymers manufacturing.With resins, polyvinyl acetate in particular, being abundantly utilized across a plethora of mainstream sectors for its bonding properties, the meteoric rise of vinyl acetate monomer market is sure to continue. In fact, estimates depict, overall business share from polyvinyl acetate applications is forecast to record USD 2.5 million by 2024. Armed with an intent to call their bets in the profitable landscape, a bulk of vinyl acetate monomer industry players therefore have been tending to hike the price of acetyl intermediates.Request for a Sample copy of this Report @Vinyl Acetate Monomer Market size will likely surpass USD 10 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Vinyl acetate is an intermediary used for producing polymers and copolymers which are used in paints, paper coatings, adhesives, etc. It occurs as a clear and colorless liquid. This intermediary composite is majorly used for producing polyvinyl acetate and polyvinyl alcohol. Polyvinyl acetate has improved bonding property which find application in industrial and paper coatings whereas polyvinyl alcohol is significantly used in textiles, photosensitive coatings, packaging, etc.Packaging application is led by increasing consumption of processed food products. Due to shift in eating habitats and rise in numbers of working population globally which is subsequently surging the demand for fast food and packaged food products. Accelerating the need for protective and eco-friendly packaging. Moreover, several fast food restaurants and take away outlets are witnessing substantial growth in recent years which is propelling the need for different varieties of packaging material.Make an Inquiry for Purchasing this Report @Building and infrastructure industry is rising exponentially to established better facilities. Ongoing trend of industrialization and urbanization is stimulating the demand for better roads, railways, ports and water utilities in developing economies. Moreover, growth in retail industry had dictated the requirement for better logistic system, warehousing facilities and stores which is favoring the building and infrastructure industry. Hence, building and infrastructure industry is anticipated to grow over the years which in turn will generate higher returns for vinyl acetate monomer market.Polyvinyl alcohol is synthetic hydrophillic polymer. Its propertise depends on the degree of polymerization such as ratio of two monomers. It has significant application in construction sector as a fiber reinforcement for cement based composite material and aggregate surface pre-treatment agent. The polyvinyl alcohol application demand is growing at a phenomenal pace owing to its application in building and infrastructure industry.Browse Report Summery @Middle East & Africa is second largest market for vinyl acetate monomer. High demand for vinyl acetate in building and infrastructure industry is compelling serveral manufacturers to increase their production capacity. For instance Sipchem had opened new plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia to produce ethylene vinyl acetate for meeting the demand of suppliers. Ethylene vinyl acetate have inclusive applications in various end user industries such as textile, construction etc. as it used in manufacturing adhesives, coatings, paints etc.The prominent market players are Exxon Mobil Corporation, Dow Chemical, Ineospec Inc, Celanese Corporation, Sipchem, Wacker Chemie, NINGXIA YINGLITE CHEMICAL, KURARAY CO., LTD., LyondellBasell, Arkema and Sinopec Group among others. Most of the companies in this market are ensuing similar strategies like expanding their production capacity and increasing their products prices to explore greater opportunities and gain competitive advantage.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Worldwide Savory Snacks Market Trend 2018 2023, Key Players Review | PepsiCo, Kraft Foods Group, ConAgra Foods, CALBEE, Diamond Foods, Inc. and General Mills | Market Research Future https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1055 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/savory-snacks-market-1055 Market Overview:Growing consumer pro-activeness towards health problems has boosted the demand for savory snacks as they comprise essential ingredients and possess familiar taste. Changing approaches of the customers towards snacks and healthy food has heavily influenced the global savory snacks market. Growing population inclined towards healthy snacks has led the global savory snacks witness a strong growth over the past few years. Teenagers have a habit to get energy in between meals while older generations consume snacks as more of a treat. The growing health conscious population has enforced manufacturers and producers to deliver to this demand, by offering various low calorie, low fat, and gluten-free products. Availability of a huge number of existing flavors along with increasing research and development by key market players to innovate new flavors is further projected to drive the market over the forecast period.One of the modern trends gaining grip in the market is the rise in the number of marketing and promotional campaigns. The industry key players are centering on advertising their product offerings on the online platform with the help of e-retailers. They are providing various product offerings in various price segments through their own online shopping portals apart from third party portals. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatApp are also strong media for product promotion, which will lift the sales of savory snacks over the coming years.Receive a Sample Report @Latest Industry Updates:Nov 2017 Leading companies engaged in manufacturing savory snacks such as General Mills, Kellogg, Mondelez International are focusing on oat-based savory snacks to provide a healthy edible to the consumers.Sept 2017 Calbee, the Japanese snack maker has planned to boost the output of domestic potatoes for chips by 10% to 320,000 tons by 2022 by introducing new, more productive breeds it has developed. This will help them stabilize the supply of potatoes for its chips.June 2017 Pepsico launched US snacks brand Off The Eaten Path in UK. The range marketed in the UK include Sea Salt Crispy Rice & Pea Chips and Caramelised Onion and Balsamic Vinegar Crunchy Pea & Pinto Bean Sticks. These products are made from vegetable based ingredients. By this launch, the company wanted to expand its geographical presence and target vegan population in U.KApril 2017 Orkla ASA, a leading supplier of consumer goods removed palm oil from 98% of its products. Instead they replaced it with mixtures of various oils such as sunflower, coconut and shea nut oil, which together make better products in terms of health. These innovations is to come up with healthier products for the consumers in the competitive market.Major Key Players:With the entry of industry players in the Savory snacks segment, a drift of solid, volume- driven growth has been observed in the market. Continuous innovation and new product launches in the market is creating a competitive environment for the industry players and offering wide range of products to the market. Each player is coming up with new ideas to surge their market share against others. With companies aiming to capture a significant share of the market as early as possible, they are also undergoing strategic business moves to expand their production along with geographical presence. Technological advancements and innovative product offering is the long term growth opportunity for this sector.The key players profiled in Savory snacks are as PepsiCo (U.S.), Kraft Foods Group, Inc (U.S.), ConAgra Foods, Inc (U.S.), CALBEE, Inc (Japan), Diamond Foods, Inc (U.S.), General Mills, Inc (U.S.), Intersnack Group GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Lorenz Bahlsen Snack-World Group (Germany), Kellogg Company (U.S.), Orkla ASA (Norway) and others.Access Report Details @Market Segments:The global Savory snacks market has been divided into type, and region.On The Basis Of Type: Potato Chips, Processed Snacks, Popcorn, Nuts and OthersOn The Basis Of Region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and ROW.Regional Analysis:The global Savory snacks market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (RoW). Global savory snacks market is highly dominated by Asia Pacific and North America in terms of revenue. Japan and China together accounted the major share in Asia Pacific. The consumers in developed countries of North America have started adopting healthier lifestyles on account of rising concerns about obesity.Savory snacks account high demand in Europe as these products are consumed at various occasions by the population in this region. The market is driven by countries such as the UK and Spain in Europe as the consumers engage in on the go eating as an instant energy booster in place of whole meals. The demand for savory snacks is also rising rapidly in countries such as Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. However, India, China and Mexico are expected to be the most lubricant market during the forecast period.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com